our'd to make the people believe, that he has great powers and earnestly wish'd for peace; and at length carried the matter so far, as to desire a conference with some members of Congress, in their private capacities. The Congress to show they were not averse to peace, sent a Comtee. of their body to confer with him. They had the honor of three hours conversation with his Ld. Ship and returned here last fryday. He acknowleged he had no power to suspend the operations of war, or to offer any terms; but said, he had waited two months in England to prevail with the Ministry to empower him to converse and confer with Gentn. of influence in America, that he was sure of the good intentions of the King and the Ministry; and if we would return to our allegiance, they wou'd revise the late instructions to Govrs. and the Acts of Parliament, and if there was anything in them that appear'd unreasonable to them; he did not doubt but they wou'd make them easy. The whole affair will soon be publish'd by Congress.2. . .

131. JOHN PENN TO THE NORTH CAROLINA COUNCIL OF SAFETY.1 PHILA. Septr. 16, 1776.

Dear Sir

I wrote to you by Thomas Hayward Esqr. one of the Delegates of So. Carolina that General Howe was in possession of Long Island as also the manner in which we left it.2 General Sullivan who was made a prisoner on that occasion was sent here lately by Lord Howe with a message that his Lordship was very desirous to converse with some of the members of Congress as private Gentn. and that he would meet them as Mr. Howe that he had great powers from the King to negotiate a peace, tho we were pursuaded that he only intended to throw the odium of carrying on the war on the Congress having no reason to believe that he had any such authority. Yet to counteract his design Doctr. Franklin, John Adams and Edwd Rutledge esqrs were directed to meet his Lordship not as private Gentn. but as a Committee of Congress to know of him what his powers were if any he had to treat with the Congress on the subject of

peace.

The Gentn. had a conference with Lord Howe who owned that he had no terms to offer to America and was not at liberty to treat with any set of men who were Representatives of the People, that he had a right to converse with Individuals and represent to the King the substance of what passed. I hope this will have a good effect as it will satisfie the people at large that we have no alternitive for our safety but our spirit as Soldiers.

2 Cf. nos. 122, 125, 126, 128, 129, ante, and nos. 131, 132, post. See also a letter of Richard Henry Lee to Patrick Henry, Sept. 15, in Letters (ed. Ballagh), I. 214, and W. W. Henry, Patrick Henry, III. 10.

[131] N. C. Hist. Comm.; N. C. Col. Recs., X. 801.

2 Heyward left Philadelphia Sept. 5. See no. 106, ante. The letter referred to is probably that signed by Hooper, Hewes, and Penn, dated Sept. 3, in N. C. Col. Recs., X. 790. Cf. no. 135, post.

See no. 102, note 2, ante, and cf. nos. 122, 125, 126, 128-130, ante, 132, post.

The Congress have left the sending two Battalions from No. Carolina with General Moore to New York altogether to the Council of Safety.* I would not advise the sending them at any rate as it is too late in the year.

132. JOHN ADAMS TO SAMUEL ADAMS.1

PHILADELPHIA, 17 September, 1776.

In a few lines of the 8th instant I promised you a more particular account of the conference. On Monday, the committee set off from Philadelphia, and reached Brunswick on Tuesday night. Wednesday morning, they proceeded to Amboy, and from thence to Staten Island, where they met the Lord Howe, by whom they were politely received and entertained. His lordship opened the conference by giving us an account of the motive which first induced him to attend to the dispute with America, which he said was the honor which had been done to his family by the Massachusetts Bay, which he prized very highly. From whence I concluded, in my own mind, that his lordship had not attended to the controversy earlier than the Port Bill and the Charter Bill, and consequently must have a very inadequate idea of the nature as well as of the rise and progress of the contest.

His lordship then observed, that he had requested this interview, that he might satisfy himself whether there was any probability that America would return to her allegiance; but he must observe to us, that he could not acknowledge us as members of Congress, or a committee of that body, but that he only desired this conversation with us as private gentlemen, in hopes that it might prepare the way for the people's returning to their allegiance and to an accommodation of the disputes between the two countries; that he had no power to treat with us as independent States, or in any other character than as British subjects and private gentlemen; but that upon our acknowledging ourselves to be British subjects, he had power to consult with us; that the act of parliament had given power to the king, upon certain conditions, of declaring the colonies to be at peace; and his commission gave him power to confer, advise, and consult with any number or description of persons concerning the complaints of the people in America; that the king and ministry had very good dispositions to redress the grievances of the people, and reform the errors of administration in America; that his commission gave him power to converse with any persons whatever in America concerning the former instructions to governors, and the acts of parliament complained of; that the king and ministry were very willing to have all these revised and reconsidered, and if any errors had crept in, if they could be pointed out, were very willing that they should be rectified.

Mr. Rutledge mentioned to his Lordship what General Sullivan had said, that his Lordship told him he would set the acts of parliament wholly aside, and that parliament had no right to tax America, or meddle with

* See the Journals, Sept. 16; cf. no. 135, post.

[132]1 Works, IX. 443.

her internal polity. His Lordship answered Mr. Rutledge that General Sullivan had misunderstood him, and extended his words much beyond their import.

His Lordship gave us a long account of his negotiations in order to obtain powers sufficiently ample for his purpose. He said he told them (the ministry, I suppose he meant) that those persons whom you call rebels, are the most proper to confer with of any, because they are the persons who complain of grievances. The others, those who are not in arms, and are not, according to your ideas, in rebellion, have no complaints or grievances; they are satisfied, and therefore it would be to no purpose to converse with them. To that his Lordship said, he would not accept the command or commission until he had full power to confer with any persons whom he should think proper, who had the most abilities and influence. But, having obtained these powers, he intended to have gone directly to Philadelphia, not to have treated with Congress as such, or to have acknowledged that body, but to have consulted with gentlemen of that body in their private capacities upon the subjects in his commission. His Lordship did not incline to give us any further account of his powers, or to make any other propositions to us, in one capacity or another, than those which are contained in substance in the foregoing lines.

I have the pleasure to assure you, that there was no disagreement in opinion among the members of the committee upon any one point. They were perfectly united in sentiment and in language, as they are in the result of the whole, which is, that his Lordship's powers are fully expressed in the late act of parliament, and that his commission contains no other authority than that of granting pardons, with such exceptions as the commissioners shall think proper to make, and of declaring America, or any part of it, to be at peace, upon submission, and of inquiring into the state of America of any persons with whom they might think proper to confer, advise, converse, and consult, even although they should be officers of the army or members of Congress, and then representing the result of their inquiries to the ministry, who, after all, might or might not, at their pleasure, make any alterations in the former instructions to governors, or propose, in parliament, any alterations in the acts complained of.

The whole affair of the commission appears to me, as it ever did, to be a bubble, an ambuscade, a mere insidious manoeuvre, calculated only to decoy and deceive, and it is so gross, that they must have a wretched opinion of our generalship to suppose that we can fall into it.

The committee assured his Lordship, that they had no authority to wait upon him, or to treat or converse with him, in any other character but that of a committee of Congress, and as members of independent States; that the vote which was their commission, clearly ascertained their character; that the declaration which had been made of independence, was the result of long and cool deliberation; that it was made by Congress, after long and great reluctance, in obedience to the positive instructions of their constituents, every Assembly upon the continent

having instructed their delegates to this purpose, and since the declaration has been made and published, it has been solemnly ratified and confirmed by the Assemblies, so that neither this committee nor that Congress which sent it here, have authority to treat in any other character than as independent States. One of the committee, Dr. Franklin, assured his Lordship that, in his private opinion, America would not again come under the domination of Great Britain, and therefore that it was the duty of every good man, on both sides of the water, to promote peace, and an acknowledgment of American independency, and a treaty of friendship and alliance between the two countries. Another of the committee, Mr. J. A., assured his Lordship, that, in his private opinion, America would never treat in any other character than as independent States. The other member, Mr. Rutledge, concurred in the same opinion. His Lordship said he had no powers nor instructions upon that subject; it was entirely new. Mr. Rutledge observed to his Lordship that most of the colonies had submitted for two years to live without governments, and to all the inconveniences of anarchy, in hopes of reconciliation; but now they had instituted governments. Mr. J. A. observed that all the colonies had gone completely through a revolution; that they had taken all authority from the officers of the Crown, and had appointed officers of their own, which his Lordship might easily conceive had cost great struggles, and that they could not easily go back; and that Americans had too much understanding not to know that, after such a declaration as they had made, the government of Great Britain never would have any confidence in them, or could govern them again but by force of arms.2

2 The written report of the committee is in the Journals, Sept. 17. A verbal report had been made Sept. 13. See nos. 122, 125, 126, 128-131, ante. For the origin of the mission and comments thereon, see no. 102 et seq., ante. See also nos. 155, 252, post. In his Autobiography (Works, III. 75) Adams gives the following account of the conference with Lord Howe and the subsequent proceedings in Congress: "Monday, September 9...

"On this day Mr. Franklin, Mr. Edward Rutledge, and Mr. John Adams, proceeded on their journey to Lord Howe, on Staten Island, the two former in chairs, and the latter on horseback. The first night we lodged at an inn in New Brunswick. On the road, and at all the public houses, we saw such numbers of officers and soldiers, straggling and loitering, as gave me, at least, but a poor opinion of the discipline of our forces, and excited as much indignation as anxiety. Such thoughtless dissipation, at a time so critical, was not calculated to inspire very sanguine hopes, or give great courage to ambassadors. I was, nevertheless, determined that it should not dishearten me. I saw that we must, and had no doubt but we should, be chastised into order in time.

"There were a few circumstances which appear neither in the Journals of Congress, nor in my letters, which may be thought by some worth preserving. Lord Howe had sent over an officer as a hostage for our security. I said to Dr. Franklin, it would be childish in us to depend upon such a pledge, and insisted on taking him over with us, and keeping our surety on the same side of the water with us. My colleagues exulted in the proposition, and agreed to it instantly. We told the officer, if he held himself under our direction, he must go back with us. He bowed assent, and we all embarked in his lordship's barge. As we approached the shore, his lordship, observing us, came down to the water's edge to receive us, and, looking at the officer, he said, 'Gentlemen, you make me a very high compliment, and you may depend upon it, I will consider it as the most sacred of things.' We walked up to the house between lines of guards of grenadiers, looking fierce as ten Furies, and making all the grimaces, and gestures, and motions of their muskets, with bayonets fixed, which, I suppose, military etiquette requires, but which we neither understood nor regarded.

The house had been the habitation of military guards, and was as dirty as a stable; but his lordship had prepared a large handsome room, by spreading a carpet of moss and

Sr

133. ROBERT TREAT PAINE TO PETER GRUBB.1

PHILADA. Septr. 18th. 1776.

. I mentioned to Congress your Inclination to have some of the Prisoners from Lancaster to work for you, but it was supposed the Committee of Lancaster would object to it. I hope you will make all Expedition in making the Cannon and getting them down, for they are much wanted. the Cannon must be proved with two shott or they will never be put on board the ships.

[Addressed :]

To Peter Grubb Esq.,2 at Cornwal Furnace

green sprigs, from bushes and shrubs in the neighborhood, till he had made it not only wholesome, but romantically elegant; and he entertained us with good claret, good bread, cold ham, tongues, and mutton.

"I will now proceed to relate the sequel of this conference: 1st, from the Journal of Congress; 2d, from the letters written to some of my friends at the time; 3d, a circumstance or two, which are not preserved in the Journals or letters.. [Extracts from the Journals, Sept. 13 and 17, including the committee's report, which is quoted at length, are here omitted.]

"Two or three circumstances, which are omitted in this report, and, indeed, not thought worth notice in any of my private letters, I afterwards found circulated in Europe, and oftener repeated than any other part of this whole transaction. Lord Howe was profuse in his expressions of gratitude to the state of Massachusetts, for erecting a marble monument, in Westminster Abbey, to his elder brother, Lord Howe, who was killed in America, in the last French war, saying, 'he esteemed that honor to his family above all things in this world. That such was his gratitude and affection to this country, on that account, that he felt for America as for a brother, and, if America should fall, he should feel and lament it like the loss of a brother.' Dr. Franklin, with an easy air, and a collected countenance, a bow, a smile, and all that naiveté, which sometimes appeared in his conversation, and is often observed in his writings, replied, My Lord, we will do our utmost endeavors to save your lordship that mortification.' His lordship appeared to feel this with more sensibility than I could expect; but he only returned, 'I suppose you will endeavor to give us employment in Europe.' To this observation, not a word, nor a look, from which he could draw any inference, escaped any of the committee.

"Another circumstance, of no more importance than the former, was so much celebrated in Europe, that it has often reminded me of the question of Phocion to his fellowcitizens, when something he had said in public was received with clamorous applause: 'Have I said any foolish thing?' When his lordship observed to us that he could not confer with us as members of Congress, or public characters, but only as private persons and British subjects, Mr. John Adams answered somewhat quickly, "Your lordship may consider me in what light you please, and, indeed, I should be willing to consider myself, for a few moments, in any character which would be agreeable to your lordship, except that of a British subject. His lordship, at these words, turned to Dr. Franklin and Mr. Rutledge, and said, 'Mr. Adams is a decided character', with so much gravity and solemnity, that I now believe it meant more than either of my colleagues, or myself, understood, at the time. In our report to Congress, we supposed that the commissioners, Lord and General Howe, had, by their commission, power to except from pardon all that they should think proper; but I was informed, in England, afterwards, that a number were expressly excepted, by name, from pardon, by the Privy Council, and that John Adams was one of them, and that this list of exceptions was given, as an instruction, to the two Howes, with their commission." For other accounts of this interview see Wharton, Rev. Dipl. Corr., II. 141-145; Almon's Remembrancer, VIII.; Barrow, Life of Howe, pp. 91-97; Sparks, Life of Franklin, I. 414, V. 97, VIII. 187. See also Bigelow, Life of Franklin, vol. II., ch. xI.; Writings of Franklin (ed. Smyth), VI. 457-466. [133] Library of J. Pierpont Morgan, Declaration of Independence (now in the Library of Congress).

2 Peter Grubb was colonel of the eighth battalion of Lancaster County militia and owner of the Cornwall iron furnace, located in Lancaster. See Harris, Biog. Hist. of Lancaster Co. Paine was a member of the cannon committee. See the Journals, Jan. 15.