The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1779-06-01 00:00:00, page 1

For the PENNSYLVANIA PACKET.
IT is now about fix months since Mr. Deane made his
addrtfs to the Public, on sundry matters of great im
portance to the United States. It was expected that those
matters would be enquired into with the utmost expedite
on : And that immediately after such enquiry, proper
measures would be pursued, to prevent the Empire from
{attaining further injury from &contentions of jarring
Commissioners ; and to punish luch'of them, as faould be
found to have facrificed the public good to their own in
terest or resentment. Why this, so important a business,
has been so long protracted ; why at this day, not a fin
ite step has been taken to eff@a those great purposes, juft
iy excites anxiety and furprize. With regard to Mr.
Deane himfelf, it does not appear, that Congress has yet
come to any determination concerning him ; that he has
yet given any solid fatisfadion respecting the differences
between him and the other Commissioners; nor even in
refpea to the vast sums of public money which have passed
through his hands. In this state of things, it seems neces
sary that the whole affair, and the proceedings thereon
subsequent to Mr. Deane's address, should be critically ex
amined. Such an enquiry will probably enable us t® de
termine, with tolerable precision, whether the dilatoriness
that has prevailed in regard to this business, was owing to
real difficulties in the business itfelf, or was occasioned by
obstacles artfully contrived for the purpose of delay, in
order to serve sinister ends. To contribute in some mea
sure to so ufetul a work, I shall examine Mr. Deane's ad
dress, which gave us 1 the firft information on the affair in
queftion.'
Mr. Leane is also the firft person who has brought be
fore the public matters that were depending, and others
that, in the firft inftaace, were properly cognizable only
in Congress. \To account .for so extraordinary a measure,
we must suppose him to have been impelled to it by some
very powerful motive. And as the knowledge of what
that motive really was, may probably throw some light
on the meritsef the several matters which are the fubjefts
of the address, I shall endeavour to investigate arid ascer
tain it. Mr. Deane, indeed, has declared his motive;
but as impartiality will not allow us to call it in question.
without examination ; so neither will it permit us to ac
quiesce in it, until we fliall find feme other authority for
it than his own assertion. Nor can this liberty of think
ing for ourselves be justly censured. Mr. Deane cautions
us against artifice, to beware, and on our guard. It is
indeed of confluence in these times, that political cha
racters should be freely canvassed; and that they should
be thoroughly and generally known. I shall therefore
premise a few observations, which may not only facilitate
the present enquiry, but enable persons of common capa
city to make a pretty good judgment of men in public life.
Where there may be different motives to the fame action,
it must often be difficult to ascertain the real one. There
is a political, as well as a religious hypocrif). The affect
ed fandity of the one, and the pretended patriotism of the
other, are assumed on the fame principle—to deceive the
world and benefit onefelf by thedeception, But notwith
fianding the art and care with whic h political hypocrites
conceal and disguise their views and conduct, and the
pains they take to mislead, perplex, and throw other
people off the real scent, there are a few leading princi
ples by which, if we examine their proceedings, we rray
often discover that there is an indirect design at bottom,
though we may not be immediately able to develope the
particulars of it.
In a man who a&s on virttisus principles, there is a
conformity between his actions and declarations. His
conduct will ever be candid, uniform and confident. He
will not boast of his patriotism in public, and be guilty of
indirect practices in private, to enrich himfelf at the ex
pence of his country. Should he have been honored with
a public trull; having eritertaimed no sordid views, nor
committed any unworthy aft in the discharge of it, he
has no need to disguise, misrepresent, conceal, or suppress
any part of his conduct, or to evade any enquiry. On
the contrary, conscious integrity will prompt him, on
every occasion, to state faffs, not partially and fallacioufly,
but fully and fairly ; to lay open the whole truth, and to
give the fuheft fatisfaHion. Should he have been con
cerned in money tranfa&i®ns, his accounts will be clear
and explicit; the vouchers ready: He will not refuse,
nor artfully decline, to deliver and fettle them ; but will
studiously endeavour to give his employers a decided proof
of his integrity and honor. These are felf evident truths :
and though some men possess greater refinement of fenti
mint than others, there are, nevertheless, in every man's
breast, fnfficiently just notions of truth, juflice, honor and
patriotism, that, where he is not personally interested,
will enable him to judge rightly, how far plain faffs and
declarations are confident or inconsistent with these sacred
principles, and with each other. I', therefore, instead
of troubling ourselves with insinuations, affections, pro
feffions, and other disputable things; and bewildering
ourselves iri the mazes of fophiflical reasoning, we were to
coilea oncemtroverted fads, and the plain declarations of
the person's motive and design, and try them by this un-
TUESDAY, s J UNE i, 177^ '
THE
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GENERAL ^^^B# ADVERTISER
[ Price 2s. 6d. single, 2S. by the quantity.}, Publiihed every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. ]
erring test, we should be able to form a tolerably just
opinion of a man's principles and proceedings.
Let us now examine Mr. Deane's address by this plain
criterion. In the very beginning of the performance, he
fays,"
“ I do not address you on my own account, but on
“ jour,." " I d@not,wifh to prejudice any man, but to
" serve my country."
" What I write to you, I would have said to your Re
" prefentatives: Their ears have been shut against me."
'' While it was faje to be silent, my lips were closed.
“ Necessity hath opened them, and necessity must excuse
", this efort to serve, by inf&ming you,"
These are his very words. Let us next fee how his con
dud agrees with these declarations.
The address contains a number of complaints and insi
nuations against Arthur and William Lee, Commissioners
in Europe. Mr. Deane rfaivel, declares, “ Thnt the
former gave great and just cause of offence to the Court of
Madrid : That both of them gave universal disgust to the
French nation: That Arthur Lee was fufpeded of dis
closing the secrets of America : That he was of no small
prejudice te our affairs, by his undisguised hatred of, and
expressions of contempt for, the French nation in general :
That Mr. Lee's Secretary went to and from London,
charged with affairs that were secret to the other Com
missioners: That MF. Lee was dragged into the treaty
with France with the utmost reludance : And he insinu
ates, that though it was agreed the treaty should be kept
a profound secret, Mr. Lee gave intelligence of it to Lord
Shelburne; and that lie even wrote a letter to a person in
England, the very day the treaty was signed, mentioning
that such an event had taken place that day.' Mr. Deane
further positively declares, “ That William Lee, the Com
mercial Agent, declined to aft for some time, left his pro
perty in England should be affeded thereby, though he
was loudly called upon to regulate certain affairs : And
that the said William Lee had displaced a person who had
faithfully done the business in one of the ports of France'
for two per cent, in favor of another who is to receive five
per cent."
I shall not enquire whether these declarations and insinu
ations are true or falfe. The inferences I shall draw from
them, will be fufficiently conclusive without such a discus
sion. I beg leave just to remind the reader, that Mr.
Deane had been five months in America, when he brought
these charges against the Lees. Now, if these charges are
not true, every person of honor will think Mr. Deane high
ly culpable for publishing them, and have a right to im
pute his conduft to the bafefl principles. And pray, if Mr.
Deane really believed them true, can we think otherwise of
him for concealing them for 5 months after his arrival in
America ? Several of these alledged fads appear, by Mr.
Deane's address, to have happened long before Mr. D. left
France. Ought he not then, while he was i® France, to
have informed Congress of them immediately by letter, and
have laid his proofs before them ? But further : ought he
not, within 24 hours after his arrival at Congress, to have
acquainted that Body with so momentous an-affair as the
treachery, incapacity and unfitnefs of two of its servants,
who are enrrufted with our raoft important concerns at 4.
of the principal Courts in Europe, besides our commercial
interests in France ? To fay that their ears were shut against
him, and that he could not obtain an audience, is no ex
cuse. Could he not have done it by letter I Could he not
have acquainted the President with it, or the Secret Com
mittee, whom he saw every day ? Concealment of matters
of such moment at the time they ought to be divulged,
and to publish them long afterwards, has a flrange appear
ance; What renders Mr. Deane's conduft in this refpe&
still more criminal, is, that he pleads in excuse for not
bringing the public papers with him; that he was recalled
merely to give Congress an account of the state of affairs
in Europe : yet notwithflanding that it was, according to
his own confelEon, his immediate duty to give Congrefo
this important information, he neither on his arrival, nor
at his audiences of Congress, nor in his subsequent letters
to that Body, ever mentioned it. Was it then purely to
serve his country, that Mr. Deane deliberately concealed
these dangerous abuses, till he had been 5 months in A
merica ? And was it fife to be silent all the while that his
bps were closed? Was it also purely to serve his country,
that he at length abruptly divulged the important intelli
gence ? And did the necessity for opening bis tips, take
place j^ft at that moment, and not before ? Was it also to
serve bis country mere effe&ually,, that he communicated
his information, hot to Congress, but to the people at large ;
bccaufe they, not Congress, had the immediate fuperinten
dance of public affairs, and were te displace the public ser
vants in case of railbehaviour ?
Though Mr. Deane is fe very particular in regard to the
Lees, he is extremely concise in refpea to his own tranf
aftions. Whether that is owing to his modefly or his pru
dence, will bes lappear from the sequel. It is certain, that
where little is said, there is less chance of furnifhing a clue
which may lead to troublesome enquiries. What he fays
on that head is substantially this, that on the 4th of March,
he received a resolution of Congress, in which ^re these
very words, "that Congress have rfelved that the Hon.
Silas Deane be recalledJrom the Court of France, and have
appointed another Cr?nmiffoner to fuffl, bis place there,—.
tnat having placed his papers and yours in a place of fafety,
he left Paris the ?cth, to embark for his native country.
I hat whoi he arrived at Philadelphia, he fojicited an au-t
dience of Congr < fs, which after many delays, which fan,
circumfiances rendered unavoidable he obtained. He was
twice heard before that Hon. Body, viz, on t^e tgtli and
on the 21st of August, when he gave them, he fays, as
good a general account of the matters entrusted to him as
the time would permit : it being his intent to delivery^-
b and by itfelf, a ksflory es those affairs. But that after
these two audiences, he had been unable to obtain a third
the' he had contintaily Elicited it, and written several let
ters for that purpose.
Why fhohld Mr. Deane give us this little narrative,
which has no connexion with what goes before or after;
nor conveys any ufeful information ? It certainly conveys
an idea that Mr., D. obeyed the order of Congress with a
lacrity ; that, like a most careful Agent, he placed his and
your p pers in a place of fafety, previous to his embarka
tion ; and that on hisarrival here, like a good and faith
ful Steward, he earnestly Elicited to render an account of
his trust. it conveys ail this ; but whether it was intro
duced for that purpose; and whether it is most likely to
serve Mr. D-'s country or himfelf; and how far it is con
sonant to truth, remain to be unravelled.
How plavfible soever this little narrative may appear to
unthinking; people, there is a tircumfiance which invali
dates the whole, and places Mr. D—'s conduct in a inoft
suspicious light. He tells us within air of confidence, as
if he had done and was to do some signal business, that at
his audiences of Congress, he gave them a general account
of matters, and that it was his intent to deliver singly a
btfory of these affairs, &c. But there is nothing said in the
whole address of his accounts and vouchers, relative to the
public money; not a word that he was ready, aifreus,
that he had folidted, , or that it even was his intent to lay
them before Congress, to explain and fettle them. Near
four millions of livres have passed through Mr. D--'s hands:
and surely no person of common understanding can think
of accepting a general and verbal account of mixed matters,
in lieu of regular accounts and vouchers of the expences
here of the public treasure. *
Mr. D. indeed tells us, that he has left his papers and
yours in France. This ad, circumflanced as he was, %
utterly unjufiifiable. Mr. D— has given us the resolve by
which he was not only recalled,but informed that Congress
bad appointed another Commissioner in his place. ~ Ne
could not therefore have the least reason to suppose that he
was to return to France in his former character ; nor could
he think otherwise than that a proper and regular settle
ment of accounts would be expected from him here ; and
he ought accordingly to have prepared, and brought with
him every thing feceffary to do it in the most fatisfadary
manner. Ido not mean to insinuate that he could com
plete his accounts down to the day of his departure ; but
there is a material difference between doing that, and lea
ving all the accounts in France. Mr. D. was sole Agent
many months before the arrival of the other Commission
ers ; and it was not till many months after they joined
him, that he embarked for America. The accounts there
fore during his sole Agency, must have been long closed,
and might surely have been brought with him. No good
reason can be assigned why they, and even a great part of
the subsequent ones, were left behind. The omission can
only be accounted for on the raoft unfavorable suspicions.
To urge the danger of the sea or of the enemy, is absurd.
Paris is a place where a fufficient number of hands may
easily be procured, to copy all his and your papers in a
few days, were they much more volumnious than there
is reason to suppose them to be. What view of public con
venience, of public advantage, could Mr. D. have in lea
ving the public accounts in France? Who so proper to
bring them, or copies of them, as he who contrasted them,
and could best, or perhaps solely explain them ?
After these general observations, let ®s recur again to the
criterion we laid down, and ask ourselves how a person,
who had faithfully discharged his trust, would aft on such
an occasion? Would he not, previous to his departure from
France, colled every paper that tended to prove the ability
and rectitude of his condad? WeuN he not, in what relates
to money matters, be careful to have his accounts and
vouchers regularly drawn out and arranged? Would he
not, on his arrival, be desirous and anxious to lay before
Congress, not a general and verbal account of matters, but
regular accounts and vouchers of the expenditure of public
money ; and declare his readiness to answer any question,
and to give the utmost f#sfadion on that or any other
fubjed, on which he had been employed? Had many
bickerings and disputes, as Mr. D. calls them, happened
between him and a Fellow Commissioner, had insinuations
and mifreprefentatjons been transmitted to his disadvan
tage ; would not prudence, would not justice to himfelf,
and a regard to his own reputation, render him still more
foli< itous, if peffiblk, to bring with him, net merely the
accounts and vouchers, but every other authentic docu
ment, in order the more effectually to vindicate and dif
pby his integrity and honor ?
(For the remailer fee the forth P.^eQ