Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow TO JAMES SULLIVAN. - The Works of John Adams, vol. 8 (Letters and State Papers 1782-1799)

Return to Title Page for The Works of John Adams, vol. 8 (Letters and State Papers 1782-1799)

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Political Theory
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

TO JAMES SULLIVAN. - John Adams, The Works of John Adams, vol. 8 (Letters and State Papers 1782-1799) [1853]

Edition used:

The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations, by his Grandson Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1856). 10 volumes. Vol. 8.

Part of: The Works of John Adams, 10 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


TO JAMES SULLIVAN.

Quincy, 2 August, 1796.

Sir,—

I received last evening the letter you did me the honor to write me the 30th of July, and am ready to give you all the information in my power.

Mitchell’s map was the only one which the ministers plenipotentiary of the United States, and the minister plenipotentiary of Great Britain, made use of in their conferences and discussions relative to the boundaries of the United States, in their negotiation of the peace of 1783, and of the provisional articles of the 30th of November, 1782. Upon that map, and that only, were those boundaries delineated; and the river marked on that map with the name of St. Croix, was the river agreed upon as the eastern boundary of the State of Massachusetts and of the United States. It was not intended by either party to give any new boundary to the east side of Massachusetts; but the real eastern boundary of the province of Massachusetts Bay, according to the charter of William and Mary, was intended to be the eastern boundary of the United States. To the foregoing facts I am ready to attest, in any manner that may be judged necessary, and if Mr. Jay should transmit you an affidavit, I shall be very willing to do the same; but I can scarcely think it necessary, because I cannot believe that any of these facts will be denied or questioned.

The decease of Mr. Oswald is unfortunate, because I am well assured he would have avowed all these facts with the utmost frankness and candor. Mr. Whitefoord, the secretary to his commission, I am confident, will readily admit them all. Mr. William Franklin, the secretary to the American commission, knows them. Dr. Franklin, before his death, transmitted to the then Secretary of State, Mr. Jefferson, as I was informed by him, a full state of this affair, according to his recollection, a document which probably Colonel Pickering has transmitted to you. If not, it may be useful for you to obtain if from his office. Lord St. Helens, formerly Mr. Fitzherbert, might or might not be informed by Mr. Oswald at the time. If he was, I have confidence enough in his lordship’s honor and candor to believe that he will confirm all that I have said. Benjamin Vaughan, Esq., might or might not be informed; if he was, either by Mr. Oswald or Mr. Whitefoord, or any of the American ministers, his testimony cannot but corroborate the account I have given.

Wishing you a pleasant voyage and safe return, I am dear Sir, &c.

John Adams.

ELBRIDGE GERRY TO JOHN ADAMS.

Cambridge, 3 February, 1797.

My dear Sir,—

The newspaper which you did me the honor to inclose, containing Mr. Pickering’s letter to Mr. Pinkney, on the subject of Mr. Adet’s letter to the former, I have carefully perused; but a further examination of it, with the documents and Mr. Adet’s letter, is necessary to obtain a clear idea of the subject. That part of it which discusses the claim of gratitude made by France, I consider, in a certain degree, as expedient and dignified; but am apprehensive that she will view the discussion in its full extent, as having trespassed the line of defence, and as tending rather to crimination than accommodation.1 Should this unfortunately be the case, it will only serve to increase our difficulties. But what struck me with surprise, in this part of the performance, at least in what of it relates to the negotiation for peace, was a profound silence with respect to your conduct, after it was known in Europe, and acknowledged throughout the United States, to have been highly beneficial to your country, and honorable to yourself. This, I presume, must be considered by intelligent and candid men, as manifesting an intention to place you in the back ground, and to leave the public, whose confidence and esteem you possess, in an eminent degree, at a loss for the reason of such an extraordinary measure. Perhaps I am mistaken in this matter; but if not, permit me to inquire, retired as I am from the political world, who are the actors, and what is the object of this political drama? Soon after I began Mr. Pickering’s letter, I had doubts whether it was written by himself, it appearing to me, in point of style and system, dissimilar to his general performances. It then occurred to me, that one of the two quondam secretaries must have been the author. When I had perused it farther, and came to the part first alluded to, I conceived that the southern secretary would not have carried his strictures so far against the French; that the northern secretary, on this occasion, would have been less scrupulous, and that the circumstantial account, respecting Mr. Jay, must have been obtained of him, and published by a person in his entire confidence; neither of which circumstances will, probably, apply to the southern, whilst they both may to the northern secretary. My opinion was also strengthened by information respecting the letters of Phocion (for I have not seen them), that whilst the author endeavored to invalidate the pretensions of Mr. Jefferson, he made no advances to the support of yours, but meditated the plan to bring, by surprise, Mr. Pinckney into the chair.

It will be a great gratification to me to ascertain whether my information and conjectures in this instance are in any degree well founded. And, be this as it may, I must consider Mr. Jay as a person of too much honor to have given the information, in the letter, for so partial a purpose. This matter, as it relates to yourself, appears to me of a delicate nature. Some of your friends may conceive that, at present, silent contempt will be more dignified than any measure that can be adopted; whilst others may suppose that an advantage will be taken of silence, to establish in the public mind doubts of your eminent services in the negotiation referred to, and will propose a statement of facts, to accompany, in all the gazettes, the publication of Mr. Pickering’s letter. I confess, for my own part, I am not sufficiently instructed to form an opinion on the subject, but am, nevertheless, earnest in my wishes to see such intrigues frustrated, and the meritorious officers of the public triumphant over their ungenerous enemies. I remain, my dear Sir, with every sentiment of esteem and respect, &c.

E. Gerry.

[1 ]Mr. Hamilton appears to have entertained a similar opinion, though expressed in more guarded terms. See his letter to President Washington, in the late edition of his works, vol. vi. p. 194.