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pay to Great Britain the sum of ——— sterling,
in annual payments; that is to say, —— per annum,
for and during the terms of —— years,
And shall, moreover, grant a free trade to all British
 subjects throughout the United States and the
ceded colonies, and shall guarantee to Great Britain
the possession of her islands in the West Indies.
Motives for Proposing a Peace at This Time
1. The having such propositions in charge will, by
the law of nations, be some protection to the commissioners
 or ambassadors, if they should be taken.
2. As the news of our declared independence will
tend to unite in Britain all parties against us, so our
offering peace, with commerce and payments of
money, will tend to divide them again. For peace is
as necessary to them as to us; our commerce is
wanted by their merchants and manufacturers, who
will therefore incline to the accommodation, even
though the monopoly is not continued, since it can be
easily made to appear their share of our growing
trade will soon be greater than the whole has been
heretofore. Then, for the landed interest, who wish
an alleviation of taxes, it is demonstrable by figures,
that, if we should agree to pay, suppose ten millions
in one hundred years, viz., one hundred thousand
pounds per annum for that term, it would, being
faithfully employed as a sinking fund, more than pay
off all their present national debt. It is, besides, a
prevailing opinion in England, that they must in the
nature of things sooner or later lose the colonies, and

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