CHAP. the states should appoint a special convention, to VII. be formed of new representatives, chosen for this

1776.

Sept. purpose alone.

17.

On the seventeenth, after many weeks of deliberation, the members of congress adopted an elaborate plan of a treaty to be proposed to France. Its terms betray the boundlessness of their aspirations and the lurking uncertainty of their hopes. They wished France to engage in a separate war with Great Britain, and by this diversion to leave America the opportunity of establishing her independence. They were willing to assure to Spain freedom from molestation in its territories; they renounced in favor of France all eventual conquests in the West Indies; but they claimed the sole right of acquiring British continental America, and all adjacent islands, including the Bermudas, Cape Breton, and Newfoundland. It was America and not France which first applied the maxim of monopoly to the fisheries: the king of France might retain his exclusive rights on the banks of Newfoundland, as recognised by England in the treaty of 1763; but his subjects were not to fish "in the havens, bays, creeks, roads, coasts, or places," which the United States were to win. In maritime law, the rising nation avowed the principle that free ships impart freedom to goods; that a neutral power may lawfully trade with a belligerent. Privateering was not abolished, but much restricted, and in its worst form was to be punished as piracy. The young republic, in this moment of her greatest need, was not willing to make one common cause with France, nor even

VII.

1776

Sept.

17.

to abstain from commerce with England; she only CHAP. offered not to assist Great Britain in the war on France, nor trade with that power in contraband goods. At most, the commissioners were permitted to stipulate that the United States would never again be subject to the crown or the parliament of Great Britain; and, in case France should become involved in the war, that neither party should make a definitive treaty of peace without six months' notice to the other. The commissioners were further instructed to solicit muskets and bayonets, ammunition, and brass field-pieces, to be sent under convoy by France; and it was added: "It will be proper for you to press for the immediate and explicit declaration of France in our favor, upon a suggestion that a reunion with Great Britain may be the consequence of a delay."

In the selection of the three members of the commission, Franklin was placed at its head; Deane, with whom Robert Morris had associated an unworthy member of his own family as a joint commercial agent in France, was chosen next; to them was added Jefferson, who, early in August, had retired from congress to assist his native state in adapting its code of laws to its new life as a republic. When Jefferson declared himself constrained to decline the appointment, which to him was so full of promise, it was given to Arthur Lee. Thus the United States were to be represented in France, to its people and to the elder House of Bourbon, by a treacherous merchant, by a barrister who, otherwise a patriot, was consumed by malignant envy, and by Franklin, the greatest

CHAP. diplomatist of his century. Franklin proposed that VII. the commission should also have power to treat 1776. forthwith for peace with England.

Sept.

The attempt to raise up a navy encountered

many difficulties. There was a want of guns,

canvas, and ammunition. In the preceding Decem-
ber, congress had ordered the construction of
thirteen ships of war, each of which was to carry
from twenty-four to thirty-two guns; but not one
of them was ready for sea, and the national
cruisers consisted of about twelve merchant vessels,
purchased and equipped at intervals. The officers,
of whom the first formal appointment was made
on the twenty-second of December, 1775, and in-
cluded the names of Nicholas Biddle and John
Paul Jones, were necessarily taken from merchant
ships. The unfitness of the highest officer in the
naval service, as displayed in his management of
a squadron which had gone to sea in the spring,
had just been exposed by an inquiry, and, in spite
of the support of the eastern states, he had been
censured by a vote of congress; yet, from tender-
ness to his brother, who was a member of con-
gress, a motion for his dismissal was obstructed,
and a majority ordered the aged and incompetent
man to resume the command, which he was sure
to disgrace. American privateers, in the year 1776,
captured three hundred and forty-two British ves-
sels;
and these volunteer adventures were so lucra-
tive, that none of the comparatively few sailors
who entered upon the public service would enlist
for more than a twelvemonth, and most of them
would engage only for one cruise. Hopkins did

VII.

not lead his squadron again to sea; but John CHAP. Paul Jones and others gained honor as commanders of single ships in the public service.

The great need of the country was an effective force on land. Before the middle of June, the committee on spies, on spies, of which John Adams and Edward Rutledge were members, were desired to revise the articles of war; yet more than three months elapsed before the adoption of an improved code, formed on the British regulations.

The country was upon the eve of a dissolution of its army; Washington, almost a year before, had foretold to congress the evils of their system with as much accuracy as if he "had spoken with a prophetic spirit." His condition at present was more critical than before, for a larger force was arrayed against him, and the enthusiasm of the people had been deadened by misfortunes and time. An unskilled volunteer is no match for a well-trained veteran. When, under the first impulse of irritated feeling, men fly to arms, the boldest and most energetic are the first to come forward; as the season of cooler reasoning returns, the most forward begin to murmur at the inequality of service for the common good. Levies of militia, poorly equipped, suddenly called for a few weeks from the tender scenes of domestic life, unused to the din of arms, and conscious of their own inexperience and ignorance, are distrustful of themselves when opposed to skilful and well-appointed troops, and fly from the shadow of danger. Unpractised in subordination, they are made more restless by the change of lodging and food; their

1776.

Sept.

1776.

Sept.

CHAP. thoughts go back to their families, their fields, VII. their flocks and herds; they begin to repine, and dejection brings on sickness and death, or an unconquerable yearning for home. They cost as much as a regular army of twice their number. Yet raw troops, levied for four months, or even but for one, formed the chief part of Washington's force. The want of good officers was still more to be complained of; especially those from New England did not fitly represent the talent, and military zeal of that part of the country. The war had lasted nearly seventeen months before congress could be partially divested of their dread of a standing army, or give up the idea of primarily relying for defence on the militia of the states nearest the scene of war. At last, on the sixteenth of September, they resolved, that eighty-eight battalions be enlisted as soon as possible to serve during the war; but the inducements which they offered for such enlistment were inadequate; moreover, they devised no way of raising regiments, except by apportioning to the thirteen states their respective quotas; and this reference of the subject. to so many separate legislatures or governments could not but occasion a delay of several months, even if the best will should prevail. Congress had no magazines; they therefore further left the states to provide arms and clothing. To complete the difficulty of organizing a national army, they secured to the several states the appointment of all officers, except general officers, even to the filling up of vacancies; so that no discretion was reserved to the commander-in-chief, or formally

16.