2. TREATY WITH FRANCE.
Not long after the declaration of independence, commissioners were authorized to bring the subject of a recognition before the court of Versailles, and to urge the measure by such considerations as existed in the case. This they had done, and continued to do, so long as any prospect of success existed. At length, despairing of obtaining their object, they were about to abandon further effort, when the joyful intimation was communicated to Dr. Franklin, that a treaty, involving the desired recognition, had been determined upon by the king and his ministers. On the 6th of February, 1778, this measure, most auspicious to American interests, was concluded at Paris. It was signed on behalf of the king by M. Gerard; and for the United States by Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee. The treaty stipulated—a thing until then unheard of on the part of a king—that the essential and express object of the alliance was to maintain effectually the liberty, sovereignty, and independence of the United States.
American Commissioners before the Court of Louis XVI.
On the 21st of March, the American commissioners were with great pomp and ceremony, introduced by Count de Vergennes before the throne, whereon was seated the king, Louis XVI., in the midst of the grandees of his court. The honor was one which was conferred only when the king gave audience to the ambassadors of sovereigns and independent states.
On the 2d of May, the French frigate La Sensible, having on board the important treaty, reached the American shores. Congress was forthwith convened, and the treaty was ratified. The most heartfelt joy pervaded the country. The army, drawn up in the order of battle, received the intelligence with exultation not to be described.