_Progress of the War, both of Diplomacy and the Sword._
Letter of Henry Laurens--Franklin visits the army before
Boston--Letter of Mrs. Adams--Burning of
Falmouth--Franklin's journey to Montreal--The Declaration of
Independence--Anecdote of the Hatter--Framing the
Constitution--Lord Howe's Declaration--Franklin's reply--The
Conference--Encouraging letter from France--Franklin's
embassy to France--The two parties in France--The
voyage--The reception in France.
The spirit which, almost to that hour, had animated the people of
America,--the most illustrious statesmen and common people, was
attachment to Old England. Their intense desire to maintain friendly
relations with the mother country, their "home," their revered and
beloved home, may be inferred from the following extract from a
letter, which one of the noblest of South Carolinians, Hon. Henry
Laurens, wrote to his son John. It bears the date of 1776. He writes,
alluding to the separation from England, then beginning to be
contemplated:
"I can not rejoice in the downfall of an old friend, of a
parent from whose nurturing breasts I have drawn my support
and strength. Every evil which befalls old England grieves
me. Would to God she had listened, in time, to the cries of
her children. If my own interests, if my own rights alone
had been concerned, I would most freely have given the whole
to the demands and disposal of her ministers, in preference
to a separation. But the rights of posterity were involved
in the question. I happened to stand as one of their
representatives, and dared not betray their trust."
Washington, Adams, Jay, would have made almost any conceivable
sacrifice of their personal interest, if they could have averted the
calamity of a separation from the home of their ancestors. But the
conduct of the British Cabinet was not only despotic, in the highest
degree, but it was insolent and contemptuous beyond all endurance. It
seemed to be generally assumed that a man, if born on the majestic
continent of North America, instead of being born on their little
island, must be an inferior being. They regarded Americans as
slave-holders were accustomed to regard the negro. Almost every
interview resolved itself into an insult. Courteous intercourse was
impossible. Affection gave place to detestation.
On the 13th of September, 1775, Congress assembled in Philadelphia.
Lexington, Bunker Hill, and other hostile acts of our implacable foes,
had thrown the whole country into the most intense agitation. Military
companies were every where being organized. Musket manufactories and
powder mills were reared. Ladies were busy scraping lint, and
preparing bandages. And what was the cause of all this commotion,
which converted America, for seven years, into an Aceldama of blood
and woe?
It was that haughty, insolent men in England, claimed the right to
impose taxes, to whatever amount they pleased, upon their brother men
in America. They did not blush to say, "It is the prerogative of us
Englishmen to demand of you Americans such sums of money as we want.
Unless, like obsequious slaves, you pay the money, without murmuring,
we will burn your cities and deluge your whole land in blood."
Washington was assembling quite an army of American troops around
Boston, holding the foe in close siege there. Franklin was sent, by
Congress, as one of a committee of three, to confer with Washington
upon raising and supplying the American army. Amidst all these
terrific excitements and perils this wonderful man could not refrain
from giving expression to his sense of the ludicrous. The day before
leaving Philadelphia, he wrote to Dr. Priestly the following humorous
summary of the result of the British operations thus far.
"Britain at the expense of three millions, has killed one
hundred and fifty Yankees this campaign, which is twenty
thousand pounds a head. And, at Bunker Hill, she gained a
mile of ground, half of which she lost again by our taking
post on Ploughed Hill. During the same time sixty thousand
children have been born in America. From these data, Dr.
Price's mathematical head will easily calculate the time and
expense necessary to kill us all, and conquer our whole
territory."
It required a journey of thirteen days, for the Commissioners to pass
from Philadelphia to Cambridge. On the 4th of October they reached the
camp. Mrs. John Adams, who was equal to her husband in patriotism, in
intellectual ability and in self-denial, writes,
"I had the pleasure of dining with Dr. Franklin, and of
admiring him whose character, from infancy, I had been
taught to venerate. I found him social, but not talkative;
and when he spoke, something useful dropped from his tongue.
He was grave, yet pleasant and affable. You know I make some
pretensions to physiognomy, and I thought that I could read
in his countenance, the virtues of his heart; and with that
is blended every virtue of a Christian."
The conference lasted four days, and resulted in the adoption of very
important measures. While in the camp, news came of the burning of
Portland, then Falmouth. It was a deed which would have disgraced
American savages. The town was entirely defenceless. It held out no
menace whatever to the foe. The cold blasts of a Maine winter were at
hand. A British man-of-war entered the harbor, and giving but a few
hours notice, that the sick and the dying might be removed, and that
the women and children might escape from shot and shell, to the frozen
fields, one hundred and thirty humble, peaceful homes were laid in
ashes. The cruel flames consumed nearly all their household furniture,
their clothing and the frugal food they had laid in store for their
long and dreary winter. A few houses escaped the shells. Marines were
landed to apply the torch to them, that the destruction might be
complete.
There were several vessels in the harbor. The freezing, starving,
homeless wives and daughters who had not strength to toil through the
wilderness to seek distant cabins of refuge, might perhaps escape in
them. To prevent this they were burned to the water's edge. It was an
infernal deed. It struck to the very heart of America. Even now, after
a lapse of one hundred years, no American can read an account of this
outrage without the flushed cheek and the moistened eye which
indignation creates. Mrs. Adams wrote,
"I could not join to-day in the petitions of our worthy
pastor for a reconciliation between our no longer parent,
but tyrant state, and these colonies. Let us separate. They
are no longer worthy to be our brethren. Let us renounce
them, and instead of supplications, as formerly for their
prosperity and happiness, let us beseech the Almighty to
blast their councils and bring to naught all their devices."
Though Franklin was the sweetest tempered of men, he returned to
Philadelphia with his spirit greatly embittered against the demoniac
foes of his country. For some time no jokes escaped his lips or pen.
In December, Arnold, then a patriot and a brave soldier, had made an
unsuccessful attack upon Quebec. He had retired to Montreal. Franklin
was again appointed one of these commissioners, to visit Arnold and
advise respecting Canadian affairs.
Most of the Canadians were Catholics. One of the commissioners was
Charles Carroll of Carollton. He had a brother John, a Catholic
priest, a man of high culture, of irreproachable character and a
sincere patriot. He was perfectly familiar with the French language.
By the solicitation of Congress he was induced to accompany his
brother on this mission. It was hoped that he would be able to exert
a powerful influence over the Canadian clergy. Franklin and John
Carroll became intimate and loving friends. It speaks well for both,
that the free-thinking philosopher, and the Catholic priest could so
recognize each other's virtues, as to forget their speculative
differences in mutual regard.
There was before the commissioners, a very laborious journey of five
hundred miles, much of it leading through an almost unexplored
wilderness. It shows great zeal in Franklin, that at the age of
seventy, he was willing to encounter such exposure.
Late in March, the commissioners left Philadelphia. In two days they
reached New York. They found the place deserted of its inhabitants. It
was held but by a few soldiers, as it was hourly expected that the
British, from their fleet and batteries, would open upon it a terrific
bombardment. How little can we imagine the sufferings which must
ensue, when thousands of families are driven, in terror, from their
homes, from all their means of support, to go they know not where, and
to live they know not how.
A few sad days were passed in the ruined town, and on the 2d of April
the party embarked, at five in the afternoon, in a packet for Albany.
At seven o'clock in the morning of the 4th day, after an eventful
voyage, in which they narrowly escaped shipwreck from a gale in the
Highlands, they landed at Albany, where they were hospitably
entertained by General Schuyler.
After a brief rest, on the 9th, they set out for Saratoga, which was
distant about thirty-two miles. They were conveyed over an exceedingly
rough road of rocks, and corduroy and mire, in a large, heavy, country
wagon. From this place, Franklin wrote,
"I begin to apprehend that I have undertaken a fatigue
which, at my time of life, may prove too much for me."
After a short tarry at the country seat of General Sullivan at
Saratoga, the party moved on toward Lake George. In those northern
latitudes the ground was still covered with snow, and the lake was
filled with floating ice. Two days of very exhausting travel brought
them to the southern shore of the beautiful but then dreary lake. Here
they took a large boat, thirty-six feet long, and eight broad. It was
what was called a bateau, which was flat-bottomed, and was but one
foot in depth. There was one mast, and a blanket sail, which was
available when the wind was directly aft. There was no cabin. A mere
awning sheltered partially from wind and rain.
Thus they crept across the lake, through masses of ice, a distance of
thirty-six miles, in thirty-six hours. There was a neck of land, four
miles in breadth, which separated Lake George from Lake Champlain. The
heavy boat, placed on wheels, was dragged across by six yoke of oxen.
A delay of five days was thus caused, before they were ready to embark
on the latter lake. The navigation of this small sheet of water,
surrounded by the primeval forest, and with scarcely the cabin of a
white man to be seen, must have been romantic indeed.
They sailed when the wind favored, and rowed when it was adverse. At
night they ran ashore, built their camp fire, which illumined lake and
forest, boiled their coffee, cooked their viands, and, some under the
awning, and some under the shelter of a hastily constructed camp,
slept sweetly. The ice greatly impeded their progress. In three and a
half days, they reached St. John's, near the upper end of the lake.
The toilsome journey of another day, brought them to Montreal. None of
the commissioners were accustomed to thus roughing it. All were
greatly exhausted.
A council of war was convened. Canada was clearly lost to the
Americans. It was at once decided that nothing remained but to
withdraw the troops. Early in June, Franklin reached Philadelphia,
from his toilsome journey. He had been absent about ten weeks. The
doom of the proprietary government over Pennsylvania, was now sealed.
Congress had voted that all authority derived from the king of
England, was extinct. A conference of delegates was appointed to
organize a new government for the province. Franklin was, of course,
one of these delegates. A committee had been appointed, by Congress,
to draw up a Declaration of Independence. The committee consisted of
Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Livingston, and Sherman.
The immortal document, as all the world knows, came from the pen of
Jefferson. It was offered to Congress for acceptance. Many frivolous
objections were, of course, presented. One man thought this phrase a
little too severe. Another thought that a little too lenient. Franklin
sat by the side of Jefferson, as the admirable document was subjected
to this assailment. Turning to him he said, in one of the most
characteristic and popular of all his utterances,
"When I was a journeyman printer, one of my companions, an apprenticed
hatter, was about to open a shop for himself. His first concern was to
have a handsome sign-board, with a proper inscription. He composed it
in these words,
"John Thompson, Hatter, makes and sells Hats for ready Money."
But he thought he would submit it to his friends for their amendments.
The first he showed it to, thought the word _hatter_ tautologous;
because followed by the words _makes hats_, which showed that he was a
hatter. It was struck out. The next observed that the word _makes_,
might as well be omitted, because his customers would not care who
made the hats; if good, and to their mind, they would buy, by
whomsoever made. He struck it out. A third said he thought the words,
for _ready money_, were useless; as it was not the custom of the place
to sell on credit. Every one who purchased, expected to pay. They were
parted with. The inscription now stood,
"John Thompson sells hats."
"_Sells_ hats," says his next friend. "Why nobody will expect you to
give them away. What then is the use of that word?" It was stricken
out, and _hats_ followed, the rather as there was one painted on the
board. So his inscription was reduced ultimately to _John Thompson_,
with the figure of a hat subjoined."
It will be remembered the readiness with which Dr. Franklin, on the
spur of the moment, threw off the admirable fable of the Eagle and the
Hare. It is altogether probable that, in the inexhaustible resources
of his genius, he improvised this anecdote to meet the exigencies of
the occasion.
When the Hessian troops, whom England had hired of a German prince,
arrived, intelligent men in this country pitied rather than blamed
those simple hearted peasants, who had no animosity whatever, against
the Americans. They had been compelled, by their feudal lord, who was
really their slave master, to leave their lowly homes on the Rhine, to
unite with English regulars and painted savages, in burning the homes
and butchering the people struggling for existence in the wilderness
of the New World.
Again the all availing pen of Franklin was called into requisition. By
direction of Congress he drew up a friendly address to these
unfortunate men, offering every German, who would abandon the
ignominious service to which his prince had sold him, a tract of rich
land sufficient for an ample farm. The address was translated into
German. Various were the devices adopted, to give the document
circulation in the Hessian camp. It doubtless exerted a powerful
influence, in disarming these highly disciplined troops of all
animosity. The effect was perhaps seen in the spectacle witnessed a
few weeks afterwards, when nine hundred of these soldiers were led
through the streets of Philadelphia, prisoners of war. It is not
improbable that many of them were more than willing to throw down
their arms.
On the 20th of July, 1776, Franklin was chosen by the Convention,
one of nine delegates to represent Pennsylvania in the national
Congress. One of the great difficulties to be surmounted, in a
union of the States, was to give the great States, like New York and
Pennsylvania, their own preponderance in the confederacy, while the
minor states, like New Jersey and Delaware, should not be shorn of
their influence. The difficulty was finally obviated by the present
admirable arrangement, by which each State, great or small, has two
representatives in the Senate, while their representation in the
House depends upon the number of the population.
Franklin excelled in the art of "putting things." He silenced the
demand of the smaller States, to be, in all respects, on an equality
with the larger, by saying,
"Let the smaller colonies give equal money and men, and then have an
equal vote. But if they have an equal vote, without bearing equal
burdens, a confederation, upon such iniquitous principles, will never
last long."
The convention, to form a constitution for the State of Pennsylvania,
met at Philadelphia on the 16th of July, 1776. Franklin was
unanimously chosen President. No pen can describe the intensity of his
labors. All appreciated his consummate wisdom, and yielded readily to
his suggestions. Troops were hurrying to and fro. One hundred and
twenty British war vessels were in New York harbor. No one knew upon
what seaport the thunderbolts of this formidable armament would be
hurled. The Americans had been defeated on Long Island in August,
1776, and had almost miraculously escaped with their field pieces and
stores, across the East River to New York. This brilliant retreat was
deemed, by the Americans, almost equivalent to a victory.
Lord Howe, the old friend of Franklin and a humane and respected
Englishman, who was sincerely desirous of peace with the Colonies,
was appointed Admiral of the king's naval forces. He accepted
the appointment, with the hope that, by the aid of Franklin,
reconciliation might be effected. Still he was an Englishman and could
not conceive that Americans had any rights which the English
government was bound to respect. The degree of his infatuation may be
inferred from the fact that, as soon as he reached our shores, he
published a Declaration, which he circulated far and wide, stating
that if the Americans would only give up the conflict and return to
implicit submission, the British Government would forgive their sins,
pardon the guilty ones, with a few exceptions, and receive them again
to favor. The weak man seemed really to think, that this was an
extraordinary act of clemency on the part of the English Court.
The reply, which Franklin drew up, to the Declaration, was grand. And
it was the more grand when we reflect that it was addressed to a man
who was supported by an army, of we know not how many thousand British
regulars, and by a fleet of one hundred and twenty war vessels, many
of which were of gigantic armament. Admiral Howe had written a
courteous private letter to Dr. Franklin, in which he enclosed the
Declaration. Congress gave Franklin permission to reply. He wrote,
"My lord; the official despatches to which you refer me,
contain nothing more than offers of pardon upon submission.
Directing pardon to be offered to the colonies, who are the
very parties injured, expresses indeed that opinion of our
ignorance, baseness, and insensibility which your uninformed
and proud nation has long been pleased to entertain of us.
It is impossible that we should think of submission to a
government that has, with the most wanton barbarity and
cruelty, burnt our defenseless towns, in the midst of
winter, excited the savages to massacre our farmers, and
our slaves to murder their masters, and is, even now,
bringing foreign mercenaries to deluge our settlements with
blood."
I have not space to copy the remainder of this admirable letter. It
was delivered to Lord Howe, on board his flag ship in New York harbor,
ten days after its date. As he read it his countenance expressed
surprise, and almost his only remark was, "My old friend has expressed
himself very warmly."
A few weeks later this good natured but weak man paroled General
Sullivan, who was a prisoner of war, and sent him to Philadelphia,
with a message to Congress which Lord Howe cautiously declined to put
upon paper. General Sullivan reduced the message to writing and
presented it to Congress. It was in substance as follows:
"The government of England cannot admit that Congress is a legitimate
body, to be recognized by any diplomatic relations whatever. It is but
a tumultous assembly of men who have treasonably conspired against
their lawful sovereign. Still the government is willing that Lord Howe
should confer with some of the members of congress, as private
gentlemen, to see if some terms of accommodation cannot be arranged."
After much and earnest discussion, in which a great diversity of
opinion prevailed, it was voted that General Sullivan should inform
Admiral Howe, that a committee of three would be sent to ascertain
whether he "has any authority to treat with persons, _authorized by
Congress_ for that purpose."
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge composed this
committee. An antique house, nearly a hundred years old, formerly the
abode of wealth and splendor, which stood in a green lawn, but a few
rods from the beach on the western shore of Staten Island, was chosen
as the place for the conference. A two days' journey conveyed the
committee to Amboy, opposite the house. Adams traveled on horseback:
Franklin and Rutledge in a two wheel chaise.
Admiral Howe sent a boat, under the protection of a flag of truce,
with an officer, who stated that he was to be left behind as a hostage
for their safe return. Promptly they declined manifesting any such
distrust of the honor of Admiral Howe, and took the hostage back in
the boat with them. The barge, propelled by lusty rowers, soon reached
the Staten Island shore. A large apartment of the old stone house had
been richly decorated with moss and branches in honor of the occasion.
A regiment of Hessians was posted at that spot. The colonel drew them
up in two lines and through this lane of soldiers the commissioners
advanced from the beach to the house. When Admiral Howe saw that the
officer he had sent as a hostage had been returned, he said,
"Gentlemen, you pay me a high compliment."
Cordially the kind-hearted admiral received his guests, and invited
them to an ample collation of cold ham, tongues, mutton and wine. Mr.
Henry Strachey, secretary of Lord Howe, wrote a very full report of
the interview, which accords entirely with the narrative which John
Adams presented to Congress. In as sincere and friendly words as human
lips could pronounce, the Admiral assured the American gentlemen of
his earnest desire to promote reconciliation between the colonists and
the mother country. He alluded to the fact that in England he had been
regarded as the friend of America, and to the honor Massachusetts had
conferred upon his family by rearing a monument to his brother, who
had fallen at Ticonderoga. Franklin well knew that Howe was regarded
as the friend of America.
"I assure you, gentlemen," said Lord Howe, "that I esteem that honor
to my family, above all things in this world. Such is my gratitude and
affection to this country, on that account, that I feel for America as
for a brother. And if America should fall, I should feel and lament it
like the loss of a brother." The reply of Franklin to these sincere
words, seems a little discourteous. Assuming an air of great
indifference and confidence, as though the fall of America was an idea
not to be thought of, he bowed, and with one of his blandest smiles
said, "I assure you, my lord, that we will do everything in our power
to save your lordship from that mortification."
The admiral was feeling too deeply for jokes. He was wounded by the
rebuke apparently contained in the reply of his old friend. But it
must not be forgotten that Franklin, the sweetest tempered of men, had
not yet recovered from the indignation caused by the barbarities
inflicted by the British government upon the families of Falmouth.
Every day was bringing tidings of the atrocities which England,
through its savage allies, was perpetrating on the frontiers, burning
the cabins of lonely farmers, and tomahawking and scalping women and
children. And he was constrained to look upon Lord Howe as the agent
of that government, commissioned to bear to the patriots of America
only the insulting messages, that the king and his ministers would
graciously pardon them the crime of attempting to resist their
despotism, if they would ask forgiveness, and in future submit
uncomplainingly to the requirements of the crown.
Thus, while the kind-hearted admiral, with a bosom glowing with
brotherly sympathy, was acting upon the assumption that the Americans
should cherish undying emotions of gratitude to the king, that he was
so ready to forgive their disobedience to his commands, Franklin and
his companions, found it difficult to restrain their emotions of
indignation, in view of the truly diabolical course pursued by the
British government. The court, in their judgment, merited the
execrations not only of Americans but of all humanity.
Lord Howe very emphatically wished the commissioners to understand
that he met them merely as private individuals, and that he could not,
in the slightest degree, recognize any authority in Congress. Franklin
coldly replied,
"Your lordship may consider us in any view you may think proper. We,
on our part, are at liberty to consider ourselves in our real
character."
John Adams replied with warmth, characteristic of his impetuous
nature, "Your lordship may consider _me_ in what light you please.
Indeed I should be willing to consider myself, for a few moments, in
any character which would be agreeable to your lordship, _except that
of a British subject_."
As the conversation was continued, Franklin said, "We have been
deputed, by Congress, simply to inquire of your lordship what
proposition you have to offer _for the consideration of Congress_.
British troops have ravaged our country and burnt our towns. We cannot
again be happy under the government of Great Britain. All former
attachments are obliterated. America can never return to the
domination of Great Britain."
Mr. Adams added, "My lord, it is not in our power to treat otherwise
than as _independent states_. For my part, I avow my determination
never to depart from the idea of _independency_."
Mr Rutledge gave emphasis to these decisive words by saying, "With
regard to the people consenting to come again under the English
government, _it is impossible_. I can answer for South Carolina. The
royal government there was very oppressive. At last we took the
government into our own hands. The people are now settled, and happy,
under that government. They would not now return to the king's
government even if Congress should desire it."
Here the conference ended, by Lord Howe's stating, that, as they
insisted upon _independence_, no accommodation was possible. Lord Howe
courteously accompanied the American gentlemen to the barge, and they
were rowed over to the New Jersey shore. In the report they made to
Congress they stated, that the commission of Lord Howe only conferred
upon him authority to grant pardon to the Americans, with a few
exceptions, upon their entire submission to the king.
It required, in those days, a long time to cross the Atlantic. Seldom
could an answer be obtained to a letter in less than four or five
months. To the usual delays and perils attached to the navigation of
that stormy sea, there was now to be added the danger of capture from
the swarm of British cruisers. Congress had several agents on the
continent. But months passed away, during which no letters were
received from them. This painful suspense was relieved, in September,
1776, by a long letter to Dr. Franklin, from a French gentleman, Dr.
Dubourg. He was one of the prominent philosophers of Paris, and, by
the request of Count du Buffon, had translated into French, Franklin's
treatise upon electricity.
This letter was very cautiously written. It covered many sheets of
paper. The all important substance of the letter was almost concealed
from view by the mass of verbiage in which it was enveloped. But a
careful reading indicated that the French ministry and the nation were
in sympathy with the Americans; that while the ministry wished to
avoid war with England they would gladly, if it could be done
secretly, send the Americans money and powder, cannon and muskets, and
that many French generals of note were eager to join the American
army, and confer upon it the benefit of their experience.
This news sent a thrill of joy through hearts which recent reverses
had rendered somewhat desponding. It was decided immediately to send
an embassy of highest character to France. Three were to be chosen by
ballot. On the first ballot Dr. Franklin was unanimously elected. He
was seventy years old. And yet probably there was not another man in
America so well qualified to fill that difficult, delicate and
responsible post. Franklin, in the saloons of diplomacy, was fully the
peer of Washington on the field of war. When the result of the ballot
was announced Franklin turned to Dr. Rush, who was at his side, and
said,
"I am old and good for nothing. But as the store-keepers say of their
remnants of cloth, 'I am but a fag end, and you may have me for what
you please.'"
Thomas Jefferson, then thirty-three years of age, and as pure a
patriot as ever lived, was next chosen. He was already renowned in
France as the writer of the Declaration of Independence. Silas Deane,
a native of Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale, then one of the
agents in Europe, was the third.
It required no little courage to cross the ocean, swept by the fleets
of Great Britain. Had Franklin or Jefferson fallen into the hands of
the British government, it is certain that they would have suffered
severe imprisonment; it is by no means improbable that they would have
been promptly hung as traitors. It was a noble sacrifice for country
which led Franklin, having numbered his three-score years and ten, to
incur these perils.[27]
[Footnote 27: In the year 1780, Mr. Henry Laurens, formerly President
of Congress, was sent as ambassador to Holland. The ship was captured
off Newfoundland, after a chase of five hours. The unfortunate man was
thrown into the Tower, where he was imprisoned fifteen months, "where"
he wrote to Mr. Burke, "I suffered under a degree of rigor, almost if
not altogether unexampled in modern British history."]
Jefferson was compelled to decline the mission, as his wife, whom he
loved with devotion rarely equalled, and perhaps never surpassed, was
sick and dying. Arthur Lee, then in Europe, was elected in his stead.
He was a querulous, ill-natured man, ever in a broil. A more
unsuitable man for the office could scarcely have been found.
There were two parties in France who favored the Americans. One
consisted of enthusiastic young men, who were enamored with the idea
of republican liberty. They were weary of Bourbon despotism. The
character of Louis XV., as vile a king as ever sat upon a throne, was
loathsome to them. They had read Jefferson's "Declaration," with
delight; and had engraven its immortal principles upon their hearts.
The Marquis de Lafayette was perhaps the most prominent member of this
party.
France hated England. That haughty government had long been the most
unpopular on the globe. England had made great conquests from France,
and was rich, intelligent and powerful beyond any other nation.
Prosperity had given her arrogance, and she had placed her heel upon
her humiliated neighbors. There was not a court in Europe which would
not have rejoiced to see England humbled. The despotic court of
France, and the most haughty nobles, were ready to encounter any
perils which held out a reasonable hope that England might be
weakened. Thus the sympathies of all France were united in favor of
America.
And now the hour had come. By aiding the Americans, who had boldly
declared their independence, they might not only deprive England of
those colonies whose trade was already invaluable to England, and
which were rapidly increasing in population, wealth and power, but
also they might awaken such gratitude in the bosoms of Americans, that
the trade of the new nation would be mainly transferred to France.
Thus the court and the nobles, intent upon this object, did not
hesitate to aid in the establishment of those principles of liberty,
fraternity and equality in America, which eventually whelmed in ruin
the palaces and the castles of France.
It was deemed important to conceal, as long as possible, from the
British government the sympathy and aid which France was about to
manifest for the Americans. Arthur Lee reported that an agent of the
French government had promised to send from Holland, two thousand
pounds worth of military stores. They were to be forwarded to one of
the French West India islands, ostensibly for the service of those
islands. The governor was, however, instructed to surrender them to a
secret agent of the American Congress. The plan failed. I have not
space to record all the various stratagems which were devised to aid
the Americans, while the movement was carefully concealed from the
vigilant eyes of the English.
Franklin, with nobility of soul which should command the love of every
American, as one of his last deeds before he left his country perhaps
never to return, collected all the money he could command, about
twelve thousand dollars, and loaned it to the government, whose
treasury was utterly impoverished. In those dark days, even that small
sum was of essential aid. In one of the last of Franklin's letters,
before he sailed, he wrote,
"As to our public affairs, I hope our people will keep up
their courage. I have no doubt of their finally succeeding
by the blessing of God; nor have I any doubt that so good a
cause will fail of that blessing. It is computed that we
have already taken a million sterling from the enemy. They
must soon be sick of their piratical project."
Franklin embarked in the Reprisal, a rapid sailing sloop of war of
sixteen guns. He took with him his grandson, William Temple Franklin,
son of the Tory governor, then a very handsome boy of eighteen, and
Benjamin Franklin Bache, eldest son of his daughter, a lad of seven
years. William Temple Franklin adhered firmly to the political views
of his grandfather. Dr. Franklin intended to place Benjamin in a
school in Paris.
Tory spies were watching every movement of Congress. This mission to
France was kept a profound secret. Had the British government known
that Benjamin Franklin was about to cross the ocean, almost every ship
in the British navy would have been sent in chase of him. On the 26th
of October, 1776, he left Philadelphia, every precaution having been
adopted to keep his departure a secret. The vessel was at anchor at
Marcus Hook, in the Delaware, three miles beyond Chester.
Fierce gales drove them rapidly across the Atlantic. Captain Wickes
had received instructions to avoid fighting, if possible. He was to
devote all his energies to transporting his precious passenger as
rapidly as possible, from shore to shore. They were often chased by
cruisers. The vessel was small, and Franklin, in his old age, was
sadly cramped by his narrow accommodations. He says that of all his
eight voyages this was the most distressing. When near the coast of
France they captured an English brig, with a cargo of lumber and wine.
On the afternoon of the same day, they took another brig, loaded with
brandy and flax seed. England was almost delirious with rage, in
finding that the Americans were bearing away their prizes from the
channel itself, thus bidding proud defiance to those frigates and
fortresses of Great Britain which had overawed the world.
On the 29th of November the Reprisal cast anchor in Quiberon Bay.
Franklin there obtained a post chaise to convey him to Nantes. He
writes,
"The carriage was a miserable one, with tired horses, the
evening dark, scarce a traveller but ourselves on the road.
And to make it more _comfortable_, the driver stopped near a
wood we were to pass through, to tell us that a gang of
eighteen robbers infested that wood, who, but two weeks ago,
had robbed and murdered some travellers on that very spot."
Though absolutely no one in Europe knew that Franklin was expected,
his fame had preceded him. The scientists of France were eager to
render him their homage. French statesmen had learned, at the Court of
St. James, to respect his grandeur of character, and his diplomatic
abilities. He was a very handsome man, with a genial smile, which won
love at sight. The invariable remark of every one, who chanced to meet
him for five minutes was, "What a delightful man." Franklin had none
of the brusqueness which characterizes John Bull. He was always a
gentleman, scrupulously attentive to his rich, elegant, yet simple
dress. He manifested his knowledge of human nature, in carefully
preserving his national garb,--the old continental costume.
Thus wherever he appeared he attracted attention. No man was ever more
courteous. The French Court, at that time, was bound by the shackles
of etiquette, to an almost inconceivable degree. But Franklin was
never embarrassed. He needed no one to teach him etiquette. Instinct
taught him what to do, so that, in the bearing of a well bred
gentleman, he was a model man, even in the court where Louis XIV. and
Louis XV. had reigned with omnipotent sway. The most beautiful
duchess, radiant in her courtly costume, and glittering with jewels,
felt proud of being seated on the sofa by the side of this true
gentleman, whose dress, simple as it was, was in harmony with her own.
The popular impression is entirely an erroneous one, that there was
anything rustic, anything which reminded one of the work shop or the
_blouse_, in the demeanor of Benjamin Franklin, as he moved,
unembarrassed, in the highest circles of fashion then known in the
world.
Franklin was received to the hospitalities of a French gentleman of
wealth and distinction, by the name of Gruel. His elegant apartments
were always crowded with visitors, eager to manifest their respect for
the trans-Atlantic philosopher. Horace Walpole, a warm friend of the
Americans, wrote,
"An account came that Dr. Franklin, at the age of 72, or 74,
and, at the risk of his head, had bravely embarked, on board
an American frigate, and, with two prizes taken on the way,
had landed, at Nantes, in France, and was to be at Paris on
the 14th, where the highest admiration and expectation of
him were raised."
Upon his arrival Mr. Deane exultingly wrote, "Here is the hero and
philosopher, and patriot, all united in this celebrated American, who,
at the age of seventy four, risks all dangers for his country."