Resolved, that the Minister of France be informed, that the resolutions alluded to in his Memorial of the 5th instant will be published in the journals of Congress, and that in the meantime he consider himself at liberty to make such use of the copies transmitted to him, as he may think expedient.
It is with the greatest regret that I learn, that the attempt made at Martinique to obtain military stores has been fruitless. You will see the reasons of it in the letter of the Marquis de Bouillé, which I have the honor to send you. Nothing but the impossibility of the thing could prevent the servants of the King from rendering all possible services to the American cause, and compel them to delay complying with the requests of Congress.
I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, Sir, your most humble and most obedient servant.
I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write on the 8th of June, in which you inform me of Congress' want of powder. I am very sorry that the supplies for this colony, which are much less than they ought to be, will not permit me to furnish any to the United States of America. The immense and unforeseen consumption occasioned by Count d'Estaing's fleet, and his unhappy expedition against St Lucia, have laid me under the necessity of purchasing up all the powder in the hands of merchants to the amount of fifty thousand pounds, and you must be sensible, that nothing but the most urgent necessity could have induced me to go to such expense on account of the King, at a time when I am in so much want of money. Mr Bingham who is here, an agent of Congress, will be able to purchase lead of the merchants. As to arms, they are become scarce.
_P. S._ I beg of you, Sir, to use all your efforts, that we may receive as much provisions as possible before the month of November next at farthest, and cause them to be addressed to me either at Fort Royal, at St Pierre, or at Trinité in this Island, and that you would not let the price of freight prevent you. You will thereby do us the most essential service.
Resolved unanimously, that a committee consisting of one member from each State be appointed to congratulate the Minister of France on the anniversary of the birth of his Most Christian Majesty, and to assure him that the pleasure, which we feel on this occasion, can be estimated by those only who have a just sense of the extensive blessings, which many nations have already derived from his wisdom, justice, and magnanimity, and of the prospect of general happiness to mankind through the influence of his Majesty's virtuous exertions and glorious example.