Papers of John Adams, volume 8
1780-01-24
I have but just Time to inform you by the Return of our Guide, that We all arrived in safety and in rather better Health than When We took our Leave of you, at this Place, last night. After 8 or 9 Leagues of bad Way, We found the Roads excellent, and the Accommodations at the Taverns all the Way, very comfortable. I assure you We discovered two or three fine Chimneys,1 besides that which you mentioned to Us, which contributed not a little to our Health and Comfort.
We were all much pleased with the Appearance of the Country through Biscay and Guipuscoa, the Houses Seeming commodious, and properly distributed about upon the Farms, instead of appearing in little Villages of Mud Walls mouldering into Ruins. We could not help reflecting that Liberty produces similar Effects, upon the Happiness of human Kind wherever you find it.2
Mr. Dana, Mr. Thaxter and Mr. Allen, with all the Children join with me in presenting to your House, our most sincere Thanks for the Thousand Civilities and the essential assistance We received at Bilboa. I have the Hono
Our Guide and his People, behaved extreamly well, and did everything in their Power for our Accommodation. I have the Honour to be with much Respect and Esteem, Gentn. your most obligd & obedient sert
On the journey to Bilbao, JA had complained that houses and inns lacked chimneys, and that the smoke escaped only through small holes in the roof. See JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 2:415–429
passim;
4:214–231
passim;
Adams Family Correspondence
, 3:259.
JA commented more extensively on the political liberties allowed the semi-autonomous Basque provinces, and on the impact of those liberties upon the local economy, in his
Diary and Autobiography
(2:432; 4:229–235
passim
).
1780-01-24
We have arrived Safe at this Place, but very much fatigued with our Journey and We have the Pleasure to inform you that We have received the politest Treatment from the House of Messrs. Cabarrus Pere et Fils, to whom We had the Honour to be recommended by you. The Roads, the Accommodations and our consequent state of Health has been such as to make our Journey somewhat longer than We ex-313pected, and our Expences run much higher than our Computation, We have therefore, Mr. Dana and I, received of that House the Amount of one Hundred Louis D'ors, on the Account of yours in Addition to the Three Thousand Dollars, We receivd from you at Corunna and Ferrol &c.1
We have been emboldened to receive this on your Account, rather than on that of any other, because you were so kind as to inform Us, you had some Money in your Hands of the United States, altho it was under an Attachment in your Hands. There is no manner of Doubt that the Congress, to whom We shall render an Account of the Receipt of this Money, will readily discharge you for so much. As to taking any Measures to get the Attachment taken off, We would readily undertake it, if We knew the Nature of the Attachment and the Measures proper to be taken, of which We are at present ignorant but desire to be informed by you. We have the Honour to be, with great Respect & Esteem, sir your most obligd & obedient servants
See Lagoanere's letter of 26 Dec. 1779 (above), in which he states that 3,000 pesos fortes (variously known as dollars, pieces of eight, etc.) had been expended on behalf of JA and his party. The sum of 100 louis d'or equaled approximately 463 pesos fortes, thus making the total owed Lagoanere 3,463 pesos fortes or approximately £825 sterling (John J. McCusker, Money and Exchange in Europe and America, 1600–1775, Chapel Hill, 1978, p. 10–11).