From John Adams to the Comte de Sarsfield, 11 September 1783
To the Comte de Sarsfield
Paris Septr. 11th. 1783.
My dear Comte Sarsefield,
I have been honoured with your two friendly Letters from Rennes, and altho’ a multiplicity of Affairs have hitherto prevented me from answering them, be assured I have not forgotten you.1 I am much pleased to find that I have been instrumental of employing your thoughts upon another subject, & I promise myself much Entertainment & Instruction in reading it. I am in no danger of losing the opportunity, because we have late Orders from Congress, which will necessarily postpone my Return to America, until another Year— A Commission is to be sent to me, Mr. Franklin & Mr. Jay to treat of Commerce with Great Britain. This will necessarily take up much time, & altho’ We may be obliged to make a Tour to London, and I may possibly make one to Holland, I expect to pass the most of the Fall and Winter at Paris. This will I hope afford me opportunity to enjoy the good Company in the Rue Pot de Fer, not forgetting the good Cheer, nor the Speculations of the Summer at Rennes.
With great Respect & Esteem, I have the honor / to be, / my Lord, / your Lordship’s &c
LbC in John Thaxter’s hand (Adams Papers); internal address: “Comte Sarsefield.”; APM Reel 106.
1. Guy Claude, Comte de Sarsfield, wrote to JA on 12 July and 10 Aug. (Adams Papers). Anticipating the conclusion of the Anglo-American definitive peace treaty, Sarsfield wished to know when JA expected to leave Paris and return to America. Sarsfield had begun to compose an essay on women at JA’s encouragement and was afraid that he would not be able to complete it before JA’s departure. It is not known when JA received the essay “Deux Lettres sur Les Femmes. 1783,” dated 30 June and 4 Sept., but it can be found in a 280-page collection of Sarsfield’s writings in the Adams Papers (filmed at [ca. 1782–1783]). For the collection’s content, see vol. 13:252.