[Sir T. Pickering] James McHenry Esq^r Downingstown Pennsylvania [Lettr 24 1797 y Pickering Cooke's [undecipherable] to deny [undecipherable] to the President] Trenton Oct. 24. 1797. D^r Sir, 13 This morning I received the inclosed letter of Mr. Cooke, from the President; who desired me to send it to you. It proves both his impudence and Ignorance: the abown man Cooke wants no proof of either. On sunday morning (the 22d) I rec^d letters from Mr. T. Bulkley, dated at Lisbon Aug^t 26. 27. 29. The vessel by which he wrote sailed unexpectedly; and Mr. Smith & my [undecipherable] for being in the country to spend a few days with his father, knew not of the conveyance. — They arrived the 20^th of August, after a passage of 27 days from the capes of the Delaware. They embarked at Newcastle July 20. Mr. B. confirms the account of Nelson's expedition to Teneriffe, & his defeat. Sent the details extracted from Mr. B's letter to Hamm, on Sunday. The preliminaries of peace between France & Portugal had been signed & brought to Lisbon by a courier who arrived August 21. Terms not made public. Mr. B. supposes, from opinion of [undecipherable] victory at the Brazils — some say also the [undecipherable] of [undecipherable] — and the payment of 25 millions of livres. Mr. Murray's last letter is dated July 21. — He mentions that [strikethrough: certain terms] having certain tins had been agreed between Dela[undecipherable] & the Portuguese minister at Paris, and the treaty prepared for signing — but just then arrived the news of Buonaparte's great success — and the Directory