or eight days I asked M. Gardoqui, who almost daily applied to me on
the subject, what could be the reason of so much delay in a case,
that admitted of so little doubt. He said he could only account for it
by supposing, that the Minister had sent for the original order to
prevent mistakes. I asked whether these royal orders were not
regularly recorded at the time they were issued. He told me they were
not.
For my own part I rather suspect that this order treated us as an
independent nation, and that the Minister found it difficult to
establish any general regulations respecting our prizes or commerce,
without meeting with that obstacle. M. Gardoqui informed me, that one
of the Judges permitted him to read it, but would not let him take a
copy of it, and that it only contained an extension to American
prizes, of the regulations before ordained for Dutch and French ones.
As to the prize at Bilboa, a particular order was issued in that case
for selling the ship and cargo, on the captors giving security to
produce, within a year, an exemplification of a sentence of an
American Court of Admiralty to justify it.
On the 5th of November, M. Gardoqui communicated to me certain letters
and papers from which it appeared, that the Cicero, Captain Hill, had
been stopped at Bilboa, by an order of the Minister, on a charge of
improper conduct towards one of the King's cutters. Upon this subject
I wrote the following letter to the Count de Florida Blanca, viz.
"Madrid, November 6th, 1781.
"Sir,
"It gives me much concern to be informed, that the conduct of Captain
Hill, of the Cicero, an American private ship of war, towards one of
his Catholic Majesty's cutters, has been so represented to your
Excellency, as to have given occasion to an order for detaining him at
Bilboa.
"This unfortunate affair is represented to me as follows.
"That Captain Hill, with a prize he had taken, was going from Corunna
to Bilboa. That in the night of the 26th of October last, he
discovered an armed vessel approaching the prize. Captain Hill
suspecting it to be a Jersey privateer, hailed her, and ordered her to
send her boat on board. They answered in English, that their boat was
out of repair. This circumstance increased his suspicions that she was
an enemy, and induced him to insist on their sending a boat on board;
which not being complied with, he was persuaded it was an enemy, and
accordingly gave them a broadside. Upon this they sent a boat to the
Cicero and convinced Captain Hill, that the vessel was a Spanish
cutter.
"If this is really a true state of the fact, and I have reason to
believe it is, I am persuaded, that your Excellency will not think
Captain Hill's conduct was unjustifiable, or contrary to the common
usage in such cases. Having a valuable prize under his care, it was
his duty to protect it, and as it was impossible for him at night to
discover an enemy from a friend, in any other manner than the one he
used, the Captain of the cutter certainly appears to have been remiss
in not sending out his boat at first as well as at last.
"Both the Cicero and her prize now lie at Bilboa, laden with valuable
cargoes, and expected to sail from thence for North America on the
16th instant. The privateer alone, has one hundred and forty men on
board, and should they not be permitted to sail at the time
appointed, a very considerable expense must inevitably be incurred,
because they would be obliged to wait for the next spring tides.
"As no American vessel can have the least temptation to violate the
rights of Spain, but as on the contrary it is the well known interest,
as well as disposition, of the United States to cultivate the
friendship of his Catholic Majesty, I am convinced, that there was not
in this case the least intention of disrespect to the Spanish flag.
Permit me therefore to hope, that your Excellency will be pleased to
permit the departure of these vessels by a general order, or on
Captain Hill's giving security for the payment of such damages, as he
may become chargeable with, on the issue of a judicial inquiry into
this transaction.
"I assure your Excellency, that no citizen of America will be
countenanced by the United States in any improper conduct towards his
Catholic Majesty, or any of his subjects, and if I had the least
reason to think, that Captain Hill was in this predicament, it would
give me much more pleasure to hear of his being punished than
released.
"I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN JAY."
The Count's answer to the above.
Translation.
"The Count de Florida Blanca has the honor to present his compliments
to Mr Jay, and to assure him, that the information he has received
relative to the affair of the Cicero privateer, as set forth in his
letter of the 6th instant, is not correct, the Count having received
from persons of respectability and entirely worthy of credit very
accurate statements. It is therefore necessary, that some suitable
satisfaction should be given, in order to serve as an example to
restrain the captains of the American privateers within proper bounds.
This is the more necessary, as it is not the first time that we have
had reason to complain of their conduct, and to demand reparation.
"_St Lorenzo, November 8th, 1781._"
REPLY TO THE ABOVE NOTE.
"Madrid, November 12th, 1781.
"Sir,
"I have received the letter, which your Excellency did me the honor to
write on the 8th instant.
"It gives me pain to hear, that the conduct of an American vessel of
war should be so reprehensible as that of the Cicero has been
represented to be. It is proper that I should inform your Excellency,
that the captains of all American private ships of war give bond with
sureties, to fulfil the instructions they receive with their
commissions; and that these instructions enjoin them to behave in a
proper manner towards friendly nations.
"As the honor and interest of the United States render it highly
necessary, that their officers and citizens should, upon all
occasions, pay the most scrupulous regard to the rights of other
nations, I must request the favor of your Excellency to communicate to
me a state of the facts charged against Captain Hill, that by being
transmitted immediately to America, Congress may be enabled to take
such measures relative to him, as to deter others from the commission
of the like offences.
"Your Excellency would also oblige me, by informing me how the
satisfaction demanded of Captain Hill is to be ascertained, and to
whom it is to be paid. As his remaining much longer in his present
situation would be a great loss to his owners, I wish, for their
sakes, that he may be released as soon as possible; and, I am
persuaded, that your Excellency will not think it necessary to detain
him longer than until the satisfaction in question can be ascertained
and paid.
"I greatly regret that other American privateers have also given
occasion to complaints. I assure your Excellency, that nothing on my
part shall be wanting to prevent the like in future, and I am sure
that Congress would consider themselves obliged, by your Excellency's
putting it in my power to convey to them exact details of any
complaints against their officers.
"I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN JAY."
Much reason has been given me to believe, that the hard proceedings
against Captain Hill were not justifiable, and the Minister's
declining to furnish me with a state of the facts supposed to be
alleged against him speaks the same language. What intelligence the
Count may have respecting this misconduct of any other of our armed
vessels, I know not, nor have I heard any other insinuations of that
kind, except what are contained in his note.
The Count omitted to take any notice of my last letter on this
subject, and it was not before the 26th of November, that the matter
was determined by the order alluded to in the following polite
letter.
Translation.
"My Dear Sir,
"From respect to your Excellency and to the American Congress, the
King has determined that Captain Hill, on satisfying, or giving
security to satisfy, the damage he has done to one of our vessels, on
account of which he is detained, shall be at liberty to return to his
country when he pleases. For this purpose I communicate the enclosed
order to the Corregidor of Bilboa, and repeating myself to be at the
service of your Excellency, I pray God to preserve you many years.
COUNT DE FLORIDA BLANCA."
The next day I sent the Count some American papers, which had just
come to hand, and enclosed them with a card, in which there was this
paragraph.
"Mr Jay has received the letter, which his Excellency did him the
honor to write yesterday by M. Gardoqui, and is greatly obliged by the
permission granted to Captain Hill to depart, as well as by the polite
terms in which that circumstance is communicated to Mr Jay."
As further remonstrance on this subject would have been useless, I
thought it best to appear satisfied, and not, by any expressions of
discontent, to hazard new obstacles to the attainment of our more
important objects.
I must now return to the old subject. Although the Count had been some
weeks at the Escurial, and I had in vain waited with great patience
for the letter, which the Minister had promised to write to me on
leaving St Ildefonso, yet as many bills would become payable in
December, and I was unprovided with funds, I thought it high time to
remind the Minister of my situation.
I therefore wrote him the following letter.
"Madrid, November 16th, 1781.
"Sir,
"I find myself constrained to beseech your Excellency to think a
little of my situation. Congress flatter themselves, that the offers
they have made would certainly induce his Majesty at least to assist
them with some supplies. The residue of the bills drawn upon me remain
to be provided for. Those payable in the next month amount to
thirtyone thousand eight hundred and nine dollars. Would it be too
inconvenient for your Excellency to lend us this sum? Before January,
when further bills would become payable, your Excellency may probably
find leisure to give me an answer respecting our propositions. The
time presses; I entreat your Excellency's answer. I can only add, that
I am, with great consideration and respect, &c.
JOHN JAY."
To this letter I never received any answer, and it is remarkable, that
the Count's subsequent letter of the 26th of November, announcing the
permission given to Captain Hill to depart, does not take the least
notice of it. Whatever might be the Minister's real intentions, as to
furnishing me with the funds necessary to pay the bills to become due
in December, it appeared to me imprudent to neglect any means in my
power to provide for the worst. I therefore apprised Dr Franklin (to
whom I am under great obligations, and have given much trouble) of my
hazardous situation by the following letter.
"Madrid, November 21st, 1781.
"Dear Sir,
"It seems as if my chief business here was to fatigue you and our good
allies with incessant solicitations on the subject of the ill timed
bills drawn upon me by Congress. It is happy for me that you are a
philosopher, and for our country that our allies are indeed our
friends. _Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur._
"This Court continues to observe the most profound silence respecting
our propositions.
"I cannot as yet obtain any answer to any of my applications for aids.
Heretofore the Minister was too sick or too busy. At present his
Secretary is much indisposed. I have requested that he would lend us
for the present only as much as would satisfy the bills of December,
viz. thirtyone thousand eight hundred and nine dollars; no answer.
What is to be done? I must again try and borrow a little, and, as
usual, recur to you. Thank God, no new bills arrive; if they did, I
should refuse to accept them; only a few straggling old ones now and
then appear.
"Would not the Court of France, on your representing this matter to
them, enable you to put an end to this unhappy business? Thirty
thousand pounds sterling would do it. I am sure the evils we should
experience from the protest of these bills would cost even France a
vast deal more. You see my situation; I am sure I need not press you
to deliver me from it if in your power.
"I cannot yet believe, that all the assurances of this Court will
vanish into air. I still flatter myself that they will afford us some
supplies, though not in season. I think we might very safely offer to
repay the French Court the proposed sum in America, for surely
Congress would not hesitate to prefer that to the loss of their
credit.
"I enclose a newspaper, which gives us reason to indulge the most
pleasing expectations. God grant they may be realised. I have a letter
from Mr Gerry, dated at Marblehead the 9th of October. He was then in
daily expectation of hearing that Lord Cornwallis and his army were
our prisoners. He describes the last harvest as very abundant, and the
general state of our affairs as very promising; much more so, indeed,
than ever they have been.
"I am, &c. &c.
JOHN JAY."
This letter was conveyed by a courier of the French Ambassador. I did
not choose, by putting it in the post office, to give this Court an
opportunity of knowing that I was endeavoring to obtain a credit for
the sum in question, lest that circumstance might become an additional
motive with them to withhold their assistance.
In short, Sir, the whole month of November wore away without my being
able to advance a single step. M. Del Campo's illness afforded a
tolerable good excuse for delay during the latter part of November,
and the first three weeks in December.
On the 1st of December I found myself without any answer from Dr
Franklin, with many bills to pay, and not a farthing in bank. M.
Cabarrus, fortunately for me, was willing as well as able to make
further advances, and to him I am indebted for being relieved from the
necessity I should otherwise have been under, of protesting the bills
due in that month.
The Court removed from the Escurial to Madrid without having bestowed
the least attention either on the propositions or different memorials
on commercial matters, which I had submitted to the Minister.
It was natural to expect, that our successes in Virginia would have
made a very grateful impression on this Court; but I am far from
being persuaded that they considered these events as favorable to
their views. Of this, some judgment may be formed from their
subsequent conduct.
On the 6th of December I sent the Minister the following card, and a
memorial from Mr Harrison at Cadiz, the nature of which will be best
explained by a recital of it.
"Mr Jay presents his compliments to the Count de Florida Blanca, and
has the honor of requesting his attention to the enclosed memorial.
"Mr Jay had the honor of calling at his Excellency's on Tuesday
evening last, but had the misfortune of not finding him at home. As Mr
Jay wishes to regulate his visits by his Excellency's convenience, he
begs the favor of his Excellency to inform him when it would be
agreeable that Mr Jay should wait on his Excellency, and have an
opportunity of conversing with him on the object of Mr Jay's mission."
The answer I received to the letter, which accompanied this memorial,
is as follows.
Translation.
"The Count de Florida Blanca will receive Mr John Jay whenever he may
please to come, in the evening at half past seven or later, in his
Secretary's office in the palace, except on Saturday evening next,
when he will be engaged."
This note was not dated, but I received it the 7th of December. On the
same day I received a letter from General Washington, dated the 22d of
October, and enclosing copies of the articles of capitulation of
Yorktown, and returns of prisoners, &c.
This letter was brought to France by the frigate, which carried there
the first intelligence of that important event, and yet it is
remarkable that it did not reach me until after these articles had
been published in the Paris and Madrid gazettes. I nevertheless
immediately sent copies to the Minister.
As to Mr Harrison's Memorial, no answer has been given it to this day.
Nor indeed have any of the representations I have hitherto made to the
Ministers relative to commercial grievances procured the least
redress. Even the hard case of the Dover cutter still remains
unfinished, notwithstanding my repeated and pressing applications on
behalf of the poor captors. It is now more than a year since the
Minister promised me that the cutter should be immediately appraised,
and the value paid to the captors, one of whom afterwards came here,
and after waiting two or three months returned to Cadiz, without
having received any other money than what I gave him to purchase his
daily bread.
As the Minister could not see me on Saturday evening, it was not till
Monday evening the 10th of December that I had an opportunity to
converse with him.
He began the conversation by observing, that I had been very
unfortunate, and had much reason to complain of delays, but that they
had been unavoidable. That M. Del Campo had been appointed near three
months ago to treat and confer with me; that shortly after the Court
removed from St Ildefonso that gentleman's health began to decline;
and that his indisposition had hitherto prevented his attending to
that or any other business, but that he hoped by the time the Court
should return from Aranjues (to which the King was then about to make
a little excursion) he would be able to proceed on it, and that he
should have the necessary instructions for the purpose.
I told the Count, that these delays had given me great concern, and
that I was very solicitous to be enabled to give Congress some
positive and explicit information, on the business alluded to. He
replied, that I must now confer on those subjects with M. Del Campo,
for that for his part his time and attention were so constantly
engaged by other matters, that he could not possibly attend to this,
especially while at Madrid, when he always enjoyed much less leisure
than at the Sitios. He then proceeded to congratulate me on our late
successes in Virginia; he assured me, that the King rejoiced sincerely
in those events, and that he himself was happy to see our affairs
assume so promising an aspect. I was about to descend to particulars,
and to remind the Count of the various memorials, &c. which still
remained to be considered and despatched, when he mentioned he was
engaged for the rest of the evening in pressing affairs. This
intimation put an end to the conference.
It is somewhat singular, that M. Del Campo should have been appointed
near three months past to treat and confer with me, and yet I should
be left all that time without any information of it. It shows, that
the King is ready to do what may depend upon him, but that his
Ministers find it convenient to interpose delays without necessity,
and without even the appearance of it.
After the King's return from Aranjues, I took an opportunity of asking
M. Del Campo when I might promise myself the pleasure of commencing
our conferences. He replied, that his health was not as yet
sufficiently re-established to permit him to do business. The fact
however was otherwise.
On the 27th of December, I again waited on him for the same purpose.
He told me it was very uncertain when our conferences could commence,
and that he must first converse with the Count on the subject. I asked
him whether he had not received his instructions. He answered, that he
had not, for that they were not as yet completed, nor indeed as he
believed as yet begun.
In this state things remained during the whole time the Court
continued at Madrid. Above a month since the date of my letter to Dr
Franklin about our bills had elapsed without an answer, nor had any
prospect of obtaining aids here opened. I therefore wrote him the
following letter.
"Madrid, December 31st, 1781.
"My Dear Sir,
"I learn from the Marquis d'Yranda, that my letter of the 21st ultimo
has reached you. The want of a good opportunity has for some time past
prevented my writing to you so particularly as I could have wished.
"Things remain here exactly in _statu quo_, except that your aid daily
becomes more necessary, and will soon be indispensable. These are
matters that require no explanation. I have received two letters,
dated the 22d and 26th of November, from Mr Adams, on the subject of
certain instructions, passed the 16th of August, which he had lately
received, and of which I was ignorant until the arrival of these
letters. I think them wise. A courier from France arrived here two
days ago; by his return I hope to write you particularly, &c.
"I am, &c.
JOHN JAY."
On the 11th of January, I wrote the following letter to the Doctor, by
the Ambassador's courier.
"Madrid, January 11th, 1782.
"Dear Sir,
"The last letter I had the pleasure of writing to you was dated the
31st ultimo, and referred to a former one of the 21st of November
last, in which I stated my difficulties on account of the bills, the
improbability of my obtaining any relief here, and consequently the
necessity I was under of recurring to your interposition to save them
from protest.
"I have not as yet been favored with your answer. I can readily
conceive, that this affair has added not a little to your
embarrassments, and therefore I lament, not complain of the delay. I
borrowed from M. Cabarrus about thirty thousand dollars. He is not
perfectly easy, and I have no prospect of borrowing more from him or
others, at least without assurances of speedy repayment, which I am
not in capacity to give. The Court indeed owes me, on their old
promise of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, a balance of about
twentyfive thousand six hundred and fifteen dollars, but I have no
reason to rely on receiving it soon, if at all.
"I also begin severely to feel the want of my back salary. It is in
vain for me to expect it from America, and unless you can supply it,
it will be necessary for me immediately to disencumber myself of most
of my expenses, and confine myself to mere necessaries, until a change
may take place for the better. This circumstance conspires with those
of a more public nature, to make me very solicitous to know what you
can, or cannot do for me.
"As to the affairs of the negotiation, they have not advanced since
Major Franks left me. The Minister is too sick, or too busy, to attend
to American affairs. He refers me to M. Del Campo, who has been named
for the purpose, and when I apply to him, he tells me, that his
instructions are not yet completed, and that he cannot tell when they
will be.
"I am, &c.
JOHN JAY."
I must, however, do the Minister the justice to say, that for some
little time then past, and during the whole month of January, I have
good reason to believe, that he was greatly and constantly engaged in
pressing business, for on speaking several times during that period to
the Ambassador of France, about the delays I experienced, and the
propriety of pressing the Minister to pay some attention to our
affairs, he repeatedly told me, that he knew the Minister to be then
extremely hurried, and advised me not to make any application to him
for the present.
On the 26th of January, 1782, agreeably to a previous appointment, I
had a long conference with the Ambassador of France. I entered into a
detail of the various pretexts and delays, which the Minister had used
to avoid coming to any decision on our affairs, and made some remarks
on their keeping me suspended at present, between the Count's
incapacity to do business, and M. Del Campo's want of instructions.
I reminded the Ambassador that the fate of the bills drawn upon me was
a serious subject, and if protested might eventually prove injurious
to France and Spain, as well as America, and that though France had
already done much for us, yet that it still remained a question of
policy whether it would not be more expedient for her to advance about
thirty thousand pounds sterling to save these bills, than risk the
expensive evils which the loss of our credit might occasion even to
her. The Ambassador seemed to admit this, but was apprehensive that
the great and pressing demands for money caused by the great
armaments, which France was preparing to send to different parts of
the world, would render such an advance very inconvenient, if not
impracticable.