224 



to distant and inclement countries, to the East Indies or to 

 any other parts of Asia or Africa, nor confined in dangerous 

 prison-ships or prisons, nor put into irons, nor bound, nor 

 otherwise restrained in the use of their limbs. Both officers 

 and common soldiers shall be furnished with daily rations 

 equal in quality and quantity to the rations given to 

 soldiers and officers of the same rank in the army of the cap- 

 tors ; and their quarters and barracks shall be not less roomy 

 and comfortable than those enjoyed by the troops of the party 

 in whose power they are. 



Still further to invest these new improvements in interna- 

 tional jurisprudence with all possible sanctity, the following 

 clear statement is made, every line of which bears the marks 

 of Dr. Franklin's clear and judicious pen : " And it is declared, 

 that neither the pretense that war dissolves all treaties, nor 

 any other whatever, shall be considered as annulling or sus- 

 pending this and the next preceding article ; but, on the con- 

 trary, that the state of war is precisely that for which they are 

 provided, and during which they are to be as sacredly observed 

 as the most acknowledged articles in the law of nature or 

 nations."* 



This was an appropriate ending of Dr. Franklin's diplomatic 

 services, a real gain for humanity achieved by a philosopher 

 in whose eyes no acquisition, either of his own or of others, 

 was so precious as that by means of which the common store 

 of comfort and happiness was enhanced. Again it had been 

 the great fame of the founder of this Society that insured him 

 success in the field of international negotiation. For with 

 such a man the States and monarchs of the Old World deemed 

 it an honor to treat. The ambassador of Gustavus III, of 

 Sweden, was not only directed to make advances for a treaty 



* Treaties and Conventions, 906. 



