Title: To James Madison from Edmund Randolph, 15 March 1783
From: Randolph, Edmund
To: Madison, James

My dear sir
Pettus’s March 15 1783
I have not been able as yet to procure your expected favor from the post; nor shall I, until the return of the messenger, who carries this letter to the mail.
We make considerable progress in the detection of the forgeries of the tobacco notes, & Mr. Morris’s notes. Of the offenders in the former case, it is hoped, that some considerable examples will be made: and unfortunately for the continent, Morris’s notes are not protected by any law, rendering the counterfeiting of them felonious. We must therefore content ourselves with taking a lesser punishment in this case: but the criminal, tho convicted, will still continue to live.
There is a report, that Mr. Morris has actually resigned his superintendancy: and the speculations are various on the subject. Some impute the step to weariness and fatigue; others to an excess of private business; while others, whose disposition is not cordial towards him, ascribe it to a more disagreeable motive. For my part, I conjecture, that he must have been led to this measure by disgust, & want of due support. But even my respect for him will not suffer me to acquit him for resigning at this hour, when fresh vigor may be added to the arms of the enemy, by an assurance, that he abandoned the office thro’ despair of our finances; and the affections of France herself, or rather her inclination to succour us with seasonable loans, may be diminished, from the apprehension of her aid, being misapplied, if thrown into other hands than his.
The spirit of opposing laws, as being contrary to the constitution, has reached the executive. They have lately refused to examine into complaints, of a heavy and heinous kind, against a magistrate; alledging, that this would be to assume judiciary power, and that the act of assembly delegating it to the executive, is therefore void. The governor conceives himself obliged to report this bold, and, as I think, mistaken step, to the assembly; by which means you will probably hear more of it. He urged the council to execute the law.


Title: Notes on Debates, 17 March 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

Monday March 17.
A letter was rcd. from Genl Washington inclosing two anonymous & inflammatory exhortations to the army to assemble for the purpose of seeking by other means, that justice which their country shewed no disposition to afford them. The steps taken by the Genl. to avert the gathering storm & his professions of inflexible adherence to his duty to Congress & to his country, excited the most affectionate sentiments towards him. By private letters from the army & other circumstances there appeared good ground for suspecting that the Civil Creditors were intriguing in order to inflame the army into such desperation as wd. produce a general provision for the public debts. These papers were committed to Mr. Gilman Mr. Dyer, Mr. Clark, Mr. Rutlidge & Mr. Mercer. The appt. of These gentlemen was brought about by a few members who wished to saddle with this embarrassment the men who had opposed the measures necessary for satisfying the army viz, the half pay & permanent funds, agst. one or other of which the individuals in question had voted.
This alarming intelligence from the army added to the critical situation to wch our affairs in Europe were reduced by the variance of our ministers with our ally, and to the difficulty of establishing the means of fulfilling the Engagemts. & securing the harmony of the U. S. & to the confusions apprehended from the approaching resignation of the Superintt. of Finance, gave peculiar awe & solemnity to the present moment, & oppressed the minds of Congs. with an anxiety & distress which had been scarcely felt in any period of the revolution.


Title: Notes on Debates, 18 March 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

Teusday March 18.
On the report of the Committee to whom the 3 paragraphs of the report on revenues (see March 6). had been recommitted, the said paragraphs were expunged so as to admit the following amendment which took place without opposition, viz
“Resolved that it be recommended &c &c (see 1st. ¶)

Dolr.
Upon all rum of Jamaica proof per Gallon4/90
Upon all other spirituous liquors3/90
Upon Madeira wine12/90
Upon the wines of Lisbon, Oporto, those called Sherry}6/90
& upon all French wines
Upon the wines called Malaga or Teneriff5/90
Upon all other wines4/90
Upon common Bohea Tea perlb.6/90
Upon all other Teas24/90
Upon pepper perlb.3/90
Upon Brown Sugar perlb½/90
Upon loaf Sugar2/90
Upon all other Sugars1/90
Upon Molasses per Gallon1/90
Upon Cocoa & Coffee perlb1/90
Upon salt after the war per Bushel1/8

And upon all goods except arms, ammunition & cloathing or other articles

   The other exception as to Cards & wire for making them &c. was struck out unanimously on the motion of Mr. Clarke; being considered as no longer necessary & contrary to the general policy of encouraging necessary manufactures among ourselves.

 imported for the use of the U. S. a duty of 5 perCt. ad valorem: provided that there be allowed a bounty of ⅛ of a dollar for every Quintal of dried fish exported from these U. S. and a like sum for every Barrel of pickled fish, beef or pork, to be paid or allowed to the exporter thereof at the port from which they shall be so exported.
The arguments urged by Mr. Wilson in behalf of his motion [see Journal] for a land tax of ¼ of a dollar per 100 Acres, other than those heretofore generally urged were that it was more moderate than had been paid before the revolution & it cd. not be supposed the people wd grudge to pay as the price of their liberty what they formerly paid to their oppressors; that if it was unequal, this inequality wd. be corrected by the States in other taxes, that as the tax on trade would fall cheifly on the inhabitants of the lower Country who consumed the imports, the tax on land wd. affect those who were remote from the Sea & consumed little;
On the opposite side it was alledged that such a tax was repugnant to the popular ideas of equality & particularly wd. never be acceded to by the S. States, at least unless they were to be respectively credited for the amount; and if such credit were to be given, it wd. be best to let the States chuse such taxes as would best suit them.
A letter came in & was read from the Secry. of For Affrs. stating the perplexing alternative to which Congs. were reduced by the secret article relating to West Florida either of dishonoring themselves by becoming a party to the concealment or of wounding the feelings & destroying the influence of our Ministers by disclosing the article to the French Court: and proposing as advisable on the whole
1. that he be authorized to communicate the article in question to The French Minister in such manner as wd. best tend to remove unfavorable impressions which might be made on the Ct. of F. as to the sincerity of Congress or their Ministers.
2. That the sd. Ministers be informed of this communication, and instructed to agree that the limit for W. F. proposed in the separate article be allowed to whatever power the said Colony may be confirmed by a Treaty of peace.
3. That it be declared to be the sense of Congress that the preliminary articles between U. S & G. B. are not to take effect untill peace shall be actually signed between the Kings of F. & G. B.

   This was meant to guard agst. a construction that they were to take effect when peace sd. be agreed on by those powers, & the latter be ready to sign, altho the former sd. be restrained untill the other parties sd. be ready for signing

Ordered that tomorrow be assigned for the consideration of the said letter.


Title: Virginia Delegates to Benjamin Harrison, [18 March] 1783
From: Virginia Delegates
To: Harrison, Benjamin

[Philadelphia, 18 March 1783]
The import of the last Dispatches received by Capt: Burney had been communicated. A Letter from Mr. Laurens received at the same time had not been read in Congress. Its date was posterior to those of his colleagues, and conveyed strong suspicions of the designs of the Court of London—that their plan was to disunite the belligerent Powers & he thinks the spirit of the English high “for the prosecution of the war against France.”
This minister’s reflections were wise and deserved “the most serious attention.” He recommends we “should ardently adhere in all points to every engagement with the Court of France,” whose views he did not suspect, and cautions us against “trusting to our new but half-made Friends.” The news-paper reports of the Parliamentary debates discovered indecision, even in the Cabinet of the British King, consequently he inferred Ld: Shelburne had not disclosed his ultimate views even to them.

Refer to sundry claims against the State for goods furnished by French Houses &c. and recommends Mr. Barclay the consul in France, be appointed to settle them. P. S.—By a letter from Genl: Washington, rec’d the day before, they “find the army in a situation highly alarming & truly critical.” They “trust much to the prudence & discretion of the General to prevent desperate measures.”


Title: From James Madison to Edmund Randolph, 18 March 1783
From: Madison, James
To: Randolph, Edmund

My dear Sir
Philada. March 18. 1783
I recd. yesterday your favor of the 7. inst: together with that of the 22. Ulto. which ought to have been brought by the preceding mail. I regret much the uncertainty which attends your going into the Legislature. Is it possible that the difference between the amt. of your salary from the State and of the profits from which your office excludes you can form an essential article in your pecuniary plans? I am far from being singular in supposing that the business on the opposite side would be a much more productive fund.
My letter by Express communicated to you the outlines of the intelligence brought by Capt: Barney from our Ministers in Europe. The tediousness of the Cypher does not permit me now to enter into detail. I can only add that notwithstanding the flattering aspect of the preliminary articles there are various circumstances which check our confidence in them, as there are some which will detract from our joy if they should be finally estableished To explain this it must suffice that The latest letters from our Ministers express the greatest jealousy of G B and secondly that the situation of France between the interfering claims of Spain & U S to which may perhaps be added some particular views of her own having carried her into a discounternance of claims, the suspicions of our ministers on that side gave an opportunity to British address to decoy them into a degree of confidence which seems to leave their own reputations as well as the safety of their country at the mercy of Shelburne In this business Jay has taken the lead & proceeded to a length of which you can form little idea. Adams has followed with cordiality. Franklin has been dragged into it. Laurens in his separate letter professes a violent suspicion of G B and good will & confidence toward France The dilemma to which Congress are reduced is infinitely perplexing If they abet the procedings of their ministers all confidence with France is at an end which in the event of a renewal of the war must be dreadfull as in that of peace it may be dishonourable. If they avow the conduct of their ministers by their usual frankness of communication the most serious inconveniences also present themselves. The torment of this dilemma can not be justly conveyed without a fuller recital of facts than is permitted. I wish you not to hazard even an interlined decypherment of those which I have deposited in your confidence.
Despatches were yesterday recd. from Genl Washington which have revived & increased our apprehenseons on that side. There seems to be reason to suspect that the intriegues of the civil creditors fan the discontents of the army. The conduct of Washington does equal honor to his prudence and to his virtue
The state of our foreign affairs and of the army combined with the difficulty and uncertainty of providing for justice & for our finances & with the approaching exit of Morris give a peculiar solemnity to the present moment God send us a Speedy & honourable deliverance from every danger. pray hasten the new Cypher which you have promised.
I have not yet perused your notes but thank you for them. Mr. J.n is still left in dubio as to his destination. Before the next post the final decision of Congs. will probably take place. The paper inclosed to Mr. Ambler will give you the first part of the parliamentary debates, as the one herewith inclosed will the preliminary articles. The eagerness of the opposition for them portends violent altercations. The liberality of the articles to the U.S. will probably be the ground of Attack from the old Ministry; the omission of Commerce that of Fox’s division.
Farewell.


Title: Notes on Debates, 19 March 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

Wednesday March 19. 17[83]
A letter was read from the Superintendt. of Finance inclosing letters from Docr. Franklin accompd. with extracts from the Ct. de Vergennes relative to money-affairs, the Supt. thereupon declaring roundly that our credit was at an end & that no further pecuniary aids were to be expected from Europe. Mr. Rutlidge denied these assertions & expressed some indignation at them. Mr. Bland said that as the Supt. was of this opinion it would be absurd for him to be Minister of Finance and moved that the come. on his motion for arranging the department might be instructed to report without loss of time. This motion was negatived as censuring the Come. but it was understood to be the sense of Congs. that they sd. report.

The order of the day viz the letter from the Secretary of Fr. Afrs. was taken up.
Mr. Wolcot conceived it unnecessary to waste time on the subject as he presumed Congs. would never so far censure the Ministers who had obtained such terms for this Country; as to disavow their conduct.
Mr. Clarke was decided agst. communicating the separate article, which wd. be sacrificing meritorious Ministers, & wd. rather injure than relieve our national honour. He admitted that the separate article put an advantage into the hands of the Enemy, but did not on the whole deem it of any very great consequence. He thought Congress ought to go no farther than to inform the Ministers that they were sorry for the necessity which had led them into the part they had taken, & to leave them to get rid of the embarrassmt. as to the separate article in such way as they sd. judge best. This expedient would save Congress & spare our Ministers who might have been governed by reasons not known to Congress.
Mr. Mercer said that not meaning to give offence anywhere he should speak his sentiments freely. He gave it as his clear & decided opinion that the Ministers had insulted Congress by sending them assertions without proof as reasons for violating their instructions, & throwing themselves into the confidence of G. B. He observed that France in order to make herself equal to the Enemy had been obliged to call for aid & had drawn Spain agst. her interest into the war: that it was not improbable that She had entered into some specific engagements for that purpose; that hence might be deduced the perplexity of her situation, of which advantage had been taken by G. B.—an advantage in which our Ministers had concurred for sowing jealousies between F. & U. S. & of which further advantage wd. be taken to alienate the minds of the people of this Country from their ally by presenting him as the obstacle to peace. The British Court he said havg gained this point may easily frustrate the negociation & renew the war agst. divided enemies. He approved of the conduct of the Count de Vergennes in promoting a treaty under the 1st. Commisson. to Oswald as preferring the substance to the shadow & proceeding from a desire of peace. The conduct of our Ministers throughout, particularly in giving in writing every thing called for by British Ministers expressive of distrust of France was a mixture of follies which had no example, was a tragedy to America & a comedy to all the world beside. He felt inexpressible indignation at their meanly stooping as it were to lick the dust from the feet of a nation whose hands were still dyed with the blood of their fellow-citizens. He reprobated the chicane & low cunning wch. marked the journals transmitted to congress, and contrasted them with the honesty & good faith which became all nations & particularly an infant republic. They proved that America had at once all the follies of youth and all the vices of old age: thinks it wd. [be] necessary to recall our Ministers: fears that France may be already acquainted with all the transactions of our Ministers, even with the separate article, & may be only awaiting the reception given to it by Congs. to see how far her hopes of cutting off the right arm of G. B. by supporting our revolution may have been well founded: and in case of our basely disappointing her, may league with our Enemy for our destruction and for a division of the spoils. He was aware of the risks to which such a league wd. expose France of finally losing her share, but supposed that the British Islands might be made hostages for her security. He said America was too prone to depreciate political merit, & to suspect where there was no danger: that the honor of the King of F. was dear to him, that he never wd. betray or injure us unless he sd. be provoked & justified by treachery on our part. For the present he acquiesced in the proposition of the Secy. of Fr. As. But when the question sd. come to be put, he sd. be for a much more decisive resolution.
Mr. Rutlidge said he hoped the character of our ministers wd. not be affected, much less their recall produced by declamations agst. them: and that facts would be ascertained & stated before any decision sd. be passed: that the Ct. de Vergennes had expressly declared to our Ministers his desire that they might treat apart; alluded to & animadverted upon the instruction which sumbmitted them to French Councils; was of opinion that the separate article did not concern France & therefore there was no necessity for communicating it to her; & that as to Spain she deserved nothing at our hands. she had treated us in a manner that forfeited all claim to our good offices or our confidence. she had not as had been supposed entered into the present war as an ally to our ally and for our support; but as she herself had declared, as a principal & on her own account. He sd. he was for adhering religiously to the Spirit & letter of the treaty with France, that our Ministers had done so; & if recalled or censured for the part they had acted, he was sure no man of spirit would take their place. He concluded with moving that the letter from the Secy. for F. A. might be referred to a special comme. who might enquire into all the facts relative to the subject of it. Mr. Holten 2ded. the motion.
Mr. Williamson was opposed to harsh treatment of Ministers who had shewn great ability. He said they had not infringed the Treaty, and as they had recd. the concurrence of the Ct. de Vergennes for treating apart, they had not in that respect violated their instruction. He proposed that Congress sd. express to the Ministers their concern at the separate article & leave them to get over the embarrassment as they shd. find best.
Mr. Mercer in answer to Mr. Rutlidge said that his language with respect to the Ministers was justified by their refusal to obey instructions, censured wth. great warmth the servile confidence of Mr. Jay in particular in the British Ministers. He said the separate article was a reproach to our character, and that if Congress wd. not themselves disclose it he himself would disclose it to his Constituents who would disdain to be United with those who patronize such dishonorable proceedings. He was called to order by the Presidt. who said that the article in question was under an injunction of secrecy & he cd. not permit the orders of the House to be trampled upon.
Mr. Lee took notice that obligations in national affairs as well as others ought to be reciprocal & he did not know that France had ever bound herself to like engagements as to concert of negociation with those into which America had at different times been drawn: He thought it highly improper to censure Ministers who had negociated well, said that it was agreeable to practice & necessary to the end proposed, for Ministers in particular emergencies to swerve from strict instructions. France he said wanted to sacrifice our interests to her own or to those of Spain, that the French answer to the British Memorial contained a passage which deserved attention on this subject. She answered the reproaches of perfidy contained in that Memorial by observing that obligations being reciprocal, a breach on one side absolved the other. The Ct. de Vergennes he was sure was too much a master of negociation not to approve the management of our Ministers instead of condemning it. No man lamented more than he did any diminution of the confidence between this country & France, but if the misfortune should ensue it could not be denied that it originated with France, who has endeavoured to sacrifice our territorial rights, those very rights which by the Treaty she had guarantied to us. He wished the preliminary articles had not been signed without the knowledge of France but was persuaded that in whatever light she might view it, she was too sensible of the necessity of our Independence to her safety ever to abandon it. But let no censure fall on our Ministers who had upon the whole done what was best. He introduced the instruction of June 15. 1781 proclaimed it to be the greatest opprobrium and stain to this Country which it had ever exposed itself to, & that it was in his judgment the true cause of that distrust & coldness which prevailed between our Ministers & the French Court, inasmuch as it could not be viewed by the former without irritation & disgust. He was not surprized that those who considered France as the Patron rather than the ally of this Country should be disposed to be obsequious to her, but he was not of that number.
Mr. Hamilton urged the propriety of proceeding with coolness and circumspection. He thought it proper in order to form a right judgment of the conduct of our Ministers, that the views of the French & British Courts should be examined. He admitted it as not improbable that it had been the policy of France to procrastinate the definitive acknowledgmt. of our Independence on the part of G. B. in order to keep us more knit to herself & untill her own interests could be negociated. The arguments however urged by our Ministers on this subject, although strong, were not conclusive; as it was not certain, that this policy & not a desire of excluding obstacles to peace, had produced the opposition of the French Court to our demands. Caution & vigilance he thought were justified by the appearance & these alone. But compare this policy with that of G. B. survey the past cruelty & present duplicity of her councils, behold her watching every occasion & trying every project for dissolving the honorable ties which bind the U. S. to their ally, & then say on which side our resentments & jealousies ought to lie. With respect to the instruction submitting our Ministers to the advice of France, he had disapproved it uniformly since it had come to his knowledge, but he had always judged it improper to repeal it. He disapproved also highly of the conduct of our Ministers in not shewing the preliminary articles to our Ally before they signed them, and still more so of their agreeing to the separate article. This conduct gave an advantage to the Enemy which they would not fail to improve for the purpose of inspiring France with indignation & distrust of the U. S. He did not apprehend (with Mr. Mercer) any danger of a coalition between F. & G. B. against America, but foresaw the destruction of mutual Confidence between F. & U. S. which wd. be likely to ensue, & the danger which would result from it in case the war should be continued. He observed that Spain was an unwise nation, her policy narrow & jealous, her King old her Court divided & the heir apparent notoriously attached to G. B. From these circumstances he inferred an apprehension that when Spain sd. come to know the part taken by America with respect to her, a separate treaty of peace might be resorted to. He thought a middle course best with respect to our Ministers; that they ought to be commended in general, but that the communication of the separate article ought to take place. He observed that our Ministers were divided as to the policy of the Ct. of France, but that they all were agreed in the necessity of being on the watch against G. B. He apprehended that if the ministers were to be recalled or reprehended, that they would be disgusted & head & foment parties in this Country. He observed particularly with respect to Mr. Jay that altho’ he was a man of profound sagacity & pure integrity, yet he was of a suspicious temper, & that this trait might explain the extraordinary jealousies which he professed. He finally proposed that the Ministers sd. be commended & the separate articles communicated. This motion was 2ded. by Mr. Osgood, as compared however with the proposition of the Secy. for F. A. and so far only as to be referred to a Committee.
Mr. Peters favored a moderate course as most advisable. He thought it necessary that the separate art: sd. be communicated, but that it wd. be less painful to the feelings of the Ministers if the doing it was left to themselves; and was also in favor of giving the territory annexed by the separate art: to W. Florida to such power as might be invested with that Colony in the Treaty of peace.
Mr. Bland said he was glad that every one seemed at length to be struck with the impropriety of the instruction submitting our Ministers to the advice of the French Court. He represented it as the cause of all our difficulties & moved that it might be referred to the come. with the several propositions which had been made. Mr. Lee 2ded. the motion.
Mr. Wilson objected to Mr. Blands motion as not being in order. When moved in order perhaps he might not oppose the substance of it. He said he had never seen nor heard of the instruction it referred to untill this morning; and that it had really astonished him; that this Country ought to maintain an upright posture between all nations. But however objectionable this step might have been in Congs. the magninimity of our Ally in declining to obtrude his advice on our Ministers ought to have been a fresh motive, to their confidence and respect. Altho they deserve commendation in general for their services; in this respect they do not. He was [of the] opinion that the spirit of the treaty with France forbade the signing of the preliminary articles without her previous consent; and that the separate article ought to be disclosed; but as the merits of our Ministers entitled them to the mildest & most delicate mode in which it cd. be done, he wished the communication to be left to themselves as they wd. be the best judges of the explanation which ought to be made for the concealment; & their feelings wd. be less wounded than if it were made without their intervention. He observed that the separate article was not important in itself & became so only by the mysterious silence in which it was wrapt up. A candid and open declaration from our Ministers of the circumstances under which they acted & the necessity produced by them of pursuing the course marked out by the interest of their Country, wd. have been satisfactory to our ally, wd. have saved their own honor, and would have not endangered the objects for which they were negociating.
Mr. Higginson contended that the facts stated by our Ministers justified the part they had taken.
Mr. Madison expressed his surprize at the attempts made to fix the blame of all our embarrassments on the instruction of June 15, 1781, when it appeared that no use had been made of the power given by it to the Ct. of France, that our Ministers had construed it in such a way as to leave them at full liberty; and that no one in Congs. pretended to blame them on that acct. For himself he was persuaded that their construction was just; the advice of France having been made a guide to them only in cases where the question respected the concessions of the U. S. to G. B. necessary & proper for obtaining peace & an acknowledgt. of Indepe.; not where it respected concessions to other powers & for other purposes. He reminded Congress of the change which had taken place in our affairs since that instruction was passed, and remarked the probability that many who were now perhaps loudest in disclaiming, would under the circumstances of that period have been the foremost to adopt it.

   The Committee who reported the instruction were Mr Carroll, Mr. Jones, Mr Witherspoon, Mr. Sullivan & Mr. Mathews. Mr. Witherspoon was particularly prominent throughout.

 He admitted that the change of circumstances had rendered it inapplicable, but thought an express repeal of it might at this crisis at least have a bad effect. The instructions he observed for disregarding which our Ministers had been blamed, and which if obeyed would have prevented the dilemma now felt, were those which required them to act in concert & in confidence with our ally: & these instructions he said had been repeatedly confirmed in every stage of the revolution by unanimous votes of Congress; Several of the gentlemen present

   Mr. Bland, Lee, & Rutlidge

 who now justified our Ministers having concurred in them, and one

   Mr. Rutlidge; he formed in the Come the first draught of the declaration made in Sept. last & the instruction abt. the same time. This was considerably altered but not in that respect.

 of them, having penned two of the Acts, in one of which Congs. went farther than they had done in any preceding act; by declaring that they would not make peace untill the interests of our allies & friends as well as of the U. S. sd. be provided for.
As to the propriety of communicating to our Ally the separate article, he thought it resulted clearly from considerations both of national honor & national security. He said that Congress having repeatedly assured their ally that they would take no step in a negociation but in concert & in confidence with him, and havg. even published to the world solemn declarations to the same effect, would if they abetted this concealment of their Ministers be considered by all nations as devoid of all constancy & good faith; unless a breach of these assurances & declarations cd. be justified by an absolute necessity or some perfidy on the part of France; that it was manifest no such necessity could be pleaded, & as to perfidy on the part of France, nothing but suspicious & equivocal circumstances had been quoted in evidence of it; & even in these it appeared that our Ministers were divided; that the embarrassmt. in which France was placed by the interfering claims of Spain & the U. S. must have been foreseen by our Ministers, and that the impartial public would expect that instead of co-operating with G. B. in taking advantage of this embarrassment, they ought to have made every allowance & given every facility to it consistent with a regard to the rights of their Constituents; that admiting every fact alledged by our Ministers to be true, it could by no means be inferred that the opposition made by France to our claims, was the effect of any hostile or ambitious designs agst. them, or of any other design than that of reconciling them with those of Spain; that the hostile aspect wch. the separate art: as well as the concealment of it bore to Spain, would be regarded by the impartial world as a dishonorable alliance with our enemies against the interests of our friends; that notwithstanding the disappointments & even indignities which the U S. had recd from Spain it could neither be denied nor concealed that the former had derived many substantial advantages, from her taking part in the war & had even obtained some pecuniary aids; that the U. S. had made professions corresponding with these obligations: that they had testified the important light in which they considered the support resulting to their cause from the arms of Spain by the importunity with which they had courted her alliance; by the concessions with which they had offered to purchase it, and by the anxiety which they expressed at every appearance of her separate negociations for a peace with the common Enemy.

That our national safety would be endangered by Congress making themselves a party to the concealment of the separate article, he thought could be questioned by no one. No definitive treaty of peace he observed had as yet taken place, the important articles between some of the belligerent parties had not even been adjusted, our insidious enemy was evidently labouring to sow dissentions among them, the incaution of our Ministers had but too much facilitated them between the U. S. and France; a renewal of the war therefore in some form or other was still to be apprehended & what would be our situation if France & Spain had no confidence in us: and what confidence could they have if we did not disclaim the policy which had been followed by our Ministers.
He took notice of the intimation given by the British Minister to Mr. Adams of an intended expedition from N. York agst. W. Florida, as a proof of the illicit confidence into which our Ministers had been drawn, & urged the indispensable duty of Congs. to communicate it to those concerned in it. He hoped that if a Come. sd. be appd. for wch. however he saw no necessity that this wd. be included in their report & that their report wd. be made with as little delay as possible.
In the event the Lettr from Secy of F. A. with all the despatches & the several propositions which had been made, were committed to Mr. Wilson, Mr. Ghorum, Mr. Rutlidge, Mr. Clarke & Mr. Hamilton.


Title: Notes on Debates, 20 March 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

Thursday March 20.
An instruction from the Legislature of Virga. to their Delegates agst. admitting into Treaty of peace any stipulation for restoring confiscated property was laid before Congress.
Also resolutions of the Executive Council of Penna. requesting the Delegates of that State to endeavor to obtain at least a reasonable term for making the payment of British debts stipulated in the preliminary articles lately recd.
These papers were committed to Mr. Osgood, Mr. Mercer & Mr. Fitzimmons.
Mr. Dyer whose vote on the  day of  frustrated the commutation of the half pay made a proposition substantially the same wch was committed. This seemed to be extorted from him by the critical state of our affairs, himself personally & his State being opposed to it.
The Motion of Mr. Hamilton on the journals was meant as a testimony on his part of the insufficiency of the report of the Come. as to the establishmt. of revenues, and as a final trial of the sense of Congs. with respect to the practicability & necessity of a general revenue equal to the public wants. The debates on it were cheifly a repetition of those used on former questions relative to that subject.
Mr. Fitzimmons on this occasion declared that on mature reflection he was convinced that a complete general revenue was unattainable from the States, was impractical in the hands of Congress, and that the modified provision reported by the Come. if established by the States wd. restore public credit among ourselves. He apprehended however that no limited funds wd. procure loans abroad, which wd. require funds commensurate to their duration.
Mr. Higginson described all attempts of Congs. to provide for the public debts out of the mode prescribed by the Confederation, as nugatory: sd that the States wd. disregard them[,] that the impost of 5 peCt. had passed in Massts. by 2 voices only in the lower, & one in the upper house; & that the Govr. had never formally assented to the law; that it was probable this law wd. be repealed; & almost certain that the extensive plans of Congress would be reprobated.


Title: Benjamin Harrison to Virginia Delegates, 20 March 1783
From: Harrison, Benjamin
To: Virginia Delegates

Gentlemen
In Council March 20th. 1783
Your acceptable favor of the 12th. Instant reached me last Evening, the acknowledgement of our Independence gives me great Pleasure, for tho’ the Peace is not finally concluded, yet we may safely look on that Part of it, as certain and not to be retracted. I shall make such Parts of your Letter public as may be necessary for the Information of the Public who the Speculators of your Town intended to have imposed on, by dispatching an Express to Nelson of this Place informing him that Doctor Franklin had declared to Congress that all Negotiations were at an End and that there would be another Campaign at least.
I understand the Treasurer made you a remittance last Week. I shall nevertheless send him your Letter and call on him to make it more ample.
Will you be so obliging as to send us Hutchings’s new Map of America which we want exceedingly. I am with great respect
Yrs: &c.
B. H.


Title: Notes on Debates, 21 March 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

Friday March 21.
The Report of Revenue was taken into consideration; and the 5 & 6 paragraphs after discussion being judged not sufficiently explicit were recommitted to be made more so.
A motion was made by Mr. Clarke 2ded. by Mr. Bland to complete so much of the report as related to an impost on Trade & send it to the States immediately apart from the residue.
In support of this motion, it was urged that the Impost was distinct in its nature was more likely to be adopted, & ought not therefore to be delayed or hazarded by a connection with the other parts of the Report. On the other side it was contended that it was the duty of Congs. to provide a system adequate to the public exigences; & that such a system wd. be more likely to be adopted by the States than any partial or detached provision, as it would comprize objects agreeable as well as disagreeable to each of the States, and as all of them wd feel a greater readiness to make mutual concessions & to disregard local considerations in proportion to the magnitude of the object held out to them.
The motion was disagreed to: N. J. being in favor of it & several other States divided.


Title: To James Madison from Jacquelin Ambler, 22 March 1783
From: Ambler, Jacquelin
To: Madison, James

Dear Sir
Richmond Virga. 22. Mar 83
The Auditors have at length adjusted your Accot. on their Books to the 31st December last; the Bal[ance] then due you from the Commonwealth appears to be £865.. 8.. 3. By last Mail I transmitted you Bills on Phila. to the amount of £500. Virga. Curry. with a request that you would inform me by the succeeding Post how it might be divided among the Gentlemen Delegates, that such might be duly charged in the Auditor’s Books. Mr. Ross was so obliging as to assist me in this remittance otherwise it would have been out of my power to have made one for that Sum. Some difficulties have arisen with respect to the settlement of the Sherifs Accounts with the Auditors which will probably keep the Treasury low until the Meeting of the Assembly.
I congratulate you on the agreeable prospect which the late Accounts from Europe give us of a general Peace. God grant it may be long & happy.
Yr. affect Servt
J. Ambler


Title: To James Madison from Edmund Randolph, 22 March 1783
From: Randolph, Edmund
To: Madison, James

My dear sir
Richmond March 22. 1783
Your favors by the post and the express reached me at the same time with a letter from Dr Lee, dated on the 11th. of decr. (I presume it should have been march). 1783. Having read his first, I was astonished at this passage. “We are still as we were, and always shall be, while Dr. Franklin presides in Europe, utterly in the dark as to the progress of the negotiations at Paris. I am too well acquainted with the European cabinets, not to fear that a continuation of the war, so grievous to us, will be the consequence of these protracted negotiations. I wish I may be deceived.” The contrast, which your eulogium on Franklin presented, was truly grateful to my mind, being a complete antidote to the insinuation of Mr. Lee.
The humiliation of G. B. seems now proportionate to her former arrogance. So lukewarm in the patronage of the Tories, as to desert them rather than risque a new campaign, so profuse in her surrender of territory, so satisfactory in her recognition of independence, she must begin to doubt her own identity. But may not the treaty be so worded, as to give congress a substitution in the place of the King of G. B. with respect to ungranted soil? If so, will not the argument against particular states be stronger, than it ever could have been under the confederation only? For [I] imagine, that the power of congress to accept territory by treaty will not be denied. This will throw a plausibility against us, which never before existed in the contest with congress.
I cannot procure a regular accession of my father’s creditors to my proposals: and without that it is not possible for me to go into the legislature. I am now on my way to Wmsburg., to endeavour at the proper accommodation. But having omitted to declare myself hitherto from an uncertainty of my being able to accept a seat in the house, and the election being at hand, no farther remote than the first monday in next month, and the candidates having been active, and indefatigable, I might possibly expose myself to a mortification, were I to step forward at this late hour. But be the final issue what it will, I shall promote the impost.

Lucius has expressed the destructiveness of Mr. Morris’s resignation in colours not very tender, nor yet very extravagant on the score of cruelty. At such a season to quit his office, even if it were steeped to the lips in poverty and difficulty! Personal embarrassments from personal engagements he might have avoided. He ought to have avoided an obedience to that impulse of petulance, which caused him to proclaim the bankruptcy of America.
We have no internal news.
Betsy and myself are very solicitous to hear of Mrs. House’s and Mrs. Triste’s welfare. She will not inquire into this, by her own pen altho’ she has set one hundred days for writing to the latter. I can urge nothing in her behalf: but to assure Mrs. T. that her shameful neglect does not proceed from a want of a sincere regard for her.


Title: Notes on Debates, 24 March 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

Monday March 24th.
On the day preceding this, intelligence arrived which was this day laid before Congs. that the preliminaries for a general peace had been signed on the 20th. of Jany. This intelligence was brought by a French cutter from Cadiz despatched by Ct. d’Estaing to notify the event to all vessels at sea, and engaged by the zeal of the Marquis de la Fayette to convey it to Congress. This confirmation of peace produced the greater joy, as the preceding delay, the cautions of Mr. Lauren’s Letter of the 24 of Decr. and the general suspicions of Ld. Shelburne’s sincerity had rendered an immediate & general peace extremely problematical in the minds of many.
A letter was recd. from Genl. Carlton thro’ Genl. Washington inclosing a copy of the preliminary articles between G. B. & the U. S. with the separate article annexed.
Mr. Carroll after taking notice of the embarrassment under which Congs. were placed by the injunction of secrecy as to the separate article after it had probably been disclosed in Europe & it now appeared was known at N. York, called the attention of Congs. again to that subject.
Mr. Wolcot still contended that it would be premature to take any step relative to it, untill further communications should be recd. from our Ministers.
Mr. Gilman being of the same opinion, moved that the business be postponed. Mr. Lee 2ded it.
Mr. Wilson conceived it indispensably necessary that something should be done; that Congs. deceived themselves if they supposed that the separate art: was any secret at N. York after it had been announced to them from Sr. Guy Carlton. He professed a high respect for the character of the Ministers which had received fresh honor from the remarkable steadiness and great abilities displayed in the negociations, but that their conduct with respect to the separate article could not be justified. He did not consider it as any violation of the instruction of June 15th. 1781. The Ct. de Vergennes having happily released them from the obligation of it; But he considered it with the signing of the preliminaries secretly as a violation of the spirit of the Treaty of Alliance as well as of the unanimous professions to the Court of France, unanimous instructions to our Ministers, & unanimous declarations to the world, that nothing should be discussed towards peace but in confidence and in concert with our ally. He made great allowance for the ministers, saw how they were affected, and the reasons of it, but could not subscribe to the opinion that Congs. ought to pass over the separate article in the manner that had been urged: Congs. ought he said to disapprove of it in the softest terms that could be devised & at all events not to take part in its concealment.
Mr. Bland treated the separate article with levity and ridicule; as in no respect concerning France, but Spain with whom we had nothing to do.
Mr. Carroll thought that unless some thing expressive of our disapprobation of the article & of its concealment was done, that it would be an indelible stain on our character.
Mr. Clarke contended that it was still improper to take any step, either for communicating officially, or for taking off the injunction of secresy. that the article concerned Spain, and not France, but that if it sd. be communicated to the latter she would hold herself bound to communicate it to the former that hence an embarrassment might ensue; that it was probably this consideration which led the Ministers to the concealment, and he thought they had acted right. He described the awkwardness attending a communication of it under present circumstances; remarking finally that nothing had been done contrary to the Treaty, and that we were in possession of sufficient

   alluding probably to the intercepted letter from Mr. de Marbois.

 materials to justify the suspicions wch. had been manifested.
Mr. Rutlidge was strenuous for postponing the subject, said that Congs. had no occasion to meddle with it, that the Ministers had done right, that they had maintained the honor of the U. S. after Congress had given it up; that the manoeuvre practiced by them was common in all courts & was justifiable agst. Spain who alone was affected by it; that instructions ought to be disregarded whenever the public good required it; and that he himself would never be bound by them when he thought them improper.
Mr. Mercer combated the dangerous tendency of the Doctrine maintained by Mr. Rutlidge with regard to instructions; and observed that the Delegates of Virga. havg been unanimously instructed not to conclude or discuss any Treaty of peace but in confidence & in concert with  his M. C. M. he conceived himself as much bound as he was of himself inclined to disapprove every other mode of proceeding, and that he should call for the yeas & nays on the question for his justification to his constituents.

Mr. Bland tartly said that he of course, was instructed as well as his colleague & sd. himself require the yeas & nays to justify an opposite conduct; that the instructions from his constituents went no farther than to prohibit any Treaty without the concurrence of our ally

   this construction of the instructions was palpably wrong

; which prohibition had not been violated in the case before Congress.
Mr. Lee was for postponing & burying in oblivion the whole transaction; he sd that delicacy to France required this: since if any thing should be done implying censure on our Ministers, it must & ought to be done in such a way, as to fall ultimately on France whose unfaithful conduct had produced & justified that of our Ministers. In all national intercourse he said a reciprocity was to be understood; and as France had not communicated her views & proceedings to the American Plenipotentiaries, the latter were not bound to communicate theirs. All instructions he conceived to be conditional in favor of the public good; and he cited the case mentioned by Sr. Wm. Temple in which the Dutch ministers concluded of themselves an act wch. required the previous sanction of all the members of the Republic
Mr. Hamilton said that whilst he despised the man who wd. enslave himself to the policy even of our Friends, he could not but lament the overweening readiness which appeared in many, to suspect every thing on that side & to throw themselves into the bosom of our enemies. He urged the necessity of vindicating our public honor by renouncing that concealment to which it was the wish of so many to make us parties.
Mr. Wilson in answer to Mr. Lee observed that the case mentioned by Sr. Wm. T. was utterly inapplicable to the case in question; adding that the conduct of France had not on the principle of reciprocity justified our Ministers in signing the provisional preliminaries without her knowledge, no such step having been taken on her part. But whilst he found it to be his duty thus to note the faults of these gentlemen, he with much greater pleasure gave them praise for their firmness in refusing to treat with the British Negociator until he had produced a proper commission, in contending for the fisheries, and in adhering to our Western claims.
Congress adjourned without any question


Title: Virginia Delegates to Benjamin Harrison, 24 March 1783
From: Virginia Delegates
To: Harrison, Benjamin

Sir
Philadelphia March 24th. 1783.
We have the pleasure of congratulating your Excellency on the result of the Negociations in Europe, which have at length happily terminated in a general Pacification.
The Triumph a french Sloop of War, commanded by the Chevalier du Quêne, arriv’d here the last Evening, dispatchd from Cadiz the 14th. of Feby by the Marquiss of Fayette & the C[o]mte D’Estaign, on a supposition, which the event has justified, that she might reach America, before any Packett which shoud sail either from Brest or L’Orient:
The orders of the C[o]mte d’Estaign to the Ch: du Quêne contain a proclamation of the cessation of Hostilities, & the communications from the Marquiss of Fayette, convey the heads of the Preliminary Articles of the General Peace, which were signed the 20th. January at Paris. These leave the decisive terms respecting the United States as affixed by the partial Agreement between America & G. Britain (our southern boundary being restricted to the 32 degree). The other belligerent Powers are in general reinstated in those Possessions which they held previous to the War, with Exception that G. Britain cedes to France, Tobago, St. Vincents & Senegal, who on her part recedes from her right to fish on great Part of the Coast, which she held by the treaty of 63. She cedes to Spain, The Floridas & Minorca, & retains Negapatam in the East Indies, If any thing can add to this happy event, it is that the late confusion in the Army, thro’ the prudence of the Commander in chief, has terminated in a manner wch reflects additional honor on that band of Patriots.
With the highest Respect We have the honor to be Yr Excellencys Most Ob’ & very hble Servants
Jos: JonesTheok. Bland Jr.J. Madison Jr.A. LeeJohn F. Mercer
Congress have just now directed the Agent of Marine to recall all armed naval Commissions & the Minister of Foreign Affairs to make the necessary communications to Sr. Guy Carleton & Admiral Digby, which will produce an immediate cessation of hostilities We shall draw on you for 24 £ the price agreed on for the Express:
John F. Mercer


Title: From James Madison to James Maury, 24 March 1783
From: Madison, James
To: Maury, James

Dear Sir
Phila. March 24–1783
By a cutter despatched by the Ct. d’Estaing & the Marquis de la fayette from Cadiz on Feby 14 & which arrived here last evening we have it confirmed that the preliminary articles for a general peace were signed in Jany. The day of the signature as well as of the cessation of hostilities are omitted in the abstract rcd. by the Secretary of F. A. The changes produced in the possessions of the belligerent parties as nearly as I can recollect them are that as to the Fisheries France cedes to G. B. the Coast from Cape Bonavista &c in N. foundland, & with some small exceptions makes restitution in W. Indies. In the W. Indies she receives back St. Lucia. In the E. Indies her losses are also restored. Spain retains Minorca & W. Florida which is to extend to 32°. N. L. from Mississippi to head of St. Mary’s. G. B. cedes to her E. Florida & receives back the Bahamas. The Dutch possessions in general are restored. There are a few conditions annexed which I do no[t] call to mind. Nothing is said as to the Navigation of the Mississippi. I beg the favr. of you to [send?] this as soon as you shall have perused it to my father. & am Dr Sir
Yr friend & Servt.
J. Madison Jr.
P.S. The Preliminiaries appr. to have [been] signed on the 20th. of Jany.


Title: From James Madison to Edmund Randolph, 24 March 1783
From: Madison, James
To: Randolph, Edmund

Dear Sir
Philada. March 24, 1783.
The express by whom I send this conveys to the Governor the welcome event of a general peace. The preliminary articles were signed on the 20th. of Jany. The day to which hostilities are limited is omitted in the abstract of the preliminaries transmitted to Congs. This intelligence altho’ not from our Ministers is authenticated beyond all possibility of doubt. For the outlines of the Articles I refer to the letter to the Govr. & for the articles themselves as recd. by Congs. to my letter by tomorrows post.
I am &c.
J. Madison Jr.


Title: Virginia Delegates to Benjamin Harrison, 25 March 1783
From: Virginia Delegates
To: Harrison, Benjamin

Sir
In Congress. March 25th. 1783.
Having dispatched an Express yesterday, by whom we communicated to your Excellency, the substance of the important & happy advices, receiv’d by the Ch: du Quesne. We now enclose yr. Excellency the days papers, in which you will no doubt find many interesting particulars, & have to add, that the Ch: du Quesne, informs us that he has a table, ascertaining the different periods, established for the cessation of Hostilities in different Quarters. viz. in Europe & thence to the Azores within 10 Days after the signing the Preliminaries on the 20th. of January, within two months in America & within four months in the East Indies.
We have the honor to be with much respect Yr Excellency’s most obedient & very hble Servts,
John F MercerTheok: Bland Jr.J Madison Jr.


Title: Notes on Debates, 26 March 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

Wednesday March 26.
Communication was made thro’ the Secy of F. A. by the Minister of France, as to the late negociation, from letters recd. by him from Ct. de Vergennes dated in Decr. last, & brought by the Washington packet. This communication shewed though delicately that France was displeased with our Ministers for signing the prely. arts. separately; that she had laboured by recommending mutual concessions to compromise disputes between Spain & the U. S., and that she was apprehensive that G. B. would hereafter, as they already had, endeavor to sow discords between them. It signified that the “intimacy between our Ministers & those of G. B.” furnished a handle for this purpose.
Besides the public communication to Congress other parts of Letters from the Ct. de Vergennes were privately communicated to the Presidt. of Congs. & to sundry members, expressing more particularly the dissatisfaction of the Ct. of F. at the conduct of our Ministers; and urging the necessity of establishing permanent revenues for paying our debts & supporting a national character. The substance of these private communications as taken on the 23. instant by the President is as follows:

Finance.
“That the Ct. de Vergennes was alarmed at the extravagant demands of Docr. Franklin in behalf of the U. S.;  that he was surprized at the same time that the inhabitants paid so little attention to doing something for themselves: If they could not be brought to give adequate funds for their defence during a dangerous war, it was not likely that so desireable an end could be accomplished when their fears were allayed by a general peace[;] that this reasoning affected the credit of the U. S. and no one could be found who would risque their money under such circumstances; that the King would be glad to know what funds were provided for the security and payment of the 10 Million borrowed by him in Holland; that the Count de Vergennes hardly dared to report in favor of the U. S. to the King & Council, as money was so scarce that it would be with the greatest difficulty that even a small part of the requisition could be complied with. The causes of this scarcity were, a five year’s war which had increased the expences of Government to an enormous amount, the exportation of large sums of specie to America for the support & pay of both French & English armies, the loans to America, the stoppage of Bullion in S. America which prevented its flowing in the usual channels.

   another cause mentioned was the large balance of specie in favor of the Nn. powers during the war.

” A letter of later date added
“That he had received the Chevrs. letter of Ocr. and rejoiced to find that Congress had provided funds for their debts, which gave him great encouragemt. and had prevailed on the Comptroller General to join him in a report to his Majesty & Council for 6 Million of livres for the U. S. to support the war, but assures the Chevalier de la Luzerne, that he must never again consent to a further application.”

Negociations
“He complains of being treated with great indelicacy by the American Commissrs. they having signed the Treaty without any confidential communication, that had France treated America with the same indelicacy she might have signed her Treaty first as every thing between France & England was settled, but the King chose to keep faith with his allies, and therefore always refused to do any thing definitively, till all his allies were ready; that this conduct had delayed the definitive Treaty, England having considered herself as greatly strengthened by America; that Docr. Franklin waited on Ct. de Vergennes & acknowledged the indelicacy of their behavior & had prevailed on him to bury it in oblivion: that the English were endeavoring all in their power to sow seeds of discords between our Commissrs. & the Court of Spain, representing our claims to the Westward as extravagant and inadmissible, that it became Congress to be attentive to this business, & to prevent the ill effects that it might be attended with, that the King had informed the Court of Spain, that tho’ he heartily wished that the U. S. might enjoy a cordial coalition with his Cat: Majesty, yet he should leave the whole affair entirely to the two States and not interfere otherwise than as by his counsel & advice when asked, that altho’ the U S. had not been so well treated by Spain as might have been expected, yet that his Majesty wished that America might reap the advantage of a beneficial Treaty with Spain. That as the peace was not yet certain, it became all the powers at war, to be ready for a vigorous campaign, and hoped Congs. would exert themselves to aid the common cause by some offensive operations against the Enemy, but if the British should evacuate the U. S. the King earnestly hoped Congs. would take the most decided measures to prevent any intercourse with the British, and particularly in the way of merchandise or supplying them with provisions, wch. would prove of the most dangerous tendency to the campaign in the W. Indies, that the British now had hopes of opening an extensive trade with America, tho’ the war should continue, which if they should be disappointed in, might hasten the definitive Treaty, as it would raise a clamor among the people of England.

The Chevr. added that as he had misinformed his Court with regard to Congs. having funded their debts, on which presumption, the 6 Milon. had been granted, he hoped Congs. would enable him in his next despatches to give some satisfactory account to his Court on this head.”


Title: Virginia Delegates to Virginia Auditors of Public Accounts, 27 March 1783
From: Virginia Delegates
To: Virginia Auditors of Public Accounts

Philada. March 27th. 1783.
We have received in consequence of two bills of Exchange remitted by J. Ambler Esq. each of us one hundred pounds Virga. currency; and request the Auditors of the Commonwealth of Virginia to issue warrants to that amount and charge the same to us in part of our Salaries as Delegates to Congress.
J. Madison Jr.Jos: JonesTheok: Bland Jr.Arthur LeeJohn F. Mercer

N. B. out of the above the Charges of discount on the negotiating the said Bills to be credited to the delegates amount to Six dollars
}


Title: Amendment to Report on Restoring Public Credit, [28 March] 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

Editorial Note
For the background of this amendment, see Report on Restoring Public Credit, 6 Mar., and n. 20; JM Notes, 27 Mar. 1783, and n. 27. JM’s notes for 28 March (q.v.) permit no doubt that the wording of the amendment on the first page of his manuscript (fol. 433, cited above) includes at least one revision resulting from the discussion in Congress following the submission of the amendment. Effort has been made to restore JM’s original wording in the present text.
Most probably during the course of the debate, which focused upon the fractional weight to be given to slaves in allocating tax quotas among the states in proportion to their population, JM attempted on the second page (fol. 434) either to rephrase that portion of the amendment or to record the changes in it suggested and rejected during a part of the lengthy discussion. The legible residue of his jottings, which he partially effaced by heavy erasures, reads: “in proportion to the number of white Inhabitants of every age, sex & condition, and of the 1/2 of the number of all other inhabitants; which numbers shall be triennially taken & transmitted to the U. S. in Congs. Assembd. in such mode as they shall direct & appoint.”
On the second page there are other notations bearing upon the debate of 28 March, but they are not in JM’s hand. For these, see JM Notes, 28 March 1783, n. 2.
[28 March 1783]
Rept of Come. to whom was transmitted the last paragraph of the Report on the establishmt. of a Revenue &c
All charges of war, and all other expences that have been or shall be incurred for the common defense or general welfare, & allowed by the U. S. in Congs. assembd. except so far as shall be otherwise provided for shall be defrayed out of a common Treasury, which shall be supplied by the several States in proportion to the whole number of free inhabitants & one half of the number of all other inhabitants of every age sex and condition except Indians not paying Taxes in each State; which number shall be triennially taken & transmitted to the U. S. in Congs. assembled, in such mode as they shall direct & appoint.


Title: Notes on Debates, 28 March 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

Friday March 28.
The Come. last mentd. reported that two blacks be rated as equal to one freeman.
Mr. Wolcot was for rating them as 4 to 3.
Mr. Carrol as 4 to 1.
Mr. Williamson sd. he was principled agst. slavery; & that he thought slaves an incumbrance to Society instead of increasing its ability to pay taxes.
Mr. Higgenson as 4 to 3.
Mr. Rutlidge sd. for the sake of the object he wd. agree to rate Slaves, as 2 to 1, but he sincerely thought 3 to 1. would be a juster proportion
Mr. Holten—as 4 to 3.
Mr. Osgood sd. he cd not go beyond 4 to 3.
On a question for rating them as 3 to 2, the votes were N. H. ay. Mas: no. R.I. divd. Cont. ay. N.J. ay. Pa. ay. Delr. ay. Maryd. no Virga. no N.C. no. S. C. no
The paragraph was then postponed by general consent; some wishing for further time to deliberate on it; but it appearing to be the general opinion that no compromise wd. be agreed to
After some further discussions on the report in which the necessity of some simple & practicable rule of apportionment came fully into view, Mr. Madison said that in order to give a proof of the sincerity of his professions of liberality he wd. propose that Slaves should be rated as 5 to 3. Mr. Rutlidge 2ded. motion. Mr. Wilson sd. he wd. sacrifice his opinion to this compromise.
Mr. Lee was agst. changing the rule, but gave it as his opinion that 2 Slaves were not equal to 1 freeman.
On the question for 5 to 3, it passed in the affirmative N.H. ay. Mas: divd. R. I. no. Cont. no. N.J. ay. Pa. ay Maryd. ay. Va. ay N.C. ay. S.C. ay.
A motion was then made by Mr. Bland 2ded. by Mr. Lee to strike out the clause so amended, and on the question, “shall it stand” it passed in the negative. N.H. ay. Mas. no. R.I. no. Con no N.J. ay. Pa. ay. Del. no. Mar. ay. Virga. ay. N.C. ay. S.C. no. so the clause was struck out.
The arguments used by those who were for rating slaves high were; that the expence of feeding & cloathing them was as far below that incident to freemen, as their industry & ingenuity were below those of freemen: and that the warm climate within wch. the States having slaves lay, compared wth. the rigorous climate & inferior fertility of the others, ought to have great weight in the case & that the exports of the former states were greater than of latter. on the other side it was said that Slaves were not put to labour as young as the children of laboring families, that having no interest in their labor they did as little as possible, & omitted every exertion of thought requisite to facilitate & expedite it: that if the exports of the States having slaves exceeded those of the others, their imports were in proportion, Slaves being employed wholly in agriculture, not in manufactures: & that in fact the balance of trade formerly was much more agst. the So. States than the others.
on the main question, see Journal


Title: Motion for Reports by Superintendent of Finance, [29 March] 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

[29 March 1783]
That it be the duty of the Superintendt of Finance with as little delay as may be & thereafter on the  day of  in every year to lay before the U. S. in Congss. assmbd. a state of all monies receiv’d into his Departmt. with the times when & the persons from whom they shall have been received; and also a state of all payments made immediately under his warrant with the t[im]es when the persons to whom & the purposes for which such warrants shall have been issued; that he also at periods aforesaid lay before the U. S. in Congr. assembd. copies of the receipts given to him for all such warrants, with the amounts of the estimates or substance of the other documents on which the warrants shall have been issued; and also a report from the Comptroller’s office [o]f how far monies issued under warrants of the sd. Superintendt. as aforesaid shall have been finally & satisfactorily accounted for.


Title: Benjamin Harrison to Virginia Delegates, 29 March 1783
From: Harrison, Benjamin
To: Virginia Delegates

Gentlemen,
In Council March 29th. 1783.
Your favor of the 18th. of March came safe to hand, by which I find our Prospects of Peace are greatly lessen’d since the perusal of Mr. Lawrence’s Letter it is however some consolation to me to know that the reports spread abroad by the Enemies of the French Alliance are on this as they have been on all other occasions false and malitious and grounded on ill founded Prejudices, to say no worse of them. It is a Matter of serious concern and chagrin to me that the Affairs of Penet & Co. have taken the turn they have tho’ it was to be expected from the Conduct of the Assembly, whose interference with the Executive Department, by taking from them Vessels that were prepared to make remittances according to their most sacred Promises have brought it about, the intentions of some Gentlemen are fully answered in bringing me into Contempt for destroying the Public faith. I wish they had recollected that thro’ me they would deeply wound their Country. Mr. Barclay has been appointed Agent for the State ever since the 6th. of September last, and I am happy to find from his Letters by Capt. Barney that he has taken the trust upon him and has entered into the Discharge of it. the first Thing recommended to him was to use every Method in his Power to prevent Penets doing more Mischief to the State by advertizing the People of Europe that his Powers were recalled, which he has done; his next care was to inform us what Contracts he had entered into that were really on Account of the State, to settle such Accounts and give me a full State of them which I expect he will do by the first Opportunity, as soon as they arrive you shall have them in Order to your laying them before any Person or Persons who may have a Claim against us on his Account. The Goods ship’d by Penet & Co. in the Duke of Linster and Franklin amounted to 77502. Livers Tournois and no more as may be made appear by Letters and Invoices. they ship’d another Parcel of Goods in the Schooner Committee which were taken and retaken and carried into Rode Island. their amount I do not exactly know, but suppose from examining the commercial Agents Books when the Accounts of the whole transactions are settled there will be a Ballance of nearly the first Sum due to the Company, be it more or less it is at present attach’d by a mr. Bourdeaux of South Carolina and Coulignac & Co. of Nantes have demanded it alledging that the Money for the Purchase of the Goods was advanced by them. Mr. Auby says the same thing and therefore claims Payment. I leave you to determine whither both of them can be in the right. As far as I am able to jud[g]e these Gentlemen and perhaps some others have been taken in by Penet who was an adventurer and a very bad Man and may Perhaps have in some Measure imposed on them by shewing the Powers he had from this Government, but they never could have advanced the Money to the State or intended to look to it for Payment as will appear by Penets Letters who tells us he could obtain nothing on his Powers till Doctor Franklin should authenticate them which the Doctor Prudently declined, and the State never thought fit to ask the favor of him to do it, but rather rejoiced on his refusal. This is as full a State of the Transactions of Penet and his Demands against us as I can at present give you. when what is due will be paid I know not, or to whom it will be paid, if it should be left to me I shall give it to those who really furnish’d the Goods and to no other Person. The Account was given in to the Assembly by the commercial Agent in his List of Debts, and by them ordered to be paid when the Treasurer should be in Cash and I suppose will be so if the Gentlemen can settle the Matter amongst themselves who is to receive it. I am altogether disappointed in my Expectations of Arms and Ammunition from France Mr. Barclay informs me the Count De Vergen[nes] has revoked his Powers and will not furnish them. is not this refusal to be attributed to our Breach of Faith? if we have an Invasion and our Country is once more overrun by the Enemy for want of them what ought to be the Portion of those who occasioned it? I dare say you will join with me in saying a Rope. With respect I am Gentlemen Yrs: &c.
B. H.


Title: To James Madison from Edmund Randolph, 29 March 1783
From: Randolph, Edmund
To: Madison, James

My dear Sir
Richmond March 29. 1783.
I have just returned from Wmsburg, the seat of a majority of the keenest pursuers of my father’s estate. Nothing, I believe, will content them, but a fair experiment at law: and to guard against this is my object in retaining for the present my office of Attorney general. I do not mean, however, by this, that the adhering to it would be desireable by me at any other [se]ason, than this. For at no other would the salary be equal, [a]s you rightly conceive, to the profits of the other side. But it is easily foreseen, that the next session will limit, if not wholly abolish, executions, and thus cut off the means of supporting my family, except with great difficulty.
Among the confederates in forging tobacco notes, &c., two penitents have appeared. Their evidence will be pointed against the inspector, who has been the cornerstone of the villainy. But it is suggested, and with much shew of truth, that an inspector cannot forge his own name. If it should be so adjudged, his acquittal is certain.
While in Wmsburg, I found a cause depending in the admiralty, the capital point of which is, to decide, whether a capture by a vessel not commissioned, pursuing indeed the course of her voyage, but not repelling a previous attack, is legal. The ordinance is to my apprehension clear enough against my client, the captor: and yet in the eccentricity of human opinion we may catch some advantage, by shewing, that altho’ it enumerates certain persons, capable of capturing, it does not in express terms, exclude all others and therefore as the right of capturing without a commission exists, according to Grotius and Lee under the law of nations, it still exists, the ordinance having no negative words.
Mr. Wm. Short will probably lose his election. Dr. Walker, who is one of the candidates, will undoubtedly be chosen, and Colo. Nicholas, who is the other, has the murmur of the people strongly in his favor. The latter gentleman was at the first breaking of the impost to him, vehement against its revival: but he has seen the subject since in a more dispassionate light, and will, I believe, adopt fit measures for our salvation.
In the neighbouring county of New-Kent, I have been informed, that one of the candidates, whose interest seems to increase, makes his court to the freeholders by declaring himself against executions and taxes. The suspension of the former I advocate now, as I always have: and if british debts should be soon recoverable, that suspension ought not to be taken off, until many years after the firm establishment of our government. I do not discover, that the provisional articles fix a future day for their recovery. If recoverable immediately, may they not indanger us, by the possibility of a relapse into the arms of G. B. if not by a restoration of dependence, at least by a destructive connection? Let a merciless british creditor grant indulgence on condition of favoring G. B. in some particular form. What is to be the consequence?
I wish to learn, whether Congress assented to the publication of Mr. Morris’s letter of resignation? This letter, united with Rivington’s late account of all the monthly payments from the different states, will constitute a delightful regale of Shelburne’s duplicity.


Title: Report on Robert R. Livingston’s Funds, [31 March] 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

[31 March 1783]
The Committee to whom was refd. a letter from the Secy. of F. A. of the 28th. inst; informing Congs. that there remain in his hands about 7300 dollars, savd. from the Salaries of the Foreign Ministers by the course of Exchange during the last year; and requesting some order of Congs. relative to the disposition thereof; Recommend that in consideration of the expences incurred by the sd Secy since his appt. beyond the Salary annexed to it; as appears by his letter of  day of  & of the extra ser[v]ice [dis]charged by him in transacting the business from which the savings abovemd. have resulted, he be allowed to retain  dollars out of the same, & that he be directed to place the residue in the hands of the Superintendent. of Finance.


Title: Notes on Debates, 31 March 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

Monday March 31.
A letter was recd. from the Govr, of R. Island with resolutions of the Legislature of that State justifying the conduct of Mr. Howell.
On the arrival of the French Cutter with the acct of the signing of the general preliminaries, it was thought fit by Congress to hasten the effect of them by calling in the American Cruisers. It was also thought by all not amiss to notify simply the Intelligence to the British Commanders at N.Y. In addition to this it was proposed by the Secy. of F. A. and urged by the Delegates of Pa. by Mr. Lee, Mr. Rutlidge & others, that Congress should signify their desire & expectation that hostilities sd. be suspended at sea on the part of the Enemy. The arguments urged were that the effusion of blood might be immediately stopped & the trade of this Country rescued from depredation. It was observed on the other side that such a proposition derogated from the dignity of Congs.; shewed an undue precipitancy; that the intelligence was not authentic enough to justify the British commander in complying with such an overture; and therefore that Congs. would be exposed to the mortification of a refusal. The former considerations prevailed & a verbal sanction was given to Mr. Livingston’s expressing to the sd. Commanders the expectation of Congs. &c. This day their answers were recd. addressed to Robt. R. Livingston Esqr. &c&c&c. declining to accede to the stopping of hostilities at sea, & urging the necessity of authentic orders from G. B. for that purpose. With their letters Mr. Livingston communicated resolutions proposed from his office, “that inconsequence of these letters the orders to the American Cruisers sd. be revoked; and that the Executives sd. be requested to embargo all vessels.[”] Congs. were generally sensible after the rect. of these papers that they had committed themselves in proposing to the British Commanders at N.Y. a stop to naval hostilities; & were exceedingly at a loss to extricate themselves. On one side they were unwilling to publish to the world the affront they had recd. especially as no written order had been given for the correspondence and on the other it was necessary that the continuance of hostilities at sea should be made known to American Citizens. Some were in favor of the revocation of hostilities. others proposed as Col: Bland & Genl. Mifflin, that the Secy of F. A. should be directed verbally to publish the letters from Carlton & Digby. This was negatived. The superinscription was animadverted upon particularly by Mr. Mercer, who said that the letters ought to have been sent back unopened. Finally it was agreed that any member might take copies & send them to the press & that the subject should lie over for further consideration


Title: To James Madison from Edmund Pendleton, 31 March 1783
From: Pendleton, Edmund
To: Madison, James

My Dear Sir:
Edmundsbury, March 31st, 1783
I yesterday evening return’d from my Visit and found yr favr of the 24th (that of the 11th I believe has been acknowledged) conveying me the long wish’d for & glorious Intelligence; which I cordially wish we may have virtue & social spirit enough to reap the full fruits of: I think the Peace upon the whole a very liberal one; and therefore most likely to be durable—never was so Important a Revolution as Ours, so cheaply, and in so short a time purchased; the value of which, I hope we shall not estimate by the price, but by its Intrinsic worth. The Payment of British debts does not set well on the stomachs of people in general here; you know my sentiments always were that a National War, tho’ it might suspend, ought not to destroy the Contracts or engagements of Individuals. The restitution of confiscated property, is touched so gently, as to produce no effect I imagine, tho’ for myself I declare, that in this state, I believe it would produce in general, good rather than evil, the lands being in the hands of worse Citizens than they were taken from: however I am my self no ways concerned either with the debts or property, and therefore shall leave it to the Legislature whose province it is to determine how the treaty is to be performed. It is probably on these Accounts that contests are very warm amongst the Land estates for our approaching Elections, which commence this week, & we shall soon see what is like to be the cast of them. We have in Goal several notorious forgers of Inspn & Mr Morris’s notes, and are hunting more of the Party discovered by two of the Gang, who have received their pardons in reward for the discovery. One case is a singular one and engages the ingenuity of the Bar; it is of an Inspection of tobo charged wth Forging the notes of his own Inspection, which those Gentn say is no Felony, but a breach of Trust, since by his office he had power to Issue the notes; and argue that the Objection is strongly fortified by a clause in the tobacco Laws, which subjects the Insprs. to a disability to hold any office & to a pecuniary Penalty for issuing notes for tobacco not actually received into the Warehouses, which they urges is all this man’s offence—how the[y] will succeed will soon be determined. My journey has so shaken my nerves that I can scarcely write—so begging my Complts to Mr Jones & joining in cordial congratulations wth you both on the memorable 20th of Jany I conclude
Yr very Affe friend
Edmd Pendleton


Title: Virginia Delegates to Benjamin Harrison, 1 April 1783
From: Virginia Delegates
To: Harrison, Benjamin

Sr.
Philadelphia April 1st 1783
Your Excelly. will have received by our Express the important Intelligence brought by the Triomphe.
That Intelligence (together with Authenticated Copies of Count D’Estaings dispatches relating to Peace which were received by the Minister of France) was sent into New York immediately by An officer in the department of foreign Affairs, and proposals, founded on the presumption of their Authenticity, were made to Sr. Guy Carleton and Admiral Digby by Congress, that a Suspension of Hostilities should immediately take place both by Sea and Land, that a Stop might be put to the further effusion of Human Blood. However Humane the motives might be which dictated these proposals, we find, the Application has not Succeeded. The British Commanders have Informd Congress that no Authority has reached them from their Court—they could not therefore think themselves Justified in taking such a step—thus Untill that shall arrive, every thing remains with the British in Statu quo, altho the Hands of the French Naval Force in America are tied. Your Excelly will no doubt Judge it proper that this Intelligence may be conveyed as speedily as possible to our Sea Ports, to prevent the Risque which Vessels Sailing in this Critical Juncture might run.
We sincerely wish that your Excelly wd. be pleased to urge to the Assembly at their next meeting, the making a provision for Establishing a Credit for the Delegates in this Place or where Congress may sit, so that they may be Enabled to draw their Salaries as they become due, that they may no longer be Subject to that uncertainty which they have hitherto Experienced, which lays them under every disadvantage in their expenditure, Exposes them to be obliged to borrow frequently on the most Humiliating terms to supply their real necessities, and consigns them to the Hands of Extortionate Usury.

We received no Public letter by the last Post.
We are with the most perfect respect Yr. Excellys most obedt. svts
Theok: Bland Jr.A. LeeJ. Madison JrJos: Jones.


Title: From James Madison to Edmund Randolph, 1 April 1783
From: Madison, James
To: Randolph, Edmund

My dear Friend
Philada. April 1. 1783.
Your favor of the 22. Ulto. verifies my fears that some disappointment would defeat your plan of going into the Legislature. I regret it the more as every day teaches me more & more the necessity of such measures as I know you would have patronized; and as we are losing ground so fast in the temper of the States as to require every possible support. Unless some speedy & adequate provision be made beyond that of the Confederation, the most dismal alternative stares me in the face. And yesterday’s post brought us information that the bill repealing the impost had passed the lower house of Massts. and one of like import had made equal progress in the Legislature of S. Carolina. These defections are alarming, but if a few enlightened & disinterested members would step forward in each Legislature as advocates for the necessary plans, I see with so much force the considerations that might be urged, that my hopes would still prevail. If advantage should be taken of popular prepossessions on one side without such counter-efforts, there is, to be sure, room for nothing but despair.
The extract from [Lee]’s letter recited in yours astonishes me more than it could do you, because I must be more sensible of its contrast to truth. High as my opinion of the object of it was, the judgment & acuteness & patriotism displayed in the last despatches from him, have really enhanced it. So far are they in particular from studiously leaving us in the dark, that some of them are of as late date as any, if not later than those from several & perhaps as voluminous as all the rest put together.
The zeal of Congs. to hasten the effect of the general preliminaries, led them (precipitately as I conceive) to authorise the Secy. of F. A. to notify to Sr. G. Carlton & Adml Digby, the intelligence rcd. by the French Cutter on that subject, with their recall of American Cruisers, in order that correspondent measures might be taken at N. Y. The answers from these Commanders were addressed to Robt. R. Livingston Esqr &c &c &c. and imported that they could not suspend hostilities at sea without proper authority from their Sovereign; but as Congress placed full reliance on the authenticity of the intelligence they supposed no objection cd. lie on their part agst. releasing all prisoners &c. A letter from Digby to the French Minister is I am told remarkably su[r]ly & indecent even for a British Admiral. We have recd. no official report of the signing of the General Preliminaries, nor any further particulars relative to them. Your surmize as to the dangerous phraseology which may be used in designating our limits, may be realized, if our Ministers are not cautious, or sd. yield to improper considerations. But I trust that no such defaults will happen on that side: & that even if they should, the language used by Congress in all their own acts on that head will overpower any arguments that may be drawn from acts of their Ministers.
Mrs. Randolph’s & your good wishes were recd. by Mrs. House & Mrs Trist with marks of unfiegned affection. The latter will however speak for herself.
Docr. Lee sets off to day or tomorrow for Virga. but talks of returning hither before the meeting of the Legislature, which however he means to attend. His immediate object I suppose is to attend the County election.


Title: Notes on Debates, [4?] April 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

Editorial Note
JM prefaced the present notes by writing, “Wednesday apl. 3. Thursday Apl. 4. Friday apr. 5. Saturday apr. 6. See Journals.” He thereby confused either the days or the dates, for 3 April in 1783 was a Thursday and the fourth, fifth, and sixth were Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively. Between 3 and 6 April, Congress convened only on 4 April (NA: PCC, No. 185, III, 60; No. 186, fols. 171–72; JCCWorthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.;
        Washington, 1904–37)., XXIV, 227–30).
The notes below are confined to the contents of, rather than the debate on the report of the grand committee, and to the appointment of a committee to propose “the proper arrangements to be taken in consequence of peace.” Congress named this latter committee on 4 April. The report of the grand committee, which was adopted on 7 April, is in NA: PCC, No. 26, fols. 399–401. See also NA: PCC, No. 186, fol. 172; JCCWorthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.;
        Washington, 1904–37)., XXIV, 230–31; JM Notes, 7 April 1783. Although Charles Thomson’s committee book, the docket of the manuscript report of the grand committee, and the journal omit mention of the report being submitted to Congress on 4 April, they at least record nothing which bars the conclusion that the report was first presented on that day (JCCWorthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.;
        Washington, 1904–37)., XXIV, 227–29). If this conclusion is correct, all the present notes refer only to the session of 4 April 1783.
[Friday, 4 April]
The Grand Come. appointed to consider the proportions for the blank in the Report on Revenue &c. reported the following grounded on the number of Inhabitants in each State; observing that N.H. R.I. Cont. & Mard. had produced authentic documents of their numbers; & that in fixing the numbers of other States, they had been governed by such information as they could obtain. They also reduced the interest of aggregate debt. 2,500,000 Drs.

No. of Inhabts.
proportions of 1000
proportions of 1½ Miln
N.H.
82,200
35
52,500
Mas:
350,000
148
222,000
R.I.
50,400
21
31,500
Cont.
206,000
87
130,500
N.Y.
200,000
85
127,500
N.J.
130,000
55
82,500
Pena.
320,000
136
204,000
Del:
35,000
15
22,500
Marg.
220,700
94
141,000
Virga.
400,000
169
253,000
N.C.
170,000
72
108,000
S.C.
170,000
72
108,000
Georga.
  25,000
  11
  16,500

2,359,300
1000
1,500,000

Annual Intst. of debt after deducting 1000.… Drs. expected from Impost on Trade.
A Come. consisting of Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Madison & was appointd to report the proper arrangements to be taken in consequence of peace. The object was to provide a system for foreign affairs, for Indian affairs, for military & naval peace establishments; and also to carry into execution the regulation of weights & measures & other articles of the Confederation not attended to during the war. To the same Come. was referred a resolution of the Executive Council of Pa. requesting the Delegates of that State to urge Congs. to establish a general peace with the Indians.


Title: Notes on Debates, 8 April 1783
From: Madison, James
To:

Tuesday April 8th.

Estimate of the debt of the U.S. reported by the Grand Committee:

Foreign debt

To the Farmers General of France
Livrs. 1,000,000

To Beaumarchais
3,000,000

To King of France to end of 1782
28,000,000

To do         for 1783
6,000,000

Dollars

Livrs. 38,000,000 =
7,037,037

Recd. on loan in Holland
Florins 1,678,000 =
671,200

Borrowed in Spain by Mr. Jay
150,000

Int. on Dutch one year at 4 prCt
  26,848

      Total for: debt
7,885,085

  Domestic debt.

  Dollars

  Loan office
  11,463,802

  Int. unpaid for 1781
  190,000

  do      1782
  687,823

  Credit to sundry persons
  }

  on Treasury books

  638,042

  army debt to 31 Dr.
    1782
  5,635,618

  unliquidated do
  8,000,000

  deficiencies in 1783
  2,000,000

  Total dom: debt
  28,615,290

  Aggregate debt
  36,500,375

  Interest

  On for: debt, 7,885,085, at 4 PerCt
  315,403

  On dom: do.. 28,615,290, at 6 do
  1,716,917

  On Com: ½pay, estimd. 5,000,000 at 6 do
  300,000

  Bounty to be pd estimd. 500,000 at do
     30,000

  2,362,320
  Aggreg: of Int.

A motion was made by Mr. Hamilton who had been absent on the question on the 9th. parag: of the report on Revenue assessing quotas, to reconsider the same. Mr. Floyd who being the only delegate from N.Y. then present on that question, cd. not vote, 2ded. the motion. For the argts. repeated see the former remarks on the 7. apl.
On the question the votes were Mas: no. R.I. no. Cont. no. N.Y. ay. N.J. no. Pa. ay. Maryd. no. Virga. ay. S.C. no.


Title: Virginia Delegates to Benjamin Harrison, ca. 8 April 1783—Missing Letter
From: Virginia Delegates
To: Harrison, Benjamin

Editorial Note
Ca. 8 April 1783. In his letter to the delegates on 19 April, Governor Harrison mentioned that “by the last Post” he had received their “favor” dealing with the claims of Simon Nathan and Oliver Pollock against the state of Virginia. See Harrison to Delegates, 19 April, and nn. 1–7, and especially the closing paragraph of n. 5. Harrison almost certainly referred the now missing letter to the Virginia General Assembly on 5 May 1783 (Executive Letter Book, 1783–1786, pp. 109–12, MS in Va. State Library; JHDVJournal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of
          Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg. Beginning in
        1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and Held in the
          Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session has its own
        title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which the journals
        for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published in Richmond
        in 1827 or 1828, and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.”, May 1783, p. 83). That letter may have touched upon several of the topics alluded to by JM in his letter to Randolph on 8 April, and probably also reported that Congress four days earlier had resolved “that the several States be required to suspend all enlistments for any regiment or corps in the United States” (Randolph to JM, 1 Mar., n. 4; JM to Randolph, 8 Apr.; Va. GazetteVirginia Gazette, or, the American Advertiser (Richmond,
        James Hayes, 1781–86)., 19 Apr. 1783).


Title: From James Madison to Edmund Randolph, 8 April 1783
From: Madison, James
To: Randolph, Edmund

My dear Sir
Philada. Apl. 8. 1783.
Your favor of the 29th. ult: was duly recd. yesterday. Your apprehensions from the article in favor of British Creditors, correspond with those entertained by all whose remarks I have heard upon it. My hope is that in the definitive treaty the danger may be removed by a suspension of their demands for a reasonable term after peace.
The publication of Mr. M’s letters was neither previously assented to nor known by Congress. Whether it was the act of Mr. M. himself is even unknown to them. After the injunction of secresy was taken off, the curiosity of any individual, or the interest of the printer might obtain copies for the press.
The imperfect information brought by the French Cutter is all that we have yet recd. relative to peace. It is reported from N. York that similar intelligence has been brought thither by a vessel from Lisbon. Hostilities however continue to devour our commerce.
The report on revenue of which I gave you the outlines is still in an unfinished State; but in a way I flatter myself of being ultimately & substantially adopted. The admission into the common mass, of all expences of the war not authorised by Congress is the remaining article of difficulty. Even this however under some qualifications is so respectably patronized & so intimately linked with the art[i]cle concerning the back lands that I do not despair altogether of seeing that also finally comprehended. A change of the valuation of the Lands for the number of Inhabitants deducting ⅖ of the Slaves, has recd. a tacit sanction & unless hereafter expunged will go forth in the general recommendation, as material to future harmony & justice among the members of the Confederacy. The deduction of ⅖ was a compromise between the wide opinions & demands of the Southern & other States.
A letter was recd. yesterday from Genl Washington in answer to a notification from the Presidt. of the signing the Genl. preliminaries on the 20th Jany. expressing the joy of the army at the glorious event and the satisfaction they have recd. from the act of Congs. commuting the half pay &c.
The Mission of Mr. Jefferson has been entirely superceded by the last advices. He will set out in a few days for Virga. and means to pass through Richmond. To his information I refer for details which my late correspondence may have omitted. As his services are not required, at least for the present, in Europe, it is to be most devoutly wished that they could be engaged at the present crisis at home.