_Abstract of several Letters, dated Martinique, February 25th._
"The King's vessels, Robuste of seventyfour guns, commanded by the
Count de Grasse, commander of the squadron; Magnifique of seventyfour,
by M. de Branche; Dauphin Royal of seventy, by M. de Mitton; and
Vengeur of sixtyfour, by M. de Retz, having sailed from Brest the 14th
of January, arrived at Fort Royal the 20th of this month. They had on
board the second field regiment, eight hundred and fifty recruits, and
a company of miners."
_March 6th._ "We learn that Admiral Byron has on his part also
received a reinforcement, but we do not know the force of it. He has
not yet undertaken any operation. He has only twice sailed out with
some ships, but he returned the day after. It is true, that he has not
troops enough to make conquests and to preserve them. Sickness
continues to make great ravages among those that are at St Lucia."
_March 9th._ "The convoy from France, so much wished for, has just
arrived, attended by many vessels.
"The islands of St Martin and St Bartholomew, which the English had
taken from us, have just been retaken without much exertion by three
of our frigates, and an end put to the triumph, which our enemies had
reaped from this easy conquest.
"M. de Kersin, the lieutenant of the ship, took two prizes last week;
one a merchant store-ship called Eliza, armed with twentyeight twelve
pounders. Her crew consisted of one hundred and forty men, and her
cargo of provisions and sails, to the value of twentyfive thousand
livres. The store-ship was sheathed with copper. The other is a
privateer of eighteen guns, and with a crew of seventysix men. Some
American privateers have sent here two prizes coming from Halifax,
loaded with fish and boards. The Minerva has also carried to Cape
Francois another English frigate of twentyfour guns. The ability of
the captain saved her from the danger of being taken by a ship of war
and three frigates, by which she had been surprised in a calm."
_Baltimore, April 2d._ "The captain of a sloop, which has arrived in
twentytwo days from Martinique, reports that sickness had made
dreadful ravages in the English army and fleet at St Lucia, that the
two squadrons are supposed to be nearly equal in force, that the
French frigates, are constantly at sea, often engaging with the
English, that one of the former has taken the frigate Liverpool of
twentysix guns, that in other respects, the situation of the French is
entirely satisfactory to them, and that they appear to be unconcerned
with regard to the success of the operations, which Admiral Byron
intends to undertake."
_Martinique, March 14th._ "We learn from France, that news has been
received by Portuguese vessels returned from India, that the English
commenced hostilities against the French in the month of April. A ship
of war and a frigate attacked at that time the Brilliant, of
seventyfour guns, commanded by M. de Tronjoly, who repelled the
attack. We learn also, that they are making great exertions for the
repair and arming of a force of fortyfive privateers, which the royal
navy has taken from the English, and that the greater part of these
vessels will in a short time be ready to sail."
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, April 24th, 1779.
Sir,
Although the undersigned is not invested with any power on the part of
his Catholic Majesty, he hopes that the Congress of the United States
of North America, knowing the closeness of the union subsisting
between his Catholic and his Most Christian Majesty, will not be
surprised if the Minister of France has the honor to submit to them
the representations, which two captains of Spanish vessels have made
to Don Juan de Mirales. The facts on which these representations rest
are contained in the annexed memorial, being taken from the letters of
the captains. In a short time, the proceedings, and the act of appeal
relating to one of the Spanish ships, whose cargo has been
confiscated, will be laid before Congress, as well as the papers
relating to the second ship, if this suffers the same fate; in order
to implore the justice of Congress. Meanwhile it has been thought
proper to communicate the facts to Congress, in order that they may be
pleased previously to examine this affair, on which we are persuaded
that they will be pleased to bestow the greater attention, as it
involves the observance of a law generally adopted by commercial
nations, for the maintenance of the public security upon the sea, as
well as of the right of neutrality, which affects the interests of the
United States, as much and more than those of any other nation, and
in order not to give just cause of discontent to a power like Spain,
by violating the immunity and dignity of her flag, and by depriving
her subjects of their property without cause or pretext.
GERARD.
* * * * *
_Memorial respecting two Spanish Vessels._
Translation.
Memorial or relation of the injury sustained by two Captains of
Spanish merchantmen, which had sailed, the one from the river of
London, loaded with merchandise for Cadiz, on the account and at the
risk of Spanish merchants; and the other from the port of Cadiz,
loaded with wines, fruits, cochineal, and other articles, of the
growth of the Spanish territory, belonging also to Spaniards, bound
for London. These two vessels were stopped by two different
privateers, carrying the flag of the United States of America, and
brought the one to Newbury and the other to Beverly, and then on the
demand of the owners of the privateer, the cargo of one of them was
declared a lawful prize at Boston, the 28th of last March. They were
on the point of passing sentence on the other at the same place, and
not doubting that it will suffer the same fate as the first, according
to the letters written by the said Captains from the said port of
Boston to Don Juan de Mirales, one of which is without date, and the
other bearing date of the 3d of this month, he has the honor to impart
their contents to his Excellency M. Gerard, Minister Plenipotentiary
of the Court of France to the United States of America, requesting him
to have the goodness to lay the information before the honorable
Congress of the said States, in order to obtain all the satisfaction
due to the honor of the flag of his Catholic Majesty, his master, in
conformity to the tenor of Articles 14th, 15th, 25th, and 26th, of the
treaty of alliance and commerce, between his Most Christian Majesty
and the said States of America, signed the 6th of February, 1778. He
asks also for the punishment of the infringers of the treaty, or
captors, and requests that the Judges may be punished, who have
unjustly condemned and sentenced as a lawful prize the said cargo; and
provided that the other vessel has met with the same fate, to sentence
them to the payment of all the indemnities, expenses, damages, and
losses, resulting from the injury sustained by the said vessels, and
the interruption of their voyages, besides the injury which this
occasions to the proprietors of the same; and this, seeing that at the
time in which they were stopped, his Majesty the King of Spain was at
peace with all the powers of Europe, and consequently had no enemy to
fear; whereas it is possible that since that time, the state of peace
between the Court of Spain and other powers may have changed, or will
change, before the said Spanish vessels can perform the voyages for
which they were designed; and also the decay of the vessels and of the
merchandise with which they were loaded, and the great risk offered by
a voyage from this continent to any European port, &c. &c. _to wit_;
Captain Joseph Llanos, by his letter without date, (although there can
be no doubt that it comes from Boston) says, that he sailed from
London with his vessel, (without mentioning its name) belonging to Don
Philip Aguixxe de San Fadder, loaded with merchandise for Cadiz,
amounting to nearly two hundred thousand current piastres, and that
in the course of his voyage he was stopped by a privateer schooner of
Newbury, called the Success, Felix Trask Captain, belonging to
Nathaniel Tracy of said Newbury, and forcibly brought to this place,
notwithstanding, that he assured the said Captain Tracy, that the
cargo belonged entirely to Spaniards, and that he was convinced of it
by the bills of laden found on board, notwithstanding which, that the
said cargo has been sentenced as a lawful prize, although the papers
exhibit no fraud; as will be seen by the process, which is copied in
order to be presented to the honorable Congress, to which appeal is
made.
The Captains claim the protection of the honorable Congress, that of
his Excellency M. Gerard, and that of Don Juan de Miralles; the
navigation of the Spanish being very much injured by the privateers of
this continent, there being three vessels belonging to this nation in
the same situation as the above, brought in by different privateers.
These three vessels also propose to appeal to the honorable Congress,
and are resolved to defend the rights of the Spanish.
Captain Joachin Garcia de Luca, commander of a Spanish ship with three
masts, her crew Spanish, says, in his letter dated at Boston, the 3d
of the present month, that he sailed from Cadiz for London, loaded
with wines, oils, cochineal, and fruits, on the account and at the
risk of Spaniards, and that he was stopped, on the 21st of December,
1778, when pursuing his voyage, by a privateer frigate, with the flag
of the United States of America, which brought him to Beverly; that
having learned that the owners of the said privateer were desirous,
that the cargo of the Spanish vessel should be confiscated, he went
to Boston, where the court of justice sits, before which he appeared
on the 2d of the current month, not knowing at that time, but he
should meet with the same fate, which his friend Don Joseph de Llanos
has suffered with regard to his cargo, which was condemned on the 28th
of last March.
I, Don Juan de Miralles, truly certify, that the above was extracted
from the letters which the Spanish Captains, Don Joseph de Llanos and
Joachin Garcia de Luca, wrote to me, and which I received on the 19th
current, at eight o'clock in the evening.
DON JUAN DE MIRALLES.
_Philadelphia, April 21, 1778._
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, May 3d, 1779.
Sir,
The Minister Plenipotentiary of France has learnt, by despatches from
his Court under date of the 25th of December, that the negotiation,
which has been the subject of the overtures which the said Minister
has had the honor to make to the Congress of the United States of
North America for nearly three months, continues, and that his said
Court earnestly desires, that Congress would be pleased to take prompt
measures to take part in the said negotiation, as soon as
circumstances shall have brought it to its proper state of
advancement, which may happen at any moment.
GERARD.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
May 4th, 1779.
"The Minister of France delivered to the President a letter from the
King of France, with the following note."
The custom in Holland, for sending to the States-General the letters
by which the King notifies them of marriages or births, is to give
them to the President of the week, who then goes to the house of the
Ambassador, or Minister of the King, to compliment him in the name of
the States-General, upon the event which forms the subject of the
letters of notification.
GERARD.
* * * * *
FROM THE KING OF FRANCE TO CONGRESS.
Translation.
Very dear, and great Friends and Allies,
We do not delay informing you of the birth of the Princess, to whom
the Queen, our very dear consort, has just happily given birth. Our
confidence in your friendship does not permit us to doubt your
interest in this event, nor your participation in the satisfaction
which we derive from this first fruit of the divine blessing on our
marriage.
The interest that we take in the prosperity of your Republic is our
warrant for the pleasure, which we have in repeating to you the
assurances of our esteem, and of our constant affection. Moreover, we
pray God, that he may keep you, very dear and great friends and
allies, under his holy and worthy protection.
LOUIS.
Written at Versailles, December 19th, 1778.
"This letter being read, the President, with a committee consisting of
one member from each State, was immediately to wait upon the Minister,
and in the name of the United States to congratulate him upon the
birth of the Princess. A committee was also appointed to prepare the
draft of an answer to his Majesty's letter."
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, May 6th, 1779.
Sir,
The anxiety of the undersigned, Minister Plenipotentiary of France,
for the maintenance of the most perfect harmony, and the care which he
has been in the habit of taking from the commencement of the alliance
to establish such a confidence, as can alone maintain it and conduce
to its prosperity, do not allow him to conceal from the Congress of
the United States the perplexity under which he labors, with regard to
informing his Court of the delays which the negotiation, commenced in
the month of February last, meets with. It must be allowed, that no
affair so important and so pressing ever experienced so much delay,
and the undersigned declares, that he can see no reason for warning
France and Spain against the sinister interpretations, with which
attempts are made to inspire them in regard to this conduct. The zeal
and the good will of the petitioner do not suggest to him any other
expedient, than that of requesting Congress to approve of his having
the honor of imparting to them, as he now does, his perplexity and
embarrassment.
He adds, that the Court of France has received intelligences, that
England was resolved to send a considerable reinforcement of troops to
the continent of North America, and to carry on the war there with all
possible vigor, in order to proceed to the conquest of America at the
same time by force and by intrigue. The King, in consequence of his
attention to whatever may concern the security and the happiness of
his allies, has ordered his Minister Plenipotentiary to communicate
this intelligence to the Congress of the United States. The
undersigned has the honor to perform this commission by the present
note. He believes that he should add, that his Majesty, adhering
scrupulously to the spirit and principles of the alliance, which has
the independence of the United States as an essential object, is
always resolved to assist America by all the means, that the resources
of his kingdom, and the general state of affairs, will permit him
successively to devote to this grand object, without being turned from
it by the idea of any conquest for himself.
It is in consequence of these same dispositions and of this same
disinterestedness, that his Majesty, although he has made no
engagement to furnish supplies of money to the United States, and
although the active and direct war which he is carrying on against the
common enemy absorbs his resources, and ought to exempt him from all
accessory and entirely voluntary expenses, is desirous to contribute
to the re-establishment of the American finances, so far as his own
necessities allow him to do so. He has thought that he should partly
fulfil this object, by securing the payment of the interest on the
loans, which have been stipulated to be paid in France, presuming that
the credit of one of the public funds of the States would effectually
contribute to the support of the others, and to the success of the
measures, which the wisdom of Congress may adopt on this subject. A
society of bankers, established under the authority of the King, has
consequently taken upon itself to make the necessary advances, in the
form of a loan made to America. The undersigned has not yet received
the exact details of this arrangement, but he will have the honor of
communicating them, so soon as he shall receive them.
The confidence which the King places in the reciprocal attachment of
the United States of America to the alliance, can alone induce him to
determine upon proceedings, which are useful only to America,
burdensome to France, and destitute of all advantage for her. His
Majesty hopes to receive reciprocal proofs of these sentiments and
feelings, but he neither demands nor expects anything for himself on
the part of Congress. He only desires, that the States should employ
all the resources at their disposal, in order to provide for their own
security and tranquillity.
GERARD.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, May 9th, 1779.
Sir,
The Minister Plenipotentiary of France, having thought it his duty to
take upon himself to inform the Count d'Estaing of the desire, which
Congress had expressed to him, that the King's squadron should come to
the assistance of Georgia, this Vice-Admiral has just replied, that
the superiority of the enemy in the Islands had not till this time,
permitted him to leave those latitudes; but that in consequence of the
intentions of his Majesty, which are, to grant to the United States,
his allies, all the assistance compatible with the security of his own
possessions, and with the general position of affairs, he proposes to
sail immediately to the Southern coasts of the States, and to exert
himself for the deliverance of Georgia, and the preservation of the
Carolinas. From thence the King's squadron will sail to the mouth of
the Delaware, and its further operations will depend upon the
agreement that shall be made between Congress and the commander of his
Majesty's forces, and will be calculated for the greatest advantage of
the United States.
The undersigned has no doubt, that this new proof of his Majesty's
generous and disinterested friendship strengthens the confidence, with
which these engagements and his conduct must have inspired the
governments and people of America. Facts so evident will serve, on the
other hand, to confound those ill-disposed men, who, by silent and
clandestine insinuations, destitute of all proof, and of all
probability, directed solely by private views, and evidently opposed
to the honor and interest of the confederated Republic, seek to sow
distrusts and jealousies, of which the common enemy alone can reap the
advantage.
The undersigned must add to the details above given, that it is
impossible for the Count d'Estaing to carry provisions from Martinique
sufficient for the campaign, which he proposes to make in the seas of
North America. He hopes that Congress will be pleased to give the most
precise and effectual orders for their being got in readiness and
placed on the coast, so that the squadron may easily take them on
board. The undersigned Minister, hopes that Congress will be pleased
to inform him successively of what shall be done on this subject,
since the said Minister must be personally responsible for these
measures, the failure of which would expose to the greatest
misfortunes the forces, which the King has destined to bring direct
and immediate assistance to the United States, although his
engagements, which he will always scrupulously fulfil, do not impose
this duty on him.
GERARD.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, May 9th, 1779.
Sir,
When the Congress of the United States did me the honor to ask my
concurrence in inducing the Count d'Estaing to assist Georgia, I
asserted, that this Vice-Admiral, in conformity with the intentions of
the King, would do all that circumstances should permit. I proposed at
the same time the means of proceeding to the execution of this plan;
but Congress observed an entire silence, and did not deign to inform
me of their resolution. It was only through a public channel, that I
learned that the plan was abandoned; but my zeal having led me to
write previously to the Count d'Estaing, and having received the
answer of this Vice-Admiral, I do not think, Sir, that the interest of
the alliance and of the United States allows me to act according to
the presumed negative resolution of Congress, and I request you
consequently to submit to that body the annexed Memorial.[25]
I have the honor to be, with the highest esteem, Sir, your humble and
most obedient servant.
GERARD.
FOOTNOTE:
[25] This Memorial is missing.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, May 19th, 1789.
Sir,
I take the liberty of addressing to you a note of Don Juan de
Miralles, concerning the Spanish ships carried into New England, and
beg you to lay it before Congress, and to represent to them, that
there is reason to fear, if the appeal which the council of Boston has
reserved to itself should be decided before any measures be taken by
Congress, the ships and merchandise will be sold, to the irreparable
loss of the Spaniards.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the greatest respect, Sir,
your most obedient humble servant.
GERARD.
* * * * *
MEMORIAL.
Translation.
Don Juan de Miralles, who, under date of the 21st of April last, had
the honor to present a Memorial to his Excellency M. Gerard, Minister
Plenipotentiary of the Court of France to the United States of
America, to inform him of the proceedings of different privateers,
with the flag of the said United States, against three vessels
lawfully provided with the Spanish flag, which had sailed, one of them
from London for Cadiz, and the two others from Cadiz for England,
loaded with merchandise belonging, as well as the said vessels, to
subjects of his Catholic Majesty, his master, which have been carried
into different ports of New England, under the jurisdiction of the
Province of Massachusetts, and that the respective indictments have
been drawn against them before the Court of Admiralty of the city of
Boston, where the cargo of one of the said vessels which sailed from
London has been condemned, to the profit of the owners and crew of the
privateer which captured her; another of the said vessels, which
sailed from Cadiz, has also been condemned, and there is no doubt that
the third has suffered or will suffer the same fate.
Don Joseph de Llanos, Captain of the vessel which sailed from London,
and Don Joachin Garcia de Luca, of the other which sailed from Cadiz,
which, as has been said, have been condemned, have sent me an express,
with copies of the said proceedings, which I have had the honor, in
concurrence with the said M. Gerard, and in his presence, to deliver
to his Excellency the President of the Honorable Congress, who was so
kind as to receive them, and to offer to lay them before the Honorable
Congress, in order that it may take into consideration an affair of so
great consequence, and be pleased to order what is just, as well as it
regards the interest of the proprietors of the vessels and cargoes, as
the honor due to every neutral flag, and particularly to that of his
Catholic Majesty.