From John Jay to Robert Morris, 6 October 1776
To Robert Morris
Fish Kills, Octr. 6. 1776
Dear Sir
The enclosed is a Copy of the late invisible Parts of Mr. Dean’s Letters. You will perceive some Blanks in it. Mr. D. it seems did not write with his usual Care and Accuracy—There are many Blots in one of the Letters, and in one or two other Instances the Lines cross and run into one another—Little material is however illegible. I am happy to find our Affairs wear so pleasing an Aspect in France.1
This most certainly will not be the last Campaign, and in my opinion Lord Howe’s operations cannot be so successful & decisive as to greatly to lessen the Ideas which Foreign Nations have conceived of our Importance. I am rather inclined to think that our declaring Independence in the Face of so powerful a Fleet and Army will impress them with an opinion of our Strength and Spirit; and when they are informed how little of our Country is in the Enemys Possession, they will unite in declaring us invincible by the Arms of Britain.
If the Works carrying on by the General for obstructing the Navigation of Hudson’s River at Mount Washington, prove effectual; Lord How must rest content with the City of New York for this Campaign. For altho it is possible for him to land a large Body of Troops on the Shores of the Sound & thereby divide our Forces, yet no great Matters can by that means be achieved—Our Communication with the Army by the Sound is already cut off by the Ships of War; and any strong Post they might take on the Shore would not much injure our Communication by Land. But should they on the contrary be able suddenly to penetrate the North River with a few Ships of War and a Number of Transports, they would effectually destroy all Communication between the upper Country and the Army by Land and Water. For before the Shores could be put in such a State of Defence as to prevent their landing with Success, they might possess themselves of Posts and Passes, by nature so strong as to be ^long^ tenable against a much superior Force.
Should an Event of this Sort take Place, we should be in a disagreable Situation. Flour and Lumber could not then be carried to the Army but by a circuitous Rout thro’ abominable Roads, and it is a matter of some Doubt whether our utmost Exertions to supply them would be successful.
Had I been po vested with absolute Power in this State, ^I have often said & still think that^ I would last Spring have desolated Long Island, Staten-Island, the City & County of New York & all that part of the County of West Chester ^wh.^ lies below the Mountains. I would then have stationed the main Body of the Army in the Mountains on the East, & Eight or ten thousand Men in the Highlands on the west Side of the River. I would have directed the River at Fort Montgomery, which is ^nearly^ at the southern Extremity of the Mountains, to be so shallowed as to afford only depth sufficient for an Albany Sloop, and all the Southern Passes and Defiles in the Mountains to be strongly fortified—Nor do I think the shallowing the River a romantic scheme—Rocky Mountains rise immediately from its Shores, the Breadth is not very great tho the Depth is—But what cannot Eight or ten thousand Men well worked effect? According to this Plan of Defence this State would be absolutely impregnable against all the world on the Sea Side, and would have Nothing to fear except from the Way of the Lakes.2
Should the Enemy gain the River even below the Mountains, I think I foresee that a Retreat will become necessary, and I cant forbear wishing a Desire of saving a few Acres may not lead us into Difficulties.
Such is ^the^ Situation of this State at present, and so various & I may say successful have been the Arts of Govr. Tryon & his adherents to spread the Seeds of Disaffection among us, that I cannot at present obtain Permission to return to Congress.3 Our Convention continues unanimous in all its Measures, and to do them Justice, are diligent as well as zealous in the Cause.
As long as your whimsical Constituents shall permit the Gentleman to whom I am writing to remain among the Number of those honest and able Patriots in Congress, in whose Hands I think the Interest of America very safe, the Congress will possess too great a Stock of Abilities to perceive the Absence of my little Mite. It gives me Pleasure however to reflect that your Remarks on this Subject, however ill founded, could have been dictated only by that friendly Partiality which you have shown me, and which in this Instance has been permitted to impose on your Judgmt.
I wish the secret Committee would communicate no other Intelligence to the Congress at large, than what may be necessary to promote the Common Weal, not gratify the Curiosity of Individuals. I hint this, because a Copy of a Letter from A.L. to that Committee has lately been sent by a Member of Congress to a Gentleman of his acquaintance who is not a Member of Congress. I came by this Intelligence in such a way as to speake with Certainty for I have seen the Copy, but at the same Time in such a way as not to be able with Propriety to mention Names.4 You will be pleased therefore to make no other Use of this Information than to induce the greater Caution of the Committee. For as to binding certain Members in the House to Secrecy by oaths or otherwise, would be just as absurd as to swear Lee (no matter which of them), to look or feel like Ned Rutledge—
Had Mr. Dean mentioned to me his having conversed with you relative to the Mode of Writing I communicated to him, I should most certainly have spoken to him ^you^ on the Subject, & will when we meet give you the same Information respecting it that I did to him. I am, Dr Sr, with Respect & Esteem your most obt Servt.
John Jay
Robt. Morris Esqr
[Enclosures]
Decipherment of Text in Invisible Ink of Price Current and Continuation of Deane to Jay, for the Committee of Secret Correspondence, 11–23 June 1776.
Price Current
North Am. Flour 17.10 to 18 per C. of 118 B. to . . . Wheat 11 to 11.10 by French bushel 32 of wheat equal to . . . bushel.
Following are the words of the brokers—Harvest is at hand, some rye has been cut [and it is tho’t there will] not be more [than] half the quantity there was last [year] [It is also estimated] that there will be about [half less] wheat than last year. [So it is imagined] that from a larger demand there is for flour for the West Indies that foreign supplies will be wanted, in which [case] it is highly probably [that] the prices will not decline.5
[From Silas Deane]
[Bordeaux, France, 11–23 June 1776]6
Dear Sir—
I have wrote you by Capt. Palmer of Portsmouth7 and by them letters to Mr. Morris on the subject of remittances here on the subject of American commerce. . . . To the Comr of the Finances and letters to the Farmer’s General on proposals I made them of receiving American [tobacco] . . . direct from the colonies without which . . . the Royal revenue and their . . . must fail. This last letter . . . from their agent here.
I also wrote Messrs. Alsop & Company,8 my brother & Mrs. Deane on family affairs.9 Should any of them . . . you to inform them of my having wrote them. Orders are this day rec’d from Court to purchase 40000 wt of gun powder & all the sail cloth for use of fleet at Toulon & Brest, & . . . camp are forming on the frontiers and Spain is arming ostensibly against Portugal. The French ministry was last week suddenly changed. Monsr. Maurepas is at the head, & Monsr. Clugny Intendant of this city & [province is] Comptroller of Finances & went to Court the week before I arrived. The Duc de Choiseul, it is said is returned to Court.10 I shall not appear either in the Memorial or Letters to the Farmers General, but shall have letters referring to me to explain any question that may arise on their contents.11
The revenue of this Kingdom is as deeply interested in the American Tobacco as that of G. Britain, and they already . . . it, both scarce and dear—nor can they be supplyed but from America. This city appears sensible of the importance of American commerce & wish to promote it by every means in their power, by which I have obtained letters from [. . .] for persons of note & eminence at court & in Paris. Thus far I have met with nothing discouraging but the contrary.
20th June—Since the above Messrs. Ds.12 have received letters . . . Parr, Bulkley & Co.,13 informing of the arrival of effects in several vessels from Messrs Alsop & [Company] for my use, on which both they & I have wrote them particularly. The coming harvest will be more than one third short in this Kingdom.14
23d June—The memorial I referred to has been favorably rec’d by the minister and his majesty has ordered that American vessels shall for the present be treated as all other foreigners are. Other matters contained in it are referred to further consideration. I set off tomorrow for Paris, & I have letters to Monsr. Clugny, Com. of Finances15 and to Compte De Vergennes [ministre] des affairs etrangeres, and to other persons at Paris, particularly Messrs. [Germany, Girardot] & Company,16 bankers to whom I am addressed on money matters. By a letter from Marseilles I find Mr. J. [T.] Morriss17 left that city last week in co. with Mr. van Zandt of New York for Paris, where I hope to see him. The general disposition here appears in favor of America and to assist them as far as possibly, & nothing has been wanting in those I have applied to, but they have rendered me every service in their power. But I am cautioned of relying too far on the professions of so volatile and polite a people, and keep by me the old maxim, that interest never lies as a scale to weigh their real worth.
I have appeared only as a private merchant, but it has been reported, & I frequently hear that an agent from the Congress is in town & sometimes that he is gone to Paris, etc. I mention this as a mark of the expectations of the people which in general is on the same key with their wishes. The English embassador is apprehensive of such a measure & I expect it will require great care to elude his enquiry.18 The letters I have obtained from hence to Court are given to me generally on the ground of mercantile views and not on any grounds whatever was suspected of any other business. I am Gentlemen Your most Obedt. Servt.
S. Deane.
P.S. Forgive blunder & spell it out, for I am much put to it to copy letters in this way.
ALS, NAlI: Sage Estate Collection. Addressed: “To / Robert Morris Esqr. / A Member of the General Congress / Philadelphia.” Franked: “Free.” Endorsed in the hand of Robert Morris. Tr, incomplete, Henkels Catalogue Sales Record (EJ: 11239).
1. Enclosure not found. Using twentieth-century phototechnical techniques, Lodewyk Bendikson was able to decipher portions of the invisible writing of Deane’s letter to JJ for the Committee of Secret Correspondence of 11–23 June 1776. It was interspersed within a letter dated 11 June that Deane, writing under the fictitious name of S. Davis, addressed to JJ, together with a postscript and an enclosed letter ostensibly from one Monsieur Longueville to his brother, addressed care of Morris at Philadelphia. The deciphered portions of the first part of the letter appear as the enclosure to JJ to Robert Morris, 15 Sept. 1776, above, while the later portions are printed as the enclosure below. See 243–56; the transcriptions appear on pp. 249–52. See also Deane to Morris, 23 June 1776, in , 1: 141–42, which includes some of the same information found in this letter.
2. See “Defending the Hudson” (editorial note) on pp. 273–74; Minutes of the Secret Committee, 19–20 and 22 July 1776; and Report to the Secret Committee, 7 Aug. 1776, above.
3. On 28 Sept. the New York Convention had appointed JJ to the committee for detecting and defeating conspiracies against the state and against the “liberties of America.” See the editorial note entitled “Rounding Up Subversives, Detecting Conspiracies, and Determining Loyalty” on pp. 254–56, and related texts, below.
4. Possibly a reference to one of Arthur Lee’s letters of 13 and 14 Feb. addressed ostensibly to Cadwallader Colden that Washington delivered in accordance with their covering notes to Benjamin Franklin and Richard Henry Lee in May 1776. In these letters Lee had objected to corresponding with the Committee of Secret Correspondence while two persons he distrusted (apparently Franklin and JJ) were members. Richard Henry Lee or another member of Congress may have forwarded a copy to a correspondent. Who might have revealed the information to JJ is unknown. See , 22: 345–47; , 2: 71–78.
5. Deciphered from the invisible ink from the enclosure with the heading “From prices current.” Bendikson filled in some missing words from a transcript made by JJ (not found).
6. Material added to this text in brackets is based on conjectures of the editors and is derived from the context.
7. Captain Thomas Palmer left Bordeaux on 14 Aug. and arrived in Portsmouth on 16 Oct., having thrown overboard all dispatches when chased by a British man-of-war. , 22: 488.
8. Messrs. Alsop and Company is the firm name for the holders of the Indian contract with the Secret Committee. The partners were John Alsop, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Robert Morris, and Silas Deane, who was also acting as agent for the contractors abroad. The other partners were shipping cargoes from America to their correspondents in Europe, with instructions to forward the proceeds to Deane. , 120, 146–49.
9. None of the letters referred to have been found.
10. Maurepas, who had returned to power in 1774, had appointed Turgot as marine minister but, jealous of his influence, intrigued to secure his dismissal in 1776. Étienne François, duc de Choiseul, director of French foreign policy during the Seven Years’ War, was ordered to retire to his estate in 1770 and not permitted to return to Paris until 1774.
11. On arrival in Bordeaux, Deane had begun negotiations with representatives of the Farmers General, financial agents of the French government and holders of a monopoly on the purchase and sale of tobacco. He had reached a tentative agreement there that was subject to ratification in Paris. See Price, France and the Chesapeake, 2: 704–5.
12. Messrs. Samuel and J.H. [John Hans] Delap of Bourdeaux, a firm of Irish Protestant extraction, was a correspondent of Willing Morris & Co. and other American firms. The Secret Committee had designated it as one of the firms to which those receiving its cargoes were to direct the proceeds of American goods sold to finance the purchase of arms and goods for the Indian contract. See , 22: 445.
13. Parr Bulkley & Co. was a Lisbon firm. Commerce of Rhode Island, 1726–1800 (2 vols.; Mass. Hist. Society, Collections, ser. 7, vols. 9 and 10; Boston, 1914–15), 1: 487.
14. Deane’s reports of crop shortages were inaccurate. , 22: 488.
15. Jean-Étienne-Bernard de Clugny, baron de Nuits-sur-Armançon, intendant at Bourdeaux and successor to Turgot as finance minister, died after five months in office. He was succeeded by Jacques Necker. , 22: 489.
16. Germany, Girardot & Co. was the successor of the bank established by Jacques Necker. , 22: 489.
17. This is an error in Bendikson’s transcription. In his letter of 11 Aug. to Deane, Morris indicated that his brother Thomas Morris, who was then traveling in Europe representing Willing Morris & Co., had written him from Marseilles on 8 June. , 1: 173; see also Estienne Cathalan to Willing, Morris & Co., 6 June 1776, reporting Thomas’s arrival in Marseilles, , 6: 406. James Van Zandt (1755–1823), a son of New York Patriot leader Jacobus Van Zandt, was then shipping guns and gunpowder from Marseilles to New York by way of St. Eustatius or St. Martin; he became a British informant known as “George Lupton,” who reported on Deane’s activities in France. , 6: 412–13, 677–78, 872–73, 1321–22; , 2: 365–66; , 240–41; , 224–25; Samuel F. Bemis, “British Secret Service and the French-American Alliance,” 29 (1924): 492.
18. David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont (1727–96), British ambassador to France from 1772 to 1778.