MINISTER TO FRANCE, I DEANE AND BEAUMARCHAIS: FOREIGN OFFICERS
It is difficult to pass a satisfactory judgment upon the diplomacy of
the American Revolution. If one takes its history in detail, it presents
a disagreeable picture of importunate knocking at the closed doors of
foreign courts, of incessant and almost shameless begging for money and
for any and every kind of assets that could be made useful in war, of
public bickering and private slandering among the envoys and agents
themselves. If, on the other hand, its achievements are considered, it
appears crowned with the distinction of substantial, repeated, sometimes
brilliant successes. A like contrast is found in its _personnel_.
Between Franklin and Arthur Lee a distance opens like that between the
poles, in which stand such men as Jay and Adams near the one extreme,
Izard, William Lee, and Thomas Morris near the other, with Deane,
Laurens, Carmichael, Jonathan Williams, and a few more in the middle
ground. Yet what could have been reasonably expected? Franklin had had
some dealings with English statesmen upon what may be called
international business, and had justly regarded himself in the light of
a quasi foreign minister. But with this exception not one man in all the
colonies had had the slightest experience in diplomatic affairs, or any
personal knowledge of the requirements of a diplomatic office, or any
opportunity to gain any ideas on the subject beyond such as a
well-educated man could glean from reading the scant historical
literature which existed in those days. It was difficult also for
Congress to know how to judge and discriminate concerning the material
which it found at its disposal. There had been nothing in the careers of
the prominent patriots to indicate whether or not any especial one among
them had a natural aptitude for diplomacy. The selection must be made
with little knowledge of the duties of the position, and with no
knowledge of the responsive characteristics of the man. It was only
natural that many of the appointments thus blindly made should turn out
ill. After they were made, and the appointees had successfully crossed
the ocean through the dangerous gauntlet of the English cruisers, there
arose to be answered in Europe the embarrassing question: What these
self-styled representatives represented. Was it a nation, or only a
parcel of rebels? Here was an unusual and vexatious problem, concerning
which most of the cautious royal governments were in no hurry to commit
themselves; and their reticence added greatly to the perplexities of the
fledgling diplomats. Nearly all cabinets felt it a great temptation to
assist the colonies of the domineering mistress of the seas to change
themselves from her dependencies into her naval rivals. But the attempt
and not the deed might prove confounding; neither could a wise monarch
assume with entire complacency the position of an aider and an abettor
of a rebellion on the part of subjects whose grievances appeared chiefly
an antipathy to taxation.
From the earliest moment France had been hopefully regarded by the
colonists as probably their friend and possibly their ally. To France,
therefore, the first American envoy was dispatched with promptitude,
even before there was a declaration of independence or an assumption of
nationality. Silas Deane was the man selected. He was the true Yankee
jack-at-all-trades; he had been graduated at Yale College, then taught
school, then practiced law, then engaged in trade, had been all the
while advancing in prosperity and reputation, had been a member of the
First and Second Congresses, had failed of reëlection to the Third, and
was now without employment. Mr. Parton describes him as "of somewhat
striking manners and good appearance, accustomed to live and entertain
in liberal style, and fond of showy equipage and appointment." Perhaps
his simple-minded fellow countrymen of the provinces fancied that such a
man would make an imposing figure at an European court. He developed no
other peculiar fitness for his position; he could not even speak
French; and it proved an ill hour for himself in which he received this
trying and difficult honor. By dint of native shrewdness, good luck, and
falling among friends he made a fair beginning; but soon he floundered
beyond his depth, committed some vexatious blunders, and in the course
of conducting some important business at last found himself in a
position where he had really done right but appeared to have done wrong,
without being free to explain the truth. The result was that he was
recalled upon a pretext which poorly concealed his disgrace, that he
found even his reputation for financial honesty clouded, and that his
prospects for the future were of the worst. He was not a man of
sufficient mental calibre or moral strength to endure his unmerited
sufferings with constancy. After prolonged disappointments in his
attempts to set himself right in the opinion of the country, he became
embittered, lost all judgment and patriotism, turned a renegade to the
cause of America, which had wronged him indeed, but rather in ignorance
than from malice, and died unreconciled, a broken and miserable exile.
Such were the perils of the diplomatic service of the colonies in those
days.
Deane arrived in France in June, 1776. He had with him a little ready
money for his immediate personal expenses, and some letters of
introduction from Franklin. It was intended to keep him supplied with
money by sending cargoes of tobacco, rice, and indigo consigned to him,
the proceeds of which would be at his disposal for the public service.
He was instructed to seek an interview with de Vergennes, the French
minister for foreign affairs, and to endeavor with all possible prudence
and delicacy to find out what signs of promise the disposition of the
French government really held for the insurgents. He was also to ask for
equipment for 25,000 troops, ammunition, and 200 pieces of field
artillery, all to be paid for--when Congress should be able! In France
he was to keep his mission cloaked in secure secrecy, appearing simply
as a merchant conducting his own affairs; and he was to write home
common business letters under the very harmless and unsuggestive name of
Timothy Jones, adding the real dispatch in invisible ink. But these
commonplace precautions were rendered of no avail through the treachery
of Dr. Edward Bancroft, an American resident abroad, who had the
confidence of Congress, but who "accepted the post of a paid American
spy, to prepare himself for the more lucrative office of a double spy
for the British ministers."[38] Deane, going somewhat beyond his
instructions to correspond with Bancroft, told him everything. Bancroft
is supposed to have passed the information along to the British
ministry, and thus enabled them to interpose serious hindrances in the
way of the ingenious devices of the Frenchmen.
[Note 38: Bancroft, _Hist. U. S._ ix. 63.]
Before the arrival of Deane the interests of the colonies had been
already taken in hand and substantially advanced in France by one of the
most extraordinary characters in history. Caron de Beaumarchais was a
man whom no race save the French could produce, and whose traits,
career, and success lie hopelessly beyond the comprehension of the
Anglo-Saxon. Bred a watchmaker, he had the skill, when a mere youth, to
invent a clever escapement balance for regulating watches; had he been
able to insert it into his own brain he might have held more securely
his elusive good fortunes. From being an ingenious inventor he became an
adventurer general, watchmaker to the king, the king's mistresses, and
the king's daughters, the lover, or rather the beloved, of the wife of
the controller of the king's kitchen, then himself the controller,
thence a courtier, and a favorite of the royal princesses. Through a
clever use of his opportunities he was able to do a great favor to a
rich banker, who in return gave him chances to amass a fortune, and lent
him money to buy a patent of nobility. This connection ended in
litigation, which was near ruining him; but he discovered corruption on
the part of the judge, and thereupon wrote his Memorials, of which the
wit, keenness, and vivacity made him famous. He then rendered a private,
personal, and important service to Louis XV., and soon afterwards
another to the young Louis XVI. His capacity for secret usefulness gave
him further occupation and carried him much to London. There he wrote
the "Barber of Seville," and there also he fell in with Arthur Lee and
became indoctrinated with grand notions of the resources and value of
the colonies, and of the ruin which their separation must inflict upon
England. Furthermore, as a Frenchman he naturally consorted with members
of the opposition party who took views very favorable to America. With
such corroboration of Lee's statements, Beaumarchais, never moderate in
any sentiment, leaped to the conclusion that the colonies "must be
invincible," and that England was "upon the brink of ruin, if her
neighbors and rivals were but in a state to think seriously of it." At
once the lively and ambitious fancy of the impetuous Frenchman spread an
extravagant panorama of the possibilities thus opened to England's
"natural enemy." He became frenzied in the American cause. In long and
ardent letters he opened upon King Louis and his ministers a rattling
fire of arguments sound and unsound, statements true and untrue,
inducements reasonable and unreasonable, forecastings probable and
improbable, policies wise and unwise, all designed to show that it was
the bounden duty of France to adopt the colonial cause. The king, with
no very able brain at any time, was very young and wholly inexperienced.
He gazed bewildered at the brilliant pageantry of Beaumarchais's
wonderful and audacious statecraft, and sensibly sought the advice of
his ministers.
De Vergennes set out his views, in agreement with Beaumarchais. He
declared that France now had her opportunity to reduce her dangerous
rival to the place of a second-rate power. To this end it was desirable
that the rebellion should endure at least one year. The sufferings of
the colonists in that period would so embitter them that, even if they
should finally be subdued, they would ever remain a restless, dangerous
thorn in the side of England, a bond with a heavy penalty effectually
binding her to keep the peace. To make sure that neither side should
move for peace before this one valuable year of warfare should have been
secured, it was the policy of France to maintain a pacific front towards
Great Britain, thus relieving her from any fear that the colonies would
obtain a French alliance, but clandestinely to furnish the insurgents
with munitions of war and money sufficient to enable and encourage them
to hold out.
The wise Turgot, in a state paper marked by great ability, opposed
French intervention, and proved his case. Colonial independence was sure
to come, a little sooner or later. Yet the reduction of the colonies
would be the best possible assurance that England would not break the
peace with France, since the colonists, being mutinous and discontented,
would give her concern enough. On the other hand, should England fail,
as he anticipated that she would, in this war, she would hardly emerge
from it in condition to undertake another with France. As for the
colonies themselves, should they win, the character of the Americans
gave augury of their wishing a solid government and therefore
cultivating peace. He uttered an admirable dissertation upon the
relations between colonies and a parent country, and upon the value of
colonies in its bearing upon the present question. In conclusion he
gravely referred to the alarming deficit in the French exchequer as the
strongest of all arguments against incurring the heavy charge of a war
not absolutely unavoidable. "For a necessary war resources could be
found; but war ought to be shunned as the greatest of misfortunes, since
it would render impossible, perhaps forever, a reform absolutely
necessary to the prosperity of the state and the solace of the people."
The king, to whom these wise words were addressed, lived to receive
terrible proof of their truth.
This good advice fell in well with the bent of Louis's mind. For, though
no statesman, he had in this matter a sound instinct that an absolute
monarch aiding rebels to erect a free republic was an anomaly, and a
hazardous contradiction in the natural order of things. But de Vergennes
was the coming man in France, and Turgot no longer had the influence or
the popularity to which his ability entitled him. In May, 1776, on an
ill day for the French monarchy, but a fair one for the American
provinces, this able statesman was ousted from the cabinet. De Vergennes
remained to wield entire control of the policy of the kingdom in this
business, and his triumph was the great good fortune of the colonies.
Yet his design was sufficiently cautious, and strictly limited to the
advantage of his own country. France was not to be compromised, and an
ingenious scheme was arranged.
The firm of Roderigue Hortalez & Co. made sudden appearance in Paris.
Beaumarchais alone conducted its affairs, the most extraordinary
merchant surely who ever engaged in extensive commerce! The capital was
secretly furnished by the Spanish and French governments; about $400,000
the firm had to start with, and later the French government contributed
$200,000 more. De Vergennes was explicit in his language to
Beaumarchais: to Englishmen and Americans alike the affair must be an
"individual speculation." With the capital given him Beaumarchais must
"found a great commercial establishment," and "at his own risk and
peril" sell to the colonies military supplies. These would be sold to
him from the French arsenals; but he "must pay for them." From the
colonies he must "ask return in their staple products." Except that his
silent partners might be lenient in demanding repayment Beaumarchais
really was to be a merchant, engaged in an exceptionally hazardous
trade. If he regarded himself in any other light he was soon painfully
undeceived; for de Vergennes was in earnest. But for the immediate
present, upon the moment when he had arranged these preliminaries,
doubtless fancying the government at his back, this most energetic of
men plunged into his work with all the ardor of his excitable nature. He
flew hither and thither; got arms and munitions from the government;
bought and loaded ships, and was soon conducting an enormous business.
But it was by no means all smooth sailing for the vessels of Hortalez &
Co.; for Deane arrived, not altogether opportunely, just as Beaumarchais
was getting well under weigh. The two were soon brought together, and
Deane was told all that was going on, save only the original connection
of the French government, which it seems that he never knew. He in turn
told all to Dr. Bancroft, and so unwittingly to the English government.
Thereupon the watchful English cruisers effectually locked up the ships
of Hortalez in the French harbors. Also Lord Stormont, the English
ambassador, harassed the French government with ceaseless
representations and complaints concerning these betrayed shipments of
contraband cargoes. At the same time the news from America, coming
chiefly through English channels, took on a very gloomy coloring, and
lent a certain emphasis to these protests of the English minister. De
Vergennes felt compelled to play out his neutral part even more in
earnest than had been intended. He sent to the ports at which Hortalez &
Co. had ships very stringent instructions to check unlawful trade, and
the officials obeyed in good faith to the letter. Beaumarchais was
seriously embarrassed at finding himself bearing in fact the mercantile
character which he had supposed that he was only dramatically assuming.
He had to load his cargoes and clear his ships as best he could,
precisely like any ordinary dealer in contraband wares; there was no
favoritism, no winking at his breaches of the law. The result was that
it was a long while before he got any arms, ammunition, and clothing
into an American port. Moreover, the ships from America which were to
have brought him payment in the shape of tobacco and other American
commodities failed to arrive; his royal copartners declined to make
further advances; the ready money was gone, credit had been strained to
the breaking point, and a real bankruptcy impended over the sham firm.
Thus in the autumn and early winter of 1776 prospects in France wore no
cheerful aspect for the colonies. It was at this juncture that Franklin
arrived, and he came like a reviving breeze from the sea.
Long and anxiously did Congress wait to get news from France; not many
trustworthy ships were sent on so perilous a voyage, and of those that
ventured it only a few got across an ocean "porcupined" with English
warships. At last in September, 1776, Franklin received from Dr. Dubourg
of Paris, a gentleman with whom his friendship dated back to his French
trip in 1767, a long and cheering letter full of gratifying
intelligence concerning the disposition of the court, and throwing out a
number of such suggestions that the mere reading them was a stimulus to
action. Congress was not backward to respond; it resolved at once to
send a formal embassage. Franklin was chosen unanimously by the first
ballot. "I am old and good for nothing," he whispered to Dr. Rush, "but,
as the storekeepers say of their remnants of cloth, 'I am but a fag end
and you may have me for what you please.'"[39] Thomas Jefferson and
Deane were elected as colleagues; but Jefferson declined the service and
Arthur Lee was put in his stead. The Reprisal, sloop of war, of sixteen
guns, took Dr. Franklin and his grandson on board for the dangerous
voyage. It was a very different risk from that which Messrs. Slidell and
Mason took nearly a century later. They embarked on a British mail
steamship, and were subject, as was proved, only to the ordinary perils
of navigation. But had Franklin been caught in this little rebel craft,
which had actually been captured from English owners and condemned as
prize by rebel tribunals, and which now added the aggravating
circumstance that she carried an armament sufficient to destroy a
merchantman but not to encounter a frigate, he would have had before him
at best a long imprisonment, at worst a trial for high treason and a
halter. Horace Walpole gave the news that "Dr. Franklin, at the age of
seventy-two or seventy-four, and at the risk of his head, had bravely
embarked on board an American frigate." Several times he must have
contemplated these pleasing prospects, for several times the small sloop
was chased by English cruisers; but she was a swift sailer and escaped
them all. Just before making port she captured two English brigs and
carried them in as prizes.
[Note 39: Parton's _Life of Franklin_, ii. 166.]
The reference to Slidell and Mason, by the way, calls to mind the
humorous but accurate manner in which Franklin described the difference
between revolution and rebellion. Soon after landing from this hazardous
voyage he wrote merrily to a lady friend: "You are too early, hussy, as
well as too saucy, in calling me a _rebel_. You should wait for the
event, which will determine whether it is a _rebellion_ or only a
_revolution_. Here the ladies are more civil; they call us _les
insurgens_, a character which usually pleases them."
The voyage, though quick, was very rough, and Franklin, confined in a
small cabin and "poorly nourished," since much of the meat was too tough
for his old teeth, had a hard time of it; so that upon coming on shore
he found himself "much fatigued and weakened," indeed, "almost
demolished." He therefore rested several days at Nantes before going to
Paris, where he arrived just before the close of the year.
The excitement which his arrival in the French capital created was
unmistakable evidence of the estimate set by Europe upon his abilities.
Some persons in England endeavored to give to his voyage the color of a
desertion from a cause of which he despaired. "The arch----, Dr.
Franklin, has lately eloped under a cloak of plenipotentiary to
Versailles," wrote Sir Grey Cooper. But Edmund Burke refused to believe
that the man whom he had seen examined before the privy council was
"going to conclude a long life, which has brightened every hour it has
continued, with so foul and dishonorable a flight." Lord Rockingham said
that the presence of Franklin in Paris much more than offset the victory
of the English on Long Island, and their capture of New York. Lord
Stormont, it is said, threatened to leave _sans prendre congé_, if the
"chief of the American rebels" were allowed to come to Paris. The adroit
de Vergennes replied that the government had already dispatched a
courier to direct Franklin to remain at Nantes; but since they knew
neither the time of his departure nor his route, the message might not
reach him. Should he thus innocently arrive in Paris it would be
scandalous, inhospitable, and contrary to the laws of nations to send
him away.[40]
[Note 40: Hale's _Franklin in France_, i. 73.]
But while the English were angry, the French indulged in a _furore_ of
welcome. They made feasts and hailed the American as the friend of human
kind, as the "ideal of a patriarchal republic and of idyllic
simplicity," as a sage of antiquity; and the exuberant classicism of
the nation exhausted itself in glorifying him by comparisons with those
great names of Greece and Rome which have become symbols for all private
and public virtues. They admired him because he did not wear a wig; they
lauded his spectacles; they were overcome with enthusiasm as they
contemplated his great cap of martin fur, his scrupulously white linen,
and the quaint simplicity of his brown Quaker raiment of colonial make.
They noted with amazement that his "only defense" was a "walking-stick
in his hand." The print-shops were soon full of countless
representations of his noble face and venerable figure, set off by all
these pleasing adjuncts. The people thronged the streets to see him
pass, and respectfully made way for him. He seemed, as John Adams said
later, to enjoy a reputation "more universal than that of Leibnitz or
Newton, Frederick or Voltaire."
So soon as all this uproar gave him time to look about him, he
established himself at Passy, in a part of the Hôtel de Valentinois,
which was kindly placed at his disposal by its owner, M. Ray de
Chaumont. In this at that time retired suburb he hoped to be able to
keep the inevitable but useless interruptions within endurable limits.
Not improbably also he was further influenced, in accepting M.
Chaumont's hospitality, by a motive of diplomatic prudence. His
shrewdness and experience must soon have shown him that his presence in
Paris, if not precisely distasteful to the French government, must at
least in some degree compromise it, and might by any indiscretion on his
part easily be made to annoy and vex the ministers. It therefore
behooved him to make himself as little as possible conspicuous in any
official or public way. A rebuke, a cold reception, might do serious
harm; nor was it politic to bring perplexities to those whose friendship
he sought. He could not avoid, nor had he any reason to do so, the
social éclat with which he was greeted; but he must shun the ostentation
of any relationship with men in office. This would be more easily
accomplished by living in a quarter somewhat remote and suburban. His
retirement, therefore, while little curtailing his intercourse with
private society, evinced his good tact, and doubtless helped his good
standing with the ministers. The police record reports that, if he saw
them at all, it was secretly and under cover of night. He lived in
comfortable style, but not showily, keeping a moderate retinue of
servants for appearance as much as for use, and a carriage, which was
indispensable to him. John Adams charged him with undue luxury and
extravagance, but the accusation was ridiculous.
Very exacting did the business of the American envoys soon become. On
December 23, 1776, they wrote to acquaint the Count de Vergennes that
they were "appointed and fully empowered by the Congress of the United
States of America to propose and negotiate a treaty of amity and
commerce between France and the United States;" and they requested an
audience for the purpose of presenting their credentials to his
excellency. Five days later the audience was given them. They explained
the desire of the American colonies to enter into a treaty of alliance
and of commerce. They said that the colonists were anxious to get their
ships, now lying at the home wharves laden with tobacco and other
products, out of the American harbors, and to give them a chance to run
for France. But the English vessels hovered thick up and down the
coasts, and the Americans, though able to take care of frigates, could
not encounter ships of the line. Would not France lend eight ships of
the line, equipped and manned, to let loose all this blockaded commerce
which was ready to seek her ports and to fill the coffers of her
merchants? Under all the circumstances this was certainly asking too
much; and in due time the envoys were courteously told so, but were also
offered a strictly secret loan of $400,000, to be repaid after the war,
without interest.
It appears that Franklin had substantially no concern in the quasi
commercial transactions pending at the time of his arrival between Deane
and Beaumarchais. Deane himself did not know and could not disclose the
details of the relationship between Beaumarchais and the government,
which indeed were not explored and made public until more than half a
century had elapsed after their occurrence. Therefore Franklin saw
nothing more than mercantile dealings in various stages of forwardness,
whose extensive intricacies it did not seem worth while for him to
unravel at a cost of much time and labor, which could be better expended
in other occupations.[41] Deane held all the threads, and it seemed
natural and proper to leave this business as his department. So Franklin
never had more than a general knowledge concerning this imbroglio.
This leaving all to Deane might have been well enough had not Deane had
an implacable enemy in Arthur Lee, who, for that matter, resembled the
devil in at least one particular, inasmuch as he was the foe of all
mankind. Beaumarchais early in the proceedings had summarily dropped Lee
from his confidence and instated Deane in the vacancy. This was
sufficient to set Lee at once at traducing, an art in which long
experience had cultivated natural aptitude. He saw great sums of money
being used, and he was not told whence they came. But he guessed, and
upon his guess he built up a theory of financial knavery. Deane had
repeatedly assured Beaumarchais that he should receive the cargoes of
American produce with promptitude,[42] and he did his best to make these
promises good, writing urgent letters to Congress to hasten forward the
colonial merchandise. But Arthur Lee mischievously and maliciously
blocked these perfectly straightforward and absolutely necessary
arrangements. For he had conceived the notion that Beaumarchais was an
agent of the French court, that the supplies were free gifts from the
French government, and that any payments for them to Hortalez & Co.
would only go to fill the rascal purses of Deane and Beaumarchais,
confederates in a scheme for swindling. He had no particle of evidence
to sustain this notion, which was simply the subtle conception of his
own bad mind; but he was not the less positive and persistent in
asserting it in his letters to members of Congress. Such accounts sadly
puzzled that body; and it may be imagined to what a further hopeless
degree of bewilderment this gathering of American lawyers and tradesmen,
planters and farmers, must have been reduced by the extraordinary
letters of the wild and fanciful Beaumarchais. The natural consequence
was that the easier course was pursued, and no merchandise was sent to
Hortalez. If affairs had not soon taken a new turn in France this error
might have had disastrous consequences for the colonies. In fact, it
only ruined poor Deane.
[Note 41: Franklin's _Works_, vi. 199, 205; viii. 153, 183; Hale's
_Franklin in France_, i. 53.]
[Note 42: Hale's _Franklin in France_, i. 45.]
After this unfortunate man had been recalled, and while he was in great
affliction at home because he could not get his reputation cleared from
these Lee slanders, being utterly unable in America to produce even such
accounts and evidence as might have been had in France, Franklin more
than once volunteered to express kindly and emphatically his entire
belief in Deane's integrity. So late as October, 1779, though admitting
his lack of knowledge concerning an affair in which he had "never
meddled," he still thought Deane "innocent." Finally in 1782, when Deane
had become thoroughly demoralized by his hard fate, Franklin spoke of
his fall not without a note of sympathy: "He resides at Ghent, is
distressed both in mind and circumstances, raves and writes abundance,
and I imagine it will end in his going over to join his friend Arnold in
England. I had an exceedingly good opinion of him when he acted with me,
and I believe he was then sincere and hearty in our cause. But he is
changed, and his character ruined in his own country and in this, so
that I see no other but England to which he can now retire. He says we
owe him about £12,000 sterling."[43] But of this Franklin knew nothing,
and proposed getting experts to examine the accounts. He did know very
well, however, what it was to be accused by Arthur Lee, and would
condemn no man upon that basis!
[Note 43: See also letter to Morris, March 30, 1782, _Works_, vii.
419; also viii. 225. In 1835 sufficient evidence was discovered to
induce Congress to pay to the heirs of this unfortunate man a part of
the sum due to him. Parton's _Life of Franklin_, ii. 362.]
Yet the matter annoyed him greatly. On June 12, 1781, he wrote
acknowledging that he was absolutely in the dark about the whole
business:--
"In 1776, being then in Congress, I received a letter from Mr.
Lee, acquainting me that M. Beaumarchais had applied to him in
London, informing him that 200,000 guineas had been put into his
hands, and was at the disposal of the Congress; Mr. Lee added that
it was agreed between them that he, M. Beaumarchais, should remit
the same in arms, ammunition, etc., under the name of Hortalez &
Co. Several cargoes were accordingly sent. Mr. Lee understood this
to be a private aid from the government of France; but M.
Beaumarchais has since demanded from Congress payment of a gross
sum, as due to him, and has received a considerable part, but has
rendered no particular account. I have, by order of Congress,
desired him to produce his account, that we might know exactly what
we owed, and for what; and he has several times promised it, but
has not yet done it; and in his conversation he often mentions, as
I am told, that we are greatly in his debt. These accounts in the
air are unpleasant, and one is neither safe nor easy under them. I
wish, therefore, you could help me to obtain a settlement of them.
It has been said that Mr. Deane, unknown to his colleagues, wrote
to Congress in favor of M. Beaumarchais's demand; on which Mr. Lee
accuses him of having, to the prejudice of his constituents,
negotiated a gift into a debt. At present all that transaction is
in darkness;[44] and we know not whether the whole, or a part, or
no part, of the supplies he furnished were at the expense of
government, the reports we have had being so inconsistent and
contradictory; nor, if we are in debt for them, or any part of
them, whether it is the king or M. de Beaumarchais who is our
creditor."[45]
[Note 44: Light was first let in upon this darkness by Louis de
Loménie, in his _Beaumarchais et Son Temps_; and the story as told by
him may be read, in a spirited version, in Parton's _Life of Franklin_,
chapters vii., viii.]
[Note 45: Hale's _Franklin in France_, i. 53.]
What chiefly irritated Congress against Deane and led to his recall was
neither his dealings with Beaumarchais nor the slanders of Lee, but
quite another matter, in which he certainly showed much lack of
discretion. Cargoes of arms and munitions of war were very welcome in
the States, but cargoes of French and other European officers were by no
means so. Yet the inconsiderate Deane sent over these enthusiasts and
adventurers in throngs. The outbreak of the rebellion seemed to arouse a
spirit of martial pilgrimage in Europe, a sort of crusading ardor, which
seized the Frenchmen especially, but also some few officers in other
continental armies. These all flocked to Paris and told Deane that they
were burning to give the insurgent States the invaluable assistance of
their distinguished services. Deane was little accustomed to the highly
appreciative rhetoric with which the true Frenchman frankly describes
his own merit, and apparently accepted as correct the appraisal which
these warriors made of themselves. Soon they alighted in swarms upon the
American coast, besieged the doors of Congress, and mingled their
importunities with all the other harassments of Washington. Each one of
them had his letter from Deane, reciting the exaggerated estimate of his
capacity, and worse still each one was armed with Deane's promise that
he should hold in the American army a rank one grade higher than he had
held in his home service. To keep these unauthorized pledges would have
resulted in the resignation of all the good American officers, and in
the utter disorganization of the army. So the inevitable outcome was
that the disappointed adventurers became furious; that Congress, greatly
annoyed, went to heavy expenses in sending them back again to Europe,
and in giving some _douceurs_, which could be ill afforded by the giver
and were quite insufficient to prevent the recipients from spreading at
home their bitter grudge against the young republic. Altogether it was a
bad business.
No sooner was Franklin's foot on French soil than the same eager horde
assailed him. But they found a respondent very different from Deane.
Franklin had experience. He knew the world and men; and now his tranquil
judgment and firmness saved him and the applicants alike from further
blunders. His appreciation of these fiery and priceless gallants, who so
dazzled the simple-minded Deane, is shown with charming humor in his
effort to say a kindly word for his unfortunate colleague. He did not
wonder, he said, that Deane,--
"being then a stranger to the people, and unacquainted with the
language, was at first prevailed on to make some such agreements,
when all were recommended, as they always are, as _officiers
expérimentés, braves comme leurs épées, pleins de courage, de
talent, et de zêle pour notre cause_, etc., etc.; in short, mere
Cæsars, each of whom would have been an invaluable acquisition to
America. You can have no conception how we are still besieged and
worried on this head, our time cut to pieces by personal
applications, besides those contained in dozens of letters by every
post.... I hope therefore that favorable allowance will be made to
my worthy colleague on account of his situation at the time, as he
has long since corrected that mistake, and daily approves himself,
to my certain knowledge, an able, faithful, active, and extremely
useful servant of the public; a testimony I think it my duty of
taking this occasion to make to his merit, unasked, as, considering
my great age, I may probably not live to give it personally in
Congress, and I perceive he has enemies."
But however firmly and wisely Franklin stood out against the storm of
importunities he could not for a long time moderate it. He continued to
be "besieged and worried," and to have his time "cut to pieces;" till at
last he wrote to a friend: "You can have no conception how I am
harassed. All my friends are sought out and teased to tease me. Great
officers of all ranks, in all departments, ladies great and small,
besides professed solicitors, worry me from morning to night. The noise
of every coach now that enters my court terrifies me. I am afraid to
accept an invitation to dine abroad.... Luckily I do not often in my
sleep dream of these vexatious situations, or I should be afraid of what
are now my only hours of comfort.... For God's sake, my dear friend, let
this, your twenty-third application, be your last."
His plain-spoken replies, however harshly they may have struck upon
Gallic sensitiveness, at least left no room for any one to misunderstand
him. "I know that officers, going to America for employment, will
probably be disappointed," he wrote; "that our armies are full; that
there are a number of expectants unemployed and starving for want of
subsistence; that my recommendation will not make vacancies, nor can it
fill them to the prejudice of those who have a better claim." He also
wrote to Washington, to whom the letter must have brought joyous relief,
that he dissuaded every one from incurring the great expense and hazard
of the long voyage, since there was already an over-supply of officers
and the chance of employment was extremely slight.[46]
[Note 46: As an example of the manner in which Franklin sometimes
was driven to express himself, his letter to M. Lith is admirable. This
gentleman had evidently irritated him somewhat, and Franklin demolished
him with a reply in that plain, straightforward style of which he was a
master, in which appeared no anger, but sarcasm of that severest kind
which lies in a simple statement of facts. I regret that there is not
space to transcribe it, but it may be read in his _Works_, vi. 85.]
The severest dose which he administered must have made some of those
excitable swords quiver in their scabbards. He drew up and used this
"MODEL OF A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION OF A PERSON YOU ARE
UNACQUAINTED WITH
"_Sir_,--The bearer of this, who is going to America, presses me to
give him a letter of recommendation, though I know nothing of him,
not even his name. This may seem extraordinary, but I assure you it
is not uncommon here. Sometimes, indeed, one unknown person brings
another equally unknown to recommend him; and sometimes they
recommend one another! As to this gentleman, I must refer you to
himself for his character and merits, with which he is certainly
better acquainted than I can possibly be. I recommend him however
to those civilities, which every stranger, of whom one knows no
harm, has a right to; and I request you will do him all the good
offices and show him all the favor, that, on further acquaintance,
you shall find him to deserve. I have the honor to be, &c."
It would be entertaining to know how many of these letters were
delivered, and in what phrases of French courtesy gratitude was
expressed for them. Sometimes, if any one persisted, in spite of
discouragement, in making the journey at his own cost, and, being
forewarned, also at his own risk of disappointment, Franklin gave him a
letter strictly confined to the scope of a civil personal introduction.
Possibly, now and again, some useful officer may have been thus deterred
from crossing the water; but any such loss was compensated several
hundredfold by shutting off the intolerable inundation of useless
foreigners. Nor was Franklin wanting in discretion in the matter; for he
commended Lafayette and Steuben by letters, which had real value from
the fact of the extreme rarity of such a warranty from this source.
Franklin was little given to political prophecy, but it is interesting
to read a passage written shortly after his arrival, May 1, 1777:--
"All Europe is on our side of the question, as far as applause and
good wishes can carry them. Those who live under arbitrary power do
nevertheless approve of liberty, and wish for it; they almost
despair of recovering it in Europe; they read the translations of
our separate colony constitutions with rapture; and there are such
numbers everywhere who talk of removing to America, with their
families and fortunes, as soon as peace and our independence shall
be established, that it is generally believed that we shall have a
prodigious addition of strength, wealth, and arts from the
emigration of Europe; and it is thought that to lessen or prevent
such emigrations, the tyrannies established there must relax, and
allow more liberty to their people. Hence it is a common
observation here that our cause is the _cause of all mankind_, and
that we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own. It is
a glorious task assigned us by Providence, which has, I trust,
given us spirit and virtue equal to it, and will at last crown it
with success."
The statesmanship of the time-honored European school, ably practiced by
de Vergennes, was short-sighted and blundering in comparison with this
broad appreciation of the real vastness and far-reaching importance of
that great struggle betwixt the Old and the New.