"I have the honor to be, &c.
DE VERGENNES.
"P. S. I remit to you herewith the letter of Mr Grand."
Although this letter of Dr Franklin does not in express terms promise me the aid I had desired, yet the general tenor of it, together with the grant of the million mentioned by the Count de Vergennes, led me to suppose, that on the receipt of it he would be able to make me the necessary advances. Under this idea I returned the following answer to the Doctor's letter.
"Madrid, January 30th, 1782.
"My dear Sir,
"I had yesterday the satisfaction of receiving your favor of the 15th instant. You will find by a letter, which I wrote you on the 11th instant, that I imputed your silence to its true cause, being well persuaded, that the same attention you have always paid to the public affairs in general, would not be withheld from those, which call for it in this kingdom.
"I am happy to find, that you have a prospect of terminating the difficulties, which the bills drawn upon me have occasioned, and though I cannot but observe, that Count de Vergennes' letter is peculiarly explicit and precise, yet I must confess, I should not have been surprised if it had been conceived in terms still less soft. Would it not be well to transmit a copy of it to Congress? France has done, and is still doing so much for us, that gratitude, as well as policy, demands from us the utmost moderation and delicacy in our applications for aids; and considering the very singular plan of drawing bills at a venture, I think we have no less reason to admire the patience, than to be satisfied with the liberality of our good and generous allies.
"M. de Neufville had given me a hint of the embarrassments occasioned by the affair of our goods in Holland.
"It seems as if trouble finds its way to you from every quarter. Our credit in Holland leans upon you on the one hand, and in Spain on the other. Thus you continue, like the key-stone of an arch, pressed by both sides and yet sustaining each. How grateful ought we to be to France for enabling you to do it.