A Century of American Diplomacy. John W. Foster
surrounded. While France was ready to carry out the terms of the alliance, and make no treaty that did not secure the independence of the Colonies, she was, on the other hand, pledged by a secret treaty with Spain not to make peace till Gibral- tar was restored, and she sought to restrict the bound- aries of the Colonies. From the time that Jay reached the conclusion that it was the plan of France and Spain to oppose the claims of the Colonies both as to bound- aries, the fisheries, and compensation to the loyalists,
1 3 Life of Shelburne, 303. 2 3 J. Adams's Works, 336.
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the American commissioners had conducted their nego- tiations with the British commissioners without consul- tation with Vergennes, and he was not informed of the signing of the preliminary treaty until after it had taken place. This was not only in direct contraven- tion of their instructions, but of the spirit of the treaty of alliance of 1778.
The defense of the commissioners is that it was the only course left open to them to save the vital interests of their country. It is apparent that such was the con- viction of Adams and Jay. Vergennes, on being in- formed of the signing of the preliminary treaty, looked to Franklin as the only friend of France on the com- mission, and reproachfully addressed him a communi- cation : " I am at a loss to explain your conduct and that of your colleagues on this occasion. You have concluded your preliminary articles without any com- munication between us, although the instructions from Congress prescribe that nothing shall be done without the participation of the king. … You are wise and discreet, sir; you perfectly understand what is due to propriety; you have all your life performed your duties. I pray you to consider how you propose to fulfill those which are due to the king." 1
Franklin's reply was : " Nothing has been agreed, in the preliminaries, contrary to the interests of France; and no peace is to take place between us and England till you have concluded yours. Your observation is, however, apparently just that in not consulting you before they were signed we have been guilty of neglect-
1 6 Dip. Cor. Rev. 140.
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ing a point of bienseance. But as this was not from want of respect for the king, whom we all love and honor, we hope it will be excused, and that the great work, which has hitherto been so happily conducted, which is so nearly brought to perfection, and is so glorious to his reign, will not be ruined by a single indiscretion of
ours."
Vergennes, apparently conscious of the design of France to thwart the aspirations of the Colonies, ac- cepted Franklin's excuse and loaned him for the Colonies six million livres; but meanwhile he had written the French minister in Philadelphia that Congress should be informed of the conduct of the commissioners, but not in a tone of complaint. " I blame no one, not even Dr. Franklin. He has yielded too easily to the bias of his colleagues, who do not pretend to recognize the rules of courtesy in regard to us. … If we may judge of the future from what has passed here under our eyes, we shall be poorly paid for all that we have done for the United States, and for securing for them a national existence." 2 This letter, although temperate in language, manifests the deepest feeling, and it created a profound impression on Congress.
Luzerne, the French minister, made known to Sec- retary Livingston the views of his government, and Livingston wrote a letter to the commissioners approv- ing the terms of the treaty, but strongly disapproving their conduct in concealing its terms from the French government till after its signature, and in entering on the secret article. 3 Luzerne's communication was also
6 Dip. Cor, Rev. 1M. 2 Ib. 152. s Ib. 338.
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transmitted to Congress, where the subject was debated with much warmth during nine days. There was a 'unanimous sentiment of approval and congratulation on the terms of the treaty in general, but the feeling of the majority of Congress was that the commissioners were not warranted in departing from their instructions, and in signing without first making known the terms of the treaty to the French government; besides there was a general condemnation of the action in withholding a knowledge of the secret article, which was construed into manifestation of a preference for England as a neighbor in Florida. After much debate the subject was submitted to a special committee, who brought in a report thanking the commissioners for their zeal and services, but mildly reproving them for their conduct towards France. This report was discussed for some days, but no action appears to have been taken upon it. 1 The commissioners had too well served their coun- try in a critical situation and the terms of peace were too satisfactory for Congress even mildly to condemn them. Madison and Hamilton, who took part in the debate, both condemned the instructions of Congress as improper, but they likewise condemned the commis- sioners for withholding the terms of the treaty from Count de Vergennes before its signature; and the same view as to their conduct was taken by Washington, Jefferson, and Morris.
The effect of the treaty in England was the over- throw of the ministry; but the new ministry had to sign the final treaty embodying its exact terms. The
1 For Proceedings of Congress, see 1 Madison Papers, 380–412.
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honorable conduct of the British negotiators and govern- ment stands out in contrast with that of France. But it may be said in extenuation of the conduct of the latter that the policy of the two governments lay in opposite directions, and they were both serving what they regarded as their own interests.
The news of the treaty and its terms created the greatest satisfaction in the United States. Boudinot, President of' Congress, writing to the commissioners, said : " It has diffused the sincerest joy throughout these States, and the terms of which must necessarily hand down the names of its American negotiators to posterity with the highest possible honor." Robert Morris wrote Adams, stating the approval and gratifi- cation of the country, to which Adams, seemingly in- different to the praise of men, replied : " I thank you, sir, most affectionately for your kind congratulations on the peace. When I consider the number of nations concerned, the complication of interests, extending all over the globe, the character of the actors, the difficulties which attended every step of the progress, I feel too strong a gratitude to heaven for having been conducted safely through the storm, to be very solicitous whether we have the approbation of mortals or not." Luzerne, the French minister at Philadelphia, reported that the boundaries that had been secured surpassed all expectations in the United States; that they had caused great surprise and satisfaction; and that the New Eng- land fishermen were no less grateful.
The effect in France was highly complimentary to the skill of the American commissioners. Vergennes,
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after being informed of the terms by Franklin, wrote to Eayneval in London that the English had rather bought a peace than made one; that their concessions as regards the boundaries, the fisheries, and the loyalists exceeded anything that he had believed possible. Rayneval replied that the treaty seemed to him a dream. Ver- gennes wrote Luzerne : " The boundaries must have caused astonishment in America. No one can have flattered himself that the English ministers would go beyond the headwaters of the rivers falling into the Atlantic." De Aranda, the Spanish ambassador, wrote to the king of Spain in the spirit of a seer : " This federal republic is born a pigmy. A day will come when it will be a giant; even a Colossus, formidable to these countries. Liberty of conscience, the facility for establishing a new population on immense lands, as well as the advantages of the new government, will draw thither farmers and artisans from all the nations. In a few years we shall watch with grief the tyrannical existence of this same Colossus." The Venetian am- bassador wrote : " If the union of the American pro- vinces shall continue, they will become by force of time and of the arts the most formidable power in the world." 1
Lecky, the English historian, says : " It is impossible not to be struck with the skill, hardihood, and good for- tune that marked the American negotiations. Every- thing the United States could, with any shadow of plausibility, demand from England, they obtained; and much of what they obtained was granted them in oppo-
1 7 Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of America, 152.
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