credence, which I am directed by my sovereign to present to his Majesty. I am so unfortunate as not to have any for the Queen, but I know the sentiments of my country and of Congress so well as to be sure that this is not owing to any want of respect to her Majesty; probably it was merely the want of information that there had ever been a precedent of it.

I beg leave to propose to your Lordship that the superscription should be, "To his Majesty George the Third, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith," &c. If your Lordship should not disapprove of this, I should prefer it to the address of the United Provinces as being more respectful.

With great respect, I have the honor, &c.,

JOHN ADAMS.

Dear Sir,

FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.

Office for Foreign Affairs, March 31, 1785.

I have the honor of transmitting to you, herewith enclosed, a certified copy of an act of Congress of the 21st instant, instructing you to communicate to Mr. St. Saphorin, the high sense the United States in Congress assembled entertain of the liberal decision made by his Danish Majesty, on the question proposed to his Minister by you, respecting the ordination of American candidates for holy orders in the Episcopal Church, commonly called the Church of England.

Congress has been pleased to order and to transmit copies of your letter and the other papers on this subject to the Executives of the different States; and I am persuaded they will receive with pleasure this mark of your attention, and of his Danish Majesty's friendly disposition.

I have the honor to be, &c.,

JOHN JAY

Extract from the Secret Journal of Foreign Affairs, March 21,

1785.

On the report of a committee consisting of Mr. Holton, Mr. W. C. Houston, Mr. Read, Mr. Bedford, and Mr. Hardy, to whom

were referred sundry letters from the Ministers of the United States at foreign Courts,

Resolved, That the Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States to the States General of the United Netherlands be instructed to communicate to Monsieur de St. Saphorin, Envoy Extraordinary from his Danish Majesty to the States General, the high sense the United States, in Congress assembled, entertain of the liberal decision made by his Majesty on the question proposed to his Majesty's Minister at the Hague, by Mr. Adams, Minister from the United States, respecting the ordination of American candidates for holy orders in the Episcopal Church, commonly called the Church of England.

Ordered, That the Secretary for Foreign Affairs transmit to the Executive of the several States copies of Mr. Adams's letter of the 22d day of April, 1784, as well as of the papers therein enclosed, relative to Episcopal ordination.

FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.

New York, April 13, 1785.

Dear Sir,

I had the honor of writing to you on the 15th March last, mentioning your appointment to the Court of London; on the 18th of the same month, enclosing your commission, instructions, and letter of credence, and sending with it the journals of Congress necessary to complete your set; and on the 31st March I wrote you another letter, with an act of Congress directing you to communicate to Mr. St. Saphorin the high sense they entertain of the liberal decision made by his Danish Majesty on the question respecting the ordination of American candidates for holy orders in the Episcopal Church. Those letters were committed to the care of Paul Randall, Esq., who sailed in the last French packet.

I also wrote by Captain Lamb a letter, dated the 11th March, to yourself, Doctor Franklin, and Mr. Jefferson, enclosing a variety of papers respecting the treaties you are directed to negotiate and conclude with the Barbary States.

This will be delivered to you by Colonel Smith, your Secretary; and I herewith enclose copies of a number of papers respecting the

transportation from hence of negroes by the British army, contrary to the treaty of peace; and also copies of some papers on the subject of the debts due from American to British merchants. On these two subjects your instructions partly turn, and, that you may be the better enabled to fulfil them, these papers are now transmitted. I have the honor to be, &c.,

P. S. I herewith enclose a cypher.

JOHN JAY.

PAPERS ON THE DEPORTATION OF NEGROES.

Extract of a Letter from Sir Guy Carleton to General Washington, of 12th May, 1783.

I enclose a copy of an order which I have given out to prevent the carrying away any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants. I understand, from the gentlemen therein named, that they visited the fleet bound to Nova Scotia, and ordered on shore whatever came clearly under the above description; there appeared to be but little difference of opinion, except in the case of the negroes, who had been declared free previous to my arrival. As I had no right to deprive them of that liberty I found them possessed of, an accurate register was taken of every circumstance respecting them, so as to serve as a record of the name of the original proprietor of the negro, and as a rule by which to judge of his value. By this open method of conducting the business, I hoped to prevent all fraud, and whatever might admit of different constructions is left open for future explanation or compensation. Had these negroes been denied permission to embark, they would, in spite of every means to prevent it, have found various methods of quitting this place, so that the former owner would no longer have been able to trace them, and of course would have lost, in every way, all chance of compensation.

This business, carried on in this public manner, and the orders nominating persons to superintend embarkations, published in the Gazette, I had no reason to think either the embarkation, or any circumstance attending it, could have been matter of surprise to your Excellency on the 6th May. I then, however, learned with concern, that the embarkation which had already taken place, and

in which a large number of negroes had been conveyed away, appeared to your Excellency as a measure totally different from the letter and spirit of the treaty.

The negroes in question, I have already said, I found free when I arrived at New York. I had, therefore, no right, as I thought, to prevent their going to any part of the world they thought proper.

I must confess, that the mere supposition that the King's Minister would deliberately stipulate in a treaty an engagement to be guilty of a notorious breach of the public faith towards people of any complexion, seems to denote a less friendly disposition than I could wish, and, I think, less friendly than we might expect; after all, I only give my own opinion. Every negro's name is registered, the master he formerly belonged to, with such other circumstances as serve to denote his value, that it may be adjusted by compensation. If that was really the intention and meaning of the treaty, restoration, where inseparable from a breach of public faith, is, as the world, I think, must allow, utterly impracticable. I know of no better method of preventing abuse, and the carrying away negroes or other American property, than that I proposed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in my letter of the 14th of April-the naming commissioners to assist those appointed by me to inspect all embarkations; and I am pleased to find your Excellency has approved of this method, and appointed Egbert Benson, Esq., Lieutenant Colonel Smith, and Daniel Parker, Esq., one of the contractors for supplying your army with provisions, Commissioners on your part for the purpose. I am, sir, &c., GUY CARLETON.

Extracts from General Orders.

Head-Quarters, New York, April 15, 1783.

It is the Commander-in-Chief's orders that the following extract from the 7th article of the provisional treaty between Great Britain and the United States of America be strictly attended to and complied with by all persons whatsoever under his command:

"That his Britannic Majesty shall, with all convenient speed, and 'without causing any destruction or carrying away any negroes or 'other property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, 'garrisons, and fleets from the said United States, and from

every

'port, place, and harbor within the same, leaving in all fortifications 'the American artillery that may be therein; and shall also order and 'cause all the archives, records, deeds, and papers belonging to any 'of the said States or their citizens, which, in the course of the war, 'may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be forthwith restored and delivered to the proper States and persons to whom 'they belong."

All masters of vessels are particularly cautioned on their part, not to commit any breach of the above article.

Copy of a Resolution of Congress of the 26th May, 1783.

By the United States of America in Congress assembled-May 26th, 1783:

Whereas, by the articles agreed upon the 30th of November last, by and between the Commissioners of the United States of America for making peace and the Commissioners on the part of his Britannic Majesty, it is stipulated that his Britannic Majesty shall, with all convenient speed, and without any destruction or carrying away any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets from the said United States, and from every port, place, and harbor within the same; and whereas, a considerable number of negroes belonging to these States, have been carried off therefrom, contrary to the true intent and meaning of the said articles,

Resolved, That copies of letters between the Commander-inChief and Sir Guy Carleton, and other papers on this subject, be transmitted to the Minister Plenipotentiary of these States for negotiating peace in Europe, and that they be directed to remonstrate thereon to the Court of Great Britain, and take proper measures for obtaining such reparation as the nature of the case will admit.

Ordered, That a copy of the foregoing resolve be transmitted to the Commander-in-Chief, and that he be directed to continue his remonstrances to Sir Guy Carleton, respecting the permitting negroes belonging to the citizens of these States to leave New York, and to insist on the discontinuance of that measure.

CHAS. THOMSON, Secretary.