WRITINGS
OF
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK ■ BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., Limited
LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO
J
' WRITINGS
OF
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
EDITED BY
WORTHINGTON CHAUNCEY FORD
VOL. Ill
1801-1810
Nwo fork
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1914
All rights reserved
E:
Copyright, 1914
By CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS
Set up and electrotyped. Published March. 1914.
MAR 26 j9 14
CU369461 a
^
CONTENTS
I 80 I PAGE
October 13. To Rufus King ..... i
Lands at Philadelphia. Changes in the country.
Visitation by fever. Dismissal of officers.
December 11. To Rufus King ..... 2
Effect of peace between France and England. Death
of Philip Hamilton in a duel.
1802
January 18. To Rufus King ..... 3
Meeting of Congress and the President's message.
Repeal of internal taxes.
August 27. To Thomas Boylston Adams ... 6
Letters between Samuel and John Adams. Charge of
favoring a monarchy.
October 8. To Rufus King ...... 7
Divisions in the party of the administration. Cal-
lender's attacks. Strength of the administration.
Triumph not enjoyed with moderation. Federalism
dead beyond revival. Yellow fever and dysentery.
. Ecce Iterum ....... 10
Election to State Senate. Defeated for Congress. His
two orations.
1803
February 14. To Henry Knox ..... 12
Reasons for opposing address to remove justices of
the Common Pleas.
vi CONTENTS
PAGE
April 27. To Robert Bird ...... 13
Payment of his bills on London. On signing a letter of
license. Asks for explanations.
May 13. To William Bartlett . . . . 15
On the replies of Robert Bird. Commission of bank-
ruptcy.
May 13. To Robert Bird ...... 17
A meeting of his creditors. Desires further informa-
tion. Differences in statements made.
November — . Resolution on Boundaries ... 19
November 25. Resolution on Treaty with France . 19
November 25. Amendment to the Constitution . . 20
December 3. To the Secretary of State ... 21
Treaty of limits with Great Britain and the French
treaty of 1803. Mr. King may be able to answer.
December 24. To Benjamin Russell .... 23
Comments published in the Centinel on his conduct.
Desires to know the name of the writer.
1804
January 4. Motion on Impeachment .... 25
January 10. Motion on Taxation of Louisiana . . 25
. Notes of Speech on Motion on Louisiana . 26
January 21. To Peter Chardon Brooks . . 31
Engaging counsel for suit. Luther Martin and his fee.
Request for papers.
CONTENTS vii
PAGE
March 6. To Peter Chardon Brooks . . . 32
Decision of the court unfavorable. Need of procuring
properly authenticated papers.
March 6. To Rufus Greene Amory . . . 33 V"'
Spanish order on trade. His own position.
March 11. To Timothy Pickering .... 34
Statement on trial of Judge Pickering. Difficulties in
the way.
March 11. To Timothy Pickering .... 36
Sends a proposed statement to be laid before the Sen-
ate when called upon to vote on Pickering's impeach-
ment.
May 25. To Louisa Catherine Adams . . . 38
Madame de Stael's opinion on divorce. The French
Convention. Letters of Madame de Sevigne.
June 17. To Louisa Catherine Adams . . 39
State politics. Presidential electors. Instructions for
Senators.
July 13. To Louisa Catherine Adams .... 40
Attempt to burn Mount Vernon. Judge Bowen's
charge. Pinkney and Armstrong.
July 19-22. To Louisa Catherine Adams ... 41
Hamilton and Burr duel. Jerome Bonaparte. Titles
in France.
September 23. To Louisa Catherine Adams ... 43
Installation of a Lodge of Masons. Quincy a Mason.
An English edition of the Silesian Letters. One letter
should have been omitted. Pretensions as author.
viii CONTENTS
October-November. Publius Valerius page
I. Interests of Massachusetts in the approaching elec-
tion. Her influence in the Union threatened. Three
occasions for display of intentions. . . . .46
II. Perez Morton and President Jefferson. His Yazoo
land interests. Debt operations of the government . 51
III. Relations with the Barbary powers. Purchase
of Louisiana. Peace with Great Britain and France.
Morton's private interests ..... 57
IV. Mode of choosing electors of President. Protests
examined. Reasons for opposition. Huger's motion . 62
V. Ely's motion. Representation under the Consti-
tution. Inequality between North and South. Slavery
and taxation and representation .... 69
November 3. To John Adams ..... 77
Talk with the President. The British frigates. Trade
with St. Domingo. Peculiar opinion of Jefferson. Wil-
kinson.
November — . To John Adams ..... 79
The President's opinion on contraband trade ex-
amined. Political revolution in Massachusetts. Protest
from Louisiana.
December 11. To John Adams ..... 82
Effect of Elections in Massachusetts. Morton's ex-
pectations. Appointments to office. Benjamin Austin,
Jr. Writing his memoirs. Bills before Congress. Wil-
liam Lyman for London. The President and Turreau.
December — . Remarks on Proposed Amendment to the
Constitution on Representation .... 87
December 24. To John Adams ..... 100
Change in political Massachusetts and consolation.
Impeachment of Judge Chase. The proposed amend-
ment to the Constitution. Turreau and Marin. A bout
with Giles.
CONTENTS
IX
PAGE
I805
January 5. To John Adams ...... 104
The manner of Giles. Treatment of Burr.
January 24. To John Adams ..... 104
His occupations and public business. Government
and emulation. His consolation. Measures before Con-
gress.
March 8. To John Adams ...... 106
Constantly occupied. Impeachment of Judge Chase.
History of the movement. The case of Pickering. Ob-
ject of the prosecutors. Theories of impeachment and
practice. Evidence taken at trial. The final question.
Acquittal.
March 14. To John Adams . . . . . .114
Forms of questions in the impeachment trials.
Charges against Judge Chase not criminal. The entire
bench on trial. Amendments to the Constitution.
Burr's valedictory. Payment of witnesses.
August 6. To Samuel Dexter ..... 123
Appointment as professor of rhetoric and oratory.
Question of attendance and time. Elocution of students.
Religious test.
October 11. To the Corporation of Harvard College 126
Providing a substitute professor. A single not a dou-
ble foundation. An impossible system of instruction.
December 6. To John Adams . . . . .129
The President's message. Naval deficiency appropria-
tion. Meeting with Captain Landais.
December 12. To Richard Rush . . . . .131
The London mission and his wish to visit Europe.
x CONTENTS
1806 PAGE
January 14. To John Adams . . . . 13 1
Probable action of Congress on protection of com-
merce. Reported differences with Spain. Landais and
Franklin. Indian visitors. Senate without leader.
February — . Resolutions ...... 133
February 11. To John Adams ..... 134
Submission to France and defiance of Great Britain.
Possible unsubstantial terrors against Britain. Ran-
dolph's motion on the judges. His study of the classics
and interruptions.
March 26. To William Stephens Smith . . .138
His removal from office and connection with Miranda.
April 16. To William Stephens Smith .... 139
Relations with Miranda. Oration for son.
April 18. To Samuel Barron ..... 140
Questions on the Tripolitan War.
May 1. To Louisa Catherine Adams . . . .142
Matters at New York. Affair of the Leander.
May 10. To Louisa Catherine Adams .... 142
Inauguration of President Webber at Cambridge.
His turn next. Lord Selkirk.
June 1. To Louisa Catherine Adams .... 143
State Legislature meets and uncertainty of election.
June 8. To Louisa Catherine Adams .... 144
Contest between Strong and Sullivan.
CONTENTS xi
PAGE
June 18. To Louisa Catherine Adams .... 144
His unaugural address as professor in the College.
Strong gains the governorship. Eclipse of the sun.
June 22. To Louisa Catherine Adams .... 147
The eclipse obscured. Death of George Wythe.
June 26. To the Corporation of Harvard University 148
On admitting the Sophomores to his course. Minute-
ness of detail an objection.
June 29. To Louisa Catherine Adams . . . • I 5°
Public service about to end. Party the only qualifica-
tion for office. Dr. Waterhouse.
July 13. To Louisa Catherine Adams .... 152
Dispute of the Randolphs. William Smith and Mi-
randa's expedition. Letter of Yrujo.
November 5. To Noah Webster . . . . 153
His project for a larger dictionary. Peculiarities of
spelling and principles of pronunciation. Fashion and
innovation. Vulgarisms and localisms.
1807
January 27. To John Adams ..... 158
Burr and his conspiracy. Bill to suspend habeas corpus
writ rejected. Prohibiting importation of slaves. Case
of Bollman and Swartwout. Readings in the classics.
July 16. Chesapeake-Leopard Affair .... 161
October 28. Motion on President's Message . . 162
November 25. Motion on Impressments . . . 163
Xll
CONTENTS
PAGE
November 30. To John Adams 163
Overwhelmed with business. Case of Senator John
Smith. A policy of procrastination.
December 11. To Joseph Hall
Action of Admiral Berkeley disavowed,
importation act.
Th
e non-
December 27. To John Adams .....
Expulsion under the Constitution. Report on Senator
Smith. The aggression bill. Passage of an unlimited
embargo. British proclamation on impressments. The
killing of Panton. Plagiat or man-stealing. Engaging
foreign seamen and contracts. His own position critical.
Arrival of Monroe.
164
166
December — . Report on Senator John Smith
173
1808
January 10. To James Sullivan ..... 185
Causes of the embargo.
January 11. Motion on the Embargo .... 187
January 27. To John Adams 188
Impressments. Foresees end of his public service.
The presidential election.
March 31. To Harrison Gray Otis . . . .189
Reply to Pickering's letter.
Appendix (1824) 224
April 20. To Abigail Adams . . . . .232
Disapprobation of parents. Bradley's caucus. Bur-
dens imposed upon him. Pickering's letter and answer.
CONTENTS xiii
PAGE
May 14. To George Boyd . . . . • • 2 35
Cannot apply to administration in favor of relatives.
June 8. To the General Court of Massachusetts . 237
Resigns his seat as Senator of the United States.
August 22. To Orchard Cook . . . . .238
Reasons for resigning. The approaching presidential
election. Town meetings on the embargo. Events in
Spain.
November 15. To William Branch Giles . . . 242
The legislature of Massachusetts made his resignation
necessary. Must have perfect freedom of agency. Con-
fidence in the Senate. A spirit of martyrdom. His
political future. Foreign and domestic policies. Con-
tinuing the embargo law.
November 17. To Ezekiel Bacon .... 248
War with England or with France. Arming for de-
fence of commerce. Embargo or non-intercourse. The \
federalists and civil war. Presidential electors in Massa-
chusetts. Definition of tories.
November 25. To Orchard Cook .... 253
Alternatives of embargo. Government should protect
citizens and their property. English policy. Report on
foreign relations.
December 5. To Nahum Parker ..... 257
The Campbell report on foreign relations. Proposed 1
convention on division of States. Dangers of internal
dissension.
December 8. To Orchard Cook ..... 260
Suggested political advancement. The Vice Presi-
dency. Anticipation of Anderson. Report on foreign
relations and the embargo.
xiv CONTENTS
PAGE
December 10. To William Branch Giles . . . 263
Speech on embargo. Threats of resistance and of
separation. Judicial decisions and influences. Trade
should be opened. Death of Governor Sullivan.
December 14. To Samuel Latham Mitchill . . . 265
Hillhouse's resolution. Reasons for removing restric-
tions on trade. Books purchased for the Library of
Congress.
December 15. To Joseph Anderson .... 268 ^
Could not act under instructions of the legislature.
Senate majority approved. No submission of British in-
solence. Gallatin's proposition. Difficulties of execut-
ing it.
December 19. To Orchard Cook ..... 272
Embargo should be removed. Arming of merchant
vessels. Meetings on the embargo. Congressional
speeches. A fable applied. Sullivan's death. Legisla-
tive requests. Meeting of republicans. Export duties
by Order in Council.
December 21. To Ezekiel Bacon .... 276
Reasons for reserve. Contest over the embargo. Law
cannot be executed. Friends of the administration.
Embargo no longer coercion against England or France.
The British Orders in Council.
December 26. To William Branch Giles . . .281
His defence against Pickering. The British Orders in
Council. Deliberation and execution. Federalists
favor Great Britain. Massachusetts politics. National
independence at stake.
CONTENTS xv
I809 PAGE
January 16. To William Branch Giles .... 286
Legislative resolutions in Massachusetts and New
Hampshire. Lloyd's motion for Rose's correspondence.
Violations of the embargo unpunished.
March 5. To Louisa Catherine Adams .... 288
Inauguration of Madison. Conversation with Jeffer-
son. Business of Congress. The new Cabinet. Warning
to young federal members.
March 9. To Louisa Catherine Adams .... 291
Is nominated for the Russian mission. Senate and
embargo.
April 17. To Skelton Jones 292
Sketch of his career.
April-May. Review of the "Works of Fisher Ames" 305
April 30. To the President 311
Introducing Benjamin Pickman.
June 15. To Ezekiel Bacon . . . • • 3 12
Responsibility for current measures. Embargo and
non-intercourse. Federalists and the President. British
Orders in Council. Exclusion of foreign armed vessels.
June 22. To William Eustis . . . . 3*6
Letters of John Adams to Boston Patriot. Honesty
and statesmen. Confidence in Madison. State meas-
ures. France and England. Postscript.
June 27. Commission to Russia . . . . . 321
[Secretary of State to William Short, Septem-
ber 8, 1808.] 3 22
xvi CONTENTS
PAGE
July 5. To Robert Smith 328
Acknowledgment for appointment. Accepts and
names date of sailing. His secretary.
July 7. To the Secretary of State . . . -330
Navigation of Baltic and his sailing. William Steuben
Smith as secretary, and voluntary aids.
July 16. To William Eustis . . . . -332
Reasons for accepting the Russian mission. Desires
his correspondence. Daschkoff's offer. Relations with
France.
August 7. To Thomas Boylston Adams . . -334
Publication of his lectures. The valedictory part of
the closing lecture explained. His friends.
August 9. To Abigail Adams . . . . -337
Noah Webster's dictionary.
August 16. To William Plumer . . . . -338
Will prize letters from him. A congenial spirit. His
proposed history of America. Union should be the
moral. Cod fishing and history of the United States.
September 23. To the Secretary of State . . . 343
Incidents of voyage. Brought to by a British armed
vessel. American ships captured by Danish privateers.
Will go to Copenhagen.
September 30. To Hans Rodolph Saabye . . . 346
Captured American vessels. Hardships imposed on
masters. Has not been able to see Count Bernstorff.
Wishes him to make representation. Conduct of United
States towards Denmark. Suppression of Danish priva-
teers.
CONTENTS xvii
PAGE
October 26. To the Secretary of State . . . 351
Arrives at St. Petersburg, and his reception by Count
Romanzoff. Disapprobation of Denmark's proceedings
against American commerce. Liberal measures de-
sired. Harris praised. Treaty between Russia and
Sweden.
November 24. To Thomas Boylston Adams . . -355
His journey to Copenhagen. Taking of the Concordia.
Passage of the Sound. Proposed abandonment of voy-
age. The islands of Denmark.
November 28. To Sylvanus Bourne .... 360
Non-intercourse adopted. Effect of current events in
Europe and the United States. Interest in maintaining
restrictions on commerce. Champagny's offer.
December 4. To the Secretary of State . . . 361
Representation on two American vessels. British
forged papers. Case of Graham. A form of gazette.
December 14. To Thomas Boylston Adams . . . 366
Stay at Bornholm. Determination to proceed on the
voyage. Navigation of the Baltic. Reaches Cronstadt
and St. Petersburg.
1810
January 3. To the Secretary of State .... 369
Would have sailed in the Essex. Need of passport.
Registers of London make. Import of colonial mer-
chandise prohibited. Emperor's message to Denmark.
January 7. To the Secretary of State . . .372
Conference with Count Romanzoff on American ves-
sels detained by Denmark. Great Britain and a general
peace. Denmark has not acted voluntarily. Colonial
xviii CONTENTS
PAGE
merchandise and the United States. Restrictive meas-
ures of profit to England. Russian commerce with Eng-
land. Emperor has ordered representations to Denmark
on American ships. Baron de Blome's statement. Colo-
nial merchandise.
January 17. To the Secretary of State . . -385
Complaint of France on American trade. Interview
with the French Ambassador. Can discriminate against
British trade. Modification of Imperial Council.
January 31. To the Secretary of State . . -389
Renews application to Danish Minister. Forbes and
Joy on the ground. Jackson's character. Report of a
general embargo. Peace negotiations. The new Council.
February 8. To Abigail Adams ..... 393
Emerson's discourse and its application. Is sending
letters by every opportunity. Expense of forming an
establishment. Economy not general. The bright side.
February 14. To Thomas Boylston Adams . . . 397
Contest between France and England. Concerns of
Europe. The Emperor Alexander.
February 19. To George Joy ..... 399
Is unable to answer his questions. Commerce between
Russia and England. Effect of the restrictions on trade
by France and Great Britain.
February 28. To William Eustis ..... 401
Cultivation of hemp and labor. Conduct of France.
Propositions to England. Friendly disposition of Russia.
Count Romanzoff's position. Napoleon's new wife.
Champagny's letter to Armstrong.
CONTENTS xix
PAGE
March 24. To the Secretary of State .... 406
Reply of the Danish government to the Russian Em-
peror. Principles of British merchants illustrated. Burr
in Europe. Trade treaty with Portugal. Complaint
against Captain Arnold.
March 30. To the Secretary of State . . . .411
First appearance of the American flag upon the Black
Sea. Case of Cutts' vessel. Danish privateers.
Prospects of peace with England. French confiscations
of American vessels. Arrival of J. S. Smith.
April 19. To the Secretary of State .... 416
The American vessel at Odessa. Relations between
France and Russia. Cession of land from Austria to
Russia and Napoleon's marriage. Peace with Turkey.
Russia and American commerce.
April 21. To Thomas Boylston Adams .... 420
Prospects of future peace in Europe. Efforts of Eng-
land to oppose Napoleon's projects. The expedition to
Walcheren. The mission of Jackson. Change in the
ministry. Need of lesson to France.
April 30. To John Adams ...... 424
Friendly disposition and personal attentions of the
Russian government. Danger from French influence.
Peace and Napoleon's marriage. Claim to divine
honors. Hatred of republics.
May 10. To Joseph Pitcairn . . . . • . 427
Relations with the French Ambassador. Political and
commercial measures of France.
May 10. To William Eustis ..... 429
Hemp and flax. Proceedings of Denmark on priva-
teers. Agents to make representations. Sufferings of
Denmark and commerce. Question of convoys. Nego-
tiations for a general peace. Newspapers in Europe.
xx CONTENTS
PAGE
May ii. To George Joy . . . . . -433
Danish ordinance on privateering. The attack on
Copenhagen and resentment against England. Con-
voys. Criticism of the ordinance. Reconciliation with
England. Napoleon and England.
May 19. To the Secretary of State .... 439
Denmark and convoys. Trade under licenses. Con-
suls in Prussia.
May 25. To the Secretary of State .... 442
American ships on the Black Sea. Sweden and the
Porte. A treaty between the United States and Turkey.
Popular disturbances at Constantinople. Turkey and
European States.
June 6. To Abigail Adams ...... 447
Return of the Horace. Jackson's mission. American
commerce with Europe. Criticism of the Russian mis-
sion. European interpretation of American politics.
The Massachusetts system.
June 25. To the Secretary of State .... 450
Finances of the Empire. Assignation bank bills. Na-
ture of the loan. Acts of Admiral Saumarez. Danish
privateers.
June 30. To Thomas Boylston Adams .... 454
Spain and Portugal. Neutral trade annihilated. Sys-
tem of trade licenses. War between Russia and Turkey.
July 25. To Abigail Adams ...... 455
The Massachusetts election. The disunion projects.
Terror of war with England. Condition of Sweden.
Murder of Fersen. Abdication of the King of Holland.
"^
CONTENTS xxi
PAGE
August 3. To the Secretary of State .... 460
Forged ships papers from England. Death of the
Queen of Prussia. Prussian edict against American ves-
sels. France annexes Holland. Decree on American
property. Favorable position of American commerce in
Russian ports.
August 3. To William Gray ..... 465
Acknowledges offer of credit. Rules of conduct laid
down.
August 16. To the Secretary of State . . . 467
Prussian ordinance against American trade. Com-
merce and revenue of England not injured. Reasons for
attack on American ships. Sweden and the succession.
French certificates of origin.
August 19. To William Gray 47 1
Emperor desires to take a negro into his service.
Wishes him to indemnify master and send wife and
children.
August 27. To Joseph Hall ..... 473
Circumstances have justified his position. Course of
the federalist party. Reason for defeat.
August 31. To the Secretary of State . . . 475
Trade with Indians in Russian North America.
Mecklenburg's ordinance against American ships. The
Danish chancery patent. Revocation of the Berlin and
Milan decrees. Import duties. George Joy's licenses.
September 2. To John Adams 481
Federal party and the British faction. England and
Napoleon.
xxii CONTENTS
PAGE
September 5. To Samuel Latham Mitchill . . . 483
Difficulty of distinguishing between English and
American vessels in Russian ports. Revocation of the
French decrees. Arts and sciences. Krusenstern's
voyage.
September 5. To the Secretary of State . . . 486
Trade with the Russian settlements in North America.
Russia's relations with China. Claims to the Columbia
River. American ships in Russian ports. The Commis-
sion of Neutral Navigation. Reasons for despatch.
Commercial interests of Russia. Baron Campenhausen.
Emperor's sentiments towards America unchanged.
French influence. France and the United States. Ves-
sels admitted. A treaty of commerce.
September 8. To Thomas Boylston Adams . . . 496
Training of his son George. Distribution of the lec-
tures. Revolution in politics.
September 10. To John Pope ..... 499
His marriage with Miss Johnson. Retirement from
the Senate. Foreign relations and the non-intercourse.
Neutrality.
September 20. To the Secretary of State . . . 503
Danish privateers again. A British blockade of Elsi-
neur and convoys. Payment of the Sound duties.
Baron Blome. Mr. Joy's licenses. The French decrees.
October 6. To William Plumer ..... 507
Few letters received from America. The New Eng-
land elections. Newspaper criticism. Dependence on
party. Repeal of non-intercourse act. European poli-
tics.
CONTENTS xxiii
PAGE
October 14. To Abigail Adams 5 12
Public measures and the elections. Return of General
Armstrong. Anthology review of lectures. On friend-
ship. Praise and censure. Errors in the book. His posi-
tion at the Court.
October 16. From James Madison . . . -5*8
Permission to retire if private reasons compel. Rea-
sons for remaining in the service.
October 20. To William Gray . . . • • 5*9
American business interests in Russia.
October 23. To Thomas Boylston Adams . . . 521
Newspaper abuse. Comparison with the diplomatic
corps in manner of living.
October 25. To Abigail Adams 523
The forged ship's papers. Will show no consideration
for holders. His real offence. Merchants of St. Peters-
burg.
October 27. To Thomas Boylston Adams . . .526
The Anthology review of the Lectures. The Silesian
letters. Newspapers from Boston. The first levee of
the season. Special attentions at Hermitage Theatre.
No expectation of gratitude. Education of his sons.
November 3. To Ezekiel Bacon ..... 530
Motives for the mission to Russia. Results obtained.
Foreign influence in domestic politics. Neutrality-
should be preserved. European colonial system. North
European events.
November 13. To the Secretary of State . . . 534
Closing of navigation. A consul for Gothenburg.
Sale of American ship's papers. Consuls as merchants.
Recommendations.
xxiv CONTENTS
PAGE
November 28. To Abigail Adams . . . . -538
Delay in receipt of letters. Changes at Harvard Col-
lege. Manner of heating houses. Treatment of win-
dows. Difference in winters. Napoleon's burning
decree.
December 1. To the Secretary of State . . . 543
Arrival of American vessels and official action. Oper-
ation of Napoleon's tariff and decree. Effect in England.
Distress of merchants. Emperor firm in favoring
commerce.
December 17. To the Secretary of State . . . 548
Admission of American vessels. Prospects of peace
between Great Britain and France. The convoy below
Gothenburg. The decree for burning colonial merchan-
dise. Bernadotte in Sweden. Demands of France.
Russia's refusal.
December 27. To the Secretary of State . . . 553
Return of W. B. Adams. Interview with Baron Cam-
penhausen. Relations between Russia and France.
J. Spear Smith leaves.
WRITINGS
OF
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
WRITINGS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
TO RUFUS KING
Quincy, 13 October, 1801.
Dear Sir:
We landed at Philadelphia the 4th of last month, after a
tedious though not unpleasant passage of fifty-eight days
from Hamburg. My wife with her child went on to her
father's family at Washington, and I came here. The day
after tomorrow I purpose setting out to go and bring her
home. In the course of a month I hope to be here again, and
shall immediately resume the practice of the law, and fix my
residence in Boston.
The appearance of our country has very much improved
since I left it in 1794. I find everywhere the marks of peace
within our walls, and prosperity within our palaces — for
palaces they may truly be called, those splendid and costly
mansions which since my departure seem to have shot up
from the earth by enchantment.
The pleasure of these prospects is in some measure damped
by that of the afflictions from which we are not yet ex-
empted. Several of our large towns, New York, Norfolk,
Charleston, S. C, and some others are bleeding again under
the scourge of pestilential fevers. But as they did not ap-
pear until a much later than the usual period, and as the
cold season is rapidly approaching, we hope for speedy relief
from this distressing calamity.
Upon the subject of our politics I know not how far it may
1
2 THE WRITINGS OF [1801
be proper to tell you all I have observed since my return, and
should I tell you all, it would not give you a clue to the
projects and views of any party. The meeting of Congress
will doubtless discover some of them, and I shall write you
again upon the subject with the utmost confidence.
The dismissal of some public officers and the appointment
(provisionally) of some others have given rise to considerable
controversy. Remonstrances, replies and pamphlets, pro
and con, have furnished much conversation for idlers, and
much discussion for disputants. This has been hitherto the
only topic of material censure upon the present administra-
tion, and individual feelings have given it a show of im-
portance much beyond that which belongs to it. 1 I am happy
to know that from the removals of public officers abroad it
has constantly been determined to except you, and that the
President has expressed his entire satisfaction with the man-
ner in which you have served the public in your present
mission. I am, &c.
TO RUFUS KING
Quincy, 11 December, 1801.
Dear Sir:
• ••••••
At New York on my return home I first heard of the peace
concluded between France and England, which was very
1 Jefferson explains at length his ideas on removals and appointments in his cor-
respondence; and a letter to William Short, of October 3, 1801, expresses his views
about the time Adams was writing. Writings of Jefferson (Ford), VIII. 95.
"The session of Congress is about commencing, with a majority in both houses
favorable to the views of the present administration. Great tranquillity prevails
throughout the country, and the violence of party spirit has very much subsided.
Prospects of an unpleasant controversy with Spain began to discover themselves,
but there is reason to expect they will disappear at the termination of the war in
Europe." To Joseph Pitcairn, December 4, 1801. Ms.
i8o2] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 3
unexpected here, as it appears to have been even in London. 1
Its influence upon our affairs, public and private, will no
doubt be important, and not in every respect favorable.
Much partial inconvenience is to be foreseen, but if the en-
terprise and industry of our countrymen is checked in one
quarter, I believe it will soon find or make its way in another.
The prices of goods have generally fallen, and some com-
parative stagnation of commerce must ensue. Our mer-
chants and shipbuilders, however, anticipate a temporary
advantage from the want of vessels in France, where they
hope to find a good market for many of their supernumerary
ships.
Our internal affairs continue to present an aspect of great
tranquillity. The session of Congress must have commenced,
but we have not yet received the President's speech.
About a fortnight since General Hamilton's eldest son
[Philip] was killed in a duel with a Mr. Eacker. He is said to
have been a young man of great promise. . . . 2
TO RUFUS KING
Boston, 18 January, 1802.
Dear Sir:
Our political atmosphere still remains serene. Since the
meeting of Congress it appears there is a large majority in
the House of Representatives and a decided, though small
one, in the Senate, favorable to the views of the executive. 3
1 This refers to the truce that resulted in the treaty of Amiens, signed March 25,
1802, by Great Britain, France, Spain and Holland.
1 Hamilton, History of the Republic, VII. 499.
s Henry Adams, in his History of tlie United States of America, 1801-1817, has
4 THE WRITINGS OF [1802
The measures recommended by the President at the opening
of the session are all popular, in all parts of the Union; but
they are all undergoing a scrutiny in the public newspapers,
more able and more severe, than they will probably meet in
either House of Congress. A writer in the New York Evening
Post, said to be General Hamilton, has undertaken particu-
larly to point out great and comprehensive errors of system
in the message, and his doctrines find great approbation
among the federalists, and among all those who consider
themselves as the profound thinkers of the nation. These
papers will without doubt be transmitted to you by your
friends at New York and, with the President's message and
the report from the Secretary of the Treasury, will give you
the fairest view of what our administration and our opposi-
tion are at this time. As to Congress, there has yet been no
subject of debate before them which has called forth any
energy of opposition. The apparently leading ministerial
members are General Smith, Mr. Giles and Mr. Randolph.
The Vice President has not yet made his appearance, being
detained by necessary attention to his private concerns at
New York.
The report from the Treasury exhibits a pleasing view of
the present state of our finances. It is merely a statement,
and avoids with caution the proposal of any measures. The
President, however, has drawn from it the inference that our
internal taxes ought to be repealed. This measure will prob-
ably be carried into effect. The established system of natur-
alization and the judicial courts will have the same fate. Of
all these changes the advantages are immediate, obvious,
popular and trifling. Their probable inconveniences are
treated so fully and ably the period covered, as to leave little to his successors to
add and less to amend. Adams' Memoirs should also be constantly read in con-
nection with these letters and state papers.
i8o2] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 5
remote, are not therefore discernible to the short sight of the
million, and are of the most weighty consequences. As pop-
ularity is the fundamental principle both of our legislative
and executive, they will be satisfied to provide for the occa-
sions of the day, and leave future times to take care of them-
selves.
With the highest regard, &0 1
1 April 5, Adams was elected a State Senator. Memoirs, April 5, 1802. The
history of the federal party in Massachusetts from 1802 to 1815, the relations of
Adams to the political parties, and the record and explanation of his course on
public measures and policy, were fully expressed in his "Reply to the Appeal of the
Massachusetts Federalists," prepared in 1829, but not published until 1877, in
Adams, New England Federalism, 1800-1815. This "Reply" will appear in a later
volume of these Writings.
"In May, 1802, Mr. Adams attended a federal caucus, called to nominate coun-
sellors. At this meeting Mr. Adams proposed that four of the counsellors should be
of the republican party. The federal leaders said 'this man is not our friend, but
against us.' On the only question which divided parties at the spring session, Mr.
Adams voted with the republicans. At the winter session, his federal friends in
Boston applied for a Bank charter, and great efforts were made to secure his support.
He came out, at the hazard of his popularity, in opposition to the wishes of his
friends, the next day, and made a speech in opposition to the Bank. Failing to
prevent the grant of a charter, he proposed a new section, by which the subscrip-
tion to the stock should be open to all the citizens of the Commonwealth: when
this was rejected, he voted in the negative on the final passage of the bill.
"The same session, the Senate was divided on a petition for the removal of two
republican Judges, the federal members voted in the affirmative, the republican in
the negative. Mr. Adams voted in the negative, and in company with Mr. Wood-
man, entered a protest on the record." Independent Chronicle and Boston Patriot,
May 27, 1828. The first incident occurred May 27, 1802, and Adams then proposed
to admit to the Council a proportional representation of the minority. Adams,
Nezv England Federalism, 57; Memoirs, sub dat.
6 THE WRITINGS OF [180a
TO THOMAS BOYLSTON ADAMS «
Boston, 27 August, 1802.
I duly received your letters of the 21st enclosing the
pamphlet of Gentz. . . .
You have seen two letters from your father to S. Adams,
written in 1790, lately published in the newspapers. 2 They
have been attacked with characteristic violence and bitter-
ness, by the fifty-dollar men at Washington, Worcester and
Boston. 3 They are defended in the Boston Gazette. The first
publication was to defeat the basest misrepresentations,
which were circulating here by the paid slanderers, who had
seen them, by the treachery of the old prophet, and who were
affirming that the letters in so many words urged the es-
tablishment of an hereditary monarchy and nobility in this
country, and named the families of which this nobility was
to be composed. Judge how much the publication has ex-
asperated those fellows, by taking the lie out of their mouths
and holding it up to the public view. They are flouncing,
and foaming and spouting, and dashing with the tail at a
furious rate; but the harpoon is in them; they shall have their
full length of rope to plunge downward; and then if they are
not drawn up, cut up, barrelled up and tried down for the
benefit of the public, say to all the world that I am the dis-
grace of New-England whale-men. Your's faithfully.
1 From the collection of Mr. William Nelson, Paterson, New Jersey.
2 Printed in a pamphlet in 1802, with an advertisement by an unknown hand.
They are reprinted in Works of John Adams, VI. 405.
3 Probably a reference to Jefferson's gift to Callender, and thus to a subsidised
press.
i8o2] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 7
TO RUFUS KING
Boston, 8 October, 1802.
Dear Sir:
• ••••••
We have enjoyed during the summer an extraordinary
degree of tranquillity, and since the session of Congress ter-
minated in May no public event of material importance has
happened. The newspapers have been chiefly filled with per-
sonal attacks upon the President and Vice President, com-
ing from different and perhaps opposite quarters — all aris-
ing originally from divisions in their own party. These
divisions have occasioned animosities of no small inveteracy
between individuals. You have doubtless been better in-
formed of the transactions at New York than it would be in
my power to inform you. The warfare there has been be-
tween the friends of Mr. Burr and those of the Clinton
family. In Virginia the principal batteries have been
pointed at Mr. Jefferson by a Scotsman named Callender, 1
of whom you have probably heard heretofore. He writes
under the influence of personal resentment and revenge; but
the effect of his publications upon the reputation of the
President has been considerable.
What the consequences of these internal feuds in the ruling
party will be is not yet apparent. But independent of them,
and considered as a single party in opposition to the federal-
ists, the strength of the present administration is continually
increasing. It has obtained and preserves an irresistible pre-
ponderancy in thirteen of the sixteen state legislatures, and
the resistance in the three others scarcely maintains its
1 James Thomson Callender. See N. E. Hist. Gen. Register, 1896-97; Henry
Adams, History, I. 322.
8 THE WRITINGS OF [1802
ground. In both Houses of Congress the majority is already
decisive, but at the ensuing Congress will be much greater.
The division in the Senate is now nearly equal, but for the
next two years there will be nearly two-thirds of the partisans
of the present government. In the State of Pennsylvania
their ascendency is so great that the federalists have scarcely
dared to name a candidate in opposition to Governor
M'Kean's reelection. Federalism is, indeed, in that state so
completely palsied, that scarce a trace of it is to be discov-
ered, except in here and there a newspaper edited by New
Englandmen.
This party triumph is not enjoyed with moderation. The
basis of it all is democratic popularity, and the leaders are all
sensible how sandy a foundation it is. Strong as the fabric
of their power appears, they are constantly trembling lest its
corner stones should fail, and as their principal alarm is lest
the old administration should recover favor in the eyes of the
people, the great engine of party with which they endeavor
to fortify themselves is slander upon their predecessors. This
they continue under every shape and on all occasions. Nor
are these exertions unsuccessful. They carried the system to
such a pitch that even a committee of the national House of
Representatives, called a Committee of Investigation, at the
close of the session made a report, the manner and form of
which were both highly exceptionable to every maxim of
common justice and honor. This report was hurried through
the House with as little regard to decorum as it was made.
It has since been analyzed and refuted by several publica-
tions in various parts of the Union, but most effectually by a
pamphlet of Mr. Wolcott, which will doubtless be sent you
by some of your friends, and which will show you a fair speci-
men both of our administration and its opposition. 1
1 Address to the People on the Report of a Committee of the House of Representatives,
i8o 2 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 9
The concern of the republicans, as they style themselves,
is the result of consciousness rather than of real danger. The
power of the administration rests upon the support of a much
stronger majority of the people throughout the Union than
the former administrations ever possessed since the first
establishment of the Constitution. Whatever the merits or
demerits of the former administrations may have been,
there never was a system of measures more completely and
irrevocably abandoned and rejected by the popular voice.
It never can and never will be revived. The experiment, such
as it was, has failed, and to attempt its restoration would be
as absurd as to undertake the resurrection of a carcase seven
years in its grave. The alarm of the pilots at the helm is
therefore without cause. What they take for breakers are
mere clouds of unsubstantial vapor. The only risk to which
they are exposed is the shallowness of their waters. Their
system is so short-sighted and so contracted, that it will
never stand a popular test even of twelve years, and the
people, whom almost unbounded prosperity could not attach
to their predecessors, will not learn from adversity to be
better pleased with them.
The yellow fever made its appearance at an earlier period
than usual in many of our cities. It has not hitherto spread
so extensively as upon former occasions, but it has been as
malignant in the cases which have happened as it was ever
known. A dysentery of extreme violence has likewise pre-
vailed in the western parts of this Commonwealth and the
neighboring part of Connecticut. The approach of the win-
ter season gives us hopes of relief from these scourges. But
the summer has been so long protracted that, at the moment
I write this, Fahrenheit's thermometer stands at 82, and has
to Examine and Report whether Monies have been Applied to the Objects for which
they were appropriated. Boston and Hartford, 1802.
io THE WRITINGS OF [1802
been higher in the course of the day. The harvests through-
out the country have been plentiful.
I am, &c.
ECCE ITERUM »
1 80 1, September, I returned from a series of diplomatic
missions in Europe, which had kept me seven years absent
from my country. Mr. Jefferson had just ascended the
presidential chair. In December I resumed my residence
in Boston, and became again a candidate for practice at the
bar.
1802, April, I was elected a member of the Senate of
Massachusetts, in which capacity I served a single year. It
was the noviciate of my legislative labors, during which I
was not able either to effect much good, or to prevent much
evil. I attempted some reforms, and aspired to check some
abuses, I regret to say with little success. I wanted the au-
thority of experience, and I discovered the danger of oppos-
ing and of exposing corruption. I witnessed the process of a
bank manufactory, not unlike that of the Chemical Bank, 2
which has so recently edified the public ear at Albany. I
resisted it in vain. The mammon of unrighteousness was
too strongly befriended.
In November of this year I was run as a candidate for the
House of Representatives of the United States, in opposition
to Dr. Eustis. 3 I had a majority of votes in Boston; but two
or three neighboring towns annexed to the Congressional
district and a rainy day lost me the election by forty or fifty
votes.
1 Written about 1825.
2 Chartered in New York in 1825.
3 The Memoirs should be read in connection with this paper.
i8o2] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS n
During the year 1802 I delivered two orations, which
formed no inconsiderable incidents in the history of my life.
The first was in May, an Address to the Massachusetts
Charitable Fire Society; x the second, at Plymouth, on the
22d of December, at the festival of the Pilgrims. 2 The ad-
dress to the Fire Society has contributed to rebuild the city
of Boston, to convert stubble into brick, clapboards and
shingles into granite walls. It implored and shamed the Bos-
tonians out of their inveterate fondness for wooden houses.
If you will know the good that I have done, set this down for
one of the best deeds of my life. In the Plymouth discourse,
there is a brief argument upon the right of Europeans to form
establishments in the American wilderness, and to extinguish
upon just and reasonable terms all the natural rights of the
aboriginal Indians conflicting with it, which was afterward
useful to me at Ghent, and which after the lapse of more
than twenty years I still think unanswerable. 3
1 An Address to the Members of the Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society, May 28,
1802. Boston: 1802.
2 An Oration Delivered at Plymouth, December 22, 1802. Boston: 1802.
3 He was elected to the United States Senate, February 3, 1803. See Memoirs,
and New England Federalism, 154. "A great bank in Boston, of twelve hundred
thousand dollars, is now in debate in the Senate, having passed the House. It is
supported by the principal moneyed men in this town, and opposed by John Q.
Adams, whose popularity is lessened by it. They say also he is too unmanageable.
Yet he is chosen Senator to Congress in consequence of a caucus pact, that if Col.
Pickering should not be elected on two trials, then the Feds would combine and vote
for J. Q. A. This happened accordingly." Fisher Ames to Christopher Gore, Febru-
ary 24, 1803. Works of Fisher Ames, I. 321.
12 THE WRITINGS OF [1803
TO HENRY KNOX
Boston, 14 February, 1803.
1 o'clock, P. M.
Dear Sir:
I have but this moment arrived in town, and upon reach-
ing my house received your favor of yesterday. This must
be my apology for not having sooner answered it.
The following is a copy of the reasons for which I dissented
from the vote for an address to remove the two judges. 1
First. Because the grounds alleged in the said address for the
removal are for official misdemeanors; and the subscriber con-
ceives it to be the intention of the Constitution, that no judicial
officer should be removed from office, by the mode of an address of
the two houses, on the ground of offences, for the trial of which the
Constitution has expressly provided the mode of impeachment.
Secondly. Because he considers the independence of the judi-
ciary as materially affected, by a mode of proceeding which in its
effects must make the tenure of all judicial offices dependent upon
the verdict of a jury in any one county of the Commonwealth.
Thirdly. Because the decision of the Senate in this case, affecting
in the highest degree the rights, the character and reputation of
two individuals, citizens of this Commonwealth, ought not to
have been taken, without giving them an opportunity previously
to be heard in their own defence.
I am with the highest respect, etc.
1 Paul Dudley Sargent and William Vinal, justices of the Common Pleas, Han-
cock county. See Adams, Memoirs, February 10, 12, and March 4, 1803.
i8o 3 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 13
TO ROBERT BIRD 1
Boston, 27 April, 1803.
Sir:
I have received your favor of the 12 and 15 April, inclosing
a copy of resolutions agreed upon I March, by the creditors
of Messrs. Bird, Savage and Bird in London. I have also
received letters from them requesting me to sign the letter
of license at New York. Mr. King, Mr. Gore and Mr.
Samuel Williams agreed to take up for my honor all the ac-
cepted bills drawn by me, excepting the one for £400 which
had been sent back protested, before they knew I had drawn
upon the house. Mr. Williams advanced the money, and by
his letters calls upon me for the reimbursement of £2802:10
sterling thus paid for me, with about £70 more charges of
protest, commission, etc. In return for an act of kindness so
important to me I cannot hesitate to make immediate re-
mittance to Mr. Williams, and to effect that am obliged
to make sacrifices of property to raise the money, which,
though much less than they would have been with the ag-
gravation of protested bills and their load of charges, are
still of very serious concern to me.
Under these circumstances, sir, upon being asked to sign
a letter of license for three years, I have some reason to ez-
1 On April 1, notice had been received of the failure of the banking house of Bird,
Savage and Bird, which had acted as fiscal agents of the United States in London,
and had on deposit the funds coming to John Adams arising from the redemption of
United States loans in Holland, to which he had subscribed to inspire confidence.
Bills on London had been drawn by John Quincy Adams but were returned protested
and he was forced to sell a part of his property to meet them. Rufus King, Christo-
pher Gore and Samuel Williams in London, and Benjamin Pickman in Boston gave
him assistance and the bankers eventually paid their indebtedness; but the last in-
stalment was not received until after the death of John Adams, twenty-three years
later. See Adams, Memoirs, April I, 1803.
14 THE WRITINGS OF [1803
pect that something should be alleged as the inducement.
Still more reason have I to expect a more particular state-
ment of the assignment made by you of £75,000 sterling of
the House's property to cover your own debts. I wish there-
fore for some further explanation on this point, and some
satisfactory evidence that the assignment, which you coolly
tell me "stands good against every act that can be done
against it," is justifiable not only upon legal grounds, but
on such principles that the unsecured and disregarded cred-
itors of the House may have an apology for acquiescing in it;
and, after being informed of it, still to grant a letter of license
and £800 sterling a year to each of the partners in England
for collecting a remnant of probably desperate debts. I ask
therefore :
1. Whether the assignment of £75,000 property, which
you consider yourself as having so effectually made, is or is
not a part of that property which the house in London, on the
1st of March, stated to their creditors there as effects re-
sponsible for their debts?
2. If so: whether the creditors in London, when they
agreed to the letter of license, knew of this assignment made
by you?
3. Whether there is any prospect that those creditors will
not consider as void their letter of license, when they come to
be informed of this enormous deduction from the house's
ostensible effects?
4. What shipments those are which you say you made to
aid the credit of the house? When they were made? Had
they been received and disposed of by the house in London
before the 7th of February, or were they to arrive after that
period? What goods were they, and to what amount will
they probably ever be effects to satisfy the creditors of the
house in England?
i8o 3 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 15
Until these questions can be satisfactorily answered I see
no possible excuse to myself for assenting to the letter of li-
cense. The house in England write me, indeed, that it is
the only possible way of rendering their estate solvent; but
why it should have that tendency more than a mode of pro-
ceeding which will leave the creditors in general free to con-
test partial conveyances and assignments confessedly made
in contemplation of failure as well as all existing attachments,
I do not clearly see. If you can explain it to me, sir, I shall
have no disposition to treat you or the house with severity;
however severely they have treated me.
I am, &c.
TO WILLIAM BARTLETT
Boston, 13 May, 1803.
Sir:
You will see what answers he l makes to these questions,
and will judge for yourself concerning them. My impres-
sions are these:
1. That his aversion, and that of his partners in England,
to going through a commission of bankruptcy is, because
they wish not to have the validity of their conveyances
undergo a trial.
2. That those of their creditors, whom they have at-
tempted to secure by these conveyances, have the same de-
sire to establish their validity, and of course would be ready
enough to sign a letter of license.
3. That probably the persons who are willing to become
bail for Robert Bird to any amount are those very creditors,
1 Robert Bird.
16 THE WRITINGS OF [1803
whom he has endeavored to secure, and who therefore wish
to keep off a commission of bankruptcy.
4. But that for these very reasons the unsecured creditors
like you and me ought not to consent to the letter of license.
I see no possible benefit that we can derive from leaving the
management of their affairs in their own hands, and all the
business to be transacted in England. On the contrary I
think we ought to insist upon a judicial trial of the force of
their partial conveyances, and the most advantageous way
of doing that will be by a commission of bankruptcy. For
then the assignee under the commission would try the ques-
tion at the expense of their estate, as it ought to be tried, and
not at the cost of you or me, single individual creditors, and
additional aggravations to our losses.
If you concur in opinion with me as at present advised, we
shall not sign the letter of license, and we shall instruct
Mr. Williams not to sign it for us in England; unless, which
I now deem next to impossible, he should see a fair prospect of
a speedy and considerable dividend.
We shall as soon as possible get a commission of bank-
ruptcy at New York against Bird, Savage and Bird, and
under that commission try the validity both of Robert
Bird's partial conveyances, and of those made by the house
in London, at least so far as relates to debts due them here
in the United States. For you will remark that in one in-
stance at least, the house in London have made a conveyance
to one set of favored creditors, of the very same property
which Robert Bird has attempted to convey to another. It
is obvious that both these conveyances cannot stand; I hope
that both will fall, and that whatever is recoverable will go to
satisfy the creditors proportionably.
Please to return me the inclosed letter as soon as possible,
and let me know your sentiments concerning it. I shall
i8o 3 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 17
write further to Robert Bird and get a list of his unsecured
creditors, whose interest is the same with your's and mine,
that we may act in concert and endeavor to agree upon com-
mon measures.
I am, &c.
TO ROBERT BIRD
Boston, 13 May, 1803.
Sir:
I have received your favor of the 5th instant, the contents
of which are not perfectly intelligible to me, but which has
in some respects answered the questions contained in my
letter of 27 April. I have now to request information, when
your creditors will be called together at New York to deter-
mine what they will do, as to the letter of license agreed to
by some of the creditors in England. It is my intention, if
possible, to be present at that meeting. I have also to re-
quest of you information on the following points :
1. Whether there were any other partners, general or
special, to the house in England, excepting yourself your
brother Henry, and Mr. Savage? And if there were any such
other partners who were they?
2. Who were the persons constituting the firm of Robert
Bird and Company at New York? Please to name every
person included in this partnership.
3. I will thank you for a list of your creditors in the United
States, distinguishing the creditors of Bird, Savage and Bird
from those of Robert Bird and Company, and specifying
those whom you consider as secured by your assignment to
Mr. Harrison, from those who have no security at all.
4. At whose suit besides that of the United States are you
now under bail, and who is that bail? You say that you can
1 8 THE WRITINGS OF [1803
find protection so far as bail goes for any suit which may be
commenced against you; I wish therefore to be informed who
gives that protection, and particularly whether any of the
creditors for whose benefit you made the assignment to
Mr. Harrison are of the number?
I presume, sir, that you will not consider any of these
questions improper, that you will think them all entitled to
clear and explicit answers, and that you will favor me with
such an answer as soon as possible.
You are sensible it must be my very sincere and cordial
wish, that your opinion and that of your partners in England,
so confidently expressed, with regard to your ultimate com-
plete solvency may prove well founded. But my confidence
in your assurances would I confess be more unshaken, did I
not perceive the extreme variance between your statement
here, and that of your partners there. When I find you
adding above 250,000 dollars to what they call the sum total
of their debts, and deducting £75,000 sterling from what they
exhibited as effects; when I see them exhibiting you as debtor
to them for nearly £20,000 sterling, and you conveying away
their effects to the amount of £75,000 more, my only aston-
ishment is that you, aware of these facts, should still be
talking to your creditors about paying them all, and having
a large surplus left. For my own part, I should consider an
impartial and candid equalization of regard for the interests
of all your creditors in their just proportions as more credit-
able to you personally, and more conformable to the dictates
of justice, than a stubborn adherence to a system of favorit-
ism in your payments, colored only to the other creditors
by the notoriously groundless pretence of paying them all.
It is still in your power, sir, to manifest that equal regard
to all your creditors, and I hope that upon reflection you will
think it advisable to adopt that course. When I have
i8o 3 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 19
reason to believe you have adopted it, you shall not find me
disposed to utter an expression which can wound your feel-
ings, or take a measure that can bear hard upon your char-
acter or interest. I am, &C. 1
RESOLUTION ON BOUNDARIES
[November, 1803.]
Resolved, two thirds of the Senators present concurring therein,
that they do consent to and advise the President of the United
States to ratify the Convention between the United States of
America and his Britannic Majesty for determining boundaries
pursuant to the provisions contained in the Treaty of Peace of
1783, concluded at London on the 12th of May, 1803, on condition
that at the exchange of ratifications it shall be declared by the
people authorized on the part of the United States to make the
said exchange, that it is understood that nothing in the said Con-
vention contained shall in any manner affect or impair any right
or claim to territory which the United States may possess, by
virtue of the Treaty between the United States and the French
Republic, concluded at Paris on the 30th of April, 1803. 2
RESOLUTION ON TREATY WITH FRANCE
November 25, 1803.
On motion, by Mr. Adams, that it be
Resolved, that a committee of members be appointed
1 The President called the Senate to assemble October 17, and Adams set out for
Washington October 1, but was delayed on the journey by an accidental illness in
his family, and reached the capital city four days late. On entering the city he
passed the Secretary of the Senate (Otis), who was taking to the President the
Senate's advice and consent to the ratification of the treaty with France ceding
Louisiana to the United States. Adams would have voted in its favor had he been
present. Adams, New England Federalism, 53.
2 See Adams, Memoirs, November 15, 1803.
20 THE WRITINGS OF [1803
to enquire whether any, and if any, what further measures may
be necessary, for carrying into effect the treaty between the
United States and the French Republic, concluded at Paris on
the 30th April, 1803, whereby Louisiana was ceded to the United
States; which committee may report by bill or otherwise.
Ordered, That this motion be for consideration. 1
AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION
[November 25, 1803.]
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the
following amendment to the Constitution of the United States
be proposed to the legislatures of the several States; which, when
adopted and ratified by three-fourths of the said legislatures, shall
be valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the said Constitu-
tion.
Congress shall have power, at such times and in such manner as
1 Senate Journal, 8th Cong., 1st sess., 68. See also New England Federalism, 155.
"The speech of Mr. John Q. Adams, son of the late President, is peculiarly grati-
fying; he is an eastern man, as may be supposed not much in love with Mr. Jeffer-
son, yet he tells us the acquisition of Louisiana is an event of such great importance
that to be able to fulfil the treaty an amendment of the constitution ought to be
made, if necessary, and he declared his belief that every state in the union would be in
favor of it. This cannot be called democratic cant or such like, it is the language of
the son of Mr. Adams, and probably such as our late President himself would ex-
press. Again, speaking of the acquisition, he said:
' I consider the object as of the highest advantage to us: and the gentleman from Ken-
tucky himself, who has displayed with so much eloquence the immense importance to
this union of the possession of the ceded country, cannot carry his idea further on that
subject than I do.'
"Such language, we repeat, is gratifying, coming from a high New England fed-
eralist, it will have more weight than columns of the declamation of the Essex-junto.
Already have such sentiments expressed by such men silenced some of the disaf-
fected, and we hope to find even among federalists no opposers to what the well in-
formed of the party have so emphatically asserted." Aurora. December [ 1,1803.
The speech was republished in the Independent Chronicle, December 15, 1803.
i8o 3 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 21
they may deem expedient, to incorporate within the Union, the
inhabitants of all such territories, heretofore not within the limits
of the United States, as have been or may be ceded by treaty,
duly ratified, to the United States; and to extend to the said in-
habitants all the rights, privileges and immunities which are en-
joyed by native citizens of the United States under the Constitu-
tion. And Congress shall also have power to make all such laws
for the government of such ceded territories, and of their inhab-
itants as may be necessary to fulfil with good faith the conditions
of cession, and as may best conciliate the protection of the liberties,
property and religion of the said inhabitants with the rights of the
United States, of their citizens, and of the respective States, under
the Constitution. 1
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
[James Madison]
Washington, December [3?], 1803.
Sir:
Some difficulty having arisen in the Senate, in considering
the expediency of advising and consenting to the ratification
of the Treaty of limits, between the United States and Great
Britain, signed on the 12th of May, 1803, a committee of that
1 New England Federalism, 157. Adams there gives a summary of his speech and
the action which was taken subsequently. In the same work he shows the effect of
the Louisiana purchase upon the federalists of the Essex-junto following. See
especially p. 52.
"Mr. Adams had not arrived when the treaty [for purchase of Louisiana] was
ratified, but he approved of it and of the consequent appropriation for the purchase-
money; fondly believing that an amendment to the Constitution, to embrace that
new object, would have been a mighty easy thing. He presented a resolution really
for that purpose; but after lying some time, it was called up and was contemp-
tuously rejected; his own, Mr. Hillhouse's and mine being the only votes in its
favor." Pickering to Rufus King, March 3, 1804, Life and Correspondence of Rufus
King, IV. 361.
22 THE WRITINGS OF [1803
body has been appointed to inquire and report upon the
subject.
The difficulty arises from the circumstance that the
Treaty with the French republic, containing the cession of
Louisiana, was signed on the 30th of April, twelve days earlier
than that with Great Britain, and some apprehension is
entertained that the boundary line contemplated in the third
article of the latter, may by a possible future construction
be pretended to operate as a limitation to the claims of terri-
tory acquired by the United States in the former of these in-
struments.
But as the ratification, if it can be effected, without un-
necessary delay is a desirable object, it has occurred to the
committee that Mr. King may possibly have it in his power
to give information which might remove the obstacle; I have,
therefore, in behalf of the committee, to ask whether from
any information in possession of your Department, or which
may be obtained, in such manner as you may deem ex-
pedient, it can be ascertained whether the third article of
the treaty with Great Britain was concluded with any ref-
erence whatsoever to that with the French Republic, or with
any right or claim which the United States have acquired by
it. I am, etc. 1
1 Madison sent this letter to Rufus King, who replied that the "convention was
concluded without any reference whatsoever to the treaty of cession with France."
Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, IV. 332.
"The Hon. John Quincy Adams will certainly be denounced and excommuni-
cated by his party. On the leadings questions in the Senate he has acted and voted
with the friends of the administration. On the resolution for carrying into effect
the Convention with France for the purchase of Louisiana, he delivered a concise,
nervous, manly, energetic, and unequivocal eulogy on the measure." Worcester
(Mass.) JSgis, December 4, 1803.
"The motive of Mr. Adams in submitting the above resolution [on Louisiana,
November 25] is by him declared to be, that the Constitution should be so amended
as to extend its protection over the territory of Louisiana, that the inhabitants
i8o 3 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 23
TO BENJAMIN RUSSELL
Washington, 24 December, 1803.
Sir:
In the Centinel of the 10th instant is published a letter to
the editor, 1 containing certain animadversions upon, and
anticipations of my conduct, respecting the two subjects of
the highest public importance which have been agitated in
thereof may be immediately admitted into the Union and enjoy all the rights and
immunities of citizens of the United States!! . . . The proposed Amendment of the
Constitution for designating the votes of President and Vice President labors
heavily in the Senate. Two of its members are absent, and it takes twenty-three to
make the constitutional two-thirds. Mr. Butler (of South Carolina) a democrat,
but who was a member of the Convention which formed the Constitution, and who
knows the wisdom in which the provision was formed is opposed to the amendment;
but to balance this, I am told Mr. Adams, from your state will advocate with zeal
the amendment!!! But for this, those who count numbers say, there would not be
a constitutional majority for the proposition." Columbian Centinel, December 10,
1803.
1 "I have seen the National Intelligencer for a few weeks past. I there read the
debate which I presume was the cause of Mr. Eustis writing to Mr. Joseph Hall the
following: 'You will probably have heard of the bold and independent manner in
which J. Q. A. voted away from his party. Having gained credit with us, it is to be
expected he will proportionably lose with them.' When I wrote you last Sunday
I did not mention this in my letter. I only observed that I was sure you would as
much as possible keep your mind free from party influence, and vote as your con-
science aided by your judgment should dictate; and though upon some occasions
I might think your vote would have been different, it is impossible to judge accur-
ately, because we see not the causes which have operated towards the decision. I
did not, however, so soon expect to see Dr. Eustis' observation verified. You will
read in Ben Russell's Centinel of Saturday the ioth an extract of a letter from
Washington to the Editor. Who the writer is, I know not; but the letter is evidently
intended to convey an idea that you were attaching yourself to the majority, and
with the notes of admiration and the Latin quotation (I do not like this) stabbing
in the dark, which Russell publishes, but takes care to omit the debate which gave
occasion to the motion. You will proceed in a consistent uniform (tenor of conduct)
regardless of the goads and stings you will have to encounter." Abigail Adams to
John Quincy Adams, December n, 1803. Ms.
24 THE WRITINGS OF [1803
Congress this session. To the remarks respecting me which
may appear in newspapers of some descriptions I should pay-
little attention. To those which appear in the Centinel, when
of the nature of those to which I allude, some notice, in jus-
tice not only to myself but to my constituents, is due.
In the present instance as I believe neither the writer nor
the publisher of the letter acted with views unfriendly to me,
and as I feel the great importance of harmony between those
of us who generally agree in principles relative to public
measures, I am unwilling to give publicity to the defence
and justification of myself, which the letter I speak of seems
to call for. It will be much more agreeable to me to explain
myself amicably with the writer of the letter, and arrest the
possibility of any public controversy upon the subject. I
now, therefore, write to request information of you, who the
writer of that letter or of the part of it respecting me was; and
to desire particularly that you will not refuse me his name
until after consulting him upon the subject. 1 As I presume
it came from no ordinary authority, I flatter myself the
gentleman will readily consent to my request, in which case
I shall avoid all public notice of the letter. If, however, he
should be unwilling to give his name, you will be kind
enough to inform me of his determination.
In asking this, I hope you will not understand me as in the
remotest degree wishing to restrain you in the publication of
any observations upon my conduct, which you may think
proper at any time. I have the most perfect respect for the
freedom of the press, and think the true spirit of independ-
ence best exerted in checking by timely admonition the errors
of our friends. Of the value in which I hold your paper
you have had for many years stronger proofs than any
1 He learned that the writer of the letter was William Stedman, a member of Con-
gress, who lodged in the same house with Pickering. Memoirs, January 18, 1804.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 25
formal assurances could contain, and the object of my
present request, I beg leave once more to repeat, is the pres-
ervation of harmony among those who have already been
too much weakened by its want.
I am, &c.
MOTION ON IMPEACHMENT
January 4, 1804.
On motion, by Mr. Adams, that it be
Resolved, That any senator of the United States, having pre-
viously acted and voted as a member of the House of Representa-
tives, on a question of impeachment, is thereby disqualified to sit
and act, in the same case, as a member of the Senate, sitting as a
court of impeachment.
It was agreed that this motion should lie for consideration. 1
MOTION ON TAXATION OF LOUISIANA
January 10, 1804.
A motion was made by Mr. Adams, that the following resolu-
tions be adopted, to wit:
Resolved, That the people of the United States, have never,
in any manner delegated to this Senate, the power of giving its
legislative concurrence to any act for imposing taxes upon the
inhabitants of Louisiana, without their consent.
Resolved, That by concurring in any act of legislation for im-
posing taxes upon the inhabitants of Louisiana without their con-
sent, this Senate would assume a power, unwarranted by the con-
stitution and dangerous to the liberties of the people of the United
States.
1 Senate Journal, 8th Cong., ist Sess., 122. The motion was called up March 2,
and rejected by a vote of twenty to eight. Three members of the Senate would have
been disqualified by the motion bad it been adopted. See Adams, Memoirs,
March 2, 1804.
26 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
Resolved, That the power of originating bills for raising revenue,
being exclusively vested in the House of Representatives, these
resolutions be carried to them by the Secretary of the Senate:
that whenever they think proper they may adopt such measures
as to their wisdom may appear necessary and expedient for raising
and collecting a revenue from Louisiana. 1
NOTES OF SPEECH ON MOTION
When the resolution to appoint a committee for the purpose of
preparing a form or forms of government for Louisiana was first
before the Senate, I objected against it as premature. I did not
think it possible that during the present session of Congress we
should obtain the knowledge or information absolutely necessary
to proceed advisedly in a career of such vast importance. It was
my opinion that our first and most urgent care should be to obtain
for Congress the powers indispensable for the performance of our
own engagements, and that we should have ample leisure for the ex-
ertion of our power over the country we have newly acquired. To
perform what we had promised was in my view of things the task
of most immediate pressure before us, while we could not wield
with too prudent and wary hand the rod of empire and dominion
which we had assumed over a foreign people. On both these
cardinal points of policy I had the misfortune to find myself in a
very small minority. The principles adopted by the majority of
the Senate were in both instances the reverse of those with which
I concurred. It was said that my anxiety for the fulfilment of
our national engagements was overweaning and premature. That
it was better policy to follow the example which the union had
exhibited under the old confederacy and break the treaty without
1 A vote was taken upon each resolution. The first and second resolutions were
each rejected by a vote of twenty-two to four — Adams, Olcott, Tracy and White
being the four affirmative votes. The third resolution was then unanimously re-
jected. Senate Journal, 8th Cong., ist. Sess., 130. Adams, Memoirs, January 10,
1804; New England Federalism, 158.
1804] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 27
scruple, until the power with whom we made it should call us to
account for the breach. But on the other hand the ardor for legis-
lating amply compensated for the coolness of punctuality, and,
even before we knew whether peaceable possession of the country
had been obtained, it was judged not too early to prepare forms of
government for a people whose language we do not understand,
whose manners opinions and prejudices are totally variant from
our own, and of whom we know nothing more than could be
collected from a couple of small pamphlets, compiled indeed with
laudable industry and care from the little information our Execu-
tive government had been able in the course of three or four
months to obtain, but sent to us with an express caution not to
rely upon them as official.
In both these decisions of the Senate it was my duty to acquiesce.
The Committee to prepare a form or forms of Government for
Louisiana was appointed and their report is now the subject of
consideration.
My first objection against this bill is derived from the principle
upon which I opposed the appointment of the Committee. If ever
there was an occasion upon which a legislative assembly ought to
adopt as the basis of their measures the old and wholesome adage
festina lente, it must surely be when they are about to undertake
the task which the acquisition of Louisiana has imposed upon us.
In order to impress our minds with the full conviction of this truth,
let us seriously contemplate the extent and nature of that task.
It is nothing less than to accomplish a total revolution, not only
of government and laws, but of the principles upon which they are
founded; over a people consisting of an hundred thousand souls;
over a people of whom we may yet be said to know nothing, as
they with still less exception know nothing of us; over a people
whose subjection to our authority has been established without
their previous consent, and whose liberty, property and religion, we
are bound by solemn obligation to protect.
In order to effect this revolution without violence and oppression,
28 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
it must be done by slow, gradual and well considered measures; and
it is of primary importance to lay the foundations upon proper
principles. The first step we should take, therefore, seems to be,
that of legitimating our authority of acquiring the right to make
laws for that people at all. By the treaty with France we have
acquired all the rights of sovereignty over the inhabitants of
Louisiana which France could impart; but as, to use the language
of our declaration of independence, the just powers of a govern-
ment can be derived only from the consent of the governed, the
French Republic could not give us the right to make laws for the
people of Louisiana, without their acquiescence in the transfer.
I never considered this as an objection against the ratification of
the treaty, because I did not deem it indispensable that this con-
sent of the ceded people should precede the conclusion of the com-
pact. That would indeed have been the most natural and most
eligible course of proceeding, had it been practicable, and such was
the opinion of our own executive before the negotiation of the
treaty. But theoretic principles of government can never be
carried into practice to their full extent. They must be modified
and accommodated to the situations and circumstances of human
events and human concerns. But between those allowances
necessary to reconcile the rigor of principle with the resistance of
practice, and the total sacrifice of all principle, there is a wide
difference. If in the Louisiana negotiation our government had
insisted on obtaining the consent of the people before the con-
clusion of the treaty, in all probability the treaty itself never could
have been concluded. A momentary departure from the inflexible
rigor of theory was, therefore, perfectly justifiable, and in con-
cluding the treaty we acquired a power over the territory and over
the inhabitants which requires, so far as relates to the latter, one
thing more to make it a just and lawful power. I mean their own
consent. For although the necessity of the case might excuse us
for not having obtained this consent beforehand, it could not
absolve us from the obligation to acquire it afterwards. And as
nothing but necessity can justify even a momentary departure
1804] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 29
from those principles which we hold as the most sacred laws of
nature and of nations, so nothing can justify extending the de-
parture beyond the bounds of the necessity. From the instant
when that ceases the principle returns in all its force, and every
further violation of it is error and crime.
If any gentleman can controvert the principle that by the laws
of nature, of nations and of God, no people has the right to make
laws for another people without their consent unless it be by right of
conquest, I shall be glad to hear him; and if he can furnish to my
unbiassed reason an apology for lending my hand to make a single
law for the people of Louisiana without their consent, expressed
or implied, I will not only vote for any proper law that may be
proposed, but confess myself under deep obligation to the gentle-
man who shall solve my scruples. As to the right of conquest it
must be out of the question. We can have no right of conquest
over a people who have never injured us. The law of conquest is
a law of slavery, and the people of Louisiana whose liberty we
are solemnly bound to protect are not slaves.
In support of this principle I have already quoted the highest
possible authority for an American citizen; I mean, the Declaration
of Independence. Is that not sufficient? What says the Consti-
tution under which we act? "We the people, &c. for ourselves and
our posterity — for the United States of America." Not for the
people of Louisiana nor for any other people. The people of the
United States knew they had no right to exercise or to delegate
the powers of legislation over another nation, and they expressly
limited the operations of the Constitution to the United States of
America, to themselves and their posterity.
The objections which I have urged hitherto against the passage
of this bill have been either to particular details, or to points of
expediency and considerations of justice and equity. Powerful
as those are to my mind they are, however, of an order inferior to
that which I now feel it my duty to make. I cannot prevail upon
myself to vote for a law with a clear and undoubting conviction
30 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
of my own mind that Congress have not the shadow of a right to
pass it. Such is my conviction with regard to the act upon which
we are now to decide. I long indulged the hope that the discussion
of this question would have been avoided, that no alteration in the
laws, and more especially no attempt to tax the people of Louis-
iana, would have been made, until in some shape or other their
formal assent to our authority and acquiescence to our jurisdiction
should have been obtained. I have been disappointed and we
are now called upon at one and the same time to make a Constitu-
tion of government for a people who have never recognized our
supremacy over them, and to tax for our own benefit a people of
strangers, without admitting them to representation and without
asking their consent.
The act upon which we are now to vote is an act to tax and very
heavily to tax the people of Louisiana without their consent.
This I apprehend Congress have no right to do.
1. Because it violates the natural rights of the people.
2. Because it violates the third Article of the Treaty of cession.
3. Because no such authority was or could be delegated by the
Constitution.
4. Because it violates the principle of our national independence.
5. It violates the natural rights of the people of Louisiana. 1
1 "I do not disapprove of your conduct in the business of Louisiana. I think
you have been right, though I know it will become a very unpopular subject in the
Northern States, especially when they see an account of expenses which must be
occasioned by it." John Adams to John Quincy Adams, February 25, 1804. Ms.
"I hope Mr. A[dams] will learn by the treatment he receives from the dominant
party that any attempt to accommodate himself to their views must end in dis-
appointment as it regards him, as well as to cause regret to his friends. As far as I
have been able to observe, he inclines to be peremptory. Those who have known the
father will readily, I conceive, observe as one has done before, 'Curse on the strip-
ling, how he apes his sire.'" Theodore Lyman to Timothy Pickering, January 4,
1804. Pickering Mss. "I am glad that the quiddities of a certain person [Adams]
do not at present time disturb Col. P[ickering], but people will and must act accord-
ing to their character." Fisher Ames to Stephen Higginson, January 27, 1804. lb.
Higginson's opinion of Adams is given in a letter to Pickering, February 15, 1804,
printed in the American Historical Association Report, 1896, I. 839.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 31
TO PETER CHARDON BROOKS
Washington, 21 January, 1804.
Dear Sir:
Since I wrote you last, I have endeavored to ascertain by
inquiry upon which I could depend the counsel best qualified
to do justice to your cause, 1 who will probably attend here
at the approaching session of the Supreme Court of the
United States. The result of this inquiry has been the inten-
tion to fix upon Luther Martin, Esquire, of Baltimore, a
gentleman whose general professional eminence, as well as
his particular familiarity with causes of a commercial nature,
are universally recognized by those who have had the means
of knowing him. But as there will be still time for me to
receive your answer to this before the sitting of the Court, if
this choice should not be satisfactory to you or the gentleman
concerned, please to give me notice of it, and I will employ
some other.
As you have authorized me to draw upon you for his fees,
as well as my own, I will thank you for instructions respect-
ing the amount of those you would choose to give the coun-
sel I shall employ. As for my own I wish you to have as little
solicitude as I have myself, but I presume you are aware the
customary fees of counsel here are higher than in Boston.
Upon inquiring here what would be proper, I have deter-
mined to give Mr. Martin 100 dollars on employing him. I
presume he will expect a further compensation should the
cause come to trial. But being desirous not to exceed your
own intentions in these respects, I will be obliged to you to
let me know them.
I find by inquiry of the Clerk of the Supreme Court that
1 Church v. Hubbart, 2 Cranch, 187.
32 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
the papers on the appeal have not yet been received at his
office. Your letter, however, has very clearly opened the
points made by the plaintiff at the trial in Boston. If you
can conveniently procure and forward to me copies of the
papers in the Circuit Court, it will enable me to understand
more fully the case, and to explain it to the gentleman I shall
engage for you in time to be prepared for a trial at this term.
The appellant must of course send up the papers. But per-
haps they may not come until the court will be in session,
and even then we shall want copies of them taken here. For
the clerk of the Court allows no papers to go out of his office. 1
I am, &c.
TO PETER CHARDON BROOKS
Washington, 6 March, 1804.
Dear Sir:
I am sorry that it is not in my power to inform you that
the judgment of the Circuit Court in the case of Church v.
Hubbart is affirmed. The cause was argued last week by
Mr. Stockton and Mr. Martin on the part of Mr. Church 2
(I found Mr. Martin on his arrival here engaged for Mr.
Church,) and by Mr. J. T. Mason 3 of this place and myself
for Mr. Hubbart. The Supreme Court have reversed the
judgment of the Circuit Court on the sole ground that the
Portuguese papers were not duly authenticated.
On the main question of the cause, however, which was
also fully argued, the Court are decidedly of opinion that,
x The suit arose on a policy of insurance on the cargo of the brig Aurora, Nathaniel
Shaler, master, at and from New York to the coast of Brazil, with a warranty against
seizure for illicit trade. See Moore, Digest of International Law, I. 728.
2 John B. Church.
3 John Thomson Mason.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 33
supposing the papers properly proved, the loss came within
the exceptions of both policies, and that the underwriters are
not liable. The cause is remanded to the Circuit Court for
a new trial. It will of course be necessary to send to Lisbon
again to get the papers properly attested. I must observe
to you, that on the record as it came up not even the original
Portuguese papers appeared, there was nothing but Mr. Jar-
vis's translation and certificate. The Court here held that
if no better attestation was to be obtained, that fact should
have been proved; that the originals, exemplified under the
great Seal of Portugal, taken and returned under a commis-
sion issued from the Circuit Court itself where the cause was
pending, should have been produced. These, however, will
only occasion further delay and trouble to the underwriters.
If Mr. Church chooses to carry the contest any further, it is
at least certain from the opinion of this court on the merits,
that he must eventually lose it. I would recommend to the
underwriters to be peculiarly cautious at their next effort
to get the papers in an unquestionable form.
I am, &c.
TO RUFUS GREENE AMORY
Washington, 6 March, 1804.
Dear Sir:
Immediately on receiving your letter of 21 ultimo, and
that of Mr. Hays enclosing the newspaper to which you
refer, I applied for the attested copy of the paper you request,
which is promised me, and which I will send you as soon as
it is made out. The Spanish order was not published from
the Department of State. As your request is only for the
order of 20 April, 1799, revoking the permission to neutrals
34 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
to trade, I suppose you will not be desirous of a copy of a
subsequent order, dated October the same year, and reviving
the permission to neutrals to take away the proceeds of
negro-cargoes, which subsequent order, I am informed at the
State Department, is also in possession of the office.
In this instance, as in any other in which I can be of any
service to you, it will give me great pleasure, nor should I
ever think of making a charge for the trouble of procuring
you a necessary paper, or any other piece of evidence which
you may want. It is proper, however, that you should be
apprized, that in one action pending at the Massachusetts
Supreme Court on one of these Plate-river voyages, I was
last summer of counsel for the underwriters. It was the case of
Pollock v. Babcock. I know not how far there may be dis-
tinctions between this and the two actions for which you
want evidence, but I mention it, first, as a reason which
would induce me to decline charging anything for any serv-
ice on the side opposed to that for which I was engaged, even
if I thought I could fairly make a charge in such a case on any
consideration; and secondly, that in any communications to
me on the subject, you may be aware of the relation in which
I stood to the questions upon these policies.
I am, &c.
TO TIMOTHY PICKERING
Washington, March n, 1804.
Dear Sir:
I received last evening your obliging favor, and have de-
liberately considered the proposal it contains. 1 I feel myself
1 Pickering had suggested to the Senators from Connecticut and New Hampshire,
that a concise and clear statement of the Pickering impeachment trial be prepared
to be signed by such Senators as might desire to bear testimony against "This
1804] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 35
much indebted to you and the other gentlemen for the com-
munication, and for the desire that I would draw up a state-
ment of the circumstances, which have attended the pro-
ceedings upon Judge Pickering's impeachment, and with
which we have been so justly dissatisfied.
I regret that an indisposition which confined me to the
house this day will deprive me of the opportunity of con-
versing with you on the subject. I am not aware of any
statement which I could draw up to be offered at the time
you propose, that would be at once consistent with our rules
of order, and a full exposition of our reasons to justify our
own conduct. If the measure should not be itself perfectly
in order, its tendency would be to produce further disorder in
the proceedings of the court; and as irregularity of proceed-
ing is in my opinion one great error into which the court
has been led, or rather driven, I should be anxious as much as
possible to avoid anything which should increase this irregu-
larity, or throw any part of its blame upon those, who to the
utmost of their power have struggled against it. Perhaps,
however, a statement may be made which, without being
disorderly itself, will at the same time serve as our justifica-
tion, and as our testimony against the course which has been
pursued. If so, I shall most readily concur in it, and sub-
scribe to it. Mr. White's resolution, if permitted to remain
on the records, will serve as justification to us; but if more
can with propriety be done before the judgment is pro-
nounced, it shall have my hearty assent.
I am, &c.
mockery of a trial, where not justice, but the Demon of Party, determined the pro-
ceedings." He asked Adams to prepare such a statement. See Adams, New Eng-
land Federalism, 160. Pickering's request is in Adams, Memoirs, March 12, 1804.
36 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
TO TIMOTHY PICKERING
Washington, ii March, 1804.
Dear Sir:
On further reflection since this morning, I have thought
of a mode which appears to me not out of order, and in
which we can express our sentiments relative to the proceed-
ings of the court. It is to decline answering the final ques-
tion, and assign the reasons, as you will see in the rough
sketch which I inclose. If this should meet your approba-
tion and that of the other gentlemen with whom you may
consult, I will when called upon for my vote declare that I
cannot answer, and offer this paper in behalf of myself, and
of the other gentlemen who please to subscribe it. If the
paper is not suffered to be read, and we are either required
to answer or excused, we can publish the paper, with the
statement that it was not suffered to be read. If you would
wish any alterations or additions, please to make them and
send me back the paper to copy fair tonight or tomorrow
morning. If you disapprove the plan, please keep the paper,
and return it to me when we meet tomorrow.
Yours faithfully.
[inclosure]
We the subscribers, members of the Senate of the United States,
sitting as a Court of Impeachment, upon the impeachment of
John Pickering, Judge of the District Court, for the District of
New Hampshire, request to be excused from answering the ques-
tion of guilty or not guilty, upon the four several Articles of Im-
peachment preferred against the said John Pickering, by the
House of Representatives of the United States.
And we offer the following as our reasons for declining to answer
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 37
that question at this time. Which reasons we also request may-
be entered upon the records of the Court.
First. Because from the allegations contained in the petition
of Jacob S. Pickering, son of the said John Pickering, and supported
by the depositions of Samuel Tenney, a member of the House of
Representatives of the United States, of Annie R. Cutter, of
Joshua Brackett, of Edward St. Loe Livermore and of George
Sullivan, and further confirmed by circumstances within the per-
sonal knowledge of Simeon Olcott and William Plumer, two of us,
who deposed to the same in this Court, we think there is the
highest probability that the said John Pickering was, at the time
when the offences alleged in the said Articles of Impeachment
are stated to have been committed, and for some time before and
ever since has been, and still is insane, his mind wholly deranged,
deprived of the exercise of judgment and the faculties of reason,
and as such incapable of committing a crime and not amenable
for his actions to any judicial tribunal.
Secondly. Because from the allegations contained in the said
Jacob S. Pickering's petition, supported by some of the same de-
positions above referred to, it appears, that from the bodily in-
firmities of the said John Pickering it was not possible for him
to have been present at the day fixed by the Court for his trial,
without immiment danger of his life.
Thirdly. Because conceiving impeachment for high crimes and
misdemeanors to be a criminal prosecution, we think that upon a
suggestion of present insanity of the person accused, supported by
credible testimony, the Court are bound by law, at every stage of
the same, to stay all further proceedings until the truth respecting
the alledged fact of present insanity can be ascertained.
Fourthly. Because all the evidence produced in support of the
said Articles of Impeachment was taken and received ex parte,
when neither the said John Pickering, nor any person in his behalf,
could cross examine them, or have an opportunity to controvert
its competency or its credibility.
Fifthly. Because improper evidence was received against the
38 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
said John Pickering when neither he, nor any person in his behalf,
nor any member of the Court could assign reasons for objections
against its admission. And we refer particularly to the testimony
of Michael M'Clary, of Richard Cutts Shannon and of Edward
Hart, who were permitted and required to give their opinions and
common report, as to the cause of the said John Pickering's insanity
and disorders, while at the same time the opinion of his family
physician and testimony of that opinion on the same subject,
were excluded.
Sixthly. Because from all these circumstances we are of opinion
that the said John Pickering has not had the benefit of an impartial
trial; that he has not had an opportunity or the possibility of
being heard or defended either by himself or his counsel. And
Seventhly. Because, although believing in the present state of the
testimony received, that the said John Pickering is not guilty of
the charges alleged against him in the said four Articles of Im-
peachment, we have not had either the time or the means which
we conceive necessary and proper for ascertaining the facts, so as
to enable us to pronounce his acquittal. 1
TO LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS
Quincy, 25 May, 1804.
• ••••••
As to Madame de Stael's opinions upon the subject of
divorce and the marriage vow, they are such as might be
expected from her history and her character. After having
sacrificed all decency as well as all virtue in her own conduct,
it is natural enough to find her torturing her ingenuity to
give Infamy itself a wash of plausibility. It is one of the wise
discoveries of the French Revolution that the marriage vow
is absurd, because it promises love for life, which, say they,
is promising what is not within our own power. I remember
1 This paper was not acceptable to Pickering.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 39
that when the great regenerating French National Conven-
tion passed their law to make divorce just as easy as marriage,
this was the decisive and triumphant argument with them.
Yet the very same men, who could not promise to love any-
thing for life, unanimously took within a week afterwards an
oath of eternal hatred to monarchy. They could vow to hate,
not to love. Their objection, however, is not true. Honest
and virtuous minds can promise to love for life, and can per-
form the promise. Thousands and thousands of examples
prove it. But when the heart has long been wallowing in the
kennels of corruption, it infects the understanding and pre-
vails upon it to make common cause.
I have been amusing my leisure with the writings of a
French woman of another age and a different character. I
mean with the letters of Madame de Sevigne, of which I had
read some volumes heretofore. She lived at a time when the
morals of high life at the court of France were not very rigor-
ous, but her own conduct was always exemplary. Her letters
are full of wit and playfulness, but they are at the same time
replete with honorable sentiments, with pleasing description,
with characters sketched at a glance; with infinite variety of
anecdotes, made to entertain by the manner in which they
are told, even when of the most inconsiderable nature in
themselves. . . .
TO LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS
Quincy, 17 June, 1804.
• • « • • • •
Our state legislature have had some very animated debates
within the last ten days. If you read the Boston papers you
may have remarked the answer of the Senate to the Gover-
4 o THE WRITINGS OF [1804
nor's speech. 1 I believe Quincy drew it up. It contains some
remarks which stirred the blood of several gentlemen, who
thought that every censure upon political hypocrites and im-
postors must of course be meant for them. They attacked it
with no small violence, but without success.
Then came on a question about the manner of choosing
electors for President and Vice President, whether by dis-
tricts or by a general ticket. The latter was adopted after
long and bitter opposition, among the supporters of which
Mr. [Perez] Morton has made himself very conspicuous.
Last of all they have begun to carve out work for their
Senators in Congress. A motion has passed the House of
Representatives, 2 and either has or probably will go through
the Senate to instruct the Senators of the state in the national
legislature to use their endeavors for obtaining an amend-
ment to the Constitution of the United States, whereby the
representation of slaves shall be done away. All this I know
only by hearsay and the newspapers, for I have not been
near Boston since the General Court met. . . . 3
TO LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS
Quincy, 13 July, 1804.
• ••••••
I had seen in some newspaper an account of one incendiary
attempt at Mount Vernon, but am surprised that it should
so often have been repeated without detection. 4 We have
1 Printed in the Repertory, June 15, 1804.
2 Introduced by William Ely, representative of Springfield.
'The original form of these instructions are printed in the Repertory, June 15,
1804; and a copy of the final form is in the Adams Mss.
4 "There have been five attempts made to destroy Mount Vernon. Mrs. Wash-
ington dare not sleep there when Mr. Washington is from home. A few days since
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 41
just now seen published the famous charge of Judge Bowen
to a grand jury in Georgia, which you will find in some of the
papers. 1 I think it to the credit of the Georgia people that
they suffered him to get away with a whole skin. For al-
though there is nothing more strong as to principle in the
charge, than Mr. Jefferson himself has published in his Notes
on Virginia, yet Bowen went one step further. He drew the
inference from the theory, and then the madness of the doc-
trines appeared in full view.
I wish the report you have heard, that Mr. W. Pinkney,
on his return to this country, is to be appointed Attorney
General, may prove to be well-founded, but I suspect Mr.
Lincoln will not so readily loosen his hold of the place. It
seems the successor to Mr. Livingston at the Imperial Court
of France is to be General Armstrong, and General Smith
must yet content his ambition with being uncle-in-law to his
imperial highness, the Arch Duke Jerome. This much for
liberty, equality, fraternity, French Republics, one and in-
divisible, and the unalienable rights of man.
TO LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS
Quincy, 19 July, 1804.
.......
Conversation now can scarcely turn upon any other sub-
ject than the late horrible duel at New York. The circum-
a servant went into the cellar for something in the evening, and found it in a blaze.
They put it out with difficulty and on searching the cellar discovered a barrel filled
with tar shavings, etc., prepared to set fire to. The gardener, an Irishman, is sup-
posed to have done it, and has been confined in consequence; but this last attempt
has been made since his confinement." Louisa Catherine Adams to John Quincy
Adams, July 4, 1804. Ms.
1 See Massachusetts Spy, May 16, 30, 1804. Jabez Bowen, Jun., was judge of the
Superior Court for the Eastern District of Georgia.
42 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
stances which led to it, and the manner in which it was con-
ducted, are as yet very imperfectly known; but I cannot
conceive any possible circumstances which can justify the
conduct of Mr. Burr, either preceding the fatal day, or im-
mediately subsequent to it. His principal aim appears to
have been to make a display of indifference and unconcern,
and this he did in a manner which in its fairest light can only
be considered as an excess of affectation.
22 July, 1804.
• ••••••
We have now seen the correspondence between Mr. Burr
and General Hamilton which led to their fatal meeting, and
I am fully confirmed in the opinion I had entertained of the
transaction before. Mr. Burr began by making a demand of
General Hamilton which he must have known Hamilton
could not, and ought not to answer. To make the matter
more sure he couched the demand in terms at which a much
cooler man than Hamilton must have spurned. The sub-
stance was so vague and indefinite, as to render impossible
the very avowal or disavowal it affected to require. The
form was studied to provoke and insult, by an assumption
of superiority which a man of spirit could not submit to.
Hamilton saw through the artifice, and yet had not a suffi-
cient control over his own passions, or a sufficient elevation
over the prejudices of the world to parry it. Had he omitted
half a line in his first answer which must be considered as in-
viting a challenge, I see nothing on his part of the corre-
spondence against which any reasonable objection can be
raised. The conduct of Mr. Burr through the whole affair
appears to me strongly to corroborate that opinion of his
character which his enemies have long ascribed to him. 1
1 See Adams, New England Federalism, 163.
"On Thursday (the day before yesterday) there was a funereal procession and an
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 43
You remember they used to joke at Berlin about Prince
Louis (Bonaparte), but in sober sadness it has come to the
same thing. This is the turn of one tire more in the wheel
of the French Revolution, but it has not yet got completely
round. Poor Jerome, who is so cavalierly left out of the line
of aggrandizement and succession, must be content to sing
to the tune of "All for Love, or the world well lost." And
well lost in my opinion it really will be for him. I have been
told, however, that in his marriage articles there is an express
provision made for the possible case of his getting sick of his
bargain and casting off the lady — a stipulation which is
equally marked with humility and with prudence on her
part.
As to titles, if what we see in the papers be true, the
French are going to plunge into them with all the fondness of
children for a new rattle. There is Imperial Majesty Joseph-
ine, Imperial Highnesses Joseph and Louis, Grand Elector,
and High Constable, Serene Highness, Arch Chancellor Cam-
baceres, and Arch Treasurer Lebrun, etc., etc. Was there
ever so horrible a tragedy concluded with so ridiculous a
farce?
TO LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS
Quincy, 23 September, 1804.
We have had in the course of the last week a celebration of
an unusual kind here. It is called the installation of a Lodge
eulogium upon General Hamilton delivered in the Chapel Church at Boston, by Mr.
Otis. I did not go to hear it; for although far from being disposed at this time to
contest the merits of Mr. Hamilton, neither the manner of his death, nor his base
treatment of more than one of my connections, would permit me to join in any out-
ward demonstration of regret which I could not feel at heart. Otis, as you will
readily believe, acquitted himself very well of his performance." To Louisa Cath-
erine Adams, July 28, 1804. Ms.
44 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
of Free Masons. It was performed at the meeting house,
with a sermon by Mr. Whitney, and a prayer by Mr. Harris,
preceded by a Masonic procession to the house, followed by
a Masonic dinner at the Town Hall. All of which we were
invited by the lodge to attend, and did attend, excepting my
brother who was detained at home by a visit from Mr.
Palaeska, who came up from Boston to dine with him. The
weather was somewhat unfavorable, as during the procession
there was a small rain that annoyed us not a little. The
ceremonies have nothing in them very striking, but the
house was very much crowded, and B. Russell, who per-
formed a conspicuous character as Marshall of the Royal
Arch Lodge, has given a pompous account of the day in his
Centinel.
I was last evening at Mr. Quincy's to pass an evening hour,
and as he was not nor any of his family at the celebration, I
gave them an account of it. This naturally leading to a con-
versation on the subject of Free Masonry in general, I in-
dulged myself at some length and with great freedom on the
nature of the institutions and its effects, until all at once it
came out that Quincy himself was of the brotherhood. This
incident, however, as the whole conversation had been per-
fectly good humored, contributed only to divert us, and I
tasked him for his inexcusable neglect of attending at the
installation. . . .
I observe in the newspapers that somebody in London (I
suppose it must be Dickins) has published in a volume my
letters on Silesia, pilfered doubtless from the Port Folio. And
to help the sale, has not only given my name, but added a
despicable parade of rank and titles to it, which a rational
man cannot hear thus applied without laughing. I can in-
deed as well as most people bear to be laughed at, when
knowing the occasion to be trivial in its nature or not pro-
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 4S
ceeding from my own fault, and therefore I shall concern
myself very little with this bookseller's device for gull-
catching. But there was one of those letters which ought
never to have been published at all, and would not have been
but by accident and an inattention which I could not con-
trol.
It contained an allusion to the domestic history of certain
characters we met at Dresden, and having no relation what-
ever to the Silesian tour, ought never to have been published
with it. While the letters were confined to the Port Folio
I consoled myself that this indiscreet part of the publication
would never reach the persons to whom it must give pain,
and who imputing it to me would think it very ill-return for
civilities and good-offices. Now however it appears to me
more than probable that some "d — d good-natured friend"
will not fail to convey the obnoxious matter to those most
affected by it, and they will think very hardly of me for it.
It is, however, too late for a remedy. As to the publication
itself, it will certainly not tend to place me on that point of
literary fame to which I should aspire, if to any at all. The
whole collection was written for my own amusement and
that of my friends in this country, without any design for
publication. The observations of my own, therefore, con-
tained in them are superficial, and the whole valuable matter
is taken from the German tourists and other writers on the
province. The credit due for all this is of a very humble
nature indeed, and if I should ever appear voluntarily before
the public as a candidate for the reputation of an author,
it would be with pretensions of rather more elevation. I
must, however, be content with things as they are. If
Heaven should grant me life and health, I hope at some future
day to offer something of more value to the world. But as
yet I am only preparing myself to undertake it, and like
46 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
many other good resolutions it will perhaps never come to the
maturity of accomplishment. . . - 1
PUBLIUS VALERIUS 2
Serious Reflections, Addressed to the Citizens of Massachusetts
No. I 3
As the time is approaching when the People of this Common-
wealth will be called to give their suffrages for electors of President
and Vice President of the United States, and also of members for
the national House of Representatives, it is of importance to them
to fix the principles which ought to govern them in their choice.
Candidates of various descriptions and of militating political
sentiments will be held up to their view, and recommended to
their suffrages, by the friends of the past and the partisans of the
present administration of the general government. It is not my
intention to advocate or to oppose the election of any individual,
but as a sincere friend to the interests of my country, to submit
some observations to my fellow citizens, concerning the principles
to which I believe their own interest directs them, for the deter-
1 "You will see that the Spanish Marquis [Yrujo] has given great offence to our
friend Jackson by a very courteous attempt to make him subservient to his present
political purposes. Jackson appears not to be well versed in the profundities of
diplomatic skill, and not at all to understand the art of filing down corruption into
patriotism. It is, however, possible that he may have given the Marquis's pro-
posals a construction different from what was intended. He might only mean to
obtain a vehicle for popular negotiation against the present administration among
the federalists, such as he formerly used against their predecessors, with his worthy
friends of that day. He was somewhat indiscreet indeed in talking about political
intolerance, and an administration which he would not call a government, to a per-
son so much of a stranger to him as Jackson." To Louisa Catherine Adams, Sep-
tember 30, 1804. Ms. On the incident see Henry Adams, History, II. 265.
2 In the Adams Papers are the original manuscripts of Nos. 2, 3 and 5 of these
articles.
* The Repertory, October 26, 1804.
1804] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 47
mination of their votes, between the several claimants to their
favor.
The government of the United States is to be considered in a
two fold view: First, as an association of the people, and secondly,
as a confederation of the States which constitute the North Amer-
ican Union. The representation of the States is in the Senate, and
that of the people in the House of Representatives. The duties
of the members of these respective branches of the general legis-
lature are correspondent to the stations in which they are placed.
And consequently it behooves every senator to support and main-
tain the interests of the State by which he is delegated; as it is
incumbent on the representatives to promote with a warm and
honest zeal those of the people by whom he was elected. I shall
not be understood as meaning to say that the senator of any State,
or the representative from any section of the people, ought so
exclusively to pursue the interests of his immediate constituents,
as to wish that those of the whole union or of any part of it should
be sacrificed to them; but that he should so far be devoted to
those from whom he derives his powers, as on no consideration
whatsoever to suffer their just interests to be sacrificed to the
partial views and purposes of others. Addressing then the people
of Massachusetts, I trust they will feel the force of the argument
when I say: fellow citizens, in choosing your representatives, be
sure to choose men who will support your own interests. Those of
other parts of the Union, you may be assured, will be sufficiently
represented and supported without your assistance. The people
of Virginia will not choose Representatives who will abandon
their interests for the sake of advancing yours; you cannot expect
or wish that they should; let it be your care on your part to elect
men, who shall have no bias on their minds, the tendency of which
will be to prostrate your legitimate rights at the feet of Virginian
policy.
Since the first association of the United Colonies at the dawn
of the American revolution, there never has been a time, when it
so essentially imported to the people of Massachusetts to make
48 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
reflections like these, and to act conformably to them. During
the war of the revolution and the first confederation, Massachu-
setts was among the first in support of the common cause. The
treasures and the blood of her citizens freely flowed for the benefit
of the Union, while afflicted with the miseries of War. After the
peace, she exhibited in an eminent degree, the same enlarged and
liberal spirit. She readily complied with the requisitions of Con-
gress for raising funds to discharge the obligations of the public
faith, and actually taxed herself by commercial regulations, until
she found she was only raising rival, and less generous neighbors
upon her own ruins. At the formation and adoption of the present,
or rather the late national Constitution, her conciliatory spirit,
and willingness to yield much for the general good were equally
conspicuous. Equally conspicuous have they been during the
administration of that government; and while she has uniformly
borne more than her proportion of all the burdens, she has been
content to share, at most, her equal part of the blessings derived
from it. But neither under the old confederation, nor under the
Constitution of 1787, had she ever, until very recently, a formid-
able party within her own bosom, whose systematic policy it was
to make her peculiar interests a sacrifice to those of another quar-
ter of the Union. The members of her own legislature, and her
delegations to the national councils have been Massachusetts
men, who felt it their duty to support by all fair and honorable
means the measures most favorable to her interests, and who
would have thought it treachery of the deepest dye to make
themselves the servile instruments of a policy directly hostile to
their own constituents. Now, however, this singular phenomenon
has appeared: and at the late session of the General Court, the
most unequivocal proof has been exhibited, of a strong party, who
build all their hopes of success upon the basis of unlimited devo-
tion to a system, the first feature of which is the annihilation of
New England weight and influence in the Union.
It is painful to be under the necessity of stating this fact. It
is painful to remark to what extremes faction and ambition have
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 49
already proceeded in this country. But it cannot be disguised
and ought not to be concealed. It is possible to believe that this
subserviency to foreign views, and this immolation of their own
interests have reached the mass of the people. The mass of the
people have no private and selfish purposes to answer by rec-
ommending themselves to the favor of the national executive.
They have no offices to obtain from the removal of honest, able
and faithful federalists. They have no reward in prospect from
the prostration of personal or political antagonists. They therefore
have no motive to betray themselves. If then it be made manifest
to them, that a numerous and closely combined party of the men
in whom they have placed their confidence have, whether from
personal or from factious motives, surrendered themselves up
without reserve to a political system in direct hostility to the fair
and just interests of the people, whom they represent, the danger
that impends will be fully disclosed, and the effectual guard against
it will be seasonably applied. The confidence which has been
betrayed will be transferred, from hollow professions, to solid
merit; from fawning flattery, to honest zeal; from selfish faction,
to pure patriotism; and Massachusetts will recover that weight and
influence in the Union, which some of her own sons have unblush-
ingly attempted to wrest from her.
I am aware that assertions like these ought not to be made on
light grounds. In the ardor of political controversy it is but too
common to see men entertain unjust and unwarrantable suspicions
of their adversaries, and impute to them motives, which are not
theirs. So long as the party in this Commonwealth, in opposition
to the present administration of its government kept within the
bounds of decency and moderation; nay, so long as they were grati-
fied by the arts of popular courtship to blazon their own pretensions
to favor, and to run down opponents, whose public merits and pri-
vate virtues could never suffer by comparison with their own,
however ungenerous and censurable their procedure, its effects
were not immediately pernicious and dangerous to their country.
When at one of our annual periods of election, their heaviest
50 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
engine of detraction against the governor of the Commonwealth
was a charge of carriage hire for attendance at a funeral; when at
another their most elaborate topic of reproach, was the rent of the
Province House, their patriotic economies were estimated at their
true value; their slanders were even productive of good effects, for
when complaints like those were dwelt upon, with the choicest of
their bitterness, the evidence was irresistible, that no reasonable
ground for complaint existed. But when from the circulation of
petty calumny against the governor, they proceeded to bold as-
sault upon the clearest and most important interests of the State,
when after spending their most envenomed arrows in fruitless
efforts against individual virtue, they selected their last shaft to
aim at the vitals of their country, it became the duty of every real
friend to that country to resist, and expose them.
At the late session of the legislature three occasions happened
when the party in opposition to the present administration of the
Commonwealth, discovered their unqualified devotion to the in-
terests of Virginia, or rather to the views of Mr. Jefferson. The
first was a motion for making certain additions to the answer of the
House to the governor's speech. The object of this was personal
adulation to the President of the United States. The second was
the vehement opposition and indecent protests against the choice
of electors for President and Vice President, by a general ticket.
And the third was the struggle against the motion of Mr. Ely for
instructing the senators of the Commonwealth in Congress, to
propose an amendment to the national Constitution, for the pur-
pose of correcting that humiliating inequality which gives a repre-
sentation to the slave-holding Southern planters, nearly double
to that of the Massachusetts farmer. On each of these transac-
tions I shall submit to the public remarks which will tend to
elucidate the motives in which the conduct of the opposition party
originated. I shall examine the arguments alleged by themselves,
and endeavor to point out the difference between their outward
practice and their real purposes. After the lessons of experience
which have so recently been taught to all the republicans by the
1804] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 51
terrible example of the French revolution and its last catastrophe,
the people of Massachusetts, turning an eye upon themselves, have
the deepest interest to inquire, what are the real designs of that
party, which has always held up the revolution as the theme of
their highest admiration and applause.
II 1
When the answer of the House of Representatives of the Com-
monwealth, to the governor's speech, at the opening of the last
session, was in debate before the House, a long panegyric upon the
present administration of the national government was moved by
Mr. Perez Morton, of Dorchester, to be inserted in the answer by
way of amendment. Mr. Morton, both in the motion upon which
I am about to remark, and in the other party measures of the ses-
sion, assumed exclusively the lead in the House of Representatives;
the stability of his political opinions, their character and their
tendency, are of no small importance as indications of the views
which actuate him and his followers.
Mr. Morton of late years has been a very ardent partisan of that
political denomination among us who, by a manoeuvre borrowed
from France, the prototype of all their party tactics, and suggested
to them in the famous intercepted letter of Fauchet, the minister
of Robespierre in this country, affect exclusively to style them-
selves republicans.
Mr. Morton is, of course, a profound admirer of the sublime vir-
tues and stupendous talents of Mr. Jefferson, whose tender sym-
pathies for the French revolution have been so perfectly congenial
with his own. This admiration he has more than once anxiously
endeavored to communicate to the legislature of Massachusetts.
In the January session of 1802, he labored with the burden of his
admiration so much, that he attempted to bring it forth in the form
of an Address to the President of the United States; and not having
at that time any of the topics for approbation which he has now
1 The Repertory, October 30, 1804.
52 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
chosen to specify, he was at no loss for others equally well founded.
At that time the principal achievements of Mr. Jefferson's ad-
ministration had been the repayment of Callender's fine; the nolle
prosequi to screen Duane from punishment; the squandered thou-
sands upon the Berceau; the dismission of numerous honest, capa-
ble, and faithful servants of the public, to make way for their
counterparts of an opposite sect; and above all the comment upon
the inaugural speech, in the answer to the merchants of New
Haven. The destruction of the federal judiciary was resolved, but
not then accomplished. Still Mr. Morton had no dearth of mate-
rials for his address, and could he have persuaded a majority of his
fellow legislators to participate in his zeal, was even then, no less
than at present, ready
To crook the pregnant hinges of the knee,
Where thrift might follow fawning.
The two succeeding winters, Mr. Morton has passed at the city
of Washington, as a humble solicitor to Mr. Jefferson and his
administration, for simple justice in a private concern, without
being able to obtain it. He is personally interested in what has
been called the Yazoo purchase of Georgia lands; and has been
employed by the other proprietors as their agent to support their
claims upon the government of the United States. The last winter,
after having been fed with airy promises year after year, and after
a majority of the national House of Representatives had decided
that these claimants ought to be indemnified, behold, Mr. John
Randolph came out with a string of resolutions, the purpose of
which was to declare that no such indemnity should be given; and
Mr. Thomas Randolph, Mr. Jefferson's son-in-law, in a speech
highly celebrated for its eloquence, the only speech he made during
the whole session, supported the principles of his namesake.
It was observed by Voltaire, that in his time the Parisian cour-
tiers were in the constant practice of riding post haste to Versailles,
to receive buffetings which, post haste, they went back to return
at Paris. Just so it appears to be with Mr. Morton. He goes
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 53
annually to Washington, to ask justice for himself and others. He
implores it as a favor, and it is denied; but he abates not a jot of
heart and hope. Mr. Jefferson he knows favors his claim, though
Mr. Jefferson's son-in-law reserves all the thunders of his eloquence
to oppose it; another winter Mr. John Randolph's influence may
be diminished in the House of Representatives; or perhaps his
docility to private lessoning may become such that he will with-
draw his opposition. So Mr. Alorton comes home; perseveres in
his admiration of Mr. Jefferson, with unabating fervor, and re-
turns the buffetings he received at the federal city, in offensive
reflections upon the majority in the Massachusetts legislature.
Let us now turn from the man to the motion. As in the former
we find certain sources of devotion to Mr. Jefferson and a Vir-
ginian policy, other than those of public spirit, so in the latter we
shall find causes of admiration alleged distinguishable by a similar
remoteness from the fountains of truth. In short, Mr. Morton
appears to be gifted with the endowment of the great McFingal — ■
he sees what is not to be seen.
The first assertion which evinces this sharpness of his optics is
that which he has chosen to place in the front of his commenda-
tions. "That the general government, without the aid of direct
taxes and burthensome excises, have effected an important diminu-
tion of the public debt by the appropriation of seven millions of
dollars annually to that object."
1. It is not true that the general government has appropriated
seven millions of dollars annually to the diminution of the public
debt.
2. It is not true that the portion of the old debts of the United
States which they have discharged was paid off by them without
the aid of direct taxes and excise.
3. It is not true that the general government, under the pres-
ent administration, has effected any diminution of the public
debt. On the contrary, they have effected a very great addition
to it.
Here then are no less than three mistakes in point of fact com-
54 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
mitted by Mr. Morton at the threshold of his plausive tale; mis-
takes which it is much easier for me than for him to account for
his having committed.
I know very well that in all the newspapers and party publica-
tions of the faction, for those two years, the falsehood has been
perpetually repeated in the truth of detection, that seven millions
annually were appropriated to pay off the principal of the public
debt. It is also known that on the 29th of April, 1802, an act of
Congress passed, the title of which affirmed that it made provision
for the payment of the whole of the public debt; but if Mr. Morton
in the heat of his affection for the present national order of things,
will take upon trust newspaper falsehoods, or the titles of acts of
Congress, he must not expect that the people of Massachusetts
will be equally credulous or equally obsequious.
By the act of 29th April, 1802, the annual sum of seven millions
three hundred thousand dollars was vested in the Commissioners
of the Sinking Fund, "to be applied by them to the payment of
interest and charges, and to the reimbursement or redemption of
the principal of the public debt;" and in this sum are included all
the appropriations which had before that time been made towards
effecting the same purpose.
Now in the first place, appropriations had been made under the
former administrations for the regular payment of all the interest
and for the reimbursement of the greater part of the principal of
the debt. The repayment, for example, of the old six per cents and
deferred stock had been going on for years before this act of 29th
April was made. The appropriation of seven millions then, was
little or nothing else than renewing provisions which had already
been made.
And secondly, of this appropriation, a large portion, being ap-
plied to pay the interest of the debt, could have no effect to diminish
the debt itself; since the interest might be paid to the end of time
without any diminution of the debt.
If seven millions annually had been appropriated to the diminu-
tion of the public debt, it must of course have followed that in the
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 55
course of two years since the appropriation was made, fourteen
millions of dollars would have been paid off.
But the President of the United States, in his message to Con-
gress at the opening of their last session, states that the amount of
debt paid in one year preceding was "about three millions one
hundred thousand dollars," and in two years "more than eight
millions and a half." A great part of this had been paid before the
act of 29th April, 1802, and consequently was provided for before
the pretended annual appropriation of seven millions.
And by the report of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund,
made on the 6th day of February last, it appears that of these
boasted seven millions, nearly five millions during each of the years
1802 and 1803 were paid "on account of the reimbursement and
interest of the domestic funded debt" under provisions enacted long
before Mr. Jefferson's administration commenced.
With what face then can it be said that under his administration,
the general government has appropriated seven millions annually
to the diminution of the public debt?
But whatever the amount may be of the national debt discharged
by the present administration, it has not been effected without the
aid of direct taxes or excise.
In proof of this, Mr. Morton, please to look to the official ac-
count of receipts and expenditures of the United States for the
year 1802, and you will find upwards of six hundred thousand dol-
lars in the course of that year received into the treasury from the
produce of the internal taxes, the principal part of which was ex-
cises, and upwards of two hundred thousand dollars from the direct
tax. Here then is nearly a million of dollars, which in the year
1802 aided toward the payment of the national debt. Will you
tell us that you only meant to say the present administration had
renounced the aid of excise and direct taxes for the future? Then
I reply that you meant one thing and said another. Your asser-
tion was, that the general government had, without the aid of
direct taxes or excise effected an important diminution of the
national debt. But they have not even renounced this aid for the
56 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
future. In the last report of the Secretary of the Treasury to Con-
gress on the finances, made the 24th of October last, he estimates
the arrears of the direct tax then due at two hundred and fifty
thousand, and the outstanding internal duties, at near four hun-
dred thousand dollars. Here then is upwards of half a million,
depended upon as future aid from excise and direct tax to discharge
the debt. I appeal to official documents, and I defy you, Mr. Mor-
ton, to point out any sense in which this part of your assertion was
founded in truth.
But further: It is not true that the present administration has
effected any diminution of the public debt at all. On the contrary
they have added largely to it.
Let us take the President's statement as correct, and set down
eight millions and an half of the debt existing when he came into
office as paid. But of new debt contracted we must charge nearly
three millions payable by a convention with Great Britain, and
fifteen millions for the Louisiana purchase. So for eight millions
and an half redeemed, we have nearly eighteen millions of ac-
cumulation, and the whole debt of the United States, which at
the accession of Mr. Jefferson amounted to about seventy-five,
now exceeds eighty-five millions of dollars. We shall find Mr. Mor-
ton soon making this very purchase of Louisiana, one of his mo-
tives for applause; his willing admiration flies with equal alacrity
to greet the aggravation or the alleviation of the public burden.
The value or the hardness of the bargain has, however, no relation
whatever to the relative amount of public debt. That subject will
be separately treated. Mr. Morton very well knew that Louisiana
had saddled this Union with fifteen millions of additional debt.
He knew or ought to know, that to pay the interest on a part of it,
seven hundred thousand dollars a year, raised from the duties on
imports and tonnage, are appropriated, and vested in these very
Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, who are the trustees of his
glorious seven millions; and he is now requested in support of his
own credit, to show any possible sense in which it can consistently
with truth be said that the present administration has effected a
diminution of the public debt.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 57
III 1
From the peculiar stress with which Mr. Morton dwelt upon the
first article of his intended panegyric upon the general government,
it is fair to presume that he considered the others as less important
in themselves, or less calculated to produce the impression he in-
tended; and I shall therefore bestow less time in commenting upon
them. The reduction of the army to a peace establishment was,
indeed, a thing which on the complete restoration of peace, would
have followed, of course, under any administration. The work
had been chiefly accomplished before Mr. Jefferson's elevation,
and in all probability this subject would have slept in peace, but
for the opportunity it afforded of hoisting in that ingenious ex-
ecration against standing armies in time of peace, a sentiment, the
justice of which I shall not contest, any more than the propriety
of its expression in any commendation of Mr. Jefferson.
But when the disposition of our naval force and the Barbary
war are held up as objects of glory to our general government,
whatever our candor or our desire to approve may be, we struggle
to applaud in vain, and however reluctantly, must say that in the
sycophant we lose sight, utterly lose sight of the American. What
can be meant by the assertion that we have dictated terms of peace
to some of the Barbary powers, and rendered harmless the hostility
of others? I say, not to what some, but to what one of the Barbary
powers have we dictated terms of peace. The treaty between us
and the Emperor of Morocco was broken by one of his cruisers,
which captured an American vessel. By a fortunate accident, and
not by any previous disposition by the government of our naval
force, one of our frigates met and captured the Moorish cruiser and
her prize. The Emperor of Morocco disavowed the act of hostility
committed by his cruiser; we restored to him, without indemnity or
satisfaction, two of his ships which we had in our possession, and
are taxed to pay the captors of those same ships their prize money,
for taking them, amounting to one-half their value.
1 The Repertory, October 30, 1804.
58 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
The statement is not made for the purpose of censuring any part
of the proceedings of the general government in relation to the
Emperor of Morocco. Our seamen were very justly entitled to the
prize money for their captures. But the simple fact is that the
people of the United States have paid many thousand dollars, and
restored two armed ships; for what? Why, for the Emperor of
Morocco to disavow the violation of his treaty with us! Is this
dictating terms of peace?
But further: the whole of these transactions, excepting the pro-
vision for the payment of the prize money, took place, without a
single disposition of the general government concerning it. The
violation of the treaty, the capture of the Moorish ships, the disa-
vowal of the Emperor, and the restoration of his cruisers to him, all
took place before the government had a suspicion of a rupture with
Morocco. Undoubtedly the most honorable credit is due to the
Captains Bainbridge and Rodgers and their gallant companions,
for the capture of the Moorish ships; and their restoration by the
consul, Mr. Simpson, to obtain the recognition of the old treaty,
was, as the President justly styles it, "temperate and correct con-
duct." But it must be a braggart temper, indeed, which can boast
of such an accommodation, as dictating terms of peace.
If this idle rodomontade is a reflection upon the modesty of the
nation, the other part of the assertion, that the general government
has rendered harmless the hostility of other Barbary powers, is an
insult upon the calamities of our countrymen. What! when by the
hostilities of the very meanest of those powers we have lost one of
the best frigates in the navy. When her brave commander, and
four hundred of our fellow citizens are languishing in captivity at
Tripoli, are we to be told that their chains are rivetted by harmless
hostilities? When nearly a million of dollars a year have just been
added to the burdens upon our commerce, for a Mediterranean
fund, to support the dispositions now first made of an efficient
armament against those paltry pirates, is it a time to talk of having
rendered their hostilities harmless? We read of the Emperor
Caligula, that he made a triumphal entry at Rome, because he
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 59
had picked up cockle shells on the beach of the German ocean; Mr.
Morton improves upon the ideas of Caligula, and goes to the dun-
geons of Africa to pluck laurels for the brows of Mr. Jefferson.
Of the purchase of Louisiana I shall not now undertake to dis-
cuss the policy. That it is a great and important feature of Mr.
Jefferson's administration is unquestionably true. Whether it
will prove a blessing or a curse to this Union, it is only future time
that can determine. This much we know, that the price of the
purchase will be paid almost entirely by the Eastern and Atlantic
states. Thus much we know, that when admitted as members of
the Union, the whole weight and power of the purchased territories
will be thrown into the scale of southern and western influence. In
the relative situation of the United States, New England and the
Maritime States have been constantly declining in power and con-
sequence; they must continue to decline in proportion as the growth
of the southern and western parts shall be more rapid than theirs.
This vibration of the centre of power, being founded in nature,
cannot be resisted, and as good citizens it is our duty to acquiesce
in the event; but to this increasing ascendancy of the south and
west, the acquisition of Louisiana adds an immense force, never
contemplated in the original compact of these states. We are
still to learn whether this excessive southern preponderance will
be enjoyed with moderation, or used with generosity. Should it
prove otherwise, and the present symptoms are by no means favor-
able, the people of America will have no cause to thank Mr. Jeffer-
son for his Louisiana bargain. New England particularly, the dupe
of her own good nature, will find that she has been made to bear
the charge of aggrandizing a rival interest, for the degradation of
her own. We are willing to hope for better things; but while the
cost of the Louisiana purchase hangs like a mill stone upon the
neck of our commerce; and while all its advantages are in fallacious
hope and precarious conjecture, it is not a time for New England
men especially to celebrate as an achievement deserving their
gratitude, a measure of so very problematical an issue.
In arriving at the last specific item of Mr. Morton's eulogium,
60 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
which speaks of our government's "desire to remain in peace with
all the belligerent nations of Europe, and their firmness to vindicate
the rights of our citizens against the aggressions of any," we are
at a loss to imagine to what solitary fact his words can possibly
bear an allusion. The desire to remain at peace with all the nations
of Europe but one has, indeed, been conspicuous enough; but their
firmness to vindicate our rights! Where has it ever been mani-
fested. There is but one way of accounting for Mr. Morton's in-
ferences from facts, and that may be called, the rule of inverse
deduction; or the rule of making inferences in direct contradiction
to their premises. Or to adopt the words of Hudibas,
As by the way of innuendo
Lucus is made a non lucendo.
Thus when Mr. Livingston in a public memorial formally pro-
poses that France and the United States should make a common
cause against Great Britain, Mr. Morton thinks it an indisputable
proof of our government's desire to remain at peace with all the
world. Mr. Monroe, as far as any part of his negotiations is known
to the public, is constantly giving similar proofs of a pacific disposi-
tion. The treatment of the British minister at Washington has
been exactly conformable to such indications, and Mr. Livingston,
to place this desire of peace beyond all question, has recently re-
peated an outrageous insult upon the British government.
On the other hand what rights of our citizens has the govern-
ment vindicated against any aggressions? Mr. Morton says our
commerce is less interrupted, and says it at the very moment when
foreign armed ships, both English and French, have violated our
own territorial rights, and taken men from our merchant vessels,
men within our own harbors. Never since the United States have
been an independent nation, never have they been so grossly in-
sulted; and what satisfaction has our government obtained? What
satisfaction could they ask? When every article of complaint they
could advance might be retorted with tenfold recrimination upon
themselves.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 61
We have waded through the sickening detail of Mr. Morton's
praises, and shall have but little to remark when he comes to gen-
eralize. It is so easy to say that the objects and pursuits of the
government have been one continued effort to promote the faith,
justice and honor of the nation; and the peace, security and hap-
piness of all its citizens. It is sc easy to say all this without convey-
ing or even forming any fixed or determinate idea, that we may con-
sider the object of those words to be rather to round a period,
than to have any meaning. To all general encomium on this ad-
ministration, the destruction of the judiciary, and the system of
political removals from office, must forever remain insuperable ob-
jections. The first has overthrown all confidence in the stability
of justice, and the second has given the pernicious example of set-
ting up the government as the prize and the instrument of faction.
These two corrupted streams, issuing from the same fountain, will
spread their pestilence over this Union, beyond the lapse of ages
to purify. They have entailed a curse upon our posterity, which
the blessings of a thousand Louisianas will never compensate.
Such then being the materials of which Mr. Morton's motion
consisted, it is not at all surprising that when its accuracy was once
becoming a subject of discussion, he should have shrunk from the
test and withdrawn it from the scrutiny of his opponents. But it
still remains for him to account for having produced a rhapsody so
grossly variant from the truth, and so abhorrent to the sentiments
of the legislature and people of Massachusetts. It appears that he
withdrew the motion on consultation with some members of his
own party. This is thus far honorable to them; since it shows that
they were not prepared to go with him into the rapturous regions
of romance, for the purpose of daubing Mr. Jefferson with un-
merited flattery; but why did he produce it? Was it to operate as
a letter of recommendation for himself; as a passport to office from
which some honest man must be turned out? Or was it to pro-
pitiate the evil genius of Mr. John Randolph to the Yazoo claim-
ants of Georgia lands? If the former was his motive, he may per-
haps have reason for his hopes. We have seen services of a similar
62 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
character very lately rewarded by the office of Commissioner of
Loans; and there are still a few federalists of unimpeachable worth,
who may be thrown breadless upon the world to accommodate
candidates of such exemplary fervor. But as to the Yazoo pur-
chasers, they may rest assured that ferocity will give as little, or
less aid to their cause than its justice. Mr. John Randolph's
opposition is not thus to be appeased or overpowered, and the next
winter as the last, their agents will have the most indisputable
proofs of Mr. Jefferson's favoring their claims; but it will so happen
that they will again be set aside. Desirous as Mr. Jefferson may
be to have justice done, severe as his one continued effort may be
for their relief, it can only be obtained by the vote of both houses
of Congress, and the world knows how little influence he has over
them. Mr. John Randolph knows very well when to oppose a mo-
tion "from whatever quarter of the House it may come," and if
on any improper occasion Mr. Jefferson's influence should be in
hazard of weighing too much in the House, his own sons-in-law
will take care to restore the balance. The sins of a first purchaser
will be visited upon all the subsequent assignees, and the corrup-
tions of a Georgia legislature will be punished by the spoils of New-
England claimants. Grant, however, that the issue should be
more favorable to their claim, grant that the services of so zealous
a partisan should find favor in the sight of the national rulers, it
is obvious that the motives which led to such flaming panegyrics as
those of Mr. Morton's motion are partial, are private, are personal,
that they relate only to particular interests, and are in unequivocal
hostility to the interests of the people.
No. IV "
The second occasion upon which the Virginian faction in the late
session of the State legislature displayed their determination to
sacrifice the interests of the State to the purposes of Mr. Jefferson,
1 The Repertory, November 2, 1804.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 63
was in their conduct respecting the mode of choosing electors of
President and Vice President. That the choice should be made by
the people was agreed on all sides; but whether by a general ticket,
where the whole people should vote for the whole electoral body
of the State, or whether by separate districts, conformably to the
mode of choosing members for the national House of Representa-
tives, was made a question upon which one would have thought the
faction deemed their whole salvation to depend.
The difference in point of principle, between the two modes of
election was not worth a cavil. But the difference in the result was
obvious. Had the choice by districts prevailed, it was contem-
plated that a proportion of partisans of Mr. Jefferson would be
chosen among the electors, perhaps nearly equal to that he has in
the House of Representatives. The body would be divided against
itself, and the voice of Massachusetts in the choice of President of
the United States would be annihilated. A general ticket they
knew would give the clear, full, and unequivocal voice of the State,
and that voice the faction knew was not in their favor. They
dreaded to hear it, and they struggled with all their violence and
all their cunning to evade it. Hence, after attempting in every
shape and form to defeat the resolution for choosing by a general
ticket, they concluded their career of opposition by offering in each
House a protest against it, assigning no less than nine reasons for
their preference of district elections over a general ticket. That
this measure was concerted by the leaders of the faction in both
Houses is apparent from the sameness of their pretended reasons;
but so extreme was the violence and indecency of the language
used in the protest offered to the House, that many of the members,
who by a misplaced confidence had signed the paper without know-
ing its contents, declared their [disapprobation of them when they
discovered what they were, and although the signatures amounted
to 101, only 53 voted for inserting the protest on the journals of
the House.
As the reasons alleged were not the real operative reasons, their
weakness makes it almost superfluous to refute them. Let us,
6 4 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
however, as briefly as possible notice the arguments which are
given to the world in justification of those intemperate protests.
First. It is said that the elector ought to know the character and
sentiments of the candidate for whom he votes, — which is impossi-
ble in so extensive a territory as this State; and then the protest of
the Senate goes on to define the boundaries of the Commonwealth,
and tells the good people, how many original colonies, judiciary
districts, counties, towns, and individual souls it contains.
But there can be no imaginary difficulty in the selection of nine-
teen persons throughout the Commonwealth, whose character and
sentiments will be sufficiently known to all the electors for every
necessary purpose of such an election as this. If the office elected
to were of a nature to require particular talents, or the exertion of a
peculiar character, as of a representative, a senator, a county treas-
urer, or a selectman, there would be some color for this objection.
But in this case the persons chosen have but one act to perform,
and that is to vote. They are merely the proxies of the people to
deliver the suffrage which they cannot conveniently give them-
selves, and the only quality which the primary elector is interested
to know of the candidate is, for whom he will vote. Now I do hot
hesitate to say, that this will in the general course of things, be at
least as well, and perhaps better ascertained by a general ticket,
than by a choice in districts. In the first formation of the tickets
recommended by the parties, each of them will undoubtedly select
such men as will be known to possess the weight and influence
proper to promote the success of the ticket in his district, and at
the same time men whose opinions have been so clearly pronounced
as to leave no doubt of the complexion of their votes. The unity of
object and of exertion throughout the State will give a more pointed
energy to the support of every individual candidate. The pro-
testers themselves will find none of the difficulty which they al-
lege, nor will their adherents have any of that ignorance of the
character and sentiments of those candidates for whom they
will vote, which they so pathetically deplore. If their ticket
should fail of success, it will not be for want of certain knowl-
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 65
edge how their candidates would discharge the duties assigned
them.
Second. Election by a general ticket is said to be repugnant to
the habits and usages of the people. But the national convention
itself, under which this election first originated, is so recent in date,
that no usage can be predicated upon it. The election has hitherto
occurred but four times, and has not been uniform in mode. The
whole people have always voted in this manner for the two highest
executive officers of the State, and in one instance for a member of
Congress. Every county annually chooses its senators by a gen-
eral ticket. So that this mode of election is perfectly familiar to
the people throughout the Commonwealth, and there can be no
more difficulty in forming or delivering a ticket of nineteen names
selected from the whole State, than a ticket of five or six names
selected from a whole county.
Third. "Because this mode is calculated to open the door to
intrigue and imposition on the people."
The protesters have not explained their grounds for this asser-
tion, which is merely matter of opinion. Without contesting their
skill and experience on this head, it may be observed that this mode
of election has been sanctioned by all the principal States, in which
their party predominates. The doors of intrigue and imposition
will be open in every mode of election to a people that will tolerate
them; but on general principles it is more natural to infer, that
these corrupt engines lose their efficacy in proportion as the num-
ber of voters is increased.
Fourth. This mode of election is fallacious, because the candi-
date selected from any given district may vote contrary to the
wishes of a majority in that district.
The selection of a candidate from each of the seventeen districts
which elect a member to Congress must have been for the purpose
of distributing equally throughout the Commonwealth the honors
of an important appointment; an example which the general gov-
ernment, in their one continued effort for the happiness of all, have
yet to learn. As each elector will be an elector for the whole Com-
66 THE WRITINGS OF [ l8 o 4
monwealth, undoubtedly the partial majorities of single districts
will merge in the general majority of the whole State. It will not
array the vote of one county against the vote of another, and thus
reduce the influence of the Commonwealth to a level with that of
the smallest State in the Union; but will give to Massachusetts her
full constitutional weight. This is no fallacy. The fallacy would
be in such a difference of the modes of election, that while all the
southern States take care to give unanimous votes, the people of
Massachusetts should be amused with a mere show of voting, and
in fact have no voice at all.
Fifth. This objection included so gross and pointed an insult
upon the majority of the legislature, that it was finally disavowed
by many of the signers themselves; nor have they chosen to publish
it with the rest.
Sixth. This is a repetition in other words of the fourth objection.
A complaint that one party, meaning their own party, will be de-
prived of their due weight in the election. But that party will have
much more than its due weight, by securing to themselves the whole
weight of such States as Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York.
The language of those gentlemen is, where we are the minority we
must have our full proportion, and where we are the majority we
will have all.
Seventh. This mode of election, it is supposed, will have a
tendency to excite heats and animosities; and to disturb the har-
mony and tranquillity of the State.
This is another conjectural objection. It is just as easy and much
more agreeable to anticipate that it will be productive of more
harmony and lead to unanimity. It seems much more probable
that an obstinate and persevering attempt to degrade the State, to
destroy its influence in the Union, and to reduce its condition in
the political orb, from that of a primary planet, to that of the
meanest of satellites, should produce discord and irritation.
Then come the two reasons why the protesters prefer the elec-
tion by districts. These are only repetitions of some of those
before adduced as objections against the mode which prevailed.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 67
Such are the arguments, if arguments they can be called, by
which a large minority in both branches of your legislature, fellow
citizens of Massachusetts, varnished the attempt to deprive you
of your constitutional suffrage, at the approaching election of
President and Vice President. For this was the undoubted real
motive and design in this attempt. They know that if your opinion
should be fully and fairly taken, it would be against their party
measures, party projects, and party candidates. They wished
therefore to drown your voice altogether. It was impossible for
them to give a more convincing proof that their attachment to their
faction overpowers their attachment to the Commonwealth.
In order to set this observation in its true light and to show its
full importance, we must again remark, that if the mode of choos-
ing electors by single districts were established throughout the
Union, Mr. Jefferson and his administration would lose so many
electors, that his re-election would be doubtful in the highest de-
gree. It is at least certain that they dared not make the experi-
ment. For when the amendment to the Constitution which was
carried through Congress last winter to secure the re-election,
Mr. Huger, a warm federalist moved, on the 20th of October, at
the very commencement of the session, as a further amendment
to be sent out to the State legislatures with the other:
"That the State legislatures shall from time to time, divide each
State into districts, equal to the whole number of senators and
representatives from each State in the Congress of the United
States; and shall direct the mode of choosing an elector of President
and Vice President in each of the said districts, who shall be chosen
by citizens having the qualifications requisite for electors of the
most numerous branch of the State legislature; and that the dis-
tricts so to be constituted shall consist, as nearly as may be, of
contiguous territory, and of equal proportion of population, except
where there may be any detached portion of territory, not of it-
self sufficient to form a district, which then shall be annexed to
some other portion nearest thereto; which districts, when so
divided, shall remain unalterable until a new census of the United
States shall be taken."
Here we see this very measure of voting for electors by single
68 THE WRITINGS OF [1S04
districts, proposed as a general measure to operate throughout the
United States. But observe, it was brought forward by a federalist;
for although the legislature of New York had expressly instructed
their senators to propose this very amendment with the other,
those senators had obeyed only one-half their instructions. They
brought forward the discriminating amendment, and passed over
the other in total silence.
Mr. Huger's motion was committed to the same committee who
had the other under consideration, but they did not act upon it at
all; and although Mr. Huger pressed the subject as often as he
could during the session, he never could prevail upon the majority
in the House of Representatives, so much as to discuss his motion;
and on the 2d of March, when he moved that it might be referred
to a committee of the whole, his request, though supported by all
the federal members, was negatived.
I intreat you, fellow citizens, to compare this conduct of the
same faction so nearly at the same time, in the national House of
Representatives, and in your State legislature. The only manner
possible whereby a choice of electors by single districts can be made
to operate fairly and equally throughout the Union, is that it
should be uniformly established. Yet when this is proposed in an
assembly, where Mr. Jefferson's majority is all powerful, a member
of the most respectable character, backed by the instructions of
one of the first legislatures in the Union, is refused even the dis-
cussion of the proposal; and at the same time your own legislature
cannot secure to you the very same advantage, to which Mr.
Jefferson's partisans so tenaciously adhere. Where they hold it,
they cannot place you on the same footing with your Virginian
fellow citizens, without being grossly insulted, and without pro-
tests of your own servants against this your enjoyment of equal
rights.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 69
To an impartial spectator of passing events, the movements of
political factions in a free government are always objects of curious
and interesting speculation. In countries approaching so near a
democracy as these United States, it must ever be the primary ob-
ject for the leaders of party to court the favor of the people. There
are two modes of accomplishing this with success; one of which
consists in rendering real service to the public, and the other by
professing extraordinary solicitude for the people, by flattering
their prejudices, by ministering to their passions, and by humoring
their transient and changeable opinions. These two processes for
the attainment of the same object, are scarcely ever combined to-
gether, and as the ambitious and aspiring must universally be
impelled to aim at the end, so the choice of the means takes its
complexion from the individual character of every candidate for
power through popularity. In times of national difficulty and
distress, when the service of the public is a service of danger and of
toil, when deeds are the only test of attachment to the country,
and mere words are estimated at their proper worth, the patriot by
action generally obtains the ascendancy; but in days of peace and
tranquillity, when the duties of public life are little more than a
routine, when honor without peril, and profit without sacrifice is
the result of public employment, then the patriot by profession
takes his turn, and often bears away the palm from his more re-
served and unassuming competitor.
This distinction between the patriot by profession and the patriot
by action could not be better illustrated than in the contrast be-
tween the struggle for a general ticket, upon which in my late
numbers I have animadverted, and the effort of the same party in
opposition to Mr. Ely's motion. We have seen on the former occa-
sion great professions of regard for the people. We have seen a
1 The Repertory, November 6, 1804. The subject of this paper is more fully treated
in the remarks delivered, or intended to be delivered, in the Senate when the in-
structions of the State of Massachusetts were laid before that body. See p. 87,
infra.
70 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
minority in the legislature undertaking to say that the people pre-
ferred election by districts, because they preferred it themselves,
and formally assigning this preference of the people, as one of the
conclusive reasons for their's, when the people had never mani-
fested, and probably never entertained such a sentiment. This
was patriotism by profession. The protesters take for granted
that the people like their project best, and then make a merit of
advocating it for that reason. When Mr. Ely brought forward his
motion, the object of which was to render the people a real service,
a great and important service, then these flaming wordy patriots
lost all their zeal, and instead of supporting it with that genuine
devotion to the interests of the people, which they had so recently
trumpeted abroad, either slunk from the discharge of their duty,
and their vote as legislators, or attempted to check by insidious
amendment, or by open opposition, a measure of the deepest
moment to the welfare of the people. The reasons upon which are
grounded the instruction for which Mr. Ely moved are so clear, so
strong, and so indisputable, that no direct answer to them has
been attempted either in the legislature, or in the newspaper specu-
lations which have appeared on the subject. The rule of represen-
tation prescribed by the Constitution of the United States is
universally admitted to be unequal^ and when combined with the
practice under the Constitution is oppressive on all the States
holding few or no slaves. At present the people of the United
States consist of two classes. A privileged order of slave-holding
Lords, and a race of men degraded to a lower station, merely be-
cause they are not slave-holders. Every planter south of the
Potomac has one vote for himself, and three votes in effect for
every five slaves he keeps in bondage; while a New England farmer,
who contributes tenfold as much to the support of the government,
has only a single vote. Our share of representation is only pro-
portionate to numbers; their share is in the same proportion of
numbers, and their property is represented besides. At the time
when the Constitution was formed, this provision was submitted
to on the ground that the burden of taxation should be apportioned
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCE ADAMS 71
to the benefit of representation. The experience of fifteen years,
however, has proved the error of these calculations. The expe-
rience of fifteen years has proved that four-fifths of the burdens of
this government must be supported by the States which have no
representation for slaves. The benefit pledged to us as compensa-
tion for inadequate taxation is not secured to us. We are doubly
taxed, and they are doubly represented.
The necessary consequence of this has been the loss of all our
weight and influence in the Councils of the Union. It is a fact well
ascertained that this excess of southern representation decided the
fate of the last election for President and Vice President of the
United States; the same event must inevitably follow every contest
in which the interests of the North and those of the South shall be
at variance. While the present system of representation continues,
an even balance in the national councils must not be expected.
The slave representation, like the sword of Brennus, will forever
be thrown into the Southern scale, and must forever make our's
kick the beam.
In a moral and political view, this representation of slaves is
alike objectionable. The number of those miserable beings al-
ready existing in some States is such as to occasion the most serious
alarm in all humane and thinking minds. Mr. Jefferson has said
that the populace of large cities no more add strength to the body
politic, than sores to the body natural. If this comparison be just
the slaves of our southern neighbors are abscesses of the deepest
and most dangerous matter to our national body. Instead of
strength they are distemper, deadly distemper, which if it cannot
be eradicated, ought at least not to be fostered and stimulated.
By allowing representation for slaves, we encourage and reward
the infamous traffic of human flesh; and accordingly we find that
although at one period this traffic was prohibited in all our States,
yet the temptation to allow it has already overpowered every other
consideration in South Carolina, and she has opened all her ports
to that disgraceful trade.
It will not be necessary at this day to prove that in the eye of
72 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
morality this purchase and sale of man is criminal. The laws of
the United States have long since declared it so, and as such it is
prohibited to every citizen of the United States on the severest
penalties. Thus the Constitution instigates and urges the South-
ern States to that which the laws punish as a crime. It makes the
highest privilege of freemen the purchase of accumulated slavery.
It says to the Northern and navigating States, you shall not trade
in slaves. If you do, your ships and their cargoes shall be confis-
cated, your estates shall be ruined by fines, and your persons shall
be buried in dungeons; and at the same breath it says to the
Southern States, deal in slaves, multiply the fetters of your bond-
age, and for every five victims of avarice and cruelty, you import
within your territories, you shall have an increase of three votes
towards composing the legislative and executive authorities of the
nation. For in the very same act it offers a bounty to one citizen,
while it brandishes the scourge over another. Can anything be
more inhuman? Can anything be more absurd?
Thus in whatever point of view we contemplate this provision
in the Constitution, whether as moralists, as politicians, or as citi-
zens, it calls aloud for amendment. Yet in the legislature of
Massachusetts itself were found men who made the most formal
and pointed opposition against a fair and constitutional attempt
to obtain this amendment. And what were the arguments they
alleged? They were worthy of the cause in which they were ad-
vanced.
They said, that it might perhaps give offense to Virginia and the
slave-holding States, and thus endanger the existence of the
Union.
But surely propositions of amendment to the Constitution can
give no offense to those States whose most influential characters
have been and still are clamorous for amendments much more
calculated to strike at the existence of the Union; who are con-
tinually telling us that the Constitution not only permits, but in-
vites proposals of amendment; who have just accomplished one
which they deemed essential to the increase of their own power;
i804] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 73
and who have announced their determination tc accomplish others,
still more contrariant to the principles upon which that compact
was originally settled.
This fear of giving offense by the exercise of an indisputable right,
under the sanction of every inducement which justice, humanity,
and liberty can inspire, is a motive which ought not to be urged
upon freemen. It is an appeal to weakness, a plea to cowardice,
an argument fit only for slaves to utter and to hear. It discovers a
mind prepared for every degree of submission. It is language of
a negro driver on a plantation, to the wretches who tremble under
his lash; but it can find no accessible corner in the heart of a New
England farmer.
The pretense of danger to the Union cannot be credited by those
who raise it. The amendment, when proposed in Congress, will
be adopted or rejected. If adopted, it will have a greater tendency
to cement and perpetuate the Union than anything that has
occurred since the adoption of the Constitution itself. If rejected,
its friends will undoubtedly submit to the constitutional decision,
and wait until the progress of reason shall produce a state of things
more favorable to the purposes of justice. Of the seventeen States
there are only five whose representation is increased by the slaves
they hold. Twelve States, therefore, have a permanent and de-
cisive interest, which must unite them eventually in wiping away
this national scandal. 1 Of the five whose number of members
would be reduced by the amendment, Georgia would lose but one
member, and North Carolina only two. The relative weight of
these two States would, therefore, rather be raised than depressed
by the exchange, and their interest will concur with that of the
twelve. Even in Virginia, the inhabitants beyond the mountains,
who constitute a majority of the freemen in that Commonwealth,
would gain rather than lose in their proportion of the representa-
tion; so that when once the voice of solid and undeniable interest,
concurring with those of honor and Republican principle, shall
1 In his remarks in the Senate he altered the numbers to seven slave and ten
non-slave-holding States.
74 THE WRITINGS OF [ l8o4
cease to be stifled by the deafening din of party spirit, there can be
no doubt but that the amendment will prevail. This consideration
will naturally lead the friends of the measure to pursue it at once
with temper and perseverance. Persuaded that the Union is the
first of political blessings to every part of these States, they will
never be inclined to hazard it for any subordinate consideration;
at the same time, assured that the more firmly its foundations are
fixed on the foundations of freedom and equal rights, the more solid
and durable will be the fabric, they will not relax their mild but
determined exertions until the honorable object for which they
contend shall be attained.
But it was asserted that when the Constitution was debated in
the State convention this very article was warmly advocated by
the most distinguished characters in that body, who advocated its
adoption.
It must be remembered that the Constitution was then an un-
tried experiment; every one of the important States in the Union
was divided almost equally on the propriety of adopting it at all.
In the Massachusetts convention the vote of adoption was carried
only by a majority of eighteen in three hundred and seventy mem-
bers. Those who on the main question were for the rejection of the
instrument, of course, raised every possible objection of detail
which their ingenuity could devise; and they who conceived it of
the utmost importance upon the whole that it should be adopted
were often called upon to justify or palliate sections which sepa-
rately considered might have been highly objectionable to them-
selves. How the government would operate in practice was neces-
sarily conjectural; and they whose hopes were chiefly founded upon
the result of the whole system, naturally became sanguine in their
expectation of advantages from particular parts.
The ground upon which this paragraph was supported by the
federalists in the Massachusetts convention was that it sanctioned
the principle of making representation and taxation go hand in
hand. The objections against it were that the negroes would not
be taxed enough for this proportion, and it was compared with the
iSo 4 j JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 75
mode established in the old confederation of raising quotas in pro-
portion to the lands surveyed and improvements. The inequality
of representation resulting from this article was not foreseen; no
objection of that nature was raised. It has risen from the non-
execution of that part of it which favors us — the taxation, while
the part which favors our Southern States, the representation, is
carried into full effect. Both parties took it for granted that as we
should be represented, so should we be taxed. The practice of the
Constitution has proved otherwise. In the course of fifteen years
the direct tax has been resorted to only once, and then was paid
ineffectually, or not at all, by the slave-holding States. The
treasury has not received a dollar of this tax from South Carolina
or Georgia, and several others of those States are great defaulters
in that payment.
This amendment then, thus reasonable in itself, thus urged by
every moral and political consideration, and thus required by the
unequivocal interest of a proportion of those States abundantly
sufficient to carry it through, can be resisted effectually only by
the operation of a single cause; the undue influence of the national
executive. The President of the United States belongs to that part
of the State of Virginia which, by the effect of the iniquitous mode
of representation now established, sends at least two representa-
tives to Congress, where upon principles of equal rights, they ought
to send but one. His personal and local interests are, of course, in
opposition to the proposed amendment, and there is no doubt but
all his influence will be exerted against it. If we judge of the party
which now governs this Union by their acts, it will appear that their
whole political system centres in personal attachment to him and
his views, while on the other part his system consists in substituting
them instead of the nation. The destruction of the judiciary in-
dependence; the persevering system of turning out honest men
from office to introduce partisans in their place; and the amend-
ment to the Constitution, carried through with such extreme
precipitation, and at such heavy expense to the people of this
country, for the sole purpose of securing his re-election, are all
76 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
explained by this solution, and can be explained by no other. It is
this consideration which makes it of the utmost importance to the
people of Massachusetts to mark the conduct of that faction here.
Let us not deceive ourselves with fallacious hopes. So long as a
formidable party among ourselves shall oppose our restoration to
equal rights, we shall certainly never obtain it. They who derive
the benefit from exclusive privileges will not readily relinquish
them; and while the cause of freedom is paralyzed by defection in
its own ranks, it can meet with nothing but defeat.
An anxious concern for the liberties and interests of my fellow
citizens has been the sole inducement to these remarks, which I
shall now bring to a conclusion. On three important occasions in
the legislature of the State, we have seen the leaders of a party
running counter to the manifest and momentous interest of the
State. It was conceived an injunction of public duty to show:
First, that the arguments and pretended facts alleged for this
strange dereliction of principle were not founded in truth; and
secondly, that those party leaders were under the influence of
certain partial and personal inducements, different from, and in
opposition to, the interests of their constituents. The singularity
of their conduct necessarily led to an investigation of its motives,
and the discovery of the motives furnishes a clear elucidation of
the conduct. It is with the most cordial satisfaction I have ob-
served, that on every one of those occasions, many individuals of
the party in the House of Representatives refused to go the lengths
to which the leaders would have impelled them. The motion of a
panegyric on Mr. Jefferson was hence withdrawn. The insult
upon the majority of the legislature was disavowed by many of
those who in an unguarded hour had signed it; and on the final
question upon Mr. Ely's motion, the small number of those who
dared to vote against it was a proof that all were not equally pre-
pared to abandon their country, to please their patron. I am sorry
to have seen no such signs of compunction in the minority of the
Senate. To those who thus staggered at the sacrifice of duty re-
quired of them, and started back from the threshold of guilt to
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 77
which they had been drawn, the present recess of the legislature
gives a favorable opportunity for the reflection. Let us fervently
hope that they will see the precipice into which interested and art-
ful men have been struggling to push them, and by their future
conduct will prove that they are determined to pursue the path
of their duty, and cling to the true interest of their country.
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, 3 November, 1804.
Dear Sir:
• •••...
Since my arrival here I have called upon the President,
who had some conversation with me respecting the conduct
of the British frigates on our coast during the course of the
last summer, and respecting the trade of arms and ammuni-
tion principally carried on from New York to St. Domingo.
He said nothing relative to the controversies with Spain as
to the murmurs of Louisiana. 1
As to the British frigates there is no official information
of that disapprobation by the British government upon the
conduct of their officers, which has been announced in the
newspapers. Nor does it appear that the captains of the
Cambrian and Leander, or either of them, have been re-
called. 2 But they have not given any recent cause of com-
plaint, and by the letters from Mr. Monroe the ministry give
him perfect satisfaction upon every representation made by
him on the subject. The conduct of their ships and officers
in the European seas is also generally such as is satisfactory
1 See Jefferson's Message to Congress, November 8, 1804, and bill sent to Ran-
dolph, in Writings of Jefferson (Ford), VIII. 323, 333. Also American State Papers,
Foreign Relations, II. 606.
2 Writings of James Madison (Hunt), VII. 156.
78 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
to him. The disposition of the present Ministry is also very
amicable.
The trade from New York to St. Domingo is a subject of
grievous complaint to the French Minister, 1 who perempto-
rily demands that our government should interfere to sup-
press it. The blacks give such excessive prices for arms and
ammunition, that general merchants in New York have
fitted out, and are still fitting out, vessels to send them these
articles; in some instances they have armed the ships in force
sufficient to force their way through in case of attack by the
French privateers. Mr. Jefferson thinks that on the return
of any of these armed vessels, if they should have fought
with a French privateer and killed one of her men, our
judges ought to hang every man on board the American ves-
sel for murder. He draws his inference from the common
law principle, that homicide committed in support of an un-
lawful act is murder. But common law rules should not
be applied to the objects which essentially belong to the
laws of nations. I questioned the accuracy of his argument,
but asked him why the government had not interposed to
prevent the arming of these vessels at New York. He said
the law would not bear them out in such interference, though
he admitted it had been done at an early period of the late
war. This he first said was by virtue of a temporary law; but
afterwards recollecting himself said it had been done with-
out a law, and submitted to. But that had it been contested,
the authority of the government would not have been sup-
ported for the measure. Hence I conclude we shall have a
law for such an authority at the approaching session.
I have seen General Wilkinson, who has taken a house here
to reside during the session. I imagine he waits for an an-
swer from you to his letter. His power to prescribe round
Louis-Marie Turreau de Linieres (1756-1816).
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 79
heads to his officers is denied at the War office, and, therefore,
the court-martial on Major Butler hangs heavily upon him.
Colonel Burrows is also here, and I hear has fully and honor-
ably settled his accounts. But his health is very low.
I am, etc.
TO JOHN ADAMS
[November, 1804.]
My Dear Sir:
I have been happy to receive your obliging favor of the
14th instant, and much obliged to you for your opinions
respecting the points of maritime law, which require our
attention at this time. A coincidence of your opinion with
that of the President of the United States would be more
than enough to stagger me in any point upon which I should
have formed a different one. It makes me, therefore, pecu-
liarly mistrust that which I entertain on this subject. The
President's position was that our judges ought to hang Amer-
ican citizens who should have committed homicide in re-
sisting the execution of French revenue laws in the West
Indies. And he gave to support his reasoning the common
law principle, that homicide committed in support of an
unlawful act is murder. In this opinion you say he was
right. I can only reply what I replied to him: That I had al-
ways considered it as a settled maxim that no nation takes
notice of the revenue or colonial laws of another nation; and
therefore that our judges could not hang Americans in the
case he put, for homicide in support of acts which to our
judges were not unlawful. I have, however, even believed
that in these cases of contraband, unless the French judges
should violate the universal usage of nations, they themselves
could not hang our people for homicide in such a case —
either as murder or as piracy. It is an act sui generis —
80 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
forcing a contraband trade by foreign subjects. And persons
taken even after fighting and killing to force their way in
such cases are punishable neither for murder nor piracy, but
for supporting contraband by violence. I know very well
that such transactions have sometimes produced wars be-
tween nations; but I never yet heard of an instance in which
the common law maxim, that homicide in support of tres-
pass was murder, has ever been adopted into the laws of na-
tions as relating to forcible contraband trade by foreign sub-
jects. There appears to me to be very cogent reasons why
the principle ought not to apply; and as far as my recollec-
tion serves it is in practice never made to apply. It may
perhaps resemble that stipulation in almost all the commer-
cial treaties, that if a subject of either party shall take a
commission against the other from a third power, and be
taken, he shall be punished as a pirate. Now pirates, as you
justly observe, are punished with death; and yet I have al-
ways understood that by the universal usage of nations,
that offence by positive stipulation made punishable like
piracy, is not punishable with death. I have consulted the
British statutes which you mention respecting the trial and
punishment of piracy, but they do not seem to me at all to
settle the question. For in all instances where they speak
specifically, they mention hostilities by British subjects
against other British subjects; seeming in some sort thereby
to make the distinction between them and foreigners for
which I contend. Besides none of these statutes seem to
contemplate cases of forcible contraband; nor do I find any-
thing in the books holding this up as piracy. I shall be very
glad to read over again Judge Marshall's speech in the
House of Representatives on the case of the pirate and
murderer Nash. 1 I recollect it perfectly well, having read it
* Annals of Congress, 6th Cong., 596.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 81
with much pleasure as published at the time when it was
delivered. But this case stands again on different grounds.
I have no doubt as to the nature of Nash's offence.
It is indeed very apparent that popularity bears a strong
resemblance to the itch by its contagion, and the President,
who has himself enough of the itch of popularity, may con-
gratulate himself upon its wide spread in Massachusetts. I
consider the revolution there as completed, and that in the
spring both our executive and legislature will pass into other
hands and other principles. What the new principles will
be, may be inferred from the character of the future chief
magistrate, and the experience we have had of the conse-
quences attending similar changes in the other states. Their
tendency will be to corrupt public opinions and to introduce
much injustice and oppression. But the national prosperity
appears to be very little affected by all these party over-
throws. It is in the season of the harvest that the pernicious
effects of the weeds sowed in spring are felt.
We have hitherto done here nothing or next to nothing.
But such idleness is better than the activity which will prob-
ably succeed. There are three deputies from New Orleans
arrived, 1 but they have not yet presented their remonstrance.
I have read a French pamphlet published in that country,
containing a detail of their grievances, and our sovereigns
here begin to think that forcing laws upon a people, in a
language of which they are ignorant, and sending them
officers who can neither understand them nor be understood
by them, is a little incongruous for the most enlightened
people upon earth. My expectation is that the system to be
adopted will pass from one extreme to the other, and that
the next step will be to admit them by act of Congress into
the Union as a State, and empower them to make their own
1 Pierre Sauve, Pierre Derbigny and Jean Noel Destrehan.
82 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
Constitution. There is a probability favorable to any plans
other than that which appears the right one, to your faithful
and affectionate.
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, ii December, 1804.
My Dear Sir:
I received together last evening your two favors of 30th
ultimo and 2nd instant, for which I most sincerely return
you my thanks. In the dreary path which I am now com-
pelled to tread, it is cheering to the spirits and gives the most
pleasing consolation to have occasionally the benefit of your
correspondence. What the issue of the election in Massa-
chusetts will be on the harmony of the ruling party, I do not
venture to conjecture; but that it has already sunk the in-
fluence of New England, low as it was before, I have suffi-
cient evidence to be satisfactory to my own mind. The
choice of Parson Bentley T as chaplain to the House of Repre-
sentatives at the commencement of this session will show
you what is held out to the New England members as proofs
of their weight in the councils of the Union, and what they
are willing to accept as such. I think this favor must content
them for the present session. The claimants of the Georgia
lands must go home again reinfecta, for there appears to me
from all the symptoms yet discovered much less chance for
them this session, than there was last winter. But I presume
Air. Morton 2 gets well compensated by his fellow-claimants
for his yearly visits to the seat of government, and if he is
not successful in the pursuit of their interests, he may perhaps
1 William Bentley, of Salem. See Diary of William Bentley, III. 125.
2 Perez Morton, one of the agents for claimants of lands lying south of Tennessee
and west of Georgia.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 83
eventually obtain some consolation and indemnity for the
injury to his own. He has not yet been appointed to the
office that I have heard of, but this morning the Senate
have consented to and advised the appointment of Benjamin
Austin, junior, to the office of Commissioner of Loans for
the State of Massachusetts. This subject of appointments
in Senate has undergone a great revolution since you pre-
sided here. In all possible cases provisional appointments
are made during the recess, so that when the Senate meet, the
candidates proposed to their consideration are already in
possession of the offices to which they are to be appointed.
The forms of deliberation are however tenaciously adhered
to, and with some degree of affectation. Nomination lists
are postponed from time to time, without any other reason
for postponement, and when acted upon the candidates reg-
ularly receive from the Senators of their state a panegyric
usually very highly charged. To this course of proceeding
I have never known any exception, but in two or three in-
stances from federal members, on the ground of objections
against the moral characters of the candidates. And the
only effect of such objections has been to take the vote by
yeas and nays, when in every such instance all the members
excepting the federalists have voted for the persons excepted
against. I have uniformly borne testimony in favor of the
candidates of Massachusetts, when I knew them, and could
honestly do it independent of all considerations of politics.
And especially in the instances of Henry Warren and of
Mr. Bowdoin. 1 In all other cases I have been silent when
I could; for experience had shown me that to object infamy
of character against a man would be a sure means of securing
about three votes in four upon record in his favor. This
silence has been from the same motive become so habitual
1 James Bowdoin (1752-1811), minister to Spain.
84 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
with all the minority, that the ruling party seem to be a
little uneasy under it. This morning on going into the
nomination list, the first appearance was that it would go
through without any comment, excepting the little prettiness
of postponing some half dozen names for further informa-
tion — to be eulogized the next time they are taken up. But
after getting on some way Mr. Franklin, 1 a very scrupulous
gentleman, rose and said these were very important appoint-
ments, and he did not like to act upon them without some
testimony from members who could bear it, and particularly
from the members of the states to which the candidates be-
longed. Bye and bye came the name of Benjamin Austin,
junior. Profound silence for some minutes. At last I rose
and said that "I knew Mr. Austin, but could say nothing
of him." Upon which Mr. Ellery, 2 of Rhode Island, rose
and said, Mr. Austin was a man of very great abilities and a
most respectable character. He sat down and Benjamin
Austin, junior, was appointed nemine contradicente, just as
he would have [been], if Mr. Franklin had been less anxious
for testimony from the Senators of the states where the
candidates belonged.
In making and reiterating the request that you would
commit to writing memoirs of your own life, I did not ex-
pect that it would consist of recollections altogether pleasing.
I am well aware that the pictures both of men and events,
which your unalterable regard to truth would often render
necessary, must be marked with very dark shades. But such
must be the fate of every man who distinguishes himself in
any eminent manner among his fellow men; and I was and
remain decided in the opinion, that a work of this kind from
you would be extremely useful both to your family and your
1 Jesse Franklin (1760-1823) of Virginia.
2 Christopher Ellery (1768-1840).
1804.] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 85
country. I am persuaded from the vigor and accuracy of
your judgment, neither vanity nor disappointment would
suffer you to misrepresent or mistake any material part of
the narrative, and that you would always have a due control
over all the natural instigations of self-complacency and im-
portance, which must continually occur to a man writing of
himself. As to the exhibition in their nakedness of other
eminent men, it is one of the principal reasons for which I
wished you to write; I am sure you will treat them all with
perfect candor; that you will do them honorable and impar-
tial justice. But I am also sure that you will make them
known to us in their real colors, stripped of all their disguises
in which their own arts or the hopes or fears of others have
arrayed them. I intreat you to reconsider this subject, and
hope you will comply with my request. The plan of the
work may be suited to your own convenience, and com-
pressed into a small or dilated to a voluminous extent as you
please.
The bill for the preservation of peace in the ports and
harbors has met with much investigation in the House of
Representatives, and has not yet come to us — twice re-
committed to the reporting committee, and yet laboring.
There is also another bill for establishing an Admiralty
Court in the Mediterranean which it appears to me calls
for much consideration. This, and the other bills in embryo,
which I have regularly forwarded for my brother, will show
that the other House have got seriously engaged in business,
which is yet very languishing with us.
Another appointment this morning — William Lyman of
Massachusetts, Consul at London. He was appointed about
a fortnight ago Surveyor and Inspector at New Orleans; but
it seems the climate of England suits him better than that
of Louisiana. General Smith this morning declared that
86 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
unless some member of the Senate would testify to Mr.
Lyman's competency for this office, he should vote against
him, for it was an important office and ought to be well
filled. Upon which Mr. Lyman's panegyric was pronounced
by Messrs. Giles, Mitchill and Bradley, perfectly to General
Smith's satisfaction. Smith had served several years in the
House with Lyman, and it seems in all that time did not dis-
cover his merits. Mr. Giles had been more penetrating; for
he alleged that very circumstance as the only basis of his
knowledge; and now though Smith was so far from being
satisfied with his own observations at that time, that he was
determined to vote against this able man, unless somebody
would give him a certificate of character, he readily takes
upon trust Mr. Giles' certificate founded on the same prin-
ciples from which Smith himself had drawn so different a
conclusion. So you see nobody can be appointed without a
puff, just fit for a newspaper obituary.
The French Minister, General Turreau, has called upon
me. His family has not yet arrived. The President com-
plains that he glitters too much with gold lace, and hopes in
time to get him down to a plain frock coat. The Legion of
Honor has a bauble at the buttonhole so closely resembling
the old Croix de St. Louis, that it requires an opera glass to
discover the difference between them. The President told
me that the best thing which could now happen to the
French nation would be to recall the old family III and take
up the Constitution of 1791. For that although that con-
stitution made the government too weak 11 and was defective
in having a legislature in one branch! yet even that would
be better than the present unlimited domination. I hope
he does not talk so to any body who will carry his words to
the Emperor Napoleon.
Ever affectionately yours.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 87
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION ON
REPRESENTATION *
[December, 1804.]
The proposition submitted by my colleague to the consideration
of the Senate, conformably to the instructions of our immediate
constituents, the Legislature of Massachusetts, is, I am sensible,
of such a nature that it cannot be expected to be received by this
body with unanimous approbation. It would doubtless be a more
agreeable task, both to him and to me, were it in the compass of our
power to introduce and advocate any measure of important benefit
to all the people of the United States, and in support of which we
might reasonably calculate upon every vote in this and the other
House of Congress. But if this unanimity would be an idle ex-
pectation upon almost any question which can be brought before
us; if it were a more than idle expectation upon almost any question
of the magnitude and importance of this; preeminently vain and
absurd would be the hope of such unanimity, on a question against
which we have to contend with the local interests, and exclusive
privileges of a powerful and respectable portion of the Union.
But it is in the unalterable nature of things that every public
measure of great importance should, in some degree, differently
affect the partial interests and feelings of the different parts of the
nation. Our association consists of constituent parts, whose super-
ficial interests are not only variant but often opposite to each
other. The seamen of your seaports would naturally say the monies
raised upon the hard earnings of our industry ought to be exclu-
sively appropriated to our benefit. But perhaps in another quarter
might be found very respectable citizens who would think a sea-
man's fund collected at Baltimore or Philadelphia a very proper
1 From a MS. in the Adams Mss. The amendment was that described as Ely's
motion in the newspaper article, page 69, supra. These remarks were to be de-
livered in the Senate, but it is doubtful if an opportunity offered, as they are not
mentioned in the Annals of Congress for this session. See Adams, Memoirs,
December 3, 4, 7, 1804; Ames, Proposed Amendments to the Constitution, 45.
88 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
object of application for the support of the common town paupers
elsewhere. Is the revenue from the post office to be appropriated
to the improvement of the roads? The merchant who pays the
postage would deem it reasonable that it should go to ameliorate
the roads and accelerate the communication of that correspondence
which furnishes the money. But a holder of wild-lands, wishing
a road through the desert made at any cost but his own, will come
and with the acuteness of a metaphysician will show, that postage
is not a tax but a compensation for a service rendered; that gov-
ernment has a right to insist upon rendering this service and upon
being paid its own price for it; and if it can thus raise money from
one citizen, it has a right equally clear and indisputable to bestow
it upon another. The merchant perhaps may not feel the force
of this reasoning, but what can he do? What can he do? What he
does. Pay his postage, and hear of roads opened through the
wilderness.
But we have all a deep a permanent and a paramount interest in
Union. It is to reconcile these conflicting interests, to harmonize
these jarring elements that our common Constitution was estab-
lished, and for this our government should be administered. The
Constitution itself was, as all acknowledge, the result of com-
promise and mutual concession. The alterations in it which may
be rendered necessary from time to time, and the administration
of the laws under it, ought then to be distinguished by the same
spirit. If, therefore, any part of the Constitution is found by ex-
perience to bear with peculiar hardship upon one part of the
nation; or to be impracticable in its execution, or unjust and im-
moral in its necessary consequences; or by the lapse of time and by
events that have happened subsequent to its formation rendered
improper and oppressive, they who suffer under its operation are
fully authorized by the Constitution itself to ask for an alteration,
and may reasonably hope from the justice of their sister states
that their complaints will be heard and their wrongs redressed,
though some other partial local or momentary interest should
stand arrayed against their claims.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 89
It is on these solid grounds that the legislature of Massachusetts
solicit a revisal and amendment of that part of the Constitution
which prescribes the proportion of representation in the other
house of Congress, allowed to the respective states. It is the belief
of that legislature that the ratio of representation as at precent
established is:
1. Burdensome in its operation on far the greatest part of the
Union;
2. Unjust, immoral and impolitic in its necessary consequences;
3. That events subsequent to the adoption of the Constitu-
tion have made and are daily making it more and more objec-
tionable;
4. And that it has been found by experience impracticable in its
execution.
I. In examining the principle upon which this ratio of representa-
tion is founded, we shall find it contains within itself an essential
source of discord and not of harmony; it professedly makes num-
bers the measure of representation. But numbers of what? Of free
inhabitants? This would undoubtedly be upon the principles of
pure republicanism, the only answer to the question, and would to
God this were the answer we could make. No, sir. The answer
must be double — for one portion of the Union, numbers of free
inhabitants; and for another portion of the Union, numbers of
slaves, cut up into fractions and mingled with the numbers of their
masters. Here then to form the immediate representatives of the
people, the people themselves are divided into two classes, and
those who hold slaves are invested with exclusive privileges, denied
to those who are only independent freemen. Such is the real
meaning of the paragraph of which we propose the repeal, though
expressed in circumlocutions, as if the Constitution was ashamed
or afraid to speak in plain terms its own meaning. At the present
moment the delegation from ten of those states in the House of
Representatives is composed of members chosen by the numbers
of free inhabitants. The representations to which the numbers of
slaves contribute are sent from only seven states. Those seven
9 o THE WRITINGS OF [1804
states then possess the advantage of a double representation, to the
manifest detriment and injury of the other ten.
Such a mode of representation is therefore unjust, inasmuch as
it is unequal. It is unjust, because it establishes inequality of
rights, and of the rights the most precious in the sight of freemen
between fellow citizens of the same community. It is also an in-
equality in the highest degree immoral and impolitic. Its immoral-
ity is derived from its conferring the first of political privileges upon
the basis of the greatest outrage on the rights of mankind. The
immorality of slavery itself has been so clearly proved by the in-
vestigation of numerous writers in modern ages, that even those
who exercise that dominion over their fellow men have themselves
generally admitted that it is an offence against the laws of nature
and of God. And yet our present mode of representation, by mak-
ing the numbers of slaves a component part of the right to vote,
holds out a strong and, as we plainly see, an irresistible temptation
to those states which allow slavery, to increase and multiply as
much as possible the number of these unhappy beings. To set this
argument in a clearer light, let us only for a moment consider the
inconsistency between this part of your Constitution and the laws
of the country. The Constitution, as has already been remarked,
holds out a reward to the slave-holding states for every additional
slave they import. It promises them for every five thousand
negroes introduced from Africa, three thousand and more votes
added to them for electing a member of Congress, and a President
and Vice President of the United States. It is giving them a
bounty, a high and most alluring bounty, upon the importation of
slaves, and so careful is the Constitution to secure the right of
claiming this bounty, that it has expressly denied to Congress the
power of prohibiting such importations prior to the year 1808.
Such is the language of the Constitution. But what is the language
of the laws?
By an act of Congress passed on the 22nd of March, 1794, every
citizen of the United States, or person residing within the same, is
prohibited from fitting out, building, owning, equipping, loading
1804] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 91
or otherwise preparing any ship or vessel within the United States,
for the purpose of carrying on any trade or traffic in slaves to any
foreign country, on penalty of the forfeiture of the ship and a for-
feiture of two thousand dollars. And if any citizen of the United
States receives slaves on board a vessel for the purpose of such
traffic, he forfeits $200 for every person so received.
By another act passed 10 May, 1800, every citizen of the United
States is forbidden, directly or indirectly, to hold any rights or
property in any vessel employed in such traffic, on penalty of the
forfeiture of all such property, and of double the value of it besides,
and double the value of his interest in the slaves. Every citizen
for merely serving on board a vessel employed in such traffic is
made liable to $2,000 fine and two years' imprisonment.
Now, sir, upon what principle is it, that all this burden of pen-
alties, forfeitures, fines and imprisonment, is inflicted upon our
citizens, for merely having an interest in this trade, or contributing
to it by personal service? Abstracted from its inherent and indel-
ible immorality which, God forbid, I should ever attempt to
justify; but abstracted from that, it is a traffic of the most lucrative
nature, a traffic which might advantageously employ the industry
and enterprise of great numbers of our citizens, a branch of trade
in which the balance would be all of clear profit to our country, a
traffic which at all events will be carried on by other trading na-
tions, and on which all our pains and penalties can have no other
effect than to secure to those other nations all the advantages from
which we exclude our own citizens? Upon what principle, I say,
can all this tempest of indignation against a most profitable com-
merce be founded, in a nation so essentially commercial as ours,
but upon the consideration that the trade itself is, and ever must
be, a heinous crime in the sight of God, and therefore ought to be
so in the sight of man? Let us suppose, sir, that an impartial and
philosophical foreigner, with the example and the profound pene-
tration of a Montesquieu, should take up our statute book with a
view to discover in it the spirit of our laws. Suppose him first to
examine the Constitution, and see with what jealous and inflexible
92 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
care the right of trafficking in slaves is reserved to one part of the
Union, and guarded even against the general authority of the na-
tion. Then imagine him to remark the high reward offered for the
increase of this trade, to observe that the slave traders had stipu-
lated for an increase of their dearest political privileges in exact
proportion to the energy and vigor with which they should drive
this trade. I ask not what his own moral feelings would inspire into
his mind, but as to the character of the people who inserted such
articles into their social compact, would he not draw from it as an
irresistible inference that the slave trade was an object of darling
affection to that people? Then let him cast his eyes over the two
statutes, the substance of which I have just now stated. Let him
reflect upon the enterprising commercial genius of the nation,
upon the peculiar allurements of the commerce itself, and how will
he account for the pointed detestation and abhorrence with which
it is prescribed? Could such a man enter this hall, would he not
call upon us for an explanation of this strange inconsistency be-
tween our Constitution and our laws; between the charter under
which we act, and our acts under the charter? Should we attempt
to justify the provision of the Constitution, would not his finger
pointed to the laws reduce us to silence? Should we presume to
account for the laws from the criminality of that which they forbid,
would he not by a glance at the Constitution put us all to the
blush? Would he not say, if the slave trade is criminal, why have
you placed it under such extraordinary protection? If innocent,
why have you put it under such a bitter anathema? The spirit of
the laws should be consistent in right or in wrong. But you have
taken the greatest pains to pronounce your own condemnation,
and have made your own laws the severest stigma upon your own
Constitution. But if a speculative observer must be struck with
wonder at this glaring inconsistency in our national code, would he
not be as much surprised at the inequality of condition under
which these contradictory regulations place the different sections
of the Union? He would perceive that the slave trade, with all its
evils and all its guilt, is possessed of the two advantages which
1804] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 93
peculiarly recommend it to certain passions of the human heart.
To the southern planter it furnishes hands for the cultivation of his
soil. And to the eastern merchant and seaman it furnishes em-
ployment for shipping and commercial capital. To both it is a
source of wealth but under different circumstances. The planter
derives no benefit from the trade until the slaves are landed upon
our shores. The merchant's profits are limited to their purchase
in Africa and their transportation over the seas. The benefit to
one interest ceases where the other begins. In restraining the trade
of slaves to foreign countries the slave owners in this country
make no sacrifice; on the contrary their pecuniary interest may be
promoted by its interdiction. For if it were fostered by a premium,
they are not a seafaring people and could not share in the profits.
And by obstructing the sale of slaves to other countries they may
perhaps obtain a more abundant and cheaper supply for them-
selves. This is the only point of view in which the seeming incon-
sistencies between the laws and the Constitution can be removed.
Both tend to favor the interests of the slave owners among our-
selves. Both tend to depress the interests of the rest. The lan-
guage of the Constitution and laws where combined appears to be
no other than this. We, the slave owners, will suffer nothing to
impede our purchase of slaves to the full extent of our purses and
our credit. And in order to have the market exclusively to our-
selves we will seize, confiscate, fine and imprison without mercy,
for every attempt to carry or sell slaves elsewhere. But surely,
sir, if this be the spirit of our laws, it must be confessed a spirit of
injustice and inequality in the extreme.
Nor is the impolicy of this pointed and invidious encouragement
to the multiplication of slaves within the United States less ap-
parent than its injustice. For the possession of those we have al-
ready, perhaps in the eyes of justice and humanity we might offer
some palliation. I remember that at the last session of Congress a
very respectable member of the house told us, that for a long time
before our Revolution the legislature of Virginia had made unavail-
ing efforts to prohibit the importation of slaves into that colony,
94 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
but that [by] the influence of the dealers in the trade, the Liverpool
merchants, the royal sanction, had always been denied to every
such law. As far then as the evil had been imposed upon us, we
may derive excuse if not justification from that necessity. But
surely we have enough and too many of that description of persons
in our country already. Surely we ought not to give encourage-
ment to a species of population which must ever prove to the na-
tion a burden and not an aid. In the event of a foreign invasion
we cannot expect to see them assume any other character than as
auxiliaries of a foreign foe. In their present condition they are a
secret but deadly enemy in the heart of our own country. They
wait but for the moment when they can have the power of hostility
in their hands. They have all been taught, and incredible as it
would appear, their masters have been the most assiduous in teach-
ing them that slavery is a state of perpetual and inextinguishable
war. That the right of man to liberty is unalienable. That when-
ever they have it in their power, it is their right and their duty to
cancel the bonds of their subjection, and break the chains upon
the heads of their oppressors. That heaven and earth would con-
cur to sanction their insurrection, and that in such a contest the
Almighty has no attribute that could side with us in the cause.
Can it be imagined that these doctrines have been so long and so
zealously inculcated, without winning their way to the hearts of
men so powerfully stimulated by every passion to believe them?
And is it not blindness of the most fatal kind to spur by constitu-
tional temptation this continual augmentation of their numbers?
Do I hear it asserted in answer to all this that the Constitution
has settled these questions? That, as it was an instrument of com-
promise, the representation for slaves was a concession to the South-
ern states. That they held it indispensable for preserving the bal-
ance of power, and that they cannot be expected to surrender an
advantage which was fairly obtained? To this I reply that the
course of events since the formation of the Constitution has given
a peculiar propriety to the change which the legislature of Massa-
chusetts have instructed us to ask. If a double representation was
1804] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 95
necessary to the Southern states to preserve the balance of power
seventeen years ago, it has already become unnecessary by the
relative superiority of increase in their population since that time.
And every argument arising from the necessity of a balance which
then could tend to require an additional share of representation for
those states, must apply with equal force now to induce them to
place themselves on a footing of equality with their sisters. The
rapidity of their growth so far exceeds that of the eastern states,
when combined with the accessions they derive from the western
part of the Union, that independent of their negroes they have now
acquired the ascendancy in the proportion of numbers, and that
ascendancy will become from year to year more decisive. This
was apparently foreseen at the time when the Constitution was
adopted, and the very regulations of the Constitution guarding
against restraints on the importation of slaves, and against direct
taxes on other proportions than those of the census, are evidently
founded on such anticipations. The very stipulation against
changes in these points prior to a given period evince an opinion,
that when the time should have elasped those changes might and
probably would become advisable, as well as the opinion of the
states most interested in the subject that they might, after such
lapse of time, be made with perfect safety to them.
Another consideration upon which the states which have no
slaves or no representation for slaves may reasonably require to
stand on equal ground with the other is the character which our
national administration has given to this Confederation under the
present government. To support the burdens of the government
and for the discharge of the national debt, it was obviously con-
templated at the formation of the Constitution that some other
mode of taxation besides duties of impost and on navigation would
necessarily be resorted to. It has, however, gradually become ex-
clusively the policy of the government to lay the whole load of
taxation upon that single resource. The direct tax, which has but
once been attempted, 1 was found so obnoxious to those very states
1 A direct tax of $2,000,000, imposed under the law of July 14, 1798.
96 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
which on the basis of payment under this tax alone for their negroes
have a double share of representation, that in two of them it has
been found impossible to raise their assessment of it. And the
internal taxes, which contributed heretofore in some degree to the
revenues of the country, have been so dissatisfactory to our present
administration, that they have been all repealed, to heap on the
load of impost, too heavily aggravated before, an additional sum
fully equal to their proceeds. Thus, sir, the whole revenues of the
United States, as far as they are a burden upon the people, are now
collected from the commercial states alone. The ten states which
have no representation for slaves in the councils of the Union, in
the year 1802, the latest of which we have the documents, con-
tributed three-fourths of the net revenue collected by impost, ton-
nage and navigation. And the seven states, whose slaves count
to make members of Congress, contributed only one-fourth. Or to
be more perfectly accurate, the whole amount of net revenue col-
lected from that source throughout the United States was
#8,359,227.96 of which sum $6,103,898.69 was collected in the ten
slaveless states. This is the proportion of taxation and contribu-
tion to the public burdens. Now what is the proportion of repre-
sentation for the same states. They have only seventy-eight
members in the House of Representatives, where the others have
sixty-four, fifteen of whom are added in consequence of the black
population. Thus the same portion of the Union which contributes
in the proportion of three to one, shares the representation largely
in the proportion of seven to six. Should the genuine republican
principle of representation proportioned to the numbers of free in-
habitants be established, the same states, who would thereby lose
fifteen members, would still be highly favored in their portion,
since they would be represented in the ratio of two to three, while
their tribute to the treasury would be only as one to three.
A final and decisive reason, however, which appears to dictate
the change which we request in the Constitution, is that by ex-
perience it has been proved that the provisions of the Constitution
in this article are impracticable of execution. The Constitution
1804] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 97
has here Indissolubly connected together the proportions of direct
taxation and representation; the one of these provisions is made as
the consideration of the other, and indeed the expressions used
are such as to make of both parts only one compounded proposi-
tion. Representation and direct taxation shall be apportioned in
one and the same manner. If one part of the provision then is
found impracticable, the whole must of course be so considered.
The attempt has been made and has failed. A direct tax has once
been assessed, but has never been levied on those very states which
derive the largest accession to the representative part of the regu-
lation from the numbers of their slaves. Hence, as the Constitu-
tion now stands, it bears with fourfold hardship on the states
without representation of slaves. Of all revenues raised on the
Union by indirect taxation three-fourths are levied upon them, and
instead of paying less of direct taxes than their sisters they pay
more. Nay, should such a tax ever again be resorted to they must
expect to pay the whole. For the example of South Carolina and
Georgia has proved that the government has not the power to
raise the tax, where there is an unwillingness to pay it, and such an
example is too alluring not to find multitudes of imitators. I must
be permitted to dwell with a peculiar stress upon this fact; the
non-payment of the direct tax in South Carolina and Georgia has
not been occasioned by their inability. Blest with a mild and
genial climate and a fertile soil, they have always enjoyed the
advantage of producing the articles which constitute the richest
source of our wealth, and within a few years they have added to
their riches the incalculably valuable article of cotton. In our
eastern states the climate is severe, the soil comparatively barren.
Nature treats us like a stepmother, and throws us upon the world
with a double portion of the original curse to which man was
doomed, of earning his bread in the sweat of his brow. Besides
the toils to which we are destined for subsistence, we must submit
to other toils for guarding against the inclemency of the season.
While the Carolinian may bask in the rays of a genial sun nearly
the whole year round, the New Englandman must employ one-half
98 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
of it to preserve himself and his cattle from perishing during the
other. Instead of that luxuriant vegetation which furnishes the
materials for luxurious life, his own lands will not even yield him
bread of a finer grain than the native maize; he must purchase from
the South that first of all articles of subsistence, and depend upon
other climes and regions than his own for the staff of life. The
rapidity and greatness of increase of wealth among the citizens of
South Carolina and Georgia during the last two years has been
a subject of universal notoriety and of general congratulation
throughout the Union; and yet it is in the midst of this unexampled
and unrivalled prosperity that the government has been unable in
those very states to raise a small direct tax, which from the slave-
less states has been exacted to the utmost cent.
To the states whose slaves contribute to their representation
another inducement may be urged for resigning this unequal privi-
lege. By the new acquisition of Louisiana they have an early
prospect of adding another state with its equal number of Senators
in this body, and with a rapidly increasing number of members for
the other branch of the legislature. From the nature of the country
and its innumerable attractions to settlement it may reasonably be
expected that in the course of a few years, instead of one state they
will branch into five or six. All these will of course throw their
whole weight into the scale of that influence which belongs to the
southern section of the Union. This was certainly never contem-
plated at the formation of our national compact, and it will un-
doubtedly suffice to give the states possessing slaves an ascendancy
in the affairs of the country which ought to satisfy them. And
when we consider that the price we are to pay for the purchase of
that country, principal and interest, is already charged upon our
duties of impost and tonnage — upon these very revenues of which
the ten slaveless states furnish three-fourths — it must appear the
most cruel of hardships thus in a manner to lay upon them the
whole burden of acquisition which is to annihilate all their weight
and influence, and to leave their interests wholly at the mercy of
the rest.
1804] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 99
Among the objections which have been made against this meas-
ure it has been said, that the representation for slaves was given
as an equivalent for the equal representation of the states in the
Senate; that it was a concession of the small to the large states;
and in some of the newspaper discussions upon the subject the ad-
vocates of the slavish representation have with some exultation
offered to give up this privilege, on condition that the representa-
tion in the Senate shall be proportioned according to numbers, like
that in the other house. If this argument is offered with sincerity,
it only proves that those who advance it are very bad proficients
in common arithmetic. I speak of its sincerity as problematical,
because every man who has attentively considered our Constitution
must know that equal representation in the Senate was a point
reserved as a sine qua non by the small states, upon which they were
determined to listen to no compromise whatsoever. This and this
alone they insisted upon placing beyond the reach even of a Con-
stitutional amendment. It was the only remnant of their sover-
eignty which they retained under the new government of the
Union, and its equivalent is to be found not in the representation
of slaves, but in the proportionate representation of numbers in the
other house, and in the manner of electing the executive. Now the
principle of representation in proportion is not at all affected by the
amendment which we are instructed to propose, and which my
colleague has offered. Far from infringing upon the principle of
proportion its only object is to establish it upon a fair and equal
basis — to make the numbers of representatives correspond with
the numbers of their constituents.
But a clear proof that the equal representation in the Senate
was not a concession on the part of the slave-holding states to
those who have no slaves is that they themselves, the slave owners,
are the gainers by that very equal representation. A simple process
by the rule of three will show this. Under the rule of equal repre-
sentation in the Senate the ten states without slaves have twenty
members in this body. The seven others have fourteen. Now if
the slavish three-fifths were abolished, and the representation in
ioo THE WRITINGS OF [1804
both houses was proportioned to numbers of free inhabitants; if
the ratio in the Senate were such as to give the ten slaveless states
the same number of members they now have, that is, twenty, the
seven other states would have only twelve, and of course would
lose two members. If they should have fourteen members, their
present number, then the ten states without slaves would have
twenty-two members, and consequently gain two. If the whole
number of senators should be the same as at present, thirty-four,
the proportion would then be of one senator for every one hundred
and twenty-eight thousand souls, which would give to the ten
slaveless states twenty-one, and to the other seven, thirteen sen-
ators; or in other words the former would gain one, and the
latter would lose one of their present numbers of senators. So
that in either view of the subject the loss on the part of the slave
owners, and the gain on the part of the other states, would be of
two members, equivalent to the vote of one whole state.
TO JOHN ADAMS
24 December, 1804.
Dear Sir:
When I expressed a wish in writing to my brother, that
you should purposely dismiss some part of that attention to
the present course of public affairs which I thought con-
tributed much to make your hours unpleasant, I was not
aware that your expectations of change in the politics of a
considerable portion of the States, more favorable to the
real interests and morals of the country, were so sanguine.
As change is the only permanent characteristic feature in our
governments and constitutions, I cannot pretend to dispute
the possibility of such an event. But as change for the worse
has been for many years uniform and unvaried in its progress,
as it still continues with increasing violence and rapidity, and
as I see no source from which a turn towards change of a
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 101
more propitious character can be foreseen with any color of
reason, I cannot say that any of my anticipations are of a
complexion so fair as those which afford you comfort amid
the present lowering aspect of things. I have indeed a
consolation of a different sort. I believe the growth and
prosperity of this country to rest upon such foundations
that all the vices and follies of the people or of their govern-
ments, be they what they may, will not be able to counteract
them. This prosperity which is founded upon our situation
and the course of nature I rely upon with great confidence;
but as much as I depend upon the dispensations of Provi-
dence, just so little is my confidence in the wisdom and virtue
of men.
Hitherto the session of Congress has been remarkable
more for its inactivity than anything else. The object of
principal expectation is the impeachment of Mr. Chase, who
is summoned to make his appearance before the Senate the
second day of next month. The bills for preserving peace
in the ports and harbors, for regulating the clearance of
armed vessels, and for establishing a prize court in the
Mediterranean, have not yet got through the House of
Representatives. They are liable to considerable objection,
and are found upon discussion liable to greater objections
than appear to have been anticipated. I dislike them all
three, though I believe something ought to be done upon
each of the cases to which they apply.
Our proposition for an amendment to the Constitution has
not yet been taken up, and indeed it probably will have no
discussion this session. So many of the state legislatures
have already declared against it, without one instance of
adoption or approbation, not even by Connecticut, that it
would be absurd to spend time in haranguing upon it here.
The time will come when its real merits will meet proper
102 THE WRITINGS OF [1804
investigation. But at present the people of Massachusetts
themselves appear to have disavowed the act of their own
legislature supporting their rights and interests. What
they do not choose to ask, they may rest assured their
neighbors will not be anxious to grant.
General Turreau, the French Minister, is in great distress
on account of his wife, Secretary, and part of his family,
who sailed from Nantes for New York more than three
months ago, and have not been heard of. He has with him
only an aid-de-camp, a young man by name of Mari?i, ap-
parently qualified for certain parts of diplomatic duty to an
extraordinary degree. His department of negotiation must
be intended to be among the ladies. Fashions, amusements,
dress, and everything relating to the bon ton de la societe, he
understands to perfection and descants upon with great
eloquence. He is also a great musical performer, singer and
composer; a soldier, withal, who has fought all the Italian
campaigns with the Emperor, and an Adonis in dress and
manners. He is already quite an intimate in all the musical
families, and of course in ours. I have had conversation
with him on the state of things in his country, and find him
as capable of serious reflection and acute observation upon
subjects of importance as upon trifles.
I have had this morning a little wrestling bout with our
present sovereign, Mr. Giles, who rules without control as
Lord of the ascendant. He has been plunging us from one
absurdity to another, until we had got so deep that it was
impossible to bear it any longer. The history of the morn-
ing's debate would be curious, but too long to detail to you
at present. 1 I moved a very simple and trivial amendment,
which happened to touch upon his most irritable tendon
and brought his majority into great perplexity between the
1 Adams, Memoirs, December 24, 1804.
i8o 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 103
absolute necessity of making the amendment which I pro-
posed, and the equally absolute necessity of avoiding to aid
or abet me in mutiny against his authority. What think
you was the final expedient? The same which Plutarch
tells us was once practised in Athens. You remember, when
a proposition was made by a citizen of an infamous char-
acter (that is, I suppose he was of the minority), Aristides, I
think it was, considered it so useful in itself, but so disgraced
by the introducer, that he moved the same proposition should
be introduced by a respectable citizen. Now in order to make
it possible for the majority to vote for my proposition against
Mr. Giles, General Jackson, and I was much obliged to him
for it, undertook the part of the respectable citizen and
introduced my amendment by a mere variation of phrase,
whereby it carried a large majority. This is the first time
Giles has got a trip this session, and he will not forget it. He
has been very pointed in his civility to me, out of doors, and
in conversation whenever we have met. I am thankful to
him for even this. His power is such that if he should move
my expulsion from the Senate because he does not like my
looks, he would stand a very fair chance of success. But
he has nothing insolent in his manner, which cannot be said
of all his associates.
We have had a proposal to adjourn over this week, but it
did not succeed. We are to meet again on Wednesday.
Yours faithfully.
io 4 THE WRITINGS OF [1805
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, 5 January, 1805.
My Dear Sir:
Mr. Giles continues to be our Director, and in general
meets with little opposition to what he thinks beneficial to
the public service. He has lost much of the vehemence in his
manner which struck me when I first heard him speak in
public, in 1791. And he treats his opponents with a very
pointed civility. I wish his principles had moderated in pro-
portion to his manners.
The Vice President x is treated by his former friends with
a degree of distinction and respect to which he had before
this session long been a stranger. His case is held out as
being eminently entitled to compassion. He seems to be
under a deeper personal obligation to one member of the
Senate 2 than from his situation he ought to be, and the
effect of this obligation is too perceptible on his conduct as
President.
I am, etc.
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, 24 January, 1805.
Though I find it utterly impossible ever to read all these
papers [public documents], yet I feel it an indispensable
duty to peruse with attention the greater part of them, and
some of them require even a larger portion of time than that.
1 Burr.
2 Giles.
i8o 5 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 105
When to this you add the necessary attendance upon my
duty in the Senate, and the part which the same sense of
duty leads me to take in many of its deliberations, I hope
you will acquit me of any neglect arising either from indo-
lence, or from an underestimate of the advantages I derive
from your letters. It is indeed possible that I may indulge
a solicitude too anxious for my personal and political situa-
tion, with respect to the business which comes before Con-
gress. Most of the gentlemen, with whom I must commonly
concur in opinion, seem to think that we may as well discard
in a great degree our concern relative to the public business,
as we can be under no responsibility, and as nothing we can
say or do will ever be of any avail to the service. There
appears to me, however, some danger in this listless abandon-
ment of the affairs of the nation, and if little or no good can
be done by the most assiduous of our exertions, I think we
have the experience that much mischief may be prevented.
Your fundamental principles for pointing out the proper
organization of government, that it is to control and direct
the operations of emulation, I fully believe, and on the theory
of government generally, to judge of the depth and compass
of knowledge, genius and virtue among the statesmen who
have made constitutions for these states, I believe you
could have nothing to wish but a comparison of the Massa-
chusetts constitution with any other that ever has been
made in this country. To this comparative estimate I have
recently been called by having my attention called to the
collection of our constitutions, with relation to a different
subject. The only part of your system upon which a doubt
in my mind remains, is whether the balance, in its most per-
fect state, is so efficacious to control the effects of emulation,
as you suppose.
I have never in my gloomiest moments considered my
106 THE WRITINGS OF [1805
situation as of so trying or severe a nature as was yours
during the whole period of our revolutionary controversy;
but you had the advantage of a great and powerful consola-
tion which totally fails to me, and that was, the honor and
profit which you never failed to derive from your profession.
I have had experience and acquired self-knowledge enough
to be convinced that from my profession neither profit nor
honor will ever derive to me. Not that I reluct at any toil
of mind or body, not being conscious that the dread or aver-
sion of labor is among my deficiencies; but that from both
natural and adventitious circumstances in my composition
and life, the bar is not my element.
We are here in a state of momentary calm, which perhaps
may be the presage of a violent storm. The recession of the
District of Columbia has taken four days debate in the House
of Representatives, and then rejected by a large majority.
The clearance bill entirely renovated will probably come for
discussion again next week. Mr. Crowninshield has also of-
fered a resolution which will furnish materials, if not for leg-
islation, at least for eloquent speeches. On the 4th of next
month is to come on the trial of the impeachment. If this
proceeds, it will probably suspend in a great degree all the
other business of the session. . . .
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, 8 March, 1805.
Dear Sir:
During the last days of the session of Congress which has
just expired, I found it impossible to continue the corre-
spondence which I had previously maintained even so far as
to enclose from day to day the public documents as they were
i8o 5 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 107
printed. From ten o'clock in the morning until seven in the
evening the Senate was constantly in session, with the in-
terval of only half an hour each day for a slight collation,
which the members took at the Capitol itself; and this, to-
gether with a walk of an hour to reach that place, and a walk
of an hour to return from it, scarcely left me the hours of the
night for repose. The scene has now closed. On Sunday
evening last, the 3rd instant, at half past nine o'clock, the
two Houses adjourned without day, and thus terminated a
session which it was high time to bring to an end; a session
which has been the parent of several legislative acts, im-
portant in themselves and promising still more important
consequences. The attention both of Congress and of the
public to these has, however, been almost swallowed up in
the interest and anxiety with which every step of the judicial
transactions, which have engrossed so large a portion of our
time, has been followed and scrutinized. On the subject cf
Mr. Chase's impeachment, until the sentence was pro-
nounced, I felt myself under an obligation to impose absolute
silence upon my pen, and, as far as human infirmity would
admit, upon my tongue. Even now, it is a subject upon
which it would perhaps be most discreet for those who were
called to decide upon the articles to observe a dignified and
unaffected silence. The questions of guilt or innocence as
they affect the man are probably at rest; but the spirit
which impelled to the prosecution, and in which its highest
importance consisted, is so far from being subdued or
abashed, that you will perceive it has burst forth with re-
doubled violence from its defeat, and finding itself baffled
by an unexpected resistance to the stroke it aimed at judicial
independence, has not only taken a more pointed and deadly
aim at that, but coupled it with another blow directed at the
Senate itself. These will probably be the subject of future
108 THE WRITINGS OF [1805
contestation, and may perhaps bring to the test the validity
of some principles upon which our constitutions stand, and
which have never yet been tried by the touchstone of ex-
perience.
The attack by impeachment upon the judicial department
of our national government began two years ago, and has
been conducted with great address as well as with persever-
ing violence. The impeachment and conviction of Mr. Pick-
ering, of a man notoriously and confessedly insane, for acts
committed in that state, and during the whole course of the
impeachment remaining in it, was but a preparatory step
to the assault upon Judge Chase, as this in its turn was un-
questionably intended to pave the way for another prosecu-
tion, which would have swept the supreme judicial bench
clean at a stroke. As the experiment in the case of Mr.
Pickering was completely successful, I confess I have been
disappointed, agreeably disappointed, in the issue of the suc-
ceeding step. It was impossible to establish by a stronger
case than that, the principle that criminality was not an
essential ingredient of impeachable offenses. And upon the
score of humanity it would have been certainly a much less
odious transaction to convict and remove a man of the first
parts, after a full and solemn trial for peccadilloes of temper
stretched into crimes and misdemeanors, than to pass a like
degrading and defaming sentence upon one visited with the
heaviest of human calamities, and to make that awful visita-
tion of God itself the basis of the prosecution. I can, indeed,
never reflect upon the proceedings and judgments in that
cruel affair without dejection of heart and humiliation of
spirit. I feel for the honor of the body to which I belong,
and for the honor of my country, sullied as they are by a
sentence of guilt, inflicted upon a man for being among the
most miserable of the human race, for being bereft by the
i8o S ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 109
hand of heaven of that attribute, which by rendering man
rational would render him accountable. Nor can I satis-
factorily explain to myself how it has happened, that the
same men, who would be prevailed upon to sanction by a
judgment pronounced under oath what to my mind appears
so flagrant a violation of all justice and decency, should now
stop and make an effectual stand in support of fair and
honorable principle against this inroad of turbulent ambition.
There is indeed one way of solving the difficulty which some-
times presents itself to my mind as probable, and which, if •
just, may be a foundation for substantial hope in future.
The trial of Pickering did not sufficiently develop the in-
tentions of those by whom it was managed. It did not dis-
close the full extent of their views. But when it was seen
that on the very day of his conviction the impeachment of
Mr. Chase was voted, and when the application of those
absurd doctrines upon which he had been construed into a
criminal was instantly extended to a judge of the Supreme
Court, with undisguised intimations that it would soon be
spread over the whole of that Bench, some of those whose
weakness had yielded to the torrent of popular prejudice in
the first instance, had the integrity to reflect, rallied all their
energy to assist them, and took a stand which has arrested
for a time that factious impetuosity that threatens to bury
all our national institutions in one common ruin.
There were circumstances in the case of Mr. Pickering
which might at once contribute to veil the designs of his
prosecutors, and to apologize for the compliance of his
judges. The acts for which he was impeached were com-
mitted in a state of intoxication, and although it was abun-
dantly proved that his habits of this nature were produced
by the alienation of his mind into which he had fallen, and
only aggravated its symptoms, yet there was some color for
no THE WRITINGS OF [1805
considering a man whom his family and friends suffered to
go at large and take his seat on the Bench, as justly answer-
able for his conduct there. The end too must go some way
in that instance to justify the means. For the office of a
judge Mr. Pickering was utterly disqualified, and as the
sentence went only to removal, the effect worked no injus-
tice and might reconcile to the irregularity of the process.
Besides all this, it must be added that the judgment was
obtained with great difficulty, and after more than one in-
' ternal struggle in the party to pursue a more honorable course
of proceeding. Three members of the Senate, adherents of
the present administration, purposely absented themselves
on the day when the sentence passed. Others had absented
themselves still earlier, probably from the same motive, and
his conviction was finally effected by a bare majority of the
whole Senate. Of those who remained and voted I am cer-
tain several voted with extreme reluctance, and by a sacrifice
of their own judgments to the domineering dictates of the
managers from the House, and an unreflected acquiescence
in the doctrines which were then first advanced, that im-
peachment, though for crimes and misdemeanors, was not a
criminal prosecution, a doctrine which they were content to
take for sound, as it suited the purpose for which it was then
wanted, and the consequences of which they did not then
stay to investigate.
It is even possible that the proceedings on that trial may
have tended to produce an effect of counteraction upon that
of the present session. At least the doctrine concerning im-
peachment then broached, and which Pickering's sentence
seemed to sanction, was at the commencement of this session
carried to such an extreme, that its first check was seen in a
glaring absurdity of its own detection. We were seriously
told in long and studied speeches that impeachment, so far
i8o 5 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS in
from being a criminal prosecution, was no prosecution at all.
That the Senate, sitting for the purpose of trying impeach-
ment, was not a court, and that it ought not to derive its
forms or rules of proceeding, either from courts of impeach-
ment in other countries, or from any of the judicial courts
in our own. It was even intimated that not much pleading
ought to be allowed, and a hint sufficiently explicit was
given, that a general issue, a mere declaration of "not guilty,"
was the only answer which ought to be received to the articles
charged by the House of Representatives. Conformably to
these opinions the word "court" was, in two instances at
least, struck out of the rules for proceeding in cases of im-
peachment, reported by a committee at an early period of
the session. It was, however, necessary that the witnesses
should be sworn. The committee who reported the rules
had not proposed by whom the oath should be administered.
A motion was therefore made in Senate that this act should
be performed by the Secretary. It gave rise to no small de-
bates, for upon the principles which were so rapidly thriving
and until then so irresistible prevailing, the Secretary had no
authority to administer an oath, and the objection was taken
on that ground. Nay, a proposal was formally made, that
on the trial an ordinary magistrate should be called in to
administer the oaths. Of this debate I gave you some
account at the time when it occurred. It was the first
stumbling-block to the new theory of impeachment, which
has never recovered from the fall of that shock. When the
natural and spontaneous deductions from the system had
brought the Senate to this dilemma, of being bound to try
an impeachment without possessing the power of administer-
ing an oath, the sturdiest of its followers began to stagger.
The term "Court of Impeachment" was suffered to remain
unexpunged from the Journals, though its expulsion was re-
ii2 THE WRITINGS OF [1805
peatedly threatened. The necessary oaths were administered
by the Secretary, and an answer containing something more
than a bare plea of "not guilty" was received without ob-
jection.
The trial itself was conducted with exemplary order,
decorum and solemnity. A great mass of illegal and improper
evidence was indeed admitted, but that was always by con-
sent of the parties. Not only the casual expressions dropped
in private conversations among friends and intimates, as well
as strangers and adversaries, in the recess of a bed-chamber
as well as at public taverns and in stage coaches, had been
carefully and malignantly laid up and preserved for testi-
mony on this prosecution; not only more witnesses examined
to points of opinion, and called upon for discrimination to
such a degree as to say whether the deportment of the
Judge was imperative or imperious, but hours of interroga-
tion and answer were consumed in evidence to looks, to
bozvs, to tones of voice and modes of speech — to prove the
insufferable grievance that Mr. Chase had more than once
raised a laugh at the expense of Callender's counsel, and to
ascertain the tremendous fact that he had accosted the
Attorney General of Virginia by the appellation of
Young Gentleman !! If by thumbscrews, the memory of a
witness trace back for a period of five years the features of
the Judge's face, it could be darkened with a frown, it was
to be construed into rude and contumelious treatment of the
Virginia bar; if it was found lightened with a smile, "tyrants
in all ages had been notorious for their pleasantry." In
short, sir, Gravity himself could not keep his countenance
at the nauseating littlenesses which were resorted to for proof
of atrocious criminality, and indignation melted into ridicule
at the puerile perseverance with which nothings were ac-
cumulated, with the hope of making something by their
i8o S ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 113
multitude. All this, however, was received because Judge
Chase would not suffer his counsel to object against it. He
indulged his accusers with the utmost license of investigation
which they ever derived, and contented himself with ob-
serving to the court that he expected to be judged upon the
legal evidence in the case. The hearing was fair and to all
appearance impartial. The question whether impeachment
could be had for acts not violating any law, was discussed
and sifted, until the managers themselves were compelled
to abandon it, at least in its application to the cause. The
form of putting the final question which had been adopted
in Pickering's case was abandoned, almost without a struggle,
and another was substituted, conformable to the English
precedents and to correct principles. It was taken on each
of the eight articles separately. And although of the thirty-
four Senators present (for not a member of the body was
absent), twenty-five were decided political opponents of
Mr. Chase, there were fifteen who voted for acquittal upon
every article. On the first article, the one upon which the
great reliance of the managers was placed, the only article
which by its relation to a trial for life and death could give
the gloom of darkness to the lightest shade of official error,
the majority of the whole Senate was for acquittal, and two
among the most inveterate of the judge's political antago-
nists appear among the names of those who pronounced him
not guilty. The eighth article was that which united the
greatest number of voices against him, and the whole sub-
stance of his offense in that was the delivery of a charge to a
Grand Jury at Baltimore, containing political opinions ob-
noxious to the predominating sentiments of the day, and to
the party now in power. This was certainly not a very pru-
dent act, but even the microscope of party spirit could not
magnify it into an impeachable misdemeanor. The consti-
1 1 4 THE WRITINGS OF Ii8o S
tutional majority necessary to convict could not be obtained
for any of the charges separately, nor for the whole taken to-
gether, and by the voices of determined political adversaries
Judge Chase was acquitted of all the Articles of Impeachment
preferred against him by the House of Representatives of
the United States. . . .
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, 14 March, 1805.
My Dear Sir:
In my last letter I observed to you, that the form of putting
the final question on the articles of impeachment against
Judge Chase was varied from that which had been adopted
in the case of Mr. Pickering, and made conformable to the
English precedents. To show you how essentially this va-
riation of form was connected with a most important ques-
tion as to the nature of impeachment under our Constitution,
I shall here state the difference between them. In Pickering's
case the question was "Is John Pickering, District Judge of
New Hampshire, guilty as charged in the Article ? " And
the answer given was "aye," or "no." In Mr. Chase's case
the question was "Is Samuel Chase, the respondent, guilty or
not guilty of a high crime or misdemeanor as charged in the
article just read?" And the answer was "guilty," or "not
guilty." Thus in this instance every member of the court
was by the form of the question called upon to say, not only
whether the facts alleged in the article were proved, but
whether they constituted a high crime or misdemeanor,
whereas in the former case that very material point was
winked out of sight. The members answered that John
Pickering was guilty as the article alleged, but whether the
facts amounted to a high crime or misdemeanor they did not
i8o S ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 115
undertake to say. One would scarcely conceive it possible
that in such a body as the Senate of the United States the
acquittal or conviction of a man should depend upon the
form of words used for taking the opinion of the members
on his guilt or innocence. But so it was. The same form
used at the present time was proposed and strenuously con-
tended for in the former case, but was then inflexibly re-
jected. I told you that the precedent was now abandoned
almost without a struggle, but it was not without very strong
signs of reluctance; nor do I imagine it would have been
given up, but that they, who were most earnestly bent upon
the Judge's conviction, had sufficient indications to convince
them that there was no prospect of such result from any
form of question they could devise. On the very day the
sentence was pronounced there was, indeed, a fresh attempt
in Senate to prove that the power of impeachment under our
Constitution was unlimited, and the power of conviction
upon impeachment limited only by the proportion of num-
bers required to convict. But the bearing of the argument on
the cause then to be determined was formally disavowed,
because it was said at all events the articles charged against
Mr. Chase were of high crimes or misdemeanors. This was
not altogether true. For besides the frivolous nature of the
charges contained in several of the articles, it is very remark-
able that one of them, differing from all the rest, had omitted
even the allegation of evil intent. It does not pretend to
charge anything more than an error on a point of law, and
discards all the imputations of partiality, intemperance,
oppression, injustice and solicitude to convict, with which
all the other articles are so profusely laden. This omission
cannot be presumed to have been unintentional, and the
insertion of that and the next article (bottomed upon the
very same grounds, but carefully resuming the allegations
n6 THE WRITINGS OF [1805
of oppressive intent) afford the most unequivocal proofs of a
determination to establish the principle, that judges are
removable by impeachment for any mistake on a point of
law. These two articles, it must also be remembered, were
introduced as an after thought; were no part of the articles
reported at the former session of Congress, and were now first
brought forward after all the reflections and meditations of
a seven months' recess. These articles contained in them-
selves a virtual impeachment not only of Mr. Chase, but of
all the judges of the Supreme Court from the first establish-
ment of the national judiciary. They were founded on the
pretence that the federal courts were bound to follow in each
state of the Union the modes of process usual in that state.
Now one of the earliest decisions of the Supreme Court had
been directly contrary to this position, and all the judges
had uniformly proceeded in conformity to that decision. If
Mr. Chase was removable by impeachment for having thus
acted at Richmond, he had not an associate upon the Bench
but was alike removable for having done the same thing
elsewhere. The fate of these two articles and their construc-
tion furnishes a curious specimen of the manner in which
public bodies may be brought to act. One of them, the fifth,
impeached Judge Chase for issuing a capias against Callender,
because it says the laws of Virginia required that a summons
should issue. The very law of Virginia to which it appeals
expressly authorizes the judges to issue in the cases to which
it refers a summons, or other proper process. The article of
impeachment omits these last words and, instead of a discre-
tionary alternative, recites the law in peremptory terms re-
quiring a summons. And yet upon this egregious misrecital
of a statute as egregiously misapplied did the House of
Representatives of the United States, by a majority of
seventy votes against forty-five, vote an accusation against
i8o S ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 117
one of the supreme judges of the land, upon which, had his
judges been no more restrained than his accusers, he must
have been disgraced in reputation and ignominiously expelled
from his office. On this article the vote of acquittal was
unanimous. The strong stimulus of political animosity,
aided by all the perverse ingenuity of party spirit, could not
devise an apology upon which a single man should dare to
say "guilty" to this charge, which seventy members of the
House of Representatives were not ashamed to sanction with
their names upon the record of accusation.
President Jefferson is reported to have said to a member
of the Senate, that impeachment was but a clumsy engine to
get rid of judges. His warmest friends in both houses of
Congress are, I believe, by this time tolerably well convinced
of the same thing. I do not imagine they will very soon
attempt to ply it again. But in its stead another battery
has been opened upon the judiciary, the operation of which
only futurity can determine. Immediately after Mr. Chase
was declared to be acquitted of all the charges brought
against him by the House of Representatives, the same
member * of that House who had originated and principally
conducted impeachment offered to their consideration a
proposed amendment to the Constitution, making the judges
necessarily removable upon a joint address of the two
branches of the legislature by simple majorities. Another
of the managers, 2 the one next him in power, offered, also, a
further amendment to make the members of the Senate
liable at any time to be recalled by the respective legislatures.
Both these propositions are made the order of the day of
the House of Representatives for the first day of the next
session. These motions were made just at the pungent
1 John Randolph. Ames, Proposed Amendments to the Constitution, 149.
2 Joseph Hopper Nicholson (1770-1817), of Maryland. Ames, 64.
n8 THE WRITINGS OF [1805
moment of disappointment, and were I think somewhat
inconsiderately offered at the same time. I should expect
that at the next session the second will be relinquished, but
I also believe the other will be pursued with persevering
ardor. As there is much to be said in its favor as a proper
provision, independent of all application to present circum-
stances; as it is recommended, not only by the example of
Great Britain, but by some of the best among our state con-
stitutions; and as it must be in every point of view a desirable
alteration to the ruling majority, there is the strongest prob-
ability that it will not readily be abandoned. Its success in
the Senate, however, will be very problematical, at least
until another election shall have intervened. Several of the
members of this body besides those who voted for the full
acquittal of Mr. Chase were much dissatisfied at the measure
which so directly pointed at their body, and their disgust
at that extended some degree of disfavor to the other prop-
osition with which it was coupled. Both of them were
felt to be intended to cast reflections upon the Senate itself,
as well as upon its recent judgment and a sense of interest.
The honor and dignity of the corps were discernible in the
sentiments of many members who had gone the farthest
towards the conviction of the judges. The Senate is not
without enemies to its own constitution within its walls, and
there are more yet of its members destitute of the fortitude
to resist encroachments attempted by the leaders of the
popular branch of the legislature. The cooperation of these
men may possibly be obtained to seal the doom of the judicial
department in the shape of an amendment to the Constitu-
tion, although they have not united to do it by the means
of impeachment.
After the decision in favor of Air. Chase and the two
propositions in the House of Representatives, which I have
i8o 5 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 119
noticed, and which all happened on the same day, there were
only two days remaining to close the session; but in those
two days two incidents occurred calculated to inspire an
expectation, that upon the crisis which appears to be hasten-
ing upon us the Senate will ultimately prove true to its own
honor and to the highest interests of our country. The
judgment was given on the first of March. On the second,
Mr. Burr, then Vice President, took leave of the Senate, and
previous to quitting the chair delivered a valedictory address
of about twenty minutes in length which appeared to make,
and I believe has left, a profound impression upon the mind
of every person who heard him. In this address among
several other striking observations he expressed himself
nearly in these words:
And permit me to recommend to you in your future deliberations
inflexibly to maintain and to cherish those habits of order and
regularity which upon experience are found to be intimately con-
nected with important principles. On a superficial view only they
appear of inconsiderable consequence, but on full investigation it
will be discovered that there is scarce a departure from order but
leads to, or is indissolubly connected with, a departure from
morality. This body is growing in importance. It is here, if any-
where, that our country must ultimately find the anchor of her
safety; here the stand is to be made at once against the storms of
faction, the silent arts of corruption, and, if the Constitution is to
perish, which may God avert, and which I do not believe, its dying
agonies will be witnessed upon this floor.
The allusion to the circumstances which had just taken
place was obvious, and it appeared to me there was not a
member present but felt the force of this solemn appeal to
his sense of duty.
On the same day a difference between the two Houses
arose upon a bill making provision for payment of the wit-
120 THE WRITINGS OF [i8o S
nesses summoned to attend the Senate on the trial of Mr.
Chase's impeachment. This bill had passed in the House of
Representatives some days before, and made an appropria-
tion of five thousand dollars to pay the witnesses summoned
on the part of the chairman of the prosecution, and to defray
any other expenses which had been incurred on the trial, and
which should be certified by the chairman of the managers.
On the second reading of the bill in Senate, the day before
the sentence passed, amendments were moved to double
the amount of the appropriation, to provide for the payment
of expenses incurred on the occasion by order of the Vice
President, certified by him, and to extend the payment of the
witnesses to all those who had been summoned and attended
on the part of the respondent as well as the others. The
question on these amendments was by general consent post-
poned until after the decision upon the trial, it being observed
that its aspect would be materially different according as the
issue should be for conviction or for acquittal. This event
having taken place, the amendments were unanimously
adopted in Senate, but on being sent to the House of Repre-
sentatives were disagreed to by them. Each house insisted
in the usual form. A conference was had without producing
any agreement; each house adhered to its own purpose and
the bill was lost. Nor is it an inconsiderable fact that the
last act of the Senate upon this bill, that of adhering, was
without a dissenting voice. This question will probably
be renewed at the next session of Congress, for by the failure
of the Bill no provision is made for paying any of the wit-
nesses, and they certainly all have a just claim to some in-
demnity for their time and attendance given at the regular
summons of the Senate. The question whether the United
States shall pay the witnesses on both sides in cases of im-
peachment is in many points of view important as a general
i8o 5 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 121
question. It was not fully discussed in either house on this
bill, and reason and precedent may be produced in support
of both its sides. There were, however, in this instance cir-
cumstances peculiarly tending to influence the Senate in
first adopting and finally adhering to the principle of indis-
criminate payment. The acquittal of the person accused
was one. But there was another which might have yet
greater weight. All the witnesses had been summoned by
a subpoena, the form of which was reported by a Committee
of which Mr. Giles was chairman. This form commanded
the attendance of the witness, without any indication at the
suggestion of which party it had issued. None of the wit-
nesses, therefore, could know whether they were summoned
on behalf of the United States or of the respondent; their
obedience was in all cases the same to the order of the Senate,
and it seemed obvious that their claim for indemnity from
the government stood on the same foundation. Mr. Giles
very explicitly declared himself in favor of the principle
and gave it as his unequivocal opinion that it should in
point of justice and policy be extended to all cases of im-
peachment, whether the sentence should be for acquittal or
for conviction.
The fate of this bill was succeeded by an attempt in the
House of Representatives to provide by their single act a
substitute for it. A resolution was offered directing the
payment of the witnesses summoned on their part from the
contingent fund of the House, and this resolution prescribed
the sum which should be allowed to each witness for his
travel and attendance. It would inevitably have been car-
ried, but that the number of members then remaining, dis-
posed to rush into such extremes, was not sufficient of itself
to form a quorum. And the members opposed to the meas-
ure, whenever it was called up, withdrew from the House.
122 THE WRITINGS OF [1805
Let it be remembered that this effort to extend the "unde-
fined field of contingencies" was made by those who have
been most clamorous for the extremest detail of specific
appropriation.
It was in this situation, with the two houses of Congress
in positions of direct opposition against each other, with the
House of Representatives aiming with huge two handed
sway, at the same moment a cut at the supreme judiciary
and a thrust at the Senate; with the same House of Repre-
sentatives floating between anarchy and discord at one
moment, unable to make a quorum, and at the next unable to
keep it for the purpose of acting with a majority attempting
with blushless face a flagrant violation of the Constitution,
and a minority defeating their purpose by repeated secessions
in a mass, with some important bills at the point of falling
through, though passed by both branches, because the
Speaker could not sign them without a quorum present — in
this situation it was, that at half past nine in the evening of
Sunday the 3rd of March, the eighth Congress of the United
States terminated its existence, and I have been induced
by two motives to give you the detail contained in this and
my last letter. The one, because the transactions which I
have related may be the precursors of events more highly
momentous, and as such deserve peculiarly to be noted down;
and the other, because I was desirous to make you some re-
turn for the excellent letters I have received from you in the
course of the winter, and which my engagements at the time
compelled me to leave unanswered. I thought the narrative
might afford you some amusement, and knew it would fur-
nish you a fund for useful reflections, of which I indulge the
hope of sharing in the benefit. . . .
1 8o 5 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 123
TO SAMUEL DEXTER «
Quincy, 6 August, 1805.
Sir:
Being highly sensible of the honor done me by the govern-
ment of the University, in appointing me to the professor-
ship of rhetoric and oratory, founded by Mr. N. Boylston,
and believing that the objects of that institution are of much
importance to the reputation and honor of our country, I
have felt a warm and anxious desire to justify as far as I am
able the confidence thus reposed in me, and to undertake
the discharge of functions, for which, however deficient in all
other respects, I was conscious of a zealous and affectionate
attachment. In considering attentively however the rules,
directions and statutes under which this professorship is
placed, I find them such as it would be worse than presump-
tion for me to pledge myself to, since I could not form the
engagement without knowing my incompetency to perform
its promise.
The duties assigned to the professor would require his
constant, unremitting attendance at the college, in term
time, during the whole year. Avocations from which I do
not feel myself authorized or inclined to seek a dispensation
call me to a distant part of the country during half the year.
These indeed may be temporary, and cease in the course of a
few years, but in such case they will be followed by others
which would render a constant residence or attendance at
Cambridge through the year alike impracticable for me.
It was suggested by some gentlemen of the committee,
that perhaps such a modification of the statutes might be
1 Chairman of the Committee of the Corporation and Overseers of Harvard Uni-
versity.
i2 4 THE WRITINGS OF [i8ps
adopted as would render my performance of the duties com-
patible with a residence in the neighborhood of Cambridge,
and with occasional absence on necessary attendance to other
employments; and as the committee appeared desirous that
I should specify what part of the duties prescribed by the
rules I could positively undertake, I have no hesitation in
complying with their request.
The course of public lectures to the two Senior classes
and resident graduates is by the statutes to be given in
weekly lectures. This of course contemplates a series of
about forty lectures. The objects to which the attention of
the lecturer is directed by the regulations could not, indeed,
be properly treated in the compass of a smaller number. In-
stead of reading this course by one weekly lecture, I should
readily engage to accomplish the same object by two lectures
a week, during that part of the year when I could give my
attendance. But as the first composition of the course must
obviously be a work of much labor, and require a very at-
tentive perusal of numerous writers in various languages,
some of which are not altogether familiar to me, I should
expect to be allowed two years in the first instance for the
completion of the course. Thus in the course of the next
summer, I should hold myself engaged to go through half
the course with the hope of finishing the remainder the
succeeding year, after which I should be content to go
through the whole course every year by two lectures in the
week in the summer terms.
The next object in the regulations which appears more
peculiarly to belong to this branch of instruction is that
which relates to the elocution of the students. And if the
other arrangements of the college exercises could be so
adapted, that the public declamations of the two Senior
classes should be fixed on the same days when I should
i8o S ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 125
attend to give the public lectures, I would readily devote the
day to the purpose of presiding at them. I should also give
the necessary attendance to hear in private the performances
previous to the annual commencement, and when practic-
able, previous to the exhibitions. Further than this will
certainly not be in my power, and even to the performance
of this, I am deeply conscious of needing a full share of the
customary indulgence experienced by other instructors.
There is another part of the statutes which I feel myself
under an indispensable obligation to request may be revised.
It is that part of the third article which imposes upon the
professor a religious test, to be applied publicly on the day of
his inauguration. The Constitution of the Commonwealth
has made a general declaration of belief in the Christian
religion sufficient for admission to the highest offices of the
State, and in the opinion of many wise, virtuous and pious
citizens even that requisition is too much. With the most
perfect deference and respect for the legislature of the college,
I must question their authority to require my subscription to
a creed not recognized by the Constitution or laws of the
State; nor do I perceive in a professorship of rhetoric and
oratory anything which peculiarly calls for so minute a
scrutiny into the details of the professor's religious opinions
as is here proposed. I beg to be understood that this objec-
tion has reference more to the interest of the institution it-
self, than personally to me. It is to the test itself, and not
to the doctrines which it prescribes. These I wish to leave
undisturbed by any controversy; reserving my confession of
faith for my Maker, and desirous of seeing my fellow crea-
tures enjoy the same indulgence.
I cannot conclude without expressing my wish, sir, that
in their deliberations upon this occasion, the Corporation
and Overseers would altogether discard every consideration
i 2 6 THE WRITINGS OF [1805
of personal accommodation to me; that the interests and the
feelings of the man may be altogether excluded, and the in-
terests of the University alone consulted; assuring you and
them that if, in their opinion, the welfare of the students will
be promoted by the election of a person so situated as to
have the performance of all the duties assigned by the stat-
utes in his power, I shall most cheerfully acquiesce in the
decision. In that case, they will consider this letter as declin-
ing the acceptance of the office, with the offer of which they
have honored me, and proceed when they shall think proper
to the choice of another person.
I am, &c.
TO THE CORPORATION OF HARVARD COLLEGE
Quincy, 11 October, 1805.
Gentlemen:
A vote of the Corporation, dated 2 September, has been
communicated to me by the Honorable Judge Davis, which
vote having passed on consideration of my letter to the
chairman of the committee of the Corporation and Overseers
of 7 [6] August last, I am requested to state in writing my
observations upon it.
The declaration proposed to be substituted instead of that
originally required by the third article of the rules and regula-
tions, is such as I can have no objection to making.
But the proviso "that suitable provision be made for the
performance by some competent substitute of the duties
which may not be required to be performed by the professor
of rhetoric and oratory, personally; said substitute to be ap-
pointed by the Corporation and Overseers, and his title 9
powers and duties to be by them designated," is liable to some
difficulties.
i8o S ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 127
In its most obvious construction it proposes a deputy
totally independent of and beyond the control of his prin-
cipal. And if this was not the real intention of the vote its
inevitable operation must be such; since upon points of in-
struction, relative to an object so dependent upon taste as
elocution, the exercise of any control over the principles or
practice of an instructor would in my mind be inconsistent
with the delicacy of deportment due from one gentleman to
another, even if the power of such control were absolutely
given.
It would, therefore, be substantially a separate and dis-
tinct establishment, yet so connected with the professorship
as might lead to unpleasant differences between the two
teachers, and become a source of embarrassment and per-
plexity, if not of contempt, to the students.
I would respectfully submit also to the consideration of
the Corporation, how far the establishment of a substitute
would be consistent with the manifest intention of the Boyl-
ston foundation itself. By that foundation the subject of
rhetoric and oratory is supposed to be properly within the
department of one person; and although it could not be the
wish of the founder to tie the hands of the college govern-
ment from the establishment of any other similar institution,
yet is it imaginable that he would have devoted a part of his
estate to this object, had he foreseen that it would be divided
into a double foundation, or provided for by other means?
If a part of the professor's defined duties may be substituted
off upon a vicar, why may not the whole be disposed of in
the same manner? If the principle of substitution may be
grafted upon a branch of the professorship, what should
hinder its being made in future to cover the whole stock?
A progress of things in such a course as this is not with-
out example; but its ultimate issue has ever been a total
128 THE WRITINGS OF [1805
perversion of the appropriation from its intended desti-
nation.
In one particular these remarks have a bearing upon my
personal concern, which will I hope serve as my justification
for making them. In undertaking the duties of this office I
should consider myself bound by all the means in my com-
petency to fulfil the intentions of the founder. But such is
the minuteness of the rules and regulations prescribed, that
nothing is left to the discretion or to the judgment of the
professor. Perhaps the modes of instruction pointed out in
these rules may be the best that could be devised. The sub-
ject being entirely new to me I certainly have nothing to
propose which might be better adapted to the purpose.
Something may possibly be suggested by experience, and by
the reflections which a course of time devoted to the institu-
tion may occasion. In such a contingency I should rely upon
a disposition on the part of the college government to weigh
with candor and indulgence any proposals for variations in
the exercises, to facilitate the instruction of the students in
this part of their education. But if any such measures should
require consideration, shackled with the existence of another
officer charged with a part of the professor's duties, I appre-
hend the chances of improvement in the system would be
very much impaired.
I very sincerely lament the trouble which you gentlemen
have had on this occasion, and as it may possibly prevent
further embarrassments of the same kind, if I give you ex-
plicitly my ideas upon the subject, I will observe that the
original rules and regulations formed a system of instruction
on this foundation which it would be impossible for me to
carry into effect. I was requested to state in writing what
part of that system I could engage to accomplish, and in
consequence wrote my former letter to the chairman of your
i8o 5 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 129
committee. But it was never my wish or idea to obtain a
personal accommodation to myself by a permission to have
a substitute assigned me to perform part of my duties. The
duties of the office if I hold it must be discharged by myself.
Were they such as to leave me any exercise of my own judg-
ment in respect to the modes of instruction I should be happy
to undertake them. Were they all prescribed to me, but of
a nature to require only the portion of time which I can apply
to this occupation, I should cheerfully assume them; being
as they are, requiring a daily and unintermitted attendance
in term time the whole year round, I would still from my
zeal for the interests of the University, and particularly for
the objects of foundation, engage to perform them, were I
not certain it would be pledging myself to what I cannot
accomplish. A modification of the duties themselves, not
of the manner in which they are to be executed, is what I
have to request, if it be deemed perfectly consistent with the
views of the founder, and with the honor of the college and
its government.
I am, &c.
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, 6 December, 1805.
Dear Sir:
I inclosed under a blank cover to you a copy of the Presi-
dent's message on the day when it was delivered, and having
now to inclose a letter from my wife to my mother, and a
bill which has already passed both Houses of Congress, I
cannot forbear writing a line with it to recall myself to your
kind remembrance.
You will perceive tnat the message is in a style and tone
which have not been fashionable of late years. It is probable
I3 o THE WRITINGS OF [1805
the representatives of the people will not readily pledge
themselves to the responsibility of all measures of energy
which it recommends. The dispositions of the representa-
tives towards each other, as far as can yet be observed, is less
acrimonious than for some years past. But no occasion has
yet occurred to call forth manifestations of temper.
The inclosed bill covers only a part of the deficiency in the
naval appropriation for the current year. Its whole amount
is of 600,000 dollars. The bill passed the House of Repre-
sentatives on a bare statement that the deficiency existed
and without a question asked. In Senate on a motion of
Mr. Tracy the Secretary of the Navy was called on for the
reasons of this deficiency, and he has made a report which
you will see when printed. To meet some of the expenses
which have so far outrun the prior provisions and which
pressed for payment before Congress met, the system
of specific appropriation has been freely trampled under
feet.
I this day occasionally met and instantly recognized our
old friend Captain Landais, whom I had not seen for upwards
of twenty years. But I had some difficulty to brush up his
remembrance of me. When brought fully to his recollection
he was very particular in his inquiries after you, whom he
tells me he saw not many years since. 1
1 December 8, "Captain Landais, an old acquaintance whom I had not seen for
upwards of twenty years, called upon me this morning, and sat with me a couple of
hours, which prevented me from going out. I had recognized him two days since
walking in one of the entrance rooms at the Capitol, and accosted him by name.
He did not then immediately know me; but on my explaining to him who I was,
remembered me. My acquaintance with him was in the spring and summer of the
year 1779, at Brest, Nantes and l'Orient, on board the frigate Alliance which he
then commanded, and on board of which I was to have returned with my father to
this country. But the destination of the Alliance was changed, and we came home
in the French frigate la Sensible. Captain Landais this morning gave me a history
of his life since that time, which has been various and full of adventure. He is now
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 131
Love to my dear children, duty and affection to my
mother, and kind regards to all the family, with which I am
ever yours.
TO RICHARD RUSH
Washington, 12 December, 1805.
My Dear Sir:
I have just received your favor of the 8th instant, and
can only assure you that I have no reason to suppose there is
the smallest foundation for the report to which you allude,
but on the contrary that I have good reason for believing it
altogether groundless. That any such mission is contem-
plated by the government appears to me not very probable,
but if it is, the person selected for it will be different.
Your desire of visiting Europe is very natural, and is dic-
tated by views so honorable that I hope you will find some
real occasion by which it may be gratified.
I shall according to your request consider your letter as
altogether confidential, and beg leave to be persuaded that
in anything within my power I shall ever be happy to prove
to you the sincerity of the esteem and friendship with which
I am, &C. 1
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, 14 January, 1806.
• •*••••
Your ploughing in December is an occupation which I
need not say to you is much more agreeable than laboring
here with a claim upon Congress for his share of certain prizes captured by him dur-
ing the American War." Ms. Diary.
1 Rush asked to be appointed secretary of legation under Adams, whose name was
mentioned in connection with the London mission. The rumor reached Monroe,
then in London. Writings of Monroe, IV. 398.
i 3 2 THE WRITINGS OF [1806
at the political plough. The season here has been in all re-
spects uncommonly mild until within these few days, and
the world of parties and legislation as moderate as the tem-
perature of the atmosphere. But as the new year advances
the weather grows cold, and we grow warm. We are very
much perplexed what we shall do to manifest our valor with-
out hazarding our persons, and after spending a long session
in discussing the subject, we shall in all probability finish
without doing anything of importance. At least I have al-
ready seen enough to convince me that we shall do nothing
good. For the protection of our territory or of our commerce
we shall do nothing; but we may very possibly prepare for
the abandonment of the first, and contribute our share to
the sacrifices of the last. We shall perhaps enter into the
unprofitable contest with Great Britain which can do the
most harm, not to the other, but to ourselves. In this emu-
lation of mischief I am far from being certain but that we
shall bear the palm.
Reports are in circulation that all our differences with
Spain are already settled entirely to our advantage, but if not
we shall try again to trade with her for land. We shall per-
haps offer her almost all our province of Louisiana for the
Floridas, or, if she likes it better, more money; fighting her
we have almost done even talking of.
Captain Landais particularly desires me to present his
respects to you. I have sent you the report of the Secretary
of State on his petition or memorial. The papers are cu-
rious, and Count Bernstorff's letter in answer to the applica-
tion of Dr. Franklin is amusing, as it shows the old gentle-
man's embarrassment between the alternate pressure of
England on one side, and France on the other. He appears
to have understood that his most effectual means of ex-
tricating himself was to drown his outrage against the
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 133
United States in a flood of personal adulation to their
minister. 1
Our Tunisian and Indian visitors are still the principal
objects of curiosity we have to entertain us. Many of the
Indians who were here are gone, but others have come to take
their places without any invitation, and they are so numer-
ous as to occasion some uneasiness among the inhabitants
of this neighborhood. They are sometimes troublesome by
introducing themselves unexpectedly to private houses, and
their habits of intemperance sometimes make them uncom-
fortable companions.
Mr. Giles and Mr. Bayard have not yet taken their seats
this session. I suppose they will arrive nearly together.
Their absence leaves both sides of the House in a manner
without leaders, and a great degree of unsteadiness and lan-
guor hangs over our proceedings in consequence of this cir-
cumstance. We find great reason to regret the loss of our
late President. 2
• ••••••
I remain, &c.
RESOLUTIONS 3
[February, 1806.]
Resolved, That the Capture and Condemnation of American
Vessels and their Cargoes under the orders of the British Govern-
1 Andres Peder, Count Bernstorff (1735-1797), Minister of Foreign Affairs in
Denmark (1772-1780). The letters are in Writings of Franklin (Smyth), VII. 420.
The report on Landais is in American State Papers, Foreign Relations, II. 773.
2 Aaron Burr.
3 These resolutions, "reported by a committee of which I was a member, and
drawn up by me," are among the Adams Mss. They were considered by the Senate,
February 12, 13, 14, 1806. The first was adopted unanimously; the second, after a
debate of two days, by a vote of twenty-three to seven, the words and insist upon
134 THE WRITINGS OF [1806
ment on the pretext of their being engaged in a trade with the
Enemies of Great Britain not permitted before the war is an unpro-
voked aggression upon the property of the citizens of these United
States a wanton violation of their neutral rights and a direct en-
croachment upon their national Independence.
Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested
to instruct the Minister of the United States at the Court of Great
Britain to demand and insist upon the immediate restoration of
the property of the Citizens of the United States which has been
or may be captured and condemned on the said pretext and upon
their indemnification for their losses and damages sustained by
such arbitrary seizures and unjust condemnations.
Resolved, That it is expedient by Law to suspend the power of
transfer upon all Certificates in the funds or Bank Stock of the
United States held by subjects of the king of Great Britain until
the British Government shall have given satisfaction to the United
States on the subject of the said captures and condemnations and
no longer. And that the Committee be directed to bring in a bill
for that purpose.
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, ii February, 1806.
Since the date of your favor of the 29th ultimo you have
doubtless received many additional documents, confirming
your opinion of the system of policy prevalent here in rela-
tion to our foreign affairs. Unqualified submission to France
and unqualified defiance of Great Britain are indeed the two
pillars upon which our measures are to rest, and numerous
as the proofs are which you will have of these facts, you have
probably still no conception of the extremes to which it has
already been carried. The prohibition of the trade to St.
being stricken out by a vote of sixteen to fifteen; and the third, "belonging to Gen-
eral Smith and Mr. Anderson" was not adopted. See Adams, Memoirs.
1806] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 135
Domingo is now upon its last stage in Senate, and in all
probability before I close this letter will be passed. 1 But
this is nothing, comparatively speaking. The general tend-
ency of opinions and passions which govern our adminis-
tration has always been such that this course might have
been expected from the commencement of our session; but
all the events which have recently occurred in Europe, and
the knowledge of which has come to us since our meeting,
have very powerfully contributed to confirm this course of
measures. Our people have indeed an enthusiastic opinion
of the power of France, and if there could before have re-
mained any doubt of the foundation upon which that opinion
stands, what can be replied to the proofs of Bonaparte's
armies in Vienna, and the whole Austrian Empire sinking
before them almost without a struggle of resistance. The
continent of Europe, it cannot be questioned, is not only
prostrate at the feet of France, but to all appearance irre-
trievably subdued. How long the insular situation of Great
Britain and her naval force will enable her to bear up against
this universal suppression, is not easy to say; but that she
too must sink sooner or later under such a mass and impetus
of force can hardly be questioned.
I know not to what extent France will avail herself of the
situation in which she stands to dictate humiliation or sub-
mission to us; but this I have no reason to doubt, that what-
soever she shall please to command we shall comply with.
There is only one doubt yet remaining upon my mind as
to the ruling principle of our foreign policy, and that is,
whether in the terrors we are assuming against Great Britain
there is not as much or more of vapor than of substance.
There are some indications which might lead to the conclu-
1 Adams, Memoirs, January 15, et seq. He had made a speech on the measure,
December 20, 1805. Annals of Congress, 9th Cong., 1st. Sess., 29.
136 THE WRITINGS OF [1806
sion, that when we come to the critical moment we shall not
be so terrible as we now threaten. The tables of both Houses
are loaded with motion upon motion for non-intercourse, for
non-importation, for navigation acts, for retaliation and re-
prisal, for confiscation of debts, and for everything that can
exhibit temper against the British; but to all this there is
besides the opposition which it will meet from reasonable
quarters, a vast body of opposition lurking among the friends
of the administration itself. All the quakerish members of
both Houses are averse to anything that looks even by a
squint towards energy. Being for peace all the world over,
they begin to discover that these measures may give offence
to Great Britain, and they think the only course to be pur-
sued is negotiation. Besides this the members for the
Southern states discover reluctance to agree upon anything
which may obstruct the freedom of their trade in foreign
ships, or affect the exportation of their cotton. It is obvious
that great efforts are making to stimulate the passions of the
people, and to lash into fermentation the blood of their
representatives; but it is not yet equally clear that this plan
will be so far successful as to show itself in the form of law.
By one of the documents inclosed you will perceive that
Mr. J. Randolph has renewed his motion for an amendment
to the Constitution making the judges removable upon the
address of the two Houses. It is probable that this will pass
by a competent proportion of votes in the House of Repre-
sentatives. What will be its fate in Senate I am unable to
foresee. 1
The Supreme Court of the United States is now in session.
All the judges are here excepting Mr. Chase, who is very ill at
Baltimore. Judge Cushing is also unwell, and has hitherto
1 Annals of Congress, 9th Cong., 1st. Sess., 500. No action on the resolution was
taken.
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 137
not been able to take his seat. The Court di-d not sit until
Saturday, a competent number of the judges not having
arrived until then. I am so confined by my attendance in
Senate and upon the business transacting in Senate that I
shall not be able to attend the Court as I should wish.
The pressure of business has also forcibly driven my clas-
sical studies from my head. I do indeed still appropriate
about an hour a day to that object, but it is little better
than a lost hour; the studies of a scholar require a mind at
ease, a vacant mind, or at least a mind not engrossed by
other objects. But when the questions of public import
and measures of national deliberation take hold of my mind,
and have warmly engaged me nine or ten hours in the day, I
lose entirely the power of abstraction and the means of
studying the poetry, history, or languages of antiquity. A
similar cause will I hope excuse any incoherence which you
may frequently perceive in my letters to you and my other
friends from this place. I am obliged to write in the midst of
debates to which I cannot avoid giving more or less of atten-
tion at the very time I am writing. At this moment, for in-
stance, Dr. Mitchill is giving us a dissertation upon salt-
petre, and telling us of all the rocks, dens, caves, fens and
mountain sides, where it is to be found in the United States,
on a bill to prohibit the exportation of arms and ammunition.
The St. Domingo trade bill has been re-committed to a select
committee for amendment.
• ••••••
I remain, &C. 1
1 On February 13, 1806, Adams introduced a bill "to prevent the abuse of the
privileges and immunities enjoyed by foreign ministers within the United States."
It is printed in Annals of Congress, 9th Cong., 1st Sess., 92. The bill was reported
with amendments, February 20, and Adams delivered a speech in its favor March 3,
which is also printed. {lb., 145.) The measure was rejected March 7. "I have read
your bill. What the corps diplomatique will think of it I know not. It is a danger-
138 THE WRITINGS OF [1806
TO WILLIAM STEPHENS SMITH
Washington, 26 March, 1806.
Dear Sir:
I received last evening your favor of the 23 rd. The ap-
pointment of Mr. Schenck had been two or three days before
confirmed by the Senate. I most sincerely lament your re-
moval from the office of Surveyor, but this act is exclusively
within the power of the President, and the only notice he
usually gives to the Senate of a removal is by a new nomina-
tion to the office. Such was the case in the present instance.
The first intimation I had of your being suspended was the
nomination of the new officer. Neither have the Senate, or I
believe any of your friends in this body, any influence which
could affect a nomination in favor of your brother, or in op-
position to that which was made.
With respect to your connection with General Miranda, or
the knowledge which the President or Secretary of State had
of his projects, I know nothing but what is to be collected
from the newspapers; never having had any communication
from you, from Miranda, or from the Executive on this sub-
ject. 1 If you were induced to believe that it was the Presi-
dent's intention to countenance any purpose of hostility to
ous and delicate subject; but something seems necessary to be done, to prevent too
much petulance and impertinence." John Adams to John Quincy Adams, Febru-
ary 26, 1806. Ms.
"Your disapprobation of the bill concerning foreign ministers, which I intro-
duced, reconciled me to its fate more than the decision upon it, which had taken
place before I knew your opinion. I still think, however, that we shall find some
legislative provision necessary upon the subject, and still doubt the President's con-
stitutional powers, without a law, to check something worse than insolence in a for-
eign minister, if it should happen." To John Adams, March 28, 1806. Ms.
1 The history of Miranda's projects is told by Robertson, in Am. Historical Associ~
ation Report, 1907, I. 189.
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 139
Spain, I very much regret both the fact and its consequences.
That he had no such intention is obvious from the course of
policy which has prevailed, and has always appeared evident
to me, from the time when I had last the pleasure of seeing
you at New York. Of the grounds you may have had for a
different inference I am unable to judge, not knowing what
they were.
I am, &c. 1-
TO WILLIAM STEPHENS SMITH
Washington, 16 April, 1806.
Dear Sir:
I have within these few days successively received your
two letters, one of them containing the relation of the cir-
cumstances respecting General Miranda's projects, and your
relations with him while he was in this country, and the other
containing the request that I would write an oration for your
son John. On the first of these subjects I trust that in the
trial of the cause on the bill found by the Grand Jury, of
which I have seen an account in the New York prints, you
will have competent proof to produce that you have not
violated the laws of the United States. As to the conduct of
the President and Secretary of State, whether they said too
much to Miranda, or whether he inferred from what they
said or did more than he was warranted to infer, I am at
present very incompetent to determine. That he misunder-
stood or misrepresented their real intentions I have no doubt.
Where the mistake originated must remain for the present a
matter of opinion.
1 On April I, Adams spoke against a bill for the relief of Hamet Caramelli, ex-
Bashaw of Tripoli. His speech is printed in Annals of Congress, 9th Cong., 1st
Sess., 211.
i 4 o THE WRITINGS OF [1806
My own occupations so fully engross my time that I fear
it will not be in my power to write the oration, and I have so
much confidence in the genius and acquirements of your son,
that I believe him able to honor himself more by writing his
own performance at his Commencement, than by depending
upon a friend for the production. I have an high opinion of
his good sense, discretion and application, and am persuaded
he will acquit himself very creditably without any assistance
from abroad.
Congress are to adjourn next Monday the 21st. They
break up under a variety of unpleasant and unpromising
circumstances. I propose to leave this place about the
25th, and hope to have the pleasure of seeing you before the
last of the month. My wife remains here for the present, and
probably will remain here through the summer.
I am, &c.
TO SAMUEL BARRON l
Washington, 18 April, 1806.
Sir:
As it is probable that the transactions relative to the close
of the war, and the negotiations for the peace with Tripoli,
will again become a subject of deliberation at the next session
of Congress, and as it may perhaps not be in my power to
obtain then the information which is only in your possession,
and which I think important to elucidate the subject, I take
the liberty to request your answer to the following questions,
and also for any other information relative to the same ob-
ject which you may think proper to communicate.
1. What was your particular object and intention in sending
Mr. Eaton into Egypt after Hamet Bashaw?
1 Henry Adams, History, II. 431.
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS i 4 i
2. Was this object and intention understood by Mr. Eaton at
that time?
3. What was the amount of the supplies furnished by you to
Hamet Bashaw, besides those for which Mr. Eaton was account-
able?
4. What were the circumstances which induced you to recom-
mend to Mr. Lear the negotiation of peace with the reigning
Bashaw?
5. Did you conceive yourself authorized to furnish men from
the squadron to lead a coup de main against Tripoli?
6. Do you know what number of men Hamet Bashaw and Mr.
Eaton had with them, at and after the taking of Derne?
7. What is the distance from Derne to Tripoli by land, and
what is your opinion of the practicability of Hamet's marching to
Tripoli with the force he had, or could command?
8. What was the information of Hamet Bashaw's want of means
and resources, which finally induced you to abandon the plan of
cooperation with him?
9. What was his situation in Egypt when found there by Mr.
Eaton?
And if you have no objection I shall also thank you for a
certified copy of that letter from Mr. Blake, which you showed
me, wherein the conversation between Mr. Eaton and
Hamet Bashaw was related.
If you can further refer me to any other person possessed
of information, which may be of use to exhibit the real state
of these affairs, I shall esteem it a further obligation and re-
main, &C 1
1 See American State Papers, Foreign Relations, II. 695.
i 4 2 THE WRITINGS OF [1806
TO LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS
May 1, 1806.
... I am lodged at the City Hotel. Yesterday I dined
with Mr. King and spent the last evening at Colo. Trum-
bull's. The city of New York is in the greatest bustle I
ever witnessed. This is the universal moving day, and about
half the inhabitants are changing their places of abode. They
are also in the midst of a warmly contested election for mem-
bers of Congress and of their state legislature. The federal-
ists, for the first time these two or three years, have run no
candidates of their own, and though they do not much expect
to carry the election, there is no doubt but they will come
very near succeeding. Besides all this there has been great
agitation in the city from the unfortunate occurrence on
Saturday last. The British ships Leander and Cambrian are
lying off the port, and a shot from the first of them killed a
man on board a coasting vessel coming from the Delaware.
All communication with the ships has been since cut off, and
two or three of their officers are on shore, and cannot get on
board. The grand jury of the city and county have found a
bill of indictment against the captain of the Leander for mur-
der, and a representation of the facts has been sent on to the
President at Washington, where no doubt you will hear
much of this event. . . .
May 10, 1806.
. . . On Tuesday I went with my father to Cambridge to
attend the inauguration of the new President of the college,
Mr. [Samuel] Webber. The ceremonies of the day were
sufficiently dull. The performances mostly in Latin, with a
comfortable proportion of English in the idiom to make it
intelligible. There was, however, a young gentleman [Sam-
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 143
uel Cary], just out of college, who knew more about making
Latin, as they call it at school, than the rest, and pronounced
a sort of complimentary oration, which would have pleased
me very well, but for a little prophetical sally, in which he
told them what wonders of eloquence they were to perform
when the new professor should come. My turn will be next,
and as there is no installation without a speech, I have asked
the privilege of pronouncing it in a language which I can
write, and the hearers can understand. I expect to be in-
dulged, though some of the adherents to the old school are
very tenacious of the immemorial usage and abhorrent of
innovation. ... At Mr. Amory's I met Sir Isaac Coffin,
a British admiral, who has just arrived from England. . . .
He tells me that Mr. Merry is recalled, and a Lord Selkirk ap-
pointed in his stead. This Lord Selkirk is said to be a great
philosopher; and perhaps may be of great use to you know
whom, in helping to make a moon. . . .
June 1, 1806.
... It has been a week full of noise and bustle, being
what we call election week, the character of which you will
remember. The legislature met on Wednesday. The num-
ber of members in the House of Representatives is upwards
of four hundred and sixty, and nearly double the number
which has heretofore been usual. The democrats have a
majority of about fifty members, and Mr. Morton was of
course chosen Speaker. In the Senate the numbers are more
equally divided. There were thirty-nine members chosen,
of whom nineteen are federalists and twenty democrats.
They have found it impossible as yet to choose a President,
the votes being divided between Mr. Otis and Mr. [John]
Bacon, a man once known at Washington. They have, how-
ever, made him preside as the oldest member, and have filled
i 4 4 THE WRITINGS OF [1806
up the vacancy of a member, which will give them a decided
majority. We are still uncertain who will be the governor.
There is a majority of some hundred votes in favor of Mr.
Strong; but the two houses are the judges of the returns, and
have the power to throw out all the votes not regularly re-
turned. It is supposed that a sufficient number of the federal
votes will be rejected to take off the majority, and then the
choice will be made by the legislature. In that case there is
no doubt but Mr. Sullivan will be chosen. . . .*
June 8, 1806.
. . . Mr. Sullivan will undoubtedly be governor. Mr.
Strong had indeed a full majority of all the votes returned;
but as the Senate and House of Representatives decide upon
the validity of the returns, and as there is a majority in both
houses opposed to the governor, they have appointed a com-
mittee who reported to reject as not legally returned just votes
enough to take the complete majority from Strong. Then
the election is to be made by the legislature, and of course
Mr. Sullivan will be chosen. The Senate have already ac-
cepted the report of the committee, and it goes to the House
of Representatives for discussion tomorrow. The issue is
foreseen, but it has already taken up almost as much time
as our legislature generally sit at this season of the year. . . .
Quincy, 15 June, 1806.
On Thursday afternoon at 5 o'clock, the installation took
place. The time fixed for the purpose was half past three;
but a heavy thunder gust came up exactly at that time and
delayed the performances nearly two hours. It also pre-
1 See Stanwood, Massachusetts Election in 1806, 2 Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceed-
ings, xx. 12.
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 145
vented the attendance of many persons, and the company-
was very small. The heat was excessive, and I suffered much
from it. The auditory were I believe in general well satis-
fied with my discourse, which was very short. 1 I returned
the same evening to Boston. This week I expect to go to
Cambridge and to reside there three or four months. I am
to have a chamber at Dr. Waterhouse's.
The great political question who should be governor is at
length settled, and Mr. Strong is in for one year more. We
had a clear majority of all the votes returned, but an at-
tempt was made and pushed with an unusual violence of
party spirit to reject a number of votes sufficient to prevent
him from having a majority of the whole number. A com-
mittee of the two houses of the legislature, five demos against
two federalists, did accomplish the object as far as depended
on them. They contrived to reject just votes enough to
leave the governor short of the complete majority by four-
teen; and it is amusing to observe the expedients to which
1 As Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory. See Adams, Memoirs, June 12,
1806. The inaugural address was printed at the request of the students as a
pamphlet.
"This address was in the highest degree elegant, classical, and energetic; abound-
ing in fertility of illustration, force of delivery, and originality of remark. Though
'the wand of Hermes is no longer the sceptre of Empire,' yet the Speaker convinced
us that eloquence 'has awoke from her slumbers and shaken the poppies from her
brow'; has conquered the barbarism of Language, by softening the harshness of the
English into the harmony of the Latin tongue, and can again control the passions of
mankind by irresistible persuasion." The Repertory, June 17, 1806. " Mr. Adams'
Discourse gave high gratification to an intelligent and discriminating audience. . . .
In so wide a field, it is obvious that the speaker was in danger of being oppressed
with the multiplicity of his topics, and that the principal difficulty, which he had to
encounter, was that of making a judicious selection. This embarrassment was
completely surmounted, and the audience was delighted with a free, strong and
perspicuous outline of the nature, history and practice of this preeminent art,
sketched by the hand of a master. We congratulate Alma Mater on the acquisition
of such an instructor." Columbian Centinel, June 18, 1806.
146 THE WRITINGS OF [1806
they resorted for that purpose. The Senate after long and
warm debates accepted the report of the committee in all its
parts, but the members of the minority entered a protest
against the decision, which has appeared in all our news-
papers and shows the grounds of controversy. 1 When the
report however pass'd down to the House of Representa-
tives, many of the party began to stagger. The general
sentiment abroad was much against them, and their own
partisans were ashamed to support what they were doing.
All of a sudden they bethought themselves to reject the votes
of two towns more, by which means the majority was re-
stored to Mr. Strong: they immediately declared him to be
chosen. And when I left Boston on Thursday to go up to
Cambridge all the bells were ringing for joy that he was hav-
ing the oaths of office administered to him. He is, however,
the only federalist left in the government. The legislature
have changed all the officers annually elected by them, and
the governor's council is completely altered.
We are in expectation of a total eclipse of the sun to-
morrow morning. This is a very rare occurrence and has
never been known to happen in Boston since the settlement
of the country. There is, indeed, some little question whether
it will be total here even now, as there are two calculations,
one of which makes it less than total by about a minute and
a half. At Washington you will see it very large, but the
sun will not be wholly eclipsed by nearly one-twelfth. The
little society which you remember I once belonged to in
Boston have made some preparations for observing it with
some attention, and are provided with glasses for the pur-
pose. I have agreed to meet with them in Mr. Bussey's
garden, which he has offered them to take their observations.
• ••••••
1 See The Repertory, June 13, 1806.
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 147
Cambridge, 22 June, 1806.
• ••••••
I just mentioned to you in a line which I wrote you on
Wednesday that I had with a company of philosophers ob-
served the eclipse in Mr. Bussey's garden. It was indeed a
very remarkable sight. The principal part of it you must
have witness'd at Washington, but many of the most curious
phenomena were those which arose from the total obscuration
of the sun. His face was entirely covered at Boston about
four minutes and a half. The darkness was such that it
would have been impossible to read a small print, and I was
obliged to use a lanthorn to observe the state of my ther-
mometer. The fowls roosted. The lowing herd wound
slowly o'er the lea. The western horizon with a sky per-
fectly serene looked as if it had been charged with one of the
heaviest thunder clouds. The moon appeared like a patch
of court plaister upon the face of Heaven, and all round the
edges of her disk was a luminous border like that which you
sometimes see round the edges of a dark cloud. Just before
the sun came out the edge of the moon on the side from which
he was to proceed assumed a deep crimson color, but never
since my existence have I seen anything like the brightness
of the first beam which he shot forth upon his return. The
naked eye could not bear it for an instant, though for several
minutes before his face was entirely closed in he suffered us
to look at him. I know not the philosophical reason why the
first rays of reviving splendor should be so much more daz-
zling than the last beams of expiring glory, but such was the
fact. From the commencement of the eclipse to the time of
the total obscurity the thermometer fell eleven degrees, and
by the time the moon fully disappeared it had risen again
about as much, being all the time in the shade. 1
1 See Adams, Memoirs, June 16, 1806.
148 THE WRITINGS OF [1806
I have seen in the newspaper account of the death of Mr.
George Wythe, a Judge of the Court of Chancery in Virginia,
and a man much distinguished during an important period
of the American Revolution. He was at one time an inti-
mate friend of my father, who once address'd to him a letter
on the subject of government which has often been pub-
lished. Of late years he, like so many other persons of the
revolutionary times, had forgotten ancient friendships and
had fallen into another political scale; yet he had not lost
his place in my father's regard, and I am sure he has been
much affected at the incident, particularly, as by a para-
graph in the Richmond Enquirer, it appears there were sus-
picions that Mr. Wythe's death was not in the ordinary
course of nature. On whom the suspicions have fallen the
papers do not say, but probably as it is in your neighborhood,
and as he was a man of so distinguished a character, you
may have heard. If you have, let me know how the circum-
stances are told. 1
TO THE CORPORATION OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Cambridge, 26 June, 1806.
Gentlemen:
By the sixth article of the rules and regulations for the
Boylston professorship of rhetoric and oratory, it is directed
that the professor shall read a course of public lectures at
least once a week to the resident graduates and two senior
classes of undergraduates on the subject of his profession.
The general object of which is, that it shall contain a system
of rhetoric conformable to the models of the ancients.
To comply with the main purpose of this article I was pre-
1 The nephew was tried on a charge of poisoning his uncle, but was acquitted.
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
■fe
149
pared to deliver the first lecture of this course, and the day
was fixed for it (this day), when an idea occurred to me which
has induced me to postpone it, until I can request of you and
of the Overseers, if you deem an act of that body necessary —
that the class now Sophomores, but to commence Juniors at
the next commencement, may be permitted to attend my
course of lectures from the beginning. My reason for this is,
that as this class will of right attend the course after com-
mencement, it will probably be of material use to them (so
far as the whole course may be of use,) to hear the first
five or six lectures. Otherwise they will be required to attend
the lectures during the two years they will remain at college,
and yet after all have only a fragment of the whole, not hav-
ing been permitted to attend the first five or six.
I have also to remark that the minuteness of detail into
which this same article enters to prescribe the particulars of
this course appears to me altogether unnecessary, and if to
be adhered to according to the letter, would impose upon me
shackles to which I am not inclined to submit. The divisions
and subdivisions of the science and the proper means for
pursuing its study might, I suppose, in general be left to the
judgment of the professor. Indeed I always so understood
that it was intended by the Corporation and Overseers. If I
have been mistaken, I must request the article may be modi-
fied, that the general object of the course remaining the same,
both the form and the substance of the lectures may be left
to the professor's discretion. I am, &c.
P. S. I must request a decision as soon as can be conven-
ient upon the subject of this letter, as I shall immediately
after receiving it commence the course.
ISO THE WRITINGS OF [1806
TO LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS
Quincy, 29 June, 1806.
• •••••■
I have spent the week at Cambridge in a state of great
tranquillity and without the occurrence of any incident worth
mentioning to you, except the commencement of my new
duties. I found it irksome enough, and myself very awkward
in the business; yet I believe it a situation in which I can
be of much more service to my country than in that where
your fond partiality supposes me to be of some use. I have
at present, however, no intention to resign. The term of my
public service will soon be at an end, and in the present con-
dition of politics in this state, as well as almost all the rest,
there is no danger that when my time expires I shall have
the opportunity to continue in public life. It is, therefore,
proper to seek by any anticipation the motives of comfort
against the mortification of being displaced, a sort of censure
the commonness of which, as well as the respectability of
character of those who have suffered it, has purified from all
disgrace, but which when it comes I suppose every one must
in some measure feel. We are verging to a state of things
not very consistent with the principles of republican govern-
ment, but through which all republics must pass; a state of
things, in which merit of any kind whatsoever will be no
consideration at all, or at best but a very subordinate con-
sideration, and when the only essential qualification for office
will be party. We have, indeed, advanced very far in this
course, and are taking strides towards its utmost bounds
every day. The legislature of this state, since the change in
their political character, have displaced without exception
every man in office whom they could remove, and who was
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 151
suspected of federalism. This is the first instance in which
anything of that kind has been done in this state, though
it is only an imitation of what has been done by the govern-
ment of the United States, and by all the other states which
have undergone the same change. When the tide shall turn
again, which sooner or later it certainly will, this example
will inevitably be followed, not improbably with some addi-
tional aggravations; because in addition to the same motive
for getting the places which has occasioned the revolution
in the first instance, there will be much individual resentment
to gratify, and much rancor of revenge to indulge. . . .
My present situation continues as agreeable as when I
wrote you last. Mrs. Waterhouse is an agreeable and pleas-
ant tempered woman, and the Doctor a man of learning,
ingenuity and wit. The time during which I associate with
the family is, therefore, rendered agreeable to me, and that
which I employ in my chamber is quiet and uninterrupted,
leaving me the means of that close application which I find
indispensably necessary and without which I should even-
tually disgrace this new institution. On this subject I feel a
concern and solicitude which you who know my natural dis-
position will readily conceive, and which is much increased
by the high expectations which I continually hear are formed
from my appointment. I know how apt high expectations
are to be disappointed, and foresee the probability of adding
to the number of such examples; hence the present is a mo-
ment of anxiety as well as of labor, and I need all the tran-
quillity I can obtain to keep a due possession of myself.
152 THE WRITINGS OF [1806
Quincy, 13 July, 1806.
• ••••••
I have seen in the newspapers some account of the new
disputes between the two Randolphs, 1 and some of them have
gone so far as to appoint the day upon which they were to
meet, which they fixed on the 28th of last month. But I
have seen a Richmond Enquirer of 4 July in which the war
seems still carried on upon paper, in which I suppose it will
end. As far as I have seen there is no real cause alleged for
which they could reasonably quarrel, and if either of them
should kill the other, he would be very much puzzled to give
himself or to any other person the why. But the real reason
is concealed. The real reason is the antagonism of ambition
and the rankling at heart of political opposition. I hope
they will take care to shoot none but the paper bullets of the
brain.
The newspapers have pretended that William Smith 2 (my
sister's son) was one of the persons taken in Miranda's
schooner. But this was a misrepresentation or mistake.
They have had letters from William dated 12 June, after the
capture of the schooner, when he was yet safe. But would
you believe that the Marquis Yrujo wrote a letter to Gen-
eral Dayton with intimations that William Smith was one
of the prisoners; that they would all be put to death unless
by some powerful intercession some single individuals of
them might be spared, and that He would intercede for
William on condition that Colonel Smith would discover to
him everything that he knew of Miranda's plans, and the
names of the Spaniards with him, and in short everything
that could be confessed by a criminal under sentence of death
1 John Randolph of Roanoke and Thomas Mann Randolph, son-in-law of Jef-
ferson.
2 William Steuben Smith, son of William Stephens and Abigail (Adams) Smith.
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 153
to save himself. 1 The Colonel returned a very spirited, in-
dignant and proper answer. I wish William was at home. I
wish neither he nor his father had ever had any concern with
this knight-errant expedition. But I had rather tremble,
nay, I had rather weep, for my friends than blush for them.
Yrujo knows little of Colonel Smith or of any person who
feels an interest of blood or of affection in his sons, if he
thought they would save his life upon such a proposition.
It gives a despicable opinion of his own heart that he could
make it or expect any advantage from it. The Colonel's
trial is fixed for tomorrow, and unhappily Judge Paterson
will not be there. What the government means to do for
him or Ogden 2 time will show. 3 As far as relates to Colonel
Smith the President I should think has already done enough.
He has ruined him as completely as his heart could wish.
More is unnecessary.
• • •
TO NOAH WEBSTER
Quincy, 5 November, 1806.
Sir:
I received some time since through the hands of Judge
Dawes your favor of 12 August, together with a copy of
your Dictionary, and a newspaper containing the strictures
of a critic at Albany, and your reply to them. My thanks
for your obliging present ought ere this to have been returned
to you, and would have been but for a pressure of occupation
1 The letters of Yrujo and Smith are in The Repertory, July 22, 1806; that of
Dayton, July 25.
2 Samuel G. Ogden.
3 Smith and Ogden were acquitted. Robertson, Miranda, 374.
4 The criticism and the reply are printed in the Connecticut Herald, August 12,
1806.
154 THE WRITINGS OF [1806
at this time, and from a desire with full deliberation to give
you my candid opinion respecting your project for a larger
Dictionary.
There are three objections made against your plan by the
critic of Albany, relating first, to your peculiarities of spell-
ing; secondly, to your principles of pronunciation, and
thirdly, to the introduction into your Dictionary of local
vulgarisms.
With regard to the two first I have always considered
them as under the absolute dominion of fashion. And as we
are in the habit of receiving all our fashions from England,
this has been regularly imported with the rest. I have never
thought it a subject worth contending about. It is true we
can manufacture words, as we can manufacture broad-cloths,
for ourselves. And we can insist upon spelling or pronounc-
ing them as they ought to be, or as our great grandfathers
spelt or pronounced them, as we can dress in the costume of
the seventeenth century, or cut our clothes upon a philo-
sophical principle of convenience, if we please. Every in-
dividual must in this respect act for himself. A patriotic
spirit will from a sense of duty encourage a domestic manu-
facture, but to prescribe their use by law, and to prohibit the
introduction of them from Great Britain, is at least of more
questionable policy, and perhaps not quite so practicable.
Alterations of spelling or pronunciation upon the authority
of a single writer have an inevitable tendency to introduce
confusion into a language. Voltaire undertook to introduce
a new system of spelling into the French language. Yet his
authority has not even to this day generally prevailed, and
the greater part of the French nation spell as their fathers did.
Many writers however have followed his example, and a
numerous class of words are consequently spelt two different
ways. I am apprehensive that your example and authority
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 155
may produce a similar inconvenience to the writers and
speakers of English. That is, if you adhere to the intention
of setting up a standard of spelling or pronunciation dif-
ferent from that which is admitted in England.
The sentiments indeed which you express to me in your
letter of the inconveniences and impracticability of attempt-
ing to impose dogmas upon others in respect to pronunciation
are so perfectly congenial to my own, that I could not but
regret to find that our inference from these principles was not
exactly the same. My own conclusion is to take the stand-
ard as I find it, and shun all controversy upon the subject.
Yours, I observe, is to take nearly the standard of Entick,
and to reject all subsequent changes as innovations of the
English stage and court. That innovation in many of the
cases where you differ from them is chargeable upon them,
and not upon you, I readily believe; but the question seems
to be, not who was the innovator, but whether a different
and a hostile standard shall be resorted to. Now if I deemed
a new standard necessary, I know not where I could find one
which I should prefer to yours. But I am not entirely con-
vinced that any new one is desirable.
Your remark that the English lexicographers are not
agreed among themselves, is undoubtedly a strong argument
to dissuade us from absolute and unqualified submission to
any one of them. 1 Nor is the authority of any of them con-
sidered as irrefragable. Each of them has his influence, and
his peculiarities are adopted or rejected according to the
weight of his reasons or the fluctuations of public taste.
Standing on the same ground with them as a philologist, your
1 "August II, 1807. Mr. Monroe, the printer, of the partners Oliver and Monroe,
came to me to write him proposals for publishing an edition of Johnson's large Dic-
tionary, and requested me to superintend the publication; the last of which I de-
clined." Ms. Diary.
I5 6 THE WRITINGS OF [1806
opinions will doubtless have their deserved weight; but I do
not think it your wish, nor should I deem it proper, to engage
national prejudices or passions in the cause. I would neither
adopt nor reject a mode of spelling or of pronunciation,
either from deference or from resistance to the English Court
or stage. I would not agree with them to prove my conde-
scension, nor differ from them to mark my independence.
With respect to the introduction into your Dictionary of
new words your reasoning, both in the preface and in your
reply to the critic at Albany, is forcible, and to a certain de-
gree conclusive. Where we have invented new words, or
adopted new senses to old words, it appears but reasonable
that our dictionaries should contain them. Yet there are
always a multitude of words current within particular neigh-
borhoods, or during short periods of time, which ought never
to be admitted into the legitimate vocabulary of a language.
A very good proportion of the words of American origin are
of this description, and I confess that I should prefer to see
them systematically excluded, rather than hunted up for
admission into a dictionary of classical English. In your
undertaking to compile a large Dictionary to supersede those
which come to us from England, it must doubtless be neces-
sary to proceed upon some general principle. Yet I presume
you will not think it necessary to insert a great number of
words which are in very common use. Between vulgarism
and propriety of speech some line must be drawn, and where
that shall precisely be may perhaps be a question of some
difficulty. Your liberality of admission in the compendious
Dictionary extends so far, that I should prefer to find in the
larger work a restriction rather than an enlargement of it.
I have not had an opportunity of exchanging sentiments
with President Webber or Professor Ware with respect to
your undertaking, and know not how far they would deem it
i8o6] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 157
advisable to pledge our University to support your system
of spelling, pronunciation, or of departure from the English
language. Though not entirely coinciding with you in opin-
ion upon these subjects, I hope you will be persuaded of the
sincerity with which I appreciate your genius and learning,
and of my respect for the depth and extent of your researches
upon this and other subjects of high moment to our country.
I have thought a free and explicit avowal of my own impres-
sions would be most satisfactory to you, in answer to the
confidence with which you had favored me, although the
principles which I have accustomed myself to apply in these
cases have led me to deductions, differing in some respects
from yours. I am, &C 1
1 "Eaton's story about the offers made him by Burr has now been served up in
all the newspapers. Burr's story we have not yet heard. Eaton himself would have
been wiser had he been more silent. The amount of his narrative is, that he advised
the President to send Burr upon an important embassy, because !!! he had dis-
covered the said Burr to be a Traitor to his country.
" I send you some documents to read, or to dispose of as you please. Wilkinson's
letter is a curiosity, as perfectly characteristic. Tis Don Adriano de Armado the
second." To Louisa Catherine Adams, December 8, 1806. Ms.
"We have hitherto had no business to occasion debate; but the House of Repre-
sentatives have again passed a bill for a bridge over the Potomac, which is now be-
fore the Senate, and has already been two or three times postponed. The parties on
both sides are warmer than they have ever been before, and I expect we shall have a
very animated discussion of the question. The time now fixed for it is next Monday.
The General Assembly of Maryland have passed a resolution instructing their Sena-
tors to use their influence against it; and Mr. Giles, who is here, takes a very strong
interest against it; but Mr. Bayard and Mr. White are quite as zealous in its favor;
and as far as I can judge the opinion of the Senate is very equally divided. The
probability seems to me that the bill will pass." To Louisa Catherine Adams, Jan-
uary 14, 1807. Ms.
158 THE WRITINGS OF [1807
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, January 27, 1807.
Mr. Burr and his conspiracy have begun to occupy our
attention. Last Friday (23d) the Senate with closed doors
passed an act suspending in certain cases the privilege of the
writ of habeas corpus. The business was finished in one day,
with a slight opposition from Mr. Bayard, who voted alone
against the bill, but did not use his privilege of forbidding the
reading of the bill three times on the same day. 1 The House
of Representatives adjourned over until Monday before we
had finished. Yesterday morning the message and the bill
were sent to them in confidence. 2 They immediately opened
their doors, and almost unanimously rejected the bill at the
first reading. I have enclosed to you the papers from the
President upon which the Senate acted. Bollman and
Swartwout 3 who were arrested by General Wilkinson are
now here, and it seems questionable what can be done with
them. The general subject is yet mysterious, but there is a
concurrence of testimony establishing facts more important,
as they respect the operation of our Institutions, and future
prospects of this country than most of us appear to be
aware of.
These two subjects and the projects for prohibiting the
importation of slaves into the United States after 1 January
next exclusively engross our attention. We have in the two
1 The committee, appointed on the same day for preparing the bill were William
B. Giles, John Quincy Adams and Samuel Smith.
2 Printed in Annals of Congress, 9th Cong., 2 Sess., 39.
3 Erick Bollman and Samuel Swartwout. The President's messages upon Burr's
conspiracy were referred to William B. Giles, James A. Bayard and John Quincy
Adams, lb., 45.
i8o 7 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 159
houses had seven different printed bills for this purpose; and
at length we have passed a bill in Senate which has this day
gone to the House of Representatives.
30 January.
The part I have taken in the business of the last three
days, and the important transactions now going on in the
Circuit Court here, have prevented me from finishing this
letter. I inclose you a newspaper in which you will find the
proceedings hitherto on the singular cases of Bollman and
Swartwout, which are still under argument, by the District
Attorney 1 and present Attorney General, 2 on a motion for
their commitment on a charge of treason, and by the late
Attorney General, Mr. Charles Lee, and a young Mr. Key, 3
for the prisoners. They are now before the Court, and excite
such universal curiosity that we are scarcely able here to
form a quorum to do business and the House of Representa-
tives actually adjourned this morning for want of a quorum.
We were almost without public business during the first
six weeks of the session, and I employed the leisure time
principally to prepare for my labors of the ensuing spring.
I have also continued my application to the Greek, and have
read through the Odyssey in the original. I selected this
because I have it in a single small volume with a Latin version
at the side, but without a commentary. There is no great
plenty of Greek books here. I found so long as the mind was
unagitated by other subjects of meditation, and the feelings
in a state of tranquillity, I could read and understand Homer
much better than I can since the public business has taken
hold of me. I now read without understanding much.
1 Jones.
2 John Breckenridger (1760-1806).
3 Francis Scott Key (1780-1843).
160 THE WRITINGS OF [1807
I have been taken off from the possibility of finishing my
letter by a debate which I have been obliged to support for
the whole of this day, on a bill of little importance, but which
I happened to report. Upon such bills I have never had the
good fortune to escape hard pushing and struggling; but we
passed half a dozen other bills without raising half an hour's
discussion.
It is now almost four. The Circuit Court have committed
Bollman and Swartwout without bail or mainprize — Judge
Cranch dissenting. Ever faithfully your son. 1
1 "January 30. Mr. Adams made the following motion, which was read:
"Resolved, that the following rule be added to the rules for conducting business
in the Senate.
"The final question upon the second reading of every bill, resolution, Constitu-
tional amendment, or motion, originating in the Senate, and requiring three read-
ings previous to its being passed, shall be, whether it shall be engrossed and read a
third time? And no amendment shall be received for discussion at the third reading
of any bill, resolution, amendment, or motion, unless by unanimous consent of the
members present." The motion was amended and after debate was adopted
March 3, Adams voting in the negative. Annals of Congress, 9th Cong., 2nd Sess.,
49, 53, i°4-
"The Potomac bridge question is at last postponed until the next session of Con-
gress, after seven days of as warm and close debate as I ever witnessed in the Senate.
The postponement was carried by a single vote, seventeen to sixteen, and in all prob-
ability had the question on the bill itself been taken, it would have prevailed. . . .
"The bridge is for the present dismissed; but king Burr furnishes a topic of no
less interest and agitation in its stead. Two of his agents, Bollman and Swartwout,
who were employed to seduce General Wilkinson and the army, and whom the Gen-
eral seized and sent here, have been committed upon a charge of high treason, but I
suppose they must be sent back to New Orleans for trial. At least they cannot, as
I believe, be tried here." To Louisa Catherine Adams, February 1, 1807. Ms.
"Your father was for a considerable time much concerned about the bill which
passed so rapidly through the Senate, and still cannot account for the vote of a cer-
tain friend of mine. It never caused me the slightest anxiety as I know your opin-
ions to be generally formed upon mature reflection and deliberation, and almost
always correct. He has taxed me once or twice upon two of your former votes, as if
he suspected my having been concerned in the subject, which makes me smile. No
woman certainly ever interfered less in affairs of this kind than I have, and if I ever
possessed any influence, I certainly have never exerted it. However, these two votes
i8o 7 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 161
CHESAPEAKE-LEOPARD AFFAIR »
July 16, 1807.
Whereas, by the communication from Norfolk, Portsmouth, and
their vicinities, and the Proclamation of the President of the United
States, it appears the sovereignty of our country has been insulted,
and the lives of our citizens sacrificed, by the unjustifiable conduct
of a British armed ship.
1. Resolved, That we consider the unprovoked attack made on
the United States armed ship the Chesapeake, by the British ship
of war the Leopard, a wanton outrage upon the lives of our fellow
citizens, a direct violation of our national honor, and an infringe-
ment of our national rights and sovereignty.
2. Resolved, That we most sincerely approve the Proclamation, 2
and the firm and dispassionate course of policy pursued by the
President of the United States; and we will cordially unite with
he says, he never can forgive, and I suspect he has since included the last among the
number." Louisa Catherine Adams to John Quincy Adams, February 15, 1807.
On February 24, Adams appears to have made a speech on the Chesapeake and
Delaware Canal Bill; but its argument is known only through the reply made by
Samuel White of Delaware. Annals of Congress, 9th Cong., 2nd Sess., 80.
1 Intelligence of the attack upon the Chesapeake by the British ship the Leopard
reached Boston June 30. The federalists saw no reason for calling a town meeting,
but their opponents issued a notice of a public meeting to be held at the New State
House on July 10. The resolutions, pledging support to the measures of Admin-
istration, were framed by a committee, of which Barnabas Bidwell was chairman.
Next to his name came that of John Quincy Adams, the only federalist of reputation
present at the meeting. The federalists recognizing their error, joined in a town
meeting, held in Faneuil Hall, on July 16; the occasion being the letter from the
citizens of Norfolk, describing the situation in Virginia. A committee was named to
prepare the resolutions, and John Quincy Adams was chairman. With him were
associated Harrison Gray Otis, William Eustis, Christopher Gore (who was not
present and did not participate in the meeting), Dr. Charles Jarvis, John C. Jones,
Thomas H. Perkins, and Dr. John Warren. The resolutions, drafted by Adams,
and unanimously adopted by the meeting, received the approval of all citizens,
irrespective of party. Adams, Memoirs, July io, 16, 1807. New England Federal-
ism, 184.
2 Dated July 2, 1807.
ifa THE WRITINGS OF [1807
our fellow citizens in affording effectual support to such measures,
as our Government may further adopt in the present crisis of our
affairs.
3. Resolved, That we remember with pride and pleasure, the
patriotic and spirited conduct of the citizens of Norfolk, Ports-
mouth, and their vicinities, before the orders of Government were
known, upon this momentous occasion; and they are entitled to the
thanks and approbation of their fellow citizens throughout the
Union.
4. Resolved, That the Selectmen be requested to return a suit-
able answer to the respectful communication from our fellow
citizens at Norfolk, with the proceedings of this meeting.
MOTIONS 1
October 28, 1807.
That so much of the President's Message as relates to the recent
outrages committed by British armed vessels within the jurisdic-
tion, and in the waters of the United States, and to the Legislative
provisions which may be expedient as resulting from them, be
referred to a select committee, with leave to report by bill or other-
wise. 2
That so much of the said Message as relates to the formation of
the seamen of the United States into a special militia for the pur-
pose of occasional defence of the harbors against sudden attacks, be
referred to a select committee, with leave to report by bill or other-
wise.
1 Annals of Congress, loth Cong., 1st Sess., I. 19.
2 On October 30 a committee was appointed composed of John Quincy Adams,
Samuel Smith, John Milledge, Samuel Latham Mitchill, and Joseph Anderson.
The committee reported a bill, November 24. lb., 34.
i8o 7 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 163
MOTION ON IMPRESSMENTS
November 25, 1807.
Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested
to cause to be laid before the Senate a return of the number of
American seamen impressed or detained by British armed vessels,
whose names have been reported to the Department of State since
the last statement made to Congress; mentioning the names of the
persons impressed, the time and place of their impressment, the
names of the ships, and, as far as may be known, of the officers by
whom they were impressed, together with any material facts or
circumstances in relation to the same; stating, also, the whole
number of seamen impressed since the commencement of the
present war, what number of the persons impressed, according to
the last statement of the Secretary of State, has since been restored,
and the numbers still detained by the British, since demand of
their restoration made; with the reasons assigned for their deten-
tion. 1
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, 30 November, 1807.
My Dear Sir:
I received a few days since your very kind letter which I
am ashamed of answering by a few lines, but by some acci-
dent I have fallen from a state of almost total idleness into
an overwhelming flood of business, which leaves me scarcely
a quarter of an hour of the day or of the night. I sent you
last week a copy of a volume in the form of a bill which I re-
ported upon the aggression business, and which is now under
debate. The mere scribe-work of its compilation (for not
much of it is my own), and the attendance upon a large com-
mittee where it was discussed before it came into the Senate,
1 Annals of Congress, ioth Cong., 1st Sess., I. 38.
1 64 THE WRITINGS OF [1807
have already employed me with sufficient industry. But on
Friday last Mr. John Smith of Ohio made his appearance
here and was going to take his seat. A resolution for a com-
mittee of inquiry whether he ought not to be expelled was
immediately offered, which after some debate was substan-
tially adopted. A committee of seven was raised, of which
I have the misfortune to be chairman. 1 I did not introduce
any one of the proposed resolutions and, as you will see by
the printed debates, took very little part in the discussion.
It was a subject which of all others I was desirous of avoid-
ing, but in vain. The principles and facts involved in this
inquiry are of a compass and magnitude at which I hardly
dare to look, and the solicitude to discharge my duty op-
presses me beyond measure.
I remain of my first opinion on my arrival here. The
President's policy is procrastination, and if Great Britain does
not wage complete war upon us, we shall end with doing
nothing this session. . . .
TO JOSEPH HALL 2
Washington, December 1 1, 1807.
• ••••••
The ground taken by our government on the subject of
the attack upon the Chesapeake has been sanctioned even
by the British ministry, who in the most unqualified manner
have disavowed the orders of Admiral Berkeley, have dis-
claimed in the most pointed terms every pretension to search
a national ship for deserters; and have declared themselves
willing to make proper reparation for the aggression. You
know that I was as averse to the encouragement or enlist-
1 Adams, Memoirs, November 27, 1807.
1 From the Columbian Centinel, December 19, 1807.
i8o 7 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 165
ment of deserters, as the warmest friend to the British navy
could possibly be; and that I thought our government ought
to keep this identical outrage entirely separate from every other
topic of controversy. This opinion I still retain; and if the
extraordinary mission from England should be accomplished
on principles avowed by Mr. Canning, I have no doubt that
war between the two nations may yet be avoided. To this end I
would contribute every possible aid to soften points of con-
troversy which can be left open, to retreat from extremities
which can be shunned, and to preserve peace where I can
have no hope left that the parties can ever meet upon terms
of amity.
With respect to the non-importation act, I wish you to
understand that it is no favorite of mine. I have to some
urged its immediate repeal; not with a view to any effect
which it can produce upon Great Britain; but with reference
to its probable effect among ourselves. It had my approba-
tion two years ago, because the merchants throughout the
Union called upon Congress for some measure to aid nego-
tiation with England; and because the administration, and a
great portion of our people, had a confidence in its efficacy,
which could only be tested by experience. The experiment
has been made. Whatever good effect it could produce it
seems to me is past. It is too much, or too little, for the
present state of things; and its effects will distress our own
people, without producing the purpose for which it was in-
tended beyond the Atlantic. I believe the administration,
for their own sakes, ought to give it up. But so long as the
executive, the responsible department, believes that this
measure will help and not hinder them in negotiation, I
think its repeal ought not to be pressed by its opponents in
Congress. Your petition, as I presume it will be, if couched
in respectful terms, without tincture of party spirit, I have
1 66 THE WRITINGS OF [1807
no doubt will be treated with due consideration; and may
perhaps be acceptable to the government, as furnishing an
apology for abandoning what I believe they do not rely upon
with much confidence. There is a bill now before the House
to modify the act, and I suppose any modification for which
you ask, may be introduced into it, if they should be thought
just. . . .
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, 27 December, 1807.
My Dear Sir:
Your favor of the 14th instant came to my hands just at a
moment to renew and to strengthen impressions which had
been weighing heavily upon my mind for near a month. The
general questions relating to the powers and processes of
expulsion under our Constitution had been forced upon me
by the situation in which I was placed as chairman of the
committee on the present inquiry. My own inclinations
would have led me to investigations of a different kind, for
which indeed I was making preparations and collecting ma-
terials. This subject however came on quite unexpectedly,
and still more unexpectedly was it made my duty to take the
principal labor of its management upon myself. The com-
mittee have been in session almost every day, Saturday and
Christmas day not excepted, since their appointment. Their
report is now ready and will be presented in the course of a
very few days. It is long, and has been agreed to by the
committee almost to a line as drafted by myself. It will
probably form a subject of animated discussion on the ques-
tion of acceptance and, if printed, I shall immediately send
you a copy. If its principles should not meet your approba-
tion, it will be a subject of the deepest regret to me. But
i8o 7 l JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 167
even then, I think you will find in it internal evidence that
its errors, if such you should deem them, have not arisen
from carelessness or inattention. That they should have pro-
ceeded from any less excusable origin I am sure you will not
suspect.
I perceive, by the newspapers and by letters from more
than one of my friends, that the bill which has here com-
monly been termed the aggression bill, and which was also
reported by me as chairman of the committee, has excited
surmises and occasioned imputations among my federal
friends not very auspicious to their good opinion of me. I
think that when I inclosed you a copy of the bill I informed
you that scarcely any of its provisions were mine, although
I gave the bill as it passed the Senate my vote and my sup-
port. I know not anything that has given me so much pleas-
ure as to have learnt by a letter from Dr. Waterhouse that
you approved its -principles. I have, however, inferred from
your silence respecting it and from some other circumstances,
that you supposed it a measure too high-toned for our situa-
tion and perhaps hazardous to our peace. That may pos-
sibly be. It passed by a vote almost unanimous in Senate,
but has not finally been acted upon in the House of Repre-
sentatives. It may, therefore, be considered as indicative
of the tone of sentiment in the Senate particularly with re-
gard to the affair of the Chesapeake, and to the support of our
own authority within our own jurisdiction. That I have
contributed to the best of my abilities, and as far as my very
slender influence in that body extended, to pledge them by
this bill to the assertion and support of its principles, I can
never deny. But I had evidence too clearly irrefragable of
the temper prevailing through both branches of Congress to
fear, that any measure which might unnecessarily endanger
the peace of the nation would be over hastily adopted.
168 THE WRITINGS OF [1807
Our prospects have indeed been growing more gloomy
from day to day. And we have now, at the express call of
the President, an unlimited embargo. To this measure, also,
as merely precautionary and defensive, I gave my assent
and vote. It was in Senate carried through in one day, but
was contested with much more violence in the other House. 1
Under the decrees of France and Great Britain dooming to
capture and confiscation all our ships and cargoes trading
with either of those powers, we had no other alternative left
but this, or taking our side at once in the war. I do not be-
lieve indeed that the embargo can long be continued; but if
we let our ships go out without arming them and authorizing
them to resist the decrees, they must go merely to swell the
plunder of the contending parties. 2
1 On December 18 a message from the President was read in the Senate calling
attention to the increasing dangers to American vessels, seamen and merchandise,
threatened on the high seas and elsewhere, by the belligerent powers of Europe. A
committee was at once appointed, composed of Samuel Smith, John Quincy Adams,
Joseph Anderson, Stephen R. Bradley, and Andrew Gregg; which reported on the
same day an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United
States. The bill was, by a suspension of the rules, given a second reading on that
day, and was then passed by a vote of twenty-two to six, Adams voting in the
affirmative. Annals of Congress, ioth Cong., 1st Sess., I. 50. See Henry Adams,
History, IV. 153; American State Papers, Foreign Relations, III. 25.
2 "When the committee had assembled, we had some doubts of the propriety of
the measure [embargo]. Mr. Adams, in particular, was with difficulty, brought to
consent to it. General [Samuel] Smith stated the reasons which influenced the
Executive, and when the committee at last agreed unanimously to recommend the
measure to the Senate, it was fully understood by them that the bill should pass as
soon as possible: and I think Gen. Smith was instructed, that if any objections were
made, he should move that the rule of the Senate which required that the three
readings of Bills should be on three different days, be suspended, which he after-
ward did.
"The reasons which influenced the committee to recommend that course were,
that, if the bill laying an embargo were to be eight or ten days in passing the two
Houses, a number of merchants would in the meantime send out their vessels loaded
with provisions, for ten or twelve months, and defeat the object of the embargo.
i8o 7 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 169
The British proclamation, 1 expressly commanding impress-
ment from our merchant vessels and assuming in fact a
right of annulling our laws of naturalization, has given again
a new and darker complexion to our old controversies on that
subject. We ought not I think to suffer this new encroach-
ment, and yet I know not how we can take a stand against it
without coming to immediate war. Mr. Canning in his cor-
respondence with Mr. Monroe has insisted very strenuously
upon keeping the case of the Chesapeake distinct from all
other subjects of negotiation between us; and yet the proc-
lamation itself improperly connects them, by taking occa-
sion with the disclaimer of the right of search in national
ships to place upon new ground and under the formal tenor
of a proclamation the pretension to impress from merchant
vessels.
There are some important lights in which this question of
impressment has not yet been presented to the people of this
country. You have seen the resolution which I offered in
Senate some weeks since, to request from the President in-
formation as to the impressments within the two last years.
The returns have not yet been made. 2
If it would not be too troublesome to you I would intreat
And as they would make great profits, those that might be taken by the embargo
would feel themselves much injured, and become hostile to the government. It is
injurious that Mr. Pickering should attach so much wrong to Mr. Adams, as I am
confident that some other members of the committee pressed the passing of the
act, in the manner related, in as strong terms as Mr. Adams. He might as well
have censured the whole Senate, except Mr. Pickering, Mr. Crawford and four or
five others who opposed the bill: ... I further well recollect, that as we passed
from the committee room to the Senate, Mr. Adams observed to me: 'This measure
will cost you and me our seats, but private interest must not be put in opposition
to public good.'" Letter of Stephen Row Bradley, September 21, 1824.
1 October 16, 1807. American State Papers, Foreign Relations, III. 25.
2 Resolution of the Senate, November 30, 1807. The return was made March 2,
1808, and is in American State Papers, Foreign Relations, III. 36.
i 7 o THE WRITINGS OF [1807
you to send me an account, as minute and particular as your
recollection will admit, of the case of the man whom you de-
fended for killing Lieutenant Panton. 1 If you have any
minutes of the trial, or any means of reference to your argu-
ment, the authorities you adduced, and the opinion of the
court, they might be of service to me. 2 I think I have heard
you say that in that case it was admitted by that decision,
that the practice of impressment was even then held to be
inadmissible in the colonies.
I would also thank you for your opinion on the following
points. Is not the impressment of a native born American
citizen from an American vessel in point of principle pre-
cisely the same thing, as if a British recruiting officer from
Canada should come within our lines and forcibly take away
a man to make him a British soldier? And is not this forcible
levying of recruits by the officer of one nation within the
jurisdiction of another the offence against the laws of nations
known by the name of plagiat or man-stealing? And is not
that offence by the universal usage of civilized nations
punished with death?
Is there any law or usage of nations which forbids an Amer-
ican merchant or master of a vessel from engaging by con-
tract a foreign seaman to serve him as a sailor upon a lawful
voyage?
Is not every seaman thus engaged by signing a shipping
paper according to law? And is not the personal service of a
seaman thus engaged a debt ?
I put the case of deserting from ships of war, or any other
vessel, out of the question; but setting that aside, if the
personal service of a British seaman has become by contract a
debt to an American merchant, and if a British officer is
1 Michael Corbet, who killed Henry Gibson Panton, of the Rose frigate.
2 The notes are printed in Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, XLIV. 429.
i8o 7 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 171
warranted and ordered by his government forcibly to take
the seaman away from the service to which he is bound, is it
not in principle an undertaking by the British government
to cancel a debt due by the individual of one nation to the
individual of the other, and as such in substance a direct
violation of the tenth article of Mr. Jay's treaty?
Perhaps these last questions may at first blush carry an
appearance of refinement in their train of reasoning more
than they really deserve. I will thank you to weigh delib-
erately the nature of the contract between seamen and their
owners, and the moral reason professedly assigned in the
tenth article of the treaty for placing contracts between in-
dividuals even beyond the reach of war, and say whether the
forcible dissolution of contract, which must be involved in
every case of impressment, does not violate the substance if
not the form of that article? *
These are not the only subjects of public concern upon
which I feel the want of your judgment and advice. My
situation here at this moment is singular and critical. My
views of present policy, and my sense of the course en-
joined upon me by public duty, are so different from those of
the federalists that I find myself in constant opposition to
them. Yet I have no communication with the administra-
tion but that which my place in the Senate of course implies. 2
The friends of the Executive in Senate repose little confidence
1 The reply of John Adams is printed in Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, XLIV. 422.
2 "You say, you are not in the confidence of the Executive. I yield implicit faith
to the declaration, because you announce it, and because I know you are incapable
of being the creature of any administration, or the advocate for any other measures,
but those which your judgment approves. But were I to give credence to the decla-
rations of zealous federalists in Massachusetts, as well as in this State, I should con-
sider your conduct in direct opposition to what I now do, and ever have, since I
have had the pleasure of knowing you." William Plumer to John Quincy Adams,
February 12, 1808. Ms.
172 THE WRITINGS OF [1807
in me, and discover occasionally unequivocal marks of their
distrust and suspicion. Even when concurring in my opin-
ions, some of them betray an involuntary anxiety lest their
popularity should be affected by having their names go out
as supporters of measures linked with mine. This temper
does, indeed, appear in some small degree to be wearing off,
but any trifle light as air would restore it in all its vigor. Yet
since the commencement of the present session I have been
placed upon every committee of national importance, and
made the reporter of several. Without having the weight of
a single vote besides my own in point of personal influence, I
find myself charged with the duty of originating and con-
ducting measures of the highest interest. I am made a leader
without followers. Until the present session I have always
had two friends (Tracy and Plumer) with whom I could
consult in the most intimate and confidential manner and
on whose friendship I could always rely, almost always upon
their concurrence. But death has removed one of them, 1
and changes of political party the other. I am compelled,
therefore, to lean upon my own judgment more than it will
always bear. My only consolation is in the consciousness
of good intentions and unwearied attention to my duty.
Man can give no more, the rest must be left to a higher
power. 2
Mr. Monroe is here and has been received with great
demonstrations of respect and affection by his own state.
There is said to be some electioneering on foot, of which he
is one of the objects. Electioneering, indeed, is reported to
1 Uriah Tracy died at Washington, D. C, July 19, 1807.
2 " Dana and Goodrich, of Connecticut, are the only men who agree with me con-
cerning the course of John Quincy Adams. His deviation from his friends is per-
fectly reconcilable with the peculiar texture of his mind, without resorting to any
suspicion of his political integrity. I neither join in, nor sanction, any asperities
about him." Josiah Quincy to his wife, Life, 124.
i8o 7 I JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 173
be very active, but I know nothing of its course of proceed-
ings. 1
• ••••••
P. S. I hear there is a private correspondence now passing
between General Wilkinson and J. Randolph, which is ex-
pected to terminate in a meeting of honor. 2
REPORT ON SENATOR JOHN SMITH 3
The committee appointed to inquire whether it be compatible
with the honor and privileges of the house that John Smith a
Senator from the State of Ohio against whom bills of indictment
were found at the Circuit Court of Virginia held at Richmond in
August last for treason and misdemeanor should be permitted any
longer to have a seat therein and to inquire into all the facts re-
garding the conduct of Mr. Smith as an alleged associate of Aaron
Burr and report the same to the Senate submit the following re-
port:
Your committee are of opinion, that the conspiracy of Aaron
Burr and his associates against the peace, union, and liberties of
these states, is of such a character, and that its existence is estab-
lished by such a mass of concurring and mutually corroborative
testimony, that it is incompatible not only with the honor and
privileges of this House, but with the deepest interests of this na-
tion, that any person engaged in it should be permitted to hold a
seat in the Senate of the United States.
Whether the facts, of which the committee submit herewith
such evidence as, under the order of the Senate, they have been
able to collect, are sufficient to substantiate the participation of
1 Monroe had taken leave of the King October 7, and reached Washington, De-
cember 22, to oppose the choice of Madison for the succession to Jefferson.
2 Adams, Memoirs, December, 28, 31, 1807.
s Also printed in Annals of Congress, 10th Cong., 1st Sess., I. 56. The debate
upon the report, with remarks by Adams, is in the same volume, 66, passim, his
final speech being made April 8.
i 7 4 THE WRITINGS OF [1807
Mr. Smith in that conspiracy, or not, will remain for the Senate to
decide.
The committee submit also to the consideration of the Senate,
the correspondence between Mr. Smith and them, through their
chairman, in the course of their meetings. The committee have
never conceived themselves invested with authority to try Mr.
Smith. Their charge was to report an opinion relating to the honor
and privileges of the Senate, and the facts relating to the conduct
of Mr. Smith. Their opinion, indeed, cannot be expressed in re-
lation to the privilege of the Senate, without relating, at the same
time, to Mr. Smith's right of holding a seat in this body; but, in
that respect, the authority of the committee extends only to pro-
posal, and not to decision. But as he manifested a great solicitude
to be heard before them, they obtained permission from the Senate
to admit his attendance, communicated to him the evidence in their
possession, by which he was inculpated, furnished him, in writing,
with the questions arising from it, which appeared to them mate-
rial, and received from him the information and explanations here-
with submitted as part of the facts reported. But Mr. Smith has
claimed, as a right, to be heard in his defence by counsel, to have
compulsory process for witnesses, and to be confronted with his
accusers, as if the committee had been a circuit court of the United
States. But it is before the Senate itself that your committee
conceived it just and proper that Mr. Smith's defence of himself
should be heard. Nor have they conceived themselves bound in
this inquiry by any other rules than those of natural justice and
equity, due to a brother Senator on the one part, and to their
countrymen on the other.
Mr. Smith represents himself, on this inquiry, as solitary, friend-
less, and unskilled, contending for rights which he intimates are
denied him; and the defender of senatorial privileges which he
seems apprehensive will be refused him by Senators, liable, so
long as they hold their offices, to have his case made their own.
The committee are not unaware that, in the vicissitudes of human
events, no member of this body can be sure that his conduct will
i8o 7 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 175
never be made a subject of inquiry and decision before the assem-
bly to which he belongs. They are aware that, in the course of
proceeding which the Senate may now sanction, its members are
marking out a precedent which may hereafter apply to themselves.
They are sensible that the principles upon which they have acted
ought to have the same operation upon their own claims to privi-
lege as upon those of Mr. Smith; the same relation to the rights of
their constituents, which they have to those of the legislature which
he represents. They have deemed it their duty to advance in the
progress of their inquiry with peculiar care and deliberation. They
have dealt out to Mr. Smith that measure, which, under the sup-
position of similar circumstances, they would be content to find
imparted to themselves; and they have no hesitation in declaring
that, under such imputations, colored by such evidence, they
should hold it a sacred obligation to themselves, to their fellow
Senators, and to their country, to meet them by direct, uncondi-
tional acknowledgment or denial, without seeking a refuge from
the broad face of day in the labyrinth of technical forms.
In examining the question whether these forms of judicial pro-
ceedings, or the rules of judicial evidence, ought to be applied to
the exercise of that censorial authority which the Senate of the
United States possesses over the conduct of its members, let us
assume, as the test of their application, either the dictates of un-
fettered reason, the letter and spirit of the Constitution, or prece-
dents, domestic or foreign, and your committee believe that the
result will be the same; that the power of expelling a member must,
in its nature, be discretionary, and in its exercise always more
summary than the tardy process of judicial tribunals.
The power of expelling a member for misconduct results, on the
principles of common sense, from the interest of the nation, that
the high trust of legislation should be invested in pure hands.
When the trust is elective, it is not to be presumed that the con-
stituent body will commit the deposits to the keeping of worthless
characters. But when a man, whom his fellow-citizens have
honored with their confidence, on the pledge of a spotless reputa-
i 7 6 THE WRITINGS OF [1807
tion, has degraded himself by the commission of infamous crimes,
which become suddenly and unexpectedly revealed to the world,
defective indeed would be that institution which should be im-
potent to discard from its bosom the contagion of such a member;
which should have no remedy of amputation to apply until the
poison had reached the heart.
The question upon the trial of a criminal cause, before the courts
of common law, is not between guilt and innocence, but between
guilt and the possibility of innocence. If a doubt can possibly be
raised, either by the ingenuity of the party or of his counsel, or
by the operation of general rules in their unforeseen application to
particular cases, that doubt must be decisive for acquittal, and the
verdict of not guilty, perhaps, in nine cases out of ten, means no
more than that the guilt of the party has not been demonstrated
in the precise, specific, and narrow forms prescribed by law. The
humane spirit of the laws multiplies the barriers for the protection
of innocence, and freely admits that these barriers may be abused
for the shelter of guilt. It avows a strong partiality favorable to
the person upon trial, and acknowledges the preference that ten
guilty should escape rather than that one innocent should suffer.
The interest of the public that a particular crime should be pun-
ished, is but as one to ten, compared with the interest of the party,
that innocence should be spared. Acquittal only restores the party
to the common rights of every other citizen; it restores him to no
public trust; it invests him with no public confidence; it substitutes
the sentence of mercy for the doom of justice; and to the eyes of
impartial reason, in the great majority of cases, must be considered
rather as a pardon than a justification.
But when a member of a legislative body lies under the imputa-
tion of aggravated offences, and the determination upon his cause
can operate only to remove him from a station of extensive powers,
and important trust, this disproportion between the interest of the
public and the interest of the individual disappears; if any dispro-
portion exists, it is of an opposite kind. It is not better than ten
traitors should be members of this Senate than that one innocent
i8o 7 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 177
man should suffer expulsion. In either case, no doubt, the evil
would be great. But in the former, it would strike at the vitals
of the nation; in the latter it might, though deeply to be lamented,
only be the calamity of an individual.
By the letter of the Constitution, the power of expelling a mem-
ber is given to each of the two Houses of Congress, without any
limitation other than that which requires a concurrence of two-
thirds of the votes to give it effect.
The spirit of the Constitution is, perhaps, in no respect more
remarkable than in the solicitude which it has manifested to secure
the purity of the legislature by that of the elements of its composi-
tion. A qualification of age is made necessary for the members
to ensure the maturity of their judgment; a qualification of long
citizenship, to ensure a community of interests and affections be-
tween them and their country; a qualification of residence, to
provide a sympathy between every member and the portion of the
Union from which he is delegated; and to guard, as far as regulation
can guard, against every bias of personal interest, and every hazard
of interfering duties, it has made every member of Congress in-
eligible to office which he contributed to create, and every officer of
the Union incapable of holding a seat in Congress. Yet, in the
midst of all this anxious providence of legislative virtue, it has not
authorized the constituent body to recall in any case its representa-
tive. It has not subjected him to removal by impeachment; and
when the darling of the people's choice has become their deadliest
foe, can it enter the imagination of a reasonable man that the
sanctuary of their legislation must remain polluted with his
presence, until a court of common law, with its pace of snail, can
ascertain whether his crime was committed on the right or on the
left bank of a river; whether a puncture of difference can be found
between the words of the charge and the words of the proof;
whether the witnesses of his guilt should or should not be heard by
his jury; and whether he was punishable, because present at an
overt act, or intangible to public justice, because he only contrived
and prepared it? Is it conceivable that a traitor to that country
i 7 8 THE WRITINGS OF [1807
which has loaded him with favors, guilty to the common under-
standing of all mankind, should be suffered to return unquestioned
to that post of honor and confidence, where, in the zenith of his
good fame, he had been placed by the esteem of his countrymen,
and in defiance of their wishes, in mockery of their fears, sur-
rounded by the public indignation, but inaccessible to its bolt,
pursue the purposes of treason in the heart of the national coun-
cils? Must the assembled rulers of the land listen with calmness
and indifference, session after session, to the voice of notorious
infamy, until the sluggard step of municipal justice can overtake
his enormities? Must they tamely see the lives and fortunes of
millions, the safety of present and future ages, depending upon his
vote, recorded with theirs, merely because the abused benignity
of general maxims may have remitted to him the forfeiture of his
life?
Such, in very supposable cases, would be the unavoidable con-
sequences of a principle which should offer the crutches of judicial
tribunals as an apology for crippling the congressional power of
expulsion. Far different, in the opinion of your committee, is the
spirit of our Constitution. They believe that the very purpose for
which this power was given was to preserve the legislature from
the first approaches of infection. That it was made discretionary
because it could not exist under the procrastination of general
rules; that its process must be summary, because it would be ren-
dered nugatory by delay.
Passing from the constitutional view of the subject to that
which is afforded by the authority of precedent, your committee
find that, since the establishment of our present National legis-
lature, there has been but one example of expulsion from the Sen-
ate. In that case, the member implicated was called upon, in the
first instance, to answer whether he was the author of a letter, the
copy of which only was produced, and the writing of which was
the cause of his expulsion. He was afterwards requested to declare
whether he was the author of the letter itself, and declining, in
both cases, to answer, the fact of his having written it was estab-
i8o 7 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 179
lished by a comparison of his hand-writing, and by the belief of
persons who had seen him write, upon the inspection of the letter.
In all those points the committee perceive the admission of a
species of evidence, which, in courts of criminal jurisdiction, would
be excluded, and, in the Resolution of expulsion, the Senate de-
clared the person inculpated guilty of a high misdemeanor, although
no presentment or indictment had been found against him, and no
prosecution at law was ever commenced upon the case.
This event occurred in July, 1797. About fifteen months before
that time, upon an application from the legislature of Kentucky,
requesting an investigation by the Senate of a charge against one
of the members from that State, of perjury, which had been made
in certain newspaper publications, but for which no prosecution
had been commenced, the Senate did adopt, by a majority of six-
teen votes to eight, the report of a committee, purporting that the
Senate had no jurisdiction to try the charge, and that the memorial
of the Kentucky legislature should be dismissed. There were,
indeed, very sufficient reasons of a different kind assigned in the
same report, for not pursuing the investigation, in that partic-
ular case, any further; and your committee believe that, in the
reasoning of that report, some principles were assumed and some
inferences drawn, which were altogether unnecessary for the deter-
mination of that case, which were adopted without a full consider-
ation of all their consequences, and the inaccuracy of which was
clearly proved by the departure from them in the instance which
was so soon afterwards to take place. It was the first time that a
question of expulsion had ever been agitated in Congress, since
the adoption of the Constitution. And the subject being thus en-
tirely new, was considered perhaps too much with reference to the
particular circumstances of the moment, and not enough upon the
numerous contingencies to which the general question might
apply. Your committee state this opinion with some confidence,
because of the sixteen Senators who, in March, 1796, voted for the
report dismissing the memorial of the Kentucky legislature; eleven,
on the subsequent occasion, in July, 1797, voted also for that re-
180 THE WRITINGS OF [1807
port, which concluded with a resolution for the expulsion of Mr.
Blount. The other five were no longer present in the Senate. Yet,
if the principles advanced in the first report had been assumed as
the ground of proceeding at the latter period, the Senate would
have been as impotent of jurisdiction upon the offence of Mr.
Blount as they had supposed themselves upon the allegation against
Mr. Marshall.
Those parts of the fifth and sixth articles, amendatory to the
Constitution, upon which the report in the case of Mr. Marshall
appears to rely for taking away the jurisdiction of the Senate, your
Committee suppose can only be understood as referring to prose-
cutions at law; to suppose that they were intended as restrictions
upon powers expressly granted by the Constitution to the legisla-
ture, or either of its branches, would in a manner annihilate the
power of impeachment as well as that of expulsion. It would lead
to the absurd conclusion that the authority given for the purpose
of removing iniquity from the seats of power, should be denied its
exercise in precisely those cases which most loudly call for its en-
ergies. It would present the singular spectacle of a legislature
vested with power of expelling its members, of impeaching, remov-
ing, and disqualifying public officers, for trivial transgressions be-
neath the cognizance of the law, yet forbidden to exert them against
capital or infamous crimes.
Those two articles were in substance borrowed from similar
regulations contained in that justly celebrated statute, which for
so many ages has been distinguished by the name of the Great
Charter of England. Yet in that country, where they are recog-
nized as the most solid foundations of the liberties of the nation,
they have never been considered as interfering with the power of
expelling a member, exercised at all times by the House of Com-
mons; a power which there, however, rests only upon parliamentary
usage, and has never been bestowed, as in the Constitution of the
United States, by any act of supreme legislation. From a number
of precedents which have been consulted, it is found that the exer-
cise of this authority there has always been discretionary, and its
i8o 7 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 181
process always far otherwise than compendious in the prosecutions
before the judicial courts. So far, indeed, have they been from
supposing a conviction at law necessary to precede a vote of ex-
pulsion, that, in one instance, a resolution to demand a prosecution
appears immediately after the adoption of the resolution to expel.
In numerous cases the member submits to examination, adduces
evidence in his favor and has evidence produced against him, with
or without formal authentication; and the discretion of the House
is not even restricted by the necessary concurrence of more than a
bare majority of the votes.
The provision in our Constitution which forbids the expulsion
of a member by an ordinary majority, and requires for this act of
rigorous and painful duty the assent of two-thirds, your committee
consider as a wise and sufficient guard against the possible abuse
of this legislative discretion. In times of heat and violent party
spirit, the rights of the minority might not always be duly re-
spected, if a bare majority could expel their members under no
other control than that of their own discretion. The operation of
this rule is of great efficacy, both over the proceedings of the whole
body, and over the conduct of every individual member. The
times when the most violent struggles of contending parties oc-
cur — when the conflict of opposite passions is most prone to ex-
cess — are precisely the times when the numbers are most equally
divided; when the majority amounts to the proportion of two-
thirds the security in its own strength is of itself a guard against
extraordinary stretches of power; when the minority dwindles to
the proportion of one-third, its consciousness of weakness dis-
suades from any attempts to encroach upon the rights of the
majority, which might provoke retaliation. But if expulsion were
admissible only as a sequel to the issue of a legal prosecution, or
upon the same principles and forms of testimony which are estab-
lished in the criminal courts, your committee can see no possible
reason why it should be rendered still more imbecile by the req-
uisition of two-thirds to give it effect.
It is now the duty of your committee to apply the principles
J 82 THE WRITINGS OF [1807
which they have here endeavored to settle and elucidate, to the
particular case upon which the Senate have directed them to report.
The bills of indictment found against Mr. Smith, at the late session
of the circuit court of the United States at Richmond, (copies of
which are herewith submitted,) are precisely similar to those found
against Aaron Burr. From the volume of printed evidence com-
municated by the President of the United States to Congress, re-
lating to the trial of Aaron Burr, it appears that a great part of the
testimony which was essential to his conviction upon the indict-
ment for treason, was withheld from the jury upon an opinion of
the court, that Aaron Burr, not having been present at the overt
act of treason alleged in the indictment, no testimony relative to
his conduct or declarations elsewhere, and subsequent to the
transactions on Blennerhassett's Island could be admitted. And,
in consequence of this suppression of evidence, the traverse jury
found a verdict "that Aaron Burr was not proved to be guilty,
under that indictment, by any evidence submitted to them." It
was also an opinion of the court, that none of the transactions, of
which evidence was given on the trials of Aaron Burr, did amount
to an overt act of levying war, and, of course, that they did not
amount to treason. These decisions, forming the basis of the issue
upon the trials of Burr, anticipated the event which must have
awaited the trials of the bills against Mr. Smith, who from the cir-
cumstances of his case, must have been entitled to the benefit of
their application; they were the sole inducements upon which the
counsel for the United States abandoned the prosecution against
him.
Your committee are not disposed now to question the correct-
ness of those decisions on a case of treason before a court of crim-
inal jurisdiction. But whether the transactions proved against
Aaron Burr did or did not amount, in technical language, to an
overt act of levying war, your committee have not a scruple of
doubt upon their minds that, but for the vigilance and energy of
the government, and of faithful citizens under its directions, in
arresting their progress and in crushing his designs, they would,
i3o 7 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 183
in a very short lapse of time, have terminated not only in war, but
in a war of the most horrible description, in a war at once foreign
and domestic. As little hesitation have your committee in saying,
that, if the daylight of evidence combining one vast complicated
intention, with overt acts innumerable, be not excluded from the
mind by the curtain of artificial rules, the simplest understanding
cannot but see what the subtlest understanding cannot disguise,
crimes before which ordinary treason whitens into virtue; crimes
of which war is the mildest feature. The debauchment of our
army, the plunder and devastation of our own and of foreign terri-
tories, the dissolution of our national Union, and the root of in-
terminable civil war, were but the means of individual aggrandize-
ment, the steps to projected usurpation. If the ingenuity of a de-
mon were taxed to weave, into one composition, all the great moral
and political evils which could be inflicted upon the people of these
States, it could produce nothing more than a texture of war, dis-
memberment, and despotism. Of these designs, a grand jury,
composed of characters as respectable as this nation can boast,
have, upon the solemnity of their oaths, charged John Smith with
being an accomplice. The reasons upon which the trial of this
charge has not been submitted to the verdict of a jury, have been
shown by your committee, and are proved by the letter from the
Attorney of the United States for the District of Virginia, herewith
reported. And your committee are of opinion that the dereliction
of the prosecution on those grounds cannot, in the slightest degree,
remove the imputation which the accusations of the grand jury
have brought to the door of Mr. Smith.
Your committee will not permit themselves to comment upon
the testimony which they submit herewith to the Senate; nor upon
the answers which Mr. Smith has given as sufficient for his justifi-
cation. Desirous as the committee have been that this justifica-
tion might be complete, anxiously as they wished for an oppor-
tunity of declaring their belief of his innocence, they can neither
control nor dissemble the operation of the evidence upon their
minds; and however painful to their feelings, they find themselves
1 84 THE WRITINGS OF [1807
compelled by a sense of duty, paramount to every other consid-
eration, to submit to the Senate, for their consideration the follow-
ing resolution:
Resolved, That John Smith, a Senator from the State of Ohio, by
his participation in the conspiracy of Aaron Burr against the peace,
Union, and liberties, of the people of the United States, has been
guilty of conduct incompatible with his duty and station as a
Senator of the United States. And that he be therefor, and hereby
is, expelled from the Senate of the United States. 1
1 "No document has been before us, during the present session, more extraordinary
than the one I now enclose — the report of my colleague in the case of John Smith,
Senator from Ohio. To you any comments, if I had now time to make them, would
be impertinent." Pickering to Rufus King, January 2, 1808. Life and Correspond-
ence of Rufus King, V. 44. "I cannot fail to express my serious regret that the
report in the case of John Smith was drawn up by your colleague. The times are
not such as allow men of learning to express slight opinions concerning the forms and
independence of the Judiciary; under any circumstance a want of consideration in
this respect would be indiscreet; at a period when so much war and prejudice pre-
vail concerning the importance of this department of government, it is eminently
the duty of enlightened men to avoid everything that may seem to justify and
encourage the innovations which ignorant and wicked men meditate." King to
Pickering, January 7, 1808. lb., 50. Plumer learned that the report had given
"mortal offense" in New Hampshire, and sixteen years later Pickering asserted
that there were passages in it which "outraged, I believe, every distinguished
lawyer in America." See Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, XLV. 356. A series of
severe strictures on the report appeared in the New York Evening Post, Janu-
ary, 1808, ostentatiously addressed to Adams as "a Senator of the United States and
professor of Oratory in Massachusetts," and speaks of him as "once a federalist."
See also Adams, Memoirs, January 7, and April 9, 1808.
In Lowell's Remarks on the review of Ames' Works (p. 25), he reminded Adams,
that "there are those amongst us who have not forgotten the report in the case of
Senator Smith, where justice, so far from being sacred in her temple, was to be
dragged from her seat to perform the polluting office of private revenge; where the
snail-like pace of the common law seemed to be too tardy for those who thirsted
for victims; and where the eager minister of presidential vengeance seemed to sigh
after the mild mercies of the star chamber, and the rapid movements of the revolu-
tionary tribunal."
"I remember that on my way home last May you informed me that J. Q. Adams
had called on you; and in speaking of the acquittal of John Smith of Ohio, he
ascribed it to Mr. Jefferson whom he supposed to be in Smith's hands. This un-
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 185
TO JAMES SULLIVAN
Washington, 10 January, 1808.
Sir:
I lose not a moment in answering your Excellency's in-
quiries with regard to the causes of the embargo so far as they
were understood by me.
1. It was explicitly recommended by the President in a
message communicating a decision by order of the French
Emperor, that the decree of 21 November, 1806, should be
strictly executed against the Americans, as well as all others;
and also the British proclamation commanding their naval
officers to impress British subjects from our vessels.
2. The answer of Mr. Rose, transferring the negotiations
between Great Britain and this country from London to this
place, was considered as an extraordinary and suspicious cir-
cumstance. There were reasons for supposing that the tone
of Mr. Rose's instructions would be so arrogant and over-
bearing that they would be deemed inadmissible here, and
the negotiation arrested at the threshold. It was thought
probable that the British squadron on our coast would have
instructions to commence hostilities immediately on the
rupture of the negotiation, and prudence seemed to call for a
measure which would avoid exposing to capture any of our
vessels which might be issuing from our ports. The occur-
rences since Mr. Rose's arrival have tended very much to con-
firm these expectations. He has raised a punctilio without
landing concerning the treatment not of himself, but of the
ship in which he came; and the British ship Triumph has
doubtedly was the fact. If you recollect any fact, stated by J. Q. A. as the ground
of his opinion, I should be glad to know it." Pickering to Rufus King, January 21,
1809. King replied that no fact was mentioned in support of this opinion. Life
and Correspondence of Rufus King, V. 1 29, 1 3 2.
1 86 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
been into Lynn Haven Bay, and received dispatches from
the station.
3. There was all but official intelligence that the British
king had issued a retaliating proclamation to counteract that
of France, and of equal extent. It was obvious that between
the two, every American vessel that should be permitted to
sail would go to almost certain capture and condemnation.
A temporary suspension of their departure was thought
therefore necessary.
4. It was probable that the embargo, by throwing out of
employment the British sailors in this country, would induce
them to return of their own accord to the ships of their own
sovereign. To me this was a very desirable circumstance, for
I believed it would take away the only pretext the British
have to offer for engaging in a quarrel with us.
5. It was an experiment to see how far the Government
might calculate upon the support of the people for the main-
tenance of their own rights. It was useful and might be of im-
portance to the country, to commence this experiment and
observe its effects before the negotiation with Mr. Rose
should commence.
On the whole I considered it as a measure eminently cal-
culated for the preservation of peace, as it would at once
diminish the temptations and opportunities of the enemy to
commence war against us, and as it would prepare our own
people for an acquiescence in terms on our part, which, with-
out sacrificing any of our rights, might still go further to
conciliation than the temper of the people would have
brooked without it. Yet it was a measure so necessarily dis-
tressing to ourselves, that I should have hesitated upon it,
but for the decisive recommendation of the President.
The letters of Messrs. Armstrong and Champagny about
which so much has been said, related solely to the decree of
i8os] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 187
21 November, 1806. Nothing more was communicated to
Congress. It was, however, in my mind a measure merely
precautionary and which I had and have no idea will be
of long continuance. General embargoes of six or twelve
months, of which some gentlemen talk so lightly, never
entered my brain as practicable things in a great com-
mercial country. I question whether an example of the
kind can be found in history.
I am, etc.
MOTION ON THE EMBARGO
January 11, 1808.
Resolved, That a committee be appointed, with leave to report
by bill or otherwise, and instructed to inquire at what period the
present embargo can, consistently with the public interest, be re-
moved; and whether, in what manner, and to what extent, upon
its removal, the merchant vessels of the United States shall be
permitted, in defence of their lawful commerce, to be armed against,
and to resist, foreign aggression. 1
1 Annals of Congress, ioth Cong., ist Sess., I. 79; Adams, New England Federalism,
190. The motion was defeated by a vote of ten to seventeen. "I am glad to see
your motion on the embargo; it will do good for those who are opposed to that
measure to have an opportunity to express their minds." James Sullivan to John
Quincy Adams, January 23, 1808. Ms. "A suffering community will thank Mr.
Adams for proposing an inquiry: but as the Legislature evidently did not know
why they laid it on, they cannot know why nor when they ought to take it off.
They professed to be governed by the President's recommendation, and they must
wait his pleasure." The Repertory, February 2, 1808. A report on the case of the
ship Manilla, prepared by Adams, is in Annals of Congress, ioth Cong., ist Sess.,
I. 107.
1 88 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
TO JOHN ADAMS
Washington, 27 January, 1808.
My Dear Sir:
I have already written you a very long letter in answer to
your favor of the 8th instant, 1 and after writing it upon read-
ing it over concluded the best disposition I could make of it
would be to burn it. Accordingly the flames have consumed
it, and I must begin again.
Your answers and observations upon my inquiries re-
specting the impressment of our seamen by the British are
of the highest interest. But this general question has been
absorbed by the new decrees of the great contending bel-
ligerent powers. Right and wrong are no longer subjects of
discussion in our concerns with European nations. They
appear to be agreed in the determination that there shall be
no more neutrality, and our only choice is which of the two
we will resist.
I am very sensible of that situation in which you consider
me to stand, and that being now wholly unsupported by any
great party the expiration of my present term of service will
dismiss me from my public station. By this event my vanity
may be affected, but in every other respect it will be a relief.
Deeming it inconsistent with my duties ever to shrink from
the service of my country I have always adhered to the prin-
ciple that I should not solicit any of its favors. The present
time and the prospects of the nation are such that a seat in
the public councils cannot be an object of my desire. My
literary profession and the education of my children will
occupy all my time in a manner which will furnish me duties
enough to discharge. I shall also resume the practice of the
1 Printed in Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, XLIV. 422.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 189
law as far as that will resume me, and although this is a
business for which I know myself to be indifferently qualified,
I shall still pursue it as far as my circumstances will admit. 1
Notwithstanding the critical situation of the country the
two Houses of Congress are acting very much at their leisure,
and from their present proceedings one would imagine we
were in a state of profound peace. The presidential election
engrosses the principal attention of the members. About
one-half the members of both houses here have declared in
favor of Mr. Madison and to re-elect the Vice President. In
the legislature of Virginia, also, the friends of Mr. Madison
have outnumbered those of Mr. Monroe nearly three to one.
I understand that by way of making a temporary provision
for Mr. Monroe he is to be chosen Governor of Virginia. . . .
TO HARRISON GRAY OTIS 2
Washington, March 31, 1808.
Dear Sir:
I have received from one of my friends in Boston a copy
of a printed pamphlet, containing a letter from Mr. Pick-
1 "Your situation you think critical; I think it is clear, plain, and obvious. You
are supported by no party; you have too honest a heart, too independent a mind,
and too brilliant talents, to be sincerely and confidentially trusted by any man
who is under the dominion of party maxims or party feelings. And where is there
another man who is not? You may depend upon it then that your fate is decided.
You will be countenanced neither by France, Spain or England. You will be sup-
ported neither by federalists nor republicans. In the next Congress Dr. Eustis will
be chosen senator, and you will be numbered among the dead, like Jay, Ellsworth,
King, Ames, Dexter, and a hundred others of the brightest geniuses of the country.
You ought to know and expect this, and by no means to regret it. Return to your
professorship, but above all to your office as a lawyer. Devote yourself to your
profession and the education of your children." John Adams to John Quincy Adams,
January 8, 1808. Ms. On the interview with Jefferson, March 15, see Adams,
Memoirs, I. 521; New England Federalism, 12, 24.
^The occasion for this pamphlet is related in the "Appendix," prepared in 1824,
190 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
ering to the Governor of the Commonwealth, intended for
communication to the legislature of the State, during their
session, recently concluded. But this object not having been
accomplished, it appears to have been published by some
friend of the writer, whose inducement is stated, no doubt
truly, to have been the importance of the matter discussed
in it, and the high respectability of the author.
The subjects of this letter are the embargo, and the dif-
ferences in controversy between our country and Great
Britain — subjects upon which it is my misfortune, in the
discharge of my duties as a Senator of the United States, to
differ from the opinions of my Colleague. The place where
the question upon the first of them, in common with others
of great national concern, was between him and me, in our
official capacities a proper object of discussion, was the
Senate of the Union. There it was discussed, and, as far
and now reprinted (p. 224, infra). Although the name of Adams did not appear in
Pickering's pamphlet, the intention of the attack could not be mistaken. Published
in the last hours of the session of the General Court, immediately before the State
election, on the result of which would hang the choice of a United States senator to
fill the place then occupied by Adams, it served as an active electioneering device
in a community dependent upon commerce, and already experiencing the effects
of the embargo. March 16, Adams received a copy of Pickering's pamphlet, and
prepared this reply, which appeared April 9. See Adams, New England Federalism,
194.
" I had the honour to receive your letter to Mr. Otis on Thursday evening last, and
have attended to its publication, with as much expedition as possible. The printers
have published an edition of a thousand copies; the sale of them commenced this
morning, and the whole are now disposed of. Oliver and Munroe are now printing
a second edition of a thousand more on their own account and have contracted with
several of the democrats, with Eben Larkin bookseller at their head, to print three
thousand more for general circulation in the Country. In consequence of the great
haste with which they were printed, some few errors have escaped us, which I shall
see corrected in the second edition. I sent you several copies last evening and now
send you several more by this mail. I have also agreeably to your direction sent a
copy to Governour Sullivan and to Mr. Otis. . . ." William S. Shazv to John
Quincy Adams, April 9, 1808. Ms.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 191
as the constitutional authority of that body extended, there
it was decided. Having obtained alike the concurrence of
the other branch of the national legislature, and the approba-
tion of the President, it became the law of the land, and as
such I have considered it entitled to the respect and obedience
of every virtuous citizen.
From these decisions, however, the letter in question is
to be considered in the nature of an appeal; in the first in-
stance, to our common constituents, the legislature of the
State; and in the second, by the publication, to the people.
To both these tribunals I shall always hold myself account-
able for every act of my public life. Yet, were my own
political character alone implicated in the course which has
in this instance been pursued, I should have forborne all
notice of the proceeding, and have left my conduct in this,
as in other cases, to the candor and discretion of my Country.
But to this species of appeal, thus conducted, there are
some objects on constitutional grounds, which I deem it my
duty to mention for the consideration of the public. On a
statement of circumstances attending a very important act
of national legislation, a statement which the writer un-
doubtedly believed to be true, but which comes only from
one side of the question and which, I expect to prove in the
most essential points erroneous, the writer with the most
animated tone of energy calls for the interposition of the
commercial States, and asserts that "nothing but their
sense, clearly and emphatically expressed, will save them
from ruin." This solemn and alarming invocation is ad-
dressed to the legislature of Massachusetts, at so late a
period of their session, that had it been received by them,
they must have been compelled either to act upon the views
of this representation, without hearing the counter statement
of the other side, or seemingly to disregard the pressing in-
192 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
terest of their constituents, by neglecting an admonition of
the most serious complexion. Considering the application
as a precedent, its tendency is dangerous to the public. For
on the first supposition, that the legislature had been pre-
cipitated to act on the spur of such an instigation, they must
have acted on imperfect information, and under an excite-
ment, not remarkably adapted to the composure of safe de-
liberation. On the second they would have been exposed to
unjust imputations, which at the eve of an election might
have operated in the most inequitable manner upon the
characters of individual members.
The interposition of one or more State legislatures, to
control the exercise of the powers vested by the general
Constitution in the Congress of the United States, is at least
of questionable policy. The views of a State legislature are
naturally and properly limited in a considerable degree to the
particular interests of the State. The very object and for-
mation of the national deliberative assemblies was for the
compromise and conciliation of the interests of all — of the
whole nation. If the appeal from the regular, legitimate
measures of the body where the whole nation is represented,
be proper to one State legislature, it must be so to another.
If the commercial States are called to interpose on one hand,
will not the agricultural States be with equal propriety sum-
moned to interpose on the other? If the East is stimulated
against the West, and the Northern and Southern Sections
are urged into collision with each other, by appeals from the
acts of Congress to the respective States — in what are these
appeals to end ?
It is undoubtedly the right, and may often become the
duty of a State legislature, to address that of the nation,
with the expression of its wishes, in regard to interests pe-
culiarly concerning the State itself. Nor shall I question the
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 193
right of every member of the great federative compact to
declare its own sense of measures interesting to the nation
at large. But whenever the case occurs that this sense
should be "clearly and emphatically" expressed, it ought
surely to be predicated upon a full and impartial considera-
tion of the whole subject — not under the stimulus of a
one-sided representation — far less upon the impulse of con-
jectures and suspicions. It is not through the medium of
personal sensibility, nor of party bias, nor of professional
occupation, nor of geographical position, that the whole
truth can be discerned, of questions involving the rights and
interests of this extensive Union. When their discussion is
urged upon a State legislature, the first call upon its members
should be to cast all their feelings and interests as the citi-
zens of a single State into the common stock of the national
concern.
Should the occurrence upon which an appeal is made from
the councils of the nation, to those of a single State be one,
upon which the representation of the State had been divided,
and the member who found himself in the minority, felt im-
pelled by a sense of duty to invoke the interposition of his
constituents, it would seem that both in justice to them, and
in candor to his colleague, some notice of such intention
should be given to him, that he too might be prepared to ex-
hibit his views of the subject upon which the difference of
opinion had taken place; or, at least that the resort should
be had, at such a period of time as would leave it within the
reach of possibility for his representations to be received, by
their common constituents, before they would be compelled
to decide on the merits of the case.
The fairness and propriety of this course of proceeding
must be so obvious, that it is difficult to conceive of the pro-
priety of any other. Yet it presents another inconvenience
i 9 4
THE WRITINGS OF [1808
which must necessarily result from this practice of appellate
legislation. When one of the senators from a State proclaims
to his constituents that a particular measure, or system of
measures which has received the vote and support of his
colleague, are pernicious and destructive to those interests
which both are bound by the most sacred of ties, with zeal
and fidelity to promote, the denunciation of the measures
amounts to little less than a denunciation of the man. The
advocate of a policy thus reprobated must feel himself sum-
moned by every motive of self-defence to vindicate his con-
duct: and if his general sense of his official duties would bind
him to the industrious devotion of his whole time to the pub-
lic business of the session, the hours which he might be forced
to employ for his own justification, would of course be de-
ducted from the discharge of his more regular and appropri-
ate functions. Should these occasions frequently recur, they
could not fail to interfere with the due performance of the
public business. Nor can I forbear to remark the tendency
of such antagonizing appeals to distract the councils of the
State in its own legislature, to destroy its influence, and ex-
pose it to derision, in the presence of its sister States, and to
produce between the colleagues themselves mutual asperities
and rancors, until the great concerns of the nation would
degenerate into the puny controversies of personal alterca-
tion.
It is therefore with extreme reluctance that I enter upon
this discussion. In developing my own views and the prin-
ciples which have governed my conduct in relation to our
foreign affairs, and particularly to the embargo, some very
material differences in point of fact as well as of opinion, will
be found between my statements, and those of the letter,
which alone can apologize for this. They will not, I trust,
be deemed in any degree disrespectful to the writer. Far
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 195
more pleasing would it have been to me, could that honest
and anxious pursuit of the policy best calculated to promote
the honor and welfare of our country, which, I trust, is felt
with equal ardor by us both, have resulted in the same opin-
ions, and have given them the vigor of united exertion.
There is a candor and liberality of conduct and of sentiment
due from associates in the same public charge, towards each
other, necessary to their individual reputation, to their
common influence, and to their public usefulness. In our
republican government, where the power of the nation con-
sists alone in the sympathies of opinion, this reciprocal def-
erence, this open hearted imputation of honest intentions, is
the only adamant at once attractive and impenetrable, that
can bear, unshattered, all the thunder of foreign hostility.
Ever since I have had the honor of a seat in the national
councils, I have extended it to every department of the
government. However differing in my conclusions, upon
questions of the highest moment, from any other man, of
whatever party, I have never, upon suspicion, imputed his
conduct to corruption. If this confidence argues ignorance of
public men and public affairs, to that ignorance I must plead
guilty. I know, indeed, enough of human nature to be sen-
sible that vigilant observation is at all times, and that sus-
picion may occasionally become necessary, upon the conduct
of men in power. But I know as well that confidence is the
only cement of an elective government. Election is the very
test of confidence, and its periodical return is the constitu-
tional check upon its abuse; of which the electors must of
course be the sole judges. For the exercise of power, where
man is free, confidence is indispensable; and when it once
totally fails, when the men to whom the people have com-
mitted the application of their force, for their benefit, are
to be presumed of the vilest of mankind, the very foundation
I9 6 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
of the social compact must be dissolved. Towards the gentle-
man whose official station results from the confidence of the
same legislature, by whose appointment I have the honor of
holding a similar trust, I have thought this confidence pe-
culiarly due from me, nor should I now notice his letter, not-
withstanding the disapprobation it so obviously implies at
the course which I have pursued in relation to the subjects of
which it treats, did it not appear to me calculated to produce
upon the public mind, impressions unfavorable to the rights
and interests of the nation.
Having understood that a motion in the Senate of Massa-
chusetts was made by you, requesting the Governor to trans-
mit Mr. Pickering's letter to the legislature, together with
such communications, relating to public affairs, as he might
have received from me, 1 I avail myself of the circumstance,
and of the friendship which has so long subsisted between
us, to take the liberty of addressing this letter, intended for
publication, to you. Very few of the facts which I shall state
will rest upon information peculiar to myself. Most of them
will stand upon the basis of official documents, or of public
and undisputed notoriety. For my opinions, though fully
persuaded, that even where differing from your own, they
will meet with a fair and liberal judge in you, yet of the
public I ask neither favor nor indulgence. Pretending to no
extraordinary credit from the authority of the writer, I am
sensible they must fall by their own weakness, or stand by
their own strength.
The first remark which obtrudes itself upon the mind
upon the perusal of Mr. Pickering's letter is, that in enumer-
ating all the pretences (for he thinks there are no causes) for
the embargo, and for a war with Great Britain, he has totally
omitted the British Orders of Council of November II, 1807,
1 Columbian Centinel, March 9, 1808. The motion was negatived.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 197
those orders under which millions of the property of our
fellow citizens, are now detained in British hands, or con-
fiscated to British captors, those orders, under which tenfold
as many millions of the same property would have been at
this moment in the same predicament, had they not been
saved from exposure to it by the embargo, those orders,
which if once submitted to and carried to the extent of their
principles, would not have left an inch of American canvas
upon the ocean, but under British license and British taxa-
tion. An attentive reader of the letter, without other infor-
mation, would not even suspect their existence. They are
indeed in one or two passages, faintly, and darkly alluded to
under the justifying description of "the orders of the British
government, retaliating the French imperial decree : " but as
causes for the embargo, or as possible causes or even pre-
tences of war with Great Britain, they are not only unnoticed,
but their very existence is by direct implication denied.
It is indeed true, that these orders were not officially
communicated with the President's message recommending
the embargo. They had not been officially received. But
they were announced in several paragraphs from London and
Liverpool newspapers of the 10th, nth and 12th of Novem-
ber, which appeared in the National Intelligencer of 1 8th
December, the day upon which the embargo message was
sent to Congress. The British government had taken care
that they should not be authentically known before their
time — for the very same newspapers which gave this in-
official notice of these orders, announced also the departure
of Mr. Rose, upon a special mission to the United States.
And we know that of these all-devouring instruments of
rapine Mr. Rose was not even informed. His mission was
professedly a mission of conciliation and reparation for a
flagrant, enormous, acknowledged outrage. But he was not
i 9 8 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
sent with these Orders of Council in his hands. His text
was the disavowal of Admiral Berkeley's conduct. The
commentary was to be discovered on another page of the
British ministerial policy. On the face of Mr. Rose's instruc-
tions, these Orders of Council were as invisible, as they are
on that of Mr. Pickering's letter.
They were not merely without official authenticity. Ru-
mors had for several weeks been in circulation derived from
English prints, and from private correspondences, that such
orders were to issue; and no inconsiderable pains were taken
here to discredit the fact. Assurances were given that there
was reason to believe no such orders to be contemplated.
Suspicion was lulled by declarations equivalent nearly to a
positive denial: and these opiates were continued for weeks
after the embargo was laid, until Mr. Erskine received in-
structions to make the official communication of the orders
themselves, in their proper shape, to our government.
Yet, although thus unauthenticated, and even although
thus in some sort denied, the probability of the circumstances
under which they were announced, and the sweeping tend-
ency of their effects, formed to my understanding a power-
ful motive, and together with the papers sent by the Presi-
dent, and his express recommendation, a decisive one, for
assenting to the embargo. As a precautionary measure, I
believed it would rescue an immense property from depreda-
tion, if the orders should prove authentic. If the alarm was
groundless, it must very soon be disproved, and the embargo
might be removed with the danger.
The omission of all notice of these facts in the pressing
enquiries "why the Embargo was laid?" is the more surpris-
ing, because they are of all the facts, the most material, upon
a fair and impartial examination of the expediency of that
Act, when it passed. And because these orders, together
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 199
with the subsequent "retaliating decrees" of France and
Spain, have furnished the only reasons upon which I have
acquiesced in its continuance to this day. If duly weighed,
they will save us the trouble of resorting to jealousies of
secret corruption, and the imaginary terrors of Napoleon for
the real cause of the embargo. These are fictions of foreign
invention. The French Emperor had not declared that he
would have no neutrals. He had not required that our ports
should be shut against British commerce — but the Orders
of Council if submitted to would have degraded us to the
condition of colonies. If resisted would have fattened the
wolves of plunder with our spoils. The embargo was the
only shelter from the Tempest — the last refuge of our
violated peace.
I have indeed been myself of opinion that the embargo,
must in its nature be a temporary expedient, and that prep-
arations manifesting a determination of resistance against
these outrageous violations of our neutral rights ought at
least to have been made a subject of serious deliberation in
Congress. I have believed and do still believe that our in-
ternal resources are competent to the establishment and
maintenance of a naval force, public and private, if not fully
adequate to the protection and defence of our commerce, at
least sufficient to induce a retreat from these hostilities and
to deter from a renewal of them, by either of the warring
parties; and that a system to that effect might be formed,
ultimately far more economical, and certainly more energetic
than a three years embargo. Very soon after the closure of
our ports, I did submit to the consideration of the Senate, a
proposition for the appointment of a committee to institute
an enquiry to this end. But my resolution met no encourage-
ment. Attempts of a similar nature have been made in the
House of Representatives, but have been equally discoun-
200
THE WRITINGS OF [1808
tenanced, and from these determinations by decided major-
ities of both houses, I am not sufficiently confident in the
superiority of my own wisdom to appeal, by a topical ap-
plication to the congenial feelings of any one — not even of
my own native section of the Union.
The embargo, however, is a restriction always under our
own control. It was a measure altogether of defence and of
experiment. If it was injudiciously or over-hastily laid, it
has been every day since its adoption open to a repeal: if it
should prove ineffectual for the purposes which it was meant
to secure, a single day will suffice to unbar the doors. Still
believing it a measure justified by the circumstances of the
time, I am ready to admit that those who thought otherwise
may have had a wiser foresight of events, and a sounder
judgment of the then existing state of things than the
majority of the national legislature, and the President. It
has been approved by several of the State legislatures, and
among the rest by our own. Yet of all its effects we are still
unable to judge with certainty. It must still abide the test
of futurity. I shall add that there were other motives which
had their operation in contributing to the passage of the act,
unnoticed by Mr. Pickering, and which having now ceased
will also be left unnoticed by me. The Orders of Council of
nth November still subsist in all their force; and are now
confirmed, with the addition of taxation, by act of Parlia-
ment.
As they stand in front of the real causes for the embargo,
so they are entitled to the same pre-eminence in enumerating
the causes of hostility, which the British ministers are ac-
cumulating upon our forbearance. They strike at the root
of our independence. They assume the principle that we
shall have no commerce in time of war, but with her domin-
ions, and as tributaries to her. The exclusive confinement of
/
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 201
commerce to the mother country, is the great principle of the
modern colonial system; and should we by a dereliction of our
rights at this momentous stride of encroachment surrender
our commercial freedom without a struggle, Britain has but
a single step more to take, and she brings us back to the
stamp act and the tea tax.
Yet these orders — thus fatal to the liberties for which
the sages and heroes of our revolution toiled and bled —
thus studiously concealed until the moment when they burst
upon our heads — thus issued at the very instant when a mis-
sion of atonement was professedly sent — in these orders we
are to see nothing but a "retaliating order upon France" —
in these orders, we must not find so much as a cause — nay
not so much as a pretence, for complaint against Britain.
To my mind, sir, in comparison with those orders, the three
causes to which Mr. Pickering explicitly limits our grounds
for a rupture with England, might indeed be justly denom-
inated pretences; in comparison with them, former aggres-
sions sink into insignificance. To argue upon the subject of
our disputes with Britain, or upon the motives for the em-
bargo, and keep them out of sight, is like laying your finger
over the unit before a series of noughts, and then arith-
metically proving that they all amount to nothing.
It is not however in a mere omission, nor yet in the history
of the embargo, that the inaccuracies of the statement I am
examining have given me the most serious concern — it is
in the view taken of the questions in controversy between
us and Britain. The wisdom of the embargo is a question of
great, but transient magnitude, and omission sacrifices no
national right. Mr. Pickering's object was to dissuade the
nation from a war with England, into which he suspected the
administration was plunging us, under French compulsion.
But the tendency of his pamphlet is to reconcile the nation,
202 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
or at least the commercial states, to the servitude of British
protection, and war with all the rest of Europe. Hence Eng-
land is represented as contending for the common liberties of
mankind, and our only safe-guard against the ambition and
injustice of France. Hence all our sensibilities are invoked
in her favor, and all our antipathies against her antagonist.
Hence, too, all the subjects of difference between us and
Britain are alleged to be on our part mere pretences, of
which the right is unequivocally pronounced to be on her
side. Proceeding from a Senator of the United States, spe-
cially charged as a member of the executive with the main-
tenance of the nation's rights, against foreign powers, and
at a moment extremely critical of pending negotiation upon
all the points thus delineated, this formal abandonment of the
American cause, this summons of unconditional surrender to
the pretensions of our antagonist, is in my mind highly alarm-
ing. It becomes therefore a duty to which every other con-
sideration must yield to point out the errors of this repre-
sentation. Before we strike the standard of the nation, let
us at least examine the purport of the summons.
And first, with respect to the impressment of our seamen.
We are told that "the taking of British seamen found on
board our merchant vessels, by British ships of war, is
agreeably to a right, claimed and exercised for ages." It is
obvious that this claim and exercise of ages, could not apply
to us, as an independent people. If the right was claimed
and exercised while our vessels were navigating under the
British flag, it could not authorize the same claim when their
owners have become the citizens of a sovereign state. As a
relict of colonial servitude, whatever may be the claim of
Great Britain, it surely can be no ground for contending that
it is entitled to our submission.
If it be meant that the right has been claimed and exer-
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 203
cised for ages over the merchant vessels of other nations, I
apprehend it is a mistake. The case never occurred with
sufficient frequency to constitute even a practice, much less
a right. If it had been either, it would have been noticed by
some of the writers on the laws of nations. The truth is, the
question arose out of American independence — from the
severance of one nation into two. It was never made a
question between any other nations. There is therefore no
right of prescription.
But, it seems, it has also been claimed and exercised, during
the whole of the three administrations of our national gov-
ernment. And is it meant to be asserted that this claim and
exercise constitute a right? If it is, I appeal to the uniform,
unceasing and urgent remonstrances of the three adminis-
trations — I appeal not only to the warm feelings, but cool
justice of the American people — nay, I appeal to the sound
sense and honorable sentiment of the British nation itself,
which, however, it may have submitted at home to this prac-
tice, never would tolerate its sanction by law, against the
assertion. If it is not, how can it be affirmed that it is on our
part a mere pretence?
But the first merchant of the United States, in answer to
Mr. Pickering's late enquiries has informed him that since
the affair of the Chesapeake there has been no cause of com-
plaint — that he could not find a single instance where they
had taken one man out of a merchant vessel. Who it is, that
enjoys the dignity of first merchant of the United States we
are not informed. 1 But if he had applied to many merchants
in Boston as respectable as any in the United States, they
could have told him of a valuable vessel and cargo, totally
lost upon the coast of England, last in August last, and solely
1 It was William Gray of Salem. His letter to Pickering, making the statement
about impressments, dated January 8, 1808, is in the Pickering Mss.
204 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
in consequence of having had two of her men, native Amer-
icans taken from her by impressment, two months after the
affair of the Chesapeake.
On the 15th of October, the king of England issued his
proclamation, commanding his naval officers, to impress his
subjects from neutral vessels. This proclamation is repre-
sented as. merely "requiring the return of his subjects, the
seamen especially, from foreign countries," and then "it is
an acknowledged principle that every nation has a right to
the service of its subjects in time of war." Is this, sir, a
correct statement either of the proclamation, or of the ques-
tion it involves in which our right is concerned? The king
of England's right to the service of his subjects in time of war
is nothing to us. The question is, whether he has a right to
seize them forcibly on board of our vessels while under con-
tract of service to our citizens, within our jurisdiction upon
the high seas? And whether he has a right expressly to com-
mand his naval officers so to seize them. Is this an acknowl-
edged principle? Certainly not. Why then is this proclama-
tion described as founded upon uncontested principle? and
why is the command, so justly offensive to us, and so mis-
chievous as it might then have been made in execution, al-
together omitted?
But it is not the taking of British subjects from our vessels,
it is the taking under color of that pretence of our own, native
American citizens, which constitutes the most galling ag-
gravation of this merciless practice. Yet even this, we are
told is but a pretence — for three reasons.
1. Because the number of citizens thus taken is small.
2. Because it arises only from the impossibility of dis-
tinguishing Englishmen from Americans.
3. Because, such impressed American citizens are deliv-
ered up, on duly authenticated proof.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 205
1. Small and great in point of numbers are relative terms.
To suppose that the native Americans form a small propor-
tion of the whole number impressed is a mistake. The re-
verse is the fact. Examine the official returns from the
Department of State. They give the names of between four
and five thousand men impressed since the commencement
of the present war. Of which number, not one-fifth part were
British subjects. The number of naturalized Americans
could not amount to one-tenth. I hazard little in saying that
more than three-fourths were native Americans. If it be said
that some of these men, though appearing on the face of the
returns American citizens, were really British subjects, and
had fraudulently procured their protections; I reply that
this number must be far exceeded by the cases of citizens
impressed, which never reach the Department of State. The
American consul in London estimates the number of impress-
ments during the war at nearly three times the amount of
the names returned. If the nature of the offence be consid-
ered in its true colors, to a people having a just sense of per-
sonal liberty and security, it is in every single instance, of a
malignity not inferior to that of murder. The very same
act, when committed by the recruiting officer of one nation
within the territories of another, is by the universal law and
usage of nations punished with death. Suppose the crime
had in every instance, as by its consequences it has been in
many, deliberate murder. Would it answer or silence the
voice of our complaints to be told that the number was
small?
2. The impossibility of distinguishing English from Amer-
ican seamen is not the only, nor even the most frequent oc-
casion of impressment. Look again into the returns from
the Department of State — you will see that the officers
take our men without pretending to enquire where they were
206 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
born; sometimes merely to show their animosity, or their
contempt for our country; sometimes from the wantonness
of power. When they manifest the most tender regard for the
neutral rights of America, they lament that they want the
men. They regret the necessity, but they must have their
complement. When we complain of these enormities, we are
answered that the acts of such officers were unauthorized;
that the commanders of men-of-war are an unruly set of
men, for whose violence their own government cannot always
be answerable, that enquiry shall be made. A court mar-
tial is sometimes mentioned. And the issue of Whitby's 1
court martial has taught us what relief is to be expected from
that. There are even examples I am told, when such officers
have been put upon the yellow list. But this is a rare excep-
tion. The ordinary issue when the act is disavowed, is the
promotion of the actor.
3. The impressed native American citizens however, upon
duly authenticated proof are delivered up. Indeed ! how un-
reasonable then were complaint! How effectual a remedy
for the wrong! an American vessel, bound to a European
port, has two, three or four native Americans, impressed by
a British man-of-war, bound to the East or West Indies.
When the American captain arrives at his port of destina-
tion he makes his protest, and sends it to the nearest Amer-
ican minister or consul. When he returns home, he trans-
mits the duplicate of his protest to the Secretary of State.
In process of time, the names of the impressed men, and of
the ship into which they have been impressed, are received
by the agent in London. He makes his demand that the
men may be delivered up. The Lords of the Admiralty, after
a reasonable time for enquiry and advisement, return for
answer, that the ship is on a foreign station, and their
1 Commander of the Leander.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 207
Lordships can therefore take no further steps in the matter.
Or, that the ship has been taken, and that the men have
been received in exchange for French prisoners. Or, that
the men had no protections (the impressing officers often
having taken them from the men). Or, that the men were
probably British subjects. Or that they have entered, and
taken the bounty; (to which the officers know how to reduce
them). Or, that they have been married, or settled in Eng-
land. In all these cases, without further ceremony, their
discharge is refused. Sometimes, their Lordships, in a vein
of humor, inform the agent that the man has been discharged
as unserviceable. Sometimes, in a sterner tone they say he
was an impostor. Or perhaps by way of consolation to his
relatives and friends, they report that he has fallen in battle,
against nations in amity with his country. Sometimes they
coolly return that there is no such man on board the ship; and
what has become of him, the agonies of a wife and children
in his native land may be left to conjecture. When all these
and many other such apologies for refusal fail, the native
American seaman is discharged — and when by the chari-
table aid of his government he has found his way home, he
comes to be informed, that all is as it should be — that the
number of his fellow-sufferers is small — that it was impos-
sible to distinguish him from an Englishman — and that he
was delivered up, on duly authenticated proof.
Enough, of this disgusting subject. I cannot stop to cal-
culate how many of these wretched victims are natives of
Massachusetts, and how many natives of Virginia. I cannot
stop to solve that knotty question of national jurisprudence
whether some of them might not possibly be slaves, and there-
fore not citizens of the United States. I cannot stay to ac-
count for the wonder, why, poor, and ignorant and friendless
as most of them are, the voice of their complaints is so seldom
208 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
heard in the great navigating states. I admit that we have
endured this cruel indignity, through all the administrations
of the General Government. I acknowledge that Britain
claims the right of seizing her subjects in our merchant ves-
sels, and that even if we could acknowledge it, the line of
discrimination would be difficult to draw. We are not in a
condition to maintain this right, by war; and as the British
government have been more than once on the point of giving
it up of their own accord, I would still hope for the day when
returning justice shall induce them to abandon it, without
compulsion. Her subjects we do not want. The degree of
protection which we are bound to extend to them, cannot
equal the claim of our own citizens. I would subscribe to any
compromise of this contest, consistent with the rights of sov-
ereignty, the duties of humanity, and the principles of reci-
procity: but to the right of forcing even her own subjects out
of our merchant vessels on the high seas I never can assent.
The second point upon which Mr. Pickering defends the
pretensions of Great Britain, is her denial to neutral nations
of the right of prosecuting with her enemies and their col-
onies, any commerce from which they are excluded in time of
peace. His statement of this case adopts the British doc-
trine, as sound. The right, as on the question of impress-
ment, so on this, it surrenders at discretion — and it is
equally defective in point of fact.
In the first place, the claim of Great Britain, is not to "a
right of imposing on this neutral commerce some limits and
restraints" but of interdicting it altogether, at her pleasure;
of interdicting it without a moment's notice to neutrals, after
solemn decisions of her courts of admiralty, and formal
acknowledgments of her ministers, that it is a lawful trade.
And, on such a sudden, unnotified interdiction, of pouncing
upon all neutral commerce navigating upon the faith of her
i8o8l JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 209
decisions and acknowledgments, and of gorging with con-
fiscation the greediness of her cruisers. This is the right
claimed by Britain. This is the power she has exercised.
What Mr. Pickering calls "limits and restraints," she calls
relaxations of her right.
It is but little more than two years, since this question
was agitated both in England and America, with as much
zeal, energy and ability, as ever was displayed upon any ques-
tion of national law. The British side was supported by Sir
William Scott, Mr. Ward, 1 and the author of War in Dis-
guise. 2 But even in Britain their doctrine was refuted to
demonstration by the Edinburg reviewers. In America, the
rights of our country were maintained by numerous writers
profoundly skilled in the science of national and maritime
law. The Answer to War in Disguise was ascribed to a
gentleman 3 whose talents are universally acknowledged,
and who by his official situations had been required thor-
oughly to investigate every question of conflict between
neutral and belligerent rights which has occurred in the
history of modern war. Mr. Gore and Mr. Pinkney, our
two commissioners at London, under Mr. Jay's treaty, the
former, in a train of cool and conclusive argument addressed
to Mr. Madison, the latter in a memorial of splendid elo-
quence from the merchants of Baltimore, supported the
same cause; memorials, drawn by lawyers of distinguished
eminence, by merchants of the highest character, and by
statesmen of long experience in our national councils from
Salem, from Boston, from New Haven, from New York,
and from Philadelphia, together with remonstrances to the
same effect from Newburyport, Newport, Norfolk and
1 Robert Plumer Ward (1765-1846).
2 Sir James Stephen.
3 Madison.
210 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
Charleston. This accumulated mass of legal learning, of
commercial information and of national sentiment from al-
most every inhabited spot upon our shores, and from one
extremity of the Union to the other, confirmed by the un-
answered and unanswerable memorial of Mr. Monroe to the
British minister, 1 and by the elaborate research and irre-
sistible reasoning of the examination of the British doctrine,
was also made a subject of full, and deliberate discussion in
the Senate of the United States. A committee of seven mem-
bers of that body, after three weeks of arduous investigation,
reported three resolutions, the first of which was in these
words: "Resolved, that the capture and condemnation, under
the orders of the British government, and adjudications of
their courts of admiralty of American vessels and their
cargoes, on the pretext of their being employed in a trade
with the enemies of Great Britain, prohibited in time of
peace, is an unprovoked aggression upon the property of the
citizens of these United States, a violation of their neutral
rights, and an encroachment upon their national independ-
ence. z
On the 13th of February, 1806, the question upon the
adoption of this resolution, was taken in the Senate. The
yeas and nays were required; but not a solitary nay was heard
in answer. It was adopted by the unanimous voice of all the
senators present. They were twenty-eight in number, and
among them stands recorded the name of Mr. Pickering.
Let us remember that this was a question most peculiarly
and immediately of commercial, and not agricultural interest;
that it arose from a call, loud, energetic and unanimous from
all the merchants of the United States upon Congress, for
1 September 23, 1805. Printed in American State Papers, Foreign Relations, II.
734-
2 Page 133, supra.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 211
the national interposition; that many of the memorials in-
voked all the energy of the legislature, and pledged the lives
and properties of the memorialists in support of any measures
which Congress might deem necessary to vindicate those
rights. Negotiation was particularly recommended from
Boston, and elsewhere — negotiation was adopted — negotia-
tion has failed — and now Mr. Pickering tells us that Great
Britain has claimed and maintained her right! He argues
that her claim is just — and is not sparing of censure upon
those who still consider it as a serious cause of complaint.
But there was one point of view in which the British doc-
trine on this question was then only considered incidentally
in the United States — because it was not deemed material
for the discussion of our rights. We examined it chiefly as
affecting the principles as between a belligerent and a neutral
power. But in fact it was an infringement of the rights of
war, as well as of the rights of peace. It was an unjustifiable
enlargement of the sphere of hostile operations. The enemies
of Great Britain had by the universal law of nations a right
to the benefits of neutral commerce within their dominions
(subject to the exceptions of actual blockade and contraband)
as well as neutral nations had a right to trade with them.
The exclusion from that commerce by this new principle of
warfare which Britain, in defiance of all immemorial national
usages, undertook by her single authority to establish, but
too naturally led her enemies to resort to new and extraor-
dinary principles, by which in their turn they might re-
taliate this injury upon her. The pretence upon which
Britain in the first instance had attempted to color her in-
justice, was a miserable fiction. It was an argument against
fact. Her reasoning was, that a neutral vessel by mere ad-
mission in time of war, into ports from which it would have
been excluded in time of peace, became thereby deprived of
212 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
its national character, and ipso facto was transformed into
enemy's property.
Such was the basis upon which arose the far famed rule of
the war of 1756. Such was the foundation upon which
Britain claimed and maintained this supposed right of adding
that new instrument of desolation to the horrors of war. It
was distressing to her enemy. Yes! Had she adopted the
practice of dealing with them in poison; had Mr. Fox ac-
cepted the services of the man who offered to rid him of the
French Emperor by assassination, and had the attempt suc-
ceeded, it would have been less distressing to France than
this rule of the war of 1756; and not more unjustifiable.
Mr. Fox had too fair a mind for either, but his compre-
hensive and liberal spirit was discarded, with the cabinet
which he had formed.
It has been the struggle of reason and humanity, and above
all the Christianity for two thousand years to mitigate the
rigors of that scourge of human kind, war. It is now the
struggle of Britain to aggravate them. Her rule of the war of
1756, in itself and in its effects, was one of the deadliest
poisons, in which it was possible for her to tinge the weapons
of her hostility.
In itself and in its effects, I say. For the French decrees of
Berlin and of Milan, the Spanish and Dutch decrees of the
same or the like tenor, and her own orders of January and
November — these alternations of licensed pillage, this eager
competition between her and her enemies for the honor of
giving the last stroke to the vitals of maritime neutrality, all
are justly attributable to her assumption and exercise of this
single principle. The rule of war of 1756 was the root, from
which all the rest but suckers, still at every shoot growing
ranker in luxuriance.
In the last decrees of France and Spain, her own ingenious
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 213
fiction is adopted; and under them, every neutral vessel
that submits to English search, has been carried into an
English port, or paid a tax to the English government, is de-
clared denationalized, that is to have lost her national char-
acter, and to have become English property. This is cruel in
execution; absurd in argument. To refute it were folly, for
to the understanding of a child it refutes itself. But it is
the reasoning of British jurists. It is the simple application
to the circumstances and powers of France, of the rule of the
war of 1756.
I am not the apologist of France and Spain; I have no
national partialities; no national attachments but to my
own country. I shall never undertake to justify or to palliate
the insults or injuries of any foreign power to that country
which is dearer to me than life. If the voice of reason and of
justice could be heard by France and Spain, they would
say, you have done wrong to make the injustice of your
enemy towards neutrals the measure of your own. If she
chastises with whips do not you chastise with scorpions.
Whether France would listen to this language, I know not.
The most enormous infractions of our rights hitherto com-
mitted by her, have been more in menace than in accom-
plishment. The alarm has been justly great; the anticipa-
tion threatening; but the amount of actual injury small.
But to Britain, what can we say? If we attempt to raise our
voices, her minister has declared to Mr. Pinkney that she
will not hear. The only reason she assigns for her recent
Orders of Council is, that France proceeds on the same prin-
ciples. It is not by the light of blazing temples, and amid
the groans of women and children perishing in the ruins of
the sanctuaries of domestic habitation at Copenhagen, that
we can expect our remonstrances against this course of pro-
ceeding will be heard.
2i 4 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
Let us come to the third and last of the causes of com-
plaint, which are represented as so frivolous and so un-
founded — "the unfortunate affair of the Chesapeake" The
orders of Admiral Berkeley, under which this outrage was
committed, have been disavowed by his government. Gen-
eral professions of a willingness to make reparation for it,
have been lavished in profusion; and we are now instructed
to take these professions for endeavors; to believe them sin-
cere, because his Britannic Majesty sent us a special envoy;
and to cast the odium of defeating these endeavors upon our
own government.
I have already told you, that I am not one of those who
deem suspicion and distrust, in the highest order of political
virtues. Baseless suspicion is, in my estimation, a vice, as
pernicious in the management of public affairs, as it is fatal
to the happiness of domestic life. When, therefore, the
British ministers have declared their disposition to make
ample reparation for an injury of a most atrocious character,
committed by an officer of high rank, and, as they say, ut-
terly without authority, I should most readily believe them,
were their professions not positively contradicted by facts
of more powerful eloquence than words.
Have such facts occurred? I will not again allude to the
circumstances of Mr. Rose's departure upon his mission at
such a precise point of time, that his commission and the
Orders of Council of nth November, might have been
signed with the same penful of ink. The subjects were not
immediately connected with each other, and his Majesty
did not chuse to associate distinct topics of negotiation.
The attack upon the Chesapeake was disavowed; and ample
reparation was withheld only, because with the demand for
satisfaction upon that injury, the American government had
coupled a demand for the cessation of others; alike in kind,
I
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 215
but of minor aggravation. But had reparation really been
intended, would it not have been offered, not in vague and
general terms, but in precise and specific proposals? Were
any such made? None. But it is said Mr. Monroe was re-
stricted from negotiating upon this subject apart; and there-
fore Mr. Rose was to be sent to Washington; charged with
this single object; and without authority to treat upon or
even to discuss any other. Mr. Rose arrives. The Amer-
ican government readily determine to treat upon the Chesa-
peake affair, separately from all others; but before Mr. Rose
sets his foot on shore, in pursuance of a pretension made be-
fore by Mr. Canning, he connects with the negotiation, a sub-
ject far more distinct from the butchery of the Chesapeake,
than the general impressment of our seamen, I mean the
proclamation, interdicting to British ships of war, the en-
trance of our harbors.
The great obstacle which has always interfered in the ad-
justment of our differences with Britain, has been that she
would not acquiesce in the only principle upon which fair
negotiation between independent nations can be conducted,
the principle of reciprocity, that she refuses the application
to us of the claim which she asserts for herself. The forcible
taking of men from an American vessel, was an essential
part of the outrage upon the Chesapeake. It was the osten-
sible purpose for which that act of war unproclaimed, was
committed. The President's proclamation was a subsequent
act, and was avowedly founded upon many similar aggres-
sions, of which that was only the most aggravated.
If then Britain could with any color of reason claim that
the general question of impressment should be laid out of the
case altogether, she ought upon the principle of reciprocity
to have laid equally out of the case, the proclamation, a
measure so easily separable from it, and in its nature merely
216 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
defensive. When therefore she made the repeal of the
proclamation an indispensable preliminary to all discussion
upon the nature and extent of that reparation which she
had offered, she refused to treat with us upon the footing of
an independent power. She insisted upon an act of self-
degradation on our part, before she would even tell us, what
redress she would condescend to grant for a great and
acknowledged wrong. This was a condition which she could
not but know to be inadmissible, and is of itself proof nearly
conclusive that her cabinet never intended to make for that
wrong any reparation at all.
But this is not all. It cannot be forgotten that when that
atrocious deed was committed, amidst the general burst of
indignation which resounded from every part of this Union,
there were among us a small number of persons, who upon
the opinion that Berkeley's orders were authorized by his
government, undertook to justify them in their fullest ex-
tent. These ideas probably first propagated by British
official characters, in this country, were persisted in until the
disavowal of the British government took away the necessity
for persevering in them, and gave notice where the next
position was to be taken. This patriotic reasoning however
had been so satisfactory at Halifax, that complimentary
letters were received from Admiral Berkeley himself highly
approving the spirit in which they were inculcated, and re-
marking how easily peace, between the United States and
Britain might be preserved, if that measure of our national
rights could be made the prevailing standard of the country.
When the news arrived in England, although the general
sentiment of the nation was not prepared for the formal
avowal and justification of this unparalleled aggression, yet
there were not wanting persons there, ready to claim and
maintain the right of searching national ships for deserters.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 217
It was said at the time, but for this we must of course rest
upon the credit of inofficial authority, to have been made a
serious question in the Cabinet Council; nor was its deter-
mination there ascribed to the eloquence of the gentleman
who became the official organ of its communication. Add to
this a circumstance, which without claiming irrefragable
credence of a diplomatic note, has yet its weight upon the
common sense of mankind; that in all the daily newspapers
known to be in the ministerial interest, Berkeley was justi-
fied and applauded in every variety of form that publication
could assume, excepting only that of official proclamation.
The only part of his orders there disapproved was the re-
ciprocal offer which he made of submitting his own ships to
be searched in return — that was very unequivocally dis-
claimed. The ruffian right of superior force, was the solid
base upon which the claim was asserted, and so familiar was
this argument grown to the casuists of British national juris-
prudence, that the right of a British man-of-war to search an
American frigate, was to them a self-evident proof against
the right of the American frigate to search the British man-of-
war. The same tone has been constantly kept up, until our
accounts of latest date; and have been recently further in-
vigorated by a very explicit call for war with the United
States, which they contend could be of no possible injury to
Britain, and which they urge upon the ministry as affording
them an excellent opportunity to accomplish a dismember-
ment of this Union. These sentiments have even been
avowed in Parliament, where the nobleman who moved the
address of the house of Lords in answer to the king's speech,
declared that the right of searching national ships, ought to
be maintained against the Americans, and disclaimed only
with respect to European sovereigns.
In the meantime Admiral Berkeley, by a court martial of
2i 8 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
his own subordinate officers, hung one of the men taken from
the Chesapeake, and called his name Jenkin Ratford. There
was, according to the answer so frequently given by the Lords
of the Admiralty, upon applications for the discharge of im-
pressed Americans, no such man on board the ship. The man
thus executed had been taken from the Chesapeake by the
name of Wilson. It is said that on his trial he was identified
by one or two witnesses who knew him, and that before he
was turned ofF he confessed his name to be Ratford and that
he was born in England. But it has also been said that Rat-
ford is now living in Pennsylvania; and after the character
which the disavowal of Admiral Berkeley's own government
has given to his conduct, what confidence can be claimed or
due to the proceedings of a court martial of his associates held
to sanction his proceedings. The three other men had not
even been demanded in his orders. They were taken by the
sole authority of the British searching lieutenant, after the
surrender of the Chesapeake. There was not the shadow of a
pretence before the court martial that they were British
subjects, or born in any of the British dominions. Yet by
this court martial they were sentenced to suffer death. They
were reprieved from execution, only upon condition of re-
nouncing their rights as Americans by voluntary service in
the king's ships. They have never been restored. To com-
plete the catastrophe with which this bloody tragedy was
concluded, Admiral Berkeley himself in sanctioning the
doom of these men, thus obtained, thus tried, and thus
sentenced, read them a grave moral lecture on the enormity
of their crime, in its tendency to provoke a war between the
United States and Great Britain.
Yet amidst all this parade of disavowal by his govern-
ment — amidst all these professions of readiness to make
reparation, not a single mark of the slightest disapprobation
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 219
appears ever to have been manifested to that officer. His
instructions were executed upon the Chesapeake in June.
Rumors of his recall have been circulated here. But on
leaving the station at Halifax in December, he received a
complimentary address from the colonial assembly, and
assured them in answer, that he had no official information of
his recall. From thence he went to the West Indies; and on
leaving Bermuda for England in February was addressed
again by that colonial government, in terms of high panegyric
upon his energy, with manifest allusion to his achievement
upon the Chesapeake.
Under all these circumstances, without applying any of
the maxims of a suspicious policy to the British professions,
I may still be permitted to believe that their ministry never
seriously intended to make us honorable reparation, or in-
deed any reparation at all for that "unfortunate affair."
It is impossible for any man to form an accurate idea of
the British policy towards the United States, without taking
into consideration the state of parties in that government,
and the views, characters and opinions of the individuals at
their helm of state. A liberal and a hostile policy towards
America, are among the strongest marks of distinction be-
tween the political systems of the rival statesmen of that
kingdom. The liberal party are reconciled to our independ-
ence; and though extremely tenacious of every right of their
own country, are systematically disposed to preserve peace
with the United States. Their opponents harbor sentiments
of a very different description. Their system is coercion.
Their object the recovery of their lost dominion in North
America. This party now stands high in power. Although
Admiral Berkeley may never have received written orders
from them for his enterprise upon the Chesapeake, yet in
giving his instructions to the squadron at Norfolk, he knew
220 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
full well under what administration he was acting. Every
measure of that administration towards us since that time
has been directed to the same purpose — to break down the
spirit of our national independence. Their purpose, as far
as it can be collected from their acts, is to force us into war
with them or with their enemies; to leave us only the bitter
alternative of their vengeance or their protection.
Both these parties are no doubt willing, that we should
join them in the war of their nation against France and her
allies. The late administration would have drawn us into
it by treaty, the present are attempting it by compulsion.
The former would have admitted us as allies, the latter will
have us no otherwise than as colonists. On the late debates
in Parliament, the Lord Chancellor freely avowed that the
Orders of Council of nth November were intended to make
America at last sensible of the policy of joining England
against France.
This too, sir, is the substantial argument of Mr. Pickering's
letter. The suspicions of a design in our own administration
to plunge us into a war with Britain, I never have shared.
Our administration have every interest and every motive
that can influence the conduct of man to deter them from
any such purpose. Nor have I seen anything in their meas-
ures bearing the slightest indication of it. But between a
design of war with England, and a surrender of our national
freedom for the sake of "war with the rest of Europe, there is
a material difference. This is the policy now in substance
recommended to us, and for which the interposition of the
commercial States is called. For this, not only are all the
outrages of Britain to be forgotten, but the very assertion
of our rights is to be branded with odium. Impressment.
Neutral trade. British taxation. Everything that can dis-
tinguish a state of national freedom from a state of national
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 221
vassalage, is to be surrendered at discretion. In the face of
every fact we are told to believe every profession. In the
midst of every indignity, we are pointed to British protection
as our only shield against the universal conqueror. Every
phantom of jealousy and fear is evoked. The image of
France with a scourge in her hand is impressed into the
service, to lash us into the refuge of obedience to Britain.
Insinuations are even made that if Britain "with her thou-
sand ships of war," has not destroyed our commerce, it has
been owing to her indulgence, and we are almost threatened
in her name with the "destruction of our fairest cities."
Not one act of hostility to Britain has been committed by
us, she has not a pretence of that kind to allege. But if she
will wage war upon us, are we to do nothing in our own de-
fence? If she issues orders of universal plunder upon our
commerce, are we not to withhold it from her grasp? Is
American pillage one of those rights which she has claimed
and exercised until we are foreclosed from any attempt to
obstruct its collection? For what purpose are we required
to make this sacrifice of every thing that can give value to the
name of freemen, this abandonment of the very right of self-
preservation? Is it to avoid a war? Alas! Sir, it does not
offer even this plausible plea for pusillanimity. For, as sub-
mission would make us to all substantial purposes British
colonies, her enemies would unquestionably treat us as such,
and after degrading ourselves into voluntary servitude to
escape a war with her, we should incur inevitable war with all
her enemies, and be doomed to share the destinies of her
conflict with a world in arms.
Between this unqualified submission, and offensive re-
sistance against the war upon maritime neutrality waged
by the concurring decrees of all the great belligerent powers,
the embargo was adopted, and has been hitherto continued.
222 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
So far was it from being dictated by France, that it was cal-
culated to withdraw, and has withdrawn from within her
reach all the means of compulsion which her subsequent
decrees would have put in her possession. It has added to
the motives both of France and England, for preserving
peace with us, and has diminished their inducements to
war. It has lessened their capacities of inflicting injury upon
us, and given us some preparation for resistance to them. It
has taken from their violence the lure of interest. It has
dashed the philter of pillage from the lips of rapine. That
it is distressing to ourselves — that it calls for the fortitude
of a people, determined to maintain their rights, is not to be
denied. But the only alternative was between that and war.
Whether it will yet save us from that calamity, cannot be
determined, but if not, it will prepare us for the further
struggle to which we may be called. Its double tendency of
promoting peace and preparing for war, in its operation upon
both the belligerent rivals, is the great advantage, which
more than outweighs all its evils.
If any statesman can point out another alternative, I am
ready to hear him, and for any practicable expedient to lend
him every possible assistance. But let not that expedient
be, submission to trade under British licenses, and British
taxation. We are told that even under these restrictions we
may yet trade to the British dominions, to Africa and China,
and with the colonies of France, Spain, and Holland. I ask
not, how much of this trade would be left, when our inter-
course with the whole continent of Europe being cut off would
leave us no means of purchase, and no market for sale? I
ask not, what trade we could enjoy with the colonies of na-
tions with which we should be at war? I ask not, how long
Britain would leave open to us avenues of trade, which even
in these very orders of Council, she boasts of leaving open as
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 223
a special indulgence? If we yield the principle, we abandon
all pretence to national sovereignty. To yearn for the frag-
ments of trade which might be left, would be to pine for the
crumbs of commercial servitude. The boon, which we should
humiliate ourselves to accept from British bounty, would
soon be withdrawn. Submission never yet set boundaries to
encroachment. From pleading for half the empire, we should
sink into supplicants for life. We should supplicate in vain.
If we must fall, let us fall, freemen. If we must perish, let
it be in defence of our Rights.
To conclude, sir, I am not sensible of any necessity for
the extraordinary interference of the commercial States, to
control the general councils of the nation. If any inter-
ference could at this critical extremity of our affairs have a
kindly effect upon our common welfare, it would be an inter-
ference to promote union and not a division — to urge mu-
tual confidence, and not universal distrust — to strengthen
the arm and not to relax the sinews of the nation. Our
suffering and our dangers, though differing perhaps in degree,
are universal in extent. As their causes are justly chargeable,
so their removal is dependent not upon ourselves, but upon
others. But while the spirit of independence shall continue
to beat in unison with the pulses of the nation, no danger will
be truly formidable. Our duties are, to prepare with con-
certed energy, for those which threaten us, to meet them
without dismay, and to rely for their issue upon heaven.
I am, etc. 1
1 A series of articles in reply to this letter appeared in The Repertory, beginning
April 22. In the New York Evening Post, William Coleman attacked the letter and
its author in scathing terms, and some in Boston reprinted the articles, with others
from other sources, in a pamphlet: Remarks and Criticisms on the Hon. John Quincy
Adams's Letter to the Hon. Harrison Gray Otis, Boston, 1808. The preface to this
pamphlet contained the following sentences: "It is left to literary men to decide
whether the Honorable Senator has not been overrated as a scholar; and to politi-
224 THE WRITINGS OF [1824
Appendix 1
July 27, 1824.
On the 1 8th of December, 1807, Mr. Jefferson sent a confidential
message to both houses of Congress, recommending an immediate
embargo; and enclosing two documents, one of which was a recent
proclamation of the king of Great Britain, authorizing and com-
manding the impressment by his naval officers, of British seamen
from neutral merchant vessels, and the other a correspondence
between General Armstrong, then our minister in France, and
the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Champagny, showing that
the Emperor Napoleon had finally determined to carry into full
execution, without regard to the treaty between the United States
and France, his Berlin decree of 21st November, 1806, which had
for some months after it was issued, been suspended with regard
to the vessels of the United States.
The attack by a British squadron upon our frigate Chesapeake,
clans, whether he has not disappointed them as a statesman. If he has been flat-
tered, admired and trusted beyond his merit, it has been his misfortune; and if all
is now left that justly belongs to him, he cannot complain." The language employed
by some called out rebukes even from their own following. For example, of "Al-
fred's" Letter to J. Q. Adams, the federalist Repertory said, the writer had "indulged
in a strain of such bitter invective, and manifested such a disposition to belittle the
object of his reprehension, that we can say with confidence, the most decided among
federalists will not subscribe to this mode of attack. It will be to them a cause of
regret, and to the repudiated senator a source of satisfaction." June 21, 1808. A
writer "Marcellus" in the Independent Chronicle, March 17, reviewed Pickering's
letter, and in a reissue of this article a brief introductory paragraph said: "The style
and principles of the writer strongly mark it as the production of the independent
and patriotic John Quincy Adams, Esq., one of our Senators in Congress." There
is, however, no evidence that Adams had any share in the "Marcellus" contribu-
tions, of which this particular article was No. 25. A long list of the replies, endorse-
ments, criticisms and reviews called out by this letter could be compiled, but
would be of little interest.
1 In the summer of 1824, a publisher in Baltimore, Maryland, proposed to reissue
the Letter to Mr. Otis, and this was done after Adams had contributed this "Ap-
pendix." It was printed at the office of the Baltimore Patriot.
i82 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 225
had very recently occurred, in consequence of which all British
armed vessels had been interdicted from entering the ports of the
United States. The British Orders in Council of nth November,
1807, professedly retaliatory upon the French decree of Berlin,
had issued and were already announced in the newspapers of the
United States, though not yet officially authenticated. The gen-
eral state of our commercial affairs was momentous and full of
alarm. The British government had disavowed the attack upon
the Chesapeake, but instead of giving immediate satisfaction for it,
had appointed Mr. Rose to come out upon a mission of subterfuge
and prevarication concerning it, and at the same moment had issued
without notification either to the government of the United States,
or to their minister in London, the Orders in Council, which but
for the embargo, would, while Mr. Rose was amusing us with the
fragrance of his diplomacy, have swept three-fourths of the ton-
nage of the United States into the ports of Great Britain for con-
fiscation.
It was in this state of things that the message recommending
the embargo was received and discussed, in secret session, by the
Senate. The only motive for debating it with closed doors was
the necessity, if the measure recommended was deemed proper, of
adopting it immediately. Every hour of debate tended to defeat
the object of the message. For the instant it should be known in
the commercial cities that an embargo was impending, the spirit of
desperate adventure would have rushed to sea, with every plank
that could have been made to float; and the delay of a week in
deliberation, instead of sheltering the property of our merchants
from depredation, would only have cast it forth upon the waters
to be intercepted by the cruisers of both the combating nations.
The message was referred, in Senate, to a committee of five, of
which General Samuel Smith, himself an eminent merchant,
brother to the Secretary of the Navy, and in the full confidence of
Mr. Jefferson, was chairman, and of which I was a member. The
chairman proposed to the committee, to report a bill in compliance
with the recommendation of the message. I objected that the
22 6 THE WRITINGS OF [1824
two documents with the message were not sufficient to justify so
strong and severe a measure as an embargo; and enquired, whether
besides the general notoriety of the dangers, mentioned in the
message, the executive had other reasons for the measure, which it
might not be convenient to assign. The chairman said, it was ex-
pected and hoped that the act would have a favorable effect, to
aid the executive in the negotiation with Mr. Rose; and also that
it was intended as a substitution for the non-importation act,
which had passed on the 18th of April, 1806, but pending the nego-
tiations had been suspended until the 14th of December, 1807, only
four days before the message. This act was itself nearly equivalent
to a total commercial non-intercourse with Great Britain; and to
have repealed, or longer suspended it at that time, would have been
a surrender at discretion, upon all the subjects of controversy,
then in so high a state of aggravation, with that power. To these
reasons I yielded, and the bill for laying the embargo was reported
to the Senate with the unanimous consent of the committee.
The bill was opposed in the Senate, very feebly upon its merits,
and exclusively by the federal members, then only four in number.
The principal effort made by them was to obtain delay, which
would, as has been shown, have defeated in a great measure the ob-
ject of the bill. They obtained against the bill only the vote of
Mr. Maclay of Pennsylvania, and of Mr. Crawford, then a new
member, but who afterwards constantly supported the adherence
of the administration to the act, as long as it was continued.
In assigning to the Senate very briefly my reasons for assenting
to the bill, and for the belief that it ought to pass without delay, I
admitted that the two documents transmitted with the message,
would not have been of themselves, to my mind, sufficient to war-
rant the measure recommended in it; but referring to the existing
state of things, of public notoriety, and denominated in the message
"the present crisis" I observed that the executive, having recom-
mended the measure upon his responsibility, had doubtless other
reasons for it which I was persuaded were satisfactory; that with
this view, convinced of the expediency of the bill, I was also im-
i824l JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 227
pressed with the necessity of its immediate adoption; that it was
a time, not for deliberation but for action; and that I wished the
bill, instead of lingering through the dilatory process of ordinary
legislation, might pass through all the stages of its enactment in a
single day. With these views a decided majority of the Senate con-
curred. The rule which required that bills should be read three
times on three different days, was suspended; all motions of post-
ponement were discarded, and the bill was passed in the Senate by
a vote of twenty-two to six.
My allusion to the recommendation of the executive upon his
responsibility and to my confidence in it, was purposely made in
general terms; but it had reference to the reasons which had been
assigned to me in the committee, by the chairman. I deemed it
less necessary to specify them, because as I have observed, the
opposition to the bill upon its merits was exceedingly feeble;
scarcely calling for an answer.
About two months after the embargo had been enacted, and
while it was bearing with severe pressure upon the commercial,
navigating and fishing interests of the north, Mr. Pickering wrote a
letter to the governor of Massachusetts, for communication to the
legislature, denouncing the executive and Congress of the United
States, for passing the embargo; and calling for the interposition
of the commercial states to save the country from ruin. The gov-
ernor sent it back to him, with a letter of rebuke for expecting
him to make such a communication to the legislature. 1 Mr. Pick-
ering, apprehensive, as he says, that he should not obtain his ob-
ject through the governor, sent a copy to his excellent friend,
George Cabot, (since President of the Hartford Convention,) who
after waiting a few days, finding that the original was not com-
municated to the legislature, sent a copy to the printer.
The governor of Massachusetts, in his answer to Mr. Pickering,
had stated that my opinion had been and still was in favor of the
embargo. Mr. Pickering replied, and in terms supplied by his
1 Interesting Correspondence between his Excellency Governour Sullivan and Col.
Pickering, Boston, 1808.
228 THE WRITINGS OF [1824
feelings at the time, charged me with having in the debate on the
embargo, expressed a sentiment which resolved the whole business
of legislation into the will of the executive. To support the charge,
he quoted several words, which he said I had used in the debate,
and which detached from this context, and from the explanation I
have now given, might deserve all the severity of his commentary.
1 "In opposing a postponement, to obtain further information, and to consider a
measure of such moment, of such universal concern, Adams made this declaration:
'The President has recommended the measure on his high responsibility: I would
not consider — I would not deliberate: I would act. Doubtless the President pos-
sesses such further information as will justify the measure'! " Pickering to Sullivan,
April 22, 1808; he repeated it in his Address to the People of the United States
(No. XIV), printed in the Salem Gazette, and in pamphlet; and again in his Review
of the Adams-Cunningham correspondence, adding, "This sentiment was so ex-
traordinary, that I instantly wrote it down."
In the Adams Mss. is an undated draught of a letter to the Editors of the New
England Palladium: "You are requested to state to the public that Mr. John
Quincy Adams never said in the Senate of the United States that he 'would not
deliberate.' He confidently believes that he never used the words. He is certain
that if he did use them, it was in connection with others which gave them a mean-
ing entirely different from that which has been imputed to him. The sentiments
which he did express were these:
"That the general accounts from France and England proved that the commerce
and seamen of the United States were threatened with the most imminent dangers.
That besides the official documents sent with the President's message recommend-
ing the embargo, that officer might perhaps have received information which could
not be communicated to Congress, but which might concur with the official papers
in producing the recommendation in the message. That under those circumstances,
whatever doubts might have remained upon his mind, on considering only those two
papers, he could not allow them to weigh against the express recommendation of the
first magistrate, upon his high responsibility to the nation. That he could not
justify it to himself or his country, if in such a state of things he should refuse his
assent to the measure thus required. That having come to this conclusion, he was
against postponing the final decision of the question in Senate to another day. For if
another day should be consumed in discussing the question in Senate, it being then
Friday, the bill could not go to the House of Representatives until the next week.
That as a measure of restriction, the embargo, if adopted, ought to be made to
operate as equally as possible throughout the Union; but that if many days were
spent in the discussion, individuals in the neighboring ports of Baltimore, Phila-
delphia and New York, would obtain information of its object, which, not being
i82 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 229
In the same letter Mr. Pickering explicitly admitted that I had
never given him the slightest cause of offence, and that in five years
of service together as senators from the same State, "though often
opposed in opinion, on national measures, there had never existed
for a moment any personal difference between us." I notice now
this admission, merely to mark the period and the manner in which
this mutual respect and forbearance between us ceased, and to
whom it was justly imputable.
On my part it did not cease even then. It was impossible to
have framed a charge more destitute of foundation; more easily
refuted; or more open to the chastisement of severe retaliation.
Yet I took no public notice of it; nor shall I now go further beyond
the simple declaration that / never expressed or felt the sentiment
imputed to me by Mr. Pickering, than to observe, that if I uttered
it, and had been understood in the sense which he has given to my
words, it was his duty, and the duty of every senator present, who
so understood me, not only to have had my words taken down at
the time, but instantly to have called me to order for using them.
The words as Mr. Pickering professes to have understood them,
were undoubtedly in the highest degree disorderly — and a decisive
proof that they were not generally so understood is found in the
circumstance that no exception was taken to them at the time.
generally public, would give them undue advantages over their fellow citizens,
especially those of the remoter ports.
"For these sentiments, and for his votes in favor of the embargo, he is willing to
abide by the judgment of his country, of the world, and of posterity. The expres-
sion of subserviency to the recommendation of the President, and the refusal to
deliberate, which have been imputed to him, he explicitly denies."
Rev. David Osgood delivered the annual election sermon in 1S10. Many reflec-
tions made in it seem to refer to Adams' political course, and this directly applied
to him: "'I would not deliberate,' exclaims the infatuated senator: and so, laws are
at once enacted whose execution brings distress upon thousands, arrests a com-
merce said to be the second in the world, and turns the naval and military force of
the country against the industry and peace of its inhabitants; laws, which, in a
free republic, outrage all the principles of freedom, trample upon the most essential
rights of man, and dissolve the bonds of the social compact." The sermon was
printed by the Commonwealth.
23°
THE WRITINGS OF [1824
It is a rule of the Senate and of all equitable deliberative assem-
blies, that exceptionable words shall not only be taken down at
the time when spoken, but that he who speaks them shall imme-
diately be called to account for, to retract, or to explain them. Had
this rule been observed by Mr. Pickering, when called upon to
explain what I meant by reference to the recommendation of the
executive, upon his responsibility, and to the other reasons, which he
might have, and which I had no doubt were satisfactory, I should
have had the opportunity of giving the explanation herein con-
tained, and of showing that my words imported no sentiment even
of improper deference for the opinions or wishes of the executive.
But it is also a breach of order, to refer by way of censure, at one
time, to words spoken at another; and a rule equally just that no
member shall be called to account in any other place, for words
spoken in the Senate. These rules are founded upon principles
which every man of a fair and honorable mind feels himself bound
to observe; and they apply with peculiar force to a debate with
closed doors, which is in its nature secret and confidential.
The error of Mr. Pickering's charge consists in his connecting
my expression of confidence in the recommendation of the ex-
ecutive, which I assigned as one of my reasons for agreeing to the
act, with my argument for the necessity of despatch, which was
founded in the nature of the act itself, and the portentous crisis
of the times.
The reference to the recommendation of the executive was made
in answer to the objection that the documents sent with the mes-
sage did not justify the measure recommended in it. Knowing that
there were other reasons, and referring to them for the justification
of my own vote, both in committee and in the Senate, in favor of
the bill, nothing could have been farther from my thoughts, as
nothing would have been more in conflict with the whole tenor of
my conduct through five years of active service as a member of
the Senate, than the utterance of a sentiment of subserviency to
the will, or even to the wishes of the executive.
The confidence in the executive which I avowed, was applicable
i82 4 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 231
to the particular circumstances of the time, and to the particular
subject in discussion. Nor was that confidence misplaced. In the
House of Representatives the embargo message was debated three
days on the merits — but after the three days the House came to
the same conclusion at which the Senate had arrived in four hours.
It was a wise, a provident, and, above all, a purely patriotic meas-
ure. The share that I had in it, and the part that I took in pro-
moting it, remains among the transactions of my public life to
which my memory recurs with the most gratifying recollections.
Many other events have been less trying to the fortitude of ad-
versity, and more favored by the vicissitudes of fortune; but on
no occasion has the consciousness of upright intentions, and a spirit
independent alike of obsequiousness to executive will, and of fac-
tious opposition borne me with more firm and even step through
the temporary furnace of affliction, and sustained me under the
abandonment of friends, the alienation of popular favor at home,
and all the obloquy that Mr. Pickering and his co-adjutors have
from that day to this been able to conjure upon my head.
Between the system of policy, of which the embargo was a prom-
inent measure, and that of which Mr. Pickering and his friend the
president of the Hartford convention were the "pillars of state,"
the final and irrevocable sentence of time has now passed — I shall
not dwell upon it.
If there be a lesson of political wisdom, which the people of this
Union have had cause to learn from their own experience, as well
as from the uniform tenor of human history, it is that of carrying
a temper of mutual forbearance, through all their divisions; of mak-
ing the party feeling, which never can include more than a portion
of the republic, subordinate to the civic spirit which embraces the
whole. In the collisions of political systems, it is the duty of the
citizen to take his stand upon deliberate conviction, and to pursue
his principles, regardless of consequences to himself. But when the
conflict is past, and the contest of principle is at an end, both par-
ties, and above all the prevailing party, should remember and
practice upon the maxim of the Roman republic, that in civil dis-
2 3 2 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
sensions, success was but a lesser evil than defeat, and that no
honors of triumph could ever be awarded to victory. 1
TO ABIGAIL ADAMS
Washington, 20 April, 1808.
As for myself, I have not indeed written you so often as
my inclination would have dictated; but I hope you will im-
pute it to any cause rather than to a failure in the dearest of
my duties. Among the severest of the trials which have be-
fallen me during the present session of Congress (and they
have been severe beyond any that I ever was before called to
meet) that of having incurred in some particulars the disap-
probation of both my parents has been to me the most
afflictive. Totally disconnected with all the intrigues of the
various parties which have been in such a violent electioneer-
ing fermentation, I have been obliged to act upon principles
exclusively my own, and without having any aid from the
party in power have made myself the very mark of the most
envenomed shafts from their opponents. Although I at-
tended at Mr. Bradley's caucus or convention, yet it has
been very explicitly understood by the principal friends of
the candidates that I had no intention to become the partisan
of either. 2 This neutrality with regard to persons has, of
1 Pickering made some "Brief Remarks" upon this Appendix in Poulson's Amer~
ican Daily Advertiser, August 30, 1824.
2 Adams, Memoirs, January 23, 1808. The circular letter, dated the 19th and
printed, calling the meeting, is in the Adams Mss., and is endorsed "personally
delivered." "Bradley, to be sure, made too much pomposity of it [the caucus],
and thereby exposed it to criticism. I blame not your attendance nor your vote.
You ought to go on with your system." John Adams to John Quincy Adams,
February 19, 1808. Ms. "John Quincy Adams! His apostasy is no longer a
matter of doubt with anybody. Would you suppose it possible the scoundrel could
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 233
course, neutralized the men of both sides in return, and hav-
ing taken an active and decided part upon much of the public
business, it has on one side been convenient to load me with
the burthen of managing as much of it as I would assume,
and on the other to leave me to defend myself as well as I
could from the assailants of another quarter. Hence there
has been scarcely a measure of great public importance but
I have been obliged to attend to in committee as well as in
the Senate; and in addition to all the rest a question of ex-
pulsion of a member has been imposed upon me, of great
difficulty respecting the forms of proceeding, and the merits
of the particular case, which I have been compelled to carry
summon impudence enough to go to their caucus? I thought we had been sifted
so much that what remained was never to be changed. I wish to God the noble
house of Braintree had been put in l a hole,' and a deep one too, twenty years ago."
B. Gardenier to Rufus King, January 26, 1808. Life and Correspondence of Rufus
King, V. 68.
"Our letters say that Mr. Adams, the Massachusetts Senator, did attend the
Madisonian caucus, summoned by Bradley; but he did not vote; nor did he take any
active part in the approaching canvass. The late movements of this gentleman have
excited much conversation and contemplation among his political friends; but those
who know him best, do not hesitate to say, he is still radically right; and that
though the high ground he has taken, like all things in extremes, may have its
fault; it has nevertheless been warranted by a just spirit of patriotism; and a keen
susceptibility of injuries received by our country; and that the ground he maintains
is more truly American, than that of many of those from whom he has recently
differed in opinion; which events, he affirms, will confirm as correct; and which
Great Britain will yet acknowledge to be just and proper. On some topics he dis-
agrees from other leading federalists; particularly in regard to confidence in the
administration; and the embargo. On other subjects he does not materially vary
from his late friends. He is pointed in his condemnation of the whole affair of the
Chesapeake; is the advocate of a bold and manly vindication of our national com-
mercial rights; and in the stipulations with Great Britain is anxious that we may
make the best bargain we can. If this part of his policy is not more hard than
honest; and if we do not, by adopting it, hazard much more than we have any pros-
pect of obtaining by plunging into an unnecessary and, in almost any possible
event, a disastrous war, we still think his principles to be federal." Columbian
Ceniinel, February 20, 1808.
234 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
through almost alone. The question was taken about ten
days since, and the vote for expulsion was nineteen to ten.
The Constitution requiring two-thirds to carry the vote, it
failed by a single vote. I could tell you, though it may not
be proper to say upon paper, by what a curious concurrence
of parties the ten votes of acquittal was compounded.
The letter of Mr. Pickering is another document of which
I could account for the origin from circumstances perhaps
not known to you. I was not named in the letter, but it was
hardly possible for me to avoid noticing it. My letter to Mr.
Otis was written in great haste, and of course in point of
composition is incorrect. It touches only upon the leading
inaccuracies of his statement, because both my own want of
time, and a regard to the public patience, made it necessary
to be as short as possible. Yet it engrossed every leisure
moment I could command for a fortnight. I mention these
things by way of excuse for not having written more fre-
quently to you.
I have had no intention or desire of influencing elections
by what I have written. If an impartial person will consider
the situation in which I was placed by Mr. Pickering's letter,
I think he will perceive that something from me was indis-
pensable. The effects of my letter will, I hope, be what was
intended — to promote Union at home, and urge to vigor
against foreign hostile powers. If federalism consists in
looking to the British navy as the only palladium of our
liberties, I must be a political heretic. If federalism will
please to consist of a determination to defend our country, I
still subscribe to its doctrines.
My father and brother write me that my letter to Mr. Otis
will not have much circulation. I know very well that argu-
ment for embargo will not be so catching as invective against
it, and if my countrymen are not inclined to hear me, I must
V
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 235
bear their indifference with as much fortitude and philos-
ophy as I can command. I should hope at least that in
future, the legislature will not be taken by surprise, and
driven to imprudent measures, by having a fire-brand thrown
into their windows, in the midst of their session.
We adjourn next Monday. In a fortnight from that time
I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you, and at least at
Quincy I shall be sure of meeting no altered faces. . . .
Your's dutifully.
TO GEORGE BOYD
Boston, 14 May, 1808.
My Dear Sir:
I received the day before yesterday your favor of the 5th
instant, which I should have answered immediately, but
for a species of indisposition which has disqualified me for
occupation of any kind.
I can see no impropriety in your intended application to
Mr. Madison for the appointment as a messenger to bear
dispatches to France, and I could indulge my feelings with
no higher gratification than that of aiding your wishes by
my recommendation. But my situation in relation to the
Secretary of State, as well as to every other member of the
administration, is such as to forbid me from every the most
distant appearance of solicitation of any favor of any de-
scription whatsoever, for myself or for any of my relatives.
The course of my political conduct has recently been such
as to impose upon me a prohibition of this kind, more rigor-
ous still than I should have felt, had my views of public
affairs been at the widest variance from those of the admin-
istration. If you should incline to the opinion that this
236 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
resolution bears the complexion of a delicacy too scrupulous,
savoring more of indifference to the service of my friends
than of genuine purity of principle, cast your eye over the
animadversions in all the federal prints, and observe the
baseness of motive which they are all so ready to find for
every act of my life, since my opinions on objects of national
importance have differed from those which they have thought
proper to embrace. This sort of invective I can bear with
proper composure so long as I know it to be utterly false.
But if it were possible for my own mind to charge me with
the same accusations, if by the request or even by the receipt
of a single favor, however slight, from the administration,
I could give occasion even for a just suspicion of the principles
upon which I have supported their measures, I should have
in my own bosom a chastiser more severe and more im-
placable than the most inveterate of my enemies, whether
of the old school or of the new.
This determination has already more than once compelled
me to decline an interference in favor of some of my family
connections which was desired, and which it was with much
reluctance that I withheld. On no occasion could it possibly
be more at war with my strongest inclinations than on that
which deprives me of the means of rendering an acceptable
service to you. It is I believe known both to Mr. Madison
and to Mr. Jefferson, that I have no personal favor whatso-
ever to ask of either, and an application in behalf of any
person connected with me would appear a departure from
those principles to which in all consistency I ought to adhere. 1
1 Another had suggested to Jefferson the sacrifice made by Adams. "The federal
party in this State have obtained the government. Their principal object, at pres-
ent, appears to be the political and even the personal destruction of John Quincy
Adams. They have yesterday come to the choice of a senator in Congress to suc-
ceed him next year. James Lloyd had 246 [248] votes, Adams, 213. It is of great
consequence to the interest of Mr. Adams, and to that of your administration, to
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 237
The state of our politics under the new legislature is not
yet absolutely ascertained, but in all probability the major-
ity in both branches will be federal. This I suppose to be
principally the effect of the embargo, an effect which will not
be confined to this part of the country.
TO THE HONORABLE SENATE AND HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COMMONWEALTH
OF MASSACHUSETTS
Boston, 8 June, 1808.
Gentlemen:
It has been my endeavor, as I have conceived it was my
duty while holding a seat in the Senate of the Union, to
support the Administration of the general government in all
necessary measures within its competency, the object of
which was to preserve from seizure and depredation the
persons and property of our citizens, and to vindicate the
rights essential to the independence of our country, against
the unjust pretensions and aggressions of all foreign powers.
Certain resolutions recently passed by you have expressed
your disapprobation of measures to which under the influence
of these motives I gave my assent. As far as the opinions of
a majority in the legislature can operate, I cannot but con-
sider these resolutions as enjoining upon the representation
of the State in Congress a sort of opposition to the national
administration, in which I cannot consistently with my prin-
ciples concur.
To give you however the opportunity of placing in the
Senate of the United States a member, who may devise and
rescue him from their triumphs. I know not how this can be done otherwise than
by finding him a foreign appointment of respectability." James Sullivan to Jef-
ferson, June 3, 1808. Jefferson Mso.
238 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
enforce the means of relieving our fellow citizens from their
present sufferings, without sacrificing the peace of the nation,
the personal liberties of our seamen, or the neutral rights of
our commerce, I now restore to you the trust committed to
my charge, and resign my seat as a Senator of the United
States on the part of this Commonwealth. I am, &c. x
TO ORCHARD COOK 2
Boston, [22] August, 1808.
Dear Sir:
Your favor of the 24th and 30th last month came a few
days since to my hands. I am duly sensible of the expres-
sion of your sentiments contained in it, in relation personally
to me. Under the present situation and circumstances of the
country I certainly should not have thought myself justi-
fiable in retiring from the public service, had it been left at
my option to remain in it. But when the election was pre-
cipitated at the May session of the legislature contrary to
all example, and apparently for the sole purpose of manifest-
1 See Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, XLV. 354-374.
"My conduct as a public man, having been invariably and exclusively governed
by a sense of public duty, I cannot but be gratified that it has met your approbation.
Dictated by principles more durable in their nature than the passions of individuals
or the prejudices of party, I confidently trust that it will eventually be estimated
at its true value by the general sentiment of my country. To the merit of good in-
tentions, it is entitled; to that of zeal for the preservation of our national Union and
independence, it has a claim equally just. The rest is in the judgment of others and
I shall cheerfully leave it to the deliberate decision of the nation. Union and in-
dependence are the Herculean pillars of my political system, and if they ever fall,
I am content to fall with them, or to say
Sistimus hue tandem, ubi nobis defuit orbis."
To Samuel Cleveland Blydon, July 13, 1808. Ms.
2 Of Wiscasset, Mass. He appears to have defended Adams in an address on
Independence day, printed in the Eastern Argus.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 239
ing the disposition of the ruling majority with regard to me,
and when the same majority had passed resolutions in my
view unconstitutional, and calculated in their effect, as far
as they could operate, to sacrifice the best wishes of this
nation to the unjust claims and pretensions of a foreign
power, I could not consistently with my principles continue
for a moment longer the representative of a body of men,
whose policy was so utterly abhorrent to what I conceive
the sacred duties of every independent American.
In resigning my seat for the ensuing session, I felt the less
reluctance at the sacrifice, from a full conviction upon my
mind that no exertion of mine could materially aid the public
service, and that the substitution of another member of the
Senate in my stead would not in the slightest degree affect the
general policy of the government. It is possible that my
views of public affairs are too conciliatory for the temper of
any party. But I hope there will yet be in Congress and in
the nation, an energy of union sufficient to counteract all
the personal interests, all the electioneering passions, and
all the paltry geographical jealousies and envies, which con-
stitute the repulsive parts of our political system.
I am altogether incapable of giving you any information
upon which reliance could be placed, respecting the prob-
abilities of the issue in which the approaching presidential
election will terminate. I do not however imagine that the
federalists will eventually take the part of Mr. Clinton. I
presume they will support candidates of their own, though I
know not who they will be.
There has been a meeting of the inhabitants of this town, 1
in which a petition to the President was voted, requesting
him to suspend the embargo in whole or in part, and if he
has any doubt of his power, to call Congress together im-
1 August 9. The petition is in The Repertory, August 12, 1808.
24 o THE WRITINGS OF [i8o8
mediately. The alleged ground of this proceeding is the
recent revolution in Spain. 1 And the first idea was to ask
for a suspension of the embargo, at least so far as related to
Spain and her colonies. The object was accomplished in this
form at Newbury Port, 2 where a meeting was held on the
same day with that in this town. But here some objections
were urged in town-meeting by the opponents to the meas-
ure, which occasioned a different modification of the petition,
and the request from Boston is couched in more general
terms. It appeared to be understood as of course that the
removal of the embargo must be succeeded by an immediate
war, which was loudly and distinctly called for by the peti-
tioners in town-meeting, but for which it is very apparent
since the meeting, that the generality of the inhabitants of
this town are not yet prepared.
If the people have not, as some of your friends think, vir-
tue enough to bear that embargo, which was so necessary
to preserve their dearest rights and their best interests, I
know not where they will find virtue to bear that war, which
must take its place. I have always considered that the true
and only alternative was this — embargo or war; and I re-
main unshaken in that opinion. Now, although embargo is
beyond all question a distressing calamity to this country,
yet in comparison with war, either with Britain or France, I
still esteem it as no more than the bite of a flea to the bite of
a rattlesnake.
The accounts from Spain are indeed of high importance,
though coming as they do through the medium of British
representations, we must wait somewhat longer before we
can distinctly discern their character. I do not think them
sufficient grounds as yet for removing the embargo, and es-
1 The "Dos de Maio" — May 2. See Henry Adams, History, IV. 300.
2 Reported in the same paper with the Boston petition.
i8os] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 241
pecially would it be in my opinion bad policy to remove it
partially in favor of the Spanish Juntoists — a partiality
which both France and Britain would be justified in resent-
ing, unless we have evidence that the Spanish revolutionists
have repealed the decrees against our commerce, which their
old government had adopted.
It is however natural to indulge hopes from any material
change in the state of national affairs, when the state from
which the change occurs is very bad. The commotions in
Spain, I love to hope, will at least give so much employment
to France as to awaken interests there sufficiently strong to
produce relaxation in the French decrees against our trade,
and that these will be preceded or followed by like relaxations
on the part of Britain. In both or either of these cases we
shall be immediately released from the pressures of the em-
bargo, without being driven into the war, and the great sys-
tem of American neutrality in European wars, which Wash-
ington with so much difficulty established, and which it has
always been so difficult to maintain, will be preserved from
the most violent assault, and the most imminent danger to
which it has ever been exposed. Yet so precarious are the
effects which follow from great events, that I am expressing
now rather ardent wishes than sanguine expectations. There
is another and more unpleasant possibility, that Britain —
of all the nations upon earth most prone to grow insolent
upon success — instead of relaxing will be encouraged to
persevere, and to enlarge upon her system of hostility to
neutral trade. To this she has had and still has too much
encouragement from this country, where party spirit and
profligate ambition have so strong a predominancy over the
spirit of patriotism, that in every insult and outrage we have
suffered from England, some have been ready to support
her, and where men of great passions and little souls have
242 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
been ready to sacrifice the birth-rights of the country, be-
cause with them their political rivals and antagonists would
also be sacrificed.
What the President will do upon the applications for re-
moving the embargo at this time I know not. And if it
should continue until Congress meet, the question will still
be difficult and important, what shall be substituted in its
stead. If a majority of the two houses could be obtained of
your and my mind, the substitute might be found. But I
pray to Heaven, and I confidently trust, that it will contain
no ingredient of base submission to any foreign usurpation,
no surrender of that inheritance which it is our sacred duty
to transmit as we received it unimpaired. In God's name
let us have no sanctions of our own admission for British im-
pressments or British taxation.
I am, &c.
TO WILLIAM BRANCH GILES
Boston, 15 November, 1808.
My Dear Sir:
Accept my best thanks for your friendly and obliging
favors of the 7th 1 and 8th, with the copy of the message.
The regret which you are good enough to express at not meet-
ing me in the Senate chamber, is at once so kind and so
flattering that it will, I hope, furnish me an excuse for ex-
plaining fully to you, why you did not meet me there.
I presume it unnecessary to mention to you that my im-
mediate constituents, the legislature of Massachusetts, had
already provided that I should meet nobody there after
1 Printed in Adams, New England Federalism, 203. For Giles' denial of any cor-
respondence with Adams in 1808-1809, see lb., 34.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 243
the present session. Had mine been an ordinary case, this
circumstance would not have induced me to resign the re-
mainder of the term. But in the face of every former ex-
ample, the election of a Senator was precipitated at the sum-
mer session of the legislature, instead of waiting for the
usual time, which would have been in February next, and the
■point of unseating me was carried by such means, as, I
suppose, are common enough among electioneering parti-
sans, but manifest a much higher estimate of the prize at
stake, than I have ever accustomed myself to bestow upon
anything in the shape of public office. It seemed as if the
salvation of the country, or what was substituted for the
country, was thought to depend upon getting me out. But
this was not all. The same legislature passed resolutions in
the nature of instructions to their Senators, which I utterly
disapproved, and which if I had retained my place, I should
have held it my duty not only to decline supporting, but to
resist to the utmost of my power. Placed thus in the dilemma
between the respect due to the will, so strongly manifested
by my special constituents, and the still more imperious duty
to my country, under a sentence of official prescription by the
former, and under the falsest and most odious imputations
upon my motives, my conduct during the session that was
approaching would either not have been that of a free agent,
or it would have been at the hazard of sacrifices, personal
and domestic, which upon full deliberation I did not think the
occasion required me to incur. As to holding my seat in the
Senate of the United States without exercising the most
perfect freedom of agency, under the sole and exclusive con-
trol of my own sense of right, that was out of the question.
But I was aware of the obligation upon a citizen, charged
with a public trust, to remain at his post unless duly relieved,
and that these were times when the obligation pressed with
244 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
peculiar force. This consideration induced me long to hesi-
tate before I decided upon my resignation, and the idea
which finally turned the balance in my mind, was the per-
fect confidence I had in the firmness and wisdom of the
Senate, as I knew it would remain composed at the present
session. I knew the vast majority of that body would neither
betray nor surrender the essential rights of the nation. I
saw no danger in that quarter which could need any inter-
position, which it would be in my power as an individual
member to present, and I could not flatter myself that I
should be able to render any public service by my particular
exertion, which could compensate for that self-degradation,
to which I must have submitted in continuing to serve prin-
cipals, who had no confidence in their agent, and whose
measures were as abhorrent to his sentiments, as his conduct
had been to theirs. It was a subject upon which I thought
myself obligated to take no counsel, but that of my own heart
and understanding, and my resolution was taken with great
reluctance. For I should have rejoiced in the opportunity to
have manifested to the last moment of my official life, my
adherence to the principles upon which I had uniformly
acted, and my zealous cooperation in the measures, adopted
by Congress in harmony with the executive, to resist the
outrages of both the great warring powers of Europe.
With regard to the public reproaches in pamphlets and
newspapers, with which I have been favored, and which,
knowing as you do their falsehood, your friendly concern
has led you to see with regret, I shall confess to you that
instead of seeing them, as perhaps a public man ought to do,
with cool indifference, I have perhaps observed them with
too much satisfaction. I have felt on this occasion a little
of the spirit of martyrdom; knowing that my governing
motives have been pure, disinterested and patriotic, I con-
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 245
sidered every calumny cast upon me, as the tribute of prof-
ligate passions to honest principle. As the temper of a
weapon can be ascertained only by a trial, I have been
pleased to undergo that test, which no man of truly honor-
able purpose can escape. I have enjoyed all along that sort
of support, which is beyond the reach of human slander, the
support of my own conscious integrity. And I had the ad-
ditional satisfaction of reflecting, that there existed even in
the knowledge of others, particularly in yours, evidence that
my public conduct had not been stimulated by any personal
or selfish views. I had no doubt, that if any occasion should
require it, you would not withhold that testimony, which
might be exclusively in your possession, but I have never
seen any reason for believing that it would ever be necessary
for my justification.
In relation to future time, whether my fellow-citizens in
this Commonwealth will ever again think such services as
I can render them worth calling for, is for their consideration
not for mine. Our usages do not authorize even those who
are candidates for popular election to offer themselves, and
if they did, there is no station in their gift for which I should
feel the slightest inclination to solicit their suffrages. What-
ever of profit or of honor there may be in the piping times of
peace in the public service, I know that, in the present situa-
tion and prospects of this country, public office of any kind
would to me be an oppressive burden, a post of little else
than toil and danger, a thankless task from which I could
anticipate nothing better, and might rationally apprehend a
catastrophe infinitely worse than that which has befallen
me. If then recovering from that delusion to which you
refer, they should hereafter entertain a more favorable opin-
ion of my intentions and of my capacity to serve them faith-
fully, the manifestation of their wishes will always be in their
246 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
power, and neither difficulty nor danger shall deter me from
any service, which they can demand and which I can render.
Let me again apologize to you for saying so much of myself.
As the circumstances of the last session led me in the confi-
dence which your character and situation had inspired, to
unfold to you in the most explicit manner my personal views,
or rather the absence of all personal views, in connection
with my public conduct, I could not now resist the oppor-
tunity of opening to you with equal frankness the motives,
upon which I have acted to the close of my career. And I
will only add, that far from regretting any one of those acts
for which I have suffered, I would do them over again, were
they now to be done at the hazard of ten times as much
slander, unpopularity, and (if that were possible) displace-
ment.
In the removal to a private station, however, under a gov-
ernment like ours, a man, though relieved from the burden
of responsibility, cannot cease to feel a concern for the af-
fairs of the public. And while the independence and union
of the nation are at stake upon the perseverance and energy
of those who administer its affairs and of the people, no
man with an American heart can stand by and behold the
struggle with indifference. That we have gone thus far
without being involved as parties in the war, and without
the abandonment of one national right, is to me a subject of
much consolation; but difficulties, obstacles and dangers
seem to multiply as we advance, the pressure of foreign in-
justice continues with increasing aggravation, and combining
with internal party spirit encroaches upon the resolution of
the people, so as sometimes to make me doubtful whether
they will continually prove true to themselves, through the
long and severe trial they have to go through. The result of
the recent elections has, indeed, upon the whole been highly
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 247
to their credit, and promises a steadiness equal to my best
expectations. The recent events in Europe, though I hope
their ultimate consequences will be salutary, have in their
immediate effects been unpropitious to us, by encouraging
the insolence and injustice of Great Britain, without cor-
recting that of France, and unfortunately we have too many
among us who, to say the least, are ready to let the rights of
the country go, provided they can see their political op-
ponents overwhelmed in the same ruin.
The President's message has presented a state of things
not unexpected though gloomy. 1 We have seen of the docu-
ments only a short letter from General Armstrong, and the
two latest papers between Mr. Pinkney and Mr. Canning.
You will not flatter yourself that these documents will
silence the tales of French influence and partiality to Napo-
leon. The more absurd this story grows, the more rooted it
will become in the soil of faction, and by the time it shall
have been proved impossible, it will become an article of
faith, to doubt of which would lead to the stake, if there
were power to plant one.
I observe that your motion 2 in the Senate contemplates
a further continuance of the embargo laws, while that of
Mr. Eppes 3 in the House appears to prefer a substitute,
which would partially open our trade. Between a choice
of great evils, I trust that candor and patriotic deliberation
will finally discern which is the least. I can scarcely venture
to entertain an opinion, though if the non-intercourse could
be carried into effect, I should incline to think it better
1 Annual Message, November 8. A confidential message on relations with
France was sent to Congress the same day. The former is in Messages and Papers
of the President, I. 451; the latter in American State Papers, Foreign Relations, III.
242.
2 Annals of Congress, loth Cong., 2d Sess., 16.
3 lb., 478.
248 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
than that internal stagnation, which may send too much
blood to the head. As change, it would in some sort discon-
cert opposition, by necessitating a change also in their bat-
teries. But whether it would not increase the danger of war
(the trap in which they still hope to catch the present ad-
ministration) is [for] your better and wiser consideration.
At all events I conclude with the sentiment which I know will
meet with the most cordial sympathy in your mind, Any-
thing but submission. I am, &c.
TO EZEKIEL BACON >
Boston, November 17th, 1808.
My Dear Sir:
Your obliging letter of the 8th instant, with a copy of the
President's message at the commencement of the session,
has come to hand. I see with much concern, though without
surprise, that the prospect of obtaining anything like justice
from the great belligerent powers of Europe, is no better
than it was at the close of the last session. The alternatives
mentioned in your letter embrace all the varieties of policy,
between which a choice can be made. Among these that of
declaring war I presume will have the fewest advocateso
The wrongs we are suffering from both the scourges of man-
kind are so similar, that we would scarcely assume a founda-
tion for the declaration against one, which would not equally
require it against the other, and a declaration against either
would place the country in a more dangerous situation, and
the administration in a deeper perplexity to get along, than
can arise from the present state of things. A war with Eng-
land would probably soon if not immediately be complicated
1 On the part played by Ezekiel Bacon in the repeal of the embargo, see Henry
Adams, History, IV. 432-463.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 249
with a civil war, and with a desperate effort to break up the
Union, the project for which has been several years prepar-
ing in this quarter, and which waits only for a possible
chance of popular support to explode. A war with France
would be extremely unpopular in every part of the Union,
for it would be odious to all the friends of the administration,
as directly contrary to the permanent interests and policy
of the Union; and although it would exactly meet the wishes
of the tories, yet it would not be with the view to support the
administration in carrying on the war, but as a ground for
pursuing further measures of attack against the adminis-
tration itself. Nor is there any prospect that we should at
the issue of a war with either power obtain any security for
any rights, which we may not at least as reasonably expect
by further perseverance in the pacific policy. War, there-
fore, I presume we shall not immediately have. Under the
present state of affairs, to open our commerce with permis-
sion to arm in defence of the exercise of neutral trade, would
be war in the result, though it would be upon a principle more
exclusively defensive, than would be implied in a declaration.
Arming, both public and private, was the system which in
my particular opinion ought to have been adopted last win-
ter, immediately after the embargo was first laid; but at
that time I found very few of any party who thought with
me, and now the season for it is past, even if it was then ex-
pedient.
The circumstances, too, of the present time render it much
more questionable to my mind than it was then. The British
Orders of Council were then not sanctioned by Parliament.
The Milan decree, and I know not how many others equally
savage, had not issued. The very determination of resistance
then manifested might have deterred from these extremities
of outrage.
250 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
The British government had not been stimulated to per-
severance, either by the Spanish and Portuguese diversion
in their favor, or by the open and shameless support which
they have found from faction in this country.
Arming now would be less efficacious as a measure for pre-
serving peace, would lead more inevitably to war, and would
have less support from the approbation of the people. The
real choice, then, seems to be, between a continuance of the
embargo, and its removal, with a substitution of total non-
intercourse with France and England in its stead. For as to
submission, I will not disgrace the Congress of this Union
so much as to suppose, that this project will receive any coun-
tenance from either branch of the legislative authority.
Between the embargo and the non-intercourse system,
under my present state of information I should strongly in-
cline to the last. It would, indeed, incur a new hazard of
eventual war abroad, but I think it would remove the risk of
war at home for the present. I believe the embargo cannot
possibly be continued much longer, without meeting direct
and forcible resistance in this part of the country. The
people have been so long stimulated to this forcible re-
sistance, and they have been so unequivocally led to expect
support from the State authorities in such resistance, that
I do not think the temptation will be much longer withstood.
If the law should be openly set at defiance, and broken by
direct violence under support from the State authorities,
it is to be considered how the general government will be able
to carry it through. No doubt by military execution. But
that will make civil war, the very point at which the tories
are driving, and in the event of which it may at least be con-
jectured that they have already secured British support
and assistance. For it is precisely in this form, an organized
insurrection against the national government by State au-
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 251
thority, that the project of disunion can alone be accom-
plished, and that this project has been in serious contempla-
tion of those, whom you describe as being called in England
Colonel P[ickering]'s party, for several years, I know by the
most unequivocal evidence, though it be not provable in a
court of law. To this project as matured, a very small party
of the federal party is privy. The great proportion of them
do not even believe its existence. They are not prepared for
supporting this system, and the object of the leaders is, to
take advantage of every circumstance which can enable them
to work upon the popular mind to support the scheme of
division by the necessary force. Now the embargo is, un-
fortunately, one of those measures, upon which the two pub-
lic authorities may be brought in collision with each other,
and that the party has been laboring with unwearied indus-
try to produce that effect, the proceedings of our legislature,
the instigations to resistance against the embargo laws on the
pretence of their unconstitutionality, the countenance given
to this paltry pretence by a State Judge [Parsons], and the
connection between his extra-judicial opinions and the at-
tempts at forcible resistance, which have already been made,
and with the experiment upon the District Court at Salem,
afford the evidence, which the most purblind observer cannot
but observe. 1 A non-intercourse, it seems to me, would not
be so liable to this species of opposition as an embargo. An-
other reason for preferring it is, that in the spirit of party, the
faction is afraid of it. For among themselves, I know that
they chuckle and exult as much at the operation of the em-
bargo, as in public they whine and rave against it. They now
feel perfectly confident that the embargo will not answer its
purpose as a compulsory measure, and they hope to see the
government so pledged to it, as not to be able consistently to
1 Adams, New England Federalism, 223.
252 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
depart from it. The non-intercourse would take away from
them a great part of the two impostures by which they have
been playing upon the jealousies of the people, that the ad-
ministration act under the dictates of France, and that they
intend the total annihilation of commerce.
I do not mean that it would entirely remove these despica-
ble calumnies, for popular jealousy, like individual jealousy,
will feed and thrive upon trifles lighter than air; but the ma-
chine would not work so well under the non-intercourse sys-
tem, as they will under the continuance of the embargo.
I am aware that in reply to these observations there are
many forcible reasons which may be alleged for persevering,
precisely in the stand which we have taken. We are sure
that will not produce war, for both France and England have
avowed that they do not consider it as a cause of war. It
would have the appearance of a more steady and determinate
purpose, and it would not expose to foreign depredation that
property, and to impressment and captivity those seamen,
which have hitherto been preserved. Legislative delibera-
tion, and mutual communication of ideas and information
between those members of the executive and legislature,
who concur in the pursuit of the same end, will doubtless
shed on the whole subject a light, by which you will at last
most safely proceed. That it may ultimately secure our
peace, independence and union, I confidently hope and fer-
vently pray.
The proceedings of our legislature, relative to the choice
of presidential electors, will come before you at the proper
time. They are unprecedented, and the precedent they ex-
hibit is a very bad one. A suspicious temper would conclude
that this mode of proceeding was adopted for the express
purpose of producing a new collision between the State and
the Union. This purpose, however, will I hope be frustrated.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 253
There may be a great constitutional question, how far the
authority of Congress extends with regard to the rejection of
votes returned from the States for the presidential election;
and although I have no doubt that the State legislature on
these proceedings have violated our own constitution, yet
I should wish if possible to avoid stirring the other question
upon these returns. The most prudent course in my mind
will be to receive the votes, and count them, leaving it to
the people of this Commonwealth, if they think proper, to
vindicate their own constitution from the outrages of their
own representatives. Of this, however, you, who will be on
the spot and acting under the responsibility of your public
trust, will decide with full consideration.
I have, my dear sir, according to your desire given you my
opinions in the fullest confidence and sincerity. It will give
me pleasure to hear from you as often as your leisure will
permit, and with unabated ardor for the cause of our coun-
try, I remain, &c.
P. S. In using the term tories in this letter I mean to
designate the partisans for a French war and for submission
to Great Britain. They do not include the whole federal
party, but they now preside over its policy. They are
the political descendants in direct line from the tories of
our Revolutionary war, and hold most of their speculative
opinions.
TO ORCHARD COOK
Boston, November 25, 1808.
Dear Sir:
Your obliging letter, with the message at the opening of
the session, and a copy of the public documents communi-
cated with the message, have been duly received; and also
254 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
your motion to authorize arming by the citizens of the
United States against British and French aggressions upon
the seas. 1 I see with deep anxiety, though not with surprise,
that no gleam of light is yet discernible on the horizon of our
public affairs. If the whole nation duly felt the sense of its
own dignity, and there were no partialities either to France
or Britain, my concern would be incomparably less; for of
nations as well as individuals, it may be justly said, that ad-
versity is the trier of spirits, and we have grown so plethoric
upon prosperity, that the other face of fortune was necessary
to remind us that we are not exempt from humanity.
The policy of removing the embargo laws without sub-
stituting anything in their stead was so obviously absurd,
that I did not expect it would find many supporters in Con-
gress. 2 To say that every individual merchant and insurer
should be left to judge of his own risks is very easy, but the
government is bound to protect its citizens and their prop-
erty upon the ocean; and when the merchants do meet with
losses by the injustice of belligerent powers, they do call,
and they have a right to call, upon the government of the
nation to interfere and maintain their rights. The flood of
memorials to Congress in the winter of 1805 and 1806, upon
which the non-importation act and Mr. Pinkney's mission
to England were founded, sufficiently demonstrate that the
merchants know full well their right to call upon Congress
to maintain their rights, and that they are ready enough to
1 Annals of Congress, ioth Cong., 2d Sess., 495.
2 "The feds in private conversation say, all we have to do is to take off the embargo,
and let every merchant take care of his own concerns — that is, submission. I have
argued with them that their plan of permitting trade to regulate itself in their sense,
goes to render useless our Constitution, and indeed all government or all union of
interests; and would place us in a worse state than we were at the time the country
called for a constitution to nationalize us, and advance and defend our commercial
rights." Orchard Cook to John Quincy Adams, November io, 1808. Ms.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 255
exercise it, when the occasion will justify them. And, un-
doubtedly, they would do so again, if their trade were open,
and the French or British should consequently take and con-
fiscate their property. Nay, the very indulgence of Congress
on opening their trade would be used by them as an argument
for pledging the nation to support them; they would say, our
property was secured by the embargo from foreign depreda-
tion; the Congress thought proper to remove that restriction;
we sent out our ships and cargoes on the faith of this permis-
sion, and they have been seized and confiscated. We demand
the aid of the national arm to recover and to shelter this
property. To this claim what answer could be given?
There could be but one alternative — War, or unequivocal
confession that we have not, and can not pretend to the
rights of an independent nation. It is, therefore, impossible
to throw the whole burden of the controversy upon the cal-
culations of mercantile speculation. The rights of the
nation are at stake upon it as much as the property of in-
dividuals, and the Congress cannot abandon the one without
sacrificing the other.
It is very true that every nation had a right to lay a duty
upon exports, although by our Constitution the nation has
forbidden the exercise of that right. But the questions be-
tween Great Britain and us do not in the least implicate a
controversy of that principle. It is not an export duty, but
a transit duty on property bound elsewhere, and which she
forcibly seizes and carries into her own ports, that she now
requires and levies; it is substantially and unequivocally
tribute for navigating the ocean. To this I am not ready to
submit, and I hope the nation will spurn at it with resolute
perseverance.
I am glad you have had a satisfactory explanation from
Mr. Madison upon points on which the British faction have
256 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
endeavored to inspire jealousies between the northern States
and the rest of the Union. 1 It is unquestionable that the
points in contest between us and England are of commercial
rights and commercial interests — points upon which the
welfare and prosperity of New England more than that of
any other portion of the continent depend.
29th November, 1808.
Since I began this letter, we have received the report of
the Committee on Foreign Relations, which exhibits the
state of our affairs in a very concise and lucid manner. 2 Its
moderation and its firmness will be gratifying to all the
friends of the country, and will not be without their effect
upon some honest though timid and wavering minds. For
my own person, I do most sincerely rejoice to find that the
spirit of Congress appears so determined on the indispensa-
ble point of maintaining the national rights. And after the
proper deliberation on the choice of means, I shall cordially
acquiesce in those which may be finally determined upon.
We shall probably have difficulty to get along here in peace,
but the rights of the country must not be abandoned.
I congratulate you and still more the country upon your
1 "I have lately conversed with Mr. Madison to whom I proposed all my doubts
as to the partiality of administration to the South, and to agriculture, etc., etc.
He gave me great satisfaction, and observed that the Randolphian faction had
denounced the government solely because they favored commerce and its rights so
much as they did. That all we contend for is principally the interests of the North —
carrying trade, impressments, etc., in particular." Orchard Cook to John Quincy
Adams, November 10, 1808. Ms.
2 The paragraphs in the President's message on foreign relations were referred to
a committee of which George W. Campbell was chairman. He sought in vain for
guidance from Jefferson, and Gallatin prepared a report, which Campbell presented
to the House November 22, and became known as "Campbell's Report." See
Henry Adams, Writings of Gallatin, I. 435; History, IV. 370; and American State
Papers, Foreign Relations, III. 259.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 257
reelection, which I hear is ascertained. As long as our con-
stituents will support us, we shall be in no vital danger
from abroad. If the people abandon themselves, we shall
sink together. But I trust better things from the fortitude
and energy of my countrymen. We shall triumph at the
last. I am, &c.
TO NAHUM PARKER
Boston, 5 December, 1808.
Dear Sir:
I have this moment received your favor of the 25th of last
month, inclosing also the report from the Committee on
Foreign Relations. Before the appearance of this document,
the inclination of my own opinion has been that the most ex-
pedient measure to adopt at this time would have been a
substitution of total non-intercourse with France and Eng-
land, instead of continuing the embargo. But I perceive the
policy there recommended is superaddition of non-intercourse
to the embargo. The reasoning of the report is so strong,
that I do not see how it can be successfully controverted, but
that there will be internal difficulties of execution in case of a
further continuance of the embargo, which I hope will be
thoroughly considered before the ultimate system shall be
decided upon. Whatever shall be eventually determined will,
I have no doubt, be strongly supported, even in our part of
the country, but it must also be prepared to meet a strong
and dangerous kind of opposition.
I have heard the rumor of an intention existing somewhere,
to have a convention called at New Haven, to consider the
expediency of a division of the States, or a secession of New
England from the Union. 1 Knowing as I do that such a
1 Morison, Harrison Gray Otis, II. 6.
258 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
project has been heretofore seriously contemplated, and that
it is now avowedly desired by some persons whom I consider
as the mouth pieces of others less communicative of their
designs, I perceive no absolute improbability in the report.
Yet I rather believe the purpose not yet sufficiently matured.
The policy of a separation is, indeed, avowed in some quar-
ters, with a sort of ostentation which indicates rather an ex-
pectation that it will produce its effect as a menace, than a
deliberate purpose for execution. They who use it in this
view have not yet learnt the necessary political lesson, never
to threaten where you do not intend to strike.
The documents transmitted with the President's message
have produced an apparent effect upon the opinions of those,
who have any candor left which their feelings will suffer them
to exercise. The charges of partiality to France in the con-
duct of the Administration are, for the present, not so bold,
and they are more discredited than they have been hereto-
fore. Jealousy will not, however, be convinced, and preju-
dice will not weigh evidence. In some minds the forgery of
Talleyrand's letter is more conclusive than all Mr. Arm-
strong's correspondence.
The greatest of all dangers to the Administration and its
friends is that of internal dissension. The differences of
opinion relative to the presidential election have contributed
much to increase this danger. It is, however, still to be
hoped that when all questions on the subject shall have been
settled by the regular course of the Constitution, the candi-
dates who have been found in the minority, with their
friends and partisans, will be sensible of the common interest
and common duty to maintain the cause of their country.
If they firmly manifest this determination, I believe the
country will not desert them. Union at the center will send
forth shoots of vigor to every part of the circumference.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 259
Whatever difference of opinion there may be on the system
to be adopted, when once resolved upon by the concurrence
of the majority, there must be no hesitation or wavering to
carry it into effect. All must concur to the extent of their
power. The want of this hearty cooperation among its
friends has already weakened the government infinitely
more than the inveteracy of its open opponents. We must
bear and forbear, we must conciliate and harmonize. Every
man must set himself and his pretensions aside before the
great interest of the nation. He must sacrifice the pride of
opinion and the wish for safety by retreat. The cause is just
before Heaven, the stake is the nation's right. The means
are the best that honest intention and deliberate consulta-
tion can elaborate. Persevere, and you will triumph at the
last.
I beg you, my dear sir, to present my kind remembrance
to all those members of the Senate with whom I should have
rejoiced to cooperate in the present crisis, as zealously and
as honestly, as I did upon its approaches last winter. Re-
leased from the perils and from the honors of your situation,
I look with the concern of sympathetic feeling on the re-
sponsibility with which you are still charged, and with the
sincerest wish that your services may be successful and ac-
ceptable to your country. At any rate I can assure you from
experience, that even to fail in rendering them acceptable
is no subject of self-displeasure or regret, when the conscious-
ness of right intentions and of exertions to the utmost of our
means remains unaltered by the event.
I am, &c.
2 6o THE WRITINGS OF [1808
TO ORCHARD COOK
Boston, 8 December, 1808.
Dear Sir:
Since I had the pleasure of writing you last, I have received
two of your favors, the last inclosing your reply to the resolu-
tions of our legislature relative to the embargo. 1 For these
papers, in particular for you own communications, I tender
you my sincerest thanks. I will take the earliest opportunity
of forwarding to you a copy of the pamphlet you request, 2
and if it is to be procured in town will send it by the same mail
with this.
On the particular subject of your letter of 27 November it
is difficult for me either to be totally silent or to speak with
propriety. I cannot be insensible, nor can I refuse myself
the pleasure of assuring you that I am not insensible, to the
good opinion on your part of me, which is indicated in the
course you have pursued, and in the wishes which you ex-
press. The divisions however which you intimate in the
anticipation of the election, I trust and hope have not taken
place. The great interest of the nation at the present
moment requires harmony and conciliation among those,
1 "The report and resolutions of a majority of the legislature have passed and
been published since I conversed with you. This report contains doctrines, rather
principles and opinions, which in my humble judgment are at variance with the
rights, the honor, and the interests of the country. What do you think of meeting
with two or three gentlemen to consult and consider whether it may be useful and
advisable to express, either to the government or to the public, a counter opinion;
and if so, to determine on the most eligible manner of doing it. This report, to-
gether with the Essex proceedings, appears to me to require animadversion and
notice of some kind or other. I had thought of commencing with three or five
gentlemen in whom confidence can be placed, and thence enlarging the circle as
should be judged expedient." William Eustis to John Quincy Adams, November 26,
1808. Ms. ,
2 The Whole Truth.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 261
who intend to maintain its rights. If the Vice President and
his particular friends have wavered a little more than they
could justify to the sternest principles of patriotism upon the
recent system of the present administration, the successful
candidate and his friends should recollect the peculiar situa-
tion in which Mr. C[linton] has been placed, and make
allowances for the feelings of human nature. I do not think
that the Vice President and his supporters are irrecoverably
gone, and I wish that no just inducement should be given
them to stray from the path of their country's necessity.
Judge Anderson's x anticipation was certainly founded on
inaccurate information. 2 I recollect with great pleasure the
cordiality of agreement between his sentiments and mine on
the public questions of the last session, and I beg you to
present me kindly to his remembrance. As there can be no
occasion for me to intimate what my feelings of justice to-
wards Mr. C. would dictate on the case supposed, there
must be affectation in the suggestion of them.
With regard to the other possibility intimated in your
letter, there is perhaps still more of delicacy to be observed
by me. I shall simply state to you that my principle of con-
duct with regard to official station always has been, and con-
tinues to be, that which philosophers teach us should guide
our views of death — never to be desired, never to be
feared — leaving all nomination and appointment to the
constitutional organ, and reserving only to myself the right
of answering as a sense of duty may direct to the call of the
proper authority.
From the report of the Committee on our Foreign Relations,
1 Joseph Anderson (1757-1837), now a senator from Tennessee, later an adherent
of Jackson, and Comptroller of the Treasury, 1815-1836.
2 Anderson had said the republican votes for Vice President would be divided
between Clinton and Adams; and Cook, that the Secretary of State should be from
Massachusetts.
262 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
and from some other circumstances, I had been led to expect
that the embargo would be continued; and although I see the
thorns with which every departure from that system must
be beset, yet I incline to think the course, which your last
letter mentions as likely to be adopted, will be the most
eligible. It will doubtless increase the immediate danger of
foreign war, but it will diminish the dangers of internal
commotion. In case, indeed, of foreign war, we must be
blind not to perceive that there will be an internal foe to deal
with, as well as the enemy beyond sea, a foe which, if cir-
cumstances should permit, will hang upon a non-intercourse
or upon any other measure of defence, as they now do upon
the embargo and the proclamation. Yet of the party which
now countenances them in their treachery to their country,
a great proportion will abandon them in the hour of extrem-
ity. The spirit of the nation, I thank God, is not, and will
not be broken. But the passions of the people will be less
dangerous to themselves with a vent upon to spend them
abroad, than where concentrated upon themselves, as they
must be by a much longer continuance of the embargo. The
documents sent with the first message, the report of the Com-
mittee of Foreign Relations, and above all the unbroken
phalanx of republicans on the three resolutions, have pro-
duced a manifest effect upon the public mind here. 1 I hope
it will continue. But there must be some issue found for the
restless spirit, and some guard against the desperation of
want. Heaven grant you may find a safe one.
I am, etc.
1 The first resolution in Campbell's report was adopted by a vote of 118 to 2 - the
second, by 84 to 30; and the third without opposition.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 263
TO WILLIAM BRANCH GILES
Boston, 10th December, 1808.
Dear Sir:
I cannot postpone for a moment my thanks to you for the
copy of your speech * on the resolution proposed by Mr.
Hillhouse, to raise the embargo, and my still warmer thanks
as an American citizen for the speech itself. If I must lament
that in my native section of the Union, a concurrence of un-
fortunate circumstances has given prevalence to a political
system compounded of ignorance and treachery to the rights
of this nation, in the spirit of sincere piety I thank God, that
able and successful assertors of those rights are yet found in
other quarters, who will not suffer that disgraceful submis-
sion to foreign insolence and outrage, which I have been
doomed to hear recommended by men, who still pretend to
call themselves Americans.
The threats of resistance against the laws of the Union
and of separation, which your subject called you to notice,
will I hope counteract the dangers which they announce.
The people in this quarter are in general deeply attached to
the Union, and they have, as you justly represent, a profound
veneration for the authority of the law. To counteract this
sentiment, you know that the doctrine has been broached
here that the embargo laws were unconstitutional, and as
such not entitled to submission. The history of this doc-
trine, and the manner in which it was propagated until the
decision of the district judge at Salem, 2 is perhaps not fully
known to you. While you have been candidly informed of
the regular gradation through petition, remonstrance and
1 November 24. Annals of Congress, loth Cong., 2d Sess., 93.
2 Judge John Davis.
264 THE WRITINGS OF I1808
legislative resolutions, to insurrection and rebellion against
the Union, which are here avowed and recommended, you
have not been told how important a step in the progress a
judicial decision against the embargo laws was intended to
be. You have not heard what means were used and by
whom to bias that decision, nor how much disappointment
has followed from that honest firmness and incorruptible
integrity of our district judge. These are things of which
little will be said, but whoever traces the real history of our
advance towards resistance will not forget the judicial bat-
tery, which has been attempted to be brought into action, nor
fail to perceive the effect with which it would have operated,
if it could have been brought to bear. In speaking of the
firmness and integrity of the district judge, and of the means
used to bias his mind, I do not mean to hint at any direct
attempt upon his honesty, but to a sort of influence which
was certainly used, and which must have had its sway upon
his judgment had not his good sense and his spirit been supe-
rior to every consideration of party management.
It is intimated to us that the decision on the motion of
Mr. Hillhouse will not preclude a partial renewal of our com-
merce, after the substitution of other measures of resistance
against France and Britain shall have been matured.
My opinion that upon the whole an opening of some sort
to the humors as well as to the trade of the country must
be made, continues and strengthens from day to day. The
prohibition of trade with both belligerents will perhaps not
be effectual to prevent it, but at least it will take away the
responsibility of the government, and place it where they
tell us it may safely be placed, exclusively at the risk of
individual speculators. It may lead to war, but so may the
non-intercourse as a superaddition to the embargo. Though
the project of a New England confederacy will meet with
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 265
many obstacles of which its advisers are not aware, yet I
believe one of the greatest of them would be a conductor for
the overcharge of electricity in the popular passions. A
majority of our people are in that state of temper which will
not reason, or hear reason; they only feel, and the prevailing
party feed them with falsehood and suppress the truth, just
as it serves their turn.
Some accommodation to this state of things I cannot but
hope will be made, though God forbid that it should be at the
expense of any sacrifice of our essential rights.
The newspapers will inform you of the death of our gov-
ernor on Saturday morning. 1 It will make no change in our
political aspect until our next annual election.
With great respect, etc.
TO SAMUEL LATHAM MITCHILL
Boston, 14 December, 1808.
Dear Sir:
I duly received with great pleasure your favor of the 3rd
instant. Recollecting with great satisfaction the harmony of
political views, with which during the last and preceding
sessions of Congress we had acted together, and that con-
geniality of literary taste and sentiment, which enabled me
to derive so much instruction as well as entertainment from
our occasional hours of social converse, I cannot but feel
flattered with that substitute for personal communication,
which in my present situation is offered me by your kind
commencement of a correspondence by letters. I rejoiced
also to find that my opinions, under the state of information
which I can here possess, continue so exactly to correspond
1 James Sullivan died December 10, 1808.
266 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
with yours with regard to our public affairs. On Mr. Hill-
house's motion I rejoiced to find that the sentiment and the
resolution of the Senate remain unbroken. In favor of his
resolution I saw but one name which I could have hoped not
to see thus recorded, and it gave me very peculiar pleasure
to see your name still united to the majority.
At the same time I earnestly hope that some expedient will
immediately be devised to remove the existing restrictions
upon our trade, excepting all intercourse with the offending
powers. There is certainly such a change of circumstances
in the affairs of the world since the embargo was laid, that
an accommodation to that change would be perfectly con-
sistent with the policy upon which it was laid, and appears
to be imperiously required by our own present situation. Its
effects have been great, and on the whole highly beneficial.
It has preserved us from at least a year of war, and from
immense losses of property and of men. As a coercive meas-
ure upon the belligerents I never had any faith in it, nor do I
believe in its efficacy now. I will not say it cannot much
longer be executed. But if it can, it must be through diffi-
culties and impediments which will aggravate the dangers
and evils of our situation more than I am willing to hazard.
You will not be surprised that these are my sentiments, when
you recollect the resolution which I offered on the subject
so long ago as last January. 1 The government have now a
fair opportunity for changing their attitude of defence. But
if this opportunity should be rejected, another may not
present itself until it shall become a question of force be-
tween authority and obedience. As, therefore, I never could
agree to the submission project of repealing the embargo
laws, without substituting something else to maintain our
natural rights, so I believe that the very defence of these
1 Resolution, January n, 1808, p. 187, supra.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 267
rights will best be secured by a change of expedient. I speak,
however, with submission to better judgment, and with an
unvaried desire to support at every hazard whatever meas-
ures shall result from the declaration of our national councils.
As the proceedings of my masters, the legislature of Massa-
chusetts, last June satisfied me that I was very ill suited to
continue the representative of their majority, and as I fore-
saw no possible public injury from giving them immediately
the opportunity to be represented according to their own
heart's desire, I resigned my place for the remainder of the
term during which I might have kept it. But I ventured still
to perform the duties of a member of the Library Committee
until I had expended the sum, which remained in my hands
for that object. I sent a box of books which I learn has been
received at the library, and have furnished Mr. Nourse an
account, which he considers as sufficiently vouched for set-
tlement. As chairman of the committee I must beg your
attention at the annual report to have the settlement of the
account completed in form, so far as respects me. The dis-
charge of the duties assigned to me as a member of this com-
mittee was among the most pleasing of my official functions,
and almost the only one the release from which could be to
me a subject of personal regret.
I beg you to present my respectful remembrance to the
Vice President, to your colleague Mr. [John] Smith, and to
any others of our old associates to whom it may be agreeable.
Accept at the same time for yourself the assurances of my
friendly regard, &c.
268 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
TO JOSEPH ANDERSON
Boston, 15 December, 1808.
Dear Sir:
Among the many sacrifices that I thought proper to make,
in order to give my very worthy but not approved good
masters an immediate opportunity of stamping on the Senate
of the United States an express image of themselves, was
that of the pleasure which I had so constantly and cordially
enjoyed, in cooperating with you in the transaction of our
public affairs, and in the extra-official confidence and free
communication of sentiments which had supported and
guided me through the perplexities and difficulties of the
last winter — a confidence and freedom which I had flattered
myself would be revived and rendered still more cheering to
me in the increasing difficulties and perplexities of the present
season. But when a majority of my immediate constituents
had undertaken to instruct their representatives to act a part
very unsuitable to my feelings, I could not refuse to myself
the satisfaction of letting them know that I was as unambi-
tious of performing such services, as they were of assigning
them to me. To be the organ of such opinions as they had
avowed would have degraded me in my own, far below the
condition of a slave. To have encountered them as a Senator
of the Union with the honest and indignant dictates of my
soul would have been my duty, but to what end? When
Harry the 4th of France consulted Sully on a prospect of
marriage, which in the dotage of his lust he was prepared to
solemnize with one of his mistresses, and showed him the
written promise to that effect which he had drawn up, Sully
without answering a word flung the paper in the fire. "Are
you mad, Sully? " said the King to his bold but faithful min-
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 269
ister. "Yes, Sire," was the reply, " and would to God I were
the only madman in the case." If by flinging the resolutions
of my constituents in the fire I could have saved them the
disgrace of having pledged themselves to their contents in
the face of the world and of posterity, I would have hazarded
the reproach of madness or of worse to have redeemed them
from their ignominious vassalage. But I could not, like
Sully, defeat their purpose by withstanding their will. If
I could not hide their shame, I felt that it was not for me to
aggravate or proclaim it.
It is true, that I felt with extreme reluctance the obliga-
tion of abandoning the service which it might still have been
in my power to render to my country during the remnant of
the term that was left. But in estimating as highly as my
conscience would allow my own importance as a member of
the Senate, I could not forbear the question to myself, how
will that body be composed, on the supposition that my own
important self should be withdrawn from its deliberations.
The moment the question occurred to my mind, that moment
my resolution to resign was decided. Firm, deliberate and
inflexibly patriotic as I knew five-sixths of that body would
be on the trial, my extremest self-complacency could see
nothing in the substitution of my successor for me but the
loss of one vote to the country, and the gain of one vote to
the opposition. If then I did abandon you, it was from the
perfect conviction that you were too strong to need any
assistance of mine. For be assured, if the odds had not been
so unequivocally decisive, had the division of numbers been
so nearly equal that in any probability a vote would have
been of consequence in the questions involving the rights
of the nation, highly as I reverenced the authority of my
constituents, and bitter as would have been the cup of re-
sistance to their declared will, I would not have yielded up
270
THE WRITINGS OF [1808
my trust until the moment when it was to be taken from my
hands; I would have defended their interests against their
inclinations, and incurred every possible addition to their
resentment, to save them from the vassalage of their own de-
lusions. I did not think the occasion required this extraor-
dinary exertion of my energy, and while I was determined
never to be instrumental of such measures as they chose to
dictate, I thought myself fairly authorized to indulge them
in the benefit of an immediate change in their representation.
The event has shown that in my calculation of the firmness
and magnanimity of the Senate I was not mistaken. The
system of submission to British insolence and usurpation,
which has been preached, and prayed, and resolved, and
petitioned, and remonstrated, in this part of the country for
the last eighteen months, finds in the Senate, thanks be to
God, the same invincible spirit of resistance which it found
at the last session of Congress. The will and influence of my
constituents has had its full constitutional range, and they
have had the best opportunity to manage their concerns in
their own way. You have now had announced to you with
due formality the process of resistance, which may be pur-
sued against your laws. So that at least if an attempt to
divide the Union should be made, you will have no cause to
complain of being taken by surprise. Now if I had remained
with you, instead of threatening insurrection and separation,
I would only have expressed my utter abhorrence of every
such attempt and project, however colored and from what
cause soever intended. My sentiments with regard to the
Union are well known to you. John Smith and Aaron Burr
were in my view my fellow-citizens, just as if they had been
natives of Boston; and if any native of Boston, in pursuit
of the same end which Burr and Smith were aiming at, should
proceed as far in its execution, I would as far as my power
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 271
extended treat him in the same manner, as I thought they
ought to have been treated. I believe it will be better for
you and for the whole nation to have men from this quarter
who will prepare you for what they mean to attempt, than
one who, feeling and believing that we have all but one com-
mon interest, could avow no other interest as representing
this section of the Union.
We have at this time neither ears nor tongues for anything
that comes from the seat of government, but for what con-
cerns the embargo. Mr. Gallatin's letter to the committee, 1
and the bill reported in conformity to it, furnish materials to
the disaffected, which they are using with great industry.
For my own part I consider the bill as merely a project for
discussion, which I have no idea of seeing pass into a law.
If it should, it is my clear opinion that it will not be executed
in this quarter of the Union by the ordinary process. Juries,
judges and militia will all fail to perform their parts, and the
bayonet will be as ineffectual to execute the law as the rest.
You know that in saying this my motive is not that of in-
timidation or of opposition, but to tell you candidly the state
of things here. Substitute a non-intercourse with both the
offending powers as strong and effectual as you can make it,
but open a passage for the imprisoned vapors. A non-
intercourse may lead to war with England or France, but
the extension of the embargo system to the measures recom-
mended in Mr. Gallatin's letter will infallibly meet with
direct resistance, which nothing but force will overpower.
The project of Mr. Hillhouse's resolutions and of Mr. Gal-
latin's letter form to me the two extremes of possible policy,
neither of which will meet the ultimate views of the legis-
lature. Of unqualified repeal, that is, submission, it seems
1 Gallatin to Giles, November 24, 1808. Writings of Gallatin, I. 428. The bill
was introduced December 8.
272 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
to me the very proposers in both houses are ashamed. From
their British ground, they have been fairly driven. They now
profess the will to maintain the rights of the nation, and
confess the wrongs even of England. Meet them if you can
upon their present professions. Guard against the surrender
of our rights, but assert and exercise them again. Such was
the inclination of my sentiment when Congress first met.
Everything confirms me in it. No doubt the opposition will
continue to every measure you may take. But it will be far
less dangerous with a non-intercourse and a partial revival
of commerce, than under the total interdiction of trade.
Let me hear from you as often as your leisure and conven-
ience will permit, and believe me, &c.
TO ORCHARD COOK
Boston, 19th December, 1808.
My Dear Sir:
I have to thank you for your favor of the 4th instant,
which I received some days since, but which various avoca-
tions of necessity have hitherto prevented me from answer-
ing.
My opinion that the embargo must be removed, (I mean
partially, and after the substitution of other measures
against the French and British decrees,) becomes more and
more confirmed from day to day. It is much more strongly
corroborated by the letter from the Secretary of the Treasury
to the committee of the Senate, marking out the additional
measures necessary for carrying it into effect, than it was
before. Indeed the appearance of that letter, and of the bill
founded upon it, rather leads me to expect a result of a dif-
ferent kind.
My observations in my letter to Mr. Bacon relative to
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 273
arming were intended to apply merely to the solitary per-
mission to merchant vessels. As to fitting out and equipping
all the armed vessels we have, and building and equipping
more, I remain of the same opinion I have always entertained.
But if merchant vessels are permitted to sail armed under
a non-intercourse system and under these belligerent de-
crees, it should be upon a plan like that of Mr. Dana's resolu-
tion, 1 by means of convoys and under cautious regulations.
I have never heard, except from your letter, of any con-
vention of merchants in Boston agreeing to wait till 1st
January, and no longer. I have heard of some such things
as resolved upon by individual merchants in your district,
but I hope the report is without foundation. As the embargo
is unpopular, there is no doubt but that all the popularity
seekers will drop from its support, and become the most
violent declaimers against it. It will be the machine by
which the turncoats will reconcile themselves to the majority.
It seems to me that there is no measure by which the admin-
istration could lose so many of its friends in this quarter,
as by an unyielding adherence to this particular restriction.
The projectors of Disunion, of French war, and of British
alliance, will take such advantage of the current as the time
will allow. They certainly will not succeed either by the
wisdom or the patriotism of their policy. But the inflexibility
of the ruling party at Washington, if they do not exhibit
some token of accommodation, will play the game into their
hands, infinitely better than they can play it for themselves.
I have seen a short minute of your speech on the subject,
and hope soon to have a full report of it. We have received
here a great plenty of speeches in pamphlets, but all, ex-
cepting that of Mr. Giles, on the other side of the question.
When I see one gentleman delivered of a long pamphlet to
1 Annals of Congress, ioth Cong., 2d Sess., 510.
274 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
prove that all our difficulties are owing to the new importa-
tion act; another, gravely demonstrating that it is because
we did not chastise the Spaniards for seizing the Kempers, 1
and a third, calculating by decimal fractions and the infinite
series, how many miles of free trade would be left us, if we
would but live upon them as the Lazarus under the table
of Britain, I cannot but remember a fable which I learnt
in my spelling book, when a child, of the tradesmen who con-
sulted together on the defence of their town when it was be-
sieged.
The blacksmith was for iron, the joiner for wood, and the
currier insisted that for the walls of a fortress there was
nothing like leather. We are informed of the decision on the
first resolution reported by the Foreign Committee, and I am
very glad that so many of the members, who made such long
speeches against it, finished by voting for it. For although I
know that this vote pledges no man to vote for any special
measure of resistance, yet it is much to see that on being
brought to the test, no man in Congress dares by his vote
justify the outrages of Great Britain, as we see it hourly at-
tempted out of doors. The two gentlemen who voted against
the resolution had, no doubt, reasons satisfactory to them-
selves. I am persuaded it was not that they thought we
ought to submit to the decrees either of England or France.
We have at last really lost our governor, who had already
been repeatedly buried in the newspapers, and who has in
fact been several months dying. Your letter arrived too
late for me to take any step on the subject which you men-
tioned with him. Of the present chief magistrate 2 I presume
you have no doubt.
Your reply has not been attacked in such a manner as to
1 American State Papers, Foreign Relations, II. 684.
2 Levi Lincoln.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 275
need any defence. I have heard it mentioned with com-
mendation by many whose party feelings by no means ac-
cord with it. You will readily believe it agreed with my
sentiments. I could have wished only, that the unconstitu-
tionality of a State legislature ever requesting the representa-
tatives of the people in Congress to use their influence this
or that way, had been exposed a little more at large. For I
hold these requests, which sound so much like commands, to
be utterly inconsistent with the principles of the Constitu-
tion both of the Union and of the State, and there is danger,
if they are not checked in time, that they may acquire a sort
of prescriptive authority. I was very glad, therefore, to
see you asserting your constitutional independence and re-
minding the legislature that you were not responsible to
them.
There is this evening a meeting of republicans friendly to
the government in the several wards of this town. Their
object is announced to be for the purpose of expressing their
sentiments of adherence to the administration and its meas-
ures. This movement, I suppose, will not stand alone. But
how it will be followed up or to what effect I do not know.
What is the foundation of the report that the tribute or
export duty under the British Orders of Council is aban-
doned? If true it will somewhat change the aspect of affairs.
Not that it can reconcile us to the other parts of these orders,
but that it will be a great step towards their total abandon-
ment. That and a single defeat in Spain would bring down
the tone of Mr. Canning, whose sarcastic insolence, as Mr.
Giles so justly calls it, will I have no doubt yet be scourged
into himself. In Spain, however, the present prospects are
very much in their favor.
I am, &c.
276 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
TO EZEKIEL BACON
Boston, 21st December, 1808.
My Dear Sir:
It would certainly be more safe and prudent for me to
imitate that reserve, which you notice as marking the com-
munications of some other friends at the present crisis.
Thus much I may say with perfect security.
The path of the nation is so thickly set with difficulties
and dangers, the choice of practicable measures is confined to
evils all of such magnitude and terror, that every man, not
bound by the duties of a public trust to contribute in devising
expedients to procure public relief, will most naturally shrink
from the utterance of an opinion, what ought to be done.
Like the Irishman on board the ship, when called to aid in
extinguishing the fire, one feels an irresistible temptation to
answer, "I am but a passenger." Yet so long as the reflec-
tions of my mind, or the observation I have opportunity to
make, are acceptable to you, I shall not withhold them; for
in truth it is a time when the passenger must lend his hand
as much as any of the crew, and in giving to you freely my
thoughts, crude and undigested as they are, I must add that
you can scarcely give less confidence to them than I have in
them myself.
I have observed, as far as newspapers and pamphlets have
furnished opportunity, the course of deliberation both in
your house and in the Senate since the commencement of
the session. Though I will not pretend to deny that I have
my partialities of sentiments, impelling me to concur with
one side and to differ from the other, I have anxiously sought
from the arguments of both a footing, upon which I could
think it possible for the nation to stand. Together with
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 277
i
much crimination and recrimination, which perhaps could
not well be avoided on either side, but which I regretted to
see, because I thought it could answer no good purpose, and
must naturally inflame those mutual irritations which should
rather be soothed, I have found on both sides some leading
ideas from which public benefit might perhaps be derived.
The excessive precipitancy with which our New England
federalists made their charge upon the embargo at the
opening of the session had, I am afraid, a tendency to rouse
the spirit of counteraction beyond the tone of cool delibera-
tion, and to prepossess too much the friends of the adminis-
tration against the measure under any modification. The
report of the Committee of Foreign Relations (of which I
think you were a member,) was in my opinion a production
of uncommon excellence, but it contained a* concession,
upon which the federalists seized with the convulsive instinct
of drowning men to save themselves from the infamy to
which their system of submission was hurrying them. The
concession to which I refer is, that a permanent embargo
would be an abandonment of the very right for which we
are contending. For this primary idea they are indebted to
yourselves. But they have turned it against the embargo
system with some address, and with considerable effect. The
idea is substantially true, and to my mind affords an un-
answerable argument for substituting, as speedily as possible,
something instead of the embargo.
The most decisive reason in my mind for this substitution
is that which I have heretofore suggested to you. The law
will not be executed. It will be resisted under the organized
sanction of State authority. Already, notwithstanding the
decision of the district judge on the constitutionality of the
existing laws, the juries will not convict for violations against
them. Constitutional objections will recur with tenfold
2 7 8 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
greater force against the contemplated additional laws, and
you will soon find State judges undertaking to decide these
questions in their way. Consider the complication of the case :
Two or three file leaders of disappointed ambition, hopeless
of consequence under the present national union and building
their castles of personal aggrandizement upon a separation
and a British alliance. Under these file-leaders, an organized
concert of banks and other monied corporations holding great
numbers of secondary characters in a state of dependence,
by the return of discount days, and thus commanding their
inaction, if not their assistance. A legislature perfectly
under their guidance. A State judiciary, of which you must
think what I cannot say. A militia so commanded as
at least not likely to oppose much obstacle to these views,
and a plan long since formed to seize the first favorable op-
portunity to divide the State, and set up a New England con-
federacy. What an engine in the hands of these people is a
system of restriction, which turns all the political humors of
your political body inward. Gentlemen in Congress have
said they are unwilling to suppose the case of forcible re-
sistance to the laws, but that if it should happen, they would
use the cautery and the knife. But if you continue and ag-
gravate these laws, you must suppose the case or you will
impose them under an erroneous view of the state of things.
When Caesar was approaching with his army from Gaul,
Pompey refused to suppose the case, that he would cross the
Rubicon, and for thus refusing to suppose the case, was ut-
terly unprepared to oppose him when he came. It is easy to
talk of using the cautery and the knife, more easy than to
use them in reality. But it is the very necessity of using them
which I would at almost any other hazard avoid.
Let not the administration flatter itself with much support
from those whom it considers as its friends. Many of them
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 279
were friends of the summer, friends as long as favors were to
be obtained, and the popular gale blew with them. I know
that some of the most eminent among them are wavering, to
say the least. I know that some of them are men, who con-
nect with all public considerations much calculation for
themselves. The day when these will fail, will be precisely
the day of trial. Excuse me for saying thus much. It is not
for the purpose of exciting distrust, but to state the actual
condition of things, upon which all useful public council must
be founded.
I feel the more anxious that the determination to revive
commercial enterprise should now be taken by the govern-
ment, because it will now be a voluntary act, because all the
objects for which the embargo was avowed to be laid have
been obtained. We have secured all the property which was
exposed, and we have made such use of the measure in nego-
tiation as was intended. It cannot again be used in negotia-
tion, and although it may still preserve property from cap-
ture, it can no longer save any from sudden and unexpected
rapine. If persisted in now, I see not when the government
can consistently abandon it hereafter. As coercion either
against France or England I cannot believe in its efficacy.
It affects their interests no doubt, but nations which sacrifice
men by the hundred thousand, and treasure by the hundred
millions in war for nothing, or worse than nothing, pay little
attention to their real interests. It is said to have been the
only error in the political character of John DeWitt, that he
supposed France and England could always act upon meas-
ures according to their effect upon their interests. There can
be no greater error than to proceed upon such calculations.
Nine times out of ten you might more safely reverse the rule,
and conclude that if a measure is clearly for the interest of
the nation, the government will reject it.
2 8o THE WRITINGS OF [1808
If it be true that the British government have already
abandoned the transit duty, they will not venture to carry
the remainder of their Orders in Council into effect. If,
after we open our ports, the British should take and carry in
our ships, the resentments of the sufferers and of our people
will fall much more upon them and less upon our own gov-
ernment, than they now do, and if they should proceed in
their career of violence, we have yet other resources for in-
demnifying the losses which our people might sustain and
for checking the execution of their system. One outward
effect of our present situation is, that by securing our com-
mercial capital from the operation of the British orders, we
take away all their practical mischief, and of course much of
their odious character. We render the orders themselves a
dead letter, but our own restriction takes place of all their
prohibitions. Now if we let our merchants go to sea again,
if the British take and confiscate their property, the passions
as well as the reason of our people will act against them. If
they do not capture, it must be because they will not dare to
give their system full effect.
I am aware of the powerful arguments which are urged for
adhering precisely to the embargo system, and I am con-
vinced that if such should be the final result, it will be de-
cided with the best intentions. My best wishes will be with
you, and a disposition to make every allowance for the diffi-
culties of the choice, which I know to be just and necessary.
I am, &C. 1
1 The fact of this correspondence became known and gave occasion to newspaper
comment. The democratic representatives from Massachusetts have received a
letter from Mr. John Quincy Adams, announcing to them that the embargo must
be given up, or democracy dies forever in the east. Mr. Story and Mr. Bacon have
taken the alarm, and are preparing to discover that this wise and powerful measure,
'however honorable to the sages with whom it originated,' as the former gentleman
has said, is not so coercive upon foreign powers as those sages had led them to
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 281
TO WILLIAM BRANCH GILES
Boston, 26th December, 1808.
My Dear Sir:
I received your very obliging favor of the 17th instant, with
a copy of your second speech on Mr. Hillhouse's proposed
resolution. For the notice you have taken of myself person-
ally I beg you to accept my thanks. For myself, I believe I
shall never think Mr. Pickering's suspicions or insinuations
against me deserving of any sentiment more earnest or active
than contempt. 1
believe. There are many strong indications of an approaching rebellion against
'the anti-commercial system of Confucius the Younger,' in a quarter where nothing
but the most abject submission was expected." Freeman's Journal, quoted in
New-England Palladium, January 10, 1809.
1 " I have designedly delayed answering your friendly and interesting letter of the
[ ] until I could accompany the reply with some observations, I felt myself
bound to make in your justification a few days since. Indeed my principal object in
rising was to defend you against the most illiberal and unmerited reproaches. I
wish I may have performed this agreeable task to your satisfaction; if I have failed
of success, it was not for the want of good intention." William B. Giles to John
Quincy Adams, December 9, 1808. Ms. Pickering made a speech on Hillhouse's
resolution, November 30, in the course of which he seems to have reflected upon
Adams. The printed report makes no mention of Adams, but the remarks directed
against him are those printed on page 185 of the Annals of Congress. In reply
Giles said, December 2:
"I should not have taken the trouble of this examination, if the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Pickering) had not availed himself of this occasion to assail the
reputation of his late colleague (Mr. Adams) — a gentleman who represented the
State of Massachusetts with so much honor to himself and advantage to the State
and nation; upon a point, too, in which the gentleman here present has put himself
so clearly in the wrong, from his own showing. I had hoped, Mr. President, that
the gentleman would have so far restrained his feelings as to have permitted this
gentleman's retirement to have shielded him from these unmerited reproaches;
but it now seems that no delicacy of situation can procure an exemption from the
inveteracy of the gentleman's passions. This cruel attack has imposed upon me an
indispensable obligation to defend this absent gentleman; and it has been principally
this circumstance which has driven me again most reluctantly into this debate.
282 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
It was, indeed, of importance to him to crowd upon the
world, if he possibly could, the falsehood that the British
Orders of Council were not among the causes of the first
embargo act, because he had suppressed all notice of them
in his first incendiary pamphlet, and because I had exposed
the disingenuity of his artifice in that suppression. The fact
is as I have publicly stated; but it is also fact, that I should
have voted against the first embargo act, had it not been for
the inofficial account of the Orders of Council which was
contained in the National Intelligencer of the morning when
the message came, and for the express recommendation from
the executive. General Smith was chairman of the com-
mittee who reported the act, and I am persuaded that he will
recollect the discussion we had before I agreed to the report,
in which I expressly stated to him and the committee, that
I did not think the two papers communicated with the
message were sufficient to justify the measure of laying an
embargo; but that as the accounts in the papers from Eng-
land and the information brought by Dr. Bullus were of so
alarming a complexion, and as the President had thought fit
to recommend the measure expressly, I presumed he must
Sir, I can attest, and now do attest, with great pleasure, the disinterestedness and
purity of the motives which dictated that gentleman's (Mr. Adams) late political
conduct. As to its wisdom, that is matter of opinion, and now in a course of ex-
periment; but as to his exemption from all views of personal aggrandizement, I
here assert that fact, upon my own knowledge and my own responsibility, as far
as can be warranted by the most explicit and unequivocal assurances from the
gentleman himself; given, too, under circumstances which render their sincerity
unquestionable. It gives me great pleasure to defend this absent gentleman, not
only on account of his innocence of these reproaches, but on account of his merits,
his virtues, and his talents, which, in my judgment, place him on so high a ground
as not to induce a wish, on his part, to shrink from any comparison with either of
the five worthies of Massachusetts, of whom we have been informed by the gentle-
man (Mr. Pickering)." Annals of Congress, ioth Cong., 2d Sess., 219. See also,
Adams, Memoirs, February 2, 1808.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 283
have intelligence which, without being such as he could
officially communicate, was sufficient for deciding upon this
step as a precautionary measure. I said nearly the same
thing in the Senate itself upon the debate there, which I
presume is within the recollection of all the members present
at the time, who had ears to hear any sound, but those which
chimed with their own passions. Mr. Bradley I am sure will
recollect it, for I remember he immediately afterwards told
me that I had as exactly expressed his sentiments on the
subject, as if he had spoken them himself. 1
Indeed when I first saw in the newspapers this pretence
raised, that the British Orders of Council were not known in
the United States when the first embargo law passed, I
should have been astonished at its impudence, could I have
been astonished at anything in the workings of party spirit.
And now, when I see members of Congress laboring with
burthens of sophistry to prove that those orders were not
known, because they were not officially communicated, I seek
in vain for any line of discrimination between the principles
of such men and those of their lowest drudges in the public
prints.
The course of policy which is intimated in your letter, as
in your opinion the most advisable, corresponds in the main
with my own sentiments. The impossibility of carrying the
embargo laws into execution, even to the extent they have
been hitherto, becomes more certain from day to day. Your
argument in the first speech, that in our country all the con-
stitutional checks are upon deliberation and not upon the
execution of the laws, is certainly true, and the distinction is
marked with an accuracy which has not escaped the notice of
reflecting men, even in this quarter. But there may be
impediments to execution besides those known to the Con-
1 See note, p. 168, supra.
284 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
stitution. Our district court has been sitting six or seven
weeks here and at Salem, trying breaches of the embargo
laws, and I believe not one case has occurred in which the
jury have found a verdict against the defendant.
The system of non-intercourse and prohibition contained
in the second of the three resolutions which have passed the
House of Representatives, will for the present be less un-
popular than the embargo, if substituted in its stead. But if
it should lead to war with Great Britain, it will be rendered
equally odious in a very short time. Indeed, whatever the
federalists in Congress tell you, when pushed into a corner
about maintaining and defending the right to navigate the
ocean, you may rely upon it, they mean practically to defend
it only against France. Against Great Britain they will
defend and maintain NOTHING. A thousand blustering
speeches will never explain their principles like their conduct
in the affair of the Chesapeake. Mr. Pickering's worthies in
that case openly maintained Berkeley's right to search our
national ship for deserters, and if the British government had
not abandoned that pretension of their own accord, Pickering
would now be telling you what the British had to say on
their side of the question, and furnishing you with cases
and counter-cases, and French ordinances and examples of
French piracies, to justify the British doctrine which, he
would tell you, to negotiate about, as he does on the subject
of impressment and of colonial trade, all which arguments
and authorities he would get from the same oracle to which
he went for his ordinance of Louis 14th, (which never had
any application to colonial trade,) in order to countenance
the British rule of the war of 1756. I know that oracle as
well as Mr. Pickering, probably much better. I know him
capable of furnishing argument, authority, and precedent
for any degree of submission to British laws. But for the
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 285
defence of any right whatsoever which a British minister
shall contest, this nation must look elsewhere.
I say this to you, because in opening to you the principles
of these men, I tell you the principles which will govern the
conduct of this State. Our legislature is in their hands; at
our next annual elections they will have the whole govern-
ment at their disposal. Far from lending any aid to the
support of national rights against Great Britain, they will
counteract as much as they can every measure to that effect,
whether in peace or in war, and according to every present
appearance they will carry the State with them.
I need not tell you how opposite to their system my senti-
ments are, but the popular current in this State is entirely
with them. The sources of their influence are numerous and
powerful, and there is but one possible motive which can
deter them from proceeding to the last extremities, in case of
a war with England. That motive is fear.
They are as selfish and as timid as riches can make them,
and in the hour of danger will shrink from their own doc-
trines, leaving bolder and more desperate characters to take
their places.
Whatever course may be finally adopted by the national
legislature will, I doubt not, find warm and strenuous sup-
porters in this part of the Union. But they will in all prob-
ability be the minority, both in the State and its legislature.
You may perhaps know better than I do, the individual
characters of weight and influence, upon whose steadiness
reliance can be placed. All my personal and family connec-
tions, and I might almost say acquaintance, in this quarter
are federalists, among whom those who think as I do, and
they are many, dare not avow it. The wisdom of my late
conduct, as you justly observe, is in a course of experiment,
and such is the nature of the trial that here I have not a single
286 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
friend, who is willing to risk the chances with me upon the
ultimate issue. The friends of the administration here have
heretofore been my political adversaries, and my intercourse
with them has naturally been not very intimate. There
are some of them who, I have no doubt, will adhere to their
principles, through good report and through evil report, but
some holiday partisans will perhaps discover themselves in
the day of difficulty. For myself so deeply do I feel that the
question of our national independence is at stake, that as an
individual citizen, I could ask of Heaven no higher blessing
than that of laying down my life in the cause, if I could
thereby contribute to its success.
I am, &c.
TO WILLIAM BRANCH GILES
Boston, 16th January, 1809.
Dear Sir:
I duly received your favor of the 25th ultimo, and offer
you my best thanks for your obliging attentions to Mr.
Welles and Mr. Sumner, the latter of whom is a member of
our legislature, and in the majority.
I have, perhaps, still greater motives for concern with re-
gard to the probable proceedings of our legislature at their
approaching session than yourself. Disapproving as I did
what they have already done in opposition to the policy of
the nation, the steps which they will probably take next are
not likely to be more suitable to my sentiments. The gen-
eral disposition of the people here, I think, is cooler, than it
was just before the meeting of Congress, and those, whose
object has constantly been to stimulate and inflame the pub-
lic mind, are resorting to small expedients to keep up the tone
of temper in their followers, which is necessary for their pur-
i8os] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 287
poses. An attempt was made in the legislature of New
Hampshire to pass certain violent resolutions, which failed
by a large majority, many of the federal members voting
against them. This measure I have some reason to suppose
was not brought forward without consultation with head-
quarters. Its failure is a strong indication that many of the
federalists begin to perceive the danger of the ground to
which they are thus drawn, and may possibly moderate the
proceedings here. Still I have no doubt they will be violent.
I have also received your favor of the 5th instant, inclosing
a Monitor , with your speech in Senate on the passage of the
bill for enforcing the embargo. It will be printed here with
the corrections from the paper itself, and I wish it may con-
tribute to reconcile some of our citizens to the measure.
I had observed in the newspapers Mr. Lloyd's motion for
the production of all the informal correspondence with Mr.
Rose, but did not understand its object until your letter
explained it. If that motion should prevail, it might perhaps
be advisable to pass another resolution calling upon every
member of Congress to reduce to writing and authenticate
under the solemnity of his oath Mr. Rose's informal corre-
spondence and communications with him, and reciprocally
his informal correspondence and communications with Mr.
Rose. Perhaps in that case you might discover what Mr.
Rose brought in his hand.
You will have been informed that two instances of forcible
violations of the embargo laws have occurred at the two
extremities of our sea coast within this Commonwealth.
The district court after sitting seven or eight weeks, and
trying upwards of forty cases, has at length adjourned. Not
one instance has occurred of a conviction by jury, and finally
one of the jurymen is said to have declared, that he never
would agree to convict any person under these laws, whatever
288 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
might be the facts. The judge has been firm and decided in
support of the laws, as far as his authority extended.
I expect to leave this place for Washington the 25th in-
stant, to attend the Supreme Court of the United States upon
business of a professional nature. While there I shall pay
my respects to you in person, and in the meantime remain
with the highest esteem yours. l
TO LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS
Washington, 5 March, 1809.
We have at length got through the argument on the cause
for which I came here. It was finished yesterday after having
taken up nearly four days. The opinion of the Court will
probably be given in the course of the week and my intention
is to leave this place tomorrow week, which will be the 13th.
I depend therefore upon the pleasure of seeing you again
at latest in three weeks from this day.
The oath of office was yesterday administered to the new
President in the chamber of the Representatives. He de-
livered a short speech, which you will without doubt see in
the newspapers before you can receive this letter. It is in
very general terms, and was spoken in a tone of voice so low
1 "Public affairs continue to be much perplexed, and the prospect is still very
gloomy. The House of Representatives have voted by a large majority that the
embargo shall come off the 4th of March; but having heretofore resolved against
submission, they are now to provide something instead of the embargo, and what
that shall be they cannot agree upon.
"They talked of issuing letters of marque and reprisal, but they have now de-
cided against that. They talk of authorizing the merchants to arm their vessels,
but neither will that succeed. They now talk of non-intercourse with France and
England, of excluding armed vessels of all nations from our ports, of raising 15,000
men, of borrowing ten millions of dollars. It would be passing strange if they should
finish by doing nothing at all." To Louisa Catherine Adams, February 8, 1809. Ms.
i8o9l JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 289
that scarcely any part of it was heard by three-fourths of the
audience.
The body of the House was excessively crowded and the
galleries were equally thronged, which gave it altogether a
very magnificent appearance. The city was very much
crowded with strangers, and I believe I may say without
exaggeration that in the course of the day yesterday I saw
more people than in the whole time I have ever been here.
Immediately after the ceremony was performed the Presi-
dent and his lady received company at their own house. I
paid my visit with your mamma and Mr. and Mrs. Hellen.
It was not at the President's house, which Mr. Jefferson has
not yet left. He was with the company who visited his suc-
cessor.
In the evening there was a ball at Long's on the Capitol
Hill, the house which last winter was kept by Stelle. The
crowd there was excessive; the rooms suffocating and the
entertainment bad. Your sister Hellen literally took me with
her, for I should not have gone but at special invitation that
I would attend her. The President and his family were also
there, and also Mr. Jefferson. I had some conversation with
him in the course of the evening, in the course of which he
asked me whether I continued as fond of poetry as I was in
my youth. I told him, yes; that I did not perceive I had lost
any of my relish for good poetry, though my taste for the
minor poets, and particular for amatory verses, was not so
keen as it had been when I was young. He said he was still
fond of reading Homer, but did not take much delight in
Virgil.
Congress you know have broken up, after repealing par-
tially the embargo after the 15th of this month, and totally
at the end of the next session of Congress, substituting a
non-intercourse with France and England to commence on
29 o THE WRITINGS OF [1809
the 20th of May. I believe that nothing better upon the
whole could have been done, though in Congress it does not
suit the views of either party. My time, my reason, and my
feelings, have been so much engross'd by the business which
brought me here that I have neither examined nor felt much
in relation to the public.
The Senate are to continue in session two or three days.
Principally for the purpose of receiving nominations of the
heads of departments. Report announces very confidently
who they are to be, and adds there has been some perplexity
in fixing upon them. It had been determined that Mr.
Gallatin should be Secretary of State, Mr. R. Smith Secre-
tary of the Treasury, Mr. Hamilton of S. Carolina Secretary
at War, and Dr. Eustis Secretary of the Navy. But it is
understood that the nomination of Mr. Gallatin to the
Department of State would have met with such strong op-
position in the Senate that it was doubtful whether the ap-
pointment would be confirmed. The arrangement therefore
now is changed, and Mr. R. Smith is to be the Secretary of
State, Mr. Gallatin remaining at the head of the Treasury.
Dr. Eustis is certainly to be Secretary of the Navy. . . .
I saw in the newspaper the paragraph to which I suppose
you allude, admonishing the aspiring young federal members
not to presume as representatives of the people to have any
opinions of their own. But I should not have suspected
whence it came nor whether it was directed without the in-
timation in your letter. . . .
isog] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 291
TO LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS
Washington, 9 March, 1809.
• ••••••
I have now finished as much of my business as I suppose
can be done during the present session of the Court. They
have, however, not yet decided upon any of the questions
in the causes for which I was engaged. I shall not wait for
their decisions certainly longer than next Wednesday, the
15 th.
On Monday morning Mr. Madison sent his nominations
to the Senate. The heads of departments are as I wrote you
they would be. He nominated me to go to Russia. 1 But the
Senate took no vote on his nomination. They pass'd a resolu-
tion that it was inexpedient or unnecessary in their opinion
that a minister should be sent to Russia. Mr. Short had some
time since been nominated by Mr. Jefferson and the nomina-
tion rejected, as was said, because the man was disliked. 2
I believe you will not be much disappointed at the failure
of the proposition to go to Russia. In respect to ourselves
and to our children it would have been attended with more
trouble than advantage. I had as little desire as expectation
of that or any other appointment; and although I feel myself
obliged to the President for his nomination, I shall be better
pleased to stay at home than I should have been to go to
Russia.
1 See Adams, Memoirs, March 6, 1809.
2 Jefferson had appointed William Short, minister to Russia, August 29, 1808, on
a special and not a permanent mission. The Senate was not in session, and the
formal nomination was not laid before it until February 24, when "with an unex-
ampled precipitancy" rejection followed, and without explanations, greatly to the
mortification of the President. On entering office Madison nominated Adams, but
the nomination was not acted upon. Jefferson to Short, March 8, 1809, in Writings
of Jefferson (Ford), IX. 249; Henry Adams, History, IV. 465.
292 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
The Senate finished their session on Tuesday. The mem-
bers of both houses are almost all gone, and the city has
again the appearance of solitude, with the exception of the
attendants upon the Supreme Court. It forms a contrast
to the bustle and crowd of the inauguration day, when it is
said there were ten thousand strangers here. This I believe,
however, is exaggerated. . . .
The embargo you know is to come off in part the 15th of
this month notwithstanding Mr. Quincy's predictions. It is
to be entirely repealed from the end of the next session of
Congress. All the federal members but two, however, voted
against this bill for repealing the embargo.
• • •
TO SKELTON JONES *
Boston, 17 April, 1809.
Sir:
On my return home a few days since, after an absence of
two months, I received your circular letter dated in August
last, but which had been received at my house only a few
days before my return.
The objects of inquiry contained in your letter are so ex-
tensive, and at the same time so minute, that it would re-
quire a volume larger than that which you propose to publish
to give you satisfactory answers relating to them. So far
as your intention may be confined to the particular history
of Virginia, the information which it would be in my power
to furnish would indeed be extremely scanty. But with the
1 Who had contracted with the administrators of John Daly Burke to complete
the latter's History of Virginia. The fourth volume was not published until 1816.
This autobiographical sketch was printed in the Portfolio, April, 18 19. It again
appeared in a pamphlet issued in 1824, with the "Letters of Tell," originally printed
in the Baltimore American.
i8o 9 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 293
public affairs of the Union, of which the State of Virginia
forms so great and distinguished a part, I have been per-
sonally conversant from the earliest period of the war of our
Revolution to the present day. Neither my leisure nor
patience would be sufficient for the memoirs of my own
times, which a proper answer to the first branch of your in-
quiries would demand, and although I should very cheerfully
communicate anything within my particular knowledge and
which might also be within the general scope of your sub-
ject, yet I have no index which can point me specifically to
any anecdote or event, which would be included within the
compass of a moderate letter, and which would be appro-
priate to the work upon which you are engaged.
Of the inquiries relating personally to myself the greater
part are such as may be answered without great difficulty.
If "party prejudice and political animosity" are, as they
should be, banished from your work, you will also doubtless
think it equally part of your duty to exclude the partialities
of egotism, and to detect the inaccuracies so naturally flow-
ing from self-delineation.
About the year 1650, 1 a man by the name of Henry Adams
came from England with seven sons, all of whom were mar-
ried. The father and one of the sons settled in the town of
Braintree, about ten miles from Boston, in the province of
Massachusetts Bay. The other sons, excepting one who re-
turned to England, fixed their abode in several other parts of
the same province. Their descendants have multiplied in the
common proportion known to the experience of this country,
and the name is one of those most frequently met with in
almost every part of this commonwealth. They were orig-
1 Henry Adams died in 1646. The genealogy of the family is outlined in the
Works of John Adams, I. 6, and more fully in Andrew N. Adams, A Genealogical His-
tory of Henry Adams.
294 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
inally farmers and tradesmen, and, until the controversies
with Great Britain and the colonies arose, scarcely any of
them had emerged from the obscurity in which those stations
were held. Few of them before that time had possessed the
advantages of education. The father of the late Governor
of Massachusetts, Samuel Adams, was, I believe, the first
of the name distinguished in any public character. He was
a merchant of Boston, and for some time a representative
of that town in the General Assembly of the Province.
Samuel Adams and my father John Adams were both
descended from the first Henry, but by two of the sons.
They were therefore remotely connected in blood; but there
is a very early incident in the life of each of them, which
seems to indicate that the Spirit of Independence, which is so
strongly marked in the history of the New England colonies
from their first settlement, had been largely shared by the
family from which they came, and instilled with all its ef-
ficacy into their minds.
They were both educated at Harvard College, an institu-
tion founded in 1638, and thus coeval with the first settle-
ment of the Massachusetts colony. It is the seminary from
which almost every man of any eminence in our history has
issued, until the establishment so much more recent of the
other New England colleges.
Samuel Adams was many years older than my father. He
received his degree of Master of Arts at Harvard College in
1743. It was then the custom of that college, that the can-
didates for this degree should each of them propose a ques-
tion having relation to any of the sciences, in which they had
been instructed, and assuming the affirmative or negative
side of the proposition, profess to be prepared to defend the
principle contained in it at the public Commencement
against all opponents.
i8o 9 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 295
The question proposed by Samuel Adams was, "whether
the people have a just right of resistance, when oppressed by
their rulers," and the side that he asserted was the affirma-
tive.
My father took his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1755, and
that of master, 1758. There has been lately published in the
Monthly Anthology a letter written by him in the year 1755,
and in the twentieth year of his age. 1 Written to one of his
youthful companions, and in which the probability of the
severance of the colonies from the mother-country, the
causes from which that event would naturally proceed, and
the policy by which Britain might prevent it, are all in-
dicated with the precision of prophecy. The date of this
letter, the age at which it was written, and the standing in
society of the writer at the time, are circumstances which
render it remarkable. No copy of it was kept, but its con-
tents appear to have made a strong impression upon the
person to whom it was written. He carefully preserved it
and, dying many years afterwards, left it to his son. In his
hands it remained until about two years ago, when, after the
lapse of more than half a century, he sent it as a curious docu-
ment back to the writer himself.
These anecdotes are perhaps as much within other sub-
jects of your inquiries, as within that relative to my parent-
age. They may furnish occasion for reflections to a philo-
sophical historian more interesting than any I could draw
from the most conspicuous incident of my own life.
My mother's name was Smith. She too is of English
extraction, but her parents for three preceding generations
have been natives of this country. Her father and grand-
father were clergymen. Her mother was a daughter of John
Quincy, who was many years a member of the provincial
1 To Nathan Webb, October 12, 1755. It is printed in Works of John Adams, 1. 23.
296 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
Legislature, several times Speaker of the House, and after-
wards member of the council. His name is mentioned in
Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts Bay.
I was born at Braintree, in that part of the town that is
now incorporated by the name of Quincy. The day of my
birth was Saturday, 11 July, 1767. The next day I was
christened by the name of my great grandfather, who at the
very moment, when I received my name, was resigning his
own spirit into the hands of his Maker.
In the eleventh year of my age my father took me with
him to France, where he was sent as a joint Commissioner
with Benjamin Franklin, and Arthur Lee, at the Court of
Versailles. We sailed from Boston in February, 1778, and
arrived at Bordeaux in the beginning of April of the same
year. Before that time my education had been that of the
common schools, interrupted by the convulsions of the
times, but supplied by the substituted care and attention of
both my parents. My obligations to them in this respect
are such as gratitude can never repay to them. The impres-
sion resulting from it upon my own mind has been, that of
a special duty incumbent upon me to pay the debt of the
former age to that which is to succeed, and to reward my
parents by transferring the same obligations to my children.
After residing about eighteen months in France, where I
was successively placed at two different schools, where I
learned the language of the country and a little Latin, I re-
turned home with my father. Instead of three Commis-
sioners Congress found it more expedient to keep at the
French Court a single minister. Dr. Franklin was appointed
to that office, Mr. Lee had a separate commission for Spain,
and my father received permission to come home. We came
in the French frigate La Sensible, in company with the
Chevalier de la Luzerne, who succeeded M. Gerard as the
1 809] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 297
minister of France to the United States. We arrived at Bos-
ton 1 August, 1779. The Massachusetts Convention for
forming a constitution was then just about to assemble. My
father was elected a member of that body, and drew the
original plan of the constitution which, with some modifica-
tions made by the Convention, was afterwards adopted,
and is still the constitution of this Commonwealth.
In November of the same year, 1779, my father was again
sent to Europe, with a commission for negotiating peace
and a treaty of commerce with Great Britain, whenever
that power should be disposed to terminate the war. He
took me with him again, together with my younger brother
Charles, who is since dead. We embarked at Boston in the
same frigate, La Sensible, then upon her return to France.
She was bound to Brest; but a few days after we sailed in a
gale of wind she sprung a leak, which in the course of a very
short passage became so large, that she was obliged to make
the first land she could reach in Europe and entered the port
of Ferrol in Spain. She was unable without a thorough re-
pair to accomplish the remainder of her voyage; we therefore
disembarked, and travelled by land from Ferrol to Paris,
where we arrived in January, 1780. I was here put again to
school; but in July of the same year my father went to Hol-
land, and took us with him there. We were placed first at
the public city school at Amsterdam, and afterwards at the
University of Leyden. In July, 1781, Mr. Francis Dana,
who had accompanied my father to Europe as secretary to
the legation for negotiating peace, received a commission
from Congress as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Empress
of Russia, and I went with him as his private secretary. I
was with him fourteen months at St. Petersburg, and in
October, 1782, left him to return through Sweden, Denmark,
Hamburg, and Bremen to Holland, where my father had
293 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
shortly before been received as Minister Plenipotentiary
from the United States, and had concluded the commercial
treaty with the Republic of the United Netherlands. Upon
this journey I employed the whole winter, passing several
weeks at Stockholm, at Copenhagen, and at Hamburg. I
reached The Hague in April, 1783; but my father was then
at Paris engaged in the negotiations for peace. From April
until July, I remained at The Hague residing with, and re-
ceiving instructions from, C. W. F. Dumas, a native of
Switzerland, a man of letters, who had been a zealous friend
of the American cause, and then held an office as agent for
the United States. In July, an interval of suspension oc-
curred to the negotiations, during which my father was called
for a short time to Amsterdam. On his return to Paris he
took me with him. The definitive treaty of Peace was signed
3 September, 1783, from which time till May, 1785, I was
chiefly with my father in England, Holland, and France.
I was now nearly eighteen years of age, and my education,
as the above detail of my wanderings about the world will
show, had been rather desultory than regularly systematic,
rather calculated to make me acquainted with men than
books. Hence it has happened that, though I was always
of a studious turn and addicted to books beyond its bounds
of moderation, yet my acquirements in literature and science
have been all superficial, and I never attained a profound
knowledge of anything. At the period of which I am now
speaking, I became sensible of other inconveniencies, that
might arise from longer continuance in such an unsettled
course. By remaining much longer in Europe I saw the
danger of an alienation from my own country, which would
disqualify me for contentment with my condition in after
times, and I found myself contracting sentiments, manners,
and opinions of European growth, which I knew could not
i8o9] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 299
suit the regions, where I expected to pass my days, and for
which I had retained the warmest affection. My father was
appointed Minister to the Court of St. James, but instead
of going with him I requested him to let me return to my
native country, and finish my education among my own
people. This inclination exactly concurred with his own
wishes. I returned to America, and after six months of
studies with a private instructor to acquire sufficient knowl-
edge of the Greek language, (which until then I had entirely
neglected,) for admission to the university at Cambridge, I
entered there in a class advanced almost to the end of the
third year of the collegiate course, and, finishing with them
the usual term of study, took the degree of Bachelor of Arts
in July, 1787. I then immediately entered as a student at
law in the office of Theophilus Parsons, who then resided
at Newbury Port, and was one of the most eminent lawyers
in this country. He is now Chief Justice of the Supreme
Judicial Court of the Commonwealth. After three years of
attendance, I was admitted to the bar in the courts of the
State, and fixed my residence in the capital.
I resided in Boston about four years. My professional
practice was inconsiderable, my attendance at my office was
unremitted, and having little business to occupy my time
I employed much of it in speculations upon political subjects
in the newspapers. In the summer of 1791, I published a
series of papers in the Boston Centinel under the signature
of Publicola, containing remarks upon the first part of
Paine's Rights of Man. These papers were for some time
attributed to my father, and for that reason excited much
public notice both in this country and in Europe. They
were at first very unpopular here, as containing political
heresy and questioning the infallibility of the French Revolu-
tion. But having been republished in England, and received
3 oo THE WRITINGS OF [1809
with some public commendation there, they afterwards rose
much in the estimation of that class of literary characters
among us, (and it is a numerous tribe,) who import their
opinions twice a year from London and Liverpool, with the
other articles of British manufacture.
In April, 1793, on the first information that war between
Great Britain and France had been declared, I published in
the Centinel three papers under the signature of Marcellus,
the object of which was to prove, that the duty and the in-
terest of the United States required that they should remain
neutral to that war. These papers were published before Pres-
ident Washington's proclamation of neutrality, and when
I had no knowledge that such a proclamation was contem-
plated. There are two political principles that form the basis
of the system of policy best suited to the interests and the
duties of this country. One in relation to its internal con-
cerns, UNION, the other in respect to its intercourse with
foreign nations, INDEPENDENCE. These principles are
the keys to my political creed. I believed that both the
union and the independence of the nation depended much
upon the establishment of the system of our neutrality to
the wars of Europe; I thought that was the critical moment
for the establishment of this system, and there were symp-
toms of a tendency in the public opinion, which might have
involved us immediately in the war, as allies of France.
These were the motives that dictated the publication of the
papers signed Marcellus, which were not much noticed at
the time, and which have long since been forgotten.
In the winter of 1793 and 1794 I published another series
of papers in support of President Washington's administra-
tion, in the controversies excited by the French minister
Genet. It was my zeal for the independence of the nation
that again impelled me to write, and on this occasion my
i8o9l JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 301
sentiments happened to accord so well with the prevailing
public opinion, that these papers were received with much
favor, and contributed to give me reputation.
In May, 1794, I was appointed Minister Resident to the
United Netherlands. The circumstances that led to this
appointment were never known to me. The nomination
was, of course, made by President Washington. I have heard
that my name had been mentioned to him by Mr. Jefferson,
before his retirement from the Department of State, who
had some personal acquaintance with me while I was in
France; I have also been told that the papers I have just
mentioned had attracted the President's attention, and led
him to make inquiries concerning their author. My father
was then Vice President, but my appointment was as unex-
pected to him as to myself.
From 1794 to 1801 I was in Europe, successively employed
as a public minister in Holland, England and Prussia. One
of the last acts of President Washington's administration
was the nomination of me as Minister Plenipotentiary to the
Court of Portugal. But while on my way from The Hague
to Lisbon, I received a new commission which changed my
destination to Berlin. The nomination of me to this mission
was made by my father, and has been represented as an
office bestowed upon me by him. It was even asserted in the
public newspapers that I had received the separate outfit of
these different appointments. The truth was, that on my
first appointment in 1794, I received the outfit of a minister
resident only 4500 dollars, that on my subsequent appoint-
ment as Minister Plenipotentiary to Lisbon I received not
the full outfit of a Minister of that rank, but so much as with
the 4500 dollars received in 1794 amounted to that outfit,
that is to say 4500 dollars more, making in the whole 9000,
the outfit that has always been allowed to every Minister
302 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
Plenipotentiary from the first appointment of ministers
under our present Constitution. In this respect my case, I
believe, has been peculiar. There have, at least, been in-
stances of a full outfit allowed on a new appointment given
to a person already abroad. And this circumstance may have
given rise to the misrepresentation of the fact, as respected
me. The appointment, which I held under the nomination
of my father, subjected me to additional expenses, but never
gave me the addition of a dollar from the public treasury
to that which I should have been entitled to under the ap-
pointment to Lisbon.
I resided at Berlin from November, 1797, until April, 1801,
and during that time concluded a treaty of commerce with
Prussia, which had been the principal object of this mission.
I was then recalled, just before the commencement of Mr.
Jefferson's administration. I arrived at Philadelphia in
September, 1801.
In 1802, I was elected a member of the Senate of Massa-
chusetts, and served in that capacity one year. I was then
elected by the legislature of the same State a Senator of the
United States for six years, from the 4th of March, 1803.
In June, 1808, I resigned that office, and since that time have
been in no public station. On the 6th of March last I was
nominated by Mr. Madison for a mission to Russia, but a
majority of the Senate being of opinion that such a mission
was inexpedient and unnecessary, no vote was taken on the
nomination.
The part which I have acted while in public life has been
naturally diversified in the detail by the different offices in
which I have been placed. When abroad my situation was
ministerial, my general duty was marked out by my instruc-
tions, and they were pursued to the satisfaction of the
executive authority by which I was employed. As a member
i8o 9 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 303
of the State legislature, I made myself obnoxious to a great
and powerful combination of banking interests by a strong
but ineffectual opposition to a bank-making speculation, of
which the time is not yet come to tell the whole truth.
In the Senate of the United States, the part which I acted
was that of an independent member. My fundamental prin-
ciples, as I have told you, were Union and Independence. I
was sworn to support the Constitution of the United States,
and I thought it my duty to support the existing adminis-
tration in every measure that my impartial judgment could
approve. I discharged my duty to my country, but I com-
mitted the unpardonable sin against Party. The legislature
of Massachusetts by a small majority of federal votes in
May, 1808, elected another person to represent them from
the expiration of my term of service, and I immediately
resigned the remainder of that term. They had passed
resolutions in the nature of instructions to their Senators,
which I disapproved. I chose neither to act in conformity
with those resolutions, nor to represent constituents, who
had no confidence in me. It was not without a painful
sacrifice of feeling that I withdrew from the public service
at a moment of difficulty and danger, but when the con-
stituted organs of that country, under whom I held my sta-
tion, had discarded me for the future, and required me to
aid them in promoting measures tending to dissolve the
Union, and to sacrifice the independence of the nation, I was
no representative for them. These were the immediate
causes of my retirement from public life.
I have already remarked, that from the unsettled and
desultory manner in which my years of infancy were em-
ployed, I never attained a profound knowledge of any of the
sciences. I had always however an eager relish for the pur-
suits of literature, and acquired at an early period of life a
304 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
taste for the fine arts. In the capitals of the great European
nations the monuments of architecture and of sculpture
continually meet the eye, and cannot escape the attention
even of the most careless observer. Painting, music, the
decorations of the drama, and the elegant arts which are
combined in its representations, have a charm to the senses
and imagination of youth, vivid in proportion to the perfec-
tion which they naturally attain in those large cities, where
immense multitudes of men are compressed within so small
an extent of space. The exhibitions of excellence in all these
faculties, which I had frequent opportunities of witnessing,
at the time of life when they were calculated to make the
strongest impression, gave me a taste for them, which has
contributed to much of the enjoyment of my life.
In the year 1806 a professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory
was instituted at Harvard University, founded upwards of
thirty years since by Nicholas Boylston, formerly a merchant
of Boston. I was appointed the first professor on this founda-
tion, and have delivered a course of lectures on the subjects
of the institution, which has been very recently completed. 1
The duties of this office, together with the practice of law
which since my retirement from the public service I have
resumed, form at present the employments of my life.
I was married at London in July, 1797, to Louisa Catherine
Johnson, second daughter of Joshua Johnson, then Consul
of the United States at that place. He was a native of Mary-
land, and a brother of Thomas Johnson, sometime governor
of that State, and a distinguished patriot of the revolution.
I have three children, all sons: George Washington, born at
Berlin, 12 April, 1801; John, born at Boston, 4 July, 1803;
and Charles Francis, born at Boston, 18 August, 1807.
You have now, sir, answers to most of the questions re-
1 In the Portfolio a paragraph was added at this point on the Letters from Silesia.
J
i8o 9 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 305
lating personally to myself, contained in your letter. It
would have given me pleasure to have supplied you with more
valuable materials for your projected work. I know not
any person to whom I could refer you for information con-
cerning me, which I myself should scruple to give. I have
friends who would doubtless draw a flattering likeness of my
character, and enemies who would perhaps be ready enough
to show me in caricature. Certainly neither of them would
know so much of me as I do, and I doubt whether either
would form a more impartial estimate of my qualities good
or bad. If the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, were
told of me, the tissue of the story would be (to use an ex-
pression of Shakespeare) a mingled yarn. There would be
found in the narrative something to commend, and enough to
censure. As far as I know myself, the motives of my public
conduct have always been pure and disinterested. Perhaps
I have too much indulged the suggestions of my own judg-
ment, and paid too little deference to that of other men.
The agency of party is so organized in our country, that the
undertaking to pursue a course altogether independent of it
as a public man is perhaps impracticable. However this
may be, I do not regret having made the attempt, and
whether in public or in private life it is my unalterable de-
termination to abide by the principles which have always
been my guides. I am, etc.
REVIEW OF THE "WORKS OF FISHER AMES"
Preface 1
The following papers were originally published in the Boston
Patriot, under the title of " Review of Works of Fisher Ames, cora-
1 In January, 1809, appeared a volume, Works of Fisher Ames. Compiled by a
Number of his Friends. Prefixed to it was a sketch of Ames' life and character by
306 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
piled by a number of his friends." This review was meant to be
rather political than literary. Of the style and composition of his
writings little is said — it was deemed unnecessary to divert the
attention of the reader from a discussion of the most important
principles, to the mere structure of discourse and verbal criti-
cism — and, in regard to the style, it was unnecessary to enlarge:
Mr. Ames's biographer having characterized it with the amplifying
and extenuating hand of friendship, but with the discernment and
elegance of genuine taste. But the moral and political doctrines,
which were attempted to be ushered into circulation under the
sanction of his amiable character and respected talents, were too
portentous to be passed over without animadversion.
The death of Air. Ames happened at a very momentous period
of our national history. At a time when rights unquestionable at
the tribunal of justice, and essential to the independence of our
country, were attacked by all the power and all the artifice of the
greatest naval empire upon the globe. When in defence of those
rights the government of the Union had resorted to the only pos-
sible remedy short of war; and when a formidable party in the
heart of the country, had taken their side in this great controversy
with the foreign aggressor, and against their own government. So
obviously was the justice of this cause on our side, that although
every measure adopted by this party, was a measure of encourage-
ment to the adversary and of annoyance to our own defenders, yet
no living man had yet dared to pledge his stake in society to the
direct and unqualified vindication of the British pretensions.
John Thornton Kirkland, though not signed in the publication. The use of the
material in the preparation of this volume indicated a political bias, the more no-
ticeable because of the course of public events since 1801. In the Boston Patriot,
a journal of recent birth, Adams began a series of comments upon the Works. The
first article appeared April 29, 1809, and continued in the issues of May 24, 27,
June 3, 7, and 10. They were afterwards printed as a pamphlet: American Prin-
ciples. A Review of Works of Fisher Ames. Only the preface, prepared for the
pamphlet and explaining the purpose of the writer, is reprinted in these volumes.
The "Review," as the author says in his Diary, attracted but little notice; but it
called out a reply from John Lowell, Remarks on the Hon. John Q. Adams's Review
of Mr. Ames's Works, with some Strictures on the Views of the Author. Boston, 1809.
isog] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 307
Indirectly they were indeed justified; and while Britain was heap-
ing insolence upon injury in her treatment of this country, she
was supported by these Americans as the exalted champion of
liberty, the defender of oppressed nations, the last hope of the
human race. 1 But even the addressers and reporters of the last
Massachusetts Legislature, (anxious as they were to foment the
spirit of subserviency to Britain, urgent as they were to unfurl
the republican banners against the imperial standard, intrepid as
they were to threaten and organize internal war, in aid of the
external enemy, against our own government, struggling in de-
fence of our own cause; even they) shrank from the formal jus-
tification of the British Orders of Council.
But what no living man could be persuaded to do, the friends of
Mr. Ames made him perform after his death. During his life-time
he had never chosen to pledge his name to those doctrines; and
though he had given them too much countenance in nameless
newspaper paragraphs and essays, he had manifested a steady
unwillingness to avow them in the face of day. But scarcely was
he cold in his grave, when his name was doomed by his friends
to stand before the public, responsible for the assertion, that on
the most momentous questions at issue between Britain and us,
she was right and we were wrong. Nor was this the only fatal
error, promulgated in the posthumous part of this volume. The
unreasonable veneration of everything connected with Britain,
the excessive abhorrence of everything connected with France,
and the mixture of scorn and contempt for his own country, which
in his last days were at the basis of all his political opinions, were
1 An American Judge [Parsons] had even talked of the impressment of British
subjects from American merchant vessels, as being agreeable to a right claimed
and exercised for ages, and had undertaken to justify the British King's proclama-
tion of October 16, 1807, under the pretence that it was merely an assertion of the
nation's right to the service of its subjects in time of war. The orders in council
too, had been defended, as merely retaliatory upon France, and although some
straining had been manifested at the name of tribute, yet it was found that the same
thing might be swallowed with perfect ease under the name of a transit duty. — Note
by Adams.
308 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
principles from which the most mischievous deductions naturally-
flowed. The aversion to Republics and Republican institutions,
the bitter invective against our popular elections, the humiliating
dogma that our liberties depended upon nothing but the British
navy; the terror, that his children would be taken for Bonaparte's
conscription to St. Domingo, were calculated as far as they could
operate to spread a contagion of false opinions upon objects of the
highest moment to the people of this country. And the danger of
these false opinions was aggravated in proportion to the reverence
for the talents and the respect for the personal character of the
author, so general throughout the community. The natural and
indissoluble connection between these opinions, and the public
measures of those who dare not avow them, was material to be
shewn; and the rancorous prejudices against our fellow citizens
in other parts of the Union, the contracted basis of exclusive love,
upon which political attachment was asserted to rest, the crude and
undigested notions of patriotism, with the long argument to prove
that it cannot exist in this country, nor in any Republic, were so
many potions of poison for the public mind, which the writer of
these papers sincerely thinks, loudly called for an antidote, before
they should have time to circulate with all their venom, in the
veins and arteries of the body politic.
To defend the insulted reputation of our country, to vindicate
from false aspersions the character of the nation, and its Re-
publican institutions, to refute the groundless charges against our
children and our brethren of the Western and Southern States,
to assert the real foundation upon which our independence must
stand, to maintain its rights against the ruffian principles of the
British cabinet, and to guard the sense and spirit of the people
against the mistakes of fancy usurping upon the province of judg-
ment, in the estimates of political morality — such were the mo-
tives which dictated these papers.
To hold up to public view the errors of an ingenious and amiable
man, so recently deceased, was a task, painful to the feelings of
the writer, and which nothing but the importance of the errors,
i8o 9 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 309
and the danger of the impressions they were producing upon the
public mind, could justify. The most exceptionable principles,
and the most important mistakes in point of fact, are quoted word
for word from the volume itself. In no one instance however has
a quotation been made, which in its connection with the other
parts of the discourse would bear a different aspect, from that
which it bears in the selection. For these wanderings of intellect,
it is abundantly manifest upon the face of the volume, that
Mr. Ames never meant to be responsible to the public. They
were intended for his select and exclusive friends. They furnished
food for that modest and generous opinion which they delight to
entertain; that all the virtue, and all the talents, as well as all the
wealth of the American continent, is a monopoly of their own; and
that the rest of the people are a mere herd of Sodom, to be saved
from the fire of Heaven only by their transcendent merits. So
long as these maggots only crawled within the pale of the church,
their mischief was confined to the annoyance of occasional visitors
at the altar of the idol; but where thus ushered abroad, they might
have taken wing and spread a plague of locusts over the land.
It was then, an examination of the political system of these
self-styled saviors of Sodom, which was proposed by the writer
of the following papers. Their doctrines had never been so fully
and explicitly avowed, by any man who had a character to pledge.
Like the priests of Egypt, they had a revelation for the multitude,
and a secret for the initiated. In its plenitude of perfection, their
creed was nowhere to be found in a tangible shape. To make way
for this mass of illumination, the real wisdom and virtue of Mr.
Ames's best days, his public labors as a statesman, at the organiza-
tion of the federal government, his speeches openly made in the
face of the country, the great and solid foundation of his honorable
fame, were excluded from the compilation. Had the same prin-
ciples been scrutinized as appearing in newspaper paragraphs and
anonymous pamphlets, the moment they were brought to the
test they would have been universally disavowed. For the holders
of these tenets, like the Dutch traders of Japan, whenever traffic
3 io THE WRITINGS OF [1809
is to be obtained by denial of their Lord, will trample upon his
cross to disprove their religion. They have given at length their
confusion of political faith to the world, and it was only under the
sanction of Mr. Ames's name, that it could be properly canvassed.
It may perhaps be thought that the conduct of these friends is
here judged with too great severity. That in publishing these
opinions of Mr. Ames, they are not responsible for them as their
own; and that even the errors of the volume ought to have been
overlooked, in consideration of the general excellence of the author,
and the valuable matter with which they are blended. The writer
of the Review is not insensible to the moral obligation incumbent
upon a man of generous feelings to "hide the fault he sees," and
to veil if possible, even the failings of a fellow citizen, distinguished
by talents, virtues and public services. It is that obligation which
he thinks the publishers of the volume have violated. As a free-
born American citizen, he feels a duty to maintain the rights and
liberties of his country, not less imperious than that of respecting
the repose of death; especially when he perceives that a stroke is
aimed at everything which this nation ought to hold dear, under
the shelter of a presumption, that the sanctuary of the grave would
shield the offence from the pursuit of justice; and that a name
entitled to public veneration would prove a passport for corruption
to which no man living dared to pledge his own. For it must be
observed that the compilers have been as penurious of their own
names, as they have been prodigal of that of their departed friend.
The title page tells us that they are a number, but not who they
are. The biography, a performance which in point of composition
would do honor to any name, yet bears not that of its author; and
the very private letters, divulged in the face of their own injunc-
tions of secrecy, are directed to nothing but asterisks.
The writer is well aware that party spirit, will neither give him
credit for his real motives in the publication of these papers, nor
forbear from the imputation of others. But it is not to party
spirit that he meant to address himself, nor to partisans that he
holds himself amenable. Believing in the general sense and vir-
tue of his countrymen, he asks of his reader that effort of the mind
i8o 9 l JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 311
which Malebranche demands of every inquirer after truth — to
separate from the subject every prepossession not belonging to it,
and to examine without any partial bias, the sentiments advanced
in the volume and contested in these papers. If the principles to
which the friends of Mr. Ames have seen fit to pledge his reputa-
tion are founded in eternal truth, to dispute them is nothing less
than to war against Omnipotence. If they are founded in error,
no apology will be necessary, for an attempt to arrest their progress
at their influence at the threshold.
Should the reader be one of those, whose admiration for the
genius and character of Mr. Ames is a feeling in which he delights
to indulge himself, and which he is unwilling to submit to the
crucible of stubborn reason, he is requested to lay aside the pam-
phlet, and continue in the enjoyment of his sensations. Should
he think it a more profitable course to test his principles before
he carries them into action, let him examine the volume, and weigh
the objections against a part of its contents, here advanced; after
which he may still enjoy his admiration of the man. This I have
no inclination to disturb. Let him, if it can afford him any grati-
fication, suspect the motives of the Reviewer. But let him renounce
principles demonstrated to be false, and of deadly import to the
independence and liberties of this country.
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES'
[James Madison]
Boston, 30 April, 1809.
Sir:
The bearer of this letter, Mr. Pickman, 1 is a gentleman,
with whom for many years I have had the pleasure of a very
intimate acquaintance, and for whose character I have had
every reason to entertain the highest esteem.
Being elected a member of the House of Representatives
of the United States to the present Congress, he is desirous of
1 Benjamin Pickman (1763-1843).
3 i2 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
a personal introduction to the President, and in taking the
liberty to introduce him, I derive much satisfaction from the
persuasion, that in his individual capacity you will find him
an agreeable acquaintance, as in his public character he will
be a faithful representative of the people.
His general political opinions are those usually included
under the denomination of federalists: his particular senti-
ments, those of federalists of the most decided cast. Yet
widely as my own sentiments upon the recent transactions
and discussions which have agitated the country differ from
those which he has entertained, there is no man in whose
integrity I should place a more perfect reliance on all occa-
sions; none upon whose candor and fairness of mind I should
more fully rely, for the belief that he will support every meas-
ure of your administration, which his judgment shall approve.
I cannot deny myself the pleasure which this opportunity
affords me of offering you, sir, my congratulations upon the
favorable change in the aspect of our public affairs, since
your accession to the presidency, and of presenting you my
most earnest hopes, that the just and honorable principles,
which I have the most entire confidence will govern your
administration, may be crowned with success beyond the
expectation of our country's best friend, and equal to your
own wishes. I have the honor, etc.
TO EZEKIEL BACON
Boston, 15 June, 1809.
My Dear Sir:
• ••••••
Of the share in the public measures, which I have had by
my public conduct and by my well meant opinions, given at
your request, and that of other friends devoted to the same
i8o9l JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 313
cause, I never have been at any moment inclined to disclaim
one title. If in the course of our late history, I have felt one
strong regret, it was that my share in the proposition and
support of the measures adopted was not greater. I am not
aware, indeed, that it could have been greater, and I have
found myself held at least to my share of responsibility for
them. That responsibility, however, I continue to cherish,
even in the high forms of reproach that it has assumed from
both parties, and I take more pride than is perfectly con-
sistent with wisdom, to find Duane beginning to load me
with the non-intercourse act, while the holy blunderbusses
of the pulpit and the pop-guns of the Ancient and Honorable
Artillery are battering me with a cross fire of embargo.
I shall as little dread the reproach of having contributed
to the non-intercourse, as I do that of having pledged every-
thing that I had to pledge upon the embargo. In the sub-
stitution, however, of the non-intercourse, as I had neither
voice nor vote for which I was amenable to the country, I
cannot claim in the minds of those who consider it was a
merit, that share which ought justly to be reserved for the
members in both houses of Congress, who actually supported
it with both. I consider the whole series of measures, from
the non-importation act to the proclamation of 19 April,
both inclusive, as links of one connected system, and my
confidence in its eventual success is daily gaining strength.
If Mr. Randolph, or Mr. Gardenier, or any other man of
their sense and standing in society, thinks sincerely that
Mr. Madison's readiness in acceding to the proposals of
Great Britain is the commencement of a new system, which
as such they are willing to hail with approbation, I should not
desire to disturb them in their generous feelings, but I shall
take the liberty to persist in my opinion, that the non-
importation, the embargo, the non-intercourse, and the
3H THE WRITINGS OF [1809
proclamation of 19 April, 1 are all parts of one and the same
whole, and in my approbation of them all.
Mr. Randolph's speeches are very amusing, and very
popular among the enemies of the administration. Among
the federalists with us, however, there are great numbers
who will finally support Mr. Madison, provided he does not
quarrel with England, but on no other contingency. You will
see that in their newspapers they are already loud in their
support of our right to the colonial trade, and willing to
devote the British Ministry to execration, if they should have
been playing a false game in the late negotiation. This lan-
guage will be held, until it is ascertained whether England
does really mean to continue substantially her system of
blockade. If she does their execrations will vanish in smoke;
they will again join her in denying our right to the colonial
trade, and asserting her right of impressment, and they will
hang like millstones on the neck of Mr. Madison's measures,
be they what they may; in short they will act over again the
patriotism of the last eighteen months.
There is some uneasiness respecting these new Orders in
Council, which are as inconsistent with the laws of nations
and with our rights as their predecessors. The English
newspapers pretend, and ours have copied the paragraph
from them, that these Orders were issued with the approba-
tion of Mr. Pinkney, our minister, which surely cannot be
possible. We are in expectation of some explanation upon
the subject from Washington, and in the meantime hope that
the new Orders are only a change of phase in the British
orb, portending another speedily to ensue. 2
1 On the proclamation see Henry Adams^ History, V. chap. iv.
2 Order in Council, April 26, revoking the Order of November 1 1, 1807, and estab-
lishing in its place a general blockade of Holland, France and Italy. The first intel-
ligence of the order reached the United States June 10. Adams, History, V. 8 1.
i8o9] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 315
Perhaps they may tend to solve the difficulty which you
suggest as having arisen, respecting the exclusion of foreign
armed vessels from our ports and harbors. I have been long
of opinion, that the principle of total exclusion, excepting
under treaty stipulations, ought to be assumed as a per-
manent maxim of our government. I was for assuming it
two years ago, and I should have been for assuming it now,
as reported to the Senate by Mr. Giles. I know that it would
have raised a clamor from the English faction, and that all
the enemies of Mr. Madison would have joined in it. But
far from thinking it ill-timed, I am afraid there will never
be so favorable a time for setting it up as this would have
been. However, those who are on the spot have the best
means of judging on the expediency of the time, and I speak
this with submission to your better opinion. If the total
exclusion must be given up, then I should, I think, incline
against a discrimination. Indeed, I do not see upon what
sound principle a discrimination could be made. The orig-
inal exclusion of British armed ships was in consequence
of the attack on the Chesapeake. It was a British offence,
and the penalty applied to that was distinct from all the
other measures of defence against foreign aggressions.
Atonement having been made and accepted for that offence,
the exclusion of their armed ships on that account ought, of
course, to cease. But on that account it could not be applied
to French ships. Now, although the exclusion was incor-
porated into the non-intercourse law, and thus extended to
France as well as Britain, yet the only fair principle upon
which it could be done was, that of having adopted the total
exclusion, and exercising the right reserved to us against
both belligerents.
I have always thought that the complaints of the English
government in regard to this partial exclusion were not with-
3 i6 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
out foundation. And it was on this principle, that when the
law, upon which Mr. Jefferson's excluding Proclamation
issued, passed in Congress, I opposed it with all my most
fruitless zeal. I mean the law of 3 March, 1805. Under that
law I considered the President as bound in duty to issue the
Proclamation, and after it was issued the nation was bound
to support it. But there never was a law enacted while I
sat in Congress, which I more strenuously opposed, and my
negative vote stands recorded with only three others on the
Senate's journals. None of those who have since abused Mr.
Jefferson for issuing his Proclamation as that law required,
would then join me in voting against the law.
If we exclude the armed vessels of France, while we admit
those of England, we shall certainly have the same com-
plaints from France that England made against the Proc-
lamation, and we shall not have an attack like that on the
Chesapeake to plead in answer. Perhaps you will say, we
shall discriminate by leaving the interdict upon trade, and
why not by the exclusion of armed ships? Because trade is
an affair of peace, and the admission or exclusion of armed
ships operates peculiarly upon the state of war. In one case
you are dealing as with commercial nations, in the other you
are dealing as with belligerents. I have not room to unfold
this idea in all its bearings, but I am sure you will under-
stand it on this hint. If it should not meet your approbation
I am sure it will have your candid consideration. I am, etc.
TO WILLIAM EUSTIS 1
Boston, 22 June, 1809.
My dear Sir:
I have received your obliging favor of the 10th instant
1 Secretary of War.
i8o9] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 317
but this moment, and very sincerely thank you for the in-
timations contained in it. The publications to which you
allude I believe will soon be concluded, perhaps this or the
next week. 1 They were not commenced without much de-
liberation, nor without a full estimate of the spirit which
they would kindle up respecting their author, and of the
power over the public mind, which that spirit would possess.
Of the importance of the facts which they have disclosed and
are disclosing, not merely to the reputation of the writer, but
to the interests of this nation and to its welfare, it is probable
the men of other times will be better judges than any of the
present public. My own judgment of them must of course
be partial, for there seems to me to be more true history in
them, than in all the collections of our Historical Society.
There is indeed more true history in them, than it may suit
the feelings of any description of our politicians and states-
men to have told. But as the historian is as much out of the
1 John Adams' letters to the Boston Patriot, began April 15, 1809. They were
gathered and published in a pamphlet: Correspondence of the Late President Adams;
originally published in the Boston Patriot, in a Series of Letters. Boston, 1809.
A Baltimore issue was also made by Hezekiah Niles. Portions are reprinted in
Works of John Adams, IX. 241, with a preliminary note by Charles Francis Adams.
"Your father in doing justice to his own fame, has at the same time disclosed facts
and explained some particular transactions in a manner calculated to disclose the
views of men of great influence over the public mind, and served the true interests
of his country. . . . This leads me to observe that it is time to finish. You know
the nature of the public mind. If you give it roast meat every day it cloys, and how
many men have written too much. Aware of the delicacy of a suggestion of this
nature I cannot withhold it. An interest in his fame is a self-justification. Wishing
him and you life enough to see justice triumph over the prejudice, misrepresentation
and passion of the moment, I am, etc." William Eustis to John Quincy Adams,
June 10, 1809. "I showed my father Eustis's letter to me; with which he was very
much offended; he thought it contained an indirect insinuation that his object in
his present publication was to get me nominated to an office, and he advised me,
if I should be nominated to St. Petersburg, to refuse the nomination. He declared
his determination to continue his publications, which I had supposed he meant to
suspend for the present." Ms. Diary.
318 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
influence of hope and of fear, as Tacitus declares himself to
have been in writing the tale of his times, he neither has
taken, nor will take, the thermometer of popular feeling at
the present moment for a guide respecting the continuance
or cessation of his writings. Were my own inclined to con-
sult the prudential considerations of this hour more than
his, he would certainly decide according to his own judgment
and not according to mine. The particular subject upon
which the correspondence commenced has, I believe, been
closed as to the writing, and will be printed within the time
I have mentioned; and nothing further is intended for the
present.
Yes, I believe with you that the first of qualities for a
great statesman is to be honest. And if it were possible that
this opinion were an error, I should rather carry it with me
to my grave, than to believe that a man cannot be a states-
man without being dishonest. I have, and must have, con-
fidence in the possible virtue of human nature; and although
in entertaining this idea, a man must, and will sometimes,
be disappointed, yet if it is coupled with a sound judgment
and close observation, I believe he could make fewer great
mistakes, than one whose principle is the universal rascality
of the species. When Alexander swallowed the medicine
offered him by Philip his physician, after an anonymous
warning that Philip had been bribed to poison him, Alex-
ander might have been mistaken. He staked his life upon
the belief in Philip's honesty. It was the most heroic action
of his life. But its heroism consists in his confidence in
human virtue, combined with the accuracy of his judgment
in the individual application of it. Had Philip really been
the corrupt villain, and administered poison, Alexander's
confidence would have been as noble, but the event would
have proved his judgment in that instance incorrect. All
i8o 9 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 319
men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men
honest, would be folly. To believe none so, is something
worse.
I rejoice that your conviction in the honesty of Mr.
Madison has been confirmed by the opportunity you now
have of ascertaining it conclusively. I have entertained that
confidence in him at a time when, if I had lent an ear to
prejudices, they would have led at least to suspicion; and
although if the event had proved me mistaken in my con-
fidence, I should not have renounced my theory of human
nature, I should certainly have felt conscious that in the
application of my principle I had committed an error of
judgment. I hope you will not conclude from this reasoning
that I mean to make Mr. Madison's honesty prove me a
hero. I did not stake my life upon the issue.
What I did stake was enough to make me feel no slight
gratification in the daily accumulating public evidence, that
I was not mistaken. And whether I live long enough to sur-
vive the passions, and prejudices, and personal enmities
which my conduct and the course of events have brought
upon me or not, I have no fear that either my father or my-
self will leave to after ages a name, at which my children will
ever have occasion to blush.
Our legislature have risen after a short session, in which
nothing of any consequence has been done. It has, indeed,
been a session of much profession and little action. The
principal occupation has been party management to claim
the victory in the midst of a retreat. Very patriotic pro-
fessions have been made and echoed, and the principle of
confining offices to one party has been reprobated in theory,
as much as it is followed in practice. I have no doubt that
overtures of a very conciliatory nature have been made to
Mr. Madison from the predominating party here, and I
320 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
presume you know more of them than I can inform you.
Perhaps you also know that among his and your friends, there
is some uneasiness under the apprehension of a coalition
from which, in respect to party views, they might be the
sufferers. Of all this I have heard a little, but it being a
subject in which I have no inclination to meddle, I have felt
not much interest in the purposes of either side.
The readiness with which the propositions from England
were received by Mr. Madison has given universal satisfac-
tion in this quarter, and rendered the commencement of his
administration extremely popular. There is a wish, feebly
intimated rather than directly asserted from a certain quar-
ter, that measures hostile to France might be adopted. I
observe the same thing in the congressional manceuvering
at Washington, but I hope it will not be suffered to prevail.
Senseless and cruel as the conduct of France towards this
country has been, I still wish that a war with her may be
avoided. As Great Britain is now upon her good behavior,
I cherish a slight hope that Mr. Madison will yet signalize
his administration by obtaining from her justice and our
rights. At any rate that we shall escape a war with her, and
yet surrender nothing essential. But no alliance with the
British lion; no common cause against the Corsican!
If in the occasional moments of leisure which the duties of
your office may allow, you can now and then spare a line of
communication to me, I shall esteem it as a favor, and will
promise not to burthen you with any more such length of
epistle in return. I am, etc.
P. S. 26 June. The subject of the negotiation with France
in 1800 is, as I have mentioned, concluded in my father's
correspondence. But he proposes to continue immediately
the publication of letters upon a different subject, the peace
of 1783.
i8o9] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 321
A word about your postcript. 1 Am I to consider it as a
question or a hint ? If a question I answer no. If a hint I do
not understand it.
COMMISSION
JAMES MADISON, President of the United States of America,
To JOHN QUINCY ADAMS— GREETING:
Reposing special Trust and Confidence in your Integrity, pru-
dence and Ability, I have nominated and by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate, appointed you the said John Quincy
Adams, Minister Plenipotentiary for the United States of America,
at the Court of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia;
authorizing you hereby to do and perform all such matters and
things as to the said place or office doth appertain, or as may be
duly given you in charge hereafter; and the said Office to hold
and exercise during the pleasure of the President of the United
States; for the time being.
IN TESTIMONY Whereof, I have caused the Seal of the
United States to be hereunto affixed.
Given under my hand at the City of Washington the Twenty-
Seventh day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight
1 "I think the nomination to St. Petersburg will be made this session." On
June 26, the President sent to the Senate a message nominating Adams to be
minister plenipotentiary of the United States to the court of St. Petersburg, with
documents showing the fitness of the opportunity. American State Papers, Foreign
Relations, III. 298. The nomination was confirmed the next day by a vote of
nineteen to seven.
"So far as your public sentiments and conduct may have an influence on the
public mind, your friends would certainly have preferred that the theater of your
employments should have been on American ground. A mission to the Court of
St. Petersburg is, to a man of active talents, somewhat like an honorable exile; in
which point of view I hear it has been remarked by your old friend Col. P[ickering],
that 'he believed upon the whole the best thing that could be done with you was
to send you out of the country.' Though your friends will not probably accede
to the position that it was the best thing, yet they will very readily agree that it was
a very good thing." Ezekiel Bacon to John Quincy Adams, June 29, 1809. Ms.
322 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
hundred and Nine; and of the Independence of the United States
of America, the Thirty-third.
James Madison.
By the President.
R. Smith,
Secretary of State.
SECRETARY OF STATE TO WILLIAM SHORT l
Department of State, September 8th, 1808.
Sir:
The President having thought it expedient for the interests of
the United States that a minister plenipotentiary should be sent
1 In place of special instructions, Adams was given copies of what had been given
to Short and Armstrong. The essential parts of the Armstrong dispatch follow:
"The rein given by Great Britain thro' the arbitrary decisions of her Admiralty
Courts, to the cruizers against our commerce, has produced already heavy losses
to our merchants and a very general indignation throughout the nation. You
will have observed the notice taken of the British conduct in the message of the
President to Congress at the opening of the session. I now transmit a copy of a
special message on the subject, with copies of sundry memorials from our merchants,
and of diplomatic documents, explaining the extent of the evil, and the grounds of
our remonstrances against it; to which I have thought it not improper to add a
printed examination of the doctrine asserted by G. Britain as the basis of her war-
fare on neutral commerce. These materials will put you in possession of the extent
of the neutral right claimed by the United States, of the reasoning by which it is
maintained, and of the great interest they have in maintaining it.
"What effect the communications made to Congress may have on their counsels;
cannot yet be pronounced. The subject is expected to undergo an early and very
serious consideration, and will probably end in some measures addressed to the
interest of Great Britain; unless a hope should be indulged that a voluntary ad-
justment with her will render them unnecessary, or that the course and issue of
the contest in Europe may supply a remedy.
"In this state of things, the President reflecting on the interest and the way of
thinking which has prevailed among all the great powers of Europe, as well those
allied as those at war with Great Britain concerning the maritime rights of neu-
trality, conceives that it may be useful to enter into certain explanations, with the
principal at least of those powers, particularly the two Emperors of France and of
Russia, with a view to promote an incorporation of the most important of those
rights into a Treaty of peace.
i8o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 323
to the Emperor of Russia, he is desirous of availing them of your
services on the occasion. You will accordingly herewith receive a
commission and a letter of credence to the Emperor.
"You are accordingly authorized and instructed to take an early occasion of
intimating to the French government how much the United States have this object
at heart, and how much confidence they have in the efficacy of such an arrange-
ment under such auspices.
"With respect to the particular rights to be placed under the guaranty of a
general treaty of peace, it will naturally occur that the one having the first place
in the wishes of the United States is that which is at present violated by the British
principle subjecting to capture every trade opened by a belligerent to a neutral
nation during war, and in which both the United States as a neutral and France as
a belligerent nation have so deep an interest. It will be recollected that this right
stands foremost in the list comprized in the two plans of armed neutrality in 1780
and 1800. In general it is to be understood that the United States are friendly to
the principles of those conventions, and would see with pleasure all of them effec-
tually and permanently recognized as principles of the established law of nations.
The ideas of this government would extend even further in relation at least to
contraband of war; the list of which as retained by those conventions, and as limited
by the generality of modern treaties, is a source and a pretext for much vexation
to the commerce of neutrals, whilst it is of little real importance to the belligerent
parties. The reason is obvious. In the present state of the arts throughout Europe,
every nation possesses, or may easily possess within itself the faculty of supplying
all the ordinary munitions of war. Originally the case was different, and for that
reason only it would seem that the articles in question were placed on the contra-
band list. The articles which alone fall within the original reason, are naval stores;
and if these are expunged from the list of contraband, it is manifest that an abolition
of the list altogether would be a change in the law of nations, to which little objec-
tion ought to be made.
"On the subject of 'free ships free goods,' the United States cannot with the
same consistency, as some other nations maintain the principle as already a part
of the law of nations; having on one occasion admitted, and on another stipulated
the contrary. They have however invariably maintained the utility of the principle,
and whilst as a pacific and commercial nation they have as great an interest in the
due establishment of it, as any nation whatever; they may with perfect consistency
promote such an extension of neutral rights. The northern powers, Russia among
the rest, having fluctuated in their conduct, may also be under some restraints on
this subject. Still they may be ready to renew their concurrence in voluntary and
conventional arrangements for giving validity to the principle, and in drawing
Great Britain into them.
"Russia may also feel respect for the footing on which her explanatory article
3 2 4 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
You will see in the latter, a copy of which is furnished, the gen-
eral purposes of your mission. It has been invited by the friend-
with Great Britain of October 20, 1801, has placed the commerce of neutrals with
belligerent colonies. Even with that limitation, provided it be applied not to the
right itself asserted by the convention of June, 1801, but to the exercise of the right,
the commerce of neutrals would be on a footing acceptable to the United States.
And although it might be less so to France, it still deserves her consideration
whether, such a provision, which secures in time of war all the necessary supplies
of her colonies, and to her own markets, the necessary colonial productions, ought
not to be embraced in case Russia should refuse to cooperate for a more complete
provision. It is to be hoped however, that she will resume the principle in the
latitude given to it in the convention itself of June, 1 801, and that the joint influ-
ence of Russia and France will be effectual in engaging the concurrence of Great
Britain and the other maritime powers of Europe.
"The only remaining subject, requiring notice is that of convoys. The neutral
claim on this subject was not included in the armed neutrality of 1780. Altho' the
United States cannot but befriend it as favorable to the security and interest of
neutral commerce, yet the plausible objections made to the claim by Great Britain
in its indefinite extent, and her probable inflexibility in the objections, may render
it expedient to substitute the modifications already admitted by Russia in the
treaty of June, 1801. With such modifications, the right seems to be sufficiently
valuable to deserve a place in a general provision for neutral rights.
" Having given this explanation of our views on this occasion, it will be necessary
to say something with respect to a participation of the United States in the means
of giving them effect. Such a participation may refer 1st, to a Congress for making
peace; 2d, to the guaranty of neutral rights which a treaty of peace may provide.
As to the first it may happen that the occasion will be over before arrangements
could be made for giving the United States a representation in such a Congress.
But on a contrary supposition it is not seen that there would be much advantage
or propriety in the measure whilst it would expose us to all the snares which might
be laid for entangling us in the politics of Europe, and in the plans of those who
may predominate in the negotiations. Should any disposition therefore be dis-
covered to invite the United States into the scene, it will be proper for you by polite
and friendly explanations to repress it. As to the second point, it will be still more
important not to bind the United States to any participation in such a guaranty,
and consequently to avoid raising any expectation, that they will accede to an ar-
ticle for the purpose, if an opportunity of so doing should be reserved to neutral
nations not parties to the Treaty.
" Notwithstanding this refusal of the United States to become parties to the nego-
tiation and stipulation of a guaranty of neutral rights, the deep interest which they
have therein, will justify the solicitude which you may express on the subject;
i8os] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 325
ship, not to say partiality of the Emperor towards the United
States, expressed in letters from him to the President, as well as
otherwise manifested by suggestions thro' official channels that
such a mission would be agreeable to him; by the occasion pre-
sented in the notification to the United States as a neutral nation,
of the late war into which his Imperial Majesty had entered; lastly,
by the liberal principles and policy entertained by him with re-
spect to the rights of the sea, and by the influence which the
high station of Russia, and her peculiar bearing on the pre-
dominant powers of Europe, must have on questions of univer-
sal interest not only incident to the course of the war, but
which may enter into the discussions and arrangements for termi-
nating it.
It will be your duty therefore to cultivate the good dispositions
of the Emperor on every point interesting to the United States by
assuring him of their sensibility to all the marks of his friendship,
and of the value they place on it; by explaining to him the pacific
and just principles which form the basis of their policy, by tracing
the conformity of the rules of public law between belligerents and
neutrals recognized by the United States, to those maintained by
his Imperial Majesty, as far as this conformity may extend, and
by pointing out the true grounds on which variations in those of
the United States, may rest. You will be enabled to enter into
these explanations by the documents communicated from time to
time to Congress, copies of which you will possess, and by the ac-
companying copy of a letter of the 14th day of March, 1806, to
and the weight which the sentiments and interest of so rising a power must have,
more particularly with Great Britain, will justify the species of interposition which
you are authorized to use. This may be strengthened also by intimating that
altho' the United States, taking into view their distance and abstraction from the
powers of Europe, and the peculiar structure of their government, are unwilling
to enter into any specific engagements, particularly of a military nature, yet that
they could not see with indifference a violation of a system of rights so precious to
them, and that they might not improbably avail themselves of the means which
they possess in a peculiar degree, of making it the interest of commercial and manu-
facturing nations, to respect such a system." Secretary of State to John Armstrong,
March 14, 1806. Ms.
326 THE WRITINGS OF [1808
General Armstrong, a copy of which was transmitted to our consul
at St. Petersburg.
It being impossible to know what the future conduct of the bel-
ligerent powers may be towards neutrals, or to foresee what par-
ticular policy in relation to this continent may find its way into a
general pacification, it cannot be unimportant, to have, in a party
so powerful and influential as Russia, a good will and wakeful
attention to the just rights, and interests of the United States, as
these may be involved in the course of events. To secure this
advantage being the primary object of your mission, these general
instructions will for the present be sufficient.
As there may, however, be a desire on the part of the Emperor
to enter into explanatory or declaratory stipulations on points
affecting the relations of belligerent with neutral powers, or into
conventional regulations for the commerce between the two coun-
tries, an early opportunity will be taken to forward such further
instructions as will explain the views of the President in these
respects.
In the mean time, you will let the Russian government under-
stand that the existing laws of the United States which place
Russia on the footing of the most favored nation, entitle their
citizens to a correspondent footing in the commerce of that Em-
pire; and it will be proper for you, availing yourself of the informa-
tion and experience of Mr. Harris, to promote such changes in
existing regulations as may have that tendency, or be otherwise
favorable to the commerce of the United States.
You will find no difficulty in presenting the embargo in lights,
which will satisfy his Imperial Majesty that it was prescribed by
the circumstances in which the commerce of the United States was
placed by the destructive edicts of Great Britain and France; and
that as the efficacy of the measure would be frustrated by excep-
tions in reference to more just and friendly nations, they could
not be made even in behalf of our commerce with Russia, who is
seen with satisfaction to have avoided those belligerent examples,
by limiting her retaliating decree of [ ] to cases, within the
i3o8] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 327
uncontested authority of every nation. Whether in this limited
interdiction his Imperial Majesty has consulted the best interests
of his subjects, as well as exercised no more than a rightful au-
thority, is a question which belongs to himself alone to decide.
As it will best consist with other public arrangements, that you
pass thro' France on your way to St. Petersburg, the dispatches
for our minister at Paris will be committed to your charge. They
will inform him of your destination, leaving to yourself, the more
particular disclosures which it may be useful for him to receive.
As the relations which may then subsist between that country
and Russia, cannot now be known, it will rest with your own dis-
cretion, enlightened by information on the spot, to regulate the
degree of reserve as to your mission, by the use which the French
government might be likely to make of any knowledge gained on
the subject. Our minister in London will also be made acquainted
with your mission, and instructed to observe a like course with
respect to the British government.
You will find at St. Petersburg, in the character of consul of the
United States Mr. Levett Harris, who is considered as standing
well there, and has received more than ordinary marks of attention
even from the Emperor himself. I recommend him to your regard,
confiding that he will merit it, and that his good dispositions and
acquired information will be useful to you. A letter which I have
written to him is herewith inclosed, as also copies of his late let-
ters to this Department, and of certain communications from the
Russian government made through him. I leave the letter to be
sealed after your perusal of it. In attending to the communication
relative to Sweden, you will of course restrict yourself to expres-
sions of mere amity and civility. The tenor of your observations
on the ordinance relating to trade between Russian and British
ports, is suggested by those in the above paragraph.
The President will expect from you the most exact and ample
communications, for which opportunities may be found. The
cypher with which you are furnished, being the same with that of
our minister at London, you will be able to correspond confiden-
328 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
tlally with him as far as may be useful. You will do well to obtain
at Paris, a copy of General Armstrong's cypher also, for the like
purpose. The advantage of corresponding with those ministers,
in cyphers known to this Department, is, that in their transmitting
hither information received from you, the labor and delay of
translating it into another cypher may be avoided. I beg leave to
intimate also the conveniency of using always in your correspond-
ence, with this Department at least, good paper, of the same size,
and with outward margins for guarding the text, and inward ones
for the sake of binding the letters, and thereby having a record
free from the trouble and the errors of transcribing. . . .*
TO ROBERT SMITH
Boston, 5 July, 1809.
Sir:
I had the honor yesterday of receiving your letter of 29th
ultimo, inclosing a commission as minister plenipotentiary
1 "I observe that nothing is said in the instructions, either to Mr. Short or to me,
respecting the presents, which have heretofore been considered at the Russian Court,
as indispensable, on the admission of a foreign minister.
"A refusal on the part of Congress under the Confederation, to comply with this
custom, was the occasion of Mr. Dana's returning home from St. Petersburg, with-
out being received as a public minister. Whether the Russian Court has in this
instance determined to waive an usage, which I believe is still maintained in others,
or whether there has been any understanding between the two governments upon
the subject, I can only conjecture; but as the expense of making such presents is
not included in the number of those which I am authorized to incur, without specific
and further authority, I should have been happy, were it possible, to have received
the President's directions in this respect before my departure." To the Secretary
of State, July 27, 1809. Ms. See John Adams to Benjamin Rush, January 21, 1810,
in Works of John Adams, IX. 626. "Under an impression that presents on such
occasions are not required, your instructions have not contemplated such a state
of things. If, however, you should find that at the Russian Court they are cus-
tomary and are expected, I am directed by the President to inform you that you
are to consider yourself authorized to make them." Secretary of State to John Quincy
Adams, October 23, 1809. Ms.
i8o 9 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 329
to the Emperor of Russia. In requesting you, sir, to offer
to the President my respectful acknowledgments for the ex-
pression of his wish that this appointment might be agreeable
to me, I cannot but add the request, that you would accept
the like acknowledgments to yourself, for the obliging man-
ner in which you have communicated this information.
Considerations of a powerful nature, arising from my per-
sonal circumstances and those of my family, would at this
time restrain me from leaving for so distant a region, and so
incertain a period of absence, the land of my parents and of
my children; and in consulting the operations of my own
judgment, a doubt might perhaps remain, whether any
service it may be in my power to render my country on this
mission, can outweigh that which I must abandon in my
present relations with society. Yet a firm conviction, that
the first object of the President's administration is the wel-
fare of the whole Union, and an ardent desire to contribute
whatever aid I can give to a purpose which has all the wishes
of my heart, reconcile me to the station where the regular
authority of the country has deemed it best to place me,
and induce my acceptance of the office. 1
From the situation of my private affairs, and of my con-
nection with the University in this neighborhood, which
must now be dissolved, 2 I do not think I could name an
earlier day than the 15th of August, as that on which I could
leave the United States. But from that time the period of
1 See Adams, Memoirs, July 5, 1809.
2 "In taking my leave of you, Gentlemen, as an officer of the institution under
your direction, I cannot forbear requesting you to accept the assurance that,
whether at home or abroad, under every circumstance and situation of life, I shall
never cease to feel the warmest attachment to the interests and welfare of that
seminary, under whose tutelary guidance it will ever be my pride to have been a
pupil and an instructor." To the President, etc., of Harvard University, July 7, 1809.
Ms. The chair was filled by Rev. Joseph McKean, who held it until 1818.
330 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
my departure must depend upon the opportunities of pas-
sage which may occur directly to Russia, or at least to the
north of Europe.
A number of applications which have already been made
for the situation of my secretary on this mission leads me
to the inquiry, what provision in this respect is contemplated
by the President, and whether the choice of a secretary is
left with me. I shall wait your instructions in this and other
respects, and remain in the mean time with perfect respect,
sir, etc.
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
[Robert Smith]
Boston, 7 July, 1809.
Sir:
When I had the honor of writing you on the 5th instant,
I had not the opportunity of obtaining information which
I have since received, respecting the earliness of the season
when the navigation of the Baltic is closed, nor of knowing
that I could obtain at such time as would suit my own con-
venience of departure, during the continuance of the regular
season, an opportunity for a passage direct to St. Peters-
burg.
Since then, I have been informed by Mr. William Gray,
of this town, that he has a vessel with suitable accommoda-
tions, which he would readily dispatch for that place, at
any time until the last of this month. But that after that
time, the navigation becomes too hazardous to be attempted.
Under these circumstances I have determined, if it meets
with the President's approbation, to accelerate the period of
my departure, and calculating that I may receive an answer
to this by the 20th of this present month, will be ready to
1809] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 331
sail by the 25th, if honored before that time with your in-
structions and orders to that effect. 1
I have engaged to take with me, if the choice be left to me,
my nephew, William Steuben Smith, 2 as my private secre-
tary. I have received several applications from young
gentlemen of the most respectable character and connections
to accompany me under the protection of the legation, and
in the capacity of secretaries, but with the expectation of
providing altogether for their own expenses, and to occasion
no charge to the government. I have consented on these
terms to take three persons. The son of General Smith of
Baltimore, 3 a son of Mr. William Gray, 4 of this town, and
Mr. Alexander Hill Everett, also of this town. They are all
of them young men of perfectly fair characters, all personally
known to me; and although I have no expectation of having
much employment for them as secretaries, a belief that their
object in this pursuit is highly laudable in itself, and may in
its consequences be useful to the country, has induced me
to promise a compliance with their wishes, unless the Presi-
dent, or you, sir, should perceive some objection to it, of
which I am not aware. I have thought it, however, my duty
not to make any positive engagement with them, without
1 On July 24 the Secretary of State wrote that he feared Adams would "not now
be able to proceed to any port in Russia in a private vessel;" and on the 31st in-
formed him that the frigate Essex had been ordered to Boston to take him and his
family to Russia, "as it is presumed that the late change in the aspect of our affairs
with Great Britain, or some other consideration, may induce you to prefer going
out in a public rather than a private ship." This second letter reached Adams in
St. Petersburg late in December.
2 Son of William Stephens Smith. May 2, 1810, his commission as secretary of
legation was issued, and a second on March 4, 181 1.
3 John Spear Smith, son of Samuel Smith. He sailed in the Pallas for Christian-
sand, reaching that port two days after Adams had left it, so he came to St. Peters-
burg through Sweden.
4 Francis Calley Gray (1790-1856).
332 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
informing you of the circumstances and of their names, and
of inquiring whether there would be on the part of the gov-
ernment any objection to this arrangement. I trust it need
not be added that as their purpose is to occasion no expense
to the government, so the only advantage that I am to de-
rive from having them attached to the legation will be the
pleasure of their company, and such aid in the performance of
a private secretary's duties as they shall voluntarily give.
I have the honor, etc.
TO WILLIAM EUSTIS
Boston, 16 July, 1809.
My Dear Sir:
I have received your favor of the 6th instant, which I wish
very much to answer at considerable length, but am obliged
to deny myself that pleasure in consideration of your time
and my own.
I have determined to go. Inclining myself, to the belief,
that home and a private station was a position in which I
could have served the country and aided Mr. Madison's
administration, (which is the same thing) more usefully
than upon this mission, I have yet acquiesced in the judg-
ment of those to whom the Constitution has left it, and who
have thought best to place me abroad. I could not be in-
sensible to the spontaneous and unsolicited token of the
President's confidence, manifested in the nomination at the
commencement of his administration, nor was it consistent
with my sense of my own duties, to meet that confidence
with a temper of hesitation or of coolness in regard to the
mode, or the place where, he conceived I might be useful to
the cause. . . .
i8o9] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 333
I shall hope to have the pleasure and benefit of your pri-
vate correspondence while abroad. But you must let me
know whether I can write to you or to anybody else, any-
thing but what may appear in the newspapers. I shall cer-
tainly have nothing to reserve from the President or the
Secretary of State, and if it is understood that nothing
is to be written, but such matter as may be yielded to a
call for papers, I shall conform to such intention as well
as I can.
I have received from Mr. Daschkoff 1 a very polite letter,
expressing his pleasure at the mission to Russia, and pro-
posing, if I conveniently could, to meet him at New York
previous to my departure. Though it would have given me
much pleasure to have made an acquaintance with him, I
had not time enough for such a journey, and felt myself
obliged to wait here for my final orders, and so I answered
him.
The aspect of affairs with France is less promising than
could be wished. Although we wish to deal in fairness and
equal justice with both belligerents, their conduct towards
us will follow the character of their own good or ill success.
Bonaparte appears to have at present as much upon his
hands as he needs, and what he gains in Germany, he loses, it
would seem, in Spain and Portugal, if not in Italy. He has
stretched the bowstring till it cracks. He may as well re-
serve his resentments against us, and I hope he will until he
shall see cause to forget them. I am, etc. 2
1 Andre de Daschkoff, Russian charge d'affaires and consul general in the United
States.
2 Two days after this letter was written, intelligence was received at Boston, by
way of Halifax, that the British government had disavowed the arrangement made
by Mr. Erskine in April, and that Russia had declared war against Austria.
334 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
TO THOMAS BOYLSTON ADAMS
At sea, 7 August, 1809. Monday.
My dear Brother:
I expect that these lectures x will be handled without
mercy by the critics on both sides the water. Besides all
their real defects, which I know to be neither few nor small,
there will be the national malignity at work in Great Britain,
and the political malignity at work in America, with an in-
dustry and sagacity fully proportioned to their virulence.
At whatever period they should have appeared, they never
could have escaped the severest ordeal. But I regret that
I had not the time to prepare them better for their conflict
with the world.
I anticipate no benefit to my own reputation from them,
but if anything, the contrary. Yet I feel an undoubting con-
fidence that they will do good. They will excite the genius,
stimulate the literary ambition, and improve the taste of
the rising generation. They will probably lead to something
better of the same kind, and the very keenness with which
they will be assailed, may contribute to aid the cause of liter-
ature in America. If they should survive the first fire of
their allied adversaries, and I have the leisure which I
promise myself, they may be much improved in a future
edition. To live in the memory of mankind by college lec-
tures is not the aim of a very soaring ambition, but I have
no reason to look for any higher glory from posterity, and
with that I ought to be content, if he who rules the destinies
1 His lectures on rhetoric, delivered at Harvard University, and now left with
his brother for publication. They appeared in two volumes.
1809] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 335
of men has so decreed. At least may he never suffer me to
wish for any other glory, than that of doing good.
In the valedictory part of my closing lecture, when I
called the students my unfailing friends, and supposed the
possibility of an occasion in their future lives, upon which
friendship might deem it prudent to desert them, I had a
meaning the whole of which they probably did not under-
stand, but which others concerned did understand full well.
I had seen the occasion upon which friendship did in more
than one instance deem it prudent to desert me. But I had
read and heard something before about the stability of human
friendships, and I had never been guilty of supposing that
human nature would change its character for me. The com-
pliment to the students was justly their due. For they had
withstood a most ingenious and laborious attempt to ruin
me in their estimation. 1
An attempt, the baseness and the cunning of which be-
trayed its origin to me, as plainly as if it had borne its name
in capitals upon its front. An attempt upon their hearts
through the medium of their understandings — sophistry
pimping for envy. But the crawling passions of selfish
subtlety often stumble over the generous feelings of human
nature, upon which they found no calculation, because they
cannot comprehend their existence.
1 "In the mortifications of disappointment, the soothing voice of the love of
letters shall whisper serenity and peace. In social converse with the mighty dead of
ancient days, you will never smart under the galling sensation of dependence upon
the mighty living of the present age; and in your struggles with the world, should a
crisis ever occur, when even friendship may deem it prudent to desert you; when
even your country may seem ready to abandon herself and you; when even priest
and Levite shall come and look on you, and pass by on the other side; seek refuge,
my unfailing friends, and be assured you will find it, in the friendship of Laelius
and Scipio; in the patriotism of Cicero, Demosthenes and Burke; as well as in the
precepts and example of him, whose whole law is love, and who taught us to remem-
ber injuries only to forgive them." Adams, Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory, II. 396.
336 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
Youth is generous, and although the majority of the
students were made to believe that I was a sort of devil
incarnate in politics, (about which I could not talk to them,)
yet they never could be persuaded to believe, that I was the
ignorant impostor in literature, which in so many painful
pages was undertaken to be proved for their edification.
The last two years of my life have indeed brought home to
my bosom the good as well as the bad workings of human
nature in a multitude of forms, and they have all confirmed
me in the belief, that the safest guide for human conduct is
integrity. I have inflexibly followed my own sense of duty,
relying upon my own understanding. I have lost many
friends and have made many enemies. Some of the friends
that I have lost are deeply to be regretted, and most of the
enemies that I have made are of the most inveterate kind,
"foes who once were friends." But on the other hand,
some enemies have been converted into friends, and many
men, unexpected and active friends, have risen around me,
while the others were falling off. But the students at col-
lege are not the only steady friends that I have had. There
are more than one further advanced in life, whose confidence
in me has remained unshaken through good report and evil
report. Among the foremost of whom I will mention two,
Judge Davis l and Mr. Emerson, 2 with the hope that you
and my father will cultivate their friendship in my absence.
They have been willing still to be considered as my friends,
at a time when neither my name nor my character was in
fashionable repute among their associates. I hope I shall not
forget it.
1 John Davis (1761-1847) of Plymouth, United States District Judge, Massa-
chusetts, 1801-1847.
2 William Emerson (1769-1811), father of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
1809] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 337
TO ABIGAIL ADAMS
At sea, 500 miles from you, 9 August, 1809.
On Saturday morning, I received by the mail just before
I came on board, a letter from Mr. Webster, 1 of New Haven,
requesting me to procure for him, if I can, a Russian dic-
tionary and grammar, with some other books, a commission
which I shall take pleasure in executing. He is prosecuting
his plan of a large English dictionary, and although my
sentiments on such subjects do not agree entirely with him,
I wish that his industry may meet with its rewards, and his
ingenuity with encouragement. He published two or three
years since a letter to Dr. Ramsay, of South Carolina, con-
taining some censures upon Johnson's Dictionary, and some
criticisms on other writers, which I thought incorrect. 2 In
one of my lectures I noticed this letter, and contested several
of its criticisms, but on delivering the lectures to Mr. Hilliard
for the press I struck out that passage, requesting him not
to print it. I had not changed my opinion, but I thought
it might have an appearance of ill-will from me to Mr.
Webster, which I certainly did not feel, and that it might
discourage his undertaking more than it ought. I am how-
ever much inclined to have a copy taken of the passage
which I expunged from the lecture, and sent to Mr. Webster
himself. For if he should profit by it, as a man of sense al-
ways may profit by friendly censure, it will be more useful to
him and his work than any Russian dictionary or grammar.
1 Noah Webster.
2 A Letter to Dr. David Ramsay, 1807.
338 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
TO WILLIAM PLUMER
16 August, 1809 (written at sea).
My dear Sir:
Among the letters which I received a few days previous
to my departure from Boston, and which the precipitation
with which I was obliged to hasten it prevented me from
answering, I am almost ashamed to acknowledge, was your
very kind favor of July. I say ashamed to acknowledge it,
because in examining rigorously the causes which occasioned
this omission, I cannot but say to myself, and am sensible
you will have reason to think, that however short my time
was, I ought to have made an hour at least, for the expres-
sions of grateful sensibility to the obliging attentions of
friendship.
To repair as much as remains within my power the fault
from which I cannot altogether discharge my own mind, I
take at least the earliest opportunity after my embarkation,
to do what ought to have preceded it, and to assure you that,
while absent from our country, I shall feel myself highly in-
debted to you for the benefit of your correspondence, when-
ever your convenience, and the opportunities of a navigation
so restricted as I am afraid ours will too long continue to be,
may permit. And in telling you how much I shall prize
your correspondence, independent of the gratification which
you will readily conceive an exile from his native land may
derive from every token of remembrance coming from those
he most highly values in it, I may add, that the confidence
with which I shall receive from you either intelligence or
opinions, will be founded on a sentiment very deeply rooted
in my experience and observation, that you see more clearly,
and judge more coolly of men and things relating to our
1809] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 339
political world, than almost any other man with whom it has
been my fortune to act in public life.
The spirit of party has become so inveterate and so virulent
in our country, it has so totally absorbed the understanding
and the heart of almost all the distinguished men among us,
that I, who cannot cease to consider all the individuals of
both parties as my countrymen, who can neither approve nor
disapprove in a lump either of the men or the measures of
either party, who see both sides claiming an exclusive privi-
lege of patriotism, and using against each other weapons of
political warfare which I never can handle, cannot but cher-
ish that congenial spirit, which has always preserved itself
pure from the infectious vapors of faction, which considers
temperance as one of the first political duties, and which
can perceive a very distinct shade of difference between
political candor and political hypocrisy.
It affords me constant pleasure to recollect that the his-
tory of our country has fallen into the hands of such a man. 1
For as impartiality lies at the bottom of all historical truth,
I have often been not without my apprehensions, that no
true history of our times would appear at least in the course
of our age; that we should have nothing but federal histories,
or republican histories, New England histories, or Virginia
histories. We are indeed not overstocked with men capable
even of this, who have acted a part in the public affairs of
our nation. But of men who unite both qualifications, that
of having had a practical knowledge of our affairs, and that
of possessing a mind capable of impartiality in summing
up the merits of our government, administrations, opposi-
tions and people, I know not another man with whom I
have ever had the opportunity of forming an acquaintance,
1 The Plumer Papers, in the Library of Congress, contain the manuscript of this
"History," which was never completed or published.
34 o THE WRITINGS OF [1809
on the correctness of whose narrative I should so implicitly
rely.
Such a historian, and I take delight in the belief, will be
a legislator without reading constituents. You have so long
meditated on your plan, and so much longer upon the duties
of man in society, as they apply to the transactions of your
own life, that I am well assured your work will carry a pro-
found political moral with it. And I hope, though upon this
subject I have had no hint from you, which can ascertain
that your view of the subject is the same as mine, but I
hope, that the moral of your history will be the indissoluble
union of the North American continent. 1 The plan of a New
England combination more closely cemented than by the
general ties of the federal government, a combination first to
rule the whole, and if that should prove impracticable, to
separate from the rest, has been so far matured, and has
engaged the studies, the intrigues and the ambitions of so
many leading men in our part of the country, that I think
it will eventually produce mischievous consequences, unless
seasonably and effectually discountenanced, by men of more
influence and of more comprehensive views. To rise upon
a division system is, unfortunately, one of the most obvious
and apparently easy courses, which plays before the eyes of
individual ambition in every section of the Union. It is
the natural resource of all the small statesmen who, feeling
like Caesar, and finding that Rome is too large an object for
their grasp, would strike off a village where they might
aspire to the first station, without exposing themselves to
derision. This has been the most powerful operative im-
pulse upon all the divisionists, from the first Kentucky con-
1 The point was well taken, as Plumer, unknown to Adams, was cognizant of the
plans of certain federalists in 1804 and sympathized with their aims. Adams
New England Federalism, 106, 147.
i8o9] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 341
spiracy, down to the negotiations between Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and New Hampshire, of the last winter and
spring. Considered merely as a purpose of ambition, the
great objection against this scheme is its littleness. Instead
of adding all the tribes of Israel to Judah and Benjamin, like
David, it is walking in the ways of Jeroboam, the son of
Nabat, who made Israel to sin by breaking off Samaria from
Jerusalem. Looking at it in reference to moral considera-
tions, it is detestable, as it certainly cannot be accomplished
by open and honorable means. The abettors are obliged to
discover their real designs, to affect others, to practice con-
tinual deception, and to work upon the basest materials the
selfish and dissocial passions of their instruments. Politically
speaking, it is as injudicious, as it is contracted and dishon-
orable. The American people are not prepared for disunion,
far less so than these people imagine. They will continue to
resist and defeat every attempt of that character, as they
uniformly have done, and such projects will still terminate
in the ruin of their projectors. But the ill consequences of
this turbulent spirit will be to keep the country in a state of
constant agitation, to embitter the local prejudices of fellow-
citizens against each other, and to diminish the influence
which we ought to have, and might have, in the general councils
of the Union.
To counteract the tendency of these partial and foolish
combinations, I know nothing so likely to have a decisive
influence as historical works, honestly and judiciously ex-
ecuted. For if the doctrine of union were a new one, now
first to be inculcated, our history would furnish the most
decisive arguments in its favor. It is no longer the great
lesson to be learnt, but the fundamental maxim to be con-
firmed, and every species of influence should be exerted by
all genuine American patriots, to make its importance more
342 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
highly estimated and more unquestionably established. I
should have been glad to see a little more of this tendency in
Marshall's Life of Washington, than I did find. For Washing-
ton was emphatically the man of the whole Union, and I see a
little too much of the Virginian in Marshall. Perhaps it
was unavoidable, and perhaps you will find it equally im-
possible to avoid disclosing the New England man. I have
enough of that feeling myself most ardently to wish, that
the brightest examples of a truly liberal and comprehensive
American political system may be exhibited by New England
men.
I regret that I could not have the pleasure of a full and con-
fidential personal interview with you before my departure.
My father, I am sure, will be happy to see you at Quincy,
and to furnish you any materials in his power. He has been
for the last three months publishing papers, which I think
will not be without their use to your undertaking.
Adieu, my dear sir, I write you this letter on the Grand
Bank of Newfoundland, after passing the night in catching
cod, of which in the interval of a six hours calm we have
caught upwards of sixty. In the association of ideas there
is no very unnatural transition from cod fishing on the
Grand Bank to the history of the United States. No man
will I trust be better able than yourself to supply the inter-
mediate links in this singular concatenation. Let me only
hope it will appear to you as natural a transition, as that
from any subject whatsoever, to the assurance of that re-
spect and attachment with which I subscribe myself, etc.
i8o9] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 343
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
[Robert Smith]
Christiansand in Norway, 23 September, 1809.
Sir:
I have the honor of informing you, that I sailed from Bos-
ton the 5th of August in the ship Horace, Captain Bickford,
and met with no interruption in the progress of my voyage,
until we arrived on the coast of Norway. 1
On the 17th, the day before we made the land, the ship
was brought to by an armed brig from which we were hailed
in English, and our captain ordered to let down his boat, and
go on board of her. This after an expostulation on his part,
objecting to putting out his boat in the heavy sea that ran,
which was answered only by a repetition of the order and a
musket ball fired from the cruiser's forecastle as the vessels
lay along side, as near as they could be worked to each other,
was attempted, and found impracticable. After reaching
with great difficulty his own ship again, Captain Bickford
hoisted in his boat, hailed the cruiser again, and declared the
impossibility of getting on board of her with his boat, upon
which she left us, without venturing out her own boat and
without showing any colors. She must probably have been
English, as no other armed ships of that force are upon this
coast.
The next day, being the 18th, we made the land, and the
day following were successively boarded by two British
cruisers, who after examining the papers permitted the ship
to proceed. 2 As there was an appearance of stormy weather,
1 The incidents of the voyage are related in Adams, Memoirs.
2 One of these vessels was the Rover, Captain McVicker.
344 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
and the wind ahead, our captain concluded to make a harbor,
and we came into that of Flecknoe, about four miles distant
from this place. After we had a pilot on board, we were
boarded by a small two mast boat, sent out from the gun-
boats stationed here, the lieutenant 1 of which manifested a
disposition to take possession of the ship. 2 This however was
not done, and the commanding officer of all the gun-boats
and other naval force in Norway, Fischer, who is accidentally
here at this time, and who has shown me the greatest atten-
tion and civility, apologized to me for the conduct of his
lieutenant.
Not having a passport, I was obliged to exhibit my com-
mission itself to the commanding officer of the gun-boats,
to authenticate my character, to which every respect cus-
tomary among nations has been paid. The weather has de-
tained us here three days, and the equinoctial gale is still
raging. I found here upwards of thirty masters of American
1 Kraff.
2 To his brother he wrote more fully upon this incident: "The harbor of Chris-
tiansand was in sight, and having a head wind and an approaching gale, Captain
Bickford concluded to touch there, procure some fresh stores and wait for a more
favorable wind. After we had a pilot on board, came a two mast boat, with a
swivel, a Danish lieutenant and about twenty men armed with swords, and boarded
us. He insisted upon taking us into Christiansand; upon which Captain Bickford
told him he would not go in at all; wore his ship about and stood to sea. The lieu-
tenant ordered his men in the boat to come on board; the Captain ordered his men
to keep them off, and pikes and swords and axes were in immediate opposition to
each other. The lieutenant, finding himself the weakest, made a signal to his men
to stop, and none of them came on board. The boat was immediately cast off, and
as we were standing to sea, he and the pilot became excessively alarmed, fearing
that we were disguised English and would carry them off. The captain thereafter
consulting me, concluded still to go into harbor, which we did under an island called
Flecknoe, about four miles from Christiansand. The equinoctial gales came on
and detained us there until yesterday afternoon, when we again made sail, and
are now [September 24] within twenty leagues of Elsineur, which place we hope to
reach tomorrow morning." The next day he had his meeting with Admiral Bertie.
i8o9] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 345
vessels and supercargoes, captured by Danish privateers
between the months of April and August, and now detained
for final adjudication in the admiralty court. More than
half of them have been condemned in the inferior court,
which sits at this place, and in most of the instances of ac-
quittal the captors have appealed to the superior court at
Christiania, by which the ships are still detained. All the
expenses and very heavy costs are decreed against every one
of the vessels, even when the decision has been against the
capture.
A memorial from these unfortunate masters and super-
cargoes to the President of the United States was sent in
July, which has doubtless before this time reached its destin-
ation. 1 A copy of it, and a letter from them to me, had before
my arrival here been forwarded by duplicates to me to
Elsineur 2 and to Petersburg.
They request my interposition with the Danish govern-
ment in their behalf, and although having no authority from
my government to speak officially to the Court of Denmark,
my good offices may probably be of little or no avail to them.
I propose, however, to attempt a representation in their
favor at Copenhagen. The grounds upon which most of the
sentences of condemnation are placed would leave no room
to doubt the reversal of them at the higher court, should the
merits of the respective cases operate as the only motives of
decision. We are ready to proceed upon our voyage, and I
shall put to sea the first moment that wind and weather will
permit. 3 I have the honor, etc.
1 Printed in American State Papers, Foreign Relations, III. 329.
2 Helsingor, or Elsinore. Adams' spelling is retained.
3 He sailed from Christiansand September 23. "At the entrance of the Sound we
found the passage barred by two British armed ships, the Stately, a 64 gun ship,
Admiral [Albemarle] Bertie, and a sloop of war [the Curlew}. After being boarded
by a boat from the Admiral's ship, and passing the third time through the ordeal of
346 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
TO HANS RODOLPH SAABYE *
Copenhagen, 30 September, 1809.
Sir:
Having received a commission as Minister Plenipotentiary
from the United States of America to his Imperial Majesty
the Emperor of all the Russias, and being upon my passage
to St. Petersburg, accidentally driven by stress of weather
into the harbor of Christiansand in Norway, I had the
mortification to find there upwards of four hundred of my
countrymen, the masters, supercargoes and crews of the
greater part of thirty-six American vessels, belonging with
their cargoes to citizens of the United States, captured and
examination, we were informed that all the ports of the island of Zealand being in
a state of rigorous blockade, we could not be suffered to pass. I then went on board
the Admiral's ship, exhibited to him my commission, and informed him that the
ship was fitted out for the purpose of conveying me to the place of my destination.
I also observed to him, that by the usages of nations I understood it was not cus-
tomary to stop a public minister upon his passage. After some consideration he
frankly admitted the usage, which he said ought to be respected by every liberal
nation, and consented to our passage, on my giving him my word of honor that we
would not commit a breach of blockade, by going voluntarily into any of the ports
of Zealand. He expressed, however, a strong apprehension that we should be
stopped and detained by the Danes.
"We passed accordingly, and as we came within about a mile of Cronborg Castle,
were again boarded by a Danish gun-boat, the men from which took possession of
the ship, and brought her to anchor in the roads. On information being sent on
shore, similar to that I had given to Admiral Bertie, the Danes were all ordered to
leave the ship, and our captain was informed he might proceed without interrup-
tion. On my going on shore the commandant of the castle sent an officer to ask
for my passport. I went to him and exhibited again to him my commission, in-
forming him that I had no other passport from the United States. With this he
was satisfied." To the Secretary of Stale, October 4, 1809. Ms.
Being detained by head winds Adams went to Copenhagen, in the hope of being
able to obtain relief for the American captains and seamen then detained by the
Danish privateer operations.
1 United States consul at Copenhagen.
1809] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 347
detained by privateers under Danish colors, and arrested for
many months in that port. These vessels and cargoes, con-
stituting a mass of property amounting to several millions
of dollars, captured in the pursuit of their lawful commerce,
and many of them belonging to merchants of the fairest
and most respectable character, have not only been thus de-
tained to the immense and almost irreparable detriment of
their owners, but in many instances have been condemned in
the lower prize court of Christiansand upon grounds, which
I am persuaded can never be sanctioned by the higher court,
and in many other instances the masters and crews of the
vessels have been subjected to personal ill treatment. 1
On my arrival at Elsineur I learnt with great concern that
this unfortunate situation was not peculiar to my country-
men in Norway, but that sixteen other American vessels had
been captured under circumstances nearly similar, and de-
tained in this port and in Jutland. And although these have
been all liberated, excepting two, 2 even by the decision of the
prize court in the first instance, yet they have all been har-
assed by the obligation imposed upon them to pay costs,
and in some cases even charges to the captors, and by the
appeal of the captors from the sentences of the lower court,
they have been reduced to the alternative either of sacrific-
ing large sums of money to purchase an abandonment of the
appeal, or of submitting to a detention still more expensive
and ruinous.
In no instance whatsoever, either in Norway or here, have
the captors been sentenced to pay damages, or even sub-
jected to the payment of costs and charges, a circumstance
the more striking, when connected with the consideration,
that in some of the Norway cases the captors had not even
1 See Moore, International Arbitrations, V. 4549.
1 Condemned for gross and criminal misconduct on the part of the captains.
34 8 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
a legal commission from his Majesty's government, authoriz-
ing to make the capture.
Although I have not the honor of being accredited to the
court of his Danish Majesty, and can therefore not be au-
thorized to make official representations in behalf of these
my distressed countrymen in the name of my government,
yet, as there is no other minister of the United States in this
vicinity, and as I have been an eye witness of the unhappy
situation in which so many of my fellow-citizens with their
property is placed, I have felt it to be my indispensable duty
to make some exertion in their behalf, and reposing the most
perfect confidence in the justice, benevolence and humanity
of his Majesty, I have been persuaded that the circumstances
I have here mentioned, at least in their aggravations, could
not have been made known to him; that this government
would on such an occasion admit of representations, an-
ticipating the authority which that of the United States
alone can give, and would welcome from any quarter a
statement which would furnish the means of releasing from
distress and injury so great a number of citizens of a friendly
nation, whose interests and whose feelings have ever cordially
sympathized with those of Denmark, and with whom a com-
merce entirely beneficial to both parties had heretofore been
so happily maintained.
With this view I have proceeded to this place, in the hope
of being honored by an interview and conference with his
Excellency the Minister of State, Count Bernstorff, 1 but
have had the disappointment to find that he is not in the city,
and the lateness of the season rendering the remainder of the
navigation to St. Petersburg daily more impracticable, makes
it impossible for me to wait the uncertain period of his return.
I therefore take the liberty of requesting you, sir, as the
1 Christian GLinther, count von Bernstorff (1769-1835).
1809] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 349
officer of the United States especially charged with the com-
mercial interests of their citizens in this kingdom, to lay the
substance of this representation before his Excellency Count
BernstorfT upon his return, and to solicit of his Excellency
such interposition of his Majesty's government for the relief
of those American sufferers, as he in his wisdom shall think
just and proper.
The United States, whose people have so long and so con-
stantly been accustomed to find in the Danish government
one of the greatest and most ardent defenders of neutral
rights, and who, in the name of BernstorfT, for more than one
generation have learnt to revere their firm and able sup-
porter, may still further corroborate their expectation of
complete and final justice to their citizens, by the reference
to their own conduct towards the subjects of his Danish
Majesty's under cases of some resemblance to those which
occasion this letter. During the period of partial hostility
between the United States and France, in the years 1798 and
1799, when certain Danish subjects and property had been
captured by American armed vessels, though under circum-
stances of more colorable suspicion than many of those al-
leged by the Norway prize court as motives of condemnation,
yet on final trial before the Supreme Judicial Court of the
United States, not only complete restitution was awarded to
those of Danish subjects, but heavy damages imposed upon
the captors, the payment of which I believe has in more than
one instance been made by the United States themselves.
It has given me much satisfaction to be informed that for
some time past the privateers, whose depredations and out-
rages had occasioned all those grounds of complaint, have
been by his Majesty's orders suppressed. It might, there-
fore, be less necessary to remark, that their practice was to
carry in without discrimination every American that they
3SO THE WRITINGS OF [1809
boarded, without any examination of their papers whatso-
ever. But as this suppression must naturally have resulted
from the demonstration having been made to his Majesty
of the excesses committed by these privateers, may it not
be urged, as an additional motive for a special interposition
of his Majesty's government, at least to accelerate the final
decisions of the prize courts, which can alone stop the ac-
cumulation of loss and injury to the Americans, who have
been detained in a manner so little conformable to the most
unquestioned principles of neutral right. To give additional
energy to this request as it regards the Norway cases, it
may not be improper to state, that the Americans thus con-
fined at Christiansand are not only suffering already from a
scantiness of obtaining the means of subsistence, but that
by contributing to increase the scarcity of provisions, they
add inevitably to the wants of the inhabitants of the place,
inasmuch that the magistrates have already thought it nec-
essary to limit the purchases which the Americans there are
allowed to make for the supply of their own necessities.
I forbear, sir, to recount details of complaint important
to individuals, but which, however they might be regretted
by his Majesty's government, it would be found difficult to
redress; the great object for which I would solicit their in-
terposition is, to obtain the liberation as speedily as possible
of those to whom every day of detention is a heavy charge
of expense and loss, and who from the condition of their
captors, have every reason to believe that in the last resort
their only expectation of indemnity for their losses and in-
juries, will be in the justice of this government itself, to
assume that burden which the captors have as little the
ability as the will to discharge. I have the honor, etc. 1
1 Saabye was not only a Danish subject, but he was a member of the commercial
house of Ryberg, which had some interest in the privateers. "There are certain
i8o 9 ] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 351
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 4. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 14/26 October, 1809.
Sir:
On the 2 1 st instant I had the honor of writing you from
Cronstadt, 1 and the next day came up in a passage boat
belonging to the government, furnished by order of the
Admiral at Cronstadt, to this place. Soon after landing I
called upon the Consul General of the United States, Mr.
Harris, and through him announced my arrival to his Ex-
cellency Count Romanzoff, 2 High Chancellor of the Empire.
His Excellency appointed last evening at seven o'clock to
receive my visit, which I accordingly made, and was intro-
particulars forming some of the principal causes of complaint among the Americans
detained, which perhaps a native American would remonstrate with more propriety
and more energy than a Danish subject. Among these are some of the regulations
prescribed by the Danish law for the regulation of privateers, issued in October,
1807, and which has laid the foundation for all their subsequent depredations. The
constitution of the inferior prize court is, also, not only propitious to the interests of
neutrals, consisting either of two naval officers and a civil judge, or of one naval
officer and one civil judge, the voice of the former always preponderating in case of
a difference of opinion. This has been always the composition of the prize court in
Norway; and the greater part of the American vessels and cargoes condemned
there, have been sentenced under this casting vote of the naval officer, against the
opinion of his colleague. The examination of the captain and crew of the captured
vessels is also conducted in a manner which occasions much embarrassment, not
only as being in a language which they do not understand, but as neither they nor
the owners of the captured party are allowed the benefit of counsel in the lower
court, the opportunities of tampering with the crews, and even with the captains,
to betray the interests of their owners, and the truth, have not been neglected, and,
I am sorry to say, in some cases not unsuccessful." To the Secretary of State, Oc-
tober 4, 1809. Ms.
1 He arrived at Cronstadt on that day.
2 Nicholas, count Rioumiantzof (1754-1826), statesman and man of letters. The
English form of the name has been adopted in these volumes.
352 THE WRITINGS OF [i8og
duced to him by Mr. Harris. My appointment to this mis-
sion was already known here, not only from Mr. Harris, but
by an official communication from General Armstrong to
Prince Kurakin, the Russian Ambassador at Paris.
Having mentioned to the Chancellor my wish to obtain
an audience of the Emperor, he said that he would take the
orders of his Imperial Majesty upon my request this morning;
that his Majesty was at this moment confined to his cham-
ber by indisposition, but he would be out again in the course
of a few days. In the meantime he assured me, that the in-
formation of this mission from the United States had been
very agreeable to the Emperor. My conversation with the
Chancellor on this occasion was, of course, short, and con-
fined much to general and indifferent topics. It was how-
ever sufficiently long for him to manifest the most amicable
dispositions towards the United States and their govern-
ment. He mentioned that, as a mere matter of form, it
would be necessary for me to furnish him a copy of my
credential letter. Presuming that he would make this de-
mand conformably to the usage in most of the European
governments, I had a copy, together with a French transla-
tion of it, in my pocket and delivered them to him.
He had been informed of my having passed through Copen-
hagen on my way to this place, and having mentioned it, I
took the occasion to state to him the motive of my visit to
that city. He expressed a strong disapprobation of the
very extraordinary proceedings in Denmark towards the
commerce of the United States, and said that his govern-
ment had some strong reasons of complaint on the same ac-
count. He observed, that it was to be lamented that a more
liberal system of conduct towards neutral navigation could
not be established by the common consent of all nations,
but this was a dream, — "mais c'est un reve" — and as
i8o9] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 353
long as it was not universally recognized, it was not possible
that it should be invariably observed by any partial com-
bination. That notwithstanding the exemplary wisdom and
moderation of the American government, they had found
by the negotiation with England, so often terminated to be-
gin over again, — "si souvent conclues, pour recommen-
cer" — how difficult it was to obtain this security for our
commerce.
I said that the United States had indeed found that nego-
tiation with England upon the subject of commercial rights
on the sea was no easy undertaking, but that I did not yet
despair of seeing the liberal system established by the uni-
versal consent of all nations. That in the progress of human
society it had not been found impracticable to prevail upon
mankind by degrees to abandon many barbarous usages in
war, and that I could not readily renounce the hope of seeing
all mankind become ashamed of cruel and inhuman customs
upon the seas, as well as upon the land. He replied that it
was much to be desired, but he feared the prospect of this
fortunate state of things was yet distant. There was, how-
ever, he added, this day the promise of an important and
happy step towards a general pacification. A courier had
this day arrived with a letter from the Emperor of France
to the Emperor Alexander informing him, that the terms of
peace between France and Austria were substantially agreed
upon, and that in all probability the treaty would be con-
cluded in a few days. 1
As I was taking my leave the Count apologized for a
deviation from all formality to an opportunity, to express
1 Copies of Napoleon's letter were in private circulation in St. Petersburg. It
contained the following sentence: "Les Etats unis sont au plus mal avec l'Angle-
terre, et paraissent vouloir sincerement et serieusement se rapprocher de notre
systeme."
354 THE WRITINGS OF I1809
himself in terms of the warmest personal regard for Mr.
Harris. This gentleman appears, indeed, to have conducted
himself in a manner so highly acceptable to this government,
as not only to have acquired a personal consideration en-
joyed by few even among the diplomatic characters ac-
credited to the Emperor, but to have contributed much to
the favorable dispositions towards our country entertained
by his Imperial Majesty.
He has already transmitted to you a copy, officially com-
municated to him by the Chancellor, of the treaty of peace
between Russia and Sweden, a treaty highly advantageous
to this country, as it annexes to its territories the whole
important province of Finland, thus uniting both sides of the
gulf under the Russian dominion, and placing under the said
subjection one half the gulf of Bothnia, with the island of
Aland which commands its mouth. 1
The article which stipulates the total exclusion of British
vessels, whether of war or commerce, is of vast importance
to the ultimate success of what is called in the treaty the
continental system. The free admission to the ports of
Sweden has substantially given to the British the complete
command of the Baltic, and a circulation to the commerce
and productions of Britain throughout the north scarcely
inferior to that of peaceable times. Excluded from the ports
of Sweden, as they already were from all others within the
Baltic, they will find it difficult to maintain a naval force in
that sea, which more than all others requires for fleets nav-
igating within its compass harbors of refuge from its storms,
I have the honor, etc. 2
1 The Peace of Frederikshamn, September 17, 1809.
2 He was presented to the Emperor and Empress, November 5, 1809. See
Memoirs.
i8o9] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 355
TO THOMAS BOYLSTON ADAMS
St. Petersburg, 16/24 November, 1809.
My last letter brought our good ship Horace to anchor safe
in the Road of Elsineur, on the 28th of September. At that
place we were detained a full week by adverse winds. Hav-
ing been informed upon my landing there, that the King of
Denmark x and his principal minister, Count Bernstorff, were
both absent from Copenhagen, I gave up in the first instance
the intention of going thither. But having received from
several masters of vessels and supercargoes detained there
a very urgent letter requesting me to come, I went with Mr.
Smith and made an attempt to see the Minister, who was
not at Copenhagen but at his country seat a few miles dis-
tant from the city. He was, however, unfortunately absent
from home, and I could not wait for his return. I saw how-
ever Mr. Saabye, the American consul at Copenhagen, and
wrote him a letter containing a representation in behalf of
the Americans detained, requesting him to lay it before the
Danish [minister], which he promised he would do. It was
on the 30th of September that I went to Copenhagen. The
next day I returned to Elsineur, and the morning after em-
barked again on board the ship. We lay wind bound in
Elsineur Roads until the morning of 5 October, with the
Danish pilots on board. One to carry us over the grounds,
and the other to conduct us up the Baltic and the Gulf of
Finland. From Elsineur to Copenhagen the distance by
water is about 25 of our miles coastwise, along the shores of
a beautiful country, interspersed with villages, country seats
and palaces, on the island of Zealand, and all the way within
sight of the Swedish coast, which though more remote from
1 Frederick VI. (1768-1839), son of Christian VII.
356 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
the eye presents a variety of pleasant prospects and one or
two considerable seaports on the passage. Nearly about mid-
way, lies a small island now belonging to Sweden called
Hveen, formerly the residence of the celebrated Danish
astronomer Tycho Brahe, and where his observatory was
situated. I was told that the ruins of the building were
still to be seen, but they were not discerned by us. A few
farm houses and fishing huts, a church and the dwelling
house of the Swedish nobleman x now the proprietor of the
island, were the substitutes which we could discover, and
were obliged to content ourselves with instead of the as-
tronomical ruins. One morning while we were yet anchored
at Elsineur, we saw a British ship of the line lying anchored
under this island of Hveen. Soon after a ship came down
from under her guns, and without showing any colors kept
close upon the Swedish shore, apparently with an intention
to pass the Castle without stopping. Five or six guns from
the batteries of Elsineur, which were successively fired at
her, not having proved sufficient to bring her to, three large
flat-bottomed gunboats full of men were sent out after her
from the harbor, and notwithstanding an attempt on her
part to turn back and get under the guns of the man of war,
they took and brought her in. The two-decker then came
down and anchored abreast of us, and within the reach of
cannon shot but gave us no further trouble. The ship taken
was the Concordia of New York. 2 For the attempt to pass
the Castle she was detained and sent to Copenhagen, since
which I have not heard what has been her fate.
The passage of the Sound widens very gradually between
Elsineur and Copenhagen. Abreast of this latter city lies
a small island called Amager, then north of that an island
1 Count Tausen.
2 Captain David Johnson.
1 809] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 357
called Saltholm, beyond which is the town of Malmo on the
mainland of Sweden. Between the islands of Amager and
Saltholm is a very narrow passage, through which ships
bound up the Baltic are obliged to pass, with shoal water
on both sides of the passage. This is called going over the
grounds. At the narrowest part of this passage two guns,
the second loaded with shot fired from a floating battery of
three hulks of men of war, compelled us to come to anchor in
the middle of the channel, until an officer came on board and
examined the ship's papers. After three other visits of the
same kind from other gunboats and armed ships, we suc-
ceeded in getting over the grounds and entered the Baltic sea.
The 6th of October we successively came in sight of the Is-
lands of Moen, Rugen and Bornholm, the last of which be-
came a memorable island to us. For during ten days and
nights we were beating to and fro in sight of it, without ad-
vancing so much as a league upon our voyage, a great part of
the time with a constant succession of violent squalls of rain,
hail and snow, flat calms and strong gales, a torment of a
sea, and a current as adverse to us as the wind. It now got
to be the middle of October. The captain, who had been
eleven voyages to St. Petersburg, who dreaded the Gulf of
Finland more than the Baltic, and a harbor closed against
us by the ice at Cronstadt still more than the Gulf of Fin-
land, absolutely despaired of reaching his destined port
this winter. The Elsineur pilot who had been thirty-six
voyages to Petersburg was yet more despairing than the
captain; both were very urgent to give up the attempt of
reaching St. Petersburg this season, and desirous of putting
back and going to Kiel in Holstein, from which we should
have had before us at this season of the year a journey by
land of 1500 miles, the best part of which is that which you
know by experience from Hamburg to Berlin. In the midst
358 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
of our difficulties the captain fell sick and was confined to
his bed several days. After resisting, as long as the per-
severance of my spirit would carry me, the propensity of
both captain and pilot to turn back, I finally gave up the
contest on condition that, if before we should reach Kiel, a
favorable change in the wind and weather should occur, we
should avail ourselves of it and turn again towards our true
destination. I cannot but reproach myself for this mo-
mentary compliance, as it indicated a flexibility which ought
not to belong to me. But I had objects on board more
precious to me than my own life, and there was some reason
for shrinking from a risk of the ship and cargo, which was
not mine and which was the special trust of the captain.
These motives which were my only ones for consenting to
turn back still appear to me strong, but I ought not to have
yielded to them. No material evil, however, resulted from
this fault of mine. The case upon which I had stipulated for
a resumption of our proper course occurred within forty-
eight hours after we turned back. The eastern gales sub-
sided into a calm after we had retreated from them about
thirty leagues. They were soon after succeeded by western
winds which, though accompanied with gloomy skies and
foul weather, brought us rapidly towards our port. The
eleventh day after we had passed the island of Bornholm,
we came by it the second time on the 16th of October.
This Bornholm is one of the seven islands which constitute
the Kingdom of Denmark. The other six are Zealand,
Fiinen (or rather Fyen), Langeland, Lolland, Falster and
Moen, a cluster which lie contiguous to each other at the
entrance of the Baltic. Bornholm is more distant from the
rest and about twenty leagues up what is called the Baltic
Sea. Upon our retrograde course we paid a visit to this is-
land, after having been about fifteen miles beyond and in
i8o92 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 359
constant sight of it for eight days. It has no harbor for
vessels of the depth of water which we drew, but there are
in different parts of the coast anchoring grounds which
afford shelter from particular winds. Near one of its ex-
tremities are two miniature islands called Christianso and
Friederichsholm, between which is a narrow channel of deep
water where ships in case of extremity are sometimes admit-
ted and where they lie moored to both the shores. The width
of the passage between these two islands is less than 200 feet,
and the islands themselves are not a quarter of a mile in cir-
cumference. We might have gone in there, but the captain
thought the risk too great. On the 13 th of October then we
bore down upon the island of Bornholm, and passing close
under those of Christianso and Frederichsholm, lay to for
the night, between a heavy gale and a dead calm under the
highest land of Bornholm. Saturday morning the 14th we
hoisted a signal for a boat from the shore, for we were desti-
tute of many articles of provisions, and not overstocked even
with fresh water. It was some time before a boat came out
to us, for they took us for a British armed ship showing false
colors. However one boat ventured out. When they found
who and what we really were, they reported us to the shore,
and during the remainder of the day I had a succession of
messages and officers specially sent from the governor of the
island offering us every assistance and supply that it could
afford with the most obliging and urgent invitations to come
on shore; not only to myself but to the ladies whom he par-
ticularly invited to a ball for the evening of the next day.
(La suite ci apres.) 1
1 See p. 366, infra.
360 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
TO SYLVANUS BOURNE
St. Petersburg, 28 November, 1809.
Dear Sir:
When we sailed from Boston, which was on the 5th of last
August, the disavowal of the British government of Mr.
Erskine's stipulations with ours, was just known in the
United States, but no measure had yet been taken by the
President in consequence of it. The proclamation renewing
the non-intercourse with the British dominions issued a few
days after. 1 The great change produced in all the external
commercial relations of the United States by this act will
be too obvious to your understanding to require any elucida-
tion from me. Nor will it escape your observation, how much
the aifairs of our country may probably be afTected by two
events, which have already occurred in this hemisphere,
since I landed upon it, the peace between Russia and Sweden,
and that between France and Austria. What immediate
effect either or both of these important occurrences will have
upon the policy of Great Britain or of France, in relation to
commerce, your situation enables you to ascertain sooner
and more accurately than I can here. The result of Mr.
Jackson's 2 intended negotiation in America is, perhaps, al-
ready known to you, while we here have but within these two
days learnt the certainty of his arrival at Baltimore. The
change in the British Ministry, too, though a circumstance
of less magnitude in itself than the others just noticed, may be
attended with consequences not less important and extensive. 3
1 August 9. Messages and Papers of the Presidents, I. 473 .
2 Francis James Jackson (1770-1814).
3 The Portland Ministry came to an end in September, 1809, and Spencer Perceval
headed the new administration.
1809] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 361
If your information and conjectures are well founded, that
the persons of principal influence in the councils of princes
have a direct interest in maintaining the systems of restric-
tion and depredations upon American commerce, which
have characterized for the last two or three years the meas-
ures of both the great belligerent powers, it is much to be
apprehended that this unjust and impolitic course may still
be persevered in, until the public interest shall regain its
natural and proper ascendancy. By the letter of Monsieur
de Champagny to General Armstrong, dated in August
last, 1 France has very precisely and positively promised to
set aside those of her decrees which have given us just cause
of complaint, if Great Britain will set aside those no less
outrageous, upon which the French decrees are alleged to
have been founded. But while Great Britain negotiates, and
disavows, and negotiates again, upon points concerning which
neither the honor nor interest of the United States will ad-
mit of any compromise, if we are to wait for the repeal of
the French decrees until a sound head shall guide the councils
of the British Cabinet, our prospects of redress, and even of
the practicable exercise of our just rights upon the ocean,
are remote and precarious indeed. . . .
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 7. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 4 December, 1809.
Sir:
I have the honor to inclose a copy of a note which I
have sent to Count Romanzoff, the Chancellor of the Empire
1 August 22, 1809. American State Papers, Foreign Relations, III. 325.
362 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
relating to two American vessels l captured, one, by a Rus-
sian frigate, and the other by a privateer under Russian
colors, and condemned by certain committees of prizes for
breaches of blockades, which the American proprietors
allege did not exist, or were at least unknown to the masters
of their vessels when taken. Finding upon my arrival here
that Mr. Harris had already made to this government such
representations in behalf of those proprietors as their re-
spective cases admitted, I have thought it advisable only by
a note in general terms to inform the Chancellor that I had
been instructed upon the subject, and to intimate the hope
and expectation that justice might be done to these claims
speedily. With regard to the brig Hector, belonging to Mr.
Thorndike, there seems to be no doubt but that the capture
was illegal. The case of the vessel belonging to the Way-
mouth Commercial Company is not quite so clear, as it is
certain that a blockade of the port did exist.
The indulgences which on the continent of Europe have
been allowed to Americans by way of exception to the gen-
eral system of commercial restriction have been so consid-
erable, that British commercial speculators have resorted to
the art of personating Americans and of using forged papers
to obtain the participation of these privileges. A very few
days after my arrival here Mr. Harris presented me a pass-
port, purporting to bear the signature of the present mayor
of New York, in favor of one Archibald John Graham,
whom it styled a native citizen of the United States. It was
dated the 3rd of January of the present year, and had been
endorsed at the mayoralty of the city of Narennes, the 2nd
of March. With this paper, Mr. Harris presented me a
letter from a merchant 2 who he assured me bore a very
1 The Commerce, commanded by Joseph Tirrell, and the Hector, Luke Thorndike.
2 Plessig, by name.
i8o9] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 363
respectable reputation in this city, in which this gentleman
gave me in the most explicit terms his guaranty that Graham
was a native citizen of the United States, and requested me
to authenticate the passport by my signature. At the same
time, Mr. Harris gave me notice that he suspected the
paper to be forged, as he had already detected one or two
others of the same form and appearance. I therefore delayed
my answer to the respectable merchant of St. Petersburg two
or three days, in the interval of which came from Lisbon, the
port where Graham was waiting for my authentication of his
passport, a real American citizen, who assured Mr. Harris,
that this Graham, far from being a native citizen of the
United States, had probably never set his foot in America,
that he was a Scotchman by birth, and had come to Lisbon
with a vessel under Pappenburg colors; but which had been
an American vessel, which had come from the United States
by violating the embargo. I afterwards saw the same real
American citizen, myself; who told me that this Graham
belonged to a commercial house in Liverpool where he had
a brother, and from which he was accustomed to sail as a
British master of a vessel; that in all probability the passport
was a sheer forgery; and that not only such passports, but
all the ships papers required for a vessel of the United States
were made in London by a man of the name of Van Sander,
who kept a shop of public notoriety for the sale of such
documents to any person who chose to pay for them.
I answered the respectable merchant of St. Petersburg, and
now enclose translation of his letter and of my answer. A
day or two afterwards the same gentleman wrote to Mr.
Harris expressing his great mortification at the issue of his
application, his strong apprehension that the passport would
again be sent for my authentication by the maritime com-
mission, and that by my refusal Graham's vessel and cargo
364 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
would be condemned. He also requested Mr. Harris to pro-
cure from me my consent to return him his letter of guaranty.
This I declined, assuring him, however, that I should make
no unnecessary use of his name, which might expose him to
inconvenience.
A few days after, I received from Count Romanzoff a note,
enclosing the same passport, mentioning that it had incurred
the suspicions of the maritime commission, and enquiring
whether I could certify the authenticity of the signature.
Translations of this note, and of my answer, are also enclosed.
I had also a personal interview with the Chancellor, 1 in
which I stated to him the substance of the information I
had obtained, but in which I was still restricted in the use
of names, the American citizen from whom I had received my
information having been altogether unwilling that his name
should be given.
It was still barely possible that Graham might be a native
citizen of the United States, and the passport a genuine
paper. I did not possess the means of giving judicial solem-
nity to the declarations of the American citizen from whom
I derived my information; neither was his knowledge itself
of a character to which he could make oath in judicial form.
As the man's person was in danger at least of imprisonment
and his property at stake, I thought it necessary to com-
municate with all proper caution to Count Romanzoff the
circumstances which had come to my knowledge, to give
them barely as suspicions concerning which the means of
ascertaining the truth was in the tribunals of the country;
and to guard against any precipitancy of decision, which
might affect injuriously any unsimulated American citizen.
The Count assured me that every just precaution should be
used to answer the ends of substantial justice, and all due
1 Adams, Memoirs, November 15, 1809.
1809] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 365
discretion in securing it. He animadverted with some
severity on the British government for its countenance of
such a practice as forgery by suffering such a public traffic
of false papers, in the very capital of the kingdom.
With this letter I shall send you the first number of a col-
lection of paragraphs and notices from the newspapers of
this continent, which I propose to continue and to forward
from time to time, by every opportunity which may occur,
direct or indirect. Their object is to contribute to the mass
of your information from Europe. As taken from news-
papers, they may be committed to any kind of conveyance
as relating to public affairs in general, and not within my
particular charge, they will not need a signature, and you
will probably sometimes receive a number without any other
indication of the source from which it comes than the hand-
writing or this notice. The subjects upon which I shall make
extracts will be very various and perhaps often carry with
them hardly enough of interest to deserve the President's
or your perusal. The purpose however will be to concen-
trate information, which it may be useful for you to possess,
and though situated at the extremity of Europe, requiring
nearly as much time for intelligence from the principal seats
of action to reach us, as from them to the United States,
it is possible that you may thus receive even from hence in-
formation which will not previously have reached you from
elsewhere. 1
I am, etc.
1 Many of these "gazettes" of information are in the Department of State,
Washington, good evidence of the industry of the minister.
366 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
TO THOMAS BOYLSTON ADAMS
December 14, 1809.
The messages from the governor of the island of Bornholm,
which I mentioned in my last, were sent and received in the
midst of an Irish gale of wind while we were stretching to
and from the shore of the island, under close reefed top-sails.
Close under the high lands of the coast, boats were able to
come out to the ship, but she could not lay to these without
drifting beyond the length of the whole island, and whenever
we got without shelter of the hills, we found a sea and a
storm which the ship had as much as she could do to live and
be wholesome. As night came on we could no longer stretch
in under the shore. I had sent a promise to the governor
that if we should remain wind bound the next day, I would
go on shore to pay my respects to him, and return in person
my thanks for his civilities. I saw that if I should go on
shore, the ball would be unavoidable, and that would oc-
casion our detention not only for that day, but probably for
a great part of the next. I therefore now consented to the
captain and pilot's earnest entreaties to stand off before the
wind, and go to Kiel, unless a favorable change of the wind
before our arrival there should enable us again to face our
true destination. We had about two days sail to Kiel. But
we pursued our retrograde course only about sixty miles; for
in the course of the same night (Saturday, 14 October) the
storm died away. The next day we had a calm, and the day
following a favorable wind for proceeding up the Baltic. On
the first appearance of the change I summoned the captain to
his promise, with which he immediately though reluctantly
complied. On Monday, the 16th of October, we finally
passed the islands of Bornholm and Christianso. About
twenty-five leagues northeast of these on the passage up the
1809] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 367
Baltic lies the island of Oland, next to which about as much
farther is that of Gothland, celebrated in the middle ages for
its commerce and the capital of which, Wisby, is yet well
known to all our lawyers by its code of maritime laws. Our
pilot and captain were anxious to get a sight of these islands,
especially the last, in order to get what they call a fresh de-
parture. For in navigating the Baltic the currents are so
variable both in their force and direction, that a continual
recurrence to landmarks is necessary to ascertain where you
are. The 17th of October we had again a head wind, and
the captain's inclination to go to Kiel returned. To this
however I did not consent, though he put upon me the re-
sponsibility for the ship and cargo by the consequences of
persisting in the voyage. Still, more fortunately for the
ship and cargo than for ourselves, I did persist, and after
about thirty-six hours we had a return of fair wind again.
But the weather was thick and gloomy. Four days in suc-
cession, no observation of the sun could be obtained, and
no sight not only of Oland or Gothland, but even of Osel or of
Dago, which last is the island at the entrance of the Gulf of
Finland. An inspection of any map of the Baltic will show
you this gauntlet of islands, between which a vessel must
wind before reaching this terrible Gulf. In the long days and
mild weather of summer it is not more dangerous than other
seas; but in the night almost total which reigns after the
autumnal equinox and the tempestuous weather of approach-
ing winter, it is formidable indeed. Our anxieties were the
greater from an uncertainty, whether any of the usual lights
were kept at the most difficult and dangerous passes. For a
British fleet had been stationed at the mouth of the Gulf
during the whole season of navigation, and we knew that
the Russian lights had in that interval been extinguished.
About midnight of the 19th of October we were overtaken
368 THE WRITINGS OF [1809
by an American ship, the Ocean of New York, 1 bound like
ourselves to Cronstadt, and with whom from that time we
sailed in company. The 20th, after having been all day
straining every eye on board ship for sight of Dago, we spoke
at the dusk of evening with a small Mecklenburg vessel
which was standing out, and from which we obtained infor-
mation that we had passed all the islands, which had so ob-
stinately eluded our sight, and were advanced about fifteen
leagues up the Gulf. That the lights on the Russian coast
were all again lighted, and that in the course of two hours we
should make that of Odensholm, which she had seen since
noon of the same day. At this intelligence {magna componere
parvis), we felt as Columbus did at the sight of the light
ashore on his first voyage. We found the information exact,
and made the light just as it had been told us we should
make it. With a fine fresh breeze and a moonlight night we
ascended the Gulf, and passed five or six different lighthouses
before morning. Then came a sweeping gale at northeast,
which cleared the skies of every cloud and vapor, but kept
us the whole day as near the wind as possible, and most of
it under short sail. About eight that evening we passed the
island of Hogland lighted by two fires, which are kept instead
of lighthouses. This is perhaps the most dangerous spot in
the Gulf. Hogland is a rock rather than an island, situated
in the middle of the Gulf, with shallows on both sides, and
the passage between it and a shoal on its north side is not
two miles wide. We passed it in a mild beautiful moonlight
evening with just breeze enough to carry us slowly through,
and to give us a distinct idea of what it is. The next day,
Sunday, 22 October, at noon we anchored in Cronstadt
roads, but could not procure a pilot to carry the ship that
night into the mole. I landed however that evening with
1 Captain Benjamin Richards.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 369
all the family excepting Mr. Smith, who remained on board
expecting to go in with the ship the next morning. At
Cronstadt we presented ourselves to the Admiral 1 of the
port, who received and treated us with great civility; but
it was with the utmost difficulty that we got a lodging for
the night, which we were ultimately obliged to take at the
house of Mr. Sparrow, who is the agent for American vessels
at Cronstadt. The same night a violent gale of wind came
on, which continued the whole of the next day, and which
made it impossible either for the ship to get into the mole, or
to send a boat on board for Mr. Smith. But as the wind was
fair for coming to St. Petersburg, and as the Admiral oblig-
ingly offered us a government cutter to bring us up, we ac-
cepted of the opportunity, and in about three hours of time
accomplished the passage. We landed on the quay of the
river Neva, just opposite the magnificent equestrian statue
of Peter the Great, at three in the afternoon, of the 23 rd of
October, the eightieth day from that of our embarkation at
the wharf in Charlestown. . . .
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 8. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 3 January, 1810.
With his letter from Stockholm, Mr. [J. S.] Smith trans-
mitted to me that which you did me the honor to write me
on the 31st of July last; together with one of the same date
from Mr. Graham, and a special passport for myself and
family. These dispatches it appears arrived at Boston the
day after we had sailed. Had they reached Boston the day
1 Kolokoltzof.
37o THE WRITINGS OF [1810
before, I should have availed myself of the permission to
take passage in the Essex; and although it must have delayed
my departure for several days, probably we should have
accomplished the voyage in less time than we did on board
the Horace. The appearance of an American frigate upon
this occasion in the Baltic and Gulf of Finland, would have
produced an impression more congenial to the military senti-
ments of European nations, and might perhaps have con-
tributed to increase the consideration which the character
of our country is acquiring. It would undoubtedly have had
a more favorable effect, than the arrival of a public minister
in a merchant vessel, upon the opinions of a court addicted
tojDfficial parade beyond any other in Europe.
You will have seen in my former letters, how often upon
the voyage I experienced the want of the special passport,
and the occasions upon which I was obliged to exhibit my
commission, as a substitute for it. My right of free passage,
and the privileges of the character with which I was invested
were universally respected as soon as they were authentically
made known, but the evidence was in more than one in-
stance required. While any thing like the present condition
of the European world shall continue, I should recommend
that any future public minister, coming from the United
States, should be conveyed under the protection of the gov-
ernment flag, and at the same time be provided with a special
passport like that which you had the goodness to have made
out for me.
With these papers, I received also the copy of General
Armstrong's cypher, of which I shall have immediate occa-
sion to make use.
Since I had the honor of writing you last, I have received
a note from the Chancellor of the Empire, Count Romanzoff,
containing two questions, relating to the navigation of vessels
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 371
under our flag. Translations of this letter, and of my answer
are enclosed.
Among the vessels, under the flag of the United States,
which arrived at Cronstadt just before the closure of that
port by the ice, were two with registers of the London manu-
facture. They have all the other papers with which Amer-
ican vessels navigating the European seas are usually pro-
vided, but whether these also are forgeries, or purchases,
Mr. Harris has not the means of detecting as he could the
register. As a forgery, this paper is clumsily executed, al-
though the signatures, the seals, and the private marks, are
imitated with all the care and assiduity that English artists
could bring to their task. Some of the private marks how-
ever have escaped their vigilance. The seals betray the
stamp of a die too recently engraved and the printed parts
of the plate vary materially from those of the genuine regis-
ter. Mr. Harris has given notice to the Chancellor of this
new imposture, and the vessels with their cargoes will prob-
ably be condemned.
In the extracts from the Gazettes, No. 2, which you will
find enclosed, are contained the order of the French Em-
peror, prohibiting the introduction of colonial merchandize
into Hamburg, by land or by water; the advertisment of the
French consul at Copenhagen that he will deliver no more
certificates of origin for the same species of goods; and the
order of the king of Denmark, establishing a commission
in the principal ports of Holstein for the examination of all
goods imported there suspected to be English. Together
with this last order was issued one which has not been pub-
lished, but under which property of American citizens to a
very large amount has been sequestered, with circumstances
of peculiar hardship. A number of Americans at Hamburg,
masters, supercargoes and owners of these goods, forwarded
372 THE WRITINGS OF fi8io
an application to me for my interference to .obtain the re-
lease and restitution of their property. I accordingly had a
conference with the Chancellor, Count Romanzoff, in conse-
quence of which, by the express orders of his Imperial
Majesty, the Danish minister at this Court has been re-
quested to urge upon his government the immediate release
and restitution of the property of American citizens, se-
questered by the recent order of the King of Denmark, as
a measure in which the Emperor of Russia takes a particular
interest, and in which a compliance with his desire will give
him peculiar satisfaction. I have also in a personal inter-
view with the Baron de Blome, the Danish minister here,
pressed the same object upon him with all the earnestness,
which the importance of the interest, and the justice of the
demand would warrant. The dispositions of the Danish
government I am persuaded are good, and if left to act as
their own inclinations and convictions would dictate, they
will immediately remove the sequester upon the property of
Americans. But Denmark, as well as her neighbors, ex-
periences the miseries of weakness — doing or suffering.
I am, etc.
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 9. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 7 January, 18 10.
Sir:
In my public Letter No. 8 I have mentioned to you in
general terms, the result of an application which I made to
Count Romanzoff, requesting the interposition of the good
offices of this government with that of Denmark, for the
speedy restoration of the property of Americans, sequestered
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 373
by a recent order of his Danish Majesty in the ports of Hol-
stein. It may be proper to give you a more particular ac-
count of my conferences with Count Romanzoff upon the
subject, as they furnished indications not only of the Em-
peror's dispositions with regard to the United States, but
in relation to the general affairs in Europe, and to the future
prospects of a general peace.
I received the letter from the American masters of vessels,
supercargoes, and owners, of the sequestered property on
the 24th of December — the Emperor's birthday; which
according to the usage of the country, was engrossed entirely
by attendance at court, morning and evening, and each time
for several hours, although the Emperor himself was then at
Moscow. On the 25th I wrote a note to Count Romanzoff,
requesting a personal interview with him, which he appointed
at 7 o'clock in the evening of the 26th. At that time I ac-
cordingly attended at the Count's house, and on being in-
troduced to his cabinet, found Baron Blome, the Danish
minister, with him. He immediately retired, and I informed
the Count that I came at the request of a number of my
countrymen, whose property had been arrested in a very
extraordinary manner, by an order of the Danish govern-
ment in the ports of Holstein. That as to the dispositions of
the king of Denmark, with regard to English merchandize
or property, that was no concern of mine; but that a great
amount of property, unquestionably neutral, direct from
America, and after having passed through the examination,
and paid the duties required by the laws of Denmark, had
now been arrested by this order, taken entirely from the
hands and management of its proprietors, and without in-
timation to them of the cause of such a violent measure, or
in what it was to issue. Purchases to a large amount of the
productions of this country, had been made here and at
374 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
Riga on the credit of this property, and the regular payment
of which depended upon its speedy liberation. As the sub-
ject therefore in some sort became interesting to the govern-
ment of this Empire, I had requested this conference with
him, to state the circumstances to him and to ask, whether
the interposition of the Emperor's good offices with the
Danish government might not be used, in any manner,
whether officially or otherwise, so that the effect might be
to levy this sequester upon American property as speedily
as possible. That being aware it was a subject upon which
in my character as accredited to this Court I could make no
formal application, I had not thought proper to address him
an official note concerning it; but relying upon the good will
which the Emperor had so often manifested towards my
country, and on the dispositions equally friendly of the Count
himself, I had flattered myself that by the exertion of his
Imperial Majesty's influence with the Danish government,
the release of this property might be immediately obtained,
and my countrymen, the owners of it, relieved from the em-
barrassment and alarm occasioned by its detention.
He said that in regard to the Emperor's dispositions to-
wards the United States, and though by his rank, infinitely
distant from his Imperial Majesty, as far as he could speak
of his own, they were as friendly as I could possibly believe
them. He personally lamented greatly the distress under
which commerce in general, and with it that of the United
States, was laboring. That nothing short of a general
peace could probably put an end to these embarrassments,
and that this general peace depended upon England alone.
He knezv not why this general peace should be made, that nothing
would be asked of England; but on the contrary she zuould be
left in possession of what she had acquired. 1 Until she could
1 Italics represent cypher.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 375
be reduced to reasonable terms of peace, it was impossible
that commerce should be free from rigorous restrictions,
because it was by operating upon her commerce, that she
must be made to feel her interest in making peace. As to
this particular measure of Denmark, it was far from being
agreeable to him, and he intimated that it was the subject
upon which he had just been conversing with the Baron de
Blome. He knew by despatches from the Russian minister l
the measure had given great dissatisfaction to the Danes them-
selves. There was no occasion to disguise the fact it was not a
voluntary act on the part of the Danish government. It had been
exacted by France, whose force at their gates was such as Den-
mark had no means of resisting, and who considered it as a
measure merely of severity against English commerce; that
France had suspected Denmark at conniving at the commerce
with England; at least he knew that M. Champagny had re-
proached them with it in very severe terms and, in fact, the
whole, or nearly the whole, of that trade must substantially
be viewed as English commerce, since there were now none
but English colonies which produced the articles known by
the denomination of colonial merchandize.
I assured him that with the exception perhaps of coffee, all
the articles of colonial trade were produced within the
United States; and with respect to coffee, as well as the rest,
there were all the Spanish islands which produced them in
great quantities. But, said he, is not the produce of the
United States in these articles, of inferior quality? Cotton
for instance? I told him the United States produced the
best of cotton, and in immense quantities; that in all the
southern States, as well as in Louisiana, the cultivation of
this article within the last twenty years had flourished beyond
imagination, and that of all the cotton brought by the Amer-
1 M. Lizakewitz [or Dizkewitz.]
37 6 THE WRITINGS OF [18
10
ican vessels whose cargoes were thus sequestered in Holstein,
I was persuaded that the nine-tenths at least were the gen-
uine produce of the United States; that considerable quan-
tities of sugar were also produced in Louisiana, and in
Georgia, which doubtless constituted a great proportion of
those cargoes; and the rest was probably the produce of the
Spanish islands. Certainly very little, if any, came from the
British colonies. As to the Spanish islands, he said, they
could now not easily be distinguished from the British, as
they had declared themselves for the party of the Junta,
which in a very extraordinary manner had formally declared
war against Denmark.
I remarked that if, in consequence of this declaration of
war, the Danish government thought proper to prohibit the
importation for the future of articles the produce of the
Spanish colonies, it was a measure of expediency which they
were free to take; but that it could never warrant the seizure
of goods already imported under the sanction of the Danish
laws, which, after passing through every examination re-
quired by them, had received the pledge of protection due
from every civilized government to private property; that
if this was a French measure, of which the government of
Denmark was only the passive instrument, I trusted that the
influence of a sovereign so powerful as the Emperor of Russia,
and in relations of friendship so close with France, would not
be exerted without effect at Paris, and it would be immaterial
to us where the means should be used, if they produced the
result of doing justice to us and restoring to my countrymen
their property. The conduct of England towards my coun-
try had been such as certainly not to inspire me with any
partiality in her favor; and I believed the principle of what
was called the continental system, that of bringing England
to dispositions for peace by pressure upon her commerce, a
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
good one, if properly applied; but I was surprised that there
could at this day exist any person who did not perceive that
measures which destroyed the active commerce of all other
nations, instead of reducing turned altogether to the profit
of that of England; that the Emperor Napoleon's experiment
had now been three years in operation, and that in the midst
of the most wasteful expenses, of the grossest internal mis-
management, of the most unfortunate expeditions, in short of
every thing that could baffle the hopes of the people of Eng-
land, and exasperate them against their own government, no
petitions, no clamors for peace were heard; and the com-
merce of the country, far from being diminished, was flour-
ishing beyond all former example. As a proof of which I
referred him to the address from the corporation of London
to the king on the late jubilee, and to the king's answer.
The Count smiled, and said that as to addresses to kings and
their answers, he believed the best rule was to take all such boast-
ing in an inverted sense; for when a father of a family and his
family are talking together about their affairs before the
world, they naturally will not speak of their distresses.
I replied that in such a case as this I believed the conclusion
would be more consistent with the fact by taking the words in
their -plain and direct sense; the flourishing or distressed state
of commerce was a state of things too notorious by its sim-
plicity, too certain by the practice of reducing it all to precise
figures in official returns, to admit of direct falsehoods thus
asserted in the face of the world. That London was a city
almost entirely commercial; and the numerous classes of
people subsisting upon commerce were not accustomed to
boast of profit while they were actually suffering distress,
or even to suffer without loud complaint. If, at this time,
any other king in Europe were to receive an address from the
principal traders of his kingdom, they would not boast of
378 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
the flourishing state of their commerce; nor would the cor-
poration of London have dared to do so, if the fact had been
strikingly the reverse. It was not, however, upon this ad-
dress alone that I relied as evidence of the fact. Other in-
dications of the same kind were numerous and decisive.
How indeed could it be otherwise? The active commerce
of all other nations, thanks to France, and to France alone,
was annihilated. France herself, Holland, Sweden, Den-
mark, had nothing that could bear the name of commerce
left in their own ships. The United States had scarcely any.
Their intercourse with almost all Europe was suspended.
Here alone they were still freely admitted, and into those
ports of Denmark, where this violent measure must break
it up again to the foundation. The portion of commerce
carried on by American vessels in the Russian ports was
small. The number of vessels was ascertained; and his Ex-
cellency as Minister of Commerce knew to what it could
amount. He also knew how much of the trade was trans-
acted in Russian vessels; and yet it was not for me to tell
him that between England and this country the commerce ac-
tually carried on was little less than in time of peace. That all
articles of English growth and manufacture were to be had
here as if the intercourse was unobstructed, only at heavier
prices; and that every article of Russian produce for which
England has occasion goes as plentifully to England as ever.
He said the prices of Russian articles in England had recently
risen — from which I observed a further proof of my position
might be derived; for that the rise of prices in England had
followed as a consequence upon the rise of prices here, which
had been very considerable. The inference from this last
fact was irresistible. For if the trade with England had
actually been suppressed, the prices of the Russian produce
at home must have fallen in proportion to the unavoidable
isioj JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 379
accumulation of them which would have ensued. The com-
merce, therefore, was still carried on — and by whom? it
was not to be disguised; principally by the English, who, by
means which I should not undertake to account for, did con-
trive to evade every ordinance and regulation, which were so
efficacious against all their rivals in trade; and the more
surely evaded them in proportion as they were more severe.
I had personally had an opportunity of observing this on
my voyage hither. For in the Danish dominions the trade
with England was forbidden upon pain of death; and yet on
going into a port of Norway, I had seen vessels of that coun-
try, which had passed through the British squadrons as in
time of profound peace; and I was informed from good au-
thority that there were then seven ships, notoriously English,
in the port of Bergen loading with timber for England upon
English account.
He said that he agreed with me generally in the reasoning,
but not altogether in the conclusion. That all commerce
was to be considered as a benefit to both parties. That he
had no faith in the ordinary doctrines about the balances of
trade, or that any commerce could long exist unless it was
profitable on both sides. If commerce therefore suffered, as
in the present condition of Europe there could be no doubt
it did, the greatest commercial nation in the end must suffer
the most. That although this crisis had already continued
longer than was to be wished, yet it would not be considered
as a time sufficient for effecting the intended result. It would
be better that the whole commerce of the world should cease to
exist for ten years than to abandon it forever to the control
of England. That the effect of the restrictive system must
in the long run press hardest upon England; and Mr. Pitt,
whose talents as a minister must be acknowledged to have
been great, was compelled by the clamors of the English
3 8o THE WRITINGS OF [1810
nation arising from the distress upon their commerce, to
make way for an administration which made peace. I ac-
knowledged this was true; but observed that it was imput-
able to a system of measures in relation to commerce directly
opposite to the present — a system which encouraged and
favored the trade of the nations which were the rivals of
England, so that the English could not support a competi-
tion with them. And although the English commerce might
partially suffer in the general mass with the rest, it was much
more than indemnified by the part which it had acquired
from the ruins of all the other commercial nations.
The Count asked me, if I had read a late publication of
Mr. d'lvernois upon this subject. 1 I had heard of the book,
but not seen it. He said its representations corresponded
much with the ideas I had been expressing; but in proof of
his general position of the flourishing state of British com-
merce, he had specified only the condition of Ireland. This
was not very conclusive. For the commerce of Ireland
formed a very small part of that of the United Kingdom, and
when so great stress was laid upon the alleged prosperity of
one particular branch of trade, it raised a strong presumption
that the actual state of the whole afforded no subject for
exultation.
He concluded by saying that on the subject of my request,
he would take the orders of the Emperor, and inform me of
the result; but as this was a measure emanating from the per-
sonal disposition of the Emperor of France, he was apprehensive
there existed no influence in the world of sufficient efficacy to
shake his determination; that the United States might always
rely upon the inclination of the Emperor of Russia to use
1 Francois d'lvernois (175 7-1 842). The reference is probably to his Effets du
blocus continental sur le commerce, etc., des Isles Britanniques, published in London,
1810.
i8iol JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 381
his good offices in their favor, and most especially in cases
where they might be applied with any prospect of success.
I left the Count, with the impression that however he
might personally disapprove, or the government of the Em-
peror might dislike the step which had thus been imposed
upon the king of Denmark, no interference of Russia was to
be expected.
On the same evening, the Emperor returned from Moscow,
and on the 29th I received a note from the Chancellor, re-
questing me to call upon him at two o'clock of that day,
which I accordingly did. He told me, that on the preceding
day, being the first since the Emperor's return upon which
he had transacted business with him, he had reported to his
Majesty, my application to him, requesting the interposition
of his good offices with the Danish government for the
restoration as speedily as possible of the property of Amer-
icans sequestered in the ports of Holstein; that he had in-
formed his Majesty of the answer which in his official char-
acter he had thought it his duty to give me, and to lead me
to expect, leaving the Emperor's decision entirely free ac-
cording to his own inclinations; that the Emperor had judged
differently upon the subject from him. He had ordered him
immediately to represent to the Danish government his wish
that the examination might be expedited, and the American
property restored as soon as possible; which order he had
already executed. He had sent that same morning for the
Baron de Blome, and had requested him to transmit to his
court these sentiments of the Emperor, with the assurance
that his Majesty took great interest in obtaining a com-
pliance with them; that the Emperor not only took this
determination without hesitating, but was gratified in avail-
ing himself of the opportunity to manifest his friendship for
the United States. Perhaps the interest of his own subjects
382 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
might justify his interference on this occasion: this was what
he had not thought it necessary to examine. It was sufficient
for him that it would show the regard which he felt for the
interests of the United States, and his wish to inspire their
confidence in these sentiments on his part. He desired me
to mention to Baron de Blome, when I should have an op-
portunity to see him, that he had told me of the Em-
peror's determination, and of the Count's interview with
him respecting it. And he further observed that the Baron
had told him, what he had said to me before, that it was a
measure into which Denmark had been impelled by France, and
which she had taken with reluctance.
I assured the Count, that I should inform my government
of this fresh instance of the Emperor's friendship, and that
I could answer by anticipation for the grateful acknowledg-
ment with which it would be received. That on leaving him
before, I had felt obliged to him for the frank and candid
manner in which he had spoken with regard to the object of
my application; it was in my mind far preferable to a more
flattering manner, which might have led to hopes, afterwards
disappointed. But from his manner of considering the sub-
ject at that time having entertained little or no hopes of
success, I was now the more gratified at finding that my
countrymen would have the benefit of his Majesty's power-
ful intercession.
Having on the same day an opportunity of conversing
with the Baron de Blome, I told him, according to Count
Romanzoff's desire, that I had been informed of the commu-
nication to him, of the Emperor's wish for the restoration of
the sequestered American property, in the ports of Holstein.
The Baron then repeated that it was a measure to which they
had been goaded by France; that it was still more injurious to
themselves than to us; that this little trade by the means of
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 383
American vessels, which had given his government an op-
portunity of laying a transit duty, was the only source of
revenue left them; but that in Hamburg they had been jeal-
ous of it, and had written to Paris that the Danes were
carrying on a contraband trade with the English. Upon this,
France had loaded them with bitter reproaches, altogether
unmerited. For Denmark had excluded more rigorously
the English trade than any body. Excepting the outskirts
of the kingdom in Norway, over which it was impossible for
the government to have an effectual control, the exclusion of
English trade had been complete. Denmark had sacrificed
herself for the common cause, and instead of acknowledgment
this was the return she had received. She had been forced
into the war by the treacherous and unprovoked outrages
of England, and now she was obliged to follow the impulse,
dictated by France.
I took this occasion to urge upon the Baron the same senti-
ments in relation to the continental system, and the manner
in which it is pursued, which I had before suggested to Count
Romanzoff, — to insist upon the absurdity as well as the
inefRcacy of distressing and ruining the rivals of Britain in
trade, for the purpose of affecting her commerce. I observed
how ill calculated the oppression of American citizens, and
the sequestration of American property was to remove jeal-
ousies or suspicions of connivance in a contraband trade with
the English, and how easily the immense proportion of the
property belonging to Americans might be ascertained, and
liberated from all pretence of suspicion as English. That
as the resentments and the rigor of France were avowedly
meant only to operate against English trade, the Danish
government could release all property unquestionably Amer-
ican without danger of offending France, and that the profits
which they derived from this commerce themselves, ought
384 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
at least to secure to it all the favor, which the government
could safely bestow upon it.
If the real object of France in driving the king of Denmark
into this measure, as pernicious to his own interests, as it is
contrary to the rights of private property, was merely to
strike at the contraband commerce with England, the inter-
ference of the Emperor of Russia will, I have no doubt, be
productive of immediate and the most salutary effects. But
if, under the cover of a menacing and terrific proscription of
English trade, is concealed either a trafficking speculation of
powerful individuals, or a design to lay hands upon all the
American property to which the grasp of France can extend,
the Emperor of Russia will have manifested his amicable
disposition towards the United States, but its efficacy will
be paralyzed before it can reach the ears of the Danish court.
There is an obscure rumor in circulation, that by a mutual
agreement between France and all the northern powers, all
commerce in the articles commonly denominated colonial
merchandize will be during the ensuing season interdicted
throughout the continent of Europe. Such is indeed in all
probability the law imposed upon Denmark, upon Sweden,
upon Holland, and upon all the southern part of Europe, as
far as the power of France extends. That instigations of a
similar nature have been applied here is not improbable, but
as the independence of Russia still remains entire, and as the
interests of the Empire would so deeply suffer by the attempt
to execute such a project, I hope it will be withstood with
determination and success.
This letter, with my two last, goes to Paris, by a gentle-
man, who is to accompany Count Pahlen, to the United
States. He carries I understand the final instructions to that
minister, who is to proceed upon his mission as soon as he
can procure a passage from France to America. I enclose
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 385
it open, under cover to General Armstrong, for his previous
perusal.
The peace between Sweden and Denmark, was signed at
Jonkoping on the 10th of December. I am, etc.
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 10. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 17 January, 1810.
Sir:
The last letter, which I had the honor of writing you,
was of the 7th inst. and was forwarded open, under cover to
General Armstrong, by a courier of Count Romanzoff's, who
carried the final instructions for Count Pahlen. I ought to
mention it, as one of the numerous marks of attention, which
I have received from this minister, that he has kindly offered
to forward any dispatches, that I may have occasion to send
by his couriers, with the assurance that he will give me sea-
sonable notice of any that he may send to Paris.
In my conferences with Count Romanzoff, and with the
Baron de Blome the Danish minister at this court, on the
subject of the American cargoes sequestered in the ports of
Holstein by an order of the king of Denmark, you will have
observed that it was considered as a measure adopted in con-
sequence of the remonstrances of France; but that its object
was merely to suppress the commerce carrying on between
those ports and the English. It seemed however from their
representations, that the complaint of France had been in
general terms, but that the particular measure, so far as it
involved American property, was the act of the Danish
government itself, adopted merely for the purpose of exam-
ination, to ascertain what was real, from that which was only
simulated American property. It occurred to me that if
386 THE WRITINGS OF [18
10
such was the only purpose of the measure, some observations
might be suggested to the French government, which might
tend, if not to accelerate the removal of the sequester, at
least to guard against the interference of France to prevent
it. I therefore asked an interview with the Duke de Vicence, 1
the French ambassador, for which he appointed yesterday
morning. I then called upon him, stated to him the par-
ticular circumstances of the case, and endeavored to turn
his attention, not only to the injustice of this operation, as it
related to the American citizens, whose property was thus
taken out of their hands, but to the general impolicy of
measures which broke up all distinctions between the English
and Americans, or which, still more at war with their pro-
fessed purposes, under color of striking at the English, had
their effect of rigor only upon the Americans.
The Ambassador, who very readily admitted the propriety
of making this distinction as a general principle, in the first
instance expressed doubts, whether it was a subject in which
he could officially take any concern. He observed that it
was a measure, either concerted with that of his own govern-
ment to prohibit the introduction of British merchandize
within the line of the French custom houses, or adopted by
the king of Denmark as of internal regulation within his
own dominions. That in the former of these suppositions, he
could not with propriety interfere, to prevent the full effect
of measures sanctioned by his own government, and in the
latter, as Denmark was a sovereign and independent state it
would be equally improper for him to interpose in opposition
to any ordinances which its government had deemed ex-
pedient.
To this I replied that in official and diplomatic form I was
well aware I could ask nothing of him in this case. I neither
1 Armand-Augustin-Louis de Caulaincourt, due de Vicence (1772-1827).
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 387
had nor could have any instructions from my own govern-
ment on this occasion; and knowing that he was accredited
only to the Russian court, and not to that of Denmark, I
know also that whatever interest he might take in the object
for which I had desired to converse with him, would arise
from his personal disposition to oblige, and not from any
duty attached to his public character. I supposed that the
same persons, my countrymen, who in the embarrassment
and distress brought upon them by this sudden and violent
proceeding had applied to me for such assistance as my situa-
tion might enable me to obtain for them, had also had re-
course to that of the minister of the United States in France,
in which case he had doubtless addressed directly to the
French government such representations as the occasion
had rendered proper. But the point in which I supposed it
possible that an intimation from him, the Ambassador, to his
government might be of use, was this: the Danish govern-
ment alleged that this step had been taken at the desire of
France; but that its sole object was to suppress an illicit
trade between its subjects and the English. His majesty
the Emperor of Russia, on a statement of the circumstances
to him, had been pleased to order a representation of his
wish to the court of Denmark, that the sequester should
be removed as speedily as possible from the property really
American involved in the sweeping regulation of the Danish
ordinance. If the wishes of France were only pointed against
the English, a simple intimation from France to Denmark,
of her acquiescence in the immediate liberation of the prop-
erty really American which had been sequestered, would be
sufficient, and it was the justice and expediency of this in-
timation of which I wished him to be convinced, and to sug-
gest to his government.
These observations led us into a general and desultory
388 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
conversation upon the subject of the continental system, of
warfare upon English commerce, a subject with the particu-
lars of which the Ambassador appeared not to be thoroughly
acquainted. From the tenor of his conversation I should
infer that most if not all the negotiations between France and
Russia, relative to these objects, are carried on through the
channel of the Russian embassy at Paris. On this occasion,
as well as on those of my conversations with Count Roman-
zoff, with the Baron de Blome, and with Count Soltykoff the
adjunct minister of foreign affairs, I expressed freely my
own opinions on the effect of the measures hitherto adopted
in pursuance of the continental system, referring at the same
time to the striking and notorious facts from which this
effect is discernible. The Ambassador as well as those other
ministers appeared personally convinced of the correctness
of my remarks, but without expectation that their opinions
would prevail to influence the system of policy which will
yet be pursued.
The Ambassador at the close of this conversation assured
me that he would make a report of it to his government,
stating the particular object for which I had applied to him,
and with his own personal wish that it may be obtained.
At the commencement of the new year, according to the
calendar still in use here, which was on Saturday last, some
important changes in the subordinate organization of this
government, were introduced. The Imperial Council re-
ceived a new modification, the object of which is a greater
stability and uniformity in the administration of the Em-
pire. I shall send you a translation of the constitution,
which appeared yesterday in the Russian and German lan-
guages, but which the time will not allow to be completed,
by the present opportunity.
I have the honor, etc.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 389
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 11. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 31 January, 18 10.
Sir:
On the 2 1 st inst. I received a letter from Mr. Jonathan
Russell at Tonning, enclosing a dispatch from you, which
contained your favor of 23 rd October, and a copy of your
letter of 9 October to Mr. Jackson. 1 Mr. Russell had sailed
from Boston the 8th of November, and arrived in the Roads
below Tonning, the 22nd of December. His vessel 2 and
cargo immediately came under the new sequestration order
issued by the king of Denmark, and he wrote me requesting
all such assistance as might be in my power to give him, to
obtain their release.
My late letters have given you an exact account of my
interviews with the Chancellor Count Romanzoff, with the
Danish minister Baron de Blome, and with the French Am-
bassador, on the subject of this new vexation of American
commerce. Since then I have seen in the German newspapers
of Hamburg, a circular letter of General Armstrong's with a
letter to him from Mr. Dreyer, the Danish minister at Paris,
which seems to promise that the sequester upon this prop-
erty shall be removed, as soon as the purpose of examination
to ascertain that which is bona fide American can be accom-
plished. I entertain the hope that this promise has been
duly performed; but as importunity sometimes contributes
to advance the claims of justice, I took the opportunity of
this new case of Mr. Russell's, to write a letter to the Baron
1 In American State Papers, Foreign Relations, III. 308.
2 President Adams.
39o THE WRITINGS OF [1810
de Blome, stating the particular circumstances of it, and re-
newing the application in favor of all the other Americans,
whose property has been placed in the same predicament.
This letter together with another concerning the loss of an
American vessel, in the passage of the Belt, by the firing of
a Danish battery upon her just as she struck upon a reef, I
requested the Baron to communicate to his court; which he
assures me he has accordingly done.
Mr. Forbes, our consul at Hamburg, is gone to Copen-
hagen upon the same subject. I have a letter from him
written at Odense in the island of Fiinen, 3 January, in which
he mentions that he had been under the necessity of demand-
ing the seizure of three American vessels, which had laden
their cargoes in England.
Mr. George Joy was already at Copenhagen, as the agent
for the owners of some vessels and cargoes detained in Nor-
way. He had also, as I understand from letters which he
has written me, what he considers as an official authority of
a public nature from Mr. Pinkney the minister of the United
States at London. He has also requested an authorization
of a similar nature from me; but having no authority from
the government of the United States upon this subject my-
self, I can delegate none to any other person; and if the
confidence of the President in Mr. Joy's character and quali-
fications induces him to give a regular authority to his rep-
resentations, they will be more efficaciously as well as more
properly supported by credentials from the United States,
than by the assumption of a power by me, which has not
been entrusted to me. 1
The Boston Packet, a vessel which sailed the 6th of Decem-
ber from Boston, arrived at Tonning the 3rd or 4th of Jan-
uary. She brought newspapers containing the circular letter
1 See Writings of Madison (Hunt), VIII. 8$n.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 391
of Mr. Jackson to the British consuls of 13 November x and
also the President's message to Congress at the opening of
the session. The personal character of Mr. Jackson is well
known to many persons here, and the tone of his negotiations,
not only in Denmark, but at Berlin, has been marked by
such peculiar features, that the opinion entertained by the
persons of the best information in the recent diplomatic
transactions in Europe is, that the person was selected for
the service, and that his conduct will be countenanced and
supported by his own government. This opinion is strength-
ened, by the prospects of Mr. Canning's return into the Brit-
ish ministry, the report of which has become prevalent. 2 The
expectation of an immediate war between the United States
and England has given great alarm not only to the Americans
who are here, but to all the commercial part of this city.
This however is not their only apprehension. On the one
hand it is generally believed that the Emperor of France,
adhering to a system the inefficacy of which has long been
demonstrated even to his most confidential advisers, will
persist in renewing the experiment of totally annihilating
the commerce between the British Islands and the continent
of Europe; and that during the ensuing season, no importa-
tions will be allowed into any ports of the continent which
by possibility might come from England. On the other it is
feared that the British government will at the opening of
the spring declare all the ports of the Baltic in a state of
blockade. Reports of a general embargo to be laid here are
also in circulation. Much of all this is undoubtedly com-
mercial speculation. There is every appearance that during
the present year the shackles and the oppressions upon com-
merce will be still greater than they have been during the
1 American State Papers, Foreign Relations, III. 323.
2 Canning did not return to office until 1817.
392 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
two last, and there is too much probability that almost all
the advantage of this state of things, and far the smallest
portion of sufferings resulting from it, will befall Great
Britain.
Proposals for negotiation have undoubtedly been made
from France to the British government; and it has been in-
timated to me that even a basis was offered, which it was
supposed would be acceptable — including the restoration
of Portugal, and of Spain as far as the river Ebro, to their
former sovereigns; provided the supremacy of France over
Italy, the part of Spain within the Ebro, and the extension of
the northern frontier of France to the Maas, should be recog-
nized by England. It is added however that these proposals
have been rejected.
With this letter I have the honor to enclose a translation
of the imperial manifesto, and new constitution of the Coun-
cil of the Russian Empire, issued at the commencement of
the present year. It is variously considered by different per-
sons, as a new system of government, containing many fea-
tures of freedom and calculated to temper the absoluteness
of the sovereign authority; as an imitation of the present
organization of the French government, recommended by
the energy which experience has shown it to possess there;
or as merely a mode of removing certain ministers, with
whom the Emperor is not altogether satisfied, but whom he
does not choose to disgrace, and of concentrating power and
influence in the present Chancellor of the Empire, Count
Romanzoff. Upon him the appointment of President Gen-
eral of the Council, in the absence of the Emperor, has been
conferred for the present year. And the office next in dig-
nity, that of Secretary of the Empire, is at the same time be-
stowed upon Mr. Speranskiy, 1 a person whose reputation for
1 Michel, count Speranski (1772-1839).
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 393
talents stands very high, and who has risen under the favor
of Count Romanzoff's particular friendship and influence.
He is the reputed author of several public manifestoes and
other state papers, the composition of which has excited
notice in the United States, as well as throughout Europe.
I have the honor, etc.
TO ABIGAIL ADAMS
St. Petersburg, 8 February, 18 10.
My dear Mother:
The Sunday before we embarked for this place, my excel-
lent friend and Pastor Emerson delivered in his pulpit a
discourse upon the pleasing and not improbable doctrine of a
guardian angel, which Christians have often supposed to be
assigned to every individual to watch over him, and as far
as is consistent with the general designs of providence, to
guide his conduct, and to preserve him from extraordinary
dangers. My wife and her sister, who were present and
heard this discourse, were much affected by it, and naturally
made an application of several passages in it to ourselves in
the great voyage then just before us. I was prevented from
attendance on Mr. Emerson's public ministration that day
by having gone out for the last time before our departure to
spend the day with you at Quincy. But I hope at some future
day to have the pleasure and benefit of reading it, and in the
meantime I dwell with pleasure upon its principal idea. The
general superintendence of the Creator and Governor of the
Universe is indeed sufficient for the preservation and well
being of all his creatures, but in the greatness and multitude
of evils and of perils which surround a wanderer upon the
face of the terraqueous globe, the heart, if not the judgment,
5v4 THE WRITINGS OF [18
IO
feels the want of some special protection, of some intermedi-
ate agent possessed of powers and attributes, superior indeed
to those of human nature, but yet limited in their extent and
capable of confinement to exclusive objects.
From the day when we embarked from Mr. Gray's wharf
in Charlestown, until that when we landed opposite that of
Peter the Great at St. Petersburg, we were exposed to many
great and imminent dangers. I have given a minute account
of them all in several letters to my brother, which I trust will
all have been perused by you before this will come to your
hands. When in the midst of them, and knowing that human
power was inadequate to extricate us from them, there was
more hope and consolation in the belief of being under the
peculiar charge of a superior, though a finite, spirit, than in
the philosophical conviction, that all partial evil is universal
good, and that whatever might befall us, the system of the
universe would enjoy an equal portion of felicity.
A beneficent providence, whether operating by general
laws or by the subordinate energy and care of a guardian
angel, did conduct us safely through all these perils, and
brought us to the end of our outward voyage, after a naviga-
tion of nearly three months duration. We reached St. Peters-
burg the 23 rd of October, the day before which I had written
you a few lines from Cronstadt, which I hope you have before
this received.
The American vessels which sailed three or four days after-
wards, and by one of which that short letter was forwarded,
was the last which could get away before the port was blocked
up with ice. This occurred about three weeks after our ar-
rival, and several letters which we had already sent to
Cronstadt, to go by vessels ready to sail, were sent back
to us, the vessels having found it impracticable to get
out.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 395
Since that time I have sent to Holland, France and Eng-
land, dispatches and letters for America, without knowing
how or when they would find a conveyance. It is not im-
probable that this, which is the first I have written you
from this place, and which I yet know not how I shall send,
will find its way to Quincy as soon as any of the rest. I
should have written you repeatedly, but the tumultuous
agitation of the life which we have led since our arrival here,
which has not yet entirely subsided, has scarcely left me
time for the most indispensable of my duties.
You are acquainted with the difficulty and the expense of
of forming a suitable domestic establishment for an American
minister in other parts of Europe. They are everywhere
great. Here they are greater than anywhere else. We are
still indifferently lodged at a public house, and very ex-
pensively. A furnished house or apartments are not to be
had. The bare walls of a single floor or house, which would
but just contain my family, must be paid at a rent of fifteen
hundred or two thousand dollars, that is six or seven thou-
sand rubles a year, and they cannot be so much as decently
furnished at less than five times the highest of these sums.
The attendance at court is frequent, and of the most indis-
pensable obligation. It is most frequently twice in a day,
the morning at a levee, and the same evening at a ball and
supper. Not a particle of the clothing I brought with me
have I been able to present myself in, and the cost of a lady's
dress is far more expensive, and must be more diversified
than that of a man. The number of servants which must
be kept is at least treble that which is necessary elsewhere,
and the climate of the country requires for every individual
expenses of clothing unknown in more southern regions.
These are burthens from which no resolution can escape.
But there are many others more ruinous, and avoidable
39 6 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
only by the sacrifice of all consideration among the people
of the country. The tone of society among us is almost
universally marked by an excess of expenses over income.
The public officers all live far beyond their salaries, many of
them are notorious for never paying their debts, and still
more for preserving the balance by means which in our
country would be deemed dishonorable, but which are here
much less disreputable than economy.
I will not dwell upon this subject. You will readily con-
ceive the embarrassment in which I find myself, and of the
desire which I feel to get out of a situation irksome beyond
expression. I have engaged part of a house, and am now on
the point of furnishing it. I shall be obliged to involve my-
self in debt and to draw upon my little property in America,
even to do this. But then I should show you the bright side
of the situation too. We have dinners, and balls, and sup-
pers, and ice-hill parties, and masquerades, almost without
end. We are going, for instance, this evening to a mas-
querade ball at the French Ambassador's, to begin at ten
o'clock. How much I am delighted with all this is unneces-
sary for me to say, nor how congenial it is to my temper to
find extravagance and dissipation become a public duty. I
hope, however, and I have great pleasure in expressing the
hope to you, that not only myself but all the younger part
of my family will preserve steadiness of brain in this sudden
and violent whirl, to come out of it still in possession of our
purses and our reason. But we all to begin with myself need
the care of the guardian angel, more than we did in the Baltic
or the Gulf of Finland. . . .
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 397
TO THOMAS BOYLSTON ADAMS
St. Petersburg, 14 February, 18 10.
• •••••«
Upon the politics of Europe, or upon those of America, I
scarcely know what to write you, nor would it perhaps be
discreet to write what would be most interesting for you to
read. Situated here at the northern extremity of Europe, we
are almost as distant from the places, where the events most
remarkable for the world are occurring, and imprisoned al-
most constantly from the time of our arrival and still for six
months, to be so in thrilling regions of thick ribbed ice, we
are almost as long in receiving intelligence from the scene of
important action as yourselves. We only knew very lately,
as before this I suppose you know in America, that there is a
negotiation on foot between France and England, but with
little expectation on either part that it will terminate in a
peace. Unhappily for mankind the present state of the world
exhibits the singular phenomenon of two great powers, op-
pressing the whole species under the color of a war against
each other. France and England can do very little harm
comparatively speaking to each other. But the armed
legions of France lay the continent of Europe under the
most enormous contributions to support and enrich them,
while the naval force of England extorts the same tribute
from the commerce of the world. The mass of the people
both in France and England suffers in common with those
of other countries, but the fashion of paying any regard to
the interests of the people is almost abandoned even in
pretence. When we were last in Europe a sort of republican
or democratic spirit was prevalent, not only in the official
pretensions and varying constitutions of France, but in the
398 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
political and literary character of the times. It is scarcely
conceivable what a change in this respect has taken place.
There is not a republic left in Europe. The very name of the
people is everywhere buried in oblivion. In England the
great concerns upon which all the passions of the country
concentrate themselves, are intrigues and cabals of princes
and ministers to supplant one another, and the prices of
seats at the playhouse. In France and the rest of Europe
king-making and king-breaking, orders of chivalry and dis-
solutions of marriage, blanchisseusses, princesses and Jacobin
grubs bursting into butterfly princes, dukes and counts,
conscriptions and contributions, famine grinding the people
into soldiers, soldiers sprouting into sultans, fifty or sixty
upstarts wallowing in more than Asiatic luxury, and an iron
harrow tearing up the bowels of the nations. This is the
present history of the times.
The country where we now are has perhaps undergone the
least change of any in Europe since I last saw it, and that
change has been for the better. The Emperor Alexander,
whom the English fame-blowers once extolled to the skies,
and whom they now vainly attempt to degrade, is a char-
acter highly distinguished among the sovereigns of the world.
Young, handsome and elegant in his person, affable and
condescending in his manners, he possesses qualities yet more
important and more commendable in a powerful and absolute
prince. This spirit of benevolence and humanity is so strong
and so universally recognized, that they who wish to censure
him can only complain that this disposition implies a defect
of energy. How far this may be founded I have not the
means of judging, but I know that his character is not desti-
tute of firmness and perseverance. This system of policy
since the peace with France 1 has been very steadily pur-
1 Signed at Tilsit, July 7, 1806.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 399
sued, though undoubtedly contrary to the passions and
prejudices of almost all the persons by whom he is sur-
rounded. It has, indeed, been hitherto remarkably success-
ful, and the English party now has consequently lost much
of its strength. Still, however, it would predominate but
for his steadiness and decision. This regard for our country,
which he has manifested upon many occasions, and in one
very recent instance as I have mentioned to you, is a proof
not less of wisdom than of goodness. It indicates a mind
capable of appreciating distant objects and remote conse-
quences, one of the rarest and most valuable consequences
that a statesman can possess. It has extended the bounds of
his Empire, though, as he himself said to me, it is already
too large; but his new acquisitions have certainly con-
tributed to its security, as well as its extent. . . .
TO GEORGE JOY
St. Petersburg, 19 February, 18 10.
Sir:
Since I last wrote you by Mr. Berry, the second mate of
the bark William Gray, I have received your favor of 9 Jan-
uary, inclosing the letter from our friend Mr. Williams, 1
of which you had previously transmitted to me a copy, and
containing the questions respecting the prospects of trade
to and from this country, which in your preceding letter you
had intimated to me the intention of forwarding to me.
These questions I regret that it is not in my power to
answer so confidently, as to furnish a solid foundation for
your communications to your correspondents in America.
It is rather from America or from England that the destinies
1 Samuel Williams, a nephew of Timothy Pickering.
4 oo THE WRITINGS OF [1810
of commerce during the present year are to be learnt, than
from Russia. We are still ignorant here what the course of
the British government towards the United States will be
since the termination of Mr. Jackson's mission. We are still
more ignorant what will be the course pursued by the United
States. The newspapers inform us that the frigate John
Adams , after landing her money at Amsterdam, is to proceed
to Copenhagen, so that I presume you will receive by her
direct intelligence from our government upon which you can
place more reliance than upon any I can give you.
As to this country you are doubtless acquainted with the
fact, that notwithstanding the rigorous prohibition of com-
mercial intercourse with England, the quantity of Russian
produce exported to the British islands in the course of the
last year was greater than ever was known in any one year
before. But while the trade of export has been only for-
bidden, that of import has been in a great measure pre-
vented, and the balance has been very large against England.
It is not improbable that you have penetrated the real policy
of France in favoring this state of things, which perhaps may
be still more encouraged the present year than it has been
the last. But how far this system as it operates will suit the
British government appears not yet very clear. The minis-
terial pamphleteers and Sir Francis DTvernois insist upon it,
that England prospers under it to such a degree that her only
danger is of perishing of plethora. It may be so, and perhaps
they think it more agreeable to perish by plethora than by
famine. But if his adversaries are willing to drown them-
selves in a butt of Malmsey, I suppose Napoleon will not
very seriously dispute with them the choice of their mode of
submission. But Mr. Jackson has told our government, that
there was no longer any motive in the British government
for adhering to their former Orders of Council of November,
isio] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 401
1807, and perhaps they have found by this time as little rea-
son to be satisfied with the effect of the Order of 1809. This
freedom of importation and obstruction of export may answer
very well at the custom house, but neither the nation nor
the government can be easy under it long. The merchants
here are apprehensive that the impediments to their com-
merce will come from English regulation; that licenses will
be refused, that the Baltic will be blockaded, or that there
will be war between England and the United States. You
are so much nearer the sources of information upon these
subjects than I am, that I must expect it from instead of
giving it to you. I am, etc.
TO WILLIAM EUSTIS
St. Petersburg, 28 February, 18 10.
My dear Sir:
A few days since I was gratified with the receipt of your
very obliging favor of 1 October from Boston, inclosing the
letter to you from General [Wade] Hampton, with a number
of questions respecting the cultivation and management of
hemp in this country, to which I shall pay the most particular
attention. 1 I shall find no difficulty in procuring satisfactory
1 So also Henry Dearborn, of Massachusetts, asked some questions about Siberian
wheat. "Since my arrival in this country, I have made frequent inquiries, and of
various persons likely to be the best informed upon the subject, respecting the
Siberian wheat. I have learnt with some surprise, not only that no peculiar species
of that grain is cultivated in the province, but that it scarcely produces any wheat
at all; and that the greatest part of the article consumed by its inhabitants is im-
ported from other parts of the Empire, and from Poland. It is added that the
practice of kiln drying is universal, applied to all the wheat raised in every part of
this country, and that none other could be obtained, unless by having it raised for
the special purpose. The Province of Siberia is, indeed, so remote from this capital,
that I meet with scarcely anybody who knows much about it. The virtuosi who
collect cabinets of curiosities, speak of it as a land of rocks and minerals. The
4 o2 THE WRITINGS OF [1S10
answers to all these questions, but I am afraid it will be im-
possible to procure the two men as the general desires. A
general law of the country prohibits the expatriation of all
Russian subjects, and the condition of the people practically-
acquainted with the cultivation of hemp, like that of almost
all the people of this country, is to be appendages to the soil.
This principle is so rooted in their constitution, that a con-
veyance of land implies the conveyance of its occupiers, and
that the occupiers cannot legally be sold without the land.
Hence too the estimation and description of lands is drawn
not from admeasurement, but from the number of the
peasants annexed, and I see almost every day in the gazette
lands advertised for sale of so many persons instead of so
many acres. . . .
Your letter was forwarded to me from Gothenburg. Since
receiving it we have had by various other occasions intelli-
gence from America down to the commencement of the
present year. The appearance of our affairs both with Eng-
land and France wear a very serious aspect again. The king
of Great Britain, however, in his speech at the opening of
the present session of Parliament says, 1 he is still willing to
negotiate with us; the change of the British Minister of
foreign affairs may possibly have produced some change of
temper in the cabinet towards America; but if Canning has
been restored, as it is here reported, there is no prospect of
any adjustment of our differences with that country.
The conduct of France towards us continues to be equally
offensive and injurious, though under forms less insulting
than those of the English. The Emperor Napoleon is said to
politicians are acquainted with it as a land of exile; but excepting that it contains
malachite and malefactors there is very little more generally known about it here
than in Boston." To Henry Dearborn, April 25, 18 10.
1 January 23, 1810, printed in Annual Register, 1810, 430.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 403
pursue this policy against the opinions of all his ministers.
There is perhaps something of personal feeling in this. He
doubtless knows that his own character is not much es-
teemed in America, and he has no affection for republics.
He told some deputation that was sent to him the other day,
that monarchy was as necessary to France as the sun to the
system of the universe.
He has been making propositions for peace to the British
government, and is said to have offered to restore Portugal
and Spain as far north as the river Ebro to their proper sov-
ereigns, and for the rest to treat upon the basis of the uti
■possidetis. He probably knows that these terms will be re-
jected by England, but he intends it as a preliminary to his
project of extending the bounds of France to the Maas on
the north, and to the Ebro on the south. With this he in-
tends also to unite his kingdom of Italy, and then to assume
a new imperial dignity. This is not all. He has conceived
the idea that heroes like himself are a species susceptible of
being propagated, and that he only wants a suitable wife to
produce a Napoleon the second, whom he can train up in his
own principles for the benefit of mankind. He has therefore
obtained the dissolution of his marriage with the Empress
Josephine, and the politicians of Europe are lost in the depth
of conjecture, who is the princess that is to bear the future
ruler of the western empire.
You will perceive by the dispatches which I have trans-
mitted to the Secretary of State since my arrival here, that
the disposition of the Emperor of Russia towards the United
States affords a happy contrast with those of France and
England. Of this disposition you will find that something
more than mere profession has been shown, and perhaps it
would be prudent to avail ourselves of the present moment
to secure by a commercial treaty advantages which it may
4 o 4 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
not always be in our power to obtain. The relations between
this country and ours have been regarded with an eye of
rivalry and of jealousy by the British, and their influence
here in ordinary times will always be, as it has heretofore
been, exerted against us.
There is certainly not in the Russian empire a person
possessing sentiments so strongly favorable to the United
States as the Chancellor Count Romanzoff, as there is with
equal certainty none so highly in the personal confidence of
the Emperor. This reputation for integrity is beyond all
reproach; but as his system of policy is anti-Britannic, he is
most notoriously hated by all the British party in this coun-
try. This party among the high nobility is numerous and
powerful, though its influence is perfectly lifeless so long as
the will of the sovereign is opposed to it. If any circum-
stances should occur to remove Count Romanzoff from the
principal direction of affairs, we should lose in him a very
valuable friend. The personal good will of the Emperor, too,
from the frequent occasions upon which he has manifested it,
and the manner in which the sense of it has been received and
acknowledged by the American government, has acquired in
his mind the force of a sentiment, and the increasing inter-
course between the countries will, I hope, contribute to give
it additional strength. I could wish that a moment so favor-
able might be improved to the permanent advantage of our
country. If we suffer it to pass away, a century may not
give us such another.
22 March, 1 8 10.
It is no longer uncertain who is to be the Empress of
France. To the utter amazement of all Europe the lot has
fallen upon an Austrian archduchess, the eldest daughter of
the Emperor Francis. The consequences of this new alliance
are expected to be as important to the future destinies of the
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
405
European continent, as they will be fatal to the influence
of Great Britain.
The English government have rejected t«he propositions
for a negotiation of peace, and French troops are taking
possession of Holland. What the object of the war now is to
England is not easy to discover. Spain is gone. Portugal
she still talks of defending but will soon evacuate; the exclu-
sion of their commerce from the continent of Europe will be
attempted with renewed vigor, and the war upon all com-
merce according to all appearances will be more unrelenting
than it has been at any period hitherto.
The letters from M. de Champagny to the Dutch Minister
of Foreign Affairs and to General Armstrong * sufficiently
indicate the inflexibility with which the continental system
will be pursued by France. They seem to put the only ques-
tion of the war upon the Orders of Council of Novem-
ber, 1807, and upon the point of Proclamation blockades, for
the legality of real blockades is expressly recognized. I have,
indeed, understood from good authority that in the plan of
pacification concerted between France and Russia, no aban-
donment of any principle maintained of ancient time by
England would be required of her. She would even probably
be left in possession of Malta, the peppercorn for which she
thought proper to go to war. But if she still intends to fight
down the aggrandizement of France as M. Champagny says,
the war will be long. I am, etc.
1 "The French newspapers have given to the world the late letter of the Minister
of Foreign Affairs to you. It would seem that if this publicity of negotiation is
intended for the purpose of operating upon public opinion, it would be marked with
something like reciprocity, and that both sides of the correspondence should be
exhibited. It might, however, be of little use to us to have the best of the argument
in print, unless with words as mild and with propositions as plausible as those ad-
dressed to you, we could at the same time sell as many vessels and cargoes au
benefice du Fisc" To John Armstrong, March 24, 1810. Ms. Champagny's letter
4 o6 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 12. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 24 March, 1810.
Sir:
I have received the letter which you did me the honor to
write me on the 4th of December last, together with the
copies of your dispatches to Mr. Pinkney of 1 1 November,
and to General Armstrong of 1 December, 1 and three copies
of the President's message, and the documents relative to the
negotiations with France and England published by order
of the House of Representatives.
These papers were forwarded to me by General Armstrong
and were brought from Paris by a courier dispatched by the
Russian Ambassador, Prince Kurakin, to Count Romanzoff.
I sent the Count a copy of the message and documents, and
a few days afterwards had an interview with him, in which
he told me that the Baron de Blome, the Danish minister
had communicated to him the answer of his court, to the
application made by order of the Emperor, for the release of
the American vessels and property which had been se-
questered in the ports of Holstein. This answer was, that
the Danish government would pay the most particular at-
tention to the interest which the Emperor had taken upon
this occasion; that they would give all possible dispatch to
the proceedings; and that their own wishes were entirely
conformable to the desire of the Emperor manifested upon
this subject. The Count expressed his satisfaction that the
opportunity which the Emperor had thus taken to show his
to Armstrong, February 14, 1810, is in American State Papers, Foreign Relations,
III. 380.
1 The letter to Armstrong is in American State Papers, Foreign Relations, III. 326.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 407
friendship for the United States had been attended with this
success. He regretted that the commerce of the United
States elsewhere appeared still to be subject to seizures and
ill-treatment, and that altogether it seemed impossible there
should be any safe commerce until the peace. That the
profligacy with which the English, under at least the obvious
connivance of their government were attempting to carry
on their trade with fraud and forgery was such as he could
not reflect upon without astonishment. The English were
a nation illustrious by the men of genius and learning, dis-
tinguished in the arts and sciences whom they had produced,
illustrious by the degree of power and importance in the
affairs of the world, which they had attained. Their com-
merce also had been very extensive, and although it was
known that in their commercial intercourse with others their
activity and enterprize gave them advantages, of which they
were always eager to make the most they could; that they
would make those with whom they would treat commit as
many faults as they could lead them into, and turn them
with all their ingenuity and address to their own benefit. In
short that they had an extraordinary talent at making profit-
able bargains, yet there was a sort of integrity to the reputa-
tion of which they had always aspired, and which they had
acquired. A British merchant had been considered as a
man of principle, who would disdain for the mere profits of
trade to participate in a base or infamous transaction. But
now, said the Count, I will give you a sample of what are
the principles of British merchants. There arrived in our
ports last autumn thirteen ships and cargoes, which entered
as coming from the port of Lisbon, under neutral colors.
Among the documents which they exhibited was a certificate
of origin apparently under the hand and seal of the Russian
consul at Lisbon. This gentleman has long been personally
4 o8 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
well known to me, and I have a high esteem for his character
and good conduct; in which point of view I have often men-
tioned him to the Emperor himself. I had no reason on
seeing these certificates of origin to doubt from the appear-
ance of the hand or seal, of their authenticity; but as the
vessels have been detained here over winter by the ice, and
as I had time in that interval to get an answer from him, I
took good measures to get a letter transmitted to him, with
a list of these vessels, and of the documents apparently ex-
ecuted by him and an enquiry whether these were all au-
thentic. I have lately received his answer, and not one of
the documents is genuine. The whole thirteen are forgeries.
Now I ask, what difference in principle there is between this
case, and the same transaction upon the seal of a deed or the
signature of a bill of exchange? And what is one to think of
a government which licenses people to trade on such docu-
ments? He then continued that the charge des affaires of
the Queen of Portugal had urgently insisted for the admis-
sion of Portuguese vessels from Lisbon. This was impossible.
The Emperor had made no change in his relations with Portu-
gal. He was not at war with Portugal, he continued to receive
Mr. Navarro as the Queen's charge des affaires. Portuguese
vessels from Brazil, or elsewhere, not enemy's ports, would be
freely admitted; but from places notoriously in possession of
the English, it could not be, without making a burlesque of
the imperial ordinances against trading with the English.
On some allusion that I made to the conduct of the French
government and its dependencies towards the United States,
which I told him would powerfully negotiate in America in
favor of England, he asked me whether I knew that Colonel
Burr was gone to Paris. 1 I said I had heard he was arrived
1 Burr had reached Paris February 16. The Private Journal of Aaron Burr,
printed by W. K. Bixby, is silent upon an application for a passport to Russia.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 409
there. He said he did not know of his arrival; but that he
knew from a certain source that he was gone there. He said
Colonel Burr had written a letter to him requesting per-
mission to come here; but that not being desirous of encour-
aging people who had fled from the violated laws of their
own country, to come into this, he had not answered his
letter. If he wanted to come here he must make his ap-
plication through the minister of the United States, at whose
request he would have been readily admitted. The Count
added some enquiries respecting the project heretofore
undertaken by Colonel Burr, and from all his conversation
taken together, it appeared to me to be his impression that
this project was not yet altogether abandoned. Some of the
English newspapers have asserted in positive terms that the
Colonel had proposed to the French government a plan for
effecting a separation of the States; that he had while in
England made the same proposition to the British ministry
with the declared purpose of making it if rejected by them
to France. It does not appear from whose confidence the
publishers of these paragraphs obtained their information.
If overtures of this nature were really made by Mr. Burr to
the British ministers, you have doubtless more unequivocal
intelligence of them than through the medium of newspaper
secrets. Mr. Burr's movements from England to Sweden,
and thence through Denmark, Hamburg, and Frankfort to
Paris, have been watched and noted by the governments of
Europe, as well as by the publishers of newspapers; and from
the repeated mention made of him to me by Count Roman-
zoff, I am persuaded that he considers him as a person still
entitled to attention.
Since I saw the Count, he has concluded with Mr. Navarro,
the Portuguese charge des affaires, a convention renewing
for one year the treaty between Portugal and Russia, which
4 io THE WRITINGS OF [1810
had expired; but with the modification which the Count in
his conversation with me had mentioned as necessary; that
is, that the admission of Portuguese vessels is confined to
those which come from Brazil, or the American dominions
of Portugal, and does not extend to the ports of the European
kingdom.
I have the honor to enclose copies of a note, which I
received some time since from Count Romanzoff, and of my
answer, which a severe indisposition prevented me from
sending to him until the time of its date. It is much to be
lamented that the misconduct of any of our citizens should
have such a tendency to counteract the friendly dispositions
of the Emperor; and the repetition of any such outrage
would certainly lead to measures of restriction upon all Amer-
icans coming into this country, which would subject them
to serious inconveniences. If this Captain Arnold can be
brought to answer for his conduct on this occasion, by any
constitutional process in our tribunals, the nature of his
offence deserves the most exemplary punishment. But en-
tertaining doubts, both with regard to the point of jurisdic-
tion, and to the means of proof which would be necessary
for his conviction, I have avoided in my answer leading to
the expectation of a positive prosecution of Captain Arnold
in the United States. Perhaps the Emperor may be satis-
fied with this, but I have to request the President's instruc-
tions what I am to answer further upon the subject; particu-
larly if the Count should recur to it again hereafter.
I have the honor, etc.
isio] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 411
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 13. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 30 March, 1810.
Sir:
A few days since I received from a Mr. Sicard, a merchant
established at Odessa, a letter informing me of the arrival
at that place of an American vessel, the Calumet, Captain
Holms, from Constantinople, having on board a Mr. Green,
who had written to me from Constantinople, but whose letter
has not yet come to my hands. Captain Holms it appears
was the bearer of a letter of recommendation from Mr.
DaschkofT to the Duke de Richelieu, the Governor of Odessa.
The French consul at that place in the first instance mani-
fested some suspicion that the Calumet was an English vessel,
with simulated American colors, but is stated to have been
satisfied, on information of the letter from Mr. DaschkofT.
It is stated that this vessel is the first which has ever dis-
played the flag of the United States, upon the Black Sea.
Mr. Sicard mentions that he expects in the course of a few
days the arrival of another vessel, commanded by a Captain
Ropes, from Constantinople. By what means they obtained
admission to Constantinople, and to navigate the Black Sea,
I have not been informed. Probably the letter from Mr.
Green which I have not received contained an explanation
of this event.
By the note from Count RomanzofF, of which I have the
honor to enclose herewith a copy, you will perceive the
light in which this circumstance is viewed by the Russian
government. The establishment at Odessa is an object of
peculiar interest and favor to the Emperor Alexander, and
if a free access to the navigation of the United States could
4 i2 THE WRITINGS OF [x8io
be obtained and secured upon the Black Sea, it would un-
doubtedly open a new and most important source of profit
to the commerce of our country.
At the close of my answer to Count Romanzoff's note, a
copy of which is likewise enclosed, I requested a personal
interview with him; for which he appointed the ensuing
morning. My objects in wishing a conversation with him,
related to the case of an American vessel and cargo, which
have been seized and condemned at Archangel, for infrac-
tions of the imperial ukase of 9 May, 1809, the owner of
which, Mr. George Cutts, has passed the winter here, and
the restitution of whose property I was desirous if possible
of obtaining; and also to intelligence recently received from
Copenhagen, that a large number of privateers are fitting
out in the ports of Denmark, and that a new privateering
ordinance is to be issued by the government of that country.
This information has given great alarm to the Americans
now here, and who are preparing to return to the United
States at the opening of the navigation. Though I do not
apprehend that there will be much danger of molestation
from that quarter to vessels going from this country, and
out of the Baltic, yet as undoubtedly vessels coming hither,
especially if laden with what are termed colonial articles,
will be intercepted by the Danish privateers, if they should
again issue with the authority of their government, I wished
if possible to engage the influence of this government to
secure the freedom of our navigation to its ports.
Mr. Cutts's vessel, the Intercourse, 1 entered at Archangel
as coming from the port of Bilbao, but it appeared upon the
examination of the commissioners, that she came last from
Gothenburg; and she entered before the conclusion of the
1 Sailing from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in February, 1807.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 413
peace, between Sweden and Russia. 1 She was also not pro-
vided with a role d'equipage, or muster roll, duly authenti-
cated to prove the neutrality of her company. The sentence
of the commissioners also mentions, that Mr. Cutts had no
passport for himself. These were certainly causes for con-
demnation conformably to the imperial ordinance. Mr.
Harris had some time since presented a note to Count
Romanzoff, claiming the restitution of the property on the
ground of right. In my conversation with the Count I en-
deavored without abandoning that to bespeak a disposition
of indulgence. The want of so material a paper as the at-
tested muster roll, and the entrance from an enemy's port,
in direct contravention against the law of the Empire leave
but little prospect of success to the application upon either
principle; and although Count Romanzoff has promised to
give the subject due consideration, I have no doubt but that
the property will remain finally condemned.
I mentioned to the Count the intelligence from Copen-
hagen, that a new swarm of privateers was fitting out, and
that a new sanction for their depredations was about to issue
from their government. I suggested to him the apprehension
that they might even obstruct the passage of our vessels
going home from the ports of this country, and that they
probably would arrest many on their way hither coming
from America. And the freedom of this commerce being
no less advantageous to the interests of Russia than of the
United States, I observed that an intimation from this gov-
ernment to the court of Denmark, of an expectation that
the avenues to the Russian ports, would not be stopped to
the lawful commerce of neutrals, might prevent the excesses
which the experience of the last year has given too much
reason to expect from Danish privateers. The Count said
1 September 17, 1809. Annual Register, 1809, 784.
4 i4 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
that if the passage of vessels lawfully trading and coming to
this country or going from it should be impeded, this gov-
ernment might indeed address reclamations to the court of
Denmark; but he did not see the possibility of making any
remonstrance of that nature, by way of anticipation, or of
stating an objection against the issuing of commissions to
privateers, or of an ordinance for their regulation. He
added that if this step should be taken by the Danish gov-
ernment, it would undoubtedly be at the instigation of
France, in which case, a remonstrance from elsewhere could
not much avail; that he lamented the distressing situation of
commerce in general, but that there was no remedy for it,
but in a general peace. England and France in the pursuit
of their measures appeared equally violent and inflexible,
and no relaxation on either side was to be expected until
they could come to terms of peace.
The remainder of the conversation was relative to the
general state of affairs, 1 and to the probability of a negotia-
tion for peace, of which the Count appears to be extremely
desirous; which the interest of Russia very forcibly requires;
but which from the composition of the British ministry the
Count considers as yet very distant. By the late accounts
from England, it is probable that some change in the min-
istry will soon take place, but he sees no appearance of such
a change as will lead to peace — a mere change of men;
without that essential change of political system, to which
England must come before any rational hopes of peace can
be entertained. If the change should bring in Mr. Canning,
it would only make the continuance of the war more cer-
tain. Even if Lord Grenville and Lord Grey should come in
at the head of a new ministry, the prospect in his opinion
would not be much more favorable. Lord Grenville he
1 More fully related in Memoirs, March 27, 1810.
isio] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 415
thinks, only disapproves the mode of carrying on war by
expeditions, and if he should be at the head of affairs, would
recur to his old system of fighting with subsidies.
Whether any relaxation of the system pursued for the last
two years, is to be expected from Great Britain, is yet un-
certain. That of France is more violent, and more deter-
mined than ever. From every measure of the French gov-
ernment since their last peace with Austria, it is apparent
that in order to prevent the trade between Great Britain
and the continent, it will not be suffered in any vessels, of any
nation. The confiscations of American vessels and their
cargoes which have lately taken place in Spain, and Naples as
well as in France, are but the indications of the fate which
will await our commerce, in every part of the European con-
tinent. I trust there will yet be an exception for those
which may reach the ports of Russia; but if Denmark should
again commission her privateers, the Baltic will be closed
against our trade almost as effectually as the other European
seas.
I am, etc.
P. S. — Mr. J. S. Smith, arrived this evening from Stock-
holm; having been finally obliged to come round the gulph
of Bothnia by land. He was accompanied by Mr. Maclure,
and in good health. 1
1 "You are accused by the English newspapers of April 9th in the following
terms: 'The American minister is the meddling advocate for the exclusion of Amer-
ican vessels from the Russian ports, under pretence of preventing the frauds prac-
tised under the American flag; but in reality in prosecution of the Jeffersonian anti-
commercial system.' And this sensible paragraph is copied into the federal papers,
without any comment and to pass where it will for truth. The British party wish to
render the mission to Russia as unpopular as possible." Abigail Adams to John
Quincy Adams, May 28, 18 10. Ms.
4 i6 THE WRITINGS OF [z8io
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 14. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 19 April, 1810.
Sir:
Since I had the honor of writing you last, I have had no
further direct information concerning the American vessel
which had arrived at Odessa. The letter which Mr. Green
the supercargo of the vessel had written me from Constanti-
nople has not come to hand, but by a subsequent letter from
the same gentleman to Mr. Harris I learn that the necessities
of the Turkish government arising from the scarcity of grain
at Constantinople had procured the admission of this vessel
and of several others to the Black Sea. A Turkish merchant
had contracted to obtain twenty cargoes of wheat at Odessa,
if the Russian government should permit exportation; and
as a neutral flag was necessary to secure admission into the
Russian ports, this and some other American vessels were
engaged for the purpose, and with the assent of the Porte,
proceeded into the Black Sea. On their arrival at Odessa,
however, they found the exportation of grain to the Turkish
dominions prohibited, and are therefore unable to perform
that part of the contract in consideration of which the
rigor of the Turkish prohibitions had been relaxed in their
favor. Whether under these circumstances they will be
allowed to repass the Straits without molestation from the
Turks may be problematical. The note which I received on
the subject from Count Romanzoff, and of which I trans-
mitted you a copy, shows how favorable the disposition
of this government is to the extension which our commerce
would receive by a free admission to that part of the Russian
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 417
dominions; but the jealousy of the French consul at Odessa
was roused by the appearance of the American flag, which he
naturally enough considered as assumed to disguise an Eng-
lish vessel; and since the arrival of several others, bearing
the same colors, the number of which the rumors of this
capital have exaggerated to forty, the French Ambassador
has manifested a similar jealousy to Count Romanzoff. The
Count who informed me of this last week had not received
any official intelligence of the arrival of any other vessel than
the first, which he told me he had assured the Ambassador
was bona fide and certainly American; having brought a letter
of recommendation from Mr. Daschkoff himself to the Duke
de Richelieu, the governor of Odessa.
The relations between France and Russia, have apparently
been themselves somewhat affected by the recent changes in
the state of European affairs; and most especially in con-
sequence of the new alliance between France and Austria,
formed by the marriage of the Emperor Napoleon with the
Archduchess Maria Louisa, eldest daughter of the Emperor
of Austria. In the late war between France and Austria
Russia was at least in point of form a party as auxiliary to
France. And in the treaty of peace it was stipulated that a
territory containing four hundred thousand inhabitants in
the province of Galicia should be ceded by Austria to Russia.
Soon after the conclusion of the peace, an Austrian officer of
rank, Count St. Julien, arrived here, authorised to treat for
the execution of this stipulation, but without being vested
with any formal diplomatic character. In arranging the
convention to carry the cession into effect, a question was
made by Russia, which arose from a mode of computing
inhabitants peculiar to this country. By a territory of so
many inhabitants they understand the number not of souls,
but of families; and they considered this as the proper con-
4 i8 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
struction to be given to the stipulation of cession made in
their favor. As the treaty had been between Austria and
France, it was agreed to refer for the meaning of this article
to the opinion of the French government, which was given
in favor of Austria. In this decision, Russia did not hesitate
to acquiesce, and the convention has been concluded and
ratified by both sovereigns accordingly. A circumstance
which has excited much more the attention of political ob-
servers, because as an omission of formalities it has been
more generally known, is, that to this day there has been
no public and formal communication of this marriage, made
to the Russian government, either by Austria or France.
The negotiation which terminated in this contract of mar-
riage was not only kept a profound secret to the Russian
Ambassador at Paris, but he was even led to believe and to
communicate to his court the belief that the choice of the
Emperor Napoleon had fixed upon a different person. I am
told that there has been a confidential communication of the
marriage, made by the French Ambassador here to the Em-
peror Alexander in person, and this account is in all prob-
ability true; for one of the first noblemen and principal
ministers of the Empire, Prince Alexis Kurakin, brother of
the Russian Ambassador at Paris, is appointed Ambassador
extraordinary to compliment the Emperor Napoleon upon
this event, and is already gone to execute this mission. But
symptoms of regret have been suffered to appear in official
French papers at the sacrifice which Sweden was compelled
to make of Finland, at the late peace of Fredericshamn, and
the Emperor of the French has himself declared that he will
protect the Porte if the Sultan will extricate himself from the
influence of England. Russia wages at this moment a war of
oppressive expense, and of equivocal success against the
Porte. The Emperor Alexander wishes much the termina-
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 419
tion of this war, but considers it indispensable to obtain at
the peace the entire sovereignty of the provinces of Moldavia
and Wallachia. The assent of France to this arrangement
has already been obtained, but there is some reason to be-
lieve that now France will not be displeased, if eventually the
war should conclude without securing this new accession to
the Russian dominions. This disposition might acquire new
strength also, if the Porte, by breaking off all connection
with England, should lay a claim to the Emperor Napoleon's
promise of protection. But the point upon which a difference
between the policy of France and of Russia may be the most
difficult to conciliate, is that of the commercial intercourse
with England, which, though severely forbidden by the
Russian ordinances, was carried on through the course of
the last year to a great extent. This commerce, altogether
advantageous to Russia, highly important to her revenues,
and in the present condition of her finances, perhaps of ab-
solute necessity to preserve her from a formal bankruptcy, is
however incompatible with the design of the French Em-
peror, to annihilate the commerce of England with the con-
tinent of Europe. The measures which in the pursuit of his
purpose he has successively imposed upon Denmark, Sweden,
Austria, Holland, the Rhenish Confederation, and Prussia,
have already been made known to you. They will all how-
ever prove ineffectual while the intercourse between England
and Russia can be kept open. The necessity of strong meas-
ures to render the former prohibitions effectual, have been
and continue to be pressed upon this government by France,
and have not yet been entirely successful. I wish, though
without very confidently hoping that the regulations which
Russia may finally be prevailed upon to adopt, our own com-
merce may be altogether exempted from that proscription,
which will again be denounced against the commerce of
4 2o THE WRITINGS OF [1810
England — that commerce which like the hind of Dryden's
fable has been so often "doomed to death, though fated not
to die."
The English government has not neglected the opportunity
which the declining ardor of the political harmony between
France and Russia seemed to present, for producing a rup-
ture between them. The English party here have been active
in such proceedings as the nature of the government would
admit, and secret propositions have been made from Eng-
land for a separate negotiation with Russia, which have been
rejected with pointed decision. The ascendancy of France
at this court will without doubt be more firmly secured by
the result of her new alliance with Austria, even if it should
be brought to the test by the requisition of measures the
most repugnant to the inclinations of the government, as
well as to the interests of the nation.
I have the honor, etc.
TO THOMAS BOYLSTON ADAMS
St. Petersburg, 21 April, 1810.
• ••••••
I have hitherto scarcely written you anything upon the
political affairs of Europe. Events, which in ordinary times
would be considered as of extraordinary magnitude, succeed
one another in such rapid succession, that I should hardly
have had the means of sending away a view of the public
appearance of Europe, before it would have assumed a new
one. At the time when I embarked at Charlestown, a war
almost universal was raging upon this continent. Since then
the peace of Sweden has been concluded with Russia, with
Denmark, and with France; that of France and Russia with
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 421
Austria has been succeeded by the dissolution of marriage
between the Emperor Napoleon, and his second marriage
with the eldest daughter of the Emperor of Austria. The
consequences anticipated from this last event, the most un-
expected of any of those which I have mentioned, are greater
than from all the others together. It has not only given the
most cheering hopes to the house of Austria that it will be
preserved from the downfall of the Bourbons, but the whole
continent of Europe considers it as a pledge of future peace
and tranquillity, which may very possibly not be realized.
Its tendency to consolidate and give stability to the new im-
perial family of France is more obvious and more certain.
Napoleon is the Croesus of the age, and those who believe
that the universe is governed by the wisdom and goodness
of a superior being, can only recur to the caution of Solon,
and beware of pronouncing upon a man's fortune until they
have witnessed his end.
In the meantime everything that occurs in the world seems
to be fashioned in subserviency to his views. British politi-
cians and their disciples throughout the world have hitherto
found no other expedient, than to stimulate resistance against
him where it could not fail to be subdued, and to stigmatize
the victims which they have successively offered up in sacri-
fice to him. He said, or wrote on a late occasion, that the
genius of France had directed the British government in
their expedition to the Scheldt; but a genius favorable to
him appears to have inspired the British councils from the
moment when, in the face of their engagements, they set
him at defiance, to keep possession of the island of Malta.
To those who feel a real concern for the independence of
nations and the liberties of mankind, it is truly mortifying
to observe the little men and the little means, by which the
great powers and resources of England are wasted in this
422 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
contest. When we read in ancient history the final struggle
between Rome and Carthage, we see the triumph of one
system of political institutions over another, but the great-
est man is on the vanquished side. Now we have a more
melancholy spectacle, the superior system of political insti-
tutions defeated by the individual imbecility of its sup-
porters. That it may remain no secret to the world, a par-
liamentary inquiry has been many weeks employed to expose
it in its minutest and most disgusting details. The expedi-
tion to Walcheren is but a single specimen of the manner in
which the great affairs of the British nation are managed.
It appears to have been undertaken in the fact of what to
men of common sense must have been considered a demon-
stration of its impracticability. Its conduct was then
committed to a man, 1 who would hardly have been fit to
take possession of the place after its capitulation. Twenty
thousand men are sent into the midst of a notorious pesti-
lence, and when the physician general of the army is ordered
to go to their relief, he positively refuses on the avowed
ground that he knows nothing about contagious distempers.
When this wise undertaking comes to its natural termina-
tion, the ministers try to throw the blame of the failure upon
their colleague the general. The general puts it off upon his
coadjutor the commander of the fleet. 2 One intrigues against
his associates with the king, another betrays his friend by a
sham defence of his in Parliament. Ignorance and folly ap-
pear alike conspicuous in all, and those are the antagonists
who are to maintain the balance of the world against the
genius and the fortune of Bonaparte.
The choice of Mr. Jackson, and the manner in which he
executed his mission in America, furnish another chapter of
1 John Pitt, second Earl of Chatham (1756-1835).
2 Sir Richard John Strachan (1760-1828).
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 423
the same history perfectly corresponding with it in its char-
acteristic features. Fortunately both for England and for
us, when Mr. Jackson's hard studied vivacities and their
effects come back to Europe, the facetious and spirited
gentleman, 1 who had sent him out to repair the cracks and
flaws of his master's dignity, was laid up with a lame leg,
caught in the attempt to trip up the heels of a ministerial
colleague, 2 and was engaging the leisure of a temporary re-
tirement from the Cabinet.
His successor, 3 of whose personal character I have little
knowledge, appears at least to be gifted with a little more dis-
cretion, and has not undertaken to bear out Mr. Jackson in
his lofty pretensions and fiery temper. What the actual
state of our affairs with England is I am not authentically
informed, but the rumors of the Gazette announce that a
new convention has been signed by Mr. Pinkney and the
Marquis Wellesley, to take effect in case it should be ratified
by the American government.
It is much to be wished that this may be true. If it should
prove so, and our commercial and amicable intercourse with
England should be restored, I am persuaded that France and
her dependents will follow the example. At present they
are heaping outrage upon outrage in their treatment of us.
If our merchants have not been allowed to arm their vessels,
nine-tenths of those which may hazard a European voyage
will meet no other reception than seizure and confiscation.
But if we could once make an arrangement with England
consistent with our right and our honor, our commerce is
competent to defend itself against all other force that it
1 Canning.
2 Castlereagh. The reference is to the duel between the two men, Canning being
slightly wounded in the thigh.
3 Richard Colley Wellesley, Marquess Wellesley (1760-1842).
4 2 4 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
would meet upon the ocean, and to teach once more a lesson
of forbearance and moderation to France and all her de-
pendants. Would I might see that day!
Remember me duly to all our dear friends around you.
We enjoy as good health as this excessively severe climate
can be expected to admit. I have received the Patriot down
only to the 4th of November, and read its columns with
great interest and pleasure. The letter to Congress in 1781
about the invasion of Zealand by the English was a prophecy
just now fulfilled. 1 Ever affectionately yours.
TO JOHN ADAMS
St. Petersburg, 30 April, 18 10.
My dear Sir:
.......
The reception which my family and myself have met here
has been everything that we could desire. The disposition
of the Emperor towards the United States was manifested
in the strongest and most friendly terms by him at my first
audience, and has been frequently repeated by his principal
minister, the Chancellor, Count Romanzoff, from that time
to the present. The personal attentions which we have re-
ceived have been so numerous, that with my habits and
feelings, the only cause of complaint has been the mode of
life in which they have necessarily involved us, a mode of life,
for which neither the taste nor the constitutions of most of
us were suited. At the hazard of giving offence by denying
a great proportion of the hospitable civilities crowded upon
us, I have extricated myself from a course of dissipation in
which we should otherwise have been inevitably involved,
*The letter is dated January i, 1781, and is in the Boston Patriot, November 4,
1809, but is not in the Works of John Adams.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 425
and which is as incompatible with the habits of industry to
which I have been used, as with those of economy, which my
situation so imperiously imposes upon us.
Of the continuance of these amicable dispositions towards
my country I still receive frequent marks by communica-
tions from the Chancellor, nor have I any reason to appre-
hend any unfavorable change, as long as this government
shall follow the impulsion of its principles and interests.
The Emperor and his ministers are thoroughly convinced
that all the relations existing between the United States and
this country are beneficial to Russia; that they are already
important, and susceptible of being made much more so.
But how far these sentiments may be found to yield occa-
sionally to a French or English influence, is beyond my power
of anticipation to say. They arose and acquired their
strength in opposition to an English influence, which for
many years predominated at this court with irresistible
power. It is now not at all favored by a French influence,
almost as overruling, an influence, which instead of being
impaired by the new alliance of France with Austria, will ac-
quire additional vigor from it.
The marriage of the French Emperor with the Austrian
Archduchess is an event which has occasioned great joy
throughout the continent of Europe. The people, who every-
where were shuddering with the anticipation of the rivers of
their blood which might yet flow to swell the great deep of the
conqueror Napoleon's triumphs, now flatter themselves that
this ocean will crave no more supplies. It must be the fer-
vent prayer of humanity that this hope may be realized.
But the bond of marriage is a feeble tie in the way of ambi-
tion, and if it had ever proved strong, Napoleon has already
shown the world what account he makes of it. The tend-
ency of this transaction to establish and consolidate his
42 6 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
power is to my mind more obvious, or rather more certain,
than of its securing tranquillity to the world. This idea has
been expressed more ingeniously in the motto of an illumina-
tion at Amsterdam than I have seen it anywhere else.
"Pax Thalami, Pax Orbis erit." But in this promise I am
afraid the remaining subjects of the king of Holland will find
themselves as much disappointed, as in their project of pre-
serving their national independence by accepting a brother
of the great Napoleon for their king. The nuptial torch is
not formed to extinguish the fires of conquest. For my own
part I perceive no refuge from the past, present and future
miseries of mankind, but in the doctrine of the optimist:
If storms and earthquakes break not Heaven's design,
Why then a Borgia or a Cataline?
One of the greatest admirers of this extraordinary per-
sonage, not long since expressed to me a serious apprehension
that he would some day lay claim to worship from mankind,
as a being of a superior species. Observing that I smiled at
his alarm, he assured me from his own personal knowledge of
the man that he does entertain this idea of himself, and has
repeatedly manifested a propensity to give it out to the
world. He has, indeed, the example of Alexander, and still
more that of Mahomet, before him; and notwithstanding we
live in an age so enlightened, I am not sure that if he chose to
proclaim himself a deity, like Alexander, or a prophet, like
Mahomet, he would not have eight hundred thousand sol-
diers ready to propagate his faith at the point of the bayonet
throughout the habitable world. I can only hope that
among the mysterious dispensations of providence is not in-
cluded that of permitting a fifth part of the human race to
prostrate themselves in adoration before the god Bonaparte.
The transition from infidelity to fanaticism is as easy and as
iSio] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 427
natural as that from unbounded democracy to despotism, a
transition of which France is exhibiting so glorious a demon-
stration. I believe nobody will now deny, that the time has
come which you foretold, when nobody would believe you,
that the very name of republicanism is more detested in
France than that of monarchy ever was at the moment of
its destruction. This hatred of republics is not without its
influence in producing the treatment which we experience
from France, which will continue as long as we suffer the
same sort of treatment from England, if not as long as our
merchants continue to furnish gratuitously temptation and
gratification to the spirit of plunder. I am, etc.
TO JOSEPH PITCAIRN
St. Petersburg, 8 May, 18 10.
My dear Sir:
I received by the last mail your favor of 21 April, which
contains much interesting information, for which I give you
my thanks. I had also duly received your letters of 26 Jan-
uary and 9 February, to which I have not hitherto replied,
partly owing to an indisposition which confined me for some
weeks, and partly from a dearth of any information to re-
turn, which could be interesting to you.
I shall take such steps with respect to the subjects men-
tioned in your last, as may be answerable to your intentions
as well with regard to the Prussian government as concern-
ing your own affair. The conduct of France towards the
United States has been, and continues to be, such that I
have not thought it advisable very assiduously to cultivate
the acquaintance of the French Ambassador here. On one
occasion, an important one, I endeavored to engage his in-
428 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
fluence with his government to change, or at least to mod-
erate, a course of proceeding towards us equally unjust and
impolitic. I found his own dispositions favorable, and I
have no reason to believe them altered; but his influence
with his government is itself perhaps not very great, unless
upon subjects within the province of his office, and he was
not willing to make himself responsible for anything which
might seem to counteract its general policy. Under these
circumstances it will, perhaps, be some time before I can
have an opportunity to speak to him upon your business in
a manner which may be of any service to you, but if the oc-
casion should present itself, you may rely upon everything
on my part which a sense of justice, as well as of an unabated
and ardent desire to serve you, can suggest.
The political and commercial relations between France
and the United States are doubtless in a very unfavorable
and unpromising condition. The measures of France, I be-
lieve, will rather irritate than terrify our countrymen, and
fifty per cent J may be still a fortunate rate of ransom for the
individuals who can extricate themselves by that sacrifice.
The tenth article of the late treaty between France and
Holland speaks as unequivocally the disposition of France
towards the United States, as the condemnations in France,
Spain, Naples and Trieste, on the allegation that French
vessels are so treated in the United States.
It gives me pleasure to learn that the property which had
been sequestered in Holstein has been principally restored.
The new Danish ordinance for the regulation of privateers
gives me some uneasiness, though it is represented as a
moderating qualification of the former law.
The dispositions of the government here continue to be
1 Levying a duty of fifty per cent ad valorem on colonial produce actually in
Holland.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 429
favorable and friendly towards the United States. A great
number of arrivals from America is expected as soon as the
navigation shall be open. The Neva remains yet frozen
over, which so late in the season is almost unexampled. It
cannot, however, last many days longer. I am, etc.
TO WILLIAM EUSTIS
St. Petersburg, 10 May, 18 10.
My dear Sir:
I send you together with this letter some additional in-
formation respecting the cultivation of hemp in this country,
together with a long extract from a French treatise on the
same subject, furnished me by a friend here in answer to
the questions of General Hampton. It appears that there
are no machines in use for the preparation of this plant in
Russia, other than those which are well known throughout
the United States, and which are applied to flax as much as
to hemp.
I write you now in daily expectation that the breaking up
of the river Neva will restore the possibility of navigation
between this country and ours. Twelve or thirteen other
American vessels, besides that in which I came from America,
have been detained here through the long period of a Russian
winter, unusually protracted to this time, and wait only for
the moving of the waters to take their departure. I wish
they may all arrive safe at the places of their destination,
but they are all exposed to the danger at least of Danish
privateers. The proceedings of Denmark during the last
year in relation to the commerce of the United States must
be well known to you. The depredations of their privateers
were so excessive, that before the close of the last summer a
430 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
royal order was issued revoking all their commissions. A
new ordinance has, however, just been promulgated con-
taining a new set of regulations, or rather some slight modifi-
cations under which they were authorized heretofore, but
the effect of which beyond all doubt will be the capture and
condemnation of a great additional mass of American prop-
erty.
Besides the individual American sufferers, who have been
involuntarily detained to claim the justice of the Danish gov-
ernment upon their own cases, Mr. George Joy and Mr.
Forbes have spent the winter at Copenhagen, endeavoring
to give something like official weight to their representations.
The consul of the United States there, Mr. Saabye, being
himself a Danish subject, partner of a commercial house
which probably transacts business for the government, has
been thought by most of our unfortunate countrymen who
needed the benefit of his interposition, not so warm in his
zeal or so active in his exertions for them as the duties of his
office required. But it is very much to be doubted whether
any merely pacific representations would suffice, to over-
power the impulses under which the Danish depredations
upon our commerce have been committed.
Denmark has suffered extremely by the war in which she
was so suddenly and unexpectedly involved. Her commerce
has been almost annihilated. The most profitable source of
her revenues has been nearly drained, and she has been com-
pelled to maintain an army far more numerous than her
population can bear, but which so long as the island of Zea-
land is not invaded, is a burden as useless as it is oppressive.
A small English squadron has been stationed at the pas-
sage of the Sound, which has suffered scarcely any neutral
vessels to go through there. The navigation and commerce
of the Baltic have' been thus forced through the channel of
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 431
the Belt, and Denmark has lost the duties which for many
ages she has been accustomed to levy upon the passage of
the Sound. Most of the American vessels which have come
into the Baltic during the last season have passed through
the Belt, either by their own preference to save the Sound
duties, or to take the benefit of the English convoys, which
has always very readily been allowed, or finally, because
upon presenting themselves at the entrance of the Sound,
they have been stopped by the blockading squadron, and
had no choice left but to come through the Belt or abandon
the voyage. In passing by the Belt, and even in taking
English convoy, the Americans have had no idea of violating
the laws of neutrality, but the Danes entertain a different
opinion. This circumstance has exasperated them not only
against the individual transgressors, but has stimulated
them to animosity against our nation itself. Many Ameri-
cans have navigated under British licenses. Several British
vessels have been detected in attempts to trade under
American colors with forged papers. Almost all the cor-
responding merchants and consignees of Americans in Den-
mark, and generally in the north of Europe, are English
houses, or houses in time of peace engaged in extensive trade
with England. Add to all this the temptation afforded by
the richness of the spoil, and the security felt from the pre-
vailing opinion, that it is utterly defenceless, together with
the sharp and incessant instigations of France, and you may
conclude what prospects await most of the American vessels
which will swarm to the Baltic the ensuing summer.
Among the slight and mutilated accounts which come to
us from America through the medium of French, English and
German newspapers we have heard of a bill or resolution
proposed in Congress by Mr. Burwell, for authorizing con-
voys for our vessels, and also for permitting them to be
432 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
armed and to defend themselves against privateers. 1 I am
persuaded that some provision of this kind would be attended
by the best consequences. There are very few, if any, Eng-
lish privateers out, and as the measure does not propose
resistance against national ships of the belligerents, it would
not probably produce any additional collision with England.
There would doubtless be occasional captures by French
privateers, but not so many as there are in the present state
of things, and they would probably not fare worse. But
against the Danish privateering system it would give a
defense altogether adequate to the need. The numbers and
the force of the British armed vessels on all the Danish coasts
are such, that no Danish privateer of any considerable force
can be fitted out and keep the sea. The privateers which
molested our navigation so much last summer, and those
which I fear will prove most pernicious in the next, are mere
sail boats, often without a deck or even a cannon, which sally
from the harbors just as our vessels are passing before them,
and take them only because the authority to resist is not
allowed to the American.
There have been serious and repeated propositions made
by France to England for opening a negotiation for a general
peace. The Austrian Prime Minister, Count Metternich, 2
has been some time at Paris, and through him I understand
the mediation of Austria has been formally renewed to the
British government. There appears, however, a great aver-
sion to peace in England, and this aversion is not confined to
the ministerial party. They do not yet consider the cause of
Ferdinand VII in Spain as so desperate, that they would be
justified in abandoning their recent treaties in his favor.
The account of affairs in Spain will reach you as soon and
1 Annals of Congress, nth Cong., i. 1225.
2 Clemens Wenzeslas, Prince Metternich (i773 _l8 59)-
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 433
as near the truth as they come here. The European con-
tinent and the British islands exhibit newspapers corre-
sponding to those of our parties in America. The gazettes
of this continent, without exception, are little else than
extracts from the Moniteur and the Journal de V 'Empire.
They say precisely everything which the French government
intends should be said, and nothing more. The English
papers with some variety and much opposition between
themselves, owing to a remnant of liberty left to their press,
say little or nothing of foreign affairs but what their govern-
ment chooses should be said. Almost all their news from the
continent is false. The French practice of suppressing every-
thing which happens unfavorable to them produces, however,
numerous reports of such events, which circulate in whispers,
and which are often unfounded or exaggerated. It is now
currently reported here that they have been defeated in
Spain, on the frontiers of Portugal, and that they will be
obliged to raise the siege of Cadiz. If there is any material
foundation for these rumors, the reluctance of the British to
a negotiation for peace will be stronger than ever. I am, etc.
TO GEORGE JOY
St. Petersburg, ii May, 18 10.
Sir:
I have successively received your favors of 16 March, 10,
14 and 17 April, with the original and English translation of
the late Danish ordinance for the regulation of privateers.
Your letter of April 14 came to hand not until yesterday,
though that of the 17th, with the translation of the instruc-
tions, had been received by the preceding post. I answer all
these letters at once, not because the contents of each of
434 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
them did not require from their interesting character a sep-
arate answer, but because, understanding that the clerks of
the post office at Copenhagen are admitted as third parties
to the confidence of all private correspondence which passes
through their hands, I have not been willing to add to the
severity of their duty the trouble of perusing letters, which
would afford them so little amusement as those which I
might have written you.
That the king of Denmark, his ministers and his people
should be extremely exasperated against England, is not
only natural but perfectly just. Among the examples of
political profligacy and wanton outrage which the European
nations for the last half century have rendered so familiar,
the British attack upon Copenhagen, as far as I have been
able to estimate its merits, stands at the very pinnacle of
infamy. From the little opportunity which I had during
the last autumn to witness the feelings of his Danish maj-
esty's subjects in Norway, and even in the island of Soelland
[Zealand], if anything struck me with peculiar force, it was
the little sensibility manifested upon that atrocious act. For
however the Russian government may be suspected of
connivance at the trade carried on to so great an extent be-
tween this country and England, they could at least retort,
that the Danish dominions have to their full proportion
participated in the same trade.
It appears to me also that proof more unequivocal might
be given of a sincere and just resentment against England,
than by measures specially and avowedly pointed against
Russia and the United States.
Whether the new instructions have in their original lan-
guage more ■precision than their predecessors, I am not
qualified to judge. In the translation which you have been
kind enough to present me I find anything but precision.
isio] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 435
The renewal of privateering under any instructions speaks a
language too intelligible to us Americans, who know that the
really British trade is too well protected to fall within the
grasp of Danish privateers.
It is a circumstance which gave me not less surprise than
pain to learn that Count Bernstorff so positively assured
you, not only before the ordinance issued, that taking Brit-
ish convoy would be cause for suspicion and not for con-
demnation, but even after it was public, that such was the
regulation. It justifies if not requires inferences which I am
not unwilling to make. As to the principle itself, I believe
it to be entirely new and not justifiable upon the application
of any ancient principle of national law. Equitably con-
sidered, no doubt taking hostile convoy affords ground of
suspicion, but it neither makes the ship enemy's property,
nor loads it with contraband. It is, therefore, virtually an
inconsistency to say in one section, that a friend's ship shall
protect the cargo of an enemy, and in another than an
enemy's convoy shall be cause for confiscating a friend's
ship.
With respect to the remainder of this ordinance the fol-
lowing observations have occurred to me. 1. The bonds re-
quired to be given by the owners of privateers are so trifling
that, as a security against misconduct, they might as well give
none; 1000 rix-dollars are not more than equivalent to 300
dollars American currency; 15,000 rix-dollars is the maximum
to be required. If that had been prescribed on the con-
trary as the lowest sum, it would scarcely have been ade-
quate. If the translation is correct, the owners of the pri-
vateers are not even responsible in their property (excepting
the privateer itself) for damage done to the captured ship.
2. Among the papers enumerated as necessary for the
neutral vessel are two at least, which are not customary on
436 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
board American vessels, and which many of them will not
possess, viz. a bill of gauge (distinct from the certificate con-
tained in the register), and a receipt for having paid the cus-
tom or duty. The former Danish privateering laws required
a bill of measurement, but as that is always included in our
registers the courts must have taken that as sufficient. The
new ordinance requires it as a separate paper, and that it
should agree with the measurement in the register. In the
former law the custom house clearance was required; but
how can a receipt for the payment of duties be exhibited
when no duties have been paid? Our constitutional laws
do not allow duties to be levied upon exportation. The
ship's journal is also a document which was not required by
the former law. Possibly the difference in the two other
cases is in the translation, and not in the original language.
It is not to be presumed that the Danish government in-
tended to prescribe papers which they know our ships do not
possess, and to authorize the capture of all vessels not pos-
sessing them. Especially when neither of the papers can
be material to the neutrality.
3. In § 14, the privateer is authorized to compel the com-
mander of the neutral vessel to come on board of him with
the ship's documents. This is also in the former ordinance,
but is it consistent with the law of nations or with equity?
The right of the belligerents, and no nation knows this better
than the Danes, is merely a right to search the neutral. He
has no right to order the captain of the neutral out of his
ship, nor to separate the ship from her papers. Both these
things are extremely inconvenient and dangerous to the
neutral. If I am not misinformed, there is even now at
Copenhagen an American vessel of unquestionable neutral-
ity, condemned in the first instance and in danger of being
so upon the appeal, because in the most imminent peril of
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 437
shipwreck her papers were transported into another vessel,
and could not afterwards be recovered.
4. By § 23, the neutral vessel carried into port is liable,
even upon the first examination of the magistrate, to be un-
loaded, if the privateer insists upon it. This is not in the
former ordinance, and you can judge to what excessive
abuses such a license is liable by privateersmen, who may
be under 1000 rix-dollar bonds, and not worth another
thousand in the world.
I know not whether you will have any opportunity to urge
these objections in a manner which can have any influence
in producing their removal. The deepest injury we have
heretofore suffered, as you remark, has not been owing to the
law, but to the constant violation of every law by the pri-
vateers — to the extraordinary proceedings of the courts,
and to the utter impunity of the privateersmen, even of
those whose outrages were most destitute of every shadow of
pretence.
What Count BernstorfPs information may be, which leads
him to believe that we are upon the eve of an adjustment
with England, is not for me to say; that such an adjustment
will take place appears to me very probable, but I neither
believe nor fear that it will be followed by any additional
hostilities of France towards us. France and her allies,
Denmark included, have been laboring to the utmost of their
power to reconcile us with England. For this we owe them
no obligations. Their services are like that of the man, who
in aiming a dagger at the heart of his friend, opened an ab-
scess, and saved his life. If England has the sense to offer
us terms which it is possible to accept with honor, France
and Denmark too will follow the example. For speaking of
France and her allies, I must in common candor make an
exception in favor of Russia. With resentments if not quite
438 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
so deep, certainly as just and as sincere as those of Denmark
against England, the Emperor of Russia hitherto has distin-
guished the difference between English and Americans, be-
tween inveterate enemies and valuable friends, between war
against maritime usurpation and the plunder of lawful
neutrality.
The Emperor Napoleon has, indeed, shown not a little
address, in bringing so much of his cause at the present period
of his English war upon the British Orders of Council of
November, 1807. On this point the British are as unable to
answer his argument, as they are to shake the crown upon
his head by their arms. They have put themselves in the
wrong, and he is contriving that they shall not have the
merit of treading back their steps without humiliation.
Your observations on the use which may have been made in
negotiation of this French manoeuvre, are ingenious, but
I think the calculation of Napoleon, or rather of him whose
hand is visible in this policy, was directly the contrary. He
was afraid, as you think, that England would yield the
point to us, and started our claim as his own, to kindle Brit-
ish pride in support of British obstinacy against yielding the
point at all. He knew that whenever peace should be on the
carpet, this could not in the nature of things make any ques-
tion between him and England. But he knew that if England
gave up this, she would instantly have all our trade again,
and take from him his pretext for plundering us. He under-
stands the English character well. I hope you in this in-
stance have understood it still better. I am, etc.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 439
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 15. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 19 May, 18 10.
Sir:
• ••••••
I know not upon what recognized principle of the laws of
nations, Denmark can justify the condemnation of neutral
vessels merely for having occasionally joined a British con-
voy. The only principle which can give color to such a doc-
trine is the British fiction that by enjoying a privilege granted
by an enemy which is not allowed in time of peace, neutral
property is transmuted into the property of the enemy. It
is however not to be denied that a belligerent convoy is not
altogether compatible with the privileges and obligations of
neutrality, and it is to be regretted that any of our own ves-
sels have found themselves under the necessity of taking it.
So far as respects the Danes, if one or two of our own frigates
were stationed in the North Sea and in the Baltic, near the
entrance of the passage on both sides of the Belt, they would
be adequate to protect all our merchant vessels against
Danish privateers. This measure I am persuaded would be
attended with happy effects, not only by protecting much
property which will otherwise be lost, but by impressing the
Danish government itself with the idea, that the United
States are not without means of defending their commerce.
The spirit of rapine, of which England and France are ex-
hibiting such extraordinary examples, is infectious. Den-
mark is suffering beyond the bounds of endurance by the
war, into which she was so wantonly plunged by the aggres-
sion of England; her active and profitable commerce is
44Q THE WRITINGS OF [1810
annihilated; her fleet in possession of the British; her rev-
enues decayed; her finances in ruin, compelled to maintain
an army, six times greater than her population can bear, and
cut off even by the control of France, from the advantages
which American merchants were pouring into her lap. In this
state of national wretchedness, and of famine, her people see
from their shores our ships richly laden sometimes passing
under the protection of her enemy, and in their views of
things defrauding her of her lawful toll duties; and sometimes
without any protection at all, presenting a prey equally
tempting and easy to the grasp of plunder. Heroic virtue
is not the fashion of the age. The excitement is too strong
to be resisted. It becomes essential to counteract it by ex-
citing sentiments of a different description, and none can
be so efficacious, as the assurance that the property will be
defended.
In the midst of the extreme rigor with which France is
interdicting to her allies all commerce with England, it is
said from sources which I believe to be correct, that the direct
trade between France herself and England by licenses has
become very extensive. The French government grant li-
censes to all vessels which carry grain, to bring back any
cargo, at their owners' option, and on the vessel's return, no
questions are asked from whence she came, but a tribute of
thirty per cent on the value of the cargoes is levied by the
government upon this trade. And this is what they call the
continental system. The crime of Holland, for which a fifth
part of her small population and territory has been taken
from her, was trading secretly with England. The Emperor
Napoleon uses no such secrecy; he licenses vessels to trade
with his own signature, and, ridiculous as it may appear,
there has been a report in circulation, to which these circum-
stances have given some countenance, that France and
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 441
England are about to make a treaty of commerce together,
without making peace.
The ice of the river Neva has at length broken up, after
remaining later in the season than has been known since the
foundation of the city. It has not yet disappeared from the
Gulf of Finland, even between this place and Cronstadt.
Upwards of twenty American vessels, bound to various
ports on the Baltic have already passed the Sound, and I
have heard already of two carried in by Danish privateers
under the new ordinance. I have received several applica-
tions from persons desirous of being appointed consuls for
the United States in Prussian ports, some of which are open
for American vessels. There would be an advantage at the
present times if we had faithful, and active consuls at Memel,
at Konigsberg, and at Stettin. I say faithful, because they
would otherwise carry on English trade, for English houses,
and connive at or support the London manufacture of
American papers; and I say active, because while France
pursues her continental system, in her present manner,
and Prussia is at the mercy of France, seizures like those in
Schleswig and Holstein, or articles in treaties like the tenth
of that between France and Holland, could not be prevented,
and might occur from one day to another. The consul
should have the talent of discerning the symptoms which in-
dicate the approach of such measures, and if duly active
might in a great degree succeed in neutralizing their effects.
I have the honor, etc.
442 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 16. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 25 May, 18 10.
Sir:
Mr. Heard 1 of Boston arrived here a few days since, hav-
ing travelled over land from Constantinople. He has given
me some further information respecting the American vessels
which had been admitted there. They were only two; one
of which was the brig from Baltimore, which proceeded to
Odessa, and the other still remains at Constantinople. Mr.
Heard informs me that a representation from the Americans,
as well at Constantinople as at Smyrna, has been forwarded
to the President of the United States, setting forth the public
advantage which might be derived from a treaty of commerce
with the Ottoman Porte, and the inconveniences and vexa-
tions suffered by the Americans, who without the protection
of such a treaty have obtained access into the Sultan's
dominions. Undoubtedly the free admission to the naviga-
tion of the Black Sea would open a new source of prosperity
to the industry and enterprise of our country. I have al-
ready had the honor to inform you of the favorable light
in which this object is considered here, and I now enclose an
article extracted from the gazette of this city, which was
certainly not inserted without the approbation of the gov-
ernment, and which contains another manifestation of the
same sentiments, which have been officially expressed by
the Chancellor, Count Romanzoff. At present, the Amer-
icans who reach Constantinople, or even Smyrna, are obliged
to put themselves under the protection of some European
iJohnR. Hurd.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 443
government, and to assume their flag. The usual circum-
stances, which in all foreign countries assimilate our people
to the English, have in general induced them to seek the
protection of that flag, when they could obtain it, and it
has not been gratuitously or very liberally bestowed. Mr.
Heard says that the good offices of the Swedish charge des
affaires finally obtained the admission of the two American
vessels, and that no small part of the opposition which they
had previously met proceeded from the English minister.
There is a greater disposition of indulgence and amity at
Constantinople towards Sweden, than perhaps towards any
other European nation. The origin of which may be traced
to a common fear of Russia. The Swedish treaty with the
Porte is said to secure to the subjects of that kingdom ex-
traordinary privileges, and is recommended as a model for
that which is desired to be obtained for the United States.
Mr. Palin, the Swedish charge des affaires, gave Mr. Heard a
letter for Count Stedingk, the ambassador of his nation at
this court; in which he mentions what he had done in favor
of these Americans, and that he had given notice of it to the
king of Sweden, and requested his permission to extend the
same good offices further, until the United States should
have a treaty with the Porte. With respect to this last ob-
ject he adds, that its success will in a great measure depend
upon the observance of secrecy, alluding I presume to the
opposition which I have already mentioned, and perhaps to
that of other Europeans besides the English. For at Con-
stantinople, as in the states of Barbary, as the admission of
any Christian nation to commercial access is in the nature
of an exclusive privilege, they who already possess it con-
sider it as a general principle of policy, as far as they are able,
to prevent the admission of a new comer, to participate in
the benefit. With regard to France also, at the present
444
THE WRITINGS OF [iSio
juncture we must expect all the ill offices that her public
agents can employ against us as well in Turkey, as else-
where.
In other respects perhaps no opportunity could be more
promising than the present, for obtaining a favorable treaty
with the Porte. The influence of France and of England is,
as far as I can learn, equally weak there. The Turks have
received so many and so great outrages from both the par-
ties that they are equally exasperated against both. The
English minister has been for several months on the point of
quitting the capital, and his departure has been only delayed
by the refusal of the Sultan, to permit the frigate, which was
to take Mr. Adair away, to pass up to the city. At the same
time, actual hostilities have taken place between the Turkish
and French troops, on the frontiers of the territories ceded
by Austria, in the late treaty of peace.
There have been some popular disturbances at Con-
stantinople, and a great fire, which destroyed a great part of
the suburb of Pera — Mr. Heard says, six thousand houses.
This too is considered as an indication of discontent among
the people. But it appears that a supply of grain has been
obtained from Egypt, and the scarcity to which the commo-
tions were attributed has been at least in part removed. The
vessels which had been chartered to fetch grain from Odessa
were not allowed to take it, the very scarcity which they
were intended to remedy having occasioned a prohibition
of exportation by the Duke de Richelieu, the governor of the
Russian provinces in that neighborhood. The want of
exportation, however, was felt at Odessa as severely as the
want of importation at Constantinople, and I have some
reason to believe, that the government here and the Duke de
Richelieu himself now regret that the opportunity of so
profitable a trade has been lost. The example of France,
. i»i ■!
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 445
where in the midst of all the rigor of the continental sys-
tem licenses for the exportation of grain to England have not
only been freely granted, but promoted by permissions im-
plied if not expressed to bring back English manufactures,
or any thing else in return, has strongly recommended a
similar relaxation here, and if the scarcity at Constantinople
should continue, or again occur, I think the prohibition of
exportation on the Russian part, will not remain.
The hopes of peace between Russia and the Porte, are as
unpromising as of that between France and England. The
late commander in chief of the Russian army against the
Turks, Prince Bagration, 1 since his removal has not returned
to St. Petersburg. His successor, General Kamensky 2 has
again crossed the Danube, and resumed offensive operations,
but whether he will be able to maintain them, is much
doubted by the military men here, who know the difficulties
of the country which is the scene of the war, and the condi-
tion of his army suffering, it is said, severely by disease.
The occasion upon which the recent hostilities between
the Turkish and French troops on the borders of Croatia,
was a question relative to boundaries. By treaties between
Turkey and Austria previous to the late war of the latter
with France, the Porte had stipulated to cede to Austria
certain fortresses and districts of territory bounding on the
province of Croatia. The influence of France, however, had
prevented the delivery of these places into the actual posses-
sion of the Austrians, these provinces having been included
in the cessions from Austria to France, by the late treaty of
peace. The French troops have been ordered to take pos-
session of these places, which though ceded had never been
delivered to the Austrians. The Turks, were as unwilling
1 Peter Ivanovitch, Prince Bagration (1762-1812).
2 Nikolai Kamenskoi.
446 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
to yield them to France as to Austria, and made resistance.
There is an opinion entertained by some persons of good
information, that a concert will be formed between France,
Austria, and Russia, under which the Ottoman Empire will
entirely sink. I do not think this probable, from the present
symptoms in the political relations of these powers. There
is yet a manifest coolness between the cabinets of St. Peters-
burg and Vienna; nor can it be doubted, however it may be
denied, that in the present honeymoon of the new alliance
between France and Austria, the more ancient but less in-
timate ties between France and Russia have experienced
some relaxation.
By the last accounts from Copenhagen, I learn, that two
American vessels, after having passed at Elsineur, and paid
the Sound duties have been taken by Danish privateers and
carried into Copenhagen. An order from that government
has also been issued prohibiting the publication of the
Sound lists, as has always been customary. The object of
this last measure is not apparent. Several English ships of
war have already passed through the Belt into the Baltic,
where it is reported that a fleet of twenty sail of the line
are to be sent. From this force a new expedition against the
island of Zealand has been inferred as probable. If really
intended, you will hear of it more directly from another
quarter.
I remain, etc.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 447
TO ABIGAIL ADAMS
St. Petersburg, 6 June, 18 10.
My dear Mother:
Captain Thomas of the Express, a vessel belonging to Mr.
W. R. Gray, arrived here a few days ago, and brought me
your kind favor of 31 December and 12 January. It was
the second letter from you that I have had the pleasure of
receiving, and after several months of expectation gave me
new reason for rejoicing at the final release of these regions
from the chains of winter.
The ship Horace, Captain Bickford, to which and to whom
we are indebted for bringing us safely hither, after having
been locked up nearly eight months by the ice, is now about
to sail upon her return home. Her voyage hitherto has been
upon the whole highly prosperous, though, as you have
learnt from my letters to my brother, not without imminent
perils, which with the blessing of providence we escaped, and
though during the winter the captain has had the misfortune
to lose three of his men by the smallpox. How she will
accomplish her return voyage is yet in the bosom of futurity.
She has all my good wishes and prayers for her safety. . . .
The failure of Mr. Jackson's mission was naturally to be
expected, as well from the transactions between the Ameri-
can and British governments which had immediately pre-
ceded it, as from the known character of the negotiator.
What have been the proceedings of the British cabinet to-
wards America since they have been informed of that event,
I do not know. The king's speech to Parliament professed a
pacific disposition towards the United States, but there has
been no relaxation of the British maritime system, as it was
modified by the Orders in Council of April, 1809, and it is
said that Mr. Jackson has not been recalled.
448 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
The Marquis Wellesley, who is now the English Minister
of Foreign Affairs, appears in his political system not to
differ much from Mr. Canning. Neither of them has dis-
covered the disposition upon which alone any peace is to be
expected in Europe, or upon the ocean. France, on the
other hand, and all the states directly under her influence
and control, have been heaping the measure of outrage and
injury to our commerce. They have not only condemned
and confiscated our vessels and their cargoes in France, in
Spain, and in Naples, but they have formally stipulated by
treaty, that the American property imported into Holland
since the first of January, 1809, shall be placed at the disposi-
tion of the French Emperor, according to the relations be-
tween France and the United States. France, too, has
adopted the English practice of giving licenses, and levying
upon them an enormous tax. In this substitute for neutral
trade both these nations, or rather their governments, find
their account so well, that I see no prospect of any tolerated
neutrality during the remainder of the present war between
France and England.
I have been much amused by your extract from the
learned labors of the Analyser, 1 with his palpitations of heart
at the thoughts of the Russian mission. This same suspicion,
which Mr. Pickering's political ethics have turned from a
vice into a virtue, plays its votaries as wild tricks as any
other heathen idol ever practised. It is not only perpetually
leading them to false conclusions, but it mocks them with an
image of their own profound sagacity. They hug themselves
for their discoveries, and attribute to the superior keenness of
1 In No. VI of a series of articles on the "Diplomatic Policy of Mr. Madison un-
veiled," printed in the Columbian Centinel, December 23, 1809, the writer attacked
the appointments of both Short and Adams to the Russian mission, as proof of the
insincerity of the cabinet for peace, and as unnecessary.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 449
their own eyes the privilege of seeing what nobody else can
perceive, when the real reason is, because there is nothing to
be seen.
By the English newspapers, which from time to time I have
the opportunity of seeing here, we have intelligence from
America much later than we can receive it directly. They
are particularly assiduous in disseminating everything which
had a tendency to injure and discredit us in the opinions of
the European nations. The resolutions of the Massachusetts
legislature on the subject of the negotiation of Jackson have
had their effect in an eminent degree. The conclusion drawn
from them on this continent is, that the Americans are on the
point of a civil war between the partisans of France and of
England. In France the Emperor Napoleon, who upon
newspaper publications and pamphlet satire upon himself is
irritable to an extreme, has been exasperated against Amer-
ica, more by the ribaldry upon himself with which our presses
and legislative debates have teemed, than by any measures
of our government. In England, where the contempt which
almost all parties affect for us is merely a disguise for envy,
malevolence, and fear, they recur to those Massachusetts and
New York resolutions, as proofs of our national impotence,
and at the same time to our government's partiality to
France and against them. Both parties are encouraged and
confirmed in the policy of oppressing a nation so debilitated
by internal dissensions, and the result is, that we are made
the common football of Europe. The English and French
newspapers have both announced that the standard of war
against the government of the Union is ready to be raised in
Massachusetts, but I think I know too much of the charac-
ter and disposition of my countrymen for this to be possible.
It is however certain, that as regards our relations with the
rest of mankind the Massachusetts legislature has taken the
45o THE WRITINGS OF [i8io
lead of a system diametrically opposite to that of the na-
tional government. I am also well aware that the radical
absurdity of the Massachusetts system is yet a problem for
the solution of time. That it will eventually be demon-
strated to the conviction of all mankind, every day's ex-
perience more and more strongly convinces me. Austria,
Prussia, and Sweden, and even Russia, have learnt this lesson
at heavier cost than we have. My only concern is, lest in
the instability of our humors, we should before we finish
risk our fortunes upon the same stake which they have lost.
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 17. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 25 June, 18 10.
Sir:
I have the honor to enclose a copy in the French language
of a manifesto just published here, proposing a public loan
to be received in the paper money of the country, and the
sale of certain public domains for the redemption of this
paper. It will serve at once to show the disordered state of
the finances of the Empire, and the laudable efforts of the
present government to retrieve them.
The assignation bank bills are the only currency in com-
mon circulation. They are the representatives and sub-
stitute of the copper coin. During the reign of the Empress
Catherine this bank was established, and bills of 100, of 50,
25, 10 and 5 roubles were issued, upon their amount in cop-
per, deposited, or supposed to be deposited, at the bank. As
the government contracted no obligation to redeem the bills
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 451
upon presentation in gold or silver, the bulk and weight of
the metal represented by the paper operated as a security
against the pressure of extraordinary calls, and as the ne-
cessities of the government arose the bills continued to multi-
ply until all the copper mines of the Empire would not have
sufficed for their redemption. The natural effect of this
multiplication was depreciation in the value of the bills, and
when the sums issued had amounted to one hundred millions
of roubles, the Empress Catherine published a declaration
that she would not exceed that emission. Her successor,
however, not conceiving himself bound by that stipulation
resumed the practice of supplying his wants by the manu-
facture of assignation paper, which has continued to swell
in quantity and to shrink in value, until the amount in
circulation is supposed to exceed six hundred millions of
roubles, and until the paper rouble passes current in all pay-
ments for a little more than one third of a rouble in silver.
The promise, that no more paper of this bank should
henceforth be issued, was renewed in a prior manifesto pub-
lished in February last, soon after the new organization of the
Imperial Council. At present, this loan upon terms ex-
tremely favorable to the lenders and proportionably burden-
some to the government is proposed for the purpose of
withdrawing from circulation some part of that excess, which
has occasioned the depreciated state of the bills. The prop-
osition to receive two paper roubles for one in silver, to pay
the interest annually of six per cent upon that rouble in silver,
and at the expiration of seven years, to repay the capital
itself also in silver, is equivalent at the present rate of the
money to a yearly interest of nine per cent, and an addition of
fifty per cent to the capital at the close of the term. In the
sale of the lands there are held out further advantages to the
lenders, of no inconsiderable importance. The loan is to be
452 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
opened on the 15th of July, but neither this manifesto, nor
the recent accounts of the splendid victories obtained over
the Turks have yet raised the value of paper assignations in
the market. . . .
The British fleet under the command of Sir James Sau-
marez * has entered the Baltic, and to the number of twenty
ships of the line, and a proportionable number of frigates and
smaller armed vessels, is stationed at the various passages
of entrance to that sea. The admiral himself is before
Gothenburg, and has made a declaration, that no vessel ex-
cepting such as are provided with British licenses will be
permitted by him to pass either to or from any port from
which the British flag is excluded. From this order he has
also declared that American vessels are not excepted, and I
am informed that he has turned back an American vessel
coming from Kiel in Holstein, bound to St. Petersburg, and
endorsed her papers not to proceed to any port from which
the British flag is excluded. It was on the 24th of May that
he made the declaration that American vessels were included
in his orders, which it appears were not known among the
merchants of London on the 22nd of the same month.
They are said to have been issued since the appointment of
Mr. Yorke 2 as first Lord of the Admiralty. The late charge
des affaires of Sweden in London, Mr. Brinckmann 3 has al-
ready returned to his own country, and Mr. Foster, who was
in the same capacity at Stockholm, has been ordered to leave
that kingdom, an order with which he declined to comply,
until it was communicated to him in writing. There is no
doubt but that the Swedish Government has submitted to
take this step with great reluctance; but it was the price of
1 (1757-1836).
2 Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke (1768-183 1).
3 Charles-Gustave Brinckmann (1764-1848).
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 453
their peace with Russia, and more especially with France.
The consequences to the Swedish commerce will be serious.
Admiral Saumarez has already taken a great number of
Swedish vessels, and as the rupture is avowedly made by
Sweden herself, it is hardly to be expected that any of the
captured vessels will escape confiscation.
I have received lately from Mr. George Joy two English
copies of the new Danish privateering law; one of which I
enclose to you with this letter. Under this law, nearly one
hundred vessels had before the first of the present month
been taken into Copenhagen; about twenty of which are
Americans, some of them directly from the United States,
captured after entering at Elsineur, and paying the duties on
the passage of the Sound. I have mentioned these circum-
stances to the Baron de Blome, the Danish minister at this
court, and suggested to him the hardship of this course of
proceeding. He has repeatedly intimated to me a wish that
there were some authorised officer of the United States at
Copenhagen, to make suitable representations to the gov-
ernment itself. Those of a consul, he observed, could not
carry with them the weight which would have much influence;
but it is extremely doubtful whether any representations
would overpower the prevalence of the privateering influence,
stimulated by that of France. The resignation of Count
BernstorfF, the principal cabinet minister, and head of the
Department of Foreign Affairs, is viewed as indicating the
prospect of increasing rigor rather than of relaxation on
the part of that government. The Baron de Rosenkranz
who is appointed in his stead is at Paris on a special mission,
and Count BernstorfT retains the management of the foreign
department, until his return. . . .
454 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
TO THOMAS BOYLSTON ADAMS
St. Petersburg, 30 June, 1810.
We are expecting to hear from day to day of a great battle
in Spain, and the continuance of the war or the restoration
of peace is supposed to depend upon its event. Spain and
Portugal are the only remaining parts of the European con-
tinent which furnish a pretext for continuing the war on the
part of England, but there is so much internal fermentation
in that country just now, that her government may very
possibly find it necessary to maintain at all hazards a foreign
war, to procure peace within her own islands. With regard
to commerce, the two parties have already come to an ar-
rangement de facto, which suits the purpose of both. All
neutrality and neutral trade are by common consent of the
belligerents annihilated. The British at settled prices grant
licenses to any flag, French as well as any other, which are
respected by her navy. The Emperor Napoleon gives li-
censes to any flag, English as well as any other, which are
respected by all his subordinate authorities. All other com-
merce is proscribed, and under these double licenses the
commerce between the British islands and the continent of
Europe is now carried on, to an extent beyond that of the
most active and prosperous times of peace. France and
England both raise a large revenue from their licenses, which
ultimates as a tax upon the consumption of the articles cir-
culating by this new method of trade. The people of Europe
pay this tax with a good grace, and according to all appear-
ances our countrymen are prepared to pay it in like manner.
I know not any news that it would be possible for me to
give you from this place, unless it should be on the war be-
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 455
tween Russia and the Turks. This is an object extremely
interesting here. But I do not suppose you would take much
concern in a detail of the progress of the Russian arms. I
was summoned last week to a Te Deum at the Imperial
Chapel on account of the glorious victories of General
Kamensky and the defeat of the Seraskier Peglivan. The
said Seraskier, it seems, was taken, together with the fortress
of Bazardgik and about 1,600 men, a remnant of 10,000, by
storm; the 8,000 and odd hundred other Turks of the garrison
were cut to pieces in the process of the capture. Te Deum
laudamus — for the loss of Russians in this achievement did
not exceed in killed and wounded 700 men. Silistria sur-
rendered without waiting to be stormed. If you never heard
the names of these places before, look for them upon a map.
Eight thousand and some hundred of valiant Turks were
butchered in the first of them, for which but eight days since
I heard Christian priests and prince give solemn thanks to
God. Ever affectionately yours.
TO ABIGAIL ADAMS
St. Petersburg, 25 July, 18 10.
• • 4 • • • •
From the returns of the votes at the April election which
we have seen, I consider it as beyond question that Mr.
Gerry and Mr. Gray were chosen Governor and Lieutenant
Governor of the State. But on the comparison of the votes
from the several towns the prospect was, that a majority of
both branches of the legislature still adheres to the politics
of the two last years, in which case the Council must be of
the same complexion, and the State authorities will not
harmonize very cordially together. The changes, however,
456 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
not only in Massachusetts, but in New Hampshire, Vermont,
and Rhode Island, have been so unpropitious to the Anglo-
federalists, that the prospect of a separate empire will not
make much progress during the present year, and I cherish
the hope that they will be so steadily discountenanced by
the suffrages of the people in New England, that the father
of them all will renounce them in despair, and turn the policy
of the eastern sages, if not to something useful and honorable,
at least to something less pestilential to their country and
their posterity. To anything more pernicious, in my sincere
opinion, the Prince of Darkness could not spur the most
devoted of his instruments upon earth.
The panic terrors of a war between the United States and
England, which the majority of the legislature of Massachu-
setts last winter alleged in justification of their patriotic reso-
lutions in favor of Mr. Jackson, and against the government
of the United States, are I hope before this tranquilized. I
see, however, by a circular from the federal committee of
Boston senators and representatives, that their palpitations
of heart were still indicative of a great alarm, even after they
had reason to apprehend that their governor would be sup-
planted in his office, and after their own news from England
had informed them, that his Britannic majesty's ministers
would not go to war to avenge Mr. Jackson, highly as they
approved his spirited moderation, and deeply as they re-
sented the unprovoked insult upon him.
I have too much respect for the characters of all those
gentlemen who signed the federal circular, not to believe that
their fears were real and sincere. But knowing and esteem-
ing as I do the judgment and understanding of them all, I
can with difficulty conceive the obfuscation of intellect which
could permit them, late in April, 1810, to be in dread of a
war with England, or an alliance with France. There is
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 457
something in the spirit of party which stupefies even those
whom it cannot deprave, and which blinds the eyes, when it
cannot succeed to vitiate the heart.
The most remarkable political transactions of the present
time are in Sweden. The late king 1 of that country labored
under the same prejudices, as of late years have taken pos-
session of almost all the New England federalists. He not
only hated Napoleon as he deserves, but he relied upon the
friendship and protection of England. He lost Pomerania;
he lost Finland, and he last of all lost his crown. The Swed-
ish Diet not only discarded him, but his children, excluded
all his dependents with him from the succession, and sent to
Norway for a prince of Holstein-Augustenburg 2 to be the
successor to the Swedish throne. This prince accepted the
offer, and early in the spring of the present year he came to
Stockholm, and was at the same time adopted by the present
king 3 as his son, and proclaimed Crown Prince or heir ap-
parent of Sweden. On the 29th of May, while reviewing a
regiment of cavalry near Helsingborg, he was seized with an
apoplexy, fell instantly senseless from his horse, and expired
within half an hour after. During the short time that he
had been at Stockholm, the simplicity of his manners and the
affability of his disposition had rendered him very popular
among the plebeian class, but had at the same time given
offense and disgust to many of the nobility. These two or-
ders of society are upon very discordant terms with each
other in that kingdom, and the odium of the populace is the
most exasperated against the nobles of the higher rank. The
suspicion that the Crown Prince had been poisoned by a con-
spiracy of certain persons of the nobility was excited among
1 Gustavus IV (1778-1837), dethroned in 1809.
2 Christian Augustus.
* Charles XIII (1748-1818), duke of Sodermanland.
458 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
the people of Stockholm, and became particularly concen-
trated upon Count Axel Fersen, 1 the Grand Marshal of the
Kingdom, his sister Countess Piper, a Count Ugglas, and
the Russian informal envoy, General von Suchtelen. On
the day when the body of the Prince was carried into Stock-
holm, Count Fersen, going at the head of the procession
which was to escort it, was attacked by a mob in the streets,
sought refuge in a house, from which he was compelled to
be brought out, and murdered with circumstances as horrible
as any of those which marked the worst period of the French
Revolution. The other suspected persons were preserved
from the fury of the mob only because they could not get
them in their power, and finally by the interposition of a
military force, which was obliged to fire upon the people and
killed a number of them. There had been a report of three
physicians, who opened and examined the Prince's body,
declaring in the most formal manner, that no symptom of
any other than natural causes of his death appeared, nor
is it yet explained, why the suspicions of the people of Stock-
holm were settled upon five or six persons, or how they be-
came so strong as to burst out into those furious excesses.
Commissioners are appointed to inquire and trace the sus-
picions of poison and their foundation, but here the opinion
generally entertained is, that they are altogether groundless.
All our intercourse with England is again open, and will
be in all probability very great again. You will hear the
accounts of interesting events on the continent so much
sooner through England than we can send them from this
bottom of the bag, that I shall have scarcely any other news
to tell you. There has been, you know, for about four years,
a personage called the king of Holland, a brother of the
Emperor Napoleon, who sent him to rule over that country,
1 Hans Axel, count von Fersen (1755-1810).
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 459
as he now suggests for the benefit of France. King Louis,
however, whether from natural disposition or from the con-
tagion of Dutch associates, appears to have imbibed an
opinion, that a king of Holland ought to have some regard
for the interests of Holland. This has brought him into
disgrace with Napoleon, who first made him disgrace himself
by a treaty, ceding to France a quarter part or more of the
Dutch territories, and surrendering to French disposal all
the private American property within his reach, and then
sent a corps of French troops to take care of his good city of
Amsterdam. Louis became sick of playing this part of a
phantom king any longer, and has abdicated his crown, 1 and
left it to his infant son, 2 under the regency of its mother, to
perform the pageants and be used as the instruments of
Napoleon.
This illustrious character narrowly escaped a burnishing
about three weeks since, at a splendid entertainment given
by Prince Schwarzenberg, 3 the Austrian Ambassador at his
court on the occasion of his marriage with the Archduchess
Maria Louisa. In the midst of the ball the house took fire,
and a number of the guests perished in the flames. The
Emperor himself was present, but escaped unhurt. . . .
With my best remembrance, etc.
1 July 1.
2 Louis Napoleon, afterwards Napoleon III (1808-1873). His mother was Hor-
tense, daughter of the Empress Josephine, by her first husband Beauharnais.
3 Karl Philipp Schwarzenberg (1771-1820).
460 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 19. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 3 August, 18 10.
Sir:
When I wrote you three days since that no instance had
occurred of a vessel having arrived in the Russian ports, with
a forgery from the London market in the semblance of an
American register, during the present season, I was mistaken.
One case of that nature had occurred a few days before, of
which I was not then informed; and our consul general, Mr.
Harris, yesterday informed me of a note which he had just
received from Count Romanzoff, enclosing a second. The
first was a vessel called the Alpheus, Captain William H.
Crosdale, (who I am sorry to say is an American,) which
arrived at Cronstadt the 5/17 of July; and the second is the
Culloden, Captain Charles Woodward, whose register pur-
ports to have been issued at Charleston, S. Carolina, in
February last. This vessel entered, not at Cronstadt, but at
some one of the other Russian ports. I have only seen this
last paper, which appears to me to have been struck from
the same plate which furnished the registers of the Weltha,
Ann, and the Malvina. Mr. Harris however thinks it a dif-
ferent and more improved plate.
The day before yesterday a courier arrived here, with an
account of the death of the Queen of Prussia, 1 who had been
upon a visit to her father at Strelitz; and died there, or on
the way as she was returning to Berlin. A rumor is cir-
culated at the same time, which I have not yet had the op-
1 Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie Luise (1776-1810), daughter of Prince Charles of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
isio] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 461
portunity to authenticate, that the French, Austrian, and
Westphalian ministers, have suddenly and at the same period
left Berlin; though I have heard no cause for their departure
assigned. I am afraid there is no reason to doubt the further
report, that an ordinance has issued from the Prussian gov-
ernment, interdicting the admission of all vessels under the
American flag, into any of the Prussian ports; the reason
alleged for which is the same as that assigned by the Danish
government for excluding our vessels from the ports of Ton-
ning and Husum — the abuse of our flag in facilitating the
prohibited English trade.
These events excite an unusual degree of attention here, as
happening precisely at the period of the final reunion of all
Holland with the French empire. On the 9th of July the
Duke de Cadore, made a report to the Emperor Napoleon,
laying before him the act of abdication of the king of Hol-
land, and recommending the annexation of Holland to
France. He says that the king's act ought not to have ap-
peared without having been previously concerted with the
Emperor; that it could be of no validity, without his con-
firmation, and that it ought not to be confirmed; that the re-
union of Belgium with France, had annihilated the inde-
pendence of Holland; that it is sinking under the load of its
debts; that for the benefit, nay for the salvation of Holland,
its reunion with the French empire is absolutely necessary;
that besides it is necessary to make the boundaries of France
secure; to complete the commercial and maritime system of
his Imperial Majesty, and above all to strike the severest
possible blow upon England. And that as to the young
prince, so dear to his Imperial Majesty, (the king of Hol-
land's eldest son) the Grand Duchy of Berg was quite
enough for him.
On the same day, 9th of July, the Emperor, issued from
462 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
his palace at Rambouillet a decree, by virtue of which Hol-
land is reunited to the French Empire; 1 Amsterdam is de-
clared the third city of the Empire (Rome was lately de-
clared the second); Holland is to have six senators, six
deputies in the Council of State, twenty-five deputies in the
Legislative Assembly, and two judges in the Court of Cassa-
tion, or Supreme Court of Appeals. The Duke of Piacenza
(Le Brun) 2 is appointed the Emperor's Lieutenant-General
at Amsterdam for the administration of affairs until 28 Jan-
uary, 181 1, when the whole system of French administra-
tion is to commence. The public debt of Holland and its
arrears of interest for the years 1808 and 1809 are reduced to
one-third, and from the commencement of the next year the
taxes are also to be reduced to the same rate with those of
France. The colonial goods now in Holland, are to be left to
the proprietors upon the payment of fifty per cent upon their
value. The Legislative Assembly in Holland, is to appoint a
committee of fifteen members to form a council at Paris, for
making all the necessary arrangements for the definitive
organization of the country under its new laws, and for
adapting it to the local circumstances and general interests
of the nation.
The only part of this decree upon which I shall at present
make any observation is that which relates to colonial goods.
These are the American property, which by the treaty of last
February was to be placed at the disposal of France, accord-
ing to the state of her relations with the United States. It
is now ransomed for fifty per cent upon the value; and fur-
nishes a new comment upon what is still called the conti-
nental system. This ransom, of fifty per cent more or less, is
the result of all the restrictions and prohibitions with which
1 Annual Register, 1810, 502.
2 Charles-Fran<;ois Lebrun (1739-1824).
isioj JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 463
for the last three years France has tormented the whole
European continent. If English commerce was the object
which France really intended to suppress, an extortion of
fifty per cent would not be laid upon American property.
If the property released were English and not American,
even the fifty per cent would not be restored to its owners.
The new exclusion of American vessels from the Prussian
ports is probably a benefit to the English trade. There have
been French inspectors and custom house officers in these
ports during the whole of this season. I have advices from
sources deserving credit, that by the permission or conniv-
ance of these French officers, English vessels and cargoes
have been freely admitted, under any of their disguises, upon
payment of fifteen per cent on the value. Vessels coming
under the American flag could, of course, not be laid under
this contribution. The effect of this distinction was that
the Americans came more advantageously to the market,
and when the Emperor Napoleon heard that English goods
were introduced into the Prussian ports, his agents report to
him that they came under the American flag. So the Amer-
ican flag is excluded from the Prussian ports, and for the
rest of the season, the English ships will come as Pappen-
burgers, Mecklenburgers, Danes, Swedes, Prussians, or un-
der any flag bought on the continent, or prepared in London,
pay their hush money, which will perhaps now be raised
higher than fifteen per cent, and have the market to them-
selves. The Emperor of France will learn no doubt that
notwithstanding the exclusion of American vessels, English
goods continue to obtain access in the Prussian ports. Then,
perhaps, exclusion may be followed by sequester, and when
that also is found to fail, the king of Prussia may be further
called to account, and after all, the American property left
to its owners upon payment of fifty per cent. On the other
464 THE WRITINGS OF [1S10
hand the English government taxes the same vessels and
cargoes, though not yet quite so heavily for licenses; and
such is the demand for colonial articles, as they are called,
and English manufactures on the European continent, that
this enormous double taxation, though it has raised the
prices of all the articles, has had but little effect in diminish-
ing the consumption of them, and upon the commerce of
England has not operated any injury at all.
The sentence of confiscation has at length been sanctioned
by the Emperor Alexander, upon the cargoes of the vessels
which had entered as coming from the island of Teneriffe.
The vessels, however, are to be liberated, and those which
came in ballast are already discharged. There is an opinion,
of the accuracy of which I am not certain, that a great pro-
portion of these cargoes has disappeared, and that the whole
transaction will ultimately prove only another tax upon
the owners of the goods. Now in this state of things the
American trade here still enjoys the advantage which it has
just lost in the Prussian ports. Not laying under so heavy
contributions, it comes under more favorable circumstances
to the competition of the market. But the inevitable con-
sequence will be, that the English goods introduced here will
be represented as having been brought under the American
flag — a pretence which not only the French agents, but the
real traffickers of the English commerce, will countenance, to
get our countrymen excluded from the market. France has
not yet ventured to speak to Russia in the style which she
uses towards weaker powers; nor to prescribe to her any
course of measures. She has no custom house officers in
Russian ports, and neither her Ambassador nor her consuls
have directly demanded any act of exclusion to Americans.
But if the Americans are to answer for the introduction of
British merchandize contrary to the prohibitions, such a
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 465
demand will not be delayed much longer. Of the indirect
efforts to obtain exclusions of our trade which have been
made, I have correct and precise information, which I shall
communicate in a future letter, observing that as I have ob-
tained it from very confidential sources, and as much of it
is secret history, it is important that it should remain such.
I am, with the highest respect, etc.
TO WILLIAM GRAY
St. Petersburg, 3 August, 1810.
Dear Sir:
I received a few days since your favor of 21 April, enclosing
the credit upon your correspondents here, at Hamburg,
Copenhagen and London, for which I give you thanks. On
my first arrival here I had apprehended, that I should be
under the absolute necessity of incurring immediate ex-
penses, for which no provision is made by the government of
the United States, and for which I could draw only upon the
resources of my own property. As in this country, more
than in any other of Europe, a man's estimation in the public
opinion is solely proportioned to the style of expense in
which he lives, and as it is considered as a sort of law of na-
tions here, that a public minister must live in splendor and
magnificence, I saw myself placed between the alternative
of squandering in a residence here of two or three years the
means of subsistence to my family and of education to my
children, or of incurring a reputation for parsimony, not to
call it by a harsher name, which would expose me personally
to great obloquy, and, what was infinitely more important
in my view, which might have an injurious effect upon the
character and interests of my country. I had, however,
466 THE WRITINGS OF USio
settled for myself early in life a principle which I had every
reason to consider as a just one, from which I had never de-
parted since it had been possible for me to put it in practice,
and to which I had already made too many sacrifices of
vanity and ostentation to give it up now without reluctance.
It was to keep my domestic expenses within the bounds of my
income. 1 I soon found that I had no other choice left, but
to renounce this principle forever, and beggar my family by
a few months of extravagance, or to brave the opinions of
the world around me, and make not their esteem but my
own resources the measure of my expense. I had no hesita-
tion in making my choice, to which as yet I have adhered. I
have begun by putting myself upon an establishment far
below that of all the other foreign ministers here; a measure
for which I have no other justification, than that their salaries
are at least the double of mine, and that on the establishment
upon which I have placed myself, if I should stay here two
years or return home within that period, I shall have ex-
pended every cent of my allowance from the United States,
and about all, if not the whole, of my income besides. Of
the effect of this resolution upon my own reputation I can-
not be ignorant, but I am happy to possess, in the very
strongly marked attentions of the Emperor to myself and
my family, as well as in the proceedings and explicit assur-
ances of his ministers, an unequivocal proof that it has not
in any manner impaired the interest or credit of our country
at this court.
1 Adams, Memoirs, June 25, 1810.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 4^7
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 21. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 16 August, 1810.
Sir:
The following is a translation of the Prussian ordinance,
for breaking off all commercial intercourse with the United
States of America.
His Royal Majesty of Prussia, our most gracious Lord, finds
himself induced, for the more effectual preservation of the con-
tinental system heretofore adopted in concert with the Imperial
Court of France, and hitherto rigorously observed in all the com-
mercial transactions of his subjects; and for the more perfect
security in guarding against all and every abuse, which may have
been practiced in the execution of the former ordinances, hereby
to close all his ports, against American vessels altogether, and
without exception. In consequence whereof, from the day of the
present publication of this ordinance, no vessel coming from an
American port, or belonging to an American citizen or subject,
shall be admitted and received into the ports of this country; but
every vessel of that nation is immediately and without delay on
appearance before a Prussian harbor or road to be turned away.
The present ordinance is hereby publicly made known, to be re-
spected, and put into the most rigorous execution; and every
person contravening the same, besides the confiscation of the
vessel and cargo, shall be subject to special prosecution and punish-
ment. — Berlin, 19 July, 1810.
By his Royal Majesty's most gracious special order. (Signed.)
Hardenberg Goltz Dohna Kircheiser.
It is not improbable that in the ports of Prussia, where
there is I believe no American public consul or commercial
agent, to detect the forgeries of American papers, from the
London market, there have been numerous instances of cases
468 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
similar to those which have been detected here and else-
where. The necessities of commerce upon the continent are
so much stronger than the power of France, that every
measure of force adopted to obstruct it is immediately met
by a measure of fraud to counterbalance its effects. All the
merchants in every port of the continent in this curious con-
test are on the English side — those of France more, and
more effectually, than all the rest. As a proof of which may
be noticed not only the numerous licenses signed by the
Emperor Napoleon himself under which a direct trade be-
tween France and England is carried on, but the partial
opening of the French ports to American vessels, precisely
at the moment when the king of Prussia has found himself
induced to shut his. The rigor of the public restrictions
would leave scarcely any trade at all were they susceptible of
execution; but their final result is rather to raise the rates of
insurance and the prices of the articles, than to injure the
commerce or revenues of England. The merchants in Eng-
land and upon the continent, united by a common interest,
and stimulated by the high prices at which the very prohibi-
tions and ransoms keep the forbidden articles, have as little
scruple as to the means by which they shall evade the regu-
lations of the governments as the governments have in the
choice of their restrictive measures. But it is obvious that
a trade subject to such heavy risques and contributions could
not be continued, if vessels under the American flag were ex-
empted from them. In such a case the Americans must
come to the market under such advantages that the English
traders could stand no competition with them. When, there-
fore, it is discovered that the British trade cannot be raised
to the level of advantage by means of forgery, it becomes nec-
essary to sink the American trade to the level of extortions;
and in this respect as in the rest, the interest of the conti-
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 469
nental merchants, being the same with that of the English,
they have no motive to favor the Americans, and certainly
do not favor them. There is no doubt but that great num-
bers of vessels from England with English cargoes have been
this summer received in the Prussian ports. Some of them,
but probably not many, have gone with forged papers, and
assumed the American flag. Many real Americans coming
directly from the United States have also entered there. The
French government learn that English goods are introduced
into Prussia. The custom house officers, who have not re-
ceived, and could not exact from Americans the price of
connivance; the merchants really connected with the British
speculations, and all the political secret partisans of England,
that is to say, in the Prussian dominions almost everybody,
all with one common voice charge the whole to the account
of the American flag, and the king of Prussia has it signified
to him that the American flag must be totally excluded from
his ports.
In Stralsund all the property imported in American vessels
was some time since sequestered; in Dantzick it appears the
same measures have been taken. The exclusion of Americans
has not yet been formally demanded here, but the system
must soon bring forward such a demand. In my interview
with Count Romanzoff, on the 8th inst. he assured me of the
desire of this government to give every possible facility to the
direct commerce, between the United States and this coun-
try, but I have reason to believe that disposition would not resist
a positive demand of France, which I expect every day. 1
The Swedish Assembly of the States met at Orebro, on the
23rd of last month, but no account of their proceedings has
yet arrived here. The king of Denmark 2 is understood to
1 Cypher.
2 Frederick VI.
47°
THE WRITINGS OF [1810
have written a long letter to the present king of Sweden,
stating to him the urgent necessity of uniting again the two
kingdoms under one sovereign, to secure the existence of
either, and requesting him to propose him the said king of
Denmark as his successor to the crown of Sweden. It is
also known that the king of Denmark has been encouraged
to take this step by the assurance of all the influence of
France in his favor. The opinion is that it was even first
suggested to him by France, and the belief is that it will
eventually be successful. In what point of view it is contem-
plated here, I have not understood. I know that the Em-
peror Alexander, on being informed of the decease of the
late Crown Prince, and the subsequent convocation of the
States for settling again the succession to the Crown, in-
structed his minister in Sweden not to interfere in the slight-
est degree, upon this occasion; but as the Prince of Holstein
Oldenburg, 1 who married the Grand Duchess Catherine,
sister of the Emperor of Russia, has been considered as one
of the principal persons having pretensions to this new suc-
cession, as that settlement is apparently more propitious to
the general interests of Russia than any other, and as the
revival of the ancient union of the three northern crowns
has the tendency to give Russia one neighbor much more
powerful than they can be in the state of separation, the
political speculators conclude that Russia must be displeased
with this arrangement in favor of the king of Denmark. . . .
The French newspapers assert as from authority that all
certificates of origin, purporting to be signed by French con-
suls in the United States and produced in the north of
Europe, must be false, for that the French consuls in the
United States have long since ceased to deliver any such
certificates. The French government must be singularly
1 Prince George.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 471
misinformed, with regard to the acts of its own agents
hitherto; but probably they have forbidden to issue any more
such certificates in future. I have the honor, etc.
TO WILLIAM GRAY
St. Petersburg, 19 August, 18 10.
My dear Sir:
• ••••••
About three weeks ago the Emperor Alexander inspected
his naval force, and held a review at Cronstadt. Two black
men belonging to American vessels in that port attracted
his notice on the parade, and he spoke to them. One of them
afterwards came up to St. Petersburg, and obtained the Em-
peror's permission to enter his service as a domestic, pro-
vided he was under no engagements incompatible with it.
The Minister of the Police, by his Majesty's orders, sent
me a message to inquire, whether a release from the man's
engagements on board the vessel could be obtained for a
competent indemnity to the owners or master of the vessel,
and whether I could procure the man's wife and children to
be sent here as the man had solicited, and for the expenses of
whose passage his Majesty would give orders that payment
should be made.
The vessel to which the man had belonged was the Presi-
dent Adams, Captain Field of Providence. She had already
sailed from Cronstadt without him, when I received the mes-
sage. The man himself came to me, and I have promised to
write and request that his wife and children may be sent here.
As I presume you will have occasion to send some of your
ships here the next spring, I do not know of any way in which
the object can better be obtained than by requesting your
attention to it. The man's name, he says, is Claude Gabriel.
472 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
He is a native of Martinique, and has been about ten years
in America. He lived three years with Mr. William Jones,
Speaker of the House of Representatives in Rhode Island.
His wife's name is Prudence. She lives by herself at Provi-
dence. He has one child, a daughter named Annette, about
three years old, and he supposes another born since he came
from Providence, last November. He came in the ship with
Captain Field as steward. If you can inform Captain Field,
or his owners at Providence, that the Emperor has given
orders to indemnify them for any injury which the loss of
the man from the ship may have occasioned, and will have
the goodness to pay it, if they have any demand on that ac-
count, and inform me of the amount, his Majesty's intentions
will be accomplished. The necessary expenses for the pas-
sage of the woman and children will also be immediately
paid on their arrival here. 1
• • • • • - • •
1 "Just as I am writing I receive a visit from Nelson, the black man-servant
whom I brought with me from America. He left us about four months ago, to
enter the service of his Imperial majesty, who has about a dozen menial attendants
of that color, and who when vacancies happen in the number by death (there are,
as you will readily suppose, none by resignation) finds it not altogether easy to
supply the places. I had not been here very long before Nelson found out that it
would be possible for him to obtain that situation, if he could have my consent; for
his majesty's Grand Marshal refused to take him upon any other terms, and oblig-
ingly assured me, that he should be taken only in case it was perfectly agreeable
to me, and not at all, if I chose to keep him. However, as it was making him a
fortune for his life, and as I had neither the inclination, nor in my own mind the
right, to keep him against his own will, as soon as I could conveniently provide
myself with a man in his stead, I gave him his discharge, and a recommendation to
the Grand Marshal, who immediately engaged him as an attendant at the Imperial
table. He comes now and then to see us in his splendid Moorish dress, and is highly
satisfied with his new service, of which he finds nothing irksome, but the various
masters of genteel accomplishments which have been given him to complete his
education." To Abigail Adams, 5/17, December, 1810. Ms.
isic] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 473
TO JOSEPH HALL
St. Petersburg, 15/27 August, 1810.
My dear Sir:
You are severe upon the political foresight and compre-
hensive views of our federal friends. I shall not undertake to
be their champion. What I have staked upon a -principle in
opposition to them is, perhaps, better known to you than
to any man living. The trial between their political prin-
ciples and mine, which as you know the outrage upon the
Chesapeake frigate first brought to a direct issue, I consider as
still sub judice. If the correctness of political views were
tested only by the event, there have been circumstances and
moments which looked most inauspicious to my cause. But
as, when they occurred, I was not dejected by them, so now,
that the people of New England and New York have shown
their deliberate sense of the matter, I hope I am not in-
clined to exult even internally too much at this issue, es-
pecially when the pleasure of finding myself justified by the
event must be mingled with the pain of seeing, that it must
be at the expense of mortification and disappointment to
so many of my personal friends. The moral poet tells us
that self-love and social are the same. This sentiment may
at least with equal justice be applied to the special interest of
parties in our country, as to the egotism of individuals.
The fanaticism (for that is the mildest term by which it can
be designated), with which the New England federalists
have linked themselves and their cause with Old England
and her fortunes, is and must be as pernicious to them as a
party, as it would prove to their country, could they draw
her into their political system founded on the same prej-
47 4 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
udices. The philological speeches, the New York and Mas-
sachusetts resolutions were, indeed, but parts of one stu-
pendous whole. They were in perfect consistency with the
patriotic proceedings of the two preceding years, but they who
got them up should have seen that they were no longer suited
to the temper of the public pulse. I find by the newspapers,
which I have received down to the 13th of June, that not
only the rank and file federalists, but even grave legislators
who wrote caucussing circulars, can think of no other [cause]
for the disasters of their electioneering ticket, than some silly
tale about the king of England's having disapproved the
conduct of Mr. Jackson, which they allege to have been cir-
culated at the critical moment from Washington. Maryland
and Vermont the last autumn, and New Hampshire which
had gone just before them, might have taught them that
there was some other cause in operation besides Mr. Pink-
ney's private letter, to take votes from them, and give them to
their adversaries. But even after their own April election, it
seems, they saw not the least reason for a diminution of their
confidence, that they would still have a majority in the
House of Representatives after their own hearts. Their
game is, however, not yet lost, for they have still a tie in the
Senate of the State. I presume that even now, even when
you may probably receive this letter, it will be impossible
to foresee, what the result of the next annual election will
be. It will, as it always does, depend in a great measure upon
the events of the year. As the leading federalists, some of
whom at one time last summer professed a disposition to
support Mr. Madison's administration, have so decidedly
made their election to be in opposition to it, I cannot flatter
myself with any prospect that their views of public affairs
will soon, if ever, coincide with mine more than for the last
three years. I cannot, therefore, wish them success. But
1S10] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 475
so long as they shall adhere to a system in my estimation so
incompatible with the interests, and so derogatory to the
honor of my country, as that which they have pursued since
the base and unatoned attack upon the Chesapeake, I can
only pray that their measures may be of a stamp with the
Massachusetts and New York resolutions of last winter, in
honor of the firebrand Jackson. If they will but move a few
more impeachments, analyze a few more correspondences,
unveil a little more of Mr. Madison's diplomatic policy,
preach a few more thanksgiving, fast-day and election ser-
mons, and compile a few more volumes of posthumous works,
I do not despair of seeing the State of Connecticut and Dela-
ware as much edified by their labors, as already have been
the rest of New England and New York.
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 22. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 19/31 August, 1810.
Sir:
By Mr. W[illiam] B. Adams, who arrived about ten days
since, at Archangel, I have had the honor of receiving two
dispatches from you — the first dated 5 May, with a copy of
your answer to a letter from Mr. DaschkofT, containing some
proposals respecting the trade between the United States,
and the Indians connected with the Russian establishments
on the northwestern coast of America. 1 Your letter to me
1 "You will herewith receive copies of a letter from Mr. Daschkoff and of my
answer. They relate as you will perceive to a subject of a very delicate character.
The Russian government, it would seem, considers the United States bound to
restrain their citizens from trading in warlike articles with the Indians connected
47 6 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
on this subject (which is a duplicate) mentions a copy of
Mr. Daschkoff's letter to you, as well as of your answer to it,
with the Russian establishments on the northwestern coast of America. This is
manifestly an error. If the Indians be under the Russian jurisdiction, the United
States are bound only to leave their citizens to the penalties operating within the
territorial limits. If the Indians are to be considered as independent tribes in-
habiting an independent territory, Russia cannot of right prohibit other nations
from trading with them, unless it be in contraband of war during a state of war,
in which case she may enforce the prohibition on the high seas. If the Indians
should fall under the character of rebels or insurgents against Russian authority the
same rule may be applicable. In this view of the subject, the United States being
under no legal obligation to comply with the demand of Russia, they can no other-
wise be brought under such obligation than by compact; and whatever disposition
they may feel to seek for a foundation and of friendship, it would be difficult to
attain the end in that mode, without maintaining a right which this nation has not
yet asserted in opposition to the Spanish claim to the western coast of America
south of that of Russia, and consequently without a contest unseasonable and pre-
mature, at least, with the Spaniards. The United States might indeed by a gra-
tuitous regulation yield to the wishes of the Emperor on this subject, and certainly
it would be very agreeable to them to give proofs on every occasion of their friend-
ship for his Imperial Majesty. But such a measure is not within the authority of
the executive, and could not well be formally proposed to the legislature without
the usual basis of mutual stipulation.
"These remarks may assist you in placing the subject before the Russian govern-
ment in a light best fitted to satisfy them. It may be added that as Russia has the
means of enforcing its own rights against those who intrude on the coast possessed
by her, or who are carrying implements of war to be used in hostility against her,
it cannot be essential that any foreign power should cooperate with her for the pur-
pose.
"In explaining the sentiments of the United States on this occasion, it will be
advisable for you to bring into view the hopes of the United States that it will be
found consistent with the liberal policy of the Emperor to favor a commerce of
the Americans in innocent articles, both with the Russians and Indians in that
quarter, and even their intercession in the trade between the Russian establish-
ments and China.
"As it does not appear how far the Russians stretch their claim southwardly
along the coast, it is material that some latitude should be fixed as the limit, and it
is desirable, as the coast south of it will enter into the plan of Indian trade likely to
be embraced by our citizens, that the limit should be as little advanced south-
wardly as may be. It appears from what passed between Spain and Great Britain
in the affair of Nootka Sound in the year 1790, that the claim of the former extended
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 477
as being enclosed; but the packet contained only the copy of
your answer, and not that of Mr. DaschkofPs letter, which I
presume is in the original despatch not yet received. Al-
though from the papers which have thus come to hand I can
collect generally the substance of the proposition, and your
sentiments relating to it, yet while ignorant of the precise
purport of Mr. DaschkofPs propositions, I shall be able to
do nothing more than intimate to the Chancellor that you
consider difficulties as standing in the way of this negotia-
tion; and refer for further explanation to the time when I
shall have received your despatch containing both the docu-
ments to which your letter refers me. . . .
The Prussian ordinance for the exclusion of American
vessels from the ports of that kingdom has been followed by
similar regulations of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin,
and of the king of Denmark, extending to all the ports of
Holstein the prohibition which had previously been limited
to the ports of Husum and Tonning. The following is an
exact translation of the Duke of Mecklenburg's ordinance:
Whereas it has been made manifest by manifold experience, that
the North American flag has been abused by the English, to intro-
duce prohibited wares, and to effect the secret evasion of the well
known commercial regulations of the Emperor of France; and
to the 60th degree of latitude." Secretary of State to John Quincy Adams, May 5,
18 10. Ms.
"In the course of a few days I purpose to ask a conference with the Chancellor,
Count Romanzoff, on the subject referred to in Mr. DaschkofPs letter. The diffi-
culty of fixing upon a boundary within which a prohibition of trade could be stipu-
lated, I suppose will not easily be removed. I know not whether it had been con-
templated when the proposition was first made, but the necessity of fixing upon a
line is obvious. Mr. Harris has communicated to me copies of his correspondence
with Count Romanzoff, and the memorials of the Russian American Company
relative to the object. I find by them that the Russian claim was asserted to the
mouth of Columbia River." To the Secretary of State, September 30, 1810. Ms.
478 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
whereas for a long time past no colonial productions have been
ship'd and exported from the real American ports, therefore the
military officers, in our sea ports of Rostock and Wismar, are
hereby expressly commanded, from this time forth not to admit
any more North American vessels, with what papers, and under
what pretext soever they may present themselves, but on the
contrary to keep special and severe watch, that all such be im-
mediately turned away and the military officers are hereby made
responsible for the strict execution of this order.
Frederick Francis.
Doberan, 29 July, 1810.
The Danish order, or as they call it there, chancery-
patent, is not so ready at the assignment of a reason. It says :
His Royal Majesty has found himself occasioned, by the cir-
cumstances of the time to extend to all the ports of the Duchy of
Holstein, the exclusion of North American vessels, already com-
manded at the Ports of Husum and Tonning, so that every North
American vessel, which after publication of this sovereign ordi-
nance shall come to any port of the Duchy of Holstein, shall with-
out breaking bulk be turned away, in like manner, as on the 15th
of June was ordained for the ports of Husum and of Tonning. This
Sovereign Resolution is hereby made known to all whom it may
concern, that they may conform themselves thereto accordingly.
Royal Chancery of Sleswick-Holstein, 3 August, 18 10.
(Signed) Morting.
Eggers Jensen Hammerich
Janssen Rotha Spies.
Notwithstanding the apparent rigor of these orders,
numbers of American vessels have been suffered to approxi-
mate the Prussian ports at least, sufficiently to discharge
their cargoes, on a proper explanation of circumstances to
the French consuls. I have no doubt but that they have ob-
tained the same access in the ports of Mecklenburg and
Holstein. You know the American property which had been
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 479
seized in Holland has finally been ransomed at a duty of forty
per cent. I have just now learnt that on the 7th of August
the Berlin and Milan decrees were revoked, 1 and that from
and after the 1st of November next, all the colonial articles
are to be admitted into the ports of France upon the pay-
ment of duties so enormous that one would think they must
be equivalent to prohibitions: American cotton, for instance,
at nearly 60 cents a pound, sugar 30 and 40, coffee 40, cocoa
I dollar, teas from 40 to 80 cents, and indigo 2 dollars. As
the demand for some of these articles is such that they must
eventually be purchased at any price, and as contraband
will always triumph over such duties as these, I cannot
imagine it is intended to keep them up at this standard. But
after levying contributions of forty or fifty per cent upon the
stock of the merchants on hand, to enable them to pay this
tax without being ruined by its operation, these duties may
now be fixed among other reasons to raise the prices of that
stock on hand to a level adequate to the proportion of the
property extracted from it. In short, sir, from the complexion
of all the measures which I have recently witnessed emanat-
ing from France, the continental system, whatever may have
been its original design, appears terminating in a mere tax
levied upon commerce by France, equal or more than equal
to that which Great Britain has levied by the superiority of
her naval power. I have not officially this account of the
revocation of the decrees but receive it both from Hamburg
and Amsterdam in such a manner as leaves me no reason to
doubt its authenticity. It seems probable that it has been
a subject of negotiation between France and England. It is
to be hoped it will be immediately followed by the revocation
of the Orders in Council, and of the blockade from the Elbe
to Brest.
1 This was an error. See Henry Adams, History, V. 253.
480 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
Mr. George Joy informs me that he has obtained from the
Danish government the means of protecting in future from
Danish capture all the American vessels which may arrive
at Gothenburg. I have corresponded with this gentleman
since his residence at Copenhagen, where he has certainly
manifested much zeal and made great exertions in behalf of
our unfortunate countrymen taken into the Danish ports.
Though his success had not hitherto corresponded with his
good intentions, he has at least been listened to as much as
could be expected under all the circumstances of his situa-
tion. I believe that the want of a native American accredited
agent of the government of the United States at Copenhagen
has cost our country ten times more than the cost would
have been of maintaining one there, even with the character
of a public minister. The Danish minister here told me some
time since, that he was persuaded much of what our com-
merce there suffered might be remedied by the representa-
tions of a person duly accredited, and in an official station
entitled to access to the highest authorities of the country.
I cherish the hope that Mr. Joy's licenses will prove ef-
ficacious to protect our vessels in future. Several very
recent and rich captures have however occurred. A convoy
of fifty sail has been taken and carried into Christiansand,
among which are at least eight Americans with very valuable
cargoes, which sailed from Cronstadt for the United States
in June. Some of them had despatches on board from me to
your Department.
We had last week a Te Deum celebrated at court, for a new
victory over the army of the Grand Vizir at Shumla. An-
other action at Rustchuk is said to have been less favorable
to the Russian arms. The Prince of Ponte Corvo (General
Bernadotte) has been elected Crown Prince of Sweden. I
have the honor, etc.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 481
TO JOHN ADAMS
St. Petersburg, 2 September, 18 10.
My dear Sir:
• ••••«•
You say that you live in no apprehension of a war, foreign
or domestic, the most pleasing and most happy state of
things that can be announced. But in that I perceive your
opinion differs widely from that of the caucussing-circular-
letter legislators, who a month after the date of your letter
had such a fearful foresight of a war with England and a
French alliance. The federal party and the British faction
are certainly not in our country the same thing. But for the
last three years the federal party, in New England especially,
have suffered themselves to be made so egregiously the dupes
and the tools of the British faction, that they are most nat-
urally and most justly falling with them. If they would
recover themselves in the sight of their country, they must
tread back a great many of their steps.
You have the news from England, France, Spain, Portugal
and Italy, almost as soon as we have it here. I therefore
write you little of it. You will know that England continues
to reject time after time the overtures of peace made by
France, and that Napoleon treats her as the Sibyl did Tar-
quin for the price of her books. Last winter he offered to
treat upon the basis of the uti possidetis. England would
not hear of it; since which he has definitely made Hanover
part of the kingdom of Westphalia. At the time of the mar-
riage Count Metternich, the Austrian Prime Minister, went
to Paris, and sent new protestations to England, which have
also terminated in nothing, and Napoleon has annexed all
Holland to the French empire. He has now made a French
482 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
general (Bernadotte), Crown Prince of Sweden. All this
time England is haggling about Spain and Portugal. In
those countries there seems to be a vis inertiae too powerful
for either of the parties. They can neither be conquered by
the French, nor defended by the English. Perhaps after
all the peace will be made by a compromise, leaving them in
a state of neutrality, or of partition between France and
England. Independent they certainly will not be.
One thing is so clear that even British ministers cannot
much longer blind themselves to its evidence. The longer
they continue the war, the more universally will it extend,
and the more they will establish the control of France over
the continent of Europe. On the other hand the demonstra-
tion is equally plain, that the longer France and her de-
pendencies adhere to what they call their continental sys-
tem, the more easily will England be able to maintain the
war, and the more effectually to secure to herself the monop-
oly of commerce throughout the world. I have been labor-
ing to convince those whose interest it is to be convinced of
this, ever since I came here, while the wiseacres among you
have been telling the public that I came here to link the
United States with the continental system, etc., etc., etc.
Since the substitute for our non-intercourse, Napoleon has
taken us at our word. He repeals the Berlin and Milan de-
crees upon condition that England revokes her orders in
council and proclamation blockades, or that according to the
act, we renew the non-intercourse with her upon her re-
fusal. 1 I suppose she will refuse. But if she does our pa-
1 "Lastly, we learn that the Emperor Napoleon has repealed the Decrees of Berlin
and Milan, on condition that England shall revoke the Orders of Council, and re-
nounce her new principles of blockade; or that the United States according to the
act of I May last shall renew the non-intercourse, only with England. The Duke
de Cadore, in most diplomatic form, assures General Armstrong that his Imperial
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 483
triotic Junto will bear her out in it, as they did Jackson,
and Canning, and Rose, and Berkeley, and all the treaty-
makers and faithbreakers of "that Island" We are all well.
I am, &c.
TO SAMUEL LATHAM MITCHILL
St. Petersburg, 5 September, 18 10.
My dear Sir:
Many of our countrymen who have arrived at that port
[Archangel] during the present season have met with great
difficulties in obtaining admission, owing to the severity of
the regulations for the exclusion of English vessels, and of
vessels coming from English ports, both of which are pro-
hibitive. The difficulty of distinguishing between English
and American vessels and mariners, especially by foreigners,
the facilities and temptations which vessels really American
have for coming from British ports, the forgery of ship's
papers pretended American, of which there is such a flourish-
ing manufacture established in the city of London, and the
interloping trade, which by the agency of some American
individuals is supposed to be carried on with England in
spite of all the prohibitions, together with the distance of
the port of Archangel from this metropolis, and the want of
majesty of France 'loves the Americans.' His majesty's manner of showing love
is peculiar to himself." To Alexander Hill Everett, September 3, 1810. Ms.
"If, as is supposed by some, it [repeal of the decrees] was already concerted with
England, by a mutual understanding that the corresponding steps should im-
mediately be taken upon her part, all our important difficulties are at an end, and
an early peace between France and England may be expected. If on the contrary
this conditional repeal has been announced only because it was known that Eng-
land on her part would not comply with the conditions, it will only give a new at-
titude to our embarrassments, and increase the danger of our being eventually
drawn into the war." To Joseph Pitcairn, September 4, 1810. Ms.
484 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
an American consul there, and the very unusual number of
American vessels which have arrived at that port this sum-
mer, have all concurred to raise obstacles to the reception of
the genuine Americans, coming directly from the United
States. Besides this, great and formidable efforts have been
made, under a multitude of pretences and in a variety of
shapes, to obtain the real exclusion of American vessels, or
at least of the most valuable and important parts of their
cargoes. Hitherto these efforts have been altogether with-
out success, and we have had every demonstration in fact
as well as every formal and solemn assurance, that the dis-
position of the government is in a peculiar degree favorable,
not only' to the support and encouragement, but to the
extension of the commercial relations between this country
and the United States.
I cannot but natter myself that the revocation by the
French Emperor of the Berlin and Milan decrees, though con-
ditional as it is, indicates a change of system which will
relieve us at least from a part of the oppressions and vexa-
tions under which our commerce has so long labored, and
from the dangers with which it is still threatened. Some of
our countrymen heretofore have most vehemently, and you
know how erroneously, pretended that in that series of out-
rages which we have suffered from both the great maritime
belligerent powers, the first example was set by France. I
am curious to know, how they will be affected by seeing the
first step towards a return to justice and a sense of right
actually taken by France. If this example is followed by
England, of which we have had from her so many and such
solemn promises, we shall at least once more have reason to
expect some security to our property, and some respect for
our rights upon the ocean. But if the war of commerce has
really been given up, (as if England revokes her Orders of
isio] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 485
Council and new blockade principles it evidently has been,)
there will nothing be left about which they can long contend,
and we shall probably have a peace before the next spring.
I have not seen the Anthology review nor any other of my
lectures. 1 On leaving home I requested my brother, when the
lectures should be published to send you a set of them, of
which as a token of my esteem and friendship I ask
your acceptance. I hope you have before this time re-
ceived it.
It would have given me pleasure to see the outline of your
course of lectures upon natural history, and I hope one day to
see the course itself published.
The present is not a period very favorable to the arts and
sciences in this country. The wars in which the empire has
for several years been engaged, and the heavy expenses which
they occasion, have introduced a depreciated paper cur-
rency, and have raised the prices of books and the materials
of books to such a degree that literature suffers from it more
severely. There is one work however of considerable im-
portance in the course of publication, the first volume of
which both in the Russian and German languages has ap-
peared since my arrival. It is an account of the voyage round
the world in the years 1803, 1804, 1805 and 1806, of two
Russian ships under the command of Captain Krusenstern. 1
He is himself the author of the narrative. It will be con-
tained in three quarto volumes, with a volume of maps and
plates, to the execution of which the Emperor Alexander has
appropriated one hundred thousand roubles. There is a
French translation of this work announced at Paris by a Mr.
Le Clerc, who is already known as the author of a general
history of the Russian empire. An English translation will
1 See p. 513, infra.
2 Adam Ivan Krusenstern (1770-1846). See Adams, Memoirs, April 3, 1810.
4 86 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
also probably appear, but is not yet in a state of equal ad-
vancement. 1
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 23. [Robert Smith]
September 5, 18 10.
He [Romanzoff] said 2 he had also received despatches from
Mr. Daschkoff, stating that his application [in relation to a
trade between the United States and a Russian settlement
on the northwest coast of America] had been favorably re-
ceived by the government of the United States. That they
had a growing settlement on the northwest coast of America,
and that from it a profitable trade could be carried on to
China; that they had sent two vessels there under the com-
mand of Captain Krusenstern, which had gone from there
to Canton. Canton was a port open to all the nations of
Europe; but the Russians, who are specially favored by the
Chinese government, had an exclusive trade with them,
carried on at a place called Kiakhta. 3 But the Chinese had
refused to admit Captain Krusenstern's ships at Canton, on
the pretext that as the Russian trade with them had long
been carried on with exclusive privileges at Kiakhta, they
supposed that if the Russians meant to change the channel
of trade they would have given them notice of it. And as
they had heard nothing about such vessels coming to Can-
ton, they could not tell whether they were really Russians or
1 An English translation, by R. B. Hoppner, appeared in 1813.
2 This interview was held on August 28, and is given at great length in the
Memoirs.
3 Now in Siberia, south of Lake Baikal. Its commerce suffered by the open-
ing of the Suez Canal.
isio] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 487
not. There had been, the Count said, some sheets passed
between the two governments since on the subject, but the
convulsed state of Europe, and objects of so much greater
magnitude, had so absorbed his attention, that they had not
yet come to any arrangement with them for the admission
of Russian vessels at Canton. He had therefore wished that
the trade from the Russian settlement on the northwest
coast of America to China might be carried on by the Amer-
icans. And as the settlement itself is in the neighborhood
of Indians, who were sometimes troublesome and dangerous
neighbors to it, he had thought an arrangement might be
concerted with the United States, under which the Amer-
icans might have the trade of the settlement, under a re-
striction not to furnish warlike weapons and instruments to
the neighboring Indians. 1
I told him I collected from the papers which I had re-
ceived that Mr. DaschkofF was not specifically instructed
as to the limits within which it was wished that the restric-
tion should be extended, and asked whether he could point
them out to me. He said that it would require some con-
sideration, but that their maps included the whole of Nootka
Sound, and down to the mouth of Columbia River, as part
of the Russian possessions. It will be unnecessary for me to
say anything further to the Count upon this subject until I shall
have received your original despatch, enclosing the copy of Mr.
Daschkoff 's letter to you containing the proposal on the part of
Russia. I do not imagine that it is the Count's serious inten-
tion to claim to the mouth of the Columbia River; but perhaps
the fixing upon a boundary may present difficulties to the pro-
posed convention which had not been anticipated. In the mean-
time the Count manifested no objection to the carrying on of the
1 A digression on Russia's diplomatic intercourse with China is in Adams, Mem-
oirs, August 28, 1 8 10.
488
THE WRITINGS OF
[1810
trade between the settlements by American vessels. 1 And as
Russia's vessels are not admitted at Canton, it is much for
the interest of the settlement that vessels which have access
there should come and take their peltries to carry them. This
can be done so conveniently, and probably so cheaply, by no
others as by the Americans. 2
I took the opportunity of this same conference to converse
with the Count upon the difficulties which our countrymen
experience in obtaining admission into the Russian ports, of
which there were some complaints made to me from Cron-
stadt, and many from Archangel. The imperial ordinances
prohibit, under pain of confiscation of the cargoes, the en-
trance of vessels from English ports or ports of other nations
with which Russia is at war; and also of articles of mer-
chandise, the growth or produce of such countries. To this
number is now added by the ordinance of the 22 May last
the ports of Portugal on the continent of Europe which are
understood to be in possession of the English. A number of
American vessels, however, have arrived at Archangel from
Lisbon and Oporto, which sailed from those ports before any
notice had been given that they could not be admitted as
coming from thence into Russia, and with papers duly au-
thenticated by the Russian consuls. On presenting them-
selves at Archangel they were not admitted to an entry and
one of them at least had after examination of the papers been
ordered to depart within thirty days. One other being under
absolute necessity of undergoing repairs before she could
sail, had been allowed to discharge her cargo, giving bonds
to take it on board again when the necessary repairs should
be completed. The captains of both these vessels addressed
themselves directly to me, requesting me to obtain, if pos-
1 Italics represent cypher.
2 See Adams, Memoirs, October 9, 1810.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 489
sible, permission for them to enter, and to dispose of their
cargoes. Several applications of a similar kind were also
made to our consul, Mr. Harris, to whose department they
more properly belonged than to mine. I had, however, in a
personal interview with Count Romanzoff early in the last
month urged to him all the equitable considerations which
pleaded for the admission of these vessels. With regard to
the one which had taken damage and required repairs the
Count had given encouragement to expect that an exception
would be made in his favor, and on that case he desired me
to write him an official note. As to the rest he gave me the
answer which I had expected, that to a measure general in
its nature and arising from the state of war, it was not pos-
sible to allow particular exceptions on account of the mere
want of previous notice. But in writing the note I renewed
the application generally as well as that for the particular
case of the damaged vessel, because I knew that in this form
it would all be presented to the consideration of the Emperor
himself , and that if there was any possibility of success, it would
arise from his personal disposition, so congenial with every-
thing equitable and humane, and so peculiarly friendly to the
United States. I have not yet received an answer to this note,
but I know that on a representation of the circumstances set
forth in it to the Emperor, he said he thought the vessels ought
to be admitted.
The obstacles to the admission of our vessels, especially
at the port of Archangel, have not been confined to those
coming from the Portuguese ports. For the purpose of
carrying into execution the prohibitory ordinances, several
persons in each of the ports have been appointed commis-
sioners for the examination of the papers of neutral vessels.
They are styled the Commission of Neutral Navigation. 1 The
1 Not in cypher.
49 o THE WRITINGS OF [1810
papers of all vessels upon their arrival are in the first instance
submitted to their inspection. Like all organized public
offices, they have only certain hours of transacting business,
and in this country are subject to the interruptions of the
numerous holidays of the church, as well as of Sundays.
By their constitution consisting of several members, they
naturally become in some respects a deliberative body.
Having during the season of open navigation much business
upon their hands, they generally take up the cases in the
order in which they are brought before them. If in the ex-
amination of any papers, circumstances occur which any one
of the commissioners deems suspicious, they give rise to dis-
cussions, to delays, and almost always a reference of the
papers, and of the questions arising from them, to the deci-
sion of the Minister of Commerce at St. Petersburg. These
questions so frequently happen that I am told of nearly three
hundred vessels arrived at Archangel this season, less than
one hundred had about the beginning of last month been
admitted.
The period during which navigation is practicable to and
from Archangel seldom exceeds four months in the year.
Should the vessels which have arrived, and are still arriving,
be delayed much longer before they are admitted, they will
be compelled to winter there, which for all of them will be
very injurious, and for some almost equivalent to a total
loss of the voyage. I had in my former conference with
Count Romanzoff spoken to him on this subject; but in this
last, the season being so much farther advanced, I pressed
it upon him with as much urgency as I found he would bear
without taking offense. I observed to him that the naviga-
tion from Archangel would probably be closed within a
month or six weeks; that the length of the voyages, both in
coming and returning, of American vessels, made a longer
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 491
time necessary for them to remain in port than for others, and
pleaded equitably for a peculiar attention of despatch in
their behalf; that after their admission they must yet have
time to dispose of the cargoes they had brought, and to pur-
chase cargoes for their return, none of which business could
be transacted while they were left in suspense whether they
should be finally admitted at all; that possibly Baron Camp-
enhausen, with whom I had not the honor of being personally
acquainted, and with whom, if I did know him, it might per-
haps be improper for me to have any conversation upon these
subjects, might entertain suspicions in relation to many
American vessels, owing to the extraordinary numbers of
them which had arrived during the present season. But the
fact was that a number far beyond that of any preceding
year had really arrived, both here and at Archangel, coming
directly from the United States, and destined to return
directly thither; that I had anticipated this event, and, as he
knew, had announced it to him as infallible, so long ago as
last winter; that the causes of it were the obstructions to our
commerce, which it experienced in almost every other quar-
ter; the suspension of it by our own laws in the preceding
years; and, above all, the encouragement which our mer-
chants had derived from the peculiar favor which his Im-
perial Majesty had been pleased to manifest towards the
United States. From my private advices, and from the
complexion of the newspapers which I had received down to
the middle of June, I knew that the exclusions which we
were now subject to, in Prussia, Mecklenburg, and, as I ex-
pected to learn by to-morrow's post, in all the ports of Hol-
stein, were all expected in America; but many of our mer-
chants in all the sea-ports had said, Happen to us what will
elsewhere, at least we are sure of being well received in
Russia; that I hoped Baron Campenhausen would be made
492 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
sensible of these circumstances, and of the essential impor-
tance to so many of my countrymen, that they should be
immediately admitted. I added that this would be still
more urgent for all those who might yet arrive before the
close of the season; that I had received numerous letters, and
from a variety of persons, all meeting with the same diffi-
culties, and every one thinking that there were particular
circumstances in his case which would entitle him to special
indulgences and exemptions. I was unwilling to trouble him
with each of these cases separately, as I wished them all to
participate in the same advantage, and was desirous of spar-
ing him the tediousness of particular details; that I had al-
ready had the honor of addressing to him a note, respecting
the vessels which had arrived from Lisbon; that the super-
cargo of a vessel arrived at Archangel, from New York, had
written to me to ask whether a special order for his admis-
sion could not be obtained, on account of his having brought
despatches for me, and also to this government from Mr.
Daschkoff.
The Count said this was undoubtedly evidence that the
vessel came from the United States; and he had in other in-
stances alleged it as such himself. But it could not be evi-
dence, either of the nature of the cargo, or that the vessel
was not last from some port of Great Britain; that it would
not be therefore a sufficient foundation for a special order.
I then observed that in dwelling so earnestly upon the
wish that I had expressed, I flattered myself I was promoting
the interests of his Majesty's empire as much as those of my
own country; that the number of American vessels which had
come here, and the quantity of the Russian productions
which they would take in return, were highly favorable to
the agriculture and the manufactures of this country; that
they gave encouragement to its industry, and contributed
!8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 493
more than anything to support the course of its exchange.
Such were the obvious effects of the vessels which had ar-
rived; but I thought it unnecessary to press this argument
much, as I was persuaded his Excellency knew better than
I did how strongly it was supported by the fact.
The Count said he well knew that it was exactly so; that he
had been hitherto the Minister of Commerce, but that a new
arrangement had been made, by which all business of this
nature was transferred to Baron Campenhausen; that he
must do him the justice to say he was an officer of great
activity, and dispatched business as fast as he could. But
he was extremely apt to entertain suspicions; and possibly
some delays might arise from this circumstance. He, the
Count, was fully sensible of the weight and justice of the
observations I had made to him. He would immediately
make a minute of it in writing (which he did), and write to-
morrow morning to Baron Campenhausen, pressing the sub-
ject in a special manner upon his attention.
I observed that my countrymen felt an extraordinary
anxiety at these unusual detentions, from remarking their
coincidence with the ordinances of Prussia, Mecklenburg,
and Denmark excluding us from their ports, and from an
apprehension that the same influence under which it was
known that these orders had been issued might be exerted
even here.
He assured me in the most solemn manner that I might
rely upon it there was no foundation for these apprehensions;
that the Emperor's sentiments and intentions with regard
to the United States remained unaltered, and disposed to
give it all possible encouragement. The Count as I have al-
ready informed you had given me the same assurance in my
last previous conference with him in regard to the Emperor's
personal disposition, or to those of the Count himself. I have
494 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
no reason to question their sincerity. But the French Ambas-
sador, as a minister of the first order, has by the diplomatic
usages of the country direct and frequent access to the Emperor
Alexander in person. There are subjects upon which he treats
immediately with him, and without the intervention of the Count
himself. The effect of the interviews between the Ambassador
and the Emperor are perceived in the orders which afterwards
go through the official departments. They are sometimes par-
amount at the deliberations of the Imperial Council. I have
some reason to suppose that the Ambassador has suggested to the
Emperor in terms stronger than the reality would justify, the
abuses by which the English have endeavored and are endeavor-
ing to shelter their property under the American flag; and from
a confidential source some expressions of the Emperor himself
have been reported to me indicating both that such suggestions
as I now allude to had been made to him and his determination
not to yield to them. I cannot undertake to say that what has
hitherto failed may not at a future day prove more successful.
He asked me whether a favorable change had not taken
place in the state of our relations with France.
I said that France had partially opened her ports to the
United States.
He said he believed there was something still more recent,
and that a sort of agreement had been entered into, between
France and England, for the allowance of commerce in cer-
tain articles, by means of neutral vessels.
I had not heard of this; but observed that in the midst of
all these violent ill offices which France was doing to us, her
government was making the most solemn asseverations of
the best possible dispositions and the most friendly senti-
ments towards us; that I had within this week or fortnight
received such assurances from the French Ambassador here,
while at the same time the Mecklenburg and Danish orders
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 495
for excluding our vessels from all their ports were coming
out. The French government too had issued a declaration
that the French consuls in the United States no longer de-
livered any certificates of origin, and therefore that all papers
purporting to be of that description, produced by the masters
of American vessels in the Baltic, must be forgeries. But
nothing could be more false than this assertion. All the
vessels coming from the United States brought certificates of
origin given by the French consuls, and I had myself de-
livered to Mr. Lesseps * a letter from the French consul in
Boston, 2 informing him that he had given such a certificate
to the master of the vessel which sailed the latest of any
which have yet arrived. In the order to exclude American
vessels, which they had made the Duke of Mecklenburg sign,
that Prince had committed himself to an assertion equally
wide from the truth. He affirms that for a long time no
colonial articles have been exported from the United States.
This was sporting with the common sense of mankind in a
manner almost unparalleled.
The Count replied that it was indeed extraordinary; and
with regard to the certificates of origin, he had remarked that
the declaration asserted the French consuls had not delivered
any "depuis quelque temps," an expression so vague that
it might be a week or a year, and could warrant no inference
to falsify any such papers yet produced. With regard to
this system of restriction, the Count seemed to me more
than ever convinced of its inefficacy, and prepared, at least
in his own mind, to give it up.
The day after this conference I received a message from
Baron Campenhausen with information that the papers for
the admission of several of the vessels which had been de-
1 Jean-Baptiste-Barthelemy, baron de Lesseps (1766-183 1).
2 Marc-Antoine-Felix Giraud.
496 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
tained, were already expedited; and that special orders had
been sent to the Commission for Neutral Navigation at
Archangel, to use the utmost possible despatch in the exam-
ination of the papers of American vessels for the future.
While writing this letter I receive a note from him, informing
me that his majesty the Emperor has ordered that the vessels
from Lisbon, concerning which I had written to Count Ro-
manzoff should be admitted. The decision involves a prin-
ciple which will apply to many other vessels in the same
predicament, and affords a signal proof of the correctness
with which the Chancellor assured me that the Emperor's
dispositions towards the United States remain unaltered.
/ have received indirectly intimation of the Count's desire to
cement by a treaty of commerce the relations between the two
countries. Unless the President has objections of which I am
not aware ', I would earnestly recommend that a full power and
instructions for this purpose be sent me. The moment is emi-
nently favorable, and such an occasion once lost may not in as
many years again recur. . . .
TO THOMAS BOYLSTON ADAMS
St. Petersburg, 8 September, 18 10.
I have written to my son George, 1 who is coming now to
an age which will call for all the care and all the zeal of a
parent for his education. As you are now yourself the father
of a boy, and I hope will be of more, you will more perfectly
enter into my feelings on this subject, and the more readily
indulge my opinions, although you may perhaps not always
coincide with them. With regard to sedentary learning, the
1 George Washington Adams, born In Berlin, Prussia, April 13, 1801.
isio] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 497
languages, all the classical studies, and such personal ac-
complishments as are usually taught among us, I shall de-
pend upon the school and the college. I wish, indeed, he
could have an opportunity to take lessons of drawing and of
fencing, of both of which I learnt a little at his age, or soon
after, and of which I always regret that I did not learn more.
The first of these arts has not only the advantage of forming
and improving the taste in all the fine arts, but there is no
occupation of life to the purpose of which it may not be
made eminently useful. The second is a very good exercise,
and besides its tendency to invigorate the constitution,
contributes to quicken the operations of the eye, and to give
firmness and pliancy to those of the hand. I suppose, how-
ever, that for the present I must be content to let my boys
wait for instructions of this kind, as you have probably no
teachers of the sort in your neighborhood. One of the things
which I wish to have them taught, and which no man can
teach them better than you, is the use and management of
firearms. This must undoubtedly be done with great cau-
tion, but it is customary among us, particularly when chil-
dren are under the direction of ladies, to withhold it too much
and too long from boys. The accidents which happen among
children arose more frequently from their ignorance, than
from their misuse of weapons which they know to be danger-
ous. As you are a sportsman, I beg you occasionally from
this time to take George out with you in your shooting ex-
cursions, teach him gradually the use of the musket, its con-
struction, and the necessity of prudence in handling it; let
him also learn the use of pistols, and exercise him at firing at
a mark.
In general let him have as much relaxation and sport as
becomes his age, but let him be encouraged in nothing deli-
cate or effeminate. Seize every possible occasion to give him
498 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
hardihood, inure him to fatigue; let him if there be an op-
portunity begin to mount on horseback. If he goes into
Boston to see a play, make him walk for it rather than ride
in a carriage. Let him learn to skate this winter, and if he
has not already begun, let him by all means learn to swim
next summer. In everything of this kind I know there is
danger, but it is a world of danger in which we live, and I
want my boys to be familiarized as soon as possible with its
face, that they may be the better warned and guarded
against it.
To his French, his speaking, and his handwriting, I must
rely upon you to see that constant attention is paid. I have
directed him to keep files of the letters which he receives,
and told him you would have the goodness to show him how
to put up and endorse letters in files. Much, very much,
must be taught to children without seeming to teach them.
A father should elicit from everything in nature instruction
for his child, and you must in this respect be a father to mine.
One of the kindest correspondents that I have had since
I left home is Dr. Mitchill of New York. He writes me in his
last letter that the Anthology has taken favorable notice of
my lectures, but though his letter is dated in May, he appears
not to have seen the lectures at that time himself. His name
was upon the list of persons to whom I desired you to send
copies as presents in my name, which I hope you have not
forgotten. And to that list I wish you to add the names of
our sister Smith, and of Mr. Pope, the Senator from Ken-
tucky.
Among the reasons why I am so much disappointed at
being so long without hearing from you is the wish to know
something more of the great revolution in the political as-
pect of New England and New York, a revolution which I
was far from anticipating at my departure from the United
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 499
States, and still less expected after the last winter's patriotic
resolutions. Absurd and pernicious as I knew the policy of
the faction which ruled in the eastern section of the union
to be, they had for two years been so much countenanced by
the people that I had no hopes of seeing them so soon de-
serted by their majorities, or that they had so grossly mis-
calculated the effect of their measures upon the public senti-
ments. I hope, and from their selection of characters and
the complexion of Governor Gerry's speech and the Houses 9
answer to it I trust, that the rising party will secure their
ascendancy by moderation and conciliatory councils.
TO JOHN POPE
St. Petersburg, io September, 1810.
My dear Sir:
I have seldom met in the course of my life with an event
which has given me more pleasure, than the information
which we have lately received of your marriage with a sister
of my wife. To the esteem and respect which I had always
entertained for your character ever since I had enjoyed the
opportunity of becoming acquainted with you, I am happy
to find added by this new relation between us that senti-
ment of regard and attachment which naturally arises from
our mutual and like connection with the same family; and
with regard to the object of your choice, having long taken
an affectionate interest in her welfare, I most cordially par-
ticipated in the joy with which her friends have seen thus
assured to her the prospect of as much happiness as our con-
dition in this world can comport, and which we believe she
deserves. For you and for her I can form no better and no
stronger wish than that through the course of a long and
5 oo THE WRITINGS OF [1810
prosperous life you may both derive from this union as much
of the felicity, and as little of the sorrows of human existence,
as for upwards of thirteen years has fallen to my lot from
my union with her sister. . . .
It is now more than two years since I resigned my seat in
the Senate of the United States, the occasion of which was, I
believe, well known to you. A full third of the members
has been changed since that time, and a letter from Mrs.
Johnson to my wife intimates that you will also probably be
soon, if you have not already been, removed from that body. 1
As I presume the station which you are to assume instead
of your seat in the Senate is more agreeable to you, I must
acquiesce in your determination, which on my own account
however I shall regret. I had flattered myself that during
my own residence in Europe I could have enjoyed the bene-
fit of a confidential correspondence with you, which your
situation in the Senate might have rendered useful to the
public, as I am persuaded it would be to me. There are
things which I could communicate to the President and
Secretary of State in this manner, which it would not be
prudent to write them directly, even by private letters; and
on the other hand, I want information of the proceedings of
Congress as affairs are transacting, and more particularly
than can be gathered from newspapers. If, therefore, you
remain in the Senate, I earnestly request your correspond-
ence, and the more frequent and circumstantial the better.
It will also give me great pleasure to hear from you as often
as you can make it convenient, if you should vacate your
seat, and fix again your residence in Kentucky.
If you continue in Congress, this letter I presume will find
you in session, and the return of General Armstrong, 2 who
1 John Pope (1770-1845), remained in the Senate until 1813.
2 He left Paris, September 12.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 501
may be expected to land in the United States just at the
period when Congress will assemble, will furnish the govern-
ment with such information as may be necessary to direct
the course of policy to be pursued in relation to our foreign
affairs. Although from some letters and papers that I have
received, it would seem that the measures of the last session
did not give general satisfaction to the friends of the present
administration at home, I believe that their general effect
has been highly advantageous in Europe. The result cer-
tainly was to soften the dispositions both of the French and
English governments. The non-intercourse, without much
injuring either of them, had greatly irritated both, and the
mortification, which Jackson's insolence and its chastise-
ment had reflected upon his government and nation, had
further contributed to exasperate the English. The repeal
or expiration of the non-intercourse happened at a fortunate
moment for them. They were suffering a scarcity of grain
and flour, of which they immediately received an abundant
supply from America. Their fleet in the Baltic, which had
been ordered not to suffer any vessels coming from ports
from which the British flag was excluded to pass, imme-
diately afterwards and constantly since have allowed Amer-
ican vessels to come and go freely to and from the Baltic.
France has done much more. She has accepted your proffer,
and repealed the decrees of Berlin and Milan, upon condi-
tions, however, with which Great Britain appears to be in no
haste to comply. Our national character instead of losing
has certainly risen in the estimation of Europe, as well by
the spirit and decision with which the door was shown to
Mr. Jackson, as by the keen, bold and unanswerable letter
of General Armstrong to the Duke of Cadore, of 10 March. 1
I believe that the project which both France and England
1 American State Papers, Foreign Relations, III. 381.
S o2 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
did at one time entertain, of compelling us to take a part in
their war and of suffering no neutrality, is abandoned on
both sides. They will undoubtedly continue to harass our
commerce with many vexations and oppressions, but in spite
of them all I think that upon the whole it will flourish, and
perhaps the insecurity and danger to which it will still be
exposed will have a favorable tendency to check the pro-
pensity for our trading which has heretofore been observed
among us, and employ a suitable proportion of our capital
in the improvement of our agriculture and manufactures, the
surest sources of our national independence. There is now
every reason to hope that we shall escape being involved in
this war, and if we do. the continuance of our national
prosperity is infallible.
I trust, therefore, that our government will adhere to that
steady, moderate and impartial policy, which has hitherto
carried us through one of the most critical periods in the
history of the world. As an appendage either to Britain or
France, the only character in which we should appear if we
became parties to the war on either side, we should assume
an appearance neither of dignity nor of power. All their
dependencies on both sides are merely objects for the con-
tempt, or at least for the compassion, of one another and of
the rest of mankind. Our situation is not only duly esti-
mated by ourselves, you may be assured that it is the envy
of all Europe. The fatal friendships of England, and the
grinding oppressions of France, ascend in secret or in open
curses and execrations to Heaven from every corner of
Europe. And even those who have no independence left
of their own look with some consolation and applause upon
the peaceful assertion of ours.
i8ic] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 503
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
No. 24. [Robert Smith]
St. Petersburg, 8/20 September, 18 10.
Sir:
The capture by five Danish gun brigs of a fleet of forty-
eight vessels, convoyed by one English brig on the 19th of
July last, has been mentioned in one of my former letters.
Of the captured vessels, seventeen or eighteen were Ameri-
cans and eight of them at least had sailed about one month
before from Cronstadt for the United States. You will
recollect that the present Danish privateering ordinance de-
clares all neutral vessels which shall have taken advantage
of an English convoy in the Baltic or in the North Sea to be
good prize. Against this regulation I remonstrated imme-
diately after I received the ordinance in a letter to Mr. Joy,
of which I presume he made use in his communications with
the government at Copenhagen, and of which he informs
me he sent a copy to you.
The British government at the opening of the Baltic
navigation season declared the port of Elsineur in a state of
blockade. The only conceivable object of this measure must
have been to deprive the king of Denmark of the customary
duties paid at the passage of the Sound. I know not by
what other law of nations than that which pretends to the
dominion of the seas or passage to half Europe can be
stopped, for the purpose of cutting off a petty toll duty paid
to an enemy. The British government have not indeed
avowed this as their purpose in the declaration of blockade,
and they have suffered some of the American vessels which
they compelled to pass through the belt to stop at Nyborg
504 THE WRITINGS OF* [1810
and pay the Sound duties there. But I learn by a letter
from Mr. Daniel Adgate, supercargo of the ship Helvetius of
Philadelphia, which sailed from Cronstadt for that port in
the beginning of the month of July, that on the loth of that
month she was stopped by the British man-of-war African,
off Moen Island, and the captain was peremptorily forbidden
to proceed through the Sound, or to pay the Sound dues to
Denmark. I presume that the American vessels which had
preceded the Helvetius on their way out of the Baltic had
met the same treatment; for I know that most, if not all, of
the eight from Cronstadt, which have been carried into
Christiansand at the time of their departure had determined
not to go with an English convoy, if they could possibly get
through without. Neither could they have had any motive
for stopping at Gothenburg, unless from the necessity thus
imposed upon them of going under convoy.
It is not a little remarkable that after using this sort of
compulsion to take our vessels under their protection, they
should have left them so completely exposed that they may
be said to have delivered them of their own accord into the
hands of the Danes. I have seen in the public prints a letter
from one of the captured captains which complains that
after being separated from the great convoy on the 18th of
July, off the Robsmont, which is on the Jutland shore, and
entrusted to the care of one small cutter brig, they were
made to take a course so directly northward as to bring them
into the very jaws of danger, within six miles of the coast of
Norway, and close upon Christiansand, the very spot where
all the principal Danish force of Norway lay. Nor is it less
deserving of notice that of the forty-eight captured vessels,
not one is English.
Since the intelligence of this event has been received here,
I have had several conversations with the Baron de Blome,
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 505
the Danish minister at this court, on the subject. I have
urged to him the injustice of the regulation which makes a
vessel and cargo liable to confiscation, though acknowledged
to be neutral property, but merely for having occasionally
been in company with an English convoy. And I have
pressed yet more earnestly the extreme hardship of making
such a regulation, so new and so questionable in its principle,
bear upon vessels which had come into the Baltic before its
promulgation, and to which therefore upon their return it
operates as a retrospective law.
At the same time as the British blockade of Elsineur had no
other object than to cut off a profitable branch of revenue to
Denmark, I suggested to the Baron as a subject for the consider-
ation of his government, whether some expedient might not be
devised to secure the payment of the customary duties in future
by the American vessels which may pass through, although they
should not be allowed to go into Elsineur and might go in com-
pany with an English convoy. 1 This idea appeared to make
some impression upon his mind, and he asked me to write in
the form of a letter to him, the substance of what I wished
to have represented to his government, which he promised
me to transmit. He professed, as he has uniformly done, a
disposition personally very friendly to me, and to the United
States. Nor have I any reason to doubt its sincerity. Al-
though his duty to support as a public officer the course of policy
adopted by his government, and the necessity which he cannot
dissemble of cultivating the good will of France, lead him to use
his influence here in a manner not altogether propitious to our
interests or that of Russia, he is of all the ft, . ministers at
this court the most active and the best informed, though perhaps
for that among other reasons, the most disliked. His pursuits
since my arrival here have certainly been very far from mine, and
1 Cypher.
5 o6 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
/ may say in direct opposition to them; l but I have no reason
to doubt the fairness of his mind, and I have known few, if
any, public ministers upon whose word a firmer reliance
might be had than upon his.
Mr. George Joy's licenses, as I learn by a letter from him
at Gothenburg, dated 15th of August, have not proved so
efficacious for the protection of our vessels as he had ex-
pected. Indeed, from the explanation of their precise nature
which he has given me in this last letter, the only effect they
could have had would have been to protect vessels after
passing at Elsineur from capture by privateers between
that place and Copenhagen. While the British blockade of
Elsineur continued they could be of little avail. It is indeed
true that notwithstanding this blockade some of our vessels
have been suffered to pass. For the orders of Admiral
Saumarez to his subordinates, and perhaps the orders of the
Admiralty to him, have varied several times in the course
of the season. But the first American vessel which took at
Gothenburg one of Mr. Joy's licenses, was stopped and
turned back by the British before he could reach Elsineur.
The repeal of the decrees of Berlin and Milan is upon con-
ditions which render it apparently of little effect. As yet I
have not heard of a symptom indicating the intention of
England to give up any of her blockading principles, nor
even her Orders in Council of 1807, as subsequently modi-
fied. There is even in the French official journals an attempt
to preserve the appearance as if nothing had taken place in
the system of France. Possibly the change of system has
not really been great. But the substitution of enormous duties
for total prohibition will not so well suit the professed purpose
of annihilating all commerce between Great Britain and the
continent of Europe, and the sale of licenses by the Emperor
1 Cypher.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 507
Napoleon for all sorts of vessels at a tonnage duty of sixty francs
by the last, is neither disguised nor concealed. While he allows
trade by special licenses it is not easy to see how he can deny to
his neighbors and allies the benefit of granting licenses also;
and although there may be a great part of Europe to whom he is
rather in the habit of signifying his will than of urging persua-
sion, there are others who still consider his example as authority
quite as good as his precept. I have long considered the conti-
nental system as little more than extortion wearing the mask of
prohibition. The system is now at least so far changed that the
mask is laid aside and extortion shows her natural face. . . , l
TO WILLIAM PLUMER
St. Petersburg, 6 October, 18 10.
My dear Sir:
I received with the greatest pleasure a few days since your
favor of the 18th of May, which is one of the latest I have re-
ceived from America. Although a great number of vessels
have arrived in the Russian ports from the United States
this summer, my friends in America appear not to have been
aware of the frequent opportunities which occurred of writ-
ing by them. We have been tolerably well supplied with
newspapers, but excepting your obliging letter, one or two
from Dr. Mitchill of New York, and as many from Mr.
Joseph Hall of Boston, I have scarcely received a line from
private sources out of my own family since I left them. I ask
therefore with earnestness the continuance of your favors,
which will be transmitted by the Secretary of State, or by
Mr. Gray, if you will indorse them to him.
The issue of the late New England elections had been in-
1 Cypher.
5 o8 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
dicated to us early in the spring by the example of New
Hampshire taking the lead of recovery from a delusion which
for the two preceding years had given me great anxiety and
apprehension. The infatuation of that political party in our
country, with whom you and I had heretofore generally
been accustomed to act and to think, their degeneracy from
the just and honorable principles which alone could ever
have attached us to them, the glaring absurdity and hy-
pocrisy of their professed veneration for the policy of Wash-
ington, while they were aiming a fatal blow at the Union, the
great foundation of his political system, and while they were
openly using for their purpose all the means which he had
most solemnly deprecated, their blind and stupid servility
to a British minority which was heaping insult upon outrage
in this country, the profligacy with which they were endeav-
oring to make religion an engine of faction by the mounte-
bank trick of their solemn fasts, and by goading into the
pulpit every ignorant priestly fanatic that they could employ
as a tool, to pollute with the filth of personal malice and de-
traction the sacred desk of God, these were appearances and
practices which I had witnessed for two years, accompanied
with so much success, and against which I had during great
part of the time seemed so ineffectually to have struggled,
that the great change of public sentiment manifested by the
elections of this year throughout New England was accom-
plished earlier than I had expected. The violence of last
winter's Massachusetts and New York Jacksonite resolu-
tions, so congenial with measures of the former winter ses-
sions which had been countenanced by intervening popular
elections, had led me to believe, that the public nerves were
still in a disordered state and still mistaking the cause of their
own disease. Though long experience had taught me, what
you and I have often remarked together, how unskilful the
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 5°9
federalists were in their attempt to adapt their measures to
the state of the public pulse, yet as unlucky contingencies
had thrown into their hands a majority which two years of
madness had not sufficed for them to lose, I did suppose that
they would not have disgraced themselves by such base
prostrations before the insolence of a foreign emissary, and
such shameless inveteracy against their own government,
without being very sure that the agitated feelings of the
people, at least in New England, still went along with them.
I was, therefore, most agreeably disappointed in the issue of
the elections. It has given me the cheering hope of internal
tranquillity in our country, and of permanency to the Union,
which for the two preceding years was certainly in the most
imminent danger.
You tell me, that I am often much reviled in certain news-
papers, and that the clumsy animals who still earn their sop
by howling at me have not yet instinct enough to forbear
coupling your name with mine in their yell of slander. As
you are a historian I can give you a historical thread to con-
sider and meditate upon at leisure. In the month of July,
1787, 1 was published in the Boston Centinel, I believe the first
piece of abuse of which I ever had the honor to be the object
in a newspaper, and what think you was the occasion of the
attack ? It was because on taking my first degree at Harvard
College I had delivered at Commencement an oration which
happened to suit the public taste, and had obtained marks of
approbation rather beyond the usual average. In the form
of a critique upon the performance at Commencement a
shaft dipped in venom was hurled at me on my first appear-
ance before the public view of my country. The author of
this critique was a person who had himself been a much ad-
mired Commencement orator, but who thought it advisable
1 See Vol. I. 34.fi., supra.
510 THE WRITINGS OF [1810
to balance the partialities of public indulgence in my favor
by casting the heaviest of his weights into the opposite scale.
The public did not sympathize with his criticism, nor did he
ever think proper to own it. The editor of the Centinel was
allowed and took it upon him to father a production, the
features of which too loudly disclaimed the descent from
him, as the Duke of Orleans when he took the name of Philip
Egalite only stigmatized his mother by pretending to be the
son of a coachman.
I will not fatigue you with a tiresome detail of subsequent
occurrences derived from this one. It may suffice to say that
this anecdote will give you the key to all the ribaldry which
from that day to this has appeared in the Centinel pointed at
me. The temper which first dictated that effusion has some-
times been suppressed, but never subdued, and I have too
long known the general character of human nature, and the
particular hearts of the individuals, to expect that it will
ever be appeased. The two years which preceded my de-
parture from America had furnished ample materials for the
exercise of that temper. But they had brought my own tem-
per to the trial of a higher test. By adhering to my prin-
ciples I had been deserted and sacrificed by my friends. I
knew that the ground that I had taken was not to be shaken
under me by friend or foe. But the example of such men as
yourself and Mr. Gray, gave a countenance and sanction
to my conduct which at the most critical moment gave me
the greatest satisfaction, and made me take a pride instead
of feeling pain at the overflowings of malice and envy,
which were so copiously streaming down upon me. Hatred
has a keen eye, but its feelings impose upon its vision. They
whose purpose it is to blacken me could not more effectually
defeat their own object, than by shedding a portion of the
same invective upon you.
i8io] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 511
I now please myself with the hope, that you and your
associates in our public affairs will now preserve by modera-
tion and wisdom the ascendancy which you have obtained.
But if our country has exhibited a new example of the in-
stability of popular sentiments, the giddy habitation of the
vulgar heart, it has still more forcibly proved to me the
difficulty, as well as the duty, of maintaining oneself free
from the shackles of dependance upon any party. And yet
as the government of a state, and still more that of the na-
tion, must consist of a systematic combination of measures,
it is certainly necessary and even indispensable, that in-
dividual members of a party should on most occasions, per-
haps on all, sacrifice their individual opinions to those of the
majority, whenever this acquiescence does not involve a
dereliction of principle.
It was natural enough that the ardent spirits who felt
indignant at the outrages still continued of Britain and
France upon our commerce, should be dissatisfied at the
issue of the last session of Congress. But you, who consider
things coolly, have very justly judged, that the measures
adopted were far better than others which, indicating more
resentment, might not 
