TO COUNT DE VERGENNES.
Passy, 1st October, 1778.
Sir,
We have received the letter, which your Excellency did us the honor to write to us on the 27th of last month, together with a copy of a letter from the Minister of the Marine to your Excellency, of the 21st of the same month.
Convinced of the propriety of those eclaircissements which his Excellency demands, we had recourse to our various instructions from Congress, and although we have power and instructions to treat and conclude treaties with all the European Powers, to whom no particular Minister has been sent by Congress, yet we cannot find that our powers extend to conclude treaties with the Barbary States.
We are, nevertheless, instructed to endeavor to obtain passes for vessels of the United States and their subjects from those powers, through the mediation and influence of His Most Christian Majesty, which we therefore request his Excellency to endeavor to procure, provided he sees no danger in the attempt, or material objections to it.
We have, however, the honor to agree with his Excellency in opinion, that an acknowledgment of the independence of the United States, on the part of these powers, and a treaty of commerce between them and us, would be beneficial to both, and a negotiation to that end not unlikely to succeed; because there has been heretofore some trade between them and us, in the course of which our people and vessels were well received.
We therefore submit to his Excellency's judgment, either to commence a negotiation for passes for American vessels immediately, or to wait until we can write to Congress, and obtain power to treat with those States, and conclude treaties of commerce with them, when we shall request to commence and conclude the negotiation through the mediation and under the auspices of his Majesty. We have the honor to request his Excellency's advice hereupon.
We address this to your Excellency, as we have done many other things, which we suppose may be referred to other departments, because your Excellency being the Minister for Foreign Affairs, we have understood that we have no right to apply in the first instance to any other. But if we have been misinformed and ill-advised in this, and there is no impropriety in our making immediate application to other Ministers, upon subjects we know to be in their departments, we request your Excellency to give us an intimation of it; and for the future we will avoid giving unnecessary trouble to your Excellency.
We have the honor to be, with sentiments of most entire respect,
B. FRANKLIN,
ARTHUR LEE,
JOHN ADAMS.