1S3 



the public archives is wanting to show that DeMarbois "^sfilqsed Jthe 

 real wishes of bis goverppient;," that Mr. Fitzherbert wAs justified in 

 his declarations to Mr. Adams; or thftt M. Rayneval uttered the senti- 

 ments of his principal. Yet our commissioners, embarrassed on every 

 hand, were driven to the expedient of disobeying the directions of Con- 

 gress, as to concluding peace without the consent of their ally, and of 

 proceeding upon their own responsibility. The relative merits of these 

 distinguished men, in securing the rights in question, has been a matter 

 of some discussion; and Frankhn has been charged openly and fre- 

 quently with criminal lukewarmness. Mr. Jay, expressly and by letter, 

 relieves the philosopher from this imputation, and coinmends his zeal; 

 and I am satisfied that whoever examines the facts of the case will find 

 no ground for the accusation. All did their duty, and the whole of it. 

 And yet, upon Mr. Adams, as a resident of Massachusetts, and as better 

 acquainted with the importance of t^e fisheries than his associates, the 

 principal labor of meeting the JBritish arguments appears to have de- 

 volved. I can in truth imagine no bolder line of conduct than he 

 adopted; and to condense his principal observations, as preserved by 

 himself in his journal, will be sufficient to show the difficulties that 

 were actually overcome during the negotiations. 



In noting a conference with the British commissioners, he says that 

 "the affair of the ifishery was somewhat altered. They could not 

 admit us to dry on the shores of Nova Scotia, nor to fish within three 

 leagues of the coast of Cape Breton. I could not help observing that 

 these ideas appeared to me to come piping-hot from Versailles." 



On another occasion, and when a " whole day had been spent in dis- 

 cussions about the fishery and the tories," and in reply to a proposition 

 from the opposing mission, to leave out of the treaty the word "right," 

 and insert, instead thereof, the tei:m ^'liberty," he rose, and in the direct 

 and vehement manner which characterized him through life, thus spoke: 

 " Gentlemen, is there, or can there be, a clearer light ? In former treaties, 

 that of Utrecht and that of Paris, France and England have cMmedthe 

 right, and used the wo}-d. When God Almighty made the Banks of New- 

 foundland at three hundred leagues distsance from the people of America, 

 and six hundred leagues from those of France and England, did he not 

 give as good a right to the former as to the latter ? If Heaven in the crea- 

 tion 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, arid blood, 

 and treasure, gioe a right, ours is as good as yours. fFc," continued he, in 

 the same eloquent strain, "have constantly been fighting in Canada, Cape 

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

 beyond all proportion, more than you. If, then, the right cannot be denied^ 

 why should it not be acknowledged and put- out of dispute? "Why 

 should we leave room for illiterate fishermen to Wrangle and chicane?" 



Mr. Fitzherbert, a member of ^he British commission, confessed that 

 the reasons of Mr. Adams were good. "The argument," said he, "is 

 in your favor; but Oswald's instructions are such, that I do not see 

 how he can agree with us." Nor was there an agreement, until Mr. 

 Adams pushed the "argument" to the point of an ultimatum. Finding 

 that if Uie treaty contained any provision on the subject, it must be in 

 the form presented by our commission, the British mission endeavored 



