RESIDENCE AT GHENT.--AT PARIS.--IN LONDON.--PRESENTATION TO THE PRINCE
REGENT.--NEGOTIATION WITH LORD CASTLEREAGH.--APPOINTED SECRETARY OF
STATE.--LEAVES ENGLAND.
Mr. Adams arrived in Stockholm on the 24th of May, and after visiting
Count Engerström, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and meeting the
Swedish and foreign ministers at a diplomatic dinner, given by Baron
Strogonoff, he left that city on the 2d of June. A messenger from Mr.
Clay informed him that, at the request of Lord Bathurst, the negotiation
of the treaty of peace had been transferred to Ghent. Passing through
Sweden, he embarked from Gottenburg in the United States corvette John
Adams for the Texel, landed at the Helder, and proceeded through Holland
to Ghent, where his associates met for the first time in his apartments
on the 30th of June. The British commissioners did not arrive until the
7th of August, and their negotiations were not concluded until the 24th
of December, 1814. On presenting three copies of the treaty, signed and
sealed by all the commissioners, to Mr. Adams, and on receiving three
from him, Lord Gambier said, he trusted the result of their labors
would be permanent. Mr. Adams replied, he hoped it would be the _last_
treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States.
The American commissioners were presented to the Prince of Orange, the
sovereign of the Netherlands, and, on the 5th of January, 1815, the
citizens of Ghent celebrated the ratification of the treaty, by inviting
the representatives of both nations to a public entertainment at the
Hotel de Ville. Mr. Adams left that city with characteristic expressions
of gratitude for the result of a negotiation which he hoped would prove
propitious to the union and best interests of his country.
On the 3d of February he arrived in Paris, and met the American
commissioners, and with them was presented by Mr. Crawford, resident
minister of the United States, to Louis the Eighteenth, and to the Duke
and Duchess of Angoulême. He was also presented to the Duke of Orleans,
at the Palais Royal, who spoke with grateful remembrance of
hospitalities he had received in America. Mr. Adams was often in the
society of Lafayette, Madame de Staël, Humboldt, Constant, and other
eminent persons, and was deeply interested in observing the effect of
all changes in the laws and government of France.
The intelligence that Napoleon had left Elba soon caused great
excitement and anxiety in Paris, which continued to increase until the
morning of the 20th of March, when Louis the Eighteenth left the
Tuileries. In the evening Napoleon alighted there so silently, that Mr.
Adams, who was at the Théatre Français, not a quarter of a mile distant,
was unaware of the fact until the next day, when the gazettes of Paris,
which had showered execrations upon him, announced "the arrival of his
majesty, the Emperor, at _his_ palace of the Tuileries." In the Place
du Carousel Mr. Adams, in his morning walk, saw regiments of cavalry,
belonging to the garrison of Paris, which had been sent out to oppose
Napoleon, pass in review before him, their helmets and the clasps of
their belts yet glowing with the arms of the Bourbons. The theatres
assumed the title of Imperial, and at the opera, in the evening, the
arms of the emperor were placed on the curtain and on the royal box.
A few days afterwards, Mr. Adams requested an interview with the
emperor's Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Duke de Vicence, with whom he
had been previously acquainted at St. Petersburg. He assured Mr. Adams
that the late revolution had been effected without effort; that Fouché,
the new Minister of Police, who received reports from every part of the
country, informed him that there had not been one act of violence or
resistance. He said, that if Napoleon had not returned, the misconduct
of the Bourbons would have caused an insurrection of the people in less
than six months; that the emperor had renounced all ideas of extended
conquest, and only desired peace with all the world. Mr. Adams expressed
a hope that the relations between France and the United States would
become friendly and mutually advantageous, and said he was awaiting
orders from his government, and should soon need a passport to England.
The duke assured him of his readiness to comply with any request from
him or from Mr. Crawford. All the other foreign ministers had already
quitted Paris.
After Mrs. Adams had arrived from St. Petersburg, Mr. Adams, having been
appointed American minister at the British Court, left Paris, with his
family, on the 16th of May, 1815. About the time of his departure he
observed: "War appears to be certain. The first thought of the
inhabitants of Paris will be to save themselves. They have no attachment
either to the Bourbons or Napoleon. They will submit quietly to the
victorious party, and do nothing to support either."
On the 25th of May Mr. Adams arrived in London, and on the 29th had an
interview with Lord Castlereagh relative to the treaty of peace, and the
commercial relations of Great Britain with the United States. The Prince
Regent, at a private audience, said the United States might rely with
full assurance on his determination to fulfil all engagements with them
on the part of Great Britain.
After the convention concerning commerce had been concluded, and Mr.
Gallatin and Mr. Clay had departed, Mr. Adams removed his residence to
Boston House, Ealing, nine miles from London, where he commanded time
for his favorite studies, and reciprocated the civilities paid to him
and Mrs. Adams. He continued to receive in public and private the
distinguished attentions due to his official station and his personal
character and attainments. The queen gave him a private audience, and in
May, 1816, with Mrs. Adams, he was present at the marriage of the
Princess Charlotte of Wales. His society was sought and highly
appreciated by the most eminent men of all classes; and he availed
himself, with characteristic assiduity, of all opportunities to acquire
information, especially that relative to the science of government, and
the political relations of Europe.
Some conversations and opinions his papers preserve tend to throw light
upon his course and character. In reply to an inquiry made by Lord
Holland concerning the forms and results of representation in the United
States, Mr. Adams said that one consequence was that a very great
proportion of their public men were lawyers. Lord Holland said it was
precisely the same in England; that the theory of their representation
in the House of Commons was bad, but perhaps no theory could produce a
more perfect practice of representation of all classes and interests of
the community. Even the close boroughs often served to bring in able and
useful men, who by a more correct theory would find themselves excluded.
Men of property could always make their way into Parliament by their
wealth. Men of family might go into the House of Commons for a few years
in youth, to get experience of public business, and to employ time for
useful purposes; and there was no man of real talent who, in one way or
another, could fail of obtaining, sooner or later, admission into
Parliament. But a great proportion of the House of Commons were lawyers,
and most of the business of the house was done by them. In the House of
Lords all that was of any use was done by lawyers. The great practical
use of the House of Lords was to be a check upon mischief that might be
done by the Commons. Many bills passed through that house without
sufficient consideration. The Chancellor is under a sort of personal
responsibility to examine and stop them. His character depends upon it.
He is at the head of the nobility of the country, and his consideration
depends upon his keeping this vigilant eye on the proceedings of the
Commons. All the ordinary business of the house, therefore, rests upon a
lawyer.
Lord Holland observed that from what he heard the most defective part of
our institutions was the judiciary; which Mr. Adams admitted.
In August, 1816, at a diplomatic dinner, given on St. Louis' day, by the
French ambassador, the Marquis D'Osmond, Mr. Adams first met Mr.
Canning, then recently appointed President of the Board of Control. At
his request, he was introduced by Lord Liverpool to Mr. Adams. They both
spoke of the great and rapid increase of the United States, and Canning
inquired when the next presidential election would take place, and who
would probably be chosen. Mr. Adams replied, Mr. Monroe. Lord Liverpool
observed that he had heard his election might be opposed on account of
his being a Virginian. Mr. Adams said that had been a ground of
objection, but it would not avail. He afterwards remarks: "Mr. Canning,
whose celebrity is great, and whose talents are probably greater than
those of any other member of the cabinet, and who has been invariably
noted for his bitterness against the United States, seemed desirous to
make up by an excess of civility for the feelings he has so constantly
manifested against us."
After reading the Gazette Extraordinary sent him by Lord Castlereagh,
containing an account of the victory of Lord Exmouth, on the 27th of
August, over the Algerines, and that the terms of capitulation had
forced them to deliver up all their Christian slaves, to repay
ransom-money, and to stipulate for the formal abolition of Christian
slavery in Algiers forever, Mr. Adams observed, "This is a deed of real
glory."
The Lord Mayor of London introduced Mr. Adams to Sir Philip Francis,
then the supposed author of the letters of Junius. On this celebrated
work, on a subsequent occasion, Mr. Adams remarked: "Sir Philip Francis
is almost demonstrated to be the culprit. The speeches of Lord Chatham
bear the stamp of a mind not unequal to the composition of Junius. Those
of Burke are of a higher order. Were it ascertained that either of them
were the political assassin who stabbed with the dagger of Junius, I
should not add a particle of admiration for his talents, and should lose
all my respect for his morals. Junius was essentially a sophist. His
religion was infidelity, his abstract ethics depraved, his temper
bitterly malignant, and his nervous system timid and cowardly. The
concealment of his name at the time when he wrote was the effect of
dishonest fear. The perpetuation of it could only proceed from the
consciousness that the disclosure of his person would be discreditable
to his fame. The object of Junius, when he began to write, was merely to
overthrow the administration then in power. He attacked them in a mass
and individually; their measures, their capacities, their characters
public and private; charged them with every crime and every vice.
Afterwards, he followed up his general assault by singling out,
successively, the Dukes of Grafton and Bedford, Lord Mansfield, Sir
William Blackstone, and the King himself. He magnified mole-hills into
mountains, inflamed pin-scratches into deadly wounds, and at last
abandoned his course in despair at the very time when he might have
pursued it with the most effect. But while he was battering the ministry
upon paltry topics, which had neither root or stem, he had declared
himself emphatically and repeatedly upon their side on the only subject
on which their fate and the destiny of the nation altogether
depended--the controversy with America. The course he took in the early
stage of that conflict, and his disappearance from the theatre of
politics at the time when it was ripening into the magnitude of its
nature, have marked Junius in my mind as a man of small things--a
splendid trifler, a pompous and shallow politician."
In July, 1816, Mr. Adams showed Lord Castlereagh his authority and
instructions to negotiate a new commercial convention with the British
government, stating "that one object was to open the trade between the
United States and the British colonies in North America and the West
Indies, as great changes had occurred since the existing convention
between the countries was signed. That convention equalized the duties
upon British and American vessels, in the intercourse between Europe and
the United States, and thereby admitted British vessels into the ports
of the United States upon terms of equal competition with American
vessels. But, since that time, the exclusive system of colonial
regulations had been resumed in the West Indies with extraordinary
rigor. American vessels had been excluded from all the ports, and some
seizures had been made with such severity that there were cases upon
which it would soon become his duty to address the British government in
behalf of individuals who had suffered, and deemed themselves entitled
to the restitution of their property. The consequence of these new
regulations, as combined with the operation of the commercial
convention, was, that British vessels being admitted into our ports upon
equal terms with our own, and then being exclusively received in the
British West India ports, not only thus monopolized the trade between
the United States and the West Indies, but acquired an advantage in the
direct trade from Europe to the United States, which defeated the main
object of the convention itself, of placing the shipping of the two
countries upon equal terms of fair competition. In North America the
same system was pursued by the colonial government of Upper Canada. An
act of the Colonial Legislature was passed at their last session,
vesting in the Lieutenant-Governor and Council of the province the power
of regulating its trade with the United States; and immediately
afterwards a new tariff of duties was issued, by an order of the
previous Council, dated the 18th of April, laying excessively heavy
duties upon all articles imported into the province from the United
States, with the exception of certain articles of provision of the first
necessity; and a tonnage duty of twelve and sixpence per ton upon
American vessels, which was equivalent to a total prohibition."
Lord Castlereagh said "that he had not been in the way of following the
measures adopted in that quarter, and was not aware that there had been
any new regulations either in the West Indies or in North America. In
time of war he knew it had been usual to open the ports of the West
India Islands to foreigners, merely as a measure of necessity; and it
was not until the Americans attempted to starve them by their embargo
acts that they were driven to the resort of finding resources elsewhere.
But in time of peace it had been usual to exclude foreigners from these
islands."
He then asked if the trade was considerable. Mr. Adams replied that it
was. "Even in time of peace it was highly necessary to the colonies, in
respect to some of the imports indispensable to their subsistence; and,
by the exports, extremely advantageous to the interests of Great
Britain, by furnishing a market for articles which she does not take
herself, and which could not be disposed of elsewhere. At the very time
of the embargo, the governors of the Islands, so far from adhering to
the principle of excluding American vessels, issued proclamations
inviting them, with promises even that the regular papers should not be
required for their admission, and encouraging them to violate the laws
of their own country by carrying them supplies. In time of peace it was
undoubtedly not so necessary. Even then, however, it was so in a high
degree. The mother country may supply them in part, but does not produce
some of the most important articles of their importation,--rice, for
example, and Indian corn, the best and cheapest articles for the
subsistence of negroes. Even wheat and flour, and provisions generally,
were much more advantageously imported from the United States than from
Europe, being so much less liable to be damaged in those hot climates,
from the comparative shortness of the voyage. Another of their
importations was lumber, which is necessary for buildings upon the
plantations, and which, after the hurricanes to which the islands are
frequently exposed, must be had in large quantities."
Mr. Adams added, "that the American government did not on this ground
now propose that these ports should be opened to their vessels. They did
not seek for a participation in the British trade with them. Great
Britain might still prohibit the importation from the United States of
such articles as she chose to supply herself. But they asked that
American vessels be admitted equally with British vessels to carry the
articles which could be supplied only from the United States, or which
were supplied only to them. The effect of the new regulations had been
so injurious to the shipping interest in America, and was so immediately
felt, that the first impression on the minds of many was that they
should be at once met by counteracting legislative measures of
prohibition. A proposal to that effect was made in Congress; but it was
thought best to endeavor, in the first instance, to come to an amicable
arrangement of the subject with the British government. Immediate
prohibitions would affect injuriously the British colonies; they would
excite irritation in the commercial part of the British communities. The
consideration, therefore, of enacting legislative regulations, was
postponed."
Lord Castlereagh, after expressing the earnest disposition of his
government to promote harmony between the two countries, said "he was
not then prepared to enter upon a discussion on the points of the
question, but would take it into consideration as soon as possible."
Mr. Adams then said "that the American government was anxious to settle
by treaty all the subjects of collision between neutral and belligerent
rights which, in the event of a new maritime war in Europe, might again
arise:--blockade, contraband, searches at sea, and colonial trade, but
most of all the case of the seamen,--concerning whom the American
government proposed that each party should stipulate not to employ, in
its merchant ships or naval service, the seamen of the other."
Lord Castlereagh inquired "whether the proposal in the stipulation
related only to native citizens and subjects; and, if not, how the
question was to be escaped,--whether any act of naturalization shall
avail to discharge a seaman from the duties of his original allegiance."
Mr. Adams replied, "that it was proposed to include in the arrangement
only natives and those who are on either side naturalized already; so
that it would not extend to any hereafter naturalized. The number of
persons included would, of course, be very few." Lord Castlereagh
inquired "what regulations were proposed to carry the stipulation into
effect." Mr. Adams replied, "that if it was agreed to, he thought there
would be no difficulty in concerting regulations to carry it into
execution; and that the American government would be ready to agree to
any Great Britain might think necessary, consistent with individual
rights, to secure the bona fide fulfilment of the engagement." "But,"
said Lord Castlereagh, "by agreeing to this stipulation, is it expected
we should abandon the right of search we have heretofore used; or is
this stipulation to stand by itself, leaving the rights of the parties
as they were before?" Mr. Adams replied, "that undoubtedly the object
of the American government was that the result of the stipulation
should ultimately be the abandonment of the practice of taking men from
American vessels." "How, then," said Lord Castlereagh, "shall we escape
the old difficulty? The people of this country consider the remedy we
have always used hitherto as the best and only effective one. Such is
the general opinion of the nation, and there is a good deal of feeling
connected with the sentiment. If we now give up that, how will it be
possible to devise any regulation, depending upon the performance of
another state, which will be thought as efficacious as that we have in
our own hands? He knew that the policy of the American government had
changed; that it was formerly to invite and encourage British seamen to
enter their service, but that at present it was to give encouragement
to their own seamen; and he was in hopes that the effect of these
internal legislative measures would be to diminish the necessity of
resorting to the right of search." Mr. Adams, in reply, said, "that his
lordship had once before made a similar observation, and that he felt
it his duty to take notice of it. Being under a perfect conviction that
it was erroneous, he was compelled to state that the American
government never did in any manner invite or encourage foreign seamen
generally, or British seamen in particular, to enter their service."
Lord Castlereagh said "that he meant only that their policy arose
naturally from circumstances,--from the extraordinary, sudden, and
almost unbounded increase of their commerce and navigation during the
late European wars; they had not native seamen enough to man their
ships, and the encouragements to foreign seamen followed from that
state of things." Mr. Adams replied, "that he understood his lordship
perfectly; but what he asserted was his profound conviction that he was
mistaken in point of fact. He knew not how the policy of any government
can be manifested otherwise than by its acts. Now, there never was any
one act, either of the legislature or executive, which could have even
a tendency to invite British seamen into the American service." "But,"
said Lord Castlereagh, "at least, then, there was nothing done to
prevent them." Mr. Adams replied, "That may be; but there is a very
material distinction between giving encouragement and doing nothing to
prevent them. Our naturalization laws certainly hold out to them
nothing like encouragement. You naturalize every foreign seaman by the
mere fact of two years' service on board of your public ships, _ipso
facto_, without cost, or form, or process. We require five years'
residence in the United States, two years of notice in a court of
record, and a certificate of character, before the act of
naturalization is granted. Thus far only may be admitted,--that the
great and extraordinary increase of our commerce, to which you have
alluded, had the effect of raising the wages of seamen excessively
high. Our government certainly gave no encouragement to this; neither
did our merchants, who would surely have engaged their seamen at lower
wages, if possible. These wages, no doubt, operated as a strong
temptation to your seamen to go into the American service. Your
merchant service could not afford to pay them so high. The wages in the
king's ships are much lower, and numbers of British seamen,
accordingly, find employment on board American vessels; but
encouragement from the American government they never had in any
manner. They were merely not excluded; and even now, in making the
proposal to exclude them, it is not from any change of policy, but
solely for the purpose of giving satisfaction to Great Britain, and of
stopping the most abundant source of dissension with her. It proves
only the earnestness of our desire to be upon good terms with you."
Mr. Adams said, with regard to his proposal of excluding each other's
seamen, "that he was not prepared to say that an article could not be
framed by which the parties might stipulate the principle of mutual
exclusion, without at all affecting or referring to the rights or claims
of either party. Perhaps it might be accomplished if the British
government should assume it as one of the objects to be arranged by the
convention." On which Lord Castlereagh said: "In that case there will
not be so much difficulty. If it is a mere agreement of mutual
exclusion, tending to diminish the occasion for exercising the right of
search, and undoubtedly if it should prove effectual, it would in the
end operate as an inducement to forbear the exercise of the right
entirely."
Discussions with the same nobleman on other topics bearing upon the
commercial relations between the two nations are preserved among the
papers of Mr. Adams.
On the 16th of April, 1817, Mr. Adams received letters from President
Monroe, with the information that, with the sanction of the Senate, the
Department of State had been committed to him; a trust which he accepted
with a deep sense of its weight and responsibility. In compliance with
Mr. Monroe's request, he made immediate arrangements to return to the
United States. On presenting his letters of recall to Lord Castlereagh,
congratulations on his appointment were attended with regrets at his
removal from his mission. Mr. Adams stated that the uncertainty of his
acceptance of the office of Secretary of State had prevented an
immediate appointment of his successor, but that he was instructed in
the strongest manner to declare the earnest desire of President Monroe
to cultivate the most friendly intercourse with Great Britain. He gave
the same explanation to the Prince Regent, at a private audience, who
replied by an assurance of his disposition to continue to promote the
harmony between the two nations which was required by the interests of
both. There was no formality in the discourse on either side, and the
generalities of mutual assurance were much alike, and estimated at their
real value. In reply to the inquiries of the Prince, the names of the
members of Mr. Monroe's cabinet were mentioned. He was not acquainted
with any of them, but spoke in handsome terms of Mr. Thomas Pinckney and
Mr. Rufus King, and asked many questions concerning the organization of
the American government. Lord Castlereagh, in his final interview with
Mr. Adams, made numerous inquiries relative to the foreign relations of
the United States, especially in regard to Spain, and again expressed
the desire of the British government not only to remain at peace
themselves, but also to promote tranquillity among other nations. Prince
Esterhazy, in a parting visit to Mr. Adams, also assured him that the
cabinets of Europe were never so universally and sincerely pacific as at
that time; that they all had finances to redeem, ravages to repair, and
wanted a period of long repose.
After taking leave of his numerous friends in office and in private
life, Mr. Adams bade farewell to London, and embarked with his family
from Cowes, in the packet-ship Washington, on the 17th of June, 1817,
for the United States.