From John Jay to John Adams, 7 May 1821
To John Adams
Bedford. West Chester County—NYork. 7th. May. 1821
Dear Sir
By the mail, next to the one which brought me a Letter from Mr. Duane,1 I transmitted a copy of it to you in a short Letter dated the 27th. of march.2 I had then no Time to be more particular, having recieved Letters which required answers without Delay—
I afterwards, vizt. on the 7th. of April, recieved your Letter of the 31st. of March,3 and should have answered it immediately, but the Expectation of soon recieving one from you respecting Mr. Duane’s Letter, induced me to wait for its arrival, intending to answer both together. As that Expectation has not been realized, I am apprehensive that my Letter has not come to your Hands, or that some Obstacle to your writing has occurred— I hope it is not Sickness.— Lest my Letter should have miscarried, I shall subjoin another copy of Mr. Duane’s.—
On considering Mr. Duane’s Letter,4 it appears to me that the Journals which he calls ours, cannot be exact copies of our official Letters to the Secretary for foreign affairs; for he mentions those Journals as being “very short indeed—” whereas our Letters were very far from being short. Hence I conclude that those Journals are composed of Extracts from our Letters, or are abridgments of them.5 How judiciously such Extracts have been selected and combined— or how correctly such abridgments have been made, are questions which derive some Importance from the circumstance, that they are to be given to the public as our Journals. I am therefore inclined to think it adviseable to request of him to give us Copies of them; that we may know what they are, and judge how far they correspond with the Tenor and Purport of our Letters.— I have not as yet replied to his Letter.
At the age to which you have arrived, I believe very few enjoy an equal Exemption from its usual Infirmities— Your Hand indeed is not now as formerly the hand of a ready writer; but you still retain a more than common Degree of general Health. In these Respects I have been less favored.— For twelve years past I have not had one well Day— An incurable Obstruction in the Liver has gradually reduced me to an emaciated and feeble State; and severe attacks of Rheumatism frequently produce much acute Pain.— It rarely happens that the Maladies and Infirmities which generally accompany old age, will yield to medical Skill— but happily for us, Patience and Resignation are excellent Palliatives.
I perfectly concur with you in opinion, that the Sovereigns who are Parties to what they call the “Holy Alliance” have no Right to dictate to other nations—6 Sovereign Power however is seldom uniformly restrained or regulated by moral Considerations, and we have seen this observation verified in more than one Instance—
It is honorable to Massachusetts that their political Parties have been so attentive to moderation and Decorum—7 I wish the like Remark was equally applicable to those in this State. Certain of our Demagogues seem to regard Checks and Ballances as inconvenient obstacles; and there is Reason to fear that the kind of Constitution which it is said they prefer, will, if adopted and established, retard the Prosperity of the State.—8
My affection for my Country and Children prevents my regarding the course of political affairs with all that Indifference which would otherwise result from my approach to the Period, when I shall be removed far beyond their Reach and Influence— with the best wishes for the Continuance of your Health and Welfare I am Dear Sir your Friend & obt. Servt.
John Jay
My Children are obliged by your kind Remembrance, and request me to present to you their respectful Compliments
ALS, MHi: Adams (EJ: 06435). Addressed: “John Adams. late President of / the United States of America— / Montezille / Massachusetts—”. Note: “Bedford 9 May.” Franked: “Free 18 ½.” Endorsed: “John—Jay—May 9 / 1821 / answered”. Dft, NNC (EJ: 07476). Endorsed: “To President Adams / 7 May / in answr. 31 march 1821 / with another copy of Letter from Mr. Duane—”.
1. See William Duane to JJ, 16 Mar. 1821, ALS, NNC (EJ: 13063). Duane’s letter was in response to one that JJ had written three days earlier, see JJ to William Duane, 13 Mar. 1821, DftS, NNC (EJ: 13082).
2. JJ to JA, 27 Mar. 1821, ALS, MHi: Adams (EJ: 06434); DftS (initialed), NNC (EJ: 07475), omits copy of William Duane’s letter.
3. JA to JJ, 31 Mar. 1821, ALS, NNC (EJ: 05441).
4. The letter to JJ is dated 16 Mar. 1821.
5. JJ is here referencing the claims made by Duane who printed and published a six-volume biography of Benjamin Franklin. In the 5th volume, Duane claimed that he had in his possession journals kept by JJ and JA while they served as commissioners negotiating the Treaty of Paris. The Works of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, in Philosophy, Politics, and Morals: Containing, besides all the Writings Published in Former Collections, his Diplomatic Correspondence, as Minister of the United States, at the Court of Versailles, a Variety of Articles, and Epistolary Correspondence, never before published: with Memoirs and Anecdotes of His Life, vol. 5: Diplomatic Correspondence (Philadelphia, 1809), 291, 293.
JJ contacted JA and inquired on how they should proceed with verifying the authenticity of Duane’s journals. JA speculated that these documents were probably copies of letters that he and JJ had sent to Congress summarizing their negotiations: JJ’s journal of the peace, he assumed, referred to his lengthy letter to RRL of 17 Nov. 1782, , 3: 225–55, while JA’s own journal was probably the “peace journal” that he originally intended to send in his letter to Jonathan Jackson, also of 17 Nov., but was instead enclosed in a letter to RRL on 14 Dec. 1782, that was laid before Congress in April 1783. See PJA, 14: xvi–xx, 64n6, 125–27, and Adams, Diary, 3: 41–43. JJ differed slightly in his assessment of Duane’s sources. Since the publisher had already informed him that the journals were short pieces, he concluded that they were either abridged versions or extracts of the two letters.
Identifying the journals assumed even more significance when Duane confirmed to JJ his eventual plan to publicize them in print. With JA’s approval, JJ asked that Duane send them copies of the journals to be checked for accuracy and authenticity. Although Duane refused to comply with this request, it proved a moot point as he did not carry out his proposed publication. Moreover, JA assured JJ that Congress intended to publish an official version of the journals kept by the peace commissioners. Following a Congressional resolution in March 1818 to print a thousand copies of these “secret journals” along with other diplomatic papers of the Revolutionary War and Confederation era, this published work did appear as a four volume series. Secret Journals of the Acts and Proceedings of Congress: From the First Meeting thereof to the Dissolution of the Confederation, by the Adoption of the Constitution of the United States (4 vols.; Boston, 1820–21).
For JJ’s correspondence with JA and Duane, see JJ to JA, 27 Feb., ALS, MHi: Adams (EJ: 06432); JA to JJ, 6 Mar., ALS, NNC (EJ: 05440); JJ to Duane, 13 Mar., ALS, NNC (EJ: 13082); Duane to JJ, 16 Mar., ALS, NNC (EJ: 13063); JJ to JA, 20 and 27 Mar., both ALS, MHi: Adams (EJ: 06433, EJ: 06434); JA to JJ, 31 Mar. and 30 Apr., both ALS, NNC (EJ: 05441, EJ: 05442); JA to JJ, 13 May, ALS, NNC, (EJ: 05443); JJ to Duane, 22 May, ALS, NNC (EJ: 12562); Duane to JJ, 30 May, ALS, NNC (EJ: 13064); JJ to JA, 11 June, ALS, MHi: Adams, (EJ: 06436); JA to JJ, 19 June 1821, ALS, NNC (EJ: 05444).
For the letter books covering JA and JJ’s full correspondence during their negotiations that JJ had his staff assemble while Secretary for Foreign Affairs, now in DNA: PCC, items 104, 106, 110, see the editorial note “Secretary for Foreign Affairs” , 4: 15 and 16n11; Report of the Oversight Committee on the Department of Foreign Affairs, [14 Aug. 1788], and notes, , 5: 66–69. JJ retained a copy of the transcriptions of his public correspondence that he could use to verify the accuracy of records published.
6. The Holy Alliance consisted of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, whose rulers formed a coalition in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars to suppress revolutionary and radical movements in Europe.
7. JJ is referring here to the recent convention which was held in Boston for the purpose of revising the state constitution. JA was one of two representatives chosen by the citizens of Quincy to represent their town at the convention. The assembled delegates sat from mid-November 1820 to early January 1821 and elected JA to preside over the proceedings, but he declined the appointment citing his advanced age. The following year, JA sent JJ a copy of the proceedings of the Massachusetts convention. Journal of Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of Delegates, Chosen to Revise the Constitution of Massachusetts, begun and holden at Boston, November 15, 1820, and continued by Adjournment to January 9, 1821. Reported for the Boston Daily Advertiser (Boston, 1821), 8–10; JA to Louisa Catherine Adams, 21 Oct. 1820, MHi: Adams; JJ to PAJ, 4 Feb. 1822, ALS, NNC (EJ: 11612). The intelligence came in a letter from RP. See RP to JJ, 25 Nov. 1820, above.
8. New York held its own constitutional convention in Albany from August to November of that year. Whereas JJ did not attend, both PAJ and PJM did, as representatives of Westchester County. Since JA had sent him a published account of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, JJ returned the favor by sending JA a copy of the publication covering the New York Constitutional Convention. See Reports of the Convention of 1821; JJ to JA, 11 Mar. 1822, Dft, NNC (EJ: 07478); and JJ to PAJ 4 Feb. 1822, below.
For the JJ-PAJ correspondence discussing the convention, see PAJ to JJ, 3, 10, and 28 Oct., 15 and 22 Nov. 1821, all below; JJ to PAJ, 9 Oct. 1821, ALS, NNC (EJ: 13415); 16 Oct. 1821, below.
For JJ’s role in the development of the first New York State Constitution, see the editorial note “John Jay and the New York State Constitution of 1777,” , 1: 399–406.