by the planters to make returns, and even the negroes from whose labor they might hope to raise every produce for that purpose.

Britain now demands that the debts shall nevertheless be paid.

Will she, can she, justly refuse making compensation for such seizures?

If a draper who had sold a piece of linen to a neighbor on credit, should follow him, take the linen from him by force, and then send a bailiff to arrest him for the debt, would any court of law or equity award the payment of the debt, without ordering a restitution of the cloth?

Will not the debtors in America cry out, that if this compensation be not made, they were betrayed by the pretended credit, and are now doubly ruined: 1st. by the enemy, and then by the negociators at Paris; the goods and negroes sold them, being taken from them with all they had besides, and they are now to be obliged to pay for what they have been robbed of,

JOURNAL

Of negociation for peace with Great Britain,

Passy, May 9, 1782.

AS, since the change of ministry in England, some serious professions have been made of their disposition to peace, and of their readiness to enter into a general treaty for that purpose; and as the concerns and claims of five nations are to be discussed in that treaty, which must, therefore, be interesting to the present age, and to posterity. I am inclined to keep a journal of the proceedings, as far as they come to my knowlege, and, to make it more complete, will first endeavor to recollect what has already past.

Great affairs sometimes take their rise from small circumstances. My good friend and neighbor, Madame Brillon, being at Nice all last winter for her health, with her very amiable family, wrote to me that she had met with some English gentry there, whose acquaintance proved

agreeable; among them she named lord Cholmondely, who, she said, had promised to call on his return to England, and drink tea with us at Passy.

He left Nice sooner than she supposed, and came to Paris long before her. On the 21st of March I received the following note (No. 1.)

(RECEIVED MARCH 21, 1782.)

"Lord Cholmondely's compliments to Doctor Franklin; he sets out for London to-morrow evening, and should be glad to see him for five minutes before he went: lord Cholmondely will call on him at any time in the morning, he shall please to appoint.

"Thursday evening, Hotel de Chartres."

I wrote for answer, that I should be at home all the next morning, and glad to see his lordship, if he did me the honor of calling upon me. He came accordingly. I had before no personal knowlege of this nobleman. We talked of our friends whom he left at Nice; then of affairs in Engand the late resolutions of the commons, on Mr. Conway's motion.

land;

He told me that he knew lord Shelburne had a great regard for me, that he was sure his lordship would be pleased to hear from me, and that if I would write a line he should have a pleasure in carrying it. On which I wrote the following:

Passy, March 22, 1782.

Lord Cholmondely having kindly offered to take a letter from me to your lordship, I embrace the opportunity of assuring the continuance of my ancient respect for your talents and virtues, and of congratulating you on the returning good disposition of your country in favor 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 every thing in my power, Your friends the

Abbé Morellet and Madame Helvetius are well. You have made the latter very happy by your present of gooseberry bushes, which arrived in five days and in excellent order.

With great and sincere esteem,

I have the honor to be, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

Soon after this we heard from England, that a total change had taken place in the ministry, and that lord Shelburne was come in as secretary of state. But I thought no more of my letter, till an old friend and neighbor of mine many years in London, appeared at Passy, and introduced a Mr. Oswald, whom he said had a great desire to see me; and Mr. Oswald after some little conversation, gave me the following letters from lord Shelburne and Mr. Laurens: (No. 3, and 4.)

DEAR SIR,

Lord Shelburne to Dr. Franklin.

London, April 6, 1782.

I HAVE been favored with your letter, and am much abliged by your remembrance. I find myself returned nearly to 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 congress, of your mind, and of your foresight. I have often been beholden to both, and shall be glad to be so again, as far as is compatible with your situation. Your letter discovering the same disposition, has made me send 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 fittest for the purpose. He is a pacifical man, and conversant in those negociations which are most inter

esting 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 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.

I have the honor to be, &c.

DEAR SIR,

SHELBURNE.

Henry Laurens to Dr. Franklin.

London, April 7, 1782.

Richard Oswald, Esquire, who will do me the honor of delivering this, is a gentleman of the strictest candor and integrity. I dare give such assurance, from an experience little short of thirty years, and to add, you will be perfectly safe in conversing freely with him on the business which he will introduce, a business which Mr. Oswald has disinterestedly engaged in from motives of benevolence, and from the choice of the man, a persuasion follows that the electors mean to be in earnest. Some people in this country, who have too long indulged themselves in abusing every thing American, have been pleased to circulate an opinion that Doctor Franklin is a very cunning man, in answer to which, I have remarked to Mr. Oswald, Doctor Franklin knows very well how to manage a cunning man; but when the doctor converses and treats with a man of candour, there is no man more candid than himself. I do not know whether you will ultimately agree in political sketches; but I am sure as gentlemen, you will part very well pleased with each other.

Should you, sir, think proper to communicate to me your sentiments and advice on our affairs, the more amply the more acceptable, and probably the more serviceable. Mr. Oswald will take charge of your dispatches, and afford a secure means of conveyance. To this gentleman I refer you for general information of a journey which I am imme

diately to make, partly in his company, at Ostend to file off for the Hague. I feel a willingness, infirm as I am, to attempt doing as much good as can be expected from such a prisoner upon parole. As general Burgoyne is certainly exchanged, a circumstance by the bye, which possibly might have embarrassed us, had your late proposition been accepted. May I presume at my return to offer another hieutenant general now in England, a prisoner upon parole, in exchange, or what shall I offer in exchange for myself, a thing in my own estimation, of no great value.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, and permit me to add, great reverence, sir, &c.

HENRY LAURENS.

I entered into conversation with Mr. Oswald. He was represented in the letter as fully apprized of lord Shelburne's mind, and I was desirous of knowing it. All I could learn was, that the ministry sincerely wished for peace, that they considered the object of the war to France and America as obtained. That if the independence of the United States was agreed to, there was no other point in dispute, and therefore nothing left to hinder a pacification; that they were ready to treat of peace; but he intimated that if France should insist upon terms too humiliating to England, they could still continue the war, having yet great strength and many resources left. I let him know that America would not treat but in concert with France; and that my colleagues not being here, I could do nothing of importance in the affair, but that if he pleased, I would present him to the count de Vergennes, secretary of state for foreign affairs. He consenting, I wrote and sent the following letter:

SIR,

Passy, April 15, 1782.

AN English nobleman, lord Cholmondely, lately returning from Italy, called on me at a time when we received the news of the first resolutions of the house of commons relating to America. On conversation he said, that he knew