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細節
JAY, John. Engraved document signed ("John Jay"), as President of the Congress, counter-signed by Charles Thomson, Philadelphia 15 June 1779. 1 page, oblong (5½ x 10in.), docketed at left margin by John Gibson. Fine.
A PAY ORDER FROM JAY IN PHILADELPHIA TO FRANKLIN IN PARIS FOR THE DIPLOMAT, SPY, AND PLAYWRIGHT, CARON DE BEAUMARCHAIS. Addressed to "the Hon. Benjamin Franklin, Esq., Minister Plenipotentiary...for the United States of America," the warrant reads "Pursuant to a resolution of Congress, passed the fifth day of June 1779, pay to Mr. Caron de Beaumarchais, or Order, on the fifteenth Day of June, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty two this Fourth of Exchange for the Sum of thirty-one thousand Livres Tournois, the First, Second, Third, Fifth and Sixth, of the Same Tenor and date, not paid, for Value received by the United States."
A fervent champion of the American cause, Beaumarchais acted as the French government's secret conduit for sending arms and supplies to the Americans during the first two years of the Revolution, before the alliance of 1778. France was officially neutral in the conflict, in 1776, but through Beaumarchais's company, Roderigue Hortalez & Cie., sent 200 cannons and enough guns and supplies for 25,000 men in 1776 and 1777. "Nine tenths of the military supplies that made the victory at Saratoga possible," wrote historian Van Tyne, "came from France or through foreign merchants she secretly encouraged." All the while Beaumarchais's other career as a playwright flourished, and saw the production of his Barber of Seville (1775) and The Marriage of Figaro (1778). Not until 1779, however, did Congress promise to pay Beuamarchais for his services. A faction in the Congress argued that France was supplying this material for its own selfish reason that compelled no U.S. obligations. In fact, Congressional wrangling over the accounting of Hortalez & Cie.'s books held up final payment of America's debt to Beaumarchais until well after his death, when his heirs settled their claims for 800,000 francs.
A PAY ORDER FROM JAY IN PHILADELPHIA TO FRANKLIN IN PARIS FOR THE DIPLOMAT, SPY, AND PLAYWRIGHT, CARON DE BEAUMARCHAIS. Addressed to "the Hon. Benjamin Franklin, Esq., Minister Plenipotentiary...for the United States of America," the warrant reads "Pursuant to a resolution of Congress, passed the fifth day of June 1779, pay to Mr. Caron de Beaumarchais, or Order, on the fifteenth Day of June, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty two this Fourth of Exchange for the Sum of thirty-one thousand Livres Tournois, the First, Second, Third, Fifth and Sixth, of the Same Tenor and date, not paid, for Value received by the United States."
A fervent champion of the American cause, Beaumarchais acted as the French government's secret conduit for sending arms and supplies to the Americans during the first two years of the Revolution, before the alliance of 1778. France was officially neutral in the conflict, in 1776, but through Beaumarchais's company, Roderigue Hortalez & Cie., sent 200 cannons and enough guns and supplies for 25,000 men in 1776 and 1777. "Nine tenths of the military supplies that made the victory at Saratoga possible," wrote historian Van Tyne, "came from France or through foreign merchants she secretly encouraged." All the while Beaumarchais's other career as a playwright flourished, and saw the production of his Barber of Seville (1775) and The Marriage of Figaro (1778). Not until 1779, however, did Congress promise to pay Beuamarchais for his services. A faction in the Congress argued that France was supplying this material for its own selfish reason that compelled no U.S. obligations. In fact, Congressional wrangling over the accounting of Hortalez & Cie.'s books held up final payment of America's debt to Beaumarchais until well after his death, when his heirs settled their claims for 800,000 francs.