JOHN ADAMS.
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Paris, July 7th, 1780.
Sir,
On the 27th of June Mr Hartley, after a speech of an hour long, moved, that the House would give him leave to bring in a bill, to the end to empower the Court, to adopt the most proper means to make peace with America. After a short debate, the question being put, the majority was for the negative. This motion is said to have had the less success, because it is founded on a principle absolutely false and derogatory to the royal prerogative. The King of England, to make peace, wants nothing but the will. It is in this case only that he is absolute. The American war was commenced without the participation of Parliament. Why should they give the King new powers to bring it to a conclusion? There is but one means of forcing him to it, and that is by refusing him the necessary subsidies; and they are now further from this than ever. But it is ridiculous to labor to clothe the King with powers, which are inherent in his title. It is, in other words, to permit him to be a King.
The bill is of the following tenor. "Whereas for some years there have arisen unfortunate disputes between Great Britain and several Provinces of North America, which have occasioned the calamities of war; to the end to prevent a greater effusion of blood, and to re-establish peace, be it enacted, that his Majesty be permitted by virtue of letters patent, to nominate Commissioners with power to treat, consult, and agree upon the means of restoring peace, in concert with persons authorised for this purpose by the said Provinces of North America. That, to facilitate the good intentions of this bill, be it enacted, that the King give power to the said Commissioners, to cause to be suspended all hostilities by land and by sea, for so long a time and under such conditions and restrictions as they shall judge proper. That, to the end to establish upon a good foundation, a cordial reconciliation and a durable peace between Great Britain and the said Provinces, by reinstating them in their ancient friendship, his Majesty may legally permit his said Commissioners to grant and to ratify, from time to time, any article of pacification, which thus granted and ratified, shall have its full and entire effect for ten years, to be dated from the 1st of August of the present year. That, for removing every obstacle, which may oppose itself, to the full execution of any article of pacification, his Majesty shall be at liberty, by any order in writing, signed with his hand and countersigned by one or more Secretaries of State, to authorise the said Commissioners to suspend, during ten years, to be dated from the 1st of August of the present year, the execution of any act of Parliament, which concerns the said Provinces, so far as the said acts, their clauses or conditions, may put any obstacle to the full effect, and to the execution of any article of pacification between Great Britain and the said Provinces. That, to the end to establish a durable reconciliation, and a perpetual peace between Great Britain and the said Provinces, be it enacted, that all and every article of pacification, resolved and ratified for ten years as aforesaid, shall be from time to time communicated to both Houses of Parliament, to be by them examined, as forming the base of a sincere and durable union; and that every one of the said articles having been once approved in Parliament, shall have forever its full and entire effect. That the present act shall remain in force until the 31st of December."
Having been disappointed, by another accident, of my English papers, I have been obliged to translate this bill from the Courier de l'Europe, I hope to transmit the original in a few days. It is however of so little consequence, that it is scarce worth transcribing. Other grounds must be taken than that of General Conway, Governor Pownal, or Mr Hartley, before anything will be done in earnest towards peace. The history of Charleston, and the numberless fictions with which the stockjobbers have decorated it, have raised the stocks three and a half per cent, and have given such a temporary intoxication to the people, that scarce anything is talked of but unconditional submission.
The affair of Mobile, the dispersion of both the outward and homeward bound Quebec fleet, the indecisive battles between de Guichen and Rodney, and the anxiety for Walsingham's fleet, and twenty other fears, begin now to sink their spirits again.
I have the honor to be, &c.