[377] Jefferson to Short, August 10, 1790. (Jefferson, Writings, V, 218.)
[378] Jefferson to Carmichael, August 2 and 22, 1790. (Id., 216 and 225.)
[380] Short to Jefferson, Paris, October 21, 1790. (MSS. Dept. of State, Washington, Dispatches, France, Vol. II.)
[381] Humphreys to the Secretary of State, Madrid, January 3, 1791. (Ford, The United States and Spain in 1790, 32.) It seems that very little news from Carmichael had been received, and that the Government at New York had become impatient at his dilatory conduct. He must have received a severe reprimand from Jefferson, if one can judge from his reply of January 24, 1791 (Id., 37). It begins: “SIR: Colonel Humphreys delivered to me your letter of the 6th of August on the 15th of last month. Nothing could equal my astonishment at finding that I have been employing my time in a situation that has been for many years disagreeable--so little to my own credit or to the satisfaction of my country.” The rest of the letter indicates that his dispatches had miscarried. He attributed the fact to personal enemies. He said that he was sending copies of some of his last dispatches.
This letter from Carmichael and that from Humphreys referred to above make interesting comments on the court intrigues in Spain--the dominance of the Queen’s corrupt influence and the decline of Floridablanca’s prestige.
[383] Arch. Parl., August 2, 1790. (Muriel, Historia de Carlos IV, I, 122, mentions this letter of June 16.)
[384] Arch. Parl., August 3, 1790. The observations of the two Deputies are appended to the minutes of the session. The one who presented the latter report was Le Couteulx de Canteleu, Deputy from Rouen.
[385] Arch. Parl., August 25, 1790; Miles, W. A., Correspondence, I, 167.
[386] Id., August 26, 1790. Muriel, Historia de Carlos IV, 123-126, discusses Mirabeau’s report of August 25 and the decree of August 26. Cambridge Modern History VIII, 189, 190, discusses the decree briefly. The latter reference says, “It is stated on the authority of Miles that Mirabeau received from the Spanish minister a thousand louis d’or for this service.” See also Mémoires de Mirabeau, VIII, 36; Loménie, Les Mirabeau, V, 269; and Correspondence Entre Mirabeau et La Marck, II, 147.