4
in,his letter of the 18th March to tho Eim
voys, declared that treaty to be " the prin
cipal grievance of the Republic." But now,
iuftead of breaking that treaty, France,de
files, to be put on the fame footing. This
the United States would at any time have
done, and the Envoys were now explicitly iii
ftriictcd to do : and seven months before, all
the Envoys, in their conversation with Mr.
Bellamy (Y) the confidential and authorized
agent of the French minister, told him " that
he might be allured that their powers were
such as authorized them to place France on
equal ground with England, in any refpefts
in which an inequality might be supposed to
exist at present between thein, to the disad
vantage of France."
The Secretary also mentioned the claims of
the American citizens on the French Repub
lic : he said if the latter should be unable to
pay them, when adjttfted, and the United
States would aflume and pay them, France
would reimburle the amount thereof. This
has the semblance of candor : but on the 4th
of March, when the Envoys were in confer
ence with Mr. Talleyrand, and they diiclpf
ed their principal inftru£tions, " General
Pinckney and Mr. Gerry told him they were
pofuively forbidden to afTume the debts to our
own citizens, even if we-were to pay the mo
ney. direClly to them." And doubtless it
was, because the, proportion w,as already
known to be inadiiiiffiblc that it. was now re
newed.
'■The Secretary and Mr. Gerry had a if o
some un-important conversation about the
Consular Convention. And it is plain that
the whole objeft of the Secretary's visit was
to amuse, by keeping alive Mr. Gerry's hopes
of some pacific arrangements.
On the 26th of May, Mr. Gerry.had a
conference with the minister ; pressing 011
this, as on former occasions, the neeeflity of
lending a minister to the United Sta.tes, with
powers to negotiate ; to which, he fays, the
minister acceded ; but afterwards explained
himfelf to mean a minister to reside there
after the ratification of the talked-of treaty.
Such are the proceedings of the French. I
government, by its minister, Mr. Talley
rand, before the arrival of the printed dis
patches of the Envoys. We discover no
thing but a proposition for treating, with Mt. I
Gerry alone—which he had repeatedly declar- I
ed to be impossible—and on terms which Mr I
Gerry himfelf, as well as the other Envoys, I
had long before pronounced to be utterly in- I
admiflible, be;caufe direftly repugnant to their I
inftru&ions. We shall now fee, by anfex- I'
amination of Mr. Gerry's l'ubfequent com- 11
munications, that the publication of the En- 11
voy's dilpatches, far from causing a difcon- I
tinuance of negotiations with him, or any I i
change in the disposition of the French gov- I 1
ernment more unfriendly to the United States I
incomparably greater zeal for negotiating was I <
exhibited afterwards than before. |t
On the 30th of May, the minister an- j
nounces to Mr. Gerry the publication of the I ]
Envoy's dispatches. In his letterof the 27th I j
• of June, he fays this incident only " for a 11
- moment suspended the principal objeft" 1 1
the negotiation with Mr. Gerry: and in liis I '
letter of 10th, he declares, that " the I n
French Government, foperior to all the ]>er- I (
fonafities, t(b all the manoeuvres os-its ene,- I e
Itiiftr, peffeVeres in the intention of eoncili- ,1 <
ating with sincerity all the differences which h
have happened between the two countries." I )<
On the i ith of June the minjfter fends him I
apian for conducting the negotiation ; for J t ]
the firft time states the « three points" on I; t
which he fays " all negotiations between |k
France and the United St-atesmufteffentially L 6
reft and " gives (what he calls) a large q
developement" of them ; concluding by pre IT- f c
ing him to remain at Paris, to accelerate the c;
negotiatipn—the drawing together of those ! y'
ties which the French Republic and the true 1 1 [!
Americans have regretted to fee relaxed."
On the 27th of June, the Minister again t0
writes to Mr. Gerry, and in language the •
most importunate, luch as had never before re
been used, urges him not to withdraw, I
" when the French Government, superior r
to all resentments, and never listening to ally I '
thing but justice, inanifefts itfelf anxious to I ' Q
conclude a solid and mutually fatisfactory I °
agreement." The Minister even observes
that the firft of the " three points" mention- I
ed in his preceding letter (respecting amicable I'
declarations about mutual recriminations) I
might be postponed—that the third (about I ""
the consular convention) would doubtless 11? 11
experience no difficulty on either fide, after I er
the second should be amicably fettled. That I
it was to the second therefore, they Ihould firft I
attend ; it being so much the more important. I T"
as it embraced the source of all the differ- I Uv
ences between the two nations. And 011 the j na '
22d of July, the Minister renounces all de- I /'
mands of " loans and explanations on thf j , £
subject of fpeechesand even affects to bt j w
hurt that Mr. Gerry should have mentioned \ TO '
them: although both, he and his privat I
agents had, before, so long and so obftinatelv I
persevered in demanding them of the Envoy;, | a c
as the iridifyenfable preliminaries to a nego- I tBU
tiation. And doubtless, it is partly owing I wa ;
to the publication of their dispatches, thereby I P r |
expoiing to the world .those ftiamelefs de- I nl '®
mands, with the scandalous proposition of I rl ,
tliff douceur, that they are now relinqmflu d. I art '
111 adducing these circumstances- to shew I
the increased zeal of the Freneh Govern- I arnr
ment, lince the publication of the dispatches, I f° ri
to negotiate 011 its differences with tin I 5
United States, it is not to be understood, I con
that they afford a shadow of evidence of its I f re
sincerity. But as professions, verbal or f e ' s
■» ritten, furnifhed the only ground on which I fhal
Mr. Gerry could form his opinion, that " be- I c ati
fore the arrival of the dispatches of the En- I I
vovs, the Minister was sincere and anxious ti° n
tci obtain a reconciliation," much more, pro- fees
f1 (Hens stronger and more importiuiate, as- I woi
trrwards made, afford proportionably higher I evei
evidence of sincerity. But the present de- had
tails demonstrate that all those profeffions of p
were merely ostensible. In the Minister's I
last mentioned letter, after faying that his I
" lecond point" was most important, "as it I
embraced the source of all the differences," I q
and that to this they should first attend—fee I p r ;i c
purposely forgets it, passes it over,; nd fer.dr, ! acm
E'.u JW. Gerry a pole on the Consular Convention
inn- ,oi all poiiibL' subject; in tiiffei-ciue the mod
low, inligpificjnt; as it would have expired by
de- its own limitation ;n two years and a half;
1 ins within whith time, the commerce of France
lave judging from its present state of annihilation!
-m- would probabiy not funiifh a fingie ship to
all vilit the ports of the United States. In his
Mr. next letter, dated July 6th, he pursues his
12 'peculations on the Consular Convention, and
that lends Mr. Gerry two more notes upon it,
'ere complaining that he had not transmitted to
on him his opinion upon his firft note, and re
:as commending the two last to his attention;
Ito although Mr. Gerry had repeatedly and poii.
rad- lively declined a formal discussion, such as
the Minister now urged ih writing. Mr
3 f stateS alf °» that this firft note of the
ub - Minitter on the Consular Convention, whs
: to sent to him fix weeks after he had demanded
ited his passport, and when his bama-re was ac
nee tually on board the Sophia!
'his In a word, the more clearly the impoffibi
4th hty of entering on a formal negociation sP
ai'e n , the T/ 6 WaS h P reiTed b y the French
'of" ??Mr. Gerry, in his letter to Mr.
; 1 allevi-and of.JuJy apth, as justly as poi -t
---■ere edly the boasted zeal of the Minister
our the firft, you affirm, to press
np- lerimi.% the negociation: you will agree
; it. witlr.ma that the merit would have been
y kad the mealure itfelf been feasible."
re- Again : h 9 ,f.iys to the Minister, " You fre
:-WSfe»!!<#ii«of your exertions [tone
-ICo go«ste]; : which lam disposed as muchaspof- .
the hble to appreciate, regretting at the fame
hat .time their circuitous direction."
vas From this; detail of facts, the following
pes are the necessary conclusions,
1 -w 1 " tl,e e xtlufive attentions of the
1 a Minister to Mr. Gerry, the French Govern
on ment intended to excite the jealousy of his
of colleagues, to promote detentions between J
ith them, $o ieparate him from them, and in
:he duce hj-m-to remain in France ; expecting
led either to fediice him into a formal negocia- '
■re tion of a treaty, on'terms exclusively advan
ty. tageous to France, and injurious and dilho- !
Ch. n ° iable the United States; or, failing in ;
y- this, to -hold the United States in suspense,
if- and prevent any mtafures for our security 1
0- in the event war; while we, amused and i
ft; deludedfey warm but empty profeffions of the !
tr. pacific views and wilhes of Franee, and by V
lr informal conferences," might wait in fpi- £
'S> ' itlefs torpor, hoping for a peaceful result: *
n- and {
I by thigcourfe of proceeding—this 1
x- I alternations display of zeal to adjust differ- 1
ti- j encee, and restore harmony and a friendly
1- mtercourfe between the United States and f
i- France, the French Government intended, 1
iy in cafe of a rupture, to throw the blame on
I the former. j v
■s I' 14 Mceffary to make a few obferv.tions F
is on the oecree of the Executive DireAory of n
I the 31ft July 1798. "
1- _ This decree was sent after Mr. Gerty to j'
ie Havre, and he supposes that the official im- "
h pediments, which for several days prevented "
a his failing) are to be ascribed to the minis. n
~ltl 3 nc^n g the decree by him. I
is I Ihe minister introduces it as " a part of the e '
c I mealures which he had announced to Mr I
- Gerry on the zzd of July." In his letter k
- of.that date to Mr. Gerry, the minister far,, a '
I By information which the government 1
, 'as just received, it indeed learns that vio di
lences havb been committed upon the com- 31
a fierce arfd citizens of the United States in P'
> the on their coasts. Do P (
• it the ju-flhee t6 believe that it needs only to I ce
1 know the fa as, to disavow all afts contrary t0
f to the latvs rf ipe 'Republic and its own dcerees. an
| A remedy is preparing for it, and orders will 1 *
" foonamvem the Weft-Indies, calculated to cc
cause every thing to return within its just cn
; limit.;" This « remedy" is the decree of m:
the Ift of July. I "
I 1. The fii ft article of this decree confines IP n
to thefpetfsrt agents of the Directory, the d "
right of issuing commifTions to cruisers ; and I ed
J requires these to conform therafelves to all
the laws relative to crsifing and prizes, and trc
especially so those of the ift of Oftober
1793. Although the to conform I °S
jto all the latvs of the Republic relative to j e ?'
cruising was ominous, as the laws mofl re-1
cently promulgated and best known were I P n
themselves the sources of ihe depredations 1 ani
I and evils- of which we complained ; yet not j
I imagining that a decree introduced with so I ai ><
I much solemnity, of which one copy was I 6
I sent to Mr. Gerry, another to the Ameri- j ' lei
I can Consul General at Paris, and a third to I ces
Mr. Let< mbe*late Consul General of France tha
I—- all to be communicated to the Execu-1 frc
I tive of the United States, and a'l of which I the
I have been received—could be a mere parade lhe
I f words, F was disposed to conclude that I \
I the iaw of the ift of Odtober 1793, *° 1
J <vhich all cruisers were especially enjoined to | f" l '
I onfirm,might contain regulations that would I
.iff'rd Tome relief from French depredations. P UI
1 liy the favour.of Mr. Letombe, I obtained fio
I a copy of that law ; and to my aftqnlfliment
I r eund its objeft, conformably to its title,. P e
j was " To ,det<-rnjH»,ff. the mode of dividing j ust
I prizes made by Ijrench veflels on the* ene- the
niies of the Republic."* And the only te- | cut j
I ftriflion, is tjiisieogtihy law of fix-and-forty "■
I articles, irripofed on the individuals, officers)
and all other?, .con\pofing the crews of their OB '
armed vcflets is, " that they ffiall not fell be- . b . ol<
forehand their eventual Glares of prizes;" c "' :
2. The second article .declares that all that
commissions granted by the agents in the P ut
French colonies w America, to fit out vef-1 crui
fels for cruisers, or for war and commerce, mea
lhall be void.in thirty days after the publi- fult
cation of tfye decree in those colonies. 1
. has been supposed that by this regula- "th
tion the agents may gather a frelh harvest of the
fees for new commissions; and that this meri
wou dbe its.only effedt. The agents how- cruil
ever had before taken care of this ; they have
had been accultomed to limit the duration lativ
of privateer's conamiflions ; and if they con forei
*" DECREE de 1, Convention Nationa'e
dn t. g bre 1793.1 an id de la RepublioueFran r
caile, *or
Que determine le mode de Repartition de« with
priles faites par les vai(T« u .x Francaisfur lei en- r " e
ncnais de la Htpublique.'' of p;
13»'",
• ""m . ..
ntion tinned to cruise after their expiration, such >
mo fhonljJ have been considered as
1 deftftute of commiflioiis, and consequently if
la > they made any captures, as pirates:—but
uice, the agents knew their interest better: they
tion, did not punish the piratical captors—they
'P t0 did not declare their capture- void, and re
-1 ) s store the property to the neutral owners—
u| but. declaring luch captors to have rio title
am to the captured vessels and cargoes, took the
™"> whole to themfclves. A remarkable inltance i
° occurred in the last year, in the cafe of the ;
■ re . East-India fb'l ; Neiv.jferfcy, belonging ta I
1011 ' Philadelphia, to redeem which, the owners I
ha. ' laVt- P a 'd General Hedouville, t
Mr P ec j a I ■dgent of the Executive Diredory i
ln Domingo, upwards of two hundred t
e thousand dollars in cash Whether any,
and what portion of such prfce money goes r
u < -' '"to the chest of the Republic, lam not in- t
ac ~ formed. ti
:i 3. The third article declares that all a- r l
Cents and other deputies in the neutral paf
/#""• a PP°' n 'ed to decide thereon the va- it
yjY' Hdiiy of prizes taken |>ythe French cruisers, ti
. and who (hall be fufpeded of having a di- d;
fter ° r indirea int « re ft i" the cruifert, (hall C
be immediately recalled. S
■ree 11 ' S remariiab,e 'bat this artiele, appar- A
een cnt 'j r d *% n fd to corred th? monftrous-a X
>. bufeof public officers fitting, in judgment iu d(
rj. e _ their own caofes, fhou'd be limited, to fitch ot
of the agents and their deputies a-i were ap- ar
10 f pointed to reside in. neutral places. I ve
me" d °." ot nown lhat itftance of the kind 'v E
exists. For although the French priva- E
. teers and their prizes find asylums in the co
Swedish and Danish islands, yet the papers E
the are tarrled thence ( to Guadalonpe, and th
rn _ 'here the captured veflcls receive their mi
kj s doom under the fupeWritendance of another th
, en fP tc ' al "got of the Executive DiieSory, Vtc- of
in- roR t'gh ts. And even the captured cla
American vessels carried into "the Weft-In- Ei
ia 5 _ dia ports of Spain and Holland, do not th
[n _ there receive sentence : thele cases are de- fel
10- Sj ded b y '' ie agent or his deputies, or other it •
; ll? French tribunals, eftabliflied in the island of poj
St. Domingo, frequently, if not generally, con
_ in the able nee of the mailers and fupercar- tioi
nd ? oes \ Thc French agents and judges find
he I "° dl ® cu ''y in. this mode of proceeding ; J Co
by j hP" being administered with more facility \ St.
pi- and dispatch when only one of the parties is cor
t . present at the trial; especially when the a-- bru
I gents or other judges are interested in the rim
lis P nvatr erß ; and this the present decree in t
, r impliedly allows ; the penalty of «« recall" [ re£
j being applicable, as above suggested, to sou
nd I a £ enu on ly as reside in neutral places, the
d, any such there be. and
sn J IS a remarkable, that this decree, artr
j which was t» give the United States a cru
ns I P 'be justice of the French govern- raoi
of ment (a government, Mr. Talleyrand lays fob
Iti never listening to any thing but the
to ) 3Q d of its desire of n recoucilia- deci
n tion with the United States, fhmild be li- thei
>d I mitcd to 'be Wejl-Indies, when as great, if (fa)
f. not 38 numerous aiu/es were, pradifed by mer
1. I French agents and tribunals in Europe, and inter
le I France itfelf, as in her remote posses- dut 1
r fions. This too many of <iur citizens well rece
, r know. For captures and condemnations " T
s, a [ e n °t the It fa aiu/es, beca«fes made under veffi
it I e color of municipal laws and decrees which had
). diredly violate treaties, the law of nations, tinei
1.1 and *be plainest principles of justice. At corr
n I present I shall only mention, that in a re. ther
o P°. rt ma . de b y ma j°. r M«utitflorence, chan- Fret
0 j cellor of the Ameu'can consulate at Paris, A
I to General Pinckney, in December 1796, 500,
, and which was laid before Congress in Mav kabl
1 I be
j commerce in every port of France, take that
t cognizance, in the firft instance, of every been
f ma ' ter relative to captures at sea and! whei
" thef; tribunals (he adds) are chiefly cam- 1 mor;
» ?■ e ?,° rae . rchant, » ar «l most of them are,! sham
? dtreftiy or indireftly, more or less interest- therr
, ed in the fitting out of privates™ ; and 1 miliu
11 th erefore arc often concerned in the con- • for
I j troverfies they are t« determine upon." coun
. 4. The fourth article requires the special natio
t I ogents of the Executive Direftory at Cay- who
, *™ ne > St - Domingo, and Guadaloupe, ftu- has n
dioufly to take care, that the interests and acqui
property of vessels, belonging to neutrals a pec
I and allies, be scrupulously relpedteci. and \
We have too long witnessed the studious rat£ d
I and scrupulous care of these gentlemen re- 'be ;
fpefting the property of neutrals and al- wor< 3
I lies, and experienced its ruinous confequen- buy,
I ces; and as the fame laws which authorized l b c {
I that " care" remain in force, and with a w 'bicl
I frefti injundlion of a ftrid conformity to w bon
them, we can expeft only a continuance of' r y jul
I the fame abuses. Sarrtli
5. The fifth article eisjoias the Special thief
I Agents of the Executive Diredory, Corf- ln ofE
j fuls and all others inveiled with powers for f rom
that purpose, to cause to be arretted and «-'d as
I putufhed all who shall contravene the provi Couni
fio sos the present decree. -Unfortunately Pal
I 'fie Special Agentn,. Consuls, and their lin > tl
I • / i? l lUle , S '- ar<; 'bemfelves the aggrejfors, and memb
jultify their proceedings under thelafcs of Mr. i
the Republic and the Decteek of'tlre Exe- : ted St
cutive Diredory. nal of
This analysis °f the present Decree mani- lowinj
fefts its futility 5 and, with some remarks braak
on its preamble, will demonltrate it to be a cludet
bold imposture ; intended to mislead the our m
citizens of the United State* into a belief ate 'y 1
that the French government was going to P'y
I put an end to the depredations of French treaty
I cruisers on American commerce ; while the of Fra
means proposed are so gross as to be an in- not f»
fult on our understandings. any tr
The Preamble to the Decree sets forth, " Hav
" that information, recently received from' U "^
J the l'rench colonies and the continent of A- 'bey fl
merica, leaves no room to doubt that French lhe M
cruisers or fnch as call themselves French defe,)d
have infringed the laws of the Republic re- Aft
lattve to cruising and pritcs ;" and "that Treat
foreigners and pirates have abufrd the lati- "? nce '
tude allowed at Cayenne and the Weft-India himfell
islands, to vtffels fitted out for cruising or ernm< "
for war and commerce, in order to cover conden
with the French flag their extortions and 1 have
the violation of the refped due to the law toaddll
of nations, and to the perfoss and propc-ty of Mr
such j f allies and neutrals fRTTey
td as rand, in one of his letters be.Tire notice*!,
itly if dated the 22<i of July last, i" eaks of this
but information as having been "jult rectivcd."
they Lut what has been more notorious than
-they French depredations on neutral, and efpe
-1 re- cially on American commerce, in violation j
° f t,eatics and th e law of nations ? Thefc ; I
title have been coeval with the existing war in
l the Europe ; but were multiplied under the I
_ance loose Decree of the Executive Di.edory i
the p ffed the second of July, 1796, declaring t
gt® tlla t" the flag of the French Republic will 1
'ners treat neutral vessels, either as to coivfifcation 1
lle, to fcarches, or to capture, in the fame man- t
Sory neras they/W/fuffer the English to treat f
dred them." . j,
any, This decree committed the whole com- d
goes merce of neutrals, in the firft instance, to tl
tin- 'he rapacity of French privateers, and then is
to the discretion of theirAgents,Confuls and n
a ' ribii"als. These had only to fay, truly h
pof- ;">r falfely, that the English treated neutrals F
va- in any given way, and then they were to m
crs, treat them in the fame manner. Accor- U
di- dingly we have feenSanthonax and Raimond, n;
hall Commiflioners of the French Gbvernment in a
ot. Domingo, in their adjudication of an Si
jar- American vefTel, on the 10th of' e>
sa '797. declare, « That the refdlution (or tr
tiu decree) P asTed by the Executive Diredory. m
'cb on 'he^of July, 1796, prefcribest# all the M
ap- armed vefTels of the Republic, and the armed of
• j - VC n-1 b e^on g in gto individuals tn treat neutral tic
ind veilels in the fame manner as they fiifh-r the ch
va- Enehfh to treat them and " ILI it is in- in<
Lhe consequence of the above resolution bf the M
ers Executive Diredory, and in c6i.f i},.cfice of du
ind the manner in which the English goverfi- ■'ik
eir ment in the Antilles treats neutral veffels/'of
ier that the commiflion pasTed their resolution ter
IC- of the 7th of January, by which they de- as
•ed clare all neutral vefTels bound to or from int
fn- English por s, to be legal prize." From Tut
lot these fads, and the tenor of the decree it- pei
ie- lelf, we can form but one coaclufion, That " <
icr it -was framed in such indefinite terms, on pur- vie
of pose to givefcope for arbitrary conJlrußions and got
ly, consequently ftr unlimited oppression and vesta- tici
)r- tion. jjj
ad But without waiting for this decree, the het
ri ] Commiflioners of the French government at He
ity | t. Domingo began their piracies on the pre
is commerce of the United States : and in Fe- her
a- bruary 1 797, wrote to thc Minister of Ma- Frs
lie rine (and the extrad of the litter appeared 1
ee i m the official journal of the Executive Di- ecu
I [ redory of the sth of June) « That having I
to found no resource in finance, and knowing prei
the unfriendly dispositions of the Americans, I Sta
and to avoid perishing in distress, they had ! so jt
e, armed for cruizing 5 and that already 87 as tl
a cruizers were at fea } and that for three by
~P r ' C ! din ?'. th « administration had arm
rs subsisted, and individuals been enjiched, with men
it the produd of those prizes."—•«. That the ed c
a- decree of the 2d of July was not known by. can
■r /r m , Unt ! five Months afterwards. But coni
if J[lay they) the shocking condud of the A- Spe
y mencans, and the Indirea knowledge of the shew
d intentions of our government, made it our redi
r- duty to order reprisals, even before we had of t
II received the official notice of the decree." of r
is They felicitate themfejves that American leffe
I 7 e^ e s were dan y taken; & declare that they Ant
had learnt, by divers persons from the cori- infoi
1, tinent, that the Americans were perfidious, parti
t corrujpt, the friends of England, and thit coafl
therefore their vessels no longer entered the fu gg
• ! ports, unless carried in by force." that
Aft "'bis recital, befo'e the Council of depr
' f°P,' Paftoret makes the following rem -r tions
f kable refledions : 5 R ep ,
f "On reading this letter, we should think rede
e that we had been dreaming ; that we bad ed a
r een transported into a savage country, time
1 wheremen. still ignorant cf the empire of Dire
- morals and of laws, commit crimes without on tt
~ ihame and withbut remorse, and applaud P«ft I
-, themselves for their rofcberies, as Paulus E- filled
1 mihus or Cato would h»ve praised themselves news
■ : tor an eminent service rendered to their office
j country. Cruisers armed against a friendly recti 1
1 nation I Reprisals, when it is we ourselves 'he t<
■ who attack 1 Reprisals against a nation that Gene
• has not taken a fwgle veflU of ours ! Riches refidi
I acquired by the confifcation of the ships of a "d ri
i a people to whom we are united by treaties, all ti
and whoai no declaration of v.-ar had fepa' mitte
rated from us!" " The whole difcouife of ted tl
the agents may be reduced to these few I"
words : ' Having nothing wherewith to ra #^
buy, I seize : I make myfelf amends for i»si ; ce
the property which I want, bv the piracy g~ rt
which clinches me : and then I (lander those P^'
whom I have pillaged.'—» This is robbe- Fra
ry jultified by felfifhncfs and calumny. M Yet andth
Samhonax, one of these " robbers,' and the our -ti
chief of those Diredorial agents, continued
in office, and going a few months afterwards of the
from Saint Do m ingoto France was receiv- vcr ' n
ed as a member into one of the Leeiflative Wlll
Councils. 0 of the
Paftoret also adverts to a letter from Mer- Ex
Itn, then Minister of Justice, and now a Min 'f
rbember of 'he Executive Diredory, to
Mr. Skipwith, Consul General of the Uni- Sta Jie
ted States, which also appeared in the Jour- "
nal of the Diredory ; and quotes the Fol- ofthe '
lowing passage : .. Let your Government with
bisak the inconceivable treaty which it con- in S X
eluded on the 19th of November 1794, with V 1
our mod implacable enemies ; and immedi- b y th e
ately the French Republic will cease to ap- P oran ?
piy in its own favour the regulations in that " l
treaty, which favour England to the injury the Al
or trance ; and I warrant you that we shall
not fee an appeal to those regulators, in
any tribunal to support unjufl preten/lons." Yo^
~H aveJ ( fa y s Paftoret) read this rightly? tO . Par
Unjufl Pretentions ! Could it bepoff.ble that t W]th 1
they ffiould thus ha>e been charaderized bv w '
the M'nifter who is himfelf their agent and h,s P la '
defender»" 5 cargo i
After all, this " inconceivable British CelvetJ
Treaty, was ufelf but a pretext to counte- •K •
nance the "unjust pretenlions," as Merlin ,heE «
himfelf calls them, ued by the French mv ceßdt 'S
ernment in its tribunals, for the purpose of f o °L'/
condeming American vessels. The detail, ajd whi
L have already given prove it. I be<r ] cave king a
other evidence, ft is theteftimony when P'
ot Mr. Barlow, an American by birth, out for and di '
;'. k 'y : past a citizen of France, a man f
tfce.l, ackno Wiedgcf difor. mm ...<1 t lc.is, uc
I tills voted to tie French Repu He, an , i nlimat<!
ved. with her had ng men. Mr. Barlow has
than long resided at Paris, and cannot l,ave mif
efpe- the v.ewa of the French government,
anon j nor die motives of its endnft. Mr Bar*
[ hefe w ® letter dated at Paris the firft of March
ar in 1798, to his brother in-law, Mr. Baldwin
the has doomed the writer ;o infan.y s yct when
£Wy tt defcrioes the principles and conduft of
anng the French republic, it merits attention.
: will He fays, •« that aft of submission to the
atiqn British government, commonly called [ay's
man- ' r «ty, is ufdally considered, both by its
treat "'"ids and enemies, as the sole canfe, or at
j-r r 5 great Cause of the present hsftile
:om- disposition of the Ftench republic towards
, to the United States. This opinion (fays he)
thrn is erroneous." He theft proceed] -rf an e
and numeration of a variety of matter; which
ruly Ihe fays have influenced the conciud of
' 3 France. But the most provoking, and the
" to "V o) . 1 ""pardonable of all the offences of the
cor- Unked Spates against France, was, fortu
md, nately, not an ad of thz government, but an
it in a of the people, The freemen of the United
an States, » the true Americans," dared to
irf, exercise their independent rights, con
(or trarj to the wjfhes of the French govern
>ry. mjnt aud the endeavors and pradices of its
the Mmfter Adet, eleaed Mr. .Adams to the
n'ed office of PrefidenU Mr. Harlow's o ferva
trajf tions on this event further develops the
the charaOer and the principles of that govern
s - Hc the eleflion of
the Mr. Adams was announced here, it pro
of duced the ordej-of the 2d of March,* which
!*-» anl t0 be ,Utile ihoit of a declaration
:Is, of war " the government here was de
ion termined to fleece you of your property, to
Je- a fufhcient degree to bring you to your feel-
Jm '"g "V lhe °"ly nerve ia.which it was pre-
Dm turned your fenfib lity lav, which was your
it- pecuniary intcreft " And what »as this
bat " feeling" to produce 1 The anfwrr is ob
"vlollS—Suhmift .n to the <will of the French
nd government. Th- mystery of French polu
:a- tics is here uriveiled. The United States
aid not fuhmtt; Hence the non-reception of
he er Envoys, and their haughty treatment ;
at Hence the in'ulting demands of tribute as a
he preliminary even to their reception ; and
e- hence the expulfiou of two of them frcm
a- r ranee.
:d But to return to the Decree of the Ex-
H, ecutive Direftory of the 3 1II of July lalh
ig | I have already (hewn that the mass of de
ig | predations on the commerce of the United
s, States, under the French flag, of « hich we
d ojultly complain, are not those committed,
7 as the Directory in their preamble in f.nuat-e,
:e by •« foreigners and pirates" but by French
,d armed veflels commifltoned by the Govern
h ment or its agents ;or whether commiflion
e ed cir not, whose a&s in capturing Ameri
y. can veflels receive the fanftion of French
it consuls, of French Tribunals, and of the
- Special Agents of the Diredory. I have
e mewH that the laws of Franee and the Di
,r reaorial Decrees, are themfelvcs the sources
d Qf those violations of treaties and the law
o. nation*, which have caqfed such immense
a losses to the citizens of the United States.
Y A , nd so l . h e Proofs already offered, that the
" """rmation «f such aggressions and aoufes,
, particularly in the Weft-Indies, and cn the
t coatt of America, was not, as the preamble
e fuggeUs,but"recentlyreceived," I mav a J<j f
that their " special agents" authorised" those
f depredations and violations of the law of na
tions, by decrees assuming the laws of the
Republic, or the ads of the Executive Di
: rectory for their bases—by decrees print.
| ed and published, and undoubtedly from
' V-v®* i° t,me rc P° rtcd by those a,-ehts to the
F I ? Further, these outrages
: on the American commerce have for years
| past beenl the theme of every to igue, and
hUed columes in our
i newspapers which Mr. Bar/ow f ?ys , "the
office of foreign Affairs (at Paris) regularly
receives." I will conclude this point with
the tcftimony of Mr. Letombe, late Cooful
treneral of the French republic, and (till
refiditig in Philadelphia. He has long since,
and repeatedly assured me, that he collefled
all thole depredations and outiages com
muted by French privateers, and iranfmit
ted them to his government at Paris.
In relation'to the depredations aud out-
committed by the French on the com
merce of the United States, 1 have laid that
,f not as numerous abuses were
piiftnedby the French in Europe, and even
m France ltfrlf, as in her remote possessions :
and that this fa ft was but too well known to
our .citizens, who had felt severely their ef
fcas. Among these we have seen the cafe
the Ibip Hare, captain Haylty ; but ne
ver in all its disgusting features. ' With this
I WiH close my observations on the preamble
ot the dijc fto rial decree of the 31ft July.
Extraa of a letter from Rufus King Efq,
Mmifter <?f the United States in London',
3, , 79 8 to the Secretary of
Statje ofthp United States.
. " Fbepfetence for this art rue [the Decree
ofthe ; Direaory of July 31 ft] is of a piece
with the : vindication of Tallej rand refuel
ing jy. Y p .and Z. and the justice and sinceri
ty oi the Direaory fliould be ascertained, not
by their wor-d, but by the following coum
poranpous- j faa. *
" Hayley, an American citizen, master of k,
the American (hip Hare, tying in the port cf
London,. laden with a rich cargo, the pro
perty of Americans, and bound to New
-1 ork,, went with mypaflport from London ,
to Paris, where, in a perfbnal interview, not
wuh the agents of the minister of marine,
but with tie Minister himsilf, he difclof'ed
his plan of bringing the fliip Hare and her
cargo into France ; and to enable him to re
ceive the profits of the fraud, without risk
* U will be recoikded that this u the Decree of
the Executive Direftory, ordering the toptureand
cender-nation of American velitls not havin g a
Role u jiqnipage- that fruitful fouree of plunder
to Frenchmen, and of rui't to Arr.e-ican citizens -
and which also d- clarep all Arariiias seamen, ma
lting a part of the crew of enemies lhips, even
when put on board iher» by force, 10 !>e pikati#
and di: e6ted them to bt tre&t» d a» Ju-ch..
[For the remain J: r fie the Supplement.]