Diary of Charles Francis Adams, volume 2
1829-02-05
Morning at the Office. Received a pleasant letter from John, asking my assistance in a plan of his respecting the French Claims. He wants to get business before them if a Board should be constituted as is expected shortly. I wrote a reply immediately and told him that I would do what I could.1 I was occupied in my Middlesex Canal paper nearly all day. After dinner, went to see Abby at Mrs. Frothingham’s and passed the afternoon there. I went also in the evening, in order to escort her to see Miss Carter who has just lost her brother,2 passing the evening with Mrs. Frothingham, myself.
Both of the letters are missing. American citizens had claims of more than $12,000,000 against the French government, dating from the Napoleonic wars. “They included cases of appropriations and condemnations of property in violation of the Convention of 1800, irregular condemnations or confiscations, retroactive condemnations, condemnations under the ‘retaliatory’ Berlin and Milan decrees, . . . and other arbitrary procedures.” For years the American government had vainly sought a settlement, but the newly elected President Jackson was pledged to take a more forceful line (Bemis, Diplomatic Hist. U.S.
, p. 287–288).
William P. Carter, Anne Carter’s brother, died “in a state of insanity” in Elizabeth City, N.J., on 23 January (Columbian Centinel, 7 Feb. 1829).