18 APPENDIX TO BRITISH COUNTER CASE. 



No. 4. 1779: Extracts from " Journals of the Continental Congress " 

 ( United States} , vols. 13 and 14. 



1779, February 23. . . . The committee to whom were referred 

 the letters from A. Lee, Esq.* and the communications of the Minister 

 Plenipotentiary of France, in his iTiemorial of the 9th and in the 

 private audience on the 15 brought in a repdrt, which was read: 



That upon consideration of all the matters referred to your com- 

 mittee, they are of opinion, that His Catholic Majesty is disposed to 

 enter into an alliance with the United States of America. 



That he hath manifested this disposition in a decisive declaration 

 lately made to the Court of Great Britain. 



That in consequence of such declaration the independence of these 

 United States must be finally acknowledged by Great Britain; and 

 immediately thereon a negotiation for peace will be set on foot be- 

 tween the Powers of France, Great Britain, and these United States, 

 under the mediation of His Catholic Majesty : Or, 



That Spain will take part in the war, and His Catholic Majesty will 

 unite his force with the Most Christian King and the United States. 



That in the event of a negotiation for peace, your committee, pur- 

 suant to the declaration of Congress, that they would not make, nor 

 even treat of peace, until the independence of these United States 

 should be acknowledged, or all the forces of their enemy withdrawn, 

 pursuant to the guarantee of His Most Christian Majesty by the 

 treaty of alliance eventual and defensive, made and subsisting be- 

 tween him and these United States, as sovereign and independent 

 they assume it, first, as a ground and preliminary, that, previous to 

 any treaty, or negotiation for peace, the liberty, sovereignty, and 

 independence, absolute and unlimited, of these United States, as well 

 in matters of government as of commerce, shall be acknowledged on 

 the part of Great Britain. And if the same shall be done, your 

 committee are of opinion that the Ministers of these United States 

 ought, on the part of the said States, to assist at. and contract and 

 stipulate in such negotiation for peace as may be set on foot under 

 the mediation of His Catholic Majesty. 



That in order to be in readiness for such event, the said Ministers 

 ought to be instructed by Congress in the following particulars, 

 to wit : 



1. What to insist on as the ultimatum of these states; and, 



2. What to yield, or require, on terms < of mutual exchange or 

 compensation. 



On the first head your committee are of opinion, that the follow- 

 ing articles are absolutely necessary for the safety and independence 

 of the United States, and therefore ought to be insisted on as the 

 ultimatum of these States : 



1. That the bounds of the United States be acknowledged and rati- 

 fied as follows: 



Northerly by the ancient limits of Canada, as contended for by 

 Great Britain, running from Nova Scotia, south-westerly, west, and 

 north-westerly, to Lake Nepissing, thence a west line to the Missis- 

 sippi; easterly by the boundary settled between Massachusetts and 



Commissioner of the United States to the Courts of Vienna and Berlin. 



