Adams Family Correspondence, volume 8
If I had thought you would so soon have Sent for your dear little Girl, I should have been tempted to have kept her arrival here, from you a secret. I am really loth to part with her, and she last evening upon petit's arrival, was thrown into all her former distresses, and bursting into Tears, told me it would be as hard to leave me, as it was her Aunt Epps.1 She has been so often deceived that she will not quit me a moment least She should be carried away, nor can I scarcly prevail upon her to see petit. Tho she says she does not remember you, yet she has been taught to consider you with affection and fondness, and depended upon your comeing for her. she told me this morning, that as she had left all her Friends in virgina to come over the ocean to see you, she did think you would have taken the pains to have come here for her, & not have sent a man whom she cannot understand. I express her own words. I expostulated with her2 upon the long journey you had been; & the difficulty you had to come and upon the care kindness & attention of petit, whom I so well knew, but she cannot yet hear me. she is a child of the quickest Sensibility, and the maturest understanding, that I have ever met with for her Years. she had been 5 weeks at sea, and with men only, so that on the first day of her arrival, She was as rough as 108a little Sailor, and then she been decoyed from the Ship, which made her very angry, and no one having any Authority over her; I was apprehensive I should meet with some trouble, but where there are such materials to work upon as I have found in her, there is no danger. she listened to my admonitions, and attended to me advice, and in two days, was restored to the amiable lovely Child which her Aunt had formed her. in short she is the favorite of every Creature in the House, and I cannot but feel Sir, how many pleasures you must lose; by committing her to a convent, yet situated as you are, you cannot keep her with you. The Girl she has with her, wants more care than the child, and is wholy incapable of looking properly after her, without Some Superiour to direct her.
As both miss Jefferson & the maid had cloaths only proper for the Sea, I have purchased & m up for them; Such things as I should have done had they been my own; to the amount of about Eleven or 12 Guineys. the particulars I will send by petit.3
Captain Ramsey has Said that he would accompany your daughter to paris provided she would not go without him, but this would be putting you to an expence that may perhaps be avoided by petits staying a few days longer. the greatest difficulty in familiarizing her to him, is on account of the language. I have not the Heart to force her into a Carriage against her Will and send her from me, almost in a Frenzy; as I know will be the case,4 unless I can reconcile her to the thoughts of going and I have given her my word that petit shall stay untill I can hear again from you.5 Books are her delight, and I have furnishd her out a little library, and She reads to me by the hour with great distinctness, & comments on what she reads with much propriety.
mrs Smith desires to be rememberd to you, and the little Boy his Grandmamma thinks is as fine a Boy as any in the Kingdom—6 I am my dear sir with Sentiments of Esteem Your Friend and Humble / Servant
RC (DLC:Jefferson Papers); addressed by JA: “his Excellency / Thomas Jefferson / Ambassadour from the United / States of America, at the Court / of Versailles / Paris”; endorsed: “Adams mrs”; notation: “France.” Dft (Adams Papers).
Jefferson's younger daughter Mary had lived with her aunt, Elizabeth Wayles Eppes (b. 1752), for four years in Virginia prior to joining her father in France. Elizabeth was Martha Wayles Jefferson's half-sister and was married to Francis Eppes. Their son, John Wayles Eppes, would eventually marry his cousin Mary Jefferson in 1797 (Noble E. Cunningham Jr., In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson, Baton Rouge, La., 1987, p. 82; Malone, Jefferson
, 1:432;
DAB
).
In the Dft AA also wrote, “my little girl for so She chuses I Should call her.”
At this point in the Dft AA wrote: “I 109should have done something more for the maid with regard to the article of Linnen which She wants, to have Saved you trouble, but we hear that English goods are cheeper in Paris than here, so that for her I have only purchased cloth for 2 Aprons & calico for 2 Jackets & coats which my maid made up for her and amounted to one pound forteen & four pence I have still to add Some stockings & a few articles more.”
In the Dft AA also included, “indeed I have not the Heart to do it, & her Girl has no more influence over her than a straw.”
AA wrote here in the Dft, “unless she is willing to go with him before. I Shall write again by miss Jefferson and answer some queries which you put in your Letter.”
In the Dft AA included the following: “duty to my pappa miss adds, & kindest Love to sister Patsey but do pray write him how I want to stay here.”
When I wrote you last I did not know that petit had taken places in the Stage & paid for them. this being the case I have represented it to your little daughter & endeavourd to prevail with her to consent to going at the time appointed; She says if I must go I will, but I cannot help crying, so pray dont ask me too. I should have taken great pleasure in presenting her to you here, as you would then have seen her with her most engageing countana[nce.] some lines of an old song frequently occur to me as different objects affect her.
I never saw so intelligent a countanance in a child before, and the pleasure she has given me is an ample compensation for any little services I have been able to render her. I can easily conceive the earnest desire you must have to embrace so lovely a child after so long a Seperation from her. that motive, & my own intention of setting out next week upon a journey into the County of Devonshire, has prevaild with me to consent to parting with her so soon, but most reluctantly I assure you. her temper, her dispositition, her Sensibility are all formed to delight, yet perhaps at your first interview you may find a little roughness but it all subsides in a very little time, and she is soon attached by kindness. I inclose a memorandum of the articles purchased [I have be]en a little particular, that you might know how I [. . .]d of the money. if at any time I can be of service in this [wa]y [i]t will give me pleasure. I have desired petit 110to Buy me 12 Ells of black lace at 8 Livres pr Ell & 1 dozen of white & one of coulourd Gloves. you will be so good as to place them to my account & Col Smith will take them when he returns.
As to politicks, to avoid touching so dissagreeable a subject, I send you the Boston News papers received by the last vessels.
Mrs Paridise has just left me and desires to be rememberd to you. She is just upon the eve of departure for Virginia. Whether he can be prevaild upon to go on Board altho their passage is taken, & every thing in readiness, is very uncertain. She is determined at all Hazards, he most assuredly will get a seat in Kings Bench if he stays behind. his affairs are daily worse & worse.1 mr Adams will write you— he has not a portrait that he likes to send you. mr Trumble talks of taking one.2 if he Succeeds better than his Brethren, mr Adams will ask your acceptance of it. you will be so good as to let me hear from my dear little Girl by the first post after her arrival. my Love to her Sister whom I congratulate upon Such an acquisition.
I have not been able to find Mrs Kinlock yet, but hope two, if I Should not, mr Heyward is going to carolina in a few days and I will send the package by him. all your other Letters were deliverd as directed.3
With Sentiments of the highest Esteem I am dear Sir Your Humble Servant
I have received of Petit Six Louis d'ors [. . . .] What the exchange is, but the remainder you w[ill?] [. . .] as to let him purchase, me some lace & Gloves with the remainder.
Enclosure
Memorandum of articles by mrs Adams for miss Jefferson & Maid
| £ | s | d | |
| paid for bringing the Trunks from Tower Hill | 5. | 6. | |
| four fine Irish Holland frocks4 | 3. | 10. | |
| 5 yd white Dimity for Skirts | 15 | ||
| 4 yd checkd Muslin for a frock | 1. | 10 | |
| 3 yd lace Edging to trim it | 6. | 6 | |
| To making the frock | 5. | ||
| 3 yd flannel for under Coats | 7. | 6 | |
| A Brown Bever Hat & feathers | 13. | ||
| 2 pr leather Gloves | 2. | 4 | |
| 111 | |||
| 5 yd diaper for arm Cloths | 5. | 10 | |
| 6 pr cotton Stockings | 13. | 6 | |
| 3 yd blew sash Ribbon | 3. | ||
| To diaper for pockets linning tape cloth for night caps &c | 5 | 6 | |
| To a comb & case, comb Brush, tooth Brush | 1. | 6 | |
| For the Maid Servant | |||
| 12 yds calico for 2 short Gowns & coats | 1. | 5. | 6 |
| 4 yd half Irish linen for Aprons | 7 | 4 | |
| 3 pr Stockings | 6. | ||
| 2 yd linning | 2. | ||
| 1 Shawl handkerchief | 4 | 6 | |
| paid for washing | 6 | 8 | |
| Sterling | 10 | 15. | 8 |
| 11. 16. 2 should be5 | |||
Received Six Louis d'ors, of petit.
RC and enclosure (DLC:Jefferson Papers); addressed by AA2: “His Excellency Thomas Jefferson / Minister Plenipotentiary from the United / States of America / residing / att / Paris—”; endorsed: “Adams mr̃s”; notation by Jefferson on the enclosure:
“Mrs. Adams's expenditures for me as on the other side error of addition to her prejudice |
£10–15–8 |
| 1–0–6 | |
| 11–16–2 | |
Cash pd her by Petit 6 Louis @ 19/6 the Louis pd by do for black lace 75₶ |
5–17–0 |
| 3–1–[ ] | |
| 2 doz. pr̃ gloves 27₶–12 | 1–10–6 |
| balance due to mrs̃ Adams | 1–7–8 |
| 11–16–2.” |
Some loss of text due to a torn manuscript.
The Paradises' growing financial problems forced them to leave London for Lucy Ludwell Paradise's Virginia estate. They arrived in late September over £2,000 in debt, which Lucy blamed on her husband's mismanagement. In Feb. 1788, the Paradises learned that their younger daughter Philippa had died in England, forcing them to return to Britain without having put their finances in order. Thomas Jefferson came to their aid by appointing a supervisor to manage their Virginia estate and arranging a repayment schedule for their many creditors (Archibald Bolling Shepperson, John Paradise and Lucy Ludwell of London and Williamsburg, Richmond, Va., 1942, p. 207–211, 273–274, 293–295; Jefferson, Papers
, 10:69, 255–256; 13:457, 472, 537, 543–545).
In London, in the summer of 1787, John Trumbull added JA to the canvas of his famous painting, Declaration of Independence. At that time the group portrait was incomplete; Trumbull continued to add to it as he met with the men who had signed the Declaration (Trumbull, Autobiography
, p. 146–147).
Anne Cleland Kinloch (d. 1802) was the widow of Francis Kinloch (1720–1767) of South Carolina. Jefferson hoped that Kinloch could be located in London and that she would deliver a package of rice to William Drayton, also of South Carolina. 112Jefferson's letter to Kinloch of 1 July remains in the Adams Papers, confirming AA's inability to find her (H. D. Bull, “Kinloch of South Carolina,”
SCHGM
, 46:64–65 [April 1945]; Jefferson, Papers
, 11:520–521).
“Holland” refers to a fine white linen originally imported from Holland but later manufactured in Ireland. The fabric was often used for children's clothing (Mairead Dunlevy, Dress in Ireland, N.Y., 1989, p. 188).
This recalculated amount is in Jefferson's hand.