John Quincy Adams Digital Diary

30. IV: Wednesday. College and Capitol Ride.

Resumed the usual morning ride round by the College, across the Rockville Turnpike, by Mr S. H. Smith’s and through the Capitol Yard, about ten Miles— I sent for Mr Southard, and requested him to prepare Instructions to Captain Crane, Commander of our Squadron in the Mediterranean, having reference to the Circular from Count Nesselrode, and the Instructions to the Admiral of the Russian fleet in that Sea, communicated by Baron Krudener— Mr Clark the Treasurer, and Mr Rush were here together. Mr Clark was in some perplexity relating to the Office of Chief Clerk under him— It is ostensibly held by a man named Samuel Brook, who in process of Time has become perfectly superannuated and for more than a year past has never even attended at the Office— He is poor, and has no other means of subsistence than his Salary. The late Treasurer Dr Tucker, who had been for at last ten years before his death past the age of active service, unwilling to adopt the harsh measure of turning Brook adrift upon the world in the last Stage of life; authorised one of the inferior Clerks to perform the duties of Chief Clerk; deducting from Brooks Salary, the difference between that of Chief Clerk, which is    dollars and that of a copying Clerk, of 800 dollars, the last of which only was paid to Brook, and the remainder to Mr Dashiel 48who performed the duties of Chief Clerk— This was the State of things at the Death of Dr Tucker— Mr Clark entered upon the duties of Treasurer the first of this Month; and now at its close being called to sign the usual monthly requisition for paying the Salaries of the Officers in that division of the Department is very reluctant at giving this Sanction to the arrangement which Dr Tucker had allowed— He said he wanted a real and efficient Chief Clerk, in whom he could place unbounded personal confidence, and to whom he could in case of necessity entrust even his signature— He did not relish the responsibility of allowing part of the Salary, legally due to one man to be paid to another, nor that of paying a copying clerk’s Salary to one, who did no duty at-all. At the same time he was sensible of the harshness with which he would be chargeable, by dismissing Dashiel from the Chief Clerkship de facto, and Brook from the same office de jure, and from his substituted pensionary pittance— We had much conversation upon the subject— The appointment of the Clerks is by Law vested in the head of the Department, but Mr Rush told Mr Clark that in this case it should be entirely at his discretion— As the appropriations are all made for the residue of the year, I advised that the arrangement should be continued till its close— That Mr Dashiel and Mr Brook should be notified, that it must then cease— That the estimates of Appropriations for the next year should be made conformably to the new order, and that Mr Clark should then designate a Chief Clerk in whom he could place entire confidence— In all which he appeared to acquiesce. Baron Krudener came at one— He said it had unfortunately so happened that the despatch from his Government containing the Official Notification of the Russian Declaration of War against Turkey had not yet been received by him— That he greatly regretted this, inasmuch as he knew his Instructions had directed him, in communicating the Declaration, to give with it an exposition of the motives which had rendered it indispensably necessary— That these reasons had been communicated frankly to the principal Powers of Europe, and had been altogether satisfactory to France, Austria, Prussia and Great-Britain, the final answers of whom though variably modified were all indicative of approbation at the course pursued by the Emperor Nicholas— That he was exceedingly desirous of conciliating the good opinion of the Government of the United States, and he hoped that in answering the notification of the Declaration of War, they would freely express their Sentiments with regard to the course of the Emperor on this emergency. I answered that whenever he should be enabled to make the communication which he had referred to, it would be received with the most friendly interest, and answered with the utmost candour— That from the general and high confidence which we placed in the benevolence and justice of the Emperor, I was well assured we should find no departure from those attributes in the measures to which he had found himself under the necessity of resorting in his relations with the Porte; and that we should take pleasure in giving full expression to this Sentiment so far as it might be compatible with the neutral position to the war in which we should stand— I added that with regard to the circular of Count Nesselrode, and the instructions to the Russian Admiral in the Mediterranean, which had been communicated with his note to the Secretary of State, an immediate answer would be given to him from the Department in the absence of that Officer— I should also direct immediate Instructions to be given to the Commander of the Squadron of the United States in the Mediterranean, with the intention, and I hoped with the effect of preserving and of promoting the harmony and the best understanding between the two Countries— The Instructions to the Russian Admiral, in adopting the regulations of their Conventions of 1801 with Great-Britain, had in one respect deviated from the 49principles which had been more usually favoured in Russia, by authorising the capture of enemy’s property in neutral vessels, and I enquired if these Treaties of 1801. were still considered by Russia and Great-Britain, as binding between them— He said he could not tell— His Government had adopted the principles which had been agreed upon in those Treaties, for the basis of the Instructions to the Commander of their fleet; but it was not their intention to molest the trade of neutral Nations, and the measures of the Admiral would probably relax even from the tenour of those Instructions— He added that he was authorised to say that if the Government of the United States should be disposed to regulate by a Convention founded upon principles of reciprocity the subject of neutral principles navigation he would receive and transmit to his Government any proposal they might offer, and it would be considered with the most friendly disposition to accede to it— I said I hoped that the best understanding would be preserved by the Officers of the two Nations, and that on the return of the Secretary of State we should perhaps act upon the suggestion he had given and propose a convention, conformable to our views, and which might meet those of the Emperor. He asked if there had been as was intimated in the newspapers, any movements of the American Government towards the attainment of access to the navigation of the Black Sea— I said there had been heretofore some advances to that object made which had not succeeded— He said that after the close of the present War, that Navigation would be free to all Nations— He observed that he was desirous of making an excursion of some weeks during this vehemence of the Summer, and enquired if I could see any objection to his using this indulgence— I said, none—that I hoped his visits to various parts of our Country, would be gratifying to himself, and make him favourably acquainted with them— He took leave, saying that he should report to his Government that my reception of him had been exceedingly kind and friendly, and that he hoped he should soon be enabled to make the official communication relating to the Declaration of War— At two O’Clock I went with my Son John, his wife and Abigail S. Adams to the female Academy of the Nuns of the Visitation at Georgetown, and distributed the prizes that had been awarded to the young Ladies after an exhibition of a former day. There are upwards of a hundred girls at this School, and prizes were given to perhaps half of them— They consisted of books, work baskets, ornamented screens, gilt cards, with inscriptions, bearing the name of the girl to whom they were presented—and I crowned two of the young Ladies, the receivers of this first prize in the first and second Classes— The crowns were garlands of flowers; there are at the school three daughters of the some time Emperor of Mexico Yturbide, and they all received prizes—the eldest of them had the first crown, and in adjusting it to her head, the Sentiment of the vanity of human greatness impressed itself deeply upon my mind— In the intervals between the distribution of the prizes to the several classes there was music on the Piano, and singing by several of the Scholars— Four or five of the Nuns were present, presiding at the distribution of the prizes, and at the side of the Piano, in the sable weeds of the order was the young and beautiful daughter of Commodore Jones, who not long since took the veil— At the close of the ceremony I addressed a few words to the young Ladies, assuring them that I felt myself as much honoured, in distributing to them the rewards, as they had been in receiving them— There was however this difference between us, that on me the honour had been gratuitously conferred, but theirs was the reward of merit. 50These rewards they would long retain: some of them all their lives; they would afford them a source of pure and virtuous pleasure, as testimonials of the correctness with which they had performed their duties at this early stage of their lives. And now in taking leave of them, I had two things to say, and which I wished peculiarly to impress upon their minds The first was to ask a favour of them as a friend— The second, to give them a word of advice as a father. In future life they would often look with satisfaction at these prizes which they had now received, and my request was that whenever they enjoyed that pleasure they would give at the same time a thought of kindness to the hand from which they had received them. But the advice I had to give them was far more important, as it looked to their own future welfare— Their prizes were the reward of merit. And I wished every one of them to consider her own as a pledge and a promise of further and higher merit— This thought would stimulate them to constant virtuous exertions, and they had my fervent wishes that their lives might be but a long alternate succession of merits and rewards, until at the last, they should receive the reward of merit in Heaven— We then immediately retired and returned home. It was past six O’Clock— In the Evening George Watkins brought the book in which he has commenced the Record of the projected Negotiation with the Sultan—