of signing the treaties, it is said that Franklin donned the " spotted Manchester velvet suit " which he had worn at the session of the privy council in London when he was so severely censured. The celebration of the treaties was followed by the public reception of the American envoys by the king and the court; they were entertained at dinner by the Minister of Foreign Affairs; and in the evening of the same day they attended a fete of the queen, where the plain Republicans found the royal family and nobility seated at play round a large table, with, as the contem-
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poraneous account says, " A considerable heap of louis (Tors between each of the players, and from the number of these, which, from time to time, were shovelled by the losers to the winners, the gaming appeared to be high." Dr. Franklin was specially honored by being called by the queen, and stood beside her chair as the game went on. The month following the treaty the king dispatched as his minister plenipotentiary to America, M. Gerard, the Minister of State, who had negotiated the treaties with the American envoys. The king, in his letter of credence, addressed to his " Very dear, great friends and allies," the Congress, said: "He is better acquainted with our sentiments towards you and the more capable of testifying the same to you, as he was intrusted on our part to negotiate with your commissioners, and signed with them the treaties which cement our union." 1
The coming of the first foreign minister plenipoten- tiary was an important event, and Congress appears to have been fully impressed with its gravity, for we find that the subject of the ceremonial to be observed in the reception of M. Gerard was regularly referred to a special committee composed of such eminent men as Richard Henry Lee, Samuel Adams, and Gouverneur Morris, who presented an elaborate report which was discussed five days by Congress. The matter was finally arranged with uncommon care, as is shown in the lengthy resolution adopted and formally entered upon the Journal, prescribing the order to be observed on all such occasions. Every step to be taken, from the
i 2 Dip. Cor. Rev. 521.
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD. 33
moment the envoy lands till he reaches the place where Congress is in session, is carefully indicated. As to further proceedings, I extract from the resolutions of Congress : " Two members of Congress shall then be deputed to wait upon him, and inform him when and where he shall receive audience of the Congress. At the time he is to receive his audience, the two members shall again wait upon him in a coach, belonging to the States, and the person first named of the two, shall return with the minister plenipotentiary or envoy in the coach, giving the minister the right hand, and placing himself on the left with the other member on the first seat. When the minister plenipotentiary or envoy is arrived at the door of the Congress hall, he shall be introduced to his chair by the two members, who shall stand at his left hand. When the minister is introduced to his chair by the two members, he shall sit down. His secretary shall then deliver to the President the letter of his sovereign, which shall be read and trans- lated by the secretary of Congress. Then the minister shall be announced, at which time the President, the House, and the minister shall rise together. The min- ister shall then bow to the President and the House and they to him. The minister and the President shall then bow to each other, and be seated, after which the House shall sit down. The minister shall deliver his speech standing. The President and the House shall sit while the minister is delivering his speech. The House shall rise and the President shall deliver the answer standing. The minister shall stand while the President delivers his answer. Having spoken, and being answered, the min-
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ister and President shall bow to each other, at which time the House shall bow, and then the minister shall be conducted home in the manner in which he was brought to the House." 1
In 1783 Congress modified the above so as to allow foreign representatives, having the grade of ambassadors, to sit covered in its presence, and the President rose not only when he was introduced, but also when he read his address. It was further prescribed that after the audi- ence, the members of Congress should be first visited by the minister plenipotentiary.
M. Gerard was received after this elaborate ceremonial, Richard Henry Lee and Samuel Adams being deputed by Congress, and bringing him in a coach and six pro- vided by Congress; and, in order that I may be true to history, I should add that Mr. Lee rode on the back seat on the left of the minister, and Mr. Adams on the front seat facing them. The audience was followed by a banquet given by Congress, at which were present several foreign gentlemen of distinction and gentlemen of public character. It is recorded that " The enter- tainment was conducted with a decorum suited to the occasion, and gave perfect satisfaction to the whole company." It will thus be seen that the fathers of the republic did not disdain careful attention to the con- ventional details of official life.
No other foreign minister was received by the United States until October, 1783, when Mr. Van Berckel, minister from the Netherlands, presented his creden- tials. The ceremony of his reception by Congress was somewhat simplified. As in the case of the French
1 2 Secret Journal of Congress, 94, 96.
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD. 35
minister, a dinner was ordered by Congress to be given him at the public expense. 1
Throughout the war the French minister occupied a peculiar and intimate relation to the Continental Con- gress. His communications were addressed to the president of Congress, and after being reported upon by a committee, were considered by the whole Con- gress. On most important questions the minister was present when they were considered; he claimed the right to attend when foreign affairs were discussed; and his views were usually stated verbally. They were always received with great respect, and often had a controlling influence on the action of that body.
The triumvirate of American envoys had other diffi- culties in their negotiations and business than those occasioned by the vigilant British ambassador and the caution of the French government. Almost from the beginning there was a lack of harmony in their coun- sels, which grew into distrust and bitterness of feeling. Franklin's two colleagues were his compeers in rank, but immeasurably below him in talent and personal stand- ing. Deane was a commonplace man, of mediocre abilities, and a not very exalted sense of patriotism. Lee was young, energetic, and ambitious, of influential family connection, and inspired by patriotic sentiments, but possessed of a very malevolent disposition. Frank- lin described him to Adams as " a man of an anxious, uneasy temper, which made it disagreeable to do busi- ness with him; that he seemed to be one of those men, of whom he had known many in his day, who went on through life quarreling with one person or another, till
1 Ib. 409, 410, 426.
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they commonly ended with the loss of their reason." Even before Franklin reached Paris, Lee had become offended at Deane because of Beaumarchais's more inti- mate relations with the latter. In letters to Congress, he charged Deane with dishonesty; and, as we have seen, made such representations respecting the fictitious firm of Hortalez & Co. as prevented Beaumarchais's accounts from being settled till long after his death. His charges against Deane led to the latter' s recall, his open quarrel with Congress, his disgrace, and his ulti- mate abandonment of the cause of his country. Lee represented to his friends in Congress that Franklin had no capacity for business, having reached the age of senility, and he was actively plotting for the doctor's removal and his own appointment as sole minister in Paris. Mr. Jefferson, who succeeded Franklin as min- ister at Paris, narrates an anecdote respecting this quarrel. He says that Franklin received a very intem- perate letter from Lee. He folded it up and put it in a pigeon-hole. A second, third, and so on to a fifth he received and disposed of in the same way. Finding no answer could be obtained by letter, Mr. Lee paid him a personal visit, and gave a loose to all the warmth of which he was susceptible. The doctor replied : " I can no more answer this conversation of yours than the several letters you have written me (taking them down from the pigeon-hole). Call
