[Extract]
No 31.

I have received, Sir, dispatch No 42, which you did me the honour of writing the 23rd of this month.

We are not astonished, Sir, at the diversity of opinions respecting our conduct with regard to Mr Cunningham; each one judges it according to his personal feelings, or according to how the facts are reported, and I see that they are reported very inexactly: I am going to transmit them to you as they are stated in the official reports on which His Majesty has given his decision.

An English cutter came into the port of Dunkirk; it cleared there with goods for Nord Faro. A man named Beach was its captain, and it was in his name that the Admiralty permit was granted. Having reached the roadstead, a man named Cunningham, who had secretly collected some sailors, and who it is said, was furnished with a Commission by Congress, got on board this vessel, must have taken Command of it, and, under cover of the American flag which he substituted for the English one, ventured to make the captures which he was stupid enough to bring into Dunkirk. Nothing, assuredly, Sir, is more contrary to the rules of the sea, and to the accepted usage amongst all Nations, and even if the case had not been provided for in the Treaty of Utrecht, the King's justice would nonetheless have urged His Majesty to give entire Satisfaction in this matter to the Court of London: indeed, a neutral nation cannot and ought not to allow armaments in her country, much less those which have such a special Stamp of irregularity. There is a great distinction to be drawn between Simply admitting, in case of need and for the moment, a Privateer with her prize, and permitting that same Privateer to lie, so to speak, in ambush in a neutral port: The latter case is precisely that of Mr Cunningham; it is, therefore, manifest that he could not be regarded as a Mere Commander of the Privateer, that he has infringed the laws of the sea, and that he has consequently deserved the treatment which he has experienced, whatever may have been the commission with which he was furnished by Congress. The King owed it to himself to act with severity on this occasion, and it matters little to His Majesty whether His determination has or has not excited the gratitude of the English. His Majesty, in acting as he has done, had no other aim than that of giving to the Court of London a public proof of His justice, of His fidelity in observing treaties, and a striking example of the consideration which nations mutually owe one another. This, Sir, is what We have to answer to the English observers who criticize our conduct.

I must observe, Sir, that although England did not adopt the Articles of the Treaty of Navigation and Commerce made at Utrecht, which were favorable to us, Louis XIV and the late King nonetheless recognized the Validity of the Treaty, which they themselves Undertook to Carry out in all other respects. I think you must make this remark to support you Against the false arguments which are used in England.

It is certain, Sir, that it is a novelty to see French vessels laden with English goods in the Thames; this sort of revolution proves as you say, on the one hand, the scarcity of sailors in England, and on the other, the apprehensions of English merchants: it is to be hoped that our sailors will have the good sense to profit by the circumstance.

I consider very exaggerated, Sir, the list of the English troops in America which has been communicated to you. According to all the news received, General Howe has experienced during last year and this winter, losses which the fresh drafts have not been able to replace. For the rest, Sir, whatever may be the strength of the English army, it appears that the Americans are in a position to face them, since they have not yet been able, in spite of their efforts, to spread out beyond New York. Moreover, Sir, I think it will not be long before we receive news of the opening of the campaign, and of the attempts of the royalists to re-enter the Jerseys.

The King has approved, Sir, the Note which you sent to Lord Weymouth on the subject of Captain Le Brun, ² and His Majesty hopes that this step will produce the effect which he has the right to expect from it.