often put by Hutchinson and other refugees in England—the answer, as elsewhere noticed, is, that they could not be arrested without arresting almost the whole Whig opposition."
The personal part played by the perfect confidence these men had in Franklin, and the reward our great ambassador reaped for his candid, open, and friendly attitude is best emphasized by the event. On February 22, 1782, Conway's famous address to the King resulted in a resolution in Parliament against further continuance of the war, and the fall of Lord North and the King's party. Lord Rockingham became Prime Minister; Charles James Fox, Foreign Minister, and Lord Shelburne, at whose house Franklin's messengers were accustomed to spend their time in England, Secretary for the Colonies, and master of the situation.
Now Shelburne regarded Franklin not only with the greatest confidence and esteem, but considered him the one great authority upon the whole movement. As a consequence, in
