resolutions, I never found one that dared to expose the true cause of
their miseries, and to propose a remedy, until the association of the
county of York appeared, which was agreed to by the committee of
sixtyone, to be recommended to the general meeting of the county of
York, held the 28th of March, 1780.
They declare their unanimous assent,
1st. To the economical reform requested by the petitions of the
people.
2dly. To the proposition for obtaining a more equal representation of
the people in Parliament, by the addition of at least one hundred
Knights, to be chosen in a due proportion by the several counties of
Great Britain.
3dly. To the proposition for the members of the House of Commons to be
elected, to serve in Parliament for a term not exceeding three years.
But the most important resolution of all was also unanimous, "That it
is the opinion of this meeting, that the prosecution of an offensive
war in America is most evidently a measure, which, by employing our
great and enormously expensive military operations against the
inhabitants of that country, prevents this from exerting its united,
vigorous, and firm efforts against the powers of France and Spain,
and has no other effect upon America, than to continue, and thereby to
increase the enmity, which has so long and so fatally subsisted
between the arms of both, can be productive of no good whatever, but
by preventing conciliation, threatens the accomplishment of the ruin
of the British Empire."
This meeting, which is said to have been the largest ever known, and
perfectly unanimous, gave power to the committee of association to
call the county together when they should judge proper.
After all, even this committee does not appear to see the true
interest of the country, the necessity of peace. Peace alone can save
them. They are for leaving America, which is a great thing; but it
does not appear but that they are still for continuing the war with
our allies.
An article of the 4th of April says, that commotions are reported to
have arisen in the County of York, many of the inhabitants of which
have peremptorily refused to pay the taxes.
Congress will observe by the paragraphs in the Morning Post of April
the 1st, that they seem to be in England totally ignorant of the
designs of the Empress of Russia, and of the other neutral powers.
The paper of April the 3d contains Major General Campbell's and
Lieutenant Colonel Dickson's account of the surrender of the port of
Baton Rouge, &c. with about five hundred regular troops prisoners of
war, to Don Bernado de Galvez, the 21st of September.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Paris, April 14th, 1780.
Sir,
Everything which tends to show the probability of a general
association of the maritime powers, against the violences at sea,
which the English have practised, and which other nations, after their
example, have begun, and which tends to prove the justice, the wisdom,
and the humanity of such an association, is worthy of observation. For
my own part, I think, that the abolition of the whole doctrine of
contraband would be for the peace and happiness of mankind; and I
doubt not, as human reason advances, and men come to be more sensible
of the benefits of peace, and less enthusiastic for the savage glories
of war, all neutral nations will be allowed, by universal consent, to
carry what goods they please in their own ships, provided they are not
bound to places actually invested by an enemy.
_Constantinople, March the 3d._ "The Porte having received the
disagreeable news, that three xebecs from Malta had seized upon a
large Turkish ship with a rich cargo of coffee, rice, hemp, and other
productions, this advice has accelerated the departure of two
men-of-war and four gallies, which will go before the fleet of the
Grand Admiral, to cruise in the Archipelago, and protect the
navigation of the European nations against the vexations of the French
and English."
_Copenhagen, March the 28th._ "Captain Zagel, the courier of her
Majesty, the Empress of all the Russias, is returned to Petersburgh,
accompanied by Captain Socolousky, Secretary of the Russian Consul in
the Sound. They are very busy here in equipping the vessels of war,
the Wagrie, of sixtyfour guns, the Infodstretten, of sixtyfour, and
the frigate Combord, of thirtyfour."
_London, April the 4th._ "There are lately arrived here interesting
despatches to government from Sir Joseph Yorke, which contain some
further explanations of the dispositions of the Republic, in
consequence of the last Memorial presented to their High Mightinesses
by that Minister, and the resolution to protect the commerce of their
subjects. However this may be, there are actually in the ports of this
kingdom fifty Dutch vessels seized by our ships of war, because they
were found loaded with naval stores for our enemies; and, already the
most of their cargoes have been adjudged good prizes. These articles
being considered as contraband, and their transportation to an enemy
contrary to treaties subsisting between the Republic and England."
_Hague, April the 9th._ "We learn, that the States of the Province of
Overyssell have sent to the Assembly of their High Mightinesses their
instructions, relative to the two Memorials presented by Sir Joseph
Yorke, the 28th of July, and the 26th of November, of the last year,
the first purporting a demand of succors stipulated by the treaty of
1678, and the second demanding an immediate and categorical answer.
The contents of the instructions are, 'That their Noble Mightinesses,
after having maturely reflected upon all which concerns the matter in
question, especially upon the treaties existing between the kingdom
and the Republics, as well as the obligations, which the two nations
had mutually laid themselves under, and also in particular, upon the
present situation in which this republic now stands in several points
respecting her own preservation, the maintenance of her rights and
possessions, and respecting the powers actually at war, judge, that
the two Memorials presented by Sir Joseph Yorke may and ought to be
answered in the following manner. That all the principles alleged, and
the circumstances at this time existing, oblige their High
Mightinesses more than ever to watch carefully their own preservation
and defence, to use every effort to ward off all further dangerous
consequences, and to this end, to request his Majesty not to take it
in ill part, if in the critical situation of affairs, in which the
least diminution of their forces might be dangerous, their High
Mightinesses think themselves lawfully authorised to refuse the
succors demanded by his Majesty, although these succors, considering
certain engagements, the pretended application of which it would be
useless at this time to search into, may be judged indispensable by
his Majesty, in the firm confidence, that, in the circumstances in
which their High Mightinesses find themselves, his Majesty, not
disapproving, of their conduct, will desist, not only from demanding
their assistance, but on the contrary, as a proof of the affection of
which his Majesty had so often given them assurances, will permit them
invariably to pursue that neutrality, which from the beginning of the
present troubles they have adopted.'
"It is asserted, that on the Memorial presented by the Prince
Gallitzen, Envoy Extraordinary of the Empress of Russia, their High
Mightinesses have provisionally concluded, 'That having taken the said
Memorial into consideration, the deputies of the respective Provinces
have sent copies of it, as well as of the papers annexed to it, to be
communicated to their Assemblies, praying them to procure, as soon as
possible, the resolutions of the States, their constituents.'
"In the meantime, since the said Memorial has been made public, it is
given out, that the convention between the Courts of Petersburgh,
Stockholm, and Copenhagen, will in a little time be confirmed, and
that Denmark will procure, on certain conditions, five or six thousand
seamen for this Republic.
"We learn that the answer of his Britannic Majesty to the
representations which the Count de Walderen, Minister of the
States-General at the Court of London, has been charged by their High
Mightinesses to make to the British Government, relative to a
prolongation of the term of three weeks, prescribed in the last
Memorial of Sir Joseph Yorke, for giving him a definitive answer, &c.
arrived the 31st of last month, and is found to be in the negative,
the King insisting on an answer by the time fixed, which will expire
next Tuesday.
"They give out, that the cities of Dantzic, Lubec, Bremen, Hamburgh,
&c. will adopt, as well as most of the northern powers, the party of
neutrality, and that, if England persists in the practice of visiting,
stopping, and searching neutral vessels, Denmark is resolved to
exclude English vessels from the Sound."
To judge of things the most impartially, no man can doubt, that
proceedings so violent, and so contrary to the natural rights of
nations, will make the neutral powers _feel_ how much it imports them
to set bounds to the intolerable excesses, to which their vessels,
sailing under the faith of treaties, are daily exposed by the ships of
one party in the present war.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Paris, April 15th, 1780.
Sir,
There is an article from Hamburgh which deserves attention; it is
this.
"The neutrality of the powers of the north is decided. They have
profited of the divisions, which have arisen between England and North
America, by selling to the former, timber, cordage, hemp, and tar,
which she formerly drew from her Colonies. The occasions, which the
enemies of Great Britain have also had for these articles, have
established a competition, which has procured great advantages to the
commerce of the north. They have everywhere taken measures to protect
it."
In vain has England sought assistance from that quarter; her conduct
has irrevocably deprived her of it.
_Leghorn, 22d of March._ "We learn from Naples, that the King has
purchased of the Order of Malta two vessels, to increase the marine of
that kingdom. His Majesty is attentively engaged in the care of
forming officers for this department. The young gentry, whom he has
sent to serve on board of the squadrons of the belligerent powers,
have all of them distinguished themselves; and those who remain at
Naples, under the direction of the Chevalier Aston, have discovered
equal zeal, intelligence, and good will, for the service of the
marine."
_Madrid, 25th of March._ "Our squadrons, they write from Cadiz the
16th of this month, will put to sea without delay. Transport ships are
taken up on freight with great activity, and all the troops are
arrived. The following is an exact state of the armament.
"The complete regiments of the King, Guadalajara, Arragon, Soria, and
the second regiment of Catalonia; in all ten battalions, making six
thousand and six hundred men.
"The squadron of D. Solano; the St Louis, of eighty guns, the St
Augustine, the Orient, the Gaillard, the Arrogant, all of seventy
guns, and the Rule of sixty guns.
"The squadron of D. Tomaseo; the St Nicholas, of eighty guns, the
Eugene, the Damase, the St Janizer, the St Francis, the Assisse, and
the Warrior, all of seventy guns.
"The first squadron takes in provisions for five months, and the
second for four months and a half. They fill up the regiments, which
are destined for the expedition, with soldiers from the regiment of
Hibernia.
"The beautiful wools of Segovia have not been always employed within
the kingdom, because the love of labor has not been predominant; but
since the establishment of the royal patriotic society, industry has
recovered its activity. D. Laurent Ortiz de Paz has established
spinneries of wool in that city, and in St Ildephonso, and other
places. His Majesty has assigned rewards for men and women, who shall
distinguish themselves in this kind of labor. This measure cannot fail
to establish the royal manufacture of fine cloth, which the Marquis of
Enseñada had already erected at Segovia, and which had fallen into
decay with the favor of that Minister."
There are in some of the papers hints of a plan of pacification, which
is said to come from the Rockingham party. The substance of it is as
follows.
"Let us open our eyes! The hope of subjecting America is a chimera.
Nothing but clemency can ever open a way for a reconciliation with
its inhabitants. To show that we wish it sincerely let us give up Nova
Scotia, that dry, uninhabitable, and languishing colony, which
produces nothing. Let us also permit the Canadians to institute a form
of government, which may be agreeable to themselves, and let the
independence of North America become the object of our support. Sooner
or later it will be unavoidable, that America should separate herself
from us, and I should be very glad that a permanent system of alliance
should take place between them and their mother country, before our
ancient colonies shall be united to France, by ties too strict to be
relaxed. I am persuaded, that neither Nova Scotia nor Canada will
remain long under the government of England; and it is to be feared,
that in contending for them we shall still further embroil affairs.
Nova Scotia is not worth the trouble of keeping it, and it will
require continual succors. Canada will occasion us more expense than
it will bring us in profit, and will never become flourishing under an
European government; at least unless the whole country should be
recovered. We deceive ourselves if we imagine, that by emancipating
the Americans we shall lose our American islands. We hold these by the
strongest of all ties, which is, that of their own interest. North
America will not seek to make conquests so long as it shall be divided
into distinct States, and under a republican form of government; and
it is probable, that several centuries will pass away before she will
change the form of her administrations. Commerce will return into
England, and into our islands, without any other motive than that
which actuates all the commercial nations of the earth. If we were now
disembarrassed of the objects of dispute, concerning which Spain
discovers so many pretensions, and if we could content ourselves with
a superiority at sea, all that would result from it would be, that our
trade to the Levant would increase, we should become more respectable,
and we should see ourselves more in a condition to maintain our
quarrels, and protect our rich possessions, without hazarding a
bankruptcy by expenses, which we cannot sustain. Our maritime power
will always be sufficient to protect our islands. Our naval forces
will never want anything so long as we shall have divers markets,
where our vessels may go. The northern powers of Europe, and the
northern States of America, will be competitors to serve us, so long
as we preserve the superiority upon the sea, and while, by means of
our manufacturers, we can pay for them, or make an advantageous
exchange, with the one and the other. We have as good a right to
things, which we can purchase in divers foreign markets, as if the
things were the productions of our own establishments.
"Are France and Spain in want of warlike stores? Are they not as well
supplied with them as we are? And do they not make Sweden rather
incline to their side, by means of their commerce with that country
for these articles? Is it probable that they can ever shut up from us
the ports of America, of Russia, of Denmark, and of Sweden, while it
is the interest of these States to furnish us? It is necessary, then,
to resolve to demand peace by the means which offer themselves, and
which are not only able to obtain it, but may still be preserved, and
in which there is no appearance that we shall be disturbed, if, at
least, at all times we preserve our marine upon a respectable footing;
and, if we do not, we ever subject ourselves to be restrained upon the
article of the number of ships, and in the places where we shall
employ them. In that case we shall not perceive that Gibraltar or
Minorca is wanting to us. We shall always be ready to meet our enemies
in those parts where our safety, security, and riches lie, and which
nature points out to us as our proper element. Surrounded on all sides
by the sea, there is one half of the nation whose inhabitants
understand navigation, from their infancy, and they are disposed to
become seamen because they are almost educated with the sea. But
whenever we shall engage ourselves in the wars of the continent, we
shall never draw from them any solid advantages. Where are the
trophies so dearly purchased of King William and Marlborough? And
where is the benefit of the two last wars? The balance of power will
not remain long in our hands, although we have engaged the annual
produce of an innumerable quantity of taxes.
"In America we have destroyed the balance, which held our colonies in
dependence. We ought not, then, to lose the opportunity of binding the
interests of the United States with ours by some amicable convention,
which will assure us of their attachment, and deliver us from the
cruel necessity of continuing the war with our own children. It is by
this means we may preserve for a long time our insular property, and
enjoy still a superiority at sea."
_Paris, April 11th 1780._ "The Ambassador of Russia has notified,
within a few days past, to our Court, that it was the intention of his
sovereign that the commerce of the subjects of her empire should not
be troubled, and that under no pretence should their vessels be
stopped by those of the belligerent powers, and that she is arming to
defend her flag, and protect it from insults. This declaration was to
be made at the same time to the Courts of Madrid and London. It is
asserted, that it is the first fruit of a treaty of commerce, which
Russia has concluded with us, and of a confederation which she has
entered into with the other northern powers, and in which they wish to
engage Holland and Portugal. We are very inquisitive to learn how this
notification will be received by the Court of St James."
The English ministerial gazettes propagate a report, that there was
arrived in Europe a deputy of Congress to offer peace to Great
Britain. Those of the opposition assert, that this deputy who is in
fact arrived, will do nothing but in concert with France, when it
shall please England to propose a negotiation of peace.
The following article is published in the English papers, to excite
the people against the opposition.
"If the Marquis of Rockingham should come again into the
administration, his first operation would most probably be, to declare
America independent. This would, nevertheless, be a fatal resolution,
which, instead of giving us peace, would throw that event still
farther off. A proof so striking of our pusilanimity would raise still
higher the hopes and the pride of the House of Bourbon. France would
demand that we should restore to them Canada, Cape Breton, and Nova
Scotia, as well as the islands which were taken from her the last war.
Nothing less would be necessary for Spain than the restitution of
Gibraltar and Jamaica. But it cannot but be supposed, that the Marquis
of Rockingham is too much attached to his head to expose it to danger
by so shameful a dismemberment of our empire. He would then make us
continue the war with the disadvantage of not being able any longer to
rein in the Americans, who would assist everywhere their allies by
land and by sea. But every Englishman of good sense sees to what
disasters this plan of conduct would lead us. The ambition of this
Marquis and of his party is not to triumph over rebels, and the
natural enemies of England; it is to humble his King and ruin his
country."
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO M. DE SARTINE.
Paris, April 16th, 1780.
Sir,
I have received the two letters, which your Excellency did me the
honor to write to me, on the 5th and on the 12th of this month.
I do not mean to give your Excellency the trouble of answering these
letters of mine, which contain extracts of letters from abroad, or
simply news. This would be giving your Excellency too much trouble,
and taking up too much time. Indeed, I think it will very probably be
often, if not always unnecessary, because your Excellency's
information must be, beyond all comparison, earlier, more exact, and
more particular than mine; yet, as it is possible that sometimes a
circumstance of importance may escape one channel of intelligence, and
yet pass in another, I thought it to be my duty sometimes to send your
Excellency an extract. In this view, I now have the honor to send your
Excellency another extract from a letter of the 6th of this month; but
I pray your Excellency not to take the trouble to answer it.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
END OF THE FOURTH VOLUME.
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.
Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained
except in obvious cases of typographical error.
On page 39 the blank areas remain as they are in the original:
"upon the property, real or personal, within the same township or
place, since the first day of which was in the year of our
Lord 177 , and the same accounts and estimates to be transmitted
to the Commissioners without delay."