172 APPENDIX TO BRITISH COUNTER CASE. 



November 27 Dined with Mr. Jay and spent some time 



before dinner with him and Dr. Franklin, and all the afternoon with 

 them and Mr. Oswald, endeavoring to come together concerning the 

 fisheries and the Tories. 



No. 108. 1782, November 28, 29: Extract from Mr. Adams' Diary. 



November 28. This morning I have drawn up the following 

 project : 



ARTICLE III. That the subjects of his Britannic majesty, and the people of 

 the said United States, shall continue to enjoy, unmolested, the right to take 

 fish of every kind, on the grand bank, and on all the other banks of Newfound- 

 land ; also in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and in all other places, where the in- 

 habitants of both countries used at any time heretofore to fish; and the citi- 

 zens of the said United States shall have the liberty to cure and dry their fish on 

 the shores of Cape Sables, and of any of the unsettled bays, harbors, or creeks 

 of Nova Scotia, or any of the shores of the Magdalen Islands and of the Lab- 

 rador coast. And they shall be permitted, in time of peace, to hire pieces of 

 land, for terms of years, of the legal proprietors, in any of the dominions of his 

 said majesty, whereon to erect the necessary stages and buildings, and to cure 

 and dry their fish. 



November 29. Met Mr. Fitzherbert, Mr. Oswald, Mr. Franklin, 

 Mr. Jay, Mr. Laurens, and Mr. Strachey, at Mr. Jay's, Hotel d^Or- 

 leans, and spent the whole day in discussions about the fishery and 

 the Tories. I proposed a new article concerning the fishery ; it was 

 discussed and turned in every light, and multitudes of amendments 

 proposed on each side, and, at last, the article drawn as it was finally 



agreed to. 



104 The other English gentlemen being withdrawn upon some 

 occasion, I asked Mr. Oswald if he could not consent to leave 

 out the limitation of three leagues from all their shores, and the 

 fifteen leagues from those of Louisbourg. 



He said, in his own opinion, he was for it; but his instructions 

 were such that he could not do it. I perceived by this, and by sev- 

 eral incidents and little circumstances before, which I had remarked 

 to my colleagues, who were much of the same opinion, that Mr. 

 Oswald had an instruction not 4o settle the articles of the fishery 

 and refugees without the concurrence of Mr. Fitzherbert and Mr. 

 Strachey. 



Upon the return of the other gentleman, Mr. Strachey proposed 

 to leave out the word right of fishing and make it liberty. Mr. 

 Fitzherbert said the word right was an obnoxious expression. Upon 

 this I rose up and said, gentlemen, is there or can there be a clearer 

 right? In former treaties, that of Utrecht, and that of Paris, 

 France, and England have claimed the right, and used the word. 

 When God Almighty made the Banks of Newfoundland at three 

 hundred leagues distance from the people of America, and at six 

 hundred leagues distance from those of France and England, did 

 He not give as good right to the former as to the latter? If Heaven, 

 in the creation, gave a right, it is ours at least as much as yours. If 

 occupation, use, and possession give a right, we have it as clearly as 

 you. If war and blood and treasure give a right, ours is as good as 

 yours. 



We have been constantly fighting in Canada, Cape Breton, and 

 Nova Scotia, for the defence of this fishery, and have expended 



