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The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution novel. A total of 580 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution.Vol. I.by Various.VOL. I.THE CO
The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution.Vol. I.by Various.VOL. I.THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SILAS DEANE, COMMISSIONER FROM THE UNITED STATES TO THE COURT OF FRANCE.Silas Deane was born in the town of Groton, Connecticut, and graduated at Yale
- 101 Mr Oswald has an air of great simplicity and honesty, yet I could hardly take this to be merely a weak confession of their deplorable state, and thought it might be rather intended as a kind of intimidation, by showing us that they had still that resource
- 102 TO RICHARD OSWALD.Pa.s.sy, June 11th, 1782."Sir, "I did intend to have waited on you this morning to inquire after your health, and deliver the enclosed paper relating to the parole of Lord Cornwallis, but being obliged to go to Versailles, I mu
- 103 _Friday, June 28th._ M. de Rayneval called upon me, and acquainted me that the Ministers had received intelligence from England, that besides the orders given to General Carleton to propose terms of reunion to America, artful emissaries were sent over, to
- 104 By the original law of nations, war and extirpation were the punishment of injury. Humanizing by degrees, it admitted slavery instead of death. A further step was, the exchange of prisoners instead of slavery. Another, to respect more the property of priv
- 105 I am ever your affectionate friend, D. HARTLEY.LORD GRANTHAM TO B. FRANKLIN.Whitehall, July 26th, 1782.Sir, As the first object of my wishes is to contribute to the establishment of an honorable and lasting peace, I address myself to you without ceremony,
- 106 TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.Pa.s.sy, August 12th, 1782.Sir, I have lately been honored with your several letters, No. 10, March 9th; No. 11, May 22d; and No. 12, May 30th.The paper, containing a state of the commerce in North America, and explaining the neces
- 107 END OF THE THIRD VOLUME.……
- 108 The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution.Vol. IV.by Various.THE CORRESPONDENCE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.CORRESPONDENCE CONTINUED.COUNT DE VERGENNES TO B. FRANKLIN.Translation.Versailles, August 23d, 1782.Sir, I have received the letter you did
- 109 "4th Article. In case you find the American Commissioners are not at liberty to treat on any terms short of independence, you are to declare to them, that you have authority to make that concession. Our ardent wish for peace, disposing us to purchase
- 110 The commission is pa.s.sing with as much despatch as the forms of office will allow; but I thought it material that no delay should happen, in giving you notice of the determination of his Majesty's Council upon this subject. You will receive the com
- 111 Pa.s.sy, October 14th, 1782.Sir, I have but just received information of this opportunity, and have only time allowed to write a few lines.In my last of the 26th past, I mentioned that the negotiation for peace had been obstructed, by the want of due form
- 112 I know you will start a very obvious objection. But as this can only be removed by your influence where you now are, we rely upon you for the means as well as for the manner of treating. I have not thought it necessary to say anything to Congress on this
- 113 ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO B. FRANKLIN.Philadelphia, November 27th, 1782.Sir, An opportunity offering from this port to write directly to you, I do not choose to hazard anything by the post, which carries this to Boston, particularly as I did not hear till j
- 114 1st. France is to enjoy the right of fis.h.i.+ng and drying on all the west coast of Newfoundland, down to Cape Ray. Miquelon and St Pierre to be restored, and may be fortified.2d. Senegal remains to France, and Goree to be restored. The Gambia entirely t
- 115 Pa.s.sy, December 24th, 1782.Sir, Sundry circ.u.mstances occurring since mine of the 5th and 14th, have hitherto r.e.t.a.r.ded the departure of our despatches. They will now go under the security of a British pa.s.sport, be accompanied by a sum of money,
- 116 TO RICHARD OSWALD.Pa.s.sy, January 14th, 1783.Sir, I am much obliged by your information of your intended trip to England; I heartily wish you a good journey, and a speedy return, and request your kind care of a packet for Mr Hodgson.I enclose two papers,
- 117 JOHN JAY TO B. FRANKLIN.Paris, January 26th, 1783.Sir, It having been suspected, that I concurred in the appointment of your grandson to the place of Secretary to the American commission for peace _at your instance_, I think it right, thus unsolicited, to
- 118 5. That all prosecutions of the loyalists in America be immediately abated, and that they be permitted to remain until twelve months after the definitive treaty, unmolested in their endeavors to obtain rest.i.tution of their estates.6. That all prisoners
- 119 Since, by the preliminary articles of peace, concluded lately between the high belligerent powers, the ill.u.s.trious United States of North America have been acknowledged free, sovereign, and independent, and now since European powers are courting in riv
- 120 I have the honor to offer you every information respecting this port, and flatter myself that I shall succeed therein. I think to depart from this in May or June next for Ma.r.s.eilles, and to leave these barbarian pirates.I have the honor to be, &c.SALVA
- 121 TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.Pa.s.sy, April 27th, 1783.Sir, The Count del Veome, an Italian n.o.bleman of great distinction, does me the honor to be the bearer of this. I have not the satisfaction to be personally acquainted with this gentleman, but am much so
- 122 Nothing has yet been done as to the acceptance of your resignation, nor will, as I believe, anything be done very hastily. Many think your task will not be very burdensome now, and that you may enjoy in peace the fruit of your past labors.As this will pro
- 123 Copenhagen, July 8th, 1783.Sir, It was with the greatest alacrity, that I laid before his Majesty the letter you did me the honor to write to me, as also the project of a treaty of amity and commerce that accompanied it. The King observed, with the greate
- 124 No subject of his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, shall take a commission or letter of marque (to arm any vessel or vessels, for the purpose of acting as a privateer against the said United States, or any of them, or against their subjects, peopl
- 125 GIACOMO FRANCISCO CROCCO._P. S._ I was obliged to call on a friend to write you this letter in English, otherwise I could only do it in the Italian language.G. F. C.TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.Pa.s.sy, July 22d, 1783.Sir, You have complained, sometimes with r
- 126 ARTICLE I.There shall be a firm, inviolable, and universal peace, and a sincere amity between Her Most Faithful Majesty, the Queen of Portugal, her heirs and successors, and the United States of North America, as well with respect to the citizens and subj
- 127 The Apostolical Nuncio has the honor to send Mr Franklin the enclosed note, which he requests he will be pleased to forward to the Congress of the United States of North America, and support it with his credit.July 28th, 1783.NOTE.Before the revolution, w
- 128 I remember, that in a conversation, which M. de Rayneval, the first Secretary of Count de Vergennes, had with you and me, in the summer of 1782, you contended for our full right to the fishery, and argued it on various principles.Your letters to me, when
- 129 [29] Mr Morris was a Secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs.DAVID HARTLEY TO B. FRANKLIN.Bath, September 24th, 1783.My Dear Friend, I am at present at Bath with my dearest sister, whom I have found as well as I could have expected, and I hope with
- 130 Sir, On the 15th of July last, I had the honor to acquaint your Excellency of my arrival in Europe, and that I was appointed by his Majesty, the Emperor of Morocco, bearer of the answer to the Congress, Sovereign of the Thirteen United States of North Ame
- 131 TO ROBERT MORRIS.Pa.s.sy, December 25th, 1783.Sir, The remissness of our people in paying taxes is highly blameable, the unwillingness to pay them is still more so. I see in some resolutions of town meetings, a remonstrance against giving Congress a power
- 132 DAVID HARTLEY.TO DAVID HARTLEY.Pa.s.sy, June 2d, 1784.Sir, I have considered the observations you did me the honor of communicating to me, concerning certain inaccuracies of expression, and supposed defects of formality, in the instrument of ratification,
- 133 They shall have also, and exclusively, the right to inventory, liquidate, and proceed to the sale of the moveable effects of the estates left by subjects of their nation who shall die within the extent of the consulate. They shall proceed therein with the
- 134 DE MERCY ARGENTEAU.COUNT DE VERGENNES TO B. FRANKLIN.Translation.Versailles, August 27th, 1784.Sir, You have communicated to me an extract from the instructions, which Congress addressed to you on the 11th of May last, which imports that the United States
- 135 B. F.TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.Pa.s.sy, February 8th, 1785.Sir, I received by the Marquis de Lafayette the two letters you did me the honor of writing to me the 11th and 14th of December, the one enclosing a letter from Congress to the King, the other
- 136 Translation.Versailles, May 22d, 1785.Sir, I have learnt with much concern of your retiring, and of your approaching departure for America. You cannot doubt but that the regrets, which you will leave, will be proportionate to the consideration you so just
- 137 Sir, I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write on the 28th of this month, touching the advance of a million, which you say was made by the Farmers-General to the United States of America, the 3d of June, 1777. I have no knowledge of
- 138 [34] This matter was not cleared up till 1794, when Gouverneur Morris was American Minister in Paris. By application to the government he procured a copy of the receipt of the person, who received the million of francs on the tenth of June, 1776. It prove
- 139 Dear Sir, With great pleasure to ourselves we discharge our duty, by enclosing to you your commission for representing these United States at the Court of France. We are by no means willing to admit a thought of your declining this important service, and
- 140 _Resolved_, That each of the Ministers Plenipotentiary, be allowed at the rate of two thousand five hundred pounds sterling ($11,111) per annum; and each of their Secretaries at the rate of one thousand pounds sterling ($4,444) per annum, in full for thei
- 141 War is not declared, that is, no manifesto has been published, but each nation is daily manufacturing materials for the other's manifesto, by open hostilities. In short, Sir, the two nations have been at war ever since the recall of the Amba.s.sadors
- 142 I have the honor to be, with the highest respect, &c.JOHN ADAMS.TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.Pa.s.sy, September 7th, 1778.Sir, I have the honor to enclose to Congress all the newspapers I have by me, enough to show that we have nothing very important here
- 143 You will readily acknowledge the impropriety of my entering into the question concerning the duty of the Commissioners here, to have made the communications of the treaty, which you mention. But of this you may be a.s.sured, that I shall at all times hold
- 144 However, I am reckoning without my host, for by the bruits, which Mr Deane's letters have scattered, I may expect, that the first vessel will bring my recall or removal to some other Court. But wherever I am, my heart will ever be anxious for the goo
- 145 Sir, We have received several letters from you, and several certificates from officers and others, respecting your behavior in general, as well as particularly relative to the charge of disobedience of orders, for which you have been confined. It would be
- 146 [44] These letters relate to Silas Deane and Arthur Lee, and may be found in Arthur Lee's Correspondence, Vol. II, pp. 224, 227.TO THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.Pa.s.sy, February 21st, 1779.My dear Marquis, The conversation with which you honored me last
- 147 M. DE LAFAYETTE TO JOHN ADAMS.Translation.St Germain, April 9th, 1779.Dear Sir, I beg leave to apply to you, in an instance where I am much concerned.The case I shall lay before you, and recommend to your care. There is an officer in Paris, whom I wish to
- 148 The merit of the Chevalier de la Luzerne, who was Amba.s.sador in Bavaria during the transaction of this business, and that of M.Marbois, the Secretary to that emba.s.sy, in accomplis.h.i.+ng an affair of such importance, which was rendered peculiarly del
- 149 You will be pleased to make my most respectful compliments to the members of Congress, and believe me, with great esteem, &c.JOHN ADAMS.TO JAMES LOVELL.Braintree, October 17th, 1779.My Dear Sir, What shall I say to your favors of the 27th and 28th of Sept
- 150 Braintree, October 25th, 1779.My Dear Sir, Your favor of the 4th of this month gave me great pleasure, but I am afraid that you and some others of my friends felt more for me in the awkward situation you mention than I did for myself, though I cannot say
- 151 Ferrol, December 8th, 1779.Sir, I have the honor to inform your Excellency, that, Congress having judged it proper to appoint me to a new mission in Europe, I embarked on the 13th of November, at the instance of the Chevalier de la Luzerne and M. Gerard,
- 152 Sir, I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write to me on the 6th of October last.I was well persuaded, that M. de Chavagne[55] would endeavor to procure for you everything in his power to render your pa.s.sage agreeable. This was conf
- 153 When his Majesty's intentions of granting me a pa.s.sage to America were communicated to me, I had little expectation of returning in the same frigate; but the Congress having honored me with a fresh mission to Europe, their Excellencies, the late an
- 154 I therefore beg the favor of you to inform me of the exact truth in all these matters, that I may take the earliest opportunity of transmitting the intelligence to Congress, where it is of importance it should be known.I was much mortified when I was at V
- 155 Since my arrival in Europe, I have had the mortification to see in the public papers a series of little successes, which our enemies have had in the prosecution of the war. The first was a very exaggerated account in the English Court Gazette, of their su
- 156 With regard to your instructions, Sir, I am satisfied that they have for their certain and invariable basis, the treaties subsisting between the King and the United States. M. Gerard has a.s.sured the King of it, in the most positive manner, and his Majes
- 157 There is so great a curiosity through all Europe to see our new const.i.tutions, and those already published in the languages of Europe have done us so much honor, that I thought I should be excusable in making a direct request to Congress for their a.s.s
- 158 TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.Paris, March 8th, 1780.Sir, I have the honor to enclose to Congress the gazettes of France, of the Hague, and Amsterdam, of the 1st, 3d, and 4th of this month. They contain all the news, which makes the subject of conversation
- 159 TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.Paris, March 14th, 1780.Sir, By a letter from London of the 3d of this month, received since my former of this day's date, I learn that the friends of the Ministry were in hopes every hour to hear that Clinton, who embark
- 160 The other paragraph discovers the marks of more ingenuity and less truth. It is taken from the English papers, that Captain Jarvis, in the Foudroyant of eighty guns, who has been out upon a cruise, with a small division in the mouth of the Channel, has re
- 161 TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.Paris, March 24th, 1780.Sir, Mr Burke's bill not being as yet public, we are not yet informed of the items of it. But as it already appears, that it strikes at the Department of Secretary of State for America, and at the
- 162 COUNT DE VERGENNES TO JOHN ADAMS.Translation.Versailles, March 30th, 1780.Sir, I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write on the 21st instant. I remember very well to have said to you, that your presentation should be inserted in the
- 163 TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.Paris, April 3d, 1780.Sir, The Prince of Orange, Stadtholder, is not only supposed to have ambitious views of allying his family to that of Great Britain, but is very much influenced by the Duke of Brunswick, who is a field ma
- 164 JOHN ADAMS.TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.Paris, April 4th, 1780.Sir, There is an anecdote from Malaga, which ought to be mentioned to Congress, because, it cannot fail to have serious consequences.The Swedish frigate, the Illerim, of thirtyfour guns, comma
- 165 TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL, SECRETARY OF THE AMERICAN EMBa.s.sY AT MADRID.Paris, April 8th, 1780.Sir, I have this moment the honor of your letter from Madrid of the 29th of February, as I suppose, although the month is not mentioned. I thank you, Sir, for comm
- 166 Sir, The _Memoire_ of the Prince Gallitzen, Envoy Extraordinary from the Empress of all the Russias to the States-General, presented the third of this month, is of too much importance to the United States of America, and their allies, to be omitted to be
- 167 3dly. To the proposition for the members of the House of Commons to be elected, to serve in Parliament for a term not exceeding three years.But the most important resolution of all was also unanimous, "That it is the opinion of this meeting, that the
- 168 JOHN ADAMS. TO M. DE SARTINE. Paris, April 16th, 1780. Sir, I have received the two letters, which your Excellency did me the honor to write to me, on the 5th and on the 12th of this month. I do not mean to give your Excellency the trouble of answering th
- 169 The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution.Vol. V.by Various.THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN ADAMS.CORRESPONDENCE CONTINUED.TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.Paris, April 17th, 1780.Sir, Late letters from Dantzic imply, that commerce was become very l
- 170 "n.o.ble and Mighty Lords, "In compliance with the resolution of your n.o.ble Mightinesses of the 31st of March last, in consequence of which was presented into the hands of the Committee of your n.o.ble Mightinesses, the Report presented the 17
- 171 "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, w
- 172 _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 auth
- 173 JOHN ADAMS._P. S._ There is an article in the Amsterdam Gazette of the 2d of May, taken from the Hague of the 30th of April, that "Mr Faucet, General in the service of the King of England, has set off from his residence, and we learn from Dort, that
- 174 The French armament, which sailed from Brest the 2d of May, under the command of M. de Rochambeau, of the troops, and M. de Ternay, of the fleet, and the armament from Cadiz, of twelve s.h.i.+ps of the line, besides frigates and other armed vessels, with
- 175 TO JOHN JAY.Paris, May 13th, 1780.Dear Sir, I had two days ago the pleasure of yours of the 26th of April, and am very happy to have at last received from your hand an account of your safe arrival in Madrid.The Count de Florida Blanca is allowed to be a m
- 176 TO M. GENET, AT VERSAILLES.Paris, May 17th, 1780.Sir, General Conway, in his speech in the House of Commons, on the 6th of May, affirms, that the alliance between France and the United States is not natural. Whether it is or not, is no doubt a great quest
- 177 Mr Eden followed Lord Nugent in the debate, and indulged himself in sporting with the flowers of rhetoric, and pleasantries of wit, without many solid observations that deserve notice. It may not be improper to remark two or three things however. "In
- 178 TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.Paris, May 26th, 1780.Sir, At a numerous a.s.sembly of gentlemen of the law in Dublin, held the 30th of April, Captain Henry Hewart in the chair, after having collected the votes, Henry Grattan was unanimously admitted an hono
- 179 Vengeance, Com. Hotham, Capt. Holloway, 74 617 Medway, Capt. Affleck, 60 420 Montague, Houlton, 74 600 Conqueror, R. A. Rowley, Watson, 74 617 Intrepid, St John, 64 500 Magnificent, Elphinstone, 74 600 Andromeda frigate. Centurion to a.s.sist the rear in
- 180 "Aranjuez, the 18th of April, 1780.DE FLORIDA BLANCA."There are two articles worth translating from the foreign gazettes, if it were only as specimens of the art, which is employed to keep the enemy in uncertainty about the designs of this Court
- 181 _Leyden, 30th of May, 1780._ "The convoy of troops, which has arrived so apropos, at Barbadoes, and from thence to St Lucia, at the very instant that the Count de Guichen conducted to the Antilles a considerable reinforcement for the French troops, i
- 182 After this report, the States-General have resolved, the 13th of May, "that advice of these facts should be sent to the Count de Welderen, Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of their High Mightinesses at the British Court, by sending him copies
- 183 Here Congress will see the extreme ignorance or deception of the writer, in affirming, that the "far greater part of the people wish and hope for a union with Great Britain, and are ready to unite in reducing," &c. But notwithstanding the bad fa
- 184 "It has also been a.s.serted, that America will be led from motives of interest, to give the preference in trade to this country, because we can supply her with manufactures cheaper than she can raise them or purchase them from others."But a com
- 185 I think there can be little need of ill.u.s.tration; but two or three examples may make my meaning more obvious. A farmer has now four thousand dollars for a pair of oxen, which he sells to a commissary to subsist the army. When the money was issued in 17
- 186 The disputes about the Alliance, have been so critical and disagreeable, that Congress will pardon me for making a few observations upon our arrangements here.I apprehend, that many of the disputes, delays, and other inconveniences, that have attended our
- 187 Ardent, 64 D'Orvilliers, Experiment, 50 D'Estaing, Minerva, 32 Montreal, 32 Le Bourgoyne, Fox, 28 La Junon, Active, 28 Ariel, 20 D'Estaing, Lively, 20 D'Orvilliers, Ceres, 18 D'Estaing, Weazel, 16 Senegal, 16 Zephyr, 14 Alert, 10
- 188 Paris, July 7th, 1780.Sir, On the 27th of June Mr Hartley, after a speech of an hour long, moved, that the House would give him leave to bring in a bill, to the end to empower the Court, to adopt the most proper means to make peace with America. After a s
- 189 If a French fleet should constantly remain upon that coast, the number of these privateers would be doubled in a very few months. What havoc then must these armed vessels make, especially if a few French frigates should be also ordered to cruise for prize
- 190 Paris, July 15th, 1780.Sir, It is worth while to lay before Congress the following statement, which is lately published in the papers._English s.h.i.+ps of the Line._ Now under Rodney, including the Triumph of seventyfour guns, arrived from Cork, the begi
- 191 "ARTICLE II. All other merchandises, whoever may be the owners, and even although they belong to the subjects of one or another of the belligerent powers, may be freely embarked upon Russian vessels, and shall enjoy on board of them equally with the
- 192 Thus the French and Spanish s.h.i.+ps at Cadiz amount to thirty of the line. This fleet, combined with that of Brest, and with the Active, the Guerrier and the Caesar, gone to convoy merchantmen to a certain lat.i.tude, and to a s.h.i.+p of one hundred an
- 193 TO THE COUNT DE VERGENNES.Paris, July 26th, 1780.Sir, I have received the letter, which your Excellency did me the honor to write me on the 25th of this month.The sincere respect I entertain for your Excellency's sentiments would have determined me,
- 194 The character with which you are invested, your wisdom, and the confidence I have in your principles and sentiments, induce me to communicate to you a correspondence, which I have had with Mr Adams.You will find, I think, in the letters of that Plenipoten
- 195 Amsterdam, August 22d, 1780.Sir, In a letter of the 14th instant, I had the honor to transmit to Congress the declaration of the Courts of Sweden and Denmark, conformable to that of Russia, which have been presented to the belligerent powers. I now send t
- 196 The honor of forming the first public inst.i.tution for refining, correcting, improving, and ascertaining the English language, I hope is reserved for Congress; they have every motive that can possibly influence a public a.s.sembly to undertake it. It wil
- 197 There are some persons in this Republic who have been attentive to this war, and who know somewhat of the history of the rise and progress of the United States of America, but it is astonis.h.i.+ng that the number should be so small. Even in the city of A
- 198 "It was upon this footing that William the First, Prince of Orange, was made Governor and Lieutenant-General of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht, by Philip the Second, when he was upon his departure for Spain. This commission is dated the 9th of August,
- 199 I think I see very clearly, that America must grow up in war. It is a painful prospect, to be sure. But when I consider, that there are more people in America than there are in the United Provinces of the Low Countries, that the earth itself produces abun
- 200 The British Ministry, by the terrible examples of the rioters, have so intimidated the nation, and by their success in the late elections have so great a majority in Parliament, that they think themselves secure for seven years, and seem determined to go