Deane, Silas

Autograph letter signed (" S Deane"), 8 pages (9 x 7 3/8 in.; 226 x 187 mm), Paris, 28 August 1780, to Thomas Mumford, bitterly complaining about the ill treatment he received from Congress due to Arthur Lee's slanderous remarks about his character; washed and pressed, residual stains on the first leaf. Blue linen folding case, blue morocco spine lettered gilt.

Deane bitterly laments that the calumnies heaped upon him by fellow commissioner Arthur Lee have cost America's credibility in the eyes of their ally France. "The approbation which my well intentioned and faithful Services have met with, from you, " writes Deane to his brother-in-law Thomas Mumford, "... gives me great Pleasure, and I must assure you, that the Ingratitude, & abuse I have met with gives me no Pain, in comparison of what I feel at a View of the Depressed situation into which our Affairs are brought, by a Set of men who to promote their private, & sinister views, and to Wound me, have plunged Daggers in the Heart of our Country. ... The Abusive Treatment I have met with in America has done me no injury here. Would to God I could say as much of my Country! but when an enlightened and generous People ... find the Man who put all to the hazard, who laboured incessantly, & with Success, to Ally France with America, received at first on his Return, with coldness & Neglect & finally with indignity and insult, they cannot avoid drawing the most unfavorable conclusions."

In 1776, Congress appointed Deane, Lee and Dr. Franklin commissioners to France for the purpose of strengthening their connection with that nation. The work originally undertaken by Deane alone concluded successfully in February 1778 with the signing of two treaties with the French government, one of commerce, the other providing for an offensive and defensive alliance. Shortly thereafter, Deane was recalled by Congress by whom he was harried for several months and then dismissed. Lee had repeatedly pressed upon Congress the contention that all the supplies Deane had secretly secured in France were intended as gifts from the French government. Worse yet, Lee asserted that Deane, in asking Congress to pay for the supplies, was guilty of fraud and peculation. Congress was split into two hostile factions, one supporting Lee and his slanderous accusations, the other supporting Deane. After pondering charges and counter charges, Congress concluded that, whatever the truth, these "suspicions and animosities" between the commissioners were "highly prejudicial to the honor and interests of these United States" (Journals, 15 April 1779).