John Quincy Adams Digital Diary

24. VI: Finished the draft of a Letter to A. Gallatin, and took it to the President with whom I left it. He returned me that I had left with him yesterday, intended for Mr Rush, without remark, or proposal of alteration, which was unusual; but he told me with some apparent agitation, that a person had 447been to him last Evening, and told him that Mr Bagot was going to have a Christening at his house of his daughter. That the Prince Regent was to stand Sponsor, and I was to stand as the Representative of the Prince Regent; and asked me what there was in it. I said it was true Mr Bagot was going to have his child Christened, next Friday Evening— That he had called yesterday at my house, and given to Mrs Adams an invitation to herself and me to attend, at the Christening, which was to be at seven O’Clock, and after it, at eight, was to commence a Ball to which all the world was invited— That the Prince Regent was to be Sponsor for the child; but I was not to be the Representative of the Prince Regent— No such idea, to my knowledge had ever been thought of by Mr Bagot— He had certainly mentioned none such to Mrs Adams. He had told her that the Prince Regents Representative would be Mr Greuhm, the Prussian Minister, his Sovereign being a family relation of the Royal family of England— Mrs Adams had told Mr Bagot, that owing to a calamity which had befallen in our own family, we did not yet go at all abroad into Company; but Mr Bagot having answered that this was a religious solemnity, upon which he had hoped we should make an exception, Mrs Adams had told him we would come to the Christening, and immediately afterwards withdraw before the Ball begins— I should have given the same answer; but as I had in fact given none, I could yet if he thought it advisable to decline— My only scruple about it was, that Mr and Mrs Bagot having given the invitation, might feel hurt if it should be declined— He said no—he thought there would be no necessity for that— But as the account of the Christening would doubtless be published, it would be well to have it stated that we retired immediately after the Ceremony—and he asked me, if the other Heads of Departments were invited. I told him, I did not know; but I believed not to the Christening—They doubtless were to the Ball— And I supposed Mr Bagot’s motive for asking us, was the special relation between him as a foreign Minister and the Department to which I belong— The President said that the Story of my being to represent the Prince Regent, was told him last Evening by a person friendly to me; that he did not believe it; and had said so; but that it would injure me very much; and if he should hear of it again he would contradict it, as he wished me also to do— He could not conceive what motive there could be for persons to make up such Stories— I told him I certainly had not expected that a political use was to be made of an invitation from Mr and Mrs Bagot to my wife and me; to be present at the Christening of their child—but the motive did not lie very deep— There had been a Spirit at work ever since I came to Washington, very anxious to find or make occasion of censure upon me— That Spirit, I could not lay— My only resource was to pursue my own course according to my own sense of right; and abide by the consequences— To which the President fully assented. At the Office, Mr Lacock, member of the Senate from the State of Pennsylvania, came to enquire; why a copy of the Documents which were to have accompanied the President’s Message to Congress, had not been sent to the Senate as well as one to the House of Representatives. He said some of the Senators were dissatisfied, and that there was talk of offering a Resolution for a call upon the President, to know why the papers had not been transmitted. Mr Gaillard, the President he said had been particularly displeased, and had said it was not the first time the Senate had been treated in this manner— I told him it was owing to the very late day at which the Commissioners to South-America had delivered in their Reports— So that it had been impossible to make out two Copies of them, in time— Mr Bland’s Report had been sent in only on the day that Congress met, and consisted of more than three hundred pages, besides voluminous documents— One Copy of Mr Rodney’s and Mr Graham’s Reports had been only ready, and the President had insisted upon sending it in to the House of Representatives— Mr Lacock said he would endeavour to explain the matter to the Senators, but that it would be best in future to send in the two copies at once, even if there should be some delay occasioned by it— He also enquired of me, if Mr Bache, the Editor of the Franklin Gazette in Philadelphia, had 448not endeavoured to obtain the printing of the Laws, instead of Binns, Editor of the Democratic Press. I said he had not, though when the Franklin Gazette first commenced last year, he had applied for the printing of the Laws. But that no change of the Printers would take place without particular Reason, and none in Pennsylvania, without giving previous notice to him— Mr Bagot came and I had a conversation of two hours with him— He had an Instruction from Lord Castlereagh, to make enquiries concerning the crime of Forgery in this Country— He supposed it a circular; but did not exactly understand what it meant; whether referring to the Laws for its punishment; or to the fact of its frequency and extent; and of expedients used to prevent it— I told him I thought he would be safe in considering the Instruction as applicable to all those circumstances, and in reporting information upon them all— I read to him the Laws of the United States relating to forgery; and referred him to the British Consuls, to obtain from them the Laws of the several States on the same Subject. I referred him also to Jacob Perkins at Philadelphia, for his patent invention of Steel plates for engraving Bills, which cannot be counterfeited, and to the Newspapers of last Spring, for accounts of the detection of a Gang of Bank-Bill forgers in Canada, on the borders of the United States— He thanked me, and said I had entirely relieved him from his embarrassment by pointing him to sources by which he would be enabled to give a satisfactory answer to the despatch— He then spoke upon several subjects concerning which he has lately written to me— The money, embezzled by Rudd, Clerk of the New-York District Court— The Extra-Pilotage, levied upon a King’s Ship there— The Bonds said to have been unnecessarily required of a British Vessel bound to Liverpool; and finally asked if there was any further information that I had to communicate in relation to the Execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister. With regard to the other points I promised early attention to them; and as to the last told him, that a full exposition of the Causes and origin of the War in Florida, would be given in a despatch to our Minister in Spain, together with all the vouchers supporting the Statement of facts— That the War would be traced to Nicholls and his Negro-Fort— And that Arbuthnot will be shewn to have been the cause of the renewal of the War. He said he had thought Arbuthnot had been merely a meddling trader. Ambrister indeed evidently had political objects in view— But he thought there was no evidence of any connection between Arbuthnot and Woodbine— I immediately referred him to documents which proved that there was. He read me the Instruction which he had first received from Lord Castlereagh upon the subject, and in which he appears to be embarrassed and distressed about it— He was anxious to persuade me that the British Government had given no countenance or encouragement to the Indians, and declared that he never had any Instructions whatever to attend at all to the Affairs of the Indians— I said that I was convinced, Arbuthnot had been an impostor, and falsely pretended to authority; but he had explicitly referred to Governor Cameron, as having given him the copy of a Letter from Earl Bathurst, to be communicated to the Indians, stating that he Bagot was instructed to attend to the affairs and rights of the Indians— He said Cameron ought to explain that to him— He did not know how to account for it; unless Cameron had turned South-American Patriot, and was in concert with M’Gregor— I said that our object in what would be published would be merely to justify ourselves— We did not wish to enter into discussion with the British Government upon any of the facts that would be disclosed, but if the British Government should find any thing in the publication which they should judge required denial or explanation to vindicate their own good faith, we should be happy to receive it. To be candid with him, I did think that if his Government had been as explicit in the disapprobation of Nicholls to himself as they had been to me, I believed we never should have had this War. He said the Government had been very explicit with Nicholls— He had himself copies of the papers that had passed between him and Earl Bathurst— His Treaty was disapproved. He was told that he had made it without authority, and that Hidlis Hedjo must be sent back and told that his People must make the best terms with the United States that they could— That the only presents made him were a pair of silver-mounted pistols, twelve spades, as many hoes, and some other instruments of agriculture— That it was not true that he had received a Commission as a British Officer— I mentioned his complaint in one of the papers that he had lost his uniform— Mr Bagot had not seen that; but said the uniform said to have been found at the house of one of the Chiefs must have been Ambrister’s— I said that among the papers to be published would be one of 449General Jackson’s, charging with some severity his Government. We should have been glad to avoid the publication of it, but as Jackson’s own conduct had been much brought in question, it was thought due in Justice to him to suppress nothing that he had alledged in his own vindication— He said he should think little of any thing said or written by Genl. Jackson, because he thought there were evident marks in his conduct of personal bitterness and inveteracy— I said that I thought the papers which he had before him would have produced the same impressions upon the most impartial person— And that I thought the execution of the two men, was justifiable according to the ordinary laws of War— He said he wished Jackson had sent them bound hand and foot to be punished here— I told him we could not in that case even have tried, and much less have punished them— We must immediately have let them loose, and the next day they might have played over the same game again— It was past five when Mr Bagot left me: as he went, he spoke of his Christening— I asked him to excuse us from attendance, as we went out no-where, and should not even attend the Drawing Room at the President’s to-morrow Evening. He consented, saying that he had appointed the Christening for seven O’Clock, and the Ball to begin at eight—but perhaps, they might run one into the other— Mr Way came, and as I was returning home, I looked with him over his house in which Mr Cutts lives, and which he offers for Sale— Mr and Mrs W. S. Smith dined with us, and Mr and Mrs Frye spent the Evening here— Also Mr Christiani, and Miss Bridon—a musical party.