the French and American Vessels assembled there, may require that the English Prisoners taken in Merchant Ships, and at present on board the Alliance, should be in the Disposition of the Ambassador, I do hereby desire and order, that the said Prisoners be sent on board the Pallas and the Vengeance whenever M. le Duc de la Vauguyon shall require it. With much Esteem and best Wishes for your Prosperity, I have the honour to be, sir, etc.

B. FRANKLIN.

1063. TO ANDRES PEDER, COUNT BERNSTORFF1

SIR,

(L. C.)

Passy near Paris, Dec. 22. 1779

I have receiv'd a Letter from M. de Chezaulx, Consul of France at Berghen in Norway, acquainting me, that two Ships, viz. the Betsey and the Union, Prizes taken from the English on their Coasts by Captain Landais, commander of the Alliance Frigate, appertaining to the United States of North America, which Prizes having met with bad Weather at Sea, that had damaged their Rigging and occasioned Leaks, and being weakly manned had taken Shelter in the supposed neutral Port of Berghen, in order to repair their Damages, procure an additional Number of Sailors, and the necessary Refreshments; that they were in the said Port enjoying, as they conceived, the common Rights of Hospitality, established and practised by civilized Na

1 Count Bernstorff (1735-1797), Minister of Foreign Affairs in Denmark (1772-1780), was a member of the Danish branch of the ancient and illustrious Austrian family of Bernstorff, which in the eighteenth century gave three distinguished statesmen to Denmark. — ED.

tions, under the care of the above said Consul, when, on the 28th of October last, the said Ships, with their Cargoes and Papers, were suddenly seized by Officers of his Majesty, the King of Denmark, to whom the said Port belongs; the American Officers and Seamen turned out of their Possession, and the whole delivered to the English Consul.

M. de Chezaulx has also sent me the following as a Translation of his Majesty's Order, by which the above Proceedings are said to be authorized, viz. "The English minister having insisted on the restitution of two vessels, which had been taken by the American privateer called the Alliance, commanded by Captain Landais, and which were brought into Berghen, viz. the Betsey of Liverpool, and the Union of London, his Majesty has granted this demand on this account, because he has not as yet acknowledged the independence of the colonies associated against England, and because that these vessels for this reason cannot be considered as good and lawful prizes. Therefore, the said two ships shall be immediately liberated, and allowed to depart with their cargoes." By a subsequent Letter from the same Consul, I am informed, that a third Prize belonging to the said United States, viz. the Charming Polly, which arrived at Berghen after the others, has also been seized and delivered up in the same Manner; and that all the People of the three Vessels, after being thus stript of their Property (for every one of them had an Interest in the Prizes), were turn'd on shore to shift for themselves, without Money, in a strange Place, no Provision being made. for their Subsistence, or for sending them back to their Country.

Permit me, Sir, to observe on this Occasion, that the

United States of America have no War but with the English; they have never done any Injury to other Nations, particularly none to the Danish Nation; on the contrary, they are in some degree its Benefactors, as they have opened a Trade of which the English made a Monopoly, and of which the Danes may now have their Share, and, by dividing the British Empire, have made it less dangerous to its Neighbours. They conceiv'd, that every Nation whom they had not offended was by the Rights of Humanity their Friend; they confided in the Hospitality of Denmark, and thought themselves and their Property safe when under the roof of his Danish Majesty. But they find themselves stript of that Property, and the same given up to their Enemies, on this Principle only, that no Acknowledgment had yet been formally made by Denmark of the Independence of the United States; which is to say, that there is no Obligation of Justice towards any Nation with whom a Treaty, promising the same, has not been previously made. This was indeed the Doctrine of ancient Barbarians, a Doctrine long since exploded, and which it would not be for the Honour of the present Age to revive; and it is hoped that Denmark will not, by supporting and persisting in this Decision, obtain'd of his Majesty apparently by Surprise, be the first Modern Nation that shall attempt to revive it.1

1 "The ancients," says Vattel, " did not conceive themselves bound under any obligation towards a people with whom they were not connected by a treaty of friendship. At length the voice of nature was heard by civilized nations; they acknowledged all mankind as brothers." An injustice of the same kind, done a century or two since by some English in the East Indies, Grotius tells us, "was not without its partisans, who maintained, that by the ancient laws of England, no one was liable to punishment in that kingdom for outrages committed against foreigners, when no treaty of alliance had been

The United States, oppressed by, and in War with, one of the most powerful Nations of Europe, may well be suppos'd incapable in their present Infant State of exacting Justice from other Nations not disposed to grant it; but it is in human Nature, that Injuries as well as Benefits receiv'd in Times of Weakness and Distress, national as well as personal, make deep and lasting Impressions; and those Ministers are wise, who look into Futurity and quench the first Sparks of Misunderstanding between two Nations, which, neglected, may in time grow into a Flame, all the consequences whereof no human Prudence can foresee, which may produce much Mischief to both, and cannot possibly produce any Good to either. I beg leave, thro' your Excellency, to submit these Considerations to the Wisdom and Justice of his Danish Majesty, whom I infinitely respect, and who, I hope, will reconsider and repeal the Order above recited; and that, if the Prizes, which I hereby reclaim in behalf of the United States of America, are not actually gone to England, they may be stopt and re-delivered to M. de Chezaulx, the Consul of France at Berghen, in whose Care they before were, with Liberty to depart for America when the Season shall permit. But, if they should be already gone to England, I must then claim from his Majesty's Equity the Value of the said three prizes, which is estimated at £50,000 sterling, but which may be regulated by the best Information that can by any means be obtained. With the greatest Respect, I am, Sir, &c. B. FRANKLIN.1

contracted with them." But this principle he condemns in the strongest "History of the Troubles in the Netherlands," Book xvi. — F.

terms.

1 The answer to this letter is in L. C. (in French) endorsed by Franklin

1064. TO JOSHUA JOHNSON

(D. S. W.)

Passy, Dec. 29, 1779.

SIR:- I am much obliged by your kind Attention in sending me from time to time the American Newspapers that have come to your hands. Please to accept my thankful Acknowledgments.

"Danish Minister's letter in Answer to my Memorial." The following is a translation of the letter:

"SIR,

Copenhagen, March 8, 1780.

Were you a person less known and respected, I should have been quite at a loss on the subject of the letter, which I have had the honour of receiving from you, which did not come to hand till the 31st of January. I should have considered it as a measure calculated to place us under a new embarrassment as painful as the first; but there is no fear nor risk with such a sage as you are, Sir, generally respected by that universe which you have enlightened, and known for that prevailing love for truth which characterizes the good man and the true philosopher. These are the titles, which will transmit your name to the remotest posterity, and in which I am particularly interested at the time, when the situation of affairs imposes on me the necessity of divesting myself of every public character, in writing to you, and only to aspire at appearing to you what I truly am, the earnest friend of peace, truth, and merit.

"This mode of thinking not only decides my personal sentiments with respect to you, but also those I have respecting the unfortunate affair, which you have thought fit to mention to me, and which, from its commencement, has given me the utmost pain. You will readily agree with me, Sir, in granting, that there are perplexing situations in which it is impossible to avoid displeasing one party. You are too equitable not to enter into ours. There would be no consolation in such cases, nor would the persons who have been led into them ever be forgiven, were it not that opportunities sometimes present themselves of being heard, and preventing in future such essential embarrassments.

"The Baron de Blome will speak to you in confidence, and with the utmost freedom on this subject; and, if my wishes can be accomplished, I shall be recompensed for all my pains, and there will only remain the agreeable recollection of having had the satisfaction of assuring you, from under my hand, of that perfect esteem with which I have the honour of being, Sir, &c. "BERNSTORFF."