94 APPENDIX TO BRITISH COUNTER CASE. 



such resolutions may be taken, and the necessary instructions given 

 in consequence thereof, as to their wisdom may seem fit. 

 Paris, 9th Aug 51 , 1782 



RICHARD OSWALD 

 To the Right Hon ble THOMAS TOWNSHEND, 



One of His Majestys Principal Secretaries of State. 



No. 5Q. 1782, August 13: Letter, Mr. Adams to Mr. Jay. 



THE HAGUE, August 13, 1782. 



DEAR SIR: The public papers announce Fitzherbert's commission 

 to be to treat with " the four powers at war with Great Britain." But 

 whether they mean-Hyder Ali or the Mahrattas is uncertain. I have 

 obtained intelligence of a paper addressed lately from the court of St. 

 James to the courts of Vienna and Petersburg, as well as that of 

 Paris, in which are the following words, namely: " Sa majeste britan- 

 nique dit qu'il ne prejuge, ni ne veut prejuger aucune question quel- 

 conque, et qu'il ne pretend exclure personne de la negotiation qu'on 

 a en vue, qui pourrait s'y croire interesse, soit qu'il soit question des 

 etats generaux, soit qu'on y veuille faire entrer les colonies ameri- 

 caines." You, perhaps, may have seen the whole; if you have I beg 

 a copy. 



For my own part, I am not the minister of any " fourth state " at 

 war with Great Britain, nor of any "American Colonies," and, there- 

 fore, I should think it out of character for us to have anything to say 

 with Fitzherbert or in the congress at Vienna until more decently and 

 consistently called to it. It is my duty to be explicit with you and to 

 tell you sincerely my sentiments. I think we ought not to treat at all 

 until we see a minister authorized to treat with " the United States 

 of America," or with their ministers. Our country will feel the mis- 

 erable consequence of a different conduct if we are betrayed into nego- 

 tiations, in or out of a congress, before this point is settled ; if gold 

 and diamonds and every insidious intrigue and wicked falsehood can 

 induce anybody to embarrass us and betray us into truces and bad 

 conditions, we may depend upon having them played off against us. 

 We are, and can be, no match for them at this game. We shall have 

 nothing to negotiate with but integrity, perspicuity, and firmness. 

 There is but one way to negotiate with Englishmen, that is clearly 

 and decidedly ; their fears only govern them. If we entertain an idea 

 of their generosity or benevolence towards us, we are undone. They 

 hate us universally, from the throne to the footstool, and would anni- 

 hilate us, if in their power, before they would treat with us in any 

 way. We must let them know that we are not to be moved from our 

 purpose, or all is undone. The pride and vanity of that nation is a 

 disease, it is a delirium ; it has been flattered and inflamed so long by 

 themselves and by others that it perverts everything. The moment 

 you depart one iota from your character and the distinct line of sov- 

 ereignty, they interpret it to spring from fear or love of them, and 

 from a aesire to go back. Fox saw we were aware of this and calcu- 

 lated his system accordingly. We must finally come to that idea and 

 so must Great Britain. The latter will soon come to it if we do not 

 flinch. If we discover the least weakness or wavering the blood and 



