The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume VI Part 41

The Count probably knows, that we are instructed against it, that Congress are instructed against it, or rather have not const.i.tutional authority to do it; that we can only write about it to Congress, and they to the States, who may, and probably will, deliberate upon it eighteen months before they all decide, and then every one of them will determine against it. In this way there is an insuperable obstacle to any agreement between the English and Americans, even upon terms to be inserted in the general peace, before all are ready. It was the constant practice of the French to have some of their subjects in London during the conferences for peace in order to propagate such sentiments there as they wished to prevail. I doubted not such were there now; M. Rayneval had been there. M. Gerard, I had heard, is there now, and probably others. They can easily persuade the tories to set up their demands, and tell them and the Ministers, that the King's dignity and nation's honor are compromised in it.

For my own part, I thought America had been long enough involved in the wars of Europe. She had been a football between contending nations from the beginning, and it was easy to foresee, that France and England both would endeavor to involve us in their future wars. I thought it our interest and duty, to avoid them as much as possible, and to be completely independent, and have nothing to do but in commerce with either of them; that my thoughts had been from the beginning to arrange all our European connexions to this end, and that they would continue to be so employed. And I thought it so important to us, that if my poor labors, my little estate, or (smiling) sizy blood, could effect it, it should be done. But I had many fears.

I said, the King of France might think it consistent with his station to favor people, who had contended for a Crown, though it was the Crown of his enemy. Whiteford said, they seem to be through the whole of their course, fighting for reputation. I said, they had acquired it, and more, they had raised themselves high from a low estate by it, and they were our good friends and allies, and had conducted generously, and n.o.bly, and we should be just and grateful, but they might have political wishes, which we were not bound by treaty, nor in justice or grat.i.tude to favor, and these we ought to be cautious of.

He agreed that they had raised themselves very suddenly and surprisingly by it.

_Tuesday, November 12th._--The compliment of "_Monsieur, vous etes le Was.h.i.+ngton de la negotiation_," was repeated to me, by more than one person. I answered, "_Monsieur, vous me faites le plus grand honneur, et le compliment le plus sublime possible_." "_Eh! Monsieur, en verite, vous l'avez bien merite._"

_Friday, November 15th._--Mr Oswald came to visit me, and entered with some freedom, into conversation. I said many things to him to convince him, that it was the policy of my Lord Shelburne, and the interest of the nation, to agree with us upon the advantageous terms, which Mr Strachey carried away on the 5th; showed him the advantages of the boundary, the vast extent of land, and the equitable provision for the payment of debts, and even the great benefits stipulated for the tories.

He said he had been reading Mr Paine's answer to the Abbe Raynal, and had found there an excellent argument in favor of the tories. Mr Paine says, that before the battle of Lexington, we were so blindly prejudiced in favor of the English, and so closely attached to them, that we went to war at any time, and for any object, when they bid us.

Now this being habitual to the Americans, it was excusable in the tories to behave on this occasion, as all of us had ever done upon all others. He said, if he were a member of Congress, he would show a magnanimity upon this occasion, and would say to the refugees, take your property, we scorn to make any use of it in building up our system.

I replied, that we had no power, and Congress had no power, and, therefore, we must consider how it would be reasoned upon in the several Legislatures of the separate States, if, after being sent by us to Congress, and by them to the several States, in the course of twelve or fifteen months, it should be there debated. You must carry on the war six or nine months certainly, for this compensation; and consequently spend, in the prosecution of it, six or nine times the sum necessary to make the compensation; for I presume this war costs every month to Great Britain, a larger sum than would be necessary to pay for the forfeited estates.

"How," said I, "will an independent man in one of our a.s.semblies consider this? We will take a man, who is no partisan of England or France, one who wishes to do justice to both, and to all nations, but is the partisan only of his own." "Have you seen," said he, "a certain letter written to the Count de Vergennes, wherein Mr Samuel Adams is treated pretty freely?" "Yes," said I, "and several other papers, in which Mr John Adams has been treated so too. I do not know what you may have heard in England of Mr Samuel Adams. You may have been taught to believe, for what I know, that he eats little children. But I a.s.sure you, he is a man of humanity and candor, as well as integrity; and further, that he is devoted to the interest of his country, and, I believe, wishes never to be, after a peace, the partisan to France or England, but to do justice and all the good he can to both. I thank you for mentioning him, for I will make him my orator. What will he say, when the question of amnesty and compensation to the tories comes before the Senate of Ma.s.sachusetts, and when he is informed, that England makes a point of it, and that France favors her? He will say, here are two old sagacious Courts, both endeavoring to sow the seeds of discord among us, each endeavoring to keep us in hot water; to keep up continual broils between an English party and a French party, in hopes of obliging the independent and patriotic party to lean to its side. England wishes them here, and compensated, not merely to get rid of them, and to save herself the money, but to plant among us instruments of her own, to make divisions among us, and between us and France, to be continually crying down the religion, the government, the manners of France, and crying up the language, the fas.h.i.+ons, the blood, &c. of England. England also means, by insisting on our compensating these worst of enemies, to obtain from us a tacit acknowledgment of the right of the war, an implicit acknowledgment, that the tories have been justifiable, or at least excusable, and that we, only by a fortunate coincidence of events, have carried a wicked rebellion into a complete revolution. At the very time, when Britain professes to desire peace, reconciliation, perpetual oblivion of all past unkindnesses, can she wish to send in among us a number of persons, whose very countenances will bring fresh to our remembrance the whole history of the rise and progress of the war, and of all its atrocities? Can she think it conciliatory, to oblige us to lay taxes upon those, whose habitations have been consumed, to reward those who have burned them? Upon those, whose relations have been cruelly destroyed, to compensate the murderers? What can be the design of France, on the other hand, by espousing the cause of those men?

Indeed, her motives may be guessed at. She may wish to keep up in our minds a terror of England, and a fresh remembrance of all we have suffered. Or she may wish to prevent our Ministers in Europe from agreeing with the British Ministers, until she shall say, that she and Spain are satisfied in all points."

I entered largely with Mr Oswald into the consideration of the influence this question would have upon the councils of the British cabinet, and the debates in Parliament. The King and the old Ministry might think their personal reputations concerned, in supporting men who had gone such lengths, and suffered so much in their attachment to them. The King may say, "I have other dominions abroad, Canada, Nova Scotia, Florida, the West India Islands, the East Indies, Ireland. It will be a bad example to abandon these men. Others will lose their encouragement to adhere to my government." But the shortest answer to this is the best, let the King by a message recommend it to Parliament to compensate them.

But how will my Lord Shelburne sustain the shock of opposition, when Mr Fox and Mr Burke shall demand a reason, why the essential interests of the nation are sacrificed to the unreasonable demands of those very men, who have done this great mischief to the empire? Should these orators indulge themselves in Philippics against the refugees, show their false representations, their outrageous cruelties, their innumerable demerits against the nation, and then attack the First Lord of the Treasury for continuing to spend the blood and treasure of the nation for their sakes?

_Sunday, November 17th._--Mr Vaughan came to me yesterday, and said, that Mr Oswald had that morning called upon Mr Jay, and told him, if he had known as much the day before, as he had since learned, he would have written to go home. Mr Vaughan said, Mr Fitzherbert had received a letter from Mr Townshend, that the compensation would be insisted on. Mr Oswald wanted Mr Jay to go to England; thought he could convince the Ministry. Mr Jay said, he must go with or without the knowledge and advice of the Court, and, in either case, it would give rise to jealousies. He could not go. Mr Vaughan said, he had determined to go, on account of the critical state of his family, his wife being probably abed. He should be glad to converse freely with me, and obtain from me all the lights and arguments against the tories, even the history of their worst actions. That, in case it should be necessary to run them down, it might be done, or at least expose them, for their true history was little known in England. I told him, I must be excused, it was a subject that I had never been desirous of obtaining information upon; that I pitied those people too much, to be willing to aggravate the sorrows and sufferings, even of those who had deserved the worst. It might not be amiss to reprint the letters of Bernard, Hutchinson, and Oliver, to show their rise. It might not be amiss to read the history of Wyoming, in the annual register for 1778 or 9, to recollect the prison s.h.i.+ps, and the churches at New York, where the garrison of Fort Was.h.i.+ngton were starved, in order to make them enlist in refugee corps, it might not be amiss to recollect the burning of cities, and the thefts of plate, negroes, and tobacco.

I entered into the same arguments with him that I had used with Mr Oswald, to show that we could do nothing; Congress nothing; the time it would take to consult the States, and the reason to believe, that all of them would at last decide against it. I showed him, that it would be a religious question with some; a moral one with others; and a political one with more; an economical one with very few. I shewed him the ill effect which would be produced upon the American mind by this measure; how much it would contribute to perpetuate alienation against England, and how French emissaries might, by means of these men, blow up the flames of animosity and war. I showed him how the whig interest, and the opposition, might avail themselves of this subject in Parliament, and how they might embarra.s.s the Minister.

He went out to Pa.s.sy for a pa.s.sport, and in the evening called upon me again; he said he found Dr Franklin's sentiments to be the same with Mr Jay's and mine, and hoped he should be able to convince Lord Shelburne. He was pretty confident it would work right. The Ministry and nation were not informed upon the subject. Lord Shelburne had told him, that no part of his office gave him so much pain, as the levee he held for these people, and hearing their stories of their families and estates, their losses, sufferings, and distresses. Mr Vaughan said, he had picked up here a good deal of information about these people from Mr Allen, and other Americans.

In the evening, M. de Lafayette came in and told me he had been to see M. de Fleury on the subject of a loan. He told him, he must afford America this year a subsidy of twenty millions. M. de Fleury said, France had already spent two hundred and fifty millions in the American war, and that they could not allow any more money to her; that there was a great deal of money in America; that the King's troops had been paid and subsisted there; that the British army had been subsisted and paid there, &c. The Marquis said, that little of the subsistence or pay of the British had gone into any hands, but those of the tories within the lines. I said, that more money went in for their goods, than came out for provisions, or anything. The Marquis added to M. de Fleury, that Mr Adams had a plan for going to the States-General for a loan, or a subsidy. M. de Fleury said, he did not want the a.s.sistance of Mr Adams, to get money in Holland, he could have what he would. The Marquis said, Mr Adams would be glad of it, he did not want to go, but was willing to take the trouble, if necessary.

The Marquis said, that he should dine with the Queen tomorrow, and would give her a hint to favor us, that he should take leave in a few days, and should go in the fleet that was to sail from Brest; that he wanted the advice of Dr Franklin, Mr Jay, and me, before he went, &c.

said that there was a report, that M. Gerard had been in England, and that M. de Rayneval was gone. I told him, I saw M. Gerard at Mr Jay's a few evenings ago. He said, he did not believe M. Gerard had been; that he had mentioned it to Count de Vergennes, and he did not appear confused at all, but said M. Gerard was here about the limits of Alsace. The Marquis said, that he believed the reason why Count de Vergennes said so little about the progress of Mr Fitzherbert with him was, because the difficulty about peace was made by the Spaniards, and he was afraid of making the Americans still more angry with Spain. He knew the Americans were very angry with the Spaniards.

_Monday, November 18th._--Returned Mr Oswald's visit. He says, Mr.

Strachey, who sat out the 5th, did not reach London until the 10th.

Couriers are three, four, or five days in going, according as the winds are.

We went over the old ground concerning the tories. He began to use arguments with me to relax. I told him, he must not think of that; but must bend all his thoughts to convince and persuade his Court to give it up; that if the terms now before his Court were not accepted, the whole negotiation would be broken off, and this Court would probably be so angry with Mr Jay and me, that they would set their engines to work upon Congress, get us recalled, and some others sent, who would do exactly as this Court would have them. He said, he thought that very probable. In another part of his conversation he said, we should all have gold snuff boxes, set with diamonds; you will certainly have the picture. I told him no, I had dealt too freely with this Court, I had not concealed from them any useful and necessary truth, although it was disagreeable. Indeed, I neither expected, or desired any favors from them, nor would I accept any; I should not refuse any customary compliment of that sort, but it never had been, or would be offered to me. My fixed principle, never to be the tool of any man, nor the partisan of any nation, would forever exclude me from the smiles and favors of Courts.

In another part of the conversation I said, that when I was young and addicted to reading, I had heard about dancing upon the points of metaphysical needles; but, by mixing in the world, I had found the points of political needles finer and sharper than the metaphysical ones. I told him the story of Josiah Quincy's conversation with Lord Shelburne, in 1774, in which he pointed out to him the plan of carrying on the war, which has been pursued this year, by remaining inactive on land, and cruising upon the coast to distress our trade.

He said he had been contriving an artificial truce, since he found we were bound by treaty not to agree to a separate truce. He had proposed to the Ministry, to give orders to their men-of-war, and privateers, not to take any unarmed American vessels.

I said to him, supposing the armed neutrality should acknowledge American independence, by admitting Mr Dana, who is now at Petersburg with a commission in his pocket for that purpose, to subscribe to the principles of their marine treaty; the King of Great Britain could find no fault with it; he could never hereafter say it was an affront or hostility; he had done it himself. Would not all neutral vessels have a right to go to America? And could not all American trade be carried on in neutral bottoms? I said to him, that England would always be a country, which would deserve much of the attention of America, independently of all consideration of blood, origin, language, morals, &c.; merely as a commercial people, she would forever claim the respect of America, because a great part of her commerce would be with her, provided she came to her senses, and made peace with us, without any points in the treaty, that should ferment in the minds of the people. If the people should think themselves unjustly treated, they would never be easy, and they are so situated as to be able to hurt any power. The fisheries, the Mississippi, the tories, were points that would rankle, and that nation that should offend our people in any of them, would sooner or later feel the consequences.

Mr Jay, M. Couteulx, and Mr Grand, came in. Mr Grand says there is a great fermentation in England, and that they talk of uniting Lord North and Mr Fox in administration; the Duke of Portland to come in, and Keppel to go out. But this is wild.

You are afraid, said Mr Oswald today, of being made the tools of the powers of Europe. Indeed I am, said I. What powers, said he? All of them, said I. It is obvious that all the powers of Europe will be continually manoeuvring with us, to work us into their real or imaginary balances of power. They will all wish to make of us a makeweight candle, when they are making out their pounds. Indeed it is not surprising; for we shall very often, if not always be able to turn the scale. But I think it ought to be our rule not to meddle, and that of all the powers of Europe, not to desire us, or perhaps even to permit us to interfere, if they can help it. I beg of you, said he, to get out of your head the idea, that we shall disturb you. What, said I, do you yourself believe, that your Ministers, Governors, and even nation, will not wish to get us of your side in any future war? As for the Governors, said he, we will take off their heads if they do an improper thing towards you. Thank you for your good will, said I, which I feel to be sincere. But nations do not feel as you and I do.

And your nation, when it gets a little refreshed from the fatigues of the war; when men and money are become plenty, and allies at hand, will not feel as it does now. We never can be such sots, said he, as to think of differing again with you. Why, said I, in truth I have never been able to comprehend the reason, why you ever thought of differing with us.

_Monday, November 25th._ Doctor Franklin, Mr Jay, and myself, at 11 o'clock, met at Mr Oswald's lodgings. Mr Strachey told us, he had been to London, and waited personally on every one of the King's cabinet council, and had communicated the last propositions to them. They every one of them unanimously condemned that respecting the tories, so that that unhappy affair stuck, as he foresaw and foretold it would.

The affair of the fishery too was somewhat altered. They could not admit us to dry on the sh.o.r.es of Nova Scotia, nor to fish within three leagues of the coast of Cape Breton. The boundary they did not approve. They thought it too extended, too vast a country; but they would not make a difficulty. That if these terms were not admitted, the whole affair must be thrown into Parliament, where every man would be for insisting on rest.i.tution to the refugees. He talked about excepting a few, by name, of the most obnoxious of the refugees.

I could not help observing, that the ideas respecting the fishery appeared to me to come piping hot from Versailles. I quoted to them the words of our treaty with France, in which the indefinite and exclusive right to the fishery on the western side of Newfoundland was secured against us, according to the true construction of the treaties of Utrecht and Paris. I showed them the 12th and 13th articles of the treaty of Utrecht, by which the French were admitted to fish from Cape Bonavista to Point Riche. I related to them the manner in which the cod and haddock came into the rivers, harbors, creeks, and up to the very wharves, on all the northern coasts of America, in the spring, in the month of April, so that you have nothing to do, but step into a boat, and bring in a parcel of fish in a few hours. But that in May they began to withdraw. We have a saying in Boston that, "when the blossoms fall, the haddock begin to crawl," i.e. to move into deep water; so that in summer you must go out some distance to fish; at Newfoundland it was the same. The fish in March and April were in sh.o.r.e, in all the creeks, bays, and harbors, i.e. within three leagues of the coasts or sh.o.r.es of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia; that neither French nor English, could go from Europe and arrive early enough for the first fare; that our vessels could, being so much nearer, an advantage which G.o.d and nature had put into our hands; but this advantage of ours had been an advantage to England; because our fish had been sold in Spain and Portugal for gold and silver, and that gold and silver sent to London for manufactures; that this would be the course again; that France foresaw it, and wished to deprive England of it, by persuading her to deprive us of it; that it would be a master stroke of policy if she could succeed; but England must be completely the dupe before she could succeed.

There were three lights in which it might be viewed. 1st. As a nursery for seamen. 2d. As a source of profit. 3d. As a source of contention.

As a nursery of seamen, did England consider us as worse enemies than France? Had she rather France should have the seamen than America? The French marine was nearer and more menacing than ours. As a source of profit, had England rather France should supply the markets of Lisbon and Cadiz with fish, and take the gold and silver, than we? France would never spend any of that money in London. We should spend it all there, very nearly. As a source of contention, how could we restrain our fishermen (the boldest men alive) from fis.h.i.+ng in prohibited places? How could our men see the French admitted to fish, and themselves excluded by the English? It would then be a cause of disputes, and such seeds France might wish to sow. That I wished for two hours' conversation on the subject with one of the King's council.

If I did not convince him he was undesignedly betraying the interest of his Sovereign; I was mistaken. Strachey said, perhaps I would put down some observations in writing upon it; I said, with all my heart, provided I had the approbation of my colleagues; but I could do nothing of the kind without submitting it to their judgments; and, that whatever I had said or should say, upon the subject, however strongly I might express myself was always to be understood, with submission to my colleagues. I showed them Captain Coffin's letter, and gave them his character. His words are;

"Our fishermen from Boston, Salem, Newbury, Marblehead, Cape Ann, Cape Cod, and Nantucket, have frequently gone out on the fisheries to the Straits of Belleisle, north part of Newfoundland, and the banks adjacent thereto, there to continue the whole season, and have made use of the north part of Newfoundland, the Labrador coast, in the Straits of Belleisle, to cure their fish, which they have taken in and about those coasts. I have known several instances of vessels going there to load in the fall of the year, with the fish taken and cured at these places, for Spain, Portugal, &c. I was once concerned in a voyage of that kind myself, and speak from my own knowledge.

"From Cape Sables, to the Isle of Sables, and so on to the Banks of Newfoundland, are a chain of banks, extending all along the coast, and almost adjoining each other, and those banks are where our fishermen go for the first fare, in the early part of the season. Their second fare is on the Banks of Newfoundland, where they continue to fish, till prevented by the tempestuous and boisterous winds, which prevail in the fall of the year on that coast. Their third and last fare is generally made near the coast of Cape Sables, or banks adjoining thereto, where they are not only relieved from those boisterous gales, but have an asylum to fly to in case of emergency, as that coast is lined, from the head of Cape Sables to Halifax, with most excellent harbors. The sea-cow fishery was, before the present war, carried on to great advantage, particularly from Nantucket and Cape Cod, in and about the river St Lawrence, at the Island St Johns and Anticosti, Bay of Chaleurs, and the Magdalen Islands, which were the most noted of all for that fishery. This oil has the preference to all others, except spermaceti."

Mr Jay desired to know whether Mr Oswald had now power to conclude and sign with us. Strachey said he had, absolutely. Mr Jay desired to know if the propositions now delivered us, were their ultimatum. Strachey seemed loath to answer, but at last said, no. We agreed these were good signs of sincerity. Bancroft came in this evening, and said, it was reported, that a courier had arrived from M. Rayneval, in London, and that after it, the Count de Vergennes told the King, that he had the peace in his pocket, that he was now master of the peace.

_Tuesday, November 26th._ Breakfasted at Mr Jay's, with Dr Franklin, in consultation upon the propositions made to us yesterday, by Mr Oswald. We agreed unanimously, to answer him, that we could not consent to the article respecting the refugees, as it now stands. Dr Franklin read a letter upon the subject, which he had prepared to Mr Oswald, upon the subject of the tories, which we had agreed with him, that he should read, as containing his private sentiments. We had a vast deal of conversation upon the subject. My colleagues opened themselves, and made many observations concerning the conduct, crimes, and demerits of those people. Before dinner Mr Fitzherbert came in, whom I had never seen before, a gentleman of about thirtythree; seems pretty discreet and judicious, and did not discover those airs of vanity, which are imputed to him. He came in consequence of the desire I expressed yesterday, of knowing the state of the negotiation between him and the Count de Vergennes, respecting the fishery. He told us, that the Count was for fixing the boundaries where each nation should fish; he must confess he thought the idea plausible, for that there had been great dissensions among the fishermen of the two nations; that the French Marine Office had an apartment full of complaints and representations of disputes; that the French pretended, that Cape Ray was the Point Riche.

I asked him, if the French demanded of him an exclusive right to fish and dry between Cape Bonavista and the Point Riche. He said they had not expressly, and he intended to follow the words of the Treaty of Utrecht and Paris, without stirring the point. I showed him an extract of a letter from the Earl of Egremoot, to the Duke of Bedford, of March the 1st, 1763, in which it is said, that, by the 13th article of the Treaty of Utrecht, a liberty was left to the French to fish, and to dry their fish on sh.o.r.e; and for that purpose to erect the necessary stages and buildings, but with an express stipulation, "_de ne pas sejourner dans la dite Isle, au dela du dit tems necessaire pour pecher et secher les poissons_." That it is a received law among the fishermen, that whoever arrives first shall have his choice of the stations; that the Duc de Nivernois insisted, that by the Treaty of Utrecht, the French had an exclusive right to the fishery, from Cape Bonavista to Point Riche; that the King gave to his Grace, the Duke of Bedford, express instructions to come to an eclairciss.e.m.e.nt upon the point with the French Ministry, and to refuse the exclusive construction of the Treaty of Utrecht. I also showed him a letter from Sir Stamier Porteen, Lord Weymouth's Secretary, to Lord Weymouth, enclosing an extract of Lord Egremont's letter to the Duke of Bedford, by which it appears, that the Duc de Nivernois insisted "that the French had an exclusive right to the fishery, from Cape Bonavista to point Riche, and that they had, on ceding the island of Newfoundland to Great Britain, by the thirteenth article of the Treaty of Utrecht, expressly reserved to themselves such an exclusive right, which they had constantly been in possession of till they were entirely driven from North America, in the last war."

For these papers I am obliged to Mr Izard. Mr Fitzherbert said it was the same thing now, word for word; but he should endeavor to have the treaty conformable to those of Utrecht and Paris. But he said we had given it up by admitting the word "_exclusive_" into our treaty. I said, perhaps not; for the whole was to be conformable to the true construction of the treaties of Utrecht and Paris, and that if the English did not now admit the exclusive construction, they could not contend for it against us. We had only contracted not to disturb them, &c. I said it was the opinion of all the fishermen in America, that England could not prevent our catching a fish, without preventing themselves from getting a dollar; that the first fare was our only advantage; that neither the English nor French could have it; it must be lost if we had it not. He said, he did not think much of the fishery, as a source of profit, but as a nursery of seamen. I told him, the English could not catch a fish the more, or make a sailor the more, for restraining us; even the French would rival them in the markets of Spain and Portugal. It was our fish they ought to call their own; because we should spend the profit with them; that the Southern States had staple commodities; but New England had no other remittances than the fishery, no other way to pay for their clothing; that it entered into our distilleries and West India trade, as well as our European trade, in such a manner, that it could not be taken out or diminished without tearing and rending; that, if it should be left to its natural course, we could hire or purchase spots of ground, on which to erect stages and buildings; but if we were straitened by treaty, that treaty would be given in instructions to Governors and Commodores, whose duty it would be to execute it; that it would be very difficult to restrain our fishermen, they would be frequently transgressing and making disputes and troubles.

He said, his princ.i.p.al object was to avoid sowing seeds of future wars. I said, it was equally my object, and that I was persuaded, that if the germ of a war was left anywhere, there was the greatest danger of its being left in the article respecting the fishery. The rest of the day was spent in endless discussions about the tories. Dr.

Franklin is very staunch against them, more decided a great deal on this point, than Mr. Jay or myself.

_Wednesday, November 27th._--Mr. Benjamin Vaughan came in, returned from London, where he had seen Lord Shelburne. He says, he finds the Ministry much embarra.s.sed with the tories, and exceedingly desirous of saving their honor and reputation in this point; that it is reputation more than money, &c. Dined with Mr. Jay, and spent some time before dinner with him and Dr. Franklin, and all the afternoon with them and Mr. Oswald, endeavoring to come together concerning the fisheries and the tories.

_Thursday, November 28th._--This morning I have drawn up the following project.

ART. III. "That the subjects of his Britannic Majesty, and the people of the said United States, shall continue to enjoy, unmolested, the right to take fish of every kind, on the Grand Bank, and on all the other banks of Newfoundland; also in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and in all other places, where the inhabitants of both countries used at any time heretofore to fish; and the citizens of the said United States, shall have liberty to cure and dry their fish on the sh.o.r.es of Cape Sables, and of any of the unsettled bays, harbors, or creeks of Nova Scotia, or any of the sh.o.r.es of the Magdalen Islands, and of the Labrador coast. And they shall be permitted, in time of peace, to hire pieces of land for terms of years, of the legal proprietors, in any of the dominions of his said Majesty, whereon to erect the necessary stages and buildings, and to cure and dry their fish."

_Friday, November 29th._--Met Mr Fitzherbert, Mr Oswald, Dr Franklin, Mr Jay, Mr Laurens, and Mr Strachey, at Mr Jay's, _Hotel d'Orleans_, and spent the whole day, in discussions about the fishery and the tories. I proposed a new article concerning the fishery, it was discussed and turned in every light, and mult.i.tudes of amendments proposed on each side, and, at last, the article drawn as it was finally agreed to. The other English gentlemen being withdrawn upon some occasion, I asked Mr Oswald, if he could not consent to leave out the limitation of three leagues from all their sh.o.r.es, and the fifteen from those of Louisbourg.

He said, in his own opinion, he was for it; but his instructions were such that he could not do it. I perceived by this, and by several incidents and little circ.u.mstances before, which I had remarked to my colleagues, who were much of the same opinion, that Mr Oswald had an instruction, not to settle the articles of the fishery and refugees, without the concurrence of Mr Fitzherbert and Mr Strachey.

Upon the return of the other gentlemen, Mr Strachey proposed to leave out the word _right_ of fis.h.i.+ng, and make it _liberty_. Mr Fitzherbert said the word _right_ was an obnoxious expression. Upon this, I rose up and said, gentlemen, is there, or can there be, a clearer right? In former treaties, that of Utrecht, and that of Paris, France and England have claimed the right, and used the word. When G.o.d Almighty made the Banks of Newfoundland at three hundred leagues distance from the people of America, and at six hundred leagues distance from those of France and England, did he not give as good a right to the former as to the latter? If Heaven in the creation gave a right, it is ours at least as much as yours. If occupation, use, and possession give a right, we have it as clearly as you. If war, and blood, and treasure give a right, ours is as good as yours.

We have constantly been fighting in Canada, Cape Breton, and Nova Scotia, for the defence of this fishery, and have expended beyond all proportion more than you; if then the right cannot be denied, why should it not be acknowledged, and put out of dispute? Why should we leave room for illiterate fishermen to wrangle and chicane?

Mr Fitzherbert said, the argument is in your favor. I must confess your reasons appear to be good; but Oswald's instructions were such, that he did not see how he could agree with us; "and, for my part, I have not the honor and felicity to be a man of that weight and authority in my country, that you, gentlemen, are in yours; (this was very genteely said) I have the accidental advantage of a little favor with the present Minister, but I cannot depend upon the influence of my own opinion, to reconcile a measure to my countrymen. We can consider ourselves as little more than pens in the hands of government at home, and Mr Oswald's instructions are _so_ particular."

I replied to this; "the time is not so pressing upon us, but that we can wait until a courier goes to London with your representations upon this subject, and others that remain between us, and I think the Ministers must be convinced."

Mr Fitzherbert said, "to send again to London, and have all laid loose before Parliament, was so uncertain a measure, it was going to sea again."

Upon this, Dr Franklin said, that "if another messenger was to be sent to London, he ought to carry something more respecting a compensation to the sufferers in America."

He produced a paper from his pocket, in which he had drawn up a claim, and he said the first principle of the treaty was equality and reciprocity. Now they demanded of us payment of debts, and rest.i.tution, or compensation to the refugees. If a draper had sold a piece of cloth to a man upon credit, and then sent a servant to take it from him by force, and afterwards should bring his action for the debt, would any court of law or equity give him his demand, without obliging him to restore the cloth? Then he stated the carrying off of goods from Boston, Philadelphia, and the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia, &c., and the burning of the towns, &c. and desired, that this might be sent with the rest.