5250. MINISTERS (Foreign), Exchange of.—[continued].
The President * * *
authorized Mr. Gouverneur Morris to enter
into conference with the British ministers in
order to discover their sentiments on the exchange
of a minister. The letters of Mr. Morris
* * * [to the President] state the
communications, oral and written, which have
passed between him and the ministers; and
from these the Secretary of State draws the
following inference: That * * * their
Secretary for Foreign Affairs is disposed to
exchange a minister, but meets with opposition
in his Cabinet, so as to render the issue uncertain.
The Secretary of State is of opinion
that Mr. Morris's letters remove any doubts
which might have been entertained as to the
intentions and dispositions of the British Cabinet;
that it would be dishonorable to the United
States, useless and even injurious, to renew
the propositions for * * * the exchange of
a minister, and that this subject should now
remain dormant, till it shall be brought forward
earnestly by them.—
Official Report. Washington ed. vii, 517.
Ford ed., v, 261.
(Dec. 1790)
