Browsing: Papers of John Adams, Volume 9

1. Although voted by Congress on 20 June, the commission was not sent off until 11 July as one of three enclosures in a letter of that date from the Committee for Foreign Affairs (Adams Papers). The other two enclosures contained Congress' resolutions of 21 and 26 Oct. 1779 regarding Laurens' commission and those of 20 June 1780 relating to JA's appointment. ( JCC , 15:1198, 1210; 17:534–537). The committee's letter of 11 July and several other letters were entrusted to James Searle, former delegate from Pennsylvania, who was going to Europe as Pennsylvania's agent to raise a loan. In early September Searle reached Paris and gave the letters from Congress to Francis Dana who delivered them to JA at Amsterdam on 17 Sept. (from Dana, 16 Sept.; to William Churchill Houston, 17 Sept., both below).