Papers of John Adams, volume 18

To John Adams from John Jay, 2 January 1786 Jay, John Adams, John

From John Jay

Sir, Office for foreign Affairs 2d: January 1786.

I have the Honor of transmitting to you herewith enclosed a Copy of a Letter of the 21st: December from Mr: Temple to me, which I laid before Congress. They have been pleased to direct that you communicate it to His Britannic Majesty— That you inform him, that the Complaint stated in it, being in general Terms, and unsupported by any particular Facts, or Evidence, they do not think it necessary, or proper, to take any Measures in Consequence of it. And that you assure him, that as it is their determination the Treaty of Peace shall be punctually observed by their Citizens, and that His Majesty’s Subjects shall enjoy here all the Rights which friendly and civilized Nations claim from each other; so they will always be ready to hear every Complaint which may appear to be well founded, and to Redress such of them, as, on Investigation, shall prove to be so.1

This Communication will give you an Opportunity of Remarking, that the Office of Consul General does not extend to Matters of this Kind— Neither the Rights of Commerce, nor of Navigation being in question, and therefore that it was Delicacy towards His Majesty, rather than a Sense of the propriety of such an Application from a Consul General, which induced Congress to treat it with this Mark of Attention.

It would perhaps be well to pursue the Subject, to intimate the Expediency, as well as Propriety, of sending a Minister here, and if Circumstances should so dictate, to accompany it with assurances 85 that Congress expect a Minister and are ready to receive and treat him in a Manner consistent with the Respect due to his Sovereign.

The advantage alluded to in one of your Letters, if no other, would result from such an Appointment, viz:—That the British Court would then probably receive more accurate Representations of Affairs in this Country, than they are at present supplied with by Men, who Write and Speak more as their Wishes and Feelings, than as Truth and Knowledge dictate.—2

I have the Honor to be, with great Respect, / Sir, / Your most obedient, and / Very humble servant;

John Jay—

P. S. Your Letters of the following Dates are arrived 15. 17. 21. 25. 27 Octob. la[st]3

RC and enclosure (Adams Papers); internal address: “The Honorable John Adams Esquire.” Text lost due to wear at the edge has been supplied from a Tr (PCC, No. 121, f. 165–167).

In the enclosure, which Jay sent to Congress on 29 Dec. 1785, John Temple complained that loyalists seeking to recover property and outstanding debts had “met with great trouble and difficulty in Obtaining, and, in some instances, have been totally refused, such Office Copies from the Public Records,” including the files of Congress. In his report to Congress of 31 Dec., which Congress approved on 2 Jan. 1786, Jay included the proposed text of his 2 Jan. letter to JA ( JCC , 29:911, 30:2–5). For JA’s representations in response to Congress’ instructions, see his 6 Feb. letter to the Marquis of Carmarthen and the foreign minister’s response of the 28th, both below.

Compare this passage, concerning the need for Britain to appoint a minister to the United States, with JA’s similar comments in his 2 Sept. 1785 letter to Jay (vol. 17:385–386).

These letters centered on JA’s representations to the British government regarding the implementation of the peace treaty and Anglo-American trade, the British refusal to enter into negotiations with him, and his recommendation that the only means to resolve the situation was to empower Congress to regulate trade (vol. 17:512–514, 515–519, 524, 526–533, 541–551, 552). Jay laid the letters before Congress on 28 Dec. 1785, and on 31 Jan. 1786 he delivered a report, in which he recommended that Congress be authorized to regulate trade and be provided with a reliable source of revenue, that the country’s defenses be strengthened, and that JA’s letters be communicated to the states. With regard to the last, Congress formed a committee to draft a circular letter, but it apparently was never sent ( JCC , 29:909; 30:38–40, 78; PCC, No. 19, I, f. 39–43).

From John Adams to John Jay, 4 January 1786 Adams, John Jay, John

To John Jay

Dear sir Grosvenor Square Jan. 4. 1786.

I have only time to acquaint you, that since my last1 there have been some Appearances of an Intention in Ministry to take up American Affairs Lord Carmarthen and Mr Pitt have certainly had Conferences with Committees of Merchants who have represented to them the Necessity of arrangements with the United states, upon Terms which will give Satisfaction.

Nevertheless I have no Confidence in this att all, and I think that Congress and the states Should not relax in any Measure in Consequence of it

Mr Pitt did Say to Mr Campbell, the Principal Man among them, that Mr Adams the American Minister, was well disposed to a friendly Settlement and had made some Propositions to the Kings Ministers who were also well disposed. He was very inquisitive whether they had seen Mr Adams. They answered they had not and that they were not known to him in the Business. This was true, in a litteral Sense. But in fact they had taken Pains to give me circuitous Information that they had been consulted by Lord Carmarthen and to desire of me Such Information as I could give them and I had, by means of Coll Smith conveyed to the sight of a Person in their Confidence, some Papers containing Such Matter as I thought might be trusted to them, in such a misterious Way. The Representation they have made is very Strong as they say, but I cannot yet obtain a Copy of it. They pretend to say that Mr Pitt assured them their Report had given him new Lights, and they think America may have whatever she2 desires except a free Trade with the W. India Islands.3

This will prove only a Delusion, for if the Ministry really are desirous of an equitable settlement, I am well perswaded they cannot yet carry it, in Parliament. So that I hope the states will persevere in their own Measures and that even all the southern states will at least lay heavy Duties upon the Tonnage of Such Nations as have not Treaties with Us, and prohibit the Importation in their Bottoms of any Merchandizes except the Produce of the Country to which they belong.— Even the Importation of Irish Linnens in British Bottoms should be forbidden, as well as silesia Linnens; Hemp & Duck from Russia and Iron from sweeden Wines from Portugal, Goods from the East Indies, &c &c &c.

With great Regard, I have the / Honour to be, sir your most / obedient & most humble sert

John Adams

RC (PCC, No. 84, VI, f. 71–73); internal address: “Mr secretary Jay.” LbC (Adams Papers); APM Reel 112.

Of 15 Dec. 1785, above.

Here JA interlined “she” above “they,” which was not canceled.

JA’s renewed optimism for the Anglo-American commercial treaty project was sparked by a series of misleading newspaper squibs and by the reported efforts of Glasgow merchant Duncan Campbell, chairman of William Pitt’s Committee of Merchant Creditors. WSS supplied Campbell, at JA’s behest, with confidential data on prewar debts in late December, and he hinted to Thomas Jefferson that the “merchants begin to speak plain on the Subject and to give Strong 87 Symptoms of returning reason” (Ritcheson, Aftermath of Revolution , p. 82, 82–85; Jefferson, Papers , 9:119, 281–282). In an early April 1786 meeting with JA and Jefferson, however, Campbell balked at accepting the “bitter pill” of a five-year payment plan to settle the outstanding debts at a reduced interest rate. Campbell promised to forward the commissioners’ proposal to the Marquis of Carmarthen, but as Jefferson reported to Jay, “we never since heard from him or any other person on the subject” (Jefferson, Papers , 9:403–405).