which I received the 4th of March, 1778, I embraced the first
opportunity of returning to America, and on my arrival repaired with
all possible despatch to Congress on the 13th of July last, since
which time I have attended their orders in this city. I beg leave to
remind Congress, that early in January, 1776, I had the honor of being
engaged by their committee to go as their agent to France, to transact
important business for them, in the commercial as well as political
departments, and that I have ever since been in their service, in
which I flatter myself I have been of some utility to them and to my
country; but that an absence of almost four years from my family and
private affairs, more than seven months of which I have waited to know
their pleasure respecting me here, has so exceedingly embarrassed and
distressed me, that I hope I shall not be deemed guilty of an
unbecoming impatience in pressing to know, if Congress have any
further commands for me, and in what manner my past transactions, as
their agent and commissioner, are to be adjusted and closed. I have
heretofore written repeatedly and particularly to Congress on this
subject, and will not enlarge upon it at present, but have the honor
to be, with the utmost respect, &c.
SILAS DEANE.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Philadelphia, 15th March, 1779.
Sir,
I did myself the honor of writing to you on the 22d of February past,
to which letter I beg leave to refer your Excellency. Having received
no answer to the requests I then made, I have now only to add, that my
situation, which for eight months past has been peculiarly
distressing, is now become such as to oblige me to leave this city
without further delay, and therefore I again most respectfully entreat
of Congress to inform me, if they expect further information from me
respecting their foreign or other affairs, and as I shall without loss
of time, return to Europe, that I may be informed if they have any
further commands for my service, and in what manner my past
transactions, as their agent and commissioner, are to be adjusted and
closed.
I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, &c.
SILAS DEANE.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Philadelphia, 29th March, 1779.
Sir,
I did myself the honor of writing to your Excellency the 22d of
February last, in which I mentioned the distressed situation into
which my affairs were brought, by my being detained in this city, and
in which I earnestly requested to know of Congress whether they had
any further commands for me, and in what manner my past transactions,
as their agent and commissioner, were to be adjusted and closed. You
were pleased to inform me verbally, that my letter was referred to the
committee, who were ordered to report immediately. I have since been
informed that they have reported, but that the report has not been
considered by Congress, nor any resolutions passed thereon. This
forces me again to apply to Congress, and to lay before that honorable
body in part my situation. I have been near four years absent from my
family and private affairs, which have suffered exceedingly thereby;
more than three years of the time, I have been in the actual service
of Congress.
The settlement of the commissioners' accounts and my own, will show to
demonstration, that I have received nothing therefor, except money for
my necessary expenses. When the orders of Congress, and the service of
these States required my immediate return, I took with me one hundred
and eighty louis d'ors or guineas only, to defray my expenses and
those of four Americans and a servant to America. Two of the Americans
were captains in the navy of the United States, and had escaped from
prison in England; of the other two, one had been taken in a private
ship of war, which he commanded, and had also escaped from prison; the
other was a captain in the merchant service. Our journey to Toulon,
which is near six hundred miles, was expensive, and was defrayed by
me; our passage from Toulon to America was at the expense of His Most
Christian Majesty. I took those American captains with me by the
advice and at the desire of the ministers of France, and of Dr
Franklin, these captains being well acquainted with the American
coast. I have been for more than eight months past in this city, and
at an expense to which my private fortune is by no means adequate,
though I have regulated my expenses by the strictest economy my
situation could admit of. I will not trouble Congress with mentioning
what has past since my return. The loss of my private property is of
no consideration with me, if my country is in any way essentially
served thereby; but whilst Congress defer coming to any resolution
respecting my private services as their agent and commissioner, what
is dearer to me than life or fortune, my character, is attacked and
liable to suffer, from the groundless and base insinuations of some,
and from the open calumnies of others. I cannot but think it an act of
justice due not only to me as an individual, but to Congress and the
public in general, that my conduct be either approved of or censured;
I have most surely merited one or the other, from the important part I
have acted, and the manner in which I have transacted it. I had the
honor of bringing with me testimonials, not only from my late
venerable colleague, but from his Most Christian Majesty and his
ministers, in favor of my conduct whilst in France; they have been
long since laid before Congress, and I cannot but conceive, that if I
have merited the calumnies which have for some months past been
publicly thrown out against me, and industriously spread through these
States, justice to those great personages, who condescended to
interest themselves so warmly in my favor, requires that my demerits
should be publicly known and made to appear, that they may no longer
be deceived, or in a state of uncertainty, respecting my real
character and merits.
A writer, who has been busily employed for three months past in
inventing and publishing the most scandalous falsehoods, in order to
injure me in the opinion of my countrymen, has produced in Dunlap's
paper of the 27th inst. two charges against me, the one for
"_negotiating an intended present into a loan_," or, in other words,
of defrauding my honorable constituents of a large sum of money; the
other of intercepting and destroying the public despatches in order to
cover the fraud. This writer has not long since been in the employ of
Congress as a secretary or clerk, of which circumstance he avails
himself to give force to his calumnies, and has had the confidence to
appeal to Congress for the truth of his assertions, though he knew at
the time that Congress had unanimously contradicted the first, and
that the latter was but the creature of his own forming. From the
moment that I was ordered by Congress to lay before them in writing, a
narration of my public transactions, I have considered myself as being
before that tribunal and no other, and under their immediate
protection, and consequently not at liberty to take that notice of the
publications of this writer, or of his prompters, which, as an
individual, otherways circumstanced, I should have took long since.
This consideration, and the full reliance I have ever placed on the
justice of Congress, have prevented my making any reply to the many
base and false insinuations thrown out by this writer, and others,
against me, and I have been encouraged to wait with patience for the
decision of Congress, by repeated promises, that a speedy issue should
be made of those affairs.
I now submit it to that honorable body, whether, if my patience is
exhausted, I ought to be deemed culpable; and have further to entreat,
that if Congress, or any of its members, entertain any apprehensions,
that I am guilty of the two charges brought against me, (to which I
have referred) or on any other account whatever, that I may be heard
before Congress, and I submit it to their wisdom to determine how
public the inquiry shall be, assuring them, that the more public the
scrutiny shall be into every part of my conduct, the more agreeable it
will be to me. I have only to entreat further, that a decisive answer
may be given to me on the above requests, and that you will be assured
of my unalterable respect and attachment.
I have the honor to be, &c.
SILAS DEANE.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Philadelphia, 2d April, 1779.
Sir,
I am without an answer to the letter I did myself the honor of writing
to you the 30th ult. As I shall be obliged to leave Philadelphia in a
few days at farthest, I have again to solicit a decisive reply to my
last. Justice to my fortune as well as character requires it, and I
can by no means bring myself to suppose, that Congress will ever
refuse the doing of justice either to the character or fortune of any
free citizen of these States, much less that they will any longer
delay it to one in their service, and under their immediate
protection, and who has for many months past been soliciting for
justice, as well to his fortune as character.
I have the honor to be,
With the utmost respect and attachment, &c.
SILAS DEANE.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Philadelphia, 17th April, 1779.
Sir,
I ask liberty to refer to the two last letters, which I did myself the
honor of writing to you on the 30th ult. and 2d instant, and which
remain unanswered. In them I mentioned the situation to which I was
brought by my being detained in this city, the difficulties and
distresses of which have been ever since daily increasing.
I will not take up the time of Congress by entering into a detail of
circumstances; many of the honorable members are not unacquainted with
them, but inform Congress that I am under the necessity of going out
of town early in next week, and considering myself at the orders of
Congress, pray to be informed if they have any commands for me, which
render it necessary that I defer any longer to leave Philadelphia. My
own family and private affairs, as well as those of one intrusted to
my care, have long suffered by my absence; they must suffer to the
last degree, if longer neglected.
I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect,
SILAS DEANE.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Philadelphia, 26th April, 1779.
Sir,
As I have received no reply to my letters of the 30th ult. and 2d
instant, I take the liberty of applying again to Congress, to remind
them of my situation. It is now more than twelve months since, in
obedience to their orders, I left France, to return to my native
country. Having employed the short interval, between the receiving
advice of my recall and my embarking, in soliciting essential aid and
succor for these States, I entered on my voyage with the pleasing
reflection, that after a two years' faithful service, in a most
difficult and embarrassed negotiation, the issue had been fortunate,
equal to my utmost wishes; that the supplies I had procured, and sent
out, had enabled my brave countrymen and fellow citizens to resist and
humble the enemy; that the treaty which I had the honor, with my
colleagues, to conclude, had engaged one of the most powerful and
generous princes in the world to guaranty the liberties and
independence of these States.
The great and seasonable aid sent out by him, with which (after having
received the most honorable testimonials of his approbation, and even
of his esteem, as well as that of his ministers, and of my late worthy
colleague and friend, Dr Franklin) I had the honor to embark, gave me
in prospect the completion of my most sanguine hopes--the total
reduction of the British force in North America. Unfortunately the
length of our passage defeated the most essential objects of this
great and well concerted enterprise. Extensive and important services
were however thereby rendered, on which I need not be particular.
Immediately on my landing in America, _I repaired with all possible
despatch to Congress, to inform them of the state of affairs in
Europe_, which I had been advised, by their resolution, was the
business I was ordered to return upon. Between my arrival in this
city, on the 13th of July, and my audience before Congress on the 21st
of August, I was informed that the minds of some of my countrymen were
prejudiced against me, and that insinuations were industriously
circulated to effect others; I therefore took the earliest opportunity
given me, and after having laid before Congress a general state of
foreign affairs and of my proceedings, to request that if any thing
had been laid to my charge, or suggested to my disadvantage, I might
be made acquainted therewith, for that it was probable that in the
difficult, complicated, and embarrassed scenes I had gone through,
many things might require explanation. I received no reply, and
continuing to solicit to have the business I returned upon concluded,
I was informed that an honorable member produced in Congress an
extract from a letter from a private gentleman, respecting a
conversation which passed between him and Mr Carmichael, which implied
a censure on my conduct. On the 26th of September, Mr Secretary
Thompson acquainted me with the resolution of Congress of that day, to
postpone further consideration of my requests, _until the examination
of William Carmichael_.
What the result of that examination was I never knew, but having
waited some days, the urgent necessity for my speedy return pressing
on me, I applied again, and repeatedly, that I might finish the
business upon which I had been sent for. Days were repeatedly
appointed for that purpose, and I must suppose business of more
importance prevented. In those letters I laid before Congress the
unsettled state in which I had, by my sudden departure, been obliged
to leave the accounts and other mercantile transactions of the
commissioners, and pointed out the injuries, which the public must
suffer by a delay of their settlement, as well as the personal
inconveniences I must be subjected to whilst they remained unsettled.
To these letters I beg leave to refer. In October, extracts from
letters from Mr Arthur Lee and Mr Izard, were, by order of Congress,
delivered me, to which I replied at large, on the 12th and 22d of the
same month; my letters are still before Congress, and to them I refer,
particularly to that of the 12th, which closes in these words;
"As in commercial transactions there are but two sides to an account,
and every thing goes to the debit or credit, the folio for profit or
loss, so I must solicit that Dr Franklin and Mr Adams may be directed
to see the settlement of all those accounts immediately on my return
to Paris, and as there has been a charge made by Mr Lee, of profusion,
of extravagant contracts, and the like, that those gentlemen be
authorised to submit those accounts, with every allegation of the
kind, to the adjustment and determination of gentlemen of ability and
character on the spot, and that orders may be given, that whatever may
be found due from the commissioners, or either of them, may be
instantly paid into the hands of the banker for Congress, and that in
like manner said banker may be ordered to pay whatever may be the
balance, to the person in whose favor the same shall be found. By this
means truth will be demonstrated, and justice done, which is all I
have ever wished for."
In December last I was directed to lay before Congress in writing,[21]
a narrative of my proceedings, whilst their commercial and political
agent, &c. I must ask leave to refer to that narrative at large, as
many of the honorable members then in Congress are now absent, and the
representatives of several of the States entirely changed. On a
reference it will be found, that I again solicited for as early a
decision as possible on my conduct, that the most thorough examination
might be made, and to demonstrate what my commercial conduct had been
whilst the agent of these States, that my accounts might be put in the
way of being settled without delay, that the part I had acted, and the
station I had been in, could not be considered as a neutral or
indifferent one, and that approbation or censure was my due, &c. &c.
When I was favored with that audience, I flattered myself that the
delays I had met with had given ample time for the most full and
perfect scrutiny into every part of my conduct, and that if any
charges were to be brought against any part of my conduct, I should
then be informed of them. I therefore again requested to know if there
were any. I was informed of none. Soon after I was told that a
committee was appointed to examine into, and report on foreign
affairs. I previously informed Congress, that I had no copies of the
letters written to them by the commissioners, from Paris; that Doctor
Franklin took the care of them, and that my having no apprehension of
being questioned on them, I had not taken duplicates with me,
therefore requested that I might have copies of them, that I might
explain anything which might at first sight appear dubious or
contradictory.
I afterwards applied to the members of the honorable committee,
desiring that if in the course of their examination, anything should
appear doubtful, or such as might support a charge against any part of
my conduct, I might be heard, before any report should be made. I did
not receive copies of the letters, nor was I ever called upon by the
committee, who I am informed have made their report, as to which I am
wholly uninformed. Soon after this report was delivered to Congress,
having been persecuted in the public papers for several months, in the
most scandalous, virulent, and licentious manner, and accused before
the public of crimes of the blackest complexion, I again addressed
myself to Congress, and as their servant claimed their protection, and
that I might be heard in the most public manner, or in any other way
they thought proper. This letter, of the 30th of March, remains
unanswered, and I now pray the contents of it may be considered. The
part I acted as political agent and commissioner for Congress is well
known, and may be judged of with certainty at this time, and the
settlement of mine and the commissioners' accounts (which I have
repeatedly solicited) will demonstrate what my commercial conduct has
been. If, in the commercial, I have not acted with prudence and
integrity, if I have neglected to supply these States with stores to
the utmost of my power, and have either wasted or embezzled the public
monies, the interest of the public requires that speedy justice be
done, and the settlement of the commissioners' accounts will at once
acquit or condemn me. If in my political department I have in any
instance neglected or betrayed the interests of my country, if I have
conducted weakly or wickedly, or both, the public ought to know it,
and I ought to be punished. If, on the contrary, I sacrificed all
private considerations, and put my life as well as fortune to the
hazard, to procure relief and assistance for these States from abroad;
if, unsupported by remittances from hence, without credit or friends,
and a stranger to the language and manners of the country I was sent
to negotiate in, I surmounted every obstacle, and in a few months
obtained and sent out large supplies; if I was assiduous and
indefatigable for the space of near two years in France, in the
commercial as well as political affairs of these States, at times even
to my personal danger; if, so far from having embezzled the public
monies, I neglected my private fortune, and received nothing but my
necessary expenses whilst transacting this business; if a principal
share of the political negotiations fell on me, and if jointly with my
colleagues I brought them to a happy and honorable issue, and
individually acquired the confidence and esteem of His Most Christian
Majesty and his ministers, as well as of the nation in general; and
if, at my private solicitations (in part) after my recall, a strong
fleet and armament were sent out to the relief of these States; if
these are facts, which they certainly are, and the greater part of
them long since fully ascertained, and the others ascertainable by the
settlement of the commissioners' accounts, (which I have from the
first requested) I flatter myself justice will be done by Congress,
and that the artifices of interested and wicked men will not prevail
to delay it, and thereby injure the public and their servant more
essentially, than injustice itself would do.
I, therefore, with the sensibility of an innocent yet injured man, and
with the firmness of a free independent citizen, ask for justice,
fully confident that Congress will not refuse or delay it. I owe too
much to those great personages, who generously patronized and
protected me in Europe, to my countrymen and to myself, to suffer my
character and conduct to remain longer under any uncertainty. When the
part I acted abroad in the service of these States, my recall, the
circumstances of my return, my reception, and the delays I have since
met with, are reviewed, I think my case will be found peculiar.
Permit me then to repeat, that my services have been in two
departments, political and commercial; every thing respecting the
first is already well known, the closing of the accounts will
demonstrate what the latter has been; on the first, Congress is now
able to judge; justice to the public, as well as to myself, calls for
their determination. If there are charges against me in either of the
characters I have supported, I must consider myself entitled to know
what they are, and to be permitted to answer.
I cannot close this letter without complaining to Congress of the
abuse I have met with in the public papers from a writer, who was
lately their confidential servant, and who has abused their confidence
to deceive and impose on the free citizens of these States, and to
injure me in the public opinion; also of the partial and injurious
manner in which I have been treated by others who, deeply interested
by family and other connexions to support my enemies, represent my
conduct and the letters written by the commissioners and myself, as
inconsistent and contradictory, whilst I remain deprived of any
opportunity to explain them. My utmost ambition and wishes have ever
been to serve these States, and to merit the title of their faithful
and approved servant; nothing can deprive me of the consciousness of
having served faithfully and with integrity. If my country have no
further service for me, my first object as well as my duty must be to
justify my conduct, and to rescue my reputation and character from the
injury and abuse of wicked men, and to do this I again ask of
Congress, what I consider as my right, their decision on my conduct as
their servant; and if any part thereof is questioned, I may be
permitted to explain and vindicate the same, which I have often said
and again repeat, the settlement of the commissioners' accounts will
enable me to do, even to mathematical demonstration. Any further delay
in my case must have all the consequences of a refusal, and as I have
ever relied with confidence on the justice of Congress, and long
waited their decision, I flatter myself it will no longer be
postponed. I shall leave Philadelphia in the course of this week on my
private affairs, and wish to do it as early as possible.
I have the honor to be, with much respect, &c.
SILAS DEANE.
FOOTNOTES:
[21] On the 5th of December Mr Deane published an article in the
Pennsylvania Gazette, containing remarks on his transactions in
Europe, and vindicating himself from certain charges in Mr Arthur
Lee's letters to Congress.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Philadelphia, 27th April, 1779.
Sir,
I heard yesterday, by accident, that an honorable gentleman in
Congress had made a calculation from the general account, which I gave
in my narrative of the price of the clothes purchased in France, and
that given by M. Holker, in a memorial of his, and had drawn
consequences very injurious to me therefrom. In my narrative I
informed Congress that the clothes cost 32s. or 33s. sterling
complete, delivered on board. This was nearly the average price, and
of that, and not of the particular, I spoke. 32s. sterling is equal to
36 livres, 11 sols, 5 deniers. The clothes bought of Messrs Sabbatier
and Desprez cost 36 livres nearest, delivered on board; those of Mons.
Monthieu a few sols more; those by Mr Williams, the same, nearly as I
recollect; and about a thousand suits of M. Coder, of a different
fashion, more than 40 livres each. I have before related to Congress,
that Mr Lee himself approved of these purchases, having been present
at the contracting for a part of them, those of M. Coder in
particular, and had signed the settlement of the accounts, and orders
or draughts for the money.