COPY OF THE SECOND LETTER FROM MONSIEUR OSTER, THE VICE CONSUL OF FRANCE, TO THE GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA.-No. 2.

Translation.

Sir,

Norfolk, November 11, 1787.

The 2d of last month I had the honor of giving you an account of the motives which determined me to act with severity against a French captain named Joseph Marie Anne Ferrier; and as this criminal had accomplices, that it was my duty to search them out. I, at the same time, requested that your Excellency would be pleased to grant me the necessary orders to claim them, and arrest them in whatever district of the State they might be found.

My letter to your Excellency on this subject being still unanswered-not knowing whether the honorable Council have any reasons why they should not grant my request-and it being necessary, on this occasion, to justify my conduct, I once more take the liberty, sir, to request that you will be so good as to grant me the order mentioned in my aforesaid letter; and if there is no objection against its being made out for me, I beg that you will include therein Captain Ferrier, who was taken from his prison by surprise, and liberated, the 7th instant, by virtue of a simple writ, obtained by a person called Breton, on an ill-founded claim for fifty pounds.

This surprise having happened on board a French vessel, and through a frivolous pretext, it cannot be dissembled that it is absolutely contrary to good order, to the confidence and security of commerce, which nations, closely united by solemn treaties, are interested in supporting and encouraging in their respective possessions. It is accordingly in consequence of these principles that, in quality of his Majesty's Vice Consul in the republic of Virginia, I take the first opportunity of complaining to your Excellency on this subject, and of claiming, in the strongest terms, your good offices and authority, that, on such occasions in future, measures may be adopted as will not counteract the functions entrusted to me respecting the French subjects depending on my vice consulate, and particularly such as are criminal and within my power, as was Captain Ferrier.

Agreeably to all publications on the subject of the rights of nations allied in a double point of view, such as France and the United

States happily are, Captain Ferrier ought never to have been entirely withdrawn from under my dependence. As a criminal, and publicly acknowledged such, the sheriff who took him, instead of giving him his liberty with bail, and without any particular reason, ought to have held him a prisoner in the prison of the country, and to have kept him there until he had satisfied his engagements, and afterwards returned him to me. This officer should the rather have acted in this manner as he knew that I had obtained permission from the chief magistrate in Norfolk to apprehend the criminal.

This opinion, which arises from the principles of that justice which nations ought to cultivate, and which is the basis of all society, as well as the safest bond of commerce, I am persuaded that your Excellency will think so likewise, and grant that, without this virtue, which ought to be respected, human society would degenerate to a band of ruffians.

Such, sir, are the reasons on which I found the claim which I take the liberty of now making on your authority and influence, in order to prevent, in future, through frivolous pretexts, that the law respecting debtors be not used in favor of French transgressors, who shall be found amenable to the ordinances of his Majesty, without infringing those of the republic over which you with so much wisdom preside.

I have the honor, &c.

FROM GOVERNOR RANDOLPH TO MONSIEUR OSTER, VICE CONSUL OF

FRANCE.

Sir,

Richmond, November 22, 1787.

As soon as the Council had decided on your application of the 2d ultimo, for aid in the execution of your authority upon a French subject charged with an offence against the laws of France, I did myself the honor, by a private hand, of informing you of the result. I now find, by your letter of the 11th instant, received late last evening, that my letter had not reached you. I therefore now repeat that it is the opinion of the Executive that they cannot interfere or lend assistance in the case which you mentioned. This opinion proceeds not from any disinclination to support the consular power, but from

the fixed principle of our Government that no authority can be exercised by any body of men to whom it has not been duly delegated. The only law existing on this subject is one passed in 1780, and of which you have a full knowledge. I must, therefore, refer you to it, and doubt not that you will discover from thence that it would not justify us in granting the process which you wish.

Extract of a Law of the State of Virginia, entitled An Act for the Protection and Encouragement of the Commerce of such Powers as have acknowledged the Independence of the United States of America.-October, 1779.

"It shall be lawful for the said Consul to take cognizance of all differences, controversies, and litigations arising between subjects or citizens of his own State only, and finally to determine and compose them according to such rules or laws as he shall think fit, and such determinations to carry into execution. And where he shall require aid for executing the same, it shall be lawful for the Governor, with the advice of the Council of State, using their discretion therein, to order any sheriff within his own county, or any military officer whatsoever, to execute, or to aid and assist in executing, any such determination; provided the same does not extend to life or limb of the offender. Where any sailor, seaman, or marine, belonging to any vessel of such State within this Commonwealth shall desert or be found wandering from his vessel, it shall be lawful for the master of such vessel to reclaim such sailor, seaman, or marine, notwithstanding they may in the meanwhile have been naturalized in this Commonwealth; and any justice of the peace to whom the master shall apply shall grant his warrant for taking and conveying such sailor, seaman, or marine, from constable to constable, to the said vessel; or on application from the Consul, the Governor, with the advice of the Council of State, may issue such orders to any sheriff, constable, or military officer, who shall yield due obedience thereto."

FROM JOHN JAY TO THE MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY OF FRANCE. New York, May 29, 1788.

Sir,

I have received the letter you did me the honor to write yesterday. As soon as the papers which accompanied it can be translated they

shall be laid before Congress, and nothing on my part shall be omitted to expedite the business they respect.

I have the honor to be, &c.,

JOHN JAY.

REPORT OF JOHN JAY TO CONGRESS.

Office for Foreign Affairs, June 6, 1788.

The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred a note from the Minister Plenipotentiary of France, dated the 28th May, with the paper that accompanied it, reports:

That this note, for the facts and reasons therein set forth, contains a requisition that Joseph Marie Anne Ferrier, a Frenchman, now in the Commonwealth of Virginia, be delivered to the orders of his most Christian Majesty; and this note also urges Congress to ratify the consular convention heretofore concluded in behalf of the two countries by their respective Ministers.

With respect to the requisition, your Secretary is of opinion, as the facts and circumstances alleged in the note are so stated as at least to imply a complaint against the Executive of Virginia, that a copy of the said note, and of the papers which accompanied it, should, previous to any other steps or measures, be transmitted to his Excellency the Governor of that Commonwealth, and that he be requested to communicate to Congress such information on the subject as may appear to him proper and necessary.

With respect to the consular convention, it does not seem necessary that any further communication relative to it be made to the Minister, than that instructions on that head have been given to Mr. Jeffer

son.

All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.

JOHN JAY.

FROM JOHN JAY TO THE GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA.

Sir,

Office for Foreign Affairs, June 13, 1788.

In pursuance of the orders of Congress I have the honor of transmitting to your Excellency, herewith enclosed, copies of a note from the Minister of France, dated the 28th ultimo, and of the papers

which accompanied it, to the end that you may communicate to Congress the necessary information on the subject. I am also directed to signify to your Excellency that it is the sense of Congress that Joseph Marie Anne Ferrier, mentioned in the said note, ought to be apprehended in order to be dealt with according to the nature of the case. With sentiments of esteem and respect, &c.,

JOHN JAY.

Extract from the Secret Journal of Foreign Affairs, June 13th, 1788. "The committee, consisting of Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Dane, Mr. Dayton, Mr. Otis, and Mr. Carrington, to whom was referred a report of the Secretary for Foreign Affairs on a note from the Minister Plenipotentiary of France, of the 28th May, report,

"That it appears by the said note and the papers which accompany it, that the person mentioned therein, to wit: Joseph Marie Anne Ferrier, commander of the brig David, is, in substance, charged with betraying his trust, and running away with a cargo of coffee; that the execution of his design is alleged to have been begun at the Cape, continued by certain acts on the high seas, and completed in the Commonwealth of Virginia: Whereupon,

"Resolved, That the Secretary for Foreign Affairs be, and he is hereby, directed to transmit the said note of the Minister Plenipotentiary of France, of the 28th May last, to the Executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia, to the end that the said Executive may communicate to Congress the necessary information on the subject; and also to signify to the said Executive that it is the sense of Congress that the said Joseph Marie Anne Ferrier ought to be apprehended in order to be dealt with according to the nature of the case; and that the said Secretary be, and is hereby, directed to inform the said Minister Plenipotentiary that instructions have already been given to the Minister of the United States at the Court of France concerning the consular convention referred to in his note."

Sir,

FROM THE COUNT DE MOUSTIER TO JOHN JAY.

Translation.

New York, August 11, 1788.

I have the honor to inform you that I am on the point of setting out on a journey, the duration of which I cannot foresee; and that