M. Gardoqui began the conversation by assurances of his personal attachment to our cause and country, which gave occasion to mutual and complimentary professions too unimportant to repeat. I told him, that the holders of the bills, after having shown me great forbearance and delicacy, were at length perfectly tired; that the house of Casa Mayor had sent their bills after me, but that as I was not to expect the honor of a conference with the Minister until Tuesday evening, at soonest, I had requested time till Wednesday to give my answer. I therefore begged the favor of him to mention this to the Minister, and obtain his directions what I should do. He asked to what amount Congress had resolved to draw. I told him. He observed, that the Court ought previously to have been applied to. In answer to which, I recapitulated the reasons before given to the Minister. He dwelt largely on the necessities of the State, and I expatiated on the extensive ideas entertained of Spanish opulence in America. He assured me they were mistaken, and spoke of the difficulties occasioned by the detention of their treasures abroad. He then remarked, that we offered no consideration for the money we solicited. I replied, that we offered the same consideration that other nations did who borrowed money, viz. the repayment of the principal with interest. He asked me if we had nothing further to offer, and mentioned ship timber. I said we had ship timber, but that as it belonged to individuals, the public could not get it otherwise than by purchase, and that it could answer no purpose to borrow money with one hand and instantly repay it with the other, for that a repayment in money, or in ship timber, was the same thing in fact, and differed only in name. Besides, that if Spain wanted timber from America, it would be better in case he went there, that he should be charged with that business, than that it should be under the direction of Congress, for that public works were always more expensive than private. He agreed in this. He again asked me whether I could think of nothing else to offer. I told him no. Whether there was nothing on the side of the Mississippi that I could offer. I told him nothing that I could think of except land, and that I did not think it would be worth the King's while to buy a hundred thousand pounds worth of land there, considering the immense territories he already possessed. He inquired whether I thought Congress would draw for the whole sum. I answered that it was in my opinion not improbable, for that they would consider the acceptance of ten or twelve thousand dollars as a prelude to further aids, naturally supposing, that if the King afforded us any supplies at all, they would be such as would correspond with his dignity, and not be limited to that little pittance. He desired me to meet him the next day at M. Del Campo's, which I promised to do.
I shortly after saw the French Ambassador, who among other things mentioned the proposed meeting at Del Campo's, which, with various other circumstances, shows his being on confidential terms with the Minister.
In the evening M. Gardoqui again paid me a visit, and pointedly proposed my offering the navigation of the Mississippi, as a consideration for aids. I told him that object could not come in question in a treaty for a loan of one hundred thousand pounds, and Spain should consider, that to render alliances permanent, they should be so formed as to render it the interest of both parties to observe them; that the Americans, almost to a man, believed that God Almighty had made that river a highway for the people of the upper country to go to the sea by; that this country was extensive and fertile; that the General, many officers, and others of distinction and influence in America, were deeply interested in it; that it would rapidly settle, and that the inhabitants would not readily be convinced of the justice of being obliged, either to live without foreign commodities, and lose the surplus of their productions, or be obliged to transport both over rugged mountains, and through an immense wilderness, to and from the sea, when they daily saw a fine river flowing before their doors, and offering to save them all that trouble and expense, and that without injury to Spain. He observed, that the present generation would not want this navigation, and that we should leave future ones to manage their own affairs, &c.
The next day, that is, the 4th of September, I met M. Gardoqui at M. Del Campo's. After some unconnected conversation, I observed to M. Del Campo, that as all the papers between the Minister and myself had passed through his hands, it was unnecessary to give him any information, except what related to the present state of the bills drawn upon me, which I proceeded to state in a short, but particular manner. He replied by making several strictures on the impropriety of drawing bills without previous notice and consent. He remarked, that they might with more propriety have been drawn on France, with whom we were allied, and who were richer than they; that the King must first take care of his own people, before he could supply us; that Spain had been brought into the war by our quarrel, but received no advantage from us; that they had been told of our readiness to assist in taking Pensacola, &c. but instead of aids, he had heard of nothing but demands from us; that our situation was represented as being deplorable, and that the enemy talked of the submission of some of the States, and of negotiations being on foot for that purpose.
Whether this style proceeded from natural arrogance, or was intended to affect my temper, I cannot say; in either case, I thought it most prudent to take no notice of it, but proceed calmly and cautiously, and the more so as this was the first time I had ever conversed with this man. I told him in substance, though more at large, that the assurances given Congress of the friendly disposition of Spain by M. Mirales and others had been confided in, and had induced Congress to expect the aids in question. That if this application could be called a demand, it was still the first they had made to my knowledge; that men in arms against the enemies of Spain were serving her as well as themselves, and therefore might without impropriety request her aid; that our separation from Britain was an object important to Spain, and that the success, with which we had opposed her whole force for six years, showed what the power of both, if under one direction, might be capable of; that I knew nothing of Spain's having been drawn into the war by or for us, and that this was not to be found among the reasons she had alleged for it; that an attack on Pensacola could not be expected to be made by troops actually employed in repelling the enemy's assaults from their own doors, and that the principles of self-defence would not permit or justify it; that Spain had much to expect in future from our commerce, and that we should be able as well as willing to pay our debts; that the tales told of our despondency and submission resulted from the policy of the enemy, not from fact, and I believed no more of their private negotiations between America and Britain, than I did of there being private negotiations between Spain and Britain for a separate peace, which the Minister assured me was not the case; that if on the arrival of the bills, I had been told plainly that no money could be advanced, further drafts would soon have been prevented; but that a contrary conduct having been adopted, other expectations had been excited; that as to France, she had done, and was still doing much for us, and that her being our ally did not confer propriety upon every request that we could make to her. He still pressed this point, and complained that the greater part of the money heretofore advanced by Spain had been laid out in France. He saw that France was deriving great commercial advantages from us, but that our commerce never would be an object with Spain, because all her productions would find a better market in her own Colonies. He desired a note of the bills which had arrived, and then made some reflections on the proposal of a treaty. We agreed perfectly well, that mutual interest should be the basis of it, and I added, that the good opinion entertained of the King and nation by America, was also a pleasing circumstance. He said, however that might be, America did not seem inclined to gratify Spain, in the only point in which she was deeply interested. Here followed much common-place reasoning about the navigation of the Mississippi, of which your Excellency has heretofore heard too much to require a repetition. He spoke also much of the difficulties of Spain, as to money matters, saying that their treasures in America could at present be of no use to them, as they had given orders that none should be sent home during the war, even if it continued these ten years; and this was done in order, by stopping the usual current of specie into Europe, to embarrass the measures which Britain must take to obtain her necessary supplies.
On the 6th of September, M. Gardoqui brought me word, that I might accept the bills of Casa Mayor, amounting to one thousand one hundred and ten dollars, which I accordingly did. The proposed conference was postponed, nor indeed was it obtained until the 23d of September.
On the 11th, the French Ambassador's Secretary called upon me, by the Ambassador's direction, to inform me, that an express was going to Paris, and to know whether anything further had been done in our affairs since he had seen me. I told him things continued in the same situation. He again commenced a conversation on the subject, and as he came directly from the Ambassador I entered into it. He expressed some concern for the delays I met with. I told him such things must be expected. He said he hoped I was content with France. I replied, that I apprehended France considered an interference in our negotiations, as a delicate matter, for that as she had probably held up the exclusive navigation of the Mississippi, and Gulf of Mexico, among other objects to induce Spain to take a part in the war, she might hesitate about pressing Spain into a treaty with us on terms, that would not comprehend this object. He said M. Gerard had reasoned well about those matters, but that he did not believe France would be backward, nor indeed that she had promised this to Spain to bring her into the war. I told him, I should not be surprised to find, that the delay arose from a desire of hearing further news from America, and probably from Philadelphia. He said, that could not be the case, for since M. Mirales's death, Spain had no person there to give them intelligence. I told him that Spain might be waiting the issue of new motions respecting the Mississippi in Congress, and that I was sure Count de la Luzerne would readily be at the trouble of communicating to them any interesting information on that or any other subject. Whether he drew any conclusions from the manner in which this was said, I cannot say, but in a way that looked like exculpating that Minister, he told me, that Count de la Luzerne had only mentioned to the French Ambassador, that two Members of Congress, with whom he had talked over the affair of the Mississippi, thought it would be best not to bring on the question of the navigation until Spain should become possessed of the adjacent country, for that then it might be ceded with a better grace. He mentioned no names. This explains the letter herein before mentioned. The inferences which flow from it are obvious. I incline to suspect, that what I said in my letters on that head returned here by the same conveyance.
On the 13th of September, M. Gardoqui delivered me the following verbal message from Count de Florida Blanca. "That the exigencies of the State would not permit his Majesty to provide for the payment of more of the bills drawn upon me than had been already accepted." I expressed my regret that this had not been told me at first, and told him it appeared a little extraordinary that the Minister should employ himself and me three months in making and answering propositions relative to a loan which it was not in his power to make. I touched also on the assurances from time to time given me, and intimated, that something, which I could not at present see through, must have caused this change; that I lamented it the more, as it would weaken the foundations on which I wished to see a cordial union laid between the two countries.
I dined with the French Ambassador. He was a little out of spirits, and on talking to him on what had happened, I told him there was nothing now left but for me to apply to France. He encouraged the idea, and agreed with me, that the bills ought to be by all means saved from protests. He imputed the conduct of Spain to resentment against M. Necker, for opposing a certain scheme of Spanish finance, which he thought interfered with his plan. It is a curious one, but I shall omit it at present, as I fear Congress already wish this letter at an end. As the Count de Florida Blanca's message to me by M. Gardoqui was a verbal one, and might hereafter be denied or explained away as convenience might dictate, I thought it important to establish it, and for that and other reasons which need no explanation, I wrote the Count the following letter.
"St Ildefonso, September 14th, 1780.