The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume III Part 25

W. JACKSON.

_P. S._ M Fizeaux informed me that he had resolved to arrest the ship, had the money been on board, I need not inform your Excellency that a like opportunity may not again offer to transport this essential supply, rendered still more so by the capture of the ship Marquis de Lafayette.

W. J.

My fever, which was greatly increased by my late jaunt to Pa.s.sy, will not admit of my waiting upon your Excellency in person, and I am persuaded your justice will render it unnecessary, after this representation.

W. J.

MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON TO B. FRANKLIN.

Amsterdam, July 2d, 1781.

Sir,

Since the departure of my express, I find myself obliged, in conformity to Colonel Laurens's instructions (from which, as his agent I cannot recede, unless compelled thereto by forcible means, and which unless such are practised against me, I must carry into execution) to retain the money, which he has confided to my care, and which the Minister of Finance's order makes deliverable to me specially; and to arrest it in the hands of M. Fizeaux, should he continue to refuse the delivery of it but by your Excellency's orders.

I rely upon your Excellency's attachment to the welfare of America, to prevent this painful operation, which must inevitably take place should your determination decide otherwise, for as this money is subject to no other control in Europe, but the immediate order of the Court of France, I cannot relinquish my charge of it, but by their special order.

I have the honor to be, &c.

W. JACKSON.

MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON TO B. FRANKLIN.

Amsterdam, July 2d, 1781.

Sir,

Your Excellency will not wonder at the determination which I have adopted, to arrest the money now in M. Fizeaux's hands, (and which I have communicated to you by a second express this afternoon) when you reflect, that this money is absolutely committed to my charge for a special purpose, and that I stand accountable for the execution of this commission. Your Excellency must likewise be sensible, that you cannot have the disposal of it, as it was obtained without either your knowledge or concurrence by Colonel Laurens, appointed special Minister for that purpose. These considerations, and the knowledge I have how much America must suffer from a disappointment in this supply, about to be transported by so excellent a conveyance, must plead my excuse individually for this plain and candid avowal of circ.u.mstances, and my determination thereon. I am further persuaded, that the Court of France is not disposed, was there even a shadow of an excuse for an alteration of the allotment of this money, to infringe their honor and injure the essential interests of America by detaining it. I must therefore again entreat your Excellency's repeal of those orders to M. Fizeaux, which now detain the ship and supplies so much required in America.

I have the honor to be, &c.

W. JACKSON.

TO MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON.

Pa.s.sy, July 5th, 1781, at 6 in the morning.

Sir,

I have this, instant received your letter of the 2d, urging the delivery of the money. I must be short in my reply, as your express waits.

Colonel Laurens indeed obtained a promise of ten millions, to be raised by a loan in Holland. I understood while he was here, that that loan was in train, and that the million and a half to be sent with you was a part of it. I since learn, that nothing has yet been obtained in Holland, that the success is not yet certain, and that the money in question is a part of the six millions I had obtained before his arrival, upon the strength of which I accepted the bills drawn on his father, and on Mr Jay, and without which acceptances the Congress'

credit in America would have been ruined, and a loss incurred of twenty per cent upon the protests. I cannot obtain more money here at present, and those bills being accepted must be paid, as well as those I accepted on your earnest request, for the great unexpected purchase you made in Holland.

Colonel Laurens has carried two millions and a half of that six millions with him, which will serve till the loan in Holland produces a further supply. In the meantime I cannot suffer the credit of our country to be destroyed, if by detaining this money it may be saved.

And if I were to consent to its going, our banker would be obliged to arrest great part of it as belonging to the States, he being in advance for them, which would occasion much disagreeable noise, and very ill consequences to our credit in Europe.

I find by Mr Viemerange's account just received, that Mr Laurens's orders have more than absorbed all the money he did not take with him.

I applaud the zeal you have both shown in the affair, but I see, that n.o.body cares how much I am distressed, provided they can carry their own points. I must, therefore, take what care I can of mine, theirs and mine being equally intended for the service of the public. I am sorry to learn, that the vessel is detained for this express. I understood by your last, that she waited for convoy. I heartily wish you a good voyage, and am, with great esteem, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

TO MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON.

Pa.s.sy, July 5th, 1781.

Sir,

I received your letter of the 2d instant, by your first express, this morning at six, answered it, and sent him away immediately. I have just now received your second express of the same date, in which you threaten me with a proceeding, that I apprehend exceedingly imprudent, as it can answer no good end to you, must occasion much scandal, and be thereby very prejudicial to the affairs of the Congress.

But I cannot, therefore, consent to suffer their bills, to the amount of more than a million accepted and expected, to go back protested for want of this money. I have nothing to change in the answer abovementioned. You will however follow your own judgment, as I must follow mine, and you will take upon yourself the consequences.

I have the honor to be, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

TO MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON.

Pa.s.sy, July 6th, 1781.

Sir,

I received and answered two of your expresses yesterday morning, and in the evening I received a third letter from you, all dated the 2d instant.

In this last you tell me, "that I must be sensible I cannot have the disposal of the money, as it was obtained without either my knowledge or concurrence, by Colonel Laurens, appointed special Minister for that purpose." I do not desire to diminish the merit of Colonel Laurens. I believe he would have been glad, if it had been in his power to have procured ten times the sum; and that no application or industry on his part for that purpose would have been wanting. But I cannot let this injurious a.s.sertion of yours pa.s.s, without expressing my surprise, that you, who were always with that gentleman, should be so totally ignorant of that transaction. The six millions, of which he took with him two and a half, of which one and a half were sent to Holland, and of which more than the remainder is ordered in stores from hence, was a _free gift_ from the King's goodness (not a _loan_ to be _repaid with interest_,) and was obtained by _my application_, long before Colonel Laurens's arrival.

I had also given in a list of the stores to be provided, though on his coming I cheerfully gave up the further prosecution of that business into his hands, as he was better acquainted with the particular wants of the army, than I could be, and it was one of the purposes of his appointment.

Thus no part of the affair was done without my "_knowledge and concurrence_," except the sending a million and a half of the specie to Holland. This was indeed a secret to me. I had heard of that sum's being ready there to embark, but I always till lately understood it to be a part of the Dutch loan, which I am about to mention, or I should certainly have opposed that operation. What Colonel Laurens really obtained, and a great service I hope it will prove, was a loan upon interest of ten millions, to be borrowed on the credit of this Court in Holland. I have not heard, that this loan has yet produced anything, and, therefore, I do not know that a single livre exists, or has existed in Europe, of his procuring for the States. On the contrary, he and you have drawn from me considerable sums, as necessary for your expenses, and he left me near forty thousand livres to pay for the Alliance, and, moreover, engaged me in a debt in Holland, which I understood might amount to about fifteen thousand pounds sterling, and which you contrived to make fifty thousand pounds.

When I mentioned to him the difficulty I should find to pay the drafts, he said, you have the remainder of the six millions. He gave me no account of the dispositions he had made, and it is but lately I have learnt that there is no remainder. To gratify you, and to get that ship out, which could not have stirred without me, I have engaged for the vast sum abovementioned, which I am sure I shall be much distressed to pay, and therefore have not deserved at your hands the affront you are advised to menace me with.

And since I find you make it a point of reflection upon me, that I want to apply money to the payment of my engagements for the Congress, which was obtained by Colonel Laurens for other purposes, I must request, that you will upon this better information take occasion to correct that error, if you have communicated it to any other person.

By the letters you showed me, that had pa.s.sed between Mr Adams and you, I perceived he had imbibed an opinion, that Colonel Laurens had, as he expressed it, done more for the United States in the short time of his being in Europe, than all the rest of their Diplomatic Corps put together. I should never have disputed this, because I had rather lend a little credit to a friend, than take any from him, especially when I am persuaded he will make a good use of it; but when his friends will make such suppositious credit a matter of reproach to me, it is not right to continue silent.