Alice Izard to Hannah Lee

I had the pleasure of receiving your kind favour yesterday, & am this early in acknowledging it that I may lose no time in informing Mr. Lee that I hear there are two vessels at L'Orient, which are expected to sail soon for Philadelphia. I am told there is an American Gentleman in Paris, whose name is Franks that is to go in one of them. Mrs. Wryght drank tea with me on Sunday & gave me this intelligence. She has not yet been at Versailles; but is employed in taking off the Duke of Orleans family; she came here witlh the design of going to America. Should she be successful in business I suppose she will make some stay; she complains heavily of the uneasiness she suffers from being totally ignorant of the French language & being obliged to live in a small room up four pair of stairs. I told her I was surprised at her living in that style as I thought she had made a fortune in London. She answered that she lived certainly upon a good deal of money, but had found the means of spending it as fast as she made it.[note 1] The news of Coll Lauren's arrivall is very true & I am very happy at it. They say he came over with a very large sum of money & many other necessaries. I am extremely obliged to you for the intelligence you write me. I do not see English papers & consequently shall be much indebted to you for whatever you will take the trouble of extracting from them. Mrs. Wright told me that Mrs. Montgomery, a Boston Lady, was in Paris. She is come over for the education of her son, & was to set out this day for Geneva. Had she been to make any stay I should have informed myself more particularly about her & have made an acquaintance with her. Mr. Griffiths, a young gentleman of Philadelphia, who is studying physick here, called on me with Mrs. Wright. He left Phil'a in August, said they dined seventeen Americans at Dr. Franklin's on Sunday. Mrs. Wright said she hoped I was to be of the next party. Many thanks to Mr. Lee for his enquiries at Messrs. Rombergs. I hear of no arrivals from America & begin to feel very anxious for Letters. The next will, I hope, be very agreeable. We have reason to expect pleasing events from the last intelligence. I am sorry to hear Mr. Lee's health is not good and sincerely wish it may soon be re-established. Many thanks to you, dear Madam, for your kind wishes. Charlotte is better, but I have no right to hope for a speedy recovery. The rest of my family are well & all join in best regards to you & Mr. Lee, & in love to the dear girls. I have had a Letter from Mrs. Blake,[note 2] at Margate, where she had just landed, when she wrote. My Compts, if you please, to Mr. Jenings,[note 3] & believe me to be, Dear Madam, Your affecte friend & obedt Servt,

A. IZARD.

P.S. Nov. 6th.

Just as I had finished my letter, Mr. Mayo, a countryman of yours, called upon me. He is going to Brussells & will have the pleasure of delivering this to you. I have now seen Major Franks.[note 4] He sets off to-morrow for Nantes & expects to sail in about a fortnight for America. He told me would take care of any Letters Mr. Lee wished to send, & that if they were addressed to Mr. Johnsons, he should receive them. He told me he was well acquainted with Mr. Izard, Mr. A. Lee & Mr. Shippen, & that he left them well at Philadelphia the end of July.

Mrs. Montgomery[note 5] is of Philadelphia. Mr. Mayo told me he had heard her say that she brought Letters from Mr. Izard for me, & this determined me to see her if possible. I waited on her yesterday morning & found her ready to begin her journey. The letter she brought was one of those I received before I left Brussells, which she had forwarded from L'Orient. Philadelphia is very gay. The Chevalier de la Luzerne[note 6] much liked, & appears much pleased. Numuber of unhappy people had arrived there in Cartel ships from Carolinia.

Paris, 6 Dec., 1781.

You can never be a troublesome correspondent to me, Dear Madam, so pray make no apologies for writing frequently. Your letters will always give me great pleasure & I shall be happy whenever I can answer them to your satisfaction. I hear that there is a Newspaper containing the account you mention of an engagement in Carolina, at Passy, but I have not been so fortunate as to see it, nor do I know of any possible way of being able to procure it, otherwise I certainly would use all my endeavour to do so and send a copy of the contents to Mr. Lee. What I have heard of the affair is as follows: Gen. Greene has been for some time at Santee, from whence he made an excursion as far as Dorchester, where he met with a large party of the English, under Gen'l Stewart. The engagement[note 7] was warm and bloody. The Americans had greatly the advantage at first, & obliged the enemy to quit the field. They took shelter in a large house which was near the scene of action, & from thence in their turn annoyed our army very much. Every effort was used to dislodge them, but in vain, & Gen. Greene returned to his old post at Santee. Coll. Washington[note 8] was slightly wounded & is a prisoner. I am told the particulars are printed in the French Gazette, so that you will probably have seen much more perfect & satisfactory account of it before you receive this. The English loss is said to be much greater than ours. Mr. Barclay, our Consul General, left Philadelphia the beginning of Octo and arrived about a fortnight ago at L'Orient with his wife and family. He left them there with Mr. & Mrs. Moyland & came to Paris immediately. He did me the favor to call on me last Sunday on his way to Passy. His visit was short and I had not time to ask half the questions I wished to do. He told me he should set out on Wednesday for Amsterdam, where he did not intend staying long, & that he should return through Brussells. He hoped to have the pleasure of seeing you there. He brought me letters from Mr. Izard, the last is dated the 26th of Septr. He had just heard of Mons de Grasse's arrival & was in a very high spirits. He was to set out in a few days for the Southern Province with several of his countrymen. They were going to endeavor to join Govr Rutledge in Carolina, with the hope of establishing Civil Government at Camden or some other part of the State. He writes me that “when Gen. Green went to the Southward his army was unprovided with almost every necessary. The very absurd conduct of Ld Cornwallis in passing like a meteor thro' half the continent without taking proper precautions to secure any part, enabled Gen. Greene to get into So. Carolina. All the Forts in the interior part of the Country have either been taken or abandoned. Gen. Greene besides taking a sufficient number of Prisoners to relieve all our Countrymen from Captivity, has found in these forts a considerable quantity of arms, cloathing, Blanketts, Rum, Salt, Medicines, & in short every thing that he wanted. The Enemy have frequently been beaten, & I hope will be soon confined to Charles Town.”

In another part of his letter he says: “You wish to be in Philadelphia, & were you here you would repent having changed your situation. About sixty gentlemen who were sent to Augustine in violation of the Capitulation of Charles Town are exchanged, and arrived in this city. More than double that number who were forced by British tyranny on board of Prison ships in Charles Town Harbour, are likewise exchanged and arrived here. Between three & four hundred women & children, many of them among the most opulent of our country, have been banished by the Commandant of Charles Town, & are arrived in Philadelphia. You will easily conceive the distress which must be occasioned by so many people almost destitute of everything, being thrown into this city where everything is double & some articles four times as dear as at Brussells. Money for their immediate support has been raised by subscription, but still the distress continues & is like to continue until we recover our country.” The letter from whence I have made these extracts, is dated 30th Augst. In that of the 26th Septr, he says: “I was just going to close my letter when the important intelligence of the Count de Grasse's arrival came to hand. In less than a fortnight I think Ld. Cornwallis will be completely invested by land and by water. In the meantime every precaution is taken to prevent his escape. I have never experienced so much pleasure since I left you as I do at this moment, as I have the greatest expectation of our being in possession of Charles Town & all the Southern States this Winter.” He adds: “Present my Compliments to Mr. & Mrs. Lee & to Mr. Jenings. I am extremely sorry to hear of Mr. Lee's indisposition. If he could submit to the muds of St. Amand[note 9] for two & forty days four hours a day & drink the waters, as a friend of his did, I am persuaded he would receive great benefit from them. I shall give this letter to the care of Mr. Thomas Barclay who goes to France as Consul from the United States. He is a very worthy man & if he goes to Brussells he will call on you.” Mr. Barclay is of Pennsylvania. Many thanks to you, dear Madam, for your kind intention of sending me the King's speech, I saw it last night. It is much more moderate than any former one has been; I do not wonder that it should be however. My little folks are to be inoculated the 10th. I am much obliged to you for your good wishes for them & for your inquiries about Charles. He is perfectly satisfied with his College & that makes me very happy, I am still more so at finding that his Masters are satisfied with him. My daughters join me in best compliments to you & Mr. Lee & in love to the young Ladies; you will soon have the pleasure of seeing William & I hope will find him all that you can desire. I am, dear Madam, Your affect. friend & Servt,

A. IZARD.