The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1780-04-11 00:00:00, page 1

EXTRACTS from! LETTER written to
the P R ESI deNT of Congress, by the
Hon. ARTHUR LEE, Esq_ui r e, in
answer to an ADDRESS, pubhihed in the
Pennsylvania Pack bet, of the Fifth
of DECEMBER, 1778. By SILAS
DEANE. Esquire,
(Continued from our left)
January 3, 1778.
" <X7 " wrote federal letters addr^ffed to your
direction to which we received answers
only from Mell. Franklin and Deane, which gave
as room to imagine you were absent. in confeqnenc3
of which we replied only to them Gentlemen.”
Neither these letters nor answers in general were
communicated to me. Possibly Mr. Deane may
have poetically put his friend Mr. Beaumarchais fur
the French nation, a# I have certainly given him
disgust by oppofiag a demand for 200,0001. Sterling
against my country, the justness of which I have ve
ry rood reason to doubt.
There could not be a thing more notorious than
that I associated with, and cultivated the French
people ten times mote than Mr. Deane. It is true I
did not attempt to have my name celebrated, at all
powerful and all bounteous, in every coffee house
in Paris, by arrogating Sovereign power, giving com-,
missions and recommendatory letters to all persons
who would attend at my levee, and flatter my great
nefs. I considered such conduft a, criminal and
never coneured in i\ In my judgment it was an
efurpation of the Sovereign power, which sent us,
and exercised without the lead diftin&ion or difeern
nient. It is in vain to fay, the court was defiroue
those officers might be sent, and that recommendato
ry letters, were not conclusive upon Congref^. I
have had it from the Minifies himfelf, that he disap
proved of it; Those who gave the recommenda
tory letters, knew that the persons receiving them,
considered them as comm ffionr ; and when they
were disappointed, they deemed and complained of
it as an a& of the hi,hpa injustice.
Congrats know hew much money and diftjuiet
these ill judged and pefumptuous proceedings have
cofl them and the public. Ai soon as Mr. Deane
informed me of his arrival and business, I came to
Paris at the hazard of my life to consult with him,
and communicate to him Whatever was in my pow
er for his information;. Without derogating from
the transcendent abilities of which this Gentlemen
thinks himfelf poffetfed. it mi&ht have been Supposed
that one who had been so long in Europe, engaged
and a&ive from tR beginning in this Qeflien, re
peatedly employed and actually in equal trufi with
himfelf, might have given fonts ufeful advice. But
Mr. Deane neither ever communicated or confuted
With me; and when I offered my opinion, he re
ceived it with such captious rudeness and indecency,
is soon Satisfied me of the inutility of ttgain repeat
ing it. I hope I Shall be pardoned for begging the
attention of Congress, while I also answer the accu
sation of Mr Deane against my brother, who, being
absent in Germany, cannot defend himfelf by this
opportunity. I have in my possession, proofs of the
untruth of every charge which he has made. Mr.
Deane fays, that after informing Mr. William Lee
of his appointment as commercial agent, "He heard
nothing from him till the month of jane; when he
arrived in Paris." My brother Wrote to me immedi
ately that he would come over as soon as he could
fettle his affairs: cf which I informed both my col
leagues. He c^me when I was in Germany, and
remained here by the expreSs advice of Dr. Franklin
and Mr. Deane, he having no commission to aft, and
they refufi.ig to give him any countenance, till Mr.
Ross wrote in the following words, from Nantz, to
teftify that he was authorised, and to press his com
ing down.
TUESDAY, April 11, 1780; THE NUMBER 794:
CONNECTICUT COURAN T,
AND THE
WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER.
Nantz, July 22, 1777
" Permit me noT to inform you, that Mr. Morris
is possessed ofthe icArcDons to Mr. Lee from Com
mittee cf Cong?eft, on his being appointed commer
cial agent hee; Since your left letter came tb my
HAR TFO R D : Printed by HUDSON and GOODWIN, near the Great-Bridge.
hand I fufpeaed this to be the case, from feme tir-
Cvrnfhnces and by accident lad evening learned it to
be so. These inAruAions are contained in a letter
add^ffed to Mr. Lee and Mr. Morris, as joint a^ents
which is similar and of equal force, with the Sepa
rate powers on which Mr. Morris has aAed hitherto.
I take therefore the liberty to recommend Mr Lie's
repairing hither immediately t® assume the manage
ment."
(Signed) JOHNROS S.
This letter was addrefled to Mr. Deane. Their
consent could no longer with any decency be with
held, and my brother set out for Nantz, with a let
ter from us recommendin, harmony between the
commercial Agents in conduAin, the public bufi
nefs. Unfortunady for thy brother's peace, that
harmony appeared 0 have taken place as we soon
received a joint letter fiom them, Rating that the
powers given to Mr. Williams by Mr. Deane, for
his name only appeared to them, though it appeared
afterwards that Dr. Franklin had confirmed them.
Were incompatible with their a ency, and therefore
they requeued those powers might be recalled. An
answer was prepared to this letter and (hewn to me.
It cipreC.d a wil!i%nefr to recall those powers and
to vest them in Mr. Lee alate, with very firong ex
pnffiins a^ainfl Mr. Mortis, I objected what was
obvious, that this would destroy the harmony re
commended, and without which the public bi fiief^
could not go on. That the right answer seemed to
me plain and simple, which was to tecall the powers
complained of, without Gyirg any thing for or a
gainrt either cf the gentlemen, wh ch it was manifeft
would be productive cf bad consequences. My opini
on was not approved. Neither that nor any other
answer was ever sent to inis or any cf the letters
written to us by the agents jointly or Separately. My
brother returned to Paris in October, and then re
ceived his commifficn. On the 13th the Commiffi
oners met by his desire (and Mr. Izird atfgnCcd)
when Ia gave them an account of the situation 01 che
commercial affairs at Nantz, and how that, in con
f.querce cf the offers given to Mr. Williams, a
quarrel had been produced, which made it impe rii
bls to tonduA the public business with effid, till
these were recalled ; aid the Comm miners gave
their fepport openly to the agents appointed by tie
committee. He Said people in g&neial could not de
termine who war commercial agent, and others took
advantage of their mutual pretensions, and endea
voured to play one against the other. There was
a prize or p zes laying gripped, plundered; 2nd
retting; no one checking to become purchaser, under
an uncertainty of who had the true authority to fell.
He therefore begged to know whether they Would
recall their order to Mr Williams and fepport him
in the execution of his office. The two eldest Cem
roffionets profaned a willingness to recall the order,
'but positively refuted to gve him any fopport.
Thus the mee'-ing ended ineffectually, the order be
ing not only not recalled, but soon after confirmed
and extended. Congiefs will therefore judge with
what propriety and truth Mr. Lee was accused of
having inclined to regulate these affairs when loudly
tailed upon. The addition that he declined it, left
his property in England Should be effected, is a
surmise and a calumny entirely worthy ofMr. Deane.
A letter had long before that been written from Paris
to London, and published in the news papers, giv
ing Mr. Lec's name at large, with information of
his being at Paris, and having accepted of the com
mercial agency^ His wife, children, and fortune
vote in the power cf the enemy, to whom this in
formation was given. I am not the only person
* The Sincerity of this proft^on will appear
from the following passage in Mr. Williams's letter
sddiefcd to the Her. Silas Drape. Nantz, OR.
2<, 1777- " I ^ ve received jeur favour of the
18 h it Rant, and cbfetve that matters relative to the
flip, <f wzr and prizes are to remain as they were.
&<." This letter also ihews tie private tnffick they
were carrying on refpt&ng the prize brig.
Mr. Deane proceeds. “He returned to Paris;
and their received his appointment of Commffioner
to the Court, of Vienna and Berlin. He continued,
nevertheless ina&ive at Paris, untill the month of
December ; carefully concealing his appointments
which indeed might have militated apinft his of
fice of Alderman of London, which he did ihen, and
probably does Rill retain. When the news of Gene al
Burgoyne's defeat and furrendery arrived it produc
ed a revolution in the minds of many, and among
others inspired your commercial a,ent and political
cemm ffi:mer, the Hon. William Lie. Esq; with
feme degree of activity in your favour." This in
famous afperfon comes from the man that knew that
my brother had come from London, had openly
taken upon him the agency, went down to Nantz
where every one saw him ad as agent, had written
a number of letters as such to the ccmm : ffioners, and
of whose acceptance c f the place, public notice had
long been given in the English papers ? His appoint
merits as commissioner were received by us, and
given to him by us, as appears by our common let
ter to the committee. Prem whom then did he
carefully conceal them ? Does this man mean that he
did not proclaim them to the world ? He charges
me with not concealing mine, and my brother wit'<
concedin, his. Charges equally filfe and equally
foobfh. On the 4+h cf December, Mr. Auflin arri
ved with the news cf Burgoy re's defeat and surren
der, and the battle cf Germantown. The Fiench
Court, upon this, approached to treat ; it was tho't
proper for him to wait the effc& efthe concluficn cf
the treaty, and the recognition es rpr independence
which we fufpofed would follow it. When these
teck place he departed for Frankfort; having firft
co.fGUed both the commissioners here and the Mi
nifler, on which court he should apply too frft. But
Hanr ver and its certations having taken part afair.fi
the Empreft, Vienna fcemed to pern ft the faired
opening. The rest he will explain bimfelf. It fuf
fices that I have opened enough to shew the mailed
and untruth cf Mr. Deane's charges and insinuation,;
or as he terms them his " stubborn and undeniable
fias." As to the Ald&manfhip, my brother Hrotd
(con after his Arft arrival here to his Most Patriotic^
Common Councilmen, that he fh:uld (end them hit
resignation whenever they found it convenient to
make a new ekaion as they liked. It appears by
the Engl lh papers that it was not till last St. Tho
mas's day, that they roquefted hioefignation, and
this in confluence of a fecend effer from him at
Frankfort.
f He appointed, fays Mr. Deanci, sundry com
mercial agents dismissed one who did the business
for two per cent, and Shares five # per cent, with thd
rthets for fc perintending at Vienna, the bufineft
done on your account a thousand miles cff from hie
place of residence." This accuser is one who ap.
plied to the court here, to give Mr. William Lee, as
Surviving commercial agent, an order to receive the
papers of the deceased Mr. Thomas Morris. Of
this our joint letter of January infained Congrefr.
In Mr. Deane's estimation therefore he continued
competent to, and bound to aft in that office, not,"
withflanding hit new appointment. To difeharge
that trust till a new agent Should be nominated, ray
brother appointed three of the most unexceptionable
men in France. Meffiturs Scheveighaufer, Bor field
Lifhefta. All this he wrote to the Committee, & fir
ing a new appointment (in place of Mr. Let) and we
both pressed the fame to our private friends, as tffen
tially necessary for the public good. It is now a
year since Congress resolved, that the commiffiontra
here Should appoint an agent cr two to supply his
place. We answered Congret that as they would
probably appoint Consuls agreeable to the treaty^
• Mr. William Lee has transmitted an affidavit
in due form that this is falfe, and also certificates tai
Ccn^refs cf its utter falfchood.
who had it from a gentleman much in their ferrets,
that this letter was written by persons under Mr.
Deane's reef, and known to be under his diteaion.