The New Hampshire gazette — Portsmouth [N.H.], 1798-04-19 00:00:00, page 2

sZour proposing some [ubltitute for the. e-
Pparations demanded of us, we were flipula
trog certain conditions to be performed by
the Direllory itfelf : That he coald not
take charg‘c of such propolitions: and that
the Direétory would perfit in its demand of
those separations which he at firft stated.
We an{wered, that we could not help it 3
it was Yor the Direflory to determine what
eourfe its own honor and the intercfts of
France reguired it to parfue ¢ it-was for us
to guard the interests and honor of our ¢oun
try. M. Y. oblerved, that we had taken
no notice of the firlt propofizion, which was,
to know whether we were ready to make
the disavowal, reparations ard explandtions
concerning the President’s speech. We
told him that we supposed it to be impossi
ble that eitker ke or the minister could im
agine that such a propolition could require
an answer ; that wedid not underfland it
as being seriously expefted—but merely as
introdulory to the {ubjeits of real consider
ation,
He spoke of the refpet which the Di
reltory required, and repeated that it would
exat as much as was paid to the anciént
kings. We answered, that America hid
demonstrated to the world and elpecially to
France, a much greater relpeé for her pre
feot government than for her former mon
arch ; and that there was no evidence of
this difpofitioa which sught to be required
that we were not ready to give. He said
that we should certainly not be received ;
and seemed to shudder at the con(equences.
We lold him, that America had made eve
ry poffibie effort to remain on fiiendly terms
with France ; that she was still making
them ; thatif France would not hear us, but
would make war on the 'U. S. nothing re
mained for us, bat to regret thewnavoidable
necessity of defending durfelves. :
The Tubjeft of our powers was 4gain men
tioned ; and we told him, that America
was solicitous to have no more milunder-
Randings with any republic, but elpecially
with France ; and that the wilhed 2 perma
nent treaty, and was [enfible that no treaiy
could be permanent, which did not comport
with the interelt of the parties ; and, there
fore that he might be assured, that our pow
ers were {uch, as authorifed us to place
France on equal ground with Eng’lang, in
any refpefls 1o which an inequality migi\‘t
be supposed to exist at prelent between
them, to the disadvantage of France. The
fubje@ of the role d’equipage was also
mentioned ; and we asked what -assurance
could we have, if France insisted on the
right of adding to the stipulations of our
treaty, or of aliering them by municipal re.
gulations, that any future treaty we could
make should be observed. M Y. laid that
he did not assert the principle of changing
treaties by munieipal regulations ; but that
the Djreftory conEdcrcd its regulation con
cerning the role d’equipage as comporting
with the treaty. We observed to him, that
nhone of our veflels had what the French
termed a role d’equipage, and that if we
were to surrender all the property which
had been taken fiom our citizens, in cases
where their veflels were not furnithed with
such a roie, the governmest would be re
sponsible to its citizens for the property so
furreadered, fiace it wounld be impossible to
vndertake to allerr, that there was any plan
fibiiity in the allegation, that our treaty re
quired a role d’equipage.
The subj:& ot disavowals, &c. concern.
ing the President’s Speech was again men
tioned ; aad it was oblerved that the Con
flitution of the U, S, authorized and requi
red our President to communicate his i:ileas
on the affairs of the nation ; that, in obedi
ence to the Constitution, he had done so :
that we had not power to confirm or inva.
lidate any part of the President’s Speech ;
that {uch an attempt could prodice noother
cffe& than to make us ridiculous to the gov
ernment and to the ciueens at large of the
"U. S. and .0 produce, on'the part of the
President, an immediate difavowalard recal
of us as his dgents : That independent of
this, all Ameﬁca was acquainted with the
salts Raréd by the President ; and our disa
vowing them would not change the public
sentiment concerning them, |
We parted with mutual profeflions of
personal refpelt and with full indications,
en the part of M. Y. of the expeflation,
that we should immediately receive the
threatened letter. ,
The nature of the above communication
will evince the neceflity of lecrecy ; and we
bave promised Mellrs. X.and Y. that their
names shall in no event be made public.
We have the honor to be, with great re
fpe& and efleem, your most obedient hum
ble servants, :
' C. C. PINCKNEY,
; ] £ MARSHALL,
. GERRY. |
P.S. OBoher ¢6th, 1797. The defini
tive-asticles of Peace are signed betweea the
French Republic and the Emperor ; the
particulars you will find in the public prints,
The Portuguele Minister is ordered to quit
France, as the treaty with Portugal has not
been yet ratificd by the Queen. The treaty
itfelf is declared by the Direflory to be void.
Sirce our arrival at Paris* the tribomal of
caffation has rejefted Capt. Scott’s petition,
complaiming of the condemnation of his
vellel by the civil tribunal, for the waot of
a role dequipage. Mr.—— in_behalf of
the owners o'fg the American veflels, who
have appealed in the last resort to the tri
bunal of ca{fatim{, ina)rms, that notwith
standing all the "argumenjs———-——made
use of——e—seveelo put off the hear.
ing of the Rosanna, as a diplomatic case,
until the issue of our negociation is known,
that case is set down for hearing, and, will
come on the egth or goth inst, The fame
~——and fays, that it is obvious that the tri
bunal have i:;lhuaions from the officers of
the government to hasten their decisions,
and that 1t was hardly worth while to——
for all our petitions in caflation would be
rejefted, f)ur advocates ———— decline
giving their lentiments on that fubjeét——r
under an apprehension ¢f commatung them
selves. ' : :
Col. Pickering,'Sec’ry of the United States.
& o > ;‘-.-“. 3 ’
Paragraphs of the President’s Speech, refer.
red to in Lewter No. 1. under the title
ok Syl A, . g
1. With this conduft of the French gov
erument it will be proper to take into view
the public ‘audience given to the late min
ifler of the U. S. on his takiog leave of the
Exccutive Diteflory. The speech of the
Preflident discloses eatiments more alarme
ing than the refufal of 3 minister, becanfe
more dangerous to our independence and
union, and at the fame time studiously mark
ed with indignities against the government
of the U.S. Itevincesa dif;oﬁt't‘m to se
parate the people of the U. S. from the gov.
eroment ; to persuade them, that they hhz
different affeQions, principles and intercfls
from those of tKeir aﬁw éiizens, whom
théy thémlelves hawe chofén to manage
their common condérns, and thus to pro
duce divisions fatal 1o our peace. Such atv
temprs ought to be repelled with a decision
which shall convince France and the world
that we ar¢ not a degraded people, hamilia
ted ander a colonial feufe of féar, firted to
be the miserable inftraments of fofci‘in ine
fluence, and regardlels of nitiondl hondr,
- charaflér and inicreft. :
_ . 11.
l The diplomatic intercourse between
- France and the U S. being at present ful
- pended, the %)vemmen't has no means of
obfaining official information from that
| country ¢ Nevertheless, there is réafon to
bélieve that the Exééutive Direßory paficd
a decree on the 2d of March last, contra
vening in part, the tredty of amfity and com
meérée of 1778, injurious to our lawful
commerce, and endangering the lives of our
c¢iuzens. A topy of fﬁs decrec will be'laid
bafore you,
s 7
While we dreé endeavouring to adjust our
diffcrences with Francé by amicable nego
ciation, the progress of the war in Europe,
the depredations on our commerce, the per
{6o4l injuries to our citizens, and the general
'com;":_!c'xiqn of affairs, render it my indil
gén able duty 16 récommend 'IP your c¢oa
deration effeftual nic%;jfurci of defence.
It is impqffible to conceal from ourselves
or the wod&, whit has been before -obser
ved, that endeavours have been employed 10
folter and establish a division between the
government and people of the U.S. To
investigate the causes which havé encoura
ged this attempt is not neceflary. Bie to
repel, by decided and united councils, infin
vations {o derogatory to the honor, and ag
gressions so dangerous to the conflitution and
even ihdepéndence of the nation, is an ins
dispensable daty.
President of the Executive Dire&tory to the
{peech of Mr. Munroe, on taking leave,
to which the fpéech of the President of
the U. S. refers. :
Mr. Minifler Plenipatentiary of the United
States of Anterica. ‘
By presenting to-day your letters of reeal
to the Executive Direflory, you give to
Europe a very firange {pe@acle.
France rich in her liberty, surrounded by
a crowd of viflories, strong in the esteem of
her allies, will not abate herfelf by calcula
ting the conlequences of the condescension
of the American government to the fug:
geftions of her former tyrants. Moreover,
the French Republic hopes that the fue
cellors of Columbus, Ramhip, and Penn,
always proud of their liberty, will never
forget, that they owe it to France: They
will weigh, in their wisdom, the magnani.
mous benevolence of the French peo
ple, with the crafty carefles of certain per
fidious persons, who meditate bringing them
back to their former slavery. Assure the
good American people, Sir, that like them,
we adore liberty, that they will always have
our esteem, and that they will find in the
French people republican generosity, which
knows how to grant peace, as it. does to
cause its sovereignty to be refpefted. As
to you, Mr. Minifler Plenipotentiary, you
have ‘combated for principles, you have
known the true interests of your countty.—
Depart with our regret.—ln you we give
up a representative to America, and retain
the remembrance of the citizen, whose per
sonal qualitics did honor to that title.
: | {No. ¢.)
Dear Sir, Paris, Nov. Bth, 1797.
We now encloft you in thirty-fix quarto
pages of cypher, and in eight pages of cy
phered exhibits, the sequel to the details
commenced in No.: 1, dated the ¢ed last
month, and have the honor to be, Your
most obedient humble servants,
C. C. PINCKNEY,
p J. MARSHALL,
: E. GERRY.
Colonel Pickerine.
O&ober syth, 1797.
About twelve we received another visit
from M. X. He immediately mentioned
the great edent announced in the papers and
then said, that some proposals from us had
been expefied on the {ubje&t on which we
had before conversed ; that the Dire@ory
were becoming impatient and would take a
decided course with regard to America, if
we could rot foften them., We anfwerad,
that on that fubjeft we had already spoken
explicitly, and had nothing farther to add.
He mentioned the change in the slate of
things which had been prodticed by the
peace with the Emperor, as warranting
an expe&tation of a change in our fyflem ;
to which we only replied, that this
cvent had been expefled by us and
would not in )? degree effe@® our
condalt. -M. X. urged that the Di
re€lory had since the peace taken a higher
and more decided tone with reflpe& to us
and all other neutral nations then had been
before taken ; that it had been determined,
that all nations thould aid them or be con
sidered and treated as their enemies. We
answered that such an effe@ had already
been‘contemplated by us as probable, and
had not been overlooked when we gave to
this proposition our decided answer ; and
further that we had no power to negociate
for a loan of money ; that our government
had not contemplated such a circumstance
in any degree whatever ; that if we should
stipulate a loan, it would be perfeéily a void
thing, and would only deceive France and
expose ourselves. M. X, again expatiated
on the power and violence of Fraoce ; he
urged the danger of our situation, and prefl
ed the policy of {oftening them and of there
by obtaining time. The present ‘men he
said would very probablg' not continue long
in power ; and it would be very unfortu
nate if thole who might {ucceed, with better
dispositions towards us, should find the two
nations in aftual war. 'We an{wered, that
if a war should be made on us by France,
it would be.fo obviously forced on us, that
en'a thange of men, peace might be made
with as much facility as the present differ
ences could bc_agcgmmoda,tq{, ‘We added,
that aﬁwAméxiea, deprecated a war with
France ; but that our {rcfent Btoation was
more ruinous to us sham a declared war
could be ; that at present our commerce
was plundered unprotefled ; but that if war
was declared, we should seek the means of
protettion. M. X. said, he hoped we
should not form a cosncétion with Britain ;
and we answered, that we hoped (o too;
that we had all been ¢ngaged in our revela.
tion war, and féle its injuries ; that it had
- made thé deepest impression on us; bus
that if France fhould-atick us, we must
seek the best meaos of felf defence. M., X,
again returned to the fubjeft of money ;
said he, gentlemen you do not {peak to. the
poiny; it is money, it is éxpetied that {mi
wiil offer money. We said we Bad {poken
. t 6 that point very explicitly ; we had given
an answer. No, said he you have not
_ what is your answer ? We replied, it isno;
- no ; not a sixpence. He again called our
- attention to the dangers v:hxch threatened
- our country, and asked, if it would not be
prudént, though we might not make a loan
' to' thé nation, to ‘in}eg"é_ﬁ an influential friend
' in our favoar. He fdid we ought to con
fider what men we had to treat with ; that
they dilregarded the justice of oar claims,
and the reasoning with which we might
support them ; that thcﬁy disregarded their
own coloniés ; and considered themselves as
perfe&ly invulnerable with refpe&t to us ;
that we could only acquire an inter est among
them by a judicious dpplication of money ;
and it was for us to confider whether the
situation of our country did not rcquire that
these means should be resorted to.
We observed, that the condu@ of the
French government was such as to leave us
much reason to fear, that should we give
the money it would effe& no good purpose,
and would not produce a jukt mode of tgmk;
ing with relpe€t to us. Proof of this muit
ﬁt%\ be given us. He said, that when we
employed a lawyer we gave him a fee, with
out knowing whether the cause could be
gained or not ; but it was neceflary to have
one, and we paid for his services whether
thole services were fuccefsful or not; so in
the present state of things the money must
be advanced fgg-the good offices the indivi
duals were to render, whateveér might be
the effeéls of thole good offices. We told
him there was no parallel in the cases; that
a lawyer, not being to render the judgment,
could not command f{uccefs : He ¢ould
only endeavour to obtain it: and confe.
3uently we could only pay him for his en
cavors :_But the Dire®ory could decide
oo the iflue of our negocidtion.—lt had
only to order that no more American vessels
should be seized, and to direét those now in
custody to be restored, and there could be
ng opposition to the order. He said, that
~ all the members of the Dire€tory were not
-disposed ta receive our money ; that Merlin
~ for inflance, was paid from another quarter,
- and would touch no part of the douceur
- which was t 6 come fiom us. We replied,
- that we had underflood that Merlin was
paid by the owners of the privateers; and he
nodded an aflent to the fa&t. He proceeded
to press this fubje€t with vast perseverance,
He told us that we paid money to obtain
peace with the Algerines, and with the
Indians ; and that it was doing no moré to
pay France for peace. To this it wds an
swered, that when oar government com.
menced a treaty with Algiers or the Indian
tribes, it was underflood thai money was to
form the basis of the treaty and wis its essen
tial article ; that the wholée nation knéw it,
_and was prepared @ expé€l it as a thing of
course ; but that in treating with France,
our government had {uppofed that a propo
sition fucii as he spoke of, would if made by
us, give mortal offence. He asked if our
government did not know, that nothing was
to be obtained here without money ? We
replied, that our government had not even
fufpeted such a slate of things. He ap
peared surprised at it, and said there was
not an American in Paris who could not
have givén that infofmation. We ‘told
him that the letters of our minister had indi
cated a very contrary temper in the govern
ment of France ; and had reprefénted it as
afling entirely upon principle and as feeling
a very pure and disinterested affeflion for
America. He ldoked somewhat surprised,
and f(aid briskly to General Pinckney ; well
fir, you have been a long timé in France
and in Holland ; what do you think of it ?
General Pinckney answered, that ke con.
fidered M. X. and M., Y. as men of truth,
and of consequence he could have but one
opinion on the fubje®. He stated that
Hambourg and othér fates of Europe were
obliged to buy a peace; and that it would
be equally for 6ur intéreft to do f@. Once
more he spoke of the danger of a breach
with France, and of her power which noth
ing could resist. We told him that it
would be in vain sos us to'deny her power
or the solicitude we felt to avoid a contest
with it ; that no nation estimated her power
more highly than America, or wished more
to be on amicable tefms with her ; but that
one objet was flill dearer to us than the
friendfhip of France which was our national
independénce ; that Ametica had taken a
neutral ftition ; she had a right to take it ;
no nation had a right to force us out of it ;
that teslend a sum of money to a beligerent
power abounding in every thing rc‘?‘uiﬁte
for war but money, was to relinquish our
neutrality and take part in the war ; to lend
this movey under the lash and coercion of’
France, was to relinquith the government
of ourselves, and to submit to a foreign
government imposed upon us by force ;
that we would make at lealt one manly
struggle before we thus surrendered our
national independence : That ourcafe was
different from that of one of the minor.
nations of Europe ; they were unable to
maintain their independence and did not
expeél 10 do {o ; America was a great, and,
so far as concerned her felf-defence, a pow
erful nation ; she was able to maintain her
independence, and must deserve to lose it
if the permitted it to be wrested from her j
.that France and Britain had been at war
near fifty years of the last hundred, and
might probably be at war for fifty years of
the century to come ; that America had no
motives which could induce her to involve
herfelfin those wars ; and thatif The now pre
served her neutrality & her independence,
it was most probable that the would not in
future be afraid, as the had ‘been for four
years past; but if she now surrendered her
rights of {elf-goverament to France, or per
mitted them to be torn from her, the could
not-expeft to recover them, or to remain
neutur in any futuce war, He said that
Fraoce bad ient us money during our reve.
lution war, and only required that we flusuld l
exhibit the fame friendthip for her. We
answered, that the cases were very different;
“that America solicited a loan from France,
and left her at liberty to grane or refufe it :
But France had demanded it from America,
and left us no choice on the fubjel. We
also told him there was another différence
in the caleés ; that the money was lest by
France for great national and French ob
j€&s 3 it was lent to Maim a rival and an
enemy whom she hated : That the money,
if sent by America, would not be for any
American objefls, but to enable France to
extend fiill furthér her conquefls. The
conversation continuedfor nearly two hours;
and the public and private advasce of
money was prelled and reprefled in a variety
of forms. At length M. X. said that he
did not blame us : That our determination
was certainly proper, if we could keep it :
But he thowed decidedly his opinion to be
that we could not keep it. He said that
he would communicate, as pearly as he
could, our conversation to the minister, or
to M. Y. t 0 be given by him to the minis
ter ;we are not certain which. We then
separated. On the 22d of O&ober, M. Z.
a French gentleman of refpe@iable charac.
ter, informed Mr. Gerry that M. Talley
rand, minilter of foreign relations, who pro.!
fefled to be well disposed towards the l}) S.
had expefied to have seen the American
ministers frequently in their private capaci
ties, and to have conferred with them indi
vidually on the objc&ls of their mission ;
and had authorized M. Z. to make this
communication to Mr. Gerry. The latter
sent for his colleagues, and a conference
was held with M. Z. on the fubje&, in
which Gen. Pinckney and Gen. Marthall
exprefled their opinions, that not being ac
quainted with M. Talleyrand, they could
not with prepriety call on him ; but that
according to the culfom of France he might
expeét this of Mr. Gerry from a previous
acquaintance in America. This Mr. Gerry
rc?u&audy complied with on the 23d, and
with M. Z. called on M. Talleyrand, who
not being then at his office, appointed the
28th for the interview. After the fi -t in
trodution; M. Tallevrand begun the con
ference. He said that the Direftory had
pafled an arrette, which he offered for pera
{al, in which they had demanded of the en
voys an explanation of some parts and a
reparation of others, of the President’s
Speech to Congress of the 16th of May lait:
He was sensible, he said, that difficulties
would exist on the part of the envoys rela
tive to this démand, but that by their offer
ing money, he thought he could prevent the
cffe& of the arrette. M. Z. at the requeit
of Mr. Gerry, having stated that the envoys
have no such powers ; M. Talleyrand re
plied, they can in such cale take a power
on themselves, and propoled that they
fhiould make a loan. Mr. Gerry then ad
drefled M. Talleyrand diftinétly in English,
which he said he understood, and ftatéd,
that the nneafine(s of the Dire&ory resulting
from the President’s speech was a fubje&
unconneéted with the objeéts of the mission ¢
That M. Barras in his speech to Mr. Mun.
roe, on his recall, had exprefled himfelf in
a manner displeasing to the government and
citigsens of the U, S. that the President, as
the envoys conceived, had made such obser
vations on Mr. Barras’ {peech as were ne
ceflary to vindicate the honoar.of the U. S.
That this was not considered by our govern
ment as a fubje@® of dispute between the
two nations ; that having no inftru@ions re
{petling it, we could not make any explana
tions or reparation relating to it ; and that
M. Talleyrand himfelf was fufficiently ac
quainted with the coftitution of the U. .
to be convinced of the truth of these obser
vations. Mr, Gerry further stated that the
powers of the envoys, as they conceived,
were adequate to the discussion and adjust
ment of all points of real difference between
the two nations ; that they could alter and
amend the treaty ; or, if necessary, form
a new one ; that the United States
were anxiously desirous of removing
all causes of complaint between them
selves and France; and of renewing
their former friendfhip and intercourse
on terms which should be mutually
honourable and beneficial to the two
nations ; but niot on any other terms ;
that as to a loan, we had mo powers
whaiever to make one ; ‘that if we
were to attempt it we should deceive
himfelf and the dire@ory ; which as
men of honor we could not do ; but
that:we could fend one of our number
for inftru&ions on this proposition, if.
deemed expedient provided that the
other obje&ts of the negociation could
be difcufled and adjusted ; that as he
bad exprefled a desire to confer with
the envoys individually; it was the
wish of Mr¢. Gerry that such a confer
rence should take place and their
opinions thus be ascertained, which he
conceived corresponded with Wis own
in the particulars mentfoned. M. Tal
leyrand in answer said, he fhoeuld be
glad to confer with the other envoys
individually, but that thismatter about
the money must be fettled direly,
without fending to America; that he
would not communicate the arrette
for a week ; and that if we could ad
just the difficalty refpe@ing the {peech,
an application would nevertheless go
to the United States for a loan. A
courier arriving at this moment from
Italy, and M. Talleyrand appearing
impatient to read the letters, Mr.
Gerry took leave of him imediately.
He followed to the door, and desired
M. Z. to repeat to Mr. Gerry what
he, M. Talleyrand had said to him,
Mzt. Gerry then returned to his quar
ters with M. Z, took down the pay
ticulars of his intérview, as before !
stated, sent for Generals Pinckney and i
Marthall and redd it to them in the |
presence of M. Z. who confirped it. 2
Generals Pinckney and Marshall then
desired M. Z. to inform M. Talley- ‘
rand that they had nothing to add to
this conference and did not with the
arrette might be delayed on their ac
count. , b A
The sum of his proposition was,
that if we would pay, by way of fees
(that was his expreflion) the sum of
money demanded for private use, the
Dire€ory would not receive us ; but
would permit us to remain in Paris
as we now were 3 and we should be
received by M. Talleyrand, aatil one
of us could go to America and consult
ogr goverament on the fubje@ of the
loan. Thele were the circumstances,
he said, under which the misifter of
Portugal had treated. We asked him
if, in the mean time, the Diretory
would order the American property
not yet pafied into the hands of pri
vateerfmen, to be restored ? He said
explicitly, that they would not. We
asked him, whether they would sus
pend further depredations on our
commerce ? He said they would not :
But M. Talleyrand observed, that on
this fubje&t we could not sustain much
addidional injury, because the winter
fealon was approaching, when few
additiorial captures could be made.
We toid him that France had taken
violently from America more than
fifteen millions of dollars, and treated
us in every refpe@ as enemies in re
turn for the {riendthip we had mani
fefted for her ; that we had come to
endeavour to restore harmony to the
two nations, and to obtain compensa
tion for the injuries our countrymen
had sustained ; and th&in lieu of this
compensation, we wéfe told that if
we would pay twelve hundred thousand
livres, we might be permitted to re
main in Paris 3 which would only
give us the benefit of feeing plays and
operas of Paris for -the winter, that
we might have time to. ask fromour
country to exhaust her resources for
France, whose depredations would be
continued. He again stated, that
by this procedure we fthould suspend a
war : and that perhaps in fix months
power might change hands.
We told him that what we withed
to fee in France was a temper sincere
ly triendly to the U. S. really dispo
sed to do vl justice ; that if we could
perceive thi\, we might not so much
regard a littléynoney, such as he stated
to be usual, alfough we thould haz
ard ourselves by giving it ; but thas
we (1w only evidefces of the most ex
treme hostility towards us : war was
made upon us so far as France could
makeitin the present state of things, &
it was not even propofed,that on receiv
. ing our money this war should cease.
- We had no reason to believe that a
possible benefit could result from it ;
and we desired him to fay that we
would not give a shilling unless Ame
rican property unjustly captured was
previously restored, and further hostili
ties suspended ; and that unless this
was- done, we did not conceive we
could even consult our jov&n ment
concerning a loan ; thatif the Direc
tory would receive us and commence
nogociations, and.any thing occutred
which rendered a consultation of the
government necessary, one of us would
retern to America for that purpose.
He said that without this money we
should be obliged to quit Paris, and
that we ought to confidér the conse
quences : the property of the Ameri
cans would be confifcated and their
veflels in port embargoed. We told
him that unless there was a hope of
real reconciliation, these evils could
not be prevented by us ; and the lit
tle-delay we might obtain, would only
encreafe them ; that our mission had
induced many of our countrymen to
trust their veflels into the ports of
France, and that if we remained in
Paris, that very circumstance would.
encreafe the number, and consequent
ly the injury which our countrymen
would sustain if France could permit.
Rerfelf to violate her own engagements
and the laws of nations. He expres
sed a with that M. Y. thould fee us
once more. We told him that a vifie
from M. Y. as a private geatieman,
would always be agreeable to us ; but
if he came only with the expe&ation
that we should flipulate advances -
of moaey, without previpufly eftab.
lithing a solid and permanent recon
ciliation, he might fuve himfelf the
trouble of the application, because it
was a {ubje& which he had considered
maturely, and on which he were ime
moveable. He parted with us faying;
if that was the cale, it would not be
©&ober zgth. '
M. X. again called on us. He
said M. Talleyrand was extremely
anxious to be of service to us, and had
requested that one more effort thould
be made to induce us to enable him
to be so. A preat deal of the fame
conversation which had puffed at our
former interviews was repeated. The
power and the haughtinels of France
was agdin displayed to us.” We were
told that the deftrudlion of England
was inevitable ; and that the wealth
and arts of that nation would naturals
ly pass over to America, if that event
thoald find us in peace, To this ob
lecvation we replied,that France would
probably forbid America to receive
them, in like manner as she had for
bid Switzerland to permit the resi
dence in its country of a Britith mi
nister. We told him also, that we
were sensible of the value of peace,
and therefore fought it unremiiting
'y, but that it was real peace we fought
for, and real peace only which could
be desirable.