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Documents filtered by: Author="First Joint Commission at Paris" AND Period="Revolutionary War"
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1778 Debit Credit Juin 30 Pour solde de lancien Compte 697434. 4. Juillet 1er Mandat de J. Williams du 25 7bre. ordre Mr. Franklin 891. 10. 1er Ces Messieurs aiant été debites dans deux differents Comptes, de l’achat fait a L’Orient des 34 Affuts je les credite d’autant dans cellui cy, afin qu’ils ne soient debites qu’une seule fois du Montant de cet Achat de 5607. 2. 6 3 Acceptn. de Mr....
We have the Honour of your Letter of 28 May by Captain Reed. We are rejoiced at the Arrival, even of 49 Hogsheads of Tobacco, and cannot but wish for more. As the Commissioners here, have made a Contract, with the Farmers General, to furnish them with 5000 Hdds, which they have not been able to fulfill, altho they have received a Million Livres upon that Contract, We have ventured to order...
We have the Honour of your Letters of May 14. and 15. We congratulate you on the general good Appearance of our Affairs, and are happy in your Assurances that it is your fixed Determination to admit no Terms of Peace, but such as are consistent with the Spirit and Intention of our Alliance, with France, especially as the present Politicks of the British Cabinet, aim at Seducing you from that...
We have received your Favour of the Eighth of June, by the Hand of Captain Barns of the schooner Dispatch, together with the Packetts, forwarded by the Hon. Council of the Mass. Bay. We, have according to your desire given orders to Mr. Schweighauser at Nantes to furnish the Captain, with such supplies as may be necessary to provide for his Return, and to defrey his Expences there. We have...
We have the Honour of your Excellencys Letters of July the 15th, and 18th. James Niggins and John Selby are wholly unknown to Us, but as their Account of themselves to your Excellency is probable enough; and if nothing appears to invalidate their Relation, We should be obliged to your Excellency if you will grant their Request. We are very Sorry for the Dispute between two Officers of the...
We received your Excellencys Letter of May 29, by Captain Niles, with the Dispatches from Congress, which you had intrusted him, with, in good order. He had a short Passage of 22 days and brought Us the agreable News of the Ratification of the Treaties, and of their being universally pleasing to our Country. We shall order some Lead to be shipped on Board his Vessell, and have furnished him...
We have received your Letters relative to the Disputes between two of your Officers and some of your Men belonging to this Nation, and we are of Opinion that if the Men are inlisted upon the Ships Books, to go to Boston, they ought to return to the Ship, and be received by you, and are entitled to their Wages and prize Money. But if they are not inlisted in writing to go to Boston, but only...
Passy, 20 July 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:168–170 ; also, with “The Function of Consuls” enclosed, in Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 2:650–653. The...
We herewith communicate to your Excellency a Resolution of Congress relative to the Treaties, which we request may be laid before the King. Thereby his Majesty will perceive the unfeigned Sentiments of that Body, as well as those of the whole American People, whose Hearts the King has gained by his great Benevolence towards them, manifested in these Treaties, which has made so deep an...
Passy, 16 July 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:164 . The Commissioners told Sartine that the congress and the authorities in Massachusetts would be notified of his request, but that the presence of British warships on the Newfoundland and Halifax stations might make assistance to...
Passy, 16 July 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:163 . The Commissioners notified Schweighauser of Thomas Simpson’s appointment to command the Ranger and ordered him to provide Simpson with whatever he might need to prepare for sea. The Commissioners also informed him that the...
Passy, 16 July 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:162–163 . The Commissioners informed Whipple of Thomas Simpson’s appointment to command the Ranger as part of a force under Whipple’s overall direction. He was ordered to make every effort to take or destroy the Jersey and Guernsey...
Passy, 13 July 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:159–160 . In reply to Coffyn’s letters of 7 and 9 July (above), the Commissioners noted the “abundant Testimonies of your good Character” and declared that their confidence in him was undiminished. He was informed that whatever news...
Passy, 13 July 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:160 . The Commissioners advised Tucker that to improve the sailing qualities of the Boston , about which adverse reports had been received, he might, in order to replace his ballast, apply to J. D. Schweighauser for a quantity of lead...
Passy, 26 June 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:142–143 . The Commissioners left to Coffyn’s judgment the amount to be paid on a surgeon’s bill, approved his proposal to transmit to America intelligence that he had obtained, and advised him either to send the unemployed sailors to...
Passy, 23 June 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:140–141 . The Commissioners, noting Schweighauser’s letter of 18 June (not found) and their instructions to John Paul Jones and Abraham Whipple of 16 and 23 June respectively (for both, see instructions to Jones, 16 June , calendared...
Passy, 16 June 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:137–138 . Jones was ordered to prepare for a voyage to America on which he would harass the British as much as possible, specific mention being made of the vulnerability of the Newfoundland fishery and the transports passing back and...
Passy, 15 June 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:135–137 . The Commissioners, in answer to Sartine’s letter of 6 June, indicated their reasons for refusing the drafts drawn on them by Bersolle, and, by implication and tone, their displeasure at Sartine’s interference in the...
Passy, 10 June 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:135 . The Commissioners requested a list of Jones’ prisoners for a possible exchange and noted the arrival of Jones’ account of his differences with the Ranger’s crew, about which he would soon receive their opinion. The request for a...
Passy, 10 June 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:134–135 . The Commissioners, responding to Schweighauser’s letter of 4 June (not found), commended him for refusing to pay 1,200 livres to William Morris, possibly an escaped prisoner ( Deane Papers Papers of Silas Deane, 1774–1790, in...
Passy, 4 or 6 June 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:127–128 ; not sent. The Commissioners appealed “for an immediate Exchange of Prisoners in Europe.” They protested the treatment of American prisoners “in a manner unexampled, in the practice of civilized Nations” and promised...
Passy, 6 June 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:129 . The Commissioners, in reply to Schweighauser’s letter of 1 June (not found), directed him to provide, frugally, whatever repairs and supplies were needed by the Providence , newly arrived at Paimboeuf near Nantes, and promised to...
Passy, 6 June 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:128–129 . The Commissioners congratulated Whipple on his escape from the British blockade of Rhode Island, voyage to France, and arrival with the frigate Providence at Paimboeuf, all of which had been recounted in his letter to Benjamin...
Passy, 4 June 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:127 . Replying to letters (not found) from Bondfield of 26 and 30 May, the first enclosing accounts for the purchase of supplies for the Boston , and the second reporting on the conspiracy against the Boston and enclosing an affidavit...
Passy, 3 June 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:123–124 . The Commissioners, as a result of letters from Lt. Thomas Simpson and appeals by others on his behalf, determined that Jones’ treatment of Simpson was too harsh and desired that Simpson be allowed to give his parole and return...
Passy, 3 June 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:125–126 . Protesting duties charged on goods purchased for the Boston at Bordeaux, listed in an accompanying account, on the grounds that as a ship of war it was not liable for them, the Commissioners desired Sartine to take corrective...
Passy, 3 June 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:124 . This letter informed Simpson that the Commissioners had ordered John Paul Jones to grant a parole so that he could go to Nantes in order to take the first opportunity to sail for America. printed: ( JA, Diary and Autobiography...
Passy, 25 May 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:116 . Replying to Bondfield’s letters of 12 (above) and 17 May (not found), the Commissioners’ letter, drafted by Adams, commended Bondfield for his efforts to keep them informed and asked him to send an account of his disbursements and...
Passy, 25 May 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:112–114 . Responding to Jones’ letters of 9 and 16 May (both above), the Commissioners’ letter, drafted by Adams, congratulated him on his arrival at Brest, requested an account of his voyage, and advised him of their preference that...
Passy, 25 May 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:115 . Drafted by Adams, this letter, through enclosed extracts from letters of 25 May to John Paul Jones (calendared above) and Jonathan Williams (calendared below), informed Schweighauser that he was the authorized American agent at...
Passy, 25 May 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:114–115 . Replying to Williams’ letters of 11 and 18 May (both above), this letter, drafted by Adams, advised Williams that he had no power to act at Brest in regard either to prizes or to American commerce. J. D. Schweighauser was the...
It is our desire that you accept no Bills nor pay any money out of the funds which are or may be in your hands to the credit of us three jointly without our joint order. As it has been the practice to address Letters upon the business of the Commission to Mr. Deane we desire that you will send to us all the Letters you receive so directed, and not give them to any private person. We have the...
Messrs. Basmarine, Raimbeaux and Co. having represented to Us, that they have applied to Government for a Frigate, to be employed in Defence of their Commerce to and from America, and in making Reprisals for the Losses they have lately Sustained by our Enemies. We the Commissioners of the united States of North America, hereby request, that Such a Frigate may be granted them: and in that Case,...
We had this Morning the Honour of receiving your Excellency’s Letter of the 13. Instant relative to the Boston Frigate. We beg leave to assure your Excellency that the Frigate called the Boston, now at Bourdeaux, is a Ship of War belonging to the 13 United States of North America, built and maintained at their Expence, by the Honourable Congress. We therefore, humbly presume that his Majestys...
printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:99–100 . The Commissioners requested that they be given permission to confine on French soil the prisoners taken by American vessels in order to permit their exchange for American prisoners held in England, a question of particular urgency because of John...
Passy, 1778 May 3. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:88 . Bersolle, a merchant at Brest, was informed that his bill drawn on the Commissioners’ banker had not been paid immediately because he had drawn it without permission and had failed to submit his accounts, the implication being that...
Passy, 3 May 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:88–89 . The Commissioners acknowledged letters from Moylan, dated 23, 30 March and 15, 17 April ( Cal. Franklin Papers, A.P.S. I. Minis Hays, comp., Calendar of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin in the Library of the American...
Passy, 3 May 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:89–90 . Composed in two drafts, one dated 22, the other perhaps as early as 23 April ( DLC : Franklin Papers), with no indication of why the letter was apparently not sent until 3 May, the date that appears on the Letterbook copy (...
We have the Honour of acquainting your Excellency, that the United States of North America, being now an Independant Power, and acknowledged as such by this Court, a Treaty of Amity and Commerce is compleated between France and the Said States, of which we shall speedily send your Excellency a Copy, to be communicated if you think proper to their High Mightinesses, for whom, the United States,...
We have received a Complaint from the remaining Part of your Officers and Crew, of an unfair distribution of Prize Money by Mr. Hodge. To prevent any Such Complaints in future, We desire that you will put your Prizes into the Hands of Messieurs Gardoqui at Bilboa, and into those of the Principal Merchant at Cadiz or Corogne Coruña , directing them to make a Speedy Distribution of the...
We find by our Bankers Account that you have received upwards of one hundred Thousand Livres of the public Money, for which there is no account from you among the Papers left by Mr Deane. Captain Cunningham of the Revenge writes Us, that you have claimed that Vessell as the Property of Mr Ross and you, and under your Direction. It appears too, as well by a Letter from the Merchant at Corogne...
By sundry Letters from Merchants of Bourdeaux and Nantes, we are inform’d, that many Adventures to America are discouraged by the high Price of Insurance, and the Number of Captures made by the English, which together have an Operation almost equal to an Embargo; so that the Commerce which might be so advantageous, to both Countries, by supplying their mutual Wants, is obstructed, and the...
We had this Moment the Pleasure of your Letter of the 10. Instant. You will please to furnish Captain Tucker, all such necessary Provisions for his future Voyage, as he shall require, recommending to him at the same Time, as much Frugality as may consist with the public service. We approve of your Proposal of exchanging the Ballast of Pigg Iron for Anchors as these are much wanted in America....
Passy, 13 April, 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:50–51 . In replying to a letter from Ross (not found) requesting compensation for monies spent and the return of papers taken by William Lee from the estate of Thomas Morris, who had died on 31 Jan., the Commissioners noted that...
We duely received your Letter, dated at Bourdeaux the 1st. Instant, and congratulate you, on your Safe Arrival, as well as on your good Fortune in taking, the Ship Martha, which We wish Safe to Port. We approve of your Zeal and Industry in taking upon you to get the Frigate, as far in Readiness as possible, for the Sea, during the Absence of Captain Palmes. As the Number of your Men, has been...
Passy, 13 April 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:51 . The Commissioners informed Williams, Benjamin Franklin’s greatnephew and American commercial agent at Nantes (see sketch in Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others,...
Passy, 10 April 1778. printed : JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:44–46 . Drafted by Benjamin Franklin and, according to Adams, “the only public Letter I believe which he wrote while I was with him, in that Commission,” it began by informing Dumas of Adams’ arrival and reporting on his voyage. The...