[Extract]
Most Secret
No 130/
My Lord

That I might be sure of executing punctually the important Orders transmitted to me in Your Lordships Letter No 49, I took Notes of all the Particulars mentioned in that Letter, carried them with me to Versailles, and turned to them occasionally in the Course of my Yesterdays Conversa­tion with M de Vergennes.

I began with an Apology for the long Trouble, which I foresaw that I Should be obliged to give His Excellency, and then said, that After the Solemn Assurances they had given, we could not doubt that the Orders they had issued, would be executed with that Exactness and good Faith, that was worthy of us both, I added that I knew that they had as was most natural communicated their written Verbal Answer to their Allies, that M de Florida Blanca had read it to Lord Grantham, had spoke of it with Encomium, and declared that Similar Orders should be immediately given by the Court of Spain. You see then Sir, that this is now become a solemn Engagement taken in the Face of the World in the punctual Ex­ecution of which the Honour of both Nations is materially concerned: He readily assented to this, and said that the Orders they had given would be constantly and punctually executed. I replied that the Ex­ecution must be considered as very incompleat as long as the three Priva­teers the Reprisal Lexington and Dolphin were suffered to remain in the Ports of France, that M de Maurepas had expressly told me, that his first Idea had been to order them immediately out of Port, and that the se­questring them till they had given sufficient security that they would not attempt to cruize against us had been adopted as the safer Measure of the two, et comme une Precaution de plus; I added that this Sequestration the Effect of which was only to keep these Privateers safe in Har­bours, where they met with all possible Assistance, and where they were probably meditating some fresh Attempt against us, was not un Sequestre mais un azile and was considered as such by the Rebels themselves: I ended with saying, that my Instructions were to press His Excellency for immediate Departure of those Privateers without Convoy, or Escorte, of any kind; which must be considered as a mark of open Protection, and with positive orders never to return to any of the Ports of France. M de Vergennes seemed to have totally relinquished the Idea of Convoying these Ships to a certain Latitude, but in his Answer He told me that a Proposal had been made to Him the other Day, which "He intended to mention to me, and which struck Him as calculated to remove every Difficulty: the Project said He, is for frenchmen to purchase these Ships and make them common trading Vessels; He laboured to prove that this Expedient would be liable to no objection.

I told Him, that I was by no means Authorized to accept of this Pro­posal, and intimated that what passed at Dunkirk must beget in us very strong suspicions of all Such Sales. He answered with Vivacity, that what had been done at Dunkirk gave us very just grounds of complaint, but was in his Opinion Still more injurious to France: I gave this opinion added He this very Day to the King My Master, and told His Majesty that there was so much Stupidity in one part of the Admiralty of Dunkirk, and so much Knavery in the other, that I really did not know S'il lui falloit du foin ou des Verges, this said He was I assure You the very Expression I used not an Hour ago; (I may observe to Your Lordship here, that in this Affair of Dunkirk, the french Ministers seem now to be in Earnest as Hodge is sent to the Bastile). M de Vergennes assured me that the Purchase proposed was of a very Different Nature from that at Dunkirk, and that there could not be a possibility of fraud as it would be made by Frenchmen, Men of Substance, of whom the Ministers would be sure, and for whom they could answer. I repeated that I was not authorized to adopt this or any other Expedient, and that my Orders were clear and precise, to demand that these Ships might be immediately sent out of Port without convoy, and left to take their chance. I repeatedly said the same thing to M de Maurepas, who without giving a direct Answer dwelt on the propriety of the Expedient proposed by M de Vergennes, and seemed very desirous that it should be adopted by us. He said in his Jocose way, ces Gens la savent a quoi ils seroient exposés et ne voudroient pas sortir. I replied that it would be easy to force them, that I was par­ticularly commanded to press for their immediate Departure, that we justly looked upon it as necessary to the accomplishment of the Promises France had made, and that I must desire Him as I had before desired M de Vergennes, to mention to the King his Master what I had said upon the Subject by the Express order of my Court.

to return to M de Vergennes after I had discussed this Business I went on to say that I was likewise ordered to demand the immediate De­ parture of the Privateer called General Mitfiin which had put into Brest protesting une voie d'eau. M de Vergennes said that He believed that Ship was actually sailed, however He took a Note of the Name; Whilst He was writing I told Him, that it was reported, how truely I could not say, that M du Chaffault avail oublie le Dignité de son Pa­vilion au Point de rendre le Salut a ce pirate. This was the Very Expression I used, and I chose it My Lord for this Reason, I am not Ordered to make a direct complaint, and in things of this Nature the only Alter­native seems to be, highly to resent or utterly to despise them, the Expres­sion, I chose, carries I think the Contempt I meant to Convey. M de Ver­gennes was, or Affected to be surprized, and Said that if M du Chaf­fault had done so, Il ne s'en etoit certainement pas Vante Il s'en Gar­dera bien, He then told me that the American Vessel certainly had une Voie d'eau. I answered that that might be true in this particular Case, but that I was obliged to mention to Him a Thing of a very disagreeable Nature; We know Sir, that the Rebel Agents boast, that they have an understanding with M de Sartines, who has signified to them, that when­ever an American Privateer has any Particular Reason for coming into any of the Ports of France, she need only Stave her Water Casks, and pretend to have sprung a Leak; surely Sir, there is something in all this very unaccountable; a great Monarch after mature Deliberation, issues Orders à​ la face de Lumiers scarce are they issued when one of his Minis­ters suggests to the Very Persons who are the Object of them, a Manner in which they may be eluded.

. . . As M de Vergennes had said, that the Expedient proposed for eluding the Orders was very insufficient, as it was easy to pump a Ship and see whether She had a Leak or not, I replied, that that was True if she was fairly and impartially examined, but that the general Prevention in favour of the Rebels was such, that there was but too much Reason to fear, that whenever they wished that their Ships should pass for Leaky, a Leak would soon be found. His answer to this was remarkable, That Partiallity said He is indeed very Strong, and is a very serious Evil; do not imagine, that it arises from Love to the Americans, or Enmity to You, the Root lies much deeper, and may escape the Notice of a super­ficial Observer, but well deserves our most serious Attention. Tho' He did not explain Himself further, it was easy to see, that He alluded to that Licentious Spirit that prevails in this Country, and that no Doubt is one of the Principal Causes of the Enthusiastic Madness in favour of the American Cause, which every Man You meet with has espoused, tho' He is free to own that He does not understand, and has not so much as Attempted to understand the Question. I told M de Vergennes that for my Part, I had long seen the Secret Cause, and Manifest Ten­dency of the Partiallity, I assure You said He, the King sees it too, He made the observation to me the other Day, and my answer to His Majesty was, that it was important to take every proper Means to check and counteract a Spirit of the Nature of which He had formed so just a Judgement. I answered that such action was every way worthy of his Excel­lency's Wisdom, and then returned to my Notes and went on to say, that whether any Intimation had or had not been given to the Rebels, How they might elude the late Orders, it was but too certain, that in some In­stances they had been eluded, what has passed at Cherbourg Sir, is a striking Instance of this: The Prize carried into that Port was ordered out as belonging to the Americans, scarce was she out of the Harbour, when she was sold and immediately returned to the Same Port as French Property: this Artifice was very frequently practised at Nantz before the issuing of the late Orders, and I know for certain, that some Mer­chants have said, and wrote, that those Orders which they consider merely as Political, will in this Respect, make no sort of change: You see Sir, that such barefaced Evasions would render your Orders Nugatory, would, in a Word, make them worse than Nothing: He did not contravert this, but took a Particular Note of what I had said to Him. I then My Lord mentioned incidentally, one or two Points that are not in Your Lordships Letter, but that were connected with the general Subject: I told Him that I had received fresh Information that the Hippopotame which did belong to Beaumarchais, was preparing with all Diligence and was to be ready the 15th of Next Month, that she was to Mount thirty Guns, and cruize against us, He answered that He understood that that Vessel belonged to a french Merchant, and He knew that she wanted to take in a freight for the french West Indies: I replied that my Information was precise, that the real Property was in Beaumarchais, and that the True Destination of this Ship was what I had mentioned; I added that I had reason to believe, that two Ships are building at Rochfort for Franklin and Deane, He assured me very positively that such Projects might be devised, but that the Execution would never be suffered. After a Short Pause I went on; I must now Sir, carry You to the West Indies, where there have been still more unjustifiable Practices: to say the plain Truth, for in such Moments as these it is necessary to speak out, whilst all is Peace between Your Excellency and me, the french Subjects in that Part of the World are carrying on open War. . . .