John Quincy Adams Digital Diary

21. V:15. Mr W. W. Seaton one of the Printers of Congress came to speak about the printing of the returns of the Census— The Law requires that 1500 copies of the Census should be printed by them. Seaton thinks the intention of Congress was that the returns of manufactures should also be printed: but this is neither expressed in the Act of Congress, nor would it in any manner reward the expence of the printing— The returns of manufactures at the last Census were put into the hands of Tench Coxe of Pennsylvania who made a digest of them that was printed, and was useful— The same may be done with the present returns but I am not at present authorised to do it— Seaton told me they were also now ready to begin the printing of my Report upon Weights and Measures, and would send me the proof sheets to correct. I received a note from the President, informing me that he had determined to appoint General John Pegram, Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia, in the room of A. Moore who has had a stroke of Apoplexy and resigned— I directed a Commission to be made out immediately for Mr Pegram. Mr Canning and Mr Calhoun successively called at the Office. Mr. Canning’s purpose was to converse with me on the case of Wilcocke— From the papers sent me by Mr Canning it appears that Wilcocke was charged with having absconded from Montreal carrying with him bank-bills to a large amount, purloined from a commercial house in which he had been a Clerk, that he had escaped first into the State of New-York and thence into Vermont. He had been pursued into both States, and finally arrested upon a civil suit, at Burlington, by a process returnable to the County Court there— To serve this process the Jack Ketch who had come over from Montreal after Wilcocke, was made a special Constable, and having once arrested him, instead of returning the process to the Court whence it had issued he took Wilcocke on board a vessel upon Lake Champlain, and after carrying him first to Plattsburg, finally took him into Canada, and lodged him in prison at Montreal— There are affidavits of the Canadian Officer who arrested him and of the partner of the house who pursued him, that after he was taken he consented to go with them, being alarmed by information from them, that a woman with whom he had cohabited was under prosecution for 19his offence— I told Mr Canning that if these Affidavits were true, we could certainly not be solicitous to rescue such a character from merited punishment; but the testimony was ex parte, and the question was not upon the merits of the man, but upon the violation of our jurisdiction— His consent could not take away that error. Canning had nothing valid to reply to this, but after various other palliative suggestions he said Mr Baker, the Consul-General, had intimated to him, that there had been a tacit connivence by common consent, to such récaptionés, which was found necessary on both sides upon that border, and if there had been such an usage, he thought it would be advisable, rather to put an end to it, by giving notice on both sides prospectively, than by pressing upon a case which has already happened— As the writs upon which Wilcocke was taken at Burlington issued from the Office of Mr Griswold, now the District Attorney, I concluded upon writing to him, before taking any other step in the case.— I received from the French Minister, an informal Note, proposing to confine our Negotiation entirely to the shipping question, and to set aside all merely commercial concessions— He offers two points of agreement for the basis of a Convention. 1. That the discriminating duties on both sides shall be reduced, and 2. That the reduction shall be such as that both parties may share in the carriage of the trade on both sides— I passed the Evening at Chess with Johnson Hellen, playing over one of Philidor’s games.