Copy of a letter in cypher received from Wilkinson.-Natchez, Feb. 6th, 1797.

(Signed)

MANUEL GAYOSO DE LEMOS.

In a separate paper he says what follows:

This letter will be delivered to you by Noland whom you know is a child of my own raising, true to his profession, and firm in his ATTACHMENT TO SPAIN. I consider him a powerful instrument in our hands, should occasion offer, I will answer for his conduct. I am deeply interested in whatsoever concerns him, and I confidently recommend him to your warmest confidence. I am evidently your's affectionately, WILKINSON.

A copy,
(Signed)

MANUEL GAYOSO DE LEMOS.

This letter was written in cypher, which may account for the unguarded language in which it is couched. The perils and abuses of which he complains, were the suspicions of his countrymen and the vigilance of his commander. The crisis of which he speaks, was the prospect of a rupture between the king who corrupted him and the nation he betrayed.

With what creeping meanness does the fawning sycophant complain to a foreign officer of the injury he has received from his commander; with what detestable malignity does he excite a foreign nation to resent an insult offered by his own; with what abject fear does the trembling coward express his fears

of discovery; and how coolly does the sanguinary traitor set the Spaniards on their guard against the attempts of one who sought to keep his country in peace.- -Unexampled depravity !-Unheard of meanness !-Wickedness unparalleled in the annals of treachery! Can this monstrous charge be true? Is it possible that a man, enjoying high command, and receiving daily marks of the confidence of his nation, should not only be tempted to betray it, but for days, and months, and years should continue in her service-wear the honourable livery of her household-eat her bread, and yet be continually plotting her destruction, exciting her enemies to the attack, pointing out the defenceless places, and meanly receiving the wages of such depravity. How did he dare to issue a command to men of whom the meanest had twenty thousand times his worth? How did he dare to punish crimes when the blackest criminal might come and whiten by his side ?-Did he dare to punish drunkenness whose life was a continued scene of debauchery? Did not his hand tremble when he signed the sentence for desertion ?—or what crime in the catalogue of military offences could he punish without thinking of his own?

Yes! he could do this without remorse; his mind is framed for treachery, and possesses a peculiar apathy that enables him to speak of his crimes as if they were virtues, and which takes away all hope of amendment and all sense of shame. Yes! this proof of unparalleled treachery is too well authenticated to be called in doubt; it is proved better than by many witnesses who should swear

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that they heard him use the expressions contained in the letter; they might be actuated by hatred or corruption, but this evidence comes in a shape that cannot be questioned: it not only carries with it the proof of its veracity, but it is invested with the forms of law, and would be received in any tribunals of the country where it was written. It is a copy certified by governor Gayoso from his records; every record authenticated in this way has, under the Spanish government, the force of an exemplification in England or the United States, and an officer who should certify a fabrication of this kind would incur the same penalties that are inflicted on the highest forgery with us. This copy is altogether in the hand-writing of governor Gayoso, who has added his signature; both are extremely well known, have been proved by two witnesses, and can be by a thousand in this territory. Gayoso died in the year 1799, was the bosom friend of Wilkinson, and continued so until the day of his death, which, as is generally asserted here, was accelerated by too frequent libations to their mutual affection. He had therefore no motive to commit such a forgery for his ruin; had he any to betray his confidence by the delivery of this evidence of his guilt? None; nor did he foresee that, by the inscrutable decrees of a just and an avenging god, this paper would be the means of punishing the treachery of his friend. Mr. Power had been an active instrument in forwarding the revolution in Kentucky; he had spent much time and run great risks in the service, and he thought that his exertions merited reward. He had intended going to Madrid to solicit it, and he knew

that the best evidence he could carry with him would be that of the persons whom he had brought over to the allegiance of his master. He had seen this letter from Wilkinson. The high terms in which he is mentioned in it, determined him to ask this copy as his voucher. It was given him with the less reluctance, as the general had declared he could rely on his discretion, and as the letter gave him no new information, and the delivery of it could not be considered as a breach of confidence. I feel that this simple statement must be convincing to all who read it, and of course that the evidence of treachery is complete. I therefore proceed to the other proofs with reluctance; but I have imposed the task on myself, and will proceed.

We have seen in the examination of the accounts, that Mr. Philip Nolan was the agent of general Wilkinson. He acknowledges it in his publication called the Plain Tale. It is notorious, and can readily be proved, that he was not only a clerk and commercial agent, but a confidential friend in his more delicate negotiations with the Spaniards. It is so stated in a paper written by the general, and annexed to the document last cited. "This will be handed to you (says the general to Gayoso) by Nolan, who you know is a child of my own raising, true in his profession, and firm in his attachment to Spain. I consider him as a POWERFUL INSTRUMENT in our hands should occasion offer-i will answer for his conduct. I am deeply interested in whatever concerns him, and I confidently recommend him to your warmest confidence. I am evidently yours-WILKINSON.

In the hand writing of this powerful instrument in the general's hands-of this CHILD of so worthy a parent, who is recommended for his firm attachment to Spain, we have instructions evidently dictated by Wilkinson, and delivered by him to Power (No. 35.) They begin by recommending an artful contrivance to deceive the public on the subject of `his frequent visits. They enlarge much on the necessity of producing Newman, or at least procuring some affidavit from him contradictory of one he had before made, and the directions on this subject evince the hand of a master in the art of subornation. They show a great solicitude that Power should lull suspicion by ample testimonials of his character, and the first part closes with an injunction to bear no paper that carries his name. The second part, tho❜ shorter, is more valuable on account of the many corroborative circumstances it contains. It begins with a direction how to employ the 640 dollars in his hands, as well as the merchandise in which his money was hid, and which he facetiously calls la cargaison, interlarding his treasure, as he does his conversation, with scraps of French. This 640 dollars was the residue of the sum delivered by Portell for the use of Wilkinson, to Power, and which was retained by the latter for expenses. Small as this sum is, it was an object of solicitude. He requests` that it may be secured to him in the settlement, and we shall find it here after figuring in the accounts which Mr. Power renders to the Baron de Carondelet, of his mission, and in the allowance which the latter makes of his expenses. "I have urged (says