TO THE MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY OF FRANCE.
August 27, 1792.
Sir,—Your letter of the 2d instant, informing me that the Legislative body, on the proposition of the King of the French, had declared war against the King of Hungary and Bohemia, has been duly received, and is laid before the President of the United States; and I am authorized to convey to you the expression of the sincere concern we feel on learning that the French nation, to whose friendship and interests we have the strongest attachment, are now to encounter the evils of war. We offer our prayers to Heaven that its duration may be short, and its course marked with as few as may be of those calamities which render the condition of war so afflicting to humanity, and we add assurances that, during its course, we shall continue in the same friendly dispositions, and render all those good offices which shall be consistent with the duties of a neutral nation.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.