A report of my appointment having also been carried to England by the cartels from Boston, and being spread in Europe by various other ways, by passengers in the Committee, by French passengers in the Sensible, of whom there were a great number who had heard of it in all companies in America, and by many private letters, and the English ministerial writers having made use of this as evidence of a drooping spirit in America in order to favor their loan of money, I thought it my best policy to communicate my appointment and powers to the French Court, and ask their advice, as our good allies, how to proceed in the present emergency. I accordingly wrote to his Excellency, the Count de Vergennes, the letter of the 12th of February, a copy of which is enclosed; and received his answer of the 15th, a copy of which is enclosed; to which I replied in a letter of the 19th, a copy of which is also enclosed. When I shall receive his Excellency's answer, I shall do myself the honor to enclose that.
If there is anything in these letters of mine, which is not conformable to the views and sentiments of Congress, I wish to be instructed in it, or if Congress should not concur with his Excellency the Count, I shall obey their orders with the utmost punctuality and alacrity. I have ever understood, that Congress were first advised to the measure of appointing a Minister to negotiate peace, by the French Minister then at Philadelphia, in the name of the Count de Vergennes. However this may have been, it cannot be improper to have some one in Europe empowered to think and treat of peace, which some time or other must come.
Since my last, which was of yesterday's date, I have had opportunity to make more particular inquiries concerning the pretended treaty with Russia, and am informed, that the English Ministry did, not long since, make a formal application by their Ambassador to the Empress of Russia for a body of troops and a number of ships; but that the application was opposed with great spirit and ability in the Russian Council, particularly by the Minister for foreign affairs, and rejected in council with great unanimity, and that the harmony between Versailles and Petersburg remains as perfect as when I left France.
I have the honor to be, with very great respect, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
TO JOHN JAY, MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY AT MADRID.
Paris, February 22d, 1780.
Dear Sir,
I most sincerely congratulate you on your happy arrival in Europe, which must be the more agreeable to you, for the terrible voyages you have had. Every good American in Europe, I believe, suffered a great anxiety from the length of time that passed between the day when it was known, that the Confederacy sailed, and the time when the news arrived of your being in Cadiz. I, too, have had my hairbreadth escapes, and, after my arrival, a very tedious journey in the worst season of the year by land. Happy, however, shall we be, if all our hazards and fatigues should contribute to lay the foundation of a free and prosperous people.