[Extract]
No. 314

Sir, I had the honor to receive your dispatch No. 166 dated the 10th of this month.

You were able to judge, Sir, from my preceding dispatches that Lord Stormont in Paris and the Ministers in London are only smiling in the face of adversity. It istrue that General Washington and General [Charles] Lee are not perfectly agreed; but the Congress is unanimous; it will direct the operations and the generals will necessarily do better than a Council and a Parliament which are not in agreement and whose divided members are less concerned with the. safety of England than with the loss of their enemy. As to the dissatisfaction of the people who are only awaiting a signal in order to rebel Mylord North does not go as far as Mylord Stormont. He speculates, he hopes, he follows his plans, finally, because an English Minister cannot, without discrediting himself, come back on those which he has already announced.

I am surprised that Lord Stormont announced the resolution of Ireland as a triumph. Dublin is very close to Paris and such a thing cannot be believed very long. You have read, Sir, that I had the honor to write you on this subject: this triumph was quite naturally an interesting question lost by the government.

I saw My lord in the evening of Friday at the moment, Sir, when I had just received your dispatch. I told this Minister of the orders which the King had just renewed in his ports following the request made by Lord Stormont. Lord North was extremely_ pleased by our attitude; rather remarkable is the fact that it is equally praised by the Opposition. It is true that the latter interprets them in a different manner and considers them as the result of a skillful policy which lets England commit herself and encourages her trust in order to abuse it more usefully when her means will be weakened still more. I do not lose a single opportunity to fight and destroy this notion. The Ministry is willing to discredit it; but the Opposition whose interest is to encourage it is more difficult to convince.

Bad news arrived from Canada, Sir, by way of New-York. The garrison of St. Jean has capitulated. It is suspected that they surrendered as prisoners of war because Mr.[Guy] Carleton who was coming to their aid was forced to withdraw with losses to Montreal. This fortified town cannot hold and it contains all the Royal artillery. Since I sent you my last dispatch I have learned from some one who fought in Canada that the Season will not stand in the way of a march on Quebec, that this city even, when its moats are filled with snow, is not secure from a surprise attack, especially if it is defended only by townsmen. Half of the regular troops were taken at St. Jean, which leaves Mr Carleton with this last resort to defend the position on which depends the fate of America. I must add however that the true source from whence originates this news is not yet known. It is put forward by the Opposition and the Ministry does not deny it. Here are the facts, and nothing else is needed to believe them.