King's goodness towards us, in giving so long a term for payment, and forgiving the first year's interest. I hope the ravings of a certain mischievous madman here against France and its ministers, which I hear of every day, will not be regarded in America, so as to diminish in the least the happy union that has hitherto subsisted between the two nations, and which is indeed the solid foundation of our present importance in Europe. With great esteem, I am ever, dear Sir, B. FRANKLIN.

&c.

SIR,

TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

Paris, 7 March, 1783.

1

I but this moment hear of this opportunity, by which I can only send you a line to acquaint you, that I have concluded the treaty with Sweden, which was signed on Wednesday last. You will have a copy by the first good opportunity. It differs very little from the plan sent me; in nothing material.* The English court is in confusion by another change of ministry, Lord Shelburne and his friends having resigned; but it is not yet certainly known who will succeed, though Lord North and Mr. Fox are talked of as two, they being reconciled! I cannot add, but that I am, with great esteem, Sir, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

P. S. The change in the ministry is not supposed of any importance respecting our definitive treaty, which must conform to the preliminaries; but we shall see.

* This treaty is printed in the public Journals of Congress, Vol. IV. p. 241, under the date of July 29th, 1783.

FROM DAVID HARTLEY TO B. FRANKLIN.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

London, 12 March, 1783.

It is a long while since I have heard from you, or indeed since I wrote to you. I heartily congratulate you on those pacific events, which have already happened, and I wish to see all other final steps of conciliation succeed speedily. I send you copies of two papers, which I have already communicated to Mr. Laurens; the one called Conciliatory Propositions, in March, 1783; the other, A Sketch of a Provisional Treaty of Commerce, for opening the Ports between Great Britain and the United States of America without Delay; to each of which is prefixed a short state of the argument on each head.*

As for the news of this country, you have doubtless heard, that Lord Shelburne's administration has for some time been considered as at an end; although no other has been as yet substituted in the place of it. It was understood yesterday, and I believe with good foundation, that what is now called the Portland party have been applied to, and they are now considered as the party most likely to succeed. As far as my wishes go, such an event would be most satisfactory to me. I have known the Duke of Portland for many years; and by experience I know him to be a nobleman of the strictest honor, and of the soundest whig principles, sincere and explicit in every thought and transaction, manly in his judgment, and firm in his conduct. The kingdom of Ireland, of which he was lately Lord Lieutenant, bears unanimous testimony to

* See these papers in the Diplomatic Correspondence, Vol. IV. pp. 78, 80.

this character of him. The Cavendish family (a good whig name), Mr. Fox, Lord Fitzwilliam, &c. &c. form the core of his system and connexions. I most earnestly wish to see a firm administration upon a whig foundation, which I should consider as a solid basis, on the part of this country, for a perpetual correspondence of amity and conciliation with America. I am very anxious to hear of your health. God bless you. Ever your most affectionate

D. HARTLEY.

TO THE EARL OF BUCHAN.

Lands and new Settlements in America.

MY LORD,

Passy, 17 March, 1783.

I received the letter your Lordship did me the honor of writing to me, and am obliged by your kind congratulations on the return of peace, which I hope will be lasting.

With regard to the terms on which lands may be acquired in America, and the manner of beginning new settlements on them, I cannot give better information than may be found in a book lately printed in London, under some such title as Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer, by Hector St. John. The only encouragements we hold out to strangers are, a good climate, fertile soil, wholesome air and water, plenty of provisions and fuel, good pay for labor, kind neighbours, good laws, liberty, and a hearty welcome; the rest depends on a man's own industry and virtue. Lands are cheap, but they must be bought. All settlements are undertaken at private expense; the public contributes nothing but defence and justice. I should not,

however, expect much emigration from a country so much drained of men as yours* must have been by the late war; since the more that have left it, the more room and the more encouragement remain for those who stayed at home. But this you can best judge of; and I have long observed of your people, that their sobriety, frugality, industry, and honesty seldom fail of success in America, and of procuring them a good establishment among us.

I do not recollect the circumstance you are pleased to mention, of my having saved a citizen of St. Andrew's, by giving a turn to his disorder; and I am curious to know what the disorder was, and what the advice I gave which proved so salutary.† With great regard, I have the honor to be, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

TO JONATHAN SHIPLEY.

On the Peace with America.

Passy, 17 March, 1783.

I received with great pleasure my dear and respected friend's letter of the 5th instant, as it informed me of the welfare of a family I so much esteem and love.

The clamor against the peace in your Parliament would alarm me for its duration, if I were not of opinion with you, that the attack is rather against the minister. I am confident, none of the opposition would

* Scotland.

It was a fever in which the Earl of Buchan, then Lord Cadross, lay sick at St. Andrew's; and the advice was, not to blister, according to the old practice and the opinion of the learned Dr. Simson, brother of the celebrated geometrician at Glasgow. — W. T. F.

have made a better peace for England, if they had been in his place; at least, I am sure that Lord Stormont, who seems loudest in railing at it, is not the man that could have mended it. My reasons I will give you, when I have, what I hope to have, the great happiness of seeing you once more, and conversing with you.

They talk much of there being no reciprocity in our treaty. They think nothing, then, of our passing over in silence the atrocities committed by their troops, and demanding no satisfaction for their wanton burnings and devastations of our fair towns and countries. They have heretofore confessed the war to be unjust, and nothing is plainer in reasoning than that the mischiefs done in an unjust war should be repaired. Can Englishmen be so partial to themselves, as to imagine they have a right to plunder and destroy as much as they please, and then, without satisfying for the injuries they have done, to have peace on equal terms? We were favorable, and did not demand what justice entitled us to. We shall probably be blamed for it by our constituents; and I still think it would be the interest of England voluntarily to offer reparation of those injuries, and effect it as much as may be in her power. But this is an interest she will never see.

Let us now forgive and forget. Let each country seek its advancement in its own internal advantages of arts and agriculture, not in retarding or preventing the prosperity of the other. America will, with God's blessing, become a great and happy country; and England, if she has at length gained wisdom, will have gained something more valuable, and more essential to her prosperity, than all she has lost; and will still be a great and respectable nation. Her great disease at present is the number and enormous salaries and