Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

quarter in consequence of the past; his Majesty, always eager to manifest his concurrence in the friendly sentiments of his most Christian Majesty, agrees forthwith that the armaments, and, in general, all preparations for war, shall be mutually discontinued, and that the marines of the two natións shall be placed on the footing of a peace establishment, such as existed on the first of January of the present

year.

DORSET,
WM. EDEN.

At Versailles, the 27th of October, 1787.

COUNTER-DECLARATION.

It neither being, nor ever having been, the intention of his Majesty to interpose by force in the affairs of the Republic of the United Provinces, the communication made to the Court of London by Mr. Barthelemy having had no other object than to announce to that Court an intention, the motives of which no longer exist, especially since the King of Prussia has made known his resolution, his Majesty makes no difficulty in declaring that he has no wish to act in pursuance of the communication aforesaid, and that he entertains no hostile view in any quarter relative to what has passed in Holland.

Consequently, his Majesty, desiring to concur in the sentiments of his Britannic Majesty for the preservation of a good understanding between the two Courts, consents with pleasure to the proposition of his Britannic Majesty, that the armaments, and, in general, all preparations for war, shall be mutually discontinued, and that the navies of the two nations shall be replaced upon the footing of the peace establishment, as it existed on the first day of January of the present

[blocks in formation]

I shall take the liberty of confiding sometimes to a private letter such details of the small history of the Court or Cabinet, as may be

He

worthy of being known, and yet not proper to be publicly communicated. I doubt whether the Administration is yet in a permanent form. The Count de Montmorin and Baron de Breteuil are, I believe, firm enough in their places. It was doubted whether they would wait for the Count de la Luzerne if the war had taken place; but, at present, I suppose they will. I wish it, also, because M. de Hector, his only competitor, has on some occasions shewn little value for the connexion with us. Lambert, the Comptroller General, is thought to be very insecure. I should be sorry, also, to lose him. I have worked several days with him, the Marquis de la Fayette, and Monsieur du Pont, (father of the young gentleman gone to America with the Count de Moustier,) to reduce into one arrêt whatever concerned our commerce. I have found him a man of great judgment and application, possessing good general principles on subjects of commerce, and friendly dispositions towards us. passed the arrêt in a very favorable form; but it has been opposed in the Council, and will, I fear, suffer some alteration in the article of whale oil. That of tobacco, which was put into a separate instru ment, experiences difficulties also, which did not come from him. M. du Pont has rendered us essential services on these occasions. I wish his son could be so well noticed as to make a favorable report to his father; he would, I think, be gratified by it, and his good dispositions be strengthened and rendered further useful to us. Whether I shall be able to send you these regulations by the present packet will depend on their getting through the Council in time. The Archbishop continues well with his patroness. Her object is a close connexion with her brother. I suppose he convinces her that peace will furnish the best occasion of cementing that connexion.

It may not be uninstructive to give you the origin and nature of his influence with the Queen. When the Duke de Choiseul proposed the marriage of the Dauphin with this lady, he thought it proper to send a person to Vienna to perfect her in the language. He asked his friend, the Archbishop of Toulouse, to recommend to him a proper person. He recommended a certain Abbé. The Abbé, from his first arrival in Vienna, either tutored by his patron or prompted by gratitude, impressed on the Queen's mind the exalted talents and merits of the Archbishop, and continually represented him as the only man fit to be placed at the helm of affairs. On his

return to Paris, being retained near the person of the Queen, he kept him constantly in her view. The Archbishop was named of the Assemblée des Notables, had occasion enough there to prove his talents, and Count de Vergennes, his great enemy, dying opportunely, the Queen got him into place. He uses the Abbé even yet for instilling all his notions into her mind. That he has imposing talents and patriotic dispositions I think is certain. Good judges think him a theorist only, little acquainted with the details of business, and spoiling all his plans by a bungling execution. He may perhaps undergo a severe trial. His best actions are exciting against him a host of enemies, particularly the reduction of the pensions and reforms in other branches of economy. Some think the other Ministers are willing to stay in till he has effected this odious yet necessary work, and that they will then make him the scape-goat of the transaction. The declarations, too, which I send you in my public letter, if they should become public, will probably raise a universal cry. It will all fall on him, because Montmorin and Breteuil say, without reserve, that the sacrifice of the Dutch has been against their advice. He will, perhaps, not permit these declarations to appear in this country. They are absolutely unknown; they were communicated to me by the Duke of Dorset, and I believe no other copy has been given here. They will be published, doubtless, in England, as a proof of their triumph, and may from thence make their way into this country. If the Premier can stem a few months, he may remain long in office, and will never make war if he can help it. If he should be removed, the peace will probably be short. He is solely chargeable with the loss of Holland. True, they could not have raised money by taxes to supply the necessities of war; but could they do it were their finances ever so well arranged? No nation makes war now-a-days but by the aid of loans; and it is probable that in a war for the liberties of Holland all the treasures of that country would have been at their service. They have now lost the cow which furnishes the milk of war. She will be on the side of their enemies whenever a rupture shall take place; and no arrangement of their finances can countervail this circumstance.

I have no doubt you permit access to the letters of your foreign Ministers by persons only of the most perfect trust. It is in the European system to bribe the clerks high, in order to obtain copies

of interesting papers. I am sure you are equally attentive to the conveyance of your letters to us, as you know that all are opened that pass through any post office of Europe. Your letters which come by the packet, if put into the mail at New York, or into the post office at Havre, wore proofs that they had been opened. The passenger to whom they are confided should be cautioned always to keep them in his own hands till he can deliver them personally in Paris.

I have the honor to be, &c.,

TH: JEFFERSON.

FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN.

Paris, November 6, 1787.

Sir,

I take the liberty of asking your Excellency's perusal of the enclosed case of an American hostage, confined in the prisons of Dunkirk. His continuance there seems to be useless and yet endless. Not knowing how far the Government can interfere for his relief, as it is a case wherein private property is concerned, I do not presume to ask his liberation absolutely, but I will solicit from your Excellency such measures in his behalf as the laws and usages of the country may permit.

The Comptroller General having been so good as to explain to me, in a conversation, that he wished to know what duties were levied in England on American whale oil, I have had the honor of informing him, by letter, that the ancient duties on that article are seventeen pounds six shillings and six pence sterling the ton, and that some late additional duties make them amount to about eighteen pounds sterling. That the common whale oil sells there but for about twenty pounds sterling the ton, and, of course, the duty amounts to a prohibition. This duty was originally laid on all foreign fish oil, with a view to favor the British and American fisheries. When we became independent, and, of course, foreign to Great Britain, we became subject to the foreign duty. No duty, therefore, which France may think proper to lay on this article, can drive it to the English market. It could only oblige the inhabitants of Nantucket to abandon their fisheries. But the poverty of their soil offering them no other resource, they must quit their country,

and either establish themselves in Nova Scotia, where, as British fishermen, they may participate of the British premium, in addition to the ordinary price of their whale oil, or they must accept the conditions which this Government offers for the establishment they have proposed at Dunkirk. Your Excellency will judge what conditions may counterbalance in their minds the circumstances of the vicinity of Nova Scotia, sameness of language, laws, religion, customs, and kindred. Remaining in their native country, to which they are most singularly attached, excluded from commerce with England, taught to look to France as the only country from which they can derive sustenance, they will, in case of war, become useful rovers against its enemies. Their position, their poverty, their courage, their address, and their hatred, will render them formidable scourges on the British commerce. It is to be considered then, on the one hand, that the duty which M. de Calonne had proposed to retain on this oil, may endanger the shifting this useful body of seamen out of our joint scale into that of the British; and also, may suppress a considerable subject of exchange for the productions of France. On the other hand, that it may produce an addition to his Majesty's revenue. What I have thus far said is on the supposition that the duty may operate as a diminution of the price received by the fisherman. If it act in the contrary direction, and produce an augmentation of price to the consumer, it immediately brings into competition a variety of other oils, vegetable and animal, a good part of which France receives from abroad; and the fisherman, thus losing his market, is compelled equally to change either his calling or country. When M. de Calonne first agreed to reduce the duties to what he has declared, I had great hopes the commodity could bear them, and that it would become a medium of commerce between France and the United States. I must confess, however, that my expectations have not been fulfilled, and that little has come here as yet. This induces me to fear that it is so poor an article that any duty whatever will suppress it. Should this take place, and the spirit of emigration once seize those people, perhaps an abolition of all duty might then come too late to stop what it would now easily prevent. I fear there is danger in the experiment, and it remains for the wisdom of his Majesty and his Ministers to decide whether the prospect of gain to the revenue or establishing a national fishery may compensate this danger. If the Government should decide to retain the duty, I

« ZurückWeiter »