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gotlatinn. And in the npfrntiatioii you nre to cxort yonr most strenuous 

 endeavors to obtain a nearer distance in the (Julf of !*^t. Lawrence, 

 and particularly aloiiu: (he shores of Nova Scotia; as to which hitter, 

 we are desirous that even the shores may t)e occasionally used tor the 

 purpose of carrying on the fisheries by the inhabitants of" these States." 

 These instructions — t<>diously minute and cncumliered with repeti- 

 tions — embod}', as will i)e seen, the substance of Mr. Gerry's resolu- 

 tions, with this essential dill'crence — that the right to visit and freely 

 use the fishing grounds wtis to be made an ullimatum to a treaty of 

 commerce instead of a treaty of peace. Strangely enough, these in- 

 structions were revoked by Congress in July, 1781, though adopted 

 after mature deliberation and in the spirit of concession. Whatever 

 the motive of Congi-ess, it was not communicated to Mr. Adams by 

 that body, or by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, or by any individual 

 member. Of this he complains with some asperity. In a letter to 

 Robert R. Livingston he states the fict just mentioned, and remarks, 

 that whether the act of neglect "was intended as a punishment to me, 

 or with a charitable design not to lead me into temptation; whether it 

 was intended as a punishment to the English for their insolence and 

 barbarity; whether it was intended to prevent or remove suspicions of 

 allies, or theenvij avd srexn jealousy of co-jwtriofs, I know not." That, 

 then, we finally secured the rights in question, was owing to the zeal 

 of Mr. x\dams and his associate commissioners, and not to the firmness 

 or good faith of Congress. 



Meantime, a number of pamphlets, written by loyalists of distinction 

 and devoted to American affairs, were pubhshed in London. In one 

 of these it is said that "with the independence of America" Great 

 Britciin "must give up her fisheries on the Bank of Newfoundland, and 

 in the American seas," and "thirty-five tliousand American seamen, 

 with twenty-eight thousand more, bred and maintained in these ex- 

 cellent nurseries;" that, furthermore, "the valuable trade carried on 

 from thence with the Catholic States will be in the hands of America;" 

 that "these nurseries and this trade will ever remain the natural right 

 of the people who inhabit thai country;" and that "a trade so profit- 

 able, and a nursery of seamen so excellent and so necessary for the 

 support of her naval force, will never be given up, or divided by 

 America with any power whatsoever." Meantime, loo, the cele- 

 brated Dean of Gloucester submitted proposals " to the English, 

 Americans, French, and Spaniards, now at war," on the subjivt of 

 their difh-rences, suggesting, u[)on the subject beflire us, that "(ireat 

 Britain shall retain Nevvflmndland, with the desert coasts of Labrador;^ 

 also Canada, Nova Scotia, and the country bordering oji the Bay of 

 Fundy," westerly, "as i'ur as the bay and river of Penobscot." 



Mr. Adinnsw^as ap})ointed sole eommissidiK r to negotiate with Great 

 Britain, and ciiicrcd ;il(im' upon ihc arduous (hities intrusted 1" hiui, 

 Messrs. Franklin, .);iv, mid Liiuiciis were, howcxcr, subsc(|ucii!ly dc.-ig- 

 nated joint comuiissioiiiTs, and in dm' t nin' jniiicd liini in l''raMci-. hi 

 1782, a. letter of I'.arbe de Miirlxiis, ihc French ehargt' (r;ill;iires in the 

 United States, addressed to Coiuit de N'ergennes, the l'rinii|);d Minister 

 of State, was intrrceplrd. 'J'hr contculs of this letter caused great 

 uJicasiness. Marbois represented that Samuel Adams was stirring up 



