Papers of John Adams, volume 21
I wrote you a few Lines last Week—1 This Morning I was favored with
two Letters from your Son of the 14 & 20th.
of this Month—2 Parents are
gratified by hearing of or from their children— the former Letter was Dated
at The Hague—the latter at amsterdam— He had been recd. and acknowledged by the States General, and on the 14th had “a gracious audience of the
Stadtholder.”—3 In his
last Letter there is this Paragraph— “It is here said that on the Meeting of
338 Parliamt.
the King of Great Britain is to mention in the Speech from the Throne, the
Signature of a Convention for the Settlemt. of
The Differences with america. This Intelligence is extremely grateful to the
Merchants engaged in the american Commerce here, who are anxiously
sollicitous for the Event of your Negociation; and whose Curiosity is
proportionable to their anxiety”— Before your Son left us I submitted to his
Consideration the Draft of the Treaty, as it then stood—4
with real Esteem and Regard I am / Dear Sir / Your Friend
& Servt
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “His Excellency / John Adams
Esqr.—”
Of 21 Nov., above.
JQA wrote to Jay on 14 Nov. to recommend
Rodolph Vall-Travers, who carried JQA’s official
dispatches. He reported on the French Army’s continued success in the
Netherlands and added that the news of the Whiskey Rebellion was
damaging U.S. credit in Europe. No 20 Nov. letter has been found, but
JQA wrote next on 21 Nov., informing Jay that he had
found another method to send his dispatches and that Dutch merchants
favored the Jay Treaty’s terms (Jay, Selected
Papers
, 6:204–205, 240–241).
JQA presented his credentials to William V, Prince of Orange and Stadholder of the Netherlands, at The Hague on 14 Nov. (D/JQA/22, APM Reel 25). Writing to JA on 17 Nov., JQA reported that William V “enquired after you, mentioned the time of your arrival here and that of your acknowledgment and reception asked me if I was not here with you, and whether I did not study at Leyden” (Adams Papers).
When Parliament opened on 30 Dec., George III
announced his “great pleasure” at negotiating an Anglo-American treaty
intended to end “all grounds of jealousy and misunderstanding, and to
improve an intercourse beneficial to both countries.” He told Parliament
that once ratifications were exchanged, M.P.’s could determine how to
implement the new agreement. British newspapers reported closely on
those next steps, which stretched into Jan. 1796, but the European war
dominated public attention. JQA agreed with Jay that the
treaty was flawed but found it to be “preferable to a War” (London Courier, 31 Dec. 1794; London Whitehall Evening Post, 28–30 Jan. 1796;
London Oracle, 30 Jan.; Jay, Selected Papers
, 6:245;
D/JQA/22, 22 Oct. 1794, APM Reel 25).