To Secure the Blessings of Liberty: Selected Writings of Gouverneur Morris

4 • Public Letters to the Carlisle Commissioners (1778)

25 1. See the discussion of April 22, 1778, in Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774– 1789, ed. Worthington C. Ford et al. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1904–37), 10:374–80. 2. The circular is in the JCC 11:474–81. 3. Mintz, American Revolution, 103; see chapters 5 and 6, pp. 88–137, for further information on Morris’s activities in this period. 4 • Public Letters to the Carlisle Commissioners (1778) On January 20, 1778, Morris took his seat in the Continental Congress, then meeting in York, Pennsylvania. Almost immediately, he was sent on a fact-finding trip to Washington’s army at Valley Forge and did not return until mid-April. On his return, he served on a number of committees simultaneously and chaired several. It was customary for the committee chairman to do the bulk of the work, and thus Morris was fully occupied —perhaps a welcome distraction given the lack of society in York. In early May, copies of the treaty of alliance with France reached Congress ; meanwhile, a British Commission appointed to negotiate with the Americans had set sail. Rumors had been circulating for some time that the British would offer to concede to a few American demands as a way of undermining the rebellion. Many in Congress were apprehensive that the commission’s proposals would weaken American resolve, just when independence seemed within reach thanks to the French.1 Congress moved to get the propaganda advantage on the commission in May, sending a circular to the people, to be read in all the churches. Its draft, written by Morris, was approved on May 8.2 On June 4, the commissioners , led by the Earl of Carlisle, landed in Philadelphia. They sent their first letter to Congress June 9. A newspaper and pamphlet war ensued , lasting through the summer and fall of 1778. As the commissioners and Congress sparred over the next several months, Morris not only drafted many of Congress’s replies to the commissioners’ proposals, but wrote them these public letters, using the pseudonym “An American.”3 26 The Pennsylvania Gazette, June 20, 1778; reprinted from Letters of Delegates to Congress , 1774–1789, ed. Paul H. Smith et al. (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1976–2000), 10:154–61. To thE CarLiSLE CoMMiSSionErS, JunE 20, 1778 To the Earl of CARLISLE, Lord Viscount HOWE, Sir WILLIAM HOWE (or, in his absence, Sir HENRY CLINTON), WILLIAM EDEN, and GEORGE JOHNSTONE. Trusty and well beloved servants of your sacred master, in whom he is well pleased. As you are sent to America for the express purpose of treating with anybody and anything, you will pardon an address from one who disdains to flatter those whom he loves. Should you therefore deign to read this address , your chaste ears will not be offended with the language of adulation, a language you despise. I have seen your most elegant and most excellent letter “to his Excellency Henry Laurens, the President, and other Members of the Congress.” As that body have thought your propositions unworthy their particular regard , it may be some satisfaction to your curiosity, and tend to appease the offended spirit of negotiation, if one out of the many individuals on this great Continent should speak to you the sentiments of America. Sentiments which your own good sense hath doubtless suggested and which are repeated only to convince you that, notwithstanding the narrow ground of private information on which we stand in this distant region, still a knowledge of our own rights, and attention to our own interests, and a sacred respect for the dignity of human nature, have given us to understand the true principles which ought, and which therefore shall, sway our conduct. You begin with the amiable expressions of humanity, the earnest desire of tranquility and peace. A better introduction to Americans could not be devised. For the sake of the latter, we once laid our liberties at the feet of your Prince, and even your armies have not eradicated the former from our bosoms. You tell us you have powers unprecedented in the annals of your history. And England, unhappy England, will remember with deep contrition, that these powers have been rendered of no avail by a conduct unprecedented in the annals of mankind. Had your royal master condescended to listen to the prayer of millions, he had not thus have sent you. Had moderation [3.145.47.253] Project MUSE (2024-04-26 12:39...