第32章

YourcommunicationstotheCountdeMoustier，whatevertheymayhavebeen，cannothavedoneinjurytomyendeavorsheretoopentheW。Indiestous。Onthisheadtheministersareinvinciblymute，tho’Ihaveoftentriedtodrawthemintothesubject。Ihavethereforefounditnecessarytoletitlietillwarorothercircumstancemayforceiton。WhenevertheyareinwarwithEngland，theymustopentheislandstous，andperhapsduringthatwartheymayseesomepricewhichmightmakethemagreetokeepthemalwaysopen。InthemeantimeIhavelaidmyshouldertotheopeningthemarketsofthiscountrytoourproduce，andrenderingit’stransportationanurseryforourseamen。AmaritimeforceistheonlyonebywhichwecanactonEurope。Ournavigationlaw(ifitbewisetohaveany)shouldbethereverseofthatofEngland。Insteadofconfining_importations_tohome-bottomsorthoseofthe_producing_nations，Ithinkweshouldconfine_exportations_tohomebottomsortothoseofnations_havingtreatieswithus_。Ourexportationsareheavy，andwouldnourishagreatforceofourown，orbeatemptingpricetothenationtowhomweshouldofferaparticipationofitinexchangeforfreeaccesstoalltheirpossessions。Thisisanobjecttowhichourgovernmentaloneisadequateinthegross，butIhaveventuredtopursueit，here，sofarastheconsumptionofproductionsbythiscountryextends。Thusinourarrangementsrelativetotobacco，nonecanbereceivedherebutinFrenchorAmericanbottoms。Thisisemploimentfornearly2000

seamen，andputsnearlythatnumberofBritishoutofemploy。Bythe_Arret_ofDec，1787，itwasprovidedthatourwhaleoilsshouldnotbereceivedherebutinFrenchorAmericanbottoms，andbylaterregulationsalloilsbutthoseofFranceandAmericaareexcluded。

Thiswillput100Englishwhalevesselsimmediatelyoutofemploy，and150。erelong；andcallsomanyofFrench&Americanintoservice。Wehavehad6000seamenformerlyinthisbusiness，thewholeofwhomwehavebeenlikelytolose。Theconsumptionofriceisgrowingfastinthiscountry，andthatofCarolinagaininggroundoneveryotherkind。IamofopinionthewholeoftheCarolinaricecanbeconsumedhere。It’stransportationemploys2500sailors，almostallofthemEnglishatpresent；thericebeingdepositedatCowes&broughtfromthencehere。ItwouldbedangeroustoconfinethistransportationtoFrench&Americanbottomstheensuingyear，becausetheywillbemuchengrossedbythetransportationofwheat&

flourhither，andthecropofricemightlieonhandforwantofvessels；butIseenoobjectionstotheextensionsofourprincipletothisarticlealso，beginningwiththeyear1790。However，beforethereisanecessityofdecidingonthisIhopetobeabletoconsultournewgovernmentinperson，asIhaveaskedofCongressaleaveofabsencefor6。months，thatistosayfromApriltoNovembernext。

Itisnecessaryformetopayashortvisittomynativecountry，firsttoreconductmyfamilythither，andplacetheminthehandsoftheirfriends，&secondlytoplacemyprivateaffairsundercertainarrangements。WhenIleftmyownhouse，Iexpectedtobeabsentbut5months，&Ihavebeenledbyeventstoanabsenceof5years。I

shallhopethereforeforthepleasureofpersonalconferenceswithyourExcellencyonthesubjectofthisletterandothersinterestingtoourcountry，ofgettingmyownideassettorightsbyacommunicationofyours，andoftakingagainthetoneofsentimentofmyowncountrywhichweloseinsomedegreeafteracertainabsence。

YouknowdoubtlessofthedeathoftheMarquisedeChastellux。TheMarquisdeLaFayetteisoutoffavorwiththecourt，buthighinfavorwiththenation。Ioncefearedforhispersonalliberty，butI

hopeheisonsafegroundatpresent。OnthesubjectofthewhalefisheryIincloseyousomeobservationsIdrewupfortheministryhere，inordertoobtainacorrectionoftheir_Arret_ofSeprlast，wherebytheyhadinvolvedouroilswiththeEnglishinageneralexclusionfromtheirports。Theywillaccordinglycorrectthis，sothatouroilswillparticipatewiththeirsinthemonopolyoftheirmarkets。Thereareseveralthingsincidentallyintroducedwhichdonotseempertinenttothegeneralquestion。Theywererenderednecessarybyparticularcircumstancestheexplanationofwhichwouldaddtoaletteralreadytoolong。Iwilltrespassnofurtherthenthantoassureyouofthesent