To John Jay from Silas Deane, 9 October 1780
From Silas Deane
Passy Octr 9th 1780
Dear Sir,
This is my fifth Letter since my arrival, and having received no Acknowledgment from you of the Rect: of any one of them I am a little uneasy for the Fate of them in particular for that which inclosed a Letter from Don Juan to the Minister;—my last was of the 18th Ulto. in which I wrote you my Sentiments on political Affairs,1 nothing New has since occurred to induce a Change. Letters are receiv’d at L’Orient as late as the 3d. of last Mo. when every thing remained in Status quo. A good Understanding prevailed between the American & French Troops. The latter are entrenched at Rhode Island. Adml Arbuthnot was off the harbor with a Superior Fleet, & Clinton threatned an embarkation of Ten thousand Troops at New York to attack them, The NEngland militia were called in to their Aid.2 The Northern Privateers had captured & brought into Boston Nineteen shipps of the Quebec Fleet, Valued at Four Hundred Thousand pounds Stg.3 they could not indeed have been Worth much less, this, every thing considered, is of more consequence than the Capture off Cape Finistere.4 From the West Indies nothing New. The British Parliament meet the last of this Month and it is said will ^be^ entertained with a pacific Speech from the Throne, indeed from all I can learn, it is probable that some Overture will be made, which I wish may lead to an honorable Peace,5 but I dare not make any dependance on it, though I think there is a greater prospect of it ^at present^ than for some Time past. Mr. Searle6 sets off for Holland Tomorrow where Mr. Adams7 has fixed himself & Family. No News of Mr. Laurens whence Mr. Searle sets him down as lost. I beleive We are so much of the Christian & Philosopher, as to be resigned on the Occasion. His Arrival can do no good at this Time, for there is no Money to be borrowed in Holland nor any where else on Our Acct: and if there was, We have so many Agents of Private States bidding on one Another, & proclaiming thereby our Wants, as well as Our Folly, that no prudent Man would venture his Money—8 pray let me know your True Situation & prospects in Spain. I wish to know them from the Interest I take in whatever affects You as well as on Acct. of Our Country. In short I do not aprove of the Conduct of Fr[ance]. or Sp[ain]. to Am[erica]. Sp[ain]. evidently trifles with us in the Face of all Europe. France does near the same but labors to save appearances. Our Cause has lost ground greatly in Fra[nce]. Europe is more & more indifferent ab[ou]t. us. The Armed Neutrality is at an End or rather will never take place. Our Liberty & Indep[endence] is an Object which becomes every Day more out of Sight. Am[erica] begins to grow uneasy, and this Fruitless Campaign with other Circumstances will I fear totally discourage us. Every American goes from France in disgust, though I think without Cause. The Language held by J[ohn]. A[dams]. our minister for peace & his retiring to Hol[lan]d in disgust, has had more serious Effects than is suspected by most.9 in short all these Circumstances laid together I fear if a peace or Truce takes place the first Object of the war on our part, will have but little Weight with our Friends, especially with Spain who I am convinced is very far from wishing us to succeed farther than to [Aid]10 her Revenge against England.— You can doubtless set me right on this Subject but if you do not think it prudent to do so I will not blame You. My best Compliments wait on Mrs. Jay & Col. Livingston, and am with sincere Friendship, Dear Sir Your most Obedient & Very Humble Servt.
S. Deane
Mr Jay
LS, NNC (EJ: 7779), partly in code, deciphered by JJ. Endorsed: “Recd 24 Octr 80.” and “ . . . answd. 27 Inst.” LbkC, CtHi (EJ: 2896), printed in , 4: 240–42, with errors due to incorrect rendering of the code. Encoded in nomenclator code found in JJ’s code memorandum (EJ: 7590). See “John Jay’s Use of Codes and Ciphers” (editorial note) on p. 9. Square brackets indicate expansion by the editors of JJ’s abbreviations in the interlinear decoding.
1. Deane’s four previous letters to JJ were those of 23 Aug., enclosing a letter from Miralles, NNC (EJ: 7776); 4 Sept., CtHi (EJ: 2899); and 13 and 18–20 Sept. 1780, above.
2. On the French fleet at Newport, see Carmichael to JJ, 25 May, above, notes 2 and 3.
3. As reported by General Washington to Governor William Livingston of New Jersey, 17 Aug. 1780, “the greater part of the fleet of Victuallers and Merchant men bound from England to Quebec had been taken by the Eastern privateers. Sixteen of the prizes had arrived in the different ports.” , 19: 386–88.
4. Undoubtedly a reference to the Córdova capture of a British convoy off Cape St. Vincent on 9 Aug. 1780, on which see the editorial note “John Jay’s Conference with Floridablanca,” note 12, on p. 103. American newspaper accounts of the allied naval victories in 1780 concluded that “the impression made on the British trade this year by the allied powers, has been much greater than any during the war. The capture of the Quebec fleet, and the successes in other quarters, added to the capital stroke of adm. Cordova, make a greater loss to Britain than any thing of the kind she has felt for near a century past, and must greatly affect her finances.” See, for example, Pennsylvania Evening Post, 4 Dec., and Providence Gazette, 22 Nov. 1780.
5. Floridablanca had also mentioned this subject to JJ in their conference of 23 Sept., above. On the contrary, possibly because the Cumberland mission had failed, King George III addressed a joint session of Parliament on 1 Nov. 1780 requesting authorization of funds for the war, as “the whole force and faculties of the monarchies of France and Spain are drawn forth, and exerted to the utmost to support the rebellion in my colonies in North America, and, without the least provocation or cause of complaint, to attack my dominions. . . .” Parliament voted to authorize the funds. The Parliamentary History of England from the Earliest Period to the Year 1803 (36 vols.; London, 1803–20), 21: 808–44.
6. For James Searle, who had arrived in Paris on 10 Sept. carrying copies of Laurens’s congressional commissions, see BF to JJ, 2 Oct., above, and note 4.
7. On 20 June 1780, Congress authorized JA to undertake Laurens’s commission to negotiate a loan in the Low Countries until Laurens, or someone appointed to take his place, arrived. JA left for Holland on 27 July. His formal commission and his instructions as minister plenipotentiary to the United Provinces were issued by Congress on 29 Dec. 1780. , 17: 535–37; 18: 1204–6.
8. See Notes on John Jay’s Conference with Floridablanca, 23 Sept., above, and notes.
9. On JA’s diplomacy in Paris, see , 191–99, passim.
10. JJ’s interlinear decoding reads “her”; the decoded word should be “Aid.”