Papers of John Adams, volume 7
1779-01-12
I had the honor of writing to you, on the 2d. instant informing you that the credit which I had received from the Commissioners was exhausted, and that I shoud be obligd to you if you woud let me know whether it was most agreable to you to renew it, or that I shoud draw on you for what money I might have occasion for.1 As this matter appeard to require no great deliberation, I expected to have been favord with an immediate Answer. I find myself in arrear with the Banker to the amount of 2 or 3000 Livres and think it proper that the Account shoud be settled. I have therefore drawn on you for 500 Louis dores payable to his order, and you will be pleasd either to accept it immediately or inform me that you will not do it, that there may be no time lost in laying the matter before Congress. I have the honor to be Gentlemen yr. most Obedt. Hbl. Servt.
Izard's letter of 2 Jan. 1778
Izard and Lee based their new requests on a congressional resolution of 7 May 1778, which permitted them to draw on the Commissioners in France for their expenses (
JCC
, 11:473). Despite this authorization, Franklin was adamant in his refusal and defended his position in letters to the Committee for Foreign Affairs of 15 Jan. (incomplete MS) and 26 May (Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev.
, 3:24–25, 190). Franklin believed that since neither man had carried out his mission as the congress had intended and thus had not incurred the expenses that the initial advance of 48,000 livres had been intended to defray, neither should expect any more money from the Commissioners.
On 4 Jan., Franklin drafted a reply from the Commissioners to Izard's letter of the 2d, which was never sent because his colleagues apparently refused to sign it. There, in terms that could equally be applied to William Lee, Franklin was even more explicit about his refusal than in his letters to the Committee for Foreign Affairs. After presenting a detailed picture of the Commissioners' finances on which there were so many competing demands, Franklin wrote: “we hope you will not insist on our giving you a farther credit with our banker, with whom we are daily in danger of having no farther 354credit ourselves.” Because the Commissioners were in such severe straits, and Izard had not accomplished his mission, Franklin continued: “we should rather hope that you would be willing to reimburse us the sum we have advanced to you” (same, 3:10–11).
On the 12th Izard went to Passy to discuss his demand and probably to deliver the present letter. Franklin remained adamant in his refusal but, according to later letters from Izard, promised to provide a copy of the draft letter of 4 Jan. containing his reasons for refusing so that Izard might submit it to the congress if he wished. There is no evidence that Franklin ever fulfilled this obligation (Izard to Franklin, 20 Jan.,
Cal. Franklin Papers, A.P.S.
, 2:10; Izard to the Committee for Foreign Affairs, 28 Jan., Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev.
, 3:33–34; see also Izard to JA, 26 April and 21 May, both below).
Franklin's refusal to honor their demands did not mean that Izard and Lee were denied the money. Arthur Lee and JA apparently believed that the resolution of 7 May 1778 left them no recourse and on 12 Jan. approved Izard's draft, as they had that of William Lee on 8 Jan. (see letters of 13 Jan. from Arthur Lee and JA to William Lee, below, and to Ralph Izard, LbC, Adams Papers; and the Commissioners' Accounts, 12 Nov. 1778–11 Feb. 1779, entries for 8 and 12, above). Although he was paid, Izard continued to press the matter, presumably in an effort to embarrass Franklin, but nothing came of it. His protest to the Committee for Foreign Affairs of 28 Jan. did not reach the congress until 27 July, more than a month after he and William Lee had been recalled (
JCC
, 14:892, 700–701, 703–704).
1779-01-13
The Letter which you did Us the Honour to write Us on the 15 December, We have received. As We have heard nothing further of the Congress in Germany, which you inform Us was talked of, We presume that no such Measure will take Place.
However, whether there be a Congress or not, We cannot comply with the Terms of the Gentleman you mention, nor Advise him to take any Steps in the Business.
We have also the Honour of your Letter of the 9th december, informing Us of your draught upon Us, for Twenty four Thousand Livres, at one Months date payable to Mr. Grand. The Bill of Exchange itself has also been presented to Us, and accepted. We have the Honour to be &C.1
Although this Letterbook copy does not indicate the signatories of the letter as finally sent, it may be assumed that Benjamin Franklin did not sign it. The opinions expressed in the first two paragraphs may well reflect the thinking of the three Commissioners, but the final paragraph does not. An entry for 8 Jan. in the Commissioners' accounts for the period from 12 Nov. 1778 to 11 Feb. 1779 (above) indicates that only Arthur Lee and JA approved Lee's draft, Benjamin Franklin being adamant in his refusal to supply William Lee with additional funds (Ralph Izard to the Commissioners, 12 Jan., note 1, above). For the same reasons it can be assumed that only Arthur Lee and JA signed the letter to Ralph Izard of this same date (LbC, Adams Papers) approving his draft on the Commissioners.