ecting the
recency of these Spanish claims, which I had just before done to Count
de Vergennes. He said it was a subject which Count de Florida Blanca
had not understood, and imputed their former ideas of our extending to
the Mississippi, to their ignorance respecting those matters; hence it
became evident, from whom they had borrowed their present ideas.

On the 27th of September, Mr Vaughan returned here from England with
the courier that brought Mr Oswald's new commission, and very happy
were we to see it. Copies of it have already been sent to you, so that
I will not lengthen this letter by inserting it here; nor will I add
anything further on this head at present, than to assure you, that Mr
Vaughan greatly merits our acknowledgments.

The next thing to be done, was to prepare and draw up the proposed
articles. They were soon completed and settled between us and Mr
Oswald, by whom they were sent to his Court, with letters declaring
his opinion, that they ought to be accepted and agreed to; but they
differed with him in opinion.[6]

These articles, for very obvious reasons, were not communicated to the
Count de Vergennes.

Mr Oswald did not receive any opinion from his Court relating to our
articles until the 23d of October, when letters from the Minister
informed him, that the extent of our boundaries, and the situation of
the tories, &c. caused some objections, and the Minister's Secretary
was on the way here to confer with us on those subjects.

On the 24th of October, I dined at Passy with Dr Franklin, where I
found M. Rayneval. After dinner, we were in private with him a
considerable time. He desired to know the state of our negotiation
with Mr Oswald. We told him, that difficulties had arisen about our
boundaries, and that one of the Minister's Secretaries was coming here
with papers and documents on that subject. He asked us what boundaries
we claimed. We told him, the river St John to the east, and ancient
Canada, as described in the proclamation, to the north. He contested
our right to such an extent to the north, and entered into several
arguments to show our claim to be ill founded. These arguments were
chiefly drawn from the ancient French claims, and from a clause in the
proclamation restraining governors from making grants in the Indian
country, &c.

He inquired what we demanded as to the fisheries. We answered, that we
insisted on enjoying a right in common to them with Great Britain. He
intim