ece,
the purest virtues of Rome, were to revive in some new form of society,
not very definitely conceived by the understanding, but which floated in
magnificent visions before the glowing imagination.

I hasten reluctantly over this part of my subject; for the formation of
public opinion in France and its action upon Government, even while all
the forms of an almost absolute monarchy were preserved, is an important
chapter in the history of European civilization. But hasten I must,
merely calling attention to the existence of this element, and reminding
my reader, that, chronologically, of the two parts which composed this
opinion, hatred for England had been at work ever since 1763, while
sympathy with the Colonists was rather an individual than a public
feeling till late in 1776.

It was at Versailles, and not at Paris, that action began. Vergennes's
first step was to send another agent, no longer merely to observe and
report, but to ascertain, though without compromising the French
Government, how far the Americans were prepared for French intervention.
English suspicions were already awakened. Already the English Minister
had informed the French Ambassador, upon the authority of a private
letter of General Lee to General Burgoyne, that the Americans were sure
of French aid. It was not without great difficulty that the new agent,
De Bonvouloir, could find a safe conveyance. But by December he was
already in Philadelphia, and, though still pretending to be a mere
traveller, soon in full communication with the Committee of Secret
Correspondence.

The appointment of this committee, on the 29th of November, 1775, is the
beginning of the history of our foreign relations. Then began our
attempts to gain admission into the great family of nations as an
independent power,--attempts not always judiciously directed, attended
in some instances with disappointment and mortification, but crowned at
last with as full a measure of success as those who understood monarchy
and Europe could have anticipated. Two of its members, Franklin and
Dickinson, were already known abroad, where, at a later day, Jay also
was to make himself an enduring name. The other two, Johnson and
Harrison, enjoyed and merited a high Colonial reputation.

There can be but little doubt that Franklin's keen eye quickly
penetrated the veil under which De Bonvouloir attempted to conceal his
real character. It was not the first time that he had been brought i