The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume III Part 39

RICHARD OSWALD TO B. FRANKLIN.

Paris, June 5th, 1782.

Sir,

While Mr Laurens was under confinement in England, he promised, that on condition of his being liberated upon his parole, he would apply to you for an exchange in favor of Lord Cornwallis, by a discharge of his Lordship granted upon the surrender of his garrison at the village of York in Virginia; and, in case of your being under any difficulty in making such exchange, he undertook to write to the Congress, and to request it of that a.s.sembly, making no doubt of obtaining a favorable answer, without loss of time.

This proposal, signed by Mr Laurens's hand, I carried and delivered, I think, in the month of December last, to his Majesty's then Secretaries of State, which was duly attended to; and in consequence thereof Mr Laurens was soon after set at full liberty. And though not a prisoner under parole, yet it is to be hoped, a variation in the mode of discharge will not be supposed of any essential difference.

And with respect to Mr Laurens, I am satisfied he will consider himself as much interested in the success of this application, as if his own discharge had been obtained under the form, as proposed by the representation, which I delivered to the Secretaries of State, and, I make no doubt, will sincerely join my Lord Cornwallis in an acknowledgment of your favor and good offices, in granting his Lordship a full discharge of his parole abovementioned.

I have the honor to be, with much respect, Sir, your most obedient humble servant,

RICHARD OSWALD.

_P. S._ Major Ross has got no copy of Lord Cornwallis's parole. He says it was in the common form, as in like cases.

Since writing the above, I recollect I was under a mistake, as if the proposal of exchange came first from Mr Laurens; whereas, it was made by his Majesty's Secretaries of State to me, that Mr Laurens should endeavor to procure the exchange of Lord Cornwallis, so as to be discharged himself. Which proposal I carried to Mr Laurens, and had from him the obligation abovementioned, upon which the mode of his discharge was settled.

R. O.

TO RICHARD OSWALD.

Pa.s.sy, June 5th, 1782.

Sir,

I received the letter you did me the honor of writing to me, respecting the parole of Lord Cornwallis. You are acquainted with what I wrote some time since to Mr Laurens. Tomorrow is post day from Holland, when possibly I may receive an answer, with a paper drawn up by him for the purpose of discharging that parole, to be signed by us jointly. I suppose the staying at Paris another day will not be very inconvenient to Major Ross, and if I do not hear tomorrow from Mr Laurens, I will immediately, in compliance with your request, do what I can towards the liberation of Lord Cornwallis.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir, your most obedient humble servant,

B. FRANKLIN.

JOHN ADAMS TO B. FRANKLIN.

The Hague, June 13th, 1782.

Sir,

I had yesterday, at Amsterdam, the honor of receiving your Excellency's letter of June the 2d.

The discovery, that Mr Grenville's power was only to treat with France, does not surprise me at all. The British Ministry are too divided among themselves, and have too formidable an opposition against them, in the King and the old Ministers, and are possessed of too little of the confidence of the nation, to have courage to make concessions of any sort, especially since the news of their successes in the East and West Indies. What their vanity will end in G.o.d only knows; for my own part, I cannot see a probability, that they will ever make peace, until their finances are ruined, and such distresses brought upon them, as will work up their parties into a civil war.

I wish their enemies could by any means be persuaded to carry on the war against them in places, where they might be sure of triumphs, instead of insisting on pursuing it where they are sure of defeat. But we must take patience, and wait for time to do what wisdom might easily and soon do.

I have not as yet taken any engagements with the Dutch not to make peace without them; but I will take such engagements in a moment, if the Dutch will take them, and I believe they would very cheerfully. I shall not propose it, however, till I have the concurrence of the Duc de la Vauguyon, who will do nothing without the instructions of his Court. I would not delay it a moment from any expectation, that the English will acknowledge our independence and make peace with us, because I have no such expectations. The permanent friendship of the Dutch may be easily obtained by the United States; that of England, never; it is gone with the days before the flood. If we ever enjoy the smallest degree of sincere friendship again from England, I am totally incapable of seeing the character of a nation or the connexion of things; which however may be the case for what I know. They have brought themselves into such a situation! Spain, Holland, America, the armed neutrality, have all such pretensions and demands upon them, that where is the English Minister, or Member of Parliament, that dares vote for the concession to them? The pretensions of France I believe would be so moderate, that possibly they might be acceded to.

But it is much to be feared, that Spain, who deserves the least, will demand the most; in short, the work of peace appears so impracticable and chimerical, that I am happy in being restrained to this country, by my duty, and by this means excused from troubling my head much about it.

I have a letter from America, that informed me, that Mr Jay had refused to act in the commission for peace; but if he is on the way to Paris, as you suppose, I presume my information must be a mistake, which I am very glad of. Mr Laurens did me the honor of a very short visit, in his way to France, but I was very sorry to learn from him, that in a letter to your Excellency from Ostend, he had declined serving in the commission for peace. I had vast pleasure in his conversation, for I found him possessed of the most exact judgment concerning our enemies, and of the same n.o.ble sentiments in all things, which I saw in him in Congress.

What is the system of Russia? Does she suppose, that England has too many enemies upon her, and that their demands and pretensions are too high? Does she seek to embroil affairs, and to light up a general war in Europe? Is Denmark in concert with her, or any other power? Her conduct is a phenomenon. Is there any secret negotiation or intrigue on foot to form a party for England among the powers of Europe, and to make a balance against the power of the enemies of England?

The States of Holland and several other provinces have taken a resolution against the mediation for a separate peace; and this nation seems to be well fixed in its system, and in the common cause.

My best respects and affections to my old friend, Mr Jay, if you please. I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,

JOHN ADAMS.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO B. FRANKLIN.

Philadelphia, June 23d, 1782.

Dear Sir,

This will be sent with duplicates of some of my former letters to the southward, to embrace the first opportunity, that shall offer from thence. By so uncertain a conveyance you can expect nothing. Nor indeed does our present situation furnish anything, that calls for your immediate attention, unless it be the unanimity with which the people of all ranks agree in determining to listen to no proposals from England, which have not the alliance with France for their basis.

Perhaps the joy they have discovered, in celebrating the birth of the Dauphin, will be considered as a proof of their sincere attachment to the present ill.u.s.trious monarch of France and his family.

Leslie has endeavored to bring General Greene to agree to a suspension of arms for the Southern Department, which he has very prudently refused.

Nothing has yet been determined, or rather executed, with respect to Captain Asgill. The enemy are holding a Court Martial on Lippincott, the executioner of Captain Huddy; on their decision the life of Captain Asgill will depend. Such is the melancholy necessity, which the cruelty of the enemy has imposed.

You enclosed a letter from the Count de Vergennes, on the subject of the pension due M. Tousard. Congress are too sensible of that gentleman's merit to deprive him of it. But as it is necessary, that everything of this kind be transacted at one office, it is proper that he direct some person as his agent to apply to the Treasury office here, and produce your certificate of the time to which the last payment was made, or at least transmit a statement of his account, on which the balance will be paid, and his pension regularly settled with his attorney in future.

The case of the brigantine Ernten has been decided upon in the inferior courts, and in the Court of Appeals. The latter have been prevailed upon at my request to give a rehearing, which is not yet determined. Should its determination be against the vessel or cargo, on a conviction, that she was British property, Congress will not choose to interfere in the execution of the sentence, which the court they have inst.i.tuted is competent to award.

I could wish to know from you what allowance you make to your private Secretary, and to have an accurate estimate of those contingent expenses of your office, which you think ought to be charged as distinct from your salary.

I enclose a copy of a letter from Mr Deane to Governor Trumbull, with his answer, which you will please to forward. A copy of the answer is also enclosed.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON

TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

Pa.s.sy, June 25th, 1782.

Sir,