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.
THE TREATY OF PEACE AND INDEPENDENCE. 69
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,
THE TREATY OF PEACE AND INDEPENDENCE. 71
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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sition to the two great powers by whose assistance they had triumphed. … America gained at the peace al- most everything she desired, and started, with every promise of future greatness, upon the mighty career that was before her." 1
1 4 Lecky's History of England in the XVIII. Century, 263.
Chapter III
One of the last acts of the expiring Continental Congress was the adoption of the following resolution in September, 1788:
"Resolved, That no further progress be made in the negotiations with Spain by the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, but that the subjects to which they relate be referred to the Federal Government, which is to assemble in March next."
It was the final admission by that body of its impotence respecting the conduct of the foreign relations of the country, and this was a leading motive for the creation of a new government which should be clothed with adequate powers for that purpose.
The Constitutional Convention when it assembled was confronted with this manifest weakness of the Confederation, and it addressed itself to the task of remedying the defect; first, by conferring upon the federal government full and complete power over the relations with foreign nations; and, second, by a careful division of those powers between the executive and legislative departments of the government. The experience of the Continental Congress was most useful to the Convention. It had shown that the powers reserved to the Colonies, or States, deprived Congress of authority to enforce its international obligations, notably in the case of the treaty of peace with Great Britain, in a less degree in its commercial relations with France and other powers, in the negotiations with Spain respecting the navigation of the Mississippi, and in other matters. This experience had also made it clear that a most serious defect was in the absence of an executive, clothed with sufficient power and dignity to properly conduct intercourse with foreign sovereigns, enforce the treaties and laws of Congress, and administer the government. An attempt had been made to supply these wants by the creation of various committees or boards. For example, the conduct of the war was, in the first instance, intrusted to what was termed a "Secret Committee," then a "Cannon Committee," and a "Medical Committee"; and after a time all of these were combined in one committee termed the " Board of War and Ordnance," consisting of five members of Congress, assisted by a secretary and clerks; and to this was added a further body of officials styled the " Board of War," composed of generals of the army, acting under the Congressional Board. The management of the finances underwent a very similar experience and transformation. I have already referred to the action of Congress in the conduct of its foreign relations by the creation, first, of a committee,
