PARIS, January 9, 1787.
SIR,--My last of December the 31st, acknowledged the receipt of yours
of October the 12th, as the present does those of October the 3d, 9th,
and 27th, together with the resolution of Congress of October the 16th,
on the claim of Shweighauser. I will proceed in this business on the
return of Mr. Barclay, who, being fully acquainted with all the
circumstances, will be enabled to give me that information, want of
which might lead me to do wrong on the one side or the other.
Information of the signature of the treaty with Morocco has been long
on its passage to you. I will beg leave to recur to dates, that you may
see that no part of it has been derived from me. The first notice I had
of it, was in a letter from Mr. Barclay, dated Daralbeyda, August the
11th. I received this on the 13th of September. No secure conveyance
offered till the 26th of the same month, being thirteen days after my
receipt of it. In my letter of that date, which went by the way of
London, I had the honor to enclose you a copy of Mr. Barclay's letter.
The conveyance of the treaty itself is suffering a delay here at
present, which all my anxiety cannot prevent. Colonel Franks' baggage,
which came by water from Cadiz to Rouen, has been long and hourly
expected. The moment it arrives, he will set out to London, to have
duplicates of the treaty signed by Mr. Adams, and from thence he will
proceed to New York.
The Chevalier del Pinto, who treated with us on behalf of Portugal,
being resident at London, I have presumed that causes of the delay of
that treaty had been made known to Mr. Adams, and by him communicated
to you. I will write to him by Colonel Franks, in order that you may be
answered on that subject.
The publication of the enclosed extract from my letter of May the 27th,
1786, will, I fear, have very mischievous effects. It will tend to draw
on the Count de Vergennes the formidable phalanx of the Farms; to
prevent his committing himself to me in any conversation which he does
not mean for the public papers; to inspire the same diffidence into all
other ministers, with whom I might have to transact business; to defeat
the little hope, if any hope existed, of getting rid of the Farm on the
article of tobacco; and to damp that freedom of communication which the
resolution of Congress of May the 3d, 1784, was intended to
re-establish.
Observing by the proceedings of Congress, that they are about to
establish a coinage, I think it my duty to inform them, that a Swiss,
of the name of Drost, established here, has invented a method of
striking the two faces and the edge of a coin, at one stroke. By this,
and other simplifications of the process of coinage, he is enabled to
coin from twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand pieces a day, with
the assistance of only two persons, the pieces of metal being first
prepared. I send you by Colonel Franks three coins of gold, silver and
copper, which you will perceive to be perfect medals; and I can assure
you, from having seen him coin many, that every piece is as perfect as
these. There has certainly never yet been seen any coin, in any
country, comparable to this. The best workmen in this way, acknowledge
that his is like a new art. Coin should always be made in the highest
perfection possible, because it is a great guard against the danger of
false coinage. This man would be willing to furnish his implements to
Congress, and if they please, he will go over and instruct a person to
carry on the work: nor do I believe he would ask anything unreasonable.
It would be very desirable, that in the institution of a new coinage,
we could set out on so perfect a plan as this, and the more so, as
while the work is so exquisitely done, it is done cheaper.
I will certainly do the best I can for the reformation of the consular
convention, being persuaded that our States would be very unwilling to
conform their laws either to the convention, or to the scheme. But it
is too difficult and too delicate, to form sanguine hopes. However,
that there may be room to reduce the convention, as much as
circumstances will admit, will it not be expedient for Congress to give
me powers, in which there shall be no reference to the scheme? The
powers sent me, oblige me to produce that scheme, and certainly, the
moment it is produced, they will not abate a tittle from it. If they
recollect the scheme, and insist on it, we can but conclude it; but if
they have forgotten it (which may be), and are willing to reconsider
the whole subject, perhaps we may get rid of something the more of it.
As the delay is not injurious to us, because the convention, whenever
and however made, is to put us in a worse state than we are in now, I
shall venture to defer saying a word on the subject, till I can hear
from you in answer to this. The full powers may be sufficiently
guarded, by private instructions to me, not to go beyond the former
scheme. This delay may be well enough ascribed (whenever I shall have
received new powers) to a journey I had before apprised the minister
that I should be obliged to take, to some mineral waters in the south
of France, to see if, by their aid, I may recover the use of my right
hand, of which a dislocation, about four months ago, threatens to
deprive me in a great measure. The surgeons have long insisted on this
measure. I shall return by Bordeaux, Nantes and L'Orient, to get the
necessary information for finishing our commercial regulations here.
Permit me, however, to ask as immediately as possible, an answer,
either affirmative or negative, as Congress shall think best, and to
ascribe the delay on which I venture, to my desire to do what is for
the best.
I send you a copy of the late marine regulations of this country. There
are things in it, which may become interesting to us. Particularly,
what relates to the establishment of a marine militia, and their
classification.
You will have seen in the public papers, that the King has called an
assembly of the Notables of this country. This has not been done for
one hundred and sixty years past. Of course, it calls up all the
attention of the people. The objects of this assembly are not named:
several are conjectured. The tolerating the Protestant religion;
removing all the internal Custom-houses to the frontier; equalizing the
gabelles on salt through the kingdom; the sale of the King's domains,
to raise money; or, finally, the effecting this necessary end by some
other means, are talked of. But in truth, nothing is known about it.
This government practises secrecy so systematically, that it never
publishes its purposes or its proceedings, sooner or more extensively
than necessary. I send you a pamphlet, which, giving an account of the
last Assemblée des Notables, may give an idea of what the present will
be.
A great desire prevails here of encouraging manufactures. The famous
Boulton and Watts, who are at the head of the plated manufactures of
Birmingham, the steam mills of London, copying presses and other
mechanical works, have been here. It is said also, that Wedgewood has
been here, who is famous for his steel manufactories, and an earthen
ware in the antique style; but as to this last person, I am not
certain. It cannot, I believe, be doubted, but that they came at the
request of government, and that they will be induced to establish
similar manufactures here.
The transferring hither those manufactures, which contribute so much to
draw our commerce to England, will have a great tendency to strengthen
our connections with this country, and loosen them with that.
The enfranchising the port of Honfleur at the mouth of the Seine, for
multiplying the connections with us, is at present an object. It meets
with opposition in the ministry; but I am in hopes it will prevail. If
natural causes operate, uninfluenced by accidental circumstances,
Bordeaux and Honfleur, or Havre, must ultimately take the greatest part
of our commerce. The former by the Garonne and canal of Languedoc,
opens the southern provinces to us; the latter, the northern ones and
Paris. Honfleur will be peculiarly advantageous for our rice and whale
oil, of which the principal consumption is at Paris. Being free, they
can be re-exported when the market here shall happen to be overstocked.
The labors of the ensuing summer will close the eastern half of the
harbor of Cherbourg, which will contain and protect forty sail of the
line. It has from fifty to thirty-five feet of water next to the cones,
shallowing gradually to the shore. Between this and Dunkirk, the
navigation of the channel will be rendered much safer in the event of a
war with England, and invasions on that country become more
practicable.
The gazettes of France and Leyden, to the present date, accompany this.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect,
Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.