The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume V Part 11

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 case of need.

On the 24th of May, Governor Pownal moved in the House of Commons for leave to bring in a bill, "to enable the King to make a Convention or Truce, or to conclude a Peace with the Colonies, on Terms convenient and necessary." This motion was seconded by Mr Dunning, and after debate the order of the day was moved, which was carried by 113 against 52.

It is said, that Johnstone despatched C. Maclawrin from Lisbon to S.

G. Rodney with advice, that fourteen sail of the line, with ten thousand troops, sailed from Cadiz to the westward the 28th of April.

The Hudson's Bay fleet, consisting of the Beaver, Captain Moore, the Sea Horse, Christopher, the Prince Rupert, Prichards, and the King George, Fowler, have completed their lading at Gravesend, and will soon sail.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, June 1st, 1780.

Sir,

In consequence of an advertis.e.m.e.nt published to this effect, the corporation of the citizens of Dublin, having a.s.sembled on the 11th of May, at Thalsel, the committee named the 29th of February last, to prepare and present resolutions relative to the affairs of the times, made the following report, which was unanimously approved.

"We, members of the committee appointed at a general meeting of the citizens; held the 29th of last February, having taken into consideration the objects, the examination of which was committed to us, submit to our fellow citizens the following resolution.

"That we think, that it is the absolute duty of every virtuous citizen to declare, in the most explicit manner, what he thinks relatively to the great const.i.tutional objects, which have been suspended in the moment when we expected it the least, as well as to co-operate with courage and unanimity in everything which can tend to the acquisition of these same objects. That our sincere desire is, to maintain an inviolable connexion between Great Britain and Ireland, to establish and fix this connexion upon the only basis which can render it stable and permanent; that of a royalty inseparable from the common rights of an equal liberty. That it is at this time necessary to declare, that the King, the Peers, and Commons of Ireland, are the only powers to which it belongs to make laws for binding this kingdom.

"That in putting in use all the const.i.tutional means, whatever be the public or private character with which we may be clothed, whether we are magistrates, jurors, or simple individuals, we will maintain and propagate these principles, and we will adhere invariably to the great and important objects of our instructions, those of establis.h.i.+ng the independence of the Parliament of Ireland, and of obtaining a modification of Poyning's law.

"That all the plans of reformation, which may be proposed, are necessarily vain and of no effect, while the influence of the Crown, arising from the profusion with which the people bestow their grants, and from the imprudent prodigality of Ministers, shall not be diminished; and that we ought constantly to employ our efforts to obtain a system of retrenchment and economy, to the end the better to diminish the means of corruption.

"That the independent electors of Ireland, are particularly called upon to make their efforts to procure for the nation more virtuous representatives, more equality in the representation of the people in Parliament, and to study the most effectual measures to obtain these desirable ends. We think that the said electors cannot better succeed, than by refusing with firmness to vote for any man, provided either with places or pensions, or who shall have acted in any manner contrary to the inherent rights or manifest sentiments of the people; and by giving for instructions to their representatives to make all their exertions to obtain an augmentation in the number of members, who represent the counties, the populous cities, and the independent towns.

"That we pledge ourselves to each other, and all to our country, by all which men know that is sacred, to take the foregoing resolutions for the rule of our conduct, and that at all opportunities, and by all const.i.tutional means, we will support the spirit and principles of them. In testimony of this solemn declaration, we have all signed the said resolutions.

"_Resolved unanimously_, That the said resolutions thus signed by the members of the committee, shall be deposited in the coffee-house, at the Royal Exchange, there to receive the signatures of the citizens."

_Continuation of said Report._

"We, members of the committee, &c. propose further to our fellow-citizens the following resolutions.

"That our sincere thanks be presented, in the most respectful manner to Henry Grattan, for the motion, excellently well conceived, which he has made in Parliament the 19th of April last, tending to a declaration, that his most excellent Majesty the King, the Peers, and Commons of Ireland, are the only power to which it belongs to make laws capable of binding this kingdom.

"That thanks also be presented to the ninetyeight members, which supported this great const.i.tutional a.s.sertion; pa.s.sed unanimously.

"That our sincere thanks be presented, in the most respectful manner, to Barry Yelverton, for the patriotic motion which he made in Parliament the 25th of last April, to the end to introduce regulations concerning the manner in which bills are transmitted from this kingdom to England. The object of this motion being to hinder the unconst.i.tutional interposition of the privy council, in obtaining the modification so much desired of Poyning's law.

"That thanks be given also to the one hundred and six members who seconded this manly effort; pa.s.sed unanimously.

"That our sincere thanks be presented to our worthy representatives, Doctor William Clement and Sir Samuel Bradstreet, Baronet, on account of the uniformity of their conduct in Parliament, and particularly for the zeal with which they have supported the two important motions aforesaid; conforming themselves in this to the late instructions, which they have received from us, and seconding the general wish of this kingdom; pa.s.sed unanimously.

"That our sincere thanks, and full of grat.i.tude, be presented in the most respectful manner to the n.o.ble Lords who have opposed, and to those who had the courage to protest against the last paragraph of the address, which the House of Peers presented to the throne, the 2d of March, last. The said paragraph containing insinuations, which were neither founded upon facts nor authorised by actions, implying reproaches, which the people of Ireland have not merited, and contained in these words; 'that they would use all possible endeavors to discourage and disappoint all endeavors, which ill advised men may employ to the end to excite ill founded fears in the minds of the people of his Majesty, or to divert their attention from those advantages relative to commerce, which have been granted to us in so great an extent;' pa.s.sed with three negatives.

"That we earnestly request our magistrates not to give, in any manner nor on any occasion, any effect to any law, which does not proceed from, or has not received the sanction of the King, the Peers, and Commons of Ireland. That while they conduct themselves thus, they shall receive from us the most constant and the most firm support, to the end to annihilate the ill founded hope, which may have been conceived, of subjecting Ireland in any case to a foreign legislation; pa.s.sed unanimously.

"That it is the opinion of this committee, that the two great and favorite objects of the people, viz. a declaration of its rights and a modification of Poyning's law, having been suspended in Parliament in a manner so unexpected, it appears at this time of absolute necessity to form a committee of correspondence, to the end to co-operate with such other committees of the same nature as may be formed in the kingdom, in the measures the most proper to give extension and safety to the advantages relative to commerce, which we have at last obtained; to restore still further our rights and liberties, and to preserve the const.i.tution of Ireland free and independent; pa.s.sed with one negative."

The committee of correspondence was named upon the spot, and formed of fifteen members.

Thus a new epoch is formed in the politics of Ireland; hitherto they had left the supreme direction of affairs in the hands of Parliament.

The people have now taken it into their own hands. The committee of Dublin, by communicating with other committees through the kingdom, will be able to conduct the body of the kingdom, and unite the various parts of it in certain principles, which will by degrees work themselves into a system, and complete the independence of Irish legislation. This will depend, however, upon the continuance of the war; for if England should be wise enough to make peace, of which there is little probability, the spirit of Ireland will evaporate, and their beautiful edifice dissolve, like the fabric of a vision.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Paris, June 2d, 1780.

Sir,

We are informed from the Hague, of the 28th of May, that the merchants of the Republic have presented two pet.i.tions, one to their High Mightinesses, and the other to their n.o.ble and Grand Mightinesses. The tenor of the first is as follows.

"To their High Mightinesses, our Lords, the States-General of the United Provinces.

"The undersigned, merchants, a.s.surers, and owners of vessels, and freighters, established in these Provinces, give respectfully to understand, that it is with sentiments of the most sensible grat.i.tude, that the Commerce has been informed of the affectionate resolution taken by your High Mightinesses to equip a number of vessels of war to the end to protect the free navigation of the subjects of this State.

But as the pet.i.tioners were ignorant, that the activity of the progress of the said equipment has to this time been r.e.t.a.r.ded, both by the sickness, which prevails among the crews of the vessels ready to put to sea, and by the want of experienced seamen, necessary to the equipment of vessels put into commission, and by other causes; while in this interval the most favorable season for navigation slips away, many s.h.i.+ps loaded with merchandises dare not set sail from the ports of this country, for want of the necessary protection; while they cannot find means here, nor elsewhere, of insuring but a small portion of those vessels and their cargoes, and that, even at enormous premiums, such as have never before been demanded, being from twenty to thirty per cent, which occasions an interruption and an inactivity to their navigation so excessive as well as to their commerce, that their total ruin must necessarily result from it; all the commissions for merchandises pa.s.sing elsewhere, without a hope of being able ever to see them return here, which an unfortunate experience has already many times proved. For these causes, the pet.i.tioners humbly pray, that it may please your High Mightinesses, to grant and effectuate as soon as possible the protection necessary; as the commercial interest on their part are ready to co-operate effectually, to complete the crews, and to submit to all prompt and convenient measures, which, according to the exigence of the case, and the urgent circ.u.mstances your High Mightinesses, according to your enlightened wisdom, shall judge to be the most proper for the preservation of the commerce and the navigation of your subjects."

The second pet.i.tion is as follows.

"To their n.o.ble and Grand Mightinesses, our Lords, the States of Holland and West Friesland.

"The subscribing merchants, a.s.surers, owners of s.h.i.+ps, and freighters, all living in these Provinces, give respectfully to understand, that the pet.i.tioners pressed by the urgent necessity, and to the end to ward off the total ruin of commerce and navigation, without which neither they nor the greater part of the inhabitants of the Republic can subsist, have addressed themselves to your High Mightinesses, our Lords, the States-General of the United Provinces, to solicit a prompt protection, by the way of pet.i.tion, of which the pet.i.tioners have the honor to annex a copy.

"Nevertheless, although the pet.i.tioners have every reason to flatter themselves, that an arrangement equally ready and efficacious, will soon fulfil their wishes; nevertheless, the better to complete their views, and for the preservation of commerce and navigation, the soul and the nerve of the prosperity of the Republic, and to the end to prevent its inaction, as well as the total ruin of the pet.i.tioners, which would infallibly follow, they think that it would be very necessary, that it may please your n.o.ble and Grand Mightinesses, to second in this the pet.i.tioners, as in your high wisdom you shall judge expedient and convenient."

I have before sent a copy of what was published for the answer of the Court of Madrid to the Russian Declaration. But, as that Court has now published an authentic copy, which is a little different from that, although more clear and better, I beg leave to trouble Congress with a translation of it.

"The King has been informed of the fas.h.i.+on of thinking of the Empress of Russia, in regard to the powers, both belligerent and neuter, by a Memorial, which M. Stephen de Zinowioff, Minister of that sovereign, has presented on the 15th of this month, to the Count de Florida Blanca, first Secretary of State. The King considers this act of the Empress, as an effect of the just confidence, which his Majesty has merited on his part; and it is to him so much the more agreeable, as the principles adopted by this sovereign are those which have ever governed the King, and which his Majesty endeavored, by all possible means, although without effect, to induce England to observe, during the time that Spain herself was neuter. These principles are those of justice, of equity, and of moderation; these same principles in fine, Russia, and all the powers have acknowledged in the resolutions of his Majesty; and it is only by the conduct, which the English navy has established, both in the last and present war, (a conduct, which subverts the rules the most constantly observed in regard to neutral powers) that his Majesty has seen himself under the necessity of imitating it; because the English not respecting the neutral flag, when it had on board the effects of an enemy, although they were not contraband, and this flag not defending itself against these violences, they could not, with justice, hinder Spain from using equal reprisals, to secure herself from the enormous prejudice, which would result from an inequality in this respect.

"The neutral powers, on their side, have also given occasion to the inconveniences, which they have suffered, by having served themselves with double papers, and other artifices, to the end to prevent the capture of their vessels. From this have followed the numerous captures and detentions, as well as the consequences, which have resulted from them; although in truth, these have not been so prejudicial as has been pretended. On the contrary, we know, that some of these detentions have turned to the advantage of the owners of the cargoes; the provisions, of which they were composed, having been sold in the port where the s.h.i.+ps were tried, at a price higher than the price current at the place of their destination.

"The King, nevertheless, not content with these proofs of his justification, manifested to the eyes of all Europe, would at this day have the glory of being the first to give the example of respecting the neutral flag of all the Courts, which have consented, or which shall consent, to defend it, until his Majesty shall see the part, which the English navy shall take, and until he shall discover, by experience, whether this navy will restrain itself or not, as well as the English privateers. And to this end to make it appear to all the powers how ready Spain is to observe, now she is at war, the same rules, which she desired while she was neuter, his Majesty conforms himself to the other points contained in the declaration of Russia, it being well understood, that what concerns the place blockaded, of Gibraltar, the danger of entering into that subsists in the manner in which this point is ascertained by the fourth article of the said declaration, by the means of the number of vessels stationed there to form the blockade; a danger, however, which the neutral vessels may avoid, by conforming to the rules of precaution established in the declaration of his Majesty, of the 13th of March last, which has been communicated to the Court of Petersburg by the means of its Minister.