I was induced to do this, in
order to extract the President's opinion on the question which divided
Hamilton and myself in the conversation of November, 1792, and the
previous one of the first week of November, on the suspension of
payments to France: and if favorable to mine, to place the principle on
record in the letter-books of my office. I therefore wrote the letter
of December the 30th, to Pinckney, and sent it to the President, and he
returned me his approbation in writing, in his note of the same date,
which see.
February the 7th, 1793. I waited on the President with letters and
papers from Lisbon. After going through these, I told him that I had for
some time suspended speaking with him on the subject of my going out
of office, because I had understood that the bill for intercourse with
foreign nations was likely to be rejected by the Senate, in which case,
the remaining business of the department would be too inconsiderable to
make it worth while to keep it up. But that the bill being now passed, I
was freed from the considerations of propriety which had embarrassed me.
That &c. [nearly in the words of a letter to Mr. T. M. Randolph, of
a few days ago,] and that I should be willing, if he had taken no
arrangements to the contrary, to continue somewhat longer, how long I
could not say, perhaps till summer, perhaps autumn. He said, so far from
taking arrangements on the subject, he had never mentioned to any mortal
the design of retiring which I had expressed to him, till yesterday,
when having heard that I had given up my house, and that it was rented
by another, he thereupon mentioned it to Mr.
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