Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1799-11-15

rec -ti~, NVlicn IN Fr9ncc h. lid not take iuch
Esp, IS wonld certainly have invoked his country
io war yf.'h ,hat marion; and beeaHfc, iince hi,
return 70 America, he has contrary 70 the vihe,
OF that party ezpres.d Ais conviction chat The sc.
Vsrur. u. o! France vas !etiou4y dapo,ed 10 ac
co-nuoda,c al, The esiaing d.iputes between
trance anil the United States In this ,etser OF
Mr. Gerry n ntcs the following expire riols -
4" his confider a. wy dairy; for vlG :he 20.
ycrnm:nt n,spiFelcd in their innruaions, a iuG
indignation At the treatment which their enjoys
had received, Il evinced dipo6:ion fo- peace;
and as far al could Judge, rhe fanc temper now
cxi.tsd on tho part "i France" Again he flvs-
Thr iaG was As aicertailcd, 20 my iatis!aeSion, !
thar after the arrival 81 the tifpatches aud ether
Intelligence from The Uu;ted States, the executive
dire9orv srprchsndcd, If niiuiaer was lrnt there
thas he wouiC tot be aecreiited ard that over
lures, any pan unaeconlpaniUd by niini}er (
would nice, fimiisr fate" Before the ar
rival of the dispatches Of the ENJOYS, the innincr
appeared TO me iincere ard anxious to obtain a
reconciliation. lie had propoied by his fecretsry
al aGump,ion Of the debts due american eti
zens, which rejeGled; bu; he had made 10 other
propoiilion Of alo2n whatever, and never renewed
that Indeed his views in general as far as could
| then aicertaiu them, were liberal in regard to
treaty il il nevcrthelels impoiiblc for me to de-
termine, whether we hould have united in opini-
on, in every point Of diipute between the r,pub-
[ lic,.' And he adds" On The 10th Of Mir |
left Pars and from the BET information which
could obtain, relative to the difpolition OF the
executive directory (for never had any direct
communication with them) they were very dc
irons Of reconciliation between the two Tepub
lies. Every impcdir'ent TO my departure had
been adopted by the French min;ler; and he
would have prevented il, had ne iuceecdei in hi,
plan OF an epiitolary dicuiiion: hts ohjett was a.
conceived. 20 gan time tor alcertaining whe her
the u. States were thea difpofed 70 4 treaty; of
this he mancfcS coubts, being per.uaded tlat heir
recruitment was too great 90 admit Off. II. fecn,-
ca alto 10 apprehend, that in confequence of the
credible exertions of Great Britain, and the
ulcquivocal evidences ihe had given Of her ability
Itc defend hertef they were inclined TO agengc
their injuries, by an alliance with her ard thar
! lhOuld France come forward with overtures, or
the plan Of treaty, ihe would iail therein aud
e0rproraitssacr honor'' a, IL ought 20 REQUIRE
lomehpg than alertons on your part, to
do away the ltrcrg impreiIions which theie doeu
n'en's mntt make On the public mind, Of the fin
certify o che French government in tlefe overtures
for reconciliation, will lxaminc the reafons by
which you cndcavour TO jul:y thu; afr -tion but
will rot taSc any notice of the liSeral abufe that
your letter contains Of the French ration which
! would he unjuNiiabe in any man, but is much
more 20, when 1t proceeds from man In a pubic
ehaiaterr, under government whole real inserel
Il is 20 preisFye peace ana harmony between the
! two republics.
The iirR thing you rely on to fupport
your opinioDi, that this declaration on the
| part o!rhe French, of with to bring about |
! reconciliation, +" was accompanied by no lnb |
! ltantal change OF mesfures towards Ameri- |
ca" To judge of the force which this ar. |
gument ought to carry with it, it ihould be
recoilected, thar material complaints between |
The two nations, had preceded the prefent
Rate OF things; and that each fulfilled
her Pretsnt coadu6 by what ihe called the !
former improper conduit of the other This
beng the cafe, 1t ought not 10 hove been
expected, that either nation would, by to
tai change OF that part of her conduit which
was complained Of by the other. make an sc.
kno"'edGment prior TO the difculiion of
their complaints that fie had been the par
y giving jua caule of complaint this was al
that could be expected in treaty, proceed
ing from the mott liberal and difpaGionate
confederation Of the matters in difpute. If
our government feels a conicioulneis ofhav-
ing acted properly towards France, II ought
to admit It to be poiiible at leaf, that the +
government Of France, entertains the fame
idea OF Its conduct towards America. and IS
this IS really the cafe, America had no more
right 10 iuppofe that France ought to Ct anoe
her preient hottie conduct towards Aneri-
ca than France had 10 expect, that Ame-
RIGA would abandon her hottie meafnrea to-
wards her, piior 10 dfcuiIion and fet,le-
nent OF then exiting difputss. And fla.
mcr'ea has reiinquiihed none of tho(e mea.
lures, iinee the appointment Of minifers TO
treat WITH France, her not having done 20
may be urged at leaf with as much pIasfbi-
MY to prove the want of fincerity on the
Part OF our government, as the perfiffiug IN
Their former line or conduet has been uroed
by you, TO provc that the French goyeso-
'hent wa7 not fincere ih its protection, Of
Win 10 bring about peace. he next niece
OF evidence whieh you bring to fupyort your
opinion IS that the correfpondence be- |,
ween hir. Tslisyrar ps clerk, and our mi
nl1er IN Holland, which was carried on with
ne grestelt apparent ulyfery, and tranfnit-
.sd 70 the prsideut with particular and unu-
ua' precautions,- wac nevertheless lsnt.
ion5Ilcb b Mr. TaIleyrand's order. for bis
:ierS would not Of himtef have ventured on
och itcP 10 Gazette in this CITY, which
notorou.iy ~ the iulercG and fufpeS9ed on !
sood grounds Of Eeing in the pay of the
rFsnch goV:rhneut and in that Gazette
vas Po5iilh-dp Admit the whole of
MS ltatemsnt to be true, and what does il +,
lruVc that the French oovrrrrncrt L.;,,,