Brooks: Diplomacy and the Borderl ds 177

and arrived in Washington late in March." Onis remarked that
that action was unfortunate, since on such basis the grant would
be upheld by the courts of the United States, and it might be im-
possible for the King to yield on the point, a step Onis considered
necessary in order to keep peace with the United States."
 That such a yielding must be made became at once evident when
Adams sent to Spain by Forsyth a form of declaration to be signed
coincident with the King's ratification, affirming that the three
disputed grants were void. At President Monroe's behest Forsyth
was authorized to exchange the ratifications even though the decla-
ration should not be signed, but this was not revealed at the time."

 FOaSYTH's MIsSION FAIL
The new minister himself must be considered as one of the irritat-
ing factors contributing to the disappointing delay in ratification.
Forsyth had been chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee
of the House of Representatives until November, 1818, when he
was elected to the Senate from Georgia to fill a vacancy." He served
a short time in that body, although he was offered and accepted the
Spanish appointment in December. It was confirmed on February
15, 1819, and he then resigned from the Senate. Onis at the time
said he was pleased, considering the "gentleness and talent" of the
Georgian." Adams was not so approving. He declared later that
his bitter opponent, Secretary of the Treasury Crawford, was re-
sponsible for the appointment, and that Forsyth "had neither the
experience, nor the prudence, nor the sincerity, nor the delicacy of
sentiment suited for such a station." Nor did he know Spanish.
 The unfortunate complication of the land grants jeopardized
Forsyth's mission from the first, and he went under the cloud of
mutual suspicion, bearing a demand for a post-treaty declaration
which would inevitably antagonize the Spanish officials. An annoy-
ing incident over the handling of his baggage at CAdiz, on April
15, gave him a bad initial taste of Spanish procedure.
 Forsyth on his arrival at Madrid three weeks later conferred
with Erving, who soon departed in disgust. Erving had recently
engaged in a disagreeable controversy with Irujo over claims of
certain merchants, the most notable case being that of Richard
W. Meade, whose complications over a financial matter had re-
sulted in his imprisonment for two years. Irujo found one note so