To John Adams from Thomas Jefferson, 30 May 1786

From Thomas Jefferson

Paris May 30. 1786.

Dear Sir

In my letter of the 11th. instant I had the honour of inclosing you copies of letters relative to the Barbary affairs. others came to hand three days ago, of some of which I now send you copies, & of the others the originals. by these you will perceive that mr̃ Randall and mr̃ Lamb were at Madrid, that the latter means to return to Alicant & send on a courier to us. mr̃ Randall does not repeat that he shall come himself. when either he or the courier arrives we shall have information to decide on. but these papers have strengthened my idea of desiring them to repair to Congress. I am anxious to know your sentiments on this. these papers came in time for me to send copies to mr̃ Jay by the packet which will sail from l’Orient the day after tomorrow.1

The inclosed paper from the Academy of chirurgery was put into my hands to be forwarded to you.2

I have the honor to be with sentiments of the most perfect esteem & respect Dear Sir / Your most obedient / & most humble sevt

Th: Jefferson

P.S. I shall be much obliged to Colo. Smith for a copy of the treaty with Portugal as soon as it is signed. I am of opinion we had better send Luzac a copy as soon as it is signed. what think you?

RC (Adams Papers description begins Manuscripts and other materials, 1639–1889, in the Adams Manuscript Trust collection given to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1956 and enlarged by a few additions of family papers since then. Citations in the present edition are simply by date of the original document if the original is in the main chronological series of the Papers and therefore readily found in the microfilm edition of the Adams Papers (APM). description ends ); internal address: “Mr. Adams.”; endorsed: “Mr Jefferson May 30 / ansd June 6. 1796”; docketed by JQA: “T. Jefferson. 30. May 1786. / 6. June Ansd:”

1. The enclosures, which Jefferson sent to John Jay with his second letter of 27 May, are Paul R. Randall’s 14 May letter to the commissioners, above; letters to Jefferson from William Carmichael of 16 and 18 May, and from Randall of 18 May; and a 20 April letter from the Conde d’Expilly to Carmichael enclosed in Carmichael’s 16 May letter (Jefferson, Papers description begins The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, and others, Princeton, N.J., 1950– . description ends , 9:538–540, 546–548, 590). Note that Jefferson included the enclosures that he had received with the 14 and 16 May letters from Randall and Carmichael. JA enclosed the documents received with this letter and that of 11 May in his 6 June letter to Jay, below.

2. This was presumably an extract from the registers of the Académie royale de chirurgie at Paris that JA enclosed with his 26 June letter to Edward Augustus Holyoke, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, below.

Index Entries

You Are Looking At

Source Project: Adams Papers
Title: To John Adams from Thomas Jefferson, 30 May 1786
Author: Jefferson, Thomas
Recipient: Adams, John
Date: 30 May 1786

Reference

Cite as: “To John Adams from Thomas Jefferson, 30 May 1786,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-18-02-0170. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 18, December 1785–January 1787, ed. Gregg L. Lint, Sara Martin, C. James Taylor, Sara Georgini, Hobson Woodward, Sara B. Sikes, Amanda M. Norton. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016, pp. 324–325.]

More between these correspondents