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 598 Documents President, to explain to you, as the Minister plenipotentiary of his britannic majesty near the United States, what is the course of his re- flection upon this momentous transaction. If his majesty could doubt the sincerity of the President's professions of a desire to maintain full harmony with the british nation ; his doubt will vanish when he is told, Sir, as I now tell you, that, notwithstanding after the most mature con- sideration of the treaty, there are several parts, by no means coincident with his wishes and expectations ; yet he had determined to ratify it, in the manner advised by the Senate. He had determined to put his hand to it, without again submitting it, even after the insertion of the new article, to the Senate. " But we are informed by the public gazettes, and by letters, tolerably authentic, that vessels, even American vessels, laden with provisions for France, may be captured and dealt with, as carrying a kind of qualified contraband. If this be not true, you can correct me. " Upon the supposition of its truth, the President cannot persuade himself, that he ought to ratify, during the existence of that order. His reasons will be detailed in a proper representation thro' Mr Hammond to his britannic majesty. At the same time, that order being removed, he will ratify without delay or further scruple. Of this also his britan- nic majesty will be informed in the most explicit and unequivocal terms. " Now, Sir, the object of my interview with you arises from my recol- lection of your having expressed to me a wish, that the ratifications should be exchanged here, in order that you might have some agency in closing the treaty. I am thus led to believe, that it may not be dis- agreeable to you to undertake what I shall now have the honor of pro- posing to you. " Supposing that Mr Jay's negotiation would absorb every contro- versy: that nothing would be left to be done for some time in the ordi- nary course of residence; or that Mr Pinckney would have returned to London before he was wanted there, he was dispatched as an Envoy to Madrid. He did not commence his journey until the 11. of May last. The Secretary of the Legation, Mr Deas,' is the only person remaining in London, as the political agent of the U S. Being desirous of con- summating every thing here, as far as we can, it has occurred to me to state in a memorial to you the situation of the business, and the fore- going declaration of the President's purpose to ratify. This, we pre- sume, will be immediately transmitted through you to the british ministry. The reply may be handed to Mr Deas. You will also be furnished with a copy of the form, in which the President means to ratify, when the order is rescinded. " The President had indeed once thought to order one of our Euro- pean ministers over to London to supply for this purpose the place of Mr Pinckney: but the most weighty objections render this impractic- 1 William Allen Deas of South Carolina, who finally carried out the exchange of ratifications.