1. The notarized, signed loan contract of [9] March 1784 and the attached 1 Feb. 1785 instrument of ratification that JA received with this letter on 23 April have not been found. JA presumably enclosed them with his 24 April letter to the consortium (LbC, APM Reel 107). But see the contract and the instrument of ratification, which were enclosed with the Dupl of this letter and are printed at their respective dates, both above.

2. Jay’s letters concerning JA’s election as minister to Great Britain are of 15 and 18 March, both below. The first informed JA of his appointment, and the second enclosed his commission, instructions, and letter of credence. JA received Jay’s official notification on 2 May, but he unofficially learned of his appointment as early as 26 April (to John Jay, 4 May, 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 , 1:485–487; to Samuel Mather, 26 April, LbC, Adams Papers, APM Reel 107). JA’s election, after considerable debate and political maneuvering, occurred on 24 Feb., for which see Elbridge Gerry’s letters of 14 and 24 Feb., both below.

3. On 19 May 1784 Charles Julian de Longchamps assaulted François de Barbé-Marbois on the streets of Philadelphia. Barbé-Marbois, secretary to the French minister, the Chevalier de La Luzerne, earned Longchamps’ wrath by refusing to authenticate his titles, including that of chevalier. La Luzerne demanded Longchamps’ apprehension and surrender to French custody so that he could be returned to France for trial. Pennsylvania refused, arguing that its courts had sole jurisdiction. Despite Pennsylvania’s prosecution and imprisonment of Longchamps, the case dragged on until, there being no possibility that either Congress or Pennsylvania would agree to Longchamps’ extradition, Barbé-Marbois withdrew the French demand. Jay’s uneasiness over Barbé-Marbois’ effort to press the incident was owing to the issues, insoluble at the time under the Confederation, that the Longchamps Affair raised about Congress’ relationship with the states, the law of nations’ place in the American legal system, and the future of Franco-American relations (G. S. Rowe and Alexander W. Knott, “Power, Justice, and Foreign Relations in the Confederation Period: The Marbois-Longchamps Affair, 1784–1786,” PMHB description begins Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. description ends , 104:275–307 [July 1980]).

4. Congress did not appoint a minister to Spain. William Carmichael, Jay’s former secretary, was serving as chargé d’affaires but did not receive a formal appointment as such until 1790. Diego Gardoqui, Spanish plenipotentiary chargé d’affaires, presented his credentials to Congress on 2 July 1785 (DAB description begins Allen Johnson, Dumas Malone, and others, eds., Dictionary of American Biography, New York, 1928–1936; repr. New York, 1955–1980; 10 vols. plus index and supplements. description ends ; JCC description begins Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789, ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford, Gaillard Hunt, John C. Fitzpatrick, Roscoe R. Hill, and others, Washington, D.C., 1904–1937; 34 vols. description ends , 29:494–495).