MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON TO B. FRANKLIN. Sir, Amsterdam, July 2d, 1781. I was yesterday honored with your Excellency's letter of the 28th ultimo, while at the Texel, superintending some matters relating to the ship. Equally concerned for the cause, as surprised at the manner in which Mr. Fizeaux was resolved to execute it, in case the money had been already shipped, I must beg leave to inform you fully of this business, and to request your Excellency's final determination thereon. Colonel Laurens, as your Excellency knows, was sent by Congress to the Court of Versailles with a special commission; the purport of his mission you are well acquainted with; it was to obtain certain supplies in specie and military stores. By the most unremitting assiduity, he so far succeeded as to procure, amongst others, a sum of money to be shipped in Holland by the South Carolina frigate, which was deemed by the Court of France a safe and convenient conveyance, as it would divide the risk which must have been incurred by placing the whole on board of one vessel. That sum was sent to this place by M. Necker, and lodged in the house of Fizeaux and Grand, to be by them delivered to me, agreeably to the following order, the original of which is now in my possession, having, very fortunately for me, recovered from them after they received your instructions: "Gentlemen, Translation. "Paris, May 12th, 1781. "This letter will be delivered to you by Mr. William Jackson, captain of infantry in the service of the United States, to whom I request you to deliver the 130,655 dollars, and the 720,000 livres in crowns, which you have received on my account, by the way of Brussels. Mr. Jackson will give you a receipt for it, in which he will express that these two sums have been delivered to him pursuant to the intention of Mr. John Laurens, an American officer now at Paris, whose orders he will follow on this subject. You will be pleased to send me afterwards this receipt, with a statement of all the expenses due to you. I will have them reimbursed here to M. Grand. "I am, gentlemen, &c., "MM. Grand, Fizeaux & Co., Amsterdam." NECKER. Messrs. Fizeaux and Grand have, in pursuance of your ExcelThis, sir, being a distinct instance of the Honorable lency's directions, refused to deliver it. transaction, executed altogether at the John Laurens, special Minister at the Court of Versailles from the United States, and by him committed to my further care, I conceive myself indispensably bound to remonstrate to your Excellency on the late order given by you to Messrs. Fizeaux and Grand, directing the detention of that money, and to inform you that if they are not repealed, I must embark without it; and however I may lament the disappointment and distress in which this measure must involve Congress, whose arrangements are undoubtedly taken on the certainty of this supply being sent from Europe; however much I may regret Colonel Laurens's absence which induces it, I shall possess the pleasing reflection of having done my duty in demanding, conformably to the intentions of M. Necker, and by his order, that money which the Court of France had accorded to the United States by the application of Colonel Laurens, in virtue of his special commission, and which was particularly and expressly destined to reanimate the credit of the Continental currency. The ship waits for nothing else but this money. I shall attend your Excellency's ultimate decision thereon, which I expect to receive by return of the express, who only waits your commands. I have the honor to be, &c., W. JACKSON. P. S. M. Fizeaux informed me that he had resolved to arrest the ship had the money been on board. I need not inform your Excellency that a like opportunity may not again offer to transport this essential supply, rendered still more so by the capture of the ship Marquis de la Fayette. W. J. My fever, which was greatly increased by my late jaunt to Passy, will not admit of my waiting upon your Excellency in person; and I am persuaded your justice will render it unnecessary after this representation. W. J. MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON TO B. FRANKLIN. Amsterdam, July 2d, 1781. Sir, Since the departure of my express I find myself obliged, in conformity to Colonel Laurens's instructions, (from which, as his agent, I cannot recede, unless compelled thereto by forcible means, and which, unless such are practised against me, I must carry into execution,) to retain the money which he has confided to my care, and which the Minister of Finance's order makes deliverable to me specially; and to arrest it in the hands of M. Fizeaux, should he continue to refuse the delivery of it but by your Excellency's orders. I rely upon your Excellency's attachment to the welfare of America to prevent this painful operation, which must inevitably take place should your determination decide otherwise; for, as this money is subject to no other control in Europe but the immediate order of the Court of France, I cannot relinquish my charge of it but by their special order. I have the honor to be, &c., W. JACKSON. MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON TO B. FRANKLIN. Amsterdam, July 2d, 1781. 1 Sir, Your Excellency will not wonder at the determination which I have adopted to arrest the money now in M. Fizeaux's hands, (and which I have communicated to you by a second express this afternoon,) when you reflect that this money is absolutely committed to my charge for a special purpose, and that I stand accountable for the execution of this commission. Your Excellency must likewise be sensible that you cannot have the disposal of it, as it was obtained without either your knowledge or concurrence by Colonel Laurens, appointed special Minister for that purpose. These considerations, and the knowledge I have how much America must suffer from a disappointment in this supply, about to be transported by so excellent a conveyance, must plead my excuse individually for this plain and candid avowal of circumstances, and my determination thereon. I am further persuaded that the Court of France is not disposed, was there even a shadow of an excuse for an alteration in the allotment of this money, to infringe their honor and injure the essential interests of America by detaining it. I must, therefore, again entreat your Excellency's repeal of those orders to M. Fizeaux, which now detain the ship and supplies so much required in America. I have the honor to be, &c., W. JACKSON. TO MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON. Sir, Passy, July 5th, 1781, at 6 in the morning. I have this instant received your letter of the 2d, urging the delivery of the money. I must be short in my reply, as your express waits. Colonel Laurens indeed obtained a promise of ten millions, to be raised by a loan in Holland. I understood while he was here that that loan was in train, and that the million and a half to be sent with you was a part of it. I since learn that nothing has yet been obtained in Holland, that the success is not yet certain, and that the money in question is a part of the six millions I had obtained before his arrival, upon the strength of which I accepted the bills drawn on his father and on Mr. Jay, and without which acceptances the Congress' credit in America would have been ruined, and a loss. incurred of twenty per cent. upon the protests. I cannot obtain more money here at present, and those bills being accepted must be paid, as well as those I accepted on your earnest request, for the great unexpected purchase you made in Holland. Colonel Laurens has carried two millions and a half of that six millions with him, which will serve till the loan in Holland produces a further supply. In the mean time, I cannot suffer the credit of our country to be destroyed, if, by detaining this money, it may be saved. And if I were to consent to its going, our banker would be obliged to arrest great part of it as belonging to the States, he being in advance for them, which would occasion much disagreeable noise, and very ill consequences to our credit in Europe. I find by Mr. Viemerange's account just received, that Mr. Laurens's orders have more than absorbed all the money he did not take with him. I applaud the zeal you have both shown in the affair, but I see that nobody cares how much I am distressed, provided they can carry their own points. I must, therefore, take what care I can of mine, theirs and mine being equally intended for the service of the public. I am sorry to learn that the vessel is detained for this express. I understood by your last that she waited for convoy. I heartily wish you a good voyage, and am, with great esteem, &c., B. FRANKLIN. TO MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON. Passy, July 5th, 1781. Sir, I received your letter of the 2d instant, by your first express, this morning at six, answered it, and sent him away immediately. I have just now received your second express of the same date, in which you threaten me with a proceeding that I apprehend exceedingly imprudent, as it can answer no good end to you, must occasion much scandal, and be thereby very prejudicial to the affairs of the Congress. But I cannot, therefore, consent to suffer their bills, to the amount of more than a million accepted and expected, to go back protested for want of this money. I have nothing to change in the answer abovementioned. You will, however, follow your own judgment, as I must follow mine, and you will take upon yourself the conse I received and answered two of your expresses yesterday morning, and in the evening I received a third letter from you, all dated the 2d instant. In this last you tell me "that I must be sensible I cannot have the disposal of the money, as it was obtained without either my knowledge or concurrence, by Colonel Laurens, appointed special |