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Lot 345
Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790) American statesman, philosopher, author, inventor, printer, and scientist; signer of the Declaration of Independence. DS ("B Franklin") as Commissioner to France, 2pp, 12½" x 8", Passy, France, 1872 August 7. Franklin vouches for the fact that a naval commission as Captain in the U.S. Navy was issued to Gustavus Conyngham (c. 1744-1819), the famous "Dunkirk Pirate." The commission had been seized by the French in 1777 when his ship, the Surprise, his crew, and his prizes were seized while in the French port of Dunkirk. Franklin boldly signs his name to the document, which reads:
"I do hereby certify whom it may concern, that the Commissioners of the United States of America at the Court of France, did issue on the first Day of March One Thousand Seven hundred & Seventy Seven, to Captain Gustavus Conyngham a Commission of Congress appointing him a Captain in the Navy of the said States and to command a Vessel then fitting out at Dunkerque on their Account to cruise against their Enemies, in which Vessel he took the English Packet Boat going from Harwich to Holland. But their [sic] being no War at that Time between France & England, and the Clandestine Equipment of an armed Vessel in a French Port to cruise against the English being therefore an unjustifiable Proceeding, he was apprehended by Order of the French Government and his Papers seized, among which was the said Commission, which was never restored, and cannot now be found. It is therefore at the Request of the said Capt. Conyngham, and to ascertain the Fact that such a Commission was issued to him, I give this Certificate at Passy, this 7th Day of August, 1782. B. Franklin Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America at the Court of France."
Irish-born American naval officer Gustavus Conyngham was in command of a small ship called the Charming Peggy from September 1775, when he sailed for Ireland with a cargo of flax seed, intending to return to the U.S. with military supplies. He purchased the supplies in Holland, as planned, but the British consul in Ostend was informed of the military cargo, and prevailed upon the Dutch government to prevent the sailing of Conyngham's ship. The stranded Conyngham escaped to Dunkirk.
The American commissioners at the Court of France appointed Conyngham Captain in the U.S. Navy, filling out one of the blank "commissions for fitting out privateers in France" signed by the President of Congress and dated March 1, 1777, and gave him command of the lugger Surprise, partly owned by Congress and partly by William Hodge, a Philadephia merchant in France. The ship was fitted out with ten guns and went to sea about May 1, returning almost immediately to Dunkirk with two prizes, one of them an English mail packet from Harwich. The British expressed their outrage to the French (the Treaty of Utrecht, concluded between France and England in 1713, expressly closed the ports of either power to the enemies of the other), and the French had no choice but to order the arrest of Conyngham and his crew, taking his papers from him and seizing the ship.
The American commissioners obtained Conyngham's release and he was appointed Captain in the Continental Navy under a new commission (dated May 2, 1777) and given command of the 14-gun cutter Revenge. Conyngham wreaked havoc with the Revenge, taking 60 prizes in just 18 months and creating panic in Engand. Insurance rates went up--boats running between Dover and Calais had to pay ten per cent--and travelers were afraid to go to sea. Prints were issued in London and Paris, referring to him as the "Dunkirk Pirate" and caricaturing him as a ferocious pirate with a belt full of pistols and a sword in his right hand.
Within 18 months, he had taken 60 prizes, his cruises (often from Spanish ports) taking him as far away as the Azores and the Canary Islands. On February 21, 1779, he returned to Philadelphia and his ship was fitted out as a privateer. Setting sail again, he was captured by the British naval vessel Galatea on April 27, 1779, off New York. He was sent to Mill Prison, Plymouth, England in irons, from which he escaped on his third try (November 3, 1779), and he embarked from Holland on John Paul Jones' flagship, the Experiment. The vessel was taken by the British on March 17, 1780 and Conyngham found himself in Mill Prison for another year; he was exchanged shorly before news of peace arrived.
After the war, Conyngham returned to the merchant service. He tried to re-enter the Navy but failed. He also failed to get compensation for his services during the war; however, Benjamin Franklin, who, when Conyngham was captured, had said, "He has done so much harm to the enemy that he can expect no mercy at their hands," intervened on his behalf and Conyngham's March 1, 1777 naval commission as Captain in the Navy was restored on August 7, 1782 by means of the letter offered here.
The letter is written on laid, watermarked paper. Ironically, the watermark on one page shows a robed Britannia seated beside a rampant lion within the enclosure of a picket fence; Britannia supports a spear holding a hat; to the left of the spear is "Pro Patria"; on the other page is "GR" below a crown. Fine, with a magnificent, large and bold signature of Franklin and the red wax seal intact at the left. There are a few small edge splits at folds and mounting remnants down one edge of the verso of the integral blank leaf. The letter is housed in a handsome blue slipcase with red leather labels printed in gold. A significant and utterly fantastic document showing the American government helping a privateer who was of immense aid to the American cause during the Revolutionary War.
Estimated Value $35,000 - 50,000.
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