Be so good as to
have the enclosed letters delivered, to present me to your family, and
be assured yourself of my unalterable friendship.
For fear of accidents I shall not make the unnecessary addition of my
name.
LETTER XXXII.--TO GENERAL SMITH, May 4,1806
TO GENERAL SMITH.
Washington, May 4,1806.
Dear Sir,
I received your favor covering some papers from General Wilkinson. I
have repented but of one appointment there, that of Lucas, whose temper
I see overrules every good quality and every qualification he has. Not a
single fact has appeared, which occasions me to doubt that I could have
made a fitter appointment than General Wilkinson. One qualm of principle
I acknowledge I do feel, I mean the union of the civil and military
authority. You remember that when I came into office, while we were
lodging together at Conrad's, he was pressed on me to be made Governor
of the Mississippi territory; and that I refused it on that very
principle. When, therefore, the House of Representatives took that
ground, I was not insensible to its having some weight. But in the
appointment to Louisiana, I did not think myself departing from my own
principle, because I consider it not as a civil government, but merely
a military station. The legislature had sanctioned that idea by the
establishment of the office of Commandant, in which were completely
blended the civil and military powers.
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