we are informed, on board the Fox and the Lively, as there are in
almost every ship in Admiral Keppel's and Lord Howe's fleets, numbers
of American seamen, who abhor the service into which, by one of the
most extravagant flights of tyranny and cruelty that ever was heard of
among men, they have been forced and compelled to fight against their
country and their friends. These seamen we should be glad to deliver
from the prisons in this kingdom, and from a misery and captivity
infinitely more detestable on board of British men of war. We,
therefore, beg leave to propose to your Excellency, that an inquiry be
made, and a list taken of the natives of America among the crews of
the Fox and Lively, and the men delivered to us. This would be
attended with many happy consequences. It would relieve many of our
countrymen from present confinement, and the most dismal prospects,
and would furnish our vessels with a number of excellent sailors. It
may be proper to inform your Excellency, that before this war began,
one third part of the seamen, belonging to the then whole British
empire, belonged to America. If we were able to command the services
of all the sailors, it would be of great importance to the common
cause; it would take away one third of the whole; those employed in
the American service would be able to fight another third remaining to
Great Britain, and consequently would leave to France no more than one
third of the seamen, belonging to the British empire before the war,
for France to contend with. But alas, this is not the case. Various
causes, too many to be here explained, have concurred to prevent this.
But we are very desirous of alluring back to their country as many as
possible of those we have lost, and the plan we have now proposed to
your Excellency appears to be one probable means of doing it. We shall
suggest others hereafter, as opportunity occurs.
_October 15th, 1778._ Since the foregoing was written, we have
received letters from Robert Harrison, John Lemon, Edward Driver, and
John Nicols, prisoners in Denant Castle, representing that they were
taken by English frigates, in American privateers, forced into the
service on board the Fox, and now taken by the French, and praying
that we would intercede for their liberty, that they may return, if
possible, to their country.
We have the honor to be, &c.
B. FRANKLIN,
ARTHUR LEE,
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
FROM JAMES LOVELL TO THE COMMISSIONERS.
Philadelphia, October 12th, 1778.
Gentlemen,
Congress having foreign affairs now under consideration, I shall not
write to you on that subject, more especially as it is quite uncertain
how the present papers will be conveyed. Nor shall I pretend to
unravel to you the designs of the enemy. They are very inscrutable.
The printers know as much as I do about them; therefore I send a few
of the last prints of Dunlap, which, with the Boston papers, must
decide you in opinion.
Your affectionate friend, &c.
JAMES LOVELL.
* * * * *
TO RALPH IZARD.
Passy, October 13th, 1778.
Sir,
We have the honor of enclosing to you a copy of M. de Sartine's answer
to our application in support of your demand of your baggage, taken on
board the Nile. We have, agreeably to your last letter, written again
to M. de Sartine requesting him to stop the sale of the things, till
you can make your objections to their being lawful prize.
We have the honor to be, &c.
B. FRANKLIN,
ARTHUR LEE,
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO M. DE SARTINE.
Passy, October 13th, 1778.
Sir,
We had the honor of receiving your Excellency's letter of the 7th
instant, to which we shall take the liberty of answering fully by
another opportunity. As you mention that the prize was condemned on
the 20th, Mr Izard is apprehensive, that the goods in question may be
sold before the ordinary course of law can prevent it. He therefore
desires us to request your Excellency to prevent that if possible. And
we accordingly beg the favor of your Excellency to do so. We hope
there is no impropriety in this; and that if there should be, you will
impute it to our want of information on the manner of such proceedings
here.
We have the honor to be, &c.
B. FRANKLIN,
ARTHUR LEE,
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO THE AMERICANS TAKEN ON BOARD THE ENGLISH FRIGATES.
Passy, October 15th, 1778.
Gentlemen,
We have received a letter from Robert Harrison of the 7th of October,
and another from John Lemon, Edward Driver, and John Nicols of the
12th, all prisoners in Denant Castle, all professing to be Americans,
who have first been compelled into the service of their enemies, and
then taken prisoners by the French.
You are not known to us, but your account of yourselves, considering
the general conduct of the English of late, is not improbable. We
cannot but feel a concern for all prisoners in such a situation, of
whom, to the lasting dishonor of the British government and nation,
there are too many on board almost every man of war in their service.
We have written to his Excellency the Minister of the Marine of this
kingdom upon the subject, and sincerely hope that something may be
done for your relief, and that of all other prisoners in your
situation.
But great care must be taken that neither we, nor more especially the
government of this kingdom, be imposed upon by attempts to set at
liberty English, Irish, Scotch, or other sailors, disaffected to the
American cause, or unprincipled in it. We, therefore, desire you to
send us a list and a short account of all the sailors, prisoners with
you, who were born in America, or have been in her service, and are
willing to subscribe the declaration, and take the oath of allegiance
to the United States of America, and to live and die by her cause. We
have the honor to be, &c.
B. FRANKLIN,
ARTHUR LEE,
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO M. DUMAS.
Passy, October 16th, 1778.
Sir,
We have received yours of the 2d instant, with the declaration signed
by M. Van Berckel, and his explanatory letter to you; which gave us
much pleasure, as they show the good disposition of that respectable
body, the Burgomasters of Amsterdam, towards the United States of
America, and their willingness, as far as may depend on them, to
promote between the republic of the United Low Countries in Europe,
and the said States, "A treaty of perpetual amity, containing
reciprocal advantages with respect to commerce between the subjects of
the two nations." As that body must be better acquainted than we, with
the method of doing public business in their country, and appear to be
of the opinion, that some previous steps can be taken by them, which
may facilitate and expedite so good a work, when circumstances shall
permit its coming under the consideration of their High Mightinesses,
we rely on their judgment, and hereby request they would take those
steps, as explained in M. Van Berckel's letter.
And they may be assured, that such a treaty _as is described_ would,
at this time, meet with no obstacles on the part of the United States
of America, who have great esteem and respect for your nation; and
that nothing will be wanting on our part to accomplish the end
proposed. We would only remark, that the mentioning it in the
declaration as a thing necessary to precede the conclusion of such a
treaty, "_that the American Independence should be acknowledged by the
English_," is not understood by us, who conceive there is no more
occasion for such an acknowledgment before a treaty with Holland, than
there was before our treaty with France. And we apprehend, that if
that acknowledgment were really necessary, _or waited for_, England
_might_ endeavor to make an advantage of it in the future treaty of
pacification, to obtain for it some privileges in commerce, perhaps,
exclusive of Holland. We wish, therefore, that idea to be laid aside,
and that no further mention may be made to us of England in this
business.
We are, Sir, your most obedient humble servants,
B. FRANKLIN,
ARTHUR LEE,
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
M. DE SARTINE TO THE COMMISSIONERS.
Translation.
Marly, October 19th, 1778.
Gentlemen,
I have received the two letters, with which you have honored me on the
subject of the claims of Mr Izard to goods captured in the Nile. I
observed to you, in my letter of the 17th inst. that the government
could only interfere when the laws were insufficient; and that its
interposition would be misplaced, when they were plain and precise.
You must feel all the justice of this principle better than any person
whatever, and I do not doubt that cases may occur in which you may
yourselves appeal to it.
The capture of the Nile, and of her cargo, has been declared good. To
order a particular restitution, and deprive the captors of property,
which they have acquired provisionally at least, would be an
interference of the government with the laws, and would introduce a
dangerous precedent in the proceedings established by his Majesty
relative to prizes. The more firmly you are convinced that the claims
of Mr Izard are conformable to the treaty, the more ready you should
be to believe, that they will be favorably received, and the expenses
of a suit are inconsiderable. It is true, that they might have been
avoided, if Mr Izard's property had been shown before the first
sentence, because then it would only have been necessary to prove the
property, which seems to me indisputable; but in the present state of
things I am sorry that it is impossible for him to avoid the necessary
forms, to which his Majesty has subjected his allies, as well as his
own subjects.
I have the honor to be, &c.
DE SARTINE.
* * * * *
TO RALPH IZARD.
Passy, October 22d, 1778.
Sir,
We have just now the honor of a letter from M. de Sartine, dated the
19th, which we suppose is his Excellency's ultimatum concerning your
effects taken in the Nile, and we therefore take the earliest
opportunity to enclose you a copy of it, that you may be able to take
your measures in consequence of it, in which we suppose there is no
time to be lost.
We have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir, yours, &c.
B. FRANKLIN,
ARTHUR LEE,
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
M. DE SARTINE TO THE COMMISSIONERS.
Translation.
Marly, October 20th, 1778.
Gentlemen,
I have replied only to the first part of your letter of the 12th
inst.; the second also contains important matter. It would, doubtless,
be desirable to restore to their country the American seamen, who have
been retained by the force of habit or by compulsion in the English
service, and to gain the double advantage of increasing the strength
of the Americans, while we destroy that of the enemy. But the means
appear to me as difficult as to yourselves, and in the present state
of things, we cannot flatter ourselves that we shall succeed in the
attempt.
You request, at the least, that the citizens of the United States,
taken since the commencement of hostilities in the English service,
should be surrendered to you. This general demand requires a serious
attention, and I shall lay it before his Majesty. With respect to the
four prisoners, whose liberation you more particularly request, it is
with great pleasure, that I transmit orders to Denant, to place them
at your disposal.
I have the honor to be, &c.
DE SARTINE.
* * * * *
M. DUMAS TO THE COMMISSIONERS.
Translation.
Hague, October 27th, 1778.
Gentlemen,
I received your favor of the 16th last Saturday. It is precisely what
I should have desired. The Grand Pentionary is highly pleased with it.
I went the same day to read it to our friend, and gave him a copy
attested by my signature. It gave him much pleasure, and he has
repeatedly assured me that it would be extremely agreeable to the
Burgomasters of the city, whom he was eager to inform how you would
answer to the measure he had engaged them to adopt, in procuring from
them authority to make the declaration[53] and write me the letter, of
which you have copies, and the duplicates of which are lodged in the
city-house. He urged me to assure you, that the mention of England
was not introduced with the design of making any thing depend on the
pleasure of that power, but merely to show the situation of the city,
which, for the present, can only wish that the English may be
prevented from making any further opposition to our mutual connexion.
In fine, he is now prepared to act on his return, at a convenient
opportunity.
The memorial of the merchants has been presented to their High
Mightinesses. Herewith I transmit that presented to the Prince last
Saturday. Our friend remitted it to me the same day, and I have
thought it deserving of a translation for your inspection. He inquired
anxiously for good news from America, and I replied, that the
situation of America was by no means critical, and that I was less
anxious about it than about this republic.
M. de Welderen has sent the reply of Lord Suffolk to the
representations of their High Mightinesses. "The Court of London," he
says, "is willing to restore all the vessels seized, with costs and
charges, and to pay for the naval stores which it shall retain; but
its ambassador will submit to their High Mightinesses a proposition to
alter the treaties on this point, and to consent to declare these
articles contraband in future."
Fortunately, unanimity is necessary to grant this consent, and
Amsterdam will not allow even the entering upon such a negotiation.
Suffolk adds, as a proof of his king's moderation, "that he has not
yet called for the aid which the republic is obliged by treaties to
furnish him;" as if the republic had guarantied to England the
monopoly of America. This is extraordinary. Three of us here believe,
that this letter was not written in England, and has only returned
hither.
The Secretary of their High Mightinesses is very much piqued, on
account of the freedom with which the Committee of merchants addressed
him, who, by reason of his equivocal answer, accused him of being in
the English interest, like the majority of the chief men here. It is
said, that it is truth only which is offensive.
I have finished the translation of the opinion of the city of
Amsterdam, inserted in the Acts of the Republic, September 8th. I am
preparing copies of it for you, Gentlemen, and for Congress. When
yours is finished, I shall forward it with the request, that you will
have two copies of it made by a skilful and exact French copyist, and
send them to Congress as duplicates and triplicates of that, which I
shall transmit to it from this place; for on the one hand, I consider
this paper important and useful to the United States, both for the
precise and authentic information which it affords relative to the
present condition, political, military, &c. of this republic, and as
an example of the evils it has drawn upon itself for the last century,
by interfering too much with the imaginary balance of power, and with
the wars of the European States, thus imposing upon itself the burden
of a standing army, which has swallowed up its navy and subjected it
to an imperious rival, &c. &c.; and on the other hand, this long paper
occupies my time, which is valuable to me, and fatigues my hand, which
unfortunately is not steady. My translation has been approved by our
friend. It would be well to have it translated into English also, and
if you had a translator who understood Dutch, I could transmit you the
original.
I am, Gentlemen, &c.
DUMAS.
FOOTNOTES:
[53] See Van Berckel's Declaration, above, p. 457, dated Sept 23d.
* * * * *
TO E. T. VAN BERCKEL, BURGOMASTER OF AMSTERDAM.
Passy, October 29th, 1778.
Sir,
Upon maturely considering the letter and declaration, which we have
had the honor of receiving from you, we are of opinion, that there are
some propositions relative to that business, which can only be
properly discussed in a personal interview. We therefore wish that
you, or a person authorised by you, would meet one of us at
Aix-la-Chapelle, or any other place, which you may judge more
convenient, for conducting this business with the most perfect
secrecy.
Should this proposal meet with your approbation, you will have the
goodness to apprise us of the time and place you think proper for the
interview. It may be proper, that we should inquire for one another,
whenever we meet, under fictitious names; the fixing upon which we
also wish to leave to you.
We shall be glad of an answer as soon as is convenient to you; and
have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir, your most obedient, and
most humble servants,
B. FRANKLIN,
ARTHUR LEE,
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO COUNT DE VERGENNES.
Passy, October 29th, 1778.
Sir,
We have the honor to inform your Excellency, that we are ready to
execute and exchange the declarations, concerning the omission of the
11th and 12th articles of the treaty of commerce, and to request your
Excellency to appoint a day to wait on your Excellency for that
purpose.
We have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, &c.
B. FRANKLIN,
ARTHUR LEE,
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
COUNT DE VERGENNES TO THE COMMISSIONERS.
Translation.
Versailles, October 30th, 1778.
Gentlemen,
I have received the reply, with which you honored me, regarding the
arrangements to be made with the Barbary powers, for the protection of
the American flag in the Mediterranean. Before the king can make any
efforts to forward your views in this respect, I think it proper, that
you should be provided with full powers from Congress, and that you
should be not only authorised to propose the presents, which you may
be expected to bestow, but also supplied with the necessary funds to
satisfy these expectations. When all these preliminaries shall be
complied with, you may rest assured, Gentlemen, that the king will
hasten to forward, as far as he is able, the wishes and views of
Congress. I have the honor to be, &c.
DE VERGENNES.
* * * * *
TO M. DE SARTINE.
Passy, October 30th, 1778.
Sir,
We have been honored with your letter of the 26th of October, and we
thank your Excellency for the prompt and generous manner in which you
have given liberty to four of our countrymen, who were among the
prisoners at Denant. Such examples of benevolence cannot fail to make
a lasting impression on the American mind.
Since the receipt of your Excellency's letter, we have received
another from the American prisoners at Brest, by which it appears,
that there are ten of them, from four of whom only we had received
letters when we wrote before, the other six having written to us, but
their letters miscarried. We enclose a copy of this last letter, and
have the honor to request a similar indulgence to all the ten.
By a letter we received last night from L'Orient, we have the pleasure
to learn, that three vessels bound to the coast of Brazil have been
taken by his Majesty's frigates, or by French cruisers, and sent into
that port. It is very probable that the three masters of these vessels
and every one of their sailors are Americans.
We are happy in this opportunity of communicating to your Excellency
some intelligence, which we have been at some pains to collect, and
have good reason to believe exactly true. The English last year
carried on a very valuable whale fishery on the coasts of Brazil, off
the River Plate in South America, in the latitude 35 south, from
thence to 40, just on the edge of soundings, off and on, about the
longitude 65 from London. They have this year about seventeen vessels
in the fishery, which have all sailed in the months of September and
October. All the officers and almost all the men belonging to those
seventeen vessels are Americans, from Nantucket and Cape Cod in
Massachusetts, excepting two or three from Rhode Island, and perhaps
one from Long Island. The names of the Captains are Aaron Sheffield of
Newport; Goldsmith and Richard Holmes from Long Island; John
Chadwick, Francis May, Reuben May, John Meader, Jonathan Meader,
Elisha Clark, Benjamin Clark, William Ray, Paul Pease, Reuben Fitch,
Zebedee Coffin, and another Coffin, all of Nantucket; John Lock, Cape
Cod; Delano, Nantucket; Andrew Swain, Nantucket; William Ray,
Nantucket. Four or five of these vessels go to Greenland; the fleet
sails to Greenland the last of February or beginning of March.
There was published last year in the English newspapers, and the same
imposture has been repeated this year, a letter from the Lords of the
Admiralty to Dennis de Berdt, in Coleman street, informing him that a
convoy should be appointed to the Brazil fleet. But this, we have
certain information, was a forgery, calculated merely to deceive
American privateers, and that no convoy was appointed or did go with
that fleet, either last year or this.
For the captivity of a fishery so entirely defenceless, (for not one
of the vessels has any arms) a single frigate or privateer of
twentyfour or even twenty guns would be quite sufficient. The
beginning of December would be the best time to proceed from hence,
because they would then find the whale vessels nearly loaded. The
cargoes of these vessels, consisting of bone and oil, will be very
valuable, and at least 450 of the best kind of seamen would be taken
out of the hands of the English, and might be gained into the American
service to act against the enemy. Most of the officers and men wish
well to their country, and would gladly be in its service if they
could be delivered from that they are engaged in. But whenever the
English men of war or privateers have taken an American vessel, they
have given to the whalemen among their crews their choice, either to
go on board a man of war and fight against their country, or to go
into the whale fishery. So many have chosen the latter, as to make up
most of the crews of seventeen vessels.
We thought it proper to communicate this intelligence to your
Excellency, that if you found it compatible with his Majesty's service
to order a frigate from hence, or from the West Indies, to take from
the English at once so profitable a branch of commerce, and so
valuable a nursery of seamen, you may have an opportunity of doing it;
if not, no inconvenience will ensue.
We have the honor to be, &c.
B. FRANKLIN,
JOHN ADAMS.
[Mr Lee did not sign, but objected to the acknowledgment of giving up
the American subjects, captured in the enemy's vessels, as being a
favor.]
* * * * *
COUNT DE VERGENNES TO THE COMMISSIONERS.
Translation.
Versailles, October 31st, 1778.
Gentlemen,
You request that a day be fixed for the interchange of declarations
relative to the omission of the eleventh and twelfth articles of the
treaty of commerce. If next Monday, November 2d, is convenient to you,
I should be glad to have the honor to receive you, and I flatter
myself you will do me the honor to dine with me on that day.
I have the honor to be, &c.
DE VERGENNES.
* * * * *
M. DUMAS TO THE COMMISSIONERS.
Translation.
Hague, November 4th, 1778.
Gentlemen,
The gentlemen from Amsterdam have returned with more strict
instructions from their constituents. They will be followed, perhaps,
by a third memorial, more forcible than the preceding. If the same
evasions continue to be practised, Amsterdam will display other
resources, which have not yet been communicated to me. The subject of
the convoy will be discussed next week. Sir J. Yorke presented a
memorial the day before yesterday, more moderate in its tone, but
equally insidious in reality, on behalf of his Court. 1. It demands
the appointment of Commissioners, with whom he may consult to settle
the intent of the treaties relative to the articles, which it is
desired to prohibit. 2. It declares that his Court is desirous, that
the republic would not grant the convoys in question, as it cannot
consent to allow the above mentioned articles to pass. He will find
formidable adversaries from Amsterdam, who are firmly resolved on an
absolute negative on these two points. A certain great personage, and
the Grand Pentionary, are already prepossessed on the subject. The
irritation against the English gains also in some of the nobility.
The project, with which you are acquainted, is prepared with some
changes and additions on the basis already known to you. It is in the
hands of the Burgomasters, who will examine the whole; after which a
copy will be delivered to me, that I may also transmit one to you, to
be examined by you in the same manner, and that your observations
thereon may be communicated to them through me.
I have been assured on behalf of the Burgomasters, that it is not
their intention to leave our future connexions dependent on Great
Britain; on the contrary, it is their wish, that in course of time,
their High Mightinesses may adopt a better system of measures, than is
at present possible; this circumstance they have thought ought not to
be concealed from you any more than their present situation, their
wishes, and their expectation that you will be ready to concur in the
steps, which it shall be in their power to take towards realising
them.