Messrs. Jay and Laurens. Mr. Adams doubts whether he can be here, but that will not hinder our proceeding.

"It gave me great pleasure to hear Mr. Laurens is discharged entirely from the obligations he had entered into. I am much obliged by the readiness with which your Lordship has conferred that favor. Please to accept my thankful acknowledgments.

"I am happy too, in understanding from your letter, that transports are actually preparing to convey our prisoners to America, and that attention will be paid to their accommodation and good treatment. Those people on their return will be dispersed through every part of America, and the accounts they will have to give of any marks of kindness received by them under the present ministry, will lessen much the resentment of their friends against the nation, for the hardships they suffered under the past.

"Mr. Oswald rests here awhile by my advice, as I think his presence likely to be useful. With great, and sincere respect, I have the honor to be, &c. "B. FRANKLIN."

And I sent them to Mr. Grenville with the following note.

"Mr. Franklin presents his compliments to Mr. Grenville, and thanks him for the information of his courier's departure, and his kind offer of forwarding Mr. Franklin's letter; he accepts the favor and encloses two.

"The Marquis de Lafayette and Mr. Oswald will do Mr. Franklin the honor of breakfasting with him to-morrow, between nine and ten o'clock. Mr. Franklin will also be happy to have the company of Mr. Grenville if agreeable to him. He should have waited

upon Mr. Grenville to-day at Paris, but he imagined Mr. Grenville was at Versailles.

66

Passy, Friday evening, May 10th."

To which Mr. Grenville sent me this answer.

"Mr. Grenville presents his compliments to Mr. Franklin, and will, with great pleasure, do himself the honor of breakfasting with Mr. Franklin to-morrow between nine and ten o'clock. Mr. Grenville was at Versailles to-day, and should have been sorry if Mr. Franklin should have given himself the trouble of calling at Paris this morning. The courier shall certainly take particular care of Mr. Franklin's letters.

"Paris, Friday, May 10th."

The gentlemen all met accordingly, had a good deal of conversation at and after breakfast, stayed till after one o'clock, and parted much pleased with each other.

The Monday following, I called to visit Mr. Grenville. I found with him Mr. Oswald, who told me he was just about returning to London. I was a little surprised at the suddenness. of the resolution he had taken, it being, as he said, to set out the next morning early. I conceived the gentleman was engaged in business, so I withdrew, and went to write a few letters, among which was the following to Lord Shelburne, being really concerned at the thought of losing so good a man as Mr. Oswald.

"MY LORD,

TO LORD SHELBURNE.

"Passy, 13 May, 1782.

"I did myself the honor of writing to your Lordship a few days since, by Mr. Grenville's courier, acknowledging the receipt of yours of the 28th past, by Mr. Oswald.

"I then hoped that gentleman would have remained here some time, but his affairs, it seems, recall him sooner than he imagined. I hope he will return again, as I esteem him more, the more I am acquainted with him, and believe his moderation, prudent counsels, and sound judgment may contribute much, not only to the speedy conclusion of a peace, but to the framing such a peace as may be firm and lasting. With great respect, &c.

"B. FRANKLIN."

I went in the evening to Mr. Oswald's lodging with my letters, when he informed me, his intention was to return immediately hither from England; and, to make the more despatch in going and returning, he should leave his carriage at Calais, as the embarking and debarking of carriages in the packet boats often occasioned a tide's delay. I did not inquire the reason of this movement. We had but little conversation, for Mr. Grenville coming in, I soon after wished him a good journey and retired, that I might not interrupt their consultations.

Since his departure, Mr. Grenville has made me a visit; and entered into conversation with me, exactly of the same tenor with the letters I formerly received from Mr. Hartley, stating suppositions that France might insist on points totally different from what had been the object of our alliance, and that, in such case, he should imagine we were not at all bound to continue the war to obtain such points for her, &c. I thought I could not give him a better answer to this kind of discourse, than what I had given in two letters to Mr. Hartley, and, therefore, calling for those letters, I read them to him. He smiled, and would have turned the conversation; but I gave a little more of my sen

timents on the general subject of benefits, obligation, and gratitude. I said, I thought people had often imperfect notions of their duty on those points, and that a state of obligation was to many so uneasy a state, that they became ingenious in finding out reasons and arguments to prove that they had been laid under no obligation at all, or that they had discharged it, and they too easily satisfied themselves with such argu

ments.

To explain clearly my ideas on the subject, I stated a case. A, a stranger to B, sees him about to be imprisoned for a debt by a merciless creditor; he lends him the sum necessary to preserve his liberty. B then becomes the debtor of A, and, after some time, repays the money. Has he then discharged the obligation? No. He has discharged the money debt, but the obligation remains, and he is a debtor for the kindness of A, in lending him the sum so seasonably. If B should afterwards find A in the same circumstances, that he, B, had been in when A lent him the money, he may then discharge this obligation or debt of kindness in part, by lending him an equal sum. In part, I said, and not wholly, because, when A lent B the money, there had been no prior benefit received to induce him to it. And, therefore, if A should a second time need the same assistance, I thought B, if in his power, was in duty bound to afford it to him.

Mr. Grenville conceived that it was carrying gratitude very far, to apply this doctrine to our situation in respect to France, who was really the party served and obliged by our separation from England, as it lessened the power of her rival and relatively increased her own.

I told him, I was so strongly impressed with the kind assistance afforded us by France in our distress,

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36

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and the generous and noble manner in which it was granted, without exacting or stipulating for a single privilege, or particular advantage to herself in our commerce, or otherwise, that I could never suffer myself to think of such reasonings for lessening the obligation; and I hoped, and, indeed, did not doubt, but my countrymen were all of the same sentiments.

Thus he gained nothing of the point he came to push; we parted, however, in good humor. His conversation is always polite, and his manner pleasing. As he expressed a strong desire to discourse with me on the means of a reconciliation with America, I promised to consider the subject, and appointed Saturday the first day of June, for our conversation, when he proposed to call on me. The same day I received another letter from my old friend, Mr. Hartley. Our former correspondence on the subject of peace since the beginning of this year, I have kept by itself, as it preceded this, was in the time of the old ministry, and consisted wholly of letters unmixed with personal conversation. This being the first letter from him under the new ministry, and as it may be followed by others, which may relate to the negotiation, I insert it here, with my answer, and shall continue to insert the future letters I may receive from him relative to the same subject.

FROM DAVID HARTLEY TO B. FRANKLIN.

"MY DEAR FRIEND,

"London, 3 May, 1782.

"I write to you only one line, just to inform you, that a general order is issued by our government for the release of all the American prisoners everywhere. I have had this from Lord Shelburne, who informed me, that the order was not partial or conditional, but