Part 25

These officers, moreover, cannot be subjected to any inspection or inquisition with regard to the execution of their public functions, except to that of their own sovereign and his representatives; it does not belong to any one whatsoever to assume in this respect a power and an authority, which would become an attack on the rights of the sovereign of another country, and an injury to its representatives. This would be a violation of the laws common to nations governed by the laws of police, and a manifest infraction of the principles upon which the mutual and necessary communication between friendly nations is founded, and without which the appointment and the residence of the respective public officers would become dangerous and impossible, if in any country whatever these principles were not acknowledged, or if any person pretended, without the consent of a sovereign, to set up for a guardian of his officers, and to censure and condemn their conduct in his name, or under the pretext of his interest. If this usurped power extended even to actions, the scene of which was without the territory of the State; if it were allowable to take the property of a sovereign by force from the place of deposit, notwithstanding the protest of the civil magistrate, and in a foreign State, to which alone it would belong to protest against the violence of its laws; in fine, if after assuming the pretext of taking care of his interests, any one should dare to sentence explicitly or by implication a foreign King to pay a penalty or fines, and if the public officers were represented as enemies of the country, even while they were employed in affairs of the utmost secrecy and of the greatest importance for this very country's own interest, they would then be deprived of the liberty, which every citizen and every other stranger enjoys; while, on the other hand, the terrified citizens would refuse to take part in any affair relating to this power, in order to preserve their reputation and tranquillity. These officers would then be prevented from fulfilling their duties to their master, particularly if the crime of falsehood were publicly imputed to them while their title and quality were called in question, although publicly and authentically acknowledged by all the powers of the country. Such conduct would be a marked insult, and this situation very near to a state of hostilities would tend to destroy all confidence, all commerce, and all correspondence between the two friendly and allied nations; and there would remain only one course to be pursued by the representatives of that which should be injured, and which could not obtain immediate satisfaction; namely, that of seeking an asylum in a country where the respect which a nation owes to an independent, friendly, and allied power, as well as to its representatives, is known, and where, by conforming to the territorial laws, one can rely upon the effectual protection of the sovereign, against every injurious, violent, and arbitrary proceeding.

My duty, Sir, places me under the necessity of offering these remarks to your Excellency and the Executive Council. Having no direct credentials for the Republic of Pennsylvania, I cannot demand reparations from it as a Minister, and I can only address myself to the Congress of the United States, forasmuch as the facts in question have all happened under its sanction and by its authorisation; but my desire to preserve the decency, harmony, and good understanding, which ought to prevail between two allied States, will justify me in earnestly requesting your Excellency and the Executive Council to take immediately into consideration the preceding observations, and without delay to communicate to me your opinion on this subject. An explicit and positive answer is indispensable in this delicate and critical juncture, in order that I may take the measures suitable to the dignity of the King, my master, as well as to the tranquillity and to the honor of his officers of all ranks and denominations, and at all events to enable his Majesty to provide himself for the maintenance of his dignity. Meanwhile I give orders to suspend every proceeding susceptible of new inconveniences, and every operation in the State of Pennsylvania on account of his Most Christian Majesty on the part of his officers, until the rules to which they are to conform shall be known and fixed, and till the public is convinced that the citizens do not expose their honor and their tranquillity, when they treat with the officers of the King, and when they conform to the laws of their States.

GERARD.

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No. 2.

M. HOLKER TO JOSEPH REED, PRESIDENT OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Translation.

Philadelphia, July 24th, 1779.

Sir,

I have the honor of forwarding to your Excellency Mr Dunlap's publication of this day, in which I find, with some degree of surprise, a paragraph levelled at me and my official transactions. I observe that notwithstanding the most explicit and repeated offers I made to you yesterday morning, and through you to the honorable the Supreme Executive Council of this State, of proving that I had not in any shape violated or infringed the laws of Pennsylvania, that I had acted in perfect conformity therewith; notwithstanding I solemnly declared that the flour seized was bought and destined for the sole use of his Majesty's fleet; notwithstanding the many and forcible reasons urged to your Excellency to convince you that more proper and more decent measures might have been pursued, and that the steps I had taken to supply his Majesty's fleet were not only proper, but were dictated by mere necessity; notwithstanding all these circumstances, I am still held up to the public in a suspicious light, and as if I were answerable or accountable for the private and personal transactions of Mr Rumford of Wilmington, transactions totally foreign to me and to the instructions or orders given him by me.

My application to you, Sir, in this respect, seems to have been so far ineffectual, as also your just and pointed representation on this subject, which you were pleased to communicate to me by your letter of this day. I am sorry to remark, that though I have acted in concert with his Excellency, our Minister Plenipotentiary, that Congress has always been apprised of the purchases made by my orders; though all the provisions purchased and delivered into the hands of my agents have been at all times at the disposal of Congress in consequence of express stipulations; though I have given with pleasure the widest room for inquiry into the grounds of all suspicions, in order that a thorough investigation might establish public tranquillity and public confidence, which I had the greatest reason to expect, because it is evident, even by the publications, that not a single suspicion was founded on solid ground, but merely on surmise; still his Majesty's representative in this Commonwealth, his Agent General in all the ports of the United States, acknowledged as such by Congress, by yourself, and the board at which you preside, specially charged, in conjunction with the Minister Plenipotentiary, with procuring the necessary supplies for his Majesty's squadron, expressly fitted out for the defence of these States against the common enemy, and for the protection of his dominions in America, acting in the strict line of his office and duty, is most wantonly traduced to the public, branded with the most injurious and unfair imputations in the newspapers published in this very city, where these facts and my public character are most notorious, under your eyes, with your knowledge, and in contradiction to your personal advice and disapprobation.

I need not expatiate on the evil consequences, that may arise from such illiberal aggression. I need not claim your interposition. But the reasons I gave you yesterday, becoming every instant more forcible and more pressing, it is necessary that I demand the most immediate exertions of government on this occasion.

It is with the utmost reluctance I sit down to appeal in this solemn manner to the Executive power of Pennsylvania for justice, lest my request may be construed an opposition to the respectable motives of the informers on my conduct; but I am accountable to my royal master for my actions, and obliged to exact that respect due to his representative in this State, and to support the dignity of the character with which he has been pleased to invest me. Therefore, it is in compliance with my duty, that I submit these facts and the repeated insults I meet with, to the reflections of your Excellency and Council, relying fully on your sense of propriety, and on your exertions on this occasion, as in all others, where I have applied for redress.[26]

I remain with respect, your Excellency's most obedient and humble servant.

HOLKER.

FOOTNOTE:

[26] The publications relative to these complaints are found in the Pennsylvania Packet of Saturday, July 24th, 1779.

* * * * *

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Translation.

Philadelphia, July 28th, 1779.

Sir,

The Minister Plenipotentiary of France thinking it necessary to lay before Congress all the information relative to the affair of the flour from Wilmington, has the honor to annex the copy of a letter, which the President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania has written to M. Holker, as well as of the three pieces, which were annexed to this letter, and of which this Consul has informed the said President that he retained a copy.

The undersigned Minister must at the same time have the honor to represent to Congress, that he is informed that there will be a new meeting of the city on Monday morning, and that the critical state of affairs seems to require, that it should be seen fit, before this time, to take some effectual measures conformable to the petition and to the request, which he has had the honor to address to Congress. Otherwise the undersigned, and the other officers of the King, would have no protection and no security against the effects of the unjust, injurious and violent principles and proceedings, of which the said Minister has complained; and he would be compelled to leave Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in order to seek an asylum in another State, where liberty and protection could be secured to him, till he could receive the orders of the King, his master.

GERARD.

* * *

_Copies of the Papers enclosed in the above Letter._

No 1.

JOSEPH REED TO M. HOLKER.

Philadelphia, July 24th, 1779.

Sir,

After the visit you favored me with yesterday, and in consideration of the point on which we conversed, I wrote the letter enclosed, and about six o'clock the answer, also enclosed, was delivered me. I informed the gentlemen, two of the committee, that I had seen you that morning, that you conceived yourself able to remove the imputations conveyed in their representations, and had requested the Council to point out the parts of your conduct, on which doubts might arise. The gentlemen promised me they would inform the other gentlemen of what I had represented; and also that I still thought there would be an impropriety in making the publication in the present circumstances. I observe this morning, that the gentlemen have been of a different opinion, doubtless deeming themselves under a public obligation to communicate the transaction to the world without delay.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOSEPH REED.

_P. S._ Not having any copies of the enclosed, I must beg you to return them after perusal.

No. 2.

In Council, Philadelphia, July 23d, 1779.

A paper, dated in committee, and signed William Henry, chairman, in answer to the reference made by this Board on the 14th instant, having been read,

Ordered, that the Secretary do write to the said Mr Henry to inform him, that the papers alluded to in said answer did not accompany it, and to desire that they may be forwarded as soon as convenient.

The President having informed this Board, that M. Holker had conferred with him on the above representation, and showed a copy thereof received by him (M. Holker) from the committee, and requested that this Board would point out such parts thereof as may appear to convey any imputations upon him, or distrust of his faithful performance of his duty as a public officer,

Ordered, that the said paper be further considered tomorrow, that a proper answer may be given to the said request.

Extract from the minutes,

JAMES TRIMBLE, _for_ T. MATLACK, _Secretary_.

No. 3.

JOSEPH REED TO WILLIAM HENRY, CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE.

Walnut Street, July 23d, 1779.

Sir,

I received this morning the report of the committee on the affairs of M. Holker, which by a particular accident I was prevented from laying before the Council this morning. I observe it is proposed to publish it, but I presume this does not mean an immediate publication, as there will be an indelicacy and violation of usual forms to do this, until a return has been officially made thereupon by us to Congress, through whom the matter came to us. In all cases of petitions or other papers, to be presented to any public body, I take it to be a standing rule, that the matter shall be first communicated to them, before it is published to the world. As I observe you have sent a copy to M. Holker, I presume it is intended thereby to give him an opportunity to explain, deny, or admit, such a part of it as he may think proper to do. A publication will in some measure debar him from this, whereas at a future day, if the publication is still thought necessary, the whole may be given together; at all events, it will be the duty of the Council to make some report to Congress, in which this narration will appear. As to the flour itself, perhaps there may be no inconvenience in letting it remain a few days in its present condition. My earnest wish is, that this business may be conducted without fear, favor, or partiality, to the real interests of the community, all first suspicions converted into solid proof, and those of a contrary kind effectually banished.

The good sense of the gentlemen to whom I address myself will, I am persuaded, make the necessary and present distinction between persons acting in a public capacity and character, especially of another nation, and our own citizens, who are to stand or fall by their own laws, and the estimation of their countrymen.

I am, Gentlemen, &c.

JOSEPH REED.

No. 4.

WILLIAM HENRY TO JOSEPH REED.

Friday Afternoon, 5 o'clock, Committee Room.

Sir,

We had the honor of your favor of this morning, and beg leave to observe in answer thereto, that Mr Morris having already published an account of the flour, both in behalf of himself and M. Holker, as may be judged by his publishing M. Holker's letters, and that publication being prior to any report from the Council to Congress, we conceive there can be no impropriety in our now taking the matter publicly up. Besides which, we apprehend ourselves laid under an immediate necessity to give satisfaction to our fellow citizens on the subject, and to publish our proceedings for the previous consideration of the meeting on Monday.

M. Holker, we conceive, ought in justice to himself to have appealed to the Council agreeably to the resolution of Congress, which he has not done. We have deferred the matter to the last moment, and cannot now, without exposing the reputation of the committee, defer it longer.

Your Excellency is sensible that nothing but the most pressing necessity could induce us to depart from the advice you are pleased to give, and we request you to accept the reasons we have assigned as an apology for so doing.

By order of the committee.

I have the honor to be your Excellency's most obedient, humble servant,

WILLIAM HENRY, _Chairman_.

* * *

All the above memorials, letters, and papers received from the Minister this day, were referred to a committee of five, namely, Mr Huntington, Mr Laurens, Mr Smith, Mr Morris, and Mr Kean, who were instructed to confer with the President and the Supreme Executive Council of the State of Pennsylvania and with the Minister and Consul of France, and to prepare and report a state of facts, together with their opinion of the measures proper for Congress to adopt thereupon.

* * * * *

M. HOLKER TO M. GERARD.

Translation.

Philadelphia, July 29th, 1779.

Sir,

I have the honor to send you the several annexed certificates, which have been sent to me by Mr Rumford of Wilmington. As these papers have a direct relation to the conduct of Mr Rumford, and to the seizure made of the flour bought by him for the King's squadron, and as they may give room for fuller information, as well with regard to my transactions as to that of this commissary, or of every one else, in relation to the said flour seized, I think it my duty to request you to transmit them as soon as possible to Congress, informing that body that I have sent duplicates of them to the Council of the State of Pennsylvania. I hope that there will be found in them proofs of the desire, which has always animated me to conform in everything to the resolutions or recommendations of Congress, as well as to dispel all the doubts or suspicions which insinuations, assertions, or publications could have shed upon me. I dare even flatter myself, that I shall at last receive the satisfactory testimonial, to which my conduct, my transactions, public or private, in everything that can concern the United States of America, seem to entitle me on the part of Congress.

I am, Sir, respectfully, your obedient humble servant,

HOLKER.

* * * * *

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Translation.

Philadelphia, July 30th, 1779.

Sir,

Mr Rumford has sent to the Consul of the King some new documents, which throw great light on the affair of the flour from Wilmington. I have the honor to forward them to you, in the hope that you will be pleased to lay them before Congress, as well as the letter of M. Holker, which accompanies them.

I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, Sir, your most humble and obedient servant,

GERARD.

* * * * *

In Congress, July 30th, 1779.

The above papers were referred to the committee of five, before mentioned, who on the 2d of August delivered in a report, whereupon Congress came to the following resolutions;

Resolved, That the Minister of France be assured, that Congress will at all times afford every countenance and protection to the Consuls and other servants of his Most Christian Majesty, with the powers and authorities to them delegated by their constituents.

That the several appointments of Consuls made, and which may hereafter be made and approved by Congress, be duly registered in the Secretary's office, and properly notified by the President to the Executive authorities of the respective States in whose ports such Consuls may reside.

That the measures taken by M. Holker to procure flour for the fleet of his Most Christian Majesty in the way of commerce, have from time to time been made known unto, and been fully approved by Congress; that the several proceedings and publications complained of by the Minister on that subject are very injurious to the servants of his said Majesty, and that Congress do highly disapprove of the same.

That the President and Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania be informed, that any prosecutions which it may be expedient to direct for such matters and things in the said publications or transactions, as may be against the laws of nations, shall be carried on at the expense of the United States.

That the Minister of France be informed that the President and Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania have taken proper measures to restore the flour taken from the agents of M. Holker.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT OF PENNSYLVANIA TO M. GERARD.

In Council, Philadelphia, July 31st, 1779.

Sir,

I have now the honor of addressing you in answer to the representation you were pleased to make to this Board on the 24th instant. When, to every principle of public affection, policy, and justice, there is added our experience of your personal friendship to America, and your attachment and engaging deportment to the citizens of Pennsylvania of every rank, all professions on our part to make your residence in the State happy, easy, and honorable, must be unnecessary. It is not easy, therefore, for us to find language to express our concern at any transaction which may disturb your repose, and interrupt the exercise of those functions discharged with so much honor to yourself and satisfaction to those, who are called to take any part in public affairs.

In some communications which the Honorable Congress have been pleased to make to us, we also see, with great concern, that apprehensions are expressed, the reality of which we should deplore as an evil of the first magnitude. Be assured, Sir, that the citizens of Philadelphia, and of Pennsylvania, cannot entertain sentiments so unworthy; but if there are any so lost to every sense of propriety, decency, and order, the authority of the State has power equal to its inclination to check and suppress so licentious and wicked a procedure.

We entreat you, therefore, to dismiss every idea so painful and so dishonorable to us as that of personal insult, and repose confidence in us when we confirm to you our assurances of the affection, respect, and esteem of our constituents. And if there are any persons, who presume to insinuate dangers of outrages, as suggested in your representations, we most earnestly request you to consider them either as ignorant of the real sentiments of those of whom they speak, or as acting from less honorable motives.

I have now the honor of acquainting you, that upon the requisition of this Board, the flour in question, and which has given rise to this unhappy discussion, is delivered up to this Board, and that it is ready to be put into the disposal of M. Holker, or any person he may direct, for the purposes of its original destination, without any condition or restriction, a measure, which we hope both as to you and himself, will be considered as a relinquishment of those terms, which form a ground of your complaint. Our desire to make the most early and explicit avowal of our sentiments and intentions has induced us to make this communication, at the same time all other business being laid aside, we are considering the papers which touch the character of M. Holker, upon which we shall, without delay, address ourselves to the Honorable Congress of the United States, through whom those communications have been made to us, and we trust it will fully appear, that a veneration for the Prince, whose servant he is, respect to your interposition, justice to him, and a due regard to the rights and interests of this State, have influenced our determination.

We observe all the papers respecting this transaction have been transmitted to you, except a resolution of this Board passed on the 14th instant, which, probably, by some accident has been omitted. I have now the honor of enclosing it, that every proceeding may be fully before you.

Signed in and by order of Council.

JOSEPH REED, _President_.

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_In Congress._ On the 4th of August the committee to whom was referred the Memorial of the Minister, relative to the ship Mary and Elizabeth's cargo, delivered in a report, whereupon,

Resolved, That Congress do not entertain any suspicion, that M. Holker, agent of the marine of his Most Christian Majesty, had any participation in, or knowledge of, the shipping of provisions on private account on board vessels despatched in the name of his Most Christian Majesty.