Papers of John Adams, volume 18
I inclose you the copy of a letter received from mr̃ Barclay dated Cadiz May 23.1 by which you will perceive he was still on this side the Mediterranean. has mr̃ Lamb written to you? I hear nothing from him nor of him, since mr̃ Carmichael’s information of his arrival in Spain. mr̃ Randall gave reason to expect that himself would come on. yet neither himself nor any letters from him arrive. perhaps they find conveyances for reporting to you the causes of their delay. I am anxious also to receive your opinion what is best to be done.
The Swedish Ambassador asked me some time ago to give him in writing my thoughts on the best method of rendering the island of St. Bartholomew useful in the commerce between Sweden & the U.S. he afterwards pressed this on me every time I saw him till I was obliged to do it. I gave it as my opinion that to render that island most instrumental to the commerce of Sweden & the U.S. and also most useful to Sweden in every other point of view, it should be made a free port without a single restriction. as he had pressed this matter so much, I suspected his court might have instructed him to do it, and might also direct their minister at London to get your opinion on the same point. this latter possibility induced me to trouble you with information of what had passed here.2
I observe in the Leyden gazette of June 2. the extract of a letter dated Algiers Apr. 15. which says that on the 10th. of April an American vessel the Clementina captain Palmer from Philadelphia was carried in there by a cruiser. there being other circumstances mentioned in the same letter relative to our affairs which I know to be true, I am afraid this capture is also true.3
The king sets out on the 21st. inst. for Cherburg in order to animate by his notice the operations going on there. the Count d’Artois4 has lately been there. this is an astonishing effort of human industry. it is believed it will be among the best ports in the world & will contain the whole navy of France. those threats of invasion on England heretofore made, may become real in a future war, besides the bridle which this fixes in the mouth of the Thames.
Present me affectionately to mr̃s & miss Adams, assuring them of my friendly & respectful remembrance of them, & how much I
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regret that I am not of their party in visiting the gardens this summer; and accept yourself assurances of the esteem & regard with which I have the honor to be Dear Sir / Your most obedient humble servt
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “His Excellency / Mr. Adams”; endorsed: “Mr Jefferson. 16. June / ansd. 26. 1786.”; docketed by JQA: “T. Jefferson. 16. June 1786.”
That is, Thomas Barclay’s 23 May letter to the commissioners, above.
France ceded the island of St. Barthélemy to Sweden in 1784 in return for commercial privileges at the port of Gothenburg (Black, British Foreign Policy
, p. 75). In pursuit of a supplementary Swedish-American treaty in Oct. 1784, the American commissioners raised the issue of American trade with the island with Per Olof von Asp, secretary to the Swedish embassy at Paris, but nothing came of it (vol. 16:339). For Jefferson’s comments regarding American access to the island in his 12 June 1786 letter to Baron Erik Magnus Staël von Holstein, the Swedish ambassador to France, see Jefferson, Papers
, 9:631–634. In his 25 June reply, below, JA indicated that Baron Gustaf Adam von Nolcken, the Swedish envoy to Great Britain, had made no such overtures to him.
The extract in the Gazette de Leyde of 2 June, which was dated 15 May, indicated that two American negotiators had arrived to procure an agreement ending the depredations of Algerian corsairs on their merchant ships and thereby ensure their safe passage in the Mediterranean. However, the regency being in amity with all the world refused to negotiate, and the Americans departed. It also reported that on 10 April an Algerian frigate had captured the Philippine (not the Clementina), Capt. Palmer, bound from Philadelphia to Ostend, Belgium.
Charles Philippe, Comte d’Artois, was King Louis XVI’s youngest brother and later King Charles X.
On the same day, Jefferson also wrote to WSS to order a second portable copying press, and to report that he had “received no journals of Congress of later date than Oct. 10 nor letter from the office for foreign affairs of later date than January” (Jefferson, Papers
, 9:655).
th1786
This letter is Going by a private Hand, and While I am Reminding You of one of Your Sincerest friends, I am Happy in this Opportunity to Converse with You on some Objects of a Public Nature
The Committee for American Commerce Has Met Some times, when I Have Endeavoured to Carry down the farm Generale— there I fought Unsupported, so Great is the influence of that Body, and altho’ I proved that We Would do Better Without them, than With them, and that the King’s Revenüe Should Encrease, While the price of Snuf was decreasing, Yet I lost the Battle, and Wished at least to Make a Handsome Retreat. there I was Countenanced By Many, Count de Vergennes Among them, who disapprouved of the Way of doing Business now adopted By messieurs of the farm— A
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Contract with Mr̃ Moriss is Existing which furnishes the Whole Consumption at a High price, and Has Greatly Reduced the Valüe of that Commodity— the Bargain is preserved with A very formal Resolution Never More to Enter into Monopolizing Contracts, and in the Mean while the farmer Generals will take Annually from twelve to fifteen Hgshds of American tobacco,1 Coming from an American port on American or french Vessels, on the Same Conditions with that of mr̃ Moriss While the Contract lasts. as I went immediately after into the Country, You will Have been Acquainted with this By mr̃ jefferson2
in the Month of july, the Committee are to Meet Again, and I Hope the important Affair of Whale oil will be taken in Consideration—3 a Cargoe of timber, Shipped By mr̃ tracy, is Now at Brest, and a Very proper letter Has Been, I am Assured, writen By the Minister of the Navy— How far it Will Conquer Riga prejudices, I do not Yet know4
it Seems, My dear Sir, that lord George Gordon Has Been let loose Upon You— But the Gentleman is so wild, that it Very little Matters what He does— Your difficulties with that Ministry are of a More Serious Nature— I Confess I thought Great Britain Would act More Wisely— those people are Very Backward in American Concerns, Excepting when they Can Blacken the National Character— I am Happy to Hear the people at large are about taking fœderal Measures.— Virginia Has Begun Appointing Commissionners—and I Hope Congress will Have those powers that are Necessary to Give Energy to the Confederation, without Encroaching on those Rights which it is proper to leave within States so far distant, and so differently Circumstanced.
Actuated By a desire of fœderal Measures, By the feelings I Have too often experienced while I Heard the situation of America so Much Mistaken, and By a sense of pride that Makes me wish to See the United states disdain to Walk the Beaten and Common path, I Confess I would like a Manly opposition to those Algerine Rascals— I am told they May Be Blocked up—and from mr̃ jefferson you Have Received particulars about it— Should Naples and portugal join, and What I would prefer, Give their Quotas in Monney, a Summer Blockade and Winter Cruize Might take place— Had You Any time to Spare, I Beg You Will let me know Your Sentiments which I know to be more favourable to a Negotiation— perhaps am I led too far By My Passions—But However Must Be less so, than if a land operation Could take place
347Should Some thing Be tried with the Court of Naples, and an American Gentleman Was sent there don’t You think our friend Mazzey to Be a Very proper Person?— He is Honest, Sensible, and Speacks the language—and in Case Some Commission Chargé d’affaires to italy was ever sent, He would I think answer the purpose— How far Congress may turn their Views towards that Country, I am not to determine.
this letter is writen in Hurry, as I am to Send it to mr̃ jefferson without delay— I Beg You will present My Affectionate Respects to Mr̃s and Miss adams to whom Md̃e de lafayette and family Beg to be Remembered, as well as to Yourself and clel Smith whom I Beg to Receive My Most friendly Compliments— with Hearty and Ever lasting Sentiments of Attachement and Respect I Have the Honour to Be / My dear Sir / Your obedient Humble / Servant
RC (Adams Papers); endorsed: “Marquis de la Fayette. / 16. June. ansd. 26. 1786.”
An inadvertence. This should read “twelve to fifteen [thousand] Hgshds of American tobacco,” but see note 2.
On or about 7 Feb., Charles Alexandre de Calonne, French finance minister, after consulting with the Comte de Vergennes, formed a committee to examine Franco-American trade. Initially, it focused on the Farmers General’s tobacco monopoly and in particular Robert Morris’ contract with the Farmers, signed on 11 Jan. 1785, by which he would provide the monopoly, at a fixed price, with 60,000 hogsheads of American tobacco over the next three years. The committee came into being largely because of the efforts of Lafayette, acting at the behest of Thomas Jefferson, and reflected the two men’s strong desire that the monopoly be abolished and Morris’ contract abrogated.
The committee, of which Lafayette was a member, met periodically from 20 Feb. to 24 May 1786. Lafayette spoke early in its deliberations, calling for the monopoly’s abolition and the establishment of a free market for American tobacco, subject only to a duty on each pound imported so as to maintain royal revenues. Although other proposals for modifying the system and Morris’ contract were made, the Farmers General opposed all changes. In the end, as Lafayette indicates in his account of the committee’s final decision rendered on 24 May, Morris’ contract was continued, but the Farmers General also agreed to purchase American tobacco from other sources. The Farmers’ purchase of additional tobacco drove up the price and prevented Morris from making a profit on his endeavor (Jacob M. Price, France and the Chesapeake, 2 vols., Ann Arbor, Mich., 1973, 2:750–769).
In a 30 May letter, Vergennes informed Jefferson of the committee’s decision regarding the tobacco trade. The following day Jefferson wrote to inform John Jay, the governors of Virginia and Maryland, and various others concerned in the matter, but no letter has been found from him to JA in which he “Acquainted” JA with the proceedings (Jefferson, Papers
, 9:597–602).
There is no indication that the French committee on American trade met again to consider the trade in whale oil, but Calonne wrote to Jefferson on 22 Oct. to confirm French regulatory measures specific to trade with the United States dating back to Jan. 1784, for which see Jefferson’s 27 Oct. 1786 letter, and note 1, below.
Lafayette’s reference to the “Riga prejudices” was to the French Navy’s preference for naval stores, including masts, obtained from northern Europe: Sweden, Norway, or Russia. For JA’s 1784 efforts to promote the sale of American naval stores to France and, in particular, to assist Nathaniel Tracy, a prominent Newburyport merchant, in that regard, see vol. 16:444–446, 460–461, 462.