PARIS, Sept. 22, 1787.
SIR,--The letters of which the enclosed are copies, are this moment
received, and as there is a possibility that they may reach Havre
before the packet sails, I have the honor of enclosing them to you.
They contain a promise of reducing the duties on tar, pitch and
turpentine, and that the government will interest itself with the city
of Rouen, to reduce the local duty on potash. By this you will perceive
that we are getting on a little in this business, though under their
present embarrassments, it is difficult to procure the attention of the
ministers to it. The parliament has enregistered the edict of a
rigorous levy of the _deux vingtièmes_. As this was proposed by the
King in lieu of the impost territorial, there is no doubt now that the
latter, with the stamp tax, will be immediately repealed. There can be
no better proof of the revolution in the public opinion, as to the
powers of the monarch, and of the force, too, of that opinion. Six
weeks ago, we saw the King displaying the plentitude of his
omnipotence, as hitherto conceived, to enforce these two acts. At this
day, he is forced to retract them by the public voice; for as to the
opposition of the parliament, that body is too little esteemed to
produce this effect in any case where the public do not throw
themselves into the same scale.
I have the honor to be, with the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir,
your most obedient, and most humble servant.