It prevailed, and on the twenty-second of March,
nine states concurred in granting a commutation.
nine states concurred in granting a commutation.
Hamilton - 1834 - Life on Hamilton - v2
: "By others, it is the illegitimate offspring
of a person in the army. "
On the receipt of this communication, Hamilton replied,
giving a lively exhibition of his feelings and of the public
affairs.
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? HAMILTON.
69
Philadelphia, March 17th, 1783.
SIR,
I am duly honoured with your excellency's letters
of the fourth and twelfth instant. It is much to be regret-
ted, though not to be wondered at, that steps of so inflam-
matory a tendency have been taken in the army. Your
excellency has, in my opinion, acted wisely. The best
way is ever, not to attempt to stem a torrent, but to
divert it.
I am happy to find you coincide in opinion with me on
the conduct proper to be observed by yourself. I am
persuaded more and more, it is that which is most con-
sistent with your own reputation and the public safety.
Our affairs wear a most serious aspect, as well foreign as
domestic. Before this gets to hand, your excellency will
probably have seen the provisional articles between Great
Britain and these states. It might, at first appearance,
be concluded that these will be preludes to a general
peace. But there are strong reasons to doubt the truth
of such a conclusion. Obstacles may arise from different
quarters--from the demands of Spain and Holland, from
the hope in France of greater acquisitions in the east, and
perhaps still more probably, from the insincerity and du-
plicity of Lord Shelburne, whose politics, founded in the
peculiarity of his situation, as well as the character of the
man, may well be suspected of insidiousness. I am really
apprehensive, if peace does not take place, that the nego-
tiations will lead to sow distrust among the allies, and
weaken the force of the common league. We have, I
fear, men among us, and men in trust, who have a hanker-
ing after British connection. We have others, whose
confidence in France savours of credulity. The intrigues
of the former, and incautiousness of the latter, may be
both, though in different degrees, injurious to the Ameri-
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THE LIFE OF
can interest, and make it difficult for prudent men to steer
a proper course.
There are delicate circumstances with respect to the
late foreign transactions, which I am not at liberty to re-
veal, but which, joined to our internal disorders, follies,
weaknesses, and prejudices, make this country stand upon
precarious ground. Some use, perhaps, may be made of
these ideas to induce moderation in the army. An opin-
ion that this country does not stand upon a secure footing,
will operate upon the patriotism of the officers against
hazarding any domestic commotions. When I make these
observations, I cannot forbear adding, that if no excesses
take place, I shall not be sorry that ill humours have ap-
peared. I shall not regret importunity, if temperate, from
the army.
There are good resolutions in the majority of congress,
but there is not sufficient wisdom or discretion. There
are dangerous prejudices in the particular states, opposed
to those measures which alone can give stability and
prosperity to the union. There is a fatal opposition to
continental views. Necessity alone can work a reform;
but how apply it, and how keep it within salutary bounds?
I fear we have been contending for a shadow. The affair
of accounts I considered as having been put upon a satis-
factory footing. The particular states have been required
to settle 'till the first of August, '80, and the superin-
tendent of finance has been directed to take measures for
settling since that period. I shall immediately see him on
the subject. We have had eight states and a half in
favour of a commmutation of the half-pay, for an average
of five years' purchase; that is, five years' full pay, instead
of half-pay for life; which, on a calculation of annuities,
is nearly an equivalent. I hope this will now shortly take
place. We have made considerable progress in a plan, to
be recommended to the several states, for funding all of
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? HAMILTON.
71
the public debts, including those of the army; which is
certainly the only way to restore public credit, and enable
us to continue the war, by borrowing abroad, if it should
be necessary to continue it.
I omitted mentioning to your excellency, that from
European intelligence, there is great reason to believe at
all events, peace or war, New-York will be evacuated in
the spring. It will be a pity if any domestic disturbance
should change the plans of the British court.
P. S. --Your excellency mentions, that it has been sur-
mised the plan in agitation was formed in Philadelphia;
that combinations have been talked of between the public
creditors and the army, and that members of congress
had encouraged the idea. This is partly true. I have
myself urged in congress the propriety of uniting the in-
fluence of the public creditors, and the army as a part of
them, to prevail upon the states to enter into their views.
I have expressed the same sentiments out of doors. Sev-
eral other members of congress have done the same. The
. meaning, however, of all this was, simply that congress
should adopt such a plan as would embrace the relief of
all the public creditors, including the army, in order that
the personal influence of some, the connections of others,
and a sense of justice to the army, as well as the appre-
hension of ill consequences, might form a mass of influence
in each state in favour of the measures of congress. In
this view, as I mentioned to your excellency in a former
letter, I thought the discontents of the army might be
turned to a good account. I am still of opinion that their
earnest but respectful applications for redress will have a
good effect. As to any combination of force, it would
only be productive of the horrors of a civil war, might
end in the ruin of the country, and would certainly end
in the ruin of the army. "
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THE LIFE OF
The officers assembled on the appointed day, and Gates,
the second in command, whose intrigues were suspected,
was called to preside. They met in an humble school-
house, on an acclivity that rises from the Hudson, yet
bound in fetters--for winter still maintained her sway
among the mountains, which overcast the scene with their
long and gloomy shadows.
All around them was rugged and drear, in unison with
the stern and indignant sense of unrewarded sacrifices,
broken faith, and baffled hopes, which lowered over their
countenances.
Washington, who had never been greeted but with af-
fection, was received with cold and calm respect. It
appeared as though sedition had felt it necessary to com-
mence her secret work by engendering suspicions against
the Father of his country! --He arose: he felt the es-
trangement--he paused, and he doubted of the issue. As
he uncovered his venerated head, and was about to address
them from a written paper in his hand, his eye grew dim,
and he uttered this pathetic, unpremeditated remark:--
"Fellow-soldiers, you perceive I have not only grown
gray, but blind in your service. " After commenting on
the impropriety of the anonymous papers, addressed more
to the feelings and passions, than to the reason and judg-
ment of the army, he repelled the insidious imputation on
himself:--"The author of the piece should have had more
charity than to mark for suspicion the man who should re-
commend moderation and longer forbearance, or, in other
words, should not think as he thinks, and act as he ad-
vises. But he had another plan in view, in which can-
dour and liberality of sentiment have no part, and he was
right to insinuate the darkest suspicions to effect the black-
est designs 'But how,' after indicating the object
of these addresses,' but how are the interests of the army
to be promoted? The way is plain,' says the writer,--'If
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? HAMILTON.
73
'war continues, remove into the unsettled country; there
establish yourselves, and leave an ungrateful country to
defend itself. ' But whom are they to defend? Our wives,
our children, our farms and other property, which we
leave behind us? Or in the state of hostile separation, are
we to take the two first, (the latter cannot be removed. )
to perish in a wilderness with hunger, cold, and nakedness?
If peace takes place, 'never sheathe your swords,' says
he,' until you have obtained full and ample justice. ' This
dreadful alternative, of either deserting our country in the
extremest hour of her distress, or turning our arms against
it, which is the apparent object, unless congress can be
compelled into instant compliance, has something so shock-
ing in it that humanity remits at the idea. My God! what
can this writer have in view, by recommending such meas-
ures? Can he be a friend to the army? Can he be a
friend to the country? Rather, is he not an insidious foe?
some emissary, perhaps, from New-York, plotting the ruin
of both, by sowing the seeds of discord and separation
between the civil and military powers of the continent V
Recurring to the insidious imputation which he felt was
levelled directly at himself, he remarked--" With respect to
the advice given by the author,'to suspect the man who
shall recommend moderation and longer forbearance,' /
spurn at it, as every man who regards that liberty and re-
veres that justice for which we contend, undoubtedly must. "
After this strong avowal of his contempt for this attack up-
on himself, and after renewing the pledge of his exertions in
their behalf, he concluded:--" Let me conjure you, in the
name of our common country, as you value your own
sacred honour, as you respect the sacred rights of humani-
ty, and as you regard the military and national character
of America, to express your utmost horror and detestation
of the man who wishes, under any specious pretences, to
overturn the liberties of our country, and who wickedly at-
10
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THE LIFE OF
tempts to open the flood-gates of civil discord and deluge our
rising empire with blood /"
Awed by the majesty of his virtue, and touched with
his interest in their sufferings, every soldier's eye was filled
with a generous tear; they reproved themselves for having
doubted him who had never deceived them; they forgot
their wrongs, in the love of their country and of their
chief; their first act was to reciprocate thanks for the
affection he had shown them; their next, to declare "their
unshaken confidence in the justice of congress and their
country," and their " abhorrence and disdain" at the infa-
mous propositions contained in the late address and machi-
nations of designing men, " to sow discord between the
civil and military powers of the United States. "
The conjecture in the erased paragraph of Washington's
letter to Hamilton, fell upon a person at that time in the
family of General Gates; but though public opinion had
fixed the address upon him, its source was not for a long
time acknowledged.
It was at last publicly avowed by Major John Arm-
strong, then the aid-de-camp and instrument of Gates,
accompanied with a vindication of his motives. * In this
publication, the extract of a letter from Gates to Arm-
strong is given, in which he says--" As Gordon is an old
friend and an honest man, I have answered him frankly,
that the letters were written in my quarters by you, copied
by Richmond and circulated by Barker, and were intended
to produce a strong remonstrance to congress in favour
of the object prayed for in a former one, and that the
conjecture that it was meant to offer the crown to Caesar, f
* Subsequently appointed by Jefferson minister to France, and secretary
at war by Madison. '
t In May, 1782, Colonel Nicola wrote to Washington suggesting the in-
troduction of a monarchy, and was indignantly rebuked. In a note upon
this correspondence, 8 Washington's Writings, 302, this comment is found:--
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? HAMILTON. 75
was without any foundation. " Thus is confirmed the sus-
picion alluded to by Washington, that "the old leaven
was at work. "
Gates is exhibited in the extraordinary position of pre-
siding at the meeting of officers, and signing resolutions
which denounced, "as a machination of designing men to
sow discord between the civil and military powers of the
United States," a production written in his own quarters,
by his own aid, and with every step in the progress where-
of to publicity he was familiar--a procedure he described
as merely " intended to produce a strong remonstrance to
congress" in behalf of the army.
Upon the reception of the intelligence from head-quar-
ters of the conclusion of this affair, Colonel Hamilton in-
troduced a report, which was adopted, paying a just tribute
to Washington and the officers. "That congress consider
the conduct of the commander-in-chief on the occasion
of some late attempts to create disturbances in the army,
as a new proof of his prudence and zealous attention to
the welfare of the community; that he be informed that
congress also entertain a high sense of the patriotic senti-
ments expressed by the officers in their proceedings, which
evince their unshaken perseverance in those principles
"There was unquestionably at this time, and for some time afterwards,
a party in the army, neither small in number nor insignificant in character,
prepared to second and sustain a measure of this kind, which they conceived
necessary to strengthen the civil power and draw out the resources of the
country, and establish a durable government. " It is more probable that this
letter originated in a plot to ruin Washington, of which Nicola, a weak and
aged foreigner, was the ignorant instrument. No evidence has been met
with of the existence of such a party in the army. Indeed, such a design
was too preposterous to have been seriously entertained. One of the most
pleasing traits of Washington's character was, his affection and confidence
in the officers of the revolution. One of these was the object of his abhor-
rence, and that one, it will appear, entertained such opinions. But he was at
this period, if not " insignificant in character," a person of little weight.
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? 76 THE LIFE OF
which have distinguished them in every period of the
war, and have so justly entitled the troops of the United
States to the esteem and gratitude of their country, and
to the character of a patriot army. "
The termination of the contest now presented to the
contemplation of Hamilton many and most serious reflec-
tions as to the future condition of the confederacy. He
felt all the value of Washington to his country, and thus
adverted to the great part which he would be called on to
perform in giving strength and durability to the Union.
"Your excellency will, before this reaches you, have re-
ceived a letter from the Marquis de La Fayette, inform-
ing you, that the preliminaries of peace, between all the
belligerent powers, have been concluded. I congratulate
your excellency on this happy conclusion of your labours.
It now only remains, to make solid establishments within,
to perpetuate our union, to prevent our being a ball in
the hands of European powers, bandied against each other
at their pleasure; in fine, to make our independence truly
a blessing. This, it is to be lamented, will be an arduous
work; for, to borrow a figure from mechanics, the centri-
fugal is much stronger than the centripetal force in these
states. The seeds of disunion are much more numerous
than those of union. I will add, that your excellency's
exertions are as essential to accomplish this end, as they
have been to establish independence. I will upon a future
occasion open myself upon this subject. Your conduct in
the affair of the officers is highly pleasing here. The
measures of the army are such as I could have wished
them, and will add lustre to their character, as well as
strengthen the hands of congress. "
On the thirty-first of March, General Washington re-
plied :--
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77
"DEAR SIR,
"I have duly received your favours of the 17th and
24th ult. I rejoice most exceedingly there is an end to
our warfare, and that such a field is open to our view,
as will, with wisdom to direct the cultivation of it, make
us a great, a respectable, and a happy people; but it must
be improved by other means than state politics, and unrea-
sonable jealousies and prejudices, or, (it requires not the se-
cond-sight to see that) we shall be instruments in the hands
of our enemies, and those European powers who may be
jealous of our greatness in union, to dissolve the confedera-
tion; but to attain this, although the way seems extremely
plain, is not so easy. My wish to see the union of these
states established upon liberal and permanent principles,
and inclination to contribute my mite in pointing out
the defects of the present constitution, are equally great.
All my private letters have teemed with these sentiments,
and wherever this topic has been the subject of conversa-
tion, I have endeavoured to diffuse and enforce them; but
how far any further essay by me might be productive of
the wished-for end, or appear to arrogate more than be-
longs to me, depends so much upon popular opinion, and
the temper and disposition of people, that it is not easy
to decide. I shall be obliged to you, however, for the
thoughts which you have promised me on this subject,
and as soon as you can make it convenient. No man in
the United States is or can be more deeply impressed with
the necessity of a reform in our present confederation,
than myself. No man, perhaps, has felt the bad effects of
it more sensibly; for to the defects thereof, and want of
powers in congress, may justly be ascribed the prolonga-
tion of the war, and, consequently, the expenses occasion-
ed by it. More than half of the perplexities I have ex-
perienced in the course of my command, and almost the
whole of the difficulties and distress of the army, have
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their origin here; but still, the prejudices of some, the de-
signs of others, and the mere machinery of the majority,
makes address and management necessary to give weight
to opinions which are to combat the doctrines of these
different classes of men in the field of politics. I would
have been more full on this subject, but the bearer (in the
clothing department) is waiting.
"I wish you may understand what I have written. "
The friends of the army had continued to press their
claims. When the former vote was taken in relation to
them, Delaware was not represented. Her delegates were
induced to proceed to Philadelphia, and on the tenth of
March, the day upon which the seditious notice was issued
at Newburgh, the report having been so amended as to
omit a provision for the widows of the officers who should
die in the service, the question was again taken, and eight
states voted in* favor of it. A few days after this deci-
sion, intelligence was received of the alarming proceed-
ings at Newburgh, and those whom gratitude and a sense
of justice had not influenced, yielded to their fears. But
at the last moment a serious difficulty arose from an ap-
prehension of the injurious effect upon the public credit
which might result from the sudden alienation, at an under
value, of so large a mass of certificates, and it was pro-
posed that they should not be transferable. The delega-
tion from the army spurned the id*a, justly asked if they
were not freemen, if the balances were not their property,
and insisted to be placed on the same footing with every
other creditor. This objection was too forcible to be an-
swered.
It prevailed, and on the twenty-second of March,
nine states concurred in granting a commutation. The
* The vote of Connecticut was divided; New-Hampshire, Rhode Island,
and NewJerscy, (Boudinot excepted,) voted against it.
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? HAMILTON.
79
resolution making this grant, stated that congress was de-
sirous as well of gratifying the reasonable expectations of
the officers of the army, as of remqving all objections
which may exist in any part of the United States to the
principle of the half-pay establishment, for which the faith
of the United States had been pledged; persuaded that
those objections can only arise from the nature of the
compensation, not from any indisposition to compensate
those whose services, sacrifices, and sufferings, have so
just a title to the approbation and rewards of their coun-
try. * This resolution was from the pen of Hamilton.
Thus he was the instrument of accomplishing that meas-
ure which he had suggested in the formation of the mili-
tary establishment; triumphing over the reluctant justice
of the states, and discharging that sacred debt, his in-
terest in which, delicacy had induced him to relinquish. f
* The resolution granted securities for five years' full par, bearing an in-
terest of six per cent. ; to be such as were to be given to the other public
creditors. The army demands now assumed the form of a settled debt; and
though the requisitions of congress were unsuccessful, several states for a
long time paid the stipulated interest.
t Previous to the discussion of the army claims, he addressed a note to the
secretary at war, renouncing his claim to half-pay.
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CHAPTER XVII.
[1783. ]
The intelligence of peace diffused a general joy through-
out the American continent.
The arduous conflict was ended; and without any de-
grading circumstance, or any sacrifice of national honour,
the sovereignty of the United States was acknowledged.
France also stood in a commanding position, enjoying
the singular distinction of having promoted the indepen-
dence of the two greatest republics in the old and new
world--relieving the United Provinces in their struggle
with Spain, during the reign of Henry the Fourth, and
aiding the revolution of these united colonies in that of
Louis the Sixteenth.
When adverting to these circumstances, the similar
policy pursued by either potentate, arrests attention.
Henry was in treaty with Spain; Louis, with England.
Both hesitated* as to the obligations of these treaties:
both disregarded them. Each commenced with secret
aids; each terminated in open war; nor were the results
unlike. In both instances, France was actuated by mo-
* Louis, with a prophetic fear, was opposed to tins interference; an opin-
ion in which Turgot concurred. Maurepas and Vergcnnes, sustained by
the jurists Favier and Pfeffel, took the opposite view. Hume justly con-
trasts the conduct of James the First with that of Henry. --History of Great
Britain, v. 6, p. 23. Sully reproaches him for not having followed the ex-
ample of France. "But what can be expected from persons who neither
know how to seize opportunities as they offer, to execute any thing boldly,
or even to desire any thing with steadiness ? "--Lib. 24.
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? HAMILTON.
81
tives of policy; in both, she deceived her ally; in
neither, did she derive any permanent benefit from her
intervention.
Monarchs change, but centuries produce few changes in
the morals of despotic courts.
The attention of congress had been withdrawn by this
event from the provision for the public debt, and from the
urgent claims of the army.
The influence exerted by Hamilton in determining the
subsequent policy of the United States towards other na-
tions, and the decisive bearing which that policy had, both
upon his own fortunes and upon those of this country, in-
dicate the necessity of a retrospect of some of the lead-
ing circumstances which mark the character of our early
diplomacy. If this retrospect should at first be deemed
too wide a departure from his immediate history, after
events will show that it is indispensably necessary to a full
comprehension of his public services, and that justice to his
character demands it.
It is a painful fact in the history of almost every strug-
gle for freedom, that the oppressed party has been com-
pelled, as an equivalent for the assistance it has received,
to sacrifice a part of the independence for which it was
contending, either by direct stipulations of advantage to
its ally, or by the more injurious consequences of popular
feeling, in which hatred of an enemy produces too strong
a bias to a friend.
That which is not wrested from dependence, is claimed
as the due concession of gratitude; a claim which those
who aspire to lead the public sentiment, are too ready to
encourage, and which the friends of national character
find it difficult to resist. This evil would be greater and
more apparent in the history of the United States, as theirs
was an alliance with an absolute government, which could
feel no sympathies with the principles of the American
11
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THE LIFE OF
controversy against a nation in whose constitution and
morals those principles had their source.
As early as September, seventeen hundred and seventy-
five, measures were under consideration for obtaining
foreign succour; and for that purpose, a committee of se-
cret correspondence was appointed, of which Benjamin
. Franklin was chairman.
This committee selected Arthur Lee, of Virginia, the
agent of the colony of Massachusetts, then residing in
London, as the medium of communication. He disclosed
his commission to the envoy of France, who immediately
apprised his government. The dissensions in the Ameri-
can colonies had early presented themselves to the court
of Versailles, as an opportunity to weaken her powerful
neighbour; and scruples as to the violation of a subsisting
treaty were overcome by the strong motive of a supposed
national interest. Uncertain as to the issue of the contro-
versy, France, it has been observed, adopted the policy of
granting secret aids--aids so limited, as to indicate a dispo-
sition rather to foster an embarrassing quarrel, than to
assist in founding an empire. But the same foresight
which prompted congress in July, seventeen hundred and
seventy-six, to declare the independence of the United
States, anticipated its recognition by France as one of the
certain consequences of that measure; and in the same
month a plan of treaty with that power was framed. It
was acted upon in the ensuing September, and Franklin,
Deane, and Lee, were elected commissioners to represent
their country at Versailles.
This plan provided, that each nation should commerce
with the other on the footing of " natives;" for the mutual
protection of this commerce, with the exception of certain
articles enumerated as contraband; for the retention by
France of her existing fisheries, with a stipulation that
neither party should interfere with the fishing-grounds of
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? HAMILTON.
83
the other, on pain of confiscation. It further provided,
that France should not under any pretence possess her-
self of any of the territories then or lately under the do-
minion of Great Britain, on or near the North American
continent, it being the declared intention of the United
States to have the sole and exclusive possession of them.
It secured access, on the same terms with France, to such
of the British West Indies as she might capture; gave
permission of free access, by the men-of-war and priva-
teers of either party, to the ports of the other, excluding
from them any captures from either nation by an enemy;
with the right also of unmolested trade by either party
from its own to the ports of an enemy of the other, or
from one of that enemy's ports to another. It also pro-
vided for an exemption from duty, in the French islands,
on molasses shipped to the United States, and that the
duties on articles in those islands, when sent there, should
not exceed the lowest duties upon the same articles when
shipped to France.
The instructions which accompanied this plan, authorized
the substitution of a commerce on the footing " of the most
favoured nation" if France objected to that of "natives;"
a waiver of other of the proposed articles upon certain con-
tingencies; and urged a public acknowledgment by France
of the independence of the United States, with assurances
to Spain not to interfere with her colonial dependencies.
Additional instructions were subsequently given, to take
measures to prevent the employment by England of fo-
reign mercenaries, offering an entire exclusion of her from
the American fisheries, with a participation in them to
France, and an assurance of aid in the reduction of the
British "West Indies, then to belong to France, as induce-
ments to obtain a declaration of war. The same commis-
sioners were instructed to negotiate a treaty of commerce
and alliance with Spain; for which purpose they were di-
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THE LIFE OF
rected to promise aid in the reduction of Pensacola, with
an express reservation to the United States of the use of
its harbour, and of the free navigation of the Mississippi.
Measures were also taken to form treaties with Prussia,
Austria, and Tuscany.
These propositions were coldly received by France.
The issue of the last war with Great Britain, while it
stimulated to revenge, inspired caution. But the difficulty
of concealing her co-operation increased; and when the
surrender of Burgoyne and the onset at Germantown
gave evidence of the vigour and resources of America,
she resolved to throw off the mask. An interview was
held with the American commissioners: the terms of the
proposed treaty were considered; and after an interval,
during which an answer was received from Spain refusing
to unite in the measure, a treaty of amity and commerce
was concluded with the United States, on the sixth of Feb-
ruary, seventeen hundred and seventy-eight.
By this treaty, each party was placed on the footing of
"the most favoured nation. " Similar stipulations for mu-
tual protection and facility of intercourse, were made with
those in the original plan; an article was added, granting
to each nation the liberty of maintaining in the ports of
the other a consular establishment, to be regulated in its
functions by a convention; and another, by which France
promised to grant one or more free ports in Europe, and
to continue the free ports which had been, or were then,
open in the West Indies. The article as to molasses was
objected to, but ultimately permitted to remain on the grant
as an equivalent, that all merchandise shipped directly from
the United States to the sugar-producing islands, should be
free of duty ;* that excluding France from possessing
* The American commissioners were Franklin, Deane, and Lee. Lee at
first declined to sign, from an objection to that article of the commercial
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? HAMILTON. 85
herself of any of the territories or islands then or lately
under the dominion of Great Britain on or near the North
American continent, was dissented from and abandoned.
A treaty of alliance, eventual and defensive, was also
formed. It provided, that common cause should be made
if war should break out between France and Great Britain
during the continuance of the war between her and North
America. It declared that the essential and direct end
of this alliance was the liberty and independence of the
United States, both in government and commerce; that
acquisitions by the United States in the northern parts of
America, or of the Bermudas, should belong to them, and
renounced, on the part of France, the possession of those
islands and of all the North American territory previously
or then belonging to Great Britain or to the United States.
All British islands situated in or near the Gulf of Mexico,
if captured by France, were to appertain to her.
An article was inserted, at the instance of the American
commissioners, that no peace or truce was to be concluded
with Great Britain by either party without the formal
consent of the other; and a mutual engagement was made,
treaty which had been inserted as an equivalent for the exemption of molas-
ses, an objection which had been approved by Ralph Izard, the commissioner
to Tuscany. Franklin did not attach much importance to this exception,
but with a view to unanimity, asked of the French court an omission of
these articles. France, although she had expressed an indifference as to
their introduction, insisted on retaining them, and they were inserted.
The views of Lee were approved by congress, and on the ratification of the
treaty, these articles were rejected by an almost unanimous vote, and subse-
quently expunged.
The objections were, that by this article, "the French might lay what
duty they pleased on their European exports, and upon sugar, coffee, and
other productions of their islands, without any check. For if, in consequence
of any such duty imposed by them, a duty were to be laid by America on
any of her exports to France, the French vessels would have nothing to do
but to clear out for the West Indies, and sail directly for Europe, or touch
first at one of their islands. "
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THE LIFE OF
"not to lay down their arms until the independence of the
United States shall have been formally or tacitly assured
by treaty. " It excluded all claim of compensation on
either side, and contained a mutual guarantee against all
other powers from its date forever--on the part of the
United States to France, of her present possessions in
America, or those she might acquire by a future treaty of
peace; and on the part of France to the United States,
of their liberty, and independence of government and
commerce, and all their possessions, and the conquests
they should have made from Great Britain during the ex-
isting war, as the same " shall be affixed at the moment of
its cessation. "
To define more explicitly the sense of this guarantee, it
was declared, that in case of a rupture between France
and England, it was to take effect from the moment of
that occurrence. If such rupture did not occur, then it
was not to take effect "until the cessation of the war be-
tween the United States and England shall have ascer-
tained their possessions. "
A separate and secret article was added, by which Spain
was entitled to accede to these treaties and participate in
these stipulations at such time as she should judge proper,
with an engagement to admit such alterations, analogous to
the aim of the alliance, as Spain or the United States may
propose, and shall be deemed conformable with recipro-
city. This treaty, containing such important provisions,
was framed by France without having been anticipated by
the United States, was presented to the American com-
missioners, the first time on the eighteenth, was assented
to on the twenty-seventh of January, and signed on the
sixth of February, simultaneously with the treaty of com-
merce.
These compacts have been eulogized as evidences of the
magnanimity of France, and have been pronounced more
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? HAMILTON.
87
beneficial to the United States than to their ally. The
only adequate motives that can be ascribed to France for
making them were, to abridge the power of a rival, to en-
large her commercial relations with a new and growing
country, and to secure permanently her American posses-
sions. The first result she anticipated from a contest in
which she knew the United States must prevail; as to the
second, although she was too wise to excite jealousy by
very unequal terms, she secured to herself forever the ad-
vantage of a trade, on the privileges of "the most favored
nation," with a young, growing, and extensive empire, with-
out giving any essential commercial equivalents. But the
third, although it appeared to be a measure of reciprocity,
was largely in her favour. She guarantied to the United
States their sovereignty and independence; as an equiva-
lent for which, they guarantied her West India possessions.
Whenever the independence of the United States should be
obtained, as it was not within the calculation of probabili-
ties that it would ever again be at hazard, the guarantee
of France would be nominal, while that of the French
islands would be operative in every maritime war in
which France might be engaged, would be an effectual
protection of them by means of the future power of this
republic, and might involve it in controversies in which it
had not only no mutual, but, perhaps, an opposite interest.
Upon the conclusion of this treaty, Gerard was ap-
pointed minister plenipotentiary to the United States,
where he arrived in the month of July. Silas Deane was
recalled, John Adams substituted for him, and Franklin
commissioned to the French court, but with instructions not
to enter into any stipulation without the previous consent of
America. * The mission of Gerard was not disclosed by
* It ib stated that in a conference between Gouverncur Morris and Gerard,
in relation to the instructions to be given to Franklin, "one important fea-
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THE LIFE OF
his joint commissioners to Lee, who addressed a letter to
Franklin expressing in strong terms his indignation at this
concealment, and charging upon him circumstances to show
a studied design to mislead him. To this letter no reply
has been found; the concealment has been excused on the
ground of an injunction of secrecy by the minister of
France. These dissensions were censured by congress,
and a motion to recall Franklin was rejected by the votes
of ten states. * Within a few days after, Lee communi-
cated to Vergennes that Hartley, an English member of
parliament, was endeavouring to insinuate distrusts of the
conduct of France; and that agents for a similar purpose
had been despatched to the United States. Lee's hesita-
tion as to the treaty had given displeasure, and this letter
was answered by a sharp and insulting reply. f
The agents mentioned by Lee arrived in the United
States and attempted to open a negotiation, but congress
refused all correspondence with them, unless preceded by
an acknowledgment of their independence, or the with-
drawal of their fleets and armies. A fruitless attempt
was also made to treat separately with Franklin. Appre-
hensive that these experiments on the good faith of Ame-
rica might succeed, the French ambassador declared that
it had been pretended that the United States had reserved
tare was struck out at the suggestion of Gerard. " It was a direction to
Franklin to urge France to send an increased naval force to aid in driving
the British from the seaports. This was objected to by Gerard, on the
grounds that it was not feasible, nor would be advantageous. The project
for attacking Canada was wisely discountenanced. What the motives of
France were, is not known ; perhaps not too much to aggrandize the United
States; as, if conquered, it was guarantied to them, and probably with the
ulterior view of obtaining it herself, at the termination of the war, as the re.
storation of an ancient possession. Other motives have been assigned. --
Life of Gouverneur Morris, vol. 1, 189.
* McKean's letter as to this, p. 177, vol. 2, R. H. Lee's Life.
t 1778. --2 D. C. 145, 157.
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of a person in the army. "
On the receipt of this communication, Hamilton replied,
giving a lively exhibition of his feelings and of the public
affairs.
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? HAMILTON.
69
Philadelphia, March 17th, 1783.
SIR,
I am duly honoured with your excellency's letters
of the fourth and twelfth instant. It is much to be regret-
ted, though not to be wondered at, that steps of so inflam-
matory a tendency have been taken in the army. Your
excellency has, in my opinion, acted wisely. The best
way is ever, not to attempt to stem a torrent, but to
divert it.
I am happy to find you coincide in opinion with me on
the conduct proper to be observed by yourself. I am
persuaded more and more, it is that which is most con-
sistent with your own reputation and the public safety.
Our affairs wear a most serious aspect, as well foreign as
domestic. Before this gets to hand, your excellency will
probably have seen the provisional articles between Great
Britain and these states. It might, at first appearance,
be concluded that these will be preludes to a general
peace. But there are strong reasons to doubt the truth
of such a conclusion. Obstacles may arise from different
quarters--from the demands of Spain and Holland, from
the hope in France of greater acquisitions in the east, and
perhaps still more probably, from the insincerity and du-
plicity of Lord Shelburne, whose politics, founded in the
peculiarity of his situation, as well as the character of the
man, may well be suspected of insidiousness. I am really
apprehensive, if peace does not take place, that the nego-
tiations will lead to sow distrust among the allies, and
weaken the force of the common league. We have, I
fear, men among us, and men in trust, who have a hanker-
ing after British connection. We have others, whose
confidence in France savours of credulity. The intrigues
of the former, and incautiousness of the latter, may be
both, though in different degrees, injurious to the Ameri-
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THE LIFE OF
can interest, and make it difficult for prudent men to steer
a proper course.
There are delicate circumstances with respect to the
late foreign transactions, which I am not at liberty to re-
veal, but which, joined to our internal disorders, follies,
weaknesses, and prejudices, make this country stand upon
precarious ground. Some use, perhaps, may be made of
these ideas to induce moderation in the army. An opin-
ion that this country does not stand upon a secure footing,
will operate upon the patriotism of the officers against
hazarding any domestic commotions. When I make these
observations, I cannot forbear adding, that if no excesses
take place, I shall not be sorry that ill humours have ap-
peared. I shall not regret importunity, if temperate, from
the army.
There are good resolutions in the majority of congress,
but there is not sufficient wisdom or discretion. There
are dangerous prejudices in the particular states, opposed
to those measures which alone can give stability and
prosperity to the union. There is a fatal opposition to
continental views. Necessity alone can work a reform;
but how apply it, and how keep it within salutary bounds?
I fear we have been contending for a shadow. The affair
of accounts I considered as having been put upon a satis-
factory footing. The particular states have been required
to settle 'till the first of August, '80, and the superin-
tendent of finance has been directed to take measures for
settling since that period. I shall immediately see him on
the subject. We have had eight states and a half in
favour of a commmutation of the half-pay, for an average
of five years' purchase; that is, five years' full pay, instead
of half-pay for life; which, on a calculation of annuities,
is nearly an equivalent. I hope this will now shortly take
place. We have made considerable progress in a plan, to
be recommended to the several states, for funding all of
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? HAMILTON.
71
the public debts, including those of the army; which is
certainly the only way to restore public credit, and enable
us to continue the war, by borrowing abroad, if it should
be necessary to continue it.
I omitted mentioning to your excellency, that from
European intelligence, there is great reason to believe at
all events, peace or war, New-York will be evacuated in
the spring. It will be a pity if any domestic disturbance
should change the plans of the British court.
P. S. --Your excellency mentions, that it has been sur-
mised the plan in agitation was formed in Philadelphia;
that combinations have been talked of between the public
creditors and the army, and that members of congress
had encouraged the idea. This is partly true. I have
myself urged in congress the propriety of uniting the in-
fluence of the public creditors, and the army as a part of
them, to prevail upon the states to enter into their views.
I have expressed the same sentiments out of doors. Sev-
eral other members of congress have done the same. The
. meaning, however, of all this was, simply that congress
should adopt such a plan as would embrace the relief of
all the public creditors, including the army, in order that
the personal influence of some, the connections of others,
and a sense of justice to the army, as well as the appre-
hension of ill consequences, might form a mass of influence
in each state in favour of the measures of congress. In
this view, as I mentioned to your excellency in a former
letter, I thought the discontents of the army might be
turned to a good account. I am still of opinion that their
earnest but respectful applications for redress will have a
good effect. As to any combination of force, it would
only be productive of the horrors of a civil war, might
end in the ruin of the country, and would certainly end
in the ruin of the army. "
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THE LIFE OF
The officers assembled on the appointed day, and Gates,
the second in command, whose intrigues were suspected,
was called to preside. They met in an humble school-
house, on an acclivity that rises from the Hudson, yet
bound in fetters--for winter still maintained her sway
among the mountains, which overcast the scene with their
long and gloomy shadows.
All around them was rugged and drear, in unison with
the stern and indignant sense of unrewarded sacrifices,
broken faith, and baffled hopes, which lowered over their
countenances.
Washington, who had never been greeted but with af-
fection, was received with cold and calm respect. It
appeared as though sedition had felt it necessary to com-
mence her secret work by engendering suspicions against
the Father of his country! --He arose: he felt the es-
trangement--he paused, and he doubted of the issue. As
he uncovered his venerated head, and was about to address
them from a written paper in his hand, his eye grew dim,
and he uttered this pathetic, unpremeditated remark:--
"Fellow-soldiers, you perceive I have not only grown
gray, but blind in your service. " After commenting on
the impropriety of the anonymous papers, addressed more
to the feelings and passions, than to the reason and judg-
ment of the army, he repelled the insidious imputation on
himself:--"The author of the piece should have had more
charity than to mark for suspicion the man who should re-
commend moderation and longer forbearance, or, in other
words, should not think as he thinks, and act as he ad-
vises. But he had another plan in view, in which can-
dour and liberality of sentiment have no part, and he was
right to insinuate the darkest suspicions to effect the black-
est designs 'But how,' after indicating the object
of these addresses,' but how are the interests of the army
to be promoted? The way is plain,' says the writer,--'If
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? HAMILTON.
73
'war continues, remove into the unsettled country; there
establish yourselves, and leave an ungrateful country to
defend itself. ' But whom are they to defend? Our wives,
our children, our farms and other property, which we
leave behind us? Or in the state of hostile separation, are
we to take the two first, (the latter cannot be removed. )
to perish in a wilderness with hunger, cold, and nakedness?
If peace takes place, 'never sheathe your swords,' says
he,' until you have obtained full and ample justice. ' This
dreadful alternative, of either deserting our country in the
extremest hour of her distress, or turning our arms against
it, which is the apparent object, unless congress can be
compelled into instant compliance, has something so shock-
ing in it that humanity remits at the idea. My God! what
can this writer have in view, by recommending such meas-
ures? Can he be a friend to the army? Can he be a
friend to the country? Rather, is he not an insidious foe?
some emissary, perhaps, from New-York, plotting the ruin
of both, by sowing the seeds of discord and separation
between the civil and military powers of the continent V
Recurring to the insidious imputation which he felt was
levelled directly at himself, he remarked--" With respect to
the advice given by the author,'to suspect the man who
shall recommend moderation and longer forbearance,' /
spurn at it, as every man who regards that liberty and re-
veres that justice for which we contend, undoubtedly must. "
After this strong avowal of his contempt for this attack up-
on himself, and after renewing the pledge of his exertions in
their behalf, he concluded:--" Let me conjure you, in the
name of our common country, as you value your own
sacred honour, as you respect the sacred rights of humani-
ty, and as you regard the military and national character
of America, to express your utmost horror and detestation
of the man who wishes, under any specious pretences, to
overturn the liberties of our country, and who wickedly at-
10
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THE LIFE OF
tempts to open the flood-gates of civil discord and deluge our
rising empire with blood /"
Awed by the majesty of his virtue, and touched with
his interest in their sufferings, every soldier's eye was filled
with a generous tear; they reproved themselves for having
doubted him who had never deceived them; they forgot
their wrongs, in the love of their country and of their
chief; their first act was to reciprocate thanks for the
affection he had shown them; their next, to declare "their
unshaken confidence in the justice of congress and their
country," and their " abhorrence and disdain" at the infa-
mous propositions contained in the late address and machi-
nations of designing men, " to sow discord between the
civil and military powers of the United States. "
The conjecture in the erased paragraph of Washington's
letter to Hamilton, fell upon a person at that time in the
family of General Gates; but though public opinion had
fixed the address upon him, its source was not for a long
time acknowledged.
It was at last publicly avowed by Major John Arm-
strong, then the aid-de-camp and instrument of Gates,
accompanied with a vindication of his motives. * In this
publication, the extract of a letter from Gates to Arm-
strong is given, in which he says--" As Gordon is an old
friend and an honest man, I have answered him frankly,
that the letters were written in my quarters by you, copied
by Richmond and circulated by Barker, and were intended
to produce a strong remonstrance to congress in favour
of the object prayed for in a former one, and that the
conjecture that it was meant to offer the crown to Caesar, f
* Subsequently appointed by Jefferson minister to France, and secretary
at war by Madison. '
t In May, 1782, Colonel Nicola wrote to Washington suggesting the in-
troduction of a monarchy, and was indignantly rebuked. In a note upon
this correspondence, 8 Washington's Writings, 302, this comment is found:--
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? HAMILTON. 75
was without any foundation. " Thus is confirmed the sus-
picion alluded to by Washington, that "the old leaven
was at work. "
Gates is exhibited in the extraordinary position of pre-
siding at the meeting of officers, and signing resolutions
which denounced, "as a machination of designing men to
sow discord between the civil and military powers of the
United States," a production written in his own quarters,
by his own aid, and with every step in the progress where-
of to publicity he was familiar--a procedure he described
as merely " intended to produce a strong remonstrance to
congress" in behalf of the army.
Upon the reception of the intelligence from head-quar-
ters of the conclusion of this affair, Colonel Hamilton in-
troduced a report, which was adopted, paying a just tribute
to Washington and the officers. "That congress consider
the conduct of the commander-in-chief on the occasion
of some late attempts to create disturbances in the army,
as a new proof of his prudence and zealous attention to
the welfare of the community; that he be informed that
congress also entertain a high sense of the patriotic senti-
ments expressed by the officers in their proceedings, which
evince their unshaken perseverance in those principles
"There was unquestionably at this time, and for some time afterwards,
a party in the army, neither small in number nor insignificant in character,
prepared to second and sustain a measure of this kind, which they conceived
necessary to strengthen the civil power and draw out the resources of the
country, and establish a durable government. " It is more probable that this
letter originated in a plot to ruin Washington, of which Nicola, a weak and
aged foreigner, was the ignorant instrument. No evidence has been met
with of the existence of such a party in the army. Indeed, such a design
was too preposterous to have been seriously entertained. One of the most
pleasing traits of Washington's character was, his affection and confidence
in the officers of the revolution. One of these was the object of his abhor-
rence, and that one, it will appear, entertained such opinions. But he was at
this period, if not " insignificant in character," a person of little weight.
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? 76 THE LIFE OF
which have distinguished them in every period of the
war, and have so justly entitled the troops of the United
States to the esteem and gratitude of their country, and
to the character of a patriot army. "
The termination of the contest now presented to the
contemplation of Hamilton many and most serious reflec-
tions as to the future condition of the confederacy. He
felt all the value of Washington to his country, and thus
adverted to the great part which he would be called on to
perform in giving strength and durability to the Union.
"Your excellency will, before this reaches you, have re-
ceived a letter from the Marquis de La Fayette, inform-
ing you, that the preliminaries of peace, between all the
belligerent powers, have been concluded. I congratulate
your excellency on this happy conclusion of your labours.
It now only remains, to make solid establishments within,
to perpetuate our union, to prevent our being a ball in
the hands of European powers, bandied against each other
at their pleasure; in fine, to make our independence truly
a blessing. This, it is to be lamented, will be an arduous
work; for, to borrow a figure from mechanics, the centri-
fugal is much stronger than the centripetal force in these
states. The seeds of disunion are much more numerous
than those of union. I will add, that your excellency's
exertions are as essential to accomplish this end, as they
have been to establish independence. I will upon a future
occasion open myself upon this subject. Your conduct in
the affair of the officers is highly pleasing here. The
measures of the army are such as I could have wished
them, and will add lustre to their character, as well as
strengthen the hands of congress. "
On the thirty-first of March, General Washington re-
plied :--
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? THE LIFE OF
77
"DEAR SIR,
"I have duly received your favours of the 17th and
24th ult. I rejoice most exceedingly there is an end to
our warfare, and that such a field is open to our view,
as will, with wisdom to direct the cultivation of it, make
us a great, a respectable, and a happy people; but it must
be improved by other means than state politics, and unrea-
sonable jealousies and prejudices, or, (it requires not the se-
cond-sight to see that) we shall be instruments in the hands
of our enemies, and those European powers who may be
jealous of our greatness in union, to dissolve the confedera-
tion; but to attain this, although the way seems extremely
plain, is not so easy. My wish to see the union of these
states established upon liberal and permanent principles,
and inclination to contribute my mite in pointing out
the defects of the present constitution, are equally great.
All my private letters have teemed with these sentiments,
and wherever this topic has been the subject of conversa-
tion, I have endeavoured to diffuse and enforce them; but
how far any further essay by me might be productive of
the wished-for end, or appear to arrogate more than be-
longs to me, depends so much upon popular opinion, and
the temper and disposition of people, that it is not easy
to decide. I shall be obliged to you, however, for the
thoughts which you have promised me on this subject,
and as soon as you can make it convenient. No man in
the United States is or can be more deeply impressed with
the necessity of a reform in our present confederation,
than myself. No man, perhaps, has felt the bad effects of
it more sensibly; for to the defects thereof, and want of
powers in congress, may justly be ascribed the prolonga-
tion of the war, and, consequently, the expenses occasion-
ed by it. More than half of the perplexities I have ex-
perienced in the course of my command, and almost the
whole of the difficulties and distress of the army, have
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their origin here; but still, the prejudices of some, the de-
signs of others, and the mere machinery of the majority,
makes address and management necessary to give weight
to opinions which are to combat the doctrines of these
different classes of men in the field of politics. I would
have been more full on this subject, but the bearer (in the
clothing department) is waiting.
"I wish you may understand what I have written. "
The friends of the army had continued to press their
claims. When the former vote was taken in relation to
them, Delaware was not represented. Her delegates were
induced to proceed to Philadelphia, and on the tenth of
March, the day upon which the seditious notice was issued
at Newburgh, the report having been so amended as to
omit a provision for the widows of the officers who should
die in the service, the question was again taken, and eight
states voted in* favor of it. A few days after this deci-
sion, intelligence was received of the alarming proceed-
ings at Newburgh, and those whom gratitude and a sense
of justice had not influenced, yielded to their fears. But
at the last moment a serious difficulty arose from an ap-
prehension of the injurious effect upon the public credit
which might result from the sudden alienation, at an under
value, of so large a mass of certificates, and it was pro-
posed that they should not be transferable. The delega-
tion from the army spurned the id*a, justly asked if they
were not freemen, if the balances were not their property,
and insisted to be placed on the same footing with every
other creditor. This objection was too forcible to be an-
swered.
It prevailed, and on the twenty-second of March,
nine states concurred in granting a commutation. The
* The vote of Connecticut was divided; New-Hampshire, Rhode Island,
and NewJerscy, (Boudinot excepted,) voted against it.
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? HAMILTON.
79
resolution making this grant, stated that congress was de-
sirous as well of gratifying the reasonable expectations of
the officers of the army, as of remqving all objections
which may exist in any part of the United States to the
principle of the half-pay establishment, for which the faith
of the United States had been pledged; persuaded that
those objections can only arise from the nature of the
compensation, not from any indisposition to compensate
those whose services, sacrifices, and sufferings, have so
just a title to the approbation and rewards of their coun-
try. * This resolution was from the pen of Hamilton.
Thus he was the instrument of accomplishing that meas-
ure which he had suggested in the formation of the mili-
tary establishment; triumphing over the reluctant justice
of the states, and discharging that sacred debt, his in-
terest in which, delicacy had induced him to relinquish. f
* The resolution granted securities for five years' full par, bearing an in-
terest of six per cent. ; to be such as were to be given to the other public
creditors. The army demands now assumed the form of a settled debt; and
though the requisitions of congress were unsuccessful, several states for a
long time paid the stipulated interest.
t Previous to the discussion of the army claims, he addressed a note to the
secretary at war, renouncing his claim to half-pay.
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CHAPTER XVII.
[1783. ]
The intelligence of peace diffused a general joy through-
out the American continent.
The arduous conflict was ended; and without any de-
grading circumstance, or any sacrifice of national honour,
the sovereignty of the United States was acknowledged.
France also stood in a commanding position, enjoying
the singular distinction of having promoted the indepen-
dence of the two greatest republics in the old and new
world--relieving the United Provinces in their struggle
with Spain, during the reign of Henry the Fourth, and
aiding the revolution of these united colonies in that of
Louis the Sixteenth.
When adverting to these circumstances, the similar
policy pursued by either potentate, arrests attention.
Henry was in treaty with Spain; Louis, with England.
Both hesitated* as to the obligations of these treaties:
both disregarded them. Each commenced with secret
aids; each terminated in open war; nor were the results
unlike. In both instances, France was actuated by mo-
* Louis, with a prophetic fear, was opposed to tins interference; an opin-
ion in which Turgot concurred. Maurepas and Vergcnnes, sustained by
the jurists Favier and Pfeffel, took the opposite view. Hume justly con-
trasts the conduct of James the First with that of Henry. --History of Great
Britain, v. 6, p. 23. Sully reproaches him for not having followed the ex-
ample of France. "But what can be expected from persons who neither
know how to seize opportunities as they offer, to execute any thing boldly,
or even to desire any thing with steadiness ? "--Lib. 24.
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? HAMILTON.
81
tives of policy; in both, she deceived her ally; in
neither, did she derive any permanent benefit from her
intervention.
Monarchs change, but centuries produce few changes in
the morals of despotic courts.
The attention of congress had been withdrawn by this
event from the provision for the public debt, and from the
urgent claims of the army.
The influence exerted by Hamilton in determining the
subsequent policy of the United States towards other na-
tions, and the decisive bearing which that policy had, both
upon his own fortunes and upon those of this country, in-
dicate the necessity of a retrospect of some of the lead-
ing circumstances which mark the character of our early
diplomacy. If this retrospect should at first be deemed
too wide a departure from his immediate history, after
events will show that it is indispensably necessary to a full
comprehension of his public services, and that justice to his
character demands it.
It is a painful fact in the history of almost every strug-
gle for freedom, that the oppressed party has been com-
pelled, as an equivalent for the assistance it has received,
to sacrifice a part of the independence for which it was
contending, either by direct stipulations of advantage to
its ally, or by the more injurious consequences of popular
feeling, in which hatred of an enemy produces too strong
a bias to a friend.
That which is not wrested from dependence, is claimed
as the due concession of gratitude; a claim which those
who aspire to lead the public sentiment, are too ready to
encourage, and which the friends of national character
find it difficult to resist. This evil would be greater and
more apparent in the history of the United States, as theirs
was an alliance with an absolute government, which could
feel no sympathies with the principles of the American
11
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controversy against a nation in whose constitution and
morals those principles had their source.
As early as September, seventeen hundred and seventy-
five, measures were under consideration for obtaining
foreign succour; and for that purpose, a committee of se-
cret correspondence was appointed, of which Benjamin
. Franklin was chairman.
This committee selected Arthur Lee, of Virginia, the
agent of the colony of Massachusetts, then residing in
London, as the medium of communication. He disclosed
his commission to the envoy of France, who immediately
apprised his government. The dissensions in the Ameri-
can colonies had early presented themselves to the court
of Versailles, as an opportunity to weaken her powerful
neighbour; and scruples as to the violation of a subsisting
treaty were overcome by the strong motive of a supposed
national interest. Uncertain as to the issue of the contro-
versy, France, it has been observed, adopted the policy of
granting secret aids--aids so limited, as to indicate a dispo-
sition rather to foster an embarrassing quarrel, than to
assist in founding an empire. But the same foresight
which prompted congress in July, seventeen hundred and
seventy-six, to declare the independence of the United
States, anticipated its recognition by France as one of the
certain consequences of that measure; and in the same
month a plan of treaty with that power was framed. It
was acted upon in the ensuing September, and Franklin,
Deane, and Lee, were elected commissioners to represent
their country at Versailles.
This plan provided, that each nation should commerce
with the other on the footing of " natives;" for the mutual
protection of this commerce, with the exception of certain
articles enumerated as contraband; for the retention by
France of her existing fisheries, with a stipulation that
neither party should interfere with the fishing-grounds of
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? HAMILTON.
83
the other, on pain of confiscation. It further provided,
that France should not under any pretence possess her-
self of any of the territories then or lately under the do-
minion of Great Britain, on or near the North American
continent, it being the declared intention of the United
States to have the sole and exclusive possession of them.
It secured access, on the same terms with France, to such
of the British West Indies as she might capture; gave
permission of free access, by the men-of-war and priva-
teers of either party, to the ports of the other, excluding
from them any captures from either nation by an enemy;
with the right also of unmolested trade by either party
from its own to the ports of an enemy of the other, or
from one of that enemy's ports to another. It also pro-
vided for an exemption from duty, in the French islands,
on molasses shipped to the United States, and that the
duties on articles in those islands, when sent there, should
not exceed the lowest duties upon the same articles when
shipped to France.
The instructions which accompanied this plan, authorized
the substitution of a commerce on the footing " of the most
favoured nation" if France objected to that of "natives;"
a waiver of other of the proposed articles upon certain con-
tingencies; and urged a public acknowledgment by France
of the independence of the United States, with assurances
to Spain not to interfere with her colonial dependencies.
Additional instructions were subsequently given, to take
measures to prevent the employment by England of fo-
reign mercenaries, offering an entire exclusion of her from
the American fisheries, with a participation in them to
France, and an assurance of aid in the reduction of the
British "West Indies, then to belong to France, as induce-
ments to obtain a declaration of war. The same commis-
sioners were instructed to negotiate a treaty of commerce
and alliance with Spain; for which purpose they were di-
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rected to promise aid in the reduction of Pensacola, with
an express reservation to the United States of the use of
its harbour, and of the free navigation of the Mississippi.
Measures were also taken to form treaties with Prussia,
Austria, and Tuscany.
These propositions were coldly received by France.
The issue of the last war with Great Britain, while it
stimulated to revenge, inspired caution. But the difficulty
of concealing her co-operation increased; and when the
surrender of Burgoyne and the onset at Germantown
gave evidence of the vigour and resources of America,
she resolved to throw off the mask. An interview was
held with the American commissioners: the terms of the
proposed treaty were considered; and after an interval,
during which an answer was received from Spain refusing
to unite in the measure, a treaty of amity and commerce
was concluded with the United States, on the sixth of Feb-
ruary, seventeen hundred and seventy-eight.
By this treaty, each party was placed on the footing of
"the most favoured nation. " Similar stipulations for mu-
tual protection and facility of intercourse, were made with
those in the original plan; an article was added, granting
to each nation the liberty of maintaining in the ports of
the other a consular establishment, to be regulated in its
functions by a convention; and another, by which France
promised to grant one or more free ports in Europe, and
to continue the free ports which had been, or were then,
open in the West Indies. The article as to molasses was
objected to, but ultimately permitted to remain on the grant
as an equivalent, that all merchandise shipped directly from
the United States to the sugar-producing islands, should be
free of duty ;* that excluding France from possessing
* The American commissioners were Franklin, Deane, and Lee. Lee at
first declined to sign, from an objection to that article of the commercial
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? HAMILTON. 85
herself of any of the territories or islands then or lately
under the dominion of Great Britain on or near the North
American continent, was dissented from and abandoned.
A treaty of alliance, eventual and defensive, was also
formed. It provided, that common cause should be made
if war should break out between France and Great Britain
during the continuance of the war between her and North
America. It declared that the essential and direct end
of this alliance was the liberty and independence of the
United States, both in government and commerce; that
acquisitions by the United States in the northern parts of
America, or of the Bermudas, should belong to them, and
renounced, on the part of France, the possession of those
islands and of all the North American territory previously
or then belonging to Great Britain or to the United States.
All British islands situated in or near the Gulf of Mexico,
if captured by France, were to appertain to her.
An article was inserted, at the instance of the American
commissioners, that no peace or truce was to be concluded
with Great Britain by either party without the formal
consent of the other; and a mutual engagement was made,
treaty which had been inserted as an equivalent for the exemption of molas-
ses, an objection which had been approved by Ralph Izard, the commissioner
to Tuscany. Franklin did not attach much importance to this exception,
but with a view to unanimity, asked of the French court an omission of
these articles. France, although she had expressed an indifference as to
their introduction, insisted on retaining them, and they were inserted.
The views of Lee were approved by congress, and on the ratification of the
treaty, these articles were rejected by an almost unanimous vote, and subse-
quently expunged.
The objections were, that by this article, "the French might lay what
duty they pleased on their European exports, and upon sugar, coffee, and
other productions of their islands, without any check. For if, in consequence
of any such duty imposed by them, a duty were to be laid by America on
any of her exports to France, the French vessels would have nothing to do
but to clear out for the West Indies, and sail directly for Europe, or touch
first at one of their islands. "
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"not to lay down their arms until the independence of the
United States shall have been formally or tacitly assured
by treaty. " It excluded all claim of compensation on
either side, and contained a mutual guarantee against all
other powers from its date forever--on the part of the
United States to France, of her present possessions in
America, or those she might acquire by a future treaty of
peace; and on the part of France to the United States,
of their liberty, and independence of government and
commerce, and all their possessions, and the conquests
they should have made from Great Britain during the ex-
isting war, as the same " shall be affixed at the moment of
its cessation. "
To define more explicitly the sense of this guarantee, it
was declared, that in case of a rupture between France
and England, it was to take effect from the moment of
that occurrence. If such rupture did not occur, then it
was not to take effect "until the cessation of the war be-
tween the United States and England shall have ascer-
tained their possessions. "
A separate and secret article was added, by which Spain
was entitled to accede to these treaties and participate in
these stipulations at such time as she should judge proper,
with an engagement to admit such alterations, analogous to
the aim of the alliance, as Spain or the United States may
propose, and shall be deemed conformable with recipro-
city. This treaty, containing such important provisions,
was framed by France without having been anticipated by
the United States, was presented to the American com-
missioners, the first time on the eighteenth, was assented
to on the twenty-seventh of January, and signed on the
sixth of February, simultaneously with the treaty of com-
merce.
These compacts have been eulogized as evidences of the
magnanimity of France, and have been pronounced more
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? HAMILTON.
87
beneficial to the United States than to their ally. The
only adequate motives that can be ascribed to France for
making them were, to abridge the power of a rival, to en-
large her commercial relations with a new and growing
country, and to secure permanently her American posses-
sions. The first result she anticipated from a contest in
which she knew the United States must prevail; as to the
second, although she was too wise to excite jealousy by
very unequal terms, she secured to herself forever the ad-
vantage of a trade, on the privileges of "the most favored
nation," with a young, growing, and extensive empire, with-
out giving any essential commercial equivalents. But the
third, although it appeared to be a measure of reciprocity,
was largely in her favour. She guarantied to the United
States their sovereignty and independence; as an equiva-
lent for which, they guarantied her West India possessions.
Whenever the independence of the United States should be
obtained, as it was not within the calculation of probabili-
ties that it would ever again be at hazard, the guarantee
of France would be nominal, while that of the French
islands would be operative in every maritime war in
which France might be engaged, would be an effectual
protection of them by means of the future power of this
republic, and might involve it in controversies in which it
had not only no mutual, but, perhaps, an opposite interest.
Upon the conclusion of this treaty, Gerard was ap-
pointed minister plenipotentiary to the United States,
where he arrived in the month of July. Silas Deane was
recalled, John Adams substituted for him, and Franklin
commissioned to the French court, but with instructions not
to enter into any stipulation without the previous consent of
America. * The mission of Gerard was not disclosed by
* It ib stated that in a conference between Gouverncur Morris and Gerard,
in relation to the instructions to be given to Franklin, "one important fea-
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his joint commissioners to Lee, who addressed a letter to
Franklin expressing in strong terms his indignation at this
concealment, and charging upon him circumstances to show
a studied design to mislead him. To this letter no reply
has been found; the concealment has been excused on the
ground of an injunction of secrecy by the minister of
France. These dissensions were censured by congress,
and a motion to recall Franklin was rejected by the votes
of ten states. * Within a few days after, Lee communi-
cated to Vergennes that Hartley, an English member of
parliament, was endeavouring to insinuate distrusts of the
conduct of France; and that agents for a similar purpose
had been despatched to the United States. Lee's hesita-
tion as to the treaty had given displeasure, and this letter
was answered by a sharp and insulting reply. f
The agents mentioned by Lee arrived in the United
States and attempted to open a negotiation, but congress
refused all correspondence with them, unless preceded by
an acknowledgment of their independence, or the with-
drawal of their fleets and armies. A fruitless attempt
was also made to treat separately with Franklin. Appre-
hensive that these experiments on the good faith of Ame-
rica might succeed, the French ambassador declared that
it had been pretended that the United States had reserved
tare was struck out at the suggestion of Gerard. " It was a direction to
Franklin to urge France to send an increased naval force to aid in driving
the British from the seaports. This was objected to by Gerard, on the
grounds that it was not feasible, nor would be advantageous. The project
for attacking Canada was wisely discountenanced. What the motives of
France were, is not known ; perhaps not too much to aggrandize the United
States; as, if conquered, it was guarantied to them, and probably with the
ulterior view of obtaining it herself, at the termination of the war, as the re.
storation of an ancient possession. Other motives have been assigned. --
Life of Gouverneur Morris, vol. 1, 189.
* McKean's letter as to this, p. 177, vol. 2, R. H. Lee's Life.
t 1778. --2 D. C. 145, 157.
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