The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume VIII Part 38

TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

St Petersburg, September 5th, 1782.

Sir,

Though there is now no danger of our suffering from the misrepresentations of the British, and our independence may be considered as established beyond all question, yet her Imperial Majesty, still entertaining the expectation of mediating at the general peace, every measure which may possibly be deemed an obstacle to that end will be studiously avoided. It is not, therefore, to be expected, that any application of ours would meet with the desired success, while her Imperial Majesty continues to tender her mediation.

This has all along been my idea of the matter, and if I had not received the further instructions of Congress, contained in your letter, I should not have attempted to a.s.sume my public character under such circ.u.mstances.

But I must confess at the same time I should have risked the measure the first moment I saw the mediation given up by her Majesty; because I did not view the United States as humble supplicants at this Court; as they were not seeking aids from her Majesty, and had nothing to ask but what they intended to give an ample equivalent for. And I did not consider, that the real honor and dignity of the United States would be more exposed, even by her Majesty's declining to accept our propositions, and by my immediate retirement from her Court in that case, than they would be exposed to, by my long residence here (no such cause as is mentioned existing) in the character of a private citizen of the United States, when the event would show, that I had all the while a commission in my pocket as their public Minister. You will not conceive, Sir, that I mean to question the propriety of the orders of Congress which you have communicated to me. I am sensible it is my duty to obey, and not to dispute their commands, and I am very happy to have received them in such clear and explicit terms.

I beg leave to observe, that when Congress ordered my commission and instructions to be made out, they seem to have misapprehended the nature of the confederation proposed by her Imperial Majesty, to maintain the freedom of commerce, and of navigation. My commission and instructions are in part founded upon the supposition, that her Imperial Majesty, in her declaration of February 28th, 1780, had invited both the belligerent and neutral powers to enter into a general convention for that purpose, and authorise and direct me to accede to the same (if invited thereto) on the part of the United States. Whereas that declaration is in the nature of a notification to the belligerent powers only, and contains a complaint of the interruption the commerce and navigation of the neutral nations, and of her own subjects in particular, had suffered from the subjects of the belligerent powers, in violation of the rights of neutral nations, sets forth and claims those rights and declares, that to maintain them, to protect the honor of her flag, &c. she had fitted out the greatest part of her marine forces. These violations, it is said in it, ought to excite the attention of all neutral powers. In pursuance of this sentiment, a copy of the declaration was communicated to the Courts of Stockholm, Copenhagen, Lisbon, and to the States-General; in which communication they are invited to make a common cause of this business with her Imperial Majesty, who adds, that if to establish this system on a solid foundation, the neutral powers abovementioned would open a negotiation, and enter into a particular convention, she would be ready to come into it.

This is the only pa.s.sage I have been able to find in all the acts relative to this subject, which gives the least idea of a Congress or general negotiation. No general negotiation has ever been opened in consequence of this intimation, and if there had been, the belligerent powers, I conceive, could have taken no part regularly in it, or in the particular conventions which might have been the result. They had only to make their several answers to the declaration which her Imperial Majesty made to them, as they have done. The marine convention which was afterwards first entered into by her Imperial Majesty, and the King of Denmark, and which has served as a basis for all the others, being nothing more than an a.s.sociation to maintain their rights as neutral powers, no formal accession can be made to such a confederation on the part of the United States, till they cease to be a belligerent power.

Viewing the matter in this light, and knowing that the resolutions of Congress have long since been communicated to her Majesty by Mr Adams, through her Minister at the Hague, I have not communicated them, though he thought it was the intention of Congress I should do it, on my arrival here. I hope, Sir, you will favor me with the sentiments of Congress upon this subject by the earliest opportunity, that I may know not only whether I am mistaken in my opinion about it, but whether my conduct meets with their approbation.

It is proper to advise Congress, that there is a fixed custom at this Court, that every power entering into any treaty with her Imperial Majesty, must pay six thousand roubles to each of her princ.i.p.al Ministers, that is, to four of them, making twentyfour thousand in all, reckoning them upon an average of exchange upon London, at fortyfive pence sterling, makes 4,500, if I mistake not. This sum has been paid by all the neutral powers, who have acceded to her marine convention. If therefore the time should ever arrive for me to make any treaty here, it will be indispensably necessary Congress should enable me to advance that sum upon the execution of each treaty. I make no other comment upon this practice, than that I hope it may never find its way into our country.

I was too much pressed for time when I wrote you last to acquaint you, that Portugal had acceded to the neutral confederation. This should not be considered as a mere voluntary act on the part of Portugal. For Portugal sent on hither, in the course of last winter, a consul, in expectation of forming a commercial treaty, which her Majesty declined, unless Portugal would accede to the neutral confederation.

The commercial treaty is not yet finished. It seems to be the present determination of her Majesty, not to grant any special commercial favors to any nation, but to make treaties with all upon equal principles. The treaty with Britain, which will expire on the 20th of June, 1786, I am a.s.sured is not likely to be renewed, so that that nation will presently lose the benefits derived from a kind of monopoly, which they have long enjoyed here.

You acquaint me that Congress have ordered the salaries of all their foreign Ministers to be paid in America, and that you shall transmit bills to Dr Franklin, upon whom they are to draw quarterly. I shall attend to this new arrangement in future. I wish you would be pleased to inform me in your next, whether Congress have taken into consideration the questions I stated in my letter of the 24th of March, 1781, relative to my salary; and what has been done upon it. I am inclined to think, from the concluding paragraph of the preamble to my instructions, that Congress supposed, "the diplomatic order, in which I am placed by my commission;" was inferior to that in which their other Ministers in Europe are placed by their commissions. That paragraph seems to have been taken from Vattel's Law of Nations, where he treats of the several orders of public Ministers. He supposes a great difference in point of ceremony or etiquette, and says, that Ministers Plenipotentiary are of much greater distinction than simple Ministers. In both these suppositions he is certainly mistaken, at least as to this Court, where they are treated in the same manner in every respect. Indeed Envoys Extraordinary, and Extraordinary Ministers Plenipotentiary, and Ministers simply so named, being all in the second cla.s.s of public Ministers, and of equal rank, are treated in the same manner. No distinction is made between them on account of their different t.i.tles.

Precedency among Ministers of the same cla.s.s, is not settled here throughout. The general rule of adjusting here and elsewhere, is the relative rank of their respective masters or sovereigns. No Minister, for instance, of the second cla.s.s, would dispute precedency with a Minister of the Emperor of the same cla.s.s; but we have seen a Minister of the present Empress claim precedency of a Minister of France of the same cla.s.s, though generally the Ministers of France have been in possession of the place next to the Ministers of the Emperor. This dispute has left the matter of precedency among Ministers of the same cla.s.s, much at loose here, where indeed they are not much troubled about etiquette of any sort. Each Court has its particular usage in such cases, and no good information is to be drawn from any general treatises upon the subject.

I have the honor to be, &c.

FRANCIS DANA.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO FRANCIS DANA.

Philadelphia, September 18th, 1782.

Sir,

I have just now received your favor of the 30th of March, it being the only letter we have had from you in eleven months. The previous one of March 5th never reached me: I am compelled from the variety of things that press upon me at this time, to answer in fewer words than I would wish to do. Your observations on the trade of Russia are very pertinent, and afford us some useful hints, and as none of the actions of the Empress, who has at present, by the force of her own abilities, such influence upon the affairs of Europe can be indifferent to us, we feel an interest in the statement you give us of her connexion with the Porte. You have, however, been totally silent upon a subject that interests us more immediately. You say nothing of your own situation, whether you are known or concealed; whether you have conversed with the Minister, or thought it prudent to keep at a distance till a more favorable moment offers; whether our cause gains or loses ground at Petersburg; and what means you use to support it; whether you have had any conversation with the French Amba.s.sador since that you detailed to us, and what the result of your conferences with him have been. These are points upon which we should not be left in the dark.

As to ourselves, nothing important has been done in the military line this summer. The enemy has remained inactive, and our disappointment in the expected naval aid from the misfortune of Count de Gra.s.se, has compelled us. .h.i.therto to be so too; though we never at any period of the war had so respectable an army, if we take into view either their numbers, their discipline, or their supplies of every kind. The French troops from Virginia have just joined ours on the banks of the Hudson.

The feeble attempt of the British to dissolve the alliance formed against them, by detaching us from France, or France from us, was received here with contempt and almost every legislature on the continent immediately pa.s.sed unanimous resolutions expressive of their determination to make no peace in which the interest of their allies was not included. Congress refused to receive Mr Morgan, Secretary to General Carleton.

The change which afterwards took place in the British administration, has made a very important alteration in their system here. Savannah was evacuated, and the proposed evacuation of Charleston has been announced in general orders. Everything seemed to speak the evacuation of New York, when we learnt that a second change has taken place, and that the death of the Marquis of Rockingham has put Lord Shelburne at the head of the administration.

The enclosed letter from General Carleton and Admiral Digby, Commissioners for making peace, is such a glaring evidence against them, if they change their conduct towards us, that I wish you to have it published.

I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant,

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

St Petersburg, September 23d, 1782.

Sir,

Your answer to my letters, from the 28th of July to October, mentioned in yours of the 22d of May, has not reached me, nor have any of your letters except those the receipt of which is acknowledged in my last.

That of the 22d of May, I received on the 29th of last month, but the newspapers which you say accompany it, were brought me by yesterday's post, at an expense of near four pounds sterling. How they came to be separated from your letter, or who forwarded them to me, I know not.

It may be advisable to furnish me, when the time will admit of it, with authentic copies of such proceedings of Congress, as I ought to be particularly informed about, or when these matters, or any other of that nature are published in the newspapers, to cut them out and enclose them in your letters. For I cannot receive our newspapers through any other channel than the post, and at what expense, you have a specimen above. I cannot tell to what accident it has been owing, that I never received the resolutions of Congress of the 26th of June, 1781, till the last week. Had I been possessed of them when I wrote my last, I should not have troubled you with an inquiry about the questions stated in my letter of the 24th of March, 1781, to which they seem to be intended as an answer. If Congress have made any alterations touching the subject of them as far as it can now concern me, I should be glad to know them.

As it seems to be the fixed determination of Congress that nothing shall be put to hazard here, I shall not think myself at liberty to take any official step to bring on the business of my mission, though the general state of affairs should seem to promise success, unless I have a.s.surances, that I shall be received and acknowledged in my public character. Congress must not expect any such a.s.surances will begin on the part of this Court, so long as the Court of London shall oppose any act by which we may be considered as an independent nation.

For her Imperial Majesty would not choose unnecessarily to give the least umbrage to the Court of London, and, of course, if not called upon to do it, she will not make any advances to meet our views, till all opposition shall cease. Her Majesty and her Ministers well know our policy is founded upon great and liberal principles, and they do not apprehend they shall lose any advantages, by postponing a political connexion with us, till the way is perfectly clear to form it.

There has no change taken place in the administration here, as you have been informed, since my arrival. Count Panin had retired from Court before, and though he still bears the t.i.tle of Chief of the College of Foreign Affairs, yet he takes not the least part in them.

The Vice Chancellor, Count d'Ostermann, continues to conduct the etiquette of that department, as the First Minister. Things appear to be governed still by the same influence and the same principles, which took place upon the retirement of the former. I have attempted to write to you in your cypher, but find the scheme intolerably tedious, and so liable to errors, that I have been obliged to give it up. Besides, it has come to me through the post office, and I am not sure they are not in possession of a copy of it. I will endeavor to prepare another scheme, which I think will be attended with much less trouble, and be equally good on other accounts. I will forward it to Holland by Mr Adams's son, who will soon leave me, when I shall be totally dest.i.tute of any a.s.sistance, and deprived of any person into whose hands your papers might be committed in case of my death; nor is it possible here to procure any one in whom I could safely confide. I am the more easy about this, as I propose to return to America as soon after I shall be received in my public character, as the princ.i.p.al business of my mission shall be finished. I will, myself, bring any treaty I may conclude here for ratification, when I doubt not I shall be able to a.s.sign such reasons for my departure, without express permission, as will be satisfactory to Congress.

I have the honor to be, &c.

FRANCIS DANA.

TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

St Petersburg, September 29th, 1782.

Sir,

I have this day been honored with the duplicate of yours of the 10th of May, and of the 22d and 29th of the same month, together with the resolutions of Congress of the 22d of February, and of the 1st of March last, relative to your department, but no copy of your letter, or of the resolutions of Congress expressive of their sense of the sentiments contained in the letter of the 10th of May, or of the cypher, all of which you say are enclosed in that letter, has come to hand with it.

If my first letter to you, dated March 5th, which was written by the next post after the receipt of your first, has been received, and I think it must have been soon after the date of your last, all anxiety which might have been occasioned by my earlier letters from hence, I hope will be removed, and that I shall be thought not to be totally dest.i.tute of political prudence. When that letter was written, I was rather apprehensive I might be censured by some as suffering prudence to degenerate into pusillanimity, for not taking advantage of the impression made by so important an event as the surrender of Lord Cornwallis and his army, and thought it expedient to a.s.sign any reasons for not doing it, knowing that we are apt to think events, which so immediately change the face of affairs among ourselves, operate almost as sudden changes in the systems of Europe.

My letter of June 28th, I hope also will have the same favorable tendency. The measure mentioned in it, I presume will not be censured.

To say the least, it has not been productive of any unhappy effects. I have never delivered the second part, because I have not yet been satisfied of the expediency of touching upon some matters which it contained. I have always consulted the French Minister freely, whenever I have thought any circ.u.mstances favorable to our views have turned up, (an instance will be found in the above letter) and I have never acted against his opinion given me upon any point.

The line I have hitherto pursued, is precisely that pointed out in your letter of March 2d. In truth, Sir, no person has higher ideas of the real honor and dignity of the United States than myself, and no person, perhaps, would be less liable rashly to expose them to any indignities. I will not now trouble you with observations upon any parts of your letter of May 10th, though I may think myself obliged to do so hereafter, when I shall have a more convenient opportunity to enter fully into the subject of it, and into the necessary explanations.

At present, we have no interesting intelligence here. What may be the consequences of the measures taken by her Imperial Majesty to restore the deposed Khan of the Crimea, of whom I have made some particular mention in my letter of the 30th of March, is not easily foreseen.

Whenever we shall receive any certain accounts from that quarter, I shall not fail to communicate them. In that same letter I gave you some account of the commerce of this country, and pointed out in what way I imagined we might take a part in it to our advantage. I enclosed you a printed list of the exports from hence for 1781. You will receive one with this also, which will serve to show the nature of them with more exactness than the quant.i.ty; for this is always considerably greater than those lists import it to be, because they are formed from the articles alleged by the merchants to be s.h.i.+pped, and for which they pay the duties, and they scarce ever report the whole to the custom house.

To give you a more particular knowledge of the commerce of this country, I have sent you (with the dictionaries you wrote for) a small treatise upon the subject, which enters into mercantile details, and may be very serviceable to some of our merchants. It is in general well written, and is the only one I can learn which has been published upon it. Her Majesty, who seems to give great attention to the commerce of her empire, has since freed it in many instances from the restrictions imposed upon it. In particular, all kinds of military stores are now permitted to be exported by any one paying the duties, salt petre, rhubarb, &c. And the exploring and working of mines, have also been lately encouraged. Though there are vast mines in this empire, yet they were never worked upon till the time of Peter the Great. Before that period Russia imported all her iron, copper, lead, &c. princ.i.p.ally from Sweden. At this day Russia exports as much iron (the exportation of copper is prohibited) as Sweden, that is, one year with another, about three millions of poods, a pood being forty pounds Russian, a little more than thirtysix pounds English. Some of the iron of Russia is at least as good as the best Swedish, particularly what is called old sable iron. We used to import considerable quant.i.ties of the Swedish, if I am not mistaken.

Upon my arrival here, I found a strong apprehension prevailing, that we should rival this country in the other parts of Europe, especially in the important articles of iron and hemp. Besides what I have said upon this subject in the reflections contained in my letter of June 28th, I endeavored to show the high improbability of our going into the business of mining, even to a degree to answer our own demands, for an age at least, much less for foreign markets. From the dearness of labor, when our mines if worked at all must be worked by freemen, and not as in Europe in general, by slaves, as we had no white slaves, and had prohibited the importation of blacks; that by this means, aided by the enemy, who in their progress through the southern States had stolen them from many plantations, and s.h.i.+pped not a few to their Islands, we should shortly see an end of slaves in our country; that the policy of our governments was opposed to the commerce of slaves; that upon the supposition we could work our mines by freemen nearly as cheap as Russia, yet we should import her iron in great quant.i.ties, because the nature of the other commodities we should take from hence is such as would require our vessels to be ballasted, and that they would wish to take in iron in preference to other unprofitable ballast and without freight, so that it would always arrive among us at an advantageous rate. From the prodigious extent of our uncultivated territory, joined to the ease with which every inhabitant might make himself an independent proprietor of a sufficient portion of it, for the comfortable support of himself and a family, who in their turns might find in the same way the same facility of subsisting in an independent state of life; that it was not in the nature of things for men thus circ.u.mstanced to bury themselves in the bowels of the earth, and spend their lives and their labor for the profit of others.

As to the article of hemp, I observed, notwithstanding the encouragement by bounties given by the Parliament of Britain, aided by the influence of the King's Governors in the Colonies, we had never adopted the cultivation of it in any degree worth consideration; that we had continued to import it through Great Britain in very great quant.i.ties; that scarce any vessel ever came from thence without bringing more or less of it; that it had never become an article of exportation, unless possibly in some instances for the purpose of recovering bounties; that the people were averse to its cultivation, as it not only required a good soil, which could be more profitably imployed in raising grain, but impoverished it very fast; that grain was one of our capital articles; that by means of it we kept up a profitable commerce with all the West Indies, as well as with some of the more southern parts of our continent; that further, it would be the policy of America, whenever circ.u.mstances should turn her attention to manufactures, to begin upon the coa.r.s.e woollens in preference to linens of any kind, and to that end to promote the increase of wool, rather than of flax or hemp; that a system of this sort coincided perfectly with the cultivation of grain, as it contributed to fill the country with provisions, to render labor cheaper, and to afford further supplies for the above foreign markets; and that our lands instead of being injured, would be much meliorated by such means.