Sir

I have received the letter which Your Excellency did me the honor of writing, dated 7th October, which has been sent to me here by the frigate of his Britannic Majesty which has anchored at Basse Terre: By this dispatch you tell me that Captain [Grant] Gordon, commanding the frigate Argo having put into the harbor at St. Pierre in Martinique has reported that a very pernicious trade is taking place there, [the] furnishing [of] powder and other munitions of war to the colonials of New England.

I can assure Your Excellency that I have no knowledge of it, I gave my orders a long time ago that no one was to allow anything of that nature to leave our ports: But St. Pierre is a trading place where all the commodities of Europe are traded with every foreigner, without distinction; and it is quite possible that the merchant with only his own interest in view traded in some of these articles without my having any knowledge of it nor of their destination.

Your Excellency tells me in the second place that these kinds of merchandize were exported in American Ships, which had on board French masters, and that the vessels of his Britannic Majesty, which encountered them at sea, seized them as contraband.

I have the honor of replying on this subject to Your Excellency that, following our own laws, a French master would not be enough to characterize the vessel he commands as such it is necessary also that the greater part of the crew be composed of nationals, and that the ship be furnished with French sailing orders in good form and specifying its destination. Every ship in the state I have just described to Your Excellency could not be siezed by those of his Britannic Majesty without a clear infraction of maritime rights recognized among civilized nations unless however in the actual situation they are encountered in the vicinity of New England carrying munitions of war for that colony.

As for the improper action of Mr. Gordon in the roadstead at St. Pierre which M. de Choiseul has told me about, I refer to what I had the honor of writing to Your Excellency by the Signeur de Montaigu commander of His Most Christian Majesty's troops, I shall add only that Captain Gordon was not able to visit under any admissable grounds ships which anchor in a French roadstead, being under the protection of His Most Christian Majesty, this act of violence would not be suffered even in time of war in any neutral port, and Captain Gordon has carried his delinquency to the greatest excess by acting to haul down the colors of His Most Christian Majesty in order to substitute those of his Britannic Majesty.

Therefore, I can only approve the action followed by Count de Choiseul concerning the indiscreet request Captain Gordon made to him in regard to seizing ships in our ports: The imprudent acts of Captain Gordon cannot be excused in any case, not even under the special pretext of an utmost Zeal for the service of his Britannic Majesty and I am entirely persuaded that Your Excellency cannot think otherwise.

The desire I have of maintaining union and friendship, which, I hope still exists between our respective nations, will cause me to pay particular attention to the choice I make of the officers who can visit your ports, in order that their conduct cannot diminish the harmony which has always existed between the governments of these colonies, and I hope that Your Excellency will do the same in recommending to all those under his orders an equal prudence when they are in our ports.

I have the honor of being with the greatest esteem &c.