suspected that France and England might adopt those
concerted regulations of commerce for their West Indies, of which your
letter expresses some apprehensions. But the expressions in the
4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 18th, and other articles of their treaty, which
communicate to the English the privileges of the most favored European
nation only, has lessened, if not removed those fears. They have clearly
reserved a right of favoring, specially, any nation not European; and
there is no nation out of Europe, who could so probably have been
in their eye at that time, as ours. They are wise. They must see it
probable, at least, that any concert with England will be but of
short duration; and they could hardly propose to sacrifice for that, a
connection with us, which may be perpetual.

We have been for some days, in much inquietude for the Count de
Vergennes. He is very seriously ill. Nature seems struggling to decide
his disease into a gout. A swelled foot, at present gives us a hope-of
this issue. His loss would at all times have been great; but it would be
immense during the critical poise of European affairs, existing at
this moment. I enclose you a letter from one of the foreign officers,
complaining of the non-payment of their interest. It is only one out
of many I have received. This is accompanied by a second copy of the
Moorish declaration sent me by Mr. Barclay. He went to Alicant to settle
with Mr. Lambe; but on his arrival there, found he was gone to Minorca.
A copy of his letter will inform you of this circumstance, and of some
others relative to Algiers, with his opinion on them. Whatever the
States may enable Congress to do for obtaining the peace of that
country, it is a separate question whether they will redeem our
captives, how, and at what price. If they decide to redeem them, I will
beg leave to observe, that it is of great importance that the first
redemption be made at as low a price as possible, because it will form
the future tariff. If these pirates find that they can have a very great
price for Americans, they will abandon proportionably their pursuits
against other nations, to direct them towards ours. That the choice
of Congress may be enlarged, as to the instruments they may use for
effecting the redemption, I think it my duty to inform them, that there
is here an order of priests called the Mathurins, the object of whose
institution is to beg alms for the redemption of captives. They keep
members alw