Adams Family Correspondence, volume 14
d:October 1799.
Between the 8th: &
16th: instants I have been fortunate
enough to receive your several agreeable favors of July 6th: August 10th:
15th: 17th:
& 28th: with sundry pamphlets &ca: &ca: for
all which please to accept my thanks. The muskets by the Connecticut are
likewise recd: in good condition.1
By the speedy passages of the Hamburg traders this
season, we have been furnished with very recent European intelligence,
and the triumphant progress of the allied powers has afforded matter of
joy or regret, as the passions & feelings of individuals among us
happened to be favorable or adverse to the cause of universal Monarchy
for which they seem to be striving.2 It must always happen, so long
as America is an independent Republic or nation, that the balance of
power in Europe will always
continue to be of the utmost importance to her welfare. The moment that
either France is victorious & Great Britain with her allies
depressed, we have cause to be alarmed for ourselves. The same thing is
true when the reverse of this happens. We are of too much consequence in
the scale of nations, to be left in the peaceable enjoyment of our
Commerce, & gaining strength in proportion as others are losing it,
without a 32
struggle at least to draw us into the vortex of war & waste. We have
already resisted a single effort from each side since the commencement
of the War, and if rumor has any truth in the tales it tells, we are not
far removed from a fresh attempt to make us declare for one side or the
other. We are, or in my opinion, soon must be, in a state of hostility
with all mankind, and I swear as an American, that I had rather
encounter the united rage of every power in Europe, as the Barbary
States have formerly done, than be leagued, associated or allied with
any of them in a common system of defence. Either we can, or we cannot,
maintain our Independence, and I am of opinion that affairs in this
Country are drawing fast to this issue.
Our Commissioners to France are said to be on the eve
of departure in the frigate United States, to sail from Newport.3 This I believe, may be
relied upon. We hear that the British Minister has signified to the
Government that the departure of these Envoys will be considered by the Coalition as an act of hostility.4 You have this as I hear
it every day in public— I cannot vouch for the truth.
I submitted your letters of the 17th: & 28th:
August to the perusal of the Secy. of State,
who after reading returned them with no other remark than that he could
not advise me to enter into the speculation you propose, since the price
of those articles you mention, is much lower here than your
calculations. On the subject of the Ship to be sold & the article of
Copper, he said nothing, but when I see him, I will ask more on these
subjects.
By a letter from my brother of the 16th: July, I learn that agreeably to a
proposal I made him last May, he consented to take MB
5 2000 of the money I left in
your hands & had accordingly drawn for it on that day. I have
written you also a request to purchase certain articles for my Mother at
Hamburg, charging my account with the cost, which I presume would nearly
make a balance between us. Friend Brush, who you say undertook to send
my great Coat, has never been polite enough to give me notice of its
arrival, though he came safe himself some months ago.6 I had rather run the chance of
getting one from you, according to my request, though you should charge
it, than wait any longer for the other.
We are about to revisit the Capital after a long & unprofitable absence. The disease has subsided both here & at New York, but not yet disappeared; the danger however of contagion is nearly gone— The Banks have remained through the Season, in spite of the sickness, but the public offices removed to Trenton and are not yet returned. 33 I expect my parents will pass the winter among us, which will contribute much to my comfort. The P——t is already at Trenton.
I will write again ere long, & mean time remain
with esteem / Your very obedt: humble
Servt:
PS. Our Election for Governor gives us Thomas
Mc:Kean by a majority of about six
thousand votes— Numbers will always outvote property— Or in other
words the democrats will always beat the Aristocrats on a fair trial
of strength. If we are to fight G. B. this State will deserve a
third part of the burthen of the war.
Our Congress has a better reputation than I fear
it will merit when it comes together. The Session will be long &
stormy. I look for something great to save
the Country.
Philadelphia
26
th:I find a vessel ready to sail for Bremen and I shall make up my packet for you under cover to our Consul at that place.7
The departure of the Envoys will probably happen
about the 1st: of next month. The story of
the British Ministers representations on this subject is very doubtful—
I am disposed to discredit it, though I have no special authority for so
doing.
I am as above / Your’s
RC (OCHP:Joseph Pitcairn Letters); addressed:
“Joseph Pitcairn Esqr: / Consul of the
United States of America / Hamburg”; internal address: “Jo: Pitcairn
Esqr:”; endorsed: “Thomas Adams / 23
Octor 1799 / R. 15 April 1800 / And 30
May”; notation: “To the care of / F. J. Wichelhausen / Bremen” and
“Bremen the 14th. April 1800. / Recd: & f[or]warded by / [Yr] Mst Obdt. St:. / pr F[…] [J]acob Wichelhausen.” Some loss of
text where the seal was removed.
The letters and pamphlets sent by Pitcairn have not
been found. For the two muskets purchased for TBA by
JQA and shipped by Pitcairn, see vol. 13:498, 539. The ship Connecticut, Capt. Moore, arrived at
Philadelphia on 16 Oct. after a passage from Hamburg of 45 days (New-York Gazette, 18 Oct.).
Philadelphia newspapers had recently cited reports
from Hamburg detailing advances by Anglo-Russian invasion forces in the
Netherlands and the retreat of Napoleon from Syria to Egypt, for which
see vol. 13:468
(Philadelphia American Daily Advertiser, 23
Oct.; Philadelphia Universal Gazette, 17
Oct.).
For JA’s decision to initiate a second
peace mission to France, see vol. 13:416. Oliver Ellsworth and William R. Davie,
two of the three U.S. ministers plenipotentiary, departed Newport, R.I.,
on the frigate United States, Como. John
Barry, on 3 Nov., and arrived at Paris on 2 March 1800, where they were
met by the third minister, William Vans Murray. On 2 April negotiations
began with three French commissioners, Joseph Bonaparte; Pierre Louis,
Comte de Roederer; and Charles Pierre Clarét, Comte de Fleurieu.
Negotiations were slowed by contention over the Jay Treaty and the 7
July 1798 congressional act voiding all prior treaties between the
United States and France, for which see vol. 13:165. In Sept.
1800 the two sides finally agreed to “a firm, inviolable, and universal
peace,” whereby property not yet condemned was returned and most of the
provisions of the countries’ earlier treaties were restored. Commercial
relations also resumed, but 34
compensation for U.S. losses was deferred. The Convention of 1800 was
signed on 3 Oct. at Joseph Bonaparte’s Chateau Môrtefontaine, ending the
Quasi-War (DeConde,
The Quasi-War
, p. 223, 224,
227–228, 254, 256, 257, 443–444; Boston Russell’s Gazette, 7 Nov. 1799;
ANB
;
Hoefer, Nouv. biog. générale
; Elkins and McKitrick,
Age of Federalism
, p.
682–687). For the convention’s ratification, see
AA to Cotton Tufts, 15
Dec., and note 2, below.
See TBA to William Smith Shaw, 23 Oct. 1799, and note 2, below.
Mark banco, an internal noncirculating currency of
account of the Bank of Hamburg that had a higher value than the
circulating currency, the mark courant (John J. McCusker, Money and Exchange in Europe and America,
1600–1775: A Handbook, Chapel Hill, N.C., 1978, p. 61–63).
Ebenezer Brush (1763–1814), brother of
JA’s deceased acquaintance Eliphalet Brush, was a New
York merchant who in April advertised goods for sale lately imported
from Hamburg (vol. 7:153, 155–156; Conklin Mann, “Thomas and Richard Brush of
Huntington, Long Island,”
NYGBR
,
67:21 [Jan. 1936];
New-York Directory
, 1798, p.
113, Evans, No.
34012; New York Daily Advertiser, 13 April,
suppl.).
The Four Friends, Capt.
Hathaway, accepted mail for Bremen until 26 Oct. and likely carried
TBA’s packet to Frederick Jacob Wichelhausen, who
served as U.S. consul at Bremen from 1796 to 1833 (Philadelphia Gazette of the United States, 22 Oct.;
Walter B. Smith II, America’s Diplomats and
Consuls of 1776–1865, Washington, D.C., 1986, p. 279).
d:October 1799
I have yet to reply to your favors of the 15th: & 21st:
instts: the latter of which with the letters
of Mr: Pitcairn, came to hand last evening.1
I have been anxious for some days on account of reports, which have been circulated with great zeal & industry, of a serious misunderstanding in the Cabinet at Trenton, and though I give credit slowly to the idle rumors of the day, I cannot but wish it were in my power to contradict some of them, which their very extravagance tells me cannot be true. I know pretty well how to appreciate the stories circulated on the Subject of the departure of the Commissioners, but when great pains are taken to propagate a belief that the President has declared his intentions of resigning the Chair, and means are taken in consequence to promote the election of a Successor, I confess that the feeling to me is unpleasant and I am sure the effect upon others is pernicious.
The story is, that the Secretary of State opposed with all his influence the departure of the Envoys for France— That his opposition was seconded by a declaration of the British Minister, that a fresh attempt at negotiation by our Government, would be considered by the Coalesced powers, as an act of hostility against them, since they had come to a resolution to force a declaration from every neutral power—for or against them. The President is said to have replied with characteristic energy to this communication— The Secretary persevered in his disaffection, which produced a warm explanation, 35 in the course of which the P——t declared he would resign, rather than submit to be influenced by the menaces of any other power on earth, on the subject of our external connections or intercourse— The Envoys of course are to go.—2
I do not write this account, with an expectation that you will be at liberty to tell me in return, what foundation there is in fact for any part of it; but only to acquaint you with what we the people hear daily in our intercourse with society.
Since the triumph of Jacobinism in this State, there is a
manifest scheme set on foot of irritating the public mind against Great
Britain— I see the drift of it in part, but I should wish to know what fresh
provocation has excited the animosity which thus discovers itself. Mc:Kean Governor of the State—Jefferson President
of the United States is the next object of that faction. I have done looking
up to the legislative branches of the Government for a relief and provision
for our great & serious difficulties. “La puissance legislative,” (said
a frenchman, who was no fool however he may have been a knave) “est
essentiellement destructrice”; “le pouvoir Executif, est essentiellement
conservateur.”3 I think I
can foresee an expeditious sacrifice & sure destruction of our
Government, in the prospect of such an overwhelming war as we are not sure
of escaping— The legislative branches would abandon the Executive, by
refusing the supplies necessary to carry it on, & it would fall lifeless
to the ground, like a body of inert matter, elevated upon pillars too weak
to sustain the burthen. If such must be the fate of this fabric, I had
rather that myself & family were buried in its ruins, than survive the
catastrophe by an untimely flight.
Be so good as inform me; how soon the President intends coming to the City, and whether it would be worth while for me to visit you before you come. I could go next Saturday to Trenton or at furthest on Monday; but if you think a speedy removal will take place, I will defer my journey altogether?
I am truly your’s
RC (MWA:Adams Family Letters); addressed: “William S Shaw / Trenton”; internal address: “W S Shaw.”; endorsed: “Germantown 23 Oct / T B Adams Esqr / rec 24th / An 25”; docketed: “1799 / Oct 23.”
Not found.
By the fall of 1799, JA’s deep
disagreements with cabinet members stemming from his unilateral decision
to send a second peace mission to France had escalated. Press reports
focused on JA’s instructions to the commission, and the
expected arrival of the British minister to the United States, Sir
Robert Liston, at Trenton, N.J., hinted at British interest in the
mission. The presence of 36
Alexander Hamilton also stirred popular attention. One of the more
damaging reports was JA’s alleged threat to resign the
presidency in favor of Thomas Jefferson unless the cabinet acceded to
his plans. The Philadelphia Porcupine’s
Gazette, 19 Oct., disputed the report: “It has been whispered
about, that the president has signified his intention of resigning as soon as congress meets; but,
from what I have been able to learn, the reports seems to be unfounded.”
The report had its origin, in part, in an 11 Sept. letter from Secretary
of State Timothy Pickering to JA purporting to represent
other members of the cabinet in opposing the second mission to France.
Instability in the French government reduced the likelihood of success,
Pickering argued, and “the question of suspending the mission seems to the Heads of Departments to
merit serious consideration” (Adams Papers). JA
recalled years later that Pickering’s letter prompted him to immediately
depart Quincy for Trenton: “I was astonished at this unexpected, this
obstinate and persevering opposition to a measure, that appeared so
clearly to me to be so essential to the peace and prosperity of the
nation, and the honor of the government, at home and abroad.” After
arriving at Trenton, JA met with cabinet members but was
not convinced by their arguments and ordered the envoys to proceed
(Douglas Bradburn, “The Presidency of John Adams,” in David
Waldstreicher, ed., A Companion to John Adams
and John Quincy Adams, Malden, Mass., 2013, p. 175, 177,
178–180; Bradford Perkins, The First
Rapprochement: England and the United States 1795–1805,
Berkeley, Calif., 1967, p. 121–122; Baltimore Telegraphe and Daily Advertiser, 21 Oct.; Massachusetts Mercury, 22 Oct.; Boston Patriot, 10 May 1809). For Trenton
meetings on the same subject between JA and Hamilton, see
AA to
Mary Smith Cranch, 30 Dec. 1799, and note 3, below.
The Philadelphia Porcupine’s
Gazette, 19 Oct., also suggested that the mission to France
risked inflaming “the hostility of England, Russia, and the Porte.”
Benjamin Stoddert addressed Britain’s view of the mission in a letter to
JA of 13 Sept., writing that maintaining peace with
both Britain and France “will be a difficult matter” and the British
viewed the overture “with a Jaundiced Eye.” Stoddert noted Liston’s
displeasure, writing, “Mr. Liston, mild
& reasonable as he may appear on other subjects, has not been so on
this” (Adams
Papers).
Legislative power is essentially destructive;
executive power is essentially conservative. The Paris Messager ou le mercure universel, 13 Feb.
1798, thus summarized the message of Louis Germain Petitain, Description d’une machine curieuse, nouvellement
montée au palais ci-devant Bourbon, Paris, 1798, a banned
pamphlet satirizing the Council of Five Hundred.
TBA also wrote to Shaw on 19 Oct. 1799, reporting that a frost in Philadelphia had likely ended the yellow fever season and that he had yet to find an office for his law practice (MWA:Adams Family Letters).