was, as it ought to be, a main object with the British Government to obtain, if possible, some restitution to the men who, in punishment for their continued allegiance to the King, had found their property confiscated and their persons banished. But from the first, Dr. Franklin held out no hopes of any satisfaction on this point. The Commissioners, he said, had no such power, nor had even the Congress. They were willing that the Congress should, with certain modifications, recommend those indemnities to the several States; and as one of the negotiators from England tells us, they to the last "continued to assert "that the recommendation of the Congress would have "all the effect we proposed."* The British diplomatists persevered in their original demand, and at one time there seemed a probability that the negotiations might break off chiefly on this ground. Twice was Mr. Strachey, the Under Secretary of State, an able and experienced man, despatched to Paris to aid Mr. Oswald with his counsel and co-operation. But at last, the mind of Franklin, ever ingenious and fertile of resources, devised a counter scheme. He said that he would allow for the losses which the Loyalists had suffered, provided another account were opened of the mischief they had done, as of slaves carried off, or houses burned; new Commissioners to be appointed to strike a balance between the two computations. At this formidable proposal, involving an endless train of discussions and disputes, the negotiators from England finally gave way. Matters being thus adjusted, the Preliminary or Provisional Articles were signed at Paris on the 30th of November, by the four American Commissioners on the one side, and by Mr. Oswald on the other. These Articles "to be inserted in and to constitute the Treaty of Peace," said the preamble, "but which treaty is not to be con"cluded until the terms of a Peace shall be agreed upon "between Great Britain and France." By this limitation, in truth little better than an empty form, since the Provisional Articles were to be meanwhile binding and effective, the Americans were in hopes to avoid, or at least to soften, the resentment of their French allies. The *Mr. Strachey to Secretary Townshend, November 29. 1782. State Paper Office, and Appendix to the present volume. 1782. PEACE WITH AMERICA. 201 first Article acknowledged in the fullest terms the independence of the United States. The second fixed their boundaries advantageously for them. The third gave their people the right to take fish on all the banks of Newfoundland, but not to dry or cure them on any of the King's settled dominions in America. By the fourth and fifth and sixth Articles, it was agreed that the Congress should earnestly recommend to the several legislatures to provide for the restitution of all estates belonging to real British subjects who had not borne arms against them. All other persons were to be at liberty to go to any of the provinces and remain there for twelve months, to wind up their affairs, the Congress also recommending the restitution of their confiscated property, on their repayment of the sums for which it had been sold. No impediment was to be put in the way of recovering BONA FIDE debts; no further prosecutions were to be commenced, no further confiscations made. It was likewise stipulated in the seventh and eighth Articles, that the English should at once withdraw their fleets and armies from every port or place which they still possessed within the limits of the United States; and that the navigation of the Mississippi, from its source to the ocean, should be for ever free and open to both parties. To these provisions was added a secret article respecting the limits of West Florida, if, at the close of the war it should be, or be put, in possession of England. It is not to be supposed, that the French Government could view with unconcern the studied secrecy of this negotiation. The appearances of amity were indeed, for the sake of mutual interest, kept up on either side. But thus did the Comte de Vergennes unbosom himself in writing to the French Minister at Philadelphia:-"You "will surely be gratified as well as myself with the very "extensive advantages which our allies the Americans are to receive from the peace; but you certainly will "not be less surprised than I have been at the conduct "of the Commissioners. They have cautiously kept themselves at a distance from me. Whenever I "have had occasion to see any one of them, and inquire of "them briefly respecting the progress of the negotiation, they have constantly clothed their speech in generali 66 66. "ties, giving me to understand that it did not go forward, "and that they had no confidence in the sincerity of "the British Ministry. Judge of my surprise when, on "the 30th of November, Dr. Franklin informed me that "the Articles were signed. The reservation retained on our account does not save the infraction of the promise "which we have made to each other not to sign except "conjointly. .... This negotiation is not yet so far ad"vanced in regard to ourselves as that of the United "States; not but what the King, if he had shown as little "delicacy in his proceedings as the American Commis"sioners, might have signed Articles with England long "before them."* The meeting of Parliament had been appointed for the 26th of November, but on the near prospect of bringing the peace to a conclusion, it was further prorogued to the 5th of December; the motive being made public by a letter from the Secretary of State to the Lord Mayor. So great was the public excitement at the news that the Funds underwent most violent fluctuations, sometimes to the extent of three per cent. a day, and from fifty-seven, which they had been at first, rising at one time to sixtyfive. At this period, the strength of parties, in Parliament at least, was described by Gibbon, as follows: “A "certain late Secretary of Ireland" (Eden probably) "reckons the House of Commons thus: Minister one "hundred and forty; Reynard, ninety; Boreas, one hun"dred and twenty; the rest unknown or uncertain. The "last of the three by self or agents talks too much of absence, neutrality, moderation. I still think he will dis"card the game."‡ It was hoped that the French and Spanish preliminary articles might, like the American, be concluded before the 5th of December. M. de Rayneval, the principal Secretary under M. de Vergennes, came to London, as he *This letter to M. de la Luzerne is dated December 19. 1782, and printed at full length in Franklin's Works, vol. ix. p. 452. For American state papers on this subject, see the "Diplomatic Cor dence" of their Revolution as, published by Mr. Sparks, espe 1. iv. p. 84., vol. x. pp. 129 and 187. er of Romilly, in the Life by his Sons, vol. i. p. 247. 1782. DEBATES IN PARLIAMENT. 203 had once already, to quicken the negotiations. But the difficulties on the point of Gibraltar proved as yet insuperable, and thus at the meeting of Parliament, only one pacification could be announced. The King, in his opening speech stated, that he had gone the full length of the powers vested in him by the Legislature, and offered to declare the Colonies in North America free and independent States by an article to be inserted in the treaty of peaceto which effect a provisional compact had been signed. And the King went on as follows, in weighty and memorable words: "In thus admitting their separa"tion from the Crown of these kingdoms, I have sacri"ficed every consideration of my own to the wishes and opinions of my people. I make it my humble and earn"est prayer to Almighty God, that Great Britain may "not feel the evils which might result from so great a "dismemberment of the empire; and that America may "be free from the calamities which have formerly proved "in the mother country how essential monarchy is to the enjoyment of constitutional liberty. Religion, language, interest, affections may, and I hope will, yet prove a "bond of permanent union between the two countries; "to this end neither attention nor disposition on my part "shall be wanting." 66 66 66 The Provisional Treaty, as recently signed, was not as yet laid before the Houses, but even its general announcement raised attacks upon the Government from the most opposite directions. In the Upper House, Lord Stormont violently censured the irrevocable concession of independence to American Commissioners, acting, he said,— for so ill was he informed of the real facts,-under the guidance and direction of French councils. Lord Shelburne defended himself as usual with eloquence and skill, but on a technical subtlety rather than on clear and broad grounds. The offer of independence, he argued, was not irrevocable; for, if France did not agree to peace, the offer ceased. In the Commons, Fox, on the contrary, contended that the acknowledgment of independence should have been the first step in the negotiation. Here, however, he was not supported by the other section out of power. Lord North, in his speech the first evening, owned that he could not look upon the formal final renunciation of our ancient sovereignty as warranted without making it at least the price of peace. And when, a few days afterwards, Fox moved for copies of such parts of the Provisional Treaty as related to the recognition of American independence, he was followed into the lobby by no more than 46 against 219. Great intemperance of language was indulged in by the Opposition Whigs. Burke on the Report described the King's Speech as a medley of hypocrisies and nonsense, and Fox added that he detested as much as he despised it. They also took especial pleasure in taunting the Prime Minister with the words used by him in a former year, that whenever the independence of the Colonies was granted, the sun of England would have set. Yet, if more fairly viewed, where lay the inconsistency? Or is there any concession so disastrous but it may at length be wrung from the most honest Minister by the exigency of public affairs? In his first speech, when he succeeded to the Treasury last summer, Lord Shelburne had, as it were, anticipated this attack, by adverting to his own past words, and declaring that the opinion which they stated was unchanged. But he had added, that however great might be the blow to England, he should, far from giving way to despair, endeavour to strain every nerve, and improve every opportunity, to prevent the Court of France from being in a situation to dictate the terms of peace. Thus, he said, although the sun of England would set with the loss of America, it was his resolution to improve the twilight, and prepare for the rising of England's sun again!* On the 23rd of the same December, the Houses having adjourned for a month of Christmas Recess, the Government made great exertions that, before they met again, the negotiations with Spain and France might be brought to a successful close. Spain was most eager to regain Gibraltar by treaty, since she could not by force of arms; and France desired to support her in that pretension. * Speech in the House of Lords, July 10. 1782. The original sunset speech was delivered March 5. 1778. So early as January 25. 1781, however, Lord Shelburne declared that he "had waked from "those dreams of British dominion." See Parl. Hist. vol. xix. p. 850., vol. xxi. p. 1035., and vol. xxiii. p. 194. |