will probably be the end of
this war, and whether our new establishments will not be thereby
again reduced to deserts. I do not, for my part, apprehend much
danger of so great an evil to us. I think we shall be able, with a
little help, to defend ourselves, our possessions, and our
liberties so long that England will be ruined by persisting in the
wicked attempt to destroy them.... And I sometimes flatter myself
that, old as I am, I may possibly live to see my country settled in
peace, when Britain shall make no more a formidable figure among
the powers of Europe."

But though Franklin might thus refuse to despair for his country, the
French ministry were not to be blamed if they betrayed an increased
reserve in their communications with men who might soon prove to be
traitors instead of ambassadors, and if they were careful to stop short
of actually bringing on a war with England. It was an anxious period for
Franklin when the days wore slowly into months and the months
lengthened almost into a year, during which he had no trustworthy
information as to all the ominous news which the English papers and
letters brought.

In this crisis of military affairs the anxious envoys felt that the
awful burden of their country's salvation not improbably rested upon
them. If they could induce France to come to the rescue, all would be
well; if they could not, the worst might be feared. Yet in this mortal
jeopardy they saw France growing more guarded in her conduct, while in
vain they asked themselves, in an agony, what influence it was possible
for them to exert. At the close of November, 1777, they conferred upon
the matter. Mr. Deane was in favor of demanding from the French court a
direct answer to the question, whether or not France would come openly
to the aid of the colonies; and he advised that de Vergennes should be
distinctly told that, if France should decline, the colonies would be
obliged to seek an accommodation with Great Britain. But Dr. Franklin
strenuously opposed this course. The effect of such a declaration seemed
to him too uncertain; France might take it as a menace; she might be
induced by it to throw over the colonies altogether, in despair or
anger. Neither would he admit that the case was in fact so desperate;
the colonies might yet work out their own safety, with the advantage in
that event of remaining more free from any European influence. The
soundness of