e day.
Some concessions were made concerning the collection of debts owing in
the States to Englishmen, and then there remained only the matter of
indemnification to American royalists. Upon this the fight was waged
with zeal by all; yet Franklin had the chief responsibility to bear. For
there now arose to plague him that unfortunate proposition of his for
the cession of Canada and the restoration of confiscated Tory property
in the States. This encouraged the English and gave them a sort of
argument. Moreover the indemnification was "uppermost in Lord
Shelburne's mind," because, unlike other matters, it seemed a point of
honor. With what face could the ministry meet Parliament with a treaty
deserting all those who had been faithful to their king? It was indeed a
delicate position, and the English were stubborn; but no less so was
Franklin, upon the other side. With the great province of Canada as an
offset, or quasi fund, the States might have assumed such an obligation,
but without it, never. Further the American commissioners reiterated the
explanation often given: that Congress had no power in the premises, for
the matter lay within the sovereign jurisdiction of each State. This
argument, however, really amounted to nothing; for if the fact was so,
it behooved the States to give their agent, the Congress, any power that
was necessary for making a fair treaty; and England was not to be a
loser by reason of defects in the American governmental arrangements.
For a while it really seemed that the negotiation would be wrecked upon
this issue, so immovable was each side. As Vaughan wrote: "If England
wanted to break, she could not wish for better ground on _her_ side.
_You_ do not break, and therefore I conclude you both sincere. But in
this way I see the treaty is likely of _itself_ to break."

Franklin now ingeniously counteracted his earlier imprudence by reviving
an old suggestion of his, that immense claims might be preferred
against England on behalf of Americans whose property had been wantonly
destroyed, especially by the burning and plundering of towns, and he
actually presented an article providing for such compensation, and an
elaborate written paper sustaining it.[85] At last the Englishmen sought
final instructions from Lord Shelburne. He replied with spirit that it
should be understood that England was not yet in a position to submit to
"humiliation," least of all at the hands of Americans; but finally he so