Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-10-10
A Boys State Secret.

United to fall into the hands OF the
young. All nations guard their inter-
ests with jealous care, but there was
once boy who for long time held
possession of very important State
secret, which affected, to q great extent,
the welfare of this country at time of
pressing need.
It came about in this way:
1.-THE month of March, 1776, the
Continental Congress sent Silas Deane
rs political agent to the French Court
to enlist Louis XVI. in our cause, and
bring about negotiations which would
result in q treaty of alliance. At the
same time Arthur Lee, another distin-
guished American, was in London in
secret correspondent with influential
Frenchmen.
Lee, one day, was approached by
Beaumarchis, secret envoy of the
French Government, who told him that
the King was DESTROYS of helping the
colonies, but did not want to do so in q
manner which would involve him in an
open war with England. Beaumarchis
said that Louis would give us plenty of
money and some arms, if he could do
SO without exciting suspicion, for he
cordially hated England, though fear
he did not like the thought of helring
to establish republic in America.
Accordingly, Lee, Deane and the
crafty Beaumarchis put their heads TO-
gether and agreed upon witty plan of
secrecy. When Beaumarchis returned
to Paris q correspondence began be-
tween q firm called Roderique Hortales
& Go. and one Mary Johnson-the
former being, in reality, Beaumarchis
and the latter Arthur Lee.
Lee represented that he had large
amounts of tobacco to sell, and directed
that the purchase money received from
Hortales & Co. be sent to him by the
way of Cape Francois. In the mean
time Vergennes, the French Minister of
Foreign Affairs, and the King had been
informed of the plan and approved of
it, and Louis directed his Treasurer to
hold one million livres subject to Yer
gennes' orders.
Now it was very important that all
the correspondence on behalf of the
French Government should be con-
Quoted by one person, and the one
selected to conduct it was Minister YER
gennes' son, boy Of only Is.
He was we'll educated, bright, and
knew how to keep State secret as we'll
as his illustrious parent. The boy took
charge Of the important business, and
from time to time large sums of money
found their way from the royal treasury
to the Golfers Of the Colonies.
In order to give the transaction q
business complexion some tobacco was
sent in return.
If England had discovered that q
shrewd little boy in the Office of the
French Minister was thus damaging her
cause with his pen, over the signature
"Hortales & Co.," she would have
called King Louis to account for his
duplicity: but the secret was SO we'll
kept that England never suspected it.
Young Vergennes displayed SO much
tact in the part he played that, when it
was all over, he was summoned to court
and received the thanks of the King.
In one of his letters he offered, as
Hortales & Co., to furnish the Ameri.
cans with anything they needed" OF
course, all he did was done with the
free consent of the French Court.
The little fellow would couch his let
tiers in adroit commercial phrases, SO
that if they had fallen into the hands
Of the enemy, the truth would not have
been suspected. In all, "Messrs. Hor-
tales g. Co." furnished the struggling
Colonies with one hundred and eighty
five thousand dollars.
History is silent concerning the sub
sequent career Of the boy with the State
secret, but I am almost ready to say
thate he became noted diplomat, for
he had shown that he could keep an inn
portant secret and conduct correspon-
dence between two nations. No doubt
his illustrious father, the great minis
ter, was proud Of him.-Golde,a Days.