The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume IV Part 34

War is not declared, that is, no manifesto has been published, but each nation is daily manufacturing materials for the other's manifesto, by open hostilities. In short, Sir, the two nations have been at war ever since the recall of the Amba.s.sadors. The King of France has given orders to all his ships to attack the English, and has given vast encouragement to privateers.

The King of Great Britain and his council have determined to send instructions to their Commissioners in America to offer us independency, provided we will make peace with them, separate from France. This appears to me to be the last effort to seduce, deceive, and divide. They know that every man of honor in America must receive this proposition with indignation. But they think they can get the men of no honor to join them by such a proposal, and they think the men of honor are not a majority. What has America done to give occasion to that King and council to think so unworthily of her.

The proposition is in other words this; "America, you have fought me until I despair of beating you, you have made an alliance with the first power of Europe, which is a great honor to your country and a great stability to your cause, so great that it has excited my highest resentment, and has determined me to go to war with France. Do you break your faith with that power and forfeit her confidence, as well as that of all the rest of mankind forever, and join me to beat her, or stand by neuter and see me do it, and for all this I will acknowledge your independency, because I think in that case you cannot maintain it, but will be an easy prey to me afterwards, who am determined to break my faith with you, as I wish you to do yours with France."

My dear countrymen, I hope you will not be allured upon the rocks, by the syren song of peace. They are now playing a sure game. They have run all hazards, but now they hazard nothing.

I know your application is incessant and your moments precious, and, therefore, that I ask a great favor in requesting your correspondence, but the interests of the public, as well as private friendship, induce me to do it.

I am, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO SAMUEL ADAMS.

Pa.s.sy, July 28th, 1778.

My Dear Sir,

The Sovereign of Britain and his Council have determined to instruct their Commissioners to offer you independence, provided you will disconnect yourselves from France.

The question arises, how came the King and Council by authority to offer this? It is certain that they have it not.

In the next place, is the treaty of alliance between us and France now binding upon us? I think there is not room to doubt it; for declarations and manifestos do not make the state of war, they are only publications of the reasons of war. Yet the message of the King of Great Britain to both houses of Parliament, and their answers to that message were as full a declaration of war as ever was made, and accordingly hostilities have been frequent ever since. This proposal, then, is a modest invitation to a gross act of infidelity and breach of faith. It is an observation that I have often heard you make, that "France is the natural ally of the United States." This observation is, in my opinion, both just and important. The reasons are plain. As long as Great Britain shall have Canada, Nova Scotia, and the Floridas, or any of them, so long will Great Britain be the enemy of the United States, let her disguise it as much as she will.

It is not much to the honor of human nature, but the fact is certain, that neighboring nations are never friends in reality. In the times of the most perfect peace between them, their hearts and their pa.s.sions are hostile, and this will certainly be the case forever between the thirteen United States and the English colonies. France and England, as neighbors and rivals, never have been and never will be friends.

The hatred and jealousy between the nations are eternal and irradicable. As we, therefore, on the one hand, have the surest ground to expect the jealousy and hatred of Great Britain, so on the other we have the strongest reasons to depend upon the friendship and alliance of France, and no one reason in the world to expect her enmity or her jealousy, as she has given up every pretension to any spot of ground on the Continent. The United States, therefore, will be for ages the natural bulwark of France against the hostile designs of England against her, and France is the natural defence of the United States against the rapacious spirit of Great Britain against them. France is a nation so vastly eminent, having been for so many centuries what they call the dominant power of Europe, being incomparably the most powerful at land, that united in a close alliance with our States, and enjoying the benefit of our trade, there is not the smallest reason to doubt, but both will be a sufficient curb upon the naval power of Great Britain.

This connexion, therefore, will forever secure a respect for our States in Spain, Portugal, and Holland too, who will always choose to be upon friendly terms with powers, who have numerous cruisers at sea, and indeed in all the rest, of Europe. I presume, therefore, that sound policy as well as good faith will induce us never to renounce our alliance with France, even although it should continue us for some time in war. The French are as sensible of the benefits of this alliance to them as we are, and they are determined as much as we to cultivate it.

In order to continue the war, or at least that we may do any good in the common cause, the credit of our currency must be supported. But how? Taxes, my dear Sir, taxes. Pray let our countrymen consider and be wise; every farthing they pay in taxes is a farthing's worth of wealth and good policy. If it were possible to hire money in Europe to discharge the bills, it would be a dreadful drain to the country to pay the interest of it. But I fear it will not be. The house of Austria has sent orders to Amsterdam to hire a very great sum, England is borrowing great sums, and France is borrowing largely. Amidst such demands for money, and by powers who offer better terms, I fear we shall not be able to succeed.

Pray write me as often as you can, and believe me your friend and servant,

JOHN ADAMS.

TO JAMES WARREN.

Pa.s.sy, August 4th, 1778.

My Dear Sir,

Your kind favor of July the 1st was brought here yesterday from Bordeaux, where Captain Ayres has arrived, but was not delivered to me till this day. This is the second only received from you. I have infinite satisfaction in learning from all parts of America the prosperous train of our affairs, and the unanimity and spirit of the people. Every vessel brings us fresh accessions of ardor to the French, and of depression to the English, in the war that is now begun in earnest.

The resolutions of Congress upon the Conciliatory Bills, the address to the people, the ratification of the treaty, the answer to the Commissioners, the President's letter, the message of G. Livingston, and the letter of Mr Drayton, are read here with an avidity that would surprise you. It is not one of the least misfortunes of Great Britain, that she has to contend with so much eloquence; that there are such painters to exhibit her atrocious actions to the world, and transmit them to posterity. Every publication of this kind seems to excite the ardor of the French nation, and of their fleets and armies, as much as if they were Americans.

While American orators are thus employed in perpetuating the remembrance of the injustice and cruelty of Great Britain towards us, the French fleet has been giving such a check to her naval pride, as she has not experienced before for many ages. The vessel, which is to carry this, will carry information of a general engagement between d'Orvilliers and Keppel, which terminated in a disgraceful flight of the English fleet. We hope soon to hear of d'Estaing's success, which would demonstrate to the universe, that Britain is no longer mistress of the ocean. But the events of war are always uncertain, and a misfortune may have happened to the French fleet in America. But even if this should be the case, which I do not believe, still Britain is not mistress of the sea, and every day will bring fresh proofs that she is not. The springs of her naval power are dried away.

I have hitherto had the happiness to find that my pulse beat in exact unison with those of my countrymen. I have ventured with some freedom to give my opinion, as to what Congress would do with the Conciliatory Bills, with the Commissioners, with the treaty, &c. &c. and every packet brings us proceedings of Congress, according in substance, but executed in a manner infinitely exceeding my abilities. Nothing has given me more joy, than the universal disdain that is expressed both in public and private letters, at the idea of departing from the treaty and violating the public faith. This faith is our American glory, and it is our bulwark. It is the only foundation on which our union can rest securely, it is the only support of our credit both in finance and commerce; it is our sole security for the a.s.sistance of foreign powers. If the British Court with their arts could shake it, or the confidence in it, we should be undone forever. They would triumph over us, after all our toil and danger. They would subjugate us more entirely than they ever intended. The idea of infidelity cannot be treated with too much resentment or too much horror. The man who can think of it with patience is a traitor in his heart, and ought be execrated as one, who adds the deepest hypocrisy to the blackest treason.

Is there a sensible hypocrite in America, who can start a jealousy, that religion may be in danger? From whence can this danger arise? Not from France, she claims no inch of ground upon your continent. She claims no legislative authority over you, no negative upon your laws, no right of appointing you bishops, nor of sending you missionaries.

Besides, the spirit of crusading for religion is not in France. The rage for making proselytes, which has existed in former centuries, is no more. There is a spirit more liberal here in this respect, than I expected to find. Where has been the danger to the religion of the Protestant cantons of Switzerland, from an alliance with France, which has subsisted with entire harmony for one hundred and fifty years, or thereabouts? But this subject is fitter for ridicule than serious argument, as nothing can be clearer than that in this enlightened tolerant age, at this vast distance, without a claim or color of authority, with an express acknowledgment and warranty of sovereignty, this, I had almost said tolerant nation, can never endanger our religion.

The longer I live in Europe, and the more I consider our affairs, the more important our alliance with France appears to me. It is a rock upon which we may safely build. Narrow and illiberal prejudices, peculiar to John Bull, with which I might perhaps have been in some degree infected when I was John Bull, have now no influence over me. I never was, however, much of John Bull. I was John Yankee, and such I shall live and die. Is Great Britain to be annihilated? No such thing.

A revolution in her government may possibly take place. But whether in favor of despotism or republicanism, is the question. The scarcity of virtue, and even the semblance of it, seems an invincible obstacle to the latter. But the annihilation of a nation never takes place. It depends wholly on herself to determine whether she shall sink down into the rank of the middling powers of Europe, or whether she shall maintain the second place in the scale. If she continues this war, the first will be her fate, if she stops short in her mad career and makes peace, she may still be in the second predicament. America will grow with astonishing rapidity, and England, France, and every other nation in Europe will be the better for her prosperity. Peace, which is her dear delight, will be her wealth and her glory, for I cannot see the seed of a war with any part of the world in future, but with Great Britain, and such States as may be weak enough, if any such there should be, to become her allies. That such a peace may be speedily concluded, and that you and I may return to our farms to enjoy the fruits of it, spending our old age in recounting to our children the toils and dangers we have encountered for their benefit, is the wish of your friend,

JOHN ADAMS.

TO RICHARD HENRY LEE.

Pa.s.sy, August 5th, 1778.

My Dear Sir,

Your letter of the 20th of June, by Captain Ayres, from Boston, had a quick pa.s.sage. He sailed on the 4th of July, and your letters were brought to Pa.s.sy from Bordeaux, where she arrived the 3d of August.

I thank you, Sir, for the kind expressions of your obliging anxiety for me. The uncertainty in which you remain so long, concerning the fate of the Boston, must have been occasioned by the capture of many vessels by which the news was sent, together with many bundles of English newspapers and pamphlets. The prompt ratification of the treaties, as well as the dignity with which you have received the letters from the British Commissioners, has given great satisfaction here. The two articles, the Count de Vergennes agreed, when we presented your instructions to him on that head, should be given up.

The confederation is an important object, and nothing is more wished for in Europe than its completion, and the finishing of the separate governments. The eagerness to complete the American code, and the strains of panegyric in which they speak and write of those parts of it, which have been published in Europe, are very remarkable, and seem to indicate a general revolution in the sentiments of mankind upon the subject of government. Our currency cannot engage our attention too much. And the more we think of it, the more we shall be convinced, that taxation, deep and broad taxation, is the only sure and lasting remedy. Loans in Europe will be very difficult to obtain. The powers at war, or at the eve of war, have such vast demands, and offer terms so much better than ours, that nothing but sheer benevolence to our cause can induce any person to lend us. Besides a large foreign debt would be a greater evil, for what I know, than a paper currency.

Moreover, your large drafts upon the Commissioners here, from various quarters, are like to consume more money than we can borrow. We shall do however all we can.

I have hitherto had the good fortune to preserve a good understanding with the gentleman you mention, and shall endeavor to continue it. I have long known him to be employed very ably and usefully for our country, and his merits and services, his integrity and abilities, will induce me to cultivate his friendship, as far as I can, consistently with the public service. I wish I could converse with you freely upon this subject, but it would lead me into too long a detail.

It has given me much grief, since my arrival here, to find so little harmony among many respectable characters; so many mutual jealousies, and so much distrust of one another. As soon as I perceived it, I determined neither to quarrel with any man here, because he had quarrelled with another, or because another had quarrelled with him; nor to make any man my bosom friend, because he was the bosom friend of any other; but to attend solely to the public service, and give my voice upon all occasions, as I should think that justice and policy required, whether it agreed with the opinion of one man or another. I cannot be more particular. If I were to take every man's word, I should think there was not one disinterested American here, because it is very certain, that there is n.o.body here, that everybody speaks well of. There is no doubt to be made, that private interest has some influence here upon some minds, and that our mercantile affairs and compet.i.tions have occasioned some altercation. But there is, I think, rather more of mutual reproaches of interested views and designs, rather more of animosity among the Americans here, than I remember to have seen anywhere else. I will have nothing to do with any of these things. I will have nothing to do with designs and endeavors to run down characters, to paint in odious colors indifferent actions, to excite or propagate suspicions without evidence, or to foment or entertain prejudices of any kind, if I can possibly avoid it. I am really ashamed to write to you in this enigmatical manner, which is not natural to me; but I know not how to write clearer at present. I sometimes differ in sentiment from each of my colleagues, and sometimes agree with each; yet I do not trim, or at least I think I do not. It has been and shall be my endeavor to heal and reconcile, to the utmost of my power, Yet I fear, that some gentlemen are gone over to America, heated with altercation and inflamed with prejudice.

Others still remain here, it is to be feared, in the same temper of mind, and probably many letters are gone over loaded. These things will probably make you uncomfortable, as they have and will make us. I really wish, however, that you would remove the cause of this, and appoint consuls to do the mercantile business. If you do not, however, I am determined to go on, giving my voice clearly and without equivocation, and at the same time without wrangling or ill will.

We expect on Sunday, the 9th, the English accounts of the sea fight between d'Orvilliers and Keppel, which happened on the 27th ult. in which the former obtained the laurels, whatever representation the latter may make of it. There are so many facts, attested by so many respectable witnesses, that there is no room to doubt, but that the Britons lost the day; a terrible loss indeed to a nation, who have the empire of the sea to maintain, in order almost to preserve their existence. It is not being equal to France at sea; they must support a clear and decided superiority, not only to France, but to France and Spain in conjunction, not to mention our States, in order to preserve their rank among the powers of Europe. My tenderest respects to all good men.

I am, dear Sir, affectionately yours,

JOHN ADAMS.

TO HENRY LAURENS, PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Pa.s.sy, August 27th, 1778.

Sir,

I have the honor to enclose the last gazettes, by which Congress will see the dearth of news in Europe at present. We expect an abundance of it at once soon, as we have nothing from America since the 4th of July.

The French fleet went out again from Brest the 17th, but we have not yet heard that the English fleet is out. While the two fleets were in the harbor, the British East India fleet, and another small West India fleet, got in; a misfortune of no small moment, as the British finances will receive by means of it a fresh supply of money for the present, and their fleet a considerable reinforcement of seamen.