St. James's, May 26th, 1782.
My dear Grenville,
Charles not being well, I write to you at his desire, that you
may not be surprized at having no private letter from him with
the despatch which Mr. Oswald brings you. There is not room, I
believe, for much communication of any very private nature on
the subject of your instructions and situation, as his public
letter, you will see, is very sincerely to the purpose. If
anything in it admits of modification, or is not to be very
literally taken, I should conceive it to be the recommendation
of explicitness with Oswald; on which subject I own I have
suggested doubts; and Charles wishes you to have a caution for
your own discretion to make use of.
I perceive uniformly (from our intercepted information) that all
these _city_ negotiators--Mr. Wentworths, Bourdeaux,
&c.--insinuate themselves into these sort of affairs merely for
private advantages, and make their trust principally subservient
to stock-jobbing views, on which subject there appears to be a
surprising communication with Paris. Mr. Oswald's officiousness
in bringing over your despatch and other things I have been told
since by those who know him, lead me to form this kind of
opinion of him; but you will judge where this will apply to any
confidence that should be placed in him.
Surely, whatever the preliminaries of a treaty for peace with
France may be, it would be our interest, if we could, to drop
even mentioning the Americans in them; at least the seeming to
grant anything to them as at the requisition of France. France
now denies our ceding Independence to America to be anything
given to them, and declines to allow anything for it. In my
opinion it would be wiser in them to insist ostentatiously (and
even to make a point of allowing something for it) on the
Independence of America being as the first article of their
treating; and this would for ever furnish them with a claim on
the friendship and confidence of the Americans after the peace.
But since they do not do this, surely it would not be bad
policy, even if we gave up more to France in other respects, to
prevent her appearing in the treaty as in any respect the
champion of America, or as having made any claims for her; we
giving her up everything she wants equally, and her future
confidence and alliance being such an object to us. Were I the
Minister, I would give France an island or two to choose, if it
would expose her selfishness, sooner than let her gain the
_esteem of the Americans_ by claiming anything essential for
them in apparent preference to her own interest and ambition.
All people, of all descriptions, in America, will read the
treaty of peace, whenever it comes, which France shall make with
this country; and if they should see there that she has claimed
and got a good deal for herself, but has not appeared to have
thought of them, however they may have profited in fact, it
would certainly give us a great advantage in those sort of
arguments and competitions which will arise after a peace;
whereas if it appears as a stipulated demand on the part of
France that America should be independent, it will for ever be a
most handy record and argument for the French party in that
country to work with; and this, as things stand now, and as far
as my poor judgment goes, appears not to be a very difficult
thing to have either way. And so these are my politics on that
subject for you.
You will find Rodney has taken some more ships. The unluckiness
of his recal, I think, appears to increase in its ill effect;
and people don't seem to fancy Pigott. Rolle has given notice
that he will move on Thursday to know who advised His Majesty to
recal Rodney; and out of doors the talk is the same. Charles
gave Johnson, who had been very violent on this subject the
other day, an excellent trimming; but there was a good deal of
coy with the other.
The arming plan don't seem to take at all. We have not yet heard
from Ireland since Burgoyne took them over a constitution.[1]
There is nothing odd or new to tell you, but that here is a most
untimely strange sort of an influenza which every creature
catches. You must not mind the badness of my scrawl: and let me
hear from you. Does Lafayette join your consultation dinners
with Franklin, as some of our Roupell intelligence sets forth? I
take it for granted the French Ministers will think it a point
of spirit to seem rather less desirous of peace since your
defeat in the West?
Howe is still off the Texel, and the Dutch safe within.
What mere politics I write to you! One might as well be a
newspaper editor at once, I believe, as anything that politics
can make one: but all other pursuits are as idle and
unsatisfactory, and that's a comfort.
Yours ever,
R. B. Sheridan.
[Footnote 1: The Duke of Rutland had been appointed by the new Ministry
Lord-Lieutenant in Ireland and General Burgoyne Commander-in-Chief
there.]