Papers of John Adams, volume 17
]11–11 October 1785
The Congress of the United States of America after the conclusion of that war which established their freedom & independance, & after the cares which were first necessary for the restoration of order & regular government, turned their attention in the first moment possible to the connections which it would be proper to form with the nations on this side the Atlantic for the maintenance of friendship & improvement of commerce with them. They therefore on the twelfth day of May in the last year thought proper to appoint 442us with Doctr. Benjn. Franklin their Ministers Plenipy to negotiate & to conclude such treaties of Amity & Commerce as should be agreed on with those nations. The variety of the commissions of this nature with which we were charged rendered impracticable our attending in person at the several courts to which they were addressed, & required that we should execute them by the intervention of confidential persons to be sent to those courts. Congress sensible of this have been pleased by other full powers bearing date the 11th. day of March last to give to the same Ministers or a majority of them authority to appoint such Agents for the purpose of negotiating these treaties under our instruction, of bringing them to maturity & of signing them in a preliminary form, referring them to us for definitive execution, as by the full powers, a copy of which we have the honour of transmitting herewith to your Majesty, will more particularly appear. Doctr. Franklin our collegue having found it necessary to return to America, the execution of these full powers has devolved on us alone. As the circumstances before explained put it out of our power to have the honour of presenting ourselves in person at the court of your Majesty, so others supervened which rendered impracticable our meeting at any other place such minister as your Majesty might condescend to authorize to treat with us on the subjects with which we were charged: one of us being placed as Minister Pleny for the United States at the court of Great Britain & the other in the same character at the court of France. We have therefore adopted the only remaining method that of sending a confidential Agent according to the authority given us, (to testify to your Majesty our high respect & gratitude for the friendly disposition you have manifested to the U.S. to assure you of the desire of our country to form a connection with a Sovereign, so renowned for his power, his wisdom & his justice, and) to concert with such Minister as your Majesty shall think proper to appoint those conditions which will be most advantageous for both nations to adopt for the regulation of their commerce & of their mutual conduct towards each other. The person whom we charge with this high mission is Thomas Barclay Esqr. possessing in the highest degree the confidence of the U.S. and as such having been several years & still being their Consul General with our great & good Friend & Ally the King of France. Although our full powers reserve to us the ultimate signature of the Treaty to be established yet such is our reliance on the wisdom & integrity of Mr Barclay that we assure your Majesty you may have full faith in whatever he shall agree to, and that the 443same when sent to us will be returned with our signature in order to receive that of the person whom your Majesty shall commission for the same purpose.
With the most profound respect & our best wishes for the health, happiness, prosperity & glory of your Imperial Majesty / We have the honor to subscribe ourselves / Your Majesty’s / Most obedient / Most hble Servants2
FC in David Humphreys’ hand (PCC, No. 87, I, f. 155–158).
Thomas Jefferson drafted this letter to replace the original letter of credence (No. I, above) that required revision following John Lamb’s arrival with dispatches from Congress. The fair copies of the letters of credence for Barclay and Lamb were enclosed, for JA’s signature, with Jefferson’s second letter of 24 Sept., below. The signed copies of the letters have not been found, but since the documents actually sent to Barclay and Lamb, except for their commissions and bills of credit, were dated 1 and 11 Oct., it is assumed that the letters of credence bore those same dates. Note also that in his 2 Oct. letter to Jefferson, below, JA indicates that the documents sent by Jefferson arrived the previous day and that he “Signed all the Papers as you Sent them.”
Below the closing David Humphreys wrote, “N.B In the letter to Algiers, ‘your Majesty’ is changed—‘(to testify &c)’ included in crotchets is left out—and instead of the passage ‘Thomas Barclay[’] is inserted [‘]John Lamb Esqr. a citizen of the U.S. in whose wisdom & integrity we have so high confidence, that tho’ our full powers reserve to us the ultimate signature of the treaty that we can venture to assure that we will ratify & confirm definitively whatever preliminary condition he shall agree & transmit to us for that purpose.[’]”
r.
]11–11 October 1785
Congress having been pleased to invest us with full powers for entering into treaty of Amity and Alliance with the Emperor of Morocco, and it being impracticable for us to attend his court in person & equally impracticable on account of our seperate stations to receive a Minister from him, we have concluded to effect our object by the intervention of a confidential person. We concur in wishing to avail the United States of your talents in the execution of this business, & therefore furnish you with a letter to the Emperor of Morocco to give a due credit to your transactions with him.
We advise you to proceed by the way of Madrid, where you will have opportunities of deriving many lights from Mr Carmichael,2 through whom many communications with the court of Morocco have already passed. From thence you will proceed by such rout as you shall think best to the court of the Emperor.
You will present to him our letter with the copy of our full powers, with which you are furnished; at such time or times, and in such manner as you shall think best.
As the negotiation & conclusion of a treaty may be a work of time you will endeavour in the first place to procure an immediate suspension of hositilities.3 You will proceed to negotiate with his Minister the terms of a treaty of Amity & Commerce as nearly as possible conformed to the draught we give you: where alterations, which in your opinion shall not be of great importance, shall be urged by the other party, you are at liberty to agree to them: where they shall be of great importance, and such as you think should be rejected, you will reject them: but where they are of great importance, & you think they may be accepted, you will ask time to take our advice; & you will advise with us accordingly by letter or by courier as you shall think best. When the articles shall all be agreed you will4 sign them in a preliminary form & send them to us by some proper person for5 definitive execution.—
The whole expences of this treaty, including as well the expences of all persons employed about it as the presents to the Emperor & his servants, must not exceed 20000 Dollars & we urge you to use your best endeavours to bring them as much below that sum as you possibly can,6—and to this end, we leave it to your discretion to represent to His Majesty or to his Ministers, if it may be done with safety, the particular circumstances of the United States just emerging from a long & distressing war with one of the most powerful nations of Europe, which we hope may be an apology if our presents should not be so splendid as those of older & abler nations. As custom may have rendered some presents necessary in the beginning or progress of this business; & before it is concluded or even in a way to be concluded, we authorize you to conform to the custom; confiding in your descretion to hazard as little as possible before a certainty of the event,7 & to provide that your engagements shall become binding only on the definitive execution of the treaty. We trust to you also to procure the best information in what form & to what persons these presents should be made, & to make them accordingly.
The difference between the customs of that & other courts, the difficulty of obtaining a knowledge of those customs but on the spot & our great confidence in your discretion, induce us to leave to that all other circumstances relative to the object of your mission It will be necessary for you to take a Secretary well skilled in the French language to aid you in your business, & to take charge of your 445papers in case of any accident to yourself, we think you may allow him 1508 guineas a year, besides his expences for traveling & subsistence. We engage to furnish your own expences according to the respectability of the character with which you are invested; but, as to the allowance for your troubles, we wish to leave it to Congress
We annex hereto sundry heads of enquiry which we wish you to make, & to give us thereon the best information you shall be able to obtain. We desire you to correspond with us by every opportunity which you think should be trusted; giving us from time to time an account of your proceedings & prospects by the way of Holland under cover to Mr Dumas at the Hague or Messrs Willincks of Amsterdam;9 by the way of England to Uriah Forrest Esqr., by way of France to Mr Grand Paris, & to Mr Carmichael by way of Spain.10
We wish you a pleasant journey & happy succeess, being with great esteem &c. &c. &c.
11
FC in David Humphreys’ hand (PCC, No. 87, I, f. 139–142). LbC (Adams Papers); APM Reel 111. First Dft in Thomas Jefferson’s hand, with additions by JA (Adams Papers); filmed at 4 Sept. with Jefferson’s letter of that date. Second Dft in the hands of Charles Storer and JA, with additions by Jefferson (PCC, No. 91, I, f. 51–55).
The FC made by David Humphreys is undated, but according to an auction catalog the RC of John Lamb’s instructions (see note 2), not found, was dated by JA and Thomas Jefferson on 1 and 11 Oct., respectively (The Collector, Nov. 1950, p. 237–238). It is likely that the RC of Barclay’s instructions, also not found, bore the same dates. Both the first Dft and the LbC are undated, but the second Dft, which was intended as a fair copy to be signed by Jefferson and given to Barclay, is dated by JA “London Septr. 15. 1785.”
At this point in the FC, an asterisk points to Humphreys’ notation at the end of the letter: “N.B The Instructions to Mr. Lamb are the same, except in the style of the const. the passage page 1st ‘through whom &c’ in lieu of which is substituted—‘and from the Minister from Algiers to the court of Madrid & the Cte d’Expilly lately arrived there from Algiers who doubtless are persons of credit & information with that Government’— and in page 2d.—instead of ‘20000 Dollars’ is inserted ‘40000 Dollars’—” In his notation Humphreys refers to the Conde de Expilly, who was given plenipotentiary powers by Spain and charged with a special mission to Algiers, serving from Aug. 1785 to March 1787 (
Repertorium
, 3:428).
In the second Dft, this sentence was interlined by Jefferson.
In the second Dft, Jefferson interlined the passage from this point to “send them to us,” but there the passage continued with the deleted words “for definitive execution.”
In the second Dft, Jefferson inserted the final two words of this paragraph, which originally ended “our signature.”
In the first Dft, the passage from this point to the words “abler nations” was written by JA in the right margin and marked with a cross for insertion here.
In the second Dft, the remainder of this sentence was interlined by Jefferson.
In the first Dft, the amount to be allowed Barclay’s secretary was left blank. In the second Dft, “150” was added, presumably by Jefferson.
In the first Dft, this sentence ended “by the way of England, France or Spain.” In the second Dft, the references to Uriah Forrest, Ferdinand Grand, and William Carmichael were added by Jefferson.
In the Adams Papers, filmed at [Sept. 1785], is a document in JA’s hand entitled “farther Instructions to Mr Barclay,” and endorsed: “Minute of an / Instruction to / Mr
446Barclay.” It is clear from its content that it was done at about the same time that JA made his additions to Jefferson’s Dft and before he knew of Lamb’s arrival and that Barclay would go only to Morocco. But JA did not include it in the second Dft, nor did he apparently send it separately to Jefferson. The additional instruction reads, “You will extend Your Inquiries to Algiers, Tunis Tripoli and all the other States upon the Coast, and after you shall have executed Your Business at Morocco, or sooner if you find it necessary You will proceed to Algiers and the others and enter into Similar Treaties with them, if possible, but the whole Expence, of all these Negotiations, including that with Morocco must not exceed the sum of 80,000 Dollars, including all the Expences of every Kind of all the Persons concerned in them, and We earnestly recommend it to you, to reduce these Expences as much below that Sum as possible, knowing full well what is no Secret to you, the difficulty of obtaining Funds for the indispensable Services of our Country in Europe at this time.”
In the second Dft, the closing is in JA’s hand and reads, “We wish you a pleasant Journey and happy Success, being with great Esteem your Friends and Servants.” It is followed by the dateline and JA’s signature. The closing and the signature are the only parts of the second Dft that are in JA’s hand.