CHAPTER VIII. CONGRESS was about to exercise the highest attribute of political sovereignty, in the formation of treaties with foreign nations. Mr. Lee had long looked upon the contracting of treaties of alliance with some of the great powers of Europe, rivals of Britain, as the policy which would most essentially serve our cause. As soon, therefore, as he could leave home, he returned to Congress, in time to aid in that most important business. On the twenty-seventh of August, it was Resolved, "that the plan of treaties, with the amendments, (which had been made in committee of the whole House,) be referred to the committee who brought in the original plan, in order to draw up instructions, pursuant to the amendments." It was ordered, that two members be added to the committee: the members chosen were Messrs. Lee and Wilson.* On the seventh of September it was Resolved, that two members be added to the committee appointed on the twenty-fourth of July last, to consider the proposal made by the president of South Carolina, respecting General Lee, in room of those absent: Messrs. Lee and Walton were chosen.† On the fourteenth of October, a committee of three was appointed, to devise ways and means for supplying the treasury with a further sum of money. The members chosen were Messrs. Lee, Wilson, and Hall. A committee of five was appointed, on the thirtyfirst of October, to prepare an effectual plan for suppressing the internal enemies of America, and preventing the communication of intelligence to the enemy.§ Of this committee, Mr. Lee was one. He was chairman of a * Jour. p. 330. § Ib. p. 439. VOL. I.A a ↑ Ib. p. 346. || Ib. p. 478. Ib. p. 415. committee, to whom was referred a plan of an artillery yard, which had been laid before Congress.* On the following day, he was chosen chairman of a committee, who were ordered to consider and report a proper plan for establishing and training cavalry, in the continental army. Several letters from Generals Washington, Ward, Gates, and Morgan; a petition and remonstrance from the captains and subalterns of Colonel Mackay's battalion; a letter from Lieutenant Colonel Wilson, and one from Colonel Hazard, were received, read, and on the 9th instant referred to the committee on the northern army. It was ordered, that another member be added to that committee: Mr. Lee was the member chosen.‡ On the same day, he was chosen on a committee, with Dr. Witherspoon and S. Adams, to prepare an address to the people of America, and a recommendation to the several states to appoint a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer.§ On the ninth of December, several letters were received from Generals Washington, Sullivan, and Wooster; and several from R. Morris, Esq.; and were referred to a committee of four, of which Mr. Lee was chairman. On the twenty-sixth of the same month, it was Resolved, that a committee of three be appointed, to take into consideration the state of the army, and report thereon tomorrow. Of this committee, Mr. Lee was chairman. It reported on the following day, in which a minute view of the military concerns of the colonies was given. This report contained a proposition of a novel and highly important nature. It was a proposition so far to enlarge the powers of General Washington, as to create him almost dictator. A jealousy of military power had long characterized the people of England, and of the colonies. The salutary principle of the absolute subordination of the military to the civil power, was a fundamental principle of the English constitution, and was *Jour. p. 480. † Ib. p. 493. Ib. p. 506. strictly enforced and jealously guarded by the people of North America. No man ever more uniformly maintained this principle than Mr. Lee. The crisis, however, was an awful one. Britain was putting forth her gigantic strength, to crush, at once, the rights of the colonies. The prospect was, indeed, dark and foreboding, at the close of the year '76. The Congress was forced, by the pressure of an overruling necessity, to pass an act vesting great and extraordinary powers in General Washington. That body was sensible of the delicacy of the step. Murmurs against the measure were heard from several quarters, which induced the Congress to address a communication to the governors and assemblies of the states, explanatory of this resolution. This address had the desired effect. The character of Washington, no doubt, greatly tended to gain the acquiescence of the states. This illustrious citizen exercised these powers, as he exercised all others entrusted to him by his country, for its good alone. It has been seen, that Mr. Lee was the chairman of the committee which proposed the measure of granting extraordinary powers to the commander in chief. That part of the report conferring those powers, was found among Mr. Lee's manuscripts, in his own hand writing; with which, the report in the Journal almost entirely corresponds. On the twentyeighth it was "Resolved, That a committee should be appointed to prepare a circular letter to the several states, explaining the reasons which induced Congress to enlarge the powers of General Washington, and requesting them to co-operate with him, and give him all the aid in their power. The members chosen were Messrs. Lee, Wilson, and Adams. The letter was draughted by Mr. Lee, and is here copied from his original manuscript. * "SIR-Ever attentive to the security of civil liberty, Congress would not have consented to the vesting of *See Jour. p. 509. such powers in the military department, as those, the enclosed convey to the continental commander in chief, if the situation of public affairs did not at this crisis, require a decision and vigour, which distance and numbers deny to Assemblies, far removed from each other, and from the immediate seat of war. The strength and progress of the enemy, joined to the prospect of considerable reenforcements, have rendered it not only necessary, that the American forces should be augmented beyond what Congress had before designed, but that it should be brought into the field with all possible expedition. These considerations therefore induced Congress to request, in the most earnest manner, that the fullest influence of your station may be exerted, to aid such levies as the general shall, in consequence of the powers now given him, direct; and that your quota of battalions, formerly fixed, may be completed, and ordered to head quarters with all the despatch an ardent desire to secure the public happiness can dictate." A treaty of alliance with France and Spain, had long been considered by Mr. Lee, as a measure of vital importance to the colonies. He long argued that policy, no less than the jealousy of the power of Great Britain, entertained, particularly by France, would induce these powers to take a direct part in favour of American liberty. As soon, therefore, as independence had been declared, he strenuously advised the immediate appointment of ambassadors to the courts of these nations. The Congress being fully sensible of the importance of such a step, appointed commissioners to the court of Versailles. Before they sailed Mr. Lee moved in Congress several instructions to be given them, all of which were agreed to. These heads of instructious are here copied from the original manuscript in Mr. Lee's handwriting. "As the scarcity of arms, artillery, and other military stores, is so considerable, would it not be proper to instruct the ambassador to France, that he press for an immediate supply of twenty, or thirty thousand stand of well fitted muskets and bayonets, a good supply of brass field-pieces, gunpowder, &c. That these be sent under convoy. That a few good engineers be sent. "It seems very clear that France does not mean to let America sink in the present contest. But distance, and the difficulty of giving a true account of our condition, may be the cause of opinions being entertained of our power to support the war on our own resources, longer than we can in fact do. Considering this, may it not be proper for the ambassador to press for an immediate declaration of France, upon the suggestion that our re-union with Great Britain might be endangered by longer delay. Should Spain be disinclined to our cause, from apprehension of danger to her South American dominions, cannot France be prevailed upon (at our request and upon our assurances,) to guarantee to that crown, her colonies here, from any molestation from us. Should not the ambassador give us the most speedy and effectual intelligence of his progress, that it may concern us to have." During the period, from October, 1776, when the commissioners sailed for France, until a treaty was concluded with that country, Mr. Lee carried on a continued and full correspondence with his brother, Arthur Lee, Esq. one of them, in which he gave him every information relative to the military and political affairs of the United States. This intelligence, thus received and communicated to the other commissioners, was of essential advantage to them in conducting their negotiations to a successful conclusion. The reader will find, in appendix number eight, several interesting letters from the Congress, through their committee of correspondence, of which Mr. Lee was a member. They were written by him. They are here copied from original manuscripts, in his hand writing. They contain a more complete account of the state of the American confederacy, than can be elsewhere found. They show the ease with which Mr. Lee blended the minuteness of detail of a man of business with the comprehensive views of an enlightened statesman. On the twenty-eighth of 1 |