flatter myself will be found sufficient, if the people are once
convinced of the necessity of them. When a people are contending not
only for the greatest object, that any people ever had in view, but
for security from the greatest evil that any nation ever had to dread,
(for there is at this hour no medium between unlimited subjugation to
Parliament and entire sovereignty) they must be destitute of sense as
well as of virtue, if they are not willing to pay sufficient sums
annually to defray the necessary expense of their defence in future,
supported as they are by so powerful an ally, and by the prospect of
others, against a kingdom already exhausted, without any ally at all,
or a possibility of obtaining one. As this is the first time I have
had the honor to address myself to Congress, since we received the
news of your Excellency's appointment to the chair, you will please
to accept of my congratulations on that event.
I have the honor to be, with the highest esteem, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO JOHN JAY, PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Passy, March 1st, 1779.
Sir,
My last letter to Congress was on the twentyseventh of last month;
since which an account of the new loan is received from London, and as
this may, perhaps, afford to Congress the clearest proof of the
weakness of their enemies, it is of importance, that it should be
transmitted to them. Some accounts say, that the loan is to be seven
millions, others eight. The conditions of the loan are, in general,
the established interest of three per cent, an annuity for three and
three quarters per cent for twentynine years, and seven lottery
tickets for every thousand pounds.
In one account the advantages are thus stated.
100 3 per cent, £61 00 00
£3 15s. annuity for twentynine years, at
twelve years' purchase, 45 00 00
Two fifths of a year's interest and annuity, gained
by both beginning from the 5th of January,
although the money is paid monthly, and
not ended until December, 2 14 00
£3 premium of seven lottery tickets for each
£1000, gives for each hundred, 2 2 00
---------
For each £100 paid, there is received £110 16 00
This statement for the first year is pretty accurate. Another account
makes it ten and one quarter per cent for the first year. The
subsequent years, however it will not be so much. Yet for all the
subsequent years, during the term of the annuity, it will be six and
three quarters per cent. Upon the whole, it is generally looked upon
as good as seven and a half per cent. In a country where the highest
interest, that is tolerated by the standing laws, is five per cent,
this is a terrible symptom.
While this system has any credit among the money lenders in Holland,
Switzerland, Geneva, &c. Congress will perceive, that there is little
hope of procuring a private loan for the United States from any of
those places. Whether any may be procured from any State, or Prince,
time must discover.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
M. DE LAFAYETTE TO JOHN ADAMS.
Translation.
St Germain, April 9th, 1779.
Dear Sir,
I beg leave to apply to you, in an instance where I am much concerned.
The case I shall lay before you, and recommend to your care. There is
an officer in Paris, whom I wish to send over to America on board the
Alliance, and who I know would be of service in the American army. For
that reason, besides his recommendations, I have a great regard for
him. I wish the gentleman may find a passage in the frigate. Dr
Franklin cannot officially send an officer, but I beg you would take
him along with you, as I take upon myself the charge of presenting him
to Congress. All the marks of kindness I ever met with from them, and
the knowledge which the strictest friendship has given me of General
Washington's sentiments, make me as certain as possible, that my
officer will meet with the best reception in Philadelphia and in the
army, who know I am acquainted with what may be convenient to them.
It is with a great concern, that I hear of discontents between Captain
Landais and his officers, and I flatter myself, that you will again
establish harmony and concord among them. I will take the opportunity
of this frigate to write over to my friends in America.
The articles alluded to in your letter from Passy, I have been very
busy about, but I did not meet with great success till now, and what
is done is not equal to what I could wish. It is true, our
circumstances are rather narrow at this moment, and I believe, that
the Ministers are willing to do what they think possible, or
advantageous, but we do not always agree in opinion. I hope, however,
America will have more and more occasions of knowing the true
attachment of this nation for her.
With great impatience I wait for your answer, that I may send the
officer to Nantes. I hope you will not refuse your patronage on this
occasion, and I may answer Congress will have no objection to take a
gentleman whom I send them. You will, my dear Sir, in settling his
passage, much oblige your humble servant,
LAFAYETTE.
* * * * *
TO ARTHUR LEE.
L'Orient, June 9th, 1779.
Dear Sir,
Your favors of June the 2d and 5th are now before me; that of the 29th
of March I have answered, if I ever received it, for I have answered
every one I have received from you, but not having my papers at hand
cannot be particular. I thank you for the manuscript and the pamphlet.
I am happy to hear from you, and from all others, so agreeable a
character of the Chevalier de la Luzerne, and M. Marbois, the last of
whom I have had the pleasure to see.
I wish it was in my power to do more for Mr Ford, and to take him with
me, but the frigate will be so crowded, I fear it will be impossible.
The declarations of the northern powers against the right of England
to stop their merchant vessels, and arming to support their rights,
are important events. The displacing of Mr Paine is a disagreeable and
alarming one.
It is with no small astonishment, that I learn by your letter of the
5th, that by advices from America since your last to me, your enemies
are determined to impeach your attachment to our country and her
cause. Your request that I would give my opinion on that subject, from
the knowledge I have had of your conduct, while we acted in commission
together, can meet with no objection from me. But I hope I need not
inform you, that my opinion upon this point is no secret at
Versailles, Paris, Nantes, or elsewhere. Enclosed is a copy of a
letter I did myself the honor to write to his Excellency the Count de
Vergennes some time ago, which, for anything I know, is communicated
to all the Court, but the answer shows that it was received. I had my
reasons then for keeping it to myself, which exist now no more. I
would transcribe the whole correspondence if it was in my power, but I
have not time, and it is sufficient to say, that it was conducted by
his Excellency with the most obliging politeness. It is my duty now to
furnish you with a copy, lest any accident may befal me, which is by
no means improbable. I thought then, and am confirmed in that opinion
more and more, that it was my duty to communicate my sentiments at
Court, upon that very extraordinary occasion, and from regard to my
own reputation, I am very glad you have given me an opportunity of
furnishing you with evidence, that I did this part of my duty so far
forth. The letter was written, sent to Versailles, and received by his
Excellency before the arrival of the Marquis de Lafayette, his
Aid-de-Camp, or Dr Winship; that is, before the news reached Passy of
the new arrangement.[45] But lest that letter should not be
sufficient, I shall enclose another certificate, not without a
heartfelt grief, that malice should have been so daring and so
barbarous, as to make either such a letter or such a certificate from
me either necessary or even pardonable.[46] Your hint, that I must
correct some things that are amiss, extorts from me an involuntary
sigh. I shall be in a situation critical and difficult without
example, my own character at stake from various quarters, and without
anything to support me but truth and innocence, and you need not be
informed, that these are not always sufficient. I have little
expectation of doing good; God grant I may do no harm. I shall not
designedly. But I suppose Congress intend to examine me as a witness,
and I must tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
as far as I know it. If the task should end here, I should not be much
embarrassed, but if they should proceed to demand of me opinions and
judgments of men and things, as there is reason to expect they will,
although I hope they will not, what will be the consequences? Upon the
whole, truth must be my shield, and if the shafts of interested malice
can pierce through this, they shall pierce me.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
FOOTNOTES:
[45] See this letter in Arthur Lee's Correspondence, Vol. II. p. 224.
[46] See as above, p. 249.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Braintree, August 3d, 1779.
Sir,
On the 27th of February, I had the honor of writing to Congress,
informing them of my intention of returning home, in consequence of
the commission which superseded mine. On the first of March, I had
again the honor of writing some information concerning the
unprecedented interest, which the British Government are obliged to
give for the loan of money for the service of the present year. On the
8th of March, I took my leave of the American Minister, and left Paris
for Nantes, in expectation of there meeting the Alliance, and sailing
in her for America in a few weeks. Upon my arrival at Nantes, I
learned the Alliance was yet at Brest, and so embarrassed with nearly
forty prisoners, who were supposed to have been concerned in a
conspiracy to carry her to England, and with other difficulties, that
it was uncertain when she would be ready.
The agent at Nantes at this time receiving a letter from his
Excellency, Dr Franklin, desiring him to consult me about the
direction of the Alliance, I thought it would expedite the public
service for me to make a journey to Brest, about two hundred miles,
which I undertook accordingly, and arrived at that port without loss
of time. There, after an attendance of some weeks, and much
negotiation with the Commandant, Intendant, and Agent, all things were
prepared for the frigate to sail for Nantes, with about one hundred
British prisoners, to be exchanged for a like number of American
prisoners, arrived there from England in a cartel. I returned to
Nantes, and the Alliance in a few days arrived in the river, the
prisoners were exchanged, about sixty enlisted in the Alliance, and
the rest in the Poor Richard, Captain Jones.
After accommodating all the difficulties with the British prisoners,
the American prisoners, the officers and crew of the Alliance, and
supplying all their necessary wants, Captain Landais, having orders to
sail for America, and everything ready to proceed to sea in a few
days, received unexpected orders to proceed to L'Orient, and wait
there for further orders. I had the honor of a letter at the same time
from his Excellency, enclosing one from the Minister of Marine, by
which I learned, that the King had been graciously pleased to grant me
a passage on board the frigate, which was to carry His Majesty's new
Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States, that the frigate was at
L'Orient, and that the Minister would be there in a few days. I went
in the Alliance from Nantes to L'Orient, where after some time the
frigate, the Sensible, arrived, but his Excellency, the Chevalier de
la Luzerne, did not arrive until the 10th of June. On the 14th of
June, and not before, I had the pleasure to be under sail, and on the
3d of August, arrived in Nantasket Roads.
I have entered into this detail of disappointments to justify myself
for not returning sooner, and to shew that it was not my fault, that I
was not at home in eight weeks from the first authentic information,
that I had nothing further to do in France. There is nothing remaining
for me to do but to settle my accounts with Congress; but as part of
my accounts are in conjunction with my late colleagues, with whom I
lived in the same house during my residence in Paris, I am not able to
judge whether Congress will choose to receive my accounts, or to wait
until the other Commissioners shall exhibit theirs, and have the whole
together, under one view, so as to do equal justice to all. I am
ready, however, to render all the account in my power, either jointly
or separately, whenever Congress shall order it, and I shall wait
their directions accordingly.
It is not in my power, having been so long from Paris, to give
Congress any news of importance, except that the Brest fleet, under
the Count d'Orvilliers, was at sea the beginning of June, that Admiral
Arbuthnot was at Plymouth the 31st of May, and that there was a
universal persuasion, arising from letters from Paris and London, that
Spain had decided against the English. The Chevalier de la Luzerne
will be able to give Congress satisfactory information upon this head.
I ought not to conclude this letter, without expressing my obligations
to Captain Chavagne, and the other officers of the Sensible, for their
civilities in the course of my passage home, and the pleasure I have
had in the conversation of his Excellency, the new Minister
Plenipotentiary from our august ally, and the Secretary to the
embassy, Monsieur Marbois.
The Chevalier de la Luzerne is a Knight of the Order of St John of
Jerusalem, of an ancient and noble family, connected by blood with
many characters of principal name in the kingdom, a grandson of the
celebrated Chancellor de la Moignon, a nephew of Monsieur Malesherbes,
perhaps still more famous as first President of the Court of Aids and
as a Minister of State, a brother to the Count de la Luzerne, and of
the Bishop of Sangres, one of the three Dukes and Peers who had the
honor to assist in the consecration of the King, a near relation of
the Marcéhal de Broglie and the Count his brother, and of many other
important personages in that country. Nor is his personal character
less respectable than his connexions, as he is possessed of much
useful information of all kinds, and particularly of the political
system of Europe, obtained in his late embassy in Bavaria; and of the
justest sentiments of the mutual interests of his country and ours,
and of the utility to both of that alliance, which so happily unites
them, and at the same time divested of all personal and party
attachments and aversions. Congress and their constituents, I flatter
myself, will have much satisfaction in his negotiations, as well as in
those of the Secretary to the embassy, who was recently Secretary to
the embassy in Bavaria, and who is a counsellor of the Parliament of
Metz, a gentleman whose abilities, application, and disposition cannot
fail to make him useful in the momentous office he sustains.
I have the honor to be, with great respect, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Braintree, August 4th, 1779.
Sir,
At the close of the service on which Congress have done me the honor
to send me, it may not be amiss to submit a few remarks to their
consideration on the general state of affairs in Europe, as far as
they relate to the interests of the United States. As the time
approaches, when our relations with the most considerable States in
Europe will multiply and assume a greater stability, they deserve the
attention of Americans in general, but especially of those composing
their supreme council.
France deserves the first place among those powers, with which our
connexions will be the most intimate, and it is with pleasure I am
able to assure Congress, that from the observations I have made during
my residence in that Kingdom, I have the strongest reasons to believe,
that their august ally, his Ministers, and nation, are possessed of
the fullest persuasion of the justice of our cause, of the great
importance of our independence to their interests, and the firmest
resolution to preserve the faith of treaties inviolate, and to
cultivate our friendship with sincerity and zeal. This is of the more
consequence to us, as this power enjoys in Europe at this hour an
influence, which it has not before experienced for many years.
Men are so sensible of a constant tendency in others to excesses, that
a signal superiority of power never appears, without exciting
jealousies and efforts to reduce it. Thus, when Spain, under Charles
the Fifth and his successor, made herself dangerous, a great part of
Europe united against her, assisted in severing the United Provinces
from her, and by degrees greatly diminished her power. Thus, when
France, under Lewis the Fourteenth, indulged the spirit of conquest
too far, a great part of mankind united their forces against her, with
such success as to involve her in a train of misfortunes, out of which
she never emerged before the present reign. The English, in their
turn, by means of their commerce and extensive settlements abroad,
arose to a degree of opulence and naval power, which excited more
extravagant passions in her own breast, and more tyrannical exertions
of her influence, than appeared in either of the other cases. The
consequence has been similar, but more remarkable. Europe seems to be
more universally and sincerely united in the desire of reducing her,
than they ever were in any former instance. This is the true cause why
the French Court never made war with so universal a popularity among
their own subjects, so general an approbation of other Courts, and
such unanimous wishes among all nations for her success, as at this
time.
The personal character of the King, his declared patronage of morals
and economy, and the great strokes of wisdom, which have marked the
commencement of his reign, the active spring which has been given to
commerce by the division of the British empire, and our new connexions
with his subjects; all these causes, together with the two treaties of
peace, which have been lately signed under his auspices and his
mediation, have given to this power a reputation, which the last reign
had lost.
The first of these treaties has determined those controversies, which
had for a long time divided Russia and the Porte, and the parties have
been equally satisfied with the conditions of their reconciliation, a
circumstance the more honorable for the French Ministry, and the
Chevalier de St Priest, their Ambassador at Constantinople, as it is
uncommon. The ancient confidence of the Porte in the Court of
Versailles has revived, and the coolness, or rather enmity, which
divided France and Russia for near twenty years, gives place to a
friendship, which is at this time in all its fervor, and will probably
be durable, as these powers have no interest to annoy each other, but,
on the contrary, are able to assist each other in a manner the most
essential.
The peace of Germany, signed at Teschin, the 13th of last May, has not
equally satisfied the belligerent powers, who were on the one part the
Emperor, and on the other, the King of Prussia and the Elector of
Saxony his ally.
From the multitudes of writings, which have appeared before and during
this war, in which the causes, the motives, and the rights of it are
discussed, it appears, that in 1768, at the extinction of one of the
branches of the House of Bavaria, which has been separated from its
trunk for near five centuries, the House of Austria thought itself
able, and priests and lawyers among their own subjects were
complaisant enough to tell her, that she had a right to put herself in
possession of the best part of the patrimony of the extinguished line.
The King of Prussia, to whose interest this augmentation of power
would have been dangerous, has crowned an illustrious reign, by
displaying all the resources of military genius and profound policy in
opposition to it. While he contended in the field, France negotiated,
and the work, begun by his arms, was completed by the cabinet of
Versailles.
The Palatine House of Bavaria, the Duke of Deux Ponts, and
particularly the Elector of Saxony, have obtained all they could
reasonably demand, and the empire has preserved its balance of power
in spite of its head. The King of Prussia had covered himself with
glory, to which he put the finishing stroke, by not demanding any
compensation for the expenses of the war. All parties have been
satisfied except the Emperor, who has disordered his finances, ruined
his Kingdom of Bohemia with immense fines, has not obtained any
advantage over his adversary, and consequently has destroyed among his
own troops the opinion they had of their superiority, and, in fine,
has sustained a loss the most sensible for a young Prince just
beginning to reign, the reputation of justice and moderation. It is
the influence, the address, and ability of the French Minister, joined
to the firmness of Russia, which have completed this work; and Lewis
the Sixteenth has restored in Germany to the nation over which he
reigns, that reputation which his grandfather had lost.
The merit of the Chevalier de la Luzerne, who was Ambassador in
Bavaria during the transaction of this business, and that of M.
Marbois, the Secretary to that embassy, in accomplishing an affair of
such importance, which was rendered peculiarly delicate by the late
family connexion between the Courts of Vienna and Versailles, was
probably a motive for sending them now to America, a mission of no
less importance and no less delicacy.
It is not probable, however, that they could have succeeded so soon,
if England could have afforded subsidies to the Emperor. The
Revolution in America, in which the French King has taken an earlier
and a greater part than any other Sovereign in Europe, has operated so
as to conciliate to him a consideration that is universal. The new
Minister will give to Congress information the most precise in this
respect, and touching the part which Spain is taking at this time, for
which reason I shall refrain from entering into it, and content myself
with observing, that all these considerations ought to induce us to
cherish the alliance of France; and that every good citizen of the
United States ought to endeavor to destroy the remains of those
prejudices, which our ancient rulers have endeavored to inspire us
with; that we have nothing to fear and much to hope from France, while
we conduct ourselves with good sense and firmness, and that we cannot
take too much pains to multiply the commercial relations, and
strengthen the political connexions between the two nations; provided
always, that we preserve prudence and resolution enough to receive
implicitly no advice whatever, but to judge always for ourselves, and
to guard ourselves against those principles in government, and those
manners, which are so opposite to our own Constitution and to our own
characters, as a young people, called by Providence to the most
honorable and important of all duties, that of forming establishments
for a great nation and a new world.