Papers of John Adams, volume 14
ca. 23 December 1782]1
Being without any of your favours, we take the liberty to addres you these few lines, on occasion that we are informed by Mr. Grand, that Mr. Morris has again furnish'd some drafts on him, to the amount of about £400,000— tourns., for which Mr. Grand desires our remittances.2
We did not receive from Mr. Morris any information nor disposition about those drafts. however it seems to us very possible, that it may be the same, which he intended to draw upon us, and that this alteration may be occasioned by a demand for bills on Paris, and perhaps the Cours of change is not quite regulated upon Holland. We suppose your Excellency will know better than we, how far our suppositions are founded. And since you informed us that it was your intention not to charge your self with the direction of this business, we take however the liberty to ask your Excellencys advice in a matter of so much importance, in which we should wish to have proper directions. But since we know you don't chuse to give them, we will act in consequence of what your Excellency will be pleased to advise us as a private Man. And therefore we beg to favour us with an answer upon this letter.
Mr. Dumas has made some small additions to the note he furnished before, of the Expences at the house of the united states, which now amount to ƒ 1838:14:— Currt. & which we've paid, and charged upon the Account of said states.3
We hope that the general Peace will soon be concluded, and after that the Loan in our hands entirely subscribed, for which purpose we will continue our endeavours. We beg to give us intelligence of 148that desired work, when it happens, and have the honour to be most sincerely / of Your Excellency / The most humble & obedt. Servts.
s.& Jacob van Staphorst.
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “to his Excellency John Adams Esqr. / Paris.” Filmed at [post 12 Dec.].
This date is derived from the consortium's assertion in the next-to-last paragraph that it had reimbursed Dumas for his expenditures on the legation at The Hague. It did so on 23 Dec. (DNA:RG 39, Foreign Ledgers, Public Agents in Europe, 1776–1787, Microfilm, Reel 1, f. 80).
The consortium is referring to a letter from Ferdinand Grand, probably written on or about 15 Dec., for which see Henry Grand's letter to JA of that date and JA's reply of the 19th, both above.
For Dumas’ expenditures on the U.S. legation, see his letters to the consortium of 9, 14, and 18 Dec. (Nationaal Archief:Dumas Papers, Microfilm, Reel 1, f. 475, 476).
br:24
th:1782.
When I address'd the rest of the Commissioners by Letters last Month, I was not inform'd you was at Paris; or I should not have been so wanting to my interest, as not to have entreated your assistance and Protection, as I did theirs, in the support of the cause of an Innocent and suffering Family. I know the afflictions consequent to War have ever been horrid; But as I hope we are near a happier Period, let me beseech You to give us reason, from the support I trust you will grant our Cause, to rejoyce in the completion of so great a Blessing, as Peace: and that thô now oppress'd and Afflicted, we may again, from the Wisdom, justice, & uprightness of those in Power, enjoy the Comforts we have been so long deprived of.1
I have the honor to be Sir, / Your Excellencies Oblig'd & Obedient / Hble. Servt.
RC (Adams Papers).
Lady Juliana Fermor Penn (1729–1801) was the daughter of Thomas Fermor, 1st Earl of Pomfret, and widow of Thomas Penn, son and heir of William Penn, founder and proprietor of Pennsylvania. Her son John, the current proprietor, held a 75 percent interest in the estate. Under its Divestment Act of 1779 Pennsylvania took 24 million acres of unsold land from the Penn family for a settlement of £130,000 while permitting the Penns to retain private estates and proprietary manors surveyed prior to 4 July 1776 and income from that property. Lady Penn wrote to Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens on 23 Nov. to seek their assistance in obtaining a more equitable settlement (Franklin, Papers
, 38:343–344; Jay, Unpublished Papers
, 2:424–425; Laurens, Papers
, 16:67). When that was not forthcoming, the family filed a claim with the British Loyalist Commission and was awarded £4,000 annually in perpetuity (Lorett Treese, The Storm Gathering: The Penn Family and the American Revolution, University Park, Penn., 1992, 149p. 17, 187–191, 195–200, 205). The issue of the Penn family's claims had already been raised during the peace negotiations, for which see the articles agreed to by the commissioners and Richard Oswald on [4 Nov.], above.