The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume III Part 47

I answered, that I should always esteem it an honor to be owned as a countryman of Mr Fox. He had requested me at our last interview, that if I saw no impropriety in doing it, I would favor him with a sight of the treaty of alliance between France and America. I acquainted him that it was printed, but that if he could not readily meet with a copy, I would have one written for him. And as he had not been able to find one, I this day gave it to him.

He lent me a London gazette, containing Admiral Rodney's account of his victory over M. de Gra.s.se, and the accounts of other successes in the East Indies, a.s.suring me, however, that these events made not the least change in the sincere desire of his Court to treat for peace.

In the afternoon the Marquis de Lafayette called upon me. I acquainted him with what Mr Grenville had told me respecting the credential letter, and the expectation that a person on the part of this Court would be sent to London with a commission similar to his. The Marquis told me he was on his way to Versailles, and should see M. de Vergennes. We concluded, that it would now be proper for him to make the proposition we had before talked of, that he should be the person employed in that service.

On Monday, the 27th, I received a letter from Mr Jay, dated the 8th, acquainting me, that he had received mine of the 21st and 22d past, and had concluded to set out for Paris about the 19th, so that he may be expected in a few days.

I dined this day with Count d'Estaing, and a number of brave marine officers, that he had invited. We were all a little dejected with the news. I mentioned, by way of encouragement, the observation of the Turkish bashaw, who was taken with his fleet at Lepanto, by the Venetians. "Ships," says he, "are like my master's beard, you may cut it, but it will grow again. He has cut off from your government all the Morea, which is like a limb, which you will never recover." And his words proved true.

On Tuesday I dined at Versailles with some friends, so was not at home when the Marquis de Lafayette called to acquaint me, that M. de Vergennes informed him, that the full power received by Mr Grenville from London, and communicated by him, related to France only. The Marquis left for me this information, which I could not understand. On Wednesday I was at Court, and saw the copy of the power. It appeared full with regard to treating with France, but mentioned not a word of her allies. And, as M. de Vergennes had explicitly and constantly, from the beginning, declared to the several messengers, Mr Forth, Mr Oswald, and Mr Grenville, that France could only treat in concert with her allies, and it had in consequence been declared on the part of the British Ministry, that they consented to treat for a general peace, and at Paris, the sending this partial power seemed to be insidious, and a mere invention to occasion delay, the late disasters to the French fleet having probably given the Court of England fresh courage and other views.

M. de Vergennes said he should see Mr Grenville on Thursday, and would speak his mind to him, on the subject very plainly. "They want," said he, "to treat with us for you, but this the King will not agree to. He thinks it not consistent with the dignity of your state. You will treat for yourselves; and every one of the powers at war with England will make its own treaty. All that is necessary for our common security is, that the treaties go hand in hand, and are signed all on the same day."

Prince Bariatinski, the Russian Amba.s.sador, was particularly civil to me this day at Court, apologised for what pa.s.sed relating to the visit, expressed himself extremely sensible of my friendship in covering the affair, which might have occasioned to him very disagreeable consequences, &c. The Count du Nord came to M. de Vergennes, while we were drinking coffee, after dinner. He appears lively and active, with a sensible, spirited countenance. There was an opera at night for his entertainment. The house being richly finished with abundance of carving and gilding, well illuminated with wax tapers, and the company all superbly dressed, many of the men in cloth of tissue, and the ladies sparkling with diamonds, formed altogether the most splendid spectacle my eyes ever beheld.

I had some little conference today with M. M. Berkenrode, Vanderpierre and Boeris, the Amba.s.sador of Holland and the agents of the Dutch East India Company. They informed me, that the second letter of Mr Fox to the mediating Minister of Russia, proposing a separate peace with Holland, made no more impression than the first, and no peace would be made but in concurrence with France.

The Swedish Minister told me he expected orders from his Court relative to a treaty, &c.

I had, at our last interview, given Mr Grenville a rendezvous for Sat.u.r.day morning, and having some other engagements for Thursday and Friday, though I wish to speak with him on the subject of his power, I did not go to him, but waited his coming to me on Sat.u.r.day. On Friday, May 31st, Mr Oswald called on me, being just returned, and brought me the following letters from Lord Shelburne, the first of which had been written before his arrival.

LORD SHELBURNE TO B. FRANKLIN.

Whitehall, May 28th, 1782.

"Sir,

"I am honored with your letter of the 10th instant, and am very glad to find that the conduct, which the King has empowered me to observe towards Mr Laurens, and the American prisoners, has given you pleasure. I have signified to Mr Oswald his Majesty's pleasure, that he shall continue at Paris till he receives orders from hence to return. In the present state of this business, there is nothing for me to add, but my sincere wishes for a happy issue, and to repeat my a.s.surances, that nothing shall be wanting on my part which can contribute to it. I have the honor to be, with very great regard,

SHELBURNE."

LORD SHELBURNE TO B. FRANKLIN.

Whitehall, May 29th, 1782.

"Sir,

"I have the honor to receive your letter of the 13th of May, by Mr Oswald. It gives me great pleasure to find my opinion of the moderation, prudence, and judgment of that gentleman confirmed by your concurrence. For I am glad to a.s.sure you, that we likewise concur in hoping that those qualities may enable him to contribute to the speedy conclusion of a peace, and such a peace as may be firm and long lasting. In that hope he has the King's orders to return immediately to Paris, and you will find him, I trust, properly instructed to co-operate in so desirable an object. I have the honor to be, &c.

SHELBURNE."

I had not then time to converse much with Mr Oswald, and he promised to come and breakfast with me on Monday.

_Sat.u.r.day, June 5th._ Mr Grenville came, according to appointment. Our conversation began by my acquainting him that I had seen the Count de Vergennes, and had perused the copy left with him of the power to treat. That after what he, Mr Grenville, told me of its being to treat with France _and her allies_, I was a little surprised to find in it no mention of the allies, and that it was only to treat with the King of France and his Ministers; that, at Versailles, there was some suspicion of its being intended to occasion delay, the professed desire of a speedy peace being, perhaps, abated in the British Court since its late successes; but that I imagined the words relating to the allies might have been accidentally omitted in transcribing, or that, perhaps, he had a special power to treat with us distinct from the other. He answered, that the copy was right, and that he had no such power in form, but that his instructions were full to that purpose, and that he was sure the Ministers had no desire of delay, nor any of excluding us from the treaty, since the greatest part of those instructions related to treating with me. That, to convince me of this sincerity of his Court respecting us, he would acquaint me with one of his instructions, though, perhaps, the doing it now was premature, and therefore a little inconsistent with the character of a politician, but he had that confidence in me that he should not hesitate to inform me, (though he wished that at present it should go no further,) _he was instructed to acknowledge the independence of America, previous to the commencement of the treaty_. And he said he could only account for the omission of America in the POWER, by supposing that it was an old official form copied from that given to Mr Stanley, when he came over hither before the last peace. Mr Grenville added that he had, immediately after his interview with the Count de Vergennes, despatched a courier to London, and hoped, that with his return the difficulty would be removed. That he was perfectly a.s.sured their late success had made no change in the disposition of his Court to peace, and that he had more reason than the Count de Vergennes to complain of delays, since five days were spent before he could obtain a pa.s.sport for his courier, and then it was not to go and return by way of Calais, but to go by Ostend, which would occasion a delay of five days longer. Mr Grenville then spoke much of the high opinion the present Ministry had of me, and their great esteem for me, their desire of a perfect reconciliation between the two countries, and the firm and general belief in England, that no man was so capable as myself of proposing the proper means of bringing about such a reconciliation, adding that if the old Ministers had formerly been too little attentive to my counsels, the present were very differently disposed, and he hoped that in treating with them, I would totally forget their predecessors.

The time has been when such flattering language, as from great men, might have made me vainer, and had more effect on my conduct, than it can at present, when I find myself so near the end of life as to esteem lightly all personal interests and concerns, except that of maintaining to the last, and leaving behind me the tolerably good character I have hitherto supported.

Mr Grenville then discoursed of our resolution not to treat without our allies. This, says he, can only properly relate to France, with whom you have a treaty of alliance, but you have none with Spain, you have none with Holland. If Spain and Holland, and even if France should insist on unreasonable terms of advantage to themselves, after you have obtained all you want, and are satisfied, can it be right that America should be dragged on in a war for their interest only? He stated this matter in various lights and pressed it earnestly. I resolved, from various reasons, to evade the discussion, therefore answered, that the intended treaty not being yet begun, it appeared unnecessary to enter at present into considerations of that kind. The preliminaries being once settled and the treaty commenced, if any of the other powers should make extravagant demands on England, and insist on our continuing the war till those were complied with, it would then be time enough to consider what our obligations were, and how far they extended. The first thing necessary was for him to procure the full powers, the next for us to a.s.semble the plenipotentiaries of all the belligerent parties, and then propositions might be mutually made, received, considered, answered, or agreed to. In the meantime I would just mention to him, that though we were yet under no obligations to Spain by treaty, we were under obligations of grat.i.tude for the a.s.sistance she had afforded us; and as Mr Adams had some weeks since commenced a treaty in Holland, the terms of which I was not yet acquainted with, I knew not but that we might have already some alliance and obligations contracted there. And perhaps we ought, however, to have some consideration for Holland on this account, that it was in vengeance for the friendly disposition shown by some of her people to make a treaty of commerce with us, that England had declared the war against her.

He said it would be hard upon England, if having given reasonable satisfaction to one or two of her enemies, she could not have peace with those till she had complied with whatever the others might demand, however unreasonable, for so she might be obliged to pay for every article four fold. I observed, that when she made her propositions, the more advantageous they were to each, the more it would be the interest of each to prevail with the others to accept those offered to them. We then spoke of the reconciliation, but his full power not being yet come I chose to defer entering upon that subject at present. I told him I had thoughts of putting down in writing the particulars that I judged would conduce to that end, and of adding my reasons, that this required a little time, and I had been hindered by accidents; which was true, for I had begun to write, but had postponed it on account of his defective power to treat. But I promised to finish it as soon as possible. He pressed me earnestly to do it, saying, an expression of mine in a former conversation, that there still remained _roots of good will_ in America towards England, which if properly taken care of might produce a reconciliation, had made a great impression on his mind, and given him infinite pleasure, and he hoped I would not neglect furnishing him with the information of what would be necessary to nourish those _roots_, and could a.s.sure me, that my advice would be greatly regarded.

Mr Grenville had shown me at our last interview a letter from the Duke of Richmond to him, requesting him to prevail with me to disengage a Captain McLeod, of the artillery, from his parole, the Duke's brother, Lord George Lenox, being appointed to the command of Portsmouth, and desiring to have him as his aid-de-camp. I had promised to consider of it, and this morning I sent him the following letter.

TO MR GRENVILLE.

Pa.s.sy, May 31st, 1782.

"Sir,

"I do not find, that I have any express authority to absolve a parole given by an English officer in America, but desirous of complying with a request of the Duke of Richmond, as far as may be in my power, and being confident, that the Congress will be pleased with whatever may oblige a personage they so much respect, I do hereby consent, that Captain McLeod serve in his military capacity in England only, till the pleasure of the Congress is known, to whom I will write immediately, and who, I make no doubt, will discharge him entirely. I have the honor to be, &c.

B. FRANKLIN."

America had been constantly befriended in Parliament by the Duke of Richmond, and I believed the Congress would not be displeased, that this opportunity was taken of obliging him, and that they would by their approbation supply the deficiency of my power. Besides, I could not well refuse it, after what had pa.s.sed between Mr Laurens and me, and what I had promised to do for that gentleman.

_Sunday, June 2d._ The Marquis de Lafayette called and dined with me.

He is uneasy about the delay, as he cannot resolve concerning his voyage to America, till some certainty appears of there being a treaty or no treaty. This day I wrote the following letter to Mr Adams.

TO JOHN ADAMS.

Pa.s.sy, June 2d, 1782.

"Sir,

"Since mine of May 8th, I have not had anything material to communicate to your Excellency. Mr Grenville indeed arrived just after I had despatched that letter, and I introduced him to M. de Vergennes, but, as his mission seemed only a repet.i.tion of that by Mr Oswald, the same declaration of the King of England's sincere desire of peace, and willingness to treat at Paris, which were answered by the same declarations of the good dispositions of this Court, and that it could not treat without the concurrence of its allies, I omitted writing till something should be produced from a kind of agreement, that M. de Vergennes would acquaint Spain and Holland with the overture, and Mr Grenville would write for full powers to treat, and make propositions; nothing of importance being in the meantime to be transacted.

"Mr Grenville accordingly despatched a messenger for London, who returned in about twelve days. Mr Grenville called on me, after having been at Versailles, and acquainted me that he had received the power, and had left a copy of it with M. de Vergennes, and that he was thereby authorised to treat with France and her _allies_. The next time I went to Versailles, I desired to see that copy, and was surprised to find in it no mention of the allies of France, or any one of them, and, on speaking with M. de Vergennes about it, I found he began to look upon the whole as a piece of artifice to amuse us, and gain time; since he had uniformly declared to every agent who had appeared there, viz. to Forth, Oswald, and Grenville, that the King would not treat without the concurrence of his allies, and yet England had given a power to treat with France only, which showed she did not intend to treat at all, but meant to continue the war.

"I had not till yesterday an opportunity of talking with Mr Grenville on the subject, and expressing my wonder, that, after what he told me, there should be no mention made of our States in his commission, he could not explain this to my satisfaction, but said, he believed the omission was occasioned by their copying an old commission given to Mr Stanley at the last treaty of peace, for he was sure the intention was, that he should treat with us, his instructions being fully to that purpose. I acquainted him, that I thought a special commission was necessary, without which we could not treat with him. I imagine, that there is a reluctance in their king to take this first step, as the giving such a commission would itself be a kind of acknowledgment of our independence. Their late success against Count de Gra.s.se may also have given them hopes, that by delay and more successes they may make that acknowledgment and a peace less necessary.

"Mr Grenville has written to his Court for further instructions. We shall see what the return of his courier will produce. If full power to treat with each of the powers at war against England does not appear, I imagine the negotiation will be broken off. Mr Grenville, in his conversation with me, insists much on our being under no engagements not to make a peace without Holland. I have answered him, that I know not but that you may have entered into some, and if there should be none, a general pacification, made at the same time, would be best for us all, and that I believe neither Holland nor we could be prevailed on to abandon our friends. What happens further shall be immediately communicated.

"Be pleased to present my respects to Mr Laurens, to whom I wrote some days since. Mr Jay, I suppose, is on his way hither. With great respect, &c.

B. FRANKLIN."

On Monday the 3d, Mr Oswald came according to appointment. He told me he had seen and had conversations with Lord Shelburne, Lord Rockingham, and Mr Fox. That their desire of peace continued uniformly the same, though he thought some of them were a little too much elated with the late victory in the West Indies, and when observing his coolness, they asked him if he did not think it a very good thing; yes, said he, if you do not rate it too high. He went on with the utmost frankness to tell me, that the peace was absolutely necessary for them. That the nation had been foolishly involved in four wars, and could no longer raise money to carry them on, so that if they continued, it would be absolutely necessary for them to stop payment of the interest money on the funds, which would ruin their future credit. He spoke of stopping on all sums above 1000, and continuing to pay on those below, because the great sums belonged to the rich, who could better bear the delay of their interest, and the smaller sums to poorer persons, who would be more hurt, and make more clamor, and that the rich might be quieted by promising them interest upon their interest. All this looked as if the matter had been seriously thought on.