Papers of John Adams, volume 17
We take the Liberty to solicit every possible Assistance you can give on the Subject of the enclosed Copy of a Letter which Samuel Chase Esquire Agent for this State while in England addressed to the Minister Mr Pitt. the Bills in Chancery are still depending and We have instructed Mr. Chase to make the Attorney General a Party if the Crown will not disclaim it’s supposed Interest.
The State of Maryland will be much obliged by your Friendship and attention in this National and very interesting Concern and we flatter ourselves that with your Influence and Exertions a Disclaimer may be obtained from the Crown, and every Obstacle removed which lies in the way of a speedy Determination in Chancery.—1
We have the Honor / to be / Sir / Your most obedient humble servants
m.Paca
RC and enclosure (Adams Papers); addressed: “His Excellency / John Adams Esquire / Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America / to the Court of / London”; internal address: “His Excellency / John Adams Esqr / Minister &ce”; endorsed by WSS: “Maryland April 29th. 85 / from Govr. Paca enclosing / Copy of a Letter from Mr. Chase to Mr. / Pitt—”; and by JA: “Ansd. 9. Septr. 1785.” The enclosure is dated 3 Aug. 1784 and was filmed at that date.
Paca’s letter and the enclosure concern Maryland’s effort, begun in 1779, to retrieve stock held first by the colony and then by the state in the Bank of England, for which see vols. 9:131; 15:206. Samuel Chase’s letter to William Pitt laid out the state’s case in considerable detail. Chase wrote that the colony of Maryland acquired considerable stock in the Bank of England prior to the Revolution and had entrusted its management to three trustees: Osgood Hanbury, Sylvanus Grove, and James Russell. In 1783 the Md. general 74assembly revoked the trustees’ powers and appointed Chase its agent to retrieve the state’s funds. When Chase reached England and demanded the stock, Russell refused unless a portion, £12,000, was paid to reimburse him for his property confiscated by the state of Maryland. Chase then filed suit against the trustees in the court of chancery and entered a motion to transfer to himself “the Surplus of the Stock not claimed by any of the Defendants.” His request was refused, and it was intimated that the “Attorney General of the Kingdom” should become party to the suit. Chase argued to Pitt that the inclusion of the attorney general was unwarranted because Great Britain could have no claim to or interest in the bank stock under either the law of nations or the terms of the Anglo-American definitive peace treaty. JA received the letters by Paca and Chase on 16 June 1785 and he took up the matter on the following day during a conference with the Marquis of Carmarthen, British secretary for foreign affairs (to John Jay, 17 June, below). No progress had been made by the time JA replied to Paca on 9 Sept., below, and, in fact, the issue was not resolved until 1806, for which see vol. 15:206.
Your Excellency’s Letter of the 4th: of Feby: inclosed in one from Mr: Dumas of the 9th: of August last, did not reach me before some Time in December. It seems the Gentleman who had solicited your Introduction, has deferred his Voyage to this Country for some time; if ever he should call upon me, I beg you to be assured, he will meet with the Civilities and attention due to a Person having your Recommendation.1
I am happy to have it in my Power to refute the unfavourable accounts you had received respecting Sir James Jay. It is true there were some unlucky Circumstances attending his Capture which were so represented as to have excited Jealousies and Suspicions in the minds of some rather Injurious to him; but they never made such Impression as to become matter of Public discus̃ion.2
I am happy in this opportunity of congratulating your Excellency on your late appointment as Minister of these States to the Court of St: James’s, and altho’ I am too much of a Republican to consider the change from the Hague to London, as a Matter of promotion, I beg you to believe that every fresh mark of the Confidence of the Public, in your Wisdom and Integrity affords me pleasure.
Permit me Sir at the same Time to recommend to your Countenance and Protection my Friend Colonel William Smith, who is appointed Secretary to your present Legation, and will have the Honor of delivering you this Letter. He is a Native of this City, and Connected with some of its most reputable Inhabitants, and I have every Reason to believe Possesses the strictest Principles of Honor and Integrity. By his merrit in a Military Capacity he acquired the 75Esteem of all who knew him, and was particularly Honored by the Confidence of the Commander in Chief in whose Family he served towards the Close of the War, and who on retireing from the Field recommended him to my notice in the strongest and most Affectionate Terms. It gives me pleasure to add that he is not less distinguished as a virtuous Citizen, and I flatter myself you will not find him deficient in point of Abilities.—
I have the Honor to be with the highest / Respect & Esteem / Your / Most Obedt. Servant
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “His Excellency / John Adams Esquire”; endorsed: “Govr. Clinton. Ap. 1785.”
No letters from JA and C. W. F. Dumas bearing the dates given by Clinton have been found. However, it may be that Clinton is referring to JA’s 2 Feb. 1784 letter, as dated in JA’s Letterbook (vol. 16:2–3), but see also note 2. In that case the date given by Clinton may be either an inadvertence or an indication that the RC, not found, was actually dated 4 February. The 2 Feb. letter begins with a brief introduction for C. W. Schubert of Rawitz (now Rawicz), Poland, who with his family planned to sail for New York in March to establish himself in the German linen trade.
In the 2 Feb. 1784 letter, JA testified to the loyalty of Sir James Jay in response to reports that he was suspected of and persecuted for loyalist activities in New York.