the United States with regard to the proposed mediation, and that his Majesty should be authorised by Congress to give notice of their dispositions to all the powers, who would take part in the negotiation for a pacification. The Minister delivered his own opinion, that he saw no inconveniency arising from the Congress imitating the example of the King, by showing themselves disposed to accept peace from the hands of the Emperor of Germany and the Empress of Russia. He added, that Congress should rely on the justice and wisdom of those two Sovereigns; and at the same time, he renewed the assurances, that his Majesty will defend the cause of the United States as zealously as the interests of his own Crown.

He informed the committee, that according to all accounts, the British Ministry were removing as far as possible, in this negotiation, every idea of acknowledging the independence of what they call their Thirteen Colonies; and he said, that Congress would judge by themselves, that the Court of London would debate with the greatest energy and obstinacy the articles relating to America. He availed himself of this reflection to impress the committee with the necessity Congress are under, of securing in their favor the benevolence and good will of the mediating powers, by presenting their demands with the greatest moderation and reserve, save independence, which will not admit of any modification. He further observed, that it was possible the difficulty of making a definitive peace might engage the mediators to propose a truce; and that it was necessary, therefore, to au61

VOL. X.

thorise eventually the Plenipotentiary of the United States to declare their intention thereon.

He further observed, that whatever might be the resolution of Congress, they would do well to recommend to their Plenipotentiary to adopt a line of conduct, that would deprive the British of every hope of causing divisions between the allies, and to assume a conciliating character, as much as can be consistent with the dignity of his constituents, and to show such a confidence in the Plenipotentiary of his Most Christian Majesty, as is due to a power so much interested to support the dignity and honor of a nation, whose independence they have acknowledged,

The Minister told the committee, that whatever might be the resolution of Congress, respecting a peace or a truce, it was necessary to carry on the war with the utmost vigor. He urged reasons too well known to Congress to be related.

He desired the committee to inform Congress, that in case the offer of mediation from the two Imperial Courts should become so serious and so pressing, as to oblige the King to give a decisive answer, his Majesty would accept of it conditionally for himself and for the United States. The taking this resolution would have no inconvenience, as the Court of France knew no reasons, which could prevent them from following the example of the King, by trusting their interests in the hands of just and wise mediators, and the refusal being liable to very dangerous consequences. The Minister concluded the conference by observing, that a great object was to secure the United States from the proposition of uti possidetis; that the surest

to reduce the English to

way to obtain that end was confess, that they are not able to conquer them. That present circumstances require great exertions from the consideration, and that it was plain that every success gained by the army of Congress would infinitely facilitate the negotiations of their Plenipotentiaries.*

CONGRESS TO THE KING OF FRANCE.

The United States in Congress assembled, to their Great Faithful and Beloved Friend and Ally, Lewis the Sixteenth, King of France and Navarre.

Great, Faithful, and Beloved Friend and Ally, We have received your Majesty's letter of the 10th of March. The measures adopted by your Majesty in consequence of the representation made of the situation of our finances, the repeated testimonies of your Majesty's unalterable determination to render the cause of the United States triumphant, and also the affection, which your Majesty has been pleased to express for the United States in general, and for each State in particular, demand from us the strongest sentiments of gratitude.

* June 6th. "Resolved, That the Minister Plenipotentiary, be authorised and instructed to concur, in behalf of these United States, with his Most Christian Majesty, in accepting the mediation proposed by the Empress of Russia and the Emperor of Germany; but to accede to no treaty of peace, which shall not be such, as may effectually secure the independence and sovereignty of the Thirteen States, according to the form and effect of the treaties subsisting between the said States and his Most Christian Majesty, and in which the said treaties shall not be left in their full force and validity."

The important communications made by your Majesty's Plenipotentiary have been considered by us with the greatest attention. The result of our deliberations will be made known to your Majesty by our Minister Plenipotentiary at your Court, and will evince the entire confidence we have in your Majesty's friendship and perseverance in the principles, which have directed your conduct in maintaining the interest of the United States to this time.

We pray God, that he wfil keep your Majesty, our great, faithful, and beloved friend and ally, in his holy pro

tection.

Done at Philadelphia, the 13th day of June, in the year of our Lord, 1781, and in the fifth year of our independence.

By the United States in Congress assembled.

Your Faithful Friends and Allies.

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, President.

CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.

TO GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Translation.

Philadelphia, June 1st, 1781.

Sir,

I have received the letter, which your Excellency did me the honor to write on the 23d of the past month, and that of the Count de Rochambeau, with which it was accompanied.

I wait with extreme impatience the news of the arrival of the French division before New York, and no one can desire more earnestly than I do to see it under your im

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mediate command. I hoped that you would have been this spring in the command of a more considerable body of auxiliaries. The causes, which have hindered the execution of that plan, have been so urgent and so decisive, that I am sure you will approve them, after I shall have had the honor of making you acquainted with them. I have nevertheless been much pained, that I could not explain to you this change of measures, and my attachment to the cause, which you defend, has made me feel as sensibly as any citizen of America all the delays, that could happen to the assistance, which we wish to give to the Thirteen States.

I am impressed with the necessity of maintaining a perfect confidence with your Excellency upon these different points, and I shall seize the first occasion which presents itself to visit your army.

In the meantime I shall transmit to the Count de Grasse what your Excellency did me the honor to communicate. Be persuaded that I shall use the most pressing motives to determine him, and I shall do it with so much the more zeal, as I feel the necessity of it. I shall transmit to that General an extract of your letter, and I know nothing more likely to give weight to the demand, which I shall make of him.

The King has charged me, Sir, to inform Congress, that he grants them a gratuitous subsidy to enable them to make the greatest efforts in the course of this campaign. This subsidy, amounting to six millions of livres tournois, is to be employed in the purchase of arms, ammunition, and clothing, and it is the intention of the King, that the surplus shall be at the disposal of Congress. I have not been instructed as to what will be the exact amount of