The situation of my affairs rendering my personal attention necessary, I take the liberty to request your Excellency to communicate to Congress my design, (if it meets their approbation,) to visit the State of New York for a few weeks. I shall take measures to have the earliest communication made to Congress of such intelligence as may be received in my absence, and for the general direction of the business of the department. Your Excellency will do me the honor to obtain the sense of Congress upon this subject, and to believe me, with the highest respect, &c. ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON. * * * * * TO GOVERNOR MARTIN, OF NORTH CAROLINA. Office of Foreign Affairs, September 9th, 1782. Sir, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's letter of the 24th of June, by Mr Blount, together with the map you were pleased to transmit. I shall expect at your leisure, the other documents you mention as explanatory of your boundaries. Copies of the most westerly grants, that have been made by the Crown within your State, would tend greatly to elucidate your claim, as would also copies of acts of the Legislature laying out the back country into counties or parishes, if any such exist. I receive, with great pleasure, the account you give of the exertion of your State in filling their line, though I think we have some reason to hope, that you will not be able to find employment for them near home. I could wish to have had it in my power to give your Excellency some account of our foreign negotiations, but by an extraordinary neglect, or, which is more probable, by some accident, we have had no official information either from our own Ministers, or through the Minister of France, for a very long time past. As to public news, it is not worth while to trouble you with it, as this letter will probably lay some days before the gentleman, who has promised to charge himself with it, calls. I shall therefore direct, as the best means of giving the news of the day, that the latest papers of this place be sent with it, when he is just about to set out. I have the honor to be, Sir, &c. ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON. * * * * * TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. Office of Foreign Affairs, September 11th, 1782. Sir, I have the honor to lay before Congress a number of letters received last night by Captain Smedley, from Mr Adams, Mr Dana, and Mr Barclay. I have arranged and numbered them, and translated those of Mr Dumas. The compliment of the merchants of the town of Schiedam being very long, it is not yet translated, when it is, it will be laid before Congress. Mr Dana has by some accident neglected to put up the first sheet of his letter, so that the subject is broken in upon, and we are ignorant of its date.