Papers of John Adams, volume 18

Thomas Barclay to the American Commissioners, 13 September 1786 Barclay, Thomas American Commissioners

Thomas Barclay to the American Commissioners

Gentlemen. Tangier 13th. September 1786.—

Though, in a letter written at this place—dated the 10th. instant, I gave you a long answer to the questions with which you charged me, I will now add some farther particulars on 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 valuable articles lately sent, were 80 thousand Dollars in Specie.—

It was, some time ago, debated in the Council at Versailles whether war Shou’d 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 Mr. Chinie excus’d 453 himself on account of his health, which the Emperor was informd was very good— Some time after the Consul went up to Morocco, with a letter from Mr. 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 wou’d not look at it, but ordered it, at the Public Audience, to be tied round the Consul’s neck, and dismissed him— The late proConsul of France has been very Successful in reconciling matters, and the present Consul was very well receiv’d while I was in Morocco,—the Emperor however Strongly advising him to avoid the ways of his Predecessor.—1

The Swedes are bound by treaty to Send an Ambassador once in two years, and the presents are considerable and very usefull to the Emperor.—

The Danes are bound by treaty to pay an annual tribute of 25 Thousand Dollars.—

The Venetians, by treaty also, are bound to pay ten thousand Chequins2 being about Twenty two thousand Dollars.—

The presents, from Holland, are more considerable than those from any of the three last mention’d 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 Promises.— It wou’d 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 cruize against his Vessells.—3

With the Portugueze, He is very friendly. their Men of War come into this bay to get Supplies of Provisions and other necessaries, During their cruizes against the Algerines—and a Man of War of 64 Guns which is lying at Anchor here for that purpose will Sail in a few days to join the Portugueze Squadron of Six Vessels that are now in the Mediterranean to prevent the Algerine Cruizers from getting into the Atlantic.— By the treaty between Portugal and Morocco the Emperor is not to allow his Vessels to Cruize to the 454 Northward of Cape Finistre.—4 My information says Cape Finistere, but Probably it ought to be Cape St. Vincent, I Cannot at present be Certain about it.—

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. I am 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 consists of the Kingdoms of Fez, Morocco, Tafilet and Sus, and his influence extends a great way into the Desert; Fez and Morocco are in many parts very fertile in Corn, fruit and oil, and any quantity of wine might be rais’d but the use of it is prohibited— The last Harvest has produced an encrease of 40 for one, an asertion which from examination I know to be true, and 30 for one is not deem’d extraordinary— The resources of the Country are great—but the cultivation of those resources Slovenly to a Degree.— All the Arts and Sciences are buried in Oblivion, and it appears almost impossible that these are the Descendants of the people who conquer’d 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, Shews the City was once of more consequence.— There are Schools in all the Towns where reading and writing are taught and in Some places arithmetic, and very rarely a little astronomy, and those branches comprehend the Learning of the Moors.— The people Seem to be warlike, fierce avaritious and Contemners of the Christians. The Arabs, who dwell in Tents, dispise the Inhabitants of the Cities, but unite with them in their attachment to the Sovereign.— The Emperor is 66 years of age according to the Mahometan reckoning which is about 64 of our years— He is of a middle Stature inclining to fat, and has a remarkable cast in his right eye which looks blacker than the other; His Complexion is rather dark owing to a Small mixture of Negro blood in him— He possessed in his early years all the fierceness of his ancestors, but being entrusted by his father in Public matters, He turned his thoughts on the art of Government, and during his father’s lifetime obtain’d absolute Dominion not only over the Country, but over his father who 455 entrusted everything to his management, appoveing even of those acts which he did contrary to his instructions and the most perfect friendship always subsisted between them. It is about 28 years since he ascended the Throne without a Competitor, Since which he has taken the Utmost pains to conquer those habits and prejudices in which he was educated—5 One of his people, not long ago, making a Complaint of Some ill treatment he had receiv’d, and not meeting Such reddress as he expected broke out into Some language that the Emperor was not accustom’d to hear, His Majesty, with great temper, Said “Had you Spoke in Such terms to my Father or Grandfather, what do you think wou’d have been the consequence”—

The King is fond of accumulating wealth and of distributing it— The Sums he Sends to Mecca are so extraordinary 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 Salè to Morocco to Strike out of the direct road and go to a Saints House, where a number of Villains— (about 300) had taken Sanctuary, every one of which he order’d 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 Lov[er] of his People, Stern, and 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 poorest 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 King 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,

4 Queens.—

40 Women who are not married, but who are attended in the same manner as if they were Queens.—

243 Women of inferior Rank, and these are attended by,

858 Females who are Shut up in the Seraglios, and the number of Eun[uc]hs is great.— The last Queen which He married t[wo] years ago, is now about 14 or 15 years of age—and his children are Sixteen Sons and Seven Daughters.—

I shall conclude this letter with a short account of the two audiences I had, [the] first was a public one at which there were about one thousand people present— The Emp[eror] came out on 456 horseback, and we were presented by the Basha of Morocco.6 After Enquiring what kind of 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 t[hen] question’d me concerning the number of the American Troops during the war and Si[nce] the peace—of the religion of the white Inhabitants and of the Indians—of the lati[tude] of the United States and remarked that no person had Sail’d farther than the 80th. Degree of North Latitude, and enquired 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 open’d, He examin’d it and Said He knew the writing very well, He then looked at an alarm Watch which happened to Strike, and as[ked] Several questions about it, he concluded by Saying, “Send your Ships and trade with us, I will do every thing 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 Shewn 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 receiv’d from the English. He examin’d a watch that was among the presents, and an Atlas with which he seemed very well acquainted, pointing out to Different parts of the World and Naming them, though he cou’d 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 Sail’d—after which he put down the latitudes of the Coasts of America, desiring to know which were the best ports, and Said he wou’d probably send a Vessel there— I presented him with a book containing the constitutions of America and other public papers,7 and one of the Interpreters told him it also contained the reasons which induced the Americans to go to war with Great 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 Declination, and Saying he wou’d order a Bag of herbs of Great and peculiar qualities to be sent me, I inform’d him that I wou’d appoint Mr. Francis Chiappi of Morocco, as an Agent to act in behalf of any American Citizens,8 who coming to this Country may have occasion 457 for his Service—or to transmit to His Majesty through Mr. Tahar Fenish any letters or papers from the Congress of the United States Untill 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 shew the turn of thinking which the Emperor possesses, and the Objects that engross his attention.— I have the honor to be / Gentn. / Your most obedt. h’ble Servt.—

Thos Barclay9

RC in David S. Franks’ hand (PCC, No. 91, I, f. 189–196); notation: “Barbary / No. 9—” Text lost due to a tight binding has been supplied from a FC (PCC, No. 91, I, f. 302–310). Note that the reference to “No. 9” is to the number given this letter as an enclosure in Thomas Barclay’s 2 Oct. letter to the commissioners, below, which Jefferson received only in late Dec. 1786 and JA not until late Jan. 1787.

Louis de Chénier (1722–1795) served as France’s consul general and chargé d’affaires in Morocco from 1767 to 1782. He was the author of Recherches historiques sur Maures: et historie de l’empire de Maroc, 3 vols., Paris, 1787, the third volume of which was translated into English as The Present State of the Empire of Morocco, 2 vols., London, 1788. He was succeeded by vice-consul Henri Noël Mure, but the “present consul” was Jean Baptiste du Rocher ( Repertorium , 3:124; Roberts and Roberts, Thomas Barclay , p. 206–207). For more on Chénier, see Descriptive List of Illustrations, No. 6, above.

Also known as a chequeen or sequin, this gold coin was used in Italy and Turkey ( OED ).

Barclay refers to the German emperor, or Joseph II of Austria, but he probably means Frederick II, king of Prussia (Jacques Caillé, Les accords internationaux du Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah, 1757–1790, Paris, 1960, p. 39–40). For the 1783 Austro-Moroccan treaty, see note 6.

The following sentence is in Barclay’s hand. It was written at the bottom of the letter’s final page at the left margin, opposite Barclay’s signature, and marked for insertion at this point.

Barclay’s original statement was correct. In the 27 Nov. 1773 Portuguese-Moroccan Treaty of Peace, Moroccan traders were strongly discouraged from sailing past Cape Finisterre, the westernmost point of the Iberian peninsula and a fertile area for Barbary raiders (Caillé, Les accords internationaux, p. 201–206).

Mohammad III (d. 1790), emperor of Morocco from 1757 until his death, introduced wide-ranging political and cultural reforms in a prolific reign that was far more peaceful than those of his grandfather, Ismail, and father, Abdallah. Mohammad III enhanced military fortifications at Salé and Rabat, imprisoned corrupt officials, and stabilized an insurgent army. He founded the new port cities of Mogador and Fedala, dispersing the contents of his father’s 12,000-volume library among the country’s major mosques.

While the Moroccan Army held off several foreign incursions in the 1760s and 1770s, Mohammad managed to revive good relations with most Western powers. He sent ambassadors to European courts and fostered a diplomatic community at his main court in the northern port of Tangier. For the emperor of Morocco, the formal opening of commercial relations with the United States in 1786 capped nearly thirty years’ worth of forging similar agreements with France, England, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, and Tuscany (Luella J. Hall, The United States and Morocco, 1776–1956, Metuchen, N.J., 1971, p. 29–30; Caillé, Les accords internationaux, p. 13–42).

Presumably Mohammad ibn Abd al-Malik, pasha and governor of Tangier, who concluded Morocco’s 17 April 1783 treaty of amity and commerce with Joseph II of Austria (Norman A. Stillman, “A New Source for Eighteenth-Century Moroccan History in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester: The Dombay Papers,” Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 57:467 [Spring 1975]; Caillé, Les accords internationaux, p. 246–249).

Barclay likely presented a copy of 458 Constitutions des treize États-Unis de l’Amérique, Paris, 1783, which was partially based on The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America, published by Congress in 1781 at JA’s suggestion (vol. 14:505).

For Barclay’s appointment of the Chiappe brothers to act as American agents in Morocco, see his 2 Oct. 1786 letter to the commissioners, and note 7, below.

In Barclay’s hand.

To John Adams from Charles Storer, 16 September 1786 Storer, Charles Adams, John

From Charles Storer

Dear Sir, Boston. 16th. Septemr: 1786.

I wish you would finish your business in London & return home—We want you here more than a little— Every thing seems to be going wrong, and there is great reason to fear that we soon shall be in a state of anarchy & confusion— When Government has not energy eno: to enforce the laws, what is to be done? When our executive Officers have not power to suppress Mobs, Riots & armed associations, what is to be done? ’Tis herein we want your advice, counsel & assistance: You, who had so principal a share in framing our Constitution, can best apply a remedy for its defects— The story in short is this—The people of Hampshire & Berkshire Counties find themselves much aggrieved in being sued for their debts: here blame is thrown upon the Lawyers, who, ’tis said, have wantonly ruined many worthy, good families— This is the case likewise in Bristol County— In consequence of this grievance a Convention was sometime ago proposed to almost every County & Town in the State to consider of the present state of public affairs & to petition for a redress— Many towns met—many refused to join—& some sent Members to try to keep them in order— They publish’d many grievances, such as their heavy taxes, the present mode of representation, the State debt—the great salaries given to the Officers of Government, and above all, the sitting of the Court of Common Pleas—1 In consequence of these proceedings an armed Mob prevented the sitting of the Court in the upper Counties— Hearing the same thing was intended at Concord & again at Taunton, where the Court was to sit last week, the Governor, with the advice of his Council, called upon the Officers of the Militia to defend & protect the Court— The rioters in the mean time, fearing perhaps something serious might ensue fm. the above orders, proposed to the several neighboring towns of Concord the choosing each a Committee to meet at Concord the day before the sitting of the Court—in order to prevent such violent measures as were pursued the week before at Worcester, where a body of armed men, abt: 500., took possession of the Court house— 459 bayonetted the Judges when they offered to enter it & obliged them to retire to the tavern where they again obliged them to adjourn sine die— This seemingly pacific disposition induced the Governor, who consulted the whole Council, the Bench of Judges, & as many of the House of Representatives as he could get together, to countermand the marching of the Militia to Concord— Notwithstanding the above measures, the mob assembled at Concord, took possession of the Court-house, called on every one to join them or they would destroy the town—were riotous—ill-treated the inhabitants & finally obliged the Court to adjourn without day— They were about 300. in number—a set of miserable, unprincipled wretches, tis said—& were headed by several Officers who had been disgraced during the war & a Nathan Smith of Groton, who has been outlawed— They declared publickly their intention was to put an end to all debts & begin anew again—to annihilate the State Debt & to lessen their taxes— At Taunton, the same day, the Court sat & adjourned to a distant day, being protected by Genl: Cobb at the head of about 200. of the Militia— A mob collected to oppose their sitting, but nothing was attempted— Within these few days we hear nothing of them, any further than that they complain of the Senate being a grievance, & the Attorney General a Nuisance— The Governor has issued several proclamations for apprehending the Ringleaders—but without effect— He accordingly called, in the first instance, the Genl: Court together the 2d. week in October—but since the affair of Concord, he has called on them to meet next week— What will be the result is yet uncertain.—2

22d.

Things appear again quiet— It was expected the Rioters would have opposed the sitting of the Supreme Court, which met at Worcester a few days ago—but no attempt was made— “The Chief Justice gave a most interesting & pathetic charge to the Jury, in which the ruinous consequences of the late Commotions were pointed out in a manner wh: could not fail of forcing conviction upon the minds of all who heard it”—3 I wish it may have that happy effect—

The Gentleman who will deliver you this is Mr: Thos: Martin of Portsmo: He is a Kinsman of ours & therefore I take the liberty of introducing him to you & will be bound in equal obligation with him for any attentions—4

I shall leave town soon for my new settlemt: at Passe: where the 460 Govr: & Council have been pleased to appoint me Justs: Pacis & one of the Quorum—5 If I shd. be the means of any good, it will repay me for the anxiety this entirely new employment occasions me—

I am, sir, with much esteem, / Yr: oblig’d, huml: servt:

C: S—

RC (Adams Papers).

In letters to AA of 15 Aug. ( AFC , 7:321–322) and to JA of 19 Aug., above, Storer reported the calling of county conventions to address grievances and his apprehension about the results.

The first convention met on 23 July at Taunton in Bristol County, Mass., and within a month similar gatherings were held in the counties of Worcester, Hampshire, Middlesex, and Berkshire. The resulting resolves varied from county to county but laid out the participants’ grievances regarding debt, taxation, the shortage of money, and the legal system and demanded a radical revision of the commonwealth’s constitution that included the abolition of the senate and the election of state officials by the lower house (Richards, Shays’s Rebellion , p. 8–9).

In the remainder of this paragraph, Storer, relying on newspaper accounts, reports on the next phase of the growing rebellion, the closing of the courts. This step, taken partly because the General Court’s adjournment until Jan. 1787 left no one to act on the protesters’ grievances, began on 29 Aug. 1786 when hundreds of protesters stopped the court at Northampton, Mass., from meeting and conducting business. Storer then describes subsequent incidents at Worcester on 5 Sept. and Concord and Taunton on the 12th. In all three cases, Worcester being the most violent, large groups of armed men assembled and coerced the courts into adjourning without conducting business. The most detailed newspaper account was of the Concord incident, where a mob led by Capt. Nathan Smith of Shirley and Capt. Job Shattuck of Groton essentially held the town for three days. At one point Smith, allegedly drunk, declared that “every person who did not follow his drum, and join the Regulator, in two hours, should be drove out of town at the point of the bayonet.” Although the incident at Taunton was the least threatening of the three episodes because Gen. David Cobb and 300 militiamen protected the court, the final result was the same. What was most alarming for Massachusetts authorities was that only at Taunton did the militia mobilize in support of the government (Boston Independent Chronicle, 14 Sept.; Boston Massachusetts Centinel, 16 Sept.; Springfield, Mass., Hampshire Herald, 19 Sept.; Boston Independent Ledger, 11 Sept.; Richards, Shays’s Rebellion , p. 9–12).

On 24 Aug., James Bowdoin called the General Court back into session on 18 Oct. to consider Congress’ 1786 requisition from the states, of which Massachusetts’ share was $240,370. By 13 Sept., however, the growing crisis led him to issue a new proclamation ordering the General Court to meet on 27 Sept. to deal with “the many tumults and disorders which have since taken place, in several counties within this Commonwealth, in obstructing the sitting of the Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace” (Boston Independent Chronicle, 31 Aug., 14 Sept.).

Storer quotes verbatim from a newspaper account of the relatively peaceful opening of the Mass. Supreme Judicial Court’s session in Worcester on 19 Sept. (Charlestown American Recorder, 22 Sept.).

Storer was a distant relative of AA. Thomas Martin’s father-in-law was a brother of Storer’s grandmother, Anna Peirce Greene. JA nominated Martin for the post of collector for the District of Portsmouth, N.H., in 1798 (Frederick Clifton Peirce, Peirce Genealogy, Worcester, 1880, p. 236–238; AFC , 5:ix–x; U.S. Senate, Exec. Jour. , 5th Cong., 2d sess., p. 283). Martin also carried Storer’s 26 Sept. 1786 letter to JA , below, and his 12 Sept. letter to AA ( AFC , 7:339–340).

Appointed as a justice of the peace for the disputed territory near Passamaquoddy Bay, Storer relocated to eastern Maine in late 1786, but by 1790 he had moved to Troy, N.Y. This and his 26 Sept. 1786 letter to JA , below, are his last until that of 23 Feb. 1790 (Adams Papers) wherein he requested a position in the new federal government ( AFC , 5:ix).