John Quincy Adams Digital Diary

31. VI:30. My business runs into continual arrears, which I struggle in vain to redeem— Although I rose this morning with the dawn, I was able to write little before breakfast owing to the coldness of the weather, and left the Journal of yesterday, for hereafter. I went into London with Mrs Adams, who took Lucy with her— We paid visits to Mr and Mrs King, and Mr and Mrs Aspinwall, none of whom were at home. Mrs Adams had written to Mrs Hewlett on Monday, that if she was disengaged this day, she would go and dine with her; but not having received an answer, she did not go. We paid a visit however to Mrs and Miss Copley, whom we found at home. I enquired for the picture of my father which is still at the engraver’s; and mentioned the wish of my Mother to have a copy of the picture of my Sister which Mr Copley painted for Mrs Copley— She said we might have the original itself, which we saw there; but the draperies of it are not finished. The head is a fine picture, and an excellent likeness— I asked Mrs: Copley to fix a price upon it, and she said she would let me know what Mr Copley used to charge for pictures of that kind. I told her I should be glad to send my fathers Picture to America next Summer, and would have it taken either from the engraver’s where it now is, or from her house, as would be most agreeable to her. She preferred sending for it, and said it would probably want new varnishing. She complained of the engraver who had undertaken to engrave it, but had never finished the work, although Mr Copley had paid one third part of the expence of it— I paid likewise a visit to Mr John Delafield, who some time since left at the Office a card, with a letter of Introduction, from Mr William Payne of Boston, who married his Aunt— Mr Delafield received me— He is confined to the house by indisposition— He is a native of New-York, and married an English Lady here in London— She appears to be very amiable.— On leaving them I went to the Countess Dowager of Dunmore’s, according to appointment. Mrs Adams and Lucy left me at the Corner of Harley Street, to go and see Mrs Mills. Lady Dunmore is the widow of the Earl of Dunmore, the last Governor of Virginia before the American Revolution— Her daughter, Lady Virginia Murray was with her, and also another Lady— But the object of Lady Dunmore’s requesting to see me was to enquire how they must proceed to obtain from the State of Virginia a grant to this her daughter, who was born there, and to whom the whole Legislative Assembly had stood Godfathers— Washington had held her at the font, and the Assembly had then promised that they would make her fortune. Lady Virginia had a Letter all prepared, addressed to Mr Monroe, as Secretary of State, and Governor of Virginia; stating all the circumstances of her Birth; of the request of the Assembly of Virginia to stand as her Godfather’s; of the name of the Province, which they gave her, and of their promise to appropriate a sum, and put it out at interest to accumulate until it should amount to a hundred thousand Pounds Sterling, and then to make a present of it to her. And now, her father being dead, and having left all his Estate to her brothers, and nothing to her, she has no resource, but to claim the fulfilment of the promise by the Assembly of Virginia— This Letter she intended to send to her brother, now Governor of Turk’s Island, and get him to send it to Mr Monroe. But she afterwards asked me to forward it, which I willingly consented to do— But I told her that Mr Monroe, though Secretary of State of the United States, was not now Governor of Virginia— That it would be necessary to alter the letter to him, accordingly, and perhaps it would be necessary to send another Letter of the same kind to the present Governor of Virginia; together with a formal Declaration, signed by the Countess of Dunmore, to serve as a proof that the promise had been made. They enquired the name of the present Governor of Virginia which I could not immediately tell them; but said I thought I could ascertain, by recurring to my Papers at home, and would let them know— The old Lady, who must be at least seventy-five, and who is so deaf that she can hear only by an ear-trumpet, thought it would be best not to mention the particular sum, because it might be thought large, especially as the Country was not in such prosperous circumstances, nor so rich, as when the promise was made— But lady Virginia, thought it would be best to specify the sum, as it was promised, and I told them that naming the sum could do no harm, as it would not prevent the grant of a smaller one, if the 392Legislature of Virginia should be disposed to grant any thing. The Countess talked much of the politeness, which was shewn to her by the Virginians, at the time of the Commencement of the American Revolution, when Lord Dunmore was obliged to leave the Country. She also complained much of Lady Virginia’s being left totally destitute; and said she had nothing to expect from her brothers.— My next call was upon Mr Chester in South Audley Street. I asked him, if we were to attend to morrow, at the opening of the Session of Parliament. He said no—because the Speech would be delivered by Commission. The Prince Regent being still confined in consequence of his fit of the gout, at Brighton— In such cases there was no place reserved for the foreign Ministers, and no invitation sent to them to attend. He said the Queen was now in town, but not for the transaction of business— He thinks the Prince will not return to town in less than a fortnight or three weeks.— I mentioned to him, that I should present at the first levee, Mr Smith as the American Secretary of Legation, and probably General Scott. From thence I went to the Office in Craven Street; and immediately walked down to the Foreign-Office in Downing Street, and saw the Under Secretary of State, Mr Hamilton— I gave him the Commission of Mr James Luke as Consul of the United States at Belfast. He enquired if he was an American, or an Englishman— I told him I did not know; but I presumed a British Subject. He intimated that there might be some objection to approving such a person as Consul, although there was none to admitting British Subjects as Vice-Consuls or Consular Agents. I told him that it was the first time that I had heard any objection of this Nature suggested, and reminded him that there was already the example of Mr Fox, the Consul at Falmouth who was an Englishman— He said he thought it most probable that no objection would be made— I asked him, if Lord Castlereagh, had said any thing to him about papers that I had mentioned having received relative to the sale of American Slaves by British Officers. He said he had not— I mentioned the repeated offers, that I had made on the part of the Government of the United States, to drop the subject as between the two Governments, and the observation made to me last week by Lord Castlereagh that it might perhaps be well, for Mr Hamilton and me to go over the papers together— He said Lord Castlereagh had perhaps not then recollected, that the American business was not now, in his Hamilton’s division of the Department; but in that of Mr Cooke; though it had formerly been otherwise— But it would perhaps be best to put this matter in to the hands of Mr Goulburn— I said I only wished to do what would be most agreeable to this Government, and now spoke of the subject, only in consequence of what Lord Castlereagh had said to me. I mentioned Mr Smith’s wish to obtain admission to hear the debates in Parliament, and he gave me a Letter for him to Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt the Usher of the Black Rod. I then returned to the Office where I found Mrs Adams, who dined there— I wrote a short Letter to Mr Luke, and at seven O’Clock went and dined with the Duke Delachatre, the French Ambassador. He introduced me to his successor the Marquis d’Osmond. They have not been yet able to obtain their Audiences of the Prince Regent, owing to his illness and confinement at Brighton— The company at dinner were twenty-three— Six Ladies—among whom the Duke Delachâtre Sister in Law, and Madame Bourke; the Lady of the Danish Minister. He also was there, and Count St: Martin d’Aglie, the Sardinian, Baron Jacobi the Prussian, and the Chevalier de Freire the Portuguese Ministers. Ramadani the Turkish Chargé d’Affairs, and Curtoys the Spanish Secretary of Embassy were also there; and a number of Frenchmen, with whom I had no acquaintance— A Baron de Montalembert was the only one whose name I caught. He appeared to belong to the house— After dinner the Bavarian Minister, Mr Pfeffel, with his Secretary Count Jenison, and the Austrian Secretary of Embassy Mr Neumann came in. Mr Neumann spoke to me, about the ships of War at Venice and Trieste, which the Austrian Government have, and would like to sell to the United States— He said Prince Esterhazy had wished to speak with me, on this business; and promised to send to my Office, a list of the ships, and of their present Condition— The Chevalier de Freire, gave me many particulars of the conduct of his predecessor here, the Count de Funchal, who though recalled refused to give up his place, and actually kept the house of the Legation nearly a year, in defiance of the orders of his Government— He is now gone to Rome, upon a Mission— Freire says he received from Rio Janeyro a very severe reprimand for his conduct. He told me also, that the Commandeur de Sodré, whom I saw here last Summer, had run away with a young Lady from Paris, and had been arrested and was now in prison in Spain— I had also some Conversation with the Duke Delachâtre, who told me that he proposed not to return to France, until the Spring— It was near eleven O’Clock when I left the Duke’s, and went to Craven-Street. There I took up Mrs Adams, George and Lucy; we reached home about half-past twelve.