Papers of John Adams, volume 18

From John Adams to Timothy Dwight, 4 April 1786 Adams, John Dwight, Timothy
To Timothy Dwight
Sir Grosvenor square April 4th. 1786

I have received your Letter, & the Conquest of Canaan,1 with more pleasure than you will easily believe. before I took any measures towards the publication of this Poem, I was determined, whatever affairs might interrupt me, to read it, & I found so much pleasure, in this Employment, that it was very soon compleated.

My taste as well as my Impartiallity may be disputed: but I will venture to say that I know of no heroick Poem Superior to it, in any modern Language, excepting alway’s Paradise lost: & If I am not wholly blinded by prejudice it not only does honor to America, but would do honor to any nation in Europe.

228

As Mr. Barlow has transmitted his Vision of Columbus to my friend Dr. Price, I went out to Newington Green to consult him—2

The Doctor will do what he can to assist the printing & sale of both these works, but he is of opinion that it will not be possible to find a Printer or Bookseller who will give much for the Copy if we can find even one who will print either at his own Expence & Risque It is the mode, that governs— When a Writer has made himself a name, in England, the Booksellers, are eager to have his Copies. having no Judgement of their own, they are timid, untill they know the publick has an Enthusiasm for the Reputation of the writer— But it is scarcely possible for any new Writer to force himself into Reputation without the aid of Government, If neither administration nor opposition, espouse the Cause, it is desperate, during the late War, there was an opposition in Parliament consisting of many noblemen & Gentlemen whose Rank Families & Fortunes gave them great Power in the Nation. These were able to give a Currency & Popularity to many American publications: but at present the Case is altered. America has now no Interest in Parliament No Party, No Character of any influence that is favourable to it, and Popularity is entirely under the Guidance of Parliamentary factions. For these Reasons I think, that your Poems will meet a cold reception. it will be made unpopular to read them. I have consulted a Bookseller,3 concerning yours, & have put it into the Hands of a very able Man, and a very good Poet for his Judgement—4

You may depend upon it every thing in my power shall be done to have it printed sold, read & productive of advantage to you, but I fear you must be content with no Profit & little fame for some time. The Genius & taste for Poetry are much declined, and the encouragement of it, which was never very much is now nothing at all. The Muses have crossed the atlantic and there may be happy, Music & painting are now the ton in England, The King has brought into fashion the first, and Commerce for the purposes of manufatures & Profit has given a spur to the last— But Poetry is little Cherished by either, and the people are so burthened, that they have no spirit left to read—so exhausted by taxes that they have no money to purchase Books.

The Principal Poets here are Sherridan, Anstey Mason, Hayley, & Day. the first is too much in politicks at present, the two next are at a distance in the Country. the two last may be consulted if necessary. I have begun with Mr: Day—

I shall ever be glad to hear from you

Your

J. A—
229

LbC in WSS’s hand (Adams Papers); internal address: “The Rev’d. / Mr. Dwight—”; APM Reel 113.

1.

Of [ca. 8–12 Dec. 1785], above.

2.

JA sent copies of Dwight’s and Joel Barlow’s poems to JQA in a 19 March 1786 letter. Of their efforts, JA wrote, “I will Say thus much in favour of our Country that in Poets and Painters, She is not at present outdone by any nation in Europe” ( AFC , 7:96).

3.

Joseph Johnson (1738–1809), a London bookseller and friend of Dr. Joseph Priestley, published Dwight’s Conquest of Canaan in 1788. In May of the same year, Johnson established the Analytical Review, which featured strong criticism of British policy and ardent promotion of French revolutionary ideas for the next decade. Johnson, who acted as a patron of Mary Wollstonecraft and as an agent for William Cowper, also printed England’s first medical periodical, Medical Facts and Observations, from 1791 to 1800 ( DNB ).

4.

That is, Thomas Day.

The American Commissioners to the Marquis of Carmarthen, 4 April 1786 American Commissioners Carmarthen, the Marquis of
The American Commissioners to the Marquis of Carmarthen
My Lord Grosvenor Square April the fourth 1786

Agreably to your Lordships request expressed to one of Us in Conversation, and again communicated to Us through Mr Fraser, We have drawn up the enclosed Project of a Treaty of Commerce, which We do ourselves the Honour to propose to the Consideration of his Majestys Ministers.1

We have the Honour to be My lord / your Lordships most obedient and / most humble servants

John Adams Th: Jefferson
ENCLOSURE
Art—1st. 2

The Subjects of His Britannic Majesty may frequent all the Coasts and Countries Bay’s, Harbours, Creeks, Rivers and Ports of the United States of America, and reside and trade there, in all Sorts of Produce, Manufactures, and Merchandize, and Shall pay within the said United States, no other or greater Duties, Charges, or fees whatsoever than the natural born Citizens of the United States themselves are or shall be obliged to pay; and they shall enjoy all the Rights, Priviledges, and Exemptions in trade Navigation and Commerce which the natural born Citizens of the said United States do or shall enjoy.

Art—2d.

In like manner, the Citizens of the United States of America may frequent all the Coasts and Countries, Bay’s, Harbours, Creeks, Rivers and Ports of His Britannic Majesty, and reside and trade 230 there in all Sorts of Produce Manufactures 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 are or shall be obliged to pay; and they shall enjoy all the Rights, Priviledges and Exemptions in Trade, navigation and Commerce which the natural born Subjects of Great Britain do or shall enjoy—saving nevertheless to the Chartered Companies, trading to the East Indies and to Hudson’s Bay their rights—

Art—3d.

More especially each Party shall have a right to carry all kinds of Produce Manufactures and Merchandize of whatever Place they may be the growth, or Manufacture, in their own Vessells navigated by their own or any other seamen to any Parts of the Dominions of the other, where it shall be lawfull 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 of Great Britain, in the Dominions of His Britannic Majesty, and the natural born Citizens of the said United States within their Dominions. Nevertheless each Party reserves to itself the right to prohibit in their respective Countries the Exportation or Importation of any Species of Goods or Commodities whatsoever. in this Case the Subjects or Citizens of either of the contracting Parties shall not import or export the Merchandize prohibited by the other. But if one of the Contracting Parties permits any Person of their own or any other Nation to import or export the same Merchandize—the Citizens or Subjects of the other shall immediately enjoy the same Liberty—

Art 4th.

The 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— 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—

Art. 5—

His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America agree that this Treaty shall be in force during   years from the 231 Exchange of Ratifications— And that this treaty shall be ratified on both sides and the Ratifications exchanged within one year from the Day of its signature

RC in JA’s hand and enclosure in WSS’s hand (PRO:FO 4, State Papers, vol. 4, f. 163–170); internal address: “The Right Honourable / The Marquis of Carmarthen / His Britannic Majestys / Principal Secretary of State / [fo]r foreign Affairs”; endorsed: “Grosvenor Square Apr. 4: / 1786. / Mr. Adams & Mr. Jefferson.”; notation: “Copy with the Project / [se]nt to Mr. Pitt.”; notation on enclosure: “Project.” LbC (Adams Papers); APM Reel 112. Some loss of text due to a tight binding.

1.

With JA’s 13 March letter to Carmarthen, above, the commissioners began their effort to obtain a response from the British government to JA’s 29 July 1785 submission of a draft Anglo-American commercial treaty (vol. 17:280–282). With this letter and its enclosure they were responding to William Fraser’s 3 April 1786 letter to JA (Adams Papers). Fraser, Carmarthen’s undersecretary, wrote that because the previous draft “was not confined to Commercial Matters only,” Carmarthen wished to receive from the commissioners a “Project of a Treaty of Commerce containing only such Points as are necessary for that Purpose.” The fact that one day later JA and Thomas Jefferson responded to Carmarthen’s request by lifting five articles from the 29 July 1785 draft and then departed on a tour of English gardens likely indicates their belief that the new draft was no more likely to receive a substantive response than the original one, and in this they were correct. For the commissioners’ report on their efforts, see their 25 April 1786 letter to John Jay, below.

2.

This article and the following four articles correspond to Arts. 2, 3, 4, 25, and 27 of the draft submitted by JA in July 1785 (vol. 17:223–236). It should be noted, however, that the conditions for trade in Arts. 1–3 in this draft are based on the reciprocal rights accruing to “natural born” citizens or subjects of the two countries rather than the most favored nation as was the case with the 1785 draft.