, we should not make a separate peace; he would have us be at
full liberty to make a peace for ourselves, whenever good and
advantageous terms were offered to us. The only condition he should
require and rely on would be this, that we, in no peace to be made
with England, should give up our independence, and return to the
obedience of that government. That as soon as the courier returned
from Spain, with the concurrence expected, the affair would be
proceeded in and concluded; and of this we might give the Congress the
strongest assurances in our despatches, only cautioning them to keep
the whole, for the present, a dead secret, as Spain had three reasons
for not immediately declaring; her money fleet not yet come home; her
Brazil army and fleet the same; and her peace with Portugal not yet
quite completed; but these obstacles would, probably, soon be removed.

We answered, that in what had been communicated to us we perceived,
and admired equally the king's magnanimity and his wisdom; that he
would find us faithful and firm allies, and we wished, with his
majesty, that the amity between the two nations might be eternal. And,
mentioning that republics were usually steady in their engagements,
for instance, the Swiss cantons, the Secretary remarked, that France
had been as steady with regard to them, two hundred years having
passed since their first alliance for fifty years had commenced, which
had been renewed from time to time; and such had been her uniform good
faith toward them, that, as it appeared in the last renewal, the
Protestant cantons were free from their ancient prejudices and
suspicions, and joined readily with the rest in the league of which we
herewith send you a copy.

It is sometime since we obtained a promise of an additional aid of
three million of livres, which we shall receive in January. Spain, we
are told, will give an equal sum; but finding it inconvenient to
remit it here, she purposes sending it from the Havanna, in specie, to
the Congress. What we receive here will help to get us out of debt.
Our vessels laden with supplies have, by various means, been delayed,
particularly by fear of falling into the hands of the British cruising
ships, which swarm in the bay and channel. At length, it is resolved
that they shall sail together, as they are all provided for defence,
and we have obtained a king's ship to convoy them out of the channel,
and we hope quite to America. They will carry, we think, t