John Quincy Adams Digital Diary

26. V:15. Finished the first draught of an advertisement to be prefixed to the publication of the Journals of the Convention of 1787. and the list of the members— On the way to the office I met Mr Wirt, the Attorney General, who made some enquiries, as to the state of our Negotiation with Spain— Paragraphs are creeping into the newspapers, hinting that the Government of the United States, were imposed upon in the Florida-Treaty; that after it was signed, it was discovered that eight Millions of Acres of Lands had been granted by the king of Spain, which were confirmed by the Treaty— That after the discovery I called upon Don Onis, for an explanation of such conduct; when the crafty Don answered that a bargain was a bargain—that all the grants were confirmed by the Treaty; and that the grantees did not let him into their Secrets— That this was the cause of despatching the special Messenger immediately after the bearer of the Treaty, and that the Government at Washington hope, the Treaty will not be ratified in Spain— This first appeared, about this day last week in the Boston Centinel, and is now circulating in the newspapers throughout the Continent— The real facts, of which this is a malignant distortion, have been known to so many persons, nearly three Months, that I have been surprized to see nothing about it in the newspapers before— Where it came from now, I cannot tell. I told Wirt the facts, as they are— I have little apprehension with regard to the ultimate result; and am not without hope it will eventually prove more advantageous to my Country, than if no such incident had occurred. But in the mean time, I expect it will prove extremely troublesome, and especially to me— I spoke to Wirt about the acquittal at Baltimore of the Pirate Daniels— His case went off upon a legal quibble— Wirt says it is because the Judges are two weak, though very good old men; who suffer themselves to be bullied and brow-beaten by Pinkney. I told him, that I thought it was Law-Logic—an artificial system of reasoning, exclusively used in Courts of Justice, but good for nothing any where else— This acquittal of Daniels is a notable sample of it— He was indicted under an act of Congress to preserve the neutral relations of the United States, of 3. March 1817. which act was on its face, limited to two years duration— By an act of 20. April 1818. it was with several others repealed, by a general Law substituted instead of them all—with a proviso that prosecutions might be commenced and carried on for offences committed against it, as if it had not been repealed— Now Pinckney’s quibble was that if it had not been repealed, it would have expired by its limitation— If it had expired, no prosecution could now have been commenced or continued now, for any offence committed under it— The Court admitted this as sound reasoning; considered it a plain case; and discharged Daniels— The source of all this pettifogging is that out of judicial Courts, the end of human reasoning is truth, or justice; but in them it is Law.— Ita lex scripta est, and there is no reply— Hence it is my firm belief that if instead of the long robes of Judges, and the long speeches of lawyers, the suitors of every question debated in the Courts between individuals, were led blindfold up to a Lottery Wheel, and there bidden to draw, each of them one of two tickets, one marked RIGHT and the other WRONG, and Execution should issue according to the sentence of the wheel, more substantial Justice would be done, than is now dispensed by Courts of Law. In criminal cases, by the humanity of the Law, which is indeed its best and most amiable feature, the chances in favour of the culprit are multiplied, and when the subtlety and the Passions of the judges combine in their favour, no criminal can be brought to Justice and punishment— At the office, I had a visit from Mr Poletica, who told me that he was about writing to his Government, and should be glad to give any information that I should be willing to com-117communicate respecting our Treaty with Spain— He said that his Instructions were to promote to the utmost of his power a friendly arrangement of the differences which subsisted between this Country and Spain; and from the general acquaintance that he had with the substance of the Treaty, he considered it as satisfactory and advantageous to both Countries— But he understood there had been some question concerning certain grants of Land in Florida by the king of Spain; upon which there had been an explanation given subsequently to the signature of the Treaty— I told him the circumstances relating to the eighth Article of the Treaty as they have occurred; and observed that the Treaty was highly advantageous to both parties, and I trusted would prove satisfactory to both. That one of the views in which I considered it most important was its tendency to confirm the tranquility of all Europe; as it was impossible things should remain, in the state in which they were between the United States; and Spain— The Treaty or a Rupture, were the only alternatives. If a rupture had ensued, England could not have been long neutral, and England would have drawn all Europe, pro or con into the quarrel. He said that was exactly his own impression— He then said that he should wait until the President’s return, to present his Credential Letter— I told him that if in the meantime he had any business to transact, I should be happy to attend to it, as if he was already accredited. He said he would furnish a list of the persons attached to his Legation; and asked if there would be any objection to his inserting in it the names of Mr Ivanof the Russian Consul at and of Eustaphieff the Consul at Boston. As the British Government had allowed the insertion of the name of the Russian Consul General at London, Dubachefsky— I told him that in the absence of the President, I could not answer him positively; but as I apprehended we could not by law, extend the diplomatic privileges to Consuls, I thought it most candid to tell him so now. He said that since the affair of Kosloff, the Russian Consuls had in fact been attached to the Department of foreign Affairs, and wore the same uniform that he did— That by this insertion of their names, on the list of his Legation, he should make himself responsible for their conduct; which he could safely do, for Mr Ivanof—though as to Mr Eustaphieff, he was an author— I told him that besides the inconvenience of allowing a precedent, which all the other foreign Consuls would immediately claim for themselves, there was a difficulty in our double jurisdictions; the exclusive authority of the General Government being confined to the District of Columbia. I promised however to submit the point to the consideration of the President after his return— I received a Letter from C. P. Van Ness the Commissioner under the 5th Article of the Treaty of Ghent, with nine or ten enclosures— He has quarreled with Hassler the Astronomer, just at the moment when the operations for the year are to commence, about his Salary, and now writes to ask me what he is to do? I had thus again at the Office, scarcely one hour to write this day. After dinner, I walked round the Capitol Hill. Mrs Adams, with Mrs W. S. Smith spent the Evening at their Sister Frye’s.