The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. 08
History
The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. 08
United States -- Foreign relations -- 1775-1783; United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Sources
The answer I received to the letter, which accompanied this memorial,
is as follows.
Translation.
"The Count de Florida Blanca will receive Mr John Jay whenever he may
please to come, in the evening at half past seven or later, in his
Secretary's office in the palace, except on Saturday evening next,
when he will be engaged."
This note was not dated, but I received it the 7th of December. On the
same day I received a letter from General Washington, dated the 22d of
October, and enclosing copies of the articles of capitulation of
Yorktown, and returns of prisoners, &c.
This letter was brought to France by the frigate, which carried there
the first intelligence of that important event, and yet it is
remarkable that it did not reach me until after these articles had
been published in the Paris and Madrid gazettes. I nevertheless
immediately sent copies to the Minister.
As to Mr Harrison's Memorial, no answer has been given it to this day.
Nor indeed have any of the representations I have hitherto made to the
Ministers relative to commercial grievances procured the least
redress. Even the hard case of the Dover cutter still remains
unfinished, notwithstanding my repeated and pressing applications on
behalf of the poor captors. It is now more than a year since the
Minister promised me that the cutter should be immediately appraised,
and the value paid to the captors, one of whom afterwards came here,
and after waiting two or three months returned to Cadiz, without
having received any other money than what I gave him to purchase his
daily bread.
As the Minister could not see me on Saturday evening, it was not till
Monday evening the 10th of December that I had an opportunity to
converse with him.
He began the conversation by observing, that I had been very
unfortunate, and had much reason to complain of delays, but that they
had been unavoidable. That M. Del Campo had been appointed near three
months ago to treat and confer with me; that shortly after the Court
removed from St Ildefonso that gentleman's health began to decline;
and that his indisposition had hitherto prevented his attending to
that or any other business, but that he hoped by the time the Court
should return from Aranjues (to which the King was then about to make
a little excursion) he would be able to proceed on it, and that he
should have the necessary instructions for the purpose.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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