By the end of 1826 copies of letters of Raguet's communications to the Brazilian government had reached the State Department in Washington, D.C. Henry Clay wrote back indicating it would be best to use "language firm and decisive, but at the same time temperate and respectful. No cause is ever benefited by the manifestation of passion, or by the use of harsh and uncourtious language." Responding to a request Raguet made to threaten to sever diplomatic relations with Brazil if they did not release their ships, Clay said "war or threats of war ought not to be employed as instruments of redress until after the failure of every peaceful experiment." By early 1827 relations with Brazil improved after a new foreign minister took office, but that quickly changed in March when Brazil seized the USS "Spark", a recently decommissioned U.S. warship. After a rebuffed offer to the sell the "Spark" to Brazil, the ship headed for Montevideo. On the way, the ship was seized by a Brazilian man-of-war and its crew imprisoned. Brazil demanded an explanation for what it said were irregularities in the "Spark"'s activities and suspected the ship was a privateer going to join Argentina. Raguet didn't believe the Brazilians actually believed the "Spark" was a privateer, and felt that what he called "the most deliberate and high handed insult" against the United States was planned days in advance. The incident with the "Spark" was the last straw for Raguet. He sent a letter to the Brazilian government saying "that recent occurrences induce him to withdraw from the court of Brazil, and he therefore requests that his excellency will furnish him the necessary passports." He left his position as chargé d'affaires ended on April 16, 1827. Once Washington found out that Raguet had left Brazil, the State Department quickly worked to appoint someone new to repair any damage caused by Raguet and to continue working on solving the issues with Brazil that had led Raguet to leave. Adams would later write that relations between the United States and Brazil were "aggravated by the rashness and intemperance of Condy Raguet, ... [who had] brought this country and Brazil to the very verge of war." On Raguet's return to the United States he held a meeting with Clay and Adams who said "I told him that my opinion of his integrity, patriotism, and zeal was unimpaired; that I was convinced of the purity of his motives to the step he had taken; but that I thought it would have been better if he had, before taking that step, consulted his government."