1. Benjamin Franklin informed the Austrian ambassador, Comte Mercy d’Argenteau, on 30 July of the first of Congress’ 29 Oct. 1783 instructions to the commissioners (vol. 15:329, 331). He wrote that it was his purpose “to communicate to your Excellency an extract from the instructions of Congress … expressing their desire to cultivate the friendship of his Imperial Majesty, and to enter into a treaty of commerce for the mutual advantage of his subjects and the citizens of the United States, which I request you will be pleased to lay before his Majesty.” The Austrian ambassador replied the same day, promising to communicate, without delay, Congress’ sentiments to his court and indicating the favorable sentiments of Joseph II toward the United States (Dipl. Corr., 1783–1789 description begins The Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States of America, from … 1783, to … 1789, [ed. William A. Weaver], repr., Washington, D.C., 1837 [actually 1855]; 3 vols. description ends , 1:384–385).

2. In March 1784 France requested that the Pitt ministry appoint an agent to negotiate a commercial treaty with France pursuant to Art. 18 of the 3 Sept. 1783 Anglo-French Definitive Peace Treaty. George Craufurd was chosen likely because he opposed liberal trade concessions to France, with the result that the negotiations went nowhere. In 1785, after William Pitt became more enthusiastic about a French treaty, Craufurd was replaced by William Eden, who by Sept. 1786 had negotiated the desired agreement (Reginald Earl Rabb, The Role of William Eden, First Baron Auckland, in William Pitt’s Liberal Trade Policy, N.Y., 1942, p. 37–39; DNB description begins Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee, eds., The Dictionary of National Biography, New York and London, 1885–1901; repr. Oxford, 1959–1960; 21 vols. plus supplements. description ends ).