d or silver at the time the
paper dollars were lent. On that true value the interest has been paid,
and continues to be paid to the creditors annually in America. That the
principal will also be paid, is as sure as any future fact can be. The
epoch is not fixed. It is expected that the State of New York will
shortly accede to the impost which has been proposed. When that shall
be done, that impost will suffice to pay the interest, and sink the
principal in a very few years. I have the honor to be, with much
respect, Gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant.

TO M. SOULES.

PARIS, January 19, 1787.

SIR,--I have the honor of enclosing to you the sheets on the subject of
Wyoming. I have had a long conversation with M. Creve-coeur on them. He
knows well that canton. He was in the neighborhood of the place when it
was destroyed, saw great numbers of the fugitives, aided them with his
wagons, and had the story from all their mouths. He committed notes to
writing at the moment, which are now in Normandy, at his father's. He
has written for them, and they will be here in five or six days, when
he premises to put them into my hands. He says there will be a great
deal to alter in your narration, and that it must assume a different
face, more favorable both to the British and Indians. His veracity may
be relied on, and I told him I was sure your object was truth; and, to
render your work estimable by that character, that I thought you would
wait, and readily make any changes upon evidence which should be
satisfactory to you. The moment I receive his notes I will communicate
them to you, and have the honor to be, with much respect, Sir, your
most obedient humble servant.

TO M. HILLIARD D'AUBERTEUIL.

PARIS, January 27, 1787.

SIR,--I duly received the letter you did me the honor to write, and the
verses therein enclosed on the subject of M. de La Fayette. I have
taken measures to present the public with this acceptable present; but
the newspapers here are slow in complying with the applications
addressed to them. It is not for a stranger to decide on the merits of
poetry in a language foreign to him. Were I to presume to do it in this
instance, I should certainly assign to this composition a high degree
of approbation.

I wish it were in my power to furnish you with any materials for the
history on which you are engaged, but I brought no papers of that kind
with me from America. In a letter you did me