who was regarded as the cause of them. The havoc suffered by the French and Spaniards in the attempt to storm Gibraltar, before its relief, appears to have been dreadful indeed. The loss on the English side, which amounted to about five hundred, is a proof that the effort was a bloody one.

Mr. Livingston has been prevailed on to hold his office for this winter. The election of a successor was within a moment of being made, when the practicability of retaining his services was discovered. The gentlemen in nomination were General Schuyler and Mr. Clymer. Mr. Read had been nominated, but withdrawn.

The deputation for Rhode Island is still here. A report that Maryland is receding with respect to the object of their mission, — and information, conveyed in a letter from Mr. Pendleton to me that Virginia, on hearing of the unanimous refusal of Rhode Island, had repealed her accession, by disarming them of their most pointed argument, had produced great hesitation. They wait at present only for intelligence with respect to Maryland and Virginia, which was expected by yesterday's post. But the post is not even yet come. The inferences which Rhode Island will probably draw from Oswald's commission are another source of apprehension. If justice and honor, however, preside in her councils, she will feel as much the obligation of providing for the discharge of past engagements as for those which may be necessary in future. Our debts, at this moment, liquidated and unliquidated, cannot, I conceive, be less than forty millions of dollars. The interest, therefore, alone, is a very serious object; and I am persuaded that, 63

VOL. I.

unless it be raised by some plan which will operate at the same time, and in due proportion, throughout the Union, neither its amount nor punctuality can be confided in. Besides the other obvious causes, a jealousy is already perceived among some States that others will eventually elude their share of the burden. The interest on the sum borrowed by Mr. Adams is now running, and soon will, if a part hath not already, become due; nor is there any fund in contemplation for its payment but that of the impost.

The French army are embarking for the West Indies. Count Rochambeau says, that in case the war should be renewed against us, they will instantly return. Great efforts will, I fancy, be made on that theatre, unless arrested by peace. I need not give other intimations of secrecy on these points than the nature of them, and the use of the cipher.

DEAR SIR,

TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.

Philadelphia, December 30, 1782.

Your favor of the thirteenth instant arrived a few minutes after I sealed my last. That of the twentieth came duly to hand yesterday. The sensations excited in Mr. Jones and myself by the repeal of the law in favor of the impost were such as you anticipated. Previously to the receipt of your information, a letter from Mr. Pendleton to me had suspended the progress of the Deputies to Rhode Island. Yours put an entire stop to the mission, until the plan can

be extended to the case of Virginia. The letter from the Governor, of the same date with your last, gives a hope that our representations may regain her support to the impost, without further steps from Congress. Your doubt as to her power of revoking her accession would, I think, have been better founded, if she had not been virtually absolved by the definitive rejection of Rhode Island, although that rejection ought perhaps to have been previously authenticated to her. I beg you to be circumstantial on this subject, especially as to the parties and motives which led to the repeal, and may oppose a reconsideration.101

Mr. Jefferson arrived here on Friday last, and is industriously arming himself for the field of negotiation. The commission issued to Mr. Oswald impresses him with a hope that he may have nothing to do on his arrival but join in the celebrations of victory and peace. Congress, however, anxiously espouse the expediency of his hastening to his destination.

General McDougall, Colonel Ogden, and Colonel Brooks, arrived yesterday on a mission from the army to Congress. The representations with which they are charged have not yet been handed in, but I am told they breathe a proper spirit, and are full of good sense. I presume they will furnish new topics in favor of the impost, which alone promises a chance of establishing that credit by which the inadequacy of taxation can be supplied.

The French fleet and army sailed a few days ago from Boston to the West Indies. A storm happened soon after their departure, from which it is feared they may have suffered.

The ship South Carolina, procured in Europe for the State after which she was named, was taken by three British ships, and carried into New York a few days ago. Besides the loss sustained by those interested immediately in her, her fitness for annoying our trade renders the capture a general misfortune.

The instructions referred to in your last favor, relative to a union of councils with our Ally, and to confiscated property, were not transmitted as you supposed. The first, I imagine, was intended to guard against any possibility of misconstruing a late incident.

I will comply with your desire as to the extract from Mr. Jefferson's observations as soon as possible, perhaps by the next post, but more probably by the succeeding one.

Mr. Ambler has not yet supplied me with answers to any of the queries. His apology is a satisfactory one, but I wish you to urge and assist his speedy compliance.

The lawyers, some of them at least, have, I hear, returned from Trenton, from which it is inferred that it only remains for the Court to frame and promulge its decree. My next will probably transmit the tenor of it. You have not, I hope, forgot your promise of the case agitated so much in Virginia. Mr. Pendleton's state of it has been received by Mr. Jones, and has increased my curiosity to see yours.

102

DEAR SIR,

TO EDMUND RANDOLPH.

Philadelphia, January 7, 1783.

Your favor of the twenty-seventh ultimo disappointed me by its silence as to the five per cent. The Governor's letter led us to hope that the subject would be resumed, and the arrival of yesterday's mail was awaited with a general anxiety on that account. Not a line, however, in any letter, public or private, touches on the subject. My last will, I hope, have led to some explanations on it. The official letter to the Governor will enclose a copy of the answer to the objections of Rhode Island, which was to have coöperated with the deputation to that State, if Virginia had not frustrated the whole plan by her defection.

The deputation from the army, which arrived here a few days ago, have laid their grievances before Congress. They consist of sundry articles, the capital of which are, a defect of an immediate payment, and of satisfactory provision for completing the work hereafter. How either of those objects can be accomplished, and what will be the consequence of failure, I must leave to your own surmises. I wish the disquietude excited by the prospect, was the exclusive portion of those who impede the measures calculated for redressing complaints against the justice and grat, itude of the public.

The Resolution of the House of Delegates against restitution of confiscated effects is subject to the remark you make. The preliminary requisition of an acknowledgment of our independence, in the most