them forever grateful, and their prayers for the prosperity
of your Highness, shall be addressed to Heaven with
fervor. It is the only proof they can give of the respect,
and of the veneration they have for you.

Point a Petre, Island of Guadeloupe, May 3, 1787.
(Signed) Joseph Sevein, Daniel Wookey, James

Jones, Nathl. Saunders, Wm. Wyles,
Nich. Stilwell, Isaac Tubbs, John Mar-
shall, Thomas Webb, Jona. Mason, Jno.
Peabody, Paul Vast, Peter Le Breton,
Forten Moore, Wm. Russel, Nath. Wit-
more, Phoenix Frazier, Joseph Wells,
Benj. Shillaber, Rich. Tappan,

I do myself the honor to enclose you two books, of eighty-two pages, containing all my accounts respecting my mission to Morocco; by which, you will see that the amount of the expenses attending the negotiation, including the presents, and all the travelling charges of Mr. Franks and myself, amount to 95,179liv. 10sols, which sum I shall place to the debit of the United States. The particulars of the purchases made, and of the appropriation of all the presents, together with an account of the articles remaining on hand, make a part of these accounts; and I do not know that any thing whatever is left unexplained, when I have told you that my reasons for leaving the lawns and cambrics in the hands of Mr. Champion, of this place, for sale, was, because the FarVOL. III.-36

mers General would not permit me to carry them out of the town by land. Mr. Champion died, suddenly, in April last, and at present nothing is done or can be done in his affairs, which are all sealed up by the judges, and are likely to remain so some time. I shall direct the account of the goods to be lodged in the hands of Mr. Loreilhe here, in order that he may claim them.

upon

I annex an account of bills drawn on Mr. Adams, amounting to £4645 sterling, £100 of which, in favor of M. Grand, he writes to me, was never sent forward for acceptance; in which case, I have promised to account with him for it, and then the amount will be £4545 sterling, which, supposing the exchange to be on an average 24liv. the pound sterling, clear of negotiating fees in Paris, the sum will be, in livres; 109,080, so that, this account I shall remain indebted to the United States (until I make a settlement with them, and until I know what I am to charge for my voyage) 13,901liv. 10sols. I have also some suspicion, that I must have drawn a bill not included in this account, but I am not certain, as most of my papers are at St. Germain's. Mr. Adams will be so kind as to procure from the banker, who paid the drafts, an account of the particulars, and transmit it to me, under cover to Mr. Jay, at New York, assuring himself, that a final settlement shall be made, to the entire satisfaction of Congress, and that of you, gentlemen.

The necessity I am under, of hastening out to America, should not have prevented my waiting on Mr. Adams in London, for his commands, had not Mr. Jefferson given me a full dispensation on that head, and, therefore, I know Mr. Adams will excuse me.

Before I take leave, permit me to thank you both for

the many marks of esteem and attention, with which you have honored me, and to request most earnestly a continuance of that regard, which I sincerely assure you is very precious to, gentlemen,

Your most, &c.

THOS. BARCLAY.

P. S. The precise exchange of the bills cannot be adjusted, until I receive M. Grand's accounts.

FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO GEORGE WASHINGTON. Paris, August 14, 1787.

Sir,

I was happy to find, by the letter of August 1st, 1786, which you did me the honor to write to me, that the modern dress for your statue, would meet your approbation. I found it strongly the sentiment of West, Copely, Trumbull and Brown, in London; after which, it would be ridiculous to add, that it was my own. I think a modern in an antique dress, as just an object of ridicule, as a Hercules or Marius with a periwig and chapeaubras.

I remember, having written to you, while Congress sat at Annapolis, on the water communication between ours and the western country, and to have mentioned, particularly, the information I had received of the plain face of the country between the sources of Big Beaver and Cayohoga, which made me hope that a canal, of no great expense, might unite the navigation of Lake Erie and the Ohio. You must since have had occasion of getting better information on this subject, and if you have, you will oblige me by a communication of it. I consider this canal, if practicable, as a very important work.

I remain in hopes of great and good effects, from the decision of the assembly over which you are presiding. To make our States one, as to all foreign concerns, preserve them several as to all merely domestic, to give to the federal head some peaceable mode of enforcing its just authority, to organize that head into legislative, executive and judiciary departments, a great desiderata in our federal constitution. Yet, with all its defects, and

with all those of our particular governments, the inconveniences resulting from them, are so light, in comparison with those existing in every other government on earth, that our citizens may certainly be considered, as in the happiest political situation which exists.

The Assemblée des Notables has been productive of much good in this country. The reformation of some of the most oppressive laws has taken place. The allotment of the State into subordinate governments, the administration of which is committed to persons chosen by the people, will work, in time, a very beneficial change in their constitution. The expense of the trappings of monarchy, too, is lightening. Many of the useless officers, high and low, of the King, Queen and Princes, are struck off. Notwithstanding all this, the discovery of the abominable abuses of the public money, by the late Comptroller General, some new expences of the Court, not of a piece with the projects of reformation, and the imposition of new taxes, have, in the course of a few weeks, raised a spirit of discontent in this nation, so great and so general, as to threaten serious consequences The parliaments in general, and particularly that of Paris, put themselves at the head of this effervescence, and direct its object to the calling the States General, who have not been assembled since 1614. The object is to fix a constitution, and to limit expenses. The King has been obliged to hold a bed of justice, to enforce the registering the new taxes; the Parliament, on their side, propose to issue a prohibition against their execution. Very probably this may bring on their exile. The mild and patriotic character of the new Ministry, is the principal dependance against this extremity.