Part 34

Friesland proposed, that a right should be stipulated for the subjects of this Republic to purchase lands in any of our States; but such reasons were urged as convinced them, that this was too extensive an object for me to agree to; 1st. It was not even stipulated for France. 2dly. If it should be now introduced into this treaty, all other nations would expect the same, and although at present it might not be impolitic to admit of this, yet nobody would think it wise to bind ourselves to it forever. 3dly. What rendered all other considerations unnecessary, was, that Congress had not authority to do this, it being a matter of the interior policy of the separate States. This was given up. A more extensive liberty of engaging seamen in this country was a favorite object; but it could not be obtained. The _refraction_, as they call it, upon tobacco, in the weigh-houses, is a thing, that enters so deeply into their commercial policy, that I could not obtain anything, more particular or more explicit, than what is found in the treaty. Upon the whole, I think the treaty is conformable to the principles of perfect reciprocity, and contains nothing, that can possibly be hurtful to America, or offensive to our allies, or to any other nation, except Great Britain, to whom it is indeed, without a speedy peace, a mortal blow.

The rights of France and Spain are sufficiently secured by the twentysecond article; although it is not in the very words of the project, transmitted me by Congress, it is the same in substance and effect. The Duc de la Vauguyon was very well contented with it, and the States were so jealous of unforeseen consequences from the words of the article as sent me by Congress, and as first proposed by me, that I saw it would delay the conclusion without end. After several conferences, and many proposals, we finally agreed upon the article as it stands, to the satisfaction of all parties.

The clause reserving to the Dutch their rights in the East and West Indies, is unnecessary, and I was averse to it, as implying a jealousy of us. But as it implies too a compliment to our power and importance, was much insisted on, and amounted to no more than we should have been bound to without it, I withdrew my objection.

The proviso of conforming to the laws of the country, respecting the external show of public worship, I wished to have excluded; because I am an enemy to every appearance of restraint in a matter so delicate and sacred as the liberty of conscience; but the laws here do not permit Roman Catholics to have steeples to their churches, and these laws could not be altered. I shall be impatient to receive the ratification of Congress, which I hope may be transmitted within the time limited.[11]

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

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TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

The Hague, October 12th, 1782.

Sir,

Yesterday afternoon M. Van der Burg Van Spieringshock, the Agent of their High Mightinesses, brought me the enclosed resolution, relative to a vessel of M. Dubbledemuts. I promised to enclose it to Congress. I would have it translated here, but I have not time. I presume Congress has, or will have, an interpreter for the Low Dutch.

It is much to be desired, that Congress would take some measures to inquire into this matter. The cause for my being so pressed for time, is, that I am preparing to set off for Paris, and have not only all my despatches to make up, to send the treaty, but have obligations to sign respecting the loan, that so essential a business may not stand still in my absence.

Mr Jay writes me, that Mr Oswald has received a commission to treat of peace with the Commissioners of the United States of America. I shall set off for Paris next week.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

FOOTNOTE:

[11] The Treaty mentioned in this letter, and the Convention respecting vessels recaptured, were ratified by Congress, on the 23d of January, 1783. The Treaty and Convention are printed at large, together with the form of ratification, in the Journal of Congress under this date.

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TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

Paris, October 31st, 1782.

Sir,

Having executed the treaty of commerce at the Hague, and despatched four copies of it, by four different vessels bound to America from the Texel, and having signed a sufficient number of obligations to leave in the hands of Messrs Willinks, Van Staphorsts, and de la Lande and Fynjè, and having received information from Mr Jay, that Mr Oswald had received a commission from the King his master, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, to treat with the Commissioners of the United States of America, I set off for Paris, where I arrived on Saturday, the 26th of this month, after a tedious journey; the roads being, on account of long continued rains, in the worst condition I ever knew them.

I waited forthwith on Mr Jay, and from him learned the state of the conferences. It is not possible, at present, to enter into details. All I can say is in general, that I had the utmost satisfaction in finding, that he had been all along acting here upon the same principles upon which I had ventured to act in Holland, and that we were perfectly agreed in our sentiments and systems. I cannot express it better than in his own words; "to be honest and grateful to our allies, but to think for ourselves." I find a construction put upon one article of our instructions by some persons, which I confess I never put upon it myself. It is represented by some, as subjecting us to the French Ministry, as taking away from us all right of judging for ourselves, and obliging us to agree to whatever the French Ministers shall advise us to, and to do nothing without their consent. I never supposed this to be the intention of Congress; if I had, I never would have accepted the commission, and if I now thought it their intention, I could not continue in it. I cannot think it possible to be the design of Congress; if it is, I hereby resign my place in the commission, and request that another person may be immediately appointed in my stead.

Yesterday we met Mr Oswald at his lodgings; Mr Jay, Dr Franklin, and myself, on one side, and Mr Oswald, assisted by Mr Strachey, a gentleman whom I had the honor to meet in company with Lord Howe upon Staten Island in the year 1776, and assisted also by a Mr Roberts, a clerk in some of the public offices, with books, maps, and papers, relative to the boundaries.

I arrived in a lucky moment for the boundary of the Massachusetts, because I brought with me all the essential documents relative to that object, which are this day to be laid before my colleagues in conference at my house, and afterwards before Mr Oswald.

It is now apparent, at least to Mr Jay and myself, that, in order to obtain the western lands, the navigation of the Mississippi, and the fisheries, or any of them, we must act with firmness and independence, as well as prudence and delicacy. With these, there is little doubt we may obtain them all.

Yesterday I visited M. Brantzen, the Dutch Minister, and was by him very frankly and candidly informed of the whole progress of the negotiation on their part. It is very shortly told. They have exchanged full powers with Mr Fitzherbert, and communicated to him their preliminaries, according to their instructions, which I have heretofore transmitted to Congress. Mr Fitzherbert has sent them to London and received an answer, but has communicated to them no more of this answer than this, that those preliminaries are not relished at St James'. He excused his not having seen them for six or seven days, by pretence of indisposition, but they are informed that he has made frequent visits to Versailles during these days, and sent off and received several couriers.

How the negotiation advances between Mr Fitzherbert, and the Count de Vergennes, and the Count d'Aranda, we know not.

The object of M. de Rayneval's journey to London, is not yet discovered by any of us. It is given out, that he was sent to see whether the British Ministry were in earnest.[12] But this is too general. It is suspected that he went to insinuate something relative to the fisheries and the boundaries, but it is probable he did not succeed respecting the former, and perhaps not entirely, with respect to the latter.

With great respect, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

FOOTNOTE:

[12] See Franklin's Correspondence, Vol. IV. p. 48. Also the North American Review for January, 1830, p. 21.

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TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

Paris, November 6th, 1782.

Sir,

Two days ago arrived by Captain Barney, the letters you did me the honor to write me, the 22d, 29th, 30th, triplicate of May, 4th of July, 29th of August, and 15th of September.

I was unconditionally received in Holland, and promised upon record conferences and audiences, whenever I should demand them, before I entered into any treaty, and without this I should never have entered into any; and full powers were given to the Committee of Foreign Affairs, before I entered into any conferences with them. I have ventured upon the same principle in the affair of peace, and uniformly refused to come to Paris, until our independence was unconditionally acknowledged by the King of Great Britain. Mr Jay has acted on the same principle with Spain, and with Great Britain. The dignity of the United States, being thus supported, has prevailed in Holland and Great Britain; not indeed as yet in Spain, but we are in a better situation in relation to her, than we should have been if the principle had been departed from. The advice of the Count de Vergennes has been contrary; but however great a Minister he may be in his own department, his knowledge is insufficient and his judgment too often erroneous in our affairs, to be an American Minister.

Intelligence from Holland is impossible through France. Events in Holland can seldom be foreseen one day. When they happen, they are inserted in the gazettes, transferred to the _Courier de l'Europe_, the English and French gazettes, and get to America before it is possible for me to transmit them directly. Besides, Sir, I have sometimes thought, that my time was better employed in doing business, that might produce other events, than in multiplying copies and conveyances of despatches, which would contain nothing, but what I knew the newspapers would announce as soon; my reputation may not be so well husbanded by this method, but the cause of my country is served. I am not insensible to reputation; but I hope it has not been a principal object. Perhaps it has not been enough an object. I see so much of the omnipotence of reputation, that I begin to think so. I know very well, however, that if mine cannot be supported by facts, it will not be by trumpeters.

If it were in my power to do anything for the honor of the department or Minister of Foreign Affairs, I would cheerfully do it, because I am a friend to both; and to this end, you will, I am sure, not take it amiss if I say, that it is indispensably necessary for the service of Congress, and the honor of the office, that it be kept impenetrably secret from the French Minister in many things. The office will be an engine for the ruin of the reputation of your Ministers abroad, and for injuring our cause in material points, the fishery, the western lands, and the Mississippi, &c. if it is not.

I thank you, Sir, for the hint about the English language. I think with you, that we ought to make a point of it, and after some time, I hope it will be an instruction from Congress to all their Ministers.

As to the negotiations for peace, we have been night and day employed in them ever since my arrival on the 26th of October. Doctor Franklin, without saying anything to me, obtained of Mr Jay a promise of his vote[13] for Mr W. T. Franklin, to be Secretary to the commission for peace; and as the Doctor and his Secretary are in the same house, and there are other clerks enough, I suppose he will transmit to Congress details of the negotiations. I shall be ready to lend them any assistance in my power; and I will endeavor as soon as I can to transmit them myself; but after spending forenoon, afternoon, and evening, in discussions, it is impossible to transmit all the particulars. No man's constitution is equal to it.

The English have sent Mr Oswald, who is a wise and good man, and, if untrammelled, would soon settle all, and Mr Strachey, who is a keen and subtle one, although not deeply versed in such things; and a Mr Roberts, who is a clerk in the Board of Trade, and Mr Whithead, who is private Secretary to Mr Oswald. These gentlemen are very profuse in their professions of national friendship; of earnest desires to obliterate the remembrance of all unkindnesses, and to restore peace, harmony, friendship, and make them perpetual, by removing every seed of future discord. All this, on the part of Mr Oswald personally, is very sincere. On the part of the nation, it may be so in some sense at present; but I have my doubts, whether it is a national disposition, upon which we can have much dependence, and still more, whether it is the sincere intention of the Earl of Shelburne.

He has been compelled to acknowledge American independence, because the Rockingham Administration had resolved upon it, and Carleton and Digby's letter to General Washington, had made known that resolution to the world; because the nation demanded that negotiations should be opened with the American Ministers, and they refused to speak or hear, until their independence was acknowledged unequivocally and without conditions, because Messrs Fox and Burke had resigned their offices, pointedly, on account of the refusal of the King, and my Lord Shelburne, to make such an acknowledgment; and these eloquent senators were waiting only for the session of Parliament to attack his Lordship on this point; it was, therefore, inevitable to acknowledge our independence, and no Minister could have stood his ground without it. But still I doubt, whether his Lordship means to make a general peace. To express myself more clearly, I fully believe he intends to try another campaign, and that he will finally refuse to come to any definitive agreement with us, upon articles to be inserted in the general peace.

We have gone the utmost lengths to favor the peace. We have at last agreed to boundaries with the greatest moderation. We have offered them the choice of a line through the middle of all the great lakes, or the line of 45 degrees of latitude, the Mississippi, with a free navigation of it at one end, and the river St Croix at the other. We have agreed, that the courts of justice be opened for the recovery of British debts due before the war, to a general amnesty for all the royalists, against whom there is no judgment rendered, or prosecution commenced. We have agreed, that all the royalists, who may remain at the evacuation of the States, shall have six months to sell their estates, and to remove with them.

These are such immense advantages to the Minister, that one would think he could not refuse them. The agreement to pay British debts, will silence the clamors of all the body of creditors, and separate them from the tories, with whom they have hitherto made common cause. The amnesty and the term of six months will silence all the tories, except those who have been condemned, banished, and whose property has been confiscated; yet I do not believe they will be accepted.

I fear they will insist a little longer upon a complete indemnification to all the refugees, a point, which, without express instructions from all the States, neither we nor Congress can give up; and how the States can ever agree to it, I know not, as it seems an implicit concession of all the religion and morality of the war. They will also insist upon Penobscot as the eastern boundary. I am not sure that the tories, and the Ministry, and the nation, are not secretly stimulated by French emisaries, to insist upon Penobscot, and a full indemnification to the tories. It is easy to see, that the French Minister, the Spanish and the Dutch Ministers would not be very fond of having it known through the world, that all points for a general peace were settled between Great Britain and America, before all parties are ready. It is easy to comprehend, how French, Spanish, and Dutch emisaries, in London, in Paris, and Versailles, may insinuate, that the support of the tories is a point of national and royal honor, and propagate so many popular arguments in favor of it, as to embarrass the British Minister. It is easy to see, that the French may naturally revive their old assertions, that Penobscot and Kennebec are the boundary of Nova Scotia, although against the whole stream of British authorities, and the most authentic acts of the Governors, Shirley, Pownal, Bernard, and Hutchinson. Mr Fitzherbert, who is constantly at Versailles, is very sanguine for the refugees. Nevertheless, if my Lord Shelburne should not agree with us, these will be only ostensible points. He cares little for either. It will be to avoid giving any certain weapons against himself, to the friends of Lord North, and the old Ministry.

The negotiations at Versailles between the Count de Vergennes and Mr Fitzherbert, are kept secret, not only from us, but from the Dutch Ministers, and we hear nothing about Spain. In general, I learn, that the French insist upon a great many fish. I dined yesterday with M. Berkenrode, the Dutch Ambassador, and M. Brantzen, his colleague. They were both very frank and familiar, and confessed to me, that nothing had been said to them, and that they could learn nothing as yet of the progress of the negotiation. Berkenrode told me, as an honest man, that he had no faith in the sincerity of the English for peace as yet; on the contrary, he thought that a part of Lord Howe's fleet had gone to America, and that there was something meditated against the French West India Islands. I doubt this, however; but we shall soon know where my Lord Howe is. That something is meditating against the French or Spaniards, and that they think of evacuating New York for that end, I believe. Berkenrode seemed to fear the English, and said, like a good man, that in case any severe stroke should be struck against France, it would be necessary for Holland and America to discover a firmness. This observation had my heart on its side; but without an evacuation of New York, they can strike no blow at all, nor any very great one with it.

Mr Oswald has made very striking overtures to us; to agree to the evacuation of New York, to write a letter to General Washington, and another to Congress, advising them to permit this evacuation, to agree, that neither the people nor the army should oppose this evacuation, or molest the British army in attempting it; nay, further, that we should agree, that the Americans should afford them all sorts of aid, and even supplies of provisions. These propositions he made to us, in obedience to an instruction from the Minister, and he told us their army were going against West Florida, to reconquer that from the Spaniards. Our answer was, that we could agree to no such things; that General Washington could enter into a convention with them, for the terms upon which they should surrender the city of New York, and all its dependencies, as Long Island, Staten Island, &c. to the arms of the United States. All that we could agree to was, that the effects and persons of those, who should stay behind, should have six months to go off, nor could we agree to this, unless as an article to be inserted in the general peace.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

FOOTNOTE:

[13] This proved to be an error. Mr Jay wrote to Doctor Franklin, on the 26th of January, 1783, as follows, "It having been suspected, that I concurred in the appointment of your grandson to the place of Secretary to the American Commission for Peace, _at your instance_, I think it right thus unsolicited to put it in your power to correct the mistake, &c." See the whole letter in _Franklin's Correspondence_, Vol. IV. p. 73.

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ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO JOHN ADAMS.

Philadelphia, November 6th, 1782.

Sir,

The scene of action is so entirely transferred to your side of the Atlantic, that scarce any occurrence among us at present is sufficiently interesting to furnish matter for a public letter.

The resolutions, which have from time to time evinced the steady determination of Congress, in no event to relinquish the great object of the war, or think of peace but in connexion with their allies, have been already transmitted to you. The military force on both sides is perfectly inactive. By the enclosed extracts from General Carleton's, and General Washington's letters, you will see that the first is so bent on peace, that, notwithstanding the opinion of his superiors, he does not see that the war has any longer an object. It is high time that he disavows them, for their conduct is a direct disavowal of him.

The clauses of the commission to Mr Fitzherbert, which are designed to include us, are strong indications of the extreme reluctance of the British to give up their supposed dominion over this country. You have great credit with me for the judgment you have formed, from time to time, of the Court of Great Britain; though your opinions sometimes run counter to those generally received.

Nothing can be more conformable to our wishes, than the instructions you have transmitted; keep up that spirit in ---- and we have nothing to fear from that quarter, but lengthy negotiations, even after they shall commence in earnest.

We have yet no accounts of the evacuation of Charleston, and that event begins daily to grow more uncertain. Such is the inconstancy of the enemy, that one may as well predict what appearances a cloud will put on two hours hence, by our knowledge of the wind, as reduce their conduct to any settled shape, by knowing their professions. Our troops have gone into winter quarters at West Point.

The French have marched to the eastward to be nearer their fleet, which lies at Boston. Part of the British fleet, consisting of fourteen sail of the line, and eight frigates, including a ship of forty guns, sailed from New York the 26th ultimo. They have such a decided superiority in the American seas, that if they had correspondent land forces, or even knew how to apply those they keep cooped up in America, they might render themselves very formidable in the West Indies. This however is, I hope, an evil, which will be ere long remedied.

Bills for the amount of your salary from January last have been regularly transmitted to Dr Franklin. You will receive with this the amount of the last quarter, ending the first of October. Mr Morris, my Secretary, will enclose you a state of your accounts. I should be glad if you would acknowledge the receipt of these moneys, as they come to hand, since I stand charged with them in the Treasury books.

The enclosed resolution will show you, that Mr Boudinott has succeeded Mr Hanson, as President of Congress.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

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TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

Paris, November 8th, 1782.

Sir,