Browsing: Papers of John Adams, Volume 8

3. JA was to have a long wait before either Laurens arrived. Although appointed to negotiate a Dutch loan on 21 Oct. and to conclude a treaty of amity and commerce with the Netherlands on 1 Nov. 1779, Henry Laurens did not sail from Philadelphia until 13 Aug. 1780. Three weeks later he was captured by the British who imprisoned him in London; he did not reach Paris until Nov. 1782 ( JCC , 15:1198, 1232; DAB ). His son John had been appointed Benjamin Franklin's secretary on 29 Sept. 1779, but he had declined the office in December and at the time of this letter was serving with the army in South Carolina. Captured by the British at the fall of Charleston in May 1780, he was exchanged, and in Dec. 1780 he was appointed envoy extraordinary to France. He did not arrive in Europe until March 1781 ( JCC , 15:1128, 1366; DAE). It should be noted, however, that JA was only assuming, based on an enclosure in Lovell's letter of 1 Nov. 1779 (above; see also Adams Family Correspondence , 3:234), that Henry Laurens had been appointed to negotiate a Dutch loan. And although JA knew of John Laurens' appointment, he had no knowledge of his refusal of the secretaryship.