Volume 5 — CONTENTS (continued 6)

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, July 19th, 1780.

Sir,

The news from Petersburg of the 16th of June, is, that the fleet destined for the protection of the commerce of that empire was ready to sail. Of the three squadrons of which it is composed, one is to cruise, as they learn, in the North Sea, the other upon the coast of Portugal, and the third in the Mediterranean. This last will winter at Leghorn, and the two first in some port of a friendly power, upon the North Sea, or in the Baltic.

The news from Copenhagen of the 4th of July, is, that "the maritime forces of the northern powers begin to put themselves in motion for the protection of their commerce, in regard to the belligerent powers. The vessels, the King of Jutland, and the Prince Frederick, of seventy guns, commanded by the Captains de Kaas, and Lous, have put into the Road, the 30th of June. The better to man them, as well as the other vessels of our squadron, we have embarked several detachments of the regiments of infantry of Holstein, Falster, and Jutland. The first of July we saw pass by here, towards the Sound, three Swedish ships of the line, coming from the Baltic; and the next day the Russian fleet, composed of fifteen ships of the line, and of several frigates, came to anchor in our Road, separated into three divisions under the command of Vice Admirals de Borislow, de Kruse, and de Polibin. They say, that is to be followed by the Admiral's vessel, commanded by Vice Admiral Greigh, in quality of Commander-in-Chief of all the fleet."

The following are the articles of the Ordinance of the Empress of Russia, concerning the navigation of the merchant flag of Russia.

"Article I. They may not take any part in the war, directly nor indirectly, or under any pretext whatsoever; and they may not even give succor to any of the powers at war by carrying them merchandises of contraband under the Russian flag. These consist namely, in cannon, mortars, muskets, pistols, bombs, grenades, bullets, or balls, proper to fire, fusils, flints, matches, powder, saltpetre, sulphur, cutlasses, pikes, swords, scabbards, gibernes, saddles, and bridles. They ought also to take special care, that there be not found on board of any vessel more of these warlike stores, than they have occasion for, for their own use, and so much that each sailor or passenger may be sufficiently provided.

"Article II. All other merchandises, whoever may be the owners, and even although they belong to the subjects of one or another of the belligerent powers, may be freely embarked upon Russian vessels, and shall enjoy on board of them equally with the merchandises of our subjects, the protection of the Russian flag, excepting those, which are contained in the first article, under the name of contraband, as in fact they are declared such in the eleventh article of our Treaty of Commerce with England. By means of this safety of merchandises permitted in neutral vessels, our subjects ought also to have a care not to embark effects which belong to them, upon vessels of nations engaged in the war, to the end to avoid thus all disagreements and disagreeable rencontres.

"Article iii. Every vessel going out of the port of this city, or of any other of our empire, ought to be furnished with sufficient proofs, that she belongs to Russian subjects; to wit, with sea-letters, as is the usage, and with a certificate of the custom-house, in which it may be declared first, with what merchandises she is loaded, and how much; secondly, on the account of whom they have been purchased, and to whom the vessel and the cargo are addressed. For the greater safety, the certificates sent by the custom-house shall be inspected by the Admiralty, or in his default by the magistrate of the place.

"Article iv. Not only our native subjects shall enjoy these prerogatives, but also strangers who are settled in our dominions, and who bear like them the public burdens; that is to say, during the time that they shall sojourn in our country, since, in no other case can it be permitted them to employ the merchant flag of Russia.

"Article v. Each Russian vessel, even in case one single owner expedites two or three vessels at a time for the same place, ought to be provided in particular with the documents mentioned in the third article, which may serve to justify their property in case that these ships should separate during the voyage, or be obliged to pursue different routes.

"Article vi. It is forbidden to every Russian vessel to have connoissements, charter parties, or other sea papers double, or doubtful, much less false declarations, inasmuch as these always expose to an inevitable danger. Thus they should give their principal attention, that their documents be in good order and prove clearly, as it is said before, the true destination of the vessel, and the nature of her cargo. It is also necessary, that the contract between the owner of the merchandises and the master of the vessel, or the agreement known under the name of charter party, be always on board. But as it happens very often, that the owner of merchandises, in making his adventure, whether in his own vessel, or whether in a neutral vessel freighted by him, fixes the sale of them solely by speculation, by preference in some port, and in case the price in this port is too low, in some port more distant; in this case they ought not to fail to name and settle the two ports, according to the order of the route and their situation in one single connoissement, and not in two. They ought also to observe the same precautions in regard to the charter parties, to the end, that there may be no difference between them and the connoissements; and in case that any one of our subjects, in contempt of these dispositions, shall allow himself in artifice and duplicity, he may assure himself, that he shall never enjoy our protection, which is granted only to lawful and innocent commerce, and by no means to illicit and fraudulent traffic.

"Article vii. Every Russian vessel, which, after having unloaded her cargo in any foreign port, has a design to return into her country, or to proceed further in another foreign place, ought to provide herself in this port and in every other, at which she may stop to trade, with the documents required by the usages of the country, to the end, that they may prove at all times the nation to which the ship belongs, the port from which she comes, that to which she is bound, and the merchandises with which she has been loaded anew.

"Article viii. Forasmuch as the aforesaid documents are indispensably necessary to prove the neutral property of effects, which are found on board the ship, they ought particularly to take care not to throw them into the sea, no more than any other writings or papers, without any exception upon any occasion whatever, especially on the rencontre of any other vessel, inasmuch as by such a step one might expose himself to well founded suspicions, and to disagreeable consequences.

"Article ix. It is necessary to have a scrupulous attention, that there be not on board of any Russian vessel any merchant, clerk, and never more than one third of the seamen, subjects of the belligerent powers, because by conducting differently such vessel might expose herself to sustain disagreeable disappointments. But as a similar inconvenience may easily happen to those sorts of ships, which in time of war are purchased of the subjects of the belligerent powers, for this reason, from this time, and as long as the present maritime war shall last, the said vessels may not be purchased, unless under condition, that they shall be solely employed in the Baltic, or the Black Sea.

"Article x. The carriage of all merchandise whatsoever, into places blocked or besieged by sea and by land, is entirely prohibited, in consequence of which, if any of the merchants of this empire, engaged by the hope of gain, shall intermeddle in any such traffic, whatever loss he may sustain, he cannot ever have the right of demanding our protection.

"Article xi. All our subjects who, by reason of their commerce, find themselves in foreign countries, ought to conform themselves exactly to the civil and mercantile laws, which shall there subsist, as well as to the ordinances of every place where they live, or to which they may send their vessels. Nevertheless, to the end that they may, as much as possible, be instructed in those laws and ordinances, the College of Foreign Affairs will communicate to that of Commerce, all the writings that have relation thereto, that they may be able to give notice of them to the merchants by the means of the public papers.

"Article xii. Although our intention is, to protect efficaciously and vigorously the navigation and the commerce of our faithful subjects, nevertheless, we intend not by any means to permit that there result from it the least prejudice to one or the other of the belligerent powers, or that individual merchants should profit of it to make unlawful gain. To this effect, we forbid expressly any of our merchants and trading subjects to permit strangers to negotiate, or send ships to sea, under his name. Every person who shall in this respect transgress our will, shall be deprived forever of our imperial protection for his vessels, as well as of the right of fitting them out in future. If our subjects, interested in maritime commerce, follow exactly this ordinance in all its points, they may be assured of our entire and unlimited protection concerning their affairs in foreign countries, as well as of a zealous and affectionate intervention on the part of the Ministers, Agents, and Consuls, who reside there on our part. To this end, our College of Foreign Affairs will communicate to them in sufficient season the most precise instructions. But those among our subjects who shall depart from these regulations, ought not to expect the least protection on our part, whatever unfortunate accidents and other damages they may sustain, by their voluntary transgression of the orders which they shall have received, and not to depart from the requisite circumspection recommended to them. The College of Commerce, in notifying this ordinance to the body of Russian merchants trading in our ports, shall at the same time be held to furnish the custom-houses with the necessary instructions relative to this order, as well as to communicate our will to the Governors of Provinces where there are ports, that at the same time they may be observed in all the tribunals which may concern them."

Czarsko-Selole, 19th of May, 1780. The original is thus subscribed by the hand of her Imperial Majesty, Catterine.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS

Paris, July 19th, 1780.

Sir,

There is an article of news from Copenhagen of the 4th of July. "The vessels of war, the Prince Frederick and the Jutland, each of seventy guns, and the frigates, the Pearl and the Alsen, are in the Road. The Admiral's flag will be hoisted on the 6th on board the Justitia, of seventyfour guns, and all the Dutch fleet will consist, this year, of ten ships of the line, from seventyfour to fifty guns, and six frigates, thirtysix to thirty. There has already sailed of this fleet, one ship of sixty guns, for the coast of Guinea; one of fifty is in the north sea; another is in the Road of Elsinore, for a guard ship, and three frigates have sailed for America. Thus the squadron will remain composed of seven ships of the line and three frigates, which are to join the Russian fleet. Yesterday and the day before, arrived in the Road of this city a Russian fleet, consisting of fifteen ships of the line and four frigates, under the command of Admiral Borislow, of Vice Admiral Kruse, and of the commandant, Polibin; and on the 1st of this month, there passed before the port of this city, the Swedish ships of war, coming from the Baltic Sea, and making sail toward the Sound."

Elsinore, 27th of June. "There has sailed from this port a convoy of eighteen merchant ships, destined for the North Sea, under the convoy of a Swedish ship of the line and a frigate."

There is a paragraph in the Amsterdam Gazette of the 14th, which is worth translating, because these paragraphs oftentimes betray a great deal of politics. It is this; "the conquest of Mobile, made by the Spaniards, the news of which has lately arrived here, appears so much the more important, as it leads infallibly to that of Pensacola, by which the Spaniards may cut off one of the principal avenues of Jamaica, and may, in time, intercept the commerce and the provisions of this Island, from whence they are much annoyed at Mexico by the English, who sufficiently incline to extend themselves when they can, and had made since the peace so great progress in this part of the world, that to stop them, the war was become almost indispensable to Spain." It might have been added, that it was become indispensable to France too; for the English have ever made it a maxim to go to war with France, as she had a fine fleet and a flourishing commerce. Burn, sink, and destroy, were the words with England whenever a formidable navy appeared upon the ocean, belonging to any other nation.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

COUNT DE VERGENNES TO JOHN ADAMS.

Translation.

Versailles, July 20th, 1780.

Sir,

I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write me on the 13th of this month. I am very sensible of the confidence with which you have communicated your ideas on the present situation of the United States, and the need they have of the immediate assistance of some ships of the line and some frigates. The Chevalier de Ternay and the Count de Rochambeau, are sent with the express design, which is the subject of your letter. They will concert their operations with Congress and with General Washington. And as the King has given them no precise orders with regard to their return to Europe, but has left them at liberty to act as they shall judge proper for the relief of America, there is every reason to believe, that they will take their station during next winter in North America, if that shall be agreeable to Congress, and that they will employ the ships and troops under their command, according to the plan that shall be settled between them and the American Generals.

You will perceive, Sir, by this detail, that the King is far from abandoning the cause of America, and that his Majesty, without having been solicited by Congress, has taken effectual measures to support the cause of America. I flatter myself, Sir, that these generous proceedings will excite suitable sensations in America, and that they will prevail over the falsehoods, which the common enemy and their wicked adherents propagate there, in order to raise suspicions of France, and to induce the Americans to take resolutions, which will terminate in their slavery and dishonor.

I have the honor to be, &c.

DE VERGENNES.

TO THE COUNT DE VERGENNES.

Paris, July 21st, 1780.

Sir,

I have received the letter you did me the honor to write me yesterday, and am extremely sensible of your Excellency's confidence in communicating to me the destination of the armament under M. de Ternay and the Count de Rochambeau, and the probability that the ships will winter in North America.

I assure your Excellency, that scarcely any news I ever heard, gave me more satisfaction; and nothing, in my opinion, can afford a more effectual assistance to America, or make deeper or more grateful impression on the minds of her inhabitants.

I am infinitely mistaken, if the service of the King in the conduct of the war, both in the West Indies and North America, does not derive such essential advantages from this measure, as will demonstrate its wisdom to all the world, as well as to the English and Americans the King's determined benevolence to the American cause.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, July 22d, 1780.

Sir,

The King of England's speech at the prorogation of Parliament, contains nothing remarkable, worth the attention of America, except compliments to the two Houses upon their magnanimity and perseverance in the pursuits of this just and necessary war, which he says, has put it in his power to make such efforts, that he dares hope, with the aid of Divine Providence, to disconcert the violent and unjust designs of his enemies, and induce them to listen to equitable and honorable terms of peace. These efforts have already been followed by success both by sea and land, and the happy and important turn, which affairs have lately taken in North America, makes me conceive the best founded hopes of the return of the affection and loyalty of my subjects of the Colonies, and of their happy reunion with their mother country.

There is one more sentence, which deserves attention. "Exert yourselves to inculcate this important truth, that rebellious insurrections to resist or reform the laws, cannot fail to terminate in the destruction of those who have made the attempt, or by the subversion of our happy and free constitution." Americans will make their own reflections on this speech. It is very certain, that it has not the air nor the spirit of peace.

Madrid, the 27th of June. "We expect to learn in a few days, the formation of the combined fleet in the Bay of Cadiz. The following is the state of the Spanish vessels which are now there, ready to go out under the command of Lieutenant General Don Louis de Cordova; La Tres Sainte Trinite, of one hundred and twenty guns; the Foudre and S. Ferdinand of eighty; the Sainte Isabelle, the Ange Gardien, the Serieux, the Atlas, the St Pierre Apotre, the Orient, the St Raphael, the St Joachim, the St Damase, the St Isidore, the St Eugene, and the St Laurent of seventy; the Mino of fiftysix; the frigates, the Ste Lucie of thirtysix, the Ste Rufine of twentyeight, the Ste Barbe, and the Assomption of twentysix; the chebecs, the Majorquais, and the Murcien of thirtysix; the St Sebastian of twentyfour, and the corvette, the Ste Catharine of eighteen. To these vessels must be added the squadron of Ferrol, which entered on the 23d of May in the Bay of Cadiz, under the command of Don Athanasio Baranda, and composed of the vessels, the Conception of ninety; the St Charles and the St Vincent of eighty; the Ferme, the Galice, the St Paschal, and the Brilliant of seventy; the Septentrion of sixtyfour; the frigates, El Carmen and the Perpetua of thirtysix; as well as the corvette, the Ste Helene of twentytwo guns; making thus a total of twentyfour ships of the line, six frigates, four chebecs, and two cutters."

Cadiz, the 24th of June. "The squadron of M. de Beausset, composed of seven ships of the line, anchored on the 18th in this Bay. His frigates brought in two small ships loaded with corn and flour, and a cutter of twelve guns. The cruise of this squadron has served very much to keep the enemy's cruisers at a distance; and the neutrals not fearing to be disturbed, have come here in great numbers. The 19th, the Protector, commanded by M. D. Achen, arrived here; she fell into the midst of the Quebec fleet; but as she sailed ill and had no frigate, (the Galatea having been separated from her) she was not able to take more than two vessels, the cargoes of which were rich enough, and which she sent into Lisbon."

Thus the French and Spanish ships at Cadiz amount to thirty of the line. This fleet, combined with that of Brest, and with the Active, the Guerrier and the Cæsar, gone to convoy merchantmen to a certain latitude, and to a ship of one hundred and ten guns, from Rochfort, and all commanded by the Count d'Estaing, would give a good account of the English.

Petersburg, 23d of June. "The squadron equipped at Cronstadt, having received its last orders, sailed from thence the 19th of this month. As the service to which it is destined will not permit it to return before winter in the ports of this empire, the Court has sent to its Ministers in Holland, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Denmark, orders to request of those respective powers, that there may be granted to this squadron a free entry into their ports, and all the succor of which they may have occasion, in case they should be obliged to put in there by any accident," &c.

Copenhagen, 4th of July. "The arrival of the fleet of fifteen Russian ships of the line in our port, is soon to be followed by the departure of the Danish fleet. The Justice, of seventyfour guns, the last of the vessels that we have armed to form it, will go tomorrow into the Road; and the day after, the Vice Admiral de Schindel will hoist his flag on board of her. We shall then have in service eight ships of the line, two of fifty guns, and six frigates, to wit, the Justice, and the Princess Sophia Frederick, commandant Krieger, of seventyfour; the Jutland, and the Prince Frederick, Commandants de Kaas and Lous, of seventy; the Droit d'Indigénat and the Wagrie, Captains Gormar and Bille, of sixtyfour; the Dannebrog and the Holstein, Captains Ellebracht and U. C. Kaas, of sixty; the Mars and the Greenland, Captains Lutken and Knudsen, of fifty; the Bornholm and the Riel, Captains Schaning and Tender, of thirtysix; the Moen, Captain Budde, of thirtyfour; the Cronberg, Captain Ziervogel, of thirtytwo; the Alsen, Captain Count de Reventlau, of twentyfour, and the Christian, Captain Stockflelk, of twenty guns. Of these, nevertheless, the Holstein sailed the 30th for Guinea; the Bornholm, the Moen, and the Christian, are in the islands of America, and the Greenland serves as a guard ship in the Road of Helsingore."

Whatever may be the part that either powers will take in regard to the project of an armed neutrality, the three Crowns of the North appear uniform in their measures for the protection of the commerce of their subjects, and these measures have already the effect, that their ships, particularly the Swedish and Danish, are already sought for freight in the Baltic, in preference to all others, while on the other side there arrives no neutral vessels from the North Sea, in the Sound, which does not make the most bitter complaints concerning the ill treatment received from English privateers. A Dutch ship has had nineteen of them on board of him since his departure from the coast of France, and a Russian ship has been robbed of all his victuals by these pirates, who had left him nothing but Gruau-Water, and eighteen pounds of bread, upon which eight men were to subsist during three weeks.

Hague, 17th of July. "Affairs between our Republic and the Court of London are still in the same state of indecision. We learn, that the latter has answered, by the Viscount Stormont to the different Memoirs presented during some weeks, by the Envoy, the Count de Welderen, in which, he insisted upon the stipulations of the treaty of 1674. 'That in answer to these Memorials, and to all those, which could be presented of the same nature, he, Lord Stormont, observed that the Count de Welderen insisted upon that, which at this time no longer existed; that it would be superfluous to repeat what had passed upon this subject, that he should confine himself, therefore, to remind him of the order, which the King had given in his Council, on the 17th of last April, and of which he had had the honor to give him official information.'"

I am thus particular in laying before Congress a state of the navies of Europe, because they show the unanimity and ardor, with which all the maritime powers are intent upon their commercial and naval interests, upon the freedom of commerce and navigation, and upon the rights of neutral nations, and to show, that America is universally considered by them as such a magazine of raw materials for manufactures, such a source of commerce, and such a nursery of seamen, and naval power, that they are determined, that no one power in Europe shall ever again monopolise it. We must, however, fight our own battles, and bear our own expenses; for the slow march of those powers, their maxims of dignity and systems of etiquette are such, that they must have their own way, and operate in their own time. England has hints and warnings enough, but she will not take them. These events, however, all show the wisdom of Congress, in planning the first treaty, which was first sent to the Court of Versailles, upon the principle of perfect equality and reciprocity, granting no exclusive privileges, and binding herself to no obligation not to admit any other, and all other nations to the same; principles from which it is to be presumed we shall not depart.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, July 23d, 1780.

Sir,

I have been amused some time with dark and unintelligible hints in letters from London, of some messenger sent from Lord North to Madrid.

Three weeks ago I waited on the Count de Vergennes, at Versailles, to acquaint him, that I had an intention of making a journey to Amsterdam for a few weeks, as I flattered myself I might form some acquaintances, or correspondences there, and collect some intelligence, that might be useful to the United States. His Excellency desired me to wait some time, for that in eight or ten days he believed he should have something to communicate to me. I assured him, that I would not go till I saw him again, or heard further from him. This day sevennight, his Excellency informed me, that he was ready to let me know, that a messenger from the Court of London had arrived at Madrid, that the Spanish Ministry had demanded the sentiments of the British Court concerning America. He said he was not instructed. He was told he must previously explain himself upon that subject. He determined to send an express to London for instructions. This the Count de Vergennes said would take up two months, and consequently leave me time enough to go to Holland, but if anything should happen in the meantime, he would give me the earliest information of it.

In the Courier de l'Europe of the 14th of July, is this paragraph.

"The report runs, that a person who has been Secretary of the Marquis d'Almodavar, during his embassy from the Court of Madrid to that of London, arrived here, (London,) some weeks ago, on board the Milford, coming from Oporto, that after a stay of eight days, this frigate had orders to transport to Lisbon this person, accompanied by Mr Cumberland, Secretary of Lord George Germain, whose instructions imply, that if at the end of twenty days he is not called to Madrid, he is to return here immediately. As soon as this person arrived at Lisbon, he set out for Madrid, where fifteen days after, Mr Cumberland was invited to go, and where he is at present."

There is a body of people in England who are zealous and clamorous for peace, and the Ministry find their account in amusing and silencing them by equivocal appearances of negotiations. They have ever made it a part of their political system, to hold out to America some false hopes of reconciliation and peace, in order to slacken our nerves and retard our preparations. They think also, that they can amuse the Courts of France and Spain, with a talk about conferences and negotiations, while they are secretly concerting measures to succor Gibraltar, and carry on their operations the next campaign. But serious thoughts of peace upon any terms that we can agree to, I am persuaded they never had; but if they ever did entertain any thoughts of negotiation, it must have been at the time of their consternation for Sir Henry Clinton, and their despair of his success.

The total and absolute suppression of the tumults in London, and the triumphant success of Clinton, beyond their most sanguine expectations, has now given them such confidence and exaltation that the people of America will dethrone Congress, and, like the Israelites of old, demand a king, that they now think of nothing but unconditional submission, or at least of delusive proffers of terms, which they know the majesty of the people in America will not agree to, in order to divide us, to make a few gentlemen apostates, and some soldiers deserters.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

COUNT DE VERGENNES TO JOHN ADAMS.

Translation.

Versailles, July 25th, 1780.

Sir,

I have received the letter, which you have done me the honor to write to me on the 17th of this month. I have read it with the most serious attention, and in order to give you an answer with greater exactness, I have placed in the margin every paragraph which seemed to require observations on my part. You will there see, Sir, that I continue to be of opinion, that the time to communicate your Plenipotentiary power to Lord Germain is not yet come, and you will there find the reasons on which I ground my opinion. I have no doubt you will feel the force of them, and that they will determine you to think as I do. But if that should not be the case, I pray you, and in the name of the King request you, to communicate your letter and my answer to the United States, and to suspend until you shall receive orders from them, all measures with regard to the English Ministry. I shall on my part, transmit my observations to America, that M. de la Luzerne may communicate them to the members of Congress, and I am persuaded that that assembly will think the opinion of the Ministry of France worthy some attention, and that they will not be afraid of neglecting or betraying the interests of the United States, by adopting it as a rule of their conduct.

I have the honor to be, &c.

DE VERGENNES.

Observations on Mr Adams's Letter of July 17th, 1780.

Translation.

I. The reasons, which determined the Count de Vergennes to give Mr Adams that advice are so plain, that they must appear at first view.

1st. To be solicitous about a Treaty of Commerce, before peace is established, is like being busy about furnishing a house, before the foundation is laid.

2d. In the situation in which America stands at present with regard to England, to announce to that power that they have forgotten her system of tyranny, her cruelties, and her perfidy, is discovering too great a degree of weakness, or at least too much good nature, and inviting her to believe, that the Americans have an irresistible predilection for her, and to fortify her in the opinion she entertains, that the American patriots will submit through weariness, or the preponderating influence of the tories.

3d. To propose a Treaty of Commerce, which must be founded on confidence, and on a union equivalent to an alliance, at a time when the war is raging in all its fury, when the Court of London is wishing to ruin or to subjugate America, what is it but to give credit to the opinion, which all Europe entertains, conformable to the assertions of the English Ministers, that the United States incline towards a defection, and that they will be faithful to their engagements with France, only till such time as Great Britain shall furnish a pretext for breaking them.

II. A person may be furnished eventually with plenipotentiary powers, without being under the necessity of publishing them, until circumstances permit him to use them. This happens every day. Mr Adams is charged with three distinct commissions. 1. To take a share in the future negotiations for peace. 2. To conclude a treaty of commerce with Great Britain. 3. To represent the United States at the Court of London. It requires no great effort of genius to show, that these three objects cannot be accomplished at the same moment of time, nor that the two last cannot serve as an introduction to the first. It is necessary first of all to obtain from England an acknowledgment of the Independence of America, and that acknowledgment must serve as a foundation for a treaty of peace. Until this is obtained, Mr Adams cannot talk of a treaty of commerce. To propose one while the Court of London is flattering itself with the hopes of subduing America, and while with that view it is making the most strenuous efforts, would in the view of that Court be to propose what was chimerical, and would be taking a step which it would hold in derision.

The case would be the same, were one at this time to talk of a Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States appointed to reside at the Court of his Britannic Majesty. The only powers, therefore, which circumstances permit Mr Adams to announce, are those which authorise him to take a part in the negotiations for peace. The two other powers can be of no avail until the conclusion of that peace, so that it would be at least useless to produce them at present; and consequently Mr Adams will not act inconsistent with the design and nature of his appointment by concealing them from the Court of London. Although the Count de Vergennes is unacquainted with the instructions of Mr Adams, yet he is persuaded that they are conformable to the foregoing reflections, and that they do not direct him to make an immediate communication of his powers relative to a treaty of commerce, any more than they order him to make a separate peace with Great Britain. This opinion is founded on that which the King's Ministry entertain of the wisdom, prudence and fidelity of Congress.

III. It is to be observed, that the English Ministry would consider that communication as ridiculous; so that it is deceiving one's self to suppose, that it will engage them to enter into any conference, or so say anything more than what is contained in the resolutions of Parliament, namely, that they will listen to the Americans and receive them into favor, when they return to their former allegiance. It can answer no good purpose to draw from them such an answer, nor can the United States want such an answer, to inform them of the present sentiments of the Court of London, and much less to prepare with councils and arms to resist them. It is astonishing to talk of preparations of councils and arms, when the war is raging in all its fury, when it has now lasted six years, and England has not yet made one overture to the Americans, that can authorise them to believe that she would agree to their independence.

IV. The English Ministry would either return no answer, or if they did it would be an insolent one. In case of the latter, why should a man needlessly expose himself to insult, and thereby make himself the laughing-stock of all the nations who have not yet acknowledged the independence of the United States? But there is reason to believe that Mr Adams would receive no answer, because the British Ministry would not think themselves bound to return one to a man who assumes a character, which the Court of London must consider as an insult. It should not be forgotten, that that Court always considers the Americans as rebellious subjects. With such an opinion, how could Lord Germain receive a letter from Mr Adams, taking upon himself the character of Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of North America? How could that Minister bear the mention of a treaty of commerce, which can only take place between independent nations? These observations will convince Mr Adams, that France has no occasion for the expedient which he proposes, to discover the sentiments and dispositions of the Court of London, and that we are already perfectly acquainted with what we ought and may expect from it, in the present situation of affairs.

V. The silence, or the answer of the English Ministry, let which will happen, will neither alarm nor arouse the people of England. That people, without doubt, desire peace and an accommodation with America. But we find that only some individuals talk of independence, and these, more from a spirit of opposition than from conviction. There never has been a single motion made in Parliament tending to grant that independence. Yet the people have friends and protectors in Parliament. From this, Mr Adams may judge into what embarrassment the announcing his powers would throw the Ministry.

VI. England, as well as the rest of Europe, is perfectly acquainted with the nature of the engagements, which subsist between France and the United States. The King caused a declaration to be made by his Ministry on the 13th of March, 1778, that he had not secured to himself any exclusive privilege by the treaty of commerce of the 6th of February of the same year, and his Majesty has confirmed that declaration in a writing published by his order. So that the plenipotentiary powers of Mr Adams can disclose nothing new, either to England or to the other powers of Europe, and the false opinion of the Court of London in this matter can be no obstacle to a peace. If any such obstacle existed, the English Ministry would themselves find means to remove it, if they were determined to make peace; depend upon that.

VII. It is certain that the whole English nation, and even the Ministers themselves, wish for peace. But it has been observed, that there has not been a single motion made in favor of the independence of America. Certainly the plenipotentiary powers of Mr Adams will not change the present dispositions of the people in that respect, and consequently the communication that might be made of them, will neither facilitate nor accelerate the conclusion of peace.

VIII. This is a sensible reflection. It proves that Mr Adams is himself convinced that there are circumstances, which may induce him to conceal his powers. The King's Ministry think that such circumstances will continue till the English nation shall show a disposition to acknowledge the independence of the United States. That acknowledgment will not be facilitated by proposing a treaty of commerce. For the English are at present well persuaded, that they will have such a treaty with America when they shall judge it proper. They have besides, as Mr Adams has himself mentioned in his letter of the 19th of February last, a full knowledge of his commission, so that the communication of his full powers will teach them nothing new in this respect.

IX. In answer to this paragraph it may be observed, that there is not an Englishman who is not persuaded that the United States are disposed to grant the advantages of commerce to their ancient metropolis; but it would be a very difficult task to persuade an Englishman or any thinking being, that by granting independence in exchange for these advantages, the Court of London would make an honorable and advantageous peace. If this was the real sentiment of the people of England, why have they for these six years past, without murmuring, furnished ruinous supplies for subduing America?

X. The English Ministry either have sincere intentions of making peace, or they mean to amuse and penetrate the designs of Spain. In the first case, they will express the conditions on which they desire to treat; they will then be obliged to explain their views and their demands with regard to America. They assuredly forget nothing which they think will forward peace, and upon agreeing to her independence, their first care will be to demand equal privileges with France in regard to commerce. On the contrary, if the English Ministry only means to amuse Spain, to penetrate her designs and to slacken her preparations for war, Mr Adams should do the Ministry of Madrid justice to believe that they will have sagacity enough to discover their views, and have understanding and prudence sufficient to determine on the conduct they ought to pursue.

XI. If Mr Adams is as sure as he is of his existence, that the English Ministry have no intention of making peace on terms which France and America can agree to, to what purpose communicate to them at present powers, which cannot be made use of until after the peace. How can Mr Adams persuade himself, that the Court of London will be seduced by the bait of a treaty of commerce, while it still manifests an invincible repugnance to acknowledge the independence of America. Whenever it shall be disposed to acknowledge that independence, it will of itself propose the conditions on which it will be then proper to grant it, and Mr Adams may rest assured, that it will not forget the article of commerce. Then will be the proper time for him to produce his plenipotentiary powers. In the meantime, it is necessary to pursue measures for the establishing the foundation of that negotiation, namely, the independence of America, and that can only be effected by carrying on the war with vigor and success.

TO THE COUNT DE VERGENNES.

Paris, July 26th, 1780.

Sir,

I have received the letter, which your Excellency did me the honor to write me on the 25th of this month.

The sincere respect I entertain for your Excellency's sentiments would have determined me, upon the least intimation, to have communicated my letter and your answer to Congress, and to suspend, until I should receive orders on their part, all measures towards the British Ministry, without your Excellency's requisition in the name of the King.

I shall transmit these papers to Congress, and I doubt not the reasons your Excellency has adduced will be sufficient to induce them to suspend any communication to the British Ministry, as it is undoubtedly their wisdom to conduct all such measures in concert with their allies.

There is a great body of people in America, as determined as any to support their independence, and their alliances, who notwithstanding wish that no measure may be left unattempted by Congress, or their servants, to manifest their readiness for peace, upon such terms as they think honorable and advantageous to all parties. Your Excellency's arguments, or indeed your authority, will probably be sufficient to satisfy these people, and to justify me, whereas without them I might have been liable to the censure of numbers. For it is most certain, that all due deference will be shown by the people of the United States and their servants, both in and out of Congress, to the sentiments of the Ministry of France.

This deference, however, by no means extends so far as to agree in all cases to those sentiments without examination. I cannot, therefore, agree in the sentiment, that proposing a treaty of peace and commerce, is discovering a great deal of weakness, or that the Americans have forgotten the British system of tyranny, cruelty, or perfidy, or to invite her to believe the Americans have an irresistible predilection for England, or to fortify her in the opinion that the American patriots will submit through weariness, or through fear of the preponderant influence of the tories.

And so far from thinking it would give credit to the opinion, if there be such a one in all Europe, that the United States incline towards a defection, and that they will not be faithful to their engagements, it seems to me on the contrary, it would discredit the opinion which prevails too much in Europe, that there is some secret treaty between France and the United States, by which the former is entitled to exclusive privileges in the American trade.

It is very true, that the independence of America must be acknowledged before a treaty of peace can be made. But a prospect of a free trade with America, upon principles of perfect equality and reciprocity, like that between France and the United States, might be a powerful inducement with the people of England, to acknowledge American independence. Indeed I do not see any other considerable motive, that England can ever have to make that acknowledgment. The Congress have given no positive instructions respecting the time or manner of making these powers known to one Court or another. All this is left at discretion, and to a construction of the Commissioners themselves. It is very certain, that all the belligerent powers are busily occupied every winter in their councils, and preparations for the ensuing campaign. And it is also certain, that the artifice of the British Ministry, in holding up to view every winter some semblance of a design of reconciliation formerly, and of peace latterly, has been a real engine of hostility against America, equal to a considerable part of the British army. Neither the people of America, nor Mr Adams, have the least dread upon their minds, of an insolent answer from one of the British Ministers, nor of the ridicule of those nations who have not yet acknowledged the independence of America. No man of any knowledge, justice, or humanity, in any of those nations, would laugh upon such an occasion, on the contrary, he would feel a just indignation against a Minister who should insult a message so obviously calculated for the good of England, and of all Europe, in the present circumstances of affairs.

I am very much mistaken, for I speak upon memory, if the Duke of Richmond did not make a motion two years ago in the House of Lords, and if Mr Hartley did not make another about a year ago, which was seconded by Lord North himself, in the House of Commons, tending to grant independence to America. And it is very certain, that a great part of the people of England think that peace can be had upon no other terms. It is most clear, that the present Ministry will not grant independence; the only chance of obtaining it is by change of that Ministry, The King is so attached to that Ministry, that he will not change them, until it appears that they have so far lost the confidence of the people, that their representatives in Parliament dare no longer to support them, and in the course of the last winter the weight and sentiment of the people were so considerable, as to bring many great questions nearly to a balance, and particularly to carry two votes, one against the increase of the influence of the Crown, and another against the Board of Trade and Plantations, a vote that seemed almost to decide the American question, and they came within a very few votes of deciding against the American Secretary. Now where parties are approaching so near to a balance, even a small weight thrown into either scale may turn it.

In my letter of the 19th of February, I said, that my appointment was notorious in America, and that therefore it was probably known to the Court of London, although they had not regular evidence of it. The question then, was more particularly concerning a commission to assist in the pacification. This was published in the American newspapers, in a general way, but I have no reason to think they are particularly informed of these matters; if they were, no evil that I am aware of could result from giving them the information officially. Certainly they have no official information, and it is denied, that they know the nature of Mr Adams' commission.

Without any great effort of genius, I think it is easy to demonstrate to any thinking being, that by granting American independence, and making a treaty of commerce upon principles of perfect reciprocity, England would in the present circumstances of affairs make an honorable and an advantageous peace. It would have been more for their honor and advantage never to have made this war against America, it is true, but having made it, all the dishonor and disadvantage there is in it are indelible, and after thirteen colonies have been driven to throw off their government and annihilate it in every root and branch, becoming independent in fact, maintaining this independence against a force of forty thousand men and fifty ships of war, that would have shaken most of the States of Europe to the foundation, after maintaining this independence four years, and having made an honorable treaty with the first power in Europe, after another power had fallen into the war in consequence of the same system, after the voice of mankind had so far declared against the justice of their cause, that they could get no ally, but on the contrary all the maritime powers are entering into a confederacy against them, upon a point which has been a principal source of their naval superiority in Europe; in these circumstances, the only honorable part they can act, is to conform to the opinion of mankind, and the dishonorable and ruinous part for them to act is to continue the war. For the principle, that the people have a right to a form of government according to their own judgments and inclinations, is, in this intelligent age so well agreed on in the world, that it would be thought dishonorable by mankind in general, for the English to govern three millions of people against their wills by military force, and this is all they can ever hope for, even supposing they could bribe and tempt deserters enough from our army and apostates from our cause to make it impossible for us to carry on the war. This, however, I know to be impossible, and that they never will get quiet possession again of the government of any one whole State in the thirteen; no, not for an hour. If England considers further, that America is now known all over Europe to be such a magazine of raw materials for manufactures, such a nursery of seamen, and such a source of commerce and naval power, that it would be dangerous to all the maritime powers to suffer any one of them to establish a domination and a monopoly again in America.

I know there exists in some European minds, a prejudice against America, and a jealousy that she will be hurtful to Europe, and England may place some dependence upon this prejudice and jealousy, but the motions of the maritime powers begin to convince her, that this jealousy and prejudice do not run so deep as they thought, and surely there never was a more groundless prejudice entertained among men, and it must be dissipated as soon as the subject is considered. America is a nation of husbandmen, planted on a vast continent of wild uncultivated land, and there is, and will be for centuries, no way in which these people can get a living, and advance their interest so much as by agriculture. They can apply themselves to manufactures, only to fill up interstices of time, in which they cannot labor on their lands, and to commerce, only to carry the produce of their lands, the raw materials of manufactures, to the European market.

Europe is a country whose land is all cultivated nearly to perfection, where the people have no way to advance themselves but by manufactures and commerce; here are two worlds then, fitted by God and nature, to benefit each other, one by furnishing raw materials, the other manufactures, and they can never interfere. The number of States in America, their position and extension over such a great continent, and their fundamental constitution that nine States must concur to war, show that nine of these States never can agree in any foreign war, or any other, but for self defence, if they should ever become powerful. But in this case, however disagreeable a prospect it may open to Americans, Europe has an everlasting warranty against their becoming dangerous to her in the nature of men, the nature of her governments, and their position towards one another.

All these circumstances serve to show, and the people of England begin to be sensible of it, that Europe will never suffer them to regain their domination and monopoly, even if the English were able to extort a forced submission. In this situation then, the only honorable and advantageous course for England is to make peace, and open commerce with America, in perfect consistency with her independence and her alliances. The people of England cannot be said to furnish subsidies without murmuring, for it is certain there never was so much murmuring and such radical discontent in that nation nor any other, but at the eve of a revolution.

I very cheerfully agree with your Excellency in opinion, that the Court of Spain has sagacity enough to penetrate and to defeat the deceitful designs of the English, and am not under other apprehensions from thence, than that the report of a negotiation with Spain will leave some impressions in America, where I believe the English Ministry chiefly intend it. I have already said, that from the present British Ministry I expect no peace. It is for the nation and for the change of Ministry, as a step towards peace, that I thought it might have some effect to make the communication, and to satisfy those people in America, who without the most distant thought of departing from their independence or their alliances, wish still to take every reasonable measure towards peace. Your Excellency's letter will convince them, that my apprehensions were wrong, and your advice will undoubtedly be followed, as it ought to be; for they cannot promise themselves any advantages from the communication equivalent to the inconveniency of taking a measure of this kind, which ought not to be done but in concert, against the opinion of the Ministry of France.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE COUNT DE VERGENNES.

Paris, July 27th, 1780.

Sir,

Since my letter of the 21st, and upon reading over again your Excellency's letter to me of the 20th, I observed one expression, which I think it my duty to consider more particularly. The expression I have in view, is this, "that the King without having been solicited by the Congress, had taken measures the most efficacious to sustain the American cause."

Upon this part of your letter, I must entreat your Excellency to recollect, that the Congress did as long, ago as the year 1776, before Dr Franklin was sent off for France, instruct him, Mr Deane, and Mr Lee, to solicit the King for six ships of the line, and I have reason to believe, that the Congress have been from that moment to this, persuaded that this object has been constantly solicited by their Ministers at this Court.

In addition to this, I have every personal, as well as public motive to recall to your Excellency's recollection, a letter or memorial, which was presented to your Excellency in the latter end of the month of December, 1778, or the beginning of January, 1779, in which a great variety of arguments were adduced to show, that it was not only good policy, but absolutely necessary, to send a superiority of naval force to the coasts of the Continent of America.[7] This letter, together with your Excellency's answer, acknowledging the receipt of it, I transmitted to Congress myself, and their Journals show, that they received them near a year ago, so that Congress I am persuaded, rest in the most perfect security in the persuasion, that everything has been done by themselves and their servants at this Court, to obtain this measure, and that the necessary arrangements of the King's naval service have hitherto prevented it.

But if it was only suspected by Congress, that a direct application from them to the King was expected, I am assured they would not hesitate a moment to make it. I am so convinced by experience, of the absolute necessity of more consultations and communications between his Majesty's Ministers and the Ministers of Congress, that I am determined to omit no opportunity of communicating my sentiments to your Excellency, upon everything that appears to me of importance to the common cause, in which I can do it with propriety. And the communications shall be direct in person, or by letter to your Excellency, without the intervention of any third person. And I shall be very happy, and think myself highly honored, to give my poor opinion and advice to his Majesty's Ministers upon anything that relates to the United States, or the common cause, whenever they shall be asked.

I wish I may be mistaken, but it could answer no good purpose to deceive myself; and I certainly will not disguise my sentiments from your Excellency. I think that Admiral Graves, with the ships before in America, will be able to impede the operations of M. de Ternay, of M. de Rochambeau, and of General Washington, if their plan is to attack New York.

If there should be a naval battle between M. de Ternay and Admiral Graves, the event is uncertain. From the near equality of force, and the equality of bravery and of naval science which now prevails everywhere, I think we cannot depend upon anything decisive in such an engagement, unless it be from the particular character of Graves, whom I know personally to be neither a great man, nor a great officer. If there should be no decision in a naval battle, Graves and his fleet must lay at New York, and M. de Ternay and his, at Rhode Island. I readily agree, that this will be a great advantage to the common cause, for the reasons mentioned in my letter to your Excellency of the 13th of this month. But still I beg leave to suggest to your Excellency, whether it would not be for the good of the common cause to have still further resources in view, whether circumstances may not be such in the West Indies, as to enable M. de Guichen to despatch ships to the reinforcement of M. de Ternay, or whether it may not consist with the King's service to despatch ships from Europe for that purpose, and further, whether the Court of Spain cannot be convinced of the policy of keeping open the communication between the United States and the French and Spanish Islands in the West Indies, so as to co-operate with France and the United States in the system of keeping up a constant superiority of naval power, both upon the coasts of North America and in the West India Islands. This is the true plan which is finally to humble the English, and give the combined forces the advantage.

The English, in the course of the last war, derived all their triumphs, both upon the Continent of America and the Islands, from the succors they received from their Colonies. And I am sure that France and Spain, with attention to the subject, may receive assistance in this war, from the same source equally decisive.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

COUNT DE VERGENNES TO JOHN ADAMS.

Translation.

Versailles, July 29th, 1780.

Sir,

I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write me on the 27th of this month. When I took upon myself to give you a mark of my confidence, by informing you of the destination of Messrs de Ternay and Rochambeau, I did not expect the animadversion, which you have thought it your duty to make on a passage of my letter of the 20th of this month. To avoid any further discussions of that sort, I think it my duty to inform you, that Mr Franklin being the sole person who has letters of credence to the King from the United States, it is with him only that I ought and can treat of matters, which concern them, and particularly of that which is the subject of your observations.

Besides, Sir, I ought to observe to you, that the passage in my letter, which you have thought it your duty to consider more particularly, relates only to sending the fleet commanded by the Chevalier de Ternay, and had nothing further in view, than to convince you, that the King did not stand in need of your solicitations to induce him to interest himself in the affairs of the United States.

I have the honor to be, &c

DE VERGENNES.

COUNT DE VERGENNES TO B. FRANKLIN.

Translation.

Versailles, July 31st, 1780.

Sir,

The character with which you are invested, your wisdom, and the confidence I have in your principles and sentiments, induce me to communicate to you a correspondence, which I have had with Mr Adams.

You will find, I think, in the letters of that Plenipotentiary, opinions and a turn, which do not correspond either with the manner in which I explained myself to him, or with the intimate connexion which subsists between the King and the United States. You will make that use of these pieces, which your prudence shall suggest. As to myself, I desire, that you will transmit them to Congress, that they may know the line of conduct, which Mr Adams pursues with regard to us, and that they may judge whether he is endowed, as Congress no doubt desires, with that conciliating spirit, which is necessary for the important and delicate business, with which he is intrusted.[8]

I have the honor to be, &c.

DE VERGENNES.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Amsterdam, August 14th, 1780.

Sir,

On the 27th of July I set out from Paris on a journey to Amsterdam. I left Mr Dana, and Mr Thaxter at Paris, who will regularly transmit to Congress whatever shall occur of importance to the United States to know. They will also enclose all the English, French, and Dutch gazettes. They are exerting themselves in this Republic to man their ships of war, in which they have great success, as they give very great premiums for seamen, as far as sixty ducats a man. The Russian men-of-war are arrived and anchored in sight of the Texel, and several of their officers have been ashore in this city. The Plenipotentiaries are gone to Petersburg. Sweden and Denmark have adopted the declaration of Russia. It is whispered, that the Dutch Ministers to the Congress at Petersburg are shackled with instructions, to insist on a warranty of their possessions in the East and West Indies, previous to their acceding to the confederation of the maritime powers, but this instruction produced a protest of the city of Amsterdam, with such reasons against it, that it is thought the opposite party will not venture to take upon themselves the consequences of a refusal to join in the confederation; so that it is expected the treaty will take place.

It is universally considered as a great misfortune to us, by all whom I converse with here, that Mr Laurens is not arrived. Some prudent person, authorised by Congress, is earnestly desired here. He would not be publicly received, at least until the States shall take a decided part with the other maritime powers against England; this case, however, may soon happen. But there is not in Europe a better station to collect intelligence from France, Spain, England, Germany, and all the northern parts, nor a better situation, from whence to circulate intelligence through all parts of Europe than this. And it may be depended on, that our cause has never suffered from anything more than from the failure of giving and receiving intelligence. A Minister here, from Congress, would be considered as the centre of communication between America and this, and many other parts of Europe; and I have since my arrival here, been more convinced than ever, that Congress might open a considerable loan here, and be supplied from hence with stores and with clothing, and at the same time be gradually extending the commerce between this country and America, to the great advantage of both. I have had a great deal of conversation upon the subject of a loan, and shall have more. I am sure that a loan might be obtained by any one with powers from Congress. But there are no powers as yet arrived in Europe that will ever succeed here.

We are still in daily hope and expectation that Mr Laurens will arrive; but should he decline to come, or in case any accident has befallen him, I most earnestly recommend to Congress the appointment of some other gentleman, with a proper commission, with full powers and especially to borrow money, and to sign proper promissory notes for the payment of it.

The King of Sweden is at Spa, from whence in the letter of the 30th of July the public are informed, that his Majesty, the first who during the present maritime war has given validity to the rights of neuters, by means of the declaration which he caused to be made the last year to the belligerent powers, and by means of the protection which he granted from that time to the commerce and the navigation of his subjects, in sending out from his ports a numerous squadron, has manifested the consistency of his sentiments and disposition in this respect, by a new declaration, lately made to the Courts of Madrid, Versailles, and London, an authentic copy of which here follows.

DECLARATION OF SWEDEN.

"From the commencement of the present war, the King has taken care to make known his fashion of thinking to all Europe; he has prescribed to himself a perfect neutrality; he has discharged the duties of it with scrupulous exactness; he has thought himself entitled to enjoy in consequence of it the rights attached to the quality of a sovereign absolutely neuter. Notwithstanding his trading subjects have been obliged to demand his protection, and his Majesty has found himself under a necessity of granting it to them. To fulfil this object, the King caused to be armed the last year a certain number of vessels; one part of them he employed upon the coasts of his kingdom, and the other has served to convoy the Swedish merchant vessels, in the different seas where the commerce of his subjects called them to navigate; he communicated these measures to the belligerent powers, and he prepared himself to continue them in the course of the present year, when other Courts, which had equally adopted a neutrality, communicated to him the dispositions which they had made, conformable with those of the King, and tending to the same end. The Empress of Russia caused to be presented a declaration to the Courts of London, Versailles, and Madrid, by which she informed them of the resolution she had taken to defend the commerce of her subjects, and the universal rights of neutral nations. This declaration was founded upon principles so just, that it did not appear possible to call them in question. The King has found them entirely conformable to his own cause, to the treaty concluded in 1666, between Sweden and England, and to that between Sweden and France; and his Majesty has not been able to excuse himself from acknowledging and adopting these same principles, not only with regard to the powers with whom the said treaties are in force, but also with relation to those who are already involved in the present war, or who may become so in the sequel, and with whom the King has no treaty to appeal to. It is the universal law, and in default of particular engagements, this becomes obligatory upon all nations. In consequence of which, the King declares once more, that he will observe in future the same neutrality, and with the same exactness, which he has observed heretofore. He will forbid his subjects, under severe penalties, to deviate in any manner whatsoever from the duties which a similar neutrality imposes; but he will protect their lawful commerce by all means possible, when they shall conduct it conformably to the principles abovementioned."

From Hamburg, the 1st of August, we have the following article. "All nations and all commercial cities being interested in the liberty of the seas and the safety of navigation, attacked and violated in our days, in a manner whereof history furnishes few examples, we have not learned here with less joy than in the rest of Europe, (if we except perhaps Great Britain,) the generous resolution which the three Powers of the North have taken to protect, by an armed neutrality, the commerce of their subjects, and at the same time the rights of all nations; rights immemorial, which honor and justice alone ought to cause to be respected, without having occasion to recur to the sanction of treaties. The Court of Denmark has adopted these principles into the declaration, which, after the example of Russia, she has made to the belligerent powers, and which is conceived in these terms."

DECLARATION OF DENMARK.

"If a neutrality the most exact and the most perfect, with a navigation the most regular, and an inviolable respect for treaties had been sufficient to place the freedom of commerce of the subjects of the King of Denmark and Norway in a state of safety from these misfortunes, which ought to be unknown to nations which are at peace, and who are free and independent, it would not be necessary to take new measures to insure them this liberty to which they have a right the most incontestible.

"The King of Denmark has always founded his glory and his grandeur upon the esteem and the confidence of other people; he has made it a law to himself, from the commencement of his reign, to manifest to all the powers, his friends, a conduct the most capable of convincing them of his pacific sentiments, and of his sincere desire to contribute to the general prosperity of Europe. His proceedings, the most uniform and which nothing can conceal, are a proof of this. He has not hitherto addressed himself, but to the belligerent powers themselves, to obtain the redress of his grievances; and he has never failed of moderation in his demands, nor of gratitude when they have had the success, which they ought to have. But the neutral navigation has been too often molested, and the most innocent commerce of his subjects too frequently disturbed, for the King not to think himself obliged to take at present measures proper to assure to himself and to his allies, the safety of commerce and navigation, and the maintenance of the indispensable rights of liberty and independence. If the duties of neutrality are sacred, if the law of nations has also its decrees adopted by all impartial nations, established by custom, and founded in equity and reason, an independent and neutral nation does not lose by the war of another the rights which it had before that war, because that peace continues for her with all the belligerent people, without receiving, and without having to follow, the laws of any of them. She is authorised to make in all places, (the contraband excepted) the traffic, which she would have a right to make if peace existed in all Europe, as it exists for her. The King pretends to nothing beyond that which neutrality entitles him to. Such is his rule and that of his people, and his Majesty not being able to avow the principle, that a belligerent nation has a right to interrupt the commerce of his States, he has thought it a duty, which he owed to himself and to his people, faithful observers of his regulations, and to the powers at war themselves, to lay open to them the following principles, which he has always had, and which he will always avow, and maintain in concert with her Majesty the Empress of all the Russias, whose sentiments he acknowledges to be entirely conformable to his own.

"1st. That neutral vessels may navigate freely from port to port, and upon the coasts of nations at war.

"2d. That the effects belonging to the subjects of the powers at war may be free upon neutral vessels, excepting merchandises of contraband.

"3d. That nothing be understood by this denomination of contraband, but that which is expressly defined as such in the third article of the Treaty of Commerce with Great Britain, in 1770, and in the twentysixth and twentyseventh articles of his treaty of commerce with France, in 1742; and the King will equally avow that, which is fixed in these articles towards the powers, with which he has no treaty.

"4th. That we should consider as a port blocked, that into which no vessel can enter without an evident danger, by reason of ships of war, stationed to form very near an effectual blockade.

"5th. That these principles serve as a rule, in all proceedings, and that justice be rendered with despatch and according to the documents of the sea, conformably to treaties and to received usages.

"His Majesty does not hesitate to declare, that he will maintain these principles, as well as the honor of his flag, and the liberty and independence of commerce, and of the navigation of his subjects; and it is to this end, that he has caused to be armed a part of his fleet, although he desires to preserve with all the powers at war, not only the good intelligence, but even all the intimacy, which a neutrality can admit. The King will never deviate from this, without being forced; he knows the duties and the obligations of it; he respects them as much as his treaties, and desires nothing but to maintain them. His Majesty is also persuaded, that the belligerent powers will do justice to these motives; that they will be as far as he is himself from everything, which oppresses the natural liberty of men, and that they will give to their Admiralties and to their officers, orders conformable to the principles here announced, which evidently tend to the prosperity and the interest of all Europe.

"Copenhagen, July the 8th, 1780."

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO B. FRANKLIN.

Amsterdam, August 17th, 1780.

Sir,

I was never more amused with political speculations, than since my arrival in this country. Every one has his prophecy, and every prophecy is a paradox. One says, America will give France the go-by. Another, that France and Spain will abandon America. A third, that Spain will forsake France and America. A fourth, that America has the interest of all Europe against her. A fifth, that she will become the greatest manufacturing country, and thus ruin Europe. A sixth, that she will become a great military and naval power, and will be very ambitious, and so terrible to Europe. In short, it seems, as if they had studied for every impossibility, and agreed to foretell it, as a probable future event.

I tell the first, that if the King of France would release America from her treaty, and England would agree to our independence, on condition we would make an alliance offensive and defensive with her, America ought not to accept it, and would not, because she will in future have no security for peace, even with England, but in her treaty with France. I ask the second, whether he thinks the connexion of America of so little consequence to France and Spain, that they would lightly give it up. I ask the third, whether the family compact added to the connexion with America, is a trifling consideration to Spain. To the fifth, I say, that America will not make manufactures enough for her own consumption these thousand years. And to the sixth, that we love peace, and hate war so much, that we can scarcely keep up an army necessary to defend ourselves against the greatest of evils, and to secure our independence, which is the greatest of blessings; and, therefore, while we have land enough to conquer from the trees and rocks and wild beasts, we shall never go abroad to trouble other nations.

To the fourth I say, that their paradox is like several others, viz, that Bacchus and Ceres did mischief to mankind, when they invented wine and bread; that arts, sciences, and civilization have been general calamities, &c. That upon their supposition, all Europe ought to agree to bring away the inhabitants of America, and divide them among the nations of Europe, to be maintained as paupers, leaving America to be overgrown again with trees and bushes, and to become again the habitations of bears and Indians, forbidding all navigation to that quarter of the world in future. That mankind in general, however, are probably of a different opinion, believing that Columbus, as well as Bacchus and Ceres, did a service to mankind, and that Europe and America will be rich blessings to each other, the one supplying a surplus of manufactures, and the other a surplus of raw materials, the productions of agriculture.

It is very plain, however, that speculation and disputation can do us little service. No facts are believed, but decisive military conquests; no arguments are seriously attended to in Europe but force. It is to be hoped, our countrymen, instead of amusing themselves any longer with delusive dreams of peace, will bend the whole force of their minds to augment their navy, to find out their own strength and resources, and to depend upon themselves.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Amsterdam, August 22d, 1780.

Sir,

In a letter of the 14th instant, I had the honor to transmit to Congress the declaration of the Courts of Sweden and Denmark, conformable to that of Russia, which have been presented to the belligerent powers. I now send the answer of the King of France to the declaration of Sweden. It is conceived in these terms.

Answer of France to the Declaration of Sweden.

"The King has constantly desired, that the neutral powers should not receive any damage by the war in which his Majesty is engaged; his orders have assured to the vessels belonging to these powers the enjoyment of all the liberty, which the laws of the sea allow them; and if any individual navigators have had cause to complain of having suffered by the violence of the subjects of his Majesty, he has rendered them immediate and ample justice.

His Majesty has seen with satisfaction in the declaration which has been presented to him, on behalf of the King of Sweden, that it was the intention of this Prince, to continue to protect the navigation of his subjects against all violence; that even his Swedish Majesty had resolved to take measures, in concert with other Courts, and especially with the Empress of Russia, to accomplish more effectually this purpose. The King cannot but wish, that the confederation of his Swedish Majesty with those powers, may produce the benefit which they promise themselves from it; that the ocean may be free, conformably to the law of nations and to treaties, which are known to be nothing more than explanations of that law; and, in fine, that all the nations who have no part in the war, may not suffer the evils of it. His Majesty has renewed to the officers of his marine, and to the privateers which carry his flag, orders entirely conformable to the principles, upon which must depend the safety and tranquillity of all neutral vessels. For a stronger reason still, the subjects of the King of Sweden ought to be assured, that they will meet with no obstruction from those of his Majesty, since there is no Frenchman, who is ignorant of the alliance and friendship, which has so long subsisted between the two Crowns.

"The precautions which his Swedish Majesty has taken, as they must confine the Swedish navigators within the bounds of the most exact neutrality, so they will be a new motive for them to demand the execution of those laws, of which their master discovers himself to be a zealous defender; laws, which the King ardently wishes to see adopted by the unanimous concurrence of all the powers, in such a manner, that no one may have to suffer by the war, if his sovereign does not take a part in it, provided he shall conform to the rules prescribed, to prevent all abuse of the neutral flag. Versailles, 4th of August, 1780."

In a London paper of the 15th of August, are the following queries of the Court of Sweden, relative to the proposal, which the Court of Russia has made for the reciprocal protection and navigation of their subjects.

Queries of the Court of Sweden.

"1st. How, and in what manner, a reciprocal protection and mutual assistance shall be given?

"2d. Whether each particular power shall be obliged to protect the general commerce of, the whole, or if, in the meantime, it may employ a part of its armament in the protection of its own particular commerce?

"3d. If several of their combined squadrons should meet, or, for example, one or more of their vessels, what shall be the rule of their conduct towards each other, and how far shall the neutral protection extend?

"4th. It seems essential to agree upon the manner, in which representations shall be made to the powers at war, if, notwithstanding our measures, their ships of war, or armed vessels, should continue to interrupt our commerce in any manner; must these remonstrances be made in the general name of the united powers, or shall each particular power plead its own cause only?

"5th. Lastly, it appears essentially necessary to provide against this possible event, where one of the united powers seeing itself driven to extremities, against any of the powers actually at war, should claim the assistance of the allies in this convention to do her justice, in what manner can this be best concerted? A circumstance, which equally requires a stipulation that the reprisals in that case shall not be at the will of such party injured, but that the common voice shall decide; otherwise, an individual power might at its pleasure draw the rest against their inclinations and interests into disagreeable extremities, or break the whole league, and reduce matters into their original state, which would render the whole fruitless and of none effect."

Answer of the Court of Russia.

"1st. As to the manner in which protection and mutual assistance shall be granted, it must be settled by a formal convention, to which all the neutral powers will be invited, the principal end of which is, to ensure a free navigation to the merchants ships of all nations. Whenever such vessel shall have proved from its papers, that it carries no contraband goods, the protection of a squadron or vessels of war shall be granted her, under whose care she shall put herself, and which shall prevent her being interrupted. From hence it follows;

"2d. That each power must concur in the general security of commerce; in the meantime, the better to accomplish this object, it will be necessary to settle, by means of a separate article, the places and distances which may be judged proper for the station of each power. From that method will arise this advantage, that all the squadrons of the allies will form a kind of chain, and be able to assist each other; the particular arrangements to be confined only to the knowledge of the allies, though the convention in all other points will be communicated to the powers at war, accompanied with all the protestations of a strict neutrality.

"3d. It is undoubtedly the principle of a perfect equality which must regulate this point. We shall follow the common mode with regard to safety; in case the squadrons should meet and engage, the commanders will conform to the usages of the sea service, because, as is observed above, the reciprocal protection under these conditions should be unlimited.

"4th. It seems expedient, that the representations mentioned in this article be made by the party aggrieved, and that the Ministers of the other confederate powers support those remonstrances in the most forcible and efficacious manner.

"5th. We feel all the importance of this consideration, and to render it clear, it is necessary to distinguish the case. If any one of the allied powers should suffer itself to be drawn in by motives contrary to the established principles of a neutrality and perfect impartiality, should injure its laws, or extend their bounds, it cannot certainly be expected that others should espouse the quarrel; on the contrary, such a conduct would be deemed an abandoning the ties which unite them. But if the insult offered to one of the allies should be hostile to the principles adopted and announced in the face of all Europe, or should be marked with the character of hatred and animosity, inspired by resentment at these common measures of the confederacy, which have no other tendency than to make, in a precise and irrecoverable manner, laws for the liberty of commerce, and the rights of every neutral nation, then it shall be held indispensable for the united powers to make a common cause of it, (at sea only) without its being a groundwork for other operations, as these connexions are purely maritime, having no other object than naval commerce and navigation. From all that is said above, it evidently results, that the common will of all, founded upon the principles admitted and adopted by the contracting parties, must alone decide, and that it will always be the fixed basis of the conduct and operations of this union. Finally, we shall observe, that these conventions suppose no other naval armament than what shall be conformable to circumstances, according as these shall render them necessary, or as may be agreed. It is probable, that this agreement, once ratified and established, will be of the greatest consequence; and that the belligerent powers will find in it sufficient motives to persuade them to respect the neutral flag, and prevent their provoking the resentment of a respectable communion, founded under the auspices of the most evident justice, and the sole idea of which is received with the universal applause of all impartial Europe."

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Amsterdam, August 23d, 1780.

Sir,

The errand of Mr Cumberland to Madrid is a mere finesse of the British Ministry, intended to aid the stockjobbers to keep up the stocks, aid the loan, and the canvass for an election, and lull the belligerent powers, while they prepare their measures for future enterprises and another campaign. They have carried this plot so far, that I see some paragraphs in the foreign papers, which seem intended to counteract it.

The truth is, according to my information, that orders are already sent out by the British cabinet to prosecute the war with vigor in North Carolina and Virginia, the ensuing fall, winter, and spring. General Prevost is about to sail with some frigates to aid their operations on Cape Fear river. It is said at the same time, that they are sounding the House of Bourbon through Sardinia, and have made some loose propositions of accommodation, the groundwork of which is the sacrifice of America; and there is no doubt they would yield to France and Spain very great things to carry their point against America, who may depend upon the utmost exertions of their malice and revenge. But all this will not do. France and Spain are now responsible for their conduct to the rest of Europe, especially the Northern powers; and besides this, the separation between America and England is an object of more pressing importance to France and Spain, than any concessions that England can make them. So that America need not be under any apprehensions of being deserted.

If, however, she were to be deserted by all the world, she ought seriously to maintain her resolution to be free. She has the means within herself. Her greatest misfortune has been, that she has never yet felt her full strength, nor considered the extent of her resources.

I cannot but lament, however, that there is no representation of Congress in this Republic, vested with powers to borrow money. This would be a double advantage. We should avail ourselves of a loan, and at the same time lessen the loan of England. A loan once begun here, would rapidly increase, so as to deprive the English of this resource. This is the method in which commerce may be extended between the two Republics, and the political sentiments and system of Holland changed. I fancy that several very heavy and solid houses here might be persuaded to become security for the payment of interest, and that contracts might be made with them to send them remittances in produce, either to Europe, St Eustatia, St Thomas, &c., to enable them to discharge the interest. Might not merchants be found in Philadelphia, Boston, and many other places, who would enter into contract with the public to remit such a sum as should be agreed on, in the produce of the country to such houses here? This method, if Congress should think it expedient to fall into the way of sending fleets of merchantmen under convoy, would easily succeed. The safe arrival of the Fier Roderique, with so large a number of vessels under her care, gives great encouragement to the plan.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Amsterdam, September 4th, 1780.

Sir,

I have the pleasure to write to Congress news, which I hope they will receive many other ways before this letter can arrive, viz.; that the outward bound British West India fleet of fiftytwo sail and five East Indiamen, on the 9th of August, fell in with the combined French and Spanish fleets, about sixty leagues from Cape St Vincents, and were most of them taken; the frigates which composed the convoy and four of the West Indiamen alone having escaped. This is the account. We may possibly hear of some deductions, but the account in general is authentic, and of very great importance, as the value of the property is large, the number of soldiers and seamen considerable, and the disappointment to the fleets and armies of our enemies in the East and West Indies and in North America, not to be repaired.

This news has been from the 22d of August to the 3d of September in travelling from London to Amsterdam, where it makes a very great sensation indeed. We had, at the same time, news of the capture of most of the Quebec fleet by an American frigate and two brigantines.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Amsterdam, September 5th, 1780.

Sir,

As eloquence is cultivated with more care in free Republics than in other governments, it has been found by constant experience that such Republics have produced the greatest purity, copiousness and perfection of language. It is not to be disputed, that the form of government has an influence upon language, and language in its turn influences not only the form of government, but the temper, the sentiments, and manners of the people. The admirable models which have been transmitted through the world, and continued down to these days, so as to form an essential part of the education of mankind from generation to generation, by those two ancient towns, Athens and Rome, would be sufficient without any other argument to show the United States the importance to their liberty, prosperity, and glory, of an early attention to the subject of eloquence and language.

Most of the nations of Europe have thought it necessary to establish by public authority, institutions for fixing and improving their proper languages. I need not mention the academies in France, Spain, and Italy, their learned labors, nor their great success. But it is very remarkable, that although many learned and ingenious men in England have from age to age projected similar institutions for correcting and improving the English tongue, yet the government have never found time to interpose in any manner; so that to this day there is no grammar nor dictionary extant of the English language, which has the least public authority, and it is only very lately, that a tolerable dictionary has been published, even by a private person, and there is not yet a passable grammar enterprised by any individual.

The honor of forming the first public institution for refining, correcting, improving, and ascertaining the English language, I hope is reserved for Congress; they have every motive that can possibly influence a public assembly to undertake it. It will have a happy effect upon the union of the States to have a public standard for all persons in every part of the Continent to appeal to, both for the signification and pronunciation of the language. The constitutions of all the States in the Union are so democratical, that eloquence will become the instrument, for recommending men to their fellow citizens, and the principal means of advancement through the various ranks and offices of society.

In the last century, Latin was the universal language of Europe. Correspondence among the learned, and indeed among merchants and men of business, and the conversation of strangers and travellers, was generally carried on in that dead language. In the present century, Latin has been generally laid aside, and French has been substituted in its place; but has not yet become universally established, and according to present appearances, it is not probable that it will. English is destined to be, in the next and succeeding centuries more generally the language of the world, than Latin was in the last, or French is in the present age. The reason of this is obvious, because the increasing population in America, and their universal connexion and correspondence with all nations will, aided by the influence of England in the world, whether great or small, force their language into general use, in spite of all the obstacles that may be thrown in their way, if any such there should be.

It is not necessary to enlarge further, to show the motives which the people of America have to turn their thoughts early to this subject; they will naturally occur to Congress in a much greater detail than I have time to hint at. I would therefore submit to the consideration of Congress, the expediency and policy of erecting, by their authority, a society under the name of "The American Academy, for refining, improving, and ascertaining the English Language." The authority of Congress is necessary to give such a society reputation, influence, and authority, through all the States, and with other nations. The number of members of which it shall consist, the manner of appointing those members, whether each State shall have a certain number of members, and the power of appointing them, or whether Congress shall appoint them, whether after the first appointment, the society itself shall fill up vacancies, these, and other questions, will easily be determined by Congress.