Papers of John Adams, volume 18

To John Adams from Edward Augustus Holyoke, 27 October 1786 Holyoke, Edward Augustus Adams, John

From Edward Augustus Holyoke

Sir. Salem Octr. 27th. 1786.

I have the Honour to inclose Your Excellency a Vote of the Massachusetts medical Society; by which You will percieve the grateful Sense they entertain of your Excellencys. Favours: and, in Compliance with their agreable Injunction, to return You the Thanks of the Society, for the fresh Instance of your Excellencys. Attention to their Interests, in forwarding the Extract from the Register of the Royal Academy of Surgery at Paris.1

Permit the Society Sir, still to hope for the Continuance of your Excellencys. good Offices, and Me the Honour to subscribe myself, with all possible Respect, / Your Excellencys. most obedient / & very humble Servant

E. A. Holyoke

ENCLOSURE

At a Meeting of the Massachusetts Medical Society—in Boston 18h October 1786

Voted That the President return the Thanks of this Society to His Excelly: John Adams Esqr. for his kind attention to their interest, in forwardg. the Extract from the Register of the Royal Academy of Surgery at Paris, passed in March 1783—

A true Copy from the Records Attest N. W. Appleton Recg Secry. 493

RC and enclosure (Adams Papers); internal address: “His Excy / John Adams Esqr.”

See JA’s letters to Holyoke of 3 April and 26 June, both above.

To John Adams from John Jay, 27 October 1786 Jay, John Adams, John

From John Jay

Dr Sir New York 27th: Octor. 1786

The Revd. Doctor Provost is so obliging as to take Charge of this Letter together with other Dispatches1 which he will deliver to you.—

This Gentleman being elected by the Convention of episcopal Congregations in this State, and having the most express Recommendations from that Body, as well as from a general Convention lately held at Wilmington, is going over to be consecrated a Bishop.—

Permit me to introduce him to you as a Gentleman who merits and possesses the Esteem of all who know him. The liberal Attention you have shewn to the Requests of the Convention on these Subjects, has received their Thanks and Acknowledgments, and I am persuaded that the same Disposition will secure to my Friend, the Doctor, your Civilities and friendly Aid.—

With great and sincere Esteem and Regard I have the Honor to be / Dr Sir / Your most obt. and hble: Servt.

John Jay—

RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “The Honorable John Adams Esqr.”

For the ordination of the Right Rev. Samuel Provoost, first Episcopal bishop of New York, and Rev. William White, Episcopal bishop of Pennsylvania, by John Moore, archbishop of Canterbury, on 4 Feb. 1787, and JA’s role in facilitating it, see vol. 17:539–540. Provoost (1742–1815), Columbia College 1758, served as rector of New York City’s Trinity Church and, since 1785, as chaplain to the Continental Congress ( ANB ). The “Dispatches” mentioned by Jay have not been further identified, but Provoost also carried Jay’s two letters of 1 Nov. 1786 [(1), (2)], both below, and a letter of introduction from Rufus King of the same date (Adams Papers). Provoost and his traveling companion White reached Falmouth, England, on or about 30 Nov., according to JA’s letter to Jay of that date, below.

To John Adams from Thomas Jefferson, 27 October 1786 Jefferson, Thomas Adams, John

From Thomas Jefferson

Dear Sir Paris Oct. 27. 1786.

I formerly had the honour of mentioning to you the measures I had taken to have our commerce with this country put on a better footing; & you know the circumstances which had occasioned the articles of whale oil & tobacco to be first brought forward. latterly 494 we got the committee, which had been established for this purpose, to take up the other articles, & on their report the king & council have come to the decisions explained in the inclosed letter from M. de Calonnes to me. the abandonment of revenue raised on articles of importation shews a friendly disposition.1 I have had thro this business a most zealous, & powerful auxiliary in the M. de la fayette, by whose activity it has been sooner & better done than I could otherwise possibly have expected. tho you are free to shew the inclosed letter as you please, I would wish it to be kept out of the public papers two or three months. I am Dear Sir your affectionate friend & servant

Th: Jefferson

RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “H. E. J. Adams.”; endorsed by WSS: “23d. octr. 86 / T Jefferson”; notation by CFA: “not published.” CFA presumably meant that the letter was not published in Jefferson, Correspondence, ed. Randolph.

For the origins of Jefferson’s joint effort with the Marquis de Lafayette to persuade the French ministry to reduce duties on American whale oil, see his 10 Dec. 1785 letter, and note 1, above.

The enclosure has not been found, but it was a copy of Charles Alexandre de Calonne’s 22 Oct. 1786 letter to Jefferson. In fact, the letter was a memorandum detailing and confirming French regulatory measures specific to trade with the United States dating back to Calonne’s 9 Jan. 1784 letter to Lafayette granting four free ports rather than the two required by the 1778 Franco-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce. It was a nearly verbatim rendition of the draft prepared by Lafayette, with significant input by Jefferson, for Calonne to sign and present as a summation of the work of the American Committee. Among the points dealt with were the reduction or elimination of duties on brandy, potash, fur, and naval stores, and the status of contracts for the purchase of American tobacco and whale oil. There was, however, no explicit mention of trade with the West Indies. For Jefferson’s detailed commentary on Calonne’s letter and its importance for Franco-American trade, see his 23 Oct. 1786 letter to John Jay (vol. 16:76, 77; Jefferson, Papers , 10:474–478, 484–486; Louis Gottschalk, Lafayette: Between the American and the French Revolution, 1783–1789, Chicago, 1950, p. 249, 255–256).