said_. If they reject them, because they will not begin where they
propose to end, I conceive the negotiations should still go on. We may
judge of the intentions of the Court of London by their first
propositions. If they have independence for their basis, we may
proceed; _if not, we must break off_." In his letter of the 14th of
October, he mentions with great apparent satisfaction, the alterations
in Mr Oswald's commission. From the general tenor of these letters, I
can discover nothing but an anxious desire for peace, which might very
naturally lead him to wish that objections, which he did not conceive
essential in the first instance, after having declared to Great
Britain that no peace could be made till our independence was
acknowledged, should not break off a negotiation, which must end in
the attainment of an object, which they have as much at heart as we.

Whatever the sentiments of the Count de Vergennes may be, as to the
claim of Spain, in a letter which I have seen, he treats them as well
as ours, as chimerical and extravagant, and declares, that he does not
mean to interfere in them. You can best judge of the sincerity of this
declaration. If insincere, I cannot conceive for what purpose it was
made, or the subject treated so lightly, or why this should be
confided to me. For my own part, I believe their situation with
respect to Spain is very delicate, and that they are embarrassed by
her demands. I mention these things, that you may, by comparing them
with facts within your reach, draw useful inferences from them, and I
wish to give you everything that may _possibly_ be of use to you.

As to the letter of Marbois, I am by no means surprised at it, since
he always endeavored to persuade us that our claim to the fisheries
was not well founded. Yet one thing is very remarkable, and I hope
evinces the determination of France to serve us on this point. The
advice given to discourage the hope is certainly judicious, and yet we
find no steps taken in consequence of it. On the contrary, we have
been repeatedly told in formal communications since that period, "that
the King would do everything for us that circumstances will admit, and
that nothing but dire necessity shall induce him to relinquish any of
the objects we have at heart, and that he does not imagine that such
necessity will exist." This communication was made on the 21st of last
November, from letters of the 7th of September, _previous to our_
succes