Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/294

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
266
VAUGHAN
VAUGHAN

brought safely several prizes to Fort RoA r al, Mar- tinique. Joining Count de Guichen's fleet, he commanded the first division at the engagements with the English in the channel of Dominica on 17 April and 15 and 19 May, 1780, which resulted in a victory for the French. In July following he was given the grand cross of St. Louis and made governor of Santo Domingo, but he soon resigned, as he preferred active service at sea, and took command of a division in Count de G rasse's fleet, assisting in the engagement with Ad- miral Graves in Chesapeake bay and in the siege of Yorktown. At the battle in the channel* of the Saintes islands, 12 April, 1782, he escorted the convoy that was destined to attack Jamaica, but was unable to take part in the action. Count de Grasse attributing his capture to Vaudreuil, the latter was court-martialed at Lorient in March, 1784: but the finding of the court, 21 May, 1784, was that " Vaudreuil's conduct during all the cir- cumstances of the battle deserved nothing but praise." He was promoted lieutenant-general, 14 Aug., 1782, and in December following carried Rochambeau's army from Boston and Providence to Santo Domingo. He was elected to the states- general in 1789 by the nobility of Castelnaudary. served as a member on the naval committee of the assembly, and during the night of 5 to 6 Oct., 1789, forcing an entrance in the palace of Ver- sailles with a few officers, protected the royal family from outrage and kept the mob at bay till the arrival of succor. In 1791 he emigrated to London, but he returned to Paris in 1800. and was granted by Napoleon Bonaparte a pension on the retired list of the navy. — Philippe's grandson, Jean Francois de Rigaud de Paule, Count de, better known as Count de Paule- Vaudreuil, French soldier, b. in Port au Prince, Santo Do- mingo, 2 March, 1740; d. in Paris, 10 Jan., 1817, was the son of Jean Paul Francois, governor of Santo Domingo and other French possessions in the West Indies for several years. The son en- tered the navy and served during the seven years' war, in 1756-'63, as aide-de-camp to Marshal Prince de Soubise, attaining the rank of lieuten- ant-general. He was a great favorite at court, and was made grand falconer by Louis XVI. He emigrated in 1789 to Turin with the Count d'Ar- tois, accompanying the latter everywhere till the restoration of 1814, when he was created a peer of France and appointed governor of the royal palace of the Louvre. — Another grandson, Jean Louis de Rigaud, Count de, French soldier, b. in Cape Francais in 1762; d. in Paris, 20 April, 1816, entered the army in 1777 as lieutenant, went to America with Rochambeau, served as aide-de- camp to Chevalier de Chastellux, and was at York- town in October, 1781. He was promoted colonel in 1785, emigrated to Germany in 1789, served in the army of Conde, and after the restoration of Louis XVIII. became master of the king's wardrobe.


VAUGHAN, Benjamin, political economist, b. in Jamaica, West Indies, during a temporary resi- dence of his parents on the island, 19 April, 1751 ; d. in Hallowell, Me., 8 Dec, 1835. He was the eldest son of Samuel Vaughan, of London, a West India merchant and planter. His mother was Sarah Hallowell, daughter of Benjamin Hallowell. a merchant of Boston, Mass. He was educated by Dr. Priestley, and at the University of Cambridge. As early as 1778 he wrote on political subjects. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, taking his degree in May, 1781. and on 30 June married Sarah, daughter of William Manning, of London, a West India merchant and planter, grandfather of Cardi- nal Manning. He became the partner of Mr. Man- ning, and remained with the house in active busi- ness until 1794. Through his American connections and his scientific pursuits he early became intimate with Benjamin Franklin. His relations with Franklin, his con- nection with Hen- ry Laurens (whose son married Miss Manning), and his friendship with Lord Shelburne brought him into active participa- tion in the conduct of the negotiations for peace between England and the United States in 1782. But he never assumed any offi- cial part in these ne- gotiations. There is some evidence that communica-

tions from Paris,

concerning the possibilities of peace, passed from Franklin to Shelburne, through Laurens and Vaughan, as early as March, 1782, before Lord North's resignation. Late in March, after the for- mation of the Rockingham ministry, Lord Shel- burne (then secretary for the colonies) requested Vaughan to persuade Laurens to go to Holland with his brother, William Vaughan, to ascertain from John Adams what means were necessary for peace. By sending messengers in three directions at once, Vaughan succeeded in finding Laurens, who was persuaded to undertake the mission. Fox, secretary for foreign affairs, desired to get these negotiations into his own hands, being jealous of Shelburne, and attempted to obtain the same service from Laurens, but had been forestalled by Vaughan. At the same time, being consulted by Lord Shelburne as to the best person to send to Paris to open formal negotiations with Franklin, Vaughan suggested Richard Oswald, who was at once sent to Paris, crossing the channel in the same packet with Laurens. Oswald was afterward formally commissioned negotiator for England, and returned to France ; but owing to jealousies between him and Grenville, sent by Fox, Franklin became very guarded in his intercourse, and, before Lord Shelburne became prime minister, Vaughan seems to have gone to Paris at his request to attempt to allay Franklin's suspicions. After Lord Rockingham's death, during the formation of the Shelburne cabinet. Lord Shelburne offered Vaughan an official appointment, which he declined; but he consented to go again to Paris in July to see Franklin, to assure him of Lord Shelburne's genuine desire to conclude a peace, and to remove any obstacles arising from Fox's attack in the commons on Shelburne's sincerity. Being successful in this, he remained in Paris, at Franklin's request, and by Lord Shelburne's express desire, in order to receive certain communications which Franklin desired to make to Shelburne concerning reconciliation. This, however, the course of the negotiation rendered unnecessary, and they were never formally written out. Oswald was ignorant that Vaughan was in Paris at Shelburne's request, and. becoming jealous, he wrote Shelburne, accusing Vaughan of meddling. Diplomatic requirements prevented Shelburne from permitting Oswald to know of his independent communications through Vaughan, and from clearly explaining to