I have received, Sir, your letters Nos. 119 and 122 dated 31 July³ and 7 August in which you reported the engagement in sight of St. Pierre Road between H.B.M. frigate Shark, Captain Chapman, and the American corvette le Reprise [Reprisal] Captain Lambert Wickes, as well as the request made to you by M. Chapman to the effect that the King's frigate be allowed to seize the Bostonian frigate in St. Pierre Road. His Majesty to whom I reported this matter approved your refusal and the reply you made to Vice admiral Young. The King is convinced that in all cases you will uphold with the same dignity the honor of his arms and that you will never tolerate any violence or insults towards a vessel which would have requested the protection of the forts of the Colony whose command was entrusted to you, or which would be anchored under the protection of the guns of the said Colony or sailing within their range.

But His Majesty, while wishing to protect the right of sanctuary in his ports and roads, does not intend to favor openly the Insurgents in such a pointed way that it would provoke objections on the part of Great Britain: consequently, His Majesty disapproves the assurance you gave to M. Bingham, deputy of the Secret Committee of Congress, that you would support as much as it was within your power the interest of the Insurgents. You believed that you were justified to do so because of the instructions which M. [Thomas] Dorves, Captain of l'aigrette, had been ordered to communicate to you. But there is nothing in these orders that could warrant stretching their meaning as you did, Sir; you did not grasp the spirit of the Instructions. I directed therein the Commanders of His Majesty's frigates to grant the protection of the Flag to the Insurgent Vessels that would come and request it: it is the law of Nations and the right of Sovereigns; but the said Commanders are enjoined by the same Instructions not to move in any way towards the Insurgent Vessels, but to wait until circumstances brought them close enough so that they could ask for the King's protection and not to facilitate through their own manoeuvres those which the said Vessels might make in order to approach His Majesty's ships. You can see, Sir, that these Instructions do not show that His Majesty wishes to support the Insurgents openly; the King is only determined not to tolerate any attempt against the respect to which his Flag is entitled. These Instructions therefore do not authorise you to promise the envoy of the Secret Committee of Congress that you will support with all your power the interest of the Insurgents; by following these Instructions to the letter, you were merely to dissimulate the trade negotiations that this person might have opened, and by grasping the spirit behind these Instructions you were to facilitate secretly as much as it was within your power, but without making any formal declarations to the envoy, the various items which the congress had requested. You must adjust your line of conduct towards the Insurgents, Sir, according to this principle and avoid provoking the objections that Great Britain would have a right to make if His Majesty granted open protection to the Insurgents and supplied them with assistance in order to strengthen their resistance.

Since you have not sent me, Sir, the copy of the reply you made to the envoy of Congress, I suppose⁴ that it was made by word of mouth only and that it will be easy to have him look upon the drawing which he will be able to make at Martinique of the items requested by Congress as a trade operation from Nation to Nation and not as an open assistance which France is granting to the Insurgents.

His Majesty has chosen, Sir, to impute to an excess of zeal the positive assurances which you gave to the envoy thinking it was in your power to do so. The King recommends that you use great circumspection and counts no less on our caution and firmness. I have the honor to be with sincere attachment &c.