Adams Family Correspondence, volume 4
1781-01-08
No, my dear Madam, not affronted I hope; you did not say so with a good grace, the only time I ever knew you miss it in my life.1
Yet by recalling your son so soon, I believe you a little out of the Way. I thought you
would have spaird him longer, and given me a little time to have wrote you a Letter. Now I
shall only scribble you a line, not worth your worrying your Eyes to read. You have calld upon
me too, to tell you a great many things, some I am inclined to, and some Not. The Letter which
you wrote me about and which was left to my care I sent with my own by way of Bilboa some time
ago; an other which you inquired about, was not in my power to return. I had several uses to
appropriate it to, most, if not all of which I have answerd.—As to News from abroad, I have
had but one Letter since I saw you of a late date; I meant to give you an extract, but have
mislaid it. It however speaks not of peace. Mr. A
Regards to the young Gentleman. Enclose a Letter and peice of 61News paper. Have you seen Hutchinsons character, and an other peice in
the paper, remarks upon Gorge Germains spea
A recent letter from Mrs. Warren is obviously missing; hence some of the allusions here to inquiries by Mrs. Warren cannot be explained with certainty. Nor can the several other letters AA mentions be identified, though see the following notes.
The post robbed was that of 21 Nov. from Philadelphia; see Lovell to AA, 19 Dec. 1780, above.
The letter in question was presumably Benjamin Rush to Dr. William Shippen, 18 Nov. 1780, a
contribution to their bitter dispute over the administration of the medical department of the
army. It is printed in Benjamin Rush, Letters
, 1:256–260, and does indeed treat the Continental
Congress “with great freedom.”
See the preceding letter and note 2 there.