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mised to consider of it, and this morning I sent him the following letter:

SIR,

"Passy, May 31, 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 the 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 M'Leod serve in his military capacity in England only, till the pleasure of 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 at this opportunity of obliging him; and that they would, by their approbation, supply the 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 the satisfaction of that gentleman.

Sunday, June the 2d. the marquis de la Fayette 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 :

SIR,

Passy, June 2, 1782.

SINCE mine of May 8th, I have not had any thing material to communicate to your excellency. Mr. Grenville indeed arrived just after I dispatched that letter, and I introduced him to M. de Vergennes; but his mission seems only a repetition of that by Mr. Oswald, the same declarations of the king of England's sincere desire of peace, and willingness to treat of a general pacification with all the

powers at war, and to treat at Paris; which were answered by the same declarations of the good dispositions of their 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 of the overture, and that Mr. Grenville would write for full powers to treat, and make propositions, &c. nothing of importance being in the mean time to be transacted.

Mr. Grenville accordingly dispatched a messenger for London, who returned in about twelve days. Mr. G. called on me, after having been at Versailles, and acquainted me that he had received the favor, 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 here, 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 shewed that 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, after what he told me, that 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 that 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

acknowlegment of our independence. The late success against count de Grasse, may also have given them hopes, that by delay and more successes they may make that ac knowlegement and a peace less necessary.

Mr. Grenville has written to his court for further instructions, we shall see what the return of his courier will produce, a full power to treat with each of the powers at war against England does not appear. I imagine the negocia tions will be broken off.

Mr. G. in his conversations 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 you may have entered into some, and that if these should be done, 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 farther shall be immediately communicated. Be pleased to present my respects to Mr. Laurens, to whom I wrote some days since. Mr. Jay, I suppose is on his way hither. With great respect, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

On Monday, the third, 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, says 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 would no longer be able to earn money to carry them on, so that if they continued, it would be absolutely necessary for them to stop payment of the interest money in the funds, which would ruin their future credit. He spoke of stopping on all sums above a 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 shewing 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 I hope they will shew their moderation and their magnanimity: he then repeatedly mentioned the great esteem, the ministers had for me; that they, with all the considerable people of England, looked towards, 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 shewed 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 negociation, is here inserted. He left it with me requesting that I would communicate it to Mr. Walpole.

"Whitehall, May 21, 1782.

SIR, IT has reached me that Mr. Walpole esteems himself much injured by your going to Paris, and that he conceives it was a measure of mine, intended to take the present negociation with the court of France out of his hands, which he conceives to have been previously commenced through his channel, by Mr. Fox. I must desire that you will have the goodness to call upon Mr. Walpole, and explain to him distinctly, how very little foundation there is for so unjust a suspicion, as I knew of no such intercourse. Mr. Fox

M m

declares he considered what had passed between him and Mr. Walpole of a mere private nature, not sufficiently material to mention to the king or the cabinet, and will write to Mr. Walpole to explain this distinctly to him. But if you find the least suspicion of this kind has reached Doctor Franklin or M. le comte de Vergennes, I desire this mat ter may be clearly explained to both. I have too much friendship for Doctor Franklin, and too much respect for the character of M. le comte de Vergennes, with which I am perfectly acquainted, to be so indifferent to the good opinion of either, as to suffer them to believe me capable of an intrigue, when I have both professed and observed a direct opposite conduct. In truth I hold it in such per fect contempt, that however proud I may be to serve the king in my present situation or in any other, and however anxious I may be to save my country, I should not hesitate a moment about retiring from any situation which required such services. But I must do the king the justice to say, that his majesty abhors them, and I need not tell you that is my fixed principle, that no country in any moment can be advantaged by them.

I am, with great truth and regard, &c.
SHELBURNE."

In speaking farther of the ministry's opinion, of the great service it might be in my power to render, Mr. Oswald said; he had told them in one of his conversations, that nothing was to be expected of me but consistence, nothing unsuitable to my character or inconsistent with my duty. I did not ask him the particular occasion of his saying this, but thought it looked a little as if something inconsistent with my duty had been talked of or proposed.

1

Mr. Oswald also gave me a copy of a paper of memorandums, written by Lord Shelburne, to wit:

1st. That I am ready to correspond more particularly with Doctor Franklin if wished.

2d. "That the enabling act is passing, with the insertion of commissioners recommended by Mr. Oswald, and on our

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