The Navigation Act of Massachusetts having been found to militate with the French treaty of commerce, & to exclude our fish from the Levant by excluding the subjects of the Italian & other states coming with their vessels for it, when our own in attempting to carry it to them would be intercepted by the Algerines, it was judged expedient to repeal it in part: so that it now operates in full force, only against the subjects of Great Britain & their property. A copy of the repealing Act will be sent to you, & also of an Act passed by the Legislature of Rhode Island at their last session.

I have transmitted copies of our repealing Act to the Executives of the several States, & warmly urged a similitude of measures, without which the United States cannot hope to bring about an alteration in the commercial system of Britain.

That system, in my idea of it, is clearly opposed to her own interest considered in all its parts, & in a complex view of it. It is very true, their encouragement of their whale fishery, by suffering the alien duty on oil to depress ours, will encrease their shipping in this branch, encrease their seamen, & in several other ways be advantageous to them. To a person who looks no further, it would appear that this was good policy, & the goodness of it would be inferred from the advantages arising. But when he should extend his view, & see how that stoppage of the American whale fishery, by depriving the Americans of so capital a mean of paying for the woolen goods they used to take of Britain, must at the same time occasion the American demand to cease or be proportionately diminished, not to mention the risk of a change or deviation of the trade from the old channels, he will calculate the national profit & loss that arises from that stoppage.

3000 tons of oil was the usual annual quantity produced by the whalemen at Nantucket: all of which was

shipped to England at an average price of L 35 p. ton making about L. 105.000. St.

The whole of which went to pay for & purchase a like amount of woolens & other British goods, nine tenths of the value of which are computed to arise from the labor of the manufacturer, & to be so much clear gain to the nation: the other tenth therefore being deducted gives the national gain arising from the industry of the Nantucket whalemen, & the American capital employed in that business, viz. L 94,500

10,500.

94,500

without the nation's paying a shilling for the risk of insurance, or any other risk whatever.

On the change of trade, pursuant to the new regulations, the British merchants must employ a large capital in the whale fishery, whose products we will suppose, equal to that of the Nantucket. L 105.000. St

They will have made an exceeding good voyage if the whole of that sum should be equal to one half of the cost of the outfits; though from many of the vessels not meeting with fish, & from a variety of accidents, to which such a voyage is subject, it probably would not be a quarter. The whole of the product goes towards payment of the outfits & charges of the voyage, & a large sum must be advanced for the second voyage, &c.

Now altho' this mode of commerce would be produc tive of some national benefits, yet considered in a com parative view with the benefits resulting from the former mode they would be found of little importance.

A like comparison may be made with other branches of commerce; particularly the British West Indian, & the result will be found the same. For the sake then of gaining pence & farthings, Britain is sacrificing pounds

by her new regulations of trade. She has a right to see for her self but unhappily resentment & the consequent prejudices have so much disordered her powers of vision, that it requires the skilful hand of a good political optician to remove the obstructing films. If she will not permit the application of your couching instruments, or if applied they can work no effect, the old lady must be left to her fate & abandoned as incurable.

But it is to be hoped, not so much on her account as our own, that they may be successful. One ground of hope is the private negotiation which Mr. Nath'l Barrett is gone to France to perfect & execute, relative to their taking our whale oil duty free, & in lieu of it giving at an agreed rate, according to their quality, such French manufactures as are best suited to our market: excepting a certain proportion of the oil, which must be paid for by bills of exchange to raise money for the men engaged in the voyage. About two months ago, Mr. Barrett sailed for France, with letters for Mr. Jefferson & the Marquis de la Fayette, & if he succeeds a great revolution in trade will probably be the consequence ; & France, on the principle of reciprocal benefit, exclude Britain from all trade with America. This appears to me so probable, that if you could impress the British ministry with the same idea, you would find little difficulty to bring about a commercial treaty with them, perfectly agreeable to your own mind & to the wishes of the United States. An interchange of a few letters on this subject with Mr. Jefferson would give you the present state of the negotiation.

With the most perfect regard, I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your Excellency's most obed hble servt.

JAMES BOWDOIN.

WILLIAM GORDON TO JOHN TEMPLE.*

JAMAICA PLAIN, Feby 1, 1786.

DEAR SIR, Though late in congratulating you & your lady upon your safe arrival, yet I rejoiced when I heard of & was convinced of your appointment; & made immediate use of what our friend Mr Adams wrote concerning you, upon receiving it, that I might lay an anchor to the windward against the blasts of ill nature & prejudice; & therewith disputed against gainsayers in your behalf with a degree of success. Mr Adams wrote June the 26th, 85, "I presume Mr Bowdoin is your Governor, & that all things go on smoothly. Mr Temple is here & behaves in a manner very friendly to America. If he goes out, as he proposes to do in August, he will do no injury to America, but on the contrary I believe more service than we can expect from any other British Consul." The day I received the letter, I forwarded the extract to a Massachusetts delegate at Congress, who I believed was friendly to you; that he might therewith make favorable impressions, & I communicated it to numbers at Boston of the Council, Senate, & House & others, weeks before I let the Governor see it, that so it might not be said that the family put me upon it. My agent at New York has, I understand, agreeable to my wishes, sent you one of my proposals, & I hope for your patronage. I am now getting a little in readiness for removing with my family to Great Britain & expect to quit America by the latter end of April or beginning of May. I doubt not of your readiness to serve me in a particular case, if within your power; & therefore mention it. I mean to take back a part of my library, in which there will not be a dozen bound books but what I brought over with me, or had sent from thence. I shall have also

*For a notice of Rev. William Gordon, D.D., author of the History of the American Revolution, see 6 Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. iv. p. 151 note. - EDS.

some furniture, but all of English manufacture. The United States being now foreign dominions, these articles will by a strict interpretation of the law be subject to duties, & some very heavy; but I should imagine a representation & letters from you to the Commissioners of the Customs, specifying that they all came from England, are not meant for sale, but private use, belong to a Briton returning to his native country with the design of finishing his days there as a peaceable subject, would procure me a license for landing them free from duty, upon proper assurance given that the package contains no smuggled article whatever, neither tea, coffee, chocolate, &c. Shall be glad to know whether you can assist me in this business consistently with your public character, & without giving umbrage to your friends by attempting to serve me. Should you not be able to serve me, still if you have any letters which you would wish to entrust me with to be delivered with my own hands, I shall attend to it, the same as if you could help me. I was very anxious for your arrival & being recognized by Congress ere a certain person could be seated in the chair, lest the public should suffer damage, by measures adopted for the purpose of gratifying private malice. Mrs Gordon unites in regards to self, Lady & children. I have the happiness now & then of seeing & conversing with your amiable daughter. I remain, dear Sir,

Your Honour's most obedient, humble servant.

WILLIAM GORDON.

WILLIAM GORDON TO JOHN TEMPLE.

JAMAICA PLAIN, March 15, 1786.

DEAR SIR, Your obliging letter of 14th Feb3, received last Sabbath evening, has convinced me that I judged right in numbering you among my real friends.