Mr Izard was present, but I do not remember that any such
letter as he describes was either desired or refused. I rather think
that Mr Izard misunderstood Dr Franklin at the time, or that his
memory has deceived him. The facts are these. The late Mr Thomas
Morris had a commission to act as commercial agent; his commission was
entirely distinct from, and independent of, the commissioners; he at
least construed it so himself from the beginning. We were very early
informed of his irregularities, and admonished him, and advertised
Congress of them. As we could get no account of the disposition of the
prizes brought into France, and the expense of repairing and equipping
the vessels of war fell on the commissioners, Dr Franklin and myself
(Mr A. Lee being then at Berlin) deputed Mr Williams to take the care
of the prizes into his own hands, and ordered the Captains to account
with him. On Mr William Lee's arrival at Nantes he joined with Mr
Morris in writing a severe letter to the commissioners on what they
had done, in which they complained, that the office or department of
commercial Agent was broken in upon, and that we had no power over it.
Dr Franklin, at the desire of Mr A. Lee and myself prepared an answer,
in which the reason of our orders was given, and Mr Morris' conduct
urged as our principal motive, but that as he, Mr William Lee, was
there, we would recall our commission from Mr Williams. Mr Arthur Lee
would not agree to the form of the letter, and after much dispute upon
it, a second was written, when Mr Arthur Lee observed, that his
brother was coming to Paris soon to receive his commission for Vienna
and Berlin, and as there were then no prizes in port, or expected, the
matter might rest. This was the reason why Mr W. Lee's letters were
not answered. He came to Paris soon after, and represented the
confused state in which affairs were at Nantes, and urged the
interposition of the commissioners to put the whole agency into his
hands. The situation of Mr William Lee at that time was precisely
this; he had never received any commission either from Congress or
their committee for the commercial agency, whilst Mr Thomas Morris
was, and had been in the possession of a commission, and in the
exercise of the agency.

Congress had made Mr William Lee their commissioner to the courts of
Vienna and Berlin, each of which places is at least a thousand miles
from the scenes of our commerce, without saying anything about hi