Diary of John Quincy Adams, volume 1
1783-02-17
This forenoon We went to see a Gentleman who has a Cabinet of Curiosities, in Painting, sea shells and insects. His Cabinet is pretty well furnish'd but not entirely in order. In the evening we 172all went to the play but stay'd there only a few minutes because it was so full. The King goes almost every Night to the play, but was not there this evening because the Prince Frederick's consort is unwell, and the King never stirs out of the Palace without having Prince Frederick, with him.1
Christian VII (1749–1808) became progressively more insane during his reign, and in 1784
his son, Prince Frederick (1768–1839), was made regent until his father's death, when he
assumed the throne as Frederick VI. The Prince Frederick mentioned here is Christian's
half-brother (1753–1805), who married Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1774 (La grande encyclopédic: inventaire raisonné des sciences, des lettres
et des arts, 31 vols., Paris, [1886–1902];
Almanach royal, 1784).