Papers of John Adams, volume 19
r.Sir
th.October 1787
Since my last to you of the 3d. Instant I have not been favored with any Letters from you.
I have at length the Pleasure of transmitting to you, herewith enclosed, an Act of Congress complying with your Request to return, and expressing their Sentiments of, and their Thanks for the important Services you have rendered your Country. They have not yet come to any Decision respecting a Minister or a Chargé des Affaires at London, nor directed me to convey to you any Instructions relative to any Matters within the Department of your Legation.—
You will also find herewith enclosed, a certified Copy of an Act of Congress of the 11th. Inst. for ratifying the Contract you made on the 1st. June last, together with the Ratification in Form.—1
One of your former Letters mentioned the Advances made by Mr. Richard Harrison at Cadiz to Capt. Erwing and his Crew. I now enclose a certified Copy of an Act of Congress of the 12th. Inst. directing the Board of Treasury to reimburse Mr. Harrison.—2
A Set of the printed Journals of Congress from the 10th. May to the 25th. September last, together with a Succession of News Papers from the Date of my last Letter to this Day, will also accompany this.—3
I am not without Fears that one or perhaps more of your late Letters have miscarried; for none which have hitherto come to Hand make any Mention of Coll. Smith’s Arrival & Reception in Portugal. Perhaps you may have had Reasons to postpone writing on those Subjects for the present, and I mention it only that you may know in Case you have written, that your Letters have not come to Hand.—
The public Mind is much occupied by the Plan of fœderal Government recommended by the late Convention.— many expect much Good from its Institution, and others will oppose its Adoption— The Majority seems at present to be in its Favor. For my part I think it much better than the one we have, and therefore that we shall be Gainers by the Exchange; especially as there is Reason to hope that Experience and the good Sense of the People, will correct what may prove to be inexpedient in it. A Compact like this, which is the Result of Accommodation and Compromise, cannot be supposed to be perfectly consonant to the Wishes and Opinions of any of the Parties. It corresponds a good Deal with your favorite and I think just 193 Principles of Government, whereas the present Confederation seems to have been formed without the least Attention to them.—
Congress have thought it best to pass a Requisition for the Expences of the ensuing Year, but like most of their former ones it will produce but little.—4
As Mr. Jefferson’s present Commission will soon expire, Congress have directed another to be prepared for him.5 What further Arrangement they may think proper to make relative to their foreign Affairs is as yet undetermined. I am inclined to think that until the Fate of the new Government is decided, no very important Measures to meliorate our national Affairs will be attempted.—
It is much to be wished that our Friends the Dutch may be able to escape the Evils of War, in a Manner consistant with their true Interest and Honor. I think it fortunate that neither France nor Britain are ripe for Hostilities. A little Republic surrounded with powerful Monarchies has much to apprehend, as well from their Politics as their Arms. It gives me Pleasure to reflect that we have no such Neighbours, and that if we will but think and act for ourselves and unite, we shall have nothing to fear.—
I wish it may be convenient to you to return in some Vessel bound to this Port, that I may have the Pleasure of taking you by the Hand, and personally assuring you of the sincere Esteem and Regard with which I am / Dr Sir / Your most obt. and hble: Servt.
th:1787.
By the United States in Congress assembled.
On a Report of the Secretary for foreign affairs, to whom were referred Two Letters from the Honourable John Adams of the 24th: and 27th: of January last.6
Resolved that the Honorable John Adams, the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at the Court of London, be permitted, agreably to his request, to return to America at any Time after the 24th: Day of February in the Year of our Lord 1788, and that his Commission of Minister Plenipotentiary to their High Mightinesses do also then determine.
Resolved that Congress entertain a high Sense of the Services which Mr. Adams has rendered to the United States, in the Execution
194
of the various important Trusts which they have from Time to Time committed to him, and that the thanks of Congress be presented to him for the Patriotism, Perseverance, Integrity and Diligence with which he hath ably and faithfully Served his Country
s.Thompson Secr
y.
RC and enclosure (Adams Papers); internal address: “The Honorable John Adams Esquire / Minister Plenipotentiary of the United / States at the Court of Great Britain.”; notation: “Exhib: 6 Maart 1788.”
Congress’ ratification of the third Dutch loan is printed at its date of [11 Oct.], above.
For Congress’ compensation for Richard Hanson Harrison’s aid to the enslaved crew of the American brig Betsy, which was seized by the emperor of Morocco in 1784, see vol. 18:148.
Not found.
Congress passed the requisition on 11 Oct. (
JCC
, 33:651–655).
With JA’s appointment due to expire on 24 Feb. 1788, Congress renewed Thomas Jefferson’s commission as minister to France on 12 Oct. 1787 for three more years, effective 10 March 1788. Jefferson learned of it from John Jay’s 24 Oct. 1787 letter, which he received on 19 Dec. (Jefferson, Papers
, 12:266, 267–268).
Vol. 18:553–556, 567–568.
r.18. 1787
Let me thank you kindly and cordially for your Letter of the fifteenth.
Such is the melancholly Lot of Humanity, that I cannot pretend to promise Immortality to Liberty or to Virtue in any nation or Country of great numbers and large Extent from any Constitution of Government within human Contrivance.— All I can say is that it appears plain to me that every great Nation must have three Branches or but one. and if it has but one, that one must be a Simple Monarchy or in other Words a Despotism. A Government of one assembly or of two assemblies only in any great nation, cannot exist but in a state of civil War that will Soon End in Despotism, of one Man. I am not Solicitous about the Name of the first Magistrate, provided he have the whole Executive Power. call him Podesta, President, Consul or King, as you will.—2
Anything Sir! I am not afraid of the Word.—
You and I hold, that Nations are the Creators, the Masters, the Sovereigns of Kings. That the People have a Right to depose a bad King and set up a good one. to pull down a bad Government and erect a good one. We believe too that the People are capable of this.— how then can We Suppose the People them so ignorant and Superstitious, as to be imposed on and ruined by a Word.— The Danger
195
does not arise from the King: but from the Folly of the People, in giving up their own Branch.— if the People, were well represented they would always controul the King. and depose him if he would not be otherwise controuled. For Gods sake sir, instead of finding fault with you King find fault with your People and Your Representatives and make them do their duty.— The Trappings and thousands of Useless offices about the King, are no Part of the Royal Office. abolish them all, as Mr Burkes Bill proposed, and the Royal Dignity and office remains the Same.3
Dft (Adams Papers); docketed: “My Letter to T.B. Hollis / begun.”; notation by CFA: “To T. B. Hollis. Draft.”
JA’s imminent visit to The Hyde may mean this letter was never sent (
AFC
, 8:195).
The U.S. Constitution’s omission of a formal executive title triggered fierce congressional debate in the spring of 1789, with JA favoring, variously, “His Highness” or “Majesty” (Kathleen Bartoloni-Tuazon, For Fear of an Elective King: George Washington and the Presidential Title Controversy of 1789, Ithaca, N.Y., 2014, p. 25–27). On the question of how the president should be formally addressed by Congress and in official government documents, see
JA’s 9 May 1789 letter to William Tudor, and note 1, below.
JA referred to the sweeping reforms outlined by Edmund Burke in his Speech of Edmund Burke, Esq., Member of Parliament for the City of Bristol: On Presenting to the House of Commons (on the 11th of February, 1780) a Plan for the Better Security of the Independence of Parliament, London, 1780. Burke suggested the abolition of a substantial number of offices in the royal household and civil administration as a cost-cutting measure meant to end corruption. After fierce debate, a moderate version of Burke’s proposed plan, which consolidated parliamentary oversight of the crown’s expenditures, was passed as the Civil List Act in 1782, after fierce debate (Earl A. Reitan, “The Civil List in Eighteenth-Century British Politics: Parliamentary Supremacy versus the Independence of the Crown,” The Historical Journal, 9:328–337 [1966]).