into consideration before the departure of the packet, which is fixed for the 10th of next month, and to send Mr. Jefferson such instructions as they may judge proper.

I have the honor to be, &c.,

THE COUNT DE MOUSTIER.

NOTE. [Translation.]

The undersigned, Minister Plenipotentiary of France, has the honor of informing the United States in Congress assembled, that he has received an order from his Court to demand the delivery of a French captain, who has been guilty of a crime, the punishment of which is equally interesting to every commercial nation.

Joseph Marie Anne Ferrier, a native of Cette, in Languedoc, commanding the brig David, was despatched from the Cape, in the Island of St. Domingo, for Nantz, the 1st July, 1787, with a cargo of one hundred thousand pounds weight of coffee belonging to different persons. Under pretence of some leaks which were discovered in his vessel, he directed his course for Norfolk, in Virginia, where he arrived the 26th of the same month.

The Sieur Oster, the King's Vice Consul, having gone on board to visit the vessel and appoint inspectors, in order to prove her condition, in conformity with his Majesty's ordinances, found, from the depositions of some passengers, that the said Ferrier had not intended to go to France, as he had only taken in provisions for fifteen days; that the evening before he left the Cape, he clandestinely sold a part of his cargo; that, in order for a pretext to stop at Virginia, and there sell his vessel, he had several leaks made on purpose in the hold, by which twelve thousand pounds of coffee were damaged, which the Sieur Oster was obliged to order to be sold at auction; that he had wickedly thrown overboard an anchor of seven hundred and fifty pounds, and a large cable of one hundred and twenty fathoms, some topmasts, and other things belonging to his brig. In short, to conceal his misdemeanors, he kept at sea a false journal, which he signed himself, and caused his mate and crew to do the same, in order to make it appear that he had been obliged to renounce his voyage to Nantz, and stop at the Chesapeake.

Captain Ferrier being informed of these depositions, and fearing

the consequences of his crime, deserted with his mate and the other accomplices, but he was taken by the inhabitants and brought back to the Sieur Oster, who sent him prisoner on board the French ship the Jason, after permission obtained from the Mayor of Norfolk. The culprit underwent an examination on the 6th December, and confessed the crime of which he was accused. The process being finished, the Sieur Oster called an assembly of the merchants belonging to his nation, in which it was resolved that Ferrier should be sent to Nantz, to be judged by the officers of the admiralty. He wrote, at the same time, to the Governor of Virginia, giving him an account of all these particulars, and requesting the consent of the Council to send the said Ferrier to France in the vessel which he had commanded. He received no answer to this letter, which was dated the 2d October, copy of which (No. 1.) is annexed; but on the 7th November a sheriff went on board the French ship with a writ to arrest the said Ferrier as a debtor for fifty pounds to a Frenchman, resident at Norfolk. The criminal was accordingly liberated, after giving bail to appear at the first county court. The Sieur Oster wrote a second time to the Governor, complaining of this irregular procedure, and reclaiming not only the captain, but the other criminals. He received no answer but the ones annexed, (Nos. 2, 3.)

After these particulars, the undersigned has the honor to represent, that it is very surprising that, notwithstanding the official information which had been given the 2d October concerning the crimes of which Captain Ferrier had been convicted, he should be liberated the 7th November under pretence of a civil action of fifty pounds; that, condemned in irons, on board a French vessel, by the Consul of his nation, and with the consent of the Mayor of Norfolk, he was taken away on a suit brought by a Frenchman, who ought to have acknowledged the jurisdiction and authority of his Consul, but who very likely was in concert with the criminal to effect his escape; in short, that the magistrates have facilitated this escape, without any regard to the complaints which were made by his Majesty's Vice Consul, a conduct the more extraordinary as by a law of 1779 the State of Virginia authorizes the Consuls of Powers which have acknowledged the independence of the United States to claim the deserters from the vessels of their nations, to judge differences between their subjects agreeably to the laws of the country, and to

execute their sentences, provided they do not pronounce corporal punishment. It was in consequence of this law that the Sieur Oster obtained full and entire satisfaction in August, 1784, in a case similar to the one in question.

But even were this Vice Consul unsupported by any particular law, he might found his claim on the common rights of nations, on the mutual ties between allied Powers, on the treaty of commerce, and the consular convention, which was the consequence of it, on the procedure which took place in a similar case in 1784, on the reciprocity invariably established in France, on the interests of every commercial nation, that a crime of this nature should not remain unpunished; in short, on the dignity of Virginia, which would be particularly exposed, if one could suspect that State of encouraging and protecting villains proscribed by the laws of every civilized nation.

In consequence of these observations, the undersigned, Minister, has received orders to claim the criminal, and if by a connivance, which is not very likely, and which would be very wide of the principles of justice and moderation which Virginia has so often displayed, Captain Ferrier has found means of escaping, he demands to be informed of the motives that determined the magistrates to pay no respect to the well founded and pressing claims of the Vice Consul of France, and to elude not only the law which was passed in 1779, but the principles which form the basis of every consular establishment, which are formally adopted by the convention between his Majesty and the United States, signed by the respective Plenipotentiaries, and which have been hitherto religiously observed in the Kingdom with respect to the citizens of the United States.

The undersigned, Minister, has the honor of reminding, on this occasion, the United States in Congress assembled, agreeably to an express order received from his Court, of the necessity of concluding, as speedily as possible, the last formalities, which may have been neglected, in order to give every suitable effect to the aforesaid convention, and to represent to them the propriety of giving definitive instructions on this head to their Minister Plenipotentiary near his Majesty.

The interest which the King has always taken in the prosperity of the commerce between the Kingdom and the United States, is manifested on every occasion too evidently for his Majesty not to

expect on their part every necessary step to secure a perfect reciprocity, the only solid basis on which the advantages granted by his Majesty to the commerce of the United States can exist. THE COUNT DE MOUSTIER.

New York, May 28, 1788.

COPY OF THE FIRST LETTER WRITTEN BY MONSIEUR OSTER, THE KING'S VICE CONSUL, TO MR. RANDOLPH, GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, REFERRED TO AS NO. 1.

Translation.

Norfolk, October 2, 1787.

Sir,

I have the honor to inform your Excellency that on the 26th July last there entered this port the brig David, Captain Joseph Marie Anne Ferrier, of the city of Cette, in Languedoc, under pretence of distress, and that on examination of the conduct of the captain by myself, he being now in my power, as also from the depositions made in my presence, it appears, and is proved:

That Captain Ferrier sailed the first July last, from the Cape for Nantz, with a cargo on freight of above one hundred thousand pounds weight of coffee, belonging to different persons;

That he had but fifteen days' provisions for his passage, which evidently proves that it was not his intention to go to the place of his destination;

That the evening before his departure from the Cape, whilst in the road, he sold and clandestinely delivered in the night a great part of his cargo;

That a few days after he also sold at sea another part of his cargo to a captain of a sloop, which followed him, and with whom he had agreed at the Cape;

That to accomplish this collusion, he, together with his mate, named Bastard, corrupted the crew, and forced a passenger to participate in his robbery;

That to excuse his stopping, and to cause damage, in order to oblige his vessel to be sold, he made two leaks, one in the hold, and the other in the gun-room, which occasioned forty inches water, and

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damaged twelve thousand pounds of coffee, which I ordered to be sold at public sale, in order to avoid a total loss;

That in order to give a better appearance to his fraudulent and affected stopping, he wickedly threw into the sea an anchor of seven hundred and fifty pounds, a large cable of one hundred and twenty fathoms, topmasts, yards, and a quantity of other things belonging to his brig;

And, in short, to cover his misconduct with some show of speciousness, he kept at sea two journals, the one true, the other false, and he also fabricated a false verbal process, which he dared to affirm as true, and signed it, and caused it to be signed by his crew, with intent to prove that he had been obliged to renounce his voyage to Nantz, and to put in wherever he could.

All these facts being authentically proved, I propose, sir, with your Excellency's consent, to send the criminal to France, in his own vessel, with the instructions of his process agreeably to the ordinances, to be judged according to the exigency of the case by the officers of the admiralty of Nantz, where the vessel will be discharged.

As the sending of him away ought immediately to take place, as also the punishment of his crime being necessary for the support of good order and the public confidence, I hope that your Excellency and the honorable Council will approve of the same, and that you will be pleased, sir, to acknowledge as soon as possible the receipt of this letter.

The following persons, having been Captain Ferrier's accomplices, viz: Joseph Bastard, Joseph Grance, Louis Borniche, Jean Marie Jouy, Noel Kequelay, Jean Aubert, Jean La Pierre, Jean Jacques, and Jean Claude Martel, all composing the crew of the brig David, from which they have deserted, and the duty of my office compelling me to seize all the abettors if possible, I must request your Excellency to grant me the necessary order, or warrant, for the purpose of apprehending them, by means of constables or other officers of justice belonging to the State. If nothing, as I conceive, prevents the granting of this order to me, I must earnestly request, sir, that you will be kind enough to send it to me as soon as it shall be made out. It will particularly serve to justify my diligence.

I have the honor to be, &c.