20 
Indiana University Studies 
expense by putting the whole matter into the hands of Genet 
and the men of the Western Country. 
That Imlay himself was to take an active part in the expe- 
dition is clear from a letter of Brissot addressed to “Citoien 
Ministre'' (probably Le Brun) on the 22d of April, 1793, 
which the American adventurer carried with his own hand to 
the minister.^® The fact that Imlay complained to Brissot 
that he had not yet received official authorization for the Mis- 
sissippi expedition seems to show that he was at this time 
dealing directly with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and that 
he was perhaps the leader of an expedition which was to set 
out from France. In all probability, however, Imlay and ‘The 
others’" never actually started on their mission. Certainly 
the fifteen days within which Brissot considered it necessary 
to act or abandon the plan passed without a decision; for 
exactly a month later we find a certain Lyonnet, who may 
have been one of “the others” who were to go with Imlay, 
writing from Lyons to Otto of the foreign office that he has 
received a letter from Imlay informing him that tho nothing 
has been done, hope for the Mississippi scheme has not been 
entirely abandoned.'’^ But such hope could not have lasted 
much longer, for the fall of the Brissotins was impending. 
On June 2, less than two weeks after Lyonnet’s letter was 
written, sentence of arrest was passed against Brissot and his 
friends, and at the end of the following October Brissot him- 
self was sent to the guillotine. As for the preparations 
making on the other side of the Atlantic in connection with 
the projected conquest of Louisiana, they were ended shortly 
after Fauchet relieved Genet as ambassador in the following 
February.*" Tho there was some talk in 1795 of reviving the 
Affaires Eti'angeres, Corresp. Polit. Espagne, Vol. 636, fo. 105. This letter is as 
follows : 
“Paris ce 22 avril 1793 
“Citoien Ministre 
“Le Capitaine Imlay qui vous remettra cette Lettre m’aprend qu’il n’y a encore rien 
d’arrete pour I’expedition du Missisipi. Je vous avoue que cette lenteur me parait tres 
prejudiciahle pour la chose publique. Si ce Capitaine et les autres personnes ne partent 
pas sous 15 jours, il faudra renoncer a I’enterprise, et ceiTes La Republique aurait des 
reproches tres fondes a faire pour y avoir renonce [.] hatez vous done de prendre un 
parti decisif. L’argent ne doit pas vous arreter maintenant. Avez vous besoin de L’avis 
du Conseil je suis pret a y aller, pour y developer les avantages du plan mais de grace 
ne perdez pas un moment “J.P. Brissot” 
Lyonnet to Otto, May 22, 1793, Archives des Affaires fitrangeres, Espagne, Vol. 
636, fo. 205, as reproduced in The American Historical Revietv, III, 505. 
Annual Report of the American Historical Association, 1903, II, 12 ; and for 1896, 
I, 934. 
