Note 17 — LETTER XXVII. TO JACOB SUTHERLAND, ESQ., GENEVA.

One may form some notion of the condition of the foreign policy of the country, by a fact that has come to the knowledge of the writer, under circumstances that leave no doubt, in his mind, of its authenticity. An American was at Washington applying for some diplomatic appointment, at the moment Congress had the subject of the French reprisals, as recommended by the President, before them. Of so much greater importance did this diplomatic agent deem foreign than native support, that he is said to have written letters to Paris assuring his friends there, that neither the nation nor congress would sustain the president in his proposition! One or more of these letters came into American hands, and were returned to Washington. In two instances, while in Europe, the writer found Englishmen employed in the legations at low salaries; and, of course, the secrets of the government were put at the disposal of foreign mercenaries.