Adams Papers
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Thomas Boylston Adams to John Quincy Adams, 25 February 1800

Thomas Boylston Adams to John Quincy Adams

N o 13.
12. Feby 1st:

Philadelphia 25th: February 1800.

Dear Brother

I received on the 18th: instant your favor of the 7th. & 17th. November, Original & Dup: with sundry enclosures relative to the affair between Mr: Engel & Messrs: Mark of New York. I have forwarded to them the letter to their address, with one from self, acquainting them with my Authority to demand payment of the debt, and desiring them to make speedy arrangements to that effect.1

If, contrary to my expectations, they should offer to pay the interest, which has accrued, without a suit at law for it, I shall give you information of it as soon as possible; but if they put us to our compulsory remedy, I shall employ faithful Counsel at New York to conduct it, as I could not do it myself.

I wrote you pretty fully by Mr: Sitgreaves, who sailed a fortnight ago, for England, & by the last British packet, I sent my Accompt with you for the last year. Herewith I send a Duplicate.2

Nothing of a very interesting nature has occurred in our public affairs, since I wrote you last. The Supreme Court of the United States held its ordinary session here since the beginning of this month, but little business was done. The new Judge appointed in the room of Iredell, deceased, is a Mr: Moore of North Carolina, but he has not yet taken a seat on the bench.

Congress have been occupied with various objects, more or less important, but hither to, few laws have been passed. The general Bankrupt Bill is now before the Senate, with a prospect of its being passed— In the house of Reps: there was an equal division & the Speaker decided the fate of it. A Bill to amend the Judiciary System will be shortly reported, and from the reputation & talents of the Committee, considerable expectation may be indulged, that the alterations they shall propose will be worthy of adoption.3 But there is an evident reluctance in many gentlemen towards these great national acts, because they tend to strengthen the bonds of union & give an influence to the general Government, that interferes with their malignant designs. Notwithstanding the general complection of our national Councils at this period, there is wanting that unity of object & concurrence of design, which constitute real strength. The State Legislatures are in several instances, hostile towards the general Government— In Virginia the Legislature, at their late Session, undertook to vindicate their inflamatory & intemperate resolutions, which at their preceding session they had transmitted to the legislatures of the Sister States, and which met with the decided censure of a great majority of them.4 Pennsylvania has assumed a character which imitates indicates in some degree the same temper. Our legislature is about to adjourn, without having performed a single salutary act during their convocation—indeed their time has been wasted altogether, in the indulgence of factious animosity & petty squabbles between the different departments— The Governor is supported by a very small majority in the house of Reps:—he is at open variance with the minority & with a majority of the Senate, and all social intercourse between them has been suspended, from the commencement of the campaign. The whole picture is humiliating, but to make it more completely so, a scene took place a few days since, which equals the affray between Lyon & Griswold, which occurred in a sanctuary of higher note. One of the members from this City & the far famed Dr: Logan, were the principal actors in this late affair, which as it is too insignificant to merit detail, I shall dispense with further notice of it.5

Dallas is about to give place to a man by the name of Cooper, of whom you may have lately heard. He is an English Jacobin, whom Priestley recommended to the P. U.S, as Agent to the Commissioners for settling the claims under the 6th: Article of the British Treaty, on our behalf, and being disappointed in obtaining this Office, he commenced Opposition writer, & writer for Governor McKean, and now he is to be rewarded with the Secretaryship of this Commonwealth, which in consequence of the removal of the Seat of Government to Lancaster, Dallas finds it unprofitable to exercise.6

Mr: McKean has recommended to the Legislature to appropriate funds for the establishment of an Accademy in the County where Dr: Priestly resides and suggests a wish at the same time, that the learning & talents of this benevolent & disinterested philosopher may be invited to superintend the institution.7 Thus you see, the faithful are to be rewarded, of whatever condition, character, religion or nation. Such is practical philanthropy.

A severe contest may be expected at the approaching election for President of the U.S. should the two persons, now highest in Office, be Candidates. Secret manœuvres are practised to prevent the Legislatures of individual States from making any provision for the mode of chusing Electors, or to regulate it so, that the Election may be by a general vote in those States, where it is presumed a majority would be unfriendly to the present chief. Our Legislature have not been able to agree in any mode, and as the last was a general election in this State, the Governor intends to convoke the people by proclamation, under the former law. His authority to do this is questioned, but he will meet the responsibility of such a proceeding with his usual fortitude. It is said that, New Jersey will alter the mode of Election, likewise, after the same fashion.8

It ought, by this time, to be fully understood, by the people in office under the present Administration, that upon the issue of this trial depends the station they hold, for I am persuaded beyond a doubt, after what has so recently taken place in this State, that if the man of the people, succeeds to the Chief Magistracy, not one federalist will be retained; all, without distinction will be turned out, who do not make their peace before the event is decided, by some mean sacrifice of their independence. The struggle is no longer between Candidates, professing & practising the same principles, but it is reduced to a contest for victory & power between the outs & the in’s. I shall endeavor to fashion my mind to the least favorable result, that can arrive.

Massachusetts sets up Mr: Strong for her next Governor— He will be supported by a powerful interest, and will probably succeed to the chair, though Mosey has his points too.9

I am, with the greatest truth / Your brother

Thomas B Adams.

PS. Captn: Truxtun has had a severe fight in the West Indies with a french frigate of superior force—said to be a 54. The engagement lasted five glasses, in the night of the 2d or 3d: Feby.— The Constellation was badly treated, though it is apprehended the french man was greatly disabled also; they certainly both got off—10

RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “J. Q. Adams Esquire / Minister plenipotentiary &ca: &ca: / Berlin.”; internal address: “J Q Adams Esqr:”; endorsed: “13. / T. B. Adams. 25. Feby. 1800. / 25. May recd: / 28. May. Ansd:.”

1For JQA’s letters to TBA of 7 and 17 Nov. 1799 and TBA’s actions on behalf of Carl August Engel in his dispute with Jacob Mark & Co., see TBA to JQA, 1 April 1800, and note 1, below.

2The letter carried by Samuel Sitgreaves was TBA to JQA, 1 Feb., above. The second letter and enclosed account and the duplicate enclosed in this letter have not been found.

3On 9 and 12 Dec. 1799 the House and the Senate, respectively, appointed Federalist-led committees to craft legislation to overhaul the U.S. judicial system. On 11 March 1800 Robert Goodloe Harper introduced a bill in the House that proposed reducing the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices from six to five, expanding the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, and organizing the United States into nine federal circuits. The bill sparked fierce debate, and on 31 March an amended version was proposed that reduced the number of circuits to six. The amended bill was tabled on 14 April. It was reintroduced and passed in the next session of Congress, for which see William Smith Shaw to TBA, 8 Jan. 1801, and note 7, below (Kathryn Turner, “Federalist Policy and the Judiciary Act of 1801,” WMQ description begins William and Mary Quarterly. description ends , 22:10–15, 19–21 [Jan. 1965]; Annals of Congress description begins The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States [1789–1824], Washington, D.C., 1834–1856; 42 vols. description ends , 6th Cong., 1st sess., p. 665–666; U.S. Statutes at Large description begins The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, 1789– , Boston and Washington, D.C., 1845– . description ends , 2:89–100). For the Bankruptcy Act, see TBA to JQA, 29 Dec. 1799, and note 4, above.

4James Madison moved on 23 Dec. that the Va. House of Delegates respond to “certain answers from several of the states” regarding the Virginia Resolutions, for which see vol. 13:316–317. Madison chaired a committee that issued a report on 24 Dec., defending the resolutions and reiterating the argument that the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional and the federal government had impinged on state sovereignty. The legislature approved the report in Jan. 1800 and 5,000 copies were printed, reaching Philadelphia in February, after which Thomas Jefferson oversaw its republication and distribution (Madison, Papers, Congressional Series description begins The Papers of James Madison: Congressional Series, ed. William T. Hutchinson, William M. E. Rachal, and Robert Allen Rutland, Chicago and Charlottesville, Va., 1962–1991; 17 vols. description ends , 17:303–306; Report of the Committee to Whom Was Committed the Proceedings of Sundry of the Other States, Richmond, Va., [1800], Evans, description begins Charles Evans and others, American Bibliography: A Chronological Dictionary of All Books, Pamphlets and Periodical Publications Printed in the United States of America [1639–1800], Chicago and Worcester, Mass., 1903–1959; 14 vols.; rev. edn., www.readex.com. description ends No. 38961).

5On 20 Feb. Federalist Samuel W. Fisher assaulted Dr. George Logan on the floor of the Penn. house of representatives after Logan allegedly called a speech by Fisher “damned nonsense.” Logan submitted a complaint to the house speaker the next day, and Fisher countered with a complaint of his own. A committee investigated the incident, and the house voted to publicly reprimand Fisher (Tolles, George Logan description begins Frederick B. Tolles, George Logan of Philadelphia, New York, 1953. description ends , p. 213–214).

6Dr. Thomas Cooper was not named Pennsylvania secretary of the commonwealth. Alexander James Dallas remained in the post until 1801 even though the state capital moved from Philadelphia to Lancaster in late 1799. Cooper was instead named by Gov. Thomas McKean in 1801 a state commissioner to settle land claims (ANB description begins John A. Garraty, Mark C. Carnes, and Paul Betz, eds., American National Biography, New York, 1999–2002; 24 vols. plus supplement; rev. edn., www.anb.org. description ends ; Leonard J. Sneddon, “From Philadelphia to Lancaster: The First Move of Pennsylvania’s Capital,” Pennsylvania History, 38:349, 358–359 [Oct. 1971]). For JA’s refusal of a request by Joseph Priestley to provide Cooper with a patronage appointment, see AA to William Smith, 19 Nov. 1799, and note 2, above.

7On 7 Feb. 1800 McKean delivered to the Penn. General Assembly a petition from the trustees of Northumberland Academy to establish the school and provide funds for construction of a building. McKean argued that “a few thousand dollars” of public money invested in education would “be the means of saving millions in terrors and in punishments, in insurrections and in wars.” McKean also cited “the disinterested services of the learned and benevolent Priestley” who proposed the school. The assembly took no action at that time, but in 1804 it approved $2,000 in initial expenditures and $3,000 more contingent upon the establishment of a library. The academy opened in 1813 and operated until 1831 (Philadelphia Gazette of the United States, 25 Feb. 1800; Robert E. Schofield, The Enlightened Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Life and Work from 1773 to 1804, University Park, Penn., 2004, p. 330–331, 339–340).

8McKean issued a proclamation on 18 Oct. 1799 calling for the Pennsylvania legislature to convene in a special session on 5 Nov., during which Federalists and Democratic-Republicans sought to gain an advantage in the selection of presidential electors. Federalists, who held a slim majority in the Penn. senate, favored choosing electors through concurrent votes of the two branches of the legislature, while Democratic-Republicans, who controlled the Penn. house of representatives, advocated a joint vote. On 1 Dec. a compromise was reached in which eight electors were nominated by each branch and fifteen were selected jointly, resulting in the selection of seven Federalists and eight Democratic-Republicans. In New Jersey, the legislature had the option of choosing state electors or directing that they be selected by popular vote. Federalists controlled the legislature and favored the first option, prompting Democratic-Republicans to mobilize throughout the state in an attempt to win a legislative majority. The Federalists were ultimately successful, winning 38 of 50 seats and casting all the state’s electoral votes for JA and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (Harry Marlin Tinkcom, The Republicans and Federalists in Pennsylvania, 1790–1801, Harrisburg, Penn., 1950, p. 247–252; Carl E. Prince, New Jersey’s Jeffersonian Republicans: The Genesis of an Early Party Machine, 1789–1817, Chapel Hill, N.C., 1967, p. 41–42, 54, 57–61).

9That is, Lt. Gov. Moses Gill, who was then acting governor.

10The U.S. frigate Constellation, Capt. Thomas Truxtun, engaged the French frigate La Vengeance on 1 and 2 Feb. 1800 near Guadeloupe. During the five-hour battle, Truxtun was prevented from capturing the French vessel because the Constellation’s mainmast collapsed. On 26 March Josiah Parker of Virginia proposed a resolution in the House of Representatives requesting that JA present Truxtun with a congressional medal to honor his service. The resolution was approved the same day, and the Senate approved it on 27 March. Four days later JA instructed Benjamin Stoddert “to take immediate measures” to present Truxtun with “a golden medal emblematical of the late action,” the first of its kind. Truxtun was presented with his medal in Feb. 1802 (ANB description begins John A. Garraty, Mark C. Carnes, and Paul Betz, eds., American National Biography, New York, 1999–2002; 24 vols. plus supplement; rev. edn., www.anb.org. description ends ; Annals of Congress description begins The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States [1789–1824], Washington, D.C., 1834–1856; 42 vols. description ends , 6th Cong., 1st sess., p. 122, 640–642; JA to Stoddert, 31 March 1800, LbC, APM Reel 120; Chris Neuzil, Lenny Vaccaro, and Todd Creekman, “Captain Truxtun’s Congressional Medal,” Numismatist, 120:34, 35 [Feb. 2007]).

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