ing heard of the appointment of a Minister to this Court and of my arrival, they were desirous of seeing me. I desired Colonel Smith to inform them that I should be glad to see them, the next morning, Accordingly on the fourth, they came, and Mr. Calquhoun informed me of his errand, and said that he was very glad that Congress had appointed a Minister, because he hoped that the article of debts would now be accommodated to mutual satisfaction, without any application on their part, and he should be glad to return to Scotland without making any, provided he could be furnished with a reasonable account to give of himself to his constituents. I told him, I was obliged to him for having given me an opportunity to see him; that the merchants of Glasgow must be sensible, we were but just emerged from an impoverishing war, in which there had been a great interruption of agriculture and commerce, and a still greater destruction of property, which rendered it difficult for any debtor, and impossible for many, to discharge their debts forthwith; that, I was persuaded there was a general disposition to discharge the debts, as fast as it could be done, but that time and patience were as much for the interest of the creditors as the debtors; that if there had been any interposition of the governments in America, it had been, as I presumed, solely with a view of giving time to negotiate an explication of the article of the treaty, and to prevent the imprudence of hasty creditors from hurting themselves as well as the debtors, to no good end; that one principal object of my mission was to negotiate this affair with the Minister, and although I was not authorized by the debtors, and could not be empowered by Congress, to treat with the merchants of London and Glasgow, they might depend upon my devoting a full proportion of my time to this subject with the ministry, and should be always ready to hear any proposals, explanations, or arguments, even from individuals, and to transmit them to Congress, if they were such as merited attention; that it was thought very hard and unreasonable in America, that interest should be insisted on during the war, and that if the creditors could be brought to consent to relinquish it, and that a reasonable time should be allowed; I thought the whole might be arranged to mutual benefit and satisfaction; that creditors should consider that there was a great demand for clothing, stock, and utensils, to repair the waste of war, and to put estates into a condition to produce, and to set commerce in motion; that this, together with the zeal to pay as much of their debts as possible, had already raised the interest of money, even to an alarming height; that it must be better to allow the debtor time to turn himself, that he might pay all, rather than press him suddenly, so that he might not be able to pay more than a part, that if property were seized upon now, it might not produce half its value, whereas; left in the hands of the present possessor, it would enable him to employ it to such advantage as to pay his debts in time. Mr. Calquhoun made no particular reply to the subject of interest, but said the merchants of Glasgow were fully sensible of the circumstances I had mentioned, and were very willing to wait, and they were desirous of entering into some agreement that the debts should be paid in five years by instalments, one fifth in a year; but they were alarmed at the spirit of migration into the wilderness in America; they thought it wrong to be restrained from arresting the person or attaching property of a debtor whom they saw about to remove to Kentucky, and other places, where they could never be come at. I told him, that this was new to me, but that Kentucky, and all other new settlements, were under the laws and jurisdiction of some State, as I supposed, and, therefore, the debtor and his property would be within the reach of the creditor, as much as if he remained in the cities and old settlements, and, as those removals commonly advanced the fortunes of the emigrants, it might be rather a benefit to their creditors, by increasing the ability to pay. I subjoined that there were two things which fell very hard upon the debtors in the States of Virginia and New York, (for he had mentioned these particularly) one was, the great number of negroes which had been carried away. If these negroes had been restored according to the treaty, they would have been at work to earn money to pay their master's debts, but the carrying them off was a double loss to the owner, and the holding possession of the posts upon the frontiers, had kept out of our hands a valuable trade, which would have gone a great way to enable us to pay our debts. He said he thought it a very foolish thing to hold possession of the posts, &c. That he would venture to return to Scotland, and would take no more measures about applying to parliament, which he was sensible must excite a clamor, and he hoped the merchants of Glasgow would be contented to wait. He seemed to be well pleased with the conversation, and took his leave in good humor, so that I think it very lucky that so noisy a business as a petition to parliament, should be so easily diverted at this critical moment. But I am unfortunate in another respect, as my Lord Carmarthen is ill of a fever, so that I shall not, I fear, be able to commence conferences with him upon business so soon as hoped. No time shall be lost by me. With great and sincere esteem, &c. JOHN ADAMS. FROM JOHN JAY TO JOHN ADAMS. Office of Foreign Affairs, Dear Sir, I have had the honor to receive and communicate to Congress your letters of the 15th December, 1784, 13th and 24th April, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 13th 29th May, which enclosed your correspondence with Lord Carmarthen, 30th May, and 1st June. April 24. Congress are pleased to hear that you have completed the loan in Holland; but have not directed me to say any thing of opening a new one. I wish I could answer you that the exertions of the States to provide for the payment of the public debts were proportionate to the public exigencies; at present, they are not; but we flatter ourselves that our expectations on that head will yet be realized, and the different legislatures, at their ensuing sessions, will see the necessity of adopting more efficient measures than have hitherto been taken. I am entirely of opinion with you that the people of this country, should, by a punctilious observance of the treaty, enable you to insist with more propriety and energy on its being kept with equal good faith by Britain. The case of the refugees is a delicate subject, and my sentiments respecting it perfectly correspond with yours. The obliging terms in which you mentioned my appointment to this office, demand my warmest acknowledgments; be assured my endeavors shall not be wanting, so to conduct the business of this department as to confirm the opinion you entertain of my attention to it. There is reason to believe that the demand of Mr. Longchamps will not be persisted in. May 4th. I presume you will not receive a letter of recall from your legation to the Hague, until a successor shall be appointed. Governor Livingston was elected, but declined; and the answer of Governor Rutledge, who has since been appointed, is not yet arrived. Perhaps circumstances may admit of your making a trip to the Hague to take leave in form; if not, a letter mentioning, in general terms, the obstacles which detain you would probably be satisfactory to their high mightinesses. The calamities experienced and apprehended by France from the unseasonable weather of the late spring are severe, and must naturally have the tendency you remark. I am happy to inform you that this country enjoys a plentiful harvest. May 8th. If Britain should object to the powers of Congress to form treaties of commerce, it will probably be for the purpose of delay. There is no reason to suspect that the different States even wish to send Ministers to foreign powers in any other way than the one directed by the confederation. Nor is it more probable that Congress will refer their proper business to the |