Papers of John Adams, volume 6

Richard Grinnell to the Commissioners

To William MacCreery

To William Heath, 10 July 1778 JA Heath, William To William Heath, 10 July 1778 Adams, John Heath, William
To William Heath

Passy, 10 July 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography , 4:156–158. Adams reported the arrival on 8 July of the ratified Franco-American treaties, which were seen as fresh evidence of the increasing isolation of Great Britain and of the unlikelihood of the formation of a coalition of powers against America. He predicted that even Spain would soon join Britain's open enemies and declared that the British government had but one wise choice—to make a treaty with the United States on the order of France's with America. Adams believed, however, that Britain would remain blind to the need for a new policy and would decline to a second-rate power.

printed: (JA, Diary and Autobiography , 4:156–158).