Thomas Jefferson's Picturesque Visit to Grumpy John Adams in 1786:
I think March was probably one of the quietest months overall when it comes to what Jefferson did in London.
But I can't move on without talking about the portrait. xd
The portrait painted by Mather Brown is a bit of a mystery. There's not much information about exactly when it was painted, but I have a theory that it was done during these first days of March. Mostly because Jefferson spent most of April traveling around, and it couldn't have been during the very end of April either. I mean, if it took the guy nine days just to get organized for his trip to London, I can't imagine what getting ready to leave was like. He would've been busy packing and preparing to head back.
There aren't any letters or direct mentions of the portrait either, which honestly makes me think Jefferson was practically dragged into sitting for it. Maybe it was some kind of surprise, or maybe just a verbal agreement between Adams and Jefferson, considering Jefferson was constantly visiting the Adams household.
Since Jefferson wasn't exactly fond of sitting for portraits, my theory is that John and Abigail more or less convinced (or pressured) him into posing. Brown probably only had a handful of opportunities to study Jefferson's face and make sketches before finishing the rest of the painting on his own. That was actually pretty common at the time—many painters would make several studies from life and then complete the final portrait later without the sitter being present.
That could also explain why people later said the portrait didn't really look like Jefferson. Brown may simply not have had enough chances to observe him closely.
One of the comments I found about the portrait came from John Trumbull (another painter who happened to be friends with Jefferson—seriously, this man seemed to correspond with absolutely everyone 😭). They had met in London in 1785, about a year earlier.
John Trumbull to Thomas Jefferson, 6 March 1788
"Brown is busy about the pictures. Mr. Adams's is like. Your's I do not think so well of. They, with the Polyplasiasmos, shall come by the diligence."
Since Adams and Jefferson had commissioned copies of their portraits and exchanged them, I assume Brown was busy making copies of both at this point. Trumbull also mentions the Polyplasiasmos, which was basically Brown's own method of making pastel or crayon studies that allowed him to reproduce the same portrait much faster and more efficiently.
The letter also includes this:
"Mrs. Cosway's love to you, and his too. She is angry, yet she teases me every day for a copy of your little portrait, that she may scold it no doubt."
(I'm about 99% sure this is referring to Maria Cosway, and if it is... a small part of me is burning with jealousy. :) )
Anyway, back to the question of how accurate these portraits really were—I don't know how much I trust Trumbull's opinion when this is how he painted Jefferson:
This portrait was painted in 1788, and honestly... to me that Jefferson doesn't even look human. I'm not going to say anything else about this portrait. I've already researched it, and my jealousy won't let me continue. Sorry.
It also cracks me up that Trumbull painted Jefferson like some strange alien... and then painted himself like this:
Back to the Mather Brown portrait.
Jefferson eventually recorded the payment for it in his account book on April 10:
Pd. Brown for my picture £10.7
The next events during this month are much more political.
On March 13, John Adams wrote to the Marquis of Carmarthen requesting a meeting for Wednesday.
John Adams to Carmarthen, 13 March 1786
"Mr. Adams presents his Compliments to the Right Honourable The Marquis of Carmarthen and acquaints his Lordship that Mr. Jefferson, Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at the Court of Versailles, is now here, and as they have something to Communicate to His Lordship relative to the affairs of the United States, they request a Time when they may have the honor to pay their respects to his Lordship before the Levee, on Wednesday."
Wednesday, March 15 — Meeting with Lord Carmarthen
I think this meeting needs a lot of nuance because we have two different perspectives on what happened.
I'll start with John Adams's point of view.
The main topics they wanted to negotiate were the British forts that were still occupied in U.S. territory, trade restrictions, the enslaved people evacuated by the British during the war, and questions involving debts and creditors.
The problem was that Lord Carmarthen was incredibly evasive. He remained perfectly polite and received them courteously, but nothing ever moved forward. No real negotiations. No concrete answers. He basically kept them in diplomatic limbo.
The issues wouldn't actually be settled until 1794, under the much more restrictive Jay Treaty negotiated by John Jay.
Adams had already been complaining to Jay for months about Carmarthen's unwillingness to engage.
John Adams to John Jay, 15 October 1785
"I can obtain no Answer from the Ministry, to any one demand, Proposal or Inquiry. in this I am not alone. It is the Complaint of all the other foreign Ministers. The Dutch Envoy particularly told me yesterday, that he could obtain no Answer, to any of his Memorials, Some of which were presented as long ago as last April."
Interestingly, Adams never wrote anything specific afterward describing the March 15 meeting itself or whether it had been unpleasant.
Jefferson didn't either. In fact, on his last day in London he even sent Carmarthen a perfectly courteous farewell note.
Thomas Jefferson to Carmarthen, ca. 26 April 1786
"Mr. Jefferson has the honor of presenting his respects to the right honourable the Marquis of Carmarthen: he had that of calling at his house to take leave on his departure for Paris; from which place the arrangements he had taken do not permit his longer absence. He shall be happy if he can be useful to his Lordship in being the bearer of his commands for that Capital."
But years later, Jefferson described the whole experience very differently in his autobiography.
That makes me think Jefferson probably didn't leave the meeting feeling especially offended. At first, he may have simply thought Carmarthen's evasiveness wasn't a huge deal. Only after seeing the exact same behavior repeated over and over for years, with absolutely no progress, did he reinterpret that first meeting. Looking back, it became confirmation that neither he nor Adams had ever been taken seriously.
Extract from Thomas Jefferson's Draft Autobiography
"and on the first conference with the Marquis of Caermarthen, his Minister for foreign affairs, the distance and disinclination which he betrayed in his conversation, the vagueness, & evasions of his answers to us, confirmed me in the belief of their aversion to have any thing to do with us. we delivered him however our Projet, mr Adams not despairing so much as I did of it's effect. we afterwards, by one or more notes, requested his appointment of an interview and conference, which, without directly declining, he evaded by pretences of other pressing occupations for the moment. after staying there seven weeks, till within a few days of the expiration of our commission, I informed the Minister by note that my duties at Paris required my return to that place, and that I should with pleasure be the bearer of any commands to his Ambassador there."
That same day there was also a King's Levee. I couldn't find any evidence that either Jefferson or Adams attended that one, although they did attend the Friday levee afterward.
