The Ministry of the Navy and Colonies called the attention of the Directoire to various matters that had to be considered when peace negotiations with England were opened. The ministers were concerned with maritime commerce, fishing rights, and the colonial possessions of France and her allies. The advantages France should secure were: 1) fisheries in Newfoundland and off the coast of Brazil; 2) possessions on the coast of Coromandel [New Zealand] and Malabar [coast of India]; 3) cession of the Isle of Vlissingen, an important military base in the North Sea; 4) Louisiana; 5) the right to establish, for a period of time, a French garrison on the Cape of Good Hope and at Trincomalee [Ceylon]. The ministers regretted that the cession of Louisiana had not been demanded when the Treaty of Paris was concluded with Spain. The Frenchmen who had been abandoned in 1763 desired to regain their motherland. France should retake Louisiana, for possession would impede the aggrandizement of the Americans. Louisiana could become one of France's most flourishing colonies and could also help France guarantee Spain's loss of Mexico.
