第43章

DEARSIR——MylasttoyouwasofMar。7。sincewhichIhavereceivedyourNos。8。and9。Iamapprehensivethatyoursituationmusthavebeendifficultduringthetransitionfromthelateformofgovernmenttothere-establishmentofsomeotherlegitimateauthority，andthatyoumayhavebeenatalosstodeterminewithwhombusinessmightbedone。Neverthelesswhenprinciplesarewellunderstoodtheirapplicationislessembarrassing。Wesurelycannotdenytoanynationthatrightwhereonourowngovernmentisfounded，thateveryonemaygovernitselfunderwhateverformsitpleases，andchangetheseformsatit’sownwill，andthatitmaytransactit’sbusinesswithforeignnationsthroughwhateverorganitthinksproper，whetherKing，convention，assembly，committee，President，orwhateverelseitmaychuse。Thewillofthenationistheonlythingessentialtoberegarded。OnthedissolutionofthelateconstitutioninFrance，byremovingsointegralapartofitastheKing，theNationalAssembly，towhomapartonlyofthepublicauthorityhadbeendelegated，sensibleoftheincompetenceoftheirpowerstotransacttheaffairsofthenationlegitimately，incitedtheirfellowcitizenstoappointanationalconventionduringthisdefectivestateofthenationalauthority。Dutytoourconstituentsrequiredthatweshouldsuspendpaimentofthemoniesyetunpaidofourdebttothatcountry，becausetherewasnopersonorpersonssubstantiallyauthorizedbythenationofFrancetoreceivethemoniesandgiveusagoodacquittal。Onthisgroundmylastletterdesiredyoutosuspendpaimentstillfurtherorders，withanassurance，ifnecessary，thatthesuspensionshouldnotbecontinuedamomentlongerthanshouldbenecessaryforustoseethere-establishmentofsomepersonorbodyofpersonswithauthoritytoreceiveandgiveusagoodacquittal。SincethatwelearnthataConventionisassembled，investedwithfullpowersbythenationtotransactit’saffairs。Tho’weknowthatfromthepublicpapersonly，insteadofwaitingforaformalannunciationofit，wehastentoactuponitbyauthorizingyou，ifthefactbetrue，toconsiderthesuspensionofpaiment，directedinmylastletter，asnowtakenoff，andtoproceedasifithadneverbeenimposed；consideringtheConvention，orthegovernmenttheyshallhaveestablishedasthelawfulrepresentativesoftheNationandauthorizedtoactforthem。

Neitherthehonornorinclinationofourcountrywouldjustifyourwithholdingourpaimentunderascrupulousattentiontoforms。Onthecontrarytheylentusthatmoneywhenwewereundertheircircumstances，anditseemsprovidentialthatwecannotonlyrepaythemthesamesum，butunderthesamecircumstances。Indeed，wewishtoomitnoopportunityofconvincingthemhowcordiallywedesiretheclosestunionwiththem：Mutualgoodoffices，mutualaffectionandsimilarprinciplesofgovernmentseemtohavedestinedthetwopeopleforthemostintimatecommunion，andevenforacompleteexchangeofcitizenshipamongtheindividualscomposingthem。

DuringthefluctuatingstateoftheAssignatsofFrance，Imustaskthefavorofyoutoinformmeineveryletteroftherateofexchangebetweenthem&coin，thisbeingnecessaryfortheregulationofourcustomhouses。WearecontinuingoursuppliestotheislandofSt。DomingoattherequestoftheMinisterofFrancehere。WewouldwishhowevertoreceiveamoreformalsanctionfromthegovernmentofFrancethanhasyetbeengiven。Indeed，weknowofnonebutavoteofthelateNationalAssemblyfor4millionsoflivresofourdebt，senttothegovernmentofSt。Domingo，communicatedbythemtotheMinisterhere，&byhimtous。Andthiswasintermsnotproperlyapplicabletotheformofouradvances。Wewishthereforeforafullsanctionofthepast&acompleteexpressionofthedesiresoftheirgovernmentastofuturesuppliestotheircolonies。Besideswhatwehavefurnishedpublicly，individualmerchantsoftheU。S。havecarriedconsiderablesuppliestotheislandofSt。Domingo，whichhavebeensometimespurchased，sometimestakenbyforce，andbillsgivenbytheadministrationofthecolonyontheministerhere，whichhavebeenprotestedforwantoffunds。WehavenodoubtthatjusticewillbedonetothesePAEANTOTHEFRENCHREVOLUTION

_ToWilliamShort_

_Philadelphia，Jan。3，1793_

DEARSIR，——MylastprivatelettertoyouwasofOct。16。

sincewhichIhavereceivedyourNo。103，107，108，109，110，112，113&114andyesterdayyourprivateoneofSep15，cametohand。

Thetoneofyourlettershadforsometimegivenmepain，onaccountoftheextremewarmthwithwhichtheycensuredtheproceedingsoftheJacobinsofFrance。IconsideredthatsectasthesamewiththeRepublicanpatriots，&theFeuillantsastheMonarchicalpatriots，wellknownintheearlypartoftherevolution，&butlittledistantintheirviews，bothhavinginobjecttheestablishmentofafreeconstitution，&differingonlyonthequestionwhethertheirchiefExecutiveshouldbehereditaryornot。TheJacobins(assincecalled)yieldedtotheFeuillants&triedtheexperimentofretainingtheirhereditaryExecutive。Theexperimentfailedcompletely，andwouldhavebroughtonthereestablishmentofdespotismhaditbeenpursued。TheJacobinssawthis，andthattheexpungingthatofficerwasofabsolutenecessity。AndtheNationwaswiththeminopinion，forhowevertheymighthavebeenformerlyfortheconstitutionframedbythefirstassembly，theywerecomeoverfromtheirhopeinit，andwerenowgenerallyJacobins。Inthestrugglewhichwasnecessary，manyguiltypersonsfellwithouttheformsoftrial，andwiththemsomeinnocent。TheseIdeploreasmuchasanybody，&shallde