The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. 02 — Themes and Context

Diction of Discontent: Lee's Voice

Arthur Lee's letters are laced with frustration and suspicion. He writes of being "so unfortunate as not to be in his good graces" regarding Franklin, and he suspects that "the same means have been employed, and by the same persons, to injure me" at the Spanish court. This language of personal grievance is not merely stylistic; it reflects a genuine rift among the American commissioners. Lee's repeated requests for instructions from Congress—"I am yet without any instructions for Spain"—suggest a sense of isolation and bureaucratic neglect. His choice of words, such as "counteract their intentions" and "drive gentlemen away from Europe," frames his predicament as a deliberate campaign against him. This diction provides a window into the interpersonal dynamics that shaped early American diplomacy, where personal enmity could impede official business.

Strategic Intelligence in Dispatches

The letters are rich with military and political intelligence, often conveyed in terse, factual sentences. Lee reports that "the combined fleet is ordered into the British channel, and the troops to prepare for the invasion of England," and that "the siege of Gibraltar goes on in form, both by sea and land." These observations are not mere gossip; they are assessments of European power balances that directly affect American prospects. The correspondents also track diplomatic shifts: Lee notes that Lord Bute's son was sent on an "extraordinary embassy" to Turin, but that plan was abandoned, and the Spanish ambassador left Paris. Such details reveal how American envoys acted as intelligence gatherers, parsing the movements of European courts to predict British resolve. The precision of these reports—naming ships, commanders, and troop numbers—underscores the practical value of the correspondence beyond its diplomatic function.

The Structure of Official Exchange

The volume is organized by correspondent, with Arthur Lee's letters forming a substantial block. Each letter follows a formal pattern: a salutation ("To the Committee of Foreign Affairs"), a date and place, a body of news and requests, and a closing ("I have the honor to be, &c."). This uniformity reflects the bureaucratic nature of the correspondence, but within it, individual voices emerge. The Committee's replies, such as James Lovell's terse note of October 13, 1779, are brief and procedural, contrasting with Lee's expansive complaints. The editorial apparatus by Jared Sparks includes a detailed table of contents that summarizes each letter's content—e.g., "British preparations for the ensuing campaign.—Plan of operations."—which guides the reader through the dense material. This structure highlights the editorial hand shaping the raw documents into a coherent narrative of revolutionary diplomacy.

Recurring Concerns: Finance and Recognition

Two themes recur across the letters: money and legitimacy. Lee repeatedly mentions exhausted funds: "The public funds, which were in my hands, being nearly exhausted." He also presses for official recognition from Spain, noting that he has "not yet received any instructions from Congress relative to Spain, nor any answer from that Court relative to my reception there." These concerns are not unique to Lee; they echo throughout the volume as American agents struggle to secure loans and treaties without a stable government at home. The letters reveal a constant negotiation between the need for European support and the limited authority of the Continental Congress. Lee's insistence on his own marginalization—"it may not remain in the power of any individual to counteract their intentions"—ties these practical worries to the personal conflicts that pervade the correspondence.

Readers approaching this volume should attend to the interplay between official business and personal voice. The letters are not merely records of policy; they are documents of human ambition, rivalry, and perseverance. Sparks's editorial choices—grouping by author, summarizing contents—make the collection navigable, but the real reward lies in the details: a complaint about expenses, a calculation of enemy debt, a report of a fleet's movement. These fragments, when read together, build a textured picture of the Revolution as it was conducted from European capitals.