confidence in the generosity of England. He also pointed to the terms of the treaty he had negotiated with the former power, which forbade either party to conclude a separate peace without the leave previously obtained of the other, as imposing a moral and legal obligation on his countrymen to follow the policy which he believed their interests as a power required them to adopt. Meanwhile the King of France congratulated Congress on having entrusted to his care the interests of the United States, and warned them that if France was to be asked to continue hostilities for purely American objects it was impossible to say what the result might be, for the system of France depended not merely on America, but on the other powers at war.†

About the period when the Administration of Lord North was tottering to its fall, Lord Cholmondeley then on his way to England called upon Franklin, the only member of the American Commission then in Paris, and knowing his previous acquaintance with Shelburne, offered to become the bearer of a letter to him. Franklin foreseeing the probability of a Ministerial change in England, and of Shelburne once more returning to official life, accepted the offer and wrote to Shelburne as follows:

• "Life of Jay,” i. 153, 154; ii. 126, 127.

Luzerne to the Congress, 23rd Nov. 1781. Vergennes to Luzerne, 28th Jan. 1782. "Life of Jay," i. 134.

"Lord Cholmondeley having kindly offered to take a letter from me to your Lordship, I embrace the opportunity of assuring you of the continuance of my ancient respect for your talents and virtues, and of congratulating you on the returning good disposition of your country in favour of America, which appears in the late resolutions of the Commons. I am persuaded it will have good effects. I hope it will tend to produce a general peace, which I am sure your Lordship with all good men desires, which I wish to see before I die, and to which I shall with infinite pleasure contribute everything in my power." *

The above letter arriving almost simultaneously with the formation of the Rockingham Cabinet, was shown by Shelburne to his leading colleagues, and they decided with the evidence before them of the friendly disposition of Franklin, to open an informal negotiation with him.

It was first proposed to send Mr. Hodgson a London merchant, intimately acquainted with Franklin.+ Ultimately the choice of the Cabinet fell upon Mr. Richard Oswald of Auchencruive, a wellknown Scotch merchant in the city of London. He had originally become known as a contractor during the Seven Years' War. Being dissatisfied with

* Franklin to Shelburne, March 22nd, 1782.

† Rockingham to Shelburne, April, 1782.

the manner in which his business was done, he went to Germany himself, and acted as Commissary General of the army of the Duke of Brunswick. In 1759 he purchased the estate of Auchencruive in Ayrshire, and marrying Miss Mary Ramsay he became through her possessed of extensive estates in America and the West Indies. Owing to his connection with those countries he had already been frequently consulted by the Government during the war. In 1777 he had visited Paris, and made acquaintance with both Vergennes and Franklin. He was known as holding very liberal views on economic and commercial questions, being a disciple of Adam Smith, to whom he owed his introduction to the new Secretary of State.*

He left England with a letter from Shelburne to Franklin, which ran as follows:

"I find myself returned to nearly the same situation, which you remember me to have occupied nineteen years ago, and should be very glad to talk to you, as I did then and afterwards in 1767, upon the means of promoting the happiness of mankind; a subject much more agreeable to my nature than the best concerted plans for spreading misery and devastation. I have had a high opinion of the compass of your mind and of your foresight. I have often been beholden to both, and shall be glad to be

* Sir G. C. Lewis, " Administrations of Great Britain,” p. 81.

so again, so far as is compatible with your situation. Your letter discovering the same disposition has made me send to you Mr. Oswald.

"I have had a longer acquaintance with him, than even I have had the pleasure to have with you. I believe him an honest man, and after consulting some of our common friends, I have thought him the fittest for the purpose. He is a practical man, and conversant in those negotiations, which are most interesting to mankind. This has made me prefer him to any of our speculative friends, or to any person of higher rank. He is fully apprized of my mind, and you may give full credit to every thing he assures you of. At the same time if any other channel occurs to you, I am ready to embrace it. I wish to retain the same simplicity and good faith, which subsisted between us in transactions of less importance."

With this letter Oswald arrived in Paris on the 12th of April, and immediately informed Franklin that the new Ministry was sincerely desirous of peace; but intimated that if France should insist upon too humiliating terms, England would continue the war, her resources not being exhausted. Franklin replied "That America was ready to treat, but only in concert with France, and that as Mr. Jay, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Laurens, were all absent from Paris, * Shelburne to Franklin, April 6th, 1782.

VOL. III.

N

nothing of importance could be done in the affair." At the same time he offered to introduce Oswald to Vergennes, an invitation which Oswald accepted; * and a meeting accordingly took place between the English emissary and the French minister on the 17th of April.

Mr. Oswald not having any command over the French language, Rayneval, Secretary to the Council, acted as interpreter. The French minister told

Oswald that the engagements of his royal master were such as to prevent him treating alone; the treaty must therefore be general, not partial; if the parties intended to avail themselves of the mediation recently proposed by the Northern Powers, they might treat at Vienna; otherwise at Paris: the King his master was however anxious to meet the wishes of the King of England on this subject. He also added that as the foundation of a good and durable peace should be laid in justice, he should have several demands to make of "justice" from England, whenever a treaty was entered upon. "Of this," he said, "I give you previous notice:" at the same time he did not specify what these demands would be, and when Oswald attempted to obtain from him some general propositions to take back to England, he refused on the ground that France could do nothing without consulting all her allies, which

• Franklin's Private Journal for 1782.