In
two separate letters of the 29th of the same month, I had the honor to
inform you of the claims lodged with the executive for the same ship
William and the brig Fanny, to enclose you the evidence on which they
were founded, and to desire that if you found it just, you would order
the vessels to be delivered to the owners; or if overweighed in your
judgment by any contradictory evidence which you might have or acquire,
you would do me the favor to communicate that evidence: and that the
Consuls of France might retain the vessels in their custody, in the
mean time, until the executive of the United States should consider and
decide finally on the subject.
When that mode of proceeding was consented to for your satisfaction, it
was by no means imagined it would have occasioned such delays of
justice to the individuals interested. The President is still without
information, either that the vessels are restored, or that you have any
evidence to offer as to the place of capture. I am, therefore, Sir, to
repeat the request of early information on this subject, in order
that if any injury has been done those interested, it maybe no longer
aggravated by delay.
The intention of the letter of June the 25th having been, to permit such
vessels to remain in the custody of the Consuls, instead of that of a
military guard (which in the case of the ship William appeared to have
been disagreeable to you), the indulgence was of course to be understood
as going only to cases which the executive might take, or keep
possession of, with a military guard, and not to interfere with the
authority of the courts of justice in any case wherein they should
undertake to act.
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