the Portland, of fifty guns, and made the signal of departure for all
the merchant ships which he is to convey to the Banks of Newfoundland.
Sir Charles Hardy, commander-in-chief of the channel fleet, Governor
of Greenwich hospital, and a representative of Plymouth, is dead.
Rivingston is next in command, but it is said the place of
commander-in-chief will be offered to Admiral ---- who refused it
before Hardy was appointed.
We read from Hamburg, 19th of May. "Conversation here turns wholly
upon the plan of an armed neutrality, proposed by the Empress of
Russia, and the more we examine, the more we are convinced of the
great advantages, which this plan will procure, not only for the
present, but the future. In the meantime we learn, that the neutral
powers will not delay to put to sea strong squadrons to protect their
commerce, and it is even pretended, that if the English continue to
molest neutral ships, it may well happen in a little time, that they
may form against them some enterprise of consequence. It is assured,
that the Hanseatic towns have acceded to the armed neutrality
proposed. It is reported, that conferences between the maritime powers
will be held at the Hague, and that they will be opened as soon as the
Baron d'Erensworth, the new Minister of the King of Sweden to their
High Mightinesses, shall arrive there. They say in London, that the
Baron de Nolker, Minister of Sweden, has presented to the Court a
memorial containing very lively complaints, touching the hostilities
committed by an English vessel against the Swedish vessel the Illerim,
commanded by the Chevalier d'Ankerlo, in which this Minister demands
satisfaction for the violences committed against the said ship. They
add, that his Excellency at the same time declared, that the King, his
master, was resolved to defend and maintain with his arms in his hand
the system of neutrality adopted by his Majesty."
They say too, in London 16th of May, that government have had the
satisfaction to learn, that the convoy from Cork and from Plymouth,
consisting in merchant ships, and a considerable reinforcement of
troops, although dispersed after their departure, had arrived in the
West India Islands.
_Paris, 16th of May._ "Divers advices announce, that the English,
since the declaration made to the States-General of the United
Provinces, have already stopped several Dutch ships, loaded only with
innocent merchandises, and whereof the transportation has never been
prohibited to neutrals by the treaties. This arbitrary proceeding will
appear, without doubt, so much the more surprising to the maritime
powers of the North, as at the same time his Majesty, always guided by
the principles of wisdom and the most exact equity, has sent the
strictest orders to all the commandants and captains of his vessels
of war, and privateers of his kingdom, to let pass freely and without
any hinderance all the neutral vessels, without distinction, even
although bound to an enemy's port, provided they are not loaded with
any arms, or warlike stores, whereof the transportation is forbidden
by the treaties. Of this we may be assured more authentically by a
letter written by M. de Sartine to M. de Mistral, Commissary General
of the ports and arsenals of the Marine of the King, and Ordonnateur
of the port of Havre, which is of the following tenor.
'You know, Sir, that the war undertaken by the King has no other end
but the desire, with which his Majesty feels himself animated for the
maintenance of the liberty of navigation. In consequence, he has seen
with a great deal of pleasure, that the greatest part of the powers of
the North incline, and have taken the resolution to co-operate in it
already, by regulations relative to it, as his Majesty has made known
to the commanders of his squadrons, his intentions relative to the
measures and precautions, which the captains of his vessels of war,
and other vessels ought to observe towards ships belonging to the
subjects of the neutral powers, and which the former may meet at sea.
'His Majesty then has charged me to repeat his orders given in this
regard, and to order you to exhort the captains and other officers of
vessels armed as privateers to conform themselves with more attention
than ever to the tenor of the regulations relative to neutral vessels,
and in particular to those belonging to the Russians. To this end, his
Majesty orders the captains of vessels armed for privateering, and
others, to use the greatest circumspection toward all neutral vessels,
and according to the exigence of the case, to afford them all the
assistance of which they may stand in need, not to give the least
hinderance to their navigation, although their cargoes may be destined
for the enemy's ports, nor to stop them, except in cases in which the
captains of French armed vessels shall have well founded reasons to
believe, that the said vessels navigate for the subjects of the King
of England, under the shelter of the flag of a neutral power, to the
end to avoid by this way the being visited according to the usages
established in such cases, or in which they shall attempt to transport
to the enemy the effects of contraband, such as arms of all kinds, and
other warlike stores.
'The intention of the King is, that you give notice of these presents
to the Commissaries of the Department of Havre de Grace, ordering
them, at the same time, to send copies to all the captains of vessels
armed as privateers, and other vessels ready to go out, or who come
in, to the end that they conform themselves with the greatest
circumspection to what is here prescribed in regard to neutral
vessels, and in particular to those belonging to Russia.'"
They write from Brest the 8th of this month, that they expected a
fleet from Bordeaux, loaded with stores, provisions, and wine, the
arrival of which was very necessary for the prompt equipment of a
squadron destined to transport a second division of troops, of four or
five thousand men. They add, that they expect also, with no less
impatience in the same port, the convoy, which went out from St Malo,
the 23d of March, which is still detained at Cherbourg, which consists
in a great measure in cast cannon and artillery stores, which are to
serve, they say, for a descent, which is projected in England, and
which it is strongly asserted the government has by no means
renounced. The latter part is probably only what we call a scarecrow.
_Hague, 21st of May._ "We see here a copy of a letter written by his
Excellency the Count de Florida Blanca, Secretary of State of his
Catholic Majesty, to the Count de Rechteren, Minister of their High
Mightinesses at the Court of Spain, dated at Aranjues, the 1st of May,
1780, which is of the following tenor.
"Sir;--His Majesty has learned, that the boat of a chebeck, commanded
by Don Barthelemi Rosello, having seized a Dutch vessel, named the
Spaar, Captain John Tierds Wagenaar, coming out of Gibraltar, where he
had unloaded a cargo of flour, which he was carrying from Ferrol to
Cadiz; on account of the purveyors of our Marine the said vessel has
been set at liberty, upon the declaration which he made, that he had
been taken under Cape Espartel, by the English privateer, the
Maidstone, who had conducted him to that place. Nevertheless, we have
proofs that the vessel has been met at the entrance of the port of
Cadiz, having at that time her cargo; that by consequence, her
pretended capture by the English privateer is a pure fiction, and the
introduction into Gibraltar of a load of five thousand one hundred and
sixtytwo and a quarter quintals of castile of flour, a manifest theft
committed upon the provisions of the Marine of the King; and to the
end that such villanies may be punished and prevented hereafter, his
Majesty has ordained, that a prosecution be commenced against the said
Wagenaar, and that I give you notice of it, to the end, that you may
inform their High Mightinesses, to whom his Minister at the Hague has
orders to complain highly of a theft, which ought not to have been the
fruit of the complaisance, which the King has used towards the flag
of the Republic. I shall add, that his Majesty hopes that their High
Mightinesses by the remedy, which they shall provide, and by the
severe punishment of the guilty, will spare him the pain of taking
himself the precautions necessary to suppress such crying excesses."
In the Hague Gazette of the 24th of May, is the following article from
London, of the 19th of May. "On the 17th, the King returned from
Windsor to St James, and assisted at a great council. The conduct of
several Courts of Europe, in the present conjuncture, excites all the
attention of our Ministry; we foresee here what will be the effects of
an armed neutrality, and we fear that there will result from it
consequences dangerous to the general repose of Europe. There are
persons, nevertheless, who pretend to foresee, that this decision of
the neutral powers will produce events, which will facilitate an
accommodation between the belligerent powers, but that there will be
no question about it, until after that France and Spain shall have
made all their efforts to take away from England the empire of the
seas, and procure to Europe an entire liberty of commerce, two points
on which they found their present hostilities, and which serve as
attractions to excite other powers to enter into their views. England,
on her part, will employ all her forces to maintain her superiority at
sea, on which depends the prosperity of this country, and the safety
of its detached dominions; and although her enemies are numerous and
formidable, she is not without hopes, that the present campaign will
bring back the Colonies of America to their ancient relations of
interest, and dispose the powers at war to hearken to conditions of
accommodation."
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Paris, May 27th, 1780.
Sir,
In the beginning of this controversy with Great Britain, the Americans
made such extensive researches into the principles of the British
constitution, and into those controversies which had taken place in
former ages, concerning their application to external dominions in
Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Gascoine, Guienne, Jersey, Guernsy, Man, &c.
and published the result of their inquiries to the world, which were
read with avidity everywhere, that I consider those publications as
having laid the foundation of most of the events that have happened
since. The proceedings of Ireland in 1779 and 1780 may be read in some
publications made in America in 1774 or 1775. I have long expected to
see something produced by the same principles in the East Indies, and
at last I find I am not disappointed. In the General Advertiser of May
13th is this paragraph.
"We are authorised to correct the account, that appeared in this paper
on last Thursday, concerning the petitions lately arrived from the
East Indies. It is not true, that the British inhabitants of Bengal
have sent over a petition to his Majesty to abolish the Court of
Judicature established there. Their petition is addressed, and will
shortly be presented to Parliament; and so far from wishing to abolish
the court of justice, they only pray that its constitutional powers
may be restrained. The grand object of their petition is, to obtain 'a
trial by jury in all cases, where it is by law established in
England,' which they conceive is one of those inherent, unalienable,
and indefeasible rights, of which neither time nor circumstance can
deprive a British subject, living, under British laws, and which the
Judges in Bengal have lately ventured to declare they are not entitled
to, except in criminal cases.
"The prayer of the Persian petitions already presented to one of the
Secretaries of State, from the natives of different districts in the
provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, is, we understand, to be
relieved from the hardships they suffer by the establishment of the
English Court of Judicature. They express, in the strongest language,
their distress and terror at the extraordinary powers assumed and
exercised by the judges. They pray to be exempted from the
jurisdiction of a court, to whose rules they are utter strangers, and
from the control of laws, which they consider as calculated for a
different state of society, and which are abhorrent to the manners,
institutions, and religion of their forefathers."
If this war continues, we shall hear more of the East Indies and their
claims. Great Britain holds them by a slender thread, and by the good
will only of a few individuals.
Among the English papers, which I enclose to Congress, will be found a
Dialogue in the Shades between the Duke of Devonshire, the Earl of
Chatham, and Mr Charles York. It was written by Edward Jennings, of
Maryland, now residing at Brussels, a gentleman of great merit.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Paris, June 1st, 1780.
Sir,
This morning a friend at Versailles sent me two English papers of the
26th and 27th of May, containing Rodney's account of an action between
the French and English fleets on the 17th of April. At the conclusion
of the battle, says Rodney, the enemy might be said to be completely
beat. How easy it is to say and write this! Much easier than to find a
sufficient number of persons ready to believe it. Such was the
distance of the van and the rear from the centre, and the crippled
condition of several ships, particularly the Sandwich, which for
twentyfour hours was with difficulty kept above water, that it was
impossible to pursue them that night without the greatest
disadvantage. He found it in vain to follow them with his Majesty's
fleet, in the condition they were in, to Guadaloupe, and accordingly
put away to Fort Royal Bay, Martinique, there to wait for them.
The French Admiral appeared to Rodney a brave and gallant officer, and
was nobly supported during the whole action. The killed on board the
English fleet were one hundred and twenty, the wounded, three hundred
and fiftythree; four hundred and seventythree in all. These
circumstances are very far from giving authenticity to the idea, that
the French were beaten. It has every appearance of a third general
drawn battle, in which the English have ultimately the worst. Drawn
battles do not maintain the empire, the dominion, the sovereignty, the
mastership of the seas. To all these they pretend, and they must make
good their pretensions by clear victories, or they are undone. The
French Court has not yet received any account.
ENGLISH LINE OF BATTLE.
The Sterling Castle to lead with the starboard tack, the Magnificent
with the larboard tack.
_Rear Admiral Parker's Division._
Guns. Men
Sterling Castle, Captain Caskett, 64 500
Ajax, Uvedale, 74 600
Elizabeth, Maitland, 74 600
Princess Royal, { R. A. Parker, }
{ C. Hammond, } 90 770
Albion, Bawyer, 74 600
Terrible, Douglas, 74 600
Trident, Malloy, 64 500
Greyhound frigate.
_Sir G. Rodney's Division._
Grafton, Com. Collingwood, Capt. Newnham, 74 617
Yarmouth, Bateman, 64 500
Cornwall, Edwards, 74 600
Sandwich, Sir G. Rodney, C. Young, 90 732
Suffolk, Crespin, 74 600
Boyne, Cotton, 68 520
Vigilant, Home, 64 500
Venus, to repeat signals, Deal Castle, Pegasus, frigates.
_Rear Admiral Rowley's Division._
Vengeance, Com. Hotham, Capt. Holloway, 74 617
Medway, Capt. Affleck, 60 420
Montague, Houlton, 74 600
Conqueror, R. A. Rowley, Watson, 74 617
Intrepid, St John, 64 500
Magnificent, Elphinstone, 74 600
Andromeda frigate. Centurion to assist the rear in case of need.
On the 24th of May, Governor Pownal moved in the House of Commons for
leave to bring in a bill, "to enable the King to make a Convention or
Truce, or to conclude a Peace with the Colonies, on Terms convenient
and necessary." This motion was seconded by Mr Dunning, and after
debate the order of the day was moved, which was carried by 113
against 52.
It is said, that Johnstone despatched C. Maclawrin from Lisbon to S.
G. Rodney with advice, that fourteen sail of the line, with ten
thousand troops, sailed from Cadiz to the westward the 28th of April.
The Hudson's Bay fleet, consisting of the Beaver, Captain Moore, the
Sea Horse, Christopher, the Prince Rupert, Prichards, and the King
George, Fowler, have completed their lading at Gravesend, and will
soon sail.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Paris, June 1st, 1780.
Sir,
In consequence of an advertisement published to this effect, the
corporation of the citizens of Dublin, having assembled on the 11th of
May, at Thalsel, the committee named the 29th of February last, to
prepare and present resolutions relative to the affairs of the times,
made the following report, which was unanimously approved.
"We, members of the committee appointed at a general meeting of the
citizens; held the 29th of last February, having taken into
consideration the objects, the examination of which was committed to
us, submit to our fellow citizens the following resolution.
"That we think, that it is the absolute duty of every virtuous citizen
to declare, in the most explicit manner, what he thinks relatively to
the great constitutional objects, which have been suspended in the
moment when we expected it the least, as well as to co-operate with
courage and unanimity in everything which can tend to the acquisition
of these same objects. That our sincere desire is, to maintain an
inviolable connexion between Great Britain and Ireland, to establish
and fix this connexion upon the only basis which can render it stable
and permanent; that of a royalty inseparable from the common rights of
an equal liberty. That it is at this time necessary to declare, that
the King, the Peers, and Commons of Ireland, are the only powers to
which it belongs to make laws for binding this kingdom.
"That in putting in use all the constitutional means, whatever be the
public or private character with which we may be clothed, whether we
are magistrates, jurors, or simple individuals, we will maintain and
propagate these principles, and we will adhere invariably to the great
and important objects of our instructions, those of establishing the
independence of the Parliament of Ireland, and of obtaining a
modification of Poyning's law.
"That all the plans of reformation, which may be proposed, are
necessarily vain and of no effect, while the influence of the Crown,
arising from the profusion with which the people bestow their grants,
and from the imprudent prodigality of Ministers, shall not be
diminished; and that we ought constantly to employ our efforts to
obtain a system of retrenchment and economy, to the end the better to
diminish the means of corruption.
"That the independent electors of Ireland, are particularly called
upon to make their efforts to procure for the nation more virtuous
representatives, more equality in the representation of the people in
Parliament, and to study the most effectual measures to obtain these
desirable ends. We think that the said electors cannot better succeed,
than by refusing with firmness to vote for any man, provided either
with places or pensions, or who shall have acted in any manner
contrary to the inherent rights or manifest sentiments of the people;
and by giving for instructions to their representatives to make all
their exertions to obtain an augmentation in the number of members,
who represent the counties, the populous cities, and the independent
towns.
"That we pledge ourselves to each other, and all to our country, by
all which men know that is sacred, to take the foregoing resolutions
for the rule of our conduct, and that at all opportunities, and by all
constitutional means, we will support the spirit and principles of
them. In testimony of this solemn declaration, we have all signed the
said resolutions.
"_Resolved unanimously_, That the said resolutions thus signed by the
members of the committee, shall be deposited in the coffee-house, at
the Royal Exchange, there to receive the signatures of the citizens."
_Continuation of said Report._
"We, members of the committee, &c. propose further to our
fellow-citizens the following resolutions.
"That our sincere thanks be presented, in the most respectful manner
to Henry Grattan, for the motion, excellently well conceived, which he
has made in Parliament the 19th of April last, tending to a
declaration, that his most excellent Majesty the King, the Peers, and
Commons of Ireland, are the only power to which it belongs to make
laws capable of binding this kingdom.
"That thanks also be presented to the ninetyeight members, which
supported this great constitutional assertion; passed unanimously.
"That our sincere thanks be presented, in the most respectful manner,
to Barry Yelverton, for the patriotic motion which he made in
Parliament the 25th of last April, to the end to introduce regulations
concerning the manner in which bills are transmitted from this kingdom
to England. The object of this motion being to hinder the
unconstitutional interposition of the privy council, in obtaining the
modification so much desired of Poyning's law.
"That thanks be given also to the one hundred and six members who
seconded this manly effort; passed unanimously.
"That our sincere thanks be presented to our worthy representatives,
Doctor William Clement and Sir Samuel Bradstreet, Baronet, on account
of the uniformity of their conduct in Parliament, and particularly for
the zeal with which they have supported the two important motions
aforesaid; conforming themselves in this to the late instructions,
which they have received from us, and seconding the general wish of
this kingdom; passed unanimously.
"That our sincere thanks, and full of gratitude, be presented in the
most respectful manner to the noble Lords who have opposed, and to
those who had the courage to protest against the last paragraph of
the address, which the House of Peers presented to the throne, the 2d
of March, last. The said paragraph containing insinuations, which were
neither founded upon facts nor authorised by actions, implying
reproaches, which the people of Ireland have not merited, and
contained in these words; 'that they would use all possible endeavors
to discourage and disappoint all endeavors, which ill advised men may
employ to the end to excite ill founded fears in the minds of the
people of his Majesty, or to divert their attention from those
advantages relative to commerce, which have been granted to us in so
great an extent;' passed with three negatives.
"That we earnestly request our magistrates not to give, in any manner
nor on any occasion, any effect to any law, which does not proceed
from, or has not received the sanction of the King, the Peers, and
Commons of Ireland. That while they conduct themselves thus, they
shall receive from us the most constant and the most firm support, to
the end to annihilate the ill founded hope, which may have been
conceived, of subjecting Ireland in any case to a foreign legislation;
passed unanimously.
"That it is the opinion of this committee, that the two great and
favorite objects of the people, viz. a declaration of its rights and a
modification of Poyning's law, having been suspended in Parliament in
a manner so unexpected, it appears at this time of absolute necessity
to form a committee of correspondence, to the end to co-operate with
such other committees of the same nature as may be formed in the
kingdom, in the measures the most proper to give extension and safety
to the advantages relative to commerce, which we have at last
obtained; to restore still further our rights and liberties, and to
preserve the constitution of Ireland free and independent; passed
with one negative."
The committee of correspondence was named upon the spot, and formed of
fifteen members.