Ministry was, that the demands of Congress were
excessive; that to induce succor from their ally, there should be
greater exertions on the part of the United States; that the King had
the greatest good will towards them, but that the expenditures of the
war were immense; the necessity of supporting a maritime war in
different quarters, and the indispensable defence of his own colonies,
limited his power of giving assistance; that the public credit of
France, however good, had its limits, which it were dangerous to
exceed; that the administration of the American finances was not
calculated to inspire confidence; that a dangerous wound had been
given to our public credit by the resolution of the 18th of March,
1780, a measure, which, however judicious it might have been in time
of peace, was exceedingly pernicious in time of war; that the
application of Congress was tardy, and by its suddenness excluded
expedients which might otherwise have been employed for our relief;
that with regard to the national interest and honor, France had been a
great kingdom, and the King a powerful monarch, when America was
composed of feeble colonies.

To this kind of discourse I answered, by enlarging on the natural and
political disadvantages of America in the present contest, the fertile
resources of the British, their power and activity; the impossibility
of our supporting a paper credit without a foundation of specie,
adding, that the continental currency must have died a natural death
if it had not been checked at a late stage of depreciation, by the act
of Congress in question; that persons, who had clamored most on this
subject, had been instrumental in hastening the discredit of our
paper, by various commercial speculations, but that the downfall of
the currency must be attributed principally to a want of funds for its
support; for this object Congress were renewing their application in
the most pressing terms; that the King of France's glory could not but
suffer if the British triumphed in the present dispute, as his
consideration in Europe would be lessened by it; that his interests
besides, and those of his kingdom, would certainly be deeply wounded
by a re-accession of America to Great Britain, and that the same fleet
and army, which should prove decisive there, would be at hand to
possess themselves of the French islands.

The Marquis de Castries, Minister for the Marine Department, being
absent, and a vacation produced some