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pressing occupations for the moment. After staying there seven weeks, till within a few days of the expiration of our commission, I informed the minister, by note, that my duties at Paris required my return to that place, and that I should, with pleasure, be the bearer of any commands to his Ambassador there. He answered, that he had none, and, wishing me a pleasant journey, I left Lon don the 26th, and arrived at Paris the 30th of April.
While in London, we entered into negotiations with the Che valier Pinto, Ambassador of Portugal, at that place. The only ar ticle of difficulty between us was, a stipulation that our bread stuff should be received in Portugal, in the form of flour as well as of grain. He approved of it himself, but observed that several No bles, of great influence at their court, were the owners of wind mills in the neighborhood of Lisbon, which depended much for their profits on manufacturing our wheat, and that this stipulation would endanger the whole treaty. He signed it, however, and its fate was what he had candidly portended.
My duties, at Paris, were confined to a few objects ; the receipt of our whale-oils, salted fish, and salted meats, on favorable terms ; the admission of our rice on equal terms with that of Piedmont, Egypt and the Levant ; a mitigation of the monopolies of our to bacco by the Farmers-general, and a free admission of our pro ductions into their islands, w r ere the principal commercial objects which required attention ; and, on these occasions, I was power fully aided by all the influence and the energies of the Marquis de La Fayette, who proved himself equally zealous for the friend ship and welfare of both nations ; and, in justice, I must also say, that I found the government entirely disposed to befriend us on all occasions, and to yield us every indulgence, not absolutely in jurious to themselves. The Count De Vergennes had the repu tation, with the diplomatic corps, of being wary and slippery in his diplomatic intercourse ; and so he might be, with those whom he knew to be slippery, and double faced themselves. As he saw that I had no indirect views, practised no subtleties, meddled in no intrigues, pursued no concealed object, I found him as frank, as honorable, as easy of access to reason, as any man with whom I had ever done business ; and I must say the same for his succes sor, Montmorin, one of the most honest and worthy of human beings.
Our commerce, in the Mediterranean, was placed under early alarm, by the capture of two of our vessels and crews by the Bar- bary cruisers. I was very unwilling that we should acquiesce in the European humiliation, of paying a tribute to those lawless pi rates, and endeavored to form an association of the powers sub-
