eace has commenced,
and that Mr Grenville is in France upon that business. Mr Adams's
letters take no more notice of this important transaction, than if we
were not interested in it; presuming, probably, that we are fully
informed from France. I may think improperly upon this subject, but I
cannot be satisfied that a quarterly letter from our Ministers is
sufficient to give Congress the information, that is necessary for the
direction of their affairs; and yet this is much more than we receive.
Some pay half yearly, and others offer only an annual tribute. Your
last letter, properly so called, is dated in April; Dr Franklin's in
March. This is the more mortifying, as want of time can hardly be
offered as an excuse by our Ministers, who must certainly have more
leisure upon their hands than they know how to dispose of.

I congratulate you upon your arrival in France, where if your
negotiations are not more successful than they have been in Spain, you
will at least have some enjoyments, that will console you under your
disappointments. Carleton has informed us, that Great Britain had
agreed to yield us unconditional independence. I find that he has been
too hasty in his opinion, and that the death of the Marquis of
Rockingham has made a very material alteration in the system. That
this inconsistency may be fully displayed, I would advise you to have
the enclosed letter from Carleton and Digby published in Europe.
Before the arrival of the packet, every disposition was made for the
evacuation of Charleston, which was publicly announced. The tories
have, in consequence of it, come out in crowds with the consent of
General Leslie to solicit pardon. The works at Quarter House were
burned. Whether the late intelligence will alter their determination I
cannot say. High expectations have also been entertained of the
evacuation of New York, where the royalists were in despair. Their
hopes are again revived.

If the negotiations go on, let me beg you to use every means for
procuring a direct trade with the West Indies. It is an object of the
utmost importance to us. The exports of Philadelphia alone to the
islands amounted before the war to three hundred thousand pounds; they
could not have been much less from New York; they were considerable
also from the Eastern States. We shall be very long in recovering the
distress of the war, if we are deprived of this important commerce. It
is certain, too, that the European powers who ho