close
Browsing: Papers of John Adams, Volume 6
C. W. F. Dumas to the Commissioners: A Translation
Docno: PJA06d143
Recipient: First Joint Commission at Paris
Recipient: JA
Date: 1778-06-02
[dateline] The Hague, 2 June 1778
[salute] Gentlemen
I have the honor to confirm my last three letters, namely that of 7 to 15 May in the form of a journal, another of the 19th, and the last of 22 to 26 May.
The French ambassador returned in good health.
The Grand Facteur is of the opinion that I should not accept, as a reply to your letter,1 what the Grand Pensionary will perhaps tell me verbally when we meet. But he expects, as do I, that you, in response to my last two letters and as soon as possible, will send me a copy of the treaty which I will then present to the Grand Pensionary and the Regency of Amsterdam so that the former may have time, before the States reassemble, to circulate this document, as he did the letter, among its members. The States will reconvene on 1 July, so there is no
{p. 174}
time to lose. The Grand Facteur read the Avis aux Hollandois, found it good, and sent the copy I gave him to his House.
You will see by the enclosed translation,2 copied out by the Grand Facteur, that the dance is finally about to begin in Germany. Let them do it; it will do us no harm, the only result being the loss by the enemy of some of its remaining resources.3
When the Duchess of Chartres and the Princess of Lamballe arrived from France at Rotterdam they, dressed informally and without waiting for their attendants, asked to be taken to the Inn. In the smoking-room some Dutchmen took them for the actresses that were expected in town. They put away their pipes in deference to their sex, but one asked them what roles they played in the troupe. We sometimes play the leading roles, replied the Duchess. The princesses visited, among other places, Gouda, where they watched the making of pipes and brought back a boxful in all shapes and sizes, from Brobdignag to Lilliput. At Utrecht, van Mollem, attired in his sumptuous dressing gown made of chite
4 in order to show them his famous silk factory, was, for the princesses, the porcelain man.
I have just been offered the following verse to be placed at the bottom of Mr. Franklin's portrait:
Eripuit calo fulmen, sceptrumque tyrannise.5
I find the line to be both admirable and sublime, preferable to any that I have seen and the only line worthy of its intended location. I am, with all the reverence and respect imaginable, gentlemen, your very humble and very obedient servant
[signed] C. Dumas
1. That is, the Commissioners' letter of 28 April to Pieter van Bleiswyck (above).
2. The enclosure, dated 26 May at Berlin, described the preparations and readiness for war of the Prussian and Austrian armies. In the writer's opinion, any chance for peace had vanished. The enclosure (MH-H: Lee Papers) became separated from the present letter, probably as it passed among the Commissioners.
3. The “enemy” is presumably Great Britain, which, should war break out in Germany, would lose her reservoir of foreign troops.
4. That is, cloth imprinted by wood blocks in durable colors and imported from India (Emile Littré, ed., Dictionnaire de la langue française ..., 4 vols. and suppl., Paris, 1881–1884).
5. He snatched the lightning from heaven and the scepter from tyrants. Dumas' source for this famous and widely quoted inscription attributed to Turgot is unknown, nor can the portrait under which it was to appear be determined with any certainty, for it accompanies many representations of Franklin, even a “vase de nuit” given by Louis XVI to Comtesse Diane de Polignac in recognition of her ostentatious adoration of Franklin (Charles Coleman Sellers, Benjamin Franklin in Portraiture, New Haven, 1962, p. 108). For an interesting essay on Turgot and the attribution of this quotation to him, see “Benjamin Franklin and John Slidell at Paris,” in Works of Charles Sumner, 15 vols., Boston, 1870–1883, 8:1–38.
To John Bondfield
Docno: PJA06d144
Recipient: Bondfield, John
Date: 1778-06-03
This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the paragraph beginning "Printed."
[dateline] Passy, 3 June 1778.
printed:
JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 4:126. Adams acknowledged Bondfield's letter of 26 May (not found), enclosing an account for expenses of JA's party in Bordeaux and the trip to Paris, and approved one for goods shipped to AA.
printed:
JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 4:126
.
The Commissioners to John Paul Jones
Docno: PJA06d145
Recipient: Jones, John Paul
Date: 1778-06-03
This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the paragraph beginning "Printed."
[dateline] Passy, 3 June 1778.
printed:
JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 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 to America, there to be tried by a court martial. The Commissioners also requested that Andrew Fallon, taken prisoner when Jones captured and then scuttled the brigantine Dolphin on 14 April, be permitted to give his parole.
Fallon, bound to Esher, Holland, “to embrace a religious life,” gave his parole on 11 June (
Cal. Franklin Papers, A.P.S.
, 4:263,490; Morison, John Paul Jones
, p. 135).
printed:
JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 4:123–124
.
The Commissioners to Sartine
Docno: PJA06d146
Recipient: Sartine, Antoine Raymond Jean Gualbert Gabriel de
Date: 1778-06-03
This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the paragraph beginning "Printed."
[dateline] Passy, 3 June 1778.
printed:
JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 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 action. They also requested that the prizes put in the hands of the commandant at Brest by John Paul Jones be turned over to J. D. Schweighauser because of the heavy charges to be paid on their sale owing to their having been placed improperly in the commandant's charge. Finally, if it was not thought improper,, the Commissioners wished to issue a letter of marque to a vessel outfitted at Dunkirk.
printed:
JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 4:125–126
.
The Commissioners to Thomas Simpson
Docno: PJA06d147
Recipient: Simpson, Thomas
Date: 1778-06-03
This is a summary of a document and does not contain a transcription. If it is available elsewhere in this digital edition, a page number link will be provided below in the paragraph beginning "Printed."
[dateline] Passy, 3 June 1778.
printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 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
, 4:124
.
Cite web page as: Founding Families: Digital Editions of the Papers of the Winthrops and the Adamses, ed.C. James Taylor. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 2007.
http://www.masshist.org/ff/
http://www.masshist.org/ff/