part which the Continental Congress played in the negotiation of all the treaties, from that with France of 1778 up to the adoption of the Constitution. There being no distinct executive head of the government, Congress took the part of the executive in initiating and directing the negotiations. The terms of all treaties to be made were discussed in their details, and in almost all cases the draft or plan was first adopted by Congress, before being sent to our ministers abroad for negotiation with the other contracting party. Mention has already been made of the advanced stage of international law assumed by American statesmen as indicated in the French treaty of commerce of 1778, and the same characteristic marks all the other commercial treaties greater guarantees and privileges to commerce, the recognition of a genuine neutrality, an effort to alleviate the horrors of war, and a restraint upon its destructive propensities. That the old nations of Europe were willing at the instance of this infant republic to consecrate these advanced principles in treaties was high praise for the statesmen of our Revolutionary period. Nor is all the credit to be given to our representatives abroad, Franklin, Adams, Jay, and Jefferson. A share of the praise is due likewise to the controlling members of the Continental Congress.

The treaty with Prussia was Franklin's last diplomatic work, as he was relieved by Jefferson as minister to France, and returned to his native land full of years and of honor. Adams, meanwhile, had been appointed minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain, and had already assumed the duties of his new post. I have

referred to Adams's mortification at the action of Congress in taking from him the sole power to negotiate the treaty of peace with Great Britain. After the treaty was signed he sought the appointment of minister to England as a personal vindication. In this connection an extract is given from a letter of Mr. Jay, from Paris, to the president of Congress: "It cannot, in my opinion, be long before Congress will think it expedient to name a minister to the court of London. Perhaps my friends may wish to add my name to the number of candidates. If that should be the case, I request the favor of you to declare in the most explicit terms that I view the expectations of Mr. Adams on that head as founded in equity and reason, and that I will not, by any means, stand in his way. Were I in Congress I should vote for him. He deserves well of his country, and is very able to serve her. It appears to me to be but fair, that the disagreeable conclusions, which may be drawn from the abrupt repeal of his former commission, should be obviated, by its being restored to him."1

Adams's reception by George III. was private, but we have this incident. The king in the interview referred to Adams's well-known want of confidence in the French ministry, to which Adams replied with some spirit: must avow to your majesty that I have no attachment but to my own country." Although in the audience George III. conducted himself with kingly courtesy, Adams's residence at his court was full of embarrassment and ill-treatment. The British government raised 16 Dip. Cor. Rev. 457.

all kinds of difficulty as to the observance of the treaty of peace, and Adams was received with much coldness in political and court circles, with few exceptions. Added to these troubles, Congress saw fit to reduce his salary, and he determined no longer to endure his intolerable relations. After a three years' stay he returned to America. In quitting England, Mrs. Adams writes: "Some years hence it may be a pleasure to reside here in the character of American minister, but with the present salary and the present temper of the English, no one need envy the embassy."

Mr. Jay, as Secretary for Foreign Affairs, made a favorable report to Congress upon Mr. Adams's mission; but with great difficulty Congress was induced to approve his course, a feeling being prevalent that he might have managed matters with more skill and discretion. This closed the services of Mr. Adams as a diplomatist. That they terminated in failure cannot be attributed to him, as no one could have brought the British government to a compliance with the just demands of the United States at that time. Although his temperament was not suited to diplomacy, Mr. Adams's services in Europe cannot be too highly estimated. Lacking the qualities which made Franklin so successful, no man of his day had a clearer conception of the significance of American independence or of the great future reserved for his country, and none of our foreign representatives was so earnest in impressing these ideas upon the public men of Europe.

Mr. Jay, after the treaty of peace, spent a short time in England, and then returned to America, fully expect

ing to retire from public life and resume the practice of the law. Adams wrote: "Our worthy friend, Mr. Jay, returns to his country like a bee to his hive, with both legs loaded with merit and honor;" and such was the judgment of his countrymen. He was disappointed in his expectations, as he learned on landing that some months before Congress had selected him Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Livingston having resigned. The latter had acted as Secretary of Foreign Affairs since 1781, during an important period in the diplomatic affairs of the country. He labored under great embarrassments, having no power of independent action, having in all matters to take the views of Congress and be governed by its direction. His papers show a high order of talent, and he was a valuable public servant.

No man in the country was so well fitted for the post of secretary as Mr. Jay. Young, industrious, and able, his residence abroad had made him thoroughly informed on European affairs, and his personal acquaintance with our diplomatic representatives made communication between them much more satisfactory. He found the office inadequately equipped, and only enlarged as to its force since its organization by the addition of one clerk, this being done, as the report states, to enable "one of them to be in the office while the other is absent at dinner." From the same report1 we learn that the office quarters of the department consisted of "only two rooms, one of them being used as a parlor, and the other for the workshop." He soon brought order out of confusion, and the secretaryship 1 The Department of State, 42.

became the first office in importance under the Confederation. In 1786 the French representative wrote: "The political importance of Mr. Jay increases daily. Congress seems to me to be guided only by his direction."

Soon after assuming the office, the arrival of a Spanish minister added increased cares, as he came to settle the controversy about the navigation of the Mississippi and to arrange a commercial treaty; but the long and weary negotiations came to naught, and the vexed question was transmitted as a legacy to the Constitutional Government. He had many other questions on his hands, such as the establishment of commercial reciprocity with France, the Algerine pirates, the complaints as to the non-observance of the treaty by Great Britain, the Beaumarchais and other Revolutionary claims. A secret act of Congress, taken at Jay's suggestion, is of singular interest at this day, authorizing the Secretary for Foreign Affairs to exercise supervision of the mails, and in his discretion to open letters in the post office; but it is said that Mr. Jay never exercised the power. The explanation of the act is that it was the common practice in European governments. I have already noticed the expedients resorted to during our Revolutionary war to prevent the correspondence of our diplo matic agents abroad being tampered with. An English author on diplomatic topics, writing after the middle of the present century, states that the correspondence of ambassadors was even at that date systematically intercepted and opened in many countries.1

1 Murray's Embassies, 137.