least, it has not been productive of any unhappy effects. I
have never delivered the second part, because I have not yet been
satisfied of the expediency of touching upon some matters which it
contained. I have always consulted the French Minister freely,
whenever I have thought any circumstances favorable to our views have
turned up, (an instance will be found in the above letter) and I have
never acted against his opinion given me upon any point.

The line I have hitherto pursued, is precisely that pointed out in
your letter of March 2d. In truth, Sir, no person has higher ideas of
the real honor and dignity of the United States than myself, and no
person, perhaps, would be less liable rashly to expose them to any
indignities. I will not now trouble you with observations upon any
parts of your letter of May 10th, though I may think myself obliged to
do so hereafter, when I shall have a more convenient opportunity to
enter fully into the subject of it, and into the necessary
explanations.

At present, we have no interesting intelligence here. What may be the
consequences of the measures taken by her Imperial Majesty to restore
the deposed Khan of the Crimea, of whom I have made some particular
mention in my letter of the 30th of March, is not easily foreseen.
Whenever we shall receive any certain accounts from that quarter, I
shall not fail to communicate them. In that same letter I gave you
some account of the commerce of this country, and pointed out in what
way I imagined we might take a part in it to our advantage. I enclosed
you a printed list of the exports from hence for 1781. You will
receive one with this also, which will serve to show the nature of
them with more exactness than the quantity; for this is always
considerably greater than those lists import it to be, because they
are formed from the articles alleged by the merchants to be shipped,
and for which they pay the duties, and they scarce ever report the
whole to the custom house.

To give you a more particular knowledge of the commerce of this
country, I have sent you (with the dictionaries you wrote for) a small
treatise upon the subject, which enters into mercantile details, and
may be very serviceable to some of our merchants. It is in general
well written, and is the only one I can learn which has been published
upon it. Her Majesty, who seems to give great attention to the
commerce of her empire, has since freed it in many instances from the
r