Mr. Kenguemt, Spanish consul, (?) to Mr. Ingersoll, district attorney.
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that I have received an official communication from his excellency Don Louis de Onis, His Catholic Majesty’s minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary near the United States, relative to the proceedings instituted against the brig Ellen and her cargo. As the information which gave rise to the proceedings was derived through the medium of persons connected with His Majesty’s legation, the Chevalier de Onis has directed me to state to you in his name that whenever the munitions of war are discharged from the vessel to which I have referred, and sufficient security is given that her future destination shall be conformable to law, and the amicable relations that happily subsist between the United States and His Catholic Majesty, it will afford him great satisfaction that the [Page 475] owners should not be exposed to any farther inconvenience. You will readily perceive the reasons which influence his excellency on this occasion, and that while, on the one hand, it is equally his inclination and duty to guard against attempts alike injurious to the government of his sovereign and the neutrality of the nation, near to which he is accredited, he has no desire to cause inconvenience or loss to any individual, and least of all to the merchants of Philadelphia, who have, in general, scrupulously abstained from these expeditions. You will be pleased to observe that this communication has no reference whatever to the officers who are in custody for a violation of the laws of the United States. [70]
I have the honor to remain, &c.,
Charles Ingersoll, Esq.