My dear old friend was in the right, not "to call in question the
sincerity of my words, where I say, February the 12th, _we can treat
if any propositions are made to us_." They were true then, and are so
still, if Britain has not declared war with France; for in that case
we shall undoubtedly think ourselves obliged to continue the war as
long as she does. But methinks you should have taken us at our word,
and have sent immediately your propositions in order to prevent such a
war, if you did not choose it. Still I conceive it would be well to do
it, if you have not already rashly begun the war. Assure yourself,
nobody more sincerely wishes perpetual peace among men than I do; but
there is a prior wish, that they would be equitable and just,
otherwise such peace is not possible, and indeed wicked men have no
right to expect it.
Adieu! I am ever yours most affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
* * * * *
NOTE FROM WILLIAM PULTNEY TO B. FRANKLIN.[7]
[7] Mr Pultney writes under the assumed name of Williams.
March 29th, 1778.
Mr Williams returned this morning to Paris, and will be glad to see Dr
Franklin, whenever it is convenient for the Doctor, at the Hotel
Frasiliere, Rue Tournon. It is near the hotel where he lodged when the
Doctor saw him a fortnight ago. He does not propose to go abroad, and
therefore the Doctor will find him at any hour. He understands that Mr
Alexander is not yet returned from Dijon, which he regrets.
* * * * *
TO WILLIAM PULTNEY.
Passy, March 30th, 1778.
Sir,
When I first had the honor of conversing with you on the subject of
peace, I mentioned it as my opinion, that every proposition, which
implied our voluntarily agreeing to return to a dependence on Britain,
was now become impossible; that a peace on equal terms undoubtedly
might be made; and that though we had no particular powers to treat of
peace with England, we had general powers to make treaties of peace,
amity, and commerce, with any State in Europe, by which I thought we
might be authorised to treat with Britain; who, if sincerely disposed
to peace, might save time and much bloodshed by treating with us
directly.
I also gave it as my opinion, that in the treaty to be made, Britain
should endeavor, by the fairness and generosity of the terms she
offered, to recover the esteem, confidence, and affection of America,
without which the peace could not be so beneficial, as it was not
likely to be lasting; in this I had the pleasure to find you of my
opinion.
But I see by the propositions you have communicated to me, that the
Ministers cannot yet divest themselves of the idea, that the power of
Parliament over us is constitutionally absolute and unlimited; and
that the limitations they may be willing now to put to it by treaty
are so many favors, or so many benefits, for which we are to make
compensation.
As our opinions in America are totally different, a treaty on the
terms proposed appears to me utterly impracticable, either here or
there. Here we certainly cannot make it, having not the smallest
authority to make even the declaration specified in the proposed
letter, without which, if I understood you right, treating with us
cannot be commenced.
I sincerely wish as much for peace as you do, and I have enough
remaining of good will for England to wish it for her sake as well as
for our own, and for the sake of humanity. In the present state of
things, the proper means of obtaining it, in my opinion, are to
acknowledge the independence of the United States, and then enter at
once into a treaty with us for a suspension of arms, with the usual
provisions relating to distances; and another for establishing peace,
friendship, and commerce, such as France has made. This might prevent
a war between you and that kingdom, which in the present circumstances
and temper of the two nations an accident may bring on every day,
though contrary to the interest and without the previous intention of
either. Such a treaty we might probably now make, with the approbation
of our friends; but if you go to war with them, on account of their
friendship for us, we are bound by ties, stronger than can be formed
by any treaty, to fight against you with them, as long as the war
against them shall continue.
May God at last grant that wisdom to your national councils, which he
seems long to have denied them, and which only sincere, just, and
humane intentions can merit or expect.
With great personal esteem, I have the honor to be, Sir, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
* * * * *
TO DR BANCROFT.
Passy, April 16th, 1778.
Dear Sir,
I wish you would assure our friend, that Dr Franklin never gave any
such expectations to Mr Pultney. On the contrary, he told him, that
the commissioners could not succeed in their mission, whether they
went to recover the _dependence_ or to _divide_. His opinion is
confirmed by the enclosed resolves, which perhaps it may not be amiss
to publish in England. Please to send me the newspaper.
Yours affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
* * * * *
DAVID HARTLEY TO B. FRANKLIN.
Paris, April 23d, 1778
Dear Sir,
I will take care of all your commissions. This moment a second packet
of infinite value is received, which I shall cherish as a mark of
affection from you. I opened the letter by mistake, which came with
it, and soon saw it was not for me. I hope you will excuse it. I
choose rather to throw myself upon your goodness for the excuse, than
anything else. I shall not set out till between one and two;
therefore, if you will be so good as to send me another copy, I will
take care of it and deliver it safely.
God bless you, my dear friend. No exertion or endeavor on my part
shall be wanting, that we may some time or other meet again in peace.
Your powers are infinitely more influential than mine. To those powers
I trust my last hopes. I will conclude, blessed are the peace makers.
Your affectionate friend,
D. HARTLEY.
_P. S._ If tempestuous times should come, take care of your own
safety; events are uncertain, and men may be capricious.
* * * * *
ANSWER.
I thank you for your kind caution, but having nearly finished a long
life, I set but little value on what remains of it. Like a draper,
when one chaffers with him for a remnant, I am ready to say, "As it is
only the fag end, I will not differ with you about it; take it for
what you please." Perhaps the best use such an old fellow can be put
to, is to make a martyr of him.
B. FRANKLIN.
* * * * *
TO COUNT DE VERGENNES.
Passy, April 24th, 1778.
Sir,
Mr Hartley, a member of Parliament, an old acquaintance of mine,
arrived here from London on Sunday last. He is generally in the
opposition, especially on American questions, but has some respect for
Lord North. In conversation he expressed the strongest anxiety for
peace with America, and appeared extremely desirous to know my
sentiments of the terms, which might probably be acceptable if
offered; whether America would not, to obtain peace, grant some
superior advantages in trade to Britain, and enter into an alliance
offensive and defensive; whether, if war should be declared against
France, we had obliged ourselves by treaty to join with her against
England.
My answers have been, that the United States were not fond of war, and
with the advice of their friends would probably be easily prevailed
with to make peace on equitable terms; but we had no terms committed
to us to propose, and I did not choose to mention any; that Britain,
having injured us heavily by making this unjust war upon us, might
think herself well off, if _on reparation of those injuries_ we
admitted her to _equal_ advantages with other nations in commerce; but
certainly she had no reason to expect _superior_; that her known
fondness for war, and the many instances of her readiness to engage in
wars on frivolous occasions, were probably sufficient to cause an
immediate rejection of every proposition for an _offensive_ alliance
with her; and that if she made war against France on our account, a
peace with us, at the same time, was impossible; for that having met
with friendship from that generous nation, when we were cruelly
oppressed by England, we were under ties stronger than treaties could
form, to make common cause; which we should certainly do to the utmost
of our power.
Here has also been with me a Mr Chapman, who says he is a member of
the parliament of Ireland, on his way home from Nice, where he had
been for the recovery of his health. He pretended to call on me only
from motives of respect for my character, &c. But after a few
compliments, he entered on a similar discourse, urging much to know
what terms would satisfy America, and whether, on having _peace and
independence granted_ to us, we should not be willing to submit to the
navigation act, or give equivalent privileges in trade to Britain. The
purport of my answer to him was in short, that peace was of equal
value to England as to us, and independence we were already in
possession of; that, therefore, England's offer to grant them to us
could not be considered as proposing any favor, or as giving her a
right to expect peculiar advantages in commerce. By his importunity, I
found his visit was not so occasional as he represented it; and from
some expressions, I conjectured he might be sent by Lord Shelburne to
sound me, and collect some information. On the whole, I gather from
these conversations, that the opposition as well as the Ministry are
perplexed with the present situation of affairs, and know not which
way to turn themselves, whether it is best to go backward or forward,
or what steps to take to extricate that nation from its present
dangerous situation.
I thought it right to give your Excellency an account of these
interviews, and to acquaint you with my intention of avoiding such
hereafter, as I see but little prospect of utility in them, and think
they are very liable to hurtful misrepresentations.
By advices from London we learn, that a fleet for Quebec, with goods
valued at five hundred thousand pounds sterling, is to sail about the
end of this month, under convoy only of a single frigate of thirty
guns, in which is to go Governor Haldimand.
Enclosed I send a paper I have just received from London. It is not
subscribed by any name, but I know the hand. It is from an old friend
of general and great acquaintance, and marks strongly the present
distress and despair of considerate people in England.
I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, your Excellency's,
&c.
B. FRANKLIN.
* * * * *
COUNT DE VERGENNES TO B. FRANKLIN.
Translation.
Versailles, April 25th, 1778.
I have made known to the King, Sir, the substance of the letter, which
you did me the honor of writing to me yesterday; and I am directed by
his Majesty to express to you the satisfaction he has experienced from
the information, which you have communicated on your conferences with
Mr Hartley. The grand principle of the English policy has always been
to excite divisions; and it is by such means she expects to sustain
her empire; but it is not upon you, nor upon your colleagues, that she
can practise such arts with success. I entertain the same sentiments
of confidence in the United States. As to the rest, it is impossible
to speak with more dignity, frankness, and firmness, than you have
done to Mr Hartley; he has no reason to be very well satisfied with
his mission. I doubt whether this member of Parliament has any mission
for us; but he desires to see me, and I expect him in the course of
the morning. I should not be at all surprised, if his purpose be to
sow distrust between us, by proposing a double negotiation. That I can
obviate; but whatever passes between us, however trifling it may be,
you shall be made acquainted with.
I have the honor to be, with the most perfect consideration, Sir, your
most humble and most obedient servant,
DE VERGENNES.
* * * * *
JAMES LOVELL TO B. FRANKLIN.
Yorktown, June 20th, 1778.
Sir,
By a most unlucky mistake, I did not forward the resolve of the 5th of
May, with the ratifications of the treaties sent in that month, in the
packets A B C, but I have sent it in D E via Martinique, and now
forward it via Boston in F G, not allowing myself to wait for the
concurrence of the Committee in a joint letter.
Our troops were in the city of Philadelphia on the morning of the
18th. The intentions of the enemy in evacuating it cannot yet be
explained. Our army is in motion and will press them. The Gazettes
contain every thing material. By the arrival of Messrs Simeon Deane,
May 2d, Courter, May 18th, Stevenson, June 10th, Holker and
Carmichael, June 18th, we have the favors of yourself and other
friends in continuance. Commissioners will be particularly nominated
to transact affairs for us at Lisbon and the Hague, if those Courts
are well disposed towards us. We are now growing anxious about our
worthy friend J. Adams.
Your most humble servant,
JAMES LOVELL,
_For the Committee of Foreign Affairs_.
* * * * *
ANSWER TO A LETTER FROM BRUSSELS.
Passy, July 1st, 1778.
Sir,
I received your letter, dated at Brussels the 16th past.
My vanity might possibly be flattered by your expressions of
compliment to my understanding, if your proposals did not more clearly
manifest a mean opinion of it.
You conjure me in the name of the omniscient and just God, before whom
I must appear, and by my hopes of future fame, to consider if some
expedient cannot be found to put a stop to the desolation of America,
and prevent the miseries of a general war. As I am conscious of having
taken every step in my power to prevent the breach, and no one to
widen it, I can appear cheerfully before that God, fearing nothing
from his justice in this particular, though I have much occasion for
his mercy in many others. As to my future fame, I am content to rest
it on my past and present conduct, without seeking an addition to it
in the crooked, dark paths, you propose to me, where I should most
certainly lose it. This, your solemn address, would therefore have
been more properly made to your sovereign and his venal Parliament. He
and they, who wickedly began, and madly continue, a war for the
desolation of America, are alone accountable for the consequences.
You endeavor to impress me with a bad opinion of French faith; but the
instances of their friendly endeavors to serve a race of weak princes,
who, by their own imprudence, defeated every attempt to promote their
interest, weigh but little with me, when I consider the steady
friendship of France to the Thirteen United States of Switzerland,
which has now continued inviolate two hundred years. You tell me that
she will certainly cheat us, and that she despises us already. I do
not believe that she will cheat us, and I am not certain that she
despises us; but I see clearly that you are endeavoring to cheat us by
your conciliatory bills; that you actually despised our understandings
when you flattered yourselves those artifices would succeed; and that
not only France, but all Europe, yourselves included, most certainly
and for ever would despise us, if we were weak enough to accept your
insidious propositions.
Our expectations of the future grandeur of America are not so
magnificent, and therefore not so vain or visionary, as you represent
them to be. The body of our people are not merchants, but humble
husbandmen, who delight in the cultivation of their lands, which, from
their fertility and the variety of our climates, are capable of
furnishing all the necessaries and conveniences of life without
external commerce; and we have too much land to have the least
temptation to extend our territory by conquest from peaceable
neighbors, as well as too much justice to think of it. Our militia,
you find by experience, are sufficient to defend our lands from
invasion; and the commerce with us will be defended by all the nations
who find an advantage in it. We, therefore, have not the occasion you
imagine, of fleets, or standing armies, but may leave those expensive
machines to be maintained for the pomp of princes, and the wealth of
ancient states. We propose, if possible, to live in peace with all
mankind; and after you have been convinced to your cost, that there is
nothing to be got by attacking us, we have reason to hope that no
other power will judge it prudent to quarrel with us, lest they divert
us from our own quiet industry, and turn us into corsairs preying upon
theirs. The weight therefore of an independent empire, which you seem
certain of our inability to bear, will not be so great as you imagine.
The expense of our civil government we have always borne, and can
easily bear, because it is small. A virtuous and laborious people may
be cheaply governed. Determining as we do, to have no offices of
profit, nor any sinecures or useless appointments, so common in
ancient or corrupted states, we can govern ourselves a year, for the
sum you pay in a single department, or for what one jobbing
contractor, by the favor of a Minister, can cheat you out of in a
single article.
You think we flatter ourselves, and are deceived into an opinion that
England _must_ acknowledge our independency. We, on the other hand,
think you flatter yourselves in imagining such an acknowledgment a
vast boon, which we strongly desire, and which you may gain some great
advantage by granting or withholding. We have never asked it of you;
we only tell you, that you can have no treaty with us but as an
independent State; and you may please yourselves and your children
with the rattle of your right to govern us, as long as you have done
with that of your King's being King of France, without giving us the
least concern, if you do not attempt to exercise it. That this
pretended right is indisputable, as you say, we utterly deny. Your
Parliament never had a right to govern us, and your King has forfeited
it by his bloody tyranny. But I thank you for letting me know a little
of your mind, that even if the Parliament should acknowledge our
independency, the act would not be binding to posterity, and that your
nation would resume and prosecute the claim as soon as they found it
convenient from the influence of your passions, and your present
malice against us. We suspected before, that you would not be actually
bound by your conciliatory acts, longer than till they had served
their purpose of inducing us to disband our forces; but we were not
certain, that you were knaves by principle, and that we ought not to
have the least confidence in your offers, promises, or treaties,
though confirmed by Parliament.
I now indeed recollect my being informed, long since, when in England,
that a certain very great personage, then young, studied much a
certain book entitled _Arcana imperii_. I had the curiosity to procure
the book and read it. There are sensible and good things in it, but
some bad ones; for, if I remember rightly, a particular king is
applauded for his politically exciting a rebellion among his subjects,
at a time when they had not strength to support it, that he might, in
subduing them, take away their privileges, which were troublesome to
him; and a question is formally stated and discussed, _Whether a
prince, who, to appease a revolt, makes promises of indemnity to the
revolters, is obliged to fulfil those promises?_ Honest and good men
would say, aye; but this politician says, as you say, no. And he gives
this pretty reason, that though it was right to make the promises,
because otherwise the revolt would not be suppressed, yet it would be
wrong to keep them, because revolters ought to be punished to deter
future revolts.
If these are the principles of your nation, no confidence can be
placed in you; it is in vain to treat with you, and the wars can only
end in being reduced to an utter inability of continuing them.
One main drift of your letter seems to be to impress me with an idea
of your own impartiality, by just censures of your Ministers and
measures, and to draw from me propositions of peace, or approbations
of those you have enclosed to me, which you intimate may by your means
be conveyed to the King directly, without the intervention of those
Ministers. You would have me give them to, or drop them for, a
stranger whom I may find next Monday in the church of Notre Dame, to
be known by a rose in his hat. You yourself, Sir, are quite unknown
to me; you have not trusted me with your true name. Our taking the
least step towards a treaty with England through you, might, if you
are an enemy, be made use of to ruin us with our new and good friends.
I may be indiscreet enough in many things; but certainly, if I were
disposed to make propositions (which I cannot do, having none
committed to me to make) I should never think of delivering them to
the Lord knows who, to be carried to the Lord knows where, to serve no
one knows what purposes. Being at this time one of the most remarkable
figures in Paris, even my appearance in the church of Notre Dame,
where I cannot have any conceivable business, and especially being
seen to leave or drop any letter to any person there, would be a
matter of some speculation, and might, from the suspicions it must
naturally give, have very mischievous consequences to our credit here.
The very proposing of a correspondence so to be managed, in a manner
not necessary where fair dealing is intended, gives just reason to
suppose you intend the contrary. Besides, as your Court has sent
Commissioners to treat with the Congress, with all the powers that
would be given them by the crown under the act of Parliament, what
good purpose can be served by privately obtaining propositions from
us? Before those Commissioners went, we might have treated in virtue
of our general powers, (with the knowledge, advice, and approbation of
our friends) upon any propositions made to us. But under the present
circumstances, for us to make propositions, while a treaty is supposed
to be actually on foot with the Congress, would be extremely improper,
highly presumptuous with regard to our constituents, and answer no
good end whatever.
I write this letter to you, notwithstanding, (which I think I can
convey in a less mysterious manner, and guess it may come to your
hands;) I write it because I would let you know our sense of your
procedure, which appears as insidious as that of your conciliatory
bills. Your true way to obtain peace, if your Ministers desire it, is
to propose openly to the Congress fair and equal terms, and you may
possibly come sooner to such a resolution when you find that personal
flatteries, general cajolings, and panegyrics on our _virtue_ and
_wisdom_ are not likely to have the effect you seem to expect; the
persuading us to act basely and foolishly in betraying our country and
posterity into the hands of our most bitter enemies, giving up or
selling of our arms and warlike stores, dismissing our ships of war
and troops, and putting those enemies in possession of our forts and
ports.