The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution
Chapter 99 : "I had the honor of addressing you on the 30th ult. by post, a duplicate of which

"I had the honor of addressing you on the 30th ult. by post, a duplicate of which will accompany this, in order to guard against the effect of a miscarriage in the first instance, and I beg leave to refer you to the contents.

"On the 10th current and no sooner, your very obliging favor of the 20th preceding reached me in London. Being then on the point of leaving that place, I deferred a reply until my arrival on this side.

This happened yesterday, too late to catch the post of the day, except by a single letter, put into my hands, I believe, by Dr Price, which I sent forward.

"I sincerely and heartily thank you, Sir, for the cordial contents of your last letter; but, from the most mature reflection, and taking into consideration my present very infirm state of health, I have resolved to decline accepting the honor intended me by Congress, in the commission for treating with Great Britain, and I find the less difficulty in coming to this determination, from a persuasion in my own mind that my a.s.sistance is not essential, and that it was not the view or expectation of our const.i.tuents, that every one named in the commission should act. I purpose to repair to, or near Mr Adams, and inquire of him whether I may yet be serviceable under the commission to which I had been first appointed, that for borrowing money for the use of the United States; if he speaks in the affirmative, I shall, though much against my own grain, as is well known at our little Court, proceed in the mission with diligence and fidelity; otherwise, I shall take a convenient opportunity of returning to give an account there, of having in the course of two years and upwards done nothing, excepting only the making a great number of rebels in the enemy's country, and reconciling thousands to the doctrine of absolute and unlimited independence; a doctrine, which I a.s.serted and maintained with as much freedom in the Tower of London, as I ever had done in the State House at Philadelphia, and having contentedly submitted to the loss of my estate, and being ready to lay down my life in support of it, I had the satisfaction of perceiving the coming of converts every day. I must not, however, conclude this head without a.s.suring you, that should you think proper to ask questions respecting American commerce, or the interest of any particular State, I will answer with candor and the best judgment I am possessed of, but of that judgment I sincerely protest I have the utmost diffidence. G.o.d prosper your proceedings in the great work; you shall be called blessed by all the grateful of the present generation, and your name will be celebrated by posterity. I feel myself happy in reflecting, that, in the great outlines of a treaty, our opinions exactly coincide, that we shall not want the countenance and a.s.sistance of our great and good ally, and that you have so honest a man as Mr Oswald to deal with for preliminaries. I know him to be superior to chicanery, and am sure he will not defile his mind by attempting any dirty thing.

"I entreat you, Sir, to present my humble respects to M. de Vergennes, and thank his Excellency for his polite expressions respecting me, and be so good as to say all that shall appear necessary in excuse for my non-appearance at his Court.

"Lord Cornwallis called on me the day before I left London, and was, as you may suppose, very anxious to know when he might probably hear from me on the subject of his release; let me, therefore, request your opinion in answer to what I had the honor of writing in my last concerning that affair. I wish it may prove satisfactory to his Lords.h.i.+p, by enabling me, with your consent and concurrence, to cancel a debt, which does not set easy upon me, and which cannot with honor to our country remain unpaid. I think we shall not, it is impossible we should, incur displeasure by doing an act of common justice, and our authority may be fairly implied.

"His Lords.h.i.+p declares he has no intention of returning to America, but desires to be reinstated in his legislative and military character in his own country, and I am of opinion, that in the former he will rather be friendly to us than otherwise. For my own part, if the war continues, I should not be uneasy if his Lords.h.i.+p were to go to the Chesapeake again.

"I have a thousand compliments and good wishes to present to you from friends in England, where, males and females, I am sure you have at least so many, that your own remembrance will lead you to individuals of your old acquaintance.

"Tomorrow I intend to proceed to Brussels, and thence, probably, to the Hague and Amsterdam; my movements must, unavoidably, be as slow as water carriage. My weak under limbs cannot bear continual thumping on the pavement in the rough machines of this country, and the feebleness of my pocket will not admit the indulgence of a more convenient vehicle. I beg, Sir, you will write to me at the house of Mr Edward Jennings, or under the protection of any other friend in that city, that will be at the trouble of finding out a voyager, who is at all times, and in all places, with the highest esteem and respect, Sir, &c.

HENRY LAURENS."

To the above, I wrote the following answer.

TO HENRY LAURENS.

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

"Sir,

"I am now honored with yours of the 17th. I had before received one of the 7th, which remained unanswered, because from the words in it, 'when I reach the Continent, which will probably happen in a few days,' I flattered myself with the pleasure of seeing you here. That hope is disappointed by your last, in which you tell me you are determined not to act in the commission for treating of peace with Great Britain. I regret your taking this resolution, princ.i.p.ally because I am persuaded, that your a.s.sistance must have been of great service to our country. But I have besides some private or particular reasons, that relate to myself.

"To encourage me in the arduous task, you kindly tell me I shall be _called blessed_, &_c._ I have never yet known of a peace made, that did not occasion a great deal of popular discontent, clamor, and censure on both sides. This is, perhaps, owing to the usual management of the leaders and Ministers of the contending nations, who, to keep up the spirits of their people for continuing the war, generally represent the state of their own affairs in a better light, and that of the enemy in a worse, than is consistent with the truth; hence the populace on each side expect better terms than can really be obtained, and are apt to ascribe their disappointment to treachery. Thus the peace of Utrecht, and that of Aix la Chapelle, were said in England to have been influenced by French gold, and in France, by English guineas. Even the last peace, the most glorious and advantageous for England that ever she made, was, you may remember, violently decried, and the makers as violently abused. So that the blessing promised to peace-makers, I fancy, relates to the next world, for in this they seem to have a greater chance of being cursed. And, as another text observes, that in '_the mult.i.tude of counsellors there is safety_,'

which I think may mean safety to the counsellors as well as to the counselled, because if they commit a fault in counselling, the blame does not fall upon one or a few, but is divided among many, and the share of each is so much the lighter, or because when a number of honest men are concerned, the suspicion of their being bia.s.sed is weaker, as being more improbable; or, because _defendit numerus_; for all these reasons, but especially for the support your established character of integrity would afford me against the attacks of enemies, if this treaty take place, and I am to act in it, I wish for your presence, and the presence of as many of the Commissioners as possible, and I hope you will reconsider and change your resolution.

"In the meantime, as you have had opportunities of conversing with the new Ministers, and other leading people in England, and of learning their sentiments relating to terms of peace, &c. I request you would inform me by letters of what you think important. Letters from you will come safer by the Court courier than by the post, and I desire you would, if you should continue determined not to act, communicate to me your ideas of the terms to be insisted on, and the points to be attended to respecting commerce, fisheries, boundaries, and every other material circ.u.mstance, that may be of importance to all or any of the United States.

"Lord Shelburne having written to me on the subject of the wished for peace, I acquainted him in my answer, sent by our friend, Mr Oswald, that you were one of the Commissioners, appointed by Congress to treat with Britain, and that I imagined his Lords.h.i.+p would therefore think proper to discharge you entirely from the obligations you entered into, when you were admitted to bail, that you might be at liberty to act freely in the commission. He wrote to me in reply, that you were accordingly discharged immediately. His Lords.h.i.+p mentioned nothing of any exchange being expected for you, nevertheless I honor your sensibility on the point, and your concern for the credit of America, that she should not be outdone in generosity by Great Britain, and will cheerfully join with you in any act, that you may think proper, to discharge in return the parole of Lord Cornwallis, as far as in our power may lie; but we have no express authority for that purpose, and the Congress may possibly, in the meantime, have made some other arrangement relative to his exchange. I conceive, that our acts should contain a clause, reserving to Congress the final approbation or disallowance of the proceeding; and I have some doubt whether Lord Cornwallis will think himself well freed of his engagements, and at liberty to exercise his military employments, by virtue of any concession in his favor made by persons, who are not vested with authority for that purpose. So that, on the whole, perhaps the best and surest way will be our writing immediately to Congress, and strongly recommending the measure. However, I will do what you shall think best.

"I heartily wish you success in any endeavors you may use in Holland for raising a loan of money. We have pressed rather too hard on this Count, and we still want more than they can conveniently spare us; but I am sorry, that too scrupulous regard to our wants and difficulties should induce you, under the present infirmity of your lower limbs, to deny yourself the necessary comfort of an easy carriage, rather than make any use of the public a.s.sistance, when the public must be much in your debt. I beg you would get over that difficulty, and take of me what you may have occasion for.

"The letter you forwarded to me was from America's constant friend, the good Bishop of St Asaph. He speaks of you in terms of the highest esteem and respect.

"Mr Oswald has gone back again to London, but intended to return again immediately. Mr Grenville remains here, and has received power to treat, but no further steps can be taken till Spain and Holland have empowered Ministers for the same purpose.

"I shall inform you and Mr Adams, (if he does not come) of the proceeding from time to time, and request your counsel in cases of any difficulty. I hope you will not think of hazarding a return to America before a peace, if we find any hopes of its being soon obtained; and that if you do not find you can be useful in the manner you wish, in Holland, you will make me happy by your company and counsel here. With great and sincere esteem, &c.

B. FRANKLIN."

May the 26th, I received the following letters and papers from Mr Hartley.

[One of these letters is dated May 1st, which, together with a paper called the _Breviate_, is printed above, pp. 343, 351.]

DAVID HARTLEY TO B. FRANKLIN.

London, May 13th, 1782.

"My dear friend,

"I wrote you a long letter dated May 1st, 1782, by Mr Laurens, who left London on Sat.u.r.day last, but I will add a few lines now by a conveyance, which I believe will overtake him, just to tell you two or three things, which I believe I omitted in my last. Perhaps they may not be of any consequence, but as they relate to my own conduct, I could wish to have you understand them.

"After several conferences with the late Ministry, I gave in the paper, called the _Breviate_, on the 7th of February, but I never received any answer from them. They resigned on the 20th of March.

Upon the accession of the new Ministry, I heard nothing from them upon the subject, nor indeed did I apply to them. I did not know whether that paper would not come into their hands by succession, and I doubted whether it might not be more proper for me to wait till I heard from them. While I remained doubtful about this, I received your letters, which determined me to go to Lord Shelburne. This was about the beginning of the present month. I communicated to him some extracts, such as those about the prisoners, &c. and likewise the whole of your letter of April 13th, containing the offer of the late Ministry, the King of France's answer, together with your reflections in the conclusion respecting peace. As you had given me a general permission, I left with him a copy of the whole letter.

"Upon the occasion of this interview, Lord Shelburne told me that he had made much inquiry in the offices for the correspondence and papers, which had pa.s.sed between the late Ministry and me, but that he could not meet with them. He expressed a regret, that he had not conversed with me at an earlier day, with many civilities of that kind. In short, I had been backward to intrude myself, and he expressed regret that he had not sent for me.

"Upon this opening on his part, I stated to him the substance of what pa.s.sed between the late Ministry and myself, and I left a copy of the _Breviate_ with him. He gave me a very attentive audience, and I took that opportunity of stating my sentiments to him, as far as I could, upon every view of the question. Upon his expressing his regret that he had not seen me sooner, I told him that I always had been, and always should be, most ready to give any a.s.sistance in my power towards the work of peace. I say the same to you.

"I do not believe that there is any difference of sentiment between you and me, _personally_, in our own minds upon independence, &c. &.c.

But we belong to different communities, and the right of judgment, and of consent and dissent, is vested in the community. Divide independence into six millions of shares, and you should have been heartily _welcome_ to _my_ share from the beginning of the war. Divide Canada into six millions of shares, I could find a better method of disposing of _my_ share, than, by offering it to France, to abandon America. Divide the rock of Gibraltar into six millions of pieces, I can only answer for one portion. Let Reason and Justice decide in any such case, as universal umpires between contending parties, and those who wish well to the permanent peace of mankind, will not refuse to give and to receive equal justice.

"I agree with you, that the equitable and the philosophical principles of politics can alone form a solid foundation of permanent peace; and the contraries to them, though highly patronized by nations themselves, and their Ministers, are no better than vulgar errors; but nations are slow to convictions from the personal arguments of individuals. 'They are jealous in honor, seeking the _bubble reputation_ even in the cannon's mouth.' But until a confirmed millennium, founded upon wiser principles, shall be generally established, the _reputation_ of nations is not merely a _bubble_. It forms their real security.

"To apply all this, in one word, let all nations agree, with one accord, to beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, or give me wooden walls to Great Britain! I have nothing further to add. My reason for writing this, was just to communicate to you in what position I had delivered over my conferences and arguments with the late Ministry into the hands of the present. And I will conclude with your own words, may G.o.d send us all more wisdom. I am ever, most affectionately, yours, &c.

D. HARTLEY."

"_P. S. May 17th, 1782._ Since writing the above, I have likewise left a copy of the enclosed preliminaries with Lord Shelburne."

PRELIMINARIES.

May, 1782.

"1. That the British troops shall be withdrawn from the Thirteen Provinces of North America, and a truce made between Great Britain and the said Provinces, for ---- years. (Suppose ten or twenty years.)

"2. That a negotiation for peace shall _bona fide_ be opened between Great Britain and the allies of America.

"3. If the proposed negotiation between Great Britain and the allies of America should not succeed so far as to produce peace, but that war should continue between the said parties, that America should act, and be treated as a neutral nation.

"4. That whenever peace shall take place between Great Britain and the allies of America, the truce between Great Britain and America shall be converted into a perpetual peace, the independence of America shall be admitted and guarantied by Great Britain, and a commercial treaty settled between them.

"5. That these propositions shall be made to the Court of France, for communication to the American Commissioners, and for an answer to the Court of Great Britain."

The same day Mr Grenville visited me. He acquainted me, that his courier was returned, and had brought him full powers in form to treat for a peace _with France and her allies_. That he had been at Versailles, and had shown his power to M. de Vergennes, and left a copy with him. That he had also a letter of credence, which he was not to deliver till France should think fit to send a Minister of the same kind to London; that M. de Vergennes had told him, that he would lay it before the King, and had desired to see him again on Wednesday.

That Mr Oswald had arrived in London, about an hour before the courier came away. That Mr Fox in his letter had charged him to thank me for that which I had written, and to tell me, that he hoped I would never forget, that he and I were of the same country.