and influence with Lord North, amicably settled, conformable to the wish and desire of the late Congress, W. N. desires the favour of Dr. Franklin to inform him by a line, per the bearer, whether there is any credit to be given to the report?

St. Mary Hill, 24th December, 1774.

My answer was to this effect, that I should be very happy to be able to inform him that the report he had heard had some truth in it; but I could only assure him that I knew nothing of the matter. Such reports, however, were confidently circulated, and had some effect in recovering the Stocks, which had fallen three or four per cent.

On Christmas day, visiting Mrs. Howe, she told me as soon as I went in, that her brother, Lord Howe, wished to be acquainted with me; that he was a very good man, and she was sure we should like each other. I said, I had always heard a good character of Lord Howe, and should be proud of the honour of being known to him. He is just by, said she; will you give me leave to send for him? By all means, madam, if you think proper. She rang for a servant, wrote a note, and Lord Howe came in a few minutes.

After some extremely polite compliments as to the general motives for his desiring an acquaintance with me, he said he had a particular one at this time, which was the alarming situation of our affairs with America, which no one, he was persuaded, understood better than myself; that it was the opinion of some friends of his, that no man could do more towards reconciling our differences than I could, if I would undertake it; that he was sensible I had been very ill treated by the Ministry, but he hoped that would not be considered by me in the present case; that he himself, though not in opposition, had much disapproved of their conduct towards me; that some of them, he was sure, were ashamed of it, and sorry it had happened: which he supposed must be sufficient to abate resentment in a great and generous mind; that if he were himself in Administration, he should be ready to make me ample satisfaction, which he was persuaded would one day or other be done; that he was unconnected with the Ministry, except by some personal friendships, wished well however to Government, was anxious for the general welfare of the whole Empire, and had a particular regard for New-England, which had shown a very endearing respect to his family; that he was merely an independent Member of Parliament, desirous of doing what good he could, agreeably to his duty in that station; that he therefore had wished for an opportunity of obtaining my sentiments on the means of reconciling our differences, which he saw must be attended with the most mischievous consequences, if not speedily accommodated; that he hoped his zeal for the publick welfare would, with me, excuse the impertinence of a mere stranger, who could have otherwise no reason to expect, or right to request me to open my mind to him upon these topicks; but he did conceive, that if I would indulge him with my ideas of the means proper to bring about a reconciliation, it might be of some use; that perhaps I might not be willing myself to have any direct communication with this Ministry on this occasion; that I might likewise not care to have it known that I had any indirect communication with them, till I could be well assured of their good dispositions; that being himself upon no ill terms with them, he thought it not impossible that he might, by conveying my sentiments to them, and theirs to me, be a means of bringing on a good understanding, without committing either them or me, if his negotiation should not succeed; and that I might rely on his keeping perfectly secret every thing I should wish to remain so.

Mrs. Howe here offering to withdraw, whether of herself or from any sign from him, I know not, I begged she might stay, as I should have no secret in a business of this nature that I could not freely confide to her prudence, which was truth; for I had never conceived a higher opinion of the discretion and excellent understanding of any woman on so short an acquaintance. I added, that though I had never before the honour of being in his Lordship’s company, his manner was such as bad already engaged my confidence, and would make me perfectly easy and free in communicating myself to him. I begged him, in the first place, to give me credit for a sincere desire of healing the breach between the two Countries; that I would cheerfully and heartily do every thing in my small power to accomplish it; but that I apprehended from the King’s speech, and from the measures talked of, as well as those already determined on, no intention or disposition of the kind existed in the present Ministry, and therefore no accommodation could be expected till we saw a change. That as to what his Lordship mentioned of the personal injuries done me, those done my Country were so much greater, that I did not think the other, at this time, worth mentioning; that besides it was a fixed rule with me, not to mix my private affairs with those of the publick; that I could join with my personal enemy in serving the publick, or, when it was for its interest, with the publick in serving that enemy; these being my sentiments, his Lordship might be assured that no private considerations of the kind should prevent my being as useful in the present case as my small ability would permit. He appeared satisfied and pleased with these declarations, and gave it me as his sincere opinion, that some of the Ministry were extremely well disposed to any reasonable accommodations, preserving only the dignity of Government; and he wished me to draw up in writing some propositions containing the terms on which I conceived a good understanding might be obtained and established, and the mode of proceeding to accomplish it; which propositions, as soon as prepared, we might meet to consider, either at his house or at mine, or where I pleased; but as his being seen at my house, or me at his, might he thought occasion some speculation, it was concluded to be best to meet at his sister’s, who readily offered her house for that purpose, and where there was a good pretence with her family and friends for my being often seen, as it was known that we played together at chess. I undertook, accordingly, to draw up something of the kind; and so for that time we parted, agreeing to meet at the same place again on the Wednesday following.

I dined about this time, by invitation, with Governour Pownall. There was no company but the family, and after dinner we had a tête-à-tête. He had been in the opposition, but was now about making his peace, in order to come into Parliament on Ministerial interest, which I did not then know. He told me what I had before been told by several of Lord North’s friends, that the American measures were not the measures of that Minister, nor approved by him; that, on the contrary, he was well disposed to promote a reconciliation upon any terms honourable to Government; that I had been looked upon as the great fomenter of the opposition in America, and as a great adversary to any accommodation; that he, Governour Pownall, had given a different account of me, and had told his Lordship that I was certainly much misunderstood. From the Governour’s further discourse I collected that he wished to be employed as an Envoy or Commissioner to America, to settle the differences, and to have me with him; but as I apprehended there was little likelihood that either of us would be so employed by Government, I did not give much attention to that part of his discourse.

I should have mentioned in its place, (but one cannot recollect every thing in order,) that, declining at first to draw up the propositions desired by Lord Howe, I alleged its being unnecessary, since the Congress, in their Petition to the King, just then received and presented through Lord Dartmouth, had stated their grievances, and pointed out very explicitly what would restore the ancient harmony; and I read a part of the Petition, to show their good dispositions, which, being very pathetically expressed, seemed to affect both the brother and sister. But still I was desired to give my ideas of the steps to be taken, in case some of the propositions in the Petition should not be thought admissible; and this, as I said before, I undertook to do.

I had promised Lord. Chatham to communicate to him the first important news I should receive from America. I therefore sent him the proceedings of the Congress as soon as I received them; but a whole week passed after I received the Petition before I could, as I wished to do, wait upon him with it, in order to obtain his sentiments on the whole; for my time was taken up in meetings with the other Agents to consult about presenting the Petition, in waiting three different days with them on Lord Dartmouth, in consulting upon and writing letters to the Speakers of Assemblies, and other business, which did not allow me a