they are genuine congress bills, I am persuaded all possible care will be taken by congress to provide for their punctual payment, yet there are so many accidents by which remittances are delayed or intercepted in the time of war, that I dare not hazard for these new bills, the possibility of being rendered unable to pay the others.

With great esteem I am, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

P. S. I cannot prescribe, as you desire, any thing relating to your affair with 62. Your own judgment ought to guide you. I shall be careful to furnish you early with any good news we may receive. If the 732 cannot be immediately made, it may with prudence come on by degrees. (The copy of the judgment will be sent by next post.)

COPY OF THE JUDGMENT.

To Messrs. the Judges of the Admiralty at Cherbourg. Passy, May 16th, 1780.

GENTLEMEN,

I HAVE received the procés verbaux, and other papers you did me the honor to send me, agreeable to the 11th article of the regulation of the 27th September, 1778. These pieces relate to the taking of the ship Flora, whereof was captain Henry Roodenberg, bound from Rotterdam to Dublin, and arrived at Cherbourg in France, being taken the 7th day of April by captain Dowlin, commander of the American privateer the Black Prince.

It appears to me from the above mentioned papers, that the said ship Flora is not a good prize, the same belonging to the subjects of a neutral nation: but that the cargo is really the property of the subjects of the king of England, though attempted to be masqued as neutral. I do therefore request that after the cargo shall be landed, you would cause the said ship Flora to be immediately restored to her captain, and that you would oblige the captors to pay him his full freight, according to his bills of lading, and also to make good all the damages he may have sustained by plunder or otherwise; and I farther request, that as the cargo

is perishable, you would cause it to be sold immediately, and retain the produce deposited in your hands, to the end that if any of the freighters, being subjects of their high mightinesses the states-generals, will declare, upon oath, that certain parts of the said cargo were bona fide shipped on their own account and risque, and not on the account and risque of any British or Irish subjects, the value of such parts may be restored: or, that if the freighters, or any of them, should think fit to appeal from this judgment to the congress, the produce so deposited may be disposed of according to their final determination.

I have the honor to be, &c.

B. FRANKLIN,

Minister Plenipoteniary for the U. S. at the C. of F.

To an Agent of American Cruisers.

Passy, May 30, 1780.

SIR, IN my last, of the 27th instant, I omitted one thing I had intended, viz. to desire you would give absolute orders to your cruisers not to bring any more Dutch vessels, though charged with enemies goods, unless contraband. All the neutral states of Europe seem at present disposed to change what had before been deemed the law of nations, to wit: that an enemy's property may be taken wherever found; and to establish a rule that free ships shall make free goods. This rule is itself so reasonable, and of a nature to be so beneficial to mankind, that I cannot but wish it may become general. And I make no doubt but that the congress will agree to it in as full an extent as France and Spain. In the mean time, and until I have received their orders on the subject, it is my intention to condemn no more English goods found in Dutch vessels, unless contraband; of which I thought it right to give you this previous notice; that you may avoid the trouble and expense likely to arise from such captures, and from the detention of them for a decision. With great regard, and best wishes for the success of your enterprise.

I have the honor to be, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

SIR,

Mr. Adams to M. Dumas.

Paris, Hotel de Valois, Rue de Richelieu,

June 6, 1780.

I THANK you for your letter in answer to mine of 21st May, and for your kind congratulations on my arrival here.

Mr. Brown, with whom you took your walks in the neighborhood of Paris, has been gone from hence, some weeks, on his way hence. I should have had much pleasure, if I had been one of the party. I have rambled, in most of the scenes round this city, and find them very pleasant, but much more indebted to art than to nature.-Philadelphia, in the purlieus of which, as well as these of Baltimore, and York Town, I have often sought health and pleasure, in the same way, in company with our venerable secretary Charles Thompson, will, in future times, when the arts shall have tablished their empire in the new world, present scenes much more striking. But Boston, above all, around which I have much oftener wandered, in company with another venerable character, little known in Europe, but to whose virtues and public merit in the cause of mankind, history will do justice, will one day exhibit scenes of grandeur and beauty, superior to any other place I have ever yet seen.

The letter of general Clinton, when I transmitted it to you, was not suspected to be an imposition.-There are some circumstances, which are sufficient to raise a question; but I think none of them are conclusive; and, upon the whole, I have little doubt of its authenticity.-I shall be much mortified if it proves a fiction-not on account of the importance of the letter, but the stain that a practice so disengenuous will bring upon America.-When I first left America, such a fiction, with all its ingenuity, would have ruined the reputation of the author of it if discovered, and I think that both he and the printer would have been punished. With all the freedom of our presses, I really think that not only the government but the populace would have resented it. I have had opportunities of an extensive acquaintance with Americans, and I must say, in justice to my country

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men, that I know not a man whom I think capable of a forgery at once so able and so base. Truth is indeed respected in America, and so gross an affront to her I hope will not, and I hope cannot, go unpunished.

Whether it is genuine or not, I have no doubt of the truth of the facts, in general-and I have reason to believe, that if the secret correspondences of Bernard, Hutchinson, Gage, Howe, and Clinton, could all be brought to light, the world would be equally susprised at the whole thread of it. The British administration and their servants have carried on from the beginning a system of duplicity in the conduct of American affairs, that will appear horrible to the public whenever it shall be known.

You have seen admiral Rodney's account of the battle of the 17th of April.-The sceptre of the ocean is not to be maintained by such actions as this, or by Byrons and Keppels. They must make themselves more terrible upon the ocean to preserve its dominion. Their empire is founded only in fear-for no nation loves it.

We have no other news.

I have the honor to be, with much respect, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

DEAR SIR,

Dr. Franklin to M. Dumas.

Passy, June 22, 1780.

I RECEIVED duly yours of May 23d, June 2, 6, 8, and 15.-Inclosed you have a letter for the gentleman you recommend to me. He seems to be a man of abilities.

The words before I leave Europe, had no relation to my particular immediate intention, but to the general one I flatter myself with, of being able to return and spend there the small remains of life that are left me.

I have written distinctly to Messrs. de Neufville concerning those bills.-I hear that 484 was at Newbern the

12th of April, and soon to sail from thence, or from Virginia for France. Probably he might not sail in some weeks after, as vessels are often longer in fitting out than was expected. If it is the Fier Roderique, a 50 gun ship, that he comes in, I have just heard that she would not sail till the middle of May.

Herewith you have the judgment relating to the Flora, which I thought had been sent before. The mischiefs done by the mob in London are astonishing! They were, I heard, within an ace of destroying the bank, with all the books relating to the funds, which would have created infinite confusion.

I am grieved at the loss of Charleston. Let me hope soon to hear better news from the operations of the French and Spanish forces gone to America.

With great esteem I am ever, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

To the same.

DEAR SIR,

Passy, June 22, 1780.

AS the English do not allow that we can make legal prizes, they certainly cannot detain the Dutch ships the Berkenloos, on pretence that it was become American property before they took it. For the rest, there is no doubt but the congress will do what shall appear to be just, on a proper representation of facts laid before them, which the owners should appoint some person in America to do. Those gentlemen, may depend on my rendering them every service in my power.

With great esteem, I am dear Sir, &c.

DEAR SIR,

B. FRANKLIN.

To the same.

Passy, July 26, 1780,

I WROTE to Messrs. de Neufville by the last post, in answer to theirs of the 14th. I hope they received my let