In the postscriptum which follows, “we see Beaumarchais,” says Loménie, “applying the resources of comedy to politics, and ingeniously combining the means to elude the ministerial orders, as he would have arranged a theatrical play.”
“Here,” wrote Beaumarchais in the postscriptum, “is what I have thought out relative to my large vessel—le Fier Roderigue. I must keep my word given to M. de Maurepas, that my ship is to carry only seven or eight hundred soldiers to Santo Domingo, and that I will return without touching the continent. Nevertheless, its cargo is very valuable to Congress and to me; it consists in ready made clothing for the soldiers, cloth, blankets, etc. It carries an artillery of sixty-six bronze cannons, ... and much other merchandise.
“After much thinking, it seems to me that you might arrange secretly with the committee of Congress, to send two or three American corsaires immediately to Santo Domingo. One of them will send its gun-boat to Cape Francis ... then M. Carabasse (Beaumarchais’s agent at the Cape) will go aboard her with M. de Montaut, the captain of my vessel le Fier Roderigue. They will arrange together that when my vessel sets out, the American Corsaire will capture it under any pretext he chooses, and carry it off. My captain will protest violently, and threaten to complain to Congress. The vessel will be taken to where you are. The Congress will disavow the brutal act, liberate my vessel, with obliging excuses for the French flag; during the time this takes, you will have unloaded the cargo quickly, and filled the ship with tobacco, and you will send her back to me with just what you have been able to gather together. As the bearer of this, M. Carmichaël, returns directly, you will have time to arrange this manœuver either with the Secret Committee of Congress, or directly with a friendly and discreet corsair. By this means, M. de Maurepas will be disengaged from his promise made to others, I from mine to him, because no one can oppose himself to violence, and my operation will have been successful in spite of all the obstacles which cross my path.... My vessel starts before the 15th of January. It bears orders to wait news from you at Cape Francis. After all that I am doing, the Congress cannot longer doubt, I hope, that the most zealous partisan of the republic in France is your friend
“Roderigue Hortalès et Cie.”
Commenting upon the above letter, James Parton has written:
“Such was Caron de Beaumarchais; unique among merchants and men. Whether it was by those or by other manœuvers that the ship was enabled to reach America, no one has informed us. Certain it is that she arrived safely at Yorktown, Virginia, and was loaded with tobacco for her return. I trust M. de Maurepas was satisfied.” (Life of Franklin, Vol. II, p. 271.)
The next letter in this series which has been preserved to us is from De Francy and is dated May 14, 1778. In it he announced that it was the twelfth since his arrival, all of which he feared had failed in reaching their destination. Continuing his account of the disorderly consequences of the depreciation of paper money, he said, “I have just extricated the Marquis de Lafayette from a serious mistake into which he had fallen unsuspectingly.
“You have, of course, heard of the excessive depreciation of paper money. At one moment in Pennsylvania it reached the point of absolute worthlessness. The expenses of the Marquis at this time, as he received no pay, were absolutely enormous. He at first borrowed money on bills of exchange at 2 for 1, afterwards at 3 for 1. He supposed that was borrowing at the rate of $2 for $1 and $3 for $1; instead, the rate was 2 and 3 pounds Pennsylvania currency for 1 pound sterling. The pound sterling was worth 34 shillings Pennsylvania currency. He had signed the bills presented to him without reading them and his expenses far exceeded the amount he supposed them to reach. I informed him of his error and ... have advanced him very considerable sums on account of the House ... my arrangement with him is that he shall reimburse the principal in one year in Paris, paying 6 per cent., the same as Congress allows you.”
The allowance of 6 per cent. made by Congress to Beaumarchais, to which De Francy here alludes, had been settled in a contract drawn up the 6th of April, 1778 duly signed, sealed and delivered to the indefatigable agent, of which the following is the substance: (The contract in full is given by Durand, p. 119-126 in his New Material for the History of the American Revolution.)
“To whom it May Concern: