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nothing more than a pageant or a puppet. In that case, the monarchical part of the constitution would be absorbed by the aristocracy, and the famed constitution of England would be no more. The members of the cabinet can vouch that the principle laid down relative to peace with America has not in the smallest degree been departed from. Nothing is farther from my intention than to renew the war in America; the sword is sheathed, never to be drawn there again."

On the day on which Fox withdrew from the ministry, Shelburne wrote to Oswald: "I hope to receive early assurances from you that my confidence in the sincerity and good faith of Doctor Franklin has not been misplaced, and that he will concur with you in endeavoring to render effectual the great work in which our hearts and wishes are so equally interested. We have adopted his idea of the method to come to a general pacification by treating separately with each party. I beg him to believe that I can have no idea or design of acting toward him and his associates but in the most open, liberal, and honorable manner."

Franklin, from his long residence in England, knew thoroughly well the relations of its parties, and the character of its public men, of whom the best were his personal friends. He was aware how precarious was the hold of Shelburne on power; and he made all haste to bring about an immediate pacification. On the tenth of July, in his own house near Paris, and at his own invitation, he had an interview with Oswald, and proposed to him the American conditions of peace. The articles which could not be departed from were: the full and complete independence of the thirteen states, and the withdrawal of all British troops from them; the territorial integrity of each one of them, as they were before the Quebec act of 1774, if not a still more contracted state, on a more ancient footing; the settlement of the boundaries between the American colonies and Canada; a freedom of fishing on the banks of Newfoundland and elsewhere, as well for fishes as whales, and, as Oswald understood him, with the right to dry fish on land. Having already explained that nothing could be done for the loyalists by the United States, as their estates had been confiscated by laws of particular states which congress had no

power to repeal, he further demonstrated that Great Britain, by its conduct and example, had forfeited every right to intercede for them. To prove it he read to Oswald the orders of the British in Carolina for confiscating and selling the lands and property of all patriots under the direction of the military; and he declared definitively that, though the separate governments might show compassion where it was deserved, the American commissioners for peace could not make compensation of refugees a part of the treaty. He further directed attention to the persistent, systematic destruction of American property by the British armies, as furnishing a claim to indemnity which might be set off against the demands of British merchants for debts contracted before the war. Franklin recommended, but not as an ultimatum, a perfect reciprocity in regard to ships and trade. He was at that time employed on a treaty of reimbursement to France by the United States for its advances of money; and he explained to Oswald, as he had before explained to Grenville, the exact limit of their obligations to France.

Franklin intimated that American affairs must be ended by a separate commission, and that he did not from any connection with other states hesitate as to coming to a conclusion, so as to end the American quarrel in a short time. The negotiation was opened and kept up with the knowledge of Vergennes; but Franklin withheld from him everything relating to its conditions. Jay, who had arrived in Paris on the twenty-third of June, from severe illness took no part in this interview.

The moment when England accepted the necessity of conceding independence to the thirteen colonies which she had trained to the love of freedom and by her own inconsistencies had forced to take up arms, was in its importance one of the grandest moments in her history. But the voice of the house of commons was confused by its memories and regrets, the rancor of conflicting parties, and the reserve of statesmen for whom the new morning was about to dawn. The house of commons, as with averted eyes it framed a bill permitting its king to let thirteen colonies go free, did its work awkwardly but thoroughly. They expressed the wish for peace, and authorized the king to treat with the thirteen enumerated colo

nies as one power. The officials who drew the commission for Oswald could not but move on the lines prescribed by parliament, and frame the commission of the negotiator for peace with shyness, designating the thirteen "colonies" by name, and clearly and certainly inviting their commissioners as the representatives of one self-existent power to treat for peace. Throughout the paper the greatest care was taken not to question their independence, which by plain implication was taken for granted.

So soon as Shelburne saw a prospect of a general pacification, Alleyne Fitzherbert, the British minister at Brussels, was transferred to Paris, to be the channel of communication with Spain, France, and Holland. He brought letters to Franklin from Lord Grantham who expressed his desire to merit Franklin's confidence, and from Townshend who declared himself the zealous friend to peace upon the fairest and most liberal terms.

While the commission and instructions of Oswald were preparing, Shelburne accepted the ultimatum of Franklin in all its branches; and on the twenty-seventh he replied to Oswald: "Your several letters give me the greatest satisfaction, as they contain unequivocal proofs of Doctor Franklin's sincerity and confidence in those with whom he treats. It will be the study of his majesty's ministers to return it by every possible cordiality. There never have been two opinions since you were sent to Paris upon the acknowledgment of American independency. But, to put this matter out of all possibility of doubt, a commission will be immediately forwarded to you containing full powers to make the independency of the colonies the basis and preliminary of the treaty now depending. I have never made a secret of the deep concern I feel in the separation of countries united by blood, by principles, habits, and every tie short of territorial proximity. But I have long since given it up, decidedly though reluctantly; and the same motives which made me, perhaps, the last to give up all hope of reunion make me most anxious, if it is given up, that it shall be done so as to avoid all future risk of enmity and lay the foundation of a new connection, better adapted to the temper and interest of both countries. In this view I go further with Dr. Franklin, perhaps, than he is aware of. I

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consider myself as pledged to the contents of this letter. will find the ministry united, in full possession of the king's confidence, and thoroughly disposed to peace, if it can be obtained upon reasonable terms."

The commission to Oswald conformed to the enabling act of parliament. The thirteen "colonies or plantations" in North America were named one by one, and a commissioner appointed, with power, according to the language of the treaty of alliance between France and America, to conclude "a peace or a truce" with any commissioner named by the said colonies and plantations. The worst feature in the commission was that the British commissioner, while he was empowered to treat with the colonies collectively, might also treat with "any part or parts" of them. Every word which could suggest a denial of their independence was avoided. The king pledged his name and word to ratify and confirm whatever might be concluded between the British and the American commissioners; "our earnest wish for peace," such were the simultaneous instructions under the king's own hand, "disposing us to purchase it at the price of acceding to the complete independence of the thirteen states."

No British statesman was so determined as Shelburne to bring about "not merely peace, but reconciliation with America on the noblest terms and by the noblest means." If the benefit of his good-will is to be secured, the work must be finished before the next meeting of parliament, when his ministry will surely be overthrown. Now is the accepted time; the board of trade no longer exists to interpose its cavils; the ready decision of Shelburne will give no opportunity for interested people to take alarm. Let the nature of the negotiations get abroad, and Canada will exact a southern access to the Atlantic; the Hudson Bay company and the fur-traders of Canada will clamor for keeping Oswego and Niagara; and Detroit and Chicago, and with them the best avenues to the North-west, the West, and the South-west, will certainly be withheld. How, then, can a patriotic American commissioner place needless embarrassments in Shelburne's way?

An advanced copy of the commission reached Oswald on the evening of the sixth of August. Early the next morning

he carried a copy of it to Franklin at Passy. Franklin, glad to the heart, repeated what he had said in June: "I hope we shall agree, and not be long about it." He related that the day before at Versailles, Vergennes had expressed impatience for its arrival, that his own negotiations with Fitzherbert might go on hand in hand with those of the Americans and Oswald.

Returning to Paris, Oswald showed the commission to Jay, whom he describes as "a sensible man of plain yet civil manners, and of a calm, obliging temper." Jay said: "That independence ought to be no part of a treaty; it ought to have been expressly granted by act of parliament. As that was not done, the king ought to do it now by proclamation, and order all garrisons to be evacuated, and then close the American war by a treaty." He surpassed Franklin in enlarging on the obligations and the gratitude due from the United States to France. England, he said, "must not expect to get back all the conquests which the French have made during the war." They of America "must fulfil their treaty; they are a young republic just come into the world, and if they forfeit their character at the first outset they will never be trusted again, and should become a proverb amongst mankind." Oswald's great expectations from his conversation with Franklin were damped by the unpleasant reception from Jay."*

The advanced copy of Oswald's commission Franklin submitted to Vergennes. "I will examine it with the greatest attention," he wrote in answer. From the terms of the treaty of alliance between France and America, he was bound to form, and had a right to express, an opinion, and was most anxious that nothing might delay an early peace. Holding a conference with them on the tenth of August, he declared to them his opinion that they might proceed to treat with Oswald under the commission as soon as the original should arrive. Jay replied: "It would be descending from the ground of independence to treat under the description of colonies." Vergennes persisted in the opinion that the powers given to Oswald were sufficient, saying correctly: "This acceptance of your powers, in which you are styled commissioners from the

Oswald's Minutes of Conversation with the American Commissioners, 7 August 1782. MS.

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