382
who, notwithstanding that the llth article of the treaty provides, that the subjects or citizens of either party, shall succeed, ab intes- tato, to the lands of their ancestors, within the dominions of the other, had been informed from Mr. Adams, and by me also, that his right of succession to the General s estate in Georgia, was doubt ful. He observed too, that the administration of justice with us, was tardy, insomuch, that their merchants, when they had money due to them within our States, considered it as desperate ; and, that our commercial regulations, in general, were disgusting to them. These ideas were new, serious and delicate. I decided, therefore, not to enter into them at that moment, and the rather, as we were speaking in French, in which language I did not choose to hazard myself. I withdrew from the objections of the tardi ness of justice with us, and the disagreeableness of our commer cial regulations, by a general observation, that I was not sensible they were well founded. With respect to the case of the Chevalier de Mezieres, I was obliged to enter into some explanations. They related chiefly to the legal operation of our Declaration of Independence, to the undecided question whether our citizens and British subjects, were thereby made aliens to one another, to the general laws as to conveyances of land to aliens, and the doubt, whether an act of the Assembly of Georgia might not have been passed, to confiscate General Oglethorpe s property, which would of course prevent its devolution on any heir. M. Reyneval ob served, that in this case, it became a mere question of fact, whe ther a confiscation of these lands had taken place before the death of General Oglethorpe, which fact might be easily known by inqui ries in Georgia, where the possessions lay. I thought it very ma terial, that the opinion of this court should be set to rights on these points. On my return, therefore, I wrote the following ob servations on them, which, the next time I went to Versailles, (not having an opportunity of speaking to the Count de Vergennes) I put into the hands of M. Reyneval, praying him to read them, and to ask the favor of the Count to do the same.
Explanations on some of the subjects of the conversation, itfhich I had the honor of having with his Excellency, the Count de when I was last at Versailles.
The principal design of that conversation was, to discuss those articles of commerce which the United States could spare, which are wanted in France, and, if received there on a convenient foot ing, would be exchanged for the productions of France. But in the course of the conversation, some circumstances were inciden-
