51From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 48, 18 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
It is my Duty to transmit to Congress, as soon as Prudence will admit, every Thing which deserves Consideration, as having either a direct or an indirect tendency to Peace, or even to Negotiation for that important Object. The inclosed Letter has been transmitted to Paris in such a Channel, that I have Reasons to believe it was particularly intended for my Inspection. It is from a Gentleman,...
52From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 50, 23 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 23 April 1780. LbC ( Adams Papers ). Although a note to the Letterbook copy of Adams’letter of 3 May to the president of Congress (No. 58, calendared, below) indicates that this letter was sent and the Journal of Congress shows it to have been received on 19 Feb. 1781 ( JCC Worthington C. Ford and others, eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 , Washington, 1904–1937; 34...
53From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 51, 24 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 24 April 1780. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, I, f. 495–498). printed: Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:626–628. In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, John Adams sent intelligence derived from newspaper reports originating at Stockholm,...
54From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 52, 25 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 25 April 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, I, f. 500–503). In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, John Adams included long newspaper accounts from Dublin of events in Ireland, particularly the progress of the volunteer movement, and from London of the efforts of the British ministry to bring about a resolution of the Irish problem. RC ( PCC , No. 84, I, f. 500–503.)
55From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 53, 26 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
At last, even the Morning Post, of the eighteenth of April, confesses, that the Memorial from the Empress of Russia to the States General, has dissipated all their golden dreams of an Alliance, with the Czarina. It was announced to us last Week, that a Russian Squadron had left Cronstad, with an Intention to sail to our Assistance, nay some of the public Papers went so far as to announce their...
56From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 54, 28 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 28 April 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, I, f. 508–510). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:635–639. In Wharton’s printing, the dates for the paragraphs beginning “Hague 23. April” and “Hague 22 April” should be reversed. This long letter, which Congress received...
57From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 55, 29 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 29 April 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 3–5). LbC in John Thaxter’s hand ( Adams Papers ); marked: “55.” printed: Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:640–642. In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, John Adams provided information that had appeared in...
58From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 56, 29 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 29 April 1780. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 1–2). LbC ( Adams Papers ); marked: “56.” printed: Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:640. Congress received this letter on 16 October. Relying on newspaper accounts, John Adams reported on the number and...
59From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 57, 2 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, In this letter, which Congress received on 19 Feb. 1781, John Adams included an English translation of a memorial presented by the French ambassador to the States General on 26 April (given as 10 April in Wharton) that announced the repeal of the fifteen percent tariff levied by France on most Dutch goods by various decrees in 1778 and 1779, together with the return of all duties...
60From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 58, 3 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 3 May 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 15–17). LbC in John Thaxter’s hand ( Adams Papers ); notation by Thaxter: “N.B. Nos. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58 were delivered the 7th of May by Mr. Adams to Dr. Franklin, who was to send them with his own Dispatches to Captain John Paul Jones.” printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary...
61From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 59, 8 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 8 May 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 31–33). ( LbC in John Thaxter’s hand ( Adams Papers ). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:663–664. In this letter, read in Congress on 20 Sept., John Adams noted that “the English have a faculty of deceiving themselves,”...
62From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 60, 8 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 8 May 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 27–30). LbC in John Thaxter’s hand ( Adams Papers ). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:660–663; extracts in various American newspapers, including the Pennsylvania Gazette of 27 Dec. 1780 and the Boston Gazette
63From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 61, 8 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 8 May 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 19–22). LbC in John Thaxter’s hand ( Adams Papers ). printed: Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:652–656. The letter, read in Congress on 20 Sept., opens with the text of a resolution by the States General of Holland and West...
64From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 62, 8 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 8 May 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 23–26). LbC in John Thaxter’s hand( Adams Papers ). In the Letterbook this letter begins on the page following that of 11 May, numbered 64. printed: Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:656–660. In this letter, read in Congress on...
65From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 62, 9 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
I have the Honour to inclose to Congress, Proposals for a general Pacification, by the Dean of Gloucester. Proposed to the English, Americans, French and Spaniards, now at War. 1. That Great Britain Shall retain Newfoundland, with the Desert Coasts of Labradore, also Canada Nova Scotia, and the Country bordering on the Bay of Fundy, as far as the Bay and River of Penobscot. 2. That all the...
66From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 63, 10 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 10 May 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 39–40). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:668–669. In this letter, read in Congress on 20 Sept., John Adams described Henry Grattan’s effort in the Irish House of Commons on 19 April to overthrow Poyning’s Law (10 Hen....
67From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 64, 11 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 11 May 1780. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 43–45). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:670–671. In this letter, read in Congress on 20 Sept., John Adams sent the text of three motions respecting the American war proposed by David Hartley in...
68From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 66, 13 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 13 May 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 47–49). LbC in John Thaxter’s hand ( Adams Papers ); notation by Thaxter: “NB. May 16th 1780. This day delivered to the Chevr. la Colombe Nos. 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, & 66—also three packets of News papers.” printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States ,...
69From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 67, 16 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 16 May 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 51–52). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:680. This brief dispatch, read in Congress on 11 Sept., served as a covering letter for a number of letters and three packets of newspapers entrusted to the Chevalier de La...
70From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 68, 19 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 19 May 1780. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 53– 56). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:688–690. In this letter, read in Congress on 11 Sept., John Adams provided the substance of Spain’s response to the Russian declaration of an armed...
71From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 69, 20 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 20 May 1780. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 57–62). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:693–696. In this letter, read in Congress on 11 Sept., John Adams reported on the speeches supporting and opposing Gen. Conway’s bill of 5 May for ending...
72From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 70, 20 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 20 May 1780. RC partly in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 63– 69). LbC partly in Thaxter’s hand ( Adams Papers ). In the recipient’s copy the account of Conway’s speech is in John Adams’ hand, while the criticism of the speech is in Thaxter’s. In the Letterbook the portions by Thaxter and Adams are reversed. printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed.,...
73From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 71, 23 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 23 May 1780. RC in John Thaxter’s hand with postscript by JA ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 71–73). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:698–699. In this letter, read in Congress on 21 Aug., John Adams sent extracts from newspaper accounts originating in Stockholm,...
74From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 72, 26 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 26 May 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 75–77). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:702–706. John Adams began this letter, which was read in Congress on 11 Sept., by quoting from the addresses exchanged by “the gentlemen of the law” of Dublin and Henry Grattan...
75From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 73, 27 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 27 May 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 78–80). LbC in John Thaxter’s hand ( Adams Papers ; notation by Thaxter: “NB. Nos. 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73 were delivered to Come. Gillon on the 30th. May, with several packets of Newspapers & private Letters.” printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States ,...
76From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 74, 28 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 28 May 1780. LbC in John Thaxter’s hand ( Adams Papers ). Although a letter from John Adams of 28 May was read in Congress on 11 Sept. ( JCC Worthington C. Ford and others, eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 , Washington, 1904–1937; 34 vols. , 18:817), no letter of that date is in the PCC . Notations on the Letterbook copies of Adams’ letters of 1 and 5 June (Nos. 75...
77From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 75, 1 June 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 1 June 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 86–88). LbC in John Thaxter’s hand ( Adams Papers ); notation by Thaxter: “NB. Nos. 74 & 75 were delivered Como. J. P. Jones on the first of June 1780.” printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:750–751. In this letter,...
78From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 76, 1 June 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 1 June 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 82–85). printed: Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:747–749. In this letter, read in Congress on 15 Sept., John Adams included the text of resolutions adopted on 11 May at a meeting of the citizens of Dublin. The resolutions...
79From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 77, 2 June 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 1 June 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 90–95). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:752–758. This letter, read in Congress on 5 Sept., contains John Adams’ analysis of Lord George Germain’s speech of 5 May opposing Gen. Conway’s bill to end the American war,...
80From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 78, 2 June 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 2 June 1780. LbC in John Thaxter’s hand ( Adams Papers ) notation by Thaxter: “N B. Nos. 76. 77 and 78 were delivered Capt. Robeson of S. Carolina to carry to L’orient, on the 4th. June 1780.” Despite the docketing and the indication in the Journals that Congress received the letter on 5 Sept. ( JCC Worthington C. Ford and others, eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 ,...