negotiations with the Americans, and, as we have seen, instructed Sir Guy Carleton to that effect. Fox was no sooner in office than he sought to establish a distinct understanding with Holland through the medium of Russia. The attempt ended in failure, though Fox was thought to have carried his overtures to the point of humiliation. A certain disposition to offer their services to England in the interests of peace was manifested by Russia, Austria, and Prussia; but their good intentions in this respect came to nothing. Affairs

merchant known to be well acquainted with American affairs, who carried with him, not only a letter from Shelburne, but a note of recommendation from Henry Laurens, now liberated on parole. The result of the personal consultations between Franklin and Oswald was that Franklin drew up a paper, suggesting that, in order to produce a thorough reconciliation between England and the United States, and to shut out the probability of future quarrels, the former should cede to the latter the province of Canada, besides acknowledging the

independence of the old colonies. Mr. Oswald seems to have thought this an excellent arrangement, and it was certainly one which had for a long while been greatly desired by Franklin, though, when he visited Canada during the American expedition of 1775-6, as one of the Commissioners from Congress, he reported that the people were very generally opposed to the invasion, and that a speedy retreat was desirable. But the emi

nent American Minister at Paris could hardly have imagined that England would voluntarily relinquish a large and important dependency, which had been mainly won by her blood and treasure, which the Americans had proved their inability to conquer, and which was not at all inclined to join the Federation. On returning to England, Mr. Oswald found that in this respect he had entirely misapprehended the probabilities of the situation; and he was again sent to Paris with instructions which most distinctly excluded the discussion of any such matter. According to these instructions, the Independence of the United States was to be admitted; but all other things were to remain as they stood at the Peace of 1763. A second agent was likewise despatched to Paris, to treat, on the same basis, with the Count de Vergennes; and the person so chosen by Fox was Mr. Thomas Grenville.

The dissensions which, almost immediately after the formation of the Government, had arisen between Fox and Lord Shelburne, owing to their divided and somewhat clashing offices and their divergent opinions, were repeated in their representatives at the French capital. Shelburne accused Fox of encroaching on his department; Fox retorted that he rather endeavoured to encroach on his. The two agents in Paris speedily developed conflicting views, and the negotiations did not make very hopeful progress. While matters were in abeyance, news arrived from the West Indies of a magnificent naval victory gained by Admiral Rodney over Count de Grasse. The French commander had for some time been pursuing a very successful career in that part of the world, and in the spring of 1782 he made preparations for conquering Jamaica. Rodney, who was in command of the English fleet, was resolved to foil this design, and, hearing on the 8th of April that the French had put to sea from Port Royal, he sailed out from St. Lucia, and sought the enemy, whom, after an indecisive collision on the 9th, he brought to a more serious engagement on the 12th. The number of the opposing ships was about equal, but the French were greatly superior in weight of metal. Throughout the whole of that day did the tremendous conflict continue, with scarcely a minute's pause in

the firing; but the result was a most signal triumph for the arms of England. Not only were the French utterly defeated with terrible slaughter, but several of their ships were taken, including the Admiral's flag-ship, the celebrated Ville de Paris, with the Admiral himself on board. Rodney be came, as he deserved to be, the great naval hero of the day; but, some time before news of this action arrived, orders had been sent out for his recall for Rodney was a Tory, and, in those days, even naval and military affairs were brought within the circle of party politics. When the Ministry received Rodney's despatches announcing the victory, they sent out an express to bring back the newlyappointed officer; but the latter arrived at his post before he could be overtaken, and Rodney returned to England, where he was raised to the Peerage as Baron Rodney, and received an addition of £2,000 a year to a former pension.

This splendid achievement saved the British West Indies. It also, together with other successes obtained about the same period, placed England in a better position for making terms when the peace should be finally arranged. The Ministry were elated by it, though all they had done with regard to Rodney was, not to send him out, but to bring him back. Mr. Oswald, at Paris, told Franklin that he feared some of them would be unduly influenced by their satisfaction, and would perhaps develope a warlike spirit. Such, however, did not prove to be the case. The Government continued in favour of peace, and the negotiations at Paris still went on, although languidly, and without any decisive result. The split in the Cabinet, which grew wider every day, necessarily weakened the counsels of England, and another difficulty soon arose in the illness of Lord Rocking ham. The Premier, though only fifty-two years of age, had for some time been declining in health, and the fatigues and anxieties of office had sorely taxed what little strength yet remained. Dropsy on the chest now supervened, and an attack of influenza -a malady which had made its first appearance in England about fifteen years earlier still further reduced his vital powers. He took part in a des bate in the House of Lords on the 3rd of June, but he was so ill as to be at times not in entire possession of himself. Towards the end of the month, his condition was such as to excite the gravest apprehensions; and on the 1st of July be expired. The day before, Fox, at a Cabinet Council, earnestly, and for the second time, begged of his colleagues to concede the independence of America freely and at once, without waiting for a treaty of peace. The majority, however, dissented

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from this view, and desired to associate the surrender of the colonies with a general peace, though willing to put forward the proposed arrangement as a basis on which to treat. Fox then declared, with many expressions of regret, that he should resign his office, and that in fact he held it for the present solely in consideration of the Premier's illness.

The point for which Fox contended was but slight, and it is not easy to escape the conclusion that he was acting with personal aims. He probably hoped to obtain the Premiership himself, if, by embarrassing his colleagues, he could break up the Government; or, at any rate, to place at the head of affairs one who would agree with him in every respect. Shelburne, however, was the Minister appointed by the King to succeed Lord Rockingham; and with Shelburne, Fox would not agree. The Earl made very liberal overtures towards the distinguished commoner, and even offered to let him have his own way as to the im

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mediate and unconditional recognition of American Independence; but Fox was not to be satisfied. He and his friends held a meeting, at which they agreed to recommend the Duke of Portland to his Majesty as the most fitting successor to Lord Rockingham. But the matter was already settled, and accordingly Fox, Lord John Cavendish, the Duke of Portland, and some of the subordinates not in the Cabinet, such as Burke and Sheridan, resigned their offices. The King was heartily glad to be rid of them, or at any rate to be rid of Fox. He disliked that brilliant and, in many respects, admirable politician, for the democratic freedom of his views, for the bitter attacks he had made on himself, for the debauchery of his private life, and for the evil influence he was supposed to exercise over the young Prince of Wales. On the other hand, he was beginning to like Lord Shelburne, and it was with some satisfaction that he committed the State to his guidance.

IN the new Government of Lord Shelburne, the Home Secretaryship was conferred on Thomas Townshend; that of Foreign Affairs on Lord Grantham. These were the two appointments which, next to the Premiership, most concerned America; and they were filled in a manner that augured well for a speedy conclusion of the war on liberal terms. Townshend, in particular, was known to have been always opposed to those despotic principles of colonial rule which had brought England into collision with her American dependencies. Shelburne himself, it is true, was personally averse from the separation of the colonies from the mother country; but he was a man of the world, and could understand the teaching of events. The policy of the Rockingham Cabinet was continued by the new Ministry, and

it became only too obvious, even to many of his own followers, that the conduct of Fox, in abandoning his colleagues, and going once more into Opposition, was incapable of defence or excuse. It seems not improbable that this remarkable man's love of riotous indulgence was one of the motives which determined his course. During his few months of power, he had, indeed, applied himself to business with the most admirable assiduity; but it is doubtful whether he could long have persevered in the painful drudgeries of office. On the very day that he resigned the seals, he entertained the Prince of Wales at dinner, drank deeply, proceeded to Brooks's, where he stayed till four o'clock in the morning, and then went to White's, where the carouse was kept up to a still later hour. Fox found it necessary to vindicate his political con

sistency in the House of Commons; but he did not succeed in persuading many that he had acted properly. His uncle, the Duke of Richmond, was highly offended with him; Horace Walpole, his ardent admirer, thought him much to blame; so also did Lord Temple. These were his own followers and supporters-men who regarded him as the greatest politician of the day, the Prime Minister of the future by right of genius and of a large and liberal insight into affairs. Others were still more severe; and unfortunately he gave them the means of making effective assaults.

Fox's agent at Paris, Mr. Thomas Grenville, was a young man of twenty-seven, and was no match for an old and experienced politician like Vergennes. The French Minister asked the extent of his powers, as France could not treat except in conjunction with her allies. Mr. Grenville's commission, however, empowered him to deal only with the Court of Versailles. Vergennes said that this was a barrier to his treating, but he was willing to listen, in an informal way, to anything his visitor might have to state. The young Englishman mentioned the fact that his Government was prepared to grant the independence of the colonies; but Vergennes replied that many other concessions might be required of Great Britain before the conclusion of a peace. A further conference took place next day, when the Spanish Minister, Count d'Aranda, was also present. Grenville wrote home to solicit an extension of his powers, and it appears to have been the intention of the Government to grant his request; but, owing to some blunder, the new commission was substantially the same as the old, Shortly afterwards, Oswald, in a conversation with Grenville, casually divulged the fact, which he had been charged to conceal, that Franklin had suggested to the English Ministry the desirability of ceding Canada to the United States -a plan which France did not favour. Shelburne, then the Home Secretary, had replied evasively by waiving all consideration of the subject until a later stage, though, as we have seen, his new instructions to Oswald excluded any such proposal; and Grenville, inferring (though no doubt quite wrongly) that Shelburne rather approved the idea, wrote to Fox, desiring to be relieved of a mission in which he considered himself hampered by secret negotiations. This was one of Fox's reasons for quarrelling with Shelburne.

The negotiations at Paris were necessarily hindered for awhile by the change of Government; but Shelburne speedily removed any doubts that might have been entertained as to his policy, by reiterating the most pacific assurances, and by sending

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to Paris, in place of Mr. Grenville, a gentleman then known as Mr. Alleyne Fitzherbert, but afterwards as Lord St. Helen's. It was the business of Mr. Fitzherbert to treat with the French Government. Oswald still remained as the agent who was to consult with Franklin on matters specially affecting the United States. On the 10th of July, Franklin and Oswald had an interview, at which the former proposed to the latter the American conditions of peace. These were the entire independence of the thirteen States; the withdrawal of all British troops; for boundaries, the Mississippi towards the west, and, in the direction of Canada, those which existed previous to the Quebec Act of 1774; finally, the freedom of fishing off Newfoundland and elsewhere, as in times past. With respect to the American loyalists, Franklin said that the estates of those men had been confiscated by laws of the particular States to which they belonged, which Congress had no power to repeal; that the British in the Carolinas had set an example of severity by confiscating and selling the lands and property of all patriots; and that the American Commissioners for peace could not allow compensation of refugees to form any part of the treaty. He even hinted at the possibility of a claim being made for indemnity on account of the destruction of American property by British troops. In conclusion, Franklin gave Mr. Oswald to understand that he should be ready to sign the preliminary articles of the treaty as soon as they could be agreed upon.

Shelburne was prepared to accept the ultimatum of Franklin, with but slight modifications; and in writing to Mr. Oswald, on the 27th of July, he observed :—" You very well know I have never made a secret of the deep concern I feel in the separation of countries united by blood, by principles, habits, and every tie short of territorial proximity. But I have long since given it up, decidedly, though reluctantly; and the same motives which made me perhaps the last to give up all hope of re-union make me most anxious, if it is given up, that it shall be done so as to avoid all future risk of enmity, and lay the foundation of a new connection, better adapted to the temper and interest of both countries. In this view I go further with Dr. Franklin, perhaps, than he is aware of, and further, perhaps, than the professed advocates of Independence are prepared to admit. I consider myself as pledged to the contents of this letter. You will find the Ministry united, in full possession of the King's confidence, and thoroughly disposed to peace, if it can be attained upon reasonable terms." Parliament had adjourned several

days before the date of this letter-viz., on the 11th of July; but it had conferred on the King ample power to conduct negotiations. In the commission to Oswald, which followed shortly on the Earl's letter, his Majesty pledged himself to ratify and confirm whatever might be concluded between Oswald and the American Commissioners; our earnest wish for peace," said this document, disposing us to purchase it at the price of acceding to the complete independence of the thirteen States." Those words must have cost George III. a world of bitter regret; but, having made up his mind to yield, he did so fully, and acted throughout with the good faith of an honourable nature.

Franklin was ultimately assisted in the conduct of the negotiations by three other American Commissioners-by John Jay, who reached Paris from Spain, by John Adams, who came from Holland, and by Henry Laurens, who arrived from London. An attempt to open irregular communications with Adams, while still in Holland, had been made by Lord North at the period of his resignation, with the knowledge and consent of Lord Shelburne, General Conway, and some of the other leaders of the Opposition, who, there was every reason to believe, would soon be in power, as in fact they were. The agent thus selected was a person of the name of Digges, who had an interview with Adams at Amsterdam, on the 20th of March. The American representative, however, would not consent to any such interview without first stipulating that a witness should be present, and that he should be at liberty to communicate all that might pass to Franklin and Vergennes. As the desire of those by whom Digges was sent out was to conclude a separate negotiation with the Americans, and thus detach them from the French alliance, the agent, feeling himself fettered by the second of these conditions, made no great progress with his mission, and soon returned to London. It would appear that at the same time overtures were addressed to France for a separate treaty with her also; but this proposal, which originated with Lord North, was not known to the Whigs. An American writer has alleged-but on authority which is either insufficient, or insufficiently stated -that the restoration of Canada was offered as the price of a separate peace, and refused by Vergennes, partly because he doubted whether the proposal was made in good faith, partly because France preferred that Canada should remain in English hands, as a check on the United States.* It is not likely,

This statement is contained in the Life of John Adams by his Grandson, Charles Francis Adams (chap. 7, p. 357). It is

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however, that any English Minister would have had the audacity to make such a proposal to Parliament, or that Parliament would have sanctioned it, had it been made.

The desire of the English Government to treat separately with the several belligerents was natural enough, for it was hoped in this way to isolate and weaken each, and thus obtain better terms. Several events occurred in the course of 1782 to confirm the desirability of this method of procedure. The defeat of de Grasse, and some other naval successes, materially improved the position of England towards France; the triumphant defence of Gibraltar gave her the command over Spain; and every day made it still more clear that Holland was no longer, as in the previous century, a match for the sea-forces of Great Britain. Yet, if these Powers, in combination with the United States, were free, in the negotiation of a treaty of peace, to throw all their resources and elements of strength into a common stock, against which England could only oppose her own unaided might, it was obvious that the latter would treat at a great disadvantage. Hence the desire to treat separately. But, as regarded France and the United States, this was barred by the treaty of alliance between the two nations, which provided that neither party should conclude a peace or truce with England unless with the consent of the other. The Americans, however, had temptations to break that understanding. The substantial objects of the war had been gained, and its continuance, simply to oblige France and Spain, and enable them to recover from their discomfitures, would have been highly unpopular, since the Federated States were already almost ruined by the long and arduous struggle. The distrust of France, whether justified by facts or not, was extending every week. It had always been strongly felt by John Adams; towards the close of 1782 it was felt by him more than ever; and he then included other Powers as well in this sentiment of suspicion. Mr. Oswald said to him, one day in November, "You are afraid of being made the tools of the Powers of Europe?" "Indeed I am," replied Adams. "What Powers?" asked Oswald. "All of them," rejoined the New Englander. And he did not stand alone among the American Commissioners at Paris. Jay, who,

admitted, however, that no mention is made of this offer in a letter written two days later by Vergennes to the French envoy at Madrid, containing the substance of the conference with the English agent; and that the same omission occurs in the communication of the overture made by the Count's order to Congress. Mr. C. F. Adams does not reveal his authority for so strange an assertion, but only says it comes "from elsewhere."