DEARSIR——MylasttoyouwasofMar。7。sincewhichIhavereceivedyourNos。8。and9。Iamapprehensivethatyoursituationmusthavebeendifficultduringthetransitionfromthelateformofgovernmenttothere-establishmentofsomeotherlegitimateauthority，andthatyoumayhavebeenatalosstodeterminewithwhombusinessmightbedone。Neverthelesswhenprinciplesarewellunderstoodtheirapplicationislessembarrassing。Wesurelycannotdenytoanynationthatrightwhereonourowngovernmentisfounded，thateveryonemaygovernitselfunderwhateverformsitpleases，andchangetheseformsatit’sownwill，andthatitmaytransactit’sbusinesswithforeignnationsthroughwhateverorganitthinksproper，whetherKing，convention，assembly，committee，President，orwhateverelseitmaychuse。Thewillofthenationistheonlythingessentialtoberegarded。OnthedissolutionofthelateconstitutioninFrance，byremovingsointegralapartofitastheKing，theNationalAssembly，towhomapartonlyofthepublicauthorityhadbeendelegated，sensibleoftheincompetenceoftheirpowerstotransacttheaffairsofthenationlegitimately，incitedtheirfellowcitizenstoappointanationalconventionduringthisdefectivestateofthenationalauthority。Dutytoourconstituentsrequiredthatweshouldsuspendpaimentofthemoniesyetunpaidofourdebttothatcountry，becausetherewasnopersonorpersonssubstantiallyauthorizedbythenationofFrancetoreceivethemoniesandgiveusagoodacquittal。Onthisgroundmylastletterdesiredyoutosuspendpaimentstillfurtherorders，withanassurance，ifnecessary，thatthesuspensionshouldnotbecontinuedamomentlongerthanshouldbenecessaryforustoseethere-establishmentofsomepersonorbodyofpersonswithauthoritytoreceiveandgiveusagoodacquittal。SincethatwelearnthataConventionisassembled，investedwithfullpowersbythenationtotransactit’saffairs。Tho’weknowthatfromthepublicpapersonly，insteadofwaitingforaformalannunciationofit，wehastentoactuponitbyauthorizingyou，ifthefactbetrue，toconsiderthesuspensionofpaiment，directedinmylastletter，asnowtakenoff，andtoproceedasifithadneverbeenimposed；consideringtheConvention，orthegovernmenttheyshallhaveestablishedasthelawfulrepresentativesoftheNationandauthorizedtoactforthem。
Neitherthehonornorinclinationofourcountrywouldjustifyourwithholdingourpaimentunderascrupulousattentiontoforms。Onthecontrarytheylentusthatmoneywhenwewereundertheircircumstances，anditseemsprovidentialthatwecannotonlyrepaythemthesamesum，butunderthesamecircumstances。Indeed，wewishtoomitnoopportunityofconvincingthemhowcordiallywedesiretheclosestunionwiththem：Mutualgoodoffices，mutualaffectionandsimilarprinciplesofgovernmentseemtohavedestinedthetwopeopleforthemostintimatecommunion，andevenforacompleteexchangeofcitizenshipamongtheindividualscomposingthem。
DuringthefluctuatingstateoftheAssignatsofFrance，Imustaskthefavorofyoutoinformmeineveryletteroftherateofexchangebetweenthem&coin，thisbeingnecessaryfortheregulationofourcustomhouses。WearecontinuingoursuppliestotheislandofSt。DomingoattherequestoftheMinisterofFrancehere。WewouldwishhowevertoreceiveamoreformalsanctionfromthegovernmentofFrancethanhasyetbeengiven。Indeed，weknowofnonebutavoteofthelateNationalAssemblyfor4millionsoflivresofourdebt，senttothegovernmentofSt。Domingo，communicatedbythemtotheMinisterhere，&byhimtous。Andthiswasintermsnotproperlyapplicabletotheformofouradvances。Wewishthereforeforafullsanctionofthepast&acompleteexpressionofthedesiresoftheirgovernmentastofuturesuppliestotheircolonies。Besideswhatwehavefurnishedpublicly，individualmerchantsoftheU。S。havecarriedconsiderablesuppliestotheislandofSt。Domingo，whichhavebeensometimespurchased，sometimestakenbyforce，andbillsgivenbytheadministrationofthecolonyontheministerhere，whichhavebeenprotestedforwantoffunds。WehavenodoubtthatjusticewillbedonetothesePAEANTOTHEFRENCHREVOLUTION
_ToWilliamShort_
_Philadelphia，Jan。3，1793_