M. Holker, which by a particular accident I was prevented from laying
before the Council this morning. I observe it is proposed to publish
it, but I presume this does not mean an immediate publication, as
there will be an indelicacy and violation of usual forms to do this,
until a return has been officially made thereupon by us to Congress,
through whom the matter came to us. In all cases of petitions or other
papers, to be presented to any public body, I take it to be a standing
rule, that the matter shall be first communicated to them, before it
is published to the world. As I observe you have sent a copy to M.
Holker, I presume it is intended thereby to give him an opportunity to
explain, deny, or admit, such a part of it as he may think proper to
do. A publication will in some measure debar him from this, whereas at
a future day, if the publication is still thought necessary, the whole
may be given together; at all events, it will be the duty of the
Council to make some report to Congress, in which this narration will
appear. As to the flour itself, perhaps there may be no inconvenience
in letting it remain a few days in its present condition. My earnest
wish is, that this business may be conducted without fear, favor, or
partiality, to the real interests of the community, all first
suspicions converted into solid proof, and those of a contrary kind
effectually banished.
The good sense of the gentlemen to whom I address myself will, I am
persuaded, make the necessary and present distinction between persons
acting in a public capacity and character, especially of another
nation, and our own citizens, who are to stand or fall by their own
laws, and the estimation of their countrymen.
I am, Gentlemen, &c.
JOSEPH REED.
No. 4.
WILLIAM HENRY TO JOSEPH REED.
Friday Afternoon, 5 o'clock, Committee Room.
Sir,
We had the honor of your favor of this morning, and beg leave to
observe in answer thereto, that Mr Morris having already published an
account of the flour, both in behalf of himself and M. Holker, as may
be judged by his publishing M. Holker's letters, and that publication
being prior to any report from the Council to Congress, we conceive
there can be no impropriety in our now taking the matter publicly up.
Besides which, we apprehend ourselves laid under an immediate
necessity to give satisfaction to our fellow citizens on the subject,
and to publish our proceedings for the previous consideration of the
meeting on Monday.
M. Holker, we conceive, ought in justice to himself to have appealed
to the Council agreeably to the resolution of Congress, which he has
not done. We have deferred the matter to the last moment, and cannot
now, without exposing the reputation of the committee, defer it
longer.
Your Excellency is sensible that nothing but the most pressing
necessity could induce us to depart from the advice you are pleased to
give, and we request you to accept the reasons we have assigned as an
apology for so doing.
By order of the committee.
I have the honor to be your Excellency's most obedient, humble
servant,
WILLIAM HENRY, _Chairman_.
* * *
All the above memorials, letters, and papers received from the
Minister this day, were referred to a committee of five, namely, Mr
Huntington, Mr Laurens, Mr Smith, Mr Morris, and Mr Kean, who were
instructed to confer with the President and the Supreme Executive
Council of the State of Pennsylvania and with the Minister and Consul
of France, and to prepare and report a state of facts, together with
their opinion of the measures proper for Congress to adopt thereupon.
* * * * *
M. HOLKER TO M. GERARD.
Translation.
Philadelphia, July 29th, 1779.
Sir,
I have the honor to send you the several annexed certificates, which
have been sent to me by Mr Rumford of Wilmington. As these papers have
a direct relation to the conduct of Mr Rumford, and to the seizure
made of the flour bought by him for the King's squadron, and as they
may give room for fuller information, as well with regard to my
transactions as to that of this commissary, or of every one else, in
relation to the said flour seized, I think it my duty to request you
to transmit them as soon as possible to Congress, informing that body
that I have sent duplicates of them to the Council of the State of
Pennsylvania. I hope that there will be found in them proofs of the
desire, which has always animated me to conform in everything to the
resolutions or recommendations of Congress, as well as to dispel all
the doubts or suspicions which insinuations, assertions, or
publications could have shed upon me. I dare even flatter myself, that
I shall at last receive the satisfactory testimonial, to which my
conduct, my transactions, public or private, in everything that can
concern the United States of America, seem to entitle me on the part
of Congress.
I am, Sir, respectfully, your obedient humble servant,
HOLKER.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, July 30th, 1779.
Sir,
Mr Rumford has sent to the Consul of the King some new documents,
which throw great light on the affair of the flour from Wilmington. I
have the honor to forward them to you, in the hope that you will be
pleased to lay them before Congress, as well as the letter of M.
Holker, which accompanies them.
I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, Sir, your most
humble and obedient servant,
GERARD.
* * * * *
In Congress, July 30th, 1779.
The above papers were referred to the committee of five, before
mentioned, who on the 2d of August delivered in a report, whereupon
Congress came to the following resolutions;
Resolved, That the Minister of France be assured, that Congress will
at all times afford every countenance and protection to the Consuls
and other servants of his Most Christian Majesty, with the powers and
authorities to them delegated by their constituents.
That the several appointments of Consuls made, and which may hereafter
be made and approved by Congress, be duly registered in the
Secretary's office, and properly notified by the President to the
Executive authorities of the respective States in whose ports such
Consuls may reside.
That the measures taken by M. Holker to procure flour for the fleet of
his Most Christian Majesty in the way of commerce, have from time to
time been made known unto, and been fully approved by Congress; that
the several proceedings and publications complained of by the Minister
on that subject are very injurious to the servants of his said
Majesty, and that Congress do highly disapprove of the same.
That the President and Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania be
informed, that any prosecutions which it may be expedient to direct
for such matters and things in the said publications or transactions,
as may be against the laws of nations, shall be carried on at the
expense of the United States.
That the Minister of France be informed that the President and
Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania have taken proper measures
to restore the flour taken from the agents of M. Holker.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT OF PENNSYLVANIA TO M. GERARD.
In Council, Philadelphia, July 31st, 1779.
Sir,
I have now the honor of addressing you in answer to the representation
you were pleased to make to this Board on the 24th instant. When, to
every principle of public affection, policy, and justice, there is
added our experience of your personal friendship to America, and your
attachment and engaging deportment to the citizens of Pennsylvania of
every rank, all professions on our part to make your residence in the
State happy, easy, and honorable, must be unnecessary. It is not easy,
therefore, for us to find language to express our concern at any
transaction which may disturb your repose, and interrupt the exercise
of those functions discharged with so much honor to yourself and
satisfaction to those, who are called to take any part in public
affairs.
In some communications which the Honorable Congress have been pleased
to make to us, we also see, with great concern, that apprehensions are
expressed, the reality of which we should deplore as an evil of the
first magnitude. Be assured, Sir, that the citizens of Philadelphia,
and of Pennsylvania, cannot entertain sentiments so unworthy; but if
there are any so lost to every sense of propriety, decency, and order,
the authority of the State has power equal to its inclination to check
and suppress so licentious and wicked a procedure.
We entreat you, therefore, to dismiss every idea so painful and so
dishonorable to us as that of personal insult, and repose confidence
in us when we confirm to you our assurances of the affection, respect,
and esteem of our constituents. And if there are any persons, who
presume to insinuate dangers of outrages, as suggested in your
representations, we most earnestly request you to consider them either
as ignorant of the real sentiments of those of whom they speak, or as
acting from less honorable motives.
I have now the honor of acquainting you, that upon the requisition of
this Board, the flour in question, and which has given rise to this
unhappy discussion, is delivered up to this Board, and that it is
ready to be put into the disposal of M. Holker, or any person he may
direct, for the purposes of its original destination, without any
condition or restriction, a measure, which we hope both as to you and
himself, will be considered as a relinquishment of those terms, which
form a ground of your complaint. Our desire to make the most early and
explicit avowal of our sentiments and intentions has induced us to
make this communication, at the same time all other business being
laid aside, we are considering the papers which touch the character of
M. Holker, upon which we shall, without delay, address ourselves to
the Honorable Congress of the United States, through whom those
communications have been made to us, and we trust it will fully
appear, that a veneration for the Prince, whose servant he is, respect
to your interposition, justice to him, and a due regard to the rights
and interests of this State, have influenced our determination.
We observe all the papers respecting this transaction have been
transmitted to you, except a resolution of this Board passed on the
14th instant, which, probably, by some accident has been omitted. I
have now the honor of enclosing it, that every proceeding may be fully
before you.
Signed in and by order of Council.
JOSEPH REED, _President_.
* * *
_In Congress._ On the 4th of August the committee to whom was referred
the Memorial of the Minister, relative to the ship Mary and
Elizabeth's cargo, delivered in a report, whereupon,
Resolved, That Congress do not entertain any suspicion, that M.
Holker, agent of the marine of his Most Christian Majesty, had any
participation in, or knowledge of, the shipping of provisions on
private account on board vessels despatched in the name of his Most
Christian Majesty.
Resolved, That frauds by masters and shippers are offences against the
municipal laws, and are to be investigated by the magistrates of the
States respectively.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, August 5th, 1779.
Sir,
I have received with gratitude the resolution of Congress, which you
were so kind as to send me yesterday. I express my sentiments on this
subject in the annexed Memorial, which I request you to be pleased to
lay before Congress.
I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, Sir, your most
obedient and humble servant,
GERARD.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, August 5th, 1779.
Sir,
The Minister Plenipotentiary of France is eager to thank Congress for
the readiness with which they have been pleased to yield to his
representations of the 26th of last month.
The resolutions, which have been communicated to the undersigned in
the name of Congress, appear to him to leave nothing to be desired; he
only hopes that the public will be informed of the opinions of
Congress, in whatever form they shall think the most suitable; and the
Minister Plenipotentiary is persuaded, that his Court will regard the
said resolutions as a suitable and sufficient satisfaction for the
proceedings which they condemn, and the offence which has resulted
from them.
It is under this impression, that the undersigned Minister takes the
liberty to request Congress not to carry into execution that one of
their resolutions which orders, that those who on this occasion may
have violated the laws of nations shall be prosecuted. The King's
greatness of mind forbids his Minister to insist upon such a measure.
Between nations closely connected by the most powerful motives of
friendship and interest, even the most lawful reparations ought always
to stop short of revenge. It is sufficient to undeceive the public,
and to restrain the evil-disposed men, who sometimes conceal
themselves under the pretence of the common good. The said Minister,
consequently, earnestly requests Congress to stop the said
prosecutions, and he dares hope this from the moderation of Congress,
provided that motives foreign to France and independent of the present
affair do not cause this august body, or the Executive Council of
Pennsylvania, to see in this indulgence inconveniences, which are out
of the sphere of the undersigned Minister.
GERARD.
* * *
In Congress, August 9th, 1779.
Resolved, that the Minister of France be informed, that the
resolutions alluded to in his Memorial of the 5th instant will be
published in the journals of Congress, and that in the meantime he
consider himself at liberty to make such use of the copies transmitted
to him, as he may think expedient.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, August 11th, 1779.
Sir,
It is with the greatest regret that I learn, that the attempt made at
Martinique to obtain military stores has been fruitless. You will see
the reasons of it in the letter of the Marquis de Bouille, which I
have the honor to send you. Nothing but the impossibility of the thing
could prevent the servants of the King from rendering all possible
services to the American cause, and compel them to delay complying
with the requests of Congress.
I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, Sir, your most
humble and most obedient servant.
GERARD.
* * * * *
THE MARQUIS DE BOUILLE TO M. GERARD.
Translation.
Martinique, July 11, 1779.
Sir,
I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write on the
8th of June, in which you inform me of Congress' want of powder. I am
very sorry that the supplies for this colony, which are much less than
they ought to be, will not permit me to furnish any to the United
States of America. The immense and unforeseen consumption occasioned
by Count d'Estaing's fleet, and his unhappy expedition against St
Lucia, have laid me under the necessity of purchasing up all the
powder in the hands of merchants to the amount of fifty thousand
pounds, and you must be sensible, that nothing but the most urgent
necessity could have induced me to go to such expense on account of
the King, at a time when I am in so much want of money. Mr Bingham who
is here, an agent of Congress, will be able to purchase lead of the
merchants. As to arms, they are become scarce.
I have the honor to be, &c.
BOUILLE.
_P. S._ I beg of you, Sir, to use all your efforts, that we may
receive as much provisions as possible before the month of November
next at farthest, and cause them to be addressed to me either at Fort
Royal, at St Pierre, or at Trinite in this Island, and that you would
not let the price of freight prevent you. You will thereby do us the
most essential service.
* * * * *
In Congress, August 23d, 1779.
Resolved unanimously, that a committee consisting of one member from
each State be appointed to congratulate the Minister of France on the
anniversary of the birth of his Most Christian Majesty, and to assure
him that the pleasure, which we feel on this occasion, can be
estimated by those only who have a just sense of the extensive
blessings, which many nations have already derived from his wisdom,
justice, and magnanimity, and of the prospect of general happiness to
mankind through the influence of his Majesty's virtuous exertions and
glorious example.
* * * * *
M. GERARD TO THE COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, August 23d, 1779.
Gentlemen,
The manner in which Congress are pleased to express their sentiments
on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of the King, my
master, is a mark of their friendship and respect for his Majesty.
Your expressions are truly worthy of a faithful ally, and I dare
assure you, that the account, which I shall render to his Majesty of
them, will be in the highest degree agreeable to him.
GERARD.
* * * * *
THE COUNT DE VERGENNES TO M. GERARD.
_In Congress, September 7th._ The President laid before Congress a
paper of intelligence, which he received from the Minister
Plenipotentiary of France, and which is as follows, being an
extract of a letter from Count de Vergennes to M. Gerard, dated
Versailles, June 29th, 1779.
Translation.
"Sir,
"The decision of Spain is public. Her Ambassador quitted London on the
18th of this month; he is now at Paris. Her forces are on their march
to join with ours. The junction made, they will endeavor to inflict on
England a blow sufficiently heavy to force her to acknowledge the
independence of America. To free herself if possible from this hard
necessity, and to procure herself the power of opposing at some future
time a nation, which she will not without great reluctance consent to
free from the servitude, which she wished to impose upon them, it
seems that she has sent two emissaries to Congress with the offer of a
truce, and even with power to withdraw all the English forces, if
America will determine to give up our alliance, and to separate
herself from us.
"I do not imagine that this treachery can even enter into the mind of
Congress, but if they should be enticed by the love of peace, a single
reflection ought to stop it. As soon as England shall have proved the
defection, she can settle her affairs with us, and we shall have no
reason to refuse to do it; she will then fall upon America with the
whole mass of her power, very certain that no nation in Europe will
afterwards take any interest in a nation, which shall have signalized
its birth by the most unworthy cowardice of which a government can be
guilty. I am persuaded, Sir, that this reflection seasonably
presented, will be of great effect. There are many other reflections,
which certainly will not escape your wisdom."
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, September 15th, 1779.
Sir,
The Minister Plenipotentiary of France has the honor to inform the
Congress of the United States of America, that he has appointed Mr
James Wilson Attorney-General of the French nation, in order that he
may be intrusted with all causes and matters relative to navigation
and commerce. The said Minister thought it proper to communicate this
proceeding to Congress.
GERARD.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
Philadelphia, September 15th, 1779.
Sir,
The Minister Plenipotentiary of France, who is preparing to depart
immediately, has the honor to request the Congress of the United
States to be pleased, in the course of the week, if it be not
inconvenient, to grant him an audience for the purpose of taking leave
of Congress.
GERARD.
* * * * *
In Congress, September 15th, 1779.
Resolved, That Friday next be assigned for granting a private audience
to M. Gerard, Minister Plenipotentiary of France, in order to his
taking leave.
Resolved, That this private audience be in full Congress.
_Friday, September 17th._ Resolved, That two members be appointed to
introduce the Minister to the private audience.
The Minister being introduced, took his leave in the following speech.
M. GERARD'S SPEECH ON TAKING LEAVE OF CONGRESS.
Translation.
"Gentlemen,
"The King, my master, having been pleased to accept the
representations, which my bad state of health compelled me to make to
him, has permitted me to return. At the same time he has been in haste
to send another Minister Plenipotentiary to America, in order that
there may be no interruption in the care of cultivating the mutual
friendship. I must leave it to the talents of the Chevalier de la
Luzerne to explain to you his Majesty's sentiments, and will confine
myself here, Gentlemen, to expressing to you the satisfaction I shall
experience in giving an account to him of the events, of which I have
been a witness during more than a year's residence with you. He will
perceive in them the sentiments, which animate and direct your
counsels, your wisdom, your firmness, your attachment to the alliance,
and your zeal for the prosperity of the common cause and of the two
respective nations. He will see, with pleasure, the valuable union,
which constitutes the principal force and power of confederated
America, that not only the citizens are in no want of zeal or vigor to
repel the incursions, which henceforth can have no other object than a
barbarous devastation, but also that there is no American, who does
not perceive the necessity of uniting to humble the common enemy more
and more, and to weaken him by efforts proportionate to the importance
of putting a happy end to a glorious revolution, and also of securing
to confederated America, by a firm and honorable peace, as quickly as
possible, the inestimable advantages of liberty and independence,
which form the essential and fundamental object of the alliance, and
of the war provoked and made necessary by England.
"It remains to me, Gentlemen, to offer you in general and
individually, the tribute of my gratitude for the marks of confidence
and esteem, and for the attentions which I have received from you. I
have always endeavored to deserve them by the most sincere and lively
attachment to the interests and to the dignity of the United States,
as well as to the principles and sentiments resulting from the
alliance. I have not lacked zeal for everything that might relate to
them, and cement more and more the connexions, whether political or
personal, between the two nations. The most flattering recompense of
my labors would be the expression of your satisfaction.
GERARD."
REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS TO M. GERARD'S SPEECH
ON HIS TAKING LEAVE.
"Sir,
"We receive with much concern the intimation you have given us, that
the bad state of your health obliges you to leave America; though, at
the same time, we are sensible of the continued friendly care of his
Most Christian Majesty in sending a new Minister Plenipotentiary to
these States.
"Great as our regret is in thus parting with you, yet it affords us
pleasure to think how well disposed you are to improve the favorable
opportunities you will have on your return to France, of evincing to
his Majesty the reality of those sentiments on our part, which may
justly be termed the animating principles of the United States.
"By such representations, the King will be assured that the citizens
of these States observe with the most lively satisfaction the repeated
instances of his amity for them; that they regard the alliance as an
inestimable connexion, endeared to them by the purity of the motives
on which it was founded, the advantages derived from it, and the
blessings it promises to both nations; that their resolution of
securing its essential objects, liberty and independence, is
unalterable; that they are determined, by all the exertions in their
power, to advance the common cause, and to demonstrate, that while
they are attentive to their own interests, they as ardently desire to
approve themselves not only faithful, but affectionate allies.
"By a residence of more than a year near Congress, you are enabled to
form a competent judgment of the difficulties we have had to
encounter, as well as of our efforts to remove them.
"Sir, we should be deficient in the respect due to distinguished
merit, if we should fail to embrace this opportunity of testifying the
high esteem, which you have obtained throughout this country by your
public and private conduct. You have happily combined a vigilant
devotion to the dignity and interest of our most excellent and
illustrious ally, with a zealous attachment to the honor and welfare
of these States.