[AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM BENJAMIN VAUGHAN TO A MEMBER OF THE SHELBURNE MINISTRY - ALMOST CERTAINLY THE THE EARL OF SHELBURNE - RELATING HIS CONVERSATION WITH BENJAMIN FRANKLIN REGARDING THE SEIZURE OF TRADING VESSELS, AND FRANKLIN'S ATTEMPTS TO HAV
Vaughan, Benjamin:
Paris. Jan. 16, 1783. [4]pp. manuscript letter, about 650 words. On a folded folio sheet. Old folds. Fine. A very interesting letter from Benjamin Vaughan regarding his conversations with Benjamin Franklin over the British practice of seizing American trading vessels during the American Revolution, and Franklin's efforts to secure the release of his grandnephew's captured ship. The letter discloses much regarding Franklin's views on the issue, and gives a window into the views of a top British emissary involved in the negotiations to end the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Vaughan (1751-1835) was a close adviser to the Earl of Shelburne, who, as the British Prime Minister in 1782-1783, was overseeing the negotiations with Benjamin Franklin, and the other American representatives that ultimately led to the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Vaughan was born in Jamaica, the son of a West Indian planter and a Bostonian mother. He was educated in London, and from the outset of the Revolution expressed sympathy with the American cause and advocated conciliation with the colonies. In 1779 Vaughan edited and saw through the press an English edition of Benjamin Franklin's writings, and he and Franklin became friends. In late 1782 Shelburne sent Vaughan to Paris to participate in the negotiations with the Americans to end the war, and to assure the Americans of the good intentions of the British. Vaughan played an important unofficial role in the treaty negotiations. The impetus for this letter was the recent seizure of the brig Trio, a trading vessel owned by Jonathan Williams, grandnephew of Benjamin Franklin. Vaughan writes from Paris to an unnamed recipient (identified only as "My Lord" but almost certainly the Earl of Shelburne), recounting the details of the seizure and Vaughan's recent meeting with Franklin to discuss the issue and the question of the British seizure of American trading ships generally. Vaughan relates that Franklin blames British policies for encouraging the capture of trading vessels, and that he (Franklin) had protested the policy from the beginning. Vaughan quotes Franklin's views on the issue, writing that Franklin said that "that treachery was a shocking thing to encourage for the world; it went into people's families and houses; and good men should try to render it detested. Force was the proper implement of war; and that was bad enough, but bringing in fraud over and above force, was making things grow worse and worse for the world, instead of mending them." Vaughan closes by encouraging Shelburne to consider a more lenient policy, "especially as the times seem to require some show of magnanimity." A very interesting letter, coming at the close of the Revolution and illustrating Benjamin Franklin's close and important relationship with Benjamin Vaughan, Franklin's views on the rights of trading vessels during time of war, and the British government's movement toward a more conciliatory policy with the soon-to-be independent United States.
(Item ID: WRCAM39968) $3,750.00