Upon the receipt of the provisional articles and a subsequent account brought by a vessel dispatched by Ct Destaing I wrote the Letter No 1. to Sir Guy Carleton. No. 2. to Admiral Digby, to which I received the answer 3. 4. you will find them cold and distinct those they wrote to the Minister of France in answer to similar communications made by him were still more so, and contain the same illiberal doubts which is mentioned in mine expressed in much stronger terms. When they received an authentic account of the treaty they sent a copy of it no part being omitted to Congress thro’ the Genl. When the proclamation for the cessation of hostilities was received at New York it was sent to me by an officer with the Letters 5. and 6, to which I returned the answers 7 and 8. After this two great questions were agitated in Congress. 1st. Whether they should proceed to the immediate ratification of the provisional articles. 2 whether they should release the prisoners. Some maintained with respect to the first of these points that they knew not in what light to consider the provinal articles whether as preliminaries or a definitive treaty. That the preamble said they were to constitute the treaty which at the same time they were only to be inserted in. These terms they considered as contradictory. And they wished to have explanations from you on this head to know what the operation of a ratification would be and they inferred from your silence that none was necessary. They observed that no time was set for the evacuation of New Yor, that the ratification would in some measure compel them to release their prisoners and thus strengthen their    when it was possible that the definitive Treaty might not take effect between Great Britain and france and that the ratification and the restoration of prisoners if it left us nothing more to do was in some sort to desert our allies. To this it was answered that the provisional articles were only to be vud as preliminary that from the very nature of them they could not be definitive that the ratification would not alter the nature of them but confirm them as they stood that they were confessedly very advantagious to us. That the neglecting any such acceptation of them as was necessary on our part would give the enimy a pretence for violating the stipulations they contimed. That the principle points between France and Great Britain being settled we had no reason to apprehend a     of a definitive treaty. That it was important to shew that we were determined to adhere in every particular to the engagements you had made. These arguments prevailed and the resolution No. 9 passed directing the ratification which I enclose. It is probable that the definitive treaty will be signed before this can reach you otherwise it would be extreamly desirable that some ambiguities in the provisional articles should be cleared up and other objects which have at different times been touched upon in my publick letters attended to. And the sixth article is not so precisely expressed as to point out to what time the word future refers whether to the signature of the provisional articles, whether to the act which gave it the force of a treaty, or to the difinitive treaty tho’ I should suppose the second to be the intention from the opposition between the word now and the time of the ratification in America.

The 7th. article leaves the time for the evacuation of New York upon so loose a footing that I fear our troublsome guests will long continue to be such unless a day is fixed on for their departure in the definitive treaty. You can easily conceive the impatience that the distressed inhabitants of New York feel at every moments delay and the fears and jealousies that prevail among them least it should be meant to retain these posts as pledges for the performance of the stipulations in favor of the Tories. By the debates in parliament on the third of March it is evident that they had there no orders to evacuate.

You will observe that the ratification does not extend to the separate article the treaty between Spain and Great Britain under it unnecessary. And Congress did not    to express any sentiment upon that subject. I refer you to my Letters to Docr. Franklin and Mr. Jay upon the subject of a free trade with the west Indies. The log wood trade which are important objects here. And I hope will be attended to in your difinitive treaty. It were to be wished that the ambiguity with respect to the time of the cessation of hostilities upon this coast was cleared up and the construction we put upon it adopted to wit that by as far as the Canaries was intended the late tide of the canaries which construction can be supported by a variety of arguments and is extreamly important to us as a number of our vessels have been taken since the 3d of March. I have the honor to be Gentlemen with great esteem and respect Your most Obedient humble Servant