"Your prudence, integrity, ability, and diligence in discharging the eminent trust reposed in you, have secured our entire confidence, and now solicit from us the strongest declarations of our satisfaction with your behavior. "That you may be blessed with a favorable voyage, the approbation of your sovereign, the perfect recovery of your health, and all happiness, is among the warmest wishes of every member of this body. "By order of Congress, JOHN JAY, _President_." * * * * * CONGRESS TO THE KING OF FRANCE. Great, Faithful, and Beloved Friend and Ally, The conduct of your Majesty's Minister, M. Gerard, during his residence in America, has been in every respect so commendable, that we cannot forbear testifying to your Majesty our sense of his merit, without feeling that uneasiness which arises from a neglect of the obligations of justice. His behavior appears to us to have been uniformly regulated by a devotion to your Majesty's dignity and interest, and an adherence to the terms and principles of the alliance, while, at the same time, he demonstrated his attachment to the honor and prosperity of these States. Thus serving his sovereign, he acquired our entire confidence and esteem, and has evinced your royal wisdom in selecting a person so properly qualified to be the first Minister sent to the United States of America. That the Supreme Ruler of the universe may bestow all happiness on your Majesty, is the prayer of your faithful and affectionate friends and allies. Done at Philadelphia, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventynine, by the Congress of the United States of America. JOHN JAY, _President_. * * * * * In Congress, September 25th, 1779. The committee to whom was referred the paper of intelligence communicated by M. Gerard, on the 7th instant,[27] reported the draft of a letter in answer to the said communication, which was read as follows; "Sir, "The sentiments contained in the paper laid before Congress on the 7th instant have given us great uneasiness, as they admitted the possibility of an event, which we cannot contemplate without pain and regret. Nevertheless, as they demonstrate the anxieties of a faithful friend, Congress are willing again to testify their unalterable attachment to the terms and principles of the alliance, more especially as we wish you on leaving America to take with you a solemn assurance of our fixed dispositions.