foreign officers, complaining of the non-payment of their interest. It is only one out of many I have received. This is accompanied by a second copy of the Moorish declaration sent me by Mr. Barclay. He went to Alicant to settle with Mr. Lamb, but on his arrival there found he was gone to Minorca. A copy of this letter will inform you of this circumstance, and of some others relative to Algiers, with his opinion on them. Whatever the States may enable Congress to do for obtaining the peace of that country, it is a separate question, whether they will redeem our captives, how, and at what price? If they decide to redeem them, I will beg leave to observe that it is of great importance that the first redemption be made at as low a price as possible, because it will form the future tariff. If these pirates find that they can have a very great price for Americans, they will abandon, proportionably, their pursuits against other nations to direct them towards ours; that the choice of Congress may be enlarged as to the instruments they may use for effecting the redemption. I think it my duty to inform them that there is here an order of priests called the Mathurins, the object of whose institution is to beg alms for the redemption of captives. They keep members always in Barbary searching out the captives of their own country, and redeem, I believe, on better terms than any other body, public or private. It occurred to me that their agency might be obtained for the redemption of our prisoners at Algiers. I obtained conferences with the General, and with some members of the order. The General, with all the benevolence and cordiality possible, undertook to act for us if we should desire it. He told me that their last considerable redemption was of about three hundred prisoners, who cost them somewhat upwards of fifteen hundred livres a piece, but that they should not be able to redeem ours as cheap as they do their own; and that it must be absolutely unknown that the public concern themselves in the operation, or the price would be greatly enhanced. The difference of religion was not once mentioned, nor did it appear to me to be thought of. It was a silent reclamation and acknowledgment of fraternity between two religions of the same family, which historical events of ancient date had rendered more hostile to one another than to their common adversaries. I informed the General that I should communicate the good dispositions of his order to those who alone had the authority to decide whatever related to our captives. Mr. Carmichael informs me that moneys have been advanced for the support of our prisoners at Algiers, which ought to be replaced. I infer from the context of his letter that these advances had been made by the Court of Madrid. I submit the information to Congress. A treaty of commerce is certainly concluded between France and Russia. The particulars of it are yet secret. I enclose the gazettes of France and Leyden to this date. I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON. FROM MR. DROST. Sir, I have the honor to inform you that I cannot make the gold piece you require of me, as I am not allowed to do it without running the risk of displeasing the Government, having received orders to that effect. Will you have the goodness to inform Mr. Jefferson that, in consequence of this, he cannot have the pieces which he has asked of me, as it is not in my power to make them at present, nor before I receive new orders. I have not yet had time to begin the memorandum which you have had the goodness to require of me relative to the coining of money. I am more than ever determined to accept the offers which may suit me, and even to go to a foreign country. Thus, sir, if Congress will allow me a reasonable salary, I will establish for them all the necessary machinery for coining the finest money that has, perhaps, ever existed, and besides with less expenses. I think that it will be sufficient to make an estimate in this memorandum of the cost of those machineries which might be established; that is to say, to have made here to be sent afterwards to America. As to the coinage of specie, it is more difficult to fix an exact price; all I can say is, that they can be done at a less price than they cost here, whatever it may be. I shall willingly take charge of the machines, of the coins, and the engraving of them, according to a price agreed upon; and as to the mixing of metals, of gold and silver, I should not like to meddle with it. Besides I shall have sufficient employment in constructing the machines, in flattening, cutting, fitting the pieces, and stamping them. I shall make it my business to collect all the necessary information for the memorandum; and I shall have the honor to give it to you as soon as it is done, and also to confer with you on the subject. A friend who is requested by me to receive the interest due on some contracts of which I am the owner, informs me that M. Grand has not received any funds for that object. He is now two years in arrears. Shall it be so much longer, and must we forever apply to our friends for the purpose of fulfilling our engagements, when we cannot do it ourselves? After we have exposed our lives for the service of your States, and after we have coöperated in the great work of your independence, is it not natural that we would depend on an income so well acquired? When, during a very long war, we have deprived ourselves of all enjoyments, and when we could not even procure ourselves the absolute necessaries of life, except at our own expense, is it not horrible that the States should be so long in liquidating a debt which they have authentically acknowledged as well acquired— that they do not pay even the interest? Not thinking, sir, of such a want of good faith, I made, on my way to Paris, a loan of eighteen hundred francs, which I am pressed to reimburse, and on which I have paid the interest since the year '85. Having always made it a point of satisfying my friends with exactness, I beg you to inform me whether you can give an order to M. Grand to pay me that sum? or whether you would rather accept a bill of exchange drawn on you for the amount, than to give me credit for the interest which is due me? The justice of my demand is too apparent to allow you to refuse granting me one of the two means which I point out to you in order that I may meet my engagements, and that I may be relieved from the embarrassment in which I am placed by the want of good faith in the States which you represent. I have the honor to be, &c., LE CHEV. DE SIGOND. FROM C. W. F. DUMAS TO THOMAS JEFFERSON. Translation. Sir, The Hague, January 23, 1787. Having just returned from Amsterdam, I hasten to answer the confidential question put to me by your Excellency, in your letter of 25th December last—Whether a loan could be negotiated in Holland for the purpose of reimbursing the twenty-four millions of livres Tournois due to France? I have consulted in that place some intimate friends on whom I can depend as to their discretion, which shall be scrupulously observed, as well as their capacity, honesty, and perfect sufficiency for the execution of such an undertaking. This is the result of our conversation, taken down in writing, at Amsterdam, on the 20th and 21st instant, although it is transcribed and dated as above. In regard to the credit of Congress, it is certain that it will establish itself by degrees, on a solid footing. What greatly contributes to this is the regular payment of the interest at the exact time it falls due, and especially the payment, in money, of the advances on the negotiation of two millions of florins, which Congress had at its option to make in new bonds. It is even believed that the credit would have reached to a point that encouragements might be given, with all assurances for further negotiations, if the English newspapers would cease to give accounts of the situation of affairs in America, well calculated to frighten the stockjobbers, and which are eagerly published by certain editors in their papers. These last persons belong to the faction of those who, by thwarting the efforts made in order to restore civil liberty to this country, imagine themselves that the continual reproduction of forms representing popular insurrections and commotions, (which, according to them, take place in America,) must disgust the minds of the people of the idea of adopting a constitution, in which they would have an influence on the Government. Although there is no fear that those mischievous people will obtain their object, it is no less a pity that their artifices will make an impression on a number of ignorant persons, by making them think that, considering such troubles, such confusion and such weakness in the Government in America, it is not prudent to grant a large credit to that Government. It is possible to bring back those who are better informed to sounder ideas, but not the stockjobbers, who are more easily influenced by prejudice than by reason. It is, then, impossible to assert positively that a new negotiation could be effected, or to determine what might be the sum and the conditions of it. What adds to this uncertainty, and gives reason to fear that at any rate this condition would be very hard, is, that it is known here that the internal debt of Congress in America can be bought at such a price, that the purchasers will find more profit than is granted to them here, while the security of this internal debt is as good as the external one. What, then, in my opinion, is best to be done, is to assume here the pretensions of France to the conditions which might be stipulated, accompanied by a small sacrifice on the part of that kingdom, with liberty to negotiate funds here for a limited number of years upon the credit of Congress, and under the guarantee of France. This last condition, in which there is nothing but what would be honorable for Congress, would have an influence on the interest, which, in this case, could be obtained at a lower rate. Otherwise it could not be done in the present circumstances, on account of what has been mentioned above; and thus the time of payment, which will soon expire, might in that way be postponed, which, as it appears to me, will be very agreeable to Congress. It is also believed that the sacrifice that France would make by this could not be any impediment in the way of doing it; as by this operation it could not fail of pouring in her treasury a considerable sum, which she would not be obliged to refund, and which would not become at the charge of the kingdom. Therefore it is not expected that France will make the least difficulty to grant that guarantee, as that Court knows exactly the situation of American affairs, and that it is for its interest to maintain them. If there is any inclination to adopt this plan, my friends will willingly begin to speak on that subject, and will examine, then, the |