Adams Papers

From John Adams to the Marquis of Carmarthen, 2 December 1785

To the Marquis of Carmarthen

Grosvenor Square December 2. 1785.1

My Lord

I have received with a great deal of Pleasure, the Letter, which your Lordship did me, the honour to write me, on the thirtieth of last Month.2

I will take the earliest Opportunity, My Lord, to communicate Mr Ansteys Appointment to the members of Congress, and to recommend him to their Protection and Countenance in the Execution of the Business with which he is charged.3

And if your Lordship or Mr Anstey, should apprehend that it might be of any Service to him in his publick or private Capacity, I will with Pleasure give him Letters of recommendation to the Governors of the Several States, or to any other Characters to whom he may wish to be introduced, whenever Mr Anstey will do me, the Honour to call upon me.4

With great Respect, I have the Honour to be / My Lord, your Lordships, most obedient / and most humble Servant

John Adams.

RC (PRO:FO 4, State Papers, vol. 3, f. 367–368); internal address: “The Right Honourable The Marquis of Carmarthen.”; endorsed: “Grosvenor Square, / Decr. 2d: 1785 / Mr. Adams.” LbC (Adams Papers description begins Manuscripts and other materials, 1639–1889, in the Adams Manuscript Trust collection given to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1956 and enlarged by a few additions of family papers since then. Citations in the present edition are simply by date of the original document if the original is in the main chronological series of the Papers and therefore readily found in the microfilm edition of the Adams Papers (APM). description ends ); APM Reel 111.

1. In the Letterbook AA2 misdated this letter “Novr 2d 1785,” probably because it appeared directly below her copy of Carmarthen’s 30 Nov. letter.

2. In his letter, Carmarthen, the British foreign minister, announced the appointment of London lawyer John Anstey to go to the United States to investigate loyalist claims. He asked JA to inform Congress of Anstey’s mission (vol. 17:625; AFC description begins Adams Family Correspondence, ed. L. H. Butterfield, Marc Friedlaender, Richard Alan Ryerson, Margaret A. Hogan, and others, Cambridge, 1963– . description ends , 7:26–27).

3. See JA’s 2 Dec. letter to John Jay, below.

4. On 18 Dec. JA wrote a circular letter “To The Govrs. of the several States” in which he quoted from Carmarthen’s letter and noted that “as I conceive, that Mr. Anstey’s honorable reception in america & the facilities afforded him by Government in the execution of this employment, will redound to the honor & Interest of the U. S. I beg leave to recommend him to your Excellency, and to every Countenance, Protection, & aid, which the Service may require & which your Excelly. may with propriety give” (LbC, APM Reel 112). Anstey visited JA at Grosvenor Square on at least three occasions and impressed AA2 as the “handsomest, politest best bred Englishman I have yet seen” (AFC description begins Adams Family Correspondence, ed. L. H. Butterfield, Marc Friedlaender, Richard Alan Ryerson, Margaret A. Hogan, and others, Cambridge, 1963– . description ends , 7:17).

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    Adams Papers
    Title
    From John Adams to the Marquis of Carmarthen, 2 December 1785
    Author
    Adams, John
    Recipient
    Carmarthen, the Marquis of
    Date
    2 December 1785

    Reference

    Cite as
    “From John Adams to the Marquis of Carmarthen, 2 December 1785,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-18-02-0002. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 18, December 1785–January 1787, ed. Gregg L. Lint, Sara Martin, C. James Taylor, Sara Georgini, Hobson Woodward, Sara B. Sikes, Amanda M. Norton. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016, p. 3.]

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