e
the bearer of any commands to his Ambassador there. He answered, that
he had none, and, wishing me a pleasant journey, I left London the 26th,
and arrived at Paris the 30th of April.

While in London, we entered into negotiations with the Chevalier Pinto,
Ambassador of Portugal, at that place. The only article of difficulty
between us was, a stipulation that our bread-stuff should be received
in Portugal, in the form of flour as well as of grain. He approved of it
himself, but observed that several nobles, of great influence at their
court, were the owners of windmills in the neighborhood of Lisbon, which
depended much for their profits on manufacturing our wheat, and that
this stipulation would endanger the whole treaty. He signed it, however,
and its fate was what he had candidly portended.

My duties, at Paris, were confined to a few objects; the receipt of
our whale-oils, salted fish, and salted meats, on favorable terms; the
admission of our rice on equal terms with that of Piedmont, Egypt,
and the Levant; a mitigation of the monopolies of our tobacco by the
farmers-general, and a free admission of our productions into their
islands, were the principal commercial objects which required attention;
and on these occasions, I was powerfully aided by all the influence and
the energies of the Marquis de la Fayette, who proved himself equally
zealous for the friendship and welfare of both nations; and, in justice,
I must also say, that I found the government entirely disposed to
befriend us on all occasions, and to yield us every indulgence, not
absolutely injurious to themselves. The Count de Vergennes had the
reputation with the diplomatic corps, of being wary and slippery in his
diplomatic intercourse; and so he might be, with those whom he knew
to be slippery, and double-faced themselves. As he saw that I had
no indirect views, practised no subtleties, meddled in no intrigues,
pursued no concealed object, I found him as frank, as honorable, as easy
of access to reason, as any man with whom I had ever done business; and
I must say the same for his successor, Montmorin, one of the most honest
and worthy of human beings.

Our commerce, in the Mediterranean, was placed under early alarm, by the
capture of two of our vessels and crews by the Barbary cruisers. I was
very unwilling that we should acquiesce in the European humiliation,
of paying a tribute to those lawless pirates, and endeavored to form an
association of