ot Be tk bl chy perth be? ol
Lesh oe MLel etiam beta a abana heatehel tL catia eee te
nt RB d elas Mee ee Peele OL oe ree
PODS eterna 4= OI pri” ye ipela yd Te
L Lydliph aetna arbeolle.teet phaledid aftekehet ot eer es
S940 nA pd O° Pr dn ipaghipe preys ish: Milind ET Dn |
¥
leh a ieee
> PEPEIe jm OB:
- ay
Be ee
eg <4 bry w
edatitnd
ul
DWP PR eee 44s ege be) 5/
aD Lhetlel dh abee on)
ROP oye pF x44 here e 4- ape eee
ei Pakb eked shige heads bine nos
Te) MPA DoDI OUR oh. gesye raiser de ie
Lah hettk lvbcdiad
ry
fr aeth
i twsbtrye +qte HOG tr FE 9 41, oil ) abe
POP9 boty et teige twaahs 449 te? inbeee@eerdenc ani, s
PIU NE by ete aah e oe ete eds 7 US 69+ Hert! bets seebe | we
tye Ls. Hass 28ae OF Tbs EAH 4946 te ynige Huge fo oe #
anit rie iibbetnurniletrtol pistol. Lk tee
Cie pital Wise a9 both aretjath y+
Ce sree ee eeerers
'
MPRA Re 444 0G8 jpaibae
che abe
of
ieee
1288 OOM SUT p) lane
WF 8 ee
ben
ried det ot
We D8 i ge
OPA tr teas
ba)
ny
Nethih de MOA" a ya haben ln) see ke ba
be aedisigmpe bene tite
sir Prem «
Pe) pil P91 6295 Fe
F098 st eee Yo AR tt
paiNe a we yes pe ray
Fae vbtyt (4 Da 28 9
ripe 9H MOONE
hae Laws bapea eee
} Side tpaten yrs 8
Perl lesan OberAtlodiines chen
71S BO ratte apeites
page
Mat Ghia EABA Ue LULE Le Leer eke Ll
“ be eho dotaas tsa etages are!
2 pai be:
pe la veiadie priedeee te
poe fe ye indie pe ye bate eae
HN bs vodemenn itn bait be tie $y
SSM pbembaNhd adh bhibec al bike lea
te i dmammoge ‘
a9? bebe
0 thee de ene unde ie.
ORO roa ride det
© 96 Wemeire ti
ob 12 ofapesamher.
40° HNae HAE De bag ge b
| adeathi Liked ehadchd Lt ek ee
Ridhedibdhut sks be heditel ita) “
ery sae brictethtel suptauskinieksLinek ee im
Ut 2 mba egt he ps top h AR E> 1S POO enw Ser 54 bet bets.
Bybee dine 6 we oO) 9 PRlpemdis ypc
ad io Dene pe
+e ta ened oa!)
MvSebeiatetat
sie Bal | 78 #8 Fact
440 Megane
ah beim 9 ee ieee
Doehetete 43 Hate ded,
he)
14 peep a
S~ Pode (hope: + 4)
340 ede ongeja sii
etapa odie Ceeh 4
irbideAlpast ates ee
be Pete pe helped one
ue
jornene
ah pwe
Fads ibe}
82%
bean
Pee Brad pelle ye
eh Ae Sela 4
bo $O64ag pe"
2 D> yege b
he #9 42 8} WRUR Ord hette
oir eee
on babe) Heo fede ee
d Dokhe Wt be be i+ eet
2491018 bebe ol py he
7 yoke bP PRE Om Salat
As 4h roleaths ad b> iaiee Ba calty pe ty
abd bab tet Sb Rees de
bs Oo hae a tiega dy
#98 pany
fey
$1 Ate 4 pads we bo
BA bebe ty 48 Ghee ss De
4d} 908 Date pympedte de ©
heh. gaie hye Gs |
Sag @beGeg.e je’),
Rte eielare ta
Salen ot
ig bate
er dighes
18 WP oo tg
PRUE |S) Sito! a dee fend te FOS LAS twee
wi jae si * bb Fm itniomt
poled anne etaea le
P hetruente'toe \lt belle ys f
td gegen!
1-09 9 ee ROL AE Sena ie
Lipp eae |
GaSe came de
Ae Lote Oe be
we 48
ih
te
a kes *\e%
#62 bebo
be beta podethe be}
Aik fin hen’ bale ho
oa
M40 Yee
a * 4
OAs tint Reba
+ W510 48 98 baie ws
TPN IG be
a
wide dee yp
Pet 90 botanaiy
Caer ee oo teed ,
thos
“we
i*@ele (ale podgae
Set he nee Setar Home oe
84 ADSI ee devs
bond
Nee barre
Hee > | si¢@iberte ta tales cary,
Nb 4 ake poite (he remy
699 ge meer bio eNkn
iw he let mepedetedtic ia
*Prreesere ‘cine: baled
rye bode g@ies |
eho te ew te.
41h 2b Ubalbede icgs
tbe
«beg Ve ee +
toys de bv pate 9 he}.
te ply dm hig
Corin noma
+ baidacee
pe tine
19 0? toga o gt? delet
DS He ir he ale yay
Fe)
7 Fe a464 bebe p<
atiea tid yo)
Ha el zigae
”
ies ; be
+e
rant
Li Aicede
,
CARE an rE leet ehh ache back el
old Fe
Pe
pA ae ho
a
"
ase
i ails ns
OE HMRI 4 lat Sebel
a8 2 pete pe ty eh
20 it po a!
pha
been a ge
12 YR ie ether
"i
nts teerBage tay!
5 4 peut be
Dod cene be ont
van bo,
mre Pea beget
eel snbteaaneity
POSE Faith a tiege:
ite
> ata
PA Ub US 84 9h gd Mi 88 bw
in
labaned
peters
siesdyadoon
ped
he by
+4 Lj
Ht aye gage
aR)
is pe)
ssoeipe
fae
belin gee,
grag
be
yee
tebe pape
Sad pitts a o
s
b Netting be@ene
odd
¢
dome
‘noth fo #8
Et dat
Sercin oe
= fer
ae
oa
Dgehipher betiond
£40 Ss0de Gor de eae dm 'be weine
na he
aiyse
Petey
ee aieie
orjrmaS of
Le bach obs 2 ta
ees ibentodest
*
oro
by
a a hg
3 be4s 1.
Btna ve kei a
tts |
boda
Shot Ihe
Dates!
poe dels de ded
eae
ape
$s
Mb (he 4
Ss rsniy ho hy go
ae hag? ote
48 48" tine ee he.
bade bebe nig,
ps
the id vet
Leawite ky ig ite
”
obi
le they i
areg
rae wade ina Bb Herr Hh >
oat aes tt
* both
+ teas
Satcch canine
by lew loa doe
ve
Note Aatie ia lee u
vt t
F Yew? ig
$18 eh 9 heg ad pe
4 WMA Ta age be) aihertte dba
ta
ie
* lal
fo yeet
< 1a,
NE Ae he dee |
Mh Mata
Se taelarin
baa
beGr~
shale
athe in
vate ileda de e4
Spethoeataw
106s bes Heb.
. hen ehh!
EF ANdE IS om bah
Rea es abe
Etaciuicriet
lehubel wt
we sre phe 4
abe ie re ,
a
2 jab acda ibe fovea
pertasicrsatee 2
er
De 9 he deta dolar
pooped bee
ripen re:
ws gain
octet
eh
93
rs Hear
anit
sie
ae pet r
acaee evades
ered siaiceerait a;
depends
nee
an)
seh
ja" Fedifedeney
Shaw |-Ge ne iat athe
ry ety
jad
Cl
Ja dria ineg 2 He
Speessts ae
ret bia wi
‘ SPL grewhaenel La bbe
pple Pet tet
BOR oda ta
bibethublnl cule yt
44 V8 be bali inatlies ota fpoitne
W248 ee? inue acme
¥
aa
a» i}
iced
42 jaetd (900i
he
MAG boige
inthe tp fa teeta joe
4
*hedet
Pritts
tbaheus
ott
.
he
oe 2 ery
satel es
a
Wp f pe ey
+
ht de FO hodihite ike lie hoe
Seiad Low
‘al ei ‘Geto be Dye ee,
ie
4
b ts ae
tepeiteseesse
aseje
saa ie
Pehessie?
*
ipeite ere
*
0 e web oka ie
geno gs sa ac
site 8 sie nae
hone ‘ein Teesalad
nee
Po phe ben ghar
a
(ad deg 3 pohewe ted
- ae Hehe ta
a hand hethe
rector ite ie er}
op Se hed wtihes ne fa)
oh da de Fah reat '
We tela te heel tate rs
lige Sadndedalvnrabioltaghs deecicrnnioce
wpe 0s ha hes * eat ae
po 40+ he hehe befits SG sioute ba fedeaene
do de Leb oe ie da lene Gali
NER eho Ne Ra tope the te
hea Bele fhe he inet
nbeh= 05 be
ots:
othe ss
pape iio be
[a
Lire trletrtitett tet
2 toiteat ia tehe oie whe Oe beta lw be in My te
A860 de 18 Ot fon Qeibe pode te da he dtie a Bete
Tih) haste 9de Me, fot ipee bene
wie aig deta ae hie inte
eiie
+ a by
<4 Be Bo ty
Sh fo bg ab tog
646 bette 4 ie
fete ie tee
eee dae Low)
ib D+ Lemnieibe hake
diesfie tote elteds
$905 hee Nae be
a
siete pe
Me ghee eo’
ersicashe serie
9M de toGt O08 198 Dele eats
pelts de
ie he gee ld ena kOe 10) waht eee
Ada pein ha botte Grom ite sete lhe dagy inlet
Melba sn! ob we hate oie iahe te ie lade he
5 ho tha | pe bm tof Bo Aes tobe be bo he to Sa
bt pavte evin ot POM Yq be iels ek abe
loharhadietinddwehe- lll Reka tree
e°0 wpe lie ie
Sa esi aw sone
tba D4 ane Ne Oe
abonatiels wis be ape boleh ee but by apelin
“hats tee pr be ele ht he pe ne eh betel he 04 deer
518 toate oho lee be tane + he te Sete
se hode 9¢ ho chathe Reng ing ioe bt iio the dei Le seine (ha tacts iw aad
(ot 120 be hpre vag. lotoee | bibewobe ye pobat ia
dL de tl tee a ee fy
a he he bee a haw g nef
te Oe hese Ve4 eerie
hehe tens
CoWare ve or Fe bape
ei ndintel stise
Led
ree
re ‘
tee
prtiterrreeeaae
fae yatss tecitaeasitetsee
a hokaeae
I$ tw}=bonede ang s¥- bent:
(ie itbebabevess§cbs iat
Mebhieiea webay' b> (sone
Sih ibe eae, ar tft
we balk peda gs jrurmadt ings key
niowe dares tye 66 7
mer
“8
dove dadeg:4
ert date ett
piddatceadbieliiaalacaiacetu ¥
Hermalin ttt tem
ret foastieeata Leb pt probit !
Dib ts ont bet sinmtecm ae. oi ine Ft
ata
a.
eine ues
jadag:
iapeainn
pe
Descea vena ha tae
fnanaaosngses tata
igre ui bt
A tag i Ib reden sat
heerdanhd phe, Shane dunt.
Lp
bo kire ies
ates bse jet.
Notrtel pent oh
bademaden ics
eer agueten
use
as
eaenes ve
Hasee ig t= +4 )
elascamoenta)
Forte uatoge
Pgoeee oe b4 re .
I viii te Une te
a A.
i hada weds
f 4 ‘
Sear
ritee ieedusietegen
eta
beth ieg pene
patie
pelane sets
y
pe bet r9i is
iat ae
moda dhe hoatbammethie inte
1150 batbaaaibennnd?
2 Nahe atpen ant od bpbbe
oa 4
Le
ey
ager Sabai vataeerl
ebay Mee aa bof bebe
ech ate ry
4
i" Pheays,
iciinibt Goiaiiea Apic haben
asi aT Nett be heart
i
ie"
saab las ah head
ayaneeet
+ 3 pita suet dais hahetat on,
. a teibey bir bb vest rte) ot
: b Natty 4
reirhaipre a. : Hite 42
albintpehpbotriedyyeenen
alaedant tonsa ae
Ma tedsibeus
+
an as
ro rere!
arere
thn nates ae
betgue
i)
titistaeents
re ete tlie ve ae)
a ateaereselie tsi
ghee hed bee tp bet
arene
bt Copter Fa
jo tane
altaita in Bah GPS So
te
have be
-
pereee
niasengi
*
sebeageeecaersrate
be 78
eda de ee te Aare ye tgarite
PS rt Sy OT FY
Return this book on or before the
Latest Date stampe
: SAT i oop Ee OOD
Encloses copies of letters to and from Lord Caermarthen, on the appointment
of Mr. Anstey, to prevent imposition upon the Commissioners in ascertaining
the claims of the Royalists. ;
Lord Caermarthen to John Adams. St. James’s, November 30,
_ On the subject of the appointment of Mr. Anstey.
John Adams to Lord Caermarthen. Grosvenor Square, December
NTE os o's cin apie «c's cle evel ue's oot lak loot Tiree O40
Replies to his Lordship, and expresses his satisfaction at the appointment.
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, December 6,
MMOL meOMeNO IG SUG PRUs K bt fe ECU Ch U2 er. eee b4l
important considerations sacrificed in Great Britain toa momentary tranquillity
and credit. Expected fate of the enclosed memorial. Thinks if no answer
is given it should be demanded, and that he should take leave and return
home. It now remains with the States to determine whether there is or is
not a union in America. With union they may be respected. Advises that
all the great sea-port towns should.think of the means of defence, and the
militia be placed on the best possible footing. African affairs. Happy sit-
uation of the people of America; their future power. Propensity to the sea
compared to that of the water-fowl. Practical statesmen will act accordingly.
Memorial respecting the evacuation of the posts, addressed to the Ministry
of his Britannic Majesty, dated at Westminster, the 30th November, 1785,
p. 542.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, Westminster,
ba ae pi i eal i adi alles ae ing Soha; Reh aU RIAD IS YOR
Interview with Lord Caermarthen, who states that he is about to reply officially
to the communications of Mr. Adams. Presents to his Lordship the memo-
rial of the 30th November: Reasons for the presentation.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, December 12,
Announces an official answer from the Marquis of Caermarthen, with a letter
from the Lords of the Admiralty. The answer concerning the sailors more
favorable than was expected. ‘That respecting Captain Stanhope as much
so. General complaints of the foreign Ministers at not receiving an answer
to their memorials respecting seamen.
XXIV CONTENTS.
Lord Caermarthen to John. Adams. St. James’s, December 9,
Letter of Mr. Adams respecting the conduct of Captain Stanhope laid before
the King, with the memorial concerning the detention of American seamen.
Papers sent to the Lords of the Admiralty by the King’s command. Encloses
copy of a letter received from their Lordships on these subjects. Copy of
» said letter from the Lords of the Admiralty, dated December 7, 1785. Opin-
ion of their Lordships on the conduct of Captain Stanhope, p. 545.
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, December 15,
Mysterious movements in Government. General Faucett; conjectures with
regard to his destination. Other warlike indications. Arnold gone out
to America, to be out of the way of contempt, and ready for a new war.
Joseph Brandt and Governor Hamilton arrived from Quebec. Reports
propagated by the Refugees of a general confederation of the Indians. Views
and hopes of these people. The matters upon which the British Government
will probably now determine. Something may be learnt during the winter
session of Parliament, but shall not know the whole till next summer. Mar-
quis de la Fayette returned from Germany alarmed at the false impressions
made by the British newspapers to our disadvantage. Secret motive of those
misrepresentations, the fear of emigration. America popular; her condition.
State of the people of Europe; their desire of change. Eagerness with which
every circumstance is collected which can throw a damp upon emigration.
French publications equally forward with those of the English in political
inventions for this purpose. General abuse of America by the British press.
Refuse to insert acts of Congress or other public documents in their papers.
Attempt to counteract provoking new inventions. Parsimony in support of
public servants; its humiliating consequences. Obligations of the Ministers
with regard to hospitality.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, December —,
Anxiety to convey in a strong light the impossibility of effecting any thing
satisfactory with England. Propriety and necessity of keeping these com-
munications secret. Conduct and character of the King. Character of Mr.
Pitt. What constitutes the character of a British statesman. Has seen no
man in power who answers the description. Landsdowne the most like it.
Observations on the character of other Ministers. The King deceived with
regard to the success of the Prince of Orange and his party. Its consequences.
Lord Camden and the Duke of Richmond, if they ever entertained just
notions of the relations between America and England, changed. Opinion
of Lord Caermarthen. Lord Sidney similar traits of character. No reason-
able arrangement for America can be expected for some time. View of the
opposition. Lord North at the head of the landed or Tory interest. Mr.
F'ox unsteady in American politics. The Marquis of Buckingham possessed
of some good opinions; but odious to multitudes of the people. Other favor-
able considerations. Advance of stocks; commerce flourishing; credit estab-
lished. The general opinion is, that an act of Parliament will be passed
placing the United States upon the footing of the most favored nation. Uni-
versal peace the language now of the Court of France. Gullibility of England.
Peace may be maintained some years—till England gets money to go to war.
Future prospects and alliances. English opinions with regard to the posts,
Canada, &c. Aim and object of the Refugees. If they prevail our posts
will be retained. Old debts will be the pretence. Situation of the American
Minister at London; his insignificance and difficulties. Congress and the
Legislatures must act. Policy of closer political connexions doubted. Ad-'
vantageous ground of the United States if they can unite ina system. Mr.
Jay’s report on the preceding letter, p. 557.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, January 4,
L186 Ve vic twine + wica-bic oe cc cissce sce ce cos 0 0 chitin eaters
CONTENTS, XXV
Some intention of the Ministry to take up American affairs; their conferences
with merchants; their inability if desirous of effecting an equitable settle-
ment. Congress and the States must not relax their measures. Discrim-
inating duties recommended. Report of Mr. Jay upon preceding letter,
dated March 30, 1786, p. 559. ;
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, January 21,
Interview with the Chevalier del Pinto. Question of sending a Portuguese
Ambassador to America. Lord Caermarthen had stated he was about to
answer the memorial concerning the posts; delayed for further information
concerning the debts.. Mr. Eden believes there will be a treaty of commerce
with America ina year or two. One with France not probable. Reasons
for the appointment of Eden to the Court of Versailles.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, January 26,
Dee LIC. Is giv: cab. ecsinie hattiorm Une WOK sAicils «ete eDOL
Introduces John Anstey, barrister at law and member of Parliament, being
vested with authority to verify the claims of loyalists. Transmits debates
and the King’s saat Singular forgetfulness of the King and every member
of both Houses. Both parties in the State agreed to a confederation with
Prussia and Denmark. They likewise agree that the resources of the country
are inexhaustible. A confederation with Russia and Denmark would be
beneficial to America; in what manner. A friendly settlement with Spain
desirable. A Minister should be sent to Holland, whose inhabitants are the
most cordial friends we have in Europe. Conversation with the Marquis of
Landsdowne and Lord Abingdon. Opinions deduced therefrom,
John Jay to John Adams, May 4, 1786.... 202 cece seee 0002062
Acknowledges receipt of letters to the 26th January, 1786; have all been laid
before Congress. No instructions from Congress to say anything on the
subjects of them. States not represented. Prussian treaty received and
ratification reported. Printed papers transmitted; will give some idea of
affairs. Proposed imposts gaining ground. Mr. Anstey arrived. Mr.
Hancock absent from Congress. Thinks the President of Congress should
absent himself as little as possible.
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, February 9, 1786. .563
Recommends and eulogizes in a particular manner Colonel Humphreys, who
is about to return to America.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, February 14,
Dee LT AE RAE ROR as OMe Tae ees Mace e chs hee ee DOE
Remarks on two pamphlets transmitted by Mr. Jay.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, February 16,
On African affairs. An envoy from Tripoli in London.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, February 17,
The Tripoline Ambassador; the object of his mission. Interview with him;
substance of the conference.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, February 20,
DOU. SVM oot OD ie blocs EN, avy lly widhidegdearaniits HOS
Second interview with the Tripolitan Minister; relation of the conference.
Mr. Jefferson requested to come over to London. If the sum limited by
Congress should be insufficient for the treaty, thinks a million of guilders
might be borrowed in Holland.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, February 22,
Are ele ee ots « o COMME OS Eee cele ere ckes coe MOOTT
XXvl CONTENTS.
Another conference with the Tripolitan Ambassador. Treaties with the Bar-
bary Powers expensive. Advantages of those treaties. Quotes the sixth
article of the Confederation in relation to embassies.
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, February 26,
RTED nce of » + o:n einieth «on eseus sung lene © 4: wacele n npeieut ely 2a
The Portuguese Ambassador answered by his Court relative to the treaty with
the United States. Proposition togexchange Ministers with that Court.
Necessity of maintaining Ministers abroad. Principle of the French econ-
omists. Its effect upon the United States. Extract of a letter from the
Secretary of State of her Most Faithful Majesty. Lisbon, January 4, 1786,
p. 575. List of vessels which entered the port of Lisbon in 1785, p. 577.
From the same to the same. London, June 27, 1786........578
Information given by the Envoy of Portugal that the Queen had instructed
her naval commanders to protect vessels of the United States from the Bar-
barians. If the United States wish to begin a navy the Algerine war a good
opportunity, but will cost money.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, February 27,
D6 eee ee i ap acale’ ech areie.ess ¢hptie a nena?
Observations and apology of the Marquis of Caermarthen for not having yet
answered the memorial. Newfoundland bill and American intercourse bill.
The principles which governed the same for the last twenty years. Mr. Pitt
either a convert or only an ostensible Minister. America must determine
upon her own measures.
John Adams to Lord Caermarthen. Grosvenor Square, February
O, VFBG eee PoC Lee eee oe 0 bas or
Transmits to his Lordship a copy of Mr. Temple’s letter of the 21st December,
1785, to Mr. Jay. Guves the information respecting said letter which Con-
gress had directed. Proposes that a Minister Plenipotentiary should be sent
ao ‘America, The propricty and expediency. Congress expect such a
inister. vara
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, March 4, 1786. .580
Encloses copies of the Secretary of State ’y answer to the memorial touching
the surrender of the posts, and a statement of grievances of British mer-
chants. Copies of said papers, pp. 581-648.
Report of Secretary Jay on the letter of 4th March, and enclo-
GUITES sein view Gas oie bs sje sees wine aus oe sloth 0 iu tte
Secretary Jay’s Report. Draft of a circular letter to the Governors
Of Statescns sce merk> onscreen «+ sinuses ape peie an manmnamneee sJelaara?
Draft of instructions to Mr. Adams on the subject of his letter of the
Ath of .March, ,17 8G: sie cabtese’¥* smo’ we, oie aliens Segal Mae
John Jay to John Adams. New York, June 6, 1786........657
Acknowledges receipt of letters to the 4th March. Nine States being repre -
sented a prospect of despatches of more importance. Encloses a ratification
of the Prussian treaty. Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey experi-
menting in paper money. Doubts the propriety of borrowing more money,
The Treasury low and the States backward.
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, May 16, 1786..658
Happiness at finding that twelve States have granted the impost. Is persuaded
that New York will not long withhold her assent. Good effects which this
measure will produce. The power to regulate commerce will not, probably,
be long withheld from Congress. Is pleased to find a coincidence of opin-
ions with regard to demanding a categorical answer. It is now with Congress
to deliberate and determine what answer shall be made.
CONTENTS. XKVIi
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, May 25, 1786. .659
No memorial has been presented concerning the negroes. Reasons for the
delay. Lord Caermarthen’s justification of the detention of the posts in the
memorial of the 30th November. The same answer, or a reference to that
answer, would be given to other memorials. Advises all laws in contraven-
tion of the treaty to be repealed, and the debtors left to settle their disputes
at law. Thinks no jury would give interest, Various suggestions respecting
the debts; but believes it a sounder policy and nobler spirit to repeal at once
every law inconsistent with the treaty. Credit and commerce would be
increased.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, May 28, 1786. .661
South American affairs. An agent arrested at Rouen. Another in London
applying to Government for aid. Persons might be found to undertake an
otiice similar to that of M. Beaumarchais. An opinion prevailing that a
reyolution would be agreeable to the United States. Reasons why France
and Portugal should assist Spain. England would reap the greatest benefit.
European policy. Alliances probable to liberate South America, The con-
sequences. Refers to a pamphlet, written in 1783, ‘‘ La Crise de 1’Europe.”
Extracts from the work. England preparing to strike a blow at the house of
Bourbon.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, June 6, 1786. .667
When taxes are laid money may be borrowed. If they are not laid the ares
servants had better return home. The system of England settled. Choice
of the United States.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, June 6, 1786. .666
Encloses papers relative to African affairs.
John Jay to John Adams. New York, August 19, 1786...,..667
Acknowledges the receipt of letters to the 6th June. Delays in Congress for
want of adequate representation. It is therefore letters are unanswered and
instructions not given on essential points. Treaty expected from Portugal.
Has advised new commissions for Messrs. Adams and Jefferson. Regrets
his letters do not convey more important matter. Would be at no loss to
form a judgment, but might not coincide with Congress.
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, June 16, 1786..668
Mr. Jay’s letter of the 4th May received. Lord Caermarthen has spoken of
the civil reception which Mr, Anstey writes he received. His Lordship says
that a Minister will certainly be sent to America. The difficulty was to find
a suitable person. Long conversation with his Lordship. Posts, debts,
&c. Recommends that Congress should require the States to repeal all laws
irreconcilable to the treaty, with a declaration that interest is no part of the
bona fide debts. ‘The question to be then left to the judges and juries. The
opinion of Mr. Adams is, that interest is no part of the bona fide debt.
From the same to the same. London, June 27, 1786........670
Mr. Jay’s letter of the 1st May received, with the orders of Congress. The
vessel which was the bearer of the reply to the memorial of the 30th
November having sprung aleak and put into Lisbon, encloses duplicate
copies.
From the same to the same. London, July 15, 1786........670
Conduct of Captain Stanhope at Boston reprehensible. His justification con-
sidered by the Lords of the Admiralty a further provocation. A rap over
the knuckles, Instructions to be given to Sir Guy Carleton concerning the
eastern boundary. A Minister to the United States not yet appointed.
From the same to the same. London, July 30, 1786.........671
Mr. Jay’s letter of the 6th June received, with the ratification of the treaty
with Prussia. Mr. Penn, a British Senator and friend to America, the bearer
of this communication. Laments the lust for paper money in some parts of
XXVill CONTENTS.
the United States. Its evil consequences. Has learned with great satisfac-
tion that Mr. Jay has received his letter of the 4th March, containing the
answer of the British Court to the memorial respecting the posts. Wishes
Mr. Jay’s sentiments upon it, that being the most important despatch yet
transmitted. Desires instructions of Congress concerning the negroes.
John Adams to John Jay. London, July 31, 1786..........672
Relative to Mr. Randall. Prisoners at Algiers.
John Jay to John Adams. New York, October 4, 1786......673
Letters received to the 30th July immediately laid before Congress. Commo-
tions in New England. An account of one at Exeter, New Hampshire,
enclosed. Creditable to the Government. Rage for paper money. Indecision
in the construction of our Government. ;
From the same to the same. New York, November 1, 1786...674
Letter of Mr. Adams of the 15th July has come to hand. A report on the
frontier posts is under consideration of Congress. Daily violation of the
treaty by the respective States. Unpleasant state of affairs in America.
John Adams to John Jay. London, October 3, 1786........675
Treaty of commerce between France and England. Stipulations. Negotiations
between England and Russia at a stand. Hopes and expectations for Hol-
land. Their progress in liberal institutions. The best form of Government,
according to Mr. Adams.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, October 7,
Motives for a visit to the Hague. Exchange of ratifications of the Prussian
treaty. Relations of France and England. The effect they wish to produce
upon the United States. The plant of liberty yet to be watered with blood.
Advice to cherish the militia.
John Jay to John Adams. New York, January 17, 1787.... .680
Letters received to the 27th October. Congress have not made a House since
the 3d November last.
From the same to the same. New York, February 6, 1787. ..680
General St. Clair, President of Congress. Encloses letter to the Queen of
Portugal. Report of Secretary Jay, January 25, 1787, p. 681.
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, November 30,
Replies to Mr. Jay’s of the 4th October. Has received from Lord Caermar-
then, officially, the treaty between France and England. Symptoms of a
treaty with America. American and European taxation compared. Reflec-
tions upon the situation of America.
John Jay to John Adams. . New York, February 21,1787....683
Nine States are represented. ‘The insurrection in Massachusetts suppressed.
Transmits papers concerning the details. Insufficiency of the present form
of Government. Proposed changes. Moderation of New York towards
the Tories. ‘ Disinclination of the people to pay taxes.
From the same to the same. New York, April 2, 1787.......684
Encloses a copy of the resolutions of Congress of the 21st March, which he
thinks might be well to communicate informally to Lord Caermarthen. In-
creasing difficulties in the Government of the Confederacy.
From the same to the same. Office for Foreign Affairs, May 3,
In relation to the appointment of Phineas Bond, Esq., Commissary for Com-_
mercial Affairs in the United States, on behalf of his Britannic Majesty.
Objections on the part of Congress.
CONTENTS. ie
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, January 9, 1787. .687
Conference with the Tripolitan Ambassador. Renewed apologies of the Por-
tuguese Minister. Supposes divisions of sentiment in the Cabinet of Portu-
gal. Interview with his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland. Encloses
a copy of a letter from the Marquis of Caermarthen. Mistake of his Lord-
ship. Enclosures: Lord Caermarthen to John Adams. Whitehall, Novem-
ber 1, 1786, p. 687. Lord Caermarthen to John Adams. Whitehall,
December 1], 1786, p. 687. Messrs. Wilhem & Jan Willink, and Nicholas
& Jacob Van Staphorst to John Adams, January 5, 1787, p. 688. M. Dumas
to Messrs. W. & J. Willink and Messrs. N. & J. Van Staphorst. ‘The
Hague, January 2, 1787, p. 689. Certificate of surveyors of buildings,
p. 690.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, January 24,
Communicates his intention of returning to the United States on the expiration
of his commission. Solicits a letter of recall from the Low Countries.
Arrival of Colonel Franks with the treaty with Morocco. No prospect of
farther success withthe Barbary Powers. Recommends Colonel Smith as a
future Chargé d’Affaires. Will embark for America in the spring of 1788.
From the same to the same. London, January 27, 1787......693
Treaty with Morocco happily concluded. Expenses of the treaty. Colonel
Franks, who accompanied Mr. Barclay, the bearer of the treaty. Mr. Lamb
advised to return to New York No intelligence concerning the treaty with
Portugal. Scarcity of money will suspend further proceedings with the
Barbary Powers. Encloses letters from ‘Thomas Barclay to Messrs. Adams
and Jefferson. Cadiz, October 2, 1786, p. 694. From the same to the same.
Madrid, November 7, 1786, p. 695. ‘Thomas Barclay to Messrs. Adams and
Jefferson. Escurial, November 15, 1786, p. 697. Letter from the Emperor
of Morocco to the President of Congress, June 28, 1786, p. 698. The Em-
peror of Morocco to the King of Spain, p. 699. Sidi Hadge Taher Ben
Fennish to Messrs. Adams and Jefferson. Morocco, July 16, 1786, p. 700.
Thomas Barclay to Messrs. Adams and Jefferson. ‘Tangier, September 10,
1786. ‘The commerce, ports, naval force, revenue, language, government,
&c., of the Empire of Morocco, pp. 701-716. Thomas Barclay to Messrs.
Adams and Jefferson. Tangier, September 13,1786. Further particulars
respecting Morocco, p. 716. Thomas Barclay to Messrs. Adams and Jef-
ferson. Ceuta, September 18,1786. Particulars of the negotiations with
the Emperor of Morocco, p. 721. Francis Chiappi appointed agent for the
United States of America at Morocco, p. 725.
Report of. Secretary Jay, May 1, 1787 5.... 00000. e088 eee 125
Advising the ratification of the Morocco treaty.
Report of Secretary Jay, July 23, [misprinted July 27,] 1787. .727
On the papers which accompanied the treaty with Morocco.
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, January 27, 1787. .732
Note received from Lord Caermarthen relative to Chinese seamen. Practice of
metamorphosing British into American bottoms to trade to the East Indies.
Encloses a note from Lord Caermarthen. Grosvenor Square, January 26,
1787, p. 732. Transmits a petition relative to East India seamen, p. 732.
Report of Secretary Jay on the preceding letter of Mr. Adams.
_ Office for Foreign Affairs, July 31, 1787. 2.0... 00000002738
John Adams to John Jay. London, February 3, 1787.......734
No better prospect for America. Opening of the Parliament. Revenue defi-
cient. Mode of keeping up the spirits of the people. Transmits a letter
from John Hales relative to the East India ship which was supposed to have
been made an American bottom. Is desirous of returning home; will embark
in by of 1788. From John Hales to John Adams, February 2, 1787,
p. 736.
vee CONTENTS.
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, February 24,
Transmits a letter to Congress from Mr. Harrison, relative to disbursements
for Captain Irwin. Reeommends the claim to Congress. R. Harrison to
John Adams. London, February 21, 1787, p. 736. .
John Jay to John Adams. Office for Foreign Affairs, May 12,
VIST bee LN V ebali aad. ered, CR a
Letters acknowledged to the 24th February. Motion made in Congress to
remove to Philadelphia. Business delayed by debate. Copy of Mr. Adams’s
book received; disagrees in certain particulars.
From the same to the same. Office for Foreign Affairs, May 14,
WOT dc esac casiccns seees see ee 60s 65 50] e
Recommends the Honorable D. Huger to the attention of Mr. Adams.
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, April 10, 1787..738
No change in American affairs. Silence prevails. Members of Parliament
detest to hear the name of America. Secret schemes, however, to plunder
us. Information by an engraver of an attempt to counterfeit the paper bills
of the Carolinas. Refusal of base copper coin. Supposes it will be shipped
to America. Cautions against its reception. Colonel Smith about to depart
for Portugal.
From the same to the same. London, April 19, 1787........739
Encloses an act of Parliament for regulating the trade between the United
States and the dominions of the King of Great Britain. Reported negotia-
tion between Lord Dorchester and Vermont. Encloses another curious bill
moved in the House of Lords. Probable change of Ministry.
From the same to the same. London, April 30, 1787 escce ve v.'740
Application made to the British Ministry on the receipt of the letter of Dr.
Wren to prevent the counterfeiting American paper currency. Opinion and
advice of the under Secretary to consult the magistracy. ‘Types, stamps,
&c., seized. Conduct of the Government perfectly polite and proper. En-
closes a letter from Dr. Thomas Wren'to John Adams. Portsmouth, April
22, 1787. Relative to counterfeiting the paper currency of the United States,
p. 741. Mr. Mowbray to John Adams, (without date,) on the same subject,
p. 744.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, May 1,1787..745
Transmits a volume on improvements in naval architecture, with the original
letters of the author. Patrick Miller to John Adams. Edinburgh, April
14, 1787, p. 745.
John Jay to John Adams. Office for Foreign Affairs, July 14,
Letters received to the Ist May. States not represented in Congress. Public
attention turned to the convention. Necessity of strength: in the national
Government. The western Indians inclined to be hostile. Impotency of
Government. Delays injurious.
John Adams to John Jay. London, May Oy PTST ees. a
The result of the convention must be beneficial. Importance of the Missis-
sippi and the fisheries. Hopes to receive orders to return home. Incivility
and imprudence of the British Court in not sending a Minister to America,
Impropriety of renewing his commission. State of England and the Royal
family. Letter from the American: captives in Algiers, February 13, 1787,
p. 748.
From the same to the same. London, May 14, 1787........751.
Resolutions of Congress of. the 21st March, informally communicated to Lord
Caermarthen. His Lordship highly pleased.
CONTENTS. exxi
John. Adams to John, Jay, May 23,-V87.06 cede evieds cb ereels VDE
Transmits copies of protested bills of exchange; also letters from the Commis-
sioners of Loans at Amsterdam. Intends going to Amsterdam. Reduced
to the necessity of opening a new loan to save the credit of the United States.
Moneyed transactions, how affected. Drafts of Thomas Barclay for the
Morocco treaty have exceeded what was anticipated. Regrets he has no
letter of recall from the Hague. LEncloses letters from Messrs. Wilhem &
Jan Willink to John Adams. Amsterdam, May 15,1787. On financial
affairs, p. 753. Messrs. Wilhent & Jan Willink to John Adams. Amster-
dam, May 18, 1787, p. 754.
John Jay to John Adams. Office for Foreign Affairs, July 31,
Letters acknowledged to the 23d May. Transmits sundry acts of Congress-
Obstacles to the execution of the treaty removed by several of the States-
Progress of the convention at Philadelphia. Extract from the Secret Jour
nals, July 20, 1787, p. 758. Papers relative to the treaty of peace: John
Sullivan to John Jay. Exeter, September 18, 1786. Transmits an act of
the Legislature of New Hampshire, pp. 759-760. James Bowdoin to John
Jay. Boston, May 17, 1786. Encloses acts and resolutions of Massachu-
setts, pp. 761-773 John Collins to John Jay. Newport, September 4, 1786.
An act of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, pp. 773-774. Samuel
Huntington to John Jay. Council Chamber, Hartford, June 12, 1786. An
act of Connecticut, pp. 774-776. W. Livingston to John Jay. Elizabeth-
town, June 15, 1786, p. 776. George Clinton to John Jay. New York,
July 20,1786. Extract from the proceedings of the Assembly of New
York, pp. 777-782. An act of the State of Delaware, p. 782. An act of
the State of Maryland, p. 782. Patrick Henry to John Jay. Richmond,
June 7, 1786, An act of Virginia, p. 784. Richard Caswell to John Jay.
North Carolina, Kingston, June 21, 1786. An act of North Carolina, pp.
784-786. William Moultrie to John Jay. Charleston, South Carolina, June
21, 1786, p. 786.
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, London, June 16,
ee ask els ana so pele elias oo ue 8b bo 00 «0 ee hd
Transmits a translation of the contract fora million of guilders. Absolute
necessity for the measure. Prompt ratification important. Visit to Amster-
dam. Riots in that city. Hopes the Dutch may be left to settle their own
disputes. Contract for a loan of a million of guilders, pp. 789-792.
Report of Secretary Jay, October 12, 1787, on the preceding letter
Prtne LGth: Juneites sl ieee sind s He Sele T hon velo MP olde 192
John Jay to John Adams. New York, September 4, 1787....792
Want of adequate representation prevents action on foreign affairs. Report
made on Mr. Adams’s return. Extract from the Secret Journals of Congress,
August 1, 1787, p. 793.
From the same to the same. Office of Foreign Affairs, October 8,
No decision yet had upon Mr. Adams’s return. Encloses copy of the new
form of Government. Fate uncertain. Opposition expected. Extract from
the Secret Journals of Congress, September 24, 1787, p. 793.
From the same to the same. Office for Foreign Affairs, October
RO UES ean mses Sa eaey Ar. Si. wi tL. ewsiek 24 odn AoeLT9G
Transmits an act of Congress complying with Mr. Adams’s request to return.
No decision respecting a Minister or Chargé d’Affaires. Transmits various
other acts and papers enumerated. American public much occupied with the
new form of Government. Considers it a compromise. Mr. Jeflerson’s
commission renewed. Friendly wishes to the Dutch. Extract from the
Secret Journals of Congress, October 5, 1787, p. 798.
XXX CONTENTS.
John Jay to John Adams. Office for Foreign Affairs, November
PMO TS OSSD PL OR OS LR Se 5S Re
Transmits sundry acts of Congress. Extracts from the Secret Journals of
Congress, October 11 and 12, 1787, p. 801.
John Adams to John Jay. London, September 10, 1787.....802
Encloses a letter from the Portuguese Minister. Thinks the United States
should have a Minister at Lisbon Colonel Smith’s journey to Portugal.
Observations on such missions—unknown and informal.
Chevalier del Pinto to John Adams. London, September 7,
On an exchange of Ministers. John Adams to the Portuguese Minister.
Grosvenor Square, September 10, 1787, p. 804.
John Adams to John Jay. London, September 22, 1787... .804
Mr. Jay’s letter of the 3lst July received. The arrival fortunate, although
there has been no act of Virginia or South Carolina. European affairs and
probability of a war. De Moustier Minister from France to Congress.
Consequences of along war in Europe to the United States. Delicacy of
his situation in case of war.
From the same to the same. London, September 22, 1787... .805
Impressment of American seamen. Note addressed to Lord Caermarthen
delivered in person. His Lordship promises redress. Invited to talk.
Nothing learned but that war had been declared by the Porte against
Russia. Critical situation of Europe. Another case of impressment. John
Adams to Lord Caermarthen. Grosvenor Square, September 22, 1787, p. 807.
From the same to the same. London, September 23, 1787....807
Dahgerous situation of Holland. The English arming. Inactivity of France
Unsettled State of Europe. Mr. Pitt’s economical plans disarranged. For-
tunate position of the Americans, who should fortify and cherish their noble
institutions.
From the same to the same. London, October 9, 1787.......809
Situation and position of France contrasted with that of England. Able
diplomatists required on the part of the former at the Courts of London and
the Hague. Characters of the Marquis de Verac and Comte de Adhemar.
On the conduct of Ambassadors in general. Policy and measures. of Eng-
land, ‘The indifference of France about Holland will not secure her peace.
The excitement of the English is astonishing. Is confident a war is not far
off. Wisdom in the United States to remain neutral; but if England is suc-
cessful will not be permitted. Affairs of Holland dismal. A warning to the
United States.
From the same to the same. London, October 25, 1787......811
Encloses aletter of Mr. Fagel relative to M. Dumas. Memorial to their High
Mightinesses, &c., signed John Adams, p. 812. H. Fagel to John Adams.
The Hague, October 18, 1787, p. 813. John Adams to H. Fagel. London,
October 25, 1787, p. 813. John Adams to M. Dumas. London, October 25,
1787, p. 814.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, November 15,
DA Ts Scola dlale 6 ain ene ds Baie BAIS 6 sides SR leh, Ke
Attack upon M. Dumas. Hints in the English papers of his friendship to
France. Advises his dismission with a pension. In relation to the corre-
spondence with Mr. Fagel; thinks Congress not obliged formally to answer
it. General remarks on European affairs. If England succeeds against the
house of Bourbon will not scruple to attack the United States. Conduct of
M. Dumas and Messrs. Van Staphorsts not approved of in taking so decided
parts in favor of France and against the Stadtholder. Note from Lord Caer-
marthen. Whitehall, October 30, 1787, p. 817. Enclosing declaration and
counter-declaration.
CONTENTS. XXXili
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, November 30,
LTS Gae ae de << sivtes sc Pen AR EB oo eels ae Susitiey sine SOLE
Transmits the King’s speech and panegyrics upon it. Imprudent conduct of
a deceased French Minister. Reflections upon other Ministers. Providen-
tial escape of the United States from Mr. Deane ’s system, of De Maillebois’s,
and De Coudray’s. Many exiles from Holland. Interposition of Prussia
in the affairs of Holland unjustifiable. Speeches of Fox and Pitt. Policy
of England developed in the speech. State of France. If the house of
Bourbon is unable to assert her dignity the demands of England will become
extravagant. Great necessity of caution on the part of the United States.
Speech of the King of England, p. 820.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, December 11,
Se er a eee Pe Bile likin b slon dele sig.04 cee
Transmits to Congress a paper of Patrick Miller, of experiments in navigation.
Experiments in navigation by Patrick Miller, Esquire, June 2, 1787, p. 822.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, December 16,
Dds Gh ese eeoeeeoeveeceevoee eevee ee & @ eeoeoeoeve eoevets eee ¢ @ gas Need
Mr. Jay’s letter of the 16th October received, with its enclosures. Is honored
by the approbation of Congress. Mr. Smith will return to New York.
oe fe of the new plan of Government. Hopes to hear of its being
adopted by all the States. Rumor of a quadruple alliance in rs
America nothing to fear, except a want of union and government. No
answer from the Ministry to any letters or memorials. None expected.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, February 14,
i TA ie a gic c.cteje sieeve ered dnecs eeee rt er rrey, Sotew Sema)
Lord Caermarthen expresses a wish for a commercial treaty with the United
States. His opinion of the new Constitution. Consequences in Europe if
the Constitution is rejected. Personal treatment on preparing for departure
the same on the part of the Opposition and Administration. The Marquis
de la Luzerne, Ambassador at the Court of St. James’s, has already met
with humiliations. Ill reception of the Chevalier de Ternant by the King
and Queen.
From the same to the same. Grosvenor Square, February 16,
ee OO ON UN Ro dale Us Cacieenin Oe b
Mortification at the return of his letters and memorials from the Hague, by
Mr. Fagel. There should have been a letter of recall. The same irregu-
ey in his recall from the British Court. Requests regular letters of recall.
H. Fagel to John Adams. The Hague, February 12, 1788, p. 828. Memo-
rial to his most Serene Highness, William the Fifth, Prince of Orange, &c.,
p. 829. Memorial to their High Mightinesses the Lords the States General
of the United Netherlands, p. 830.
Resolves of Congress, October 5, 1787...+...eeeeeeeee eee B3L
John Adams to John Jay. Grosvenor Square, February 21,
Audience of leave of his Majesty. Address to the King. Reply of his
Majesty.
From the same to the same. Bath Hotel, London, March 26,
Recommendation of Colonel Smith. |
John Jay to John Adams. New York, February 14, 1788... .834
Transmits letters of recall.
John Adams to John Jay. Braintree, October 11, 1788...... 834
Solicits a settlement of his accounts with the United States.
Vou. I].—C
nae “
Yel
Baits hata
si
ai at Mish
Nai fayit $250
i Arete
: SUL va ie
* 2
ita gig
. ae
eh aK a st Be foe:
: ¥ "¢ iW A "
Pies i: iv a Na WTA = aver i alts
ee mr 1 Du eles re) OM SE ea
4 fee hy : z 2 ri | Heine
ne
t ye
Bes ee
4 ttle HO 2
CORRESPONDENCE
OF
PEM AS JEFFERSON,
ONE OF THE COMMISSIONERS FOR THE FORMATION OF
TREATIES OF AMITY AND COMMERCE, AND MIN-
ISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY TO FRANCE,
WITH
THE ANSWERS OF JOHN JAY,
SECRETARY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
CONTINUED FROM VOLUME I.
Vou. IL—i —
alee Hey Galignt ae Wake
fi eet,
ak earay
. fie eS
Lay,
Ye Be
4
OC Ree
3
CORRESPONDENCE.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN Jay.
Paris, November 12, 1786.
Sir,
In a letter which I had the honor of writing you on the 26th
September, [ informed you that a Dutch company were making
propositions to the Minister of Finance here to purchase, at a dis-
count, the debt due from the United States to this country. I have
lately procured a copy of their memoir, which I now enclose.
Should Congress think this subject worthy their attention, they have
no time to lose, as the necessities of the Minister, which alone has
made him to listen to this proposition, may force him to a speedy
conclusion. The effect which a payment of the whole sum would
have here would be very valuable. The only question is, whether
we can borrow it in Holland, a question which cannot be resolved
but in Holland. ‘The trouble of the trial and expense of the trans-
action would be well repaid by the dispositions which would be
excited in our favor in the King and his Ministers.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
Memorial of the Dutch Company.
Translation. ’
¥
» The United States have borrowed a large sum of money from
France, for which they pay an interest until they reimburse it, at the
rate of six per cent. per annum. It is not known to us whether the
*. 'y
4 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
periods of this reimbursement are fixed, or whether they are left to
the convenience of the United States; the quota of this sum is also
unknown. It is supposed that it cannot be less than twenty-four
millions, and that the period of reimbursement is not near. It is
thought that the two nations consider their mutual benefit, and upon
this supposition an arrangement of the debt of the United States is
proposed, which appears to suit the interest of both these Powers.
On the part of France, the want of money to facilitate its reim-
bursements and improvements should induce her to fix a certain price
for the actual return of so large a sum.
On the part of the United States, the scarcity of money which
they experience, and the want of it which the natural extension of
their situation occasions, must render every measure precious that
will bring into circulation the sum they have borrowed, and under
such a form that this circulation will take place as well in the United
States as elsewhere.
This mode offers of itself. It consists in converting the American
debt into bills, payable to the bearer, in sums from five hundred to a
thousand French livres, and annexing dividends to these bills for
receiving the interest in such places as shall be agreed and fixed
upon. It is by no means to be doubted but that commerce and the
Europeans who would settle in the United States.would carry there
great numbers of these bills, which would probably be reimbursed
there. The United States would find two great advantages from this
operation. The first, by acquiring in their circulation at home a
paper which, by the fcll credit it would have, would answer all the
purposes of cash. Secondly, being able to pay at home a part of
the debt and the interest, and to reduce it by degrees, by means of
the purchase of lands with these bills, payable to the bearer; for the
speculators in land could pay for them in this way with advantage,
both on account of their being able to procure these bills in Europe
on better terms than specie, and that it would particularly suit the
United States to encourage the exchange of uncultivated lands which
they have to sell, for bills which they must reimburse, and which, in
the meantime, costs them an annual interest. —
* These instances will prove the great benefit which France would
procure for the United States, by converting the credit she has given
them into bills payable to the bearer, which might be brought. into
circulation.
=
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 5
With respect to the benefit France would reap, it is very probable
that she might dispose of all these bills at once to a company who
would take them up in consideration of some sacrifice and facilities,
which are customary in transactions of such magnitude. It must be
observed here that this arrangement is determined upon the
presumption, as far as the nature of the case will admit, that this
debt is recoverable.
It will, therefore, follow that France will obtain for the purposes
of Government a speedy return of a sum of money which will
proportionably lessen the loans which may be otherwise necessary.
On the first reflection, it might appear that France ought not to
sell her debt with the United States, especially on terms favorable to
the purchasers, but on conditions of not bemg obliged to guaranty
the same against accidents, which may render it doubtful, as this
might occasion a distrust against the credit of the United States,
which might be prejudicial to them, and which would be impolitic
on the part of France, and inconsistent with the reciprocal friendship
between her and the United States. This objection will be removed
by France continuing to be guarantee for the payment of the bills
with interest. This guarantee, therefore, is not only necessary for
the success of the proposed arrangement, but the dignity of France
also requires it; less hazard will attend this than the risk that
attended the losing the sum lent to aid a revolution which she
judged important; the solvency of the United States depending upon
their independence, France ought not to expect any premium for
guarantying a solvency, the basis of which it is her interest to
support. Should the removal of this objection be opposed, by
observing that the speedy benefit of twenty millions is not of suffi-
cient consideration to determine France to make a change, when she
should not thereby free herself at least from risk with the United
States, we answer that the advantage of restoring these twenty
millions into circulation, and thereby preventing the borrowing of
this sum, is not the only one.
The United States are not yet free from -all apprehensions of
danger. There appears some difficulties between them and England
with regard to fulfilling the treaty of peace. The policy, as well as
the inclinations of the United States, require their firmness in every
thing they have to transact with that Power. They may, therefore,
be under the necessity of demanding further pecuniary aids. ‘The
6 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
circumstances that may render these necessary may likewise render
it difficult to obtain, especially should they defer asking them until
these circumstances are made public. This arrangement then may
facilitate their aid. Should it require promptness, and should it be
impolitic or too hazardous to seek it elsewhere than in France, she
may then grant it, without being obliged to increase her taxes by
means of the actual product of her debt. If this consideration has
any weight, it follows that the proposed arrangement should be
delayed as short a time as possible. ‘The English funds fall, and
which can only be attributed to the apprehension that a dangerous
contest may be occasioned by the refusal of the Court of London to
evacuate the forts.
The proposed arrangement requiring his Majesty’s arrét, the
following is a sketch of one if offered.
Sketch of an arrét. Louis, &c.
Upon representations made to us that the sums we have lent to the
United States, our dear allies, will not be returned until a distant
period, and that by turning our debts into negotiable notes they will
enter immediately into circulation, and would afford the said States
an advantageous opportunity of discharging the same, both by means
of removing the necessity of remitting to Europe the necessary funds
for the payment of the interest and capital of part of their debt
represented by the bills which their circulation shall have brought
among them, as also by the opportunities that this circulation may
offer of exchanging lands for these bills, which will thereby give a
new spring to the cultivation which the United States desire to
extend and accelerate, and’ upon being assured that such an opera-
tion would really produce those advantages to the United States,
without the least inconveniency which suggested the measure,
especially by guarantyimg the payment of said bills to the possessors.
We have, therefore, &c., &c.
Another preamble. Louis, &c.
Ever considering what may be advantageous to the United States,
and facilitate to them the means of extricating themselves from a debt
which they have been obliged to contract, as well with us as with
other Powers, and particularly their liberation from the loan of the
year , the period of reimbursement being near at hand, have
conceived that it will be a fresh proof of our good will by giving a.
form to this loan, which will bring it into circulation by making it
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE.
~%
negotiable. It appears to us that by converting this sum of
into bills, payable to the bearer, to the amount of livres each,
-with term of interest, payable at fixed places, we should furnish the
United States with a simple mode of reimbursing successively within
themselves, and without any distress, the bills which will be thrown
into commerce. In operating this conversion, we have thought it
incumbent on our justice, the dignity of our crown, and our affection
for our dear allies, to guaranty the security and the payment of these
bills with their interest. This guarantee will, moreover, afford a
fresh proof of the value we fix on preserving our alliance with the
United States. We have been the more inclined to adopt this
advantageous method for the United States, as it is perfectly recon-
cileable with the interests of our subjects, with the circumstances
and disposition we are in to free our State by degrees of all its debts
and charges. For these reasons, &c., &c.
The articles of the arrét will have in view:
Ist. To create bills payable to the bearer to the amount of the
sum lent to the United States in the year , the fixed period
of whose reimbursement falls in , which bills shall each be of
, and amounting to numbers, from number one to
number , agreeable to the model annexed to the arrét.
Qd. To fix the period of reimbursement, and the number of bills
which shall be reimbursed at each period. ‘This must be determined
by lot. The reimbursements to be made in Paris, Amsterdam,
Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Charleston, with bankers, who
shall be appointed.
3d. The number of bills which, by lot to be reimbursed, shall be
published four months before the reimbursement, by means of the
public prints most generally known in Europe and America.
4th. To determine where the lots shall be drawn. This would
appear to be most proper in one of the cities of the United States.
5th. Until the reimbursements the bills shall draw an annual
interest of six per cent., which shall be paid every year, commencing
from , in the cities marked out in the article, and by
the bankers to be appointed. This payment shall have effect on
presentation of the original bill, to which shall be annexed the
dividends of interest, agreeable to the model, &c.
6th. The reimbursed bills shall be withdrawn as being extinguished,
as also the interest not due. The bankers who shall have paid them
8 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
shall account for the same with the United States by representing
them, and these shall successively forward the list to his Majesty’s
Ambassador to serve as a discharge for his Majesty’s guarantee, in
proportion as the United States shall reimburse them. |
N. B. It appears indispensable to prevent counterfeits and remove
all obstacles in the way of the circulation of the bills, that they be
stamped by the Ambassador of the United States, an operation
which, as well as the others mentioned in the arrét, only to be
announced in concert with the United States.
Extract from the Secret Journal of Congress, October 2, 1787.
The Board of the Treasury, to whom was referred an extract of
a Letter from the Honorable Mr. Jefferson, Minister Plenipotentiary
to the Court of France, having reported,
That the said Minister states, “'That a proposition has been made
‘to Monsieur de Calonne, Minister of the Finances of France, by
‘a company of Dutch merchants, to purchase the debt due from the
‘United States to the Crown of France, giving for the said debt,
‘amounting to twenty-four million of livres, the sum of twenty million
‘of livres: That information of this proposition has been given to
‘him by the agent of the said company, with the view of ascer-
‘taining whether the proposed negotiation should be agreeable to
‘ Congress.” ci
That the said Minister suggests, “That if there is danger of the
‘public payments not being punctual, whether it might not be better
‘that the discontents which would then arise should be transferred
‘from a Court, of whose good will we have so much need, to the
‘breasts of a private company.
‘«‘' That the credit of the United States is sound in Holland; and
‘that it would probably not be difficult to borrow in that country
‘the whole sum of money due to the Court of France, and to
‘discharge that debt without any deduction, thereby doing what |
‘would be grateful with the Court, and establishing with them a
‘confidence in our honor.” |
On a mature consideration of the circumstances abovementioned,.
the Board beg leave to observe, —
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 9
That, at the time the debt due from the United States to the
Crown of France was contracted, it could not have been foreseen
that the different members of the Union would have hesitated to
make effectual provision for the discharge of the same, since it had
been contracted for the security of the lives, liberty, and property of
their several citizens, who had solemnly pledged themselves for its
redemption; and that, therefore, the honor of the United States
cannot be impeached for having authorized their Minister at the
Court of France to enter into a formal convention, acknowledging
the amount of the said debt, and stipulating for the reimbursement of
the principal and interest due thereon.
That, should the United States at this period give any sanction to
the transfer of this debt, or attempt to make a loan in Holland,
for the discharge of the same, the persons interested in the transfer
or in the loan would have reason to presume that the United States,
in Congress, would make effectual provision for the punctual payment
of the principal and interest.
That the prospect of such provision being made within a short
period, is by no means flattering; and though the credit of the
United States is still sound in Holland, from the exertions which
have been made to discharge the interest due to the subscribers to
the loans in that country, yet, in the opinion of this Board, it would
_ be unjust, as well as impolitic, to give any public sanction to the
proposed negotiation. Unjust, because the nation would contract an
engagement without any well-grounded expectation of discharging it
with proper punctuality. Impolitic, because a failure in the payment
of interest. accruing from this negotiation, (which would inevitably
happen,) would justly blast all hopes of credit with the citizens of
the United Netherlands* when the exigencies of the Union might
render new loans indispensably necessary.
The Board beg leave further to observe that, although a prateful
sense of the services rendered by the Court of France, would
undoubtedly induce the United States, in Congress, to make every
possible exertion for the rembursement of the moneys advanced by
his most Christian Majesty, yet, that they cannot presume that it
would tend to establish in the mind of the French Court an idea
of the national honor of this country to involve individuals in a
heavy loan, at a time when Congress were fully sensible that their
resources were altogether inadequate to discharge even the interest
10 THOMAS JEFPERSON—JOHN JAY.
of the same, much less the instalments of the principal, which would
from time to time become due. "Bok far the idea of transferring the
discontent which may prevail in the French Court for want of the
punctual payment of interest to the breast of the private citizens of
Holland would be consistent with sound policy, the Board forbear to
enlarge on.
It may be proper, however, to observe that the public integrity of
a nation is the best shield of defence against any calamities to which,
in the course of human events, she may find herself exposed.
This principle, so far as it respects the conduct of the United
States in contracting the loans with France, cannot be called in
question. The reverse would be the case should the sanction of the
United States be given, either to the transfer of the French debt or
to the negotiation of a loan in Holland, for the purpose of dis-
charging it.
If it be further considered that the consequences of a failure in
the punctual payment of interest on the moneys borrowed by the
United States, can by no means be so distressing to a nation (and
one powerful in resources) as it would be to individuals, whose
dependence for support is frequently on the interest of the moneys
loaned, the board presume that the proposed negotiation cannot be
considered at the present juncture, in any point of view, either as
eligible or proper. Under these circumstances they submit it as _
their opinion :
That it would be proper without delay to instruct the Minigee of
the United States at the Court of France not to give any sanction to
any negotiation which may be proposed for transferring the debt due
from the United States, to any State or company of individuals who
may be disposed to purchase the same. |
Resolved, That Congress agree to the said report.
HM RU Bd SN
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
Paris, December 26, 1786.
Dear Sir,
A note from me of the 22d of September apprized you it would
‘be so - time before I should be able to answer your letters. I did
not t en expect it would have been so long.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 11
I enclose herein a resolution of Congress recalling Mr. Lamy
which I will beg the favor of you to have delivered him. I have
written to Mr. Adams on the subject of directing him to settle with
Mr. Barclay, and attend his answer. In the meantime, I am not
without hopes Mr. Barclay has done the business. I send, also, a
note desiring Mr. Lamb to deliver you his cypher, and a copy of a
letter from the Minister of Finance here to me announcing several
regulations in favor of our commerce.
My Notes on Virginia, having been hastily written, need abund-
ance of corrections. Two or three of these are so material, that I
am reprinting a few leaves to substitute for the old. As soon as
these shall be ready, I will beg your acceptance of a copy. I shall
be proud to be permitted to send a copy, also, to the Count de
Campomanes, as a tribute to his science and his virtues. You will
find in them that the Natural Bridge has found an admirer in me
also. I should be happy to make with you the tour of the curiosities
you will find therein mentioned. That kind of pleasure surpasses
much, in my estimation, whatever I find on this side of the Atlantic.
I sometimes think of building a little hermitage at the Natural
Bridge, (for it is my property,) and of passing there a part of the
year at least.
I have received American papers to the 1st of November. Some
tumultuous meetings of the people have taken place in the Eastern
States, 7. e., one in Massachusetts, one in Connecticut, and one in
New Hampshire. Their principal demand was a respite in the
judiciary proceedings. No injury was done, however, in a single
instance, to the person or property of any one, nor did the tumult
continue twenty-four hours in any one instance. In Massachusetts,
this was owing to the discretion which the malcontents still pre-
served. In Connecticut and New Hampshire the body of the people
rosé in support of government, and obliged the malcontents to go to
their homes. In the last-mentioned State they seized about forty,
who were in jail for trial. It is believed this incident will strengthen
our Government. These people are not entirely without excuse.
Before the war these States depended on their whale oil and fish.
The former was consumed in England, and much of the latter in
the Mediterranean. The heavy duties on American whale oil, now |
required in England, exclude it from that market, and the Algerines
exclude them from bringing their fish into the Mediterranean.
12 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
France is opening her ports for their oil, but in the meanwhile their
ancient debts are pressing them, and they have nothing to pay with.
The Massachusetts Assembly, too, in their zeal for paying the public
debt, had laid a tax too heavy to be paid in the circumstances of
their State. The Indians seem disposed, too, to make war upon us.
These complicated causes determined Congress to imcrease their
forces to two thousand men. The latter was the sole object avowed,
yet the former entered for something into the measure. However, I
am satisfied the good sense of the people is the strongest army our
Government can ever have, and that it will not fail them. ‘The
commercial convention at Annapolis was not full enough to do
business. They found, too, their appointments too narrow, being
confined to the article of commerce. They have proposed a meeting
at Philadelphia in May, and that it may be authorized to propose
amendments of whatever is defective in the Federal Constitution.
When I was in England I formed a portable copying press on the
principle of the large one they make there, for copying letters. I
had a model made there, and it has answered perfectly. A workman
here has made several from that model. The itinerant temper of
your Court will, I think, render one of these useful to you. You
must, therefore, do me the favor to accept of one. I have it now in
readiness, and shall send it by the way of Bayonne, to the care of
Mr. Alexander there, unless Don Miguel de Lardizabel can carry it
with him.
My hand admonishes me it is time to stop, and that I must defer
writing to Mr. Barclay till to-morrow. (
I have the honor to be, &c., > TH: JEFFERSON.
O
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, December 31, 1786.
Sir,
I had the honor of addressing you on the 12th of the last month, ©
since which your favor of October 12th has been received, enclosing
a copy of the resolution of Congress for recalling Mr. Lamb. My
letter by Mr. Randall informed you that we had put an end to his
powers, and required him to repair to Congress. I lately received a
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 13
letter from him, dated Alicant, October 10th, of which I have the
honor to enclose you a copy, by which you will perceive that the
circumstance of ill health, either true or false, is urged for his not
obeying our call. J shall immediately forward the order of Congress.
I am not without fear that some misapplication of the public money
may enter into the causes of his declining to return. The moment
that I saw a symptom of this in his conduct, as it was a circumstance
which did not admit the delay of consulting Mr. Adams, I wrote to
Mr. Carmichael to stop any moneys which he might have in the
hands of his banker. I am still unable to judge whether he is guilty
of this or not, as by the arrangements with Mr. Adams, who alone
had done business with the bankers of the United States in Holland,
Mr. Lamb’s drafts were to be made on him, and I know not what
their amount has been. His drafts could not have been negotiated
if made on us both at places so distant. Perhaps it may be thought
that the appointment of Mr. Lamb was censurable in the moment
in which it was made. It is a piece of justice, therefore, which I
owe to Mr. Adams to declare that the propositions went first from
me to him. I take the liberty of enclosing you a copy of my letter
to Mr. Adams, of September 24th, 1785, in which that proposition
was made. It expresses the motives operating on my mind in ae
moment, as well as the cautions I thought it necessary to take;
these must be added the difficulty of finding an American in Europe
fit for the business, and willing to undertake it. I knew, afterwards,
that Dr. Bancroft (who is named in the letter) could not, on account
of his own affairs, have accepted even a primary appointment. I
think it evident that no appointment could have succeeded without a
much greater sum of money.
Tam happy to find that Mr. Barclay’s mission has been attended
with complete success. For this we are indebted, unquestionably,
to the influence and good offices of the Court of Madrid. Colonel
Franks, the bearer of this, will have the honor to put into your hand
the original of the treaty, with other papers accompanying it. It
will appear by these that Mr. Barclay has conducted himself with a
degree of intelligence and of good faith which reflect the highest
honor on him.
A copy of a letter from Captain O’Bryen to Mr. Carmichael is
also herewith enclosed. The information it contains will throw
14 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
further light on the affairs of Algiers. His observations on the
difficulties which arise from the distance of Mr. Adams and myself
from that place, and from one another, and the delays occasioned by
this circumstance, are certainly jules If Congress should propose to
receive the negotiations, they will judge whether it will not be more
expedient to send a person to Algiers who can be trusted with full
powers, and also whether a mission to Constantinople may not be
previously necessary. Before I quit this subject I must correct an
error in the letter of Captain O’Bryen. Mr. Lamb was not limited,
as he says, to one hundred, but to two hundred dollars apiece for
our prisoners. This was the sum which had been just paid for a
large number of French prisoners, and this was our guide.
The difference between Russia and the Porte seems patched up
for the present, That between Spain and Naples is not yet healed,
and probably will not be cordially ; but if it does not lead to a war
it will probably end in a settled coolness, and the King of Spain’s 4
ceasing to interfere with that Government. The mediation of this -
Court, I suppose, has been excited by the fear that Naples might
throw itself into the other scale of the European balance. This has
been much feared from the new King of Prussia. Such a weight a:
this shifted into the scale of the Emperor, Russia and Exidlebd WO
spread a cloud over the prospects of this kingdom. Of the possi-
bility of this event you will be so much better informed by Mr.
Dumas, that it would be going out of my province to take up more
of your time with it. The packets at L’Orient have orders to go to
Havre, from which place they will ply after the month of February.
This will enable me to resume that channel of correspondence with
you, as I can always send a confidential servant by the diligence in
twenty-four hours to that place, to put my letters in the hand of our
agent there, who will find a passenger or other trusty person to take
charge of them without their going into the post mail. ‘Through
passengers and the same agent, your letters to me may be safely
conveyed unopened. I enclose you the Leyden and French Gazettes
to this date. In the latter you will find an authentic copy of the
treaty between France and England. I am also desired to send you
pS papers in the case of André Caron, praying that justice may be
ne him.
hie the honor of bemg, &c., TH: JEFFERSON. |
wt
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 15
FROM ial LAMB TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Alicant, October 10, 1786.
I have received your Excellency’s letter. J am not able to take
passage by sea or land; I have been confined these three months,
Iam exceedingly sorry that I cannot have a full settlement in
Europe; what I have written concerning it is real.
The letter of credit I will return by the first safe hand. By post
all my letters are broken, therefore I think it will be unsafe by that
method of conveyance; but in the meantime shall draw no more.
I am, with great respect, &c., JOHN LAMB.
EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN ADAMS.
rm Paris, September 24, 1785.
Sir,
My letter of September 19th, written the morning after Mr. Lamb’s
ees would inform you of that circumstance. I transmit you,
with, copies of the papers he brought to us on the subject of the
Bae ary treaties. You will see by them that Congress has adopted
the very plan which we were proposing to pursue. It will now go
on under less danger of objection from the other parties. ‘The receipt
of these new papers, therefore, has rendered necessary no change in
matters of substance in the despatches we had prepared, but they
render some formal changes necessary; for instance, in our letter of
credence for Mr. Barclay to the Emperor of Morocco, it becomes
improper to enter into those explanations which seemed proper when
that letter was drawn, because Congress in their ietter enter into that
explanation. In the letter to the Count de Vergennes it became
proper to mention the new full powers received from Congress, and
which, in some measure, accord with the idea communicated by him
to use from the M. de Castries. These and other formal alterations
which appeared necessary to me I have made, leaving so much of
the original drafts, approved and amended by you, as were not incon-
sistent with these alterations. I have, therefore, had them prepared
fair to save you the trouble of copying ; yet, whenever you choose
to make alterations, you will be so da: as to make them, taking, in
that case, the trouble of having new fair copies made out.
i
16 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
You will perceive by Mr. Jay’s letter that Congress had not
thought proper to give Mr. Lamb any appointment. I imagine they
apprehended it might interfere with measures actually taken by us.
Notwithstanding the perfect freedom which they are pleased to leave
to us on this subject, I cannot feel myself clear of that bias which a
presumption of their pleasure gives, and ought to give. J presume
that Mr. Lamb met their approbation, because of the recommenda-
tions he carried from the Governor and State of Connecticut ;
because of his actual knowledge of the country and people of those
States of Barbary; because of the detention of these letters from
March to July, which, considering their pressing nature, would
otherwise have been sent by other Americans who, in the meantime,
have come from New York to Paris; and because, too, of the
information we received from Mr. Jarvis. ‘These reasons are not
strong enough to set aside our appointment of Mr. Barclay to
Morocco. That, I think, should go on, as no man could be sent
who would enjoy more the confidence of Congress ; but they are
strong enough to induce me to propose to you the appointment of
Lamb to Algiers. He has followed for many years the Barbary
trade, and seems intimately acquainted with those States. I have
not seen enough of him to judge of his abilities. He seems not
deficient, as far as I can see, and the footing on which he comes
must furnish a presumption for what we do not see. We must say
the same as to his integrity. We must rely for this on the
recommendations he brings, as it is impossible for us to judge of this
for ourselves, yet it will be our duty to use such reasonable cautions
as are in our power. ‘Two occur to me. Ist. To give him a clerk
capable of assisting and attending to his proceedings, and who, in
case he thought anything was doing amiss, might give us informa-
tion. 2d. Not to give a credit on Van Staphorst and Willink, but
let his drafts be made on yourself, which, with the knowledge you
will have of his proceedings, will enable you to check them if you
are sensible of any abuse intended. This will give you trguble ;
but as I have never found you declining trouble when it is necessary,
1 venture to propose it. I hope it will not expose you to inconve-
nience, as by instructing Lamb to insert in his drafts a proper usance
you can, in the meantime, raise the money for them by drawing on
Holland. I must inform you that Mr. Barclay wishes to be put on
the same footing with Mr. Lamb as to this article, and therefore I
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, 17
return you your letter of credit on Van Staphorst & Co. As to the
first article, there is great difficulty. ‘There is nobody at Paris fit
for the undertaking who would be likely to accept it—I mean there
is no American, for I should be anxious to place a native in the
trust. Perhaps you can send us one from London. There is a Mr.
Randolph* there, from New York, whom Mr. Barclay thinks might
be relied on very firmly for integrity and capacity. He is there for
his health. Perhaps you can persuade him to go to Algiers in
pursuit of it; if you cannot, I really know not what will be done.
It is impossible to propose to Bancroft to go in a secondary capacity.
Mr. Barclay and myself have thought of Cairnes, at L’Orient, as a
dernier resort; but it is uncertain, or rather improbable, that he will
undertake it. You will be pleased, in the first place, to consider of
my proposition to send Lamb to Algiers, and in the next all the
circumstances before detailed as consequences of that.
The enclosed letter from Richard O’Bryen furnishes powerful
motives for commencing by some means or other the treaty with
Algiers, more immediately than would be done if left to Mr. Barclay.
You will perceive by that that two of our vessels, with their crews
and cargoes, have been carried captive into that port. What is to
be done as to those poor people? I am for hazarding the supple-
mentary instruction to Lamb which accompanies these papers.
Alter it or reject it, as you please. You ask what I think of
claiming the Dutch interposition. I doubt the fidelity of any inter-
position too much to desire it sincerely. Our letters to this Court
heretofore seemed to oblige us to communicate with them on the
subject. If you think the Dutch would take amiss our not applying
to them, I will join you in the application ; otherwise, the fewer are
apprized of our proceedings the better. To communicate them to
the States of Holland is to communicate them to the world.
FROM JOHN PAUL JONES TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.:
4 Paris, August 16, 1786.
Sir,
Having no roll of the Ariel in my possession, I am unable to
determine the legality of the claim expressed in the papers you did.
_ * Ought to be Randall.
Vou. i-~2
18 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
me the honor to send for my opinion. The papers of that frigate
were deposited in the Admiralty at Philadelphia, I think in April or
May, 1781; and I remember that some arrangement with Mr.
Holker was spoken of by the Board for the wages due to the marines,
who, being French subjects, were claimed by the Chevalier de la
Luzerne, and sent to join Monsieur des Touches, at Rhode Island.
As this happened in the moment when paper money was going out
of circulation, perhaps the men have not been paid. The truth can
only be known by writing to America, unless you think fit to consult
the Count des Touches, with whom they embarked at Philadelphia
for Rhode Island.
I have the honor to be, &c., PAUL JONES.
— =
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, January, 9 1787.
Sir,
My last, of December 31st, acknowledged the receipt of yours of
October 12, as the present does those of October 3d, 9th, and 27th,
together with the resolution of Congress of October 16, on the claim
of Schweighauser. I will proceed in this business on the return of
Mr. Barclay, who, being fully acquainted with all the circumstances,
will be enabled to give me that information, the want of which might
lead me to do wrong on the one side or the other. |
Information of the signature of the treaty with Morocco has been
‘long on its passage to you. I will beg leave to recur to dates, that
‘you may see that no part of it has been derived from me. The first
notice [ had of it was ina letter from Mr. Barclay, dated Daral-
beyda, August 11th. I received this on the 13th September. No
secure conveyance offered till the 26th of the same month, being
thirteen days after my receipt of it. In my letter of that date,
‘which went by the way of London, I had the honor to enclose you
acopy of Mr. Barclay’s letter. The conveyance of the treaty itself
js suffering a delay here at present, which all my anxiety cannot
prevent. Colonel Frank’s baggage which came by water from Cadiz
‘to Rouen, has been long and hourly expected. The moment it
arrives, he will set out for London, to have duplicates of the treaty
signed by Mr. Adams, and from thence he will proceed to New
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 19
York. The Chevalier del Pinto, who treated with us on behalf of
Portugal, being resident at London, I have presumed that the causes
of the delay of that treaty had been made known to Mr, Adams,
and by him communicated to you. I will write to him by Colonel
Franks, in order that you may be answered on that subject.
The publication of the enclosed extract from my letter of May
27th, 1786, will, I fear, have very mischievous effects. It will tend
to draw on the Count de Vergennes, the formidable phalanx of the
Farms, to prevent his committing himself to me in any conversation
which he does not mean for the public papers, to inspire the same
diffidence into all other Ministers with whom I might have to transact
business, of getting aid of the Farm on the article of tobacco, and
to damp that freedom of communication which the resolution of
Congress, May 3d, 1784, was intended to reéstablish.
Observing by the proceedings of Congress, that they are about to
establish a coinage, I think it my duty to inform them that a Swiss
of the name of Drost, established here, has invented a method of
striking the two faces and edge of a coin at one stroke. By this and
other simplifications of the process of coinage, he is enabled to coin
from twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand pieces a day, with the
assistance of only two persons, the pieces of metal being first pre-
pared. Isend you, by Colonel Franks, three coins of gold, silver,
and copper, which you will perceive to be perfect medals, and I can
assure you, from having seen him coin money, that every piece is as
perfect as these. There has certainly never yet been seen any coin
in any country comparable to this. The best workmen in this way
acknowledge that his is like a new art. Coin should always be
made in the highest perfection possible, because it is a great guard
against the danger of false coinage. This man would be willing to
furnish his implements to Congress, and, if they please, he will go
over and instruct a person to carry on the work ; nor do I believe he
would ask anything unreasonable. It would be very desirable that
in the institution of a new coinage we should set out on so perfect a
plan as this, and the more so as while the work is so exquisitely done
it is done cheaper.
I will certainly do the best I can for the reformation of the Con-
sular convention, being persuaded that our States would be very
unwilling to conform their laws either to the convention or to the
Scheme ; but it is too difficult and too delicate to form sanguine hopes.
=
20 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
However, that there may be room to reduce the convention as much
as circumstances will admit, will it not be expedient for Congress to
give me powers in which there shall be no reference to the scheme?
The powers sent me oblige me to produce that scheme; and cer-
tainly the moment it is produced they will not abate a tittle from it.
If they recollect the scheme and insist on it we can but conclude it ;
but if they have forgotten it, (which may be,) and are willing to
reconsider the whole subject, perhaps we may get rid of something
the more of it, as the delay is not injurious to us; because the con-
vention, whenever and however made, is to put us in a worse state
than we are in now. I shall venture to defer saying a word on the
subject till I can hear from you in answer to this. The full powers
may be sufficiently guarded, by private instructions to me not to go
beyond the former scheme. ‘This delay may be well enough ascribed
(whenever [I shall have received new powers) to a journey I had
before apprized the Minister that 1 should be obliged to take to some
mineral waters in the south of France, to see if by their aid 1 may
recover the use of my right hand, of which a dislocation about four
months ago threatens to deprive me in a great measure. The
surgeons have long insisted upon this measure. I shall return by
Bordeaux, Nantes, and L’Orient, to get the necessary information
for finishing our commercial regulations here. Permit me, however,
to ask as immediately as possible an answer either affirmative or
negative, as Congress shall think best, and to ascribe the delay on
which I venture to my desire to do what is for the best. :
I send you a copy of the late marine regulations of this country.
There are things in it which may become interesting to us, particu-
larly what relates to the establishment of a marine militia, and their
classification. |
You will have seen in the public papers that the King has called
an assembly of the Notables of his country. This has not been
done for one hundred and sixty years past. Of course it calls up
all the attention of the people. ‘The objects of this assembly are
not named; several are conjectured: the tolerating the Protestant
religion, removing all the custom-houses to the frontier, equalizing
the Gabelles on salt through the kingdom, the sale of the King’s
domains to raise money; or, finally, the effecting this necessary end
by some other means are talked of; but in truth nothing is known
about it. ‘This Government practises secrecy so systematically that
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, Q1
it never publishes its purposes or its proceedings sooner or more
extensive than necessary. I send you a pamphlet which, giving an
account of the last Assembleé des Notables, may give an idea of
what the present will be.
A great desire prevails here of encouraging manufactures. The
famous Bolton and Watts, who are at the head of the plated manu-
factures of Birmingham, the steam mills of London, copying presses,
and other mechanical works, have been here. It is said, also, that
Wedgwood has been here, who is famous for his steel manufactures,
and an earthern ware in the antique style. But as to this last person
I am not certain. It cannot, I believe, be doubted but that they
came at the request of Government, and that they will be induced
to establish similar manufactories here. The transferring ‘hither
those manufactures which contribute so much to draw our com-
merce to England, will have a great tendency to strengthen our
connexions with this country, and loosen them with that.
The enfranchising the port of Honfleur at the mouth of the Seine,
for multiplying the connexions with us, is at present an object. It
meets with opposition in the Ministry, but I am in hopes it will
prevail. If natural causes operate, uninfluenced by accidental cir-
cumstances, Bordeaux and Honfleur or Havre must ultimately take
the greatest part of our commerce. The former, by the Garonne
and Canal of Languedoc, opens the southern provinces to us. The
latter, the northern ones and Paris. Honfleur will be peculiarly
advantageous for our rice and whale oil, of which the principal
consumption is at Paris. Being free, they can be reéxported when
the market here shall happen to be overstocked.
The labors of the ensuing summer will close the eastern half of
the harbor of Cherbourg, which will contain and protect forty sail of
the line. It has from fifty to thirty-five feet water next to the cones,
shallowing gradually to the shore. Between this and Dunkirk the
navigation of the channel will be rendered much safer in the event
of a war with England, and invasions on that country become more
practicable.
The gazettes of France and Leyden to the present date accompany
this.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
22 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Office for Foreign Affairs, May 10, 1787.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, to whom was referred that part of Mr. Jefferson’s letter of
the 9th January last, which relates to the Consular Convention,
VIZ:
“T will certainly do the best I can for the reformation of the
‘Consular convention, being persuaded that our States would be very
‘unwilling to conform their laws either to the convention or to the
‘scheme, but it is too difficult and too delicate to form sanguine
‘hopes; however, that there may be room to reduce the convention,
‘as much as circumstances will admit, will it not be expedient for
‘Congress to give me powers, in which there shall be no reference |
‘to the scheme? ‘The powers sent me oblige me to produce that
‘scheme, and certainly the moment it is produced, they will not
‘abate a tittle from it. If they recollect the scheme, and insist on it,
‘we can but conclude it; but if they have forgotten it, (which may
‘be,) and are willing to reconsider the whole subject, perhaps we
‘may get rid of something the more of it. As the delay is not
‘injurious to us, because the convention, whenever and however
‘made, is to put us in a worse state than we are in now, I shall
‘venture to defer saying a word on the subject till I can hear from
‘you in answer to this.. ‘The full powers may be sufficiently guarded
‘by private instructions to me not to go beyond the former scheme.
‘This delay may be well enough ascribed (whenever I shall have
‘received new powers) to a journey I had before apprized the
‘Minister that I should be obliged to,take to some mineral waters in
‘the south of France to see if by their aid I may recover the use of
‘my right hand, of which a dislocation about four months ago
‘threatens to deprive me in a great measure. The surgeons have
‘long insisted on this measure. I shall return by Bordeaux, Nantes,
‘and L’Orient to get the necessary information for finishing our
‘commercial regulations here. Permit me, however, to ask as
‘immediately as possible an answer either affirmative or negative, as
‘Congress shall think best, and to ascribe the delay on which I
‘venture to my desire to do what is for the best.” Reports:
That in his opinion the Court of France regard the Consular
convention in its present form as an interesting object, and that no
article or provision in it will escape their recollection. He never-
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 23
theless thinks that the policy of yielding to such circumstances as
cannot without risk and hazard be neglected or controlled, will
induce them at least to consent to the proposed article for limiting
the duration of the convention.
As he perceives no inconvenience likely to result from giving Mr.
Jefferson a commission authorizing him in general terms to negotiate
and conclude a convention with his most Christian Majesty, for
ascertaining the authority and powers of French and American
Consuls, your Secretary thinks it will be advisable to send him such
a commission, that he may thereby have an opportunity of endeavor-
ing to realize the advantages he expects from it, and which under a
new administration (perhaps not well advised of what has passed)
may be attainable.
In the opinion of your Secretary, it will therefore be expedient to
send Mr, Jefferson a commission of the following tenor, viz:
We, the United States of America in Congress assembled at the
City of New York, to our well beloved Thomas Jefferson, Esq., our
Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of his most Christian Majesty,
&c., &e., send greeting. Being desirous to promote and facilitate
the commerce between our States and the dominions of his said
Majesty, and for that purpose to conclude with him a convention for
regulating the powers, privileges, and duties of our respective Con-
suls, Vice Consuls, Agents, and Commissaries, and having full
confidence in your abilities and integrity, we do by these presents
authorize and empower you the said ‘Thomas Jefferson, in our name
and behalf, to treat with any person having equal powers from his
most Christian Majesty of and concerning such convention, and the
same in our name and behalf to conclude, sign, and seal. And we
do promise to ratify and confirm whatever convention shall in virtue
of this commission be by you so concluded, provided the duration of
the same be limited to any term not exceeding years.
Witness our seal and the signature of his Excellency Arthur St.
Clair, our President, this — day of ,in the year of
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and
the eleventh of our independence.
Your Secretary thinks it would be proper to write the two follow-
ing letters to Mr. Jefferson, the first of which he might communicate
to the Court:
Q4 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Sir,*
Congress being desirous that the commerce between the United
States and France may be promoted by every reciprocal regulation
conducive to that end, wish that no time may be lost in ascertaining
the privileges, powers, and duties of their respective Consuls, Vice
Consuls, and commercial agents and commissaries.
They regret the circumstance which calls you to the south of
France, but are perfectly satisfied that you should make that or any
other journey which your health may require. It is their wish and
instruction that, on your return to the Court, your attention may be
immediately directed to the abovementioned subject. Considering
that conventions of this nature, however apparently useful in theory,
may, from some defects or unforeseen circumstances, be attended
with inconveniences in practice, they think it best that they should
be probationary, at least in the first instance, and, therefore, that the
term to be assigned for the duration of the one in question should
not exceed years. ‘They also think it advisable, in order to
obviate any difficulties that might arise from your not having been
more formally authorized to complete this business, to give you an
express and special commission for the purpose, which I have now
the honor to enclose.
Sir,
You will herewith receive another letter from me of this date,
together with the commission mentioned in it. Both of them are in
pursuance of the ideas suggested in your letter of the 9th January
last. If the whole subject should be reconsidered and a new con-
vention formed, it is the pleasure of Congress that the duties, powers,
and privileges of Consuls, Vice Consuls, Agents, and Commissaries
be accurately delineated, and that they be as much circumscribed
and limited as the proper objects of their appointments will admit,
and the Court of France consent to. How far it may be in your.
power to obtain a convention perfectly unexceptionable must depend
on several circumstances not yet decided.
Congress confide fully in your talents and discretion, and they
will ratify any convention that is not liable to more objections than
* This and the following letter were forwarded to Mr. Jefferson, and dated July ©
27, 1787.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 95
the one already in part concluded, provided an article limiting its
duration to a term not exceeding twelve years be inserted.
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
JOHN JAY.
——_o——_
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN ADAMS.
Paris, January 11, 1787.
Sir,
Mr. Jay, in his last letter to me, observes they hear nothing further
of the treaty with Portugal. I have taken the liberty of telling him
that I will write to you on the subject, and that he may expect to
hear from you on it by the present conveyance. ‘The Chevalier del
Pinto being at London, I presume he has, or can, inform you why
it is delayed on their part. I will thank you, also, for the information
he shall give you.
There is here an order of priests called the Mathurins, the object
of whose institution is the begging of alms for the redemption of
captives. About eighteen months ago they redeemed three hundred,
which cost them about fifteen hundred livres apiece. They have
agents residing in the Barbary States, who are constantly employed
in searching and contracting for the captives of their nation, and
they redeem at a lower price than any other people can. Iteoccurred
to me that their agency might be engaged for our prisoners at Algiers.
I have had interviews with them, and the last night a long one with
the General of the order. They offer their services with all the
benignity and cordiality possible. The General told me he could
not expect to redeem our prisoners as cheap as their own, but that
he would use all the means in his power to do it on the best terms
possible, which will be the better, as there will be the less suspicion
that he acts for our public. I told him I would write to you on the
subject, and speak to him again. What do you think of employing
them, limiting them to a certain price, as three hundred dollars, for
instance, or any other sum you think proper? He will write imme-
diately to his instruments there, and in two or three months we can
know the event. He will deliver them at Marseilles, Cadiz, or
where we please, at our expense. ‘The money remaining of the
fund destined to the Barbary business may, I suppose, be drawn on
396 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
for this object. Write me your opinion, if you please, on this subject,
finally, fully, and immediately, that, if you approve the proposition,
I may enter into arrangements with the General before my departure
to the waters of Aix, which will be about the beginning of February.
I have the honor to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, February 1, 1787.
Sir,
My last letters were of the 3lst December and 9th of January.
Since which last date I have been honored with yours of December
the 13th and 14th. I shall pay immediate attention to your instruc-
tions relative to the South Carolina frigate. I had the honor of
informing you of an improvement in the art of coining made here by
one Drost, and of sending you, by Colonel Franks, a specimen of
his execution in gold and silver.- I expected to have sent also a coin
of copper. The enclosed note from Drost will explain the reason
why this was not sent. It will let you see, also, that he may be
employed, as I suppose he is not so certain as he was of being
engaged here. Mr. Grand, who knows him, gives me reason to
believe he may be engaged reasonably. Congress will decide whether
it be worth their attention.
In some of my former letters, I suggested an opportunity of
obliging this Court by borrowing as much money in Holland as
would pay the debt due here, if such a loan could be obtained, as to
which I was altogether ignorant. To save time I wrote to Mr.
Dumas to know whether he thought it probable a loan could be
obtained, enjoining him the strictest secrecy, and informing him I
was making the inqury merely of my own motion, and without
instruction. I enclose you his answer. He thinks purchasers of
the debt could be found with a sacrifice of a small part of the
capital, and a postponement be obtained of some of the first reim-
bursements. The proposition for an immediate adoption of this
measure by me was probably urged on his mind by a desire to serve
our country, more than a strict attention to my duty and the magni-
tude of the object. I hope, on the contrary, that if it should be
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 27
thought worth a trial, it may be put into the hands of Mr. Adams,
who knows the ground, and is known there, and whose former
successful negotiations in this line would give better founded hopes
of success on this occasion.
I formerly mentioned to you the hopes of preferment entertained
by the Chevalier de la Luzerne. They have been baffled by events,
none of the vacancies taking place which had been expected. Had
I pressed his being ordered back, I have reason to believe the order
would have been given; but he would have gone back in ill humor
with Congress. He would have laid forever at their door the failure
of promotion then viewed as certain, and this might have excited
dispositions that would have disappointed us of the good we hoped
from his return. ‘The line I have observed with him has been to
make him sensible that nothing more was desired by Congress than
his return ; but that they would not willingly press it, so as to defeat
him of a personal advantage. He sees his prospects fail, and will
return in the approaching spring unless something unexpected should
turn up in his favor. In this case the Count de Moustier has the
promise of succeeding to him; and if I do not mistake his character,
he would give great satisfaction. So that I think you may count on
seeing the one or the other by midsummer.
It had been suspected that France and England might adopt those
concerted regulations of commerce for their West Indies, of which
your letter expresses some apprehensions, but the expressions on the
4, 5, 7, 11, 18, and other articles of their treaty, which communicate
to the English the privileges of the most favored European nation
only, has lessened, if not removed, those fears. 'They have clearly
reserved a right of favoring, specially, any nation not European; and
there is no nation out of Europe, who could so probably have been
in their eye at that time as ours. They are wise. They must see
it probable, at least, that any concert with England will be but of
short duration ; and they could hardly propose to sacrifice for that a
connexion with us which may be perpetual.
We have been for some days in much inquietude for the Count de
Vergennes. He is very seriously ill. Nature seems struggling to
decide his disease into gout. A swelled foot at present gives us a
hope of this issue. His loss would at all times have been very great,
but it would be immense during the critical poise of European affairs
existing at this moment. I enclose you a letter from one of the
28 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
foreign officers, complaining of the non-payment of their. interest.
It is only one out of many I have received. This is accompanied
by a second copy of the Moorish declaration sent me by Mr.
Barclay. He went to Alicant to settle with Mr. Lamb, but on. his
arrival there found he was gone to Minorca. A copy of this letter
will inform you of this circumstance, and of some others relative to
Algiers, with his opinion on them. Whatever the States may enable
Congress to do for obtaining the peace of that country, it is a separate
question, whether they will redeem our captives, how, and at what
price? If they decide to redeem them, | will beg leave to observe
that it is of great importance that the first redemption be made at as
low a price as possible, because it will form the future tariff. If
these pirates find that they can have a very great price for Americans,
they will abandon, proportionably, their pursuits against other nations
to direct them towards ours; that the choice of Congress may be
enlarged as to the instruments they may use for effecting the
redemption. I think it my duty to inform them that there is here
an order of priests called the Mathurins, the object of whose institu-
tion is to beg alms for the redemption of captives. ‘They keep
members always in Barbary searching out the captives of their own
country, and redeem, I believe, on better terms than any other body,
public or private. It occurred to me that their agency might be
obtained for the redemption of our prisoners at Algiers. I obtained
conferences with the General, and with some members of the order.
The General, with all the benevolence and cordiality possible,
undertook to act for us if we should desire it. He told me that their
last considerable redemption was cf about three hundred prisoners,
who cost them somewhat upwards of fifteen hundred livres a piece;
but that they should not be able to redeem ours as cheap as they
do their own; and that it must be absolutely unknown that the
public concern themselves in the operation, or the price would be
greatly enhanced. ‘The difference of religion was not once men-
tioned, nor did it appear to me to be thought of. It was a silent
reclamation and acknowledgment of fraternity between two religions
of the same family, which historical events of ancient date had
rendered more hostile to one another than to their common adversa-
ries. I informed the General that I should communicate the good »
dispositions of his order to those who alone had the authority to |
decide whatever related to our captives. Mr. Carmichael informs —
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 29
me that moneys have been advanced for the support of our prisoners
at Algiers, which ought to be replaced. I infer from the context of
his letter that these advances had been made by the Court of Madrid.
I submit the information to Congress.
A treaty of commerce is certainly concluded between France and
Russia. The particulars of it are yet secret.
I enclose the gazettes of France and Leyden to this date.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
FROM MR. DROST.
Sir,
I have the honor to inform you that I cannot make the gold piece
you require of me, as I am not allowed to do it without running the
risk of displeasing the Government, having received orders to that
effect. Will you have the goodness to inform Mr. Jefferson that, in
consequence'of this, he cannot have the pieces which he has asked
of me, as it is not in my power to make them at present, nor before
[ receive new orders. |
\. [have not yet had time to begin the memorandum which you
have had the goodness to require of me relative to the coining of
money. lam more than ever determined to accept the offers which
may suit me, and even to go to a foreign country. Thus, sir, if
Congress will allow me a reasonable salary, I will establish for
them all the necessary machinery for coining the finest money that
has, perhaps, ever existed, and besides with less expenses. I think
that it will be sufficient to make an estimate in this memorandum of
the cost of those machineries which might be established ; that is to
say, to have made here to be sent afterwards to America. As to the
coinage of specie, it is more difficult to fix an exact price; all I can
say 1s, that they can be done at a less price than they cost here,
whatever it may be. I shall willingly take charge of the machines,
of the coins, and the engraving of them, according to a price agreed
upon ; and as to the mixing of metals, of gold and silver, I should
not like to meddle with it. Besides I shall have sufficient employ-
ment in constructing the machines, in flattening, cutting, fitting the
pieces, and stamping them. [I shall make it my business to collect
30 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
all the necessary information for the memorandum; and:I shall have
the honor to give it to you as soon as it is done, and also to confer
with you on the subject.
I am, with great respect, sir, &c., DROST.
FROM CHEVALIER DE SIGOND TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Translation.
Bausser, in Provence, January 17, 1787.
Sir,
A friend who is requested by me to receive the interest due on
some contracts of which I am the owner, informs me that M. Grand
has not received any funds for that object. He is now two years in
arrears.
Shall it be so much longer, and must we forever apply to our
friends for the purpose of fulfilling our engagements, when we cannot
do it ourselves? _
After we have exposed our lives for the service of your States,
and after we have cooperated in the great work of your independ-
ence, is it not natural that we would depend on an income so well
acquired? When, during a very long war, we have deprived our-
selves of all enjoyments, and when we could not even procure
ourselves the absolute necessaries of life, except at our own expense,
is it not horrible that the States should be so long in liquidating a
debt which they have authentically acknowledged as well “i ist
that they do not pay even the interest ?
Not thinking, sir, of such a want of good faith, I made, on my
way to Paris, a loan of eighteen hundred francs, which I am pressed to
reimburse, and on which I have paid the interest since the year ’85.
Having always made it a point of satisfying my friends with
exactness, I beg you to inform me whether you can give an order to
M. Grand to pay me that sum? or whether you would rather accept
a bill of exchange drawn on you for the amount, than to sie me
credit for the interest which is due me?
The justice of my demand is too apparent to allow you to refuse
granting me one of the two means which I point out to you in order
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 81
that I may meet my engagements, and that I may be relieved from
the embarrassment in which I am placed by the want of good faith
in the States which you represent.
I have the honor to be, &c.,
LE CHEV. DE SIGOND.
FROM C. W. F. DUMAS TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Translation.
The Hague, January 23, 1787.
Sir,
Having just returned from Amsterdam, I hasten to answer the
confidential question put to me by your Excellency, in your letter of
25th December last— Whether a loan could be negotiated in Holland
for the purpose of reimbursing the twenty-four millions of livres
Tournois due to France ?
I have consulted in that place some intimate friends on whom I
can depend as to their discretion, which shall be scrupulously
observed, as well as their capacity, honesty, and perfect sufficiency
for the execution of such an undertaking. ‘This is the result of our
conversation, taken down in writing, at Amsterdam, on the 20th and
21st instant, although it is transeribed and dated as above.
In regard to the credit of Congress, it is certain that it will establish
itself by degrees, on a solid footing. What greatly contributes to
this is the regular payment of the interest at the exact time it falls
due, and especially the payment, in money, of the advances on the
negotiation of two millions of florins, which Congress had at its
option to make in new bands. It is even believed that the credit
would have reached to a point that encouragements might be given,
with all assurances for further negotiations, if the English newspapers
would cease to give accounts of the situation of affairs in America,
well calculated to frighten the stockjobbers, and which are eagerly
published by certain editors in their papers. These last persons
belong to the faction of those who, by thwarting the efforts made in
order to restore civil liberty to this country, imagine themselves that
the continual reproduction of forms representing popular insurrections
and commotions, (which, according to them, take place in America,)
must disgust the minds of the people of the idea of adopting a
32 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
constitution, in which they would have an influence on the Govern-
ment. Although there is no fear that those mischievous people will
obtain their object, it is no less a pity that their artifices will make
an impression on a number of ignorant persons, by making them
think that, considering such troubles, such confusion and such
weakness in the Government in America, it is not prudent to grant a
large credit to that Government. It is possible to bring back those
who are better informed to sounder ideas, but not the stockjobbers,
who are more easily influenced by prejudice than by reason.
It is, then, impossible to assert positively that a new negotiation
could be effected, or to determine what might be the sum and the
conditions of it. What adds to this uncertainty, and gives reason to
fear that at any rate this condition would be very hard, is, that it is
known here that the internal debt of Congress in America can be
bought at such a price, that the purchasers will find more profit than
1s granted to them here, while the security of this internal debt is as
yood as the external one.
What, then, in my opinion, is best to be done, is to assume here
the pretensions of France to the conditions which might be stipulated,
accompanied by a small sacrifice on the part of that kingdom, with
liberty to negotiate funds here for a limited number of years upon
the credit of Congress, and under the guarantee of France. This
last condition, in which there is nothing but what would be honorable
for Congress, would have an influence on the interest, which, in this
case, could be obtained at a lower rate. Otherwise it could not be
done in the present circumstances, on account of what has been
mentioned above; and thus the time of payment, which will soon
expire, might in that way be postponed, which, as it appears to me,
will be very agreeable to Congress. .
It is also believed that the sacrifice that France would make by
this could not be any impediment in the way of doing it; as by this
Operation it could not fail of pouring in her treasury a considerable
sum, which she would not be obliged to refund, and which would
not become at the charge of the kingdom. Therefore it is not
expected that France will make the least difficulty to grant that
guarantee, as that Court knows exactly the situation of American
affairs, and that it is for its interest to maintain them.
If ‘there is any inclination to adopt this plan, my friends will
willingly begin to speak on that subject, and will examine, then, the — |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 33
degree of possibility there is to obtain the whole sum ina limited
time, which is a point on which nothing can be done in order to
determine it, except by making overtures and treating on that subject
with other people. They think that, should the conditions be
accepted, from three to four millions Dutch florins (from six to eight
millions of livres Tournois, or from twelve to sixteen hundred thou-
sand dollars) could promptly be found.
P. S. We had before this, and under the seal of secrecy, a con-
versation on that subject, with one of the most skilful men in this
matter. He has absolutely confirmed our opinions; adding only, if
anything should be determined upon promptly, that the sacrifice in
question would be very small, and even that it could be lessened by
a diminution of the interest. The reason of this is the present
abundance of money; but as there may be a change na short time,
it is necessary to decide upon this as soon as possible.
Whilst reflecting upon all this on my journey, it has appeared to
me that your Excellency and the Marquis de la Fayette could (as
the only point in question is the purchasing the debt due to F rance)
render a great service to France as well as to the United States by
assisting and favoring this sale, in such a way as to reserve to Con-
gress the option postponing for a few years the payment, without it
being necessary that a time so valuable, and perhaps irrecoverable,
should be lost, in order to consult Congress beforehand; as, in this
‘manner, France being at liberty of selling or of endorsing the debt,
for the purpose of filling its treasury, and Congress being likewise
at liberty of profiting of the option, no injury whatever could be
done to any one, the good opportunity would be improved, and
every body would be assisted, as the option would be equal to the
sum borrowed, and would even be more advantageous. If your
Excellency approve my opinion, and will give me orders, after having
conferred and agreed, if not officially, at least personally, with the
French Ministers, I shall go immediately to Amsterdam for the
purpose of executing them, and I shall inform you of the name of
the house which has been consulted, against which I know already
that neither the said Ministers nor your Excellency will have any.
objection.
I am, with great respect, &c., C. W. F. DUMAS.
Vou. .—3
84 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY,
Grace to the only God.
I, the underwritten, the servant of God, Taher Ben Abdelkack
Fennish, do certify that his Imperial Majesty, my master, (whom
God preserve,) having concluded a treaty of peace and commerce
with the United States of America, has ordered me, the better to
complete it, and in addition of the tenth article of said treaty, to
declare ‘‘'That if any vessel belonging to the United States shall be
‘in any of the ports of his Majesty’s dominions, or within gun-shot
‘of his forts, she shall be protected as much as possible; and no
‘vessel whatever, belonging to Moorish or Christian Powers, with
‘whom the United States may be at war, shall be permitted to follow
‘or engage her, as we now deem the citizens of America our good
‘ friends.”’
And, in obedience to his Majesty’s commands, I certify this decla-
ration by putting my hand and seal to it, on the eighteenth bay of
Ramadan, in the year one thousand two hundred.
The servant of the King, my master, (whom God ‘preserve,)
TAHER BEN ABDELKACK FENNISH.
I certify the above to be the translation made by Isaae Cardoza
Nunez, interpreter at the Court of Morocco, of the annexed decla-
ration, in Arabic, made by Taher Fennish by order of the Emperor
of Morocco, in addition and explanation of the tenth article of the —
treaty between his Majesty and the United States of America.
TH: BARCLAY.
-Madrid, December 4, 1786.
eS
‘FROM THOMAS BARCLAY TO MESSRS. ADAMS AND JEFFERSON..
Alicant, January 6, 1787.
Gentlemen,
Lhave not had the pleasure of addressing you since my arrival at
‘this place, being hitherto without anything to say worth your
-attention. |
Mr. Lamb had embarked for Minorca before I got here; but as he
isin correspondence with Mr. Montgomery, I was in hopes of learning
through that channel the possibility of our meeting before I should
return to France, a matter that I am of opinion might have been
‘attended with some advantages.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 35
But the letters which he has lately written held out nothing, and
therefore 1 contented myself with writing to him the motives which
induced me to come here, and am without expectation of seeing him.
As the Spanish, Portuguese, and Neapolitan Ministers were pre-
paring to embark for Carthagena, I went and passed one day at
that place in hopes of learning something that might be useful, and
took that opportunity of impressing on the mind of the Count
d’Espilly some matters that had before been talked over at Madrid
and the Escurial ; and I left him seemingly in the best disposition
towards our people at Algiers, and very ready to obey the instruc-
tions concerning us which the Count de Florida Blanca jhad given
him. Since my return from Carthagena, I have received letters
from thence informing me that the Count d’Espilly has orders from
Court not to proceed to Algiers without further instructions, as the
plague is at Constantine, within fifty leagues of that place. But as it
was lately reported that the Dey, who is very far advanced in years,
was much indisposed, itis no ways improbable that this circumstance
may have had its weight—for the knowledge of the plague being at
Constantine is not new. It was even believed, before I left Africa,
that the city of Bona was depopulated with that distemper. How-
ever this may be, I most sincerely wish the negotiations respecting
our country could go hand in hand with those of the European
Powers; for there is no doubt that when the Barbary States have
made peace with them they will turn all their views towards us;
and if another capture or two be made, the terms of peace will be
raised most extravagantly.
_ I shall make no apology .to you, gentlemen, for the communicating
whatever has occurred to me on this subject; and as it is probable
I shall not have occasion again to resume it, I will now add. that I
know no American subject in Spain or France (Mr. Jefferson is out
of the question) so adequate to the task of negotiating at Algiers as
is Mr. Carmichael. I am perfectly convinced that when it is
renewed he ought, if possible, to undertake it; and I beg leave to
recommend this hint to your serious okt fer Tam sure Mr.
Carmichael has no objects under his care half so interesting; and if
his situation will permit, he ought not to hesitate.
I wish much to know your sentiments of the treaty with Morocco.
Though it is not quite as good as ] desire, it is as much sO as I
could make it. I beg you will fayor me with your opinions when
36 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
you are at leisure. The answer from Corunna is what I feared it
would be—no ways decisive. It is two or three years since Mr.
Carmichael endeavored to procure a settlement, and I much fear I
shall be obliged to go and force one.
I am, with great respect, &c., THOS. BARCLAY.
O
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, February 8, 1787.
Sir,
The packet being to sail the day after to-morrow, I have awaited
the last possible moment of writing by her in hopes I might be able
to announce some favorable change in the situation of the Count de
Vergennes; but none has occurred, and in the meantime he has
become weaker by the continuance of his illness. ‘Though not
desperately ill, he is dangerously so. ‘The Comptroller General, M.
de Calonne, has been very ill also, but he is getting well. These
circumstances have occasioned the postponement of the Assemblée
des Notables to the 14th instant, and will probably occasion a further
postponement. As [J shall set out this day sevennight for the waters of
Aix, you will probably hear the issue of the Count de Vergennes’s
illness through some other channel before I shall have the honor of
addressing you again. I may observe the same as to the final
decision for the enfranchisement of Honfleur, which is in a fair way
of being speedily concluded. ‘The exertions of Monsieur de Creve-
coeur, and particularly his influence with the Duke d’Harcourt, the
principal instrument in effecting it, have been of chief consequence
in this matter.
I am, with due respect, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
a Ore
FROM JOHN JAY TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
New York, April 25, 1787.
Dear Sir,
Since my last to you of the 9th February, I have been honored
with yours of the 27th October, 12th November, 31st December,
9th January, and Ist and 8th February last, all of which, together
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 37
with the papers that accompanied them, have been communicated to
Congress ; but neither on them, nor your preceding ones, have any
instructions been, as yet, ordered; so that this letter, lke many
others, will not be very interesting. _
It is greatly to be regretted that communications to Congress are
not kept more private. A variety of reasons, which must be obvious
to you, oppose it; and while the Federal sovereignty remains just as
it is, little secrecy is to be expected. This circumstance must
undoubtedly be a great restraint on those public and private
characters from whom you would otherwise obtain useful hints and
information. I, for my part, have long experienced the inconve-
nience of it, and in some instances very sensibly.
The death of Count de Vergennes, of which Major Franks
informed us, is to be lamented; and the more so as the talents,
industry, and disposition towards us of his successor are uncertain.
Who will take his place, is an important question to us as well as to
France.
The Convention, of which you have been informed, will convene
next month at Philadelphia. It is said that General Washington
accepts his appointment to it, and will attend. I wish their councils
may better our situation ; but [ am not sanguine in my expectations.
There is reason to fear that our errors do not proceed from want of
knowledge ; and, therefore, that reason and public spirit will require
the aid of calamity, to render their dictates effectual.
The insurrection in Massachusetts is suppressed, but the spirit of
it exists, and has operated powerfully in the late election. Governor
Bowdoin, whose conduct was upright, and received the approbation
of the Legislature, is turned out, and Mr. Hancock is elected.
Many respectable characters in both Houses are displaced, and men
of other principles and views elected. Perhaps these accounts are
exaggerated. Perhaps Mr. Hancock will support his former char-
acter, and that the present Legislature will be zealous to maintain
the rights of Government, as well as respect the wishes of the
people. ‘Time alone can ascertain these matters. The language,
_ however, of such changes is not pleasant or promising.
For your information, I enclose a copy of certain resolutions of
Congress, relative to infractions of the treaty of peace. How they
will be received, or what effect they will have, I know not. Some
of the States have gone so far in their deviations from the treaty,
38 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
that I fear they will not easily be persuaded to tread back their
steps; especially as the recommendations of Congress, like most
other recommendations, are seldom efficient when opposed by interést.
A mere Government of reason and persuasion is little adapted to the
actual state of human nature in any age or country.
~ One of our five Indiamen, viz: an Albany sloop, returned, a few
days ago, in four months from Canton; and I heard last evening
that one or two vessels are preparing at Boston for a voyage to the
Isle of France. The enterprise of our countrymen is inconceivable,
and the number of young swarms daily going down to settle in the
western country is a further proof of it. I fear that western country
will, one day, give us trouble. ‘To govern them will not be easy,
and whether, after two or three generations, they will be fit to
govern themselves, is a question that merits consideration. ‘The
progress of civilization, and the means of information, is very tardy,
in sparse and separate settlements. I wish our differences with
Spain, in that quarter, were well settled; but the maxim of festina
lente does not suit our southern sanguine politicians.
The English are making some important settlements on the river
St. Lawrence, &c. Many of our people go there. And it is said
that Vermont is not greatly inclined to be the fourteenth State.
‘Taxes and relaxed Governments agree but ill.
I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN JAY.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO M. DUMAS.
Paris; February 9, 1787.
Sir;
My last to you was dated December the 25th, since which I have
been honored with your several favors of December the 29th,
January the 5th, 9th, and 23d. I thought that your affairs baila
not be more interesting than they have been for a considerable time ; ;
yet, in the present moment, they are become more so, by the
apparent withdrawing of so considerable a personage in the drama
as the King of Prussia. To increase this interest, another person,
whose importance scarcely admits calculation, is in a situation which
fills us with alarm. Nature is struggling to relieve him by a decided
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, 39
gout; she has my sincere prayers to aid her, as I am persuaded she
has yours. I have letters and papers from America as late as the
15th of December. ‘The Government of Massachusetts had impris-
oned three of the leaders of their insurgents. The insurgents being
collected to the number of three or four hundred, had sent in their
petition to the Government, praying another act of pardon for their
leaders and themselves, and on this condition offering to go, every
man, home, and conduct himself dutifully afterwards. This is the
last intelligence.
I thank you for your attention to the question I had taken the
liberty of proposing to you. I think with you, that it would be
advisable to have our debt transferred to individuals of your
country. ‘There could, and would be no objection to the guarantee
remaining as you propose ; and a postponement of the first payments
of capital would surely be a convenience to us. For though the
resources of the United States are great and growing, and their
dispositions good, yet their machine is new, and they have not got
it to go well. It is the object of their general wish at present, and
they are all in movement, to set it in a good train; but their move-
ments are necessarily slow. ‘They will surely effect it in the end,
because all have the same end in view; the difficulty being only to
get all the thirteen States to agree on the same means. Divesting
myself of every partiality, and speaking from that thorough knowledge
I have of the country, their resources, and their principles, I had
rather trust money in their hands than in that of any Government
on earth, because, though for a while the payments of the interest
might be less regular, yet the final reimbursement of the capital
would be more sure. |
I set out next week for the south of France, to try whether some
mineral waters in that quarter, much recommended, will restore the
use of my hand. I shall be absent from Paris two or three months ;
but I take arrangements for the regular receipt of your favors, as if I
were here. It will be better, however, for you to put your letters to
Mr. Jay, under cover to Mr. Short, who remains here, and will
forward them.
I have thought it my duty to submit to Congress the proposition
about the French debt, and may expect their answer in four months.
Have the honor to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
40 | THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, February 14, 1787.
Coir,
In the letter of the Sth instant, which I had the honor of writing
you, I informed you that Count de Vergennes was dangerously ill.
He died yesterday morning, and Count de Montmorin is appointed
his successor. Your personal knowledge of this gentleman renders it
unnecessary for me to say anything of him.
Mr. Morris, during his office, being authorized to have the medals
and swords executed which had been ordered by Congress, he
authorized Colonel Humphreys to take measures here for the execu-
tion. Colonel Humphreys did so, and the swords were finished in
. time for him to carry them. The medals not being finished, he
desired me to attend to them. The workman who was to make that
of General Greene brought me yesterday the medal in gold, twenty-
three in copper, and the die. Mr. Short, during my absence, will
avail himself of the first occasion which shall offer of forwarding the
medals to you. J must beg leave, through you, to ask the pleasure
of Congress as to the number they would choose to have struck.
Perhaps they might be willing to deposit one of each person in every
college of the United States. Perhaps they might choose to give a
series of them to each of the crowned heads of Europe, which would
be an acceptable present to them. They will be pleased to decide.
In the mean time, I have sealed up the die, and shall retain it till I
am honored with their orders as to this medal, and pele others also,
when they shall be finished.
With great respect and esteem, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
O
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, February 14, 1787.
Sir,
In the letter of the 8th instant, which I had the honor of writing
you, I informed you of the illness of the Count de Vergennes. In
one of the present date, which I send by the way of London, |
have notified to you his death, which happened yesterday morning,
and that the Count de Montmorin is appointed his successor, with.
whose character you are personally acquainted. As the winds have
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. Al
been contrary to the sailing of the packet, and this may possibly
reach Havre by post in time to be put on board, I avail myself of
that chance of conveying you the above information.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
REPORT OF JOHN JAY TO CONGRESS.
Office for Foreign Affairs, July 11, 1787.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
' Affairs, to whom was referred a letter from the Honorable Mr.
Jefferson of 14th February last, reports:
Your Secretary presumes that the following paragraph in this
letter gave occasion to its being referred to him, viz: «The workman —
‘who was to make that of General Greene brought me yesterday the
‘medal in gold, twenty-three in copper, and the die. I must beg
‘leave, through you, to ask the pleasure of Congress as to the number
‘they would choose to have struck. Perhaps they might be willing
‘to deposit one of each person in every college of the United States.
‘Perhaps they might choose to give a series of them to each of the
‘crowned heads of Europe, which would be an acceptable present
‘to them. They will be pleased to decide. In the mean time, I
‘have sealed up the die, and shall retain it till Iam honored with
‘their orders as to this medal, and the others also, when they shall
‘be finished.”
As these medals were directed to be struck in order to signalize
and commemorate certain interesting events and conspicuous charac-
ters, the distribution of them should, in his opinion, be such as may
best conduce to that end.
He, therefore, thinks that both of Mr. Jefferson’s hints should be
improved, to wit: that a series of these medals should be presented
to each of the crowned heads in Europe, and that one of each set be
deposited in each of the American colleges. He presumes that Mr.
Jefferson does not mean that any should be presented to the King
of Great Britain, for it would not be delicate; nor that by crowned
heads he meant to exclude free States from the compliment, for to
make discrimination would give offence.
In the judgment of your Secretary, it would be proper to instruct
Mr. Jefferson to present, in the name of the United States, one silver
42 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
medal of each denomination to every monarch (except his Britannic
Majesty) and to every sovereign and independent State, without
exception, in Europe, and also to the Emperor of Morocco. ‘That
he also be instructed to send fifteen silver medals of each set to
Congress, to be by them presented to the thirteen United States
respectively, and also to the Emperor of China, with an explanation
and a letter, and one to General Washington. That he also be
instructed to present a copper medal of each denomination to each
of the most distinguished Universities (except the British) in Europe,
and also to the Count de Rochambeau, to Count d’Estamg, and to
Count de Grasse; and lastly, that he be instructed to send to Con-
gress two hundred copper ones of each set, together with the dies.
Your Secretary thinks that of these rt would be proper to present
one to each of the American colleges, one to the Marquis de la
Fayette, and one to each of the other Major Generals who served
in the late American army, and that the residue, with the dies, be
deposited in the Secretary’s office of the United States, subject to
such future orders as Congress may think proper to make respecting
them.
It might be more magnificent to give golden medals to sovereigns,
silver ones to distinguished persons, and copper to the colleges, &c.,
but, in his opinion, the nature of the American Governments, as well
as the state of their finances, will apologize for their declining the
expense.
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
JOHN JAY.
—_—=$o_—_—
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, February 23, 1787.
Sir,
The Assemblée des Notables being an event in the history of this
country which excites notice, I have supposed it would not be
disagreeable to you to learn its immediate objects, though no way ,
connected with our interests. The assembly met yesterday; the
King, in a short, but affectionate speech, informed them of his wish
to consult with them on the plans he had digested, and on the general
good of his people, and his desire to imitate the head of his family,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 43
Henry 1V, whose memory is so dear to the nation. ‘The Garde des
Sceaux then spoke about twenty minutes, chiefly in compliment to
the orders present. The Comptroller General, in a speech of about
an hour, opened the budget, and enlarged on the several subjects
which will be under their deliberation. He explained the situation
of the finances at his accession to-office, the expenses which their
arrangement had rendered necessary, their present state, with the
improvements made in them, the several plans which had been pro-
posed for their further improvement, a change in the form of some
of their taxes, the removal of the interior custom-houses to the fron-
tiers, and the institution of Provincial Assemblies. ‘The assembly
was then divided into committees, with a Prince of the blood at the
head of each. In this form they are to discuss, separately, the
subjects which will be submitted to them; their decision will be
reported by two members to the Minister, who, on view of the
separate decisions of all the committees, will make such changes in
his plans as will best accommodate them to their views without too
much departing from his own, and will then submit them to the vote
(but I believe not to the debate) of the general assembly, which will
be convened for this purpose one day in every week, and will vote
individually.
_ The event of the Count de Vergennes’s death, of which I had the
honor to inform you in two letters of the 14th instant, the appoint-
ment of the Count de Montmorin, and the propriety of my attending
at his first audience, which will be on the 27th, have retarded the
journey I had proposed a few days. I shall hope on my return to
meet here new powers for the Consular convention, as under those I
have it will be impossible to make the changes in the convention
which may be wished for.
I have the honor to be, &c., - TH: JEFFERSON.
FROM JOHN JAY TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
: Office for Foreign Affairs, July 24, 1787.
Dear Sir,
Since my letter to you of the 24th April, | have been honored
with yours of 14th and 23d of February last, and with two from
| Mr. Short, to whom I had the pleasure of writing on the 5th
instant.
44 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
I have now the honor of transmitting to you, herewith enclosed,
the following papers:
A letter for the Emperor of Morocco, with a ratification of the
treaty enclosed, and copies of both for your information.
This letter you will be so good as to forward by the first eligible
opportunity to Don Francisco Chiappe, American Agent at Morocco,
to be by him presented to the Emperor.
A letter for Mr. Fennish, to be forwarded in hke manner.
A copy of an act of Congress of the 18th July mstant, authorizing
you to redeem our unfortunate fellow-citizens at Algiers in the manner
which you suggested.
An ordinance for the government of the western oe passed
the 13th instant.
The printed Journals of Congress from 6th November to 10th
May last.
The late newspapers.
The other matters on which you have long had reason to expect
instructions are yet under consideration.
Chevalier Jones cannot have his affairs arranged in season for him
to go in this packet. He will probably sail in the next; and I flatter
myself with the pleasure of being enabled by that time, if not sooner,
to write you fully and satisfactorily. Nine States, for a long time
past, have been but seldom represented in Congress, and ee
delays, much to be regretted, have taken place.
The convention is sitting, but their proceedings are secret. Our
Indian affairs in the west still give us uneasiness, and so I fear they
will continue to do, for reasons you will not be at a loss to conjecture.
Our affairs in general will admit of much melioration, and they will
afford the convention ample field for the display of their patriotism
and talents.
LI have the honor to be, &c., JOHN JAY.
P. S. Congress yesterday passed a resolution approving Mr.
Barclay’s conduct in the negotiation with Morocco. They have
likewise confirmed his appointment of Don Francisco Chiappe to be
their agent at Morocco, Don Joseph Chiappe to be their agent at
Mogadore, and Don Girolomo Chiappe to be their agent at ‘Tangier,
with which agents it is their desire that their Ministers at Versailles
and London should regularly correspond. Want of time prevents my
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. A5
having and sending you certified copies of these acts by this oppor-
tunity. My next shall contain what may be necessary to say further
on these subjects.
EN
Extract from the Secret Journal of Foreign Affairs, July 18, 1787.
On a report of the Secretary of the United States for the Depart-
ment of Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred a petition from Hannah
Stephens, praying that her husband be redeemed from captivity at
Algiers, and also a letter from the Honorable Thomas Jefferson,
proposing that a certain order of Priests be employed for such pur-
poses : ‘
Resolved, That the Honorable Thomas Jefferson, Esq., the Minister
of the United States at the Court of Versailles, be, and he hereby is,
authorized to take such measures as he may deem most advisable,
for redeeming the American captives at Algiers, and at any expense
not exceeding that which European nations usually pay in like
cases.
fiesolved, That the Board of Treasury be, and they hereby are,
directed to provide ways and means for enabling Mr. Jefferson to
defray the said expenses, either by remitting money from hence or
by a credit in Europe.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Marseilles, May 4, 1787.
Sir,
I had the honor of receiving at Aix your letter of 9th February,
and immediately wrote to the Count de Montmorin, explaining the
delay of the answer of Congress to the King’s letter, and desired Mr.
Short to deliver that answer, with my letter, to Monsieur de Mont-
morin, which he accordingly informs me he has done.
_ My absence prevented my noting to you in the first moment the
-Tevolution which has taken place at Paris, in the Department of
_ Finance, by the substitution of Monsieur de Fourqueaux in the place
of Monsieur de Calonne; so that you will have heard of it through
_ other channels before this will have the honor of reaching you.
tial
46 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Having staid at Aix long enough to prove the inefficiency of the
waters, I came to this place for the purpose of informing myself here,
as I.mean to do at the other seaport towns, of whatever may be
interesting to our commerce, so far as carried on in our bottoms. I
find it almost nothing, and so it must probably remain till something
can be done with the Algerines. Though severely afflicted with the
plague, they have come out within these few days, and shewed
themselves in force along the coast of Genoa, cannonading a little
town, and taking several vessels.
Among other objects of inquiry, this was the Place to learn some-
thing more certain on the subject of rice, as it is a good emporium
for that of the Levant and of Italy. I wished particularly to know
whether it was the use of a different machine for cleaning which
brought European rice to market less br oken than ours, as had been
represented to me by those who’ deal in that article in Paris. I
found several persons who has passed through the rice country of
{taly, but not one who could explain to me the nature of the
machine. But I was given to believe that I might see it myself
immediately on entering Piedmont. As this would require but about
three weeks, I determined to go and ascertain this point, as the
chance only of placing our rice above all rivalship in quality as it is
in color, by the introduction of a better machine, if a better existed,
seemed to justify the application of that much time to.it. I found
the rice country to be in truth Lombardy, one hundred miles further
than had been represented, and that, though called Piedmont rice,
not a grain is made in the country of Piedmont. I passed through
the rice fields of the Vercelles and Milanese, about sixty miles, and
returned from thence last night, having found that the machine is
absolutely the same as ours, and of course we need not listen more
to that suggestion. It is.a difference in the species of grain of which
the Government of Turin is so sensible, that, as I was informed, they
prohibit the exportation of rough rice on pain of death. I have
taken measures, however, for obtaining a quantity of it, which I
think will not fail; and I: bought on the spot a small parcel, which
I have with me. As further details on this subject to Congress
would be misplaced, I propose, on my return to Paris, to communi-
eate them, and send the rice to the society at Charleston for
promoting agriculture ; supposing that they will be best able to try
the experiment of cultivating the rice of this quality, and to commu-
4
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 47
nicate the species to the two States of South Carolina and Georgia,
if they find it answer. I thought the staple of these two States was
entitled to this attention, and that it must be desirable to them to be
able to furnish rice of the two qualities demanded in Europe,
especially as the greater consumption is in the forms for which the
Lombardy quality is preferred. ‘The mass of our countrymen being
interested in agriculture, | hope I do not err in supposing that in a
time of profound peace as the present, to enable them to adapt their
productions to the market, to point out markets for. them, and
endeavor to obtain favorable terms of reception, is within the line of
my duty.
My journey into this part of the country has procured me informa-
tion which I will take the liberty of communicating to Congress. In
October last I received a letter, dated Montpelier, October 2d, 1786,
announcing to me that the writer was a foreigner, who had a matter
of very great consequence to communicate to me, and desired I
would indicate the channel through which it might pass safely. I
did so. I received soon after a letter in the following words,
omitting only the formal parts:
“JT am a Brazilian, and you know that my unhappy country
‘groans under a most dreadful slavery, which becomes more intol-
‘erable since the era of your glorious independence—the barbarous
‘Portuguese sparing nothing to make us unhappy for fear that we
‘should follow your steps. And as we know that these usurpers
‘against the law of nature and of humanity have no other thoughts
*than of crushing us, we are determined to follow the striking
‘example which you have given us, and consequently to break our
‘chains, and to bring to life liberty, which is now dead and oppressed
“by physical force, which is the only power Europeans have over
‘America. But as Spain will not fail to join Portugal, it is neces-
‘sary that a nation should assist us. And notwithstanding the
‘advantages we have for defence, we cannot do it, or at least it
‘would not be prudent for us to run any hazard without being sure
‘of success. Your nation, sir, is, we think, that which should most
a6 saitably assist us, because it is herthat has given.us the example;
‘and also, because nature has made us inhabitants of the same
‘continent, and has consequently constituted us -in some sort coun-
‘trymen. We are ready on our part to furnish all the funds that
“may be necessary, and to show at all times our gratitude towards
%
>
&:
48 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
‘our benefactors. ‘This is the substance of my intentions, and it is
éto fulfil thig commission that I am now in France, as I could not do
cit in America without exciting some suspicions. It is for you to
‘judge if they can be realized. And in case you should wish to
‘consult your nation on the subject, I am enabled to give all the
‘information that you may think necessary.
‘‘ Montpelier, 21 November.”’ 2
As by this time I had been advised to try the waters of the Aix,
IT wrote to the gentleman my design, and that I should go off my
road as far as Nismes, under the pretext of seeing the antiquities of
‘that place if he would meet me there. He met me, and the follow-
ing is the sum of the information I received from him :
«Brazil contains as many inhabitants as Portugal. They are:
‘Ist. Portuguese, 2d. Native Whites, 3d. Black and Mulatto
‘slaves. 4th. Indians, civilized ard savages. Ist. The Portuguese
‘are few in number; mostly married there ; have lost sight of their
‘native country, as well as the prospect of returning to it, and are
‘disposed to become independent. 2d. The native whites form
‘the body of their nation. 3d. The slaves are as numerous as the
‘free. Ath. The civilized Indians have no energy, and the savage
‘would not meddle. There are twenty thousand regular troops.
‘Originally these were Portuguese, but as they ~ off they were
‘replaced by the natives, so that these compose at present the mass
‘of the troops, and may be counted on by their native country.
‘The officers are partly Portuguese, partly Brazilian. Their bravery
‘is not doubted, and they understand the parade, but not the science
‘of their profession. They have no bias for Portugal, but no energy
‘neither for any thing. ‘The Priests are partly Portuguese, partly
‘Brazilians, and will not interest themselves much. The Noblesse
‘are scarcely known as such; they will in no manner be distin-
‘guished from the people. The men of letters are those most
‘desirous of a revolution. The people are not much under the
‘influence of their Priests. Most of them read and write, possess
‘arms, and are in the habit of using them for hunting. The slaves’
‘will take the side of their masters. In short, as to the question of
‘revolution, there is but one mind in that country. But there
‘appears no person capable of conducting a revolution, or willing to
‘venture himself at its head, without the aid of some powerful nation,
as the people of their own might fail them. ‘There is no printing
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 49
‘press in Brazil. They consider the North American revolution as
‘a precedent for theirs. They look to the United States as most
‘likely to give them honest support, and from a variety of considera-
‘tions, have the strongest prejudices in our favor. This informant is
‘a native and inhabitant of Rio Janeiro, the present metropolis,
‘which contains fifty thousand inhabitants. Knows well St. Salvador,
‘the former one, and the mines d’or, which are in the centre of the
‘country. These are all for a revolution, and constituting the body
‘of the nation, the other parts will follow them. The King’s fifth
‘of the mines yield annually thirteen millions of crusadores, or half
‘dollars. He has the sole right of searching for diamonds and other
‘precious stones, which yields him about half as much. His income
‘alone, then, from these two resources is about ten millions of dollars.
‘annually ; but the remaining parts of the produce of the mines,
‘being twenty-six millions, might be counted on for effecting a revo-
‘lution. Besides the arms in the hands of the people, there are
‘public magazines. ‘They have abundance of. horses, but only part
‘of their country would admit the service of horse. They would
‘want cannon, ammunition, ships, sailors, soldiers, and officers, for
‘which they are disposed to look to the United States, always
‘understood that every service and furniture will be well paid for.
‘Corn costs about 20 livres the 100 pounds. ‘They have flesh in the:
‘greatest abundance, insomuch that in some parts they kill beeves
‘for the skin only. The whale fishery is carried on by Brazilians:
‘altogether, and not by Portuguese; but in very small vessels, so:
‘that the fishermen know nothing of managing a large ship. They
‘would want of us at all times shipping, corn, and salt fish. The
‘latter isa great article, and they are at present supplied with it
‘from Portugal. Portugal, being without either army or navy, could’
‘not attempt an invasion under a twelve month. Considering of
‘what it would be composed, it would not be much to be feared ;
‘and, if they failed, they would probably never attempt a second..
‘Indeed, this source of their wealth being intercepted, they are
_ €scarcely capable of a first effort. The thinking part of the nation
‘are so sensible of this, that they consider an early separation
‘inevitable. ‘There is an implacable hatred between the Brazilians
‘and Portuguese, to reconcile which a former Minister adopted the
‘policy of letting the Brazilians into a participation of public offices,
‘but subsequent administrations have reverted to the ancient policy
Vou. Lk—4
50 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
‘of keeping the administration in the hands of native Portuguese.
‘There is a mixture of natives of the old appointments still remain-
‘ing in office. If Spain should invade them on their southern
‘extremities, these are so distant from the body of their settlements
‘that they could not penetrate thence, and Spanish enterprise is not
‘formidable. The mines d’or are among the mountains, inaccessible
‘to any army, and Rio Janeiro is considered as the strongest port in
‘the world, after Gibraltar. In case of a successful revolution, a
‘republican Government in a single body would probably be esigps
‘ lished.”
I took care to impress on him, through the whole of our conver-
sation, that I had neither instructions nor authority to say a word to
any body on this subject, and that I could only give him my own
ideas as a single individual, which were that we were not in a condi-
tion at present to meddle nationally in any war; that we wished
particularly to cultivate the friendship of Portugal, with whom we
have an advantageous commerce ; that yet a successful revolution in
* Brazil could not be uninteresting to us; that prospects of lucre might
© possibly draw numbers of individuals to their aid, and purer motives
our officers, among whom are many excellent; that our citizens
being free to leave their own country individually without the consent
of their Government, are equally free to go to any other.
A little before I received the first letter of the Brazilian, a gentle-
man informed me there was a Mexican in Paris who wished. to have
some conversation with me. He accordingly called on me. The
substance of the information I drew from him was as follows: He is.
himself a native of Mexico, where his relations are principally. He
left it about seventeen years of age, and seems now to be about
thirty-three or thirty-four. He classes and characterizes the inhab-
itants of the country as follows: Ist. The natives of old Spain,
possessed of most of the offices of Government, and firmly attached
to it. 2d. The clergy, equally attached to the Government. 3d.
atives of Mexico, generally disposed to revolt, but without
instruction, F ithout energy, and much under the dominion of their
Priests. 4th. The slaves, mulatto and black; the former enter-
prising and intelligent; the latter brave and of very important
weight, into whatever scales they may throw themselves; but he
thinks they will side with their masters. 5th. The conquered
Indians, cowardly, not likely to take any side, nor important which.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 51
6th. The free Indians, brave and formidable, should they interfere,
but not likely to do so, as being ata great distance. I asked him
the numbers of these several classes, but he could not give them.
The first he thought very inconsiderable; that the second formed
the body of the freemen ; the third equal to the two first; the fourth
to all the preceding ; and as to the fifth, he could form no idea of
their proportion. Indeed, it appeared to me that his conjectures as
to the others were on loose grounds. He said he knew from good
information there were three hundred thousand inhabitants: in the
city of Mexico. JI was still more cautious with him than with the
Brazilian, mentioning it as my private opinion, (unauthorized to say
a word on the subject otherwise,) that a successful revolution was
still at a distance with them; that I feared they must begin by
enlightening and emancipating the minds of their people; that, as:
to us, if Spain should give us advantageous terms of commerce, and
remove other difficulties, it was not probable that we should: relinquish
certain and present advantages, though smaller, to uncertain and
future ones, however good. I was lead into this caution, by observ-—
ing that this gentleman was intimate at the Spanish Ambassador’s,
and that he was then taken to Paris, employed by Spain to settle
her boundaries with France on the Pyrenees. He has much the air
of candor, but that ean be borrowed, so that I was not able to decide
about him in my own mind.
Led by a unity of subject, and a desire to give’ Congress as
general a view of the dispositions of our southern countrymen as my
information enables me, I will add an article which, old and insulated,
I did not think important enough to mention at the time I received
it. You will remember, sir, that during the late war, the British
papers often gave details of a rebellion in Peru; the character of
those papers discredited the information, but the truth was that the
insurrections were so general that the event was long on the poise.
Had Commodore Johnson, then expected on that coast, touched and
landed there two thousand men, the dominion of S$ in in. that
country was at an end; they only wanted a point of union, which
this body would have constituted; not having this, they acted
: without concert, and were at length subdued separately. This: con-
flagration was quenched in blood, two hundred thousand souls om
both sides having perished, but the remaining matter is:very capable
of combustion. I have this information from’a person’ wlio was. on
ac
UNIVERSITY OF
ILLIWUIS LIBRARY
AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
52 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
the spot at the time, and whose good faith, understanding, and means
of information, leave no doubt of the facts; he observed, however,
that the numbers above supposed to have perished were on such
conjectures only as he could collect.
I trouble Congress with these details, because, however distant we
may be, both in condition and dispositions, from taking an active
part in any commotions in that country, nature has placed it too
near us. to make its movements altogether indifferent to our interests
or to our curiosity.
I hear of another arrét of this Court, increasing the duties on
foreign stock fish, and the premiums on their own, imported into
their islands, but not having yet seen it, I can say nothing certain
on it. Iam in hopes the effect of this policy will be defeated by
the practice which I am told takes place on the bank of Newfound-
land, of putting our fish into the French fishing boats, and the parties
sharing the premium, instead of ours paying the duty.
J am in hopes Mr. Short will be able to send you the medals of
General Gates by this packet. I await a general instruction as to
these medals. ‘The academies of Europe will be much gratified to
receive each a set.
- I] propose to set out the day after to-morrow for Bordeaux, (by
the canal of Languedoc,) Nantes, L’Orient, and Paris.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
gsr
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
Paris, June 14, 1787.
Dear Sir,
- Having got back to Paris three days ago, I resume immediately
‘the correspondence with which you have been pleased to honor me.
I wish I could have begun it with more agreeable information than
that furnished me by M. Grand, that the funds of the United States
here are exhausted, and himself considerably in advance; and by ;
the Board of Treasury at New York, that they have no immediate
prospect of furnishing supplies. We are thus left to shift for our-
selves, without previous warning. As soon as they shall replenish
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 53
Mr. Grand’s hands, I will give you notice, that you may recommence
your usual drafts on him; unless the Board should provide a separate
fund for you, dependant on yourself alone, which I strongly and
repeatedly pressed on them, in order to remove the indecency of
suffering your drafts to pass through any intermediate hand for
payment.
My letters from America come down to the 24th of April. The
disturbances in the eastern States were entirely settled. I do not
learn that the Government had made any examples. Mr. Hancock’s
health being reestablished, the want of which had occasioned him to
resign the Government of Massachusetts, he has been reelected, to
the exclusion of Governor Bowdoin. New York still refuses to pass
the impost in any form, and were she to pass it, Pennsylvania will
not uncouple it from the supplementary funds. ‘These two States,
and Virginia, are the only ones, my letter says, which have paid
any thing into the Continental Treasury for a twelve month past. [
send you a copy of a circular letter from Congress to the several
States, insisting on their removing all obstructions to the recovery of
British debts. This was hurried, that it might be delivered to the
Assembly of New York before they rose. It was delivered, but they
did nothing in consequence of it. ‘Ihe Convention to be assembled
at Philadelphia will be an able one. Ten States were known to
have appointed delegates. Massachusetts was about to appoint ;
Connecticut was doubtful; and Rhode Island had refused. We are
sure, however, of eleven States. South Carolina has prohibit 2d the
importation of slaves for three years; which is a step) towa ds a
perpetual prohibition. Between six and seven hundred thousand
acres of land are actually surveyed into townships, and the sales are
to begin immediately. ‘They are not to be sold for less than a dollar
the acre, in public certificates. 1 wrote you from Bordeaux, on the
subject of Colonel Smith. I was sorry I missed him there, for other
reasons as well as from a curiosity to know his errand. ‘The
Notables have laid the foundation for much good here; you have
seen it detailed in the public papers. The Prince of Wales is likely
to recover from his illness, which was very threatening. It is feared
that three powers have combined to lift the Prince of Orange out of
his difficulties. Have you yet the cypher of which I formerly wrote
to you, or apy copy of it?
lam, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
-
be
54 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, June 21, 1787.
Sir,
[had the honor of addressmg you in a letter of May 4th, from
Marseilles, which was to have gone by the last packet, but it arrived
a few hours too late for that conveyance, and has been committed to
a private one passing through England, with a promise that it should
go through no post office. | .
I was desirous, while at the sea-ports, to obtain a list of the Ameri-
can vessels which have come to them since the peace, in order to
estimate their comparative importance to us, as well as the general
amount of our commerce with this country, so far as carried on in
our own bottoms. At Marseilles I found there had been thirty-two
since that period; at Cette, not a single one; at Bayonne, one of
our free ports, only one. This last article I learnt from other inform-
ation, not having visited that place, as it would have been a deviation
from my route too considerable for the importance of the object.
At Bordeaux, Nantes, and L’Orient I could not obtain lists in the
moment, but am in hopes I shall be able to get them ere long.
Though more important to us, they will probably be more imperfect
than that of Marseilles. At Nantes I began with Mr. Dobrée an
arrangement of his claims. I visited the military stores which have
been detamed there so long, opened some boxes of each kind, and
found the state of their contents much better than had been repre-
sented. An exact list of the articles is to be sent me. In the
meantime the following is near the truth: 24 cases of gun-locks; 6
cases of gun-barrels ; 65 cases of old bayonets; locks and furniture
of 3,100 fire-arms of various kinds, taken from the peasants of Bor-
deaux when they were deprived of the droit de chasse, and purchased
by Mr. Deane—the above are broken, eaten up with rust, and worth
nothing; 15,000 pieces of walnut for gun-stocks, very good; 30
eases of muskets from Holland, about 27 in each chest, say about
700 muskets with ther bayonets, good of their form, but not of the
best form, in such condition that they will need only such a cleaning
as the soldier himself can give; 21 cases of sabres, from Holland,
about 63 in each case, say about 1,300 in good condition 3 18 hogs-
heads of gun-flints ; 10 anchors, weighing in the whole about 21,500
ibs. But we must deduct about one fifth from the muskets and
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 55
sabres, because there are in the warehouses five tiers of cases, the
bottom one of which having been partly under water during an
inundation of the Loire, that whole tier may be considered as lost.
Another deduction will be warehouse rent, 600 liv. a year from the
year 1782. Still they remain an object of too much value to be
abandoned, if they can be withdrawn by mutual consent, without
any notice of their having been in the hands of justice. Mr. Dobrée
appears to be so reasonable that [ am in hopes this may be done.
‘The importations into L’Orient of other fish oils besides those of the
whale, brought to my notice there a defect in the letter of M. de
Calonne of October 22, which letter was formerly communicated to
you. In that whale oil only was named; the other fish oils, therefore,
have centinued to pay the old duties. In a conference with Mons.
de Villedeuil, the present Comptroller General, since my return,
I proposed the extending the exemption to all fish oils, according to
the letter of the Hanseatic treaty, which had formed the basis of the
regulations respecting us. I think this will be agreed to. The delays
of office first, the illness of M. de Calonne, and lastly his removal,
and the throng of business occasioned by the Assemblée des Notables,
have prevented the reducing the substance of the letter into the form
of an arrét as yet, though I continued soliciting it as much as
circumstances would bear. I am now promised that it shall be done
immediately, and that it shall be so far retrospective as to the date
of the letter as that all duties paid since that shall be refunded.
Though we are too little concerned in the proceedings of the
Assemblée des Notables to render minute details of them desirable to
Congress, yet I suppose a general view, now that the Assembly is
closed and their measures fixed, may be acceptable.
The deficiency of the public revenues compared with the public
expenses, was become so considerable that it was evident some of
the wheels of Government must stop unless they could be relieved.
Continual borrowings in time of profound peace could not be pro-
posed, and a new tax, under the same circumstances, might crush
the Minister, unless he could procure a powerful support. He pro-
posed, therefore, the calling an Assemblée des Notables; he proffered
them an universal redress of grievance, laid open those grievances
fully, pointed out sound remedies; and covering his canvass with
objects of this magnitude, the demand of money became a little
accessary, scarcely attracting attention. ‘The persons chosen were
56 THOMAS J EFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
the most able and independent characters in the kingdom, and _ their
support, if it could be obtained, would be enough for him. ‘They
improved the occasion of redressing their grievances, and agreed that
the public wants should be relieved, but went into an examination of
the causes of them. It is supposed Monsieur de Calonne was con-
scious his accounts could not bear examination; and it is said and
believed that he asked of the King to send four members to the
Bastile, of whom the Marquis de la Fayette was one, to banish
twenty others and two of his Ministers. The King found it shorter
to banish him. His successor went on in full concert with the
Assembly. The result has been an augmentation in the revenue, a
promise of economies in its expenditure, of an annual settlement of
the public accounts before a council, which the Comptroller, having
been heretofore obliged to settle only with the King in person, of
course never settled at all; of the abolition of the Corvées; reforma-
tion of the Grabelles ; suppression of interior custom-houses; free
commerce of grain, internal. and external; and the establishment of
Provincial Assemblies; which, altogether, constitute a vast mass of
improvement in the condition of this nation. The establishment of
Provincial Assemblies is a fundamental improvement. They will be
of the choice of the people, one third renewed every year. In those
provinces where there are no States, that is to say, over about three
fourths of the kingdom, they will be partly an executive themselves,
partly an executive council to the Intendant, to whom the executive
power in his province has been heretofore entirely delegated. Chosen
by the people, they will soften the execution of hard laws; and
having a right of representation to King, they will censure bad laws,
Suggest good ones, expose abuses; and their representations, when
united, will command respect. To the other advantages may be
added the precedent itself of calling the Assembly of Notables,
which may perhaps grow into habit. The hope is, that the improve-
ments thus promised will be carried into effect, that they will be
maintained during the present reign, and that will be long enough
for them to take some root in the constitution, so as they may become
to be considered a part of that, and be protected by time and the
attachment of the nation. The new accession of the Ministry is
valued here ; good is hoped from the Archbishop of Thoulouse, who
succeeds the Count de Vergennes as Chef du Conseil de Finance.
M. de Villedeuil, the Comptroller General, has been approved by
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 57
the public in offices he has heretofore exercised. ‘The Duke de
Nivernois, called to the Council, is reckoned good, an able man, and
M. de Malsherbes, called to the Council, is unquestionably the first
character in the kingdom for integrity, patriotism, knowledge, and
experience in business. ‘There is a fear that the Mareschal de
Castries is disposed to retire.
The face of things in Europe is a little turbid at present, but
probably all will subside. ‘The Empress of Russia, it is supposed,
will not push her pretensions against the Turks to actual war,
weighing fhe fondness of the Emperor for innovation against his
want of perseverance. It is difficult to calculate what he will do
with his discontented subjects in Brabant and Flanders. If these
provinces alone were concerned, he would probably give back ; but
this would induce an opposition to his plans in all his other
dominions. Perhaps he may be able to find a compromise. 'The
cause of the patriots in Holland is a little clouded at present.
England and Prussia seem disposed to interpose effectually. The
former has actually ordered a fleet of six sail of the line northwardly
under Gore, and the latter threatens to put his troops into motion.
The danger of losing such a weight in their scale as that of Prussia
would occasion this Court to prefer conciliation to war; add to this
the distress of their finances, and perhaps not so warm a zeal in the
new Ministry for the innovations of Holland. I hardly believe they
will think it worth while to purchase the change of constitution
proposed there at the expense of a war. But of these things you
will receive more particular and more certain details from Mr.
Dumas, to whom they belong.
Mr. Eden is appointed Ambassador from England to Madrid. To
the hatred borne us by his Court and country, is added a recollection
of the circumstances of the unsuccessful embassy to America, of
which he made a part; so that I think he will carry to Madrid
dispositions to do us all the ill he can.
The late change in the Ministry is very favorable to the prospects
of the Chevalier de la Luzerne ; the Count de Montmorin, Monsieur
de Malsherbes, and Monsieur de Lamoignon, the Garde des Sceauc,
are his near relations. Probably something will be done for him
without delay. The promise of the former administration to the
Count de Moustier to succeed to his vacancy, should it take place,
will probably be performed by the present one.
58 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Mr. Barclay has probably informed you of his having been
arrested in Bordeaux, for a debt contracted in the way of his
commerce. He immediately applied to the Parliament of that
place, who ordered his discharge. This took place after five days’
actual imprisonment. I arrived at Bordeaux a few days after his
liberation. As the Procureur General of the King had interested
himself, to obtain it with uncommon zeal, and that too on public
principles, I thought it my duty to wait on him, and return him my
thanks. I did the same to the President of the Parliament, for the
body over which he presided. What would have been an insult in
America bemg an indispensable duty here. You will see by the
enclosed printed paper on what ground the Procureur insisted on
Mr. Barclay’s liberation; those on which the Parliament ordered it
are not expressed. On my arrival here I spoke with the Minister
on the subject. He observed that the character of Consul is no
protection in this country against process for debt; that, as to the
character with which Mr. Barclay had been invested at the Court of
Morocco, it was questionable whether it could be placed on the
diplomatic line, as it had not been derived immediately from Con-
gress; that, if it were, it would have covered him to Paris only,
where he had received his commission, had he proceeded directly
thither ; but that his long stay at Bordeaux must be considered as
terminating it there. I observed to him that Mr. Barclay had been —
arrested almost immediately on his arrival at Bordeaux; but he says
that arrest was made void by the Parliament, and still he has con-
tinued there several weeks. ‘True, I replied, but his adversaries
declared they would arrest him again the moment he should be out
of the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Bordeaux, and have actually
engaged the Marechaussée on the road to do it. This seemed to
impress him; he said he could obtain a letter of sauf conduzt, which
would protect him to Paris, but that immediately on his arrival here
he would be liable to arrest. I asked him if such a letter could not
be obtained to protect him to Paris and back to Bordeaux, and even
to America? He said, that for that the consent of the greater part
of his creditors would be necessary, and even with this it was very
doubtful whether it could be obtained. Still, if I would furnish him ~
with that consent, he would do what should depend on him. Jam
persuaded he will, and have written to Mr. Barclay to obtain the
consent of his creditors. ‘his is the footing on which this matter
.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 59
stands at present. Ihave stated it thus particularly that you may
know the truth, which will probably be misrepresented in the English
papers to the prejudice of Mr. Barclay. This matter has been a great
affliction to him, but no dishonor, where its true state is known.
Indeed, he is incapable of doing anything not strictly honorable.
In a letter of August 30th, 1785, I had the honor of mentioning
to you what had passed here on the subject of a convention for the
regulation of the two post offices. I now enclose you a letter from
the Baron Dogny, who is at the head of that department, which
shows that he still expects some arrangements. I have heard it said
that M. de Crevecoeur is authorized to treat on this subject. You
doubtless know if this be true. The articles may certainly be better
adjusted there than here. This letter from the Baron Dogny was in
consequence of an application from a servant of mine, during my
absence, which would not have been made had I been here; nor will
it be repeated, it being my opinion and practice to pay small sums
of money rather than to ask favors.
I have the honor to enclose you, also, copies of a letter and papers
from the M. de Castries, on the claim of an individual against the
State of South Carolina, for services performed on board the Indian ;
and the petition of another on a like claim; also, copies of letters
received from O’Bryen, at Algiers, and from Mr. Lamb. A letter
of the 26th of May, from Mr. Montgomery, at Alicant, informs me
that by a vessel arrived at Carthagena from Algiers, they learn the
death of the Dey of that Republic ; yet, as we hear nothing of it
through any other channel, it may be doubted. It escaped me at
the time of my departure to Aix to make arrangements for sending
you the gazettes regularly by the packets. The whole are now
sent, though a great part of them are so old as not to be worth
perusal. Your favor of April 24th has been duly received.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
FROM JOHN LAMB TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Alicant Bay, May 20, 1787.
I received your Excellency’s letter concerning the cypher. The
vessel that Lam in here is bound to America, and does not take
practique ; and all papers are so defaced with vinegar that it will
60 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
be impossible to get the cypher sound to hands where it is ordered ;
therefore I must deliver the same to Congress, who can dispose of it
at their pleasure. Iam unhappy it is so cireumstanced. I hope
by this time that your Excellency is fully persuaded of the villany of
that man D’Espilly, whom I have often warned you of before this,
His letters have been too freely handed to your Excellency, and
to Congress likewise, for the benefit of our peace at Algiers. I most
heartily hope Congress will not be led to thank a man who was
turned out of Algiers for the most atrocious crimes, and some say
confined at present, and of which I doubt not the truth. If your
Excellency can come at the truth from Madrid, I am of opinion that
you will think as I do on the subject. I add that we have not had
a worse enemy than the abovementioned D’Espilly. How far he —
deceived Mr. Carmichael, whilst he was holdmg him up to our
public view, I cannot pretend to. say ; but Mr. Carmichael was not
deceived in the man. He had a desire to baffle my efforts, whilst
on my late mission, to make room for a more favorable plan. I can
give your Excellency no news at present, but that the number of
our wretched people in Algiers is reduced by the plague. Unhappy
men, indeed! I have had a very disagreeable winter, but am some-
thing recruited. I hope to be at Congress by the beginning of
August next. I am exceedingly sorry that Mr. Barclay missed me.
He writes me that he had authority to settle my accounts.
Iam, &c., JOHN LAMB.
O
FROM JOHN JAY TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
; New York, September 8, 1787
Dear Sir,
I had flattered myself that Chevalier Jones would have -been
prepared to go in the French packet, which is to sail the day after
to-morrow ; but certain circumstances make it necessary for him to
postpone his departure to some future opportunity. It seems also
that Mr. Jarvis, who had given me notice of his intention of taking
his passage in the packet, finds it convenient to remain here until
the first of next month.
On the 27th July last I had the honor of writing you that further
despatches on subjects touched in your letters would be transmitted,
and I flatter myself that the reasons which have hitherto delayed
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 61-
them will soon cease. Your letters of the 4th May and 2Ist June
have since arrived, and been communicated to the President of
Congress. Since their arrival a quorum of the States has not been
represented, so that as yet they have not been laid before Congress,
and consequently have not given occasion to any acts or instructions.
Tread them with pleasure, for in my opinion they do honor to the
writer.
You will find, herewith enclosed, an act of Congress of the 27th
July, containing the instructions you requested respecting the medals;
and also a copy of a letter from me to the President of Congress,
covering one I had received from the Governor of Rhode Island
respecting the seizure and condemnation of a vessel of that State at
Tobago. These papers speak for themselves, and therefore do not
require explanation or comments. The enclosed letter for Mr.
Pauly is from General Varnum on that subject.
The convention will probably rise next week, and their proceed-
ings will probably cause, not only much consideration, but also
much discussion, debate, and perhaps heat; for as docti indoctique
scribimus so docti indoctique, disinterested patriots and interested
politicians will sit in council and in judgment, both within and
without doors. ‘There is, nevertheless, a degree of intelligence and
information in the mass of our people, which affords much room for
hope that by degrees our affairs will assume a more consistent and
pleasing aspect. For my own part I have long found myself in an
awkward situation, seeing much to be done, and enabled to do very
little. All we can do is to persevere. If good results our labor
will not be in vain; if not, we shall have done our duty, and that
reflection is valuable.
With the best wishes for your health and happiness, and with
very sincere esteem and regard, I am, with great respect, &c.,
JOHN JAY.
Report of John Jay to Congress.
Office for Foreign Affairs, October 12, 1787.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, to whom was referred a letter of 21st June last from Mr.
Jefferson, respecting the arrest of the American Consul in France,
the proposed Post Office convention, and the claims of certain
individuals against South Carolina, reports :
62 | THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
That his report of the 26th September last on the petition of
Messrs. French and Nephew, at whose suit the Consul was arrested,
expresses the opinion of your Secretary on the legality of that arrest ;
and he still thinks that no Consuls should be exempt from suits and
arrests for their own proper debts.
But as the arrest and imprisonment of an American Consul
General is a circumstance which must hurt the feelings of the United
States, and in some degree wound their dignity, it may be proper to
inquire what measures it would be proper to take on this occasion.
He thinks it would be advisable to pass the resolution recommended
in the abovementioned reports, declaring that all American Consuls in
‘foreign parts, and all foreign Consuls here are liable to arrests, &c.
That your Secretary should, in an informal manner, intimate to
the Consul General in question that his arrest and imprisonment
have given Congress much concern, both on his account and that of
the United States. That they wish he would endeavor so to settle
with his creditors, as that he may return to France early in the
spring without any risk of-the like treatment in future. That,
although his character and services will always induce Congress to
regret every circumstance that may hurt either his feelings or his
fortune, yet that the respect due to the dignity of the United States
has also strong claims to their attention and care.
Your Secretary thinks it is his duty to inform Congress that, es
well from the opinion of Mr. Jefferson as from other circumstances,
he has reason to believe that the conduct of the Consul respecting
his creditors, has not merited the harsh treatment he has received
from them.
As to the proposed Post Office convention, your Secretary refers
to his reports of the 21st of February and 29th March, 1786, which
are now before Congress.
As to the claims of certain individuals against the State of South
Carolina, your Secretary thinks that an extract from Mr. Jefferson’s
letter on that subject, together with copies of the papers which he
enclosed relative to it, should be transmitted to the State of South
Carolina, in order that such measures may thereupon be taken as the
good faith of that State, and the justice due to the individuals in
question may appear to dictate.
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
: JOHN JAY.
|
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 63
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN ADAMS.
Paris, July 1, 1787.
Sir,
I returned about three weeks ago from a very useless voyage ;
useless, I mean, as to the object which first suggested it, that of
trying the effect of the mineral waters of Aix, in Provence, on my
hand. I tried these, because recommended among six or eight
others as equally beneficial, and because they would place me at the
beginning of a tour to the sea-ports of Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes,
and L’Orient, which I had long meditated, in hopes that a knowl-
edge of the places and persons concerned in our commerce, and the
information to be got from them might enable me sometimes to be
useful. J had expected to satisfy myself at Marseilles of the causes
of the difference of quality between the rice of Carolina and that of
Piedmont, which is brought in quantities to Marseilles. Not being
able to do it, I made an excursion of three weeks into the rice
country beyond the Alps, going through it from Urcelli to Pavia,
about sixteen miles. I found the difference to be, not in the man-
agement, as had been supposed both here and in Carolina, but in the
species of rice; and I hope to enable them, in Carolina, to begin the
cultivation of the Piedmont rice, and carry it on, hand in hand, with
their own, that they may supply both qualities, which is absolutely
necessary at this market. I had before endeavored to lead the depot
of rice from Cowes to Honfleur, and hope to get it received there on
. Such terms as may draw that branch of commerce from England to
this country. It is an object of two hundred and fifty thousand
guineas a year. While passing through the towns of Turin, Milan,
and Genoa, I satisfied myself of the practicability of introducing our
whale oil for their consumption, and suppose it would be equally so
in the other great cities of that country. I was sorry that I was not
authorized to set the matter on foot. The merchants with whom I
chose to ask conferences met me freely, and communicated fully,
knowing I was in a public character. I could, however, only
prepare a disposition to meet our oil merchants. On the article of
tobacco, | was more in possession of my ground; and put matters
into a train for inducing their Government to draw their tobaccoes
directly from the United States, and not, as heretofore, from Great
Britain. I am now occupied with the new Ministry here, to put the
concluding hand to the new regulations for our commerce with this
64 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
country, announced in the letter of Monsieur de Calonne, which I
sent you last fall. Iam in hopes, in addition to those, to obtain a
suppression of the duties on tar, pitch, and turpentine, and an
extension of the privileges of American whale oil, to their fish oils in
general. I find that the quantity of cod fish oil brought to L’Orient
is considerable. This being got off hand, (which will be’in a few
days,) the chicaneries and vexations of the farmers on the article of
tobacco, and their elusions of the order of Bernis, called for the next
attention. I have reasons to hope good dispositions in the new
Ministry towards our commerce with this country. Besides en-
deavoring, on all occasions, to multiply the points of contact and
connexion with this country, which I consider as our surest mainstay
under every event, I have had it much at heart to remove from
between us every subject of misunderstanding or irritation. Our
debts to the King, to the officers, and the farmers, are of this
description. The having complied with no part of our engagements
in these, draws on us a great deal of censure, and occasioned a
language in the Assemblée des Notables very likely to produce dis-
satisfaction between us. Dumas being on the spot in Holland, IL
had asked of him some time ago, in confidence, his opinion of the
practicability of transferring these debts from France to Holland,
and communicated his answer to Congress, pressing them to get you
to go over to Holland, and try to effect this business. Your
knowledge of the ground and former successes occasioned me to
take the liberty without consulting you, because | was sure you
would not weigh your personal trouble against public good. LThave
had no answer from Congress; but hearing of your journey to
Holland, have hoped that some money operation had led you there.
If it related to the debts of this country, I would ask a communica-
tion of what you think yourself at liberty to communicate, as it
might change the form of my answers to the eternal applications I
receive. ‘The debt to the officers of France carries an interest of
about two thousand guineas, so we may suppose its principal is
between thirty and forty thousand. ‘This makes more noise against
us than all our other debts put together.
I send you the arréts which begin the reformation here, and some
other publications respecling America, together with copies of letters
received from O’Bryen and Lamb. It is believed that a naval
armament has been ordered at Brest, in correspondence with that of
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 65
England. We know certainly that orders are given to form a camp
in the neighborhood of Brabant, and that Count Rochambeau has
the command of it. Its amount I cannot assert ; report says fifteen
thousand men. This will derange the plans of economy.
I take the liberty of putting under your cover a letter from Mrs.
Kinloch, of South Carolina, with a packet, and will trouble you to
inquire for her, and have them delivered. The packet is of great
consequence, and therefore referred to her care, as she will know the
safe opportunities of conveying it. Should you not be able to find
her, and can forward the packet to its address by any safe conveyance,
I will beg you to do it.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
a , aay
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO THOMAS BARCLAY.
Paris, August 3, 1787.
Sir,
I am now to acknowledge the receipt of your several favors of
June the 29th and July the 6th and 8th.
I am of opinion that the affair of Grand and Roland, in Holland,
had better be committed to M. Dumas, in Holland, as lawsuits must
always be attended to by some person on the spot. For the same
reason I think that of La Vayse and Puchelberg should be managed.
by the agent at L’Orient, and Gruel’s by the agent at Nantes. I
shall always be ready to assist the agents at L’Orient and Nantes, in.
any way in my power; but were the details to be left to me, they
would languish necessarily, on account of my distance from the
place, and perhaps suffer, too, for want of verbal consultations with
the lawyers entrusted with them. You are now with Congress ;
and can take their orders on the subject. I shall, therefore, do.
nothing in these matters, in reliance that you will put them in such
channel as they direct, furnishing the necessary documents and
explanations.
* * * * * % * *
With respect to French’s affair, being perfectly satisfied myself, I
have not ceased, nor shall I cease, endeavoring to satisfy others that
your conduct has been that of an honest and honorable debtor, and
theirs the counterpart of Shylock in the play. I enclose you a
Vor. I—5
66 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
letter, containing my testimony on. your general conduct, which I
have written to relieve a debt of justice pressing on my mind, well
knowing, at the same time, you will not stand in need of it in
America. Your conduct is too well known to Congress, a char-
acter to all the world, to need any testimonials. |
The moment I close my despatches for the packet, which will be
the 9th instant, I shall, with great pleasure, go to pay my respects
to Mrs. Barclay, at St. Germain’s, to satisfy her on the subject of
your transactions, and to assure her that my resources shall be hers
as long as [have any. A multitude of letters to write prevents my
entering into the field of public news, further than to observe that it
is extremely doubtful whether the affairs of Holland will or will not
produce a war between France on the one side, and England and
Prussia on the other.
I beg you to accept assurances of the sincere esteem and respect,
with which I have the honor to be, &c.,
; TH: JEFFERSON.
ewe) ee
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, August 6, 1787.
Sir,
The last letter [ had the honor of addressing you was dated June
21st. I have now that of enclosing you a letter from the Swedish
Ambassador, praying that inquiry may be made for a vessel of his
nation piratically carried off, and measures taken relative to the
vessel, cargo, and crew; also, a letter from William Russell and
others, citizens of America, concerned in trade to the Island of
Guadaloupe, addressed to the Mareschal de Castries, and complain-
ing of the shutting to them the port of Point-a-Petre, and receiving
them only at Basse-terre. ‘This was enclosed to me by the
subscribers, to be delivered to the Mareschal de Castries, but the
present is not the moment to move in that business, and, moreover,
I suppose that wherever parties are within the reach of Congress,
they should apply to them, and my instructions come through that
channel. Matters arising within the kingdom of France, to which
my commission is limited, and not admitting time to take the orders
of Congress, I suppose I may move in originally. I also enclose
you a copy of a letter from Mr. Barclay, enclosing his proceedings in
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 67
our affairs with Morocco. Before this reaches you, he will have had
the honor of presenting himself to you in person. After his depar-
ture, the Parliament of Bordeaux decided that he was liable to arrest.
This was done on a letter from the Minister, informing them that
Mr. Barclay was vested with no character which privileged him from
arrest. His constant character of Consul was no protection, and
they did not explain whether his character to Morocco was not
originally diplomatic or had expired. Mr. Barclay’s proceedings
under this commission being now closed, it would be incumbent
on me to declare with respect to them, as well as his consular
transactions, my opinion of the judgment, zeal, and disinterestedness
with which he has conducted himself; were it not that Congress
has been so possessed of those transactions from time to time as to
judge for themselves. I cannot but be uneasy lest my delay of
entering on the subject of the Consular convention may be disap-
proved. My hope was and is that more practicable terms might be
obtained. In this hope I do nothing till further orders, observing
by an extract from the journals you were pleased to send me that
Congress have referred the matter to your consideration, and con-
scious that we are not suffering in the meantime, as we have not a
single Consul in France since the departure of Mr. Barclay. I
mentioned to you in my last the revival of the hopes of the
Chevalier de la Luzerne. I thought it my duty to remind the
Count de Montmorin the other day of the long absence of their
Minister from Congress. He told me the Chevalier de Ja Luzerne
would not be sent back, but that we might rely that in the month of
October a person would be sent, with whom we should be content.
He did not name the person, though there is no doubt that it is the
Count de Moustier. It is an appointment which, according to the
opinion I have formed of him, bids as fair to give content as any one
which could be made. |
I also mentioned in my last letter that I had proposed the reducing
the substance of M. de Calonne’s letter into the form of an arrét with
some alterations, which on consultation with the merchants at the
different ports I visited, I had found to be necessary. I received
soon after a letter from the Comptroller General, informing me that
the letter of Monsieur de Calonne was in a course of execution. Of
this I enclose you a copy. Iwas in that moment enclosing to him
my general observations on that letter, a copy of which is also
68 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
enclosed; in this I stated all the alterations I wished to have made.
It became expedient soon after to bring on the article of tobacco,
first to know whether the Farmers had executed the orders of Bernis,
and also to prepare some arrangements to succeed the expiration of
this order, so that I am now pursuing the whole subject of our
commerce.
Ist. To have necessary amendments made in M. de Calonne’s
letter.
2d. To put it into a more stable form.
3d. To have full execution of the order of Bernis.
Ath. To provide arrangements for the article of tobacco after that
order shall be expired.
By the copy of my letter on the two last points, you will perceive
that I again press the attention of the farm of this article; the confer-
ences on that subject give no hope of effecting that. Some poor
palliative is probably all we shall obtain. The Marquis de la
Fayette goes hand in hand with me in all these transactions, and is
an invaluable auxiliary to me. I hope it will not be imputed either
to partiality or affectation my naming this gentleman so often in my
despatches. Were I not to do it, it would be a suppression of truth,
and as taking to myself the whole merit where he has the greatest
share.
The Emperor, on his return to Vienna, discovered the concessions
of his Governors General to his subjects of Brabant. He, at the
same time, proposed their sending deputies to him to consult on their
affairs. ‘They refused in the first moment, but afterwards nominated
deputies without giving them any power, however, to concede any-
thing. In the meantime they are arming and training themselves.
Probably the Emperor will avail himself of the aid of these deputies
to tread back his steps. He will be the more prompt to do this that
he may be in readiness to act freely if he finds occasion, in the new
scenes preparing in Holland. What these will be cannot be foreseen.
You well know that the original party divisions of that country were
into Stadtholderians, Aristocrats, and Democrats. ‘There was a sub-
division of the Aristocrats into violent and moderate, which was
important. The violent Aristocrats would have wished to preserve
all the powers of government in the hands of the Regents, and that
these should remain self-elective, but choosing to receive a modifica-
tion of these powers from the Stadtholder rather than from the people,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 69
they threw themselves into his scale. The moderate Aristocrats
would have consented to a temperate mixture of Democracy, and
particularly that the Regents should be elected by the people. They
were the declared enemies of the Stadtholder, and acted in concert
with the Democrats, forming with them what were called the Patriots.
It is the opinion of dispassionate people on the spot, that their views
might have been effected, but the Democratic party aimed at more.
They talked of establishing tribunes of the people, of annual
accounts, of depriving the magistrates at the will of the people, &c.,
of enforcing all this with the arms in the hands of the corps francs,
and in some places, as at Heusden, Sprang, &c., began the execu-
tion of these projects. ‘The moderate Aristocrats found it difficult to
strain their principles to this pitch. A schism took place between
them and the Democrats, and the former have for some time been
dropping off from the latter into the scale of the Stadtholder. This
is the fatal coalition which governs without obstacle in Zealand Fries-
land and Guelderland, which constitutes the States of Utrecht and
Amersfort, and, with their aid, the plurality in the States General.
The States of Holland, Groningen, and Overyssel vote, as yet, in the
opposition ; but the coalition gains ground in the States of Holland,
and has been prevalent in the Council of Amsterdam. If its
progress be not stopped by a little moderation in the Democrats, it
will turn the scale decidedly in favor of the Stadtholder, in the event
of their being left to themselves, without foreign interference. If
foreign Powers interfere, their prospect does not brighten. I see no
sure friends to the Patriots but France; while Prussia and England
are their assured enemies. Nor is it probable that characters so
greedy, so enterprising, as the Emperor and Empress, will be idle
during such a struggle. ‘Their views have long shown which side
they would take. That France has engaged to interfere and support
the patriots, is beyond doubt. This engagement was entered into
during the life of the late King of Prussia, whose eye was princi-
pally directed on the Emperor, and whose disposition towards the
Prince of Orange would have permitted him to be clipped a little
close; but the present King comes in with warmer dispositions
towards the Princess, his sister. He has shewn decidedly that he
will support her, even to the destruction of the balance of Europe,
and the disturbance of its peace. 'The King of England has equally
“0 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY. Whe
decided to support that House, at the risk of plunging his nation
into another war. He supplies the Prince with money. At this
moment a particular remittance of one hundred and twenty thousand
guineas is known of; but his Ministry is divided. Pitt is against
the King’s opinion; the Duke of Richmond and the rest of the
Ministers for it, or at least sugh is the belief here. Mr, Adams will
have informed you more certainly. This division in the English
Ministry, with the ill condition of their finances for the war, produce
a disposition, even in the King, to try first every pacific measure.
And that country and this were laboring jointly to stop the course of
hostilities in Holland, to endeavor to effect an accommodation, and
were $carcely executing at all the armaments ordered in their ports,
when all of a sudden, an inflammatory letter, written by the Princess
of Orange to the King of Prussia, induces him, without consulting
England, without consulting even his own council, to issue orders by
himself, to his Generals, to march twenty thousand men to revenge
the insult supposed to be offered to his sister. With a pride and
egotism planted in the heart of every King, he considers her being
stopped in the road as a sufficient cause to sacrifice a hundred or
two thousand of his own subjects, and as many of his enemies, and
to spread fire, sword, and desolation over the half of Europe. This
hasty measure has embarrassed England, undesirous of war, if it
can be avoided, yet unwilling to separate from the Power who is to
render its success probable. Still you may be assured that that
Court is going on in concurrence with this, to prevent extremities if
possible, always understood that if the war cannot be prevented,
they will enter into it as parties, and in opposition to one another.
This event is, in my opinion, to be deprecated by the friends of
France. She never was equal to such a war by land, and such a
one by sea; and less so now than in any moment of the present
reign. You remember that the nation was in a delirium of joy on
the convocation of the Notables, and on the various reformations
agreed on between them and the Government. ‘The picture of the
distress of their finances was, indeed, frightful ; but the intentions to
reduce them to order seemed serious. The constitutional reforma-
tions have gone on well, but those of expenses make little progress.
Some of the most obviously useless have, indeed, peen lopped off;
but the remainder is a heavy mass, difficult to be reduced. Despair
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. "1
has seized every mind, and they have passed from an extreme of
joy to one of discontent. The Parliament, therefore, oppose the
registermg any new tax, and insist on an assembly of the States
General.
The object of this is to limit the expenses and dictate a constitu-
tion. The edict for the stamp tax has been the subject of reiterated
orders and refusals to register; at length the King has summoned
the Parliament to Versailles, to hold a bed of justice, in which he
will order them in person to register the edict. At the moment of
my writing they are gone to Versailles for this purpose. There will
yet remain to them to protest against the register as forced, and to
issue orders against its execution on pain of death; but as the King
would have no peaceable opposition left, it remains to be seen whether
they will push the matter to this extremity. It is evident, I think,
that the spirit of this country is advancing towards a revolution in
their constitution. There are not wanting persons at the helm, friends
to the progress of this spirit. The Provincial Assemblies will be
the most probable instrument of effecting it. Since writing thus far
I have received an intimation that it will be agreeable not to press
our commercial regulations at this moment, the Ministry being too
much occupied with the difficulties surrounding them to spare a
moment on any subject which will admit of delay. Our business
must, therefore, be suspended for a while; to press it out of season
would be to defeat it. It would be felt as a vital benefit here could
we relieve their finances by paying what we owe. Congress will
judge by Mr. Adams’s letters how far the transferring all our debts
in this country to Holland is practicable, or the replenishing their
treasury with our principal and interest. I should not be afraid to
ask concessions’ in favor of our West India trade; it would produce
a great change of opinion as to us and our affairs. In the Assemblée
des Notables hard things were said of us; they were induced, how-
ever, in committing us to writing, to smother their ideas a little. In
their votes, now gone to be printed, our debt is described in these
words: “The twenty-first article in the account of receipts, consisting
- ‘of the interest of the debt due to his Majesty from the United States,
‘cannot be taken into consideration, except it is for the sake of
‘reference. Although that debt seems to be well secured, it may,
‘neyertheless, be a great while before it can be collected, principal
‘as well as interest; and it cannot, consequently, enter into the
‘be THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
‘calculation of the current annual receipts. That article amounts to
‘1,600,000 livres.” Above all things it is desirable to hush the
foreign officers by payment; their wants, the nature of their services,
their access to high characters and connexions with them, bespeak
the reasons for this. ‘I hear, also, that Mr. Beaumarchais means to
make himself heard, if a memorial, which he sends by an agent in
the present packet, is not attended to, as he thinks it ought to be.
He called on me with it, and desired me to recommend his case to a
decision, and to note in my despatch that it was the first time he had
spoken to me on the subject. This is true, it being the first time I
ever saw him; but my recommendations would be as misplaced as
unnecessary. I assured him Congress would do in that business
what justice should require and their means enable them to. ‘The
information sent me by Mr. Montgomery from Alicant of the death
of the Dey of Algiers, was not true. I had expressed my doubt of
it in my last, when I communicated it. I send herewith the news-
papers to this date, and a remonstrance of the Parliament, to shew
you in what language the King can be addressed at this day. I have
received no Journals of Congress since the beginning of November
last, and will thank you for them, if printed. |
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
P.S. August 7th. The Parliament were received yesterday very
harshly by the King. He obliged them to register the two edicts for
the impét territorial and the stamp tax. When speaking in my
letter of the reiterated orders and refusals to register which passed
between the King and Parliament, I omitted to insert the King’s
answer to a deputation of Parliament which attended him at Ver-
sailles. It may serve to shew the spirit which exists between them.
It was in these words, and these only: “Je vous ferat savoir mes
intentions, allez vous en, qu’on ferme la porte.”
FROM BARON DE STAEL HOLSTEIN TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Paris, August 3, 1787.
Sir,
Allow me to have the honor of claiming your kind offices near the
United States in a circumstance in which the safety of commerce is
compromised.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. !3;
Mr. Adolph Frederick Dahlberg, Captain of the Swedish galeasse
Marie Elizabeth, belonging to Baron de Roxendorft, went to sea on
an expedition on account of the owner of that ship. A long time
has elapsed since, and not the least news has been received from that
captain, who it seems has formed the conspiracy of taking possession
of the vessel and its cargo and going off to remote seas, according
to the informations which have been procured, and of the declara-
tions furnished to the Admiralty.
The Chamber of Commerce of Stockholm having strong reasons
to presume that Captain Dahlberg has gone to some port in the
United States, has applied to me for the purpose of obtaining means
in order to take possession of his person.
I have the honor to annex hereto the description of the said
captain, and also of the geleasse, such as they have been transmitted
to me.
I hope, sir, that you will find in the safety of commerce and of
navigation motives sufficiently strong to send these papers to the
United States, and to support the claim of the Chamber of Commerce,
which requires that orders should be given that Captain Dahlberg
and his accomplices should be arrested, in whatever port of the
United States they may be found, and at whatever time they may
be discovered, and that from thence they should be sent as prisoners
on board the said ship to the Governor of the Island of St. Barthol-
omew, belonging to his Majesty the King of Sweden.
I shall wait your answer, and will communicate it to the Chamber
of Commerce of Stockholm. I take this opportunity to offer you
the assurance of the perfect consideration with which I have the
honor to be, &c.,
BARON DE STAEL HOLSTEIN.
Description of the Captain.
Captain Adolph Frederick Dahlberg was born in the city of
Calmar, in Sweden; he is of a middling stature, rather small than
large; his person short and thick; he has black eyes, dark com-
plexion, and black hair.
"4 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Description of the Swedish ship or galeasse Marie Elizabeth.
The ship is built of oak and pine, twenty-two lasts, or about forty-
four English tons burthen, built and rigged as a galeasse, or hocre
galeasse. When she left Calmar she had streaks painted black all
around the ship; there was a small figure of a woman painted on
the stern, and under that figure was written the name of the ship,
Marie Elizabeth; and there was a break which contracted a little
the dimensions of the hold.
The owner of the ship is Baron de Roxendorft.
%
MEMORIAL.
T'o the Mareschal de Castries, Minister and Secretary of State for
the Department of the Navy.
The owners and captains of several ships belonging to the United
States of America, allies of his most Christian Majesty, and actually
moored in the road of Point-a-Petre, humbly petition, saying that
there has been communicated to them a decree of the King, ordering
that the port of Point-a-Petre should be shut to them, and that the
road of Basse-terre is exclusively open to receive them.
The petitioners take the liberty to represent in the most humble
manner to your Excellency, that such a revolution in the American
commerce of these parts will be a fatal one to the continent, as well
as to the colony of Guadaloupe, and that the Americans will be
obliged to compare it to almost a total prohibition.
Being entirely convinced of the ardent desire of your Excellency
to encourage the commerce of the colonies confided to your Ministry,
and being assured of the benevolence which characterizes your
actions, the petitioners (in hopes of obtaining their request) take the
liberty of addressing themselves to you, in order that you should
place before his most Christian Majesty the inconveniences without
numbers which the execution of his order will occasion. The
dangers to which their ships will be exposed in the road of Basse-
terre during the hurricane months—a continual swell of the sea;
unavoidable delays in the expeditions; their boats dashed to pieces
on their debarking, as well as embarking ; a great many expenses to -
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. "5
which their commercial operations will be subjected by the situation
of that road, and which the little value of their cargoes will be
unable to pay,—all this is only a feeble sketch of their situation.
As the sale of their cargoes cannot be as advantageous at Basse-terre
as it is at Point-a-Petre, a lesser number of ships will go there, and
their return cargoes, consisting in rum and syrup, which are more
abundant at the Grande-terre and its neighborhood, the petitioners
would have the great advantage of transporting, in one day and in
their own boats, the necessary articles for those cargoes. Instead of
this they will be compelled to freight vessels for the transportation of
their cargoes to Basse-terre. By this expensive manner of loading,
their profits are considerably diminished, and they see themselves
subjected still to a certain loss by the leakage of the rum and syrup
during their transportation to Basse-terre.
The situation of Point-a-Petre offers them great advantages—the
navigation of the Salt river, the beautiful surrounding sea, the facility
with which they transport their goods amongst the planters, and the
exactness of the payments. The inhabitants by that means receive
the necessary articles at a lower price. Should they be compelled
to go to Basse-terre for the purpose of purchasing them, and at the
same time be compelled to transport there their produce in payment,
their rum and syrup will be iessened in value, and the goods pur-
chased will increase in price for the planter, whilst, at the same
time, the freight and other expenses of transportation will enhance
the price of the produce to the petitioners.
They address themselves to the humanity and to the benevolence
of your Excellency, entreating you to represent to his Majesty the
grievous and embarrassing situation in which they find themselves.
The interest of the planters being intimately connected with theirs,
they hope that his Majesty will, on your representation, deliver-them
from that unfortunate position ; that he will condescend to annul his
decree; and that he will order that the commerce of the United
States of America shall be carried as heretofore with the port of
_Point-a-Petre only. The petitioners flatter themselves that you will
receive favorably their supplications.
Your mediation in a cause so especially connected with the
industry and prosperity of the petitioners, as well as that of the
colony of Guadaloupe, will make them forever grateful, and their
prayers for the prosperity of your Highness shall be addressed to
716 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Heaven with fervor. It is the only proof they can sc of the ae
and of the veneration they have for you.
’ Point-a-Petre, Island of Guadaloupe, May 3, 1787.
(Signed) Joseph Sevein, Daniel Wookey, James Jones, Nathaniel
Saunders, William Wyles, Nicholas Stilwell,. Isaac
Tubbs, John Marshall, Thomas Webb, Jonathan Mason,
John Peabody, Paul Vast, Peter-Le Breton, Forten
Moore, William Russell, Nathaniel Witmore, Phoenix
Frazier, Joseph ee Benjamin pial Richard
Tappan.
FROM THOMAS BARCLAY TO JOHN ADAMS AND THOMAS JEFFERSON.
L’Orient, July 13, 1787.
Gentlemen,
I do myself the honor to enclose you two books, of eighty-two
pages, containing all my accounts respecting my mission to Morocco ;
by which you will see that the amount of the expenses attending the
negotiation, including the presents and all the travelling charges of
Mr. Franks and myself, amount to 95,179 liv. 10 sols, which sum I
shall place to the debit of the United States. The particulars of |
the purchases made, and of the appropriation of all the presents,
together with an account of the articles remaining on hand, make a
part of these accounts; and I do not: know that anything whatever
is left unexplained, when I have told you that my reasons for leaving
the lawns and cambrics in the hands of Mr. Champion, of this place,
for sale, was because the Farmers General would not permit me to
carry them out of the town by land. Mr. Champion died suddenly,
in April last, and at present nothing is done, or can be done, in his
affairs, which are all sealed up by the judges, and are likely to
remain so some time. I shall direct the account of the goods to be
lodged in the hands of Mr. Loreilhe here, in order that he may claim
them.
T annex an account of bills drawn on Mr. Adams, amounting to.
£4,645 sterling, £100 of which, in favor of M. Grand, he writes
to me was never sent forward for acceptance ; in which case I have
promised to account with him for it, and then the amount will be —
£4,545 sterling, which, supposing the exchange to be on an average
24 liv. the pound sterling, clear of negotiating fees in Paris, the sum —
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 77
will be, in livres, 109,080; so that upon this account I shall remain
_ indebted to the United States (until | make a settlement with them,
and until I know what I am to charge for my voyage) 13,901 liv.
10sols. Ihave also some suspicion that I must have drawn a bill
not included in this account; but I am not certain, as most of my
papers are at St. Germains. Mr. Adams will be so kind as to
procure from the banker who paid the drafts an account of the
particulars, and transmit it to me under cover to Mr. Jay, at New
York, assuring himself that a final settlement shall be made to the
entire satisfaction of Congress, and that of you, gentlemen.
The necessity I am under of hastening out to America should not
have prevented my waiting on Mr. Adams in London for his com-
mands, had not Mr. Jefferson given me a full dispensation on that
head, and, therefore, | know Mr. Adams will excuse me.
Before I take leave, permit me to thank you both for the many
marks of esteem and attention with which you have honored me,
and to request most earnestly a continuance of that regard, which I
sincerely assure you is very precious to, gentlemen, your most, Wc.,
THOS. BARCLAY.
P.S. The precise exchange of the bills cannot be adjusted until
I receive M. Grand’s accounts.
Favor. From.
L185; Septi) 27, Nox.1, Mz Grandi). cise ev 22120)
6s eee. Vb. Darcel 1. ccalemse « shaves 100
é< Ser Aa ie cs IVES ASTON 0 a0 ve a hi cin ichs LUO
Peeters, a, dO Ath ye I eg 200
BPNOy: 7a, 3/5. do .. 100
aaibisiectint’ feegilcestci Gustkelcdgiw Lox yee, HOTS | 100
i! cS pig Rog oe do b AedlSrs sites are LOO :
Mace 8. cdo. fie ace sc. 60, 26200 (ooo
pees) hy 6.9. Ms Darcel ox sie o.0/0:0 0,0 0: 200
us: oe Th do. SRA HR < AE 200
a Seer et) Wi Grand. cw cece voce es LOU
Ronn aR tba TQ? iSdov2s,) AYP LAES.9 200
HiSGi Jan orem Lassoiidosd Wredess ee 200
ants RUMI sic. a's aay stveahelane ZOO
¢ Feb. 24, A do. duthavsleid e\ialn alae On Foe VODUE.
Se ADIT LO, oR OPELLTOL Sr (70s iis ss 0.0.8.0 .«. 200 Madrid.
pee Way’ 20, e vnc ec ellews sts «+» se .300 Cadiz.
ib Junes:13, «< MrswBarclay'.!) 20088 .- 100 Mogadore.
Aug. 11, “ Lynch & Bellew........+++750 Daralbeyda.
48 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
1786, Dec. 3, A Druilhet & Co............-400 Madrid.
1787, Feb. 10, “ Francis Picquerez........+-150 Alicant.
“s Ki 6 6. Win, Mred. Ast is eiewe & ealbnee nae aide
rh ceo Oe MrsaBarelay i. oon + 000-0) es
«April 3, “ Lynch & Bellew...........325 Barcelona.
K
* Probably this bill was for only £50. £4,645 Sterling.
cS Se es
a (he
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO GEORGE WASHINGTON.
Paris, August 14, 1787.
Sir, 3
I was happy to find, by the letter of August Ist, 1786, which
you did me the honor to write to me, that the modern dress for your
statue would meet your approbation. I found it strongly the senti-
ment of West, Copely, Trumbull, and Brown, in London, after
which it would be ridiculous to add that it was my own. I think a
modern in an antique dress as just an object of ridicule as a Hercules
or Marius with a periwig and chapeaubras.
I remember having written to you while Congress sat at Annapolis,
on the water communication between ours and the western country,
and to have mentioned particularly the information I had received
of the plain face of the country between the sources of Big Beaver
and Cayohoga, which made me hope that a canal, of no great
expense, might unite the navigation of Lake Erie and the Ohio.
You. must since /have had occasion of getting better information
on this subject, and if you have, you will oblige me by a communica-
tion of it. I consider this canal, if practicable, as a very important
work. ;
I remain in hopes of great and good effects from the decision of
the Assembly over which you are presiding. 'To make our States
one as to all foreign concerns, preserve them several as to all merely
domestic, to give to the Federal head some peaceable mode of
enforcing its just authority, to organize that head into legislative,
executive, and judiciary departments, a great desiderata in our
Federal Constitution. Yet, with all its defects, and with all those
of our particular Governments, the inconveniences resulting from
them are so light, in. comparison with those existing in every other —
.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 79
Government on earth, that our citizens may certainly be considered
as in the happiest political situation which exists.
The Assemblée des Notables has been productive of much good
in this country. The reformation of some of the most oppressive
laws has taken place. The allotment of the State into subordinate
governments, the administration of which is committed to persons
chosen by the people, will work, in time, a very beneficial change
in their Constitution. The expense of the trappings of monarchy,
too, is lightening. Many of the useless officers, high and low, of
the King, Queen, and Princes, are struck off. Notwithstanding all
this, the discovery of the abominable abuses of the public money by
the late Comptroller General, some new expenses of the Court not
of a piece with the projects of reformation, and the imposition of
new taxes, have, in the course of a few weeks, raised a spirit of
discontent in this nation, so great and so general, as to threaten
serious consequences. ‘The Parliaments in general, and particularly
that of Paris, put themselves at the head of this effervescence, and
direct its object to the calling the States General, who have not been
assembled since 1614. ‘The object is to fix a Constitution, and to
limit expenses. The King has been obliged to hold a bed of justice,
to enforce the registering the new taxes; the Parliament, on their
side, propose to issue a prohibition against their execution. Very
probably this may bring on their exile. The mild and _ patriotic
character of the new Ministry, is the principal dependence against
this extremity.
The turn which the affairs of Europe will take is not yet decided.
~ * * * * * * *
A war wherein France, Holland, and England should be parties
seems prima facie to promise much advantage to us. But, in the
first place, no war can be safe for us which threatens France with
an unfavorable issue. And, in the next, it will probably embark us
again into the ocean of speculation, engage us to overtrade ourselves,
convert us into sea-rovers, under French and Dutch colors, divert us
from agriculture, which is our wisest pursuit, because it will, in the
end, contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.
The wealth acquired by speculation and plunder is fugacious in its
nature, and fills society with the spirit of gambling. The moderate
and sure income of husbandry begets permanent improvement, quiet
life, and orderly conduct, both public and private. We have no
80 ‘THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
occasion for more commerce than to take off our superfluous produce,
and the people complain that some restrictions prevent this, yet the
price of articles with us, in general, shews the contrary. Tobacco,
indeed, is low, not because we cannot carry it where we please, but
because we make more than the consumption requires. Upon the
whole, I think peace advantageous to us, necessary for Europe, and
desirable for humanity. A few days will decide, probably, whether
all these considerations are to give way to the bad passions of Kings,
and those who would be Kings.
{ have the honor to be, &c., TH JEFFERSON,
P.S. August 15th. The Parhamcat is exiled to Troyes, this
morning. Ls Op
oO
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, August 15, 1787.
Sir, |
An American gentleman leaving Paris this afternoon, to go by the
way of L’Orient to Boston, furnishes me the rare occasion of a
conveyance, other than the packet, sure and quick. My letter by
the packet informed you of the bed of justice for enregistering the
stamp tax and land tax. The Parliament, on their return, came to
an arrettée (a resolution) which, besides protesting against the
enregistering as done by force, laid the foundation for an arrét de
defence (an act) against the execution of the two new laws. The
question on the final arrét was adjourned to the day before yesterday.
It is believed that they did not conclude on this arrét, as it has not
appeared. However, there was a concourse of about ten thousand
people at the Parliament house, who, on their adjournment, received
them with acclamations of joy, loosened the horses of the most
eminent speakers against the tax from their carriages, and drew them —
home. This morning the Parliament is exiled at Troyes. It is
believed to proceed principally from the fear of a popular commotion
here.
The officer charged by this Court to watch the English squadron,
which was under sailing orders, returned about a week ago, with
information that it had sailed, having shaped its course westwardly.
This is another step towards war. It is the more suspicious, as their
es,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. Q]
Minister here denies the fact. Count Adhemar is here from London
by leave from his Court. 'The Duke of Dorset, the British Ambas-
sador here, has lately gone to London on leave. Neither of these
Ambassadors has the confidence of his Court on the point of abilities.
The latter merits it for his honesty. The Minister of the British
Court resident here remains, but Mr. Eden, their Ambassador to
Spain, under pretence of taking this in his route, is in truth their
factotum in the present emergency. Nothing worth noting has
occurred since my last, either in the Dutch or Austrian Nether-
lands.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
1)
FROM JOHN JAY TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
‘ Office for Foreign Affairs, October 24, 1781.
Dear Sir,
Since the 8th ultimo, when I last wrote to you, I have been
favored with your letters of the 6th and 15th August last, which,
together with the papers mentioned in the first of them, were imme-.
diately laid before Congress.
Although the opinion of the most judicious and well informed
seems to be that France and Britain will avoid war, and unite their
councils and their efforts to preserve peace, yet as great events are:
often produced by latent and little circumstances, especially between
Courts who distrust each other, I should not be surprised if, notwith--
standing their wishes to the contrary, something should happen to
frustrate their pacific designs.
You will receive, herewith enclosed, two letters from me dated the
27th, concerning the Consular convention, with a commission to you
to form one; and also a certified copy of an act of Congress of the
23d July, on the subject of the Morocco treaty and papers.. The
want of a safe and private conveyance has, until now, delayed the
transmission of these letters and this act. I also enclose the follow-
ing papers, viz:
1. A certified copy of an act of Congress of 28th September,
respecting duties on goods imported by foreign Consuls.
2d. A certified copy of an act of 2d October instant, instructing
you not to promote any negotiation for transferring the: debt due to,
France from the United States.
Vor. I.—6
82 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
3. A certified copy of an act of 11th October instant, approving
the manner in which the prize money due to the crews of the Bon
Homme Richard and Alliance has been quotaed by France, and
directing the Board of Treasury to distribute it accordingly.
4, A certified copy of an act of 12th October instant, reappointing
you Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Versailles, together with
a commission and letter of credence, and a copy of the letter for your
information.
5. A certified copy of an act of 12th October instant, constituting
the residue of the money appropriated the 14th February, 1785, for
treaties with Morocco, &c., a fund for redeeming the American
captives at Algiers, and a duplicate of the act of — July, mstruct-
ing you to redeem them.
6. A certified copy of an act of the 16th October instant, directing
you to have a medal struck in honor of Chevalier Jones, and a copy
of a letter to his most Christian Majesty of the same date on the
same subject. Congress were pleased to order that he should be
the bearer of this letter; but 1 nevertheless think it proper that you
should have a copy of it. !
7. Copy of a letter of the 26th ultimo, which I this day received _
from the Governor of Rhode Island, requesting me to transmit to
you the papers which iii it, and which I now transmit
accordingly.
8. A copy of the Bertoral Government pa by the late
convention.
9. The requisition of Congress, passed the 11th instant, and their
printed journals, from the 10th May to 25th September last, which,
with those heretofore sent; will complete your set from the 6th
November, 1786. I also send the newspapers from 8th September
ito this day.
As to the claims of certain individuals against the State of South
‘Carolina, I have, by order of Congress, sent an’ extract from com
‘letter on that subject, together with a copy of the papers relative to
it, to the Governor of that State, in order that they may, thereupon,
take such measures as the good faith of the State, and the justice
due to the individuals in question may appear to dictate. |
The number of States represented in Congress almost daily
‘diminishes, and I must fear will soon be so reduced as not to leave
ithem in capacity to despatch any business requiring nine.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 83
Congress has been pleased to comply with the request of Mr.
Adams to return, and I enclose a copy of their act on that head.
As yet I am not authorized to say any thing relative to the
proposed Post Office convention. A report on that subject has lain
many months before Congress, and still remains undecided.
What will be the fate of the new Constitution, as it is called,
cannot easily be conjectured. At present the majority seems to be
in favor of it; but there will probably be a strong opposition in some
of the States, particularly in this and Pennsylvania.
I have the honor of being, &c., JOHN JAY.
cneectanieei oceans
FROM JOHN JAY TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Office for Foreign Affairs, October 24, 1787.
Sir,
The despatches alluded to in my late letters, together with others
of some importance, are ready, and were intended to be conveyed to
you by this packet; but the gentleman to whose care they were
committed, declining to go in her, they must pass to you by some
other route. An opinion prevails that. hostilities have probably
commenced between France and Britain, and such is its impression,
that some gentlemen who proposed to sail in the French packet,
think it most advisable to take passage in an American vessel. For
my own part, I think their apprehensions are premature ; for, as yet,
I am not informed of any events from which I can infer a probability
that war has taken place.
A new commission, to expire at the expiration of your present
one, has been ordered, and is ready. You will receive it with the
abovementioned despatches.
With sentiments of great and sincere esteem and regard, I have
the honor to be, &c.,
JOHN JAY.
ae Qe
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN ADAMS.
Paris, August 30, 1787.
Sir,
Since your favor of July 10th, mine have been of July the 17th,
23d, and 28th. The last enclosed a bill of exchange from M.
84 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Grand, on Tessier, for £46 17s. 10d. sterling, to answer General
Sullivan’s bill for that sum. I hope it got safe to hand, though I
have been anxious about it, as it went by post, and my letters through
‘that channel sometimes miscarry.
From the separation of the Notables to the present moment, has
been, perhaps, the most interesting interval ever known im this
country. The propositions of the Government, approved by the
Notables, were precious to the nation, and have been in an honest
course of execution, some of them being carried into effect, and
others preparing. Above all, the establishment of the Provincial
Assemblies, some of which have begun their sessions, bids fair to be
the instrument for circumscribing the power of the Crown, and
raising the people into consideration. The election given to them is
what will do this. Though the Minister who proposed these improve-
ments seems to have meant them as the price of new supplies, the
game has been so played as to secure the improvements to the nation
without securing the price. The Notables spoke softly on the
subject of the additional supplies. But the Parliament took them
up roundly, refused to register the edicts for the new taxes till com-
pelled in a bed of justice, and suffered themselves to be transferred
to Troyes, rather than withdraw their opposition. It is urged
principally against the King that his revenue is one hundred and
thirty millions more than that of his predecessor was, and yet he
demands one hundred and twenty millions further. You will see
this well explained in the “ Conference entre un Ministre @etat et
un conseiller au Parlement,’ which I send you, with some small
pamphlets. In the meantime, all tongues in Paris (and in France,
as it is said) have been let loose, and never was a license of speaking
against the Government exercised in London more freely or more
universally. Caricatures, placards, bons mots, have been indulged in
by all ranks of people, and I know of no well attested instance of a
single punishment. For some time, mobs of ten, twenty, and thirty
thousand people collected daily, surrounded the Parliament house,
huzzaed the members, even entered the doors, and examined into
their conduct, took the horses out of the carriages of those who did
well, and drew them home. ‘The Government thought it prudent to
prevent these, drew some regiments into the neighborhood, multiplied
the guards, had the streets constantly patrolled by strong parties,
suspended privileged places, forbade all clubs, &c. The strong
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 95
mobs have ceased. Perhaps this may be partly owing to the absence
of Parliament. The Count d’Artois, sent to hold a bed of justice
in the Cour des Aides, was hissed and hooted without reserve by
the populace. The carriage of Madame de (I forget the name) in
the Queen’s livery, was stopped by the populace, under a belief that
it was Madame de Polignac, whom they would have insulted. The
Queen, going to the theatre at Versailles, with Madame de Polignac,
was received with a general hiss. The King, long in the habit of.
drowning his cares in wine, plunges deeper and deeper. The Queen
cries, but sins on. ‘The Count d’Artois is detested, and Monsieur
the general favorite. ‘The Archbishop of Thoulouse is made Min-
astre Principal, a virtuous, patriotic, and able character. The
Mareschal of Castries retired yesterday, notwithstanding strong
solicitations to remain in office. The Mareschal de Segur retired at
the same time, prompted to it by the Court. Their successors are
not yet known. Monsieur de St. Priest goes Ambassador to Holland,
in the room of Verac, transferred to Switzerland, and the Count de
Moustier goes to America, in the room of the Chevalier de la
Luzerne, who has a promise of the first vacancy. These nomina-
tions are not yet made formally, but they are decided on, and the
parties are ordered to prepare for their destination.
As it has been long since I have had a confidential conveyance to
you, I have brought together the principal facts, from the adjourn-
ment of the Notables to.the present moment, which, as you will
perceive from their nature, required a confidential conveyance. 1
have done it the rather because, though you will have heard many
of them and seen them in the public papers, yet, floating in the
mass of lies, which constitute the atmosphere of London and Paris,
you may not have been sure of their truth; and I have mentioned
every truth of any consequence to enable you to stamp as false the
facts pretermitted. I think that in the course of three months, the
royal authority has lost, and the rights of the nation gained, as much
ground by a revolution of public opinion only as England gained
in ali her civil wars under the Stuarts. I rather believe, too, they
will retain the ground gained, because it is defended by the young
and middle aged in opposition to the old only. The first party
increases and the latter diminishes daily, from the course of nature.
You may suppose that in this situation war would be unwelcome to
France. She will surely avoid it, if not forced into it by the Courts
\
86 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
of London and Berlin. If forced, it is probable she will change the
system of Europe totally, by an alliance with the two Empires, to
whom nothing would be more desirable. In the event of such a
coalition, not only Prussia, but the whole European world, must
receive from them their laws. But France will, probably, endeavor
to preserve the present system, if it can be done, by sacrificing to a
certain degree, the pretensions of the patriotic party in Holland.
But of all these matters, you can judge, in your position, where less
secrecy 1s observed, better than I can.
I have news from America as late as July the 19th. Dotniég had
transpired from the Federal Convention. I am sorty they began
their deliberations by so abominable a precedent as that of tying up
the tongues of their members. Nothing can justify this example
but the innocence of their intentions, and ignorance of the value of
public discussions. J have no doubt that all their other measures
will be good and wise. It is really an assembly of demigods.
General Washington was of opinion that they should not separate
till October.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
0 e
a
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, September 19, 1787.
Sir,
My last letters to you were of the 6th and 15th of August, since
which I have been honored with yours of July the 24th, acknowl-
edging the receipt of mine of the 14th and 23d of February. Iam
anxious to hear you have received that also of May the 4th, written
from Marseilles. According to the desires of Congress, expressed
in their vote confirming the appointments of Francisco Guiseppe and
Girolamo Chiappi, their agents in Morocco, I have written letters to
these gentlemen, to begin a correspondence with them. 'To the
first I have enclosed the ratification of the treaty with the Emperor
of Morocco, and shall send it either by our agent at Marseilles, who
is now here, or by the Count d’Aranda, who sets out for Madrid in
a few days, having relinquished his embassy here. I shall proceed
on the redemption of our captives at Algiers; as soon as the Com-
missioners of the ‘Treasury shall enable me, by placing the money
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. Q7
necessary under my orders. The prisoners redeemed by the religious
order of Mathurins, cost about four hundred dollars each; and the
General of the order told me that they had never been able to redeem
foreigners on so good terms as their own countrymen. Supposing
that their redemption, clothing, feeding, and transportation, should
amount to five hundred dollars each, there must be, at least, a sum
of ten thousand dollars set apart for this purpose. ‘Tull this is done,
I shall take no other step than the preparatory one of destroying at
Algiers all idea of our intending to redeem the prisoners. ‘This the
General of the Mathurins told ‘me was indispensably necessary, and
that it must not, on any account, transpire that the public would
interest themselves for their redemption. This was rendered the
more necessary by the declaration of the Dey to the Spanish Consul,
that he should hold him responsible, at the Spanish price, for: our
prisoners, even for such as should die. ‘Three of them have died of
the plague. By authorizing me to redeem, at the prices usually paid
by the European nations, Congress, [ suppose, could not mean the
Spanish price, which is not only unusual, but unprecedented, and
would make our vessels the first object of those pirates. I shall pay
no attention, ‘therefore, to the Spanish prices, unless further instructed.
Hard as it may seem, I should think it necessary not to let it be
known, even to the relatives of the captives, that we mean to redeem
them.
I have the honor to enclose you a paper from the Admiralty of
Guadaloupe, sent to me as a matter of form, and to be lodged, I
suppose, with our marine records. I enclose, also, a copy of a letter
from the Count de Florida Blanca to Mr. Carmichael, by which you
will perceive they have referred the settlement of the claim of South
Carolina, for the use of their frigate, to M. Gardoqui, and to the
Delegates of South Carolina in Congress.
[ had the honor to inform you in my last letter of the Parliament’s
being transferred to Troyes. ‘To put an’end to the tumults in Paris
some regiments were brought nearer, the patroles were strengthened
and multiplied, some mutineers punished by imprisonment. It pro-
duced the desired effect. It is confidently believed, however, that
the Parliament will be immediately recalled, the stamp tax and land
tax repealed, and other means devised of accommodating their
receipts and expenditures. Those supposed to be in contemplation
are a vigorous levy of the old tax of the deux vingtiemes on the
88 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY...
rich, who had in a great measure withdrawn their property from it,
as well as on the poor, on whom it had principally fallen. This will
greatly increase the receipts, while they are proceeding, on the other
hand, to reform their expenses far beyond what they had promised.
It is said these reformations will amount to eighty millions. Circum-
stances render these measures more and more pressing. —
I mentioned to you in my last letter that the officer chdegad by
the Ministry to watch the motion of the British squadron had
returned with information that it had sailed westwardly. The fact
was not true. He had formed his conclusion too hastily, and thus
led the Ministry into error. The King of Prussia, urged on by
England, has pressed more and more the affairs of Holland, and
lately has given to the States General of Holland four days only to
comply with this demand. This measure would of itself have
rendered it impossible for France to proceed longer in the line of
accommodation with Prussia. In the same moment an event takes
place which seems to render all attempts at accommodation idle.
The Turks have declared war against the Russians, and that under
circumstances which exclude all prospect of preventing its taking
place. The King of Prussia having deserted his ancient friends,
there remain only France and Turkey, perhaps Spain, also, to oppose
the two Empires, Prussia and England. By such a piece of Quix
otism France might plunge herself into ruin with the Turks and
Dutch, but would save neither. But there is certainly a confederacy
secretly in contemplation, of which the public have not yet the
smallest suspicion; that is, between France and the two Empires.
I think it sure that Russia has desired this, and that the Emperor,
after some hesitation, has acceded. It rests on this country to close.
Her indignation against the King of Prussia will be some spur. She
will thereby save her party in Holland, and only abandon the Turks
to that fate she cannot ward off, and which their precipitation has
brought on themselves, by the instigations of the British Ambassador
at the Porte, and against the remonstrances of the French Ambas- —
sador. Perhaps this formidable combination, should it take place,
may prevent the war of the western Powers, as it would seem that
neither England nor Prussia would carry their false calculations so
far as, with the aid of the Turks only, to oppose themselves to such
a force. In that case the patriots of Holland would be peaceably
established in the powers of their Government, and the war go on
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 89
against the Turks only, who would probably be driven from Europe.
This new arrangement would be a total change in the European
system, and a favorable one for our friends. The probability of a
general war, in which this country would be engaged on one side,
and England on the other, has appeared to me sufficient to justify
my writing to our agents in the different ports of France, to put our
merchants on their guard against risking their property in French or
English bottoms. The Emperor, instead of treading back his steps
in Brabant, as was expected, has pursued the less honorable plan of
decoying his subjects thence by false pretences, to let themselves be
invested by his troops, and this done he dictates to them his own
terms. Yet it is not certain the matter will end with that.
The Count de Moustier is nominated Minister Plenipotentiary to
America, and a frigate is ordered to Cherbourg to carry him over.
He will endeavor to sail by the middle of next month; but if any
delay should make him pass over the whole of October, he will defer
his voyage to the spring, being unwilling to undertake a winter
passage. Monsieur de St. Priest is sent Ambassador to Holland, in
the room of Monsieur de Verac, appointed to Switzerland. The
Chevalier de la Luzerne might, I believe, have gone to Holland, but
he preferred a general promise of promotion, and the possibility that
it might be to the Court of London. His prospects are very fair.
His brother, the Count de la Luzerne, (now Governor in the West
Indies,) is appointed Minister of the Marine, in the place of Monsieur
de Castries, who has resigned. The Archbishop of Thoulouse is
appointed Ministre Principal, and his brother, Monsieur de Brienne,
Minister of War, in the place of Monsieur de Segur. The depart-
ment of the Comptroller has had a very rapid succession of tenants.
From Monsieur de Calonne it passed to Monsieur de Forqueux, from
him to Villedeuil, and from him to Lambert, who holds it at present,
but divided with a Monsieur Cabarrus, (whom I believe you knew
in Spain,) who is named Directeur du tresor royal, the office into
which M. Necker came at first. I had the honor to inform you that,
before the departure of the Count de la Luzerne to his Government
in the West Indies, I had pressed on him the patronage of our trade
with the French Islands; that he appeared well disposed, and assured
me he would favor us as much as his instructions and the laws of the
colonies would permit. I am in hopes these dispositions will be
strengthened by his residence in the Islands, and that his acquaint-
8
90 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
ance among the people there, will be an additional motive to favor
them. Probably they will take advantage of his appointment to
press indulgence in commerce with us. The Ministry is of a liberal
complexion, and well disposed to us. ‘The war may add to the
motives for opening their islands to other resources for their subsist-
ence, and for doing what may be agreeable to us. It seems to me
at present, then, that the moment of the arrival of the Count de la
Luzerne will. be the moment for trying to obtain a freer access to
their Islands. It would be very material to do this, if possible, in a
permanent way ; that is to say, by treaty; but I know of nothing we
have to offer in equivalent. Perhaps the payment of our debt to
them might be made use of as some inducement while they are so
distressed for money. Yet the borrowing the money in Holland will
be rendered more difficult by the same event in proportion as it will
increase the demand for money by other Powers.
The gazettes of Leyden and France to this date are enclosed,
together with some pamphlets on the internal affairs of this country.
I have the honor to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
AM eer sie
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, September 22, 1787.
Sir,
The letters of which the enclosed are copies are this moment
received, and as there is a possibility that they may reach Havre
oefore the packet sails, I have the honor of enclosing them to you.
They contain a promise of reducing the duties on tar, pitch, and
turpentine, and that the Government will interest itself with the city
of Rouen to reduce the local duty on pot-ash. By this you will
perceive that we are getting on a little in this business, though under
the present embarrassments it is difficult to procure the attention of
the Ministers to it. The Parliament has enregistered the edict for a
rigorous levy of the deux vingtiemes. As this was proposed to the
King in lieu of the impost territorial, there is no doubt now that the
latter, with the stamp tax, will be immediately repealed. ‘There can
be no better proof of the revolution in the public opinion as to the
powers of the monarch, and of the force, too, of that opinion. Six
weeks ago we saw the King displaying the plenitude of his omnipo-.
tence, as hitherto conceived, to enforce these two acts. At this day
é
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 91
he is forced to retract them by public voice; for as to the opposition
of the Parliament, that body-is too little esteemed to produce the
effect in any case where the public do not throw themselves into the
same scale.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
ee) ree
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, September 22, 1787,
Sir,
When I had the honor of addressing you this morning, intelligence
was handing about which I did not think well enough authenticated
to communicate it to you. As it is now ascertained, I avail myself
of the chance that another post may yet reach Havre before the
departure of the packet. This will depend on the winds, which
have for some days been unfavorable. I must premise that this
Court, about ten days ago, declared, by their Chargé d’ Affaires in
Holland, that if the Prussian troops continued to menace Holland
with an invasion, his Majesty was determined, in quality of an ally,
to succor that province. An official letter from the Hague, of the
18th instant, assures that the Prussian army entered the territory of
Holland on the 15th ; that most of the principal towns had submitted,
some after firing a gun or two, others without resistance; that the
Rhingrave de Salm had evacuated Utrecht with a part of the troops
under his command, leaving behind him one hundred and forty-four
pieces of cannon, with great warlike stores; that the standard of
Orange was hoisted every where; that no other cockade could be
worn at the Hague; that the States General were to assemble that
night for reinstating the Stadtholder in all his rights. The letter
concludes, “We have this moment intelligence that Woerden has
capitulated, so that Amsterdam remains without defence.’ So far
the letter; we knew otherwise that Monsieur de St. Priest, who had
set out on his embassy to the Hague, has stopped at Antwerp, not
choosing to proceed further till new orders. This Court has been
completely deceived, first, by its own great desire to avoid a war,
and, secondly, by calculating that the King of Prussia would have
acted on principles of common sense, which would surely have
dictated that a Power lying between the jaws of Russia and Austria
should not separate itself from France, unless, indeed, he had
92 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
assurances of dispositions in those two Powers which are not sup-
posed to exist. On the contrary, I am persuaded that they ask the
alliance of France, whom we suppose to be under hesitations between
her reluctance to abandon the Turks, her jealousy of increasing by
their spoils the power of the two Empires, and her inability to
oppose them. If they cannot obtain her alliance, they will surely
join themselves to England and Prussia.
Official advices are received that the first division of the Russian
army has passed the Borysthenes into the Polish Ukraine, and is
marching towards the frontiers of Turkey. ‘Thus we may consider
the flames of war as completely kindled, in two distinct parts of this
quarter of the globe, and that, though France and England has not
yet engaged themselves in it, the probabilities are that they will
do it.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
oon) ee
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY..
Paris, September 24, 1787.
Sir, |
The times are now so critical, that every day brings something
new and important not known the day before. Observing the wind
still unfavorable, Iam in hopes the packet may not sail to-morrow,
and that this letter may be at Havre in time for that conveyance.
Mr. Eden has waited on Count de Montmorin, to inform him,
officially, that England must consider its Convention with France,
relative to the giving notice of its naval armaments, as at an end,
and that they are arming generally. This is considered here as a
declaration of war. The Dutch Ambassador told me yesterday that
he supposed the Prussian troops probably in possession of the
Hague. Iasked him if it would interrupt the course of business,
commercial or banking, in Amsterdam; and particularly, whether
our depét of money there was safe. He said the people of Amster-
dam would be surely so wise as to submit, when they should see that
they could not oppose the Stadtholder; therefore, he supposed our
depét safe, and that there would be no interruption of business. It
is the hour of the departure of the post; so I have only time to add
assurances of the respect and esteem with which I have the honor.
to be, &c.
TH: JEFFERSON. .
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 93
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN ADAMS.
Paris, September 28, 1787.
Sir,
I received your favor by Mr. Cutting, and thank you sincerely
for the copy of your book. The departure of a packet boat, which
always gives me full employment for some time before, has only
permitted me to look into it a little. I judge of it from the first
volume, which I thought formed to do a great deal of good. The
first principle of a good government is certainly a distribution of its
powers into executive, judiciary, and legislative, and a subdivision
of the latter into two or three branches. It is a good step gained
when it is proved that the English Constitution, acknowledged to be
better than all which have preceded it, is only better in proportion
as it has approached nearer to this distribution of powers. From
this the last step is easy, to shew, by a comparison of our Constitu-
tions with that of England, how much more perfect they are. 'The
Article of Confederations is certainly worthy of your pen. It would
form a most interesting addition, to shew what has been the nature
of the confederations which have existed hitherto, what were their
excellencies, and what their defects. A comparison of ours with
them would be to the advantage of ours, and would increase the
veneration of our countrymen for them. It is a misfortune that they
do not sufficiently know the value of their Constitutions, and how
much happier they are rendered by them than any other people on
earth, by the Governments under which they live.
You know all that has happened in the United Netherlands.
You know, also, that our friends Van Staphorsts will be the most
likely to become objects of severity, if any severities should be
exercised. Is the money in their hands entirely safe? If it is not,
Tam sure you have already thought of it. Are we to suppose the
game already up, and that the Stadtholder is to be reéstablished,
perhaps erected into a Monarch, without the country lifting a finger »
in Opposition to it? If so, it is a lesson the more for us. In fact
what a crowd of lessons do the present miseries of Holland teach
us? Never to have an hereditary officer of any sort; never to let a
citizen ally himself with Kings ; never to call in foreign nations to
settle domestic differences; never to suppose that any nation will
expose itself to a war for us, &c. Still I am not without hopes that
‘«
94 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
a good rod is in soak for Prussia, and that England will feel the end —
of it. It is known to some that Russia made propositions to the
Emperor and France for acting in concert; that the Emperor con-
sents, and has disposed four camps of one hundred thousand men
from the limits of Turkey to those of Prussia. ‘This Court hesitates,
or rather its Premier hesitates, for the Queen, Montmorin, and
Breteuil are for the measure. Should it take place, all may yet
come to rights, except for the Turks, who must retire from Europe,
and this they must do were France quixotic enough to support them.
We, I hope, shall be left free to avail ourselves of the advantages of
neutrality ; and yet much I fear the English, or rather their stupid
King, will force us out of it. For thus I reason, by forcing us into
the war against them, they will be engaged in an expensive land
war as well as a sea war. Common sense dictates, therefore, that
they should let us remain neutral, ergo they will not let us remain
neutral. I never yet found any other general rule for foretelling
what they will do, but that of examining what they ought not to
do.
I have the honor to be, with my best respects to Mrs. Adams, and
sentiments of perfect esteem and regard to yourself, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
O
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO C. W. F. DUMAS.
Paris, October 4,°1787.
Sir, |
I received your favor of the 23d of September, two days ago.
That of the 28th and 29th was put in my hands this morning. I
immediately waited on the Ambassadors, ordinary and extraordinary
of the United Netherlands, and also on the Envoy of Prussia, and
asked their good offices to have an efficacious protection extended to
your person, your family, and your effects, observing that the United
States knew no party; but are the friends and allies of the United
Netherlands as a nation, and would expect, from their friendship,
that the person who is charged with their affairs, until the arrival of
a Minister, should be covered from all insult and injury which might
be offered him by a lawless mob, well assured that their Minister
residing with Congress would, on all occasions, receive the same.
They have been so good as to promise each that he will, in his first
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 95
despatches, press the matter on the proper Power, and give me
reason to hope that it will be efficacious for your safety. I will
transmit your letter to Mr. Jay by the Count de Moustier, who sets
out within a week for New York, as Minister Plenipotentiary for
France in that country. I sincerely sympathize on your sufferings,
and hope that what I have done may effect an end to them.
I have the honor to be, &c.,
TH; JEFFERSON.
oon) cae a?
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, October 8, 1787.
Sir,
I had the honor of writing you on the 19th of September, twice on
the 22d, and again on the 24th. The two first went by the packet,
the third by a vessel bound to Philadelphia. I have not yet learned
by what occasion the last went. In these several letters, I commu-
nicated to you the occurrences of Europe as far as they were known.
Notwithstanding the advantages which the Emperor seemed to have
gained over his subjects of Brabant, by the military arrangements he
had been permitted to make under false pretexts, he has not obtained
his ends. He certainly wished to enforce his new regulations; but
he wished more to be cleared of all domestic difficulties that he
might be free to act in the great scenes which are preparing for the
theatre of Europe. He seems, therefore, to have instructed his
Governor General of the Netherlands to insist on compliance, as far
as could be insisted, without producing resistance by arms; but at
the same time to have furnished him with a sufficiently complete
recantation to prevent the effects of insurrection. ‘The Governor
pressed; the people were firm; a small act of force was then
attempted, which produced a decided resistance, in which the
people killed several of the military. The last resource was then
used, which was the act of recantation. This produced immediate
tranquillity, and every thing there is now finally settled by the
Emperor’s relinquishment of his plans.
My letter of the evening of September the 22d, informed you that
the Prussian troops had entered Holland, and that of the 24th that
England had announced to this Court that she was arming generally.
These two events being simultaneous, proved that the two sover-
96 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
eigns acted in concert. Immediately after, the Court of London
announced to the other Courts of Europe, that if France entered
Holland with an armed force, she would consider it as an act of
hostility, and declare war against her; sending Mr. Grenville here at
the same time to make what she called a conciliatory proposition.
This proposition was received as a new insult, Mr. Grenville very
» coolly treated, and he has now gone back. It is said he has carried
the ultimatum of France. What it is particularly has not transpired.
It is only supposed, in general, to be very firm.
You will see in one of the Leyden gazettes, one of the letters
written by the Ministers of England to the Courts of their respective
residence, communicating the declaration beforementioned. In the
meantime Holland has been sooner reduced by the Prussian troops
than could have been expected. 'The abandonment of Utrecht by
the Rhingrave de Salm seems to have thrown the people under a
general panic, during which every place submitted except Amster-
dam that had opened conferences with the Duke of Brunswick ; but
as late as the 22d instant no capitulation was yet concluded. ‘The
King of Prussia on his first move demanded categorically of the
King of Poland, what part he intended to act in the event of war.
The latter answered he should act as events should dictate; and is,
in consequence of this species of menace from Prussia, arming
himself. He can bring into the field about seventy thousand good
cavalry. In the meantime, though nothing transpires publicly of the
confederation between France and the two Empires mentioned in
my letter of September 19th, it is not the less sure that it is on the
carpet, and will take place. To the circumstances beforementioned
may be added, as further indications of war, the naming as General-
issimo of their Marine on the Atlantic, Monsieur de St. Suffrein ; on
the Mediterranean, Monsieur Albert de Rioms, the recalling Monsieur
de St. Priest, their Ambassador, from Antwerp before he had reached
the Hague, and the activity in their armaments by sea. On the
other hand, the little movement by land would make one suppose
they expected to put the King of Prussia into other hands. ‘They,
too, like the Emperor, are arranging matters at home. ‘The rigorous
duty of the deux vingtiemes is enregistered, the stamp act and impost
territorial are revoked, the Parliament recalled, the nation soothed
by these acts, and inspirited by the insults of the British Court. The
part of the Council still leaning towards peace are become unpopular,
}
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. OT
and perhaps may feel the effects of it. No change in the Adminis-
tration has taken place since my last, unless we may consider as such
M. Cabarrus’s refusal to stand in the lines. ‘Thinking he should be
forced to follow too seriously plans formed by others, he has declined
serving. Should this war take place, as is quite probable, and should
it be as general as it threatens to be, our neutrality must be attended
with great advantages. Whether of a nature to improve our morals
or our happiness is another question. But is it sure that Great
Britain, by her searches, her seizures, and other measures for harass-
ing us, will preserve our neutrality? I know it may be argued that
the land war which she would superadd to her sea war by provoking
us to join her enemies, should rationally hold her to her good behavior
with us. But since the accession of the present monarch has it not
been passion, and not reason, which, nine times out of ten, has dic-
tated her measures? Has there been a better rule of prognosticating
what he would do than to examine what he ought not to do? When
I review this disposition, and review his conduct, I have little hope
of his permitting our neutrality. He will find subjects of provocation
in various articles of our treaty with France, which will now come
into view in all their consequences, and in consequences very
advantageous to the one and the other country. I suggest these
doubts on a supposition that our magazines are not prepared for
war, and in the opinion that provisions for that event should be
thought of.
The enclosed letter from Mr. Dumas came to me open, though
directed to you. I immediately waited on the Ambassadors, ordinary
and extraordinary, of Holland, and the Envoy of Prussia. I prayed
them to interest themselves to have his person, his family, and his
goods protected. ‘They promised me readily to do it, and have
written accordingly. I trust it will be with effect. I could not
avoid enclosing you the letter from Monsieur Bourbé, though I have
satisfied him he is to expect nothing from Congress for his inventions.
These are better certified than most of those things are; but if time
stamps theirworth, time will give them to us. He expects no further
answer.
The gazettes of Leyden and France to this date accompany this,
which will be delivered you by the Count de Moustier, Minister
Plenipotentiary from this: country.
~ Ihave the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
Vou. Il.—7
*
93 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
, (Private.)
Paris, October 8, 1787.
Sir,
The Count de Moustier, Minister Plenipotentiary from the Court
of Versailles to the United States, will have the honor of delivering
you this. ‘The connexion of your offices will necessarily connect
you in acquaintance; but I beg leave to present him to you on
account of his personal as well as his public character. You will!
find him open, communicative, candid, simple in his manners, and a
declared enemy to ostentation and luxury. He goes with a resolution
to add no aliment to it by his example, unless he finds that the
dispositions of our countrymen require it indispensably. Permit me
at the same time to solicit your friendly notice, and through you that
also of Mrs. Jay, to Madame la Marquise de Brehan, sister-in-law
to Monsieur de Moustier. She accompanies him in hopes that a
change of climate may assist her feeble health, and also that she
may procure a more valuable education for her ‘son, and safer from
seduction in America than in France. I think it impossible to find
a better woman, more amiable, more modest, more simple in her
manners, dress, and way of thinking. She will deserve the friendship
of Mrs. Jay, and the way to obtain hers is to receive: and treat her
without the shadow of etiquette.
The Count d’Aranda leaves us in a day or two. He desired me
to recall him to your recollection, and to assure you of his friendship.
Tn a letter which I mean as a private. one, I may venture details too
minute for a public one, yet not unamusing or unsatisfactory. I may
venture names, too, without the danger of their getting into a news-
paper. There has long been a division in the Council here on the
question of war and peace.. Monsieur de Montmorin and Monsieur
de Breteuil have been constantly for war. ‘They are supported in
this by the Queen. The King goes for nothing. He hunts one half
the day, is drunk the other, and signs whateyer he is bid. The
Archbishop of 'Thoulouse desires peace. Though brought in by the
Queen he is opposed to her in this capital object, which would pro-
duce an alliance with her brother. Whether the Archbishop will
yield or not I knownot. But an intrigue is already begun for ousting
him from his place, and it is rather probable it will succeed. He is
&
¥
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 99
a good and patriotic Minister for peace, and very capable in the
department of finance. At least he is so in theory. I have heard
his talents for execution censured. Can I be useful here to Mrs.
Jay or yourself in executing any commissions, great or small? I
offer you my services with great cordiality. You know whether any
of the wines of this country may attract your wishes. In my tour
last spring I visited the best vineyards of Burgundy, Cote-rotie,
Hermitage, Lunelle, Frontignan, and white and red Bordeaux, got
acquainted with the proprietors, and can procure for you the best
crops from the vigneron himself. Mrs. Jay knows if there is any-
thing else here in which I could be useful to her.. Command me
without ceremony, as it will give me real pleasure to serve you; and
be assured of the sincere attachment and friendship with which I
am, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
0
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO M. LE COMTE DE MOUSTIER.
Paris, October 9, 1787.
Mr. Jefferson has the honor of presenting his respects to Monsieur
le Comte de Moustier, and of taking leave of him by letter, which
he is prevented doing in person by an unexpected visit to Versailles
to-day. He will hope to have the pleasure of sometimes hearing
from him, and will take the liberty occasionally of troubling him
with a letter. He considers the Count de Moustier as forming, with
himself, the two end links of that chain which holds the two nations
together; and is happy to have observed in him dispositions to
strengthen rather than to weaken it. It is a station-of importance,
as on the cherishing good dispositions and quieting bad ones, will
depend, in some degree, the happiness and prosperity of the two
countries. ‘The Count de Moustier will find the affections of the
Americans with France, but their habits with England. Chained to
that country by circumstances, embracing what they loathe, they
realize the fable of the living and the dead bound together. Mr.
Jefferson troubles the Count de Moustier with two letters to gentle-
men whom he wishes to recommend to his particular acquaintance,
and to that of Madame de Brehan. He bids Monsieur de Moustier a
most friendly adieu, and wishes him every thing which may render
agreeable his passage across the water, and his residence beyond it.
\
100 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO C. W. F. DUMAS.
| Paris, October 14, 1787.
Sir, i | |
I have duly received your favors of October the 23d and 26th.
With respect to the mission you suggest in the former, no powers
are lodged in the hands of Mr. Adams and myself. Congress com-
missioned Mr. Adams, Doctor Franklin, and myself to treat with the
Emperor on the subjects of amity and commerce; at the same time
they gave us the commission to Prussia, in which you are acquainted.
We proposed treating through the Imperial Ambassador here. It
was declined on their part, and our powers expired, having been
given but for two years. Afterwards, the same Ambassador here
was instructed to offer to treat with us. I informed him our powers
were expired, but that I would write to-‘Congress on the subject.
I did so, but have never yet received an answer. Whether this
proceeds from a change of opinion in them, or from the multiplicity
of their occupations, I am unable to say, But this-state of facts will
enable you to see that we have no powers in this instance to take
the measures you had thought of. I sincerely sympathize with you
in your sufferings. ‘Though forbidden by my character to meddle in
the internal affairs of an allied State, it is the wish of my heart that
their. troubles may have such an issue as will secure the greatest
degree of happiness to the body of the people; for it is with the
mass of the nation we are allied, and not merely with their gov-
ernors. ‘To inform the minds of the people, and to follow their will,
is the chief duty of those placed at their head. What party, in your
late struggles, was most likely to do this, you are more competent to
judge than I am. :
Under every event, that you may be safe and happy, is the sincere —
wish of him, who has the honor to. be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
———0-————_
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN.
é
; Paris, October. 23, 1787.
Sir,
I take the liberty of troubling your Excellency on the subject of
the arrét which has lately appeared, for prohibiting the importation
; ' Tee
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. ‘ 101
of whale oils and spermaceti, the produce of foreign fisheries. ‘This
production being expressed in general terms, seems to exclude the
whale oils of the United States of America, as well as of the nations
of Europe. The uniform disposition, however, which his Majesty
and his Ministers have shewn to promote the commerce between
France and the United States by encouraging our productions to
come hither, and particularly those of our fisheries, induces me to
hope that these were not within their view at the passing of this
arrét. Iam led more into this opinion, when I recollect the assi-
duity exercised for several months in the year 1785, by the committee
appointed by Government to investigate the objects of commerce of
the two countries, and to report the encouragements of which it was
susceptible; the result of that investigation, which his Majesty’s
Comptroller General did me the honor to communicate, in a letter of
22d of October, 1786, stating therein the principles which should be
established for the future regulation of that commerce, and particu-
larly distinguishing the article of whale oils by the abatement of the
duties on them for the present, and a promise of farther abatements
after the year 1790; the thorough reinvestigation with which Mon-
sieur de Lambert honored this subject, when the letter of 1786 was
to be put into the form of an arrét; that arrét itself, bearing date the
29th of December last, which ultimately confirmed the abatements
of duty present and future, and declared that his Majesty reserved to
himself to grant other favors to that production, if on further inform-
ation he should find it for the interest of the two nations; and finally,
the letter in which Monsieur de Lambert did me the honor to enclose
the arrét, and to assure me that the duties which had been levied on
our whale oils, contrary to the intention of the letter of 1786, should
be restored. On a review then of all these circumstances, I cannot
but presume that it has not been intended to reverse, in a moment,
views so maturely digested and uniformly pursued; and that the
general expressions of the arrét of September the 28th had, within
their contemplation, the nations of Europe only. ‘This presumption
is further strengthened by having observed, that in the treaties of
- commerce made since the epoch of our independence, the jura gentis
amicissime conceded to other nations are expressly restrained to
those of the “most favored European nation ;” his Majesty wisely
foreseeing that it would be expedient to regulate the commerce of a
nation, which brings nothing but raw materials to employ the
industry of his subjects, very differently from that of other European
102 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
nations, who bring mostly what has already passed through all the
stages of manufacture. :
On these circumstances, I take the liberty of asking information
from your Excellency as to the extent of the late arrét; and if I
have not been mistaken in supposing it did not mean to abridge that
of December the 29th. I would solicit an explanatory arrét, to
prevent the misconstructions of it, which will otherwise take place.
It is much to be desired, too, that this explanation could be given as
soon as possible, in order that it may be handed out with the arrét
of September the 28th. Great alarm may otherwise be spread
among the merchants and adventurers in the fisheries, who, confiding
in the stability of regulations which his Majesty’s wisdom had so
long and well matured, have embarked their fortunes in speculations
in this branch of business. .
The importance of the subject to one of the principal members of
our Union, induces me to attend, with great anxiety, the reassurance
from your Excellency that no change has taken place in his Majesty’s
views on this subject; and that his dispositions to multiply rather
than diminish the combinations of interest between the two people
continue unaltered.
Commerce is slow in changing its channel. That between this
country and the United States is as yet but beginning; and this
beginning has received some checks. The. arrét¢ in question would
be a considerable one, without the explanation I have the honor to
ask. Jam persuaded that a continuation of the dispositions which
have been hitherto manifested towards us will ensure effects, political
and commercial, of value to both nations.
I have had too many proofs of the friendly interest your Excellency
is pleased to take in whatever may strengthen the bonds and connect
the views of the two countries, to doubt your patronage of the
present application, or to pretend any occasion of repeating assur-
ances of those sentiments of high respect and esteem, with which
I have the honor to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
O
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
a Paris, November 3, 1787.
SIr, :
My last letters to you were of the Sth and 27th of October. In
the former I mentioned to you the declaration of this country, that
%
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 103
they would interpose with force if the Prussian troops entered
Holland; the entry of those troops into Holland; the deelaration of
England, that if France did oppose force they would consider it as
an act of war. The naval armaments on both sides ; the nomination
of the Bailli de Suffrein as Generalissimo on the ocean; and the
cold reception of Mr. Grenville here, with his conciliatory propo-
sitions, as so many symptoms which seemed to indicate a certain
and immediate rupture. It was, indeed, universally and hourly
expected. But the King of Prussia, a little before these last events,
got wind of the alliance on the carpet between France and the two
Empires ; he awoke to the situation in which that would place him ;
he made some applications to the Court of St. Petersburgh, to divert
the Empress from the proposed alliance, and supplicated the Court
of London not to abandon him. That Court had also received a
hint of the same project. Both seemed to suspect, for the first time,
that it would be possible for France to abandon the Turks, and that
they were likely to get more than they had played for at Constanti-
nople; for they had meant nothing more there than to divert the
Empress and Emperor from the affairs of the west by employing
them in the east, and at the same time to embroil them with France
as the patroness of the Turks. _The Court of London engaged not
to abandon Prussia; but both of them relaxed a little the tone of
their proceedings. The King of Prussia sent a Mr. Alvensleben
here, expressly to explain and soothe; the King of England, not-
withstanding the cold reception of his propositions by Grenville,
renewed conferences here through Eden and the Duke of Dorset.
The Minister, in the affectation of his heart for peace, readily joined
in conference, and a declaration and a counter-declaration, were
cooked up at Versailles, and sent to London for approbation. ‘They
were approved, arrived here at one o’clock the 27th, were signed
that night at Versailles, and on the next day I had the honor of
enclosing them to you, under cover to the Count de Moustier, whom
I supposed still at Brest, dating my letter as of the 27th, by mistake
for the 28th. Lest; however, these papers should not have got to
Brest before the departure of the Count de Moustier, I now enclose
you other copies. The English declaration states a notification of
this Court, in September, by Barthelemy, their Minister at London,
“that they would send succors into Holland,” as the first cause of
England’s arming ; desires an explanation of the intentions of this
104 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Court, as to the affairs of Holland, and proposes to disarm; on
condition, however, that the King of France shall not retain any
hostile views in any quarter for what has been done in Holland.
This last phrase was to secure Prussia, according to promise. The
King of France acknowledges the notification by his Minister at
London, promises he will do nothing in consequence of it, declares
he has no intention to intermeddle with force in the affairs of
Holland, and that he will entertain hostile views in no quarter, for
what has been done there. He disavows having ever had any
intention to interpose with force in the affairs of that ‘Republic.
This disavowal begins the sentence which acknowledges he had
notified the contrary to the Court of London, and it includes no
apology to soothe the feelings which may be excited in the breasts
of the Patriots of Holland, at hearing the King declare he never did
intend to aid them with force, when promises to do this were the
basis of those very attempts to better the Constitution which have
ended in its ruin as well as their own. 7
I have analyzed these declarations, because, being somewhat
wrapped up in their expressions, their full import might escape, on a
transient reading; and it is necessary it should not escape. It
conveys to us the important lesson, that no circumstances of morality,
honor, interest, or engagement, are sufficient to authorize a secure
reliance on any nation, at all times, and in all positions. A moment
of difficulty, or a moment of error, may render forever useless the
most friendly dispositions in the King, in the major part of his
Ministers, and the whole of his nation. The present pacification is
considered by most as only a short truce. They calculate on the
spirit of the nation, and not on the agued hand which guides its
movements. It is certain that from this moment the whole system
of Europe changes. Instead of counting together England, Austria,
and Russia, as heretofore, against France, Spain, Holland, Prussia,
and ‘Turkey, the division will probably be, England, Holland, and
Prussia, against France, Austria, Russia, and perhaps Spain. This
last Power is not sure, because the disposition of its heir apparent is
not sure. But whether the present be truce or peace, it will allow
time to mature the conditions of the alliance between France and the
two Empires, always supposed to be on the carpet. It is thought
to be obstructed by the avidity of the Emperor, who would swallow
a good part of Turkey, Silesia, Bavaria, and the rights of the
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 105
Germanic body. To the two or three first articles, France might
consent, receiving in gratification a well rounded portion of the
Austrian Netherlands, with the Islands of Candia, Cyprus, Rhodes,
and perhaps Lower Egypt. But all this is in embryo, uncertainly
known, and counterworked by the machinations of the Courts of
London and Berlin. ,
The following solution of the British armaments is supposed in a
letter of the 25th ultimo, from Colonel Blachden, of Connecticut,
now at Dunkirk, to the Marquis de la Fayette. I will cite it in his
own words: ‘A gentleman who left London two days ago, and came
‘to this place to-day, informs me that it is now generally supposed
‘that Mr. Pitt’s great secret, which has puzzled the whole nation so
‘long, and to accomplish which design the whole force of the nation
‘is armed, is to make a vigorous effort for the recovery of America.
‘When I recollect the delay they have made in delivering the forts
‘in America, and that little more than a year ago one of the British
‘Ministry wrote to the King a letter, in which were these remarkable
‘words: ‘If your Majesty pleases, America may yet be yours ;’ add
‘to this, if it were possible for the present Ministry in England to
‘effect such a matter, they would secure their places and their power
‘for a long time, and should they fail in the end they would be certain
‘of holding them during the attempt, which it is in their power to
‘prolong as much as they please, and at all events they would boast
‘of having endeavored the recovery of what a former Ministry had
‘abandoned—it is possible.’ A similar surmise has come in a letter
from a person in Rotterdam to one at this place. I am satisfied the
King of England believes the mass of our people to be tired of their
independence, and desirous of returning under his government, and
that the same opinion prevails in the Ministry and nation. They
have hired their news-writers to repeat this lie in their gazettes so
long, that they have become the dupes of it themselves. But there
is no occasion to recur to this in order to account for their arming.
A more rational purpose avowed, that purpose executed, and when
executed a solemn agreement to disarm, seem to leave no doubt that
the reestablishment of the Stadtholder was their object. Yet it is
possible, that having found that this Court will not make war in this
moment for any ally, new views may arise, and they may think the
moment favorable for executing any purposes they may have in our
quarter. Add to this that reason is no aid in calculating their move-
106 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
ments. We are, therefore, never safe till our magazines are filled
with arms. ‘The present season of truce or peace should, in my
opinion, be improved without a moment’s respite to effect this essen-
tial object, and no means be omitted by which money may be obtained
for the purpose. I say this, however, with due deference to the
opinion of Congress, who are better judges of the necessity and
practicability of the measure.
I mentioned to you in a former letter the application I had made
io the Dutch Ambassadors and Prussian Envoy for the protection of
Mr. Dumas. The latter soon after received an assurance that he
was put under the protection of the States of Holland; and the
Dutch Ambassador called on me a few days ago, to inform me, by
instructions from his constituents, “that the States General had
‘received a written application from Mr. Adams praying their pro-—
‘tection of Dumas; that they had instructed their Grefier, Fagel, to
‘assure Mr. Adams by letter that he was under the protection of the
‘States of Holland, but to inform him at the same time that Mr.
‘Dumas’s conduct, out of the line of his office, had been so extraor-
‘dinary that they would expect de Phonéteté de Mr. Adams, that he
‘would charge some other person with the affairs of the United States
‘during his absence.”’
Your letter of September the 8th has been duly received. I shall
pay due attention to the instructions relative to the medals, and give
any aid I can in the case of Boss’s vessel. As yet, however, my
endeavors to find Monsieur Pauly, avocat au conseil d'état, rue
coquilhere, have been ineffectual. There is no such person living
in that street. I founda Monsieur Pauly, avocat aw Parlement, in
another part of the town. He opened the letter, but said it could
not mean him. I shall advertise in the public papers. If that fails
there will be no other chance of finding him. Mr. Warnum will do
well, therefore, to send some other description by which the person
may be found. Indeed, some friend of the party interested should
be engaged to follow up this business, as it will require constant
attention, and probably a much larger sum of money than that named
in the bill enclosed in Mr. Warnum’s letter.
I have the honor to enclose you a letter from O’Bryen to me,
containing information from Algiers, and one from Mr. Montgomery,
at Alicant. ‘The purpose of sending you this last is to show you
how much the difficulties of ransom are increased since the Spanish
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 107
negotiations. ‘The Russian captives have cost about eight thousand
livres apiece on an average. I certainly have no idea that we should
give any such sum; and therefore, if it should be the sense of Con-
gress to give such a price, I would be glad to know it by instruction.
My idea is, that we should not ransom but on the footing of the nation
which pays least, that it may be as little worth their while to go in
pursuit of us as any nation. ‘This is cruelty to the individuals now
in captivity, but kiidness to the hundreds that would soon be so,
were we to make it worth the while of those pirates to go out of the
straits in quest of us. As soon as money is provided, I shall put this
business into train. Ihave taken measures to damp at Algiers all
expectations of our proposing to ransom at any price. I feel the
distress which this must occasion to our countrymen there and their
connekions ; but the object of it is their ultimate good, by bringing
down their holders to such a price as we ought to pay, instead of
letting them remain in such expectations as cannot be gratified.
The gazettes of France and Leyden accompany this.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
[The annexed are translations of the Declaration and Counter-Decla-
ration referred to in the preceding letter. ]
DECLARATION.
The events which have taken place in the Republic of the United
Provinces appearing no longer to leave any subject of discussion, and
still less of dispute, between the two Courts, the undersigned are
authorized to ask if it be the intention of his most Christian Majesty
to act in pursuance of the notification given on the 16th of last month
by the Minister Plenipotentiary of his most Christian Majesty, which,
announcing his purpose of aiding Holland, has occasioned maritime
armaments on the part of his Majesty, which armaments have become
reciprocal.
If the Court of Versailles is disposed to explain itself on this
subject, and on the conduct adopted towards the Republic, in a
manner conformable to the desire evinced by each party to procure
a good understanding between the two Courts, it being also under-
stood, at the same time, that no hostile view is entertained in any
108 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
quarter in consequence of the past; his Majesty, always eager’ to
manifest his concurrence in the friendly sentiments of his most Chris-
tian Majesty, agrees forthwith that the armaments, and, in general,
all preparations for war, shall be mutually discontinued, and that the
marines of the two nations shall be placed on the footing of a peace
establishment, such as existed on the first of January of the present
year. |
DORSET,
WM. EDEN.
At Versailles, the 27th of October, 1787.
COUNTER-DECLARATION,.
It ndiver tae nor ever having been, the intention of his Majesty
to interpose by force in the affairs of the Republic of the United
Provinces, the communication made to the Court of London by Mr.
‘Barthelemy having had no other object than to announce to that
Court an intention, the motives of which no longer exist, especially
since the King of Prussia has made known his resolution, his Majesty
makes no difficulty in declaring that he has no wish to act in pursu-
ance of the communication aforesaid, and that he entertains no hostile
view in any quarter relative to what has passed in Holland.
Consequently, his Majesty, desiring to concur in the sentiments of
his Britannic Majesty for the preservation of a good understanding
between the two Courts, consents with pleasure to the proposition of
his Britannic Majesty, that the armaments, and, in general, all prep-
arations for war, shall be mutually discontinued, and that the navies
of the two nations shall be replaced upon the footing of the peace
establishment, as it existed on the first day of January of the present
year.
MONTMORIN.
At Versailles, the 27th October, 1787.
O
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
(Private.) 7
Paris, November 3, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I shall take the liberty of confiding sometimes to a private letter
such details of the small history of the Court or Cabinet, as may be —
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 109
worthy of being known, and yet not proper to be publicly commu-
nicated. I doubt whether the Administration is yet in a permanent
form. The Count de Montmorin and Baron de Breteuil are, I
believe, firm enough in their places. It was doubted whether they
would wait for the Count de la Luzerne if the war had taken place ;
but, at present, I suppose they will. 1 wish it, also, because M. de
Hector, his only competitor, has on some occasions shewn little
value for the connexion with us. Lambert, the Comptroller General,
is thought to be very insecure. I should be sorry, also, to lose him.
I have worked several days with him, the Marquis de la Fayette,
and Monsieur du Pont, (father of the young gentleman gone to
America with the Count de Moustier,) to reduce into one arrét
whatever concerned our commerce. I have found him a man of
great judgment and application, possessing good general principles
on subjects of commerce, and friendly dispositions towards us. He
passed the arrét in a very favorable form ; but it has been opposed in
the Council, and will, I fear, suffer some alteration in the article of
whale oil. That of tobacco, which was put into a separate instru
ment, experiences difficulties also, which did not come from him.
M. du Pont has rendered us essential services on these occasions. I
wish his son could be so well noticed as to make a favorable report
to his father; he would, I think, be gratified by it, and his good
dispositions be strengthened and rendered further useful to us,
Whether I shall be able to send you these regulations by the
present packet will depend on their getting through the Council in
time. The Archbishop continues well with his patroness. Her
object is a close connexion with her brother. I suppose he con-
vinces her that peace will furnish the best occasion of cementing
that connexion.
It may not be uninstructive to give you the origin and nature of
his influence with the Queen. When the Duke de Choiseul pro-
posed. the marriage of the Dauphin with this lady, he thought. it
proper to send a person to Vienna to perfect her in the language.
He asked his friend, the Archbishop of Toulouse, to recommend to
him a proper person. He recommended a certain Abbé. The.
Abbé, from his first arrival in Vienna, either tutored by his patron or
prompted by gratitude, impressed on the Queen’s mind the exalted
talents and merits 6f the Archbishop, and continually represented.
him as the only man fit to be placed at the helm of affairs. On his
110 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
return to Paris, being retained near the person of the Queen, he
kept him constantly in her view. The Archbishop was named of
the Assemblée des Notables, had occasion enough there to prove his
talents, and Count de Vergennes, his great enemy, dying opportunely,
the Queen got him into place. He uses the Abbé even yet for
instilling all his notions into her mind. That he has imposing
talents and patriotic dispositions I think is certain. Good judges
think him a theorist only, little acquainted with the details of busi-
ness, and spoiling all his plans by a bungling execution. He may
perhaps undergo a severe trial. His best actions are exciting against
him a host of enemies, particularly the reduction of the pensions and
reforms in other branches of economy. Some think the other
Ministers are’willing to stay in till he has effected this odious yet
necessary work, and that they will then make him the scape-goat of
the transaction. The declarations, too, which I send you in i
public letter, if they should become public, will probably raise
universal cry. It will all fall on him, because Montmorin snd’
Breteuil say, without reserve, that the sacrifice of the Dutch has
been against their advice. He will, perhaps, not permit these
declarations to appear in this country. They are absolutely
unknown ; they were communicated to me by the Duke of Dorset,
and I believe no other copy has been given here. They will be
published, doubtless, in England, as a proof of their triumph, and
may from thence make their way into this country. If the Premier
can stem a few months, he may remain long in office, and will never -
make war if he can help it. If he should be removed, the peace
will probably be short. He is solely chargeable with the loss of
Holland. ‘True, they could not have raised money by taxes to.
supply the necessities of war; but could they do it were their
finances ever so well arranged? No nation makes war now-a-days
but by the aid of loans; and it is probable that in a war for the
liberties of Holland all the treasures of that country would have been _
at their service. ‘They have now lost the cow which furnishes the
milk of war. She will be on the side of their enemies whenever a
rupture shall take place ; and no arrangement of their finances’ can
countervail this circumstance.
I have no doubt you permit access to the letters of your foreign
Ministersuby persons only of the most perfect ‘trust. It is in the
European system to bribe the clerks high, in order to obtain copies’
geht
*
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. Ill
of interesting papers. I am sure you are equally attentive to the
conveyance of your letters to us, as you know that all are opened
that pass through any post office of Europe. Your letters which
come by the packet, if put into the mail at New York, or into
the post office at Havre, wore proofs that they had been opened.
The passenger to whom they are confided should be cautioned always
to keep them in his own hands till he can deliver them personally in
Paris.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN.
Paris, November 6, 1787.
Sir, |
I take the liberty of asking your Excellency’s perusal of the
enclosed case of an American hostage, confined in the prisons of
Dunkirk. His continuance there seems to be useless and yet end-
less. Not knowing how far the Government can interfere for his
relief, as it is a case wherein private property is concerned, I do not
presume to ask his liberation absolutely, but I will solicit from your
Excellency such measures in his behalf as the laws and usages of
the country may permit.
The Comptroller General having been so good as to explain to ~
me, in a conversation, that he wished to know what duties were
levied in England on American whale oil, I have had the honor of
informing him, by letter, that the ancient duties on that article are
‘seventeen pounds six shillings and six pence sterling the’ ton, and
that some late additional duties make them amount to about eighteen
pounds sterling. That the common whale oil sells there but for
about twenty pounds sterling the ton, and, of course, the duty
amounts to a prohibition. This duty was originally laid on all
foreign fish oil, with a view to favor the British and American fish-
eriles. When we became independent, and, of course, foreign to
Great Britain, we became subject to the foreign duty. No duty,
therefore, which France may think proper to lay on this article, can
drive it to the English market. It could only oblige the inhabitants
of Nantucket to abandon their fisheries. But the poverty of their
soil offering them no other resource, they must quit thei country,
N=
112 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
and either establish themselves in Nova Scotia, where, as British
PB on they may participate of the British premium, in addition
to the ordinary price of their whale oil, or they must accept the
conditions which this Government offers for the establishment they
have proposed at Dunkirk. Your Excellency will judge what con-
ditions may counterbalance in their minds the circumstances of the
vicinity of Nova Scotia, sameness of language, laws, religion, cus-
toms, and kindred. Remaining in their native country, to which they
are most singularly attached, excluded from commerce with England,
taught to look to France as the only country from which they can
derive sustenance, they will, in case of war, become useful rovers
against its enemies. ‘Their position, their poverty, their courage,
their address, and their hatred, will render them formidable scourges
on the British commerce. It is to be considered then, on the one
hand, that the duty which M. de Calonne had proposed to retain on
this oil, may endanger the shifting this useful body of seamen out
of our joint scale into that of the British; and also, may suppress a
considerable subject of exchange for the productions-of France. On
the other hand, that it may produce an addition to his Majesty’s
revenue. What I have thus far said ison the supposition that the
duty may operate as a diminution of the price received by the fisher-
man. If it act in the contrary direction, and produce an augmenta-
tion of price to the consumer, it immediately brings into competition
a variety of other oils, vegetable and animal, a good part of which
France receives from abroad; and the fisherman, thus losing his
market, is compelled equally to change either his calling or country.
When M. de Calonne first agreed to reduce the duties to what he
has declared, I had. great hopes the-commodity could bear them, and
that it would become a medium. of commerce between France and
the United States. I must confess, however, that my expectations
have not been fulfilled, and that little has come here as yet. This.
induces me to fear that it is so poor an article that any duty whatever
will suppress it. Should this take place, and the spirit of emigration
once seize those people, perhaps an abolition of all duty might then
come too late to stop what it would now easily prevent. I fear there
is danger in the experiment, and it remains for the wisdom of his
Majesty and his Ministers to decide whether the prospect of gain to.
the revenue or establishing a national fishery may compensate: this
danger. If the Government should decide to retain the duty, I
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 113
shall acquiesce in it cheerfully, and do every thing in my power to
encourage my countrymen still to continue their occupation.
The actual sessions of our several Legislatures would render it
interesting to forward immediately the regulations proposed on our
commerce; and the expiration of the order of Bernis, at the close
of this month, endangers a suspension and derangement in the com-
merce of tobacco, very embarrassing to the merchants of the two
countries. Pardon me, therefore, sir, if I appear solicitous to obtain
the ultimate decision of his Majesty’s Council on these subjects,
and to ask as early a communication of that decision as shall be
convenient.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
el
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN ADAMS.
Paris, September 13, 1787.
Dear Sir,
This will be delivered to you by young Mr. Rutledge. Your
knowledge of his father will introduce him to your notice. He
merits it, moreover, on his own account.
T am now to acknowledge your favors of October the 8th and
26th. That of August the 25th was duly received, nor can [I recol-
lect by what accident I was prevented from acknowledging it in
mine of September the 28th. It has been the source of my subsist-
ence hitherto, and must continue to be so, till I receive letters on
the affairs of money from America. Van Staphorsts and Willinks
have answered my drafts. Your books for the Marquis de la Fay-
ette are received here. I will notify it to him, who is at present
with his Provincial Assembly in Auvergne.
Little is said lately of the progress of negotiations between the
Courts of Petersburgh, Vienna, and Versailles. The distance of the
former, and the cautious, unassuming character of its Minister here,
is one cause of delays. A greater one is, the greediness and unstable
character of the Emperor. Nor do I think that the principal here
will be easily induced to lend himself to any connexion which shall
threaten a war within a considerable number of years. His own
reign will be that of peace only, in all probability; and were any
accident to tumble him down, this country would immediately gird
on its sword and buckler, and trust to occurrences for supplies of:
Vou. Il.—s
114 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
money. | The wound their honor has sustained, festers in their.
hearts; and it may be said, with truth, that the Archbishop and a.
few priests determined to support his measures, because, proud to
see their order come again into power, are the only advocates for the:
line of conduct which has been pursued. It is said, and believed.
through Paris, literally, that the Count de Montmorin, “pleurott
comme un enfant,’ when obliged to sign the counter-declaration.
Considering the phrase as figurative, I believe it expresses the distress.
of his heart. Indeed, he has made no. secret of his individual
opinion. In the mean time, the principal goes on with a firm and
patriotic spirit in reforming the cruel abuses of the Government,
and preparing a new constitution, which will give to this people as
much liberty as they are capable of managing. This, I think, will
be the glory of his administration, because, though a good theorist
in finance, he is thought to execute badly, They are about to open
a loan of one hundred millions to supply present wants, and it is
said the preface of the arrét will contain a promise of the convo-
cation of the States General during the ensuing year. ‘Twelve or
fifteen Provincial Assemblies are already in action, and are going on
well; and I think, that though the nation suffers in reputation, it
will cain infinitely in happiness under the present administration.
I enclose to Mr. Jay a pamphlet, which I will beg of you to
forward. I leave it open for your perusal. When you shall have
read it, be so good as to stick a wafer in it. It is not yet published,,
nor will be for some days. This copy has been ceded to me as a
favor. . :
_ How do you like our new:Constitution? I confess there are things
in it which stagger all my dispositions to subscribe to what such an
assembly has proposed. The house of federal representatives will
not be adequate to the management of affairs, either foreign or
federal. ‘Their President seems a bad edition of a Polish King.
He may be elected from four years to four years, for life. Reason
‘and experience prove to us that a chief magistrate, so continuable, is
-an officer for life. When one or two generations shall have proved
that this is an office for life, it becomes, on every succession, worthy
of intrigue, of bribery, of force, and even of foreign interference. It
will, be of great consequence to France and England to. have
America governed by a Galloman or Angloman. Once in offices
‘and. possessing the military force of the Union, without the aid or
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. — 115
check of a Council, he would not be easily dethroned, even if the
people could be induced to withdraw their votes from him. I wish
that at the end of the four years they had made him forever ineh-
gible a second time. Indeed, I think all the good of this new.
Constitution might have been couched in three or four new articles
to be added to the good, old, and venerable fabric, which should
have been preserved even as a religious relique. Present me and
my daughters affectionately to Mrs. Adams. The younger one
continues to speak of her warmly.
Accept yourself, assurances of the sincere esteem and respect, with
which I have the honor to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
——
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO COLONEL SMITH.
Paris, November 13, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I am now to acknowledge the receipt of your favors of October
the 4th, 8th, and 26th. In the last you apologize for your letters of
introduction to Americans coming here. It is so far from needing
apology on your part that it calls for thanks on mine. I endeavor to
show civilities to all the Americans who come here, and who will
give me opportunities of domg it. And it is a matter of comfort to
know, from a good quarter, what they are, and how far I may go in
my attentions to them.
Can you send me Woodmanson’s bills for the two copying presses
for the Marquis de la Fayette and the Marquis de Chastellux? ‘The
latter makes one article in the considerable account of old standing,
and which I cannot present for want of this article. I do not know
whether it is to yourself or Mr. Adams that I am to give my thanks
for the copy of the new Constitution. I beg leave, through you, to
place them where due. It will yet be three weeks before I shall
receive them from America. There are very good articles in it, and
very bad. I do not know which preponderate. What we have
lately read im the history of Holland, in the chapter on the
Stadtholder, would have sufficed to set me against a chief magistrate,
eligible for a long duration, if I had ever been disposed towards one.
And what we have always read of the elections of Polish Kings,
should have forever excluded the idea of one continuable for life.
116 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Wonderful is the effect of impudent and persevering lying. ‘The
British Ministry have so long hired their gazetteers to repeat and
model into every form lies about our being in anarchy, that the world
has at length believed them, the English nation has believed them,
the Ministers themselves have come to believe them, and what is
more wonderful, we have believed them ourselves. Yet where does
this anarchy exist? Where did it ever exist, except in the single
instance of Massachusetts? And can history produce an instance of
rebellion so honorably conducted? I say nothing of its motives.
They were founded in ignorance, not wickedness. God forbid we
should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. ‘The people
cannot be all, and always, well informed. ‘The part which is wrong
will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they
misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, itis
a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. We have
had thirteen States independent for eleven years. ‘There has been
one rebellion. ‘That comes to one rebellion in a century and a half
for each State. What country before ever existed a century and a
half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve its liber-
ties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people
preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The
remedy is to set them right as. to facts, pardon, and pacify them.
What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of
liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots
and tyrants. It is its natural manure. Our convention has been ©
too much impressed by the insurrection of Massachusetts; and on
the spur of the moment, they are setting up a kite to keep the hen
yard in order. I hope in God this article will be rectified before the
new constitution is accepted. You ask me if any thing transpires
here on the subject of South America? Nota word. I know that
there are combustible materials there, and that they wait the torch
only. But this country, probably, will join the extinguishers. The
want of facts worth communicating to you has occasioned me to give
a little loose to dissertation. We must be contented to amuse when
we cannot inform. |
Present my respects to Mrs. Smith, and be assured of the sincere
esteem of, dear sir, your friend and servant,
TH: JEFFERSON.
kt ot te
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 117
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
Paris, December 11, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I am later in acknowledging the receipt of your favors of October
the 15th, and November the 5th and 15th, because we have been
long expecting a packet, which I hoped would bring communications
worth detailing to you, and she arrived only a few days ago after a
very long passage indeed. 1 am very sorry you have not been able
to make out the cypher of my letter of September the 25th, because it
contained things which I wished you to know at that time. They
have lost now a part of their merit; but still I wish you could
decypher them, as there remains a part which it yet might be
agreeable to you to understand. I have examined the cypher from
which it was written. It is precisely a copy of those given to
‘Messrs. Barclay and Lamb. In order that you may examine
whether yours correspond, I will now translate into cypher the three
first lines of my letter of June the 14.
* * * * * * * *
This will serve to shew whether your cypher corresponds with
‘mine, as well as my manner of using it. But I shall not use it in
future till I know from you the result of your reexamination of it.
I have the honor now to return you the letter you had been so good
as to enclose to me. About the same time of Liston’s conversation
with you, similar ones were held with me by Mr. Eden. He par-
ticularly questioned me on the effect of our treaty with France, in
‘the case of a war, and what might be our dispositions. I told him,
without hesitation, that our treaty obliged us to receive the armed
vessels of France, with their prizes, into our ports, and to refuse the
admission of prizes made on her by her enemies; that there was a
clause by which we guarantied to France her American possessions,
and which might, perhaps, force us into the war, if these were
attacked. “Then it will be war,” said he, “for they will assuredly
‘be attacked.” I added, that our dispositions would be to be neutral,
and that I thought it the interest of both these Powers that we
should be so, because it would relieve both from all anxiety as to the
feeding their West India Islands; and England would, moreover,
avoid a heavy land war on our continent, which would cripple all
cher proceedings elsewhere. He expected these sentiments from me
118 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
personally, and he knew them to be analagous to those of our
country. We had often before had occasions of knowing each
other; his peculiar bitterness towards us had sufficiently appeared,
and I had never concealed from him that I considered the British as
our natural enemies, and as the only nation on earth who wished us
all from the bottom of their souls. And I am satisfied that were our
‘continent to be swallowed up by the ocean, Great Britain would be
in a bonfire from one end to the other. Mr. Adams, as you know,
has asked his recall. This has been granted; and Colonel Smith
is to return, too, Congress having determined to put an end to their
commission at that Court, I suspect and hope they will make no
new appointment.
Our new Constitution is powerfully attacked in the American
newspapers. ‘The objections are, that its effect would be to form
the thirteen States into one; that, proposing to melt all down into
one General Government, they have fenced the people by no decla-
ration of rights; they have not renounced the power of keeping a
standing army ; they have not secured the liberty of the press; they
have reserved the power of abolishing trials by jury in civil cases Hi
they have proposed that the laws of the Federal Legislatures shall
be paramount to the laws and constitutions of the States; they have
abandoned rotation in office; and, particularly, their President may
be reelected from four years to four years, for life, so as to render
him a King for life, like a King of Poland; and they have not
given him either the check or aid of a council. To these they add —
calculations of expense, &c., &c., to frighten the people.
You will perceive that these objections are serious, and some of
them not without foundation. The Constitution, however, has been
received with a very general enthusiasm, and, as far as can be judged
from extemal demonstrations, the bulk of the people are eager to
adopt it. In the astern States the printers will print nothing against
it unless the writer subscribes his name. Massachusetts and Con-
necticut have called conventions in January to consider of it. In
New York there is a division. The Governor (Clinton) is known to
be hostile to it. Jersey, it is thought, will certainly accept it.
Pennsylvania is divided, and all the bitterness of her factions has
been kindled anew on it. But the party in favor of it is strongest,
both in and out of the Legislature. This is the party anciently of
Morris, Wilson, &c. Delaware will do what Pennsylvania shall do.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 119
‘ Maryland is thought favorable to it, yet it is supposed Chase and
Paca will oppose it. As to Virginia, two of her delegates, in the
first place, refused to sign it. ‘These were Randolph, the Governor,
and George Mason. Besides these, Henry, Harrison, Nelson, and
the Lees are against it. General Washington will be for it, but it is
not in his character to exert himself much in the case. Madison
will be its main pillar, but though an immensely powerful one, it is
questionable whether he can bear the weight of such a host. So
that the presumption is that Virginia will reject it. We know
nothing of the disposition of the States south of this. Should it fall
through, as it is possible, nothwithstanding the enthusiasm with which
it was received in the first moment, it is probable that Congress will
propose that the objections which the people shall make to it, bemg
once known, another convention shall be assembled to adopt the
improvements generally acceptable, and omit those found disagree-
able. In this way union may be produced under a happy constitu-
tion, and one which shall not be too energetic, as are the constitutions
of Europe. I give you these details, because, possibly you may not
have received them all. The sale of our western lands is immensely
successful. Five millions of acres have been sold at private sale, for
a dollar an acre, in certificates, and, at the public sale, some of them
had sold as high as two dollars and forty cents the acre. ‘The sales
had not been bugun two months. By these means taxes, &c., our
domestic debt, originally twenty-eight millions of dollars, was
reduced, by the first day of last October, to twelve millions, and
they were then in treaty for two millions of acres more at a dollar,
private sale. Our domestic debt will thus be soon paid off, and that
done, the sales will go on for money, at a cheaper rate, no doubt, for
the payment of our foreign debt. The petite guerre always waged
by the Indians seems not to abate the ardor of purchase or emigra-
tion. Kentucky is now counted at sixty thousand. Frankland is
also growing fast.
I have been told that the cutting through the Isthmus of Panama,
which the world has so often wished, and supposed practicable, has
at times been thought of by the Government of Spain, and that they
once proceeded so far as to have a survey and examination made of
the ground; but that the result was, either impracticability or too
great difficulty. Probably the Count de Campomanes or Don Ulloa
can give you information on this head. I should be exceedingly
120 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
pleased to get as minute details as possible on it, and even copies of
the survey, report, &c., if they could be obtained at a moderate
expense. I take the liberty of asking your assistance in this.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
» io
0
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN ADAMS.
Paris, December 12, 1787.
Dear Sir,
In the month of July, I received from Fiseaux & Co., of Amster-
dam, a letter notifying me that the principal of their loan to the
United States would become due the first day of January. JI
answered them that I had neither powers nor information on the
subject, but would transmit their letter to the Board of Treasury. [I
did so, by the packet which sailed from Havre August the 10th.
The earliest answer possible would have been by the packet which
arrived at Havre three or four days ago. But by ‘her I do not
receive the scrip of a pen from any body. ‘This makes me suppose
my letters were committed to Paul Jones, who was to sail a week
after the departure of the packet; and that possibly he may be the
bearer of orders from the Treasury to pay Fiseaux’s loan with the
money you borrowed. But it is also possible he may bring no order
on the subject... The slowness with which measures are adopted on
our side the water does not permit us to count on punctual answers ;
but, on the contrary, renders it necessary for us to suppose, in the
present case, that no orders will arrive in time, and to consider
whether any thing, and what, should be done? As it may be found
expedient to transfer all our foreign debts to Holland, by borrowing
there, and as it may always be prudent to preserve a good credit in
that country, because we may be forced into wars, whether we will
or not, I should suppose it very imprudent to suffer our credit to be
annihilated for so small a sum as fifty-one thousand guilders. The
injury will be greater, too, in proportion to the smallness of the sum ;
for they will ask, «how can a people be trusted for large sums, who
break their faith for such small ones?” You know best what effect
it will have on the minds ofthe money lenders of that country,
should we fail in this payment. You know best, solely, whether it
is practicable and prudent for us to have this debt paid without ~
‘orders. I refer the matter, therefore, wholly to your consideration,
ed
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 121
willing to participate with you in any risk and any responsibility
whlch may arise. I think it one of those cases where it is a duty to
risk one’s self. You will perceive by the enclosed, the necessity of
an immediate answer, and that if you think any thing can and should
_be done, all the necessary authorities from you should accompany
your letter. In the meantime, should I receive any orders from the
Treasury by Paul Jones, I will pursue them, and consider whatever
you shall have proposed or done, as non avenue.
I am, with much affection, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
Sel foe
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JAMES MADISON.
é Paris, December 20, 1787.
Dear Sir,
My last to you was of October the 8th, by the Count de Moustier.
Yours of July the 18th, September the 6th, and October the 25th,
were successively received, yesterday, the day before, and three or
four days before that. I have only had time to read the letters ; the
_ printed papers communicated with them, however interesting, being
obliged to lie over till I finish my despatches for the packet, which
despatches must go from hence the day after to-morrow. I have
much to thank you for, first and most for the cyphered paragraph
respecting myself. These little informations are very material
towards forming my own decisions. I would be glad even to know
when any individual member thinks I have gone wrong in any
instance. If I know myself it would not excite ill blood in me, while
it would assist to guide my conduct, perhaps, to justify it, and to
keep me to my duty alert. J must thank you, too, for the informa-
tion in Thomas Burk’s case; though you will have found, by a
subsequent letter, that I have asked of you a further investigation of
that matter. It is to gratify the lady who is at the head of the
convent wherein my daughters are, and who, by her attachment and
attention to them, lays me under great obligations. I shall hope,
therefore, still to receive from you the result of all the further
inquiries my second letter had asked. The parcel of rice, which
you informed me had miscarried, accompanied my letter to the
delegates of South Carolina. Mr. Bourgoin was to be the bearer of
both, and both were delivered together into the hands of his relation
here, who introduced him to me, and who, at a subsequent moment,
\
‘ i
L 3
Si
122 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
undertook to convey them to Mr. Bourgoin. ‘This person was’ an
‘engraver, particularly recommended to Dr. Franklin and Mr. Hop-
kinson. Perhaps he may have mislaid the little parcel of rice among |
his baggage. Iam much pleased that the sale of western lands is
so successful. I hope they will absorb all the certificates of our _
domestic debt speedily, in the first place, and that then, offered for
cash, they will do the same by our foreign ones.
The season admitting of operations in the Cabinet, and those being
in a great measure secret, I have little to fill a letter. I will there-
fore make up the deficiency by adding a few words on the consti-
tution proposed by our Convention.
I like much the general idea of framing a Government which
would go on of itself peaceably, without needing continual recurrence
to the State Legislatures. I like the organization of the Government
into legislative, judiciary, and executive. I like the power given the
Legislature to levy taxes, and for that reason solely, I approve of ©
the greater house being chosen by the people directly. For, though |
1 think a house so chosen, will be very far inferior to the present —
Congress, will be very illy qualified to legislate for the Union, for
foreign nations, &c., yet this evil does not weigh against the good of ©
preserving inviolate the fundamental principle that the people are
not to be taxed but by representatives chosen immediately by them- |
selves. Jam captivated by the compromise of the opposite claims —
of the great and little States, of the latter to equal, and the former
to proportional influence. Iam much pleased, too, with the substi- —
tution of the method of voting by persons instead of that of voting —
by States; and I like the negative given to the Executive, conjointly |
with a third of either House, though I should have liked it better had |
the judiciary been associated for that purpose, or invested separately —
with a similar power. There are other good things of less moment. .
I will now tell you what I do not like: First, the omission of a
bill of rights, providing clearly and without the aid of sophism for
freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing —
armies, restriction against monopolies, the eternal and unremitting —
force of the habeas corpus laws, and trials by jury in all matters af
fact triable by the laws of the land, and not by the laws of nations.
To say, as Mr. Wilson does, that a bill of rights was not necessary, —
because all is reserved in the case of the General Government which
is not given, while in the particular ones all is given which is not
]
¥
‘DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. (193
reserved, might do for the audience to which it was addressed, but it
is surely a gratis dictum, the reverse of which might just as well be
said; and it is opposed by strong inferences from the body of the
instrument, as well as from the omission of the clause of our present
Confederation, which had made the reservation in express terms. It
was hard to conclude, because there has been a want of uniformity
among the States as to the cases triable by jury, because some have
been so incautious as to dispense with this mode of trial in certain
cases, therefore the more prudent States shall be reduced to the same
‘level of calamity. It would have been much more just and wise to
have concluded by the other way, that as most of the States had
preserved with jealousy this sacred palladium of liberty, those which
chad wandered should be brought back to it; and to have established
general right rather than general wrong. For I consider all the ill as
established which may be established. I have a right to nothing
which another has a right to take away; and Congress will have a
right to take away trials by jury in all civil cases. Let me add, that
a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every Gov-
ernment on earth, general or particular, and which no just Government
should refuse, or rest on inference.
The second feature I dislike, and strongly dislike, is the abandon-
ment, in every instance, of the principle of rotation in office, and
most particularly in the case of the President. Reason and expe-
‘rience tell us that the first magistrate will always be reélected, if he
may be reelected. He is then an officer for life. This once observed,
it becomes of so much consequence to certain nations to have a friend
or a foe at the head of our affairs, that they will interfere with money
and with arms. A Galloman or an Angloman will be supported by
the nation he befriends. If once elected, and at a second or third
election out-voted by one or two votes, he will pretend false votes,
foul play, hold possession of the reins of Government, be supported
by the States voting for him, especially if they be the central ones,
lying im a compact body themselves, and separating their opponents ;
and they will be aided by one nation in Europe, while the majority
are aided by another. The election of a President of America,
some years hence, will be much more interesting to certain nations
of Europe than ever the election of a King of Poland was. Reflect
‘on all the instances in history, ancient and modern, of the elective
Monarchies, and say if they do not give foundation for my fears; the
124 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Roman Emperors, the Popes while they were of any importance,
the German Emperors till they became hereditary in practice, the
Kings of Poland, the Deys of the Ottoman dependencies. It may
be said that if elections are to be attended with these disorders, the
less frequently they are repeated the better. But experience says,
that to free them from disorder they must be rendered less interesting
by a necessity of change. No foreign Power, nor domestic party,
will waste their blood and money to elect a person who must go out
at the end of a short period. The power of removing every fourth
year by the vote of the people is a power which they will not exer-
cise, and if they were disposed to exercise it, they would not be
permitted. ‘The King of Poland is removable every day by the
Diet, but they never remove him. Nor would Russia, the Emperor,
&c., permit them to do it. Smaller objections are, the appeals on
matters of fact as well as law, and the binding all persons, legislative,
executive, and judiciary, by oath to maintain that Constitution. I
do not pretend to decide what would be the best method of procuring
the establishment of the manifold good things in this Constitution,
and of getting rid of the bad. Whether by adopting it in hopes of
future amendments ; or, after it shall have been only weighed and
canvassed by the people, after seeing the parts they generally dislike
and those they generally approve, to say to them: “We see now
‘what you wish. You are willing to give to your Federal Govern-
‘ment such and such powers, but you wish at the same time to have
‘such and such fundamental rights secured to you, and certain sources —
‘of convulsion taken away. Be it so. Send together your deputies
‘again. Let them establish your fundamental rights by a sacrosanct
‘declaration, and let them pass the parts of the Constitution you
‘have approved. ‘These will give powers to your Federal Govern-
‘ment sufficient for your happiness.” }
This is what might be said, and would probably produce a speedy,
more perfect, and more permanent form of Government. At all
events | hope you will not be discouraged from making other trials,
if the present one should fail. We are never permitted to despair of
the Commonwealth. Ihave thus told you freely which I like and
what I dislike, merely as a matter of curiosity ; for I know it is not
in my power to offer matter of information to your judgment, which —
has been formed after hearing and weighing everything which the ~
wisdom of man could offer on these subjects. I own I am nota
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 125
friend to a very energetic Government. It is always oppressive. It
places the governors, indeed, more at ease, at the expense of the
people. The late rebellion in Massachusetts has given more alarm
than I think it should have done. Calculate that one rebellion in
thirteen States in the course of eleven years is but one for each State
in a century and a half. No country should be as long without one.
Nor will any degree of power in the hands of Government prevent
insurrection. In England, where the hand of power is heavier than
with us, there are seldom half a dozen years without an insurrection.
In France, where it is still heavier, but less despotic, as Montesquieu
supposes, than in some other countries, and where there are always
two or three hundred thousand men ready to crush insurrections,
there have been three in the course of the three years I have been
here, in every one of which greater numbers were engaged than in
Massachusetts, and a great deal more blood spilt. In Turkey,
where the sole nod of the despot is death, insurrections are the
events of every day. Compare again the ferocious depredations of
their insurgents with the order, the moderation, and the almost self-
extinguishment of ours; and say, finally, whether peace is best:
preserved by giving energy to the Government or information to the
people. This last is the most certain and the most legitimate engine
of government. Educate and inform the whole mass of the people.
Enable them to see that it is their interest to preserve peace and
order, and they will preserve them. And it requires no very high
degree of education to convince them of this. 'They are the only
sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty. After all, it is my
principle that the will of the majority should prevail. If they
approve the proposed Constitution in all its parts, I shall concur in.
it cheerfully, in hopes they will amend it whenever they shall find it
works wrong. ‘This reliance cannot deceive us as long as we remain
virtuous ; and I think we shall be so as long as agriculture is our
principal object, which will be the case while there remain vacant
_ lands in any part of America. When we get piled upon one another
| in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become corrupt as in /urope,
and go to eating one another as they do there. I have tired you by
this time with disquisitions which you have already heard repeated by
_ others, a thousand and a thousand times, and therefore shall only add
1
;
;
assurances of the esteem and attachment with which I have the .
honor to be, &c.,
TH; JEFFERSON.
126° THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
P.S. The instability of our laws is really an immense evil. I
think it would be well to provide in our Constitution that there shall
always be a twelvemonth between the engrossing a bill and passing
it—that it should then be offered to’ its passage without changing a’
word; and that if circumstances should be thought to require a
speedier passage, it should take two thirds of both Houses instead of
a bare majority.
0
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, December 31, 1787.
Sir, |
Since the receipt of the letter of Monsieur de Calonne of October
the 22d, 1786, I have several times had the honor of mentioning to
you that I was endeavoring to get the substance of that letter reduced
into an arrét, which, instead of being revocable by a single letter of
a Comptroller General, would require an arrét to repeal or alter it,
and of course must be discussed in full council, and so give due time’
to prevent it. ‘This has been pressed as much as it could be with
prudence. One cause of delay has been the frequent changes of the’
Comptroller General, as we had always our whole work to begin
again with every new one. Monsieur Lambert’s continuance in
office for some months has enabled us at length to get through the
business; and I have just received from him a letter, and the arrét
duly authenticated, of which I have the honor to send you a number
of printed copies.. You will find that the several alterations and
additions are made which, on my visit to the sea-ports, I had found
to be necessary, and which my letters of June the 21st and August
the 6th particularly mentioned to you. Besides these we have
obtained some new articles of value, for which openings arose in the
course of the negotiation. I say we have done it, because the
Marquis de la Fayette has gone hand in hand with me through this
business, and has been a most invaluable aid. I take the liberty of —
making some observations on the articles of the arrét severally, for
their explanation, as well as for the information of Congress.
-Arricue I. In the course of our conferences with the Comptroller
General, we had prevailed on him to pass this article with a suppres=
sion of all duty. When he reported the arrét, however, to the’
Council, this suppression was objected to, and it was insisted to
reestablish the duties of seven livres and ten sous, and of ten sous the
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 127
livre, reserved in the letter of M. de Calonne. 'The passage of the
arrét was stopped, and the difficulty communicated to me. I urged
everything I could, in letters and in conferences, to convince them
that whale oil could bear no duty at all; that if the duty fell on the
consumer, he would choose to buy vegetable oils; if on the fisher-
man, he could no longer live by his calling, remaining in his own
country ; and that if he quitted his own country, the circumstances
of vicinity, sameness of language, laws, religion, and manners, and
perhaps the ties of kindred, would draw him to Nova Scotia, in spite
of every encouragement which could be given at Dunkirk; and that
thus those fishermen would be shifted out of a seale friendly to
France into one always hostile. Nothing, however, could prevail.
It hung on this article alone for two months, during which we risked
the total-loss of the arrét on the stability in office of Monsieur Lam-
bert; for, if he had gone out, his suctessor might be less favorable ;
and if Monsieur Necker were the successor, we might lose the whole,
as he never set any store by us, or the connexion with us. About
ten days ago it became universally believed that Monsieur Lambert
was to go out immediately. I therefore declined further insisting on
the total suppression, and desired the arrét.might pass, having the
duties on whale oil as Monsieur de Calonne had promised them;
but with a reservation which may countenance our bringing on this
matter again at a more favorable moment.
Articue II. The other fisheries are placed in a separate article,
because, whatever encouragement we may hereafter obtain for whale
oils, they will not be extended to those which their own fisheries:
produce.
Articte II]. A company had silently, and by unfair means,
obtained a monopoly for the making and selling spermaceti candles ;
as soon as we discovered it we solicited its suppression, which is
effected by this clause.
Articus IV. The duty of an eighth per cent. is merely to oblige
the masters of vessels to. enter their cargoes for the information of
Government, without inducing them to attempt to smugele.
Articte V1, Tar, pitch, and turpentine of America, coming in
competition with the same articles produced in the southwestern parts
of France, we could obtain no greater reduction than two and a half
per cent. ‘The duties before were from four to six times that
amount.
t
128 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Articte X. The right of entrepét given by this article is almost.
the same thing as making all their ports free ports for us. The
ships are, indeed, subject to be visited, and the cargoes must be
reported in ports of entrepét, which need not be done in the free’
ports. But the communication between the entrepét and the country
is not interrupted by continual search of all persons passing into the’
country, which has proved so troublesome to the inhabitants of our
free ports as that a considerable proportion of them have wished to
give back the privilege of their freedom.
Arrticie XIII. This article gives us the privileges and advantages
of native subjects, in all their possessions in Asia, and in the scales
leading theretv. This expression means, at present, the Isles of
France and Bourbon, and will include the Cape of Good Hope,
should any future events put it into the hands of France. It is with
a view to this that I proposed the expression ; because we were then
in hourly expectation of a war, and it was suspected that France
would take possession of that place. It will, in no case, be consid-:
ered as including any thing westward of the Cape of Good Hope.
I must observe, further, on this article, that it will only become
valuable on the suppression of the East India Company ; because,
as long as their monopoly continues, even native subjects cannot
enter their Asiatic ports for the purposes of commerce.
It is considered, however, as certain, that this company will be
immediately suppressed. .
The article of tobacco could not be introduced into the arrét,
because it was necessary to consider the Farmers General as parties
to that arrangement. It rests, therefore, of necessity, on the basis of
a letter only. You will perceive that this is nothing more than a
continuation of the order of Bernis, only leaving the prices unfixed ;’
and like that, it will require a constant and vexatious attention to
have its execution enforced.
The States which have much to carry, and few carriers, will
observe, perhaps, that the benefits of these regulations are somewhat
narrowed by confining them to articles brought hither i in French or
American bottoms. But they will consider that nothing in those
instruments moves from us. ‘The advantages they hold out ‘are all
given by this country to us, and the givers will modify their gifts as
they please. I suppose it to be a determined principle of this’
Court not to suffer our carrying business, so far as their consumption
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 129
of our commodities extends, to become a nursery for British seamen.
Nor would this, perhaps, be advantageous to us, considering the
dispositions of the two nations towards us. ‘The preference which
our shipping will obtain on this account, counterpoise the discourage-
ments it experiences from the dangers of the Barbary States. Nor
is the idea unpleasing which shews itself in various parts of these
papers, of naturalizing American bottoms and American citizens in
France and in its foreign possessions. Once established here, and in
their eastern settlements, they may revolt less at the proposition to
extend it to those westward. ‘They are not yet, however, at that
point; we must be contented to go towards it a step at a time, and
trust to future events for hastening our progress.
With respect to the alliance between this and the two Imperial
Courts, nothing certain transpires. We are enabled to conjecture its
progress only from facts which now and then show themselves.
The following may be considered as indications of it: Ist. The
Emperor has made an attempt to surprise Belgrade. The attempt
failed, but will serve to plunge him into the war, and to shew that
he had assumed the character of mediator only to enable himself to
gain some advantage by surprise. 2d. The mediation of France is
probably at an end, and their abandonment of the Turks agreed on ;
because they have secretly ordered their officers to quit the Turkish
service. ‘This fact is known to but few, and not intended to be
known, but I think it certain. 3d. To the offer of mediation lately
made by England and Prussia, the Court of Petersburgh answered,
that having declined the mediation of a friendly Power, (France,)
she could not accept that of two Courts with whose dispositions she
had reason to be dissatisfied. 4th. The States General are said to
have instructed their Ambassador here lately to ask of M. de Mont-
morin whether the inquiry had been made which they had formerly
desired, “ By what authority the French Engineers had been placed
in the service of Holland?’ And that he answered that the inquiry
had not been made nor should be made. Though I do not consider
the channel through which I get this fact as absolutely sure, yet it is
so respectable that I give credit to it myself. 8th. The King of
Prussia is withdrawing his troops from Holland. Should the alliance
shew itself, it would seem that France, thus strengthened, might
dictate the reestablishment of the affairs of Holland in her own form.
For it is not conceivable that Prussia would dare to move, nor that.
Vou. I.—9
130 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
England would alone undertake such a war, and for such a purpose.
She appears, indeed, triumphant at present ; but the parr is, who
will triumph at last?
I enclose you a copy of a letter from Mr. Dumas. I received one
from him myself, wherein he assures me that no difficulties shall be
produced by what he suggested relative to his mission to Brussels.
The gazettes of France and Leyden, to this date, accompany this
letter, which, with the several papers put under your cover, I shall
send to Mr. Limozin, our agent at Havre, to be forwarded by the
Juno, Captain Jenkins, which sails from that port for New York, on
the 3d of January.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
caren (Yee
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO LE COMTE BERNSTORFF, MINISTER
OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, COPENHAGEN.
Paris, January 21, 1788.
wir,
I am instructed by tne United States of America, in Congress
assembled, to bring again under the consideration of his Majesty the
King of Denmark, and of his Ministers, the case of the three prizes
taken from the English during the late war by an American squadron
under the command of Commodore Paul Jones, put into Bergen in
distress, there rescued from our possession by orders from the Court
of Denmark, and delivered back to the English. Dr. Franklin, then
Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States at the Court of
Versailles, had the honor of making applications to the Court of
Denmark for a just indemnification to the persons interested, and
particularly by a letter of the 22d of December, 1779, a copy of
which I have the honor of enclosing for your Excellency. In conse-
quence of this, the sum of ten thousand pounds was proposed to him
s an indemnification, through ‘the Baron de Walterstorff, then at
Pais The departure of both those gentlemen from this place soon
after occasioned an intermission in the correspondence on this subject.
But the United States continue to be very sensibly affected by this
delivery of their prizes to Great Britain, and more so, as no part of
their conduct had forfeited their claim to those rights of hospitality -
which civilized nations extend to each other. Not only a sense of
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 131
justice due to the individuals interested in those prizes, but also an
earnest desire that no subject of discontent may check the cultiva-
tion and progress of that friendship which they wish may subsist and
increase between the two countries, prompts them to remind his
Majesty of the transaction in question; and they flatter themselves
that his Majesty will concur with them in thinking, that as restitution
of the prizes is not practicable, it is reasonable and just that he should
render, and that they should accept, a compensation equivalent to
the value of them. And the same principles of justice towards
the parties, and of amity to the United States, which influenced the
breast of his Majesty to make, through the Baron de Walterstorff,
the proposition of a particular sum will surely lead him to restore
their full value, if that were greater, as is believed, than the sum
proposed. In order to obtain, therefore, a final arrangement of this
demand, Congress have authorized me to depute a special agent to
Copenhagen, to attend the pleasure of his Majesty. No agent could
be so adequate to this business as the Commodore Paul Jones, who
commanded the squadron which took the prizes. He will, therefore,
have the honor of delivering this letter to your Excellency in person,
of giving such information as may be material, relative to the whole
transaction ; of entering into conferences for its final adjustment; and
being himself principally interested, not only in his own right, but
as the natural patron of those who fought under him, whatever shall
be satisfactory to him, will have a great right to that ultimate appro-
bation which Congress have been pleased to confide to me.
I beg your Excellency to accept the homage of that respect
which your exalted station, talents, and merit impress, as well as
those sentiments of esteem and regard, with which I have the honor
to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
0
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Sir,
The letter of December 12th, which Mr. Remsen did me the favor
to write me during your indisposition, has been duly received, and I
shall be happy to hear tlfat the cause is removed which deprived me
at that moment of the pleasure of hearing from you. My last were
Paris, February 5, 1788. e
132 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
of the 21st and 31st December. I am afraid that my intelligence
may have appeared sometimes to come late to hand. My letters by
the Count de Moustier suffered by his long delay in Brest by con-
trary winds. ‘That, too, which he carried of October 27th, was
particularly interesting, as it enclosed notice of the pacification
between France and England. My letter of December 31st, by
Captain Jenkins, who was to have sailed January 3, was detained
with his vessel in Havre by contrary winds, till January 27th. It
conveyed the arrét and letter relative to our commerce, which were
interesting also. On account of the multitude of falsehoods always
current here, under specious appearances, I am obliged to be slow of
belief, but whenever a part worth communicating is so far authenti-
cated as to be worthy belief, I never fail to avail myself of the first
safe opportunity of communicating it to you. |
The last letter on the subject of the brig Absolonia from Rhode
Island, having reestablished the orthography of the advocate’s name,
(Depeuty, instead of Depauty, as the first letter had called him,) |
have found him, and delivered him the letters, and now enclose an
answer from him to Messrs. Topham, Ross, and Newman.
No remarkable circumstance has happened in the political affairs
of Europe since my last. ‘The season permits little activity between
the Turks and Russians. The Emperor, since the manceuvre to
surprise Belgrade, which failed, has been gathering strength towards
that quarter, but no open act of hostility has yet taken place. The
principal Minister here seems itmmoveably pacific. Their late loan
is fillmg up, indeed, but with subscriptions only, not cash. This
comes in slowly, and the payments yet to be made are less sure than
could be wished. I amas sure they can obtain no money in Holland.
The negotiations with Russia and the Emperor proceed; but they
proceed slowly. The hopes of the Dutch Patriots are just kept
alive. ‘Their Ambassador does not yet return to Hague. The
Prussians are about to withdraw from Holland, and to be replaced
by Hessians in the pay of the Republic. The health of the prin-
cipal Minister here is so low that he does business with nobody but
the King and Queen and the Ministers. Much is said and believed
of his retiring from office, and being succeeded by the Duke de
Chatelet ; but I do not believe it, because facts seem to evince him
master of the minds both of the King and Queen. The bickerings —
with the Parliament continue. The edict for the favor of the non-
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 138
Catholics has at length passed. You will see a copy of it in the
gazettes, and wonder that so small an effort of common sense could
have excited so much contradiction. A violent opposition is raised
against the arrét for the encouragement of our commerce, enclosed in
my last. All the Chambers of Commerce have remonstrated against
it, and the Ministers are alarmed. The Count de la Luzerne, on whose
friendly dispositions it was supposed we might rely, does not manifest
any partialities for us. The instability of the laws in this country
are such that no merchant can venture to make any speculation on
the faith of a law. I hope, however, that no material alteration will
be permitted in the present instance. Therefore, I should think it
better not to alarm our merchants with any doubts about the contin-
uance of it. Commodore Jones set off this day for Copenhagen,
to settle the demands for prize money against that Court. I have
lately seen a person, just come from Algiers, who knew well all our
captives there. Captain Coffin is dead of a consumption; two have
died of the plague, and one of the small-pox. He thinks that since
the price given by the Spaniards and Neapolitans for the redemption
of captives, they will never sell another of any nation for less than
from five to six hundred sequins. He supposes that exclusively of
the redemption of our captives, it would have cost us a million of
dollars to make peace when Mr. Lamb arrived there. The Span-
iards, Neapolitans, and Portuguese were then all sueing for peace.
This has increased excessively the pride of those pirates. As soon
as money is provided, I shall set th€ business of redemption afoot.
This letter goes by post. The gazettes to this day are enclosed.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
O
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Amsterdam, March 13, 1788.
Sir,
Mr. Adams having announced to our bankers here his approaching
departure from Europe, and referred them to me for counsel on our
affairs in their hands, they sent me a state of them, and of the
difficulties which were pressing at the moment, and impending more
seriously for the month of June. They were urging me, by almost
every post, on this subject. In this situation, information’ of Mr.
Adams’s journey of leave to the Hague reached me on the day of
134 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
his arrival there. I was sensible how important it was to have the
benefit of his interference, in a department which had been his
peculiarly from the beginning, and with all the details of which he
was as intimately ncn as I was little so, I set out, therefore,
in the instant, joined him at the Hague, and he readily concurred
with me in the necessity of our coming here to confer with our
bankers on the measures which might be proper and practicable.
We are now engaged on this object, and the result, together with a
full explanation of the difficulties which commanded our attention,
shall be the subject of a letter which I shall do myself the honor of
writing you by Mr. Adams to be forwarded by Colonel Smith, who
will go in the English packet. I avoid further particulars in the
present letter, because it is to pass through the different post offices
to Paris. It will be forwarded thence by Mr. Short, whom I have
desired to do himself the honor of writing to you any occurrences
since my departure, which may be worthy of being communicated
by the French packet of this month. |
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
ee OQ ee
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Amsterdam, March 16, 1788.
Sir,
In a letter of the 13th instant, which I had the honor of addressing
you from this place, I mention€d, in general terms, the object of my
journey thither, and that I should enter into more particular details
by the confidential conveyance which would occur through Mr.
Adams and Colonel Smith.
The Board of Treasury had, in the month of December, given/
notice to our banker here that it was impossible for them to make
any remittances to Europe for the then ensuing year; and that they —
must therefore rely altogether on the progress of the late loan. But
this, in the meantime, after bemg about one third filled, had ceased
to get forward. ‘The bankers, who had been referred to me for
advice by Mr. Adams, stated their circumstances, and pressed their
apprehensions for the ensuing month of June, when 270,000 florins
would be wanting for interest. In fine, they urged an offer of the
holders of the former bonds to take all those now remaining on hand,
provided they might retain out of them the interest on a part of our
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 135
domestic debt, of which they had also become the holders. This
would have been 180,000 florins. ‘To this proposition I could not
presume any authority to listen. ‘Thus pressed between the danger
of failure on one hand, and an impossible proposition on the other, I
heard of Mr. Adams being gone to the Hague to take leave. This
knowledge of the subject was too intimate to be neglected under the
present difficulty, and it was the last moment in which we could be
availed of it. I set out, therefore, immediately for the Hague, and
we came on to this place together, in order to see what could be
done. It was easier to discover than to remove the causes which
obstructed the progress of the loan. Our affairs here, like those of
other nations, are in the hands of particular bankers. ‘These employ
particular brokers, and they have their particular circle of money
lenders. ‘These money lenders, as I have before mentioned, while
placing a part of their money in our foreign loans, had at the same
time employed another part in a joint speculation to the amount of
840,000 dollars of our domestic debt. A year’s interest was
becoming due on this, and they wished to avail themselves of our
want of money for the foreign interest to obtain payment of the
domestic. Our first object was to convince our bankers that there
‘was no Power on this side the Atlantic which could accede to this
proposition, or give it any countenance. ‘They at length, therefore,
but with difficulty receded from this ground, and agreed to enter into
conferences with the brokers and lenders, and to use every exertion
to clear the loan from the embarrassment in which: this speculation
had engaged it? What will be the result of these conferences is not
yet known. We have hopes, however, that it is not desperate,
because the bankers yesterday consented to pay off, and did actually
pay off the capital of 51,000 florins, which had become due to the
house of Fizeaux & Co, on the first day of January, which had not
yet been paid. We have gone still further. The Treasury Board
gives no hope of remittances till the new Government can procure
them. For that Government to be adopted, its Legislature assem-
bled, its system of taxation and collection arranged, the money
gathered from the people into their treasury, and then remitted to
Europe, must enter us considerably into the year 1790. To secure
our credit, then, for the present year only, is but to put off the evil
day to the next. What remains of the last, even when it shall be
filled up, will little more than clear us of present demands, as may
136 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
be seen by the estimate enclosed, We thought it better, therefore,
to provide at once for the years 1789 and 1790 also, and thus to
place the Government at its ease, and our credit in security during
that trying interval. The same estimate will show that another
million of florins will be necessary to effect this. We stated this to
our bankers, who concurred in our views, and that to ask the whole
sum at once would be better than to make demands from time to
time so small as that they betray to the money holders the extreme
feebleness of our resources. Mr. Adams, therefore, has executed
bonds for another million of florins, which, however, are to remain
unissued till Congress shall have ratified the measure; so that the
transaction is something or nothing at their pleasure. We suppose
its expediency so apparent as to leave little doubt of its ratification.
In this case much time will have been saved by the execution of the
bonds at this moment, and the proposition will be presented here
under a more favorable appearance, according to the opinion of the
banker. Mr. Adams is under a necessity of setting out to-morrow
morning ; but I shall stay two or three days longer to attend to, and
to encourage the efforts of the bankers, to judge and to inform you
whether they will ensure us a safe passage over the month of June.
Not having my letters here to turn to, I am unable to say whether
in the last I wrote from Paris I mentioned the declaration of the
Emperor that he should take a part in the war against the Turks.
This declaration appeared a little before or a little after that letter; I
do not recollect which. Some trifling hostilities have taken place
between them. 'The Court of Versailles seems to pursue immoveably
its pacific system. And from every appearance in the country from
which | write, we must conclude that its tragedy is wound up. The
triumph appears complete, and tranquillity perfectly established.
The numbers who have emigrated are differently estimated from
twenty to forty thousand. |
A little before I left Paris I received a piece of intelligence which
should be communicated, leaving you to lay what stress upon it it
may seem todeserve. Its authenticity may be surely relied on. At
the moment of the late pacification Spain had about fifteen ships of
the line really ready for sea. The convention for disarming did not
extend to her, nor did she disarm. This gave inquietude to the
Court of London, and they demanded an explanation. One was.
given, which they say is perfectly satisfactory. The Russian Minister
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 137
at Versailles getting a knowledge of this, became suspicious on his
part. He recollected that Spain during the war had been opposed
to the entrance of a Russian fleet into the Mediterranean, and con-
cluded if England was not the object of the armament, Russia might
be. It is known that that Power means to send a fleet of about
twenty-four ships into the Mediterranean this summer. He went to
the Count de Montmorin and expressed his apprehensions. ‘The
Count de Montmorin declared that the object of Spain in that arma-
ment was totally different; that he was sure she would succeed ; but
that France and Spain were to be considered as one, and that the
former would become guarantee for the latter that she would make
no opposition to the Russian fleet. If neither England nor Russia
be the object, the question recurs, who is it for? You know best if
our affairs with Spain are in a situation to give jealousy to either of
us. I think it very possible that the satisfaction of the Court of
London may have been pretended or premature. It is possible, also,
that the affairs of Spain in South America may require them to
assume a threatening appearance. I give you the facts, however,
and you will judge whether they are objects of attention or of mere
curiosity.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
P.S. Ienclose herewith an extract of a letter from the Count
de Vergennes to the French Ambassador at the Hague, which will
make a remarkable chapter in the history of the late revolution here.
It is not public, nor should be made so by us. Probably those who
have been the victims of it will some day publish it.
| TH: JEFFERSON.
Extract from the Count de Vergennes’s despatch to the Marquis
de Verac, Ambassador from France at the Hague, dated 15th
August, 1786.
The King will concur as far as he can towards the success of this
matter, and you will request, on his part, the patriots to communicate
their views, plans, and wishes. You will assure them that the King
is equally interested for their persons as well as their cause, and that
they may rely on his protection. They may depend upon this the
\
138 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
more, as we do not pretend to dissemble, sir, that, if the Stadtholder
recovers his former influence, the English system will not fail toa
prevail, and our alliance become a mere phantom. The patriots will
readily perceive that such a circumstance would be quite incompatible
with the dignity as well as the respect of his Majesty. But in case.
sir, the leaders of the patriots should fear a schism, they will have
ample time to bring back such of their friends as the English party
have perverted, and arrange matters so that the question which is to
be again deliberated be decided agreeably to their wishes. On this
presumption the King authorizes you to act in concert with them, tc
follow such directions as they may see proper to give you, and to
employ every means to augment their number of partizans for the
good cause. It remains for me, sir, to speak to you concerning the
personal security of the patriots. You will assure them that at all
events the King takes them under his immediate protection; and you
will inform, whenever it may be necessary, that his majesty will con-
sider every attempt against their liberty as a personal offence against
him.
It is to be presumed that this language, supported with energy,
will impose on the audacity of the English party, and that the Prince
of Nassau will apprehend some danger by provoking his Majesty’s
resentment.
FROM JOHN JAY TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Office for Foreign Affairs, N: ovember 3, 1787.
Dear Sir, |
Since the date of my last, which was the 24th ultimo, Congress
has been pleased to pass an act, of which the enclosed is a copy. It
contains instructions to you relative to the demands of the United
States against the Court of Denmark. As they are express and
particular, remarks upon them would be unnecessary. I am pers
suaded that the manner in which this business will be conducted and
concluded will evince the propriety of its being committed to your
discretion. é
Advices from Georgia represent that State as much distressed by
the Indians. It is said that the apprehensions of the people are so
greatly alarmed that they are even fortifying Savannah. There
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 139
doubtless is reason to fear that their frontier settlements will be
ravaged. ‘The Indians are numerous, and they are exasperated, and
will probably be put to no difficulty on account of military stores.
These embarrassments result from the want of a proper government,
to guard good faith and punish violations of it.
With very sincere esteem, &c., JOHN JAY.
Extract from the Secret Journal, October 28th, 1787.
On motion of Mr. H. Lee, seconded by Mr. Carrington,
Resolved, That the Minister of the United States at the Court of
Versailles be, and he hereby is, authorized and instructed to represent
to his Danish Majesty that the United States continue to be very
sensibly affected by the circumstance of his Majesty having caused a
number of their prizes to be delivered to Great Britain during the
late war, and the more so as no part of their conduct had forfeited
their claims to the rights of hospitality, which civilized nations extend
to each other. That not only a sense of the justice due to the
individuals interested in those prizes, but also an earnest desire that
no subject of discontent may check the cultivation and progress of
that friendship which they wish may subsist and increase between
the two countries, prompt the United States to remind his Majesty of
the transaction in question. And they flatter themselves that his
Majesty will concur with them in thinking that as restitution of the
prizes is not practicable, it is reasonable and just that he should
render, and that they should accept, a compensation equivalent to
the value of them.
That the said Minister be further authorized and instructed finally
to settle and conclude the demand of the United States against his
Danish Majesty on account of the prizes aforesaid, by such compo-
sition and on such terms as may be the best in his power to obtain ;
and that he be directed to retain in his hands all the. money so
recovered till the further order of Congress.
That the said Minister be, and he is hereby, authorized in case he
shall think it proper, to despatch the Chevalier John Paul Jones, or
any other agent, to the Court of Denmark; with such powers and
instructions relative to the abovementioned negotiation as in his judg-
ment may be the most conducive to the successful issue thereof;
in
140 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
provided, that the ultimate conclusion of the business be not made
by the agent without the previous approbation of the said Minister.
That the person employed shall, for his ‘agency in the business
aforesaid, be allowed five per cent. for all expenses and demands
whatever on that account.
Ordered, 'That the Board of Treasury transmit to the Minister of
the United States at the Court of Versailles all the necessary docu-
ments relative to the prizes delivered up by Denmark.
O
FROM JOHN JAY TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
New York, April 24, 1788.
Dear Sir,
Since the 3d November last I have been honored by your favors
of the 19th, 22d, and 24th September, 8th and 27th October, 3d and
7th November, 21st and 31st December, and 5th F ebruary last, all
of which have been laid before Congress; but they have given me
no orders respecting the subjects of them. |
The state of my health was, for a long time, such as to oblige me
to omit some good opportunities of writing to you fully. It is not
yet perfectly reéstablished; but I am nevertheless so far recovered
as to have reason to hope that the approaching season will moderate,
if not wholly remove, my remaining complaints. |
Since the rising of the late Convention at Philadelphia Congress
has done but little business, and I apprehend that will continue to be
the case while the fate of the proposed Constitution remains undecided.
You will perceive, from the public papers, that it has given occasion
to heats and parties in several of the States.
The late commercial arrangements of France relative to the
United States, will tend to render the connexion between the two
countries more intimate. They bear marks of wlio and liberality,
and cannot fail of being very acceptable. It is to be regretted that
the mercantile people in France oppose a system which, certainly, is
calculated to bind the two nations together, and from which both
would eventually derive commercial as well as political advantages. —
It appears to me that France has not a single ally in Europe on
which she can fully depend; and it doubtless would be wise in her
)
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 141
to endeavor so to blend her interests with ours as, if possible, to
render them indissoluble. ‘This, in my opinion, can only be done
by giving us all the privileges of Frenchmen, and accepting in return
all the privileges of Americans. If they could bring themselves to
adopt this idea, their schemes of policy respecting us would be greatly
simplified; but the spirit of monopoly and exclusion has prevailed
in Europe too long to be done away at once; and however
enlightened the present age may appear when compared with former
ones, yet, whenever ancient prejudices are touched, we find that we
only have light enough to see our want of more. ‘Toleration in
commerce, like toleration in religion, gains ground, it is true; but I
am not sanguine in my expectations that either will soon take place
in their due extent.
I have the honor of being, &c., JOHN JAY.
O
FROM JOHN JAY TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Office for Foreign Affairs, May 16, 1788.
Dear Sir,
Since the date of my last, viz: 24th ultimo, no letters from you
have arrived, nor any event of importance occurred, except the
accession of Maryland to the number of the States which have
adopted the proposed Constitution. Until that business is concluded,
I apprehend that our national affairs will continue muchat a stand.
Mr. Barlow will take charge of this, and of a packet of news-
papers for you. |
With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN JAY.
O
FROM THOMAS a. TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE TREASURY.
Paris, February 7, 1788.
Gentlemen,
Your favors of November the 10th and 13th, and December the
oth, have been duly received. Commodore Jones left this place for
Copenhagen, the 5th instant, to carry into execution the resolution
of Congress of October the 25th. Whatever moneys that Court
H.
142 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
shall be willing to allow shall be remitted to your bankers, either in
Amsterdam or Paris, as shall be found most beneficial; allowing
previously to be withdrawn Commodore Jones’s proportion, which
will be necessary for his subsistence. I desired him to endeavor to-
prevail on the Danish Minister to have the money paid in Amster-
dam or Paris, by their bankers, in either of those cities, if they
have one.
Mr. Ast (Secretary to the Consulate) is at L’Orient. Whether
he comes up with the papers, or sends them, they shall be received,
sealed up, and taken care of. I will only ask the favor of you that
I may never be desired to break the seals, unless very important
cause for it should arise.
I have just received, from Messrs. Willinks and Van Staphorsts, a
letter of January the 31st, in which are these words: “The official
‘communication we have of the actual situation and prospect of the
‘finances of the United States, would render such a partial payment
‘as that to Fiseaux’s house, of no avail towards the support of the —
‘public credit, unless effectual measures shall be adopted to provide
‘funds for the 270,000 florins interest that will be due the first of
‘June next; a single day’s retard in which would ground a prejudice
‘of long duration.”” They informed me, at the same time, that they —
have made to you the following communication: That Mr. Stanitski,
our principal broker, and holder of thirteen hundred and_ forty
thousand dollars of certificates of our domestic debt, offers to have
our loan of a million of guilders (of which six hundred and twenty-
two thousand eight hundred and forty are still unfilled) immediately
made up, on condition that he may retain thereout one hundred and —
eighty thousand guilders, being one year’s interest on his certificates,
allowing a deduction of ten per cent. from his said interest, as a
compensation for his receiving it in Amsterdam instead of America, —
and not pretending that this shall give him any title to ask any —
payment of future interest in Europe. They observe that this will —
enable them to face the demands of Dutch interest till the 1st of —
June, 1789, pay the principal of Fiseaux’s debt, and supply the |
current expenses of your legation in Europe. On these points it is
for you to decide. I will only take the liberty to observe, that if
they shall receive your acceptance of the proposition, some days’
credit will still be to be given for producing the cash, and that this
must be produced fifteen days before it is wanting, because that —
~
oh
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 143
much previous notice is always given to the creditors that their
money is ready. It is, therefore, but three months from this day
before your answer should be in Amsterdam. It might answer a
useful purpose, also, could I receive a communication of that answer
ten days earlier than they. The same stagnation attending our
passage from the old to the new form of Government, which stops
the feeble channel of money hitherto flowing towards our Treasury,
has suspended also what foreign credit we had. So that at this
moment we may consider the progress of our loan as stopped.
Though much an enemy to the system of borrowing, yet I feel
strongly the necessity of preserving the power to borrow. Without
this we might be overwhelmed by another nation merely by the
force of its credit. However, you can best judge whether the
payment of a single year’s interest on Stanitski’s certificates in
Europe instead of America may be more injurious to us than the
shock of our credit in Amsterdam which may be produced by a
failure to pay our interest.
I have only to offer any services which I can render in this
business, either here or by going to Holland, at a moment’s warning,
if that should be necessary.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
oo hare
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN ADAMS.
Paris, March 2, 1788—Sunday.
Dear Sir,
I received, this day, a letter from Mrs. Adams, of the 26th ultimo,
informing me you would set out, on the 29th, for the Hague.
Our affairs at Amsterdam press on my mind like a mountain. 1
have no information to go on but that of Willinks and Van Staphorsts,
and according to that something seems necessary to be done. I am
So anxious to confer with you on this subject, and to see you and
them together, and get some effectual atrangement made in time,
that I determine to meet you at the Hague. I will set out the
Moment some repairs are made to my carriage ; it is promised me at
tite o’clock to-morrow ; but probably they will make it night, and
that I may not set out till Tuesday morning. In that case I shall
af,
Me
144 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
be at the Hague on Friday night; in the mean time you will per-
haps have made all your bows there. I am sensible how irksome
this must be to you in the moment of your departure. But it is a
great interest of the United States which is at stake, and I am sure
you will sacrifice to that your feelings and your interest. I hope to
shake you by the hand, within twenty-four hours after you receive
this; and in the mean time,
I am, with much esteem, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
O
FROM JOHN JAY TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Office for Foreign Affairs, June 9, 1788.
Dear Sir, .
Since the date of my last, viz, the 16th ultimo, I have been
honored with yours of the 13th and 16th March, with the papers |
which were enclosed in the last. ‘They were immediately communi- .
cated to Congress, and the latter referred to a committee, who not
having as yet reported, it is not in my power to say what Congress _
may probably think proper to do or order relative to the subject
of it. :
You will herewith receive two letters from Congress to his most
Christian Majesty, together with copies of them for your information. —
You will also find enclosed copies from No. 1 to 20 inclusive, of
papers respecting the claims of Francis Cazeau; which it is deemed
expedient to transmit, in consequence of the information communi- |
cated in Mr. Short’s letter to me of the 18th March last; copies of ©
an act of Congress of the 2d June instant, respecting de la Landa
and F'ynje; and of an act of the 3d instant, forming Kentucky into
an independent State, will likewise be enclosed. |
By the newspapers, herewith sent, you will perceive that South —
Carolina has adopted the proposed Constitution. The convention
of this State will convene on Tuesday at Poughkeepsie ; and as this |
city and county has elected me one of their deputies to it, I shall be
absent from hence until it rises. There is reason to believe that the |
majority of this convention are decidedly opposed to the Constitution ; |
so that whether they will venture to reject it, or whether they |
adjourn and postpone a decision on it, is uncertain.
™
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 145
Accounts from Virginia and New Hampshire render it probable
that those States will adopt it; and if so, it may be presumed that
North Carolina, and even this State, will follow the example.
Being exceedingly engaged in despatching a variety of matters,
preparatory to my going out of town, I must postpone the pleasure
of writing to Mr. Short by this opportunity.
With great and sincere esteem and regard, I am, &c.,
JOHN JAY.
a | aa
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO C. W. F. DUMAS.
Amsterdam, March 29, 1788.
Sir,
I have now to acknowledge the receipt of your favors of the 14th,
15th, and 23d instant. I would have preferred doing it in person,
but the season, and the desire of seeing what I have not yet seen,
invite me to take the route of the Rhine. I shall leave this place
to-morrow morning, and probably not reach Paris till the latter end
of April. In the moment we were to have conferred on the subject
_ of paying the arrears due to you, a letter of the 20th of February
. from the Board of Treasury was received, forbidding the application
of money to any purpose (except our current claims) till the June
: interest should be actually in hand. Being by the letter tied up
from giving an order in your favor, I return you the letter you had
written to Mr. Jay, on the supposition that the order for your arrears
' was given. It has been suggested, however, that if you could
receive bonds of the loan, you could make them answer your
purpose, and the Commissioners say this would in no wise interfere
with the views of the Treasury Board, nor the provision for the
June interest. I have, therefore, recommended to them in writing
to give you bonds to the amount of your balance, if you choose to
take them rather than to wait. I wish this may answer your
| purpose. I remember that in the conversation which I had the
honor of having with you on the evening I was at the Hague, you
said that your enemies had endeavored to have it believed that
Congress would abandon you, and withdraw your appointments.
mee
An enemy generally says and believes what he wishes, and your
enemies, particularly, are not those who are most in the councils of
Vou. II.—10
a
146 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Congress, nor the best qualified to tell what Congress will do. From
the evidences you have received of their approbation, and from their
well known steadiness and justice, you must be assured of a contin- |
uance of their favor, were they to continue under the present form.
Nor do I see anything in the new Government which threatens us
with less firmness. 'The Senate, who will make and remove their
foreign officers must, from its constituticn, be a wise and steady body.
Nor would a new Government begin its administration by discarding
old servants, servants who have put all to the risk, and when the
risk was great to obtain that freedom and security under which
themselves will be what they shall be. Upon the whole, my dear
sir, tranquillize yourself and your family on this subject. All the
evidence which exists as yet authorizes you to do this, nor can I
foresee any cause of disquiet in future.
‘That none may arise, that yourself and family may enjoy health,
happiness, and the continued approbation of those by whom you wish
most to be approved, is the sincere wish of him, who has the honor
to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
O——=
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO COMMISSIONERS OF THE TREASURY.
a
Amsterdam, March 29, 1788.
Gentlemen,
* * * * * * Cee,
% % % % * * % |
I cannot close my letter without some observations on the transfer of
our domestic debt to foreigners. 'This circumstance, and the failure
to pay off Fiseaux’s loan, were the sole cause of the stagnation of
our late loan. For otherwise, our credit would have stood on more
hopeful grounds than heretofore. There was a condition in the last
loan that the lenders furnishing one third of the money, the remaining —
two thirds of the bonds should remain eighteen months unsold, and
at their option to. take or not, and that in the meantime the same.
bankers should open no other loan for us. These same lenders.
became purchasers of our domestic debt, and they were disposed to —
avail themselves of the power they had thus acquired over us as to.
our foreign demands to make us pay the domestic one. Should the —
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 147
present necessities have obliged you to comply with their proposition
for the present year, I should be of opinion it ought to be the last
instance. If the transfer of these debts to Europe meet with any
encouragement from us, we can no more borrow money here, let our
necessities be what they will. For who will give ninety-six per cent.
for the foreign obligation of the same nation, whose domestic ones
can be bought at the same market for fifty-five per cent.; the former,
too, bearing an interest of only five per cent., while the latter yields
six. If any discouragements can be honestly thrown on this transfer,
it would seem advisable, in order to keep the domestic debt at
home. It would be a very effectual one, if, instead of the title
existing in our ‘Treasury books alone, it was made to exist in loose
papers as our loan office debts do. ‘The European holder would
then be obliged to risk the title paper of his capital as well as his
interest, in the hand of his agent in America, whenever the interest
was to be demanded; whereas, at present, he trusts him with the
interest only. This single circumstance would put a total stop to
all future sales of domestic debt at this market. Whether this or
any other obstruction can or should be thrown in the way of these
operations, is not for me to decide; but I have thought the subject
worthy your consideration.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, May 4, 1788.
Sir,
Thad the honor of addressing you in two letters of the 13th and
and 16th of March, from Amsterdam, and have since received Mr.
Remsen’s of February 20th. I staid at Amsterdam about ten or
twelve days after the departure of Mr. Adams, in hopes of seeing
the million of the last year filled up. This, however, could not be
accomplished on the spot; but the prospect was so good as to have
dissipated all fear; and since my return here I learn (not officially
from our bankers, but through a good channel) that they have received
over four hundred thousand florins since the date of the statement I
sent you in my letter of March 16th, and I presume we need not
Sh
148 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
fear the completion of that loan, which shall provide for all our pur-
poses of the year 1788, as stated in that paper. I hope, therefore,
to receive from the Treasury orders in conformity thereto, that I may
be able to proceed to the redemption of our captives. The provision
for the purposes of the year 1789 and 1790, as stated in the same
paper, will depend on the ratification by Congress of Mr. Adams’s
bonds of this year for another million of florins. But there arises a
new call from this Government for its interest at least. Their silence
hitherto has made it to be believed in general that they consented to
the non-payment of our interest to them in order to accommodate us.
You will perceive in the fifteenth and sixteenth pages of the compte
vendu, which I have the honor to send you, that they call for the
interest, and will publish it whether it be paid or not; and by number
twenty-five, page eighty-one, that they count on its regular receipt
for the purposes of the year. ‘These calls for the first day of January,
1789 and 1790, will amount to about a million and a half of florins
more, and, if to be raised by loan, it must be for two millions, as
well to cover the expenses of the loan as that loans are not opened
for fractions of millions. This publication seems to render a provision
for this interest as necessary as for that of Amsterdam.
I had taken measures to have it believed at Algiers that our Gov-
ernment withdrew its attention from our captives there. ‘This was
to prepare their captors for the ransoming them at a reasonable price.
I find, however, that Captain O’Bryen is apprized that I have received
some authority on this subject. He writes me a cruel letter, supposing
me the obstacle to their redemption. ‘Their own interest requires
that I should leave them to think thus hardly of me. Were the
views of Government communicated to them they could not keep
their own secret, and such a price would be demanded for them as
Congress probably would think ought not to be given, lest it should
be the cause of involving thousands of others of their citizens in the
same condition. ‘The moment I have money the business shall be
set in motion. : |
By a letter from Joseph Chiappe, our agent at Mogadore, I am
notified of a declaration of the Emperor of Morocco, that if the
States General of the United Netherlands do not, before the month
of May, send him an Ambassador to let him know whether it is war
or peace between them, he will send one to them with five frigates,
and that if their dispositions be unfavorable these frigates shall pro-
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 149
ceed to America to make prizes on the Dutch and to sell them there.
It seems to depend on the Dutch, therefore, whether the Barbary
Powers shall learn the way to our coast, and whether we shall have
to decide the question of the legality of selling in our ports vessels
taken from them.
I had informed you in a former letter of the declaration made by
the Court of Spain to that of London, relative to its naval armament,
and also of the declaration of the Count de Montmorin to the Russian
Minister here on the same subject. I have good information that the
Court of Spain has itself made a similar and formal declaration to
the Minister of Russia at Madrid. So that Russia is satisfied she is
not the object. I doubt whether the English are equally satisfied as
to themselves. ‘The season has hitherto prevented any remarkable
operations between the Turks and the two Empires. The war,
however, will probably go on, and the season now admits of more
important events. ‘The Empress has engaged Commodore Paul
Jones in her service. He is to have the rank of Rear-Admiral with
a separate command, and it is understood that he is in no case to be
commanded. He will probably be opposed to the Captain Pacha on
the Black Sea. He received this invitation at Copenhagen, and as
the season for commencing the campaign was too near to admit time
for him to ask and await the permission of Congress, he accepted
the offer, only stipulating that he should be always free to return to
the orders of Congress whenever called for, and that he should in no
case be expected to bear arms against France. He conceived that
the experience he should gain would enable him to be more useful to
the United States, should they ever have occasion for him. It has
been understood that Congress had had it in contemplation to give
him the grade of Rear-Admiral from the date of the action of the
Serapis, and it is supposed that such a mark of their approbation
would have a favorable influence on his fortune in the North. Copies
of the letters which passed between him and the Danish Minister are
herewith transmitted. I shall immediately represent to Count Bern-
storff that the demand for our prizes can have no connexion with a
treaty of commerce; that there is no reason why the claims of our
seamen should await so distant and uncertain an event, and press the
settlement of this claim.
This country still pursues its line of peace. The Ministry seem
now all united in it; some from a belief of their inability to carry
150 ‘THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
on a war, others from a desire to arrange their internal affairs and
improve their constitution. ‘The differences between the King and
Parliament threaten a serious issue; many symptoms indicate that
the Government has in contemplation some act of highhanded
authority. An extra number of printers have for several days been
employed, the apartment wherein they are at work being surrounded
by a body of guards, who permit nobody to come out or go in. The
commanders of the provinces, civil and military, have been ordered
to be at their stations in a certain day of the ensuing week. ‘They
are accordingly gone, so that the will of the King is probably to be
announced through the whole kingdom on the same day. The
Parliament of Paris, apprehending that some imnovation is to be
attempted, which may take from them the opportunity of deciding
_ on it after it shall bé made known, came last night to the resolution
of which I have the honor to enclose a manuscript copy. This you
will perceive to be in effect a declaration of rights.
Iam obliged to close here the present letter, lest I should miss
the opportunity of conveying it by a passenger who is to call for it.
Should the delay of the packet admit any continuation of these
details, they shall be the subject of another letter to be forwarded by
post.
The gazettes of Leyden and France accompany this.
{ have the honor to be, &c., Y
TH: JEFFERSON.
Translation.
Debi of the United States comprehended in the following charges:
1. A loan of eighteen million, reimbursable in twelve years,
reckoning from 1787, at the rate of fifteen hundred thousand livres
per annum, with interest at five per cent.
2. A loan of ten millions made in Holland, reimbursable in ten
years, at the rate of one million per annum, reckoning from 1787,
with interest at four per cent.
3. A loan of six millions, reimbursable in six years, at the rate of
one million per annum, reckoning from 1787, with interest of five
per cent. |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 151
Progression of the payment of arrearages and reimbursements of
the capital.
Capitals of the Interest of said
three charges capitals ac-| General total
Years of reimbursement. according to
cording tothe] per annum.
esi Pe"! fixed periods. ‘
Livres. Livres. Livres.
TTS. ew ee avec Weed vetcrevacs 2,500,000 1,600,000 4,100,000
1788... 220%. eeesecvececcescoes 2,500,000 1,485,000 3,985,000
1789... coc crccvccrccccccccces 2,500,000 1,370,000 3,870,000
AT OUaeld « 3 vate oo 03 db .0 J 8 0% eee 2,500,000 1,255,000 3,755,000
T7191... cc cccccccccevsccccecens 2,500,000 1,140,000 3,640,000
1Gese SRW ET NE chbv edocs cesses 2,500,000 1,025,000 3,525,000
L198. iedtio'e cody ovecivenseese 2,500,000 910,000 3,410,000
LTT94.. cccccvcccccccccsevccses 2,500,000 795,000 3,295,000
L195.0 esse ete ascccccsctcce 2,500,000 680,000 3,180,000
179G.ccccesscccccccccscccccer 2,500,000 565,000 3,065,000
RUo ewe wetsschescce cece ees b> 2,500,000 450,000 2,950,000
1798... ccwcceccccccevsccccress 2,500,000 325,000 2,825,000
LTDG sw ossactvcdvessccrsqceds 1,000,000 200,000 1,200,000
IB00.. occ iseecdccseccceccces 1,000,000 150,000 1,150,000
DBO Tie on sc cec ed snescenesictiies 1,000,000 100,000 1,100,000
TWOUe.wescestbhecsecsscncvceces 1,000,000 50,000 1,050,000
Livres....-.-| 34,000,000 12,100,000 46,100,000
Seen aid verified by desire, and in execution of the arrét of
Council of the 15th February, 1788, by us, the commissaries
appointed by the said arrét, and acknowledged conformable to the
contract passed between the King and the thirteen United States of
North America, the 25th February, 1783.
At Paris, this 15th March, 1788.
SAINT AMAND,
BARON DE SALVERTE,
DIDELOT.
The first reimbursement was to have taken place in 1787; it has
not yet been made. Until this was done it was thought proper only
to carry into the receipts the interest of the advances made to the
United States of America.
This interest amounts to one million six hundred thousand livres.
_ Account will be annually rendered of what shall have been paid, as
well in capital as interest.
Net remains in the
Royal Treasury.
_ Objects of receipts. Products. {Deductions
No. 25] Debt of the U. S. of America,} 1,600,000
152 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY. 3
FROM JOHN PAUL JONES TO COUNT DE BERNSTORFF.
Copenhagen, March 24, 1788.
SIT,
From the act* of Congress I had the honor to shew your Excel-
lency the 24th of this month, as well as from the conversation which
followed, you must be convinced that circumstances do not permit
me toremain here; but that I am under a necessity either to return to
France or proceed to Russia. As the Minister of the United States
at Paris gave me the perusal of the packet he wrote by me, and
which I had the honor to present to you on my arrival here, it is
needless to go into any detail on the object of my mission to this
Court, which Mr. Jefferson has particularly explained. 'The promise
you have given me of a prompt and explicit decision from this
Court on the act of Congress of the 25th October last, inspires me
with full confidence. I have been very particular in communicating
to the United States all the polite attentions with which I have
been honored at this Court; and they will learn with great pleasure
the kind reception I had from you. I felicitate myself on being the
instrument to settle the delicate national business in question with a
Minister who conciliates the views of a wise statesman with the
noble sentiments and cultivated mind of the true philosopher and
man of letters.
I have the honor to be, &c., PAUL JONES.
FROM JOHN PAUL JONES TO COUNT DE BERNSTORFF.
Copenhagen, March 30, 1788.
Sir,
Your silence on the subject of my mission from the United States
to this Court leaves me in the most painful suspense, the more so, as
I have made your Excellency acquainted with the promise I am
under to proceed, as soon as possible, to St. Petersburgh. This
being the ninth year since the three ‘prizes reclaimed by the United
States were seized upon in the port of Bergen, in Norway, it is to
be presumed that this Court has long since taken an ultimate resolu-
tion respecting the compensation demanded by Congress.
a * An act presenting him with a gold medal.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 1538
Though I am extremely sensible of the favorable reception with
which I have been distinguished at this Court, and am particularly
flattered by the polite attention with which you have honored me at
every conference, yet I have remarked with great concern that you
have never led the conversation to the object of my mission here. A
man of your liberal sentiments will not, therefore, be surprised or
offended at my plain dealing when I repeat that I impatiently expect
a prompt and categorical answer in writing from this Court to the act
of Congress of the 25th of October last. Both my duty and the
circumstances of my situation constrain me to make this demand in
the name of my sovereign, the United States. But I beseech you
to believe that though I am extremely tenacious of the honor of the
American flag, yet my personal interest in the decision I now ask
would never have induced me to present myself at this Court. You
are too just, sir, to delay my business here, which would put me
under the necessity to break the promise [ have made to her Imperial
Majesty, conformable to your advice.
I have the honor to be, &c., PAUL JONES.
FROM JOHN PAUL JONES TO THE COUNT DE BERNSTORFF.
Copenhagen, April 5, 1788.
Sir,
I pray your Excellency to inform me when I can have the honor
to wait on you, to receive the letter you have been kind enough to
promise to write to me in answer to the act of Congress of 25th
October last. As you have told me that my want of Plenipotentiary
powers to terminate ultimately the business now on the carpet
between this Court and the United States, has determined you to
authorize the Baron de Blome to negotiate and settle the same with
Mr. Jefferson at Paris, and to conclude at the same time an advan-
tageous treaty of commerce between Denmark and the United States,
my business here will, of course, be at an end when I shall have
_ received your letter, and paid you my thanks in person for the very
polite attentions with which you have honored me.
I have the honor to be, &c., PAUL JONES.
N. B. After the above letter had been delivered to the Minister,
the subsequent answer was received from his Excellency.
a
154 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
FROM THE COUNT DE BERNSTORFF TO JOHN PAUL JONES.
Translation.
Sir, |
You have requested me to answer the letter which you did me
the honor to deliver on the part of Mr. Jefferson, Minister Plenipo-
tentiary of the United States to his most Christian Majesty. I do
this with so much the more pleasure, inasmuch as you have inspired
me with confidencé and an equal regard for your interest, and as
this opportunity appears very fortunate and favorable to deliver the
sentiments of the King, my master, concerning certain points which
we consider as very important. Nothing can be more distant from
the plan and wishes of his Majesty than the intentions of abandoning
a negotiation, which has only been suspended by a train of circum-
stances naturally brought on through the necessity of allowing a new
situation to be matured, of obtaining information concerning reciprocal
interests, and of avoiding the inconveniences of a precipitate and
imperfect arrangement. I am authorized, sir, to give you and through
you to Mr. Jefferson, the King’s word that his Majesty will renew
the negotiation for a treaty of amity and commerce, and that in the
forms already agreed on, as soon as the new Constitution (that
admirable plan so becoming the wisdom of the most enlightened men)
shall be adopted by a State which requires nothing but that to secure
it perfect respect. ny
If it has not been possible, sir, to discuss with you definitively,
neither the principal nor secondary objects, the idea of eluding the
question or delaying the decision was the last reason. I have already
had the honor of informing you in our conversation, that a want of
full powers from Congress themselves occasion a natural and invin-
cible objection. It would, moreover, be improper and contrary to
all received usages to change the place of a negotiation which,
without being broken, has only been suspended, and to transfer it
from Paris to Copenhagen.
{ have but one request to make you, sir, which is that you will be
pleased to become the interpreter of our sentiments respecting the
United States of America. It would be very agreeable to mé to
hope that which I have said to you on this subject has carried with
it that conviction which the truth of what I have advanced merits.
We ardently desire to form with them a solid and useful connexion ;
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 155
we wish to establish it on a natural and a certain basis. The
momentary clouds, the uncertainty which the misfortune of the
times brought with them no longer exist. ‘They are no more to be
recollected; but as they may serve to show more sensibly the bless-
ings of a more happy epoch, and to testify an eagerness of evincing
the most proper dispositions to reunite and procure reciprocally those
advantages which a sincere alliance may afford, and of which the two
countries are susceptible. These are the dispositions which I can
promise you, sir, on our part; we flatter ourselves to find them the same
in America, when nothing shall retard the conclusion of an arrange-
ment which I wish to consider as already far advanced.
Allow me to repeat again the assurances of the perfect and
distinguished respect with which I have the honor to be, &c.,
BERNSTORFF.
ee ee
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, May 23, 1788.
Sir,
When I wrote my letter of the 4th instant, I had no reason to
doubt that a packet would have sailed on the 10th, according to the
established order. The passengers had all, except one, gone down
to Havre in this expectation. None, however, has sailed, and per-
haps none will sail, as I think the suppression of thé packets is one
of the economies in contemplation. An American merchant, cor-
cerned in the commerce of whale oil, proposes to Government to
despatch his ships from Havre and Boston, at stated periods, and to
take on board the French courier and mail; and the proposition has
been well enough received. I[ avail myself of a merchant vessel
going from Havre to write the present.
In my letter of the 4th, I stated to you the symptoms which
indicated that Government had some great stroke of authority in con-
templation. ‘That night they sent guards to seize M. d’Epremesnil
and M. Goislard, two members of Parliament, in their houses. They
escaped, and took refuge in the Palais, (or Parliament House,) the
Parliament assembled itself extraordinarily, summoned the Dukes
and Peers especially, and came to the resolution of the 5th, which
they sent to Versailles by deputies, determined not to leave the
palace until they received an answer. -In the course of that night, a
156 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
battalion of guards surrounded the house, the two members were
taken by the officer from among their fellows, and sent off to prison,
the one to Lyons, the other, (d’Epremesnil,) the most obnoxious, to
an island in the Mediterranean. ‘The Parliament then separated.
On the 8th, a bed of justice was held at Versailles, wherein were
enregistered the six ordinances which had been. passed in council on
the Ist of May, and which I now send you. ‘They were, in like
manner, registered in beds of justice, on the same day, nearly in all
the Parliaments of the Kingdom. By these ordinances, Ist, the
criminal law is reformed, by abolishing examination on the seldlette,
which, like our holding up the hand at the bar, remained a stigma
on the party, though innocent; by substituting an oath instead of
torture, on the question prealable, which is used after condemnation,
to make the prisoner discover his accomplices ; (the torture abolished
in 1780 was on the question preparatoire, previous to judgment, in
order to make the prisoner accuse himself;) by allowing counsel to
the prisoner for his defence, obliging the judges to specify, in their
judgments, the offence for which they are condemned, and respiting
execution a month, except in the case of sedition. This reformation
is unquestionably good, and within the ordinary legislative powers of
the Crown. ‘That it should remain to be made at this day, proves |
that the Monarch is the last person in his Kingdom who yields to
the progress of philanthropy and civilization. 2d. The organization
of the whole judiciary department is changed by the institution of
subordinate jurisdiction, the taking from the Parliaments the cogni-
zance of all causes of less value than twenty thousand livres, reducing
the numbers to about a fourth, and suppressing a number of special
courts. ven this would be a great improvement, if it did not imply
that the King is the only person in the nation who has any rights or
any power. 3d. The right of registering the laws is taken from the
Parliament and transferred to a plenary court created by the King.
This last is the measure most obnoxious to all persons. Though the
members are to be for life, yet the great proportion of them are from
descriptions of men always candidates for the royal favor in other
lines. As yet the general consternation is not yet sufficiently passed
over to say whether the matter will end here. I send you some
papers, which indicate symptoms of resistance. These are the reso-
lution of the Noblesse of Britanny, the declaration of the Advocate
General of Provence, which is said to express the spirit of that
a |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 157
province, and the arrét of the Chatelet, which is the hustings court
of the city of Paris. Their refusal to act under the new character
assigned them, and the suspension of their principal functions, is very
embarrassing. The clamors this will excite, and the disorders it
may admit, will be loud and near to the royal ear and person. The
parliamentary fragments permitted to remain have already, some of
them, refused, and probably all will refuse, to act under that form.
The Assembly of the Clergy, which happens to be sitting, have
addressed the King to call the States General immediately. Of the
Dukes and Peers, (thirty-eight in number,) nearly half are either
minors or superanuated ; two thirds of the acting half seem disposed
to avoid taking a part; the rest, about eight or nine, have refused,
by letters to the King, to act in the new Courts. A proposition,
executed among the Dukes and Peers, to assemble and address the
King for a modification of the plenary court, seems to show that the
Government would be willing to compromise on that head. It has
been prevented by the Dukes and Peers in opposition, because they
suppose that no modification to be made by the Government will
give to that body the form they desire, which is that of a representa
tion of the nation. They will aim, therefore, at an immediate call
of the States General. They foresee that if the Government is
forced to this, they will call them as nearly as they can, in the
ancient forms, in which case less good will be expected from them.
But they hope they may be got to concur in a declaration of rights,
at least; so that the nation may be acknowledged to have some
fundamental rights not alterable by their ordinary Legislature, and
that this may form a ground-work for future improvements. ‘These
seem to be the views of the most enlightened and disinterested char-
acters of the opposition. But they may be frustrated by the nations
making no say at all, or by a hasty and premature appeal to arms.
There is neither head nor body in the nation to promise a successful
opposition to two hundred thousand regular troops. Some think the
army could not be depended on by the Government; but the
breaking men to military discipline is breaking their spirits to prin-
ciples of passive obedience. A firm but quiet opposition will be
most likely to succeed. Whatever turn this crisis takes, a revolution
in their Constitution seems inevitable, unless foreign war supervene
to suspend the present contest; and a foreign war they will avoid if
possible, from an inability to get money. The loan of one hundred
158 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
and twenty millions of the present year is filled up by such subscrip-
tions as may be relied on. But that of eighty millions, proposed for
the next year, cannot be filled up in the actual situation of things.
The Austrians have been successful in an attack upon Schabatz,
intended as a preliminary to that of Belgrane. In that on Dubitza,
another town in the neighborhood of Belgrade, they have been
repulsed, and as is suspected, with considerable loss. It is still
supposed the Russian fleet will go into the Mediterranean, though it
will be much retarded by the refusal of the English Gevernment to
permit its sailors to engage in the voyage. Sweden and Denmark
are arming from eight to twelve ships of the line each. The
English and Dutch treaty you will find in the Leyden gazettes of
May 9th and 13th; that between England and Prussia is supposed
to be stationary. Bihacirass de St. Priest, the Ambassador from this
Court to the Hague, is either gone or on the point of gome. The
Emperor of Morocco has declared war against England. I enclose
you his orders in our favor on that occasion. England sends a
Squadron to the Mediterranean for the protection of her commerce,
and she is reenforcing her possessions in the two Indies. France is
eXpecting the arrival of an embassy from Tippo Saib, is sending
some regiments to the East Indies, and a fleet of evolution into the
Atlantic. Seven ships of the line, and several frigates, sailed from
Cadiz on the 22d April, destined to perform evolutions off the
Western Islands, as the Spaniards say, but really to their American
possessions, as is suspected. ‘Thus the several Powers are, by little
and little, taking the position of war, without any immediate intention
of § waging it, But that the present ill humor will finally end in war,
is doubted by no body.
In my letter of February 5th I had the honor of informing you of
the discontent produced by our arrét of December 29th among the
merchants of this country, and the deputations from the Chambers
of Commerce to the Minister on that subject, The articles attacked
were the privileges on the sale of our ships and the entrepot for eod-
fish. The former I knew to be valuable; the latter I supposed not
so, because during the whole of the time we have had four free ‘ports
in this kingdom we have never used them for the smuggling of fish.
I concluded, therefore, the ports of entrepot would not be used for
that purpose. 1 saw the Minister would sacrifice something to quiet
the merchants, and was glad to save the valuable article relative to
.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 159
our ships by abandoning the useless one for our cod-fish. It was
settled, therefore, in our conferences that an arrét should be passed
abridging the former one only as to the entrepdt of cod-fish. I was
in Holland when the arrét came out, and did not get a copy of it till
yesterday. Surprised to find that fish oil was thereby excluded from
the entrepét, I have been to-day to make some inquiry into the
cause; and from what I can learn I conclude it must have been a
mere error in the clerk who framed the arrét, and it escaped attention
on its passage. The entrepét of whale oil was not objected to by a
single deputy at the conferences, and the excluding it is contrary to
the spirit of encouragement the Ministers have shown a disposition
to give. I trust, therefore, I may get it altered on the first occasion
which, occurs, and I believe one will soon occur. In the meantime
we do not store a single drop for reexportation, as all which comes
here is needed for the consumption of this country, which will alone,
according to appearances, become so considerable as to require all
we can produce.
By a letter of the 8th instant from our bankers, I learn that they
had disposed of bonds enough to pay our June interest, and to replace
the temporary advances made by-M. Grand, and from a fund placed
here by the State of Virginia. Ihave desired them accordingly to
replace these moneys, which had been lent for the moment only, and
in confidence of immediate repayment, They add that the payment
of the June interest and the news from America will, as they trust,
enable them to place the remaining bonds of the last year’s million.
I suppose, indeed, that there is no doubt of it, and that none would
have been expressed if those two houses could draw better together
than they do. In the meantime I hope the Treasury Board will
send an order for as much as may be necessary for executing the
purpose of Congress as to our captives at Algiers.
I send you herewith a memorial of Monsieur Caseaux, whose
name is familiar on the Journals of Congress. He prepared it to be
delivered to the King, but I believe he will think better, and not
deliver it.
The gazettes of France and Leyden accompany this.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
P.5S. May 27th, 1788. I have kept my letter open to the
moment of Mr. Warville’s departure (he being the bearer of it) that
160 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
I might add any new incidents that should occur. ‘The refusal of the
Chatelet and Grande Chambre of Paris, to act in the new character
assigned them, continued. Many of the Grandes Bailliages accept,
some conditionally, some fully. ‘This will facilitate greatly the
measures of Government, and may possibly give them a favorable
issue. ‘The Parliament of ‘Thoulouse, considering the edicts as.
nullities, went on with their business. ‘They have been exiled in
consequence. Monsieur de St. Priest left Paris for the Hague on
the 23d. I mention this fact because it denotes the acquiescence
of this Government in the late revolution there. A second division
of the Spanish fleet will put to sea soon, its destination not declared.
Sweden is arming toa greater extent than was at first supposed.
From twelve to sixteen sail of the line are spoken of on good grounds.
Denmark, for her own security, must arm in proportion to this.
Tod:
0
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
(Private.)
Paris, May 27, 1788.
Sir,
The change which is likely to take place in the form of our Goy-—
ernment, seems to render it proper that during the existence of the —
present Government, an article should be mentioned which concerns
me personally. Uncertain, however, how far Congress may have
decided to do business when so near the close of their administration ;
less capable than those on the spot of foreseeing the character of the
new Government, and not fully confiding in my own judgment where
it is so liable to be seduced by feeling, [ take the liberty of asking
your friendly counsel, and that of my friend Mr. Madison, and of
referring the matter to your judgments and discretion.
Mr. Barclay, when in Europe, was authorized to settle all the
European accounts of the United States. He settled those of Doctor
Franklin and Mr. Adams, and it was intended between us that he
should settle mine. But as what may be done at any time is often
put off to the last, this settlement had been made to give way to
others, and that of Beaumarchais being pressed on Mr. Barclay
before his departure for Morocco, and having long retarded his
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 161
departure, it was agreed that my affair should await his return from |
that mission. You know the circumstances which prevented his
return to Paris after that mission was finished. My account is,
therefore, unsettled; but I have no anxiety on any article of it
except one; that is the outfit. This consists of: 1, clothes; 2,
carriage and horses; 3, household furniture.
When Congress made their first appointments of Ministers to be
resident in Europe, I have understood (for I was not then in
Congress) that they allowed them all their expenses, and a fixed
sum over and above for their time. Among their expenses was
necessarily understood their outfit. Afterwards they thought proper
to give them fixed salaries of eleven thousand one hundred and
eleven dollars and one ninth a year. And again, by a resolution of
May 6th and 8th, 1784, the salaries of their Ministers at foreign
Courts were reduced to nine thousand dollars, to take place on the
first of August ensuing. On the 7th of May I was appointed, in
addition to Mr. Adams and Doctor Franklin, for the negotiation of
treaties of commerce; but the appointment being temporary, for two
years only, and not as of a resident Minister, the article of outfit did
not come into question. I asked an advance of six months’ salary
that I might be in cash to meet the first expenses, which was ordered.
The year following I was appointed to succeed Doctor Franklin at
this Court. This was the first appointment of a Minister resident
since the original ones, under which all expenses were to be paid.
So much of the ancient regulation as respected annual expenses, had
been altered to a sum certain; so much of it as respected first
expenses or outfit remained unaltered; and I might, therefore, expect
that the actual expenses for outfit were to be paid. When I prepared
my account for settlement with Mr. Barclay, I began a detail of the
articles of clothes, carriage, horses, and household furniture. I found
that they were numerous, minute, and incapable, from their nature,
of being vouched; and often entered into my memorandum book
under a general head only, so that I could not specify them. I
found they would exceed a year’s salary. Supposing, therefore, that
mine being the first case, Congress would make a precedent of it,
and prefer a sum fixed for the outfit as well as the salary, I have
charged it in my account at a year’s salary, presuming there can be
no question that an outfit is a Yéasonable charge. It is a usage here
(and | suppose at all Courts) that a Minister resident shall establish
Vox. IL—11
162 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
. his house in the first instant. If this is to be done out.of his salary,
he will be a twelvemonth at least without a copper to live on. It is
the universal practice, therefore, of all nations to allow the outfit as a
separate article from the salary. I have inquired here into the usual
amount of it. I find that sometimes the sovereign pays the actual
cost. ‘This is particularly the case of the Sardinian Ambassador now
coming here, who is to provide a service of plate, and every article
of furniture, and other matters of first expense to be paid for by his
Court. In other instances, they give a service of plate and a fixed
sum for all other articles, which fixed sum is in no case lower than a
year’s salary.
I desire no service of plate, having no ambition for splendor. My
furniture, carriage, and apparel, are all plain, yet they have cost me
more than a year’s salary. I suppose that in every country, and in
every condition of life, a year’s expense would be found a moderate
measure for the furniture of a man’s house. It is not more certain to
me that the sun will rise to-morrow, than that our Government must
allow the outfit on their future appointment of foreign Ministers; and
it would be hard on me to stand between the discontinuance of a
former rule, and institution of a future one as to have the benefit of
neither. I know I have so long known the character of our Federal
head, in its present form, that I have the most unlimited confidence
in the justice of its decisions. I think Iam so far known to many
of the present Congress, as that I may be cleared of all views of
making money out of any public employment, or of desiring any
thing beyond actual and decent expenses, proportioned to the station
in which they have been pleased to place me, and to the respect they
would wish to see attached to it. It would seem right that they
should decide the claims of those who have acted under their admin-
istration, and their pretermission of any article might amount to a
disallowance of it, in the opinion of the new Government. It would
be painful to me to meet that Government with a claim under this
kind of cloud, and to pass it in review before their several houses of
legislation and boards of administration to whom I shall be unknown;
and being for money actually expended, it would be too inconvenient
to me to relinquish it in silence. I anxiously ask it, therefore, to be
decided on by Congress before they go out of office, if it be not out —
of the line of proceeding they may have chalked out for themselves. _
if it be against their inclination to determine it, would it be agreeable
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. | 163
to them to refer it to the new Government by some resolution, which
should shew they have not meant to disallow it. by passing it over?
Not knowing the circumstances under which Congress may exist,
and act at the moment you shall receive this, I am unable to judge
what should be done on this subject. It is, therefore, that I ask the
aid of your friendship and that of Mr. Madison, that you will do for
me in this regard what you think it is right should be done, and
what it would be right for me to do were I on the spot, or were I
apprized of all existing circumstances. Indeed, were you two to
think my claim an improper one, I would wish it to be suppressed,
as I have so much confidence in your judgment that I should suspect
my own in any case where it varied from yours, and more especially
in one where it is liable to be warped by feelings.
Give me leave, then, to ask your consultation with Mr. Madison
on this subject, and to assure you that whatever you are so good as
to do herein will be perfectly approved, and considered as a great
obligation conferred on him, who has the honor to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
comeenemnee ( Jenene
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
; Paris, May 27, 1788.
Dear Sir,
Your favors of April the 14th and 29th, and May the 8th, have
lately come to hand. That of January the 29th, by M. de Molinedo,
had been left here during my absence on a journey to Amsterdam.
That gentleman had gone, as I presume, before my return, from my
being unable to learn anything of him.
* * # * # * x *
With respect to the Isthmus of Panama, I am assured by Burgoin
(who would not choose to be named, however) that a survey was
made, that a canal appeared very practicable, and that the idea
was suppressed for political reasons altogether. He has seen, and
minutely examined, the report. This report is to me a vast desid-
eratum, for reasons political and philosophical. I cannot help
suspecting the Spanish squadron to be gone to South America, and
that some disturbances have been excited there by the British. The
Court of Madrid may suppose we would not see this with an unwil-
ling eye. This may be true as to the uninformed part of our people ;
164 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
but those who look into futurity farther than the present moment or
age, and who combine well what is with what is to be, must see that
our interests, well understood, and our wishes are that Spain shall
(not forever, but very long) retain her possessions in that quarter;
and that her views and ours must, in a good degree, and for a long
time, concur. It is said in our gazettes that the Spaniards have sunk
one of our boats on the Mississippi, and that our people retaliated on
one of theirs. But my letters not mentioning the fact, have made me
hope it is not true, in which hope your letter confirms me. There
are now one hundred thousand inhabitants in Kentucky. They have
accepted the offer of independence, on the terms proposed by Vir-
ginia, and they have decided that their independent government shall
begin on the first day of the next year. In the mean time, they
claim admittance into Congress. Georgia has ceded her western
territory to the United States, to take place with the commencement
of the new Federal Government. I do not know the boundaries.
There has been some dispute of etiquette with the new French
Minister, which has disgusted him.
% % % % * * * %
The following is a state of the progress and si aie of the new
plan of Government.
The conduct of Massachusetts has been noble. She accepted the
Constitution, but voted that it should stand as a perpetual instruction
to her delegates to endeavor to obtain such and such reformations ;
and the minority, though very strong both in numbers and abilities,
declared viritim and seriatim, that acknowledging the principle that
the majority. must give the law, they would now support the new
Constitution with their tongues, and with their blood, if necessary.
I was much pleased with many and essential parts of this instrument
from the beginning. But I thought I saw in it many faults, great
and small. What I have read and reflected has brought me over
from several of my objections of the first moment, and to acquiesce
under some others. ‘Two only remain of essential consideration, to
wit: the want of a bill of rights, and the expunging the principle of
necessary rotation in the offices of President and Senator. At first, I
wished that when nine States should have accepted the Constitution,
so as to ensure us what is good in it, the other four might hold off
tll the want of the bill of rights, at least, might be supplied. But
I am now convinced that the plan of Massachusetts is the best; that
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 165
is, to accept, and to amend afterwards. If the States which were to
decide after her should all do the same, it is impossible but that they
must obtain the essential amendments. It will be more difficult, if
we lose this instrument, to recover what is good in it than to correct
what is bad after we shall have adopted it. It has, therefore, my
hearty prayers, and I await with anxiety for news of the votes of
Maryland, South Carolina, and Virginia. ‘There is no doubt that
General Washington will accept the Presidentship, though he is
silent on the subject. He would not be chosen to the Virginia
convention.
A riot has taken place in New York, which I will state to you
from an eye witness. It has long been a practice with the surgeons
of that city to steal from the grave bodies recently buried. A citizen
had lost his wife. He went the first or second evening after her burial
to pay a visit to her grave. He found that it had been disturbed, and
suspected from what quarter. He found means to be admitted to
the anatomical lecture of that day, and on his entering the room, saw
the body of his wife, naked and under dissection. He raised the
people immediately. ‘The body, in the mean time, was secreted.
They entered into and searched the houses of the physicians whom
they most suspected, but found nothing. One of them, however,
more guilty and more timid than tlie rest, took asylum in the prison.
The mob considered this an acknowledgment of guilt. They
attacked the prison. ‘The Governor ordered the militia to protect
the culprits and suppress the mob. ‘The militia, thinking the mob
had just provocation, refused to turn out. Hereupon, the people of
more reflection, thinking it more dangerous that even a guilty person
should be punished without the form of law, than that he should
escape, armed themselves, and went to protect the physician. 'They
were received by the mob with a volley of stones, which wounded
several of them. ‘They hereupon fired on the mob, and killed four
By this time they received a reinforcement of other citizens of the
militia horse, the appearance of which, in the critical moment,
dispersed the mob. So ended this chapter of history which I have
detailed to you, because it may be represented as a political riot,
when politics had nothing to do with it. Mr. Jay and Baron
Steuben were both grievously wounded in the head by stones. ‘The
former still kept his bed, and the latter his room, when the packet
sailed, which was the 24th of April,
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
166 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, May 30, 1788.
Sir,
A further delay of Mr. Warville enables me to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of April 24th, by Mr. Paradise. Nothing new
has occurred since the date of my other letters, which go by this
conveyance, except that about one third of the Barllages have
accepted their appointments. If the others pretty generally should
do the same, and the Chatelet be brought over, it will place Gov-
ernment pretty much at their ease, to. pursue their other views of
change. The only symptoms of violence which have appeared
have been in Brittany, Provence, and Languedoc.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
O
FROM JOHN JAY TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
; Office for Foreign Affairs, September 23, 1788.
Dear Sir, ,
My last to you was dated the 9th June, since which I have been |
honored with yours of the 4th, 23d, and 30th May last, which,
with the papers that accompanied them, were communicated to
Congress.
Two copies of the ratification of Mr. Adams’s last contract have
been transmitted to you, under cover to Messrs. Willinks and Van
Staphorsts, by vessels bound to Amsterdam. A triplicate will be
enclosed with this, together with the following papers, viz: The
requisition of Congress for the present year, passed the 25th of last
month ; a copy of an act of the 13th instant, enabling you to provide
for the subsistence of the American captives at Algiers, and approving
of your supplementary instruction to Mr. Lamb on that head; a
copy of an act of the same date, for putting the Constitution into
operation, and also the printed journals necessary to complete your
set, and a parcel of the latest newspapers.
These despatches will go from Boston in a vessel bound from
thence to France. How far this conveyance may be a safe one, I
am not well informed. I nevertheless think it best to postpone
details for the present, as well as the private letter, which you have
reason to expect from me on the subject, you also hinted to Mr.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 167
Madison, with whom I have conferred respecting it. ‘There is a
reluctance in some to adopt the idea it suggests, and I apprehend
that others will prefer delay to a decision upon it.
With very sincere esteem, &c., JOHN JAY.
0
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO THE COMTE DE BERNSTORFF.
Paris, June 19, 1788.
{ had the honor of addressing your Excellency, by Admiral Paul
Jones, on the 21st of January, on the subject of the prizes taken
under his command during the late war and sent into Bergen. I
communicated, at the same time, a copy of the powers which the
Congress of the United States of America had been pleased to confide
to me therein, having previously shewn the original to the Baron de
Blome, Envoy Extraordinary of his Majesty the King of Denmark,
at their Court, and I furnished, at the same time, to Admiral Paul
Jones, such authority as I was empowered to delegate for the
arrangement of this affair. That officer has transmitted me a copy
of your Excellency’s letter to him, after the 4th of April, wherein
you are pleased to observe that the want of full powers on his part
was an invincible obstacle .to the definite discussion of this claim
with him, and to express your dispositions to institute a settlement
at this place. Always assured of the justice and honor of the Court
of Denmark, and encouraged by the particular readiness of your Ex-
cellency to settle and remove this difficulty from between the two
nations, 1 take the liberty of recalling your attention to it. ‘The
place of negotiation proposed by your Excellency meets no objection
from us, and it removes, at the same time, that which the want of
full powers in Admiral Paul Jones had produced in your own mind.
These full powers Congress has been pleased to honor me with.
The arrangement taken between the person to be charged with your
full powers and myself, will be final and conclusive. You are
pleased to express a willingness to treat, at the same time, on the
subjects of amity and commerce. The powers formerly communi-
cated on our part were given to Mr. Adams, Doctor Franklin, and
myself, for a limited term only. That term has expired, and the
other two gentlemen returned to America; so that no person is
commissioned, at this moment, to renew those conferences. 1 may
safely, however, assure your Excellency that the same friendly
dispositions still continue, and the same desire of facilitating and
168 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
encouraging a commerce between the two nations which produced
the former appointment. But our nation is, at this time, proposing
a change in the organization of its Government. For this change to
be agreed to by all the members of the Union, the new administration
chosen and brought into activity, their domestic matters arranged,
which will require their first attention, their foreign system afterwards
decided on, and carried into full execution, will require a very con-
siderable length of time. To place under the same delay the private
claims which I have the honor to present to your Excellency, would
be hard on the persons interested; because these claims have no
connexion with the system of commercial connexion which may be
established between the two nations, nor with the particular form of
our administration. The justice due to them is complete, and the ~
present administration-as competent to final settlement as any future
one will be, should a future change take place. ‘These individuals
have already lingered nine years in expectation of their hard and
_ perilous earnings. ‘Time lessens their numbers continually, disperses
their representatives, weakens the evidence of their right, and renders
more and more impracticable his Majesty’s dispositions to repair
the private injury to which public circumstances constrained him.
These considerations, the just and honorable intentions of your
Excellency, and the assurances you give us in your letter, that no
delay is wished on your part, give me strong hopes that we may
speedily obtain that final arrangement which express instructions
render it my duty to urge. I have the honor, therefore, of agreeing
with your Excellency, that the settlement of this matter, formerly
begun at Paris, shall be continued there; and to ask that you will
pe pleased to give powers and instructions for this purpose, to such
persons as you shall think proper, and in such full form as may
prevent those delays to which the distance between Copenhagen
and Paris might otherwise expose us. :
I have the honor to he, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
cote) eee |
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN.
Paris, June 20, 1788.
Sit. |
Having had the honor of mentioning to your Excellency the
wish of Congress that certain changes should be made in the articles
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 169
for a Consular convention, which had been sent to them, I have
now that, conformably to the desire you expressed, of giving a
general idea of the alterations to be proposed.
The fourth article gives to the Consuls the immunities of the law
of nations. It has been understood, however, that the laws of
France do not admit of this; and that it might be desirable to
expunge this article. In this we are ready to concur, as im every
other case where an article might call for changes in the established
laws, either inconvenient or disagreeable.
After establishing in favor of Consuls the-general immunities of
the law of nations, one consequence of which would have been that
they could not have been called upon to give testimony in courts of
justice, the 5th article requires, that after the observance of certain
formalities, which imply very high respect, they shall make a decla-
ration, but in their own houses [Chez eux] as may be pretended, if
not justly inferred, from the expressions in the article. But our laws
require, indispensably, a personal examination of witnesses in the
presence of the parties, of their counsel, the jury and judges, each
of whom has a right to ask of them all questions pertinent to the
fact. ‘The first and highest officers of our Government are obliged
to appear personally to the order of a court to give evidence. ‘The
court takes care that they are treated with respect. It is proposed,
therefore, to omit this article for these particular reasons, as well as
for the general one, that the fourth being expunged, this, which was
but an exception to that, falls of course.
The 7th, 8th, 10th, and 14th articles extend their preeminences
far beyond those which the laws of nations would have given. These
articles require that the declarations made in the presence of-Consuls
and certified by them, shall be received in evidence in all courts
whatever ; and in some instances give to their certificates a credibility
which excludes all other testimony. The cases are rare in which
our courts admit written evidence of facts; and such evidence, when
admitted, must have been in the presence of both parties, and must
contain the answers to all the pertinent questions which they may
have desired to ask of the witness; and to no evidence, of whatever
' nature, written or not, do our laws give so high credit as to exclude
t
all counter proof. These principles are of such ancient foundation
in our system of jurisprudence, and are so much valued and venerated
by our citizens, that perhaps it would be impossible to execute articles
170 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
which should contravene them; nor is it imagined that these stipula-
tions can be so interesting to this country as to balance the inconve-
nience and hazard of such an innovation with us. Perhaps it might
be found that the laws of both countries require a modification of |
this article, as it is inconceivable that the certificate of an American —
Consul in France could be permitted by one of its courts to establish
a fact the falsehood of which should be notorious to the court itself.
The 8th article gives to the Consuls of either nation a jurisdiction
in certain cases over foreigners of any other. On a dispute arising —
in France between an American and a Spaniard or an Englishman,
it would not be fair to abandon the Spaniard or Englishman to an
American Consul. On the contrary, the territorial judge, as neutral,
would seem to be the most impartial. Probably, therefore, it will be
thought convenient for both parties to correct this stipulation.
A dispute arising between two subjects of France, the one being —
in France and the other in the United States, the regular tribunals of
France would seem entitled to a preference of jurisdiction; yet the »
12th article gives it to their Consul in America, and to a Consul of
the United States in France in like case between their citizens.
The power given by the 10th article, of arresting and sending
back a vessel, its captain and crew, is a very great one, indeed, and
in our opinion more safely lodged with the territorial judge. We |
would ourselves trust the tribunals of France to decide when there
is just cause for so highhanded an act of authority over the persons —
and property of so many of our citizens, to all of whom these tribu-
nals will stand in a neutral and impartial relation, rather than any
single person whom we may appoint as Consul, who will seldom be
learned in the laws, and often susceptible of influence from private
interest and personal pique. With us, applications for the arrest of
vessels and of their masters, are made to the Admiralty courts.
These are composed of the most learned and virtuous characters in >
the several States, and the maritime law, common to all nations, is
the rule of their proceedings. The exercise of foreign jurisdiction -
within the pale of their own laws, in a very high case, and wherein —
those laws have made honorable provisions, would be a phenomenon
never yet seen in our country, and which would be seen with great —
jealousy and uneasiness. On the contrary, to leave this power with |
the territorial judge will inspire confidence and friendship, and be
eally, at the same time, more secure against abuse. The power of
}
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 171
arresting deserted seamen seems necessary for the purposes of navi-
gation and commerce, and will be more attentively and effectually
exercised by the Consul than by the territorial judge. T'o this part
of the 10th article, therefore, as well as to that which requires the
territorial judge to assist the Consul in the exercise of this function,
we can accede. But the extension of the like power to passengers
seems not necessary for the purposes either of navigation or com-
merce. It does not come, therefore, within the functions of the
Consuls, whose institution is for those two objects only ; nor within
the powers of a commissioner authorized to treat and conclude a
convention solely for regulating the powers, privileges, and duties of
Consuls. The arrest and detention of passengers, moreover, would
often be in contradiction to our bills of rights, which, being funda-
mental, cannot be obstructed in their operation by any law or con-
vention whatever.
Consular institutions being entirely new with us, Congress think it
wise to make their first convention probationary, and not perpetual.
They propose, therefore, a clauge for limiting its duration to a certain
term of years: If, after the experience of a few years, it should be
found to answer the purposes intended by it, both parties will have
sufficient inducements to renew it, either in its present form or with
such alterations and amendments as time, experience, and other
circumstances may indicate.
The convention, as expressed in the French language, will fully
answer our purposes in France, because it will there be understood.
But it will not equally answer the purposes of France in America,
because it will not there be understood. In very few of the courts
wherein it may be presented will there be found a single judge or
advocate capable of translating it at all, much less of giving to all
its terms, legal and technical, their exact equivalent in the law and
language of that country. Should any translation which Congress
would undertake to publish for the use of our courts, be conceived,
on any occasion, not to render fully the idea of the French original,
it might be imputed as an indirect attempt to abridge or extend the
terms of a contract at the will of one party only. At no place are
there better helps than here for establishing an English text equivalent
to the French in all its phrases. No persons can be supposed to
know what is meant by these phrases better than those who form
them, and no time more proper to ascertain their meaning in both
172 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
languages than that at which they are formed. I have, therefore,
the honor to propose that the convention shall be faithfully expressed
in English as well as in French, in two columns, side by side; that
these columns be declared, each of them, to be the text, and to be
equally original and authentic in all courts of justice.
This, sir, is a general sketch of the alterations which our laws and
our manner of thinking render necessary in this Convention, before
the faith of our country is engaged for its execution. Some of its
articles, in its present form, could not be executed at all, and others”
would produce embarrassments and ill humor, to which it would not.
be prudent for our Goyernment to commit itself. Inexact execution
on the one part would naturally beget dissatisfaction and complaints
on the other; and an instrument intended to strengthen our connexion
might thus become the means of loosening it. Fewer articles, better.
observed, will better promote our common interests. As to ourselves,
we do not find the institution of Consuls very necessary. Its history
commenced in times of barbarism, and might well have ended with
them. During these they were perhaps useful, and may still be so |
in countries not yet emerged from that condition. But all civilized
nations at this day understand so well the advantages of commerce,
that they provide protection and encouragement for merchants,
strangers, and vessels coming among them. So extensive, too, have
commercial connexions now become, that every mercantile house has
correspondents in almost every port. ‘They address their vessels to
these correspondents, who are found to take better care of their
interests, and to obtain more effectually the protection of the laws
of the country for them than the Consul of their nation can. He is —
generally a foreigner, unpossessed of the little details of knowledge
of greatest use to them. He makes national questions of all the
difficulties which arise—the correspondent prevents them. We
carry on commerce with good success in all parts of the world, yet
we have not a Consul in a single port, nor a-complaint for the want
of one, except from the persons who wish to be Consuls themselves. —
Though these considerations may not be strong enough to establish —
the absolute inutility of Consuls, they may make us less anxious to —
extend their privileges and jurisdictions, so as to render them objects
of jealousy and irritation in the places of their residence. That this —
Government thinks them useful is sufficient reason for us to give them |
all the functions and facilities which our circumstances will admit.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 173
Instead, therefore, of declining every article which will be useless to
us, we accede to every one which will not be inconvenient. Had
this nation been alone concermed, our desire to gratify them might
have tempted us to press still harder-on the laws and opinions of our
country. But your Excellency knows that we stand engaged in
treaties with some nations which will give them occasion to claim
whatever privileges we yield to any other. This renders circum- .
spection more necessary. Permit me to add one other observation.
The English allow to foreign Consuls scarcely any functions within
their ports. ‘This proceeds, in a great measure, from the character
of their laws, which eye with peculiar jealousy every exemption from
their control. Ours are the same in their general character, and
rendered still more unpliant by our having thirteen parliaments to
relax instead of one. Upon the whole, I hope your Excellency will
‘see the cause of the delay which this Convention has met with, in
the difficulties it presents, and our desire to surmount them, and will
be sensible that the alterations proposed are dictated to us by the
necessity of our circumstances, and by a caution which cannot be
disapproved, to commit ourselves to no engagements which we foresee
we might not be able to fulfil.
These alterations, with some smaller ones which may be offered
on the sole principle of joint convenience, shall be the subject of
more particular explanation whenever your Excellency shall honor
me with a conference thereon. I shall then, also, point out the
verbal changes which appear to me necessary, to accommodate the
instrument to the views before expressed. In the meantime, I have
-
4
the honor of being, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
ae ee
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, July 29, 1788.
Sir,
Having received the enclosed letter* from Julien Laurent, claiming
“his wages as a volunteer on board the Bon Homme Richard, I have
the honor of forwarding it to you, supposing it will of course be
referred to the proper office to take order on.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
*Sent to the Board of Treasury 11th June, 1789.
174 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, August 3, 1788.
Sir,
My last letters to you were of the 4th and 23d of May, eK a
P.S. of the 27th. Since that I have been honored with yours of
April 24th, May 16th, and June the 9th.
The most remarkable internal occurrences since my last are these:
The Noblesse of Bretagne, who had received with so much warmth
the late innovation in the Government, assembled and drew up a
memorial to the King, and chose twelve members of their body to
come and present it. Among these was the Marquis de la Rouerie,
(Colonel Armand.) The King, considering the Noblesse as having
no legal right to assemble, declined receiving the memorial. ‘The
deputies, to give greater weight to it, called a meeting of the landed
proprietors of Bretagne resident at Paris, and proposed to them to
add their signatures. ‘They did so to the number of about sixty, of
whom the Marquis de la Fayette was one. ‘The twelve deputies,
for having called this meeting, were immediately sent to the Bastile, .
where they now are; and the Parisian signers were deprived of such
favors as they held of the Court. There were only four of them,
however, who held anything of that kind. ‘The Marquis de la Fay-.
ette was one of these. ‘They had given him a military command to
be exercised in the south of France, during the months of August
and September of the present year. This they took from him, so
that he is disgraced in the ancient language of the Court, but, in
truth, honorably marked in the eyes of the nation. The Ministers.
are so sensible of this, that they have had separately private confer-
ences with him to endeavor, through him, to keep things quiet. |
From the character of the province of Bretagne, it has been much.
apprehended, for some days, that the imprisonment of their deputies _
would have produced an insurrection. But it took another turn.
The cours intermediaires of the province, acknowledged to be a
legal body, deputed eighteen members of their body to the King.
‘To these he gave an audience, and the answer of which I send you
acopy. This is hard enough. Yet I am in hopes the appeal to”
the sword will be avoided, and great modifications in the Government
be obtained without bloodshed. As yet, none has been spilt, accord-
ing to the best evidence I have been able to obtain, nor ha
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 175
what the foreign newspapers have said to the contrary. ‘The convo-
cation of the States General is now become inevitable. Whenever
the time shall be announced certainly, it will keep the nation quiet
till they meet. According to the present probabilities, this must be
in the course of the next summer. But to what movements their
meeting and measures may give occasion, cannot be foreseen. Should
a foreign war take place, still they must assemble the States General,
because they cannot, but by their aid, obtain money to carry it on.
Monsieur de Malesherbe will, I believe, retire from the King’s
Council. He has been much opposed to the late acts of authority
The Baron de Breteuil has resigned his Secretaryship of the domestic
department. Certainly not for the same reason, as he is known to
have been of opinion that the King had compromitted too much of his
authority. The real reason has probably been an impatience of
acting under a principal Minister. His successor is M. de Villedeuil,
late Comptroller General.
The Ambassadors of Tippoo Saib have arrived here. If their
‘mission has any other object than that of pomp and ceremony, it is
‘not yet made known. Though this Court has not avowed that they
‘are in possession of 'Trincomali, yet the report is believed, and that
possession was taken by General Conway, in consequence of orders
‘given in the moment that they thought a war certain. ‘The dispute
‘with the States General of the United Netherlands, on account of
‘the insult to M. de St. Priest, does not tend as yet towards a settle-
‘ment. He has obtained leave to go to the waters, and, perhaps,
‘from there he may come to Paris to await events. Sweden has
‘commenced hostilities against Russia by the taking a little fortress
‘by land. This having been their intention, it is wonderful that when
their fleet lately met three Russian ships of one hundred guns each,
‘they saluted, instead of taking them. The Empress has declared
‘war against them in her turn. It is well understood that Sweden
‘is set on by England, and paid by the Turks. The prospect of
‘Russia has much brightened by some late successes. Their fleet of
galleys and gun-boats, twenty-seven in number, having been attacked
‘by fifty-seven Turkish vessels of the same kind, commanded by the
‘Captam Pacha, these were repulsed with the loss of three vessels.
‘In the action, which was on the 18th of June, Admiral Paul Jones
‘commanded the right wing of the Russians, and the Prince of Nas-
Sau the left. On the 26th of the same month, the Turkish principal
a
176 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
fleet, that is to say, their ships of the line, frigates, &c., having got
themselves near to the swash, at the mouth of the Boristhenes, the
Prince of Nassau took advantage of their position, attacked them
while so engaged in the mud that they could not manceuvre, burnt
six, among which were the Admiral’s and Vice Admiral’s, took two,
and made between three or four thousand prisoners. ‘The first report
gave this success to Admiral Paul Jones, but it is now rendered
rather probable that he was not there, as he commands the vessels of
war, which are said not to have been there. It is supposed his pres-
ence in the affair of the 18th was accidental. But, if this success
has been as complete as it is represented, the Black sea must be
tolerably open to the Russians, in which case we may expect, from
what we know of that officer, that he will improve to the greatest
idvantage the situation of things on that sea. The Captain Pacha’s
standard was taken in the last action, and himself obliged to make his
escape in a small vessel. Prince Potemkin immediately got under
march for Oczakow, to take advantage of the consternation into which
that place was thrown. | !
The Spanish squadron, after cruising off the Western Isle on
Cape St. Vincent, is returned into port.
A dispute has arisen between the Papal See and the King 0:
Naples, which may, in its progress, enable us to estimate what degre
of influence that See retains at the present day. The Kingdom o
Naples, at an early period of its history, became feudatory to the
See of Rome, and, in acknowledgment thereof, has annually paid :
hackney to the Pope in Rome, to which place it has always beer
sent by a splendid embassy. The hackney has been refused by the
King this year, and the Pope, giving him three months to return t_
obedience, threatens, if he does not. to proceed seriously agains
him. | |
About three weeks ago a person called on me, and informed m¢
that Silas Deane had taken him in for a sum of one hundred ant
twenty guineas; and that being unable to obtain any other satisfac:
tion, he had laid hands on his account-book and letter-book, and hat
brought them off to Paris, to offer them first to the United States, 1
they would repay him his money, and, if not, that he should retur
to London, and offer them to the British Minister. I desired him tt
leave them with me four and twenty hours, that I might judg
whether they were worth our notice. He did so. They were twi
‘DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 177
volumes. One contained all his accounts with the United States,
from his first coming to Europe to January 10, 1781. Presuming
that the Treasury Board was in possession of this account till his
arrival in Philadelphia, August, 1778, and that he had never given
in the subsequent part, I had that subsequent part copied from the
book, and now enclose it, as it may on some occasion or other,
perhaps, be useful in the Treasury office. The other volume
contained all his correspondencies from March 29th to August 23d,
1777. Ihad a list of the letters taken, by their dates and addresses,
which will enable you to form a general idea of the collection on the
perusal of many of them. I thought it desirable that they should
not come to the hands of the British Minister; and from an expres-
sion dropped by the possessor of them, I believe he would have
fallen fifty or sixty guineas. I did not think them important enough,
however, to justify my purchasing them without authority, though
with authority I should have done it. Indeed, I would have given
that sum to cut out a single sentence, which contained evidence of a
fact not proper to be committed to the hands of enemies. [| told
him I would state his proposition to you, and await orders. I gave
him back the books, and he returned to London without making any
promise that he would await the event of the orders you might think
proper to give.
News of the accession of nine States to the new form of Federal
Government has been received here about a week. I have the honor
- to congratulate you sincerely on this event. Of its effect at home
you are in the best situation to judge. On this side the Atlantic it
is considered as a very wise reformation. In consequence of this,
speculations are already begun here to purchase up our domestic
liquidated debt. Indeed, I suspect that orders may have been
previously lodged in America to do this as soon as the new Constitu-
» tion was accepted effectually. If it is thought that this debt should
_ be retained at homie, there is not a moment to lose; and I know of.
| no means of retaining it but those I suggested to the Treasury
_ Board in my letter to them of March 29th. The transfer of these
_ debts to Europe will excessively embarrass, and perhaps totally
- prevent, the borrowing any money in Europe till these shall be paid
_ off. This is a momentous object, and in my opinion should receive
| Instantaneous attention. ‘The gazettes of France to the departure
of my letter will accompany it, and those of Leyden to the 22d of
Vou. IL—12
178 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
July, at which time their distribution in this country was prohibited.
How long the prohibition may continue I cannot tell. As far as [
can judge, it is the only paper in Europe worth reading. Since the |
suppression of the packet boats I have never been able to find a safe
conveyance for a letter to you till the present by Mrs. Barclay. —
Whenever a confidential person shall be going from thence to
London I shall send my letters for you to the care of Mr. Trumbull,
who will look out for safe conveyances. ‘This will render the epochs
of my writing very irregular. ‘There is a proposition under consid=—
eration for establishing packet boats on a more economical plan from
Havre to Boston. But its success is uncertain, and still more. its
duration. .
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
Reply of the King to the Deputies and Commissioners of the States
of Brittany.
Translation.
I have read the memorial which you delivered me. I had already |
read that which preceded it, and you need not have recalled them to,
my memory. |
I shall always receive any representations which are made to me
in the forms prescribed.
The assembly which deputed twelve gentlemen were not “ author-
ized, not having asked permission for the purpose. ‘Those deputies.
have themselves convoked a more irregular assembly at Paris. [
have thought it proper to punish them. ‘The means to merit my
clemency is not to continue in Brittany, by illegal assemblies, the
cause of my discontent. ‘The commissions which you have been :
charged with, to request the reéstablishment of Brittany, must not
precede the conduct they must observe. ‘They must not solicit for
a mark of my confidence, while I am forced to give them these of my
animadversion. ;
But these personal punishments, which the good order and
maintenance of my authority require, do not in any manner alter my
affection for my province of Brittany.
Your States will be assembled in the month of October. It is
from them that I shall know the views of the province. I will
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 179
attend to their representations, and will have that regard for them
which they may merit. Your privileges shall be considered.
In shewing me fidelity and submission, all may hope for my
goodness; and the greatest complaint that my subjects will have in
their power against me, is forcing me to acts of rigor and severity.
My intention is that you return to-morrow to your functions.
————
Extract from Silas Deane’s Account Book—Account against
Congress.
Livres.
Amount brought Ups .ccecswecceveecccsvcececsccconseeesl 80,018 2 10
Sundries, (advances made to: several officerS).+.sscevecceesee 20,000 0 0
1779. To my expenses in Philadelphia, from August, 1778, to Novem-
ber, 1779, for myself, servant, and three horses, being fifteen
months, which I paid, part in hard money, part in paper,
which, computed at 90 livres per week, though less than what
it cost me, I am content with, fifteen months is sixty-five
weeltsy Gt 90 eo. acute due waleceiete Ves He eevee vusctsteieseds 5800 0 0
November, 1780. To expenses of journey to Virginia, in continental
currency, dollars. ..vsesccccecctseececvescceceees 20005
To do. paid board and lodging at Williamsburg, in Vir-
PUIG 0 at0cren wieietes 6d Oe be eaters OSs UE oe bv av ot als c's IBY1ISG
Do. paid in two journeys to Petersburg and Richmond, 1,256
Do. paid at York, and paid for sundries whilst waiting
OY A PASSAZEs wa viecivccccerseccsssesvccvenereseve 48455
26,954
Thirty for one, the medium rate of exchange at the time is 8983
dollars, OF in LIVES. cee eewscewcseseevodnrcevesvecvecoee A492 10 0
June. To paid for rum, sugar, tea, &c., &c., for passage.+eerevese 625 0 0
Passage for self, secretary, and servant..ecceeecccversrveess 1,500 0 0
The maitre d’hotel and servant on board the Roderique....eseee 12010 0
July. Expenses At Rochoforts.ss\ca oa. neces cn tesceecdnc sales sence teunieoo 19,9)0
DGpat Hochelletsss Sus veidelsiss v ecu He tiie detec’ Sobtnee WEG.EN7 9E 15 0
Hire of. the voirture to Nantes. ...ccccsevescvecweveserseses 96 0 0
' August, On the road to Nantes for horses, &C...sceesseserscceesee 21411 0
HEB penses- at Wanteds soccer vvecvevesuvivinsvvepeecesveenven | 0d 4,0
Posts to Paris, and expenses on the road..e-ccccscccccseee 415 0 O
Hire of the carriage from Nantes to Paris...secsccccsocseccee 120 0 0
To cash advanced Captain Hy. Johnson, April, 1778, as per
his receipt, dated December 12, 1778 ....sccceoscesscsevees 204 4 0
July. To my time, from June 4th, 1778, to July, 1780, being two
years and one month for myself, secretary, and servant, the
use of my horses, carriage, &c., in America, during which
time I attended solely on Congress, and in returning to settle
Carried TOV WLU sae ede od aed we’ ts cle'e wee ae oe; I0R 15 10
¥
180 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Livres.
Brought forward..cesesesecccrccccccsesesesesesan,902 15 10
their accounts, for which an allowance of 10,000 livres per
annum will not be unreasonable. ...cccccscsscscsecceccecsal cos 6 4
To my time, for self, secretary, and expenses in settling the §
accounts of Congress, six months, which, considering it was :
not my duty to settle them, except my own private one, and
that a large balance was my due, and the expense and loss of
time which I have incurred, cannot be estimated at a lower
allowance thanw. .0c0csses cs ecessvelie 6 omens cle ey hae en eaennn een
To cash paid W. T. Franklin towards family expenses, by an
order on M. Grand, which is charged in my account with
Congress, by M. Grand, September 26th, 1777.......+++ 4,000 0 0
To one year’s wages of La Farque, from July, 1777, to July,
1778, after which I consider his wages in the general estimate
for: time, G6. «+99. 9/9 <:siniewin phe 0.0: 0\w:0 Winecele ad iiuas yma ans ane ee
To wrong charge of April 9th, 1777, being the disbursements
on sloop Dolphin at Havre, by M. Eyries, who transacted
_...» the business, and at that time.to cover his having concurred
“4 in the equipping of armed vessels for Congress, drew under.
“the signature of Harcourts 21% ab+,s «0:4 ais seis oo chanel sale to 1G am
To wrong charge, included in the general of 30th March, 1778,
viz: moneys paid Mr. Williams, for which said Williams
has accounted, being the bills drawn by said Williams on
public account, accepted by me as were most of his bills.... 2,973 0
To wrong charge in Solier’s account to, amount of.........- 48,252 0
N. 5B. The whole received by Silas Deane, of Solier, on his
private account and use, was 10,784 livres; the rest was
received on account of Robert Morris, Esq., and is by
Plearne, Penet & Co. charged to said Morris, in his private
account with them, as may be seen by their account trans-
mitted to said Morris. °
To cash charged by M. Grand, delivered to order of Franklin
and Deane, paid La Farque, December 21st, 1777, (being for
expenses, at Pagsy) so» ies oelniaeia'seo'sielcs soa eeueies cum na ueneyanet Om
To sundry bills paid by Doctor Franklin after my leaving
France.
To cash paid Bousies’s bill for wine, January and April, 1778,
as per receipt September 18th, 1780, es esiesescsaseustan ss 2047 0 mm
January, 1781. To paid.bill for painting coach-wheels, November, 7
LTE om eninamese san s¢ c00nbe 00 dieu ppn ee» awe aja» tiie dean
323,847 17 7
Deduct wrong charges in sundry entries, entered before in
PAZ LY nda ne bwin sabip donee taninlen ee stasis wld Renaeen
2,973 0 0
4,825 2 4.
60,932 0 5
202,915 172
oo
ig
ff,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. isl
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, August 10, 1788.
Sir,
I have waited till the last moment of Mrs. Barclay’s departure to
write you the occurrences since my letter of 3d instant. We have
received the Swedish account of an engagement between their fleet
and the Russian, on the Baltic, wherein they say they took one and
burnt another Russian vessel, with the loss of one on their side, and
that the victory remained with them. ‘They say at the same time
that their fleet returned into port, and the Russians kept the sea.
We must therefore suspend our opinion till we get the Russian
version of this engagement. The Swedish manifesto was handed
about to-day at Versailles, by the Swedish Ambassador, m manu-
script. ‘The King complains that Russia has been ever endeavoring
to sow dissensions in his kingdom, in order to reéstablish the ancient
constitution ; that he has long borne it through a love of peace, but
finds it no longer bearable; that still, however, he will make peace
on these conditions: Ist, that the Empress punishes her Minister
for the note he gave into the Court of Stockholm; 2d, that she
restores the Crimea to the Turks; and 3d, that she repays to him all
the expenses of his armament. The Russian force in vessels of
war on the Black sea—five frigates and three ships of the line—are
shut up in port, and cannot come out till Oczakow shall be taken.
This fleet is commanded by Paul Jones, with the rank of Rear
Admiral. ‘The Prince of Nassau commands the galleys and gun-
boats. It is now ascertained that the States General will assemble
the next year, and probably in the month of May. ‘Tippoo Saib’s
Ambassadors had their reception this day at Versailles with unusual
pomp. The presence was so numerous that little could be caught
of what they said to the King, and he answered to them. From
what little I could hear, nothing more passed than mutual assurances
of good will. The name of the Mareschal de Richlieu is sufficiently
remarkable in history to justify my mentioning his death, which
happened two days ago; he was aged 92 years.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
oe
182 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, August 11, 1788.
Sir, irs
In my letter of the last night, written in the moment: ‘of Mrs.
Barclay’s departure, I had the honor of mentioning to you that it
was now pretty certain that the States General would be assembled
in the next year, and probably 1 in the month of May. ‘This morning
an arrét is published, announcing that their meeting is fixed at the
first day of May next, of which I enclose you a copy by post, in
hopes it will get to Bordeaux in time for Mrs. Barclay. ‘This arrét
ought to have a great effect towards tranquillizing the nation. ‘There
are still, however, two circumstances which must continue to perplex
the Administration. The first is the want of money, occasioned not —
only by the difficulty of filling up the loan of the next year, but by
the withholding the ordinary supplies of taxes, which is said to have
taken place in some instances. ‘This gives apprehension of a bank-
ruptcy under some form or other, and has occasioned the stocks to
fall in the most alarming manner. The second circumstance is, that
justice, both civil and criminal, continues suspended. The Parlia-
ment will not resume their functions but with the whole body, and
the greater part of the baillages decline acting, The present arrét
announces a perseverance in this plan.
I am informed from Algiers, of the 5th of Ris. that the plague is
raging there with great violence; that one of our captives was dead
of it, and another ill; so that we have there in all now only fifteen -
or sixteen; that the captives are more exposed to its ravages than —
others; that the great redemptions by the Spaniards, Portuguese,
and. Neapolitans, and the hayoc made by the plague had now left
not more than four hundred slaves in Algiers, so that their redemp-
tion was not only become exorbitant, but almost inadmissible; that
common sailors were held at four hundred pounds sterling, and that
our fifteen or sixteen could probably not be redeemed for Jess than
from twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars. An Algerine cruiser
having twenty-eight captives of Genoa aboard, was lately chased
ashore by two Neapolitan vessels. ‘The crew and captives got safe
re, and the latter of course recovered their freedom, The |
Alpetine crew was well treated, and would be sent back by the —
French, but the Government of Algiers demand of France sixty |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 183
thousand sequins or twenty-seven thousand pounds sterling for the
captives escaped; that is nearly one thousand pounds each. The
greater part of the Regency were for an immediate declaration of war
against France; but the Dey urged the heavy war the Turks were
at present engaged in, that it would be better not to draw another
Power on them at present; that they would decline renewing the
treaty of one hundred years, which expired two years ago, so as to
be free to act hereafter; but for the present they ought to accept
payment for the capture as a satisfaction. ‘They accordingly
declared to the French Consul that they would put him and all his
countrymen into irons, unless the sixty thousand sequins were paid.
The Consul told him his instructions were positively that they
should not be paid. In this situation stood matters between that
pettifogging nest of robbers and this great kingdom, which will finish,
probably, by crouching under them, and paying the sixty thousand
sequins. From the personal characters of the present Administration,
I should have hoped, under any other situation than the present,
they might have ventured to quit the beaten track of politics hitherto
pursued, in which the honor of. their nation has been calculated at
nought, and to join in a league for keeping up a perpetual cruise
against the pirates, which, though a slow operation, would be a sure
one for destroying all their vessels and seamen, and turning the rest
of them to agriculture. But a desire of not bringing upon them
another difficulty, wit probably induce the Ministers to do as their
predecessors have done. 'The enclosed paper of this morning gives
some particulars of the action between the Russians and Swedes,
the manifesto of the Empress, and the declaration of the Court of
Versailles as to the affair of 'Trincomali.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
O
FROM JOHN JAY TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Office for Foreign Affairs, November 25, 1788.
Dear Sir, :
My last to you was dated the 23d September last. It mentioned
my having received your letters of 4th, 23d, and 30th May. T have
since been favored with four others, viz: 29th July, and 3d, 10th,
and 11th August, with the papers mentioned to be enclosed. They
184 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
have not been laid before Congress, although I transmitted them to
the President for that purpose; for a sufficient number of members
to form a House have not since convened. ‘The members present |
have, nevertheless, read them. The occurrences they mention are
interesting, and your attention in transmitting them gives pleasure.
The circumstance of Mr. Deane’s letter-book and aceount-book
being offered to you for sale is a singular one. I wish you had
purchased them. On this subject I cannot, indeed, give you any
instructions or authority; but I will venture to advise you in express
terms to make the purchase. I have no doubt that Congress will be
satisfied with it. ‘To me it appears expedient, and the same opinion
prevails among the members of Congress who have read your
letter.
I enclose a copy of a letter of the 5th of August last from Mr.
Robert Montgomery, at Alicant. I find his letter was a copy; the —
original never came to my hands. The facts stated in this letter —
merit attention, and, as the business it alludes to is in your depart-
ment, I take the earliest opportunity of making this communication.
To me it appears highly probable that every maritime nation in
Europe is well content that war should subsist between Barbary and
the United States, and in my opinion none of them (except perhaps
Spain for particular reasons) will really and sincerely promote any
measures tending to the establishment of peace between us. If this —
be so, it is important that as much secrecy as possible should be
observed in all our proceedings relative to that object. I wish the —
Porte could be sounded on this subject. Overtures for a treaty from —
us to that Court made at this period would probably be grateful, and
might eventually terminate all our difficulties with Algiers, &c.,
especially as the Emperor of Morocco will promote it.
Much remains to be done, and much to be attempted ; but without
a competent Government and adequate funds no national affairs can
be well managed.
Mr. Nesbit will deliver this letter to you, and you will find
enclosed with it, one directed to Mr. Carmichael, and there is in it
a cypher for him. Be so obliging, therefore, as to keep it by you,
and if possible out of the reach of the police, until you can have an
opportunity of sending it to him by some person of confidence.
Mr. Gouverneur Morris expects to sail in the same vessel with
Mr. Nesbit, and will ether go with or soon follow him to Paris. As
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 185
-you are personally acquainted with this gentleman, it cannot be
necessary for me to introduce him to you, or recommend him to your
friendly attentions. It is in his power to give you minute information
on many interesting subjects.
With sincere esteem and regard, &c., JOHN JAY.
0)
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
Paris, August 12, 1788.
Dear Sir,
Since my last to you I have been honored with yours of the 18th
and 29th of May, and 5th of June. My latest American intelligence
is of the 24th of June, when nine certainly, and probably ten States
had accepted the new Constitution, and there was no doubt of the
eleventh, (North Carolina,) because there was no opposition there.
In New York two thirds of the State were against it, and certainly,
if they had been called to the decision in any other stage of the
business, they would have rejected it; but before they put it to the
vote, they would certainly have heard that eleven States had joined in
it, and they would find it safer to go with those eleven than put
themselves in opposition, with Rhode Island only. Though I am
pleased with this successful issue of the new Constitution, yet I am
more so to find that one of its principal defects (the want of a decla-
ration of rights) will pretty certainly be remedied. I suppose this
because I see that both people and conventions in almost every State
have concurred in demanding it. Another defect, the perpetual
reeligibility of the same President, will probably not be cured during
the life of General Washington. His merit has blinded our country-
men to the danger of making so important an officer reéligible. I
presume there will not be a vote against him in the United States.
It is more doubtful who will be Vice President. The age of Dr.
Franklin, and the doubt whether he would accept it, are the only
circumstances that admit a question, but that he would be the man.
After these two characters of first magnitude, there are so many
which present themselves equally, on the second line, that we cannot
see which of them will be singled out. John Adams, Hancock, Jay,
Madison, Rutledge, will be all voted for. Congress has acceded to
the prayers of Kentucky, to become an independent member of the
186 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Union. A committee was occupied in settling the plan of receiving
them, and their government is to commence on the Ist day of Jan-
uary next.
You are, I dare say, pleased, as I am, with the promotion of our
countryman, Paul Jones. He commanded the right wmg in the
first engagement between the Russian and Turkish galleys. His
absence from the second, proves his superiority over the Captain
Pacha, as he did not choose to bring his ships into the shoals in
which the Pacha ventured, and lost those entrusted to him. I con-
sider this officer as the principal hope of our future efforts on the
ocean. You will have heard of the action between the Swedes and
Russians on the Baltic. As yet, we have only the Swedish version
of it. LT apprehend this war must catch from nation to nation, till it |
becomes general.
With respect to the internal affairs of this country, I hope they
will be finally arranged, and without having cost a drop of blood.
Looking on as a bystander, no otherwise interested than as enter-
tammg a sincere love for the nation in general, and a wish to see
their happiness promoted, keeping myself clear of the particular
views and passions of individuals, I applaud extremely the patriotic
proceedings of the present ‘Ministry. Provincial Assemblies estab- _
lished, the States General .called, the right of taxing the nation —
without their consent abandoned, corvées abolished, torture abolished,
the criminal code reformed, are facts which will do eternal honor to
their administration in history. But were I their historian, I should —
not equally applaud their total abandonment of their foreign affairs.
A bolder front in the beginning would have prevented the first loss, —
and consequently all the others. Holland, Prussia, Turkey, and —
Sweden lost, without the acquisition of a single new ally, are painful
reflections for the friends of France. They may, indeed, have in —
their places the two empires, and perhaps Denmark, in which case,
physically speaking, they will stand on as good ground as before; but.
not on as good moral ground. Perhaps, seeing more of the internal
working of the machine, they saw more than we do, the physical
impossibility of having money to carry on a war. Their justification
must depend on this, and their atonement in the eternal good they
are doing to their country. 'This makes me completely their friend.
J am, with great respect, sir, &c., )
TH: JEFFERSON. |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 187
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, August 26, 1788.
Sir,
I had the honor to write to you on the 3d, 10th, and 11th instant,
with a postscript of the 12th, all of which went by Mrs. Barclay.
Since that date we received an account of the third victory obtained
by the Russians over’ the Turks on the Black sea, in which the
Prince of Nassau, with his galleys, destroyed two frigates, three
smaller vessels, and six galleys. The Turkish power on that sea 1s
represented by their enemies as now annihilated. There is reason
to believe, however, that this is not literally true, and that, aided by
the supplies furnished by the English, they are making extraordinary
efforts to reéstablish their marine. The Russian Minister here has
shewn the official report of Admiral Greigh on the combat of July
17th, in which he claims the victory, and urges in proof of it that he
kept the field of battle. His report is said to have been written on
it. As this paper, together with the report of the Swedish Admiral,
is printed in the Leyden Gazette of the 15th instant, I enclose it to
you. The Court of Denmark has declared it will furnish to Russia
the aid stipulated in their treaty; and it is not doubted they will go
beyond this, and become principals in the war. The next probable
moves are that the King of Prussia will succor Sweden and Poland
against Russia by land, and a possible consequence is, that England
may send a squadron into the Baltic to restore the equilibrium in that
sea.
In my letter of the 11th, I observed to you that this country
would have two difficulties to struggle with till the meeting of their
States General, and that one of these was the want of money.
This has, in fact, overborne all their resources, and the day before
yesterday they published an urrét, suspending all reimbursements of
eapital, and reducing the payments of the principal mass of demands
for interest to twelve sous in the livre, the remaining eight sous to be
paid with certificates. I enclose you a newspaper, with the arrét.
In this paper you will see the exchange of yesterday; and I have
inserted that of the day before, to shew you the fall. The con-
sternation is as yet too great to let us judge of the issue. It will
probably open the public mind to the necessity of a change in their
Constitution, and to the substituting the collected wisdom of the
whole in place of a single will, by which they have been hitherto
188 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
governed. It is a remarkable proof of the total incompetency of a
single head to govern a nation well, when, with a revenue of six
hundred millions, they are led to a declared bankruptcy, and to stop
the wheels of Government, even in its most essential movements,
for want of money.
I send you the present letter by a private conveyance to a sea-port, —
in hopes a conveyance may be found by some merchant vessel.
I have the honor to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
pre tlha 5 What al:
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, September 3, 1788.
Sir,
By Mrs. Barclay I had the honor of sending you letters of the 3d,
10th, and 11th of August; since which I wrote you of the 20th of
the same month by a casual conveyance, as is the present.
In my letter of the 20th I informed you of the act of public bank-
ruptcy which had taken place here. ‘The effect of this would have
been a forced loan of about one hundred and eighty millions of livres —
in the course of the present and ensuing year. But it did not yield
a sufficient immediate relief. ‘The Treasury became literally money-
less, and all purposes depending on this mover came to a stand.
The Archbishop was hereupon removed, with Monsieur Lambert, the —
Comptroller General, and M. Necker was called in as Director
General of Finance. 'To soften the Archbishop’s dismission, a Car-
dinal’s hat is asked for him at Rome, and his nephew promised the
succession to the Archbishopric of Sens. The public joy on this
change of Administration was very great, indeed. The people of
Paris were amusing themselves with trying and burning the Arch-
bishop in effigy, and rejoicing on ‘the appointment of M. Necker.
The commanding officer of the city guards undertook to forbid this,
and not being obeyed, he charged the mob with fixed bayonets, killed
two or three, and wounded many. ‘This stopped their rejoicing for
that day; but, enraged at being thus obstructed in amusements
wherein they had committed no disorder whatever, they collected in )
great numbers the next day, attacked the guards in various places, —
burnt ten or twelve guard-houses, killed two or three guards, and had |
about six or eight of their own number killed. The city was here-—
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 189
upon put under martial law, and after awhile the tumult subsided
and peace was restored. The public stocks rose ten per cent. on the
day of M. Necker’s appointment. He was immediately offered
considerable sums of money, and has been able so far to waive the
benefit of the act of bankruptcy as to pay, in cash, all demands
except the remboursements des capitaux. For these, and for a sure
supply of other wants, he will depend on the States General, and
wi:l hasten their meeting, as is thought. No other change has yet
taken place in the Administration. ‘The Minister of War, however,
must certainly follow his brother, and some think, and all wish, that
Monsieur de Lamoignon, the Garde des sceaux, may go out, also.
The administration of justice is still suspended. The whole kingdom
seems tranquil at this moment.
Abroad no event worth noticing has taken place since my last.
The Court of Denmark has not declared it will do anything more
than furnish the stipulated aid to Russia. The King of Prussia has
as yet made no move which may decide whether he will engage in
the war, nor has England sent any squadron into the Baltic. As the
season for action is considerably passed over, it is become more
doubtful whether any, other Power will enter the lists till the next
campaign, ‘This will give time for stopping the further progress ot
the war, if they really wish to stop it. Two camps, of twenty-five
thousand men each, are forming in this country, on its northern limits. °
The Prince of Condé has the command of one, and the Duke de
Broglio of the other.
I trouble you with the enclosed letter* from a Henry Watson,
claiming prize moneys, as having served under Admiral Paul Jones,
which I suppose should go to the Treasury or War Office.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
abet ( pearieeiens
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, September 6, 1788.
Sur,
I wrote you on the 3d instant, and have this day received Mr.
_ Remsen’s favor of July 25th, written during your absence at Pough-
| ee and enclosing the ratification of the loan of a million of
* Sent to the Board of Treasury, 25th February, 1789.
190 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
florins for which Mr. Adams had contracted bonds at Amsterdam in -
March last. The expediency of that loan resulting from an estimate
made by Mr. Adams and myself, and that estimate having been laid
before Congress, their ratification of the loan induces a presumption |
that they will appropriate the money to the objects of the estimate.
I am in hopes, therefore, that orders are given by the ‘Treasury Board
to the Commissioners of the loans at Amsterdam to apply these
moneys accordingly, and especially to furnish, as soon as they shall
have it, what may be necessary for the redemption of our captives
at Algiers, which is a pressing call. I am not without anxiety,
however, on this subject, because, in a letter of July 22d, received
this day from the Treasury Board, they say nothing on that subject,
nor on the arrearages of the foreign officers. ‘They enclose me the
order of Congress of the 18th July, for sending to the ‘Treasury
Board the books and papers of the office of foreign accounts. I
shall accordingly put them into the hands of a person who goes from
Paris to-morrow morning by the way of Havre to America, and shall
endeavor to prevail on him to attend them from the place of his
landing to New York, that the Board may recelve them from the
hand which receives them from me. : ie i
The establishment of the Parliaments, and revocation of everything
which was done on the 8th of May, is expected to bade griee in
three or four days. |
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON :
GH ge NOs
FROM THOMAS: JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, September 24, 1788.
Sir, |
Understanding that the vessel is not yet sailed from Havre which
is to carry my letters of the 3d and 5th instant, I am in hopes you
will receive the:present with them. |
The Russian accounts’ of their victories on ae Black sea must
have been greatly exaggerated. According to these, the Captain.
Pacha’s fleet was annihilated. Yet themselves have lately brought}
him on the stage again with fifteen ships of the line, in order to obtain
another victory over him. I believe the truth to be that he has)
suffered some checks, of what magnitude it is impossible to say
where one side alone is heard, and that heis still master of that sea.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 191
He has relieved Oczakow, which still holds out; Choczim, also, is
still untaken, and the Emperor’s situation is apprehended to be bad.
He spun his army into a long cord to cover several hundred miles of
frontier, which put it into the power of the Turks to attack with
their whole force wherever they pleased. Laudon, now called to
head the Imperial army, is endeavoring to collect it. But in the
meantime the campaign is drawing to a close—it has been worse than
fruitless. The resistance of Russia to Sweden has been successful in
every point, by sea and land. This, with the interference of Den-
mark, and the discontent of the Swedish nation at the breach of their
Constitution by the King’s undertaking an offensive war, without the
consent of the Senate, has obliged him to withdraw his attacks by
land, and to express a willingness for peace. One third of his
officers. have refused to serve. England and Prussia have offered
their mediation between Sweden and Russia in such equivocal terms
as to leave themselves at liberty to say it was an offer, or was not,
just as it shall suit them. Denmark is asking the counter-offer of
mediation from this Court. If England and Prussia make a peace
effectually in the north, (which it is absolutely in their power to do,)
it will be a proof they do not intend to enter into the war. If they
do not impose a peace, I should suspect they mean to engage them-
selves ; as one can hardly suppose they would let the war go on in
its present form, wherein Sweden must be crushed between Russia
‘and Denmark.
The Garde des Sceaux, M. de Lamoignon, was dismissed the 14th
instant, and M. de Barentin is appointed in his room. ‘The deputies
of Brittany are released from the Bastile, and M. d’Epremesnil and
_M. Sabatier recalled from their confinement. ‘The Parliament is not
yet reinstated, but it is confidently said it will be this week. The
stocks continue low, and the Treasury under a hard struggle to keep
the Government in motion. It is believed the meeting of the States
General will be as early as January, perhaps December. I have
received a duplicate of the ratification of the loan of 1788 by Con-
gress, and a duplicate of a letter of July 22d, from the Treasury
Board, on another subject, but none on that of the captives or foreign
officers. I suppose some cause of delay must have intervened
‘between the ratification of Congress and the consequent orders of the
‘Treasury Board.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
192 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE TREASURY. |
Paris, September 6, 1788. —
Gentlemen,
Your favor of July the 3d came to hand some days ago, and that
of July the 22d in the afternoon of yesterday. Knowing that a Mr.
Vannet was to leave Paris this morning, to go to Virginia, in a vessel
bound from Havre to Potomac, I have engaged him to receive the
papers which are the subject of those letters; to take care of them
from thence to Havre, and on the voyage; and when he shall have
arrived in Potomac, instead of going directly to Richmond as he
intended, he will proceed with them himself to New York. I shall
pay here all expenses to their delivery at the ship’s side in America,
freight included; unless, perhaps, he may find it necessary to put
another covering over them, if he should not be able to get them
into the cabin; in this case you will have to reimburse him for that.
IT engage to him that you shall pay him their transportation from the
ship’s side to New York, and his own reasonable expenses from the
place of his landing to New York, and back to the place of landing.
As he takes that journey for this object only, it would be reasonable
that you give him some gratuity for his time and trouble, and I
suppose it would be accepted by him; but I have made no agree-
ment for this. ‘The papers are contained in a large box and a trunk.
They were sent here by Mr. Ast, during my absence in Holland.
When they arrived at the gates of Paris, the officers of the customs
opened the trunk to see whether it contaimed dutiable articles; but
finding only books and papers, they concluded the contents of the
box to be of the same nature, and did not open that; you receive it,
therefore, as it came from the hands of Mr. Ast. A small trunk,
which came as a third package from Mr. Ast, and which has never
been opened, I have put into the great trunk, without displacing, or |
ever having touched a single paper, except as far as was necessary
to make room for that. I shall have the whole corded and plumbed |
by the custom-house here, not only to prevent their beg opened at
the custom-house on the road and at the port of exportation, but to
prove to you whether they shall have been opened by anybody else,
after gomg out of my hands. If the stamp leads are entire, and the’
cords uncut, when you receive them, you will be sure they have not
been opened. They will be wrapped in oil-cloth here to guard them —
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. ' 493
against the damps of the sea; and, as I mentioned before, Mr. Vannet
will put them under another covering , if he finds it necessary, at
Havre.
At the same time with your last letter I received from the office of
Foreign Affairs the ratification of Congress of the loan of 1788 for
another million of guilders. As the necessity of this loan resulted
from the estimate made by Mr. Adams and myself, which estimate
was laid before Congress, I suppose their ratification of the loan
implies that of the estimate. One article of this was for the redemp-
tion of our captives at Algiers. "Though your letter says nothing on
his subject, I am in hopes you have sent orders to the Commissioners
of the loans at Amsterdam to furnish, as soon as they shall have it,
what may be necessary for this pressing call. So, also, for the
foreign officers. If the ratification of the loan has been made by
Congress with a view to fulfil the objects of the estimate, a general
order from you to the Commissioners of the loans at Amsterdam, to
pay the moneys from time to time, according to that estimate, or to
such other as you shall furnish them with, might save the trouble of
particular orders on every single occasion, and the disappointments
arising from the delay or miscarriage of such orders ; but it is for you
to decide on this.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
O
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, November 14, 1788.
Sir,
{In my letter of December 21st, 1787, I had the honor of acknowl-
edging the receipt of your two favors of July 27th, 1787, which had
come to my hands December 19th, and brought with them my full
powers for treating on the subject of the Consular convention.
_ Being then much engaged in getting forward the arrét, which came
out the 29th of December, and willing to have some interval between
that act, and the solicitation of a reconsideration of our Consular
; convention, | had declined mentioning it for some time, and was
_ just about to -bring it on the carpet, when it became necessary for
me to go to Amsterdam. Immediately after my return, which was
_ about the last of April, I introduced the subject to the Count de
- Montmorin, and have followed it unremittingly from that time. The
Vou. Il.—13
&
194 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
office of Marine, as well as that of Foreign Affairs, bemg to be
consulted in all the stages of the negotiation, has protracted its
conclusion till this time. It is at length signed this day, and I have
now the honor to enclose the original for the ratification of Congress.
The principal changes effected are the following:
The clauses of the convention of 1784, clothing Consuls with
the privileges of the law of nations, are struck out, and they are
expressly subjected, in their persons and property, to the laws of the
land. ,
That giving the right of sanctuary to their houses, is reduced to a
protection of their chancery room and its papers.
Their coercive powers over passengers are taken away; and over
those whom they might have termed deserters of their nation, are
restrained to deserted seamen only.
The clause allowing them to arrest and send back vessels is struck
out, and instead of it, they are allowed to exercise a police over the
ships of their nation generally. |
So is that which declared the indelibility of the character of
subject, and the explanation and intention of the 11th article of the
dreaty of amity. :
The innovations in the laws of evidence are done away.
And the convention is limited to twelve years’ duration. 3
Convinced that the fewer examples the better, of either persons or.
causes inamenable to the laws of the land, I could have wished still
more had been done; but more could not be done with good humor, -
The extensions of authority given by the convention of 1784 were
so homogeneous with the spirit of this Government that they were
prized here. Monsieur de Rayneval has had the principal charge of
arranging this instrument with me; and in justice to him, I must say —
I could not have desired more reasonable and friendly dispositions
than he demonstrated through the whole of it.
I enclose herewith the several schemes successively proposed
between us, together with copies of the written observations given in >
with them, and which served as texts of discussion in our personal -
conferences. ‘They may serve as a commentary on any passage
‘which may need it, either now or hereafter, and as a history how
any particular passage comes to stand as it does. No. 1, is the
convention of 1784; No. 2, is my first scheme; No. 8, theirs in
answer to it; No. 4, my next, which brought us so near together, —
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 195
that in a conference on that, we arranged it in the form in which it
has been signed. I add No. 5, the copy of a translation which I
have put into their hands, with a request that if they find any
passages, in which the sense of the original is not faithfully rendered,
they will point them out to me; otherwise, we may consider it,as
having their approbation. This and the convention of 1784
(marked No. 1) are placed side by side, so as to present to the eye,
with less trouble, the changes made; and I enclose a number of
printed copies of them for the use of the members who will have to
decide on the ratification. It is desirable that the ratification should
be sent here for exchange as soon as possible.
With respect to the consular appointments, it is a duty on me to
add some observations which my situation here has enabled me to
make. I think it was in the spring of 1784 that Congress (harassed
by multiplied applications from foreigners, of whom nothing was
‘known but on their own information, or on that of others as
unknown as themselves,) came to a resolution that the interest of
America would not permit the naming any person not-acitizen to
the office of Consul, Vice Consul, Agent, or Commissary. This was
intended as a general answer to that swarm of foreign pretenders.’
It appears to me that it will be best still to preserve a part of this
regulation. Native citizens, on several valuable accounts, are
‘preferable to aliens, and to citizens alien born. They possess our
‘language, know our laws, customs, and commerce, have generally
‘acquaintance in the United States, give better satisfaction, and are
‘more to be relied on in the point of fidelity. Their disadvantages
‘are an imperfect acquaintance with the language of this country, and
!an ignorance of the organization of its judicial and executive powers,
‘and consequent awkwardness whenever application to either of these
‘is necessary, as it frequently is. But it happens that in some of the
principal ports of France, there is not a single American, (as in
‘Marseilles, L’Orient, and Havre,) in others but one, (as in Nantes
and Rouen,) and in Bordeaux only two or three. Fortunately for
‘the present moment most of those are worthy of appointments. But
iwe should look forward to future times when there may happen to
‘be no native citizens in a port, but such as being bankrupt, have
‘taken asylum in France from their creditors, or young ephemeral
‘adventurers in commerce without substance or conduct, or other
‘descriptions which might disgrace the consular office without
196 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
protecting our commerce. To avail ourselves of our* good ‘native
citizens, when we have one in a port, and when there are none, to
have yet some person to attend to our affairs, it appears to me
advisable to declare by a standing law that no person but a native
citizen shall be capable of the office of Consul; and that the Consul’s
presence in his port should suspend for the time the functions of the
Vice Consul. This is the rule of 1784, restrained to the office of
Consul and to native citizens. 'The establishing this bya standing
law will guard against the effect of particular applications, and will
shut the door against such applications as will otherwise be numerous.
This done, the office of Vice Consul may be given to the best subject.
in the port, whether citizen or alien, and that of Consul be kept open:
for any native citizen of superior qualifications, who might ‘come
afterwards to establish themselves in the port. The functions of the
Vice Consul would become dormant during the presence of his
principal, come into activity again on his departure, and thus spare
us and them the painful operation of revoking and reviving their
commissions perpetually. Add to this, that during the presence of
the Consul, the Vice Cénsul would not be merely useless, but would
be a valuable counsellor to his principal, new in office, the language,
laws, and customs of the country. Every.Consul and Vice Consul
should be restrained in his jurisdiction to the post for which he is
named, and the territory nearer to that than to any other Consular
or Vice Consular port, and no idea permitted to arise'that the grade
of Consul gives a right to any authority whatever over a ‘_
Consul, or draws on any dependence.
To these general facts and observations I will add some lécal, and
of the present moment. :
Marseilles. There is no native. Stephen Cathalan, the father,
has: had the agency, by appoimtment either of Doctor Franklin or
Mr. Barclay. But his son, of the same name, has solely done the
duties, and is best capable of them. He speaks our language per-
fectly, is familiar with our customs, as having lived in a counting-
house in London, is sensible, active, and solid m his circumstances.
Both the port and person merit a Vice Consulate,
Bordeaux. Mr. John Bondfield, a native citizen, has hitherto
acted by appointment from Doctor Franklin. ‘He is well known in
America, is of a higher degree of information than is usually to be
found, and wnexceptionable in every point of view. His scireum-
a
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. {97
stances, indeed, have at one time been perplexed, but I suppose
them to be otherwise now. He is likely to remain long at Bordeaux,
and is so much respected that we cannot expect a better subject there.
I think him proper for a consular commission.
Nantes. We have but one native citizen there, Mr. Burrell
Carnes, who ha acted by appointment from Mr. Barclay, and acted
well, as far as I am able to judge. He is young, and beginning
business only; would be proper for the Vice Consulate at present
and for the Consulate when time shall have added experience and
firm establishment to his present qualifications.
L’ Orient. No citizen at all. Mr. Loreilhe, a Frenchman, and
very worthy man, acted for some time; but failing in his affairs, he
removed to the neighborhood of Bordeaux. After that, I wrote
occasionally to Wilt & Delmestre; but they, too, are become bank-
rupt. There is lately gone there from Paris a Monsieur Vernes, an
uncommonly sensible, well-informed man, speaking our language
well, connected in commerce with the wealthy house of Berard &
Co., and particularly engaged in the American commerce. I suppose
him proper for a Vice Consulate.
Havre. There is no native. M. André Limozin has acted by
appointment of Doctor Franklin. He is a very solid merchant,
speaks and writes. our language, is sensible, experienced, and very
zealous. His services hitherto have been so assiduous as to entitle
him to the Vice Consulate in preference to any other person in that
port. }
Rouen. There is but one citizen there, Mr. Thomas Appleton,
son of Nathaniel Appleton, of Boston. He is young, and just
beginning business. He is sensible, active, and fit for the Vice Con-
sulate, with a view to the Consulate at some future day, as in the
case of Mr. Carnes.
The preceding are the only ports worthy of either Consular or
Vice Consular establishment. ‘To multiply would be to degrade
them, and excite jealousy in the Government.
At the following I should suppose Agents suflicient:
Dunkirk. Francis Coffin, an American, and good man, appointed
by Doctor Franklin.
Dieppe. M. Cavalier, a Frenchman, appointed by Mr. Barclay.
Bayonne. Louis Alexander has meddled for us of his own accord.
I know neither good nor harm of him. He writes a broken English,
Ee
198 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
but I do not know if he speaks the language. ‘Though a free port,
there had entered there but one or two ships from the peace to the
Autumn of 1787. I have no account since.
* © Cette. Nicholas Guirrard, named by Doctor Franklin. He is of
the mercantile house of Guirrard & Portas. I saw one of the part-
ners while at Cette, who spoke English well, is familiar with English
usages in commerce, is sensible, and has the appearance of being a
good man. But I do not recollect whether the person I describe
was Guirrard or Portas. The other partner does not speak English.
Mr. Barclay can probably fix this uncertainty, as well as give fuller
information on all the other persons named. ‘This one, whichever
he be, is fittest for the agency. }
Besides these, I would take the liberty of acelin adie the
appointment of Agents at Toulon, Rochefort, Brest, and Cherburg,
merely. for the purposes of intelligence. ‘They are King’s ports, and
it isin them that the symptoms of a maritime war will always first
show themselves. Such a correspondence, therefore, will be always
proper for your Minister here, and, in general, the Consuls and Vice
Consuls should be instructed to correspond with him for his informa-
_ tion. It does not appear to me proper that he should have any
power of naming or removing them. It might lead to abuse.
It is now proper I should give some account of the state of our
dispute with Schweighauser & Dobrée. In the conversation I had
with Dobrée at Nantes, he appeared to think so rationally on this
subject that I thought there would be no difficulty in accommodating
it with him, and I wished rather to settle it by accommodation than
to apply to the Minister. I afterwards had it intimated to him,
through the medium of Mr. Carnes, that I had it in idea to propose
a reference to arbitrators. He expressed a cheerful concurrence in
it. I thereupon made the proposition to him formally, by letter,
mentioning particularly that we would choose our arbitrators of some
neutral nation, and of preference from among the Dutch refugees
here. Iswas surprised to receive an answer from him wherein, after
expressing his own readiness to accede to this proposition, he added,
that on consulting Mr. Puchelburg, he had declined it. Neverthe-
less, he wished a fuller explanation from me, as‘ to the subjects to
be submitted to arbitration. I gave him that explanation, and he
answered finally, that Mr. Puchelberg refused Oph eos’
and insisted that the matter should be decided bv the tribunals of the
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 199
country. Accommodation being at an end, I wrote to Monsieur de
Montmorin, and insisted on the usage of nations, which does not
permit the effects of one sovereign to be seized in the territories of
another, and subjected to judiciary decision there. I am promised’
that the stores shall be delivered; but the necessary formalities will
occasion some delay. The King being authorized to call all causes
before himself, ours will be evoked from the tribunals where it is, and
will be ended by an order to deliver up the stores arrested, leaving
it to the justice of Congress to do afterwards what is right as to the
demand of Schweighauser & Dobrée. I wish I could receive
instructions what to do with the stores when delivered. The arms
had certainly better be sent to America, as they are good, and yet
will sell here for little or nothing. The gun-stocks and old iron had
better be sold here. But what should be done with the anchors?
Being thoroughly persuaded that Congress wish that substantial
justice should be done to Schweighauser & Dobrée, I shall, after the
stores are secured, repeat my proposition of arbitration to them. If
they then refuse it, I shall return all the papers to America, and
consider my powers for settling this matter as at an end.
I have received no answer yet from Denmark on the subject of the
prizes; nor do I know whether to ascribe this silence to an intention
to evade the demand, or to the multitude of affairs they have had on
their hands lately. Patience seems to be prudence in this case; to
indispose them would do no good, and might do harm. I shall write
again soon if no answer be received. In the mean time, I have the
honor to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
——
Translation.
FIRST FORM PROPOSED ON THE PART OF THE UNITED STATES.
Convention between his Most Christian Majesty and the United
States of America, for the purpose of determining and Yfiving the
_ functions and prerogatives of their respective Consuls, Vice Con-
suls, Agents, and Commissaries.
His Majesty the Most Christian King and the United States of
America having, by the 29th article of the treaty of amity and
commerce concluded between them, mutually granted the liberty of
200 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
having in their respective States and ports Consuls, Vice Consuls,
Agents, and Commissaries, and being willing, im consequence thereof,
to determine and fix im a reciprocal and permanent manner, the
functions and prerogatives of the said Consuls, Vice Consuls,
Agents, and Commissaries, his most Christian Majesty has nominated
the Sieur , and the United States of America
has nominated » who, after having communi-
cated to each other their respective full powers, agréed upon what
follows:
Articie [. The Consuls and Vice Consuls, Agents and Commis-
saries, nominated by his most Christian Majesty and the United
States, or by their authority, shall be bound to present their commis-
sions according to the form which shall be established by the King
within his dominions, and by the Congress within the United States.
There shall be delivered to them, without any charge, the exequatur
necessary for the exercise of their functions, and on the exhibition
which they shall make of the said exequatur, the Governors, com-
manders, judges, public bodies, tribunals, and other officers having
authority in the ports and places of their consulate, shall cause them
to enjoy, as soon as possible, and without difficulty, the preéminences,
authority, and privileges, reciprocally granted, without exacting from
the said Consuls, Vice Consuls, Agents, and Commissaries any duty,
under any pretence whatever.
ArticLte IV. The Consuls and Vice Consuls shall be exempt
from all personal service and public offices, from ‘soldiers’ billets,
militia watch, guard, guardianship, and trusteeship, as well as from
all duties, taxes, impositions, and charges whatever, except on the
estate, real and personal, of which they may be the proprietors or
possessors, which shall be subject to the taxes imposed on the estates
of all other individuals, and in all other instances they shall be sub-
ject to the laws of the land, with respect to their persons, theer
property, and possessions, in the same manner as other foreigners of
their nation are.
They shall place over the outward door of their house the arms
of their sovereign, without, however, the mark of distinction giving
to the said house the right of ges for any person or property
whatever.
Articie VI. The Consuls’ and Vice Consuls respectively may
establish a chancery, where shall be deposited the consular acts and
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 201
deliberations, all effects left by deceased persons or saved from ship-
wreck, as well as testaments, obligations, contracts, and in general
all the acts and proceedings done between persons of their nation.
They may, in consequence, appoint for the business of the said
chancery capable persons, receive them, administer an oath to them,
give to them the keeping of the seal and the right of sealing commis-
sions, judgments, and other acts of the consulate, as well as there to
discharge the functions of notaries and registers in cases. which shall
concern the subjects of their own nation.
Articus VII. The Consuls and Vice Consuls respectively shall
have the exclusive right of receiving in their chancery, or on board
of vessels, the declarations and all the other acts which the captains,
masters, seamen, and passengers and merchants of their nation would
make there, even their testaments and other dispositions of last will;
and the copies of the said acts, duly authenticated by the said Con-
suls or Vice Consuls, under the seal of their consulate, shall receive
faith in law equally as their originals would in all the tribunals of
theedominions of the most Christian King and of the United States,
and in all cases which only concern persons of their nation.
They shall also have, and exclusively, in case of the absence of
the testamentary executor, guardian, or lawful representative, the
right to inventory, liquidate, and proceed to the sale of the personal
estate left by subjects or citizens of their nation who shall die within
the extent of their consulate. ‘They shall proceed therein with the
assistance of two merchants of their said nation, or of any other of
their choice, and shall cause to be deposited in their chancery the
effects and papers of their said estates, and no officer, military, judi-
ciary, or of the police of the country, shall disturb them, or interfere
therein in any manner whatsoever; but the said Consul shall not
deliver up the said effects, nor the proceeds thereof, to the lawful
_ representatives, or to their order, till they shall have caused to be
paid all debts which the deceased shall have contracted in the
country ; for which purpose the creditor shall have a right to attach
the said effects in their hands, as they might in those of any other
individual whatever, and proceed to obtain sale of them till payment
of what shall be lawfully due to them. When the debts shall not
have been contracted by judgment, deed, or note, the signature whereof
shall be known, payment shall not be ordered but on the creditor’s
giving sufficient surety, resident in the country, to refund the sums
202 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
he shall have unduly received, principal, interests, and costs; which
surety shall stand, nevertheless, duly discharged after the term of one
year in time of peace, and of two in time of war, if the discharge
cannot be formed before the end of this term, against the represent-
atives who shall present themselves. And in order that the repre-
sentatives may not be unjustly kept out of the effects of the deceased,
the Consuls and Vice Consuls shall notify his death in some one of
the gazettes published within their consulate. And that they shall
retam the said effects in their hands months, to answer all
just demands which shall be presented; and they shall be bound,
after this delay, to deliver to the persons succeeding thereto what .
shall be more than sufficient for the demands which shall have been
formed.
ArticLe VIII. The respective Consuls and Vice Consuls shall
receive the declarations, protests, and other consular acts, from all
captains and masters of their respective nations, on account of average
losses sustained at sea by leakage or throwing merchandize overboard,
and these captains and masters shall leave in the chancery of the
said Consuls and Vice Consuls the protests and other consular acts
which they may have made in other ports on account of the accidents
“ which ‘may have happened to them on their voyage. If a subject of
his most Christian Majesty and the United States are interested in
the said cargo, the average shall be fixed by the tribunals of the
country, and not by the Consuls or Vice Consuls; but when only
the subjects or citizens of their own nation shall be interested, the
respective Consuls and Vice Consuls shall appoint skilful persons to
settle the damage and average. 7
Arricte IX. In cases where, by tempests or other accidents,
French ships or vessels shall be stranded on the coast of the United
States, and ships or vessels of the United States shall be stranded on
the coast of the dominions of the most Christian King, the Consul .
or Vice Consul nearest to the place of shipwreck shall do whatever
he may judge proper, as well for the purpose of saving the said ship
or vessel, its cargo and appurtenances, as for the storing and security
of the effects and merchandize saved. He may take an inventory of
them, without the intermeddling of any officers of the military, of
the customs, of justice, or of the police of the country, otherwise
_ than to give to the Consuls, Vice Consuls, captain and crew of the
vessel shipwrecked, or stranded, all the succor and favor which they
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 203
shall demand of them, either for expedition in securing the cargo or
preserving the effects saved, as well as to prevent all disturbances.
And in order to prevent all kind of dispute and discussion in the
said cases of shipwreck, it is agreed, when there shall be no Consul
or Vice Consul to attend to the saving of the wreck, or that the
residence of the said Consul or Vice Consul (he not being at the
place of the wreck) shall be more distant from the said place than
that of the competent judge of the country, the latter shall imme-
diately proceed therein with all the despatch, certainty, and precaution
prescribed by the respective laws; but the said territorial judge shall
retire on the arrival of the Consul or Vice Consul, and shall deliver
over to him the report of his proceedings, the expenses of which the
Consul or Vice Consul shall cause to be reimbursed to him.
The merchandize and effects saved shall be deposited in the
custom-house, or other nearest place of safety, with the inventory of
them, which shall be made by the Consul or Vice Consul, or, in their
absence, by the judge who shall have cognizance thereof; and the
said merchandizes and effects shall be afterwards delivered, after
levying therefrom the costs, and without form of process, to the pro-
prietors, who, being furnished with a replevy from the nearest Consul
or Vice Consul, shall reclaim them by themselves or by their attor-
neys, either for the purpose of reéxporting the merchandizes—and
in that case they shall pay no kind of duties of exportation—or for
the purpose of selling them in the country, if they are not prohibited ;
and in this latter case, the said merchandizes being averaged, there
shall be granted them an abatement of the entrance duties propor-
tioned to the damage sustained, which shall be ascertained by the
verbal process formed at the time of shipwreck, or of the vessel’s
running ashore.
Articte X. The Consuls and Vice Consuls may cause to be
arrested in the country the sailors deserters of their respective nations,
and send them back and transport them out of the country.
The registers of the vessels, or rolls of the crew, shall be received
in testimony to prove that the persons arrested as deserting sailors
belong to their respective nations, but shall not exclude the other legal
proofs relative to the same facts.
As soon as there shall be sufficient proof that they are deserting
sailors of such nation, no tribunals, judges, or officers whatsoever
shall, in any manner whatever, take cognizance of the complaint
204 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
which the said sailors and deserters may make; but they shall, on
the contrary, be delivered up on any order signed by the Consul or
Vice Consul, without its being in any one’s power in any manner to
detain, engage, or withdraw them. And to attain to the complete
execution of the arrangements contained in this article, all persons.
having authority shall be bound to assist the said Consuls or Vice
Consuls; and, on a simple requisition signed by them, they shall
cause to be detained and guarded in prison, at the disposal and
expense of the said Consuls and Vice Consuls, the said sailors and
deserters, until they shall have an opportunity to send them out of
the country. But if they be not sent out of the country in one
month from the day of their arrest, they shall be set at liberty, and
shall be no more arrested for the same cause.
Articte XI. In cases where the respective subjects or citizens:
shall have committed any crime or breach of the peace, they shall nf
amenable to the judges of the country.
Arricty XII. All differences and suits between the subjects of
the most Christian King in the United States, or between the citizens
of the United States in the dominions of the most Christian King,
shall be determmed by the respective Consuls, if one of the parties
demands it, either by a reference to arbitration or by a summary
judgment, and without costs.
No officer, civil or military, shall interfere or take any part what-
ever in the affair; appeal shall be carried before the tribunals of
France or the United States, to whom it may appertain to take
cognizance thereof.
The respective agents shall be bound to render to their respective
merchants, navigators, and vessels, all possible service, and to inform
the nearest Consul or Vice Consul of the wants of the said merchants,
navigators, and vessels, without the said agents otherwise participating
in the immunities, rights, and privileges attributed to the Consuls and
Vice Consuls, and without power to exact any duty or emolument
whatever, under any pretence whatever.
Arricte XIII. The general utility of commerce having caused
to be established within the dominions of the most Christian King,
particular tribunals and forms for expediting the decision of commer-
cial affairs, the merchants of the United States shall enjoy the benefit
of those establishments ; and the Congress of the United States will
provide, in the manner the most conformable to its laws, equivalent
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 205
advantages in favor of the French merchants, for the prompt
despatch and decision of affairs of the same nature.
Arrticte XIV. The subjects of the most Christian King and the
citizens of the United States who shall prove, by legal evidence,
that they are of the said nations respectively, shall, in consequence,
enjoy an exemption from all personal service in the place of their
settlement.
Articte XV. If any other nation acquires, by virtue of any
convention whatever, a treatment more favorable with respect to the
consular preéminences, powers, authority, and privileges, the Consuls
and Vice Consuls of the most Christian King or the United States,
reciprocally, shall participate therein, agreeably to the terms stipu-
lated by the 2d, 3d, and 4th articles of the treaty of amity and
commerce concluded between the most Christian King and the
United States.
Articte XVI. The present convention shall be in full force
during the term of twelve years, to be counted from the day of the
exchange of ratifications, which shall be given in proper form, and
exchanged on both sides within the space of one year, or sooner, if
possible.
In faith whereof, &c.
FIRST COUNTER-PROPOSITION
ON THE PART OF FRANCE.
Translation.
Convention between his most Christian
Majesty and the United States of
America, for the purpose of determin-
ing and fixing the functions and pre-
rogatives of their respective Consuls
and Vice Consuls.
NOTES. His Majesty the most Christian King
It is proposed to leave out the words
Agents and Commissaries. In the treaty
the right of establishing Agents, or Com-
missaries, or Consuls, is reserved. But
since the late denomination is chosen, it
appears useless to repeat the others.
- Itappears properto announce precisely
that these public officers shall be under
_ the title of Consuls and Vice Consuls,
in order to prevent any persons being
and the United States of America having,
by the 29th article of the treaty of amity
and commerce concluded between them,
mutually granted the liberty of having,
in their respective States and ports,
Consuls and Vice Consuls, Agents and
Commissaries, and being willing, in con-
sequence thereof, to define and establish,
in a reciprocal and permanent manner,
the functions ‘and prerogatives of Con-
206
respectively sent hereafter under different
titles from whence might result difficulties
in point of form. It is proposed to
suppress the denomination of Agents
and Commissaries, wherever they are
announced in the following articles.
~
Although Mr. Jefferson appears de-
sirous that all the respective Consuls
and Vice Consuls should be named by
the sovereign, inconvenience appears to
us on this head. All those who are
actually established in America have the
King’s commission. It is also very
advantageous that this should be the
case, to permit too great multiplication
of American Vice Consuls in France.
Therefore the words, or by authority, are
suppressed, and the 2d article of the old
project totally. Butit appears necessary
to reserve to Consuls and Vice Consuls
the right of naming Agents in the ports
of their districts to correspond with
them, without the said Agents having
any public character or exequatur.
It is proposed to make some slight
alterations in this article. It appears
necessary to grant Consuls some im-
munities, but these are not dangerous,
when the cases of crimes or debts are
excepted. Ags to the papers of the
chancery, it is impossible for any nation
to refuse the fullest immunity; submis-
sion to all taxes has been added with
respect to those who shall exercise com-
merce. It is remarked, on the subject
of seizure for debts, that the civil laws
of France extend greater personal se-
curity than the civil laws of England or
America, bodily restraint not generally
taking place but for commercial debts;
and moreover no person can be arrested
in France for debt before being heard, or
at least cited judicially, with sufficient
delay for his defence. It seems proper
THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
suls and Vice Consuls which they have
judged it convenient to establish, of
preference his most Christian Majesty
has nominated the Sieur E
and the United States have nominated
» who, after having com-
municated to each other their respective
full powers, have agreed on what fol-
lows:
ArticLte J. The Consuls and Vice
Consuls named by the most Christian
King and the United States shall be
bound to present their commissions ac-
cording to the form which shall be estab-
lished respectively by the most Christian
King within his dominions, and by the
Congress within the United States, there
shall be delivered to them, without any
charges, the exequatur necessary for
the exercise of their functions, and on
exhibiting the said exequatur, the gov-
ernors, commanders, heads of justice,
bodies-corporate, tribunals, and other ©
officers having authority in the ports
and places of their consulate, shall cause
them to enjoy, immediately and without
difficulty, the preéminences, authority,
and privileges, reciprocally granted, —
without exacting from the said Consuls
and Vice Consuls any duty under any
pretence whatever.
ArticLe II. The Consuls and Vice
Consuls, and all persons attached to the
Consular functions, shall’ respectively
enjoy personal immunity, excepting in
cases of crimes or debts. ‘They shall
also enjoy a full and entire immunity
for their chancery and the papers which
shall be therein contained. They shall
be exempt from all personal service,
from soldiers’ billets, militia watch,
guards, guardianship, trusteeship, as
well as from all duties, taxes, imposi-
tions, and charges whatsoever, except
on the real and personal estate of which
they may be the proprietors or possess-
ors, which shall be subject to the taxes”
imposed on the estates of all other indi-
viduals; and in all other instances they
shall be subject to the laws of the land
as the natives are. Those of the said
| in the United States.
' that Congress should take some measures
to protect Consuls and Vice Consuls from
the inconveniences which may happen
to foreigners from the forms established
For this purpose
they ought to be considered as being
always under the immediate protection
_ of the legislature of the country, and not
in want of any particular security.
It is proposed to let the 3d article
subsist by suppressing the addition made
_to the 12th article.
_ A few words only have been altered,
and the order of some phrases been
changed, to explain this article, and
remove Mr. Jefferson’s doubts.
| It is proposed to suppress the addi-
tion of the words, in all cases which only
concern persons of the same nation, this
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE.
207
Consuls «and Vice Consuls who shall
exercise commerce shall be respectively
subject to all taxes, charges, and imposi-
tions established on other merchants.
They shall place over the outward
door of their house the arms of their
sovereigen; but this mark of indication
shall not give to the said house any
privilege of asylum for any person or
property whatsoever.
Arricue III. The respective Consuls
and Vice Consuls may establish Agents
in the different ports and places of their
departments, where necessity shall re-
quire. These Agents may be chosen
among the merchants, either national or
foreign, and furnished with a commis-
sion from one of the said Consuls. They
shall confine themselves, respectively,
to the sending to their respective mer-
chants, navigators, and vessels, all pos-
sible service, and to inform the nearest
Consul of the want of the said merchants, -
navigators, and vessels, without the said
Agents otherwise participating in the
immunities, rights, and privileges attrib-
uted to Consuls and Vice Consuls, and
without power, under any pretext what-
ever, to exact from the said merchants
any duty or emoluments whatsoever.
Articte IV. The Consuls and Vice
Consuls, respectively, may establish a
chancery, where shall be deposited the
consular determinations, acts, and pro-
ceedings, as also testaments, obligations,
contracts, and other acts done by or
between persons of their nation, and
effects left by death or saved from ship-
wreck.
They may, in consequence, appoint,
for the business of the said chancery,
capable persons, receive them, admin-
ister an oath to them, give to them the
keeping of the seal, and the rights of
sealing commissions, judgments, and
other acts of the consulate, as well as
there to discharge the functions of nota-
ries and registers of the consulate.
Articte V. The Consuls and Vice
Consuls, respectively, shall have the
exclusive right of receiving in theit
208
being advantageous alike to both parties.
An act done in the consulate may also
answer the purpose of the inhabitants
of the country to validate a fact, and
serve as a proof, if not obligatory.
THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
chancery, or on board the vessels, the
declarations and all the other acts which
the captains, masters, crews, passengers,
and merchants, of their nation may
choose to make there, even their testa-
ments and other disposals by last will.
And the copies of the said acts, duly
authenticated by the said Consuls or Vice
Consuls under the seal of their consulate,
shall receive faith in law, equally as
their originals would, in all the tribunals
of the dominions of the most Christian
King and the United States. ;
In case of the absence of the testa-
mentary executor, guardian, or lawful
representative, they shall also have, ex-
clusively, the right to inventory, liqui-
date, and proceed to the sale of the
personal estate left by subjects who shall
die within the extent of their consulate;
they shall proceed therein, with the as-
sistance of two merchants of their-said
nation, or, for want of them, of any
other at their choice, and shall cause to
be deposited in their chancery the effects
and papers of the said estates; and no
officer, military, judiciary, or of the
police of the country, shall disturb them,
or interfere therein in any manner what-
soever; but the said Consuls and Vice
Consuls shall not deliver up the said
effects, nor the proceeds thereof, to the
lawful representatives, nor to their order,
till they shall have caused to be paid
all debts which the deceased shall have
contracted in the country; for which
purpose the creditor shall have a right
to attach the said effects in their hands,
as they might in those of any other
individual whatever, and proceed to
obtain sale of them, till payment of what
shall be lawfully due to them; when the
debts shall not have been contracted by
judgment, deed, or note, the signature
whereof shall be known, payment shall
not be ordered but on the creditor’s
giving sufficient surety, resident in the
country, to refund the sums he shall
have unduly received, principal, interest,
and cost; which surety, nevertheless,
shall stand duly discharged after a year)
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 209
Vou. Il.—14
in time of peace, and two years, in time
of war, if the demand in discharge can-
not be formed before these delays against
the heirs, which shall present themselves.
And in order that the representative may
not unjustly be kept out of the effects of
the deceased, the Consuls and Vice Con-
suls shall notify his death in some one
of the gazettes published within their
consulate, and that they shall retain the
said effects in their hands four months,
to answer all just demands which shall
be presented; and they shall be bound,
after this delay, to deliver to the persons
succeeding thereto what shall be more
than sufficient for the demands which
shall have been formed.
Articte VI. The Consuls and Vice
Consuls, respectively, shall receive the
declarations, protests, and reports, of all
captains and masters of their respective
nations, on account of average losses
sustained at sea, and these captains and
masters shall lodge in the chancery of
the said Consuls and Vice Consuls, the
acts which they may have made in other
ports on account of the accidents which
may have happened to them on their
voyage. Ifa subject of the most Chris-
tian King, and a citizen of the United
States, or a foreigner, are interested in
the said cargo, the average shall be
settled by the tribunals of the country,
and not by the Consuls or Vice Consuls;
but when only the subject or citizens of
their own nation shall be interested, the
respective Consuls or Vice Consuls shall
appoint skilful persons to regulate the
damages and averages.
Articte VII. In cases where, by
tempests or other accidents, French ships
or vessels shall be stranded on the coasts
of the United States, and ships or vessels
of the United States shall be stranded on
the coasts of the dominions of the most
Christian King, the Consul or Vice Con-
sul nearest to the place of shipwreck
shall do whatever he may judge proper,
as well for the purpose of saving the
said ship or vessel, its cargo, and appur-
tenances, as for the storing and the
210 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
security of the effects and merchandize
saved. He may take an inventory of
them, without the intermeddling of any
officers of the military, of the customs,
of justice, of the police of the country,
otherwise than to give to the Consuls,
Vice Consuls, captains, and crew of the
vessels shipwrecked or stranded, all the
succor and favor which they shall ask
of them, either for the expedition and
security of the saving and of the effects
saved, as to prevent all disturbance.
And in order to prevent any kind of
dispute and discussion in the said caseg
é of shipwreck, it has been agreed that
where no Consul or Vice Consul shall
be found to attend to the salvage, or
that the residence of the said Consul or
Vice Consul (he not being at the place
of shipwreck) shall be further distant
from the said place than that of the
competent territorial judge, the latter
shall immediately then proceed therein
with all the celerity, safety, and pre-
caution, prescribed by the respective
laws; but the said territorial judge shall
retire on the arrival of the Consul or
Vice Consul, and shall deliver over to
fin him the report of his proceeding, the
expenses of which the Consul or Vice
Consul shall cause to be reimbursed to
him as well assthose of salvage.
The merchandize and effects saved
shall be deposited in the custom-house,
or other nearest place of safety, with
the inventory of them which shall have
been made by the Consul or Vice Con-
sul, or by the judge who shall have
proceeded in their absence, that the said
effects and merchandize may be after-
wards delivered, after levying therefrom
the costs, and without form of process
to the owners, who being furnished with
a replevy from the nearest Consul or
Vice Consul, shall reclaim them by
themselves, or by their attorneys, either
for the purpose of reéxporting the mer- _
chandize, and in that case they shall —
pay no duties of exportation, for the —
purpose of selling them in the country
if they are not prohibited, and in this —
Ss
i
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE.
It is proposed to restore this article,
which is nearly reduced as it was in the
first project. It is absolutely impossible
to refuse the Consul civil jurisdiction
aboard the vessels belonging to his na-
tion, and over the same crew. This
/ would be the more unreasonable, as by
the following articles this same civil
| jurisdiction is granted to him over resi-
‘dents ashore belonging to his nation,
and it is much more reasonable that he
) ought to preserve it over such as remain
, under the national flag. The exercise
| of maritime police over national vessels
| is the principal function of Consuls.
i
| This article, relating to the delivery of
the sailors, deserters, appears as though
jit ought to be detached from the pre-
iceding one; it has been endeavored to
reduce it to a simple form, and to pre-
) vent all difficulty by regulating the re-
,course of the Consuls to the territorial
“magistrates. No mentionhas been made
jof the passengers, as it appeared not
‘proper to insist on this matter. The
ideserters from the King’s ships are not
‘distinguished from those belonging to
ymerchant vessels. The Consuls can
,claim both in the same manner. The
part which concerned sending back the
vessels has been totally omitted.
}
a
y
i
j oe
_ bak
-
211
latter case, the said merchandize being
averaged, there shall be granted them an
abatement of the entrance duties, pro-
portioned to the damage sustained, which
shall be ascertained by the verbal process
formed at the time of the shipwreck, or
of the vessels running ashore.
Arrticie VIII. The Consuls and Vice
Consuls shall exercise the police over all
the vessels of their respective nations,
and shall have on board the said vessel
all power and jurisdiction in civil matters
in all the disputes which may there arise.
They shall have an entire inspection
over the said vessels, their crews, aft
the changes and substitutions there to
be made, and there shall cause to be
executed the respective laws, ordinances,
and rules concerning navigation; for
which purpose they shall go on board
the said vessels whenever they may
judge it necessary, without interruption
from any officer or other person what-
Soever.
Articte IX. The Consuls and Vice
Consuls may cause to be arrested, the
captains, officers, mariners, sailors, and
all other persons, being part of the crews
of the vessels of their respective nation,
who shall have deserted from the said
vessels, in order to send them back and
transport them out of the country; for
which purpose the said Consuls and
Vice Consuls shall address themselves
tothe courts, judges, and officers compe-
tent, and shall demand the said deserters
in writing, proving, by an exhibition of
the registers of the vessels or ship’s roll,
that those men were part of the said
crews, and on this demand, thus proved,
the delivery shall not be refused, and
there shall be given all aid and assistance
to the said Consuls and Vice Consuls,
for the search, seizure, and arrest of the
said deserters, who shall even be de-
tained and kept in the prisons of the
country, at their request and expense,
until they shall have found an oppor-
tunity of sending them back. But if
they be not sent back within three
months, to be counted from the day of
212
This explanation of Mr. Jefferson
may be left. ‘The expression, breach of
the peace, being the literal translation of
the English expression suitable to this
article.
It is proposed to add this article in
order to prevent the inconveniences that
might result from the liberty which the
territorial magistrates might have to
arrest the crews of merchant vessels,
and then arbitrarily detain the vessels in
the port, and by that means suspend all
activity in commerce and navigation.
The advice given to the Consuls or Vice
Consuls, that all these acts of authority
be done only in their presence, by no
means suspends the course of justice,
seeing he cannot oppose it, but he will
be in a situation to make claims which
will prevent the effect of surprises which
might be attempted on the local magis-
trates, by demanding from them decrees
er warrants, the fatal consequences of
which they might be left in ignorance of.
The Consuls and Vice Consuls, duly
‘notified, might legally proceed according
to circumstances for the general interests
of commerce, ‘and those of their nation
in particular.
The last part of this article is import-
ant; it dees not appear that there can be
any difficulty in delivering to the Consuls
or Vice Consuls, the persons arrested
under the flag of their nation, when
there shall be no longer any occasion
to detain them in the territorial prisons,
and consequently the justice of the coun-
try shall have no further right over them.
The precaution taken in this article is
necessary to prevent desertion; without
which a sailor who wished to desert
might concert measures with a person of
THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
arrest, they shall be set at liberty, and
shall no more be arrested for the same
cause. :
Articte X. In cases where the re-
spective subjects or citizens shall have
committed any crime or breach of the
peace, they shall be amenable to the
judges of the country.
Arricie XI. When the said offenders
shall be a part of the crew of a vessel of
their nation, and shall have withdrawn
themselves on board their said vessels,
they may be there seized and arrested,
but the delivery shall be first demanded
by the territorial magistrates from the
Consuls of their nation, who shall not
refuse it, and whenever it shall be judged
necessary to make inquiry and search
on board the said merchant vessels, such
cannot be made but in the presence of
the said Consuls and Vice Consuls, or
until after they shall have been informed
and invited to.repair on board. But at
any rate no person can be seized or
arrested, either on account of crimes, —
debts, or for any other causes whatso-
ever, on board the said vessels, ‘but in
presence of the said Consuls or Vice
Consuls, or until after they shall have
been duly notified. The said persons
thus seized and arrested shall not after-
wards be set at liberty until the Consul
or Vice Consul shall have ‘been notified
thereof, and they shall be delivered to
him, if he requires it, to be put again on
board the vessels in which they were
arrested, or others of their nation, to be
sent out of the country.
¢
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE.
the country to be arrested for a supposed
debt, remain in prison until the sailing
of the vessel, and afterwards set at
liberty. This reprehensible mancuvre
has been practised already.
It is contrary to all the principles of
the right of nations, that the civil and
military magistrates. exercise any au-
thority whatever on board the vessels of
war belonging to a friendly nation, and
this article is conformable to regulations
with other nations, particularly with
what has been agreed to in the project
of a Convention with the Republic of
Genoa.
) This article is the 9th of Mr. Jeffer-
gon’s project. Some words have only
been added to designate in a more par-
ticular manner, the affairs between the
crews of vessels belonging to the same
nation which appertains in a special
manner to the consular jurisdiction. It
is proposed to retrench the words, if one
of the parties demand it, because the re-
course to foreign tribunals in such cases
is absolutely illegal for Frenchmen.
213
Articte XII. No search shall in any-
wise be made on board of the respective
ships of war. But if there is reason to
suppose that offenders have taken refuge
on board them, the delivery shall be
demanded by the magistrates or territorial
officers, from the Consul or Vice Consul
of the nation, or from the commanders
of the said vessels. In the ports where
there shall be no Consul or Vice Consul,
the said commanders shall not refuse to
deliver up the offenders, and send them
ashore to be put into the hands of the
magistrates or officers. In case the com-
manders of the aforesaid vessels of war
should declare that the offenders are not
on board their vessels, they shall be
believed on their words, without any
further search being made.
Arrice XIII. Alldifferences and suits
between the subjects of the most Chris-
tian King in the United States, or between
the citizens of the United States within
the dominions of the most Christian King,
and particularly all disputes relative to
the wages and terms of engagement of
the crews of the respective vessels, and
all differences, of whatever nature they
be, which may arise between the privates
of the said crews, or between any of
them and their captains, or between the
captains of different vessels of their
nation, shall be determined by the re-
spective Consuls and Vice Consuls, either
by a reference to arbitrators or by a
summary judgment, and without costs.
No officer of the country, civil or mili-
tary, shall interfere therein, or take any
part whatever in the matter; and the
appeals from the said consular sentences
shall be carried before the tribunals of
France or of the United States, to whom
it may appertain to take cognizance
thereof.
Articte XIV. The general utility of
commerce having caused to be established
Cth) THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
within the dominions of the most Chrig-
tian King particular tribunals and forms
for expediting the decision of commercial
affairs, the merchants of the United States
shall enjoy the benefit of these establish-
ments; and the. Congress of the United
States will provide in the manner the
most conformable to its laws, equivalent
advantages in favor of the French mer-
chants for the prompt despatch and decis-
ion of affairs of the same nature.
ArticLe XV. The subjects of the most
Christian King and citizens of the United
States, who shall prove by legal evidence
that they are of the said nations, respect-
ively, shall, in consequence, enjoy an
exemption from all personal service in
the place of their settlement.
Articite XVI, If any other nation re-
quire, by virtue of any convention what-
ever, a treatment more favorable with —
respect to the consular preéminences,
powers, authority, privileges, the Con-
suls and Vice Consuls of the most Chris-
tian King or of the United States, recipro- @
j cally, shall participate therein, agreeable —
to the terms stipulated by the 2d, 3d, and
Ath articles of the treaty of amity and
commerce concluded between the most
Christian King and the United States.
Arrticte XVII. The present conyen-
tion shall be in full force during the term _
of twelve years, to be counted from the —
day of the exchange of the ratifications, —
which shall be in proper form and ex-
changed on both sides within the space
of one year, or sooner, if possible.
In faith whereof, &c.
Articue I. Agreed.
Articie II. The words, “joutront respectivement de Pimmunité
personelle, sauf les cas de crimes ou de dettes,” are omitted. Two
descriptions of persons are well known to the laws of both countries:
Ist. ‘Those subject to the laws of the land; and, 2d. Those subject
only to the laws of nations. The obligations and the privileges of
each of these are so well settled that few or no disputes can arise
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. ‘ 2a
about them. But a middle character between the two would be
new and unknown, and would introduce endless questions and dis~
cussions. If it be thought that the words, sauf les cas de crimes
ou de dettes,” replace them freely under the law of the land, then
the whole passage is useless. If the exception be as broad as the
rule, both may be omitted. But in truth the exception as to “ crimes
and debts” would not replace them fully under the laws of the land ;
for, 1. They would not be obliged to give testimony in a court of
- justice. 2. They are cases of trespass, of trust, and of special
contract, not included in a strict and legal acceptation of the terms
‘¢ crimes and debts,” and in which, therefore, they would be exempted
from the justice of the country.
It is proposed, also, to omit the words “ toutes les personnes
attachées aux fonctions consulaires,”’ to prevent the abuses which
would inevitably arise from an extension of the consular immunities
to an indefinite number of persons. ‘The subordinate characters
really attached to the consulate will be completely protected against
avocation from their duties, or molestation in the exercise of them
by the fifteenth article, “exempting them from all personal services,”
which is all that can be desired, if they be foreigners, and which
ought not to be desired if they be natives. For no native should
have it in his power to withdraw himself from an obedience to the
laws of his country while he remains in it.
Arrticte III. Agreed.
Articte IV. Agreed.
Articte V. Agreed, only reéstablishing the words “comme le
- feratent” instead of “et auront la méme force que.”
Arricte VI. Agreed.
Articue VII. Agreed.
Articie VIII. This article proposes to give to Consuls, Ist. Civil
jurisdiction on board their vessels; 2d. A power to execute the
ordinances relative to navigation; 3d. A right to go on board for
these purposes at all times, without hindrance. The first’ and third
of these admit of no difficulty; but the second could not be agreed
to, because it establishes a whole code at once, the contents of
which are unknown to the party within whose territory it is to be
executed. When each concedes to the other a civil jurisdiction
within its own ports, it knows the extent of its concession; but
when it permits the enforcement of all the navigation laws of the
216 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
other ina lump, it does not know what it concedes. They may
include a criminal jurisdiction; they may be contrary to bills of
rights, or, if not so at present, they may be hereafter. It is surely
prudent and honorable for us to stipulate to each other only what we
know we can execute. But we do not know we can execute, if we
do not know what we stipulate.
ArticLe IX. Agreed, with two alterations: Ist. Omitting the
words ‘et autres personnes,” because the others, ‘capitaines, officiers,
mariniers et matelots,” are supposed to comprehend the whole crew.
If they do not, it will be better to add other specifications, rather
than words so indefinite as “autres personnes ;” 2d. Omitting “ par
Pexhibition des régistres du.bétiment ow réle d’equipage.” I suppose
that the legal construction of these words must be weaker under
the laws of France than of the United States; otherwise they
would not be proposed. Their effect in the United States would be
to make the ship’s roll so conclusive that no contrary evidence could
be opposed to it. A master of a ship, for instance, inserting in hig
roll the name of a citizen of the United States who had never seen
his ship; that citizen must be delivered to him, if these words were
to remain. It is not probable, indeed, that the master of a ship
would be so indiscreet; but neither is it proper to rest personal
liberty on the discretion of a master of a ship. Without these words,
the clause will stand “en justifiant que ses hommes faisatent partie
des susdits equipages ;” his claims may then be supported and con-
tested, as all other claims may be, by every species of legal. evidence.
He will stand on the same footing with native officers reclaiming their
deserted sailors.
ArticLte X. Agreed.
Articte XI. This article proposes, Ist. That there shall be no
arrest for crimes or debts, but in presence of the Consul or Vice
Consul; 2d. That no ship shall be searched but in his presence.
These propositions are new. The principle on which we have pro-
ceeded hitherto has been that, in all cases, where the nation or any
member of it, is concerned, the national jurisdiction shall have free
and unrestrained course. But this article proposes to clog it with
applications to the foreign Consul, and that it shall await his attend-
ance, if he chooses to attend. How quickly he may attend, will
depend on his being readily found, on his being disengaged, on his
distance from the ship, on his personal activity and good faith.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 217
Some, or all of these circumstances, will generally give full time for
the criminal or debtor to escape, or for the contraband goods to be
withdrawn. |
That part of this article which is intended to prevent a collusive
desertion of sailors, not being liable to the same objections, is agreed
to, as follows: “Lorsque les dits coupables feront partie, de Véquip-
age de Vun des batiments de leur nation, ils ne pourront étre ensuite
mis en liberté qu’ aprés que le Consul ow Vice Consul, en aura été
prévenu et ils lui seront remis, s'il le requiert, pour étre reconduats
sur les bdtiments ou ils auraient été arrettés ou autres de leur nation,
et étre renvoyés hors du pays.”
Arrticie XII. This article is new also, and liable to the same
objections with the preceding, and in a higher degree, as rendering
the ports of the two nations still more completely extraterritorial.
The clause which would make the captain’s word conclusive evidence
that the criminal who is seen standing on his deck, is not there,
comes under all the objections which were made in a former paper,
to whatever should control a fair and full investigation of a fact.
Our laws permit every species of proof to be opposed by counter
proof. The convention of the neutral Powers in the late war,
made the captain’s word conclusive evidence, that no contraband
- goods were on board the vessels under his convoy ; but this im cases
arising on the high seas. The sea belongs to no nation. No nation,
therefore, has a natural right to search the ships of another on the
high seas. ‘The contrary practice has been an abuse, and the aban-
donment of it is a reformation of that abuse, a reéstablishment of
natural right. But the ports of a nation are a part of its territory.
They are often within the body of a town, and an immunity from
the restraint of law granted to strangers within the port would be as
productive of disorder.as if granted to those im the town or im the
country. All judges, civil and criminal, derive their authority from
_ the sovereign of the country wherein they act. For the encourage-
_ ment of commerce, it is become usual to permit, by conventions,
_ foreign merchants of the same country to refer their disputes to a
judge of their own. But in criminal cases, in cases which interest
numbers of their own, or any other State, or the State itself, it is
| apprehended not to be the practice for the nation to part with its
authority, and that neither order nor justice would be promoted by
it. Particularly to leave to the discretion of a captain, whether his
218 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
ship shall be an asylum for fugitive debtors, whether the disorders or
crimes committed by his sailors, or by others taking refuge in his
ship, should be punished or not, cannot be a means of encouraging
the commerce between the two nations, nor promote the interest
or honor of either. Nor has the impunity any relation to the
functions of a Consul, which are the sole object of the present con-
vention.
Artictes XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, and XVII. Agreed.
No. 4.
SECOND FORM PROPOSED ON THE PART OF THE UNITED STATES.
Convention between his most Christian Majesty and the United
States of America, for the purpose of defining and establishing
theFunctions and privileges of their respective Consuls and Vice
Consuls.
His Majesty the most Christian King and the United States of
America having, by the twenty-ninth article of the treaty of amity
and commerce concluded between them, mutually granted the liberty
of having in their respective States and ports Consuls, Vice Con-
suls, Agents, and Commissaries; and being willing, in consequence
thereof, to define and establish in a reciprocal and permanent ‘manner,
the functions and prerogatives of Consuls and Vice Consuls, which
they have judged it convenient to establish of preference, his most
Christian Majesty has nominated the Sieur :
and the United States have nominated » who,
after having communicated to each other their respective full powers,
have agreed on what follows:
Articte I, The Consuls and Vice Consuls named by the most
Christian King and the United States, shall be bound to present their
commissions, according to the forms which shall be established
respectively by the most Christian King within his dominions, and
by the Congress within the United States. There shall be delivered
to them without any charges, the exequatur necessary for the exer-
cise of their functions; and on exhibiting the said exequatur, the
governors, commanders, heads of justice, bodies corporate, tribunals,
or other officers having authority in the ports and places of their
consulates, shall cause them to enjoy, immediately and without
on DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 219
difficulty, the preéminences, authority, and privileges reciprocally
granted, without exacting from the said Consuls and Vice Consuls
any fee under any pretext whatever.
Arricie II. The Consuls and Vice Consuls shall enjoy a full and
entire immunity for their chancery, and the papers therein contained.
They shall be exempt from all personal service, from soldiers’ billets,
militia watch, guard, guardianship, trusteeship, as well as from all
duties, taxes, impositions, and charges whatsoever, except on the
estate, real and personal, of which they may be the proprietors or
possessors, which shall be subject to the taxes imposed on the estates
of all other individuals; and in all other instances they shall be
subject to the laws of the land as the natives are.
' Those of the said Consuls and Vice Consuls, who shall exercise
commerce, shall be respectively subject to all taxes, charges, and ©
impositions established on other merchants. .
They shall place over the outward door of their houses the arms
of their sovereign, without that this mark of distinction shall give to
the said houses the right of asylum for any person or property
whatsoever.
Articte III. The respective Consuls and Vice Consuls may
establish agents in the different ports and places of their departments
when necessity shall require. ‘These agents may be chosen among
the merchants, either national or foreign, and furnished with a com-
- mission from one of the said Consuls. ‘They shall confine themselves
respectively to the rendering to their respective merchants, navigators,
and vessels all possible service, and to inform the nearest Consul of
the wants of the said merchants, navigators, and vessels, without the
said agents otherwise participating in the immunities attributed to
Consuls and Vice Consuls, and without power, under any pretext
_ whatever, to exact from the said merchants any duty or emolument
_ whatever.
1
Articte IV. The respective Consuls and Vice Consuls may
_ establish a chancery, where shall be deposited the consular delib-
y
erations, acts, and proceedings, as also testaments, obligations,
_ contracts, and other acts done by, or between persons of their
nations, and effects left by deceased persons, or saved from ship-
wreck.
They may consequently appoint for the business of the said
chancery capable persons, receive them, administer an oath to them,
220 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
give to them the keeping of the seal, and the right of sealing
commissions, judgments, and other consular acts, as well as there
to discharge the functions of notaries and Sa ial of the con-_
sulate.
ArticLte V. The respective Consuls and a View Consuls shall have
the exclusive right of receiving in their chancery, or on board of
vessels, the declarations and all the other acts which the captains,
masters, seamen, passengers, and merchants of their nation would
make there, even their testaments and other dispositions of last will;
~and in the copies of the said’ acts duly authenticated by the said
Consuls or Vice Consuls, under the seal of their consulate, shall
receive faith in law equally as their originals would, in all the.
tribunals of the dominions of the most Christian King and the United -
States.
They shall also have, and exclusively, in case of the absence of
the testamentary executor, guardian, or lawful heirs, the right to
inventory, liquidate, and proceed to the sale of the personal estate
left by subjects or citizens of their nation, who shall die within the
extent of their consulate; they shall proceed therein, with the
assistance of two merchants of their said nation, or for want of them,
of any other at their choice; shall cause to be deposited in their
chancery the effects and papers of the said estates; and no officer,
military, judiciary, or of the police of the country, shall disturb them,
or interfere therein, in any manner whatsoever; but the said Consuls
or Vice Consuls shall not deliver up the said effects, nor the proceeds
thereof, to the lawful representatives, or to their order, till they shall
have caused to be paid all debts which the deceased shall have
contracted in the country ; for which purpose the creditors shall have
a right to attach the said effects in their hands as they might in those
of any other imdividual whatever, and proceed to obtain sale of
them till payment of what shall be lawfully due to them. When the
debts shall not have been contracted by judgment, deed, or note, the
signature whereof shall be known, payment shall not be ordered but
on the creditor’s giving sufficient surety resident in the country to
refund the sums he shall have unduly received, principal, interest,
and costs, which surety shall, nevertheless, remain duly discharged
after a year in time of peace, and two years in time of war, if the
demand in discharge cannot be formed before these delays “—
the heirs which shall present themselves.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 99]
And in order that the representatives may not be unjustly kept out
of the effects of the deceased, the Consuls and Vice Consuls shall
notify his death in some one of the gazettes published within their
consulate, and that they shall retain the said effects in their hands
four months to answer all just demands which shall be presented ;
and they shall be bound, after this delay, to deliver to the persons
succeeding thereto, what shall be more than sufficient for the
demands which shall have been formed.
Arricte VI. The respective Consuls and Vice Consuls shall
receive the declarations, protests, and reports of all captains and ©
masters of their respective. nations, on account of average losses
sustained at sea; and these captains and masters shall lodge in the
chancery of the said Consuls and Vice Consuls, the acts which may
have happened to them on their voyage. If a subject of the most
- Christian King, and a citizen of the United States or a foreigner, are
interested in the said cargo, the average shall be settled by the
tribunals of the country, and not by the Consuls or Vice Consuls;
but when only the subjects or citizens of their own nation shall be
interested, the respective Consuls or Vice Consuls shall appoint
| skilful persons to settle the damage and average.
Arricur VIL. In cases where, by tempests or other accidents,
' French ships or vessels shall be stranded on the coasts of the United
- States, and ships or vessels of the United States shall be stranded on
va
the coasts of the dominions of the most Christian King, the Consul
or Vice Consul nearest to the place of shipwreck shall do whatever
he may judge proper, as well for the purpose of saving the said ship
or vessel, its cargo and appurtenances, as for the storing and security
of the effects and merchandize saved. He may take an inventory
_ of them without the intermeddling of any officers of the military, of
the customs, of justice, or of the police of the country, otherwise
than to give the Consuls, Vice Consuls, captains and crew of the
vessel or ship wrecked or stranded all the succor and favor which
they shall ask of them, either for the expedition and security of the
saving of the effects saved, as to prevent all disturbance.
To prevent even any kind of dispute and discussion in the said
cases of shipwreck it has been agreed that where no Consul or Vice
Consul shall be found to attend to the salvage, or that the residence
of the said Consul or Vice Consul (he not bemg at the place of
shipwreck) shall be further distant from the said place than that of
#
Q22 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
the competent territorial J udge, the latter shall immediately proceed —
therein with all the celerity, safety, and precaution prescribed by the
respective laws; but the said territorial Judge shall retire on the
coming of the Consul or Vice Consul, and shall resign to him the |
procedures by him done, the expenses of which the Consul or Vice
Consul shall cause. to be reimbursed to him, as well as those of
saving the wreck.
The merchandize and effects saved shall be deposited in the
custom-house, or other nearest place of safety, with the inventory
thereof, which shall be made by the Consul or Vice Consul, or, in
their absence, by the Judge who shall have had cognizance thereof,
that the said effects and merchandize may afterwards be delivered,
after levying therefrom the costs, and without form of process, to the
proprietors, who, being furnished with a replevy from the nearest
Consul or Vice Consul, shall reclaim them by themselves, or by their —
attorneys, either for the purpose of reéxporting the merchandizes—_
and in that case they shall pay no kind of duties of exportation—or
for the purpose of selling them in the country, if they are not
prohibited; and in this latter case, the said merchandize being
averaged, there shall be granted them an abatement of the entrance
duties proportioned to the damage sustained, which shall be ascer-
tained by the verbal process formed at the time of the ahiperteck or
of the vessel’s running ashore.
Articte VIII. The Consuls and Vice Consuls shall bine on
board of the vessels of their respective nations all power and juris-
diction in civil matters; and for this purpose they may go there
without being interrupted by any officer or other person what-
soever. ) 4
Articte IX. The Consuls and Vice Consuls may cause to be
arrested the captains, officers, mariners, sailors of the crews of the
vessels of their respective nations, who shall have deserted from the
said vessels, in order to send them back and transport them out of
the country. For which purpose the said Consuls and Vice Consuls
shall address themselves to the competent tribunals, judges, and
officers, and shall demand from them the said deserters in writing,
proving that those men made a part of the said crew; and on this
demand, so proved, the delivery shall not be refused; and there
shall be given all aid and assistance to the said Consuls and Vice
Consuls for the search, seizure, and arrest of the said deserters, who.
=
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, 223
shall even be detained and kept in the prisons of the country, at
their request and expenses, until they shall have found an opportunity
of sending them back. But if they be not sent back within three
months, to be counted from the day of arrest, they shall be set at
liberty, and be no more arrested for the same cause.
Arricte X. In cases where the respective subjects or citizens
shall have committed any crime or breach of the peace, they shall be
amenable to the judges of the country.
Arricte XI. When the said offenders shall be a part of the
crew of the vessel of their nation, they shall not afterwards be set at
liberty until the Consul or Vice Consul shall have been notified
thereof; and they shall be delivered to him if he requires it, to be
put again on board of the vessel on which they were arrested, or of
others of their nation, and to be sent out of the country.
Articue XII. All differences and suits between the subjects of
the most Christian King in the United States, or between the citizens
of the United States within the dominions of the most Christian
King, and particularly all disputes relative to the wages and terms
of engagement of the crews of the respective vessels, and all differ-
ences of whatever nature they be which may arise between the
privates of the said crews, or between any of them and their
captains, or between the captains of different vessels of their nation,
shall be determined by the respective Consuls and Vice Consuls,
either by a reference to arbitration or by a summary judgment, and
without costs. No officer of the country, civil or military, shall
interfere therein, or take any part whatever in the matter; and the
appeals from the said consular sentences shall be carried before
_ the tribunals of France or of the United States, to whom it may
_ appertain to take cognizance thereof.
_ Arricve XIII. The general utility of commerce having caused
_ to be established with the dominions of the most Christian King
_ particular tribunals and forms for expediting the decision of com-
_ mercial affairs, the merchants of the United States shall enjoy the
_ benefit of these establishments; and the Congress of the United
States will provide in the manner most conformable to its laws
_ equivalent advantages in favor of the French merchants, for the
_ prompt despatch and decision of affairs of the same nature.
| Articte XIV. The subjects of the most Christian King and the
| citizens of the United States who shall prove by legal evidence that
224 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
they are of the said nation respectively, shall in consequence enjoy
an exemption from all personal service in the place of their settle-
ments. 4
Artictn XV. If any other nation requires by virtue of any
convention whatever, a treatment more favorable with respect to the |
consular preéminences, powers, authority, and privileges, the Con-
suls and Vice Consuls of the most Christian King, or of the United
States reciprocally shall participate therein, agreeably to the terms
stipulated by the 2d, 3d, and 4th articles of the treaty of amity and
commerce concluded between the most Christian King and the
United States. : |
Arricte XVI. The present convention shall be in force during |
the term of twelve years, to be counted from the day of the exchange
of ratifications, which shall be given in proper form, and exchanged
on both sides within the space of one year or sooner if possible.
In faith, whereof, &c.
—see
No. 5.
CONSULAR CONVENTION.
Convention between his most Christian Majesty and the United
States of America, for the purpose of defining and establishing
the functions and privileges of thetr respective Consuls and Vice
Consuls.
His Majesty the most Christian King and the United States of
America having, by the twenty-ninth article of the treaty of amity
and commerce, concluded between them, mutually granted the |
liberty of having, in their respective States and ports, Consuls, Vice
Consuls, Agents, and Commissaries, and being willing, in conse-
quence thereof, to define and establish in a reciprocal and permanent
manner the functions and privileges of Consuls and Vice Consuls,
which they have judged it convenient to establish of preference, his
most Christian Majesty has nominated the Sieur Count of Montmorin |
of St. Herent, Mareschal of his Camps and Armies, Knight of his -
Orders and of the Golden Fleece, his Counsellor in all his Councils, |
Minister and Secretary of State and of his Commandments and
Finances, having the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the United »
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 225
States have nominated Thomas Jefferson, citizen of the United States
of America and their Minister Plenipotentiary near the King, who,
after having communicated to each other their respective full powers,
have agreed on what follows:
Arricir I. The Consuls and Vice Consuls named by the most
Christian King and the United States, shall be bound to present
their commissions, according to the forms which shall be established
respectively by the most Christian King within his dominions, and
by the Congress within the United States. ‘There shall be delivered
to them, without any charges, the exequatur necessary for the
exercise of their functions; and on exhibiting the said exequatur,
the governors, commanders, heads of justice, bodies corporate,
tribunals, and other officers having authority in the ports and places
of their consulates, shall cause them to enjoy, immediately and
without difficulty, the preéminences, authority, and privileges recip-
rocally granted, without exacting from the said Consuls and Vice
Consuls any fee under any pretext whatever.
Articir II. The Consuls and Vice Consuls, and persons attached
to their functions, that is to say, their Chancellors and Secretaries,
shall enjoy a full and entire immunity for their chancery, and the
papers which shall be therein contained. They shall be exempt
from all personal service, from soldiers’ billets, militia watch, guard,
| guardianship, trusteeship, as well as from all duties, taxes, imposi-
_ tions, and charges whatsoever, except on the estate, real and:
_ personal, of which they may be the proprietors or possessors, which’
}
4
shall be subject to the taxes imposed on the estates of all other
individuals; and in all other instances they shall be subject to the
laws of the land as the natives are.
Those of the said Consuls and Vice Consuls, who shall exercise
commerce, shall be respectively subject to all taxes, charges, and:
— —
impositions established on other merchants. .
They shall place over the outward door of their house the arms:
of their sovereign, but this mark of indication shall not give to the
said house any privilege of asylum for any person or property
whatsoever.
Articte III. The respective Consuls and Vice Consuls may
establish agents in the different ports and places of their departments
H
where necessity shall require. ‘These agents may be chosen among
the merchants, either national or foreign, and furnished with a com-
° Vou. USSG .
226 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
mission from one of the said Consuls. They shall confine themselves
respectively to the rendering to their respective merchants, navigators,
and vessels all possible service, and to inform the nearest Consul of
the wants of the said merchants, navigators, and vessels, without the
said agents otherwise participating in the immunities, rights, and
privileges attributed to Consuls and Vice Consuls, and without
power, under ‘any pretext whatever, to exact from the said mer-
chants any duty or emolument whatsoever.
Articur IV. The Consuls and Vice Consuls respectively may
establish a chancery, where shall be deposited the consular .determ-
inations, acts, and proceedings, as also testaments, obligations,
contracts, and other acts done by, or ‘between persons of their
nation, and effects left by decedents, or saved from shipwreck.
They may consequently appoint fit persons to act in the said
chancery, qualify, and swear them in, commit to them the custody
of the seal, and authority to seal commissions, sentences, and other
consular acts, and also to discharge the functions of ‘notaries and
registers of ‘the consulate.
Articitr V. The Consuls and Vice Consuls respectively shall have
the exclusive right of receiving in their chancery, or on board their
vessels, the declarations and all other the acts ‘which the captains,
masters, crews, passengers, and merchants of their nation may choose
to make there, even their testaments and other disposals-by last will;
and the copies of the said acts duly authenticated by the said
Consuls or Vice Consuls, under the seal of their consulate, shall
receive faith in law equally as their originals would, in «all the
tribunals of the dominions of the most Christian King and of ‘the
United States. |
They shall also have, and exclusively, m case of the absence of
the testamentary executor, guardian, or lawful representative, the
right to inventory, liquidate, and ‘proceed to the sale of the personal
estate left by subjects or citizens of their nation, who shall die within
the extent of their consulate; they shall proceed therein, with the
assistance of two-merchants of their said nation, or for want of them,
of any other at their choice; and shall cause to be deposited in their
chancery the effects and papers.of ‘the said estates; and*no officer,
military, judiciary, or of the police of the country, shall disturb them,
or interfere therein, in any manner whatsoever; but the said Consuls
and Vice Consuls shall not deliver up the said effects, nor the proceeds
\
f
i
’
A
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 29°F
thereof, to the lawful representatives, or to their order, till they shall
have caused to be paid all debts which the deceased shall have
contracted in the country ; for which purpose the creditors shall have
a right to attach the said effects in their hands as they might in those
of any other individual whatever, and proceed to obtain sale of
them till payment of what shall be lawfully due to them. When the
debts shall not have been contracted by judgment, deed, or note, the
signature whereof shall be known, payment shall not be erdered but
on the creditor’s giving sufficient surety resident in the country to
refund the sums they shall have unduly received, principal, interest,
and costs, which surety, nevertheless, shall stand duly discharged
after the term of one year in time of peace,.and of two in time of
war, if the discharge cannot be formed before the end-of this term
against the representatives who shall present themselves.
And in order that the representatives may not be unjustly kept
out of the effects of the deceased, the Consuls and Vice Consuls
shall notify his death in some one of the gazettes published within
their consulate, and that they shall retain the said effects in their
hands four months, to answer all just demands which shall be pre-
‘sented; and they shall be bound, after this delay, to deliver :to the
persons succeeding thereto what shall be more than sufficient for the
demands which shall have been formed.
Articte VI. The Consuls and Vice Consuls respectively shall
receive the declarations, protests, and reports of all captains and
masters of their respective nation, on account of average losses
sustained at sea; and these captains and masters:shall lodge in the
chancery of the said Consuls and Vice Consuls the acts which they
may have made in other ports on account of the accidents which
may have happened to them on their voyage. If a subject of the
most Christian King and a citizen of the United States, or-a foreigner,
are interested in the said cargo, the average shall be settled by the
tribunals of the country, and not by the Consuls or Vice Consuls ;
but when only the subjects or citizens of their own nation shall be
interested, the respective Consuls or Vice Consuls shall appoint
skilful persons to settle the damages and average.
Articte VII. In cases where, by tempests or other accidents,
French ships or vessels shall be stranded on the coasts of the United
States, and ships or vessels.of the United States shall be stranded
on the coasts of the dominions of the most Christian King, the Consul
-
228 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
or Vice Consul nearest to the place of shipwreck, shall do whatever
he may judge proper, as well for the purpose of saving the said
ship or vessel, its cargo and appurtenances, as for the stormg and
security of the effects and merchandize saved. He may take an
inventory of them without the intermeddling of any officers of the
military, of the customs, of justice, or of the police of the country,
otherwise than to give to the Consuls, Vice Consuls, captain, and
crew of the vessel shipwrecked or stranded all the succor and favor
which they shall ask of them, either for the expedition and security of
the saving and of the effects saved as to prevent all disturbance.
And in order to prevent all kind of dispute and discussion in the
said cases of shipwreck, it is agreed that when there shall be no
Consul or Vice Consul to attend to the saving of the wreck, or that
the residence of the said Consul or Vice Consul (he not being at
the place of the wreck) shall be more distant from the said place
than that of the competent judge of the country, the latter shall
immediately proceed therein with all the despatch, certainty, and
precautions prescribed by the respective laws ; but the said territorial
judge shall retire on the arrival of the Consul or Vice Consul, and
shall deliver over to him the report of his proceedings, the expenses”
of which the Consul or Vice Consul shall cause to be reimbursed to
him, as well as those of saving the wreck.
The merchandize and effects saved shall be deposited in the
nearest custom-house or other place of safety, with the inventory
thereof, which shall be made by. the Consul or Vice Consul, or by
the judge who shall have proceeded in their absence, that the said
effects and merchandize may afterwards be delivered, after levying
therefrom the costs, and without form of process to the owners, who
being furnished with an order for their delivery from the nearest
Consul or Vice ,Consul, shall reclaim them by themselves, or by
their order, either for the purpose of reéxporting such merchandize,
in which case they shall pay no kind of duty of exportation; or for
that of selling them in the country, if they be not prohibited there;
and in this last case the said merchandize, if they be damaged, shall
be allowed an abatement of entrance duties,. proportioned to the
damage they have sustained, which shall be ascertained by the
affidavits taken at the time the vessel was wrecked or struck.
Articte VIIT. The Consuls and Vice Consuls shall exercise
police over all the vessels of their respective nations, and shall aa
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, ‘899
on board the said vessels all power and jurisdiction in civil matters,
in all the disputes which may there arise; they shall have an entire
inspection over the said vessels, their crew, and the changes and
substitutions there to be made. For which purpose they may go on
board the said vessels whenever they may judge it necessary. Well
understood that the functions hereby allowed shall be confined to the
interior of the vessels, and that they shall not take place in any case
which shall have any interference with the police of the ports where
the said vessels shall be.
Arrticie IX. The Consuls and Vice Consuls may cause to be
arrested the captains, officers, mariners, sailors, and all other persons
being part of the crews of the vessels of their respective nations,
who shall have deserted from the said vessels, in order to send
them back, and transport them out of the country. For which
purpose the said Consuls and Vice Consuls shall address themselves
to the courts, judges, and officers competent, and shall demand the
said deserters in writing, proving by an exhibition of the registers of
the vessel or ship’s roll that those men were part of the said crews;
and on this demand, so proved, (saving, however, where the contrary
is proved,) the delivery shall not be refused, and there shall be given
all aid and assistance to the said Consuls and Vice Consuls, for the
search, seizure, and arrest of the said deserters, who shall even be
detained and kept in the prisons of the country, at their request and
expense, until they shall have found an opportunity of sending them
back. But if they be not sent back within three months, to be
counted from the day of their arrest, they shall be set at liberty, and
shall be no more arrested for the same cause.
-Arricte X. In cases where the respective subjects or citizens
shall have committed any crime or breach of the peace, they shall
be amenable to the judges of the country.
Articte XI. When the said offenders shall be a part of the crew
of a vessel of their nation, and shall have withdrawn themselves on
board the said vessel, they may be there seized and arrested by order
of the judges of the country. These shall give notice thereof to the
Consul or vice Consul, who may repair on board, if he thinks proper ;
but this notification shall not in any case delay execution of the order
in question. ‘The persons arrested shall not afterwards be set at
liberty until the Consul or Vice Consul shall have been notified
thereof, and they shall be delivered to him, if he requires it, to be
230 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
put again on board of the vessel on which they were arrested, or of
others of their nation, and to be sent out of the country.
Arrrcie XID. All differences and suits between the subjects of
the most Christian King in the United States, or between the citizens
of the United States within the dominions: of the’ most Christian
King, and particularly all disputes relative to the wages and terms of
engagement of the crews of the respective vessels, and all differences,
of whatever nature they be, which may arise between the privates of
the said crews, or between any of them and their captains, or between
the captains of different vessels of their nation, shall be determined
by the respective Consuls and Vice Consuls, either by a reference
to arbitrators or by a summary judgment, and without costs. No
officer of the country, civil or military, shall interfere therein, or take
any part whatever in the matter; and the appeals from the said
consular sentences shall be carried before the tribunals of France or
of the United States, to whom it may appertain to take cognizance
thereof. is
Arrricie XIII. The general utility of commerce having caused
to be established within the dominions of the most Christian King
particular tribunals and forms for expediting the decision of commer-
cial affairs, the merchants of the United States shall enjoy the benefit
‘of these establishments; and the Congress of the United States will
provide, in the manner the most conformable to its laws, equivalent
advantages in favor of the French merchants for the prompt despateh
and decision of affairs of the same nature. |
Arricun XIV. The subjects of the most Christian King and
citizens of the United States who shall prove, by legal evidence, that
they are of the said nation respectively, shall, in consequence, enjoy an
exemption. from all- personal service in the place of their settlement.
ArticLte XV. If any other nation acquires, by virtue of any con-
vention whatever, a treatment more favorable with respect to the
consular preéminences, powers, authority, and privileges, the Consuls
and Vice Consuls of the most Christian King or of the United
States, reciprocally, shall participate therein, agreeable to the terms
stipulated by the 2d, 3d, and 4th articles of the treaty of amity and
commerce concluded between the most Christian King and the United
States.
Arricue XVI. The present convention shall be in full foree
during the term of twelve years, to be counted from the day of the
» DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. . 931
exchange of ratifications, which shall be civen in proper form and
exchanged on both sides within the space of one year, or sooner, if
possible.
In faith whereof we, Ministers Plenipotentiary, have signed the
present convention, and have thereto set the seal of our arms.
Done at Versailles, the 14th of November, one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-eight.
L. C. DE MONTMORIN, [u. s.]
TH: JEFFERSON, [u. s.]
-——-0
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, November 19, 1788.
Sir,
Since my letter of September 5, wherein I acknowledge Mr.
Remsen’s favor of July 25, I have written those of September 24
and. of the 14th instant. This last will accompany the present, both
going by the way of London for want of a direct opportunity; but
they go by a private hand.
No late event worth notice has taken place between the Turks and
Austrians. The former continue in the territories of the latter with
all the appearances of superiority. On the side of the Russians, the
war wears an equal face, except that the Turks are still masters of
the Black sea. Oczakow is not yet taken. Denmark furnished to
Russia its stipulated quota of troops with so much alacrity, and was
making such other warlike preparations, that it was believed they
meant to become principals in the war against Sweden. Prussia
and England hereupon interposed efficiently. Their Mumisters
appointed to mediate, gave notice to the Court of Copenhagen that
they would declare war against them in the name of their sovereigns,
if they did not immediately withdraw their troops from the Swedish
territories. ‘The Court of London has since said that their Minister
(Elliott) went further in this than he was authorized; however, the
Danish troops are retiring. Poland is augmenting its army from
‘twenty to an hundred thousand men. Nevertheless, it seems as if
England and Prussia meant in earnest to stop the war in that
quarter, contented to leave the two empires in the hands of the
Turks. France, desired by Sweden to join the Courts of London
and Berlin, in their mediation between Sweden and Russia, has
232 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
declined it. We may be assured she will meddle in nothing external
before the meeting of her States General. Her temporary annihila-
tion in the political scale of Europe, leaves to England and Prussia
the splendid role of giving the law without meeting the shadow of
opposition. ‘The internal tranquillity of this country is perfect.
Their stocks, however, continue low, and the difficulty of getting
money to face current expenses very great. In the contest between
the King and Parliament, the latter fearing the power of the former,
pressed the convoking the States General. ‘The Government found
itself obliged by other difficulties also to recur to the same expedient.
The Parliament, after its recall, showed that it was now become
apprehensive of the States General; and discovered a determination
to cavil at their form, so as to have a right to deny their legality, if
that body should undertake to abridge their powers. ‘The Court,
hereupon, very adroitly determined to call the same Notables who
had been approved by the nation the last year to decide on the form
of convoking the Etats Generaux; thus withdrawing itself from the
disputes which the Parliament might excite, and committing them
with the nation. The Notables are now in session. ‘The Govern-
ment had manifestly discovered a disposition that the tzers-etat or
commons should have as many representatives in the States General
as the nobility and clergy together; but five bureaux of the Notables
have voted, by very great majorities, that they should have only an
equal number with each of the other orders singly.
One bureau, by a majority of a single voice, had agreed to give
the commons the double number of representatives. ‘This is the first
symptom of a decided combination between the nobility and clergy,
and will necessarily throw the people into the scale of the King. It
is doubted whether the States can be collected so early as January,
though the Government, urged by the want of money, is for pressing
their convocation. It is still more uncertain what the States will do
when they meet.. There are three objects which they may attain,
probably, without-opposition from the Court.
1. A periodical meeting of the States.
2. Their exclusive right of taxation.
3. The right of enregistering laws and proposing amendments to
them as now exercised by the Parliaments.
This would lead, as it did in England, to the right of originating
laws. ‘The Parliament would, by this last measure, be reduced to a
!
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. ' 2933
meie judiciary body, and would, probably, oppose it; but against
the King and nation their opposition could not succeed. If the
States stop here for the present moment, all will probably end well,
and they may, in future sessions, obtain a suppression of lettres de
cachet, free press, a civil list, and other valuable modifications of
their Government; but it is to. be feared that an impatience to
rectify every thing at once, which prevails in some minds, may
terrify the Court, and lead them to appeal to force, and to depend
on that alone. )
Before this can reach you, you will, probably, have heard of an
arrét passed the 28th of September, for prohibiting the introduction
of foreign whale oils without exception. The English had glutted
the markets of this country with their oils. It was proposed to
exclude them, and an arrét was drawn, with an exception for us.
In the last stage of this arrét the-exception was struck out, without
my having any warning or even suspicion of this. I suppose this
stroke came from the Count de la Luzerne, Minister of Marine, but
I cannot affirm it positively. As soon as I was apprized of this,
which was several days after it passed, (because it was kept secret
till published in their sea-ports,) I wrote to the Count de Montmorin
a letter, of which the enclosed is a copy, and had conferences on the
subject from time to time with him and the other Ministers. 1 found
them possessed by the partial information of their Dunkirk fishermen ;
and, therefore, thought it necessary to give them a view of the
whole subject in writing, which I did in the piece, of which IL
enclose you a printed copy. I therein entered into more details than
the question between us seemed rigorously to require. I was led to
them by other objects, the most important was to disgust Mr.
Necker, as an economist, against their new fishery, by letting him
foresee its expense. The particular manufactures suggested to them
were in consequence of repeated applications from the shippers of
rice and tobacco. Other details which do not appear immediately
pertinent, were occasioned by circumstances which had arisen in
conversation, or an apparent necessity of giving information on the
whole matter. Ata conference, in the presence of Mr. Lambert on
the 16th, (where I was ably aided by the Marquis de la fayette, as
I have been through the whole business,) it was agreed to exempt
us from the prohibition, but they will require rigorous assurance that
the oils coming under our name, are really of our fishery. ‘They
is
x
=
234 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
fear we shall cover the introduction of the English oils from
Halifax.
The arrét for excepting us was communicated to me, but the
formalities for proving the oils to be American were not yet inserted.
I suppose they will require every vessel to bring a certificate from
their Consul or Vice Consul residing in the State from which it
comes. More difficult proofs were sometimes talked of. I suppose
I might surely affirm to them that our Government would do what-
ever it could to prevent this fraud, because it is as much our interest
as theirs to keep the market for the French and American oils only.
Tam told Massachusetts has prohibited the introduction of foreign
», fish oils into her ports. ‘This law, if well executed, will be an
” effectual guard against fraud; and a similar one in the other States
interested in the fishery, would much encourage this Government to
continue her indulgences to us. ‘Though the arré¢ then for the
readmission of our oils is not yet passed, I think I may assure you it
will be so in a few days, and of course that this branch of commerce,
after so threatening an appearance, will be on a better footing than
ever, as enjoying, jointly with the French oil, a monopoly of their
markets. The continuance of this will depend on the growth of
their fishery. Whenever they become able to supply their own wants,
it is very possible they may refuse to take our oils, but I do not
believe it possible for them to raise their fishery to that, unless they
can continue to draw off our fishermen from us. ‘Their’ seventeen
ships this year had one hundred and fifty of our sailors on board. I
do not know what number the English have got into their service.
You will readily perceive that there are particulars in these printed
observations which it would not be proper to suffer to become public.
They were printed merely that a copy might be given to each
Minister, and care has been taken to let them go into no other
hands. ; »
I must now trouble Congress with a petition on my own behalf.
When I left my own house in October, 1783, it was to attend Con-
gress as a member, and in expectation of returning in five or six
months. In the month of May following, however, I was desired to
come to Europe as member of a commission, which was to continue
two years only. J came off immediately, without going home to
make any other arrangements in my affairs, thinking they would not
suffer greatly before I should return to them; before the close of the
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. Q35
two years, Doctor Franklin retiring from his charge here, Congress
were pleased to name me to it; so that I have been led on by
events, to an absence of five years, instead of five months. In the
mean time, matters of great moment to others as well as myself, and
which can be arranged by nobody but myself, will await no longer.
Another motive, of still more powerful cogency on my mind, is the
necessity of carrying my family back to their friends and country.
I must, therefore, ask of Congress a leave of short absence, allowing
three months on the sea going and coming, and two months at :my
own house, which will suffice for my affairs. I need not be from
Paris but between five and six months. I do not foresee any thing
which can suffer during my absence. The consular convention 18,»
finished, except as to the exchange of ratifications, which will be the —
affair of a day only. The difference with Schweighauser and
Dobrée, relative to our arms, will be finished. That of Denmark, if
ever finished, will probably be long spun out. ‘The ransom of the ~
Algerine captives is the only matter likely to be on hand. ‘That
cannot be set on foot till the money is raised in Holland, and an
order received for its application. Probably these will take place,
so that I may set it into motion before my departure. If not, I can
still leave it on such a footing as to be put into motion the moment
the money can be paid. And even when the leave of Congress
shall be received, I will not make use of it if there is any thing of
consequence which may suffer; but would postpone my departure
- till circumstances would admit it. But should these be as I expect
they will, it will be vastly desirable to me to receive the permission
- immediately, so that I may go out as soon as the vernal equinox is
over, and be sure of my return in good time and season in the fall.
Mr. Short, who had had thoughts of returning to America, will
_ postpone that return till I come back. His talents and character,
allow me to say, with confidence, that nothing will suffer in his
hands. The friendly dispositions of Monsieur de Montmorin would
induce him readily to communicate with Mr. Short in his present
_ character, but should any of his applications be necessary to be laid
before the Council, they might suffer difficulty. Nor could he attend
_ the diplomatic societies, which are the most certain sources of good
intelligence. Would Congress think it expedient to remove the
difficulties by naming him Secretary of Legation, so that he would
act, of course, as Chargé d’Affaires during my absence? It would
«
236 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
be just that the difference between the salary of a Secretary and a
Secretary of Legation should cease as soon as he should cease to
be charged with the affairs of the United States; that is to say, on
my return. And he should expect that; so that this difference for
five or six months would be an affair of about one hundred and
seventy guineas only, which would be not more*than equal to the
additional expenses that would be brought on him necessarily, by
the change of character. I mention these particulars, that Congress
may see the end as well as the beginning of the proposition, and
have only to add, ‘their will be done.” Leave for me being
obtained, I will ask it, sir, of your friendship, to avail yourself of
various occasions to the ports of France and England, to-convey me
immediate notice of it, and relieve me, as soon as possible, from the
anxiety of expectation, and the uncertainty in which I shall be.
We have been in daily expectation of hearing of the death of the
King of England. Our latest news is of the 11th; he had then
been despaired of for three or four days. But as my letter is to pass
through England, you will have later accounts of him than that ii
give you.
I send you the newspapers to this date, and have the honor to be,
with the greatest esteem and respect, sir, your most obedient humble
servant,
TH: JEFFERSON.
P.S. The last crop of corn in France has been so short that
they apprehend want. Mr. Necker desired me to make known this
scarcity to our merchants, in hopes they would send supplies. I
promised him I would. If it could be done without naming him
it would be agreeable to him, and probably advantageous to the
adventurer.
Arrét of the King’s Council of State, prohibiting the Importation of
Foreign Whale and Spermacett Oil into his Kingdom.
Translation.
September 28, 1788. ; .
Extract from the Registers of the Council of State.
The King having taken information on the success attending the
whale fishery, and the prospect of its greater prosperity within his
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, 237
kingdom, and his Majesty being willing to grant a special protection
to this important fishery, which has just commenced in France, and
which may become an abundant source of riches, while at the same
time it affords to the marine a nursery for seamen of great conse-
quence to the service of the State, his Majesty has conceived that
the prohibition of foreign oil would be the most beneficial encourage-
ment that could be granted to this branch of industry. Being willing
to provide accordingly, and having heard the report of the Sieur
Lambert, Counsellor of State and Ordinary to the Council of
Despatches, and to the Royal Council of Finances and Commerce,
the King being present in his Council, has ordained, and does ordam,
that, computing from the day of publishing the present arrét, the
introduction of foreign whale and spermaceti oils shall be prohibited
throughout his dominions. His Majesty commands and orders the
Duke de Penthicore, Admiral of France, the intendants and commis-
saries throughout the provinces, the commissaries deputed for the
observation of the ordinances in the admiralties, the officers of the
admiralties, masters of ports, judges of treaties, and all others whom
it may concern, to assist in the execution of the present arrét, which
shall be registered in the offices of the said admiralties, read, pub-
lished, and posted wherever it shall be necessary.
Done in the King’s Council of State, his Majesty being present,
held at Versailles, 28th September, 1788.
LA LUZERNE.
The Duke de Penthicore, Admiral of France, the King’s Gov-
ernor and Lieutenant General in his province of Brittany, having
seen the arrét of the King’s Council of State, as above, and in other
_ parts, addressed to us, we command all those over whom our power
extends to execute, and cause to be executed, each one as his duty
is, according to its form and tenor; we order the officers of the
admiralties to cause it to be registered in the offices of their juris-
diction, to read, publish, and post it wherever it may appear neces-
sary.
- Done at Vernon, the 6th October, 1788.
a L. J. M. DE BOURBON.
And beneath by his most Serene Highness,
PERRIER.
ve “a,
=
238 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN.
Paris, October 23, 1788. ©
Sir, |
I take the liberty of troubling your Excellency.on the subject of
the arrét which has lately appeared for prohibiting the importation
of whale oils and spermaceti the produce of foreign fisheries. ‘This _
prohibition being expressed im general terms seems to exclude the
whale oils. of the United States of America, as well as of the nations
of Europe. The uniform disposition, however, which his Majesty —
nd his Ministers have shewn to promote the commerce between
France and the United States, by-encouraging our productions to.
come hither, and particularly those of our fisheries, induces me to
hope that these were not within their view.at the passing of this arrét.
Iam led the more into this opinion when I recollect the assiduity
employed for several months in the year 1785 by the committee
appointed by Government to investigate the objects of commerce of |
the two.countries, and to report the encouragements.of which it was
susceptible; the result of that investigation, which his Majesty’s
Comptroller General did me the honor to communicate in a letter of
the 22d of October, 1786, stating therein the principles which should |
be established for the future regulation of that commerce, and_par-
ticularly distinguishing the article of whale oils by an abatement of
the duties on them for the present, and a promise of farther abatement
after the year 1790. The thorough investigation with which Monsieur
de Lambert honored this subject when the letter.of 1786 was to be
put into the form of an arrét, that arrét itself bearing date the 29th.
of December last, which ultimately confirmed the abatements of duty
present and future, and declared that his Majesty reserved to himself
to grant other favors to that production, if, on further information, he
should find it for the interest of the two nations; and finally, the
letter in which M. Lambert did me the honor to enclose the arrét,
and to assure me that the duties which had been levied on our whale
oils contrary to the intention of the letter of 1786 should be restored.
On a review, then, of all these circumstances, I cannot but presume
that it has not been intended to reverse in a moment views SO
maturely digested and uniformly pursued, and that the general:
expressions of the arrét of September 28 had within their contem-
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 239
plation the nations of Europe only. This presumption is further
strengthened by having observed in the treaties of commerce made
since the epoch of our independence, the jura gentis amicissime
conceded to other nations are expressly restrained to those of the
most favored European nations; his Majesty wisely foreseeing that
it would be expedient to regulate the commerce of a nation which
brings nothing but raw materials to employ the industry of his
subjects very differently from that of the European nations, who
bring mostly what has already passed through all the stages of
manufacture.
Qn these considerations I take the liberty of asking informatio
from your Excellency as to the extent of the late arrét; and if 1
have not been mistaken in supposing it did mean to abridge that of
December 29, I would solicit an explanatory arrét to prevent the
-misconstructions of it which will otherwise take place. It is much
to be desired, too, that this explanation could be given as soon as
possible, in order that it may be handed out with the arrét of Sep-
‘tember 28. Great alarm may otherwise be spread among the
| merchants and adventurers in the fisheries, who, confiding in the
‘stability of regulation which his Majesty’s wisdom had so long and
well matured, have embarked their fortunes in speculations in this
\ branch of business, we
The importance of the subject to one of the principal members of
‘our Union induces me to attend with great anxiety, a reassurance
| from your Excellency that no change has taken place in his Majesty’s
views on this subject; and that his dispositions to multiply rather
‘than diminish the combinations-of interest between the two people,
' continue unaltered.
' Commerce is slow in changing its channel, that between this
‘country and the United States is as yet but beginning, and this
‘ beginning has received some checks. The arrét in question would
be a considerable one, without the explanation I have the honor to
| ask. J am persuaded that a continuation of the dispositions which
have been hitherto manifested towards us will ensure effects, political
‘ and commercial, of value to both nations.
' TI have had too many proofs of the friendly interest your Excel-
‘lency is pleased to take in whatever may strengthen the bands and
| connect the views of the two countries, to doubt your patronage of
' ,
°
Ce Nala
240 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
the present application, or to permit any occasion of repeating
assurances of those sentiments of high respect and esteem with
which I have the honor to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
ome
Mr. Jefferson's Observations on the Whale Fishery.
Whale oil enters, as a raw material, mto several branches of
manufacture, as of wool, leather, soap; it is used also in painting,
architecture, and navigation. But its great consumption is in lighting
houses and cities. For this last purpose, however, it has a powerful
competition in the vegetable oils. These do well in warm still
weather, but they fix with cold, they extinguish easily with the wind,
their crop is precarious, depending on the seasons, and to yield the
same light, a larger wick must be used, and a greater quantity of oil
consumed. Estimating all these articles of difference together, those
employed in lighting cities find their account in giving about twenty-
five per cent. more for whale than for vegetable oils. But higher
than this the whale oil, in its present form, cannot rise, because it
then becomes more advantageous to the city lighters to use others.
This competition, then, limits its price, higher than which no encour-
agement can raise it, and becomes, as it were, a law of its nature;
but at this low price, the whale fishery is the poorest business into
which a merchant or sailor can enter. If the sailor, instead of
wages, has a part of what is taken, he finds that this, one year with
another, yields him less than he could have got as wages in any
other business. It is attended, too, with great risk, singular hard-
ships, and long absence from his family. If the voyage is made
solely at the expense of the merchant, he finds that, one year with
another, it does not reimburse him his expenses. As, for example,
an English ship of three hundred tons, and forty-two hands, brings
home communibus annis, after a four months’ voyage, twenty-five
tons of oil, worth 43'7/. 10s. sterling, but the wages of the officers
and seamen will be 400/. The outfit, then, and the oa
profit must be paid by the Government; and it is accordingly, or
this idea, that the British bounty is calculated. From the poverty of
this business, then, it has happened that the nations who have taken
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. O41
t up, have successively abandoned it. ‘The Basques began it; but
hough the most enconomical and enterprizing of the inhabitants
of France, they could not continue it; and it is said they never
employed more than thirty ships a year. The Dutch and Hanse-
Towns succeeded them. The latter gave it up long ago, though
they have continued to lend their name to British and Dutch oils.
The English carried it on in competition with the Dutch during the
last and beginning of the present century. But it was too little
profitable for them, in comparison with other branches of commerce
open to them. In the mean time, too, the inhabitants of the barren
Island of Nantucket had taken up this fishery, invited to it by the
whales presenting themselves on their own shores. To them, there-
fore, the English relinquished it, continuing to them, as British
subjects, the importation of their oils into England duty free; while
foreigners were subject to a duty of 18/. 5s. sterling a ton. The
Dutch were enabled to continue it long, because, 1. They are so
near the northern fishing grounds that a vessel begins her fishing
very soon after she is out of port; 2. They navigate with more
economy than the other nations of Europe; 3. Their seamen are
content with lower wages; and, 4. Their merchants with a lower
profit on their capital.
Under all these favorable circumstances, however, this branch of
business, after long languishing, is at length nearly extinct with them. .
It is said they did not send above half a dozen ships in pursuit of the
whale this present year. ‘The Nantuckois then were the only people
who exercised the fishery to any extent’ at the commencement of the ,
late war. Their country from its barrenness, yielding no subsistence,
they were obliged to seek it in the sea which surrounded them.
Their economy was more rigorous than that of the Dutch. Their
seamen, instead of wages, had a share in what was taken. This
induced them to fish with fewer hands, so that each had a greater
dividend in the profit. It made them more vigilant in seeking game,
‘bolder in pursuing it, and parsimonious in all their expenses. London
was their only market. When, therefore, by the late revolution, they
became aliens in Great Britain, they became subject to the alien
duty of 18/. 5s. the ton of oil, which, being more than equal to the
price of the common whale oil, they were obliged to abandon that
fishery. So that this people, who before the war had employed
upwards of three hundred vessels a year in the whale fishery, (while:
| Vout. L.—16
242 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Great Britam had herself never employed one hundred,) have now
almost ceased to exercise it. But they still had the seamen, the
most important material for this fishery; and they still retained the
spirit of fishing, so that at the reestablishment of peace, they were
capable, in a very short time, of reviving their fishery in all its
splendor. The British Government saw that the moment'was critical.
They knew that their own share in that fishery was as nothing.
That the great mass of fishermen was left with a nation now sepa-
rated from them, that these fishermen, however, had. lost their ancient
market, had no other resource within their country to which they
could turn, and they hoped, therefore, they might, im the present
moment of distress, be-decoyed over to their establishments, and be
added to the mass of their seamen. To effect this they offered
extravagant advantages to all persons who should exercise the whale
fishery from British establishments, But not counting with much
confidence on a long connexion with their remaining possessions on
the continent of America, foreseeing that the Nantuckois would
settle in them preferably, if put on an equal footing with those of
Great Britain, and that thus they might have to purchase them a
second time, they confined their high offers to settlers in Great
Britain. ‘The Nantuckois, left without resource by the loss of their
market, began to think of removing to the British dominions; some
to Nova Scotia, preferring smaller advantages in the neighborhood of
their ancient country and friends ; others to Great Britain, postponing
country and friends to high premiums. A vessel was already arrived
from Halifax to Nantucket, to take off some of those who proposed
to remove. ‘Two families had gone on board’ and. others were
going, when a letter was received there, which had been written
by Monsieur le Marquis de la Fayette to a gentleman in Boston,
and transmitted by him to Nantucket. The purport of the letter
was to dissuade their accepting the British proposals, and to
assure them that their friends in France would endeavor to do
something for them. "This instantly suspended their design. Not
another went on board, and the vessel returned to Halifax with-only’
two families. a
In fact, the French Government had not been inattentive to the
views of the British, nor insensible of the crisis. They saw the
danger of permitting five or six thousand of the best seamen existing
to be transferred by a single stroke to the marine strength of their
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 243
enemy, and to carry over with them an art which they possessed
almost exclusively. The counter plan which they set on foot was
to tempt the Nantuckois by high offers to come and settle in France.
This was in the year 1785. The British, however, had in their
favor a sameness of language, religion, laws, habits, and kindred.
Nine families only, of thirty-three persons in the whole, came to
Dunkirk; so that this project was not likely to prevent their
emigration to the English establishments, if nothing else had hap-
pened.
France had effectually aided in detaching the United States of
- America from the force of Great Britain; but as yet they seemed to
have indulged only a silent wish to detach them from her commerce.
They had done nothing to induce that event. In the same year,
1785, while M. de Calonne was in treaty with the Nantuckois, an
estimate of the commerce of the United States was sub d to the
_ Count de Vergennes, and it was shown that of three millions, of
pounds sterling, to which their exports amounted, one third might be
brought to France, and exchanged against her productions and
manufactures advantageously for both nations, provided the obstacles
of prohibition, monopoly, and duty were either done away or
moderated, as far as circumstances would admit. A committee,
which had been appointed to investigate a particular one of these
. subjects, was thereupon instructed to extend its researches to the
whole, and see what advantages and facilities the Government could
offer for the encouragement of a general commerce with the United
States. ‘The committee was composed of persons well skilled in
commerce; and after laboring assiduously for several months, they
made their report ; the result of which was given im the letter of his
Majesty’s Comptroller General of the 2d of October, 1786; wherein
he stated the principles which should be established for the future
regulation of the commerce between France and the United States.
It was become tolerably evident, at the date of this letter, that the
terms offered to the Nantuckois would not produce their emigration
to Dunkirk; and that it would be safest, in every event, to offer
some other alternative which might prevent their acceptance of the
British offers. The obvious one was to open the ports of France to
their oils, so that they might still exercise their fishery remaining in
their native country, and find a new market for its produce instead
of that which they had lost. The article of whale oil was accord-
2
244 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
ingly distinguished in the letter of M. de Calonne, by an immediate
abatement of duty, and promise of further abatement after the year
1790. This letter was instantly sent to America, and bid fair to
produce there the effect intended, by determining the fishermen to
carry on their trade from their own homes, with the advantage only
of a free market in France, rather than remove to Great Britain,
where a free market and great bounty were offered them. An arrét
was still to be prepared to give legal sanction to the letter of M. de
Calonne. M. Lambert, with a patience and assiduity almost unex-.
ampled, went through all the investigations necessary to assure
himself that the conclusions of the committee had been just.
Frequent conferences on this subject were held in his presence.
The deputies of the Chambers of Commerce were heard, and the
result was be arrét of December 29, 1787, confirming the abate-
ments of duty, present and future, which the letter of October, 1786,
had promised, and reserving to his Majesty to grant still further
favors to that production, if on further information he should find it .
for the interest of the two nations. |
The English had now begun to deluge the markets of France with
their whale oils, and they were enabled, by the great premiums given
by their Government, to undersell the French fishermen, aided by
feeble premiums, and the American aided by his poverty alone.
Nor is it certain that these speculations were not made at the risk of
the British Government to suppress the French and American
fishermen in their only market. Some remedy seemed necessary.
Perhaps it would not have been a bad one to subject, by a general
law, the merchandize of every nation and of every nature to pay
additional duties in the ports of France, exactly equal to the pre-
miums and drawbacks given on the same merchandize by their own
Government. This might not only counteract the effect of premium,
in the instance of whale oils, but attack the whole British system of
bounties and drawbacks, by the aid of which they make London the
centre of commerce for the whole earth. A less general remedy,
but an effectual one, was to prohibit the oils of all European nations.
The treaty with England requiring only that she should be treated
as well as the most favored European nation. But the remedy
adopted was to prohibit all oils without exception. |
To know how this remedy will operate, we must consider the —
quantity of whale oil which France consumes annually, the quantity
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 245
she obtains from her own fishery; and if she obtains less than she
consumes, we are to consider what will follow this prohibition.
The annual consumption of France, as stated by a person who has
good opportunities of knowing it, is as follows:
Pesant. quintaux. tons.
Paris, according to the registers of 1786..2,800,000 28,000 1750
Twenty-seven other cities lighted by M.
Sangraim..csesesssceee ce FATS 0 800,000 8,000 500
poco ES Aree 500,000 5,000 3124
Bordeaux. .. 2s. Me esd etnies Pee pa 600,000 6,000 375
Lyon. ..s sees seceees EPR RSA EES EE 300,000 3,000 1874
Other cities, leather and light..........3,000,000 30,000 1875
ee
8,000,000 80,000 5000
Other calculations reduce the consumption to about half this. It
is treating these with sufficient respect to place them on an equal
footing with the estimate of the person before alluded to, and to
suppose the truth half way between them. We will call, then, the
present consumption of France only 60,000 quintals, or 3,750 tons
a year. This consumption is increasing fast, as the practice of
_ lighting cities is becoming more general, and the superior advantages
' of lighting them with whale oil are but now beginning to be
» known.
What do the fisheries of France furnish? She has employed this
year fifteen vessels in the southern and two in the northern fishery,
carrying four thousand five hundred tons in the whole, or two hundred
and sixty-five each, on an average. The English ships, led by
Nantuckois as well as the French, have, as I am told, never averaged
in the southern fishery more than one fifth of their burden in the best
year. The fifteen ships of France, according to this ground of
calculation, and supposing the present to have been one of the best
years, should have brought, one with another, one fifth of two hun-
dred and sixty-five tons, or fifty-three tons each. But we are told
they have brought near the double of that, to wit: one hundred tons
each, and one thousand five hundred tons in the whole. Supposing
the two northern vessels to have brought home the cargo which 1s
common from the northern fishery, to wit: twenty-five tons each, the
whole produce this year will then be one thousand five hundred and
246 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
fifty tons. This is five and a half months’ provision, or two fifths of
the annual consumption.. To furnish for the whole year would
require forty ships of the same size in years as fortunate as the
present, and eighty-five communibus annis, forty-four tons, or one
sixth of the burthen, being as high an average as should be counted -
on one year with another; and the number must be increased with
the increasing consumption. France, then, is evidently not yet in
a condition to supply her own wants. It is said, indeed, she has a
large stock on hand unsold, occasioned by the English competition—
33,000 quintals, including this year’s produce are spoken of. This
is between six and seven months’ provision; and supposing by the
time this is exhausted, that the next year’s supply comes in, that
will enable her to go on five or six months longer; say a twelvemonth
in the whole. But at the end of the twelvemonth what is to be
done? ‘The manufactures depending on this article cannot maintain
their competition against those of other countries if deprived of their
equal means. When the alternative, then, shall be presented, of
Jetting them drop or opening the ports to foreign whale oil, it is
presumed the latter will be adopted as the lesser evil. But it will be
too late for America. Heer fishery, annihilated during the late war,
only began to raise its head on the prospect of a market held out by
this country. Crushed by the arrét of September 28, in its first feeble.
effort to revive, it will rise no more. Expeditions which require the
expense of the outfit of vessels, and from nine to twelve months’
navigation, as the southern fishery does, most frequented by the
Americans, cannot be undertaken in sole reliance on a market which |
is opened and shut from one day to another, with little or no warning.
The English alone, then, will remain to furnish these supplies, and |
they must be received even from them.. We must accept bread from
our enemies, if our friends cannot furnish it. ‘This comes exactly to
the point to which that Government has been looking. She fears no
rival in the whale fishery but America, or rather it is the whale
fishery of America of which she is endeavoring to possess herself,
It is for this object she is making the present extraordinary efforts by
bounties and other encouragements; and her success so far is very”
flattering. Before the war she had not 100 vessels in the whale
trade, while America employed 309. In 1786 Great Britain
employed 151 vessels; in 1787, 286; in 1788, 314, nearly the
ancient American number, while the latter is fallen to about 80.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. BAT
They have just changed places, then, England having gained exactly
what America has lost. France, by her ports and markets, holds
the balance between the two contending parties, and gives the victory
by opening and shutting them, to which she pleases. We have still
precious remains of seamen educated in this fishery, and capable by
their poverty, their boldness and address, of recovering it from the
English in spite of their bounties. But this arrét endangers the
transferring to Great Britain every man of them who is not invincibly
attached to his native soil. There is no other nation m present con-
dition to maintain a competition with Great Britain in the whale
fishery. The expense at which it is supported on her part seems
enormous: 255 vessels, of 75,436 tons, employed by her this year
in the northern fishery, at 42 men each, and 59 in the southern, at
18 men each, makes 11,772 men. These are known to have cost
the Government £15 each, or £176,580 in the whole, and that to
employ the principal part of them from three to four months only.
The northern, ships have brought home twenty, and the southern
sixty, tons of oil on an average, making 8,640 tons. Every ton of
oil, then, has cost the Government £20 in bounty. Still, if they
can beat us out of the field, and have it to themselves, they will thmk
their money well employed. If France undertakes solely the com-
petition against them, she must do it at equal expense. Four thousand
five hundred tons of shipping this year, at a bounty of 50 liv. the
~ ton, have cost France, in bounty, 225,000 dav., which, divided on
1,550 tons of oil, comes to 145 liv. the ton. But when her ships,
like those of other nations, shall bring home communibus annis, but
one sixth of their burthen, she will pay six tons of shipping, or 300
liv. for every ton of oil. She can buy that ton of oil at Boston for
375 to 400 liv., or with half its measure of wine. Again, calculate
the expense on the men. There were not one hundred French
seamen on board the seventeen whale ships of this year. Each
man, then, has cost the Government more than 2,250 liv.; we may
even say 100 louis. each. The trade is too poor to support itself.
The eighty-five ships necessary to supply even her present consump-
tion, bountied as the English are, will require a sacrifice of 1,285,200
liv. a year, to maintain 3,570 seamen, and that a part of the year
only. And if she will push it to 12,000 men, in competition with
England, she must sacrifice, as they do, four or five millions a year.
The same number of men might, with the same bounty, be kept in
248 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
as constant employ carrying stone from Bayonne to Cherbourg, or
coal from Newcastle to Havre, in which navigations they would be
always at hand, and become as good seamen. The English consider
among their best sailors those employed in carrying coal from New-
castle to London. France cannot expect to raise her fishery, even
to the supply of her own consumption, in one year, or in several
years. Is it not better, then, by keeping her ports open to the United
States, to enable them to aid in maintaining the field against the
common adversary till she shall be in condition to take it herself, and
to supply her own wants? Otherwise her supplies must aliment that
very force which is keeping her under. On our part we can never
be dangerous competitors to France. The extent to which we can
exercise this fishery is limited to that of the barren island of Nan-
tucket, and a few similar barren spots; its duration to the pleasure
of this Government, as we have no other market.
A material observation must be added here. Sudden vicissitudes
of opening and shutting ports do little injury to merchants settled on
the opposite coast, watching for the opening like the return of a tide,
and ready to enter with it. But they ruin the adventurer whose
distance requires six months’ notice. Those who are now arriving -
from America in consequence of the arrét of December 29, will
consider it as the false light which has led them to their ruin. They
will be apt to say that they came to the ports of France by invitation -
of that arrét; that the subsequent one of September 28, which
drives them from those ports, founds itself on a single principle, viz:
that the prohibition of foreign oils is the most useful encouragement —
which can be given to that branch of industry. They will say that,
if this be a true principle, it was as true on the 29th of December,
1787, as on the 28th of September, 1788. It was then weighed
against other motives judged weaker, and overruled, and it is hard it~
should be now revived to ruin them. |
The refinery for whale oil, lately established at Rouen, seems to
be an object worthy of national attention. In order to judge of its
importance, the different qualities of whale oil must be noted. Three —
qualities are known in the American and English markets: 1. That
of the spermaceti whale; 2. Of the Greenland whale; 3. Of the |
Brazil whale. | |
1. The spermaceti whale, found by the Nantucketmen in the —
neighborhood of the Western Islands, to which they had gone in ©
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 9A9
pursuit of other whales, retired thence to the coast of Guinea,
afterwards to that of Brazil, and begins now to be best found in
the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope, and even of Cape Horn.
He is an active, fierce animal, and requires vast address and boldness
in the fisherman. The inhabitants of Brazil make little expe-
ditions from their coasts, and take some of these fish. But the
Americans are the only distant people who have been in the habit
of seeking and attacking them in numbers. The British, however,
led by the Nantuckois, whom they have decoyed into.their service,
have begun this fishery. In 1785 they had 18 ships in it; in 1787,
38; in 1788, 54, or, as some say, 64; I have calculated on the
middle number, 59; still they take but a very small proportion of
their own demand; we furnish the rest. Theirs is the only market
to which we carry that oil, because it is the only one where its
properties are known. It is luminous, resists coagulation by cold to
the 41st degree of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, and 4th of Reaumur’s,
and yields no smell at all. It is used, therefore, within doors to
lighten shops, and even in the richest houses, for anti-chambers,
stairs, galleries, &c. It sells at the London market for treble the
price of common whale oil. This-enables the adventurer to pay the
duty of 187. 5s. sterling the ton, and still to have a living profit.
Besides the mass of oil produced from the whole body of the whale,
his head yields three or four barrels of what is called head matter,
from which is made the solid spermaceti used for medicine and
candles. This sells by the pound at double the price of the oil.
The disadvantage of this fishery is that the sailors are from nine to
twelve months absent on the voyage, of course they are not at hand
on any sudden emergency, and are even liable to be taken, before
they know that a war is begun. It must be added, on the subject
of this whale, that he is rare and shy, soon abandoning the grounds
where he is hunted. This fishery being less losing than the other,
and often profitable, will occasion it to be so thronged soon as to
bring it on a level with the other. It will then require the same
_ expensive support, or to be abandoned.
2. The Greenland whale oil is the next in quality. It resists
coagulation by cold to 36 degrees of Fahrenheit, and two of
Reaumur; but it has a smell insupportable within doors, and is not
luminous. It sells, therefore, in London at 16l. the ton. This
whale is clumsy and timid, he dives when struck, and comes up to
a ey
250 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
breathe by the first cake of ice, where the fishermen need little
address or courage to take him. This is the fishery mostly frequented
by European nations; it is this fish which yields the fin in quantity,
and the voyages last about three or four months.
3. The third quality is that of the small Brazil whale. He was
originally found on the coast of Nantucket, and first led that people
to this pursuit. He retired first to the banks of Newfoundland, then
to the Western Islands, and is now found within soundings on the
coast of Brazil, during the months of December, January, February,
and March. ‘This oil chills at fifty degrees of Fahrenheit, and eight
degress of Reaumur, is black and offensive, worth, therefore, but
13/. the ton in London. In warm summer nights, however, it burns
better than the Greenland oil.
The qualities of the oil thus described, it is to be allied that an
individual has discovered methods: 1. Of converting a great part
of the oil of the spermaceti whale into a solid substance called
spermaceti, heretofore produced from his head alone. 2. Of refining
the Greenland whale oil, so as to take from it all smell, and render
it limpid and luminous as that of the spermaceti whale. 3. Of
curdling the oil of the Brazil whale into tallow, resembling that of
beef, and answering all its purposes. ‘This person is engaged by the
company which has established the refinery at Rouen; their works
will cost them half a million of livres, will be able to refine all the
oil which can be used in the kingdom, and to-supply foreign markets.
The effect of this refinery, then, would be: 1. To supplant the solid
spermaceti of all other nations by theirs of equal quality and lower
price. 2. To substitute, instead of spermaceti oil, their black whale
oil refined, of equal quality and lower price. 3. To render the
worthless oil of the Brazil whale equal in value to tallow; and, 4. By
accommodating these oils to uses to which they could never otherwise
have been applied, they will extend the demand beyond its present
nairow limits to any supply which can be furnished, and thus give
the more effectual encouragement and extension to the whale fishery.
But these works were calculated on the arrét of December 29,
which admitted here, freely and fully, the produce of the American —
fishery. If confined to that of the French fishery alone, the enter-—
prize may fail for want of matter to work on.
After this review of the whale fishery as a political institution, )
a few considerations shall be added on its produce as a basis of
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. Q51
commercial exchange between France and the United States. The
discussions it has undergone on former occasions in this point of
view, leaves little new to be now urged.
The United States not-possessing mines of the precious metals,
they can purchase necessaries from other nations, so far only as their
produce is received in exchange. Without enumerating our smaller
articles, we have three of principal importance, proper for the French
market, to wit, tobacco, whale oil, and rice. The first and most
important is tobacco. This might furnish an exchange for eight
millions of the productions of this country ; but it is under a monopoly,
“and that not of a mercantile, but a financiering company, whose
interest is to pay in money, and not in merchandize; and who are
so much governed by the spirit of simplifying their purchases and
proceedings, that they find means to elude every endeavor on the
part of Government to-make them diffuse their purchases among the
merchants in general. Little profit is derived from this, then, as an
article of exchange for the produce and manufactures of France.
Whale oil might be next in importance; but that is now prohibited.
American rice is not yet of great, but it is of growing consumption,
in France, and, being the only article of the three which is free, it»
may become a principal basis of exchange. ‘Time and trial may
add a fourth, that is timber. But some essays, rendered unsuccessful
by unfortunate circumstances, place that at present under a discredit,
which it will be found hereafter not to have merited. ‘The English
know its value, and were supplied with it before the war. A spirit
of hostility, since that event, led them to seek Russian rather than
American supplies. A new spirit of hostility has driven them back
from Russia, and they are now making contracts for American
timber. But of the three articles before mentioned, proved by
experience to be suitable for the French market, one is prohibited,
one under monopoly, and one alone free, and that the smallest, and
of very limited consumption. The way to encourage purchasers, is
to multiply their means of payment. Whale oil might be an
important one. In one scale is the interest of the millions who are
lighted, shod, or clothed with the help of it, and the thousands of
laborers and manufacturers who would be employed in producing
the articles which might be given in exchange for it, if received from
America. In the other scale are the interests of the adventurers in
the whale fishery; each of whom, indeed, politically considered,
252 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
may be of more importance to the State than a simple laborer or
manufacturer ; but, to make the-estimate with the accuracy it merits,
we should multiply the numbers in each scale into their individual
importance, and see which proponderates. Both Governments have
seen, with concern, that their commercial intercourse does not grow
as rapidly as they would wish. ‘The system of the United States is,
to use neither prohibitions nor premiums; commerce there regulates
itself freely, and asks nothing better. Where a Government finds
itself under the necessity of undertaking that regulation, it would
seem that it should conduct it as an intelligent merchant would;
that is to say, invite customers to purchase by facilitating their®
means of payment, and by adapting goods to their taste. If this
idea be just, Government here has two operations to attend to, with
respect to the commerce of the United States.
1. To do away, or to moderate as much as possible, the prohi-
bitions and monopolies of their material for payment.
2. To encourage the institution of the principal manufactures
which the necessities or the habits of their new customers call for.
Under this latter head a hint shall be. suggested, which must find its
apology in the motive from which it flows; that is, a desire of
promoting mutual interests and close friendship. Six hundred thou-
sand of the laboring poor of America, comprehending slaves under
that denomination, are clothed in three-of the simplest manufactures
possible, to wit; osnabrigs, plains, and duffel blankets. The first is
a linen, the two last woolens. It happens, too, that they are used
exactly by those who cultivate the tobacco and rice, and in a good
degree by those employed in the whale fishery. ‘To these manufac-
tures they are so habituated that no substitute will be received. If
the vessels which bring tobacco, rice, and whale oil, do not find them
in the ports of delivery, they must be sought where they can be
found. That is in England at present. If they were made in
France, they would be gladly taken in exchange there. The
quantities annually used by this description of people, and their
value, are as follows:
Osnabrigs, 2,700,000 aunes, @16 sous the aune, worth....cececeee Liv. 2,160,000
Plains; 1,350,000 aunes, @2 livres the aune... ... "ss cece ebecle cle ade Bite eed 2,700,000
Duffel blankets, 300,000 @7 livres 4 sous each... ...ccecececseccesses cody 160,000
Liv. 7,020,000
anna
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 953
It would be difficult to say how much should be added for the
consumption of inhabitants of other descriptions. A great deal,
surely. But the present view shall be confined to the one description
named. Seven millions of livres are nine millions of days’ work of
those who raise, card, spin, and weave the wool and flax; and, at
three hundred working days to the year, would maintain 30,000
people. To introduce these simple manufactures, suppose Govern-
ment to give five per cent. on the value of what should be exported
of them for ten years to come. If none should be exported, nothing
would be to be paid. But, on the other hand, if the manufactures
should rise to the full demand, it would be a sacrifice of 351,000
livres a year for ten years only, to produce a perpetual subsistence
for more than 30,000 people, (for the demand will grow with our
population,) while she must expend perpetually 1,285,000 livres a
year to maintain the 3,570 seamen who would supply her with
whale oil; that is to say, for each seaman as much as for thirty
laborers and manufacturers. But to return to our subject, and to
conclude.
Whether, then, we consider the arrét of September 28 in a political
or a commercial light, it would seem that the United States should
be excepted from its operation. Still more so when they mvoke
against it the amity subsisting between the two nations, the desire of
binding them together by every possible interest and connexion, the
several acts in favor of this exception, the dignity of legislation,
which admits not of changes backwards and forwards, the interests
of commerce, which require steady regulations, the assurances of the
friendly motives which have led the King to pass these acts, and the
hope that no cause will arise to change either his motives or his
measures towards us.
ry a aS
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, November 29, 1788.
Sir, , ; “t
In the hurry of making up my letter of the 19th instant, I omitted
to enclose the printed paper on the subject of whale oil. ‘That
omission is now supplied by another conveyance by the way of
London. The explanatory arrét is not yet come out. I still take
for granted it will pass, though there be an opposition to it in the
Spe
Be
204 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Council. In the meantime, orders are given to receive our oils
which may arrive. The apprehension of a want of corn has induced
them to turn their eyes to foreign supplies; and to show their
preference of receiving them from us, they have passed the enclosed
arrét, giving a premium on wheat and flour from the United States
for a limited time. This you will doubtless think proper to have
translated and published. 'The Notables are still in session. The
votes of the separate bureaus have not yet been reduced to a joint
act in the assembly of the whole. I-see no reason to suppose they
will change the separate votes relative to the representation of the
tiers état in the States General. In the meantime, the stream of
public indignation, heretofore directed against the Court, sets strongly
agamst the Notables. It is not yet decided when the States will
meet, but certainly they cannot till February or March. The Turks
have retired across the Danube. This indicates their going into
winter quarters, and the severity of the weather must hasten it. The —
thermometer was yesterday at eight degrees of Fahrenheit, that is, »
twenty-four degrees below freezing. This having continued many A
days, and still likely to continue, and the wind from northeast,
_ renders it probable that all enterprize must be suspended between the
three great belligerent Powers. Poland is likely to be thrown
into great convulsions. The Empress of Russia has peremptorily
demanded such aids from Poland as might engage it in the war.
The King of Prussia, on the other hand, threatens to march an army
on their borders. The vote of the Polish Confederacy for one
hundred thousand men was a coalition of the two parties in that
single act only. ‘The party opposed to the King has obtained a
majority, and have voted that this army shall be independent of him.
They are supported by Prussia, while the King depends on Russia.
Authentic information from England leaves not a doubt that the King
is lunatic, and that that, instead of the effect, is the cause of the
illness under which he has been so near dying. I mention this
because the English newspapers, speaking by guess on that as they
do on all other subjects, might mislead you as to his true situation;
or, rather, might mislead others who know less than you do, that a
thing is not rendered the more ‘e probable by being meneaaee in those
papers.
I enclose those of Leyden to the present date with the gazettes of
France.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON,
i.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. . 255
Arrét of the King’s Council of State to encourage by Boaties the
importation of Wheat and Flour coming from the United States
of America.
Translation.
hy»
November 23, 1788.
Extract from the Registers of the Council of State.
The King, unwilling to neglect any means that may encourage
during this year the importation of foreign grain, has judged it proper
to grant bounties to those who shall import into his kingdom wheat
and flour coming from the United States of America. ‘To provide
for which the report being heard, the King, in his Council, has
ordained, and does ordain, as follows :
Arricue I. There shall be paid to all French or foreign merchants
‘who, from the 15th of February next to the 30th of June following,
shall import into France wheat and wheat flour, coming from the
United States of America, a bounty of thirty sous for every quintal
of flour. The said bounties shall be paid by the receivers of the
Farm duties in the ports of the kingdom where the said grain and
flour shall arrive, on the declarations furnished by the captains of the
vessels, who shall be bound to annex thereto a legal copy of the
bill of lading, and the certificate of the magistrates of the place where
the lading shall have been made.
Arricte I. All vessels, without distinction, which, during the
space of time abovementioned, shall import into the kingdom wheat
and flour from the said United States of America, shall be exempted
from the freight duty on account of the said importations. His
Majesty enjoins the intendants and commissaries throughout the
provinces, and all others charged with the execution of his orders, to
carry into execution the present arrét, which shall be printed, pub-
lished, and posted wherever it may be necessary. |
_ Done in the King’s Council of State, eeealesty being. present,
held at Versailles, the 23d November, 1788 a
“ LAURENT DE VILLEDEUIE.
256 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Arrét of the King’s Council of State respecting the commerce of
Grain.
Translation.
November 23, 1788.
Extract from the Regist of the Council of State.
The King having been informed of the price of grain, and of the
different circumstances which have raised the value, has learned with
pain that the crops have not yielded the customary supply, and that
the cultivators have been in general much disappointed in their
expectations. It is, moreover, generally known that a disastrous hail
storm has ravaged a great part of his dominions, and many other
unfortunate events have conspired to diminish the crops in numberless
parts of the provinces of his kingdom. His Majesty, nevertheless,
is informed that no scarcity is to be feared; but there may not,
perhaps, be a surplus quantity, necessary to keep the price within
reasonable limits. It is not in his Majesty’s power to control the
laws of nature, but, attentive to all who are under his care and pro-
tection, he at first strictly prohibited the exportation of grain, and at
the same time maintained the most perfect liberty in the interior
circulation, in order that all the provinces of his kingdom might
mutually contribute to the relief of each other. His Majesty, in
a
consequence of his paternal anxiety and the complaints which have
been addressed to him, thinks it advisable at this time to put a stop
to a kind of speculation by no means of service to the proprietors, )
and which is of essential detriment to the consumers; that is, the
purchases and forestallings undertaken only with a view of profiting by
an increase of price, and which consequently inspires the dangerous
desire of seeing the prices further enhanced. Such speculations,
which are beneficial in abundant years, excite alarm, and may have
unhappy consequences, while the price of subsistence is already so
high. His Majesty unwilling, however, to authorize any examinations,
which it is so easy to abuse, has thought proper to content himself
with reéstablishing for this year the ancient obligation of not selling
or purchasing but in the markets, that the officers of the police may
be enabled to observe the conduct of those who give themselves up
to so dishonest a traffic. He has at the same time thought proper
to renew the ancient ordinances prohibiting from all kind of commerce
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, Q57
in grain those persons who are charged with the care of the police
and good order, and in extending the prohibition to all such as have
the management of the royal moneys, and as are in any manner
attached to the Administration. He at the same time promises the
most particular protection to the merchants who may import into
France wheat purchased in foreign eountries, or who employ them-
selves in carrying grain from one province to another, and by this
means equalize among his subjects the resources and means of
subsistence. His Majesty cannot warrant, notwithstandmg these
precautions, and all those which he will take by means of adminis-
tration to encourage the importation of foreign wheat into the kingdom,
that the price of this commodity may not be constantly dear this
year; but notwithstanding the painful situation of his finances, he
will grant more considerable relief than at other times to the most
indigent part of his people, and he will not cease to do everything
that can be reasonably expected from his beneficence and his
resources. For which being willing to provide, having heard the
report, the King being present in his Council, has ordained, and does
_ ordain, as follows:
Arrticiz I, His Majesty wills and ordains, that under the penalties
"established by the ancient regulations, grain and flour shall not be
sold nor bought in any other place than in the halls, markets, or in
the ordinary ports of the cities, towns, and places of the kngdom as
_ have been established for the purpose.
Articue II. His Majesty prohibits the merchants, and all other
_ persons, of whatsoever quality or condition they may be, from going
out to meet those who shall bring grain to market, either to give them
_ earnest or to make any private bargam with them.
Arricie III. His Majesty prohibits the officers of justice and
police, all weighers and measurers, and other persons employed in
_ the service of the markets, as well as the Farmers and receivers of
_ his dues, clerks of his receipts, cashiers, and other persons employed
in the collection of his revenue, or attached in any other manner to
the administration of his finances, from intermeddling, either directly
_ or indirectly, in the commerce of grain.
ArticLe IV. His Majesty expressly wills that no impediment
should be made to the free transportation of grain throughout his
_ kingdom, and orders the judges of police and the officers of the
| Maréchaussée to aid the execution of his orders.
Vou. Il.—17
258 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Articir V. The dispositions of the present rule shall have force
but for one year. His Majesty reserving the renewal at the expira-
tion of that term, if circumstances require. |
Articite VI. His Majesty confirms, as far as may be necessary,
the ancient regulations which order that the mhabitants of those
places where grain is exposed to sale, to provide themselves, in
preference to the merchants, with the quantity necessary for their
consumption.
Arrticur VII. His Majesty does not intend to make any innovation
in the regulations of the police hitherto pursued for supplying the
city of Paris with provisions, which shall continue to be observed as
heretofore. i
Articie. VIII. His Majesty paternally exhorts the vitipniotons and
Farmers to concur in his wise and beneficent designs, and to supply, —
by sufficiently providing the markets, the manner which he conceives |
not proper to prescribe at present ; and all letters patent, if necessary, ©
shall be made out under the present arrét. |
Done in the King’s Council of State, his Majesty being ene |
held at Versailles, the 22d November, 1788.
LAURENT DE VILLEDEUIL.
FROM JOHN JAY TO THOMAS JEFFERSON. 3 i
Office for Foreign Affairs, March 9, 1789.
Dear Sir,
Since the 13th day of September nine States fee not been
represented in Congress, and since the 10th day of October last a_
sufficient number for ordinary business have not convened. No-
progress, therefore, could be made in the affairs of this department, —
and that will continue to be the case until the Government shall be
organized. Many members of the new Congress are now here, but
not a sufficient number of both Houses to form quorums. ‘There is,
nevertheless, reason to expect that both Houses will be in capacity
next week to open the ballots for President and Vice President. It
is generally supposed, and, indeed, known, that General Washingia
is chosen for the first, and Mr. Adams for the second.
I have been favored with your letters of 20th August, 3d, 5th, ane :
24th September, (extracts from the two last of which, relative to our
ee ee ee
—
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 259
captives at Algiers and foreign officers, have been communicated to
the Board of Treasury,) and 14th, 19th, and 29th November, 1788.
The alterations in the Consular convention give satisfaction. ‘The
papers relative to it have been perused by several members of
Congress. Your conduct is greatly and deservedly commended.
The reasons assigned for your wishing to make a short visit to
America, are, in my opinion, sufficient to justify you in asking for
leave, and Congress in granting it; but, my dear sir, there is no
Congress sitting, nor have any of their servants authority to interfere.
As soon as the President shall be in office, I will, without delay,
communicate your letters to him, and give the business all the
despatch in my power.
To this I shall be prompted not only by official duty, but by that
personal esteem and regard, with which I am, &c.,
JOHN JAY.
O
| FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN ADAMS.
; Paris, December 5, 1788.
Dear Sir,
I had the honor of writing to you on the 2d of August, and of
| adding a postscript of August the 6th.
| ieee * * * % * * *
You recollect well the arrét of December the 29th, in favor of our
_commerce, and which among other things gave a free admission to
our whale oil under a duty of about two louis a ton. In consequence
,of the English treaty, their oils flowed in, and overstocked the
market. The light duty they were liable to under the treaty, still
lessened by false estimates, and aided by the premiums of the
British Government, enabled them to undersell the French and
, American oils. This produced an outcry of the Dunkirk fishery.
,It was proposed to exclude all European oils which would not
‘infringe the British treaty. I could not but encourage this idea,
/because it would give to the French and American fisheries a
| monopoly of the French market. The arrét was drawn up; but in
.the very moment of passing it, they struck out the word European,
so that our oils became involved. ‘This I believe was the effect of a
‘single person in the Ministry. As soon as it was known to me, I
,wrote to Monsieur de Montmorin, and had conferences with him and
|
a
260 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY
the other Ministers. I found it necessary to give them information
on the subject of the whale fishery, of which they knew little, but
from the partial information of their Dunkirk adventurers. I there-
fore wrote the observations, (of which I enclose you a printed copy,)
had them printed to entice them to read them, and particularly
developed the expense at which they are carrying on that fishery,
and at which they must continue it, if they do continue it. This
part was more particularly intended for M. Necker, who was quite
a stranger to the subject, who has principles of economy, and will
enter into calculations. Other subjects are incidentally introduced.
Though little connected with the main question, they had been
called for by other circumstances. An immediate order was given
for the present admission of our oils till they could form an arrét,
and at aconference the draught of an arrét was communicated to
me, which reéstablished that of December the 29th. They
expressed fears that under cover of our name, the Nova Scotia oils
would be introduced; and a blank was left in the draught for the
means of preventing that. They have since proposed that the cer-
tificate of their Consul shall accompany the oils to authorize their
admission; and this is what they will probably adopt. It was
observed that if our States would prohibit all foreign oils from being
imported into them, it would be a great safeguard, and an encourage-
ment to them to continue the admission. Still there remains an
expression in the arrét that it is provisory only. However, we must
be contented with it as it is; my hope being that the Legislature
will be transferred to the National Assembly, in whose hands it will
be more stable, and with whom it will be more difficult to obtain a
repeal should the Ministry hereafter desire it. If they could succeed
in drawing over as many of our Nantucket men as would supply
their demands of oil, we might then fear an exclusion, but the present _
arrét as soon as it shall be passed will, I hope, place us in safety tll
that event, and that event may never happen. I have entered into
all these. details, that you may be enabled to quiet the alarm which
must have been raised by the arrét of September the 24th, and
assure the adventurers that they may pursue thei enterprises as
safely as if that had never been passed, and more profitably, because
we participate now of a monopolized instead of an open market.
The enclosed observations, though printed, have only been given to
the Ministers, and one or two other confidential persons. You will
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 261
see that they contain matter which should be kept from the English,
and will therefore trust them to the perusal only of such persons as
you can confide in. We are greatly indebted to the Marquis de la
Fayette for his aid on this as on every other occasion. He has paid
the closest attention to it, and combatted for us with the zeal of a
native.
The necessity of reconducting my family to America, and of
placing my affairs there under permanent arrangements, has obliged
me to ask of Congress a six months’ absence, to wit, from April to
November next. I hope, therefore, to have the pleasure of seeing
you there, and particularly that it will be at New York that I shall
find you.
Be so good as to present my sincere esteem to Mrs. Adams, and.
believe me, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
a
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, January 11, 1789.
Sir,
My last letters have been of the 14th, 19th, and 29th of Novem-
ber, by the way of London. The present will go the same way,
through a private channel. All military operations in Europe seem
to have been stopped by the excessive severity of the-weather. In
this country it is unparalleled in so early a part of the winter, and in
duration, having continued since the middle of November, during
which time it has been as low as nine degrees below nought, that is
to say, forty-one degrees below freezing, by Fahrenheit’s thermom-
eter, and has increased the difficulties of the Administration here.
They had before to struggle with the want of money, and want of
bread for the people, and now the want of fuel for them, and want
of employment. The siege of Oczakow is still continued, the
soldiers sheltering themselves, in the Russian manner, in subterra-
neous barracks, and the Captain Pacha has retired with his fleet.
The death of the King of Spain has contributed, with the insanity
of the English King, to render problematical the form which the
affairs of Europe will ultimately take. Some think a peace possible
between the Turks and the two Empires, with the cession of the
362 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
oo,
Crimea to the former, as less important to Russia than Poland, which
‘she is in danger of losing. In this case, the two Empires might
attack the King of Prussia, and the scene of war be only changed.
He is certainly uneasy at the accident happened to his principal ally.
There seems no doubt but that the Prince of Wales will be sole
regent; but it is also supposed they will not give him the whole
executive powers, and particularly that of declaring war without the
consent of the Parliament. Should his personal dispositions, there-
fore, and that of a new Ministry, be the same which the King had
of cooperating with Prussia, yet the latter cannot count on their
effect; probably the Parliament will not consent to war, so that I
think we may consider the two great Powers of France and England
as absolutely at rest for some time. As the character of the Prince
of Wales is becoming interesting, | have endeavored to learn what
it truly is. This is less difficult in his case than in that of other
persons of his rank, because he has taken no pains to hide himself
from the world. ‘The information I most rely on is from a person
here, with whom I am intimate, who divides his time between Paris
and London, an Englishman by birth, of truth, sagacity, and science. —
He is of a circle when in London which has had good opportunities ©
of knowing the Prince; but he has also, himself, had special occasions
of verifying their information by his own personal observation. He
happened, when last in London, to be invited to a dinner of three _
persons. ‘The Prince came by chance, and made the fourth. He |
eat half a leg of mutton, did not taste of small dishes, because
small, drank Champagne and Burgundy as small-beer during dinner,
and Bordeaux after dinner, as the rest of the company. Upon the
whole, he eat as much as the other three, and drank about two
bottles of wine, without seeming to feel it. My informant sat next
hum, and being till then unknown to the Prince personally, (though
not by character,) and lately from France, the Prince confined his
conversation almost entirely to him. Observing to the Prince that
he spoke the French without the least foreign accent, the Prince
told him that when very young his father had put only French
servants about him, and that it was to that circumstance he owed his
pronunciation. He led him from this to give an account of his
education, the total of which was the learning a little Latin. He
has not a single element of mathematics, of natural or moral philos-
ophy, or of any other science on earth. Nor has the society he has
{
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 263
kept been such as to supply the void of education. It has been that
of the lowest, the most illiterate and profligate persons of the king-
dom, without choice of rank or merit, and with whom the subjects of
conversation are only horses, drinking-matches, bawdy-houses, and in
terms the most vulgar. The young nobility, who begin by associating
with him, soon leave him, disgusted with the insupportable profligacy
of his society; and Mr. Fox, who has been supposed his favorite,
and not over nice in the choice of company, would never keep his
company habitually. In fact, he never associated with a man of
sense. He has not a single idea of justice, morality, religion, or of
the rights of man, nor any anxiety for the opinion of the world. He
carries that indifference of fame so far, that he would probably not
be hurt were he to lose his throne, provided he could be assured of
having always meat, drink, horses, and women. In the article of
women, nevertheless, he has become more correct since his connexion
with Mrs. Fitzherbert, who is an honest and worthy woman. He
is even less scrupulous than he was. He had a fine person, but it is
becoming coarse. He possesses good native common sense; is
affable, polite, and very good humored, saying to my informant, on
another occasion, “ Your friend such a one dined with me yesterday,
and I made him damned drunk.” He replied, “I am sorry for it;
Thad heard that your royal highness had left off drinking.” ‘The
| Prince laughed, tapped him on the shoulder very good naturedly,
without saying a word, or ever after showing any displeasure. ‘The
Duke of York, who was for sometime cried up as the prodigy of the
family, is as profligate, and of less understanding. ‘To these partic-
ular traits, from a man of sense and truth, it would be superfluous to
add the general terms of praise or blame, in which he is spoken of
by other persons, in whose impartiality and penetration I have less
confidence. A sample is better than a description. For the peace
of Europe, it is best that the King should give such gleamings of
recovery, as would prevent the Regent or his Ministry from thinking
themselves firm, and yet that he should not recover. ‘his country
advances with a steady pace towards the establishment of a consti-
tution whereby the people will resume the greatness of those powers
so fatally lodged in the hands of the King. During the sessions of
the Notables, and after their votes against the rights of the people,
the Parliament of Paris took up the subject and passed a vote in
opposition to theirs, (which I send you;) this was not their genuine
Ee: |
264 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
sentiment. It was a manceuvre of the young members, who are
truly well disposed, taking advantage of the accidental absence of
many old members, and bringing others over by the clause which,
while it admits the negative of the States General in legislation,
reserves still to the Parliament the right of enregistering; that is to |
say, another negative. ‘The Notables persevered in their opinion. —
The Princes of the blood (Monsieur and the Duke d’Orleans excepted) «
presented and published a memoir, threatening scission. The Par-
liament were proposing to approve of that memoir, (by way of
rescinding their former vote,) and were prevented from it by the
threat of a young member to impeach (denoncer) the memoir and
the princes who have signed it. The vote of the Notables, there-
fore, remaining balanced by that of the Parliament, the voice of the -
nation becoming loud and general for the rights of the tiers état, a
strong probability, that if they were not allowed one half the repre-
sentation, they would send up their members with express instructions
to agree to no tax, to no adoption of the public debts, and the Court
really wishing to give them a moiety of the representation. ‘This
was decided on ultimately. You are not to suppose that these
dispositions of the Court proceed from any love of the people or
justice towards their rights. Courts love the people always as wolves
do the sheep. ‘The fact is this, the Court wants money. From the -
tiers état they cannot get it, because they are already squeezed to
the last drop. The clergy and the nobles, by their privileges and —
influence, have hitherto screened their property in a great degree —
from public contribution. That half of the orange then remains yet
to be squeezed, and for this operation there is no agent powerful -
enough but the people. ‘They are, therefore, brought forward as the -
favorites of the Court, and will be supported by them. The moment
of crisis will be the meeting of the States, because their first act will ©
be to decide whether they shall vote by persons or by orders. The —
clergy will leave nothing unattempted to obtain the latter, for they —
see that the spirit of reformation will not confine itself to the political,
but will extend to the ecclesiastical establishment also. With respect
to the nobles, the younger members are generally for the people, and —
the middle-aged are daily coming over to the same side, so that -
by the time the States meet, we may hope there will be a majority |
of that body also in favor of the people, and consequently for voting |
by persons, and not orders.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 265
You will perceive, by the report of M. Necker, (in the gazette of
France:) Ist. A renewal of the renunciation of the power of
imposing a new tax by the King, and a like renunciation of the
- power to continue any old one. 2d. An acknowledgment that the
States are to appropriate the public moneys, which will go to the
— binding the Court to a civil list. 3d. A consent to the periodical
meeting of the States. 4th. To consider of the restriction of which
lettres de cachet are susceptible. 5th. The degree of liberty to be
given to the press. 6th. A bill of rights. th. There is a passage
which looks towards the responsibility. of Ministers. Nothing 1s
said of communicating to them a share in the legislation. ‘The
Ministry, perhaps, may be unwilling to part with this, but it will be
insisted on in the States. The letters of convocation will not
appear till towards the latter end of the month ; neither time nor
place are yet declared, but Versailles is talked of, and we may well
presume that some time in April may be fixed on. In the mean
time, M. Necker gets money to keep the machine in motion. Their
funds rose slowly but steadily till within these few days that there
was a small check. However, they stand very well, and will rise.
The caisse d’escompte lent the Government twenty-five millions two
days ago. The navy of this country sustained a heavy loss lately
by the death of the Bailli de Suffrein. He was appointed General-
lissimo of the Atlantic, when war was hourly expected with England,
and is certainly the officer on whom the nation would have reposed
its principal hopes in such a case. We just now hear of the death
of the Speaker of the House of Commons before the nomination of
a regent, which adds a new embarrassment to the reéstablishment of
Government in England.
Since writing mine of November 29th, yours of the 23d of Sep-
tember came to hand. As the General of the Mathurins was to be
employed in the final redemption of our captives, I thought that
their previous support had better be put; into his hands, and con-
ducted by himself, in such a way as not*to counterwork his plan of
redemption, whenever we can enable him to begin on it. I gave
him full powers as to the amount and manner of subsisting them.
He has undertaken it, informing me, at the same time, that it will be
on a very low scale, to avoid suspicion of its coming from the public.
He spoke of but three sous a day per man, as being sufficient for
their physical necessaries, more than which he thinks it not advisable
266 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
to give. I have no definitive answer yet from our bankers, whether
we may count on the whole million last agreed to be borrowed, but
I have no doubt of it, from other information, though I have not
their formal affirmative. The gazettes of Leyden and France to
this date accompany this.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
0)
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, January 14,1789.
Sir; 5
In my letter of the 11th I have said nothing of the arrét explana- _
tory of that of September 28th, on the subject of whale oils, which :
my letter of November 19th gave you reason to expect; though this _
explanatory arrét has been passed so long ago as the 7th of Decem-
ber, it had not been possible for me to obtain an authentic copy of it
till last night. I now enclose that to you, with a copy of a letter to
me, from Mr. Necker, on the subject. ‘The reception of our oils in
the mean time, is provided for by an intermediate order. You will
observe that in the arrét it is said to be passed ‘‘ provisowrement,”
and that Mr. Necker expressly holds up to us, in his letter, a repeal
whenever the national fishery supplies their wants. The arrét, how-
ever, is not limited in its duration, and we have several chances
against its repeal. It may be questioned whether Mr. Necker
thinks the fishery worth thé expense. It may be well questioned
whether, with or without encouragement, the nation whose navigation
is least economical of all in Europe, can ever succeed in the whale —
fishery, which calls for the most rigorous economy. It is hoped that
a share in the legislation will pass immediately into the hands of the
States General, so as to be no longer in the power of the commis of —
a bureau, or even of his Minister, to smuggle a law through unques-
tioned ; and we may even hope that the national demand for this oil —
will increase faster than both their and our fisheries together will |
supply. But in spite of all these hopes, if the English should find
means to cover their oils under our name, there will be great danger
of a repeal. It is essential, then, that our Government take effectual
measures to prevent the English from obtaining genuine sea-papers,
and that they enable their Consuls in the ports of France (as soon
as they shall be named) to detect counterfeit papers, and that we
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 2967
convince this Government that we use our best endeavors with good
faith, as it is clearly our interest to do; for the rivalship of the
English is the only one we have to fear. It had already begun to
render our oils invendible in the ports-of France. You will observe
that Mr. Necker renews the promise of taking off the ten sous pour
livre at the end of the next year.
Oczakow is at length taken by assault. The assailants were
fourteen thousand, and the garrison twelve thousand, of whom seven
thousand were cut to pieces before they surrendered. ‘The Russians
lost three thousand-men. ‘This is the Russian version, of which it
is safe to believe no part-but that Oczakow is taken..
The Speaker of the English House of Commons having died
suddenly, they have chosen Mr. Grenville, a young man of twenty-
seven years of age. This proves that Mr. Pitt is firm with the
present Parliament.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
Rae
FROM M. NECKER TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Translation.
Versailles, January 11, 1789.
Sir,
I have the honor to send you a copy of the arré¢ which has just
been returned to the Council to explain the one of the 28th of
| September last, to except from the prohibitions therein contained
whale bone, whale oil, spermaceti, and fish oil, arising from the
fisheries of the United States of America, and imported into France
in vessels belonging to the subjects of the United States or France.
These articles will continue to be entered as heretofore, agreeably to
_ the dispositions of the arrét of the 29th December last, that is to say,
}
subject to the duty of 7/. 10s. per barrel of oil weighing five
- hundred and twenty pounds, and 61. 13s, 4d. per quintal of whale
bone, and 10 sols per livre, (over and above both duties,) which
: shall cease on the last of December, 1790. His Majesty is always
' disposed to favor as far as possible the commerce of the United
| States, but he is bound to give a preference ‘to the national
_ commerce; and it would be contrary to the spirit of justice which
.
inspires him, were he to allow the importation of foreign oils when-
ever the national fishery shall be adequate to the supply of the
268 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
kingdom. For this reason, therefore, his Majesty’s wisdom could
only permit a provisional importation of American oil and whale
bone, until the national fishery is capable of supplying the wants of
France. But the United States are sufficiently acquainted with the
equity which regulates all his Majesty’s inclinations to be persuaded
that when the national oils shall be sufficient for the consumption of
the kingdom, the American oil and whale bone, which shall be found
embarked at the time of that revocation, shall be admitted into France
until it shall be known in America, and he has charged me to acquaint
you with it.
I make no doubt but that the United States of America will
consider this decision of his Majesty as a fresh proof of his desire to
keep up the most intimate connexion between the two nations, and
to give proofs thereof; and on their part he expects they will add to
the precautions prescribed by this arrét such as may be in ther
power to prevent the fraudulent importation of foreign oil and whale
bone under the name of American.
I have the honor to be, &c., NECKER.
@
Translation.
Arrét of the King’s Council of State, excepting Whale and other
Fish Oils, and also Whale Bone, the product of the Fisheries of
the United States of America, from the prohibition renee an
the arrét of the 28th hee artes: last.
December 7, 1788.
Extract from the Registers of the Council of State.
The King laving taken information on the arrét pronounced in
his Council, the 28th December last, prohibiting the importation of
whale oil and spermaceti, the produce of foreign fisheries into the
kingdom, observing that oil made from sea-calves and other fish and
sea animals, not being comprehended in the said arrét, a fraudulent
importation of whale oil might take place under the name of the
aforesaid oils, and that on the other hand, it might be mferred from
the tenor of the said arrét that oils, _ produce of the fisheries of
' the United States, were prohibited; and his Majesty wishing to
remove every doubt on this head, to provide, therefore, for the same,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, 269
having heard the report of the Sieur Lambert, Counsellor of State in
Ordinary, and of the Council of Despatches, and Royal Council of
Finances and Commerce, the King being present in his Council,
has ordained, and does ordain that, reckoning from the Ist day of
April next, oil made from sea-calves, and from fish and other sea
animals produced from foreign fisheries, as well as whale bone
produced in like manner from the said foreign fisheries, shall be
prohibited from importation into the kingdom, without permitting the
said prohibition, nevertheless, to extend either to the said kinds of
oils, or to the said whale oils and spermaceti, or the whale bone
produced from the fisheries of the United States of America, and
imported directly into France in French vessels, or those belonging
to the subjects of the said United States, which shall continue to be
provisionally admitted, agreeably to the Ist and 3d articles of the
_arrét of the 29th of December last; on condition, however, that the
captains of the said vessels belonging to the United States bring with
them certificates from the Consul of France residing in the ports of
the said United States, or where these cannot. be obtained, from the
magistrates of the places where the embarkation of the said oil shall
be made, for the purpose of proving that the cargo of the said vessels
_ is the produce of the fisheries carried on by the citizens of the United
States; which certificates shall be presented to the officers of the
_ Admiralty, also to the Commissioners of the Farms in the ports
| of France where it shall be landed, to be mentioned in the report.
| of. their arrival. His Majesty commands and orders the Duke de
' Penthievre, Admiral of France, the Intendants and Commissaries
throughout the provinces, Commissaries appointed to observe the
ordinances of the Admiralty, Masters of Ports, Judges of ‘Treaties,
and all others whom it may concern to assist in the execution of
the present arrét, which shall be registered in the offices of the said
Admiralties, read, published, and posted wherever it may appear
_ necessary. a
'
Done in the King’s Council of State, his Majesty being present,
held at Versailles the 7th of December, 1788. ,
LA LUZERNE.
The Duke de Penthievre, Admiral of France, having seen the
above arrét of the King‘afinincil of State, and the other parts
addressed to us, we command all those over whom our power
extends to execute it and cause it to be executed, each as his duty is,
a P
270 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
agreeably to its form and tenor. We order the officers of the Admi-
ralties to register it in the office of their jurisdictions, to read, publish,
and post it wherever it may be necessary.
Done at Vernon, the 20th of December, 1788.
L. J. M. DE BOURBON.
ig
And beneath, by his most Serene Highness.
PERIER.
O
)
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY,
Paris, January 21, 1789. ‘
Sir, ‘,
Having had the honor of addressing you so lately as the 11th
and 14th instant, I should not so soon have troubled you again but
that since the departure of those letters I have received one from the
Count de la Luzerne, of which I now send a copy, together with
another copy of the arrét of December 7th, lest the former should
be longer getting to you. You will perceive that the Ministry press
for our concurrence, in endeavoring to prevent the English from
running in their oils under our cover. Whatever regulations may
be thought of by us, it will be advisable to consult their Minister,
and their Consuls even if practicable, and to adopt with complaisance
what they may prefer, so far as our policy will admit. The
» Ministry here will judge of the efficacy of our measures from the
representations of their Minister principally, and of ther Consuls.
Nothing new having taken place since my last, I have only to
add assurances of the sentiments of esteem and respect with which
I have the honor to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON, —
~
Maritime Commerce and Fisheries.
FROM THE COUNT DE LA LUZERNE TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ea Translation. |
w Versailles, Jauuary 18, 1789.
Sir, 7
I have the honor to send you copies of the arrét of the Council
delivered the 7th December last, which excepts oil and whale bone
erising from the fishery of subjects belonging to the United States
s ™- © DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 271
from the general prohibitions mentioned in the arrét of the 7th* of
December preceding. This exception, which is a consequence and
proof of his Majesty’s particular disposition in favor of the commerce
of the United States, could not, however, be granted but provisionally,
because it was impossible to lose sight of the motives of justice which
claim an exclusive protection over the national fishery, which obliges
him to reserve for it the entire supply of the kingdom, should 1,
increase sufficiently for that purpose. But you must be well con-
vinced that his Majesty will never decide on the adoption of this
measure until the necessity shall be clearly proved, when precautions
will be-taken to secure the American merchants and fishermen from
every surprise. In the actual state of affairs, I conceive it necessary
to request you to observe that it equally interests the two nations to
prevent a contraband trade in the importation of whale oil. The
privilege granted to the subjects of the United States would become
useless to them, as well as injurious to the French fishery, if other
nations should likewise partake of this privilege by fraud, which it
may be very difficult, perhaps, entirely to prevent. I make no
doubt that sufficient precautions will be taken in this respect in
the ports of the United States. I shall give orders to the Consuls
residing there to concert with the heads of Administration to determine
_ the form of the certificates required by the arrét of the 7th December,
and to adopt such measures as can be effected, to assure the truth of
_ the facts necessary to be attested. I request you, sir, to demand that.
the necessary aid may be granted to prevent any surprises from such
as would endeavor to carry on a contraband trade, and attempt the
introduction of a foreign oil under the name of American.
I have the honor to be, &c., LA LUZERNE.
” 0)
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, February 4, 1789.
SIr,
Your favor of November 25th, by Gouverneur Morris, is duly
received. I must beg you to take the trouble of decy phering
_ yourself what follows, and to commmunicate it to nobody but the
| President, at least for the present.
| * Error for 28th September,
|
|
|
}
OIG THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
We had before understood, through different channels, that the
conduct of the Count de Moustier was politically and morally
offensive. It was delicate for me to speak on the subject to the
Count de Montmorin. The invaluable mediation of our friend, the
Marquis de la Fayette, was, therefore, resorted to, and the subject
explained, though not pressed. Later intelligence, showing the
necessity of pressing it, it was yesterday resumed, and represented
through the same medium to the Count de Montmorin that recent
information proved to us that his Minister’s conduct had rendered
him personally odious in America, and might even influence the
dispositions of the two nations; that his recall was become a matter
of mutual concern; that we had understood he was instructed to.
remind the new Government of their debt to this country, and that
he was in the urpose of doing it in very harsh terms; that this could
not increase their desire of hastening payment, and might wound
their affections ; that, therefore, it was much to be desired that. his
discretion should not be trusted to as to the form in which the
demand should be made, but that the letter should be written here,
and he instructed to add nothing; nor was his private conduct
omitted. The Count de Montmorin was sensibly impressed. He
very readily determined that the letter should be formed here, but
said that the recall-was a more difficult business; that as they had
no particular fact to allege against the Count de Moustier, they could
not recall him from that Ministry without giving him another, and
there was no vacancy at present. However, he would hazard his
first thoughts on the subject, saving the right ef correcting them by
further consideration. They were these: That there was a loose
expression in one of M. de Moustier’s letters, which might be construed
into a petition for leave of absence; that he would give ‘him permis-
sion to return to France; that it had been before decided, on the |
request of the Marquis de la Luzerne, that Otto should go with him
to London; that they would send a person to America as Charge
d’Affaires in place of Otto, and that if the President (General
Washington) approved of him, he should be afterwards made Min-
-jster. He had cast his eye on Colonel Ternant, and desired the
Marquis ‘to consult me, whether he would be agreeable. At first I
hesitated, recollecting to have heard Ternant represented in America |
as an hypochondriac, discontented man, and paused for a moment
between him and Barthelemy, at London, of whom I have heard a
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 273
great deal of good. However, I concluded it safer to take one
whom we knew and who knew us. The Marquis was decidedly of
this opinion. Ternant will see that his predecessor is recalled for
unconciliatory deportment, and that he will owe his own promotion™
to the approbation of the President. He established a solid reputa-
tion in Europe by his conduct when Generalissimo of one of the
United Provinces, during their late disturbances; and it is generally
thought that if he had been put at the head of the principal province,
instead of the Rhingrave de Salm, he would have saved that cause.
Upon the whole, I believe you may expect that the Count de
Moustier will have an immediate leave of absence, which will soon
after become a recall in effect. I will try also to have the Consuls
admonished as to the line of conduct they should observe. I shall
have the honor of writing you a general letter within a few days.
I have now that of assuring you of the sentiments of sincere esteem
and respect, &c., TH: JEFFERSON
Paris, March 14.—The operation mentioned in my letter of Feb-
ruary 4, is going on. Montmorin has proposed to Ternant to go as
Chargé d’Affaires. Ternant called on me a few days ago, to know
whether I thought his appointment would be agreeable to us;
though he is obliged to give up his regiment, which is a certainty for
‘life, for this mission, which 1s uncertain in its duration, he will do it.
‘Perhaps Otto may be left awhile longer to put Ternant into the train
‘of affairs. I suppose M. de Moustier will have received his leave
af absence before you receive this.
March 18.—'Ternant has again seen Montmorin, who told him
that in the beginning of April he would decide finally about his
| mission.
| 0
L: deh) FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, March 1, 1789.
Sir,
My last letters have been of the 11th, 14th, and 21st of January.
‘The present conveyance being through the post to Havre, from
Vor. If.—18
274 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY,
whence a vesssel is to sail for New York, I avail myself of it, prin-
cipally, to send you the newspapers. That of Leyden of the 24th,
contains a note of the Chargé d’ Affaires of France at Warsaw, which
is interesting. It shows a concert between France and Russia; it
is a prognostication that Russia will interfere in the affairs of Poland,
and if she does, it is more probable that the King of Prussia must
be drawn into the war. The revolution which has taken place in
Geneva is a remarkable and late event. With the loss of only two
or three lives, and in the course of one week, riots begun at first on
account of a rise in the price of bread, were improved and pointed
to a reformation of their constitution, and their ancient constitution
has been almost completely reestablished ; nor do I see any reason
to doubt of the permanence of the reéstablishment. The King of
England has shewn such marks of returning reason, that the Regency
bill was postponed in the House of Lords on the 19th instant. It
seems now probable there may be no change of the Munistry;
perhaps no Regent. We may be sure, however, that the present
Ministry make the most of those favorable symptoms. ‘There has
been a riot in Brittany, begun on account of the price of bread, but
converted into a quarrel between the noblesse and tiers état. Some
few lives were lost in it. All is quieted for the present moment. In
Burgundy and Franche Compté, the opposition of the nobles to the
views of the Government is very warm. Everywhere else, how-
ever, the revolution is going on quietly and steadily, and the public
mind ripening so fast that there is great reason to hope a good result
from the States General. Their numbers (about 1200) give room
to fear, indeed, that they may be turbulent. Having never heard of
Admiral Paul, Jones since the action in which he took a part before
Oczakow, I began to be a little uneasy; but I have now received a
letter from him, dated at St. Petersburgh, the 31st of January, where
he had just arrived, at the desire of the Empress. He has hitherto
commanded on the Black sea. He does not know whether he shall
be employed there or -where, the ensuing campaign. I have no
other interesting intelligence which would not lead me into details
improper for the present mode of conveyance. After observing,
‘therefore, that the gazettes of France and Leyden to the present
date accompany this, I shall only add assurances of the sincere
esteem and respect with which I have the honor to be, &c.,
TH: JEFFERSON.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 275
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, March 12, 1789.
Sir,
I had the honor of addressing you on the Ist instant, through the
post. I write the present, uncertain whether Mr. Nesbitt, the bearer
of your last, will be the bearer of this, or whether it may not have to
wait some*other private occasion. They have reestablished their
packet-boats here, indeed, but they are to go from Bordeaux, which
being between four and five hundred miles from hence, is too far to
send a courier with any letters but on the most extraordinary
occasions, and without a courier they must pass through the post
office. I shall therefore not make use of this mode of conveyance,
but prefer sending my letters by a private hand, by the way of
London. The uncertainty of finding private conveyances to Lon-
don is the principal objection to this.
On the receipt of your letter advising me to purchase the two
volumes of Deane’s letters and accounts, I wrote to the person who
had them, and, after some offers and refusals, he let me have
them for 25 louis, instead of 120 louis asked at first. He told me
that Deane had still six or eight volumes more, and that when he
should return to London he would try to get them, in order to’ make
himself whole for the money he had lent Deane. As I knew he
would endeavor to make us pay dear for them, and it appeared to be
your opinion, and that of ‘the members you had consulted, that it
was an object worthy attention, I wrote immediately to a friend in
London, to endeavor to purchase them from Deane himself, whose
distresses and crapulous habits will probably render him more easy
to deal with. I authorized him to go as far as fifty guineas ;:I have
as yet no answer from him. I enclose you a letter which I wrote
last month to our bankers in Holland. As it will itself explain the
)
' cause of its being written, I shall not repeat its substance here. In
- answer to my proposition to pay bills for the medals and the redemp-
i
1
j
1
}
f
tion of our captives, they quote a resolution of Congress (which,
however, I do not find in the printed journal) appropriating the loans
' of 1787 and 1788 to the payment of interest of the Dutch loans till
1790, inclusive, and the residue to salaries and contingencies in
_ Europe, and they agree that, according to this, they are not to pay
anything in Europe till they shall first have enough to pay all the
_ interest which will become due to the end of the year 1790; and
276 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
that it is out of personal regard that they relax from this sO. Tee as a
pay diplomatic salaries. So that here is a clear declaration, they
will answer no other demands till they have in hand money enough
for all the interest to the end of the year 1790. It is but a twelve-
month since I have had occasion to pay attention to the proceedings
of those gentlemen; but, during that time, I have observed, that as
soon as a sum of interest is becoming due, they are able to borrow
just that and no more; or at least only so-much more as may pay
our salaries and keep us quiet. Were they not to borrow for the
interest, the failure to pay that would sink the value of the capital, of
which they are considerable sharers. So far, their interests and ours
concur. But there, perhaps, they may separate. I think it possible
they may choose to support our credit to a certain point, and let it
go no further, but at their will, to keep it so poised as that it may be
at their mercy. By this they will be sure to ae us in their own
hands. They write word to the Treasury, that in order to raise
money for the February interest, they were obliged to agree with the
subscribers that Congress should open no other loan at Amsterdam
this year till this one be filled up, and that this shall not be filled but
by the present subscribers, and they not obliged to fill it. This is
delivering us, bound hand and foot, to the subscribers; that is, to.
themselves. Finding that they would not raise money re any other
purposes, without being ‘pushed, I wrote the letter I enclose ‘you.
They awe as I have stated, by refusing to pay, alleging the appro-
priation of Cor I have written again, to press them het q
and to. propose to them the payment of thirty thousand florins only,
for the case of our captives, as I am in hopes this may do. In the
close of my letter to them, you will observe I refer them, as to the
article of foreign officers, to the Board of Treasury. I had, in truth,
received the printed journals a few days before, but had not yet had
time to read them carefully, and particularly had not then noted the
vote of Congress of August 20th, directing me to attend to that
article. I shall not fail to do what 1 can in it, but I am afraid they:
will consider this also as standing on the same ground with the other
contingent articles.
This country being generally engaged in its elections, affords
nothing new and worthy of communication. The hopes of accom-.
modations between ‘Turkey and the two empires do not gain strength.
The war between Russia and Denmark on the one hand, and Sweden:
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. O77
on the other, is likely also to go on, the mediation of England being
rendered of little force by the accident to its executive. ‘The prog-
ress of this war, and also of the broils in Poland, may possibly draw
the King of Prussia into it during the ensuing campaign; and it must,
before it be finished, take in this country, and perhaps England.
The ill humor on account of the Dutch revolution continues to rankle
here. They have recalled their Ambassador from the Hague, mani-
festly to show their dissatisfaction with that Court, and some very
dry memorials have lately been exchanged on the subject of the
money this country assumed to pay the Emperor for the Dutch. I
send you very full extracts of these, which will show you the dispo-
sitions of the two Courts towards each other. Whether, and when,
this country will be able to take an active part, will depend on the
issue of their States General. If they fund their public debts judi-
ciously, and will provide further funds for a war on the English plan,
I believe they will be able to borrow any sum they please. In the
meantime, the situation of England will leave them at leisure to settle
their internal affairs well. That Ministry, indeed, pretend their
King is perfectly reéstablished. No doubt they will make the most
of his amendment, which is real to a certain degree. But, as under
eenee of this, they have got rid of the daily certificate :
sicians, and they possessed of the King’s person, ‘the public must
judge hereafter from such facts only as they can catch. ‘There are
several at present, which, put together, induce a presumption that
the King is only better, not well. And should he be well, time will
be necessary to give a confidence that it is not merely a lucid inter-
val. On the whole, I think we may conclude that that country will
‘not take a part in the war this year, which was by no means certain
‘before.
| M. del Pinto, formerly Minister of Portugal at London, and the
‘same who negotiated the treaty with us, being now put at the head
‘of the Ministry of that country, I presume that negotiation may be
‘renewed successfully, if it be the desire of our Government. Per-
haps an admission of our flour into their ports may be obtained now,
'as M. del Pinto seemed impressed with our reasoning on that subject,
and promised to press it on his Court, though he could not then ven-
‘ture to put it into the treaty. There is not the same reason to hope
‘any relaxation as to our reception in Brazil, because he would
'searcely let us mention that at all. I think myself, a is their interest
278 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
to take away all temptations to our codperation in the emancipation
of their colonies; and I know no means of doing this but the making
it our interest that they should continue dependant, nor any. other
way of making this our interest but by allowing us a commerce with
them. However, this is a mode of reasoning which their Ministry,
probably, could not bear to listen to.
I send herewith the gazettes of France and Leyden, and have the.
honor to be, &c.,
a
ne
TH: JEFFERSON. —
THOMAS JEFFERSON TO MESSRS. WILLINKS AND VAN STAPHORSTS. |
Paris, February 22, 1789.
¥
Gentlemen,
I have just received your joint letter of the 16th instant to me,
and have perused that of the same date to the board of Treasury, —
which you were so kind as to enclose for my perusal. I shall imme-
diately forward it to them. You therein state the balance in your
hands to be 123,674 florins, to which will be added the nett produce
of one hundred and three bonds engaged, though not yet delivered,
and you say there will then be a deficiency of about 100,000 florins —
for the June interest. From this an implication arises, that you |
consider this balance as a deposit for the June interest, and propose ©
again to postpone the article of 60,000 florins, appropriated in the
estimate we left you, to a particular purpose as of the last year.
But I must observe to you that this article is of a nature not to admit —
‘such postponement. The situations it is intended to relieve are too
cruel to be suffered. That estimate was under the eyes of Congress —
when they approved the loan which was to fulfil its views. The
order of appropriation is as much established by their will as the
sums appropriated; and priority in order gives priority of right.
Though that article stands among those which should have been
- — “er oe
furnished in 1788, I said nothing when I found you were postponing |
it to the interest of February, 1789, but I did not expect it would -
be again proposed to postpone it to that of June; and were I to be
silent now, it might afterwards be postponed to that of February, and |
so on, without end. Besides my instructions from Congress, which
do not leave me at liberty to permit this object to lose its tur,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 279
besides the pressing cries of humanity, which urge its right, another
reason is superadded. I have asked and hope to receive leave to go
to America in the ensuing spring, and shall not return till the fall.
Were I to leave Europe without setting this business into motion, it
would be suspended till my return, which no consideration will
permit. As I expect, then, to sail about the middle of April, I
must draw on you in the course of the month of March for these
60,000 florins, and I hope the same motives will urge you to honor
the draft which will oblige me to make it. Besides this, the article
of the medal stands before that of either the February or June
interest ; and as my departure would render it necessary that these
also should be finished, and their execution requires time, I have been
obliged to enter into contracts with the several workmen, who are
already well advanced in their work, and will finish it by the middle
of April. They will soon become entitled to partial payments, so that
I must immediately begin these drafts on you, and make the whole
of them between this and the middle of April. With respect to the
appropriation for the foreign officers, I have no orders; I presume
they will be sent to you. Should your two houses concur in senti-
ment on the subject of this letter, I shall hope to receive your joint
answer, as usual. Should they differ in opinion, I must ask your
answers separately.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
SS
MEMORIAL.
M. Lestevenon de Berkenrode (the Dutch Ambassador at the
Court of Versailles) delivered, some time ago, a memorial to the
Court of France, for the purpose of reminding the King of the four
and a half millions which the Court, under the administration of the
Count de Vergennes, engaged to pay in virtue of the treaty of peace,
signed at Fontainebleau, between the Court of Vienna and the
Plenipotentiary and the States General, in consideration of the sum
of eight millions of German florins, valued at ten millions of Dutch
florins, five and a half of which at the charge of the States General,
and four and a half France undertook to furnish to procure peace for
the Republic.
He was answered by the Count de Montmorin, that this memorial
would be laid before the King. The Council having considered it,
280 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
sent a note thereon to the States General by M. Caillard, Chargé
d’ Affaires from the Court at the Hague, wherein they ascend as far
as the last war between France and England, which gave cause to
the alliance between His Majesty and the Republic. ‘They mention
therein the two ships of the line, that was offered to the King, and
also the war between his Majesty the Emperor, and the Republic,
France, by its good offices at the Court of Vienna, stifled in its birth,
by consolidating a peace between the two States. It is said therein
that it is true that the King took upon himself the payment of the
four and a half millions of florins in order to procure it, but that T,
H. M., not having given the two sail of the line, which they offered,
and not having regarded the demand of the King’s Ambassador, in
June last, to stipulate at the end of the treaty of alliance subsisting
with France, a clause to counterbalance the advantages granted to
England in the new alliance with the Republic in contravention to
that with France; that T. H. M., in their political changes having
proscribed such members of the States, as had not contributed to
form this alliance, and having by this means shaken themselves the
basis of this pecuniary convention, it appeared to the King that he
was disengaged from complying with it, and that he submitted thas
consideration to the T. H. M’s. wisdom and justice. |
We understand that on the 22d January, T. H. M. answered
this note by a long memorial, of which the following is the
substance :
They therein express their acknowledgments for the signal services
which the Court of France has rendered them during the war
between the Republic and Great Britain, (in which the State was
involved by causes which the King cannot be ignorant of,) T. H. M.
are penetrated with the generous manner in which the King has
restored the reconquered possessions belonging to the Republic, im
the two Indies, that they wish for nothing more than to contribute,
if the case happens, all in their power towards the prosperity of the
French arms, by virtue of the alliance subsisting between the two
States.
That the King completed his Readies by preventing, through tie
powerful mediations, a war with which the Emperor menaced the
Republic, and by procuring a peace by sacrificing four and a half
millions, the four first instalments of which the King has -_
paid.
1
|
|
'
i
}
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. Q8}
That T. H. M., full of confidence in the words of the King, had
expected the same payment of the other periods with the like
promptitude, and that they had attributed the delay of the payment
of the two last periods only to the circumstances of the Finances,
without renouncing them.
That it is true that one province of the Union-made the proposi-
tion to the States General of offering to the King two ships of the
line, but that the resolution was not taken.
That as to the alliances which T. H. M. have contracted, they
conceive that an independent State is at liberty to form such political
alliances as the safety of the country requires, without being obliged
to be answerable to any one whatever for its motives.
That T. H.M. have remarked with as much pain as surprise, that
the King’s Minister has made use of the expression, “that T. H. M.
‘had themselves shaken the basis of the convention, and that they had
‘proscribed from the Government the persons who had chiefly
‘contributed to form the alliance with France.”
That IT’. H. M. disavow this imputation, which can only be the
work of such as envy the prosperity and happiness of the Republic,
and have endeavored to abuse the King in every thing that relates
to the affairs of the Republic.
That T. H. M. flatter themselves that the King, being better
informed of the state of things, will render justice to the uprightness
_ of 'T. H. M.’s intentions, which they will not cease to convince his
Majesty of.
The remainder of the memorial respects the troubles that have so
cruelly harassed the Republic; troubles that, like an epidemical
disorder, have overrun all Europe.
T. H. M. say that a cabal, accustomed to bend every thing to theit
_ yoke, tyrannized over a part of the nation, which had since so clearly
expressed its sentiments, that it had carried its audacity so far as to
insult and offer violence to the Princess of Orange, whose virtues are
admired by Europe, and who ought to be an object of veneration to
_ all who profess principles of honor and justice.
|
A
|
_ That his Majesty the King of Prussia, enraged at the insult offered
his blood, in the person of his august sister, had demanded exemplary
_ satisfaction, which had been refused him by the cabal, notwithstanding
) the representations of his Majesty; that the King of Prussia having
| armed his troops, entered in a very few days into the heart of
he
*
282 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
Holland, without availing himself of his advantages, and effected a
revolution that will form an epoch in the annals of history ; a revolu-
tion the more marvellous, as in reéstablishing the lawful Constitution,
it tended to aggrandize no one person in the Republic.
There T. H. M. conclude with painting the cabal in the blackest
colors. They charge it with having dared to employ the King’s
military officers in their culpable designs, (as T. H. M. have shewn,)
as if the King had intended to have overturned the laws of the
Republic.
T. H. M. repeat with pleasure the King’s reiterated assurances
that he would not intermeddle in an armed manner in the affairs of
the Republic.
In the last place, T. H. M. declare that they cannot relinquish
the King’s sacred word for the payment, which constitutes the
principal object of the memorial, and which, if present circumstances
prevent the discharge, T. H. M. expect that a more favorable
change will admit of it.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, March 15, 1789
Sir, es
Since closing my letters which accompany this, I have received
an answer from London on the subject of the other volumes oh
Déane’s letters and accounts suggested to be still in his possession.
This information renders it certain that none such are in his —
wstt
péssession, and probably that no others exist but the two which I |
have purchased. I am in hopes, therefore, we may conclude that |
thé recovery of these two volumes finishes that business. |
Mr. Nesbit having concluded to stay yet a while longer, my present
despatches will go to London by a priyate conveyance which occurs
t6=morrow morning, from which place Mr. Trumbull will, as usual, —
find a safe occasion of forwarding them.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
P. S. March 18th.—Before the departure of my letters, the»
incident became known which has taken place in Sweden, and 1s |
“minutely detailed in the gazette of Leyden of the 13th instant. It |
a
4
=
= 7
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 883
proves that their King is bold, if not judicious. Attacked in the
north by Russia, in the south by Denmark, his army at home
discusted, he has ventured, at one stroke, to place his whole body
of nobles in hostile opposition, with all their dependencies in money
and men. ‘To those who do not know him, it will excite a pre-
sumption that he is assured the King of Prussia will go all lengths
with him; but to those who know his character, it 1s only a proof
the more that he is very foolhardy.
eet ee
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
Paris, May 8, 1789.
Dear Sir,
Your favor of January the 26th to March the 27th, is duly
received, and I thank you for the interesting papers it contained,
The answer of Don Ulloa, however, on the subject of the canal
through the American Isthmus, was not among them, though men-
tioned to be so. If you have omitted it through accident, I shall
thank you for it on some future occasion, as I wish much to
understand that subject thoroughly. Our American information
comes down to the 16th of March. There had not yet been
members enough assembled of the new Congress to open the tickets.
They expected to do it ina day or two. In the meantime, it was
said from all the States that their vote had been unanimous for
General Washington, and a good majority in favor of Mr. Adams,
who is certainly, therefore, Vice President. The new Government
would be supported by very cordial and very general dispositions in
its favor from the people. I have not yet seen a list of the new
Congress. This delay in the meeting of the new Government has
delayed the determination on my petition for leave of absence.
However, I expect to receive it every day, and am in readiness to
sail the instant I receive it, so that this is probably the last letter I .
shall write you hence till my return. While there [ shall avail
Government of the useful information I have received from you, and
shall not fail to profit of any good occasion which may occur to
shew the difference between your real situation and what it ought to
be. I consider Paris and Madrid as the two only points at which
Europe and America should touch closely, and that a connexion at
these points should be fostered.
234 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
We have had in this city a very considerable riot, in which about
one hundred people have been probably killed. It was the most
unprovoked, and is, therefore, justly the most unpitied catastrophe of
that kind I everknew. Nor did the wretches know what they wanted,
except to do mischief. It seems to have had no particular connexion
with the great national question now in agitation. |
The want of bread is very seriously dreaded through the whole
kingdom. Between twenty and thirty ship-loads of wheat and flour
have already arrived from the United States, and there will be about
the same quantity of rice sent from Charleston to this country
directly, of which about half has arrived. I presume that between
wheat and rice one hundred ship-loads may be counted on in the
whole from us. Paris consumes about a ship-load a day, (say two
hundred and fifty tons.) The total supply of the West Indies for
this year rests with us, and there is almost a famine in Canada and
Nova Scotia. |
The States General was opened the day before yesterday.
Viewing it as an opera, it was imposing; as a scene of business, the
King’s speech was exactly what it should have been, and very well
delivered. Not a word of the Chancellor’s was heard by anybody,
so that as yet I have never heard a single guess at what it was about.
Mr. Necker’s was as good as such a number of details would permit
it to be. The picture of their resources was consoling, and generally
plausible. JI could have wished him to have dwelt more on those
great constitutional reformations which his “ Rapport au rot” had
prepared us to expect. But they observe that these points were proper
for the speech of the Chancellor. We are m hopes, therefore, that
they were in that speech, which, like the revelations of St. John,
were no revelations at all. The Noblesse, on coming together, shew
that they are not as much reformed in their principles as we had
hoped they would be. In fact, there is real danger of their totally
refusing to vote by persons. Some found hopes on the lower clergy,
who constitute four-fifths of the deputies of that order. If they do
not turn their balance in favor of the tiérs etat, there is real danger
of a scission; but I shall not consider even that event as rendering
things desperate. If the King will do business with the tiérs etat,
which constitutes the nation, it may be well done without priests or
nobles.
From the best information I can obtain, the King of England’s
madness has terminated in an imbecility, which may very probably
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 985
be of long continuance. He is going with his Queen to Germany.
England chained to rest, the other parts of Europe may recover or
retain tranquillity.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, May 9, 1789.
Sir,
Since my letter of March Ist, by way of Havre, and those of
March 12th and 15th by the way of London, no opportunity of
writing has occurred till the present to London. :
There are no symptoms of accommodation between the Turks
and two Empires, nor between Russia and Sweden. ‘The Emperor
was, on the*16th of the last month, expected to die certainly ; he
was, however, a little better when the last news came away, so that
hopes were entertained of him; but itis agreed that he cannot get
| the better of his disease ultimately, so that his life is not at all
counted on. The Danes profess as yet to do no more against
» Sweden than furnish their stipulated aid. ‘The agitation of Poland
is still violent, though somewhat moderated by the late change in
_ the demeanor of the King of Prussia. He is much less thrasonic
than he was. ‘This is imputed to the turn which the English
_ politics may be rationally expected to take. It is very difficult to
_ get at the true state of the British King; but from the best informa-
_ tion we can get, his madness has gone off; but he is left in a state
of imbecility and melancholy. They are going to carry him to
| Hanover, to see whether such a journey may relieve him. The
_ Queen accompanies him. If England should, by this accident, be
' reduced to inactivity, the southern countries of Europe may escape
_ the present war. Upon the whole, the prospect for the present year,
_ if no unforeseen accident happens, is certain peace for the Powers
' not already engaged, a probability that Denmark will not become a
| principal, and a mere possibility that Sweden and Russia may be
accommodated. ‘The interior disputes of Sweden are so exactly
detailed in the Leyden Gazette, that I have nothing to add on that
' subject.
286 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
The revolution of this country has advanced thus far without |
encountering anything which deserves to be called a difficulty. —
There have been mobs in a few instances, in three or four different —
places, in which there may have been a dozen or twenty lives lost. |
The exact truth is not to be got at. A few days ago a much more | ;
serious riot took place i in this city, in which it became necessary for y|
the troops to engage in regular action with the mob, and probably
about one hundred of the latter were killed—accounts vary from
twenty to two hundred. They were the most abandoned banditti
of Paris, and never was a riot more unprovoked or unpitied. ‘They
began under a pretence that a paper manufacturer proposed in an
assembly to reduce their wages to fifteen sous a day. They rifled |
his house, destroyed everything in his magazines and shops, and
were only stopped in the career of mischief by the carnage above-
mentioned.
Neither this nor any other of the riots has had a professed con-
nexion with the great national reformation going on; they are such
as have happened every year since I have been here, and as will
continue to be produced by common incidents. ‘The States General.
were opened on the 4th instant by a speech from the Throne, one
by the Garde des Sceaux, and one from M. Necker. I hope they
will be printed in time to send you herewith; lest they should not, |
I will observe that that of M. Necker stated the real and ordinary
deficit to be 56,000,000, and that he shewed that this could be made
up without a new tax, by economies and bonifications, which he
specified. Several articles of the latter are liable to the objection —
that they are proposed on branches of the revenue of which the
nation has demanded a suppression. He tripped too slightly over
the great articles of constitutional reformation, these being not as
clearly enounced in this discourse as they were in his “ Rapport aw
rot,” which I sent you some time ago. On the whole, his discourse
has not satisfied the patriotic party. It is now for the first time that
this revolution is likely to receive a serious check, and begins to
wear a fearful appearance. The progress of light and liberty in
the order of the Noblesse has equalled expectation in Paris only,
and its vicinities. The great mass of deputies of that order which
come from the country shew that the habits of tyranny over the
people are deeply rooted in them. They will consent, indeed, to
equal taxation, but five-sixths of that chamber are thought to be
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 287
decidedly for voting by orders; so that, had this great preliminary
question rested on this body, which formed heretofore the sole hope,
that hope would have been completely disappointed. Some aid,
however, comes in a quarter from whence none was expected. | It
was imagined the ecclesiastical elections would have been generally
in favor of the higher clergy ; on the contrary, the lower clergy have
obtained five-sixths of these deputations. ‘These are the sons of
_ peasants, who have done all the dredgery of the service for ten,
twenty, and thirty guineas a year, and whose oppressions and
penury, contrasted with the pride and luxury of the higher clergy,
_ have rendered them perfectly disposed to humble the latter. They
_ have done it, in many instances, with a boldness they were thought
unsusceptible of. Great hopes have been formed that these would
concur with the ters état, in voting by persons. In fact, about
half of them seem as yet so disposed ; but the bishops are intriguing,
and drawing them over with the address, which has ever marked
ecclesiastical intrigue. 'The deputies of the tiers état seem, almost
to a man, inflexibly determined against the vote by orders. This is
| the state of parties, as well as can be judged from conversation only,
during the fortnight they have been now together. But as no
_ business has been yet begun, no votes as yet taken, this calculation
_ cannot be considered as sure. A middle proposition is talked of, to
| form the two privileged orders into one chamber. It is thought
more possible to bring them into it than the tiers état. Another
| proposition is to distinguish questions, referring those of certain
_ descriptions to a vote by persons, others to a vote by orders. This
seems to admit of endless altercation, and in the ééers état they
manifest no respect for that, or any other modification whatever.
Were this single question accommodated, I am of opinion there
| would not occur the least difficulty in the great and essential points
_ of constitutional reformation. But on this preliminary question the
"patties are so irreconcilable that it is impossible to foresee what issue
| it will have. The tiers état, as constituting the nation, may propose
to do the business of the nation, either with or without the minorities
‘in the houses of the clergy and nobles, which side with them. In
that case, if the King should agree to it, the majorities in those two
houses would secede, and might resist the tax gatherers. This would
bring on a civil war. On the other hand, the privileged orders,
| offering to submit to equal taxation, may propose to the King to
sty
woe ee <=
288 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
continue the Government in its former train, reserving to himself the
power of taxation. Here the tax gatherers might be resisted by the
¥. le. In fine, it is but too possible that between parties so
animated the King may incline the balance as he pleases. Happy,
that he is an honest, unambitious man, who desires neither money
nor power for himself; and that his most operative Minister, though
he has appeared to trim a little, is still, in the main, a friend to
public liberty.
I mentioned to you, in a former letter, the construction which our
bankers at Amsterdam had put on the resolution of Congress appro-
priating the last Dutch loan, by which the money for our captives
would not be furnished till the end of the year 1790. Orders from
the Board of Treasury have now settled this question. ‘The interest
of the next month is to be first paid, and after that the money for
the captives and foreign officers, is to be furnished before any other
payment of interest; this ensures it when the next February interest
becomes payable. My representations to them, on account of the
contracts I had entered into for making the medals, have produced
from them the money for that object, which is to be lodged in the
hands of M. Grand.
Mr. Necker, in his discourse, proposes, among his bonifications of
revenue, the suppression of our two free ports, Bayonne and L’Orient,
which, he says, occasion a loss of six hundred thousand livres
annually, to the Crown, by contraband. (The speech being not yet
printed, I state this only as it struck my ear when he delivered it.
If I have mistaken it, I beg you to receive this as my apology, and
to consider what follows as written on that idea only.) I have never
been able to see that these free ports were worth one copper to us.
To Bayonne our trade never went, and it is leaving L’Orient.
Besides, the right of entrepét is a perfect substitute for the right of
free port. The latter is a little less troublesome only to the mer
chants and captains. I should think, therefore, that a thing $0
useless to us, and prejudicial to them, might be relinquished by us,
on the common principles of friendship. I know the merchants of
these ports will make a clamor, because the franchise covers their
contraband with all the world. Has Monsieur de Moustier said any
thing to you on this subject? It has never been mentioned to me.
If not mentioned in either way, it is rather an indecent proceeding;
considering that this right of free port is founded in treaty. I shall
We
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. Qa9
ask of M. de Montmorin, on the first occasion, whether he has
communicated this to you through his Minister; and if he has not, L
will endeavor to notice the infraction to him m such a manner as—
neither to reclaim nor abandon the right of free port, but leave our
Government free to do either.
The gazettes of France and Leyden, as usual, will accompany
this. Iam in hourly expectation of receiving from you my leave of
absence, and keep my affairs so arranged that I can leave Paris
within eight days after receiving the permission.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
ee () ee
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
| Paris, May 12, 1789.
| Sir,
- TI am this moment returned from Versailles, and it is the last
‘moment allowed me to write by this occasion. The teers état
‘remain unshaken in their resolution to do no business with the other
orders but voting by persons. The Nobles are equally determined,
‘and by a majority of four-fifths or five-sixths, to vote only by orders.
‘Committees of accommodation, indeed, are appointed, but with
‘little prospect of effect. Already the minority of the Nobles begin
‘to talk of abandoning their body, and going to take their places
iamong the Tiers. Perhaps they may be followed by the timid: part
‘of their order; and it might be hoped: by a majority of the Clergy,
‘which still remain undebauched by the Bishops. This would. form
‘a States General of the whole Tvers, a majority of the Clergy, and
‘a fraction of the Nobles. ‘This may be considered, then, as one of
‘the possible issues this matter may take, should: reconciliation be
‘impracticable. Tam able to speak now more surely of the situation
iof the Emperor. His complaint is pulmonary—the spitting of blood
‘is from the: lungs; the hemorrhage which came on: was critical, and
relieved him for the moment, but the relief was’ momentary only.
‘There is: little expectation he'can last long. ‘The King of England’s
‘voyage’ to’: Hanover is spoken of more: doubtfully. This would be
‘am indication: that his complaint is’ better, or, at least, not worse.
IE find, on: receiving Mr. Necker’s discourse in’ print, that he has
‘not proposed, in direct: terms, to put down: our. free: ports. The
Vou. L.—19 at
290 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
expression is ‘‘on se borne en ce moment a vous faire observer,” &c.
I spoke on the subject with M. de Montmorin to-day, and he says
‘they meant and mean to confer with me on it. before my departure.
I spoke to him also to bring Schweighauser’s and Dobrée’s affair to
a conclusion, and to M. Rayneval on the same subject. They told
me they had just received a letter from the Count de la Luzerne,
justifying the detention of our stores; that they were so much dissat-
isfied with the principles he advanced, that they should take upon
themselves to combat and protest against them, and to insist on a
clear establishment of the rule that the property of one sovereign
within the dominions of another is not liable to the territorial juris-
diction. They have accordingly charged one of their ablest counsel
with the preparation of a memoir to establish this point.
[I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
P.S. Mr. Necker’s discourse accompanies this.
—_—_——0 -—_——-
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, June 17, 1789.
Sir, |
I had the honor of addressing you on the 9th and 12th of May,
by the way of London. ‘This goes through the same channel, to
the care of Mr. Trumbull. Having received no letter from you of
later date than the 25th of November, I am apprehensive that there
may have been miscarriages, and the more so, as I learn through
another channel, that you have particularly answered mine of
November the 19th. |
The death of the Grand Seignor, which has happened, renders
the continuance of the war more probable, as it has brought to the
throne a successor of a more active and ardent temper, and who
means to put himself at the head of his armies. He has declared
the Captain Pacha his Generalissimo. The prospects for Russia,
on the other hand, are less encouraging. Her principal ally, the
Emperor, is at death’s door, blazing up a little, indeed, from time to
time, like an expiring taper, but certainly to extinguish soon. Den-
mark, too, is likely to be restrained by the threat of England and
Prussia from contributing even her stipulated naval succors. It is
ee
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 291
some time since I have been able to obtain any account of the King
of England, on which I can rely vidPooiihdence. His melan-
choly continues, and to such a degree as to render him absolutely
indifferent to every thing that passes, so that he seems willing to let
his Ministers do every thing they please, provided they will let him
alone. When forced to speak, his comprehension seems better than
it was in the first moments after his phrenzy went off. His health
is bad; he does not go into public at all, and very few are admitted
to see him. ‘This is his present state, according to the best accounts
I have been able to get lately. His Ministers dictate boldly in the
north, because they know it is impossible they should be engaged in
‘war, while this country is so completely palsied.
You will have seen, by my former letters, that the question whether
the States General should vote by persons or by orders, had stopped
their proceedings in the very first instance in which it could occur ;
that is, as to the ratification of their powers; and that they had
appointed committees to try if there were any means of accommoda-
tion. These could do nothing. The King then proposed they
should appoint others, to meet persons whom he should name on the
same subject. ‘These conferences also proved ineffectual. He then
proposed a specific mode of verifying. The clergy accepted it
‘unconditionally. ‘The Noblesse, with such conditions and modifica-
‘tions as did away their acceptance altogether. The commons,
‘considering this as a refusal, came to the resolution of the 10th
jinstant, (which I have the honor to send you,) inviting the two
/other orders to come and take their places in the common room, and
inotifying that they should proceed to the verification of powers, and
ito the affairs of the nation, either with or without them.
The Clergy have, as yet, given no answer. »
The question of their admission is to be discussed Be the States. Ik
the mean time, the Government had promised them an assembly is
their own Island in the course of the present year. The death o
the Dauphin, so long expected, has at length happened. Montmori
told Ternant the other day that de Moustier had now asked a congé
which would be sent him immediately; so that, unless a change o
Ministry should happen, he will probably be otherwise disposed of
The gazettes of France and Leyden accompany this.
IT have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON.
P.S. June 18th.—The motion under debate with the Common:
for constituting their assembly passed yesterday by a majority of fou
hundred and odd against eighty odd. The latter were for it in sub.
stance, but wished some particular amendment. They proceede
instantly to the subject of taxation. A member who called on me
this moment gave me a state of the proceedings of yesterday fron
memory, which I enclose you. He left the house a little before the
question was put, because he saw there was no doubt of its passing
and his brother, who remained till the decision, informed him of it
So that we may expect, perhaps, in the course of to-morrow, to set
whether the Government will interpose with a bold hand, or wil
begin a negotiation. But, in the mean time, this letter must go off
I will find some other opportunity, however, of informing you of the
issue. T. J.
Character of M. Necker, accompanying the preceding Letter.
Nature bestowed on M. Necker an ardent passion for glory.
without, at the same time, granting him those qualities required
for its pursuit by direct means. The union of a fruitful imaginatior
with a limited talent, with which she has endowed hin, is always
incompatible with those faculties of the mind which qualify thei
Possessor to penetrate, to combine, and to comprehend all the
relations of objects.
He had probably learned in Geneva, his native cole t. the
influence which riches exercise on the success of ambition, without
having recourse to the school of Pa ris, where he arrived about the
twenty-eighth year of his age. A personal affair with his brother, in
which the chiefs of the Republic conducted themselves unjustly
towards him, the circumstances of which, moreover, exposed him to
pIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 205
ridicule, determined him to forsake his country. On taking his
leave, he assured his mother that he would make a great fortune in
Paris. On his arrival he engaged himself as clerk at a salary of six
hundred livres, with the banker Thelusson, a man of extreme
harshness in his intercourse with his dependants. The same cause
which obliged other clerks to. abandon the service of Thelusson,
determined Necker to continue in it. By submitting to the brutality
of his master with a servile resignation, whilst at the same time he
devoted the most unremitting attention to his business, he recom-
mended himself to his confidence, and was taken into partnership.
Ordinary abilities only were requisite to avail him of the multitude
of favorable circumstances, which, before he entered into the
Administration, built up a fortune of six million of livres. He owed
‘much of his good fortune to his connexions with the Abbé Terrai, of
whose ignorance he did not scruple to profit. His riches, his
profession, his table, and a virtuous, reasonable, and well informed
wife, procured him the acquaintance of many persons of distinction,
‘among whom were many men of letters, who celebrated his
h
knowledge and wisdom.
The wise and just principles by which 'Turgot aimed to correct
the abuses of the Administration, not having been received with
i)
4
favor, he seized the occasion to flatter ignorance and malignity by
| publishing his work against the freedom of the corn trade.
er -—
<=
He had published, two years before, an eulogy on Colbert. Both
these productions exhibited: the limited capacity of a banker, and in
in no degree the enlarged views of a statesman. Not at all delicate
the choice of his means, he succeeded to his wish in his object,
which was the establishing himself in public opinion. Elevated by
a secret cabal, to the direction of the finances, he began by refusing
the salaries of his office. He affected a spirit of economy and
austerity, which imposed even on foreign nations, and shewed the
possibility of making war without laying new taxes. Such, at least,
was his boast; but, in reality, they have been increased under his
administration about twenty millions, partly by a sccret augmentation
' of the bailles and of the er | by some verifications of the
|
' twentieths, and partly by the natu
progression, which is tested by the
' amount of taxes on consumption, the necessary result of the successive
- inerease of population, of riches, and of expensive tastes.
296 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY. —
All these circumstances reared for him an astonishing reputation,
which his fall has consecrated. People will not reflect, that in the
short period of his ministry he had more than doubled his fortune.
Not that he peculated on the public Treasury, his good sense and
pride forbade a resort to this measure of weak minds, but by resorting
to loans and the costly operations of the bank to provide the funds
of war, and being still connected with the house to which he
addressed himself for much the greater part of his negotiations.
They have not remarked that his great principles of economy have
nothing more than a false show, and that the loans resorted to, in
order to avoid the imposition of taxes, have been the source of the
mischief which has reduced the finances to their present alarming
condition.
As to his compte rendu, he has been forgiven the nauseous
panegyric which he has passed upon himself, and the affectation of
introducing his wife into it for the purpose of praising her; and we
are spared the trouble of examining his false calculations. M. de
Calonne has undertaken this investigation. Without being able to
vindicate himself, he has already begun to unmask his antagonist,
and he promises to do it effectually. :
Necessity has recalled this man to the Ministry, and it must be
confessed that he is, beyond comparison, a less mischievous Minister
than his predecessors. I would compare him to a steward, who, by
his management, does not entirely ruin his master, but who enriches
himself at his expense. The desire of glory should inspire him as
much as possible with the energy requisite for the public business.
There is every likelihood that his ministry will not endure long
enough to cause it to feel the effects of his false principles of admin-
istration ; and it is he alone who is able, if any one can, to preserve
order in the finances until the reform is effected, which we hope
from the assembling of the States General. In the meantime, the
public estimation of his talents and virtue is not so high as it has
been. There are persons who pretend that he is more firmly
established in public opinion than he ever was. They deceive
themselves. The ambitious desire he has always manifested of
getting again into the Administration, his work on the importance of
religious opinions, and the memoires of M. de Calonne, have greatly
impaired his reputation.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, 997
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, June 24, 1789.
Sir,
My letter of 17th and 18th instant, gave you the progress of the
States General to the 17th, when the Tiers had declared the illegality
of all the existing taxes, and their discontinuance from the end of
their present session. The next day being a jour de féte, could
furnish no indication of the impression that vote was likely to make
on the Government. On the 19th a council was held at Marly, in
the afternoon. It was there proposed that the King should interpose
by a declaration of his sentiments in a séance royale. The declara-
tion prepared by M. Necker, while it censured in general the
proceedings both of the Nobles and Commons, announced the King’s
views such as substantially to coincide with the Commons. It was
agreed to in Council, as also that the séance royale should be held
on the 22d, and the meeting till then be suspended. While the
Council was engaged in this deliberation at Marly, the Chamber of
the Clergy was in debate whether they should accept the invitation
of the Tiers to unite with them in the common chamber. On the
first question, to unite simply and unconditionally, it was decided in
the negative by a very small majority. As it was known, however,
that some members who had voted in the negative would be for the
affirmative with some modifications, the question was put with these
modifications, and it was determined by a majority of eleven mem-
bers that their body should join the Tiers. These proceedings of the
Clergy were unknown to the Council at Marly, and those of the
Council were kept secret from everybody. The next morning (the
20th) the members repaired to the house as usual, found the doors
shut and guarded, and a proclamation posted for holding a séance
royale on the 22d, and a suspension of their meetings till then. They
presumed in the first moment that their dissolution was decided, and
repaired to another place, where they proceeded to business. They
there bound themselves to each other by an oath never to separate
of their own accord till they had settled a constitution for the nation
on a solid basis, and, if separated by force, that they would reassemble
in some other place. It was intimated to them, however, that day,
privately, that the proceedings of the séance royale would be favor-
able to them. The next day they met in a church, and were joined
298 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
by a majority of the clergy. The heads of the aristocracy, viz: the
Queen, Count d’ Artois, and Prince de Condé, saw that all was lost
without some violent exertion. The King was still at Marly. No-
body was permitted to approach him but their friends. He was
assailed by lies in all shapes. He was made to believe that the
Commons were going to absolve the army from their oath of fidelity
to him, and then to raise its pay. ‘The Queen abandoned herself to
rage and despair. ‘They procured a committee to be held, consist-
ing of the King and his Ministers, to which Monsieur and
the Count d’Artois should be admitted.- At this committee the
latter attacked Mr. Necker personally, arraigned his plan, and pro-
posed one which some of his engines liad put into his hands, for his
own talents go no further than a little poor wit. Mr. Necker, whose
characteristic is the want of firmness, was browbeaten and intimidated,
and the King shaken. He determined that the two plans should be
deliberated on the next day, and the séance royale put off a day
longer. This encouraged a fiercer attack on Mr. Necker the next day ;
his plans were totally dislocated, and that of the Count d’Artois
inserted into it. Himself and M. de Montmorin offered their resig-
nation, which was refused, the Count d’ Artois saying to Mr. Necker,
“ No, sir; you must be kept as an hostage; we hold you responsible
for all the ill which shall happen.” ‘This change of plan was
immediately whispered without doors. The nobility were in triumph,
the people in consternation. When the King passed the next day
through the lane they formed from the chateau to the Hotel des
états, (about half a mile,) there was a dead silence. He was about
an hour in the house delivering his speech and declaration, copies of
which I enclose you. On his coming out, a feeble cry of «vive le
roy’ was raised by some children, but the people remained sullen
and silent. When the Duke d’Orleans followed, however, their
applauses were excessive. This must have been sensible to the
King. He had ordered in the close of his speech that the members
should follow him, and resume their deliberations the next day. The
Noblesse followed him, and so did the Clergy, except about thirty,
who, with the T%ers, remained in the room, and entered into deliber-
ation. ‘They protested against what the King had done, adhered to
all their former proceedings, and resolved the inviolability of their
own persons. An officer came twice to order them out of the room,
in the King’s name; but they refused to obey. In the afternoon,
Y
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 999
the people, uneasy, began to assemble in great numbers in the courts
and vicinities of the palace. ‘The Queen was alarmed and sent for
M. Necker. He was conducted amidst the shouts and acclamations
of the multitude, who filled all the apartments of the palace. He
was a few minutes only with the Queen, and about three quarters of
an hour with the King. Not a word has transpired of what passed
at these interviews. The King was just going out to ride. He
passed through the crowd to his carriage, and into it, without being
in the least noticed. As M. Necker followed him, universal accla-
mations were raised of vive Monsteur Necker, vive le sauveur de la
France opprimée. He was conducted back to his house with the
same demonstrations of affection and anxiety ; about two hundred
deputies of the Tiers, catching the enthusiasm of the moment, went
to his house, and extorted from him a promise that he would not
resign. These circumstances must wound the heart of the King,
desirous as he is to possess the affection of his subjects. As soon as
the proceedings at Versailles were known at Paris, a run began on
the caisse d’escompte, which is the first symptom always of the public
diffidence and alarm. It is the less in condition to meet the run, as
M. Necker has been forced to make free with its funds for the daily
_ support of the Government. This is the state of things as late as I
am able to give them with certainty, at this moment. My letter not
. having to go off till to-morrow evening, I shall go to Versailles
to-morrow, and be able to add the transactions of this day and
to-morrow.
June 25.—Just returned from Versailles. I am enabled to
continue my narration. On the 24th nothing remarkable passed,
except an attack by the mob of Versailles on the Archbishop of
Paris, who had been one of the instigators of the Court to the
proceedings of the séance royale. ‘They threw mud and stones at
his carriage, broke the windows of it, and he in a fright promised to
join the TYers.
This day (the 25th) forty-eight of the Nobles have joined the
Tiers. Among these is the Duke d’Orleans. The Marquis de la
Fayette could not be of the number, being restrained by his instruc-
tions. He is writing to his constituents to change his instructions
or to accept his resignation. There are with the Tvers now one
hundred and sixty-four members of the Clergy, so that the common
300 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
chamber consists of upwards of eight hundred members, The
minority of the Clergy, however, call themselves the Chamber of the
Clergy, and pretend to go on with business. I found the streets of
Versailles much embarrassed with soldiers. 'There was a body of
about one hundred horse drawn up in front of the hotel of the States,
and all the avenues and doors guarded by soldiers. Nobody was
permitted to enter but the members, and this was by order of the
King ; for till now the doors of the common room have been open,
and at least two thousand spectators attending their debates con-
stantly. They have named a deputation to wait on the King,
and desire a removal of the soldiers from their doors, and seem
determmed, if this was not complied with, to remove themselves
elsewhere. |
Instead of being dismayed with what had passed, they seem to
rise in their demands, and some of them to consider the erasing
every vestige of a difference of order, as indispensable to the estab-
lishment and preservation of a good Constitution. I apprehend
there is more courage than calculation in this project. I did imagine
that, seeing that M. Necker and themselves were involved as com-
mon enemies in the hatred of the aristocrats, they would have been
willing to make common cause with him, and to wish his continuance
in office; and that M. Necker, seeing that all the trimming he has
used towards the Court and Nobles has availed him néthing, would
engage himself heartily and solely on the popular side, and view his
own salvation in that alone. The confidence which the people
place in him seems to merit some attention. However, the mass of
the common chamber are absolutely indifferent to his remaining in
office. They consider his head as unequal to the planning a good
Constitution, and his fortitude to a codperation in the effecting it.
His dismission is more credited to-day than it was yesterday. If it
takes place he will retain his popularity with the nation, as the
members of the States will not think it important to set themselves
against it; but, on the contrary, will be willing that he should
continue on their side on his retirement. The run on the caisse
d’escompte continues. The members of the States admit that M.
Necker’s departure out of office will occasion a stoppage of public
payments. But they expect to prevent any very ill effect by
assuring the public against any loss, and by taking immediate
measures for continuing payment. They may, perhaps, connect
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 301
these measures with their own existence, so as to interest the public
in whatever catastrophe may be aimed at them. The gazettes of
France and Leyden accompany this. During the continuance of
this crisis, and my own stay, I shall avail myself of every private
conveyance to keep you informed of what passes.
I have the honor to be, &c.,. TH: JEFFERSON.
——o
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, June 29, 1789.
Sir,
My letter of 28th gave you the transactions of the States General
to the afternoon of that day. On the next, the Archbishop of Paris
joined the Tiers, as did some others of the Clergy and Noblesse. On
‘the 27th, the question of the St. Domingo deputation came on, and
it was decided that it should be received. I have before mentioned
| to you the ferment into which the proceedings at the séance royale
of the 23d, had thrown the people. The soldiery also were affected
by it. It began in the French guards, extended to those of every
| other denomination, (except the Swiss,) and even to the body guards
of the King. They began to quit their barracks, to assemble in
| squads, to declare they would defend the life of the King, but would
not cut the throats of their fellow-citizens. ‘They were treated and
caressed by the people, carried in triumph through the streets, called
‘themselves the soldiers of the nation, and left no doubt on which
| side they would be in case of a rupture. Similar accounts came in
from the troops in other parts of the kingdom, as well those which
had not heard of the séance royale as those which had, and gave
| good reason to apprehend that the soldiery in general would side
' with their fathers and brothers, rather than with their officers. The
operation of this medicine at Versailles was as sudden as it was
_ powerful. The alarm there was so complete, that in the afternoon
| of the 27th the King wrote a letter to the President of the Clergy,
_ the Cardinal de la Rochefoucault, in these words :*
| “My cousin, wholly engaged in promoting the general good of
‘my kingdom, and desirous, above all things, that the assembly of
| ‘the States General should apply themselves to objects of general
| ‘interest, after the voluntary acceptance by your order of my declara-
' *A translation is here given.
302 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
‘tion of the 23d of the present month; I pass my word that my
‘faithful clergy will, without delay, unite themselves with the other
‘two orders to hasten the accomplishment of my paternal views.
‘Those whose powers are too limited, may decline voting until new
‘powers are procured. This will be a new mark of attachment
‘which my clergy will give me. I pray God, my cousin, to have
«you in His holy keeping. LOUIS.”
A like letter was written to the Duke de Luxemburgh, President
of the Noblesse. ‘The two Chambers entered into a debate on the
question whether they should obey the letter of the King. ‘There
was a considerable opposition, when notes, written by the Count
d’Artois to sundry members, and handed about amongst the rest,
decided the matter, and they went in a body and took their seats
with the T%ers, and thus rendered the union of the orders in one
Chamber complete. As soon as this was known to the people of
Versailles, they assembled about the palace, demanded the King
and Queen, who came and shewed themselves in the balcony.
They rent the skies with cries of “vive le row,’ “vive la reine.”
‘They called for the Dauphin, who was also produced, and was the
subject of new acclamations. After feasting themselves and the
royal family with this tumultuary reconciliation, they went to the
houses of M. Necker and M. de Montmorin, with shouts of thankful-
ness and affection. Similar emotions of joy took place in Paris, and
at this moment the triumph of the T%ers is considered as complete.
To-morrow they will recommence business, voting by persons on all
questions ; and whatever difficulties may be opposed in debate by
the malcontents of the Clergy and Nobility, every thing must be
finally settled at the will of the Tiers. It remains to see whether they
will leave to the Nobility any thing but their titulary appellations.
I suppose they will not. M. Necker will probably remain in office.
It would seem natural that he should endeavor to have the hostile
part of the council removed; but I question if he finds himself firm
enough for that. A perfect codperation with the Tiers will be his
wisest game. This great crisis being now over, I shall not have
matter interesting enough to trouble you with as often as I have
done lately. ‘There has nothing remarkable taken place in amy
other part of Europe.
I have the honor to be, &c., TH: JEFFERSON. —
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 303
FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, July 19, 1789.
Dear Sir,
I am become very uneasy lest you should have adopted some
channel for the conveyance of your letters to me, which is unfaithful.
I have none from you of later date than November the 25th, 1788,
and of consequence no acknowledgment of the receipt of any of
mine since that of August the 11th, 1788. Since that period I have
written to you of the following dates: 1788, August the 20th;
September the 3d, 5th, 24th; November the 14th, 19th, 29th;
(1789, January the 11th, 14th, 21st; February the 4th; March the
Ist, 12th, 14th, 15th; May the 9th, 11th, 12th; June the 17th,
24th, 29th. I know, through another person, that you have
received mine of November the 29th, and that you have written an
‘answer; but I have never received the answer, and it is this which
suggests to me the fear of some general source of miscarriage.
The capture of three French merchant ships by the Algerines,
under different pretexts, has produced great sensation in the sea-
ports of this country, and some in its Government. They have
ordered some frigates to be armed at Toulon to punish them. ‘There
1s a possibility that this circumstance, if not too soon set to rights by
the Algerines, may furnish occasion to the States General, when
‘they shall have leisure to attend to matters of this kind, to disavow
any future tributary treaty with them. ‘These pirates respect still
less their treaty with Spain, and treat the Spaniards with an
Insolence greater than was usual before the treaty.
The scarcity of bread begins to lessen in: the southern parts of
France, where the harvest has commenced. Here it is still threat-
| ening, because we have yet two or three weeks to the beginning of
harvest, and I think there has not been three days’ provision
beforehand in Paris for two or three weeks past. Monsieur de
_Mirabeau, who is very hostile to M. Necker, wished to find a ground
for censuring him in a proposition to have a great quantity of flour
furnished from the United States, which he supposed me to have
made to M. Necker, and to have been refused by him; and he
asked time of the States General to furnish proofs. The Maasai de
Ja Fayette immediately gave me notice of this matter, and I wrote
‘him a letter to disavow having ever made any such proposition to
304 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
M. Necker, which I desired him to communicate to the States. [
waited immediately on M. Necker and Monsieur de Montmorin,
satisfied them that what had been suggested was absolutely without
foundation from me, and, indeed, they had not needed this testimony,
I gave them copies of my letter to the Marquis de la Fayette, which
was afterwards printed. ‘The Marquis, on the receipt of my letter,
showed it to Mirabeau, who. turned then toa paper from which he
had drawn his information, and found he had totally mistaken it.
He. promised immediately that he would himself declare his error to
the States General, and read to them my letter, which he did. JI
state this matter to you, though of little consequence in itself,
because it might go. to you misstated in the English papers.
Our supplies to. the Atlantic ports of France, during the months of
March, April, and. May, were only twelve thousand two hundred. and
twenty quintals, thirty-three pounds of flour, and forty-four thousand
one hundred and fifteen quintals, forty pounds of wheat, in twenty-
one vessels.
My letter of the 29th of June brought down the viisuostingd of
the States and Government to the reunion of the orders, which took
place on the 27th. Within the Assembly matters went on well.
But it was soon observed that troops, and particularly the foreign
troops, were on their march towards Paris from various quarters, and
that this was against the opinion of M. Necker.. The King was
probably advised to this, under pretext of preserving peace in Paris
and Versailles, and saw nothing else in the measure. But his
advisers are supposed to have had in view, when he should be secured
and inspirited by the presence of the troops, to take advantage of
some favorable moments, and surprise him into an act of authority
for establishing the declaration of the 23d of June, and perhaps
dispersing the States General, is probable. ‘The Marshal de “Broglio
was appointed to command all the troops within the Isle of France,
a high-flying aristocrat, cool, and capable of every thing. Some of
the French guards were soon arrested under other pretexts, but in
reality on account of their dispositions in favor of the national cause.
The people of Paris forced the prison, released them, and sent a
deputation to the States General’ to solicit a pardon. ‘The States,
by a most moderate and prudent arrété, recommended these prisoners
to the King, and peace to the people of Paris. Addresses came in
to them from several of the great cities, expressing sincere allegiance
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 305
o the King, but a determined resolution to support the States Gen-
ral. On the Sth of July, they voted an address to the King to
-emove the troops. This piece of masculine eloquence, written by
Monsieur de Mirabeau, is worth attention on account of the bold
matter it expresses and discovers through the whole. The King
refused to remove the troops, and said they might remove themselves,
if they pleased, to Noyons or Soissons. They proceeded to fix the
order in which they will take up the several branches of their future
constitution, from which its appears they mean to build it from the
bottom, confining themselves to nothing in their ancient form but a
King. A declaration of rights, which forms the first chapter of their
work, was then proposed by the Marquis de la Fayette. ‘This was
on the 11th. In the mean time, troops, to the number of about
twenty-five or thirty thousand, had arrived, and were posted in and
between Paris and Versailles. The bridges and passes were cuarded.
At three o’clock in the afternoon, the Count de la Luzerne was sent
to notify M. Necker of his dismission, and to enjoin him to retire
instantly, without saying a word of it to any body. He went home,
‘dined, proposed to his wife a visit to his friend, but went in fact to
this country-house at St. Ouen, and at midnight set out from thence
for Brussels. ‘This was not known till the next day, when the whole
‘Ministry was changed, except Villedeuil, of the domestic department,
‘and Barentin, Garde des Sceaux. 'The changes were as follows : the
‘Baron de Breteuil, President of the Council of Finance; and de la
:Galaisiere, Comptroller General, in the room of M. Necker; the
‘Marshal de Broglio, Minister of War; and Foulon, under him, in
ithe room of Puy Segur; Monsieur de la Vauguyon, Minister of
‘Foreign Affairs, instead of Monsieur de Montmorin; de la Porte,
Minister of Marine, in place of the Count de la Luzerme; St. Priest
‘was also removed from the Council. It is to be observed that
' Luzerne and Puy Segur had been strongly of the aristocratical party
'in Council; but they were not considered as equal to bear their
‘shares in the work now to be done. For this change, however
sudden it may have been in the mind of the King, was, in that of
his advisers, only the second chapter of a great plan, of which the
bringing together the foreign troops had been the first. He was now
completely in the hands of men, the principal among whom had
j been noted through their lives for the Turkish despotism of their
_ character, and who were associated about the King as proper mstru-
Vou. II1.—20
306 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
ments for what was to be executed. ‘The news of this change began
to be known in Paris about one or two o’clock. In the afternoon,
a body of about one hundred German cavalry were advanced and
drawn up in the Place Louis XV., and about two hundred Swiss
posted ata little distance in their rear. This drew the people to
that spot, who naturally formed themselves in front of the troops, at
first merely to look at them, but, as their numbers imereased, their
indignation arose. They retired a few steps, posted themselves on
and behind large piles of loose stones, collected in that place for
a bridge adjacent to it, and attacked the horse with stones. The
horse charged, but the advantageous position of the people, and the
showers of stones obliged them to retire, and even quit the field
altogether, (leaving one of their number on the ground!) The Swiss
in their rear were observed never to stir. This was the signal for
universal insurrection, and this body of cavalry, to avoid being
massacred, retired towards Versailles. ‘The people now armed them-
selves with such weapons as they could find in armorers’ shops and
private houses, and with bludgeons, and were roaming all night
through all parts of the city, without any decided and practicable
object. The next day the States pressed on the King to send away
the troops, to permit the Bourgeoisie of Paris to arm for the preser-
vation of order in the city, and offered to send a deputation from
their body to tranquillize them. He refused all their propositions,
and a committee of magistrates and electors of the city were
appointed by their bodies to take upon them its government. ‘The
mob, now openly joined by the French guards, forced the prison
of St. Lazare, released all the prisoners, and took a great store of
corn, which they carried to the corn market. Here they got some
arms, and the French guards began to form and train them. The
city committee determined to raise forty-eight thousand Bourgeois,
or rather to restrain their numbers to forty-eight thousand. On the
14th they sent one of their members (Monsieur de Corny, whom we
knew in America) to the Hotel des Invalides, to ask arms for the
garde Bourgeoise. He was followed by, or he found there, a great
mob. ‘I'he Governor of the Invalides came out, and represented
the impossibility of his delivering arms without the orders of those
from whom he received them. De Corny advised the people then
to retire, and retired himself; and the people took possession of the
arms. It was remarkable that not only the Invalides themselves
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 307
made no opposition, but that a body of five thousand foreign troops,
encamped within four hundred yards, never stirred. Monsieur de
Corny and five others were then sent to ask arms of Monsieur de
Launai, Governor of the Bastile. They found a great collection of
people already before the place, and they immediately planted a flag
of truce, which was answered by a like flag hoisted on the parapet.
The deputation prevailed on the people to fall back a little, advanced
themselves to make the demands of the Governor, and in that
instant a discharge from the Bastile killed four people of those nearest
to the Deputies. ‘he Deputies retired; the people rushed against
the place, and almost in an instant were in possession of a fortifica-
tion, defended by one hundred men, of infinite strength, which, in
other times, had stood several regular sieges, and had never been
taken. How they got in, has, as yet, been impossible to discover.
‘Those who pretend to have been of the party, tell so many different
stories as to destroy the credit of them all. ‘They took all the arms,
discharged the prisoners, and such of the garrison as were not killed
in the first moment of fury, carried the Governor and Lieutenant
Governor to the Gréve, (the place of public execution,) cut off their
heads, and sent them through the city in triumph to the Palais Royal.
About the same instant, a treacherous correspondence having been
discovered on Monsieur de Flesselles, Prevost des Marchands, they
seized him in the Hotel de Ville, where he was in the exercise of
his office, and cut off his head.
, These events, carried imperfectly to Versailles, were the subject
of two successive deputations from the States to the King, to both of
which he gave dry and hard answers; for it has transpired that it
aad been proposed and agitated in Council to seize on the principal
members of the States General, to march the whole army down upon
Paris, and to suppress its tumults by the sword. But at night the
‘Duke de Liancourt forced his way into the King’s bed-chamber, and
obliged him to hear a full and animated detail of the disasters of the
day in Paris. He went to bed deeply impressed. The decapitation
pf, M. de Launai worked powerfully through the night on the whole
uristocratical party, in so much that in the morning those of the
yreatest influence on the Count d’ Artois represented to him the abso-
jute necessity that the King should give up everything to the States.
This according well enough with the dispositions of the King, he
went about eleven o’clock, accompanied only by his brother, to the
308 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
States General, and there read to them a speech, in which he asked
their interposition to reéstablish order. ‘Though this be couched in
terms of some caution, yet the manner in which it was delivered
made it evident that it was meant as a surrender at discretion. He
returned to the chateau afoot, accompanied by the States. ‘They
sent off a deputation, the Marquis de la Fayette at their head, to
quiet Paris. He had the same morning been named commander-
in-chief of the Milice Bourgeotse, and Monsieur Bailly, former
President of the States General, was called for as Prevost des Mar-
chands. ‘The demolition of the Bastile was now ordered, and begun.
A body of the Swiss guards of the regiment of Ventimille and the
city horse-guards joined the people. The alarm at Versailles
increased instead of abating. 'They believed that the aristocrats of
Paris were under pillage and carnage; that one hundred and fifty
thousand men were in arms, coming to Versailles to massacre the
royal family, the Court, the Ministers, and all connected with them,
by their practices and principles. The aristocrats of the Nobles and
Clergy in the States General vied with each other in declaring how
sincerely they were converted to the justice of voting by persons,
and how determined to go with the nation all its lengths. The
foreign troops were ordered off instantly. Every Minister resigned.
The King confirmed Bailly as Prevost des Marchands, wrote to M.
Necker to recall him, sent his letter open to the States General, to
be forwarded by them, and invited them to go with him to Paris the
next day, to satisfy the city of his dispositions; and that night, and
the next morning, the Count d’ Artois and a Monsieur de Montesson,
(a deputy connected with him,) Madame Polignac, Madame de
Guiche, and the Count de Vaudreuil, favorites of the Queen, the
Abbé de Vermont, her confessor, the Prince of Condé, and the
Duke de Bourbon, all fled, we know not whither. The King came
to Paris, leaving the Queen in consternation for his return. Omitting
the less important figures of the procession, I will only observe, that
the King’s carriage was in the centre, on each side of it the States
General in two ranks, afoot, and at their head the Marquis de la
Fayette, as commander-in-chief, on horseback, and Bourgeoise
guards before and behind. About sixty thousand citizens, of all
forms and colors, armed with the muskets of the Bastile and Invalids,
as far as they would go, the rest with pistols; swords, pikes, pruning
hooks, seythes, 8&zc., lined all the streets through which the procession
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 309
passed, and, with the crowds of people in the streets, doors, and
windows, saluted them everywhere with cries of “ vive la nation ;”
but not a single “vive le roi” was heard. The King stopped at
the Hotel de Ville. There M. Bailly presented and put into his hat
the popular cockade, and addressed him. The King being unable
and unprepared to answer, Bailly went to him, gathered from him
some scraps of sentences, and made out an answer which he delivered
to the audience as from the King. On their return the popular cries
were ‘vive le roi et la nation.’ He was conducted by a Garde
Bourgeoise to his palace at Versailles; and thus concluded such an
amende honorable as no sovereign ever made, and no people ever
received. Letters written with his own hand, to the Marquis de la
_ Fayette, remove the scruples of his position. Tranquillity is now
restored to the capital; the shops are again opened; the people
resuming their labors; and if the want of bread does not disturb our
"peace, we may hope a continuance of it. The demolition of the
- Bastile is going on, and the Milice Bourgeoise organizing and train-
ing. The ancient police of the city is abolished by the authority of
the people; the introduction of the King’s troops will probably be
proscribed, and a watch or city guards substituted, which shall
depend on the city alone. But we cannot suppose this paroxysm
- confined to Paris alone. 'The whole country must pass successively
through it; and happy if they get through it as soon and as well as
_ Paris has done.
I went yesterday to Versailles, to satisfy myself what had passed
there; for nothing can be believed but what one sees, or has from
an eye witness. They believe there still that three thousand people
have fallen victims to the tumult of Paris. Mr. Short and myself
have been every day among them, in order to be sure of what was
passing. We cannot find, with certainty, that anybody has been
killed but the three beforementioned, and those who fell in the
assault or defence of the Bastile. How many of the garrison were
killed, nobody pretends to have ever heard. Of the assailants,
accounts vary from five to six hundred. ‘The most general belief is,
that there fell about thirty. There have been many reports of
instantaneous executions by the mob on such of their body as they
caught in acts of theft or robbery. Some of these may, perhaps, be
true. There was a severity of honesty observed of which no example
has been known. Bags of money, offered on various occasions
310 THOMAS JEFFERSON—JOHN JAY.
through fear or guilt, have been uniformly refused by the mobs,
The churches are now occupied in singing “de profundis” and
“
304 ‘JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
' Your Excellency will recollect that in answering our claim fo:
restitution in the case of Mr. Vanderburgh, Sir Guy Carleton inti.
mated an impropriety in the claim, as the property was not suggested
to be in danger of being sent away; this left room for an idea that
possibly property about to be sent away would be restored, and we
apprized your Excellency that we should take the first fair occasion
which should present itself to remove all doubt on this point; and
with this view we made the requisition in behalf of Mr. Lott; and
we conceive it is now reduced to a certainty, that all application
for the delivery of property will be fruitless, and we shall therefore |
desist from them.
That part of the memorial which is in the nature of a remonstrance
is in consequence of the resolution of Congress, and your Excel-
lency’s letter which accompanied it. m |
Yesterday we assisted: in superintending an embarkation, consisting
of fourteen transports bound to Nova Scotia, having on board, as
nearly as we could estimate, about three thousand souls, among whom
were at least about one hundred and fifty negroes, who appeared.
to be property of the citizens ofthe United. States, and as this
embarkation was made since we’ presented our memorial, and, as “it
were, in the face of it, we submit it to your Excellency, whether it
is necessary for us further to remonstrate to Sir Guy Carleton against
his permitting slaves, the property of American subjects, to: leave.
this place, and could wish to receive your Excellency’s direction on
that subject.
We have the honor to be, &c.,
EGBERT BENSON,
DANIEL PARKER.
a
Ed
=e
Extract of a Remonstrance from Egbert Benson, Wn. S. Smith,
and Daniel Parker to Sir Guy Carleton.
The undersigned, Commissioners on behalf of the United States of -
America, did, with intent to comply with their instructions, directing
them to “assist such persons as should be appointed by your Excel-
‘‘lency in superintending and inspecting such ‘embarkations as the
‘evacuation of this place should require,” on Friday last assist: the
‘Commissioners appointed by your Excellency in superintending and |
?
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 355
mspecting an embarkation made by direction of your Excellency,
ind consisting of fourteen transports in the pay and service of the
xown of Great Britain, bound for the province of Nova Scotia, and
having on board, as near as the. undersigned could estimate, at least
wo thousand white persons, who, a few individuals excepted,
uppeared to be persons in civil life, and inhabitants of the United
States, and having also on board upwards of one hundred negroes,
seventy-three of whom appeared to be the property of American
subjects not residing within the British lines.
| The undersigned, therefore, in order to guard against improper
inferences from their silence on this occasion, and, from their conduct
jin future, conceived it incumbent on them to represent to your
‘Excellency, that notwithstanding any act on their part in superin-
tending or inspecting the above-mentioned or any other embarkation,
they do and. shall consider the permission from your. Excellency to
any negroes belonging to the citizens of these States to leave this
city as an infraction of the treaty of peace, agreeable to their, repre-
‘sentation of the 9th instant, and that they do not, neither can they,
‘consider the said embarkation, or any other of a similar nature, as
an embarkation which the evacuation of this place requires.
eel
Remonstrance from Egbert Benson, William S. Smith, and Daniel
Parker to Sir Guy Carleton.
New York, June 9, 1783.
The undersigned, Commissioners in behalf of the United States
of America, do represent to your Excellency that, on Friday last,
the Board, composed of the Commissioners appointed by your
Excellency and of the undersigned, examined into the claim of Mr.
Philip Lott to a negro, named Thomas Francis, now on board a
‘vessel called the Fair American, in this harbor, and about to be
carried off to the Island of Jamaica; that on such examination, it
appeared to the Board that Mr. Lott purchased the aforementioned
“negro from Mr. Elihu Spencer, of New Jersey, and that the said negro
came within the British lines the 2d day of November last, and was
venlisted by Captain Thelwall in a corps distinguished by the name
| of the Jamaica Rangers. Captain Thelwall produced to the Board
_acertificate from the commandant of this city, that the said negro
et, Tan Ae et
- be
356 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
came within the British lines under the sanction of the proclamatior
respecting negroes.
The undersigned, therefore, in conformity to that part of their
commission, whereby they are required “to attend particularly tc
‘the due execution of that part of the seventh article of the provisional
‘treaty where it is agreed his Britannic Majesty shall withdraw his
‘armies, &c., without causing any destruction, or carrying away any
“negroes or other property of the American inhabitants,” do reques|
of your Excellency that the said Captain Thelwall may be prohibited
from carrying away the said negro; and in conformity to that part o!
their commission whereby they are required “to, obtain the delivery
‘of all negroes and other property of the inhabitants of the United’
‘States in the possession of the British forces, or any subjects of, ol
‘adherents to, his Britannic Majesty,” do further request of yout
Excellency that the said negro may be delivered to Mr. Lott.
The undersigned do themselves the honor herewith to transmit tc
your Excellency a copy of an act of the United States in Congres:
assembled, of the 26th of May last, which has been transmitted te
them by his Excellency General Washington, with directions to pay
strict attention to the injunctions of Congress contained in the said.
act, and, as the undersigned are, by their commission, enjoined tc
represent to the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in this
city, every infraction of the articles of peace, it therefore becomes
their duty to remonstrate to your Excellency against your permitting
any negroes, the property of the citizens of these States, to leave this :
city, and to insist on a discontinuance of that measure.
EGBERT BENSON,
WILLIAM 8S. SMITH,
DANIEL PARKER.
mt
if
Letter from General Washington to the President of Congress.
Head-Quarters, June 28, 1783.
Sir,
I think it expedient to transmit to your Excellency a copy of the
correspondence which has taken place between our Commissioners
for superintending embarkations in New York and myself. From
theis several reports, memorials, and remonstrances, Congress will
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. aDT
ve informed of the almost total inefficacy of the measures which
aave been adopted for carrying the 7th article of the provisional
wreaty into effect.
Finding that merely the superintendence of embarkations, (and
hat only when called upon by the British,) without the power of
restraining the property of the inhabitants of the United States from
peing carried away, could be of little utility—having been also
vnformed that the departure of all negroes, (who choose to go away,)
indiscriminately and without examination, in private vessels, is, if
aot publicly allowed, at least connived at, and conceiving this is the
only species of property that can at present require attention, I
cannot think there will be much advantage in continuing our Com-
anissioners any longer at New York, and I take the liberty, therefore,
to suggest whether it would not be eligible to revoke the commission.
Indeed I should have thought myself authorized to decide upon this
point, had I not apprehended it might eventually involve conse-
quences of considerable national concern. It was on this account I
deemed it more expedient to lay the state of this business before
Congress, and to ask their farther orders on the subject.
I have the honor to be, &c., GO. WASHINGTON.
Hf
)
"
PAPERS RESPECTING THE TRANSPORTATION OF NEGROES FROM NEW
| YORK BY THE BRITISH ARMY, CONTRARY TO THE TREATY OF
| PEACE.
Letter from Sir Guy Carleton to the Honorable Robert R. Living-
ston, Esquire.
New York, April 14, 1783.
Sir, ‘
As I observe in the 7th article of the ePsional treaty, it is
agreed, after stipulating that all prisoners, on both sides, shall be set
at liberty, that “his Britannic Majesty shall, with all convenient
‘speed, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any
‘negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, withdraw
i all his armies, garrisons, and fleets from the United States, and from
‘every port, place, and harbor within the same,” &c.; and as
embarkations of persons and property are on the point of being
made, I am to request that Congress would be pleased to empower
or Pare a
358. JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
any person or persons on behalf of the United States to be present
at New York, and to assist such persons as shall be appointed by
me to inspect and superintend all embarkations which the evacuation
of this place may require; and they will be pleased to represent
to me every infraction of the letter or spirit of the treaty, that redress
may be immediately ordered.
GUY CARLETON.
Letter from General Washington to the President of Congress.
Orange-Town, May 8, 1783.
Sir, ,
The copy of my letter of the 21st April to his Excellency Sir
Guy Carleton, with a copy of his reply to me, which I had the
honor to transmit to your Excellency, will have informed Congress
that the 5th of this month was agreed upon between us for an inter —
view at this place.
In consequence of this arrangement I arrived here on the 4th. |
The contingencies of a water passage in a frigate prevented Sir Guy
Carleton’s arrival until the evening of the 5th. On the 6th our
interview took place at my quarters, about three miles from the river.
Our conversation upon the different subjects to which my instructions |
pointed me was diffuse and desultory, and closed with a proposition
on my part, and acceded to on the part of General Carleton, that |
the points of discussion should be reduced to writing.
I have the honor to enclose the copy of a letter which I wrote to
Sir Guy Carleton the evening of our conference, and to which I
expected to receive his answer, being to dine with him the next day —
on board the frigate.
Coming on board, the ship, I found Sir Guy under a severe fit of
fever and ague, (a previous fit of which he had experienced the day
of his arrival.) In these circumstances, and wanting, as he said, to
have recourse to some papers in New York previous to making an
answer to my letter, and at the same time urged by the exigency of —
other business, he had determined to return immediately to New
York ; apologizing to me, and promising that I should hear from
him soon on the subject of my proposition. ‘Thus I find myself.
without an answer to my letter, or such an issue to our interview as
I had wished; and the ship is this morning gone down the river.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 359
In this situation, willing to give Congress every information in my
power, I have desired the gentlemen who were present at the con-
versation which passed on our first interview to recollect and put in
writing the substance of it. This they have been so obliging as to
do, and a copy of it is enclosed.
As soon as Lam. possessed of a:reply from General Carleton to
my letter of the 6th, I will do myself the honor to transmit a copy
to your Excellency without delay.
It is my duty; also, to. inform Congress that, in consequence of
their resolutions of the 15th of April, and reference to me of the
letter. of Sir Guy Carleton of the 14th of April to the Secretary of
Foreign Affairs, and’ not thinking it proper to. suffer any further
delay, I have appointed Daniel Parker, Esquire, Egbert Benson,
Esquire, and Lieutenant Colonel William S, Smith, as Commissioners
on the part of the United States to attend and inspect the embarka-
tions that may in future be made.at New York, previous to the final
evacuation of that city. The powers with which these gentlemen
are vested will appear from a copy of their appointment and
instructions, which: are enclosed, and which I hope will meet the
approbation of Congress.
I have the honor: to be, &c., GO. WASHINGTON.
ed
Letter from General Washington to Sir Guy Carleton.
Orange-Town, May. 6, 1783.
a Shy
In my letter of the 2ist April I enclosed to your Excellency a
copy of a resolution of Congress of the 15th, instructing me in three
points which appeared necessary for carrying into effect the terms of
the treaty between Great Britain and the United States of America,
_and informed you that such part as rested on my decision, and which
regarded the release of prisoners, had been determined, and was then
ordered to be carried into execution. Upon the other two points, as
they respected the receiving possession of the post in occupation of
the British troops, and the carrying away any negroes or other
property of the American inhabitants, and both being within your
control, [had the honor to propose a personal interview with your
o's
am
hw Fires PR eES |
Buy esa
360 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Excellency, that the subjects might be freely discussed, and that
measures might be agreed upon for carrying into execution those
points of the seventh article of the treaty agreeably to their true
intent and spirit. j
Having been favored this day with a personal conference, I have
now, to prevent misapprehension and misconstruction, and that |
may be enabled to fulfil my instructions with fidelity and with candor,
the honor to propose, agreeably to our conversation, that your
Excellency will be pleased to give me, in writing, information of
what means are adopting on your part for carrying into execution
that point of the treaty which regards the evacuation of the posts
now in possession of the British troops, and under your Excellency’s
command ; and, also, at what time it is probable those posts, or any
of them, may be relinquished, and the fleets and armies of is
Britannic Majesty withdrawn.
Respecting the other point of discussion, in addition to what I
mentioned in my communication of 2st ultimo, I took occasion, in
our conferences, to inform your Excellency that, in consequence of
your letter of the 14th of April, to R. R. Livingston, Esq., Congress
had been pleased to make a further reference to me of that letter,
and had directed me to take such measures as should be found
necessary for carrying into effect the several matters mentioned by
you therein. In the course of our conversation upon this point, I
was surprised to hear you mention that an embarkation had already
taken place, in which a large number of negroes had been carried
away. Whether this conduct is consonant to, or how far it may be
deemed an infraction of, the treaty, it is not for me to decide. I
cannot, however, conceal from your Excellency that my private
opinion is, that the measure is totally different from the letter and
spirit of the treaty. But, waiving the discussion of the point, and
leaving its decision to our respective sovereigns, I find it my duty to
signify my readiness, in conjunction with your Excellency, to enter
into any agreement, or take any measures which may be deemed
expedient to prevent the future carrying away any nestoys or other
property of the American inhabitants.
I beg the favor of your Excellency to reply ; and I have the honor
to be, &c.,
GO. WASHINGTON.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 361
Extract from the substance of the Conference between General
| Washington and Sir Guy Carleton, at an interview at Orange-
Town, May 6, 1783.
General Washington opened the conference by observing that he,
heretofore, had transmitted to Sir Guy Carleton the resolutions of
Congress of the 15th ultimo; that he conceived a personal confer-
ence would be the most speedy and satisfactory mode of discussing
and settling the business, and that therefore he had requested the
interview; that the resolutions of Congress related to three
distinct matters, namely, the setting at liberty the prisoners, the
receiving possession of the posts occupied by the British troops,
and the obtaining the delivery of all negroes and other property of
the inhabitants of these States, in the possession of the forces, or
subjects of, or adherents to, his’ Britannic Majesty. That, with
respect to the liberation of the prisoners, he had, as far as the
business rested with him, put it in train by meeting and conferring
with the Secretary of War, and concerting with him the proper
_measures for collecting the prisoners and forwarding them to New
York, and that it was to be optional with Sir Guy whether the
| prisoners should march by land, or whether he would send transports
to convey them by water, and that the Secretary of War was to
- communicate with Sir Guy Carleton on the subject, and obtain his
determination. With respect to the other two matters which were
the objects of the resolutions, General Washington requested the
sentiments of General Carleton.
Sir Guy then observed, that his expectations of peace had been
such as that he had anticipated the event by very early commencing
his preparations to withdraw the British troops from the country, and
that every preparation which his situation and circumstances would
permit was still continued. That an additional number of transports
(and which were expected) were necessary to remove the troops and
stores, and, as it was impossible to ascertain the time when the -
transports would arrive, their passage depending on the casualties of
the seas, he was therefore unable to fix a determinate period within
which the British forces would be withdrawn from the city of New
York. But that it was his desire to exceed even our own wishes in
: this respect, and that he was using every means in his power to
effect, with all possible despatch, an evacuation of that and every
post within the United States occupied by the British troops under
ee SO SS ae OO LC
—— OO
—— eee
ee
362 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
his direction. That he considered as: included in the preparations
for the final departure of the British troops, the previously sending
away those persons who supposed that, from the part they had
taken in the present war, it would be most eligible for them to leave
the country ; and that upwards of six thousand persons of this char-
acter had embarked and sailed, and that; in this embarkation, a
number of negroes were comprised.
General Washington thereupon: expressed’ his surprise that, after
what appeared to him an express: stipulation to the contrary: in
the treaty, negroes, the property of inhabitants of these States;
should be sent off. To which Sir Guy Carleton replied that he
wished to be considered as giving no construction of the treaty;
that by property in the treaty, might only be intended property at
the time the negroes were sent off; that there was a difference in the
mode of expression in the treaty. Archives, papers, &c., were to
be restored ; negroes and other property were only not to be:destroyed
or carried away. But he principally insisted that he conceived it
could not have been the intention of the British Government, by the
treaty of peace, to reduce themselves to the necessity of violating
their faith to the negroes, who came into the British lines under the
proclamation of his predecessors in. command; that he forbore to
express his sentiments on the propriety of those proclamations, but
that delivering up the negroes to their former masters would be
delivering them up, some possibly to execution, and others to severe
punishments, which, in his opinion, would be a dishonorable violation
of the public faith, pledged to the negroes in the proclamation:; that
if the sending off the negroes should hereafter be declared‘ an infrac-
tion of the treaty, compensations must be made by the Crown of
Great Britain to the owners; that he had taken measures to provide
for this by directing a register to be kept of all the negroes who
were sent off, specifying the name, age, and occupation of the
person, and the name and place of residence of his former master.
General Washington again observed that he considered this conduct
on the part of General Carleton a departure from both the letter and
the spirit of the articles of peace; and particularly mentioned a
difficulty that would arise in compensating the proprietors of negroes,
(admitting this infraction of the treaty could be satisfied by such
compensation as Sir Guy had alluded to,) as it was impossible to
ascertain the value of the slaves from any fact or circumstance which
may appear in the register, the value of the slave consisting chiefly
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 363
‘in his industry and sobriety ; and General Washington mentioned a
| further difficulty which would attend identifying the slave, supposing
‘him to have changed his own name, or to have given in a wrong
‘name to his master. In answer to which Sir Guy Carleton said,
that as the negro was free and secured against his master, he could
a —" =
have no inducement to conceal either his own true name or that of
his master. Sir Guy Carleton then observed that, by the treaty, he
was not held to deliver up any property, but was only restricted from
carrying it away ; and therefore, admitting the interpretation of the
treaty as given by General Washington to be just, he was, notwith-
SEE
standing, pursuing a measure which would operate most for the
_ security of the proprietors. For if the negroes were left to them-
selves, without care or control from him, numbers of them would
very probably go off, and not return to the parts of the country
' from whence they came, or clandestinely get on board the transports
in such manner as would not be in his power to prevent; in either
of which cases an inevitable loss would ensue to the proprietors 5
. but, as the business was riow conducted, they had at least a chance
for compensation. Sir Guy concluded the conversation on this
:
subject by saying that he imagined that the mode of compensating,
as well as the accounts and other points, with respect to which there
was no provision made in the treaty, must be adjusted by commis-
sioners to be hereafter appointed by the two nations.
We, having been present at the conference, do certify the above
to be true. puree
GEORGE CLINTON,
JNO. M. SCOTT,
EGBERT BENSON,
JONA. TRUMBULL.
———S ee
Copy of the Appointment and Instructions to the Commissioners to
inspect and superintend Embarkations in New York.
By his Excellency George Washington, Esquire, General and Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Forces of the United States, &c.:
To Egbert Benson, Esquire, Attorney General of the State of New
York; William S. Smith, Esquire, Lieutenant Colonel in the
service of the United States; and Daniel Parker, Esquire.
Whereas, his Excellency Sir Guy Carleton, Commander-in-Chief
of the British troops in the posts now occupied by his Britannic
sd
364 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Majesty contiguous to the Atlantic, did, on the 14th of April last,
write to the honorable Robert R. Livingston, one of the ‘Aimee
Ministers, in the words following, viz:
% * * %* * a * *
Whereas, Congress did, on the 24th of April, 1783, refer the said
letter to me, with directions to take such measures for carrying into
effect the several matters therein mentioned as to me should seem
expedient ; and whereas, I have thought it expedient and necessary
that commissioners should be appointed for the purposes afore-
said, and to carry fully into execution the instructions of Congress
“for obtaining the delivery of all negroes and other property
‘of the inhabitants of the United States in the possession of the
‘British forces, or any subjects of or adherents to his Britannic
‘ Majesty :” ,
I do, therefore, in virtue of the powers vested in me as aforesaid,
hereby nominate, constitute, and appoint you, the said Egbert Ben-
son, William S. Smith, and Daniel Parker, commissioners on behalf
of the United States, for the purposes before mentioned, and you are
to attend particularly to the due execution of that part of the seventh
article of the provisional treaty where it is agreed that his Britannic
Majesty shall withdraw his armies, &c., from the United States,
‘‘without causing any destruction, or carrying away any negroes or
other property of the American inhabitants ;” and you, the aforesaid
Egbert Benson, William S. Smith, and Daniel Parker, or any two
of you, are hereby fully authorized and empowered to be present at
New York, and to assist such persons as shall be appointed by the
Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in New York, to inspect
and superintend all embarkations which the evacuation of that place
may require, and you are to represent to the said Commander-in-
Chief every infraction of the letter or spirit of the aforesaid treaty,
to the end that redress may be obtained, furnishing me, at the same
time, with duplicates of all such representations or communications
as may be made by you on the subject, with the result thereof; and
making a general report of your proceedings at the termination of
this commission.
Relying on your patriotism, fidelity, and abilities, I do hepalal
further authorize and empower you, in transacting the aforesaid
business, to act in conformity to your own judgment and discretion,
in all such matters and things relative thereto as are not particularly
specified herein. ‘This commission to continue in force until the
Ts
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 365
evacuation of New York shall be completely effected, unless sooner
| revoked.
Given under my hand and seal, at Orange-Town, this 8th day of
| May, 1783.
ly | eae
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
London, May 30, 1785.
Dear Sir,
I have redeemed a moment from a multitude of avocations, at this
- critical time, to acknowledge the receipt, by Colonel Smith, of your
‘ letters of the 31st of March, with the resolution of Congress enclosed
of the 21st of March. As M. de St. Saphorin is many months ago
recalled from the Hague, I shall make inquiry after him, and if I
cannot find where he is, I shall communicate a copy of the resolution
to the Danish Minister here, by whom it will be transmitted to his
Court, which I suppose will be an execution of my instructions as
near the spirit of them as is now practicable. The liberal decision
of his Danish Majesty, respecting the ordination of American candi-
dates for holy orders in the Episcopal Church, called the Church
_ of England, as soon as it was known in England, produced a more
Jiberal spirit and decision here than had prevailed before, so that |
hope that respectable body of our fellow-citizens who are interested
| in it, have derived a benefit from it. I am much obliged to Congress
for this instance of their approbation, and for the honor they have
done me in transmitting an account of it to the Executives of the
: States.
I have received, too, your letter of 13th of April, 1785, with the
' resolve of Congress of 14th February, 1785, empowering your Min-
_ isters to apply a sum not exceeding eighty thousand dollars to the
' use of treating with Morocco, &c. But I have heard nothing of
' Captain Lamb, or the papers by him. What my colleagues will
' judge proper to do, I cannot say, hut the advice of the French Court
_ was conformable to the opinion of us all, that it will be indispensable
for Congress to send a Consul with full powers.
I received, at Auteuil, my commission, ingtructions, and letter of
credence to the Court of Great Britain, and have now received, by
Colonel Smith, the papers sent by him.
366 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
JT received, at Auteuil, the ratification of the last loan in Holland,
which I transmitted immediately to Amsterdam, where it has been
received, registered, and communicated to: the lenders. of money, and
has given them satisfaction, since which I have received from you,
sir, duplicate and triplicate of the same ratification. The cypher is
received, and shall be attended to.
Your Ministers have written, monthly, an account of their pro-
ceedings. Not one packet has been missed; but when I left Auteuil,
we had no certain evidence that any one of our letters had been
received. We supposed that this was because Congress had not
completed their instructions upon any of them; but I must beg the
favor. of you, sir, barely to mention the receipts of my letters and
their dates, although you may not be prepared. to answer them;
without this one loses the chain of correspondence.{ I have boa
visited by some gentlemen, who, I suppose, had seen ‘the Ministers,
and learned from them what to say to me. ‘They. said that. the
Ministry and the. King considered the appointment of a Minister as a
proof of a conciliating disposition; that it was a relief. to them from
an anxiety, &c.; and that they were fully determined to receive me,
in all respects, like all the other foreign Ministers. This, I believe,
4s true; but we must be cautious what consequences we. draw from
it. It by no means follows that they are determined to do what their
honor and their public faith obliges them to do, according to our
ideas of their obligations. It by no.means follows. that. they will
surrender the posts, restore the negroes, relieve the debtors, or make
an equitable treaty of commerce. I hope they will .do all these
things; but I can ascertain nothing until my character is acknowl-
edged by a public reception and audience of his Majesty, made my
visits. to his Ministers, and had time to enter into a candid discussion
of these questions. . You shall be punctually informed..from step to
step. | )
With great esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
‘P.S. This morning Sir Clement Cottrell Dormer, master of the
ceremonies, called upon. me, to inform me that. he was ordered. to
attend me to Court on Wednesday, as he did on all foreign Ministers
at their first presentation, to shew them the way through the apart-
ments, &c,
DIPLOMATIC: CORRESPONDENCE. 367
‘FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN ‘JAY.
| Bath Hotel, Westminster, June 1, 1785.
Dear Sir,
In my letter of the 28th ultimo I enclosed copies of the letters
‘which have passed between the Secretary of State and myself,
‘wherein this day was fixed upon for my introduction to his Majesty.
‘Agreeably to that arrangement, the master of ceremonies waited
‘on me alone, and accompanied me to the Secretary’s office, from
‘whence Lord Caermarthen accompanied me to the palace. I was,
‘in a very short time, introduced to the King’s closet, where, with the
‘usual ceremony, I presented my letter of credence to his Majesty,
-and after a few minutes’ conversation retired. I have only time to
‘observe, sir, that I was introduced with every necessary formality,
‘and received with some marks of attention.
The door being now opened, I may, perhaps, soon have it in my
‘power to form some opinion respecting the general disposition of the
‘King and his Ministers, relative to the objects of my mission, of
‘which you may expect the earliest communication.
\
t “Tam, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
Oo
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Bath Hotel, Westminster, June 2, 1785.
| Dear Sir, '
_ During my interview with the Marquis of Caermarthen, he told me
that it was customary for every foreign Minister, at his first presenta-
tion to the King, to make his. Majesty some compliments conformable
to the spirit of his credentials, and when Sir Clement Cottrel Dormer,
‘the master of the ceremonies, came to inform me. that he should
accompany me to the Secretary of State, and to Court, he said that
every foreign Minister whom he had attended to the Queen had
always made an harangue to her Majesty, and he understood, though
he had not been present, that they always harangued the King.
On Tuesday evening the Baron de Lynden called upon me, and
said he came from the Baron. de Nolken , and had been conversing
upon the singular situation I was sent.in, and agreed in opinion that
it was indispensable that I should make a speech, and that it should
be as complimentary as possible; all this was parallel to the advice
3068 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
lately given by the Count de Vergennes to Mr. Jefferson, so that
finding it was a custom established at both these great Courts, anc
that this Court and the foreign Ministers expected it, I thought |
could not avoid it, although my first thought and inclination hac
been to deliver my credentials silently and retire.
At one, on Wednesday, the Ist of June, the master of ceremonie:
called at my house, and went with me to the Secretary of State’
Office, in Cleveland Row, where the Marquis of Caermarthen receiver
me, and introduced me to his under Secretary, Mr. Frazier, who ha:
been, as his Lordship said, uninterrupted in that office through all
the changes in administration for thirty years, having first been
appointed by the Earl of Holderness. |
After a short conversation upon the subject of importing my effect!
from Holland and France free of duty, which Mr. Frazier himsel
introduced, Lord Caermarthen invited me to go with him in his coael)
to Court. When we arrived in the Ante-Chamber, the Gil de Bou,
of St. James’s, the master of the ceremonies met me and attender
me, while the Secretary of State went to take the commands of thi
King. While I stood in this place, where it seems all Minister}
stand upon such occasions, always attended by the master of cere,
monies, the room very full of Ministers of State, Bishops, and al
other sorts of courtiers, as well as the next room, which is the King’
bed-chamber, you may well suppose I was the focus of all eyes. |
was relieved, however, from the embarrassment of it by the Swedisl
and Dutch Ministers, who came to me and entertained me in a vel)
agreeable conversation during the whole time. Some other gentle
men, whom I had seen before, came to make their compliments tt
me, until the Marquis of Caermarthen returned and desired me tc
go with him to his Majesty. I went with his Lordship through the
levee room into the King’s closet. ‘The door was shut, and I wa:
left with his Majesty and the Secretary of State alone. I made the
three reverences, one at the door, another about half way, and the
third before the presence, according to the usage established at this
and all the northern Courts of Europe, and sia addressed myself tc
his Majesty in the following words:
«Sir: The United States of America have Re cited me thei
‘Minister Plenipotentiary to your Majesty, and have directed me tc
deliver to your Majesty this letter, which contains the evidence ©
‘it. It is in obedience to their express commands that I have the
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 369
honor to assure your Majesty of their unanimous disposition and
‘desire to cultivate the most friendly and liberal intercourse between
‘your Majesty’s subjects and their citizens, and of their best wishes
for your Majesty’s health and happiness, and that of your royal
family. The appointment of a Minister from the United States to
!your Majesty’s Court will form an epoch in the history of England
‘and of America. I think myself more fortunate than all my fellow-
‘citizens in having the distinguished honor to be the first to stand in
‘your Majesty’s royal presence in a diplomatic character, and shall
‘esteem myself the happiest of men if I can be instrumental in
‘recommending my country more and more to your Majesty’s royal
benevolence, and of restoring an entire esteem, confidence, and
affection ; or, in better words, the old good nature and the old good
‘humor between people who, though separated by an ocean, and
‘under different Governments, have the same language, a similar
‘religion, and kindred blood. |
| «J beg your Majesty’s permission to add that, although I have
“some time before been entrusted by my country, it was never in
«my whole life in a manner so agreeable to myself.”
| The King listened to every word I said with dignity, but with an
apparent emotion. Whether it was the nature of the interview, or
‘whether it was my visible agitation (for I felt more than [ did or
could express) that touched him, I cannot say; but he was much
‘affected, and answered me with more tremor than I had spoken
with, and said:
' «Sir: The circumstances of this audience are so extraordinary,
‘the language you have now held is so extremely proper, and the
He feelings you have discovered so justly adapted to the occasion, that
‘I must say that I not only receive with pleasure the assurance of
'¢the friendly dispositions of. the United States, but that I am very
‘glad the choice has fallen upon you to be their Minister. I wish
‘you, sir, to believe, and that it may be understood in America, that
'*T have done nothing in the late contest, but what I thought myself
‘indispensably bound to do by the duty which I owed to my people.
‘T will be very frank with you. Iwas the last to consent to the
‘separation; but the separation having been made, and having
‘become inevitable, I have always said, as I say now, that I would
- ‘be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an
‘dependent Power. Tne moment I see such sentiments and
| Vor. I].—24 3
=—
ee
SanaEci omen
370 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
‘language as yours prevail, and a disposition to give to this country
‘the preference, that moment I shall say, let the circumstances of
‘language, religion, and blood have their natural and full effect.”
I dare not say that these were the King’s precise words, and it is
even possible that I may have in some particular mistaken his
meaning, for although his pronunciation is as distinct as I ever
heard, he hesitated some time between his periods, and between
the members of the same period. He was much affected, and |
was not less so, and therefore I cannot be certain that I was so
attentive, heard so clearly, and understood so perfectly as to be
confident of all his words or sense, and I think that all which he said
to me should at present be kept a secret in America, unless his
Majesty or his Secretary of State should judge proper to report it.
This I do say that the foregoing is his Majesty’s meaning as I then
understood it, and his own words as nearly as I can recollect them.
The King then asked me whether I came last from France, and
upon my answering in the affirmative, he put on an air of familiarity,
and smiling, or rather laughing, said there is an opinion amongst
some people that you are not the most attached of all your country-
men to the manners of France. I was surprised at this, because I
thought it an indiscretion and a departure from true dignity. 1 was
a little embarrassed, but determined not to deny the truth on one
hand, nor leave him to infer from it any attachment to England on
‘the other. I threw off as much gravity as I could, and assumed an
aw of gayety and a tone of decision as far as was decent, and said,
that opinion, sir, is not mistaken; I must avow to your Majesty I
have no attachment but to my own country. The King replied as
quick as lightning, an honest man will never have any other. The
King then said a word or two to the Secretary of State, which, being
between them, I did not hear, and then turned and bowed to me as
is customary with all Kings and Princes when they give the signal to
retire. I retreated, stepping backward as is the etiquette, and, making
my last reverence at the door of the chamber, I went my way.
The master of the ceremonies joined me the moment of my coming
out of the King’s closet, and accompanied me through the apart-
ments to my carriage. I have been thus minute as it may be useful
to others hereafter.
‘The conversation with the King, Congress will form their own
judgment of. I may expect from it a residence less painful than I
| DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 871
once expected, as so marked an attention from the King will silence
many grumblers; but we can infer nothing from all this concerning
the success of my mission. There are a train of other ceremonies to
go through. The Queen, and visits to and from Ministers and
Ambassadors, which will take up much time, and interrupt me in
‘my endeavors to obtain what I have at heart—the object of my
‘instructions. It is thus the essence of things are lost in ceremony in
every country of Europe. We must submit to what we cannot alter.
‘Patience is the only remedy.
| With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
i ——O
|
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
|
Bath Hotel, Westminster, June 6, 1785.
Dear Sir,
| Colonel Smith, on the 3d of this month, informed me that
‘Colonel Forrest had been with him, in behalf of two gentlemen of
Glasgow, (Mr. Calquhoun, provost of that city, and Mr. Alexander
‘Brown,) who were deputed by the merchants of that place, who had
‘debts in America, to confer with the creditors in London concerning
‘an application to Ministry and Parliament to obtain their interposition
for the recovery of their claims, but that having heard of the appoint-
‘ment of a Minister to this Court, and of my arrival, they were
| desirous of seeing me. I desired Colonel Smith to inform them that
‘I should be glad to see them the next morning. Accordingly, on
‘the 4th they came, and Mr. Calquhoun informed me of his errand,
‘and said that he was very glad that Congress had appointed a
' Minister, because he hoped that the article of debts would now be
_ accommodated to mutual satisfaction, without any application on
their part; and he should be glad to return to Scotland without
making any, provided he could be furnished with a reasonable
_ account to give of himself to his constituents.
_ I told him I was obliged to him for having given me an oppor-
tunity to see him; that the merchants of Glasgow must be sensible
we were but just emerged from an impoverishing war, in which there
had been a great interruption of agriculture and commerce, and a
| still greater destruction of property, which rendered it difficult for
any debtor, and impossible for many, to discharge their debts forth-
—— 3
—— —
—s
d12 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
with; that, I was persuaded, there was a general disposition to
discharge the debts as fast as it could be done, but that time and
patience were as much for the interest of the creditors as the debtors;
that if there had been any interposition of the Governments in
America, it had been, as I presumed, solely with a view of giving
time to negotiate an explication of the article of the treaty, and to
prevent the imprudence of hasty creditors from hurting themselves as
well as the debtors, to no good end; that one principal object of my
mission was to negotiate this affair with the Minister; and although
I was not authorized by the debtors, and could not be empowered
by Congress, to treat with the merchants of London and Glasgow,
they might depend upon my devoting a full proportion of my time to
this subject with the Ministry, and should be always ready to hear
any proposals, explanations, or arguments, even from individuals,
and to transmit them to Congress, if they were such as merited
attention; that it was thought very hard and unreasonable in
America that interest should be insisted on during the war, and that
if the creditors could be brought to consent to relinquish it, and that
a reasonable time should be allowed, I thought the whole might be
arranged to mutual benefit and satisfaction; that creditors should
consider that there was a great demand for clothing, stock, and
utensils, to repair the waste of war, and to put estates into a condition
to produce and to set commerce in motion; that this, together with
the zeal.to pay as much of their debts as possible, had already raised
the interest of money, even to an alarming height; that it must be
better to allow the debtor time to turn himself, that he might pay all,
rather than press him suddenly, so that he might not be able to pay
more than a part; that if property were seized upon now, it might
not produce half its value, whereas, left in the hands of the present
possessor, it would enable him to employ it to such advantage as to
pay his debts in time.
Mr. Calquhoun made no particular reply to the subject of interest,
but said the merchants of Glasgow were fully sensible of the circum-
stances I had mentioned, and were very willing to wait, and they
were desirous of entering into some agreement that the debts should
be paid in five years by instalments, one fifth in a year; but they
were alarmed at the spirit of migration into the wilderness in
America. ‘They thought it wrong to be restrained from arresting
the person or attaching property of a debtor whom they saw about
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 373
‘to remove to Kentucky and other places, where they could never be.
come at. I told him that this was new to me, but that Kentucky
,and all other new settlements were under the laws and jurisdiction
of some State as I supposed, and, therefore, the debtor and his
property would be within the reach of the creditor as much as if he
‘remained in the cities and old settlements, and as those removals
‘commonly advanced the fortunes of the emigrants, it might be rather
‘a benefit to their creditors by increasing the ability to pay. I
isubjoined that there were two things which fell very hard upon the
‘debtors in the States of Virginia and New York, (for he had
,mentioned these particularly,) one was the great number of negroes
;which had been carried away. If these negroes had been restored
according to the treaty, they would have been at work to earn
money to pay their masters’ debts; but the carrying them off was a
_double loss to the owner, and the holding possession of the posts
upon the frontiers had kept out of our hands a valuable trade, which
, would have gone a great way to enable us to pay our debts. He
,said he thought it a very foolish thing to hold possession of the
posts, &c. That he would venture to return to Scotland, and
_would take no more measures about applying to Parliament, which
he was sensible must excite a clamor, and he hoped the merchants
, of Glasgow would be contented to wait. He seemed to be well
, pleased with the conversation, and took his leave in good humor, so
_that I think it very lucky that so noisy a business as a petition to
, Parliament should be so easily diverted at this critical moment.
_ But I am unfortunate in another respect, as my Lord Caermarthen
, is ill of a fever, so that I shall not, I fear, be able to commence
- conferences with him upon business so soon as hoped. No time
, shall be lost by me.
_ With great and sincere esteem, Xc., JOHN ADAMS.
O
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
‘ Office for Foreign Affairs, August 3, 1785.
Dear Sir,
_ I have had the honor to receive and communicate to Congress
| your letters of the 15th December, 1784, 13th and 24th April, 4th,
Sth, 7th, Sth, 13th, 29th May, which enclosed your correspondence
_ with Lord Caermarthen, 30th May and Ist June.
314 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
April 24.—Congress are pleased to hear that you have completed
the loan in Holland; but have not directed me to say any thing of
opening anew one. I wish I could answer you that the exertions
of the States to provide for the payment of the public debts were
proportionate to the public exigencies. At present they are not;
but we flatter ourselves that our expectations on that head will yet
be realized, and that the different Legislatures, at their ensuing
sessions, will see the necessity of adopting more efficient measures
than have hitherto been taken.
I am entirely of opinion with you that the people of this coun
should, by a punctilious observance of the treaty, enable you to
insist with more propriety than energy on its being kept with equal
good faith by Britain, The case of the refugees is a delicate —
subject, and my sentiments respecting it perfectly correspond with
yours.
The obliging terms in which you mentioned my appointment to
this office demand my warmest acknowledgments. Be assured my
endeavors shall not be wanting, so to conduct the business of this
department as to confirm the opinion you entertain of my attention
to it.
There is reason to believe that the demand of Mr. Longchamps
will not be persisted in. .
May 4th.—I presume you will not receive a letter of recall from
your legation to the Hague until a successor shall be appointed.
Governor Livingston was elected, but declined; and the answer of
Governor Rutledge, who has since been appointed, is not yet
arrived. Perhaps circumstances may admit of your making a trip
to the Hague to take leave in form. If not a letter mentioning, in
general terms, the obstacles which detain you would pi be:
satisfactory to their High Mightinesses.
The calamities experienced and apprehended by France from the
unseasonable weather of the late spring are severe, and must naturally
have the tendency you remark. Jam happy to inform you that this.
country enjoys a plentiful harvest.
May 8th.—If Britain should object to the powers of Congress to
form treaties of commerce, it will probably be for the purpose of
delay. ‘Ehere is no reason to suspect that the different States even
wish to send Ministers to foreign Powers in any other way than the
one directed by the Confederation. Nor is it more probable that
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 375
Congress will refer their proper business to the deliberation and
jiscussion of the different Legislatures; for such references would
sap the foundation of Federal Government. Whether any and what
‘measures may be necessary to obviate the difficulties you allude to
bn those points, will best be decided when the nature and extent of
them can be ascertained. Your conferences with the Minister will
soon put you in capacity to remove all doubts on that head.
| May 13th.—The attention paid you by the Duke of Dorset
strikes me as marks of his good sense; and the cautious manner in
which he compared notes with you, shews that much is not to be
expected from his frankness ; but whatever may be the intentions of
lhis Court as to our frontiers, &c., and in whatever degree of silence
and mystery they may wish to involve their designs, your first con-
versation with the Minister on these heads must furnish you at least
with a clue to them. |
| The expenses of the presentation of yourself and family will
‘doubtless be considerable, and [ have long been of opinion that your
salary is not equal to what the expenses of a Minister ought to be;
for custom and fashion often exact a tribute, which, however just
and virtuous to refuse, is often very expedient to pay. In short,
,your salary is more than what a private gentleman may, with care,
live decently upon, but is less than is necessary to enable you to live
‘as other Ministers usually and generally do. Whether Congress will
‘make any alterations in this respect is very uncertain. ‘There are
)men in all the States who make a merit of saving money in small
‘matters, without sufficiently attending to the consequences of it.
May 29th.—I congratulate you sincerely on your arrival in
‘London ; and think you were very right in settling all matters of
etiquette with the Marquis of Caermarthen previous to your presenta-
tion. A letter of credence to the Queen was, I believe, neither
‘heard nor thought of here. I think it would be well to make further
‘inquiries respecting that matter; so that we may form some judg-
ment of the usual tenor and contents of such letters. I wish you
had informed me whether such a letter could, with propriety, yet
_be sent you, or whether it would be better to be silent about the
omission, and only take care not to repeat it on a future occasion.
Your opinion would be the more decisive, because you may learn
with certainty whether such a letter is yet expected from Congress.
At any rate, I think it would be well to give assurances that the
|
346 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
omission proceeded not from want of respect, but for want of
information ; for that, undoubtedly, was the fact.
May 30th.—Y our communicating to the Danish Minister a copy
of the resolution of the 21st March was rendered very proper by M.
de St. Saphorin’s having been recalled. |
On the 25th March last, the papers you alluded to respecting the
Morocco business were forwarded to Captain Lamb, by a messenger
whom we sent for them. At what time exactly he sailed, I am not
informed, though I am persuaded it must have been very soon after
the return of his messenger.
June 1st.—It gives me pleasure to hear that your reception at St.
James’s was such as you represent it. I flatter myself that the
difficulties you expect to encounter will be surmounted by the like
address and temperate perseverance which ciel success to your
negotiations in Holland.
I hope by the next conveyance to be enabled to communicate to
you some directions of Congress respecting the payment of the
salaries of yourself and the other public Ministers and servants in
Europe. I made a report on that subject to Congress the Ist Apmil
last, which is still under their consideration.
You will receive some of our latest newspapers, and the Journal
of Congress from the Ist March to 19th June last.
I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN JAY.
—_———0 —_——
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Bath Hotel, Westminster, June 10, 1785.
isi
Yesterday, the 9th of the month, I was presented to the Queen
by my Lord Ailesbury, her Lord Chamberlain, having been attended
to his Lordship and introduced to him by the master of the cere-
monies. ‘The Queen was attended by her ladies, and I made my
compliments to her Majesty in the following words:
‘Madam: Among the many circumstances which have rendered
‘my mission to his Majesty desirable to me, I have ever considered
‘it as a principal one that I should have an opportunity of making
‘my court to a great Queen, whose royal virtues and talents have
“ever been acknowledged and admired in America, as well as in all
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 31h
‘nations of Europe, as an example to princesses, and the glory of
«her sex. Permit me, madam, to recommend to your Majesty’s
‘royal goodness; a rising empire and an infant virgin world. Another
|< Europe, madam, is rising in America. To a philosophical mind
‘like your Majesty’s there cannot be a more pleasing contemplation
'
382 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
those inquiries himself, as it was an affair in another department. [
agreed accordingly to make an office of it.
I shall at first confine myself to decent inquiries concerning the
orders given, or to be given; and if I receive positive assurances
that explicit orders are gone to the Governor and Commander-in-
Chief in Canada to evacuate all the posts and territories, I shall
content myself to wait; but if I do not obtain such explicit assur-
ances, I shall think it my duty to present a memorial, with a decent
but firm requisition. I shall transmit to you, sir, every step of my
progress; but I find it very tedious—and fear you will find it more
so—to transmit particular circumstances in detail. When one looks
over again a letter in which he has attempted it, he finds a ne
of things omitted, or but half represented.
With great esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
P. S. I forgot a circumstance of some consequence. His Lord-
ship said he had seen in the gazettes some proceedings at Boston,
which he was very sorry to see. I answered that I had seen them
in the same gazettes, as.| supposed, and had no more authentic
account of them; that I had no authority to say anything officially
about them, but, as an individual, I might say that the observations
I just had the honor to make to his Lordship concerning the state
of the commerce between the two countries, would be sufficient to
explain to his Lordship the motives to those proceedings, and to
convince his Lordship of the probability of such sentiments and
proceedings becoming general throughout the United States, and
alienating the commerce of that country from this, either by in-
creasing manufactures in America, or opening new channels of
commerce with other countries; which might easily be done unless
some arrangements were made which might facilitate remittances.
It was so obviously the true policy of this country to facilitate
remittances from America, and to encourage everything we could
send, as the Americans think, that when they find remittances
discouraged, impeded, and even prohibited, it was natural to expect
they would be alarmed, and begin to look out for other resources;
that my fellow-citizens were very confident they had the power in
their own hands to do themselves justice, as soon as they should find
it denied them here ; but I hoped the difficulties would all be removed
here. ‘The whole conference was conducted with perfect good.
humor, and, on the part of his Lordship, with perfect politeness.
é
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 383
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
Office for Foreign Affairs, August 26, 1785.
I
i
}
Dear Sir,
, It gives me pleasure to inform you that your letters of 2d, 6th,
and 17th June last have been received, and were this day laid before
Congress, who, I am persuaded, will read them with as much satis-
faction as I have done. You have been im a situation that required
much circumspection. I think you have acquitted yourself in a
manner that does you honor.
| The vessel that is to carry this sails in the morning, so that at
present, I can only add my best wishes, and assure you that I
am, &c.,
}
JOHN JAY.
|
|REPORT OF SECRETARY JAY ON HIS LETTER OF INSTRUCTION TO
THE AMERICAN MINISTER AT LONDON.
)
| Office for Foreign Affairs, June 23, 1785.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
| Affairs, to whom was referred his letter of the 19th ultimo to his
Excellency the President of Congress, reports thereupon :
i\
i
| ‘That, in his opinion, it would be advisable to permit your Secretary
‘o write a letter of the following tenor, in cyphers, and by a private
hand, to the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at the
Court of London, viz:
i Sir,
, It is more than probable that this letter will find you in London.
_ The manner of your reception at that Court, and its temper,
views, and dispositions respecting American objects, are matters
concerning which particular information might be no less useful than
it is interesting. Your letters will, I am persuaded, remove all
suspense on those points.
, While men or States are influenced by their passions and their
nterest alternately, without having reduced their pursuit of either to
system, it is impossible to predict which of those motives will
preponderate on certain occasions, and render certain combinations
of circumstances.
384 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Hence it is uncertain how far and in what instances the national
ill temper of Britain towards this country may lead that kingdom to
eratify it at the expense of a more conciliatmg and advantaeaae
policy.
It is well known that these countries, prior to the late war, carried
on a valuable trade with Honduras and Campeachy, and employed
above one hundred vessels in exchanging, at the English settlements,
beef, pork, and other kinds of provision for logwood, mahogany,
sarsaparilla, &c., .
It being the policy of Spain to keep other nations at a distance
from their American dominions, she beholds these settlements with
pain and jealousy.
The uneasiness which subsists at present between those two
nations on that subject, seems to offer us an opportunity of nego-
tiating with the English for a participation in their right to cut
logwood, or at least to trade with them as formerly.
They may, perhaps, think it expedient to strengthen ‘their foots
in those parts by interesting us in the advantages resulting from then
continuing to maintain it.
It would not be difficult for you to sound the Minister sc
effectually, and yet circumspectly on this head, as to enable you to
discern his disposition and sentiments on the one hand, and yet
avoid committing either Congress or yourself on the other, as the
experiment, whether successful or not, can cost little, as in the one
event it may produce good, and the other no inconveniences can
follow. I think it would be advisable to make it, |
~ Various considerations, of which I am sure you are apprized, rendet
it necessary to manage this matter with caution and secrecy, as well
on account of those with whom you may have to negotiate as 0!
those who may eventually be affected, or think themselves so, i the
issue. |
The English and their Minister do not like us; and you kale
dislike and disgust, whether well or ill founded, always oppose, anc
frequently exclude, both confidence and candor; in such cases
therefore, constant provision and much circumspection are requisite.
Your knowledge of Spain, and the political relation in which ‘she
stands to us and to others, make it unnecessary to observe that th:
measure in question would, if known, meet with strong, if not open
opposition from that, and probably from other quarters.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 3885
I shall write another official letter to you by this conveyance, and
um, with great respect and esteem, &c.
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
JOHN JAY.
—_9-———_-
) FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Bath Hotel, Westminster, June 26, 1785.
| Dear Sir,
By the ninth article of the Confederation, the United States, in
‘Congress assembled, have the sole and exclusive right and power of
entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no treaty of commerce
shall be made whereby the legislative power of the respective States
shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners
‘as their own people are subjected to, or from prohibiting the exporta-
tion or importation of any species of goods or commodities whatsoever.
| [have ventured, sir, in some former letters to you, notwithstanding
‘the delicacy of tampering with the Confederation, to suggest to your
consideration whether it may not be necessary for the States to
reconsider this proviso, and give to Congress unlimited authority to
‘enter into treaties of commerce with foreign Powers, at least for a
ilimited term of years. I have also inquired whether it might not be
‘necessary for the States to confer upon Congress authority to regulate
‘the external commerce of all the members of the Confederation for
‘a like term of years.
If the States should hesitate at this, I am persuaded they would
‘readily comply with the recommendations of Congress to this éffect.
‘For example, if Congress should recommend to the Legislatures
of the States to lay duties, heavy duties, upon all British. vessels
"entering into or clearing out of their ports, especially upon all vessels
coming from or bound to the West India Islands, Nova Scotia,
Canada, or Newfoundland, and upon all merchandizes imported from,
or exported to, any ports of the British dominions, I can scarcely
doubt that every Legislature would immediately comply; and by
| this means our own navigation would be encouraged, and the British
. discouraged to such a degree as to compel the British Government to
enter into an equitable treaty. Nay, I cannot doubt the readiness
' of the States to comply with a recommendation of Congress wholly.
to prohibit British vessels and merchandizes.
Vou, I.—25 _
386 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Although I have been received here, and continue to be treated
with all the distinction which is due to the rank and title you have
given me, there is, nevertheless, a reserve, which convinces me that
we shall have no treaty of commerce until this nation is made to feel
the necessity of it. J am every day astonished at the ignorance of
all ranks of people of the relation between this country and ours.
Cui bono? they ery. ‘Tio what end a treaty of commerce, when we
are sure of as much American trade as we have occasion for without
it? ‘The experiment has been tried, and the Americans have found
that they cannot supply themselves elsewhere. There must be quid
pro quo. And what have the United States to give in exchange for
the liberty of gomg in their own ships to our sugar colonies, and our:
colonies upon the Continent? ‘These smart reasoners are answered.
The Americans allow Britons to come in their own vessels to all
their ports in the United States; and this is more than a guid for
your quo. ‘This is the true reciprocity; and while we allow you
this liberty, we have a right to demand it in return. But, replies
the Briton, you cannot avoid this; you have no Government; you
cannot agree to prohibit our ships and goods, or to lay duties on
them. ‘Then, says the American, you give up the argument of
reciprocity ; you confess that you are not willing to allow us a quid
for your quo, and that you are disposed to take advantage of our
supposed disunion to get unequal benefits from us. But you will
find yourselves disappointed in this disunion that you build so much
upon. Nothing but too much good nature to you, and too high an
opinion of your wisdom, has prevented the States hitherto from
uniting in a reciprocal discouragement of your ships and goods; but
‘when the Americans find themselves deceived, you will soon see
them too much united for your purposes. Such have been the
dialogues in conversation for a year or two, and these ignorant
sophisms of the Britons will never be confuted to any effect until
vigorous measures are taken by all the States in concert. Whatever
measures are taken, I should recommend them to be taken upon this
express proviso, to continue in force only until things shall be other-
wise settled by a treaty of commerce. |
I receive sometimes unexpected visits from persons, who, I
‘Suppose, are sent on purpose to say things to me, which they wish,
no doubt, to have transmitted to you. Since the appearance of the
resolutions of the merchants, traders, and mechanics of Boston, I
have several times fallen into company with persons whose connex-
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 887
ons I knew, and who have assumed very grave faces, and inquired
‘bout the disturbances at Boston, as they call them, and given very
sage hints of their fears that those proceedings would obstruct my
success. A few days since my servant announced Lord Hood would
ve glad to see me if I was at leisure. I desired his Lordship might
walk up. I was surprised that, among so many visits of ceremony,
ais Lordship should not be content with leaving his card. But in
the year 1768, I had appeared before him, then Commodore Hood,
in a special Court of Admiralty, for the trial of four sailors for killing
Lieutenant Panton in defending themselves from his press gang.
His Lordship took advantage of this very transient acquaintance of
seventeen years’ standing to make me a friendly visit. He soon
began a conversation about the Boston proceedings. It is not
mecessary to repeat what was said, as it was of no consequence for
you to know, excepting that his Lordship was very sorry to see the
account of those proceedings; was very much afraid they would
obstruct the return of friendship, and prove a bar to what he wished
ito see—a good treaty of commerce. I told his Lordship that those
‘proceedings were prefaced with, «Whereas there is no treaty of
commerce,” and, as I understood them, they were not to bein force
-any longer than there should be no treaty of commerce. His Lord-
‘ship concluded by saying, that the sooner such a treaty was made
‘the better. I had no doubt then, and have been confirmed by others
since in the opinion, that his Lordship did not come of his own head.
All parties are upon the reserve respecting American affairs.
They are afraid of each other; and it 1s my clear opinion that it is
Congress and the States, and they alone, who can enable me to do
-anything effectual. I may reason till I die to no purpose. It is
‘unanimity in America in measures which shall confute the British
_ sophisms, and make them feel, which will ever produce a fair treaty
_ of commerce.
| With great esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
\j
i
—-0-—
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
: Office for Foreign Affairs, September 6, 1785.
Dear Sir,
| My last to you was of the 26th ultimo, in which I mentioned the
| dates of the letters with which you had honored me, and the receipt
|
eo eae
388 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
of which then remained unacknowledged. None from you hay,
since arrived.
I have now the honor of transmitting to you, herewith enclosed, ;
copy of an act of Congress of the 18th ultimo. | It contains a corre
spondence between the Governor of Massachusetts and Captain
Stanhope, the commander of a British frigate. |
The style of the Captain’s letters being very reprehensible, ocea
sioned the application to Congress, which produced the act it
question; and I am persuaded that the views of Congress, it
directing it to be communicated to the British Minister, will bi
promoted by the manner in which you will do it. j
The frequent solecisms observable for some years past in. the
politics of the Court of London render it exceedingly difficult t
divine how they will think and act under almost any given circum:
stances.
It is manifestly as much their interest to be well with us as for u:
to be well with them; and yet the gratification of resentments, occa:
sioned by disappointment, seems to take the lead of more elevatec
and useful principles of action.
They expect much from the trade of America, and yet they take
pains to cut off every source within their reach by which we make
remittances. It is strange that they should wish us to buy, and ye
be so industrious to put it out of our power to pay. Such a system
must cause loss of money to their merchants, and loss of reputation
to ours. I wish most sincerely that credit was at an end, and that
we could purchase nothing abroad but for ready money. Our
exportations would then be equally profitable; and as our importa-
tions would be diminished, we should’ have less to pay ; domestic
manufactures would then be more encouraged, and frugality and
economy become more prevalent.
What impression the conduct of Captain Stanhope may make on
the Minister to me appears uncertam. Certain, however, it is that
mutual civility and respect must, in the nature of things, precede
mutual benevolence and kindness. The manner of your reception
and treatment indicates their attention to this consideration ; and yet
the detention of the posts, the strengthening their garrisons in our
neighborhood, the encouragement said to be given to settlers in these
parts, and various other circumstances, speak a language very differ-
ent from that of kindness and good will. |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 389
They may hold the posts, but they will hold them as pledges of
enmity ; and the time must and will come when the seeds of discon-
tent, resentment, and hatred, which such measures always sow, will
produce very bitter fruit. I am well informed that some of the
loyalists advise, and warmly press, the detention of posts. It is
strange that men who, for ten years have done nothing but deceive,
should still retain any credit. I speak of them collectively. Among
them there are men of merit; but to my knowledge some of the
most violent, the most bitter and implacable, and yet most in credit,
are men who endeavored to play between both parties, and vibrated
from side to side as the appearances of success attracted them. Nay,
the very accounts of losses which many of them have presented,
afford conclusive evidence of their inattention to truth and common
decency. Such, however, has been the infatuation of British councils,
that what was manifest to others was problematical, if not entirely
dark, to them.
_ As to their present Minister, he has neither been long enough in
_administration, nor perhaps in the world, for a decided judgment to
be formed either of his private or public character. He seems to
| possess firmness as well as abilities, and if to these be added inform-
‘ation, and comprehensive as well as patriotic views, he may be
worthy of his father. England will probably be much the better or
_much the worse for him.
We are anxious to receive letters from you on the subject of the
| posts, that in either event we may be prepared. In the one case I
bai think it very justifiable in Congress to take a certain step that
, would be longer and more sensibly felt by Britain than the independ-
_ ence of these States.
Mr. Arthur Lee has been elected to the vacant place at the Board
_of Treasury.
Governor Rutledge declines going to Holland. The affair of
_ Longchamps is adjusted—he stays where he is.
_ With great respect and esteem, &c., JOHN JAY.
Extract from the Secret Journal, August 17, 1785.
The Delegates for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts having
laid before Congress a letter of the 8th, from his Excellency the
Governor of that State, together with a copy of letters from Captain
390 JOHN ADAMS—JOHMN JAY.
Stanhope, commander of the British frigate Mercury, to his Exce’
lency James Bowdoin, Esquire, Governor of the Commonwealth ,
Massachusetts, and his Excellency’s answers to the first two of thos
letters—the same were referred to the Secretary for Foreign Affair,
who reported thereon. ‘The letters and report are as follows:
Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Boston, August 8, 1785. |
Gentlemen,
Whatever concerns the honor of one of the United States, doe
in effect, in certain cases, concern the honor of all of them.
This general observation applies to the conduct of Captain Star
hope, commander of his Britannic Majesty’s frigate Mercury, whe
apprehending himself insulted, applied by his letter to me for redres:
In which letter he “recommends to me to adopt such measures a
may discover the ringleaders of the party that assassinated him.” Se
letter No. 1. On receiving it, the Council being adjourned to.
distant day, I sent for the only gentleman of that board in town, th
Honorable Mr. Adams, with whom I consulted on the affair. J
consequence of the consultation, I sent Captain Stanhope an answe
the same day. The answer points out to him the only way of redre
which our laws and Constitution admit, and which I myself, in
like case, if I took any, must have taken. See letter No. 2.
This answer, however, did not comport with Captain Stanhope
high idea of himself, who seems to have thought that some speci
mode of process was due to a person of his importance. :
In consequence of that idea, and after two days’ consideration ¢
the matter, he sent me a letter, which you may probably think ma’
be justly called a very insolent one; in which (but in his own mod
of expression) he declares I gave him positive assurance of affordin
him and his officers protection; that my conduct contradicted the
assurance and his expectations; that it does not satisfy him, nor doe
credit to myself; that he never received a letter so insulting to hi
senses, and that it was an evasion of his requisition; with a grea
deal more abuse, both expressed and implied. See letter No. 3.
The only part of the declaration it concerns me to notice is the
in which my conduct is said to have contradicted the assurance I ha
given him of protection. a
This occasions a recurrence to two conversations [ had with hir
within a few days after his arrival here; from which time, until th
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 391
first instant, I had been, as I presumed, in the good graces of Mr.
‘Stanhope. In one of those conversatious, which were principally
relative to the recovery of a favorite servant, who, he said, had
‘deserted from him about a year before, he mentioned that he had
been informed he should probably meet with some insult before. his
departure, and said he should rely on my protection. I told him he
might depend on every protection in my power to afford him; but
‘that in this country, as in England, the law is every man’s protec-
‘tion, and that he would be as much entitled to it, during his stay
here, as any man in the Commonwealth ; and in conformity to this
\idea my letter to him was written.
_ I have here mentioned no more of the conversation than was
/needful to afford you some idea of the assurance he says I gave him
of my protection. But, in the course of it, I told him further that
| he must know from his own observation that in large seaport towns,
‘where there is a resort of all kinds of people and characters, quarrels
and disturbances frequently happened; and that the seaport towns
in England were remarkable for them. ‘That he must be sensible
that the new regulations of trade in England, which would finally
operate to her own detriment, had disgusted the Americans in
general, and had induced them to take measures to counteract those
regulations; and, therefore, it was natural to expect he would hear
_ sentiments thrown out which might not be agreeable to him; but
that I had no apprehension that any insult would be offered either
to him or his officers. These observations, and many more, I
thought proper to make, which a man of any discernment, and of the
least goodness of disposition, might have applied to his own benefit,
and to the exciting and promoting good humor in the people among
whom he happened to be.
As he says my conduct contradicted his Sec ations it is prob-
able he expected a proclamation should have been issued. ‘This
measure was thought of, but I did not think the occasion required it.
His conduct for three days after the afront to the time of his going
with his ship down to Nantasket, on the evening of the 3d_ instant,
manifested that he was under no apprehension of any attack upon
him, for during that time, he and his officers went about the town
and in the country as usual, and with as much freedom as any
persons whatever. Knowing that the whole of my conduct, both
public and private, had been such as merited at least a decency of
iy . 1S
392 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
behavior on his part, and sentiments very different from those
expressed in his said letter, I wrote to him a short answer to it, which
you will see in No. 4, to which he sent the reply contained in No.
5, justifying and repeating his insolence; and this finishes the corre-
spondence. I have only to observe, that it is conceived the honor
and dignity of this Commonwealth, and through it the honor and.
dignity of the United States in general, are essentially wounded by
the insolence of Captain Stanhope towards the Chief Magistrate of
the former ; that unless it be properly resented, every British officer
of every British vessel, however insignificant, will, whenever an
Opportunity shall offer, insult the government of every State in the
Union ; and that a tameness under insult must, in the estimation of
all foreigners, effectually destroy the national character and import-
ance of the United States. If, after reading the annexed copy of
letters which passed between the said Stanhope and me, you should
be of thaf opinion, you will please*to lay the same before the United
States in Congress assembled, that they may take such measures
concerning it as their wisdom and a sense of their own honor shall |
dictate. |
With the most perfect regard, I have the honor to be, gentlemen, |
your most obedient servant, JAMES BOWDOIN.
The Honorable Elbridge Gerry, Samuel Holten, Rufus King, |
Esquires, Delegates in Congress for the Commonwealth of Massa-
chusetts.
The letters from Captain Stanhope were, on the cover of each of |
them, thus superscribed: «On his Britannic Majesty’s service. To
his Excellency Governor Bowdoin, &c., &c., &c., Boston.”
a
[ No. 1. ] Mercury, Boston Harbor, August 1, 1785.
Sir,
I am sorry to be obliged to represent to your Excellency the
continued insults and disgraceful indignities offered by hundreds in
this town to me and my officers, which hitherto we have winked at, |
as well as the most illiberal and indecent language with which the —
newspapers have been filled; nor should I have troubled you now, ©
had I not been pursued, and my life, as well as that of my officers, —
been endangered by the violent rage of a mob, yesterday evening, ©
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 393
without provocation of any sort. [ trust it is needless to recommend
to your Excellency to adopt such measures as may discover the
ringleaders of the party that assassinated me, and bring them to
, public justice, as/well as protect us from futher insult.
| Ihave the honor to be, &c., HENRY STANHOPE.
To his Excellency Governor Bowdoin, &c., &c., &c.
ene
} { No: 27] Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
! h Boston, August 1, 1785.
Sir,
Your letter of this date is now before me. It is a great misfortune
‘that the subjects or citizens of different countries which have been
at enmity cannot easily recover that degree of good humor which
should induce them to treat each other with proper decorum, when
‘the Governments to which they respectively belong have entered
into a treaty of amity, and sheathed the sword. But you must have
-observed that disturbances, arising from this source, too frequently
‘happen, especially in populous seaport towns. If you have been
insulted, and your life has been endangered in manner as you have
represented to me, I must inform you that our laws afford you ample
satisfaction. Foreigners are entitled to the protection of the law as
well as amenable to it, equally with any citizen of the United
‘States, while they continue within the jurisdiction of this Common-
wealth. Any learned practitioner of the law, if applied to, will
direct you to the mode of legal process in the obtaining a redress of
Injury, if you have been injured, and the judiciary courts will cause
)
due inquiry to be made touching riotous and unlawful assemblies and
their misdemeanors, and inflict legal punishment on such as by
“verdict of a jury may be found guilty.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient humble servant,
JAMES BOWDOIN.
[ No. 3. ] Mercury, Boston Harbor, August 2, 1785.*
Sir,
When I had the honor of applying to your Excellency to dis-
_ countenance the disgraceful attacks made upon me and the officers
*N. B. This was sent August 3, P. M.
394 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
of his Britannic Majesty’s ship Mercury, under my command, and
to afford us your protection, it was upon your positive assurance to
that effect, in their presence, I rested my hope. _How much your
conduct contradicts both that and my expectation, is too obvious
either to satisfy me or even to do credit to yourself. For your
Excellency must excuse me, when I remark that I never received a
letter so insulting to my senses as your answer to my requisition of
yesterday. Iam, however, pleased in finding a much better dispo-
sition in the first class of inhabitants, whose assistance 1 am happy
to acknowledge as the more acceptable after your apparent evasion
from the substance of my letter; and however well imformed your
Excellency may believe ial upon the laws and customs of
nations in similar cases, allow me to assure you there is not one, no,
not even the ally of these States, that would not most severely
reprobate either the want of energy in Government, or disinclination
of the Governor to correct such notorious insults to public characters,
in which light only we can desire to be received.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient humble servant,
HENRY STANHOPE.
To his Excellency Governor Bowdoin.
ES
{ No. 4. ] Boston, August 3, 1785, 6 o’clock, P. M.
Captain Stanhope,
Your letter bearing date the 2d instant was delivered to me by
your lieutenant, Mr. Nash, at four o’clock this afternoon. I hereby
let you know, that as the letter is conceived in terms of insolence
and abuse altogether unprovoked, I shall take such measures con-
ceming it as the dignity of my station and a just regard to the honor
of this Commonwealth, connected with the honor of the United
States in general, shall require. |
JAMES BOWDOIN.
a
[ No. 5. ] Mercury, Nantasket Road, August 3, 1785,
at half-past 12, A. M.*
SIT,
I am to acknowledge the honor of your Excellency’s letter, this
moment received; and have to assure you that I shall most cheer-
*Tt should have been August 4.
=
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 395
fully submit to the worst consequences that can arise from our
correspondence, which I do not conceive on my part to have been
couched i in terms of either insolence or abuse, which is more than |
‘can venture to say of yours. And however exalted your Excel-
lency’s station is, | know not of any more respectable than that I
have the honor to fill.
- Thave the honor to be, sir, your very humble servant,
| HENRY STANHOPE.
) To his Excellency Governor Bowdoin, &c., &c., &c.
:
| The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
| Affairs, to whom was referred a letter of the 8th instant from his
_ Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts to the Delegates of
_ that Commonwealth in Congress, reports:
| That in his opinion the answer of the Governor to Captain
Stanhope’s first letter was perfectly proper; that the Captain’s reply
-was highly disrespectful; and being so, that such measures might
‘have been adopted as the laws prescribe for asserting the dignity of
Government in such cases.
He is further of opinion that two things are essential to the
respectability of Government: 1. That it should be always in the
right; and 2. That it should never be opposed or ill-treated with
‘impunity.
_ To these ends its own internal power (in such cases as the present)
Lis, or ought to be adequate, and, therefore, a recurrence to a foreign
‘sovereign to resent and punish affronts to such Government, com-
mitted under its eye and within its jurisdiction, appears to your
‘Secretary a departure from that self-respect, which on such occasions
‘should invariably be observed, except indeed where such indignities
are offered by Ambassadors.
If these principles are well founded, then it will follow as a
“necessary consequence that no complaint or application for redress
should be made by Congress to his Britannic Majesty on the subject
/ im question.
| But as America and Britain are at peace, and in that sense friends,
| it is to be presumed that disrespect to one from officers of the other
| must be offensive to the sovereign of such officers ; inasmuch as such
conduct tends to irritate and alienate the good will of the other.
396 * JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Under this view of the matter, your Secretary thinks it would be
proper to transmit these papers to the Minister of the United States
at the Court of London, and to instruct him to communicate them to
the British Minister, and to assure him,
1. That nothing but a desire to avoid increasing the inital
which the late war may have produced in the two nations, could
have restrained the Governor from resenting the indecent conduct of
Captain Stanhope, in a severe and exemplary manner.
2. To assure him that Congress are persuaded that such behavior
must give no less displeasure to his Majesty than it does to them;
and that as all sovereigns must, in a certain degree, be affected by
the conduct of their servants, Congress think that the justice due to
his Majesty calls upon them to lay this information before him.
3. That Congress flatter themselves that this instance of delicacy
and moderation will be ascribed to its proper motives, and be
considered as evincive of a desire to prevent animosity, and promote
mutual good will. ae
Your Secretary also thinks it would be proper to transmit a copy
of this report to the Governor of Massachusetts, and to assure him
that Congress consider the dignity of each of the States as
inseparably connected with that of the Union; and, therefore, that
it shall on every occasion experience their care and attention.
Resolved, That Congress agree to the said report.
Ordered, That a copy of this report, together with the foregoing
letters, be transmitted to the Executives of the several States.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, July ie 1785. |
Dear Sir,
Give me leave to propose for your consideration, and to request
you to submit to the decision of Congress, whether it would not be
proper that some measures should be taken to furnish your Ministers
abroad with the laws of the several States, and more especially with
such laws as may have a relation to external commerce, or any other
foreign affair.
Information of this kind will be wanted at every Court, but more
particularly here, and at this critical period. Our fellow-citizens
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 397
here, from all the States, have been very civil to me in furnishing me
with all the lights in their power; and this will ever be the case, it
is to be hoped, wherever you have a Minister. Yet all the lights
which individuals abroad can furnish will be imperfect, though ever
30 carefully collected by a Minister, without the continual assistance
of Congress and the States. I have been lately obliged to a fellow-
sitizen (Captain C. Miller) for the laws of New York of the second
meeting of the eighth session of the Legislature, amongst which, to
ny great satisfaction, I find the United States, in Congress assembled,
vested, for fifteen years, with powers to prohibit any goods, wares,
or merchandize from being imported into, or exported from, any of
the United States, in vessels belonging to, or navigated by, the
subjects of any Power with whom the * * * * States shall
1ot have formed treaties of commerce ; and also with powers of pro-
ubiting the subjects of any foreign State, Kingdom, or Empire
‘unless authorized by treaty) from importing into the. United States
iy goods, wares, or merchandize which are not the produce or
nanufacture of the dominions of the sovereign whose subjects they
we,
I read this act with pleasure, because it is very nearly all that is
vanting. ‘The Legislature of New York have avoided giving to the
Jnited States the power of imposing, equalizing, or retaliating duties ;
ind I cannot say that they are not right in this, although it is very
mobable such duties will be indispensable. Such duties, if laid by
ny State, should be laid by all; and if the States will, in such cases,
espect the recommendations of Congress, this may be sufficient. If
ve enter into treaty with England, how shall we manage this subject ?
shall we stipulate that Britain shall pay in our ports no higher duties
han the most favored nations shall pay, in return for her stipulating
hat Americans shall pay in her ports no higher duties than the most
avored nation pays? This would be unequal, because the most
avored nation pays in British ports much greater imposts than the
iation the most favored by the United States pays in our ports. If
‘ve enter into such stipulation, the consequence will be, that, in order
‘o form an equality, we must impose enormous duties, not only upon
British subjects, but upon all other nations. For example, the most
avored nation pays in England upon oil, eighteen pounds three
hillings sterlmg per ton. If we attempt to equalize and retaliate,
ye must lay on the amount of this upon the importation of goods
398 ‘ JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
from all other nations—a measure that may be very inconvenient t
us. Should we not then endeavor to obtain a stipulation tha
Americans shall pay in British ports no higher duties than Britis
subjects? No doubt, to obtain this, we must stipulate that Briton
shall pay in our ports no higher duties than our citizens; and ever
this will be unequal, because that duties in general are higher ir
England than in America. This, however, cannot be avoided, anc
as it is our felicity, we have less cause to repine at it. But if the
British Ministry should refuse to go further than the mutual priviles
of the most favored nation, we shall have no remedy but in equalizing
duties, which it will be absolutely necessary to lay on, in order to dc
ourselves justice. ‘This cannot be done but by a concert of all the
tates. If such a concert can be effected by recommendations ©
Congress, so much the better. If it cannot, I see no other remedy
but to give Congress the power.
This nation relies upon it that our States can never accomplist
such a concert, either by giving Congress the power, or by com
plying with their recommendations. Proofs of this are innumerable
Lord Sheffield’s writings; the constant strain of all the writings i
the newspapers; the language of conversation; the report of th
Committee of Council ; but, above all, the system adopted by thi
Duke of Portland’s administration, and uniformly pursued by hin
and his successor, Mr. Pitt, are a demonstration of it; for althougl
many express a contempt of the American commerce, (and I an
sorry to say that even Lord Camden has lately said, that while
they had a monopoly of the American trade, it was a valuable thing
but now they had not, thought very little of it.) Yet those of the
Ministry and nations who understood any thing of the subject, know
better, and build all their hopes and schemes upon the suppositior
of such divisions in America as will forever prevent a combinatior
of the States, either in prohibitions or retaliating duties. It is tru
that the national pride is much inflated at present, by the course 0
exchange, which is much in their favor, with all parts of the world
and disposes them to think little of American commerce. ‘They sa}
that the progress of the fine arts in this kingdom has given to thei
manufactures a taste and skill, and to their productions an elegance
cheapness, and utility so superior to any others, that the demand fo
their merchandizes from all parts of Europe is greater than ever
that even Lord North’s prohibiting bill has contributed to thi
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 399
idvantage, by occasioning a demand amongst foreigners during the
war, for goods to supply America. ‘The knowledge and taste for
British manufactures, they say, has been, by this means, spread all
over Europe, and the demand for them multiplied, which has turned
she balance so much in their favor, and caused such an extraordinary
nflux both of cash and bills of exchange into these kingdoms.
Those who reflect more maturely upon this, however, see that this
advantage is but temporary, (if it is one;) they say that the long
stagnation of business by the war had filled the country with manu-
factures ; that upon the peace, extraordinary efforts were made to
dispose of them, by sending factors abroad, not only to America, but
to all parts of Europe; that these factors have not only sold their
goods at a low price, but have sent home cash and bills at a high
one, so that their own factors have turned their course of exchange
in their favor (in appearance, and for the present moment only) at
their expense, for the loss, both upon the sale of goods and the
purchase of remittances, is theirs; if these conjectures are right, the
present appearance of prosperity will be succeeded by numerous
failures and great distress. Be this as it may, the present appearance
bas produced a self-sufficiency which will prevent, for some time,
any reasonable arrangement with us. The popular pulse seems to
beat high against America.
| The people are deceived by numberless falsehoods, industriously
eirculated by the gazettes and in conversation, so that there is too
Inach reason to believe that if this nation had another hundred
million to spend, they would soon force the Ministry into a war
against us. ‘I'he Court itself, whatever may be thought of it, appears
at present to be the principal barrier against a war, and the best
disposed towards us, but whether they are restrained by any thing
beside their own poverty may be justly questioned. Their present
system, as far as I can penetrate it, is to maintain a determined
peace with all Europe, in order that they may war singly against
America, if they should think it necessary.
‘Their attachment to their navigation act, as well as that of all
other parties here, is grown so strong, and their determination to
consider us as foreigners, and to undermine our navigation, and to
draw away our seamen, is so fixed in order to prevent us from
\privateering in case of a war, that I despair of any equal treaty,
and therefore of any treaty, until they shall be made to feel the
|
“SUTURE ORNS eyed ae
400 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
necessity of it. It cannot, therefore, be too earnestly recommended
to all the States to concur with the State of New York im giving to
Congress full power to make treaties of commerce, and, in short, to
govern all our external commerce ; for I really believe it must come
to that ; whether prohibitions or high duties will be most politic isa
great question. Duties may be laid which will give a clear advan-
tage to our navigation and seamen, and these would be laid by the
States upon the recommendations of Congress, no doubt, as soon as
the principle is admitted that it is necessary that our foreign com-
merce should be under one direction. You will easily infer from all
this that I have no hopes of a treaty before next spring; nor then,
without the most unanimous concurrence of all our States in vigorous
measures, which shall put out of all doubt their power and their will
to retaliate. |
With great esteem, I am, &c., JOHN ADAMS. .
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, July 29, 1785.
Sir,
I have the honor to enclose a copy of a letter to the Marquiso 0
Caermarthen, of the 14th July, (another of the 27th,) with a projec’
of a declaration concerning the construction of an armistice ; anc
another of this date, with a project of a treaty of commerce. Iti
high time something should be done to turn the attention of the
Administration to the relation between this country and the Unitec
States; and it seemed’ most advisable to lay the project of a treaty
directly before the Ministry, rather than first negotiate the appomt
ment of any other Minister to treat with me than the Marquis 0
Caermarthen himself. If I had first proposed the appointment of ¢
Minister, they would have procrastinated the business for six months
and perhaps twelve, before 1 could have communicated anything t(
them; now they can have no excuse. / The offer is made, and here
after they may repent of their errdr if they do not accept it, 0
something nearly like it immediately. I am very sensible it wil
greatly embarrass the Administration, because most of them, I believe
are sensible that some such treaty must be one day agreed to, an\
that it would be wise to agree to it now; but they are afraid ¢
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. A40l
oppositions from many quarters. I must not, however, disguise my
real sentiments. The present Ministry are too much under the
influence of Chalmers and Smith, and others of that stamp, and
have been artfully drawn into so many manifestations of a determi-
nation to maintain their navigation laws relative to the United States,
and of a jealousy of our naval powers, small as it is, that I fear they
have committed themselves too far to recede. Their Newfoundland
act, as well as their proclamations, and the fourth of their Irish
propositions, are in this style. I have no expectation that the
proposed treaty will be soon agreed to, nor that I shall have any
counter project, or indeed any answer for along time. It is very
apparent that we shall never have a satisfactory arrangement with
this country until Congress shall be made, by the States, supreme in
‘matters of foreign commerce, and treaties of commerce, and until
Congress shall have exerted that supremacy with a decent firm-
ness.
I am, with great esteem, Xc., JOHN ADAMS.
ES
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO LORD CAERMARTHEN.
Grosvenor Square, July 14, 1785.
My Lord,
The twenty-second article of the preliminary treaty of peace
_ between Great Britain and France, signed on the 20th of January,
| 1783, is in these words, viz: “In order to prevent all causes of
‘complaint and dispute which may arise on account of prizes that
‘may be taken at sea, after the signing of these preliminary articles,
. ‘it is reciprocally agreed, that the vessels and effects which may be
_ taken in the channel and in the north seas, after the space of twelve
| «days, to be computed from the ratification of those preliminary
‘articles, shall be restored on each side. That the term shall be one
«month from the channel and the north seas, as far as the Canary
_ © Islands, inclusively, whether in the ocean or in the Mediterranean ;
‘two months from the said Canary Islands, as far as the said
. ‘equinoctial line or equator; and, lastly, five months in all other
| ‘parts of the world, without any exception or any other distinction
_ ‘more particular of time and place.”
In the preliminary articles of peace between Great Britain and
Spain, a cessation of hostilities was stipulated in the same manner.
Vou. 1.—26
402 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
On the same twentieth of January, it was agreed between the Min-
ister Plenipotentiary of his Britannic Majesty on the one part, and
the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States of America on
the other, that the subjects, citizens, and possessions of both Powers —
should be comprised m the suspension of arms abovementioned,
and that they should consequently enjoy the benefits of the cessation
of hostilities at the same periods, and in the same manner, as the
three crowns aforesaid, and their subjects and possessions respectively,
It appears, however, that many vessels which were taken after the
expiration of one month from the 3d of February, 1783, the day of
the ratification of the said preliminary articles, within that part of
the ocean which lies between the channel and north seas and the
Canary Islands, have not been restored; but, on the contrary, in
some instances, such vessels have been condemned as lawful prizes -
upon an opinion that the words “as far as,” said to be used-in the >
preliminary articles, meant the distance from Paris to the southernmost —
parts of the Canaries. :
It must be obvious to your Lordship, that this construction is -
extremely foreign from the intention of the contracting parties, who
never had Paris in contemplation as a boundary of the region of one
month, nor as any limit of a measure of distance. ‘The channel and
north seas being expressly marked as the northern boundary, and the
southernmost Canary as the southern, and every part of the ocean
from the channel and north seas up to the Canary Islands, inclusively,
is comprehended. | 7
Indeed, the words ‘‘as far as”’ are scarcely a proper translation of
the words ‘‘jusqwaux’’-in the article of treaty. The original words
are ‘‘depuis la manche et les mers du nord jusqu aux Isle Canaries,”
and not ‘“‘depues Paris jusquw aux Isle,” &c., &c.
The intention of the contracting parties is so clear, and their
expression so plain, that it is not easy to account for the misinter-
pretation of them; but as many law-suits are depending upon the
‘point, and several Americans are now in London waiting the decision
of them, I do myself the honor to propose to your Lordship a
particular convention to determine all those controversies on both
sides, by inserting the words “jusqwd la latitude des Isles Cana-
ries,’ instead of “jusqu’aux Isles Canaries ;” and also the words
‘“‘depuis la latitude des dites Isles Canaries,’ instead of “des dites
Isles Canaries,” it being apparent from the mention of Mediterranean,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 403
-as in the same stage of one month between the channel and north
/seas on the north, and the Canaries on the south, and the equinoctial
‘line as the next stage, that the line of latitude of the southern
‘Canary was intended.
I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
a m0 See
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO LORD CAERMARTHEN.
Grosvenor Square, July 27, 1785.
My Lord,
| Since the letter which I did myself the honor to write to your
‘Lordship, relative to the construction of the armistice, I have
‘received further information from America, which I beg leave to
‘communicate to your Lordship.
The first judgment rendered on a mistaken interpretation of the
‘armistice appears to have been at New York, where -all American
vessels taken within the second month were condemned as lawtul
‘prize by the Judge of the Admiralty. The fame of these decrees
having reached Connecticut and Rhode Island, it is said that similar
‘decrees were rendered by the inferior Courts of Admiralty there
| against British vessels. ‘There is, my Lord, a Court of Admiralty
‘in each of the United States, but by our Constitution an appeal lies
‘from all of them to a court appointed by the United States in
‘Congress assembled, for receiving and determining finally appeals in
all cases of capture.
' If the parties interested in the decrees in Connecticut and Rhode
{sland had appealed to the Supreme Court, those decrees would
certainly have been reversed; because every cause which ever came
before that court upon the point in question has been decided in
‘favor of the British owner of the vessel; and should a declaration be
‘now made of the true intention of the contracting parties, the British
‘owners, against whom the decrees were rendered in Connecticut and
‘Rhode Island, may still appeal and have justice, if the time limited
‘is not passed ; if it is, by an application to the Legislatures of those
‘States, there is no doubt to be made that an appeal would be
‘granted under the present circumstances, notwithstanding the lapse
‘of time.
| The decisions in the Court of Admiralty of Massachusetts and all
‘other States have been conformable to the judgment of the Supreme
404 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Court of Appeals; that is to say, conformable to the true intention.
of the armistice; and it is with pleasure that I add, the judgments
of his Majesty’s Court of Admiralty at Halifax have been the same
way.
The words of the armistice are supposed to be the same which
have been constantly used in every treaty of peace for the last
hundred years, and it is not known that there ever was before any
doubt or difference of opinion concerning the construction of them.
In order to establish confidence between the two countries, my
Lord, it is necessary there should be mutual confidence in each
other’s tribunals of justice, which can hardly exist while such various
interpretations are given of so plain a point by different courts in
each nation.
In order to settle all disputes upon this subject upon one principle,
I have the honor to propose to your Lordship that a declaration
should be made in the form enclosed, or to the same effect. in any
other form which to your Lordship may appear more proper.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
DECLARATION.
Whereas, by the first article of the Preliminary Treaty of Peace
between the Crown of Great Britain and the Crown of France,
signed at Versailles, on the twentieth of January, 1783, it was
stipulated in these words, viz: .
«‘ As soon as the preliminaries shall be signed and ratified, sincere
‘friendship shall be reestablished between his most Christian Majesty
‘and his Britannic Majesty, their Kingdoms, States, and subjects, by
‘sea and by land, in all parts of the world. Orders shall be sent to
‘the armies and squadrons, as well as to the subjects of the two
‘Powers, to stop all hostilities, and to live in the most perfect union;
‘to forget the past, their sovereigns showing the example, and for the
‘execution of this article sea-passes shall be given on each side for
‘the ships which shall be dispatched to carry the news of it to the
‘possessions of the said Powers.”
And by the 22d article of the same treaty it was stipulated in
these words:
‘In order to prevent all causes of complaint and dispute which
‘may arise on account of prizes that may be taken at sea after the
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 405
‘signing of these preliminary articles, it is reciprocally agreed that
‘the vessels and effects which may be taken in the channel and in
_éthe north seas, after the space of twelve days, to be computed from
the ratification of these preliminary articles, shall be restored on
‘each side; that the term shall be one month from the channel and
‘the north seas, as far as the Canary Islands, inclusively, whether
in the ocean or in the Mediterranean; two months from the said
‘Canary Islands, as far as the said equinoctial line or equator; and,
“lastly, five months in all other parts of the world, without any
‘exception or any other distinction, more particular, of time and
‘ place.”
_ And whereas, on the said twentieth day of January, 1783, it was
agreed, and by instruments signed by the Minister Plenipotentiary
: of his Britannic Majesty, in behalf of his Majesty, on one part, and
_ by the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America, in
‘behalf of the said United States, on the other, it was mutually declared,
that the said United States of North America, their subjects, and their
possessions, and his Britannic Majesty, his subjects and possessions,
should be comprised in the suspension of arms abovementioned, and
that they should consequently enjoy the benefit of the cessation of
hostilities at the same periods, and in the same manner, as the
Crowns aforesaid, and their subjects and possessions respectively ;
and whereas, a doubt has arisen, and a question has been made,
_ concerning the sense and intention of the high contracting parties,
by the words, “d'un mois depuis la manche et les mers du nord
| jusqw aux Isles Canaries, inclusivement,” and by the words, “de
deux mois. depuis les dites Isles Canaries jusqu’a la ligne equi-
nowiale.”
, » Now, in order to remove all such doubts and questions, and to
_ the end that the same rule of justice may take place in all the courts
of justice in both nations, it is hereby agreed and declared, by
: , In the name and behalf of his Majesty the King
_of Great Britain, and , Minister Plenipotentiary of
_ the United States of America to the Court of Great Britain, on the
other, in the name and behalf of the said United States, that the line
_ of latitude of the southernmost Canary Island was intended by the
said contracting parties, and that the armistice aforesaid ought to be
| every where understood and construed in the same manner as if the
words had been, ‘from the channel and the north seas to the
406 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
latitude of the Canary Islands, inclusively,” and “from the latitude
of the said Canary Islands to the equinoctial line ;”> and that all
judgments and decrees of courts of justice of either of the parties to
this declaration, rendered upon any different construction of the
armistice aforesaid, ought to be reversed. ,
Done at Westminster, the
—_—_—0—--
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO LORD CAERMARTHEN.
Grosvenor Square, July 29, 1785.
My Lord, 3
The course of commerce since the peace between Great Britain
and the United States of America has been such as to have produced
many inconveniences to the persons concerned in it on both sides,
which become every day more and more sensible. The zeal of
Americans to make remittances to British merchants has been such
as to raise the interest of money to double its usual standard, to
increase the price of bills of exchange to eight or ten per centum
above par, and to advance the price of the produce of the country to
almost double the usual rate. Large sums of the circulating cash,
and as much produce as could be purchased, at almost any rate, have
been remitted to England; but much of this produce lies im store
here, because it will not fetch, by reason of the duties and restric
tions on it, the price given for it im America. No political: arrange-
ments having been made, both the British and American merchants
expected that the trade would have returned to its old channels, and
nearly under the same regulations, found by long experience to be
beneficial. But they have been disappointed ; the former have made
advances, and the latter contracted debts, both depending upon
remittances in the usual articles and upon the ancient terms. But
both have found themselves mistaken; and it is much to be feared
that the consequences will be numerous failures. Cash and bills
have been chiefly remitted. Neither rice, tobacco, pitch, tar, turpen-
tine, ships, oil, nor many other articles, the great sources of remit-
tances formerly, can now be sent as heretofore, because of restrictions
and imposts, which are new in this commerce and destructive of it;
and the trade with the British West India Islands, formerly a vast
source of remittance, 1s at present obstructed.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 407
These evils, my Lord, as far as they merely affect the United
‘States, should not be offered to your Lordship’s consideration. They
are proper subjects for the deliberations of Congress and the Legis-
‘latures of the several States; but as far as they affect the merchants
and manufacturers of Great Britain and Ireland, and as far as they
affect the general system of commerce, revenue, and policy of the
British Empire, your Lordship will undoubtedly give them their due
weight. There is a literal impossibility, my Lord, that the commerce
between the two countries can continue long to the advantage of
either upon the present footing. The evils already experienced will
be much increased and more severely felt, if the causes of them are
permitted much longer to operate. It is the desire of the citizens of
the United States to cultivate the most friendly intercourse with the
‘King’s subjects, and it will be with regret that they shall see the
necessity of searching for other resources as substitutes for British
‘commerce, either in other countries or in manufactures at home.
Whether it is not putting at hazard too material an interest to risk
an alienation from these Kingdoms ofthe American commerce, or
any considerable part of it, for the sake of the advantages that can
be obtained by the present restrictions on it, is a question which
must be submitted to your Lordship’s consideration.
In order to bring this subject, so momentous to both countries,
under a candid discussion, I do myself the honor to enclose to your
Lordship, and to propose to the consideration of his Majesty’s
Ministers, a project of a fair and equitable treaty of commerce
‘between his Majesty and the United States of America, prepared in
conformity to the instructions of Congress, and submit it entirely to
your Lordship to decide whether the negotiation shall be conducted
with your Lordship, or with any other person, to be invested with
powers equal to mine, to be appointed for the purpose.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS,
Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States
of America to the Court of Great Britain.
|
Draft of a Treaty of Amity and Commerce between his Britannic
| Majesty and the United States of America.
_ The parties being willing to fix, in a permanent and equitable
manner, the rules to be observed in the commerce they desire to
408 _ JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
establish between their respective countries, have judged that the
said end cannot be better obtained than by taking the most perfect
equality and reciprocity for the basis of their agreement. On these
principles, after mature deliberation, they have agreed to the
following articles:
Articie I. There shall be a firm, inviolable, and universal peace
and sincere friendship between his Britannic Majesty, his heirs,
successors, and subjects on the one part, and the United States of
America and their citizens on the other, without exception of
persons or places.
Arricue II. The subjects of his Britannic Majesty may frequent
all the coasts and countries of the United States, and reside and trade
there in all sorts of produce, manufactures, and merchandize, and
shall pay within the said United States of America no other or
greater duties, charges, or fees whatsoever than the citizens of the
United States themselves are or shall be obliged to pay, and they
shall enjoy all the rights, privileges, and exemptions in navigation
and commerce which the citizens of the said United States
themselves do or shall enjoy.
Articue III. In like manner the citizens of the United States of
America may frequent all the coasts and countries of his ‘Britannic
Majesty, and reside and trade there in all sorts of produce, manu-
factures, and merchandize, and shall pay in the dominions of his
said Majesty no other or greater duties, charges, or fees whatsoever
than the natural born subjects of Great Britain themselves are or
shall be obliged to pay, and they shall enjoy all the rights, privileges,
and exemptions in navigation and commerce, which the natural born
subjects of Great Britain do or shall enjoy.
ArticLe IV. More especially, each party shall have a right to carry
any kinds of produce, manufactures, and merchandize of whatever
place they be the growth or manufacture, in their own or any other
vessel, to any ports or dominions of the other, where it shall be lawful
for all persons freely to purchase them, and thence to take produce,
manufactures, and merchandize of whatever place or growth, which
all persons shall, in like manner, be free to sell them, paying in both
cases such duties, charges, and fees only as are or shall be paid by
the natural born subjects or citizens; nevertheless, each party
reserves to itself the right, where any nation restrains the transporta-
tion of merchandize to the vessels of the country of which it is the
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 409
srowth or manufacture, to establish against such nation retaliating
egulations ; and also the right to prohibit, in their respective
countries, the exportation or importation of any species of goods or
:ommodities whatsoever, when reasons of State shall require it. In
his case the subjects or citizens of either of the contracting parties
jhall not import nor export the merchandize prohibited by the other ;
out if one of the contracting parties permits any person of their own
or any other nation to import or export the same merchandize, the
sitizens or subjects of the other shall immediately enjoy the same
iberty.
. Articue V. All merchants, commanders of vessels, and other
subjects and citizens of each party, shall have free liberty, in all
places within the dominion or jurisdiction of the other, to manage
their own business themselves, or to employ whomsoever they please
to manage the whole, or any part thereof for them ; and shall not be
obliged to make use of any interpreter, broker, or atid person what-
soever, nor to pay them any salary or fees, unless they choose to
make use of them; moreover, they shall not be obliged in loading or
unloading their vessels to make use of those workmen who may be
appointed by public authority for that purpose, but it shall be entirely
free for them to load or unload them by themselves, or to make use
of such persons in loading or unloading them as they shall think fit,
without paying any fees or salary to any other whomsoever ; neither
shall they be forced to unload any sort of merchandize into any other
vessels, or to receive them into their own, or to wait for their being
loaded longer than they please.
_ Articte VI. That the vessels of either party loading within the
‘ports or jurisdiction of the other may not be uselessly harassed or —
detained, it is agreed that all examinations of goods required by the
laws shall be made before they are laden on board the vessel, and
that there shall be no examination after; nor shall the vessel be
searched at any time, unless articles shall have been laden therein
_clandestinely and illegally, in which case the person by whose order
they were carried on board, or who carried them without order, shall
be liable to the laws of the land in which he is. But no other person
shall be molested, nor shall any goods nor the vessel be seized or
. detained for that cause.
| Arriote VII. Each party shall endeavor, by all the means in their
_ power, to protect and defend all vessels and other effects belonging
410 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
to the citizens or subjects of the other which shall be within the
extent of their jurisdiction, by sea or by land, and shall use all thei:
efforts to recover and cause to be restored to the right owner thei
vessels and effects which shall be taken from them within the extent
of their said jurisdiction.
Articite VIII. The vessels of the subjects or citizens of either
party coming on any coast belonging to the other, but not willing te
enter into port, or being entered into port, and not willing to unload
their cargoes or break bulk, shall have liberty to depart and pursue
their voyage without molestation, and without being obliged to pay
any duties, charges, or fees whatsoever, or to render any account of
their cargo.
Articte IX. When any vessel of either party shall be wrecked
foundered, or otherwise damaged on the coasts or within the
dominion of the other, their’ respective subjects or citizens shall
receive, as well for hatirobes as for their vessels and effects, the
same assistance which would be due to the inhabitants of the country
where the damage happens, and shall pay the same charges ant
dues only as the said inhabitants would be subject to pay in a like
case; and if the operations of repair shall require that the whole ot
any part of their cargo be unloaded, they shall pay no duties, charges.
or fees on the part which they shall relade and carry away.
The ancient and barbarous right to wrecks of the sea shall be
entirely abolished with respect to the subjects or citizens of the two
contracting parties. |
Articte X. The citizens or subjects of each party shall have
power to dispose of their personal goods within the jurisdiction of
the other by testament, donation, or otherwise; and their repre-
sentatives, being subjects or citizens of the other party, shall succeed
to their said personal goods, whether by testament or ab intestato;
and may take possession thereof, either by themselves or by others
acting for them, and dispose of the same at their will, paying such
dues only as the inhabitants of the country wherein the said goods
are shall be subject to pay in like cases; and in case of the absence
of the representative, such care shall be taken of the said goods, and
for so long a time, as would be taken of the goods of a native in like
case, until the lawful owner may take measures for receiving them;
and if questions shall arise among several claimants to which of
them the said goods belong, the same shall be decided finally by the
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. Ail
iws and judges of the land wherein the said goods are, and where,
a the death of any person holding real estate within the territories
f the one party, such real estate would, by the laws of the land,
escend on a citizen or subject of the other, were he not disqualified
y alienage, such subject shall be allowed a reasonable time to sell
ae same, and to withdraw the proceeds without molestation.
, Articre XI. The most perfect freedom of conscience and of
yorship is granted to the citizens or subjects of either party within
ae jurisdiction of the other, without being liable to molestation in
hat respect for any cause other than an insult on the religion of
thers; moreover, when the subjects or citizens of the one party
hall die within the jurisdiction of the other, their bodies shall be
yuried in the usual burying grounds, or other decent and suitable
ylaces, and shall be protected from violence or disturbance.
_ Articiez XII. If one of the contracting parties should be engaged
n war with any other Power, the free mtercourse and commerce of
he subjects or citizens of the party remaining neutral with the
relligerent Powers, shall not be interrupted; on the contrary, in
hat case, as in full peace, the vessels of the neutral Power may
yavigate freely to and from the ports and on the coasts of the
selligerent parties, free vessels making free goods, insomuch that all
ings shall be adjuged free which shall be on board any vessel
oelonging to the neutral party, although such things belong to an
anemy of the other, and the same freedom shall be extended to
gersons who shall be on board a free vessel, although they should be
enemies to the other party, unless they be soldiers or public char-
acters in actual service of such enemy; on the other hand, enemy
vessels shall make enemy goods, insomuch that whatever shall be
found in the vessels of an enemy shall be confiscated without dis-
tinction, except such goods and merchandize as were put on board
such vessels before the declaration of war, or within six months after
it, which shall be free.
_ Arricte XIII. And in the same case of one of the contracting
parties being engaged in war with any other Power, to prevent all
the difficulties and misunderstanding that usually arise respecting the
‘merchandize heretofore called contraband, such as arms, ammunition,
and military stores of every kind, no such articles, carried in the
vessels or by the subjects or citizens of one of the parties to the
enemies of the other, shall be deemed contraband so as to induce
412 ~ JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
confiscation or condemnation and a loss of property to individuals, |
Nevertheless, it shall be lawful to stop such vessels, and to make
them unlade such articles in the nearest port, putting them under
safe keeping, or to detain them for such length of time as the captors
may think necessary to prevent the inconvenience or damage that
might ensue from their proceedings, paying, however, a reasonable
compensation for the loss such arrest shall occasion to the pro-
prietors ; or it shall be allowed to use in the service of the captors,
the whole or any part of the military stores so detained, paying the
owners the full value of the same, to be ascertained by the current
price at the place of its destination. But in the case of a vessel so
stopped for articles heretofore deemed contraband, if the master will
deliver out the goods supposed to be of contraband nature, he shall’
be admitted to do it, and the vessel shall not, in that case, be carried
into any port, nor further detained, but shall be allowed to proceed
on her voyage; nor shall any such articles be subject to be taken or
delayed in any case, if they be not in greater quantity than may be
necessary for the use of the ship, or of the persons in it. “4
Articte XIV. And in the same case where one of the parties. is
engaged in war with another Power, that the vessels of the neutral
party may be readily and certainly known, it is agreed that they!
shall be provided with sea-letters or passports, which shall express,
the name, the property, and burthen of the vessel, as also the name
and dwelling of the master; which passports shall be made out in’
good and due forms, to be settled by convention between the parties
whenever occasion shall require, shall be renewed as often as the
vessel shall return into port, and shall be exhibited whenever!
required, as well in the open sea as in port. But if the said vessel
be under convoy of one or more vessels of war-belonging to the
neutral party, the simple declaration of the officer commanding the
convoy, that the said vessel belongs to the party of which he is,
shall be considered as establishing the fact, and shall relieve both
parties from the trouble of further examination. :
Articte XV. And to prevent entirely all disorder and violence
in such cases, it is stipulated that when the vessels of the neutral
party, sailing without convoy, shall be met by any vessel of war,
public or private, of the other party, such vessel of war shall not
approach within cannon-shot of the said neutral vessel, nor send more
than two or three men in their boat on board the same to examine
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 413
or sea-letters or passports, and all persons belonging to any vessel
f war, public or private, who shall molest or injure, in any manner
‘hatever, the people, vessel, or effects of the other party, shall be
ssponsible in their persons and property for damages and interest,
afficient security for which shall be given by all commanders of
rivate armed vessels before they are commissioned.
| Articue XVI. It is agreed that the subjects or citizens of each of
ie contracting parties, their vessels, and effects, shall not be liable to
ny embargo or detention on the part of the other, for any military
xpedition or other public or private purpose whatsoever; and in all
ases of seizure, detention, or arrest for debts contracted, or offences
‘committed by any citizen or subject of the one party within the
irisdiction of the other, the same shall be made and prosecuted by:
irder and authority of law only, and according to the regular course
f proceedings usual in such cases.
| Articte XVII. If any vessel or effects of the neutral Power be
aken by an enemy of the other, or by a pirate, and retaken by that
ther, they shall be brought into some port of one of the parties, and
lelivered into the custody of the officers of that port, in order to be
‘estored entire to the true proprietor as soon as due proof shall be
nade concerning the property thereof.
- Arvicte XVIII. If the citizens or subjects of either party, in
langer from tempests, pirates, enemies, or other accident, shall take
efuge with their vessels or effects within the harbors or jurisdiction
of the other, they shall be received, protected, and treated with
iumanity and kindness, and shall be permitted to furnish themselves
it reasonable prices, with all refreshments, provisions, and other
things necessary for their sustenance, health, and accommodation for
the repair of their vessels.
Articte XIX. The vessels of war, public and private of both
parties, shall carry freely, wheresoever they please, the vessels and
effects taken from their enemies, without being obliged to pay any
duties, charges, or fees to officers of admiralty, of the customs, or
any others; nor shall such prizes be arrested, searched, or put under
legal process when they come to, or enter the ports of the other
party; but may freely be carried out again at any time by their
captors to the places expressed in their commissions, which the
commanding officers of such vessels shall be obliged to show; but
no vessel which shall have made prizes on the subjects of his most
414 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Christian Majesty the King of France, shall have a right of asylu
in the ports or havens of the United States, and if any such t
forced therein by tempest or dangers of the sea, they shall t
obliged to depart as soon as possible, according to the tenor of th
treaties existing between his said most Christian Majesty and th
said United States. | : |
Articte XX. No citizen or subject of either of the contractin|
parties shall take from any Power with which the other may b
at war, any commission or letter of marque for arming any vessel t
act as a privateer against the other, on pain of being punished as.
pirate; nor shall either party hire, lend, or give any part of the!
naval or military force to the enemy of the other to aid ther
offensively or defensively against that other. |
ArticLe XXI. If the two contracting parties should be engage
in war against a common enemy, the following points shall’ b
observed between them: |
Ist. If a vessel of one of the parties, retaken by a privateer of th
other, shall not have been in possession of the enemy more tha!
twenty-four hours, she shall -be restored to the first owner for on
third of the value of the vessel and cargo; but if she shall have bee’
more than twenty-four hours in possession of the enemy, she shal
belong wholly to the recaptors.
2d. If, in the same case, the recapture were by a public vesse
of war of the one party, restitution shall be made to the owne
for one thirtieth part of the value-of the vessel and cargo, if sh
shall not have been in possession of the enemy more than twenty
four hours, and one tenth of the said value where she shall hay.
been longer; which sums shall be distributed in gratuities to th
recaptors. |
3d. The restitution, in the cases aforesaid, shall be after due proo
of property, and surety given for the part to which the recaptors art
entitled. |
4th. The vessels of war, public and private, of the two parties
shall be reciprocally admitted with their prizes into the respective
ports of ‘each ; but the said prizes shall not be discharged nor sol¢
there until the legality shall have been decided, according to the
laws and regulations of the States to which the captor belonged.
oth. It shall be free to each party to make such regulations as
they judge necessary for the conduct of their respective vessels 0
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 415
ay, public or private, relative to the vessels which they shall take
id carry into the ports of the two parties.
_Arvicte XXII. Where the parties shall have a common enemy,
| shall both be neutral, the vessels of war of each shall, upon all
scasions, take under their protection the vessels of the other going
e same course, and shall defend such vessels as long as they hold
e same course against all force and violence, in the same manner
_ they ought to protect and defend vessels belonging to the party of
hich they are.
Articve XXIII. Ifa war should arise between the two contracting
wrties, the merchants of either country then residing in the other
iall be allowed to remain nine months, to collect their debts and
ttle their affairs, and may depart freely, carrying off all their
fects, without molestation or hindrance; and all women and
uildren, artizans, scholars of every faculty, cultivators of the earth,
anufacturers, and fishermen, unarmed, and inhabiting unfortified
1wns, villages, or places, whose occupations are for the common
ibsistence and benefit of mankind, shall be allowed to continue
eir respective employments, and shall not be molested in their
ersons, nor shall their houses or goods be burnt or otherwise
sstroyed, nor their fields wasted by the armed force of the enemy,
to whose power, by the events of war, they may happen to fall ;
it if anything is necessary to be taken from them for the use of
ich armed force, the same shall be paid for at a reasonable price;
ad all merchants and trading vessels employed in exchanging the
bodies of different places, and thereby rendering the necessaries,
mveniences, and comforts of human life more easy to be obtained
ad more general, shall be allowed to pass free and unmolested;
ad neither of the contracting parties shall grant or .issue any com-
lission to any private-armed vessels, empowering them to take or
estroy such trading vessels or interrupt such.commerce.
Articte XXIV. And to prevent the destruction of prisoners of
rar, by sendmg them into distant and inclement countries, or by
rowding them into close and noxious places, the two contracting
arties solemnly pledge themselves to each other, and to the world,
iat they will not adopt any such practice; that they neither will
and the prisoners whom they may take from the other into the East
idies, nor any other parts of Asia, nor Africa, but they shall be
laced in some part of their dominions in Europe or America, in
Riot Sou fs
416 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
wholesome situations; that they shall not be confined in dungeons,
prison-ships, nor prisons, nor be put into irons, nor bound, nor other-
wise restrained in the use of their limbs; that the officers shall be
enlarged on their paroles within convenient districts, and have com-
fortable quarters, and the common men be disposed, in cantonments,
open and extensive enough for air and exercise, and lodged in
barracks as roomy and good as are provided by the party in whose
power they are for their own troops; that the officers shall also be
daily furnished by the party in whose power they are with as many
rations, and of the same articles and quality, as are allowed by them
either in kind or by commutation to officers of equal rank in their
own army, and all others shall be daily furnished by them with such
ration as they allow to a common soldier in their own service, the
value whereof shall be paid by the other party on a mutual adjust-
ment of accounts for the subsistence of prisoners at the close of the
war; and the said accounts shall not be mingled with or set off
against any others, nor the balances due on them be withheld as a
satisfaction or reprisal for any other article, or for any other cause,
real or pretended, whatever. That each party shall be allowed
to keep a commissary of prisoners of their own appointment, with
every separate cantonment of prisoners in possession of the other,
which commissary shall see the prisoners as often as he pleases, shall
be allowed to receive and distribute whatever comforts may be sent
to them by their friends, and shall be free to make ‘his reports, in
open letters, to those who employ him; but if any officer shall break
his parole, or any other prisoner shall escape from the limits of his
cantonment after they shall have been designated to him, such
individual officer or other prisoner shall forfeit so much of the benefit
of this article as provides for his enlargement on parole or canton-
ment. And it is declared, that neither the pretence that war
dissolves all treaties, nor any other whatsoever, shall be considered
as annulling or suspending this and the next preceding article ; but,
on the contrary, that the state of war is precisely that for whieh
they are provided, and during which they are. to be as sacredly
observed as the most acknowledged articles in the laws of nature or
nations. \y
Arricte XXV. The two contracting parties grant to each other
the liberty of having, each in the ports of the other, Consuls, Vice
Consuls, Agents, and Commissaries, of their own appointment, whose
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. ALT
functions shall be regulated by particular agreement, whenever either
party shall choose to make such appointment; but if any such
Consuls shall exercise commerce, they shall be submitted to the same
laws and usages to which the private individuals of their nation are
submitted in the same place.
Artictr XXVI. If either party shall hereafter grant to any other
nation any particular favor in navigation or commerce, it shall
immediately become common to the other party, freely where it is
freely granted to such other nation, or on yielding the compensation
where such nation does the same.
_ Anticte XXVIL. His Britannic Majesty and the United States
of America agree that this treaty shall be in force during the term of
| years from the exchange of ratifications; and if the expira-
tion of that term should happen during the course of a war between
them, then the articles before provided for the regulation of their
conduct during such war, shall continue in force until the conclusion
of the treaty which shall reéstablish peace, and that this treaty shall
be ratified on both sides, and the ratification exchanged within one
_year from the day of its signature.
i —EE
Office for Foreign Affairs, February 2, 1786.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
_ Affairs, to whom was referred the draft of a Treaty of Amity
_ and Commerce between his Britannic Majesty and the said States,
| which was transmitted by Mr. Adams, together with his letters
that accompanied it, reports—
ert hat, a his opinion, the United States may safely enter into
_ treaty with Britain, on the terms and agreeable to the tenor of said
, draft; and therefore that it should be
| Resolved, That Congress approve of the said draft, and that in
. the blank left for the term of the duration of the Treaty be inserted
, twenty years.
| Your Secretary thinks it would be expedient to refer the letters
abovementioned to the same Committee to whom other letters from
Mr. Adams were yesterday committed. |
| ‘All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
) JOHN JAY.
Vou. I.—27
418 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
: Office for Foreign Affairs, August 3, 1785.
Dear Sir,
I have the honor of transmitting to you, herewith enclosed, a copy
of a letter from J. Carter to the Honorable D. Howell, Esq., of 19th
April, 1785, and also a copy of my report on that letter, which,
These papers respect the detention of Americans captured during
the war; and I am persuaded that nothing on your part will be
wanting to restore those brave men to the enjoyment of liberty and
their country, who have done and suffered so much for both.
With great esteem, &c., JOHN JAY.
tees so
Report of John Jay relative to American Prisoners.
Office for Foreign Affairs, June 9, 1785.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign:
Affairs, to whom was referred a letter from John Carter to the.
Honorable David Howell, Esq., of the 19th April last, respecting
Mr. Richard Low and other Americans, who, having been made
prisoners by the British during the late war, are not yet released,
reports :
That, in his opinion, a copy of the said letter should be transmitted
to the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at the Court of
London, with instructions to lay the same before the Minister, and to
demand that orders be immediately given for the release and
discharge of all such American soldiers, seamen, and citizens as
having been captured during the late war, and may yet be detained
in his Britannic Majesty’s prisons, garrisons, armies, or ships.
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
JOHN JAY.
os
FROM JOHN CARTER TO DAVID HOWELL.
Providence, April 19, Tien
Dear Sir, |
The effects of the late war are still severely felt by individ ., as |
well as by the States at large, and there is reason to believe tl at
many of our citizens are still detained on board his Britannic
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 419
Majesty’s ships of war. Humanity, as well as policy, dictates that
a demand should be made of them that they may be restored to their
country and connexions.
_ Colonel John Low, of Warwick, has requested me to write you
particularly in behalf of his son, Mr. Richard Low, who in the year
1776 was captured in an unarmed merchant sloop by the Niger frigate,
-and immediately put to duty on board her. ‘The Niger afterwards
-conyoyed a fleet from New York to England, and from thence sailed’
for the Jamaica station, where she remained about three years. Mr,
Low was then turned on board another ship, and sailed a second
time for England, where, on his arrival, he was drafted with a
number of other Americans, and put on board the Defence, of
-seventy-four guns. ‘The Defence soon after sailed for the East
Indies ; and Colonel Low has lately received a letter from his son,
dated at Bombay, in January, 1784. He informs that the ship was
to sail for England in October, and would probably arrive in the
present month of April.
| He has ever earnestly wished to be permitted to return to his
country and friends; and Colonel Low entreats that, in the next
public despatches for Europe, his son’s case may be stated to the
American Minister or Commissioner, that the proper steps may be
pursued to obtain his release, after so long and so painful a captivity.
I am, dear, sir, &c., JOHN CARTER.
——_=$O——_—
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
New York, October 14, 1785.
Dear Sir,
Since the date of my last to you, which was the 6th September
last, | have been honored with yours of the 10th and 26th June, and
19th and 29th July, with the papers mentioned to be enclosed.
They are now before Congress; and I am persuaded that the strong
marks they bear of industry and attention will give them pleasure.
CT perfectly concur with you in sentiment respecting what ought to
be the conduct and policy of the United States; and I am not
without hopes that they will gradually perceive and pursue their true
interests. ‘, There certainly is much temper as well as talents in
Congress; and although it is not in their power to do all that should
420 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
be done, yet they are willing and industrious to do whatever depend
upon them. , .
Your letters, I am sure, are useful; they disseminate and enfore
“those federal ideas which cannot be too forcibly inculcated or to
strongly impressed. Our Federal Government is incompetent to it
objects ; and as it is the interests of our country, so it is the duty ¢
her leading characters to codperate in measures for enlarging an)
invigorating it. The rage for separations and new States is mis
chievous ; it will, unless checked, scatter our resources, and in ever
view enfeeble the Union. Your testimony against such licentious
anarchical proceedings would, I am persuaded, have great weight.
Your letters, as yet, are silent respecting the evacuation of ou
frontier posts. I do not mean to press you either to do or say any
thing unseasonably about it, for there are times and tides in humai
affairs to be watched and observed. I know your attention, an
therefore rest satisfied that we shall here from you on this interesting
su ‘ct as soon as you ought to write about it. During the ensuin
sessions of the Legislatures, I shall watch their acts, and endeavo
to send you such as may respect the interests of the Union. I fin
it extremely difficult to collect them. When I first came into thi
office, I wrote a circular letter to the Governors, requesting them
among other things, to send me, from time to time, printed copies 0
their-acts; but whatever may have been the cause, it has so hap-
pened that, except in two or three instances, this request has beer
entirely neglected. |
With the newspapers herewith sent you will find the requisitions
of Congress. What its success will be cannot yet be determined. —
The Algerines, it seems, have declared war against us. If we
act properly, I shall not be very sorry for it. In my opinion, it may
lay the foundation for a navy, and tend to draw us more closely into
a federal system. On that ground only we want strength, and could
our people be brought to see it in that light, and act accordingly, .we
should have little reason to apprehend danger from any quarter,
Monsieur de Marbois has left us, and is gone to St. Domingo, where
he has an intendancy. Mr. Otto succeeds him, and appears well
disposed. :
As yet, your place at the Hague is vacant. Several gentleman
are In nomination, among whom I hear are Mr. Izard and‘
Madison. 7 |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 421
Dr. Franklin is happy at Philadelphia. Both parties are assiduous
in their attentions to him, and it is thought more than probable he
‘will succeed Mr. Dickinson. I fear,.in the language of our farmers,
‘that a day so remarkably fine for the season may prove a weather
‘breeder; that is, that he will find it difficult to manage both parties,
for, if he gives himself up to one, he must expect hostility from the
other. I wish he may be able to reconcile them, and thereby restore
‘that State to the degree of strength and respectability which, from
its population, fertility, and commerce, it ought to possess.
| I congratulate you on the issue of your discussions with their High
Mightinesses. Mr. Dumas gave us an account of it, and we are all
| pleased to find that it terminated as it did.
| With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN JAY.
!
ae (ee
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
| Grosvenor Square, Westminster, August 6, 1785.
Dear Sir,
I find the spirit of the times very different from that which you
and I saw when we were here together, in the months of November
and December, 1783.
| Then, the commerce of the United States had not fully returned
to these Kingdoms ; then the nation had not digested its system, nor
determined to adhere so closely to its navigation acts relatively to
| the United States; then it was common in conversation to hear a
respect and regard for America professed and even boasted of.
Now, the boast is that our commerce has returned to its old
channels, and that it can follow in no other; now the utmost
- contempt of our commerce is freely expressed in pamphlets, gazettes,
. coffee-houses, and in common street talk. I wish I could not add to
| this the discourses of Cabinet Counsellors and Ministers of State, as
' well as members of both Houses of Parliament.
_ The national judgment and popular voice is so decided in favor of
_ the navigation acts, that neither administration nor opposition dare
avow a thought of relaxing them further than has been already
| done.
| This decided cast has been given to the public opinion and the
national councils by two facts, or rather presumptions: The first is,
ter
422 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
that, in all events, this country is sure of the American commerce.
Even in case of war, they think that British manufactures will find
their way to the United States, through France, Holland, the
Austrian Low Countries, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, the French and.
Dutch West Indies, and even through Canada and Nova Scotia,
The second is, that the American States are not, and cannot be,
united. The landed interest will never join with the commercial —
interest, nor the southern States with the northern, in any measures
of retaliation or expressions of resentment. ‘These things have been —
so often affirmed to this people by the refugees, and they have so
often repeated them to one another, that they now fully believe
them; and I am firmly persuaded they will try the experiment as
Jong as they can maintain the credit of their stocks. It is our part
then to try our strength. You know better than I do whether the
States will give Congress the power, and whether Congress, when |
they have the power, will judge it necessary or expedient to exert it
in its plenitude. |
You were present in Congress, sir, in 1774, when many members
discussed in detail the commercial relations between the United
States (then United Colonies) and Great Britain, Ireland, the British.
West Indies, and all other parts of the British Empire, and showed
to what a vast amount the wealth, power, and revenue of Great |
Britain would be affected by a total cessation of exports and imports.
The British revenue is now in so critical a situation that it might be
much sooner and more essentially affected than it could be then.
You remember, however, sir, that, although the theory was demon-
strated, the practice was found very difficult.
Britain has ventured to begin commercial hostilities. I call them —
hostilities, because their direct object is not so much the increase of —
their own wealth, ships, or sailors, as the diminution of ours. A
jealousy of our naval power is the true motive, the real passion which
actuates them. ‘They consider the United States as their rival, and
the most dangerous rival they have in the world. I see clearly they
are less afraid of an augmentation of French ships and sailors than
American.
They think they foresee that if the United States had the same
fisheries, the same carrying trade, and the same market for ready-
built ships which they had ten years ago, they would be in so _
respectable a posture, and so happy in their circumstances, that |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 423
their own seamen, manufacturers, and merchants too, would hurry
over to them.
If Congress should enter in earnest into this commercial war, it
must necessarily be a long one before it can fully obtain the victory,
_and it may excite passions on both sides which may break out into a
_military war. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the people and their
|
councils will proceed with all the temperance and circumspection
which such a state of things requires. I would not advise to this
|
|
commercial struggle if I could see a prospect of justice without it,
but Ido not. Every appearance is on the contrary.
I have not indeed obtained any direct evidence of the intentions of
_ the Ministry, because I have received no answer to any of my letters
|
to Lord Caermarthen; and it seems to me to press them at this
juncture, with any great appearance of anxiety, would not be good
- policy.
Let them hear a little more news from Ireland, France, and
perhaps. Spain, as well as America, which I think will operate in
=:
our favor.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, August 8, 1785.
Dear Sir,
Tt would be of little consequence to us whether there was a union
between Great Britain and Ireland or not, or whether Mr. Pitt’s
twenty propositions are accepted or not, provided both these coun-
tries should be allowed to trade with the United States upon free and
equal terms; but the design is too apparent, at least too suspicious,
of drawing Ireland into the shackles of the navigation acts, in order
that the three kingdoms may be made to act in concert in maintaining
that system of monopoly against us.
Several speakers in Parliament, and many writers have lately
thrown out hints of a union with Ireland, and a certain printer and
bookseller is now employed in reprinting Daniel de Foe’s book upon
the union with Scotland, to which he has engaged Mr. de Lolme to
write an introduction. This is all a ministerial operation, and i¢
424 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
intended to be pushed, if Mr. Pitt’s twenty propositions should either
be rejected by the Irish Parliament, or give too much discontent to
the volunteers.
The twenty propositions, and the bill which is grounded on them,
betray too clearly the intentions of the Ministry.
«¢ Whereas, it is highly and equally important to the interests, both
‘of Great Britain and Ireland, and essential to the objects of the
‘present settlement, that the laws for regulating trade and navigation,
_‘so far as relates to securing exclusive privileges to the ships and
‘mariners of Great Britain and Ireland, and British colonies and
‘plantations, and so far as relates to the regulating and restraining
‘the trade of the British colonies and plantations, should be the same
‘in Great Britain and Ireland, and that all such laws in both king- |
‘doms should impose the same restraints, and confer the same
‘benefits on the subjects of both, which can only be effected by the
‘laws to be passed in the Parliament of both kingdoms, (the
‘Parliament of Great Britain being alone competent to bind the
‘people of Great Britain in any case whatever, and the Parliament
‘of Ireland being alone competent to bind the people of Ireland in
‘any case whatever,) therefore, be it declared, that it shall be held |
‘and adjudged to be a fundamental and essential condition of ‘the
‘present settlement, that the laws for regulating trade and navigation, |
‘so far as the said laws relate to the securing exclusive privileges to
‘the ships and mariners of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British
‘colonies and plantations, shall be the same in Great Britain and
‘Treland, and shall impose the same restraints, and confer the same
‘benefits on the subjects of both kingdoms.”
«That all privileges, advantages, and immunities, which are now
‘granted, or shall, by any law to be passed by the Parliament of
‘Great Britain, be hereafter granted to ships built in Great Britain,
‘or to ships belonging to any of his Majesty’s subjects residing in
‘Great Britain, or to ships manned by British seamen, or to ships
‘manned by certain proportions of British seamen, shall, to all —
‘intents and purposes whatever, be enjoyed in the same manner,
‘and under the same regulations and restrictions respectively, by —
‘ships built in Ireland, or by ships belonging to any of his Majesty’s
‘subjects residing in Ireland, or by ships manned by Irish seamen, —
‘or by ships manned by certain proportions of Irish seamen.”
“That it shall be held and adjudged to be a fundamental and —
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. AQ5
‘essential condition of the present settlement, that such regulations
as are now, or hereafter shall be in force, by law passed or to be
‘passed in the Parliament of Great Britain, for securing exclusive
Besa advantages, and immunities as aforesaid, to the ships and
‘mariners of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British colonies and
«plantations, shall be established in Ireland, for the same time, and
«ji in the same manner, as in Great Britain, by laws to be passed in
middle States are generally for the latter system; and though the
others do not openly avow their preferring the former, yet they are
evidently inclined to it. Hence it is that the most leading men in
Congress from that quarter do not only not promote measures for
vesting Congress with power to regulate trade, but, as the common .
phrase is, throw cold water on all such ideas. |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. A431
| Having few or no ships of their own, they are averse to such
uties on foreign ones as will greatly advance the price of freight;
or do they seem much disposed to sacrifice present profits for the
ike of their neighbors who have ships and wish to have more.
| We hear much of the Algerines having declared war against the
Jnited States. None of our advices are official ; but as the intelli-
ence comes directly from Nantes, Bordeaux, and L’Orient, there
zems to be much reason to fear that it is true.
The public papers herewith sent will inform you of our common
ccurrences; and [I wish it was in my power to tell you what
yongress mean to do respecting many matters on which they are to
ecide.
The representation is at present slender, and will, I suspect,
ontinue so till the new members come on.
I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN JAY.
)
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
New York, November 1, 1785.
Dear Sir,
I have the honor of transmitting to you, herewith enclosed, an
ct of Congress of the 13th ultimo, respecting British claims and
neroachments on our eastern boundaries, and instructing and
uthorizing you to take proper measures for amicably settling the
isputes thence arising. You will also find, herewith enclosed, the
averal papers and documents referred to in the act, and of which a
st is hereto subjoined.
It also appears to me expedient to send you copies of two reports
which I have made to Congress respecting these matters, not for
our direction, but that you may thereby be fully informed of my
2ntiments on this interesting subject.
With great and sincere regard, &c., JOHN JAY.
—————
Last of Papers herewith enclosed.
To. 1. Resolution of Congress, 13th October, 1785.
lo, 2. Copy of a report of the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 21st
in April, 1785.
to. 3. Copy of a resolve of the Legislature of Massachusetts, 6th
and 7th July, 1784,
432 , JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
No. 4, «Copy of the report of Generals Lincoln and Knox, 19th
; ~ October, 1784. :
Copy of the deposition of John Mitchell, 9th Qopaiae,| |
1784.
No. 6. Extract of a letter from John Adams, Esquire, to Lieutenant |
Governor Cushing, 25th October, 1784.
No. 7. Copy of a letter from Governor Hancock to Governor Pa
of 12th November, and Governor Parr’s answer, of 7th
December, 1784. :
No. 8. Copy of a letter from Rufus Putnam, Esquire, to the com.
mittee of Massachusetts, 24th December, 1784.
No. 9. Copy of the deposition of Nathan Jones, of 17th March,
1785.
No. 10. Copy of a letter from Governor Carleton to Governor’
Hancock.
No. 11. Copy of a report of the Secretary for Rosich Affairs, 22d.
September, 1785. |
No. 12. Copy of a letter from James Avery, Esquire, to the Ger.
ernor of Massachusetts, 23d August, 1785. |
No. 13. Copy of an act of the Council of Massachusetts, 9th Sep.
tember, 1785.
No. 14. Copy of a letter from the Governor of Massachusetts to the!
Governor of New Brunswick, 9th September, 1785.
f
;
ZA,
?
on
FROM THOMAS CARLETON TO JOHN HANCOCK,
St. John’s, New Brunswick, June 21, 1785. |
Sir, |
In consequence of a letter from your Excellency to the Governor
of Nova Scotia, which has been transmitted to his Majesty’ S Ministers,
respecting the boundary between this province and the State of
Massachusetts Bay, I have it in charge to inform your Excellency
that the great St. Croix, called the Schoodic by the Indians, was)
not only considered by the Court of Great Britain as the river!
intended and agreed upon by the treaty to form a part of that
boundary, but a numerous body of the loyal refugees, immediately
after the peace, built the town of St. Andrews on the eastern
bank thereof, and in fact it is the only river on that side of the
province of either such magnitude or extent as could have led to
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 433
| %
he idea of proposing it as a limit between two large and spacious
countries.
In making this communication concerning a point of great public
importance, I cannot entertain a doubt, sir, of your Excellency’s
soncurrence with me in contributing to the complete observance of
the treaty subsisting between Great Britain and the United States of
America, as far as may, in any instance, immediately respect the
State of Massachusetts and the province of New Brunswick ; and I
hope, and am persuaded, that if any further question on this subject
should arise between us, it will be considered on both sides with a
temper and attention essential for the preservation of national peace
and harmony.
_ J have the honor to be, &c., THOMAS CARLETON.
To his Excellency Governor Hancock.
Extract from the Secret Journal of Foreign Affairs, October 13,
| 1785.
On motion of the Delegates from Massachusetts,
Resolved, That copies of the papers and documents received
from the Governor of the State of Massachusetts, respecting the
‘encroachment made by certain subjects of his Britannic Majesty
upon the territories of that State, and within the boundaries of the
United States, be transmitted to the Minister Plenipotentiary of the
United States at the Court of London, to the end that effectual
measures should be immediately taken to settle all disputes with the
Crown of Great Britain relative to that line.
Resolved, That the said Minister Plenipotentiary be, and hereby
‘is, instructed to present a proper representation of this case ; and if
an adjustment, consistent with the true meaning of the definitive
articles of peace and friendship between the United States and his
| Britannic Majesty, cannot, by such representations, be obtained in the
ordinary mode of negotiations, that he propose a settlement and final
decision of the said dispute by commissaries mutually appointed for that
purpose, for the appointment of whom, and for all purposes incident
to the final determination of the said dispute by commissaries,
-conformably to the law of nations, the said Minister Plenipotentiary
is hereby vested with full powers on behalf of the United States of
_ America.
Vou. IT.—28
|
y
434 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Report of John Jay respecting the Eastern Boundary of the United
States.
Office for Foreign Aftairs, April 21, 1785.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of F oreign
Affairs, to whom was referred the papers, herewith aslo
respecting the eastern boundary line of the said States, reports:
a |
That, in his opinion, effectual méasures should be immediately
taken to settle all disputes with the Crown of Great Britain relative
to that line.
He thinks that copies of the said papers should be transmitted to ,
the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States atthat Court, with |
instructions to present a proper representation of the case, and to |
propose that commissioners be appointed to hear and finally decide
those disputes.
If this measure should appear expedient to Congress, your’
Secretary would suggest the following hints on the subject, viz:
That the number of commissioners should be six, or eight, or ten,
or twelve, at the election of his Britannic Majesty.
That two commissions of the like tenor, to be agreed upon between -
our and their Ministers, be issued to the whole number, viz: one by |
the United States, and the other by his Britannic Majesty.
That each party shall name the one half of the whole number.
That they shall all be foreigners, or all be persons of the two nations
at the election of his Britannic Majesty, it is not important.
If he should prefer having them of the two nations, then that he
:
:
shall name the one half of them, being inhabitants of any of his
dominions, except those which are situated in, and to the west and /
south of, the gulf of St. Lawrence, and that the United States shall
name the other half from any of their countries except Massachusetts.
That the commissioners, if of the two countries, shall sit in N orth |
America, but if foreigners, in Europe, at any place which may be
agreed upon by our and their Ministers. That previous to their
proceeding to business, they shall, respectively, take an oath, fairly,
impartially, and justly, without fear, favor, or affection, to hear and —
decide the said matters in difference, according to the best of their
skill and understanding, agreeably to the directions, true intent, and
meaning of the said commissions.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 435
That in case of the death, or refusal to act of any of. the said
ommissioners, previous to their opening and proceeding to execute
he said commission, (but not afterwards,) the place of such so dying
wr refusing shall be supplied by the party who named him, and that
certificate thereof, under the seal of Great Britain, or of the United
States, as the case may be, directed to the said commissioners, by
he style of the Commissioners for settling the boundary line between
tis Britannic Majesty and the United States, on the easterly side of
the latter, shall be full evidence of such appointment.
' That a majority of the whole number shall be a quorum for
avery purpose committed to them expressly or necessarily implied
in their commissions, such as choosing their chairman, appointing
secretaries and surveyors, adjourning from day to day, or for a longer
term, which should not exceed ten days, deciding on matters of
svidence, and finally determining the matters in difference, &c.
That they keep regular minutes of their proceeding; that all
evidence, whether oral or written, be entered at large in them; that
copies of all maps and surveys admitted as evidence be made and
Se ae
Sy, h
or,
wily)
Se
io.
450 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
and that, as one unopposed encroachment always paves the wa
for another, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts be advised b_
Congress, without notse or delay, to garrison such places in thei
actual possession as may be most exposed.
Your Secretary proposes by these garrisons to support the inhab
itants in their allegiance, and to overawe New Brunswick peaci
officers, whom impunity might tempt to be insolent and troublesome
He thinks these garrisons should not be so large as to give alarm
that they should be under select and discreet officers; that the
should be formed by immediate detachments from the militia of som
of the other counties, be at Continental charge, and be as soon a
may be, relieved by detachments from the Continental troops raise:
or to be raised for the frontiers; that they should be ordered neve
to pass our limits, and to act only on the defensive, or when calle:
upon to support the civil authority. However delicate this measur
may appear, it may, in the opinion of your Secretary, be safel
confided to the prudence of the Governor and Council of Massa
chusetts. | |
Nothing should be done to provoke hostilities on the one had
and on the other it must be remembered that too great and manife:
reluctance to assert our rights by arms usually imvites insult an
offence. | |
Your Secretary is very apprehensive that to permit these dispute
to remain unsettled will be to risk mutual acts of violence, whic
may embroil the two nations in a war. He, therefore, takes th
liberty of calling the attention of Congress to a report he had th
honor of making to Congress on this subject the 21st April last.
Your Secretary thinks that no nation can, consistent with th
experience of all ages, expect to enjoy peace and security any longe
than they may continue prepared for war, and he cannot forbea
expressing his fears that the United States are not at present in tha
desirable situation.
As the eleventh article of the treaty of alliance between his mos
Christian Majesty and the United States contains an explicit an‘
perpetual guarantee of all the possessions of the latter, your Secretar
thinks it would be advisable to apprise the Court of France of thi
disputes in question, that his Majesty may codperate with the Unite
‘States In measures proper to bring about a settlement of them. I
‘his opinion, these measures should be formed and pursued in concer
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 451
‘ith France, and in such a manner as that she may have no just
use to be dissatisfied, or to say that, as we acted without her
bneurrence, we alone are to be responsible for the consequences.
_ All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
| JOHN JAY.
| Official Papers on which the preceding Report was founded.
| JAMES AVERY, TO THE GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS.
F Passamaquoddy, August 23, 1785.
Sir,
. Being at this place on some private business of my own, I was
iformed that the Government of New Brunswick had asserted their
laims to Moose Island, Dudley, and Fred Isle, all lying to the
yestward of Schoodic river. These islands were surveyed last
eason by General Putnam, by order of the committee on eastern
inds, and the two last mentioned sold by them to Colonel Allen,
tho has, with M. de la Derniers, settled thereon, built houses and
cores, and cleared up the lands at great expense. Moose Island is
wge, and well situated for trade, and has a number of worthy
ahabitants settled on it. A few days ago Mr. Wyer, high sheriff
or Charlotte county, posted up an advertisement on Moose Island,
irecting the inhabitants to attend the courts at St. Andrews as
arymen. ‘This alarmed the inhabitants, as they were threatened,
n case of refusal, to be deprived of their estates. Some weak and
esigning minds were for complying, others determined not, at all
vents. Application was made to me by Colonel Allen, the naval
flicer, Colonel Crane, Major Trescott, with a number of other
wrincipal gentlemen, to do something to counteract the proceedings
f Mr. Wyer, as it would be very detrimental to the claims of our
xovernment, in settling the boundary in regard to the islands, for
he inhabitants to obey and acknowledge the jurisdiction of Great
3ritain—therefore, I went on to the island, and warned them, (as a
ustice of the peace,) that as they were subjects of this Common-
vealth, not to obey the orders of any other power whatever. This
. conceived it to be my duty to do, more particularly as it is part of
ny district as collector of excise, and I have a deputy on the same
sland. ‘This matter is of the utmost consequence to our Govern-
nent; for should the British take in these islands, we should be
sntirely cut off from going up the river Schoodic, and likewise
|
:
452 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
these islands having been surveyed by order of the Commonwealtl |
and two of them sold to gentlemen who had laid out as much a
£500 or £600 in buildings and improvements, our Governmen
must, in honor, protect them, or repay what damages they ma
suffer. Since this matter has taken place, I was up to St. Andrew
on some business of my own, and had a long conversation with Mi
Wyer, the high sheriff, Mr. Pagan, and other principal persons
They say they acted by advice and directions of Judge Ludlow
who is of opinion that all the islands in the bay of Passamaquodd
belong to New Brunswick, and are determined to support thei
claim, and should the inhabitants refuse to obey the summons, they
may depend on being punished. ‘They also let me see a long lette.
from Lord Sidney, wherein he informs that notwithstanding th: ;
opinion of the Massachusetts, and the report of Generals Knox an
Lincoln, (which was then before him,) his Majesty’s servants wer
fully clear that Schoodic was the boundary, and his Majesty’
subjects settled between that and the Maggacadava (or what we cal
St. Croix) might fully rely on their protection. Mr. Wyer made us’
of many arguments to show the propriety of their claims to all th
islands; among others, he said, before the war the inhabitants on al
of them, in any of their disputes, applied to magistrates belongin;
to Nova Scotia for redress, and acknowledged themselves subjects o
that province, and the Massachusetts not asserting any right ove
them, was tacitly acknowledging it to be so.
I hope your Excellency will not think I have been too forward
I acted from a principle of public good. Agreeably to the principle:
they advance, (as well as Lord Sheffield’s ideas in his publications,
if the inhabitants should acknowledge the jurisdiction of that Gov:
ernment, it would more fully support their claims, which I hope wil.
now not be the case. The time was so short, it would not admit o
the mhabitants receiving any orders from your Excellency on the
subject, before the time they were directed to attend. I shall
continue to keep a deputy collector of excise on Moose Island, tc
regulate that business, until I receive orders from your Excellency tc
the contrary.
I have the honor to be, &c., JAMES AVERY.
His Excellency James Bowdoin, Esquire. .
True copy of the original letter.
Attest: W. HARRIS, Dy. Secretary.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 453
| Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
1 In Council, September 9, 1785.
| His Excellency the Governor laid before the Council a letter
rom James Avery, Esquire, relative to the Government of New
3runswick asserting their claims to Moose Island, Dudley, and Fred
sland, all lying to the westward of Schoodic river, and requested
heir advice upon the subject.
_ Thereupon, advised that his Excellency the Govemor acquaint
James Avery, Esquire, that the Governor and Council highly approve
of his vigilant attention to the important interests of the Common-
wealth; and that the said James Avery be directed to inform the
inhabitants of the said islands that the said islands are within the
jurisdiction of this Commonwealth ; and that the Government,
confiding in their fidelity, expects and requires the inhabitants of the
same to conduct themselves in every respect as becomes true and
faithful subjects of this Commonwealth. 3
_ That a letter be written by his Excellency the Governor to the
Governor of New Brunswick upon the subject of these encroach-
ments, and that a copy of the letter from James Avery be sent to
our Delegates at Congress, with the proceedings of the Governor
and Council upon this business, to be laid before Congress.
T :
eee tw. HARRIS, Dy. Secretary.
Attest :
cane
FROM THE GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS TO THE GOVERNOR OF
NEW BRUNSWICK.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Boston, September 9, 1785.
Sir,
I am informed by a gentleman who is an inhabitant in the eastern
| part of this Commonwealth that the Government of New Brunswick
_ hath asserted a claim to Moose, Dudley, and Fred Islands; but I
_ flatter myself he has extended his ideas beyond the real fact, for he
' mentions only the conduct of the sheriff of your county of Charlotte,
» (Mr. Wyer,) grounded on the advice and direction of Judge Ludlow,
"in advertising and directing the inhabitants of Moose Island to attend
| the courts at St. Andrews as jurymen, upon pain, in case of refusal,
_ of forfeiting their estates.
454 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
As I am not informed that your Excellency has interposed you
authority, I am inclined to believe that my informant had bee)
premature in forming an opinion, that the Government of Ney
Brunswick had given its sanction to a measure altogether unexpectec
and insupportable. I have, however, given your Excellency thi
information, assuring myself that your Excellency will take orde
effectually to prevent the abovementioned, and every other encroach
ment, on the territorial rights and sovereignty of this Commonwealth
and of the United States. |
With regard to the lands lying to the east of the river Schoodic
and between that and the river St. Croix, or, as the Indians call it,
Maggacadava, relative to which some of the subjects of Great
Britain, under your immediate government, appear to have adopted
an improper opinion, it is a matter before Congress, who, I am
assured, will give instructions to their Minister at the Court of
London to assert and maintain their just claims, as set forth in the
treaty agreed to between the two nations.
I have the honor to be, &c., JAMES BOWDOIN.
His Excellency Thomas Carleton, Esquire.
—_—= 0
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
: New York, November 1, 1785.
Dear Sir,
It will, I am persuaded, give you pleasure to receive the enclosed
act of Congress, of 14th ult., for compensating the services of our
friend Dumas, and alleviating the uneasiness and anxiety which
seems for some years past to have oppressed him on that account.
I have already sent him a copy of it; but lest that may miscarly,
and that you also may be informed of it, I enclose a duplicate copy.
I have the honor to be, &c., - JOHN JAY.
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
: New York, November 2, 1785.
Dear Sir, i
Mr. Houdon, the celebrated statuary of Paris, who has taken a
bust of General Washington, and is to make his statue for Virginia, |
and perhaps another for the United States, is the bearer of this.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 455
- Bis character as an artist being high, and in other respects, as far
's I can learn, unexceptionable, I take the liberty of introducing him
o you. Not understanding English, he will be much a stranger in
London, and your friendly offices of course will be the more accept-
ible and grateful to him.
- Iam, dear sir, &c., JOHN JAY.
|
:
!
i
0
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, August 25, 1785.
Dear Sir,
' Yesterday I had a long conference with Mr. Pitt for the first
‘ime. He never had proposed any interview with me, and I had
delayed to request him to appoint any time, after the first ceremonial
visit, for two reasons: because that, while Parliament was sitting, his
time and mind were so engaged, that it was impossible he should
attend in earnest to the affairs of the United States ; and because [
expected that a little time would bring, both from America and
Ireland, intelligence which would somewhat lessen that confidence,
with which the Ministry and the nation were elated. Such intelli-
gence has nowarrived. The twenty resolutions have been, in effect,
given up, that they might not be rejected by the Trish Parliament ;
and the Massachusetts act of navigation has appeared, together with
advices from Virginia, Philadelphia, New York, and various other
parts of the United States, which have excited a serious apprehension
that all have the same principles and views.
I shall not attempt to give you the conversation in detail ; yet it
is necessary to give some particulars, from which you may judge
show much or how little may result from the whole. He asked me
what were the principal points to be discussed between us? I
answered, that I presumed the Marquis of Caermarthen had laid
before the King’s servant some papers, which I had done myself the
honor to write tohim. He said he had. I replied, that those letters
related to the evacuation of the posts upon the frontier; to the con-
struction of the armistice; and to a treaty of commerce; and that,
besides these, there were the negroes carried off contrary to the
treaty, and some other points, which I had particularly explained to
‘Lord Caermarthen. He said that the carrying off the negroes was
456 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
so clearly against the treaty, that they must take measures to satisf
the demand, if we could prove how many were carried off. I tok
him that Sir Guy Carleton could easily ascertain the number, an
that Colonel Smith, who negotiated with Sir Guy, could do th
same, and that I had the evidence of their proceedings ready
produce whenever it was wanted. He entered then into the subject
of the armistice, and we were longer on this point than we needed tc
have been. I observed to him that Mr. Blowers’s construction was
demonstrably absurd, because it would place the whole coast ol.
America in the period of five months. The coast of the United
States certainly was not between the Canary Islands and the equator |
and, therefore, could not be included in the period of two months,
It is neither in the Channel nor North Seas, and therefore cannot be
within the period of twelve days; consequently, if it is not in the
period of one month, it must be in that of five months—an idea that.
never could have been entertained a moment by either of the
contracting parties. Mr. Pitt said he thought that was clear, and
that this point might be easily settled; but, as to the posts, says he,
that is a point, connected with some others, that I think must be.
settled at the same time. I asked him what those pomts were? He
said, the debts; several of the States had interfered against the
treaty, and by acts of their Legislatures had interposed impediments
to the recovery of debts, against which there were great complaints
in this country. I replied to this, that I had explained this at great
length to the Marquis of ‘Caermarthen, but that I might now add,
that Congress had, very early after the peace, proposed an explana-
tion of the article, as far as it respected the interest of debts contracted
before the war. They had instructed their Ministers at Paris to.
propose such an explanation to this Court; that we had proposed it,
through Mr. Hartley first, and the Duke of Dorset afterwards, and
that I had renewed the proposition to my Lord Caermarthen, upon
my first conference with him, but that we had never received any
answer. I thought it was best there should be an. explanation ; for
I was persuaded that an American jury would never give any interest
for the time which run during the war. Mr. Pitt said that would
surprise the people here, for that wars never interrupted the interest
nor principal of debts; and that he did not see a difference between |
this war and any other, and the lawyers here made none. I begged |
his pardon here, and said, that the American lawyers made a wide —
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 457
lifference. They contended that the late war was a total dissolution
of all laws and Government, and consequently of all contracts made
inder those laws, and that it was a maxim of law, that a personal right
or obligation, once dissolved or suspended, was lost forever; that the
ntervention of the treaty, and the new laws, were necessary for the
vevival of those ancient rights and obligations; that these rights were
nastate of non-existence during the war, and no interest during
chat period could grow out of them. These being the opinions in
Reese it was not probable that any jury would be found, from
Georgia to New Hampshire, who would give, by their verdict,
interest to a creditor, and, therefore, it was most fair and equitable
that an explanation should be made, that the same rule of law might
be observed on both sides. This observation appeared to strike him,
he said. If there was any danger of this, it would be best that an
explanation should be made, but that the balance of debts was much
in favor of this country; which I did not deny. But, he said, the
Government would not dare to make it, without previously feeling
out the dispositions of the persons chiefly interested, and knowing
how it would be taken by them. We had a much longer conversa-
tion concerning these debts, and the difficulty of paying them,
arising from the restrictions on our trade, in which I repeated to him
what I had before said to Lord Caermarthen, and to the deputies of
‘the Scotch creditors ; but as I have transmitted that to you before, it
is unnecessary to repeat it here.
He then began upon the treaty of commerce, and asked what were
the lowest terms which would be satisfactory to America; I answered
.that I might not think myself competent to determine that question.
Articles might be proposed to me that I should not think myself
qualified to decide upon without writing to Congress; but I would
_venture so far as to say that I thought the project I had commu-
-nicated to Lord Caermarthen would give satisfaction to America,
and secure the friendship of the United States and the essence of
their trade to this country. But that, in proportion as a plan less
liberal was adopted, that friendship would be precarious and that
_ trade would be scattered. I added, that the most judicious men in
_ America had been long balancing in their minds the advantages and
_ disadvantages of a commerce perfectly free on one side, and a navi-
| gation act on the other; that the present time was a critical one ;
“the late intelligence from all parts of America concurred with the
eo Op SS SS a ae
" ae oo ay By pay ih
458 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
navigation act of Massachusetts in proving which way the balance
ee ee
began to incline; and in my opinion it would be decided by the :
conduct of this country. It was now in his (Mr. Pitt’s) power to
decide it; but the more Americans reflected upon the great advan-
tages which they might derive from a navigation act, the more they
would become attached to that system. I had heard there were fiye i
hundred foreign ships employed the last year in the commerce of —
the United States. How easy would it be to have all these ships ‘
the property of American citizens, and the navigators of them Amer- —
ican seamen? There was once a statute in England (that of 3
Ric. 2, c. 3) “that none of the King’s liege people should ship any
merchandize out of, or into the realm, but only in ships of the King’s
liegeance, on pain of forfeiture.” I asked him what physical or —
political impediment there was to prevent the United States from
adopting that very act, in all its rigor? The right of every nation to
govern its own commerce, its own exports and imports, would not
be denied nor questioned by any nation. To this he agreed. Our.
ability to build the ships and our abundance of materials could not.
ee
be doubted. This he assented to. Nobody would pretend that our
produce would not find a market in Europe in our ships, or that
Europeans would not sell us their manufactures to carry home in
them. Even England, if she should make ever so strict laws to |
i)
prevent exports and imports in our bottoms, would still be glad to |
receive and consume considerable quantities of our produce, though |
she imported them through France or Holland, and to send as many
of her manufactures as we could pay for through the same channels.
He more than smiled assent to this, for he added that there were |
American articles of much importance to them, but he said that
Englishmen were much attached to their navigation, and Americans —
too, said I, to theirs; but, said he, the United States, having now
become a foreign nation, our navigation act would not answer its —
ends, if we should dispense with it to yous Here I begged his |
pardon again, for I thought their navigation act would completely
defeat its own end as far as it respected us; for the end of the
navigation act, as expressed in its own preamble, was to confine the —
commerce of the colonies to the mother country; but now we were
become independent States. If carried into execution against us,
instead of confining our trade to Great Britain, it would drive it to
other countries. ‘This he did not deny; but, said he, you allow we
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 459
have aright. Certamly I do. And you, sir, will allow we have a
tight too. Yes, Ido. But you cannot blame Englishmen for being
attached to their ships and seamen, which are so essential to thena:
Indeed I do not, sir; nor can you blame Americans for being
attached to theirs, which are so much fewer and so much more
essential to them. No, I do not blame them.
| As this was a very sprightly dialogue, and in very good humor, f
thought I might push it a little. Iwill be very frank with you, sir,
said I, and I think it will be best for us to go to the bottom of these
subjects. The Americans think that their exclusion from your West
India Islands, the refusal of their ships and oil, and other things, and
‘their exclusion from your colonies on the continent and Newfound-
land, discovers a jealousy of their little naval power, and a fixed
system of policy to prevent the growth of it, and this is an idea that
they cannot bear. No, says he, if we endeavored to lessen your
shipping and seamen, without benefitting or increasing our own, it
ywould be hard and unreasonable, and would be a just ground of
vuneasiness; but when we only aim at making the most of our own
‘means and nurseries, you cannot justly complain. J am happy, sir,
‘to hear you avow this principle, and agree with you perfectly in it.
‘Let us apply it, both parties having the right and the power to
\confine their exports and imports to their own ships and seamen. If
jboth exercise the right, and exert the power in its full extent, what
‘is the effect? The commerce must cease between them. Is this
eligible for either? ‘To be sure, said he, we should well consider
‘the advantages and the disadvantages in such acase. If it is not
found to be eligible for either, said I, after having well considered
what remains, but that we should agree upon a liberal plan, and
_allow equal freedom to each other’s ships and seamen, especially if
it should be found that this alone can preserve friendship and good
humor, for I fully believe that this plan alone can ever put this
/nation in good humor with America, or America with this country.
He then mentioned ships and oils. He said we could not think hard
of them for encouraging their own shipwrights, their manufacturers of
_ ships, and their own whale fishery. I answered, by no means; but
_ it appeared unaccountable to the people of America that this country
_ should sacrifice the general interest of the nation to the private interest
_ of a few individuals interested in the manufacture of ships, and in
the whale fishery, so far as to refuse these remittances from America
/
;
|
460 - JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
in payment of debts, and in payment for manufactures which woul
employ so many more people, augment the revenue so considerably
as well as the national wealth, which would, even in other ways, s
much augment the shipping and seamen of the nation. It we
looked upon in America as reconciling themselves to a diminutio
of their own shipping and seamen, in a great degree, for the sake ¢
diminishing ours in a small one; besides keeping many of the’
manufacturers out of employ, who would otherwise have enough t
do; and besides greatly diminishing the revenue, and consequentl
contrary to the maxim which he had just acknowledged, that on
nation should not hurt itself for the sake of hurting another, nor tak
measures to deprive another of any advantage without benefittin
itself. |
He then asked if we could grant to England, by a treaty, am
advantages which would not immediately become the right of France
1 answered, we could not. If the advantage was stipulated t
England, without a compensation, France would be entitled to i
without compensation. But if it was stipulated for an equivalent 0
reciprocal privilege, France must allow us the same equivalent o
reciprocal privilege; but, I added, France would not be a ver!
successful rival to Great Britain in the American commerce, upol
so free a footing as that of the mutual liberty of natural-born subject:
and citizens. Upon the footing cf the most favored nation, Franc
would stand a good chance in many things. In case of mutua
navigation acts between Britain and America, France would have
more of our commerce than Britain. In short, Britain would lose
and France gain, not only in our commerce, but our affections, in
proportion as Britam departed from the most liberal system. Upon
this he asked a question which I did not expect. What do you
really think, sir, that Britain ought to do? That question, sir, may
_ be beyond my capacity to answer, and my answer may be suspected ;
but if it is, I will answer it to the best of my judgment, and with
perfect sincerity. I think this country ought to prescribe to herself
no other rule, but to take from America everything she can send as
a remittance; nay, to take off every duty, and give every bounty
that should be necessary to enable them to send anything as a remit-
tance. In this case, America would prescribe to herself no other
rule than to take of British productions as much as she could pay
for. He might think this no proof of our republican frugality ; but
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 461
uch was the disposition of our people, and how much soever I might
ament it, I would not disguise it. He then led me into a long
-ambling conversation about our whale fishery, and the English whale
ishery, and the French whale fishery, that M. de Calonne is essaying
‘o introduce, too little interesting to be repeated; yet I should
nention that he asked me a sudden question: whether we had taken
any measures to find a market for our oil anywhere but in France?
This question must have been suggested to him, I think, either by
nformation that our oil is wanted in some countries upon the Conti-
aent, or by a suspicion that we have been trying to introduce our oil
into Ireland. I answered that I believed we had; and I have been
told that some of our oil had found a good market at Bremen. But
there could not be a doubt that spermaceti oil might find a market in
most of the great cities in Europe, which were illuminated in the
night, as it is so much better and cheaper than the vegetable oil that
is commonly used. The fat of the spermaceti whale gives the
clearest and most beautiful flame of any substance that is known in
nature, and we are all surprised that you prefer darkness, and conse-
quent robberies, burglaries, and murders in your streets, to the
receiving, as a remittance, our spermaceti oil. The lamps around
Grosvenor Square, I know, and in Downing street, I suppose, are
dim by midnight, and extinguished by two o’clock; whereas, our oil
hee burn bright until nine o’clock in the morning, and chase away
before the watchmen all the villains, and save you the trouble and
danger of introducing a new police into the city.
He said he owned he was for taking advantage of the present
short time of leisure to mature some plan about these things. I told
him I rejoiced to find that was his opinion, and that I would be at
all times ready to attend him, or any other Minister, whenever any
“explanation should be wanted from me; that I was anxious for an
answer concerning the posts, as I was in duty bound to insist on their
evacuation. He said he thought that connected with several other
points, and should be for settling all these together, so that he must
reserve himself at entire liberty concerning them.
I am sorry that, in representing all these conversations, I am
' obliged to make myself the principal speaker; but I cannot get them
| to talk. The reason is, they dare not; all must be determined in the
Cabinet, and no single Minister chooses to commit himself by giving
_ any opinion which may be ever quoted to his disadvantage by any party.
i
Le |
Fi ee i
®
This is not only the state of mind of every Minister, but of every
Ministry. They have an unconquerable reluctance to deciding upon —
any thing, or giving any answer; and although Mr. Pitt and Lord |
Caermarthen have hazarded opinions upon same points to me, I do
not believe I shall get any answer, officially, from the Cabinet or the
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 1 wish for an answer, be it ever so
rough or unwise. Mr. Pitt, | confess, was much more open than I
expected. He was explicit in my favor relative to the negroes, the
armistice, and for digesting the whole in the present leisure, and
giving me an answer. I should rejoice in a Cabinet answer to all
my letters, and especially in a counter-project of a treaty ; but I will
be so free as to say, I do not expect any answer at all before next
spring; nor then, unless intelligence should arrive of all the States.
adopting the navigation act, or authorizing Congress to do it; and,
even in that case, I am inclined to think they will try the experi-
ment, and let our navigation acts operate, to satisfy themselves which
people will first roar out with pain. They deceive themselves yet
in many points, which I may enumerate in a future letter. ;
From what Mr. Pitt said, I am convinced we shall have no
answer concerning the posts. |
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS. |
462 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
This letter will be delivered to you by Mr. Charles Storer, your
old acquaintance, who has served me much as a private secre
and that without fees. .
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, August 28, 1785. }
Sir,
I do myself the honor to enclose to Congress the statute of 25
Geo. 3, c. 81, for the better securing the duties payable on tobacco,
and another statute of the 25 Geo. 3, c. 67, to prohibit the exporta- |
tion to foreign parts of tools and utensils made use of in the iron
and steel manufactures of this kingdom, and to prevent the seducing
of artificers or workmen employed in those manufactures to go into —
parts beyond the seas. The prohibited tools are all enumerated, |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 463
and stamps, dog-head stamps, pulley stamps, stamps of all sorts,
ammers and anvils for stamps, screws for stamps, iron rods for
camps, presses of all sorts, in iron, steel, or other metal, which are
sed for giving impressious to metal, or any parts of these several
ticles, presses of all sorts, called cutting-out presses, beds and
unches to be used therewith, piercing presses of all sorts, beds and
unches to be used therewith, either in parts or pieces, or fitted
ogether, iron or steel dies to be used in stamps or presses, either
vith or without impressions on them, rollers of cast-iron, wrought-
ron, or steel, for rolling off metals, and frames for the same, flasks
x casting moulds, and boards used therewith, lathes of all sorts for
arning, burnishing, polishing, either the whole together or separate
varts thereof, lathe-strings, polishing brushes, scourmg or shading
ngines, presses for horn buttons, dies for horn buttons, shears for
jutting of metal, rolled steel, rolled metal, with silver thereon, parts
f buttons not filled up into buttons or in an unfinished state, engines
or chasing, stocks for casting buckles, buttons, and rings, cast-iron
anvils and hammers for forging mills for iron and copper, rollers,
litters, beds, pillars, and frames for slitting mills, die-sinking tools of
ll sorts, engines for making button shanks, laps of all sorts, drilling
ngines, tools for pinching off glass, engines for covering of whips,
yolishing brushes, bars of metal covered with gold or silver, iron or
'teel screw plates, pins and stocks for making screws, or any other
‘ool or utensil whatsoever.
_ [have transcribed this catalogue because I think it is very proper
hat gentlemen should attend a little to it. It shews the spirit of this
country towards the United States, and summarily comprehends a
rolume of politics for us. I suppose these tools may be had in
france, Germany, and elsewhere, if a British statute was a bar to
our getting them in Great Britain. I think it would be worth while
‘or our American academies to make collections of them for their
nuseums. Such a collection would be a great curiosity, and more
orofitable to our country than more costly collections of shells, birds,
oeasts, or fishes. If, however, such a collection could not be made,
2 work may be had in Paris, entitled «Art et Métier,’’ in which, I
suppose, every one of them is described and represented by an
engraved stamp, from which our workmen may copy it.
_ With great esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
464 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, August 29, 1785.
ir,
The United States began their career upon the most 4
system of commerce. France met them with a liberal system too
or rather with an artful appearance of it. Her practice during th
war was more liberal than the treaty. Since the peace she ha
contracted it a little, as she had a right to do, by excluding some o
our produce and some of our ships from her West India Islands’
and, indeed, the freedoms that the most favored nation enjoys in hei
ports in Europe, are by no means so ample as those which we have
allowed to her in the ports of the United States. The word:
monopoly, prohibition, exclusion, and navigation acts, have acquirec
in the world a kind of philosophical unpopularity ; but whether th«
things signified by them will be abolished so soon as some speculator:
imagine, may be doubted. If there is any people upon earth wh«
have a right to insist upon the abolition of them in their own com
merce, they are the Americans; but we have seen the reluctanc
of France, and especially of England, to give them up; a stron;
disposition has appeared to make a greater advantage of thei
monopolies by our liberality.
_ A short sketch of the commercial conflict between France anc
England, during the reigns of the Stuarts, may serve to show the
effects of prohibitions, and the probability that England will no
easily renounce them. It will shew also the probable effects of thei
policy towards us, if we should not counteract it by reciprocal
restrictions. |
The house of Stuart, and the principal ce in their Parlia-
ments, were pensioners of France, and so attentive to her interests,
that she obtained the supply of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with
the manufactures of linens, silks, paper, wines, and brandies, to the
amount of one million six hundred and fifty thousand pounds yearly,
while she took from England, in return, only two hundred thousand
pounds value yearly, of lead, tin, leather, alum, copperas, coals, horn
plates, &c., and plantation goods, which left a balance of one million
four peandtod and fifty thousand pounds to be yearly paid to France
in money; she possessed as great advantages with Ireland ané
Scotland, in proportion to their trade. |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. AGS
| This disproportion was owing to the protecting duties that English
roolen goods were subject to in France, from twenty-four to forty
er cent. on their value; by the tariff renewed in 1654, and by
aother tariff in 1699, they were raised from thirty-six up to fifty-five
ler cent. on their value; and Spanish cloth, made in England, was
‘rohibited by the edict of 1701; and in the mean time French silks
vere only subject to a duty of thirteen up to twenty-three per cent.
n the value imported into the British dominions; and linens about
even up to fifteen per cent. on their value; whereby their manu-
hetures and produce, imported into England alone, yearly’ stood
hus about the year 1664, and up to 1678, viz:
' French linens.........+e+++- POPOLE SIS DEB £600,000
| Manufactured silks........ cece ee cee cee ce cence 500,000
RMN Ee isis digg oo vg viele ected be she hea 450,000
FMEPANOIMS ETE oe ree See eke rede eed eee ders 70,000
Pie G OUT. WER. U.P Le ye alee 80,000
ne cae es isan cs nes ree £1,650,000
‘| They also imported into England gold and silver lace, and many
‘ther articles of luxury not here enumerated. This exhausting drain
»xcited murmurs, and aroused the landed interest to unite with the
‘rading interest in 1678, in passing an act prohibiting the French
rade, in opposition to the Court interest. In the preamble of the
act, they say “that the importation of the product and manufactures
‘of France had exhausted the treasury of the nation, lessened the
“yalue of native manufactures, and caused great detriment to the
‘kingdom in general.”
The advance of woolen manufactures for home consumption and
exportation, in consequence of the prohibition of the French trade in
1678, raised the price of wool, and all dying stuffs dependent on
it, from forty to fifty per cent., and gave such general employment to
‘people, and such a rise to land, as was scarcely conceivable in the
ispace of two or three years. This happy change in the cireum-
‘stances of England was but of short duration; for on James the
‘Second’s accession to the throne in 1684 he called a new Parliament,
‘who, in compliance with his wishes and to gratify his allies, the
French, repealed the prohibitory act of 1678, The Parliament of
England, however, to soothe and temporize with the people, when
they had restored the French trade, resolved that all persons should
Vou. I1.—30
466 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
wear the woolen manufactures of England six months in the yea;
but the French, notwithstanding this parliamentary non-importatic
resolution, poured into England upwards of four millions’ value
their manufactures, and put a general stop to all the English mam
factures, and, with them, to the payment of rents. The scene th,
followed will be a warning to Ministers. Before three years expire
from the repeal of the law prohibiting the French trade, Englan
‘was roused from her lethargy, banished forever the promoters <
such measures, and called in and crowned the Prince of Orang
One of the first acts of King William’s first Parliament was to pre
hibit the French trade, ‘as a nuisance to the kingdom 3” and at tha
day, on stating the trade between England and France, it appear
that England gained by the prohibition of the French trade no les
than £1,450,000 yearly.
At the treaty of Utrecht the French, with the assistance of th
Administration of the last years of Queen Anne’s reign, attempted t_
have their trade with Britain restored. The Earl of Stafford an
the Bishop of Bristol conducted the interests of Britain; the Marsha
Marquis d’Huxelles and Nicholas Mesnager, Louis the Fourteenth’
Private Secretary, a well-informed statesman, those of France. The
signed a treaty of commerce the 31st March, 1713, subject to th:
approbation of the Parliament of Great Brita. The Bishop wa'
no match for Mesnager, who bound the British manufactures to pay
by a tariff made in France so far back as the 18th September, 1664
whereby English woolen cloth (the only article of consequence they
had at that day to export to them) was subject from thirty to forty
per cent. duty on the value, and on the lowest rated British articles
twenty-four and a half per cent.; and the duties to be paid in
Britain on French wrought silks did not exceed seventeen and a hall
per cent., and those of lockram, dowlas, and all sorts of linens, not
above per cent. of their value at a medium; and before the
révolution, France supplied all the better sort of linens used in
Britain and Ireland, of every denomination, as the trade for Dutch
and German linens was introduced in consequence of the prohi-
bitions laid on the French trade in 1678, and reénacted the first year
of William and Mary. |
Mesnager’s treaty of commerce was opposed by all the trading
interests of Great Britain, and rejected by the House of Commons.
dn 1714 the Queen died, and with her all sincere disposition for
treaties of commerce with France.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 467
- France, however, still wishes for some treaty of commerce, and
»roposes it at every peace. She got it stipulated as an article in the
ast, and Mr. Crawford has been appointed; but I suppose the
mprobability of his being authorized to do any thing, has occasioned
he late edicts of the French Court against English manufactures.
' Most of the foregoing anecdotes of commercial history I have
aken from an Irish publication, which compares the conduct of the
resent Administration towards Ireland to that of the Stuarts. It is
vell worthy the attention of America. We. may learn from it what
srobability there is of Mr. Crawford’s success, or rather we may
nfer from it that that commissioner was probably appointed,
Jecause it was not intended there should be any thing for him to
lo.
We may also conclude from it ‘that the English are now pursuing
cowards the United States of America the same policy which the
french practised towards them in the reigns of the Stuarts. If we
vuffer such enormous duties to be laid by them as are now paid upon
our tobacco, and oil and other articles, and do not pursue some
measures to prevent the operation of them, the balance against us
vill be enormous, and the drain too exhausting.
_ The law prohibiting the exportation of tools and the emigration of
vorkmen, i is to prevent us from setting up manufactures in America,
id to prevent any other nation from setting them up in order to
supply us. When we see them thus in every way attack our
manufactures of all sorts, especially of ships, our nurseries of
seamen, our merchants, and every thing within their reach, and
seem to be determined to force their goods upon us at their own
orices, we have no choice but to counteract them by navigation acts,
prohibitions, protecting duties, and bounties.
_ With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
: hy
(@ pe ets
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, August 30, 1785.
Su,
The more I consider what I see and hear every day, the more I
‘am inclined to think we shall be obliged to imitate the Utopians,
who, as Sir ‘Thomas More informs as to their exportation, “thought
468 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
‘it better to manage that themselves than to let foreigners come an
‘deal in it, for, by this means, as they understand the state of th
‘neighboring countries better, so they keep up the art of navigatior
‘which cannot be maintained but by much practice in it.” |
I would not be understood, however, to wish that the United State
should at present proceed farther than to exclude British ships fron
“coming and dealing’’ in our exportations. Other nations may h
permitted, for any thing that I know, without inconveniency. A
least the experiment may be tried. Other foreign nations wil
probably have few ships employed in this way. England, Scotland
and Ireland would have many ; but if it should be found that Britis!
|
ships are Frenchified, Dutchified, or otherwise metamorphosed, ir
order to manage any part of our exportations. I hope the State
will not hesitate to make the prohibition universal to the ships of al
nations, and confine their exports to theirown. There is no othe
way that I know of in which we can compensate ourselves, for tha)
rigorous exclusion of American-built ships from the British domin
ions upon which all parties here, I fear, are determined. Thi
popular cry has been universal, as I am informed. “What, shal
‘the United States be our ship carpenters? Shall we depend upor
‘a foreign nation for our navigation? In case of war with them
‘shall we be without ships, or obliged to our enemies for them ?”
With regard to duties, will our countrymen be long contented tc
pay four or five hundred per cent. upon their tobacco, and fifty per
cent. upon other articles of their produce in the ports of Great
Britam, while British subjects pay but ten per cent. upon the
importation of any of their commodities in our ports? I do not
believe they will. They will rather lay duties upon British luxuries.
to repay their own citizens the duties they pay in British ports. It
is indeed impossible to foresee where this conflict of prohibition and
duties will end. It is impossible to conjecture what the English will
attempt. J am not easy about the negotiations now on foot with
France and Spain. I have not yet sufficiently explained myself to
you upon this subject.
By the 18th article of the definitive treaty of peace between
France and England, signed at Versailles the 3d of September,
1783, it is stipulated that immediately after the exchange of the
ratifications, the two high contracting parties shall name commissa-
ries to treat concerning new arrangements of commerce between the
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 469
wo nations, on the basis of reciprocity and mutual convenience, which
arangements shall be settled and concluded within the space of two
vears, to be computed from the first of January, in the year 1784.
' In the ninth article of the definitive treaty between Great Britain
ind Spain, there is a stipulation in the same words, and the Duke of
Manchester made a declaration to each of these Powers at the same
ime, “that the new state in which commerce may, perhaps, be
found in all parts of the pond: will demand revisions and explana-
ions of the subsisting treaties.’
In compliance with these stipulations and declarations, Mr. Craw-
ord was long ago sent to Paris to treat with the Court of Versailles,
ind Mr. Woodward is lately appointed here to treat with Mr. Del
Campo, on the part of Spain. Mr. Crawford transmitted to his
Court, a year ago, a plan which he received from the French
Minister ; but I know from the Duke of Dorset, who told me himself
that Mr. Crawford had no answer from England for six months, and
indeed I conjecture that he had none till since the edict of the
French King prohibiting British manufactures. If these arrange-
ments are not made before the first of January, the two years will
be expired, and nothing more will be said of them until another war
and peace. But, I confess, I shall be anxious until new year’s day ;
the conduct of this Court in these discussions with France and Spain
is very interesting to us, as it will throw much light upon their
intentions towards us. ‘There are great appearances of a fixed
intention to keep the peace with France and Spain for a long period.
‘The late advice of the Ministers of the King of Great Britain to
‘the Elector of Hanover, to join the league of the King of Prussia,
‘against the views of the Emperor and Empress, can be accounted
‘for on no supposition but that of a determination, in all events, to
preserve their peace with France and Spain. Whence this love of
‘France or of Spain? Neither is a natural passion in an English
breast ; let my country answer, “it is not love of me.” On the
contrary, although I wish not to alarm my fellow-citizens, it appears
‘to me that the plan of this country towards us is nearly settled, it is
not fully, and will not be until the next budget is opened; the next
| budget will decide the fate of this country, and especially her system
towards the United States.
If Mr. Pitt should be then, in 1786, able to justify his hypothesis
| at the opening of the budget in 1785, and shall be able to shew that
470 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
the taxes have increased in the proportion with the hope of whic
he flattered himself and the nation, this Government will the
preserve the peace with France and Spain, at almost any rate
persevere in their system of commerce respecting the United State
of America, in spite of all your arguments and remonstrances, pro
hibitions and retaliations, and ultimately attack you with a new wat
In my private opinion, in the mean time, it is their fixed design t
keep possession of the posts on the frontier. Sir John Johnson i
certainly going out, and it is given out that fifteen hundred men an
going to Quebec, and materials, engineers, oe workmen, for =
fortifications in Nova Scotia.
{In short, sir, America has no party at present in her favor; al
parties, on the contrary, have committed themselves against us
except Shelburne and Buckingham, and the last of these is agains
a treaty of commerce with us, so is even Mr. Temple, who is gon
out to New York, appointed, as I suppose, in compliment to hi:
namesake, the Marquis of Buckingham. I had almost said the
friends of America are reduced to Doctor Price and Doctor Jebb
Patience, under all the unequal burthen they impose upon our com:
merce, will do us no good, it will contribute in no degree to preserve
the peace with this country. On the contrary, nothing but retaliation,
reciprocal prohibitions, and imposts, and putting ourselves in @
posture of defence, will have any effect.
This country can furnish their West India Island, and continental
colonies, and Newfoundland, so that we cannot suddenly make them
feel. We cannot prevent the introduction of their manufactures
among us so effectually as to make them feel us very soon. They
may lessen the duties on Spanish tobacco, so as to make the
Spaniards our rivals, and hurt our tobacco States. There are many
ways in which they may hurt us, of which we should be apprized
beforehand. Ships and oil, all men say, will never be received
of us.
I hope the States will be cool, and do nothing precipitately ; but
I hope they will be firm and wise, confining our exports to our own
ships, and laying on heavy duties upon all foreign luxuries, and
encouraging our own manufactures appears to me to be our only
resource, although I am very sensible of the many difficulties in the
way, and of the danger of their bringing on, in the course of a few
years, another war. Nothing but our strength and their weakness
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. A71
will, in my opinion, protect us from such a calamity. They will
aever again pour large armies into the United States; but they think
they can distress us more by cutting off all our trade by their
shipping, and they mean that we shall have no ships nor sailors to
innoy their trade.
| [ would, however, advise the States to suspend their judgments as
nuch as they can, without suspending their navigation acts, until
another spring and summer shall have developed the British system
of politics in Germany, their plans with France and Spain, and,
above all, the state of their debts and taxes, and their credit.
- I do not believe the Ministers:have yet digested their own system.
It will depend still, in some measure, upon contingencies. ‘There is
a taciturnity among them that is very uncommon. They have spies
in every corner who can carry them every whisper as punctually as
the police of Paris. I wish I had the better means of obtaining
intelligence from them, and watching their words and actions; but
information of this kind is costly beyond my revenues.
| With great esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, August 31, 1785.
Sir, )
The Marquis of Caermarthen told me a story of an Italian
‘Ambassador who resided at this Court some years ago, which was
‘very humorous. It was his Excellency’s practice to take all the
newspapers every morning, and make up his despatches by trans-
scribing paragraphs from them. He began very gravely, “Ho
penetrato,” and went on from those words to translate whatever he
found, which could amuse or inform his Court. No doubt, he
acquired a great reputation at home for address, vigilance, and
sagacity in making so many wonderful discoveries. ‘The Italian was
not singular. ‘There are many correspondences carried on with an
air of mystery and profound secrecy, whose intelligence is derived
from no better sources. I shall not adopt this method of making
revelations to you, though, I confess, I have no other means of
obtaining information or making discoveries which are much better
| than the newspapers.
It is the practice of Ministers here, when they have in contempla-
A72 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
tion a project of whose utility, practicability, necessity, expedienc:
or popularity they are doubtful, to set some writer to compose
pamphlet, or a number of writers to compose paragraphs in th
newspapers. ‘The pamphlets and paragraphs are read in the coffe
houses, and other places where the politicians assemble, by th
ministerial runners, who take down the observations they hear, an
report them to the Ministers. This method has been tried concernin
the projected admission of American ships and oil, and the unanimou
voice was found to be decidedly pronounced against it. This
however, was, I presume, upon the presumption that the American
could never unite in retaliation ; that it would be many years befor
they could act as a nation, and that the United States could neve
make a navigation act. This is the principle upon which this nation
after the peace, decided its judgment concerning the system tha
ought to be adopted relatively to the United States. In conference:
with Mr, Pitt, J made this remark to him: I told him that since |
had been in England, I had made it my business to collect and reac
every thing which had been written and published since the peace
upon the commercial relations between Great Britain and the Unitec
States. That I found every one of these writers who was fo
limiting and restraining the American commerce by prohibitions,
alien duties, &c., laid it down as the fundamental principle of his
system, that in all events this country was sure of the American
commerce, because we could not unite and act as a nation in any
retaliatg prohibitions or duties. This idea had been first suggested
to Lord Sheffield by some of the American refugees, and had been
communicated to the nation by him and other writers, who took it
from him without sufficient examination. I ventured to give Mr.
Pitt my opinions in very full terms, that this principle would be found
to be an erroneous one by experience; that time would shew that
the English nation had been misled in its judgment by this suggestion,
which they had been too prone to believe, but might find to be an
error when it would be too late. It is, however, by no means.
certain that the clearest refutation of that error, by the utmost una-
nimity in America, in any measures to defend their navigation, would
now alter the public voice and public opinion here. The public is.
not to be easily reasoned out of a settled opinion, though it might
have been easy, in the season of it, to have reasoned it into the
settlement of a different opinion.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. A73
_ The papers are now filled with paragraphs, which an attentive
reader may perceive are inserted, in order to feel out the sentiments
of the people concerning a treaty of commerce with France, with
Spain, with America, concerning the new Hanoverian engagements
in Germany, and concerning the posts, negroes, debts, tories, and all
other points in dispute with the United States. They are disguised
in such a manner that it is scarcely possible to discover how the
Minister inclines; nevertheless, some of them are in such a strain,
and discover such an anxiety about the treaties of commerce in
negotiation with France and Spain, that I suspect they (the Ministry)
have made some propositions to those Courts, and are anxious both
to know whether they will be accepted or not, and how they will be
received by the British and Irish nations if they should be accepted ;
‘a few months’ time will remove their and our solicitude upon this
head.
_ Ihave the honor to be, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
f
Oo
| FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
} Grosvenor Square, Westminster, September 2, 1785.
Sir,
_ Mr. Temple is gone out as Consul General; whether he will be
-received or not in that character, before a treaty of commerce is
_made, I know not; if he should not, and should not be provided with
credentials as Minister, he will probably wait for further instructions.
_ Ihave not made any proposition to the Ministry, as is customary,
to send a Minister Plenipotentiary to America, and I shall not
_ venture upon such a step without the instructions of Congress. My
own private opinion is that it would be advisable to make the prop-
osition, and to insist upon it, even so farias to recall me if it is not
done. These appointments familiarize the people to the idea of the
importance of the United States, and have much weight in Europe.
_ But these are not the most important considerations. A British
Minister at New York would constantly transmit intelligence to his
_ Court, it is true; but true intelligence is better than false, which now
circulates with too little control, and makes impressions at Court and
_ in Parliament which it is not easy to remove. |
If Congress, however, should receive Mr. Temple, whether they
do or do not propose the appointment of a Minister, they will no
,
# q a |
j
474 . JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
doubt appomt a Consul to reside in England, or a Consul General tc
reside in London, with power of appointing Vice Consuls in England,
Scotland, and Ireland. Ireland is anxious to have one, and he would
do great good. Iam sure I need not explain myself more fully on
that head. Ihave received many applications, but, as I have no
authority, and desire to have none, I have not transmitted them to
you. I have no relations or friends to promote ; if I had, I certainly
should not propose them merely for that reason. Indeed, I should
be afraid to propose them, lest it should be for that reason ; although
I might think them qualified and meritorious. 4
The Consuls and Vice Consuls are very useful to Ambassadors
and Ministers in many ways that I need not explain to you. There
is generally a good understanding between them, and there always
will be when proper men are appointed to both places. ee
I do not remember that I have ever proposed to Congress the
appointment of a Consul in Holland. I might have made some new
friends, or obliged some old ones, perhaps, by recommending them ; "
I shall, however, recommend no one; but I cannot but think the |
office would be useful there; and in Sweden and Prussia too, for I
suppose the treaty is concluded by this time. Consuls would explore |
new channels of commerce and new markets for our produce, as well
as other sources of supply for us, that we may become less dependent -
upon England if she should continue unreasonable. Our tobacco —
and oil might find markets enough where they would have less duties .
to pay and procure a better price.
I know not whether Mr. Barclay would wish, or be willing, to be
translated to London; but a man of his prudence and judgment, ©
vigilance and fidelity, would be wanted here. There are many —
others, I hope, who have those virtues, and I do not mean to —
recommend one man more than another.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS. |
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN Jay.
Grosvenor Square, September 3, 1785.
Dear Sir,
Mr. John Wingrove, the bearer of this letter, I believe will be —
found a very valuable citizen of the United States. His qualifica- |
tions you may judge of from his conversation. He has had long
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 475
experience in the East Indies, and probably has a perfect knowledge
of that country. I beg leave to introduce him to your civilities, and
those of all good Americans.
| With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
—_0=---
| FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
| Grosvenor Square, Westminster, September 6, 1785.
Dear Sir,
Yesterday I received the two letters you did me the honor to
‘write me on the 3d August. The instructions shall be obeyed as
‘soon as possible.
As to a letter of credence to the Queen, I believe it will now be
\unnecessary ; but, when you send me a letter of recall to the King,
‘it may be proper to send another to the Queen; and when you send |
‘a new Minister, to give him a letter of credence to both. Such
letters to a Queen consort can be but compliments and wishes of
health and prosperity to her person and family, and recommending
‘the Minister to her Majesty’s royal benevolence. I did, in the time
of it, give assurances to the Marquis of Caermarthen that the omission
| proceeded not from want of respect, and his Lordship sent my letter
‘to the Queen, as he afterwards told me.
As to the posts, I think I shall have no answer until the meeting
of Parliament approaches, and then I expect an answer to every-
| thing altogether, and that the surrender of the posts will be made
- conditional and dependent upon some arrangements or other concern-
ing the debts. But the Ministers are all wrapped up in silence. I
' really do not wonder at it. The state of the nation is critical beyond
all description. The people discontented, and the populace tumult-
uous. In short, sir, I have seen the time in Holland exactly like
this here. I see now, as I saw then, what is not very prudent to
talk about. I see that many personages of high rank, who want to
converse with me freely, are afraid of being remarked, both at Court
and by the mob. Indeed, I see this fear in many of the foreign
_ Ministers. Mobs were never more apprehended or dreaded in
\
;
|
Holland, during any part of my residence there, than they are now
here. There is this difference: Nobody owns it here, whereas
many did there. In case of a commotion, whether there would be
476 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
most compliments paid to me or my neighbor, Lord North, I know
not. J am not, however, uneasy or apprehensive. There is one
thing in my favor; the American cause has been ever most popular
among the lowed classes in this country, and I think I have seen
symptoms of the same disposition continually since I have been here,
It was the same in Holland, and the time may possibly come when’
this disposition will be as useful here as I found it there. Indeed,
almost all the Billingsgate you see in the papers is calculated
to counteract this tendency of the people, who, without it, would
depopulate many places by emigrations.
I have communicated to the Count de Reventlaw, the Danish
Minister here, the resolution of Congress of the 21st of March, and
have received, in his polite answer, an obliging assurance that he
would transmit it to his Court. |
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
ee ()
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, September 15, 1785.
Dear Sir,
Having so good an opportunity as this, by Mr. Charles Storer, I
do myself the honor to transmit to Congress by him the ratification
of the treaty and convention between the United States and thé
States General of the United Netherlands, which I received in
exchange for the ratification of Congress transmitted to me. |
I should wish that the receipt of it may be noted in the Journal of
Congress, and acknowledged in your despatches to me. The seals
are in elegant silver boxes, one to the treaty, and one to the
convention. |
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
Oo
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
New Ret, November 26, 1785, |
Dear Sir,
Congress on Wednesday last made a House, and chose Mr. |
Hancock, President, but he being absent they appointed Mr. |
Ramsay, of South Carolina, to fill the chair for the present. “gy |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. A171
A considerable time had elapsed, during which a sufficient number
if States to proceed on business were not represented. In this
nterval I had the pleasure of receiving your letters of 25th, 28th,
29th, 30th, and 31st August, and 2d, 3d, 6th, and 15th September
ast, together with the ratifications of the treaty and convention
yetween the United States and the United Netherlands, with the
,eals to each enclosed in a silver box.
_ Lhave laid them all before Congress, and am persuaded that the
.estimony they bear to your unremitted attention to the interests of
our country, will make as strong an impression on them as it does
upon me.
| There is reason to hope and expect that Congress will soon find
eisure to attend more assiduously to their foreign affairs, and enable
me to write more precisely on various subjects than I have yet been
able to do.
My last letters to you were of the Ist November by Mr. Chollet,
and of the 2d by Mr. Houdon.
Tnow transmit a copy of the proceedings of the commissioners,
respecting the negroes carried from hence at the time of the evacua-
tion, together with a list of them. It will enable you to negotiate a
settlement of that business with less difficulty. It is to be observed
that great numbers were carried from other places as well as from
‘New York, and for whom the British Government ought in justice
to make compensation. I shall endeavor to furnish you with such
pee of their numbers, &c., as I may be able to collect.
Mr. Temple is here, and fits commission is now before Congress.
I shall take the earliest opportunity of communicating to you their
‘decision respecting it.
TI herewith enclose a copy of an act of Rhode Island for vesting
Congress with the power of regulating foreign trade. In one of the
newspapers also sent, you will find ‘another act of that State
respecting navigation. — ” ;
However discordant the various acts of the States on these subjects
may be, they nevertheless manifest sentiments and opinions which
daily gain ground, and which will probably ‘produce: a proper and
general system for regulating the trade and oon of the United
‘States, both foreign and domestic. '
_- The Federal Government alone is equal to the ‘task of forming
such a system, and it is'much to be wished that partial and local
- #8) : : peel 5 |
478 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
ie |
politics would cease to oppose vesting Congress with power:
adequate to that great and important object. thet
intended to haye devoted this day entirely to writing to’you, but
I was unexpectedly called upon to attend a committee of Congress
this morning, and the business before them makes it ects
me immediately to report on another matter connected with it. ©
I am, dear sir, &c., st Ot SOHN ATE
Li
' FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY. |
| | a
" i cn. ee :
i $ : Giotenet Square, October 15, 1785.
Dear Su, 4 | oe
I have received the letter you did me the honor to write me the
6th September. o + ong |
The act of Congress of the 18th of August, which you enclose,
shall be communicated as directed. és |
[have the honor to agree fully with you in your opinion, that “it
is manifestly as much the interest of this country to be well with us
as for us to be well with them;’ but this is not the judgment of the
English nation, it is not the judgmentof Lord North and his party,
it is not the judgment of the Duke of Portland and his friends, and
it does not appear to be the judgment of Mr. Pitt and the present
set. In short, it does not at present appear to be the sentiment of
any body;,and I am much inclined to believe they will try the issue
of importance with us. has, 7
I have insisted upon the surrender of the posts with as much
earnestness as prudence would warrant, but can obtain no other
answer than certain hints concerning the debts, and some other
points, which are sufficient to convince me ‘that the restoration of.
the posts will have certain conditions tacked to it. I have insisted
in conversation, and have inquired in writing, but have not yet made
a formal requisition by a memorial, in the name.and by order of the
United States; if I had done it, I should have compromitted my
sovereign, and should certainly have had no answer; whenever this
is done, it should be followed up. I shall certainly do it, if [ should
see a moment when it can possibly prevail. “If it is the judgment of |
Congress that it should be done immediately, I should be glad of
their orders, which shall be exactly obeyed, I should even wish they |
would Benne to me the form of the memorial. a. omer
Y #
}
me Ln
hy m, -
é ° *
| DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 419
*
It is, indeed, as you observe, im the power of Congress to take a
ertain step, which would be longer and more sensibly felt. by
3ritain, than theindépendence of the United States. You have not
ainted at the nature of this measure. I can conceive of more than
me exclusion of British ships from all our exports, and a heavy
luty}upon British manufactures, is one; a defensive alliance with
Trance, Spain, and Holland, is another. A ease may happen in
vhich this last might be justifiable ; but I presume it will not hastily
ve adopted, nor ever without Canada and. Nova Scotia, to be
idmitted into our Confederation, and one half, .at least, of the best
vf the English West India Islands, besides stipulations for the
idmission of our produce freely to the French West India Islands,
und some articles into France, duty free, with similar stipulations
with Spain and Holland. I hope, however, the first measure will
ye adopted forthwith, and not the smallest article of our produce be
dermitted to be exported in British bottoms. e \
Mrs Barclay is appointed to go to Morocco, and Colonel Franks
oes with him. Mr. Lamb to Algiers, and Paul R. Randall,
Esquire, with him. ‘There will be captives to redeem, as well as
sreaties to form. ‘
_ I can obtain no answer from the Ministry to any one demand,
proposal, or inquiry. In this Iam not alone. It is the complaint of
all the other foreign Ministers. The Dutch Envoy, particularly,
told me yesterday that he could obtain no answer ‘to’ any of his
memorials, some of which were presented as long ago as last April.
The Ministry, since the ill fortune of their studies ,in Ireland, have
been in a lethargy ; but they must soon awake. Mr. Pitt has long
had with him in the country our project of a treaty, and it cannot be
long before he comes tosome determination. ‘They have had lately
evidence enough of the utility to them of the public hope of a
commercial agreement with America. Holding up the idea of a
treaty has rapidly raised the stocks; but I cannot entertain ,any
Sanguine hopes, for all experience, all evidence, seem to be lost upon
this nation and its rulers. According to most appearances, a nation
so entirely given up to the government of its passions, must
precipitate itself into calamities greater than it has yet felt. I still
think, however, that a decided opinion concerning the ‘system it
will pursue, cannot be formed before the opening of the next”
budget. >
With great esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
* a
-
tae $
& *
480 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY. :
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY. 4
tats it ? i
am ie Grosvenor Square, October 17, 1785, —
‘ ee ee fae
Dear Sir, |
It has been the general sense of our country since the peace that
Fas their duty and their interest to be impartial between the!
Powers of Europe, and to observe a.neutrality in their wars. This.
principle is a wise one, upon the supposition that those Powers will
be impartial. to us, and permit us to remain at peace. But it is
natural for Enfland and, France to be jealous of our neutrality, and
apprehensive that, notwithstanding our »professions, we may be
induced to connect ourselves with one against the other. While
such uncertainties and suspicions continue, we may find that each
of these rival kingdoms will,be disposed+to stint om srowth and
diminish our well from a fear that it will be employed against
itself and in favor of its enemy. If France could be sure of our
perpetual alliance, it is to be supposed she would favor our imerease|
in every thing which could be reconciled to her own interest. If
England could obtain such an alliance with us, she, for the same
reason, would favor our interests in all cases compatible with her!
own.
I need not point out to you instances in proof of such a jealousy |
in France. Yet it may not be amiss to refer you to some hints in.
Mr. Necker’s late work. |
Mr. Hartley, you will remember; dwelt much too often upon the
subject of an alliance with England for us to doubt that. However
incident the suggestion of such an idea was, he reser thgefte enter-
tained it. He has lately renewed this topic with me, and I gave
him the only answer which can ever be given, viz: that the moral
character of the United States was of more importance to them than
any alliance; that they could not, in honor, hear such a proposal,
but that,.if honor and character were out of the question, while.
England held a province in America, we'could not safely forfeit the
confidence of France, nor commit ourselves to the ae of
England. ©. |
But to rise higher. When the King was pleased to say to me
that he would be foremost in favor and friendship to the United |
States, when he should see a disposition to give the preference to
this country, he probably meant more than we can comply with.
If a preference in commerce only had been meant, it was quite
a
4
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 481
necessary to make it a future condition, because the ardor of our
izens in transferring almost the whole commerce of the country
te, and voluntarily reviving that monopoly which they had long
nplained of as a grievance, ina few of the first months of the
lace, imprudently demonstrated to all the world an immoderatey,
sference of British commerce. It was impossible that we coul
re stronger proofs of a preference in this sense. If the royal
pression then was a deliberate one, it must have intended some-
ing more, and something which the United States cannot agree to.
‘The British Ministry, therefore, have now before them a question
important to the British Empire as any that ever was agitated
‘it—whether, by evacuating the posts, and fulfilling the treaty of
lace i in other points, and by opening their ports in the West Indies
‘don the continent of America, as well as in Europe, to our ships and
oduce upon equal and fair terms, they shall sure the impartiality
'd neutrality of America; or whether, by a contrary conduct, they
‘all force them into closer connexions of alliance and commerce
th France, Spain, and Holland. A treaty of defensive alliance
th France would deserve a long and careful deliberation, and
ould comprehend the East and West Indies. I mean our right to
ide in them, as well as many other considerations, too numerous to
at at here. A new treaty of commerce might be made greatly
meficial to both countries. If we once see a necessity of giving
eferences in trade, great things may be done. By the treaty
‘tween England and Portugal of 27th of December, 1703, Portugal
‘omised to admit forever into Portugal the woolen cloths, and the
st of the woolen manufactures of the Britons, as was accustomed,
1 they were prohibited by the laws; nevertheless, upon this con-
tion, “II. That is to say that Great Britain shall be obliged
‘orever hereafter to admit the wines of the growth of Portugal into
Britain, so that at no time, whether there shall be peace or war
vetween the Kingdoms of Britain and France, anything more shall
se demanded for these wines by the name of custom or duty, or
oy whatsoever title, directly or indirectly, whether they shall be
mported into Great Britain in pipes or hogsheads, or other casks
than what shall be demanded, from the quantity or measure of
French wine, deducting or abating the third part of the custom or
duty. But if at any time this deduction or abatement of customs
shall, in any manner, be prejudiced, it shall be just and lawful for
Vou. I.—31
482 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
this sacred Royal Majesty of Portugal again to prohibit the woole|
‘cloths, and the rest of the British woolen manufactures.”
This treaty, which the Irish call the Methuen treaty, from th
name of the Ambassador who signed it, and which they now clair.
_the benefit of as Britons, although the Portuguese deny them to b. |
“Britons, and accordingly refuse their woolens, has had a vast effec’
both in Portugal and England. 'The consequence has been tha
Portugal has now for more than four score years clothed herself n
British woolens, like an English colony, and has never been able t
introduce woolen manufactures at home, and the British Islands hay:
drunk no other wine than Port, Lisbon, and Madeira, although th
wines of France are so much better.
The United States may draw many useful lessons from thi
example. If, from the blind passions and rash councils of th
Britons, they should be compelled to deviate from their favorit
principle of impartiality and neutrality, they might make a ney
commercial treaty with France, for a term or forever, exempting al
the manufactures of France from one-third, or one-half, or all th
duties which shall be stipulated to be laid upon the English manu
factures. In this case, what becomes of the manufactures of Britain
What of their commerce, revenue, and naval power? ‘They mus
decline, and those of her rival must rise.
I hint only at these things. They open a wide field of i inquiry
and require all the thoughts of the people. We should stipulate fo
the admission of all our produce, and should agree upon a tariff o
duties on both sides. We should insist upon entire hberty of trad
and navigation, both in the East and West Indies, and in Africa
and upon the admission of our oil and fish, as well as tobacco, flour
rice, indigo, pot-ash, &c., &c. )
This country boasts of her friends and partisans in this and thi
other assemblies, particularly in New York and Virginia, and ar
confident we can do nothing, neither exclude. their ships from ou.
exports nor lay on duties upon their imports into our States, neithe:
raise a revenue, nor build a fleet. If their expectations are not disap.
pointed, we shall be, and that in a few months, not only a despise
but a despicable people. With the power in our hands of dom
as we please, we shall do nothing. With the means of makin
ourselves respected by the wise, we shall become the scorn of fools..
I am under embarrassments in treating with the Ministers here, «
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 483
‘ow how far it is prudent in me to go in urging upon them what
United States may do or not do with France. ‘There would be
lager of my committing Congress imprudently ; but in conversation
‘th friends arguments may be casually, and by way of speculation
ly, put into their mouths, which they will not fail to use where
by may or ought to have weight; yet it is still uncertain whether
iything can have weight. The Ministry behave as if they saw
‘tain ruin coming upon the nation and thought it of no importance
what shape it should appear.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
i
|
0
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, October 21, 1785.
Dear Sir,
Yesterday, at eleven o’clock, I went by appointment to Lord
‘ermarthen’s office, and was admitted to his Lordship as soon as he
‘ived from his house. As this was an hour earlier than the usual
earance of the foreign Ministers at the Secretary of State’s
‘ee, I had time for a long conversation with his Lordship.
At first I presented him a memorial containing a requisition of
nediate orders for the discharge of our citizens, particularly of
‘w. Secondly, the correspondence between Governor Bowdoin
1 Captain Stanhope, with the act of Congress upon it; and
{ vdly, a letter concerning the questions sometime ago communicated
your Ministers at Paris, relative to their full powers, by the Duke
Dorset. These papers were left with his Lordship for his perusal
his leisure, but I conjecture he laid them before the King ina
ference after the drawing-room. After the communication of
ide papers I had the honor to observe to his Lordship that although
Ly contained matters of some importance I most sincerely wished
fre was nothing of greater difficulty and more danger between
. two countries. His Lordship wished so, too. I added, that as
vas wished on both sides, it was remarkable that the business was
» done, as it seemed to be very easy to do; that it was much to
lamented, when the war was ended and everything essential which
i been in contest was decided, that such circumstances as remained
vuld impede the return of confidence between the two nations.
484 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
I paused here, in hopes his Lordship would have made some reflect);
or dropped some hint from whence I could have drawn some cone -
sion, excited some hope, or started some fresh topic, but not a wil
escaped him. After a long silence I told him that I hoped for
answer from his Lordship concerning the posts upon the frontie;
not a word of reply. I said I was extremely uneasy concerniy
those posts; that, by the last accounts from America, there seerr|
to be danger of our being involved in an Indian war merely fn
the circumstance of their being withheld; that his Lordship coil
not be unacquainted with the siuclee and barbarity with which thy
savages made war upon people the most innocent, peaceable, al
defenceless; that an Indian war, by filling the gazettes and conv:
sation with relations of horrors, naturally spread a greater alarm al
excited keener passions than other wars which might be much mi
destructive and impoverishing; that if such a war-should happeni
consequence of withholding the posts, it would enkindle a flame i
America which might spread wider and last longer than any m
could foresee; that I sincerely hoped the King’s Ministers wol
think seriously of it, and give orders for the evacuation; that I mt
insist on an answer. Here his Lordship, in broken sentenc,
expressed a wish that the Ministry would answer everybody, dl
conveyed a hint that it did not depend upon him. I proceeded uy.
this to say that, in a conference with Mr. Pitt, when I pressed I)
for an answer concerning the posts, although he was not expl|
with me, I understood him to insinuate to me that the surrendei!
the posts would be made conditional upon something respecting ?
debts. Here I got something out. His Lordship said: “To >
sure, nothing could be done until the debts were paid.” Paid! i
Lord! that is more than ever was stipulated. No Government et
undertook to pay the private debts of its subjects; and in this ce
nobody ever had such a thought. The treaty only stipulated 1!
creditors should meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery!
their debts. But, says his Lordship, if lawful impediments heé
been thrown in the way; and this was all he could or would let o.
I understood him to mean that Government, by putting an impe’
ment in the way, had made itself answerable for the debts themsely’
This was the first suggestion to me of such a thought, but it was‘
fully communicated that I should not be surprised if a requisit!
should be made to that effect. I proceeded, with his Lordship, t!
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 485
1e people in America saw the treaty violated in two important
oints relative to striking objects. ‘The negroes were carried off and
1e posts were withheld. ‘The last looked like a continuance of
var. It was contmuing a foreign army in their territory. These
vere the first breaches of treaty; and without them I did believe
aat the debtors would not have had influence enough in any assembly
9 have procured an act or vote to impede the course of law; and if
he posts were now evacuated and the negroes paid for, I did not
baliecs the impediment would be continued longer than to the
eeting of the Assemblies. But if the removal of these impedi-
nents should be made a condition precedent to the evacuation of the
sosts and payment for the negroes, I very much apprehended it
would not be done. As the English had been first in the wrong It ©
vas natural and reasonable to expect that they should be first to get
ight. 3
' Finding it impossible to learn any thing from his lordship of his
>ywn sentiments or those of his colleagues, upon these points, after a
pause of some time I proceeded to some others, and said :
Your lordship alone was present when the King was pleased to
say to me that when he should see a disposition in the United States
to give this country the preference, he would be foremost in friendship
to them. Yes, I was, said his lordship. What greater preference,
my lord, can be expected or reasonably desired, than has been given?
It is not possible for one country to give another stronger proofs than
‘America has given this, of a commercial preference. They have,
‘with an imprudent ardor, discovered, too early, and too immoderate
‘a predilection to the commerce of this country, by voluntarily reviving
‘at the peace, almost the very monopoly which had been established
‘before the war, by the acts of Parliament. Can any other preference
‘than a commercial one be thought of? No answer. Is it not
| receiving this disposition too coldly, my lord, to meet it with
‘obstructions to so many of our remittances? Is there not danger
that the conduct of this country will change that disposition. Is it
not easily changed? Does it not consist chiefly in mode and taste,
setting aside what there is remaining of good will between the
people, and if credit is the lure, is it not easily counteracted : We
‘have been used to buy Russian and Dutch hemp in London, sayewe
‘ paid ten per cent. more than it would have cost us in Petersburgh,
and that the advantage of having it upon credit was worth to the
f
486 , JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
American merchant twenty per cent. By laying on a duty of t
per cent. on these articles imported from London more than wh
imported directly from Russia, would not the advantage of credit ||
wholly counteracted? By laying on fifteen per cent. more, wou
there not be an end forever to American importations of the
articles by the way of London? Silesia linens are another artic)
which we bought in London. May not ‘this commerce be diverte
entirely to Stetin and Embden, by a similar duty? May not a
sorts of manufactures in iron be bought in Germany, and all othe
manufactures in cotton, linen, metals, silk, velvet, wool, be in th
same manner diverted from this to other countries in Europe onl
by thus laying a bounty on the importation of them into America, t
be paid by those who choose to purchase in England?
It was become fashionable here for gentlemen to speak diminutive)
of American trade, even among some who had magnified it while i
opposition to Lord North. These could not certainly be sincere.
but be the value of it what it may, can it be good policy in thi
country to divert it from herself and send it to her rivals? Fo
example, could it be wise in the English to throw their own New.
foundland fishery into the hands of the French, merely to preven
Americans from supplying it with provisions and necessaries in thei
own bottoms? I was very much afraid the Ministry had not ye
duly considered upon what a delicate circumstance their fishery
depended, how easily it might be lost, and how hardly recovered.
though the fishery was very beneficial to the public as a nursery 0!
seamen, and a source of wealth, as it stood connected with various
other branches of business, yet to the generality of individuals it was
not very profitable. With their utmost art, industry, and economy,
they could but barely live. The Jamaica fish, as some call it, or
the West India fish, as others named it, was one third part of the
whole, and the preservation and sale of it was essential to the life of
the fishery. Unfit for the European market, it had never found any
other consumers than the negroes, and the English depended upon
selling theirs to the French in their West India Islands. They have
been able to undersell the French in their own islands. Why:
Because their fishery at Newfoundland being supplied from the
Unsated States at a cheaper rate than the French could be from.
Europe, they could afford to sell their fish cheaper; but now the
tables were turned, the French are supplied from the United States,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 4ST
id the English must be from Europe; the consequence of which
ust be that the French will very soon be able to supply their own
ands cheaper than the English can, and, when this happens, it will
2 very natural for them to prohibit all foreign fish, American as
‘ell as English. I left his lordship to judge if this was a probable
jeans of increasing British seamen and navigation, and whether it
‘as not probable that if the Americans saw the English, like rash
amesters, playing away their own fisheries, into foreign hands, they
vould not look out for themselves, and purchase of the French the
‘dmission of their fish inte the islands, by stipulating some equivalent
sr it. Here his lordship said he wished the council could be
wrought to take into consideration the relative situation of the two
countries and their commerce. I was in hopes he would have said
‘nore, and waited long to hear, but as it appeared he did not intend
olbe more particular, I said it was surely necessary that something
‘hould be thought of and done. With regard to the West India
rade, it would be well to consider whether the United States, if
hey found themselves excluded from the English islands, would not
‘hink it necessary to purchase a free admission of their flour and
ships, as well as fish and other things, to perpetuity, by stipulating
with the French Court some perpetual advantage, in some particulars,
over the English commerce. Hitherto it had been the policy of the
States to be impartial, but if they were once driven from this
principle, I left his lordship to judge how far they might go and
ought to go. I asked his lordship whether it would not be just and
wise in France to stipulate with us a perpetual admission of our oil,
‘to illuminate their cities, of our pot ash, duty free, of our tobacco,
‘upon easier duties and better terms; in short, of all the produce of
‘our country, upon better conditions, of our flour, fish, and ships, into
their islands, and of our ready-built ships for sale, into all her
‘dominions, if Congress would stipulate with them a perpetual prefer-
‘ence of French ships and manufactures over the English in America.
‘If we would stipulate to lay on duties one-third or one-half heavier
‘upon English than French navigation and merchandize, might we
not make a profitable bargain ? Might we not do the same with any
and every other trading nation in Europe? Necessity would force
us to carry our trade where we could find a market for our produce ;
| and if England would not receive it upon living terms, we must carry
it to Germany or the Baltic, to Holland or the Mediterranean, to
488 - JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Portugal or France, to Spain, or even to the East Indies. All th
was very patiently and civilly heard, but not a word ‘of answer,
then asked what could be the reason that the commerce between th
United States and the remaining British colonies, Canada and Noy
Scotia, should not be encouraged; it had been found mutual):
beneficial heretofore, and our share of the profit of it had been |
source of remittance to England, and would be again. Thos
colonies, especially Nova Scotia, would find it difficult to subsis
without it for a long time. F inding, however, that his lordship wa:
determined to deliver no opinions, nor giye the smallest hint fron
whence any conclusions or conjectures could be formed, I asked hin
for his advice, whether it would answer any good end for me to wai
on any other of the Ministers, as my Lord Camden and the Duke
of Richmond, for example, and enter into more particular conversa:
tion with them upon these subjects? His lordship said Lord
Camden was gone into the country, and the Duke of Richmond tc
the distant sea-ports, and would not be here for many weeks ; but
Mr. Pitt was here. I replied that I had found Mr. Pitt, in the
conversations I had with him, candid and intelligent, and that for
any thing I knew the affairs of the nation could not be in better
hands; but he was in a critical situation, and if a foundation should
be laid of a final alienation between England and America, it would
be a deeper stain, a blacker blot, upon his administration than the
independence of the United States had been upon that of Lord
North.
It is not worth your while nor mine to endeavor to collect more.
particularly this useless conversation, in which the reciprocity, as_
Lord North said on another occasion, was all on one side. I did
not think it prudent to urge to his Lordship the possibility of any
other new connexion between the United States and other European
nations than commercial ones, the possibility and the probability of a.
more permanent, indeed, of a perpetual, defensive alliance between
France, Spain, Holland, and the United States, with even Ireland
soliciting to be the fifth Power, is so obvious to common sense, that
one would think it could not escape the contemplations of the
Ministry.
There are persons in this kingdom sufficiently insane to say that
they will bring America to petition to come again under the Govern- —
ment of this country. They will distress them till they break their
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 489
aith with France, and then they say “we will spurn them.” If the
Xing and Ministry entertain such thoughts, they are weaker than [
sver thought them, and wickeder than anybody ever represented
hem. But although insidious policy is not a novelty in this
sountry, I do not believe them capable of such an excess of it at
this time.
) The true secret 1 conceive to be a real ignorance and indecision
what to do. They have discovered by their Newfoundland bill and
{rish propositions, a desire to preserve the principle of the navigation
act against the United States. Both these experiments have been
unfortunate. The first produced the Massachusetts and New Hamp-
shire navigation acts, and the last procured a defeat in the Parliament
of Ireland. They are now confounded, and know not whether to
persevere or to retreat, and I am convinced they have agreed
together to observe a total silence with me until they shall come to
a resolution. This reserve they maintain to all others as well as to
me, lest any hints might escape them by which the various parties
who are led by Shelburne, Buckingham, North, and Fox, should
know how to begin the foundation of their oppositions. They are
really embarrassed, for whatever treaty they make with us, must be
submitted to Parliament, either before it is signed, or it must be made
and signed expressly subject to the approbation or disapprobation of
‘Parliament; and they are at a loss to guess what they can carry
through Parliament, knowing the talents of the opposition, and the
force of national prejudice and passion in favor of the navigation
laws. They are afraid to attempt what they know they ought
‘to do.
_ This being the state of things, you may depend upon it the
commerce of America will have no relief at present, nor, in my
opinion, ever, until the United States shall have generally passed
‘navigation acts. If this measure is not adopted, we shall be derided,
and the more we suffer the more will our calamities be laughed at.
My most earnest exhortations to the States, then, are and ought to
be to lose no time in passing such acts. They will raise our reputa-
tion all over the world, and will avail us in treating with France and
Holland, as well as England; for, when these nations once see us in
the right way, united in such measures, they will estimate more
highly our commerce, our credit, and our alliances. The question
has been asked in France as often as in England, what have you to
Hei |
lo
give in exchange for this and that, particularly, it was a constant
question of the Mareschal de Castries, what have you to give as a
reciprocity for the benefit of going to our islands? When we haye
once made a navigation act, or shewn that we can unite in making”
one, we may answer, we can repeal our act or our imposts in return —
490 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
for your repealing yours. |
With regard to this country, I confess to you I never should have
believed, nor could have imagined, the real situation of it, if I had
not been here, and resided here some time. I never could have
conceived such an union of all parliamentary factions against us,
which is a demonstration of the unpopularity of our cause. If the
States do not make haste to confine their exports to their own ships,
and lay on duties on British merchandize, which shall give a decided |
advantage to our own manufactures, and those of Germany, France,
and other nations, it will be to no purpose to continue a Minister
here, and I am sure I shall wish myself any where else rather than
here. These are remedies which Congress and the States can apply. 1
I should hope that they will not proceed farther at present ;. but if
these are found insufficient, I hope they will think of proceeding
farther in commercial treaties with other nations, and reserve the
resource of further alliances as a last resort.
The drafts already made, and the negotiations in Barbary, will
exhaust your little fund in Amsterdam, and before next March all.
your servants in Kurope must return home for want of means even
of subsistence unless something is done. Our countrymen should
not expect that miracles will be wrought for their relief. If their
affairs are not conducted with wisdom and activity, they will reap.
most certainly the fruits of folly and supineness.
Before I conclude, I will mention one more extravagance that 1
know is lurking in some hearts here. They would willingly
embarrass Mr. Pitt in any rational plan of agreement with me, and
cheerfully precipitate him into war with the United States if they
could, well knowing that it would be his ruin. They think, andl
can add, they say, “that Canada and Nova Scotia must soon be
‘ours. ‘There must be a war for it. They know how it will end,
‘but the sooner the better. This done, we shall be forever at peace.
‘Tull then, never.” But these people do not consider that this will -
involve us in unchangeable connexions with France, and prove the -
final ruin of this country. |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 491
_ The stocks have lately risen to sixty-five and sixty-six. Whether
this is owing to Ministerial tricks, or the real affluence of money, it
will raise the fund of pride and vanity in the nation in a much greater
proportion, and make it more difficult for the Minister to do what
even he may think right with America.
_ [ must conclude by repeating that my only hopes are in the virtue,
resolution, and unanimity of my fellow-citizens.
| With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
—_0-—_—
= ——Ss
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, October 25, 1785.
Dear Sir,
_ The Crown of Great Britain has sometimes pledged its prerogative
to relax the navigation act, but the Parliament and nation would not
admit of it. By the fifteenth article of the definitive treaty between
Great Britain and Portugal, signed at Lisbon the 16th May, 1703,
“the personal privileges and freedom of trade which the subjects
the payment of the interest of the internal debt of the United
‘tates due within that State. This act to take effect when the
ther States in the Union agree to the said impost to the acceptation
f Congress, and have provided other adequate funds for completing
heir quota of 1,500,000 dollars, according to the requisition of
Songress of 18th April, 1783; but with this proviso, and upon this
xpress condition, “That no duties shall be collected upon articles
‘imported into any State upon which the said duties have been paid
‘in any other State; and that no duty shall be imposed by any one
‘State upon the citizens of another State, either upon imported
articles having paid the duties aforesaid, or upon any articles of the
‘growth, produce, or manufacture of the United States.”
The State of Maryland, in June, 1782, pursuant to acts of Con-
sress of 3d and 7th February, 1781, passed “ An act to authorize
‘the United States, in Congress assembled, to impose and levy a
‘duty of five per cent. on imported foreign goods, and on all prizes
-and prize goods, for the payment of the debts contracted by Con-
‘gress during the war.” And in the November session, 1784, their
Legislature passed a supplement to the aforementioned act, whereby
't should take effect as soon as twelve States, including that State,
vested Congress with similar powers. But it does not appear that
chey have passed any act pursuant to the recommendation of Con-
sress of 18th Apmil, 1783.
| Delaware, it is said, has passed an act conformable to the recom-
nendation abovementioned. But no official mformation thereof
has yet been transmitted to this office, or to the Board of ‘Treasury.
The second part of the revenue system of 18th April, 1783,
consists of a recommendation to the several States to establish for a
term limited to twenty-five years, and to appropriate to the discharge
of the interest and principal of the debts contracted on the faith of
the United States for supporting the war, substantial and: effectual
‘revenues of such nature as they may judge most convenient for
supplying their respective proportions of 1,500,000 dollars annually,
exclusive of the aforementioned duties.
_ With this part of the act the following States oes complied:
New Jersey, by their act of 20th December, 1783.
Pennsylvania, do. September, 1783.
North Carolina, do. June, 1784.
Vor. I1.—33
514 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Rhode Island, in the act abovementioned, has enacted that a tax
of one Spanish silver milled dollar, upon every hundred acres of
land within that State, upon every male poll in the State of twenty-
one years of age, and upon every horse or mare of two years old
and upwards, shall be annually laid, levied, and collected, and that
the amount thereof shall be appropriated to the payment of the
interest of the internal debt of the United States due within that
State, with the proviso and on the condition above set forth.
The act of the 18th April, 1783, also recommends to the States
an alteration in the 8th of the articles of confederation and perpetual
union, for ascertaining with more convenience and certainty the
proportions to be supplied by the States respectively to the common
treasury. And the several States are advised to authorize their
respective delegates to subscribe and ratify the same, as part of the
said instrument of union, in the words therein mentioned.
With this part of the act the following States have complied:
Massachusetts, by their act of 2d July, 1785.
Connecticut, do. May, 1783.
New York, do. April, 1785.
New Jersey, do. June, 17838.
Pennsylvania, do. August, 1783.
Maryland, do. November, 1784.
Virginia, do. May, 1784.
North Carolina, do. June, 1784,
By the act of 26th April, 1784, it is recommended to the Laie
tures of the several States to vest the United States, in Congress
assembled, with power— |
Ist. To prohibit any goods, wares, or merchandize, from being
imported into, or exported from, any of the States in vessels belonging
to, or navigated by, the subjects of any Power with whom these
States have not formed treaties of commerce.
2d. ‘To prohibit the subjects of any foreign State, Kingdom, or
Empire, unless authorized by treaty, from importing into the United
States any goods, wares, or merchandizes, which are not the produce
or manufacture of the dominions of the sovereign whose subjects
they are.
In pursuance of this act,
New Hampshire has invested Congress for fifteen years with full
power to regulate the trade of the United States as they may judge
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 515.
‘est calculated to promote the weal and prosperity thereof; the fees,
vrofits, and emoluments arising from their regulations to be appro-
‘riated to the sole use of discharging public debts. See act 22d
‘une, 1785.
- Massachusetts has passed a law in the terms of the recommend-
‘tion Ist July, 1784.
' Rhode Island has empowered their delegates to agree to ratify any
rticle empowering the United States in Congress assembled to
culate, restrain, or prohibit, the importation of all foreign goods in
ny but American vessels. See act passed February session, 1785.
ind by an additional act, passed October, 1785, the delegates are
mpowered to agree to any article by which the United States in
Yongress assembled shall be solely empowered to regulate the trade
‘nd commerce of the respective States and citizens thereof with
ach other, and to regulate, restrain, and prohibit the importation of
ll foreign goods in American vessels for twenty-five years.
New York has passed an act in the terms of the recommendation,
th April, 1785.
New Jersey, do., 26th November, 1785.
_ Pennsylvania, do., 15th December, 1784.
Maryland, do., November, 1784.
_ Virginia, do., 3d May, 1784.
North Carolina, do., 2d June, 1784.
_ Connecticut, do., May, 1785.
_ Ordered, That the above report be printed for the use of the
aembers.
——O
i
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
New York, February 22, 1786.
Dear Sir,
_ [had the honor of writing to you on the 8d instant, since which
‘have not had the pleasure of receiving any letters from you.
among other papers then sent was a copy of a report (agreed to by
Songress) on the subject of certain representations from Massachu-
tts; but copies of the documents referred to in it, and which were
aen making, could not be completed in time to be then sent. You
vill find them herewith enclosed, together with a list or account of
em.
ol6 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Nine States are not yet represented i in Congress, and therefore the
affairs of the Department continue in the same state that they were |
im at the date of my last.
The public papers will enable you to see the complexion of the ;
times. Federal opinions grow, but will be sometime before they
will bear fruit; and what is not the case with most other fruits, they
will, to judge from present appearances, ripen slower in the South |
than in the North. :
The packet will sail next week. I shall then write to 79
again. |
With great and sincere esteem, &c., ~ JOHN JAY.
Office for Foreign Affairs, January 3, 1786.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of F oreign |
Affairs, to whom was referred a letter of 4th November last, from
his Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts to the Bl
of that Commonwealth in Congress, reports:
That this letter states im substance that divers effects had, by
orders of the British Commanders-in-Chief, been taken from the
inhabitants, not as the property of enemies, but of persons under
their protection, under the idea that the former ownership continued,
and the greater part of which was expressly kor to be restored
by those commanders.
That the latter clause in a British act of Parliament, passed 29th
November, 1774, creates legal impediments to those owners. recov-
ering in due course of law the value of their effects so taken. |
That considering the peculiar circumstances of this subject, the
spirit and real intention of that clause, the times and general purposes
that produce it, the Legislature is induced to believe that if Congress
would instruct their Minister at the Court of London to move this
subject, properly digested, to that Court, the Government of that
nation would so far reconsider their former doings on it as to remove
those impediments, or make some other provision whereby right and
justice shall be done to the parties and individuals more immediately
concerned. |
If Congress make any application to the British Court on this
subject, it can only be either for justice or for favor ; the latter will
doubtless be out of the question. If for justice, two questions arise:
| DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 51%
first, whether their application can be supported on that ground ;
and, secondly, whether it probably will be successful if it can be so
supported. .
| The clause recites that «“ Whereas, before the passing of this act,
“divers persons, vessels, cargoes, and other effects may have been
‘seized, detained, damaged, or destroyed, in pursuance of orders,
“ regulations, restrictions, and limitations heretofore issued and estab-
“lished by the Commanders-in-Chief of his Majesty’s forces in North
«America, or by persons acting under their authority, for the public
“service, and for suppressing the rebellion in North America.”
_ Tt then enacts, “that all such acts, matters, and things, shall be
‘deemed, and are hereby declared to be, legal, to all intents and
‘purposes whatever; and all actions, &c., for, or by reason of any
“‘aet, matter, or thing advised, commanded, appointed, or done, with
“respect to such orders and regulations, by the said Commanders-in-
“Chief, or by any person acting under their authority, shall be
(discharged and made void.”
_ May it not be questioned whether this act can be construed to
| invalidate the engagements or promises of the commanders to make
Testoration ; or in other words, can effects, taken under such engage-
ments, be considered as coming within the view and provision of the
_statute, which, from the nature of it, must be construed strictly ?
_ If the court and their judges should adopt this idea, the matter
will naturally remain as it now is, and the application would produce
nothing, except, perhaps, an opinion that it was premature.
If, on the other hand, they should consider all these cases as
within the act, might they not answer, that all military violence and
| njuttes on both sides were done away by the peace, and that, as
_these cases were not provided for in it, they must remain as they
then were?
_ May they not also answer, that we pass laws in some of the States
impeding British creditors from recovering their debts, as stipulated
, by the peace, and that in another we pass Jaws authorizing actions
, at law for damages done during the war by military order, and that,
_ while such acts continue, such applications should be postponed ?
_ Admit that justice demands of them to remove the impediments
in question, is it probable that they would do it?
| A judgment of the temper of the nation in general, and of their
| Parliament in particular, may be formed from Mr. Adams’s letters ;
o18 ‘ JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
and they, in the opinion of your Secretary, represent it in a poimto
view so unfavorable as to promise no success to such an application,
Many of their officers might be deeply affected by the loss of thai
indemnity which they now hold on the faith of Government; and
it is not likely that they will open their Treasury and compensate the
sufferers in question out of it, when so many refugees, for whom they
are bound to provide, are daily importuning them for money.
For these and a variety of reasons your Secretary thinks jit not
probable that such an application would be successful; and he also.
thinks that Congress should never demand or ask for even justice,
while they have great reason to apprehend a refusal, unless in cases
where they may be able and determined to compel a compliance by
force or retaliation. a
If'a period should arrive when both countries shall be disposed to
do away whatever may be mutually offensive or disagreeable, it is
not improbable that in the moment of that good humor they might
do something for the sufferers under consideration ; but that peri
nas not yet arrived. | |
Upon the whole matter, your Secretary is of opinion that copies
of these papers should be transmitted to Mr. Adams; that he be
instructed to sound the British Minister on the cules but not to
bring forward any formal demand or representation on the subject,
unless from preceding circumstances he shall be induced to think
that it would have a favorable issue, it being the intention of
Congress to refer the time and manner of doing it to his prudence
and discretion.
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
JOHN JAY.
Papers on which the aforegoing Report was made, viz:
[No. 1.]
From the Governor of Massachusetts to the Delegates of that State
m Congress.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, i
Council Chamber, Boston, November 4, 1785.
Gentlemen,
The memorials presented to the Legislature of this Commonwealth,
copies of which you have enclosed, with the papers that tend to
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 7 519
support the facts stated in them, will suggest to your consideration a
subject interesting to many individuals of this State. As this subject
‘ust be considered and adjusted on national principles, and may
properly come under the consideration of Congress, you will give it
that attention it deserves, and conduct it in such manner as shall
appear to you most for the interest of the public, and the individuals
concerned. It appears that not only the property of the persons
described in the enclosed papers, but that the property of several
‘other individuals, citizens of this State, was, during the late war,
taken from them under similar circumstances, by virtue of the orders
of the British Commanders-in-Chief in America, not as the property
‘of enemies forfeited to the captors by the laws of war; but as the
property of persons under their protection, which was taken under
‘the idea that the former ownership continued, and a great part of
which was expressly engaged to be restored by those commanders.
‘Whence a just debt of a private nature, a just right and claim,
‘accrued to each of these individuals to demand and have an
equivalent. And though the operations of law, and the means of
recovering those debts were suspended during the war as a conse-
quence of it, yet the British Government ought not, by a legislative
act, to have created, or now to continue legal impediments to the
‘recovery of them; or at least it is, according to the modern laws and
‘usages of nations, right and just that the Legislature of that kingdom
‘should now remove those impediments by repealing the latter clause
‘in the act of Parliament, a copy of which is enclosed, or make other
provision for doing justice in this case. Considering the peculiar
circumstances of this subject, the spirit and real intention of that
clause, the times and general purposes that produced it, the Legisla-
‘ture of this Commonwealth is induced to believe, that if Congress
should instruct their Minister at the Court of London to move this
‘subject properly digested to that Court, the Government of that
nation will so far reconsider their former doings on it as to remove
those impediments, or make some other provision whereby right and
justice shall be done to the parties and individuals more immediately
_ concerned.
In behalf of the Legislature, who prepared the foregoing letter, I
have the honor to be, very respectfully, &c.,
JAMES BOWDOIN.
320 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
[No. 2.]
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
To the Honorable Senate and Honorable House of Representatin
an General Court assembled at Boston, October, A. D. 1785. |
The memorial and petition of Thomas Bulfinch, of Bosto:
Physician, humbly shews— | i
That on the 19th of April, 1775, when hostilities were commence.
between the troops of the King of Great Britain and the people c
this country, your petitioner was, as he from his birth had been, a.
inhabitant of the town of Boston, and being at that time visited wit
sickness in his family, and having a number of patients laborin,
under a variety of maladies, whose health, if not lives, depended 0;
his constant and critical care and attention, he was constrained fron
principles of humanity to remain within the town, under the solem)
engagement entered into by the Commander-in-Chief of the Britis!
troops to the inhabitants, that the persons and property of such a
continued within the garrison should be safe and secure. ‘That you
petitioner at this time was the proprietor of a shop and stores unde
the care of Mr. Peter Roberts, Apothecary, stocked with a large ant
valuable assortment of all kinds of drugs, medicines, and othe
merchandizes, to the amount of 3,4211. 2s. 6d. sterling, according t
the best and most accurate calculation that he is now able to make.
to which he has subjoined a demand for lawful interest on that sum:
that on the 14th day of December, A. D. 1775, your petitioner's
said shop and stores were forcibly broken open by the provost of
the garrison, assisted by certain British officers to your petitioner
unknown, by virtue of orders given them by General Sir William
Howe, then commander-in-chief, and all his property to the afore-
said amount taken and carried away for the use of the British
hospital, against the repeated remonstrances of your petitioner, who
was denied the privilege even of taking an account of the articles,
and was refused a receipt or acknowledgment of the same, which he
afterwards solicited. All which will appear by the deposition and
other papers herewith exhibited.
That your. petitioner flattered himself that,-as no declaration of
independence had then been made, and the inhabitants of both
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 591
sountries acknowledged the King of Britain as their common sov-
sreign, the common law of England as practised in either country
would construe the injury done him, into a civil trespass, for which
re might one day be compensated in damages by a suit at law
against Sir William Howe, and accordingly at the conclusion of the
yar, finding the treaty of peace had left open to the individuals of
soth countries their legal remedies for just demands, your petitioner
sent his evidence aforesaid to Great Britain, with directions to his
friend there to institute a suit against Sir William Howe for the
recovery of damages for the injury he had sustained; but he now
Ands that the Parliament of Great Britain have passed a solemn act
of indemnity in favor of Sir William Howe, and all others who acted
under his command while in America, against all supposed wrongs
by him or them committed during the war, and have thereby not
only prevented your petitioner from his individual remedy at law,
but have adopted the doings of Sir William Howe, and made the
nation answerable for his conduct. The American Minister at that
Court has been accordingly applied to in this view of it, but he
declines entering upon the subject until he is empowered and directed
by Congress specially on the subject ; though (as your petitioner has
been informed) he has been pleased to acknowledge the justice and
‘propriety of the measure.
As, therefore, your petitioner’s property was forcibly taken from
chim while under the power and control of the British army, and by
order of the Governor of their garrison, and was appropriated to the
‘use and benefit of the British Government ; and as the Supreme
| Legislature of that kingdom have deprived your petitioner of his legal
remedy by a public national act, contrary (as he humbly conceives)
| to the spirit and meaning of the 4th article of the treaty of peace,
he has no other mode of redress but by imploring the inter position of
‘the Government to which he owes and pays allegiance upon national
| principles ; and which, by the original social compact, which each
individual has entered into with society, and society with each
individual, they are bound to afford. He, therefore, prays this
honorable court would take his case into their consideration, and
_ grant him relief by requesting the United States in Congress assem-
_ bled to instruct their Minister at the Court of London to demand of
| that nation an equivalent for the property taken as aforesaid, and
that your Honors would also pass an act that no suit should be
sustained against your petitioner for any moneys due from him to
/
i |
922 _ JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
any of the subjects of the King of Great Britain (to some of whom
he stands partly indebted for the goods taken as aforesaid) until such .
equivalent is granted, or the act of indemnity aforesaid of the said |
British Parliament in favor of said Sir William Howe is repealed, or |
that this honorable Court would otherwise interpose their supreme >
authority for the relief of your petitioner in the premises, as to
them shall seem right and fit; and, as in duty bound, he shall ever |
pray.
THOMAS BULFINCH.
Boston, October 24, 1785.
— ee
[No. 3.]
Lo the Honorable the Senate and the Honorable House of Repre-
sentatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
Court assembled, on the 22d day of October, 1785.
The memorial of John Rowe, Samuel Austin, Samuel Partridge,
and Samuel Dashwood, humbly shews—
|
\
That, when in the year 1775, the town of Boston was made a.
garrison by the army of the King of Great Britain, they were
respectively possessed of a very great quantity of merchandize, which |
was in their stores and shops within the town; that there being at
the time, or before the 17th day of March, 1776, the day when the |
said garrison was withdrawn, no declaration of the independence of
the United States of America, all the people within as well as without
the town were confessedly the subjects of the King of Great Britain,
and those who necessarily remained with their property under the *
control, were also under the protection of the British army, and
according to either the municipal laws of England and this country,
or the laws by which nations at war at all times govern themselves,
had a right to expect the complete protection of their persons and
property from the army then within the town. The want of health
which the said Rowe then labored under rendered it necessary that
he should remove himself to seme place where he could have enjoyed
more tranquillity and a better air; but his removal was expressly
prohibited by the commander-in-chief, as was that also of the said
Samuel Dashwood. The said Samuel Austin was, during the time
aforesaid, employed as a Selectman of the town, and the said Samuel
Partridge as an overseer of the poor. Their presence in their offices
was no less necessary to the comfort and relief of their fellow-
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 523.
citizens than to the government of the town, and their employment
and attention at the request of the commander and the supplications
‘of the people, were arduous and unremitted. In this situation all
your memorialists continued until General Howe withdrew himself
from Boston. \
On the 10th of March, 1776, General Howe issued his proclama-
tion directing the people to deliver their goods on board the ship
Minerva, to Crean Brush, as appears by paper numbered 1, herewith
presented. On the same-day the General issued his other orders,
directed to Crean Brush, authorizing and requiring him to take into
his possession all such goods as if in the possession of the American
army would enable them to carry on the war, as will appear by paper
|
:
No. 2; in consequence whereof the said Crean Brush took into his
possession and carried away from the said John Rowe goods to the
amount in value of two thousand two hundred and sixty-six pounds
one shilling, as appears by papers numbered 3 and 4, the originals
whereof remain in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth ;
and also took and carried away from the said Samuel Austm mer-
i
chandize to the amount in value of three thousand six hundred and
forty-six pounds seven shillings and ten pence, as appears by his
account, duly attested, and numbered 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11; and
goods of the said Partridge to the value of five hundred and thirty-
six pounds sixteen shillings and a penny two farthings sterling money,
as will appear by the papers Nos. 12, 13, and 14; and from the
said Samuel Dashwood merchandize to the value of four thousand
eight hundred and twenty-three pounds ten shillings, as will appear
from papers numbered 15, 16, 17, and 18; the legal interest upon
which sums has amounted to the several sums calculated and
expressed at the foot of the accounts which the memorialists have
herewith separately presented.
Your petitioners feeling themselves exceedingly oppressed by the
loss of their property, and knowing the same to be taken by order of
the government which the town was then under, had strong hopes
_ of regaining the value of their goods upon the commencement of a
peace between the two countries, and therefore, soon after the late
treaty, employed an agent to prosecute the matter; but on his arrival
in England he found General Howe indemnified by an act of the
Parliament of Great Britain from any action that might be brought
against him, or any one acting under him in the measure aforesaid, a
copy wheréof is herewith presented, and numbered 19, and the last
O24 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
section therein is above referred to. The agent of your méemorialists,
made application to the Honorable Mr. Adams, Minister of the
United States at the Court of London, but he having no instruction
from Congress upon the matter, could afford him no assistance. |
Your memorialists do humbly conceive that as their property was
taken by order of the British Government while they were under the
control, and, consequently, under the protection of the army of that
Government, and taken, as they can make appear, with a professed.
intention as well for the benefit of the British merchants, to whom.
your memorialists stood indebted, as for the use of the army of the
King of Great Britain, that the value thereof is clearly due to them.
within the spirit and meaning of the 4th article of the treaty of peace, |
and that there ought to be no legal impediment to their recovering
the same ; nevertheless, the abovementioned act of Parliament for- |
bids their having a legal demand against Sir William Howe for the |
same, by means whereof they have now no redress but by applying |
upon national principles to the Government to which they owe |
allegiance. And do therefore pray your Honérs to grant them relief,
by requesting the United States, in Congress assembled, to instruct
their Minister at the Court of London to demand of the. Government |
there an equivalent for the property taken; and also by passing an
act that no suit should be maintained against either of your memori-
alists for any money due from them respectively to any of the subjects —
of the King of Great Britain until such equivalent is insured, or the —
act of indemnity aforesaid is repealed. As your memorialists, as _
citizens of this Commonwealth, have to look to your Honors alone —
for assistance upon all matters of national rivht and justice, they can —
have no reason to doubt of your attention to their memorial, and rest |
satisfied that as the honor and interests of the United States stand |
sacredly pledged to assist each individual, where the wrongs com- i
mitted by a foreign Power cannot be redressed by the municipal |
laws of the country, they shall have the wisdom not only of this
Legislature, but that of the United States in Congress assembled, to |
obtain them a recompense for the injury they have sustained. |
JOHN ROWE,
SAMUEL AUSTIN,
SAMUEL PARTRIDGE,
SAMUEL DASHWOOD.
JOHN AVERY, Jr., Secretary.
A true copy,
Attest ;
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 525
‘No. 4. An authenticated copy of a letter from Dr. Morris to Dr.
Bulfinch, December 19, 1785.
‘No. 5. Dr. Bulfinch’s account.
No. 6, 7, and 8. Affidavits of P. Roberts, Charles Joy, and John
Hoffains, for Dr. Bulfinch.
‘No. 9. John Rowe’s account.
‘No. 10. Philip Jarvis’s deposition for John Rowe.
‘No. 11. Samuel Austin’s account.
‘No. 12. Affidavits of Timothy Newell and Samuel Sloan for Mr.
Austin.
‘No. 13. Samuel Partridge’s account.
\No, 14, 15. Affidavits of Lydia Brown, E. Ivers, and Ann Wheeler,
,. in favor of Samuel Partridge.
\No. 16. Samuel Dashwood’s invoice of goods, and his testimony.
‘No. 17, 18. Depositions of Eliza Ivers, Ann Wheeler, and Isabella
Welsh for Samuel Dashwood.
\No. 19, 20. General Howe’s order to Crean Brush, and Brush’s
a examination.
‘No. 21. General Howe’s proclamation of 10th March, 1776.
\A printed act of Parliament passed on the 26th November, 1774.
10)
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, November 4, 1785.
Dear Sir,
Yesterday, at the Minister’s levee, one of the foreign Ministers
"put into my hands a Leyden gazette, in which I found announced
‘to the public an arrét of the King of France of the 18th of Septem-
ber, in which a bounty of ten livres per quintal is promised to any
French merchants who shall import into the market of the French
‘West India Islands, or of Spain, Portugal, or Italy, any fish of the
| French fisheries, and in which the impost upon all foreign fish is
raised to five livres a quintal. This amounts to an encouragement of
fifteen livres a quintal upon French fish in the West Indies.
As the supply of the French islands with fish is so material,
| perhaps so essential to our fishery, this ordinance deserves the earliest
and most serious attention of every man in America who has any
regard to our fisheries.
As the supply of the French islands with fish is of so much con-
) sequence to the British fishery, I took occasion, in a conference with:
|
926 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
the Marquis of Caermarthen, to mention it to him, and to observe to.
him, that I left it to his Lordship to consider whether the British
fisheries could be supported against the influence of this ordinance
without the freest communication of supplies from the United States.
His Lordship thought it deserved consideration, and that was all the.
oracle would deliver. I afterwards mentioned it to Mr. Frazer, his |
Lordship’s under Secretary of State.
The Marquis of Caermarthen, that I may let you into enough of
his character to account for his conduct, is a modest, amiable man,
treats all men with civility, and is much esteemed by the foreign |
Ministers as well as the nation; but is not an enterprising Minister, —
is never assuming, and, I believe, never takes upon himself to decide |
any point of importance without consulting the Cabinet. He never |
gives his private opinion, but in all things which respect America, I
do not believe that he or any other of the Ministry has yet formed |
any. We shall, I think, learn nothing of their designs till they are
brought forth in Parliament, in the course of the winter and spring. |
Mr. Pitt commenced his career with sentiments rather liberal —
towards the United States; but since he has been Prime Minister,
he has appeared to have given ear to the Chancellor and Lord
Gower, Mr. Dundas, and Mr. Jenkinson, with their instruments,
Irvin, Chalmers, Smith, and others, so much as to have departed
from his first principle. He has tried the experiments of the
Newfoundland bill and the fourth Irish proposition ; but finding
the fatal success of both, he may be brought back to the system
with which he set out; but I doubt it, or rather Iam convinced he |
never will, until he is obliged to it by our States adopting navigation
acts.
There is published this morning in the Chronicle the proceedings
at Charleston on the 15th August, which look very encouraging, if —
the Legislature of South Carolina lay partial restrictions on the ships
of such nations as have no treaty of commerce with the United.
States. I think it cannot be doubted that all the other States will
come into the measure, because there is none which will suffer a
greater temporary inconvenience by it. These measures have a
tendency to encourage the naval stores of North Carolina so much
that she will be a gainer. |
But the principal danger is, that these restrictions may not be.
sufficiently high to give a clear advantage to the ships of the United |
States,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 597
I cannot repeat to you too often, sir, that all my hopes are founded
‘upon such exertions in America. The trade with America must
come under consideration of Parliament in the renovation of the
intercourse act, if not of the Newfoundland act; and their delibera-
tions will be influenced: by nothing but et navigation acts. I
fear there are not enough of these yet made, nor likely to be made
‘this year, to have much effect.
This nation is strongly blinded by prejudice and passion. They
‘are ignorant of the subject beyond conception. ‘There is a prohi-
bition of the truth arising from popular anger. Printers will print
nothing which is true without pay, because it displeases their readers ;
while the gazettes are open to lies, because they are eagerly read
iand make the paper sell. Scribblers for bread are wholly occupied
‘m abusing the United States; and writers for fame, if there are any
‘such left in this country, find the public applause wholly against us.
‘The rise of the stocks established Mr. Pitt, and if he were willing
he would scarcely be able to do right until America shall enable him
and oblige him.
I an, sir, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
10)
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
Office for Foreign Affairs, May 1, 1786.
Dear Sir,
It is the pleasure of Congress that you protract your negotiation
‘with the Court of Great Britain, respecting posts which should have
‘been, before this, surrendered to the United States, and other infrac-
‘tions of the said treaty by that Power, so as to avoid demanding a
categorical answer respecting the same until the further orders of
Congress.
I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN JAY.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, November 5, 1785.
Dear Sir,
The Chevalier de Pinto, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plen-
ipotentiary from Portugal, after a long absence by leave of his Court,
528. JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
is lately arrived here from Lisbon. Upon several occasions when if
met him at Court and upon visits, he told me that he had orders
from his Court to confer with me upon the project of a treaty
between the United States and Portugal; but he never descended,
to particulars till yesterday, when he called upon me, and said that,
before he left Lisbon his Court had learned that I was in England,
and had charged him to enter into conference with me concerning
the project of a treaty which had been transmitted to his Court by,
the Count de Souza ; that the Portuguese Ministry, notwithstanding
their high esteem for their Ambassador in France, knowing that he
lived in the country, and was in distress, did not choose that the:
negotiation should be any longer conducted by him, but had com=
mitted the project to their Envoy at the Court of England, and had
instructed him to. assure me that the Court of Lisbon was sincerely |
desirous of entering into a treaty of commerce with the United,
States of America, a Power with which it was more convenient for |
Portugal to trade than any other; but there were some things in the,
plan proposed which were inadmissible, particularly the Americans:
could never be admitted into the Brazils; it was impossible. It was
the invariable maxim of their Court. to exclude all nations from those |
territories ; and having himself served for some years as Governor |
General of one of the Brazils, he knew it was a policy from which |
his Court could never; on any consideration, depart; that it wasa
great compliment to him to be preferred to the Count de Souza for |
the conduct of such a negotiation; that he made no pretensions to !
such merit, but readily acknowledged: the superiority of the Ambas- |
sador; but it was the pleasure of his Court, and he had no right to:
dispute it. e
I answered that I had no authority to treat, but ‘in conjunction —
with Mr. Jefferson, the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States |
at the Court of Versailles. That the full power to treat with ,
Portugal was to Mr. Jefferson and me jointly; so that I could
conclude nothing without his concurrence, nor carry on any confer-
ences without communicating them to him. To this I supposed he .
could have no objection. He said, none at all.
His first instruction was, he said, to confer with me concerning the ,
mutual wants and several productions of our countries whieh might
be the objects of commerce. His countrymen wanted, he said,
grain. I asked if they did not want flour? He said he was not
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 529
precisely instructed concernmg flour, but they had mills in Portugal
‘which they wished to employ. I replied, that in every negotiation,
T thought there ought to be a mutual consideration of each other’s
‘profits and losses, advantages and disadvantages, so that the result
might be equitable, and give satisfaction on both sides; that a
‘commerce founded upon compacts made upon this principle would
fever be carried on with more pleasure, and to better effect ; that we
‘had mills which we wished to employ as well as Portugal, and mills
‘as costly and as good as those of any nation. ° In this respect, then,
‘our pretensions were mutual and equal; but there were other
particulars, in which, without any benefit to Portugal, the loss to
‘the United States would be very great. The commigelice was more
‘difficult to preserve in grain than in flour. It was more exposed to
‘the insect and to heat, both at home and upon the passage, by which
ithe loss upon wheat was much greater than that upon flour; that it
would not be equitable then for Portugal to receive wheat to the
exclusion of flour; that this was a point of so much importance that
it would facilitate the treaty, and encourage the commerce, if his
Court should think fit to agree to receive our flour.
He said he had not precise instructions, but he would write to his
Court: particularly upon the subject. The next article wanted by
the Portuguese was lumber of various sorts, particularly staves for
pipes in large quantities. They wanted also ship-timber, pitch, tar,
‘and turpentine; pot ash for their manufactures of glass, iron, masts,
yards, and bowsprits, furs, ginseng, and above all, salt fish. The
consumption of this article in Portugal, he said, was immense, and
he would avow to me that the American salt fish was preferred to
any other on account of its quality.
Here you see, says the Chevalier del Pinto, is a catalogue of
articles which the Portuguese will want in larger or smaller quanti-
‘ties. Now, what are the articles you can take in America in
exchange ? ? It behooves my nation to inquire what they can supply
yours with, otherwise the balance in your favor may be too ruinous
‘tous. It happens unluckily for Portugal that the Americans have
Mo occasion for our principal commodities, which are tobacco, rice,
‘indigo, &c., the produce of the Brazils.
Treplied that the United States had been used to take considerable
‘quantities of Madeira, Lisbon, and Port wines, fruits, olive oils, salt,
‘&c. He asked why we could not take tea from Lisbon? They
Vou. Il.—34
930 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
imported from the East large quantities, and very good. Th
English East India Company had purchased of them this year te:
to the amount of forty thousand pounds, and he thought they coul_
sell it to us cheaper than we bought it elsewhere. ‘They coul
supply us, likewise, with other East India goods. Perhaps w
intended to supply ourselves by a direct trade to India. He we
glad to hear that our first enterprizes had sueceeded; but if w
continued to take any part of our consumption from Europe, the
could supply us as cheaply as any other nation. Sugar, too, th
produce of the Brazils, they could furnish to us of as good qualit”
as English or French, and much cheaper. If we should think ¢
manufactures among ourselves, they could let us have wool of th
same qualitywith the Spanish, and cotton in any quantities we migh
want. If we made chocolate, they could sell us cocoa. Indeec
they had woolen manufactures, and could afford us cloth as good an|
cheap as other nations. These were things, I replied, in which th
merchants on both sides should speculate. If the United State
should proceed in the plan already begun, of encouraging their ow)
manufactures, the raw materials of wool and cotton would be i
demand. And if they persevered in their measures for encouraging
their own navigation, they would want large quantities of hemp, sai_
cloth, &c., from the Baltic; and for what I know, they might fini
their account in taking sugars, cotton, cocoa, &c., at Lisbon to carry
as remittances to Petersburgh and Stockholm. “They might even
upon some occasions, purchase tobacco, rice, and indigo, for thi
same market as well as the Mediterranean, if that sea should bh
open to our ships. But all these things would depend upon the
facilities given to our commodities by the treaty. Nothing woul
contribute so much to promote the trade as their receiving our flow:
without duties or discouragements. Our ready-built ships, too, were
an article of importance to us. He said he did not know that om
ready-built ships were prohibited. I asked if they could not take ou
spermaceti oil to burn in their lamps, or for any other uses. He said
no; they had such an abundance of oil made in the country, of olives
whet grew there, that they had no occasion for their own spermaceti
‘oil, which they sold to Spain. They had now a very pretty sperm:
aceti whale fishery, which they had learned of the New Englanders,
and carried on upon the coast of Brazil. I asked if they could not
‘take our spermaceti candles, and burn them in their churches? He
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 531
‘said they made some wax in Portugal, and some in Brazil, but he
‘would own it was not enough for their consumption. The surplus
they bought in Italy and Barbary at a dear rate. At length, I
‘observed to the Chevalier, that Portugal abounded in two articles
‘which would be extremely convenient to my fellow-citizens, in
‘which she might always balance accounts with us to our entire
‘satisfaction, whether we should take more or less of their other
‘commodities. These were silver and gold; than which no kind of
'merchandize was in greater demand, or had a higher reputation.
‘The Chevalier thought the taste of his countrymen so much like
ours, that they had rather pay us in any thing else.
Tadded, if the conduct of the Court of St. James should oblige
‘the United States to make a navigation act, their commerce must
‘increase with Portugal. A navigation act! says he. Why t ere is
‘Not a nation in Europe that would suffer a navigation act to be made
‘in any other, at this day. The English navigation act was made in
‘times of ignorance, when few nations cultivated commerce, and no
‘Court but this understood or cared any thing about it; but at present
all Courts were attentive to it. For his part, if he were Minister in
‘Portugal, he would not hesitate to exclude from her ports the ships
of any nation that should make such an act. I replied, that I did
not mean a navigation act against any nation but this; but if the
‘English persevered in enforcing their act against us, we could do no
‘other than make one against them. ‘The Chevalier said we should
be perfectly in the right. The Courts of Europe had a long time
ried out against this act of the English. If it were now to begin,
it would not be submitted to.
_ This observation is just, and it may be carried farther. I do not
believe the British navigation act can last long, at least, I am
persuaded, if America has spirit enough, wmbone repellere umbonem,
that all the nations will soon follow her example, and the appre-
hension of this would be alone sufficient, if thinking beings governed
this island, to induce them to silence America by giving her satis-
faction. But they rely upon our disunion, and think it will be time
enough when we shall have shown that we can agree.
_ The Chevalier concluded the conference by saying that he would
‘write to his Court for farther information and instructions, and, as I
understood him, for full powers; but before he went away he said,
he had orders from his Court to inquire of me what were the senti-
O82 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
ments of Congress upon the head of Ministers and Consuls, whether
they would send a Minister and Consul to Lisbon. His Court had)
a mind to send somebody to the United States, but etiquette required
that Congress should send in return to Portugal. I answered, that
in the project of a treaty which was in his possession, there was an’
article that each party should have a right to send Consuls, so that
when the treaty was concluded, Portugal would be at liberty to send’
when she would; as to Ministers I had no instructions, but there’
could be no doubt, that if their Majesties of Portugal thought proper:
to send an Ambassador of any denomination, he would be received by |
Congress with all the respect due to his character and his sovereign.
He said, if there was a treaty there ought to be Ministers. I could’
not answer to this particularly for want of instructions, but Congress’
had as yet but few Ministers abroad, and, indeed, they had not found —
many gentlemen disposed to quit the delights of their own families
and connexions, and the esteem of their fellow-citizens, for the sake |
of serving in Europe; and here ended the conversation.
With great esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
P. S. I forgot to mention, in its place, that I asked the Ghovalieé| |
about our ships being admitted to the Portuguese island of Macao,
in the East Indies. He said that would be of importance to us, for’
he did not see how the commerce with China could be carried on
without the use of that island, as there were certain seasons of the
year when European ships, and American too, he supposed, could
not be admitted into Canton. But our ships should aoe the eer
of their island as fully as any nation in Europe.
You will perceive, sir, by this conference, what is more and more.
manifest every day, that there is, and will continue, a general
scramble for navigation. Carrying trade, ship-building, fisheries, are.
the cry of every nation, and it will require all the skill and firmness’
of the United States to preserve a reasonable share of their own;
they have brought treaties of commerce so much into fashion, that |
more have been made since the American war, and are now in —
negotiation, than had been made for a century before. Courts which
never made one before, are now proposing them to several others. |
Portugal is supposed to be pushing for one with Russia; and if we ©
have heretofore been discouraged and thwarted in any attempts, it
was by those who meant to be beforehand with us, in proposals, |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 533
which they taught us to believe it unnecessary and beneath our
dignity to make. France does not now think it beneath her dignity
to propose a treaty with Russia, nor do French or English news-
_ papers, under the direction of their Courts, think it beneath them to
_ fill all Europe with reports of our disunion, and of the want of powers
_in Congress to make treaties, in order to keep us back.
__ The fatal policy of obstructing and delaying our treaties of com-
merce, especially with England, has thrown American merchants
_ into their present distress, and not only prevented our acquiring fresh
advantages in trade by the revolution, but taken from us many
sources which we enjoyed before. Our countrymen, partly from
penury and partly from fondness, have been too easily drawn into
, the snare. J. A.
Oo
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, November 11, 1785.
Dear Sir,
There is no better advice to be given to the merchants of the
! United States than to push their commerce to the East Indies as fast
«and as far as it will go.
If information from persons who ought to know may be depended
| upon, the tobacco and peltries, as well as the ginseng of the United
{ States, are proper articles for the China market, and have been
- found to answer very well, and many other of our commodities may
‘be found in demand there. But there is another resource, which
may prove of equal value at present. There are many persons in
the European factories in India, particularly the English, who have
accumulated large property which they wish to transmit to Europe,
' put have not been able to do it, on account of the distance and the
scarcity of freights. These would be glad to sell us their commodities,
. and take our bills of exchange upon Europe or America, payable in
_ twelve or eighteen months, possibly in longer periods.
These facts are known to individuals in America, but will
_ probably be concealed from the public at large, lest the speculators
and adventurers should be too numerous for the profit of a few.
The States may greatly encourage these enterprises by laying on
_ duties upon the importation of all East India goods from Europe,
and, indeed, by proceeding in time to prohibitions. This, however,
? .
304 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
may never be necessary. Duties judiciously calculated, and made
high enough to give a clear advantage to the direct importer from.
India, will answer the end as effectually as prohibitions, and are less
odious, and less liable to exceptions. |
We should attend to this intercourse with the East with the more |
ardor, because the stronger the footing we obtain in those countries,
of more importance will our friendship be to the Powers of Europe |
who have large connexions there. The East Indies will probably
be the object and the theatre of the next war, and the more familiar |
we are with every thing relative to that country, the more will the |
contending parties desire to win us to ‘their side, or at least, what -
we ought to wish for most, to keep us neutral.
Much will depend upon the behavior of our people who may >
go into those countries. If they endeavor, by an irreproachable
integrity, humanity, and civility, to conciliate the esteem of the |
natives, they may easily become the most favored nation, for the |
conduct of European nations, in general, heretofore, has given us a
great advantage.
East India manufactures in silk and cotton, &c., are prohibited in
England, and as we have no such prohibitions in America, because
we have no such manufactures for them to interfere with, we may
take them to a great advantage.
I am, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
aan: —
Report of Secretary Jay on Mr. Adams's letter of 11th November, |
1785. | |
Office for Foreign Affairs, May 8, 1786.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, to whom was referred a letter from the honorable Mr.
Adams of 11th November last, reports :
That the facts and observations contained in this letter appear to
your Secretary to be well founded. |
That Congress, for want of power to regulate trade by their own
acts, can make no other use of this letter than to publish it or to
refer it to the States,
That in his opinion it should not be published, lest it inerease the
jealousy with which our late adventures to the Indies have already
inspired the nations trading thither.
|
. ° |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 535
_ That he also thinks it should not be referred to the States, because
‘the clashing and unsystematical regulations which thirteen different
‘States will naturally establish, must operate against national objects,
and, therefore, that their interfering in national concerns, except in
isubordination to the Federal Government, should not be encouraged.
| All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
| JOHN JAY.
}
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, November 24, 1785.
Dear Sir,
I was yesterday honored with your letter of the 14th of October,
‘accompanied with the gazettes and the act of Congress of the 27th
’ September.
You will learn from Mr. Dumas’s letters, as well as by the public
‘papers, that the treaty of defensive alliance between France and
| Holland was signed at Paris on the 10th of this month. The vain
exertions of the Cabinet of St. James to prevent it are, so far from
‘being a secret, that the English or Orange party, which is the
‘same, have inserted them in their own Courier du Bas Rhin. The
offers are there stated to have been the restitution of Negapatnam,
the renunciation of the navigation of the Moluccas, the payment of
(the millions to the Emperor, the warranty of the new treaty with
| the Emperor, and the alteration of the navigation act in favor of
| Holland. Sir James Harris, with his Secretary of Legation and
‘three clerks, are said to have been very busy, night and day ; but
all to no purpose. It is not at all to be wondered at that British
Ministers should be alarmed; the only wonder is that they did not
| foresee and prevent the danger. Two years ago, by an honest settle-
ment with America, and less costly offers to Holland, they might
have maintained their rank among the Powers of Europe. It 1s now
_ lost forever.
The loss of the empire of the seas, which their ambition has long
aspired to, and which their arrogance has long claimed, would be a
benefit to mankind, and no real evil to them; but they will now find
it difficult to defend their liberty upon the seas; and if the United
States of America should accede to this defensive alliance upon any
336 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
reasonable terms, think of it as they will, their navigation, then
possessions in the east and west, and their Empire, will be at ou
mercy.
fam not informed whether Congress have any such measure in
contemplation ; but if they have, they ought not to delay it from any
expectation of anything that I can do here. So far from entertaining
any sanguine hopes, I think there is scarcely a possibility that IT
should do anything; there are divisions in the Ministry. Thurlow,
Gower, Dundas, and Jenkinson, are of the old leaven, and the King:
will have them, or some other of the same stamp, to govern. Pitt ig
but a tool and an ostensible pageant—a nose of tender virgin wax ; he |
could not carry in Parliament, nor in the Cabinet, any honest system |
with America, if he meant to do it; but he is himself very far from |
being steady in his American politics, any more than Camden or:
Richmond; and Sidney and Caermarthen are cyphers. This is
naked truth, but I should be unworthy of your confidence if I did .
not expose it to you, although your prudence and that of Congress
will not proclaim it to the world,
This great event of the French and Dutch alliance must awaken —
the feelings of this nation, if they have any left, and affords the only |
opportunity which has yet presented for offering, with any propriety, |
a memorial concerning the evacuation of the frontier posts. It would
have looked somewhat too emphatic to have. gone with a memorial
the first moment of the arrival of the news, and it would be imprudent
to delay it till the whole impression is worn off. Asa medium, then, —
I have concluded on the day of the next stated conferences of the
foreign Ministers, which will be next ‘Thursday, before the drawing
room, to wait on Lord Caermarthen with a memorial requiring, in
the name of the United States, the evacuation of all the posts.
It will not be done, however, and I shall have no answer. They
have not the courage to refuse any more than to comply. I have no
answer to any of my letters or memorials to the Ministry, nor do I
expect any before next spring—perhaps not then. _
There is no resource for me in this nation. The people are dis-
couraged and dispirited, from the general. proflizacy and want of
principle; from the want of confidence in any leaders; from the fre-
quent disappointments and impositions they have experienced in turn
from all parties. Patriotism is no more, nor is any hypocrite successful
enough to make himself believed to be one.
a
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 537
_ Fox and his friends and patrons are ruined by the endless expenses
of the last elections, and have no longer any spirit or any enter-
prise.
North and his friends are afraid of impeachments and vengeance,
and therefore will avoid all hazardous experiments by which the
popular cry might be excited.
| I see nothing, therefore, to prevent the States from completing
their measures for the encouragement of their own manufactures and
navigation , or from deliberating upon a new treaty of commerce with
‘France, or even a new alliance. You might probably purchase a
market for your ready-built ships, and your oil, &c., in France, and
the admission of your flour, and all other things, to their islands, by
(stipulating to lay greater duties upon British than French ships and
goods, to lay duties upon English West India rum in favor of French
vbrandies, &c. But in these things [I think we need not be in
ihaste.
_ Mr. Barclay and Mr. Franks are gone to Morocco, and Mr.
Lamb and Mr. Randall to Algiers, as I suppose.
_ Russia, as well as Portugal, are piqued at present with this Court,
;and Count Warranzow has several times lately asked a friend of
“mine why the United States did not make advances to his mistress.
‘Our commissions for treating with the Powers of Europe expire next
| June—long before we shall have completed the business. Congress
, will determine whether to renew them.
I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
f
|
if
|
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, November 24, 1785.
Dear Sir,
I should have added in my letter of this day that Shelburne pro-
fesses to be steady to the principle which he adopted at the peace ;
and if he were to come in, he would do something if he could; but
as an Irishman, he is hated both by the English and Scotch nobility.
As Marquis of Lansdown, he is envied for his elevation over older
families, and he seems to have no sufficient connexions to support a
vigorous administration, nor do I learn there is any probability of his
coming in.
538 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Indeed, I think this nation will have dangerous convulsions. The —
nobility are poor, in debt, and distressed, and at present the great
families all out of power. Ireland will give them trouble, and no
one can say what events may turn up from day to day. If the
stocks can be supported, however, the calm will continue ; but it is |
doubtful whether this can be.
There is no question more frequently asked me by the foreign |
Ministers, than what can be the reason of such frequent divisions of ©
States in America, and of the disposition to crumble into little
separate societies, whereby there seems to be danger of multiplying |
the members of the Confederation without end, or of setting up petty
Republics, unacknowledged by the Confederacy, and refusing
obedience to its laws? In the infancy of societies men have
generally been too little informed in their understandings, and too
much given up to the government of their passions to associate in
large communities ; but experience has shewn them the ill effects —
of too many divisions. Spain was not long ago divided into ten or
twelve kingdoms; ten of them are now united in one. France
was once divided into twelve States; now all incorporated into one
kingdom. Scotland was formerly divided into two kingdoms, and
England into seven. These are all now in one.
One must read many volumes of history to see the miseries arising
from those petty divisions of mankind, and the immense expense of
blood and treasure which it cost them to learn by experience the
necessity of uniting in larger bodies.
I have not information enough of the facts in any particular
instance to apply these reflections to any particular case; but the
frequent accounts we have in Europe of new States springing up out
of fragments of old ones, and the numerous proposals of more, do us
much harm abroad. ‘They are considered as proofs of an impatience
of temper, a restlessness of disposition that will give us much
inconvenience, will weaken us, and endanger our Confederation.
It is the earnest wish of all who desire our prosperity, that this
dangerous spirit may be checked as far as it can be consistently with
reason and justice. ee
It gives me pleasure to learn that Doctor Franklin is arrived in so
good health, and that he is happy in Philadelphia ; and I wish very
sincerely that his great age and singular reputation may give him a
dominion over the minds of the people, sufficient to reconcile them
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 539
to certain amendments in the constitution of Pennsylvania, without
which that respectable Commonwealth, from the very nature of man
_and society, must forever remain a prey to unbalanced parties.
I have not had the time to send you copies of the letters which
assed between me and Mr. Fagel and Mr. Dumas upon my arrival
here. If Mr. Dumas has done it, I am much obliged to him, and it
_ will be unnecessary for me to repeat them. I wish a Minister may
be sent there. But it is doubtful whether any body can be found to
accept of an appointment abroad, and you will not be surprised at
_ the reluctance.
With great regard, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, December 2, 1785.
Dear Sir,
Enclosed are copies of private letters, which have passed between
Lord Caermarthen and me, relative to the appointment of Mr.
Anstey. | ‘ 7
The end of this appointment is to prevent impositions upon the
commissioners in ascertaining the claims of the loyalists. Mr.
Anstey will have occasion for copies of public records, to which I
suppose there can be no objection in any State, and as his friendly
reception will have a tendency to conciliation, | make no scruple
to promise to recommend him.
I might have written a letter to this purpose to the honorable the
delegates of each State, and it is not from any want of sufficient
respect to them, but merely for want of time that I have not done it.
I hope, therefore, that the gentlemen will excuse it, and accept of
this general recommendation of Mr. Anstey to all the members of
Congress in the execution of his business.
To give the loyalists facilities in procuring evidence of their losses,
in order that they may be compensated by Great Britain, is to take
away from them all reasonable ground of complaint, so that I hope |
shall not be thought to have gone beyond my line in so readily
complying with his Lordship’s request.
With great respéct, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
540 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
FROM LORD CAERMARTHEN TO JOHN ADAMS.
|
St. James’s, November 30, 1785.
Sir,
The commissioners for the American claims having notified me
that, by virtue of the power given to them by the act of Parliament
now in force, they have appointed John Anstey, of Lincoln’s Inn,
Barrister at Law, to repair to the United States of America to.
inquire into such facts and circumstances as may be material for the |
better ascertaining the several claims, which have been, or shall be
presented under the authority of the present or former act, and that.
they are of opinion that the countenance of the several States may ,
tend to facilitate the execution of this employment, I am to request |
that you will communicate Mr. Anstey’s appointment to the members ,
of Congress, and recommend him to their protection and counte- |
nance, in the execution of the business with which he is charged.
I have the honor to be, &e., CAERMARTHEN.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO LORD CAERMARTHEN.
Grosvenor Square, December 2, 1785.
My Lord,
I have received, with a great deal of pleasure, the letter which —
your Lordship did me the honor to write me on the 80th of last —
month. |
I will take the earliest opportunity, my Lord, to communicate Mr.
Anstey’s appointment to the members of Congress, and to recom- |
mend him to their protection and countenance, in the execution of
the business with which he is charged.
And if your Lordship or Mr. Anstey should apprehend that it
might be of any service to him in his public or private capacity,
I will, with pleasure, give him letters of recommendation to the
Governors of the several States, or to any other characters to whom
he may wish to be introduced, whenever Mr. Anstey will do me |
the honor to call upon me. .
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 541
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, December 6, 1785.
| Dear Sur,
If the facts which I have had the honor to state to you in
‘my preceding letters are credited, I think it will appear that the con-
| nexions of these kingdoms with foreign Powers, every idea of the
balance of Europe, the dominions of Great Britain in Asia and
America, and all considerations of posterity, are sacrificed to a
momentary tranquillity and credit; from which premises it will be
| easy to conclude what will be the effect of the memorial, a copy of
| which is here enclosed, and which I shall certainly present to-morrow.
) It will not be answered in any manner. It is generally said “ things
/ must take their course; we must take our chance, and meet the
consequences of all the combinations of our rivals,” ‘we must risk
“it,” &e. It is commonly said that Ministry will bring in an act of
Parliament, at their next session, placing the United States upon the
footing of the most favored nation, and then let them do what they
please.
Thus I find myself at a full stop. I shall not neglect any oppor-
tunity to say or do whatever may have the least tendency to do any
good; but it would be lessening the United States, if I were to tease
“Ministers with applications which would be answered only by neglect
and silence.
I shall transmit you everything I can which may afford you any
information; but I think Congress cannot avoid instructing me to
demand an answer, and to take my leave and return to America if it
js not given me in a reasonable time in the spring. It is now with
the States to determine whether there is or is not union in America; if
there is, they may very easily make themselves respected in Europe.
If there is not, they will be very little regarded, and very soon at
war with England, as I verily believe. I should advise all the great
seaport towns to think a little of the means of defence, put the
fortifications they have in as good order as they can, furnish them-
selves with arms and ammunition, and put the militia throughout the
continent upon as good a footing as may be.
I have little reliance on our negotiations in Barbary. ‘The presents
we have to offer will, I fear, be despised. We shall learn by them,
however, what will be necessary, and Congress will determine what
|
542 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
\a
¥
4
id
:
we must do. Mr. Lamb and Mr. Randall are gone. Mr. Barclay
has been detained by Monsieur Beaumarchais’s accounts, but I hope i
will go soon. |
If all intercourse between Europe and America could be cut off
forever, if every ship we have were burnt, and the keel of another ©
never to be laid, we might still be the happiest people upon earth, —
26...
and in fifty years the most powerful. The luxuries we import from
Europe, instead of promoting our prosperity, only enfeeble our race —
of men and retard the increase of population. But the character of
our people must be taken into consideration. They are as aquatic —
as the tortoise and sea-fowl, and the love of commerce, with its:
conveniences and pleasures, are habits in them as unalterable as their _
natures. It is in vain then to amuse ourselves with the thought of |
annihilating commerce unless as philosophical speculations. Weare’
to consider men and things as practical statesmen, and to consider.
who our constituents are, and what they expect of us. Upon this
principle we shall find that we must have connexions with Europe, —
Asia, and Africa, and, therefore, the sooner we form those con-_
nexions with a judicious system the better it will be for us and our |
children. |
We may now take measures which may save us many miseries
and a vast expense of blood; we shall find that nothing can be done
in Europe, but by keeping up the dignity of the United States, and
that dignity in Europe is a very different thing from that which is
and ought to be dignity in America. :
I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
Al Memorial from Mr. Adams respecting the Evacuation of the
Posts, &c.
The subscriber, Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States
of America, has the honor to represent to the Ministry of his
Britannic Majesty, that by the seventh article of the preliminary
treaty of peace between his Majesty and the United States of
America, signed at Paris on the thirtieth day of November, one
thousand seven hundred and eighty-two, confirmed by the definitive
treaty of peace, signed at Paris on the third day of September, one
thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, it was stipulated that his
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 543
Britannic Majesty should, with all convenient speed, and without
causing any destruction, or carrying away any negroes, or other
- property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies,
_garrisons, and fleets, from the said United States, and from every
port, place, and harbor within the same, leaving in all fortifications
the American artillery that may be therein.
_ That although a period of three years has elapsed since the
signature of the preliminary treaty, and of more than two years since
that of the definitive treaty, the posts of Oswegatchie, Oswego,
‘Niagara, Presque Isle, Sandusky, Detroit, Michilimackinac, with
_ others not necessary to be particularly enumerated, and a considerable
territory around each of them, all within the incontestable limits of
| the said United States, are still held by British garrisons, to the loss
_and injury of the said United States.
_ The subscriber, therefore, in the name and behalf of the said
| United States, and in obedience to their express commands, has the
| honor to require of his Britannic Majesty’s Ministry, that all his
- Majesty’s armies and garrisons be forthwith withdrawn from the said
United States, from all and every of the posts and fortresses herein-
before enumerated, and from every other port, place, and harbor
_ within the territory of the said United States, according to the true
_ intention of the treaties aforesaid.
Done at Westminster, this thirtieth day of November, one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-five.
JOHN ADAMS.
se aie
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, December 9, 1785.
Dear Sir,
I went to Court yesterday morning, if not in despair, with very
faint hopes of ever receiving an answer to any letter or memorial of
mine to the British Ministry. I went early, but found three of the
foreign Ministers before me. The rule is to admit them to his
Lordship in the order in which they arrive. In my turn 1 was
shewn into his Lordship’s apartment, received very politely as usual,
and very much surprised to be accosted by him with « Mr. Adams,
‘Iam about to write you officially. I have received a letter from
‘Lord Howe, relative to your communication concerning the
‘behavior of a captain of a man-of-war at Boston. ‘The Admiralty
‘letter is very long, and I shall send you a copy of it. Iam also to
544 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
‘answer your memorial concerning the seamen. The ship is.
‘ordered, and expected home from the East Indies, and when she.
‘arrives, the man you applied for will be discharged.” < And.
‘orders are gone to Portsmouth to discharge the other sailor whom |
‘you mentioned.”
This last requires some explanation, as I have not mentioned it
before to you. Some time ago I received a letter from a man at
Portsmouth, who called himself an American, and desiring me to -
apply for his discharge. But as I had no orders from Congress _
concerning him, nor any other information than his own letter, I
thought it not safe to apply officially in his behalf. When I deliv-
ered my memorial demanding the discharge of the sailors in general,
I shewed this man’s letter to his Lordship, and left it with him, and |
it has had, it seems, a better fortune than I expected. I replied to |
his Lordship that [ was very happy to hear that I was soon to have
an official answer, for, that whenever we could come to communicate _
officially and freely, I hoped we might gradually remove all difficul-
ties. We fell then into some conversation upon the other points.
But as nothing new was said on either side, and I could learn |
nothing new from. him, it would be fatiguing you to no purpose to
repeat it. One thing, however, his Lordship said, in the course of
conversation: ‘That he could not yet give me any satisfaction upon
‘any other points, because nothing was yet determined. Mr. Pitt
‘had all my papers under consideration, and had not yet determined
‘any thing.”
At length I presented to his Lordship the memorial of the 30th
November, copy of which is here enclosed. I do not expect an
answer till next summer. But I thought it safest for the ‘United
States to have it represented, because without it some excuses or
pretences might have been set up that the evacuations had not re
been formally demanded.
With great esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS,
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, December 12, 1785.
Dear Sir,
i have at length an official answer from the Marquis of Gaermasthieh
in his letter to me of the 9th of this month, a copy of which is
enclosed, together with a copy of a letter from the Lords of the
‘~ -«: DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 545
Admiralty of the 7th to his Lordship. I wish I might expect as
seasonable an answer to my memorials of the 30th November, and
4ll other letters, proposals, and memorials. ‘Their answer concerning
the sailors is more favorable than I expected, and that respecting
Captain Stanhope is as much so. All the foreign Ministers here
‘complain that they cannot get any answers from the Ministry
Mbopeting seamen, without great difficulty. The Count de
‘Kageneck, the Imperial Minister, told me lately that he had memo-
rialized for a sailor three years ago, and had often solicited an
answer, but could not obtain it to this day.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
apt Ra AE Oe
FROM LORD CAERMARTHEN TO JOHN ADAMS.
St. James’s, December 9, 1785.
| Sir,
I did not fail to lay before the King the letter you did me the
‘honor to*write to me relative to the conduct of Captain Stanhope, of
his Majesty’s ship the Mercury, at Boston, with the resolutions of
the Congress of the United States therein, as well as your memorial
‘claiming the release of such American seamen as are detained in his
|Majesty’s service; and his Majesty having directed me to transmit
these papers to the Lords of the Admiralty for their consideration
‘and opinion as to what orders it might be proper to give thereupon,
{Isend you, enclosed, a copy of the letter I have received from their
| Lordships on these subjects, which I hope will convince you that
every possible attention has been paid to your representation upon
| these points. ‘
I have the honor to be, &c., CAERMARTHEN.
FROM THE LORDS OF ADMIRALTY TO LORD CAERMARTHEN.
Admiralty Office, December 7, 1785.
My Lord,
Your Lordship having transmitted to us, in your letter of the Ist
ultimo, a copy of a letter which you have received from Mr. Adams,
Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America, together
with the resolution of the United States in Congress, relative to the
Vor. L.—35
2%
re . SS A eral |
|
546 - JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
conduct of Captain Stanhope, of his Majesty’s ship the Mercury, at
Boston, in the month of August last, and your Lordship having
signified his Majesty’s pleasure that we should take the same into
our consideration, and that as Captain Stanhope, in his correspond-
ence with Mr. Bowdoin, has made use of expressions which appear.
to be highly improper and unbecoming, we should acquaint your
Lordship, for his Majesty’s information, with our opinion thereupon,’
and transmit you a copy of such orders as may be judged proper to
be sent to Captain Stanhope, that you may lay the same before the
King, and receive his Majesty’s commands as to the answer. to be.
returned to the American Minister’s letter; and your Lordship having
also transmitted to us in your said letter a copy of a memorial.
which you have received from the American Minister, requiring the’
discharge of American seamen detained in his Majesty’s ships, and.
desired to be informed of the orders we may judge proper to give.
thereupon, that you may acquaint Mr. Adams therewith, we beg
leave to acquaint your Lordship, in return to the former part of your |
letter, that we have not received any account from Commodore |
Sawyer or Captain Stanhope, of the transaction at Boston which
gave rise to Captain Stanhope’s complaint to Governor Bowdoin ;
but whatever the circumstances of the case might be, his complaint |
should certainly have been expressed in more proper and becoming |
terms; and having once made it, he would have done well to have |
afterwards remained on board his ship, and not exposed himself to a |
repetition ef the injury, or engaged in any dispute, which, by his |
commanding officer’s instructions, he had been particularly cautioned
to avoid, but have finished his business as soon as possible, and left |
the port, trusting that any insult he had received in his public char- |
acter would be duly noticed when properly represented to his |
Majesty. We beg leave, at the same time, to suggest the necessity
which we conceive there is for a mutual, friendly reception of the
subjects of States in amity with each other, in their respective ports, |
provided they conform to the laws and customs of the place. — |
That, upon meeting with a different treatment, we apprehend the |
parties can only seek protection by application to the Chief Magis- |
trate resident on the spot, as it might be impossible for them to stay |
long enough to obtain it in the common forms of law, to which the |
Governor referred Captain Stanhope for redress; and we must |
Temark that, in this instance, it appears from the conversation which |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 5AT
passed on the subject, the act of violence offered to Captain
‘Stanhope arose not from any impropriety in his private conduct, but
in resentment of certain public commercial regulations foreign to the
purpose of his entering the port. And though the Governor supposes
these kinds of outrages to be very frequent in all sea ports, we do not
mow of any ship or vessel belonging to the American States having
‘experienced similar treatment in any of the ports of these king-
'doms.
|
| We have transmitted to Commodore Sawyer, a transcript of the
resolution of the United States in Congress, with directions to him
to call upon Captain Stanhope for the motives of his conduct in the
‘matters therein complained of, and shall lose no time in communica-
‘ting to your Lordship our sentiments thereon, when the Commodore’s
‘report enables us to pay a due obedience to his Majesty’s commands
‘on that head.
With respect to the requisition of Mr. Adams, in his memorial
mentioned in the latter part of your Lordship’s letter, that orders be
‘immediately given for the release of Richard Low, and of all such
‘seamen, soldiers, or citizens of the United States as, having been
captured during the late war, may yet be detained in his Majesty’s
‘prisons, garrisons, armies, and ships, we have to acquaint your
‘Lordship that as it is not probable any American seamen of the
‘description abovementioned should be detained on board any of his
\Majesty’s ships, except those which are now on their passage from
‘the East Indies, all others having been put into commission since the
‘conclusion of the war, we do not think it necessary to give a general
order for their release, as those ships will be paid off as soon as
possible after their arrival, and their crews consequently discharged
from his Majesty’s service.
As to John Ledyard, (whose application to be discharged from the
' Powerful, one of the guard-ships at Plymouth, accompanied the
“memorial, although not particularly mentioned therein,) having
| found upon inquiring into the circumstances of his case that he is a
subject of the United States, and that he declared himself to be a
- native of Boston when he voluntarily entered on board that ship,
. we have ordered him to be discharged, agreeable to his request ; and
| if any other seamen, subjects of the said United States, are serving
on board his Majesty’s ships, they will be considered in the same
‘light as subjects of other foreign States, and consequently be
_
048 | JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
discharged upon application to this Board, either directly or ial
the medium of their Minister residing at this Court, if their just
pretensions thereto shall be properly ascertained.
We are, &c.,
HOWE,
CHA: BRETT,
RD: HOPKINS,
J. LEVESON GOWER.
Mla ir ss
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN Jay. |
Grosvenor Square, December 15, 1785. .
Dear Sir, |
There are mysterious movements of various kinds that ought to
be observed and reflected on, although we cannot on any certain
conclusions from them.
General. Faucett is often at the levee, not indeed on Wednesdays, |
not at the drawing-room on Thursdays, on which occasions the
foreign Ministers attend, but on Fridays, when there are no|
strangers, and when only the Ministers of State, and the officers of
the Army and Navy, and some of their own foreign Ministers, and|
other civil officers, appear. From this circumstance certain warm:
imaginations entertain suspicions that Faucett is to be sent to.
Brunswick, Hesse, Anspach, &c., to enlist another body of merce: |
naries. But it is more probable it is to consult upon certain points |
relative to the pay of the German troops for time and services that |
are passed.
General Arnold is gone out to America too. From this some |
persons have conjectured that war is determined on, or. at least |
thought not improbable. He went to Halifax in a vessel of his”
own, with a cargo of his own, upon a trading voyage, as is given
out. This I can scarcely believe. It would hardly be permitted a |
general officer to go upon such a trade. He said himself he had a |
young family to provide for, and could not bear an idle life. This
is likely enough. I rather think, then, that he has obtained leave to.
go out, and purchase himself a settlement in Nova Scotia or Canada, |
that he may be ready against the possibility of a war, and that he |
may be out of the way of feeling the neglect and contempt in which |
he is held by not only the army, but the world in general. bate |
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 549
_. Joseph Brandt has lately arrived, with Lieutenant Governor
Hamilton, from Quebec ; and the Indian has been, presented to the
King, at a Friday levee, I suppose as a colonel in the British
service. ‘This confirms and increases the reports of a general confed-
eration of the Indian nations against the United States, which the
refugees propagate, partly from the pleasure they take in the thought,
and partly to persuade Government to build ships and forts upon the
Jakes—services in which they hope to get employment under the
Crown, and the fingering of some of its money. Brandt has been
heretofore in England, and is probably sent for now to be consulted,
‘as well as Hamilton. But there are such disputes and discontents
in Canada, that the Ministry know not what course to steer, and I
isuppose wish to have Carleton and Haldiman, Hamilton and Brandt,
‘altogether, face to face, that they may determine what to do. They _
will determine all at once who shall be Governor; what form the
‘Government shall have; whether to give up the frontier posts ;
‘whether to treat with the Indians for neutrality or alliance;
‘whether to build ships or forts upon the lakes, &c. But as this
| Cabinet is extremely undecided, they cannot but be secret until they
‘shall be forced to determine. We may learn something in the
_ winter session of Parliament, but shall not know the whole till next
4 summer.
'. The Marguis de la Fayette and Colonel Smith have returned from
‘Germany, somewhat alarmed at the impression made in that country
‘by the English newspapers, to our disadvantage. When I first
' became acquainted a little in Europe, I was constantly chagrined by
this perpetual impudence of the public prints, and have all along
‘done as much as my time and means would admit of to detect it.
| But I have long since found it an Augean stable.
' he truth is, that these misrepresentations, instead of being
_ discountenanced, are encouraged by every Court and Government in
' Europe. The secret motive is the fear of emigration. America is
| popular; it is a novelty. There is an abundance of provisions, a
| plenty of employment in agriculture, handicrafts, navigation, and
| commerce. The multitudes in every nation are poor, loaded with
| taxes, the necessaries of life dear, and employment difficult to obtain,
' and very meanly paid. This occasions an impatience and discontent
| at home, and an ardent desire to emigrate to the United States.
550 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Every Government in Europe is very sensible of this, and, therefore,
all the scribblers in their pay or under their influence, which are)
almost all that exist, are encouraged to collect every circumstance
which can throw a damp upon the spirit of emigration, and every
tale of the kind, every story which represents America disunited, in
confusion, anarchy, poor, distressed, miserable, is eagerly caught at,
and, true or false, is industriously repeated by letters and rumors, and
ignorant people are thus deceived into a belief that it is at least
doubtful whether they shall be more comfortable in America than at:
home. |
If we look into the foreign gazettes which circulate in F a
are under French influence, as the Gazette D’ Avignon, the Gazette
de deux Ponts, the Brussels Gazette, and others, we find ‘as many
political inventions to this purpose as in the English newspapers. 1
say this from knowledge, for I have examined those publications
with attention, with this very view for a long time together. Even
the French Mercury, published under the inspection of Government
and avowed by it, is but little purer than the rest, for the F rench.
are averse to emigrations, and much afraid of them. |
In England there is not one newspaper but is full of such dismal,’
and such false representations. One paper in the city, under the’
influence of an Irish volunteer, has lately discovered some inclination |
to be more impartial; but all the writers in the rest are busily
employed in abusing us; and it is so far encouraged by all parties,
chiefly from the dread of emigrations, that it is unpopular to insert
any thing to the contrary. It has even been refused to insert the
acts of Congress or the States, the speeches of Governors, and other
public proceedings, in the knowledge of which this nation is greatly —
interested, without paying at the rate of advertisements; and this —
even by a news writer who piques himself upon his impartiality, and |
boasts that his paper is open to all parties. Doctor Price is con-
tinually abused for his pamphlet, and sometimes expressly because
it tends to encourage emigrations. In this state of things I must be
cautious.
I'am not able to pay the scribes like an exchequer, nor promise —
them pay or promotion like an opposition. And, indeed, paragraphs
in our favor seem only to provoke ten inventions against us. Some-
thing might be done in time, however, by mixing in conversation and
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 551
explaining or contradicting the grossest and worst abuses. But this
can be done in these countries only by the civilities of the table,
and by a liberal hospitality, in which we are much straightened:
House rent, furniture, carriage, and a certain number of servants,
with the daily expenses of living, which cannot be avoided without
becoming the scorn of the world, and without being insulted by
every footman and porter, consumes all, and more than all, our allow-
ance. I feel for the circumstances of my country as much as any
man in it; but I am sure those circumstances will not be mended by
extreme parsimony in the support of her servants and negotiators in
Europe. Frugality in America is a great virtue, and it ought to be
attended to by all employed in Europe; but we shall find that
hospitality, and even splendor and magnificence, are essential to the
support of our reputation in every country of Europe, even in Holland,
and much more so in England than even at Versailles, though we
cannot make a formal distinction between these two.
When your Ministers are seen to take rank of nobles and bishops
at St. James’s, who spend many thousands a year, and are observed to
live at home and appear abroad with what is called “la plus infame
economie,” which is the expression every day in vogue, you will
find that neither you nor they will be considered as of any conse-
quence. To talk of republican simplicity is to make it worse.
Every republican idea is detested, and they think themselves bound
in duty to ridicule it, and beat it out of countenance in self-
defence.
_ Your Ministers abroad must keep a table for the entertainment of
their countrymen, for the entertainment of strangers who are presented
at Court, and consequently to them, to return the civilities that are
shown them by foreign Ministers and by people of high rank in the
country. They ought to keep a table at times for the entertamment
of men of letters and eminence in arts and sciences, by which they
might remove the prejudices of the world against their country and
themselves, and attract some attention and good will to both. How
far any of these things are in our power to do, I cheerfully submit
to the consideration and decision of Congress, being determined to
do everything in my power with the means I have, and to be happy
myself whether I make a little figure or a great one.
With great esteem, Xc., | JOHN ADAMS.
552 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, Westminster, December, 1785, |
Dear Sir, |
Tam anxious to convey to you, if I can, in as strong a light as
that in which I see it myself, the impossibility of our doing anything
satisfactory with this nation, especially under this Ministry, that the
States may neither neglect nor delay any measure which they would
judge necessary or expedient, upon the certainty that England will
not alter her conduct. In order to do this, I must be allowed to
write freely things which Congress ought to know, but to keep.
secret. I know how much I expose myself, but as I have hitherto:
made it my rule, as much as I] could, to conceal nothing which I.
thought necessary to bé known, whatever might be the consequence |
to myself, I shall not now begin a new system, and shall only
request that a reasonable caution may be observed, not to injure a:
man merely for discharging a disagreeable part of his duty. |
The King, I really think, is the most accomplished courtier in his’
dominions ; with all the affability of Charles the Second, he has all.
the domestie virtues and regularity of conduct of Charles the First.
He is the greatest talker in the world, and has a tenacious memory, |
stored with resources of small talk concerning all the little things of |
life which are inexhaustible. But so much of his time is, and has _
been, consumed in this, that he is in all the great affairs of society
and government as weak, as far as I can Judge, as we ever understood |
him to be in America. He is also as obstinate. The unbounded —
popularity acquired by his temperance and facetiousness, added to |
the splendor of his dignity, gives him such a continual feast of |
flattery, that he thinks all he does is right; and he pursues his own —
ideas with a firmness which would become the best system of action. ©
He has a pleasure in his own will and way, without which he would
be miserable, which seems to be the true principle upon which he
has always chosen and rejected Ministers. He has an habitual
contempt of patriots and patriotism—at least for what are called in
this country by those names—and takes a delight in mortifying all
who have any reputation for such qualities, and in supporting those
who have a counter character. Upon this principle only can [ |
account for the number of Tories which were forced into the admin-
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 553
istration of the Earl of Shelburne, the Duke of Portland, and Mr.
Pitt, and for the immoderate attachment to American refugees which
has appeared in all of them.
Mr. Pitt is very young; yet he has discovered abilities and firm-
ness upon some occasions; but I have never seen in him any
evidence of greater talents than I have seen in members of Congress,
and in other scenes of life in America, at his age. I have not yet
seen any decided proofs of principle, or patriotism, or virtue; on the
contrary, there are many symptoms of the want of these qualities,
without which no statesman ever yet appeared uniformly great, or
wrought out any memorable salvation for any country. In American
affairs he has vibrated credit as a pendulum, and no one can yet
guess when he will have fixed. His attention appears to have been
chiefly given to two objects—preserving tranquillity and raising the
stocks. His attention to these would have been laudable if he had
not neglected others equally essential in the end, though not so
urgent for the present period. The discontents of the nation, arising
from theit late disappointments, disgraces, and humiliations, as well
as the pressure of taxes, would have broken out into seditions if the
Ministers had not studiously avoided every thing which could raise a
clamor or operate forcibly upon popular passions ; and if the stocks
could not have been supported, all would have been distraction at
once. With all his care he has barely escaped from more furious
tumults, at the expense of a few stones thrown at his carriage, and a
few executions in effigy. The stocks he has raised, and if he can
keep them up they will support him, and intoxicate the nation to
such a degree that I presume it will be impossible for him to pursue
that system towards America and Ireland, which is indispensable for
the complete preservation of the remainder of the empire.
No Briton would deserve the character of a statesman, without a
comprehensive view of the interests of the nation, relative to their
liberties and form of government, relative to their manufactures,
commerce, and navigation, relative to their foreign dominions in
Asia, Africa, America, and in Europe, relatively to all the other
Powers of Europe, especially their ancient enemy, who has always
endangered their existence—I mean the Crown of Bourbon, and
their ancient friends who have assisted in supporting them, and
rearing up their wealth and power—I mean the Dutch and the
United States of America, and all these relatively to the interest of
~~
554 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
posterity and future ages. But I have not seen the least appearances
of any man in the three kingdoms, among the men in power, who
answers this description. Landsdowne is the most like it, but he is.
suspected, his selfishness is acknowledged, and his influence far from:
great. ‘The posts upon our frontier give me great uneasiness.
The Ministers and people, the Chancellor, Mr. Dundas, Mr.
Jenkinson, and Lord Gower, being of the old set of King’s friends,
it may be easily supposed that they think and feel like him, and
consequently, that they are masters of his character; that they
embarrass Mr. Pitt whenever his principles interfere with the King’s.
To their counsel, probably, is owing the late accession to the league in
Germany, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer is thought to have
opposed. ‘To the same cause we may ascribe the undecided conduct
towards Holland, where Sir James Harris is as complete a cypher |
as the Baron de Lynden and I have the honor to be at St. James’s. —
The King has been amused by his’ old deceivers, who are very
much alike in America, Holland, and Ireland, by assurances that
the Prince of Orange and his party would get the upperhand, and —
that the populace would rise to De Witt and the patriots. _ Under
this fond delusion the time has been dreamed away, and those —
offers were delayed until they were too late to have any effect,
which, if they had been in season, would have preserved the friend-
ship, or at least the neutrality, of the Dutch to this country.
Lord Camden and the Duke of Richmond, if they ever had any
just notions of the relation between England and America, are
become soured by the company they keep, and if they are nol | |
inimical, they are at least peevish and fretful on every subject that |
concerns us. Lord Caermarthen is rich and of high rank, very civil |
and obliging, but is not enough of a man of business to have influence _ :
in the Cabinet, or to project or conduct any thing. Lord Sidney, :
with less wealth and a lower rank, has all the parts of the same
character. If these traits of characters are just, you will easily be
convinced, that we cannot expect from the present Ministry any
reasonable arrangement with America for some time.
If we look to opposition, we see no better prospects. Lord North
is supposed to have great influence, but how? By being at the
head of the landed interest, which is but another term for the Tory
interest. If he should depart from their system he would la all
consideration.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 555
Mr. Fox has never been steady in American politics, and he has
not at present the spirit to take any decided part; the Marquis of
Lansdowne would be more liberal, but he has no chance to come in,
and if hé had he would not be able to carry any plan into execution ;
so numerous and violent, from all quarters, would be the opposition
to him.
_ The Marquis of Buckingham has some good opinions of American
commerce; but although he is celebrated for minute details of
information in American affairs, by all [ can learn of him, he has
Jost his judgment and the true system in the chaos of this very
minutie; and he is extremely odious to great multitudes of the
people.
' Add to all these unfavorable considerations, that the stocks are at
a great height, and the nation consequently in high spirits, as they
have now evidence, they think, that their commerce flourishes, and
their credit is established without a treaty with the United States,
and without opening the West Indies, or Canada, Nova Scotia, and
Newfoundland, to us, without taking off the alien duty upon oil, or
admitting our ready-built ships for sale, they will not now think it
necessary to do any of these things. The general opinion is that an
act of Parliament will be made at the ensuing Parliament, placing
the United States upon the footing of the most favored nation, and
then let things take their course; let the United States do as they
please, lay on duties or prohibitions, or make navigation acts, as they
judge proper.
France is not idle amidst all this; the language they hold is that
of perpetual and universal peace; their Ambassadors in all the
Courts of Europe speak in this style. ‘The corps diplomatic here
have it familiarly in their mouths, that the Courts of London and
Versailles have now the best disposition towards each other, and
that there is every prospect of a long peace between them; and
there is such a fund of gullibility in this nation, that these lullabies
soothe them into perfect security. Indeed, it 1s possible the peace
may be maintained for some years—long enough for the English to
get a little money to go to war again. But if, at the end of fifteen
or twenty years, the navies of France and Holland shall be pitted
against that of Great Britain, and especially if the United States
shall join their privateers and aids to the confederacy, the crisis of
the British Empire will then be complete, and its destruction certain.
#.
re
a -
556 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Some men see, but posterity and futurity, though not very distant,
appear to be less attended to in this country at present, than in any
other in the world. Present advantage is all they aim at, present
evil is all they hope to shun; are so assured of peace with iall their.
neighbors in Europe, that they hold all we can do in indifference, |
They think that if we should raise an army and take these posts, as’
we have a right to do, it would not oblige them to go to war with,
; but if we should march an army to Quebec and take it, and
he to Nova Scotia and take that, it would be no gteat harm to
them; if we should fit out privateers against their trade, they could
eibsily send a line of frigates along our coast that would do us more |
harm, so that they are quite easy; but they rely upon it that we,
shall not raise an army to take the posts. The expense and-
difficulty they know will be great, and, therefore, they think they
may play with us as long as they please. The refugees are doing
all they can to persuade the King and Ministry to build a fleet of
arme@ ships upon the lakes, and to negotiate with all the Indian —
nations in order to attach them to their side. If these people can
prevail, our posts will not be evacuated until this new system is
accomplished. The resolutions of some of the United States, staying |
proceedings at law for old debts, and some other resolutions con-
cerning the Tories, represented to have been in some instances
counter to the treaty, will be the pretence. In short, sir, I am likely —
to be as insignificant here as you can imagine. I shall be treated —
as I have been, with all the civility that is shown to other foreign
Ministers, but shall do nothing; I shall not even be answered; at
least this is my opinion; but Conan will no doubt insist upon an |
answer. Perhaps it may be most conveniént to wait till the session
of Parliament is over, that we may have a full knowledge of their
designs. It is most certain that what is called high language, which
you and I have heard so much of in the course of our lives, would
be misplaced here at this time. I would not be answered with high
language, but with what would be more disagreeable and polpleaia
with a contemptuous silence. :
To borrow an expression from the late Governor Bernard, I Sail |
myself at the end of my tether. No step that I can take, no |
language I can hold, will do any good, or, indeed, much harm. It
is Congress and the Legislatures of the States who must deliberate —
and act at present.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 557
The only system they can pursue to help themselves is to complete
their regulations for the encouragement of their own manufactures
and navigation ; to consider of more intimate commercial connexions
with France and other nations of Europe; to push their trade to the
East Indies, and, perhaps, to extend their political relations with
France and Holland. How far it will be wise to go in these projects,
I pretend not to judge; but I hope they will proceed with caution
and deliberation. ‘The United States stand on high ground at
present, and they will consider whether it would not even be
descending to form any closer political connexions at present. ‘They
are certainly at present on “advantageous ground,” if they can
unite in a system ; if not, they must trust to the chapter of accidents.
I am, dear sir, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
aE
Report of Secretary Jay on Mr. Adams’s letter of December, 1785,
an cypher.
Office for Foreign Affairs, May 8, 1786.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, to whom was referred a letter from the honorable Mr. ,
Adams of December last, in cypher, reports,
That the contents of this letter may be classed under three
heads: a
1. The characters of the British King and his Ministers; which, .
for the reasons assigned by Mr. Adams, should be kept secret.
2. The restrictive and unfriendly system of trade with respect to
America, which the British Government and the nation in general
appear to prefer and will probably adopt. Of this system the
United States have much to be apprehensive; and their inability to
meet it by general and proper regulations will doubtless encourage
-and promote it.
Congress at present can do nothing on the subject except in the
way of recommendation ; which, being a very ineffectual way, had
better not be tried, lest non-compliance should diminish their respect-
ability and impair the little authority they possess. In the opinion
of your Secretary, recommendations should be avoided as much as
possible, and every constitutional requisition impartially enforced with
uniform punctuality and decision.
oe.
558 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
The probability that the posts will be detained, on pretence of the
treaty of peace having been violated by American acts relative to
British debts and the ‘Tories. a:
On this point your Secretary can only repeat what has Heel |
suggested in other reports, viz: that what wrong may have been
done should be undone, and that. the United States should, if it were |
|
_ only to preserve peace, be prepared for war. : |
Mr. Adams’s advice in this and many of his other letters is just;
but until Congress shall be put by further powers in capacity to act |
upon it, there would be little use in particular reports on subjects |
which to them are at present rather matters of speculation than —
provision. a
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress. t
JOHN JAY.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
|
Grosvenor Square, January 4, 1786. if
Dear Sir,
I have only time to acquaint you that, since my last, there have |
been some appearances of an intention in Ministry to take up
merican affairs. Lord Caermarthen and Mr. Pitt have certainly
fallen ferences with committees of merchants, who have repre-
sented to them the necessity of arrangements with the United States
upon terms which will give satisfaction. |
Nevertheless, I have no confidence in this at all, and I think that
Congress and the States should not relax in any measure in conse-
quence of it.
Mr. Pitt did say to Mr. Campbell, the principal man among them,
that Mr. Adams, the American Minister, was well disposed to a.
friendly settlement, and had made some propositions to the King’s —
Ministers, who were also well disposed. He was very inquisitive |
whether they had seen Mr. Adams. They answered they had not,
and. that they were not known to him in the business. This was |
true in a literal sense; but in fact they had taken pains to give me |
circuitous information that they had been consulted by Lord |
Caermarthen, and to desire of me such information as I could give
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 559
them; and I had, by means of Colonel Smith, conveyed to the sight
of a person in their confidence some papers containing such matter
as I thought might be trusted to them in such a mysterious way.
The representation they have made is very strong, as they say, but f
cannot yet obtain a copy of it. They pretend to say that Mr. Pitt
-assured them their report had given him new lights, and they think
America may have whatever she desires, except a free trade with the
West India Islands.. This will prove only a delusion; for if the
Ministry really are desirous of an equitable settlement, I am well
persuaded they cannot yet carry it in Parliament; so that I hope the
‘States will persevere in their own measures, and that even all the
southern States will at least lay heavy duties upon the tonnage of
such nations as have not treaties with us, and prohibit the importa-
tion in their bottoms of any merchandizes, except the produce of the
country to which they belong. Even the importation of Irish linens
in British bottoms should be forbidden as well as Silesia linens,
hemp, and duck from Russia, and iron from Sweden, wines from
Portugal, goods from the East Indies, &c.
With great regard, &c., JOHN ADAMS. ,
————_=——
Report of John Jay on Mr. Adams’s Memorial relative to the *
evacuation of the Northern Posts.
Office for Foreign Affairs, March 30, 1is6.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreten
Affairs, to whom was referred Mr. Adams’s letters of the 2d, 6th,
9th, 12th, and 15th December, 1785, and 4th January, 1786,
with the papers enclosed with them, and also a motion founded
on Mr. Adams’s memorial, demanding the evacuation of the
frontier posts, &c., reports:
That, in his opinion, the instructions proposed by the motion in
question would be proper and expedient, because,
Ist. A categorical answer in the negative would involve the United
States either in a war or in disgrace. They are not prepared for the
former, and should, if possible, avoid the latter.
2d. It would not be expedient to press that answer while the
intentions of the Court of France on the subject remain doubtful. %
Your Secretary, therefore, thinks that Mr. Adams should be
immediately instructed in the words of the said motion, viz: “To
#56
be
.
560 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
‘ protract his negotiations with the Court of Great Britain respecting
‘the posts which should have been before this surrendered to the
‘United States, and other infractions of the said treaty by that
‘Power, so as to avoid demanding a catogenibnd answer respecting the
‘same until the further orders of Congress.” !
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
JOHN JAY.
wil EE maa
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, January 21, 1786.
Dear Sir,
On Wednesday the Chevalier del Pinto informed me that he had
written to Lisbon for explanations from his Court upon certain,
points; that he expected an answer in a few days, and that as soon.
»as he should receive it, he would call upon me, and proceed in the
negotiation; that, in the mean time, he would not disguise from me
» the solicitude of his Court to send a Minister to Congress. Etiquette
forbids that the Court of Portugal should send an Ambassador,
. Minister Plenipotentiary, or Envoy to America, until the United
States would agree to send one of equal rank to Lisbon. But if
Congress had any reasons for not sending Ministers of so high an
order, they might send a resident or Charge d’Affaires. 1 answered
him that I had heard it was the intention of Congress to send a
i 4 Consul, but that I could say no further,
Lord Caermarthen on Thursday told me he was at work upon an.
answer to my memorial concerning the posts, and should complete it
as soon as he could collect some further information concerning the
debts, of the obstructions to the payment of which the Ministry had
received complaints from persons in this country who were interested
in them. You may conclude from this, as well as I, what kind of
answer it will be. I am very glad that I am to have an answer.
Whatever it may be, it will lead to further eclaircissement and a
final accommodation. Yet I think the answer will not come before |
the spring. It will take eighteen months more to settle all matters, |
exclusive of the treaty of commerce. )
Mr, Eden has said within a few days that he believed sire would
be a treaty of commerce with the United States of America within :
%
5
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 561
ayear or two. He may wish to be employed in it; for however
sanguine he may be of his success at Versailles, I shall lose my guess
if he ever accomplishes a commercial treaty with that Court. He
may, however. ‘This nation would now crouch to France for the
sake of being insolent to us. ‘The disposition to crush the weak is
almost always attended with that of cringine to the strong. Arro-
gance to inferiors is ever servile to superiors. But a treaty with
France, such as she would accept, would be hurtful to such
numbers, and raise such an opposition that I cannot yet believe Mr.
Eden will be permitted to sign one. ‘The term of two years is
expired, and Del Campo has done nothing. Crawford is returned
without doing any thing as I suppose.
The true secret of the appointment of Mr. Eden, as I conceive, is
the Court of Versailles was offended that Crawford was not allowed
to do any thing, and used some sharp expression which intimidated
the Ministry. Eden was appointed for two ends, first, to appease
the wrath at Versailles, and secondly, to keep up a mysterious delusive
hope in the English nation. Perhaps, too, the Ministry are afraid of
commercial speculations between France and Ireland. ‘These con-
jectures are precarious, and no great stress should be laid on them.
With great respect &c., JOHN ADAMS.
0
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, January 26, 1786.
Dear Sir,
Give me leave to introduce to you John Anstey, Esquire, barrister
at law and a member of Parliament, who goes out by authority to
verify the claims of the Loyalists, as they call themselves. I believe
it to be the design of Mr. Pitt to pay their demands which shall be
found to be supported, and withdraw their pensions, and then leave
them to seek their fortunes. In such a case, if our States repeal
their laws against them, they will generally return to their old homes,
or to some other part of the United States, where they must become
good citizens or be completely insignificant.
By Mr. Anstey I send you the King’s speech and the debates
upon it. The most remarkable thing in them is that the King and
every member of each house have entirely forgotten that there is any
such place upon earth as the United States of America. We appear
to be considered as of no consequence at all in the scale of the -
Vor. II.—36
JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
a ‘The next thing observable is, that Administration and Oppo.
sition are agreed in turning their thoughts to a confederation wit]
Russia and Denmark, in which they wish to get the Emperor t
join, as a balance.to the confederation between the House of Bourbor
and Holland, to which’ suppose Sweden attached. |
They are agreed also in the fact that there is a surplus of revenui
in the estas and, therefore, that the resources of the country am
inexhaustible. may, pean smile at this inference, but ap
are very mare
I do not know whether we ought not to wish that they nal
succeed in their project of connexions with Prussia. and Denmark
and the Emperor, too; because, when one part of Europe shal
become thus formally pitted against the other, probably both side:
may begin to recollect that there is such a Power as the Unitec
States of America, and that she has some influence. Congress may,
in such case, take more time to deliberate whether it is necessary fo:
them to engage at all, and if it should appear inevitable, they may
make baler terms. ;
In the mean time, it is much to be wished, that a friendly settle:
ment could be made with Spain, and that a Minister might be seni
to Holland, whose inhabitants are the most cordial friends we have i in
Europe.
I have had an. opportunity this week of conversing with the
Marquis of Lansdown and Lord Abingdon, his friend and admirer:
They appear to me to be as far from having adopted any decisive
system relative to us as Mr. Pitt or Mr. Fox. This conversation
has removed every expectation that there will be any party, or even
any individual, in Parliament in favor of a liberal commerce with us.
The United States, therefore, have no choice left. They must
support their own navigation or have none.
With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
ern) corre
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS. |
; Office for Foreign Affairs, May 4, 1786.
Dear Sir,
Since the 22d of February, which was the date of my last letter
to you, | have been honored with yours of the 4th, 5th, and 11th
November, and 2d, 6th, 9th, 12th, and 15th, and one of December
|
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 563
last, and also of 4th, 21st, and 26th January, 1786. All .
have been laid before Congress, from whom I have no instructions to
say anything more on the subjects of them than what you will find
in my letters to you of the Ist instant. This is ‘to be imputed to
there not being so many States convened 1 Congress as are neces-
sary to decide on matters of that kind, font: since last autumn, when
the new election took place, they have not had nine States on the
floor for more than three or four days, until this;week. There are
nine at present, and more are expected, so that I hope more attention
will now be paid to our foreign affairs than has been the case for
many months past.
Your and Mr. Jefferson’s joint letter, dated 2d and 11th October
last, with the Prussian treaty, has been received, and I have reported
a ratification of it, which, when agreed to, shall, without delay, be
transmitted. ‘The printed papers herewith transmitted, will give you
some idea of our affairs; the proposed impost gains friends, and the
Legislature of this State has passed an act in its favor, rather in
compliance with the popular opinion than that of a majority in the
House. It differs, however, from some material parts in the recom-
mendation of Congress, and it is not certain that in its present state
it will be accepted. As this letter will go by the packet, I avoid
minute details. I hope by the next private ship to write more
circumstantially, especially as it is probable that Congress will by
that time have concluded on several matters respecting foreign affairs,
which have long been, and now are, under their consideration.
Mr. Anstey is here, and I think has reason to be satisfied with the
attention shewn him. 'The English papers do us injustice, and are
calculated to create a much greater degree of asperity in this country
than really exists in it.
Mr. Hancock is still at Boston, and it is not certain when he may
be expected. This is not a pleasant circumstance, for though the
chair is well filled by a chairman, yet the President of Congress
should be absent as little and seldom as possible.
With great and sincere regard, &c., JOHN JAY.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, February 9, 1786.
Sir,
Colonel Humphreys informs me that he expects to return to
America in the spring, if he should not receive orders from Congress
564 | JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
to remain longer in Europe. I would be doing injustice to thy
public as well as to this gentleman if I were to let him return hom:
without the best testimony I can give him of my entire satisfactio:
in his conduct from his first arrival, and without the fullest recom
mendation of him, to Congress.
This gentleman and another whom Congress have employed it it
Europe from General Washington’s family, have accomplishment:
which do honor to their appointments and to the great model unde
whom they were formed to the service of their country.
With great respect, &c., JOHN. ADAMS.
eines O Leen
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, February 14, 1786. |
Dear Sir,
I have received your letter, enclosing two pamphlets, one 0.
which I have sent to Mr. Jefferson by Colonel Humphreys, who set:
out for Paris this morning. |
These letters will be sufficient to shew any man of commor
decency the characters of the writers. On one side there is the
condescension of a provident but indulgent father; on the other, the
impertinence and ingratitude of a prodigal son, not yet reduced tc
the mortification of eating husks with the swine.
What with the imprudence of some of our young men, who, like
Littlepage, are natives of America, and what with the assurance of
some others, who assume the American character with less preten.
sions to it, our country suffers very much in its reputation. |
The scene to which I was witness is truly and candidly silane
and I have so certified to Mr. Jefferson and to others.
It is indeed a mortifying consideration that neither purity of
character, rank in society, nor any degree of merit or reputation
should be a protection against such rude and virulent attacks, which,
however despised or resented by virtuous and judicious men, are
commonly received and applauded without thinking, by the profligate,
and with malignity by the designing. Even such extravagants as.
Littlepage, as you and I have known before, are sometimes cherished
and courted for the deliberate, though secret purpose of doing:
business which cannot be done by fairer means,
——_ +
im
fl
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 565
In this case I rely upon it that no injury will be done to you; the
‘attempt is too gross.
| My best respects, in which my family dees to join, to Mrs.
Jay.
With great esteem, Xc., JOHN ADAMS.
0)
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, February 16, 1786.
Sir,
The expenses of insurance on American vessels, the obstructions
of their commerce with Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and compassion
for our fellow-citizens in captivity, all occasioned by apprehensions
of the Barbary corsairs, must excite solicitude in every man capable
of thinking or feeling. It is, nevertheless, certain that too great an
alarm has been spread, since no more than two vessels have been
taken by the Algerines, and one by Morocco. Artificial alarms
might be diminished by discontinuing the practice of insuring in
England. Lloyd’s Coffee House has made a great and clear profit
because no vessel has yet been taken which has been there insured.
If the American merchants would open offices at home, the premium
would be saved to the country, and they would find a large balance
in their favor. The balance of trade with the English is so much
against us that we ought not unnecessarily to make ourselves
tributary to them.
Mr. Lamb drew upon me bills for £2,000 at Madrid, the 24th of
January, and assures me in his letter of advice that I shall hear from
him soon at Barcelona. This gentleman’s motions are slow; what
can have detained him so long I know not; an entire stranger to
him, having never seen him, nor heard of him, until he was
announced in your letter. I can say nothing of his character or
conduct.
Mr. Jefferson understood him to be recommended by Congress ;
and he was certainly the bearer of their orders, and I could not but
concur in the sentiment of my excellent colleague, and in his
construction of the intentions of Congress. Since the appointment
was made, and became irrevocable, I heard such opinions and reports
of him as have astonished me. He has with him, in Mr. Randall,
566, ' JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
an ingenious, worthy man, who may supply any deficiencies, as wi
hope, and we must now wait with patience until they inform us te)
their proceedings. | !
Mr. Barclay and Mr. Franks are at length departed from Paris
Their delay was occasioned by Mr. Beaumarchais. It will be sc
late before these gentlemen can arrive at Morocco, that the Emperor
may be out of patience and send out his frigates. |
If the agents were arrived, there would be little reason for conf-
dence in their success. The sum of eighty thousand dollars, it is
much to be feared, will not be sufficient to procure treaties of peace.
We may find the whole sum consumed, and the difficulty of making
peace augmented. Congress will take all these things into consider-
ation, and transmit their orders both respecting the sums to be given
as presents, and the funds from whence they are to be drawn.
Without a fresh loan in Holland, the treasury of the United States,
in Europe, will soon be exhausted. |
The American commerce can be protected from these Africans
only by negotiation or by war. If presents should be exacted from
us as ample as those which are given by England, the expense may
)
amount to sixty thousand pounds sterling a year—an enormous sum, |
to be sure, but infinitely less than the expense of fighting. Two:
frigates, of thirty guns each, would cost as much to fit them for the’
sea, besides the accumulating charges of stores, provisions, pay, and!
clothing. |
The Powers of Europe generally send a squadron of men of war, |
with their Ministers, and offer battle at the same time that they pro- )
pose treaties and promise presents. Mr. Barclay and Mr. Lamb are.
armed only with innocence and the olive branch; and there is some.
reason to expect that the Emperor and Dey will feel their dignity |
hurt by the appearance of deputies not immediately appointed by
Congress. Time will clear up all doubts, and subsequent arrange-
ments may be taken accordingly. |
An envoy from Tripoli is here at present. I saw him at Court, |
but have not made him a visit. He wishes to see me, as is supposed |
from what he said yesterday to a gentleman. He said that «most |
‘of the foreign Ministers had left their cards, but the American had |
‘not. We are at war with his nation, it is true, and that may be_
‘the reason of his not calling. We will make peace with them, |
|
‘however, for a tribute of an hundred thousand dollars a year—not
|
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 567
«less.” He speaks no European language, except a little of the
Lingua Franca, and perhaps a little Italian. ‘To go with an inter-
preter would occasion speculation, and suggest to him schemes which
he might not otherwise think of. To treat with him before any
measures are taken with Morocco and Algiers, might offend them.
. With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
—
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, February 17, 1786.
Sir}
Ata late levee, the King, in conversation with one of the foreign
‘Ministers, was pleased to say “that the Tripoline Ambassador
‘refused to confer with his Ministers, and insisted on an audience;
‘but that nothing had been said at it more than that Tripoli and
‘England were at peace, and desirous to continue so. His Majesty
‘added, all he wants is a present, and his expenses borne to Vienna
and Denmark.”
If nothing more was said at the audience, there are not wanting
persons in England who will find means to stimulate this African to
stir up his countrymen against American vessels. It may reasonably
be suspected that his present visit is chiefly with a view to the United
States to draw them into a treaty of peace, which implies tribute, or
at least presents, or to obtain aids from England to carry on a war
against us. Feeling his appearance here to be ominous, like that of
other irregular bodies, which “from their horrid hair shake pestilence
and war,” I thought at first to avoid him, but finding that all the
other foreign Ministers had made their visits, and that he would take
amiss a longer inattention, it was judged necessary to call at his door
for the form; but when the attempt was made, which was last
evening, so late that there was no suspicion of his being visible, the
Ambassador was announced at home, and ready to receive the
‘visitant. It would scarcely be reconcileable to the dignity of
Congress to read a detail of the ceremonies which attended the
conference. It would be more proper to write them to harlequin for
the amusement of the gay at the New York theatre.
It is sufficient to say that his Excellency made many inquiries
concerning America, the climate, soil, heat, and cold, &c., and
‘observed, “it is a very great country, but Tripoli is at war with it.”
In return, it was asked, how there could be war between two
968 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
nations, when there had been no hostility, injury, insult, or provo-
cation on either side? His Excellency replied that Turkey, Tripoli,
Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco were the sovereigns of the Mediter-.
ranean, and that no nation could navigate that sea without a treaty:
of peace with them; that America must make such treaties with’
Tripoli first, then with Constantinople, then with Algiers and.
Morocco, as France, England, and all other Powers of Europe had
done. A secretary brought him some papers, one of which was put’
into my hand. It was a French translation of a full power from the
Pacha, Dey, and Regency of Tripoli to treat with all the Powers of |
Europe, and to manage all the foreign concerns of his: country without '
limitation of time or place. The original commission, in his own
language, was also produced and shewn. It was observed that.
America was not named in it; but it was replied that the Power was |
universal to manage every thing, and that a treaty might be made at
once, or at least that fl Niles might be held, and the result written
to Tripoli and America for further instructions, What time was.
:
required to write to Congress, and receive an answer? Three
months at least. That was too long, but he should remain here :
some time. You may call here to-morrow or. next day with an
interpreter, and we will hear and propose terms. |
As his Excellency expected to gain by the negotiation as much as
the American knows he must lose, you will perceive the former was
the most eager to promote it. When Mr. Jefferson’s answer to a-
letter upon this subject shall arrive, it will be proper to learn his
terms; but there is reason to believe they will be too high for your
Ministers to accept without further instructions.
This is the substance of a conference which was carried on with
much difficulty, but with civility enough on both sides, in a strange
mixture of Italian, Lingua Franca, broken F rench, and worse .
English.
This Minister appears to be a man of good sense and temper.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
pits tal evra are |
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, February 20, 1786.
SIr, |
Yesterday the Tripoline Ambassador sent a message by a Doctor
Benamor, an English Jew most probably, who has formerly resided
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 569
in Barbary, and speaks the Arabic language as well as the Italian
and Lingua Franca, to inform me that he wished to return his visit in
the same friendly and respectful manner, and that, as he had much
at heart a treaty between the Barbary and American States, he
wished it might be soon. It was agreed that he should be received
at noon.
_At twelve his Excellency came in ceremony, accompanied with
his Secretary, and Benamor for an interpreter, “‘ whom he had chosen
‘in preference to the interpreter assigned him by the Court, because
‘he was sorry to see that this nation was not so steady in its
‘friendship to America as the French. The French Consul at
‘Tripoli congratulated him upon his appointment, and hoped he
‘would meet in England with a Minister with whom he might make
‘a treaty of peace with America, but he was sorry to say he found
‘here much ill will to the Americans, and a desire to prevent him
‘from seeing the American Minister. For this reason he would have
‘nothing to do with the Court interpreter. It was the delight of his
*goul and the whole pleasure of his life to do good, and he was
‘zealous to embrace an opportunity which now presented itself, of
‘doing a great‘deal. The time was critical, and the sooner peace
‘was made the better; for, from what passed before he left home, he
‘was convinced if the treaty should be delayed another year, it would,
‘after that, be difficult to make it. If any considerable number of
‘vessels and prisoners should be taken, it would be hard to persuade
‘the Turks, especially the Algerines, to desist. A war between
‘Christian and Christian was mild, and prisoners on either side were
‘treated with humanity ; but a war between Turk and Christian was
‘horrible, and prisoners were sold into slavery; although he was
‘himself a Mussulman, he must still say he thought it a very rigid
‘law, but as he could not alter it, he was desirous of preventing its
‘operation, or at least of softening it, as far as his influence extended.
‘The Algerines were the most difficult to treat with. They were eager
‘for prizes, and had now more and larger ships than usual. If an
“application should be made first. to Algiers, they would refuse ; but
‘when once a treaty was made by Tripoli, or any one of the Barbary
‘States, they would follow the example. ‘There was such an intimate
‘connexion between all, that when one made peace, the rest followed.
‘Algiers had refused to treat with Spain, in defiance of all her
‘armaments, until Tripoli interposed, and then they relaxed at once.
570 — JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY. |
‘He called God to witness, that is to say, he swore by his beard, |
‘which is a sacred oath with them, that his motive to this earnestness )
‘for peace, although it might be of some benefit to himself, was the
‘desire of doing good.”
When he was informed that Congress had received some friendly |
letters from the Emperor of Morocco, and that an agent was gone
to treat with his Majesty, “he rejoiced to hear it, and doubted -not
‘that the agent would succeed, as the Emperor was a man of exten-
‘sive views, and much disposed to promote the commerce of his |
“subjects.” As it was now apparent that his principal business here
was to treat with the United States, and that no harm could be done |
by dealmg frankly with him, the commission of Congress to treat
with Tripoli was shown him, as well as those to Morocco, -Algiers,
and ‘Tunis. He “was rejoiced to see them; and although he could |
‘not answer for Algiers, he would undertake for Tunis and Tripoli;
‘and he would write in favor of any person who might be sent or
‘go with him in person to assist in the completion of peace with all |
‘the States of Barbary, which was more than he had ever before said
‘to any Ambassador or Minister in Europe.” It was then proposed —
that his Excellency should mention the terms which he might think —
proper to propose, but he “desired to be excused at present, and
‘that to-morrow evening, at his house, he might have an opportunity
‘of explaining himself more particularly.” This was agreed to.
——
It was then observed that although America was an extensive
country, the inhabitants were few in comparison with France, Spain,
and England; nor would their wealth bear any proportion to that of
these nations or of Holland; that we were just emerged from the
calamities of war, and had as yet few ships at sea, especially in the
Mediterranean, so that the Barbary corsairs could not expect to make
any considerable number of prizes. ‘God forbid,” was his reply,
“that I should consider America upon a footing, at present, in point
‘of wealth with these nations. I know very well that she has but
‘lately concluded a war which must have laid waste their territories,
‘and I would rather wish to leave to her own generosity the com-
‘pliments to be made upon the occasion, than stipulate anything
‘ precisely.” {
This man is either a consummate politician in art and address, or
he is a benevolent and wise man. ‘Time will discover whether he
disguises an interested character, or is indeed the philosopher he
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 571
pretends to be. If he is the latter, Providence seems to have opened
to us an opportunity of conducting this thorny business to a happy
conclusion.
Colonel Smith will go to Paris to communicate the whole to Mr.
Jefferson, and entreat him to come over to London in order to finish
as much as possible of it, immediately, and to agree with the Portu-
suese Minister at the same time. Mr. Jefferson has long projected
a visit to England, and this will be a good opportunity. No notice
will be taken of it publicly in America, and his real errand will be
concealed from the public here.
If the sum limited by Congress should be insufficient, we shall be
embarrassed ; and, indeed, a larger sum could not be commanded,
unless a new loan should be opened in Holland. I doubt not a
million of guilders might be obtained there upon the same terms with
the last two millions. This would enable Congress to pay their
interest in Europe, and to pay the French officers, who are uneasy.
With great respect, &c., , JOHN ADAMS
0)
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, February 22, 1786.
Sir,
On Monday evening another conference was held with the Trip-
oline Ambassador, attended with his interpreter, Benamor, who 1s a
decent man, and very ready in the English as well as Arabic and
Italian. ‘The foreign Ministers here say it is the custom of all the
Ambassadors from Barbary to be much connected with Jews, to
whom they are commonly recommended. It may be supposed the
Jews have interested motives, and, therefore, although their inter-
ference cannot be avoided, they ought to be objects of jealousy.
Benamor soon betrayed proofs enough that he had no aversion to the
-Ambassador’s obtaining large terms.
The Ambassador, who is known to many of the foreign Ministers
here, is universally well spoken of.
When he began to explain himself concerning his demands, he
said, they would be different, according to the duration of the
treaty. If that were perpetual, they would be greater, if for a
572 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
term of years, less. His advice was that it should be perpetual.|
Once signed by the Bashaw, Dey, and other officers, it would be
indissoluble and binding forever upon all their successors; but if a.
temporary treaty were made, it might be difficult and expensive A
revive it; for a perpetual treaty, such as they had now with Spain, a.
sum of thirty thousand guineas must be paid upon the delivery of
the articles signed by the Dey and other officers. If it were agreed
to, he would send his secretary by land to Marseilles, and from’
thence by water to Tripoli, who should bring it back by the same.
route, signed by the Dey, &c. He had proposed so small a sum in’
consideration of the circumstances, but declared it was not half of
what had been lately paid them by Spain. If we chose to treat.
upon a different plan, he would make a treaty perpetual, upon the
payment of twelve thousand five hundred guineas for the first year,
and three thousand guineas annually, until the thirty thousand guineas :
were paid. It was observed that these were large sums, and vastly
beyond expectation ; but his Excellency answered that they never
made a treaty for less. Upon the arrival of the prize, the Dey and -
other officers were entitled by law to large shares, by which they
might make greater profits than these sums amounted to, and they | :
never would give up this advantage for less. :
He was told that although there was a full power to treat, the.
American Ministers were limited to a much smaller sum, so that it
would be impossible to do anything until we could write to Congress"
and know their pleasure. Colonel Smith was present at this, as he
had been at the last conference, and agreed to go to Paris to com-
municate all to Mr. Jefferson, and persuade him to come here that
we may jom in further conferences, and transmit the result to
Congress. The Ambassador believed that Tunis and Morocco
would treat upon the same terms, but would not answer for Algiers.
They would demand more. When Mr. Jefferson arrives we shall
insist upon knowing the ultimatum, and transmit it to Congress.
Congress will perceive that one hundred and twenty thousand
guineas will be indispensable to conclude with the four Powers at
this rate, besides a present to the Ambassadors, and other incidental
charges. Besides this a present of five hundred guineas is made
upon the arrival of a Consul in each State. No man wishes more
fervently that the expense could be less, but the fact cannot be
altered, and the truth ought not to be concealed.
) 09:5 ¢
a et
Slow Wat waoan
Vo Il.—37
American Vessels which sailed from
Lisbon for the European ports.
For: Spain span we aac ncn bene
Fayal.
PUCIRNU Be eee cae sores ee ses
Sti Obese IN es ve
16
From the other part....+ «+ -40
56
578 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Foreign Vessels for the same ports.
POUUCUCSE S's. wa ys he A
PRE ek soe cee Md
MAIS ice didi aeede dl
VOUISH. 2. ewe n Se O
Ren bUT eS ..6 44 a5 4's aoe 118
58
}
\|
|
|
The above 58 vessels carried with them fruit, salt, wine, and tea.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY. | pe 3
London, June 27, 1786.
Sir,
The Chevalier del Pinto, the Envoy of Portugal, informed me
this day, that he had received instructions from his Court to inforn
me ‘that the Queen, his mistress, has sent a squadron to cruize ir
‘the mouth of the straits, with orders to protect all vessels belonging
‘to the United States of America equally with those of her Owr
‘subjects ; and that she would continue those orders as long as they
‘should be agreeable to Congress.
The reply was, that it could not be doubted that so signal a mark
of her Majesty’s friendly attention to the interest and safety of the
citizens of America would be very agreeable to Congress, and that
the first opportunity should be embraced to‘ make the communication
to them.
So much notice will probably be taken of this by Congress as to
return the compliment; the least is thanks. |
If the United States should ever think themselves able to on,
taxes and begin a navy, this war of the Algerines would be a good
Opportunity. I have never dared, however, to recommend it,
because that as negotiation, and customary presents, and redemption
of captives, must finally terminate the war, whatever sums are spent
in it, whatever time is spent, or lives lost in it, it has ever appean@
to me that all this would be thrown away.
It would employ our shipwrights, and make various bidablied of
business brisk, to order half a score of frigates of thirty-six guns to
be built, and it would give us an eclat; but it would cost money.
With great regard, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
5
|
|
|
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 579
= *
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, February 27, 1786.
Sir,
At the last conferences, (as they call here what is understood in
Paris by Ambassadors’ days,) the Marquis of Caermarthen was
pleased to make an apology for not having yet answered the
memorial requiring the evacuation of the posts: “It would sound
‘oddly to say that he had delayed his answer to prevent delays, but
‘it was true. He had drawn up his answer, but as he was obliged
‘to say something concerning the old debts, he had been obliged to
‘wait for a little further information, that he might state in one view
éall the acts of the Assemblies which had interposed impediments.”
As this is some kind of respect to the memorial, it ought to be
communicated to Congress, as, no doubt, it was intended and
expected that it should be.
The public prints will inform you that the Newfoundland bill and
the American intercourse bill are revived. It would be sufficient to
convince every American what the system is, to say that Mr. Jenkin-
son was the member of Administration and the House of Commons
selected to conduct this business. Comparing his well-known
character with what he said, you will believe that the same men and
the same principles which have governed this nation in their conduct
towards America these twenty years, prevail to this hour, as far as
the circumstances will admit; and that Mr. Pitt is either a convert
to their sentiments, or is only an ostensible Minister.
- It remains with the States to determine what measures they will
take to discourage a commerce the most impoverishing and ruinous
that can be imagined, to promote a more beneficial intercourse with
the rest of Europe, and to support their own manufactures and navi-
gation; for on such measures alone can they have any dependence
in future.
With sincere esteem, &c., JOHN- ADAMS.
_—_0O-—-
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO LORD CAERMARTHEN.
Grosvenor Square, February 6, 1786.
My Lord,
Ihave the honor of transmitting to your Lordship a copy of a
letter of the 21st of December last, from his Majesty’s Consul Gene |
Mr
. ¥
@
580, JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY, [
ral in the United States to their Secretary of State for the Depart’
ment of Foreign Affairs, which has been laid before Congress, whi
have been pleased to direct me to communicate it to his Majesty!
with this information, that the complaint stated in it being in genera
terms, and unsupported by any particular facts or evidence, they dc
not think it necessary or proper to take any measures in consequener
of it; and with this assurance, that, as it is their determination the
treaty of peace shall be punctually observed by their citizens, anc!
that his Majesty’s subjects shall enjoy in the United States all the
rights which friendly and civilized nations claim from each other, sc
they will always be ready to hear every complaint which may
appear to be well founded, and to. redress such of them as on an
investigation shall prove to be so. Let me request your Lordship te
lay this communication before his Majesty.
Your Lordship will permit me to avail myself of this opportunity
of remarking, that the office of Consul General does not extend to
matters of this kind, neither the rights of commerce nor of navigation
being in question; and, therefore, that it was delicacy towards his
Majesty, rather than a sense of the propriety of such an application
from a Consul General, which induced Congress to treat it with this
mark of attention. |
As the United States, my Lord, have a Minister Plenipotentiary:
residing at this Court, in consequence of a proposition to that purpose
made by his Britannic Majesty’s Minister, through his Grace the
Duke of Dorset, his Ambassador at Paris, your Lordship will permit
_ Ine to propose to the consideration of your Majesty’s Ministers the
expediency, as well as. propriety, of sending a Minister Plenipoten-
tiary from his Majesty to the United States of America. I am
authorized, my Lord, to give assurances that Congress expect such
a Mialcia and are ready to receive and treat him in a manner con-
sistent with the respect due to his sovereign. :
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS,
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, March 4, 1786. :
Sir, a
I have the honor to enclose to you copies of the Secretary of
State’ s answer, dated the 28th of February, to the memorial dated
, q
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 581
the 30th of November, and presented to him on the 8th of December
Jast, and of a state of grievances of British merchants and others. I
shall make no reply to his Lordship until I receive the orders of
Congress.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM LORD CAERMARTHEN TO JOHN ADAMS.
St. James’s, February 28, 1786.
Sir,
In answer to the memorial you did me the honor to deliver to me
on the 8th December, I have to observe to you, sir, that it is his
Majesty’s fixed determination upon the present as well as every other
occasion to act in perfect conformity to the strictest principles of
justice and good faith. ,
The seventh article, both of the provisional and of the definitive
‘treaties between his Majesty and the United States, clearly stipulates
the withdrawing, with all convenient speed, his Majesty’s armies,
garrisons, and fleets, from the said United States, and from every
port, place, and harbor, within the same; and no doubt can possibly
arise respecting either the letter or spirit of such an engagement.
The fourth article of the same treaties as clearly stipulates that
creditors, on either side, shall meet with no lawful impediment to the
recovery of the full value in sterling money of all bona fide debts
heretofore contracted.
The little attention paid to the fulfilling this engagement on the
part of the subjects of the United States in general, and the direct
breach of it in many particular instances, have already reduced many
of the King’s subjects to the utmost degree of difficulty and distress ;
nor have their applications for redress, to those whose situations in
America naturally pointed them out as the guardians of public faith,
been as yet successful in obtaining them that justice to which, on
every principle of law as well as of humanity, they were clearly and
indisputably entitled. .
The engagements entered into by treaty ought to be mutual, and
equally binding on the respective contracting parties. It would,
therefore, be the height of folly as well as injustice to suppose one
party alone obliged to a strict observance of the public faith, while
é
082 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY. |
the other might remain free to deviate from its own engagements a
often as convenience might render such deviation necessary, thoug!
at the expense of its own national credit and importance.
I flatter myself, however, sir, that justice will speedily be done t
British creditors; and I can assure you, sir, that whenever Americ;
shall manifest a real determination to fulfil her part of the treaty
Great Britain will not hesitate to prove her sincerity to codperate ir
whatever points depend upon her for carrying every article of it inte
real and complete effect.
The enclosed paper contains a state of the grievances complained
of by merchants and other British subjects having estates, property,
and debts due to thent in the several States of America. |
Iam, sir, &c., CAERMARTHEN.
ot 4
State of the Grievances complained of by Merchants and other
British Subjects having estates, property, and debts due to them
am the several States of America. :
MASSACHUSETTS BAY.
By an act of this State, passed the 9th of November, 1784, the
justices of the courts of judicature were directed, severally, to suspend
rendering judgment for any interest that might have accrued between
the 19th of April, 1775, and the 20th of January, 1783, on debts due
to British subjects. : |
This act is peculiarly severe on British subjects, against whom it
is expressly pointed. The demand of interest is called inequitable
and unjust, and the Legislature of this State conceive it to be
repugnant to the spirit and intention of the fourth article of the
treaty of peace, which they say provides only for bona fide debts.
The act states t lat the Legislature have taken measures to obtain
the sense of Congress upon this article; but the committee have not
heard that any opinion has been given thereon.
NEW YORK.
By an act passed in this State the 12th of July, 1782, British
creditors are precluded from the claim of interest on all debts
contracted before the Ist of January, 1776, until after the Ist of
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. |. A5Ge
January, 1783; and executions for the principal of those debts are
forbidden to be levied until the expiration of three years after the
‘evacuation of New York. By another act passed the 17th of
March, 1783, and confirmed by others in 1784 and 1785, those
‘Americans who had abandoned their possessions in New York upon
its capture by the British troops, and resided without the lines during
the war, are enabled to bring actions of trespass for rents, &c., during
‘their absence against the persons who had occupied their premises,
whether under the authority or permission of the British commander
or otherwise; and who by this act are precluded from pleading any
military order whatsoever in justification of their occupancy. It also
authorizes the sequestration of the estates of British subjects lying in
that country for their conduct during the war.
By virtue of this law actions for claims to an enormous amount were
immediately instituted against British subjects, who, relying implicitly
on the treaty of peace and the faith of nations, were encouraged to
remain in New York upon its evacuation for the purposes of
collecting their debts, and settling or extending their commercial
affairs; and in cases where those who had occupied the premises
were not to be found, the demands were made on the lodger, the
late servant, or the agent of those occupiers. ‘These suits have been
prosecuted with the utmost severity, and being determinable by juries
of interested men, as well as conformable to the abovementioned
statute, it is no wonder that verdicts for exorbitant rents and
damages have in every instance been found against the defendants.
PENNSYLVANIA.
This State has violated the 4th article of the definitive treaty by
passing a law, soon after the peace, to restrain the recovery of the
old debts for a given period. The British merchants were, in con-
sequence thereof, set at defiance, and few instances exist of payment
having been made for any debts contracted before the war. ‘This
law was limited to September, 1784; but whether it has been
further extended by any new act, or whether it expired at that time,
the committee are not certain. This law, operating with the fears
and prejudices of some of the inhabitants, has produced effects of the
most mischievous consequence to the British merchants; for not
only a uniform opposition has been made against the payment of
interest, but the lawyers, dreading the resentment of some of the
084. JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY:
most violent among their countrymen, have refused to engage in th
recovery of these unpopular demands ; and the committee are we
assured that not one action for the payment of an old British det
has been prosecuted in this State.
|
VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND NORTH CAROLINA.
}
The merchants interested in the trade to these States havin;
already, by their chairman, presented their case and memorial to thi
right honorable the Marquis of Caermarthen respecting their situatior
as to the debts due to them previous to the late war, and the hard.
ships they experience from the infraction of the 4th article of the
definitive treaty, the committee beg leave to refer to the annexed
extract.* : |
y
i
SOUTH CAROLINA.
After Congress had ratified the definitive treaty of peace, they had
recommended a due observance thereof to the different States, and:
the Assembly of South Carolina resolved to carry the said treaty
into execution sincerely, strictly, and completely ; but, regardless of
those resolutions, and in contravention to the treaty, the Legislature
passed an ordinance the 26th of March, 1784, declaring, among
other things, that no suit should be instituted for any debt contracted
by any citizen of the United States previous to the 26th of February,
1782, until the Ist of January, 1785, when the interest only which
had accrued since J anuary, 1780, might be recovered.
And, on the Ist of January, 1786, one fourth part of the principal,
and all such other interest as might be then due. )
On the Ist of January, 1787, one other fourth part of the prin-
cipal and the interest which shall have accrued,
On the Ist of January, 1788, one other fourth part of the prin-
cipal, and the interest accrued thereon; and on the Ist January,
1789, the balance which may be then due. :
By this ordinance debtors are judicially protected from suits brought
at the instance of their creditors, who are chiefly British merchants ;
and so great and general are the obstructions to the recovery of
debts, that, in several districts remote from Charleston, the courts
have been prevented by tumultuous and riotous proceedings from
* See extract of Memorial, page 587.
we ae
ad
ww
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 585
determining actions for debt. By the delay thus occasioned, the
_ property of the British merchant becomes every day more precarious.
His credit and fortune are materially injured, and, in many cases,
totally destroyed.
To prevent the operation of the act beforementioned, in cases
where it empowers creditors to sue for one-fourth part of the prin-
cipal of a debt on the Ist of January, 1786, an act was passed
by this Legislature the 12th October, 1785, entitled “An act for
regulating sales under execution, and for other purposes therein
mentioned,” whereby a debtor, during any period of a suit that has
been or may be commenced, is allowed to tender land in payment of
his debt; such land to be appraised by three citizens of the county
or parish where it lies, who are authorized to value it as if sold at a
credit of six months. ‘The creditor is then obliged to take the land
at three-fourths of the value at which it is so appraised.
By the same law it is further enacted that no creditor shall bring
any suit for debt until he make application, in writing, from himself
to his debtor, for payment. ‘This act seems calculated to cut off all
possibility of non-resident British creditors commencing a suit. The
proviso that he must write himself to his debtor is considered as an
insurmountable obstacle in his proceedings, as he must meet with
innumerable difficulties in proving the delivery of his letter to a debtor,
who may reside in the interior part of the State. Where this difficulty
does not exist, the creditor must either drop his action or run the risk
of having property of little or no value, bordering, perhaps, on the
Indian country, forced upon him, which, if sold for cash, would not
produce one-tenth part of its appraised value. Another instance of
the violation of the fourth article of the treaty, (which provides
that “creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment
‘to the recovery of the full value, in sterling money, of all bona jide
‘debts heretofore contracted,”) arises from the payment of debts to
British subjects in depreciated paper currency, which was forced into
circulation during the war, and made a legal tender, according to its
nominal value, by the then Government. The depreciation became
so great that debtors, by such unjust tenders, did not pay one shilling
in the pound; and where they plead these payments or tenders in
bar to the demands of their British creditors, such creditors are
proportionally defrauded of their property.
The fifth article of the treaty stipulates that persons of certain
descriptions shall have free liberty to go to any part of t United
586 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
States, to obtain the restitution of their rights and properties. This |
article has been grossly violated in this State; for though such .
persons were permitted to go thither, yet the purposes for which they
went were frustrated by a suspension of the course of justice; for
they were compelled to depart by a public notification from the.
Governor, and to abandon their property, under the agoravating —
reflection of having been at considerable expense, both of time and
money, in a delusive pursuit; and having also experienced great
personal insult and abuse during their continuance in the State. ~~
Several British merchants, who had sold goods in Charleston, |
while in possession of his Majesty’s troops, were obliged to accept |
houses and lands in payment of debts. After its evacuation, an act —
of confiscation was enforced, which, though not passed till 26th of |
February, 1782, had retrospect to the 4th of July, 1776. Houses —
and lands, then the property of persons in purview of the act, but
which had undergone many changes, and actually belonged to
British merchants when the act was passed, were sold by the com=_
missioners of confiscated estates in June, 1784, without any regard.
to their claims founded upon the fifth and sixth articles of the treaty
of peace. The property was sold at a credit of five years; and
State indents were to be received in payment. In case the State of
Carolina should comply with the 5th article of the treaty, it has
been suggested that the claimants will be paid in State indents,
which are already depreciated fifty per cent., and it is apprehended
may, at the end of five years, be so reduced in value that creditors
of this description will not receive one shilling in the pound of their
demands.
It is also necessary to observe, that the decisions of the board of
police, established under the King’s government, in Charleston,
however equitable, have been set aside since the peace. British
subjects have been deprived of their property purchased under its
process, and cast in excessive damages and costs, for no other cause
than having brought actions therein for the recovery of debts, even
where the defendant had confessed judgment, and when both plaintiff
and defendant were British subjects.
GEORGIA.
Laws and regulations similar to those which have passed in South
Carolina exist'in this State, with degrees of peculiar and manifest
aggravation; the judges from the bench having declared that no suit
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE.
587
shall be proceeded on, if brought by a British subject; while, on the
contrary, they allow British subjects to be sued by their creditors.
According to the present regulations in both countries—
An American is protected in
his property by our laws. All
our courts are, and always have
‘been, open to him, for the recovery
A British merchant is, in some
States positively, in others virtu-
ally, prohibited by their Legisla-
tures from recovering his property ;
which is a violation of the fourth
article of the treaty of peace.
Jn several States judgment” for
interest for more than seven years
is actually suspended by law;
whilst in others, although the
courts appear to be open, the
lawyers are afraid to prosecute
for British debts.
Those creditors are deemed
. fortunate, who upon giving up all
claim to interest, (which is equal
to thirty, and in some instances
to forty per cent.,) can obtain
security for the payment of the
principal.
of any debt, as well interest as
principal.
Extract of the Case and Memorial of the Merchants of London,
Bristol, Liverpool, Whitehaven, and Glasgow, trading to Vir-
ginia, Maryland, and North Carolina previous to the year 1776,
addressed to the right honorable the Marquis of Caermarthen,
his Majesty’s principal Secretary of State for the Foreign
Department.
That, in the year 1777, the British agents and factors, as well as
many of the merchants, were compelled to quit the late American
Colonies, leaving behind them, in real estate, debts, and other
property, equal in value to more than three millions sterling, belong-
ing to the merchants of London, Bristol, Liverpool, and Glasgow.
That, in the course of the war, much of the property of the British
merchants was confiscated and sold; and debts, owing to persons
*“
583 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
who had no share in the contest, were paid into the nie treasuries
of Virginia and Maryland by legislative authority.
That, in the provisional articles of peace between Great Britain.
and the United States of America, having been agreed upon the
30th November, 1782, and finally adjusted on dle, 3d of March,
1783, it was sailed and agreed, by the fourth article of the said
treaty, “That creditors, on either side, should meet with no lawful.
‘impediment in the recovery of the full value, in sterling money, of
‘all bona fide debts heretofore contracted ;”’ and the fifth article having.
stipulated that the Congress should As | recommend to the
Legislatures of the respective States to provide for the restitution of
all estates, rights, and properties, which had been confiscated belong-
ing to British subjects; and the sixth article having provided that
there should be no future confiscation, many of the British merchants,
anxiously solicitous to recover’ the property so long withheld from |
them, and upon which the support of their families, in many instances, |
depended, sent out agents and factors, particularly to Virginia and
Maryland, not doubting but they should experience every facility i in,
the collection of the wreck of their fortunes. But, upon the 2d of
July, 1783, an edict was published by the Governor of Virginia,
ordering all the British agents and factors who had arrived in that.
State forthwith to depart the same. That, in this situation, these |
agents and factors were not only compelled to retire on board of
British ships then trading to the country, but had the mortification.
to find that the real estates of many of the British merchants had
been confiscated and sold, and the produce of the same applied to
the public services of Government; that, in the month of October,
1783, the legislative body of Virginia removed the restrictions; in
November following the British merchants and agents were permitted
to return, and they have remained unmolested since that period ; but
no permission whatsoever has been given either to merchants acting
for themselves, or to agents or factors acting for employers in Great
Britain, to recover any part of the debts or property left in the
country in the year 1775, That, in the month of October, 1784,
the legislative body of Virginia met, and, in the course of the
session, a bill was brought in, the preamble of which runs thus:
“Whereas, by the 4th article of the definitive treaty of peace |
‘between the United States of America and Great Britain, ratified —
‘by the King of Britain on the 12th day of May last, it was stipur
He
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 589
‘lated, among other things, by the said contracting parties, that
‘ereditors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to the
‘recovery of the full value, in sterling money, of all bona fide debts
‘heretofore contracted ; and good faith requires that the said treaty
‘shall be carried into execution, according to the true intent and
‘meaning thereof.’ The bill then proceeds to several enacting
clauses, the substance of which is as follows:
Ist. That the restraints disabling British subjects from prosecuting
for the recovery of debts shall be removed by the repeal of an
ordinance made since the 19th April, 1775. °
2d. That all British debts due before the date of the provisional
articles shall be discharged by seven equal payments, the first of
which shall become due the Ist of April, 1786.
3d. That the other payments shall fall due on the same day in the
six years then next following, respectively.
Ath. That no interest shall be allowed to British subjects for any
intermediate time between the 19th day of April, 1775, and the
8d day of March, 1783, the said time to be considered as one day
in law.
5th. That no settlement made by bonds or other specialties, with
interest included, at any time since that period, shall preclude a
citizen of America from the benefit of this act, so far as respects
interest and payment by instalments to British creditors.
6th. That no execution shall issue against any debtor for more
than the proportion of the instalment due for the time bemg; but
such execution may issue annually for the proportion then due until
the whole shall be discharged.
7th. That the citizens of Virginia, who have been resident there
on the 19th of April, 1775, and have remained ever since, although
the partners of British merchants shall not, so far as they are con-
cerned, be subject to the restrictions of this act, but shall enjoy the
privileges of other citizens.
This bill passed the Assembly and Senate of Virginia; but, from
the want of some forms, it was delayed, if not lost.
Whether the same system of explaining and fulfilling the Ath
article of the definitive treaty will be followed by other States in
America, or whether the Commonwealth of Virginia will finally
enact this law, remains to be determined ; but the peculiar hardships
to which British merchants are subjected cannot fail to be strikingly
Conspicuous, when it is considered—,
590 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Ist. ‘That it is now ten years since their property has been withe
held from them. |
2d. ‘That they are to be deprived of eight a interest, eae’ to
forty per cent. |
3d. That the system of making payments by instalments to run.
out to such lengths of time, must subject them to great loss from the
natural causes of deaths, bankruptcy, and removals, which must be |
expected to happen in the course of eight years. a
4th. That, during this period, no security can be demanded
neither can a debtor be restrained by law from wasting or removing
property.
Sth. That, with all these disadvantages, that of removing the last ;
payment to the year 1792, and, of consequence, obliging the British —
merchants to keep factors and agents, at a great expense, in the
country, to collect these debts, cannot fail to prove a great additional |
burden to your memorialists. :
6th. ‘That no provision is proposed to be made for the real prop-
erty confiscated and sold for public services, nor for money paid |
into the treasuries of Virginia and Maryland.
That these and other hardships are distressing in the extreme to
the British merchants; and when it is considered that, in addition |
to all this, some of them have had the mortification to have their
property confiscated and sold since the ratification of the treaty of
peace, they conceive the grounds of their distress to be so peculiarly
striking as to claim the assistance and interposition of the British
Government in procuring a compliance with the treaty of peace
into entered with the American States.
Last of Money paid into the Treasury in Maryland on account of
British Debt.
ee
Currency exchange 663. | New emission, C.
VBA ee ata 2s 'e's koe sina de ve £2,000 0 0 £50 0 0
LEN CAN RA ARR OEE enh 79,917-13 113 1,986°""05 ae
TPE Hatake Winds Viele #5 0\0'wn'so wide 2,840 0 0 710 O
IVEY an so 00h one v.00 90s cocsele 13,386 8 6 335 13. 6
SUMO USN WSs ole seed ccbic ae 46,830 6 11 1,170 15 7
£144,574 9 43 £3,615 18 22
N B. The above sum of £144,574 currency is equal to £86,744 sterling.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 591
List of Money paid into the Treasury of Virginia on account of
the Public Debt.
Paper currency. Value in specie.
Depreciation.
Paid from the 2d March, 1778, to
the last day of October, both days
BMPAUBIVE toa og cgeh suc eeleen weg £27,022 17 9 5 £5,404 11 63
Do. last of October to the last of
Brecemper, 1778.0000scrsssccice é 14,634 13 0 6 9,447 9 8
December, do. March, 1779.. d 7,086 11 2 10 708 13 13
March, do. April.......sceces 23,435 3 0 16 1,464 13 113
April, REET R URES eo 'elet ose 4s 00 28,911 5: 3 20 1,445 11] 33
. $, AEN One ar eae 6,533 4 0 a1 $1142) i
AMIE e bos Foie +0 3,228 16 0 | 22 14615 33
September... ....0. 5,063 0 0 24 210 19 2
MRRECIAOY: ahd nh eicxeo 8 1,475 15 6 28 52 14 13
November...... ees 4,315 4 0 36 119 17 4
December... .0es ce. 12,488 14 9 40 312 4 4!
January, 1780....6. 1,496 18 5 42 35, 32. 92
Heicineyee ss. .S3. AT972e O78 45 266 0 102
EG OT als cteig seidte +8 G2) Fin D4] 50 126 6 112
April and May..... 119,522" 15" 7 60 1,992 - 0° 113
£273,554 13 7 £15,044 13 8
N. B. The above sum of £273,554 currency, is equal to £12,035 sterling.
This and the five preceding sheets contain true copies of the state
and lists enclosed in the Marquis of Caermarthen’s letter to me, dated
28th February, 1786, in answer to the memorial of the 30th of
November, delivered to his Lordship the 8th of December, 1785.
Compared by JOHN ADAMS,
O
Report of Secretary Jay on Mr. Adams’s Letter of 4th March, 1186.
Office for Foreign Affairs, October 13, 1786.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, to whom was referred a letter of the 4th March last, from
the Honorable John Adams, Esquire, together with the papers
that accompanied it, reports :
592 | JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
That as the subject of these papers and of this report appears to
your Secretary in a very important pomt of light, he thinks they
should be so incorporated as that the record of the latter in this’
office may always exhibit an entire and complete view of the whole
business. He therefore reports:
That, on the 8th day of December, 1785, Mr. Adams, agreeably
to his instructions of the 7th day of March, 1785, presented to his
Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State a memorial dated the 30th
day of the preceding month, in the following words : |
[See Memorial, p. 542.]
On considering the before-recited papers, these important age
present themselves : ee
1. Whether any individual State has a right, by acts of the ‘own
internal Legislature, to explain and decide the sense and meaning in
which any particular article of a national treaty shall be received and
understood within the limits of that State ?
2. Whether any, and which, of the acts enumerated in the list of
grievances, do violate the treaty of peace between the United States
and Great Britain?
3. In case they, or any of them, should be found to violate it,
what measures should be adopted in relation to Great Britain ?
And,
4. What measures should be adopted in relation to the State or
states which passed the exceptionable acts?
Of these in their order; and
1. Of the right of an individual State to enact in what sense a
national treaty shall be understood within its particular limits.
Your Secretary considers the thirteen independent sovereign States
as having, by express delegation of power, formed and vested n
Giiterses a perfect, though limited sovereignty, for the general and
national purposes specified in the Confederation.
th this sovereignty hoe cannot severally participate, except by
their delegates, or have concurrent jurisdiction ; for the 9th article of
the Confederation most expressly conveys to Congress the sole and
excluswe right and power of determining on war and peace, and of
entering into treaties and alliances, &c., &c.
When, therefore, a treaty is Lanbetenslonae made, ratified, and
published by Congress, it immediately becomes binding on the whole
nation, and superadded to the laws of the land without the interven-
é
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 593
on, consent, or fiat of State Legislatures. It derives its obligation
om its being a compact between the sovereign ofi this and the
svereign of another nation; but laws or statutes derive their force
om being acts of a Legislature competent to the passing of them.
Hence it is clear that treaties must be implicitly received and
bserved by every member of the nation; for, as State Legislatures
re not competent to the making of such compacts or treaties, so
either are they competent in that capacity authoritatively to decide
n or to ascertain the construction and sense of them.
When doubts arise respecting the construction of State laws, it 1s
ommon and proper for the State Legislatures, by explanatory or
eclaratory acts, to remove those doubts; but when doubts arise
proaee the construction of a treaty, they are so far from being
ognizable by a State Legislature, that Congress itself has no
uthority to settle and determine them.
For, as the Legislature only, which constitutionally passes a law,
as power to revise and amend it, so the sovereigns only who are
arties to the treaty have power, by posterior articles and mutual
onsent, to correct or explain it.
All doubts in cases between private individuals respecting the
neaning of a treaty, like all doubts respecting the meaning of a law,
re, in the first instance, mere judicial questions, and are to be heard
nd decided in the courts of justice having cognizance of the causes
n which they arise; and whose duty it 1s “to determine them
cording to the rules and maxims established by the laws of nations
or the interpretation of treaties.
If this reasoning and these principles be right, as your Secretary
hinks they are, it follows, of consequence, that no individual State
las a right, by legislative acts, to decide and point out the sense in
which their particular citizens and courts shall understand this or
hat article of a treaty. A contrary doctrine would not only militate
against the common and received principles and ideas relative to
this subject, but would prove as ridiculous in practice as it appears
irrational in theory ; for in that case the same article of the same
treaty may, by law, mean one thing in New Hampshire, another in
New York, and neither the one nor the other in Georgia.
It would be foreign to the object of this report to inquire how far
such legislative acts are valid and obligatory, even within the limits
of the State passing them. Much might be said on that head ;
Vou. I.—38
a
594 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
certain, however, it is, that they cannot bind either of the contracting
sovereigns, and consequently cannot bind their respective nations, |
2. Whether any, and which, of the acts mentioned in the list of
grievances, do violate the treaty with Great Britain? |
It is to be observed that the violations complained of are confined.
to three articles of the treaty, viz: the 4th, 5th, and 6th. |
Your Secretary will, therefore, proceed to arrange and consider
these acts in that order. a
The 4th article of the treaty is in these words: “It is agreed that.
‘the creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to.
‘the recovery of the full value, in sterling money, of all bona jide
‘debts heretofore contracted.” :
This article, in the opinion of your Secretary, establishes this ,
point, viz: That bona fide debts, heretofore contracted, remained
unextinguished by the war. |
The propriety of making this remark will appear from adverting
to the distinction there is between cases where the rights of creditors
survived the war, and cases where creditors, having been divested of
their rights in the course of the war, are restored to them by the
treaty of peace. In the former case, his right remains precisely as
it was; but, in the latter case, it may sometimes be questionable
whether the treaty restores that right wholly or only in part; and
such questions are omy to be decided by recurring to the article of
restoration. ‘This distinction is introduced for the purpose of casting
light on the question, whether interest is or is not. payable on, or
comprised in, the bona fide debts mentioned in the article before us?
For, if the article considers these debts or contracts as being in their
original state of extent and obligation, there can be little doubt but
that when a stipulation to pay interest makes a part of the contract,
every attempt to invalidate that particular part must be in opposition
to the treaty. But, on the other hand, if the article is to be con-
sidered as restoring creditors to rights they had lost in the war, then,
inasmuch as it provides only for the recovery of the bona fide debts,
without making mention of the interest accrued on them, it may be
a question with some whether the right to recover the interest is s0
attached to the right of recovering the principal as that a restoration
of the latter necessarily implies and restores the former; for nothing
being said in the article to exclude interest, the only question Isy
whether the revival of the principal debt does or does not operate
¢
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 595
s a revival of the interest? But this is only a secondary question,
nd to be asked only in case it should appear that both principal and
iterest were lost in the war, and restored by the treaty, under the
enomination of bona fide debts, which words some construe as
acluding both principal and interest, and others think can intend
nly the principal. ‘Those who consider this article as being resto-
atory must insist, and ought to show, that the debts said to be
estored were actually lost to the creditors in the course of the war.
f that was the case, they must have been so lost, either by
xtinction, remission, or confiscation, and that either tacitly and
ently by the laws of war, or expressly by national acts.
Your Secretary is not informed of any laws of war, among civil-
zed nations, whereby all debts before subsisting between the people
f belligerent nations are immediately and silently either extinguished,
emitted, or confiscated; and it would, he conceives, be useless to
dduce the obvious reasons which induce him to think that there
either are, nor ought to be, any such laws. If this be so, it follows
hat the 4th article cannot be considered as restoratory, on the prin-
iple that the debts in question were lost by the silent operation of
uch laws.
The next inquiry, then, is, whether belligerent Powers have a
ight, by express acts, to extinguish, remit, or confiscate such debts ?
Your Secretary thinks that the laws of nations, strictly and rigidly
onsidered, will authorize it; but that, smce mankind have become
nore enlightened, and their manners more softened and humanized,
thas not been common, as well for those reasons as for others
uggested by the interest of commerce and mutual intercourse, to
ractice such severities.
But, admitting that the United States had a right to extinguish,
emit, or confiscate debts due from their citizens to British subjects,
t still remains to be inquired whether, and in what manner, and by
vhat acts they exercised that right.
For if they did not exercise this right at all, then it will follow that
hese debts were neither extinguished, remitted, nor confiscated ; that
he article cannot be considered as restoratory, nothing being more
slear than that restoration always implies previous deprivation.
Here a very important question presents itself, viz: whether the
State Legislatures can derive a right from the existence of war
between their sovereign and a foreign one to extinguish, remit, or
my
og
nut}
596 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
confiscate, by their acts, debts due from their citizens to the subjects
of that foreign sovereign. | |
The rights to make war, to make peace, and to make treaties
appertaining exclusively to the national sovereign, (that is to
Congress,) your Secretary is of opinion that the thirteen Legislatures
have no more authority to exercise the powers, or pass acts of
sovereignty on those points, than any thirteen individual citizens. _
To execute the laws, or exercise the rights of war against a
national enemy, belongs only to the national sovereign, or to those
to whom the national sovereign may constitutionally delegate such
authority. So that whatever right each State, individually consid-
ered, may have to sequester or confiscate the property of their own
proper citizens, yet, with respect to the common enemy of the
nation, they can separately do no act of national sovereignty ; for
surely a thirteenth part of a nation can, with no propriety, assume a
power of doing national acts proper only to the national sovereign.
However recent may be the date of the Confederation, yet a union
founded in compact, and vesting the rights of war and peace in
Congress, preceded it; and your Secretary is exceedingly-mistaken
if there ever was a period since the year 1775 to this day, when
either of the then Colonies, now States, were in capacity to pass
State laws for sequestering or confiscating the debts or property of
a national enemy. It was then, and afterwards, by virtue of national
commissions, that the enemy’s property on the sea was liable to be
captured and confiscated, and equal authority was necessary to
justify the confiscation of their property found on the land.
Whatever State acts, therefore, may have been passed during the
war, exercising rights accruing to the sovereign from the laws of
nations respecting war, they cannot, in the opinion of your Secretary,
be obligatory on either of the belligerent sovereigns, and consequently
not on any of their respective citizens or subjects.
Your Secretary would not have it inferred from these remarks
that the States have passed general laws for confiscating British debts
due from their citizens. His design, in these remarks, is to obviate
any arguments that might be drawn from certain other acts less
general and direct, but, in his opinion, equally improper. Such, for
instance, as those whereby certain. British subjects were declared
traitors, and whereby, as a consequence of treason, the debts due to
them became payable to the State to which those British subjects
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 597
were declared to be traitors; for such laws, however absurd, do
xist.
There are also certain other laws authorizing the payment of debts
Jue to certain individuals to be made at the State Treasury, in paper
money, &c., &c.
The question then again recurs, Did Congress do any act for
extinguishing, remitting, or confiscating, debts due from American to
British subjects ?
In an act of South Carolina, passed in their Senate the 26th
February, 1782, and entitled « An act for disposing of certain estates,
and banishing certain persons therein mentioned,” your Secretary
finds the following recital, viz:
«Whereas the good people of these States having not only suffered
‘reat losses and damages by captures of their property on the sea
‘by the subjects of his Britannic Majesty, but by their seizing and
‘carrying off much property taken on the land; in consequence of
‘such proceedings of the British Crown, and those acting under its
‘authority, the honorable Congress of the United States, after due
‘and mature consideration, authorized the seizure and condemnation
‘of all property found on the sea, and belonging to the subjects of
‘Great Britain, and recommended to the several States in which her
‘subjects had property to confiscate the same for the public use.”
This resolution is not specified by its date.
Your Secretary has taken pains to find it in the Journals of
Congress, but without success; nor does the Secretary of Congress
recollect it. Admitting, however, that there was such a recom-
mendation, yet he cannot think that a recommendation to confiscate
such British property as might be in particular States can, with any
propriety, be construed to extend to the debts due from the people ~
of such States to persons in Britain; nay, the very act which recites
this recommendation, and which does confiscate the property ot
several British subjects, makes an express exception of debts. In
short, your Secretary does not know of any act of Congress whereby
debts due from Americans to Britons were either extinguished,
remitted, or confiscated; and, therefore, he concludes that the fourth
article of the treaty must be understood not as reviving or restoring
those debts, but as considering them to be, and remain exactly and
precisely in their pristine and original state, both with respect to
extent and obligation.
&
598 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
If this potidlasion be just, your Secretary can perceive no ground
for the singular reasonings and questions that have prevailed,
respecting the payment of the interest claimed by British creditors,
in virtue of express contracts between them and their American
debtors. |
_ However harsh and severe the exaction of this interest, considering
the war and its effects, may appear and be, yet the treaty must be
taken, and fulfilled with its bitter as well as its sweets, and although
we were not obliged to accept peace on those terms, yet, having so
accepted it, we cannot now invalidate those terms or stipulations, nor
with honor or justice refuse to comply with them. a
Much better would it be for the United States, either severally or
jointly by their own bounty, to relieve those suffering and deserving
individuals on whom the performance of this article may press too
hard, than by reasonings and comments, which neither posterity nor
impartial cotemporaries can think just, to permit our national reputa-
tion for probity, candor, and good faith, to be tarnished. |
Your Secretary will conclude what he has to say on the subject of
interest with a few short remarks. )
It appears to him that there are only three cases in which interest can
with justice be demanded ; and that in the first of the three the courts
of justice are not, and ought not to be at liberty to refuse it, viz:
1. In all cases where interest is fairly and expressly contracted
and agreed to be paid. In such cases, the debtor is unquestionably
bound to pay it; and ought not to be absolved or excused from it
by any act of legislation. In the opinion of your Secretary, every
Legislature deviates from the reason and limits of their institution,
when they assume and exercise the power of annulling or altering
bona fide contracts between individuals. |
2. Interest may be claimed in certain cases by custom, viz: In
cases where it has long been usual for merchants to expect, and to
allow, interest on debts after the stipulated term and time of credit
and payment has expired. This custom, in the ordinary course of
things, is reasonable ; for equity demands that he who does not pay
at the appointed day should thereafter pay interest to his creditor, as
well by way of compensation for the disappointment as for the use
of the money.
Whether the reason of this custom can apply in time of war; or
whether the equity of the demand of interest, in virtue of the custom,
2
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 599
wi
is or is not overbalanced by the equity of refusing it by reason of the
effects of the war, are questions proper for the consideration of the
jury ; and your Secretary sees nothing in the treaty to prevent their
deciding as to them shall appear just and right.
3. Interest may be demanded, and is often given, under the idea
of damages for wrongful and vexatious delays of payment.
Every case of this kind must stand on its own merits, and the
treaty leaves the jury at liberty to give such a verdict as their
opinion of those merits may dictate. |
Your Secretary will now proceed to examine the acts complained
of as infractions of this article.
The first on the list is called an act of Massachusetts, passed the
9th of November, 1784; but it was a resolution of the Legislature,
rather than a formal act. As the abridgment of it in the list of
grievances may not be so satisfactory to Congress as a recital of it
at large, your Secretary thinks it better to report it:
‘‘Commonwealth of Massachusetts, ;
‘‘Jn Senate, November 9, 1784.
«Whereas, the payment of interest which might have accrued
during the late war, upon debts due from the citizens of this or of
any of the United States, prior to the commencement of the same,
to real British subjects, and others, commonly called absentees,
would be not only inequitable and unjust, but the Legislature of this
Commonwealth conceive repugnant to the spirit and intendment of
the fourth article in the treaty of peace, which provides only for the
payment of bona fide debts; and as the Legislature have taken
measures to obtain the sense of Congress upon the said article, so
far as the same respects the payment of interest which might have
accrued as aforesaid, and, in the mean time, judgments may be
obtained in some of the courts of law of this Commonwealth for
interest accruing as aforesaid, contrary to the true design of the said
treaty: ‘Therefore—
_ « Resolved, That in all actions or suits which are, or may be,
instituted or brought to any of the judicial courts within this Com-
monwealth, wherein any real British subject or absentee is plaintiff
or defendant, and which actions or suits, by the laws thereof, are
sustainable therein, the justices of the same courts are hereby
severally directed to suspend rendering judgment for any interest
that might have accrued upon the demand contained in such actions
a
600 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
and suits, between the 19th day of April, 1775, and the 20th day
of January, 1783, until the third Wednesday of the next sitting of
the general court: Provided, always, That if in any such actions —
or suits the plaintiffs shall move for, or by default have right of.
judgment, then, and in such case, the justices aforesaid shall cause
judgment to be entered for the principal sum which by the laws of
this Commonwealth such plaintiff shall be entitled to recover, and —
all such interest as accrued thereon before the 19th of April, and |
subsequent to said 20th day of January, and execution shall issue -
accordingly ; and if Congress shall hereafter determine that interest, |
which might have accrued on any bona fide debt aforesaid during
the war, ought by the treaty aforesaid, to be considered as part of |
such debt, then the said courts, respectively, shall proceed to enter
a further judgment for the amount of all such last mentioned interest,
without any new process, and issue execution for such further sum
accordingly; and all attachments made, or bail given upon any
action instituted as aforesaid, shall be holden to respond the final
judgment that may be given for the amount of such last mentioned _
interest.
«Sent down for concurrence.
SAMUEL ADAMS, President.
‘In the House of Representatives, November 10th, 1784. Read
and concurred in.
“SAMUEL A. OTIS, Speaker.
«¢ Approved, JOHN HANCOCK.
“A true copy. iH
he {JOHN AVERY, Jr., Secretary.
However this resolution may deviate from the treaty, and perhaps
from the proper jurisdiction of the Legislature, yet it bears strong
marks of fairness and regard to justice.
It states their doubts on the construction of the article.
It does not assume the power of deciding those doubts. It refers
that question to Congress; and, although it suspends judgments for
interest, yet it does it impartially, and not only in cases where British
creditors are plaintiffs, but also where they are defendants. It also.
provides that if Congress should decide in favor of interest, then
Judgment and execution shall be given accordingly.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 601
Your Secretary is, nevertheless, of opinion that this resolution was
an infraction of the said fourth article. |
Because State Legislatures, having no cognizance of questions
respecting the construction of treaties, can, with no propriety,
suspend their operation on account of any fears or apprehensions
which they may entertain of and concerning such questions.
Because as it appertained to the courts of judicature to decide
such questions, the Legislature ought not to have restrained those
courts from rendering such judgments as to them appeared consistent
with the treaty and the law; for, by restraining the courts from giving
judgment for interest in cases where they would have given such
judgment unless so restrained, the Legislature did certainly interpose
a lawful impediment to the plaintiff’s recovering what the courts
were ready to adjudge to be his right under that article of the treaty,
and their so doing was, therefore, a violation of it.
The next act complained of as being contrary to this article, is
one of New York, passed on the 12th July, 1782, which was some
months prior to the date of the provisional articles ; so that this
complaint must be ill founded, unless this act (if inconsistent with
the treaty) was continued and so executed, after the peace, as to
violate the treaty.
It is by no means accurately stated, as will appear on comparing
the account given of it in the list of grievances with the act itself,
which is in the following words :
«An act relative to Debts due to persons within the enemy’s lines,”
passed 12th July, 1782.
‘Whereas, many of the inhabitants of this State, who have not
remained within the enemy’s power, and who were indebted to others
who did so remain, are now threatened with suits, and have it not in
their power to recover from those who are indebted to them and
remained within the power of the enemy:
“ Be it therefore enacted by the people of the State of New York,
represented in Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the
authority of the same, That all suits and prosecution for any debt
arising on simple contract, bills, single or penal, or any other obliga-
tion, mortgage, security, or demand whatsoever, due by or from any
person not within the enemy’s power or lines, that has remained with,
gone into, or has, in consequence of any law of this State, been sent
within the enemy’s power or lines, already coramenced, or which
Sey ial
602 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
hereafter may be commenced, shall be stayed until the Legislature
shall make further provision in the premises, any law to the contrary
« And whereas, it is also just and reasonable that provision should
be made for the relief of such citizens of this State who, having
received, in payment of debts due to them, paper currency, which
at the time of such payment was a legal tender, and which they
might, of right, have paid in discharge of any debts due by them,
but which it was not in their power to pay to such of their creditors
as have remained with, gone into, or were so sent within the enemy’s
lines; and which money has, since the receipt thereof, depreciated
in their hands: and whereas, it is impossible to apply one general
rule to all the variety of cases which do or may arise:
“Be wt therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in
every suit or prosecution which shall be commenced after the Legis-
lature shall, by law, have declared that the necessity of staying such
suits or prosecutions as aforesaid does no longer exist, by any person
who may have remained with the enemy, gone into them, sent or to
be sent, as aforesaid, unto them, against any person who has remained
without the power of the enemy, it shall and may be lawful for the
court in which such suit shall be commenced or prosecuted, and the
court is hereby required, on motion of the defendant or his attorney,
to appoint three or five referees, at the option of the court, to try the
matter in controversy, and the defendant shall, and hereby is, allowed —
to plead before such referees any special matter; and if it shall
appear to the said referees, or the major part of them, that the
special matter alleged and proved by the defendant is of such a
nature that, in equity and good conscience, abatement ought to be
made from any sum or sums due by such defendant, the referees
shall, by a majority of voices, determine the quantum of such abate-
ment; and having made their report and award, in writing, shall
return the same into court; and the court shall thereupon give
judgment, and order execution to issue in favor of the plaintiff, for
the sum so awarded to be due to the plaintiff: Provided, That such
execution shall not be levied until the expiration of three years next
after the enemy shall be expelled from, or shall have abandoned, the
city of New York. |
“And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall
and may be lawful for every defendant to pay,.in discharge of any
debt so found due as aforesaid, to such plaintiff as aforesaid, certifi-
oe
a’
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 603
cates or notes signed by any commissioner of loans of the United
States, according to the value thereof, as settled by the continental
scale of depreciation, or certificates for money due on loans by this
State, according to the value thereof, ascertained by law. ka
“And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it
shall and may be lawful for any person now without the power of the
enemy, being a debtor to any person now within the power of the
enemy, at any time after the enemy shall be expelled from or shall
have abandoned the city of New York, and that the Legislature shall
have, by law, declared that such suits as aforesaid shall be no longer
stayed, to cite his creditors before any court of law in this State, to
have a settlement, and make payment agreeably to the mode
prescribed by this act; and if the creditors shall refuse to appear
and come to trial within two terms next after such citation, he shall
be, and hereby is, declared to be barred and precluded from recover-
ing his said debt, due, or demand, or any part thereof.
“Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, ‘That any
subject or subjects of this State, not in the power or les of the
enemy, who are indebted by simple contract, bill single or penal, or
any other obligation, mortgage, security, or demand whatsoever, to
any person or persons that have either remained with, gone into, or
have, in consequence of any law of this State, been sent within the
enemy’s power or lines, for such subjects of this State not in the
power or lines of the enemy, so indebted, shall be, and hereby are,
discharged from any interest which may have become due on such
contract, bill, obligation, mortgage, or securities, since the first day
of January, 1776, to the first day of January which shall follow next
after the conclusion of the present war; any law, usage, or custom
to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, That nothing in this
clause contained shall be deemed to operate as a discharge of any
interest which may have accrued on any such bill, obligation, mort-
gage, or other security, excited since the first day of January, 1776:
Provided, nevertheless, That no person or persons shall be allowed
the benefit of this act unless he, she, or they, shall first have taken
the oath of abjuration and the oath of allegiance to this State, and
shall obtain a certificate, signed by two reputable and well-affected
freeholders of this State, (one thereof shall be a judge of the inferior
court of common pleas of the county in which the person named in
such certificate shally reside,) certifying that Ke or she is well attached
604 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY. ~ ;
to the freedom and independence of the United States of America,
and has taken an active and decided part therein: And provided
Jurther, That this act shall not extend to any debt or debts contracted
or made, or hereafter to be made, for the use of the State, for the
payment of which the faith thereof is pledged: And provided also,
further, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to
extend to any person that heretofore hath been, now is, or hereafter
shall be, a prisoner with the enemy.”
It must be obvious to those who carefully peruse this act, that
it neither mentions nor respects British creditors; and your Secre-
tary is well informed that it never has been construed to extend to
them, but, on the contrary, it has universally been considered as
incapable of such a construction. The complaint urged against it,
therefore, is entirely without reason.
This circumstance shows the necessity of minutely examining the
facts and complaints contained in this list of grievances.
The next in order is an act of Pennsylvania, said to have been
passed soon after the peace, to restrain the recovery of the old debts
fora given period. The one intended is, doubtless, the following :
“An act for extending the provision made in the seventh section
of the act entitled ‘An act for the repeal of so much of the laws
‘of this Commonwealth as make the Continental bills of credit,
‘and the bills emitted by the resolves or acts of Assemblies of the
‘savd Commonwealth, a legal tender,’ and for the other Pups
therein mentioned.
‘Whereas; the provision made by the act entitled «An act for
‘the repeal of so much of the laws of this Commonwealth as make
‘the Continental bills of credit, and the bills emitted by the resolves
‘or acts of Assemblies of the said Commonwealth, a legal tender’
in behalf of those persons who, from principles of honor and honesty,
declined paying their debts with a depreciated paper currency, when
they had it in their power by law so to have done, will cease on the
21st day of June next.
‘And whereas it was deemed reasonable, at the time of passing
the aforesaid act, that such honest debtors should not be compelled
to pay their old debts till gold and silver money should become more
plenty and easier to be procured ; and whereas, from divers causes,
it hath actually become more scarce and difficult to be procured
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 605
than at the time of passing the aforesaid act, and, in consequence
thereof, great numbers of honest debtors, as aforesaid, will be ruined,
unless some further relief be provided for them:
« Be it therefore enacted, and it is hereby enacted by the repre-
sentatives of the freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in
General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, That no
execution shall issue for the principal sum due by any contract, or
species of contract whatever, entered into before the first day of
January, 1777, (debts due to the State only excepted,) until one
year from and after the 2lst day of June next ensuing, and from
thence until the end of the next sitting of Assembly, anything in the
said act to the contrary notwithstanding.
«¢ And whereas divers debtors, who had contracted debts, which,
by reason of losses and misfortunes in trade, they were unable at the
time to pay, have, before the said first day of January, 1777,
assigned and made over their real estates, or such parts thereof as
their creditors were willing to accept, to trustees, in trust, that the
same should be sold within a reasonable time to pay and satisfy such
debts, which said trusts have not been executed ; and whereas the
scarcity of gold and silver hath caused the value of lands and tene-
ments in most parts of this State to fall vastly below the real value
of the same; and, if compulsory sales were to be made of such lands
and tenements, it is probable they would fall short of paying the
debts which they were at first supposed a sufficient security for, to
the injury and oppression of both debtor and creditor. -
«“ Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, 'That no sales
shall be made by any such trustees of any lands and tenements which
were so as aforesaid assigned, and made over to them before the said
Qist day of June, 1784, and from thence until the end of the next
sitting of Assembly, without the consent in writing of the debtor or
assignor, or his legal representative, first had and obtained.
_ « And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, ‘That no
act or statute of limitation of actions shall run, or be deemed or taken
to have run, at any time between the Ist day of January, 1776, and
the end of one year from and after the 21st day of June next, upon
all debts and contracts made or entered into before the Ist day of
January, 1776.
«And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, ‘That
whenever it shall appear that any debt or duty was contracted or
606 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY. en
ra
incurred on or before the Ist day of January, 1777, and any bad
obligation, or other security hath been entered into for
thereof since the Ist day of January, the plaintiff who
or shall bring any suit or suits on any such bond or obligation,
the payment
hath brought:
executed in the manner aforesaid, may proceed to judgment i in such -
action, and may issue his execution for the interest, damages, and
costs as aforesaid; but no execution shall issue for the principal debt —
or sum until one year from and after the 21st day of June next as
aforesaid.
“And be it also further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That |
so much of the aforesaid act as is contrary to this act shall be, and
the same is hereby, repealed and made void.
“Signed by order of the House.
$ “FREDERICK A. MUHLENBERG,
cs ‘peaker.
f
vt
\
\
}
I
\
‘Enacted a law at Philadelphia, on Wednesday, the 12th day of _
March, in the year of our Lord 1783.
«PETER L. LLOYD,
“ Clerk of the General Assembly.”
To say, in general terms, that this act was passed to restrain the
recovery of the old debts for a given period, was conveying rather
harder ideas of it than candor would justify ; for from this description —
one would s suppose that the act was passed to prevent actions being
brought for a given period for the recovery of British debts in
particular, whereas the act leaves every British and other creditor
at liberty to commence and prosecute actions to judgment, and only
restrains them for a limited time from issuing executions for the
principal sum due. Your Secretary i is, nevertheless, of opinion that
any law to restrain for any given time British creditors from issuing
execution on judgments regularly obtained, is an infraction of the
fourth article of the treaty, and, therefore, that this act of miei”
vania must be considered in that light.
To this act the list of grievances imputes consequences with which
it does not appear to be chargeable. “'This law,” it says, ‘operating ©
‘with the fears and prejudices of some of the inhabitants, has produced —
‘effects of the most mischievous consequences to the British met-
‘chants; for not only a uniform opposition has been made against
‘the payment of interest, but the lawyers, dreading the resentment
” DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 607
‘of some of the most violent among their countrymen, have refused
“to engage in the recovery of these unpopular demands,” &c.
‘That there may have been an opposition to the payment of interest
prevailing in Pennsylvania, may be true; but the act affords no
countenance to such opposition, nor does it contain any thing to
discourage, or to induce the people to discourage, lawyers from
commencing actions for the recovery of debts due to British subjects.
That they may have been generally disinclined to such actions, is
possible; but surely they must reason strangely, who, from the
personal disinclination or refusal of lawyers to be concerned in
certain causes, can argue legal impediment to the prosecution of
Such causes.
The act in question was followed by another, which, though less
exceptionable, is not altogether free from objections. It passed the
23d of December, 1784, and is as follows:
“An act for directing the mode of recovering Debts contracted before
the first day of January, in the year of our Lord 1777.
«Whereas, most of the debts contracted by the citizens of this
State before the first day of J anuary, in the year of our Lord 1777,
which yet remain unpaid, are due and owing from persons who, from
principles of honor and honesty, declined paying their debts in paper
currency of less value than the money in which they were contracted,
when, by the laws of the State, they might have so done; and it
would be unreasonable that such debtors should be compelled or
compellable to discharge their old debts in gold or silver money until
it shall become more plenty and easier to be acquired ; and whereas»
divers acts have been heretofore made giving time to such debtors to
pay such debts, which acts have expired by their own limitation ;
and it is reasoriable to provide a further term for the payment of
such debts—
“Be it therefore enacted, and it is hereby enacted, by the Repre-
sentatives of the freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in
General Assembly met, and by the authority of the sume, That where
any judgment hath already been, or hereafter shall be, entered in
any court of record within this State, against any citizen or inhabi-
tant thereof, either by default or upon the confession of the party,
the report of referees, the verdict of a jury, or otherwise, for any sum
of money contracted for or due upon any bond, specialty, bill, note,
~
608 ” JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY. - i
bill of exchange, or order, assumpsit, simple contract, or otherwise,
or for rents or annuities, due or payable before the said first day of
January, in the year 1777, such court is hereby authorized and
required to ascertain the sum or sums so due in each respective case,
and thereupon to give judgment for the whole sum due, as well.
principal as legal interest to the time of such judgment being.
obtained, with stay of execution; nevertheless, for the respective
times hereinafter limited, that is to say, as to one-third part of the:
said principal and interest, and one year’s interest thereon, and the.
whole cost and charges accrued thereon for the term of one year
from and after the passing of this act; as to one other third part
thereof, and one year’s interest upon two-third parts thereof, with the,
increasing costs and charges thereon, for the term of two years from
and after the passing of this act; and as to the remaining one-third
part thereof, with one year’s interest thereof, and the further increased
costs and charges thereon, for the term of three years from and after
the passing of this act; and that several executions for the said
several proportions of the said debt or damages may and shall be
issued at the request of the plaintiff or plaintiffs, his, her, or their
executors, administrators, or assigns, if the said several proportions of
the same be not paid and discharged, with interest and costs, in the
manner and at the times above specified. And in all such judgments
hereafter to be entered, the stay of execution shall be regulated in
equal third parts; that is to say, the first third part thereof for such
time as shall be equal to one-third part of the time between the
entering of such judgment and the expiration of three years from the
hi yp Passing of this act; the second part thereof for such time as shall be
equal to two-third parts of the time from the entering such judgment
and the expiration of three years from the passing of this act; and
the remaining third part thereof until the expiration of the said three
years from the passing of this act; after which time executions may,
and shall, at the request of the plaintiff or plaintiffs, his or their
executors, administrators, or assigns, or any person for him or them,
be issued against the defendant or defendants, his, her, or their
executors, administrators, or assigns, without any writ or writs of
scire factas to revive such judgments. :
«And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all
process and proceedings upon any writs of execution now issued, and
in the hands of any sheriff or other officer within this State, founded
b DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. © 609
ipon judgments obtained for any such debts due before the Ist day
of January, in the year of our Lord 1777, shall be stayed, and the
sheriffs and other officers are hereby forbid to proceed therein, if the
defendant or defendants in such writ named, or some person for him
wx them, shall tender and pay to such sheriff or other officer the
amount of the interest of such debt, and the costs and charges
accrued thereon at any time before actual sale of the goods and
shattels, lands and tenements, taken in execution; and shall give
security that the goods and chattels, if such be taken in execution
pon such writs, shall be forthcoming in equal plight, and of equal
value at the expiration of one year from the passing of this act, and
satisfy such debts or damages as in the said writs are specified.
«¢ And whereas divers persons have assigned and made over their
states, or some parts thereof, to trustees, to be sold for the satisfac-
ion of debts contracted before the said 1st day of January, 1777,
wnd it is reasonable to allow to such assigning debtors the benefit of
the terms herein before allowed to other debtors for discharging their
ald debts:
« Be it therefore enacted, and it is hereby enacted by the authority
wforesaid, ‘That no assignee or assignees in trust of the estate of any
debtor whose debts were contracted, and the assignment to secure
the same was made before the said Ist day of January, 1777, shall
have power to sell or expose to sale any part of the lands or
fenements so to them or him assigned, for the purpose of raising
money to pay such debts within the term of three years from the
passing of this act, without the consent of such assigning debtor to
be expressed in writing, or by his signing as a witness or a party to,
the deeds of conveyance of the same. y
“Provided always, nevertheless, That nothing contained in this
act shall be taken or construed to affect the recovery of any debt due
to this State or to the United States; and that if any defendant or
defendants, or any assigning debtor or debtors as aforesaid, are not,
or shall not be seized in his or their own right of a real estate
sufficient to satisfy, beyond reprisals, all his, her, or their debts, and
shall be about to depart this State without securmg the same, then,
and in such case, it shall and may be lawful to, and for all and every
plaintiff and plaintiffs, creditor and creditors, assignee or assignees, to
sue out executions, and proceed to sale of all their goods and chattels,
Vou. I1.—39
610 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
lands and tenements, to satisfy such debts, in the same manner as he
or they could have done the same if this act had never been passed,
any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. |
“And provided also, and be it further enacted by the authority
aforesaid, That this act, nor any thing therein contained, shall not
extend, or be construed to extend to any debt or debts which were
due before the 4th day of July, 1776, by any of the citizens of this
State to any of the subjects of Great Britain.
«Signed by order of the House.
“JOHN BAYARD, Speaker.
“Enacted into a law at Philadelphia, on Thursday, the 23d day —
of December, in the year of our Lord 1784.
«SAMUEL BRYAN,
“Clerk of the General Assembly.”
It is to be observed that this act applies generally to all debts
contracted prior to the lst January, 1777, and that the proviso in
favor of British creditors only prevents its extending to such debts to
British subjects as were due before the 4th day of July, 1776; so
that the law is left to operate on all debts to British subjects which
became due between 4th July, 1776, and 1st January, 1777. This
discrimination in those debts appears to your Secretary to be incon-
sistent with the treaty; and the more so as debts which became due
in the course of that interval might have been, and many of them
doubtless were, contracted at a much more early date, and before
actual war had taken place between the two countries.
Inasmuch, therefore, as this act creates lawful impediments to the
recovery of those debts to British subjects which became due or
payable after the 4th July, 1776, your Secretary thinks it does, in
that respect, contravene the 4th article of the treaty.
Maryland is mentioned in the list of grievances as having violated
the treaty by acts relative to debts due to British subjects ; ; but no
specific complaint or charge is urged against her, nor is any one of —
her acts named as liable to that imputation or construction. -
Against Virginia the list of grievances contains pointed complaints.
It states that many British merchants had sent agents and factors to
Maryland and Virginia to collect their debts, &c., &c.; and that
the Governor of Virginia, on the 2d July, 1783, issued (what the
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, 611
omplainants call) an edict, but in fact a proclamation, ordering, as
yey say, ‘all the British agents and factors who had arrived in that
tate forthwith to depart the same.”
This is not a candid representation of that proclamation. It is as
lows :
By his Excellency Benjamin Harrison, Esquire, Governor of the
Commonwealth of Virginia,
‘A PROCLAMATION.
«: Whereas, by reason of the late suspension of hostilities between
1e United States and his Britannic Majesty, and an abuse of those
idulgences granted to British commerce at the last session of the
reneral Assembly, many evil disposed persons, still obnoxious to
1e laws of this Commonwealth, have found means to introduce
1emselves into the same: And whereas, it is probable many others
ill follow their example, to the disturbance of the peace and
armony of the State, unless speedily prevented by a vigorous
xecution of the law: I have therefore thought, with the advice of
ne Council of State, to issue this my proclamation, hereby com-
yanding all such persons as have either voluntarily left this country
nd adhered to the enemy since the 19th April, 1775, or have been
xpelled, the same by any act of the Legislature or order of the
Mxecutive, or such natives who have at any time borne arms in the
ervice of the enemy against this Commonwealth, and have since
eturned without being authorized by law so to do, forthwith to
lepart the State. And I do further hereby strictly inhibit the return,
s well of those as all others coming within the like description, until
he determination of the Legislature on this subject can be known.
nd to the end that this proclamation may have its full effect, I
ereby enjoin and command all officers, civil and military, within
his Commonwealth, and all others concerned, to pay due obedience
hereto.
«Given under my hand and seal of the Commonwealth, in the
Souncil Chamber, the 2d day of July, 1783.
«BENJAMIN HARRISON.”
They who read this proclamation cannot easily avoid observing
hat it has no relation to British agents and factors, considered as
uch ; but only to persons of certain descriptions, whose residence
be ow
GIz JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY. — .
in Virginia was inadmissible by the laws then existing, and who,
while so circumstanced, ought not to have gone, or been sent there,
either as factors or in any other character.
It is also certain that this proclamation was issued on the 2d July,
1783, and that the treaty of peace was not ratified by either of the
parties until the following year.
It is very extraordinary, therefore, that, considering its contents
and date, this proclamation should be viewed by any candid eye as
an infraction of the 4th or any other article of the treaty ; especially,
too, as the complainants knew, and do admit, that in November,
1783, and before the treaty was ratified, “ the legislative body of
Virginia removed the restriction.”’ |
They further complain that, although the said agents and factors
have since remained unmolested, yet, that “no permission whatever
‘has been given, either to merchants acting for themselves, or to
‘agents or factors acting for employers in Britain, to recover any
‘part of the debts or property left in the country in the year 1775,”
but they do not particularize the acts of Virginia, which impose the
restrictions they complain of.
Your Secretary nevertheless believes that fact to be as they repre-
sent it, for he finds it standing admitted by the Assembly of Virginia
in resolutions they passed on the 22d June, 1784, viz: 3
«¢ Virernta, to wit:
‘In General Assembly, the 22d J une, 1784.
“Tt appearing to the General Assembly, from a letter from his
Excellency General Washington, dated the 7th day of May, 1783,
that, in obedience to a resolution of Congress, he had a conference
with General Carleton on the subject of delivering up the slaves and
other property belonging to the citizens of the United States, in com-
pliance with the articles of the provisional treaty, that he (General
Carleton) appeared to evade a compliance with the said treaty by a
misconstruction of the same, and permitted a large number of the
said slaves to be sent off to Nova Scotia. It further appearing to
the General Assembly, from the testimony of Thomas Walke, Esq.,
that he, together with several other persons from the counties of
Norfolk and Princess Anne, in or about the month of April, 1783,
went to New York with a view of recovering the slaves which had
been taken from them by the British troops during the war; that
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 613
not being permitted to take possession of those slaves which they
found in that city, the said Walke made a personal application to
General Carleton, and requested a delivery of the said slaves, in
compliance with the 7th article of the treaty, which prohibits the
carrying off negroes or other property belonging to the inhabitants
of the United States. This he peremptorily refused, alleging that
he was not authorized to do it without particular instructions from
the British Government. That at the time of this application the
said Walke was informed by an aid- -de-camp of General Carleton
that an agent was appointed to superintend the embarkation and
keep a register of slaves sent to Nova Scotia, and that he afterwards
saw the said register, and also saw a large number of negroes
embarked to be sent to that country.
“Tt further appearing to the General Assembly, from the testimony
of Mr. John Stewart, of the State of Maryland, as well as from a
variety of other circumstances, that many applications were made
to General Carleton, by citizens of America, for the restitution of
property, which were invariably rejected—
* Resolved, That there has been an infraction, on the part of
Great Britain, of the seventh article of the treaty of peace between
the United States of America and Great Britain, in detaining the
slaves and other property of the citizens of the United States.
“‘ Resolved, 'That the delegates representing this State in Congress
be instructed to lay before that body the subject-matter of the pre-
ceding information and resolution, and to request from them a
remonstrance to the British Court, complaining of the aforesaid
infraction of the treaty of peace, and desiring a proper reparation
of the injuries consequent thereupon; that the said delegates be
instructed to inform Congress that the General Assembly has no
inclination to interfere with the power of making treaties with foreign
nations, which the Confederation hath wisely vested in Congress ;
but it is conceived that a just regard to the national honor and
interest of the citizens. of this Commonwealth obliges the Assembly
to withhold their coéperation in the complete fulfilment of the said
treaty, until the success of the aforesaid remonstrance is known, or
Congress shall signify their sentiments touching the premises.
“ Resolved, That so soon as reparation is made for the aforesaid
infraction, or Congress shall judge it indispensably necessary, such
acts of the Legislature passed during the late war, as inhibit the
614 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
-recovery of British debts, ought to be repealed, and payment thereof
made in such time and manner as shall consist with the exhausted
situation of this Commonwealth.
“ Extract from the Journal of Assembly.
«JOHN BECKLEY, Clk. H. D.”
Inasmuch, therefore, as the laws of Virginia, existing in force after
the peace, did tnhibit the recovery of British debts, there can be no
doubt but that such inhibition was, and is, an infraction of the fourth
article of the treaty. Whether that infraction was justifiable, or, in
other words, whether the reasons assigned for it in the preamble to
those resolutions were good and sufficient, shall be considered under
a distinct head.
As to the bill said to have passed the Legislature of Virginia in
October, 1784, the complainants admit that it never became a law,
and therefore it is, and ought to be, entirely out of the question.
North Carolina is classed with Virginia in such a manner as to
infuse an idea of her having given occasion to similar complaints ;
but not a single charge being specified or stated against her, there is
reason to presume that she had not given just cause for complaint.
Whether that is or is not in fact the case, your Secretary is
uninformed ; not having, as yet, been able to procure a copy of the
acts of North Carolina.
Of South Carolina, the list of grievances complains in strong and
pointed terms. It takes particular notice of an ordinance passed
there the 26th March, 1784, viz:
“An Ordinance respecting Suits for the Recovery of Debts.
“ Be it ordained by the honorable the Senate and House of
Representatives, met in General Assembly, and by the authority of
the same, ‘That no suit or action shall commence, either in equity or
at law, for the recovery of any debt or bond, note or account,
contracted by a citizen of this or any of the United States, previous
to the 26th day of February, in the year of our Lord 1782, until
the first day of January next, after which time it shall and may be
lawful to and for any person, and all persons, to sue for and recover
all interest which shall have accrued since the Ist day of January,
1780, on all bonds, notes; or other contracts bearing interest :
Provided, nevertheless, That nothing herein contained shall be
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 615
construed to extend to prevent any creditor from suing for and
recovering all interest accruing upon bond or notes since the 26th
day of February, 1782.
“And be it further ordained, by the authority aforesaid, That
it shall and may be lawful for any person, and all persons, to whom
any debt shall be due as aforesaid, to sue for, and recover, after the
Ast day of January, which will be in the year of our Lord 1786, all
such other interest as may be then due on such debt, and the fourth
part of the principal debt which shall be owing to him, her, or them ;
and from and after the Ist day of January, which will be in the year
of our Lord 1787, one other fourth part of the principal debt, with
the interest which shall have accrued thereon; and from and after
the Ist day of January, which will be in the year of our Lord 1788,
one other fourth part of the principal debt, with the interest which
shall have accrued thereon; and from and after the Ist day of
January, which will be in the year of our Lord 1789, the balance
which may be then due and owing: Provided, nevertheless, That if
any person who shall be indebted as aforesaid shall, after a notice
of ten days, refuse to give security to his creditor (which notice shall
be proved by such creditor on oath, before any justice of the peace,)
for the payment of such sum or sums of money as may be due and
owing to him, to be approved of by one of the judges of the court
of common pleas, if in Charleston district, and by a commissioner
for taking special bail, if in any of the circuit court districts; that in
such case it shall and may be lawful for the creditor to sue for the
said debt, and to proceed to execution; which execution may be
levied, and the property so seized be sold, if the debtor shall refuse
to give the security hereby required, and pay the costs of suit.
«“ And be it further ordained, by the authority aforesaid, ‘That
all moneys which shall be due on such open accounts as are
restrained by this ordinance from being sued, shall bear an interest
of seven percent. per annum, from the passing of this ordinance.
«“ And be it further ordained, by the authority aforesacd, That
all bonds or other securities which have been given since the 26th
day of February, in the year of our Lord 1782, for debts contracted
previous to that day, except bonds or notes which have been taken
for interest due since that time, shall be, and the same are hereby
declared to be, no otherwise recoverable than other debts for which
securities have not been given.
616 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
“And be it further ordained, by the authority aforesaid, That
no seizure shall be made of any property which may have been
mortgaged previous to the 26th day of February, in the year of our —
Lord 1782, provided the person whose property has been mortgaged |
shall pay the principal and interest of the debt for which the said —
property has been mortgaged, at such periods as are required by this
ordinance ; and, on failure thereof, the said mortgaged property may
be taken and held by the person to whom the same has been so
mortgaged, until the payment shall be made as aforesaid.
|
|
‘In the Senate House, the 26th day of March, in the year of our
Lord 1784, and in the eighth year of the independence of the |
United States of America.
“JOHN LLOYD,
“President of the Senate. .
“HUGH RUTLEDGE,
“ Speaker of House Representatives.”
The most cursory comparison of this ordinance with the fourth —
article of the treaty will point out the direct opposition that exists
between them.
The list of grievances also states, with much particularity, an act
of South Carolina, which, it says, was passed 12th October, 1785,
and entitled « An act for regulating sales under execution, and for
other purposes therein mentioned,” whereby a debtor, during any
period of a suit that has been or may be commenced, is allowed to
tender land in payment of his debt, &c.
Your Secretary has not been able to procure a copy of this act.
If the account given of it in the list of grievances be accurate, it
certainly is a singular act, and a plain violation of the fourth article,
which expressly stipulates for the recovery of the full value in
sterling money, of all bona fide debts, &c. In the same light must
be viewed the pleas (if adjudged good ones) of former tenders in
depreciated paper, in bar of the demands of British creditors.
The list of grievances, in a summary manner, charges Georgia
with having passed laws and regulations similar to those in South
Carolina, and with degrees of peculiar and manifest aggravation.
But as none of these laws or regulations are specified, and as your
Secretary has not the acts of Georgia, he cannot decide how far
these complaints against her are well founded or otherwise.
; DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 617
It is much to be wished that the Executive of each of the States
could be prevailed upon at the conclusion of every session to transmit
to Congress copies of all the acts passed by the Legislature during
the course of it, or that Congress would be pleased to direct that
such copies be regularly purchased and sent to them at the public
expense.
There are other matters mentioned in the list of grievances relative
to the performance of the fourth article, which merit some considera-
tion. They may be comprised under two heads:
1. Popular and improper opposition to the recovery of debts.
2. The payments in paper made into State treasuries, on account
of debts due to British creditors, pursuant to certain acts of some of
the States requiring or authorizing the same. )
With respect to the first of these, your Secretary thinks the
following observations are applicable to such cases when and wherever
arising :
Although popular reluctance and opposition to pay debts may,
and probably does, in some instances, retard and embarrass the
recovery of them, yet, while the course of justice continues steadily
to bear down that opposition, and to execute the laws with punc-
tuality and decision, such vanquished opposition rather does honor
than discredit to the Government; and, therefore, however incon-
venient and temporary commotions or improper combinations may
have been, yet the vigorous and effectual interposition of Government
must forever acquit it of blame. But if, from the imbecility and
relaxation, or from the connivance of Government, it should so
happen that the ordinary course of justice becomes and continues so
obstructed as that foreigners, claiming the benefit of treaties with the
United States, cannot avail themselves of rights secured to them by
such treaties, then, in his opinion, the delinquent State cannot be
without blame. For, as every Government is and must be presumed
to have sufficient power and energy to exact from its own citizens a
compliance with their own compacts and stipulations, a failure or
omission to do it will naturally be imputed to the want of inclination,
and not to the want of means.
Whenever such cases happen, they must excite the notice of
Congress, to whom it appertains to see that national treaties be
faithfully observed throughout the whole extent of their jurisdiction.
Your Secretary does not think himself warranted by any facts
618 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
which have hitherto come to his knowledge, to apply these principles,
against any of the States. For, although the list of grievances |
complains “that so great and general are the obstructions to the
‘recovery of debts, that in several districts remote from Charleston
‘the courts have been prevented by tumultuous and riotous proceed=
‘ings from determining actions of debt,’’ yet, it neither informs us |
whether this was a singular or common case, nor whether the Govern-.
ment did or did not interpose and reéstablish good order. The
presumption is, that the Government did what they ought to have’
done ; and he thinks such must continue to be the presumption until
well authenticated facts shall declare it to be ill-founded. |
Your Secretary does not experience much difficulty in forming a.
judgment of what is right relative to the payments made into some
of the State treasuries by debtors to British creditors, in pursuance of
certain State acts requiring or authorizing the same.
From the principles stated in the preceding part of this report,
your Secretary infers that the treaty of peace does not consider the
debts mentioned in the fourth article as being exactly in their original |
state of obligation and extent, leaving the contracts on which they
depend to be executed according to the tenor, true intent, and mean-
ing of them. Ifso, British creditors have no sort of concern with
any payments (made on account of the debts due to them) other
than such as they either accepted, directed, or approved ; for, in
relation to the creditor, all such payments are as if they had never
been made, and he is justifiable in proceeding against his debtor
accordingly. _ But between the debtor so paying into a State
treasury, and the State directing, inviting, or authorizing him to do
it, an account should be opened; and the State is, in your Secretary’s-
opinion, bound in justice to repay him the then real value of such
money as he so put into the treasury, together with lawful interest for
the use of it.
But violations of the fourth article are not the only ones alleged in
the list of grievances. It expressly charges that as little respect has,
in certain instances, been paid to the fifth and sixth articles. Of these
in. their order.
The fifth article is in these words: “It is agreed that Congress
‘shall earnestly recommend it to the Legislatures of the respective
‘States to provide for the restitution of all estates, rights, and proper-
‘ties which have been confiscated, belonging to real British subjects ;
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 619
‘and also of the estates, rights, and properties of persons resident
‘in districts in possession of his Majesty’s arms, and who have not
‘borne arms against the said United States; and that persons of any
‘other description shall have free liberty to go to any part or parts of
‘the thirteen United States, and therein to remain twelve months
‘unmolested, in their endeavors to obtain the restitution of such of
‘their estates, rights, and properties, as may have been confiscated ;
‘and that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to the several
“¢ States a reconsideration and revision of all acts or laws respecting
‘the premises, so as to render the said acts or laws perfectly
‘consistent, not only with justice and equity, but with that spirit of
conciliation which, on the return of the blessings of peace, should
‘universally prevail; and that Congress shall also earnestly recom-
‘mend to the several States that the estates, rights, and properties, of
‘such last-mentioned persons shall be restored to them, they refunding
‘to any persons who may now be in possession the bona fide price
‘(where any has been given) which such persons may have paid on
‘purchasing any of the said lands, rights, or properties, since the
-§ confiscation.
« And it is agreed that all persons who may have any interest in
confiscated lands, either by debts, marriage settlements, or other-
‘ wise, shall meet with no lawful impediment in the prosecution of
‘ their just rights.”
The complainants insist that South Carolina has violated this
‘article, and in the following instances, viz:
1. That certain persons were permitted to go there to obtain the
‘restitution of their rights and properties, and that the purposes for
which they went were frustrated by a suspension of the courts of
justice. That they were compelled to depart by a public notification
from the Governor, after having been at considerable expense of time
and money in a delusive pursuit. That, during their stay, they
experienced great personal insult and abuse.
Who these persons were may be conjectured from the purposes
for which they went to South Carolina. ‘They went to obtain the
‘restitution of their rights and properties, and were probably of the
‘number of those who were objects of a certain act passed there the
6th February, 1782, entitled «An act for disposing of certain
‘estates and banishing certain persons therein mentioned.”
Tt should be remembered that this act was passed during the
war.
620 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
An examination of it, and of some subsequent acts, will tend to
show how far the complaint of these persons is well founded.
This act divides the persons intended to be affected by it into eight
classes.
The first class was composed of persons who were known to be
subjects of his Britannic Majesty. Their names are mentioned
in a schedule annexed to the act, which is distinguished by list
No. 1.
No personal offences are imputed to them, and national reasons
are assigned for divesting them of their property, real and personal,
‘‘debts excepted,” for the use of the State.
The second class was composed of persons who, owing allegiance
to the State, refused to take an oath professing the same.
The third class consisted of persons who, owing allegiance to the
State, had, in 1779, taken up arms with the enemy, and having, by
proclamation, been requjred by name to surrender themselves by a
given time, did not obey.
The act divests them of their estates, with exception, however, of
such as had returned and borne arms in defence of the State before
the 27th September, 1781.
The fourth class (named in list No. 2) had withdrawn themselves
from their allegiance, and congratulated the enemy’s leaders on the
reduction of Charleston.
The fifth class (named in list No. 3) had withdrawn from their
allegiance, and requested to be embodied and to be permite’ | to serve
as royal militia.
The sixth class (named in list No. 4) had, in violation of their
duty to the State, and with circumstances aggravating the impro-
priety of such conduct, congratulated Earl Cornwallis on_ his
success, and gloried in the blood of their countrymen shed by the
enemy. —
The seventh class (named in list No. 5) held, or had held, com-
missions in the enemy’s service, in defiance of an act of the State
declaring such offences to be capital.
The eighth class (named in list No. 6) had manifested their
attachment to the British Government, and their inveteracy to the
State.
The act divested the seven last classes of their estates, and
banished all those whose names are mentioned in lists Nos. 2, 3, 4,
and 5.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 621
From this act, compared with the case of the complainants, as
stated by themselves, it may fairly be inferred that they are not
British subjects, for none of that character are banished by the act.
During the course of the same session, viz, 1782, an act was
passed entitled « An act for pardoning the persons therein deseribed,
on the conditions therein mentioned.” The preamble is m these
words: ‘‘ Whereas, many persons, inhabitants of, and owing allegiance
‘to this State, some of them having signed congratulatory addresses
‘to Sir Henry Clinton and Mariot Arbuthnot, Esquire, and to the
«Earl Cornwallis, on the successes of his Britannic Majesty’s arms
‘in this country, and others having borne commissions under the
‘British Government, are excepted, by the Governor’s proclamation,
‘bearing date on or about the 27th September last, from pardon for
‘those offences: And whereas, some of the said persons have
‘surrendered to the justice and submitted themselves to the mercy
‘of their country: And whereas, many persons who would have
‘been entitled to the benefit of the said proclamation, had they
‘returned to their allegiance before the expiration of the time limited
‘for the same, did neglect to surrender themselves, but have, since
‘the 17th day of December, withdrawn from the enemy, and borne
éarms in defence of this State; and the Legislature, moved with
‘compassion, are willing to grant them pardon on conditions which
‘may in some degree atone for those offences.”
The act then proceeds to charge them with the payment (within
six months) of ten per cent. on the amount of their estates, and
thereupon to grant a full pardon to them all, excepting only such as
were or might be accused of counterfeiting money, plundering,
robbery, house-burning, house-breaking, or murder. It also pardons
all such as had borne arms with the enemy, and had come out since
the 17th day of December, and who had no estates; it, however,
bound them over to the next session, and required that they should
either do nine Nene duty in the militia, or enlist in the continental
service.
Although this merciful and humane act comprehended a. large
number of persons, yet it seems that the complainants were either
not included in it, or have failed to comply with the terms it
required.
On the 6th March, 1783, an act was passed to alter and amend
the act entitled « An act for disposing of certain estates and banishing
622 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
certain persons therein mentioned.” ‘This act also bears strong
marks of temper and humanity. The preamble recites: “That
‘whereas, in and by the 16th section of the said act, it is enacted, —
‘¢that instead of inflicting capital punishment on such persons, they _
‘should be, and they are thereby, to be forever banished from the
‘said State; and if any of the said persons should remain in the |
‘State forty days next after the passing of the said act, or should |
‘return to this State, the Governor or Commander-in-Chief, for the
‘time being, is thereby authorized and required to cause the persons —
‘remaining in or returning to the State to be apprehended and
‘committed to jail, there to remain, without bail or mainprise, until :
‘a convenient opportunity should offer of transporting the said person
‘or persons from this State to some part of his Britannic Majesty’s |
‘dominions, which the Governor, or Commander-in-Chief, for the
‘time being, is thereby required to do. And if any of the said
‘persons should return to this State after such transportation, then,
‘and in such case, he or they should be adjudged, and they are
‘thereby declared to be guilty of felony, and should, upon conviction
‘of the offence of having returned as aforesaid, suffer death, without
‘the benefit of clergy.’ _ .
‘And whereas, notwithstanding the said act, on the evacuation of
‘the garrison of Charleston by the British forces, on the 14th day of
‘December last past, many persons, whose names are mentioned in
‘the lists annexed to the said act, relying on the lenity of the
‘American Government and the mercy of their fellow-citizens, did ”
‘remain and continue in Charleston, and have surrendered them-
‘selves to the custody of the sheriff of Charleston district, and have
‘been confined, by virtue of, and in pursuance of, the said recited
‘act, in the common jail of Charleston district.
‘‘ And whereas such persons have severally preferred their humble
‘petitions to the Legislature of the said State, asserting their inno-
‘cence of any of the crimes imputed to them, and praying for a trial »
‘and full examination of their conduct; which petit
itions have been.
‘received and are referred to proper committees by both Houses of
‘the Legislature. |
‘«« And whereas it is considered unnecessary in such cases to carry
‘the said in part recited act into a full and strict execution with
‘respect to the close imprisonment and sale of the effects of the said —
‘persons as aforesaid surrendering and submitting themselves; and
ty
- DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 623
‘the Legislature, with its accustomed lenity, hath resolved to admit
‘bail for such persons to be taken to enforce their appearance at a
‘ future eb. elien the merits of their petitions shall have been
‘decided on.’ mn
The act accordingly admits them to bail, and suspends the
further sale of their estates until their cases should be finally
decided on.
To this act there is annexed “a list of persons on the confiscation
‘bill who have petitioned, and whose cases have been favorably
‘determined in the Senate, and others who have been favorably
‘reported on in the House of Representatives.”
This list contains above seventy names.
The complainants, however, seem not to have been of that
description.
In the same session another good-natured act was passed, which,
among other things, provided “that the household furniture, plate,
‘linen, wearing apparel, carriages, and carriage-horses, with such
‘negroes as were generally attendant upon the families of those
‘persons who were described in the confiscation act, should be
‘allowed to them.”
Your Secretary takes notice of this act, because it indicates a
decree, of humanity 3 in the Legislature, which, considering the out-
rages committed in that State, is remarkable.
On the 17th March, 1783, an ordinance was passed for disposing
of the estates of certain persons, and for other purposes therein
mentioned.
It recites “that many of the former citizens of the State, in
‘violation of their allegiance, had withdrawn themselves and joined
‘the enemy.”
It confiscates the estates of such persons. It directs the com-
manding officers of the several regiments of militia to return the
names of such pensons to the commissioners within three months.
With great regard for justice and fairness, it permits such persons
to return to the State within six months after the end of that session,
to take their trial; and declares the ordinance void as to such of
them as should be acquitted.
If the complainants were of the class mentioned in this act, they
either neglected the means it prescribes for them to manifest their
innocence, or they failed in doing it.
624 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY. “i.
On the 26th March, 1784, an act was passed, which, in the
opinion of your Secretary, places the magnanimity and. moderation
of the State in so distinguished a point of light, that it ought to be
inserted at large in this report.
“ An act for restoring to certain persons therein mentioned. their
Estates, both real and personal, and for permitting the said
persons to return to this State, and for other purposes therein
mentioned.”
‘Whereas, by an act entitled «An act for disposing of certain
estates, and banishing certain persons therein mentioned,’ the estates
of such persons were confiscated and forfeited to the use of this
State: and whereas, the United States in Congress assembled have
earnestly recommended to the several States to reconsider and revise
their laws regarding confiscation, so as to render the said laws
perfectly consistent, not only with justice and equity, but with that
spirit of conciliation which, on the return of the blessings of peace,
should universally prevail :
“< Be at enacted by the honorable the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the
same, That all and every the estate and estatés, both real and
personal, of the several persons whose names are mentioned in the
list number one, hereunto annexed, and which estates have not been
sold by the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates, is, and are, and shall
be, taken from and divested out of the commissioners dppointed by _
the said act for disposing of the said estates, is hereby restored to,
and revested in, the several persons respectively mentioned in the
said list number one, and to the heirs of each and every of them, in
the same manner, and for the same use and behoof, as each and
every of the said persons were seized or possessed of the same before
the passing of the said act.
“And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all
and every of the said person and persons mentioned in the lists
numbers one, two, and three, be allowed and permitted to return to
and reside in this State; and every part, clause, matter, and thing
in the said act contained, respecting the banishment of the said
persons, and the disposal of their estates for the use of this State,
except such parts thereof as have been sold by the Commtis-
sioners of Forfeited Estates, be, and the same is hereby, repealed :
he
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 625
Provided always, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
[hat the persons named in the lists numbers one and three, their
ttorneys or agents, where their estates have not been sold, should
make a true and just return to the said commissioners, on oath or
ffirmation, of all their estates, real and personal, within four months
iext after the passing this act ; and that the said commissioners shall
sause an assessment of twelve per cent. to be rated on the just and
real value of such estates, which assessment shall be paid by the
said persons to the said commissioners, in specie, on or before the
Ist day of March, 1785; and, on their failing so to do, the said
sommissioners shall cause such assessment-to be levied and paid into
he treasury for the use of this State, and that the said assessment
shall be rated and levied in the mode prescribed by the amercement
ict, with respect to the amercement thereby imposed, and, where
heir estates have been sold, twelve per cent. shall be deducted from
he amount of sales thereof; and that the Commissioners of Confis-
sated Estates shall be allowed a commission of two pounds per
centum.
« And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all
and every estate and estates, both real and personal, of the several
persons whose names are mentioned in the list number two, hereunto
annexed, where the same is not yet sold, shall be taken from, and
Jivested out of the said commissioners and their heirs as aforesaid ;
and every such estate is hereby restored to, and revested in the
several persons respectively mentioned in the said list number two,
and to the heirs of each and every of them, in as full and ample
a manner as hath been extended to the persons and their heirs
comprehended in the list number one ; and that all and every person
and persons mentioned in said list number two be allowed and
permitted to return to and reside in this State; and that they or any
of them shall not be liable or subject to any amercement whatsoever ;
and every part, clause, matter, and thing in the said act contained,
respecting the banishment of the said persons, and the disposal of
their estates, where any such estate hath not been and is not already
sold by the commissioners aforesaid for the use of this State, be, and
the same is hereby, repealed.
«And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in
all-and every case wherein the estate of any of the said persons hath
been sold by the said commissioners, and the purchaser shall be:
Vou. [1.—40
626 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
unwilling to give up the purchase to such original proprietor, then it
shall and may be lawful for the Commissioners of the Treasury, or the
Commissioners'of Forfeited Estates, and they are hereby authorized
and required to pay on demand to every person, respectively, in the
said lists number one, two, and three comprehended, all such indents
and specie as they, the said treasurers and commissioners, have or
may receive from the said purchasers. And in all and every case
where such purchaser shall agree to give up his purchase to any
original proprietor in the said three lists comprehended, (which
proprietor shall be obliged to accept the said relinquishment,) then,
in that case, the Commissioners of the Treasury and the Com-
missioners of Forfeited Estates, as the case may be, are hereby
authorized and required to give up, and restore to every such
purchaser his bond and other security given for the purchase:
Provided always, That all and every person in the said lists
numbers one, two, and three comprehended, shall be liable and
subject to pay all commissions and charges which may be due to the
Commissioners of Forfeited Estates, or others acting under their
authority. And in any instance where the negroes or other property
of any person hereby subject or liable to amercement hath been sold
or taken, or moneys have been received by virtue of any law or
public authority of this State, the price for which such negroes were
sold, and the value of such other property and money received as
aforesaid, shall be allowed in discount of their amercement, respect-
ively.
“And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the
several persons whose names are contained in the list number three,
and all such on the list number one, who held military commissions
at any time during the war, be disqualified from being elected Gov-
ernor, Lieutenant Governor, member of the Privy Council, or of
either branch of the Legislature, or of holding any office or place
of trust within, or under the authority of, this State, for and during
the term of seven years.
“And whereas several persons have applied to the Legislature to
be relieved from the penalties of an act entitled ‘An act for‘amercing
certain persons therein mentioned,’ whose petitions were referred to
a committee of each branch of the Legislature :
“ Be a therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That as
much of the said act as respects the several persons favorably
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 627
eported on, in either House, shall be, and the same is hereby,
epealed.
« And that the operation of the said act shall be suspended, as to
he remainder of the said persons therein mentioned, until the end
f the next meeting and sitting of the Legislature:
«“ And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, ‘That
Nathaniel Russell, William Roach, James Wright, Peter Prow, and
Andrew Keigler, be, and they are hereby, exempted from all pains,
yenalties, and forfeitures of an ordinance of the General Assembly
assed the 17th day of March, 1783, entitled ‘An ordinance for the
disposing of the estates of certain persons, subjects and adherents
of the British Government,’ and for other purposes therem men-
tioned.’ ”’
In the same spirit of humanity, the Legislature afterwards (viz:
he 19th March, 1785) passed a benevolent act, entitled, “An act
0 afford a maintenance to the persons therein mentioned,” and is as
ollows, viz:
«Whereas, it is but consistent with justice and humanity that a
uitable maintenance should be made to the widows and orphans
f the following persons, whose whole estates are under confisca-
1on—
«‘ Be it therefore enacted by the honorable the Senate and House
if Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and
yy the authority of the same, That the plantation or tract of land
m Reaburn’s creek, containing two hundred acres, late the property
yf Andrew Cunningham, whereon he formerly lived, and not sold by
the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates, shall be, and the same is
hereby, vested in Margaret Cunningham (relict of the late Andrew
Cunningham) and her children by the said Andrew Cunningham,
now alive, their heirs and assigns forever.
“ Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all those two
plantations or tracts of land, situated in the neighborhood of Ninety-
Six, late the property of Culbert Anderson, containing in the whole
four hundred and forty-one acres, and which were sold to Captain
Richard Pollard, in July, 1783, but the terms of sale not complied
with, shall be, and the same are hereby, vested in Mary Anderson
(relict of the late Culbert Anderson) and her children by the said
Culbert Anderson, now alive, their heirs and assigns forever; she
paying the surveyor’s fees and contingent charges on the sale.
+
623 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY. ”
«Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That those two
tenements or lots of ground, late the property of Edward Oats,
situate in Colleton square, the one seventy-five feet front, and one
hundred feet deep, the other thirty feet front and seventy-five feet
deep, with eleven acres of land, more or less, on Daniel’s Island,
shall be, and the same are hereby, vested in Elizabeth Oats (widow
and relict of the said Edward Oats) and her children by the said
Edward Oats, their heirs and assigns forever; she paying the
expenses and contingent charges on the sale.
“ Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That five hundred
acres of any lands, late the property of William Guest, not sold by
the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates, that Sarah Guest, wife of
the said William Guest, shall choose, shall be, and the same is
hereby, vested in the said Sarah Guest, and her children by the said
William Guest, their heirs and assigns forever.
“And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all
personal property under confiscation, not disposed of for public
purposes, lately belonging to the said Andrew Cunningham, Culbert
Anderson, William Guest, and Edward Oats, shall be, and the
same is hereby, restored to and vested in the said Margaret Cun-
ningham, Mary Anderson, Sarah Guest, and Elizabeth Oats,
respectively, and their respective children: Provided always, That
each estate, or parts of estate, so restored by this act, shall be
subject to the payment of all just and bona fide debts that may be
against such estate.
‘In the Senate House, the 19th day of March, A. D. 1785, and
in the ninth year of the independence of the United States of
America. | :
; «JOHN LLOYD,
President of the Senate.
«JOHN FAUCHEREAUD GRIMKE,
Speaker of HH. of Representatives.”
On the 24th March, 1785, an act was passed whereby the estate
which had been confiscated of Edward Fenwick was restored to and
yevested in him, and he permitted to remain twelve months in the
State.
From these several acts, it is apparent that, although much
severity was naturally to be expected, and would have been
excusable in South Carolina, considering the manner in which she
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 629
had been treated; yet great regard to justice, and an uncommon
degree of benevolence, humanity, and mercy, has marked her
conduct towards her offending citizens. How it happened that the
complainants have not experienced the good effects of this continued
prevailing disposition, cannot easily be accounted for on any principles
reputable to their characters. ‘They seem to have forgotten that the
fifth article of the treaty (the last clause only excepted, which has
no relation to their complaint) contains no other stipulation than
that Congress should recommend the several matters therein stipulated.
Congress accordingly recommended them, and South Carolina com-
plied with these recommendations to a great extent. That State
was at liberty to comply or not to comply, in the whole or in part.
She has shown much mercy, and is not responsible for not showing
more. In that State, as in some others, there doubtless were some
citizens to whom more mercy than they have received would have
been injustice. Who the complainants are, or what they may be,
their characters, or particular cases, does not appear from the list of
grievances ; nor has your Secretary any information respecting them.
_ They had permission, it seems, to go to Charleston. That was a
matter of favor, not of right; after a certain time they were ordered
to depart. All this may be true, and yet the treaty remain unvio-
lated.
They say the purposes of their going there were frustrated by a
‘suspension of the courts of justice. If so, it is evident that their
business was not with the Legislature, but with the courts; and
business with the latter, for the restitution or recovery of rights and
property, may as well be transacted by attorney as in person.
If, after coming there, they were insulted and abused, the persons
who treated them in that manner acted improperly ; but insults and
abuses are often of a kind of which the law takes no notice; and
it is probable that those in question were of that kind, for the
complainants do not allege the contrary ; nor do they, in that respect,
impute any blame to the Government, which they would doubtless
have done if there had been room for it.
Qd. That several British merchants, while Charleston was in
possession of his Majesty’s troops, accepted, in payment of debts,
houses and lands, which, on the 4th July, 1776, were the property
of persons whose estates were confiscated by an act passed 26th
February, 1782, but which retrospected to the 4th July, 1776.
630 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
That these lands which, since July, 1776, had often been trans-
ferred, and actually belonged to British merchants when the act
_ passed, were afterwards, viz: in June, 1784, sold by the Commis-
sioners of Confiscated Estates, without any regard to the claims of
these merchants founded on the Sth and 6th articles of the treaty.
Under this head, the first question that presents itself is, whether,
or how far, it was right that the act of 26th February, 1782, should
retrospect to 4th July, 1776?
The question may be discussed with more perspicuity by distin-
guishing between the British subjects and the offending citizens, who
were the objects of this act. : | |
This first violated no allegiance to the State, for they owed none.
The act imputes no particular offences to them, but assigns general
and national reasons for confiscating their property.
On the 4th July, 1776, all British subjects became aliens to the
United States. Thenceforth, to the end of the war, they were not
only aliens, but alien enemies. As such, they were during that
period under legal disabilities either to acquire or convey lands in
this country. On these principles, therefore, it was right and just
that the act should consider all those lands to be still the lands of
the British subjects in question, of which they were proprietors on
the 4th July, 1776. :
The next inquiry is, whether the like retrospect in the cases of
offending citizens was justifiable ?
On this point your Secretary thinks it not improper to observe,
that if it shall appear that the complainants are not interested in, nor
affected by, such retrospect, that then it is a matter which they,
being foreigners, have no right to meddle with nor to complain of.
By their own showing, it appears that the complainants are, and
were, British merchants, (that is, British subjects,) who, during the
war, when they were alien enemies, accepted grants of land lying in
this country in payment for debts. No point is more indisputable
or more clearly established, both by the law of this country and of
England, than that alienation of land to an alien operates a forfeiture
of it to the sovereign; and if such be the laws respecting alien
friends, with how much greater force does it apply to alien enemies ?
It follows, then, that the British merchants in question, not being
capable of purchasing and holding lands in this country, nothing
passed to them by the said grants from their debtors. And if they
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, 631
thereby acquired no right or title to the lands in contemplation, they
can with no propriety complain of, or reprehend the Legislature of
South Carolina for passing that or any other law respecting those
lands.
As your Secretary considers this reasoning as being conclusive, he
thinks it unnecessary to swell this report by any further remarks on
the retrospect in this act.
There remains but one further question on this head, viz: Whether
the 5th or 6th articles of the treaty contain any thing to validate
the titles which these British merchants claim to have to these
lands?
By the fifth article, it is agreed that all persons who may have any
interest in confiseated lands, either by debts, marriage settlements, or
otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impediment in the prosecution
of their just rights.
The obvious meaning of which is, that all fair, lawful contracts
touching lands to which the parties were at the time competent,
shall continue in full force, and be executed in favor of innocent
persons claiming the benefit thereof, notwithstanding the said lands
may have been confiscated.
The article clearly relates to grants or contracts which, at the time
they were made, were valid; and not to grants or contracts which, at
the time they were made, conveyed no rights to the grantees or
contractees.
The article expressly removes impediments to the prosecution of
just or legal rights; and that idea excludes the supposition of its
meaning to confer validity to claims not warranted by law, or to
create rights which at no prior period had ever existence.
Tf, therefore, these British merchants never had, nor could have
title to nor interest in these lands, by any grants made during the
war, and subsequent to July, 1776, your Secretary cannot perceive
the most distant reason for blaming the conduct of the commissioners
in paying no respect to such fruitless grants.
As to the 6th article, it gives color to the complaint.
1. It provides that there shall be no future confiscation.
The confiscation in question was prior and not future to the
treaty.
2. It forbids the commencement of prosecutions against any person
for the part he may have taken during the war.
632 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
The sale of land long before vested in the State by confiscation,
can with no more propriety be called a commencement of a prose-
cution than the leasing, or tilling, or fencing it can be. |
3. It declares that no person shall on that account suffer any
Juture loss in his person, liberty, or property. ,
If there was any loss in the present case, it arose from the
confiscation that took place during the war, which, being in point of
time before the treaty, cannot be easily construed to have been
posterior or future to it.
Thus your Secretary has considered this complaint as resting on
the facts and principles stated and assumed by the complainants, and
he presumes that nothing further, then, need be added to manifest
its futility. He cannot, however, dismiss it without remarking the
want of candor observable in the statement of this complaint.
This complaint gives the reader to understand that the act retro-
spected generally, and confiscated, without exception of cases, the
lands which the persons who were the objects of it possessed on the
4th July, 1776.
The fact is otherwise, for that very act contains the following
clause, viz:
“Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 'That all real
‘and personal property of which the persons named in the said lists
‘were possessed, either by themselves or agents, on the 4th July,
‘1776, or at any time between that day and the 12th May, 1786,
‘shall be held and deemed to be still theirs; unless the same was
‘really and bona fide sold and conveyed for a valuable consideration
‘of money paid, or secured to be paid, and actual possession given to
‘ the purchasers before the said 12th May without any secret trust or
‘condition, and not with a view of eluding a forfeiture.”
On the 16th March, 1783, an act was passed for amending the
confiscation act, and in it there is a clause which enacts, ‘That
‘where purchases have been made of the property of the banished
‘persons before the passing of the confiscation act, by the persons
‘who were then citizens of this or of the United States, and where
‘such purchases have been actually paid for, or only part of the
‘purchase money paid, such persons shall still retain the property
‘so purchased: Provided, The same was made for a valuable con-
‘sideration of money, to he paid without collusion or fraud,” &c.
The fact, then, really is, that the retrospect in question was so
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 633
narrowed and limited as to become perfectly consistent, not only
with strict law and justice, but with the more delicate principles of
equity and good conscience.
Lest an idea should be imbibed from this complaint that bona fide
creditors lost their debts by this act of confiscation, it may be well
to refer those who may not be well informed on the subject to the
first enacting clause of the last-mentioned act, which provides “ that
‘the estates of persons mentioned on the list No. 1, specified in the
¢said act, of those who left this country upon refusing to take the
‘oath of allegiance, and also those who withdrew from their allegiance
‘and went over to, and took up arms with, the enemy, in the year of
‘our Lord 1779, shall be respectively liable to discharge the debts
«due by them, as the estates of those persons who are mentioned on
¢ the lists Nos. 1, 2, 8, 4, 5, and 6.”
It further provides, that such debts, “‘ when examined and certified
‘by the auditor general, shall be allowed in purchase of any confis-
‘cated property, where the estates against which the debts shall be
‘so certified are fully and clearly equal to the demands upon them ;
‘or, at the option of such creditors, they shall be paid proportionably
out of the annual interest arising on the bonds given for the pur-
‘chase of confiscated estates.”
The act directs such demands to be brought in and liquidated by
the 20th July next; but by a posterior act, passed 26th March, 1784,
the term was extended to 26th March, 1785.
_ The list of grievances also contains a singular complaint respecting
certain adjudications in Charleston ; for it is not suggested that any
act of the Legislature had been passed on the subject, viz:
«That the decisions of the board of police established under the
‘King’s government in Charleston, however equitable, have been set
‘aside since the peace; British subjects have been deprived of their
‘ property purchased under its process, and cast in excessive damages
‘and costs, for no other cause than having brought actions therein
‘for the recovery of debts, even where the defendant had confessed —
‘judgment, and when both the plaintiff and defendant were British
‘subjects.” |
If the complainants had particularized any one of these cases, by
stating the nature of the case, the names of the parties, and by what
court, and when it was tried and adjudged, more respect would have
been due to their representation than it seems to merit in its present
634 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
form. Why these important particulars were omitted, can’ only be.
conjectured. |
Your Secretary has no other information respecting these extraor
dinary facts, than what he derives from the list of grievances.
To him, however, it appears sufficient to observe, that the laws
of nations afford an answer to this complaint, which ought, in the
present state of it, to be satisfactory, viz: “as the administration of
‘justice necessarily requires that every definitive sentence, regularly
‘pronounced, be esteemed just, and executed as such, as soon as a
‘cause in which foreigners find themselves interested has been
‘decided in form, the sovereign of the defendants cannot hear their
‘ complaints.” | )
To undertake to examine the justice of a definitive sentence, is to
attack the jurisdiction of him who has passed it. The prince ought
not then to interfere in the causes of his subjects in foreign countries,
and to grant them his protection, excepting in the cases of a refusal
of justice, palpable and evident injustice, a manifest violation of
rules and form, or an odious distinction made to the prejudice of his”
subjects, or of foreigners in general.
Your Secretary having considered several matters alleged against
South Carolina as violations of the 6th article, will now proceed to
examine the remaining complaints of the like kind against New
York ; for South Carolina and New York are the only States against
which such complaints are made.
It should be remembered that this article contains five express
and positive stipulations, viz:
1. That there shall be no future confiscations made.
2. That there shall not be any prosecutions commenced against
any, for the part he may have taken during the war.
3. That no person shall, on that account, suffer any future loss or
damage, either in his person, liberty, or property.
4, That persons in confinement on such charges shall be set at
liberty ; and
5. That the prosecution so commenced shall be discontinued.
It is charged that the State of New York has violated this article;
for that by an act “passed the 17th March, 1783, and confirmed
‘by others in 1784 and 1785, those Americans who had abandoned
‘their possessions in New York upon its capture by the British
‘troops, and resided without the lines during the war, are enabled
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 635
‘to bring actions of trespass for rents, &c., during their absence,
‘against persons who had occupied their premises, whether under
‘the authority or permission of the British commander or otherwise,
‘and who, by this act, are precluded from pleading any military
‘order whatsoever, in justification of their occupancy.”
It also authorizes “the sequestration of the estates of British
subjects lying in that country, for their conduct during the war.”
This charge (the last article excepted) is not without foundation,
as will appear from a perusal of this extraordinary act. It is as
follows :
“ An act for granting a more effectual relief in cases of certain
Trespasses,” passed 17th March, 1783.
“ Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, repre-
sented in Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the
authority of the same, That it shall and may be lawful for any
person or persons, who are or were inhabitants of this State, and
who, by reason of the invasion of the enemy, left his, her, or
their place or places of abode, and who have not voluntarily put
themselves respectively into the power of the enemy since they
respectively left their places of abode, his, her, or their heirs, exec-
utors, and administrators, to bring an action of trespass against any
person or persons who may have occupied, injured, or destroyed his,
her, or their estate, either real or personal, within the power of the
enemy, or against any person or persons who shall have purchased
or received any such goods or effects, or against his, her, or their
heirs, executors, or administrators, in any court of record within this
State having cognizance of the same; in which action, if the same
shall be brought against the person or persons who have occupied,
injured, or destroyed, or purchased and received such real or personal
estate as aforesaid, the defendant or defendants shall be held to bail ;
and if any such action shall be brought in any inferior court within
this State, the same shall be finally determined in such court, and
every such action shall be considered as a transitory action.
“That no defendant or defendants shall be admitted to plead in
justification any military order or command whatever, of the enemy,
for such occupancy, injury, destruction, purchase, or receipt, nor to
give the same in evidence on the general issue.”
Your Secretary has reason to believe that this is the first and only
7
636 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY. _
act of the kind that ever was passed by any Legislature or sovereign.
Neither the laws nor the practice of nations (as far as your Secretary
has knowledge of them) afford any countenance or color to an
Opinion that, after a war has been terminated by a treaty of peace,
solemnly made and ratified, either of the late belligerent Powers, or
their respective citizens, have a right to commence and prosecute
actions at law against the soldiers, subjects, or adherents of the other,
for damages by them done during the war, and in the course of
invasions and hostilities, by military order. | ; .
Such an opinion appears to your Secretary to be so destitute of
even resemblance to reason, that a particular exposition of its
demerits would be an unnecessary, and, therefore, improper applica-
tion of time and attention. | |
In a word, this act is, in his opinion, a direct violation of the treaty
of peace, as well as of the acknowledged law of nations. But it is
not true that this act does “authorize the sequestration of the estates
‘of British subjects lying in this country, for their conduct during the
‘war,’’ as the list of grievances very improperly asserts.
It is said that this act was confirmed by others in 1784 and 1785,
but they are not described, either by their titles or contents, _
Your Secretary finds one passed the 12th May, 1784, entitled
‘An act to preserve the freedom and independence of this State,
and for other purposes therein mentioned,” which, in his opinion,
is very exceptionable. It is as follows:
“Whereas, it is of great importance to the safety of a free Gov-
ernment, that persons holding principles inimical to the Constitution
should not be admitted into offices or places of trust, whereby they
might acquire an immediate influence in the direction of its councils;
and whereas some of the citizens of this State, entertaining senti-
ments hostile to its independence, and have taken an active part in
the late war, in opposition to the present Government, and it would
be improper and dangerous that such persons should be suffered to
hold or enjoy any such office or place of trust within this State.
“And whereas it is the duty of the Legislature to pursue every
reasonable and proper measure to secure the Government from being
disturbed and endangered—
“Be wt therefore enacted by the people of the State of New
York, represented in Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted
by the authority of the same, That all. and every person or persons,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 637
atives or others, who being resident in this State, or any other of
he United States, on the 9th day of July, in the year of our Lord
776, and who have at any time since the said 9th day of July,
n the year of our Lord 1776, accepted, received, held, or exercised
ny military commission or commissions whatever, by or under any
uthority derived from the King of Great Britain; and every person
r persons, who, being resident within this State, or any other of the
Jnited States, as aforesaid, on the 9th day of July, 1776, aforesaid,
yho have owned or fitted out, or who have been concerned in
itting out, any privateer or privateers, or vessels of war, to cruise
wainst or commit hostilities upon the vessels, property, and persons
f any of the citizens of the United States, or against their allies ;
ind every person or persons whatsoever, who, being resident in this
state, or any other of the said United States, on the 9th day of
july, in the year of our Lord 1776, aforesaid, who have served on
yoard such privateers or vessels of war, in the condition or capacity
f captain, lieutenant, or master; and also every person or persons,
vho, being resident in this State, or any other of the United States,
m the 9th day of July, 1776, aforesaid, and who, since that time,
jave accepted, held, or exercised any office, commission, or appoint~
ment in the board or boards of police instituted and established in
he southern district of this State during the late war, by virtue of,
and under authority derived from the King of Great Britain; and
also every person or persons whatsoever, who, being resident in this
State, or any other of the United States, on the 9th day of July, in
the year 1776, aforesaid, and who, since that time, have accepted,
received, held, or exercised any office, commission, or appointment
whatsoever in the Court of Admiralty, instituted and established in
the southern district of this State during the late war, by virtue of
authority derived from the King of Great Britain as aforesaid ; and
also, all and every person or persons whatsoever, who being resident
in any of the United States, except this State, on the 9th day of
July, 1776, aforesaid, and who at any time since that day, and
during the late war, have fled or removed from such of the said
States of which such person or persons were respectively resident on
the 9th day of July, aforesaid, and who have gone over to, joined,
or put himself or themselves under the power or protection of, the
fleets or armies of the King of Great Britain aforesaid, and all and
every person and persons who, being resident in this State on the
638 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
9th day of July, 1776, aforesaid, and who, since that day, have
voluntarily gone over to, remained with, or joined the fleets and
armies of the King of Great Britain aforesaid, at any time during the
late war, who has or have left this State on or before the 10th day
of December, in the year of our Lord 1783, and who have not
returned, and who shall hereafter be found within this State; such
person or persons so found shall be, on conviction thereof, adjudged
guilty of misprision of treason. oo
“ Provided always, That nothing in this act contained shall be
taken or deemed to affect any person who, at the time of committin; .
any of the offences aforesaid, was a minor, under sixteen years 6
age, or a person insane.
“And provided also, That it shall and may be lawful for any
such person or persons, whose estates, respectively, may be attached
by any law of this State, and advertisement made thereof agreeably —
to such laws, to come and remain within this State for so long a
time as may be absolutely necessary to defend his, her, or their
suit; anything in this act to the contrary thereof in any wise
notwithstanding.
“And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
all and every person or persons falling under any of the descriptions
hereinbefore mentioned, and the descriptions mentioned in the twelfth
section of the act entitled ‘An act to regulate elections within this
State,’ passed the 27th day of March, 1788, and who has or have
not left this State, are hereby forever disqualified and rendered ©
incapable of holding, exercising, or enjoying any legislative, judicial, ©
or executive office or place whatsoever within this State, and shall,
and hereby is and are forever disqualified and incapacitated to elect
or vote, either by ballot or viva voce, at any election, to fill any
office or place whatsoever within this State. And if any person
shall offer himself as an elector at any election hereafter to be
holden, fer an office or place within this State, and shall be
suspected or charged to be within any of the descriptions aforesaid,
it shall be lawful for the inspectors or superintendents (as the case
may be) to inquire into and determine the fact whereof such person
shall be suspected, or wherewith he shall be charged, as the cause
of disqualification aforesaid, on the oath of one or more witness oF
witnesses, or on the oath of the party so suspected or charged, at
their discretion; and, if such fact shall, in the judgment of the
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 639
spectors or supermtendents, be established, it shall be lawful for
em, and they are hereby required, to reject the vote of such
srsons at such election: Provided always, That if it shall appear,
the satisfaction of the inspectors or superintendents, at any election,
lat any person offering himself as an elector has, durmg the late
ar, within the southern district, by fear or compulsion, accepted,
eld, or exercised any such office, ‘commission, or appointment, or
ay have involuntarily done any act or acts which, by the said
ction, would have disqualified him from holding any office, or from
eing an elector, had the same been voluntarily done, and that such
erson otherwise has uniformly behaved as a friend to the freedom
nd independence of the United States, the inspector shall admit
ich person to give his vote at any such election, anything in this
st to the contrary notwithstanding.
«Whereas, a very respectable number of citizens of this State,
ell attached to the freedom and independence thereof, have
ntreated the Legislature to extend mercy to persons hereinafter
lentioned, and to restore them to their country :
“ Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Gysbert
[arselius, Henry Staats, John Stevenson, Henry Van Dyck, John
Tan Allen, Henry Van Schaack, David Van Schaack, Harman
ruyn, William Rea, Myndert Viele, William Lupton, Cadwallader
‘olden, Walter Dubois, Cornelius Luyster, Andrew Graham, John
‘hurman, Samuel Fowler, Joseph Mabbit, John Green, Dirck Van
Nect, Jost Garrison, John Booth, Rolef Elting, Solomon Elting,
tichard Harrison, James Smith, and Benjamin Lapham, shall be, and
very of them are, hereby permitted to return to and reside within this
‘tate, without any molestation, and therein to remain until the end of
he next meeting of the Legislature, or until further legislative pro-
ision shall be made in the premises, anything in the act entitled ‘An
ct more effectually to prevent the mischiefs arising from the influence
nd example of persons of equivocal and suspected character in this
tate,’ passed the 30th day of June, 1778, to the contrary thereof in
mywise notwithstanding.”
This intemperate act was passed after the treaty had been ratified
y both nations, and most clearly violates the sixth article in various
espects, too obvious and decided to require enumeration or dis-
sussion.
53
640 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Your Secretary has reason to believe that there are some other
acts not particularized in the list of grievances, which, on being com-
pared with the treaty, would appear in some respects inconsistent
with it; but as the principles applied by this report to the other acts
will also apply to all of the like kind, he thinks the investigation
may here be concluded with propriety.
From the aforegoing review of the several acts complained of, it is
manifest that the 4th and 6th articles of the treaty have been
violated by certain of them. :
The next inquiry in order seems to be, whether these violations
can be justified or excused by any prior ones on the part of Britain. _
There is no doubt but that Britain has violated the 7th article,
which provides that his Britannic Majesty shall, with all convenient
speed, and without causing any destruction or carrying away any
negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all
his armies, garrisons, and fleets, from the said United States, and from
every port, place, and harbor, within the same.
The violations of these articles alluded to are these, VIZ:
1. That, on the evacuation of New York, negroes belonging to
American inhabitants were carried away.
2. That his Britannic Majesty’s garrisons have not been withdrawn
from, but still keep possession of, certain posts and places within the
United States.
With respect to the negroes, it may be proper to distinguish them
into three classes: * i.
1. Such as in the course of the war were captured and disposed
of as booty by the enemy.
2. Such as remained with and belonged to American inhabitants
within the British lines.
3. Such as, confiding in proclamations and promises of freedom
and protection, fled from their masters without, and were received
and protected within, the British camps and lines.
The stipulation “not to carry away any negroes or other property
of the American inhabitants” cannot, in the opinion of your Secre-
tary, be construed to extend to and comprehend the first class.
By the laws of war, all goods and chattels captured and made
booty, flagrante bello, become the property of the captors. Whether
men can be so degraded as, under any circumstances, to be with
propriety denominated goods and chattels, and, under that idea,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 641
capable of becoming booty, is a question on which opinions are
unfortunately various, even in countries professing Christianity and
respect for the rights of mankind. Certain it is that our laws assert,
and Britain, by this article, as well as by her practice, admits that
man may have property in man. If so, it is as fair reasoning to
conclude that this, like other moveable property, is capable of
changing owners by capture in war. The article places “negroes
and other property of the American inhabitants” on the same footing ;
so that if it means that captured negroes shall not be carried away,
it must also mean that no other captured property shall be carried
away; which would, in other words, amount to an agreement that
the British fleet and army should leave behind all the booty then in
this country which they had taken from American inhabitants at any
period of the war.
It would be a task beyond the abilities of your Secretary to raise
such a construction of the article, on any principles capable of
supporting it.
As to the second class, to wit, such as belonged to, and remained
with American inhabitants within the British lines: They seem
clearly to be within the design and meaning of the article; for as
the enemy had never taken them from their masters, nor treated
them as booty, the property remained unchanged; and the like
reasoning applies to all other negroes kept as slaves within their
lines, and respecting whom the enemy had done no act which
divested their masters of the property.
Your Secretary also thinks that the third class are clearly com-
prehended in the article, and for the same reasons, viz: because
they still remained, as much as ever, the property of their masters.
They could not, by merely flying or eloping, extinguish the right or
title of their masters; nor was that title destroyed by their coming
into the enemy’s possession, for they were received, not taken by
the enemy; they were received, not as slaves, but as friends and
freemen.’ By no act, therefore, either of their owner or of their
friends, was the right of their masters taken away; so that, being
the property of American inhabitants, it was an infraction of the 7th
article of the treaty to carry them away.
Whenever the conduct of nations or of individuals becomes the
subject of investigation, truth and candor should direct the inquiry.
The circumstances under which the last mentioned negroes were
Vou. I1.—41
642 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
cairied away make a strong impression on the mind of your Secre-
tary, and place that transaction before him im a point of view less
unfavorable to Britain than it appears in to his countrymen in
general, He is aware that he is about to say unpopular things, but
higher motives than personal considerations press him to proceed.
If a war should take place between France and Algiers, and, in
the course of it, France should invite the American slaves there to
run away from their masters, and actually receive and protect them
in their camp, what would Congress, and, indeed, the world, think
and say of France, if, on making peace with Algiers, she should
give up those American slaves to their former Algerine masters? Is
there any other difference between the two cases than this, viz: that
the American slaves at Algiers are white people, whereas the African
slaves at New York were black people?
It may be said that these remarks are made out of season; for
whether they be well or ill-founded, the fact is, that Britain expressly
agreed to give them up, and therefore ought to have done it.
How far an obligation to do wrong may, consistent with morality,
be so modified in the execution as to avoid doing injury, and yet do
essential justice, merits consideration. By the agreement, Britain
bound herself to do great wrong to these slaves, and yet, by not.
executing it, she would do great wrong to their masters. This was
a painful dilemma ; for as, on the one hand, she had invited, tempted,
and assisted these slaves to escape from their masters, and, on
escaping, had received and protected them, it would have been
eruelly perfidious to have afterwards delivered: them up to their
former bondage, and to the severities to which such slaves are usually
‘subjected; so, on the other hand, after contracting to leave these
‘slaves to their masters, then to refuse to execute that contract, and,
in the face of it, to carry them away, would have been highly incon-
‘sistent with janes and good faith.
But one way appears to your Secretary in which Britain could
-extricate herself from these embarrassments ; that was, to keep faith
with the slaves by carrying them away, and to do substantial justice
to their masters by paying them the value of those slaves. In this
way, neither could have just cause to complain; for, although no
price can compensate a man for bondage for life, yet every master
may be compensated for a runaway slave.
In the opinion, therefore, of your Secretary, Great Britain onalt
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 643
to stand excused for having carried away these slaves, provided she
pays the full value of them; and on this he thinks the United States
may with great propriety and justice insist; indeed, there is an
intimation in one of Mr. Adams’s letters that the British Minister
did not object to it.
But, however capable of palliation the conduct of Britain respect-
ing these negroes may be, it unquestionably was an infraction of the
7th article.
It is equally clear that her continuing to hold the posts, from
which, by that article, she agreed to withdraw her garrisons, is also
a decided violation of the treaty.
It appears, then, that there are violations of the treaty justly
chargeable on both parties; but as the present inquiry is, whether
our violations can be justified by antecedent ones on the part of
Britain, their respective dates must be ascertained.
It is but just to observe that Britain withdrew her fleet and army
from New York before the treaty was ratified. She evacuated that
place on the 25th November, 1783, and it was not until the next
year that the treaty was ratified.
The first violation that (to the knowledge of your Secretary) we
complain of happened when the British forces left New York ; for they
then carried away with them the negroes in question. So that the first
violation on the part of Britain was on the 25th November, 1783.
The famous trespass act of New York was passed 17th March,
1783, and is still in force.
The act of Pennsylvania which impeded the recovery of British
debts, was passed 12th March, 1783.
The ordinance of South Carolina for disposing of certain estates,
&c., was passed 17th March, 1783.
All these acts were in force on and long after the day of the date
of the treaty, viz: 3d September, 1783.
In whatever light, therefore, deviations from the treaty, prior to its
final conclusion and ratification, may be viewed, it is certain that
deviations on our part preceded any on the part of Britain; and,
therefore, instead of being justified by them, afford excuse to them.
As to the detention of our posts, your Secretary thinks that Britam
was not bound to surrender them until we had ratified the treaty.
Congress ratified it 14th January, 1784, and Britain on the 9th
April following.
644 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
From that time to this the 4th and 6th articles of the treaty have
been constantly violated on our part by legislative acts then and still
existing and operating.
Under such circumstances, it is not a matter of surprise to your
Secretary that the posts are detained; nor, in his opinion, would
Britain be to blame in continuing to hold them, until America shall
cease to impede her enjoying every essential right secured to her and
her people and adherents by the treaty. |
Your Secretary has heard another reason or excuse assigned to
justify deviating from the 4th article, and restraining British creditors
in the recovery of their debts, viz: that by giving time to the debtor,
he became more able to pay the debt; and as that additional ability
was a benefit to the creditor, the latter ought not to complain of the
restraint which produced it.
Although this argument may be somewhat ingenious, it unfortu-
nately proves too much. By the treaty a British créditor has a
right to sue when he pleases; and by the common law a farmer has
a right to plough when he pleases; a merchant to send out his
vessels when he pleases; and every man to eat and drink when he
pleases.
Admit that a British creditor would do better to delay his suits ;
that a farmer was about to plough in an improper season or manner ;
that a merchant had ordered his vessels to sea when a hurricane
was expected; or that a certain gentleman injured his health by
intemperance—admit these facts, would it thence follow that every
or any good-natured officious man, who might think himself more
judicious and prudent, has a right to hinder the creditor from suing,
the farmer from ploughing, the merchant from despatching his
vessels, or the bon vivant from indulging his appetite? Surely not.
In short, as your Secretary is uninformed of any facts or matters
that can justify the violations on our part, the only question which
seems to remain to be considered is, What is to be done? The
United States in Congress assembled have neither committed nor
approved of any violations of the treaty. To their conduct no
exceptions are taken; but to their justice an appeal is made relative
‘to the conduct of particular States. The United States, however,
must eventually answer for the conduct of their respective members ;
and for that and other reasons suggested by the nature of their
sovereignty and the Articles of Confederation, your Secretary thinks
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 645
they have good right to insist, and require that national faith and
national treaties be kept and observed throughout the Union; for,
otherwise, it would be in the power of a particular State, by injuries
and infraction of treaties, to involve the whole Confederacy in
difficulties and war.
In his opinion it would highly become the dignity of the United
States to act on such occasions with the most scrupulous regard to
justice and candor towards the injured nation, and with equal moder-
ation and decision towards the delinquent State or States. In the
present case, he thinks it would be proper to resolve, Ist. That the
Legislatures of the several States cannot, of right, pass any act or
acts for interpreting, explaining, or construing a national treaty, or
any part or clause of it; nor for restraining, limiting, nor m any
manner impeding, retarding, or counteracting the operation and
execution of the same; for that, on being constitutionally made,
ratified, and published, they become, in virtue of the Confederation,
part of the law of the land, and are not only independent of the
will and power of such Legislatures, but also binding and obligatory
on them. 2d. That all such acts, or parts of acts, as may be now
existing in either of the States, repugnant to the treaty of peace,
ought to be forthwith repealed, as well to prevent their continuing
to operate as violations of that treaty, as to avoid the disagreeable
necessity there might otherwise be of raising and discussing questions
touching their validity and obligation. 3d. That it be recommended
to the several States to make such repeal rather by describing than
‘reciting the said acts; and for that purpose to pass an act declaring,
in general terms, that all such acts and parts of acts repugnant to the
treaty of peace between the United States and his Britannic Majesty,
or any article thereof shall be, and are thereby, repealed ; and that the
courts of law and equity, in all causes and questions cognizable by
them respectively, and arising from or touching the said treaty, shall
decide and adjudge according to the true intent and meaning of the
same, anything in the said acts or parts of acts to the contrary thereof
in anywise notwithstanding.
The two first of these proposed resolutions do not appear to your -
Secretary to require any comment.
He thinks the third would be expedient, for several reasons.
As it is general, and points to no particular State, it cannot wound
the feelings of any.
646 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
The general law it recommends he thinks preferable to a minute
enumeration of the exceptionable acts and clauses; because either
omissions might accidentally be made in the enumeration, or questions
might be agitated, and perhaps improperly determined, respecting
this or that act or clause, which some may think exceptionable,
and others not. By repealing in general terms, and obliterating all
exceptionable acts and clauses, as it were by one stroke of the pen,
the whole business will be turned over to its proper department, viz:
the judicial; and the courts of law will find no difficulty in deciding
whether any particular act or clause is or is not repugnant to the
treaty. When it is considered that the judges in general are men of
character and learning, that they stand in responsible situations, and
feel as well as know the obligations of office and the value of reputa-
tion, there is reason to presume that their conduct and judgments
relative to these, as well as other judicial matters, will be wise and
upright.
Your. Secretary also thinks that, in case these resolutions should
be adopted, it would be proper that a circular letter from Congress
should accompany copies of them to the States; but as the forming
a draught or plan of such a letter seems not to belong to the Depart-
ment of Foreign Affairs, he forbears to report one.
He is further of opinion that a copy of this report should be
transmitted to the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at
the Court of London, for his information; and that he be instructed
candidly to admit that the 4th and 6th ‘articlbg of the treaty have
been violated in America, as well as the 7th has on the part of Great
Britain ; that he inform his Britannic Majesty that the United States
are taking efficacious measures for removing all cause of complaint
on their part. That he also be authorized to propose and conclude,
in the name and behalf of the United States, a convention with his
Majesty, whereby it shall be agreed that the value of the negroes, or
other American property carried away contrary to the 7th article, be
estimated by commissioners, and paid for; and that the said payment,
together with a surrender of all the posts and places now held by his
Majesty within the limits of the United States, shall be made within
months after all the acts and parts of acts existing in the several
States, and which violate the treaty, are ae heel and due notice
thereof given.
That he be also instructed to assure his Majesty that it will ini
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 647
give pleasure to Congress fairly and candidly to discuss and accom-
modate every difference or complaint that may arise relative to the
construction or the performance of the treaty. ‘That they are
determined to execute it with good faith; and that as this is the only
instance in which any complaints of that kind have ever come regu-
larly before them, they flatter themselves that the frankness and
candor of their conduct on this occasion will create in him the same
confidence in the purity of their intentions which they repose in his
assurance, ‘that whenever America shall manifest a real determina-
‘tion to fulfil her part of the treaty, Great Britain will not hesitate
«to codperate in whatever points depend upon her for carrying every
‘article into real and complete effect.” 7
It might also be well to instruct Mr. Adams to endeavor to have
an article inserted in the convention for the remission of the interest,
or a portion of it, which became due on private contracts during the
war; but your Secretary apprehends, from the general and great
impropriety of such interference with private contracts, that his
endeavors would be fruitless. He also thinks it might be proper to
jnstruct Mr. Adams to obtain, if possible, an article to fix the true
construction of the declaration for ceasing hostilities, and stipulating
that compensation be made for all captures contrary to it; but he
likewise fears that as this may be considered as a judicial question,
and as the balance of the captures so circumstanced is in favor of
Great Britain, her consent to such an article would not be easy to
obtain.
It appears to your Secretary that this system ought to give perfect
satisfaction to the Court of London, unless perhaps in one point, viz:
that the individuals who have suffered by our violations are left
without compensation for their losses and suffering.
Although strict justice requires that they who have wrongfully
suffered should, as far as possible, receive retribution and compensa~
tion; yet, as it would be very difficult, if practicable, to prevail on
the States to adopt such a measure, he thinks it best to be silent
about it, especially as the United States have neither the power nor
the means of doing it without their concurrence.
Besides, as the detention of the posts has been, and continues
injurious to the United States, the consequences of the respective
violations may be set against each other; and although the account
may not be exactly balanced, yet it cannot be well expected that, in
648 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
affairs of such magnitude, the same regard can be had to minutie as
in transactions between individuals. |
This report is on a subject no less new and singular than important.
Your Secretary is not conscious of any errors in it, and yet there may
be some. He hopes the facts are not mistaken or misstated. He
believes his reasoning on them to be just; and he flatters himself
whatever mistakes relative to either may be discovered, that they
will be treated with candor, and ascribed neither to want of attention
nor of care, but to that fallibility from which few, if any even of the
wisest and most able, are wholly exempt.
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress. ;
) JOHN JAY.
Extract from the Secret Journal, March 21, 1787.
On the report of the Secretary of the United States for the
Department of Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred a letter of the
4th March, 1786, from Mr. J. Adams, Minister Plenipotentiary of
the United States of America at the Court of London, together with
the memorial of the said Minister, dated the 30th N ovember, 1785,
and presented by him on the 8th December following to his
Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State, and the answer received by
Mr. Adams to the said memorial, and contained in a letter from said
Secretary of State,-dated at St. James’s, February 28th, 1786, and
other papers accompanying the same— |
Congress unanimously agreed to the following resolutions:
Resolved, That the Legislatures of the several States cannot, of
right, pass any act or acts for interpreting, explaining, or construing
a national treaty, or any part or clause of it; nor for restraining,
limiting, nor in any manner impeding, retarding, or counteracting the
operation and execution of the same; for that, on being constitu-
tionally made, ratified, and published, they become, in virtue of the |
Confederation, part of the law of the land, and are not only inde-
pendent of the will and power of such Legislatures, but also binding
and obligatory on them.
Resolved, 'That all such acts, or parts of acts, as may be now
existing in any of the States repugnant to the treaty of peace, ought
to be forthwith repealed, as well to prevent their continuing to be
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 649
recarded as violations of that treaty as to avoid the disagreeable
necessity there might otherwise be of raising and discussing questions
touching their validity and obligation.
Resolved, That it be recommended to the several States to make
such repeal rather by describing than reciting the said acts ; and
for that purpose to pass an act declaring, in general terms, that all
such acts, and parts of acts, repugnant to the treaty of peace between
the United States and his Britannic Majesty, or any article thereof,
shall be, and thereby are, repealed; and that the courts of law and
equity, in all causes and questions cognizable by them respectively,
and arising from or touching the said treaty, shall decide and adjudge
according to the true intent and meaning of the same, anything in
the said acts or parts of acts to the contrary thereof in anywise
notwithstanding.
O
-DRAUGHT OF CIRCULAR LETTER TO THE GOVERNORS OF STATES.
Office for Foreign Affairs, April 6, 1787.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, in pursuance of the order of Congress directing him to
report the draught of a letter to the States, to accompany the
resolutions in his report of 13th October last, on a letter of 4th
March, 1786, from the Honorable John Adams, Esq., reports the
following, viz:
To his Excellency the Governor of ———:
| Sir,
Our Secretary for Forei’n Affairs has transmitted to you copies
of a letter to him from our Minister at the Court of London, of the
Ath day of March, 1786, and of the papers mentioned to have been
enclosed with it.
We have deliberately and dispassionately examined and considered
the several facts and matters urged by Britain as infractions of the
treaty of peace on the part of America; and we regret that in some
of the States too little attention appears to have been paid to the
public faith pledged by that treaty.
Not only the obvious dictates of religion, morality, and national
honor, but also the first principles of good policy, demand a candid
650 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
and punctual compliance with engagements constitutionally anc
fairly made. | |
Our national Constitution having committed to us the managemen
of the national concerns with foreign States and Powers, it is ou
duty to take care that all the rights which they ought to enjoy withi
our jurisdiction, by the laws of nations and the faith of treaties
remain inviolate; and it is also our duty to provide that the essentia
interests and peace of the whole Confederacy be not impaired ot
endangered by deviations from the line of public faith, into whicl
any of its members may, from whatever cause, be unadvisedly
drawn.
Let it be remembered that the thirteen independent sovereign
States have, by express delegation of power, formed and vested ir
us a general though limited sovereignty, for the general and national
purposes specified in the Confederation. In this sovereignty they
cannot severally participate, (except by their delegates,) nor with
it have concurrent jurisdiction; for the ninth article of the Confede-
ration most expressly conveys to us the sole and exclusive right and
power of determining on war and peace, and of entering into treaties
and alliances, &c. |
When, therefore, a treaty is constitutionally made, ratified, and
published by us, it immediately becomes binding on the whole
nation, and superadded to the laws of the land, without the interven-
tion or fiat of State Legislatures. ‘Treaties derive their obligation
from being compacts between the sovereign of this and the sovereign
of another nation, whereas laws or statutes derive their force from
being acts of a Legislature competent to the passing of them.
Hence it is clear that treaties must be implicitly received and
observed by every member of the nation; for as State Legislatures
are not competent to the making of such compacts or treaties, so
neither are they competent, in that capacity, authoritatively to decide
on or ascertain the construction and sense of them. When doubts
arise respecting the construction of State law, it is not unusual nor
improper for the State Legislatures, by explanatory or declaratory acts,
to remove those doubts. But the case between laws and compacts
or treaties is in this widely different; for when doubts arise respect-
ing the sense and meaning of a treaty, they are so far from being
cognizable by a State Legislature, that the United States, in
Congress assembled, have no authority to settle and determine
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 651
them; for as the Legislature only, which constitutionally passes a
law, has power to revise and amend it, so the sovereigns only, who
are parties to the treaty, have power, by mutual consent and
posterior articles, to correct or explain it.
In cases between individuals, all doubts respecting the meaning of
a treaty, like all doubts respecting the meaning of the law, are, in
the first instance, mere judicial questions, and are to be heard and
decided in the courts of justice having cognizance of the causes in
which they arise, and whose duty it is to determine them according
to the rules and maxims established by the laws of nations for the
interpretation of treaties. From these principles it follows, of neces-
sary consequence, that no individual State has a right, by legislative
acts, to decide and poimt out the sense in which their particular
citizens and courts shall understand this or that article of a treaty.
It is evident that a contrary doctrine would not only militate
against the common and established maxims and ideas relative to
this subject, but would prove no less ludicrous in practice than it is
irrational in theory; for, in that case, the same article of the same
treaty might by law be made to mean one thing m New Hampshire,
another thing in New York, and neither the one nor the other in
Georgia.
How far such legislative acts would be valid and obligatory, even
within the limits of the State passing them, is a question which we
hope never to have occasion to discuss. Certain, however, it is,
that such acts cannot bind either of the contracting sovereigns, and,
consequently, cannot be obligatory on their respective nations.
But if treaties and every article in them be (as they are and ought
to be) binding on the whole nation; if individual States have
no right to accept some articles, and reject others; and if the
impropriety of State acts to interpret and decide the sense and
construction of them be apparent, still more manifest must be the
impropriety of State acts to control, delay, or modify the operation
and execution of their national compacts.
_ When it is considered that the several States, assembled by their
delegates in Congress, have express power to form treaties, surely
the treaties so formed are not afterwards to be subject to such altera-
tions as this or that State Legislature may think expedient to make,
and that, too, without the consent of either of the parties to it; that
is, in the present case, without the consent of all the United States,
652 ' JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
who, collectively, are parties to this treaty on the one side, and |
Britannic Majesty on the other. Were the Legislatures to posse
and to exercise such power, we should soon be involved, as a natio
in anarchy and confusion at home, and in disputes which wou
probably terminate in hostilities and war with the nations with who
we may have formed treaties. Instances would then be frequent |
treaties fully executed in one State, and partly executed in anothe
and of the same article being executed in one manner in one Stat
and in a different manner, or not at all, in another State. Histo
furnishes no precedent of such liberties taken with treaties, unde
form of law, in any nation. hs.
Contracts between nations, like contracts between. individual
should be faithfully executed, even though the sword, in the or
case, and the law in the other, did not compel it. Honest nation
like honest men, require no constraint to do justice; and thoug
impunity and the necessity of affairs may sometimes afford tempt
tions to pare down contracts to the measure of convenience, yet |
is never done but at the expense of that esteem, and confidenc:
and credit, which are of infinitely more worth than all the momentar
advantages which such expedients can extort.
But although contracting nations cannot, like individuals, ava:
themselves of courts of justice to compel performances of contract:
yet an appeal to Heaven and to arms is always in their power, an
often in their inclination. But it is their duty to take care that the
never lead their people to make and support such appeals, unles
the sincerity and propriety of their conduct affords them good reaso!
to rely with confidence on the justice and protection of Heaven.
Thus much we think it useful to observe, in order to explain th
principles on which we have unanimously come to the followin;
resolution, viz: |
“Resolved, That the Legislatures of the several States cannot
‘of right, pass any act or acts for interpreting, explaining, o:
‘construing a national treaty, or any part or clause of it; nor foi
‘restraining, limiting, or in any manner impeding, retarding, or coun.
‘teracting the operation and execution of the same; for that, or
‘being constitutionally made, ratified, and published, they become, in
‘virtue of the Confederation, part of the law of the land, and are not
‘only independent of the will and power of such Legislatures, but
‘also binding and obligatory on them.”
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 653
As the treaty of peace, so far as it respects the matters and things
provided for in it, is a law to the United States, which cannot, by
all or any of them, be altered or changed, all State acts establishing
provisions relative to the same objects, which are incompatible with
it, must, in every point of view, be improper. Such acts do,
nevertheless, exist; but we do not think it necessary either to
enumerate them particularly, or to make them severally the subjects
of discussion. It appears to us sufficient to observe and insist that
the treaty ought to have free course in its operation and execution,
and that all obstacles interposed by State acts be removed. We
mean to act with the most scrupulous regard to justice and candor
towards Great Britain, and with an equal degree of delicacy,
moderation, and decision towards the States who have given occasion
to these discussions.
For these reasons, we have in general terms—
« Resolved, That all such acts, or parts of acts as may be now
‘existing in any of the States, repugnant to the treaty of peace,
‘ought to be forthwith repealed, as well to prevent their continuing
‘to be regarded as violations of that treaty as to avoid the disagree-
‘able necessity there might otherwise be of raising and discussing
‘questions touching their validity and obligation.”
Although this resolution applies strictly only to such of the States
as have passed the exceptionable acts alluded to, yet, to obviate all
future disputes and questions, as well as to remove those which now
exist, we think it best that every State, without exception, should
‘pass a law on the subject; we have, therefore,
«“ Resolved, That it be recommended to the several States to make
‘such repeal rather by describing than reciting the said acts, and for
‘that purpose to pass an act, declaring, in general terms, that all such
‘acts and parts of acts repugnant to the treaty of peace between the
‘United States and his Britannic Majesty, or any article thereof,
‘shall be, and thereby are, repealed; and that the courts of law and
‘equity, in all causes and questions cognizable by them, respectively,
‘and arising from or touching the said treaty, shall decide and
‘adjudge according to the true intent and meaning of the same, any
‘thing in the said acts or parts of acts to the contrary thereof in
‘anywise notwithstanding.”
Such laws would answer every purpose, and be easily formed.
The more they were of the like tenor throughout the States the
better. ‘They might each recite that,
654 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
“Whereas certain laws and statutes made and passed in some of
‘the United States are regarded and complained of as repugnant to
‘the treaty of peace with Great Britain, by reason whereof not only
‘the good faith of the United States, pledged by that treaty, has been
‘drawn into question, but their essential interests under that treaty
‘greatly affected; and whereas justice to Great Britain, as well as
‘regard to the honor and interests of the United States, requires that
‘the said treaty be faithfully executed, and that all obstacles thereto,
‘and particularly such as do, or may be construed to proceed from
‘the laws of the State, be effectually removed: Therefore,
“Be ut enacted by ——— ———,, and it is hereby enacted by the
‘authority of the same, That such of the acts, or parts of acts of the
‘Legislature of this State as are repugnant to the treaty of peace
‘between the United States and his Britannic Majesty, or any
‘article thereof, shall be, and hereby are, repealed; and further that
‘the courts of law and equity within this State be, and they hereby
‘are, directed and required, in all causes and questions cognizable
‘by them respectively, and arising from or touching the said treaty,
‘to decide and adjudge according to the tenor, true intent, and
‘meaning of the same, any thing in the said acts or parts of acts to
‘the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding.”’
Such a general law would, we think, be preferable to one that
should minutely enumerate the acts and clauses intended to be
repealed, because omissions might accidentally be made in the
enumeration, or questions might arise, and perhaps not be satisfac-
torily determined, respecting particular acts or clauses about which
contrary opinions may be entertained. By repealing in general
terms all acts and clauses repugnant to the treaty, the business will
be turned over to its proper department, viz: the judicial; and the
courts of law will find no difficulty in deciding whether any particular
act or clause is or is not contrary to the treaty. Besides, when it is
considered that the judges in general are men of character and
learning, and feel as well as know the obligations of office and the
value of reputation, there is no reason to doubt that their conduct
and judgments relative to these, as well as other judicial matters, will
be wise and upright.
Be pleased, sir, to lay this letter before the Legislature of your
State without delay. Wee flatter ourselves they will concur with us
in opinion that candor and justice are as necessary to true policy as
they are to sound morality ; and that the most honorable way of
; _ DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 655
elivering ourselves from the embarrassment of mistakes is fairly to
orrect and amend them. It certainly is time that all doubts respect-
1g the public faith be removed, and that all questions and differences
etween us and Great Britain be amicably and finally settled. The
tates are informed of the reasons why his Britannic Majesty still
ontinues to occupy the frontier posts, which by the treaty he agreed
) evacuate; and we have the strongest assurances that an exact
ompliance with the treaty on our part shall be followed by a
unctual performance of it on the part of Great Britain. .
It is important that the several Legislatures should, as soon as
ossible, take these matters mto consideration; and we request the
ivor of you to transmit to us an authenticated copy of such acts and
roceedings of the Legislature of your State as may take place on
1e subject and in pursuance of this letter.
By order of Congress,
» President.
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
JOHN JAY.
Extract from the Secret Journal, April 13, 1787.
The Secretary for Foreign Affairs having, in pursuance of an
rder of Congress, reported the draught of a letter to the States, to
ccompany the resolutions passed the 21st day of March, 1787, the
ame was taken into consideration, and unanimously agreed to, as
lows :
Office for Foreign Affairs, April 23, 1787.
fhe Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, in obedience to the order of Congress directing him to
report instructions to their Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court
of London on the subject of his letter of 4th March, 1786, and of
the papers which accompanied it, reports the following :
Resolved, That the Minister of the United States at the Court of
ireat Britain be, and he hereby is, instructed to mform his Britannic
Majesty that Congress do candidly admit that the 4th and 6th
Iticles of the treaty of peace have been violated in America, and
hat they consider the 7th article as having been violated on the part
f Great Britain. That he do also inform his Britannic Majesty that
656 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY..
Congress are taking effectual measures for removing all cause o|
complaint on their part, and that he communicate to his Majesty
their resolutions of the 21st day of March last, together with then
circular letter to the States of the 13th day of April instant. 4
Resolved, 'That the said Minister be, and he hereby i is, authorized
and directed, in the name and behalf of the United States, to propose
and conclude a convention with his Majesty, whereby it shall be
agreed that the value of the slaves or other American property carried
away contrary to the 7th article, be estimated by commissioners, and
paid for; and that the said payment, together with a surrender of all
the posts and places now held by his Majesty within the limits of the
United States, shall be made within months after the several
States shall each have passed such a law for repealing all the acts ot
parts of acts existing in the same, and repugnant to the said treaty,
as is specified in the circular letter abovementioned; which ——
months shall be computed from the time that formal notice of all the
States having passed such laws shall be duly given to his Britannic
Majesty.
Resolved, That the said Minister be, and he hereby is, further
instructed to assure his Majesty that it will always give pleasure tc
Congress fairly and candidly to discuss and accommodate every
difference and complaint that may arise relative to the construction
or to the performance of the treaty. That they are determined tc
execute it with good faith; and that, as this is the only instance im
which any complaints of that kind have ever come regularly before
them, they flatter themselves that the frankness and candor of then
conduct on this occasion will create in him the same confidence in
the purity of their intentions which they repose in his assurances
“‘'That whenever America shall manifest a real determination to fulfil
‘her part of the treaty, Great Britain will not hesitate to codperate
‘m whatever points depend upon her for carrying every article into
‘real and complete effect.”
Resolved, That the said Minister be, and he hereby is, further
instructed to endeavor to have an article inserted in the convention
for the remission of the interest, or a portion of it, which acerued on
private contracts during the war; and that he also endeavor to
obtain an article to fix the true construction of the declaration for
ceasing hostilities, and to stipulate that compensation be made for all
captures contrary to it. :
tle
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 657
And to the end that the said Ministry may have the more ample
iformation on the several subjects,
Ordered, That a copy of the report of the Secretary for Foreign
\ffairs on his said letter be transmitted to him, by means of some
roper and confidential person that may be going from hence to
sondon.
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress. .
JOHN JAY.
aoe (he
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
5 New York, June 6, 1786.
Dear Sir,
My last to you was dated the 4th ultimo; since which I have
een honored with several from you, viz: two dated 24th November
ast, 9th, 16th, 17th, 20th, 22d, 26th, and 27th February, and 4th
March last; all of which, with their several enclosures, were
mmediately laid before Congress.
T have at length the pleasure of informing you that nine States
yezin to be frequent in Congress, and, consequently, that there is a
prospect of my being soon enabled to send you some despatches of
nore importance than many of my late ones have been.
It will not be long before a good private opportunity will offer,
snd then I mean to write you at least a long private letter, if not a
public one.
You will find, herewith enclosed, a ratification of the Prussian
treaty, which for many months was delayed for want of a proper
number of States in Congress to order and: complete it.
There are several of my reports on your letters before Congress ;
and I assure you these delays are as painful to me as they can be:
to you.
Our country has yet much to think of, and much to decide on.
A natural but improper rage for paper money prevails. Rhode
Island, New York, and New Jersey are making experiments upon
it, and I think injuring themselves and the Union, in some measure,
by it. The next London ships shall carry you some journals and
acts of Assembly, which, by the packet, would cost more postage
than they are worth.
Vou. Il.—42
“
at
658 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
I doubt the propriety of borrowing more money, without funds
or prospect to repay any. Our ‘Treasury is low, the States back-
ward, our people intent on private gain, and too inattentive to national
concerns and exigencies, ‘
_ With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN JAY.
0
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, May 16, 1786.
Dear Sir,
Last night I was honored with your letter of April 7th,and am
happy to find that twelve States have granted to Congress the
impost. New York, I am persuaded, will not long withhold her
assent, because that, in addition to all the other arguments in favor
of the measure, she will have to consider that all the blame of conse-
quences must now rest upon her; and she would find this alone
a greater burden than the imposts. This measure alone, as soon as
it is completed, will have a great effect, and instantly raise the
United States in the consideration of Europe, and especially of
England. Its beneficial effects will be soon felt in America by
producing a circulation of that property, the long stagnation of which
has been a principal cause of the distress of the community. The
States, jointly and severally, would find immediate benefits from
establishing taxes to pay the whole interest of their debts, those of
the Confederation as well as those of particular States. The interest
of money would instantly be lowered, and capitals be employed in
manufactures and commerce that are now at usury. It is no paradox
to say that every man would find himself the richer the more taxes
he pays; and this rule must hold good until the taxes shall amount
to a sum sufficient to discharge the interest due to every creditor in
the community. The power to regulate the commerce of the whole
will not probably be long withheld from Congress; and when that
point shall be agreed to, you will begin to hear a bray in England
for a treaty. Like Daniel Defoe’s game-cock among the horses’
feet, it will be, “Pray, gentlemen, don’t let us tread upon one
another.” .
You have, I hope, before now, Lord Caermarthen’s answer of
February 28th to my memorial of November 30th. I had determ-
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 659
ined in my own mind not ‘to demand a categorical answer, without
the further orders of Congress ;” and it is a great satisfaction to find
your opinion coincides. It is now with Congress to deliberate what
answer they should make to his Lordship; and, for my own part,
Ido not. see what answer they can give, until they know the sense
of Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, and South Carolina.
With the highest regard, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, May 25, 1786.
Dear Sir,
I have not presented a formal memorial in the name of our
sovereign, concerning the negroes carried off contrary to the treaty,
although it has been frequently and constantly insisted upon with
the British Ministry, for several reasons; one was, a desire to confine
the first memorial to one point—the frontier posts, that the real
motives and intentions of the Cabinet might be the more distinctly
laid open to Congress. Another reason was the frankness of
Ministers to own, in conversation, that the negroes must be paid for,
as aclear point. Another was, that time might be allowed to you,
sir, to transmit me the whole amount and evidence of the claim ;
and, lastly, that I might have the explicit instructions of Congress to
demand payment for the negroes in money, and especially at what
prices they should be stated.
By the answer of Lord Caermarthen to the memorial of the 30th
of November, Congress will see that the detention of the posts is
attempted to be justified by the laws of certain States impeding the
course of law for the recovery of old debts, &c. Were another
memorial to be now presented relative to the negroes, the same
answer would undoubtedly be given, or, more probably, a reference
only to that answer.
It is my duty to be explicit with my country; and, therefore, I
hope it will not be taken amiss by any of my fellow-citizens, when
they are told that it is in vain to expect the evacuation of posts, or
payment for the negroes, or a treaty of commerce, or restoration of
prizes, payment of the Maryland or Rhode Island demand, compen-
sation to the Boston merchants, or any other relief of any kind,
ae
660 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
until these laws are all repealed. Nor will the Ministry ever agree
to any explanation concerning the mterest during the war, or
payments by instalments. The old creditors have formed themselves
into a society, and have frequent meetings; send committees to
Mr. Pitt and Lord Caermarthen; and, I am well informed, oppose
even a treaty of commerce upon this ground; and the Ministers
know them to be so numerous, that they could raise a clamor—a
consideration which has always had more weight at this Court and
in Parliament than the interest of America or the British Empire.
What, then, is to be done? The States, it may be said, will not
repeal their laws. If they do not, then let them give up all expect-
ation from this Court and country, unless you can force them to do
as you please by investing Congress with full power to. regulate the
trade. :
Iwill run the hazard, sir, of all. the clamor that cam be raised against.
me. by my friends or by my enemies, (if any such there are,) and of
all the consequences: that can befall me, for writing my sentiments
freely to. Congress, on a subject of this. importance. It will appear
to all the world with an ill grace if we complain of breaches of the.
treaty, when the British Court have it in their power to: prove upon
us breaches of the same treaty of greater importance. My. advice,
then, if it is not impertinent to give it, is, that every law of every
State, which concerns either debts or royalists, which cam be impar-
tially construed contrary: to the spirit of the: treaty of peace, be
immediately repealed, and. the debtors left to settle with their creditors
or dispute the point of interest at law. I donot believe a jury
would give the interest. I beg leave: to suggest. another thing: if
Congress are themselves clear that interest: during the war was not
part of that bona fide debt which was: intended’ by the. contracting
parties, they may declare so. by:a resolution ; or the Legislatures of:
the separate States may declareso; and then: the courts of justice and
the juries will certainly give no interest during the war. But even
in this case, those States which have few debts,. and have made no.
laws against the recovery of them, will think it hard that:they should
be subjected to. dangers by the conduct of such as. have many, and
have made. laws inconsistent with the treaty, both respecting debts.
and Tories. You will give me leave, sir, to suggest another idea.
Suppose the States should venture to do themselves justice; for
example, suppose Maryland should undertake to pay herself for her
i
£2
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 661
*bahk stock and negroes carried off after the treaty, by accepting
security for it from her own citizens who are debtors to British
subjects, and giving discharges to those debtors, or engaging to stand
between them and the claims of the creditor ; suppose the Carolinas,
Virginia, and all the other States which had negroes carried off after
the peace, should do the same. Suppose Massachusetts should make
up the losses of the inhabitants of Boston, in goods carried off by
General Howe, in the same way, (at least those of them who were
promised compensation by General Howe,) for these are undoubtedly
creditors of the British Government. Suppose further, that each
State should undertake, in the same way, to compensate the owners
of vessels taken after the commencement of the armistice.
I throw out these hints as possibilities and speculations only,
sensible that they might open a door to much altercation; but I will
not fail to add, that I think it would be much sounder policy and
nobler spirit to repeal at once every law of every State which is in
the smallest degree inconsistent with the treaty, respecting either
debts or Tories, and am well persuaded that no inconvenience would
be felt from it; neither lawsuits, nor bankruptcies, nor imprisonments,
would be increased by it; on the contrary, the credit and commerce
of all the States would be so increased that the debtors themselves,
in general, would find their burdens lighter.
With great esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
P. S. Enclosed are two acts of Parliament and the King’s last
proclamation. The other acts which affect America shall be sent
as soon as they are passed, and I can obtain them.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, May 28, 1786.
Dear Sir,
An agent from South America was not long since arrested at
Rouen, in France, and has not since been heard of. Another agent,
who was his associate, as I have been told, is here, and has applied
to Government for aid. Government, not being in a condition to go
to war with Spain, declines having any thing to do with the business.
But if application should be made to rich individuals, and profitable
prices offered for twenty or thirty thousand stands of arms, a number
of field-pieces, a few battering cannon, some mortars, a good deal
se
et
ere
662 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
of ammunition, clothing, &c., do you think that in this capital of
mammon they might not be obtained? I might mention names and
facts which have been communicated to me, but my information is
not official, nor authentic enough for this. It is sufficient to say,
that an office like that once undertaken by Mr. Beaumarchais would
not probably be refused by all men here.
You are probably better informed than I can pretend to be of the
disturbances which took place in the Spanish provinces of South
America during the late war, of the pacification of them, and of the
complaints and discontents which now prevail. It is a fixed opinion
in many minds here that a revolution in South America would be
agreeable to the United States, and it is depended on that we shall
do nothing to prevent it, if we do not exert ourselves to promote it.
I shall decline entering far into this speculation, which is out of my
depth. But I must venture to say, that Portugal is bound, by a
treaty of 1778, to assist Spain in such a case. France must assist
her, from the family compact, and for a still more weighty reason,
viz: to prevent England from getting too rich and powerful by it;
and Holland is now bound by treaty to France, and perhaps to
Spain. We should be very cautious what we do ; for England will
certainly reap the greatest advantage, as she will supply with her
manufactures all South America, which will give her a sudden
wealth and power that will be very dangerous to us. |
That British Ambassadors will very soon endeavor to excite the
two empires and Denmark to an alliance, for the purpose of setting
the Spanish and Portuguese colonies free, is very probable; as an.
inducement, they may agree to assist in opening the Danube and
the navigation by the Dardanelles. The object of the next war, I
think, will be the liberty of commerce in South America and the
East Indies. We shall be puzzled to keep out of it; but I think we
ought if we can. England would gain the most by such a turn in
affairs, by the advantages she has over other nations in the improve-
ments of her manufactures, commerce, and marine; and England,
unfortunately, we cannot trust.
Such speculations as these are not new ; a pamphlet was written
in 1783, under the title of «La Crise de Europe,” by a learned
British knight, and circulated upon the continent. As I cannot
send you the whole, you may possess yourself of the spirit of it by
a few extracts.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 663
[ Translation. |
«What ought to be the object which the different States of
Europe have in view, and what plan ought they to form to restrain
the ambition of the Bourbons, to preserve, in America as well as in
Europe, the balance of power, and to afford an opportunity to the
armed neutrality to maintain the just and generous system, in the
preservation of which she finds herself personally interested. ‘The
plan was not difficult to find; it was, in two words, to free the
different European colonies in America from the commercial restraints
imposed on them by the different Powers to whom they are at present
subject.
«Tt is not necessary to show the advantages which all the States
of Europe would reap, and, in the issue, those very Powers from
whom the Colonies should be emancipated, were it possible that this
important revolution could have effect with respect to the most
precious and richest provinces in the world. My heart leaps to
think that we may one day see the Powers of Russia, Denmark,
Sweden, Austria, Holland, Prussia, Great Britain, land without
restrictions on the coasts of Chili and Peru, when proud monopolists
can no longer prevent them from exchanging the productions of
Europe for the treasures of America. My heart leaps to think that
every State will be certain of procuring all the necessaries and
pleasures of life, in the proportion to the fertility of its soil and the
industry of its inhabitants. What discoveries have we not reason to
expect? What talents shall we not see displayed? ‘To what degree
of perfection will not every art, every science be carried, should so
vast a field be opened to the activity of the human race ? The soul
of the friend of mankind feels itself overwhelmed with the grandeur
and importance of the ideas which offer themselves to its view, when
it figures to itself for an instant the human race united by a mutual
interest, and compelled by the ties which bind the communication of
commerce to advance the general happiness of mankind. It is
needless to stop to prove that such a plan can be executed with
little difficulty and expense. Great Britain would certainly be blind
to her interests, and have lost all sense to foresight, if she would not
exert her utmost strength to carry this plan into execution,” &c.
«Who can suppose that Holland would refuse to enter into a
confederation whose principles would so particularly favor the
extension of her commerce and power ? |
a
664 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
‘Moreover, the new States of North America would not fail to
rejoice in an event which would afford them an opportunity of
repairing with rapidity the loss of treasure and blood which they so
generously lavished in their noble efforts to acquire independence.
‘Suppose, then, on the one side, the strict union .of such a
confederation, whose object should be the general emancipation of
the Colonies; France and Spain in the opposite scale against this
confederation. Who can doubt but that one campaign would be
sufficient to obtain the end which this league should propose? The
English fleet is already equal, in the number and strength of its
ships, to the fleets of the house of Bourbon. If, then, the armed
neutrality, comprehending Holland, should join the forces of England
with fifty sail of the line, which might be very easily done, there is
no French or Spanish colony which would not be reduced to
obedience in the space of six months. 'The West India Islands, in
particular, could make but little resistance; and as to Spanish
America, so great benefit would result to these provinces from the
suggested project of emancipating the Colonies that, far from fearing
their opposition or resistance, we might reasonably reckon on their
concurrence,” &c.
“The aim of this object should be, to abolish all those restrictions
on commerce to which the European colonies on the continent of
America are at this time subject; to give entire liberty to these
colonies; to establish among them the kind of government which
would best suit the characters and genius of their inhabitants ; and —
to make such a division of the islands of America among the Powers
who should assist in the system as would defray their respective
expenses, provided that the execution of this system should lead
them into extraordinary expenses,” &c.
‘« Holland must be assisted in disengaging herself from the impolitic
union in which she is at present connected with France, by pro-
curing an army capable to protect her against the invasions of
this monarch, and, in case of necessity, even to attack the provinces
of France. |
‘“Who does not see that, with little persuasion, the Emperor, that
friend of humanity, might be engaged to cooperate in the execution
of a plan conformable to his noble and generous disposition ?
‘The confederates should solemnly engage not to invade, on their
own account, any of the possessions nor any of the provinces of
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 665
South America; contenting themselves with forcing Spain and her
allies to withdraw their fleets and armies from this continent, to
demolish the fortifications they have erected there, and to leave the
natives at full liberty to adopt such form of government as they may
judge most suitable to them.
«Finally, as the expenses which the execution of this might
occasion appear to authorize some compensation, it is once more
proposed to divide the islands of the American Archipelago between
the different Powers, promoters of the execution of this plan. The
island of Cuba should be given to Russia ; Martinico, to Denmark ;
‘Guadaloupe, to Sweden ; Porto Rico, to Prussia ; Spanish Hispaniola,
to the Dutch; French Hispaniola, to the Emperor; and the remain-
ing islands, to Great Britain. And, supposing that this plan could
be executed with little expense, it would doubtless be more conform-
able to the generous principles of the league to grant independence
also to these islands. They might form a republic among themselves,
under a Government whose residence should be established im some
one of them; while the confederated Powers of Europe should
establish themselves guarantees of their commerce and politics.
«This plan offers a very beneficial system to the Powers interested
in the armed neutrality, and even to mankind.
«Even France and Spain would have no reason to complain of
such a confederation,” &c.
« As to Spain, there is a greater reason to be astonished that the
indignation and resentment of Europe has not iong ago broke out
against these proud monopolists, and mankind renounced all sensi-
bility, when it suffered the most fertile and richest provinces in the
world to be so long subjected to this hard and detestable Power.
What nation but what ought to feel an indignation at thinking on the
arrogant pretensions of a single monarchy, which claims the power
of possessing so great an extent of country, and preventing any
other European State from approaching its borders? Were it not
for her oppression and bad government, how many millions of new
inhabitants would we not now see prospering in those distant regions,
and what benefits would not Europe derive from her communication
with these people? The time, then, is not far distant when this
tyrannical system of oppression shall be forever abolished, by allow-
ing these unhappy colonies to partake at last of a little liberty and
happiness.
aay
. oe
666 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
“Can we neglect to awaken the attention of Europe towards the
indignant treatment which Great Britain has experienced from her
enemies ?’’ &c. “Had the independence of America been the only
object, their proceedings might have been colored with the appear-
ance of generosity! But what kind of connexion could the possession
of Gibraltar, Minorca, Granada, Tobago, and St. Vincent’s, have
with the independence of this continent?
‘Great Britain is accused with having manifested a proud conduct
with respect to her neighbors. Were there foundations for this
reproach, she has since received too many lessons of humility. But
can Europe forget, on the other hand, the different services which
almost every one of these Powers has received from the inhabitants
of this island—Russia, the brave F rederick, and the Emperor of
Germany? And how can we support the idea that there should be
in Europe men so insensible to the calamities of their fellow-creatures,
so blind to their own interests, as to suffer such a Power to be
crushed by an ambitious family, and that States, already sufficiently
powerful, should agerandize themselves with her spoils?”
Such are the secret thoughts of many in this country, but not a
word or hint escapes in conversation. They are sent to you because
they afford a clew for the whole political conduct of Great Britain
in future, and for the present, too ; for it is impossible otherwise to
account for the inattention of this country to the commerce and
friendship of the United States of America; they are keeping up
their navy, and sacrificing everything to seamen, in order to be able
to strike a sudden and awful blow tothe house of Bourbon, by setting
South America free; and they rely upon it the United States will
not oppose them.
_ With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, June 6, 1786.
Dear Sir,
I do myself the honor to enclose papers relative to African affairs,
although Mr. Jefferson has transmitted them before, as it is possible
his conveyance may fail.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 667
The intelligence all tends to confirm what has been more than
once written to you before, that two or three hundred thousand
pounds sterling will be necessary to obtain a perpetual peace. It is
very clear that a peace would be worth more than that sum annually,
if you compute insurance, and the Levant, Mediterranean, Portu-
guese, and Spanish trade.
If Congress should be empowered to lay on taxes upon navigation
and commerce, or anything else, to pay the interest of the money
borrowed in Europe, you may borrow what you will. If that is not
done, their servants abroad had better be all recalled, and our exports
and imports all surrendered to foreign bottoms.
Enclosed is a bill now pending. The system of this country ts
quite settled. It is with our States to unsettle it by acts of retalia-
tion, or to acquiesce in it, as they judge for their own. good.
With great regard, &c., | JOHN ADAMS.
aareronent)
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
New York, August 19, 1786.
Dear Sir,
I wrote to you on the 7th of last month, and also on the 18th of
this, enclosing some papers respecting an American vessel seized at
Barbadoes by a British man-of-war. I have been honored with
yours of the 16th, 25th, and 28th May, and 6th June last, which,
with the papers accompanying them, were immediately laid before
Congress.
The situation in which the want of an adequate representation
had, for many months, placed: Congress, put it out of their power to
decide on several of my reports, some of which were founded on
your letters. These delays oblige me to leave those letters
unanswered, and to leave you without instructions on points on
which I think you should be furnished with the sentiments of
Congress.
We daily expect to receive the treaty with Portugal.
I have advised that new commissions be issued to you and Mr.
Jefferson. .
You will herewith receive the late requisition of Congress, their
ordinance for the Indian department, and several other printed
papers. A vessel for London has just touched here, and given me
668 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
an opportunity of writing you these few lines. I am mortified tc
write you such letters, but that must be the case until Congres;
enable me to write more particularly and satisfactorily. You want
answers to many questions, and, thoagh I am not at a loss to for
a judgment what they should be, yet my private sentiments ant
those of Congress may not coincide.
With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN JAY. |
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, June 16, 1786.
Dear Sir,
Two days ago I was honored with your letter of the 4th of May,
in which another, of the Ist of the same month, is referred to; and
as I hear there is a passenger expected from the packet, I hope to
receive it from him when he arrives in town.
Lord Caermarthen told me yesterday “that he had letters from
Mr. Anstey, mentioning his civil reception.” His Lordship said,
too, that a “Minister Plenipotentiary would certainly be sent to
‘Congress; that it was not from any coldness or want of respect to
‘the United States that it had not been already done, but merely
‘from the difficulty of finding a proper person ; that he had received
‘many applications, but they had been generally from persons who,
‘he was sure, would not be agreeable in America, and, in some
‘instances, from persons more suitable for a place in the customs
‘than in the corps diplomatique.” |
A long conversation ensued upon the subjects of the posts, debts,
&c., little of which being new, is worth repeating. ‘The policy of
giving up the interest during the war, and of agreeing to a plan of
payment by instalments, was again insisted on, from various consider-
ations, particularly from the evident injustice of demanding interest
for that period. It was urged that the claim of interest, in most
cases, was grounded upon custom and the mutual understanding of
the parties ; but that it never had been the custom, nor had it ever
been understood or foreseen, that an act of Parliament should be
passed casting the American debtor out of the protection of the
Crown, cutting off all correspondence, and rendering all intercourse
criminal ; for that was the result, and the legal construction, during
the whole war. Here his Lordship fully agreed with me, and even
outwent me in saying that “it was very true that, by construction
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 669
‘of the law of this land, it was high treason in a creditor in Great
‘ Britain. to receive a remittance from his debtor in America during
‘the war.” His Lordship added some slight expressions concerning
the interest, and wished that the courts were open for recovering the
principal. We might leave the interest for an after-consideration.
In short, they waited only for some appearance of a disposition.
The answer to my memorial of 30th November contained their true
intentions. They sincerely meant to fulfil every engagement when-
ever they saw a disposition on our part. These expressions, you
see, are somewhat oracular, but they conveyed so much meaning
to me that I will no longer hesitate to recommend to Congress to
take up: this matter, and decide it at once. It would be going too
far to point out the mode, but it may be suggested to require of all
the States who have made laws irreconcilable to the treaty imme-
diately to repeal them, declaring, at the same time, that interests
upon book debts and simple contracts during the war cannot be
considered as any part of the bona. fide debts intended in the treaty.
As to specialties, there may be, in some cases, more difficulty ; yet
I do not see but the same reasoning is applicable to all. The legal
contract was dissolved by throwing us out of the protection of the
Crown, and our subsequent assumption of independence, and had no
existence until revived by treaty. Private honor and conscience are
out of this question. Those who think themselves bound by these
ties will do as they please; but I believe, under all the circum-
stances, few persons, even of the most delicate sentiments, will be
scrupulous. If such a declaration should be made by Congress,
eandor will require that it should extend to both sides, to the British
and refugee debtor to American creditors, as well as vice versa.
If Congress should choose to avoid involying themselves in such
a declaration, would it not be proper for individual States to do it;
and in this case, I humbly conceive the laws ought to be repealed,
and the question left to the judges and juries, who, upon the
strictest construction of law, equity, and the treaty, may, in my
Opinion, in most cases, if not in all, deny the interest during the
war to the creditor. In some of these ways relief must be had, or
in none; for the Ministry here will never intermeddle in the
business.
If any one should ask, what was the intention of the contracting
parties at the treaty? the answer must be, the treaty itself must
determine ; and any one who reads it may judge, as well as one of
670 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY,
the Plenipotentiaries. The word “heretofore?” was not used, in
preference to the words “before the war,” with any view of the
interest, but to comprehend debts which had been contracted during
the war. The intention was, no doubt, that whatever judges and
juries should find to be a debt, should be recovered ; and I believe
that any man, acting in the character of either, will find it difficult
to say, upon his oath, that interest during the war is bona fide due.
Did any debtor, foreseeing the war, contract a debt, and pledge his
faith to pay interest during the continuance of it? Let this be
proved, and a judge or juror would compel payment. But probably
there is not one such case. The war may be considered as one of
those accidents bona fide not expected or foreseen, against which
equity will always give relief.
With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
London, June 27, 1786.
Sir,
I have received the letter you did me the honor to write me on
the Ist of May, and the pleasure of Congress signified in it shall be
strictly observed. You will perceive, by my letter of the 4th of
March, that it was my determination to make no reply to his
Lordship’s answer of the 28th of February, to the memorial of the
30th of November, until I should receive the orders of Congress.
As we hear that the vessel which carried out that despatch sprung
aleak at sea, put into Lisbon, and did not sail from thence till late
in April, I do myself the honor to enclose a duplicate of Lord
Caermarthen’s letter of 28th F ebruary, and of the representations of
the merchants enclosed in it.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
progres. °.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
il
ry
London, July 15, 1786.
SIr, |
On Wednesday, the 13th, the Marquis of Caermarthen informed
me that Captain Stanhope, of the Mercury man-of-war, to use his
Lordship’s own words, “had received a severe rap over the knuckles
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 671
from the Lords of the Admiralty, for his conduct at Boston. His
Lordship had received a letter from Lord Howe, accompanied with
‘a long, dull letter from Captain Stanhope, which, instead of being
a justification of his conduct, was rather an aggravation of it.”
His Lordship then called in his under Secretary of State, Mr.
Frazier, and ordered the letter from the Admiralty to be brought to
um, which he read to me. It informed him that the Lords of the
Admiralty had called upon Captain Stanhope for his justification of
us conduct to Governor Bowdoin, and had received from him the
letter enclosed, for the information of his Majesty, which their
Lordships, however, thought no apology; that their Lordships had
wccordingly signified to Captain Stanhope their sensible displeasure
it his conduct; and as the Mercury had been ordered home from
he American station, their Lordships would take special care that
1e should be no longer continued in that service.
The Secretary of State was pleased to say, further, that he would
speak to Lord Sidney concerning the affair of the eastern line, that
Sir Guy Carleton might have instructions concerning it before he
went out.
His Lordship was asked if any appointment had been made of a
Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States, and answered, not
yet.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
O
; FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
London, July 30, 1786.
Dear Sir,
I have received the letter you did me the honor to write me on the
6th of June, with the ratification of the treaty with Prussia. As the
term limited is near expiring, I shall go over to Holland, or send
Colonel Smith to make the exchange.
Mr. Penn, a member of the House of Commons, whose character
is well-known in America and in England as a steady friend to our
country will be the bearer of this, and will be able to acquaint you
with the present disposition of this Court and nation; and I believe
his information, although a British subject and Senator, will not be
materially different from mine.
a ee
.
672 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
I cannot but lament-from my inmost soul that lust for paper
money which appears in some parts of the United States. There
will never be any uniform rule, if there is a sense of justice, nor any
clear credit, public or private, nor any settled confidence in public
mien or measures, until paper money is done away.
It is a great satisfaction to me to learn that you have received, in
my letter of the 4th March, the answer of this Court to the memorial
respecting the posts. As that is a despatch of more importance than
all others you have received from. me, I shall be anxious to know
your sentiments upon it. You will not expect me to answer Lord
Caermarthen’s letter, nor to take any further steps —v it until
I shall receive the orders of Congress.
f wish for the instructions of that august body concerning a
requisition in their name for the negroes—whether I am to demand
payment for them, at what prices, and for what number.
With great regard, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
sebecipwen( uitetcialh
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
London,. July 31, 1786,
Dear Sir,
Paul Randall, Esquire, who has been with Mr. Lamb to: Algiers,
will have the honor to deliver this letter, in order to lay before
Congress the earliest information of all that has come to his
knowledge in the course of his journeys and voyages. He proposes
to return without loss of time to New York. He has conducted, as
far as I can judge, with prudence and fidelity, and has merited a
recommendation to Congress.
His salary will be paid him by Mr. Lamb, if arrived in New York,
out of the moneys remaining in his hands. Mr. Lamb. has drawn
upon me for three thousand two hundred and twelve pounds twelve
shillings sterling, and his bills for’ that sum have been: accepted: and
paid. He will account with Congress for the expenditure of it, and
pay the balance into their Treasury. Mr. Randall was at some
small expense for clothing, which it’will be but reasonable to allow
him.
There are, it seems, at Algiers one-and-twenty prisoners taken on
board the two American vessels. Mr. Lamb has: left some money
em
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 673
for their benefit, but, however anxious they may be to be redeemed
from captivity, there is reason to fear that all that money will be
expended before they obtain their liberty; in which case they will
probably write to me for more. I should, therefore, be happy to
receive the instructions of Congress, whether I may be permitted to
relieve them, and how far, or whether they must be left to the care
and expense of their friends in America? If the last should be the
determination of Congress, I should think it will be necessary that
some public advertisement should be made that those friends may
know their duty, according to their abilities. ‘The provision that is
made for the subsistence and clothing of captives, either by the
Government or their masters, is said to be very inadequate to their
comforts and necessities.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
New York, October 4, 1786.
Dear Sir,
A vessel will sail from hence for London about the 20th instant.
By her you will hear from me again. Since the date of my last,
viz: 19th August, I have been honored with your letters of 16th
and two of 27th June, and 30th and 31st July last ; which, with the
pers enclosed with them were immediately laid before Congress.
* You will hear of commotions in New England. ‘The enclosed
account of one at Exeter, New Hampshire, does credit to the
Government of that State. Massachusetts seems not to have
adverted to obsta principiis. A rage for paper money, and too
little decision, or perhaps capacity of decision, in the construction of
our Governments, expose us to inconveniences for which it is time
to provide remedies. I hope you will soon receive instructions
relative to the objections against evacuating the posts. ‘That matter
is in train.
Be pleased to forward the enclosed order to Mr. Lamb. We hear
nothing certain respecting the issue of Mr. Barclay’s mission. Report
says he has made a truce.
With great esteem, &c., JOHN JAY.
Vou. I1.—43
ve
674 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
‘- FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
New York, November 1, 1786. _
Dear Sir,
My last to ras was dated 4th ultimo, since which I have been
honored with yours of the 15th July last, which was immediately
communicated to Congress.
My teport on the answer of the British Minister to your memorial
respecting our frontier posts, is under the consideration of Congress.
Your ideas and mine on those subjects very nearly correspond, and
I sincerely wish that you may be enabled to accommodate every
difference between us and Britain on the most liberal principles of
justice and candor. The result of my inquiries into the conduct of
the States relative to the treaty is, that there has not been a single
day, since it took effect, on which it has not been violated in America,
by one or other of the States; and the observation is equally just
whether the treaty be supposed to have taken effect either at the date
of exchange of the provisional articles, or on the day of the date of
the definitive treaty, or of the ratification of it.
Our affairs are in a very unpleasant situation, and changes become
necessary, and in some little degree probable. When Government,
either from defects in its construction or administration, ceases to
assert its rights, or is too feeble to afford security, inspire confidence,
and overawe the ambitious and licentious, the best citizens naturally
grow uneasy, and look to other systems.
How far the disorders of Massachusetts may extend, or how they
will terminate, is problematical ; nor is it possible: to decide whether
the people of Rhode Island will remain much longer obedient to the
very extraordinary and exceptionable laws passed for compelling
them to embrace the doctrine of the political transubstantiation of
paper in gold and silver.
I suppose that our posterity will read the history of our last four
years with much regret.
enclose for your information a pamphlet containing the acts of
the different States granting an impost to Congress. .
You will also find enclosed a copy of an act of Congress of 20th
and 21st ultimo, for raising an additional number of troops. ‘This
measure was doubtless necessary, although the difficulty of providing
for the expense ‘of it is a serious one. I flatter myself you will be
ie
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 675
able to obviate any improper suspicion which the Minister may be
led to entertain respecting the objects of this force.
I have pressed the policy of deciding on my report on the infrac-
tions of the treaty without delay, that you may thence be furnished
with conclusive arguments against the insinuations of those who
may wish to infuse and support opinions unfavorable to us on those
points.
The newspapers herewith sent will give you information in detail
of Indian affairs, but they will not tell you (what, however, is the
fact) that. our people have committed several unprovoked acts of
violence against them; these acts ought to have excited the notice
of Government, and been punished in an exemplary manner.
There is reason to believe that the people of Vermont are in corre-
spondence with Canada. ‘This hint, by calling your attention to
that subject, may possibly suggest modes of inquiry and further
discoveries on your side the water. Some suppose that the eastern
insurgents are encouraged, if not moved, by expectations from the
same quarter; but this is as yet mere suspicion.
Ihave left my despatches for Mr. Jefferson (which you will find.
under the same cover with this) open for your inspection. You will
perceive that the nature of them is such as to render it expedient
that they should be conveyed to him without risk of inspection.
That consideration induced me to decline sending them by the
French packet.
_ With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN JAY.
+ Tyatoy T
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
f*
i
London, October ae
Dear Sir,
An event has taken place of too much importance to the United
States to be omitted in despatches to Congress. A messenger
arrived at the Secretary of States office last night, with a treaty of
commerce between France and England, signed by the Count de
Vergennes and Mr. Eden. It cannot be supposed that the contents
can be fully known, but it is suggested that England has stipulated
to reduce the duty upon French wines to the sum which is now
Stipulated upon Portugal wines ; reserving, at the same time, a power
x
676 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
of reducing those upon the latter one-third lower than they are, if
necessary. A Minister (Mr. Faulkner) is, in the meantime, sent off
to Lisbon, to negotiate there both this point and another in dispute
with Ireland.
England has stipulated that France shall enjoy all the privileges
in trade of the most favored nation in Europe; so that a reservation
is made of a right to allow the United States of America some
superior advantages.
It is supposed that France is to admit British manufactures, and
that all the commerce is to be carried on in British bottoms.
The treaty is probably subject to the ratification or consent of
Parliament, and will be kept as secret as possible till the meeting of
that assembly. |
The consequences of this treaty cannot be indifferent, and time
alone can reveal who is the gainer; but this is clear, that if either
obtains any considerable advantage, a war must ere long be the
consequence of it; for neither of these nations can bear to be out-
witted by the other in commercial affairs.
The negotiation between England and Russia is at a stand, and
the foreign Ministers here are anxious to learn whether there is to
be a better understanding between London and Berlin, during the
present reign in Prussia, than there was in the last. It is certain
that England, more or less underhand, supports . Prince of
Orange, who is more openly encouraged by his brother-in-law, the
present King of Prussia. France, on the other hand, has connexions
with the Republicans, who seem determined that no foreign Power
shall interfere in their internal policy. The Emperor-would not be
sorry to see France and Prussia at variance concerning Dutch
affairs. For all these reasons together, I hope the patriots in Holland
will have a peaceable opportunity to go through their projected resto-
ration and improvement of their constitution.
The designs they entertain are interesting to mankind in general,
as well as to their particular country, since the principles of liberty.
and the theory of good government may be propagated by them.
A. writer of great abilities and reputation has been employed to
draw up a plan for the settlement of the republic, to which many of
the ablest, men in the several provinces have contributed their assist-
ance. It has. been published in three volumes, under the title of
Grondewellige Herstelling, and near five thousand copies. of it have
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 677
been sold, which shows the zeal with which it has been generally
approved. The author of it is Mr. Cerisier, who has been constant
to his principles, and has professedly recommended the constitutions
of our United States as models, as far as the circumstances will
admit. Several cities have reformed their regencies according to his
ideas; and many more—perhaps all—will follow thei example, if
no foreign Power should interfere. In a late excursion to the Low
Countries, I happened to be at Utrecht on the day of the ceremony
of administering the oaths to the new magistrates elected by the free
suffrages of the people. It was conducted with perfect order and
striking dignity, in the presence of the whole city, well armed and
well clothed in uniform, and apparently well disciplined, besides a.
vast concourse of spectators from other cities. A revolution,
conducted in this decisive manner, and with such decorum, shows
the principles upon which it was founded must have taken a very
deep root. |
If neighboring monarchies should not, from jealousies that demo-
cratical principles may spread too far, and, in time, affect them own
subjects, interfere and disturb this free people, they will exhibit to
the world something worthy of its attention. When I mention
democratical principles, I do not mean that it is their intention to
establish a Government merely democratical, but a well-regulated
Commonwealth, consisting in a composition of democratical, aristo-
cratical, and monarchical powers, without which they are too
enlightened to suppose that peace and liberty can ever be long
preserved among men.
With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, October 27, 1786.
Dear Sir,
When the ratification of Congress of their treaty with the King
of Prussia arrived here, the term limited for the exchange of it was
‘near expiring. As a few members of the States General had
discovered uneasiness at my coming to London without going to the
Hague to take leave, it seemed a convenient opportunity to go over
ie
=
678 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
and show them as much of the respect they required as remained in
my power. Accordingly I went, and, making the customary visits
to the President, Pensionary, and Secretary, renewed assurances
of the friendship, esteem, and respect of the United States for their
High Mightinesses and the Republic; and the visit appeared to be
kindly received. ‘The exchange of ratifications was soon made with
the Baron de Thulemeier, who had time to ‘transmit the act of
Congress to the great Prince, who first proposed the treaty some
days before he expired. The ratification, under the signature of
Frederick the Great, is here enclosed. re
At the same time, sir, you will receive so much of the substance
of a treaty of commerce between. France and England as the Min-
istry have thought fit to publish. This is so great an event, and
must have consequences so extensive, that I feel myself incapable
of forming any judgment of it, upon the whole. Every treaty of
commerce between these nations, for three hundred years, has been
‘found beneficial to France and hurtful to England.
But, at present, this nation is very sanguine the advantage will
be theirs. They boast of the superior skill of their manufacturers,
of the superlative excellence of their manufactures, the multitudes
of inventions and machines peculiar to themselves, by which time
and labor are saved, and productions sold cheaper than in any other
country. A market like France, where five-and-twenty millions of :
people have occasion for English fabrics, must be a valuable acqui-
sition. Commercial connections, by softening prejudices, may lessen
the disposition to war; and a friendship, even an alliance with
France, would enable the two nations to govern the world. This
is, at present, the style of conversation, and the treaty appears to be
popular. |
France and England are both endeavoring, at this moment, to
impose upon each other by professing desires of friendship which
they never felt. The secret motive of both is to impose upon the
United States of America. The English imagine that, by assuming
an appearance of friendship for France, they shall excite a jealousy
of France in America, and provoke Congress to break their faith
with her. The French are. in hopes that, by putting on a show of
familiarity with England, they shall stimulate Congress to make them
proposals of closer connexions. The whole, at bottom, is a farce of
al
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 679
political hypocrisy. The United States will continue steadily, it ‘is
to be hoped, on the reserve.
England is now pursuing her proposals of treaties of commerce
with the Emperor, the Empress of Russia, with Denmark, and
Portugal, and, perhaps, Spain. France and the Emperor took the
only way to compel England to treat, when they, by their edicts,
prohibited British manufactures. The United States must imitate
the example, or they will never be attended to.
‘The present appearances of friendship are forced and feigned.
The time may not be far distant, however, when we may see a
combination of England and the house of Bourbon against the
United States. It is not in gloomy moments only, but in the utmost
gayety of heart, I cannot get rid of the persuasion that the fair plant
of liberty in America must be watered in blood. You have seen
enough in Europe to know that these melancholy forebodings are no
chimeras. ‘There is such a disposition in the principal Powers who
have possessions in the Indies, that our country will find no other
resource but to swear her children on the holy altar to fight them all
at once in defence of her liberties. It may have some atiouee to
save us from such extremities, if we enter into treaties with the two
Empires; for these will soon be jealous of any connexion between
_ France and England.
The Chevalier del Pinto’s courier is not yet returned from Lisbon
with the treaty. This worthy Minister makes frequent apologies on
account of the absence of the Queen in the country, and the unset-
tled state of the Court; but, perhaps, there may be difficulties which
he is not apprized of, or not inclined to mention. wg:
Mr. Barclay’s treaty with Morocco is not yet come to hand.
Congress will, I hope, determine whether we are to send him or any
other to Algiers, without more money in his hands. It would cost
us three or four thousand pounds, to send any one, and unless he has
the power to offer larger presents, he would only make matters
worse.
I hope our country, in every part of it, will cherish their militia as
the apple of their eyes, and put everything in as good a posture of
defence as possible, and keep up a constant expectation of war.
This is the best and most serious advice that can be given by, dear
sir, &c.,
JOHN ADAMS.
%.
680 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
New York, January 17, 1787.
Dear Sir,
Since my last to you of 1st November, I have been favored with
yours of 3d and 27th October, 1786.
Nothing material has since taken place. Congress have not made
a House since the 3d November last. ‘There is a prospect of there
soon being one. Until then their foreign, and, indeed, domestic, —
affairs must continue much at a stand. You will, herewith, receive
_ the public papers. “pale |
You will soon hear from me again.
Tam, dear sir, &c., JOHN JAY.
Bias A EES
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
New York, February 6, 1787.
Dear Sir, j
Congress at length begins to do business. Seven States are
represented, and General St. Clair was, three days ago, chosen
President.
Since my last to you of 17th ultimo, I have not had the pleasure
of receiving any letters from you. |
You will, herewith, receive a letter from Congress to the Queen
of Portugal, which you will be pleased to transmit in the manner
suggested in my report, of which you will find a copy enclosed.
The Colonel will, I hope, be pleased with the commission. Being
persuaded that your instructions to him will comprehend every
proper object, I forbear suggesting any hints on that head.
A report on your correspondence with Lord Caermarthen , relative
to the posts and treaty of peace, was made to Congress on the 13th
day of October last, and you shall be informed without delay of the
result of their deliberations upon that and other points arismg from
your letters. As yet no great progress towards a decision on any of
them has been made. ,
I find myself too much constrained by the reflection that this letter
is to go by the packet to be very particular. Oe |
With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN JAY.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 681
Office for Foreign Affairs, January 25, 1787.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, to whom was referred a letter to him from the honorable
John Adams, of the 27th June last, informing that the Queen of
Portugal had ordered her squadron in the straits to protect the
vessels of the United States equally with those of her own
subjects, reports :
That, in his opinion, as this is a particular mark of her Majesty’s
Ficidly disposition, it should be acknowledged in the manner most
likely to be pleasing and acceptable. He therefore thinks it would
be proper for Congress to write her a letter of the following tenor:
‘«‘Great and good Friend,
“We take the earliest opportunity, since our annual election, of
‘presenting to your Majesty our sincere acknowledgments for the
‘friendly regard you have manifested for us, in having ordered your
‘squadron in the straits to protect our vessels equally with those of
‘Portugal.
« Permit us to assure you that we shall retain this mark of generous
‘attention in grateful remembrance, and shall omit no opportunity of
‘testifying our desire to establish and perpetuate between our two
‘countries an intercourse of commerce and good offices, which may
‘prove no less beneficial than agreeable to both.
«We pray God to bless and preserve your Majesty. Done by the
‘Congress of the United States, convened at the city of New York,
‘the day of , seventeen hundred and eighty-seven.”
As this communication was made by the Envoy in London to Mr.
Adams, your Secretary thinks this letter should be transmitted to
him; and that the compliment would be more delicate if his
Secretary was conimissioned to carry and deliver it. Perhaps, too,
so striking a proof of respect might, among other consequences,
promote the conclusion of the treaty.
Mr. Adams, in the same letter, takes notice of the question, whether
it would not be expedient for the United States to wage war with the
hostile Powers of Barbary; but as your Secretary submitted his
sentiments on that subject to Congress, in his report of the 20th
day of October, 1785, he forbears to repeat them in this.
All whic b is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
. JOHN JAY.
ai.
682 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
a
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, November 30, 1786.
me ;
Dear Sir,
Your favor of the 4th of October I have had the honor to receive,
and have dispatched the resolution enclosed in it to Paris, to go from
thence to Spain ; but I hope Mr. Lamb is already on his passage for
America.
The commotions in New England will terminate in additional
strength to Government, and, therefore, they do not alarm me.
I have lately received from Lord Caermarthen, officially, the
enclosed treaty between France and England. Congress will be
able to form a judgment of it with more accuracy than I can pretend
to. There is no obvious particular in which it can be prejudicial to
us. At first it appeared to be popular here. At present there is
some appearance of opposition.
There are no symptoms of a more favorable inclination to a treaty
with confederated America, although the taxes have fallen short very
considerably, Mr. Pitt will be obliged to propose fresh taxes, and
the people will bear them; for, in this country, the people universally
endeavor to reconcile themselves to their inevitable situation, and to
encounter their difficulties with courage and constancy. They know
that the interest of their public debt must be paid, or they must be
ruined ; for nobody ever here is profligate enough even to insinuate
that public faith and credit is to be trampled under foot, or trifled
with. ay
It is a pity that every American could not be transported to
Europe for a few weeks to take a view of the taxes paid in France,
Spain, Holland, and England, and see how the people live. It would
soon reconcile them to their situation, and’ make them ashamed to
have ever uttered a complaint. The just complaint of the people,
of real grievances, ought not to be discouraged; and even their
imaginary grievances may be treated with too great severity; but
when a cry is set up for the abolition of debts, an equal division of
property, and the abolition of Senates and Governors, it is time for
every honest man to consider his situation. The people at large will
be miserable dupes indeed, if they indulge themselves in slumbers
which may give scope to a few of the most worthless in. society, in
point of morals as well as property, to render their lives, liberties,
¢ A S if silt
religion, property, and characters insecure. ‘The laws alone can
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 688
x,
secure any man his own body, estate, or peace of mind; and if these
are scorned, in God’s name what is ever to be respected; what is
there worth living for? *
Doctor White and Doctor Provost, &c., have arrived at Fal-
mouth, but not yet come to town. By them we expect more
letters.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
ees) ee
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
New York, February 21, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I had the pleasure of receiving, two days ago, your letter of the
30th November, by Mr. Mitchell. It was the next morning laid
before Congress.
Nine States are now represented, but as yet little progress has
been made in the business before them. My report on the infrac-
tions of the treaty complained of by Britain has been referred to a
new committee, and, I think, a very good one. Various opinions
prevail on the subject, and I cannot conjecture what the ultimate
decision of Congress on it will be.
The insurrection in Massachusetts seems to be suppressed; and
I herewith enclose the papers containing the details we have received
since the 6th instant, when I wrote to you by the packet. Your
Sentiments on that business prove to have been just.
I ought to write you fully on many subjects, but 1 am not yet
enabled; when I shall be, cannot be predicted. Our Government
is unequal to the task asigned it, and the people begin also to per-
ceive its inefficiency. The Convention gains ground. New York
has instructed her delegates to move in Congress for a recommenda-
tion to the States to form a Convention; for this State dislikes the
idea of a Convention, unless countenanced by Congress. I do not
promise myself much further immediate good from the measure, than
that it will tend to approximate the public mind to the changes
which ought to take place. It is hard to say what those changes
should be, exactly. There is one, however, which I think would be
much for the better, viz: to distribute the Federal sovereignty into
its three proper departments of executive, legislative, and judicial ;
684 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
for that Congress should act in these different capacities was, I
think, a great mistake in our policy. ;
This State, in their present session, has greatly moderated their
severities to the Tories, a law having been passed to restore a very
great majority of those resident here to the rights of citizens. °
I hope all discriminations inconsistent with the treaty of peace
will gradually be abolished, as resentment gives place to reason and
good faith. But, my dear sir, we labor under one sad evil—the
Treasury is empty, though the country abounds in resources, and
our people are far more unwilling than unable to pay taxes. Hence
result disappointment to our creditors, disgrace to our country, and,
I fear, disinclination in too many to any mode of government that
can easily and irresistibly open their purses. Much is to be done,
and the patriot must have perseverance as well as patience.
I am, dear sir, &c., JOHN JAY.
O
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
New York, April 2, 1787.
Dear Sir, |
Since my last to you, of 25th February, I have not been favored
with any letters from you. fa
Congress have made some progress in my report on your letter
of 4th March, 1786, and the papers that accompanied it. They
lately passed the resolutions, of which you will find a copy herewith
enclosed. Having been ever since, and still being, too much indis-
posed to prepare instructions to you on these subjects in time for
their being reported and agreed to by Congress, and transmitted by
this opportunity, I send this copy merely for your information. Per-
haps it might be well to communicate it informally to the Minister.
I think it would have a good effect, and tend to abate the irritation
which long delays and silence may have occasioned. a
The Morocco treaty has not yet arrived, and we are still in
suspense about the fate of the one with Portugal. 2
What good will result from the convention to be convened in
pursuance of the resolution, of which I also enclose a copy, is
uncertain. Something is very necessary to be done, for our difficul-
ties increase day by day. I am too unwell to write much at this
“i
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 685
time, nor do I expect to recover a tolerable degree of health until
the season admits of my taking exercise. Although exceedingly
temperate, my digestion is bad, and a lingering fever hangs about
me.
T am, dear sir, &c., JOHN JAY.
0
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
Office for Foreign Affairs, May 3, 1787.
Sir, '
In obedience to the orders of Congress, I have the honor of
informing you that Phineas Bond, Esq., has presented to Congress
a commission from his Britannic Majesty, constituting him Commis-
sary for all commercial affairs within the United States; and another
commission, constituting him Consul for the States of New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland.
Congress, being desirous, on this and every other occasion, to
manifest their disposition to cultivate a friendly correspondence with
Great Britain, have received Mr. Bond in his latter capacity, although
no treaty or convention subsists between the two countrits whereby
either has a right to establish Consuls in the dominions of the
other. .
As yet, Congress have not received any commissaries for commer-
cial affairs, and they think it most prudent not to receive them from
any nation, until their powers shall have been previously ascertained
by agreement; lest, as those appointments are seldom made, and
both parties may not have precisely the same ideas of the extent of
the powers and privileges annexed to them, disagreeable questions
and discussions might, and probably would, otherwise take place on
those delicate subjects.
You will be pleased to submit these reasons to his Majesty, and
to assure him that Congress regret the objections which oppose their
complying with his wishes in this instance, but that they are ready
to join with his Majesty in such agreements or conventions as may
be necessary to remove them, and which may also tend to promote
and establish a friendly and satislactory commercial intercourse
between the two countries.
I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN JAY.
+
686 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAYS
-_ JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, January 9, 1787.
Dear Sir, °
Iam unable to give you any account of the reasons which have
prevented the treaty with Morocco from reaching London; but it has
not yet made its appearance. The + Ambassador sent me
a polite message, and desired a conference. It was agreed to, and
his Excellency ‘was pleased to inform me that he had received
repeated letters to return home, and should rt in a few weeks;
desired to be informed whether any further. instructions had - been
received from Congress relative to a treaty with Tripoli, and. being
answered in the negative, he said the decree was written in heaven,
and, if a peace was preordained between my country and his, it
would take place. He should be happy, when he arrived in his own
country, to be instrumental in so good a work.
The Chevalier del Pinto, with a great deal of real anxiety, has,
last week, renewed his apologies. He has written to M. de Melho
that it is indecent, that he is ashamed to think how the business has
been delayed. This worthy Minister sent one of his own favorite
domestics, who has called at the Minister’s office every day, but has:
been detained from the month of May. ‘The Minister has been sick ;
that is the excuse. In short, I suppose there are parties, and this
late negotiation between France and England has occasioned
oe of sentiment ; and the late decease of the King of Portugal,
“the Queen’s retirement in the country, and the Minister’s
Pe. have prevented any determination of any questions of
importance.
According to the usages of the diplomatic order, I ought, before.
now, to have mentioned the death of her Royal Highness the Prin-
cess Amelia, aunt of his present Majesty the King of Great —
on the evening of the last day of October last.
On Thursday, the 4th day of this month, I had the honor of ai
private audience of his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland,
having been previously notified by the master of the ceremonies, and —
presented by him. All the foreign Ministers who had not been
before presented to his Royal Highness, were presented on that cap
The same ceremonies are used as with the King.
Enclosed is a a of a letter from the Marquis of Caermarthen,
he
oe CORRESPONDENCE. | 687
dated the 11th of December last. His Lordship is mistaken or
misinformed, in supposing that the American Ministers admitted the
justness of the claim. ‘That was wholly out of their power. All
they could do was to transmit it to Congress, as I now transmit his
Lordship’s letter, without any concession or denial of the justice of
it. In my answer to his Lordship, I shall set him right in this
particular.
Enclosed; likewise, is a letter of 5th January, from Messieurs
Willinks and Van Staphorsts, relative to the hotel of the United
States. There is such a corrosive dampness in the air of that
country, that, without ‘the continual attention of an inhabitant, a
building falls to decay very fast. I really think the best thing that
can be done is to order the house to be sold by Messieurs Willinks
and Van Staphorsts, as soon as possible. This is the best advice to
be given. If it is not sold, there will be constant expenses for taxes
and repairs, without saving the building from rum. As it is, I do
not believe any American Minister would now live in it. This
subject deserves the immediate attention of Congress.
It is with great pleasure that I am able to inform Congress that
the credit of the United States in Holland has not suffered any
material shock in consequence of the relations of tumults and sedi-
tions in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. —
With great regard, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
“i °
FROM LORD CAERMARTHEN TO JOHN ADAMS. “i
a
Whitehall, November 1, 1786.
Lord Caermarthen presents his compliments to Mr. Adams, and it
is with the greatest concern that he has the honor to acquaint him
with the melancholy news of the death of her Royal Highness the
Princess Amelia, his Majesty’s aunt, yesterday evening, between five
and six o’clock.
FROM LORD CAERMARTHEN TO JOHN ADAMS.
Whitehall, December 11, 1786.
Sir,
You will be pleased to recollect that, in the month of May, 1783,
Mr. Hartley communicated to you and the other Plenipotentiaries
Ja
A,
688 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY...
then residing in Paris, pursuant to the instructions he had received,
a memorial from the merchants trading to South Carolina and
Georgia, representing their just claims to an indemnification for debts
due to them from the Creek and Cherokee Indians, for the payment
of which a tract of land on the western frontier of Georgia had been
ceded to his Majesty in the year 1773. I must also desire to recall
to your recollection that, upon this representation being made by Mr.
Hartley, the American Plenipotentiaries, though they did not think
themselves authorized to take cognizance of the affair, admitted the
justness of the claim, and assured Mr, Hay ey that they would
transmit it to Congress.
As Mr. Hartley, previous to the conclusion of his mission, received
no answer upon this subject, I am under the necessity of requesting
you will inform me whether you are yet acquainted with the determ-
ination of Congress relative to this claim; and, if not, that you will
have the goodness to take an early opportunity of again representing
the case of these sufferers as highly deserving the consideration of
the United States, from: whose principles of equity and justice I
cannot but hope the memorialists will obtain all due relief.
[ am, with great truth and regard, &c.,
. CAERMARTHEN.
e ¥
FROM MESSIEURS WILHEM AND JAN WILLINK AND NICHOLAS AND
JACOB VAN STAPHORSTS TO JOHN ADAMS.
Amsterdam, January 5, 1787.
We had the honor to receive in due time your Excellency’s ever
respected favor, advising us to pay in specie the premiums of six per
cent. for sixty thousand francs, drawn last October, at the charge
of the United States. We shall immediately publish the same,
together with the payment of the interest due Ist proximo on the
Joan of two millions, which will, we trust, have the good effect upon
the credit of America your Excellency and we promise ourselves.
Such a measure is the best possible refutation of the exaggerated
reports published with avidity by persons, through malice or igno-
rance, of the confidence and respect due to the Government of the
United States.
Your Excellency will find enclosed a letter from Mr. Dumas,
f,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 689
with the report of surveyors, of the present condition of the hotel
of the United States at the Hague. It appears to us something
decisive ought to be done in this respect without delay. We there-
fore request your Excellency to transmit us, by the return of the
mail, your directions on this head, which shall be punctually followed.
In waiting them, we have begged of Mr. Dumas not to incur any
but the indispensable necessary expense.
We request your Excellency and your lady, together with Colonel
Smith, to accept our best wishes for their health and happiness
during the present and many succeeding years, and have the honor
to be, &c.,
WILHEM & JAN WILLINK,
N. & J. VAN STAPHORSTS.
FROM M. DUMAS TO MESSRS. W. AND J. WILLINK AND MESSRS.
N. AND J. VAN STAPHORSTS.
The Hague, January 2, 1787.
Gentlemen,
On the receipt of your letter of the 23d December, 1786, I went,
with two creditable, impartial citizens, to the American hotel, to
examine it throughout myself, together with those who accompanied
me. We unfortunately found that the reports which had been made
to us concerning it were true, and that there is no time to be lost to
prevent accidents to passengers, and ‘greater expenses hereafter. I
had an inspection made by the carpenter to see whether I could
accomplish your request to lay planks. He frankly declared to me
that he could not do. it, as all the voor géerel was rotten, and many
parts of the wall were falling on account of the decay of the beams.
As both you, gentlemen, as well as ourselves, have no views in this
business, and as I am certain you seek only the interest of Congress,
as well as ourselves, and we are equally desirous to prove to Con-
gress that the steps we have taken are upright and disinterested, I
would not refer either to myself or to the carpenter, but to other
persons. We therefore sent the voor meisters to examine it, a copy
of whose declaration you will find enclosed, which I did not receive
until this morning on account of the holydays, although it is dated
the 29th December. I have been obliged, by their orders, to have
Vou. Il.—44
690 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
supports fixed under the balcony, until I have your further orders.
which I beg you will send me, gentlemen, as soon as possible, te
prevent any accidents and complaints which are made tous. | an
told that the arms of the United States can be placed in the roon
of the balcony ; the rather, as they are ready in the house for tha
purpose ; and I will have it done, in order to preserve the right of ¢
balcony to the house. I am sorry for the decay that has happened
But let the matter result as it may, whether Congress sends a Min-
ister to dwell in it, or orders to sell it, should it remain in its presen’
condition, no benefit would arise from it. In short, gentlemen, |
have informed you of the circumstances as they are, and, in expecta
tion of your orders, I shall conform to them with exactness and al
the economy possible as to the expenses.
Permit me, gentlemen, on this return of a new year, to addres:
my most ardent wishes that Heaven may grant you its choicest bless.
ings, not only for the present, but through years far remote. Be
pleased to make my wishes acceptable to your ladies, with ow
respectful compliments, which my spouse and daughter desire me t
send you.
Tam, &c., M. DUMAS.
Copy of a Certificate of the Surveyors of the Building, on a stam
paper of twelve stwwers.
We, the subscribers, Peter Van Swieten and Jacob Van Brakel
surveyors of the buildings at the Hague, have, at the request of M
Dumas, examined what repairs are necessary to be done at the hote
belonging to the United States of North America, situated o1
Fluwelle Burgwal, in this town, and have found the same to be a:
follows : : .
The balcony, with the cross-beam at the front above the entry
‘ought to be taken away, and probably must be entirely renewed
because, in its present situation, it is dangerous. Several window:
in front must be repaired ; some of them are so rotten that the pane:
of glass are fallen out. From the top bands in the front the binding:
are removed, and they are not properly secured; in consequence
whereof, the middle part of said front is projected some inches, anc
Mt is to be apprehended that, unless proper care is taken, a part 0
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 691
the front will fall into the street, to the loss of the owners and danger
of passengers.
Thus found by us the 28th December, 1786.
V. SWIETEN.
JACOB VAN BRAKEL.
Hague, 29th December, 1786.
0
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, January 24, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I must beg the indulgence of Congress while I solicit their attention
for a few moments to some particulars which are very interesting to
me personally, and have some relation to the foreign affairs of the
United States. It is now in the beginning of the tenth year since I
embarked first for Europe, in obedience to the commands of the
United States. ‘The various services to which they have been pleased
to destine me are known to Congress by their own records, and the
particular details of the execution of their orders, as far as circum-
stances have permitted, have been transmitted, from time to time, to
Congress and their Ministers of foreign affairs, so that it would be
unnecessary to repeat anything of that kind upon this occasion. The
mission with which they honored me to the United Provinces of the
Low Countries, both as public Minister and as agent to negotiate a
loan of money, is not yet revoked. ‘The commissions to negotiate
with the Barbary States, in which I had the honor to be associated
with Mr. Jefferson, are still in force. The commission to his
Britannic Majesty will expire on the 24th of February, 1778—this
day thirteen months—unless sooner revoked. I take this early
Opportunity of informing Congress of my intention to return to
America as soon after the expiration of this commission as possible,
that measures may be taken in season to complete all the arrange-
ments which that honorable assembly may judge necessary.
I have been a witness of so much respect and affection to the
United States of America in the Low Countries, and have there
experienced so much candor and friendship to myself, that it is
natural for me to wish to take leave of their High Mightinesses with
decency, and according to the forms that the usages of nations
= ea
692 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
prescribe. I must, therefore, solicit a letter of recall. It would be
a pleasure to me to go over in person to the Hague in order to
present it; but as I have the most candid assurances that a memorial
sent from hence would be equally well received, I shall probably
avoid the expense of a journey. If Congress judge a Minister at
that Court necessary, they will appoint one, of course; and if there
is further occasion for borrowing any small sums of money, they will
commission a new agent. Colonel Franks arrived here this morning
with the treaty with Morocco, and will be despatched to Congress
without delay. There is no probability of any further progress of
success with the Barbary Powers, without further orders from
Congress, and larger sums of money. If Congress should give fresh
instructions, and order more money to be appropriated, I must
request that they will associate some other person with Mr. Jefferson,
if they should not judge it more convenient for that able and excel-
lent, Minister to conduct it alone, or designate some other single
person to the service.’ It may be the intention of Congress to recall
me from this Court before.the expiration of their present commission,
but as this would be a measure of eclat, perhaps they may judge it
more prudent to avoid it. If Congress determine to send another
Minister, I hope. it will be done in such season that he may arrive
before my departure. . If no other Minister is sent, it will, perhaps,
be thought -necessary to leave the negotiation in the hands of a
Chargé d’ Affaires. Colonel Smith has at present only a commission
as Secretary of Legation. I may be permitted, I hope, without
presuming too far, to recommend him to this office, and solicit it for
him. When he was appointed Secretary, he was unknown to me.
even by name. He has since formed a connexion in my family,
which renders it delicate for me to say any thing in his favor.
Such a circumstance, however, cannot forfeit his title to justice from
me; and it is no more to say that his conduct, his talents, and his
industry merit a much higher station than has yet been assigned him.
You know perfectly well, sir, that the office even of a public Minister
of the second order is a station extremely humiliating at any Court
in Europe. At Versailles, at Madrid; at the Hague, and at London,
the difference between Ambassadors and Ministers Plenipotentiary
or Enyoys is so immense, that the latter are little more regarded
than the maitre @hotel of a Minister of State. This is a fact known
to you, but not known to our countrymen; and, therefore, I think it
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 693
my duty to mention it that it may be considered. The place of
Chargé d’Affaires is so much below that of Minister, and that of
simple Secretary of Legation so much below that of Chargé
d’ Affaires, that nothing can reconcile a gentleman who has com-
manded in an army through a whole war, with reputation to it, but
the most decided determination to sacrifice his feelings to the good,
or rather to the sense of his country. J need not add that, in the
present times and circumstances, these things are more intolerable in
England than elsewhere.
May I be permitted to request that Congress would be pleased to
take up this subject as soon as their more important affairs will
permit, that their arrangements may be received in Europe in time
to despatch the few things, both of a public and private nature, that
will remain for me to do. A letter of recall from Holland, and an
appointment in my place in the commission to the Barbary States,
are of importance to be expedited early. If they do not arrive in
season before the expiration of the commission to St. James’s, I shall
presume that it is the intention of Congress to take no further
arrangements in those affairs, and embark with my family for
America in one of the early spring ships in 1788.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
a
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN Jay.
London, January 27, 1787.
Sir,
We had the honor of transmitting to Congress copies of the
commission and instructions which, in pursuance of the authority
delegated to us, were given to Mr. Barclay to conduct a negotiation
with Morocco.
Mr. Barclay has conducted that business to a happy conclusion,
and has brought with him testimonials of his prudent conduct from
the Emperor of Morocco and his Minister so clear and full, that
we flatter ourselves Mr. Barclay will receive the approbation of
Congress.
Mr. Barclay has received somewhat more than four thousand
pounds sterling for the expenses of presents and all other things.
Colonel Franks, who accompanied Mr. Barclay in his tedious
694 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
journeys and difficult negotiations, in the character of Secretary, will
be despatched to Congress, and will have the honor of delivering this
letter, together with the treaty, the Emperor’s letter to Congress, and
a variety of other papers relative to his mission, a schedule of which
is annexed.
The resolution of Congress, vacating Mr. Lamb’s commission and
instructions, has been forwarded to him, and we have repeatedly
advised him to return to New York. ‘That gentleman has received
somewhat more than three. thousand pounds sterling of the public
money, for which he is accountable to Congress. ,
We beg leave to recommend Mr. Barclay and Colonel Franks to
the favorable consideration of Congress.
It is no small mortification not to be able to communicate any
intelligence concerning the treaty with Portugal; the Chevalier del
Pinto is equally uninformed. His own confidential domestic, des-
patched to Lisbon last spring, has been constantly waiting on the
Minister for an answer, but has obtained none, and has not yet
returned to London. The treaty between France and England has
probably excited parties and surprise in Portugal, and the system
of men and measures is not yet settled; the apologies are the
Queen’s absence in the country, and the Prime Minister’s indispo-
sition.
The article of money is become so scarce and precious, that we
shall be obliged to suspend all further proceedings in the Barbary
business, even for the redemption of prisoners, until we shall be
honored with fresh instructions from Congress.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM THOMAS BARCLAY TO MESSRS. ADAMS AND JEFFERSON,
Cadiz, October 2, 1786.
Gentlemen,
By the bearer, Colonel Franks, I do myself the honor to send you
in a small box the following articles:
Ist. A book containing the original treaty, in Arabic, between the.
Emperor of Morocco and the United States.
2d. Three translations of the treaty, in English, to each of which
is added a translation of a declaration made by Tahar Fennish,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 695
by order of his Majesty, in addition and explanation of the tenth
article.
3d. A letter from the Emperor to the President of Congress.
Ath. The translation of this letter, in English.
5th. Translation of the Emperor’s letter to the King of Spain.
6th. A letter from Tahar Fennish to the Ministers at Paris and
London, and translation.
7th. Signals agreed on, by which the Moorish and American
vessels may distinguish each other at sea.
Sth. The answers to the queries you put me, dated Tangier, the
10th September.
9th. An account of some other particulars relative to this country,
dated Tangier, 13th September.
10th. An account of the proceedings relative to the treaty, dated
Ceuta, 18th September.
11th. Copy of commission given to Francis Chiappi, of the city
of Morocco, until the pleasure of Congress shall be known, and the
names of the agents at Mogadore and Tangier.
These matters have been detained a considerable time from you
by various accidents, among which contrary winds and stormy
weather were a part. But I hope, as all such impediments are now
removed, you will receive them with the utmost expedition. ‘The
original of the declaration made by Mr. Fennish could not be placed
in the same book with the treaty sealed by the Emperor, the Moorish
forms not permitting it; therefore, Mr. Fennish wrote it in another
book, which I had placed in bis hands, with a copy of the treaty for
examination, in order that he might certify the verity of it, lest any
accident should happen to the original ; which book, with authenti-
cated copies of the other papers, remains in my hands.
I am, with great respect, Xc., THOMAS BARCLAY.
ee ees
FROM THOMAS BARCLAY TO MESSRS. ADAMS AND JEFFERSON.
Madrid, November 7, 1786.
Gentlemen,
I wrote to you from Cadiz, the 2d of last month, a copy of which
soes under the cover of this; and the original, with the papers
mentioned therein, will, I hope, be very soon delivered to you by
Colone! Franks.
696 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
On my arrival here, I had the pleasure of receiving Mr. Jefferson’s
letter of the 26th of September, informing me that, for the present,
any further attempts to arrange matters with the Barbary States are
suspended. I had determined, as soon as I should know this to be
the case, to embark for America; but the season being so far advanced,
{ shall put off the voyage until the spring, and hope to have the
satisfaction of taking your commands personally before I go. Mr.
Carmichael communicated the whole of the letters which Mr. Lamb
has written to him from the time of his first leaving Madrid ; and, on
perusal, it struck me that an interview with him might be attended
with some desirable consequences, as he had, on account of his
health, declined Mr. Carmichael’s request of coming to meet me at
this place. If I had any doubts of ‘the propriety of this measure,
they would have been removed by Mr. Carmichael’s opinion,
and by the paragraph of a letter written by Mr. Jefferson to Mr.
Carmichael, the 22d of August. I need not add that the objects
which I have in view are to obtain. as distinct an account as possible
of what has been done, and to give Mr. Lamb an opportunity of
settling his accounts. Though I have a commission from Congress
to settle all their accounts in Europe, perhaps Mr. Lamb may not
think that his engagements are included in this general power, or he
may not choose to communicate freely with me without the permis-
sion of the Ministers; and, therefore, if Mr. Jefferson approves of it,
I wish he would write a letter to Mr. Lamb, mentioning me to him
as a confidential servant of the public, to whom he may safely trust
the particulars of our situation, and give me such information as he
will be sure to have faithfully delivered to Congress, if I arrive safe
in America.. Mr. Jefferson will also, if he please, point out to Mr.
Lamb how convenient the opportunity will be for an adjustment of
the accounts, and if there is any balance to be remitted by Mr. Lamb
to Mr. Adams, I will give my best advice as to the mode in which
it may be done with the greatest advantage and security to the
public. If Mr. Jefferson writes to Mr. Lamb on this subject, he
will be so good as to enclose it to me, with such hints and instruc-
tions as he shall judge proper, under cover to Mr. Carmichael. It
will be some time before [ can set out on this journey, as I am
charged with a letter to the King from the Emperor of Morocco,
which, by an appointment, I am to deliver at the Escurial, the 13th.
The Count d’Espilly came to town yesterday, and to-morrow I
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 697
expect to see him, as it is certainly in his power to give a good deal
of information respecting the Barbary States. Whatever I can
collect shall be communicated to you; and I only add that I am
clearly of opinion that this journey is not only proper, but neces-
sary. |
I am, with great respect, &c., THOS. BARCLAY.
FROM THOMAS BARCLAY TO MESSRS. ADAMS AND JEFFERSON.
Escurial, November 15, 1786.
Gentlemen,
I came here a few days ago to deliver a letter from the Emperor
of Morocco to the King, which I put into the hands of the Count de
Florida Blanca, acknowledging the sense I had of his attention, and
thanking him with $reat sincerity for the part he had taken in our
business at Morocco. He seemed very much pleased with our
success; and, smiling, replied, ‘now that we have happily finished
this treaty, we will see what we can do with others for you.” Jam
persuaded that this Minister is extremely well disposed to serve
our country; and I doubt not but this Court will greatly strengthen
our endeavors with the Barbary Powers. It is the decided opinion
of the Count d’Espilly that nothing ought to be attempted with
Algiers at present, and that you should begin with the Porte. He
proposes setting out for Africa some time hence, and promises a
continuation of his good offices. He remarked, that if we could
capture one Algerine cruiser, it would greatly facilitate a treaty ; but
this mode of negotiating would, I think, prove more expensive than
any other, and it ought to be our last resort. Jam informed by a
letter from M. Chiappi, of Mogadore, that a vessel is arrived there,
the master of which reports, that on his passage from Lisbon he saw
an Algerine frigate of forty guns, and four xebecks, and that the
people who were on board one of them informed him they were going
to cruise on the coast of America; but I cannot give credit to the
account, as the season of the year is far advanced, and we have not
heard that any of the Algerine cruisers have passed the straits of
Gibraltar, within which I hope the Portuguese squadron will keep
them—this being all that may be expected from them. ‘To-morrow
I shall return to Madrid, and from thence to Alicant, from whence |
698 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
shall give you as clear an account of Mr. Lamb’s situation as circum-
stances will admit of. 1 believe there are some effects belonging to
the United States at Corunna worth looking after. It is some years
since, in consequence of a letter from Mr. Morris, | endeavored to
recover them., I shall take all the information I can of their value,
and if it appears clearly that they are worth so much attention, I
will return to France by that place; if not, I shall go as soon as
possible home, by the shortest route.
I am, with great respect, &c., THOS: BARCLAY.
No. 4.
Translation of No. 3.—A Letter from the Emperor of Morocco to
the President of Congress. a
In the name of the most merciful God. No power can exist on
the earth without the will of the powerful and Almighty God.
From the servant of God, Mohamed Ben Abdelkack. May God
be with him. Amen.
To his Excellency the President of the Congress of the United
States of America. Peace to him who follows the right way of
God. |
This is to acquaint you that we received your letter by the hands
of your Ambassador, Thomas Barclay, who delivered to us likewise
another from the King of Spain. From the contents of these letters
we learned that you were disposed to establish a treaty of commerce
and peace with us, such as we have with other Christian Powers ;
to which having agreed, we have completed a treaty, by sea and
land, on the terms desired of us, and the articles are inserted in a
book, confirmed by our royal seal being affixed thereto.
We have ordered all our servants who command at our sea-ports
to receive your vessels and citizens who shall come to our dominions,
and treat them as we do the Spanish nation; and all our ports, from
Tetuan to Wadnoon, are open to you, at any of which your vessels
may anchor in safety, and your people transact their business at
their own pleasure. In answer to his Majesty the King of Spain,
we have acquainted him with what has been done, and we remain in
perfect peace and tranquillity with you.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 699
Concluded the first of the blessed month of Ramadan, in the year
1200.
I certify the above to be a true copy of the translation made by
Isaac Cardoza Nunes, interpreter at Morocco, of a letter from the
Emperor of Morocco to the President of Congress, which was dated
the first day of the Ramadan, 1200, being the 28th June, 1786.
THOMAS BARCLAY.
ED
No. 5.
Translation of a Letter from the Emperor of Morocco to the King
of Spain.
In the name of the most merciful God. No power can exist on
earth without the will of the most powerful and Almighty God.
From the servant of God, Mohamed Ben Abdelkack, May God
be with him. Amen.
To his Catholic Majesty Charles the Third, King of Spain, the two
Sicilies, and Indies. Peace to him who follows the right way
of God.
This is to acquaint you that we have received the letter you sent
to us by the American Ambassador, Thomas Barclay, Esq., by the
contents of which we understood that the United States of America
wished to establish a treaty of peace and commerce with us, which
we have accordingly completed, by sea and land; and since you
thave been the mediator between us, we have given their Ambassador
an amicable audience, and received him with pleasure and satisfac-
tion; and we have agreed to all the articles of the treaty according
to his desire, which we have confirmed by ordering our royal seal to
be annexed thereto; and, having thus complied with all the wishes
of the United States, their people are ready to depart for your
‘place.
There will arrive to you seven of your people who suffered ship-
wreck on the coast of the Saharah; and the remainder of the crew,
_ we trust in God, shall soon after follow.
Concluded the first day of the blessed month of Ramadan, in the
year 1200.
700 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
I certify the above to be a true copy of the translation made by
Isaac Cardoza Nunes, interpreter of Morocco, of a letter from Ba
Emperor of Morocco to the King of Spain.
THOMAS BARCLAY.
No. 6.
Translation of the Letter from his Excellency Sidi Hage Taher
Ben Fennish, to their Excellencies John Adams and Thomas
Jefferson, Esquires.
Grace to God, who is the mr unity, whose kingdom is the only
existing one.
To ther Excellencies John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, Esquires.
This is to acquaint you that 1 am ordered by the Emperor my
master (whom God preserve) to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter, signed at London and Paris on the Ist and 11th October,
1785, which has been delivered into his own hands by the Honorable
Thomas Barclay, Esq., who came to this court in order to negotiate
an amicable peace between my master (whom God preserve) and
all his dominions, and those of the United States of America. This
matter has been happily concluded to the satisfaction of all parties.
The contents of this treaty you will learn from your Envoy, the said
Thomas Barclay, to whom his Imperial Majesty has: delivered it,
together with a letter for the United States.
I have likewise his Imperial Majesty’s orders to assure you ae Lie
entire approbation of the conduct of your Envoy, who has hehaved
himself with integrity and honor.since his arrival in our country, »
appearing to be a person of good understanding; and therefore his
Majesty has been graciously pleased to give him two honorable,
favorable, and impartial audiences, signifying his Majesty’s perfect
satisfaction at his conduct.
As I am charged with the affairs of your country at this Court, I
can assure you that I will do all that lies in my power to promote
the friendly intercourse that is so happily begun; and of the assist-
ance I have already given in your affairs, your Envoy will ae
you; and, concluding, I do sincerely remain.
Morocco, the first day of the blessed month of Ranieen 1200.
Servant of the King my maser, (whom God preserve,)
TAHER BEN ABDELKACK FENNISH.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 701
I do hereby certify the above is a true translation from the Arabic
lancuage of the annexed letter.
ISAAC CARDOZA NUNES.
Morocco, 19th July, 1786.
FROM THOMAS BARCLAY TO MESSRS. ADAMS AND JEFFERSON.
Tangier, November 10, 1786.
Gentlemen,
IT am at present waiting for a fair wind to embark for Ceuta to
avoid the quarantine in Spain, and I embrace the delay occasioned
by the strong easterly winds that have prevailed for some time to
reply to the queries with which you honored me at parting. You
put them respecting the Barbary States generally; but as my
business has been with the Emperor of Morocco only, I shall
confine myself to what relates to his dominions, and will state the
answers in the order you put the queries.
Commerce.—The articles exported from this country are the gums
arabic, sandrach, and senegal ; beeswax, copper in blocks, Morocco
leather, almonds, dates, figs, and walnuts. Lemons and oranges
might be had, were there wood in the country to make boxes to
pack them in. Great quantities of olive oil and oil of argan (a fruit
somewhat resembling an olive) are exported, particularly to Mar-
seilles, where it is used in making soap. Mules are exported to
Surinam, and to other parts of America, both on the continent and
among the islands; many of those animals passing from Constantina
Mogadore by. land, being a journey of one thousand miles.
Elephant’s. teeth, gold dust, and ostrich feathers are brought from
the southward by the people who trade as far as to the river Niger,
and are sold and shipped at Mogadore, the most southerly port in
the empire, except Santa Cruz, from which last place the Emperor
forbids any foreign trade to be pursued; and from Mogadore and
Daralbeyda the export of wheat is very great. Morocco imports
from Spain, Portugal, and Italy, several of the manufactures of those
countries, particularly silks, linens, and woolen cloths. With
England and Holland the trade is more general, and comprehends
not only the same kind of goods, but a variety of others, such as iron
ware of various sorts, including tools made use of by workmen, tin
ware, steel, iron in bars, copper utensils, ship chandlery, and cordage
702 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
for the repairing deficiencies in merchant vessels. Wine and
spirituous liquors for the use of the Christians may be imported from
any part of the world duty free; but the use 1s forbidden to the
Mahometans; nor is there any thing in the country sold by measure
but grain. They import rice from the Levant, which is of an inferior
quality to the American rice, and I believe a little of this article
might answer, and perhaps the consumption increase; but this is
conjecture, for there is no answering for the taste of the Moors.
Flour they have much cheaper than the price at which we can
supply them. ‘They raise a good deal of tobacco themselves, and
some pretty good about Fez and Mequinez. None of it, however, is
equal to ours, but the consumption of American tobacco would be
confined to the Europeans, and consequently it would not prove of
much consequence. Furs are not used here, and they want neither
fish nor oil. Provisions of all kinds are cheap, and their sea-coast.
furnishes with abundance of fish for common use; and their Ramadan
or Lent does not permit the use of fish more than of flesh, being a
strict abstinence from all kinds of food or drink for about sixteen
hours of the twenty-four. ‘There is no demand for tar or turpentine,
each merchant ship bringing as much as is likely te be wanted for
the voyage, and the Emperor is supplied from the Baltic. Ship
timber would certainly be a most agreeable object to the Emperor;
but he is the only person in his dominions who would purchase it,
and the price would be made by himself. He was anxious to know
whether we had this article in America. Ready-built ships (that is,
frigates properly fitted out for sea, and armed) would prove the most
acceptable article that could be sent to him; but his making a
purchase of any would depend on the opinion he had of the value.
He some time ago encouraged the building of one at Genoa, and
when she arrived at one of his ports, he rejected her on account of
the price. )
The duties of goods imported, with a few exceptions, are a tenth
part of the goods. Foreign hides pay three dollars, and iron and
steel four dollars per quintal ; cochineal. and alkermes are monopo-
lized by the Emperor, and sold at a great advance on the price.
The former is used in dying the Morocco skins, and the latter im
dying the caps, such as the soldiers and many of the inhabitants
wear. Ostrich feathers are a monopoly in the hands of a Jew at
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 703
Mogadore, without whose permission none can be exported. Offences
committed against the interest of the revenue are punished by fine
imposed by the Emperor, sometimes with great severity—never with
less than the crime deserves. All countries pay the same duties, but
the King will sometimes favor an individual by the remission of part
of the ordinary duties, in return for some service, or as a mark of his
approbation. ‘The Moors are not their own carriers, nor are there
any trading vessels under the colors of the Emperor. From this
short statement it will appear that a few of the articles produced in
Morocco are wanted in our parts of America, nor could anything
manufactured here find a sale there, except a little Morocco leather,
which is very fine and good, and the consumption of it in the Empire
is almost incredible. They make some gold and silver thread at
Fez, and in various parts of the country coarse and fine stuff for
alhaiques, a good many carpets, some coarse linen, and a great many
red woolen caps; and these articles, I think, compose the whole
of their manufactures, which, from the unskilfulness of the people
who work at them, (the leather excepted,) are too dear for exporta-
tion. Still this country holds out objects to the Americans sufficient
to make a treaty of peace and commerce a matter of consequence.
Our trade to the Mediterranean is rendered much the securer for it,
and it affords us ports where our ships may refit, if we should be
engaged in a European war, or in one with the other Barbary States.
Our vessels will certainly become the carriers of wheat from Morocco
‘to Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and may find employment at times
when the navigation of our country is stopped by the winter season ;
and we shall resume our old mule trade from Barbary to Surinam,
and possibly to some of the West India islands. With respect to
the prices of the exports of this country, I will add a list of them,
together with one of the duties.
Ports.—l will enlarge a little on this subject, by giving you a
general idea, not only of the best ports in the Empire, but of all that
are of any consequence, omitting Waladia, Azamor, and some others,
which in no degree, in my opinion, deserve to be ranked in the
number. I will begin with the most southerly, which 1s the only
one of them which I have not seen.
Santa Cruz is the only seaport in Sus, and is situated about
ninety miles to the southward of Mogadore, and six from the western
extremity of Mount Atlas, between the end of that mountain and the
704 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
sea, from which it is distant half a mile. It is placed ‘on the declivity
of a hill, and cannot be injured by any shipping. ‘There are no
fortifications, nor any guns mounted, except two for signals. ‘The
road for vessels is open, but the anchorage good, being a hard, sandy
bottom, and the depth of water so gradual that ships may anchor in
such as suits them best. There are about two thousand houses
in the town, and the trade was very considerable until the Emperor
ordered the port to be shut up. It was the mart for all the com-
modities of Tafilet and Sus, and is the thoroughfare through which
the inhabitants of the sea-coast pass to those kingdoms or to the
Saharah. The trade is now removed to )
Moeapore, a town built by order of the present Emperor, con-
taining two thousand houses and eleven thousand inhabitants, as
appears by an account taken previous to a distribution of corn
being made a few months ago. by order of the Emperor. About
a mile from the shore runs a tongue of land called the island of
Mogadore; and between the land and the island the ships anchor,
and may pass in safety if they draw no more than fifteen feet water,
(some say sixteen feet.) The island proves a considerable shelter
for them, but a strong southerly or southwest wind incommodes them
much, occasioning a swell in the channel, which is sometimes
dangerous ; the bottom is hard and rocky, and it 1s necessary to put
buoys to the cables, to prevent them from cutting. ‘The town is
defended by two batteries, one of nine iron and thirty-three brass
cannon, twenty of which are fine Spanish guns left at Gibraltar in the
last siege; the other, of either five or six iron guns, and twenty brass,
and thirty-three more may be mounted. Ona rock to the northward
of the town is a battery of ten guns, and on the main land, to the
southward, one of sixteen; another of ten guns is now building, and
on the island are five little forts of five guns each. ‘The Moors
consider Mogadore as a strong place, though some people think that
all the batteries being of stone is a great disadvantage. Many of
the guns, all of which are about eighteen-pounder cannon, are yet
unprovided with carriages ; but the town being a place much esteemed
by the Emperor, he is doing everything in his power to strengthen
and improve it. The number of guns actually mounted is one
hundred and eighteen or one hundred and nineteen.
Saria.—This town is situated on the side of a hill, about two
miles from the southerly point of Cape Cantin. It was once a place
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 705
of importance, but it is now decaying very fast, and at present the
inhabitants are interdicted from all foreign trade. The anchoring
ground is very good, in water which varies in depth from twenty-five
to forty fathoms, but there is little shelter, (indeed, almost none ;)
and if it blows hard, as it sometimes does in winter, ships must put
out to sea for security. ‘The principal fortification is founded ona
rock, and capable of mounting a great number of cannon. ‘There
are three iron and five brass guns mounted, of about eighteen pound
shot ; the brass guns were made at Constantinople, and ten or twelve
small guns lie unmounted. It is a place of little strength as it now
stands, and is reduced from four thousand houses, which it is said to
have contained, to about eight hundred.
Masaaan was one of the strongest places in Barbary, when in the
hands of the Portuguese, about eighteen years ago. ‘The Emperor,
learning that orders were come from Lisbon that the town should be
evacuated, and the fortifications destroyed, marched with a consid-
erable army and train of artillery, and, while the inhabitants were
executing the instructions from their Court, bombarded the place, so
that, between the two parties, it was left in a state of desolation.
Of fifteen hundred houses, it retains about four hundred of the
meanest, that were most easily repaired. ‘The ruins, however, show
that it was a place of consequence. Ships of any draught of water
may lie at some distance from the town, the soundings being gradual,
and the anchoring ground good. But there is no shelter, and, if it
blows hard, the ships must run out to sea.
Dararseypa is at present remarkable for the great export of
wheat which has taken place there within twelve months, and which
has amounted, perhaps, to half a million of bushels. It is a poor
place, containing four or five hundred miserable huts. ‘The anchoring
ground is good in some parts, with a sandy bottom in twelve fathoms
water; in other parts the bottom is stony and rocky, and in winter 1s
dangerous.
Ragar is built on the banks of the Buragrag, where that river
enters the sea, and divides it from Salee, which is on the opposite
shore, at about a mile distance. Rabat contains about twenty-five
hundred houses, and is one of the best looking towns I have seen in
Barbary. The entrance into the river is much obstructed by a bank
of said which runs across the mouth of it, and which is constantly
shifting. At ordinary tides, vessels drawing eight feet water may.
Vou. Il.—45
706 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
pass, and, at spring tides, those of twelve; but sometimes loaded
vessels in the river are obliged to remain three or four months for a
passage out, which they can only have by the shifting of the sands,
There are three forts at this place; one, on a point which commands
the entrance of the river, of ten guns; and two on the sea-shore, one
of which is of eight and the other intended for sixteen guns, of which
three only are mounted. ‘There is also a castle or fort, without guns,
upon the hill on which the town is built.
SALEE is built on an eminence on a point of Buragrag. At its
entrance into the ocean, opposite to Rabat, it is defended towards
the sea by a battery of eight pieces of cannon, and is surrounded by
a double wall. ‘The streets are narrow and dirty, and the houses
mean; the number being about twenty-five hundred. As the navi-
gation is in common with Rabat, what has been said in the last
article need not be repeated. 'This place, which has been long
famous for its depredations against the Christians, seems to be
declining fast; but the same observations were made on it some
‘centuries ago.
Mamora is situated on a high rock, on the southern side of the
river Cebu, a mile above its entrance into the sea, and where the
river is about half a mile broad. It was formerly a place of consid-
erable importance, but is now in the last stage of desolation. ‘There
are the remains of two fortifications almost entire, and which seem
to be built since the town has been destroyed. One of them is near
the sea-shore, and on the declivity of a rock; onee mounted twelve
guns, and at present has three of brass and one of iron mounted.
The other fort stands higher up, was once of the same strength with
the former, but is now without guns. The remains of the walls,
ditches, and defences show that this was once deemed a place of
consequence, though a bar runs across the mouth of the river that
prevents the entrance of large vessels, as the Portuguese experienced
in an expedition which they made against it in the year 1515.
Laracua.—lIt is a strong place, but not of considerable extent,
situated on the top and declivity of a hill facing the port where the
ships lie. , It is a barred harbor, with a narrow channel suflicient for
one vessel to pass; and ships bound in must keep the shore, as a
seaman would term it, close on board on the starboard hand. At
conmumon tides there are twelve feet water on the bar, and in spring
tides depth sufficient for any vessel, which can le safe in the port,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 707.
well defended from any winds, and where sixty or eighty sail may
take the ground in soft mud without any injury. The channel is
defended by three forts; the one farthest from the town of eight
guns, the next nine, and the other three; and every vessel going
into the harbor must pass along close by these guns. On the
entrance into the harbor is a pile of batteries raised over each other
in three stories. Each battery consists of twenty guns, but the only
nes mounted are sixteen brass of about sixteen pound ball, which
suns are in the middle battery. This pile has an air of great
strength ; but part of the middle battery having sunk near two feet,
[ think the whole work must be greatly weakened by this misfortune.
On a parallel with this middle battery runs a small one of three
suns ; on an angle, one of eleven; and below, nearly on a level
with the sea, one of nine; so that the number of batteries are nine,
and that of guns, if all were mounted, would be one hundred and
three ; but of these, perhaps fifty are wanting. There are, however,
a considerable number of guns scattered about without carriages, and,
from appearances, there seemed to be little apprehension of a neces-
sity of using any. The last attack on this place was made by the
French in 1768 or 1769, when they forced their way m boats,
under the cover of their ships, into the harbor, with a design to
destroy the shipping; but the tide going out, left them a prey to the
Moors, who never make prisoners on such occasions. I think the
French lost four hundred and thirteen men, being about one half of
their whole number, the rest remaining on board the ships; and the
Emperor ordered their heads to be sent to Morocco, where he paid
two ducats apiece for about two hundred that were preserved for
him. I saw ten or twelve Moors at Laracha who assisted in repell-
ing this invasion, and who spoke of it with great seeming pleasure.
The people supposed the French were come to possess themselves
of the country, and took up arms very generally to oppose them. A
strong citadel once commanded the harbor. It is situated on a hill,
with a ditch surrounding a part of it, but it is tumbling to ruins.
The inside of the walls contains nothing but narrow alleys, across
which a great number of low arches are turned, the use of which
I could neither learn nor conjecture, and a great many miserable
huts.
- Arzuua is a little walled town that has seen better days. The
houses, in number two or three hundred, are going fast to decay, as
7108 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
well as the fortifications. The walls have been strong, and are
encompassed with a ditch. There are three or four guns mounted.
and on a fort which lies some distance from the town, six or eight.
Over one of the gates are the arms of Spain. A reef or ledge ot
rocks runs along the coast, but it is broken so as small vessels may
pass in, and large ones may anchor on the outside in ten fathom:
water; but there is neither port nor shelter. |
Tanaier is one of the most ancient cities in Barbary; it has
undergone many revolutions, and was once a place of splendor anc
commerce, the whole country distinguishing itself from the name o:
the city.
The King of Portugal, took it in 1471, and in 1662 it wa:
delivered to Charles the Second, of England, as part of his wife’:
dowry, and it was by that monarch improved at an expense of twc
millions sterling. In 1684 it was destroyed and abandoned by the
English; the mole, where a first-rate man-of-war could ride in safety
was, with incredible labor, destroyed; the fortifications and wall:
were not only blown up, but the ruins tumbled into the harbor; in
short, in about six months the English made a considerable progress
in the destruction of the port, which has since remained in the quie’
possession of the Moors. ‘The town is placed on the right-hand
side of the entrance into the bay, on a hill, two miles from the sea.
and about five miles distant from an opposite point, on which a
battery of ten guns is placed. The form of the bay is that of the
third part of a circle, and the number of houses in the town about
eight hundred, said to be half as many as were in it when the
English had possession; at present, small vessels may come in anc
lie ashore on a soft beach, without danger, but large ones must
anchor at a distance in the bay, and, in case of blowing weather.
must put to sea for safety. The batteries here are—one almost leve
with the sea, and consisting of thirteen guns of twelve or fourteer
pound ball; the rest are on the hill, viz: one of nine brass guns 0:
about twenty-four pound shot, cast in Portugal, and three more may
be mounted; a second of twelve new iron guns of twenty-foul
pound shot, cast in England, and seven more may be mounted:
another of seven iron guns of twelve or fourteen pound shot:
exclusive of these are two little batteries of two guns each. The
battery which was situated on the top of the hill, near the castle
where the Basha resides, and which contained eighteen guns 0:
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 709
sixteen pound ball, was totally destroyed about twelve months ago
by the blowing up of the magazine where the Emperor’s powder
was stored ; all the fortifications are going to decay, and seem very
unequal to a contest of any consequence. Tangier is about seven
miles from Cape Spartel, and, consequently, may be said to be
within the straits leading to the Mediterranean.
TrTuan is situated to the eastward of Ceuta, which lies between
Tangier and that place; but, being in the hands of the Spaniards,
(as well as Melilla and Penon de Velez,) does not come under my
notice. ‘'Tetuan lies on the river Marteen, about six miles from the
Mediterranean sea, the custom-house at Marteen being about half
way between the city and the sea. Across the mouth of this river
also runs a bar on which there is only six feet water; and as there
is little tide here, the depth never exceeds eight feet, and seldom is
so much. Vessels must therefore lighten on the outside of the bar,
and can then pass up the bay and river three miles to the custom-
house, and from thence to town; no boats but small ones with fruit,
can go, owing to the shallowness of the river. The town is built
on a hill at the foot of a mountain, and has only one fort or citadel,
flanked with four towers, and mounting twenty cannon to defend it.
The houses are said to be about two thousand five hundred, and
the inhabitants, exclusive of Jews, twenty thousand ; but the estima-
tion a few years ago was double this number. No Christian is
permitted to enter the city, and, therefore, this account of it depends
on the veracity and knowledge of some Jews who visited me at my
encampment near it. On the river Marteen, within half a mile of
the Mediterranean, is a square castle, at which five guns of sixteen
pound ball are mounted. ;
From this view of the ports belonging to the Emperor, it will be
seen that none are good; that Laracha is the best. Next to which
are, I think, Salee and 'Tetuan ; but I believe the place from whence
I write might, with great abilities and industry, and at a great
expense, be made a most valuable sea-port. I think, also, that
Masagan might be made a place of great importance.
Nava rorce.—The whole naval force of this country consists of
ten frigates, carrying one hundred and seventy guns, which at present
are employed in this manner:
1 at Daralbeyda, of eighteen guns, six-pound ball.
4 sailed from Laracha for Daralbeyda, of sixteen guns, to load
com and barley for the Emperor to distribute among his subjects.
710 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
1 at Laracha, of 22 guns,
lat do of 14 do.
bat. do. . of 22. do. four-pound do.
2 gone to Constantinople, with presents of saltpetre and silver to
the Grand Seignior, of 20 guns each. :
This is the state of the Emperor’s fleet at present; and the five
frigates which are to take in grain at Daralbeyda, are those the
Commodore informed me some time ago that were to go on a cruise.
His ten half-galleys which I saw at Marteen are laid up on shore,
irrecoverably perished. He has, however, given orders for building
some galleys and half-galleys, two of which are on the stocks here.
The number of seamen employed is about seven hundred and ninety-
eight men, ‘and one thousand apprentices; and he can increase the
number as much as he pleases by ordering his Governors to put
ethers qn board his vessels. A few days ago he made a general
request to all foreign Consuls that each of their nations should send
ten seamen to improve his people in the art of navigation, promising
to pay each person who will come half as much more as he receives
in his own country, He has not any treaty of peace with Russia,
Hamburg, Dantzic, or Malta, but he wrote some days ago to the
sea-ports that he was not at hostilities with any nation whatsoever,
except the United States. The resources for increasing his navy
are not internal. At least they depend chiefly on his neighbors.
He has a good deal of small live-oak and cork wood; which last is
esteemed very good when cut in a proper time and seasoned, and the
properties of the former are well known. The prizes that are
brought in also furnish timber for the building, and are broken up
for that purpose. The rigging, sail canvas, anchors, ship chandlery,
tar, pitch, and turpentine, are furnished by Holland, England, and
Sweden; and his frigates are often repaired at Gibraltar without any
expense to him; and one returned from thence since we left
Morocco, the fitting out which cost the British seven thousand
pounds sterling. The season for cruismg is im the summer, or rather
from April to September; and the grounds to the northward as far.
as the coast of Portugal; to the westward, off the Canaries and
Wester Islands, and in the Mediterranean. His frigates are in
good order, and his seamen neither very excellent nor despicable.
Prisoners.—There are not any prisoners or Christian slaves in
the Empire of Morocco, except six or seven Spaniards, who are in
the Saharah or desert, and whom the Emperor is endeavoring to
. six-pound shot.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. wal
procure, that they may be delivered to their country. This part is
not in strict obedience to the King, though governed by his son
Abderhammon, from whom it is somewhat difficult to procure the
_release of Europeans that are cast away in those parts; and his
Majesty has no way to get them but by encouraging the southern
traders to purchase and bring them to Morocco, or to prevail on his
son to send them. And here it will be doing a piece of justice to
the Emperor, which he well deserves, to say that there is not a man
in the world who is a greater enemy to slavery than he is. He
spares neither money nor pains to redeem all who are so unfortunate
as to be cast away, whom he orders to be fed and clothed, until they
are returned to their country. The Venetian Consul told me that
the King being some time ago possessed of sixty Christians, the
Consul had a commission sent to him to redeem them, at an expense
of one thousand dollars each; but when his Majesty was applied to,
he answered that he would not sell them, but that the Grand Master
of Malta (with whom he was not at peace) having liberated some
Moors, these Christians should be delivered up as a compliment to
him. At another time his Majesty made a purchase of some
Moorish slaves, who were in the possession of the Christian Powers
on the coast of the Mediterranean, for whom he paid one hundred
and sixty thousand dollars, without showing any-regard to which of
the Barbary States they belonged, and set them all at liberty without
any condition whatever. The expense of redeeming slaves in the
days of Muley Ishmael and Muley Abdallah was about one thousand
dollars a head, or three Moors for one Christian.
Treatics.—l do not think there is any danger of the present
Emperor’s breaking any of his treaties intentionally, or in matters of
consequence. He some time ago, however, settled the duty on the
export of barley by treaty, with the Bnitish, and soon after increased
it; the English merchants at Mogadore intended representing this
matter to the Emperor, and did not doubt but it would be put to
right. He said, not long ago, that if a European vessel took on
board any of his subjects who went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and
landed them any where but in his dominions, he would go to war
with the nation to whom the vessel belonged; and on being told
that there was nothing in any of the treaties to prevent a European
vessel from doing this, he replied, if that was the case, he would not
break the peace, but it would be a peace without friendship. When
gi JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
this Emperor dies, there will probably be great contentions; and J
suppose treaties will avail little, either at sea or land, until these
contentions are adjusted.
Lanp Forces.—The grandfather of the present King raised an
army of one hundred thousand negroes, from whose descendants the
army has ever since been recruited. But these standing forces, at
different times, and for various reasons, have been reduced to the
number of fourteen thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven, four
thousand of whom are stationed at Morocco, and the remainder in
seven regiments in the different provinces. 'Their pay, including
the maintenance of a horse, is one ducat per month, ten fanegas of
wheat, fourteen of barley, and two suits of clothes annually, and
the King frequently makes distribution among their families; and
whenever he sends any of them on particular business, such as
conducting foreigners through the country, they are well paid. At
the commencement of a campaign, he generally gives them ten
ducats, and at the end of it five; and it is his inclination and
endeavor to keep them satisfied. All his male subjects are born
soldiers, and, in case of necessity, all who are able are obliged to
attend him in the field. te
I suppose the Emperor has fifty thousand horses and mules dis-
tributed through his dominions, which he recalls when he pleases,
and places at pleasure in the hands of others. ‘These are all con-
sidered as obliged to take the field at a moment’s warning; and [
have often heard, and I believe it to be true, that in a few weeks,
should an invasion from the Christians be dreaded, (the fear of which
is always accompanied by an idea that they come to take possession
of the country,) the Emperor could bring into the field two hundred
thousand men. But I doubt much whether he could equip half the
number. The strength of this country certainly lies in his land
forces, on their own ground, which would ever prove formidable in—
case of an invasion. Both regular troops and militia are extremely
expert in manceuvring on horseback, at skirmishing, at sudden
attacks, and at sudden retreats ; but I apprehend they would cut but
a bad figure in an open field against European troops. On this
subject I can only add, that when the Emperor wants soldiers, he
orders such of the Bashas to join him as he thinks proper, with the
number of men wanted. The present Emperor has not had much
occasion to call forth the strength of his country. In 1774 he went
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 713
against Melilla with eighty thousand militia, which I think was the
greatest draught he ever made.
Revenve.—The amount of this article is very fluctuating and
uncertain. It consists of the following items:
Duty on exports, which varies according to the will of the
Emperor.
Duty on imports, which is in the same state, but at present, taking
it generally, is ten per cent.
- Tax of ten per cent. on all the grain raised in the country, on the
cattle and other moveable property, which, however, is rated so
much in favor of the proprietors, that it does not produce one half
the value.
Tax on each city according to its abilities.
Tax on tobacco brought into the cities; of little consequence,
being farmed at $3,000 per annum.
Fines on the Bashas, or, rather, public officers, for offences of any
kind.
Fines for smuggling goods, which are arbitrary.
Fines imposed on towns or provinces for revolting, quarreling with
each other, or for offences committed by individuals when the offend-
ers are not discovered.
Property which falls into the hands of the Emperor, at the death
of any public officer whose account with the public is unsettled.
Proportion of prizes made at sea.
Profit on cochineal and alkermes.
Presents from foreign nations and from his own subjects.
There are a few other articles, such as coining money, &c., not
worth enumerating; nor does any knowledge of these, which I have
mentioned, enable me to write as particularly about each as I could
wish. ‘The sum of four millions of Mexican dollars is, by many,
thought a high rate to state his annual revenue at; but Mogadore
and Daralbeyda will pay, between them, one million of dollars in
duties for the last year; and I think the other places and other articles
will certainly produce three times as much, though he receives no
taxes from Tafilet, and little from Sus.
Laneuvace.—The common language spoken in the sea-ports is
the Moorish, which is a dialect of the Arabic; the difference, either
in speaking or writing, between the two being very little. A language
is spoken in the mountains and in the eastern part of the Empire,
714 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
called Berebere (or, as it is usually pronounced, the Breber) tongue,
and the European language that is the best known is the Spanish;
for all the Jews, who are very numerous, speak it. French, Italian,
and English are pretty equally understood, and rank after the Spanish.
Government.—The Government is that of absolute monarchy,
without limitation. 'The Emperor is the supreme executive magis-
trate, in whom is united all spiritual and temporal power, and his -
people hold their lives and property totally at his will and pleasure.
The life of the meanest of his subjects cannot be touched, except
i an emergency, but by his own order, or by the order of some
Basha to whom he has delegated the power of life and death—a
power he rarely places out of his own hands. Criminals from the
most distant provinces are sent to Morocco, where the King hears
the complaints against them, and as soon as he pronounces sentence
it is executed on the spot; and this is always at an audience. When
we left Morocco no execution had. taken place for four months. This
Court does not depend in any degree on the Ottoman Porte, nor any
other Power whatever; but there is a strict friendship between the
Grand Seignor and the Emperor, and as there is a possibility of a
war between the Turks and Russians, the Emperor, thinking it a
kind of common cause, being between Christians and Mussulmans,
has shown his disposition lately to aid the Grand Seignor by sending
him two twenty-gun frigates, with saltpetre and silver to a very
considerable amount. |
Reicton.—The Moors of the Empire of Morocco oration the
Mahometan religion and obedience to the precepts of the Koran;
but the Emperor holds the power of dispensing occasionally with
such as he thinks proper. Thus the exportation of corn, which is
prohibited by the Koran, is permitted by the King. With respect to
their piracies, I believe they do not proceed from any religious prin- -
ciple. It seems to be the general opinion that they took rise on the
expulsion of the Moors from Spain in the reign of Philip the Third,
when seven hundred thousand were banished from that country; that
necessity and revenge first instigated them to commit depredations on
the Europeans, and their hands were strengthened and hatred increased
by their final expulsion in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, when
seventeen thousand families joined their friends on the sea-coast of
this side of the Mediterranean. A piratical war, begun against the.
Spaniards, was extended to the other Christian Powers; and all the
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 715
é Barbary States have been enabled to support this war from the sup-
plies given them by the maritime Powers of Europe, many of which
seem contending with each other which shall enable the Moors most
to injure the trade of their neighbors.
What I have said on this article I give as the best information I
can procure ; but it is not satisfactory, and I am persuaded the origin
of these depredations is of a much older date; for early in the
seventh century, the Spaniards made a descent on the town from
which I write, to revenge the piracies committed by the people
of this country.
Caprurres.—No American vessel has been taken by the Emperor
_ but one, which was commanded by Captain Irwin, and bound from
Cadiz to Virginia. She lies on the beach at this place, and the
Emperor ordered the Basha to deliver her and the cargo tome. But
as I understand she had been insured in Spain, I did not choose to
take her under my care. ‘The Emperor has no treaty with Russia,
Germany, Hamburg, Dantzic; or Malta. But there seems to bea
cessation of hostilities with all the world. He had ordered five
frigates to be fitted for sea, and I think it more than probable they
were intended to cruise against the Americans.
Having thus answered the queries which you were pleased to
make, I shall at present conclude with the assurance of my being
always, with great respect and esteem, Xc.,
THOMAS BARCLAY.
eee
Prices of Goods in Mogadore, in June, 1786.
Wheat, 5 to 6 ounces the sal—duty, 1 Spanish milled dollar and
1 Barbary ounce per fanega.
Olive oil, 34 ounces per quintal—duty, 2 dollars 1 ounce per
quintal.
Wool, 5 ducats per quintal—duty, 2 dollars.
Elephant’s teeth, 39 ducats per quintal—duty, 4 dollars.
Beeswax, 27 ducats the great quintal of 150 pounds—duty, 15
dollars.
Gum arabic, 10 ducats—duty, 2 dollars and 1 ounce.
senegal, 14 do. do. the same.
sandrach, 64 do. do. the same.
716 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Copper, in blocks, 11 ducats—duty, 5 dollars.
Shelled almonds, 6 ducats—duty, 1 dollar and 1 ounce.
Mules for exportation, 30 to 35—duty, 10 dollars.
Red morocco skins, as in quality about 10 ounces per skin, duty
free. |
Coins.
The gold ducat 16 ounces—value, nearly 7s. 8d. sterling.
Silver ducat 10 do.—value, nearly 4s. 94d.
The ounce of 4 blandquils, a silver coin worth nearly 53d.
sterling. |
The blandquil of 24 fluces do.—value about 14d. sterling.
The fluce, a copper coin—value, about 4 of a farthing sterling.
Note.—When the ducat is mentioned in the prices of goods, the
silver ducat is understood. |
Weights.
14 Mexican dollar make an ounce.
16 ounces, or 20 dollars, a pound.
10 pounds, or 200 dollars, the small quintal.
15 pounds, or 300 dollars, the great quintal.
Measure.
The condre or cala, 24 of which make a French aune, or 13 an
English ell, nearly.
Measures for liquors, none.
ed
No. 9.
FROM THOMAS BARCLAY TO MESSRS. ADAMS AND JEFFERSON.
Tangier, September 13, 1786.
Gentlemen,
Though in a letter, written at this place, dated 10th instant, I
gave you a long answer to the questions with which you charged
me, I will now add some further particulars gn the subject of this —
country, which you will possibly be inclined to know. The
Emperor is on the most cordial and friendly footing with Spain.
The presents made him from that Court have been uncommonly
great, and among other articles lately sent were eighty thousand.
dollars in specie.
I
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. Ad
It was some time ago debated in the council at Versailles, whether
war should not be declared against Morocco for the treatment which
the Emperor gave Mr. Chinie, the French Consul, when he was last at
Morocco. ‘The fact was that the Emperor wrote to Rabat, desiring
to see the Consul at the Court; from which M. Chinie excused
himself on account of his health, which the Emperor was informed
was very good. Some time after the Consul went up to Morocco,
with a letter from M. de Castries, in answer to one which the
‘Emperor had written to the King of France; but the Emperor was
so much offended at the letter not being from the King himself, and
at Mr. Chinie for not complying with his desire to go to Morocco,
that he would not look at it, but ordered it, at the public audience,
to be tied around the Consul’s neck, and dismissed him. ‘The late
pro-Consul of France has been very successful in reconciling matters,
and the present Consul was very well received while I was in
Morocco; the Emperor, however, strongly advising him to avoid the
ways of his predecessor.
The Swedes are bound by treaty to send an Ambassador once in
two years, and the presents are considerable, and very useful to the
Emperor.
The Danes are bound by teatyat to pay an annual tribute of
twenty-five thousand dollars.
The Venetians by treaty also are Baten to pay ten thousand
chequins, being about twenty-two thousand dollars.
The presents from Holland are more considerable than those from
any of the three last mentioned Powers, but they are not stipulated.
The English pay also very high without being bound to do so by
treaty; and they enjoy .at present very little of the Emperor’s
friendship or good wishes. ‘There is not a nation on earth of which
he has so bad an opinion, and I have heard him say they neither
‘minded their treaties nor their promises. It would be going into too
long a detail to mention all the particulars that gave rise to these
prejudices, which may very possibly end in a war.
The Emperor of Morocco has no treaty with the Emperor of
Germany, and has given notice to the Imperial Consul at Cadiz that,
unless the Emperor of Germany sends him three frigates, he will
cruise against his vessels.
With the Portuguese he is very friendly ; their men-of-war come
into this bay to get supplies of provisions and other necessaries,
718 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY-_
during their cruises against the Algerines; and a man-of-war of
sixty-four guns, which is lying at anchor here for that purpose,
will sail in a few days to join the Portuguese squadron of six vessels
that are now in the Mediterranean, to prevent the Algerine cruisers
from getting into the Atlantic. By the treaty between Portugal and
Morocco, the Emperor is not to allow his vessels to cruize to the
northward of Cape Finisterre.
I have already mentioned the situation of the Emperor with the
Porte; with Tunis and Tripoli he is on very good terms, but a
coolness has subsisted between him and the Dey of Algiers for some
time; which began, I believe, upon the Emperor’s having made
peace with Spain without communicating with the Dey. Iam told,
however, that some late friendly overtures have been made from
Algiers, which will probably reinstate the countries in their old
situation.
The dominions of the Emperor consist of the kingdoms of Fez,
Morocco, Tafilet, and Sus; and his influence extends a great way
into the desert. ez and Morocco are in many parts very fertile in
corn, fruit, and oil; and any quantity of wine might be raised, but
the use of it is prohibited. The last harvest has produced an
increase of forty for one, (an assertion which, from examination, I
know to be true,) and. thirty for one is not deemed extraordinary.
The resources of the country are great, but the cultivation of those
resources slovenly toad egree. All the arts and sciences are buried in
oblivion ; and it appears almost impossible that these are descendants
of the people who conquered Spain, ruled it for seven hundred years,
and left some very striking memorials behind them in that country.
The streets and houses in the city of Morocco are despicable beyond
belief, with here and there the remains of something that, with the
mosques, shows the city was once of more consequence. ‘There are
schools in all the towns, where reading and writing are taught, and —
1 some places arithmetic, and, very rarely, a little astronomy ; and
these branches comprehend the learning of the Moors. The people.
seem to be warlike, fierce, avaricious, and contemners of the
Christians. The Arabs, who dwell in tents, despise the inhabitants.
of the cities, but unite with them in their attachment to the sovereign.
The Emperor is sixty-six years of age, according to the Mahometan
reckoning, which is about sixty-four of our years. He is of a middle
Stature, inclining to fat, and has a remarkable cast in his right eye,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 7419
which looks blacker than the other. His complexion is rather dark,
owing to a small mixture of the negro blood in him. He possessed,
in his early years, all the fierceness of his ancestors, but, being
intrusted by his father in public matters, he turned his thoughts on
the art of government, and, during his father’s lifetime, obtained
absolute dominion, not only over the country, but over his father,
who intrusted every thing to his management, approving even of
those acts which he did contrary to his instructions; and the most
perfect friendship always subsisted between them. It is about
twenty-eight years since he ascended the throne, without a com-
petitor; smcee which he has taken the utmost pains to conquer those
habits and prejudices in which he was educated. One of his people,
not long ago, making a complaint of some ill treatment he had
received, and not meeting such redress as he expected, broke out
Into some language that the Emperor was not accustomed to hear;
his Majesty, with great temper, said, “Had you spoken in such
terms to my father or grandfather, what do you think would have
been the consequence?” ‘The King is fond of accumulating wealth,
and distributing it. ‘The sums he sends to Mecca are so extraordi-
nary, that they occasion conjectures that he may possibly retire
there one day himself. He is religious, and an observer of forms;
but this did not hinder him, on a late journey from Salee to
Morocco, to strike out of the direct road, and go to a saint’s house,
where a number of villains (about three hundred) had taken sanctuary,
every one of whom he ordered to be cut in pieces in his presence.
He is a just man, according to his idea of justice, of great personal
courage, liberal to a degree, a lover of his people, stern, rigid in
distributing justice, and, though it is customary for those people who
can bring presents never to apply to him without them, yet the
orest Moor in his dominions, by placing himself under a flag,
which is erected every day in the court where the public audiences
are given, has a right to be heard by the Emperor in preference to
any Ambassador from the first kmg upon earth, and to prefer his
complaint against any subject, be his rank what it may. His
families, which are in Morocco, Mequinez, and Tafilet, consist of
four Queens ;
Forty women, who are not married, but who are attended in the
same manner as if they were Queens;
Two hundred and forty-three women of inferior rank; and these
are attended by eight hundred and fifty-eight females, who are shut
720 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
up in the seraglios; and the number of eunuchs is great. The last
Queen, whom he married two years ago, is now about fourteen or
fifteen years of age, and his children are sixteen sons and seven
daughtersyg |
I shall» conclude this letter with a short account of the two audi-
ences I had. ‘The first was a public one, at which there were about
one thousand people present. The Emperor came out on horseback,
and we were presented by the Basha of Morocco. After inquiring
what kind of a journey we had, and whether we came in a frigate,
he asked the situation of America with respect to Great Britain, and
the cause of our separation. He then questioned me concerning the
number of American troops during the war and since the peace, of
religion, of the white inhabitants, and of the Indians; of the latitudes
of the United States, and remarked that no person had sailed farther
than the 80th degree of north: latitude, and inquired whether our
country produced timber fit for the construction of vessels. He then
asked for the letters, and ordering the one from the King of Spain to
be opened, he examined it, and said he knew the writing very well.
He then looked at an alarm watch, which happened to strike, and
asked several questions about it. He concluded by saying: “Send
your ships and trade with us. I will do everything you can desire ;”
at which he looked round to his great officers and people, who all
cried out, ‘God preserve the life of our master.” He then ordered
his gardens to be shown to us, and the American boy to be sent to
me. |
The second audience was in the garden, when the King was again
on horseback; and as soon as we bowed to him he cried, Bona!
Bona! and began to complain of the treatment he had received from
the English. He examined a watch which was among the presents,
and an atlas, with which he seemed very well acquainted, pointing
out to me different parts of the world, and naming them, though he
could not read the names as they were printed. He asked to see the
map of the United States, which was among the others; and, after
examining it, called for a pen and paper, and wrote down the latitudes
to which his vessels had sailed ; after which he put down the latitudes
of the coast of America, desirmg to know which were the best ports,
and said he would probably send a vessel there. I presented him
with a book containing the constitutions of America and other public
papers; and one of the interpreters told him it also contained the
reasons which induced the Americans to go to war with Great
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 721
Britain. ‘Let these reasons,” said he, (looking over the book,) «be
translated into Arabic, and sent to me as soon as possible.” After
some talk about tobacco, the day of the month, and the sun’s decli-
nation, and saying he would order a bag of herbs of great and peculiar
qualities to be sent to me, I informed him that I would appoint Mr.
Francis Chiappi, of Morocco, as an agent to act in behalf of any
American citizen who, coming to this country, may have occasion
for his service, or to transmit to his Majesty, through Mr. ‘Tahar
Fennish, any letters or papers from the Congress of the United States,
until the farther pleasure of Congress shall be known.
In this account of the audiences I have omitted some particulars
which were of no consequence; and what I have related serves only
to show the turn of thinking which the Emperor possesses, and the
objects that engross his attention.
IT have the honor to be, &c., THOMAS BARCLAY.
FROM THOMAS BARCLAY TO MESSRS. ADAMS AND JEFFERSON.
Ceuta, September 18, 1786.
Gentlemen,
As you will probably wish to know the particulars of the negotia-
tions of the treaty with the Emperor, and as the perusal will not
take up a great deal of time, I shall lay them before you.
After the first audience was over, Mr. 'Tahar Fennish, in whose
hands the negotiation was placed, came from the Emperor and
informed me that his Majesty had read the translation of the letters ;
that he had made a treaty with Spain very favorable to that country ;
that he would write to his Catholic Majesty to give a copy of that
treaty, from which one with the United States might be formed ; and
that he would either request the King of Spain to order it to be
signed at Madrid, or it might be sent to Morocco for signature by
express. I replied that I had taken a long journey in order to make
this treaty, and that I would be very sorry to return until it was
finished. If Mr. Fennish would give a copy of the Spanish articles,
I would point out such as would be necessary for us, and I doubted
not but we would soon agree upon them.
Mr. Fennish said that some of the papers were at Mequinez, and
some at Fez, and that it would be impossible to collect them so as to
Vou. I1.—46
Wt
722 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
make them useful. on this occasion. I answered, that if permission
was given to me, I would lay before the Emperor, through him, the
heads of such a treaty as I imagined would be perfeetly agreeable to
both countries ; that if any objections should appear, we would talk
them over, and, after due consideration, do what would seem right.
To this Mr. Fennish. agreed, promising his best offices to forward
and settle everything on good and reasonable terms. ‘The next day
but one, the heads of the treaty, in Arabic, were put into the hands
of Mr. Fennish, who showed them to the Effendi, by whom. seven of
the articles were objected to as highly unreasonable. . They were,
however, read before his Majesty and some of the principal officers
{ the Court, when all the articles, except four, were admitted.
witho out hesitation, and the next morning I received a message from
one of the persons who was present at reading, with compliments
upon the progress: I had made, and taking to himself entirely the
merit of removing three of the objections. :
When the proposition for an exchange of prisoners was read, the
King said, “This is not right. Why are the Christian Powers so
averse to go to war with me? It is the fear of their subjects falling
into slavery.”’ ‘I’o which the King’s. preacher replied, ‘“'These
people deserve more indulgence from you than many others with
whom you are in alliance; they are nearer our religion, and our
prophet mentions those who possess their manner of worship. with
respect.” Upon which the Emperor said, « Let ‘this article be
admitted.” The next day I put the treaty at full length into the
hands of the interpreter, to get it translated into Arabic; and in a
few days, a rough draught in Arabic, formed from my draught, but
much curtailed, was delivered to me by the Talbe, who had drawn
it up by his Majesty’s instructions, and who, though he had altered it
in the form, preserved the. substance. I caused. this draught to be.
translated into English by one person, and into the French by
another, and agreed to receive the treaty as it then stood; and I was
the. more anxious not to differ upon points of form vases because I
knew the Effendi, who is the chief officer at Court, wanted to
embarrass me, and to draw the affair into a length of time, and to
it. into his own hands; and. this disposition had appeared on
various occasions, indeed, on all that offered.
In the opening of the affair I was asked by the interpreter what I
‘had. to offer, on the side of the United States, by way. of presents in
‘Cy,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 723
future, or by way of tribute; to which I replied, (supposing the
question might come from Mr. Fennish, on the part of the Emperor,)
mm I had to offer to his ira the sharew of the ety States,
terms. ,But She any edeapeientts for facats presents or tributes
were necessary, | must return without any treaty. I took care that
those sentiments should be conveyed to Mr. Fennish, and nothing
was afterwards said about it, nora hint dropped that anything was
expected. While the last draught of the treaty was making, I was
told it would be proper that the delivery to me, in behalf of the
United States, should be inserted ; to which I very readily acquiesced,
and wrote ona piece of paper what I wished should be added.
When the treaty was finally put into my hands, sealed by the King,
and not till then, did I see or suspect in what manner that insertion
is made, and which I wish with all my heart was extinguished—at
least one of the two.
Mr. Fennish being confined to his chamber, our papers fell into
the hands of the Effendi, who, notwithstanding the Emperor had
ordered them to be delivered, detained them under various pretences,
but at length (without ever coming to an open quarrel) he sent them.
When, on examination, we found the Talbe had omitted a matter of
some consequence in one of the articles, the rectifying of which, and
the getting the declaration made by Mr. Fennish by order of the
King, took up a day or two. I was asked to sign an acceptation of
the articles on the part of the United States; but as the treaty was
not drawn up in the form expected, I excused myself, (without,
however, giving any offence,) referring Mr. Fennish to Congress and
the Ministers.. It is a friendly well-intended treaty, given by the
Emperor without much being demanded on his part. If it proves
satisfactory, it will be proper for you, gentlemen, to give your senti-
ments of it to Mr. Fennish, and that Congress ratify it. And here,
perhaps, it may not be unnecessary to say that Mr. Fennish, through=
out the whole, as far as I can judge, has acted with the utmost
candor and veracity, and I thought myself very happy in having
been put into his hands. «
When the business was over, the Emperor sent a message to me
by Mr. Fennish desiring to know whether I had anything to ‘ole and
(to repeat the words in which it was delivered) if I had, not to be
ashamed or backward in doing it. I was’ prepared this compli
al
124 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
ment before I left Spain, and was advised to request a permission to
export twenty thousand fanegas of wheat without duty, by which I
should probably gain as many dollars; and, with great truth, I assure
you that I am persuaded it would have been immediately granted ;
but I do not choose to end an embassy, begun avowedly on disinter-
ested principles, by making such a request, especially as 1 was
informed he would look on the United States as under some obliga-
tions for such an indulgence shown their servant; and as the
professions of an inclination to give a mark of his approbation of the
transactions were repeated, I accepted them, and pointed out the
manner in which he might show the friendly disposition he had
expressed. This was by his giving letters to Constantinople, Tunis,
Tripoli, and Algiers, recommending to these several States to enter
into an alliance with the United States, and by advising them to
receive in the most friendly manner such agents and propositions as
should be sent them from America. The Emperor immediately
came into these views, and Mr. Fennish desired that I would draw
up the form of a letter such as I wished should be written; which I
did; and the indisposition of this gentleman was the reason given
why I did not get them at Morocco. I wrote twice to the Emperor,
and. waited at Tangier for an answer, which I received from Mr.
Fennish, saying the letters were not prepared; and at present I shall
add no more than that the Emperor is perfectly well informed that I
had no orders to ask such letters, and that, if there is anything wrong
in having done it, it is entirely an act of my own. The treaty
having been completed, his Majesty gave a written paper, not only
describing our route, but the time we should remain at the principal —
towns. We came to this place to avoid a quarantine in Spain, and
have been detained by some tempestuous weather. The commandant
of the marine at St. Roque hearing we were at Tangier, and at a loss
how to reach Spain without performing a quarantine, sent a vessel
for us, directing the commander to attend us wherever we should
choose. |
I think it probable that you will not judge it necessary for me to
go up the Mediterranean, as Mr. Lamb, I hear, has returned to
Algiers—a circumstance that will make me very happy ; for though
I was not backward in offering my services, I was influenced only
by the necessity I thought there was of doing something. Therefore,
if I do not receive your decided orders at Cadiz to pursue ‘these
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 7125
African objects, I will embrace the first opportunity of embarking
from Spain for America.
I beg leave to assure you of my being, with every sentiment of
esteem and respect, &c.,
THOMAS BARCLAY.
ee
No. 11.
I, the underwritten, ‘Thomas Barclay, agent for the United States
of America at Morocco, having received from his Imperial Majesty
a treaty of peace and commerce between his Majesty and the said
United States, dated on the first day of the Ramadan, in the present
year of the Hegira one thousand two hundred; and thinking it
necessary that an agent residing at Morocco should be appointed, to
take proper care of all matters relative to such of the citizens of
America as may possibly arrive in any part of the Empire of Morocco,
and shall have occasion to apply for aid or assistance to such agent,
as also that a fit and proper channel may be formed whereby all
public papers relative to America may be transmitted to his Majesty,
until the will and pleasure of Congress be known: I do hereby, with
the consent and approbation of his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of
Morocco, constitute and appoint Mr. Francis Chiappi, of the city of
Morocco, agent for the United States, until the pleasure of the hon-
orable the Congress of the United States touching this matter shall
be further known.
In testimony whereof I hereunto put my hand and seal, dated
Morocco, the fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord 1786.
THOMAS BARCLAY.
The same to Joseph Chiappi, who is Consul for Genoa and Vice
Consul for Venice, constituting him agent at Mogadore.
The same to Girolamo Chiappt, who is Consul for Venice and
Vice Consul for Genoa, constituting him agent at Tangier.
O
REPORT OF SECRETARY JAY ON THE TREATY WITH MOROCCO.
Office for Foreign Affairs, May 1, 1787.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, to whom was referred the treaty lately concluded with the
Emperor of Morocco, reports: .
726 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
That it will, in his opinion, be proper for Congress to ratify the
said treaty in the manner and form following, viz:
The United States of America in Congress assembled to all who
shall see these presents, greeting. :
Whereas the United States of America in Congress assembled, by
their commission bearing date the 12th day of May, 1784, thought
proper to constitute John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and ‘Thomas
Jefferson, their Ministers Plenipotentiary, giving to them, or a majority
of them, full power to confer, treat, and negotiate with the Ambas-
sador, Minister, or Commissioner of his Majesty the Emperor of
Morocco, concerning a treaty of amity and commerce, to make and
receive propositions for such treaty, and to conclude and sign the
same, transmitting it to the United ‘States in Congress assembled for
their final ratification; and by one other commission, bearing date
the 11th day of March, 1785, did further empower the said Ministers
Plenipotentiary, or a majority of them, by writing, under their hands
and seals, to appoint such agent in the said business as they might
think proper, with authority, under the directions and instructions of
the said Ministers, to commence and prosecute the said negotiations
and conferences for the said treaty, provided that the said treaty should
be signed by the said Ministers: And whereas the said John Adams
and Thomas Jefferson, two of the said Ministers Plenipotentiary,
(the said Benjamin Franklin being absent,) by writing, under the
hand and seal of the said John Adams, at London, October the 5th,
1785, and of the said Thomas Jefferson, at Paris, October the 11th,
of the same year, did appoint Thomas Barclay agent in the business
aforesaid, giving him the powers therein which, by the said second
commission, they were authorized to give; and the said Thomas
Barclay, in pursuance thereof, hath arranged articles for a treaty of
amity and commerce between the United States of America and his
Majesty the Emperor of Morocco, which articles, written in the
Arabic language, confirmed by his said Majesty the Emperor of
Morocco, and sealed with his royal seal, being translated into the
language of the said United States of America, together with the
attestations thereunto annexed, are in the following words, to wit :*
And whereas the said John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, Minis-
ters Plenipotentiary aforesaid, by writing, under their respective
hands and seals, duly made and executed by the said John Adams
*For the treaty and additional article see Journals of Congress, pp. 756 et seq.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 927
on the 25th January, 1787, and by the said Thomas Jefferson on the
Ist day of January, 1787, did approve and conclude the said treaty,
and every article and clause therein contained, reserving the same,
nevertheless, to the United States in Congress assembled for their
final ratification.
Now, be it known that we, the said United States of America in
Congress assembled, have accepted, approved, ratified, and confirmed,
and by these presents do accept, approve, ratify, and confirm the said
treaty, and every article and clause thereof.
In testimony whereof, we have caused our seal to be hereunto
affixed. Witness his Excellency Arthur St. Clair, our President, at
the city of New York, this day of May, in the year of our
Lord 1787, and in the eleventh year of our sovereignty and inde-
pendence.
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
JOHN JAY.
REPORT OF SECRETARY JAY ON PAPERS ACCOMPANYING TREATY.
é
Office for Foreign Affairs, July 27, 1787.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, to whom were referred the papers which accompanied the
treaty with Morocco, reports:
That one of these papers is a letter from the Emperor of Morocco ;
and that, as Congress has been pleased to ratify the treaty made with
him, it will, in his opinion, be proper to return the following answer
to it:
«Great and magnanimous Friend,
«We have received the letter which your Majesty did us the honor
to write, dated the first of the month of Ramadan, 1200.
“We have likewise received the treaty concluded in our behalf
‘with your Majesty; and we have expressed our perfect approbation
of it by ratifying and publishing it, and ordering it to be faithfully
observed and fulfilled by all our citizens.
«It gives us great pleasure to be on terms of peace and amity with
so illustrious a Sovereign, and we flatter ourselves that the commerce
of these distant regions with your Majesty’s dominions will oradually
728 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
become. more and more beneficial to both, especially after our
navigation shall cease to be interrupted by the unprovoked hostilities
of the neighboring States in Africa. |
“Your Majesty’s ‘early and friendly attention to these new and
rising States, the obliging manner in which you received and treated
our negotiator, Thomas Barclay, and the liberal and disinterested
terms on which your Majesty entered into treaty with us, are strong
and shining proofs of a great mind—proofs which will remain
recorded in our annals, and which will always render your Majesty’s
name respected and glorious in these western countries.
“These distinguished marks of your Majesty’s good-will towards
us inspire us with perfect confidence in your friendship, and induce
us to request your favorable interposition to incline Algiers, Tunis,
and ‘Tripoli, to peace with us on such terms as may consist with our
honor, and with the circumstances of our new and distant States.
“Should your Majesty’s mediation be the means of putting the
United States at peace with their only remaining enemies, it would
be an event so glorious and memorable, that your Majesty’s reign
would thence derive additional lustre, and your name not only
become more and more dear to our citizens, but more and more
celebrated in our histories.
“We, your Majesty’s friends, pray God to bless you.
‘Done by the United States in Congress assembled, at the city of
New York, the ——— day of ———, in the year of our Lord
1787.
“ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, President.”
Your Secretary further reports that from the paper No. 5,* and
from Mr. Barclay’s letter of 15th November, 1786, as well as from
various other documents, it appears that his Catholic Majesty has, in
the most friendly and effectual manner, interposed his good offices in
behalf of the United States with the Emperor of Morocco; and that
to this interposition the success of their negotiations with his Imperial
Majesty is, in a great degree, to be ascribed,
Therefore, he thinks it would be proper to
“Resolve, That Congress entertain a high sense of the friendship
‘which his Catholic Majesty has manifested for the United States on
‘various occasions, and particularly in the decided, kind, and effectual
‘manner in which he facilitated and promoted their negotiations for a
* Translation of a letter from the Emperor to the King of Spain.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 729
‘treaty of peace and commerce with his Imperial Majesty of Morocco,
‘as well by writing directly to the Emperor in their favor, as by
‘affording such collateral countenance and aid as circumstances
‘rendered expedient, and his desire of promoting the success of the
‘negotiation prompted.
| “Resolved, That the thanks of the United States are justly due to
‘his Catholic Majesty. That they be conveyed in a letter from
‘Congress, expressing their acknowledgments in the most explicit
‘terms ; and assuring his Majesty of their earnest desire to cultivate
‘his friendship by such attentions as occasions may put in their
‘power, and as may best evince the high respect, esteem, and
‘attachment with which such repeated marks of his friendship have
‘impressed them.”
Letter to his Catholic Majesty.
“Great and beloved Friend,
‘Various circumstances having long delayed our receiving and
ratifying the treaty concluded in our behalf with the Emperor of
Morocco, we take the earliest opportunity of manifesting to your
Majesty the high and grateful sense we entertain of that kind,
decided, and effectual interposition of your Majesty with the Emperor
in our favor, to which we are so greatly indebted for the. successful
issue of our negotiations with him. Permit us, therefore, to present
to your Majesty our sincere and unanimous thanks for that important
mark of your friendship, as well,as for the many other friendly
offices with which your Majesty has, on various occasions, been
pleased to favor us, and to assure you of our earnest desire to
embrace every opportunity of evincing the respect and attachment
with which your Majesty’s kind attentions to the United States have
impressed us.
“We pray God to bestow the best blessings on your Majesty,
your family, and people.
‘Done by the United States of America in Congress assembled, at
the city of New York, the day of ——— in the year of
our Lord 1787.
“ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, President.”
Your Secretary further reports that, from the paper Ne. 6, and
‘others, it appears that Thomas Barclay, Esquire, has, in the conduct
of the negotiation with the Emperor of Morocco, manifested a
‘degree of prudence, address, and disinterestedness, which, in the
, ™
‘730 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
opinion of your Secretary, merits the approbation of vores ; and
therefore he thinks it should be
«« Resolved, That Congress are well pleased with the conduct of
‘Thomas Barclay, Esquire, in the course of the negotiations on the
‘part of the United States with his Imperial Majesty of Morocco, as
‘detailed and represented in his and other letters and papers trans-
‘mitted to them.”
Your Secretary further reports that, in his opinion, copies of the
paper No. 6, which contains the signals agreed upon between the
United States and Morocco, by which their respective vessels are to
be known to each other at sea, should be sent by your Secretary to
the Executives of the different States, to the end that copies may be
given to such American masters of vessels as may thence make
voyages, in the course of which they may expect to meet with
cruisers from Morocco.
Your Secretary further reports, that the paper marked No. 8
contains some interesting information respecting the present state of
Morocco, for which Mr. Barclay deserves credit; but he thinks it
should not, at present, be published, lest those who may wish to
embroil us with the Emperor should make an ill-natured use of it.
Similar observations are, in the opinion of your Secretary, appli-
cable to the paper marked No. 9, which contains various matters of
information.
‘The paper No. 10 contains divers particulars relative to the
negotiation, which your Secretary also thinks had better not be |
published.
The paper No. 11 contains Mr. Barclay’s commission to Don
Francisco Chiappi, at Morocco, constituting him the American agent
at that place until the will and pleasure of Congress shall be known.
It also contains the names of other agents, to whom he gave similar
commissions for Mogadore and ‘Tangier. :
Your Secretary thinks these commissions should be confirmed, and
therefore that it should be
“« Resolved, That Congress approve of the appointment made in
‘their behalf by Thomas Barclay, Esq., with the approbation of his
‘Imperial Majesty of Morocco, of Don Francisco Chiappi to be
‘the agent at Morocco ; of Don Joseph Chiappi to be their agent at
‘Mogadore; and of Biss Girolamo Chiappi to be their agent at Tan
‘gier; and that they respectively hold the said places during the
‘ pleasure of Congress.”
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 731
In the opinion of your Secretary, it will be expedient to transmit
the letter for his Imperial Majesty to Mr. Jefferson, to be by him
forwarded to Don Francisco Chiappi at Morocco, with instructions
to present it to the Emperor.
Your Secretary prefers sending it by way of France, because he
thinks it might thence be conveyed with the Minister’s despatches to
their Consul with more care and safety than it could be sent with
from London; and he thinks it most proper that it should pass through
the hands of one of the Ministers, under whose direction the nego-
tiation with the Emperor had been placed.
In his opinion it would also be proper to instruct their Ministers to
maintain a regular correspondence with the said agents, in order that
they and Congress may be seasonably informed of every event and
occurrence at the Court of Morocco that may affect the interest of
the United States.
It appears from the paper No. 10, that Tahar Fennish was a
friendly and an important man in the conduct of the negotiation ;
and that the Emperor’s consent to a material article in the treaty
was owing to a friendly observation made by his preacher.
In the opinion of your Secretary, it is not only right in itself, but
the most certain way to confirm and increase friends, to acknowledge
and reward acts of friendship. He therefore thinks it might be well
for him to write a letter to Tahar Fennish, letting him know that
Congress have been informed of his attentions to the Envoy, and
that they are exceedingly pleased with the probity, candor, and
liberality which distinguished his conduct on that occasion. It might
not, perhaps, be proper to advert too pointedly to his friendship for
the United States, lest, in case accidents should happen to the letter,
it might afford a handle against him to his enemies at that Court, for
all influential men have enemies, A compliment might also be paid
in the same letter to the liberality and benevolence of the Emperor’s
preacher. Your Secretary regrets that the finances of the United
States will not admit of their making a present to Mr. Fennish,
especially as he well deserves it, and as he resides at a Court where
sine donis, friget amicitia. But although a present to him might not
be a great object, yet the precedent would excite expectations in
others, and in that way open a door to inconvenient expenses.
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
: JOHN JAY.
732 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY. ~
. FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, J. anuary 27,1787.
Sir,
I, last night, received from Lord Caermarthen a note of yesterday,
a copy of which is enclosed, with a memorial to the Lords of the
Treasury, a copy of which is enclosed, relative to sixteen Chinese.
seamen.
There is a practice beginning to be talked of, if not practised, for.
British merchants to procure some American merchant to metamor-
phose a British into an American bottom, to trade to the East Indies.
This practice appears to me to be infamous and despicable, and to
merit the immediate consideration of Congress. Of the particular
case I know nothing, but Congress can have full information.
I am, dear sir, &c., | JOHN ADAMS.
FROM LORD CAERMARTHEN TO JOHN ADAMS.
Whitehall, January 26, 1787.
Lord Carrmarruen presents his compliments to Mr. Adams, and
has the honor to send him the enclosed memorial addressed to the
Lords of the 'Treasury, and which he has received from their Lordships,
as the contents of it appeared to them proper to be referred to the
consideration of the Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States
of America. Lord Caermarthen is persuaded that Mr. Adams will
take such steps for the relief of the Chinese seamen, who have been
brought to Europe in an American vessel, as he shall judge neces-
sary, in order to convey them back to their native country.
PETITION OF JOHN HALES, RELATIVE TO THE EAST INDIA SEAMEN.
January 31, 1787.
To the Right Honorable the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty’s
Treasury.
The humble petition of John Hales, of the hamlet of Mile-End Old
Town, in the parish of St. Dunstan, Stepney, victualler, most
respectfully showeth :
That the house of your petitioner, and his predecessor, Lysol!
Coleman, situate as aforesaid, hath for many years been accustomed
to receive and provide for such East India seamen as the honorable
te
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. Tes
East India Company of England’s ships have brought to England,
until the season has arrived for their return.
That, about thirteen weeks since, he received eleven Chinese
seamen and four Lascars from the owners of the Lord McCartney,
(these lately arrived from China,) with orders to provide for them
until the ships going to India were ready to receive them.
That, on the 29th, 30th, and 31st of December last, sixteen
Chinese seamen came to their countrymen at his said house, all of
whom paid a week’s board beforehand.
That the said sixteen men informed your memorialist they came
from India in the Hyder, or Hydrea, Captain Clarke, belonging to
the United States of America, to Ostend, who discharged them
there; which caused them to take passage to London, in hopes of
obtaining a passage to their own country.
That their money being all expended, and not having any lawful
means of obtaining any for their necessary support, and of returning
to their native country, your memorialist has applied on their behalf
to the honorable East India Company, who will not have any thing
to do with them; as also to Mr. Adams, the American Ambassador,
who likewise refuses to do any thing for them.
_ That, in consequence of such refusals, your memorialist applied
to the right honorable the Lord Mayor on behalf of the said sixteen
men, who referred him to the overseers of the poor of the said hamlet of
Mile-End Old 'Town, who likewise refuse to provide for them; and as
the men are not very orderly and regular, your memorialist submits to
your Lordships the very great nuisance and injury the public would
sustain from their being turned loose upon them, and into the street.
Your memorialist, therefore, humbly prays your Lordships will
be pleased to take the hardness of their case into your Lordships’ ©
consideration, and grant such orders for the relief of the said sixteen
Chinese seamen as your Lordships’ wisdom shall seem meet and be
judged expedient; and: your memorialist, as in duty bound, will ever
pray, &c., &c., &e.
JOHN HALES.
O
REPORT OF SECRETARY JAY ON PRECEDING LETTERS.
Office for Foreign Affairs, July 31, 1787.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
_ Affairs, to whom was referred a letter of 27th January last, from the
honorable Mr. Adams, with the papers referred to in it, reports;
ee.
734 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
That this letter calls the attention of Congress to two objects:
the first of which is the case of sixteen Chinese seamen, who were
then in London in a distressed condition, and who said they had
come from India in the Hyder, or Hydrea, Captain Clarke, belonging
to the United States, to Ostend, where he discharged them; the
second is, “a practice then beginning to be talked of, if not
“practised, for British merchants to metamorphose a British mto an
‘American bottom, to trade to the East Indies.”
Whether it be right or wrong for an American vessel to discharge
foreign seamen at this or that port, must at present depend on the
agreement made with them when shipped; so that, without a
knowledge of the agreement in the present case, the propriety of
discharging these Chinese seamen at Ostend cannot be decided,
especially as no complaint appears to have been made by them of
their having been irregularly discharged. In the opinion of your
Secretary, Congress cannot take any particular notice of this case.
As to the fraudulent practice mentioned. in the second case, it
seems doubtful whether it does really exist, or whether it is only
talked of; and, therefore, in his opinion, the particular attention of
Congress is not due to it. It is, however, most certain, that the
trade of the United States to Ad as well as to other parts of the
world, should be subject to certam general regulations; but, at
present, Congress cannot ordain such regulations and cause them to:
be observed; nor, while lawful requisitions remain neglected, is
there much reason to expect that recommendation would prove useful
or proper. | |
They who trade to distant nations may often find it convenient to
employ seamen of the country, who should be encouraged to ship
‘themselves by settled and. proper regulations to facilitate their speedy
and easy return to their own country; but as it is not in the power
of ee to take effectual measures for these and similar purposes,
he thinks it best that they should not take any. ;
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
JOHN JAY.
O:
| '
a FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN Jay.
: London, February 3, 1787. |
Sir, | %
I wrote a few days since by Colonel Franks, who embarks: in the
French packet from Havre de Grace with the Morocco treaty.
¥
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 135
There is no further intelligence of the Portugal business, nor any
better prospect or more agreeable disposition in this country,
whatever artifices may be employed in America to keep up delusive
hopes. a
Parliament opened with an uncommon gloom, and has been sitting
in a mournful silence. Nobody dares oppose the French treaty, yet
nobody seems to have any confidence in it. It seems truly a forced
plant—something to appease France and amuse the people. The
revenue is found to be greatly deficient. A new loan and fresh
taxes are expected. A dead taciturnity prevails about America.
The gazettes are employed, and every coffee-house and bookseller’s
shop filled with talkers, to keep up the spirits of the people at any
expense of truth. The holding of our frontier posts is found to cost
Government more money annually than the whole trade is worth—
nay, than the whole capital employed in it.
Mr. Pitt’s plan for the session is not yet. developed. They are
skirmishing about Hastings and Rodney, who, I suppose, have
nearly all the scribblers enlisted for or against them; yet Hastings
must be acquitted, and I suppose Rodney remunerated, right or
wrong. Such is the state of this nation.
Enclosed is a copy of the convention between France and
England, which was sent me yesterday by Lord Caermarthen, and
a letter from Mr. Hales relative to the East India ship, which it is
supposed was made am American bottom, a practice which Congress
will, no doubt, judge proper to discountenance.
As the politics of Parliament shall open to view, I shall do myself
the honor to transmit you still further accounts of them. —
By Colonel Franks I had the honor to convey to Congress my
intention to return home at the expiration of my commission to this”
Court. A duplicate will go by this opportunity. A life so useless
lo the public, and so insipid to myself as. mine is in Europe, has
become a burden to me as well as to my countrymen. By the first
packet or convenient merchant ship in the spring of 1788, I shall
ambark with my family, if my life and health enough to make the
yoyage remain to me, unless Congress should see fit to recall me
sooner, which would be much more agreeable. It will be necessary
hat arrangements should be made as early as possible, and the
jleasure of Congress signified whether the Secretary of Legation is
oO return with me, or remain longer here.
With great respect and esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS,
&
736 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
FROM JOHN HALES TO JOHN ADAMS.
February 2, 1787.
Sir, .
In obedience to your Excellency, I have made further inquiry
respecting the American East India ship Hydrea, and have learned
from Mr. Robinson, agent in Gould Square, Crutched Friars, that
the owner lives upon Rhode Island, in .North America. His name
is Charles Champlin. It also appears, by the books at the Exchange
Insurance Office, that in March, 1786, Mr. James Wilkinson, of
Abchurch Lane, London, underwrit the said ship from Calcutta to
Rhode Island. |
JOHN HALES.
—0——
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, February 24, 1787.
Sir,
I do myself the honor to transmit to Congress a letter from Mr.
Harrison, with an account of disbursements for Captain Erwin and
his associates, on their return to Cadiz from their captivity in Mo-
rocco. Situated as Mr. Harrison was, he had every motive of
humanity and love of his countrymen to relieve their necessities ;
and it would be too severe, if not unjust, to leave the burden upon
him. He is a gentleman of much merit, and I beg leave to recom-
mend him and his claim to Congress.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM R. HARRISON TO JOHN ADAMS.
ie London, February 21, 1787.
Sir, :
I take the liberty of herewith’ presenting to your Excellency a
state of a claim I have against the United States for £72 12s. 8d.:
sterling. It arises from advances made by me in Spain, for the
support of Captain James Erwin and his crew, who were captured
in the American brigantine Betsey, in the month of October, 1784,
by a Barbary corsair, and carried to Morocco, being, after a captivity
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE 737
of about nine months in that country, at length liberated by the
mediation of the Spanish Ambassador, and by him delivered to me
as the only American character at Cadiz. Your Excellency, I
humbly trust, will, readily grant that I could not, consistently with
the dignity and honor of the Republic, or with the feelings of a’ good
citizen, refuse either to take charge of these unfortunate subjects, or
to pay the expenses unavoidably incurred by so doing. If, therefore,
it is a matter which comes in any degree within your Excellency’s
department, I hope you will be pleased to order my reimbursement
here, which, though, strictly speaking, nothing more than an act
of justice, I shall be ready to acknowledge, at the same time, as a
favor.
I have the honor to be, &c., R. HARRISON.
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
Office for Foreign Affairs, May 12, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I had the pleasure of writing you a few lines on the 2d of last
month; since which [ have received and communicated to Congress
your letters of 9th, 24th, and 27th January, and 3d and 24th
February last. “4
My health still continues much deranged, and I purpose, in a few
days, to make an excursion into the country for about a fortnight.
A motion has lately been made in Congress to remove to Phila-
delphia, and the party who support it persevere in pushing it from
day to day; they are not joined by a single member from either of
the Eastern States, and yet there is reason to apprehend that they
will carry their point. No other motive for this strange measure 1s
publicly assigned by them except that Philadelphia is more central
than New York. Several important affairs, which ought to have
been despatched, have given place to this unfortunate contest, so that
I can, by this conveyance, send you little of importance.
Accept my thanks for the book you were so kind as to send me..
I have read it with pleasure and profit. I do not, however, altogether
concur with you in sentiments respecting the efficiency of our great
council for national purposes, whatever powers, more or less, may be
Vou. Il.—47
738 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
given them. In my opinion, a council, so constituted, will forever
prove inadequate to the object of its institution.
With great and sincere esteem, &c., s JOHN. JAY.
P.S. A new edition of your book is printing in this city, and will
be published next week. You will herewith receive the late news-
papers.
O
FROM: JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS,
Office for Foreign Affairs, May 14, 1787.
Dear Sir,
You will receive, herewith enclosed, a copy of a letter to me from
the Honorable D. Huger, Esq., a member of Congress, dated the 2d
April last, together with the papers that were delivered to me by the
Mr. Masters mentioned in it. As that gentleman is seeking redress
in the course of judicial proceedings, the object of his application to
me doubtless is that I may so far recommend his case to your atten-
tion and patronage as that he may derive from your public character
that aid and protection which circumstances may render necessary
and proper. This I do with pleasure, being well. persuaded that
occasions of being useful to our country or to any of its. deserving
citizens, will always: be agreeable to you,
With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN. JAY.
ee) ee
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, April 10, 1787.
Dear Sir;
The public councils-of this country, as far as they regard America,
remain so exactly the same:as to afford nothing new to communicate
to Congress. The members of Parliament have been so long irritated
and tormented on that subject, that they detest to hear the name of
America mentioned; and’ the political system and national humor
seems to be neittior to speak nor thmk of it. A seemingly total
mattention and silence prevail, and will prevail for some time.
Secret schemes, however, in. abundance are concerted to plunder
us in any way they can think of, besides the regular course of their
commerce with us, which one would think rapacious enough.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 739
An honest tradesman, whose name is Carpenter, an ingenious
engraver, lately came to me from the remotest part of the city, to
give me information that an unknown Scot had applied to him to
engrave a plate for striking the paper bills of North and South
Carolina. He laid a plan to get a witness toa future interview ; but
the Scot conceived a suspicion, and would not lay open’ his design.
Colonel Smith, who attended for the purpose, desired the engraver
fo publish the fact in the newspaper, that the merchants here may be
upon their guard. Carpenter went round to all the engravers in
town, and found another to whom the same person’ had’ applied.
Congress, or the delegates from North Carolina, will put that State
upon their guard; for it is not at all improbable the design will
be pursued by means of some other engraver of less honor than
Carpenter.
There is avast sum in circulation hereof base copper, to the
amount of several hundreds of thousands of pounds. Very lately
these half-pence are refused every where—I suppose in conséquence
of some concerted scheme. And it is supposed that they will be all
purchased for a trifle, and sent to the United States, where they will
pass for good metal, and, consequently, our simple countrymen be
cheated of an immense sum. The Board of Treasury may be
ordered, without the.avowed interposition of Congress, to give the
alarm to our citizens; and the separate States would do well to
prohibit this false money from being paid or received.
Colonel Smith will set off for Portugal in a few days, and at
Versailles, Madrid, or Lisbon, will have an opportunity of learning
more of the present politics of Europe that can be known here. A
profound calm prevails through Europe at present, though the bulletin
from Paris speaks of movements of the Empress against the Turks.
Her own journey, however, is a strong proof that hostilities are not
soon intended.
With great respect to Congress, and much affection for their
Secretary, I have the honor to be, &c.; :
JOHN ADAMS.
Oo
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
s London, April 19, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I do myself the honor to enclose the new act of Parliament for
regulating the trade between the territories of the United States of
740 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
America and the dominions of the King of Great Britain, by which
Congress will see that the same system continues and is fortified with
fresh provisions. Provisions and lumber, the growth or production
of the United States, are now prohibited from any foreign island.
The West India planters and merchants complain to no purpose.
The Canada merchants give out that there is some negotiation on
foot between Lord Dorchester and Vermont, the object of which is
to give vent to the productions of that territory, through Canada and
the river St. Lawrence, that the West Indies sir derive some
assistance from that source.
Enclosed is another very curious bill that was moved in the House
of Lords by one Chancellor, and seconded by another, (Thurlow and
Bathurst ;) but the Lords had honor enough to reject it. The project
is said to have originated in General Arnold. The whole transaction
shows the spirit of the present Ministry. The chance of passing
such a bill would have been greater in the House of Commons,
where the Ministers have a clearer majority. Some persons are of
opinion that the present set cannot hold the reins much longer; but
if they are not mistaken, there is little chance of a change for the
better. What effect the changes in France may have cannot be
foreseen; but they cannot but be favorable to America.
With great regard, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
——o
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, London, April 30, 1787.
Sir, |
Upon the receipt of the first of the enclosed letters from Doctor
Wren and Mr. Mowbray by express, I made application to Govern-
ment. Lord Sidney was absent, and Lord Caermarthen sick; but
Mr. Frazier, the under Secretary of State, took up the subject with
integrity and politeness. He discovered a real desire to do every
thing that the laws would permit; to crush, in the beginning, this
villanous attempt to counterfeit American paper currencies. He
told me that a parallel complaint had been lately made by the
Danish Ambassador of an attempt to counterfeit the bank notes of
Denmark ; and that upon consulting their most experienced magis-
trates and law officers, they were all of opinion that, until the
counterfeit was completed, and the names signed, it could not be a
capital crime, though an attempt might be a misdemeanor. He
advised me to advise with Sir Sampson Wright, the most consid-
DIP OMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 741
_ erable magistrate in Westminster. Sir Sampson engaged in the
_- business with particular attention, and agreed to write to Sir John
Carver, at Portsmouth. Upon the whole, it seemed to be necessary
that some one should go to Portsmouth, and as Colonel Smith set
out on the 24th of this month for Lisbon, I asked Mr. Cutting to
accompany me to Portsmouth. We had the man brought out of
prison to our lodgings. His nanf, he says, is Robert Muir, born in
Scotland, but lately arrived from North Carolina. He is an artful,
shrewd fellow, but with a mean, hungry, desperate appearance,
‘suitable to any kind of atrocious villany.
We wished to discover his accomplices, but he would not answer.
The grand jury found a bill; and, at my desire, the man is continued
in prison until next term in July. His types and stamps and
implements are all secured. In July, however, he »will be set at
liberty, for the crime could not be complete without the signature,
if it could without passing the bill.
It is with a very high pleasure that I am able to say that the
Government and the magistrates, both here and at Portsmouth, have,
upon this occasion, conducted with perfect propriety and politeness.
The crime is said to be an offence against the law of nations, against
commerce, against private and public property, against the whole
world, &c.: and all this is true; but still the laws are so very vague
in this case, and as every punishment short of death, in such a crime,
in this country, would be treated with ridicule, it may be most pru-
dent to dismiss the fellow in July, destroying, or at least detaining,
his implements.
Congress will determine what measures should be taken to adver-
tise the people of America, that they may be upon their cuard. I
suppose this is the same Scot who, a few weeks ago, applied to Mr.
Carpenter, an engraver in London, to engrave a plate for him, of
which Carpenter had the honesty to inform me, as you have been
told in a former letter.
With great regard, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM DR. THOMAS WREN TO JOHN ADAMS.
. Portsmouth, April 22, 1787.
Sir,
I had the honor of receiving your favor this morning, and have
now to add to the former intelligence, that the man who had solicited
(42 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Mowbray to assist in a forgery is in custody in our town jail. He
went to Mowbray repeatedly on Saturday evening, and was -so
urgent to have some notes worked off, that he proposed their working
all night, for he fixed on going to assist Mowbray, saying that he
had some little knowledge of the business, (though he appeared in
the habit of a seaman,) and added, that they must take a thousand
copies of such Carolina notes Pefore morning; and, indeed, he
always spoke of the number of notes wanted in this large way. Sir
John Carter, the brother of Mr. William Carter, being come home
from a journey, had him apprehended and examined ; and this matter
will now be transacted before Sir John, (as far as it can be trans-
acted,) as he is the Mayor of the town. ‘The man says his name
is Moor, or rather, I think, Mure, and that during the last war he
sailed out and,in, as belonging to an American port. He was short
and shy in his answers, but pleaded his cause before Sir John with
a language and sagacity much beyond his appearance, saying «that
‘he could not see what the magistracy of this country had to do
‘with his proceedings, as it affected only the count
ry beyond the
‘ Atlantic.” He offered to deliver up all his papers, ‘types, and
implements, provided they would burn and destroy them before him, |
and set him at liberty. This was not granted him, and his papers
that were found about him are all in the possession of Sir John or
Mowbray, and will remain, sir, for your directions. He says that he
has for these few days lodged at Mrs. Dart’s, on Portsmouth Com-
mon, which is a suburb to this garrison, so large that Mrs. Dart is
not yet discovered, though it is probable she may be. If any more
papers are found at his lodgings, they will be kept with the others.
This man has not been rambling about the country to meet with a
printer whose appearance he should like, but he came down from
London, and went directly to Mowbray, a man of considerable abili-
ties in his trade, and of narrow circumstances. And when a small
piece of border-block is wanting, he engages to have it down from
London in two days, which is as soon as any person could have it,
and proves that it was in London ready cut. It is evident to me
that he has several associates in London, and that he is aiming to be
a large dealer; both which circumstances should, I think, excite the
attention and inquiries of our Government. From the number and
variety of the notes of the United States which he had in his posses=
sion, and the large edition which he meant to print, I think it is —
sprodatle that he has been employed in America in some branch of
|
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 743
that department, in which he now manifests but too much skill. He
is not a sailor by profession. Care is taken that he does not want
good sufficiency of provisions; but he is not allowed pen, ink, and
paper, nor any visitor whatever except the head jailer. W. Mow-
bray was to have sent me up an account of the papers and things
left with him, or found on the man; but if it does not come soon,
I must omit sending it till next post.
I am, sir, &c., THOMAS WREN.
P.S. Mr. Mowbray has sent his paper, but it is rather badly
drawn out. Moor, Mure, or Muir, is a tall, thin man, five feet nine
inches high, with dark-brown hair, tied behind—native of Scotland.
He came from Charleston, South Carolina, in January last, in the
ship John, Samuel Purchase, master, and arrived. in London in
March; says he was cook of the vessel; but this is doubted.
Ten different wood-cuts, which together form the borders of two
notes of North Carolina currency, one of one pound, the other of
five shillings. A quantity of metal flowers, cast by Mr. William
Caslon, letter founder, Chiswell street, London, which will make the
same impression as on the reverse sides of the above, and other
notes which he wanted to have counterfeited.
The following is a copy of Mr. Caslon’s bill, found on the person:
London, April 12, 1787.-
Mr. |
Bought of William Caslon,
ae
2 Ibs. 8 oz. of great primer flowers at 18. per Ib.......... aa) te
3.“ 13 — small pica, at ds, Bd. per dbs Pes oes 4 54
2«15 << long primer, at 1s. 6d. per |b...... See Ae 4 5
9) & 2) onbrevier, at Qe Gd. perth os se See Pro
Received for William Caslon, 12 98
E. WHITE.
Part of the long primer flowers having been much used, supposed
to be taken from some printing office. A card on which are fixed
specimens cut from the originals of the ornaments required to go
round the reverse sides of the notes.
An original five shilling (suppose) note North Carolina currency,
the subscriber’s name to it obliterated.
744 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Another note, No. 17459, signed J. Hunt, B. McCullock.
A sixpenny note, signed J. Hunt, No. 1356.
A five shilling Charleston note, No. 8004, subscriber’s name cut
out.
A. two shilling note, No. 11849, signed J. Hunt and B. McCul-
lock. |
A twenty shilling note.
They appear to be all printed by Thomas Davis, of Halifax.
FROM WALTER MOWBRAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
Sir,
As the intelligence I am to communicate is, in my opinion, of the
highest consequence to the mercantile interest of America, I presume
any apology for the freedom I take in writing to your Excellency is
unnecessary. oe,
The discovery I am to make is an intended forgery of the paper
currency of America, so ingeniously executed as to elude discovery.
One of the persons concerned in this nefarious business has applied
to me to print off a considerable number of notes of different
provinces ; I gave him such an answer as inclined him to believe
I would comply with his request, that I might have it in my power
to destroy, in embryo, a scheme artfully calculated to invade private
property, and materially injure the credit of a commercial nation.
He went away satisfied, and returned in a few hours with a wood-cut
of one of the notes, an exact copy of the original, and metal borders
precisely the same as those on the reverse side. He had sundry
other notes with metal ornaments, which he also wanted impressions
of. He is meanly dressed as a sailor, and apparently ignorant; but
his habits and conversation have the appearance of disguise.
‘There is no doubt but that he has accomplices in London; for,
on discovering a deficiency of two articles in the border for a note
of which he wanted one thousand copies, he informed me he would
send to town for them. The wood-cuts and metal borders are se
nicely imitated as to render a discovery of the forgery extremely
difficult. |
Tam, &c., WALTER MOWBRAY.
“
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 145
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, May 1, 1787.
Dear Sir,
With this is enclosed an elegant volume of improvements in naval
architecture, together with original letters to me, that accompanied
it. I know nothing of the author but what is there said, viz: That
he is a gentleman of character and fortune. America is the place
in the world the most likely for such improvements to be adopted, if
they are really founded in science and utility. If, upon examination,
it appears to be of value, Congress will judge what acknowledgments
should be made of it.
With great esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS,
Mr. Tuomas Courts, banker in the Strand, has the honor to
deliver this, by desire of the author of the book, who is his friend,
and a gentleman of eminent character and fortune.
April 28, 1787.
es
FROM PATRICK MILLER TO JOHN ADAMS.
Edinburgh, April 14, 1787.
Sir,
I beg leave to present your Excellency with the account of an
invention for the improvement of naval architecture, which was
intended for the general good of mankind.
As I trust it will be followed with happy effects to the nations
who shall adopt it, and that I believe it will prove particularly useful
to the different States of North America, from the nature of their
coasts and inland navigation, I request your Excellency to transmit
the book by the first opportunity to Philadelphia, to be delivered to
the honorable the Congress of the United States of America.
I have the honor to be, &c., PATRICK MILLER.
O
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
: Office for Foreign Affairs, July 4, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I have been honored with your letters of the 10th, 19th, and 30th
April, and Ist May last. Since the sitting of the Convention, a
746 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
sufficient number of States for the despatch of business have not
been represented in Congress, so that it has neither been in my
power officially to communicate your letters to them, nor to write on
several subjects on which it is proper that Congress should make
known their sentiments to you.
Your information of the attempt to counterfeit the paper of the
Carolinas, and the probable design of exporting base pence to this
country, is interesting, and shall be made proper use of.
The public attention is tumed to the Convention. ‘Their pro-
ceedings are kept secret, and it is uncertain how long they will
continue to sit. It is, nevertheless, probable that the importance
and variety of objects that must engage their attention will detain
them longer than many may expect. It is much to be wished that
the result of their deliberations may place the United States in a
better situation ; for if their measures should either be inadequate or
rejected, the duration of the Union will become problematical. For
my own part, I am convinced that a National Government as strong
as may be compatible with liberty, is necessary to give us national
security and respectability. Your book gives us many useful lessons ;
for, although I cannot subscribe to your chapter on Congress, yet I
consider the work as a valuable one, and one that will tend greatly
to recommend and establish those principles of government on which
alone the United States can erect any political structure worth “
trouble of erecting.
The western Indians are uneasy, and seem inclined to be Mocitiel
It is not to be wondered at; injustice is too often done them, and
the aggressors escape with impunity; in short, our Governments, -
both particular and general, are either so impotent, or so very gently
administered, as neither to give much terror to evil-doers nor much
support and encouragement to those who do well. I have not
answered Colonel Smith’s letters, but I have not forgotten him, nor
will I forget him. What Congress will say about your resignation
or your successor, I know not; for that and other matters in this
department are yet to come under their consideration. ‘The great
delays which mark their proceedings on almost every interesting
subject are extremely inconvenient, and sometimes injurious.
With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN JAY.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 447
‘FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN Jay.
Grosvenor Square, London, May 8, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I am honored with your letter of April 2d, and am happy to
teceive the resolutions of Congress enclosed in it, especially those of
21st of March, 1787.
The convention at Philadelphia is to consist of members of such
ability, weight, and experience, that the result must be beneficial to
the United States.
The settlement of so many great controversies, such as those
between the Massachusetts and New York, Pennsylvania and Con-
necticut, New York and Vermont, &c., show that the Union has
great weight in the minds of the people. It is, indeed, an object of
such magnitude, that great sacrifices ought to be made to its preserva-
tion. The consequences of a division of the continent cannot be
foreseen fully, perhaps, by any man ; but the most short-sighted must
perceive such manifest danger, both from foreign Powers and from
one another, as cannot be looked upon without terror. The naviga-
tion of the Mississippi in the South, and the fisheries in the North,
have ever appeared to me objects without which the Union cannot
be preserved; and, therefore, whether the free use of them be
obstructed for a time or not, it has ever appeared a dangerous policy
to cede the right, even for a moment.
Enclosed is a letter from our unfortunate countrymen in captivity
at Algiers, which must be sent in the original, as there is not time to
transcribe it.
I hope, sir, ere long, to receive your orders in consequence of the
resolutions of Congress, preparatory to my return home in the next
spring. ‘The conduct of this Court, in so imprudently, as well as
uncivilly, neglecting to send a Minister to America, renders it impos-
sible for Congress, consistently with their own dignity, to renew my
commission. When the American Minister shall leave this country,
they will begin to think it necessary to'send one of their own to New
York. They may (for what I know) wish, in this way, to get rid
of one whom they have not been able to mould to their views, in
hopes of obtaining another of a more ductile temper. Let them
uy the experiment—I dare say they will be disappointed ; for, if
Congress appoints another, he will not be found more to their taste.
148 - JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
This country is in a shocking situation; its royal family, its Admin-
istration, and its Opposition, are all such as will never seduce an
American mind from his duty. He will only be shocked at the sight,
and confirmed in his natural principles and native feelings.’
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM THE AMERICAN CAPTIVES TO JOHN ADAMS.
Algiers, February 13, 1787.
SIr, |
Your three letters to us, dated London, the 29th September, we
received the 7th instant, and are exceedingly sorry to find, by the
tenor of your letters to us, that you can give us no comfortable hopes
or assurances of speedy relief. .
Respecting the erroneous report you suppose we might have
heard of what Mr. Lamb said to the Dey, and that it is not likely
that he made any promises to the Dey, we shall mention to you what
Mr. Lamb used to tell us when he used to return from the Dey’s
palace after having his different audiences.
Extract from our Journals in Algiers.
Saturday, the 25th of March, arrived a brig from Barcelona, with
John Lamb, Esq., and Mr. Randall, Commissioners from the United —
States of America to treat with Lord Prince Mohamet Bashaw, Dey
of the warlike city and kingdom of Algiers. At 11, a. m., the
captain of the port went on board the brig, and returned on shore to
the Mickelhadge, or third great man, informing him there were two
Americans on board the brig, who came to redeem their people.
Immediately the Dey was informed, and at 1, p. m., they were
admitted to land. Mr. Lamb’s message to the Dey was to admit
him to the honor of kissing his hand on the terms of peace. 'The
Dey answered that he would not; but if he came to redeem his —
people, he would give him an audience. On the 29th Mr. Randall
left Algiers on board a Spanish brig of war, bound to Alicant. On
the Ist of April Mr. Lamb was introduced to the Dey by the French
Consul, and attended by Mr. Wolfe. Mr. Lamb asked the Dey his
price for the Americans. The Dey said he would see about it of
| DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 749
: the marine officers. On the 3d of April Mr. Lamb had his second
audience. The Dey asked Mr. Lamb what he would give. Mr.
Lamb offered ten thousand dollars. The Dey said his price was
fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Lamb said the price was great, but he
would see about it or consider. On the 5th Mr. Lamb had his
third audience. The Dey would not lower his price, but said he
wanted us in the marine. Mr. Lamb offered to take us at thirty
thousand dollars. The Dey turned angry, and said he had bread
and olives enough for us. On the 7th Mr. Lamb had his fourth
audience. ‘The Dey would not lower his price but seventeen hundred
dollars. Mr. Lamb said the price was great; he would see what he
could do in four months’ time. The Dey sent his dragoman to Mr.
Lamb after he returned to the French Consul’s, and asked Mr.
Lamb if he was content with the bargain. Mr. Lamb said the price
was great, but he must be content. Ever since it is considered in
Algiers that Mr. Lamb had made a regular bargain with the Dey.
Often since, Sidi Ali, the Dey’s lord of his bedchamber, has told a
young lad, one of our crew, that the American Ambassador had
agreed to take us at the Dey’s price. The lad is one of the Dey’s
chief attendants ; and the other day the Mickelhadge, or third great
man to the Dey, asked my carpenter, who is a servant or slave to
the Mickelhadge, where was the American Ambassador, saying he
had promised to come or return in four months.
Sir, we would not wish to be understood that we write so urgent
on Mr. Lamb’s contracts with the Dey to facilitate our redemption ;
but it is to give you a true representation of Mr. Lamb’s proceedings,
for the good and honor of our country, as we are fearful that if
another American Ambassador came here it would be a very great
detriment to his proceedings, and should not be much surprised if
the Dey told him that he had made one bargain already with the
Americans which they did not keep or fulfil.
As Mr. Jefferson wrote us that Mr. Lamb was to make no bargain
respecting our redemption without our consent, when Mr. Lamb
told us of the Dey’s price, we begged of him to make no further
proposition on our account, as it was not in his power to redeem us ;
but he went on his own way, and did as I mention; so that you see
the considering part of the bargain was always on Mr. Lamb.
When the Dey mentioned so great a price, why was he not decisive,
and say -it was entirely out of his power to give any such price?
750 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Better to say so, than to make promises that he was not empowered
todo; not to deceive the Dey and dishonor his country.
If we are not to be redeemed until the Dey will let us go as cheap:
as others, we think we never shall be redeemed ;. for those people do
what they have a mind to do, let the slaves go for what they will, or
not let them goon any terms. We confess it would be setting a bad
example to pay so great a sum for a few, and’ other unfortunate
captives would feel the ill effects of it. It is the duty of our country
to redeem us on the best terms they can. Our unfortunate crews
are employed on the most laborious’ work. We are not. prisoners of
war; we are slaves; the’ consideration of which will induce our :
country to consider our lamentable misfortune, hoping they will
adopt some effectual plan of extricating us from slavery, and not
suffer a remnant of their countrymen to die in’slavery i this barbarous. |
country. We hope Mr. Lamb has not told’ us one story, and’ wrote
the Ministers in Europe another ; but, fromthe tenor’ of your letters,
we believe he has misrepresented his: proceedings in Algiers'to you.
Redeeming the slaves is one thing, and making the peace is
another—two different bargains. Witness the Spaniards. We
cannot see that. redeeming us would be any detriment to the making
a peace, or that we shall be got for less.
If Mr. Lamb, in having four audiences with the Dey, could not
prevail on him to lower his price, what will: induce the Dey to it oni
the terms of peace or conclusion of treaties? Forty or fifty thousand
dollars can be no great object. to'so great’ and rich a Prince as the
Dey of Algiers, to induce him to a treaty with the United States:
Permit us to observe to you and our country, it has been the
custom, from time immemorial, for all nations to redeem their people
on the best terms they could.
The Spaniards and other nations used to redeem every three’ years,
until they were all led away with an erroneous opinion that the sums
paid for the redemption used to enable the Algerines and other
Barbary States to continue their’ depredations: of piracy. Time,
which reveals all things, has shown the Spaniards’and other nations
how erroneous their judgment was:. No nation in the world can fit
an equal number of cruisers half so cheap as the Algerines can.
Mr. Lamb declared to us that he did not bring any money to
redeem us ; and even told us'that: if the Dey would: let us goat ten
thousand dollars, he could not redeem us. The six thousand dollars:
|
|
|
:
|
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, 751
he had was for presents to pave the way towards a peace, in case he
brought them on a truce. Why was Mr. Lamb so anxious with his
propositions to the Dey, when he declared to us that he had no
money appropriated towards our use?
We hope you will consider our lamentable misfortune, and not
extinguish entirely our hopes of being once more in the land of
liberty.
Your most obedient and very humble servants,
RICHARD O’BRYEN,
ZACHARIAS COFFIN,
ISAAC STEPHENS,
ANDREW MONTGOMERY, Mate,
ALEXANDER FORSYTHE, Mate.
eee O eee
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
; London, May 14,.1787.
Dear Sir,
Last Thursday, according to your advice, I communicated to Lord
Caermarthen, not officially, but as private though authentic intelli-
gence, the resolutions of Congress of the 2lst of March. His
Lordship appeared to be sincerely and highly pleased, and said that
those resolutions did the highest honor to Congress, and he wished
I had authority to communicate them formally. The reason was
explained to his Lordship that there had not been time for the
Secretary of State to prepare instructions, but that they might be
expected to arrive in a few weeks. The measure is as well founded
in good policy as it is in justice and honor, and must produce a good
effect.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
| pi 2
FROM. JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, May 23, 1787.
Dear Sir,
Enclosed are copies of two protests of bills* of exchange received
from the Board of Treasury. They are duplicates. Another set. of
* These bills were drawn the 3lst March, 1787, by Constable, Rucker & Co., of
New York, on John Rucker, of London, in favor of the Commissioners of the
Treasury, and by them endorsed over to Messrs. Willinks and Van Staphorsts.
One was for £25,000, and the other for 50,000 guilders.
152 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
will, no doubt, be referred.
Enclosed also are copies of letters from the Commissioners of
Loans at Amsterdam, which render it necessary for me to go to
Amsterdam. I shall set off on Friday, the 25th, and hope to return
in three weeks or less. It is with great regret that I find myself
reduced to the necessity of opening a new loan, without the explicit
and particular orders of Congress. But there is no alternative but
this, or immediate and total ruin to the United States. Such is the
nature of money transactions in Holland, that if the punctual
payment of the interest is not advertised, a panic arises and spreads,
the stock falls, and every one is eager to get rid of what he has in his
hands. In consequence of a delay, only of a few days, to advertise
the payment of our interest in June, my obligations fell ninety-five
per cent., as [am informed. But immediately upon the advertise-
ment’s appearing, they rose again to ninety-nine, which is as high as
they have been for several years.
Mr. Barclay has drawn upon me for more money than I expected,
to pay the expenses of presents and other things in the Morocco
negotiation, and has made several drafts, after I had supposed, or
at least hoped, that the payments were all made. But I could do
no other than presume that the demands were necessary, and accept
his bills. He will render his account to Congress or the Board of
Treasury. But, if Tam not mistaken, he has drawn upon me for
near five thousand pounds sterling—a sum considerably more than
one quarter part of the eighty thousand dollars appropriated by
Congress to treaties with four Powers; though it was always
expected that Algiers would be more costly than all the other three.
The expenses of Colonel Franks’s journeys and voyages, and that
of Colonel Smith’s tour to Lisbon, as well as mine to Portsmouth
and Holland, will amount to something, though not very consider-
able. What drafts upon the bankers in Holland Mr. Jefferson has
made, as mentioned in their letter, I know not, unless it be to pay
for honorary swords and medals, ordered by Colonel Humphreys, in
obedience to the orders of Congress, for which I gave him a letter
of credit before I left France. Possibly Congress may have author-
ized Mr. Jefferson to draw upon their commissioners in Holland. If
hey have, I am glad of it, but had not been informed of it.
regret very much that I have not yet a letter of recall, which
[ might, upon this my last tour to the Hague, present to their High
f
|
copies I have transmitted to that board to whom these duplicates "|
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 165
Mightinesses, and take my leave, in order to my return home upon
the expiration of my commission to St. James’s. But although this
is now impossible, I hope, sir, soon to receive such a letter of recall
that I may have time to transmit it with a memorial, which must
answer the end of an audience of leave.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM MESSRS. WILHEM AND JAN WILLINK, &C., TO JOHN ADAMS.
Amsterdam, May 15, 1787.
_ We have your Excellency’s esteemed favor of the 7th, and two
_ of the 8th instant, transmitting us letters from the Board of Treasury,
the detention whereof, later than others we received per the April
packet, has retarded the business of a new loan during a whole
week—a delay of the utmost consequence at the eve of the June
interest falling due.
We sincerely lament the necessity Mr. John Rucker was in to
leave England, and hope the discredit such an event must occasion
will be but temporary. Your Excellency acted very properly in
forwarding protests only of the drafts upon him, but we recommend
duplicates should be sent.
_ Notwithstanding we adopted the payment of the sixty thousand
guilders premium, in pursuance of your Excellency’s advice, had this
been the only deficiency in the remittance for the June interest, our
zeal for the credit and interest of the United States would have
induce@us to advance it; but the late considerable disposals of your
Excellency, and his Excellency Thomas Jefferson, Esquire, have
exhausted the funds in our hands much below the statement of the
Treasury Board, exclusive of the seventy-five thousand bills on Mr.
John Rucker, contrary to its expectation, not proving good. So
that the sum required is of such magnitude as to preclude all thoughts
of supplying it by any other means than a fresh loan; for effecting
which the time is very short indeed, besides the bonds of the former
loan being at a very low rate, and people uncommonly solicitous to
sell them: A panic we cannot account for otherwise than by the
payment of the June interest not beg yet advertised.
We have assembled the principal brokers, and opened the raat
to them, under all the actual disadvantageous circumstances ; they
Vou. I].—48
754 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
have promised to second our exertions to raise money by a new
loan, which we shall be obliged to pay dear for, and make of no
less sum than a million, whereof the undertakers will, however,
engage to receive only a certain sum, that we shall endeavor may
be sufficient for the June and February interests, and the sums your
Excellency may want for your salary and ordinary disbursements ;
the remaining bonds to lie by us for account of the United States.
Thus the Board of Treasury would not have to attend to any
remittances for this country previous to the June interest of 1788;
by which period, we trust, the measures that will be devised by the
Assembly of Delegates at Philadelphia will have had the operation
necessary to secure punctual remittances for the future payments of
interest on the Dutch loans.
We cannot yet flatter your Excellency with success; but if we
should be so fortunate, we rely upon your Excellency’s readiness to
pass immediately the requisite instruments, and to strain all your
influence that the ratifications of Congress may take place, and be
transmitted to us without any procrastination.
We are, respectfully, &c.,
WILHEM & JAN WILLINK,
NIC. & JACOB VAN STAPHORST.
‘FROM MESSRS. WILHEM AND JAN WILLINK, &C., TO JOHN ADAMS.
Amsterdam, May 18, 1787.
Agreeably to what we had the honor to acquaint your Excellency
the 15th instant, we have exerted ourselves to procure money for
payment of the interest due the Ist proximo, by the United States—
a matter very difficult to be accomplished, as we had against us the
late news from America, no immediate flattering prospects, and an
excessive scarcity of money here at present. We have, however,
been successful enough to persuade the undertakers to subscribe to
a new loan for one million of florins upon the following conditions:
One thousand bonds, for one thousand guilders each, to be issued
on the same conditions as the preceding loan of five per centum, the
interest commencing the first of June.
Of which thousand bonds, two hundred and forty to be imme-
diately negotiated to the subscribers; the one half of their amount
cg
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 755
to be paid upon the delivery of the-bonds ; the undertakers reserving
to themselves the faculty of taking to themselves one month’s credit
for payment of the remaining half.
The surplus seven hundred and sixty bonds are to remain in our
custody, subject to be delivered to the undertakers, each one in
Proportion to his subscription, at the same rate as those actually
negotiated; at the expiration of which period those on hand will be |
at the disposal of Congress.
Congress shall not be at liberty to make any further money nego-
tiations in this country until the surplus seven hundred and sixty
bonds shall be placed, or before the end of the eighteen months they
are to lie, at the choice of the undertakers to purchase them.
Such are the best conditions we have been able to obtain; and,
although the money will cost the United States eight per cent.,
including premium, our commission, brokerage, and charges, we deem
ourselves fortunate to have been thus able to face the June interest ;
an object your Excellency justly views of the highest importance to
the credit and interest of the United States.
By this arrangement we shall be obliged to advance part of the
interest, until the undertakers shall have completed payment for the
engaged bonds; upon which advance, we do not doubt, the United
States will most readily admit our charge of interest.
We endeavored all in our power that the money should be
received by us in récépzssées, and thus leave you the time to visit the
country, and your conveniency to pass the bonds. But the under-
takers have insisted, as an absolute condition, that they should be
liable to pay only on receipt of the bonds signed and: perfected by
you; so that there is an indispensable necessity for your Excellency’s
setting out for this country, with the full power you have from
Congress, by the packet which will leave Harwich next Wednesday,
or at latest on Saturday, the 26th instant, when we will have every-
thing ready, that your Excellency may be able to return by the next
or following packet.
We request your Excellency to be assured nothing in our power
was left untried to spare you this jaunt so suddenly; but since the
payment of the June interest entirely depends upon this exertion of
your Excellency, we are confident it will be undertaken with
alacrity ; and, upon this conviction, we have assumed to advertise
756 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
the payment of the interest on the Ist of June, which is in all our A
newspapers of this day.
We are, respectfully, &c.,
WILHEM & JAN WILLINK,
NIC. & JACOB VAN STAPHORST.
encetenearen (Jescenenone
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
Office for Foreign Affairs, July 31, 1787.
Dear Sir,
Since my last to you of the 4th instant, I have been honored with
yours of the 8th, 14th, and 23d of May last, which have been
communicated to Congress. I have now the honor of transmitting to
you, herewith enclosed, certified copies of sundry acts of Congress,
viz: of the 2ist March and 13th April last, relative to our treaty
with Britam ; also, an act of the 20th July instant, containing certain
instructions to you on the same subject. This latter act differs
materially from the one reported by me, ba i 3 in the plan and
extent of the proposed convention.
It gives me pleasure to inform you that several of the States have
removed all obstacles to the full and fair operation of the treaty ;
and there is great reason to expect that certain others of them will
do the like at the ensuing sessions of their Legislatures ; but whether
every State, without exception, will adopt the measure, in its proper
latitude and extent, is not quite certain, especially considering the
conveniences which many of their citizens have derived from shelter
against their British creditors.
In the act of Congress of the 23d instant, also enclosed, you will
find a copy of a letter to his Catholic Majesty. ‘That letter has
been sent from hence to Spain, in a Spanish vessel; also a copy of —
a letter to the Emperor of Morocco. That letter was sent to Mr.
Jefferson, by the French packet which sailed last week.
The ratification of the Morocco treaty was also sent to him by the
same opportunity. Measures respecting the other hostile African
States are under consideration. :
On the 24th instant, Congress was pleased to pass an act, of
which a copy is herewith enclosed, relative to the house at the
Hacue. |
,
|
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. hey)
Your letters respecting the new loan, &c., were referred to the
Board of Treasury. Your attention and efforts on that occasion
merit commendation. __
I have taken much pains to obtain a decision on the question of
your return, &c., but, as yet, without success. I am not without
hopes that it will be done to-day; and as the mail will not be
closed before to-morrow, I shall, in that case, write you another
| letter.
It seems that the Convention at Philadelphia have agreed on the
leading principles or great outlines of their plan, and appointed a
| committee to put it into form; but we know not what it is, and I
_ believe it is best that we should not.
_I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN JAY.
P.S. For your more particular information, I herewith enclose
certain papers, containing copies of acts and letters, numbered from
1 to 7 inclusive, which show in what States, and how far, the treaty
of peace is at present operating without constraint. I learn, this
afternoon, that Congress rose without having passed any act or
| resolution relative to your return. I herewith enclose an ordinance
of Congress of the 13th instant, for governing the western country,
and a copy of the ratification of the Morocco treaty, together with a
parcel of the latest newspapers.
List of Papers mentioned in the Postscript.
No. 1. An act of New Hampshire, passed 15th September, 1786,
in compliance with the definitive treaty, and the recommendation of
Congress of 14th January, 1784, founded thereon.
No. 2. An act of Massachusetts, passed 30th April, 1787, for
repealing all acts militating with, or infringing, the definitive treaty.
No. 3. Letter from the Governor of Rhode Island to Mr, Jay,
of 4th September, 1786, informing that all prosecutions against
absentees had ceased, and that British subjects are not prevented
from prosecuting for the recovery of debts due to them,
No. 4. An act of Connecticut, passed the second Thursday in
May, 1787, repealing. all acts repugnant to the definitive treaty,
and directing the courts of law and equity to decide and adjudge
accordingly.
798 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
No. 5. Acts of New York, passed the 4th and 20th April, 1787,
to repeal the different acts complained of by the British merchants in
their list of grievances.
No. 6. Letter from the Governor of New Jersey to Mr. Jay, of
15th June, 1786, informing that that State has complied with the
recommendation of Congress of 14th January, 1784.
No. 7. An act of Maryland, passed 15th May, 1787, declaring
the definitive treaty to be the supreme law within that State.
——_ 0 ——_—_—.
EXTRACT FROM THE SECRET JOURNALS OF CONGRESS JULY 20, 1787.
On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Kean, Mr. R. H.
Lee, and Mr. Duane, to whom was referred a report of the Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, of the 23d April last, respecting Instructions to
the Minister of the United States at the Court of London,
Resolved, That the Minister of the United States at the Court of
Great Britain be, and he is hereby, instructed to inform his Britannic
Majesty that Congress have taken measures for removing all cause of
complaint relative to the infraction of the fourth and sixth articles of
the treaty of peace; and that he communicate to his Majesty their
resolutions of the 21st March last, together with their circular letter
to the States, of the 13th day of April.
Resolved, That the said Minister be, and he hereby is, authorized
and directed, in the name and on behalf of the United States, to
propose and conclude a convention with his Britannic Majesty,
whereby it shall be agreed that the value of slaves, or other Ameri-
can property carried away contrary to the seventh article of the
treaty of peace, be estimated by commissioners; and that he also—
endeavor to obtain an article to fix the true construction of the
declaration for ceasing hostilities, and to stipulate that compensation
be made for all captures contrary to it.
Resolved, That the said Minister be, and he hereby is, further
instructed to assure his Majesty that it will always give pleasure to
NL
Congress fairly to discuss and accommodate every difference or _
complaint that may arise relative to the construction or to the
performance of the treaty; that they are determined to execute it
with good faith; and that, as this is the only instance in which any:
complaints have come regularly before them, they flatter themselves
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 759
that the readiness with which they have taken measures to remove
these complaints will create in him a full confidence in-the purity of
their intentions ; and that he assure his Majesty that they fully repose
and confide in his assurances ‘that whenever America shall manifest
‘a real determination to fulfil her part of the treaty, Great Britain
‘will not hesitate to cooperate in whatever points depend upon her
‘for carrying every article into real and complete effect.”
In debating the foregoing resolutions, a motion was made by Mr.
Smith, seconded by Mr. Grayson, to amend the second resolution by
adding thereto as follows, after the word “commissioners.”
«¢ And that payment for the same, together with a surrender of all
‘the posts and places now held by his Majesty within the limits of
‘the United States, shall be made within a certain reasonable time
‘after the several States shall have passed an act or acts in
‘conformity to the resolutions beforementioned, and formal notice
‘shall be given his Majesty that all the States shall have passed an
‘act of acts as abovementioned.”
A motion was made by Mr. Dane, seconded by Mr. Carrington,
to amend the amendment by striking out the words “together with
‘a surrender of all the posts and places now held by his Majesty
‘within the limits of the United States.”
And on the question, Shall those words stand? the yeas and nays
being required by Mr. Smith, it passed in the negative; and the
words were struck out.
And the question to agree to the amendment as amended was
negatived.
FROM JOHN SULLIVAN TO JOHN JAY.
Exeter, September 18, 1786.
Sir, ,
I have the honor of enclosing a copy of an act of the Legislature
of this State, fully complying with the definitive treaty, agreeably tc
the proclamation of Congress.
And am, &c.,
JOHN SULLIVAN.
His Excellency the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
760 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
In the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six.
An act in compliance with the Treaty of Peace between the United
Ls, States and his Britannic Majesty, and with the recommend- —
ation of Congress, of the 14th of January, 1784, Sounded
thereon.
Whereas several acts and laws during the late war with Great
Britain were passed by this State, which are found to be incom-
patible with the definitive treaty of peace and friendship : And
whereas Congress did, on the 14th day of January, 1784, earmestly —
recommend to the Legislatures of the respective States to reconsider
and revise all their acts and laws respecting the premises, so as to
render such acts and laws perfectly consistent, not only with justice
and equity, but with that spirit of conciliation which, on the return
of the blessings of peace, should universally prevail :
Therefore be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represent-
atives in General Court convened, That the fourth article of the said
definitive treaty, viz: “It is agreed that the creditors on either side
‘shall meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full
‘value, in sterling money, of all bona jide debts heretofore
‘contracted,” be complied with as far as it respects this State; and ©
that the subjects of his Britannic Majesty shall meet with no lawful
impediment to the recovery of any such debts, but shall have a right
to recover the same, in the manner and way solemnly stipulated in
said article. |
And be it further enacted, That in case any of the estates, rights,
and properties of any real British subjects, or any of the estates,
rights, and properties of any person or persons resident in any
district or districts, which were in the possession of his Britannic
Majesty’s arms between the 30th day of November, 1782, and the
14th day of January, 1784, and who have not borne arms against
the United States, shall have been confiscated, the act or acts so
confiscating shall be, and hereby are, repealed ; and persons of any
other description shall have free liberty to go to any part or parts of
this State, (provided that within fourteen days after their first arrival
they lodge their names in the Secretary’s office,) and to reside in any
town, place, or district herein during the space of one year, to
commence from the day of their first arrival in this State, and no
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 761
longer; and to remain unmolested in their endeavors to obtain the
restitution of such of their estates, rights, and properties, as have
been confiscated.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the
act of this State passed 19th day of November, 1778, entitled « An
‘act to prevent the return to this State of certain persons therein
‘named, and of others who have left, or shall leave, this State, or
‘either of the United States of America, and have joined, or shall
‘join, the enemies thereof,” so far as the same militates with the said
articles of peace; also, the act passed the 28th day of November,
1778, entitled “An act to confiscate the estates of sundry persons
therein named,” together with the additional acts to the said two
acts, and all other acts and resolves of this State, so far as they
militate with, or are repugnant to, the spirit and meaning of said
treaty of peace and friendship between the United States and his
Britannic Majesty, shall be, and hereby are, repealed and made
void.
State of New Hampshire,
In the House of Representatives, September 15, 1786.
The foregoing bill having been read a third time, voted that it
pass to be enacted.
Sent up for concurrence.
JOHN LANGDON, Speaker.
In Senate, September 10, 1786.
This bill having been read a third time, voted that the same be
enacted.
JNO. SULLIVAN, President.
Copy examined:
JOSEPH PEARSON, Secretary.
GOVERNOR BOWDOIN TO SECRETARY JAY.
Boston, May 17, 1786.
Sir,
I had the honor of your letter of the 3d instant, and, on receiving
it, directed the Secretary to examine how far the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts had complied with the proclamation of Congress of
the 14th January, 1784, and the recommendation accompanying it,
762 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
pursuant to the definitive treaty between the United States and
Great Britain.
In consequence of that direction, he has copied and attested the
several acts and resolutions of the Legislature that can give you
information upon the subject; and the copies with his declaration
prefixed, are enclosed.
I have the honor to be, &c., JAMES BOWDOIN.
The Hon. John Jay, Esq.,
Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
eer
A Memorandum of several Acts, Resolves, &c., passed by the
Legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
An act for repealing two laws of this State, and for asserting the
right of this free and sovereign Commonwealth to expel such aliens
as may be dangerous to the peace and good order of Government.
Passed March 24th, 1784.
An act in addition to an act made and passed the present year,
entitled “An act for repealing two laws of this State, and for
‘asserting the right of this free and sovereign Commonwealth to
‘expel such aliens as may be dangerous to the peace and good order
‘of Government.” Passed November 10th, 1784.
An order instructing the delegates of this Commonwealth in
Congress to desire the sense of Congress whether it will consist with
the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States of
America for the Legislature to pass an act debarring British subjects.
and absentees from recovering any interest which may be supposed
to have accrued during the war on debts contracted before the war.
Passed November 10th, 1784.
A resolve relating to interests on debts due to British subjects and
absentees, contracted before the war, and directing the common law
courts how to make up judgment. Passed November 10th, 1784.
A resolve continuing the resolution of the 10th of November,
1784. Passed February 7th, 1785.
The foregoing is a memorandum of several acts and resolves —
passed by the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
since the proclamation of Congress of the 14th of January, 1784,
notifying the definitive treaty and its ratification to the several States ©
>
ot 4
|
|
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 7163
of the Union, and requiring their observance thereof; copies of
which acts and resolves are hereto annexed.
The two following described acts were passed by the same
Legislature before the date of the said proclamation, and copies of
them are also annexed, being relative to the same subject, viz:
An act passed March 25th, 1783, limiting the continuance of
certain acts and resolves for preventing intercourse with the enemy.
As also another act, passed July 2d, 1783, to carry into execution
an act made in the year 1778, entitled «An act to prevent the
‘return to this State of certain persons therein named, and others
‘who have left this State or either of the United States, and joined
‘the enemies thereof.”
The whole being transcribed by direction of his Excellency the
Governor, in consequence of a letter to him from the honorable
John Jay, Esquire, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, dated May 34d,
1786.
JOHN AVERY, Jr., Secretary.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the year of our Lord 1784.
An Act for repealing two Laws of this State, and for asserting the
right of this free and sovereign Commonwealth to expel such
Aliens as may be dangerous to the peace and good order of
Government.
Whereas it is necessarily incident to every free, sovereign, and
independent State to hold the right of expelling from the dominions
thereof all aliens who possess dispositions, or hold principles incom-
patible with the safety or sovereignty of the State; and whereas all
those persons who have, since the 5th day of October, in the year
1774, and before the making the present form of government of this
Commonwealth, gone off to, and taken the protection of, the
Government, or fleet, or army of Great Britain, are considered and
_ justly held to be aliens to this Commonwealth ; and whereas those
of them who are named and mentioned in an act of this State,
passed in the year 1779, entitled “An act to confiscate the estates
‘of certain notorious conspirators against the government and
‘liberties of the inhabitants of the late Province, now State, of
‘Massachusetts Bay,” and all others of them who have borne arms
764 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
in the late war against this or either of the United States, or against
the allies of the said State, or have lent money to the Government of
Great Britain to carry on the late war, are justly deemed to hold
principles, and possess dispositions incompatible with the safety of
the Commonwealth, and, therefore, ought to be excluded from this
Commonwealth; and it bemg evident that an indiscreet admission
of the other descriptions of those unhappy people at this period
might be attended with disagreeable and dangerous consequences ;
but the laws made for their exclusion being not calculated to
produce those measures which are suitable to a state of peace and
tranquillity : 7
Be it therefore enacted by the Senate and House of Represent-
atives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same,
That an act made and passed in the year 1778, entitled “An act to
‘prevent the return to this State of certain persons therein named,
‘and others, who have left this State, or either of the United States,
‘and jomed the enemies thereof;” and also another act, passed in
the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-threc, entitled “ An
‘act to carry into execution an act made in the year one thousand
‘seven hundred and seventy-eight, entitled ‘An act to prevent the
‘return to this State of certain persons therein named, and others,
‘who have left this State, or either of the United States, and joined
‘the enemies thereof,’’’ be, and they both are hereby, repealed.
And be it enacted, ‘That if any of the persons aforesaid, who have
left this State, and gone off to, and taken the protection of, the
Government, fleet, or army of Great Britain, and are named in the
act aforesaid, entitled «« An act to confiscate the estates of certain
‘notorious conspirators against the Government and liberties of the
‘inhabitants of the late Province, now State, of Massachusetts Bay,”
or have borne arms, or have joined to the said fleet, army, or to any
volunteer corps of the King of Great Britain, shall presume to return
to this State to reside therein, it shall be the duty of every justice of
the peace to give notice thereof to the Governor; and if such person
shall not, immediately upon the Governor’s giving order therefor,
depart the State, it shall be the duty of every justice of the peace to
whom complaint shall be made thereof, to apprehend such person,
and him commit to the common jail of the county where he may
be, to be sent off by the order of the Governor with advice of
Council.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 765
And be it enacted, That no one of any other description of the
said absentees shall be allowed to reside in this State, until such
person shall obtain a license therefor from the Governor, with advice
of Council; and if any of the said persons shall presume to reside
within this State, without such license, he shall be treated in the
same manner as is provided by this act, respecting those who have
borne arms against these States: Provided, also, That no license so
given by the Governor, with advice of Council, shall have any force
after the end of the next session of the General Court after the same
license shall be granted; and that the person who shall obtain the
same, unless an act of naturalization shall be passed in his favor, or
the said license shall be approved at the said session of the Gtneral
Court, shall be treated in the same manner as if the said license had
not been obtained:
And whereas, by the sixth article of the treaty lately made
between the United States and the King of Great Britain, it is
provided, that no further confiscation shall be made:
Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the lands
and buildings which any of the persons aforementioned held in fee-
simple or by lesser estate, on the nineteenth day of April, one
thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and which have not by
the aforesaid act, entitled « An act to confiscate the estates of certain
‘notorious conspirators against the Government and liberties of the
‘inhabitants of the late Province, now State, of Massachusetts
‘Bay,’ or by judgment had on due process of law on such estates,
been confiscated, or have been pledged by Government for money
borrowed, or sold by agents, according to laws of the State, for the
payment of debts due from the absentees, or have been made liable
to pay an annual charge for the support of any poor person, shall be
delivered up to the persons who respectively owned such lands or
buildings last before the 19th of April, 1775, or to any persons
claiming under them respectively: Provided, Such claimers are not
included in the act aforesaid, made in the year 1778, who shall have
the privilege of disposing of the same at any time within the space
of three years next coming; and any deed or other conveyance
made thereof, to any citizen of this or either of the United States,
shall be held good and valid in law, to convey the same to all intents
and purposes, as fully and amply as if such grantor was a free citizen
of this Commonwealth; any law of this Commonwealth to the
contrary notwithstanding.
766 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
In the House of Representatives, March 24, 1784.
This bill having had three several readings, passed to be enacted
TRISTRAM DALTON, Speaker.
In Senate, March 24, 1784.
This bill having had two several readings, passed to be enacted.
SAMUEL ADAMS, President.
Approved : JOHN HANCOCK.
A true copy.
Kor t Jon Avery, Jr., Secretary.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the year of owr Lord 1784.
An Act in addition to an Act, made and passed the present year,
entitled «An Act for repealing two laws of this State, and for
asserting the right of this free and sovereign Commonwealth to
expel such Aliens as may be dangerous to the peace and good order
of Government. ‘
Whereas, in the last paragraph of the act aforesaid, provision is
made as follows: “ Provided such claimers are not included in the
act aforesaid, made in the year 1778 :”
Be it further enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That
the proviso above recited be, and hereby is, repealed; and in lieu
thereof, |
Be it enacted, That provided such claimers are not included in
the act aforesaid, entitled “An act to confiscate the estates of
‘certain notorious conspirators against the government and liberties
‘of the inhabitants of the late Province, now State, of Massachusetts
‘Bay.”
And whereas, by the act aforesaid, made and passed in the
present year, no provision is made respecting the real estates of such
absentees as have been mortgaged or leased by order of Govern-
ment :
Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all those
real estates which, on the 19th day of April, in the year 1775, were
the property of any person or persons, who are mentioned, intended,
or described in.an act passed in the year 1779, entitled « An act for
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. ‘T67
confiscating the estates of certain persons commonly called absen-
tees,” and which estates have been mortgaged by order of Govern-
ment, shall be considered as having been confiscated, saving only the
right of redemption in the legal claimers, or in the Commonwealth
where no legal claimant shall appear, upon paying and discharging
the mortgage according to the true intent and spirit of the same,
which such claimants are authorized to do, in the same manner as
the Commonwealth might ; and where such estates have been leased
by order of Government, the income and profit, use and improve-
ment thereof, shall be considered as confiscated for the term of which
the same is leased ; and the tenants shall hold the same accordingly
till the end of the term, when the claimants shall have the same;
and that all doings and proceedings of agents and committees on any
real estate of an absentee, or a real British subject, which has not
been confiscated, done, and had, according to the laws and resolu-
tions of Government, or which has been done by any other person
under orders of any military commander, shall be good and valid to
all intents and purposes.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all
the personal estate of the persons aforesaid, who left this State, or
any other of the United States, or any of the provinces or colonies
of America, since the 5th day of October, in the year 1774, and
before the making of the present constitution or frame of government
of this Commonwealth, and went off to, and took the protection of
the Government, fleet, or army of Great Britain, and which personal
estate has been taken, sold, used, or disposed of by order of Govern-
ment, shall be held, deemed, and taken to have been confiscated ;
and that no person or persons of the description aforesaid shall have
or maintain any action against any committee, agent, or any person
whatsoever, who has disposed of the same in consequence of any
law, resolve, or order of Government, or of the Provincial Congress,
formerly holden in this then Province, or of any order or resolve of
the United States, or taken by the order of any military commander,
_to the use of this or the United States; and where any action shall
be brought therefor, the party sued may plead the general issue, and
give this act in evidence.
In the House of Representatives, November 10, 1784.
This bill having had three several readings, passed to be enacted.
SAMUEL A. OTIS, Speaker.
768 | JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY. ‘
In Senate, November 10, 1784.
This bill having had two several readings, passed to be enacted.
SAMUEL ADAMS, President.
Approved:
JOHN HANCOCK.
A true copy.
Attest: {Joux Avery, Jr., Secretary.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the year of our Lord e he
An Act limiting the continuance of certain Acts and Resolves for
preventing intercourse with the Enemy.
Whereas the grounds and principles of certain acts for preventing
commerce and correspondence with the enemies of the United States
will cease to operate at the termination of the war:
Be it therefore enacted by the Senate and House of Represent-
atives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same,
That an act passed the 3d of March, 1781, entitled “ An act for
‘preventing all commerce and illegal correspondence with the
‘enemies of the United States of America ;” and another, passed the
Ist of May, 1781, entitled «An act in addition to an act entitled
¢ An act for preventing all commerce and illegal correspondence with
‘the enemies of the United States of America ;”
passed the 8th of November, 1782, entitled «An act in addition to
‘an act entitled ‘An act in addition to an act entitled an act for
‘preventing all commerce and illegal correspondence with the
o) 93
‘enemies of the United States of America;’” and also every part of
the resolve of the General Court passed the 8th day of May, A. D.
1782, respecting illicit trade with the enemies of the United States,
except that paragraph thereof which makes provision that certain
boats and vessels therein described shall take permission from the
naval officer in certain cases ; and another resolve passed the 9th day :
of October, A. D. 1782, for preventing the enemy from being
supplied with provisions from the shores on the south side of the
Commonwealth, shall, from and after the time at which the United
States, in Congress assembled, shall cause declaration to be made
that peace has taken place between France, Great Britain, and the
United States, be repealed, and every article and clause of the before
and another act, —
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 769
recited acts shall thereupon become null and void to every intent
and purpose, save only of being used to support any action or
| process that may have been commenced before, and pending at the
time when, the said acts and resolves are to cease.
’
In the House of Representatives, May 25, 1783.
This bill having had three several readings, passed to be enacted.
TRISTRAM DALTON, Speaker.
Mo In Senate, March 25, 1783.
This bill having had two several readings, passed to be enacted.
SAMUEL ADAMS, President.
JOHN HANCOCK.
ty oun Avery, Jr., Secretary.
Approved :
True copy.
Attest :
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the year of our Lord 17838..
_ An Act to carry into execution an Act made in the year 1778, entitled
“‘ An Act to prevent the return to this State of certain Persons
therein named, and others, who have left the State or eather of
the United States, and joined the enemies thereof.”
Whereas, by the act above mentioned, it is provided that certain
persons therein named and described should be sent out of the
State by the Board of War; and the same Board hath since been
discontinued, by means whereof there are no persons now in the
Commonwealth who are empowered to carry the same act into
effectual execution :
Be it therefore enacted by the Senate and House of Represent-
atives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same,
That in case any person now stands committed by any magistrate,
or hereafter shall be committed to any jail in this Commonwealth,
by two justices of the peace, in pursuance of the act aforesaid, such
‘magistrate or justices shall immediately certify the same commitment
to the Governor of the Commonwealth, who shall immediately, or as
soon as may be, at the expense of the Commonwealth, cause such
persons so committed to be transported to some part or place within
the dominions of the King of Great Britain; and if such person so
Vou. I1.—49
7710 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
transported shall voluntarily return again to this Commonwealth, and
be thereof convicted before the supreme judicial court, such person |
shall suffer the same pains and penalty as are provided in the said —
act, in case any such person should return into this State, after being
transported out of the same by the Board of War, according to the
directions of the said act. 3
Be it further enacted, That when any such person shall be
committed by two justices of the peace, or taken into custod, by
order of the Governor, to be sent out of this State, no writ of reple
to replevy such person shall be served, nor shall any action on such
writ be prosecuted, brought forward, or supported ; and every service
of such writ shall be utterly void, and the officer who shall presume
to execute the same shall be liable to a fine of one hundred pounds,
and be incapable forever thereafter of serving or executing any other
writ or precept.
And be it further enacted by the authority afereuuan That this
act shall continue and be in force until the recommendation of Con-
gress, mentioned in the preliminary articles agreed upon between the
United States of America and Great Britain, shall be laid before the
General Court, and a final determination be had thereon, and no
longer. —
In the House of Representitives, July, 2d, 1783.
This bill having had three several readings, passed to be enacted.
TRISTRAM DALTON, Speaker.
In Senate, July 2d, 1783.
This bill having had two several readings, passed to be enacted.
SAMUEL ADAMS, Salta a.
True copy. bs oun Avery, Jr., Secretary.
Attest:
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in Senate, November 9th, 1784.
Whereas, the payment of interest which might have accrued
‘during the late war upon debts fe from the citizens of this or any of
the United States, prior to the commencement of the same, to real
‘British subjects, and others commonly called absentees, would be
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE TV71
“not only inequitable and unjust, but, the Legislature of this Com-
/monwealth conceives, repugnant to the spirit and intendment of
: the fourth article in the treaty of peace, which provides only for
the payment of bona fide debts; and as the Legislature have taken
‘measures to’obtain the sense of Congress upon the said article, so
far as the same respects the payment of interest which might have
‘accrued as aforesaid, and, in the mean time, judgments may be
obtained in some of the courts of law within this Commonwealth for
‘interest accruing as aforesaid, contrary to the true design of the said
‘treaty: ‘Therefore,
Resolved, That in all actions or suits which are or may be
‘instituted or brought to any of the judicial courts within the Com-
“monwealth, wherein any real British subject or absentee is plaintiff
‘or defendant, and which actions or suits, by the laws thereof, are
sustainable therein, the justices of the same courts are hereby
severally directed to suspend rendering judgment for any interest
that might have accrued upon the demand contained in such actions
or suits between the 19th day of April, 1775, and the 20th day of
January, 1783, until the third Wednesday of the next sitting of the
General Court: Provided always, That if, in any such actions
‘or suits, the plaintiff shall move for, or by default have, right to
judgment, then, and in such case, the justices aforesaid shall cause
judgment to be entered for the principal sum, which, by the laws of
this Commonwealth, such plaintiff shall be entitled to recover, and
all such interest as accrued thereon before the said 19th day of
April, and subsequent to said 20th day of January, and execution
shall issue accordingly; and if Congress shall hereafter determine
that the interest which might have accrued on any bona fide debt
aforesaid during the war, ought by the treaty aforesaid, to be
considered as a part of such debt, then the said courts, respectively,
shall proceed to enter a further judgment for the amount of all such
Jast-mentioned interest, without any new process, and issue execution
for such further sum accordingly ; and all attachments made, or bail
given, upon any action instituted as aforesaid, shall be holden to
respond the final judgment that may be given for the amount of
such last-mentioned interest. _
Sent down for concurrence.
SAMUEL ADAMS, President.
TR JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY bY
In the House of Representatives, November 10, 1784.
Read and concurred in. SAMUEL A. OTIS, Speaker.
Approved : JOHN HANCOCK.
A true copy.
Joun Avery, Jr., Secretary.
Attest: , ha ate y
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in Senate, November 9th, 1784.
Ordered, That the Delegates representing this Commonwealth |
in the United States in Congress assembled, be, and they hereby —
are, instructed to desire of Congress their sense on the following
questions, viz: ;
Whether it will consist with the treaty of peace subsisting between
Great Britain and the United States of America, for the Legislature _
of this Commonwealth to pass an act debarring British subjects, and
those persons who left the late Province of Massachusetts Bay after
the 5th of October, 1774, and before the establishment of the present
constitution of this Commonwealth, and took the protection of the
King of Great Britain, or of his Government, fleet, or army, or either
of them, from recovering any interest which may be supposed to
have accrued during the war on debts contracted before the war ?
And that the said delegates be further instructed, in the name and
behalf of this Commonwealth, to request of Congress their sense of
the meaning of the words “bona fide debts,” as mentioned in the
fourth article of the treaty of peace; and particularly whether the
same are intended, and ought to be construed, to include the interest
that would have accrued thereon, had not the war intervened ; and
to communicate to the Legislature of this Commonwealth the doings
of Congress thereon, as soon as may be.
Sent down for concurrence.
SAMUEL ADAMS, President. —
In the House of Representatives, November 10th, 1784.
Read and concurred in. SAMUEL A. OTIS, Speaker. |
_ Approved: JOHN HANCOCK.
True copy.
Wea bo oun Avery, Jr., Secretary.
|
DIPL@MATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 173
| Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the House of Representatives,
| February 5th, 1785.
_ Whereas the resolve passed the 10th day of November last, direct-
ing the common-law courts to suspend rendering judgment for interest
on actions brought by real British subjects or absentees, to the third
‘Wednesday of the present session of the General Court, expired on
the 2d day of February instant: and whereas the Legislature have
‘hot as yet obtained the sense of Congress upon the fourth article in
‘the treaty of peace, which provides only for the payment of bona fide
debts, being necessary for that purpose: Therefore,
Bee iet That the said resolution of the 10th of November last
-be, and hereby is declared to be, continued in full force, and shall
operate in all cases as fully, until the further order of the General
/ Court, as the said resolution of the 10th day of November last might
have operated previous to the third Wednesday of the present
| session of the General Court.
Sent up for concurrence.
SAMUEL A. OTIS, Speaker.
In Senate, February 7th, 1785.
| Read and concurred in. SAMUEL ADAMS, President.
True copy.
A Jr., Secretary.
Attest : ¢ Joux VERY, JR., y
FROM JOHN COLLINS TO JOHN JAY.
Newport, September 4, 1786.
Sir,
Your first letter, requesting information of the measures of this
State, respecting the treaty of peace between the United States and
Great Britain, hath been by the Legislature referred, and the report
is not made; however, be pleased to be informed, that upon the
treaty, and the consequent ratification of Congress being presented
to the General Assembly, they immediately requested the Governor
to make known the contents thereof to all the citizens, by proclama-
tion, under the authority of the State, requiring a strict compliance
therewith. This was done. All prosecutions against absentees,
E> all
174 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAW.
and others, for the part they had taken in the war, that had not been
finished, were immediately nullified, and no further confiscations have
taken place. All persons residing under the protection of the treaty,
and that have applied to the Legislatures for the restitution of
property, or the rights of citizenship, denization, or even the capacity
of prosecuting actions or suits at law, have been heard, and in most
imstances their requests have been granted. ‘The laws from that
moment have been, and still are, open to British subjects to recover
their debts, in the same manner as to citizens of the State. In short,
the treaty, in all its absolute parts, has been fully complied with;
and to those parts that are merely recommendatory, and depend
upon the legislative discretion, the most candid attention has been
paid. |
{ have the honor of being, &c., JOHN COLLINS.
oer
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in General
Assembly, September session, A. D. 1787.
Be w enacted by the General Assembly, and by the authority
thereof it is hereby enacted, That the treaty of peace entered into
between the United States of America and his Britannic Majesty
is fully binding upon all the citizens: of this State, as a law of the
land, and is not in any respect to be receded from, misconstrued, or
violated.
cee PORN H. Z. SHERBURNE, Dy. Secretary.
Witness:
FROM SAMUEL HUNTINGDON TO JOHN JAY.
Couneit Chamber; Hartford June 92) 1786:
Sir,
Your letter of the 3d ultimo, addressed to the Governor of Con-
necticut, requesting information whether, and how far, this State has
complied with the recommendation of Congress, pursuant to the —
treaty of peace with Great Britain, hath been received.
In compliance with your request, I have the’ satisfaction to inform
you that the statutes of this State have all been revised since the
OTN, aia,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 1%
peace; and all penal laws which subjected any person to. prose-
cution by reason of any part he had taken during the war, were
repealed. ‘The whole code, as revised, are transmitted to Congress.
By examining those acts, you may obtain the best possible informa-
tion on this article. ‘There is nothing in them, we apprehend,
inconsistent with the spirit and intent of the treaty.
This State has never confiscated any estate belonging to real
British subjects, or had any law existing that would warrant such
confiscation.
Where confiscations had taken place against citizens of the United
States who resided in districts in the possession of the British during
the war, but had not borne arms, some of them, on application,
have obtained a restitution of their estates; and we have no law now
existing to prohibit any person from making the like application, or
residing among us for that purpose.
The sixth article of the treaty was immediately observed. On
receiving the same, with the proclamation of Congress, the courts of
justice adopted it as a principle of law. No further prosecutions
were instituted against any person who came within that article, and
‘all. such prosecutions as were then pending were discontinued, so far
-as my knowledge or information extends. And I am satisfied it was
universally the case with respect to all persons who claim the benefit
of these articles. I may add, in general terms, that the Legislature
of this State, and the executive courts, have religiously adhered to
the treaty, and in no instance, as we conceive, contravened any
article therein contained.
I have the honor to be, &c.,
SAMUEL HUNTINGTON.
erases
At a General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, holden at Hart-
ford on the second Thursday of May, A. D. 1787.
Whereas, the United States in Congress assembled have, by their
resolution of the 13th of April, 1787, recommended to the several
States to repeal all such acts and parts of acts of their several Legis-
latures as may be now existing in any of the said States repugnant
to the treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain ;
and that each State pass such act of repeal, whether any such
exceptional act is existing in such State or not, and that rather by
Ny,
776 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
describing than reciting such act, for the purpose of obviating all
disputes and questions between the United States and Great Britain
relative to said treaty: And although there hath been no complaint
or suggestion, officially or otherwise, that there is any act, or part of
an act, existing in this State repugnant to said treaty, yet this
Assembly, being at all times disposed to conform to the true intent
and spirit of the Articles of Confederation, and to prevent and
remove (so far as to this Assembly doth appertain) all causes of
dispute and contention, and every just ground of complaint, have
thought fit to enact :
Be it enacted by the Governor, Council, and Representatives in
General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That such
of the acts, or parts of acts, of the Legislature of this State, as are
repugnant to the treaty of peace between the United States and his
Britannic Majesty, or any article thereof, shall be, and hereby are,
repealed. |
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the
courts of law and equity within this State be, and they hereby are,
directed and required, in all causes and questions cognizable by
them respectively, and arising from or touching said treaty, to decide —
and adjudge according to the tenor, true intent, and meaning of the
same, anything in the said acts, or parts of acts, to the contrary
thereof in anywise notwithstanding.
A true copy of record. Examined by
GEORGE WYLLIS, Secretary.
FROM WILLIAM LIVINGSTON TO JOHN JAY.
Elizabeth-Town, June 15, 1786.
Sir,
I have been honored with your letter of the 3d May, informing me
that Congress has been pleased to order that you should “report
‘particularly and specially how far the several States have complied
‘with the proclamation of Congress of the 14th January, 1784, and
‘the recommendation accompanying the same, pursuant to the
‘definitive treaty of peace between the United States of America
“and Great Britain,” and requesting me to inform you whether, and
how far the State of New Jersey has complied with the tecom-
mendation in question. In answer to which, I can only inform you,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. TUT
in general, that I do not know of a single instance in which the State
has not strictly complied with the said proclamation as well as with
the said recommendation, as far as by the said treaty the United
States were bound to comply with such recommendation.
I have the honor to be, &c.,
WILLIAM LIVINGSTON.
The Honorable John Jay, Esq.
FROM GEORGE CLINTON TO JOHN JAY.
New York, July 20, 1786.
Sir,
In compliance with your letter of the 3d of May last, I have the
honor to transmit you, enclosed, extracts from the Journals of
the Assembly of this State, containing the information required.
And am, with great respect, &c.,
GEORGE CLINTON.
The Honorable John Jay, Esq.
In Assembly, January 31, 1784.
A Message from his Excellency the Governor to the Legislature
(transmitted to this House by the honorable the Senate) was read,
and in the words following, to wit:
‘¢ Gentlemen,
“Jt is with pleasure I embrace the earliest opportunity of laying
‘before you a proclamation of the United States in Congress
‘assembled, under their seal, dated 14th day of January instant,
‘announcing the ratification of the definitive articles of peace and
‘friendship between those States and his Britannic Majesty, and
‘enjoining a due observance thereof.
“T also submit to your consideration the recommendation of the
‘United States in Congress assembled, in conformity to the said
‘articles contained in their resolution of the said 14th day of January
‘instant.
“GEORGE CLINTON.
‘¢ New York, January 30, 1784.”
The papers which accompanied the said Message of his Excellency
the Governor, were also read.
713 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Ordered, That the said Message of his Excellency the Governor,
and the papers which accompanied the: same, be committed to a
Committee of the Whole House.
In Assembly, March 31, 1784.
Copies of certain Resolutions of the honorable the Senate, delivered
by Mr. Schuyler, were read in the words following, viz:
‘Resolved, (if the honorable the House of Assembly concur
‘therein,) That it appears to this Legislature that in the progress of
‘the late war the adherents of the King of Great Britain, instead of
‘being restrained to fair and mitigated hostilities, which only are
‘permitted by the law of nations, have cruelly massacred, without
‘regard to age or sex, many of our citizens, and wantonly desolated.
‘and laid waste a very great part of this State, by burning not only
‘single houses and other buildings in many parts of this State, but
‘even whole towns and villages, and destroying other property
‘throughout a great extent of country, and in enterprises which had
‘nothing but vengeance for their object.
‘And that, in consequence of such unwarrantable operations,
‘great numbers of the citizens of this State have, from affluent
‘circumstances, been reduced to poverty and distress.
“‘ Resolved, That it appears to this Legislature that divers of the
‘inhabitants of this State have continued to adhere to the King of
‘Great Britain after these States were declared free and independent,
‘and persevered in aiding the said King, his fleet and armies, to
‘subjugate these United States. to: bondage.
“ Resolved, That as, on the one hand, the rules of justice do not
‘require, so, on the other, the public tranquillity will not permit, that
‘such adherents who have been attainted should be restored to the
‘rights of citizenship.
“ And that there can be no reason for restoring property which ae
‘been confiscated or forfeited, the more especially as no compensation
‘is offered, on the part of the said King and his adherents, for the
‘damages sustained by this State and its citizens from the desolation
‘aforesaid :
“ Resolved, therefore, That while this Legislature entertain the
‘highest sense of national honor, of the sanction of treaties, and of -
‘the deference which is due to the advice of the United States in
‘Congress assembled, they find it inconsistent with thew duty to
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 7179
‘comply with the recommendation of the said United States on the
‘subject-matter of the fifth article of the definitive treaty of peace.”
Resolved, That this House do concur with the honorable the
Senate in the said resolutions.
Ordered, That Mr. Gordon and Mr. Scott deliver a copy of
the last preceding resolution of concurrence to the honorable the
Senate.
State of New York, ss:
I certify that the foregoing are true extracts from the Journals of
the Assembly, this 19th day of July, 1786.
ISAAC VAN CLECK, Clerk,
For Joun McKesson.
An Act to repeal part of An Act entitled “An Act for granting
a more effectual relief in cases of certain Trespasses,” passed
April 4th, 1787.
Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, repre-
sented in Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the
authority of the same, That so much of the act aforesaid as is
contained in the words following, to wit: «And if any such action
‘shall be brought in any inferior court within this State, the same
‘shall be fimally determined in such court; and every such action
‘shall be considered as a transitory action; that no defendant or
‘defendants shall be admitted to plead, in justification, any military
‘order or command whatever, of the enemy, for such occupancy,
‘injury, destruction, purchase, or receipt, nor to give the same in
‘evidence on the general issue,” be, and the same is hereby,
repealed. .
eel
An Act to amend An Act entitled “An Act relative to Debts due
to persons within the Enemy’s lines ;” and another Act, entitled
“An Act to explain and amend the Act entitled «An Act relative
to Debts due to persons within the Enemy's lines,’ passed the 12th
July, 1782,” passed 20th April, 1787.
Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, repre-
sented in Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the
authority of the same, ‘That all persons described in the fifth section
780 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
of the said first-mentioned act, and the executors and administrators
of such persons, indebted by simple contract, bill, single or penal, or
any other obligation, mortgage, security, or demand whatsoever, to
any person or persons described in the said fifth section of the act
aforesaid, or to the executors or administrators of such person or
persons, shall be, and hereby are, discharged from any interest which
may have become due upon any such contract, bill, obligation,
mortgage, or securities, since the Ist day of January, 1776, inclusively,
to the Ist day of May, in the year 1786: Provided, That nothing
in this clause contained shall be deemed to operate as a discharge of
any interest which may have accrued on any such bill, obligation,
mortgage, or other security, executed since the Ist day of January,
1797,
II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesmd, ‘That
the said persons so indebted as aforesaid, their executors or adminis-
trators, shall be obliged to pay the debts or sums by them owing
(after such deduction of interest as aforesaid) to the person or persons
aforesaid, their executors or administrators, in the lawful current
money of this State, in three yearly instalments, and not otherwise,
to wit: one third part thereof on or before the Ist day of May, in
the year 1788; another third part thereof on or before the 1st day of
May, in the year 1789; and the other third part thereof on or before
the 1st day of May, in the year 1790; with interest upon the amount
of such debts or sums now due (after such deduction as aforesaid)
from the said first day of May, in the said year 1786, any law,
contract, or usage to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding :
Provided always, 'That in case default shall be made in the payment
of either of the said yearly instalments, and not sooner, it shall be
lawful for the creditor or creditors of the person or persons making
such default to prosecute for his, her, or their debt or demand, in the
same manner as if this act and the acts hereinbefore mentioned
had never been passed; but there shall not be levied, by virtue of
any execution, upon any judgment, sentence, or decree thereupon
obtained, any other or greater sum than the amount of the instalment
or instalments, with the interest thereon, in respect to which default
shall have been made; and no foreclosure of any mortgage shall
operate as a bar to any equity of redemption, until after the said Ist
day of May, in the said year 1790; but it shall be lawful in every —
such case for the chancellor to direct a sale of so much of the said
mortgaged premises as will be sufficient to satisfy the instalment or
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 781
instalments which shall have become due, ard the interest thereon :
Provided also, 'That the said time given as aforesaid for the payment
of such debts or demands in cases where the creditor or creditors has
or have no mortgage or other security upon any lands, tenements, or
hereditaments, shall be, and the same hereby is, upon the express
condition that the debtor or debtors, his, her, or their heirs, executors,
or administrators (as the case may be) shall, within six months from
the passing of this act, either give to the creditor or creditors good
real or personal security for the amount of the debt or demand, to
the satisfaction of such creditor or creditors, or shall deposite with or
tender to such creditor or creditors, if within this State, and to be
found, or, if not within this State, in the hands of the Treasurer
of this State, for the benefit of such creditor or creditors, by way
of collateral security for his, her, or their debt or demand, the full
amount of the principal and interest thereof, without such deduction
as aforesaid, in the certificates issued or to be issued by the Treasurer
of this State; in default whereof, it shall be lawful for such creditor
or creditors to prosecute for his, her, or their debt or demand in the
same manner as if this act, or the acts hereby intended to be
amended, had never been passed: Provided further, That if such
creditor or creditors shall be willing to accept the payment of the
whole of the principal and interest of his, her, or their debt or
dernand, without such deduction as aforesaid, in any of the certificates
or sureties aforesaid, and shall notify the same to his, her, or their
debtor or debtors; and if such debtor or debtors shall not make
payment according to such notification, within six calendar months
thereafter, then, and in every such case, it shall be lawful for such
creditor or creditors to proceed in the same manner as if this act, or
the acts hereby intended to be amended, had never been passed:
And provided further, 'That nothing herein contained shall be
construed to extend to any persons, creditors, or debtors, not compre-
hended in the acts aforesaid, except in cases of the assignment of
any bond, bill, obligation, mortgage, security, or demand whatsoever,
made to any i i persons whomsoever, by any person who
has remained with, gone into, or was sent within, the enemy’s lines
during the late war: And provided further, That the same shall be
deemed to extend to the executors and administrators of all such
persons being now deceased, to whom the same would extend if such
persons were in full life, whether the said persons died before or
since the passing of the said first-mentioned act: Provided neverthe-
782 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
less, That the same shall not be deemed to extend to any subjects
of the King of. Britain comprehended in the treaty of peace between
the United States of America and the said King.
Ill. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
all such parts of the said acts last mentioned as are in anywise
repugnant to the true intent and meaning of this act ale and the
same are hereby, repealed.
DELAWARE.
At a session of the General Assembly, commenced ‘at Dover ‘on
the 20th day of October, 1787, and continued by adjournment to
the 2d day of February following, inclusive, the following acts were
passed, that is to say:
An Act for repealing all Acts, or parts of Acts repugnant to the
Treaty of Peace between the United States and his Britannic
Majesty, or any article thereof.*
Whereas certain laws or statutes made and passed in some of the
United States are regarded and complained of as repugnant to the
treaty of peace with Great Britain, by reason whereof not only the
good faith of the United. States, pledged by that treaty, has been
drawn into question, but their essential interests under that treaty
greatly affected: And whereas justice to Great. Britam, as well as
regard to the honor and interests of the United States, require that
the said treaty be faithfully executed, and that all obstacles thereto,
and particularly such as do or may be construed to proceed from the
laws of this State, be effectually removed: ‘Therefore,
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Delaware, and it ts
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, 'That such of the acts
or parts of acts of the legislation of this State as are repugnant to
the “treaty of peace between the United States and his Britannic
be, afd they hereby are, directed and requirett in all causes and
questions cognizable by them respectively, and arising from or
* Nore.—The act of Delaware was passed subsequent to the transmission of the
other State documents by Miadey to Mr Adam s. Being on the sume subject, and
having place among the records, it is deemed proper to give it an insertion. For
the same reason, the papers from Virginia, and North and South Carolina are
published. Nothing appears on record from either Pennsylvania or Georgia.
f
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 733
touching the said treaty, to decide and adjudge according to the true
intent and meaning of the same, any thing in the said acts or parts
of acts to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding. e
Signed by order of the House of Assembly.
JEHU DAVIS, Speaker.
Signed by order of the Council.
THOMAS M’DONOUGH, Clerk.
Passed at Dover, February 2d, 1788.
MARYLAND.
An Act declaring the Treaty of Peace between the United States and
_ his Britannic Majesty the supreme law within this State.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, and it is
hereby declared, 'That the treaty of peace made between the United
States of America and his Britannic Majesty is the ‘supreme law
within this State, and shall be so considered and adjudged in all
courts of law and equity ; and all causes and questions cognizable by
the said courts respectively, ought.and shall be determined according
to the said treaty, and the tenor, true intent, and meaning thereof.
By the Senate, May 14, 1787.
Read and assented to. By order,
| J. DORSEY,
W. SMALLWOOD.
ae
By the House of Delegates, May 15, 1787.
Read and assented to. By order,
W. HARWOOD.
In testimony that the aforegoing is a true copy from the original
act of the General Assembly of Maryland, remaining in the General
Court, | have hereunto set my hand, and affixed the seal of office, .
the 29th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1787.
‘THOS. B. HODGKIN,
ye e, &c., Gen. Ct. M.
784 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
FROM PATRICK HENRY TO JOHN JAY.
Richmond, June.7, 1786.
Sir, :
An act of our Assembly, and sundry resolutions, accompany this ;
and from them will appear everything which has been done by our
Legislature touching the subjest mentioned to me in your last favor.
I am, sir, &c., P. HENRY.
The Hon. John Jay, Esq.
Virainis, to wit:
General Assembly begun and held at the public buildings, in the
city of Richmond, on Monday, the 18th day of October, in the
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four :
An Act respecting further Confiscations.
Whereas it is stipulated by the sixth article of the treaty of peace
between the United States and the King of Great Britain that there
shall be no future confiscations made:
Be it enacted, That no future confiscations shall be made, any
law to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, ‘This act shall not
extend to any suit depending in any court which commenced prior
to the ratification of the treaty of peace.
ARCHIBALD CARY,
Speaker of the Senate.
JOHN TYLER,
Speaker of the House of Delegates.
Certified as a true copy from the enrolment.
JOHN BECKLEY,
Clerk of the House of Delegates.
FROM RICHARD CASWELL TO JOHN JAY.
North Carolina, Kingston, June 21, 1786.
Sir, ;
Your letter of the 3d of last month I had the honor to receive, .
and, in compliance therewith, you have enclosed a copy of a procla-
\
i
%
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 785
mation issued by my predecessor in office, and a copy of an act to
restore to Mr. Bridgin his estate.
These are the only acts of the legislative and executive powers of
this State, in consequence of the definitive treaty of peace between
the United States of America and Great Britain, and the recom-
mendation of Congress thereupon, that I at this time recollect.
] have the honor to be, &c., RH. CASWELL.
Stratrt or Nortru Caronina.
At a General Assembly begun and held at Newbern on the 19th
day of Widder, Anno Domini 1785,
Among other acts was passed the following, viz:
An Act to restore to Edward Bridgin, his heirs and assigns, all has
property, real and personal, in this State.
Whereas the estate of Edward Bridgin, merchant of London, hath
been confiscated by the lays of this State: and whereas a committee
of the General Assembly have reported they are of opinion that the
said Edward Bridgin is entitled to every indulgence of the Legis-
lature:
Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of the State of
North Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the
same, That all the real and personal estate of the said Edward
Bridgin, lying and being in this State, confiscated as aforesaid, and
as yet undisposed of, and the amount of purchase money or obliga-
tions for such part as has been sold, be, and hereby is, restored to
him, his heirs and assigns, and shall not be liable to the operation of
any confiscation law heretofore made.
Read three times, and ratified in General Assembly the 29th day
of December, A. D. 1785.
ALEXANDER MARTIN,
Speaker of the Senate.
RD. DOBBS SPAIGHT,
Speaker of Commons.
I certify the foregoing to be a true copy.
WINSTON CASWELL, Secretary.
Vou. I1.—50.
7186 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Strate or Norru Caro.ina.
By his Excellency Samuel Johnston, Esquire, Governor, Captan-
General, and Commander-in- Chief in and over the said State.
To all whom these presents shall come :
It is certified that James Glasgow, who certifies the act hereunto
annexed to be a copy of the original act filed in the Secretary’s
office, is Secretary of the said State; and that full faith and credit
are due to his official acts.
Given under my hand and the great seal of the State, at Edenton,
this 25th day of August, 1788.
SAMUEL JOHNSTON.
By his Excellency’s command:
Wiuuiam Jounston Dawson, P. S.
[The following is the title of the act herein referred to =]
An Act declaring the Treaty of Peace between the United States of
America and the King of Great Britain to be part of the law of
the land. °
FROM WILLIAM MOULTRIE TO JOHN JAY.
Charleston, South Carolina, June, 21, 1786.
Sir, wit
I have been honored with your favor of the 3d of May, requesting
to know, for the information of Congress, how far this State has
complied with the proclamation and recommendation of Congress
of the 14th January, 1784.
biects of Great Britain have encountered no other diffi-
culties or impediments than have the citizens of America in the
recovery of their debts. Such was the situation of the State, that
the Legislature conceived it necessary to pass laws tantamount to
the shutting the courts; and in this case, even British subjects who
had property among us were saved from ruin equally as those of
America.
Agreeably to the 5th article of the treaty, which Congress earnestly
recommended, this State, upon serious consideration, very liberally
complied with that recommendation, and restored most of the estates
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. V87
that were under confiscation. The property carried off by the
British, and belonging to the citizens of the State, far exceeds in
value the property which by our laws has been confiscated and sold ;
and no subsequent act of confiscation has taken place to the above
recommendation of Congress.
This State passed an act February 26, 1782, to prevent the
recovery of debts; and this being done prior to the treaty of peace,
and since continued from time to time in force, could not possibly
have in view to distress the British subjects.
The treaty of peace also required twelve months to be allowed
banished persons, and others attached to the British Government, to
settle. their affairs. This State has generously added three months
more to the twelve, and, in some instances, upon application, it has
been further extended by the Executive.
I have the honor to be, &c., WILLIAM MOULTRIE.
0
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, London, 16th June, 1787.
Sir,
Enclosed is a copy of the translation, from the Dutch into the
English, of the contract. entered into by me in behalf of the United
States, by virtue of their full power, for a million of guilders. This
measure became absolutely necessary to prevent the total ruin of
their credit, and the greatest injustice to their former creditors, who
are possessed of their obligations; for the failure in payment of the
interest, if but for one day, would, in Holland, cause those obligations
to depreciate in their value like paper money.
It is of great importance that this contract should eceive a
prompt ratification in Congress, and be retransmitted to Amsterdam
as soon as possible. Whether this loan may not enable Congress,
or their Board of ‘Treasury, to raise, the credit of their own paper at
‘home, in some degree, is for them to consider; and whether the
Board of ‘Treasury may not purchase produce to advantage, and
contract to have it delivered free of all risk and charges at Amster-
dam, and pay for it in bills of exchange, I know not. If they do
this, I should advise them to send one cargo to the house of
Willinks, and another to the house of Van Staphorst, instead of
788 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
consigning the whole jointly to both houses. This would not only
excite an emulation between the two houses to make the most
advantage for the interest of the United States, but would prevent
delays and other inconveniences which must arise from two houses
meeting to consult and dispose of a vessel and cargo,
As the brokers or money-lenders were pleased to insist upon my
signature to all the obligations, | was obliged to make a tour to
Amsterdam for that purpose, and happened to enter the city the day
after the first riots, which continued two nights while I was there.
The proceedings of the Prince of Orange have at last brought on a
crisis; and the English are holding out an appearance as if they
thought it possible they might be obliged to take a part in it. Jf no
foreign Power interferes, the patriotic party is so much stronger than
the other, that I think the Prince must give way in the principal
points in controversy. If any one foreign Power interferes, many
others must follow the example. This being well known, and
France and England weary of war for the present, I hope the Dutch
will be left alone to settle their own disputes.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
A Contract for a Loan of one million Guilders.—Translated from
the Dutch.—W ourr.
On the Ist day of June, in the year 1787, appeared before me,
Peter Galenus Van Hole, notary of Amsterdam, admitted by the
honorable Court of Holland,
His Excellency the Honorable John Adams, én wine: Minister
Plenipotentiary on the part of the United States of America, &c.,
&c., in quality, as especially empowered and authorized by the
abovementioned States of America, in Congress assembled, for and
in behalf of said States of America, to raise a loan with any person
or persons, States or companies, with subjoined assurance, in good
faith to ratify and fulfil all that shall be done in this respect by him,
honorable appearer, according to authentic copy and translation of
the original commission or power exhibited to me, notary, and
deposited in my custody in behalf of the joint money-lenders.
The honorable appearer residing in London, but being now in this
city.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 789
And the honorable appearer acknowledged himself in his aforesaid
quality, and thus, in the name and in behalf of the abovementioned
States of America, to be duly and lawfully indebted to and in behalf
of sundry persons or money-lenders, in all a sum of one million of
guilders, Dutch current money, arising from and on account of so
much ready money received by him, the honorable appearer, in his
aforesaid quality, to his perfect satisfaction, from the said money-
lenders, pursuant to the receipt hereafter mentioned to be signed by
the honorable appearer, under the authentic copies hereof; expressly
and formally disavowing the excuse of untold moneys.
And the honorable appearer promised, in his aforesaid quality, to
repay and reimburse, in this city, the said sum of one million of
guilders, free from all costs, charges, and damages, to the above-
mentioned money-lenders, or their assigns, at the expiration of fifteen
years after the Ist day of June, 1787, and that in the following
manner, to wit:
That the abovementioned principal shall remain fixed during the
space of ten years, and that, with the eleventh year, and thus on
the Ist day of June, 1798, a. fifth part, or two hundred thousand
guilders, of the said principal of one million, shall be redeemed ; and
in the same manner, from year to year, until the Ist day of June,
1802, inclusive ; so that the whole principal shall be redeemed and
discharged within the abovementioned space of fifteen years.
And that meanwhile, for said principal, at first for the whole, and.
afterwards for the residue, at the expiration of every year, interest
shall be paid at the rate of five per cent. in the year, commencing
the Ist day of June, 1787, and continue until the final accomplish-
ment, and that on coupons to be signed by, or on the part of, said
honorable appearer, in his aforesaid quality.
That the abovementioned redeeming shall be performed by draw-
ing, in the presence of a notary and witnesses, in this city, after the
expiration of the first-mentioned ten years, in such a manner that the
numbers of the bonds or obligations drawn shall be betimes made
known in the public papers.
That the payment of the interests, as also the redeeming of the
respective periods, shall be made at the counting-houses of the
hereafter mentioned gentlemen directors, or at such other places
within this city as shall likewise be advertised in the public papers.
That the directors of this negotiation shall be Messrs. Wilhem
790 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
and Jan Willink, and Nicholas and Jacob Van Staphorst, of this
city, merchants; who are, by these presents, thereto named and
appointed by the honorable appearer, in his aforesaid quality.
The honorable appearer promising and engaging, in the names
of his constituents, that the amount of the interests and of the
redeemings, to be made, from time to time, of the said principal,
shall be in due time remitted to the aforesaid gentlemen directors,
their heirs or successors, in good bills of exchange, American
products, or in ready money, without any abatement or deduction
whatsoever.
That this bond or obligation shall never be subject to any imposts
or taxes already laid, or in time to come to be laid, in the said
United States of America, or any of them, even in ease (which God
forbid) any war, hostilities, or divisions, should arise between the
aforesaid United States, or any of them, on the one side, and the
States of these lands on the other; and that the payment of
principal or interests of this bond or obligation, accordingly, can, in
nowise, nor under any pretext whatsoever, be hindered or delayed.
The honorable appearer, in his afofesaid quality, promising and
engaging, moreover, for and in the names of the said United States,
that there shall never be made, or entered into by them, or on their
parts, or any of them in particular, any convention or treaty, public
or private, at the making of peace or otherwise, by which the
validity and accomplishment of these presents might be prejudiced,
or whereby any thing contrary thereto might be stipulated ; but that,
without any exception, the contents hereof shall be kept and main-
tained in full force.
The honorable appearer, in his aforesaid quality, likewise promises,
engages, and binds himself, by these presents, that this engagement
shall be ratified and approved as soon as possible by said United
States in Congress assembled, and that an authentic copy, translation
of said ratification, with the original, shall be deposited in custody
of me, the said notary, to be there kept with said authentic copy,
translation of the commission or power of him, honorable appearer,
and the engrossed hereof, for the security of the money-lenders,
until the abovementioned principal and interests as aforesaid shall
be redeemed and paid off.
And there shall be made of this act, (as the honorable appearer —
in’ his ae eg quality consents,) above and besides the above-
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 791
mentioned engrossed, one thousand authentic copies, which shall
be of the same force and value, and have the same effect as the
engrossed one, under every one of which copies shall be placed a
receipt of one thousand guilders, Dutch current money, either on
name or in blank, at the choice of the money-lenders, to be signed
‘by him, honorable appearer, and which receipts shall be respectively
numbered from number one to one thousand, inclusive, and coun-
tersigned by the abovementioned gentlemen directors, and duly
recorded by me, the said notary, as a testimony that no more than
one thousand bonds or obligations are numbered by virtue of this
act.
All which authentic copies, with the receipts thereunder placed,
shall, at the redeeming of the principal, be restored by the bearers.
On failure of prompt payment, as well of the principal as of the
interests, at the appointed periods, the principal, or residue thereof,
may be demanded by the gentlemen directors, in behalf of the
money-lenders who shall be then interested therein; and the afore-
said constituents and committents of him, honorable appearer, shall,
in that case, be held and bound to redeem and discharge immediately,
in one sum, the remaining principal, with the interests and charges ;
for the accomplishment and performance of all the above written,
the honorable appearer binds in his aforesaid quality, and thus, in
the names and on the part of the abovementioned United States of
America, the said United States of America, jointly, and each of
them in particular, together with all their lands, chattels, revenues,
and products, and also the imposts and taxes already laid and raised
in the same, or in time to he laid and raised, and thus of all the
United States of America, jointly, and each of them in particular,
and for the whole. ,
He, the honorable appearer, renouncing in the names as above, for
that purpose expressly, beneficaum divisionts, as likewise de duobus
vel pluribus reis debendi, signifying a retribution of debts, and that
when two or more are indebted, each of them can satisfy with the
payment of his portion; the honorable appearer promising, in his
aforesaid quality, never to have recourse to the said or to any other
evasions whatsoever.
This being passed, (after translation into English was made hereof,
and which likewise is signed by the honorable appearer, and deposited
in the custody of me, the said notary,) within Ape ae aforesaid,
TO JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
in the presence of Martinus Gerardus Brondgeest and Jacob D.
Wolff, witnesses.
JOHN ADAMS,
M. G. BRONDGEEST,
J. D. WOLFF,
P. G. VAN HOLE, Notary.
Amsterdam, the lst day of June, anno 1787.
Faithfully translated from the Dutch.
JOANNES VERGEEL LAC SON,
Sworn Translator.
Office for Foreign Affairs, October 12, 1781.
The Sscratiry of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, to whom was referred a letter of the 16th June, 1787,
from Mr. Adams, with the contract therein mentioned, reports :
That this contract appears to him to have been made under such
circumstances as to render it expedient to ratify it; and, therefore,
in his opinion, it would be proper for Congress to ratily 1 it in the
usual form.
All which is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
JOHN JAY.
ae ()
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS, —
; New York, September 4, 1787.
Dear Sir,
Although J have nothing important to say or transmit, yet I cannot
let the packet sail without a few lines to you.
I wrote to you the 31st of July, by Major Sears, and have since
received yours of the 16th June, with the contract mentioned in it.
They are on the table of Congress, but the want of an adequate
representation of the States has prevented anything being yet done
on that, or, indeed, on any other subject, since their arrival.
Until the convention rises, I fear Congress will continue much in
its present state, and, of course, many things will be left undone
which ought to be done.
My report respecting your return lies in the state it was, although
nothing on my part has been omitted to obtain a decision on it. It
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 793
is expressed in terms which, so far as it respects yourself individually,
will, I flatter myself, strongly evince the respect and esteem with
which I am, &c.,
JOHN JAY.
P.S. A packet with newspapers accompanies this. Be pleased
to present my compliments to Colonel Smith.
Extract from the Secret Journals of Congress, August 1, 1787.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, to whom were referred two letters from the Honorable John
Adams, of the 24th and 27th January last, having reported that in
his opinion it would be proper to resolve, «That the Honorable J.
‘Adams, the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at the
‘Court of London, be permitted, agreeably to his request, to return
‘to America at any time after the 24th February, 1788; and that
‘his commission of Minister Plenipotentiary to their High Mighti-
‘nesses do also then determine ;” and the same being under consid-
eration, 2 motion was made by Mr. Dane, seconded by Mr. Clark,
to amend it by inserting immediately after “1788” the words
following, viz: ‘“‘ And that a person be appointed to take charge of
‘the affairs of the American legation at the Court of London, from
‘the expiration of the commission of the present Minister to the
‘arrival there of another Minister to succeed him, or until the further
‘order of Congress :”
On the question to agree to this amendment, the yeas and nays
being required by Mr. Dane, the question was lost.
The proposition of the Secretary for Foreign Affairs being divided
on the question to agree to the first part as far as “1788” inclusive,
the yeas and nays being required by Mr. Grayson, the question was
lost.
O
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
Office for Foreign Affairs, October 3, 1787
Dear Sir,
Still I am unable to give.you satisfactory information on the old
and interesting subject of your return. My report on it is not yet
decided upon by Congress, although some progress has been made in
it. My endeavors to forward it shall continue unremitted.
794 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
My last to you was on the 4th day of September, since which I
have not had the honor of receiving any letter from you. Your
letter of the 16th June last, with the paper it enclosed, were
immediately laid before Congress, and I hope soon to be enabled to
send you the ratification you mention; for I flatter mysélf there will
be no difficulty on that head.
I enclosed a copy of the Federal Government recommended by ,
the Convention, and which has already passed from Congress to the
States. What will be its fate in some of them is a little uncertain;
for, although generally approved, an opposition is to be expected,
and in some places will certainly be made to its adoption.
There are now but nine States represented in Congress, and unless
that number should continue there for some weeks, much businéss,
and particularly in the Department of Foreign Affairs, will remain
unfinished. ‘There is much to be done, and I am apprehensive that
much will be left too long undone; for the expectation of a new
Government will probably relax the attention and exertions of the
present. |
With great and sincere esteem and regard, I have the honor to
be, &c., JOHN JAY.
ee
Extract from the Secret Journals of Congress, September 24, 1787.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, to whom were referred two letters from the honorable John
Adams, of the 24th and 27th of January last, having reported that
the first of these letters gives occasion to several questions :
1. Shall Mr. Adams return after the expiration of his commission
to the Court of London, viz: the 24th February, 1788?
And having on this reported that he is persuaded Mr. Adams
really wishes and means to return next spring: Whereupon,
Resolved, That the Honorable John Adams, the Minister Plenipo-
tentiary of the United States at the Court of London, be permitted,
agreeably to his request, to return to America at any time after the
24th of February, in the year of our Lord 1788; and that his
commission of Minister Plenipotentiary to their High Mightinesses
do also then determine.
The Secretary having also reported the following resolution :
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 795
‘That Congress entertain a high sense of the services which Mr.
Adams has rendered to the United States, in the execution of the
various important trusts which they have from time to time
committed to him; and that the thanks of Congress be presented to
him for the patriotism, perseverance, integrity, and diligence with
which he has ably and faithfully served his country.
A motion was made by Mr. Henry Lee, seconded by Mr. Blount,
that the consideration of this be postponed. And on the question
for postponement, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. King, the
question was lost.
A division was then called for; and on the question to agree to
the first clause as far as the word “him,” inclusive, the yeas and
nays being required by Mr. King, the question was lost.
On the motion to agree to the second clause, the yeas and nays
being required by Mr. King, the question was lost.
The Secretary having further reported, that the second question
arising from the letter is, whether it will be expedient for the
United States to appoint another Minister to take the place of Mr.
Adams at the Court of London? And on this head, having given
his opinion that it will be expedient to appoint another, because there
do exist differences between the United States and the Court of
London, which cannot too soon be adjusted, which must become the
subject of occasional explanations and negotiations, and which, on
the part of the United States cannot be so well managed and
conducted as by means of an intelligent and discreet Minister on the
spot, your Secretary’s feelings strongly prompt him to retaliate the
neglect of Britain in not sending a Minister here ; but as he conceives
that such retaliation would eventually produce more inconveniences
than advantages, he thinks it had better be omitted; especially as
he is persuaded that this neglect will cease the moment that the
American Government, and the administration of it, shall be such as
to impress other nations with a degree of respect, which various
circumstances deny to Congress the means of imposing at present.
He thinks it should be the policy of the United States, at present,
to keep all things as smooth and easy, and to expose themselves to
as few embarrassments as possible, until their affairs shall be in such
a posture as to justify and support a more nervous style of conduct
and language. Britain disputes the eastern boundary of the United
States; she holds important posts and territories on the frontiers ; and
196 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
she complains that the treaty of peace has been violated by America.
These affairs are important, and the management of them requires
prudence and temper, especially considering how little the actual
state of our national affairs tends to repress the influence, either of
unfriendly dispositions and passions, or of that kind of policy which
the weakness of neighbors is very apt to suggest and promote; and
that, if Congress concur in the opinion that a Minister should succeed
Mr. Adams, a resolution like the following would perhaps be the
most proper, viz:
Whereas, divers important affairs still remain to be arranged and
adjusted between his Britannic Majesty and the United States, which,
on their part, cannot be so well conducted as by means of a Minister
Plenipotentiary at the Court of London: Therefore, |
Resolved, That a Minister Plenipotentiary to reside at that Court
be appointed; and that his commission take effect on the 25th day
of February, 1788, and continue in force for the space of three years
thereafter, unless sooner revoked.
On motion, |
Ordered, That the consideration of this part of the report be
postponed, |
_—_—O0O--—
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS,
Office for Foreign Affairs, October 16, 1787.
Dear Sir,
Since my last to you of the 3d instant, I have not been favored
with any letters from you. | )
I have at length the pleasure of transmitting to you, herewith
enclosed, an act of Congress complying with your request to return,
and expressing their sentiments of, and their thanks for, the important
services you have rendered your country. They have not yet come
to any decision respecting a Minister or a Chargé d’ Affaires at Lon-
don, nor directed me to convey to you any instructions relative to
any matters within the department of your legation.
You will also find, herewith enclosed, a certified copy of an act
of Congress of the 11th instant, for ratifying the contract you made
on the Ist of June last, together with the ratification in form.
One of your former letters mentioned the advances made by Mr.
Richard Harrison, at Cadiz, to Captain Erwin and his crew. I now
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 197
enclose a certified copy of an act of Congress of the 12th instant,
directing the Board of ‘Treasury to reimburse Mr. Harrison.
A set of the printed Journals of Congress, from the 10th May to
the 25th September last, together with a succession of newspapers
from the date of my last letter to this day, will also accompany this.
I am not without fears that one or perhaps more of your letters
have miscarried ; for none which have hitherto come to hand make
any mention of Colonel Smith’s arrival and reception in Portugal.
Perhaps you may have had reasons to postpone writing on those
subjects for the present; and I mention it only that you may know,
in case you have written, that your letters have not come to hand.
The public mind is much occupied by the plan of Federal Gov-
ernment recommended by the late convention. Many expect much
good from its institution, and others will oppose its adoption. The
majority seems at present to be in its favor. For my part, I think
it much better than the one we have, and therefore that we shall be
gainers by the exchange; especially as there is reason to hope that
experience and the good sense of the people will correct what may
prove to be inexpedient in it. A compact like this, which is the
result of accommodation and compromise, cannot be supposed to be
perfectly consonant to the wishes and opinions of any of the parties.
It corresponds a good deal with your favorite, and, I think, just prin-
ciples of government ; whereas the present Confederation seems to
have been formed without the least attention to them. Congress
have thought it best to pass a requisition for the expenses of the
ensuing year; but, like most of their former ones, it will produce but
little.
As Mr. Jefferson’s present commission will soon expire, Congress
have directed another to be prepared for him. What further
arrangements they may think proper to make relative to their foreign
affairs, is as yet undetermined. I am inclined to think that, until
the fate of the new Government is decided, no very important
measures to meliorate our national affairs will be attempted.
It is much to be wished that our friends the Dutch may be able
to escape the evils of war in a manner consistent with their true
interest and honor. I think it fortunate that neither France nor Britain
is ripe for hostilities, A little republic surrounded with powerful
monarchies has much to apprehend, as well from their politics as
their arms. It gives me pleasure to reflect that we have no such
798 | JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
neighbors, and that, if we will but think and act for ourselves, and
unite, we shall have nothing to fear. :
I wish it may be convenient to you to return in some vessel bound
to this port, that I may have the pleasure of takmg you by the hand,
and personally assuring you of the sincere esteem and regard with
which I am, &c.,
JOHN JAY.
‘A
Extract from the Secret Journals of Congress, October 5, 1787.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign
Affairs, to whom were referred two letters from the Honorable
John Adams of the 24th and 27th of January last, having popu.
as follows:
The first of these letters gives occasion to several questions.
1. Shall Mr. Adams return after the expiration of his commission
to the Court of London, viz: 24th February, 1788? Your Secre-
tary is persuaded that Mr. Adams really wishes and means to return
next spring, and therefore thinks it would be proper for Congress to
resolve that the Honorable John Adams, the Minister Plenipotentiary
of the United States at the Court of London, be permitted (agreeably
to request) to return to America at any time after the 24th February,
in the year of our Lord 1788, and that his commission of Minister
Plenipotentiary to their High Mightinesses do also then determine ;
And having also reported a resolution approving his conduct, and
giving him the thanks of Congress, both resolutions were agreed to,
as follows:
“‘ Resolved, That the Honorable John Adams, the Minister Pleni-
‘ potentiary of the United States at the Court of London, be permitted,
‘agreeably to his request, to return to America at any time after the
‘24th day of February, in the year of our Lord 1788; and that his
‘commission of Minister Plenipotentiary to their High Mightinesses
‘do also then determine.
“< Resolved, That Congress entertain a high sense of the services
‘which Mr. Adams has rendered to the United States, in the execu-
‘tion of the various important trusts which they have from time to
‘time committed to him; and that the thanks of Congress be
‘presented to him for the patriotism, perseverance, integrity, and
‘ re ished with which he has io and faithfully served oA
“country.”
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 799
The Secretary having further reported—
The second question arising from this letter is, whether it will be
expedient for the United States to appoint another Minister to take
the place of Mr. Adams at the Court of London? On this head,
the Secretary is of opinion that it will be expedient to appoint
another, because there do exist differences between the United States
and the Court of London which cannot too soon be adjusted, which
must become the subject of occasional explanations and negotiations,
and which, on the part of the United States, cannot be so well
managed and conducted as by means of an intelligent and discreet
Minister on the spot. Your Secretary’s feelings strongly prompt him
to retaliate the neglect of Britain in .not sending a Minister here ;
but as he conceives that such retaliation would eventually produce
more inconveniences than advantages, he thinks it had better be
omitted, especially as he is persuaded that this neglect will cease
the moment that the American Government, and the administration
of it, shall be such as to impress other nations with a degree of
respect which various circumstances deny to Congress the means of
imposing at present. He thinks it should be the policy of the United
States at present to keep all things as smooth and easy, and to
expose themselves to as few embarrassments as possible, until their
affairs shall be in such a posture as to justify and support a more
nervous style of conduct and language. Britain disputes the eastern
boundary of the United States; she holds important posts and
territories on the frontiers; and she complains that the treaty of
peace has been violated by America. ‘These affairs are important,
and the management of them requires prudence and temper, especially
considering how little the actual state of our national affairs tends to
repress the influence either of unfriendly dispositions and passions, or
of that kind of policy which the weakness of neighbors is very apt to
suggest and promote. If Congress should concur in the opinion that
a Minister to succeed Mr. Adams should be appointed, a resolution
like the following would perhaps be the most proper:
«Whereas, divers important affairs still remain to be arranged
‘and adjusted between his Britannic Majesty and the United States,
‘which, on their part, cannot be so well conducted as by means of
¢a Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of London: Therefore,
«< Resolved, That a Minister Plenipotentiary, to reside at that
‘Court, be appointed; and that his commission take effect on the
es
800 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
°25th day of February, 1788, and continue in force for the space of
‘three years thereafter, unless sooner revoked.”’
Your Secretary conceives it would be best that this Minister
should be appointed so early as that he might have time to reach
London by the Ist of February, in order that he may have an
opportunity of receiving information from Mr. Adams respecting
characters and affairs; and that the progress of the business of the
legation may not be stopped by the expiration of Mr. .Adams’s
commission.
On the question,
‘‘ Resolved, That this part of the report be postponed.” —
The Secretary having proceeded in his report—
But if Congress should either not incline to appoint another
Minister, or should think proper to postpone it so long as that he
will not probably be in London in February, then he thinks it would
be right to consider another question arising from the letter, viz:
Whether it would be expedient to constitute Colonel Smith Chargé
d’ Affaires? On this head your Secretary finds himself embarrassed.
For, on the one hand, he esteems Colonel Smith as a gentleman of
acknowledged merit, who has uniformly deserved well of his country ;
and on the other, the light im which the duties of his office have
hitherto been viewed, gives the color of propriety only to his
reporting on the expediency of appointments, and not on the persons
most proper to be appointed. And as the letter referred to him,
and now under consideration, does nevertheless raise the question
relative to the person as well as the place, he thinks it proper to
make these remarks, lest, if not adverted to, his emitting to report
on the former as well as the latter might be ascribed to other than
the true reasons. He thinks that if, when, Mr. Adams quits the
affairs of the legation, they are not to pass immediately into the
hands of a successor, there can be little doubt of the expediency of
appomting a proper person to take charge of them. Im that case,
therefore, it would, in his opinion, be proper to resolve that a person
be appointed to take charge of the affairs of the American legation
at the Court of London, from the expiration of the commission of
the present Minister to the arrival there of another Minister to
succeed him, or until the further order of Congress.
On this part of the report a question was taken to agree thereto,
and was lost.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. S01
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
2 Office for Foreign Affairs, 3d November, 1787.
Dear Sir,
{ had the honor of writing to you on the 16th day of last month,
and have now that of transmitting to you, herewith enclosed, a
duplicate of the ratification of your late contract, together with a
copy of two acts of Congress, viz: one of the 18th day of July,
authorizing Mr. Jefferson to redeem our captives at Algiers; and
the other, of the 12th day of October, appropriating the residue of
the eighty thousand dollars, formerly destined for treaties with the
Barbary Powers, as a fund for such redemption.
The newspapers, subsequent to the date of my last, will accompany
this.
With great and sincere esteem, &c., JOHN JAY.
NE
Extract from the Journals of Congress, October 11, 1787.
The ratification of the above contract by the United States in
Congress assembled, is in the words following :
Be it remembered that the within contract or engagement entered
into by the Honorable John Adams, Minister Plenipotentiary of the
United States of America to their High Mightinesses the Lords the
States General of the United Netherlands, in behalf of the said
States, with sundry money-lenders, for a loan of one million of
guilders, Dutch current money, dated at Amsterdam, the Ist day of
June, 1787, hath been read in Congress, approved and ratified, and
declared obligatory on the United States of America.
Done in the City Hall, in the city of New York, by the United
States in Congress assembled, this 11th day of October, in the year
of our Lord 1787, and in the twelfth year of our sovereignty and
independence.
=:
Extract from the Secret Journals of Congress, October 12, 1787.
On a report of the Board of Treasury, in consequence of an act of
18th July,
Resolved, That the balance of the appropriation for the Barbary
treaties, of the 14th February, 1785, not hitherto applied to that
Vou. IL.—51
- 802 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
object, be, and it is hereby, constituted a fund for redeeming the
American captives now at Algiers; and that the same be for this
purpose subject to the direction of the Minister of the United States
at the Court of Versailles.
That the acts of Congress of the 14th February, 1785, and such
part of the resolves of the 18th July, 1787, as direct provision to
be made for the above object, be, and they are hereby, repealed.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, London, September 10, 1787.
Dear Sir,
Enclosed is a letter from the Portuguese Minister to me of the
7th of September, and my answer of this day, the 10th.
This is so pointed a proposition that Congress will undoubtedly
send an answer either in the affirmative or negative. ‘The regard of
sovereigns to one another renders this indispensable; and I am not
able to see how a compliance with so civil a request can well be
avoided. Congress may agree to the proposition, and her Majesty
will appoint her Minister; and whether the American Minister is
soon appointed or not, the forms and decencies will be preserved.
If it were only on account of the Algerines to watch their motions,
and concert measures against them, I should think it prudent for the
United States to have a Minister at Lisbon.
Colonel Smith will write you an account of his journey and
voyage, and of the termination of his commission, according to his
wishes and to his satisfaction. Congress, I hope too, will be
satisfied. But if a regular Minister had been sent upon this service,
and ordered to return as soon as he had accomplished it, her
Majesty would probably have sent a Minister to New York without
further delay. I ought not to conclude without observing that these
missions by deputation are unknown to Courts and Ministers, and to
the law of nations; and if a legal question should ever be made
concerning them, the United States will infallibly be dishonored by
a formal decision against them. In Mr. Barclay’s case, had the
decision of the Parliament of Bordeaux been appealed to from Court,
it must have been reversed. ‘The character of Ambassadors is held —
sacred, and their prerogatives very high, both by the law of nations
ge”
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 803
and the ceremonials of all courts and sovereigns; and there is great
reason to fear that the citizens of America will have cause for severe
repentance if they make too light of it. Indulgences, founded on the
supposition of our inexperience, or, to use a more intelligible word,
our ignorance, cannot be expected to continue long. Colonel Smith
met with a condescension that astonished all the foreign Ministers ;
and Mr. Barclay with a good fortune, of which it is very dangerous
to try another experiment.
With great regard, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM THE CHEVALIER DEL PINTO TO JOHN ADAMS.
[ Translation. ]
London, September 7, 1787.
Sir,
I have received orders from my Court to inform you that, not-
withstanding no answer has hitherto been made to the project of a
commercial treaty which we conferred about in London, nevertheless,
sir, the inclinations of her Most Faithful Majesty are not less ardent,
nor less disposed to conclude this same treaty with the United States
of America, on suitable terms and conditions. And I am, moreover,
directed to add, sir, that my Court will not delay to give you the
most convincing and immediate proofs thereof.
I am desired, at the same time, to observe to you that it would
be very useful and suitable to appoint Ministers as soon as possible
on the part of the two Powers; and my Court expressly orders me
to endeavor to arrange this important point with you, sir, and to
agree definitively on the character these Ministers are to bear in their
missions. It is essential to inform you, on this head, that it will be
necessary to fix (at least) on the title of Resident Minister, on
account of reception at the Court of Lisbon, which is never granted
either to simple agents or to Consuls General; and, as soon as this
point shall be fixed, I have orders to assure you, sir, that the Court
of Lisbon will lose no time to appoint and send to America the
person that shall be chosen to reside with the Congress of the United
States.
I have the honor of being, &c.,
LE CHEV. DEL PINTO.
S04 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO THE PORTUGUESE MINISTER.
Grosvenor Square, September 10, 1787.
Sr,
I have received the letter which you did me the honor to write
me on the 7th of this month, and have observed, with great satisfac-
tion, the assurances of her Most Faithful Majesty’s desire to conclude
with the United States of America a treaty of commerce upon
convenient conditions.
I am very well convinced, sir, of the utility and convenience which
would be found in the nomination of Ministers between the two
Powers; and if it depended upon me, I flatter myself there would be
no difficulty in concerting with your Excellency, both that important
point and the character those Ministers should bear in their missions.
But as I have neither instructions nor authority from my sovereign
to justify me in entering into such negotiations, I can only transmit
to Congress copies of your Excellency’s letter, and of my answer.
This I shall have the honor to do the first opportunity. ‘The earnest
desire of the citizens of the United States of America to. show their
respect for her Most Faithful Majesty, and to live in perfect friend-
ship with all her Majesty’s dominions, will, undoubtedly, induce
Congress to transmit, as soon as possible, their answer to her Majesty’ S
friendly proposition.
I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, London, September 22, 1787.
Dear Sir,
Yesterday I was honored with yours of the 31st of J aly, and the
instructions of Congress, and other papers enumerated in it. This
packet comes at a very fortunate moment; and although there is no
act of the great States of Virginia and South Carolina, in consequence
of the circular letter of Congress of the 13th of April, there are pro-
ceedings of so many others as to furnish something solid to say to
this Court. The injunctions of Congress shall be obeyed, and there
is some reason to believe that the British Ministry will listen at this
time with attention. This country is now in a critical situation.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 805
The Courts of London and Berlin have. been advised by their Min-
isters at the Hague to hold their heads very high, and speak in a
high tone in favor of the Prince and Princess of Orange, in order to
encourage their friends and intimidate the opposition to them, in full
confidence that the internal state of politics and finances in France
will not permit the Court of Versailles to interfere. In this sanguine
expectation they may possibly be disappointed, and, by their pre-
cipitate proceedings, find themselves involved in a war they never
intended. The probability, if not certainty, of a war between the
three Empires, and the romantic quarrel to revenge an irreverence
to a Princess, (as silly a tale as the Trojan war on account of Helen,)
have opened so serious a prospect to this nation, that there is room
to hope that the Ministry will be more attentive and more equitable
towards America. ‘The French Court are sending out the Count de
Moustier as Minister to Congress. You will have no difficulty to
believe that this movement has been dictated by wisdom and prudent
foresight. If the British Cabinet have equal circumspection, they
will see the same necessity ; but no dependence can be placed upon
the judgment of the present Cabinet. ‘The United States of America
will take the coolest precautions, while they fulfil their engagements
with honor, to maintain their neutrality inviolate. If a general and
lasting war in Europe should ensue, and America preserve her peace,
she will be, at the close of it, the first country in the world, in point
of affluence and prosperity, if not in real power. In case of a war,
my situation here will be extremely delicate. ‘The United States
and their Ministers stand in certain relations to France and Holland,
from whence result duties which must, in all events, be fulfilled.
There are other duties towards England: to reconcile these among
all the jarring interests and inflamed passions in a state of war, will
be somewhat difficult; but I flatter myself it may be done for the
few months that remain before the expiration of my commission.
With the truest esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
SSSI $ALE A
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
London, September 22, 1787.
Dear Sir,
There was yesterday, in the river, an impress of seamen, and
several American vessels had their men taken from them. An
806 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
application was made to me this morning, by a master of a ship from
New York, and I instantly wrote the enclosed letter to Lord Caer-
marthen, and went in person to Whitehall to deliver it. His Lordship
read the letter, and the representation to me from the captain; and,
after some conversation on the subject, assured me that he would
take measures to have the men restored, and precautions against
such mistakes in future. This opportunity was a favorable one for
some communication of sentiments upon the present posture of affairs,
and his Lordship was invited to talk upon the subject by several
questions which were proposed to him. His Lordship’s answers
were civil enough. ‘ He hoped there would not be war; he should
be very sorry for a war,” &c., &c. But nothing was to be learned
from him, if he knew anything; one fact, indeed, his Lordship
assured me of, viz: that war is in truth declared by the Porte against
Russia; that the Count de Montmorin had sent him an extract of
a despatch of Monsieur de Choiseul, the French Ambassador at
Constantinople, containing an account of it; and that the French
Ministry had done him the justice to believe that the English Ambas-
sador and Ministry had done nothing to excite this declaration. His
Lordship’s last despatches from Constantinople assured him of every
appearance of peace; so that the declaration must have been some
sudden emotion of the Mufti or Janissaries, &c. It is easy to believe
that the English did not excite the Turks to declare, for that step
excuses France from any obligation to aid the Porte.
The present conjuncture appears the most critical and important
in Europe of any that has ever happened in our times. Mankind
seems impatient under the yoke of servitude that has been imposed
upon them, and disposed to compel their governors to make the
burden lighter. But the wars that now threaten have no tendency
that way, or but a remote one; and what dependence can be placed
upon the common people in any part of Europe?
Upon my return home, another American master of a vessel from
Alexandria, in Virginia, came with his complaint that the press-gang
had taken all his men. I will demand every man, as fast as I shall
be informed of his being pressed ; but I am much afraid of pretences,
excuses, &c., &c. 1 expect to hear that one sailor is Irish, another
Scotch, and a third English. All in my power, however, shall be
done; and you shall be informed of the result.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 807
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO LORD CAERMARTHEN.
Grosvenor Square, September 22, 1787.
My Lord,
I do myself the honor to enclose to your Lordship a letter this
moment received from the master of a vessel belonging to the United
States of America. His name is John Douglas, commander of the
ship Four Friends, American built, and the property of Andrew Van
Tuyl, merchant of New York. He informs me that as two of his
people were going on shore for provisions for the day, they were
seized by the press-gang, and forced on board his Majesty’s brig
Despatch then lying at Execution dock; that the gang then came
on board his vessel, and attempted to open his hatches, when his
chief mate opposed them, and informed the officers that they were
American citizens. That although the officers of the press-gang
then went away, there is reason to believe that another disagreeable
visit will be made before morning, which will distress him exceedingly
as his ship is completed for sea and bound for New York.
The names of the two men pressed are Joseph Cowley, a native
of the city of New York; the other is a negro man, called Primus,
the property of Mr. Andrew Van Tuyl, merchant of New York, but
a native of the city.
It is my duty, my Lord, to make this representation to his
Majesty’s Ministers, and to request that orders may be given for the
restoration of these men to the master of their vessel; and further,
to propose to your Lordship’s consideration whether it be not expe-
dient that some general order should be given upon this occasion to
the officers of his Majesty’s navy, to give a particular attention to
American vessels and seamen, lest perplexities and inconveniences
of this kind should be multiplied.
With great respect, &c., _ JOHN ADAMS.
ann } Se
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
London, September 23, 1787. .
Dear Sir,
The accounts from Holland and France are very discouraging ;
so much so, that it would be imprudent to enter into a detail of evils
that are inevitable. The Republic of Holland is in the utmost
808 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
danger of being extinct; and if the old forms are hereafter preserved,
the Prince will be so much master in reality, that the friends of
liberty must be very unhappy, and live in continual disgrace and
danger. ‘The English are arming with all the affectation of spirit
and firmness, and France neither moves nor negotiates with the least
appearance of fortitude or understanding. 'To do the former justice,
they have had the prudence to send, both to Versailles and the
Hague, men of sense and business. England will rise in consider-
ation and power, and France will fall in the eyes of all Europe.
‘Phis will make the former overbearing, and her people insolent ; and
France will soon, in. my poor opinion at least, be obliged to go to
war, or sink very low. The United States of America, instead of
being more courted by the English, as they would probably be in
case of a war, will rather be more neglected—perhaps treated cava-
lierly. It is easy to see, however, that the peace cannot continue
long between the two European nations; the philosophical visions of
perpetual peace, and the religious reveries of a near approach of the
millennium, in which all nations are to turn the weapons of war into ~
unplements of husbandry, will, in a few years, be dissipated. The
armaments now making in England will disarrange Mr. Pitt’s boasted
plans of economy ; and, in short, there is every appearance that the
peace of Europe will be for years but an armed truce. The surplus
of revenue, so ostentatiously displayed to the public, is but an artful
deception. Oh, fortunate Americans! if you did but know your own
felicity, instead of trampling on the laws, the rights, the generous
plans of power delivered down from your remote forefathers, you
should cherish and fortify those noble institutions with filial and reli-
gious reverence. Instead of envying the rights of others, every
American citizen has cause to rejoice in his own. Instead of vio-
lating the security of property, it should be considered as sacred as
the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.” Instead of trampling
on private honor and public justice, every one who attempts it should
be considered as an impious parricide, who seeks to destroy his own
liberty and that of his neighbors. What would have become of
American liberty, if there had not been more faith, honor, and justice
in the minds of their common citizens, than are found in the common
people in Europe? Do we see in the Austrian Netherlands, in the
United Netherlands, or even in the Parliaments in France, that
confidence in one another, and in the common people, which enabled
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 809
the people of the United States to go through a revolution? Where
is the difference? It is a want of honesty; and if the common
people in America lose their integrity, they will soon set up tyrants
of their own, or court a foreign one. Laws alone, and those political
institutions which are the guardians of them, and a sacred administra-
tion of justice, can preserve honor, virtue, and integrity in the minds
of the people.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, London, October 9, 1787.
Dear Sir,
France appears at this moment in the light of a simple people,
seriously disposed to peace, benevolence, and humanity; and,
adjudging of the dispositions of others by her own, she seems, by
her late glory and. prosperity, to have been soothed into a security
and tranquillity, out of which it is scarce possible to awaken her.
England, on the other hand, appears like a nation smarting under
her wounds, but covering her designs with a veil of deep dissimu-
lation, while she was exerting her utmost craft to obtain an oppor-
tunity of gratifying her resentment. We need not look farther for
the cause of the present strange appearances than the diplomatic
arrangements of the two nations. Never was there a time when
able and attentive men were so necessary for France at the Courts
of London and the Hague, as at the late peace. ‘The Count de
Vergennes should have sent to both places men of the most enlarged
capacities and diligent attention to the whole system of Europe.
The Marquis de Verac is as honest a man, and as well intended, as
he could have found; but I believe every man who knows him will
agree with me, that a gentleman more unqualified for his mission
could not have been found. The Comte de Adhemar has an
elegant figure, handsome face, and is a favorite of the ladies; but,
whether from his unfortunate paralytic stroke, or from his having no
turn for the business of State, he appears to have been inattentive,
not only to the affairs of Europe in general, but to those of England
and Holland. The Spanish Minister has been extremely attentive
to make his court to the royal family and the Minister here, and
810 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
has been so successful as to obtain the King’s request that he might
be promoted to the rank of a Marquis at home, and to that of
Ambassador here; but, to speak freely to you as I ought, he does
not appear to me to know or care much about the system of Europe.
The French Chargé, too, who is an ingenious man, and well behaved,
has had the good fortune to recommend himself to this Court, so as to
be promoted to the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary at their instance.
I have ever been upon good terms with all these gentlemen, and
have no, personal dislike to any of them; but I cannot but see and
lament the causes which appear to have contributed to a catastrophe
so outrageous to the rights of mankind, and so humiliating to the
best friends we have or ever had in France, Holland, and Spain.
I must confess that favoritism at the Court where he resides, in an
Ambassador of any denomination, is, in my opinion, a fatal objection
against him; because I know it to be impossible to be obtained ©
without the most criminal simulation, on one hand, or negligence, or
something worse, of the interests of his constituents, on the other.
There is a great difference between being esteemed and beloved—
between being upon decent, civil, and respectable terms, and being
taken into the arms and embraced. Whenever and wherever this
is seen in negotiations, something may justly be suspected to be
amiss. Unfortunately, too, Monsieur de St. Priest, who has been
long in Constantinople, and had a great reputation for ability and
success In former negotiations, was recalled at a most critical time.
England, on the contrary, appears to have been meditating a blow,
even when the nation were generally expecting the commencement
of the millennium from the operation of the commercial treaty. She
has sent her shrewdest men to Versailles and the Hague. She
appears to have been intriguing at Constantinople as well as in
South America. She has been forming a league in Germany, and
maintaining her navy on a formidable footing. France may be as
indifferent as she will about Holland, but that will not secure her
peace. The English cannot see without inward rage and fury—I
might say, without terror and dismay—the works at Cherbourg;
and let Holland’s fate be what it will, let the Turks be disposed of
as you please, in my opinion, France must demolish Cherbourg,
and Spain set South America at liberty, or there will be war. ‘The
passions of this nation are at present in a flame; I hear such a
language even in the streets, and in booksellers’ shops, (the only
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 811
scenes of popular politics into which I think it prudent to venture,)
that I am confident a war is not far off. The rage of this nation
amazes me; with a gulf and a precipice of public ruin before their
eyes, they are ready to take the leap with joy. The most interesting
question for us is, whether we shall be neutral? This is undoubtedly
our wisdom, and Congress and the States will take the most decided
measures to prevent our people from giving any provocation. They
will no doubt forbid, in the most effectual manner, any of their
citizens from serving on board the ships of either nation, much less
from taking commissions and committing depredations. But will
all this preserve our neutrality? It is my duty to be explicit upon
this occasion, and to say, that although the British Government may
pretend, and even sincerely endeavor, to avoid a quarrel with the
United States, at the commencement of the war, yet, if they should
obtain any signal successes at first, (which it is not improbable they
may,) there will arise such a spirit of domination and insolence in
the nation as will stimulate hostilities against us. It is my duty,
therefore, to advise that the best preparations for our own defence
_ and security be made that are in our power..
The detail of affairs in Holland is too dismal to be repeated. The
newspapers contain accounts melancholy enough. ‘The plebeians
and the monarch are too closely connected in Holland to be
overcome by the patrician aristocracy, and no rational plan of a
reformation of their Government has been concerted by the people
or their leaders.
It is a repetition of the catastrophe of all ill constituted Republics,
and is a living warning to our United States.
With great regard, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
London, October 25, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I do myself the honor to enclose copies of Mr. Fagel’s letter to me
of the 18th, and of my answer of this day, and of my letter to Mr.
Dumas of this day.
I am sorry for his embarrassed situation, but know not the cause
of it but by conjecture. One thing I know, that the United States
812 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
may very easily be involved in a war by indiscreet intimacies
between their servants and foreign Powers and national parties.
Congress have but two ways to take upon this occasion—either to
dismiss Mr. Dumas, at the requisition of the States General, or
to write a letter, or order one to be written, desiring their High
Mightinesses to articulate the particulars of their exceptions and
displeasure against Dumas. ‘This may gain time, and save Mr.
Dumas for so much time as will arrange all things decidedly in
Holland. |
With great regard, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
[A MEMORIAL. |
To their High Mightinesses the Lords the States’ General of the
United Provinces of the Low Countries.
High and Mighty Lords,
The subscriber, Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States
of America, has the honor to acquaint your High Mightinesses that
Congress, on the 24th day of July last, resolved that Mr. Dumas be
permitted to occupy and reside in the house of the United States at
the Hague, until a Minister of the United States shall arrive there,
or until the further order of Congress; and that Mr. Adams (the
subscriber) do direct such repairs to be made at the expense of the
United States to the said house, as may be really necessary to render
it tenantable. That the subscriber has accordingly directed Messieurs
Wilhem & Jan Willinks, Nicholas & Jacob Van Staphorst, bankers
of the United States at Amsterdam, together with Mr. Dumas, to
make the necessary reparations of the house, according to the
intentions and order of Congress.
The subscriber has, therefore, the honor to request of your High
Mightinesses all that friendly countenance and assistance to Messrs.
Dumas, Willinks, and Van Staphorsts, which they may reasonably
request, and as Congress, in similar cases, would be always
cheerfully willing to render to any persons in America employed in
services for your High Mightinesses.
Done this Ist day of October, 1787. JOHN ADAMS.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 813
FROM H. FAGEL TO JOHN ADAMS.
{ Translation. |
Hague, October 18, 1787.
Sir,
I have had the honor of receiving duly your letter of the Ist
instant, in which you have sent a memorial to their High Mighti-
nesses on the subject of Mr. Dumas’s situation. ‘This memorial
not being in French, as is the custom, but in English, could not be
taken into formal deliberation; but as it has, nevertheless, been
communicated to their High Mightinesses by me, I am authorized to
write you, in answer, that by a note transmitted to me by said
Dumas, dated the 28th of last month, and presented by me to their
High Mightinesses the Lords Deputies of the Provinces of Holland
and West Friesland, they have already been prayed to have an eye
to the security of his person; that their High Mightinesses were
unwilling that the said Dumas should be more embarrassed than any
of their own inhabitants ; but that they cannot conceal from you, sir,
that the said Dumas little merits their protection, since he has
conducted himself in a manner which, in many respects, is altogether
improper. It is for this reason that, in the name of ther High
Mightinesses, I request you, sir, (a thing which is also expected from
your discretion,) that you will employ him no longer here, but that
you will appoint another person for Chargé d’Affaires here, during
your absence.
I acquit myself of these orders, in having the honor to be, &c.,
H. FAGEL.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO H. FAGEL.
London, October 25, 1787.
Sir,
I have received the letter you did me the honor to write me on the
18th October instant, and am extremely sorry to learn that the
conduct of Mr. Dumas has not the approbation of their High Mighti-
nesses.
As Mr. Dumas has not, that I recollect, been employed in any
business by me since my residence in England, and as he has neither
given me any account of his proceeding, nor transmitted his despatches
to Congress through my hands, I am ignorant of the particulars of his
conduct which are not approved by their High Mightinesses.
814 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Ihave had so large experience of the friendship of their High
Mightinesses to the United States of America, my sovereign, and of
their candor and goodness towards myself, that I should not hesitate
to comply with whatever I should know to be their inclination in
any thing within my power, and consistent with my honor and my
duty ; but as all the authority by which Mr. Dumas acts under the
United States is derived directly from Congress, and not from me,
and as he carries on his correspondence with that august body by
means of their Ministers at New York, and not with me, it is not in
my power to do more at this time, in compliance with the requisition
of their High Mightinesses signified to me in your letter, than to
transmit a copy of it to Congress, which shall be done by the earliest
opportunity.
With great regard, &c., ‘ JOHN ADAMS.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO MR. DUMAS.
London, October 25, 1787.
Sir,
I have received your letter of the 19th, and will transmit the
enclosed to Mr. Jay ; but as you have for these two years transmitted
your despatches through other channels, it is most advisable you
should continue the same course.
Enclosed is a copy of a letter from Mr. Secretary Fagel, of the
18th of this month, in answer to my memorial written at your desire,
and a copy of my answer of this day. The times are extremely
critical, and American Ministers ought to be extremely cautious, (as
you know ever was my maxim and principle, and ought now to be
more so than ever,) to keep American affairs perfectly distinct and
independent of those of all other nations, lest our country should be
involved in calamities for causes that are not her own.
With much esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
i>
e Grosvenor i oe November 15, 1787.
Dear Sir,
The attack upon Mr. Dumas is but a part of that system of
intimidation that the present triumphant party in Holland is pursuing,
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 815
and, if one were to conjecture, it would be plausible to suppose that
sir James Harris was the instigator of it.
The English Court and nation, with all their affected contempt
and rude execrations of the Dutch, have at the bottom a very great
opinion of the importance of that power in the balance between
England and the house of Bourbon. Hints have been several times
thrown out in the English papers of the partiality of the American
Minister at the Hague to France; and, as Mr. Dumas was supposed
to be under my direction, his motions have been imputed to me.
Mr. Dumas has a pension from France, reversible to his daughter.
It would be better for Congress to pay this pension, at the expense
of the United States, or to dismiss him from their service, (paying
him, however, during his life, his annual allowance,) than to have
a person in their service in the pay of two Powers at once. If an
English Ambassador or Chargé d’Affaires, or agent, at the Hague,
should receive from France a pension for opposing the interests of
the United States, Congress would have some cause to be uneasy.
I am not at all surprised, therefore, at the attack upon Mr. Dumas ;
yet I should be very sorry if it should prevail against him, and,
therefore, it is to be hoped that Congress will take time to deliberate
upon the subject. As there has been no formal deliberation of their
High Mightinesses upon my memorial, and as the correspondence
has been hitherto only between Mr. Fagel and me, although their
High Mightinesses have been acquainted with it, and have directed
it on the part of Mr. Fagel, yet Congress are not obliged formally
to answer it. Sovereign to Sovereign, and Minister to Minister, is
the diplomatic maxim. Congress, therefore, may take as long time
as they please to deliberate ; and it is hoped they will take so much
that the present passions may cool, and the present scene be shifted.
After another year, or six or nine months, circumstances may be
very different.
If we were to judge by the tone of arrogance at present in Holland,
we should conclude that they would infallibly blow up a war between
England and France, and join the former. But this, to me at least,
is very doubtful.
Notwithstanding the complaint against Mr. Dumas, and the recall
of Mr. Van Berckel, if that should be agreed to, you will not find
any hostile disposition towards the United States. If France remains
quiet, (as she ought at present, for it is now too late for her to move,)
816 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
all nations and parties will sit down satisfied with the restoration of
the Stadtholder for some years, and there will be no formal rupture
with France or America. England has blustered, and France has
slept; but the former has at heart no inclination for war. Fifty
millions of debt added to the present would produce a tornado in this
country, the consequences of which cannot be computed. England,
Holland, and Russia will be very glad to remain as they are, and
France shows no disposition to disturb them.
As I take all the late transactions to have been merely a system of
intimidation, you will not hear of those rigorous prosecutions and
cruel punishments of the Patriots in Holland, which are held out
in terror. Neutrality, eternal neutrality, will still be the passion
and politics in the United Provinces, both of Stadtholderians and
Patriots. ‘There are no warlike characters among them, and the
present dominant party will be as anxious as their adversaries to
avoid every provocation to a war, either with France or England.
William the Vth is neither the politician nor the warrior that William
the [lid was. An appearance of spirit, and even of arrogance, has
been assumed in the Netherlands as well as in England, merely to
overawe, and upon the secret presumption that they should not be
forced into a war in earnest. This policy has succeeded so well that
I cannot help suspecting there was better ground for it than the
world in general were acquainted with. I know that the patriots in
Holland (some of them at least) as long ago as Mr. Rayneval made
his curious journey into that country, suspected that their ideas of
liberty were not to be supported, and accordingly thought very
seriously of emigrating to America. I do not mean, however, by
this the capital characters. Money is, however, so much better
understood, and more beloved than liberty, that you will not hear of
many emigrants. ‘The friends of France affect to speak slightly of
Holland at present, and of her weight in the scale. This is
necessary to excuse their inattention and blunders on the late
occasion ; but France never committed a greater error in policy than
she has done by her unskilful negotiations at Berlin, the Hague, and
London since the peace. If Holland should be foreed into a
revocation of her Connexions with England, America, in my opinion,
will have reason to regret it; for I have not a doubt that England,
Holland, and Prussia would get the better in a war against the house
of Bourbon, and America will be obliged to join the latter in self-
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 817
defence; for, after having humbled France, England would not
scruple to attack the United States. That our country may act
with dignity in all events; that she may not be obliged to join in
any war without the clearest conviction of the justice of the cause,
and her own honor and real interest, it is indispensably necessary
that she should act the part in Holland of perfect independence and
honest impartiality between the different courts and nations who are
now struggling for her friendship, and who are all at present our
friends. ‘This has ever appeared to me so clear and obvious, that |
never could approve the conduct of M. Dumas or Messieurs Van
Staphorst, in taking so decided parts in favor of France, and against
the Stadtholder, although I fully believe they followed the judgments
of their understandings, and the inclinations of their hearts with
integrity and honor.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM LORD CAERMARTHEN, ENCLOSING COPIES OF A DECLARA-~
TION AND COUNTER-DECLARATION.
Lorp CarrmarTHEN presents his compliments to Mr. Adams,
and has the honor to transmit to him, herewith, printed copies of a
declaration and counter-declaration, signed at Versailles the 27th
instant by his Excellency the Duke of Dorset, and Mr. Eden, on
the part of his Majesty, and by Count Montmorin, on the part of his
Most Christian Majesty ; by which Lord Caermarthen has the satis-
faction to communicate to Mr. Adams the earliest information of the
determination of the two Courts to discontinue the armaments and
warlike preparations on each side.*
Whitehall, October 30, 1787.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, November 30, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I do myself the honor to enclose the King’s speech at the opening
of Parliament, as it has been transmitted to me from the Marquis of
* For the Declaration and counter-Declaration, see pp. 107-108.
Vou. I.—52
818 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Caermarthen ; and the Morning Chronicle of the 28th, which con-
tains—not the debates, for there were none—but the panegyrics
upon it.
I have long seen, sir, in silent astonishment and grief, the negli-
gent and imprudent conduct of a deceased French Minister of
Foreign Affairs, in his negotiations and intercourse in Holland, the
despicable history of a Maillebois, the unmeaning or ill-meaning
intrigues of: Rayneval, the Rhingrave, not to mention others equally
disgusting, at Paris, with a Minister whom you know. When I first
knew or suspected that the Dutch patriots and their confidential
agents had surrendered themselves to female intrigues, I had a thou-
* sand apprehensions that they would finally meet with that ruin which
you perfectly well know would have been the devoted fate of the
United States if they had submitted to Mr. Deane’s system, of de
Maillebois and de Coudray’s, ten years ago. Let me entreat gen-
tlemen to compare what remains upon the records or files of Congress
at that period, with what happened before and at the peace, with
what has taken place in Holland, and thank Heaven for their provi-
dential escapes.
- ‘There are many worthy characters, now exiles from Holland and
refugees in Germany, the Austrian Netherlands, and France, for
whom I have many years entertained an esteem and affection, whose
melancholy situation is truly deplorable. ‘These, however, have
ever appeared to me to be too inattentive to the sense of the
common people in their own country, too little acquainted with the
nature of government, and too confidently dependant on the support
of France. |
The orations in Parliament upon the speech enclosed are, how-
ever, more extraordinary than any thing that has occurred.
The interposition of Prussia in the affairs of Holland cannot be
justified upon the principles of the law of nations; and, if truth and
justice are not lost out of the world, will be marked by the impartial,
both in the present and future ages, with severe censure. But the
speeches of Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt appear to me to have set every
tie that can bind mankind, every principle which ought to be held
sacred, at open defiance. It is openly avowed by both that a treaty
of alliance is in agitation between England and Holland at this
moment, when.a treaty recently made between France and Holland
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 819
is in full force, and when there is no pretence of a violation of it.
Is not this a most outrageous insult in the face of the whole world,
(for the debates in Parliament are known to be published all over
Europe,) upon the law of nations, upon the faith of treaties and
national honor? Is it the intention of the speech, and of the addresses
which will echo it back to the throne, to force the house of Bourbon
into a war? To me it seems manifest. If France should bear it
patiently what are we to think? The fermentation in that kingdom
occasioned by the ruin brought upon it by that Administration of
whose merits you have long since formed an accurate judgment, and
_ by the exertions to obtain provincial and national assemblies, threatens
much confusion. It is not possible to foresee what the effect will be.
T own myself afraid that the patriots in France will prove as unskilful
and unsuccessful asserters of a free Government as those in Holland
have been. A tedious relaxation, if not the most serious divisions, is
to be apprehended; if, however, the house of Bourbon is unable to
assert her dignity upon this occasion, I am clearly convinced that the
pride and arrogance of England will rise so high as to demand the
demolition of Cherbourg, and attempt to sever South America from
Spain. Nor will this be all; she will demand the annihilation of
several articles at least of the treaties between France and the United
States of America. Nor will they stop here. If they can bind
- Holland in their shackles, and France, by her internal distractions, is
unable to interfere, she will make war immediately against us.. They
are at present, both at Court and in the nation at large, much more
respectful to me and much more tender of the United States than
they have ever been before; but, depend upon it, this will not last.
They will aim at recovering back the western lands, at taking away
our fisheries, and at the total ruin of our navigation at least.
The United States of America, therefore, had never more reason
to be upon their guard to complete their constitution of government ;
to unite, as one man to meet with courage and constancy the severe
trials which, in all probability, they will be called to undergo in a
very few years.
There is some room, however, to hope that Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox
are outrunning the Dutchman in their disposition for an alliance.
The friendship of France appears to me to be so necessary to the
King of Prussia, that I cannot yet believe that he will advise the
<.
399 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
Stadtholder to follow the English party so implicitly. The state of.
Europe at large is so confused that there is not one politician in the
world, that I can hear of, who pretends to foresee what turn affairs
may take.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
THE KING OF ENGLAND'S SPEECH.
My Lords and Gentlemen,
At the close of the last session I informed you of the concern with
which I observed the disputes unhappily subsisting in the republic of
the United Provinces.
Their situation soon afterwards became more critical and alarming,
and the danger which threatened their constitution and independence
seemed likely, in its consequences, to affect the security and interest
of my dominions. |
No endeavors on my part were wanting to contribute, by my good
offices, to the restoration of tranquillity and the maintenance of the
lawful Government; and I also thought it necessary to explain my
intention of counteracting all forcible interference on the part of
France in the internal affairs of the republic; under these circum-
stances, the King of Prussia having taken measures to enforce his
demand of satisfaction for the insult offered to the Princess of Orange,
the party which had usurped the Government of Holland applied to
the most Christian King for assistance, who notified to me his inten-
tion of granting their request. In conformity to the principles which
I had before explained, I did not hesitate, on receiving this notifica-
tion, to declare that I could not remain a quiet spectator of the armed
interference of France, and I gave immediate orders for ness pons
my forces, both by sea and land.
In ‘the course of these transactions I also thought proper to
conclude a treaty with the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, by which I
secured the assistance of a considerable body of troops in case my
service should require it.
In the meantime the rapid success of the Prussian troops, under
the conduct of the Duke of Brunswick, while it was the means of
* obtaining the reparation demanded by the King of Prussia, enabled
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. $21
the provinces to deliver themselves from the oppression under which
they labored, and to reéstablish their lawful Government.
All subjects of contest being thus removed, an amicable explana-
tion took place between me and the most Christian King, and
declarations have been exchanged by our respective Ministers, by
which we have agreed mutually to disarm, and to place our naval
establishments on the same footing as in the beginning of the present
year.
It gives me the greatest satisfaction that the important events
which I have communicated to you have taken place without
disturbing my subjects in the enjoyment of the blessings of peace ;
and I have great pleasure in acquainting you that I continue to
receive from all foreign Powers the fullest assurances of their pacific
and friendly disposition towards this country. I must at the same
time regret that the tranquillity of one part of Europe is unhappily
interrupted by the war which has broken out between Russia and
the Porte.
A convention has been agreed upon between me and the most
Christian King, explanatory of the thirteenth article of the last treaty
of peace, and calculated to prevent jealousies and disputes between
our respective subjects in the East Indies. I have ordered copies of
the several treaties to which I have referred, and of the declaration
and counter-declaration exchanged at Versailles, to be laid before
you.
Gentlemen of the House of Commons:
I have ordered the estimates for the ensuing year to be laid before
you, together with an account of the extraordinary expenses which
the situation of affairs rendered necessary.
I have the fullest reliance on your zeal and public spirit, that you
will make due provision for the several branches of the public service.
I am always desirous of confining those expenses within the narrowest
limits which a prudent regard to the public safety will permit; but I
must, at the same tifne, recommend to your particular attention to
consider the proper means for maintaining my distant possessions in
an adequate posture of defence.
My Lords and Gentlemen:
The flourishing state of the commerce and revenues of this country
cannot fail to encourage you in the pursuit of such measures as may
confirm and improve so favorable a situation.
822 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
These circumstances must also render you peculiarly anxious for
the continuance of public tranquillity, which it is my constant object
to preserve. Iam, at the same time persuaded you will agree with
me in thinking that nothing can more effectually tend to secure so
invaluable a blessing than the zeal and unanimity which were shown
by all ranks of my subjects on the late occasion, and which mani-
fested their readiness to exert themselves whenever the honor of my
crown or the interest of my dominions may require it.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN Jay.
i
Grosvenor Square, December 1], 1787.
Dear Sir,
I have been desired by Patrick Miller, Esquire, of Dalswinton, to
transmit to Congress the enclosed paper of experiments in naviga-
tion. It is the sequel of his Treatise on Naval Architecture, which
I had the honor to transmit to Congress last spring. |
I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
Experiments in Navigation by Patrick Miller, Esquire, 2d June,
| tet
An account of experiments made by Mr. Miller in the Frith of
Forth, the 2d of June, 1787, in a double vessel sixty feet long, and
fourteen and a half feet broad, put in motion by his water-wheel,
wrought by a capstan of five bars, each bar five feet long. On the
lower part of the capstan was fixed a wheel, with teeth pointing
upwards, to work in a trundle fixed on the axis of the water-wheel.
The diameter of this wheel is equal to three and a half diameters of
the trundle; so that one revolution of the capstan produces three
and a half revolutions of the water-wheel. * .
The vessel is three-masted, ‘and sails uncommonly fast when
there is a smart breeze, and the wheel is raised above the surface of
the water. q
After making sundry tacks in the Frith, with all the sails set, the
wind fell to a gentle breeze, when all the sails were taken in, and
the following experiments made:
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 823
The vessel being put in motion by the water-wheel, wrought by
five men at the capstan, was steered so as to keep the wind night
ahead, and her rate of going was found by the log to be three and
a half miles in the hour.
After this, the wind was brought on the beam, (that situation
being considered as the nearest to trying the effect of the wheel in
a calm,) when five men at the capstan made the vessel go at the
rate of four miles an hour.
With the wind brought on the quarter, five men caused her to go
at the rate of four and a half miles an hour.
Four men at the rate of four miles an hour.
Three men, something more than three miles in the*hour.
Two men, at the rate of two and a half miles in the hour.
One man, at the rate of one mile and three quarters of a mile in
the hour.
It is proper to remark, that a vessel of the same length with that
in which the experiments were made, if in real service, should be
furnished with two, if not three, water-wheels, and the same number
of capstans.
These experiments, and others, made in a double vessel, thirty-
five feet long, with five wheels wrought by cranks, have enabled
Mr. Miller to ascertain sundry matters of great importance, about
which he entertained doubts when he wrote the Treatise on Naval
Architecture, to be presented to the Congress of the United States -
of America.
One of these related to the power most proper to work the water-
wheel. He is now satisfied that the capstan possesses the power
best suited to that purpose. The mechanism of the movement is
simple, and, by extending the bars one or two feet, the diameter of
the wheel on the capstan may be enlarged, and thereby the revolu-
tions of the water-wheel will be increased, which must accelerate
the motion of the ship.
He is equally well satisfied as to the distance at which the
different vessels should be placed from each other. He does not
hesitate to say, that in a triple ship, of the length and breadth of
our first-rates, the vessels should not be placed at more than six feet
from each other. A ship of twice the length, and about twice the
breadth of our first-rates, should be quintuple, and the vessels placed
at the distance of five and a half feet from each other.
824 . JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
From the great number of wheels which can be wrought with
capstans in ships of these magnitudes, Mr. Miller is certain they
may be made to go from four to five miles an hour m a calm, and
from three to four miles an hour against light winds. |
As an objection to ships of this construction, it is said that the
sea will separate the different bottoms. ‘This objection is not well
founded, for top weight not being detrimental to these ships, in point
of stiffness, all the beams on the different decks may be of the same
size, and the strength of these united must be very superior to any
weight or force which can operate against it. When the ship is
afloat, however agitated or high the sea may be, the united strength
of so many beams may be estimated, in some degree, by calculating
the weight it will take to break an oak beam five and a half or six
feet long, of the breadth and. thickness of a first-rate’s lower deck
beam.
Dalswinten, November 19, 1787.
oe
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, December 16, 1787.
Dear Sir, | 1
Two days ago I received the letter you did me the honor to write
me on the 16th of October, with its enclosures.
The approbation of my conduct in Europe, expressed in the reso-
lutions of Congress of the 5th of October, does me honor, and
demands my acknowledgments. The permission to return to
America, and the termination of my commission in Holland, having
removed all difficulties, it is my mtention to embark with my family
in the month of March. It would give me great pleasure, sir, to
accept of your polite and friendly invitation to New York; but as
the health of my family is very tender, and their apprehensions of
the sea very great, it will be necessary for me to embark for Boston.
Mr. Smith and his family will embark for New York. As Congress
have not transmitted him any orders relative to another Minister, or
to a Chargé d’Affaires at this Court, the presumption is, that it is
either the intention of Congress to have no diplomatic character here,
or that other persons are destined to fill it; in either case, Mr.
Smith’s road is as clear as mine—to return home.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 825
You have before this time received from Colonel Smith his own
account of his journey, arrival, and reception in Portugal. This
reception was more flattering than could have been expected, and
was in every respect, I presume, fully satisfactory to him. But the
mission has been attended with consequences affecting his health,
which, there is reason to fear, he will have cause to remember for
some time. A bilious fever, or tertian ague, contracted in Portugal
or Spain, has left him in a delicate state of health, which I fear he
will not fully remove till he arrives in America.
The public mind cannot be occupied about a nobler object than
the proposed plan of government. It appears to be admirably calcu-
lated to cement all America in affection and interest as one great
nation. A result of accommodation and compromise cannot be sup-
posed perfectly to coincide with any one’s ideas of perfection. But
as all the great principles necessary to order, liberty, and safety, are
respected in it, and provision is made for corrections and amend-
ments as they may be found necessary, I confess I hope to hear of
its adoption by all the States.
Two days ago a great consternation was spread in the stock
exchange by a report of a quadruple alliance of the two Empires
with France and Spain. Whether this is any more than an artificial
circulation to turn the tide of popular terror and vapor, like the
revived conversations about an invasion of England, I know not.
France undoubtedly has the power to form alliances, if she will;
which will bring the existence of Britain and Prussia into question.
But the revival of States General and Provincial, and the contests
which are likely to arise out of them, will give the French Govern-
ment business for some time.
Mest perfectly do I agree with you that America has nothing to
fear but a want of union and a want of government. The United
States now stand in an elevated situation, and they must and will be
respected and courted, not only by France and England, but by all
other Powers of Europe, while they keep themselves neutral.
It is suspected by some that the additional troops now recruiting
for the army are intended to be sent to Canada and Nova Scotia.
Their ostensible destination is to the West India Islands.
No answer is made to any of my memorials or letters to the
Ministry, nor do I expect that any thing will be done while I stay.
There are reports of an intention to send a Minister to America, and
826 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
a Mr. Liston, (1 think the name is,) now at Madrid, is mentioned.
But nothing has been said to me upon that subject for some time.
With great esteem, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
é Grosvenor Square, February 14, 1788.
Dear Sir,
I yesterday received Mr. Remsen’s letter of the 14th of December,
with the joarnals and gazettes enclosed.
At the last conferences at Whitehall, which were last Thursday,
Lord Caermarthen thought proper to express a wish that this country
had some sort of treaty of commerce with the United States of
America, that it might be no longer necessary to take new measures
from time to time, which looked hard. This observation his Lordship
made, alluding to Mr. Grenville’s motion in the House of Commons
for making the regulation of the intercourse between America and
the West India Islands perpetual. His Lordship then immediately
said, “I presume Mr. Adams that the States will all immediately
‘adopt the new Constitution. I have read it with pleasure. It is
‘very well drawn up.” All this oracular utterance was to signify to
me what has all along been insinuated, that there is not as yet any
national Government, but that as soon as there shall be one, the
British Court will vouchsafe to treat with it. You will see by the
Morning Chronicle of the 12th of February, enclosed, that Mr.
Grenville’s speech is in the same strain; so that we may conclude it
to be the concerted language of the Cabinet. It is unnecessary for
me to make any reflections upon it. The argument that arises out
of it, in favor of the new Constitution, and a prompt acceptance of
it, is but one among many. France and Holland furnish as many
-Teasons as England. Mr. Jefferson must soon follow my example,
-and return to America, if that Constitution is not accepted by all the
States ; and what will be the consequence of the clamors of all the
officers in France who are creditors, of all the notables who may be
pleased to cast reflections, and of all our creditors in Holland, for
want of payment of interest and principal as they become due, must
be left to every American citizen seriously to consider.
In preparing for my. departure, I have been personally treated with
the same uniform tenor of dry decency and cold civility, which
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. S97
appears to have been the premeditated plan from the beginning; and
Opposition as well as Administration appear to have adopted the
same spirit. Mr. Fox and Mr. Burke, Lord Camden and the Duke
of Richmond, Lord Hawkesbury and Lord North and Lord
Stormont have all behaved alike. If this country can make such
arrangements that the King of Prussia may make a diversion of the
French forces by land, and the native Indians, or discontented
subjects, another of those of Spain in South America, you may easily
believe that England will be eager for war. Let not our countrymen
flatter themselves that they shall be able to maintain peace. Lord
Caermarthen, indeed, said to me that he did not see a possibility of
a misunderstanding in Europe, and that he even hoped that peace
would be made between Russia and the Porte. His Lordship is in
profound ignorance of it, I presume, if there is really any probability
of an alliance of France with the Emperor or Empress. Mr. Jefferson
has informed you of his conjectures as well as his intelligence on that
point.
The Marquis de la Luzerne is now Ambassador at this Court from
France, and has already met with humiliations not easily borne by
Ambassadors. Monsieur de Calonne appears at the levee and
drawing-room, and even at the table of the Marquis of Caermarthen
on the Queen’s birth-day, with the French Ambassador. The
Chevalier de Ternant was presented by the French Ambassador to
the King and Queen, and treated with the most marked disgust by
both. ‘These things are hard to bear. I have had some conversa-
tion with this Minister, with whom I made a voyage in 1779 from
L’Orient to Boston, in the Sensible, and could wish to have resided
longer with him, for he will certainly be attentive and able; but my
embarcation is fixed to the month of March, and I hope to be in
Boston in May.
With great esteem and regard, Xc., JOHN ADAMS.
O
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, February 16, 1788.
Dear Sir,
There is no maxim more clearly settled in all courts, ‘and in all
negotiations between nations, than that Sovereign should always
828 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
speak to Sovereign, and Minister to Minister. I am not at all
surprised, therefore, although I am much mortified at having my
memorials to their High Mightinesses and to his most Serene
Highness returned to me, with the letter enclosed from Mr. Fagel.
I should have had a letter of recall signed by the Brosseau of
Congress, by their order, and addressed to their High Mightinesses.
There is a similar irregularity in my recall from the British Court ;
for, although my commission is limited to three years, yet my letter
of credence to his Majesty has no limits at all. If the omission of a
letter from Congress to the King upon this occasion should not be
taken as an offence, it will not be because it is not observed; but
from motives too humiliating to Congress, as well as their Minister
here, to be explained.
There is no alternative now left for me. Home I must go, and
leave all Europe to conjecture that I have given offence in Holland
and in England; that I have misbehaved abroad, though my conduct
has been approved at home. When the public shall hear that I am
gone home without taking leave, there will be no end of criticism,
conjectures, and reflections.
All that now remains for me is humbly to request that Congress
would be pleased to send me regular letters of recall after my arrival
in America, that I may then transmit my memorials to Europe, and
take leave in form.
To a man who has taken the utmost pains to do his duty, and to
fulfil every obligation to the smallest punctilio, nothing can be more
disagreeable than such disappointments, especially as in all my
letters I have so expressly and repeatedly requested regular letters
of recall.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
FROM H. FAGEL TO JOHN ADAMS.
[Translation. ]
Hague, February 12, 1788.
Sir,
I have this day been honored with your letter dated London, 25th
January, of the present year, accompanied with a memorial to their
High Mightinesses, and another to his Highness, with a request to
deliver the same. I have ever experienced so many proofs of your
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 829
friendship and good will, that I should have accounted it an honor
and pleasure immediately to have complied with your wishes,
although I rather wished that you had not taken leave, and always
entertained hopes to have seen you here once more. Permit me,
however, to inform you, that when I communicated your letter
addressed to their High Migchtinesses, to the President, and other
members, they did not put any unfavorable construction upon the
memorial of taking leave, which, in every respect, was found obliging
and satisfactory, excepting that no letter of recall from Congress to
their High Mightinesses accompanied the same, which is customary ;
for, as a Minister is credited by a letter of credence, (such a one as
was received by their High Mightinesses on the 22d April, 1782,
dated the Ist January, 1781,) so, in like manner, a Minister is
recalled by a letter of recall; upon which a letter of credence is
returned. Perhaps this may have been occasioned by an omission
of the Secretary of Congress, and this prevents my making use of
your memorial, which ought to be delivered with a letter of recall
from Congress: and your Excellency will, I trust, not be displeased
that I find myself obliged to return to you the letter and memorial.
Your Excellency’s affairs not permitting you to come and take a
personal leave, it will be satisfactory that a letter of recall from
Congress be transmitted with your memorial.
It will ever give me pleasure to learn of your welfare, and those
connected with you, and to find opportunities of giving you proofs of
the particular regard with which I have the honor to be, &c.,
H. FAGEL.
P. S. His Highness being in the same predicament with their
High Mightinesses, nothing can be done but to wait fora letter of
recall from Congress.
To his Most Serene Highness William the Fifth, Prince of Orange
and Nassau, hereditary Stadholder and Governor of the United
Provinces of the Netherlands.
A Memoria.
The subscriber, Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States
of America, has the honor to acquaint his most Serene Highness that
830 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
the said United States in Congress assembled have given him their
permission to return to America after the 24th day of February,
1788,and have resolved that his mission to the Republic of the United
Netherlands should then determine. It is to him a mortifying
circumstance that it is not in his power to go in person to the Hague,
in order to take leave of their High Mightinesses and of your most
Serene Highness. But as he had the honor to be originally accred-
ited by Congress to your most Serene Highness, it is his duty, in
taking leave of the Republic, and on his departure from Europe, to
pay his respects to your most Serene Highness in writing.
He asks leave to express his thanks for all the civilities he has,
from time to time, received at your most Serene Highness’s Court,
and his sincere wishes for the universal felicity of the Republic in
general, of your most Serene Highness, of your royal consort, and
illustrious family.
Done at Grosvenor Square, in London, this 25th day of January,
1788.
JOHN ADAMS.
————
[ Translation. ]
To their High Mightinesses the Lords the States General of the
United Netherlands.
A Memoria.
High and Mighty Lords:
The subscriber, Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States
of America, has the honor to communicate to your High Mightinesses
a resolution of the United States of America in Congress assembled
of the 5th day of October, 1787, by which he is permitted, agreeably
to his request, to return to America at any time after the 24th day
of February, 1788, and by which his commission and credentials to
your High Mightinesses are on that day to terminate.
Nothing would have been more agreeable to the inclinations of
the subscriber than to have passed over to the Hague, in order to
have paid his final respects and to have taken leave of your High
Mightinesses, had not the shortness of the time, and the severity of
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 831
the season, and the tender state of his health, been opposed to his
wishes.
The magnanimity and wisdom with which your High Michtinesses,
in 1782, manifested your friendship to the United States of America,
contributed to accelerate the general peace of the world, which has
lasted so long; and the candor and goodness of your High Mighti-
nesses, and of the whole Republic, to the subscriber, as well as to
his country, have made impressions on his mind which neither time,
place, nor circumstance can ever efface.
In finishing his course in Europe, and in taking a respectful leave
of your High Mightinesses, he begs leave to express his ardent wishes
for the happiness and prosperity of your High Mightinesses and your
families, and his smcere assurances that in whatever country he may
be, he shall never cease to pray for the liberty, the independence,
and the universal happiness and prosperity of the whole Republic of
the United Netherlands.
Done at London, this twenty-fifth day of January, A. D. 1788.
JOHN ADAMS.
——
By the United States in Congress assembled, October 5, 1787.
On a report of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, to whom were
referred two letters from the Honorable John Adams, of the 24th
and 27th of January last:
Resolved, 'That the Honorable John Adams, the Minister Pleni-
potentiary of the United States at the Court of London, be permitted,
agreeably to his request, to return to America at any time after the
24th day of February, in the year of our Lord 1788, and that his
commission of Minister Plenipotentiary to their High Mightinesses
do also then determine.
Resolved, That Congress entertain a high sense of the services
which Mr. Adams has rendered to the United States, in the execution
of the various important trusts which they have from time to time
committed to him; and that the thanks of Congress be presented to
him for the patriotism, perseverance, integrity, and diligence with
which he hath ably and faithfully served his country.
CHAS. THOMSON, Secretary.
832 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Grosvenor Square, February 21, 1788.
Dear Sir,
Yesterday I had my audience of leave to his Majesty. I shall
not trouble you with any particulars of the previous steps to obtain
this audience, (which you know are always troublesome enough, )
nor with any detail of the conversation, farther than the public 1s
immediately interested in it. The substance of my address to his
Majesty was no more than a renewal of assurances, in behalf of the
United States, of their friendly dispositions, and of their continued
desire to cultivate a liberal intercourse of commerce and good offices
with his Majesty’s subjects and States; thanks for the protection
and civilities of his Court; and good wishes of prosperity to his
Majesty, his royal family, his subjects, and dominions. The King’s
answer to me was in these words: “Mr. Adams, you may, with
‘great truth, assure the United States that whenever they shall fulfil
‘the treaty on their part, I, on my part, will fulfil it in all its
‘particulars. As to yourself, I am sure I wish you a safe and
‘pleasant voyage, and much comfort with your family and friends.”’
This was the answer in ceremony. His Majesty was then pleased
to ask me many questions about myself and my family; how long I
had been absent from them, &c.; which were intended, I suppose,
to be very gracious and flattering, but were of no consequence to
the public, and therefore will be here omitted. It now remains to
take leave of the Queen and the Princess, the Cabinet Ministers,
and corps diplomatique—a species of slavery, more of which, I
believe, has fallen to my share than ever happened before to a son
of liberty; and I much fear that the omission of a letter of recall,
and the offence taken at it in Holland, will oblige me to go over
to the Hague, to repeat the same tedious ceremonies there. At this
season of the year, so near the equinox, to have the passage from
Harwich to Helvoet to cross twice, is a punishment for sins to me
unknown.
I am extremely afflicted, my dear sir, at the news of your ill
health; but I hope you will be soon restored, for the public at this
moment has great need of your experience and abilities.
With much affection, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. B33
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Bath Hotel, London, March 26, 1788.
Dear Sir, | °
I have only time to introduce to you Colonel Smith, and to request
in his behalf the honor of your friendship. His conduct in every
part of Europe where he has been, I have good reason to believe,
has done honor to himself, and given a favorable idea of his country.
His honor and interest, as well as those of his family, are very
dear to me, and I wish he may be employed in some station or other
in which his talents and address may be useful to his country. As I
have so many reasons to value your friendship to me, I naturally
wish you to extend it to him and his. He is able to give you a very
intelligent account of affairs in this country, and the rest of Europe ;
and to him I must refer, having only time to subscribe, with much
affection, your friend,
JOHN ADAMS.
—_———————
FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS.
New York, February 14, 1788.
Dear Sir,
As this letter will go by the way of Ireland, and may be exposed
to accidents in the course of its route, I decline entering into par-
ticulars; but as the long recess of Congress, who are now again
convened, makes it necessary that the enclosed letters of recall
should be transmitted without delay, I think it best to send one set
by this conveyance, and to forward duplicates by another vessel,
which will sail about the last of the month for Bristol. Your letters
by the packet are come to hand, and shall be particularly noticed in
my next, which will go under cover to a friend, with directions to
him what to do with it in case you should have left England before
its arrival.
Massachusetts has adopted the proposed constitution by a majority
of nineteen.
I am, dear sir, &c., JOHN JAY.
Vou. I.—53 :
834 JOHN ADAMS—JOHN JAY.
FROM JOHN ADAMS TO JOHN JAY.
Braintree, October 11, 1788.
Dear Sir,
The multiplied cares attending the removal of a family from one
country to another, and beginning a new course of life, or resuming
an old one after an interruption of fourteen years, must be my apology
(if any apology is necessary) for having omitted, till this time, to
solicit the final settlement of my accounts with the United States.
As Mr. Barclay has, for many years, had the examination of the
accounts of all the Ministers abroad, and of mine in particular, until
my removal to England, I wish to be informed whether it is the
intention of Congress that I should transmit the remainder of my
accounts to that gentleman, or any other, for a similar examination,
or to the Board of Treasury, or to Congress immediately.
Let me request of you, sir, to lay this letter before that honorable
Assembly, and to transmit me their commands, which shall be obeyed
as soon as possible.
With great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS.
END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
. ’ ’
A P rt | .
‘ i a : + ;
. ‘ 4 ‘ e
“uo 4 «
i '
Hee : M yi 7 i ;
T cal 1 “ ‘7 . - :
ve hey ¢ 7d : sa x
We ¢
ral | , ‘f ¥ 149
wl ey ne rae
mee aye ¥ 7 ie
afin enreree ra fly Sk bold he r i : ;
Phew pied tH Pavene . . : ; :
‘ 3. h { : :
¥ i Pete i ¢ A
paene < Ae eewt ti : :
; ” he the ‘ be ui : i ‘
i whl oy A 1 ne ( 3 “}
PPE 4 pevar : At i ‘ 1 bees 5;
ct ophetion et : W Fitba ob flew ; a ye
Tha taht pete { eee ad eae lis F fetist diporut al i de ‘ 4 th
by todas g ? ‘ ; i Pelee ‘ ’
LPH ERS Pee ee . cere 4 "| -
rh pane) i ie . \ “4 né i -
« = anon 1F . es f
aca . mubeieee f : 4 Crete tere :
- f’ : }
A epee bess di ed Tt: leh wos thee ed
yt i po bet i r eee | # pest
ba Hist otivi . 4 ry wt } ;
Pispensre : ‘ 5. yes anit v * 4 Lay
ila dau ; jen eniniet ¢ Atel OR TES wevimirh t 14 Lv aucnets
ee tren niclit 4 if f piers ‘ } fipeelin/ mit
p arin 4 ' , wines nor
‘ 1 ¢ 7 ; 5
€ *y le baw mye if La } : f :
ahag rh vitvae'l 6 ; t i + "i i fai 4 :
SAA 4 A 4 haat ‘ j e
Sah , rite ¢ " Patek f I PR peer its *
Hee shag : * y i f am in r '
reste iby “4 : ; nh
cep . f f ry Ys ” , 4 m) j as
Pe, ; i : De erhan Oh Ee f ’ bapee eng
raed aiid bes i i peivh ew ‘ Hoe My
; t ts # :
; valebenatiedl i suet - r 4
Wehabes ri a bu ie , Hh
eta tie | sel ‘ f : how Lb hadladad . bl 4 ch ys
i j +64 “ rr eyecare ee ohm He ; at
co “he © Het wey 7 Bilev * ” . ‘* ‘ ere 4 ab 4
y ane Ae fe * 4 “i ; ie
; ba Pesiallisntes amaiver ep enol ylgibir
‘ ‘ r rer ' ; 4 ; sae hon
i; } ee " : . 1ow
’ t y or j nie
pepebefel ‘ A © aye of 4 re “ Diet
6 t ij “ '
. f 7 i . ® , il 4
ohn A “4 Ll 4 , d ;
Y hel , fiber . athe ; |
) . i} ¥ bheups ; : i
® t. WW et
Fey f bray fs : t 4
¥ « { 7 . ' :
Mice : « * ¥
5 K ‘ i i - }
hed " ‘ 7 yt hes 4
P fl : ’ , al ¥ f
Pribe i " : ’ 4 ;
tr “OUhi ‘ : vas (07 ANE |e ¥ Ld
‘ ob bi ‘ of / ! a jieée {
ns bebe chard 4 phe i abe
Hie + : a i eye lye sheet ,
pe vere) ‘ rT " Pd i ie
1 ‘ ’ \
" ig 5 be ie I ;
jiedehet : sate Bar vie ;
i . ayy dete :
foll'f : of lpatacoag “ i *)
pcb eh egi tere u : : "
a pier J Hebe
gi paiedint + etl DE b ; +s '~
e 1 ' ‘ 7 / ‘ met
aeneben raptor i ” bi
oa eht edi ed hea l hare ror) ered
| hee 4 2 iy * q s ‘
yes : ' Alt hbasspeet ' j nd
: ‘ = y see
« " f iu , i : a hist : ; ; ‘
r Lip Spray as al dq De icmeiie! v4 vd Y 4
€ Me neu Mf y! et ' ¥ i +f nit
ie Fiediel ont s fi isarinet }
wort Lu bh Rupee mene? / pb tl akg tad Tipvaenen '
tbe par Mt beth ek an sf bailar i ” i : r i
( spi # eh ob ait ' Stipa us ;
Fe si oi th wher J ‘" : © 4 ;
EP Le SEAL aetna ‘ 5 srreneteneny re) 4 ed “ Paipesrehe wera
ips ashe i f r ; ’ "
is f i fs :
TN ee athaastied \ ful sie ipasee se rasa da Nth i
i y Hite ek jek oe : 5 toe ‘ i f r D bark pe chil) yeeaye
fi iM 4 ‘ J . i» fe ok Hn 4 sale :
eetriytattanra ‘ it rope h perien iea aaah eppegrir ies
4 gla Seat hl aaa) J of i a i i eee sree
faetea a ; ; ; wenger
1] sy Aa & ‘ ' hotel ' . + , wat : ‘ 4 ri : tet es
P rik by ie » ire $ 1
Sion sainl he Mee aAL et" Hf
« . 4 , Y
et etal i ‘ “4 Legh Begin -
He deen eel Semen , 2 fat zee a
i Heaps ‘ j ice
H ; . uk pall
papetn shal fi 4 Reanmh eu Pie nabeenese
ds ele jetln belo . { ; i 4 ’ 7 é
ea re 6 Gihet i Wome Vie hiked ri ‘ ie rato
bach $e NY v : init i he ite
Hef bs roy erreant epiniyns s ‘ $ r ;
: shark wok d i" / '
bade phot ff iivl sheet oa 4 4 inteie—ay
hen iat gad H eR ' th f { Layee au rt aey 1d Pre ulabaeity
h bp set > tl i jatinw 4 he
tit: 4 4: f ¥ + ” +4 ’
wh ee f iba
Wahet ‘ H 4 aid v
r » i Wee f rc if r
: mm s
vel! : nel r Meenesites i 1
ued r " Hee i” i
ifet . & het i 1 i
: : ' 4 sid "i
g pret
Hirt I oh efi att
’ : , " ¢ Heb "1 7 Ly
; t uh - a] r
“i che ‘ q M : 1s0ee
ne “rf ‘ m j 7 ae
atic | ht forth a
Hehe nat unet AG Patri ree tere) ' this Paley
fy a rf yl "s , Laahoneners “Hi
vol eh phos yetiw ' ’ y a
rs ‘ 1 ‘ vd
4 : a Vi
: u San : ? vee
a age ne ’ be a Abt
k he b bp f f f il
gh Tease ; He ven \ ' y he! ah
siya ibe) es pete
Dyan ‘ re ipran sty esate it ' janet shad at :
j wpfied hi he WB La 4
¥ hee f 0 ‘ $ dads 7 nt oie F
Hin it 3 , " ” i i
“ , ’ t d é oe
aaa f fide y Ms ; ; ;
eel Pa eke Drapery ( i ew vee .
ish I ; eid | " ‘ ;
if Lb gapepe ga ; Aut u
} et hae t | 4 y
aye ‘ ¢ j 4 hp 4 t : | Aiesivivesae Me
h bea ‘i , i waran é ‘ ;
i sy ite ¢
. / i) £ iF : : . Ho
4 a aH 4 yt ; A : -
ef hae : 134 ly R ‘ §
; wt nine wea a f
+f of } het SHH p - I : ;
i t 9 " ‘ ; ‘
I r P ne : ‘ " : J ;
dsaet 4 : f
(eset sh r ‘ a .
yee Ly \ 4 ; .
4 q ; ; :
op ; , f
‘ wf ‘ t + J 3:
¥ t f ,
at i os f r
: Hi ‘
UNIVERSITY OF |
MN
3 0112 047552960
¥ : f
9h) sf } 4
UJ
yar ‘ aon
a »
fem
‘ ‘ ° J
* yt
v ° ; .
aii ey te
. satitlpesht genen
‘ wh ra ap iggy
‘ / 4 ¥
; + eae aes
d ‘ i ‘ 4
nebar) . 4
ie ’ “Wy
f ' >
- 4
pet eh tie ep i
an yee Ao liber i}
, Oe
“” th, 4 ‘- 4 4 cs
f meat
we Ati ; perce nase
he ; me
‘ 24 way
, Witheady 4
i ¥
{ 1 i rf 4 7
* '
C A Pir.
i)
; j
ape +>
phat
fi
} Wi
, i rive
rte Fe “ \ ary
é Agee
Nibad , * en)
lt ; dejiott
ri : j Aeoels
*
4 . ewe
¢ ie
i i ed
' ws
a ble Hit
y b *
He oF * a2 oS
a A i v-
Y ect es al
is vo?
‘ af t aw
i hgoed ¥ » \?
- sad Nd
" ys noe
om
+ . 4 re
$ : ;
Ph * Pr
Aegenenndy ;
hips rs Dae ae
nt cs eas diated
Lh deed hd 1 he
sO nf 7 : F
om " » P
x dont 6 : ; f f
» ds 4 +
elie r Weaere
ns
> yet .
alm '
2. xO c ¥
=" P 4 { .
wr | :
a t .
) 4 :
i > * ne eects
ref Se WMO ME AT eoae Heeb) MPNC® wien
@: Heys nit
v' new 5h?
7 ‘ ry 4
Vet
. ’
‘ : 3 Gc»
mt