In Council Chamber 18^th Apl. 1798 Annapolis Dear Sir [undecipherable] No. 0[undecipherable] At the time the Militia were assembling to march against the insurgents to the westward an application was made to the Executive of this State by the Secretary at War, to supply a considerable portion of them with Arms from its [undecipherable] and [undecipherable] Stores: As there no legal authority existed in the Governor & Council, to comply with this request, yet from the importance & urgency of the occasion they readily did it. Various applications have since been made to procure a return or payment. I myself while a Senator and Other agents expressly sent by the [undecipherable] State at a considerable expense have repeatedly applied and have always been unsuccessful, from some alleged information or the Evidence, [undecipherable]. An intercourse of this importance, between authorities so highly respectable as the executive of the General & a State Government, and on an occasion so important & critical, ought not to be adjusted by the close & legal rules, for settling the ordinary official [undecipherable] duties of the Treasury Department. This was a military transaction between the Commander in Chief of the U.S. & the Executive Authority of the State of Maryland, and as soon as the occasion which required the use of the arms, ceased they ought to have an order from the President to have been returned, according to his agreement. On the 29^th May 1799. The then [further] Governor of Maryland made a new representation to the Secretary at War and inclosed the return of the arms that had been delivered by M^r Engels the armourer at the Creek Town to which was added an account on which the claim of the State of Maryland was founded against the [strikethrough: federal] U.S. Government. Copies of the letters of the Secretary at War are now transmitted, by which it will appear that the arms were supplied at the request of the Executive of the General Government, under an assurance that they would be faithfully [undecipherable] replaced In the letter of the 21^st [undecipherable] it [undecipherable: shows] that the President highly approved of the measure and in the one of the [undecipherable] Sep[tember] 1794 [undecipherable] pledges the faith of the Executive of [undecipherable] for the return of the arms. I now these particulars are referring to the letters, that as little trouble as possible may be given to the [undecipherable]. As a crisis seems to be hastening fast when these arms may be indispensably necessary for the collection & safety of the State; I have thought it to be my duty with the Advice of Council to renew the application and, as those which have hitherto been made to the subordinate departments have all proved [undecipherable] to present this directly to the President of the United States under an impression that he will not suffer the ordinary rules of the [undecipherable] department to become the instruments of violating the national faith. If there could be any doubting the fact the hesitation & delays in the departments might be satisfactorily & probably accounted for — but there is not— The papers now in the War office and in particular the copies of the letters now transmitted are [undecipherable] to establish that and are [undecipherable: referred] to for that purpose. It would give much satisfaction to hear that a President had taken measures to have this matter adjusted. My Official duty having led me to this correspondence I can not suffer the occasion to pass without expressing the entire satisfaction which I & I believe all those feel in the measures [undecipherable] [the President has] proposed for adjusting our differences with the French Republic. They are so marked with wisdom moderation & justice that they ought [undecipherable] to have [undecipherable] to the honored [undecipherable] of both Nations. I hope & am willing to believe that when the Instructions & the negotiations shall be fairly and candidly viewed, that both at home & abroad [undecipherable] right, unite all Men of candor and virtue, in entertaining the most honourable and favorable Sentiments of our faith & justice I am [undecipherable] now highly [undecipherable] to end our differences on the [undecipherable] subjects of [undecipherable] & [undecipherable] & serve the honor dignity & interest of the Country; as well from [undecipherable] warmly attached. To this great End all my hopes & wishes are directed. I am dear with Sentiments of the highest consideration & esteem your most [undecipherable] J: Henry [James McHenry Esq.] [Governor John Henry of Maryland W.O.C. Letter in regard to the Whiskey Insurrection] [COLL. HENRY JOHN]