To George Washington from Tobias Lear, 17 May 1795
From Tobias Lear
Baltimore May 17th 1795.
My dear Sir,
On my reaching this place yestreday, I was invited to a dinner where a large number of the most respectable merchants of the town were collected. While at dinner Genl S. Smith rece[iv]ed a letter from Mr John Purveyance, at Halifax, to which place he was carried in the ship Pomona.1 After perusal, Genl Smith handed the letter to me, in which I found the following Statement. That the owners of the Cargo of the Pomona must not flatter themselves with a hope of its being released, as, from every circumstance, there appeared the fullest determination to condemn it. And added, that Letters on board the Pomona, from Mr Monroe to Mr Randolph, had been broken open & read in the Courts of Admiralty, notwithstanding Mr Purveyance assured them that they were from Mr Monroe, and to evidence it, produced the seal which was on a passport given to him by Mr Monroe which was the same as that on the letters—It was however without effect, the Attorney General observing, that if he did not open & peruse them some one else (meaning the governor) would. Mr P. says the letters were No. 7 & 8 and he thinks 9—he did not see their contents; but has no doubt but copies of them have, ’ere this, reached the Secretary of State.2
The letter containing this information was afterwards read aloud at table, and produced a general burst of indignation, which was however followed by as general a voice of approbation of the government which had hitherto kept us out of a war, which, notwithstanding many irritable losses, had produced vast riches to the country—had enabled us to meet a war, if it should be inevitable, with some degree of preparation—and at the same time shew the world that it will not be, on our part, a war of choice.
Besides the Cargo on board the Pomona, Genl Smith observed that there were in Specie 50,000 Crowns belonging to himself & Co.—30,000 belonging to Mess. Cunningham & Nesbitt of Phila.—and about 25,000 to others—all of which he apprehended would be condemned, owing to the circumstance of a large quantity of Silver being found on board the same Ship in Kegs, marked as paints, & shipp’d by Mesrs Fenwick & Mason, which would induce a beleif that the whole of the specie & silver was French property. He also added some severe observations on Mr Fenwick, to this effect, that he had in his official capacity,3 covered a great deal of French property, which, being known to the British, led to a conclusion that a great part of the property, especially specie, found on board American Vessels from France was in the same situation.
The only apology I can offer for this letter is, that the information contained in it, particularly the opening Mr Monroe’s letters, will probably cause a high degree of irritation and be represented in various ways, and having it in my power to give you this early and plain statement of the matter I conceived it would not be unacceptable. I think it likely that General Smith will transmit to Mr Randolph an account of the opening of the letters.4 With sentiments of the purest respect & most sincere attachment I have the honor to be My dear Sir, your grateful & affectionate friend
Tobias Lear
ALS, DLC:GW.
1. Lear apparently wrote the name “John Purveyance” in error. The Columbian Centinel (Boston) of 20 May printed an extract written by James Purviance to Samuel and John Smith on 9 April. He reported a notice in the Halifax, Nova Scotia, papers of 3 April “that his Majesty’s ship Thisbe had arrived from a cruise, bringing with her the ship Pomona of Baltimore, from Bourdeaux, laden with wine, brandy, &c. &c. and £25,000 sterling, in casks, under the name of paints, which probably may be copied into the United States papers, not one word of which is true—the ship being in ballast, your money as well as that belonging to Cunningham, Nesbit, and Co. being in boxes and bags under the name of Crowns, and only the five casks, as before mentioned shipped by Fenwick, Mason, and Co. and called paints.” Purviance, apparently in the employ of Baltimore merchants Samuel and John Smith, sailed aboard the Pomona as supercargo (Philadelphia Gazette & Universal Daily Advertiser, 7 April).
2. The intercepted letters listed by Purviance were numbered 7, 8, and 9 and contained James Monroe’s letters to Edmund Randolph of 2 Dec. 1794, 13 Jan. 1795, and 1 Feb., respectively. A discrepancy apparently existed about the exact numbered sequence of the letters. On 21 May, Randolph informed George Hammond that they were numbered 6 (20 Nov. 1794), 7, and 8. In his letter to Monroe on 31 May, Randolph listed them as 5 (7 Nov. 1794), 6, and 7 (DNA: RG 59, Despatches from U.S. Ministers to France; DNA: RG 59, Domestic Letters; 3:317–18).
The attorney general of Nova Scotia at this time was Sampson Salter Blowers (1742–1842), a Loyalist refugee and former Massachusetts lawyer who had helped defend British soldiers charged in the so-called “Boston Massacre.”
Lear’s reference to “the governor” apparently indicates John Wentworth (1737–1820), lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia.
3. Joseph Fenwick was U.S. consul at Bordeaux.
4. When Randolph returned Lear’s letter to GW on 19 May, he wrote that he considered an enclosed communication from Smith (not identified) “sufficient for writing to Mr Hammond.” Randolph further informed the president, “All Colo. Monroe’s letters mentioned, as being opened, have been received. Their importance will be examined” (AL, DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Letters [third letter]; LB, DNA: RG 59, GW’s Correspondence with His Secretaries of State).
Randolph notified Hammond about the incident on 21 May (DNA: RG 59, Domestic Letters). On the following day, he wrote to Samuel Smith, “The insult testified by Mr Purviance’s letter to you is so indignantly felt by the President … that he has instructed me to request you to send Mr Purviance and Captn Buchanan up hither immediately on their arrival in order that we may examine them particularly.” If any “accident” prevented the two men from traveling, Randolph instructed Smith to take their deposition and forward it to him without delay (DNA: RG 59, Domestic Letters).