They proposed to
me, first, that we should supply those wants from the money we owed
France; or secondly, from the bills of exchange which they were
authorized to draw on a particular fund in France; or thirdly, that we
would guaranty their bills, in which case they could dispose of them to
merchants, and buy the necessaries themselves. I convinced them the two
latter alternatives were beyond the powers of the executive, and the
first could only be done with the consent of the minister of France.
In the course of our conversation, I expressed to them our sincere
attachment to France and all its dominions, and most especially to them
who were our neighbors, and whose interests had some common points of
union with ours, in matters of commerce; that we wished, therefore, to
render them every service they needed, but that we could not do it in
any way disagreeable to France; that they must be sensible, that M.
de Ternant might apprehend that jealousy would be excited by their
addressing themselves directly to foreign powers, and, therefore, that a
concert with him in their applications to us was essential. The subject
of independence and their views towards it having been stated in the
public papers, this led our conversation to it; and, I must say, they
appeared as far from these views as any persons on earth.
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