"6. Any British vessel found or met with on the coast of North or South America, or the Islands adjacent or belonging thereto, _within a certain degree or distance to be agreed on_, shall be forever hereafter considered as lawful prize to any of the subjects of France, Spain, or the United States, and treated as such as well in peace as in war,--nor shall France, Spain, or the United States ever hereafter admit British ships into any of their ports in America, North or South, or the Islands adjacent, nor shall this article ever be altered or dispensed with, but only by and with the consent of each of the three contracting States. "7. During the present war, France and Spain to send fleets into the seas of the United States to defend them from the British, and should the possessions oL France or Spain in America be attacked, the United States to lend such aids as they can for their defence. "8. No peace to be made with Great Britain, by either of the contracting parties, to the infringement or violation of any one of these articles." * * * * * TO THE COMMITTEE OF SECRET CORRESPONDENCE. Paris, 6th December, 1776. Gentlemen, You have enclosed the duplicate of an agreement with Mons. du Coudray, of my orders for clothing, stores, &c., of my agreement with Baron de Kalb and others of his train, also with the Comte de Monau and his, which I hope will be agreeable, also the agreement for freight of the ships, which I was assured by letters from Bordeaux and elsewhere was as low as could be procured. At the same time, if it is above the stated price, in such cases I am promised an abatement. I hope the peculiarity of my situation, and the anxious desire I have of forwarding aid to my country, will be considered if any of the articles are thought high. Men cannot be engaged to quit their native country and friends, to hazard life and all in a cause, which is not their own immediately, at the same easy rate as men will do who are fighting literally _pro aris et focis_, and it is a universal custom in Europe to allow something extra to foreigners, but my allowances are very much below the rates here for officers in the same station. I have the honor to be, with the most profound respect for the Congress, &c. SILAS DEANE. * * * * * _List of Officers of Infantry and Light Troops destined to serve the United States of North America._