"This, therefore, is the net they laid for the American states; that
is to say, to tempt them with flattering and very magnificent promises
to come to an accommodation with them, exclusive of any intervention
of Spain or France, that the British ministry might always remain
the arbiters of the fate of the colonies.
"But the Catholic king (the King of Spain) faithful on the one
part of the engagements which bind him to the Most Christian king (the
King of France) his nephew; just and upright on the other, to his
own subjects, whom he ought to protect and guard against so many
insults; and finally, full of humanity and compassion for the
Americans and other individuals who suffer in the present war; he is
determined to pursue and prosecute it, and to make all the efforts
in his power, until he can obtain a solid and permanent peace, with
full and satisfactory securities that it shall be observed."
Thus far the memorial; a translation of which into English, may be
seen in full, under the head of State Papers, in the Annual
Register, for 1779.
The extracts I have here given, serve to show the various
endeavors and contrivances of the enemy, to draw France from her
connection with America, and to prevail on her to make a separate
peace with England, leaving America totally out of the question, and
at the mercy of a merciless, unprincipled enemy. The opinion,
likewise, which Spain has formed of the British cabinet's character
for meanness and perfidiousness, is so exactly the opinion of
America respecting it, that the memorial, in this instance, contains
our own statements and language; for people, however remote, who think
alike, will unavoidably speak alike.
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