probation of mortals or not." * Vergennes wrote to Luzerne: "The boundaries must have caused astonishment in America. No one could have flattered himself that the English ministers would go beyond the headwaters of the rivers falling into the Atlantic." t De Aranda, the Spanish ambassador, wrote: "This federal republic is born a pigmy. A day will come when it will be a giant; even a Colossus, formidable to these countries. Liberty of conscience, the facility for establishing a new population on immense lands, as well as the advantages of the new government, will draw thither farmers and artisans from all the nations. In a few years we shall watch with grief the tyrannical existence of this same Colossus." The Venetian ambassador wrote: "If the union of the American provinces shall continue, they will become by force of time and of the arts, the most formidable power in the world." How truly they spoke!

The anniversary of the battle of Lexington, April 19, was selected as the day on which the news of the treaty should be proclaimed to the army. On that occasion Washington addressed the army and issued orders that the chaplains, with the several brigades, render thanks to Almighty God for all his mercies, particularly for his overruling the

*Letter of July 5, 1783, John Adams, Works, vol. viii., p. 82.

† Pellew, John Jay, pp. 222-223.

311

wrath of man to his own glory, and causing the rage of war to cease among the nations."*

On February 5, 1783, Sweden acknowledged the independence of the United States, and she was followed on February 25 by Denmark; on March 24 by Spain, and in July by Russia; and about the same dates. treaties of amity and commerce were concluded with all of these powers.t On September 3, 1783, the definitive treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States was signed at Paris by Adams, Jay and Franklin on the part of the United States, and by David Hartley on the part of Great Britain.|| This treaty was simply a repetition of the preliminary articles signed in November, 1782. Early in January, 1784, the treaty was ratified by Congress.§ It is as follows:

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST HOLY AND UNDIVIDED TRINITY.

It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the most serene and most potent prince, George the Third, by the grace of God King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Arch-Treasurer and Prince Elector of the holy Roman empire, etc., and of the United States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings and differences that have unhappily interrupted the good correspondence and friendship which

Thacher, Military Journal, pp. 332-334; Heath's Memoirs, pp. 338-341 (Abbatt's ed.). See Bancroft, vol. vi., pp. 54-58.

For a resumé of the debates in the British Parliament regarding the treaty, see Bancroft, vol. vi., pp. 36–53.

|| John Adams, Works, vol. viii., p. 143.

§ See Shortt and Doughty, Canadian Constitutional Documents, pp. 491-493; British and For

312

they mutually wish to restore, and to establish such a beneficial and satisfactory intercourse between the two countries, upon the ground of reciprocal advantages and mutual convenience, as may promote and secure to both perpetual peace and harmony; and having for this desirable end already laid the foundation of peace and reconciliation, by the provisional articles signed at Paris, on the 30th of November, 1782, by the commissioners empowered on each part; which articles were agreed to be inserted in, and to constitute the treaty of peace proposed to be concluded between the crown of Great Britain and the said United States, but which treaty was not to be concluded until the terms of peace should be agreed upon between Great Britain and France, and his Britannic majesty should be ready to conclude such treaty accordingly; and the treaty between Great Britain and France having since been concluded, his Britannic majesty and the United States of America, in order to carry into full effect the provisional articles above mentioned, according to the tenor thereof, have constituted and appointed, that is to say, his Britannic majesty on his part, David Hartley, Esq., member of the Parliament of Great Britain; and the said United States on their part, John Adams, Esq., late a Commissioner of the United States of America at the court of Versailles, late delegate in Congress from the State of Massachusetts, and chief justice of the said state, and minister plenipotentiary of the said United States to their high mightinesses the State General of the United Netherlands; Benjamin Franklin, Esq., late delegate in Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, president of the Convention of the said State, and minister plentipotentiary from the United States of America at the court of Versailles; and John Jay, Esq., late President of Congress, and chief justice of the State of New York, and minister plenipotentiary from the said United States at the court of Madrid; to be the

eign State Papers, Compiled by the Librarian and Keeper of Papers, Foreign Office, London: 1841, vol. i., pt. i., p. 779; Treaties and Conventions of the United States, pp. 375-379 (ed. of 1889); Wharton, Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, vol. vi., pp. 96-99; MacDonald, Select Documents, pp. 16-21; Snow, Treaties and Topics in American Diplomacy, pp. 62-67. See also the letters regarding the difficulty of securing a quorum in Congress, the various reports, etc., on the ratification of the treaty, in Ford's ed. of Jefferson's Writings, vol. iii., pp. 349, 350, 355, 365, 371, 372, 375, 376, 378 et seq., 397.

plenipotentiaries for the concluding and signing the present definitive treaty; who, after having reciprocally communicated their respective full powers, have agreed upon and confirmed the following articles.

Article I. His Britannic majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, to be free, sovereign, and independent States; that he treats them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claim to the gov ernment, proprietary, and territorial rights of the same, and every part thereof.

Article II. And that all disputes which might arise in future on the subject of the boundaries of the said United States may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the following are and shall be their boundaries, viz., from the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz.: that angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of St. Croix River to the high lands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the north-westernmost head of Connecticut River; thence drawn along the middle of that river to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; from thence by a line due west on said latitude, until it strikes the River Iroquois or Cataraquy; thence along the middle of said river into Lake Ontario; through the middle of said Lake, until it strikes the communication by water between that lake and Lake Erie; thence along the middle of the said communication into Lake Erie, through the middle of said lake, until it arrives at the water communication between that lake and Lake Huron; thence through the middle of said lake, to the water communication between that lake and Lake Superior; thence through Lake Superior northward to the isles Royal and Philipeaux, to the Long Lake; thence through the middle of said Long Lake, and the water communication between it and the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; thence through the said lake to the most north-westernmost point thereof, and from thence a due west course to the River Mississippi; thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of the said River Mississippi, until it shall intersect the northernmost part of the thirtyfirst degree of north latitude; south, by a line to be drawn due east from the determination of the line last mentioned, in the latitude of thirtyone degrees north of the equator, to the middle

of the River Apalachicola or Catahouche; thence along the middle thereof, to its junction with the Flint River; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River, and thence down the middle of St. Mary's River, to the Atlantic Ocean; east, by a line to be drawn along the middle of the St. Croix from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its source, and from its source directly north to the aforesaid high lands, which divide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the River St. Lawrence, comprehending all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States, and lying between lines to be drawn due east from the points where the aforesaid boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one part, and East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean, excepting such islands as now are or heretofore have been within the limits of the said province of Nova Scotia.

Article III. It is agreed, that the people of the United States shall continue to enjoy unmolested, the right to take fish of every kind on the Great Bank, and on all the other banks of Newfoundland; also in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and at all other places in the sea where the inhabitants of both countries used at any time heretofore to fish; and also that the inhabitants of the United States shall have liberty to take fish of every kind on such part of the coast of Newfoundland as British fishermen shall use, (but not to dry or cure the same on that island,) and also on the coasts, bays, and creeks, of all other of his Britannic majesty's dominions in America; and that the American fishermen shall have liberty to dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbors, and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled; but as soon as the same shall be settled, it shall not be lawful for the said fishermen to dry or cure fish at such settlement, without a previous agreement for that purpose with the inhabitants, proprietors, or possessors of the ground.

Article IV. It is agreed, that the creditors, on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling money of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted.

Article V. It is agreed, that Congress shall earnestly recommend it to the legislatures of the respective states, to provide for the restitution of all estates, rights, and properties, which have been confiscated, belonging to real British subjects; and also of the estates, rights, and properties, of persons resident in districts in the possession of his majesty's arms, and who have not borne

313

arms against the said United States; and that persons of any other description shall have free liberty to go to any part or parts of any of the thirteen United States, and therein to remain twelve months unmolested in their endeavors to obtain the restitution of such of their estates, rights, and properties, as may have been confiscated; and that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to the several States a reconsidera tion and revision of all acts or laws regard ing the premises, so as to render the said laws or acts perfectly consistent, not only with justice and equity, but with that spirit of conciliation which, on the return of the blessings of peace, should invariably prevail; and that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to the several States, that the estates, rights, and properties of such last-mentioned persons, shall be restored to them, they refunding to any persons who may be now in possession the bona fide price, (where any has been given), which such persons may have paid on purchasing any of the said lands, rights, or properties, since the confiscation. And it is agreed, that all persons who have any interest in confiscated lands, either by debts, marriage settlements, or otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impediment in the prosecution of their just rights.

Article VI. That there shall be no future confiscations made, nor any prosecutions commenced against any person or persons, for or by reason of the part which he or they may have taken in the present war; and that no person shall on that account suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person, liberty, or property; and that those who may be in confinement on such charges, at the time of the ratification of the treaty in America, shall be immediately set at liberty, and the prosecutions so commenced be discontinued.

Article VII. There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between his Britannic majesty and the said United States, and between the subjects of the one and the citizens of the other, wherefore all hostilities, both by sea and land, shall from henceforth cease; all prisoners, on both sides, shall be set at liberty; and his Britannic majesty shall, with all convenient speed and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets, from the said United States, and from every post, place, and harbor within the same, leaving in all fortifications the American artillery that may be therein; and shall also order and cause all archives, records, deeds, and papers belonging to

314

any of the said States, or their citizens, which in the course of the war may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be forthwith restored, and delivered to the proper States and persons to whom they belong.

Article VIII. The navigation of the River Mississippi, from its source to the Ocean, shall forever remain free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States.

Article IX. In case it should so happen, that any place or territory, belonging to Great Britain

or to the United States, should have been conquered by the arms of either from the other, before the arrival of the said provisional articles in America, it is agreed, that the same shall be restored without difficulty and without requiring any compensation.

Article X. The solemn ratifications of the present treaty, expedited in good and due form, shall be exchanged between the contracting parties in the space of six months, or sooner, if possible, to be computed from the day of the signature of the present treaty.

The Cincinnati formed · Washington's

Because the government had not yet fully paid the officers and men, it was necessary that great care be exercised in reducing the army. Furloughs were freely granted on the application of individuals, and upon leaving the army, they were enjoined not to return, so that in this manner a critical moment was passed.* During the summer, a large part of the unpaid

troops were scattered throughout the States without tumult or disorder. Up to this time the conduct of the veteran troops had been especially gratifying to Washington, but some of the new levies created considerable disorder by their mutinous conduct at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. During June, about 80 of these

* See Marshall, Life of Washington, vol. ii., pp. 53-54; Heath's Memoirs, p. 343 et seq.

"soldiers of a day'* marched to Philadelphia to make demands upon Congress, on the way being joined by many others, so that upon their arrival at Philadelphia, they numbered about 300. Upon the arrival of the troops in the city, they marched to the State-house in a body where Congress and the State executive council were holding their sessions; placed guards at the doors; and threatened dire consequences unless their demands were complied with in twenty minutes. Washington was early informed of the movement of the troops toward Philadelphia and immediately dispatched General Howe with a body of regulars to suppress the mutiny. Before Howe ar