Copy of a letter : London, to Monsieur Talleyrand, 1787 Aug. 2.

Requesting a French passport for Colonel John Trumbull who wishes to pass through France on his way to Germany; offering his congratulations on his appointment "to the Office of Foreign affairs, a Department always, and in every Country important but no where so much as with you at the present juncture;" expressing his satisfaction with the frankness with which they are able to communicate with one another; explaining that America desires "to have neither attachment nor aversion to any Nation; France has no Cause to believe that we prefer any other to her, and you can pronounce, if we had an aversion to any Nation it was not to yours;" adding his "private and personal observations" on the relationship between France and the U.S. and saying that "from the moment I heard that you had been named to the Department of Foreign affairs I have felt a satisfactory confidence that the cause of the increasing misunderstanding between us would cease, and that the Overtures meditated by our Government would not fail to restore Harmony & friendship between the two Countries."