In the Days of Poor Richard
3
For nearly two weeks Jack was nursing his wound in Washington's armyhospital, which consisted of a cabin, a tent, a number of cow stablesand an old shed on the heights of Harlem. Jack had lain in a stable.
Toward the end of his confinement, John Adams came to see him.
"Were you badly hurt ?" the great man asked.
"Scratched a little, but I'll be back in the service to-morrow," Jackreplied.
"You do not look like yourself quite. I think that I will ask theCommander-in-Chief to let you go with me to Philadelphia. I have somebusiness there and later Franklin and I are going to Staten Island toconfer with Admiral Lord Howe. We are a pair of snappish old dogs andneed a young man like you to look after us. You would only have tokeep out of our quarrels, attend to our luggage and make some notes inthe conference."
So it happened that Jack went to Philadelphia with Mr. Adams, and,after two days at the house of Doctor Franklin, set out with the twogreat men for the conference on Staten Island. He went in high hopethat he was to witness the last scene of the war.
In Amboy he sent a letter to his father, which said:
"Mr. Adams is a blunt, outspoken man. If things do not go to hisliking, he is quick to tell you. Doctor Franklin is humorous andpolite, but firm as a God-placed mountain. You may put your shoulderagainst the mountain and push and think it is moving, but it isn't. Heis established. He has found his proper bearings and is done withmoving. These two great men differ in little matters. They had acurious quarrel the other evening. We had reached New Brunswick on ourway north. The taverns were crowded. I ran from one to another tryingto find entertainment for my distinguished friends. At last I found asmall chamber with one bed in it and a single window. The bed nearlyfilled the room. No better accommodation was to be had. I had leftthem sitting on a bench in a little grove near the large hotel, withthe luggage near them. When I returned they were having a hot argumentover the origin of northeast storms, the Doctor asserting that he hadlearned by experiment that they began in the southwest and proceeded ina north-easterly direction. I had to wait ten minutes for a chance tospeak to them. Mr. Adams was hot faced, the Doctor calm and smiling.I imparted the news.
"'God of Israel!' Mr. Adams exclaimed. 'Is it not enough that I haveto agree with you? Must I also sleep with you?'
"'Sir, I hope that you must not, but if you must, I beg that you willsleep more gently than you talk,' said Franklin.
"I went with them to their quarters carrying the luggage. On the wayMr. Adams complained that he had picked up a flea somewhere.
"'The flea, sir, is a small animal, but a big fact,' said Franklin.'You alarm me. Two large men and a flea will be apt to crowd ourquarters.'
"In the room they argued with a depth of feeling which astonished me,as to whether the one window should be open or closed. Mr. Adams hadclosed it.
"'Please do not close the window,' said Franklin. 'We shall suffocate.'
"'Sir, I am an invalid and afraid of the night air,' said Adams rathertestily.
"'The air of this room will be much worse for you than thatout-of-doors,' Franklin retorted. He was then between the covers. 'Ibeg of you to open the window and get into bed and if I do not prove mycase to your satisfaction, I will consent to its being closed.'
"I lay down on a straw filled mattress outside their door. I heard Mr.Adams open the window and get into bed. Then Doctor Franklin began toexpound his theory of colds. He declared that cold air never gave anyone a cold; that respiration destroyed a gallon of air a minute andthat all the air in the room would be consumed in an hour. He went onand on and long before he had finished his argument, Mr. Adams wassnoring, convinced rather by the length than the cogency of thereasoning. Soon the two great men, whose fame may be said to fill theearth, were asleep in the same bed in that little box of a room andsnoring in a way that suggested loud contention. I had to laugh as Ilistened. Mr. Adams would seem to have been defeated, for, by and by,I heard him muttering as he walked the floor."
Howe's barge met the party at Amboy and conveyed them to the landingnear his headquarters. It was, however, a fruitless journey. Howewished to negotiate on the old ground now abandoned forever. Thepeople of America had spoken for independence--a new, irrevocable factnot to be put aside by ambassadors. The colonies were lost. Theconcessions which the wise Franklin had so urgently recommended to thegovernment of England, Howe seemed now inclined to offer, but theycould not be entertained.
"Then my government can only maintain its dignity by fighting," saidHowe.
"That is a mistaken notion," Franklin answered; "It will be much moredignified for your government to acknowledge its error than to persistin it."
"We shall fight," Howe declared.
"And you will have more fighting to do than you anticipate," saidFranklin. "Nature is our friend and ally. The Lord has prepared ourdefenses. They are the sea, the mountains, the forest and thecharacter of our people. Consider what you have accomplished. At anexpense of eight million pounds, you have killed about eight hundredYankees. They have cost you ten thousand pounds a head. Meanwhile, atleast a hundred thousand children have been born in America. There arethe factors in your problem. How much time and money will be requiredfor the job of killing all of us?"
The British Admiral ignored the query.
"My powers are limited," said he, "but I am authorized to grant pardonsand in every way to exercise the King's paternal solicitude."
"Such an offer shows that your proud nation has no flattering opinionof us," Franklin answered. "We, who are the injured parties, have notthe baseness to entertain it. You will forgive me for reminding youthat the King's paternal solicitude has been rather trying. It hasburned our defenseless towns in mid-winter; if has incited the savagesto massacre our farmers' in the back country; it has driven us to adeclaration of independence. Britain and America are now distinctstates. Peace can be considered only on that basis. You wish toprevent our trade from passing into foreign channels. Let me remindyou, also, that the profit of no trade can ever be equal to the expenseof holding it with fleets and armies."
"On such a basis I am not empowered to treat with you," Howe answered."We shall immediately move against your army."
The conference ended. The ambassadors and their secretary shook handswith the British Admiral.
"Mr. Irons, I have heard much of you," said the latter as he heldJack's hand. "You are deeply attached to a young lady whom I admireand whose father is my friend. I offer you a chance to leave thistroubled land and go to London and marry and lead a peaceable,Christian life. You may keep your principles, if you wish, as I haveno use for them. You will find sympathizers in England."
"Lord Howe, your kindness touches me," the young man answered. "Whatyou propose is a great temptation. It is like Calypso's offer ofimmortal happiness to Ulysses. I love England. I love peace, and morethan either, I love the young lady, but I couldn't go and keep myprinciples."
"Why not, sir?"
"Because we are all of a mind with our Mr. Patrick Henry. We putLiberty above happiness and even above life. So I must stay and helpfight her battles, and when I say it I am grinding my own heart undermy heel. Don't think harshly of me. I can not help it. The feelingis bred in my bones."
His Lordship smiled politely and bowed as the three men withdrew.
Franklin took the hand of the young man and pressed it silently as theywere leaving the small house in which Howe had established himself.
Jack, who had been taking notes of the fruitless talk of these greatmen, was sorely disappointed. He could see no prospect now of peace.
"My hopes are burned to the ground," he said to Doctor Franklin.
"It is a time of sacrifice," the good man answered. "You have theinvincible spirit that looks into the future and gives all it has. Youare America."
"I have been thinking too much of myself," Jack answered. "Now I amready to lay down my life in this great
cause of ours."
"Boy, I like you," said Mr. Adams. "I have arranged to have you safelyconveyed to New York. There an orderly will meet and conduct you toour headquarters."
"Thank you, sir," Jack replied. Turning to Doctor Franklin, he added:
"One remark of yours to Lord Howe impressed me. You said that Naturewas our friend and ally. It put me in mind of the fog that helped usout of Brooklyn and of a little adventure of mine."
Then he told the story of the spider's web.
"I repeat that all Nature is with us," said Franklin. "It was a senseof injustice in human nature that sent us across the great barrier ofthe sea into conditions where only the strong could survive. Here wehave raised up a sturdy people with three thousand miles of waterbetween them and tyranny. Armies can not cross it and succeed long ina hostile land. They are too far from home. The expense oftransporting and maintaining them will bleed our enemies until they arespent. The British King is powerful, but now he has picked a quarrelwith Almighty God, and it will go hard with him."