know in your next what you may think proper to communicate to me of the contents of it. I am, with great regard, dear Sir, &c. DEAR SIR, B. FRANKLIN. Passy, March 30, 1780. I WROTE to you yesterday, relating to the affair of your letter to Mr. Carmichael, that you might know exactly the truth of the transaction. On reflection I think it proper to add, that what I wrote was for your satisfaction only; and that as the making it public would give infinite pain to a very worthy man, Mr. F. Grand who would then appear in the light of délateur de son frère; and it can serve no other purpose but that of vengeance on Sir George, and be of no advantage to you, I must insist on your generosity in keeping it a secret to yourself. In this you will also very much oblige me, who would by no means have my name publicly mentioned on this occasion; and I depend on your compliance. With great esteem, &c. B. FRANKLIN. Passy, April 23, 1780. DEAR SIR, I AM much pleased with the account you give me of the disposition with which the proposals from the empress of Russia have been received, and desire to be informed, from time to time, of the progress of that interesting busi ness. I shall be glad to hear of your reconciliation with the ambassador because a continuance of your difference will be extremely inconvenient. Permit me to tell you frankly, what I formerly hinted to you, that I apprehend you suffer yourself too easily to be led into personal prejudices by interested people, who would engross all our confidence to themselves. From this source have arisen, I imagine, the charges and suspicions you have insinuated to me against several who have always declared a friendship for us, in Holland. It is right that you should have an opportunity of giving the carte du pais to Mr. Laurens, when he arrives in Holland. But if, in order to serve your particular friends, you fill his head with these prejudices, you will hurt him and them, and perhaps yourself. There does not appear to me the least probability, in your supposition, that the ambassador is an enemy to America. Here has been with me a gentleman from Holland, who was charged, as he said, with a verbal commission from divers cities, to enquire whether it was true that Amsterdam had, as they heard, made a treaty of commerce with the United States, and to express, in that case, their willingness to enter into a similar treaty. Do you know any thing of this? What is become, or likely to become, of the plan of a treaty, formerly under consideration? By a letter from Middlebourg, to which the enclosed is an answer, a cargo seized and sent to America, as English property, is reclaimed, partly on the supposition that free ships make free goods. They ought to do so between England and Holland, because there is a treaty which stipulates it; but there being yet no treaty between Holland and America to that purpose, I apprehend that the goods being declared by the captain to be English, a neutral ship will not protect them, the law of nations governing in this case, as it did before the treaty above mentioned. Tell me if you please your opinion. I am ever, dear Sir, &c. B. FRANKLIN. Mr. Adams, to M. Dumas. Paris, Hotel de Valois, Rue de Richelieu, May 21, 1780. SIR, HIS Excellency Dr. Franklin lent me the enclosed letter from sir Henry Clinton to lord George Germaine, upon condition, that I would send a copy of it to you.-A privateer from Boston, had the good fortune to take the packet, bound to London, and the mails, in which, among others, this letter was found. It was sent from Boston to Philadel phia, and there published in a newspaper of the 8th of April. One of these papers arrived, within a few days, at L'Orient, in a vessel from Philadelphia. It is a pity but it should be published in every newspaper in the world, in an opposite column to a late speech of lord George Germaine in the house of commons, as his document in support of his assertions. I have the honor to be, with great respect, &c. JOHN ADAMS. To M. Dumas. DEAR SIR, Passy, June 5, 1780. THE gentleman whose name you wished to know, in one of your late letters, is M. Westhuysen, échévin et conseiller de la Ville de Harlem. I shall probably send an order to that place for some of the types, of which you have sent me the prices, before I leave Europe. I think them very good and not dear. A Dutch ship belonging to Messrs. Little, Dale, and Co. of Rotterdam, being brought into France as having an English cargo on board, I have followed your opinion with regard to the condemnation of the cargo, which I think the more right, as the English have in the West Indies confiscated several of our cargoes found in Dutch ships. But to shew respect to the declaration of the empress of Russia, I have written to the owners of our privateers, a letter of which I enclose a copy, together with a copy of the judgment, for your use, if you hear of any complaint. I approve much of the principles of the confederacy of the neutral powers, and am not only for respecting the ships as the house of a friend, though containing the goods of an enemy, but I even wish for the sake of humanity, that the law of nations may be farther improved, by determining that even in time of war, all those kinds of people who are employed in procuring subsistence for the species, or in exchanging the necessaries or conveniences of life, which is for the common benefit of mankind; such as husbandmen on their lands, fishermen in their barques, and traders in unarmed vessels, shall be permitted to prosecute their e veral innocent and useful employments without interruption or molestation, and nothing taken from them, even when wanted by an enemy, but on paying a fair price for the same. I think you have done well to print the letter of Clinton; for though I have myself had suspicions whether some parts of it were really written by him, yet I have no doubt of the facts stated, and think the piece valuable, as giving a true account of the state of British and American affairs in that quarter. On the whole, it has the appearance of a letter written by a general who did not approve of the expedition he was sent upon,-who had no opinion of the judgment of those who drew up his instructions,-who had observed that preceding commanders, Gage, Burgoyne, Keppel, and the Howes, had all been censured by the ministers for having unsuccessfully attempted to execute injudicious instructions with unequal force,--and he therefore wrote such a letter, not merely to give the information contained in it, but to be produced in his vindication, when he might be recalled, and his want of success charged upon him as a crime; though, in truth, owing to the folly of the ministers who had ordered him on impracticable projects, and persisted in them notwithstanding his faithful informations, without furnishing the necessary number of troops he had demanded, In this view much of the letter may be accounted for, without supposing it fictitious; and therefore if not genuine it is ingeniously written: But you will easily conceive, that if the state of public facts it contains, were known in America to be false, such a publication there would have been absurd, and of no possible use to the cause of the country. I have written to Mr. Neufville concerning the bills you mention. I have no orders or advice about them, know nothing of them, and therefore cannot prudently meddle with them; especially as the funds in my power are not more than sufficient to answer the congress bills for interest, and other inevitable demands. He desired to know whether I would engage to reimburse him if he should accept and pay them; but as I know not the amount of them, I cannot enter into any such engagement: for though, if they are genuine congress bills, I am persuaded all possible eare will be taken by congress to provide for their punctual payment, yet there are so many accidents by which remittances are delayed or intercepted in the time of war, that I dare not hazard for these new bills, the possibility of being rendered unable to pay the others. With great esteem I am, &c. B. FRANKLIN. P. S. I cannot prescribe, as you desire, any thing relating to your affair with 62. Your own judgment ought to guide you. I shall be careful to furnish you early with any good news we may receive. If the 732 cannot be immediately made, it may with prudence come on by degrees. (The copy of the judgment will be sent by next post.) COPY OF THE JUDGMENT. To Messrs. the fudges of the Admiralty at Cherbourg. Passy, May 16th, 1780. GENTLEMEN, I HAVE received the procés verbaux, and other papers you did me the honor to send me, agreeable to the 11th article of the regulation of the 27th September, 1778. These pieces relate to the taking of the ship Flora, whereof was captain Henry Roodenberg, bound from Rotterdam to Dublin, and arrived at Cherbourg in France, being taken the 7th day of April by captain Dowlin, commander of the American privateer the Black Prince. It appears to me from the above mentioned papers, that the said ship Flora is not a good prize, the same belonging to the subjects of a neutral nation: but that the cargo is really the property of the subjects of the king of England, though attempted to be masqued as neutral. I do therefore request that after the cargo shall be landed, you would cause the said ship Flora to be immediately restored to her captain, and that you would oblige the captors to pay him his full freight, according to his bills of lading, and also to make good all the damages he may have sustained by plunder or otherwise; and I farther request, that as the cargo |