our ministers, we ought to confine ourselves strictly to a treaty of commerce; such a treaty would be ample compensation to France for all the aid we should want from her." (2 Secret Journals of Congress, 7.)
Congress approved the plan of treaty reported, and Franklin, Deane, and Thomas Jefferson were commissioned to represent the United States at the court of Versailles, but Jefferson being compelled by family afflictions to decline, Arthur Lee was named in his place, As they were the first diplomatic representatives commissioned by the United States, it will be of interest to quote in full their letter of credence:
"The Delegates of the United States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Ehode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, to all who shall see these presents; send greeting; Whereas a trade, upon equal terms, between the subjects of his most Christian Majesty, the King of France, and the people of these States, will be beneficial to both nations; Know ye, therefore, that we, confiding in the prudence and integrity of Benjamin Franklin, one of the Delegates in Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, and President of the Convention of the said State, etc., Silas Deane, now in France, late a Delegate from the State of Connecticut; and Arthur Lee, barrister at law, have appointed and deputed, and by these presents do appoint and depute them, the said Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee, our Commissioners, giving and granting to them, the said Franklin, Deane, and Lee, or any two of them, and in the case of the death, absence or disability of any two, or any one of them, full power to communicate, treat, agree and conclude with his most Christian Majesty, the King of France, or with such person or persons, as shall by him be for that purpose authorized, of and upon a true and sincere friendship, and a firm, inviolable and universal peace for the defense, protection and safety of the navigation and mutual commerce of the subjects of his most Christian Majesty, and the people of the United States, and to do all other things, which may conduce to those desirable ends, and promising in good faith to ratify whatsoever our said Commissioners shall transact in the premises. Done in Congress, in Philadelphia, the thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six."
1 2 Secret Journals of Congress, 32.
As I have already stated, Deane was then in Paris, discharging the duties of private agent, and Lee, being compelled to leave London, had joined him. When the news of Franklin's landing in France reached Paris, Lord Stormont, the British ambassador, threatened to leave the country if the "chief of the American rebels" was permitted to enter the city. Vergennes, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, contented himself with assuring the ambassador that a courier had been sent to meet Franklin and forbid his coming to the capital; but he added that if, perchance, the Doctor should reach Paris without encountering the messenger, the government would not like to send him away, "because of the scandalous scene this would present to all France, should we respect neither the laws of nations nor of hospitalities."
Benjamin Franklin was such a unique character in diplomatic history, that, at this stage of our narrative, he calls for more than a passing notice. He was our first, and, by all odds, our greatest American diplomat. His work began at the very outset of our career as a nation, as he was commissioned by the Continental Congress in October, 1774, to lay its address before the king of Great Britain; and his services as such continued all through the struggle for independence and until some time after he had signed the treaty of peace in 1783. Of the numerous agents and representatives who were sent abroad by the Continental Congress, he was the only one who possessed any experience in diplomatic affairs. His training in this branch of the public service began as early as 1757, when he was sent to London to represent the Assembly of Pennsylvania before the British government, and later was also made the agent for Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Georgia. He was then fifty-one years of age and already a fully developed man. He had flown his kite and made himself famous in the wondrous field of electricity. He had also attained such celebrity as an essayist that a volume of his treatises had been translated into French, German, Italian, and Latin. At that time he was the most widely known American. His residence in England, extending over more than fifteen years, brought him in personal and intimate contact with the most distinguished men in government, literature, and science.
It will not be possible for me to give even the brief- est epitome of his public service in England, but two events may be mentioned as illustrative of his diplomatic conduct. One of the important measures he had in hand for the colony was what is known as " The Affair of the Grant " the placing upon the market of an immense tract of public lands in Pennsylvania. The minister of the cabinet, by whom it had to be acted upon, a personal enemy of Franklin, decided against it, and it was appealed to the privy council. To aid in overcoming the opposition, Franklin induced three members of the council to take a personal pecuniary interest in the enterprise. He supplemented the pecuniary interest he had awakened in that body by an able argument before the privy council, won his appeal, and brought about the resignation of the defeated minister. Lobbying was not unknown in the early days of our history.
Some years later Franklin was again before the privy council, but under adverse circumstances. The Colonies were on the eve of their revolt and excitement and prejudice ran high against them in London. Franklin was arraigned for the surreptitious publication of "The Hutchinson Letters/' the details of which need not here be given. It was a trying ordeal through which he had to pass, standing in the full view of the council, listening to the abuse of the solicitor-general and the vote of censure of the council. Lord Shelburne, in a letter to the Earl of Chatham, referred to "the indecency of the behavior" of the judges of the council, and characterized the solicitor;general's speech as the "most scurrilous invective." Lord Campbell, in his "Lives of the Lord Chancellors," says of this affront, "It mainly conduced to the civil war which soon followed, and to the dismemberment of the empire, by exciting overweening arrogance on the one side, and rankling revenge on the other." Franklin records: "I made no justification of myself from the charges brought against me … but held a cool, sullen silence, reserving myself to some future opportunity."
From that day British official circles regarded Franklin as a traitor, and his usefulness in London was ended. The treatment he received greatly embittered his sentiments towards England, and for the moment he lost his better judgment, as evinced by the preparation of an indiscreet official document, which, however, through the advice of friends, was never delivered. On the occasion of his arraignment before the council it was noticed that he appeared in "a full-dress suit of spotted Manchester velvet." It will be seen hereafter how important a part this velvet suit played in his later diplomatic career.
He returned to America in May, 1775, but, as already stated, before the end of the next year he was in Paris, sent by Congress as a member of a commission to represent the cause of American independence before the governments of Europe, and to this work for the next nine years he devoted himself with unflagging loyalty to his country. He had quitted England with angry farewells, but the French received him in a furor of welcome. His writings, his scientific research, his philosophic turn of mind, his republican simplicity, and his peculiar dress contributed to make him the most noted man of the gay and learned French capital. The shop windows were full of his venerable portraits, the people made way for him in the streets, and he was always sure of a demonstration in public assemblies. He lived in comfortable style, with house, carriage, and retinue of servants, such as became his office and the times. John Adams, who was for a while his colleague, characterized his method of living as luxurious and extravagant, but the latter' s ideas of life were severe if not parsimonious. His statement of Franklin's reputation in Europe is both curious and interesting. He wrote, "His name was familiar to government and people, to kings, courtiers, nobility, clergy, and philosophers, as well as plebeians, to such a degree that there was scarcely a peasant or a citizen, a valet de chambre, coachman, or footman, a lady's chambermaid, or a scullion in a kitchen, who was not familiar with it, and who did not consider him a friend to the human kind. When they spoke of him they seemed to think he was to restore the golden age." (1 John Adams's Works, 660.)
Franklin and his colleagues did not find the work before them an easy task. They were confronted with many embarrassments. Not the least of these
