project of a confederation, armed for the maintenance of the
navigation of the neutral powers, appears every day to assume more
consistency. The fleet armed in Russia for the protection of her
neutrality, and of her commerce, is composed of fifteen ships of the
line, four frigates, and a large number of smaller vessels. Their
orders are to sweep, not only the Baltic Sea, but the Swedish Sea, and
the neighborhood of Archangel, of all the corsairs of the belligerent
powers. They assure us at the same time, that orders are given to
equip at Revel and at Archangel a second fleet of twenty ships of the
line; Sweden arms ten, and six frigates. She will send out at first
but four of the former, the six others will remain at Carslscroon,
but in a condition to sail at the first signal. They are busy in
Denmark in arming a like number. They assure us even that there are
orders to augment it.
The opinion the most general is, that the powers, which are to enter
into the armed neutrality, will confine themselves at first to make
their navigation to be respected, and will not appear as mediators,
but when they shall see that the fate of arms shall make the balance
incline too much to one side, to the disadvantage of the other. It
will be then, that they will intervene for a re-establishment of the
equilibrium, by moderating the too excessive pretensions of some, and
by repairing the losses, which the misfortune, the negligence, or the
unskilfulness of others shall have occasioned them. One does not know,
which we ought to admire most, the immutability of the English, in the
midst of all the movements, which they excite, or the movements
themselves, which they are no doubt themselves astonished to have
excited. This recalls the saying of an Englishman, who seeing a
magnificent chapel built for the accomplishment of a vow, made in the
midst of a battle, cried, "When the Emperor made this great vow, he
had great fear." Is it not astonishing, that the most formidable
maritime powers of Europe should have believed their rights so much in
danger, as to make it their duty to confederate against the arbitrary
pretensions of England? It would be much more astonishing, if she
should be able to realise them, but this is not to be presumed.
Under the head of Italy, Genoa, the 10th of May, we read, "They write
from Trieste, that they are actively employed there in arming a
company of commerce for the East Indies. The grant (charter, patent,
octroi) is very soon to appear in print, that every one may have
shares in it, and have a part in the advantages that shall result
from it. As it is of importance to our Court, that the productions of
the country should be transported to foreigners, this company will
obtain all the privileges necessary to put it upon a flourishing
footing. They are taking all possible measures, that the funds
advanced should produce to the proprietors a considerable interest.
Austria proposes to observe the most exact neutrality with all the
maritime powers, and to form alliances with the States of Barbary. In
the meantime, that we may have nothing to fear from these last, our
vessels will be partly armed for war, and partly loaded with
merchandises."
A sensible letter from London (real or fictitious I know not) says,
"The armed neutrality engages still the attention of our Court. We do
not cease to dread here, that it will have melancholy consequences. If
some persons flatter themselves, that it may lead to peace, others
think that we cannot make an advantageous one. France and Spain appear
determined not to lay down their arms until they shall have taken away
from us the empire of the seas, and rendered commerce and navigation
free. We are not ignorant, that the wish of Europe is in their favor,
and the armed neutrality has sufficiently demonstrated it. Our
Ministry well convinced, that it is upon a superiority at sea, that
depends the safety of our possessions in the four quarters of the
world, will neglect nothing to preserve it. But it is at least
necessary, that by a prudent conduct towards the neutral powers, we
should engage them to permit us to enjoy it. The part which we act
cannot but alienate them. Far from retracting, we go directly on."
According to the account of the officers arrived in the cartel ship,
the Sartine, the squadron of Admiral Hughes, in its passage from
Europe to the Cape of Good Hope, has suffered considerable losses,
which have very much diminished it. They are persuaded, that it has
not suffered less in its route to the Indies, during which it has had
constantly contrary winds, and that it has been scarcely able to land
in Asia a number of troops sufficient to put the English forces there
in the condition they were in before the war. Admiral Hughes had said
to the Governor of the Cape, that his orders were to go and attack
Manilla. But it is most probable, that at his arrival at Madras, he
found himself in an impossibility of undertaking anything this year.
He has not a sufficient number of troops with him, and far from being
able to take any in India, those already there are sufficiently
occupied with the chiefs of the country, and have occasion for
reinforcements. Nadgiskan, General of the Emperor of Mogul, threatens
them in Bengal. The Marattas disturb them at Bombay; and Hyder Aly
Khan upon the coast of Coromandel. The English, troubled in their own
possessions, have more cause to think of preserving them than of
attempting elsewhere expeditions, that would weaken them.
The last letters from the gold coast of Africa contain the following
details. "One of our out-forts, called Succondée, has been attacked
sometime since by a French frigate, of forty guns. She cast anchor in
the Bay within cannon-shot of the fort, which was falling in ruins,
defended solely by some pieces of artillery, almost out of a condition
for service, and in which was a garrison of four men, to wit; the
commandant, one sergeant, and two soldiers, which in such a situation
could not make a long resistance. Nevertheless, before they
surrendered, they killed six Frenchmen, and wounded twelve. The
sergeant of the fort was killed; and the commandant, seeing that the
enemy had effected their landing with two hundred men, saved himself
by retreating back into the country. The French have derived neither
honor nor profit from the expedition; they have found nothing but the
effects of the commandant, valued at eight hundred pounds sterling,
which they destroyed. The fort contained nothing valuable. They spiked
the cannon, which they found upon carriages, and broke off the
trunnions; after which they went off without attempting anything
against the other forts. The same letters add, that the Governor of
Cape Coast Castle, and those of the other forts, were preparing to
quit a service, in which they could not long remain, the company
having stopped the arrearages which were due to them, as well as to
those in general who have been employed since the month of December,
1778, and having refused to reimburse them the sums, which they have
advanced out of their pockets for the maintenance of the forts of the
government, and which amount to half of their private fortunes. By a
conduct so unjust, and without example, the principal officers find
themselves ruined, and the inferior officers and soldiers are dying
with hunger. There was scarcely an English vessel upon the coast, and
the price of all the necessaries of life were raised more than an
hundred per hundred. What defence could be made by people in such a
situation, if attacked by the French, who burn with a desire of
forming an establishment upon that coast."
The losses in Africa are considerable, and the English are threatened
with more considerable in India, where the natives of the country
begin to be weary of the vexation of foreigners, who come from Europe
to subject them to the yoke. The Emperor of Mogul threatens them in
Bengal, the Marattas at Bombay, and the famous Hyder Aly upon the
coast of Coromandel, and the domestic troubles which have arisen in
the bosom of their establishments, may put them out of a condition to
defend them. All Europe prays for the liberty of the seas, and waits
with impatience the effects of the union of the maritime powers, which
must put a bridle upon the violent and arbitrary proceedings of the
English.
On the 18th and 19th of May there were warm debates in the House of
Commons of Ireland, where the patriotic party carried a duty of twelve
shillings per quintal on sugars imported from England. On the 22d, it
was resolved by an hundred and forty voices against eighteen, that a
bill should be brought in for the punishment of mutiny and desertion,
and to establish better regulations for the land forces. This is a
decisive measure, and if it is admitted, it concedes the principle,
that the British Parliament has no authority over Ireland.
_Hague, 4th of June._ "M. de Nowicoff, Secretary of the Prince de
Gallitzin, Envoy Extraordinary of the Empress of Russia, being
returned here the first of this month at night, from Petersburg, where
he has been as express some weeks ago, the Prince de Gallitzin had the
next day a conference with some members of government. A second
express, sent to Petersburg by the same Minister about the middle of
April, returned last night. We flatter ourselves, that the despatches
which they bring will contribute to accelerate the execution of the
project of an armed neutrality, for which her Imperial Majesty
continues to testify the most favorable dispositions, provided that
the other neutral powers act readily in concert with her. The
merchants of Dort and Rotterdam have followed the example of those of
Amsterdam, by presenting on the 2d a petition to the States-General,
to the end to supplicate them to hasten the equipment of the vessels,
which it has been resolved to arm, and to give to commerce the
effectual enjoyment of the protection of the State. According to the
ordinance projected to accelerate this equipment, 'no merchant vessel
belonging to the subjects of the Republic can put to sea, without
voluntarily delivering to the college of the Admiralty at least the
third man of her crew, under penalty of six hundred florins per head,
upon the captains and freighters of the vessel, which shall attempt to
go out without having made the said delivery.' It will not, however,
take place but twice a year, viz. the two first voyages which a vessel
shall make, and from this will be excepted those upon which there
shall be but two men besides the master, the vessels employed in the
different fisheries, the ships of the East India Company, and those of
the West Indies; in fine, the foreign vessels manned with crews of
their own nation, &c."
_April 21st, 1780._ "It happened that the French privateer, the
Spring, commanded by Captain John Huë, and mounted with four guns,
which had anchored in the Road of Helvoetsluys, put to sea in company
with some Dutch vessels, bound to the Greenland Fishery. Three Scotch
coal vessels put to sea at the same time, and soon after two others,
somewhat larger. The three largest having come just opposite the point
of Westland, the French privateer, which was not at the distance of
more than four yards from the shore, opposite the Cape of the Isle of
Goree, wore round to return into port; the three coal vessels
perceiving it, made the same manoeuvre, and bore down upon the French
privateer, upon which the latter approaching nearer and nearer the
coast, and passing along very near it under the city of Goree, to
enter into the port, they began to fire upon him with ball, and they
continued to cannonade him incessantly, although this little vessel,
which in truth carried French colors, did not answer them with more
than one gun. They pursued him quite up to the lighthouse of Goree,
only at the distance of about six yards (I suppose ship's yards) west
of the place, where they forced her to run ashore. The vessel was
there stopped upon the sand, and the crew crawling along upon the
bowsprit in the sea, saved themselves at land. Meantime, the three
coalmen did not cease to fire upon the little privateer, without
regarding even a large number of workmen who were about their business
on shore. So that the bullets passed through the midst of these
people, and just over their heads, and they were very happy to run off
and save themselves in the Downs. The three coalmen, not content to
have pushed thus far their enterprise, continued not only to fire upon
the privateer stopped in the sand, without any crew, but in fine, they
came to anchor at the distance of about forty yards from this vessel,
while the two smaller coalmen were come out of the Bay of
Helvoetsluys, and were under sail near and round it, firing upon it
until noon, when the tide began to set afloat the privateer, which had
been stopped for two hours. Then the English went on board with their
boats, took down the French flag, took the vessel off the shore, and
attached her broadside and broadside to the largest of the coalmen.
They took away from her many effects, under the eyes of the Dutch
coasting pilots, who having asked in English, what was their design in
regard to the privateer, and having cautioned them to take care what
they did, the captain of the largest of the coalmen answered, "We will
take her, we are also privateers."
Their Noble and Grand Mightinesses, the States of Holland and West
Friesland, after having stated these circumstances to the
States-General, have adopted in their report; "that they considered
this excessive audacity of the English or Scotch coalmen, as a
manifest and voluntary violation of the territory of the Republic,
accompanied with circumstances the most aggravated, as having been
committed in going out of a harbor of this country, and in a place
where it could not be doubtful that they were within reach of the
cannon of the shore, since their own balls reached the land, without
the least provocation from the French privateer, which did not fire a
single gun. So that this action of the coalmen, has had no other cause
than a premeditated hostility, whilst there was not the least reason
to fear that the privateer, after having got to sea, would interrupt
one of them, considering that the attack was begun on their part, in
the very moment when the privateer had tacked about to quit the open
sea and return into port, besides, that he was pursued for two hours
after that he was indubitably aground upon the shore, and that the
enterprise was finished by taking away the French privateer from the
Dutch shore, contrary to the exhortation and warnings of the coasting
pilots. That in the judgment of their Noble and Grand Mightinesses,
the States-General had not only a right to complain of the insolence
so excessive on the part of the English or Scotch masters, which their
High Mightinesses admit into the ports of the Republic, but that they
cannot even suffer them without wounding the neutrality, which they
have embraced in the present troubles, and without prejudicing the
dignity, the sovereignty, and the independence of the State; and
having been under obligation effectually to have opposed and hindered
them, even by force, if they could have been informed in time of these
violences, they cannot excuse themselves from demanding, in a manner
the most serious, the vessel which was taken, and from demanding of
his Britannic Majesty, a suitable satisfaction for this conduct of his
subjects."
After this report, the States-General have resolved, the 13th of May,
"that advice of these facts should be sent to the Count de Welderen,
Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of their High Mightinesses at
the British Court, by sending him copies of the depositions joined to
the letter of the Receiver-General of the Customs of their Noble and
Grand Mightinesses, in the country of Voorne, dated the 4th day of May
last, by which he has informed of the facts the Lords, the Deputy
Counsellors of Holland, as the said depositions are annexed to the
letter, which the said counsellors have addressed to their Noble and
Grand Mightinesses the 5th of the same month, concerning this affair;
and at the same time, the Count de Welderen should be instructed to
give notice, in the manner that he shall judge the most convenient and
the most effectual, of the said insolences committed by the masters of
the English or Scotch coal vessels, and to complain, in the name of
their High Mightinesses, of a violation so incontestible of their
territory and of the law of nations, by the way of open force; that
their High Mightinesses cannot think, that his Britannic Majesty can
or will suffer that his subjects should allow themselves in such
excesses; that in consequence, the Count de Welderen should demand a
suitable satisfaction; that the masters of the coal vessels should
undergo a correction, and that the French vessel taken should be
brought back to the place from whence she has been taken, or at least,
that she should be restored to their High Mightinesses, to the end
that they may dispose of her in the manner they shall judge proper;
and that the damages caused to this vessel, directly upon the
territory of their High Mightinesses, where she ought to have enjoyed
the same safety as the coal vessels in the Road of Helvoetsluys, and
through all the extent of the territory of their High Mightinesses,
should be made good."
The English frigate, the Ambuscade, Captain Phipps, has taken, on the
24th of April last, in the Bay of Biscay, four Dutch ships, which have
made some resistance, so that there were some men killed and wounded
on both sides. One of the Dutch captains was killed. They were bound,
it is said, from Helvoetsluys to Spain. They have been carried into
Plymouth, where arrived at the same time a Spanish frigate of thirty
guns, taken, they say, by the English frigate, the Medea, off the port
of Brest, where she was going with despatches from the Court of
Madrid, relative to the junction of the French and Spanish fleets.
This is not likely, since the despatches go by land from Court to
Court.
I shall finish this tedious letter, by enclosing a letter from the
Count d'Urre Molans, proposing to raise some horse at the expense of
himself and his officers. I promised to enclose it to Congress, which
was all I could do. But I hope, before an answer can come, the
American States will have no more occasion for cavalry.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Paris, June 12th, 1780.
Sir,
I cannot omit to request the attention of Congress to a debate in the
House of Peers on the 1st of June, upon Lord Shelburne's motion for a
variety of State papers to be laid before the House. I have had the
honor to transmit these papers to Congress before. His Lordship in his
speech upon this occasion has displayed more knowledge of the affairs
of Europe, than all the debates in the two Houses, and all the
newspapers and pamphlets have contained for a long time. I will
translate from a French translation, not having the original before
me, what he says of Russia.
"With regard to the papers, which concern Russia, I see in the first
place, in the declaration made by that Court in 1779, that under
pretence of some disorders committed in the Baltic Sea by an American
privateer, (Captain McNeal, I suppose,) the Empress announces to Great
Britain, that she is about to form a league with the Kings of Sweden
and Denmark, for the protection of commerce in that sea. This Princess
must have known our Ministers perfectly well, to hope that they would
fall into the snare. Yes, she knew that they would bite at the hook,
when it was covered with the bait of some appearance of hostility
against the Americans. While they were running after the dainty worm,
all Europe saw clearly that this exclusion from the Baltic Sea was
general for all armed vessels, whether American or English; but Russia
was too wise to begin by speaking of English vessels. It is,
nevertheless, curious to consider the nature of the right alleged by
the Courts of Petersburg, Stockholm, and Copenhagen, to arrogate to
themselves the dominion of the Baltic; a dominion no mention of which
is made in any treaty existing, and of which no one ever heard any
mention made. They say to you, that God Almighty intended that these
three powers should govern exclusively over this vast sea. The terms
of the declaration say expressly, that nature has given them this
right; if this declaration is extraordinary, and without example, the
last declaration of the Empress of Russia is much more astonishing.
This Princess dares to announce a maritime code, which will serve as a
rule for all Europe. I will acknowledge, that when this Imperial
decree for the first time fell into my hands, I was confounded; I felt
in a moment, that Russia, this Empire coming out of the cradle,
scarcely reckoned a few years ago in the number of maritime powers,
this Russia, which the Ministers declared to us was our friend and our
ally, was disposed not only to refuse us assistance, but moreover to
contribute to the annihilation of the maritime power of Great Britain.
The Empress declares in this Manifesto, that free ships render the
effects free, that they have on board; she does not confine herself to
establish this principle in favor of the vessels of her nation, she
makes it general, she invites all the States of Europe, whether
neutral or belligerent, to unite with her to maintain it, and to set
them an example she informs them, that to maintain it effectually she
equips a powerful squadron. What has given occasion to this
astonishing measure? The infraction of treaties on the part of Great
Britain. By the treaties of 1673 and 1674, Holland had a right to
carry all, which was not expressly declared contraband; in spite of
the existence of these treaties, Commodore Fielding received the
extravagant orders to seize a Dutch convoy. This act of madness
alarmed Russia, who forthwith published her Manifesto, which Holland,
France, and Spain have received, with all the marks of the most
perfect satisfaction. France has not failed to seize this opportunity
to press the completion of the maritime code announced by the Empress,
promising to adopt it, and to unite with her to support it.
"Such is the situation in which we find ourselves; not a single ally!
there did remain to us one friend; Administration has found the secret
to break with him. Is it not the most consummate madness not to have
sought to insure a single ally? Opportunities have presented
themselves more than once, more than twice, more than four times. If
at the end of the war Administration was weary of the connexion with
the King of Prussia; if they preferred the friendship, or even the
alliance of the House of Austria, the opportunity of making sure of it
presented itself a few years ago. In 1773, the epocha of the troubles
in Poland, Great Britain would have made a friend of this House, by
interposing its authority; this measure would have been agreeable to
more than one power of Europe. If we had preferred the alliance of the
King of Prussia, an opportunity has presented more recently of
procuring it, that of the death of the Elector of Bavaria; sometime
before this event, France foresaw it with terror. She perceived how
much it might turn to the advantage of Great Britain, and how much the
war, that it would infallibly occasion between the Courts of Vienna
and Berlin, would be contrary to her interests. What parts have our
Ministers acted in this circumstance? They let it escape like the
first; instead of conciliating the friendship of Austria, or renewing
that of Prussia, they have discovered the secret of disgusting these
two powers, as well as nearly all those of Europe; they have suffered
that France should be the mediator between them, and make their peace.