Papers of John Adams, volume 21
In one of your Letters you once expressed a Wish to know
some Circumstances of the Negotiation of Peace, which might serve to shew
whether Mr Jay brought me over to his opinion
that We ought not to treat with Mr Oswald,
without a Commission to treat with The United states, or whether I brought
him over to mine. The inclosed Copies of Letters to Congress, to Vergennes
and to Mr Jay himself will throw some light upon
that Question.1
Ld Bacon once Said that a Man and his office were never
better united than Ld Coke, and the office of C. J. in a certain Cause.2 I say too that a Man and his
office were never better matched, than Mr Jay
and the Commission for Peace. No Man did or could behave 362 better but he had not the honour if
it could be any to bring me over to that Opinion, which I had strenuously
contended for while I was alone in the Commission, and before he was united
with me in it.
The Passage inclosed in Crochetts in the Letter to
Livingston, must be kept a secret. it was not sent.— upon Reflection I
thought I ought not to resign—and that although I had Information that
convinced me, that Mr Alexander, an Intimate of
Dr Franklin had told in England, that a
Commission acknowledging our Independence would not be insisted on, I had
not proof that I could produce of the fact, without doing Mischief and there
might possibly be some misrepresentation. You will in it the Anxiety and
Agitation of my mind at that time, on that subject.
I wrote in August 1782 and thereabouts to many other
Persons upon the same subject, who I thought might have some Influence on My
Colleagues to animate them to Stand out—3 But it is too much to trouble you
with these, on a Point at present of so little Importance. Be so good as to
acknowledge the Rect, of this Letter as soon as
convenient, and keep the Passage in Crotchetts secret.
I am with much Affection and / great Esteem
RC (NjP:Andre De Coppet Coll.); internal address: “John Trumbull Esqr”; endorsed: “Jany 24 1795.”
Five years earlier, JA and Trumbull had exchanged letters analyzing the negotiation of the definitive Anglo-American peace treaty. Here, JA enclosed a copy of his 31 Oct. 1782 Dft of a letter to Robert R. Livingston, no longer extant, threatening resignation unless the American commissioners pursued a separate peace with Great Britain (vols. 14:2–6; 20:300–301, 331).
This was Francis Bacon’s assessment of jurist Edward
Coke (1552–1634), who served as lord chief justice of England (
DNB
).
JA echoed his long-held belief that negotiations for the Anglo-American peace should not begin until U.S. independence was recognized. John Jay agreed, and he wrote to JA on 1 Sept. 1782 explaining that he had communicated that information to the British commissioners. For JA’s further efforts to broadcast news of a forthcoming Anglo-American peace treaty throughout the summer of 1782 and link it to American independence, see, especially, his Memorial to the Sovereigns of Europe (vol. 13:160–164, 236, 238–239, 412–413).