TH. JEFFERSON.
MARCH 30, 1808,
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
Since my message of the 22d instant letters have been received from our
ministers at Paris and London, extracts from which, with a letter to
General Armstrong from the French minister of foreign relations, and a
letter from the British envoy residing here to the Secretary of State,
I now communicate to Congress. They add to the materials for estimating
the dispositions of those Governments toward this country.
The proceedings of both indicate designs of drawing us, if possible,
into the vortex of their contests; but every new information confirms
the prudence of guarding against these designs as it does of adhering
to the precautionary system hitherto contemplated.
TH. JEFFERSON.
APRIL 2, 1808.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
Believing that the confidence and union of our fellow-citizens at the
present crisis will be still further confirmed by the publication of the
letter of Mr. Champagny to General Armstrong and that of Mr. Erskine to
the Secretary of State, communicated with my message of the 30th ultimo,
and therefore that it may be useful to except them from the confidential
character of the other documents accompanying that message, I leave to
the consideration of Congress the expediency of making them public.
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