JAY.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] On the 29th November, 1775 a committee was appointed by Congress,
which was called the _Committee of Secret Correspondence_, and
consisted of five persons. The first members chosen were Harrison,
Franklin, Johnson, Dickinson and Jay. The purpose of the committee was
to correspond with the friends of the Colonies in Great Britain,
Ireland, and other parts of the world, and communicate their
correspondence to Congress when required. Provision was made for
defraying expenses, and paying such agents as the committee might send
on this service.

There was another standing _Secret Committee_ of Congress, first
instituted September 18th, 1775, and empowered to purchase arms,
ammunition and military stores, and also to export various articles to
meet the charges of such purchases abroad. But this committee had no
connexion with that of secret correspondence. It was dissolved, July
5th, 1777, when the _Committee of Commerce_ was appointed in its
stead.

* * * * *

TO THE COMMITTEE OF SECRET CORRESPONDENCE.

Paris, August 18th, 1776.

I wrote you every material occurrence to the time of my leaving
Bordeaux, and sent duplicates by Captains Palmer, Bunker, and Seaver,
one of which you will undoubtedly have received, before this comes to
hand. I left that city on the last of June, and arrived here the
Saturday following, having carefully attended to every thing in the
manufacturing or commercial towns in my way, which, indeed, are
neither numerous nor of great consequence. I spent at Angouleme a day
in viewing what, as to manufactures alone, deserves attention on the
journey; the foundery for cannon, where the greatest part of those
used in the kingdom are manufactured. The cannon are cast solid, after
which they are put as in a turner's lathe, and bored out, and the
outside smoothed and turned at pleasure; they can bore and complete a
twelve pounder in one day in each lathe, which takes four men only to
work; the workmen freely showed me every part of their furnace and
foundery. On Monday after my arrival, I waited on my bankers, and
found that Mr Bancroft had arrived the same day with me, Mr Thomas
Morris and M. Venzonals about ten days before. I waited on M. Dubourg
and delivered him Dr Franklin's letter, which gave the good gentleman
the most sincere and real pleasure.

M. Penet, on his arrival in Paris, w