secretary, Major Thornton, because it was verified to me, that he
had received from Mr Wharton a note of hand for five hundred pounds,
payable on war taking place in such a time. This afforded so strong
a suspicion, that they who are now his accusers had seduced him into
this gambling society, and probably for the purpose of betraying my
secrets in the Spanish negotiation, that I thought it prudent to
supply his place with another, and have chosen the Rev. Hezekiah
Ford, of the State of Virginia, and chaplain to the 3d and 5th
regiments of North Carolina troops, in the service of the United
States. We have administered to him an oath of secrecy and fidelity,
which from his character I have every reason to believe he will
religiously observe. The present moment is as totally barren of news,
as times of the most perfect tranquillity.
I have the honor to be, &c.
ARTHUR LEE.
JAMES GARDOQUI TO ARTHUR LEE.
Madrid, September 28th, 1778.
Sir,
A severe illness, which almost reduced me to the last, has prevented
my giving you punctual answers to your favors down to the 1st
instant; but embracing the first moments of my recovery, I have to
say, that I am afraid I did not explain my sentiments clearly in
my last. The hints given you were purely mine, and as a friend who
wishes the best to both, in order that you might make use of them as
you thought proper, and of course I cannot say anything about your
powers and treaties, being things out of my way, with which it would
be improper for me to meddle. I wish most heartily, that things may
be accommodated happily for both parties, so I pray consider this
as such, as I should be sorry, that hints given you without either
design or authority should be thought otherwise, or meet with results
of consequence.
In this same light, and as a sincere friend, who wishes the best
intelligence between your constituents and this side, I have now
to add, that the capture of the Swedish ship, the Henrica Sofia,
Captain P. Held, loaded with Spanish property, and bound from London
to Teneriffe, by Captain Cunningham of the Revenge privateer, has
occasioned the utmost disgust on this side. I would, therefore,
recommend to you not only the immediate release of said vessel, but
likewise to give the strictest orders to said Cunningham to pay more
regard to the territories of this Kingdom, and to the Spanish flag,
for there has been such complaints about his conduct, that I hear
orders have been sent to the several ports to prevent his entry;
besides which, there are rumors, that he is not properly an American
privateer, being manned by French adventurers, who, with their
commander, have acted contrary to the law of nations.
Some of my friends, with whom I tried to raise a sum for you, desire
to know the length of time you want it, the interest you will allow,
and whether you will pay said interest in tobacco, and at what price
it will be reckoned in Bilboa, with all other particulars that may
offer to you; so I wish you to let me know, if agreeable, that I may
let them see it, observing, that I judge we may raise a part, though
not the two million of livres, which you desired of me; I would also
know whether you will want the money in France or Spain.
I am with sincere esteem, your most obedient humble servant,
JAMES GARDOQUI.
TO COUNT DE VERGENNES.
Chaillot, September 28th, 1778.
Sir,
I had the honor of your Excellency’s letter of the 23d. I should not
trouble you with an answer, did it not appear to me necessary to
show, that the blame it imputes to me is by no means merited. For
that purpose your Excellency will permit me to remind you of what is
the fact, that I was not present when the conversation relative to
M. Holker, to which your Excellency refers passed between you and my
colleagues. I imagine too it arose accidentally, as the intention of
conversing on that subject was not communicated to me.
With regard to the duties, my knowledge of them arose from a
transaction of my own as Commissioner for Spain, in which my
colleagues had no concern. I have always been so sensible of the
impropriety of one Commissioner acting, or being acted with, for
the whole, in what regards their deputation here, as scrupulously
to avoid setting the example. Therefore I entirely agree with your
Excellency, that such a precedent should never be permitted.
It was not my intention to make any complaint about the duties, which
were probably imposed for wise purposes, but to offer my opinion
to your Excellency of what I conceived might be beneficial to that
union, which my connexion and myself have always been most zealous in
advising, and for the permanency of which, it is therefore natural
that I should be particularly anxious.
I have the honor to be, &c.
ARTHUR LEE.
TO THE COMMITTEE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
Paris, September 30th, 1778.
Gentlemen,
Since I wrote you the 9th of this month, no step has been taken either
by our enemies or allies of moment enough to advise you of; nor has
any material event happened in Europe, insomuch that times of the
profoundest peace could not possibly be more barren. This arises from
the general reluctance to war, which, though all are preparing for, no
one seems to desire. The fate of this campaign with you will determine
whether we shall have immediate offers of peace or continuance of
war. If their fleets and armies maintain their ground, or gain any
advantage, they will continue the war, and wait for something in the
chapter of accidents, which is the sole resource of the Ministers.
I have the honor to be, &c.
ARTHUR LEE.
TO JAMES GARDOQUI.
Paris, October 6th, 1778.
Sir,
I have not had the pleasure of any answer from you to mine of the
22d of August. I am afraid that the total silence of your friends
about taking an open part with us, when all the impediments, which
you know were stated, are removed, will make bad impressions on the
minds of my countrymen, and transfer all their gratitude to those
who have declared in their favor. And this more especially, as one
of the English Commissioners, Governor Johnstone, had pledged his
honor publicly to prove, that Spain disapproved of, and endeavored to
prevent, the declaration of France in our favor.
If to stop the effusion of human blood, and all the shocking
calamities attending a war like this, be worthy of a pious prince; if
to prevent the chances of war from having any influence in preventing
the dismemberment of the British Empire, and the humiliation of
their pride be an object worthy of a political prince; if to drive
the English immediately from America, and receive a portion of her
independent commerce, be an advantage to the crown and people of
Spain, this is the moment for its monarch to decide and enforce those
events by an immediate declaration of our independency, and an union
of force, which must be irresistible.
The last certain accounts from America announce preparations for an
assault upon Rhode Island, on the 16th of August. It was already
invested both by sea and land, and the enemy had been obliged to burn
several of their vessels, and among the rest one of twentysix guns.
The report is, that the Island is taken, for a confirmation of which
we wait with much anxiety. The loss of it would deprive the enemy of
their port for wintering their navy, and oblige them to abandon New
York.
I hope to receive good tidings from you soon, and have the honor to
be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient servant,
ARTHUR LEE.
TO COUNT DE VERGENNES.
Paris, October 12th, 1778.
Sir,
Your Excellency has seen in the separate and secret act, signed the
6th of February, 1778, that I am charged with full powers to conclude
a treaty with Spain. You are also acquainted with my having been in
Spain, and having had conferences with the Marquis de Grimaldi on
this subject.
All the objections, which were then alleged against an immediate
declaration, are now removed. The consistency of our cause is
unquestionable. France is ready, and has actually declared. Their
treasure is safe, and the fleet from Buenos Ayres is in their
harbors, yet we do not see the least movement on their part towards
realising the hopes they gave us; but on the contrary such ostensible
measures as they have taken must certainly give encouragement to
our enemies. That Court has not thought proper to take the least
notice of the ratification of the separate and secret article, which
I announced to them. While we are therefore bound, they remain at
liberty.
All this, Sir, gives me much uneasiness. I am apprehensive, that
Congress will not think this mode of acting very satisfactory; and
that the encouragement, that it must hold out to the Court of London,
will prolong this pernicious war, and make it cost us much more blood
and treasure than is necessary to tie the hands of our common enemy,
and establish effectually the liberty, sovereignty, and independence,
absolute and unlimited, of the United States.
In these very critical circumstances I must have recourse to the King
and to your Excellency. Our cause is common, and it is my wish to
conduct it by your experience, your lights, and your counsel, as to
the measure I am to take, whether it be to act or to wait. This would
always be my desire; but I consider it now as my duty; for it appears
to be the mutual sentiment of your Court and of Congress, that the
eventual treaty signed at Paris, the 6th of February, is now become
actual, permanent, and indissoluble. The first article of that treaty
says, “That if war should break out between France and Great Britain,
during the continuance of the present war between the United States
and Great Britain, his Majesty and the United States will make it a
common cause, and will aid each other with their mutual good offices,
counsels, and forces, according to the exigency of things, and as
becomes good and faithful allies.”
It is upon these principles, that I think it my duty to endeavor to
place upon an equal footing the interests of France, and those of the
United States; and therefore not to commence anything without the
concurrence of your Court. Upon the same principles, I flatter myself
with obtaining the aid and assistance of your wisdom and information,
as to the moment of commencing the measures to be taken, and the
means to be employed, with the Court of Spain.
I am persuaded, and always was so, that Great Britain cannot make
head for a year against the united counsels and force of the House of
Bourbon and the United States of America.
I have the honor to be, &c.
ARTHUR LEE.
COUNT DE VERGENNES TO ARTHUR LEE.
Translation.
Versailles, October 17th, 1778.
Sir,
I have received the letter you did me the honor to write to me the
12th instant. I have examined its contents with that attention,
which is due to the interest I take in every thing that respects the
prosperity of the United States, and it is my opinion, that you will
act prudently in suspending the measures you wish to take at the
Court of Madrid, with the view of ascertaining its principles and
resolutions with regard to America.
I have the honor to be, &c.
DE VERGENNES.
TO THE COMMITTEE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
Paris, October 19th, 1778.
Gentlemen,
Our affairs in Holland, both as to the treaty and loan, are in a
promising state. The King of Naples and of Sicily has declared to
us in form, by his Ambassador here, that his ports are open to all
vessels belonging to the United States. As the success of our cause
gains ground daily in the opinion of mankind, I imagine this winter
will produce us some more declared friends among the European powers.
The enemy appears to have no system about continuing the war, or
ending it on the terms which Congress has marked out to them.
A little success in privateering, since the commencement of
hostilities, has given a momentary exhilaration to their depressed
spirits; and the expectation of a speedy peace, which is artfully
circulated by Ministerial agents, keeps them from entirely sinking.
I find by a specimen, which did not reach me until the goods were
shipped, that I have been most egregiously imposed upon in the fusils
sent from Berlin. I mean to complain of it to the king of Prussia’s
Minister, as it was the king’s contractor that furnished them by his
order. The impositions, that we daily meet with, are in consequence
of an opinion prevailing among individuals, that as we are not
acknowledged they may do it with impunity.
No movements yet on the part of Spain. I have consulted Count de
Vergennes on the propriety of my taking any measures to bring that
Court to a decision; his advice is in these words. “My opinion is,
that you will act prudently to suspend the advances, which you desire
to make to that Court, with the view of ascertaining its principles
and resolutions with regard to America.”
Agreeably to this advice, I shall wait the positive orders of
Congress, unless some change of circumstances should make it
evidently prudent and necessary for me to act before they arrive.
I beg my humble duty may be recommended to Congress, and have the
honor to be, &c.
ARTHUR LEE.
TO BARON DE SCHULENBURG.
Chaillot, October 21st, 1778.
Sir,
Your Excellency had the goodness to write me on the 16th of January
last, in the following words. “As to the fusils and other arms of our
manufacture, you will have liberty to purchase them, and the bankers
Splittgerber, who have charge of the fabrication of arms, will be
instructed to deliver to you whatsoever may be demanded on your part.
I subjoin a note of the prices, which are the same as the king pays,
and add, that the fusils for the infantry may be had at a little
lower price, if regard is only had to the solidity of the work,
without insisting on that exact uniformity which the king requires.”
In consequence of this, I ordered eight hundred fusils for infantry,
of the best kind, from the Messrs Splittgerber, and paid them their
own price immediately. My intention was to arm a regiment, that the
whole army might judge of the superiority of the Prussian model.
The fusils were sent by Hamburgh to Bordeaux, and were shipped
from thence to America, a case having previously been opened, and
a fusil taken out and sent to me. By this specimen, I find that
the fusils, so far from being of the sort at present used in his
Prussian Majesty’s army, are directly the reverse, and of the worst
and most ordinary workmanship that can be imagined. I do assure your
Excellency, that they are such as our militia would reject, and
appear to me and others, who are competent judges, to be old rejected
muskets. The ramrod is not a quarter of an inch in diameter, and the
lock holes that receive it narrow and of the same diameter above and
below; so that the Prussian manner of charging is impracticable with
these fusils. The observation I made a thousand times over of the
fusils, which the troops at Berlin used, enables me to assure you,
that this is a most egregious imposition in being sent as the same,
and I am sure they would not sell in Europe for six livres a piece.
My merchant at Bordeaux, the Commercial Agent of Congress, assures me
that he took the fusil, from which I form my judgment, with his own
hand out of one of the cases sent from Messrs Splittgerber, through
the house of Chapeaurouge at Hamburgh.
I therefore entreat your Excellency to oblige these men to do me
justice. I am not so much offended at the imposition, for the
money it has defrauded me of, as for the disgrace it will bring
on the manufactures of Prussia, and the disappointment of the
plan I had formed to introduce them into the United States. The
mildest reparation, which I conceive can be demanded of the Messrs
Splittgerber, is that they send immediately to Bordeaux, at their own
expense, eight hundred fusils, such as are ordered, that is, of the
present Prussian form, and the best workmanship. Those, that they
have sent, I will order to be sold in America, and the net amount of
what they bring shall be paid to them.
I have the honor to be, &c.
ARTHUR LEE.
COUNT DE VERGENNES TO ARTHUR LEE.
Translation.
Versailles, October 24th, 1778.
Sir,
I have received, with great sensibility, the news which you have
obtained by the way of Spain. It is a very great fatality, that the
unlucky gale of wind separated the squadrons just as Count d’Estaing
had joined the English. He then had a superiority, which he must
have lost, if the Admirals Byron and Parker have joined Lord Howe.
We are very impatient to receive some direct accounts from our Vice
Admiral. We flatter ourselves, that the favorable winds will bring
some despatches from him. I request you, in the meantime, Sir, to
communicate whatever news you may receive through other channels.
I have the honor to be, &c.
DE VERGENNES.
TO THE COMMITTEE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
Paris, November 4th, 1778.
Gentlemen,
I wrote you on April the 14th, May the 9th, 20th and 23d, June the
1st, 9th, 15th, 17th, July 6th, 16th, 20th, 28th, 29th, August 21st
and 31st, September 9th, and 30th, October 5th and 19th, none of
which have been acknowledged or answered. I usually send triplicates
of my letters and of all the papers enclosed.[39]
Whether the British cabinet have yet determined upon relinquishing
the war in America, I have not been able to learn. This is certain,
that they have ordered considerable quantities of clothing and
provisions to be made ready for that quarter, which looks as if they
intended their fleet and army should winter with you. From their
situation at present, and that of Europe, it appears improbable
that they can reinforce, or even recruit their army to any effect.
Their naval force is so exactly balanced in Europe by that of France
alone, that they can hardly venture to detach any more of their fleet
against you. It seems, therefore, that you have before you the utmost
force that you are likely to contend with.
It serves the purposes of the enemy to propagate reports of aid from
Russia, sometimes in ships, sometimes in troops. As far as there is
any certainty in political events, you may be assured they will have
neither. The plan they adopt for Parliament, which will meet the
26th, will, I imagine, depend much on the representations of Lord
Howe and Governor Johnstone, who are both arrived in England.
Should their fleet and army winter in America, it will be a capital
object to intercept their provision fleets. For this purpose I shall
obtain and transmit to you, from time to time, intelligence of their
being collected at Cork, from which you may judge what time they may
be expected on the coast.
The whale fishery, which the enemy have established on the coast of
Brazil, and which they carry on by men from Nantucket, is likely to
become very valuable; and being totally unprotected, it might be
destroyed at one blow.
The instruments for abolishing the 11th and 12th articles are
exchanged, and that matter entirely settled.
I have the honor to be, &c.
ARTHUR LEE.
[39] Several of these letters are missing.
TO THE COMMITTEE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
Paris, November 15th, 1778.
Gentlemen,
I am informed, that it is determined in the Cabinet of London not to
recall their Commissioners this winter. Governor Johnstone has been
very graciously received; Lord Howe not. He conducts himself as one
that is discontented, and has not been at Court. It is given out,
that Johnstone declares he is possessed of impeachable matter against
both the Howes.
I before mentioned, that the enemy was preparing to send out
provisions and clothing for their troops, as if it was intended
they should remain in America. It is also certain, that they have
contracted for twelve thousand tons of shipping for the beginning of
next March. They talk of sending over either ten thousand British, or
twelve thousand Russians, for the next campaign, which I am assured
and believe they have determined to risk.
To sustain this, they affirm very confidently, that a triple alliance
offensive and defensive is concluded between Russia, Prussia, and
Great Britain. This I believe is at best anticipation. That such an
alliance will be the subject of this winter’s negotiation is very
probable; perhaps too it may succeed, and that Denmark and Sweden
may join. But the good effects of it in favor of our enemy are very
problematical. It will inevitably draw forth Spain, which in our part
of the question is of much more weight than all the rest. And as to
the general war, the league that would be necessarily formed against
the other, between the United States, the Empress, France, and Spain,
would be the most powerful. I do not count upon Portugal, Naples,
Tuscany, and Sardinia, which yet, in all human probability, will join
our confederacy. The temper of Holland is such, that the junction of
the United Provinces may well be expected, if England has not the
wisdom to recede from her claims; and if she does, the Hollanders,
having gained the points in trade which they contend for, will render
their neutrality perhaps more favorable to us in matters of supply,
than an actual confederation.
These are the plans, that must employ the negotiation of all Europe
during this winter, which will produce either a general pacification
or a general war. The latter is what our enemy is endeavoring to
effect. In doing this, by the same fated perversion of understanding,
which has happily prevailed in all their measures, they are laboring
to secure what they wish to subvert, the absolute independency of
America. For there never was a political event more manifest and
sure, than that a general war must involve in it the independence of
the United States, as an inevitable consequence.
The obtaining money in Europe is doubtful, though not desperate. But
this seems very probable, that if the irritation and ill humor in
Holland is continued by England’s persisting in the interruption of
their trade, they will lend us money out of revenge; and if England
retracts, the Dutch will send us such plentiful supplies, and take in
return our produce as in a great measure to compensate for the want
of funds. The dispute seems to be in such a state, that there is no
medium. I am therefore in hopes, that if the war should continue, the
distress of it will press with much more severity upon our enemies
than on us.
I am informed, that a Swedish ship, the Henrica Sofia, Captain P.
Held, loaded with Spanish property, bound from London to Teneriffe,
has been taken by Captain Cunningham in the Revenge, which being
considered in Spain as a violence done to them, has given great
offence. I have assured them, that upon its being made to appear in
the Admiralty Court in America, that the property is neutral, it will
be restored, with such damages as are just. The Court of Spain is
so much offended at Captain Cunningham’s conduct before this, that
they write me orders have been sent to all their ports to prohibit
his entrance. From the beginning to the end of this business of
Cunningham, it has been so bad, that Congress only can correct it, by
punishing those who are concerned. It has cost the public more than
one hundred thousand livres, and embroiled us both with the French
and Spanish Courts.
The State of Virginia having sent for arms and artillery necessary
for their defence, and some advances being absolutely necessary to
obtain the supply, I ventured to advance fifty thousand livres out of
the public funds in my hands. Had not this demand pressed so much,
I certainly should not have done this without the permission of
Congress. But as it is, and though I expect the reimbursement before
the articles I have ordered for the public will call for payment, yet
I think it my duty to communicate this transaction, and submit it to
the censure of Congress. I expect a complete cargo is by this time
shipped in my department, consisting of blankets, shoes, tentcloth,
sailcloth, and rigging for a vessel of five hundred tons. This cargo,
with what went before, should contain ten thousand blankets. I have
ordered twenty thousand more, which, with half of the freight, I am
obliged to advance for the above cargo, will more than employ all the
funds in my hands.
I have the honor to be, &c.
ARTHUR LEE.
_P. S._ _November 18th, 1778._ Every hour’s intelligence confirms the
opinion, that the enemy will not obtain any Russian auxiliaries.
TO JAMES GARDOQUI.
Paris, December 4th, 1778.
Dear Sir,