John Quincy Adams Digital Diary

8. V: Mr Frederic Greuhm arrived last Night with a Commission of Minster Resident and Consul General from the king of Prussia, and called upon me this Morning. Precisely at the same time came General Charles Lallemand whom W. Lee had yesterday asked to introduced to me; but which I had declined. He came this morning of his own accord; introduced himself, and asked to see me again to-morrow Morning to which I consented. I told Mr Greuhm that I would inform the President of his arrival, and take his orders for the time when he would give him an Audience to receive his credentials— I mentioned also to him two things which I requested him to make known to his Government, and which I had preferred speaking of to him informally, rather than to notice them by official Notes. His Credential Letter was addressed to the Congress of the United States. By our Constitution foreign Ministers were received by the President, and all Credential Letters from foreign Sovereigns should be addressed to him— He said this had occurred to himself, and he had made the remark when his Credential Letter was made out; but they told him they had only one record of a similar Letter from the King to this Government, and that was upon the occasion of my taking leave. They supposed that had been drawn up according to advice from me, and that was addressed to the Congress— I told him I remembered it well, but it had not been drawn up by my advice— I had received it as drawn up and delivered to me, without objection, because I was unwilling to make a difficulty at parting, and did not suppose it would operate as a precedent afterwards— He said he had no doubt his Government would readily conform to the regular mode of address when they should be acquainted with it. The other circumstance which I noticed was the union in his Commission of the characters of Consul General and of Minister Resident— A union so unusual in Europe that I had never known an example of it. There was this inconvenience in it, that as the Minister would be entitled to the privileges and immunities of the diplomatic character, and as the Consul General might be a merchant actually engaged in trade, there might arise very disagreeable questions of conflict between the claim of privilege and the rights of the tribunals of the Country; it was therefore the wish of the President that the Prussian Government should understand, that while we recognize in their full extent the privileges of public ministers we do not acknowledge them as in any manner belonging to Consuls— Mr Greuhm admitted the force of those observations; but said he thought there were examples of the union of the characters in Europe, though he did not personally know of any. He supposed however that his Commission had been adopted from the example of the Danish Minister and Consul Mr Pedersen— I had precisely suspected this to be the case— Greuhm added that there was a Mr Weiss coming with an appointment from the Austrian Government, writing the same characters— I told him that if he should 272come, the same observations would be made to him— I called on my way to the Office at the President’s, and was there until 2 O’Clock. Mr Strong called upon me, and kept me there till between four and five renewing his charges against Mr Taylor, late Agent at Port au Prince. I dined at Mr Frye’s with my wife, she had been fishing all the morning at the river. Mr Frederic Frye was at his brother’s. I walked home after dinner. Mr Rush left the City this morning, and went to Annapolis, to embark with his family for England in the Franklin 74— Our German Servants Christine Neufer and Philip Scheiling arrived this Evening from Philadelphia.