The Glorious Cause by Shaara Jeff

Author:Shaara, Jeff [Shaara, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 2010-12-28T16:00:00+00:00

JANUARY 6, 1778

Franklin was polite to the extreme, welcomed Wentworth into his parlor with a smile, could not help thinking of the seductive graciousness of the spider. He did not know Wentworth other than the casual passing in London, the man serving as the colonial representative to Rhode Island. Wentworth’s only other connection to the colonies was by family, a cousin to John Wentworth, the last royal governor of that colony. But now, neither Wentworth nor his cousin had any official connection to America. Both their positions had been erased by the start of the war.

Wentworth carried himself with the stiffness of an English aristocrat, the attitude of a man who must force himself to endure the company of anyone of a lower station. Franklin enjoyed Wentworth’s discomfort, made all the more entertaining by the man’s purpose for being there. Wentworth’s mission was, after all, to convince Franklin that there was a real hope that England and America could set aside their differences and ignore nearly three years of astounding violence.

Franklin had purposely allowed Wentworth to make his case, allowed the flood of patronizing words to fill the room, all the carefully rehearsed platitudes and expressions of mutual benefit. After nearly twenty minutes, he could feel that Wentworth was tiring, the man’s voice, and his ingratiating smile fraying around the edges. Franklin waited for a pause in the man’s presentation, said, “Your loyalty to your king is admirable, sir.”

The comment seemed to puzzle Wentworth, had nothing to do with what he was saying.

“Doctor?”

“You are a most loyal English citizen. Your king would be proud.”

“Thank you, I’m sure.”

There was silence now, and Franklin knew he had changed the course of the man’s entire presentation.

“Tell me, Mr. Wentworth, it must be a maddening experience for the ministry to deal with such rabble as we find in congress.”

It was a casting of bait, and after a moment Wentworth said, “I admit to you, Doctor, that I share the curiosity of many in Parliament how such a body of men, who claim to represent their nation, can so readily reveal those affairs of state which should be kept private. There has not been a single example of a private correspondence between my government and yours that has not suddenly become a topic of display for your newspapers, or posted in every town square. How does any government expect to conduct its business by revealing every policy and every negotiation to its people?”

Franklin shrugged. “That’s a question I cannot answer, sir. Some in your Parliament would claim that government can only be accomplished by men of breeding, that men of congress must be men of title. Certainly, most men who perform the duties that Mr. Deane, Mr. Lee, and myself have attempted here, would, in your government, be men of title.”

Wentworth took the bait again.

“Absolutely, Doctor! I see we are of the same mind on this matter! What you are so delicately proposing, sir, is that you gentlemen could be disposed to accepting King George’s terms if there was, ah, ample reward.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.