Graves, the event is uncertain. From the near equality of force, and
the equality of bravery and of naval science which now prevails
everywhere, I think we cannot depend upon anything decisive in such an
engagement, unless it be from the particular character of Graves, whom
I know personally to be neither a great man, nor a great officer. If
there should be no decision in a naval battle, Graves and his fleet
must lay at New York, and M. de Ternay and his, at Rhode Island. I
readily agree, that this will be a great advantage to the common
cause, for the reasons mentioned in my letter to your Excellency of
the 13th of this month. But still I beg leave to suggest to your
Excellency, whether it would not be for the good of the common cause
to have still further resources in view, whether circumstances may not
be such in the West Indies, as to enable M. de Guichen to despatch
ships to the reinforcement of M. de Ternay, or whether it may not
consist with the King's service to despatch ships from Europe for that
purpose, and further, whether the Court of Spain cannot be convinced
of the policy of keeping open the communication between the United
States and the French and Spanish Islands in the West Indies, so as to
co-operate with France and the United States in the system of keeping
up a constant superiority of naval power, both upon the coasts of
North America and in the West India Islands. This is the true plan
which is finally to humble the English, and give the combined forces
the advantage.
The English, in the course of the last war, derived all their
triumphs, both upon the Continent of America and the Islands, from the
succors they received from their Colonies. And I am sure that France
and Spain, with attention to the subject, may receive assistance in
this war, from the same source equally decisive.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
[7] See this memorial, or letter, in the Commissioners'
Correspondence, Vol. I. page 500.
* * * * *
COUNT DE VERGENNES TO JOHN ADAMS.
Translation.
Versailles, July 29th, 1780.
Sir,
I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write me on
the 27th of this month. When I took upon myself to give you a mark of
my confidence, by informing you of the destination of Messrs de Ternay
and Rochambeau, I did not expect the animadversion, which you have
thought it your duty to make on a passage of my letter of the 20th of
this month. To avoid any further discussions of that sort, I think it
my duty to inform you, that Mr Franklin being the sole person who has
letters of credence to the King from the United States, it is with him
only that I ought and can treat of matters, which concern them, and
particularly of that which is the subject of your observations.
Besides, Sir, I ought to observe to you, that the passage in my
letter, which you have thought it your duty to consider more
particularly, relates only to sending the fleet commanded by the
Chevalier de Ternay, and had nothing further in view, than to convince
you, that the King did not stand in need of your solicitations to
induce him to interest himself in the affairs of the United States.
I have the honor to be, &c.
DE VERGENNES.
* * * * *
COUNT DE VERGENNES TO B. FRANKLIN.
Translation.
Versailles, July 31st, 1780.
Sir,
The character with which you are invested, your wisdom, and the
confidence I have in your principles and sentiments, induce me to
communicate to you a correspondence, which I have had with Mr Adams.
You will find, I think, in the letters of that Plenipotentiary,
opinions and a turn, which do not correspond either with the manner
in which I explained myself to him, or with the intimate connexion
which subsists between the King and the United States. You will make
that use of these pieces, which your prudence shall suggest. As to
myself, I desire, that you will transmit them to Congress, that they
may know the line of conduct, which Mr Adams pursues with regard to
us, and that they may judge whether he is endowed, as Congress no
doubt desires, with that conciliating spirit, which is necessary for
the important and delicate business, with which he is intrusted.[8]
I have the honor to be, &c.
DE VERGENNES.
[8] A copy of the Correspondence between Count de Vergennes and Mr
Adams, respecting the communication of his powers to the British
Ministry, being forwarded to Congress, a committee was appointed to
consider the subject. Conformably to their report, the President wrote
to Mr Adams the following letter in the name of Congress, on the 10th
of January, 1781.
"Sir,
"Congress considers your correspondence with the Count de Vergennes,
on the subject of communicating your Plenipotentiary powers to the
Ministry of Great Britain, as flowing from your zeal and assiduity in
the service of your country; but I am directed to inform you, that the
opinion given to you by that Minister, relative to the time and
circumstances proper for communicating your powers, and entering upon
the execution of them, is well founded.
"Congress have no expectations from the influence, which the people
may have on the British counsels, whatever may be the dispositions of
that nation or their magistrates towards these United States, nor are
they of opinion, that a change of Ministry would produce a change of
measures. They therefore hope, that you will be very cautious of
admitting your measures to be influenced by presumptions of such
events, or their probable consequences.
"I am, &c.
S. HUNTINGTON,
_President of Congress._
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Amsterdam, August 14th, 1780.
Sir,
On the 27th of July I set out from Paris on a journey to Amsterdam. I
left Mr Dana, and Mr Thaxter at Paris, who will regularly transmit to
Congress whatever shall occur of importance to the United States to
know. They will also enclose all the English, French, and Dutch
gazettes. They are exerting themselves in this Republic to man their
ships of war, in which they have great success, as they give very
great premiums for seamen, as far as sixty ducats a man. The Russian
men-of-war are arrived and anchored in sight of the Texel, and several
of their officers have been ashore in this city. The Plenipotentiaries
are gone to Petersburg. Sweden and Denmark have adopted the
declaration of Russia. It is whispered, that the Dutch Ministers to
the Congress at Petersburg are shackled with instructions, to insist
on a warranty of their possessions in the East and West Indies,
previous to their acceding to the confederation of the maritime
powers, but this instruction produced a protest of the city of
Amsterdam, with such reasons against it, that it is thought the
opposite party will not venture to take upon themselves the
consequences of a refusal to join in the confederation; so that it is
expected the treaty will take place.
It is universally considered as a great misfortune to us, by all whom
I converse with here, that Mr Laurens is not arrived. Some prudent
person, authorised by Congress, is earnestly desired here. He would
not be publicly received, at least until the States shall take a
decided part with the other maritime powers against England; this
case, however, may soon happen. But there is not in Europe a better
station to collect intelligence from France, Spain, England, Germany,
and all the northern parts, nor a better situation, from whence to
circulate intelligence through all parts of Europe than this. And it
may be depended on, that our cause has never suffered from anything
more than from the failure of giving and receiving intelligence. A
Minister here, from Congress, would be considered as the centre of
communication between America and this, and many other parts of
Europe; and I have since my arrival here, been more convinced than
ever, that Congress might open a considerable loan here, and be
supplied from hence with stores and with clothing, and at the same
time be gradually extending the commerce between this country and
America, to the great advantage of both. I have had a great deal of
conversation upon the subject of a loan, and shall have more. I am
sure that a loan might be obtained by any one with powers from
Congress. But there are no powers as yet arrived in Europe that will
ever succeed here.
We are still in daily hope and expectation that Mr Laurens will
arrive; but should he decline to come, or in case any accident has
befallen him, I most earnestly recommend to Congress the appointment
of some other gentleman, with a proper commission, with full powers
and especially to borrow money, and to sign proper promissory notes
for the payment of it.
The King of Sweden is at Spa, from whence in the letter of the 30th of
July the public are informed, that his Majesty, the first who during
the present maritime war has given validity to the rights of neuters,
by means of the declaration which he caused to be made the last year
to the belligerent powers, and by means of the protection which he
granted from that time to the commerce and the navigation of his
subjects, in sending out from his ports a numerous squadron, has
manifested the consistency of his sentiments and disposition in this
respect, by a new declaration, lately made to the Courts of Madrid,
Versailles, and London, an authentic copy of which here follows.
DECLARATION OF SWEDEN.
"From the commencement of the present war, the King has taken care to
make known his fashion of thinking to all Europe; he has prescribed to
himself a perfect neutrality; he has discharged the duties of it with
scrupulous exactness; he has thought himself entitled to enjoy in
consequence of it the rights attached to the quality of a sovereign
absolutely neuter. Notwithstanding his trading subjects have been
obliged to demand his protection, and his Majesty has found himself
under a necessity of granting it to them. To fulfil this object, the
King caused to be armed the last year a certain number of vessels; one
part of them he employed upon the coasts of his kingdom, and the other
has served to convoy the Swedish merchant vessels, in the different
seas where the commerce of his subjects called them to navigate; he
communicated these measures to the belligerent powers, and he prepared
himself to continue them in the course of the present year, when other
Courts, which had equally adopted a neutrality, communicated to him
the dispositions which they had made, conformable with those of the
King, and tending to the same end. The Empress of Russia caused to be
presented a declaration to the Courts of London, Versailles, and
Madrid, by which she informed them of the resolution she had taken to
defend the commerce of her subjects, and the universal rights of
neutral nations. This declaration was founded upon principles so just,
that it did not appear possible to call them in question. The King has
found them entirely conformable to his own cause, to the treaty
concluded in 1666, between Sweden and England, and to that between
Sweden and France; and his Majesty has not been able to excuse himself
from acknowledging and adopting these same principles, not only with
regard to the powers with whom the said treaties are in force, but
also with relation to those who are already involved in the present
war, or who may become so in the sequel, and with whom the King has no
treaty to appeal to. It is the universal law, and in default of
particular engagements, this becomes obligatory upon all nations. In
consequence of which, the King declares once more, that he will
observe in future the same neutrality, and with the same exactness,
which he has observed heretofore. He will forbid his subjects, under
severe penalties, to deviate in any manner whatsoever from the duties
which a similar neutrality imposes; but he will protect their lawful
commerce by all means possible, when they shall conduct it conformably
to the principles abovementioned."
From Hamburg, the 1st of August, we have the following article. "All
nations and all commercial cities being interested in the liberty of
the seas and the safety of navigation, attacked and violated in our
days, in a manner whereof history furnishes few examples, we have not
learned here with less joy than in the rest of Europe, (if we except
perhaps Great Britain,) the generous resolution which the three Powers
of the North have taken to protect, by an armed neutrality, the
commerce of their subjects, and at the same time the rights of all
nations; rights immemorial, which honor and justice alone ought to
cause to be respected, without having occasion to recur to the
sanction of treaties. The Court of Denmark has adopted these
principles into the declaration, which, after the example of Russia,
she has made to the belligerent powers, and which is conceived in
these terms."
DECLARATION OF DENMARK.
"If a neutrality the most exact and the most perfect, with a
navigation the most regular, and an inviolable respect for treaties
had been sufficient to place the freedom of commerce of the subjects
of the King of Denmark and Norway in a state of safety from these
misfortunes, which ought to be unknown to nations which are at peace,
and who are free and independent, it would not be necessary to take
new measures to insure them this liberty to which they have a right
the most incontestible.
"The King of Denmark has always founded his glory and his grandeur
upon the esteem and the confidence of other people; he has made it a
law to himself, from the commencement of his reign, to manifest to all
the powers, his friends, a conduct the most capable of convincing them
of his pacific sentiments, and of his sincere desire to contribute to
the general prosperity of Europe. His proceedings, the most uniform
and which nothing can conceal, are a proof of this. He has not
hitherto addressed himself, but to the belligerent powers themselves,
to obtain the redress of his grievances; and he has never failed of
moderation in his demands, nor of gratitude when they have had the
success, which they ought to have. But the neutral navigation has been
too often molested, and the most innocent commerce of his subjects
too frequently disturbed, for the King not to think himself obliged to
take at present measures proper to assure to himself and to his
allies, the safety of commerce and navigation, and the maintenance of
the indispensable rights of liberty and independence. If the duties of
neutrality are sacred, if the law of nations has also its decrees
adopted by all impartial nations, established by custom, and founded
in equity and reason, an independent and neutral nation does not lose
by the war of another the rights which it had before that war, because
that peace continues for her with all the belligerent people, without
receiving, and without having to follow, the laws of any of them. She
is authorised to make in all places, (the contraband excepted) the
traffic, which she would have a right to make if peace existed in all
Europe, as it exists for her. The King pretends to nothing beyond that
which neutrality entitles him to. Such is his rule and that of his
people, and his Majesty not being able to avow the principle, that a
belligerent nation has a right to interrupt the commerce of his
States, he has thought it a duty, which he owed to himself and to his
people, faithful observers of his regulations, and to the powers at
war themselves, to lay open to them the following principles, which he
has always had, and which he will always avow, and maintain in concert
with her Majesty the Empress of all the Russias, whose sentiments he
acknowledges to be entirely conformable to his own.
"1st. That neutral vessels may navigate freely from port to port, and
upon the coasts of nations at war.
"2d. That the effects belonging to the subjects of the powers at war
may be free upon neutral vessels, excepting merchandises of
contraband.
"3d. That nothing be understood by this denomination of contraband,
but that which is expressly defined as such in the third article of
the Treaty of Commerce with Great Britain, in 1770, and in the
twentysixth and twentyseventh articles of his treaty of commerce with
France, in 1742; and the King will equally avow that, which is fixed
in these articles towards the powers, with which he has no treaty.
"4th. That we should consider as a port blocked, that into which no
vessel can enter without an evident danger, by reason of ships of war,
stationed to form very near an effectual blockade.
"5th. That these principles serve as a rule, in all proceedings, and
that justice be rendered with despatch and according to the documents
of the sea, conformably to treaties and to received usages.
"His Majesty does not hesitate to declare, that he will maintain these
principles, as well as the honor of his flag, and the liberty and
independence of commerce, and of the navigation of his subjects; and
it is to this end, that he has caused to be armed a part of his fleet,
although he desires to preserve with all the powers at war, not only
the good intelligence, but even all the intimacy, which a neutrality
can admit. The King will never deviate from this, without being
forced; he knows the duties and the obligations of it; he respects
them as much as his treaties, and desires nothing but to maintain
them. His Majesty is also persuaded, that the belligerent powers will
do justice to these motives; that they will be as far as he is himself
from everything, which oppresses the natural liberty of men, and that
they will give to their Admiralties and to their officers, orders
conformable to the principles here announced, which evidently tend to
the prosperity and the interest of all Europe.
"Copenhagen, July the 8th, 1780."
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO B. FRANKLIN.
Amsterdam, August 17th, 1780.
Sir,
I was never more amused with political speculations, than since my
arrival in this country. Every one has his prophecy, and every
prophecy is a paradox. One says, America will give France the go-by.
Another, that France and Spain will abandon America. A third, that
Spain will forsake France and America. A fourth, that America has the
interest of all Europe against her. A fifth, that she will become the
greatest manufacturing country, and thus ruin Europe. A sixth, that
she will become a great military and naval power, and will be very
ambitious, and so terrible to Europe. In short, it seems, as if they
had studied for every impossibility, and agreed to foretell it, as a
probable future event.
I tell the first, that if the King of France would release America
from her treaty, and England would agree to our independence, on
condition we would make an alliance offensive and defensive with her,
America ought not to accept it, and would not, because she will in
future have no security for peace, even with England, but in her
treaty with France. I ask the second, whether he thinks the connexion
of America of so little consequence to France and Spain, that they
would lightly give it up. I ask the third, whether the family compact
added to the connexion with America, is a trifling consideration to
Spain. To the fifth, I say, that America will not make manufactures
enough for her own consumption these thousand years. And to the sixth,
that we love peace, and hate war so much, that we can scarcely keep up
an army necessary to defend ourselves against the greatest of evils,
and to secure our independence, which is the greatest of blessings;
and, therefore, while we have land enough to conquer from the trees
and rocks and wild beasts, we shall never go abroad to trouble other
nations.
To the fourth I say, that their paradox is like several others, viz,
that Bacchus and Ceres did mischief to mankind, when they invented
wine and bread; that arts, sciences, and civilization have been
general calamities, &c. That upon their supposition, all Europe ought
to agree to bring away the inhabitants of America, and divide them
among the nations of Europe, to be maintained as paupers, leaving
America to be overgrown again with trees and bushes, and to become
again the habitations of bears and Indians, forbidding all navigation
to that quarter of the world in future. That mankind in general,
however, are probably of a different opinion, believing that Columbus,
as well as Bacchus and Ceres, did a service to mankind, and that
Europe and America will be rich blessings to each other, the one
supplying a surplus of manufactures, and the other a surplus of raw
materials, the productions of agriculture.
It is very plain, however, that speculation and disputation can do us
little service. No facts are believed, but decisive military
conquests; no arguments are seriously attended to in Europe but force.
It is to be hoped, our countrymen, instead of amusing themselves any
longer with delusive dreams of peace, will bend the whole force of
their minds to augment their navy, to find out their own strength and
resources, and to depend upon themselves.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Amsterdam, August 22d, 1780.
Sir,
In a letter of the 14th instant, I had the honor to transmit to
Congress the declaration of the Courts of Sweden and Denmark,
conformable to that of Russia, which have been presented to the
belligerent powers. I now send the answer of the King of France to the
declaration of Sweden. It is conceived in these terms.
_Answer of France to the Declaration of Sweden._
"The King has constantly desired, that the neutral powers should not
receive any damage by the war in which his Majesty is engaged; his
orders have assured to the vessels belonging to these powers the
enjoyment of all the liberty, which the laws of the sea allow them;
and if any individual navigators have had cause to complain of having
suffered by the violence of the subjects of his Majesty, he has
rendered them immediate and ample justice.
His Majesty has seen with satisfaction in the declaration which has
been presented to him, on behalf of the King of Sweden, that it was
the intention of this Prince, to continue to protect the navigation of
his subjects against all violence; that even his Swedish Majesty had
resolved to take measures, in concert with other Courts, and
especially with the Empress of Russia, to accomplish more effectually
this purpose. The King cannot but wish, that the confederation of his
Swedish Majesty with those powers, may produce the benefit which they
promise themselves from it; that the ocean may be free, conformably to
the law of nations and to treaties, which are known to be nothing more
than explanations of that law; and, in fine, that all the nations who
have no part in the war, may not suffer the evils of it. His Majesty
has renewed to the officers of his marine, and to the privateers which
carry his flag, orders entirely conformable to the principles, upon
which must depend the safety and tranquillity of all neutral vessels.
For a stronger reason still, the subjects of the King of Sweden ought
to be assured, that they will meet with no obstruction from those of
his Majesty, since there is no Frenchman, who is ignorant of the
alliance and friendship, which has so long subsisted between the two
Crowns.
"The precautions which his Swedish Majesty has taken, as they must
confine the Swedish navigators within the bounds of the most exact
neutrality, so they will be a new motive for them to demand the
execution of those laws, of which their master discovers himself to be
a zealous defender; laws, which the King ardently wishes to see
adopted by the unanimous concurrence of all the powers, in such a
manner, that no one may have to suffer by the war, if his sovereign
does not take a part in it, provided he shall conform to the rules
prescribed, to prevent all abuse of the neutral flag. Versailles, 4th
of August, 1780."
In a London paper of the 15th of August, are the following queries of
the Court of Sweden, relative to the proposal, which the Court of
Russia has made for the reciprocal protection and navigation of their
subjects.
_Queries of the Court of Sweden._
"1st. How, and in what manner, a reciprocal protection and mutual
assistance shall be given?
"2d. Whether each particular power shall be obliged to protect the
general commerce of, the whole, or if, in the meantime, it may employ
a part of its armament in the protection of its own particular
commerce?
"3d. If several of their combined squadrons should meet, or, for
example, one or more of their vessels, what shall be the rule of their
conduct towards each other, and how far shall the neutral protection
extend?
"4th. It seems essential to agree upon the manner, in which
representations shall be made to the powers at war, if,
notwithstanding our measures, their ships of war, or armed vessels,
should continue to interrupt our commerce in any manner; must these
remonstrances be made in the general name of the united powers, or
shall each particular power plead its own cause only?