ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO FRANCIS DANA.

Philadelphia, May 29th, 1782.

Sir,

You will receive herewith a letter of the 10th instant, which having
been submitted to Congress, was returned yesterday to this office,
together with the resolution, which I have the honor to enclose
expressive of their sense of the sentiments contained in the letter,
and of the line of conduct you ought to pursue. Having written to you
lately, I have little to add.

We have not been able to settle a cartel with the British for the
exchange of prisoners, of whom we have a balance in our hands to the
amount of ten thousand. They refuse to pay the great sums, that we
have advanced for their maintenance, which we make a preliminary to an
exchange. It is not improbable, that the Germans will be made free of
the country, sold for three years, to defray this expense, which they
most of them wish, as they express a great inclination to settle here.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

* * * * *

TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

St Petersburg, June 28th, 1782.

Sir,

Immediately after we had received intelligence here of the important
change in the councils, and in the system of Great Britain, I
consulted my correspondent (the Marquis de Verac) upon the expediency
of disclosing my public character, without further delay to her
Majesty's principal Minister. He gave me his opinion freely and
candidly. For your information, I need only say, that it is the same
in every respect with his former one, which you will find in his
letter to me, of the 12th of September last, and in mine of September
15th to the President of Congress.

I cannot take upon me to say, that his opinion is not well founded. My
private sentiment then was, that that event could not fail to occasion
a correspondent change in her Majesty's system also; but I knew my
means of information were not as good as those of my correspondent,
and that though every one seems to think the mediation of her Majesty,
between Great Britain and Holland, was in effect at an end, yet in
form it was still kept up, so that the reasons against disclosing my
character, mentioned to you in my letter of March 5th, might still be
supposed to have some influence. This determined me to conform