John Smith & Sons to Vierne & Veillon, Nice, September 22, 1775

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Balt[imor]e 22nd Septr 1775

Gent

Above you have triplicate of our Last Via London, & now have before us yours of the 3d June. Note its Contents. are Surpriz'd that the Cargo was not in good Order for by our Letters from Gib[raltar] it was good when leaving that port, we observe the Trouble you were like to have with Murray who from every Accot is a very great Rascal. Hope you have been able to make good the Plea of [Joshua] Barneys Minority. we think it a good One & doubt not your Magistrate will have Seen through his Behaviour & Settled the Accot to your approbation. we make Sure the Cargo will not Cost, which gives us no little pleasure, as we Should be extremely Sorry that you Should be Sufferers on this Occasion 'Tis true the Sidney was old, but till this Voyage had carried her Cargoes Safe & always made Short passages, & from the Accot we have from the Boatswain who has return'd from her, would have gone Safe now but for the Captns Death. we Shall think it very hard if She is condemn'd, we presume if She is, that Murray must take her for the Charges he has against the Ship. for the Expences he charges against the Cargo we Suppose you will be only oblig'd to pay a part, whatever you do pay you'll have your Accots properly authenticated & Send them to Messr Mildred & Roberts who with your friends will undoubtedly recover it from the Insurers, they we are Sure must pay whatever Expence attended her in Gib[raltar], if proper protests are made out, you'll take Care to get from Murray the protest enter'd in Gib[raltar] & every other that may be necessary to Settle the Accot with the Underwriters. we Suppose you have remitted the freight as order'd & doubt not you'll make the proper Remittances when in Cash for the Cargo,² At present no Business is doing owing to our Ports being Stopp'd by the English against an Export to foreign Ports, & we have agreed not to Ship any to them 'till they repeal certain Taxes which we think they have no Right to lay. when our Trade again returns to its wonted Channell we Hope for your Correspondence 'till then we are your [&c.]

1. Smith Letter Book, MdHS.

2. From Joshua Barney's account, Murray was not a rascal, but a valued friend, and the merchants at Nice, to whom the cargo of the Sidney was consigned were the "real villains in the piece." After early promises to pay the Murray bills, they then refused on the grounds that as Barney was a minor his bond was illegal. Part of the cargo had been landed when the refusal was communicated to him, so Barney clamped down the hatches and kept the remainder of the wheat onboard. This brought an order to appear before the Governor, who had him jailed, and threatened to confiscate the ship, but with a promise of release for the young mariner if he would permit the remaining cargo to be landed. Concluding that to sit in prison would not help the situation, Barney agreed to the demand; was freed, went on board the Sidney and claiming that a promise under duress was not binding, still refused to open the hatches. The Governor sent an officer and soldiers, whereupon Barney took his whole crew ashore, and surrendered the ship, with the British flag still flying. Then, with the younger Murray, he crossed the Alps to Milan, then the capital of Sardinia, and laid his case before Sir William Lynch, the British Ambassador. An appeal by the Ambassador to the Sardinian Court brought quick results, and Barney, with Murray, returned in triumph to Nice, where a subdued Governor gave him possession of the Sydney, and Vierne & Veillon hastened to discharge the Murray bond. Whereupon the remainder of the cargo was landed, and Barney sailed from Nice in June. Barney, ed., Life of Joshua Barney, 16-22.

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1775 September 22

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