From Thomas Welsh to John Adams, 31 March 1794
From Thomas Welsh
Boston March 31st. 1794.
Dear Sir.
Your Favor of the 20th. I have received. and the same Evening of the 29th.1 The Resolution of Congress laying an Embargo reached this Town. they meet almost universall Approbation. and should it be thought best to continue it for a longer Time it will be strictly complyed with.2
Peace is the prevaling and general Object of the People of all Ranks and which they hope their Rulers will be able to continue to them and will therefore chearfully acquiesce in any Measures which the Government may think proper to adopt for this Purpose.
The Merchants who have suffered either by the Detention &c. of the French and the Condemnations of the English promise themselves Compensation on the Part of the French and payment on that of the English; with respect to the first they build their hopes upon the Promises of the Members of the Convention that they shall not be loosers by the Embargo. As to their Losses by the British they seem to place Dependance on their property or rather the property of British Merchants in the hands of the Merchants of this Country and upon their Stocks in the Funds for remuneration. with Respect to the Legitimacy of such Expectations I pretend to make no remark but only content myself with the mere relation of them and to observe that at present these Considerations serve a temporary purpose of restraining their Resentments within bounds but ’tho’ the Wishes and hopes of the Great Mass of the People both in and out of Trade are for Peace yet they do not wholly rely on its continuence. The Encreasing demand for our shipping before the Captures Detention and Injuries took place stimulated the Merchants to set up new Vessells but these have since things have taken this turn been directed to be constructed in a Manner proper for Vessells of force. and I believe some are now building with this Intention.
This Day Weeks will be the first Monday in April when I expect their will be great Exertions made by the Friends of the different Candidates Mr Cushing is put up as a Candidate against Mr Adams. and I believe will have as many Votes as Mr Adams. your old Friend Sullivan says he expects to have all the Votes in the lower Counties and in Berkshire and Hampshire
This State has been districted anew for the Choice of Senators during the last Session of the General Court by this Means Boston Hingham Hull and Chelsea are to choose four Senators. There will be every exertion made to get Honestus out. to effect this Object the Candidates set up by the fœderalists will be.
| Thomas Russell |
| Thomas Dawes |
| Oliver Wendell |
and for the Country Theophilus Cushing (of Hingham)3
If after this Exertion Austin can keep his Seat at the Senate I shall despair of his ever being removed.4
I am Sr with great respect your Friend and Humble / st
Thomas Welsh
RC (Adams Papers); endorsed: “Dr Welsh 31. March / ansd 7 April.”
1. Not found.
2. As Welsh indicated, a growing storm of British depredations on U.S. vessels led Congress to impose the 26 March embargo of British trade. Orders in Council, issued on 6 Nov. 1793 and 8 Jan. 1794, supported the seizure of neutral vessels bound for France but exempted those traveling to the West Indies. The British Navy captured several American ships near the West Indies, and sailors experienced poor treatment in the admiralty courts. In the eyes of JA and others, this was a direct provocation to U.S. neutrality and it contravened the “free ships make free goods” doctrine that pinned together increasingly strained Anglo-American relations. Congress went back and forth over the president’s authorization of the embargo and its time limits, fixing it at thirty days. JA worried that the embargo, while necessary, tilted the United States toward immersion in a new war. To AA he wrote: “I have one comfort; that in thought, word, or deed I have never encouraged a war. I will persevere in doing all in my power to prevent it. If it is forced on us by England, or even if it is brought on us by our own imprudence, I must stand or fall with my country” (, 10:125; , 1:469).
3. Closing parenthesis has been editorially supplied.
4. Massachusetts citizens cast their votes for governor on 7 April, and the General Court read the formal count on 29 May. The Adamses’ favored candidate, U.S. Supreme Court justice William Cushing, lost to Samuel Adams. No clear majority emerged in the lieutenant governor’s race, so the house turned to consider the next three top vote-getters—Elbridge Gerry, Moses Gill, and Nathaniel Gorham—and eventually selected Gill, who served in the post until 1799. JA was not as surprised as his fellow New Englanders that party support was on the wane. JQA kept his father closely informed of local politics throughout the election season, observing: “Our federalists droop the head and think all is lost.— They know not so much of the human heart, or of the American character as you do” (, 10:133, 137, 140, 141, 149).