Lot 223
Adams, John (1735-1826) 2nd President of the United States; Signer of the Declaration of Independence; American Minister to Great Britain and the Netherlands. ALS as Minister to Great Britain, 1p, 10"x7¾", Grosvenor Square [London], 1787 Sept. 5. Fine; some uneven toning; minor damp stain at top edge, affecting nothing, and a few edge splits at lower margin. Boldly penned and signed; housed in a one-quarter-calf case with gilt lettering. To Charles William Frederick Dumas, agent for the United States at The Hague, who assisted U.S. diplomat William Short, Minister to France Thomas Jefferson's Private Secretary of Legation, in the ceremonies surrounding the execution and final settlement of a commercial treaty between Prussia and the U.S. which outlawed privateering and endorsed the principle of free ships-free goods. Adams had negotiated the treaty as Minister to the Netherlands in 1784, but was called to his post as Minister to Great Britain before the treaty could be completed and signed. Dumas' duty was to receive the duplicates of the treaty in Paris, where they were signed by Benjamin Franklin on July 9 and by Thomas Jefferson on July 28, and to carry them to London, where they were signed by John Adams on August 5, and, finally, to the Hague, where they were signed by Prussian Minister Baron Thulemeyer on September 10. Jefferson had agreed to bear Short's expenses - a guinea a day, excepting Sundays, but the legality of Dumas' salary remained in question. For Dumas to be paid, an order had to be issued by the Treasury and money had to be allocated to pay him. In this letter, Adams pens his apology for the long delay in payment and authorizes an immediate payment to Dumas.
In full: "Dear Sir I am very much concerned that an absence in the Country should have so long delayed my answer to your Letter of the tenth of July. There is no Act of Congress which authorises me expressly, to order the Payment of your Salary: But the Representation in your Letter supported by the Extract from that of Mr. [Thomas] Jefferson to you of the 14. of June last, show such an absolute necessity of it that I have inclosed to you a Letter to Messrs Willniks and Van Haphorst, authorising them to pay your Salary once in Six Months, till further orders from Congress, the Board of Treasury or Sir, your most obedient, and most humble Servant John Adams."
Estimated Value $10,000 - 15,000.
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| Realized $10,800 |
