Papers of John Adams, volume 21
dApril 1794
My Brother Robt in his
respects of the1 had the
honour of returning his most greatfull acknowledgments for your kind support
of obtaining for him the Consulship of this district and as he on every
occation transmits to the Secretary of State such informations as may be
usefull to Goverment I have suspended my pen from trobling your Excellency
With any letters on Political matters—
The Port of Barcelona being Within this district according to my Brothers Commission he has appointed me his Agent and Vice Consul there Untill the further pleasure of Congress is known on that subject
Its extensive trade and local situation With respect to
Algiers required a Man of intelligence and known integrity in order both to
represent our Country With the dignity it merits and to Watch the motions of
the Algerins and transmit to Goverment and to our Fleets and Cruzers every
need full information respecting those Pirates.— But as a Vice Consul in a
place of the Magnitude of Barcelona labour Under many dificualties that a
Consul is not exposed to I must beg leave to request that your Excellency
Will have the goodness to recommd to His
Excellency The President the memorial I have transmitted the Secretary of
State Under this date praying the Consulship of the above place—
I shall be happy at All times in being honoured With your
Command and Wishing you every happiness I have the Honour to be / Sir / Your
Excellencys / Obt Humbl Servt
By official advices we are possitively informed that the Portuguse have again declared War against the Algerins and that the Truce no longer exists and the Dutch have made peace With them pirates2
RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “His Excellency John Adams / Vice
President of US / Philadelphia
Boston”; internal address: “To His Excellency Vice President / of the
United States”; docketed by JA: “Montgomery / April 22d. / 1794.”; Dupl (Adams Papers).
Blank in MS. This was Robert Montgomery’s 19 Oct. 1793 letter, above.
Largely engineered by a British ministry that hoped
to fight France with Portuguese naval power on its side, a 12 Sept. 1793
truce briefly mended the rift between Portugal and Algiers. Mutual
depredations against shipping resumed after Portugal balked at the $2.4
million cost of the agreement, later repudiating the truce and
implementing a blockade in November (Washington, Papers,
Presidential Series
, 15:161; Jefferson, Papers
, 27:197).
th.1794.
You told me the last time I had the honour to see you, that You had perused all the papers which I had taken the Liberty to send to you; If they are no more of any use to you, You will oblige me in giving them to the Bearer.1 I hope I shall have lost nothing in your Opinion by what I furnished you the Occasion to read; For my own part I shall always find myself happy that those papers have given me the means of being acquainted with a man whose life has been devoted to that true Liberty of which I was always so fond; & I shall neglect no Opportunity of Cultivating that acquaintance which is a pleasure and an honour for him who will constantly Subscribe himself / Sir / Your most obedient / and humble Servant
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “Mr. Vice President Adams.”
Ferdinand Antoine Louis Rosset was a Lausanne-born
aristocrat sentenced by the government of Bern, Switzerland, to serve 25
years in prison for lauding the French Revolution during a political
banquet in July 1791. Rosset, who fled to the United States, wrote to
JA on 11 April 1794 seeking aid (Adams Papers). JA enclosed
Rosset’s account of his trial in his 11 May letter to Thomas
Jefferson, below (Jefferson, Papers
, 28:71,
72).