Chapter II: Part 2

We were yesterday informed, and so the fact is, that the Castle of St Philip surrendered by capitulation to the Duc de Crillon, on the 4th instant. There was no breach made, nor any of the out-works taken. The garrison are to go to England and remain prisoners of war till exchanged.

I am to go to the Pardo this evening. There I shall learn some further details from the Minister. If I return sufficiently early for the post, they shall be subjoined.

Things look better just at present; but my sky has hitherto been so like an April one, that I dare not as yet flatter you or myself with settled fair weather.

I am, Dear Sir, with great esteem and regard, &c.

JOHN JAY.

* * * * *

TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

Madrid, February 18th, 1782.

Dear Sir,

I wrote to you a short letter on the 16th instant. I have procured a copy of the gazette to be published tomorrow, and I send enclosed as much of it as contains the articles of capitulation for Fort St Philip. This event takes place very opportunely, and will have a fine effect in England. Things begin to look more promising; but I avoid particulars for a week or two, that I may have a better opportunity of judging what reliance may be placed in present appearances.

With great esteem and regard, I am, Dear Sir, &c.

JOHN JAY.

_P. S._ Not a letter yet by the Marquis de Lafayette.

* * * * *

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO JOHN JAY.

Philadelphia, March 8th, 1782.

Dear Sir,

I shall leave town tomorrow, and be absent a few weeks. I do not care to do it without letting you know, that we have nothing worth telling you. For want of positive, you must be content with negative information, which sometimes has its use, and failing of any other at least serves to provoke an answer, and makes those to whom it is addressed ashamed of their silence, when they can collect anything to communicate. I just now learn that General Greene has moved to the Quarter House, five miles from Charleston, and detached a part of his army to Georgia. The enemy have evacuated all the outposts they held in that State, and retired into Savannah. It is imagined that they will shortly evacuate and concentre their forces at New York. Empty transports have sailed from the latter place, but whether to bring away the troops from Charleston I cannot say. We are extremely anxious to hear the event of a battle, which has been fought in the West Indies between the fleets, but of which we know nothing certain.

Enclosed you have a copy of a letter from Mr Pollock, who is well acquainted with the country about the Mississippi; it contains some information which may be of use to you. I also enclose you sundry resolutions of Congress, organizing the office of Foreign Affairs, from which you will learn the extent of my powers, and not be misled by supposing them greater than they are.

I am, Dear Sir, with great esteem and affection,

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

* * * * *

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO JOHN JAY.

Philadelphia, April 27th, 1782.

Dear Sir,

I informed you in my letter of the 16th instant,[1] that yours of the 3d of October had been received and submitted to Congress in my absence, and, as I had then reason to think, that it would be answered by them. This I wished because I was persuaded it would express their approbation of your conduct, and afford you that intimate knowledge of their sentiments, which the delicacy of your situation renders particularly important. They have, however, judged it proper to refer the letter to me. I shall endeavor to preserve the advantages I have mentioned to you, by reporting this answer.

Acquainted with the expectations of Congress, and the grounds on which they formed them, you will easily believe, that they are equally surprised and concerned at the little attention hitherto shown by Spain to their respectful solicitations. They had learned from every quarter that his Catholic Majesty, among the princely virtues he possesses, was particularly distinguished for his candor, and that open dignity of character, which is the result of having no views that he found any reluctance in disclosing; and that the Ministers in whom he confided, breathing the spirit of the Prince, were above those artifices, which form the politics of inferior powers. They knew the insults which Spain had received from Great Britain, and they could conceive no reason why she should conceal or refuse to return them by supporting openly the people, whom Britain unjustly endeavored to oppress. These principles, confirmed by the frequent recommendations of those whom they believed to be acquainted with the sentiment of the Court of Madrid, induced them to send a Minister to solicit the favorable attention of his Catholic Majesty to a people who were struggling with oppression, and whose success or miscarriage could not but be important to a sovereign, who held extensive dominions in their vicinity. Give me leave to add, Sir, that in the choice of the person, they were not inattentive to the dignity of the Court; or to the candor and integrity by which they were supposed to be influenced. I would not have you infer from what I have said, that the favorable sentiments, which the United States have hitherto entertained of the Court of Madrid, have undergone the least alteration. They are satisfied that nothing would be more injurious to both nations, than to permit the seeds of distrust or jealousy to be sown among them.

But though those who are well informed feel no abatement of respect or esteem for the virtue and magnanimity of his Majesty, and do full justice to the integrity and abilities of his Ministers, accepting the apologies you mention, and attributing to their true causes the delays and neglects you have unhappily experienced, yet they are in the utmost pain, lest they should work some change in the sentiments of the people at large, in whom with us the sovereignty resides, and from thence diffuse themselves into the government, and be productive of measures ruinous to that friendly intercourse, that spirit of amity, which it is the wish of those who are acquainted with the true interests of both countries to promote.

After the war was declared by Spain, those among us who had formed the highest ideas of her magnanimity, persuaded themselves that she would act advisedly for us when she found us in distress. They grounded their belief upon the avowed spirit of the nation, and the policy of adopting measures to re-animate us and damp the ardor of the enemy, and to make such impressions upon our hearts, as to give them in future a considerable influence on our councils. Our disappointment in this expectation, though perhaps to be accounted for upon very natural principles, has been greatly aggravated by the sedulous endeavors of the enemies of both countries to create distrust and jealousies. They artfully insinuate, that Spain seeks only to draw advantages from our wants, without so far interfering in our affairs as to involve herself, if we should be unsuccessful. These insinuations are gaining ground, and it becomes daily more necessary for Congress to be furnished with reasons to justify to their constituents the concessions they have proposed to make, or to withdraw those concessions when they are found ineffectual. Yet they find much reluctance in discovering the least want of confidence in the Court of Madrid; and though their present situation might fully justify them in not parting with the important rights you are empowered to concede, without stipulating some very valuable equivalent, yet they cannot be induced to make any alteration in your instructions on this subject, till you shall have reason to conclude, that nothing can be done towards forming the alliance they have so much at heart; not only because of the influence it will immediately have in accelerating the peace, but because of the advantages, which Spain and America may reciprocally promise each other in future, from the lasting connexion which will be erected thereon.

Though the delays you have met with afford room to suspect, that Spain wishes to defer a particular treaty with us till a general peace, yet I see so many political reasons against such a measure, that I can hardly presume they will adopt it.

At the close of a successful war, a great and powerful nation, to whom a character for justice and moderation is of the last importance, can in no case demand more than a compensation for the injuries received. This compensation will, indeed, be measured in part by their success. But still it has bounds, beyond which a nation cannot go with dignity. Spain has insisted upon the cession of Gibraltar as a preliminary to a peace. This is, of itself, a considerable compensation for any damage she may have sustained. Should she carry her demands further, and agreeably to the ideas of the Spanish Ministers, expect to have any exclusive right to the Gulf of Mexico, and the river Mississippi, she must not only demand East and West Florida of the British, but she must support the claims of Great Britain against those of America, the claims of an enemy against the rights of a friend, in order that she may make still further demands.

Will it consist with the dignity of his Catholic Majesty to ask, for the short space in which he has been engaged in the war, not only Gibraltar, but the two Floridas, the Mississippi, the exclusion of Great Britain from the trade to the Bay of Honduras; while the other branch of the House of Bourbon, who engaged early in the controversy, confines her demands to the narrowest limits? Will he expose himself to the imputation of despoiling an ally, (for such we are in fact, though we want the name) at the instant that he is obtaining the greatest advantages from the distress, which that ally has, at least in part, contributed to bring upon his enemy? And this too, without the least necessity, when he may, by accepting and purchasing our title, appear to have contended for the rights of the United States. This will then make no part of the satisfaction to which he is entitled from Great Britain; he may justly extend his demands to other objects; or exalt his character for moderation, by limiting them to narrower bounds. This mode of reasoning will come with more weight, when we display our rights before impartial mediators, and show that recent conquests have been added to our ancient title, for it cannot be doubted, that we shall at the close of the war make the most of those rights, which we obtain no equivalent for, while it continues.

I persuade myself, therefore, that Spain will not risk the loss of so important an object as the exclusive navigation of the Mississippi, by postponing the treaty to a general peace, more particularly as a treaty with us will secure our concurrence in their views at a general Congress, as well as save them the necessity of making demands inconsistent with that character for moderation, which their great power renders important to them.

Congress flatter themselves, that the surmises on this subject are groundless, and that before this reaches you, the treaty will be far advanced. Should they be mistaken, you will take measures to know from Spain, whether she accepts your concession as the price of our alliance, and upon what terms. If they are such as you cannot close with, and the treaty must break off, be persuaded, that any steps you have taken or shall take, not inconsistent with the respect due to his Catholic Majesty, to prevent the cessions you are empowered to make from militating against our rights, will be approved by Congress.

Congress presume you will find no difficulty in knowing the intentions of his Majesty on this subject, since they wish you to treat his Ministers with that unreserved confidence, which becomes the representative of a nation, which has no views that it does not avow, and which asks no favor which it does not hope to return, and, as in the present happy state of his Majesty's affairs, they can conceive no reason for disguising his designs, they are satisfied, that your frankness will meet from his Ministers with the confidence it merits.

I make no observations on the hint the Count de Florida Blanca gave you, with respect to the restitution of such sums as Spain might be pleased to advance to us; because, whatever claims we might set up to a subsidy from the share we take in the burthen of the war, and the utility of our exertions in the common cause, we are far from wishing to lay ourselves under any pecuniary obligations for a longer time than is absolutely necessary. A few years of peace will enable us to repay with interest any sums, which our present necessities compel us to borrow.

I cannot close this letter without expressing the grateful sense, that Congress entertain of the disinterested conduct of Spain, in rejecting the proffers of Great Britain, which must undoubtedly have been considerable, if they bore that proportion to the importance of his Catholic Majesty in the great system of politics, which those that have been frequently thrown out to lead the United States to a violation of their engagements, have done to their comparatively small weight in the general scale. But as America never found the least inclination to close with the insidious proposals of Great Britain, so she finds no difficulty in believing, that the wisdom and magnanimity of his Catholic Majesty will effectually guard him against every attempt of his natural enemy, to detach him from those, who are daily shedding their blood to avenge his injuries in common with their own.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This letter is in cypher, and the key has been lost.

* * * * *

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO JOHN JAY.

Philadelphia, April 28th, 1782.

Dear Sir,

You will receive with this a letter dated yesterday. You will judge how far it may be expedient to ground demands on the right we have to a compensation for our share of the burden and expense of the war, if the issue should be as favorable as we have reason to expect. Our strength is so much underrated in Europe, that you will find it proper to represent it as it really is. Our regular army, including the French troops, will consist of about ---- men. They are well disciplined, clothed, and fed; and having for the most part seen seven years' hard service, I believe they may be counted equal to any troops in the world. Our militia are in excellent order, and chiefly disciplined by officers who have left the regular service. While the army lies in the middle States, it can in ten or fifteen days receive a reinforcement of ---- men for any particular service. Facts, that you can easily call to mind, will evince that any deficiency in the regular troops is amply made up by this supply. These are loose hints by no means directory to you. Congress mean as little as possible to clog you with instructions. They rely upon your judgment and address to reconcile whatever differences may appear to be between the views of Spain, and the interests of these States.

I have the honor to enclose an important resolution, which I fear to put in cypher, both because you seem to be at a loss about your cypher, and because it would be of little use, considering the accident which you say has happened to it.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

* * * * *

TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

Madrid, April 28th, 1782.

Dear Sir,

My letter to his Excellency, the President of Congress, of the 3d of October last, of which a copy has also been since sent, contained a full and accurate account of their affairs here. Many minute and not very interesting details of little difficulties were omitted, and among others, those which arose from my having no funds for the bills payable in October and November, &c. &c. The experience I had gained of the disposition of this Court, and the delays which attend all their decisions and operations, induced me to consider my obtaining timely supplies from hence as very uncertain. I therefore wished to have an occasional credit from Dr Franklin, to be made use of as necessity might require, and, for that purpose, wrote him the following letter on the 10th of September, viz.

TO DR BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

"St Ildefonso, September 10th, 1781.

"Dear Sir,

"My last to you was of the 20th day of August last, by Dupin, the French Ambassador's courier. Major Franks, with despatches from Congress, and from Mr Robert Morris, is now with me, and will proceed to Passy as soon as I shall be enabled to write to him.

"He will bring you a copy of Mr Morris's letter to me, from which you will see the present state of American finances, and the measures he is prosecuting to ameliorate them. My former letters mentioned my apprehensions, that many more bills had been drawn upon me, than those for which the sum you authorised me to draw upon you for would satisfy. Near seventy thousand dollars will be wanted to pay those which have since arrived, and although I cannot think it improbable that provision may here be made for at least a part of that sum, yet the delays which usually attend operations of this kind render it highly necessary, that occasional resources be elsewhere had.

"This consideration, so far as it applies to the payments to be made in the two succeeding months, obliges me again to recur to you.

"The sanguine expectations entertained by our country from the appointment of Mr Morris, his known abilities, integrity, and industry, the useful reformations he has begun, and the judicious measures he is pursuing abroad, as well as at home, afford reason to hope, that under his direction American credit will be re-established, and the evils which have long threatened us on that head avoided.

"It will be useless, therefore, to remark, how important it is to prevent our credit from receiving a deep additional wound at the very moment when so much is doing to recover it. The protest of any of our public bills for want of payment would at this period be more injurious than heretofore, and unless again saved by you, that cruel necessity must take place with respect to those on me. Besides, as the singular policy of drawing bills without previous funds will now be relinquished, we have reason to flatter ourselves, that we shall in future have no embarrassments of this kind to struggle with. I am well persuaded, that Mr Morris will not pursue such hazardous and unprecedented measures, and, therefore, as in all human probability the present difficulties will be all that we shall have to surmount, I hope you will think with me, that the utmost exertions should be made for the purpose, and that after having done so much to save the credit of American bills, you will still be disposed to do everything in your power to put it out of danger.

"When it will be in my power to replace the sums drawn from you, is hard to divine. All I can say or do is to assure you, that nothing but want of ability shall delay or prevent it.

"When I consider how much might have been saved, had my bills on you been sold to those who would have taken them on the best terms, I cannot forbear thinking, it would be advisable to give me only general authority to draw for such sums as I may want, not exceeding the one you may limit.

"The sum wanted for October is twelve thousand five hundred and sixtyseven dollars, and for November three thousand and six hundred.

"I particularise only the payments due in these two months, because, before the first of December, I hope my expectations from other quarters will at least be ascertained.

"I am, Dear Sir, with great and sincere regard and esteem, your obliged and obedient servant,

JOHN JAY.

"_P. S._ The Marquis d'Yranda has received a letter from Mr Grand, informing him that no more bills are to be drawn upon you by me without further order. I am a little at a loss to determine whether this restriction is intended to extend to the balance, which remains of the twentyfive thousand dollars allotted for the payment of the bills at two months' sight, and for which I was only to draw as occasion might require.

"Lest my having refused to accept some bills drawn upon me by Congress, should give rise to reports prejudicial to their credit, I transmit herewith enclosed a state of that case; you will be pleased to make such use of it, as circumstances may render necessary. I gave a copy of it to the gentleman who presented the bills, and desired that it might be recited at large in the protest.

J. J."

It was not till after several of the bills due in October had become payable, that I received the Doctor's friendly answer of the 29th of September, in which he permitted me to draw for the sum requested; so that had not M. Cabarrus, my banker, consented to make the necessary advances, I should have been extremely embarrassed, for, as I before apprehended, any reliance for immediate though small supplies from this Court would have proved delusive.

This credit from Dr Franklin enabled me to see our bills duly paid for two months, and I had some faint hopes that before the month of December should arrive with further bills, the intention of this Court on the subject of supplies might be ascertained.

I will now proceed to resume the narrative of our affairs here from the date of my abovementioned letter to the President, of the 3d of October last, confining myself to such matters as appear to me necessary to enable you to form a just and clear idea of my negotiations.

My letter of the 3d of October mentions my having been then lately promised, that a person should be appointed to confer with me, as well on the subject of my propositions for a treaty as on that of my application for aids, and that his instructions should be completed before the Court should remove from St Ildefonso to the Escurial, which was soon to take place.

This communication was made to me on the 27th of September, and, lest pretext for delay might arise from my absence, I determined to remain at St Ildefonso until the Court should be on the point of leaving it.

On the 5th of October I found that no further progress in our affairs was to be made before the Court should be settled at the Escurial, to which they were then preparing to go. I therefore concluded to return to Madrid, and, with the approbation of the Ambassador of France, I wrote the following note to the Minister, viz.

"Mr Jay presents his compliments to his Excellency, the Count de Florida Blanca, and has the honor of informing him that he purposes to return to Madrid tomorrow, and will with pleasure attend his Excellency's orders at the Escurial, as soon as it may be convenient to his Excellency to render his presence there necessary.

"_St Ildefonso, October 5th, 1781._"

To this I received the following answer.

Translation.

"The Count de Florida Blanca presents his compliments to Mr Jay, and wishes him a pleasant journey. He will write to him as soon as he can say anything positive on the subject of his last note. _October 5th, 1781._"

Four days afterwards the Count sent me a complaint against Commodore Gillon, of the South Carolina frigate, then lying at Corunna, and I insert copies of the papers which passed between us on that occasion, not only because I ought to give an account of all interesting public transactions, but also that my conduct on this occasion may stand contrasted with that of the Minister on some other similar ones.

_Recital of a Complaint exhibited by the Count de Florida Blanca
against Commodore Gillon._

Translation.

"An American vessel of war has arrived at Corunna, having on board two soldiers, deserters from the Irish regiment of infantry. The commander of the Province having claimed them, the captain refuses to deliver them up on any pretext whatever, pretending, among other reasons, that all his equipage belongs to his Most Christian Majesty. This is not at all probable, for if the officers and crew were subjects of France, it would have been improper to pass off the vessel for a frigate of the United States, under the American flag. Besides, these deserters having fled to a French vessel of war, to the demand of their surrender by the Spanish commander, it was replied on the word of honor of the captain, that they were not on board; so that, supposing the frigate to be a French ship, there is reason to suppose that they would have been surrendered.

"The Count de Florida Blanca has thought it necessary to inform Mr Jay of these facts, in the full persuasion that he will have the goodness to write by the first post to the captain, in such terms as to induce him to surrender the deserters; it shall be understood, that they shall not be punished, and shall finish their engagements in their own corps, or in some other better paid.

"Mr Jay is too reasonable not to grant that it would be unjust for a vessel to appear in a port, solely to require and receive all sorts of attentions and marks of respect, (without any previous claim or engagement) and at the same time to refuse and deliver up any subjects, which it should have on board, of the sovereign of the country in whose name all these tokens of respect have been rendered.

"_October 8, 1781._"

ANSWER TO THE ABOVE.

"Madrid, October 9th, 1781.

"Sir,

"The letter which your Excellency did me the honor to write on the 8th instant arrived this morning. I consider myself much obliged by the communication of the facts mentioned in it, especially as it affords me an opportunity of manifesting to his Majesty and to Congress my attention to his rights and to their orders.

"I perfectly agree in sentiment with your Excellency respecting the impropriety of detaining on board the American frigate at Corunna, the two men claimed by the commandant there, as deserters from one of his Majesty's regiments.

"Your Excellency's remarks on this subject are no less delicate than just; and your assurance that these men shall not be punished renders a compliance with the requisition to deliver them up no less consistent with humanity than with justice.

"It gives me pleasure to confess, that the hospitable reception given to American vessels in the ports of Spain gives his Majesty a double right to expect, that their conduct should at least be inoffensive. In the present case, (as stated in your Excellency's letter) I am fully convinced of the justice of this demand, that I should not hesitate to comply with it, even though made on a similar occasion by the Court of Portugal, from whose affected neutrality we suffer more evils, than we should experience from any open hospitality she is capable of executing.

"Agreeably to your Excellency's desire, I have written a letter (of which the enclosed is a copy) to the commanding officer of the frigate in question; and as the manner in which your Excellency's letter to me treats this subject cannot fail making agreeable impressions on Americans, I shall take the liberty of sending a copy of it to Congress, as well as to the abovementioned officer.

"I cannot omit this opportunity of expressing my acknowledgments for your Excellency's promise to write to me from the Escurial, as soon as you shall be in a capacity to speak positively on the subject of my late letter. Permit me only to remark, that the season wears away fast, and that Congress must be extremely anxious to hear that the delays, which have so long kept them in a disagreeable state of suspense, are finally and happily terminated.

"I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN JAY."

The letter written to the commanding officer of the frigate, a copy of which was furnished to the Count de Florida Blanca, is as follows.

TO COMMODORE GILLON.

"Madrid, October 9th, 1781.

"Sir,

"The paper herewith enclosed is a copy of a letter which I received this morning from his Excellency, the Count de Florida Blanca, his Catholic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State, and Minister for Foreign Affairs.

"You will perceive from it that two men on board your frigate are claimed by this government, as deserters from one of his Majesty's Irish regiments of infantry; and that you are said to have refused to deliver them up, because, among other reasons, your crew are the subjects of his Most Christian Majesty.

"If the men in question are citizens of one or other of the United States of North America, and admitted to be such, refusing to deliver them up, as deserters from the service of Spain, may be proper, because while their own country is at war, they cannot without her consent enter into the service of any other power.

"If they are Spaniards, then they are the subjects of his Catholic Majesty, and ought not to be withheld from him.

"If they are foreigners, in that case whatever right they might have to enter into the American service, they certainly had an equal one to enter into that of Spain; and if they had previously engaged with the latter, their subsequent enlistments with you were void, and Spain being in friendship with us has a just right to reclaim them.

"If they deny their having enlisted in the Spanish service, still like all other foreigners who come into this kingdom they ought to submit to the justice of the country, and you ought not to screen them from it, especially as it cannot be presumed that the charge made against them is destitute of probability.

"As to the circumstance of your crew's being subjects of the King of France, I cannot think that any argument to justify your detaining them can be drawn from it. For admitting them to be French subjects, yet as it may be lawful for them (Spain and France being allies) to enter into the service of Spain, the right of Spain to enlist must necessarily involve a right to compel obedience, and also to retake and punish deserters. Besides, as any questions about the legality of such enlistments concern only those two crowns, Americans cannot with propriety interfere.

"In whatever light I view this affair, I cannot perceive the least right that you can have to detain these men, after having been thus formally and regularly, demanded by proper authority, as deserters from the service of his Catholic Majesty.

"You may observe that I treat this subject merely as a question of justice, arising from that general law, which subsists and ought to be observed between friendly nations.

"I forbear making any remarks on the impolicy of your persisting to detain these men. I hope never to see America do what is right merely because it may be convenient. I flatter myself that her conduct will uniformly be actuated by higher and more generous principles, and that her national character will daily become more and more distinguished, by disinterested justice and heroic magnanimity.

"I shall take the earliest opportunity of transmitting a particular state of this affair to Congress, and I cannot doubt but that your conduct will merit their approbation, by being perfectly consistent with a just regard to the dignity and rights of a sovereign, who has acted not only justly but generously towards our country.

"If your reluctance to deliver up those men should have arisen from an apprehension of their suffering the punishment, which on conviction would be due to their offences, that reluctance ought now to cease, because his Excellency, the Minister, has been pleased to assure me, that they shall not be punished, but only obliged to fulfil those engagements, which they ought to have honestly performed instead of deserting.

"In short, Sir, although on the one hand, I will never advise or encourage you to violate the rights of the meanest man in the world, in order to answer political purposes; yet on the other, I shall always think it my duty to advise and encourage both you and others to render unto Cæsar whatever may belong unto Cæsar.

"I am, &c.

JOHN JAY."

In answer to this letter, the Commodore wrote me one, which, according to the state of facts mentioned in it, showed that the charge against him was precipitate, and, as he in that letter predicted, I have never since heard anything further from the Minister on the subject.

You may recollect, that copies of certain letters from Colonel Searle and Mr Gillon, which I had just received, were subjoined to my letter of the 3d of October last. These letters were soon followed by several others. Colonel Searle's representations against the Commodore's conduct were very strong, and tended to create an opinion, that the ship and public stores on board of her were in danger. He desired me to send some person to Corunna, with proper instructions on the subject, and as an additional inducement offered to transmit to me through him some important information, which had been confidentially communicated to him in Holland by Mr Adams, and which he did not choose to hazard by a common conveyance.

Considering the nature of these representations, and the limits and objects of my commission and instructions, it became a difficult question how far I ought, and in what manner I could interfere. I finally judged it would not be improper to send Mr Carmichael down with instructions to make a full inquiry into the facts alleged against the Commodore, and to use my influence with this government to stop the vessel for the present, in case on such inquiry there should arise a very strong presumption, that such a step would be necessary to preserve her. Mr Carmichael did not think that a business of this kind was within the duty of his appointment, and he doubted his being able to ride post so far. This was a delicate business, and the management of it could with propriety be only committed to one, in whose prudence and circumspection much confidence might be reposed. It would have been improper for me to have undertaken it, because I could not justify exposing by my absence our negotiations for aids and a treaty to unseasonable delays.

Soon afterwards I received a very long exculpatory letter from the Commodore. This letter placed his transactions in a different point of view, and inclined me to think that the proposed interposition on my part would have been unnecessary.

I forbear burthening these despatches with copies of the various letters I have received and written on this subject, as well because, as they relate to transactions in Holland and France, with the public agents and Ministers in those countries, they are not properly within my province, as because they contain nothing of sufficient importance to make it necessary for me again to send further copies.

You will be pleased to observe, that my last letter to the Minister was dated the 9th of October, and that there is a paragraph in it soliciting his speedy attention to the affairs on which he had promised to write to me. I received no answer. Some weeks elapsed and the same silence continued.

I consulted the Ambassador of France, as to the propriety of my going to the Escurial, and endeavoring to prevail upon the Minister to proceed in our affairs, observing that the measures of Spain, with respect to us, might be important if not to this, yet to the next campaign, and that the sooner they were decided, the better enabled Congress would be to regulate their future operations. He was of opinion, that as the Minister had promised to give me notice of the time when he would be able to transact these affairs with me, it would be most prudent to wait with patience somewhat longer, and not by an appearance of too great solicitude, to give him uneasy sensations. All things considered, this advice appeared to me discreet, and I followed it.

Thus the month of October produced nothing but expectation, suspense, and disappointment.

About this time M. Gardoqui mentioned to me a singular ordinance which occasioned, and is explained in the following letter from me to the Minister, viz.

"Madrid, October 28th, 1781.

"Sir,

"M. Gardoqui informs me, that his Majesty was pleased in the month of March last to order, 'that when a prize taken by a French or Dutch vessel should arrive in a port of Spain, the Marine Judge of the District should reduce to writing the evidence of the capture, and deliver it to the French or Dutch consul, (as the case might be) to be by him transmitted to the Admiralty, from whence the commission of the captors issued in order that the legality of the capture might there be tried; and further, that the sentence which might there be passed should, on being duly certified to the aforesaid judge, be executed under his direction.' I am also informed, that on the 12th instant, his Majesty was pleased to extend the abovementioned order to prizes taken by American vessels of war, and sent into any of the ports of Spain.

"So far as this order affects the United States of America, I take the liberty of representing to your Excellency, that the execution of it will necessarily be attended with the following inconveniences.

"1st. The distance of America from Spain is so great, and the intercourse between the two countries rendered so precarious by the war, that many months must unavoidably elapse before the sentence of an American Court of Admiralty can be obtained and executed here.

"2dly. That by these delays all cargoes, or parts of cargoes, which may be of a perishable nature, will be lost, and the value of the vessel and rigging greatly diminished.

"3dly. That as his Majesty has not as yet been pleased to grant the United States the privilege of having consuls in his ports, it is not in their power to provide for the transmission of the evidence of captures, in the manner specified in the abovementioned order.

"4thly. That in case the prize should be claimed as a neutral vessel, the claimants must either prosecute their claim in America, or the sentence given there could not be influenced by it; and yet it is more probable, that those claimants would endeavor to avoid that expense and trouble, by applying here for an order to suspend the execution of the sentence, as well as for a trial of the merits of their claim by a Spanish tribunal. In which case the same cause would become subject to two jurisdictions, and tried by two different independent courts, in two different countries.

"This order not being published, it is possible, that my information respecting it may not be right in all its parts; though I have reason to believe from the usual accuracy of M. Gardoqui, (from whom I received this information) that I am not mistaken.

"There is at present an American prize at Bilboa, and all judicial proceedings respecting it are now at a stand.

"The importance of this subject to the United States, and in some measure to the common cause, will I hope apologize for my troubling your Excellency with these remarks, and for requesting, that the embarrassments in question may be removed, in such a manner as may be most agreeable to his Majesty.

"I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN JAY."

To this letter I never received any answer whatever. After waiting six or eight days I asked M. Gardoqui, who almost daily applied to me on the subject, what could be the reason of so much delay in a case, that admitted of so little doubt. He said he could only account for it by supposing, that the Minister had sent for the original order to prevent mistakes. I asked whether these royal orders were not regularly recorded at the time they were issued. He told me they were not.

For my own part I rather suspect that this order treated us as an independent nation, and that the Minister found it difficult to establish any general regulations respecting our prizes or commerce, without meeting with that obstacle. M. Gardoqui informed me, that one of the Judges permitted him to read it, but would not let him take a copy of it, and that it only contained an extension to American prizes, of the regulations before ordained for Dutch and French ones.

As to the prize at Bilboa, a particular order was issued in that case for selling the ship and cargo, on the captors giving security to produce, within a year, an exemplification of a sentence of an American Court of Admiralty to justify it.

On the 5th of November, M. Gardoqui communicated to me certain letters and papers from which it appeared, that the Cicero, Captain Hill, had been stopped at Bilboa, by an order of the Minister, on a charge of improper conduct towards one of the King's cutters. Upon this subject I wrote the following letter to the Count de Florida Blanca, viz.

"Madrid, November 6th, 1781.

"Sir,

"It gives me much concern to be informed, that the conduct of Captain Hill, of the Cicero, an American private ship of war, towards one of his Catholic Majesty's cutters, has been so represented to your Excellency, as to have given occasion to an order for detaining him at Bilboa.

"This unfortunate affair is represented to me as follows.

"That Captain Hill, with a prize he had taken, was going from Corunna to Bilboa. That in the night of the 26th of October last, he discovered an armed vessel approaching the prize. Captain Hill suspecting it to be a Jersey privateer, hailed her, and ordered her to send her boat on board. They answered in English, that their boat was out of repair. This circumstance increased his suspicions that she was an enemy, and induced him to insist on their sending a boat on board; which not being complied with, he was persuaded it was an enemy, and accordingly gave them a broadside. Upon this they sent a boat to the Cicero and convinced Captain Hill, that the vessel was a Spanish cutter.

"If this is really a true state of the fact, and I have reason to believe it is, I am persuaded, that your Excellency will not think Captain Hill's conduct was unjustifiable, or contrary to the common usage in such cases. Having a valuable prize under his care, it was his duty to protect it, and as it was impossible for him at night to discover an enemy from a friend, in any other manner than the one he used, the Captain of the cutter certainly appears to have been remiss in not sending out his boat at first as well as at last.

"Both the Cicero and her prize now lie at Bilboa, laden with valuable cargoes, and expected to sail from thence for North America on the 16th instant. The privateer alone, has one hundred and forty men on board, and should they not be permitted to sail at the time appointed, a very considerable expense must inevitably be incurred, because they would be obliged to wait for the next spring tides.

"As no American vessel can have the least temptation to violate the rights of Spain, but as on the contrary it is the well known interest, as well as disposition, of the United States to cultivate the friendship of his Catholic Majesty, I am convinced, that there was not in this case the least intention of disrespect to the Spanish flag. Permit me therefore to hope, that your Excellency will be pleased to permit the departure of these vessels by a general order, or on Captain Hill's giving security for the payment of such damages, as he may become chargeable with, on the issue of a judicial inquiry into this transaction.

"I assure your Excellency, that no citizen of America will be countenanced by the United States in any improper conduct towards his Catholic Majesty, or any of his subjects, and if I had the least reason to think, that Captain Hill was in this predicament, it would give me much more pleasure to hear of his being punished than released.

"I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN JAY."

The Count's answer to the above.

Translation.

"The Count de Florida Blanca has the honor to present his compliments to Mr Jay, and to assure him, that the information he has received relative to the affair of the Cicero privateer, as set forth in his letter of the 6th instant, is not correct, the Count having received from persons of respectability and entirely worthy of credit very accurate statements. It is therefore necessary, that some suitable satisfaction should be given, in order to serve as an example to restrain the captains of the American privateers within proper bounds. This is the more necessary, as it is not the first time that we have had reason to complain of their conduct, and to demand reparation.

"_St Lorenzo, November 8th, 1781._"

REPLY TO THE ABOVE NOTE.

"Madrid, November 12th, 1781.

"Sir,

"I have received the letter, which your Excellency did me the honor to write on the 8th instant.

"It gives me pain to hear, that the conduct of an American vessel of war should be so reprehensible as that of the Cicero has been represented to be. It is proper that I should inform your Excellency, that the captains of all American private ships of war give bond with sureties, to fulfil the instructions they receive with their commissions; and that these instructions enjoin them to behave in a proper manner towards friendly nations.

"As the honor and interest of the United States render it highly necessary, that their officers and citizens should, upon all occasions, pay the most scrupulous regard to the rights of other nations, I must request the favor of your Excellency to communicate to me a state of the facts charged against Captain Hill, that by being transmitted immediately to America, Congress may be enabled to take such measures relative to him, as to deter others from the commission of the like offences.

"Your Excellency would also oblige me, by informing me how the satisfaction demanded of Captain Hill is to be ascertained, and to whom it is to be paid. As his remaining much longer in his present situation would be a great loss to his owners, I wish, for their sakes, that he may be released as soon as possible; and, I am persuaded, that your Excellency will not think it necessary to detain him longer than until the satisfaction in question can be ascertained and paid.

"I greatly regret that other American privateers have also given occasion to complaints. I assure your Excellency, that nothing on my part shall be wanting to prevent the like in future, and I am sure that Congress would consider themselves obliged, by your Excellency's putting it in my power to convey to them exact details of any complaints against their officers.

"I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN JAY."

Much reason has been given me to believe, that the hard proceedings against Captain Hill were not justifiable, and the Minister's declining to furnish me with a state of the facts supposed to be alleged against him speaks the same language. What intelligence the Count may have respecting this misconduct of any other of our armed vessels, I know not, nor have I heard any other insinuations of that kind, except what are contained in his note.

The Count omitted to take any notice of my last letter on this subject, and it was not before the 26th of November, that the matter was determined by the order alluded to in the following polite letter.

Translation.

"My Dear Sir,

"From respect to your Excellency and to the American Congress, the King has determined that Captain Hill, on satisfying, or giving security to satisfy, the damage he has done to one of our vessels, on account of which he is detained, shall be at liberty to return to his country when he pleases. For this purpose I communicate the enclosed order to the Corregidor of Bilboa, and repeating myself to be at the service of your Excellency, I pray God to preserve you many years.

COUNT DE FLORIDA BLANCA."

The next day I sent the Count some American papers, which had just come to hand, and enclosed them with a card, in which there was this paragraph.

"Mr Jay has received the letter, which his Excellency did him the honor to write yesterday by M. Gardoqui, and is greatly obliged by the permission granted to Captain Hill to depart, as well as by the polite terms in which that circumstance is communicated to Mr Jay."

As further remonstrance on this subject would have been useless, I thought it best to appear satisfied, and not, by any expressions of discontent, to hazard new obstacles to the attainment of our more important objects.

I must now return to the old subject. Although the Count had been some weeks at the Escurial, and I had in vain waited with great patience for the letter, which the Minister had promised to write to me on leaving St Ildefonso, yet as many bills would become payable in December, and I was unprovided with funds, I thought it high time to remind the Minister of my situation.

I therefore wrote him the following letter.

"Madrid, November 16th, 1781.

"Sir,

"I find myself constrained to beseech your Excellency to think a little of my situation. Congress flatter themselves, that the offers they have made would certainly induce his Majesty at least to assist them with some supplies. The residue of the bills drawn upon me remain to be provided for. Those payable in the next month amount to thirtyone thousand eight hundred and nine dollars. Would it be too inconvenient for your Excellency to lend us this sum? Before January, when further bills would become payable, your Excellency may probably find leisure to give me an answer respecting our propositions. The time presses; I entreat your Excellency's answer. I can only add, that I am, with great consideration and respect, &c.

JOHN JAY."

To this letter I never received any answer, and it is remarkable, that the Count's subsequent letter of the 26th of November, announcing the permission given to Captain Hill to depart, does not take the least notice of it. Whatever might be the Minister's real intentions, as to furnishing me with the funds necessary to pay the bills to become due in December, it appeared to me imprudent to neglect any means in my power to provide for the worst. I therefore apprised Dr Franklin (to whom I am under great obligations, and have given much trouble) of my hazardous situation by the following letter.

"Madrid, November 21st, 1781.

"Dear Sir,

"It seems as if my chief business here was to fatigue you and our good allies with incessant solicitations on the subject of the ill timed bills drawn upon me by Congress. It is happy for me that you are a philosopher, and for our country that our allies are indeed our friends. _Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur._

"This Court continues to observe the most profound silence respecting our propositions.

"I cannot as yet obtain any answer to any of my applications for aids. Heretofore the Minister was too sick or too busy. At present his Secretary is much indisposed. I have requested that he would lend us for the present only as much as would satisfy the bills of December, viz. thirtyone thousand eight hundred and nine dollars; no answer. What is to be done? I must again try and borrow a little, and, as usual, recur to you. Thank God, no new bills arrive; if they did, I should refuse to accept them; only a few straggling old ones now and then appear.

"Would not the Court of France, on your representing this matter to them, enable you to put an end to this unhappy business? Thirty thousand pounds sterling would do it. I am sure the evils we should experience from the protest of these bills would cost even France a vast deal more. You see my situation; I am sure I need not press you to deliver me from it if in your power.