The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume X Part 35

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Translation.

Philadelphia, July 26th, 1779

Sir,

The Minister Plenipotentiary of France has received the resolution of Congress, dated the 15th of this month, in relation to the supplies of provisions destined for the squadron of the King. He requests Congress to accept his thanks for the measures, which have been taken to effect this important object. He is only under the necessity of representing, that no one of the officers of the King can, and that no American citizen will, take it upon himself to receive and take care of the provisions destined for this purpose. The unjust and arbitrary proceedings, to which they have been exposed, terrify them, and the undersigned is obliged to request Congress to leave the said provisions in their own magazines, and in the hands of their own officers, till the time of making use of them arrives. This request has more particular reference to the flour taken from Wilmington, and which has become the direct property of Congress by the transfer of it, which the undersigned made to Congress in one of his latest Memorials.

GERARD.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Translation.

Philadelphia, July 26th, 1779.

Sir,

The Minister Plenipotentiary of France has the honor to lay before the Congress of the United States of America the sequel of the proceedings inserted in the public papers against M. Holker, Consul of the King, and his Majesty's general Navy Agent. The first part of these same proceedings is already in the hands of this august a.s.sembly. The Minister of France intended merely to lay the facts before them, and to leave to their wisdom to determine the measures, that they should judge proper for putting an end to this offence; but the late unjust, injurious, and incompetent proceedings, which have been carried on against a public officer of the King in relation to the exercise of his functions, the further dangers with which he is threatened, the indirect consequences, which already result from them to the representative of his Majesty, and those which may result more directly from the sentiments and principles which are manifested, do not permit the Minister any longer to observe the same moderation.

Congress have received the credentials of the undersigned Minister in the name of all the United States. They have accepted, and invested with their authority the other officers of his Majesty. It consequently belongs to Congress to protect them against the attacks, which may be made in their persons on the dignity of his Most Christian Majesty, and the laws common to all nations governed by the laws of police, relative to the free exercise of their functions.

Congress is too enlightened to need a comment upon the insulting writings, which the Minister lays before them. He merely requests them to take into consideration the contents of the letter, which the said Minister has written to the President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, as well as that which the Consul of the King has addressed to him. Copies of them are annexed. He is persuaded that Congress will have the less hesitation to take this cause in hand, as facts are involved in it relative to the secret of the alliance, which have happened in the sight and with the consent of a committee; and as this reason alone would justify them in taking an exclusive cognizance of it; besides, the Consul of the King will most fully prove, if Congress think it necessary, that the orders he has given have been exactly conformable to the agreement made with the committee, and to the territorial laws of the State in which they were executed.

Agreeably to these considerations, the Minister Plenipotentiary of France has the honor to beg and formally to request the Congress of the United States of America;

1st. To be pleased to take under their special protection the Consul of the King, and, if circ.u.mstances require it, his Majesty's other officers.

2dly. To cause the public notice already given to be repeated, that M.

Holker has been accepted by this august body, and recognised as the Consul of his Most Christian Majesty.

3dly. To grant to this public officer, or to procure for him, justice and satisfaction for the attacks publicly made on his honor and reputation.

4thly. To declare that the Consul of the King has acted conformably to the views and wishes of Congress, in seeking to procure provisions for the King's squadron by the way of trade; that the condition of these private purchases has always been, that the articles procured should remain at the free disposal of Congress, either for the army, or for the benefit of the public, and that not a single barrel of flour should be exported without their consent and formal authorisation; that, in consequence of this agreement, the undersigned Minister has transferred to them the hundred and eightytwo barrels bought at Wilmington, and that this quant.i.ty of provisions has, from this time, become the property of the United States.

Finally, the undersigned Minister requests Congress to take the effectual measures that their wisdom shall dictate, for protecting all the officers of the King, his master, from every unjust, injurious, and arbitrary proceeding, and for securing to them the liberty necessary for the exercise of their functions, without seeing the dignity of his Majesty and the honor of his officers exposed to farther insults.

The justice of Congress, and their regard for the honor of a monarch, who is a friend and ally of the United States, will, doubtless, prevent the serious discussions and the misunderstanding which such proceedings, if they are not promptly and authentically made amends for, would undoubtedly occasion. It is with the most entire confidence, that the undersigned Minister places this whole affair in the hands of Congress.

GERARD.

_The Papers referred to in the foregoing Memorial._

No. 1.

M. GERARD TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Translation.

Philadelphia, July 26th, 1779.

Sir,

M. Holker, Navy Agent and Consul of the King, my master, has presented to me his defence in relation to the suspicions, which some have been pleased to excite as to his conduct concerning the subsistence of the French fleet. I approve and confirm all the contents of his letter, and I declare, that he has acted on this occasion in his capacity of a public man and an officer of his Most Christian Majesty, and that all the orders that he has given for the said subsistence have been given under my direction, and with the consent and agreeably to the desire of the committee of the general Congress of the United States.

I hope that the defence of the Consul of the King will satisfy your Excellency and the Executive Council of this Province, as well as every honest and unprejudiced man. At any rate, M. Holker and all the other consuls and officers of his Most Christian Majesty scattered throughout America, will always be ready, when they shall be properly requested, to answer as to anything that shall relate to the law of the country. It is the serious will of his Majesty; his representatives are ordered to see to it; and it is for this reason, that the offers of M. Holker have antic.i.p.ated your wishes in this respect. But, Sir, in paying this just tribute to the sovereignty and to the territorial law, I must have the honor of observing to you, that there is no civilized nation where the agents and public servants of a foreign sovereign do not enjoy immunities and exemptions, which by the unanimous consent of these nations have been regarded as indispensably necessary for the free exercise of their functions; even when they act contrary to the law of the country, care is taken, and caution used, in order not to wound the dignity of their const.i.tuents, and not lightly to injure the public character of their officers. If they have acted only in their official capacity, people have neither the right nor the power to set themselves up for judges; but if there are evident proofs, they are transmitted to the superior officer, if there is one in the country, and it may be to the sovereign himself, and it is for him to cause satisfaction to be made, or the proper punishments to be inflicted.

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 a.s.sume 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 a.s.suming 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 t.i.tle 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.

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 circ.u.mstances, 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 Sat.u.r.day, July 24th, 1779.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.