Franklin in France Author:Edward Everett Hale Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. THE BEGINNING OF THE NEGOTIATIONS. " TT'OU will see by the English papers which I send JL to Mr. Secry Livingstone, that the sense of the nati... more »on is now fully against the continuance of the American War." So Franklin wrote on the 9th of March, 1782, to Morris.1 " The petitions of the cities of London and Bristol were unanimous against it," he goes on. " Lord North mustered all his force, yet had a majority against him of nineteen.2 It is said there were but two who voted with him that are not placemen or pensioners, and even these, in their private conversations, condemn the prosecution of the war, and lay it all on the King's obstinacy. We must not however be deceived by these appearances. That nation is changeable. And tho' somewhat humbled at present. a little success may make them as insolent as ever. I remember when I was a boxing boy, it was allowed even after an adversary said he had enough, to give him a rising blow. Let ours be a douser." Two days afterward, he wrote to John Adams, then at Amsterdam, " I congratulate you on the change of disposition in the English nation with regard to America. Misfor- J " I congratulate you," he also says, "on the success of the bank. I have wrote to Mr. Bache to interest 1ne in a share." - On Gen. Conway's motion "for putting an end to offensive war with America." DIGGES AND FRANKLIN. 45 tunes make people wise, and at present they seem to be in the way of obtaining wisdom. But a little success this campaign will make them as foolish and insolent as ever." In answer to this, Adams wrote to Franklin on the 26th of the month, beginning, " One day last week I received, at Amsterdam, a card from Digges inclosing two letters to me from Mr. David Hartley." Digges had been sent over by the North Ministry (or, ra...« less