Adams Family Correspondence, volume 14
d:October 1799
I have yet to reply to your favors of the 15th: & 21st:
instts: the latter of which with the letters
of Mr: Pitcairn, came to hand last evening.1
I have been anxious for some days on account of reports, which have been circulated with great zeal & industry, of a serious misunderstanding in the Cabinet at Trenton, and though I give credit slowly to the idle rumors of the day, I cannot but wish it were in my power to contradict some of them, which their very extravagance tells me cannot be true. I know pretty well how to appreciate the stories circulated on the Subject of the departure of the Commissioners, but when great pains are taken to propagate a belief that the President has declared his intentions of resigning the Chair, and means are taken in consequence to promote the election of a Successor, I confess that the feeling to me is unpleasant and I am sure the effect upon others is pernicious.
The story is, that the Secretary of State opposed with all his influence the departure of the Envoys for France— That his opposition was seconded by a declaration of the British Minister, that a fresh attempt at negotiation by our Government, would be considered by the Coalesced powers, as an act of hostility against them, since they had come to a resolution to force a declaration from every neutral power—for or against them. The President is said to have replied with characteristic energy to this communication— The Secretary persevered in his disaffection, which produced a warm explanation, 35 in the course of which the P——t declared he would resign, rather than submit to be influenced by the menaces of any other power on earth, on the subject of our external connections or intercourse— The Envoys of course are to go.—2
I do not write this account, with an expectation that you will be at liberty to tell me in return, what foundation there is in fact for any part of it; but only to acquaint you with what we the people hear daily in our intercourse with society.
Since the triumph of Jacobinism in this State, there is a
manifest scheme set on foot of irritating the public mind against Great
Britain— I see the drift of it in part, but I should wish to know what fresh
provocation has excited the animosity which thus discovers itself. Mc:Kean Governor of the State—Jefferson President
of the United States is the next object of that faction. I have done looking
up to the legislative branches of the Government for a relief and provision
for our great & serious difficulties. “La puissance legislative,” (said
a frenchman, who was no fool however he may have been a knave) “est
essentiellement destructrice”; “le pouvoir Executif, est essentiellement
conservateur.”3 I think I
can foresee an expeditious sacrifice & sure destruction of our
Government, in the prospect of such an overwhelming war as we are not sure
of escaping— The legislative branches would abandon the Executive, by
refusing the supplies necessary to carry it on, & it would fall lifeless
to the ground, like a body of inert matter, elevated upon pillars too weak
to sustain the burthen. If such must be the fate of this fabric, I had
rather that myself & family were buried in its ruins, than survive the
catastrophe by an untimely flight.
Be so good as inform me; how soon the President intends coming to the City, and whether it would be worth while for me to visit you before you come. I could go next Saturday to Trenton or at furthest on Monday; but if you think a speedy removal will take place, I will defer my journey altogether?
I am truly your’s
RC (MWA:Adams Family Letters); addressed: “William S Shaw / Trenton”; internal address: “W S Shaw.”; endorsed: “Germantown 23 Oct / T B Adams Esqr / rec 24th / An 25”; docketed: “1799 / Oct 23.”
Not found.
By the fall of 1799, JA’s deep
disagreements with cabinet members stemming from his unilateral decision
to send a second peace mission to France had escalated. Press reports
focused on JA’s instructions to the commission, and the
expected arrival of the British minister to the United States, Sir
Robert Liston, at Trenton, N.J., hinted at British interest in the
mission. The presence of 36
Alexander Hamilton also stirred popular attention. One of the more
damaging reports was JA’s alleged threat to resign the
presidency in favor of Thomas Jefferson unless the cabinet acceded to
his plans. The Philadelphia Porcupine’s
Gazette, 19 Oct., disputed the report: “It has been whispered
about, that the president has signified his intention of resigning as soon as congress meets; but,
from what I have been able to learn, the reports seems to be unfounded.”
The report had its origin, in part, in an 11 Sept. letter from Secretary
of State Timothy Pickering to JA purporting to represent
other members of the cabinet in opposing the second mission to France.
Instability in the French government reduced the likelihood of success,
Pickering argued, and “the question of suspending the mission seems to the Heads of Departments to
merit serious consideration” (Adams Papers). JA
recalled years later that Pickering’s letter prompted him to immediately
depart Quincy for Trenton: “I was astonished at this unexpected, this
obstinate and persevering opposition to a measure, that appeared so
clearly to me to be so essential to the peace and prosperity of the
nation, and the honor of the government, at home and abroad.” After
arriving at Trenton, JA met with cabinet members but was
not convinced by their arguments and ordered the envoys to proceed
(Douglas Bradburn, “The Presidency of John Adams,” in David
Waldstreicher, ed., A Companion to John Adams
and John Quincy Adams, Malden, Mass., 2013, p. 175, 177,
178–180; Bradford Perkins, The First
Rapprochement: England and the United States 1795–1805,
Berkeley, Calif., 1967, p. 121–122; Baltimore Telegraphe and Daily Advertiser, 21 Oct.; Massachusetts Mercury, 22 Oct.; Boston Patriot, 10 May 1809). For Trenton
meetings on the same subject between JA and Hamilton, see
AA to
Mary Smith Cranch, 30 Dec. 1799, and note 3, below.
The Philadelphia Porcupine’s
Gazette, 19 Oct., also suggested that the mission to France
risked inflaming “the hostility of England, Russia, and the Porte.”
Benjamin Stoddert addressed Britain’s view of the mission in a letter to
JA of 13 Sept., writing that maintaining peace with
both Britain and France “will be a difficult matter” and the British
viewed the overture “with a Jaundiced Eye.” Stoddert noted Liston’s
displeasure, writing, “Mr. Liston, mild
& reasonable as he may appear on other subjects, has not been so on
this” (Adams
Papers).
Legislative power is essentially destructive;
executive power is essentially conservative. The Paris Messager ou le mercure universel, 13 Feb.
1798, thus summarized the message of Louis Germain Petitain, Description d’une machine curieuse, nouvellement
montée au palais ci-devant Bourbon, Paris, 1798, a banned
pamphlet satirizing the Council of Five Hundred.
TBA also wrote to Shaw on 19 Oct. 1799, reporting that a frost in Philadelphia had likely ended the yellow fever season and that he had yet to find an office for his law practice (MWA:Adams Family Letters).