Part 5

The principle, which the English contend for, has no other foundation but the insular situation of Great Britain, and the convenience of that nation. The principle, which the neutral powers are contending for, is evidently laid in the common good of nations; in the ease, safety, convenience, happiness, and prosperity of mankind in general. But we shall see, whether obstinacy and fierce passions will, at length, give way in one instance. At present there is no appearance of it. On the contrary, I see no way for the English to escape a war with Holland and Russia, Denmark and Sweden, and, perhaps, Portugal, unless they should be interrupted in their career by a war with one another at home.

When, where, or in what manner, we shall see the unravelling of the vast plot, which is acting in the world, is known only to Providence. Although my mind has been full twenty years preparing to expect great scenes, yet I confess the wonders of this Revolution exceed all that I ever foresaw, or imagined. That our country, so young as it is, so humble as it is, thinking but lately so meanly of itself, should thus interest the passions, as well as employ the reason of all mankind, in its favor, and effect in so short a space of time, not only thirteen revolutions of government at home, but so completely accomplish a revolution in the system of Europe, and in the sentiments of every nation in it, is what no human wisdom, perhaps, could foresee.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

* * * * *

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, April 29th, 1780.

Sir,

Walsingham sailed from St Helens the 8th with the Thunderer, the Ramilies, the Berwick, and the Egmont, of seventyfour guns, the Scarborough, of twenty, and the fire-ships, the Blast and the Salamander; only four ships of the line. On the 11th Admiral Graves followed him, with the London, of ninetyeight guns, the Bedford, the Shrewsbury, the Royal Oak, of seventyfour, the Prudent, and the America, of sixtyfour, and the Amphitrite, of twentyfour; these, with the four of Admiral Rodney, make fourteen ships of the line. Admiral Parker, it is said, has not more than nine fit for service, which will make twentythree, supposing that Graves has the same destination. Many people, however, believe he is going to Canada, in order to be beforehand of the fleet of Brest, which the English suppose has designs upon that Province. My intelligence from London is, however, that Graves is intended for the North American station, perhaps New York or Georgia. But the orders to Graves were so suddenly determined on and given, that there has not yet been time to discover with certainty his destination.

The accounts are, that Walsingham returned on account of contrary winds with his numerous fleet of merchant ships to Plymouth; that he sailed again on the 13th, and after sailing twenty leagues, with a good wind, he returned a second time, imagining that he saw a French fleet of men-of-war. The winds have been generally contrary since, and we have not yet a certain account of his sailing a third time.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

* * * * *

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, April 29th, 1780.

Sir,

The principal officers named for the command of the English fleet in the English Channel, are Sir Charles Hardy, Admiral of the White, Commander in Chief; Vice Admiral, Admiral Barrington, of the Blue, second; Vice Admiral Darby, of the Blue, third; and Rear Admiral Digby, of the Blue, fourth.

The next day after the departure of the fleet of Commodore Walsingham, the London, of ninetyeight guns, commanded by Admiral Graves, the Shrewsbury, the Royal Oak, of seventyfour, the America, the Prudent, of sixtyfour, and the Amphitrite, of twentyfour, having set sail from St Helens, and the Resolution as well as the Invincible of seventyfour, intended as part of the squadron, the crews of the two last vessels refused to sail until they should be paid their wages, and have received their shares of the prize of the Protée. The eleventh of the month, the Resolution, Commodore Ogle, set sail to join Admiral Graves, the crew having at length consented to serve, when they saw their ship surrounded by other vessels, ready to fire upon her by order of Lord Longford. The crew of the Invincible had more obstinacy, and Admiral Pye was forced to send on board the Captains Balfour, Duncan, Holt, and Barkner, to persuade them to return to their duty. These officers called up upon deck the mutinous sailors, whom they harangued, and to whom they represented, that the act of Parliament, to regulate the payment of wages on board the men-of-war, did not authorise them to require more than one month's advance. They did not however submit, and the captains having observed, that among them there were, above all, four more remarkably obstinate, sent them to the Admiral, who put them in irons. The next day the Admiral ordered Captain Faulkner to tell his people, that if they would submit, he would restore the four men whom they had arrested. This proposition was not listened to, and it was not until the 14th, that Rear Admiral Graves set sail from St Helens, without this last vessel.

The Admiralty has sent orders to Portsmouth for a court martial upon the most mutinous of the crew of the Invincible, and it is expected, that as examples, some of them must lose their lives.

I have before informed Congress of a resolution of the County of York against the American war. This has been since repeated by the freeholders of the County of Surry, at a meeting held at Epsom the 14th of April. Mr Nicholls, in an able speech, proposed the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted. "That the American war originating from the corrupt influence of the Crown, and the ill founded assertions of the King's Ministers in Parliament, is the cause of the present calamitous situation of this country." This resolution was unanimously adopted. He then recommended a second resolution similar to that of the freeholders of Yorkshire, condemning the continuance of offensive operations in America, which was likewise carried unanimously.

Mr Budgen then moved a third resolution for thanking those members of Parliament, who had uniformly reprobated the American war, which was likewise carried without opposition.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

_P. S._ Since the above was written, I have found a resolution of the County of Hertford, of the 17th of April.

"Resolved unanimously, that the opinion of the present assembly is, that a war against North America is evidently a measure, which, by obliging us to carry all our forces to that quarter, puts us out of a condition to resist with vigor, as we might otherwise do, the united efforts of France and Spain, while the said war produces no other effect upon the Americans than to add to the enmity, which has but too long subsisted between us. An enmity, of which we have felt the fatal effects, and which, by putting an obstacle to our union, threatens England with a ruin as complete as it is inevitable."

* * * * *

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 2d, 1780.

Sir,

On the twentysixth of April the Duc de Vauguyon, Ambassador of His Most Christian Majesty to the States-General, presented a Memorial to their High Mightinesses, announcing the abolition of the duty of fifteen per cent, to which the greatest part of Dutch merchandises had been subject on their entering into France, as well as the resolution of the Council of State, taken upon this subject. The following are the contents of the Memoir and the Resolution.

"High and Mighty Lords,

"The political system of the King is essentially founded upon the invariable principles of justice and moderation. His Majesty has given the most unequivocal proofs of it from the beginning of the troubles, which have arisen between him and the King of England, in pre-engaging all the neutral powers, by the display of a disposition the most favorable to their prosperity, and by proposing to them no other conditions than those of the most absolute impartiality. His Majesty saw himself, with the most sincere regret, obliged not to acknowledge this character in the resolution of the States-General, of the 19th of November, 1778, by which your High Mightinesses suspended the effects of your protection, relative to one branch of commerce, the liberty of which was assured to you by the public laws of equity, and the most precise stipulations of treaties. The King then instructed me to announce to your High Mightinesses, that if you determined thus to make the sacrifice of one part of your rights to his enemies, his Majesty could not preserve to your subjects the advantages conditionally promised by his last regulation, nor the ancient favors, which their commerce enjoyed in his States, and which are not the result of any treaty, but of a hereditary benevolence and affection. Your High Mightinesses assured his Majesty with earnestness, that you were decided to observe the most exact neutrality during the continuance of the troubles between France and England. But if you announced, that the act, which suspended the effects of the efficacious protection of the Republic in favor of ships loaded with ship timber, ought to be regarded as in force until it should be afterwards confirmed, you declared at the same time, that all discussion upon this matter ought to be suspended, until after the deliberations which were to ascertain the convoys.

"His Majesty not perceiving in this new disposition, any real alteration of intention, thought that he could not avoid setting bounds to the advantages granted in the different parts of his kingdom to the Dutch commerce, whilst your High Mightinesses continued to suspend, in favor of the enemies of his Crown, the exercise of the rights the most solidly established; but he was pleased to preserve them to the different members of the Republic in proportion as they adopted a system, which at the same time that it is conformable to his views is essentially just. He has applauded the remonstrances of your High Mightinesses to the Court of London, and the efforts which you have made to recover the means of restoring to the flag of the United Provinces its ancient consideration, as well as the positive order, which you have given to a squadron, to hold itself ready to convoy and protect all vessels loaded with objects not comprehended among merchandises of contraband, from the time that unlimited convoys should be resolved on, and he has constantly desired, that your High Mightinesses would cease to lay obstacles in the way of the testimonies of his affection, by attaching yourselves entirely to the fundamental principles of your interest, informed of your definitive intentions, in this regard, and assured of the explanation, which your High Mightinesses are determined to make of their neutrality, by granting an efficacious and indefinite protection to the commerce and navigation of your subjects. His Majesty has heard with pleasure the several representations, which several members of the Union, and especially the Prince, who is at the head of the Republic, have made to him relative to the restraints, which the commerce of different Provinces experiences in the ports of his kingdom, and his Majesty has ordered me to declare to your High Mightinesses, that he has revoked by a decree of his Council, of the 22d of April, 1780, an authentic copy of which I have the honor to present, those of the 14th of January, the 27th of April, the 5th of June, and the 18th of September, 1779, but he would not confine himself to re-establish thus the subjects of your High Mightinesses, in the enjoyment of favors, which they experienced before the publication of those new laws; in all the advantages conditionally promised by his regulation, concerning the commerce and navigation of neuters, he would give them a signal proof of his benevolence, and he orders me to declare to your High Mightinesses, that he has ordered the return of all the sums received by the overseers of his Farms, in virtue of the said decrees, he flatters himself, that testimonies so important of his affection, will convince your High Mightinesses, not only that he takes an interest the most sincere in the prosperity of the United Provinces, but also that justice, moderation and beneficence form the essential and invariable basis of his conduct and of his proceedings."

Decree of the King's Council of State of the 22d of April, mentioned in the foregoing Memorial.

"The King, being informed of the dispositions made by the States-General of the United Provinces for complying with the reciprocity required by his regulation of the 26th of July, 1778, concerning the navigation of neutral vessels, and his Majesty, willing in consequence of these same dispositions to give a new proof of his affection to the said United Provinces, is determined to put an end to the restraints, which the commerce of their subjects have experienced in his States, to which end, the report being heard, the King being in his Council, hath ordained, and ordains as follows.

"ARTICLE I. His Majesty has revoked and revokes the decree of his Council of the 14th January, 1779, which subjected to a duty of freight the vessels of the said subjects of the States-General of the United Provinces of the Low Countries; those of the 27th of April and 5th of June, 1779, which establish a new tariff for the objects proceeding from their growth, fishery, manufacture, and commerce, and that of the 18th of September, 1779, which prohibits the entry of the cheeses of North Holland in the kingdom.

"ARTICLE II. His Majesty confirms, in favor of the said subjects of the States-General of the United Provinces of the Low Countries, the advantages conditionally promised by the dispositions of his regulation of the 26th of July, 1778, concerning the navigation of neutral vessels in time of war.

"ARTICLE III. His Majesty, willing to give to the said subjects of the States-General a signal proof of his beneficence, has ordained and ordains a restitution of the sums of money received by the overseers of his Farms, in virtue of the decrees before mentioned.

"Done in the King's Council of State, the 22d of April, 1780."

The news from the Hague of the 26th of April is, "that the deliberations of the different Provinces, which compose the Republic, have been continued these last weeks without interruption, and all the opinions are unanimously agreed upon three important objects, which make the matter of them, viz. First, the succor demanded by Great Britain; secondly, the convoys to be granted to merchant ships; thirdly, the invitation of the Empress of Russia to accede to an armed neutrality. The respective States of the seven Provinces have all been of opinion, first; to excuse themselves from giving the succors demanded. Secondly; to grant convoys to all merchant ships bearing the flag of the Republic, whatever may be their cargoes, without any other exception than that of contraband regulated by treaties. Thirdly; to accept with gratitude the invitation, and to enter upon this subject into negotiation, with the Prince de Gallitzin, Envoy Extraordinary of Her Imperial Majesty.

"We learn, even that the States-General have already taken resolutions conformable to this opinion. The affair of the attack of the convoy, commanded by the Count de Byland, does not less engage the attention of the government of the Republic. The States of the Province of Holland and of West Friesland have already formed upon this subject the instruction, which they have directed their deputies to carry to the Assembly of their High Mightinesses; it tends, in substance, to represent to the Court of London, 'that their High Mightinesses are by no means satisfied with the answer of Lord Stormont, given the 16th of March, to the just representations of their High Mightinesses concerning the violence done to their convoy, inasmuch as this answer only serves to cast upon them, by strained arguments, the blame of that which happened, and to represent, against all truth, their officer as having been the aggressor. That their High Mightinesses, as well to justify themselves in the eyes of all Europe, as to convince, if it is possible, Great Britain, have thought it their duty to represent further, that naval stores not being merchandises of contraband according to the express letter of the treaties, their visitation and detention, made by order, especially under the flag of their High Mightinesses, is a direct attack of their flag, as well as of their independence and sovereignty. That, as to the allegation of the treaty of 1674, made by Lord Stormont, concerning the visit of merchandises suspected, the contrary of what he advances appears in a manner the most evident, by the simple reading of the treaty. That the nature of a convoy rendering all visits unnecessary, the articles fifth and sixth of this treaty confine themselves manifestly to single ships, from which, nevertheless, they cannot in this require more than the exhibition of their sea letters, and with regard to vessels detained for an enemy's port, that of their passports; that thus the conduct of Commodore Fielding, approved by his Majesty, implies an open violation of this treaty; by consequence, neither the orders of their High Mightinesses, nor the act of their officer charged with their execution, having done any injury to the treaties, nor any hostilities having been committed on their part, but Commodore Fielding having employed, for the execution of his orders, the force of arms against the convoy of the Republic, there does not exist the least cause of complaint on the part of his Majesty; but on the part of their High Mightinesses, they have had the most just reason of complaint, and that they ought to insist still (as their High Mightinesses do insist, in the manner the most serious,) upon a satisfaction and a suitable reparation, as well as upon the release, without further form of process, of the merchant ships and their cargoes sailing under the convoy of the Republic, detained by force and violence contrary to the tenor of treaties, and condemned by the Judge of the Court of Admiralty with the same injustice, with which they were attacked by Commodore Fielding, taken, and carried into England. That conformably to these principles, the Count de Welderen shall be charged to give a reply to Lord Stormont, and to support it the most effectually, as often as he shall judge it to be further useful, &c.'

"If, on one side, the desire of the Republic to preserve an exact impartiality in the present troubles of Europe, draws upon her the displeasure of Great Britain, on the other side, she sees an end put to those restraints which France had laid on her commerce.

"The Royal College of the Admiralty of Stockholm, has sent to all the agents and consuls, who reside in foreign countries, an ordinance, by which it is announced to all masters of Swedish ships, that necessary convoys would be given for the protection of the commerce of the subjects of this kingdom."

It is quite unnecessary for me to observe to Congress, that all these political and maritime commotions tend either to peace, or to the full employment of all the forces of our enemy, and, consequently, to our liberty and tranquillity.

The general run of speculations and of conversation throughout Europe is upon peace. It seems the general opinion, that Great Britain will not venture upon so many dangers as lie all around her. I wish I could bring myself to think so, but I confess I cannot as yet. Signal success on the part of the allies might compel them to it; but signal success in favor of the English would urge them giddily on, no one can say to what lengths.

There is a speculative article from Brussels, the 25th of April, that is worth transmitting to Congress. "The news from Holland speaks of nothing but the sensation, which the declaration of Russia has produced. The greatest part of the Provinces, which have already given their opinions upon the Memorials of Sir Joseph Yorke, to excuse themselves from furnishing England with the succors demanded, have been eager to declare, that the proposition of the Court of Russia could not be more advantageous than in the present circumstances, and that it ought to be accepted. The English party is very much disconcerted by this event, which brings forward a new order of things; this party strives to excite a fear, that the difference of the principles established by particular treaties among the neutral powers respectively and the belligerent powers, will form an obstacle to the execution of a plan so salutary, which may serve forever as a rule in this matter. We know, that among the belligerent powers, France has always thought that it was just to leave a freedom of navigation to neutral powers; it is well known, that she has a long time respected this liberty, and that if she has afterwards made regulations, which restrain that of Holland, it was because she has been forced to it, because it was very natural that she should seek to stop the vessels bound to the ports of England, when this nation made no scruple to stop those which were bound to hers. And it is well known, too, that she never took his part until after she had employed the method of representation to determine the Hollanders to protect their own commerce.

Spain appears equally determined to use no more methods of rigor and severity towards the vessels of the Republic. There is only England, who appears to oppose the general wish, and she ought to perceive, that it is her own conduct, which has brought forth the events of which she complains. If she had had more moderation and justice, the project of an armed neutrality would not have taken place.

They write from Holland; "We flatter ourselves, that the armed neutrality may contribute to accelerate peace. It appears hitherto, that it is England alone, which puts an obstacle to it, and it is difficult for her to take her part in it. We doubt not that the independence of America, which perhaps is already tacitly acknowledged by all the Courts of Europe, will be the fundamental basis of an accommodation. England at the same time will be forced to announce a pretended pre-eminence of flag, equally contrary to the laws of nations, and to the first notions of common sense. The general liberty of the seas, the re-establishment of the respective possessions in the State in which there were before hostilities, perhaps the restitution of Gibraltar to its natural masters, and the adoption of the maritime code proposed by Russia, will be most probably the necessary consequences of the peace."

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

* * * * *

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, May 3d, 1780.

Sir,

The substance of a cartel for a general exchange of prisoners, made upon the sea between France and England, has been published; it was signed at Versailles the 12th of March last, by M. le Hor, one of the principal clerks of the office of the Marine, authorised to this purpose by the King, and at London the 28th of the same month, by Messrs John Bell, Walter Farquharson, P. Corbett, and Robert Lulman, Commissioners of the King of England. This treaty, equally useful to the two nations, dictated by sentiments, which do honor to the powers at war, and to humanity, will it is said be distinguished by the true philosophers, who prefer a useful operation to folio volumes, which talk of morals and humanity. The most perfect equality and reciprocity is established.