The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume V Part 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 8th, 1780.

Sir,

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

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

"Most Excellent Lord,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 8th, 1780.

Sir,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Copies are circulated in London, of the answer which the Court has made to the declaration of the Empress of Russia, presented the first of April to the Ministry by M. de Simolin, Minister Plenipotentiary.

This piece, which was despatched the 13th of April to the Chevalier Harris, Envoy Extraordinary of his Britannic Majesty to the Court of Petersburg, is of the following tenor.

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

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

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

I have the honor to be, &c.