such as might support a charge against any part of
my conduct, I might be heard, before any report should be made. I did
not receive copies of the letters, nor was I ever called upon by the
committee, who I am informed have made their report, as to which I am
wholly uninformed. Soon after this report was delivered to Congress,
having been persecuted in the public papers for several months, in the
most scandalous, virulent, and licentious manner, and accused before
the public of crimes of the blackest complexion, I again addressed
myself to Congress, and as their servant claimed their protection, and
that I might be heard in the most public manner, or in any other way
they thought proper. This letter, of the 30th of March, remains
unanswered, and I now pray the contents of it may be considered. The
part I acted as political agent and commissioner for Congress is well
known, and may be judged of with certainty at this time, and the
settlement of mine and the commissioners' accounts (which I have
repeatedly solicited) will demonstrate what my commercial conduct has
been. If, in the commercial, I have not acted with prudence and
integrity, if I have neglected to supply these States with stores to
the utmost of my power, and have either wasted or embezzled the public
monies, the interest of the public requires that speedy justice be
done, and the settlement of the commissioners' accounts will at once
acquit or condemn me. If in my political department I have in any
instance neglected or betrayed the interests of my country, if I have
conducted weakly or wickedly, or both, the public ought to know it,
and I ought to be punished. If, on the contrary, I sacrificed all
private considerations, and put my life as well as fortune to the
hazard, to procure relief and assistance for these States from abroad;
if, unsupported by remittances from hence, without credit or friends,
and a stranger to the language and manners of the country I was sent
to negotiate in, I surmounted every obstacle, and in a few months
obtained and sent out large supplies; if I was assiduous and
indefatigable for the space of near two years in France, in the
commercial as well as political affairs of these States, at times even
to my personal danger; if, so far from having embezzled the public
monies, I neglected my private fortune, and received nothing but my
necessary expenses whilst transacting this business; if a principal
share of the political negotiation