Lot 749: THOMSON, CHARLES

749. CHARLES THOMSON (1729-1824) Irish born American patriot, unanimously elected first Secretary of the Continental Congress in 1774 and held the post until 1789, chosen to notify Washington of his election to the Presidency. L.S. "Chas Thomson", 1p. legal folio, "Office of the Secretary of Congress" [New York], August 22, 1785, a circular letter transmitting "...an act of Congress touching the disrespectful and indecent conduct of Capt. Stanhope as stated in a Letter of the 8[th] from His Excellency the governor of Massachusetts and manifested in a Correspondence between His Excellency and Said Captain.-- Although Congress have not thought it expedient to make this a public Act, they have nevertheless ordered a Copy..." An interesting letter transmitting details of what appears to be the first major diplomatic incident between Great Britain and the United States after the 1783 peace treaty. Offered together with CHARLES THOMSON, manuscript D.S., 14pp. 4to., [New York], 1785, a complete transcript of the correspondence related to the incident which involved Captain H.E. Stanhope of the HMS Mercury who called on Boston in August, 1785. When he and his officers disembarked and visited the town, they found their reception by the locals cool to say the very least. According to an angry letter from Stanhope to Governor Bowdin of Massachusetts on August 1, 1785 he complained of "...the continued insults, and disgraceful indignities offer'd by hundred in this Town to me and my Officers, which further to we have wink'd at as well as the most illiberal and indecent Language with which the news papers have been filled, nor should I have troubled you now had I not been pursued and my life as well as that of one of Officers been endangere'd by the violent rage of a Mob yesterday Evening without provocation of any sort..." Captain Stanhope then requested that Bowdin "...adopt such measures as may discover the ringleaders of the part that assassinated me and bring them to public justice as well as protect us from further insult..." The same day Bowdin politely responded: "...It is a great misfortune that the Subjects or Citizens of different Countries, which have been at enmity, cannot easily recover that degree off good humour, which should induce them to treat each other with proper decorum, when the Governments to which they respectively belong have entered into a Treaty of Amity... But you must have observed that disturbances, arising from this Source, too frequently happen especially in populous Seaport Towns..." Bowdin continues in this diplomatic tone noting that both foreign visitors and citizens are both subject to and protected by the law, and if a law has been broken, those responsible would be punished. This was not enough for Stanhope who replied the following day: "...I have never receiv'd a Letter so insulting to my Senses, as your answer to my requisition of yesterday. I am however please'd in finding a much better disposition in the first class of Inhabitants, whose assistance I am happy to acknowledge as the more acceptable after your apparent Evasion from the substance of my Letter..." Bowdin responded: "...I hereby let you know, that as the Letter is conceived in terms of insolence and abuse, altogether unprovoked, I shall take Such measures concerning it, as the dignity of my Station, and a just regard to the honor of this Commonwealth, connected with the honor of the United States in general Shall require." At this point, Bowdin referred the issue to the Continental Congress who backed the governor's conduct. The matter was also referred to the American minister at the Court of George III. Due to the relative military weakness of the United States at the time, Congress chose not to pass a public act on the issue so as not to further inflame the situation and provoke another war, which the United States could ill-afford. It was very much in character for Captain Stanhope to act in such a manner, as he was known in social circles to be pompous and self-important. According to the diary of Benjamin Marston, a Boston-born Loyalist who encountered the captain in 1784 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Stanhope was: "...a very well bred man, master of the whole etiquette of polite ceremony. His main scope is to appear of importance on every occasion, which unavoidably leads him to make himself a little hero of each tale. Upon the whole he is not a disagreeable man in company, and may, by a little tickling of his vanity, be induced to serve this settlement very essentially..." A wonderful and historic set of documents. Light folds and soiling, 14 page document, has been bound with string at top, light soiling, otherwise very good. $500-700