Ml . 



the My of Massachusetts appointed him their 

 III caee of the abtfwt or death of dootoc 

 ; and before either of tin- ouiungencifs 

 mined the venerable sage with his 

 hearty cooperation. A* a testimony of Uie sense of 

 hjmrrhm that atate sub-equmtly, m i TNI, j-rrsriu- 

 ed hta with a tract of laiui containing 4000 acres. 

 la the spring uf 1774, he aet out on a tour to France 

 and ItaJy, and, when at Paris, published an Appeal 

 to the i*oplr of Great Hriiain. Hearing, however, 

 of the dissolution of parliament , before he had com- 

 pleted hi journey, be hastily n-turnril from Turin to 

 Loodou. On the return of doctor Franklin to America, 

 hi the tame year, he became the sole agent of 

 Massachusetts. The secret committee of congress 

 appointed Mr Lee their London correspondent. The 

 pal object of this regulation was, to learn wlmt 

 was to be hoped from the European powers. Mr Lee 

 directed his inquiries particularly to the French 

 at the Hnti-li court, through whom lie 

 assurances from the count de Vergeimes, 

 Us government would secretly furnish to the 

 200,000 worth of arms and ammunition, to 

 be transported from Holland to the West Indies. 

 He was afterwards appointed by congress one of the 

 commission to the court of France, in conjunction 

 with Silas Deane, to whom doctor Franklin was 

 afterwards added, and continued to labour unceasingly 

 for the cause of his country, by his writings, negotia- 

 tions, and never-failing vigilance in detecting what- 

 ever might prove injurious to its interests. At the 

 same time, he also acted as agent for Virginia, and 

 had the address to procure, under circumstances of 

 special favour, from die royal arsenal, warlike stores 

 to the amount of nearly -200,000. In December, 

 1777, congress appointed him sole commissioner to 

 Spain, still retaining him on the commission to France. 

 The British ambassador remonstrated against his 

 reception, in consequence of which he was detained 

 at Burgos, on his way to Madrid ; but, upon sending 

 a spirited reply to the remonstrance, no further 

 interruption was attempted, and he proceeded to the 

 capital. He there pursued the same policy which 

 he had practised in London and Paris, ingratiating 

 himself and his cause with the men of influence, and 

 appealing boldly and directly to the government, 

 from which he finally procured a large pecuniary 

 loan. Having accomplished all that seemed practi- 

 cable, he returned to Paris; when, the commissioners 

 having determined on the expediency of conciliating 

 Frederic of Prussia, and prevailing with him to with- 

 hold his assistance from Britain, Mr Lee was selected 

 for that duty, and repaired to Berlin, where he was 

 allowed to reside in a private character, and to cor- 

 respond secretly with the court. He succeeded in 

 obtaining from Frederic an assurance that he would 

 afford no facilities to Great Britain, in procuring 

 additional German auxiliaries, and that he would 

 prohibit the passage, through any part of his domin- 

 ions, of any troops which that court should thence- 

 forward engage in Germany. He obtained, also, 

 permission for the citizens of the United States to 

 carry on a direct commerce with the subjects of 

 Fruit, and for himself to purchase, for the use of 

 the L niled States, arms from the armouries from which 

 the king supplied his forces. While in Berlin, his 

 P*P*rs were stolen from his chamber; but, upon an 

 order from the king to investigate the affair, they 

 were secretly returned. The blame of this act he 

 cast on the British envoy, who, on the representation 

 the Prussian monarch, was recalled. When Mr 

 Lee left Berlin, it was with an understanding that a 

 Borwapondence should be carried on between baron 

 *"l"bwg and himself, on the affairs of the United 

 Malta, and that he should keep the king constantly 



informed of the events of the war with Great Britain, 

 which he ditl during tiis residence in Paris. He was 

 aUo assured that Prussia " would not be the last 

 power to acknowledge the independence of his 

 country." In forming the commercial treaty with 

 Fraiu-f, Mr Lee objected to two articles, in which it 

 was stipulated that no duties should be charged by 

 the respective governments on any merchandise 

 exported to the French West Indies, which yielded 

 molasses, or on the molasses exported thence to the 

 United States; and, on the suggestion of France, the 

 decision was left to congress, who directed that they 

 should be expunged. Upon the recall of Mr Deane, 

 between whom and Mr Lee there had been some 

 misunderstanding, John Adams was appointed in his 

 place. Their services, however, were soon afterwards 

 superseded by the appointment of doctor Franklin as 

 minister plenipotentiary. During the period of his 

 commission, the peculations of the subordinate agents, 

 who were employed to conduct the commercial details 

 of the public business, had excited the vigilant in- 

 spection and unsparing reprehension of Mr Lee. 

 This interference created complaints and insinuations, 

 which were artfully disseminated in the United States. 

 These rumours were, in a measure, successful in 

 exciting the suspicions of some members of con- 

 gress; and when, in 1779, it was determined to send 

 a minister to Spain, and Mr Lee was certainly so 

 prominent a character as to be at once suggested as 

 the fittest candidate,-^he was not appointed, although 

 nominated. Upon learning his virtual censure, he 

 resigned his appointments, and returned to America 

 in 1780. He prepared an elaborate report of his 

 official proceedings, and answers to all the charges 

 which had been circulated to his prejudice; but, upon 

 requesting leave to vindicate himself with these in 

 congress, that body expressed their full confidence in 

 his patriotism, asserting that they had no accusations 

 to make, and requested him to communicate his views 

 and information acquired during his residence abroad. 

 In 1781, he was elected to the assembly of Virginia, 

 and by it returned to congress, where he continued 

 to represent the state until 1785. In 1784, he was 

 sent on a delegation to make treaties with the Indians 

 on the northern frontier. He was next called to the 

 board of treasury, with Samuel Osgood and Walter 

 Livingston, in which he continued from 1784 to 1789. 

 Within that period, he also served in a legislative 

 committee to revise the laws of Virginia. On the 

 dissolution of the treasury board, he once more 

 sought the shades of retirement, and established 

 himself on a farm on the Rappahannock, where lie 

 died Dec. 12, 1792. See R. H. Lee's Life of Arthur 

 Lee (Boston, 1829), and the review of the same 

 in the North American Review; also his letters in 

 Sparks's Diplomatic Correspondence of the Revolu- 

 tion (Boston, 1831). 



LEE, CHARLES, a major-general in the American 

 revolutionary war, was a native of North Wales, and 

 became an officer at the age of eleven years. He 

 served early in America, where he commanded a 

 company of grenadiers, at the unsuccessful assault 

 of Ticonderoga, by general Abercrombie, and was 

 wounded. He distinguished himself in 1762, under 

 general Burgoyne, in Portugal. He afterwards wrote 

 on the side of the American colonies, in a contest 

 between them and the ministry, and then entered 

 the Polish service. During his absence, the stamp 

 act passed, and the hostility to it manifested by 

 general Lee rendered him obnoxious to the royalists 

 of the court of Vienna. In the course of two or 

 three years, he wandered all over Europe, until a 

 duel with an Italian officer, in which his antagonist 

 was killed, obliged him to flee ; and, in 1773, he 

 sailed from London for New York. The quarrel 



