2. The
Affaires de l'Angleterre et de l'Amérique (“Lettres,” vol. 12, cahier 48, p. ii–xvi) contained the official American proclamation
of the conclusion and ratification of the Treaties of Amity and Commerce and Alliance
adopted by the congress on 6 May. The news soon appeared in American and English newspapers
(
JCC, 11:468–469;
Boston Gazette, 25 May;
London Chronicle, 4–7 July). The proclamation and the articles of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce
that appeared with it—6, 7, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 29—and the attached
passports and letters were translated into French directly from either the proclamation
itself or a newspaper source, because the text of the articles in
Affaires differs from the official French text of the treaty (
Miller, ed., Treaties, 2:7–8, 12–16, 17–18, 20–24, 25, 28–29).
JA apparently had some questions as to the propriety of printing articles from the treaty
before the official exchange of ratifications had taken place, and it was probably
for that reason that an unofficial source for the text of the articles was used. Extracts
from various letters concerning American affairs, including James Lovell to
JA,
29 April, and William MacCreery to
JA,
4 July (both above), and
JA to Genet,
12 July (below), also appeared in
Affaires (“Lettres,” vol. 12, cahier 48, p. xxxvi–xxvii, xiv–xv, xlix–li).