The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume X Part 13

And whereas the ratifications of the said Preliminary Articles, between us and the Most Christian King, in due form were exchanged by the Ministers of us, and of the Most Christian King, on the third day of this instant February; and the ratifications of the said Preliminary Articles, between us and the King of Spain, were exchanged between the Ministers of us and of the King of Spain, on the ninth day of this instant February, from which days, respectively, the several terms above mentioned, of twelve days, of two months, and five months, are to be computed; and whereas, it is our royal will and pleasure, that the cessation of hostilities, between us and the States-General of the United Provinces, and the United States of America, should be agreeable to the epochs fixed between us and the Most Christian King;

We have thought fit, by and with the advice of our Privy Council, to notify the same to all our loving subjects; and we do declare that our royal will and pleasure is, and we do hereby strictly charge and command all our officers, both at sea and land, and all our other subjects whatsoever, to forbear all acts of hostility, either by sea or land, against his Most Christian Majesty, the King of Spain, the States-General of the United Provinces, and the United States of America, their vessels, or subjects, from and after the respective times above mentioned, and under the penalty of incurring our highest displeasure.

Given at our Court at St James, the fourteenth day of February, in the twentythird year of our reign, and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eightythree.

G.o.d save the King.

ALLEYNE FITZHERBERT TO THE COMMISSIONERS.

Paris, February 18th, 1783.

Gentlemen,

I have the honor to transmit to you herewith a packet, containing one hundred pa.s.sports for American vessels, which I have this moment received by a courier from England.

I take this opportunity of acquainting you, that a proclamation was issued out in the King's name on the 14th instant, making known the cessation of hostilities, which has been agreed upon between the several belligerent powers; and declaring further, that the several epochas, at which the said armistice is to commence, between his Majesty and the United States of North America, are to be computed from the third day of this instant February, being the day on which the ratifications of the preliminaries were exchanged between his Majesty and the Most Christian King. I must add, that his Majesty was induced to take this step, under the firm expectation, that you, Gentlemen, will correspond to it on your parts, by adopting the same measure reciprocally, in the name of the States, your masters.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ALLEYNE FITZHERBERT.

AMERICAN COMMISSIONERS' DECLARATION OF THE CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES.

By the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States of America for making peace with Great Britain,

A DECLARATION

Of the cessation of arms, as well by sea as land, agreed upon between his Majesty the King of Great Britain and the United States of America.

Whereas Preliminary Articles were signed at Paris, on the thirtieth day of November last, between the Plenipotentiaries of his said Majesty the King of Great Britain and of the said States, to be inserted in, and to const.i.tute the treaty of peace, to be concluded between his said Majesty and the said United States, when terms of peace should be agreed upon, between his said Majesty and his Most Christian Majesty. And whereas preliminaries for restoring peace, between his said Majesty the King of Great Britain and his Most Christian Majesty, were signed at Versailles, on the twentieth day of January last, by the respective Ministers of their said Majesties; and whereas preliminaries for restoring peace, between his said Majesty the King of Great Britain and his Majesty the King of Spain, were also signed at Versailles on the twentieth day of January last, by their respective Ministers; and whereas, for putting an end to the calamity of war, as soon and as far as possible, it has been agreed, between the King of Great Britain, his Most Christian Majesty, the King of Spain, the States-General of the United Provinces, and the United States of America, as follows, that is to say;

That such vessels and effects as should be taken in the Channel and in the North Seas, after the s.p.a.ce of twelve days, to be computed from the ratification of the said Preliminary Articles, should be restored on all sides; that the term should be one month, from the Channel and North Seas as far as the Canary Islands, inclusively, whether the ocean or the Mediterranean; two months from the said Canary Islands, as far as the Equinoctial Line, or Equator; and, lastly, five months in all other parts of the world, without any exception, or any other more particular description of time or place;

And whereas the ratifications of the said Preliminary Articles between his said Majesty the King of Great Britain and his Most Christian Majesty, in due form were exchanged by their Ministers, on the third day of this instant February, from which day the several terms abovementioned, of twelve days, of one month, of two months, and of five months, are to be computed, relative to all British and American vessels and effects;

Now, therefore, we, the Ministers Plenipotentiary from the United States of America, for making peace with Great Britain, do notify to the people and citizens of the said United States of America, that hostilities on their part against his Britannic Majesty, both by sea and land, are to cease at the expiration of the terms herein before specified therefor, and which terms are to be computed from the third day of February instant. And we do, in the name and by the authority of the said United States, accordingly warn and enjoin all their officers and citizens, to forbear all acts of hostility whatever, either by land or by sea, against his said Majesty the King of Great Britain, or his subjects, under the penalty of incurring the highest displeasure of the said United States.

Given at Paris, the twentieth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eightythree, under our hands and seals.

JOHN ADAMS, B. FRANKLIN, JOHN JAY.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO THE COMMISSIONERS.

Philadelphia, March 25th, 1783.

Gentlemen,

I am now to acknowledge the favor of your joint letter by the Was.h.i.+ngton, together with a copy of the Preliminary Articles; both were laid before Congress. The Articles have met with their warmest approbation, and have been generally seen by the people in the most favorable point of view.

The steadiness manifested in not treating without an express acknowledgment of your independence previous to a treaty is approved, and it is not doubted but it accelerated that declaration. The boundaries are as extensive as we have a right to expect; and we have nothing to complain of with respect to the fisheries. My sentiments as to English debts you have in a former letter. No honest man could wish to withhold them. A little forbearance in British creditors, till people have recovered in part from the losses sustained by the war, will be necessary to render this Article palatable, and indeed to secure more effectually the debt. The Article relative to the loyalists is not quite so accurately expressed as I could wish it to have been. What for instance is intended by _real British subjects_?

It is clear to me that it will operate nothing in their favor in any State in the union, but as you made no secret of this to the British Commissioners, they will have nothing to charge you with; and indeed the whole clause seems rather to have been inserted to appease the clamor of these poor wretches, than to satisfy their wants. Britain would have discovered more candor and magnanimity in paying to them three months' expense of the war establishment, which would have been an ample compensation for all their losses, and left no germ of dissatisfaction to bud and bloom and ripen into discontents here.

Another mad Administration may think the noncompliance of the Legislatures with the recommendations of Congress on this subject, a sufficient cause for giving themselves and us new troubles. You however were perfectly right in agreeing to the Article, the folly was theirs, who did not either insist upon more, or give up this.

But, Gentlemen, though the issue of your treaty has been successful, though I am satisfied that we are much indebted to your firmness and perseverance, to your accurate knowledge of our situation, and of our wants for this success, yet I feel no little pain at the distrust manifested in the management of it; particularly in signing the treaty without communicating it to the Court of Versailles till after the signature, and in concealing the Separate Article from it even when signed. I have examined with the most minute attention all the reasons a.s.signed in your several letters to justify these suspicions. I confess they do not appear to strike me so forcibly as they have done you; and it gives me pain, that the character for candor and fidelity to its engagements, which should always characterise a great people, should have been impeached thereby. The concealment was in my opinion absolutely unnecessary; for had the Court of France disapproved the terms you had made, after they had been agreed upon, they could not have acted so absurdly as to counteract you at that late day; and thereby put themselves in the power of an enemy, who would certainly betray them, and perhaps justify you in making terms for yourselves.

The Secret Article is no otherwise important, than as it carries in it the seeds of enmity to the Court of Spain, and shows a marked preference for an open enemy. It would in my opinion, have been much better to have fixed on the same boundaries for West Florida, into whatever hands it fell, without showing any preference, or rendering concealment necessary; since all the arguments in favor of the cession to England would then have operated with equal force, and nothing have been lost by it; for there can be no doubt, that whether Florida shall at the close of the war be ceded to England or to Spain, it will be ceded as it was held by Britain. The Separate Article is not, I suppose, by this time a secret in Europe; it can hardly be considered as such in America. The treaty was sent out to the General with this Article annexed by Sir Guy Carleton, without the smallest injunction of secrecy. So that I dare say it has been pretty generally read at head quarters. Congress still conceal it here. I feel for the embarra.s.sment explanations on this subject must subject you to, when this secret is known to your allies.

I intended to have submitted this letter to Congress, but I find there is not the least prospect of obtaining any decision upon it in time to send by this conveyance, if at all. I leave you to collect their sentiments, as far as I know them, from the following state of their proceedings. After your joint and separate letters, and the journals had been submitted to them by me, and had been read, they were referred back to me to report upon, when I wrote them a letter, and when it was taken into consideration, motions were made and debated a whole day. After which the letter and motions were committed, and a report brought in. This was under consideration two days, when the arrival of a vessel from Cadiz with letters from the Count d'Estaing and the Marquis de Lafayette, containing accounts, that the preliminaries were signed, induced many members to think it would be improper to proceed in the report, and in that state it remains without any express decision. From this you will draw your own inferences.

I make no apology for the part I have taken in this business. I am satisfied you will readily acquit me for having discharged what I conceived to be my duty upon such a view of things as you presented to me. In declaring my sentiments freely, I invite you to treat me with equal candor in your letters, and in sending original papers, I guard against misrepresentations that might give you pain. Upon the whole I have the pleasure of a.s.suring you, that the services you have rendered your country, in bringing this business to a happy issue, are very gratefully received by them; however we may differ in sentiments about the mode of doing it.

I am sorry that the extreme negligence of the different States, has prevented, and will probably long prevent, my being able to send you a state of the injury done to real property, and the number of slaves destroyed and carried off by the British troops and their allies, though no pains have been, or shall be wanting, on my part to urge them to it.

I have the honor to be, Gentlemen,

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

PROCLAMATION OF CONGRESS DECLARING A CESSATION OF ARMS.

By the United States of America in Congress a.s.sembled.

A PROCLAMATION,

Declaring the cessation of arms, as well by sea as by land, agreed upon between the United States of America and his Britannic Majesty, and enjoining the observance thereof.

Whereas Provisional Articles were signed at Paris on the 30th day of November last, between the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States of America for treating of peace, and the Minister Plenipotentiary of his Britannic Majesty, to be inserted in, and to const.i.tute the treaty of peace proposed to be concluded between the United States of America and his Britannic Majesty, when terms of peace should be agreed upon between their Most Christian and Britannic Majesties; and whereas preliminaries for restoring peace between their Most Christian and Britannic Majesties were signed at Versailles, on the 20th day of January last, by the Ministers of their Most Christian and Britannic Majesties; and whereas preliminaries for restoring peace between the said King of Great Britain and the King of Spain, were also signed at Versailles on the same 20th day of January last;

By which said Preliminary Articles it has been agreed, that as soon as the same were ratified, hostilities between the said Kings, their kingdoms, states and subjects, should cease in all parts of the world; and it was further agreed, that all vessels and effects that might be taken in the Channel and in the North Seas, after the s.p.a.ce of twelve days from the ratification of the said Preliminary Articles, should be restored; that the term should be one month from the Channel and North Seas as far as the Canary Islands, inclusively, whether in the ocean or the Mediterranean; two months from the said Canary Islands as far as the Equinoctial line or Equator; and lastly, five months in all other parts of the world, without any exception or more particular description of time or place;

And whereas it was declared by the Minister Plenipotentiary of the King of Great Britain, in the name and by the express order of the King his master, on the said 20th day of January last, that the said United States of America, their subjects and their possessions, shall be comprised in the above mentioned suspension of arms, at the same epochs, and in the same manner as the three Crowns abovementioned, their subjects and possessions respectively; upon condition, that on the part and in the name of the United States of America, a similar declaration shall be delivered, expressly declaring their a.s.sent to the said suspension of arms, and containing an a.s.surance of the most perfect reciprocity on their part;

And whereas the Ministers Plenipotentiary of these United States, did, on the 20th day of January, in the name and by the authority of the said United States, accept the said declaration, and declare that the said States should cause all hostilities to cease against his Britannic Majesty, his subjects and his possessions, at the terms and epochs agreed upon between his said Majesty the King of Great Britain, his Majesty the King of France, and his Majesty the King of Spain, so and in the same manner as had been agreed upon between those three Crowns, and to produce the same effects;

And whereas the ratifications of the said Preliminary Articles, between their Most Christian and Britannic Majesties, were exchanged by their Ministers on the 3d day of February last; and between his Britannic Majesty and the King of Spain, on the 9th day of February last;

And whereas it is our will and pleasure, that the cessation of hostilities between the United States of America and his Britannic Majesty, should be conformable to the epochs fixed between their Most Christian and Britannic Majesties;

We have thought fit to make known the same to the citizens of these States; and we hereby strictly charge and command all our officers, both by sea and land, and other subjects of these United States, to forbear all acts of hostility, either by sea or by land, against his Britannic Majesty or his subjects, from and after the respective times agreed upon between their Most Christian and Britannic Majesties, as aforesaid.

And we do further require all governors and others, the executive powers of these United States respectively, to cause this our proclamation to be made public, to the end that the same may be duly observed within their several jurisdictions.