LETTER FROM M. ROUILLE.

In the month of January, Mr. Fox, lately appointed secretary of state, received a letter from M. Rouillé, minister and secretary of state for foreign affairs to the king of France, expostulating, in the name of his sovereign, upon the orders and instructions for committing hostilities, which his Britannic majesty had given to general Braddock, and admiral Boscawen, in diametrical opposition to the most solemn assurances so often repeated by word of mouth, as well as in writing. He complained of the insult which had been offered to his master’s flag in attacking and taking two of his ships in the open sea, without any previous declaration of war; as also by committing depredations on the commerce of his most christian majesty’s subjects, in contempt of the law of nations, the faith of treaties, and the usages established among civilised nations. He said, the sentiments and character of his Britannic majesty gave the king his master room to expect, that, at his return to London, he would disavow the conduct of his admiralty; but seeing that, instead of punishing, he rather encouraged those who had been guilty of such depredations, his most christian majesty would be deemed deficient in what he owed to his own glory, the dignity of his crown, and the defence of his people, if he deferred any longer demanding a signal reparation for the outrage done to the French flag, and the damage sustained by his subjects. He therefore demanded immediate and full restitution of all the French ships, which, contrary to law and decorum, had been taken by the English navy, together with all the officers, soldiers, mariners, guns, stores, and merchandise. He declared, that should this restitution be made, he should be willing to engage in a negotiation for what further satisfaction he might claim, and continue desirous to see the differences relating to America determined by a solid and equitable accommodation; but if, contrary to all hopes, these demands should be rejected, he would consider such a denial of justice as the most authentic declaration of war, and as a formed design in the court of London to disturb the peace of Europe. To this peremptory remonstrance the British secretary was directed to answer, that though the king of England would readily consent to an equitable and solid accommodation, he would not comply with the demand of immediate and full restitution as a preliminary condition; for his majesty had taken no steps but such as were rendered just and indispensable by the hostilities which the French began in time of profound peace, and a proper regard for his own honour, the rights and possessions of his crown, and the security of his kingdoms.

Without all doubt the late transactions had afforded specious arguments for both nations to impeach the conduct of each other. The French court, conscious of their encroachments in Nova Scotia, affected to draw a shade over these, as particulars belonging to a disputed territory, and to divert the attention to the banks of the Ohio, where Jamonville and his detachment had been attacked and massacred by the English, without the least provocation. They likewise inveighed against the capture of their ships, before any declaration of war, as flagrant acts of piracy; and some neutral powers of Europe seemed to consider them in the same point of view. It was certainly high time to check the insolence of the French by force of arms, and surely this might have been as effectually and expeditiously exerted under the usual sanction of a formal declaration; the omission of which exposed the administration to the censure of our neighbours, and fixed the imputation of fraud and free-booting on the beginning of the war. The ministry was said to have delayed the ceremony of denouncing war from political considerations, supposing that, should the French be provoked into the first declaration of this kind, the powers of Europe would consider his most christian majesty as the aggressor, and Great Britain would reap all the fruits of the defensive alliances in which she had engaged. But nothing could be more weak and frivolous than such a conjecture. The aggressor is he who first violates the peace; and every ally will interpret the aggression according to his own interest and convenience. The administration maintained the appearance of candour in the midst of their hostilities. The merchant ships, of which a great number had been taken from the French, were not sold and divided among the captors, according to the practice of war; but carefully sequestered, with all their cargoes and effects, in order to be restored to the right owners, in case the disputes between the two nations should not be productive of an open rupture. In this particular, however, it was a pity that a little common sense had not been blended with their honourable intention. Great part of the cargoes consisted of fish, and other perishable commodities, which were left to rot and putrefy, and afterwards thrown overboard, to prevent contagion; so that the owners and captors were equally disappointed, and the value of them lost to both nations.