TO THE COMMITTEE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
Paris, April 22d, 1779.
Gentlemen,
I enclose you copies[45] of a note and letter from me to the Marquis de la Fayette, to show the terms on which it seems to me we are most likely to obtain a loan from either France or Spain. If Congress approve of them, I should be glad of some instructions in conformity to them; if they are not approved of, I should wish to know it, that I may not repeat the proposal.
I cannot learn that England means to send out any considerable augmentation of their army with you. They have lately received despatches relative to the proceedings in Georgia, but it does not appear yet whether they will send a reinforcement thither from Great Britain, though I think it probable they will.
I have not had a line from you since October last. The peace is not yet signed in Germany. The news of the taking of Pondicherry and other French settlements in India, by the English, together with their advantageous situation in the West Indies, has raised their funds, their credit, and their spirits.[46]
I have the honor to be, &c.
ARTHUR LEE.
TO THE COMMITTEE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.