I had not the honor of receiving yours of the 29th of October until the 13th of February. The two pieces it enclosed from Mr Deane, I suppose it is expected I should answer. And I shall do it probably by the next opportunity. I hope it will not be expected of me to continue answering the assertions of Mr Deane. If he produces any evidence to support his assertions, they may be worth attention, but it is an endless as well as fruitless and unbecoming business, to be refuting all that such a man is capable of inventing. On the 18th of February I received from Dr Franklin a copy of the resolution of Congress, appointing him Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Versailles, accompanied with an assurance, that the resolution of Congress recommending harmony and confidence among the Commissioners was agreeable to him.[44] I returned an assurance of my sentiments being the same. The next day I received a letter from him dated also the 18th, and demanding of me the immediate delivery of all the public papers in my possession. I replied, that as the papers belonging to the late Commissioners were, or ought to be, vouchers of their joint transactions, they should be equally accessible to them all; but that Mr Deane, by his own confession, had taken and secured to himself all that he chose, that most of what remained were in his (Dr Franklin’s) possession, and of the very few that were in mine most of them were duplicates, and the remainder necessary for my defence against Mr Deane’s accusation. But, however, I was in the judgment of Congress whether I ought to give them up, and should obey their orders. I think it proper to inform you, that Dr Franklin, immediately upon the receipt of the resolution of Congress appointing him Minister Plenipotentiary, took into his sole management what was before under the Commissioners, without showing us any authority for so doing, or any revocation of our joint commission. To this we submitted without the least question, supposing it probable, that such was the intention of Congress, and believing that any dispute about it would destroy all possibility of harmony, and do more injury to the public than any possible good that could be derived from the contest. It is supposed that peace is certain in Germany, and it has been procured chiefly by the mediation of this Court. Our enemies have derived considerable credit from their late success in the West Indies, and their superiority there, which gives expectation of much greater. This has happened in a favorable moment for effecting their loan with great facility and success. The consequence will be their carrying on the war with new vigor; and you must therefore prepare for another, and perhaps another campaign. With regard to the rest of Europe, it remains as when I wrote you last. It is probable, that the establishment of peace in Germany will produce some movements among them. But, at present, it is not possible to say with precision what they will be.