"Cadiz, March 6th, 1780.
"Sir,
"I have been honored with your Excellency's favor of the 24th ultimo, which did not come to my hands till sometime after its arrival.
"The sentiments which his Majesty is pleased to entertain of me, together with the polite manner in which your Excellency has been so obliging as to express them, demand my warmest acknowledgments, and give additional force to the many motives, which render me desirous of a permanent union between his Majesty and the United States.
"The honor and probity, which have ever characterised the conduct of Spain, together with the exalted reputation his Majesty has acquired, by being an eminent example of both, have induced the people of the United States to repose the highest confidence in the proofs they have received of his friendly disposition towards them; and to consider every engagement with this monarchy as guarantied by that faith, and secured by that ingenuousness, which have so gloriously distinguished his Majesty and this kingdom among the other Princes and nations of the earth.
"Permit me to request the favor of your Excellency to assure his Majesty, that the people of the United States are convinced, that virtue alone can animate and support their governments; and that they can in no other way establish and perpetuate a national character, honorable to themselves and their posterity, than by an unshaken adherence to the rules which religion, morality, and treaties may prescribe for their conduct. His royal mind may also be persuaded, that gratitude will never cease to add the influence of inclination to the power of dignity, in rendering them solicitous for the happiness and prosperity of those generous nations, who nobly strengthened their opposition to a torrent of oppression, and kindly aided in freeing them from the bondage of a nation, whose arrogance and injustice had become destructive of the rights of mankind, and dangerous to the peace and tranquillity of Christendom.
"Having therefore the most perfect conviction, that the candor and benignity of his Majesty's intentions are equal to the uprightness and sincerity of those of Congress, I shall set out in a few days for Madrid, with the pleasing expectation that there will be little delay or difficulty in adjusting the terms of a union between a magnanimous Monarch and a virtuous people, who wish to obtain, by an alliance with each other, only reciprocal benefits and mutual advantages.
"I have the honor to be, with perfect respect and consideration, your Excellency's most obedient, and most humble servant,
JOHN JAY."
On the 4th of April, 1780, I arrived at Madrid, and Mr Carmichael delivered to me the following questions from the Count de Florida Blanca, to which he had declined giving answers, viz.