It must be allowed, that it was a desperate plan in the Minister to order him out on the design to succor Gibraltar, and it was a desperate resolution in him to undertake it; because he had to expect to meet with the whole Spanish squadron at Cadiz, and that it would follow him, which was in fact the case.
Don Gaston sailed from Brest the 13th of January in search of Admiral Rodney, with twenty Spanish ships of the line, with four French ships of the line, the Glorieux, the Burgundy, the Zodiac, and the Scipio, with the frigate, the Nereis, under the Chef d'Escadre, the Chevalier de Bausset. If the four and twenty ships of the line had joined Don Langara's squadron, there is scarce a possibility of doubt, after the brave defence made by him, with such inferior force, that Rodney's fleet would have been totally ruined, and consequently Gibraltar reduced to extremities. But this was not to happen. The next day after Don Gaston sailed from Brest, he met with a terrible storm, which separated his fleet. Two of his Spanish ships arrived at Cadiz the 31st of January, the Serious and the Atlant, each of seventy guns. The third of February there arrived twelve others. The Rayo, commanded by Don Gaston, and the St Louis, both of eighty guns, the Velasco, the St Francis de Paule, the S. Isabella, the S. Joachim, the St Peter, the St Damase, the Arrogant, and the Warrior, all of seventy, the Mink of fiftysix, and the frigates, the Assumption and the Emerald, with the French division under the Chevalier de Bousset, excepting the Scipio, commanded by the Baron de Durfort, which did not arrive until the 17th of February, after having cruised ten or twelve days off St Vincent, which had been appointed as the place of rendezvous and reunion, in case of separation. The Guardian Angel, of seventy guns, which was also separated from the squadron, did not arrive till several days after Don Gaston at Cadiz, having suffered very much, as well as all the other vessels, in their masts and rigging, by the bad weather, and especially by the violent gale of wind, which they met with on the 1st of February, near the Cape of St Vincent. Of the five remaining Spanish vessels, four went into Ferrol, the St Vincent Ferries, of eighty guns, commanded by Don d'Acre, Lieutenant General; the St Charles, of eighty; the Vengeur, of seventy, and the Septentrion, of sixty; the fifth, named the St Joseph, of seventy, by Don Orsorno, Chef d'Escadre, returned to Brest dismasted. This separation and dispersion of the fleet and of its principal officers exposed Langara, and made Rodney's fortune; and the necessity these vessels were in of reparation, gave liberty to the English fleet to put to sea from Gibraltar and regain the Atlantic Ocean, on the 13th of February, to the number of twentytwo ships of the line, including those of Rodney, Digby, and Ross, and four of the vessels taken from the Spaniards, and three frigates, with twelve merchant ships under their convoy, leaving at Gibraltar, the Edgar, of seventyfour, the Panther, of sixty, which has been there a long time, and the Guipuscoa, of sixtyfour guns, taken from the Spaniards on the 8th of January, with twentyfour merchant vessels under her convoy.
There has been much conversation for several days, concerning a Spanish armament preparing at Cadiz, and letters from Carthagena say, that the regiment of infantry, called the Flankers' regiment, which has been in garrison in that city, has been completed by orders from the Court of Naples, and on the 1st of March, the first battalion marched for Cadiz, and on the 4th of March, the second battalion. It is said that this regiment is to embark with several others, which from different garrisons have arrived at the same place for America, in all parts of which, according to appearances, the English will have enough to do to maintain their ground this ensuing campaign.
In Ireland, on the 22d of February, an assembly of the gentlemen, clergy, and freeholders of the city of Dublin, resolved unanimously, that the advantages obtained in commerce are neither complete nor solidly established; that the sense of the nation is, that the Irish Parliament alone, in concert with the sovereign, can give to the laws already obtained of the Prince their obligatory force; that what has been done ought not to be considered as anything more than a great beginning; and that the general hope was, that the end of the session would be as advantageous to the political constitution of the country, as the commencement of it had been favorable to commerce; that the fathers of the country are particularly requested and instructed to obtain a declaratory act, which may preserve forever the free and independent state of Ireland, and by introducing some necessary modifications of Poyning's law, to prevent in future all controversy between the King and the Parliament of Ireland, concerning fundamental laws.
These instructions were given by the sheriffs to the representatives of Dublin, who answered that they were convinced, that no foreign legislative power whatsoever had any right, or ought to arrogate to itself any authority over their nation, and without injuring the legal and known authority, which his Majesty has a right to exercise over this kingdom in a manner conformable to the laws, they would neglect nothing to obtain an act, which should take away every unjust restriction, and which should tend to assure the constitutional independence of the kingdom. This is said to be the general sense of the whole kingdom, so that it may truly be said, that the British empire is crumbling to pieces like a rope of sand, insomuch, that if the war should continue, I shall not be at all surprised if even Scotland should become discontented with the Union, and the disputes between the Ministry and the East India Company should terminate in the independence of Asia; nay, it would be no miracle if the West India Islands should request the protection of France and Spain, or the United States. I will take the first opportunity to write upon the subject of Lord North's loan, which, together with the other ways and means, amounts to the amazing sum of £20,674,000 sterling.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Paris, March 26th, 1780.