ARTICLE 7. He said he was authorised to tell Congress in confidence, that this reflection is the result of the observations which the Court of Spain made upon the conduct of England throughout her negotiation of mediation; that the British Ministry seem to be solicitous to be reconciled with France, and to keep up this negotiation; that from thence probable hopes may be entertained of their internal disposition to peace, but at the same time they reject with haughtiness the formal acknowledgment of the independence insisted on by France and Spain. New orders have been given to the Spanish Ambassador at London, to ascertain as nearly as possible those dispositions. In these circumstances, the King, his master, ordered him to communicate this intelligence to the United States, that they may, if they think proper, take under consideration, if it would not be expedient to give their Plenipotentiary instructions and full powers, founded upon the necessity of the conjuncture and upon the treaty of alliance, the express and formal terms of which are, that peace shall not be made without an express or tacit acknowledgment of the sovereignty, and, consequently, and _à fortiori_, of the rights inherent in sovereignty, as well as of the independency of the United States in matters of government and of commerce. This substantial alternative in an engagement, which is a mere gratuitous gift, without any compensation or stipulation, ought, indeed, never to be forgotten in a negotiation for peace. France foresaw the extreme difficulties, which a formal and explicit acknowledgment might meet with. She knew by her own experience in similar contests, in which she has been deeply concerned, respecting the Republics of Holland, Genoa, and the Swiss cantons, how tenacious monarchs are, and how repugnant to pronounce the humiliating _formula_. It was only obtained for Holland _tacitly_, after a war of thirty years, and _explicitly_ after a resistance of seventy. To this day, Genoa and the Swiss cantons have obtained no renunciation or acknowledgment, either tacit or formal, from their former sovereigns. But they enjoy their sovereignty and independence only under the guarantee of France. His Court thought it important to provide, that difficulties of this nature, which consist merely in words, should not delay or prevent America from enjoying the thing itself.