William Stephens Smith’s Instructions for His Mission to Portugal, 11 April 1787
William Stephens Smith’s Instructions for His Mission to Portugal
Grosvr. square London April 11th. 1787.
Dear Sir.
Congress by their Resolution of February the 3d. 1787, determined, that the Letter to the Queen of Portugal herewith delivered you, should be transmitted to Her faithfull Majesty by your hands— You will therefore prepare yourself, as soon as conveniently may be, and proceed to Lisbon.—1 In your way, as you pass through France & Spain, you will of Course pay your respects to the Ministers of the United states residing at those Courts and to the Ministers of foreign affairs of those Sovereigns and endeavour to collect intelligence of any Kind commercial or political in which the United States may be interested— when you shall arrive at Lisbon, you will make your Court to the Minister of foreign affairs,2 and communicate to him the object of your mission, and take his advise concerning the delivery of the Letter to Her most faithfull Majesty, if it should not be judged advisable to desire an Audience, the Minister himself will deliver the Letter to his Mistress.
In whatever Country, or at whatever Court you will remember to make your Court, to the Ambassadors of all those sovereigns, with whom the United States are in Alliance France, Holland, Sweden Prussia, To all Ministers, Consuls agents of these Powers you will pay a particular regard, while you show a respectful politeness to all others—
In all Places you will endeavour to collect information concerning the Barbary Powers, and the situation of our unfortunate Countrymen in Captivity at Algiers, especially from Mr. Carmichael and Mr: Barclay in spain, if you should chance to meet the latter—3
At Lisbon, you will inform yourself particularly of the State of the War, between Portugal & those piratical states, that of Venice with the same, and Naples and whether there is a prospect of Peace— The force of the Algerines, the probability of their coming out of the Streights this summer, the force of the Portuguese that is to cruise against them—
You will also inform yourself particularly of the state of the Commerce between the United States and Portugal and by what means it might be extended improved and increased, to the mutual advantage of both Nations—4 you will make particular Inquiries concerning sugars, the Prices & Qualities of Brazil sugars raw or manufactured, to satisfy yourself whether our Countrymen might not purchase those sugars to advantage even for manufacture & Exportation, an Experiment has been made in France of a purchase of raw sugars for Boston: and it is suspected might be made to greater advantage in Lisbon, for Philadelphia & NewYork as well as Boston5
You will please to enquire, whether the Treaty which was signed last May between the American Ministers and the chevalier De. Pinto, has been agreed to by his Court and if any not, what are the objections, and whether there is any prospect of a renewal of the negotiation—6
You will enquire particularly whether rice and Indigo may be expected to obtain admission, to Portugal from Carolina & Georgia, as they did before the late War: whether flour has any chance to be admitted: and what is the state of the trade of salt fish—
As the whole of the Negotiations with Portugal as well as with the Barbary Powers for the last two years have passed under your Eye and Observations and indeed through your hands, you are already acquainted with every particular, which renders any further instructions in detail unnecessary—
The Languages of Europe are now become of much importance to us, & every Gentleman employed under the United States in the Diplomatick department ought to take all reasonable methods to acquaint himself with them— You will have in this journey a great oppertunity of perfecting yourself in French and of improving yourself [in the] Spanish & the Portuguese, which is but a dialect of the Spanish; and in the Italian—
In the Article of Expences you will observe as much Œconomy as possible, consistent with the Comfort of your journey, the Decency of your Character, and the Honour of your Country. You will transmit your account to Congress or the Board of Treasury or Mr. Barclay:7 and you will neglect no oppertunity of writing to the secretary of foreign Affairs— I know very well that the Situation of your family, as well as your attention to the public service will be motives sufficient to ind[uce] you to loose no time unnecessarily, and to return with as much expedition, as the execution of the design of your Journey will admit— The Interest the honor & dignity of the U. States will never be out of your thoughts, nor will any oppertunity to promote either ever be neglected—
I wish you as pleasant a Journey as the season promises, and a happy return to your friends & services at [this] Court—
with great regard I am dear Sir / Yours
John Adams
FC in WSS’s hand (PCC, No. 92, I, f. 324–327); internal address: “To Colo. W. S. Smith Secretary / of the Legation of the United / states at the Court of London.” LbC (Adams Papers); APM Reel 113. Text lost due to a tight binding has been supplied from the LbC.
1. On 27 June 1786, JA reported to John Jay that Maria I had dispatched a squadron of ships to the Strait of Gibraltar with orders to protect American vessels. The enclosed resolution, above, which Congress instructed to be delivered by JA’s secretary, formally thanked the queen. WSS departed on 24 April 1787 and reached Lisbon on 15 July. He delivered Congress’ message to the queen on 4 Aug., and she on the same date wrote a short response, welcoming closer diplomatic ties. On 22 Aug., WSS arrived in Falmouth, England, and, ailing from a fever, he reached London in late August (vol. 18:358–359; , 3:69–77, 81–84; PCC, No. 92, I, f. 347–350).
For WSS’s dispatches to JA during his diplomatic mission, see his letters of 19 May and 30 June, both below. WSS wrote at least 23 letters to AA2 between 26 April and 27 Aug., at least two of which contained information marked for JA’s review. In a 5 May letter to AA2 from Paris, WSS described French restrictions on American trade, which he hoped would be lifted by a new cabinet headed by Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, the archbishop of Toulouse. WSS wrote to JA directly on 19 May, below, describing the resolution of Thomas Barclay’s incarceration. The following day, he wrote to AA2, conveying the news that Barclay had been released from prison in Bordeaux (, 8:28; , 1:132–135, 150, 152).
2. That is, Martinho de Melo e Castro, the Portuguese secretary of state. WSS’s meeting with him was delayed by a “very violent fever” that the American agent contracted during his journey. WSS was formally presented to Maria I on 4 Aug., and he sent a copy of his address and the queen’s reply in Portuguese to Jay with his report of 12 September. “I will shew them the distinguished prize I set on them,” a contemporary translation of the queen’s reply read, “and my invariable disposition to strengthen between the two states the ties of a solid and permanent friendship” (PCC, No. 92, I, f. 335, 343–349).
3. See WSS’s report in his 30 June letter, below. In his 12 Sept. report to Jay, WSS enclosed a 25 March letter from William Carmichael to JA. WSS opted to “pass over” commenting on the deteriorating relations between Spain and Algiers (, 3:71). There is no sign, in any of WSS’s extant reports, that he gathered the information requested by JA.
4. In his 12 Sept. report to Jay, WSS wrote that Melo e Castro “touched upon” Portuguese-American trade at their meeting, but WSS did not expand further (, 3:72).
5. JA referred to his mother’s cousin Thomas Boylston, a former merchant who, in Nov. 1785, sold a cargo of whale oil in France and returned to Boston with raw sugar (vols. 17:388, 18:216).
6. In April 1786, JA and Thomas Jefferson successfully negotiated a commercial treaty with Luiz Pinto de Balsamão, Portuguese minister to Britain, but it was signed only by Jefferson and never submitted to Congress for ratification. In his 12 Sept. 1787 report to Jay, WSS noted that Maria I had read the terms but insisted that Portugal and the United States exchange ministers before the treaty could be finalized (vol. 18:256–259; , 3:72–73). For JA’s longstanding support for appointing an American minister to the court in Lisbon, see his 10 Sept. letter to Jay, below.
7. On 17 April, JA wrote to the London banking firm of Richard & Charles Puller, instructing it to grant WSS letters of credit totaling £500 (LbC, APM Reel 113). Several expenditures for WSS’s mission are listed in John Adams’ Accounts in Europe: 1785–1788, for which see the appendix to this volume.