THE

DIPLOMACY

OF THE

UNITED STATES.

BEING

AN ACCOUNT OF

The Foreign Relations of the Country,

FROM THE FIRST TREATY WITH FRANCE, IN 1778, TO THE

PRESENT TIME.

SECOND EDITION-WITH ADDITIONS.

BY THEODORE LYMAN, JR.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

BOSTON:

WELLS AND LILLY,-COURT STREET.

1828.

TO THE

FIRST EDITION.

THIS work is intended to give a view of the Foreign Relations, an account of the policy pursued, or, as it is sometimes termed, a diplomatic history of the country, from the first intercourse of the Government with Europe in 1776—7—8, to the end of the year 1814. We have selected that period for the close of the "account," as a general pacification then took place, and those considerations, which, during the wars of the French revolution, gave so much importance to our negotiations abroad, were, in consequence of the state of peace, entirely put at rest.

We have given a condensed exposition of some of the important principles of the Laws of Nations, brought into discussion since the year '92, though the nature of the work has not permitted an extended dissertation on any of those topics.

It is proper to observe that, in preparing this work, great use has necessarily been made of the collection of American state papers, and of the journals of Congress, both of the Confederation, and of the present government, together with the documents, debates, &c. to be found in the Parliamentary History of Great Britain, and other works of that description. The valuable collections of the Ebeling and Warden libraries on American subjects, now in the possession of Harvard University, and the excellent collection of American tracts in the Athenæum in this town, may be consulted to advantage on any topic, relative to this country.

Boston, April 1826.

TO THE

SECOND EDITION.

In the present edition this work has been continued to the beginning of the year 1828, including an account of our relations with the Barbary Powers and the South American states. That part, which extends to the treaty of Ghent, is now presented in a second edition with considerable additions. Since the publication of the first volume, we have had the advantage of consulting the secret correspondence of our ministers and commissioners abroad during the Congress of the Confederation, as well as the papers of some eminent citizens, that have been employed on diplomatic missions by the Federal government. We take this opportunity to express the great obligations we are under to those gentlemen, by whose obliging attention we have been permitted to examine many valuable letters and documents.

In the arrangement of the work, the different subjects have been treated, as far as was practicable, in a chronological order, with the exception of Sweden and Denmark. The negotiations of the United States with those powers have been so limited since the treaty of Ghent, that it has not been thought advisable to devote separate chapters to their consideration.

In the appendix to the second volume will be found, besides other matter, the laws, regulating the privileges of foreign ministers in this country as well as the pay and emoluments of our own, together with the principal important acts, relative to discriminating importation duties and tonnage rates.

Boston, October 1828.