Papers of John Adams, volume 19

16 To John Adams from Thomas Brand Hollis, 15 February 1787 Hollis, Thomas Brand Adams, John

From Thomas Brand Hollis

Dear Sir Chesterfeild Street February 15. 1787. 1

I have continued to read your defence of the American states and admire the intelligence sagacity & firmness contained in it.

at first it appeared to me that where there was no distinction of rank in the people there was no necessity of a balance. but you have proved your point most satisfactorily & the impractability of one general assembly.

all that remains is to secure that balance everlastingly which I fear & dread being broke.

In the English constitution, so beautiful in theory and which you so much admire, it is totally lost. The representatives do not speak the voice of the people. The crown being hereditary & the Lords & Bishops its creatures & considered as the fountain from which all honors flow. The Army & Navy at its disposal & all taxes adding to its power from the increase of collectors a king so powerful & from respect interest & fear & the misapplication of texts in scripture to the name and office of a King there is danger of his being esteemed & venerated as Gods Vicegerent which weakness gaining possession of the minds of the people is rarely got rid of.

Therefore my only fear is that when one person is continued for any length of time by design or colusion or hereditary with distinguished honors he will insensibly avail himself of his situation & preponderate in the balance & overturning the whole commence Tyrant.

The circumstance of the Americans being sprinkled over large tracts of land may secure them from want & prevent the contagion of vice & folly, as large cities are destructive, of every virtue. yet I doubt much if Liberty is not more secure by that means as upon any sudden attack upon the Liberties of the people the Alarm is quickly spread & conveyed through numbers & the resistance would be instantaneous. whereas in the other case it requires time to be known more to collect together to communicate sentiments & unite in a body. short duration and rotation of power seem the only certain securities. the people having the sword, nine tenths on the side of the people weighs in the balance. but I am pleased with your Balance of affections & appetites under the Monarchy of reason & conscience, the only Monarchy which will never deviate from its true principles.

I lament that the writer has not distinguished more immediately his own sentiments & opinions, that we might trace the improvement in the Art of government, owing to the late happy American revolution, & render him just honor.

permit me to say it is incumbent on you to point out every possibly means to secure your balance & how to reinstate it if broke in upon. The English system wants the application of such remedies— Cavete—2

it will then be a possession for ever in the Language of Thucidides— which I quoted before from memory only & gave it a wrong turn.3

Excuse this long letter and beleive me / to be with the greatest esteem for your publick / Labors / Dr Sir / your sincere friend / and faithful Hble Sert.

T. Brand Hollis.

This letter has been wrote some time in doubt to send it but it comes presuming on your candor.

RC (Adams Papers); endorsed: “T. B. Hollis Esq. / Feb. 15. 1787. / ansd. March. 1.”

Hollis, an English antiquarian, began corresponding with JA in 1786 and frequently socialized with the Adamses in London and at his Torrington estate, The Hyde (vol. 18:417).

Beware.

Hollis revised here part of his 27 Jan. 1787 letter (vol. 18:568–570), by citing Thucydides’ reflection on the History of the Peloponnesian War, as given in Book 1, ch. 22, section 4: “It has been composed, not as a prize essay to be heard for the moment, but as a possession for all time.”

To John Adams from Thomas Jefferson, 20 February 1787 Jefferson, Thomas Adams, John

From Thomas Jefferson

Dear Sir Paris Feb. 20. 1787.

I am now to acknoledge the receipt of your favor of Jan. 25.1 Colo. Franks sailed in the packet of this month from Havre for New York. this arrangement of the packets opens a direct communication between Paris & America, and if we succeed as I expect we shall in getting Honfleur made a freeport, I hope to see that place become the deposit for our Whale oil, rice, tobacco & furs, & that from thence what is not wanted in this country may be distributed to others.2

you remember giving me a letter of credit on Messrs. Willink & Staphorst for 1000 guineas to pay for the swords & medals. when the swords were finished I drew on the Vandemjvers, with whom the money was deposited for 6500 livres to pay for the swords.3 they paid it. a medal is now finished, & others will very soon be: but these gentlemen say they must have fresh orders. in the mean time the workmen complain. will you be so good as to draw in favor of Mr. Grand on Willink &c for the balance of the thousand guineas (which is 18 about the sum that will be necessary) & send the bill to mr̃ Grand, who in my absence will negotiate it & pay the workmen. I inclose you Vandemjers answer.

the meeting of the Notables on Thursday & the necessity of paying my court to our new minister will detain me till Friday & perhaps till Tuesday next. nothing is known yet of the objects of this assembly. I inclose you two new pamphlets relative to it:4 and will inform you of whatever I can discover relative to it during my stay.

I learn with real pain the resolution you have taken of quitting Europe. your presence on this side the Atlantic gave me a confidence that if any difficulties should arise within my department, I should always have one to advise with on whose counsels I could rely. I shall now feel be-widowed. I do not wonder at your being tired out by the conduct of the court you are at. but is there not room to do a great deal of good for us in Holland in the department of money? no one can do it so well as yourself. but you have taken your resolution I am sure on mature consideration, & I have nothing to offer therefore but my regrets. if any thing transpires from the Notables before my departure worth communication, you shall yet hear from me. in the mean time believe me to be with sincere esteem & respect Dr. Sir your most obedt. & most humble servt.

Th: Jefferson5

RC and enclosure (Adams Papers); internal address: “H. E. / J. Adams.”; endorsed: “Mr Jefferson Feb. 23. / ansd. March 1. / 1787.”; notation by CFA: “not published.” CFA presumably meant that the letter was not published in Jefferson, Correspondence, ed. Randolph.

Vol. 18:557–558.

The 1778 Franco-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce mandated two free ports, but Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette, and the French ministry had steadily pressed for more. By Oct. 1787 Honfleur became a free port and a critical site for the American rice trade (vol. 18:494; Jefferson, Papers , 12:302).

For the medals and swords voted by Congress over the course of the Revolutionary War and David Humphreys’ procurement of them in France, along with the ministers’ general confusion over how to pay for the entire process, see vols. 17:98–99; 18:95. Jefferson enclosed here a 16 Feb. letter from the Paris banking firm of Van den Yver Frères & Co. regarding drafts made to pay for the commission (Jefferson, Papers , 11:161).

Not found. For the “new minister,” see Jefferson’s 23 Feb. letter, and note 4, below.

Two days later, Jefferson wrote to AA, mingling his reflections on the French Assembly of Notables with his support for the rioting of Shays’ Rebellion in Massachusetts. “The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all,” Jefferson wrote. “I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the Atmosphere.” Jefferson also described Paris construction projects and confirmed the purchase of black lace for AA ( AFC , 7:468–469).