2dly. The same Commissioners made known to the King, that Congress had reason to presume, that a part of the articles furnished to the United States, was a present on the part of his Majesty. The undersigned is authorised to declare, that this intention never existed, that it was an affair entirely commercial, in which the Ministry had no other part, than that of permitting M. de Beaumarchais to take from the magazines and arsenals of the King, on condition of replacing them, the articles with which commerce could not supply him, that consequently the Ministry had no other power in this affair, than that of preventing Congress from being pressed too soon for payment for the articles taken from the magazines and arsenals of the King. As to the contract made with Roderique Hortalez & Co, the Ministry has declared to the American deputies, who asked their advice, upon the ratification or rejection of this contract, that they did not know the house of Roderique Hortalez & Co. and that they could not answer for it, nor express an opinion as to its stability and fidelity in the performance of its engagements. GERARD. * * * * * TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. Translation. Philadelphia, February 9th, 1779. Sir, The undersigned, Minister Plenipotentiary of France, has received a formal order from the King, his master, to make known to Congress, that the King of Spain, in order to put an end to the tergiversations of England, has determined upon a decisive and peremptory proceeding. His Catholic Majesty has, consequently, made to the King of England a final offer of his mediation; but with the declaration that it was the last, and that if it was as fruitless as those which preceded, it would only remain to him to perform the duties, which his alliance with the King imposes upon him. The King of Spain, by taking this proceeding upon himself in a friendly manner, has shown a disposition most favorable to the alliance. The King, my master, on his side, persists in the invariable resolution not to separate his interests from those of America, and to support the cause of the United States, as if it were his own personal cause.