e, and others of my friends; and the melancholy case of the yellow
fever,--of which he gave me as circumstantial an account as if he had
been summing up a case to a Jury. Here my visit ended, and had Mr.
Ellsworth been as cunning as a statesman, or as wise as a Judge, he
would have returned my visit that he might appear insensible of the
intention of mine.

1 The packet was indeed searched for Paine by a British
cruiser.--_Editor._

2 Oliver Ellsworth (Chief Justice), W. V. Murray, and W. R.
Davie, were sent by President Adams to France to negotiate a
treaty. In this they failed, but a convention was signed
September 30, 1800, which terminated the treaty of 1778,
which had become a source of discord, and prepared the way
for the negotiations of Livingston and Monroe in 1803.--
_Editor._

3 Paine had visited his room-mate in Luxembourg prison,
Vanhuele, who was now Mayor of Bruges.--_Editor._.

I now come to the affairs of this country and of Europe. You will, I
suppose, have heard before this arrives to you, of the battle of
Marengo in Italy, where the Austrians were defeated--of the armistice
in consequence thereof, and the surrender of Milan, Genoa etc. to
the french--of the successes of the french Army in Germany--and the
extension of the armistice in that quarter--of the preliminaries of
Peace signed at Paris--of the refusal of the Emperor [of Austria] to
ratify these preliminaries--of the breaking of the armistice by the
french Government in consequence of that refusal--of the "gallant"
expedition of the Emperor to put himself at the head of his Army--of his
pompous arrival there--of his having made his will--of prayers being put
in all his churches for the preservation of the life of this Hero--of
General Moreau announcing to him, immediately on his arrival at the
Army, that hostilities would commence the day after the next at sunrise
unless he signed the treaty or gave security that he would sign within
45 days--of his surrendering up three of the principal keys of Germany
(Ulm, Philipsbourg, and Ingolstadt) as security that he would sign them.
This is the state things are now in, at the time of writing this letter;
but it is proper to add that the refusal of the Emperor to sign the
preliminaries was motived upon a note from the King of England to be
admitted to the Congress for negociating Peace, which was consented to
by the french upon the condition o