CONGRESS,
HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES.
~T
Monday, January 21.
The following mefiage was this day receiv
ed from the President of the United States.
Gentlemen of the Senate, isf
Gentlemen of the House of Representatives
ACCORDING'to an intimation in my
meflage of Friday last, I now lay before Con
gress a report of the Secretary of State,
containing his observations on some of the
documents which attended it.
JOHN ADAMS.
January 21, 1799-
TO THE
PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES.
The Secretary of State refpedtfijlly sub
mits the following report on the tranfa&ions
relating to the United States arid France lines
the l ift communications to on that
fubjea. TIMOTHY ITCKERiNG.
Department of State,
January 18, 1799- 5
- *
R E P O R T,
Of the SECRETA.tr of Sr.iTE, on the. Tran- j
tactions relating to tie United States and
France, since toe Itist communications to
Cor.gress on that subject.
THE points < hiefly meriting attention,
are the attempts of the French, government,
I. To exculpate itfelf from the charge of
corruption, as having demanded a douceur of
Fifty Thousand Pounds flerling (m,ooo
dollars) for the pockets of the Directors and
Miniftrrs, as represented in the dispatches of
our Envoys :
11. To detach Mr. Gerry from his col
leagues, and to inveigle hint into a separate
negotiation ; and
IH. Its delign, if the negotiation failed,
and a war (hould take place between the Unit
ed States and France, to throw the blame of
the rupture on the United States.
1. The dispatches of the Envoys publillied
in the United States, and republifhed in En
gland, reached Paris towards th? last of May :
and 011 the 30th of that month, the French
minifler, Mr. Talleyrand, affedling an entire
ignorance of the persons designated by the
letters W. X. Y. and Z.—calling them in
triguers, whole obj'eft was to deceive the
Envoys—writes to Mr. Gerry, and " prays
him immediately to make known to him
their names."
Mr. Gerry, in his answer of the 31ft,
wishes to evade Mr. Talleyrand's re que ft ;
and with reason, for he and his colleagues
had " promised MefTrs; X. and Y. tliaȣfl>
names Ihould in no event be made public."
Mr. Gerry in his letter of Oftober 1, in no
ting the repetition ot Mr. Talleyrand's re
quell for t-hofe names, states as an objedlion
to giving them up " that they could be other
wise afcertainedand that Mr. Talleyrand's
melL-nger, admitting the faft that they
were already known, immediately men
tioned their names. Mr. Gerty ntfverthe
lefs certified in writing the names of X. Y.
and Z ; with the irferve " that they Ihould
not be publillied on his authority and be
lides jormally certifying to Mr. Talleyrand
the names of his own private agents, added,
that " they did not produce, to his knowledge
credentials or documents of any kijxl."—
" Credentials" in writing were certainly not
to be expe&ed to be produced by agents em
ployed to make corrupt propositions : but
Mr. Gerry had Mr. Talleyrand's twn aflu
rance that Mr. Y was atting by his authori
ty. It is recited in the Envoy's dispatches,
and upon Mr. Gerry's own report to his col
leagues, that on the 17th of December, 1797,
Mr. Y " stated to him that two measures
which Mr. Talleyrand proposed, being adopt
ed, a restoration of friendJhip between the
republics would follow immediately the
one was a gratuity of Jipy thousand pounds
sterling ; the other a purchase of thirty two
millions of Dutch refcriptions," and after
converfmg on these topics, Mr. Gerrv and
Mr. Y rode to Mr. Talleyrand's office,
where " Mr. Gerry observed to Mr. Talley
rand, that Mr. Y had stated to him that
morning some propositions as coming from
Mr. Talleyrand, re f peeling which, Mr. Ger
ry could give no opinion," and after making
some other observations, Mr. Talleyrand an
swered " that the information Mr. Y ' had
given him (Mr. Gerry) was just and might
always be relied on." This declaration
stamps with the ministers authority, all the
communications made by Mr. Y to'the En
voys. And Mr. Y himfelf, who" is Mr,
Bellamy, of Hamburgh, in his pubKi vindi
cation, declares, that " he had done Jtothiug,
Cud nothing, and written nothing, without
the oilers of Citizen Tally raid." The fame
may be aflerted in regard to Mr. X, for he
firft introduced Mr. Y to the Envoys ; and
his separate comunications were fubftarttially
the fame with thole of Y, and both together
were present with the Envoys when the cbrff
munications wer£ more than once repeated.
It also def-rves notice, that in dating the
preliminary demands of the FrencU govern
ment, the pmate agents, X and Y, and the
minifiedufe a fimifar language. Til? agents
declare, that the Directory are extremely IK
rits'ted at the speech of the President, and re
M quire an, explanation of some parts of it, and
reparation fox others j that this must give
pain to the envoys, but the diredlory would
not dispense with it : And that as to the
means of averting the demand concerning
the President's speech, the Envoys must
search for them, and propose them, them
selves. Being a'fked to suggest the means,
the answer is " money"—the pure Wife of the
Dutch refcriptions, and " the fifty thousand
pounds flerling, as a douceur to the Direc
tory."
The Minister told the Envoys, that the
Direttory were wounded by the President's
speech ; and in his conversation with Mr.
Gerry on the 28th of Odlober, skid, " the
Direftory had pa (Ted an arret, which he of
fered for perusal, in which they had demand
ed of the Envoys an explanation of some
parts, and a reparation for others, of the Pre
sident's speech to Congress of the 16th of
May, 1797 ; that he was fenlible that diffi
culties would exist on the part of the En
voys relative to this demand ; but that by
their offering money he thought he could pre
vent the effedt of the arret. Mr. Z. (the
" interpreter") at the request of Mr. Gerry,
having stated that the Envoys have no such
powers, Mr. Talleyrand replied, they can in
such cafe take a power on themselves ; and
proposed that they (hould make a " loan."
But this " loan," as will presently appear,
did not mean the " money," which would
" prevent the effedt of the arret." Mr. Ger
ry then making some observations, on the
powers of the Envoys—that they " were
adequate to the difculfion and adjustment 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
added, " that as to a loan, they had no
powers whatever to make one, but that they
could fend one of their uumber for inftiuc
tions on this proposition, if deemed expedi
ent " That as he [Mr. Talleyrand] had
exprefled a desire to confer with the Envoys
individually, it was the wifli of Mr. Gerry
that such a conference Ihould take place, and
their opinions thus be alcertained." " Mr.
Talleyrand, in answer, said, he Ihould be glad
to confer with the other Envoys, individu
ally, but that this matter about the money
must be settled directly without fending to
America ; that he would not communicate
the arret for a week ; and that if we could
adjust the difficulty refpe&ing the speech, an
application would nevertheless go to the
United Statesfora loan Vow this matter
of the MONEr that must be settled directly,
could only refer to the douceur ; tor a loan in
the purchase of millions of Dutch refcripti
ons, or in any other form, could only be the
fubjedl of a stipulation to be afterwards ful
filled,by the United States ; but the douceur
of fifty thuufands pounds flerling, was a sum
within the immediate reach of the Envoys ;
for their credit would certainly command it:
in fadl, a mercantile house had offered to an
swer their draughts j and this, Mr. Tal
leyrand unquestionably well knew; for it
was a member of houfe who firft in
troduced the minifler's agent, Mr. X, to Ge
neral Pinckney, in the manner stated in the
Envoys' dispatches. A collateral evidence
that in " this matter of the money that must
be fettled directly," Mr. Talleyrand referred
only to the douceur, arises from this circum
stance : The very next day (Odlober 29th)
Mr. X called 011 the Envoys and said, " Mr.
Talleyrand was extremely anxious to be of
service to them, and had requested that one
more effort Ihould be made to induce us to
enable him to be so." After a great deal of
'the fama co"nverfation which had passed at
former interviews had been repeated, the En
voys fay—" the sum of this proposition was,
that if we would pay by way of fees (that
was his expression) the sum of money de
manded for private use, the Directory
would not receive us, but would permit us
to remain in Paris as we now were ; and we
should be received by Mr. Talleyrand, until
one of us could go to America and consult our
government on the subject of a loan."
Although the Envoy's dispatches, and the
i'afts and circumstances herein before stated,
cannot leave a doubt that X, as well as Y and
Z, was well known to Mr. Talleyrand, it
will not be amiss to add, that on the 2d of
December, X, Y, and Z, dined together at
Mr. Talleyrand's, in company with Mr.
Gerry; and that after riling from the table
•the money propositions, which had before
been made, were repeated, in the room and
in the pretence, though perhaps not in the
hearing of Mr. Talleyrand. Mr. X put
the question to Mr. Gerry in diredt terms,
either, « whether the Envoys would now
give the douceur," or " whether they had got
the money ready." Mr. Gerry, very justly
offended, answered positively in the nega
tive, and the conversation dropped.
Mr. Z, who has avowed himfelf to be
Mr. Hauteval, was the person who firft
made known to the Envoys the
desire to confer with them individually, on
the objects of their million: He it was, who
firft introduced Mr. Gerry to Mr. Talley
rand, and served as the interpreter of their
conventions r and in his letter to Mr. Tal
leyrand, at the cloffe of Mr. Gerry's docu
ment, No. 35,, he announces himfelf to be
the agent of the Minister, to make commu
nications to the Envoys.
Mr. Hauteval declares " his sensibility
must be much affedted on finding himfelf, un
der the letter Z, afting a part in company
with certain intriguers, whose plan, (he
fays) it doubtless was to take advantage of
the good faith of the America-n Envoys, and
make them their dupes" : yet this person, the
avowed agent of the French Minister, ap
parently so anxious t' screen himfelf from
the suspicion of an agency in soliciting the
bribe required by Mr. Talleyrand, did
himfelf urge a compliance with that corrupt
proposition.*
The sensation which these details irrefifta
bty excite, is that of astonishment at the
unparalleled effrontery of Mr. Talleyrand, in
demanding of Mr. Gerry the names ox X,
Y, and Z alter Y had accompanied him on
a visit to the minister, with whom the con
versation detailed in the printed dispatches
then passed, and who then assured Mr. Ger
ry "that the information Mr. Y. hadgiven
him was just, and might always be relied
on ; after Z had in the firft instance intro
duced Mr. Gerry to the minister, and served
as their mutual interpreter, and when the
conversation between them bad also been
stated in the dispatches; and after X, Y, and
* Extrjuaol a letter, dated June 15th, 1708,
trcm Mr. King, Minister of the United Sutes
ui London, to the Secretary ol State.
"Col. Trumbull, who was at Pari* soon »f
---ter the arrival there of the Commiflioners, ha.
more tKan once informed me that Hauteval told
him that both the douceur and the loan were in*
uilpestable, and urged him to employ his influ
ence with the American Commiflioners to of
»er the bribe as well a the loan"
7, had all dined with Mr. Gerry
at Mr. Talleyrand's Tible, on riling from
which X, and. Y, renswed the proposition
about the money! —The veryctrcumftance
of Mr. Talleyrand's being continued in of
fice, after the account of these intrigues had
been published to the world, is a decisive
proof that they were commenced and carried
on with the privity, and by the secret orders
of the Directory. It was to accomplifli the
objeCt of these intrigues that the American
Envoys were kept at Paris unreceived, fix
months after their credentials had been laid
before the Directory: and it was only be
cause they were superior to those intrigues,
and that no hopes remained of wheedling or
terrifying them into a compliance, that two
of them were then sent away—and with
marks of insult and contempt.
2. The faCt that the French Government
attempted to inveigle Mr* Gerry into a sepa
rate negotiation will not be questioned : at
firft it was made privately, and under an
injun&ion of secrecy towards his colleagues :
it was afterwars plainly insinuated by the
minifler, in his letter of the 18th of March,
1798, in which he tells the Envoys that the
Executive Directory was disposed to treat
with one of the three ; and that one he o
penly avowed, in his letter of the 3d of April,
to be Mr. Gerry. The pretence for Telex
ing him was, that his ', opinions. presumed
to be more impartial, promised, in the course
of the explanations, more of that reciprocal
confidence which was indifpcnfable." But
when before, have their " opinions" been
'stated as a juftifiable ground for rejecting the
ambassadors of peace ? Ambassadors too, of
established probity, whose characters were of
the firit distinCtion in their own country,
and whose demeanor towards the government
to which they were deputed, was decent and
refpeCtful ? Who had, with a franknefs
which the candor of their instruCtions war
ranted, communicated the important points
which they contained ? Ana who unremit
tingly, and with the most anxious solicitude,
entreated that the negociations might be
commenced ? What more proper or more ho
norable qualities ought ministers deputed to
negociate with a foreign nation to poifcfs I
But why should a foreign Government ques
tion the opinions of the ambaffadyrs sent to
negociate with it on fubje&s ftf difference
between the two nations ? If wifely chosen.
ind faithful to the interests of their own
country, they must of course poflefs differ
ent opinions from the government, to which
they were sent, the differing opinions main
tained by the two nations on their respeCtive
rights and interests, being the cause and ob
jects of the negociation. A government
really disposed to treat 011 fair principles
would never objeCt to the opinions of foreign
ambaffadoja. It would receive them, and
appoint its own ministers with proper powers
to treat with them, propose its terms, and
receive those offered; and discuss both, and
if then they could not agree, put au end to
the negociation. The French government
did not wish to negociate, it desired to im
pose a treaty on the United States. To
this practice it had oeen accuftomt'd towards
the minor powers in Europe, whom it has
subjeCted to its will: and it expelled equal
fubraiffion from the United States. Hence
Mr. Talleyrand's secret declaration to Mr.
Gerry ". that if lip would negotiate, they
could fodn fihifh a treaty ; for tb* Executive
Directory were not in the baiit of spending
much time"about such matters."' Hence the
objections to Gen. Pinckney and Gen. Mar
shall : they manifefted a discernment superi
or to thi intrigues of the French Govern
ment, and an invincible determination not
to surrender the honor, the interest, or the
independence of their country. It was ne
cessary then to get rid of them ; and feeing
that neither despair of negociating, nor rtu
died indignities, could induce them to quit
their posts, passports were sent to them to
quit France ; it was with difficulty that
Gen. Pinckney could obtain permission to
stay two or three months for the recovery ©f
his Tick daughter, to whom an immediate
voyage would probably prove fataL Unem
barrassed by the presence ot these Eavoys,
the French Government, if it really desired
a treaty on any terms, hoped to prevail on
Mr. Gerry to negociate separately, although
from the firft overture he declined and conti
nued to decline it. But after the expulsion
of his colleagues, it hoped, by its seductive
arts, to prevail over his- scruples, and
gain his consent to terms which, while they
were present, would be rejected ; or at all
events to retain him, with the femblante of
negotiating, regularly or informally, and
thus keep the United States in the torpor of
indecision, without preparation for offence or
defence. Unfortunately, Mr. Gerry was in
duced, by the threats of immediate war a
gaiuft the United States, to leparate from'
his colleagues and stay in Paris ; threats,
which, viewed with their motives, merited
only deteftatron and contempt. Four or five
months Mare, the threats of immediate or
ders tp quit France* and the terrors of war
in its most dreadful forms, had been held up
to all the envois. t:o frighten them into a com
pliance greundjefs, unjust, and cor
rupt demands of the French Government.
Those threats had not been executed, and the
unworthy purposes far which they had been
uttered, had been obvious: Happily for the
United States, the character of the French
government as delineated in the official dis
patches of all the envoys, and the know
ledge of its conduit towards other countries
whose governments it had overturned, and
whose people in the names of Liberty and E
quality, it had enslaved, so operated as not
to leave us exposed to all the evils which
suspense was calculated to produce. Mr.
Gerry indeed resisted all the arts of the French
minister to entice him into a formal negocia
tion, after that government had driven his
colleagues from Paris ; a negociation which
in its nature would have been a surrender of
our independence, by admitting a for ign go
vernment to choose for us the minister who
should represent eur countiy, to treat of our
important rights and interests, which that
government had itfelf violated and deeply
injured.
The Directory and their minift.r Mr Tal- j
levrand hoped and ;*pected that General
Pinckney and General Mnrihail would vo- (
luntarily have ouitted I'fnflce< after the mi- |
Lifter's letter of "the 18th of Ma.-A, in which j
he made the offenfive diftintt on between j
them and their colleague Mr. Gerry, on the j
pretence, that his " opinion*" were more ,
" impartial" than theirs. Accordingly Mr. j
Talleyrand, in his letter to Mr. Gerry of
the 3d of April, fays,—" I fupjjofe, fir, that
Messrs. Pinckney and Marfliallliave thought
it ufeful and proper, in conference of the i
intimations which the end of my note of the
18th of March last presents, to quit the ter
ritory of the Republic." Yet Mr. Talley
rand had given them neither passports nor
letters of fafe conduCt ! The fart is, the
French government wished to avoid the odi
um offending them away, and the blame of
' a rupture, which Mr. Talleyrand predicted
would be the consequence ; while it was pri
vately intimated to them that they must leave
the country. The minister's conduft on
this occasion, towards General Marfliall (as
detailed in his journal) was particularly
marked with indignities. When it was ob
served to Mr. Talleyrand, that this was not
the manner in which a foreign minister ought
to be treated ; Mr. Talleyrand" replied, that
General Marlhall was pot a foreign minister,
but was to be considered as a private Ame
rican citizen ; and must obtain his passport
like others through the Consul. To this it
was answered, that Gen. Marfliall was a
foreign minister,* and that tlie French go
vernment could not deprive him of that cha
racter, which was conferred upon him, not
by Mr. Talleyrand, but By the United
States ; and though the B>ireClory might re
fufe to receive or treat with them, still his
country had clothed him with the requisite
powers which fie Held independently of France,
that if he Was not acceptable to the French
government, and in consequence thereof it
was determined to fend him away, still he
ougbt to be sent away like a minister ; that
he ought to have his passports, with letters
of fafe conduct which would proteCt him
from the cruixers of France. Mr. Talley
rand replied, that if General Ma r (hall
wished for a passport, he must give in
his name, stature, rge, complexion, &c. to
the American Conftil, who would obtain
obtain a passport for him : that with re
speCt to a letter of fafe conduCt, it was un
necessary, as no risk from the cruisers would
be incurred.
Ihe result of these conversatiOns was a
plain demonstration of the intention of the
minister, that in consequence of his intima
tion at the close of his letter of the 18th of
March, that the « opinions" of two of the
envoys were not agreeable to the govern
ment of France, Generals Pinckney and
Marfliall should appropriate to themselves the
character which the minister had drawn gen
erally. The envoys, aware of this snare, in
their answer of the third of April to the in
timation that " the direttery was disposed to
treat with one of the envoys," declare to the
minister, " that no one of the envoys was
authorized to take upon himfelf a negocia
tion evidently entrusted to the whole," and
" that no two of them could propose to
withdraw the mfc Ives from the talk commit
ted to them by their government, while there
remained a possibility of performing it
but that if" it should be the will of the Di
rectory to order passports for the whole or
any number of them," it was desired that
such passports might be accompanied with
letters of fafe conduCt,to proteCl them cgainft
the cruizers of France.
These endeavors of the Frejich Govern
ment, whether real or affected, to draw Mr.
Gerry into a separate negociation, constitute
the substance of the correspondence between
him and Mr. 1 alley rand. They appear to
merit confederation in several points of view.
1. Because if real, it was only ,in the hope
and expectation, that by intriguer and ter
rors the French government might influence
Mr. Gerry to enter into a formal treaty, on
the terms which he and his colleagues had re
peatedly reieCled as incompatible with the
interests, honor and independence of their
country. For at this time Mr» Talleyrand
had not renounced the demands of loans and
a douceur as the indispensable preliminaries
of a treaty. Accordingly we fee Mr. Tal
leyrand, in his letter of the 3d of April to
Mr. Gerry, proposed " to resume their reci
procal communications upon the interests of
the French republic and the United States
, of America."* And in his letterof July uth,
to Mr- Gerry, having mentioned the arrival
at the Havre of a packet, the Sophia, from
the American government, he fays, " until
then I never fappofed you entertained the
design of embarking before we had come to
an agreement upon the definitive articles to
be ratified by your government."' 2- Be
cause if that government had so far succeed
ed, it would have insisted on its ratification
by the President and Senate,on the ground
constantly taken by Mr. Talleyrand, that
the powers of the envoys being several as
well as joint, Mr. Gerry when alone, even
after the French government bad"ordered his
colleagues to leave France, were adequate to
the formation of the treaty and that there
fore the public faith would be violated, if it
were not ratified. 3. Because under such
circumstances, the French government doubt
lefscalculated at least on a divifiori of the
public opinion in the United States in favor
of the ratification of such a treaty ; by
means of which it might enforce the ratifica
tion, or effect still greater mischiefs. 4.
But these endeavors to draw Mr. Gerry into
a formal negociation are chiefly remarkable
because they were persevered in during near
five months, against his constant, direCt and
positive refufals to treat reparately : Mr
* On the 9lh of Oflober 1797, the day as
, ter the Envoys had delivered to the minifler A
copy of their letter of credence, " card* of hos
pitality were sent t* (hem and their Secretaries,
in a flyle suitable ts the'r official character."
. [Difpatchesp. 17.] And inthe minifler's letter
to them of the 18th of March, 1798, he calls
them " the Commiflioßers and Envoys Extra
ordinary of the United States of America."—
1 Di£patchc» p. 9».}
Talleyrand aflerting and Mr. Gary de;vy-.r.-,
the competency ot his powers.
We have seen the envoys, Ironi t.R O.yot
O(fl'ober, 179.7, the .date ps" tlwir firli Li
ter to the French minister, to the 3d of April
1798, when their last was delivered to lurn,
expre fling their earnest desire to enter upon
and prosecute the great bulineis of their mil
lion ; we have seen them during that long
period patiently enduring iiegl<& and indig
nities, to which an ardent zeal to re-eftab- j
lilh hormony and peace could alone induce
freemen to submit : We have seen them
white held in suspense—neither received nor .
rejefted—yielding to the importunities of -
private agents of the French government,
and hearing and discussing their
insulting as tliey were, in the hope that
when these should be shown to be utterly in
admissible, others founded in reason and e
quity, and in the usual course of diplomatic
negotiation, might be brought forward.
Doubtless they also wiflied, when their as
tonishment at thejfirft overtures had fubfjied,
by listening still longer to such dishonorable
propositions, to ascertain the true chara&er
of the French government. We have seen
them, after waiting five weeks from the pre
sentation of a copy of their letters of cre
dence, ' entirely unnoticed, " solicit an at
tention to their mission," and soliciting in
vain. Thus denied an official hearing, they
hoped by an unufuat step to excite the atten
tion of that government: they determined
to transmit to the minister a letter represent
ing the views of their own government in .
relation to the fubjefts in dispute with
France. This letter dated the 17 th was de
livered the 3 1 ft of January, 1798. Wait
ing near a month without an answer, and
" still being anxious to hear explicitly from
Mr. Tafleyjand himfelf, before they sent
their final letter, whether there were no
means, within their powers, of accommo
dating our differences with France, on just
and reasonable grounds,—on the 27th of
February they desired " a personal interview
on the fubjett of their mission and after
ter\Vards a second interview. They remark
on what pasTed at these meetings, " that the
views of France, with regard to the United
States, were not eflentially changed since
their communications with its an-olficial a
gents in the preceding Odober."
At length they received Mr. Talleyrand's
letter of the 18th March, 1798, in answer
to theirs of the 17th of January. The mi
nister's letter represented the complaints of
France ; as usual, charging the American
Government with the inexecution of the
treaties with dissimulation—«
insinuating that our tribunals were fubjeft
to a secret influence —holding up the Britilh
treaty as replete with evir and injury, and
" the principal grievance of the republic"—
accusing the American government of a wifb
to seize the firft favorable occasion to con
summate an intimate union with Great-Bri
tain, and fuggeiling that a devotion and
partiality to that power have long been the
principle of the condudt of the federal go
vernment.
To this letter of the French minister, the
envoys sent their reply on the 3d of April.
This reply and their former letter detest the
iophifms and erroneous statements of the
minister—expose his naked afiertioqs—-refute
his arguments—repel his calumnies—and
completely vindicate the fidelity, the justice
and, as a neutral power, the impartiality of
the government of the United States ; and,
at the feme time, exhibit the weighty and
well-founded complaints of the United States
against the French republic. '
Hitherto, instead of a desire to obtain a
reconciliation, we can discover in the French
government only empty professions of a
desire to conciliate ; while it haughtily refuf
ed to receive our Envoys, and during fix
months disregarded their rcfpettfuland ardent
foHcitations to negotiate : And after one of
them, whom it induced to remain in France
had .declared that « b* bad no powers to
treat separately, that the measure was impos
sible," then the Dire dory expelled the other
Two t
If now we furcey Mr. Gerry's individual
correspondence, we (hall find no folidevidence
of any change in the diipofition of the French
government.
In his firft letter to. Mr. Gerry, Mr. Tal
leyrand's avtifice is vilible : he addre flies him
as " Envoy Extraordinary of the United
States of America, to the French Republic •"
and proposes to him to « resume their recipro
oal communications." Mr. Gerry, appre
hending that the Minister intended to draw
him into a negotiation, repeats what he had
often before declared, that for him to treat
separately was imprafticable ; and that he
can only confer with him informally.
On the 20th of April, Mr. Gerry ad
drefles. a letter to the minister, and presses.
I him to come forward with propositions for
terminating all differences, restoring harmo
ny, and re-eftahlifhing commerce between the
two nations. He receives no answer. Or>
the 28th he confers with the minister, who
fays he cannot make propositions, because he
does not know the views of the Unitsd*
States in regard to a treaty. Mr. Geriy
gives him the information. He then prom li
es in three or four days to deliver Mr. Gei
ry the project of a treaty : This promise was
never performed. On the 12th of May, the:
new inftruftions of March 23d, lent by the.
Sophia packet, reached Mr. Gerry ; and he
gave immediate notice to the minister that he
should return to America in the Sophia ar
soon as she could be fitted for sea. '
" On the 25th o£ May the minister sent
his principle fee re tar v to inform Mr. Gerrv
that bis government did not wish to break tl e
British Treaty but expedted such prov -
fioas as w.ouid indemnify France, and pi.t
her on a foot'mg with that nation." Yet tint
treaty had been made, by the French govern
ment, its chief pretence for those unjust and
cruel depredations on American commerce
which have brought distress on multitudes
and ruin on many of our citizens ; andocca
fioned a total loss of property to the Unite,d
States of prsbably more than twenty millions
of dollars ; besides fubje&ing our fellow
citizens to insults, stripes, wounds, torture
and iaiprifonmenu And Mr- Talleyrand,.