phia, March 12th, 1783.

Dear Sir,

The Washington packet arrived this morning. I have not yet had leisure
to read all my letters, but as an express is ready to go early
tomorrow, I rather choose to rely upon your goodness to excuse a
letter written in extreme haste, than to hold myself inexcusable, by
not informing you of what we yet know of the state of our
negotiations. None of my letters is of a later date than the 25th of
December. All difficulties had then been removed with respect to us,
and the preliminaries were signed; they consist of nine articles.

The _first_ acknowledges our Independence.

The _second_ describes our boundaries, which are as extensive as we
could wish.

The _third_ ascertains our rights as to the fishery, and puts them
upon the same footing that they were before the war.

The _fourth_ provides that all British debts shall be paid.

The _fifth_ and _sixth_ are enclosed for your perusal, as they are
likely to be the least satisfactory here.

The _seventh_ stipulates that hostilities shall immediately cease, and
that the British troops be withdrawn without carrying off any
property, or dismantling fortifications; that records and archives
shall be restored.

The _eighth_ stipulates that the navigation of the Mississippi shall
be open to us and Great Britain.

The _ninth_, that all conquests made in America after the ratification
shall be restored.

These preliminaries are only provisional upon the determination of a
peace with France, whose negotiations have not made such progress as
ours. I believe they find themselves very much embarrassed by the
demands of their other allies.

The Count de Vergennes, in a letter of the 25th of December, says, "I
cannot foresee the issue, for difficulties arise from the disposition
we have shown to remove them. It would be well, Sir, to prepare
Congress for every event. I do not despair; I rather hope; but all is
yet uncertain."

But, Sir, whatever the event of the negotiations may be, I persuade
myself the enemy will leave these States. Mr Oswald has made some
propositions to our Ministers upon this subject, proposing that they
might be permitted to embark without molestation, and endeavor to
recover West Florida from the Spaniards. This last communication,
(which you will consider as confidential,) I thought might be
important to your Excellency. By attending to their conduct, you will
be able to judge if they mean to pursue this system