Volume 5 — CONTENTS (continued 2)

Decree of the King's Council of State of the 22d of April, mentioned in the foregoing Memorial.

"The King, being informed of the dispositions made by the States-General of the United Provinces for complying with the reciprocity required by his regulation of the 26th of July, 1778, concerning the navigation of neutral vessels, and his Majesty, willing in consequence of these same dispositions to give a new proof of his affection to the said United Provinces, is determined to put an end to the restraints, which the commerce of their subjects have experienced in his States, to which end, the report being heard, the King being in his Council, hath ordained, and ordains as follows.

"Article I. His Majesty has revoked and revokes the decree of his Council of the 14th January, 1779, which subjected to a duty of freight the vessels of the said subjects of the States-General of the United Provinces of the Low Countries; those of the 27th of April and 5th of June, 1779, which establish a new tariff for the objects proceeding from their growth, fishery, manufacture, and commerce, and that of the 18th of September, 1779, which prohibits the entry of the cheeses of North Holland in the kingdom.

"Article II. His Majesty confirms, in favor of the said subjects of the States-General of the United Provinces of the Low Countries, the advantages conditionally promised by the dispositions of his regulation of the 26th of July, 1778, concerning the navigation of neutral vessels in time of war.

"Article III. His Majesty, willing to give to the said subjects of the States-General a signal proof of his beneficence, has ordained and ordains a restitution of the sums of money received by the overseers of his Farms, in virtue of the decrees before mentioned.

"Done in the King's Council of State, the 22d of April, 1780."

The news from the Hague of the 26th of April is, "that the deliberations of the different Provinces, which compose the Republic, have been continued these last weeks without interruption, and all the opinions are unanimously agreed upon three important objects, which make the matter of them, viz. First, the succor demanded by Great Britain; secondly, the convoys to be granted to merchant ships; thirdly, the invitation of the Empress of Russia to accede to an armed neutrality. The respective States of the seven Provinces have all been of opinion, first; to excuse themselves from giving the succors demanded. Secondly; to grant convoys to all merchant ships bearing the flag of the Republic, whatever may be their cargoes, without any other exception than that of contraband regulated by treaties. Thirdly; to accept with gratitude the invitation, and to enter upon this subject into negotiation, with the Prince de Gallitzin, Envoy Extraordinary of Her Imperial Majesty.

"We learn, even that the States-General have already taken resolutions conformable to this opinion. The affair of the attack of the convoy, commanded by the Count de Byland, does not less engage the attention of the government of the Republic. The States of the Province of Holland and of West Friesland have already formed upon this subject the instruction, which they have directed their deputies to carry to the Assembly of their High Mightinesses; it tends, in substance, to represent to the Court of London, 'that their High Mightinesses are by no means satisfied with the answer of Lord Stormont, given the 16th of March, to the just representations of their High Mightinesses concerning the violence done to their convoy, inasmuch as this answer only serves to cast upon them, by strained arguments, the blame of that which happened, and to represent, against all truth, their officer as having been the aggressor. That their High Mightinesses, as well to justify themselves in the eyes of all Europe, as to convince, if it is possible, Great Britain, have thought it their duty to represent further, that naval stores not being merchandises of contraband according to the express letter of the treaties, their visitation and detention, made by order, especially under the flag of their High Mightinesses, is a direct attack of their flag, as well as of their independence and sovereignty. That, as to the allegation of the treaty of 1674, made by Lord Stormont, concerning the visit of merchandises suspected, the contrary of what he advances appears in a manner the most evident, by the simple reading of the treaty. That the nature of a convoy rendering all visits unnecessary, the articles fifth and sixth of this treaty confine themselves manifestly to single ships, from which, nevertheless, they cannot in this require more than the exhibition of their sea letters, and with regard to vessels detained for an enemy's port, that of their passports; that thus the conduct of Commodore Fielding, approved by his Majesty, implies an open violation of this treaty; by consequence, neither the orders of their High Mightinesses, nor the act of their officer charged with their execution, having done any injury to the treaties, nor any hostilities having been committed on their part, but Commodore Fielding having employed, for the execution of his orders, the force of arms against the convoy of the Republic, there does not exist the least cause of complaint on the part of his Majesty; but on the part of their High Mightinesses, they have had the most just reason of complaint, and that they ought to insist still (as their High Mightinesses do insist, in the manner the most serious,) upon a satisfaction and a suitable reparation, as well as upon the release, without further form of process, of the merchant ships and their cargoes sailing under the convoy of the Republic, detained by force and violence contrary to the tenor of treaties, and condemned by the Judge of the Court of Admiralty with the same injustice, with which they were attacked by Commodore Fielding, taken, and carried into England. That conformably to these principles, the Count de Welderen shall be charged to give a reply to Lord Stormont, and to support it the most effectually, as often as he shall judge it to be further useful, &c.'

"If, on one side, the desire of the Republic to preserve an exact impartiality in the present troubles of Europe, draws upon her the displeasure of Great Britain, on the other side, she sees an end put to those restraints which France had laid on her commerce.

"The Royal College of the Admiralty of Stockholm, has sent to all the agents and consuls, who reside in foreign countries, an ordinance, by which it is announced to all masters of Swedish ships, that necessary convoys would be given for the protection of the commerce of the subjects of this kingdom."

It is quite unnecessary for me to observe to Congress, that all these political and maritime commotions tend either to peace, or to the full employment of all the forces of our enemy, and, consequently, to our liberty and tranquillity.

The general run of speculations and of conversation throughout Europe is upon peace. It seems the general opinion, that Great Britain will not venture upon so many dangers as lie all around her. I wish I could bring myself to think so, but I confess I cannot as yet. Signal success on the part of the allies might compel them to it; but signal success in favor of the English would urge them giddily on, no one can say to what lengths.

There is a speculative article from Brussels, the 25th of April, that is worth transmitting to Congress. "The news from Holland speaks of nothing but the sensation, which the declaration of Russia has produced. The greatest part of the Provinces, which have already given their opinions upon the Memorials of Sir Joseph Yorke, to excuse themselves from furnishing England with the succors demanded, have been eager to declare, that the proposition of the Court of Russia could not be more advantageous than in the present circumstances, and that it ought to be accepted. The English party is very much disconcerted by this event, which brings forward a new order of things; this party strives to excite a fear, that the difference of the principles established by particular treaties among the neutral powers respectively and the belligerent powers, will form an obstacle to the execution of a plan so salutary, which may serve forever as a rule in this matter. We know, that among the belligerent powers, France has always thought that it was just to leave a freedom of navigation to neutral powers; it is well known, that she has a long time respected this liberty, and that if she has afterwards made regulations, which restrain that of Holland, it was because she has been forced to it, because it was very natural that she should seek to stop the vessels bound to the ports of England, when this nation made no scruple to stop those which were bound to hers. And it is well known, too, that she never took his part until after she had employed the method of representation to determine the Hollanders to protect their own commerce.

Spain appears equally determined to use no more methods of rigor and severity towards the vessels of the Republic. There is only England, who appears to oppose the general wish, and she ought to perceive, that it is her own conduct, which has brought forth the events of which she complains. If she had had more moderation and justice, the project of an armed neutrality would not have taken place.

They write from Holland; "We flatter ourselves, that the armed neutrality may contribute to accelerate peace. It appears hitherto, that it is England alone, which puts an obstacle to it, and it is difficult for her to take her part in it. We doubt not that the independence of America, which perhaps is already tacitly acknowledged by all the Courts of Europe, will be the fundamental basis of an accommodation. England at the same time will be forced to announce a pretended pre-eminence of flag, equally contrary to the laws of nations, and to the first notions of common sense. The general liberty of the seas, the re-establishment of the respective possessions in the State in which there were before hostilities, perhaps the restitution of Gibraltar to its natural masters, and the adoption of the maritime code proposed by Russia, will be most probably the necessary consequences of the peace."

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 3d, 1780.

Sir,

The substance of a cartel for a general exchange of prisoners, made upon the sea between France and England, has been published; it was signed at Versailles the 12th of March last, by M. le Hor, one of the principal clerks of the office of the Marine, authorised to this purpose by the King, and at London the 28th of the same month, by Messrs John Bell, Walter Farquharson, P. Corbett, and Robert Lulman, Commissioners of the King of England. This treaty, equally useful to the two nations, dictated by sentiments, which do honor to the powers at war, and to humanity, will it is said be distinguished by the true philosophers, who prefer a useful operation to folio volumes, which talk of morals and humanity. The most perfect equality and reciprocity is established.

"The prisoners shall be exchanged man for man, according to their rank and qualities, or for a certain number of men as equivalent, or for certain sums of money in form of ransoms. A French Vice Admiral shall be exchanged against an English Admiral, having command; a Lieutenant General against an Admiral carrying his flag at ——. A Vice Admiral, commanding a squadron, against a Rear Admiral; the Captains of ships commanding divisions, or having the rank of Brigadiers against Commodores; the Captains of ships having the rank of Colonels against Post Captains of three years standing, whose rank answers to that of Colonels; the Lieutenants of vessels commanding frigates, from twenty to fifty guns, and having the rank of Lieutenant Colonels against all other Post Captains who have the same rank; the Lieutenants of vessels of the rank of Majors against the Masters and Commanders, or Captains who are not Post Captains; all the other Lieutenants of vessels against Lieutenants without distinction; the Captains of fire ships of the rank of Captains of infantry, Ensigns of vessels of the rank of Captains of infantry, Lieutenants of frigates, or Captains of pinks, on establishment or for a campaign, and having the same rank, against Lieutenants, and in want of these, against Midshipmen; the Gardes du Pavillon against Midshipmen; the Marine officers and subalterns against those of the same denomination or of equal rank; the respective equivalent for all the ranks in men and in money, is from sixty men, or sixty pounds sterling, descending to pence, to two men, or two pounds sterling; the sailors are to be exchanged man for man, and the equivalent is one pound sterling; the same gradation is to be observed for the officers of the Marine, and officers of land forces serving as marines, and land officers not serving on board the vessels, but taken at sea, as well as the common soldiers. Every three months there shall be stated accounts of exchanges, conformable to the foregoing regulations."

They have also ascertained the price per head of the transportation of prisoners, as well as of their subsistence; they have also regulated the conditions of the exchange of officers and other prisoners made in merchant vessels, privateers, or others, which are not the King's ships. Passengers, not being in the service of land or sea, when they shall have been taken, no matter in what vessel, shall not be regarded as prisoners, but shall be set at liberty, without being put into the accounts of exchanges, when they shall have proved that they are in the case of the exception. All persons, no matter of what denomination, who shall be shipwrecked in any vessel whatsoever, at least, if it is not in attempting to land, or in protecting some depredation upon the coast or in the islands of one or the other of the two kingdoms, shall be immediately set at liberty, and shall be furnished with the means of returning to their respective countries, as well as with clothing, if they have need of it, as soon as their situation shall be known, and the measures necessary for the purpose can be taken.

I have the honor to be, with respect, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

FROM ELBRIDGE GERRY TO JOHN ADAMS.

Philadelphia, May 5th, 1780.

Dear Sir,

The resolutions of Congress for calling in and cancelling the two hundred millions of dollars emitted by them, have in general been well received. The depreciation is stopped, and specie, which before the passing of the Resolves, was sold for upwards of seventy for one, is now current at sixty, and has been lately at fiftyfive. The advantage of this plan will be greatest to the landholder, inasmuch as the national debt, including certificates and foreign demands, does not now exceed five millions sterling, which is but a trifling sum compared with the £200,000,000 sterling due from Great Britain.

Another benefit resulting from it, is a supply of five millions of dollars, of the new emission, every dollar of which is equal to forty dollars of the old emission. Indeed this must be called in before that can be realised; nevertheless there is a greater demand among all ranks for continental money, than there has been since the commencement of the war, and specie is no longer hoarded by the disaffected or timid.

With respect to our resources, Congress are at present much in want of money, and it is a happy circumstance, for their economy is in proportion to their wants. The demands on the treasury are generally answered by warrants on the several States, which are careful by some means or other to discharge the drafts. The taxes are rendered very heavy, but the collection goes on, and I doubt not the army will be well fed and paid. Military stores and clothing must, however, be procured on credit in Europe, as well as a considerable loan to serve as a fund for drawing on in case of necessity. Trade and privateering are brisk, and there is a plenty of goods of every kind excepting military, but no money to purchase them. This is easily accounted for, since the whole sum in circulation, as Congress have fixed it, is only five million dollars. Our privateers and commerce have nevertheless suffered much by the cruisers of the enemy, who have the command of the seacoast.

It is much to be wished, that the Court of France would order a squadron superior to the enemy, to be stationed in some part of the United States, as the best and only means of putting a speedy end to the war. It is almost impossible to conceive the havoc, that our privateers made of the enemy's cruisers and transports, during the time that the Count d'Estaing was at Rhode Island and Charleston. But our losses at present nearly equal our captures. Indeed that very worthy officer, aware of those and other advantages, ordered the Count de Grasse to be stationed at the Chesapeake, but his plan was defeated by the tempestuousness of the weather. Had the latter arrived with his squadron, Charleston would not have been besieged, and three or four of our frigates, which are now in Ashley's River, and will probably be destroyed, would have been employed in intercepting the enemy's transports.

I forgot to mention a resolution of Congress to pay off the continental certificates, according to the value of money at the time of their being respectively issued. This is but justice, and will undoubtedly be satisfactory to foreigners. Bills of exchange are now at fortyfive for one, and will be higher in consequence of the great risk of sending vessels from the Eastern States to the Southern for produce.

I am, &c.

ELBRIDGE GERRY.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 8th, 1780.

Sir,

The proceedings of the United Provinces of the Low Countries are at this period so much attended to by mankind, and are likely to have such extensive and lasting consequences to us as well as to Europe, that Congress will excuse my troubling them with them in detail, however dry and unentertaining they may be.

Hague, April 30th, 1780. "We learn that their Noble and Grand Mightinesses, the States of Holland and West Friesland, have taken a resolution which had been universally adopted, and that it had been written to the Count de Welderen, Minister of their High Mightinesses at the Court of London, to there represent,

"That their High Mightinesses had been by no means satisfied with the answer given the 16th of March, by Lord Stormont, to the just representations made in the name of their High Mightinesses, by M. de Welderen, their Envoy, relative to the violences committed upon the convoy of the Republic, inasmuch as this answer by arguments destitute of all foundation, endeavors to cast the blame of what happened upon their High Mightinesses, and to make the commandant of their squadron be considered as the aggressor, which is absolutely false; that their High Mightinesses as well for their own justification in the eyes of all Europe, as to convince, as far as in their power, his Britannic Majesty of the insolidity of the answer of Lord Stormont, and with what incredible contempt of treaties their convoy has been attacked, without having on their part provoked so hostile an action, have resolved in substance to represent;—That their High Mightinesses, having always held in high estimation the declaration made by his Britannic Majesty of the sentiments of affection for the Republic, flatter themselves that they have given his Majesty, during the continuance of the present troubles, convincing proofs of their esteem, and of their sincere desire to maintain and strengthen the ties of this friendship, which for so many years had not failed to secure the reciprocal prosperity of the two nations; that still animated with the same sentiments, persisting also in the same principles, and having nothing so much at heart as the quiet and undisturbed enjoyment of the rights, assured by the ancient treaties, their High Mightinesses are intimately affected, that his Majesty will consider as a provocation the necessity of that defence to which they found themselves reduced, in consequence of positive orders given by his Majesty himself, and not having been able to make their representations upon this subject attended to, see themselves obliged to declare that they can and ought to order to be convoyed by vessels of war, all the materials for ship building, which shall not be transported to the succor of the enemies of his Britannic Majesty, the said materials forming one of the principal articles of the free navigation and of the commerce stipulated by the treaties; but all the merchandises of contraband being nevertheless to be excepted. That the cargoes of materials for ship building not being considered as contraband by the letter of the treaties, ought not to be subjected to any visit or detention, above all when they are found under the flag of their High Mightinesses; which, nevertheless, has been done in consequence of orders given upon this subject, and cannot but be regarded as a direct and unprovoked attack of their flag, as well as of their independence and sovereignty. That as to what Lord Stormont advances in saying, that in virtue of the treaty of 1674, all merchant vessels loaded with suspected merchandises ought to be visited, to the end to excuse by this assertion the conduct of Mr Fielding, it is but a vain allegation, contradicted by the very words of the said treaty, in which, in truth, there is no mention made of suspected merchandises, but only in the third article of commodities of contraband, which are particularly enumerated. That the convoy, by its nature, rendering useless all visits, the fifth and sixth articles of the said treaty of 1674, relative to rencounters at sea, explain themselves upon the following case. We there find literally,

'That when any private vessel, subject to one of the contracting powers, shall meet in open sea a vessel of war, or other vessel provided with a commission from the other power, and that the said vessel shall not be under convoy, she shall not be held only barely to the exhibition of her sea letters to justify the property of her cargo, and this in consequence of the 8th article of said treaty, except, nevertheless, when a merchant vessel shall be destined for an enemy's port, she shall be obliged also to show her passport, containing the list of effects which shall be on board, and to show that she is not loaded with any of the articles prohibited by the 3d article of the said treaty.'

"That, consequently, their High Mightinesses ought to conclude, that the assertion of Lord Stormont concerning the pretended exception of the said treaty, is but an extension of a regulation which he alleges for his justification, and that thus the conduct of Mr Fielding, approved by his Majesty, is a blow direct and manifest struck at the same treaty. That with regard to the property, as well as the nature of the cargo of the vessels, which were under the convoy of the Republic, Mr Fielding would have been able to have abundantly informed himself by the Count de Byland, to whom their High Mightinesses, although by no means obliged to this act of complaisance on their part, had given permission to consent to this demand, provided always, that the maintenance of the rights of the subjects of the Republic should not have suffered by it, and that, moreover, all possible moderation should be previously used. Their High Mightinesses could not do any other, than approve in all its points the conduct of Count de Byland. That thus, in contempt of all law and reason, the vessels under convoy having been taken, and the judgment of the legality of their detention sent to the decision of judges, who, as they ought not to pronounce upon this fact but according to the regulations made by his Majesty, are ready to declare lawful the confiscation of materials of ship building. That notwithstanding this, no breach of treaties having been made, either by the orders of their High Mightinesses, or by the conduct of their officer charged to execute them, nor any hostility committed, but, on the contrary, Mr Fielding, in consequence of orders which he had received, having employed the violence of arms against the convoy of the Republic, it is not certainly on the side of his Majesty that there ought to exist the least right of complaint, but rather on that of their High Mightinesses, who have subjects the most lawful on which to make them, and to insist, in the strongest manner, on obtaining a suitable satisfaction and reparation, as well as the restitution of the merchant vessels and their cargoes, which, being under the convoy of the State, have been, against the faith of treaties, attacked and stopped by Mr Fielding, taken and carried into England, and against all form of justice and equity, so unjustly condemned by the Judges of the Admiralty; and that, finally, M. de Welderen shall be charged to conform himself to the aforesaid instructions, to demand a positive answer upon this subject from Lord Stormont, and to do upon this object all that he shall judge suitable to the circumstances, in employing to this effect his good offices and all the efforts of the strictest duty."

Their High Mightinesses have also taken the following resolution. "Having received a letter from the representative of His Most Serene Highness, and from the directors of the general and granted Company of the West Indies, committees of the respective chambers to the assembly of ten, sitting at Amsterdam, written from that city the 18th of this month, and whereof the contents are, that in consequence of, and to the end to satisfy the resolution of their High Mightinesses of the 12th precedent, containing their report upon the petition of divers merchants and proprietors of ships residing in this country, and trading with the West Indies; shewing, thereby, to their High Mightinesses, how it was prejudicial to the commerce and navigation of this country;

'1st. That when the vessels of other European nations transport to the Colonies of this State, situated in the West Indies, and principally at St Eustatia, merchandises, without paying the duties of lest and of recognition, that the petitioners and other inhabitants of the Republic, going from the ports of this country, were, nevertheless, obliged to pay to the West India Company;

'2dly. That if the said foreign vessels should enjoy an advantage so notable, as to transport from America, even the merchandises and productions of the country, in the ports of their habitation or others situated in Europe, and without the limits of this Republic, without paying any duty of lest or of recognition, while, nevertheless, the petitioners see themselves not only obliged in going there and returning to pay these duties to the West India Company, but also to engage themselves under caution, not to return into any port of Europe except those of this State. They pray that a remedy may be provided for this inconvenience;'

"Upon which having deliberated, it has been thought proper, conditionally, and until a final decision of their High Mightinesses, that it should be determined by these presents, that foreign European vessels, importing merchandise of any sort to the islands of this State in the West Indies, without having acquitted the sums due in this country for the duties of lest and of recognition, shall be subjected and obliged, after their arrival, to there pay exactly all the duties, without exception, which the vessels of the Republic are held to discharge before their departure from Europe; finally, that conditionally, and until after an ulterior disposition of their High Mightinesses, it should be seriously forbidden to these foreign European vessels, to load in the Colonies of the State, merchandises, except under the same obligations and restrictions imposed upon ships of the Republic, to wit, to sail only from, and to return to the ports of this country, and paying the same duties of lest, and sale, and recognition, which the ships of the inhabitants of the State are obliged to pay, on returning to the said ports of the Republic."

Hague, 3d of May. "There has been sent to the Assembly of their High Mightinesses, a resolution of the Province of Gueldres, conforming wholly to that taken by the Province of Holland, touching the memorial of the Prince Gallitzin, and which authorises at the same time their committees to assist at the conferences and negotiations, to continue them, and to transmit the result of them to the deliberations of their Noble Mightinesses, to the end that they in course take a resolution according to the exigence of the case, and the importance of this object.

"There have also been presented three resolutions of the Province of Zealand; the first, concerning the requisition made by the Admiralty of the quarter of the north, soliciting a subsidy of three hundred and seventyfive thousand florins, and to be put in a state to be able afterwards to pay the annual interest of it; in consequence of which, the States of Zealand consent to the borrowing of the said sum upon an interest of two and a half per cent, opposing themselves, nevertheless, to the granting to the said College an annual subsidy, to be divided in quotas on the respective Provinces.

"The second of these resolutions contains an answer to a letter of the Admiralty on the Meuse, concerning the indemnification of the losses suffered for the transportation of the Ambassador Van Haefton, at Constantinople. Finally the third resolution is relative to the Memoir of the Prince Gallitzin, and has for its object to concur in the opening of conferences, provided, that these do not in anything alter the system of an exact neutrality, adopted by the Republic, nor the treaties subsisting; with a further insinuation to the gentlemen, their ordinary deputies, to abstain from concurring in any final conclusion upon this object, without the consent of their Noble Mightinesses and without having previously informed them of what may be projected in this respect.

"The States of Guilderland, in their resolution relative to the granting of an unlimited convoy, have also declared, that they had believed they had foundation to flatter themselves, that the condescension of this State, upon the representations of the King of Great Britain, to the effect to suspend conditionally the protection due to their subjects, and which was assured to them by the treaty of 1674, would have sufficiently proved the desire, with which the Republic was animated to testify to his Majesty as well as to Great Britain, a deference the most marked, preserving always the observation of an exact neutrality, but that convinced of the contrary, as well by the declarations as by even the hostilities committed against the subjects of the Republic, they have now thought themselves founded in putting an end to the limitation of convoys, in granting a free course to the protection of commerce, according to the treaties and the law of nations. For which reason, the aforesaid States would no more make any difficulty to concur to maintain with the forces of the country, the right of the Republic, lawfully acquired by solemn treaties, but that not being, nevertheless, intimately convinced, that in case of a further opposition the Republic is in a state of defence sufficient upon the sea, it would consequently be to be feared, that such a part would not serve, but to throw the State into still greater embarrassments, and operate an effect contrary to the end proposed. Thus then, supposing that the high confederates should judge it indispensably necessary to grant an unlimited convoy, the intention of their Noble Mightinesses would not be in any degree to retard or suspend such a resolution, but on the contrary, to show their condescension and their desire to contribute to the unanimity of this State, they would take away all reflections, of what importance soever they may appear to them, submitting themselves to the penetration of those of the confederates, who, being more interested in navigation and maritime commerce, have already authorised and instructed their committees, in the generality, to consent with the concurrence of other Provinces to an unlimited convoy."

We read also in another resolution of the States of Friesland, these remarkable words, "that the Empress of Russia has never given a more shining proof, than in the present conjuncture, of her attachment to this Republic, which ought to engage the State to correspond by sentiments proportioned to those, which her Majesty has discovered, both for the well being and the safety of her own States and subjects, and to procure to all Europe a perfect tranquillity founded upon motives the most equitable, and upon treaties, and to the end to prevent and hinder for the future the damages, which commerce and navigation have suffered until this time, and to maintain and cause to be observed a perfect neutrality between the belligerent powers."

I may conclude this letter by observing, that I am informed, they talk in Holland of laying an embargo, to prevent the English from making many prizes, and that there is another rumor of opening the harbor of Antwerp. If there is any serious thought of this, it must be the fruit of English intrigue with Austria.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 8th, 1780.

Sir,

At the same time that the conduct of Great Britain towards the neutral powers is marked by a severity, that is without example, that of France and Spain is distinguished by a moderation and liberality, that deserves to be imitated. I have before transmitted to Congress the declaration of the King of France, and the decree of his Council, abolishing the restrictions on the Holland trade. In this letter I shall give an account of the conduct of Spain.

On the 13th of March, the Count de Florida Blanca wrote a letter to the Marquis Gonzalez de Castigon, the Minister of the Marine, to serve as a regulation for the navigation of neuters, as follows;

"Most Excellent Lord,

"From the commencement of the present war with Great Britain, the King declared sincerely, and even in a manner that is unexampled, his intentions of blockading Gibraltar, and his Majesty gave by me a formal notification of it to all the foreign Ministers and Ambassadors, to the end that they might be in a capacity to inform their respective nations of it, and that these might avoid in their navigation and in their conduct the consequences and procedures authorised by the right of nations and the general laws of war. The King declared at the same time by his ordinances concerning privateering, published in the sight of all the world, 'that with regard to the merchandises, productions, and effects of the English, loaded on board of vessels bearing the flag of a friend or a neuter, his Majesty would conduct himself according to the procedure, which the English should adopt towards cargoes of the same kind, to the end to avoid by this reciprocity of conduct, the enormous inequality, the prejudice, and even the ruin to which the commerce and the subjects of his Majesty would be otherwise exposed.' In spite of these dispositions so full of equity, of frankness and good faith, the captains and masters of neutral vessels have not ceased to abuse without shame the impunity of their flags, whether by sliding clandestinely into Gibraltar, with cargoes of provisions, even with those which were destined for the fleets and armies of the King, whether by concealing a great part of their loading, consisting in powder and other merchandises of contraband, or by disguising (by double and fictitious papers, which they cast into the sea, when they saw themselves pursued) the property of their vessels and effects, as well as their destination for persons and places different from those to whom they really belonged, and to which they were bound, or whether finally by making a formal resistance against the King's ships or his privateers, when they endeavored to take a view of some vessels, which they supposed neuter.

"Although these facts are notorious, and have been proved by formal processes, these men, greedy of gain, and perverse, have filled all Europe with the noise of their clamors, propagating falsely, that orders had been given to detain and to seize all neutral vessels, that would pass the Straits, whilst in fact the orders were confined to the detention of vessels suspected by their course, or their papers, and which were loaded with provisions or effects of the enemy, a moderation very different from the conduct which has been held by the navy and the privateers of England, in detaining and declaring good prize neutral vessels, not only when they carried Spanish productions, but of whatever kind the merchandises were, which they had taken on board in the ports of Spain, or although they were only bound to this Peninsula, taking also and carrying to Gibraltar the neutral vessels, which passed in their sight with cargoes of provisions, although the whole was but a feint and a disguised agreement made beforehand with persons interested in these frauds. These clamors have been accompanied with several complaints, which have been made to the King, filled with the exaggerations and falsehoods beforementioned, and the complainants have addressed themselves in the same manner to their respective Courts, without considering, that conformably to all the treaties of peace and of commerce the royal tribunals of the marine of the Admiralty, as well inferior as superior, were open to them to hear their allegations and proofs, pronounce sentence upon the processes, which they should institute, and repair the wrongs, which the detained vessels should have suffered, in one case or the other, without sufficient reason, although to this moment this point has never been legally verified. But the captains and masters have always obstinately insisted, that without other proofs than their relations and their applications to the Ministry, they should be released, and the delays and damages of their detention made good to them, and this solely because the clemency, the equity, and even the indulgence of the King recommended to the judges of the marine, had set several vessels at liberty, which had been detained with justice, and which might have been declared good prizes, conformably to law, and to the practice of our enemies.

"To dissipate even the very shadow of such like pretexts the Count de Rechteren, Envoy of the United Provinces, and the other Ministers of foreign Courts, were notified beforehand, that if they proposed any means of preventing frauds, and causes of suspicion, the King, to give a fresh proof of the good correspondence and friendship, which he desired to maintain with these Courts, would adopt such of those means as should be proper to produce such an effect; and as to this day they have not proposed nor regulated any means of this sort, his Majesty has judged proper to take by himself the measures, which are consistent with his sovereignty, uniting to that end the substance of those which have been communicated hitherto, and manifesting in a manner, if possible, still more positive his intentions, so full of justice, of equity, and of moderation, as being founded upon the resolution of making them be observed with punctuality.

"Article I. That the vessels with a neutral flag, making sail through the Straits, whether on the side of the ocean, or on that of the Mediterranean, may not be molested nor hindered in their navigation, so long as they shall arrange themselves, as much as shall be possible for them, along the coasts of Africa, and keeping as far as they can from those of Europe, during the course of their passage, from their coming into it to their going out, provided always, that their papers and cargoes be regular, and they furnish no just cause to excite suspicions, whether by flying away, or by resistance, or by an irregular course, or other signs of correspondence with the place blocked up, or with the ships of the enemy.

"Article II. When the aforesaid vessels of a neutral flag shall be destined, with their cargoes, for any ports, situated upon the Spanish coast in the Straits, such as those of Algeziras or Tarifa, they must lie to, and wait the arrival of a Spanish vessel, which making sail towards them shall give them the signal, by firing a gun, and after having received their declaration shall escort them, or will point out to them, according to the circumstances, the way which they ought strictly to pursue, for coming more readily, without any danger, and without giving cause of any suspicion, to the place of their destination.

"Article III. In case the Spanish vessels cruising in the Straits, at the entrance, or the outlet, according to the exigence of the case or the place, and conformably to the orders, with which they may be charged, should judge it necessary to convoy neutral vessels, which are traversing the Straits, or even those which are coasting along Africa, these neutral vessels shall not make opposition to submit to the convoy, without going away from it, or furnishing reasons of suspicion; nevertheless, as they, may arrive in great numbers, and at different times, in such manner that it may become prejudicial to wait for the time to be convoyed, and that, moreover, it would be extremely embarrassing to escort each ship in particular, they shall direct their course conformably to the first article, towards the coast of Africa, and shall follow it until some Spanish vessel, stationed or cruising in the Straits, presents itself to escort them out of sight of the place of the enemy and its avenues; and to this end the vessels, to which the signal shall be given, shall stop, as it was said above, and shall conform themselves to the dispositions made in respect to them, by producing without the smallest difficulty, or resistance, their papers, and submitting to all that which is prescribed by the treaties, and the common law of nations to the end to prove the property of ships, the legality of their documents, as well as of their cargoes and destination.

"Article IV. When such vessels, under the appearance of neutrals, shall come out of ports situated on the coast of Africa, in the Straits, they shall be visited, and treated according to the nature of their cargo, or the suspicions which they shall have excited, of intentions to sail to carry succors to Gibraltar, supposing always that the vessels coming out of the said ports with the design of going into Gibraltar, have in fact hoisted, a neutral flag and abused it.

"Article V. When neutral vessels shall not conform themselves to the said dispositions, in whole or in part, in particular cases, they shall be seized and carried into port, where they shall be declared good prize with all their effects and cargoes, only for being loaded with provisions, or with those sorts of effects specified by the article 15th of the regulation for armed vessels, without there being occasion for any other judicial proof; and, in case that the articles before mentioned should not be found on board of these vessels, the motives of their contravention of these articles shall be juridically examined, and an account of them rendered to his Majesty by the Secretary of State, and of the Department of the Marine, who shall afterwards make known the resolution of his Majesty.

"Article VI. In case, independently of the contravention of these articles, it should be proved that a vessel under a neutral flag should be entered into the place, or discovered going in (which would manifest a visible and formal design of going there) without having lain to, or waited for the Spanish vessel, which should have pursued her and made her the signal, or should have gone far from the coast of Africa, or finally, shall have separated herself from the convoy, she shall be in all respects both in going in and in coming out treated as an enemy's ship, declared according to the tenor of the laws of war to be good prize, as well as all her cargo, and all the crew shall be made prisoners of war; because that in such a case the flag and documents ought to be supposed false, the ship and cargo to belong to the enemy, or that one or the other is destined for his service.

"Article VII. The neutral vessels, which shall be visited by the King's ships, or privateers, upon other seas or coasts of the ocean, and the Mediterranean, which have no communication with the Straits of Gibraltar, shall neither be stopped nor brought into port except in the cases specified by the royal regulation, made the 10th of July, 1779, for privateers; no vexation nor violence shall be exercised against the masters of these ships, nor shall anything be taken away from them, how small soever may be the value of it, under the penalty established by the said regulation, extended even by article nineteenth to that of death, according to the exigency of the case.

"Article VIII. In case the vessels, stopped by the King's ships or privateers, shall throw their papers into the sea, and this fact shall be juridically proved, they shall, for this reason only, be declared good prize; which has been sufficiently made known by the sixteenth article of the regulation for privateers, which treats of this object.

"Article IX. If it shall be proved that in the cargoes of vessels stopped, there should be found some effects the property of the enemy, in such case, if the captain shall have declared it freely, the said effects shall be unloaded alone, the freight of them shall be paid, without retaining long the masters or hindering in any manner their navigation, always provided, that as far as possible the said vessels shall not be put in a situation to run any risk by the taking out the effects before mentioned; a receipt shall be given to the captain for the effects discharged, of the condition they were in, as well as the amount of their freight as far as the place of their destination; which shall be proved by their charter parties or documents, to the end to be able to be satisfied, what shall be their due from the Commissary of the Marine of the first port they shall make, that of which they shall give notice by the way of the Ministry, to the end that if the receipt of which they are the bearers has been given them by a privateer, the amount of it may be paid by the owners, and if it has been furnished them by a King's ship, measures the most convenient in this respect shall be taken, that in case it should be judged absolutely necessary to conduct the said vessels into some port there to discharge them, they may be indemnified for that which shall be due to them, by reason of their freight, for so many days as it shall be judged indispensably necessary for them to take up, both in going to the said ports and in returning; but, nevertheless, in case the captains should conceal the effects, the property of the enemy, or deny that they belong to the enemy, they ought to be pursued juridically, and the Judges of the Marine shall examine the case and decide it, with liberty of appeal to a council of war, who, conformably to the usage of the English tribunals, shall declare lawful prize all these effects, which shall appear legally to belong to an enemy, by means of which, considering the concealment and the denial of the said effects, no account shall be made, neither of the freight nor of the days lost to masters of vessels, since they will have been themselves the causes of the delay occasioned to their navigation.

"Article X. When in the said case, or in others similar, the ships of friends or of neutrals shall be stopped and brought into the ports, other than those of their destination, contrary to the forms prescribed or without having given cause for it by well founded reasons, either by the direction of their course, or by the state of their papers, by some resistance on their part, the nature of their cargo, or by other legal causes, founded either on treaties or the usages of nations universally adopted, the armed vessels, which shall have seized such vessels, shall be condemned to make good the lost days as well as the damages and prejudices caused to a seized ship; this condemnation or justification shall be mentioned in the same sentence, which shall contain the declarations of good or bad prize, and to this end they shall proceed with the utmost despatch without injuring however the privileges or principal points, whereof the nature of the thing requires observance, and the decisions, whether of condemnation or acquittal, ought to be executed under sureties, as it is regulated for the advantage of privateers; and if it happens that the vessels, which should have caused the damage, belong to the King, in that case the tribunals or Judges of the Marine shall give notice of it to the Secretary of your Excellency, sending to him at the same time justifying pieces and their opinion, to the end that his Majesty may ordain convenient damages, and what shall be judged necessary to prevent or remedy like cases; and it is in this sense that the fortieth and other articles of the regulation for privateering ought to be understood.

"Article XI. The sale of prizes and their cargoes, mentioned by the thirtyseventh, fortyfourth, and other articles of the royal ordinance for privateering, shall be made, not only after having prepared an inventory of them, and in presence of the masters of the interested, or of those who are legally authorised, but also skilful persons shall have previously made a formal estimate, in which the causes of avarice, or others influencing more or less upon the price of effects, shall be examined and juridically proved, in such sort, that at all times one may notoriously prove both the price of merchandises taxed before the sale, and consequently the frauds which might be committed during the said sale, as well as the prejudices that might result from them.

"Article XII. The intention of his Majesty being, that this royal declaration be observed, as making part of his ordinances imprinted and published in all his ports and maritime places, the King commands me to transmit it to your Excellency, to have it published to this end, and that you see to its punctual execution, while, on my part, I shall communicate it to all the Ambassadors and foreign Ministers residing in this Court, to the end that each one may give notice of it to his respective nation.

"Article XIII. In the meantime, his Majesty requires your Excellency to give also the necessary orders to the tribunals and counsellors of the Marine, that they may expedite, with the utmost diligence, the processes begun relative to stopped vessels conformably to the spirit of this royal declaration, which as to the essentials agrees with the precedent ones successively published."

Thus I have gone through these lengthy state papers, but am under fearful apprehensions that Congress will find the translation imperfect in some parts, for I have not time to revise it. I may take this opportunity to observe, that I have sent many state papers to Congress, which were originally in English, but which I have first found in the foreign gazettes and translated from them; which will account to Congress for the difference, which they will see between some papers I have sent and the originals.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 8th, 1780.

Sir,

There is an article of news from the Hague of the 3d of May, that they write from Dort, that the recruits of Anspach and of Hanover, in the pay of England, are embarked there and sailed from that city the day before yesterday, in order to go to their destination.

There is news also from Stockholm of the 18th of April, that the ordinance, which the College of the Admiralty has expedited to all the agents and consuls, who reside in foreign countries, relating to the convoys necessary to the protection of the commerce of the subjects of this kingdom, is as follows, dated Stockholm, April 1st.

"His Majesty having found it necessary to equip a certain number of vessels of war and frigates, during this year, to the end to protect the navigation of Swedish merchants, the College of the Admiralty, in consequence, makes known, that besides the vessels of war, which are to protect the vessels of other nations destined for the ports of this kingdom, to the end, that no hostilities may be committed upon the coasts of Sweden, the said College has further judged it necessary, that some frigates ought to serve as convoys to the Swedish ships, which go to navigate without the Baltic sea. To this purpose, the Royal College of the Admiralty has judged proper to give notice, that the Road of Elsinore will be the rendezvous of all the vessels, which would take advantage of the convoys, and which will sail at four different times, to wit;

"The first convoy will sail the 29th of May, with the merchant vessels, which may be ready, under the escort of the frigate the Zwarte Orn, commanded by the Major Harald Christiernin, who has orders to conduct them by the Canal, [?] as far as Cape Finisterre, and take all possible care that the vessels arrive in safety in the ports of their destinations, and afterwards to conduct under his convoy, destined for the Mediterranean, with the same vigilance, through the Strait of Gibraltar, as far as the latitude of Malaga. The second convoy will sail the 14th of July, with the frigate Höken, under the command of the Major and Chevalier Samuel Orrskiold, who is to convoy with the same care the merchant ships as far as Cape Finisterre.

"The third will put to sea the 31st of August under the protection of the frigate Upland, commanded by the Major and Baron Solomon Christian Von Kokler. Finally, the fourth convoy will sail on the 30th of September, escorted by the frigates Sodermanland and the Jaramas, commanded by the Majors and Chevaliers C. M. Wagenfelt and Herns Frederic Watchmeister, who are to convoy with the same care the merchant ships as far as Cape Finisterre, and afterwards those which are destined for Portugal, Spain, and the Mediterranean, as well as along the coast of Europe, as far as Leghorn; the commandant being to consult with the consuls of their nation where they cruise during the winter months, to the end to protect the ships of Swedish subjects, which trade in the Mediterranean; after which, the said frigates are to repair towards the middle of February to Malaga, and make in the latitude of that port their cruises until the end of that month, to return after that, taking under their convoy the vessels from thence, and those coming from the Mediterranean, to reconduct them through the channel into their country.

"It ought not, however, to be forgotten, that no merchant ships will be taken under convoy, but those only which shall conform themselves to the ordinance Royal of the 18th of February, 1779, as well as to the neutrality, which his Majesty would maintain with the strictest exactness. Thus the masters of Swedish ships are advertised by these presents, and it is even enjoined upon them not to carry any succors into the places or ports, which may be blocked by one or another of the powers now at war.

"Nevertheless, notwithstanding this arrangement, his Majesty will permit, to the end that commerce may have its course and not be retarded, that liberty be given to merchant ships to sail without the said convoys, according to the circumstances in which they may find themselves, as well as the facility to separate themselves at sea from the King's ships, if their advantage requires it, in which case the masters of ships shall be obliged to give notice of it beforehand to the commanders of frigates. In one word, the masters of ships shall be held to conform themselves to the orders, which the chiefs of the convoy shall give them, and, consequently, to the instructions which shall be delivered them."

Copies are circulated in London, of the answer which the Court has made to the declaration of the Empress of Russia, presented the first of April to the Ministry by M. de Simolin, Minister Plenipotentiary. This piece, which was despatched the 13th of April to the Chevalier Harris, Envoy Extraordinary of his Britannic Majesty to the Court of Petersburg, is of the following tenor.

"During the whole course of the war, in which the King of Great Britain finds himself engaged by the aggression of France and Spain, he has manifested those sentiments of justice, of equity, and moderation, which govern all his proceedings. His Majesty has regulated his conduct towards friendly and neutral powers according to theirs towards him, conforming it to principles the most clear, and the most generally acknowledged of the law of nations, which is the only law between nations who have no treaties, and to the tenor of his different engagements with other powers; which engagements have varied this primitive law by mutual stipulations, and have varied it in a great variety of different manners, according to the will and the convenience of the contracting parties. Strongly attached to her Majesty, the Empress of all the Russias, by the ties of a reciprocal friendship and a common interest, the King, from the commencement of the troubles, gave the most determinate orders to respect the flag of her Imperial Majesty and the commerce of her subjects, according to the law of nations and the tenor which he has contracted in this treaty of commerce with her, and which he will fulfil with the most scrupulous exactness. The orders on this subject have been renewed, and the execution of them shall be strictly attended to. It is to be presumed, that they will prevent all irregularity; but if it should happen, that there should be the smallest violation of these repeated orders, the tribunals of the Admiralty, which in this country, as in all others, are established to take cognizance of such matters, and which in all cases judge solely by the general law of nations, and by the particular stipulations of different treaties, would redress the injury in a manner so equitable, that her Imperial Majesty would be satisfied entirely with their decisions, and would acknowledge in them the same spirit of justice which animates herself."

This is said to be the answer to the Empress, and to be sure it is complaisant enough; but still there is a great question between the King and the Empress to be decided. The King says, that all the ports of France and Spain are blocked by his fleet. The Empress says, that none of them are or will be, but such before which the King may send a number of ships to guard the entrance into them, and make it manifestly dangerous. She adds, that she has armed and will arm to maintain this construction of the word, and invites all the other maritime powers to make a league with her in support of this interpretation; and Holland has already answered that she agrees to it with gratitude, and all the other powers will answer the same. If the King gives up his interpretation of the word, there is an end forever to the naval superiority of Great Britain. If he maintains it, it must be by a war against all the nations that use the seas.

But the government and nation are not yet forsaken by their infatuation. They do not see in the declaration of the Empress, that she has taken a decided part against them. But all the rest of the world sees, that a declaration of war against them would not have been a more decisive indication of the Empress' judgment or affections.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

P. S. There is an article in the Amsterdam Gazette of the 2d of May, taken from the Hague of the 30th of April, that "Mr Faucet, General in the service of the King of England, has set off from his residence, and we learn from Dort, that the English vessels are at last arrived there, and that the recruits of Anspach and Hanau will be embarked in a little time to go to America."

This Mr Faucet is the officer (they call him General in the papers, but I believe he is not more than a Major or Lieutenant Colonel) whose whole time and service are devoted to picking up the recruits for the German regiments in the British service. He constantly fills all the newspapers of Europe with his motions from place to place, and gives his accounts an air of mystery, which leaves the world, both in Europe and America, to magnify the numbers he raises at discretion, or rather according to their imaginations. But Congress may rely upon this, that the service is very unpopular and odious in Germany; that they are put to great trouble and expense, annually, to raise the recruits whom they have sent, who have never been enough to repair the breaches, and that this year they have not been able to get more than last, and these will arrive as late as those last year, and in all probability as sickly.

J. A.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 8th, 1780.

Sir,

The English have a faculty of deceiving themselves, which has lost them thirteen colonies, has brought them into a war, first with France and then with Spain, has nearly lost them Ireland, and has at last put them in a fair way of uniting all the other maritime powers of Europe against them. Yet they are still able to deceive themselves.

There is an example of this in the Hague Gazette of the 1st of May, in the article Great Britain.

"They make here a thousand conjectures concerning the declaration of this Court of the 17th of this month, and the consequences which may result from it. The declaration of Russia does not afford less matter of speculation. It is agreed that it will render the three belligerent powers very circumspect in their conduct relative to the commerce of neutral powers, but the more moderate politicians cannot persuade themselves, that this declaration is more hostile towards England than towards the other powers at war, although our patriots, as they call themselves, exert themselves to give it a turn, as if Russia had it in view to break with England.

"Since the unfortunate contest between Great Britain and her colonies of America, the balance of commerce between Russia and England has been, one year with another, more than five hundred thousand pounds in favor of Russia, and there is also a very considerable balance in favor of the other northern powers. But these moderate English politicians ought to consider, whether this balance of commerce is enough to prevent a great and able princess from seizing an opportunity of distinguishing her character with the world and in history, for wisdom, equity, and magnanimity, by rendering to mankind a most essential service, by introducing into the law and practice of nations a reformation of those errors, which the English chiefly had attempted to establish; a reformation which the interest and rights of humanity so loudly and manifestly call for, and by assisting in the separation of the new world from the domination and monopoly of England, which is also so obviously for the honor, the prosperity, and the happiness of mankind in general. The English should further consider, whether this balance of trade is likely to be less in favor of Russia, for the independence of America, and for the security which is aimed at for neutral powers. All the world out of England sees that it will not."

I will conclude this letter, by adding the letter of Lord Stormont, of the 17th of April, to the Count de Welderen, Envoy Extraordinary of their High Mightinesses.

"The King has always hoped, that the faith of treaties and the ties of an alliance, which has subsisted for more than a century, as well as those of a reciprocal friendship, and a common interest joined to the evidence of the danger, which threatens the Republic herself, if France and Spain accomplish their ambitious designs, would have induced their High Mightinesses to assist his Majesty to frustrate these designs by furnishing him the succors stipulated by treaties the most solemn.

"But since their High Mightinesses have adopted another system, as contrary to the interests of the Republic as to those of Great Britain, since they have not made any answer to the repeated demand of these succors, and have not even shown the least intention to fulfil engagements so clear and so formal, his Majesty has found himself necessitated to execute his intentions, which have been so clearly announced in the Memorial, which his ambassador presented the 21st of March last, and in the verbal declaration, which I had the honor to make to you, by express order of the King. As you are perfectly informed, Sir, of the sentiments of his Majesty, it only remains for me to communicate to you, ministerially, the order which the King has given in his Council, and to pray you to inform their High Mightinesses of it. In reading this order, you will there see, Sir, a particular attention to the interests of the commercial subjects of their High Mightinesses. The publication of the memorial presented by the Ambassador of the King, as well as that of the verbal declaration, will, without doubt, render all further advertisements unnecessary. But the King desires, that individuals should suffer as little as possible from the consequences of a system, which their High Mightinesses have adopted, and which appears as opposite to the sentiments of the Dutch nation as it is to the interests of the Republic."

How confident these people are, that no other nation of Europe understands its own interest. According to them, France, Spain, Holland, Russia, and the other maritime powers and the United States of America, are all acting, shedding their blood, and spending their money for objects directly opposite to their proper interests. But it is much to be wished that the English, for the sake of their own preservation, as well as the report of mankind, could be brought to think, that other nations understand their own interests very well.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO AN UNKNOWN PERSON.[1]

Paris, May 9th, 1780.

Dear Sir,

I thank you for your note of yesterday, and the papers enclosed.

The proposals for a general pacification, by the Dean of Gloucester, whether they were written by him, or by another, were probably intended to feel the pulse of France, or Spain, or America. Nay, it is not impossible, that they might be intended to sound even so inconsiderable a portion of existence as Mr John Adams. But it must be something rather more plausibly written; something a little more consonant to reason, and to common sense, which will draw out of Mr Adams his sentiments on the great work of pacification, if ever he should enter into any detail upon this subject, before general conferences take place, which he at present believes he shall not do.

Concealing, however, my name, you may take these few observations upon these proposals.

1. England may be heartily sick of the imprudent part she has taken. This point I shall not dispute with the Dean of Gloucester. Yet I wish she would give some better proof of it, than she has done hitherto. But of Americans I can speak with confidence and certainty; and so far from being sick of the part they have taken, they look upon the past madness of Great Britain, which has compelled them to overcome all the prejudices and weak passions, which heretofore bound them to her, and to become independent, as the greatest blessing which Providence ever bestowed upon them, from the first plantation in the new world. They look upon it, that a council of the wisest statesmen and legislators, consulting together on the best means of rendering America happy, free, and great, could not have discovered and digested a system so perfectly adapted to that end, as this one, which the folly and wickedness of Great Britain has contrived for them. They not only see, and feel, and rejoice in the amelioration of their forms of government, but in the improvement of their agriculture and their manufactures, and in the discovery, that all the omnipotence of British fleets has not been able to prevent their commerce, which is opening and extending every year, as their population is increasing in the midst of the war.

2. To suppose that France is sick of the part she has taken, is to suppose her to be sick of that conduct, which has procured her more respect and consideration in Europe, than any step she ever took. It is to suppose her sick of that system, which enabled her to negotiate the peace between Russia and the Ottoman Porte, as well as the peace of Teschen; that system, which has enabled her to unite, in sentiment and affection, all the maritime powers, even the United Provinces, in her favor, and against England. It is to suppose her sick of that system, which has broken off from her rival and natural enemy the most solid part of his strength, a strength that had become so terrible to France, and would have been so fatal to her. I do not mean to enlarge.

As to the propositions themselves, it would be wasting time to consider them. Of all the malicious plans of the English against America, none has ever been more so than this. It is calculated only to make America the sport of Britain in future; to put it in her power to be forever fomenting quarrels and wars; and, I am well persuaded, that America would sooner vote for a hundred years' war.

I may be thought again too sanguine. I have been too sanguine these twenty years, constantly too sanguine; yet eternally right.

Adieu,

JOHN ADAMS.

P. S. I do not see Captain Waters's engagement yet in any of the papers. I would have sent it to England and Holland for publication, if I had known it could not be printed here.

J. A.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 9th, 1780.

Sir,

I have the honor to enclose to Congress proposals for a general pacification, by the Dean of Gloucester.

"Proposals to the English, Americans, French, and Spaniards, now at war.

"First. That Great Britain shall retain Newfoundland, with the desert coasts of Labradore; also Canada, Nova Scotia, and the country bordering on the Bay of Fundy, as far as the bay and river of Penobscot.

"Secondly. That all the country from the Penobscot river to the river Connecticut, containing almost all the four populous Provinces of New England, shall be ceded to the Americans.

"Thirdly. That all the country from the Connecticut to the river Delaware, containing the whole of New York, Long Island, and the Jerseys, with some parts of two other Provinces indenting with them, shall return to Great Britain.

"Fourthly. That all the country from the Delaware to the northern boundary of South Carolina, containing the greatest part of Pennsylvania, all Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, shall be ceded to the Americans.

"Fifthly. That all the country from the northern boundary of South Carolina to the extreme point of the eastern Florida, containing three whole Provinces, shall be retained by Great Britain.

"Sixthly. That West Florida, chiefly barren sand, and the Fortress of Gibraltar (totally useless,) shall be ceded to Spain, in order to satisfy the punctilio of that nation, and that the Spaniards shall give Porto Rico in exchange, an island on which they seem to set no value and which indeed is of no use to them, though large in itself, stored with good ports, well situated, and capable (in the hands of the English) of great improvements.

"Seventhly. Lastly, that the English shall give up the conquests they have made on the French in the East Indies, who shall do the like to the English in the West Indies."

I shall make no remarks upon this plan, but there is no Englishman who thinks of a wiser, or at least who dares propose one. All, who talk of propositions, throw out something as absurd and idle as this, which will convince Congress that we shall have no peace for some time.

The French armament, which sailed from Brest the 2d of May, under the command of M. de Rochambeau, of the troops, and M. de Ternay, of the fleet, and the armament from Cadiz, of twelve ships of the line, besides frigates and other armed vessels, with eleven thousand five hundred land forces, with a fine train of artillery, which were to sail about the same time, or earlier, both destined for America, as it is supposed, will I hope bring the English to think of some plan a little more rational.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 10th, 1780

Sir,

On the 19th of April, Mr Grattan, in the House of Commons of Ireland, moved a resolution, "That the King's Most Excellent Majesty, Lords and Commons of Ireland, are the only powers competent to make laws to bind this Kingdom." Mr Stewart seconded the motion.

The Attorney General moved an amendment to adjourn the question until the 1st day of September next.

Mr Burgh moved another amendment, "That there being an equal resolution on the books (in the journals in the month of July, 1641) with the one now moved, the same may be, for that reason, adjourned to the 1st day of September next."

The House divided at a late hour on the original amendment, when there appeared, ayes, ninetyseven; noes, one hundred and thirtysix; majority, thirtynine.

Thus the House of Commons have refused to pursue the sense of the people, but these are so unanimous and so determined, that no magistrate will venture to execute any act of the English Parliament.

Philip and Mary, 4. chap. 4th, thus explains Poyning's law. "And this act of the 10th of Henry the Seventh, shall be expounded and taken as followeth, that is to say, that no Parliament be holden or summoned within this realm of Ireland, until the Lieutenant, Chief Governor, or Governors, and the Council of Ireland, shall have certified the King and Queen's Majesties, her heirs and successors under the great seal of the realm, the considerations, causes, and articles of such acts, as by them shall be thought meet to be enacted and passed here by Parliament, and shall also have received again their Majesties' answer under the great seal of England, declaring their pleasure, either for the passing of the said acts in such form as they should be sent into England, or else for the alteration of them, or any part of the same."

"Section 2d. After such return made, and after license and authority to summon a Parliament within the said realm of Ireland, granted under the great seal of England unto the said lieutenant, or chief governors of the same realm, the same lieutenant, chief governor or governors, may summon and hold a Parliament for passing and agreeing upon such acts, and no other, as shall be so returned under the great seal of England."

"6 of George 1, chap. 5, sec. 1. The kingdom of Ireland has been, is, and of right ought to be, subordinate unto, and dependent upon the Imperial Crown of Great Britain, as being inseparably united and annexed thereunto; and the King, with the consent of the Lords and Commons of Great Britain, in Parliament, hath power to make laws of sufficient force to bind the kingdom and people of Ireland."

"Section 2d. The House of Lords of Ireland have not, nor of right ought to have, any jurisdiction to judge of, affirm, or reverse any judgment or decree made in any court within the said kingdom; and all proceedings before the said House of Lords upon any such judgment or decree are void."

These are the political shackles, which the people of Ireland are endeavoring to shake off; and if the war continues long, they will succeed; otherwise, not entirely, although the authority of the British Parliament will, undoubtedly, be much weakened.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

COUNT DE VERGENNES TO JOHN ADAMS.

Translation.

Versailles, May 10th, 1780.

Sir,

I owe you thanks for the different communications, which you have been so good as to make to me. If the views contained in the letter, which you have confided to me, are exact, you ought not to delay in obtaining a proof; and in such case, it would be expedient for you to ascertain what overtures it is expected you will make. I think you should not refuse to listen to them.

I have the honor to be, &c.

DE VERGENNES.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 11th, 1780.

Sir,

On Monday, the first of May, Mr David Hartley explained what was the substance of his intended motion for Friday, respecting the state of the war. In the course of his speech, he moved for a copy of the French Memorial, entitled Observations on the justifying Memorial of Great Britain, which contains many points of serious information respecting France, Spain and America. He then read to the House the three following motions; the first of which, originating in the county of York, is to be made jointly by Mr Hartley and his friend Sir George Saville.

"1st. That it is the opinion of this House, 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 increase the enmity, which has so long subsisted between the arms of both, can be productive of no good whatever, but by preventing conciliation, threatens the accomplishment of the final ruin of the British Empire.

"2dly. That an address be presented to his Majesty, stating the matter of the foregoing resolution, and entreating him to concur therewith; representing, at the same time, that they think that they should betray his Majesty and their constituents, if they did not distinctly state to his Majesty, that nothing less than a total change of councils, proceeding from the conviction of past errors, can prevent the consummation of public ruin; but, at the same time, to express their fullest confidence, that with a speedy and fundamental reformation of councils, under a prudent and vigilant administration, they shall be enabled to maintain the honor and dignity of this country against any confederacy of France and Spain, and to effect a reconciliation with America, upon beneficial, just, and honorable terms.

"3dly. That leave be given to bring in a bill, to enable his Majesty to appoint Commissioners with sufficient power to treat, consult, and finally agree upon the means of restoring peace with the Provinces in North America."

After which, General Conway rose to declare, that he had a bill to propose on the subject of the American war, which he would lay before the House tomorrow. He gave a general hint of the ideas he entertained on this subject. He thought that Parliament ought to come to some resolutions to agree on certain propositions, which should be held out to the Americans as the foundation of a treaty of peace and reconciliation.

I shall give an account of the debates and decisions on the motions when the papers arrive.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO COUNT DE VERGENNES.

Paris, May 9th, 1780.

Sir,

I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write to me, on the 10th of this month.

Although the writer of the letter, an extract of which I had the honor to enclose to you, may be right in his conjectures, that the British administration wish to know more than they do at present of my sentiments upon the great subject of a pacification, yet I have had too long experience of their principles, views, and tempers, and I know that they are too well acquainted with mine, for me to expect, that they will directly convey any proposition to me. When we hear them affirm in Parliament, that America is upon the point of returning to an allegiance to the King of England, and that they seriously believe, that America will return to such an allegiance; when the members of the opposition, even those who are the most inclined to peace, such as Mr Hartley, General Conway, &c. discover plainly, by their motions and arguments, that their object is a separate peace with America, in order to be the better able to gratify their revenge against France and Spain, I can have no expectations, that they think of applying to me, because I think they must be convinced of this, at least, that I shall make no separate peace. I thank your Excellency, however, for your sentiments, that I ought to hear them, in case any overtures should be made to me. I should, in such a case, endeavor to hear them with decency and respect; but it would require much philosophy to hear, with patience, such absurd and extravagant propositions, as are published in pamphlets and newspapers, and made in Parliament, even by the members of the opposition, who profess to be most zealous for peace.

Our alliance with France is an honor and a security, which have ever been near to my heart. After reflecting long upon the geographical situation of the old world and the new, the agriculture, commerce, and political relations of both, upon the connexions and oppositions among the nations of the former, and the mutual wants and interests of both, according to such imperfect lights as I was able to obtain, the result has long since been this, that my country, in case she should be compelled to break off from Great Britain, would have more just reasons to depend upon a reciprocity of the good offices of friendship from France, Spain, and the other sovereigns, who are usually in their system, than upon those in the opposite scale of the balance of power. I have ever thought it, therefore, a natural alliance, and contended for it as a rock of defence.

This object I pursued in Congress, with persevering assiduity for more than a year, in opposition to other gentlemen of much greater name and abilities than mine, and I had at length the satisfaction to find my countrymen very generally fall in with the same sentiment, and the honor to be appointed to draw the first treaty, which was sent to this Court. These facts have been well known in America, even to the tories, and the utility and importance of this alliance being known to be deeply imprinted in my mind and heart, I suppose was a principal cause why the present trust was confided to me by my countrymen. These facts, although they may have been unknown in France, yet having been known to the tories in America, I cannot suppose they are ignorant of them at the Court of St James; I therefore think, that neither the administration nor opposition in England will ever think of applying to me, until they are brought into such a situation as shall compel them to sue for peace with all the powers at war, which, to be sure, does not appear to be the case at present, nor likely to be, at least before the end of this campaign; nor then either, without some notable good fortune on the part of the allies in the progress of the war.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO JOHN JAY.

Paris, May 13th, 1780.

Dear Sir,

I had two days ago the pleasure of yours of the 26th of April, and am very happy to have at last received from your hand an account of your safe arrival in Madrid.

The Count de Florida Blanca is allowed to be a man of abilities, but somehow or other there is something in the European understanding different from those we have been used to. Men of the greatest abilities and the most experience are with great difficulty brought to see what appears to us as clear as day. It is habit, it is education, prejudice, what you will, but so it is.

I can state a very short argument, that appears to me a demonstration upon French and Spanish principles alone, that it is more for their interest to employ their naval force in America than in Europe; yet it is in vain, that you state this to a Minister of State. He cannot see it or feel it, at least, in its full force, until the proper point of time is past and it is too late. So I think it may be demonstrated, that it is the interest of France and Spain to furnish America with a handsome loan of money, or even to grant her subsidies; because a sum of money thus expended would advance the common cause, and even their particular interests, by enabling the Americans to make greater exertions than the same sums employed in any other way. But it is in vain to reason in this manner with a European Minister of State. He cannot understand you. It is not within the compass of those ideas, which he has been accustomed to.

I am happy, however, that at length we have a Minister at Madrid; I am persuaded, that this will contribute vastly to opening the eyes both of France and Spain. I shall be always obliged to you for intelligence, especially concerning your progress in your affair.

I am, with much esteem, dear Sir, your servant,

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 13th, 1780.

Sir,

The answer of the King of France to the declaration of the Empress of Russia is as follows, dated April 25th, 1780.

"The war in which the King finds himself engaged, having no other object than the attachment of his Majesty to the principles of the liberty of the seas, he could not but see with a true satisfaction the Empress of Russia adopt this same principle, and show herself resolved to maintain it. That which her Imperial Majesty requires of the belligerent powers, is nothing more than the rules already prescribed to the French marine, the execution of which is supported with an exactness that is known and applauded by all Europe.

"The liberty of neutral vessels, restrained in a small number of cases only, is a direct consequence of the law of nature, the safeguard of nations, the solace even of those, who are afflicted with the scourge of war; thus the King has desired to procure, not only to the subjects of the Empress of Russia, but to those of all the States who have embraced a neutrality, the liberty of navigating upon the same conditions, which are announced in the declaration to which his Majesty answers this day.

"He thinks he has made a great step towards the general good, and prepared an epoch glorious to his reign, in fixing by his example, the rights, which every belligerent power may and ought to acknowledge to be acquired to neutral vessels. His hope has not deceived him, since the Empress, in determining on the most exact neutrality, has declared herself for the system which the King supports, at the expense of the blood of his people, and since she demands the rights, which his Majesty would make the basis of the maritime code. If there were occasions for fresh orders, whereby the vessels of her Imperial Majesty should have no room to fear being disturbed in their negotiation, by the subjects of the King, his Majesty would make haste to give them; but the Empress will, no doubt, repose herself upon the dispositions of his Majesty, contained in the regulations, which he has published. They are not accommodated to present circumstances, they are founded upon the law of nations, and they are consistent with the character of a Prince, sufficiently happy to find always in the general prosperity the measure of that of his own kingdom. The King wishes that her Imperial Majesty would add to the means, which she may take to fix the nature of merchandises, the commerce of which is reputed contraband in time of war, precise rules concerning the form of sea papers, with which the Russian vessels shall be furnished.

"With this precaution, his Majesty is assured, that no incident will arise, which will occasion any regret in any of the parties concerned, at the measures taken for rendering the condition of Russian vessels as advantageous as possible in time of war. Happy circumstances have already more than once put the two Courts in a situation to experience of how much importance it was, that they should explain themselves with openness upon their interests respectively.

"His Majesty felicitates himself, upon having an opportunity to express to her Imperial Majesty his manner of thinking upon a point interesting to Russia, and the commercial powers of Europe. His Majesty applauds so much the more sincerely the principles and views which direct the Empress, as his Majesty enjoys in common with her the same sentiment, which has prompted this Princess to measures, from whence must result equal advantages to their subjects and to all nations."

No state paper, that I have seen this war, has struck me more forcibly than this. The simplicity, openness, sincerity, and truth of it, form a striking contrast to the dissimulation and insincerity, which are so grossly remarkable in the answer of the Court of St James to the same declaration. The one is perfectly becoming the character of an august King, the other is what I shall leave others to name.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

P. S. Copenhagen, 29th of April. "There have arrived here, within a little time, several couriers from Petersburg, some of whom have been sent back, and others have continued their route for Holland, France, &c. Since the arrival of the last, it is thought that our Court has acceded to the project of an armed neutrality, and that it has already agreed with that of Russia, upon the equipments to be made for this purpose; at least orders have been given to arm as soon as possible two ships of the line, the Princess Sophia Frederica, of seventyfour guns, and the Danebrog, of sixty. These ships, commanded by Krieger and Ellebracht, will go out into the Road immediately. The government have determined not to keep the fleet stationed at Fredericksham, as it has been for five years past; and the Vice Admiral Fischer, who commanded there, having been recalled, will be relieved only by a Captain."

The following orders have been given by the King of England.

"Whereas, after our Order in Council of the 17th of April, 1780, the several treaties, which granted particular privileges to the subjects of the States-General of the United Provinces, relative to their commerce and navigation in time of war, are suspended, and the subjects of the States-General ought to be considered upon the same footing with other neutral States not privileged by treaties, until it shall please us formally to signify the contrary; the commanders of our vessels of war, and those of all ships and vessels of war, which have letters of marque and reprisals, are authorised by these presents and required to seize and detain all ships and vessels, belonging to the subjects of the States-General, when they shall be found to have on board any effects belonging to the enemies of his Majesty, or effects which are considered as contraband, by the general law of nations."

The declaration made to the States-General of the United Provinces by the Court of St James has been followed by prompt effects. The privateer, the Neptune, has carried into Margate, the Grede Vizwagten, going from Amsterdam to Nantes with a load of pitch and tar. This is the fifth vessel taken from the Hollanders by the 5th of May, in consequence of this declaration, which makes so much noise.

J. A.

TO JOHN JAY.

Paris, May 15th, 1780.

Dear Sir,

I shall not always stand upon ceremonies, nor wait for answers to letters, because useful hints may be given, which would be lost if one were to wait returns of posts.

The British Channel fleet is reckoned this year at from thirtyfour to thirtyseven ships of the line; but it is well known, that they depend upon seamen to be pressed from their first West India fleet, in order to make up this computation, without which they cannot make thirty. It is, therefore, of great importance that this first West India fleet should be intercepted. It will come home the latter end of June, or the beginning of July; certainly not before the middle of June. A ship or two of the line, with a fifty gun ship or two and five or six frigates, would have a great probability of intercepting this fleet. Is there any service upon which such a number of vessels could be better employed, than in cruising pretty far in the Bay of Biscay, and somewhat north of Cape Clear with this view? It is really astonishing that France and Spain should be so inattentive to the English convoys. The safest, easiest, and surest way of reducing the power and the spirits of the English is to intercept their trade. It is every year exposed, yet every year escapes; by which means they get spirits to indulge their passions, money to raise millions, and men to man their ships.

Pray is it not necessary to think a little of Portugal? Should not Spain, France, and America too, use their influence with Portugal, to shut her ports against the armed vessels of all nations at war, or else admit freely the armed vessels of all? Under her present system of neutrality, as they call it, the ports of Portugal are as advantageous to England as any of her own, and more injurious to the trade of Spain and America if not of France, while they are of no use at all to France, Spain, or America. This little impotent morsel of a State ought not to do so much mischief so unjustly. If she is neutral, let her be neutral; not say she is neutral, and be otherwise.