As early as August, 1776, Deane wrote from Paris that he was “not without hopes of obtaining liberty for the armed vessels of the United Colonies, to dispose of their prizes in the ports of this Kingdom, and also for arming and fitting out vessels of war directly from hence.”[349] When Franklin arrived in France, early in December, 1776, he carried instructions for the Commissioners to apply immediately to the Court of France for the protection of its ports to American ships of war, privateers, and prizes. If this favor were granted, he was to ask for permission to sell American prizes and their cargoes in French ports. In case both requests met with favorable responses, the Committee of Secret Correspondence would obtain the consent of Congress to empower the Commissioners to appoint a judge of admiralty in France; this judge would try all American prize cases, arising in the ports of France, in accordance with the rules and regulations of Congress. Pending the obtaining of the consent of Congress, the Commissioners were authorized to consult with the French Ministry whether it would permit the erection of American admiralty courts in France and the French West Indies.[350] Of course France could not grant such requests as these if she wished to remain at peace with England. During 1776 the Americans generally overestimated the friendliness of France. They either failed to see that the laws of neutrality must set quite definite limits to her overt favors, or else they thought her eager for an excuse to go to war with Great Britain. The attitude of France towards permitting American vessels of war and their prizes the freedom of French ports was disclosed sooner than the Commissioners had reason to expect. It is remembered that the “Reprisal” arrived in France with Franklin on board early in December, 1776. She was the first Continental vessel to reach European waters. Not far from the French coast she captured two small British brigantines, and carried them into Nantes. These were the first American prizes to enter French ports. It may be guessed that the captains of the two prizes were not long in communicating with Lord Stormont, the British Ambassador at Paris, and that Lord Stormont was not long in communicating with the French government. On December 17 he held a conference with Vergennes, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, to whom he declared that the prizes were unlawfully captured, since the “Reprisal” had no commission from a sovereign power as a letter of marque; that he expected that the prizes would be immediately restored to their owners; and that the permitting of their sale would be a violation of the treaty of Utrecht between Great Britain and France. Though conciliatory, Vergennes’s reply was not altogether satisfactory to the British Ambassador, who records that the French Minister ended “with expressions which seemed to shew an Intention of taking some Middle Way, and leaving the Point undetermined.”[351]