Paris, January 19th, 1780.
Gentlemen,
Having signified to the Count de Vergennes the resolution of Congress, assenting to my return, his Excellency proposed my taking leave of the King in form, and upon my doing so, that minister presented me his Majesty’s picture set in diamonds.
I thought it my duty to decline accepting it, upon which his Excellency told me it was a mark of his Majesty’s esteem, and was never refused. After this it appeared to me improper to persist in the refusal, and I received it with a determination to leave it to the disposal of Congress. It is sufficient for me, that the giving it is a distinguished proof of the untruth of what has been asserted, that this Court was disgusted with me and dissatisfied at my conduct. The present itself I shall dispose of according to the pleasure of Congress. His Majesty’s portrait is graved upon my mind by the justice and virtue which constitute his character, of which gold and jewels cannot enhance the value.
Permit me from this example to remark, for the sake of the ministers, that this law should be explained so as not to leave them to the disagreeable alternative of an ungracious refusal, or an acceptance that may expose them to censure.
An expedition with ten thousand of the enemy’s best troops will take place in about two months from Ireland, and though from the profound secrecy observed, I have not yet been able to discover its destination with certainty, yet I have sufficient reason to think that Boston is the object of it.
I have the honor to be, &c.
ARTHUR LEE.
TO JOHN JAY MINISTER FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AT MADRID.