I have the honor to be, &c.
WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
Philadelphia, May 7th, 1783.
Sir,
I congratulate you upon the turn our affairs are likely to take with you, and the prospect your letters open of a speedy connexion between us and the Court of Madrid. Her cold and distant conduct (which I much lament) has somewhat damped the ardor of this country to render that connexion as intimate as possible. No people in the world are more governed by their feelings than the Americans, of which the late war was a striking proof, and those feelings have been long sported with in Spain. Yet men of reflection see the propriety of overlooking the past, and forming in future a durable connexion.
We are necessary to each other, and our mutual friendship must conduce to the happiness of both. Should Spain have the magnanimity to reject partial considerations, and offer such a treaty of commerce as her own true interest and ours require, we shall now lay the foundation of a friendship that will endure for ages. But should she contend with us for the free navigation of the Mississippi, which is now ours by the titles, should she deny us the privilege of cutting wood in the bays of Campeachy and Honduras while she grants it to the English, she will, without serving herself, injure us, and open the wounds which her kindness should close.
I have no particular directions to give you with respect to your mission; your conduct is perfectly agreeable to Congress, and I doubt not that you will continue to pursue such a line as will render you most acceptable to the Court of Madrid. We have now no particular favors to ask, and the ground on which we stand, will, I hope, preserve us from future neglects, and enable you to obtain the practice you have been so long soliciting in those matters of a private nature which you mention.
I am surprised to hear that you have not received your salary, since it has been regularly remitted every quarter to Dr Franklin ever since the first of January, 1782. By letters from Mr Lewis Morris, you will learn that the money paid here was laid out in bills of exchange at six shillings and threepence, this money, for five livres, and the bills sent out. This exchange was in your favor, but by the enclosed retrospective resolution, (passed in consequence of a representation from Dr Franklin, that the salaries should not depend upon the fluctuations of exchange,) Congress have deducted that advantage from the quarter's salary, which was due on the 1st of April. The balance will be paid in bills to Mr Ross, agreeably to your order, as soon as I can prevail on Mr Robert Morris to draw, which he says will be in a few days. No commission has been, or will be charged by me upon these money transactions, so that your salary will be five livres, five sous per dollar, considered at four shillings and sixpence sterling, not without deduction from the 1st of January, 1782.
I need not tell you, that the terms of the provisional treaty were very acceptable here; all but those articles that relate to the loyalists, upon which subject I fear the recommendations of Congress when made, will not effect what is expected of them. Of this the unhappy people who are the objects of them appear to be very sensible, and are going in much greater numbers than I could wish, to Nova Scotia. Congress have ratified the treaty; we are now mutually discharging prisoners. We shall send in about six thousand men in good health and spirits, in return for a few hundred poor debilitated wretches who have lost their health in the prison-ships. You will be struck with the contrast between our conduct to the captives and theirs, when I assure you that out of one thousand men confined in close jail in Philadelphia for a twelvemonth, but sixteen died. Though the knowledge of this can answer no political purpose at present, it is not amiss that facts, which mark the humanity of a young nation should be known. The measures, which Congress have lately adopted for securing half pay to the troops, have given them satisfaction, and they look with patriotic pleasure to the hour of their dissolution. We have yet no knowledge of the time the British have fixed for the evacuation of New York, on which subject I imagine they have yet received no orders; though the communication between us and them is perfectly open at present. You will continue to employ your leisure in writing to us, and when no public business demands your attention, let us learn from you the political and commercial history of the Court and country you are in. In doing this I beg leave to remind you, that general histories are in everybody's hands. That minute details are requisite to an accurate knowledge of a country.