his utmost endeavours to that purpose, in case he was set at liberty, not doubting the success. I communicated to Mr. Oswald what had already passed between Mr. Laurens and me respecting Lord Cornwallis; which appears in the preceding letters, and told him, I should have made less difficulty about the discharge of his parole, if Mr. Laurens had informed me of his being set at liberty in consequence of such an offer and promise ; and I wished him to state this in a letter to me, that it might appear for my justification in what I might with Mr. Laurens do in the affair; and that he would procure for me from Major Ross a copy of the parole, that I might be better acquainted with the nature of it. He accordingly in the afternoon sent me the following letter.

Paris, June 5, 1782.. While Mr. Laurens was under confinement in England, he promised, that on condition of his being liberated upon his parole, he would apply to you for an exchange in favor of my Lord Cornwallis, by a discharge of his Lordship’s, granted upon the surrender of his garrison at the village of York in Virginia : and, in case of your being under any difficulty in making such exchange, he undertook to write to the Congress, and to request it of that Assembly; making no doubt of obtaining a favorable answer without loss of time.

This proposal, signed by Mr. Laurens's hand, I carried and delivered, I think, in the month of December last, to his Majesty's then Secretaries of State, which was duly attended to; and in consequence thereof, Mr. Laurens was soon after set at full liberty. And though not a prisoner under parole, yet it is to be hoped a variation in the mode of discharge will not be supposed of any essential difference. v Aed with respect to Mr. Laurens, I am satisfied he will

consider himself as much interested in the success of this application as if his own discharge had been obtained under the form as proposed by the representation which I delivered to the Secretaries of State; and I make no doubt will sincerely join my Lord Cornwallis in an acknowledgment of your favor and good offices in granting his Lordship a full discharge of his parole abovementioned. I have the honor to be, with much respect, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

RICHARD OSWALD.

P. S. Major Ross has got no copy of Lord Cornwallis's parole. He says it was in the common form, as in like

cases.

Since writing the above, I recollect I was under a mistake, as if the proposal of exchange came first from Mr. Laurens; whereas it was made by his Majesty's Secretaries of State to me, that Mr. Laurens should endeavour to pro cure the exchange of Lord Cornwallis, so as to be discharged himself. Which proposal I carried to Mr. Laurens, and had from him the obligation abovementioned, upon which the mode of his discharge was settled.

To the foregoing I wrote this answer.

SIR,

R. O.

Passy, June 6, 1782.

I received the letter you did me the honor of writing to me, respecting the parole of Lord Cornwallis. You are acquainted with what I wrote some time since to Mr. Laurens. To-morrow is post day from Holland, when possibly I may receive an answer, with a paper drawn up by him for the purpose of discharging that parole, to be signed by us jointly. I suppose the staying at Paris another day

f

will not be very inconvenient to Major Ross; and if I do
not hear to-morrow from Mr. Laurens, I will immediately,
in compliance with your request, do what I can towards the
liberation of Lord Cornwallis. I have the honor to be, with
great respect, Sir, your most obedient humble servant,
R. Oswald, Esq.

B. FRANKLIN.

Friday, June 7. Major Ross called upon me, to thank me for the favorable intentions I had expressed in my letter to Mr. Oswald respecting Lord Cornwallis, and to assure me his Lordship would for ever remember it with gratitude, &c. I told him it was our duty to alleviate as much as we could the calamities of war; that I expected letters from Mr. Laurens relating to the affair, after the receipt of which I would immediately complete it. Or if I did not hear from Mr. L. I would speak to the Marquis de la Fayette, get his approbation, and finish it without farther waiting.

Saturday, June 8. I received some newspapers from England, in one of which is the following paragraph.

Extract from the London Evening Post of May 30, 1782.

“ If reports on the spot speak truth, Mr. Grenville, in his first visit to Dr. Franklin, gained a considerable point of information as to the powers America had retaived for treating separately with Great Britain, in case her claims or demands were granted.

“ The treaty of February 6, 1778, was made the basis of this conversation; and by the spirit and meaning of this treaty, there is no obligation on America not to treat separately for peace, after she is assured England will grant her independence, and a free commerce with all the world, ; “The first article of that treaty engages America and France to be bound to each other as long as circumstances may

a

require; therefore the granting America all that she asks of England, is breaking the bond by which the circumstances may bind America to France.

"The second article says, the meaning and direct end of the alliance is, to ensure the freedom and independence of America, Surely, then, when freedom and independence are allowed by Britain, America may or may not, as she chuses, put an end to the present war between England and America, and leave France to war on through all her mad projects of reducing the power and greatness of England, while America feels herself possessed of what she wishes.

"By the eighth article of the treaty neither France or America can conclude peace without the assent of the other; and they engage not to lay down their arms, until the independence of America is acknowledged; but this article does not exclude America from entering into a separate treaty for peace with England, and evinces more strongly than the former article, that America may enter into a separate treaty with England, when she is convinced that England has ensured to her, all that she can reasonably ask."

I conjecture that this must be an extract from a letter of Mr. Grenville's. But it carries an appearance as if he and I had agreed in these imaginary discourses of America's being at liberty to make peace without France, &c. Whereas my whole discourse in the strongest terms declared our deter minations to the contrary, and the impossibility of our acting not only contrary to the treaty, but the duties of gratitude and honor, of which nothing is mentioned. This young negociator seems to value himself on having obtained from me a copy of the treaty. I gave it him freely, at his request; it being not so much a secret as he imagined, having been printed, first in all the American papers, soon after it was made; then at London in Almon's Remembrancer, which I wonder he did not know and afterwards in a collection of

the American Constitutions published by order of Congress. As such imperfect accounts of our conversations find their way into the English papers, I must speak to this gentleman of its impropriety.

Sunday, June 9. Dr. Bancroft being intimately acquainted with Mr. Walpole, I this day gave him Lord Shelburne's letter to Mr. Oswald, requesting he would communicate it to that gentleman. Dr. Bancroft said it was believed, both Russia and the Emperor wish the continuance of the war, and aimed at procuring for England a peace with Holland, that England might be better able to continue it against France and Spain.

The Marquis de la Fayette having proposed to call on me to-day, I kept back the discharge of Lord Cornwallis, which was written and ready, desiring to have his approbation to it, as he had in a former conversation advised it. He did not come, but late in the evening sent me a note acquainting me, that he had been prevented, by accompanying the Grand Duke to the review, but would breakfast with me to-morrow morning.

This day I received a letter from Mr. Dana, dated at St. Petersburgh, April 29, in which is the following passage. « We yesterday received the news that the States General had on the 19th of this month (N. S.) acknowledged the independence of the United States. This event gave a shock here, and is not well received, as they at least profess to have fattered themselves that the mediation would bave prevented it, and otherwise brought on a partial peace between Britain and Holland. This resentment will not be productive of any ill consequences to the Dutch republic.” It is true that while the war continues Russia feels a greater