on to the newly-appointed minister, defining the objects of
his mission, which were, in brief, indemnity for past spoliations and
security from further depredations. The second paper is Mr. Barlow's
first letter from Paris, under date of September 29, 1811, and is as
follows:

"I seize the first occasion to announce to you my arrival, though I have
little else to announce. I landed at Cherbourg the 8th of this month,
and arrived at Paris the 19th. The emperor has been residing for some
time at Compiegne, and it unluckily happened that he set out thence for
the coast and for Holland the day of my arrival here. The duke de
Bassano, Minister of Foreign Relations, came the next day to Paris for
two days only, when he was to follow the emperor to join him in Holland.
General Turreau and others, who called on me the morning after I reached
Paris, assured me that the duke was desirous of seeing me as soon as
possible and with as little ceremony.

"On the 21st I made my first visit to him, which of course had no other
object than that of delivering my credentials. I expressed my regret at
the emperor's absence, and the consequent delay of such business as was
rendered particularly urgent by the necessity of sending home the
frigate and by the approaching session of Congress, as well as by the
distressed situation of those American citizens who were awaiting the
result of decisions which might be hastened by the expositions I was
charged to make on the part of the President of the United States. He
said the emperor had foreseen the urgency of the case, and had charged
him to remedy the evil, as far as could be done, by dispensing with my
presentation to His Majesty till his return, and that I might
immediately proceed to business as if I had been presented. He said the
most flattering things from the emperor relative to my appointment. He
observed that His Majesty had expected my arrival with some solicitude,
and was disposed to do everything that I could reasonably ask to
maintain a good intelligence between the two countries.... I explained
to him with as much precision as possible the sentiments of the
President on the most pressing objects of my mission, and threw in such
observations as seemed to arise out of what I conceived to be the true
interests of France. He heard me with patience and apparent solicitude,
endeavored to explain away some of the evils of which we complain, and
expressed a strong desire to explain away