He was a graduate of Trinity College, Oxford. He was the ablest of the three members of the commission and enjoyed most the confidence of the British Ministry. That he possessed considerable ability is shown in the fact that in 1821 he was made a member of the Privy Council and Chief Secretary to Wellesley, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; that in 1828, in the Duke of Wellington's administration, he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer; that in Peel's first cabinet he was Home Secretary; and in the second, again Chancellor of the Exchequer.61 William Adams, LL.D., was also a graduate of Trinity College, Oxford, and a scholar of considerable repute. As a lawyer he had gained some reputation for the mastery of legal details. He served on a commission appointed in 1812 to regulate the procedure of vice-admiralty courts abroad. Later, from 1815-24, he served on a similar commission appointed to investigate the courts of justice and ecclesiastical courts of England. In the Ghent commission Adams was given the sole preparation of the despatches which related to maritime war.62

In addition to the paper containing their instructions, the British commissioners were provided by their Government with the following papers: full powers, treaty of Paris (1783); treaty of commerce, London

61 Dictionary of National Biography, XXII., 283-284.

(1794); explanatory article, Philadelphia (1796); explanatory article, London (1798); convention, London (1802); convention (not ratified), London (1803); correspondence and proposed treaty (1806-1808); declaration of war (1812); proclamation, London (1814).63

63 MS., British Foreign Office, 5, 102.

CHAPTER V

THE OPENING OF PEACE NEGOTIATIONS AT GHENT

The British ministers reached Ghent Saturday evening, August 6, 1814. All of the American ministers had been waiting there a full month, and some of them much longer. On the next day after their arrival, Anthony St. John Baker, secretary of the British mission, called upon Bayard and informed him of the arrival of the British ministers and of their desire to exchange "full powers." It was proposed that the meeting for this purpose should take place at the rooms of the British ministers at the Hotel Lion d'Or the next day at one o'clock. Bayard promised Baker that this communication should be laid before the other commissioners and an answer returned during the evening.1

When the Americans learned of the proposal of the British to meet at their hotel they were much disturbed, for they regarded it as a pretension of superiority on the part of the British commissioners for them to set the place for the first meeting. Adams cited international law authority to show that the course taken by the British was the usage of ambassadors to min

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isters of an inferior rank. Bayard also brought forward a case of a similar character when commissioners of Spain and England met at Boulogne in 1600. On that occasion the Spanish commissioners made, and the English resisted, a proposal much like the one that was now made by the British commissioners.2 Bayard and Gallatin, however, were disposed to take no notice of the matter, as they were averse to obstructing the negotiation with any question of "mere ceremony." Adams proposed that Hughes should call in the evening on Baker and inform him that the American commissioners would be glad to confer and exchange "full powers" at any time the British commissioners would indicate, and at any place other than their lodgings. At Gallatin's suggestion, the phrase, "at any place other than their own lodgings," was changed to "at any place which may be mutually agreed upon." With this change Adams's proposition was agreed to, and Hughes was authorized further, in case any difficulty should arise as to a suitable place, to suggest the Hôtel des Pays-Bas. Hughes delivered this communication, and was promised a reply before one o'clock of the next day. About ten o'clock of that same evening Baker called and informed the American ministers that the Hôtel des Pays-Bas, which had been suggested by Hughes, had been accepted by the British com

missioners, and that they would meet the Americans there at one o'clock the next day.3

On the 8th of August, at the hour agreed upon, the commissioners of the two states met at the Hôtel des Pays-Bas. After introductions had taken place and "full powers" been exchanged, Gambier, the British minister first named, addressed the American ministers, expressing the regret which the British nation felt for the existence of the war and the sincere desire of the British Government "that the negotiation might result in a solid peace honorable to both parties." He stated, also, that he and his colleagues were personally very anxious for this desirable object and hoped that they might aid in putting “an end to a state of things so contrary to the interests of the two nations, and to restore again those amicable relations, which he hoped under the blessings of a kind Providence, might advance the happiness of both nations."" The other British ministers merely stated that Lord Gambier had expressed their own sentiments.

John Quincy Adams, the first named of the American commissioners, replied with similar words of assurance as to the strong desire of the American people and Government that the negotiation might result in 8 Russell Journals, V., 237-238.

4 Memoirs of J. Q. Adams, III., 4-5.

Commissioners to Monroe, Aug. 12, 1814; American State Papers, For. Rel., III., 705-707.