Papers of John Adams, volume 6
1778-07-09
I would Inform you that on the 28th of August Last I a Rived heare from London I had att that time Just obtained my Discharge, from the Belile
After waiting two months and heareing Nothing from you Mr. Coffin Toald me that he Belived nothing would be done for mee. And Beged that I would Take the Command of a Vessel to the Braizels in the whaleing Buisness which I was obliged to accept and accordingly wrote to London and Got from thence about ten of my Countrymen four of them went the Voige to the Braizels with mee the Rest was Sent by Mr. Coffin to Nants.
Mr. Coffin wants me to Go a Nother Voige from hence to the Braizels in his Imploy but I will not Ingage untill I heare from Capt. Amy6 the Barer of this—as I Should be Glad to do Something for my Cuntry. I have been at a Grate Expence heare at Mr. Fitzgaralds. Mr. Coffin Toald me Before I went from heare he would Pay My account. But I have Setteld my Voige with him and he has Charged me with Every farthing of Mr. Fitzgaralds account and I have paid him. I am Desired by Mr. Nisbett to write a Gain to London and Git over as many of the Amaracans as I Can the way I Shall point out to them now is to Come heare by the way of Holland I make no dout but a Number will Come over if they Can Possibely make their Escape—which I think they will Do.
This day I heard that my Brother William Grinnell who was first Leftanant of the Columbas when She Ingaged the Glasko man of war is now in Breast and Commands a frigate from Boston.7 I no not wheather this is true or not.
I have Laid Before your honour my Preasent Surcumstances and Should be Glad of your honours Commands how I am to Proceede. I have Given my word to Capt. Amy not to Ingage untill I heare from him. I am with much Respect honoured Sirs, your moost obedant humble Servt.
P.S. Mr. Dean9 who was heare about Nine monthe passt toald me hee was a Prisanor on board the Columbas at the time She had the Ingagement with the Glasko and new my Brother William Grinnell.
Period supplied.
Grinnell's meaning here is unclear, but he may be saying that when the Belle Isle put into an Irish port he took the opportunity to send a letter to London.
Presumably Nieuwpoort, Belgium.
On Jonathan Nesbitt, see Francis Coffyn to the Commissioners, 13 April (above).
No letters from Grinnell to the Commissioners earlier than this one have been found.
Capt. Peter Amiel, who was also carrying letters from Francis Coffyn to the Commissioners.
Following the battle between the Columbus and the frigate Glasgow on 6 April 1776, William Grinnell had served as first lieutenant on the sloop Providence under John Paul Jones. After his capture as prizemaster of a brigantine taken by the Providence, and subsequent escape, he apparently left the navy. He probably was the same person who was given command of the Massachusetts privateer sloop Loyal American in Feb. 1778 and could conceivably have been at Brest in July (
Mass. Soldiers and Sailors
;
Naval Docs. Amer. Rev.
, 7:982–983; Allen, Mass. Privateers
, p. 212).
Grinnell, a merchant captain from Newport, R.I., was captured a second time when he sailed for America from Paimboeuf on 29 Aug. (JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 2:319; Grinnell to the Commissioners, 15 Sept., PPAmP: Franklin Papers).
Dean remains unidentified.
1778-07-10
Passy, 10 July 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 4:156–158. Adams reported the arrival on 8 July of the ratified Franco-American treaties, which were seen as fresh evidence of the increasing isolation of Great Britain and of the unlikelihood of the formation of a coalition of powers against America. He predicted that even Spain would soon join Britain's open enemies and declared that the British government had but one wise choice—to make a treaty with the United States on the order of France's with America. Adams believed, however, that Britain would remain blind to the need for a new policy and would decline to a second-rate power.
printed:
Diary and Autobiography
, 4:156–158).
1778-07-10
Passy, 10 July 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 4:155–156. Adams discussed British reports of the evacuation of Philadelphia, congratulated MacCreery on the arrival of a ship in which he had an interest, and advised MacCreery that his description of the actions of Lafayette at Barren Hill would probably appear in Affaires de l'Angleterre et de l'Amérique. Finally, the departure of the Brest fleet was noted together with the hope that a decisive naval battle would soon take place.
printed:
Diary and Autobiography
, 4:155–156).
1778-07-10
We agree that the Bills drawn on you, by Mr. Williams, and paid by you according to the list herewith transmitted shall be charged to the Public Account of the United States; Mr. Williams to be accountable for the expenditure of all the sayd Sums to Congress or to any Person, or Persons appointed by Congress 278for that purpose, and to the Commissioners of the United States at the Court of France whenever he shall be called to render such Account. This Consent however is not to be considered as any approbation of Mr. Williams Account, nor to have any Influence at all in the final Settlement of them.1
This letter is taken from Ford's copy of a note from Ferdinand Grand to Arthur Lee of an undetermined date, forwarding the text of the order concerning Jonathan Williams. There the Franklin-Adams letter is preceded by Grand's statement that “M. Grand a l'Honeur d'envoyer a Monsieur Lee suivant ses ordres Copie de la Lettre de Messrs. les Deputés, Le Docteur Franklin & Adams a Mr. Grand en date du 10 Juillet.”
This tentative approval of the accounts submitted by Jonathan Williams in response to the Commissioners' order in their letter of 25 May (calendared above) resulted in considerable controversy and reflects the divisions among the Commissioners. The accounts in question dealt with transactions in 1777 and early 1778 and are variously dated 1,12, 14,16 May, 3, 30 June, 27, 31 July, 16 Aug., 31 Dec. 1777; 8 Jan., 25 Feb., 31 March, 20 April, 27, 28, 29, 30 May 1778 (ViU: Lee Papers).
In early 1779 these accounts, as well as some later ones submitted by Williams, provoked a formally correct but angry correspondence between Lee and Franklin, in the course of which the origin and intent of this letter to Grand was explained. On 16 March 1779 Lee wrote Franklin that the letter seemed to indicate “that you yourself, Sir, was convinced that those accounts, as they stood, could not be passed” (Arthur Lee, Observations on Certain Commercial Transactions in France Laid Before Congress, Phila., 1780, p. 39–42; Evans, No. 16819). Lee assumed that the order to Grand was the work of Benjamin Franklin as a favor to his nephew. In a reply of the 27th (Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev.
, 3:101–102), Franklin informed him, “To prevent any suspicion of partiality towards him as my nephew I avoided having anything to do with the examination of them, but left it entirely to you and Mr. Adams. After that examination Mr. Adams drew up and sent me in, for signing, the order you mention. I considered the expressions in it as only serving to show that the accounts were not finally settled; and I considered Mr. Adams' drawing up and sending me the order as a proof that, in his judgment, who had with you examined the accounts, the bills drawn on M. Grand ought to be paid. I therefore signed it. I was not, as you suppose, convinced 'that the accounts as they stood could not be passed,' for, having never examined them, I could form no such opinion of them.”
Although no direct evidence substantiates it, the Lee-JA examination of the accounts, and Franklin's acquiescence in it, probably proceeded from Lee's refusal to sign a letter to Grand of 15 June declaring that “Nous approuvons toutes les Dispositions que Monsr. Jona. Williams a Fait sur vous jusqu'a ce Jour conformement a son Compte” (We approve all the bills that Mr. Williams has drawn on you to date conformable to his accounts [ViU:Lee Papers, unsigned copy in clerk's hand]). This letter, probably drafted by Franklin in consultation with JA, indicates that the two men were ready to approve the accounts. When Lee withheld his approval, the joint examination was probably proposed as a final effort to gain his signature. On its becoming clear during the examina-279tion that Lee would not approve Williams' accounts, JA drafted the letter of 10 July, which was more conditional than that of 15 June, perhaps to reflect the lack of agreement among the Commissioners.
Because its submission to him would have been futile, the letter was apparently never sent to Arthur Lee. It seems likely that Lee first learned of the order to Grand from Jonathan Williams' letter to the Commissioners, rather than to only Franklin and JA, of 17 July (below), thanking them for approving his accounts. This letter, the RC of which is in the Lee Papers (ViU), must have surprised Lee and may have led to his request to Grand for a copy of the letter of 10 July. That he did not know of the order as late as 15 July seems indicated by his very critical report of that date on Williams' accounts (ViU: Lee Papers), particularly the entries for commissions, sundry expenses, and postage. The report was probably meant for his colleagues, but, in view of Williams' letter of the 17th, it is unlikely that Lee submitted it. The Williams letter of 17 July, the report of the 15th, the fact that Lee obtained a copy of the letter from Grand, and his comments in the letter to Franklin of 16 March 1779 all seem to show that a split existed between JA and Lee, at least regarding Williams' accounts, that was as sharp as that between Franklin and Lee.