Papers of John Adams, volume 18

Thomas Barclay to the American Commissioners, 15 November 1786 Barclay, Thomas American Commissioners

Thomas Barclay to the American Commissioners

Gentlemen Escurial 15th. Novr. 1786 1

I came here a few days ago to deliver a Letter from the Emperor of Morocco to the King, which I put into the Hands of the Count de Florida Blanca, acknowledging the Sense I had of his Attention & thanking him with great sincerity on the Part he had taken in our business at Morocco, He seemed very much pleased with our Success, and smiling replyed “Now that we have happily finished this Treaty we will see what we can do with others for you.” I am persuaded that this Minister is extreamly well disposed to serve our Country, & I doubt not but this Court will greatly strengthen our endeavors with the Barbary Powers. It is the decided opinion of the Count D’Espilly that nothing ought to be attempted with Algiers at present & that you should begin with the Porte; He proposes sitting out for Africa some time hence & promises a continuation of his good Ofices— He remarked that if we could capture one Algerine Cruiser it would greatly facilitate a Treaty. But this mode of negotiating would I think prove more expensive than any other & it ought to be our last Resort. I am informed by a Letter from Mr. Chiappi of Mogadore that a Vessel is arrived there, the Master of which Reports that on his Passage from Lisbon he saw an Algerine Frigate of 40 Guns & four Xebecs & that the people who were on board one of them informed him they were going to cruise on the Coast of America, but I cannot give entire Credit to the Account as the Season of the Year is far advanced, & we have not heard that any of the Algerine Cruisers have passed the Streights of Gibralter, within which I hope the portuguese Squadron will keep them, this being all that may be expected from them. Tomorrow I shall return to Madrid & from thence to Alicante from whence I shall give you as clear an Account of Mr. Lambs situation as Circumstances will admit of. I believe there are some Effects belonging to the United States at Corunna worth looking after, it is some Years since in Consequence of a Letter from Mr. Morris I endeavored to recover them I shall take all the information I can of their Value & if it appears clearly that they are worth so much Attention I will return to France by that 511 Place,2 if not, I shall go as soon as possible home by the shortest Rout. I am with Great Respect / Gentlemen / Your most obt. humble sert.

Thos Barclay3

RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “His Excellency / John Adams Esqr. / Minister Plenipotentiary from the / United States of America at the / Court of / London.”; internal address: “Mr. Adams / & Mr. Jefferson.”; endorsed: “Mr Barclay. 15. Nov. / 1786. / Escurial.”

Barclay wrote to JA on 3 and 4 Dec. (both Adams Papers), enclosing copies of letters he had written to the commissioners, among which were this letter and that of 7 Nov., above, as well as bills drawn on JA to pay for gifts sent to the governor of Tangier and others.

Probably Robert Morris’ 16 Jan. 1783 letter to Barclay. There Morris referred to an otherwise unidentified ship that had sailed for America in 1781 carrying military supplies obtained by Col. John Laurens. The vessel was probably the merchant ship Rusé, chartered by Laurens, which had been dismasted and forced to put into La Coruña, Spain. Another report indicated that it had been captured by the British (Morris, Papers , 7:314; Franklin, Papers , 35:111, 420, 518–519). Barclay was asked to inquire about the vessel so that any public property might be retrieved. In a 10 Feb. 1787 letter to the commissioners, Barclay indicated that he had been unsuccessful (Jefferson, Papers , 11:132–133).

In Barclay’s hand.

From John Adams to Rufus King, 29 November 1786 Adams, John King, Rufus

To Rufus King

Dr Sir— Grosvenor Square Nov 29 1786—1

The tumultuous Conduct of many People in New England which is mentioned in your obliging Letter of the 3d of October, does not I hope arise from any Competitions for the Government. If the People who wish for Hancock, or those who prefer Bowdoin, those who vote for Sullivan—or such as desire Langden, are Capable of exciting such kinds of Discontent, and Convulsions in order to keep out—or to get in one or Another it will portend a long Course of Unhappiness and never will be remedied by making one or the other hereditary and that must produce hereditary Senates. But before the Body of the People Should be convinced of the Necessity of this, I Suppose they would go on pulling down the Governor—Senate, and Committing all to a Single House, for this is the Hobby horse of too many of Our People and too many of Our Clergy.2 According to this Calculation we may have half a Century of Anarchy to End at best in a limited Monarchy with an hereditary nobility— But I trust our People have Understandings to Comprehensive to Suffer the Present Disorders to proceed—

Giving the Choice of Captains Lieutenants and Ensigns to the soldiers of the Militia in our Constitution was a Capital Mistake3 and the overthro of every democratical Constitution heretofore has 512 been Occationed by some such Little matter that nobody thought of much Importance at first

with much Esteem I am yours &c—

LbC in AA2’s hand (Adams Papers); internal address: “The Honble Mr King—”; APM Reel 113.

This letter and those of 30 Nov. to John Jay and Thomas Jefferson, both below, are the first extant letters containing observations by JA on Shays’ Rebellion. In mid-October letters from Charles Storer of 15 Aug. to AA ( AFC , 7:321–322) and 19 Aug. to JA , above, had likely arrived. But they, and the newspapers that Storer probably enclosed with his letter to JA, reported on the grievances proceeding from the county conventions. In fact, the only other letters reporting on the disturbances in Massachusetts that JA had received to date were King’s 3 Oct. letter, above, and Jay’s of 4 Oct., for which see note 2 to the King letter. Both of those letters seemed to indicate that the crisis was stabilizing owing to decisive action taken by the governments of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The only London newspaper report on events in Massachusetts that JA had likely seen was that in the 22 Nov. London General Advertiser, which contained the resolves adopted by the Hampshire County convention that met from 22 to 26 August. AA mentioned those resolves in her 22 Nov. letter to JQA, describing them as “a disgrace to our annals” ( AFC , 7:395, 396), but there is no indication that either she or JA had seen the more disturbing account of the 12 Sept. effort to close the court at Concord (from Storer, 16 Sept., and note 2, above), which appeared in the 25–28 Nov. London General Evening Post and the 28 Nov. London Morning Post and Daily Advertiser.

This dearth of information probably explains JA’s muted reaction in his letters to King, Jay, and Jefferson, which should be compared with his comments in letters written in mid-Jan. 1787 when more detailed information had been received from correspondents in Massachusetts. See, for example, his letters to James Warren of 9 Jan. and to Richard Cranch of 15 Jan., both below.

Of all of the innovations proposed by the protesters, the creation of a unicameral legislature in Massachusetts probably most disturbed JA. See his comments on the dangers of such an institution in his Thoughts on Government (Philadelphia, 1776), for which see vol. 4:88–89.

The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 restricted the governor to naming the adjutant general and designating ranks of seniority for elected officers. Only militiamen could elect officers, and major generals were chosen by the two legislative houses (vol. 8:268).