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TO THE PRESIDENT OF congress.

Translation.

Sir,

Philadelphia, July 26th, 1779.

The Minister Plenipotentiary of France has received with gratitude the permission which the Congress of the United States has been pleased to grant him for the expedition of the ship Defence. His Court will be very sensible of the regard which Congress have been pleased to pay to the situation of the vessels-of-war stationed at Cape François.

The said Minister takes the liberty of reminding Congress of the request which he made in one of his memorials, dated the 5th of this month, relative to the accusations which have been made before the whole House of frauds which were thought to have been practised with regard to the cargo of the ship Defence, and of other vessels loaded with provisions for the French squadron. The undersigned has, by writing, on the 17th of this month; urged the committee entrusted with this verification to be pleased to hasten its report, and he takes the liberty of addressing the same request to the Congress of the United States itself. Congress is also referred to the reflections contained in his said memorial of the 5th instant.

GERARD.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Translation.

Philadelphia, July 26th, 1779.

Sir,

The Minister Plenipotentiary of France has received the resolution of Congress, dated the 15th of this month, in relation to the supplies of provisions destined for the squadron of the King. He requests Congress to accept his thanks for the measures which have been taken to effect this important object. He is only under the necessity of representing, that no one of the officers of the King can, and that no American citizen will, take it upon himself to receive and take care of the provisions destined for this purpose. The unjust and arbitrary proceedings to which they have been exposed terrify them,

and the undersigned is obliged to request Congress to leave the said provisions in their own magazines, and in the hands of their own officers, till the time of making use of them arrives. This request has more particular reference to the flour taken from Wilmington, and which has become the direct property of Congress, by the transfer of it which the undersigned made to Congress in one of his latest memorials.

GERARD.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Translation.

Sir,

Philadelphia, July 26th, 1779.

The Minister Plenipotentiary of France has the honor to lay before the Congress of the United States of America the sequel of the proceedings inserted in the public papers against M. Holker, Consul of the King, and his Majesty's general Navy Agent. The first part of these same proceedings is already in the hands of this august Assembly. The Minister of France intended merely to lay the facts before them, and to leave to their wisdom to determine the measures that they should judge proper for putting an end to this offence; but the late unjust, injurious, and incompetent proceedings which have been carried on against a public officer of the King in relation to the exercise of his functions, the further dangers with which he is threatened, the indirect consequences which already result from them to the representative of his Majesty, and those which may result more directly from the sentiments and principles which are manifested, do not permit the Minister any longer to observe the same moderation.

Congress have received the credentials of the undersigned Minister in the name of all the United States. They have accepted, and invested with their authority the other officers of his Majesty. It consequently belongs to Congress to protect them against the attacks which may be made in their persons on the dignity of his Most Christian Majesty, and the laws common to all nations governed by the laws of police, relative to the free exercise of their functions. Congress is too enlightened to need a comment upon the insulting writings which the Minister lays before them. He merely requests

them to take into consideration the contents of the letter which the said Minister has written to the President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, as well as that which the Consul of the King has addressed to him. Copies of them are annexed. He is persuaded that Congress will have the less hesitation to take this cause in hand, as facts are involved in it relative to the secret of the alliance, which have happened in the sight and with the consent of a committee; and as this reason alone would justify them in taking an exclusive cognizance of it; besides, the Consul of the King will most fully approve, if Congress think it necessary, that the orders he has given have been exactly conformable to the agreement made with the committee, and to the territorial laws of the State in which they were executed.

Agreeably to these considerations, the Minister Plenipotentiary of France has the honor to beg and formally to request the Congress of the United States of America

1st. To be pleased to take under their special protection the Consul of the King, and, if circumstances require it, his Majesty's other officers.

2dly. To cause the public notice already given to be repeated, that M. Holker has been accepted by this august body, and recognised as the Consul of his Most Christian Majesty.

3dly. To grant to this public officer, or to procure for him, justice and satisfaction for the attacks publicly made on his honor and reputation.

4thly. To declare that the Consul of the King has acted conformably to the views and wishes of Congress, in seeking to procure provisions for the King's squadron by the way of trade; that the condition of these private purchases has always been, that the articles procured should remain at the free disposal of Congress, either for the army or for the benefit of the public, and that not a single barrel of flour should be exported without their consent and formal authorisation; that in consequence of this agreement, the undersigned Minister has transferred to them the hundred and eighty-two barrels bought at Wilmington, and that this quantity of provisions has, from this time, become the property of the United States.

Finally, the undersigned Minister requests Congress to take the effectual measures that their wisdom shall dictate, for protecting all the officers of the King, his master, from every unjust, injurious,

and arbitrary proceeding, and for securing to them the liberty necessary for the exercise of their functions, without seeing the dignity of his Majesty and the honor of his officers exposed to farther insults.

The justice of Congress, and their regard for the honor of a monarch who is a friend and ally of the United States, will doubtless prevent the serious discussions and the misunderstanding which such proceedings, if they are not promptly and authentically made amends for, would undoubtedly occasion. It is with the most entire confidence that the undersigned Minister places this whole affair in the hands of Congress.

GERARD.

The Papers referred to in the foregoing Memorial.

No. 1.

M. GERARD TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA,

Sir,

Translation.

Philadelphia, July 26th, 1779.

M. Holker, Navy Agent and Consul of the King, my master, has presented to me his defence in relation to the suspicions which some have been pleased to excite as to his conduct concerning the subsistence of the French fleet. I approve and confirm all the contents of his letter, and I declare that he has acted on this occasion in his capacity of a public man and an officer of his Most Christian Majesty, and that all the orders that he has given for the said subsistence have been given under my direction, and with the consent and agreeably to the desire of the committee of the general Congress of the United States.

I hope that the defence of the Consul of the King will satisfy your Excellency and the Executive Council of this Province, as well as every honest and unprejudiced man. At any rate, M. Holker and all the other consuls and officers of his Most Christian Majesty scattered throughout America, will always be ready, when they shall be properly requested, to answer as to any thing that shall relate to the law of the country. It is the serious will of his Majesty; his representatives are ordered to see to it; and it is for this reason that

the offers of M. Holker have anticipated your wishes in this respect. But, sir, in paying this just tribute to the sovereignty and to the territorial law, I must have the honor of observing to you, that there is no civilized nation where the agents and public servants of a foreign Sovereign do not enjoy immunities and exemptions, which by the unanimous consent of these nations have been regarded as indispensably necessary for the free exercise of their functions; even when they act contrary to the law of the country, care is taken, and caution used, in order not to wound the dignity of their constituents, and not lightly to injure the public character of their officers. If they have acted only in their official capacity, people have neither the right nor the power to set themselves up for judges; but if there are evident proofs, they are transmitted to the superior officer, if there is one in the country, and it may be to the Sovereign himself, and it is for him to cause satisfaction to be made, or the proper punishments to be inflicted.

These officers, moreover, cannot be subjected to any inspection or inquisition with regard to the execution of their public functions, except to that of their own Sovereign and his representatives; it does not belong to any one whatsoever to assume in this respect a power and an authority, which would become an attack on the rights of the Sovereign of another country, and an injury to its representatives. This would be a violation of the laws common to nations governed by the laws of police, and a manifest infraction of the principles upon which the mutual and necessary communication between friendly nations is founded, and without which the appointment and the residence of the respective public officers would become dangerous and impossible, if in any country whatever these principles were not acknowledged, or if any person pretended, without the consent of a Sovereign, to set up for a guardian of his officers, and to censure and condemn their conduct in his name, or under the pretext of his interest. If this usurped power extended even to actions, the scene of which was without the territory of the State; if it were allowable to take the property of a Sovereign by force from the place of deposit, notwithstanding the protest of the civil magistrate, and in a foreign State, to which alone it would belong to protest against the violence of its laws; in fine, if after assuming the pretext of taking care of his interests, any one should dare to sentence explicitly or by implication a foreign King to pay

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