country, half under Spanish and half under an American protectorate; and all north and west of the Ohio to be retained by Great Britain; thus confining the Colonies to the strip between the Atlantic and the Alleghanies. Second, an intercepted letter of Marbois, secretary of the French legation in Philadelphia, was put by the British into Jay's hands, showing surprise at and disapproval of the claims of the Colonies as to the territory and the fisheries, and that France would not support them. Third, the sudden departure for London of Rayneval, under an assumed name, to influence (as Jay supposed) the British cabinet on these points. Jay, being advised of Rayneval's departure, procured the dispatch of Vaughan, private secretary to Lord Shelburne, to London, to counteract his representations to the British cabinet. This action was taken without consultation with Franklin. It was a bold step. Only Jay's success in the negotiations saved him from dis

grace.

Jay, in writing to Livingston, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Congress, said: "It would have relieved me from much anxiety and uneasiness to have concerted all these steps with Dr. Franklin; but in conversing with him about M. Rayneval's journey, he did not concur with me in sentiment respecting the object of it, but appeared to me to have great confidence in this court and to be much embarrassed and constrained by our instructions. Facts and future events must determine which of us is mistaken. Let us be honest and grateful to France, but let us think for ourselves."

1 Ib. 32.

1

The impressions of Mr. Jay on the last two points, it is now known, were not entirely well founded. The letter of Marbois which was captured by the British was in cipher. The original was not shown to Jay, but only a copy deciphered by the British. In transmitting this copy to Congress Mr. Jay wrote: "The original in French I have not seen. . . . I am not at liberty to mention the manner in which this paper came to my hands." It is well known that the British were in the habit both of making false translations or decipherings and of forging documents. Marbois denied the authenticity of the letter, and Vergennes protested that it did not correctly represent the views of the king. The archives of the French and British governments show that Rayneval's visit to London had relation to the negotiations of Fitzherbert, the British ambassador, with Vergennes as to the terms of peace between England, France, and Spain. Years after Mr. Vaughan wrote: "Mr. Jay gave me two businesses, one to get a new commission for Mr. Oswald, which I obtained in an instant, and the other to counteract Mr. de R., which I found utterly needless." When the conduct of the commissioners in these negotiations was being discussed in Congress, Hamilton, the personal and political friend of Jay, said of him, "that although he was a man of profound sagacity and pure intentions, yet he was of a suspicious temper."

The result of the hasty visit of Rayneval and Vaughan to London was a new commission to Oswald in terms required by Jay, and instructions to hasten 15 Ib. 740. For a copy of the letter, see Ib. 238.

independent negotiations with the American commissioners. We have here the strange spectacle of the Colonies joining with their enemy, the mother country, to circumvent the scheme of their own allies. That which was most influential in bringing about this curious combination was the subject of the boundaries. France was favoring the possession by Spain of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, and Vergennes expected that the Colonies would be confined to the Atlantic seaboard. Shelburne, on the other hand, preferred to have the Colonies as neighbors of Canada in the lake region rather than the Spaniard. To meet the wishes of the American negotiators by carrying the boundary to the Mississippi was in harmony with the policy which he recommended to the British negotiator, to so act as "to regain the affections of America." When he gave authority to Oswald to yield to the demands of our commissioners as to the vast domain west of the Alleghany Mountains, he could well say to Oswald: "We have put the greatest confidence, I believe, ever placed in man in the American commissioners. It is now to be seen how far they or America are to be depended upon. I hope the public will be the gainer, else our heads must answer for it, and deservedly."

In the midst of these suspicions and differences between Jay and Franklin, Adams arrived fresh from his successful negotiation with Holland. Learning of the situation, he declared himself fully in accord with Jay. Adams had an interview with Franklin, in which he indorsed all Jay's acts and views, and records: "The 1 3 Life of Shelburne, 285.

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doctor heard me patiently, but said nothing." In the next conference with Oswald, Franklin turned tɔ Mr. Jay and said: "I am of your opinion, and will go on with these gentlemen in the business without consulting this court." The following is an anecdote of the period. Dr. Franklin, one day sitting, during the discussion of the question of instructions, in Mr. Jay's room, said: "Will you break your instructions?" Yes," replied Mr. Jay, who was smoking a pipe, "as I break this pipe,” and he threw the fragments into the fire. Adams, after the negotiations were concluded, wrote: "He (Franklin) has gone on with us in entire harmony and unanimity throughout, and has been able and useful, both by his sagacity and his reputation, in the whole negotiation." It is greatly to Franklin's credit that he did not allow a matter which he regarded as of secondary importance to interfere with the cordiality of his coöperation with his colleagues.

While these negotiations were going on with Oswald, the British ambassador, Fitzherbert, was conducting negotiations with Vergennes and the Spanish ambassador, and between the two sets of negotiators there seems to have been no consultation or concert of action. Of the Anglo-French negotiations, Adams writes, they "are kept secret not only from us, but from the Dutch ministers, and we hear nothing about Spain." "

In the negotiations with Oswald, on the American side, three points were of supreme importance, (1) the boundary to the Mississippi, (2) the free navigation of the Mississippi, and (3) the right to the fisheries off 2 Ib. 85 Dip. Cor. Rev. 857.

13 J. Adams's Works, 336.

the northeast Atlantic coast. On the side of the British two points were held to be essential, (1) American independence must be complete and free from France, and (2) British debts must be secured and the loyalists restored to their rights.

On the northeast boundary the British at first demanded the whole of Maine, then to the Penobscot River; but the St. Croix River was finally decided upon. As to the northern boundary, two lines were proposed the one through the Great Lakes to the source of the Mississippi; and the other, an alternate line offered by the Americans along the 45° of latitude. The former was ultimately accepted.

The Mississippi, the source of which was then supposed to be in British territory, it was agreed should be forever open to both countries. This provision subsequently became abrogated by the acquisition of Louisiana from France.

The fishery discussion was long and difficult, but resulted successfully for the United States, as the American fishermen were admitted on equal terms to Canadian waters. The debts due British subjects were to be paid, and Congress was to recommend the States to restore confiscated estates of loyalists, but it was given to be understood that the recommendation could not be carried out.

The treaty was signed on November 30, 1782, Henry Laurens, who arrived from London only two days before, joining with Adams, Franklin, and Jay in its execution. It is said that on this occasion Franklin, for the second time in France, donned the "spotted velvet