money for the use of the United States. If he speaks in the affirmative, I shall, though much against my own grain, as is well known at our little court, pro ceed in the mission with diligence and fidelity; other wise, I shall take a convenient opportunity of return ing to give an account there, of having in the course of two years and upwards done nothing, excepting only the making a great number of rebels in the enemy's country, and reconciling thousands to the doctrine of absolute and unlimited independence; a doctrine, which I asserted and maintained with as much freedom in the Tower of London, as I ever had done in the State House at Philadelphia; and, having contentedly submitted to the loss of my estate, and being ready to lay down my life in support of it, I had the satisfaction of perceiving the coming of converts every day. I must not, however, conclude this head without assuring you, that, should you think proper to ask questions respecting American commerce, or the interest of any particular State, I will answer with candor and the best judgment I am possessed of; but of that judgment I sincerely protest I have the utmost diffidence. God prosper your proceedings in the great work; you will be called blessed by all the grateful of the present generation, and your name will be celebrated by posterity. I feel myself happy in reflecting, that, in the great outlines of a treaty, our opinions exactly coincide, that we shall not want the countenance and assistance of our great and good ally, and that you have so honest a man as Mr. Oswald to deal with for preliminaries. I know him to be superior to chicanery, and am sure he will not defile his mind by attempting any dirty thing.

"I entreat you, Sir, to present my humble respects to M. de Vergennes, and thank his Excellency for his

polite expressions respecting me, and be so good as to say all that shall appear necessary in excuse for my non-appearance at his court.

"Lord Cornwallis called on me the day before 1 left London, and was, as you may suppose, very anxious to know when he might probably hear from me on the subject of his release; let me, therefore, request your opinion in answer to what I had the honor of writing in my last concerning that affair. I wish it may prove satisfactory to his Lordship, by enabling me, with your consent and concurrence, to cancel a debt, which does not sit easy upon me, and which cannot with honor to our country remain unpaid. I think we shall not, it is impossible we should, incur displeasure by doing an act of common justice, and our authority may be fairly implied.

"His Lordship declares he has no intention of returning to America, but desires to be reinstated in his legislative and military character in his own country, and I am of opinion, that in the former he will rather be friendly to us than otherwise. For my own part, if the war continues, I should not be uneasy if his Lordship were to go to the Chesapeake again.

"I have a thousand compliments and good wishes to present to you from friends in England, where, males and females, I am sure you have at least so many that your own remembrance will lead you to individuals of your old acquaintance.

"To-morrow I intend to proceed to Brussels, and thence, probably, to the Hague and Amsterdam. My movements must, unavoidably, be as slow as water carriage. My weak under limbs cannot bear continual thumping on the pavement in the rough machines of this country, and the feebleness of my pocket will not admit the indulgence of a more convenient vehicle.

I beg, Sir, you will write to me at the house of Mr. Edward Jennings, or under the protection of any other friend in that city, that will be at the trouble of finding out a voyager, who is, at all times, and in all places. with the highest esteem and respect, Sir, &c. "HENRY LAURENS."

To the above, I wrote the following answer.

"I am now honored with yours of the 17th. I had before received one of the 7th, which remained unanswered, because, from the words in it, when I reach the Continent, which will probably happen in a few days,' I flattered myself with the pleasure of seeing you here. That hope is disappointed by your last, in which you tell me, you are determined not to act in the Commission for treating of peace with Great Britain. I regret your taking this resolution, principally because I am persuaded, that your assistance must have been of great service to our country. But I have besides some private or particular reasons, that relate to myself.

"To encourage me in the arduous task, you kindly tell me I shall be called blessed, &c. I have never ye* known of a peace made, that did not occasion a great deal of popular discontent, clamor, and censure on both sides. This is, perhaps, owing to the usual manageinent of the leaders and ministers of the contending nations, who, to keep up the spirits of their people for continuing the war, generally represent the state of their own affairs in a better light, and that of the enemy in a worse, than is consistent with the truth; hence the populace on each side expect better terms

than can really be obtained, and are apt to ascribe then disappointment to treachery. Thus the peace of Utrecht, and that of Aix-la-Chapelle, were said in England to have been influenced by French gold, and in France, by English guineas. Even the last peace, the most glorious and advantageous for England that ever she made, was, you may remember, violently decried, and the makers as violently abused. So that the blessing promised to peacemakers, I fancy, relates to the next world, for in this they seem to have a greater charce of being cursed. And as another text observes, that in the multitude of counsellors there is safety,' which think may mean safety to the counsellors as well as to the counselled, because, if they commit a fault in counselling, the blame does not fall upon one or a few, but is divided among many, and the share of each is so much the lighter, or because when a number of honest men are concerned, the suspicion of their being biassed is weaker, as being more improbable; or because defendit numerus; for all these reasons, but especially for the support your established character of integrity would afford me against the attacks of enemies, if this treaty take place, and I am to act in it, I wish for your presence, and the presence of as many of the Commissioners as possible, and I hope you will reconsider and change your resolution.

"In the mean time, as you have had opportunities of conversing with the new ministers, and other leading people in England, and of learning their sentiments relating to terms of peace, &c. I request you would inform me by letters of what you think important. Letters from you will come safer by the court courier than by the post, and I desire you would, if you should continue determined not to act, commu

nicate to me your ideas of the terms to be insisted on, and the points to be attended to, respecting commerce, fisheries, boundaries, and every other material circumstance, that may be of importance to all or any of the United States.

"Lord Shelburne having written to me on the subject of the wished for peace, I acquainted him in my answer, sent by our friend, Mr. Oswald, that you were one of the Commissioners, appointed by Congress to treat with Britain, and that I imagined his Lordship would therefore think proper to discharge you entirely from the obligations you entered into, when you were admitted to bail, that you might be at liberty to act freely in the Commission. He wrote to me in reply, that you were accordingly discharged immediately. His Lordship mentioned nothing of any exchange being expected for you; nevertheless, I honor your sensibility on the point, and your concern for the credit of America, that she should not be outdone in generosity by Great Britain, and will cheerfully join with you in any act, that you may think proper, to discharge in return the parole of Lord Cornwallis, as far as in our power may lie; but we have no express authority for that purpose, and the Congress may possibly, in the mean time, have made some other arrangement relative to his exchange. I conceive, that our acts should contain a clause, reserving to Congress the final approbation or disallowance of the proceeding; and I have some doubt whether Lord Cornwallis will think himself well freed of his engagements, and at liberty to exercise his military employments, by virtue of any concession in his favor made by persons, who are not vested with authority for that purpose. So that, on the whole, perhaps the best and surest way will be our writing i'mediatel to Congress, and strongly