But I

it on account of his defective power to treat. promised to finish it as soon as possible. He pressed me earnestly to do it, saying, an expression of mine in a former conversation, that there still remained roots of good will in America towards England which if properly taken care of might produce a reconciliation, had made a great impression on his mind, and given him infinite pleasure, and he hoped I would not neglect furnishing him with the information of what would be necessary to nourish those roots, and could assure me, that my advice would be greatly regarded.

Mr. Grenville had shown me at our last interview a letter from the Duke of Richmond to him, requesting him to prevail with me to disengage a Captain McLeod, of the artillery, from his parole, the Duke's brother, Lord George Lenox, being appointed to the command of Portsmouth, and desiring to have him as his aidde-camp. I had promised to consider it, and this morning I sent him the following letter.

"SIR,

TO MR. GRENVILLE.

"Passy, 31 May, 1782.

"I do not find, that I have any express authority to absolve a parole given by an English officer in America; but, desirous of complying with a request of the Duke of Richmond, as far as may be in my power, and being confident, that the Congress will be pleased with whatever may oblige a personage they so much respect, I do hereby consent, that Captain McLeod serve in his military capacity in England only, till the pleasure of the Congress is known, to whom I will write immediately, and who, I make no doubt, will discharge him entirely. I have the honor to be, &c. "B FRANKLIN."

America had been constantly befriended in Parliament by the Duke of Richmond, and I believed the Congress would not be displeased, that this opportu nity was taken of obliging him, and that they would by their approbation supply c deficiency of my power. Besides, I could not well refuse it, after what had passed between Mr. Laurens and me, and what I had promised to do for that genteman.

Sunday, June 2d. The Marquis de Lafayette called and dined with me. He is uneasy about the delay, as he cannot resolve concerning his voyage to America, till some certainty appears of there being a treaty or no treaty. This day I wrote the following letter to Mr. Adams.

TO JOHN ADAMS.

"Passy, 2 June, 1782.

“SIR,

"Since mine of May 8th, I have not had any thing material to communicate to your Excellency. Mr. Grenville indeed arrived just after I had despatched that letter, and I introduced him to M. de Vergennes, but, as his mission seemed only a repetition of that by Mr. Oswald, the same declaration of the King of England's sincere desire of peace, and willingness to reat at Paris, which were answered by the same declarations of the good dispositions of this court, and that it could not treat without the concurrence of its allies, I omitted writing till something should be produced from a kind of agreement, that M. de Vergennes would acquaint Spain and Holland with the overture, and Mr. Grenville would write for full powers to treat, and make propositions; nothing of importance Leing in the mean time to be transacted.

"Mr. Grenville accordingly despatched a messenger

for London, who returned in about twelve days. Mr. Grenville called on me, after having been at Versailles, and acquainted me, that he had received the power, and had left a copy of it with M. de Vergennes, and that he was thereby authorized to treat with France and her allies. The next time I went to Versailles, I desired to see that copy, and was surprised to find in it no mention of the allies of France, or any one of them, and, on speaking with M. de Vergennes about it, I found he began to look upon the whole as a piece of artifice to amuse us, and gain time; since he had uniformly declared to every agent who had appeared there, viz. to Forth, Oswald, and Grenville, that the King would not treat without the concurrence of his allies, and yet England had given a power to treat with France only, which showed she did not intend to treat at all, but meant to continue the war.

"I had not till yesterday an opportunity of talking with Mr. Grenville on the subject, and expressing my wonder, that, after what he had told me, there should be no mention made of our States in his commission; he could not explain this to my satisfaction, but said, he believed the omission was occasioned by their copying an old commission given to Mr. Stanley at the last treaty of peace, for he was sure the intention was, that he should treat with us, his instructions being fully to that purpose. I acquainted him, that I thought a special commission was necessary, without which we could not treat with him. I imagine, that there is a reluctance in their King to take this first step, as the giving such a commission would itself be a kind of acknowledgment of our independence. Their late suc cess against Count de Grasse may also have given them hopes, that, by delay and more successes, they may make that acknowledgment and a peace less necessary.

66 'Mr. Grenville has written to his court for further instructions. We shall see what the return of his courier will produce. If full power to treat with each of the powers at war against England does not appear, I imagine the negotiation will be broken off. Mr. Grenville, in his conversation with me, insists much on our being under no engagements not to make a peace without Holland. I have answered him, that I know not but that you may have entered into some, and if there should be none, a general pacification, made at the same time, would be best for us all, and that I believe neither Holland nor we could be prevailed on to abandon our friends. What happens further shall be immediately communicated.

"Be pleased to present my respects to Mr. Laurens, to whom I wrote some days since. Mr. Jay, suppose, is on his way hither. With great respect,

I

&c.

B. FRANKLIN."

On Monday the 3d, Mr. Oswald came according to appointment. He told me, he had seen and had conversations with Lord Shelburne, Lord Rockingham, and Mr. Fox. That their desire of peace continued uniformly the same, though he thought some of them were a little too much elated with the late victory in the West Indies; and when, observing his coolness, they asked him, if he did not think it a very good thing; "yes," said he, "if you do not rate it too high." He went on with the utmost frankness to tell me, that the peace was absolutely necessary for them. That the nation had been foolishly involved in four wars, and could no longer raise money to carry them on, so that if they continued, it would be absolutely necessary for them to stop payment of the interest money on the funds, which would ruin their future credit.

He spoke of stopping on all sums above one thousand pounds, and continuing to pay on those below, because the great sums belonged to the rich, who could better bear the delay of their interest, and the smaller sums to poorer persons, who would be more hurt, and make more clamor, and that the rich might be quieted by promising them interest upon their interest. All this looked as if the matter had been seriously thought on.

Mr. Oswald has an air of great simplicity and honesty, yet I could hardly take this to be merely a weak confession of their deplorable state, and thought it might be rather intended as a kind of intimidation, by showing us that they had still that resource in their power, which he said would furnish five millions a year. But, he added, our enemies may now do what they please with us; they have the ball at their foot, was his expression, and we hope they will show their moderation and magnanimity. He then repeatedly mentioned the great esteem the ministers had for me, that they, with all the considerate people of England, looked to, and depended on me for the means of extricating the nation from its present desperate situation; and that, perhaps, no single man had ever in his hands an opportunity of doing so much good as I had at this present time, with much more to that purpose. He then showed me a letter to him from Lord Shelburne, partly, I suppose, that I might see his Lordship's opinion of me, which, as it has some relation to the negotiation, is here inserted. He left it with me, requesting that I would communicate it to Mr. Walpole.