Papers of John Adams, volume 16
thJune
1784.
I heartily give you joy of your meeting your Mrs Adams & her amiable Daughter, as you will receive them before you See this— They are to Sail from Boston about 3 or 4 days hence. We Sincerely mourn our loss in their departure, & as Sincerely rejoice at the foreseen happy meeting of Such dear Friends after Such a long absence— may you all return in Safety, & bless your native Country, after having render’d her the most essential Services abroad. I thank you for your exertions for the public good, & hope you will receive more Substantial proofs of the peoples gratitude, than Patriots usually receive.
The embarrassmt of my private affairs, & having no concern in public business, has long prevented my writing to you; but as my own affairs begin to wear a better face, I hope to feel that freedom that is necessary for epistolary conversation.1
I have a prospect of carrying on, once more, the SpCe Candle Manufr; but it has been greatly impeded by the uncertainty of a Market for the oil. £18 Stg: per Ton, duty, on its importation into G B, is a prohibition.2 Shall Britain Say, whether we Shall have a Whale fishery, or not?! They will doubtless do all in their power to prevent our growth in the Maratime way: But will they Sacrifice their Manufrs to obtain that end? But Supposing they will run that risque; will not France, or Holland readily Supply us with Goods, & receive Oil in payment, at as good a price as G B used to give? It is of great national concern, that we encourage our fisheries; in this point of view, I have mention’d the matter, & Shou’d be honor’d by a reply.
Large quantities of SpCe Candles used to be Ship’d from hence to Holld; & I suppose the demand will rather increase, than diminish, as they are now freely admitted into the Romish Chhs. Upon this ground, I think it probable, that Some great Mercht there, might be willing to Supply 8 or 10 m̃ £ Stg, in Goods, to receive Oil
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& Candles, principally, if not wholly, in payment. I Shou’d be willing to enter into a contract of this kind, upon a fair bottom. With our Works, & Sufficient Stock, may be annually turn’d out, about 50 m̃ lb of Candles & 100 Tons Oil. If one of your Secretaries be desired to inquire into this matter, & reply, it will greatly oblige / Dear Sir, Your Sincere Frd & hble Servt:
P.S. My Son has hired a Store in Boston, & is going into the Com̃: way, & wou’d be glad of Consignmts.—3
th.a Second PS.
Since the foregoing, I have revolved a matter in my mind, which being attended with great delicacy, I found myself under some diffeculty in determining, whether friendship oblig’d me to Speak of it, or not; but knowing the candour of those most nearly concerned, I Shall venture to say, that it is commonly Spoken of, that Mr Tyler pays his addresses to Your very Amiable Daughter; & appearances countenance the report: neither of the parties, nor Mrs Adams, have said a word to me about the affair; but I tho’t it proper to say what I know of my very good friend Tyler. Previous to his coming to Braintree, I knew not any thing of him, but ’tis said that he scattered some wild Oats; be this as it may, since he came hither, his conduct, so far as I know, has been unexceptionable, & he is generally respected, & has, I believe, his full Share of business. As to his circumstances in life, I know nothing, only that he has purchased Mr Borland’s farm here, about 100 Acres, for about £1000. In my embarrassments, he has been exceeding friendly, which lies me under great obligations, & perhaps has prejudiced me in his favor.4 But in this delicate matter, I did not think it my duty to intrude advice; only to represent matters of fact, which I have truly done; & I trust that you will excuse one who is always your reel friend—
RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “His Excellency / John Adams Esqr. / Honr’d by Mrs Adams.”; internal address: “His Excellency / John Adams Esqr.”; endorsed: “General Palmer / June 16. 1784 / ansd. 26. Aug.”
Joseph Palmer of Germantown, a section of Braintree, was the brother-in-law of Richard Cranch. His last extant letter to JA was dated 28 Jan. 1777 (Adams Papers). For additional information regarding Palmer, see
AFC
, 1:18.
For the heavy British duty on American whale oil and its consequences for the whaling industry in Massachusetts, see the 5 Feb. 1784 letter from Alexander Coffin and Peleg Coffin Jr., and note 2, above. For JA’s view of the situation, see his reply of 26 Aug., below.
Joseph Pearse Palmer’s Boston shop had a short life. In a letter of 16 Jan. 1785, Mary Smith Cranch informed AA that the younger Palmer “had goods … upon commission, but
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he could not do business enough to pay his rent and support his Family and make payments … which oblig’d him to Shut up” (
AFC
, 6:60).
Royall Tyler’s courtship of AA2 was put into abeyance for the duration of the visit to Europe by herself and AA, but in June 1784 it was assumed that the two would eventually marry. By Aug. 1785, however, the affair had ended with AA2’s dismissal of Tyler. Palmer may have felt obliged to offer a testimonial to Tyler’s character because of friendship, but his precarious finances made Tyler’s financial support ever more important to the Palmer family (
AFC
, 5:xxv; 6:238, 262).
I have the honor of forwarding three comm[issions] which were not prepared in time to go by Mr Jefferson, [and] a duplicate of the instructions he carried with him.1 I [also] enclose a copy of the Journal of the last session of Congr[ess] as far as printed and a news paper containing the Ordinance for putting the treasury into commission and an Act defining the powers of the committee of the States during the recess of Congress.2 On the third of this Month Congress was adjourned pursuant to an act passed the 26 April to meet at Trenton on the 30 of October next. With great respect I have the honor to be Gentlemen Yr. Most Ob: h Servt
FC (PHi:Charles Thomson Papers, Letterbook, 1784); internal address: “The honble. Jn Adams B Franklin & T. Jefferson—” Some loss of text due to a torn manuscript.
These commissions were for commercial treaties with France, the Netherlands, and Sweden. For the commissions already sent and the possible reason for the delay in sending the three additional commissions, see the joint commission to negotiate a treaty of amity and commerce with Great Britain, [12 May], and note 1, above. For the set of instructions likely enclosed with this letter, see the instructions to the American commissioners, 7 May, and note 1, above.
A copy of Congress’ Journals for the period from 3 Nov. 1783 to 3 June 1784 is in JA’s library at MB (
Catalogue of JA’s Library
). The newspaper has not been found, but for the ordinance establishing a Board of Treasury composed of three commissioners, see Elbridge Gerry’s 16 June letter, and note 3, above. For the resolution adopted on 29 May establishing the Committee of the States and the committee’s membership, see
JCC
, 27:474–477.
Supposing that you would receive from Congress a direct communication of the powers given to yourself, Doctr. Franklin & myself, I have deferred from day to day writing to you, in hopes that every day would open to me a certainty of the time & place of my departure for the other side of the Atlantic. Paris being my
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destination I have thought it best to enquire for a passage to France directly. I have hastened myself on my journey hither in hopes of having the pleasure of attending Mrs̃ Adams to Paris and of lessening some of the difficulties to which she may be exposed. but after some unexpected delays at Philadelphia & New York I arrived here yesterday and find her engaged for her passage to London & to sail tomorrow. it was therefore too late for her to alter her measures tho’ I think she might probably meet with you the sooner could she have taken her passage as I shall on board the French packet from N. York where I had ensured her choice of accomodations, and was promised that the departure of the vessel should be made agreeable to our movements.1 she goes however in a good ship, well accomodated as merchants’ ships generally are and I hope will have soon the pleasure of meeting with you.— with respect to our joint agency, our instructions are more special than those formerly sent. these I shall have the pleasure of communicating together with the commissions to yourself & Doctr. Franklin at Paris. my expectation is to sail from New York about the first or second week of the next month. the time of my arrival in Paris will depend on winds & weather: but probably it may be the middle or latter part of August.
We are informed that Congress adjourned on the 3d. of June to meet again at Trenton the 1st. Monday in November, leaving a committee of the states at the helm during their recess. the particulars of affairs here I shall have the pleasure of communicating to you more fully than I can by letter. for the present I will only inform you in general that their aspect is encouraging. I beg you to be assured of the sincere esteem & regard with which I have the honor to be Dear Sir / Your most obedient / & most humble servt
RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “The honourable / John Adams esq. / American Minister / at the Hague.”; endorsed: “Mr Jefferson. Boston / June 19. 1784” and by JQA: “T. Jefferson 19. June 1784”; notation by CFA: “not published.”
Jefferson actually sailed from Boston aboard the Ceres on 5 July, for which see the joint commission to negotiate an Anglo-American commercial treaty at [12 May], note 1, above.