TO M. DE VERGENNES.
Paris, April 1st, 1779.
Sir,—From what M. de Sartine said to me, I requested M. de Chaumont yesterday to send for Captain Jones, and although the place of his present residence be unknown, our messenger will do all that can be done to bring him immediately to us. I gave him an urgent letter for Jones, and as Dr. Franklin was not at home, I left one also for him, in which I expressed our desire to see the captain, rather as if to consult him, than as if we had formed any definite project. The time I passed with M. de Chaumont enabled me to discover what I shall now have the honour of relating to you.~{1}
The armament of the Bonhomme Richard (the vessel of fifty guns) goes on as slowly as possible. The refusal to supply what is wanted, especially guns, from the king's magazines, will retard the expedition for a whole month, because it will be the same for all the other ships. The only way to obviate this delay, would be to charge one man with the whole armament, and to send him to the ports with orders to get all that was necessary.
I have discovered that Jones had a little plan for an enterprise formed under the direction of M. Garnier, and in which M. de Chaumont has taken part. The manner in which M. de Sartine brought him to us, was by making M. de Chaumont a half confidant, (the most dangerous of all things, because it gives information without binding to secrecy,) and I think it would be now better to communicate the secret of the armament without betraying that of the expedition, and desire him to employ all his activity in completing it. The other person need not, in that case, take any part in it, and according to the orders received from M. de Sartine, it appeared to me, from what M. de Chaumont said, that the Bonhomme Richard, and other vessels, if required, might be in readiness before the expiration of three weeks.
I intend to have the honour of paying my respects to you after dinner on Saturday. If you approve of my idea, M. de Chaumont, or any other person you may prefer, might be summoned at the same time; for by the ordinary method this business will never be achieved. I hope that, in, consequence of my aversion to delays in military affairs, you will pardon the importunity which my confidence in you has inspired, in favour of a project of which you feel the importance.
I have the honour to be, with the most sincere respect and affection, &c.
Permit me to confide to you, also, under the same secrecy, my fears that orders have not yet been sent to all the ports.
Endnote:
1. In the previous recital a few words have been said relating to this armament. Two frigates, bearing the American colours, were to have been placed under the orders of Paul Jones, and M. de Lafayette was to command the small army intended to descend unexpectedly upon the western coast of England, and to ransack Bristol, Liverpool, and other commercial towns, for the advantage of the American finances. But this expedition was soon considered below the position in which M. de Lafayette was placed, and was abandoned for the plan of a descent on England, which was to be executed by the combined forces of France and Spain. The slowness of the latter power occasioned, at a later period, the failure of the project; and the only result it produced was Paul Jones's expedition, and the conflict between the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis. See farther on the first letters to congress and to Washington. In a collection of Franklin's private letters, there is also found a letter relating to this affair, and the note written by M. de Lafayette to Paul Jones when the expedition was abandoned. (A Collection of the Familiar Letters and Miscellaneous Papers of B. Franklin, Boston, 1833. Washington's writings, Vol. vi., Appendix viii.)