Report on a Letter from the British Consul General, 31 December 1785

Report on a Letter from the British Consul General

Office for foreign Affairs 31st. December 1785

The Secretary of the United States for the Department of foreign Affairs to whom was referred a Letter to him of the 21st. Inst. from the Consul General of his britannic Majesty representing that certain Persons called Loyalists, had found Difficulties in obtaining, and in some Instances been refused Office Copies of public Records in the United States, and desiring the Interposition of Congress &ca.1

Reports

That in his Opinion your Secretary should write a Letter of the following Tenor to Mr. Adams Vizt.—

Sir

I have the Honor of transmitting to you herewith enclosed ^a copy of^ a Letter of the 21st. December from Mr. Temple to me, which I laid before Congress.2 They have been pleased to direct that you communicate it to his britannic Majesty—that You inform him that the Complaint stated in it, being in general Terms and unsupported by any particular Facts or Evidence, they do not think it necessary or proper to take any Measures in Consequence of it—And that you assure him, that as it is their Determination the Treaty of Peace shall be punctually observed by their Citizens, and that his Majesty’s Subjects shall enjoy here, all the Rights which friendly & civilized Nations claim from each other; so they will always be ready to hear every Complaint which may appear to be well founded, and to redress such of them as on Investigation shall prove to be so.—

This Communication will give you an Opportunity of remarking, that the Office of Consul General does not extend to Matters of this Kind, neither the Rights of Commerce nor of Navigation being in Question, and therefore that it was Delicacy towards his Majesty ~~and not~~ ^rather than^ a Sense of the Propriety of such an Application from a Consul General, which induced Congress to treat it with this Mark of Attention.—3

It would perhaps be well to pursue the Subject, to intimate the Expediency as well as Propriety of sending a Minister here, and if Circumstances should so dictate, to accompany it with Assurances that Congress expect a Minister and are ready to receive and treat him in a Manner consistent with the Respect due to his Sovereign.—4

The Advantage alluded to in one of your Letters, if no other, would result from such an Appointment Vizt.—That the british Court would then probably receive more accurate Representations of Affairs in this Country, than they are at present supplied with by Men, who write and speak more as their Wishes and Feelings than as Truth and Knowledge dictate.—I have the Honor to be &c.

The Honorable John Adams Esquire—

Your Secretary is further of Opinion that he should write the following Answer to Mr. Temple’s Letter Vizt.

Sir

I took the earliest Opportunity after the Meeting of Congress to lay your Letter of 21st. December before them.—

They have ordered a Copy of it to be transmitted to their Minister at the Court of London with Directions to communicate it to his britannic Majesty—to inform him that, the Complaint stated in it being in general Terms and unsupported by any particular Facts or Evidence, they do not think it necessary or proper to take any Measures in Consequence of it: And to assure him, that as it is their Determination the Treaty of Peace shall be punctually observed by their Citizens, and that his Majesty’s Subjects shall here enjoy all the Rights which friendly and civilized Nations claim from each other, so they will always be ready to hear every Complaint which may appear to be well founded, and to redress such as on Investigation shall prove to be so.—5 I have the Honor to be &c:

John Temple Esqr. Consul General &c

All which is submitted to the Wisdom of Congress—

John Jay

DS, DNA: PCC, item 81, 1: 502–5 (EJ: 3875). Endorsed “31st. Decr. 1785 / Report of Secretary for / foreign Affairs on letter / of J. Temple / Read 2 Jany. 1786 / Agreed to Jany. 2 1786”. LbkCs, DNA: PCC, item 124, 1: 233–37 (EJ: 4547); NNC: JJ Lbk. 3; JCC, description begins Worthington C. Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1904–37) description ends 30: 3–5

1. See Temple to JJ, 21 Dec. 1785, C, UkLPR (EJ: 5046); and Giunta, Emerging Nation, description begins Mary A. Giunta et al., eds., The Emerging Nation: A Documentary History of the Foreign Relations of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, 1780–1789 (3 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1996) description ends 2: 961–62.

2. See JJ to the President of Congress (John Hancock), 29 Dec., ALS, DNA: PCC, item 80, 2: 89; LbkC, DNA: Domestic Letters description begins Domestic Letters of the Department of State, 1784–1906, RG59, item 120, National Archives (M40). Accessed on Fold3.com. description ends , 2: 53 (EJ: 1840).

3. JJ reiterated this principle in his report to Congress of 8 Mar. 1786, below.

4. The British did not send a minister to deal with Loyalist issues. However, the Loyalist Commission had already appointed John Anstey, a barrister, “merely a private character,” to verify Loyalist claims. Anstey arrived on 19 Apr. 1786. See LDC, description begins Paul H. Smith et al., eds., Letters of Delegates to the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (26 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1976–98) description ends 23: 243–44, 422.

5. See JJ to Temple, 2 Jan. 1786, LS, marked “Copy”, UkLPR: FO 4/3 (EJ: 5045); LbkC, DNA: Domestic Letters description begins Domestic Letters of the Department of State, 1784–1906, RG59, item 120, National Archives (M40). Accessed on Fold3.com. description ends , 2: 61–62 (EJ: 1847); DC, description begins William A. Weaver, ed., Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States of America, from the Signing of the Definitive Treaty of Peace, 10th September, 1783, to the Adoption of the Constitution, March 4, 1789 (7 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1833–34) description ends 6: 9. Temple forwarded JJ’s letter to Carmarthen under cover of his letter of 5 Jan. 1786. See Giunta, Emerging Nation, description begins Mary A. Giunta et al., eds., The Emerging Nation: A Documentary History of the Foreign Relations of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, 1780–1789 (3 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1996) description ends 3: 63–64.

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Source Project: Jay Papers
Title: Report on a Letter from the British Consul General, 31 December 1785
Author: Jay, John
Date: 31 December 1785

Reference

Cite as: “Report on a Letter from the British Consul General, 31 December 1785,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jay/01-04-02-0119. [Original source: The Selected Papers of John Jay, vol. 4, 1785–1788, ed. Elizabeth M. Nuxoll. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2015, pp. 269–271.]