de public. It is supposed that the present
Parliament will be dissolved and a new one called, while the influence
of the present Ministry continues high. Considering the scarcity of
cash in this country, and the present situation of affairs, perhaps
Congress will do well to stop drawing on Mr Jay, until they receive
information that their bills will be paid punctually. There appears no
forwardness in this Court to enter into treaty; the navigation of the
Mississippi is the great obstacle; the situation of America will guide
the determinations of Congress, and I hope it will be such as to
enable them to preserve the rights of all the States. Negotiations
will, probably, be set on foot this winter, and it is likely this
Court will be the theatre of them. As Spain has as yet taken no
decided part in our revolution, England will rather choose to apply to
this Court, and keep up the old idea of restoring peace by her
mediation, than that of Versailles. Hints have been given, that it
would be more convenient for Spain to furnish the States with money in
America than here, but as they seem to think that America has not
proposed an equivalent for what they demand, I am afraid assistance
will be given very faintly.

W. C.

* * * * *

TO THE COMMITTEE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

St Ildefonso, September 25th, 1780.

Gentlemen,

I did myself the honor of addressing you the 6th and 9th instant, and
in the latter expressed an apprehension, that Congress would not
receive the pecuniary aid they expected in this country. I am now
sorry to inform you, that on the 13th, Mr Jay was told by order of the
Minister, that their own exigencies would not permit the King to
provide funds for the payment of more of the bills than had been
already accepted. I make no reflections on this event, and hope the
Committee will suspend theirs, until Congress shall have received from
Mr Jay, a relation of all that has passed here since the month of June
last, with the papers necessary to elucidate it. In a day or two after
the above information, his Majesty was pleased to offer his
responsibility to facilitate a loan for one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars in favor of the United States, and to promise some clothing,
&c. &c.

On the 23d, Mr Jay had a long conference with the Count de Florida
Blanca, the p