Relations with France. to express their solicitude that an early day may OLIVER ELLSWORTH, The Ministers Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States of America. PARIS, 8th Germinal, year 8, (27th March, 1800.) in GENTLEMEN: We participate, very sincerely, the wish which you have expressed for the speedy re-establishment of friendly relations between the rica. To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: United States of America and the French Repub-JOHN ADAMS, President of the United States of Amelic; and it is for the purpose of hastening its accomplishment that we propose a conference the 11th or 12th instant, at whatever hour may be most convenient to you, at the house of Citizen J. Bonaparte, one of us. Receive, gentlemen, the assurance of our high consideration. BONAPARTE. Whereas, by letters patent under the seal of the United States, and dated on the 26th day of February last, I did, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, appoint Oliver Ellsworth, Chief Justice of the United States, Patrick Henry, late Governor of Virginia, and William Vans Murray, Minister Resident of the United States at the Hague, to be Envoys Extraordinary The Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipoten- and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United tiary of the United States of America to the Minis-States to the French Republic, thereby giving ters Plenipotentiary of the French Republic. PARIS, March, 30, 1800. Citizen MINISTERS: The underwritten Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 8th Germinal, proposing a meeting on the 11th or 12th following, at such hour as might be convenient. and granting to them full powers, for and in the name of the United States, to meet and confer with the Minister or Ministers of the French Republic, who should be appointed and commissioned with equal powers, and with such Minister or Ministers to discuss and settle by a treaty all controversies between the United States and France, transmitting such treaty to the President of the The underwritten will have the honor to meet United States of America, for his final ratificathe Ministers Plenipotentiary of the French Re- tion, by and with the advice and consent of the public at the house of the Citizen Joseph Bona-Senate of the United States, if such advice and parte, on the 12th Germinal, (2d April.) at one o'clock in the afternoon; a time which they hope will be agreeable. Receive, Citizen Ministers, the assurance of their high consideration. OLIVER ELLSWORTH, On the 2d of April, (12th Germinal,) the Envoys of the United States met the French Ministers at the house of Joseph Bonaparte, where the following powers were exchanged, and the mode of conducting the negotiation adjusted: consent shall be given; and whereas the said Patrick Henry did signify to me that, from his bodily infirmities, being unable to execute his said appointment, he declined accepting the same; now, know ye, that reposing especial trust and confidence in the integrity, prudence, and abilities of William Richardson Davie, late Governor of the State of North Carolina, I have nominated, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint him an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to the French Republic, in the room of the said Patrick Henry, hereby giving and granting to him, and to the said Oliver Ellsworth, and Wil Extract from the Registers of the Decrees of the First liam Vans Murray, full powers for and in the Consul of the Republic. PARIS, 12th Ventose, (3d March,) In the name of the French people: Bonaparte, name of the United States, to meet and confer with the Minister or Ministers of the French Republic, who shall be appointed and commissioned with equal powers, and with such Minister or Ministers to discuss and settle by a treaty all controversies between the United States and France, transmitting such treaty to the President of the United States of America, for his final ratification, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the Relations with Fance. CITIZEN MINISTERS: The undersigned Envoys, having conferred on the copy delivered to them yesterday, of the powers granted to you to negotiate with them concerning the existing differences between the French Republic and the United States, feel themselves compelled to present to you the doubts they entertain whether the terms in which those powers are expressed are sufficiently full and explicit. You will please to observe that the powers with which the undersigned are invested, authorize them to discuss and settle by a treaty all controversies between the United States and France, and they suppose it may be questionable, at least, whether the same latitude of power may be given by the expression, "à l'effet de négocier avec les Ministres, &c. sur les différends survenus entre les deux états ;" and if it could be inferred from any construction of the terms used in the commission, that to "negotiate respecting the existing differences," implied a power to settle them also by treaty, yet the undersigned conceive that it would not be advisable to act upon powers deduced by implication from terms in their nature indefinite, in the same manner as if they had been fully and explicitly expressed. Upon examining the copy of the commission, which the undersigned had the honor to deliver to you yesterday, you will observe the nature and, extent of their powers, and that they can only ne gotiate with Ministers of the French Republic who may be commissioned with equal powers. This circumstance, it is hoped, will satisfy the Ministers of the French Republic, that the undersigned have not attached to this objection an unnecessary importance, and evince to them the propriety of procuring from their Government powers commensurate with those granted by the Government of the United States. While the undersigned regret any trouble or delay that this circumstance may occasion, they are happy that the situation of the Ministers of the French Republic will enable them to remove the difficulty without any considerable inconvenience to the negotiation. The Envoys of the United States have the highest confidence in the upright views and frank disposition of the French Government, and hope it will do them the justice to believe that they are actuated only by a respect to that duty which their commission and instructions prescribe. Accept, &c. OLIVER ELLSWORTH, WILLIAM R. DAVIE, WILLIAM V. MURRAY. APRIL 8. Received the following letter from the French Ministers, under date of the 17th Germinal, (7th April,) enclosing a copy of the new powers, and a copy of a letter from the Minister of Exterior Relations: The Minister of Exterior Relations to the Ministers Plenipotentiary appointed to negotiate with the Envoys of the United States. PARIS, 19 Germinal, (April 6,) year 8. I have received, citizens, your letter of the 13th and 14th of this month, (Nos. 1 and 2,) with the copies therein referred to. By the first, you inform me of the exchange which you have made of your powers with the American Ministers; and, in the second, you communicate an extract of the note which these Ministers have addressed to you, respecting the insufficiency which they suppose to exist in the powers you have exchanged with them. The First Consul, to whom I have submitted your despatches, in order to present to the Ministers of the United States an unequivocal proof of the spirit in which he desires to conduct the negotiation, has thought proper to furnish you with powers still more special and explicit than those contained in his first decree. In transmitting them, however, to the American Ministers, you will be pleased to apprize them that, in our diplomatic usages, since the Revolution, our negotiators have almost always been accredited and empowered by simple decrees, similar to the one which you have placed in their hands; and that in these decrees the expression "to negotiate" has always imported an authority "to conclude." I might have confined myself, indeed, to giving you, officially. this explanation; and the American Ministers, as they have themselves declared, would have been content with receiving it. But the First Consul has preferred the other mode, for the purpose, as I have already stated, of removing all the obstacles of mere form which could delay or embarrass the progress of the negotiation. Safety and fraternity. CH. MAU. TALLEYRAND. An exact copy: the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the French Republic: J. BONAPARTE, FLEURIEU, REDERER. Relations with France. PARIS, the 17th Germinal, The undersigned, Ministers Plenipotentiary of the French Republic, have the honor to inform the Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States, that their letter, dated the 13th of this month, has been received. In order to reply to this letter, the French Ministers have awaited the result of its reference to their Government, which they hastened to make. The answer which they received is enclosed. In the new powers, of which they have the honor to transmit the subjoined copy, the American Ministers will perceive the manner in which the First Consul of the Republic has removed the doubt which they expressed; and in the explanations contained in the letter of the Ministers of Exterior Relations, they will not fail to discover new motives of confidence. The Ministers of the Republic, presuming that no obstacle will now oppose the opening of the negotiation, expect to receive, on the part of the Ministers of the United States, the memorial which was announced at the conference of the 12th instant. They pray them to receive the assurance of their high consideration. J. BONAPARTE, Extract from the register of the Decrees of the First when the Envoys considered the way sufficiently The Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipoten- PARIS, April 7, 1800. and CITIZEN MINISTERS: The undersigned have great pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of the note which you did them the honor of addressing to them to day, covering the arrêté of new powers, the copy of the letter to you from the Minister of Exterior Relations. That Minister, they are happy to see, has done them justice upon the interpretation which they had presumed to be the correct one of the terms in question; and as they unite with you in the wish to press forward the negotiation, they be lieve that, in transmitting the note which accompanies this, and which was promised on the 12th of Germinal, they at once meet the frankness of your views, and give to you a certain demonstration of the confidence with which the justice and principles of the Government of the French Re public have inspired them. Accept, Citizen Ministers, the assurance of their high consideration. OLIVER ELLSWORTH, PARIS, April 7, 1800. PARIS, 15th Germinal, (5th March,) year 8th of the Republic, one and indivisible. CITIZEN MINISTERS: The undersigned, appreci In the name of the French people: Bonaparte, ating the value of time, and wishing by frankness Roederer, and Fleurieu, appointed, by the decree to evince their sincerity, enter directly on the great of the 13th Ventose, (3d March) last, Ministers object of their mission, an object which they bePlenipotentiary, to negotiate with the Envoys Ex- lieve may be best obtained by avoiding to retrace traordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the too minutely the too well known and too painful United States of America upon the differences ex-incidents which have rendered a negotiation neisting between the two nations, are authorized to negotiate with the said Ministers upon all that concerns these differences; as well as to sign and conclude, in the name of the Republic, whatever shall to them appear necessary to effect a perfect re-establishment of good harmony. To this end, therefore, Citizens Bonaparte, Roederer, and Fleurieu receive, by this decree, full and complets powers. BONAPARTE. cessary. To satisfy the demands of justice, and OLIVER ELLSWORTH, Relations with France. voys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States for conducting the negotiation. They are of opinion that the first object should be, to determine the rules, and the mode of procedure, for the valuation and indemnification of those injuries for which the two nations, respectively, may have demands against each other, whether these demands are founded on national injuries or individual claims. And that the second object is, to insure the execution of the treaties of friendship and commerce, now existing between the two nations, and the accomplishment of those views of reciprocal advantage which first dictated them. The undersigned have only, in addition, to observe, that as no measures are authorized by the Government of France affording the least ground of inquietude to the American commerce, they would consider it a preliminary favorable to the negotiation, if the Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States will be pleased to communicate the orders, no doubt issued by the President of the United States, to discontinue the operation of the acts of Congress, the enforcement of which must be viewed as repugnant to that good understanding for which both nations have expressed an equal desire. The undersigned pray the Ministers Plenipotentiary to receive the assurance of their high con sideration. BONAPARTE, FLEURIEU, REDERER. The Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the French Republic. PARIS, April 11, 1800. CITIZEN MINISTERS: The undersigned have seen with pleasure in your note which they had the honor to receive yesterday, an acquiescence in the principle of compensating equitable claims of citizens on both sides; though you have proposed to include also claims which either nation might have for herself. This description of claims was omitted in the proposition of the undersigned, not from the apprehension of an unfavorable balance, but because in their nature they were difficult to define and limit, because their discussion might be unpleasant and dilatory, and because, also, to insist on pecuniary compensation for themselves, would be incompatible with that magnanimity which it was presumed both nations would prefer in an act of accommodation, so auspicious to their future prosperity. If, however, after considering these objections, and others which will suggest themselves, the Ministers of the French Republic shall deem it necessary to provide pecuniary compensation for such claims, the undersigned will be ready further to consider the question at a convenient stage of the negotiation, which they apprehend will be after it shall be seen what arrangement would be acceptable for the claims of citizens. The expectation of the undersigned, with regard to commerce, is not to renew or amend the former treaty, but to propose a new one, which shall have fewer difficulties of construction and execution; shall more extend the provisions for intercourse, and better adapt them to the existing state of things; and they trust that, when the negotiation shall have sufficiently progressed to take up this branch of it more particularly, their expectation will be shown to be reasonable. Any recent acts of the French Republic, having for their object to remove from the American commerce causes of disquietude, will be duly estimated in America, and be perceived to have strengthened the ground for returning confidence, when there shall have been time for it. With respect to the acts of the Congress of the United States, which the hard alternative of abandoning their commerce to ruin imposed, and which, far from contemplating a co-operation with the enemies of the Republic, did not even authorize reprisals upon her merchantmen, but were restricted simply to giving safety to their own, till a moment shall arrive when their sufferings could be heard and redressed: of these acts the undersigned do not know that the President of the United States has suspended their effect, except in the instance of saving St. Domingo from famine. But, without doubt, their effects will wholly cease as soon as it can be assured that the necessity which imposed them no longer exists of which the undersigned hope their mission will be regarded as a sufficient pledge. Should it appear to the Ministers of the French Republic, from these explanations, made with a frankness equal to the candor with which they are sure to be examined, that the way is prepared to bring forward an arrangement for the claims of citizens, the undersigned will soon have the honor to offer for their consideration some details on that subject. Accept, &c. OLIVER ELLSWORTH, The Ministers of France to the American Envoys. PARIS, 23d Germinal, (14th April,) year 8. The Ministers Plenipotentiary of the French Republic do not perceive, from the considerations suggested rather than developed by the Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States, any obstacle to arrangements which it may be proper to make, on the subject of the individual claims of one nation upon the other. It being impossible, on the part of either, to estimate these claims except by the discussion of the principles of the law of nations and the obligations of treaties, the national claims will, for the most part, be impliedly estimated by the value affixed to those of individuals. National stipulations will be only the ulterior consequences of admitted principles. The question, therefore, whether it is expedient to form a new treaty, cannot be answered until after a discussion, in which the meaning of ancient treaties shall be determined, the principles of Relations with France. the laws of nations unfolded, and the application of these principles to the claims brought forward, whether national or individual, clearly shown. It is only when the doubts thus raised shall be removed, that the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the two nations will be able to determine whether the ancient treaties will suffice to their interests or not. Finally, the Ministers of the French Republic cannot see without concern that the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States are uninformed of any revocation of the hostile measures which their Government has adopted with regard to France. The French Government, after rescinding several regulations which had given inquietude to the Federal Government; after publishing many others for the purpose of re-establishing perfect harmony; after professing, also, a readiness to do all that justice shall demand, in order to efface every irritating remembrance; had a right to expect, with other evidences of reciprocity, that the armed vessels of the United States should cease to attack the vessels of the Republic, and that the effusion of human blood should no longer be feared. To prevent the interruption of the negotiation by vexatious incidents like these, it is necessary that the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States shall give an assurance to the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the Republic, that their Government will terminate, without delay, the hostile condition which it now maintains in relation to France. This assurance, strongly demanded by the acts of the French Government, to which a just reciprocity has been promised, can only be considered a legitimate exchange for that herein contained. The undersigned pray the Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States to accept the assurances of their high consideration. BONAPARTE, The Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the French Republic. PARIS, April 17, 1800. CITIZEN MINISTERS: The undersigned have been favored with your note of the 23d of Ger minal. of recent repeals of regulations, which had give OLIVER ELLSWORTH, ARTICLE 1. There shall be a firm, inviolable and universal peace, and a true and sincere friendship, between the French Republic and the United States of America, and between their respect ive countries, territories, cities, towns, and people, without exception of persons or places. ART. 2. Whereas complaints have been made by divers merchants and others, citizens of the United States, that, during the course of the war in which the French Republic is now engaged, they have sustained considerable losses and damage, by reason of irregular or illegal captures of condemnations of their vessels and other property, in ports and places within the jurisdiction or dominions of the said Republic, all under color of authority or commissions from the same; for which losses and damage they have failed, withWith respect to the assurances desired of them out manifest neglect or wilful omission on their that measures of the United States, which had part to obtain adequate compensation: it is agreed been resorted to for the protection of their com- that, in all such cases, full and complete compen merce, should immediately cease, they must ex-sation shall be made by the Government of the plicitly declare that they are not authorized to French Republic. give assurances, otherwise than by incorporating them in a treaty, it having been expected by their Government that, in that way, every necessary assurance on both sides would so soon be given as to render preliminary provisions of little use: and which expectation the undersigned yet confidently trust will not be disappointed. Should they, however, be favored with copies And whereas complaints have also been made by divers merchants and others, citizens of the French Republic, that — under color of authority or commissions from the United States; for which losses and damage they have failed, with out manifest negligence or wilful omission on their part, to obtain adequate compensation: it is agreed that, in all such cases, full and complete |