ted, and not Cribs; so that Mr. Liston had made
an unnecessary disclosure of his third letter to Mr. Pickering, who,
however, keeps his secret for him. In the beginning of the conversation
between Hodgen and Coxe, Coxe happened to name Sweezy as the bearer of
the letters. 'That 's not his name,' says Hodgen, (for he did not know
that two of the letters had been sent by Sweezy also) 'his name is
Cribs.' This put Coxe on his guard, and set him to fishing for the new
matter.

January the 10th. Doctor Rush tells me, that he had it from Samuel
Lyman, that during the X. Y. Z. Congress, the federal members held the
largest caucus they have ever had, at which he was present, and the
question was proposed and debated, whether they should declare war
against France, and determined in the negative. Lyman was against it. He
tells me, that Mr. Adams told him, that when he came on in the fall to
Trenton, he was there surrounded constantly by the opponents of the late
mission to France. That Hamilton pressing him to delay it, said, 'Why,
Sir, by Christmas, Louis the XVIII. will be seated on his throne.' Mr.
A. 'By whom?' H. 'By the coalition.' Mr. A. 'Ah! then farewell to the
independence of Europe. If a coalition, moved by the finger of England,
is to give a government to France, there is an end to the independence
of every country.'

January the 12th. General Samuel Smith says that Pickering, Wolcott,
and McHenry, wrote a joint letter from Trenton to the President, then at
Braintree, dissuading him from the mission to France. Stoddard refused
to join it. Stoddard says the instructions are such, that if the
Directory have any disposition to reconciliation, a treaty will be made.
He observed to him also, that Ellsworth looks beyond this mission to
the Presidential chair. That with this view, he will endeavor to make
a treaty, and a good one. That Davie has the same vanity and views. All
this communicated by Stoddard to S. Smith.

January the 13th. Baer and Harrison G. Otis told J. Nicholas, that in
the caucus mentioned ante 10th, there wanted but five votes to produce a
declaration of war. Baer was against it.

January the 19th. W. C. Nicholas tells me, that in a conversation with
Dexter three or four days ago, he asked Dexter whether it would not be
practicable for the States to agree on some uniform mode of choosing
electors of President. Dexter said, 'I suppose you would prefer an
election by districts.' 'Yes,' said Nic