LETTER FROM THOMAS PAINE &c. &c.

AS cenſure is but awkwardly ſoftened by apology, I ſhall offer you no apology for this letter. The eventful criſis, to which your double politics have conducted the affairs of your country, requires an inveſtigation uncramped by ceremony.

There was a time when the fame of America, moral and po⯑litical, ſtood fair and high in the world. The luſtre of her revolution extended itſelf to every individual, and to be a ci⯑tizen of America, gave a title to reſpect in Europe. Neither meanneſs nor ingratitude had then mingled in the compoſition of her character. Her reſiſtances to the attempted tyranny of England left her unſuſpected of the one, and her open ac⯑knowledgment of the aid ſhe received from France precluded all ſuſpicion of the other. The politics of Waſhington had not then appeared.

At the time I left America (April 1787) the continental Convention, that formed the federal conſtitution, was on the point of meeting. Since that time new ſchemes of politics, and new diſtinctions of parties, have ariſen. The term An⯑tifederaliſt has been applied to all thoſe who combated the de⯑fects of that conſtitution, or oppoſed the meaſures of your adminiſtration. It was only to the abſolute neceſſity of eſtab⯑liſhing ſome federal authority, extending equally over all the States, that an inſtrument ſo inconſiſtent as the preſent federal conſtitution is, obtained a ſuffrage. I would have voted for it myſelf, had I been in America, or even for a worſe, rather than have had none; provided it contained the means of re⯑medying its defects by the ſame appeal to the people, by which it was to be eſtabliſhed. It is always better policy to leave removable errors to expoſe themſelves, than to hazard too much in contending againſt them theoretically.

[2]I have introduced theſe obſervations not only to mark the general difference between Antifederaliſt and Anticonſtitution⯑aliſt, but to preclude the effect, and even the application, of the former of theſe terms to myſelf. I declare myſelf oppoſed to ſeveral matters in the conſtitution, particularly to the man⯑ner in which what is called the executive is formed, and to the long duration of the ſenate; and it I live to return to America, I will uſe all my endeavours to have them altered. I alſo de⯑clare myſelf oppoſed to almoſt the whole of your adminiſtra⯑tion; for I know it to have been deceitful, if not perfidious, as I ſhall ſhow in the courſe of this letter. But as to the point of conſolidating the States into a federal government, it ſo happens, that the propoſition for that purpoſe came originally from myſelf. I propoſed it in a letter to chancellor Livingſton in the ſpring of the year 1782, whilſt that gentleman was mi⯑niſter for foreign affairs. The five per cent duty recommended by congreſs had then fallen through, having been adopted by ſome of the States, altered by others, rejected by Rhode Iſland, and repealed by Virginia, after it had been conſented to. The propoſal in the letter I allude to, was to get over the whole difficulty at once, by annexing a continental legiſlative body to Congreſs; for in order to have any law of the Union uni⯑form, the caſe could only be, that either Congreſs, as it then ſtood, muſt frame the law, and the States ſeverally adopt it without alteration, or, the States muſt elect a continental le⯑giſlature for the purpoſe. Chancellor Livingſton, Robert Morris, Governor Morris, and myſelf, had a meeting at the houſe of Robert Morris on the ſubject of that letter. There was no diverſity of opinion on the propoſition for a continen⯑tal legiſlature: the only difficulty was on the manner of bring⯑ing the propoſition forward. For my own part, as I conſidered it as a remedy in reſerve, that could be applied at any time, when the States ſaw themſelves wrong enough to be put right (which did not appear to be the caſe at that time,) I did not fee the propriety of urging it precipitately, and declined being the publiſher of it myſelf. After this account of a fact, the leaders of your party will ſcarcely have the hardineſs to apply to me the term of Antifederaliſt. But I can go to a date and to a fact beyond this. for the propoſition for electing a conti⯑nental convention. To form the continental government is one of the ſubjects treated of in the pamphlet Common Senſe.

Having thus cleared away a little of the rubbiſh that might otherwiſe have lain in my way, I return to the point of time at which the preſent federal conſtitution and your adminiſtra⯑tion began. It was very well ſaid by an anonymous writer in Philadelphia, about a year before that period, that "thirteen [3]ſtaves and ne'er a hoop will not make a barrel;" and as any kind of hooping the barrel. however defectively executed, would be better than none, it was ſcarcely poſſible but that conſide⯑rable advantages muſt ariſe from the federal hooping of the States. It was with pleaſure that every ſincere friend to Ame⯑rica beheld as the natural effect of union, her riſing proſperity, and it was with grief they ſaw that proſperity mixed, even in the bl [...]om, with the germ of corruption. Monopolies of every kind marked your adminiſtration almoſt in the moment of its commencement. The lands obtained by the revolution were laviſhed upon partizans; the intereſt of the diſbanded ſoldier was ſold to the ſpeculator; injuſtice was acted under the preſence of faith; and the chief of the army became the patron of the fraud. From ſuch a beginning what elſe could [...]e expected, than what has happened? A mean and ſervile ſub⯑miſſion to the inſults of one nation; treachery and ingratitude to another.

Some vices make their approach with ſuch a ſplendid ap⯑pearance, that we ſcarcely know to what claſs of moral diſ⯑tinctions they belong. They are rather virtues corrupted than vices originally. But meanneſs and ingratitude have nothing equivocal in their character. There is not a trait in them that renders them doubtful. They are ſo originally vice, that they are generated in the dung of other vices, and crawl into ex⯑iſtence with the filth upon their back. The fugitives have found protection in you, and the levee-room is their place of rendezvous.

As the federal conſtitution is a copy, though not quite ſo baſe a the original, of the form of the Britiſh government, an imitation of its vices was naturally to be expected. So inti⯑mate is the connection between form and practice, that to adopt the one is to invite the other. Imitation is naturally progreſ⯑ſive, and is rapidly ſo in matters that are vicious.

Soon after the federal conſtitution arrived in England, I re⯑ceived a letter from a female literary correſpondent (a native of New York) very well mixed with friendſhip, ſentiment, and politics. In my anſwer to that letter, I permitted myſelf to ramble into the wilderneſs of imagination, and to anticipate what might hereafter be the condition of America. I had no idea that the picture I then drew was realiſing ſo faſt, and ſtill leſs that Mr. Waſhington was hurrying it on. As the extract I allude to is congenial with the ſubject I am upon, I here tran⯑ſcribe it:

Impreſſed as I was, with apprehenſions of this kind, I had America conſtantly in my mind in all the publications I afterwards made. The Firſt, and ſtill more, the Second Part of the Rights of Man, bear evident marks of this watchful⯑neſs; and the diſſertations on Firſt Principles of Government goes more directly to the point than either of the former. I now paſs on to other ſubjects.

It will be ſuppoſed by thoſe into whoſe hands this letter may fall, that I have ſome perſonal reſentment againſt you: and I will therefore ſettle this point before I proceed further.

If I have any reſentment, you muſt acknowledge that I have not been haſty in declaring it, neither would it now be declared (for what are private reſentments to the public) if the cauſe of it did not unite itſelf as well with your public as with your private character, and with the motives of your political conduct.

The part I acted in the American revolution is well known. I ſhall not here repeat it. I know alſo, that, had it not been for the aid received from France, in men, money, and ſhips, your cold and unmilitary conduct (as I ſhall ſhew in the courſe [5]of this letter) would in all probability have loſt America; at leaſt ſhe would not have been the independant nation ſhe now is. You ſlept away your time in the field, till the finances of the country were completely exhauſted, and you have but little ſhare in the glory of the final event. It is time, ſir, to ſpeak the undiſguiſed language of hiſtorical truth.

Elevated to the chair of the preſidency, you aſſumed the merit of every thing to yourſelf; and the natural ingratitude o [...] your conſtitution began to appear. You commenced your preſidental career by encouraging and ſwallowing the groſſeſt adulation; and you travelled America from one end to the other to put yourſelf in the way of receiving it. You have as many addreſſes in your cheſt as James the Second. As to what were your views, for if you are not great enough to have ambition you are little enough to have vanity, they cannot be directly inferred from expreſſions of your own; but the par⯑tizans of your politics have divulged the ſecret.

John Adams has ſaid, (and John it is known was always a ſpeller after places and offices, and never thought his little ſer⯑vices were highly enough paid) John has ſaid, that as Mr. Waſhington had no child, the preſidency ſhould be made he⯑reditary in the family of Lun Waſhington. John might then have counted upon ſome ſinecure for himſelf, and a proviſion for his deſcendants. He did not go ſo far as to ſay alſo, that the vice preſidency ſhould be hereditary in the family of John Adams. He prudently left that to ſtand upon the ground, that one good turn deſerves another^*.

John Adams is one of thoſe men who never contemplated the origin of government, or comprehended any thing of firſt principles. If he had, he might have ſeen, that the right to ſet up and eſtabliſh hereditary government never did, and never can, exiſt in any generation at any time whatever; that it is of the nature of treaſon, becauſe it is an attempt to take away the rights of all the minors living at that time, and of all ſucceeding generations. It is of a degree beyond com⯑mon treaſon; it is a ſin againſt nature. The equal rights of generations it is a right fixed in the nature of things, it belongs to the ſon when of age, as it belonged to the father before him. John Adams would himſelf deny the right that any former de⯑ceaſed generation could have to decree authoritatively a ſucceſ⯑ſion of governors over him or over his children, and yet [...]e aſſumes a pretended right, treaſonable as it is, of acting it him⯑ſelf. His ignorance is his beſt excuſe.

[6]John Jay has ſaid, (and this John was always the ſycophant of every thing in power, from Mr. Girard in America, to Gren⯑ville in England) John Jay has ſaid, that the ſenate ſhould have been appointed for life. He would then have been ſure of never wanting a lucrative appointment for himſelf, and have hand no fears about impeachment. Theſe are the diſguiſed traitors that call themſelves federaliſts^*

Could I have known to what degree of corruption and per⯑fidy the adminiſtrative part of the government of America had deſcended, I could have been at no loſs to have underſtood the reſervedneſs of Mr. Waſhington towards me during my impri⯑ſonment in the Luxembourg. There are caſes in which ſilence is a loud language. I will here explain the cauſe of that impri⯑ſonment, and return to Mr. Waſhington afterwards.

In the courſe of that rage, terror and ſuſpicion, which the brutal letter of the Duke of Brunſwick firſt ſtarted into exiſt⯑ence in France, it happened that almoſt every man who was oppoſed to violence, or who was not violent himſelf, became ſuſpected. I had conſtantly been oppoſed to every thing which was of the nature, or of the appearance of violence; but as I had always done it in a manner that ſhewed it to be a principle founded in my heart, and not a political manoeuvre, it precluded the pretence of accuſing me. I was reached however under another pretence.

A decree was paſſed to impriſon all perſons born in England; but as I was a member of the Convention, and had been com⯑plimented with the honorary ſtyle of citizen of France, as Mr. Waſhington and ſome other Americans have been, this decree fell ſhort of reaching me. A motion was afterwards, made and carried, ſupported chiefly by Bourdon de l'Oiſe, for expelling foreigners from the Convention. My expulſion being thus affected, the two committees of public ſafety and of general ſurety, of which Robeſpierre was the dictator, put me in ar⯑reſtation under the former decree for impriſoning perſons born in England. Having thus ſhewn under what pretence the impriſonment was affected, I come to ſpeak of ſuch parts of the caſe as apply between me and Mr. Waſhington, either as a preſident, or as an individual.

I have always conſidered that a foreigner, ſuch as I was in fact, with reſpect to France, might be a member of a conven⯑tion for framing a conſtitution, without affecting his right of citizenſhip, in the country to which he belongs, but not a [7]member of a government after a conſtitution is formed; and I have uniformly acted upon this diſtinction. To be a member of a government requires a perſon being in allegiance with that government and to the country locally. But a conſtitu⯑tion, being a thing of principle, and not of action, and which after it is formed, is to be referred to the people for their ap⯑probation or rejection, does not require allegiance in the per⯑ſons forming and propoſing it; and beſides this, it is only to the thing after it is formed and eſtabliſhed, and to the country after its governmental character is fixed by the adoption of a conſtitution, that the allegiance can be given. No oath of allegiance or of citizenſhip was required of the members who compoſed the Convention: there was nothing exiſting in form to ſwear allegiance to. If any ſuch condition had been re⯑quired, I could not, as citizen of America, in fact, though citizen of France by compliment, have accepted a ſeat in the Convention.

As my citizenſhip in America was not altered or diminiſhed by any thing I had done in Europe (on the contrary, it ought to have been conſidered as ſtrengthened, for it was the Ameri⯑can principle of government that I was endeavouring to ſpread in Europe), and as it is the duty of every government to charge itſelf with the care of any of its citizens who may happen to fall under an arbitrary perſecution abroad, and this is alſo one of the reaſons for which ambaſſadors or miniſters are appointed, it was the duty of the executive department in America, to have made, at leaſt ſome, enquiries about me, as ſoon as it heard of my impriſonment. But if this had not been the caſe, that government owed it to me on every ground and principle of honour and gratitude. Mr. Waſhington owed it to me on every ſcore of private acquaintance, I will not now ſay friendſhip; for it has ſome time been known by thoſe who know him, that he has no friendſhips, that he is incapable of forming any; he can ſerve or deſert a man, or a cauſe, with conſtitutional indifference; and it is this cold hermaphrodite faculty that impoſed itſelf upon the world, and was credited a while by enemies, as by friends for prudence, moderation, and impartiality.

Soon after I was put into arreſtation, and impriſonment in the Luxembourg, the Americans who were then in Paris, went in a body to the bar of the Convention to reclaim me. They were anſwered by the then preſident Vadier, who has ſince abſconded, that I was born in England, and it was ſig⯑nified to them, by ſome of the committee of general ſurety, to whom they were referred (I have been told it was Billaud Varennes), that their reclamation of me was only the act of [8]individuals, without any authority from the American govern⯑ment.

A few days after this, all communication between perſons impriſoned, and any perſon without the priſon was cut off by an order of the police. I neither ſaw nor heard from any body for ſix months; and the only hope that remained to me was, that a new miniſter would arrive from America to ſuper⯑ſede Morris, and that he would be authoriſed to inquire into the cauſe of my impriſonment: but even this hope, in the ſtate to which matters were daily arriving, was too remote to have any conſolatory effect, and I contented myſelf with the thought that I might be remembered when it would be too late. There is, perhaps, no condition from which a man, conſcious of his own uprightneſs, cannot derive conſolation; for it is in itſelf a conſolation for him to find, that he can bear that condition with calmneſs and fortitude.

From about the middle of March (1794) to the fall of Ro⯑beſpierre, July 29, (9th of Thermidor) the ſtate of things in the priſons was a continued ſcene of horror. No man could count upon life for twenty hours. To ſuch a pitch of rage and ſuſpicion, were Robeſpierre and his committee ar⯑rived, that it ſeemed as if they feared to leave a man to live. Scarcely a night paſſed in which ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, or more, were not taken out of the priſon, carried be⯑fore a pretended tribunal in the morning, and guillotined be⯑fore night. One hundred and ſixty-nine were taken out of the Luxembourg one night, in the month of July, and one hundred and ſixty of them guillotined. A liſt of two hun⯑dred more, according to the report in the priſon, was prepar⯑ing a few days before Robeſpierre fell. In this laſt liſt I have good reaſon to believe I was included. A memorandum in the hand writing of Robeſpierre was afterwards produced in the Convention, by the committee to whom the papers of Robeſpierre were referred, in theſe words: ‘Demander que Thomas Paine ſoit decreté d'ac⯑cuſation pour l'interét de l'Amerique, autant que de la France.’ ‘Demand that Thomas Paine, be decreed of accuſa⯑tion for the intereſt of America, as well as of France.’

I had been impriſoned ſeven months, and the ſilence of the executive part of the government of America (Mr. Waſhing⯑ton) upon the caſe, and upon every thing reſpecting me, was explanation enough to Robeſpierre that he might proceed to extremities.

A violent fever which had nearly terminated my exiſtence, [9]was, I believe, the circumſtance that preſerved it. I was not in a condition to be removed, or to know of what was paſ⯑ſing, or of what had paſſed, for more than a month. It makes a blank in my remembrance of life. The firſt thing I was informed of was the fall of Robeſpierre.

About a week after this, Mr. Monroe arrived to ſuperſede Governor Morris, and as ſoon as I was able to write a note le⯑gible enough to be read, I found a way to convey one to him by means of the man who lighted the lamps in the priſon; and whoſe unabated friendſhip to me, from whom he had never received any ſervice, and with difficulty accepted any recompence, puts the character of Mr. Waſhington to ſhame.

In a few days I received a meſſage from Mr. Monroe, con⯑veyed to me in a note from an intermediate perſon, with aſ⯑ſurance of his friendſhip, and expreſſing a deſire that I would reſt the caſe in his hands. After a fortnight or more had paſ⯑ſed, and hearing nothing farther, I wrote to a friend who was then in Paris, a citizen of Philadelphia, requeſting him to in⯑form me what was the true ſituation of things with reſpect to me. I was ſure that ſomething was the matter, I began to have hard thoughts of Mr. Waſhington, but I was unwilling to encourage them.

In about ten days, I received an anſwer to my letter, in which the writer ſays, ‘Mr. Monroe has told me that he has no order (meaning from the preſident, Mr. Waſhington) reſpecting you, but that he (Mr. Monroe) will do every thing in his power to liberate you; but, from what I learn from the Americans lately arrived in Paris, you are not con⯑ſidered, either by the American government, or by indi⯑viduals, as an American citizen.’

I was now at no loſs to underſtand Mr. Waſhington and his newfangled faction, and that their policy was ſilently to leave me to fall in France. They were ruſhing as faſt as they could venture, without awakening the jealouſy of America, into all the vices and corruptions of the Britiſh government; and it was no more conſiſtent with the policy of Mr. Waſh⯑ington, and thoſe who immediately ſurrounded him, than it was with that of Robeſpierre or of Pitt, that I ſhould ſurvive. They have, however, miſſed the mark, and the reaction is up⯑on themſelves.

Upon the receipt of the letter juſt alluded to, I ſent a me⯑morial to Mr. Monroe, which the reader will find in the ap⯑pendix, and I received from him the following anſwer. It is dated the 18th of September, but did not come to hand till about the 18th of October. I was then falling into a relapſe, the weather was becoming damp and cold, fuel was not be [10]had, and the abſceſs in my ſide, the conſequence of thoſe things, and of want of air and exerciſe, was beginning to form, and has continued immoveable ever ſince. Here fol⯑lows Mr. Monroe's letter.

The part in Mr. Monroe's letter, in which he ſpeaks of the Preſident, (Mr Waſhington) is put in ſoft language. Mr. Monroe knew what Mr. Waſhington had ſaid formerly, and he was willing to keep that in view. But the fact is, not only that Mr. Waſhington had given no orders to Mr. Monroe, as the letter ſtated; but he did not ſo much as ſay to him, inquire if Mr. Paine be dead or alive, in priſon or out, or ſee if there be any aſſiſtance we can give him.

[12]While theſe matters were paſſing, the liberations from the priſons were numerous; from twenty to forty in the courſe of almoſt every twenty-four hours. The continuance of my impriſonment after a new miniſter had arrived immediately from America, which was now more than two months, was a matter ſo obviouſly ſtrange, that I found the character of the American government ſpoken of in very unqualified terms of reproach; not only by thoſe who ſtill remained in priſon, but by thoſe who were liberated, and by perſons who had acceſs to the priſon from without. Under theſe circumſtances, I wrote again to Mr. Monroe, and found occaſion to ſay, among other things, ‘It will not add to the popularity of Mr. Waſhington, to have it believed in America, as it is be lieved here, that he connives at my impriſonment.’

The caſe, ſo far as it reſpected Mr. Monroe, was, that hav⯑ing to get over the difficulties, which the ſtrange conduct of Governor Morris had thrown in the way of a ſucceſſor, and having no authority from the American government, to ſpeak officially upon any thing relating to me, he found himſelf ob⯑liged to proceed by unofficial means with individual members; for though Robeſpierre was overthrown, the Robeſpierrian members of the Committee of Public Safety, ſtill remained in conſiderable force, and had they found out, that Mr. Monroe had no official authority upon the caſe, they would have paid little or no regard to his reclamation of me. In the mean time my health was ſuffering exceedingly, the dreary proſpect of winter was coming on; and impriſonment was ſtill a thing of danger. After the Robeſpierrian members of the Com⯑mittee were removed, by the expiration of their time of ſerv⯑ing, Mr. Monroe reclaimed me, and I was liberated the 4th of November. Mr. Monroe arrived in Paris the beginning of Auguſt before. All that period of my impriſonment, at leaſt, I owe not to Robeſpierre, but to his colleague in pro⯑jects, George Waſhington. Immediately upon my liberation, Mr. Monroe invited me to his houſe, where I remained more than a year and half; and I ſpeak of his aid and friendſhip, as an open-hearted man will always do in ſuch a caſe, with reſpect and gratitude.

Soon after my liberation the Convention paſſed an unani⯑mous vote, to invite me to return to my ſeat among them. The times were ſtill unſettled and dangerous, as well from without as within, for the coalition was unbroken, and the conſtitution not ſettled. I choſe, however, to accept the in⯑vitation; for as I undertake nothing but what I believe to be right, I abandon nothing that I undertake; and I was willing alſo to ſhow, that, as I was not of a caſt of mind, to be de⯑terred by proſpects or retroſpects of danger, ſo neither were [13]my principles to be weakened by misfortune or perverted by diſguſt.

Being now once more abroad in the world, I began to find that I was not the only one who had conceived an unfa⯑vourable opinion of Mr. Waſhington; it was evident that his character was on the decline as well among Americans, as among foreigners of different nations. From being the chief of the government, he had made himſelf the chief of a party; and his integrity was queſtioned, for his politics had a doubtful appearance. The miſſion of Mr. Jay to London, notwithſtanding there was an American miniſter there already, had then taken place, and was beginning to be talked of. It appeared to others, as it did to me, to be enveloped in myſte⯑ry, which every day ſerved either to increaſe or to explain into matter of ſuſpicion.

In the year 1790, or about that time, Mr. Waſhington, as preſident, had ſent Governor Morris to London, as his ſecret agent, to have ſome communication with the Britiſh miniſtry. To cover the agency of Morris it was given out, I know not by whom, that he went as an agent from Robert Morris, to borrow money in Europe, and the report was per⯑mitted to paſs uncontradicted. The event of Morris's nego⯑ciation was, that Mr. Hammond was ſent miniſter from Eng⯑land to America, Pinkney from America to England, and himſelf miniſter to France. If, while Morris was miniſter in France, he was not an emiſſary of the Britiſh miniſtry and the coaleſced powers, he gave ſtrong reaſon to ſuſpect him of it. No one who ſaw his conduct, and heard his converſation, could doubt his being in their intereſt; and had he not got off at the time he did, after his recall, he would have been in arreſtation. Some letters of his had fallen into the hands of the Committee of Public Safety, and enquiry was making after him.

A great buſtle has been made by Mr. Waſhington about the conduct of Genet in America, whilſt that of his own miniſter, Morris, in France was infinitely more reproachable. If Genet was imprudent or raſh, he was not treacherous; but Morris was all three. He was the enemy of the French re⯑volution, in every ſtage of it. But notwithſtanding this con⯑duct on the part of Morris, and the known profligacy of his character, Mr. Waſhington, in a letter he wrote to him at the time of recalling him on the complaint and requeſt of the Committee of Public Safety, aſſures him, that though he had complied with that requeſt, he ſtill retained the ſame eſteem and friendſhip for him as before. This letter Morris was fooliſh enough to tell of; and, as his own character and con⯑duct [14]were notorious, the telling of it could have but one effect, which was that of implicating the character of the writer, Morris ſtill loiters in Europe, chiefly in England; and Mr. Waſhington is ſtill in correſpondence with him.—Mr. Waſh⯑ington ought, therefore, to expect, eſpecially ſince his conduct in the affair of Jay's treaty, that France muſt conſider Morris and Waſhington as men of the ſame deſcription▪ The chief difference, however, between the two is (for in politics there is none) that the one is profligate enough to profeſs an indifference about moral principles, and the other is prudent enough to conceal the want of them.

About three months after I was at liberty, the official note of Jay to Grenville, on the ſubject of the capture of Ame⯑rican veſſels by the Britiſh cruiſers, appeared in the American papers that arrived at Paris. Every thing was of a piece—every thing was mean. The ſame kind of character went to all circumſtances public or private. Diſguſted at this na⯑tional degradation, as well as at the particular conduct of Mr. Waſhington to me, I wrote to him (Mr. Waſhington) on the twenty-ſecond of February, 1795, under cover to the then ſecretary of ſtate (Mr. Randolph) and entruſted the letter to Mr. Letombe, who was appointed French conſul to Philadel⯑phia, and was on the point of taking his departure. When I ſuppoſed Mr. Letombe had failed, I mentioned the letter to Mr. Monroe, and as I was then in his houſe, I ſhowed it to him. He expreſſed a wiſh that I would recall it, which he ſuppoſed might be done, as he had learned that Mr. Letombe had not then failed. I agreed to do ſo, and it was returned by Mr. Letombe under cover to Mr. Monroe. The letter will, however, now reach Mr. Waſhington publicly in the courſe of this Work.

About the month of September following, I had a ſevere relapſe, which gave occaſion to the report of my death. I had felt it coming on a conſiderable time before, which occa⯑ſioned me to haſten the work I had then on hand, The Second Part of the Age of Reaſon. When I had finiſhed the work, I beſtowed another letter on Mr. Waſhington, which I ſent under cover to Mr. Franklin Bache, of Philadelphia. The let⯑ter was as follows:

Here follows the letter above alluded to, which had been withdrawn:

That this letter was not written in very good temper, is very evident; but it was juſt ſuch a letter as his conduct ap⯑peared to me to merit, and every thing on his part ſince has ſerved to confirm that opinion. Had I wanted a commentary on his ſilence, with reſpect to my impriſonment in France, ſome of his faction have furniſhed me with it. What I here allude to, is a publication in a Philadelphia paper, copied af⯑terwards into a New-York paper, both under the patronage of the Waſhington faction, in which the writer, ſtill ſuppoſing me in priſon in France, wonders at my lengthy reſpite from the ſcaffold. And he marks his politics ſtill farther, by ſaying, ‘It appears, moreover, that the people of England did not reliſh his (Thomas Paine's) opinions quite ſo well as he ex⯑pected; and that for one of his laſt pieces, as deſtructive to the peace and happineſs of their country (meaning, I ſup⯑poſe, the Rights of Man) they threatened our knight-errant with ſuch ſerious vengeance, that, to avoid a trip to Botany Bay, he fled over to France, as a leſs dangerous voyage.’

I am not refuting or contradicting the falſehood of this publication, for it is ſufficiently notorious; neither am I cen⯑ſuring the writer: on the contrary, I thank him for the expla⯑nation he has incautiouſly given of the principles of the Waſh⯑ington faction. Inſignificant, however, as the piece is, it was capable of having ſome ill effects, had it arrived in France during my impriſonment, and in the time of Robeſpierre; and I am not uncharitable in ſuppoſing that this was one of the intentions of the writer^*.

[20]I have now done with Mr. Waſhington on the ſcore of private affairs. It would have been far more agreeable to me, had his conduct been ſuch as not to have merited theſe re⯑proaches. Errors, or caprices of the temper, can be pardoned and forgotten; but a cold eliberate crime of the heart, men as Mr. Waſhington is capable of acting, is not to be waſhed away — I now proceed to other matter:

After Jay's note to Grenville arrived in Paris from America, the character of every thing that was to follow might be eaſily foreſeen; and it was upon this anticipation that my letter of February the twenty-ſecond was founded. The event has proved that I was not miſtaken, except that it has been much worſe than I expected.

It would naturally occur to Mr. Waſhington, that the ſe⯑creſy of Jay's miſſion to England, where there was already an American miniſter, could not but create ſome ſuſpicion in the French government, eſpecially as the conduct of Morris had been notorious, and the intimacy of Mr. Waſhington with Morris was known.

The character which Mr. Waſhington has attempted to act in the world, is a ſort of non-deſeribable cameleon coloured thing, called Prudence. It is, in many caſes, a ſubſtitute for Principle, and is ſo nearly allied to Hypocriſy, that it eaſily ſlides into it. His genius for prudence furniſhed him, in this inſtance, with an expedient that ſerved (as is the natural and general character of all expedients) to diminiſh the embarraſſ⯑ment of the moment, and multiply them afterwards; for he cauſed it to be announced to the French government as a con⯑fidential matter (Mr. Waſhington ſhould recollect that I was a member of the Convention, and had the means of knowing what I here ſtate) — he cauſed it, I say, to be announced, and that for the purpoſe of preventing any uneaſineſs to France, on the ſcore of Mr. Jay's miſſion to England, that the object of that miſſion, and Mr. Jay's authority, were reſtricted to the demanding of the ſurrender of the weſtern poſts, and in⯑demrification for the cargoes captured in American veſſels. — Mr. Waſhington knows that this was untrue; and knowing this, he had good reaſon, to himſelf, for refuſing to furniſh the Houſe of Repreſentatives with copies of the inſtructions given to Jay, as he might ſuſpect, among other things, that he ſhould alſo be called upon for copies of inſtructions given to other miniſters, and that in the contradiction of inſtructions his want of integrity would be detected. Mr. Waſhington may now perhaps learn, when it is too late to be of any uſe to him, that a man will paſs better through the world with a thouſand open errors upon his back, than in being detected [21]in one ſly falſehood. When one is detected, a thouſand are ſuſpected.

The firſt account that arrived in Paris of a treaty being ne⯑gotiated by Mr. Jay (for nobody ſuſpected any) came in an Engliſh newſpaper, which announced that a treaty, offenſive and defenſive, had been concluded between the United States of America and England. This was immediately denied by every American in Paris, as an impoſſible thing; and though it was diſbelieved by the French, it imprinted a ſuſpicion that ſome underhand buſineſs was going forward. At length the treaty itſelf arrived, and every well-affected American bluſhed with ſhame.

It is curious to obſerve how the appearances of characters will change, whilſt the root that produces them remains the ſame. The Waſhington faction having waded through the ſlough of negociation, and, whilſt it amuſed France with pro⯑feſſions of friendſhip contrived to in ure her, immediately throws off the hypocrite and aſſumes the ſwaggering air of a bravado. The party papers of that imbecile adminiſtration were on this occaſion filled with paragraphs about ſove⯑reignty. A poltroon may boaſt of his ſovereign right to let another kick him, and this is the only kind of ſovereignty ſhown in the treaty with England. But thoſe daſhing para⯑graphs, as Timothy Pickering well knows, were intended for France, without whoſe aſſiſtance, in men, money, and ſhips, Mr. Waſhington would have cut but a poor figure in the American war. But of his military talents I ſhall ſpeak here⯑after.

I mean not to enter into any diſcuſſion of any article of Jay's treaty; I ſhall ſpeak only upon the whole of it. It is attempted to be juſtified on the ground of its not being a violation of any article or articles of the treaty pre-exiſting with France. But the ſovereign right of explanation does not lie with George Waſhington and his man Timothy; France, on her part, has, at leaſt, an equal right: and when nations diſpute, it is not ſo much about words as about things.

A man, ſuch as the world calls a ſharper, as verſed as Jay muſt be ſuppoſed to be in the quibbles of the law, may find a way to enter into engagements, and make bargains, in ſuch a mahner as to cheat ſome other party, without that party being able, as the phraſe is, to take th [...] law of him. This often happens in the cabaliſtical circle of what is called law. But when this is attempted to be acted on the national ſcale of treaties, it is too deſpicable to be defended, or to be permitted to exiſt. Yet this is the trick upon which Jay's treaty is [22]founded, ſo far as it has relation to the treaty pre-exiſting with France. It is a counter-treaty to that treaty, and per⯑verts all the great articles of that treaty to the injury of France, and makes them operate as a bounty to England, with whom France is at war. The Waſhington adminiſtra⯑tion ſhows great deſire that the treaty between France and the United States be preſerved. Nobody can doubt its ſincerity upon this matter. There is not a Britiſh miniſter, a Britiſh merchant, or a Britiſh agent or factor, in America, that does not anxiouſly wiſh the ſame thing. The treaty with France ſerves now as a paſſport to ſupply England with naval ſtores, and other articles of American produce; whilſt the ſame articles when coming to France are made contraband, or ſeiz⯑able, by Jay's treaty with England. The treaty with France ſays, that neutral ſhips make neutral property, and thereby gives protection to Engliſh property on board American ſhips; and Jay's treaty delivers up French property on board Ame⯑rican ſhips to be ſeized by the Engliſh. It is too paltry to talk of faith, of national honour, and of the preſervation of treaties, whilſt ſuch a bare-faced treachery as this ſtares the world in the face.

The Waſhington adminiſtration may ſave itſelf the trouble of proving to the French government its moſt faithful inten⯑tions of preſerving the treaty with France; for France has now no deſire that it ſhould be preſerved; ſhe had nominated an envoy extraordinary to America, to make Mr. Waſhington [...]nd his government a preſent of the treaty, and to have no [...]ore to do with that or with him. It was at the ſame time officially declared to the American miniſter at Paris, that the French republic had rather have the American government for an open enemy than a treacherous friend. This, ſir, together with the internal diſtractions cauſed in America, and the loſs of character in the world, is the eventful criſis alluded to in the beginning of this Letter, to which your double politics have brought the affairs of your country. It is time that the eyes of America be opened upon you.

[...]ow France would have conducted herſelf towards Ame⯑rica, and American commerce, after all treaty ſtipulations had ceaſed, and under the ſenſe of ſervices rendered, and injuries received, I know not. It is, however, an unpleaſant reflec⯑tion, that in all national quarrels, the innocent, and even the friendly part of the community, become involved with the culpable and the unfriendly; and as the accounts that arrived from America continued to manifeſt an invariable attachment, in the general maſs of the people, to their original ally, in oppoſition to the new-fangled Waſhington faction, the reſo⯑lutions [23]that had been taken in France were ſuſpended. It happened alſo, fortunately enough, that Governor Morris was not miniſter at this time.

There is, however, one point that yet remains in embryo, and which, among other things, ſerves to ſhow the ignorance of the Waſhington treaty makers, and their inattention to pre-exiſting treaties, when they were employing themſelves in framing or ratifying the new treaty with England.

The ſecond article of the treaty of commerce between the United States and France ſays, ‘The Moſt Chriſtian King and the United States engage mutually not to grant any particular favour to other nations, in reſpect to commerce and navigation, that ſhall not immediately become common to the other party, who ſhall enjoy the ſame favour freely, if the conceſſion was freely made, or on allowing the ſame compenſation if the conceſſion was conditional.’

All the conceſſions therefore made to England by Jay's treaty are, through the medium of this ſecond article in the pre-exiſting treaty, made to France, and become engrafted into the treaty with France, and can be exerciſed by her as a mat⯑ter of right, the ſame as by England.

Jay's treaty makes a conceſſion to England, and that un⯑conditionally, of ſeizing naval ſtores in American ſhips, and condemning them as contraband. It makes alſo a conceſſion to England to ſeize proviſions and other articles in American ſhips. Other articles, are all other articles; and none but an ignoramus, or ſomething worſe, would have put ſuch a phraſe into a treaty. The condition annexed to this caſe is, that the proviſions and other articles ſo ſeized, are to be paid for at a price to be agreed upon. Mr. Waſhington, as preſident ra⯑tified this treaty after he knew the Britiſh government had recommenced an indiſcriminate ſeizure of proviſions, and of all other articles in American ſhips: and it is now known that thoſe ſeizures were made to fit out the expedition going to Quiberon Bay, and it was known beforehand that they would be made. The evidence goes alſo a good way to prove that Jay and Grenville underſtood each other upon that ſubject. Mr. Pinkney, when he paſſed through France in his way to Spain, ſpoke of the recommencement of the ſeizures as a thing that would take place. The French government had by ſome means received information from London to the ſame purpoſe, with the addition, that the recommencement of the ſeizures would cauſe no miſunderſtanding between the Britiſh and American governments. Grenville, in defending himſelf againſt the oppoſition in parliament, on account of the ſcarcity of corn, ſaid (ſee his ſpeech at the opening of the [24]parliament that met October 29, 1795) that the ſupplies for the Quiberon expedition were furniſhed out of the American ſhips, and all the accounts received at that time from England ſtated that thoſe ſeizures were made under the treaty. After the ſupplies for the Quiberon expedition had been procured, and the expected ſucceſs had failed, the ſeizures were counter⯑manded; and had the French ſeized proviſion veſſels going to England, it is probable that the Quiberon expedition could not have been attempted.

In one point of view, the treaty with England operates as a loan to the Engliſh government. It gives permiſſion to that government to take American property at ſea, to any amount, and pay for it when it ſuits her; and, beſides this, the treaty is in every point of view a ſurrender of the rights of American commerce and navigation, and a refuſal to France of the rights of neutrality. The American flag is not now a neutral flag to France; Jay's treaty of ſurrender give a monopoly of it to England.

On the contrary, the treaty of commerce between America and France was formed on the moſt liberal principles, and cal⯑culated to give the greateſt encouragement to the infant com⯑merce of America. France was neither a carrier nor an ex⯑porter of naval ſtores, or of proviſions; thoſe articles belonged wholly to America; and they had all the protection in that treaty which a treaty can give. But ſo much has that treaty been perverted, that the liberality of it on the part of France has ſerved to encourage Jay to form a counter-treaty with England; for he muſt have ſuppoſed the hands of France tied up by her treaty with America, when he was making ſuch large conceſſions in favour of England. The injury which Mr. Waſhington's adminiſtration has done to the character, as well as to the commerce of America, is too great to be re⯑paired by him. Foreign nations will be ſhy of making treaties with a government that has given the faithleſs exam⯑ple of perverting the liberality of a former treaty to the in⯑jury of the party with whom it was made.

In what a fraudulent light muſt Mr. Waſhington's character appear in the world, when his declarations and his conduct are compared together! Here follows the letter he wrote to the Committee of Public Safety, whilſt Jay was negociating in profound ſecreſy this treacherous treaty:

Was it by entering into a treaty with England to ſurrender French property on board American ſhips, to be ſeized by the Engliſh, whilſt Engliſh property on board American ſhips was declared by the French treaty not to be ſeizable, that the bonds of friendſhip between America, and France were to be drawn cloſer? Was it by declaring naval ſtores contraband when coming to France, whilſt by the French treaty they were not contraband when going to England, that the connection between France and America was to be advanced? Was it by opening the American ports to the Britiſh navy in the preſent war, from which ports that ſame navy had been expelled by the aid ſolicited from France in the [...]merican war (and that aid gra⯑tuitouſly given), that the gratitude of America was to be ſhewn, and the ſolicitude ſpoken of in the letter demonſtrated?

As the letter was addreſſed to the Committee of Public Safety, Mr. Waſhington did not expect it would get abroad in the world, or be ſeen by any other eye than that of Robeſ⯑pierre, or be heard by any other ear than that of the Com⯑mittee; that it would paſs as a whiſper acroſs the Atlant [...]c from one dark chamber to the other, and there terminate.

[26]It was calculated to remove from the mind of the Com⯑mittee all ſuſpicion upon Jay's miſſion to England, and in this point of view it was ſuited to the circumſtances of the moment then paſſing; but as the event of that miſſion has proved the letter to be hypocritical, it ſerves no other pur⯑poſe of the preſent moment than to ſhew that the writer is not to be credited. Two circumſtances ſerved to make the reading of the letter neceſſary in the Convention; the one was, that they who ſucceeded on the fall of Robeſpierre, found it moſt proper to act with publicity; the other, to extinguiſh the ſuſpicions which the ſtrange conduct of Morris had occa⯑ſioned in France.

When the Britiſh treaty and the ratification of it by Mr. Waſhington were known in France, all further declarations from him of his good diſpoſition, as an ally and a friend, paſſed for ſo many cyphers; but ſtill it appeared neceſſary to him to keep up the farce of declarations. It is ſtipulated in the Britiſh treaty, that commiſſioners are to report, at the end of two years, on the caſe of neutral ſhips making neutral property. In the mean time neutral ſhips do not make neutral property according to the Britiſh treaty, and they do according to the French treaty. The preſervation therefore of the French treaty became of great importance to England, as by that means ſhe can employ American ſhips as carriers, whilſt the ſame advantage is denied to France. Whether the French treaty could exiſt as a matter of right after this clandeſtine perverſion of it, could not but give ſome apprehenſions to the partizans of the Britiſh treaty, and it became neceſſary to them to make up by fine words what was wanting in good actions.

An opportunity offered to that purpoſe. The Convention, on the public reception of Mr. Monroe, ordered the Ameri⯑can flag and the French flag to be diſplayed unitedly in the hall of the Convention. Mr. Monroe made a preſent of an American flag for the purpoſe. The Convention returned this compliment, by ſending a French flag to America, to be preſented by their miniſter, Mr. Adet, to the American go⯑vernment. This reſolution paſſed long before Jay's treaty was known or ſuſpected: it paſſed in the days of confidence;—but the flag was not preſented by Mr Adet till ſeveral months after the treaty had been ratified. Mr. Waſhington made this the occaſion of ſaying ſome fine things to the French miniſter; and the better to get himſelf into tune to do this, he began by ſaying the fineſt things of himſelf.

‘Born, Sir,’ ſaid he, ‘in a land of liberty; having learned its value; having engaged in a perilous conflict to [27]defend it; having, in a word, devoted the beſt years of my life to ſecure its permanent eſtabliſhment in my own country; my anxious recollections, my ſympathetic feelings, and my beſt wiſhes, are irreſiſtibly excited, whenever, in any country, I ſee an oppreſſed people unfurl the banner of freedom.’—Mr. Waſhington, having expended ſo many [...]ine phraſes upon himſelf, was obliged to invent a new one for the French, and he calls them "Wonderful people!"—The coaleſced powers acknowledge as much.

It is laughable to hear Mr. Waſhington talk of his ſympa⯑thetic feelings, who has always been remarked, even among his friends, for not having any. He has, however, given no proof of any to me. As to the pompous encomiums he ſo liberally pays to himſelf on the ſcore of the American revola⯑tion, the propriety of them may be queſtioned; and, ſince he has forced them ſo much into notice, it is fair to examine his pretenſions.

A ſtranger might be led to ſuppoſe, from the egotiſm with which Mr. Waſhington ſpeaks, that himſelf, and himſelf only, had generated, condu [...]ted, completed, and eſtabliſhed, the revolution. In fine, that it was all his own doing.

In the firſt place, as to the political part, he had no ſhare in it; and therefore the whole of that is out of the queſtion with reſpect to him. There remains, then, only the military part; and it would have been prudent in Mr. Waſhington not to have awakened inquiry upon that ſubject. Fame then was cheap; he enjoyed it cheaply; and nobody was diſpoſed to take away the laurels that, whether they were acquired or not, had been given.

Mr. Waſhington's merit conſiſted in conſtancy. But con⯑ſtancy was the common virtue of the revolution. Who was there that was inconſtant? I know but of one military defec⯑tion, that of Arnold; and I know of no political defection, among thoſe who made themſelves eminent when the revolu⯑tion was formed by the declaration of independence. Even Silas Deane, though he attempted to defraud, did not betray.

But when we ſpeak of military character, ſomething more is to be underſtood than conſtancy; and ſomething more ought to be underſtood than the Fabian ſyſtem of doing nothing. The nothing part can be done by any body, Old Mrs. Thompſon, the houſekeeper of head-quarters (who threatened to make the ſun and the wind ſhine through Rivington of New-York) could have been as good as Barak.

Mr. Waſhington had the nominal rank of commander in chief, but he was not ſo in fact. He had, in reality, only a [28]ſeparate command. He had no control over, or direction of, the army to the northward under Gates, that captured Bur⯑goyne; or of that to the ſouth under Greene, that recovered the ſouthern ſtates^*.—The nominal rank, however, of com⯑mander in chief, ſerved to throw upon him the luſtre of thoſe actions, and to make him appear as the ſoul and centre of all military operations in America.

He commenced his command June 1775, during the time the Maſſacauſet army lay before Boſton, and after the affair o [...] Bunker's Hill. The commencement of his command was the commencement of inactivity. Nothing was afterwards done, or attempted to be done, during the nine months he remained before Boſton. If we may judge from the reſiſtance made at Concord, and afterwards at Bunker's Hill, there was a ſpirit of enterpriſe at that time, which the preſence of Mr. Waſh⯑ington chilled into cold defence. By the advantage of a good exterior he attracts reſpect, which his habitual ſilence tends to preſerve; but he has not the talent of inſpiring ardour in an army. The enemy removed from Boſton to Halifax in March 1776, to wait for reinforcements from Europe, and to take a more advantageous poſition at New-York.

The inactivity of the campaign of 1775, on the part of General Waſhington, when the enemy had a leſs force than in any other future period of the war, and the injudicious choice of poſitions taken by him in the campaign of 1776, when the enemy had its greateſt force, neceſſarily produced the loſſes and misfortunes that marked that gloomy campaign. The poſitions taken were either iſlands, or necks of land. In the former, the enemy, by the aid of their ſhips, could bring their whole force againſt a part of General Waſhing⯑ton's, as in the affair of Long Iſland; and in the latter, he might be ſhut up as in the bottom of a bag. This had nearly been the caſe at New-York, and it was ſo in part: it was actually the caſe at Fort Waſhington; and it would have been the caſe at Fort Lee, if General Greene had not moved preci⯑pitately off, leaving every thing behind, and, by gaining Hackinſuch-bridge, got out of the bag of Bergin-neck.—How far Mr. Waſhington, as general, is blamable for thoſe matters, I am not undertaking to determine; but they are evidently defects in military geography. The ſucceſsful ſkir⯑miſhes at the cloſe of that campaign (matters that would ſcarcely be noticed in a better ſtate of things) make the bril⯑liant exploits of General Waſhington's ſeven campaigns.— [29]No wonder we ſee ſo much puſillanimity in the preſident, when we ſee ſo little enterpriſe in the general!

The campaign of 1777 be ame famous, not by any thing on the part of General Waſhington, but by the capture of General Burgoyne and the army under his command, by the northern army at Saratoga, under General Gates. So totally diſtinct and unconnected were the two armies of Waſhington and Gates, and ſo independent was the latter of the authority of the nominal commander in chief, that the two generals did not ſo much as correſpond, and it was only by a letter of General (ſince Governor) Clinton, th [...] General Waſhington was informed of that event. The B [...]ſh took poſſeſſion of Philadelphia this year, which they eva [...]ated the next, juſt time enough to ſave their heavy baggage and ſleet of tranſ⯑ports from capture by the [...]ench admiral D'Eſtaign, who arrived at the mouth of the Delaware ſoon after.

The capture of Burgoyne gave an [...]lat in Europe to the American arms, and facilitated the alliance with France. The eclat, however, was not kept up by any thing on the part of General Waſhington. The ſame unfortunate languor that marked his entrance into the fiel, continued always. Diſ⯑content began to prevail ſtrongly againſt him, and a party was formed in Congreſs, whilſt ſitting at York Town in Pen⯑ [...]lvania, for removing him from the command of the army. The hope however of better times, the news of the alliance with France, and the unwillingneſs of ſhowing diſcontent, diſſipated the matter.

Nothing was done in the campaign of 1778, 1779, 1780, in the part where genera [...] Waſhington commanded, except the taking Stony-Point by general Wayne. The ſouthern ſtates in the mean time were overrun by the enemy. They were afterwards recovered by general Greene, who had in a very great meaſure created the army that accompliſhed that recovery. In all this general Waſhington had no ſhare. The Fabian ſyſtem of war, followed by him, began now to un⯑told itſelf with all its evils; for what is Fabian war without Fabian means to ſupport it? The finances of Congreſs, de⯑pending wholly on emiſſions of paper-money, were exhauſted. Its credit was gone. The continental treaſury was not able to pay the expence of a brigade of waggons to tranſport the neceſſary ſtores to the army, and yet the ſole object, the eſta⯑bliſhment of the revolution, was a thing of remote diſtance. The time I am now ſpeaking of is in the latter end of the year 1780.

In this ſituation of things it was found not only ex [...]i⯑ent, but abſolutely neceſſary, for Congreſs to [...] the whole [30]caſe to its ally. I know more of this matter (before it came into Congreſs, or was known to general Waſhington), of its progreſs, and its iſſue, than I chooſe to ſtate in this letter. Colonel John Laurens was ſent to France, as an envoy ex⯑traordinary on this occaſion, and by a private agreement between him and me, I accompanied him. We ſailed from Boſton in the Alliance frigate, February eleventh, 1781. France had already done much in accepting and paying bills drawn by Congreſs; ſhe was now called upon to do more. The event of colonel Laurens's miſſion, with the aid of the venerable miniſter Franklin, was, that France gave in money, as a preſent, ſix millions of livres, and ten millions more as a loan, and agreed to ſend a fleet of not leſs than thirty ſail of the line, at her own expenſe, as an aid to America. Co⯑lonel Laurens and myſelf returned from Breſt the firſt of June following, taking with us two millions and a half of livres (upwards of one hundred thouſand pounds ſterling) of the money given, and convoying two ſhips with ſtores.

We arrived at Boſton the twenty-fifth of Auguſt follow⯑ing. De Graſſe arrived with the French fleet in the Cheſa⯑peak at the ſame time, and was afterwards joined by that of Barras, making thirty-one ſail of the line. The money was tranſported in waggons from Boſton to the bank of Phila⯑delphia, of which Mr. Thomas Willing, who has ſince put himſelf at the head of the liſt of petitioners in favour of the Britiſh treaty, was then preſident. And it was by the aid of this money, of this fleet, and of Rochambeau's army, that Cornwailis was taken; the laurels of which has been unjuſtly given to Mr. Waſhington. His merit in that affair was no more than that of any other American officer.

I have had, and ſtill have, as much pride in the American revolution as any man, or as Mr. Waſhington has a right to have; but that pride has never made me forgetful whence the great aid came that completed the buſineſs. Foreign aid (that of France) was calculated upon at the commencement of the revolution. It is one of the ſubjects treated of in the pamph⯑let Common Senſe, but as a matter that could not be hoped for, unleſs independence was declared. The aid however was greater than could have been expected.

It is as well the ingratitude as the puſillanimity of Mr. Waſhington, and the Waſhington faction, that has brought upon America the loſs of character ſhe now ſuffers in the world, and the numerous evils her commerce has undergone, and to which it is ſtill expoſed. The Britiſh miniſtry ſoon found out what ſort of men they had to deal with, and they dealt with them accordingly; and if further explanation was [31]wanting, it has been fully given ſince, in the ſnivelling ad⯑dreſs of the New York chamber of commerce to the preſi⯑dent, and in that of ſundry merchants of Philadelphia, which was not much better.

When the revolution of America was finally eſtabliſhed by the termination of the war, the world gave her credit for great character; and ſhe had nothing to do but to ſtand firm upon that ground. The Britiſh miniſtry had their hands too full of trouble to have provoked a rupture with her, had ſhe ſhown a proper reſolution to defend her rights: but encouraged as they were, by the ſubmiſſive character of the American admi⯑niſtration, they proceeded from inſult to inſult, till none more were left to be offered. The propoſals made by Sweden and Denmark to the American government were diſregarded. I know not if ſo much as an anſwer has been returned to them. The miniſter penitentiary, (as ſome of the Britiſh prints called him) Mr. Jay, was ſent on a pilgrimage to London, to make all up by penance and petition. In the mean time, the lengthy and drowſy writer of the pieces ſigned Camillus held himſelf in reſerve to vindicate every thing; and to found in America the tocſin of terror upon the inexhauſtible reſources of England. Her reſources, ſays he, are greater than thoſe of all the other powers. This man is ſo intoxicated with fear and finance, that he knows not the difference between plus and minus— between a hundred pounds in hand, and a hundred pounds worſe than nothing.

The commerce of America, ſo far as it had been eſtabliſhed, by all the treaties that had been formed prior to that by Jay, was free, and the principles upon which it was eſtabliſhed were good. That ground ought never to have been departed from. It was the juſtifiable ground of right; and no tem⯑porary difficulties ought to have induced an abandonment of it. The caſe is now otherwiſe. The ground, the ſcene, the pretenſions, the every thing is changed. The commerce of America is by Jay's treaty put under foreign dominion. The ſea is not free for her. Her right to navigate it is reduced to the right of eſcaping; that is, until ſome ſhip of England or France ſtops her veſſels, and carries them into port. Every ar⯑ticle of American produce, whether from the ſea or the land, fiſh, fleſh, vegetable, or manufacture, is by Jay's treaty made either contraband, or ſeizable. Nothing is exempt. In all other treaties of commerce the article which enumerates the contra⯑band articles, ſuch as fire-arms, gunpowder, &c. is followed by another which enumerates the articles not contraband; but it is not ſo in Jay's treaty. There is no exempting article. Its place is ſupplied by the article for ſeizing and carrying into port; and [32]the ſweeping phraſe of proviſions and other articles includes every thing. There never was ſuch a baſe and ſervile treaty of ſurrender, ſince treaties began to exiſt.

This is the ground upon which America now ſtands. All her rights of commerce and navigation are to be begin anew, and that with loſs of character to begin with.—If there is ſenſe enough left in the heart, to call a bluſh into the cheek, the Waſhington adminiſtration muſt be aſhamed to appear.—And as to you, ſir, treacherous in private friendſhip (for ſo you have been to me, and [...] in the day of danger) and a hypocrite in public life, to world will be puzzled to decide, whether you are an APOSTATE, or an IMPOSTOR? Whether you have abandoned good principles, or whether you ever had any?