lives, from the port the court and the people about it maintains, and above all, from its sitting in different parts of the kingdom, that to live in the same style with Dr. Franklin, his expenses must amount to nearly the double of theirs. But as every conjecture of this kind must be very uncertain, all I can do is to lay before Congress the relative expense, as far as I can learn it, between the different places at which the ministers reside, taking Philadelphia for a standard. Paris, if wine, clothing, and wages of servants are included, is about twenty per cent. cheaper than Philadelphia; Amsterdam, ten; and at Madrid the expenses of a family are somewhat higher than at this place. But from the unsettled state of those who follow the court, their traveling equipage and charges must greatly enhance this expense. Congress will make their own deductions from these facts, after allowing for their inaccuracy." 1

It may be said to the credit of the Congress, that though it concerned itself with these petty details, it made liberal allowances to its diplomatic representatives abroad, considering the poverty of its treasury and the large demands upon it for the conduct of the war. The

annual allowances to Dr. Franklin and Messrs. Adams and Jay were over $11,000 each a more liberal sum than is granted to our representatives at those capitals to-day, if the relative cost of living is taken into consideration.

The Declaration of Independence was not only a challenge to Great Britain; it was the assertion by the colonies of their right to an independent place among

1 3 Secret Journals, 128.

to

the nations of the earth, and an appeal to the nations to recognize the justice of that claim. It opened up Congress a new duty, and another field of effort besides the contest of arms in which the Colonies had engaged with the mother country- the new relation which they were to sustain towards the governments of Europe. Two views of our foreign intercourse were entertained: the one, that we should not send ministers to foreign courts until some assurance was obtained that they would be received; and the other, that for the attainment of our independence we should seek good relations, if not alliances, with the nations unfriendly to England. These opposing views were well expressed in Congress by Franklin and Adams. Said Franklin: "A virgin state should preserve the virgin character, and not go abroad suitoring for alliances; but wait with decent dignity for the application of others." "I think," said John Adams," we have not meanly solicited for friendships anywhere. But to send ministers to any great court in Europe, especially the maritime courts, to propose an acknowledgment of the independence of America and treaties of amity and commerce, is no more than becomes us, and in my opinion is our duty to do."1 The latter view so harmonized with the necessities of the situation that it was readily adopted by Congress.

The first representative sent abroad went in strange contrast with our diplomats of later days. Information had been received through friends of Dr. Franklin that France was inclined to render the cause aid in a surreptitious manner, but that it could not appear publicly as 1 Trescot's Diplomacy of the Revolution, 16, 17.

our friend. Congress thereupon decided to send to Paris an authorized agent. Silas Deane, a member of that body from Connecticut, has the distinction of being the first named American diplomat. His mission was to ascertain the disposition of the French government, and to obtain much needed material and supplies for the army. His letter of instructions, prepared by the Committee on Secret Correspondence, is an interesting document. It is dated March 3, 1776, and bears the distinguished signatures of Franklin, Benjamin Harrison, Dickinson, Robert Morris, and John Jay. It sets forth the character he is to assume, of a merchant engaged in the West Indian trade, furnishes him the names of various friends of America he is to put himself in contact with, describes the military supplies most needed, how he is to conduct himself towards the French government if he can secure audience with Count de Vergennes, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and does not omit such details as to how he can secure the best" opportunity of acquiring Parisian French."1

A curious statement as to the knowledge possessed by the American envoys in Europe of the language and methods of diplomacy is found in a letter of John Adams three years later. In transmitting his accounts to the Treasury Board, he says: "I found myself in France ill-versed in the language, the literature, the science, the laws, customs, and manners of that country, and had the mortification to find my colleagues very little better informed than myself, vain as this may He thereupon incloses an account for "a large

seem."

1 2 Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Wharton's edition, 78.

1

collection of books. calculated to qualify one for conversation and for business, especially the science of negotiation." Mr. Deane is said to have acquired a sufficient knowledge of French for conversation only. Dr. Franklin spoke the language imperfectly, and was able to write bad French."

Deane's departure from the United States was made secretly; he traveled under the assumed name of " Timothy Jones" and in the character of a merchant, and, it is said, carried with him a supply of invisible ink with which to write his reports. His presence and real character were soon discovered by the vigilant British ambassador, and his expulsion from France was demanded, but refused.

He reached France in the summer of 1776, and found the cause of the Revolution in a fair way to receive very substantial aid. Dr. Duborg, the friend and correspondent of Franklin, had been untiring in his efforts, and had secured from the royal arsenals, in a mysterious way, some fifteen thousand stand of arms, and could have obtained brass cannon by the same method, he writes, but "for the circumstance of their bearing the king's arms and cipher, which made them too discoverable."

Among the most important of the early friends of the colonies was Caron de Beaumarchais, an exceptionally unique and fantastic character of the last half of the eighteenth century. He was of lowly origin, by occupation a watchmaker; he developed great talents in business and purchased an office which gave him a certain standing with the nobility; in early years he

1 Ib. 327.

showed marked taste for music, which was cultivated in his education, and he became one of the first operatic composers and authors of his day; his personal beauty and grace of manner won him a favorable marriage, but the early and sudden death of his wife raised against him the charge of poisoning, which he refuted, only to be renewed on his second marriage with a rich widow and her early demise. He was a daring speculator and at various periods was the possessor of a fortune; his musical talent, his reputation as an author, his boldness of character and chivalrous address made him a great favorite in the court and political circles of Louis XV. and Louis XVI. At the outbreak of the Revolution he conceived the design of becoming the secret agent of the French government in furnishing material aid to the revolted colonies of the traditional enemy of France. He made journeys to London, where he met Arthur Lee, of Virginia, a young barrister, who had succeeded Franklin as agent for the colony of Massachusetts, and had enlisted Lee in his scheme. How far he had progressed with the French government may in part be seen by the following letter of Count de Vergennes, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, addressed to the king, with the early date of May 2, 1776, two months before the arrival of Deane, which also illustrates the view which the French government entertained of its duty as a neutral:

"SIRE: I have the honor of laying at the feet of your Majesty the writing authorizing me to furnish a million of livres for the service of the English colonies. I add also the plan of an answer I propose to make to