ALS by PINCKNEY, Charles Cotesworth - 1798

Paris, 1798. Paris: Jan 19th, 1798.

Autograph lettered signed by Pinckney., a signor of the U.S. Constitution and Founding Father. Written by Pinckney while in Paris working with the Council of Ancients during the aftermath of the French Revolution. Letter is dated "Paris, Jan 19th, 1798." and reads:

"Dear Sir/ It is expected that the Council/ of Ancients will certainly confirm the/ resolutions of the Council of five hundred passed/ Unanimously by them on the legislation/ of the Directory. That every vessel loaded/ in whole or in part with English merchandise,/ without regard to the proprietorship of such/ merchandise, shall be good prize. Every/ foreign vessel which in its voyage shall/ have put into England cannot enter France/ except in case of necessity- As this is a/ matter of very great importance to our commerce/ I send you information of it by this/chance opportunity, lest our previous notification/ should have miscarried-/ The letter apprized you of will be shortly/ presented; we still adhere to our resolution./ The answers of the Senate & House of/ Representatives to the President's speech we are/ much obliged to you for, we had not before/ seen them. We should be happy to/ be frequently informed of what is going/ on in America while we remain here-/ I wrote to you by ? also on the 14th/ In your last you do not acknowledge the/ receipt of any letters from me- Be assured/ I always am with great esteem and regard/ Yours affectionately/ Charles Cotesworth Pinckney"

Two octavo sheets (9 x 7 1/4 inches; 227 x 185 mm), letter written on recto and verso of first sheet. Second sheet with some old ink notes written on verso, recto blank. Some minor creasing at folds, and left margin with some glue residue where is was removed from a backing. Still an about fine letter.

"Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, lawyer and planter, was born in Charles Town (now Charleston), South Carolina... Pinckney was elected a delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787, where he opposed popular election for House members and bitterly fought the proposal to grant a new federal government the right to levy export taxes. As an exporting state, South Carolina would, in his opinion, never accept a constitution with this taxing power. He insisted that slaves be counted as whole persons for purposes of determining political representation. When northern delegates urged an immediate stop to importing slaves, Pinckney suggested a compromise deadline of 1808. Back in South Carolina, Pinckney became perhaps the most active and able defender of the proposed constitution in the state legislature... [in 1782 Pinckney was offered of a ministership to France]... When Pinckney arrived in France in December 1796, the French government threatened him with imprisonment and finally expelled him in January 1797. The Directory (the regime in power) was determined to show the American government that the French-American Treaty of Alliance of 1778 remained in force and that Jay's Treaty was not acceptable. Pinckney now spent several months in the Netherlands awaiting new orders from his government. He returned to Paris in September 1797 as part of a negotiating team appointed by President John Adams that also included Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts and John Marshall of Virginia. Pinckney became outraged by the French demands for an American governmental loan; he believed such a loan could not be neutral in nature, given France's belligerent relationship with England. The French negotiating agents, three of whom are known to history as X, Y, and Z, also asked for bribes in order to expedite the negotiating process with the French government. Pinckney's indignant refusal, "no, no, not a sixpence," was eventually elevated to "Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute." In high dudgeon Pinckney left Paris in April 1798 and left France that August, convinced that the French intended war and that America should make immediate preparations to fight." (American National Biography).

HBS 68653.

$6,000.