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If in this hope they shall be disappointed, and it should be the will of the directory to order passports for the whole or any number of them, you will please to accompany such passports with letters of safe conduct, which will entirely protect from the cruisers of France, the vessels in which they may respectively sail, and give to their persons, suite and property, that perfect security to which the laws and usages of nations entitle them.

They pray you, citizen minister, to receive the renewal of their assurances of profound respect and consideration. CHARLES C. PINCKNEY, JOHN MARSHALL,

apris 3,1798.

A true copy.

E. GERRY.

HENRY M. RUTLEDGE, Secretary.

MESSAGE

FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO Congress. JUNE 21, 1798.

WHILE I Congratulate you, on the arrival of general Marshall, one of our late envoys extraordinary, to the French Republick, at a place of safety, where he is justly held in honour, I think it my duty to communicate to you, a letter received by him, from Mr. Gerry, the only one of the three, who has not received his congé: this letter, together with another, from the minister of foreign relations to him, of the third of April, and his answer of the fourth, will show the situation in which he remains, his intentions and prospects.

I presume, that before this time, he has received fresh instructions (a copy of which accompanies this message) to consent to no loans, and therefore the negotiation may be considered at an end.

I will never send another minister to France, without assurances, that he will be received, respected and honoured, as the representative of a great, free, powerful, and independent nation.

JOHN ADAMS.

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Paris, April 16, 1798.

MY DEAR SIR,-This I expect, you will receive by my colleague general Marshall, who carries with him the last letter of Mr. Talleyrand to the American envoys, and their answer. On the day when we sent the answer, I received a letter from the minister, a copy of which and my answer is enclosed. I have not sent these to the Secretary of State, because I have not time to prepare a letter to accompany them. Indeed I expected my passport with my colleagues; but am imformed the directory will not consent to my leaving France: and to bring on an immediate rupture, by adopting this measure contrary to their wishes, would be in my mind unwarrantable. The object of Mr. Talleyrand, you will perceive, was to resume our reciprocal communications, and again to discuss the subject of a loan. I thought it best in my answer not merely to object to this, but to every measure that could have a tendency to draw me into a negotiation. I accepted of this mission, my dear sir, to support your administration, and have brought myself into a predicament, which you must assist me to extricate myself from, by appointing some others to supply the places of myself and colleagues, if a further progress in this business should be found practicable. I have only a moment to add my best respects to your lady, and my assurances of the most sincere and respectful attachment, my dear sir, of yours sincerely,

The President of the United States.

E. GERRY.

TRANSLATION.

The Minister of Foreign Relations to Mr. Gerry, Envoy Extraordinary of the United States of America, to the French Republick. Paris, the 14 Germinal, 6th year of the French Republick, one and indivisible [3d April, 1798.]

I SUPPOSE, sir, that Messrs. Pinckney and Marshall have thought it useful and proper, in consequence of the

*I allude to my painful residence here as a political cipher.

intimations given in the end of my note of the 28th Ventose last, and the obstacle which their known opinions have interposed to the desired reconciliation, to quit the territory of the Republick. On this supposition I have the honour to point out to you the 5th or the 7th of this decade, to resume our reciprocal communications upon the interests of the French Republick and the United States of America.

Receive, I pray you, the assurances of my perfect consideration.

CH. MAU. TALLEYRAND.

Paris, 4th April, 1798, (Germinal 15, an 6.)

I HAD the honour, citizen minister, of receiving your letter of the 14th Germinal (the 3d inst.) and Mr. Deutrement who delivered it, informed me, that it was intended to be shown to general Pinckney and general Marshall.

Whilst my colleagues and myself, to whom the government of the United States have intrusted the affairs of the embassy, had a joint agency therein, I have carefully imparted to them all the propositions which you have requested, and the relative conferences; and to yourself our decisions thereon; regretting at the same time the unfortunate and embarrassing circumstances which imposed on me this disagreeable task. But as by the tenour of your letter it is now expected, that they will quit the territory of the French Republick, it will be impossible for me to be the medium of, or to take any measures which will be painful to my colleagues, or not to afford them all the assistance in my power; and it would be moreover inconsistent with the line of conduct which you well know, citizen minister, I have uniformly observed for removing the unfavourable impressions which existed on the part of this government against them: indeed in our last letter there is a conditional application for passports, which, as it appears to me, supersedes the necessity of a hint to them, on this subject; and general Marshall is waiting impatiently for an answer to that part of it which respects a letter of safe-conduct for the vessel, in which he and his suite may take passage for the United States, to determine whether he shall embark from France or Great Britain; but the unfortunate situation of general Pinckney,

AMERICAN

with respect to the critical state of his daughter's health,
renders it utterly impossible for him to depart under ex-
isting circumstances.

You have proposed, citizen minister, the 5th or 7th of this decade for me to resume (reprendre) our reciprocal communications upon the interests of the French Republick and of the United States. The reciprocal communications, which we have had, were such only as I have alluded to in the beginning of this letter, unless your proposition accompanied with an injunction of secrecy, for me to treat separately, is considered in this light. To resume this subject will be unavailing, because the measure, for the reasons which I then urged, is utterly impracticable. I can only then confer informally and unaccredited on any subject respecting our mission, and communicate to the government of the United States the result of such conferences, being in my individual capacity unauthorized to give them an official stamp. Nevertheless every measure in my power, and in conformity with the duty I owe my country, shall be zealously pursued, to restore harmony and a cordial friendship between the two republicks. I had the honour of calling on you last evening for the purpose of making this communication verbally, but as you were absent, to prevent misconceptions I have thought it best to reduce it to writing.

Accept I pray you, citizen minister, the assurances of my perfect esteem and respect.

To the Minister of Foreign Affairs

of the French Republick.

}

To Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry, Esquires, Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary from the United States of America to the French Republick.

GENTLEMEN,-On the 4th instant came to hand your first despatches since you arrived at Paris; these were your numbers 1, 4, and 5; and on the 6th instant your numbers 2 and 3 were received. On the 5th, your number 5, dated the 8th of January, and a translation of the message of January 4th from the directory to the council of five hundred, were laid before Congress. In this let

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ter you repeat, that there exists no hope of your being officially received by that government, or that the objects of your mission will be in any way accomplished." This opinion is sanctioned by the whole tenour of your communications; and we trust that soon after the date of your number 5, you closed your mission by demanding passports to leave the territories of the French Republick. An official copy of your letters of credence having been delivered to the minister for foreign affairs, and by him laid before the directory, they were sufficiently informed of the great objects of your mission; and considering that you were an extraordinary delegation from an independent nation, you had a right to expect a prompt and respectful reception. The fair and honourable views of the American government, which dictated your appointment and your powers, entitled you to expect the early appointment of a commission by the French government, with equal powers, to negotiate on all the matters in controversy between them. Had the French government been influenced by similar views, the objects of your mission would long since have been accomplished, to the advantage and peace of both nations. But instead of coming forward on such equal and proper ground, they have treated you, and through you your country, with extreme neglect.

Under these circumstances, the President presumes that you have long since quitted Paris and the French dominions; yet, actuated as you were with an ardent desire to preserve peace, which you knew would be so grateful to your country; and having for this object manifested unexampled patience, and submitted to a series of mortifications; as you also proposed to make one more direct attempt, subsequent to the date of your last letter, to draw the French government to an open negotiation; there is a bare possibility that this last effort may have succeeded :-The President therefore thinks it proper to direct

1. That if you are in treaty, with persons duly authorized by the directory, on the subjects of your mission, then you are to remain and expedite the completion of the treaty, if it should not have been concluded. Before this letter gets to hand, you will have ascertained whether the

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