[Extract]

While all England is gathered at Westminster Hall to watch the trial of the old, adulterous and bigamous Dutchess of Kinston, I am going to tell you about a rather serious conversation I had with Lord Rochford. On Sunday, as he sent me some tickets for Westminster Hall, he asked me to his home. The conversation gradually came to life following the greetings and he said to me: ー "Sir, since I am about to ask for a mark of friendship and confidence on your part, I will first give you one and let you see something which I have not shown to anyone." This something, M. le Comte, was a kind, amicable letter from the King of England, addressed to him and assuring him of the fondest attachment and in which this Prince requests him to accept the Vice-royalty of Ireland, which, he said, Lord North had been instructed to offer him on his behalf. The King added: I need a very reliable man in this island. In the present state of affairs it is to be feared that Ireland will follow the path of America. The only favor I ask of you is not to take your Secretary there, this infamous rascal Blaker who was in France with the Duke of Harcourt and has kept dangerous connections there. He caused the Duke [Earl] of Harcourt to be detested in Ireland, &c.&c. "This is what the King wrote me yesterday," Lord Rochford said. "I am sorry that he holds such feelings against Blaker of whom I am fond; but everything related to France is a worry at this time. (Therefore it is my conclusion, M. le Comte, that the English are much concerned about us.) I shall accept only on the condition that I be allowed to spend only 6 months of the year there. I am waiting for Lord North's reply in this regard. But I must not omit to read you the last sentence in the King's letter, M. de B***, because it concerns you on.ly: 'Do not forget, My lord, everything I have instructed you to do. You will report about it to be only.' "It concerns, M. de B***, the news received from Bristol. A ship loaded by order of Congress with letters and goods for a merchant of Nantes, named Montaudoin, with the instructions to change these goods for war ammunition of all kind, was taken straight to Bristol by a Captain loyal to his King. 3 The contents of these letters prove that this correspondence had started a long time ago and that it may well be taking place under the protection of your government. Our Council is particularly alarmed by this circuinstance as well as that of two Frenchmen 4 who are secretly negotiating with Congress on behalf of your Ministers (London gives us more credit than we deserve, M. le Comte) and the said Gentlemen are said to have secret connections in London. "Some poorly informed persons have tried to indicate that you should be suspected of this connivance. But the King is not impressed and it is with his consent that I discuss the matter with you. What do you think of all that? I know that you are here in order to be done with this D'eon; 5 I want to believe you in this respect, and I have already answered for you to the King as you know"

"My lord, before I give you an answer with regard to my business," said, "let me begin with the American ship, not that I have received any instructions from our Ministry, but on the basis of my own opinion.

"I had already heard, My lord, of the American ship's arrival in Bristol, and I would not have been more surprised, had her cargo been destined for a merchant of Amsterdam, Cadiz or Hamburg instead of a merchant of Nantes.

"The insurgents need ammunition and have no money to buy any in Europe; they must therefore take a chance and send their own goods there in order to exchange them. And all ports where ammunition can be found must be all the same to them."

"But, Sir, has France not issued orders in her ports in this respect? and do we not have the right to expect that the merchants of Nantes will be punished, as we intend to request it of your Ministers?"

"My Lord, you have allowed me to speak frankly; I will do so quite freely, especially since I have no official mission and my words will not compromise any one.

"My lord, why should you want our administration to deal severely with thepeople of Nantes? Are we at war with someone? In view of the peace upon which I rest my argument, are our Ports not open to all the merchants of the world?

"Before demanding satisfaction from France, My lord, with respect to the merchants of Nantes, one should first consider the prdiminary aspect of a rather strange question; and here it is.

"In the matter of a quarrel which is the private affair of England, and into which we do not enter, nor do we wish to enter, does England have the right to restrict our trade? And on the basis of what treaty must we open or close our ports to merchant vessels according to the desires of the British Nation?

"Indeed, My lord, I can hardly believe that one should dare raise such an unbelievable question to which the answer might bring consequences that England should not provoke in her best interest! Especially when the neutrality in which the King of France confines himself establishes firmly his honorable principles; although our domestic difficulties are an open invitation for France to take advantage of this opportunity and recover everything which the English plundered from us during the last war!"

"But, Sir, the Americans are rebels and our declared enemy."

"My lord, they are not ours."

"Must France support them when we are at peace with her?"

"Support them! Why, My lord, you could say that only if we kept you from chasing all the Insurgent vessels on the high seas on pretext they were loaded with goods for our ports or from our ports. What stops you from taking measures against them? Cruise in all seas, seize them everywhere ex, cept under the guns of our ports however; this is not our concern. But to require that we harass our merchants because they have trade relations with people with whom we are at peace, whether we consider them as your subjects or as a now free people against whom you are fighting, but whom your Ministry does not even dare to prosecute in front of your nation, indeed, that is too much! I do not know what our administration would think of such a request; as far as I am concerned, I would regard it as being far more than out of place."

"I can see that, Sir, because you are red with anger."

(As a matter of fact, M. le Comte, I was all fired up; and if you do not approve my display of passion, I will answer, while begging your pardon, that I was not expressing your opinion but my own.)

"My lord," I added gently and modestly, " you are an Englishman and a patriot; you will not take exception to my being a good Frenchman who is proud for his country."

"And for this reason, I do not take offense, Sir. But you will agree at least that your Ministry cannot but take measures against Frenchmen who go and negotiate with Congress in the name of your Government."

"I do not believe any part of this rumor, My lord. Some Frenchman may have negotiated on his own for private assistance such as merchants may supply by way of t~ade. Undoubtedly this is the case of the ship now in Bristol which was going to trade with the firin of Montaudoin in Nantes; However if you could fi'nd out the names of these so-called agents and obtain the smallest proof ~o the effect that they claimed to be agents of the gov: ernment, I feel so sure of the position held by our Ministry in this matter, or even the King, that I would not go too far as I assure you that they would be disowned and even punished, provided they can be arrested."

(You see, M. le Comte, I can play astraight game, as they say, and those who will be caught in it, in London or elsewhere had better beware.

This statement reconciled me with the Lord.) ...

"And now, My lord, I must pay you a sincere compl1ment with regard to the part of the King's letter which concerns you; and if you accept the Vice-royalty, I hope that you will recall your old friendship for M. Duflos, whom I recommend to you again. I hope that you will entrust him in Ireland with the details of all your household as you did in France. This he promised to me."

(This Duflos, M. le Comte, is a Frenchman whom I had once given to Lord Rochford, and who is completely devoted to me. He will always send you reliable intelligence from the very heart of the Vice-royalty. I am a little like Figaro, M. le Comte, a little noise does not make me lose my head.)

I must see the Lord again when he will have reported our conversation to the King. All I know is that tomorrow there will be a serious meeting of the Council at St. James on the subject of the ship which arrived in Bristol. But the King of England is warned now. I hope I said enough so that you will not receive any dishonest proposition in this matter.

I must not forget to tell you that the Dutch Merchants have threatened to bring the Ministry before the grand jury of the English Nation in the matter of the three Dutch ships bound for America and which were seized and taken to Deal and Dover. Moreover, I know ~hat the Ministry fears tha.t the grand jury will rule in fa".or of the Dutch in this matter and that this would cause a more complex problem (of course, you understand that our friend [John] Wilkes is behind this Jesuitic detour). As I was saying, the Ministry has secretly agreed to pay secretly for the whole cargo of ammunition which these ships were carrying to America. It was also agreed that if others were captured, the ammunition would be kept in England but that the Dutch merchants would be faithfully paid; for in matters of trial they do not want to quarrel with our friend Wilkes (a word to the wise, M. le Comte). I have this from the best source, not my Lord, as you can imagine.

(Again, a word to the wise) One of the tricks employed by the Dutch Captains is to get two commissions: a patent one and a secret one. They use one or the other as need arises ....

The Americans presently have 12 ships of 22 to 44 guns, 12 of 15 to 20 guns, ai:id more than 30 of 12 guns; this gives them an active navy almost as respectable as that of the English. Furthermore, the only vessel the English have captured from the Insurgents in the last 2 and a half months is the one that came into Bristol. This certainly deserves notice!

The Royal Guards whose orders had been countermanded had been waiting to embark for a month. New secret dispatches brought by a ship that lies hidden in an Irish port ordered them to embark immediately. They started yesterday and will be done tomorrow. And my bag is empty for today,M. le Comte.