ed him and attended me while the
secretary o£ state went to take the
commands of the king. While I
stood in this place, where it seems
all ministers stand upon'such occa-
sions, always attended by the mas-
ter of ceremonies, the room was
very full of ministers of state, bish-
ops and all other sorts of. courtiers,
as well as the next room, which is
the king’s bed chamber. You may
well suppose I was the focus of all
eyes. I was relieved, however,
from the embarrassment of it, by
the Swedish and Dutch ministers,
who came to me and entertained
me with a very agreeble conver-
sation during the whole time. Some
other gentlemen whom I had seen
before, came to make their com-
pliments. to me until the marquis
of Carmarthen returned, and desired
me to go with him to his majesty.
I went with his lordship through
the levee room into the king’s
closet. The door was shut, and I
was left with his majesty and the
secretary of state alone. I made
the three reverences:—one at the
door, another about half way, ahd
another before the presence,'accord-
ing to the usage, established at this
and all the northern courts of Eu-
rope, and then I addressed myself
to his majesty in the following
words:

‘ Sire-: The United States have ap-
pointed me minister plenipotentiary
to your majesty, and have directed
me to deliver to your majesty this
letter, which contains the evidence
of it. It is in obedienc to their ex-
press commands, that I have the
honor to assure your majesty of
their unanimous disposition and de-
sire to cultivate the most friendly
and liberal intercourse between your
majesty’s subjects and their citi-
zens, and of their best wishes for
your majesty’s health and happi-
ness, and for that of your family.

The appointment of a minister
from the United States to your ma-
jesty’s court will form an epoch in
the history of England and Ameri-
ca. I think myself more fortunate
than all my fellow citizens, in hav-
ing the distinguished honor to be
the first to stand in your majesty’s
royal presence in a diplomatic char-
‘acter ; and I shall esteem myself
the happiest of men if I can be in-
strumental in recommending my
country more and more to your ma-
jesty’s royal benevolence, and of
restoring an entire esteem, confi-
dence and affection; or, in better
words, ' the old good nature and the
good old humor,’ b.etw-een people
who, though separated by an ocean,
and under different governments,
Have the same language, a similar
religion, a kindred blood. I beg
your-majesty’s .permission to add,
that although I have sometimes be-
fore been instructed by my country,
it was never in my. whole life in a
manner so agreeable to myself.’

The king listened to every word
I said, with dignity, it is true, but
with apparent emotion. Whether
it wa’s my visible agitation* for I felt
more than I could express, that
touched him, I cannot say; but he
was much affected, and answered
me with more tremor than I had
sjmken with, and said : —

“ Sir: The circumstances of this
audience are so extraordinary, the
language you have now held is so
extremely proper, and the feelings
you have discovered sojustly adapt-
ed to the occasion that 1 not only
receive- with pleasure the assurance
of the friendly disposition of the
United States, but that I am glad
the choice has fallen upon you to
be their minister. I wish you, sir,
to believe and that it may be under-
stood in America, that I have done
nothing in the late contest but what
I thought myself indespensibly
bound to do,-by the duty which I
owed my people. I will be frank
with you. I was the last to conform
to the separation; but the separa-
tion having heeome inevitable, I
have always said, as I now say, that