It seems to have been insinuated, either thro' Mistake or ill Will to the United States,

1. That their Merchants have combin'd to depreciate the Bills drawn on France.

2. That their Trade with England is as great as before the War.

I have known two Instances when Bills of Exchange on England have fallen more than 15 per Cent lower than the present Price of Bills on France.

The first was in 1739, when an Expedition being projected against Carthagene, the Government of England ordered 3000 Men to be rais'd in America & Transports with Provisions &c to be furnish'd, for the Amount of which Expence Bills were ordered to be drawn on the Treasury at London. This adventious Quantity of Bills coming in to Market, and being more than the common Course of the Commerce required, occasion'd the lowering of their Price 42½ per Cent, below the Rate before accustomed.

The like happened a few Years after, when on a Prospect of short Crops of Corn in Europe, Orders were received in America to purchase and send over vast Quantities, & to draw Bills & sell them in the Country in order to raise Money for the Purchase. This sudden Addition to the Quantity of Bills, produc'd a Fall of 40 per Cent in their Price. And this must always happen in some Proportion, when the Quantity of any Article in Commercio exceeds the present Demand.—

And when it is considered, that the Merchants of America, are numerous & dispers'd thro' 13 different Provinces, at great distances from each other Such a Combination will appear as improbable, as that the Farmers in France should combine to raise the Price of Wheat.—

With regard to the English Commerce, there is none certainly but what is contraband, and there can be no Temptation to such Contraband, but for particular Commodities that are cheaper there than in France. The Quantity therefore cannot be great. Such Contraband is found difficult to prevent in all Countries. It is carried on at this Time between France & England. But there are many Commodities much cheaper in France, such as Wines, Silks, Oil, Modes, &c which will be of great Consumption in America; and when Correspondencies are once settled, and the People there become acquainted with the Manufactures of France, the Demand for them will increase, these Manufactures will of course be improv'd in goodness & cheapness, and the Trade continue to augment accordingly. It is difficult to change suddenly the whole Current, of Connections, Correspondencies & Confidences that subsist between Merchants, and carry them all into a new Channel:— But Time & a Continuance of Friendship will make great Alterations.