The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution
Chapter 42 : Translation.The Most Christian King having been pleased to regard the representations m

Translation.

The Most Christian King having been pleased to regard the representations made to him by the General Congress of North America, relating to the 11th article of the Treaty of Commerce, signed the 6th of February in the present year, and his Majesty having therefore consented that the said article should be suppressed, on condition that the 12th article of the same treaty be equally regarded as of none effect; the above said General Congress hath declared on their part, and do declare, that they consent to the suppression of the 11th and 12th articles of the above mentioned treaty, and that their intention is, that these articles be regarded as having never been comprised in the treaty signed the 6th of February. In faith whereof, &c.

B. FRANKLIN, ARTHUR LEE, JOHN ADAMS.

TO M. DE BEAUMARCHAIS.

Pa.s.sy, September 10th, 1778.

Sir,

In a letter we have received from the Committee of Commerce of the 16th of May, we are informed, that they had ordered several vessels lately to South Carolina for rice, and directed the continental agents in that State to consign them to our address.

In the letter from Mr Livingston to us, dated Charleston South Carolina, 10th June, 1778, he has subjected the cargo of the Therese to our orders.

In your letter to us, dated Pa.s.sy, 8th September, 1778, you demand, that the cargo received in your own vessel should be sold, and the money remitted to you in part for a discharge of what is due to you by the Congress.

We are at a loss to know how you claim the Therese as your proper vessel, because M. Monthieu claims her as his, produces a written contract for the hire of her, part of which we have paid, and, the remainder he now demands of us. However, Sir, we beg leave to state to you the powers and instructions we have received from Congress, and to request your attention to them as soon as possible, and to inform you, that we are ready to enter upon the discussion of these matters, at any time and place you please.

But until the accounts of the company of Roderique Hortalez & Co. are settled for what is pa.s.sed, and the contracts proposed either ratified by you and us, or rejected by one party, we cannot think we should be justified in remitting you the proceeds of the cargo of the Therese.

We will, however, give orders to our agents for the sale of the cargo, and that the proceeds of the sale be reserved to be paid to the house of Roderique Hortalez & Co. or their representative, as soon as the accounts shall be settled, or the contract ratified. By a copy of a contract between a committee of Congress and M. Francy, dated the 16th of April last, we perceive that the 17th article, respecting the annual supply of 24,000,000 of livres, shall not be binding upon either of the parties, unless the same shall be ratified by Roderique Hortalez & Co. and the Commissioners of the United States at Paris.

We take this opportunity to inform you, Sir, that we are ready to confer with Roderique Hortalez & Co. or any person by them authorised for this purpose, at any time and place, that they or you shall appoint.

We have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient humble servants,

B. FRANKLIN, ARTHUR LEE, JOHN ADAMS.

TO M. DE SARTINE.

Pa.s.sy, 10th September, 1778.

Sir,

Captain Daniel M'Neil of Boston, in the State of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, Commander of the American privateer, which has been so successful against the common enemy in the North Seas and White Seas, had the fortune to retake a French vessel from a Guernsey privateer, after she had been in the enemy's possession three days, which prize he has brought into Port Louis.

He represents to us, that he has met with some difficulties in disposing of her and her cargo, which cannot be removed until your Excellency's sentiments shall be known upon the matter.

We have the honor to recommend his case to your Excellency's consideration, and to request that such relief may be afforded him, as may consist with the laws of the State, and the treaties in force between the two nations.

We have the honor to be, &c.

B. FRANKLIN, ARTHUR LEE, JOHN ADAMS.

TO COUNT DE VERGENNES.

Pa.s.sy, September 10th, 1778.

Sir,

By some of the last s.h.i.+ps from America, we received from Congress certain powers and instructions, which we think it necessary to lay before your Excellency, and which we have the honor to do in this letter.

On the 13th of April last Congress resolved, "that the Commissioners of the United States in France be authorised to determine and settle with the house of Roderique Hortalez & Co. the compensation, if any, which should be allowed them on all merchandise and warlike stores, s.h.i.+pped by them for the use of the United States, previous to the 14th day of April, 1778, over and above the commission allowed them, in the 6th article of the proposed contract between the Committee of Commerce and John Baptiste Lazarus Theveneau de Francy."

In the letter of the Committee of Commerce to us, in which the foregoing resolution was enclosed, the Committee express themselves thus; "this will be accompanied by a contract entered into between John Baptiste Lazarus de Theveneau de Francy, agent of Peter Augustine Caron de Beaumarchais, representative of the house of Roderique Hortalez & Co. and the Committee of Commerce. You will observe, that their accounts are to be fairly settled, and what is justly due paid for, as on the one hand, Congress would be unwilling to evidence a disregard for, and contemptuous refusal of, the spontaneous friends.h.i.+p of His Most Christian Majesty, so on the other, they are unwilling to put into the private pockets of individuals, what was graciously designed for the public benefit. You will be pleased to have their accounts liquidated, and direct in the liquidation thereof, that particular care be taken to distinguish the property of the crown of France, from the private property of Hortalez & Co. and transmit to us the accounts so stated and distinguished. This will also be accompanied by an invoice of articles to be imported from France, and resolves of Congress relative thereto. You will appoint, if you should judge proper, an agent or agents to inspect the quality of such goods as you may apply for to the house of Roderique Hortalez & Co. before they are s.h.i.+pped, to prevent any impositions."

On the 16th of May last, Congress resolved, "that the invoice of articles to be imported from France, together with the list of medicines approved by Congress, be signed by the Committee of Commerce and transmitted to the Commissioners of the United States at Paris, who are authorised and directed to apply to the house of Roderique Hortalez & Co. for such of the said articles, as they shall have previously purchased or contracted for; that copies of the invoices be delivered to Mons. de Francy, agent for Roderique Hortalez & Co., together with a copy of the foregoing resolution; and that the articles to be s.h.i.+pped by the house of Roderique Hortalez & Co. be not insured, but that notice be given to the Commissioners in France, that they may endeavor to obtain convoy for the protection thereof."

We have the honor to enclose to your Excellency a copy of the contract made between the Committee and Mons. Francy, a copy of Mons. Francy's powers, and a copy of the list of articles to be furnished according to that contract, that your Excellency may have before you all the papers relative to this subject.

We are under the necessity of applying to your Excellency upon this occasion, and of requesting your advice. With regard to what is pa.s.sed, we know not who the persons are who const.i.tute the house of Roderique Hortalez & Co., but we have understood, and Congress has ever understood, and so have the people in America in general, that they were under obligations to his Majesty's good will for the greatest part of the merchandise and warlike stores heretofore furnished under the firm of Roderique Hortalez & Co. We cannot discover that any written contract was ever made between Congress or any agent of theirs, and the house of Roderique Hortalez & Co., nor do we know of any living witness, or any other evidence, whose testimony can ascertain to us, who the persons are that const.i.tute the house of Roderique Hortalez & Co., or what were the terms upon which the merchandise and munitions of war were supplied, neither as to the price, nor the time, or conditions of payment. As we said before, we apprehend that the United States hold themselves under obligations to his Majesty for all those supplies, and we are sure it is their wish and their determination to discharge the obligation to his Majesty, as soon as Providence shall put it in their power. In the mean time, we are ready to settle and liquidate the accounts according to our instructions at any time, and in any manner which his Majesty and your Excellency shall point out to us.

As the contract for future supplies is to be ratified, or not ratified by us, as we shall judge expedient, we must request your Excellency's advice as a favor upon this head, and whether it would be safe or prudent in us to ratify it, and in Congress to depend upon supplies from this quarter. Because, if we should depend upon this resource for supplies and be disappointed, the consequences would be fatal to our country.

We have the honor to be, &c.

B. FRANKLIN, ARTHUR LEE, JOHN ADAMS.

M. DE SARTINE TO THE COMMISSIONERS.

Translation.

Versailles, 16th September, 1778.

Gentlemen,

I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write to me on the subject of the French s.h.i.+p Isabella, which the American privateer General Mifflin recaptured from a Guernsey privateer.

In the _General Thesis_, you may see the disposition of the ordinance of the Marine of 1681, which adjudges to captains, captors of recaptured vessels, when they have been during twentyfour hours in the enemy's hands, a third for the charges of rescue, when they are retaken before the twentyfour hours. The American privateers shall enjoy in France, without difficulty, the benefit of this law, if it has been adopted by the United States in such a manner, as that the French privateers may be a.s.sured of experiencing the same treatment, with respect to the recaptures they may conduct into the ports of North America.

The English laws, on the contrary, grant a privateer only one eighth of the value of the vessels retaken within the first twentyfour hours, a fifth within the second day, a third within the third and fourth, and afterwards one half, which leaves at least, in every case, the other half to the losing proprietors. It is possible, that the United States, as these laws are less advantageous to the privateers and more favorable to the original proprietors of recaptured vessels, would give the preference to those of France.

In these circ.u.mstances, the rules of reciprocity observed between the two powers require that arrangements be taken to adopt the law of one of the two nations, which shall be observed by the respective privateers, and in the meantime I am persuaded, that you will think with me, that the American privateer, General Mifflin, ought not to exact in France other advantages than what, in a similar case, a French privateer would meet with in North America.

This discussion, moreover, should not take place perhaps in the particular affair in question. I am just informed, that the French proprietor claims his vessel as retaken from pirates, offering to pay a third of its value to the American privateer, which delivered it.

This is agreeable to the 10th article, under the t.i.tle of _Prizes_, of the ordinance of 1681, which appears justly applicable to this particular case. If it should be found, that the Guernsey privateer falls under the description of those pirates, whose depredations have obliged his Majesty to order general reprisals, and that she has not been furnished with new letters of marque, which the Court of London did not grant before the month of August, to cruise against French vessels, as appears from the declaration of the Captain of the Isabella, this question will be necessarily submitted to the decision of the tribunals; and I cannot do otherwise than see, that the most prompt justice be rendered to the American privateer. I request, at any rate, that you will be pleased to give me your opinion on the princ.i.p.al question, taking for granted the different laws of the two nations with respect to reprisals or rescues.

I have the honor to be, &c.