Chapter 2

circumstances of my return, my reception, and the delays I have since met with, are reviewed, I think my case will be found peculiar.

Permit me then to repeat, that my services have been in two departments, political and commercial; every thing respecting the first is already well known, the closing of the accounts will demonstrate what the latter has been; on the first, Congress is now able to judge; justice to the public, as well as to myself, calls for their determination. If there are charges against me in either of the characters I have supported, I must consider myself entitled to know what they are, and to be permitted to answer.

I cannot close this letter without complaining to Congress of the abuse I have met with in the public papers from a writer, who was lately their confidential servant, and who has abused their confidence to deceive and impose on the free citizens of these States, and to injure me in the public opinion; also of the partial and injurious manner in which I have been treated by others who, deeply interested by family and other connexions to support my enemies, represent my conduct and the letters written by the commissioners and myself, as inconsistent and contradictory, whilst I remain deprived of any opportunity to explain them. My utmost ambition and wishes have ever been to serve these States, and to merit the title of their faithful and approved servant; nothing can deprive me of the consciousness of having served faithfully and with integrity. If my country have no further service for me, my first object as well as my duty must be to justify my conduct, and to rescue my reputation and character from the injury and abuse of wicked men, and to do this I again ask of Congress, what I consider as my right, their decision on my conduct as their servant; and if any part thereof is questioned, I may be permitted to explain and vindicate the same, which I have often said and again repeat, the settlement of the commissioners' accounts will enable me to do, even to mathematical demonstration. Any further delay in my case must have all the consequences of a refusal, and as I have ever relied with confidence on the justice of Congress, and long waited their decision, I flatter myself it will no longer be postponed. I shall leave Philadelphia in the course of this week on my private affairs, and wish to do it as early as possible.

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

SILAS DEANE.

FOOTNOTES:

[21] On the 5th of December Mr Deane published an article in the Pennsylvania Gazette, containing remarks on his transactions in Europe, and vindicating himself from certain charges in Mr Arthur Lee's letters to Congress.

* * * * *

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Philadelphia, 27th April, 1779.

Sir,

I heard yesterday, by accident, that an honorable gentleman in Congress had made a calculation from the general account, which I gave in my narrative of the price of the clothes purchased in France, and that given by M. Holker, in a memorial of his, and had drawn consequences very injurious to me therefrom. In my narrative I informed Congress that the clothes cost 32s. or 33s. sterling complete, delivered on board. This was nearly the average price, and of that, and not of the particular, I spoke. 32s. sterling is equal to 36 livres, 11 sols, 5 deniers. The clothes bought of Messrs Sabbatier and Desprez cost 36 livres nearest, delivered on board; those of Mons. Monthieu a few sols more; those by Mr Williams, the same, nearly as I recollect; and about a thousand suits of M. Coder, of a different fashion, more than 40 livres each. I have before related to Congress, that Mr Lee himself approved of these purchases, having been present at the contracting for a part of them, those of M. Coder in particular, and had signed the settlement of the accounts, and orders or draughts for the money.

Surprised at the calculation made, and the injurious inferences drawn therefrom, I wrote to M. Holker the enclosed letter, and received his answer thereto, a copy of which I take the liberty of enclosing. 37 livres being equal to 32s. 4-1/2d. sterling, it is evident that the calculation made is wrong, even if I had fixed the price positively at 32s. or 33s. sterling.

I will not trouble Congress at present with any further observations on the subject,

But am, with much respect, &c.

SILAS DEANE.

* * * * *

TO M. HOLKER.

Philadelphia, 26th April, 1779.

Sir,

I was this day surprised to hear, that in a memorial you had presented to Congress, you had said that the suits of clothes furnished by Messrs Sabbatier and Desprez, ought not to cost (or did not cost) more than 32 or 34 livres each, delivered in the ports of France. Permit me to remind you, that these clothes were transported from Paris, and the other places where they were made up, to the sea ports, at the expense of the commissioners; that they cost something more than 34 livres, exclusive of the transportation, as I am positive the accounts themselves will show. I must therefore presume, if my information is right, that you may be under some mistake as to this matter, and therefore pray you, if you have the copies of these accounts, that you will turn to them, which must convince you of it, or the error is with me, for, as I recollect, these suits of clothes cost, when delivered on board, nearest 36 livres on an average, and those purchased from Mons. Monthieu, a trifle more, and those from M. Coder, which were of a different fashion, considerably more; this occasioned my saying generally, in my narrative to Congress, that the suits cost 32s. or 33s. sterling, of which difference in our accounts advantage has been taken against me, though I spoke generally, referring to the accounts and contracts themselves to correct me if I erred. You will therefore oblige me by explaining the above, if you have the account, or if you recollect the circumstances of that transaction.

I have the honor to be, with much respect,

SILAS DEANE.

* * * * *

M. HOLKER'S ANSWER.

Philadelphia, 26th April, 1779.

Sir,

I have this moment received your favor of this date. In my memorial to Congress, I said that each complete suit ought not to cost more than 33 or 34 livres (not 32 or 34) delivered in the sea ports. I spoke totally from memory, and believe I have made a mistake, by taking the price in Paris, or Montpellier, for the price at which they would stand at the sea ports. Admitting my error, they would cost no more than 36 or 37 livres the suit, according to the best calculation I can make from memory.

I have the honor to remain, most sincerely, &c.

HOLKER.

* * * * *

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Philadelphia, 30th April, 1779.

Sir,

In my letter of Monday last, I mentioned my intention to leave town in the course of the week. I am now waiting for no other purpose, but to know if Congress will take notice of the requests I have so often troubled them with. The circumstances under which I left France, in obedience to their orders, and with a view of promoting their service in the greatest and most essential manner (it is well known) rendered it impossible to have the accounts of the commissioners and my own, connected immediately with theirs, settled and closed, so that the vouchers could be procured and brought out with me. But a few days past between the knowledge of my recall, and of my actual setting out on my return.

One condition of sending out the Toulon fleet, and of my embarking in it was, that the most profound secrecy should be observed, and the greatest despatch made. The king's ministers did not think fit to communicate this secret to my colleague, Mr Lee, nor did they leave me at liberty to do it; I had as little grounds for confidence in that gentleman, as the ministers had, and it is evident from their letters and declarations that they never had any. Yet such is my peculiar situation, that I find myself blamed and censured by many in Congress as well as out, for not having performed an impossibility, and am represented as a defaulter, and as having misapplied or embezzled the public monies, at once to prevent my future usefulness to my country, and to the ruin of my private fortune and character. Thus situated, I can but appeal once more to the justice of Congress, and remind them that I brought with me and delivered them, it is now more than seven months since, an account from under the banker's hands, of all the monies received and paid out by him, and to whom paid; that in my letter of the 12th of October, I explained to Congress for what purposes those payments were made, and in my answers to Mr Lee's objections to these contracts, that I proved him to have been acquainted with them, and that he signed himself the orders for the money, for the greater part of them. I am informed, by several honorable gentlemen in Congress, that many of the members, from their absence at the time, or from their taking their seats since the delivering in of that account and my letter of the 12th of October, are to this moment uninformed of either. This obliges me to refer to them at this time, and though I have not the vouchers to support every article, yet I will cheerfully put my reputation as a merchant, as an honest man, and as a frugal servant of the public, on the examination of those accounts, the circumstances under which they were taken, at the same time to be considered.

That account commences in February, 1777, and ends the 27th day of March, 1778, three days before my leaving Paris. It will show, that the whole amount of the monies received by the commissioners, was 3,753,250 livres, and their expenditures 4,046,988 livres, 7 sols, and by the general state of the account delivered the 12th of October, it appears for what those expenditures were made. After deducting the sums paid, for large contracts for supplies, &c. which are particularised, there will be left 219,250 livres, 1 sol, 11 deniers, equal to L9644. 8. 7-1/2 sterling, for the commissioners' expenses, for almost fifteen months, and for small purchases, and for a variety of services not possible to be particularised, without the accounts at large. I might with safety rest this whole sum on the score of the commissioners' expenses for this space of time, and support it on Mr Lee's letter to Congress, in which he says, that Mr Adams and himself were fully convinced, that they could not live at Paris under L3000 sterling, (or about 70,000 livres) each annually. Had the commissioners expended at that rate, from February, 1777, to March, 1778, the whole of the sum would be no more than a sufficiency to supply their expenses; but this was not the case. The commissioners, in the whole, received out of it the sum of 115,480 livres, 5 sols, 6 deniers, for their expenses and private disbursements, as will appear by the account enclosed; of this, Dr Franklin received 27,841 livres, Mr Lee 52,039 livres, 5 sols, 9 deniers, and myself 35,600 livres. It is true, at the same time, that Mr Lee had in his hands the whole of the money received from Spain, which he disposed of without the interference of the other commissioners.

I appeal to the honorable gentlemen in Congress, then present, and perfectly well acquainted with our mode and style of living, to inform Congress on which of the commissioners the greatest expense of providing for and entertaining the Americans, who visited them at Paris, or who escaped from prison in England, and applied for relief, fell. I lay this general state before Congress, to convince them how very far I was from being prodigal of the public monies, and that the accounts delivered, general as they are, are sufficient to exculpate me from every charge of peculation or extravagance. My future reputation and fortune depend much on my mercantile character in these transactions, and I rely on the justice of Congress to prevent its being any longer undeservedly sported with, vilified and abused.

Under the load of calumny and abuse I have for some months sustained, I have had this consolation, that the services I had rendered my country had been long since sensibly felt by her, and that they would one day be acknowledged, but when returning to the character of a private citizen in the mercantile line, I cannot sit down easy under imputations injurious to my private character.

I have long since requested to have these accounts examined into, on the spot, where only a full and minute investigation can be made, and that they should be settled as justice required. I now repeat my request, and that previous thereto, the accounts laid before Congress be examined, from which alone it will appear, if there be any ground even for suspicion, and that I may be permitted to obviate, if in my power here, any objections that may be made. The mode in which the monies were received for the commissioners' use at Paris, the source from whence they came, with other circumstances relative, are such that I have not thought it consistent with the interest, the policy, or even the delicacy of Congress, or others, to lay the case at large before my countrymen, though I found myself injured in their opinion, by the abuse constantly thrown out against me in the papers, and from my silence on the subject. I have ever been, and still remain confident, that a general examination of the accounts, even in the state they are, must prove satisfactory to Congress, and that a minute investigation will show me to have merited their approbation, and not their censure. My first duty is, to satisfy Congress, in whose determinations the public will undoubtedly acquiesce, and to them therefore I have constantly made my application on this subject.

I will make no apology for troubling them so long at this time, my situation is, I trust, a sufficient one. I have only to add, that having delayed to leave the town beyond the time I proposed in my last, I hope for an early answer, and have the honor to be, with the utmost respect and attachment, &c.

SILAS DEANE.

_Account of monies paid by Mr Grand, to Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee, for their particular use, and charged by him, as paid immediately to them._

To Benjamin Franklin--

Livres. 14th July, 1777, 4800 0 0 25th September, 4001 0 0 15th November, 8000 0 0 29th December, 2400 0 0 2d March, 3600 0 0 25th " 4800 0 0 ------------ 27,601 0 0 10th March, 240 0 0 ------------ 27,841 0 0

To Silas Deane--

Livres. 1st July, 1777, 2400 0 0 29th August, 4800 0 0 16th September, 4800 0 0 7th October, 2400 0 0 20th November, 2700 0 0 11th December, 2400 0 0 21st December, 2400 0 0 13th January, 4000 0 0 12th February, 2500 0 0 17th March, 4800 0 0 24th " 2400 0 0 ------------ 35,600 0 0

To Arthur Lee--

Livres. August, 2400 0 0 8th October, 4800 0 0 12th November, 2400 0 0 December, 2400 0 0 23d November, 22,519 5 6 23d December, 2400 0 0 January, 720 0 0 11th " 4800 0 0 " 2400 0 0 16th February, 2400 0 0 6th March, 4800 0 0 ------------ 52,039 5 6 35,600 0 0 27,841 0 0 ------------ 115,480 5 6

* * * * *

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Philadelphia, 12th May, 1779.

Sir,

I returned last evening, and now send you the New York papers of the 3d and 5th instant. You will much oblige me, by informing me what resolutions Congress have come to on my letters of the 26th, 27th, and 30th ult. as well as on the petitions I have repeatedly made to them for the settlement of the business, on which I was ordered to return to America. If nothing has been done, I pray to be informed when I may depend on a decisive answer from Congress.

I have the honor to be, with the most sincere respect,

SILAS DEANE.

* * * * *

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Philadelphia, 22d May, 1779.

Sir,

As this will probably be the last time I shall trouble Congress with my addresses to them, I hope to be indulged in briefly laying before them the following observations on my case and situation.

From the moment, that the contest between these States and Great Britain became serious, I have taken and pursued a decided and active part in favor of the liberties of my country, have cheerfully sacrificed my fortune, and exposed my life, for an object much dearer to me than either, the peace, liberty, and safety of these States. The