Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

Mr. Adams, who was for some time a witness in Paris of Franklin's multifarious duties, thus described them in a critical spirit to a member of Congress. "He is too old, too infirm, too indolent and dissipated, to be sufficient for the discharge of all the important duties of ambassador, board of war, board of treasury, commissary of prisoners, etc., as he is at present, besides an immense correspondence and acquaintance, each of which would be enough for the whole time of the most active man in the vigor of youth.

[ocr errors]

The great and ultimate object of all these labors of Franklin and of American diplomacy in Europe, was to secure peace with England upon the basis of independence. After the surrender of Burgoyne, through the years 1778 and 1779, various advances were made to Franklin, indirectly by the English ministry, through correspondence of his old friends in London and by secret visits to him at Paris. But as all these overtures had for their object to secure the separation of America

Paul Jones, an active and brave commander of our navy, who has already performed signal services in vessels of little force; and, in reward for his zeal, we have directed him to go on board the Amphitrite, a French ship of twenty guns, that brought in a cargo of stores from Messrs. Hortalez & Co., and with her to repair to France. He takes with him his commission, some officers and men; so that we hope he will, under that sanction, make some good prizes with the Amphitrite; but our design of sending him is (with the approbation of Congress) that they may purchase one of those fine frigates that Mr. Deane writes us you can get, and invest him with the command thereof as soon as possible. We hope you may not delay this business one moment, but purchase, in such port or place in Europe as it can be done with most convenience and dispatch, a fine, fast-sailing frigate or large ship. . . . You must make it a point not to disappoint Captain Jones's wishes and our expectations on this occasion." 13 Dip. Cor. Rev. 333.

from the French alliance and a reconciliation of the Colonies with the mother country, they came to naught, as neither condition could be accepted. Return to British allegiance was not only the firm decision of the king and cabinet, but the cherished hope of the most devoted friends of America in England. Even Lord Chatham, the most conspicuous of its friends, in his last speech ever delivered in Parliament used this language: "My Lords, I rejoice that the grave has not closed upon me, that I am still alive to lift up my voice against the dismemberment of this ancient and most noble monarchy. Where is the man that will dare advise such a measure? . . . Shall this kingdom, that has survived whole and entire the Danish depredations, the Scottish inroads, and the Norman conquests, that has stood the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada, now fall prostrate before the House of Bourbon? Surely, my Lords, this nation is no longer what it was. Shall such a people, that seventeen years ago was the terror of the world, now stoop so low as to tell its ancient, inveterate enemy take all we have, only give us peace? It is impossible."

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

But the dying eloquence of the great Chatham could not obscure the fact that England was brought to the extreme necessity of peace, with three of the then great powers of Europe, and her most populous colonies arrayed against her in arms, and with all continental Europe unfriendly. The courts of Russia and Austria interposed their good offices to bring about a general peace, but the British ministry did not give up the 1 Almon's Parliamentary Register, ix. 369.

hope of detaching the United States from the general negotiations, and taking advantage of a letter which Franklin had written to Lord Shelburne, who was in charge of the Ministry of the Colonies on the overthrow of the North cabinet, Shelburne opened unofficial negotiations through a Mr. Oswald, who came to Paris early in 1782.

I have already noticed that John Adams had been designated and commissioned to negotiate a treaty of peace with Great Britain as early as 1778, and was in Paris biding a favorable opportunity when he incurred the wrath of Count Vergennes. Following this event, Luzerne, the French minister to the Colonies, criticised, to the Continental Congress, the appointment of Adams, representing that he was too obstinate for a diplomat, and that he ought to be instructed to abide the advice of France, who could procure better terms than it were possible for such a headstrong commissioner to secure. The French minister's communication was referred by Congress to a committee, who brought in a report recommending the addition of four members to the Peace Commission, and, by a vote of Congress, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, and Thomas Jefferson were appointed in June, 1781. Bancroft, in noting the action of Congress, says: "It had been the proudest moment of his (Adams's) life when he received from Congress the commission of sole plenipotentiary for negotiating peace and commerce between the United States and Great Britain. The year in which he was deprived of it he has himself described as the most anxious and mortifying year of my whole life.' He

ascribed the change in part to the French government, in part to Franklin."

The instructions given by Congress to the commissioners as to the treaty to be negotiated contained only two positive conditions: first, that the independence of the Colonies should be recognized; and, second, that the existing treaties with France should be preserved. The details of the treaty, as to boundaries, fisheries, and all other matters, were left to the discretion of the commissioners, having in view to secure the interests of the United States as circumstances would allow; but they were directed "to make the most candid and confidential communications upon all subjects to the ministers of our generous ally, the king of France; to undertake nothing in the negotiations for peace or truce without their knowledge or concurrence; and ultimately to govern yourselves by their advice and opinion." 1

The question of the boundaries, the fisheries, the navigation of the Mississippi, and other matters had been the subject of lengthy discussions in Congress, and Adams had been instructed regarding them, but all these matters were now left to the discretion of the new commission.

Jefferson, named as one of the commissioners, was not able to leave his post as governor of Virginia, Laurens was still a prisoner in London, Adams was actively prosecuting his negotiations in Holland, and Jay at Madrid, so that the early steps of the negotiations were conducted by Franklin alone.

1 4 Dip. Cor. Rev. 505.

It is well, at the outset, to note the condition of the nations concerned in the negotiations. The Colonies had entered into an alliance with France, the terms of which required that peace should only be made with the independence of the Colonies, but no peace should be agreed upon except by joint agreement of the allies. Spain was at war with Great Britain, but hostile to the designs of the Colonies. France and Spain, joined by close family ties of the House of Bourbon, had common interests not in harmony with those of the Colonies. Holland was at war with England, loaning money to the Colonies, but suspicious of France. In England the North ministry, which had conducted the war against the Colonies, had recently been overthrown and was succeeded by a composite ministry, whose members were divided as to the policy to be pursued in the negotiations. The House of Commons had declared in favor of peace, even at the price of independence, but King George was still obstinately refusing such conditions.

Between the appointment of the commissioners and the conclusion of the negotiations, three important military events occurred which had an important influence on the final result. The first, the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, in October, 1781, practically decided the independence of the Colonies. The second, the victory of Rodney in the West Indies over the French fleet, in May, 1782, and, third, the raising of the siege of Gibraltar by the English, in September, 1782, made less exacting the demands of France and Spain, and enabled the American commissioners more

« ZurückWeiter »