American Aurora
Page 61
Friday, May 7, 1784. With the British peace treaty now ratified, peace commissioner John Jay has asked Congress for permission to return to the United States. Today, in the Continental Congress, the Journals report:
[B]eing this day informed … that Mr. J. Jay proposed to embark for America in the month of April … Mr. Jay was put in nomination; and the ballots being taken,
Mr. John Jay was elected Secretary for foreign affairs …
Resolved, That a minister plenipotentiary be appointed in addition to Mr. John Adams and Mr. Benjamin Franklin, for the purpose of negotiating treaties of Commerce.
Congress proceeded to the election, and the ballots being taken, Mr. Thomas Jefferson was elected …1430
Wednesday, May 12, 1784. Today, from Paris, Benjamin Franklin writes the Rev. Samuel Mather of Massachusetts (son of Cotton Mather):
This powerful monarch continues its friendship for the United States. It is a friendship of the utmost importance to our security, and should be carefully cultivated … A breach between us and France would infallibly bring the English again upon our backs; and yet we have some wild heads among our countrymen who are endeavoring to weaken that connexion! Let us preserve our reputation by performing our engagements; our credit by fulfilling our contracts; and friends by gratitude and kindness; for we know not how soon we may again have occasion for all of them.1431
Friday, August 6, 1784. Today, Thomas Jefferson finally arrives in Paris, joining Ben Franklin and John Adams in their commission to negotiate commercial treaties with European powers.1432
Thursday, August 12, 1784. Today, in Paris, Benny Bache turns fifteen years old. This summer, Benny spends his time watching hot-air-balloon ascensions, flying kites, swimming in Paris’ Seine River, and meeting the many famous people who visit his grandfather.1433
Thursday, August 19, 1784. Today, Benjamin Franklin writes his publisher in England, William Strahan,
[Y]ou do wrong to discourage the Emigration of Englishmen to America … Emigration does not diminish but multiplies a Nation … It is a Fact that the Irish emigrants and their children are now in Possession of the Government of Pennsylvania by their Majority in the Assembly, as well as of a great Part of the Territory; and I remember well the first Ship that brought any of them over.1434
Sunday, September 19, 1784. Benny Bache and his grandfather continue to enjoy hot-air-balloon ascensions. Today, Benny Bache writes in his diary,
I went with my grandpapa to the Abbé Armons’ to see the balloon of the Messr. Roberts which was about to start; I pointed the telescope; at eleven o’clock everything was ready and the balloon should have been started. My grandfather was playing chess and told me to inform him as soon as I saw it start. Three minutes before 12, I heard a cannon fired and a minute afterwards, I saw the balloon rise. Everybody was looking. The wind was south, a little to the west. I leave the Abbés and come with a telescope to take my place upon the roof of our house … Every one looked through the telescope in turn …
It was in the shape of a cylinder terminated by two hemispheres … The aeronauts tried, with little oars which they had, to drive a little against the wind, but this did not succeed.1435
Friday, October 8, 1784. Benny Bache will learn the type foundry business. Today, he writes in his diary:
My grandfather has caused a master founder to come to Passy to teach me to cast types. He will come tomorrow to remain all the winter.1436
Thursday, November 11, 1784. Today, Benjamin Franklin writes Richard Bache, Benny’s father:
Your Family having pass’d well thro’ the Summer gives me great pleasure. I still hope to see them before I die. Benny continues well, and grows amazingly. He is a very sensible and a very good Lad, and I love him much. I had Thoughts of … fitting him for Public Business, thinking he might be of Service hereafter to his Country; but being now convinc’d that Service is no Inheritance, as the Proverb says, I have determin’d to give him a Trade [in printing and letter founding] that he may have something to depend on … He has already begun to learn the business from Masters who come to my House, and is very diligent in working and quick in learning …1437
A French onlooker, at about this time, writes:
With Franklin, there is a youth of sixteen years, bright and intelligent, who looks like him physically and who, having decided to become a printer, is working to that end. There is something very imposing in the sight of the American Legislator’s grandson taking part in so simple a task.1438
Sunday, December 12, 1784. Today, John Adams writes Massachusetts congressional delegate Elbridge Gerry:
I have never answered particularly your most friendly & instructive letters … I really could not do it without entering into Discussions which related to Gentlemen with whom I have acted. I have received one way or another extracts of two or three Letters of Dr. Franklin which relate to me—the most unprovoked, the most cruel, the most malicious misrepresentations which ever were put upon Paper. I scorned to put my Pen to Paper in my own Vindication—I was determined to rest my Cause upon what was known to Congress …1439
Thursday, February 24, 1785. This morning, in the Continental Congress, the Journals report:
Congress proceeded to the election of a Minister Plenipotentiary to represent the United States of America at the court of Great Britain; and the ballots being taken, the hon. John Adams was elected …1440
Later today, Massachusetts congressional delegate Elbridge Gerry writes John Adams:
Attempts have been made to determine the choice [of Minister plenipotentiary to the Court of London] & this Morning it was effected & devolves on yourself. I am happy to give You the Information …
[A]s what were urged by the states opposed to your Choice … One part of your Secret Journal, wherein mention is made of a Compliment paid you as being “the Washington of the Negotiations” and that a paragraph of one of your letters describing the proper Character of Minister for London, that he should be possessed of the “cardinal Virtues,” compared with other letters of yours claiming the appointment, are urged as Traits of a weak passion to which a Minister ought never to be subject …1441
Thursday, March 10, 1785. Today, in the Continental Congress, the Journals report:
Congress proceeded to the election of a Minister plenipotentiary to represent the United States at the Court of Versailles; and the ballots being taken, the hon. Thomas Jefferson was unanimously elected …1442
Tuesday, April 5, 1785. Today, Benny Bache writes in his diary:
My grandfather has prevailed upon M. Didot, the best printer of this age and even the best that has ever been, to consent to take me into his house for some time in order to teach me his art. I take my meals at the house of Mrs. Le Roy, a friend of my grandpapa; I went thither to day with my cousin and made acquaintance with his family and something more; he combines in his house engraving, the forge, the foundry and the printing office; it is a very amiable family, it seems to me; the meals are frugal.1443
Friday, April 8, 1785. Today, John Adams writes Englishman Dr. Richard Price to thank him for his book on the American Revolution:
Some time since I received from Dr. Franklin a copy of the first edition of your Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution, and lately a copy of the second. I am much obliged to you …1444
Dr. Price’s book1445 includes a letter, dated March 22, 1778, from former French Comptroller General Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot to Dr. Price, in which Turgot states,
Mr. Franklin by your desire has put into my hands the last edition of your “Observations on Civil Liberty,” etc …
The fate of America is already decided. Behold her independence beyond recovery. But will she be free and happy? …
I am not satisfied … I observe that by most of the [state] constitutions the customs of England are imitated without any particular motive. Instead of collecting all authority into one [assembly], that of the nation, they have established different bodies, a body of representatives,
a council, and a governor, because there is in England a House of Commons, a House of Lords, and a King. They endeavour to balance these different powers, as if this equilibrium, which in England may be a necessary check to the enormous influence of royalty, could be of any use in republics founded upon the equality of all the citizens …1446
On reading this letter, John Adams is upset. John Adams:
Mr. Turgot, in a letter to Dr. Price, printed in London, censured the American Constitution[s] as adopting three branches, in imitation of the Constitution of Great Britain. The intention was to celebrate Franklin’s Constitution and condemn mine.1447
Monday, May 2, 1785. Today, John Adams answers Elbridge Gerry’s letter of February 24th, which reported that some in Congress viewed Adams’ Peace Journal as displaying “a weak passion,” i.e., vanity:
The Imputation of a weak Passion has made so much Impression on me that it may not be improper to say a little more about it …
If I had given in to … sending Useless Arms to America at great Prices [and] … not disputed with France … I could have obtained a Confidence … infinitely more gratifying to a weak Passion than I shall ever enjoy during my Life …
[I]f I had adopted [as Dr. Franklin] … that “The United States ought to join France in two Future Wars against England …” I could … even now have all the Emissaries thro the World … employed to gratify my weak Passions …1448
Wednesday, May 4, 1785. Today, Benny Bache writes in his diary:
I have been to Passy. My grandfather has received permission from Congress to give up his office. Mr. Jefferson will fill his place. My grandpapa has fixed upon the month of June for his departure.1449
Friday, May 6, 1785. Ben Franklin will be moving his Passy printshop to Philadelphia. Today, Benny Bache writes in his diary:
I have taken a press of my grandfather’s to pieces.1450
Saturday, May 7, 1785. Today, Benny Bache writes in his diary:
I had the box for packing up the press made at the carpenter’s.1451
Tuesday, May 10, 1785. Today, eighty-year-old Ben Franklin writes Benny Bache’s parents, Sarah and Richard Bache:
Having at length received from Congress Permission to return home, I am now preparing for my departure … [ M]y Friends here are so apprehensive for me that they press me much to remain in France. They tell me I am among a People who universally esteem and love me; that my Friends at home are diminish’d by Death in my Absence; that I may there meet with Envy and its consequent Enmity … The Desire however of spending the little remainder of Life with my Family is so strong … Ben is very well, and growing amazingly. He promises to be a stout as well as a good Man …1452
Thursday, May 12, 1785. Today, John Adams’ son, John Quincy Adams, leaves Paris for the United States. He will enter Harvard College as a junior.1453 In a week, Adams himself will leave for London as U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to Great Britain.
Tuesday, May 17, 1785. Today, Thomas Jefferson presents himself at Versailles as America’s new Minister Plenipotentiary. Thomas Jefferson:
The succession to Dr. Franklin at the court of France was an excellent school of humility. On being presented to any one as the Minister of America, the common-place question used in such cases was “c’est vous, Monsieur, qui remplace le Docteur Franklin?” “It is you, Sir, who replace Doctor Franklin?” I generally answered “no one can replace him, Sir; I am only his successor.”1454
Wednesday, June 1, 1785. Today, in London, John Adams is presented to Britain’s King George III. John Adams:
The King … asked me whether I came last from France, and upon my answering in the affirmative, he put on an air of familiarity, and, smiling, said, “there is an opinion among some people that you are not the most attached of all your countrymen to the manners of France.” I was surprised at this, because I thought it an indiscretion and a departure from the dignity. I was a little embarrassed, but determined not to deny the truth …1455
Wednesday, June 8, 1785. Today, Benny Bache writes in his diary:
To day I begin to have the packing done.1456
Tuesday, July 12, 1785. Today, Ben Franklin and Benny Bache leave their home in Passy to return to the United States. Today, Benny writes in his diary:
[A]fter having dined at Mr. de Chaumont’s, my grandfather ascended his litter in the midst of a very great concourse of the people of Passy; a mournful silence reigned around him and was only interrupted by sobs.1457
Thomas Jefferson:
I can only … testify in general that there appeared to me more respect and veneration attached to the character of Doctor Franklin in France than to that of any other person in the same country, foreign or native … When he left Passy, it seemed as if the village had lost its Patriarch …1458
Friday, August 12, 1785. Today, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, en route to Philadelphia, Benny Bache turns sixteen years old.
Tuesday, September 13, 1785. Today, Benny Bache writes in his diary:
We are arrived at Philadelphia. The joy which I felt at the acclamations of the people, on seeing a father and mother, and many brothers and sisters may be felt and not described.1459
CHAPTER TEN
THE RIGHTS OF MAN
A Convention in Pennsylvania had adopted a government in one representative assembly, and Dr. Franklin was the President of that Convention. The Doctor, when he went to France in 1776, carried with him the printed copy of that Constitution, and it was immediately propagated through France that this was the plan of government of Mr. Franklin … Mr. Turgot, the Duke de la Rochefoucauld, Mr. Condorcet, and many others, became enamored with the Constitution of Mr. Franklin.
JOHN ADAMS,
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1797-18011460
Mr. John Adams, whose want of liberality to Dr. Franklin continued through life, survived his death and carried persecution against his grandson … betrayed a gross malevolence on the subject of this constitution of Pennsylvania …
WILLIAM DUANE, EDITOR,
AURORA GENERAL ADVERTISER, 1798-18221461
One legislative assembly and an executive composed of many persons (possessing few powers and no splendor) will soon form the favorite articles of every enlightened politician’s creed. To those who require the sanction of great names before they can adopt any opinion, I will observe that these were the favorite propositions of Rousseau and Franklin.
“CASCA,”
AURORA GENERAL ADVERTISER, OCTOBER 16, 17951462
[Gen. Washington] is very jealous of Dr. Franklin & those who are governed by Republican Principles from which he is very averse.
PAUL WENTWORTH, BRITISH SPY1463
JOHN ADAMS [is] the advocate of a kingly government and of a titled nobility to form an upper house and to keep down the swinish multitude … JOHN ADAMS … would deprive you of a voice in chusing your president and senate, and make both hereditary …
BENJAMIN F. BACHE, EDITOR,
AURORA GENERAL ADVERTISER, 1790-17981464
I only contend that the English Constitution is in theory the most stupendous fabric of human invention, both for the adjustment of its balance and the prevention of its vibrations, and that the Americans ought to be applauded instead of censured for imitating it so far as they have.
JOHN ADAMS,
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1797-18011465
The American Revolution is now history. How is that history to be written? What freedom have American soldiers won? What freedom have French soldiers learned? George Washington retires to Mount Vernon. John Adams becomes Minister to Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson becomes Minister to France. Ben Franklin and Benny Bache return to Philadelphia. In my history (written much later, in 1798), I observe:
The negociations at Paris [which ended the American Revolution] in 1783, like the fall of the monarch [in France in 1793,] ten years after, gave the signal for party contest, and the annals of America exhibit the phenomenon in politics of her ministers at the close of their countr
y’s triumph, engaged in a clandestine correspondence and defaming their fellow minister, [Benjamin Franklin,] to secure to themselves the reputation of having accomplished what the character of Franklin only could have ever obtained. History, which disclaims all bias and which owes every tribute to the memory of the glorious dead, will not stoop to name those who were the defamers of Franklin. But it is connected with the present state of America [in 1798] to state the facts, for at that period was laid the foundation of those dangers which now threaten America …
In the secret proceedings of party in America, since the period of 1783, little has been publicly displayed; but … in the convention of 1787 [which wrote the federal Constitution], and from thence to this day, … the same Machiavellian systems of political duplicity have been gradually sapping the foundations of American liberty …
The efforts that were made to reduce the United States to a monarchy were barely unsuccessful. It was to public opinion only that the failure can be with justice attributed; for it has to be acknowledged on all hands that those who proposed a monarchical form were much more alert than the friends of an equal representative government.
The French Revolution opened new objects of hope and of fear … [I]t was not … [that revolution’s] horrors that alarmed men averse to free government; it was the dangers to which ambition was exposed by the prevalence of those equal principles which France had borrowed from America and enlarged and promulgated as the common right of all mankind.1466