Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 2

Article VI. The Consuls and Vice-Consuls, respectively, shall receive the declarations, protests, and reports of all captains and masters of their respective nations, on account of average losses sustained at sea; and these captains and masters shall lodge in the chancery of the said Consuls and Vice-Consuls, the acts which they may have made in other ports, on account of the accidents which may have happened to them on their voyage. If a subject of the M. C. K. and a citizen of the United States, or a foreigner, are interested in the said cargo, the average shall be settled by the tribunals of the country, and not by the Consuls or Vice-Consuls; but when only the subjects or citizens of their own nation shall be interested, the respective Consuls or Vice-Consuls shall appoint skilful persons to settle the damages and average.

Article VII. In cases where by tempest, or other accident, French ships or vessels shall be stranded on the coasts of the United States, and ships or vessels of the United States shall be stranded on the coasts of the dominions of the M. C. K.,the Consul or Vice-Consul nearest to the place of shipwreck shall do whatever he may judge proper, as well for the purpose of saving the said ship or vessel, its cargo and appurtenances, as for the storing and the security of the effects and merchandise saved. He may take an inventory of them, without the intermeddling of any officers of the military, of the customs, of justice, or of the police of the country, otherwise than to give to the Consuls, Vice-Consuls, captain, and crew of the vessels shipwrecked or stranded, all the succor and favor which they shall ask of them, either for the expedition and security of the saving and of the effects saved, as to prevent all disturbance.

And in order to prevent all kind of dispute and discussion in the said cases of shipwreck, it is agreed that when there shall be no Consul or Vice-Consul to attend to the saving of the wreck, or that the residence of the said Consul or Vice-Consul (he not being at the place of the wreck) shall be more distant from the said place than that of the competent judge of the country, the latter shall immediately proceed therein, with all the despatch, certainty, and precautions, prescribed by the respective laws; but the said territorial judge shall retire, on the arrival of the Consul or Vice-Consul, and shall deliver over to him the report of his proceedings, the expenses of which the Consul and Vice-Consul shall cause to be reimbursed to him, as well as those of saving the wreck.

The merchandise and effects saved, shall be deposited in the nearest Custom-house, or other place of safety, with the inventory thereof, which shall have been made by the Consul or Vice-Consul, or by the judge who shall have proceeded in their absence, that the said effects and merchandise may be afterwards delivered (after levying therefrom the costs), and without form of process, to the owners, who, being furnished with an order for their delivery, from the nearest Consul or Vice-Consul, shall reclaim them by themselves, or by their order, either for the purpose of re-exporting such merchandise, in which case, they shall-pay no kind of duty of exportation, or for that of selling them in the country, if they be not prohibited there; and in this last case, the said merchandise, if they be damaged, shall be allowed an abatement of entrance duties, proportioned to the damage they have sustained, which shall be ascertained by the affidavits taken at the time the vessel was wrecked or struck.

Article VIII. The Consuls and Vice-Consuls shall exercise police over all the vessels of their respective nations, and shall have on board the said vessels, all power and jurisdiction in civil matters, in all the disputes which may there arise; they shall have an entire inspection over the said vessels, their crew, and the changes and substitutions there to be made. For which purpose they may go on board the said vessels whenever they may judge it necessary: well understood, that the functions hereby allowed shall be confined to the interior of the vessels, and that they shall not take place in any case, which shall have any interference with the police of the ports where the said vessels shall be.

Article IX. The Consuls and Vice-Consuls may cause to be arrested the captains, officers, mariners, sailors, and all other persons, being part of the crews of the vessels of their respective nations, who shall have deserted from the said vessels, in order to send them back, and transport them out of the country. For which purpose, the said Consuls and Vice-Consuls shall address themselves to the courts, judges, and officers competent, and shall demand the said deserters in writing, proving by an exhibition of the registers of the vessel or ship’s roll, that those men were part of the said crews: and on this demand, so proved (saving, however, where the contrary is proved), the delivery shall not be refused¦; and there shall be given all aid and assistance to the said Consuls and Vice-Consuls, for the search, seizure, and arrest of the said deserters, who shall even be detained and kept in the prisons of the country, at their request and expense, until they shall have found an opportunity of sending them back. But if they be not sent back within three months, to be counted from the day of their arrest, they shall be set at liberty, and shall be no more arrested for the same cause.

Article X. In cases where the respective subjects, or citizens, shall have committed any crime, or breach of the peace, they shall be amenable to the judges of the country.

Article XI. When the said offenders shall be a part of the crew of a vessel of their nation, and shall have withdrawn themselves on board the said vessel, they may be there seized and arrested by order of the judges of the country: these shall give notice thereof to the Consul or Vice-Consul, who may repair on board, if he thinks proper: but this notification shall not, in any case, delay execution of the order in question. The persons arrested shall not afterwards be set at liberty, until the Consul or Vice-Consul shall have been notified thereof; and they shall be delivered to him, if he requires it, to be put again onboard of the vessel on which they were arrested, or of others of their nation, and to be sent out of the country.

Article XII. All differences and suits between the subjects of the M. C. K. in the U. S., or between the citizens of the United States within the dominions of the M. C. K. and particularly all disputes relative to the wages and terms of engagement of the crews of the respective vessels, and all differences of whatever nature they be, which may arise between the privates of the said crews, or between any of them and their captains, or between the captains of different vessels of their nation, shall be determined by the respective Consuls and Vice-Consuls, either by a reference to arbitrators, or by a summary judgment, and without costs.

No officer of the country, civil or military, shall interfere therein, or take any part whatever in the matter: and the appeals from the said consular sentences shall be carried before the tribunals of France or of the United States, to whom it may appertain to take cognizance thereof.

Article XIII. The general utility of commerce, having caused to be established within the dominions of the M. C. K. particular tribunals and forms, for expediting the decision of commercial affairs, the merchants of the U. S. shall enjoy the benefit of these establishments; and the Congress of the U. S. will provide in the manner the most conformable to its laws, equivalent advantages in favor of the French merchants, for the prompt despatch and decision of affairs of the same nature.

Article XIV. The subjects of the M. C. K. and citizens of the U. S. who shall prove by legal evidence, that they are of the said nations respectively, shall, in consequence, enjoy an exemption from all personal service in the place of their settlement.

Article XV. If any other nation acquires, by virtue of any convention whatever, a treatment more favorable with respect to the consular pre-eminences, powers, authority, and privileges, the Consuls and Vice-Consuls of the M. C. K. or of the U. S., reciprocally, shall participate therein, agreeably to the terms stipulated by the second, third, and fourth articles of the treaty of amity and commerce, concluded between the M. C. K. and the U. S.

Article XVI. The present convention shall be in full force during the term of twelve years, to be counted from the day of the exchange of ratifications, which shall be given in proper form, and exchanged on both sides, within the space of one year, or sooner, if possible.

In faith whereof, we, Ministers Plenipotentiary, have signed the present convention, and have thereto set the seal of our arms.

Done at Versailles, the 14th of November, one thousand seven hundred and eighty eight.

L. C. De MONTMORIN. L. S.

Signed.

Th: Jefferson. L. S.

LETTER CLXVIII.—TO JAMES MADISON, November 18, 1788

TO JAMES MADISON.

Paris, November 18, 1788.

Dear Sir,

My last to you was of the 31st of July; since which, I have received yours of July the 24th, August the 10th, and 23rd. The first part of this long silence in me was occasioned by a knowledge that you were absent from New York; the latter part, by a want of opportunity, which has been longer than usual. Mr. Shippen being just arrived here, and to set out to-morrow for London, I avail myself of that channel of conveyance. Mr. Carrington was so kind as to send me the second volume of the American Philosophical Transactions, the Federalist, and some other interesting pamphlets; and I am to thank you for another copy of the Federalist, and the report of the instructions to the ministers for negotiating peace. The latter unluckily omitted exactly the passage I wanted, which was what related to the navigation of the Mississippi. With respect to the Federalist, the three authors had been named to me. I read it with care, pleasure, and improvement, and was satisfied there was nothing in it by one of those hands, and not a great deal by a second. It does the highest honor to the third, as being, in my opinion, the best commentary on the principles of government, which ever was written. In some parts, it is discoverable that the author means only to say what may be best said in defence of opinions, in which he did not concur. But in general, it establishes firmly the plan of government. I confess, it has rectified me on several points. As to the bill of rights, however, I still think it should be added; and I am glad to see, that three States have at length considered the perpetual re-eligibility of the President, as an article which should be amended. I should deprecate with you, indeed, the meeting of a new convention. I hope they will adopt the mode of amendment by Congress and the Assemblies, in which case, I should not fear any dangerous innovation in the plan. But the minorities are too respectable, not to be entitled to some sacrifice of opinion in the majority; especially, when a great proportion of them would be contented with a bill of rights. Here, things internally, are going on well. The Notables now in session, have, indeed, passed one vote, which augurs ill to the rights of the people; but if they do not obtain now so much as they have a right to, they will in the long run. The misfortune is, that they are not yet ripe for receiving the blessings to which they are entitled. I doubt, for instance, whether the body of the nation, if they could be consulted, would accept of a habeas corpus law, if offered them by the King. If the Etats Generaux, when they assemble, do not aim at too much, they may begin a good constitution. There are three articles which they may easily obtain; 1. their own meeting, periodically; 2. the exclusive right of taxation; 3. the right of registering laws and proposing amendments to them, as exercised now by the parliaments. This last would be readily approved by the court, on account of their hostility against the parliaments, and would lead immediately to the origination of laws: the second has been already solemnly avowed by the King; and it is well understood, there would be no opposition to the first. If they push at much more, all may fail. I shall not enter further into public details, because my letter to Mr. Jay will give them. That contains a request of permission to return to America the next spring, for the summer only. The reasons therein urged, drawn from my private affairs, are very cogent. But there is another, more cogent on my mind, though of a nature not to be explained in a public letter. It is the necessity of attending my daughters, myself, to their own country, and depositing them safely in the hands of those, with whom I can safely leave them. I have deferred this request as long as circumstances would permit, and am in hopes it will meet with no difficulty. I have had too many proofs of your friendship, not to rely on your patronage of it, as, in all probability, nothing can suffer by a short absence. But the immediate permission is what I am anxious about; as by going in April and returning in October, I shall be sure of pleasant and short passages, out and in. I must intreat your attention, my friend, to this matter, and that the answers may be sent me through several channels.

Mr. Liniozin, at Havre, sent you, by mistake, a package belonging to somebody else. I do not know what it contained, but he has written to you on the subject, and prayed me to do the same, he is likely to suffer if it be not returned.

Supposing that the funding their foreign debt will be among the first operations of the new government, I send you two estimates; the one by myself, the other by a gentleman infinitely better acquainted with the subject, showing what fund will suffice to discharge the principal and interest, as it shall become due, aided by occasional loans, which the same fund will repay. I enclose them to you, because collating them together, and with your own ideas, you will be able to advise something better than either; but something must be done. This government will expect, I fancy, a very satisfactory provision for the payment of their debt, from the first session of the new Congress. Perhaps, in this matter, as well as the arrangement of your foreign affairs, I may be able, when on the spot with you, to give some information and suggest some hints, which may render my visit to my native country not altogether useless. I consider as no small advantage, the resuming the tone of mind of my constituents, which is lost by long absence, and can only be recovered by mixing with them; and shall, particularly, hope for much profit and pleasure, by contriving to pass as much time as possible with you. Should you have a trip to Virginia in contemplation, for that year, I hope you will time it so as that we may be there together. I will camp you at Monticello, where, if illy entertained otherwise, you shall not want books. In firm hope of a happy meeting with you in the spring, or early in summer, I conclude, with assurances of the sincere esteem and attachment, with which I am, Dear Sir, your affectionate friend and servant,

Th: Jefferson.

LETTER CLXIX.—TO A. DONALD, November 18,1788

TO A. DONALD.

Paris, November 18,1788.

Dear Sir,

Often solicited by persons on this side the water, to inquire for their friends in America, about whose fate they are uncertain, I can only hand on their requests to my friends in America. The enclosed letter from, the Chevalier de Sigougne desires some inquiry after his brother, whom he supposes to have settled at Todd’s Bridge. As this is within your reach, I must refer the request to your humanity, and beg of you, if you can hear of him, you will be so good as to give me an account of him, returning me the enclosed letter at the same time.

The campaign between the Turks and Russians has been tolerably equal. The Austrians have suffered through the whole of it. By the interposition of Prussia and England, peace is likely to be made between Russia, Denmark, and Sweden. This is a proof that England does not mean to engage in the war herself. This country will certainly engage herself in no manner, externally, before the meeting of her States General. This assembly has been so long disused, that the forms of its convocation occasion difficulty. The Notables have been convened to prescribe them, and they are now in session. I am in hopes this will end in giving a good degree of liberty to this country. They enjoy, at present, the most perfect tranquillity within; their stocks, however, continue low, and money difficult to be got for current expenses. It is hoped, that Mr. Necker’s talents and popularity, with the aid of a National Assembly, will extricate them from their difficulties. We have been daily expecting to hear of the death of the King of England: our last news is of the 11th, when he was thought in the utmost danger. This event might produce a great change in the situation of things: it is supposed Mr. Fox would come into place, and he has been generally understood to be disposed for war. Should the King survive, I think the continuance of peace more probable at present, than it has been for some time past. Be so good as to contrive the enclosed letter, by a very safe conveyance. Remember me in the most friendly terms to Dr. Currie, and be assured yourself of the esteem and attachment, with which I am. Dear Sir, your affectionate friend and servant,

Th: Jefferson.

LETTER CLXX.—TO JOHN JAY, November 19, 1788

TO JOHN JAY.

Sir,

Paris, November 19, 1788.

Since my letter of September the 5th, wherein I acknowledged Mr. Remsen’s favor of July the 25th, I have written those of September the 24th, and of the 14th instant. This last will accompany the present, both going by the way of London, for want of a direct opportunity; but they go by a private hand.

No late event worth notice has taken place between the Turks and Austrians. The former continue in the territories of the latter, with all the appearances of superiority. On the side of Russia, the war wears an equal face, except that the Turks are still masters of the Black sea. Oczakow is not yet taken. Denmark furnished to Russia its stipulated quota of troops with so much alacrity, and was making such other warlike preparations, that it was believed they meant to become principals in the war against Sweden. Russia and England hereupon interposed efficaciously. Their ministers appointed to meditate, gave notice to the court of Copenhagen, that they would declare war against them in the name of their two sovereigns, if they did not immediately withdraw their troops from the Swedish territories. The court of London has since said, that their minister (Elliott) went further in this than he was authorized. However, the Danish troops are retiring. Poland is augmenting its army from twenty to an hundred thousand men. Nevertheless, it seems as if England and Prussia meant in earnest to stop the war in that quarter, contented to leave the two empires in the hands of the Turks. France, desired by Sweden to join the courts of London and Berlin in their mediation between Sweden and Russia, has declined it. We may be assured, she will meddle in nothing external before the meeting of the States General. Her temporary annihilation in the political scale of Europe, leaves to England and Prussia the splendid roll, of giving the law without meeting the shadow of opposition. The internal tranquillity of this country is perfect: their stocks, however, continue low, and the difficulty of getting money to face current expenses very great. In the contest between the King and parliament, the latter, fearing the power of the former, passed the convoking the States General. The government found itself obliged by other difficulties, also, to recur to the same expedient. The parliament, after its recall, showed that it was now become apprehensive of the States General, and discovered a determination to cavil at their form, so as to have a right to deny their legality, if that body should undertake to abridge their powers. The court, hereupon, very adroitly determined to call the same Notables, who had been approved by the nation the last year, to decide on the form of convoking the Etats Generaux: thus withdrawing itself from the disputes which the parliament might excite, and committing them with the nation. The Notables are now in session. The government had manifestly discovered a disposition that the Tiers-Etat, or Commons, should have as many representatives in the States General, as the Nobility and Clergy together: but five Bureaux of the Notables have voted by very great majorities, that they should have only an equal number with each of the other orders singly. One bureau, by a majority of a single voice, had agreed to give the Commons the double number of representatives. This is the first symptom of a decided combination between the Nobility and Clergy, and will necessarily throw the people into the scale of the King. It is doubted, whether the States can be called so early as January, though the government, urged by the want of money, is for pressing the convocation. It is still more uncertain what the States will do when they meet: there are three objects which they may attain, probably without opposition from the court; 1. A periodical meeting of the States; 2. their exclusive right of taxation; 3. the right of en-registering laws and proposing amendments to them, as now exercised by the parliaments. This would lead, as it did in England, to the right of originating laws. The parliament would, by the last measure, be reduced to a mere judiciary body, and would probably oppose it. But against the King and nation their opposition could not succeed. If the States stop here, for the present moment, all will probably end well, and they may, in future sessions, obtain a suppression of lettres de cachet, a free press, a civil list, and other valuable mollifications of their government. But it is to be feared, that an impatience to rectify every thing at once, which prevails in some minds, may terrify the court, and lead them to appeal to force, and to depend on that alone.

Before this can reach you, you will probably have heard of an Arrêt, passed the 28th of September, for prohibiting the introduction of foreign whale-oils, without exception. The English had glutted the markets of this country with their oils: it was proposed to exclude them, and an Arrêt was drawn, with an exception for us: in the last stage of the Arrêt, the exception was struck out, without my having any warning, or even suspicion of this. I suspect this stroke came from the Count de la Luzerne, minister of marine; but I cannot affirm it positively. As soon as I was apprized of this, which was several days after it passed (because it was kept secret till published in their seaports), I wrote to the Count de Montmorin a letter, of which the enclosed is a copy, and had conferences on the subject, from time to time, with him and the other ministers. I found them prepossessed by the partial information of their Dunkirk fishermen; and therefore thought it necessary to give them a view of the whole subject in writing, which I did, in the piece, of which I enclose you a printed copy. I therein entered into more details, than the question between us seemed rigorously to require. I was led to them by other objects. The most important was to disgust Mr. Necker, as an economist, against their new fishery, by letting him foresee its expense. The particular manufactures suggested to them, were in consequence of repeated applications from the shippers of rice and tobacco: other details, which do not appear immediately pertinent, were occasioned by circumstances which had arisen in conversation, or an apparent necessity of giving information on the whole matter. At a conference, in the presence of M. Lambert, on the 16th (where I was ably aided by the Marquis de la Fayette, as I have been through the whole business), it was agreed to except us from the prohibition. But they will require rigorous assurance, that the oils coming under our name are really of our fishery. They fear we shall cover the introduction of the English oils from Halifax. The Arrêt for excepting us was communicated to me, but the formalities of proving the oils to be American were not yet inserted. I suppose they will require every vessel to bring a certificate from their Consul or Vice-Consul residing in the State from which it comes. More difficult proofs were sometimes talked of. I supposed I might surely affirm to them, that our government would do whatever it could to prevent this fraud, because it is as much our interest as theirs to keep the market for the French and American oils only. I am told Massachusetts has prohibited the introduction of foreign fish-oils into her ports. This law, if well executed, will be an effectual guard against fraud; and a similar one in the other States, interested in the fishery, would much encourage this government to continue her indulgence to us. Though the Arrêt, then, for the re-admission of our oils is not yet passed, I think I may assure you it will be so in a few days, and of course that this branch of commerce, after so threatening an appearance, will be on a better footing than ever, as enjoying, jointly with the French oil, a monopoly of their markets. The continuance of this will depend on the growth of their fishery. Whenever they become able to supply their own wants, it is very possible they may refuse to take our oils; but I do not believe it possible for them to raise their fishery to that, unless they can continue to draw off our fishermen from us. Their seventeen ships, this year, had one hundred and fifty of our sailors on board. I do not know what number the English have got into their service. You will readily perceive, that there are particulars in these printed observations, which it would not be proper to suffer to become public. They were printed, merely that a copy might be given to each minister, and care has been taken to let them go into no other hands.

I must now trouble Congress with a petition on my own behalf. When I left my own house in October, 1783, it was to attend Congress as a member, and in expectation of returning in five or six months. In the month of May following, however, I was desired to come to Europe, as member of a commission, which was to continue two years only. I came off immediately, without going home to make any other arrangements in my affairs, thinking they would not suffer greatly before I should return to them. Before the close of the two years, Doctor Franklin retiring from his charge here, Congress were pleased to name me to it; so that I have been led on by events to an absence of five years, instead of five months. In the mean time, matters of great moment to others as well as myself, and which can be arranged by nobody but myself, will await no longer. Another motive, of still more powerful co-agency on my mind, is the necessity of carrying my family back to their friends and country. I must, therefore, ask of Congress a leave of short absence. Allowing three months on the sea, going and coming, and two months at my own house, which will suffice for my affairs, I need not be from Paris but between five and six months. I do not foresee any thing which can suffer during my absence. The consular convention is finished, except as to the exchange of ratification, which will be the affair of a day only. The difference with Schweighaeuser and Dobree, relative to our arms, will be finished. That of Denmark, if ever finished, will probably be long spun out. The ransom of the Algerine captives is the only matter likely to be on hand. That cannot be set on foot till the money is raised in Holland, and an order received for its application: probably these will take place, so that I may set it into motion, before my departure; if not, I can still leave it on such a footing, as to be put into motion the moment the money can be paid. And even when the leave of Congress shall be received, I will not make use of it, if there is any thing of consequence which may suffer; but would, postpone my departure till circumstances will admit it. But should these be as I expect they will, it will be vastly desirable to me to receive the permission immediately, so that I may go out as soon as the vernal equinox is over, and be sure of my return in good time and season in the fall. Mr. Short, who had had thoughts of returning to America, will postpone that return till I come back. His talents and character allow me to say, with confidence, that nothing will suffer in his hands. The friendly dispositions of Monsieur de Montmorin would induce him readily to communicate with Mr. Short in his present character; but should any of his applications be necessary to be laid before the Council, they might suffer difficulty: nor could he attend the diplomatic societies, which are the most certain sources of good intelligence. Would Congress think it expedient to remove the difficulties, by naming him secretary of legation, so that he would act of course as chargé des affaires during my absence? It would be just, that the difference between the salary of a secretary and a secretary of legation should cease, as soon as he should cease to be charged with the affairs of the United States; that is to say, on my return: and he would expect that. So that this difference for five or six months would be an affair of about one hundred and seventy guineas only, which would be not more than equal to the additional expense that would be brought on him necessarily by the change of character. I mention these particulars, that Congress may see the end as well as beginning of the proposition, and have only to add, ‘their will be done.’ Leave for me being obtained, I will ask it, Sir, of your friendship, to avail yourself of various occasions to the ports of France and England to convey me immediate notice of it, and relieve me as soon as possible from the anxiety of expectation, and the uncertainty in which I shall be. We have been in daily expectation of hearing of the death of the King of England. Our latest news are of the 11th. He had then been despaired of for three or four days; but as my letter is to pass through England, you will have later accounts of him than that can give you. I send you the newspapers to this date, and have the honor to be, with the greatest esteem and respect, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

Th: Jefferson.

P. S. The last crop of corn in France has been so short, that they apprehend want. Mr. Necker desires me to make known this scarcity to our merchants, in hopes they would send supplies. I promised him I would. If it could be done without naming him, it would be agreeable to him, and probably advantageous to the adventurers. T. J.

[The annexed are the observations on the subject of admitting our whale-oil in the markets of France, referred to in the preceding letter.]

Whale-oil enters, as a raw material, into several branches of manufacture, as of wool, leather, soap: it is used also in painting, architecture, and navigation. But its great consumption is in lighting houses and cities. For this last purpose, however, it has a powerful competitor in the vegetable oils. These do well in warm, still weather, but they fix with cold, they extinguish easily with the wind, their crop is precarious, depending on the seasons, and to yield the same light, a larger wick must be used, and greater quantity of oil consumed. Estimating all these articles of difference together, those employed in lighting cities find their account in giving about twenty-five per cent, more for whale than for vegetable oils. But higher than this the whale-oil, in its present form, cannot rise; because it then becomes more advantageous to the city lighters to use others. This competition, then, limits its price, higher than which no encouragement can raise it; and it becomes, as it were, a law of its nature. But, at this low price, the whale-fishery is the poorest business into which a merchant or sailor can enter. If the sailor, instead of wages, has a part of what is taken, he finds that this, one year with another, yields him less than he could have got as wages in any other business. It is attended, too, with great risk, singular hardships, and long absence from his family, if the voyage is made solely at the expense of the merchant, he finds that, one year with another, it does not reimburse him his expense. As for example; an English ship of three hundred tons and forty-two hands brings home, communibus annis, after four months’ voyage, twenty-five tons of oil, worth four hundred and thirty-seven pounds ten shillings sterling. But the wages of the officers and seamen will be four hundred pounds; the outfit, then, and the merchants’ profit, must be paid by the government: and it is accordingly on this idea, that the British bounty is calculated. From the poverty of this business, then, it has happened, that the nations who have taken it up have successively abandoned it. The Basques began it: but though the most economical and enterprising of the inhabitants of France, they could not continue it; and it is said, they never employed more than thirty ships a year. The Dutch and Hanse towns succeeded them. The latter gave it up long ago. The English carried it on, in competition with the Dutch, during the last and beginning of the present century: but it was too little profitable for them, in comparison with other branches of commerce open to them.

In the mean time, the inhabitants of the barren island of Nantucket had taken up this fishery, invited to it by the whales presenting themselves on their own shore. To them, therefore, the English relinquished it, continuing to them, as British subjects, the importation of their oils into England, duty free, while foreigners were subject to a duty of eighteen pounds five shillings sterling a ton. The Dutch were enabled to continue it long, because, 1. They are so near the northern fishing grounds, that a vessel begins her fishing very soon after she is out of port. 2. They navigate with more economy than the other nations of Europe. 3. Their seamen are content with lower wages: and, 4. Their merchants, with a lower profit on their capital. Under all these favorable circumstances, however, this branch of business, after long languishing, is at length nearly extinct with them. It is said, they did not send above half a dozen ships in pursuit of the whale this present year. The Nantuckois, then, were the only people who exercised this fishery to any extent at the commencement of the late war. Their country, from its barrenness yielding no subsistence, they were obliged to seek it in the sea which surrounded them. Their economy was more rigorous than that of the Dutch. Their seamen, instead of wages, had a share in what was taken: this induced them to fish with fewer hands, so that each had a greater dividend in the profit; it made them more vigilant in seeking game, bolder in pursuing it, and parsimonious in all their expenses. London was their only market. When, therefore, by the late revolution, they became aliens in Great Britain, they became subject to the alien duty of eighteen pounds five shillings the ton of oil, which being more than equal to the price of the common whale-oil, they are obliged to abandon that fishery. So that this people, who, before the war, had employed upwards of three hundred vessels a year in the whale-fishery (while Great Britain had herself never employed one hundred), have now almost ceased to exercise it. But they still had the seamen, the most important material for this fishery; and they still retained the spirit for fishing: so that, at the re-establishment of peace, they were capable, in a very short time, of reviving their fishery in all its splendor. The British government saw that the moment was critical. They knew that their own share in that fishery was as nothing: that the great mass of fishermen was left with a nation now separated from them: that these fishermen, however, had lost their ancient market; had no other resource within their country to which they could turn and they hoped, therefore, they might, in the present moment of distress, be decoyed over to their establishments, and be added to the mass of their seamen. To effect this, they offered extravagant advantages to all persons who should exercise the whale-fishery from British establishments. But not counting with much confidence on a long connection with their remaining possessions on the continent of America, foreseeing that the Nantuckois would settle in them, preferably, if put on an equal footing with those of Great Britain, and that thus they might have to purchase them a second time, they confined their high offers to settlers in Great Britain. The Nantuckois, left without resource by the loss of their market, began to think of removing to the British dominions; some to Nova Scotia, preferring smaller advantages in the neighborhood of their ancient country and friends; others to Great Britain, postponing country and friends to high premiums. A vessel was already arrived from Halifax to Nantucket, to take off some of those who proposed to remove; two families had gone on board, and others were going, when a letter was received there, which had been written by Monsieur le Marquis de la Fayette, to a gentleman in Boston, and transmitted by him to Nantucket. The purport of the letter was to dissuade their accepting the British proposals, and to assure them that their friends in France would endeavor to do something for them. This instantly suspended their design: not another went on board, and the vessel returned to Halifax with only the two families.

In fact the French government had not been inattentive to the views of the British, nor insensible to the crisis. They saw the danger of permitting five or six thousand of the best seamen existing, to be transferred by a single stroke to the marine strength of their enemy, and to carry over with them an art which they possessed almost exclusively. The counterplan which they set on foot was to tempt the Nantuckois, by high offers, to come and settle in France. This was in the year 1785. The British, however, had in their favor, a sameness of language, religion, laws, habits, and kindred. Nine families only, of thirty-three persons in the whole, came to Dunkirk; so that this project was not likely to prevent their emigration to the English establishments, if nothing else had happened.

France had effectually aided in detaching the United States of America from the force of Great Britain: but as yet they seemed to have indulged only a silent wish to detach them from her commerce. They had done nothing to induce that event. In the same year, 1785, while M. de Calonne was in treaty with the Nantuckois, an estimate of the commerce of the United States was submitted to the Count de Vergennes, and it was shown, that, of three millions of pounds sterling, to which their exports amounted, one third might be brought to France, and exchanged against her productions and manufactures, advantageously for both nations; provided the obstacles of prohibition, monopoly, and duty, were either done away, or moderated as far as circumstances would admit. A committee, which had been appointed to investigate a particular one of these objects, was thereupon instructed to extend its researches to the whole, and see what advantages and facilities the government could offer, for the encouragement of a general commerce with the United States. The committee was composed of persons well skilled in commerce; and after laboring assiduously for several months, they made their report: the result of which was given in the letter of his Majesty’s Comptroller General, of the 22nd of October, 1786, wherein he stated the principles which should be established, for the future regulation of the commerce between France and the United States. It was become tolerably evident, at the date of this letter, that the terms offered to the Nantuckois would not produce their emigration to Dunkirk; and that it would be safest, in every event, to offer some other alternative, which might prevent their acceptance of the British offers. The obvious one was, to open the ports of France to their oils, so that they might still exercise their fishery, remaining in their native country, and find a new market for its produce, instead of that which they had lost. The article of whale-oil was, accordingly, distinguished in the letter of M. de Calonne, by an immediate abatement of duty, and promise of further abatement, after the year 1790. This letter was instantly sent to America, and bid fair to produce there the effect intended, by determining the fishermen to carry on their trade from their own homes, with the advantage only of a free market in France, rather than remove to Great Britain, where a free market and great bounty were offered them. An Arrêt was still to be prepared, to give legal sanction to the letter of M. de Calonne. Monsieur Lambert, with a patience and assiduity almost unexampled, went through all the investigations necessary to assure himself, that the conclusion of the committee had been just. Frequent conferences on this subject were held in his presence; the deputies of the chambers of commerce were heard, and the result was, the Arrêt of December the 29th, 1787, confirming the abatements of duty, present and future, which the letter of October, 1786, had promised, and reserving to his Majesty, to grant still further favors to that production, if, on further information, he should find it for the interest of the two nations.

The English had now begun to deluge the markets of France with their whale-oils; and they were enabled by the great premiums given by their government, to undersell the French fisherman, aided by feebler premiums, and the American, aided by his poverty alone. Nor is it certain, that these speculations were not made at the risk of the British government, to suppress the French and American fishermen in their only market. Some remedy seemed necessary. Perhaps it would not have been a bad one, to subject, by a general law, the merchandise of every nation and of every nature, to pay additional duties in the ports of France, exactly equal to the premiums and drawbacks given on the same merchandise by their own government. This might not only counteract the effect of premiums in the instance of whale-oils, but attack the whole British system of bounties and drawbacks, by the aid of which they make London the centre of commerce for the whole earth. A less general remedy, but an effectual one, was, to prohibit the oils of all European nations: the treaty with England requiring only, that she should be treated as well as the most favored European nation. But the remedy adopted was, to prohibit all oils, without exception.