Adams Papers
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To John Adams from Isaac Stephens, 24 October 1787

From Isaac Stephens

Octr 24th. 1787 algirs

Sir

Sir By the hand of Doctor Warner Consul Logie Doctor which Returns to London I hope you will Ricive these few Lines1 He has attended Us Since being in algirs By order of Count D Espilly When Under his protection Since as we Could Not Clam any wright to the Spanish Hospitle without going into it which was Not agreable without Dangeros ill I think he has paid a friendly attention to Me as I have Not bin Healthey Since the firs fall of My being taken

Sir we Recived a Letter from Mr Lamb2 when at alacant Which informed Us that you would Not agree to our Redemption thairfour I Must think you to be the gratest Enemy that I have in the wourld and Not a friend to Liberty it Did Lye in Your power to Hasten our Redemption the purport of your Letter to Us told what you must write Congress you are Not So old But you may have as great Calameties as Mine Befour you Die Look on your Children and pray that No judgment May fall on them Try to Realize a Slave to the infidels then turn to america that Begun on the point of Liberty But if thair Liberty falls into Such Mens hands that wish to Make Slaves of thair Subjects I Could Wish My Self out of algirs and My Distressed famely out of america if My Detention is a benefit to america in a peace Let them allow a Liveing for my famely if You Dont make your peace with god Befour you get a peace with the Dey of algirs I Could wish to Live a Long time three Redemptions has bin this year and a Nother is arrived all of Different Nations allthough you Say as you Doe in your Letter3 that Scarsely Ever a Redemption without a peace you Doe Not well inform your Self I Know you are Not willing to Draw the money out of the publick fund for you and others may fall Short of thair payment But would wish to Raise it Som other way had america Set fourth our Situation and Made a Lottery in Every State I think I shuld Not have bin hear Now think on My State of Slavery and pray that No Such judgments as Mine may Not fall on you or yours think on Yours Letters and Mr Jaffersons thay plainly appear to Us a Fallse pretention Wishing Us well hom to our famelys So Long Since and Nothg Don Since he told Us plainly that he Did Not Com to Redem Us and Mr woulf4 and Mr Logie I shall Look on you Not to be a friend to Mankind and Liberty Untill you give Me Better proffs of it in your Next Letter

Sir to a Gentlemen once acquanted With I pray to god that I Might be Mistaken and that your honour May prove to be the greatest friend in the wourld as you Could be if a Mind

Sir the gentlemen Can give you Every intelegence about algirs that you Can wish for

its Supposed that we May be Redemd as Cheap as a-nother Nation if the Money or bills ware on the Spot at the time of Mr Lambs being hear and the price Was a president to Several other Nations

Consul Logie is the Most friendly at this time and for about 6 months then any other Consul hear—

May God Bless you and yours and in the Manegment of the affairs of America From Your Most obedent and Humble Servent

Isaac Stephens Slave & Continued By My Countrey

RC (Adams Papers); internal address “Mr adams”; notation by CFA: “I. Stephens. / Octr 24th 1787.”

1Dr. Phillip Werner (Warner) served as surgeon to the British consulate in Algiers and later complained of Charles Logie’s mismanagement of diplomatic affairs there (vol. 18:152).

2John Lamb made no mention of the Algerian captives’ plight when he wrote to Thomas Jefferson on 20 May, but he denounced the Conde d’Expilly as a “Vile Man” and America’s “wors Enemy,” for allegedly providing faulty intelligence (Jefferson, Papers description begins The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, James P. McClure, and others, Princeton, N.J., 1950– . description ends , 11:368–369).

3JA wrote to Stephens on 29 Sept. 1786 to explain that a swift redemption was unlikely, as “government at the public expence have rarely if ever done it, but upon the Conclusion of a peace” (vol. 18:468).

4That is, Irish merchant John Wolfe (Wolf or Woulf), for whom see same, 18:305.

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