Adams Family Correspondence, volume 9
6 September 1790]1
By mr Knox our old accquaintance who is appointed consul to dublin I embrace the opportunity of writing to you and acknowledging the Recept of your obliging Letters by col Trumble2 whom we were all very happy to welcome to his Native Land and who has acquired to Himself and his Country an immortal Fame by his great Genius and talants in painting the Mayor and corporation of this city have employd him to take two full Length portraits one of the President of the united States the other of their Govenour at a hundred Guineys each. the first he has finished to the intire Satisfaction of every Spectator.3 the Respectable Family from which mr Trumble is descended, his own most amiable Character and his intention of painting the great and important Scenes and principal Actors from the Life, in the late Revolution ought to ensure to him publick Patronage and I fatter myself he will meet with it before he returns to Europe. mr Jefferson whom you were so desirious of 102seeing return, is you know long e’er this time, our Secretary of State. he took leave of me last week to visit his Family in Virgina. the President and his Lady and Family sat of this day week for their seat at Mount Vernon. under the present administration our Government daily acquires strength and stability. the union is compleat by the late Adoption of the constitution by RhoadIsland. nothing hinders our being a very happy and prosperous people provided we have wisdom rightly to estimate our Blessings, and Hearts to improve them. I thought to have found you in America upon my return to this country and am sorry you could not make it convenient to you. I know very well by experience the strong attractions which England possesses, and Should prefer it to any other country that I have seen America excepted. Alass poor France how many direfull scenes has she yet to pass through before order will be Reestablishd. however great the Blessings to be derived from a Revolution in government, the Scenes of Anarchy cruelty and Blood which usually preceed it and the difficulty of uniting a Majority in favour of any System, are sufficent to make every person who has been an Eye witness to the demolition of one government Recoil at the prospect of over turning Empires and kingdoms4 I hope my dear Madam that you receive agreeable accounts from the Countess your daughter and that she has increased the Family Happiness by further additions to the Family.5 present me kindly to her when you write and to our Friend Mrs Church remember me affectionatly She is a Charming woman, we regreet her loss here, and wish she would return with her Family to her Native Land.6 I do not know any gentleman who would be more agreeable to all those who have the pleasure of an acquaintance with him, than mr Freire in the Character you mention him, and I am satisfied from the knowledge I have of him his manners and Character would be particularly adapted to the Genius & disposition of Americans, and if his Court should appoint him, he would be received with all that Attention and Respect which is due to the Friendly conduct which the Queen of Portugal has manifested towards the Americans—7
Remember to mr Paradice for whom I have a real esteem & to dr Bancroft and any other of our old Friends and acquaintanc who may inquire after Your Humble Servant
Dft (Adams Papers); notation: “Mrs Paradise. 1791.” Filmed at [1791].
The letter is dated based on the Washingtons’ departure from New York; see
AA to Abigail Bromfield Rogers, [5 Sept. 1790], note 4, above.
John Trumbull delivered a letter of 7 Oct. 1789 (Adams Papers) in which Paradise 103congratulated JA on his election as vice president and expressed her esteem for Thomas Jefferson, who recently had come to the aid of her family. She also wrote to AA on 3 June, but AA did not reply (vol. 8:367–368).
Richard Varick (1753–1831), mayor of New York City, approached George Washington on 20 July 1790 about sitting for a portrait to be placed on display at City Hall. Trumbull, who had just completed a smaller full-length portrait of the president intended for Martha Washington, reported to Benjamin West in late August that he was nearly finished with the city council's commission. Trumbull described the painting as “near seven feet high compos'd with a Horse, & the background the evacuation of this Place by the British at the Peace.” The artist completed a similar full-length portrait of George Clinton, governor of New York, the following year (Washington, Papers, Presidential Series
, 6:102–103; Theodore Sizer, The Works of Colonel John Trumbull, Artist of the American Revolution, rev. edn., New Haven, Conn., 1967, p. 26, 82).
In 1789, France abandoned absolute monarchy and formed a National Assembly, which adopted a constitution on 26 August. This new constitutional monarchy, overseen by the moderate National Assembly and sanctioned by Louis XVI, proceeded to pass a series of measures in late 1789 and 1790 that sought to reorganize and reform French society—but simultaneously rendered it increasingly unstable. During this time, there were occasional episodes of mob action, rioting, and violence both in Paris and in more rural areas throughout the country.
American newspapers reported regularly on the sittings of the National Assembly and other events in France. The New York Daily Advertiser, 28 Aug., published a report from France noting “the people incline to the most cruel executions. On Monday two men accused of theft were hung without any form of law.” According to the New York Gazette of the United States, 14 Aug., “Paris has lately been troubled by some insurrections; happily a few only, who deserved it, became victims to them. In twenty-four hours peace was restored to this town.”
Lucy Paradise Barziza gave birth to a second son, Filippo Ignacio, in 1796 at Venice (Archibald Bolling Shepperson, John Paradise and Lucy Ludwell of London and Williamsburg, Richmond, Va., 1942, p. 456).
For Angelica Schuyler Church, see vol. 6:10.
For the appointment of Ciprião Ribeiro, Chevalier de Freire, see vol. 8:368.
br6 1790
Mr Adams received your Letter dated August 31.1 he sat of that morning after for Philadlphia and desired me to let you know that he would transmit to you an order from the treasury for the Sum you received of Generall Lincoln upon his return. where is Thomas we have been daily expecting him for near a Month, and mr Adams delayd going his journey a week expecting him here. he wrote me that he could not come on imediatly after commencment as you had not sufficient in your hands for that purpose. I accordingly sent on by dr Jeffries 35 dollors—directed to you, which I presume you received. I have written to his Brother & last week to him advising him to come by the Way of RhoadIsland, but have not heard a single word where he is, nor why he does not come if he is sick, or met with any accident we should be glad to know it. Mrs Cranch wrote me that a Gentleman and Lady from Demerara wanted to take a 104ready furnishd House, and inquired if we would Let ours. I could wish that a place which cost us so much Money might be made a little profitable to us. I have desired mrs Cranch that you might be consulted about it, and if any terms should be offerd that you think would compensate for the use of House garden and furniture, you will be so good as to inform us— things are not conducted there according to my mind, because we do not know how they are managed. mr Adams had thoughts of going to Braintree, but his journey to Philadelphia will prevent it as I suppose if he can get a House there, we must remove next month. he wishes you to inform him, the Sum you have of paper, and the different kind's
the wine which mr Codman has in his care we will thank you to Send round by Barnard as we can remove it with our other things. I do not expect to see my Friends untill an other year, when I hope to spend the summer with them.
How will Elections go? are they Still in a rage for Rotations in Massachusetts? or does the Clamour rise from a few wrestless spirits who have no other importance.2 if they change mr Gerry for a mr any body else, they will lose one of the firmest men they have as independant a man, and as honest a one. in the first Session, his mind was irritated & he was hurt, his speaches were misrepresentd, and his conduct misconstrued, but through the whole of this last session no man has exerted himself more for the honour and Reputation of the Nation, nor more firmly gaurded the constitution against innovation. I most sincerely hope he will be reelected.3
I hope my dear sir that all your Family are well and that you enjoy good Health yourself. I am very sorry to hear that we are like to lose Governour Bowdoin, from the accounts we hear, I fear there is little hope of his recovery—4
All Letters addrest to the V President are frankd in the post office, so that you may write by that conveyance when you please.
will you be so good as to tell mr Codman that as the President and Secretary of State are both absent, there cannot any application be made at present in favour of his Brother, that on a former occasion when mr A Named a Gentleman to the Pressident as proper for consul, he replied that he had no other objection than that a much greater Number had been appointed from N England than from any other of the States, and that his object had been to distribute offices as equally as possible. mr A will however communicate to mr Lear the contents of the Letter.5
I am dear sir / your affectionate
RC (NHi:Misc. Mss. Adams, Abigail); endorsed: “Mrs. Ab. Adams Sept 6. 1790.”
Not found.
Amidst strong opposition in the local press to the incumbent congressional delegation, the Boston Columbian Centinel reported on 1 Sept., “Electioneering, for Congressional seats, is carried on with great spirit in several of the States. . . . Every error of the present Congress is pointed out with the finger of patriotism, and with infallible prescience it is now clearly seen how every difficulty might have been avoided; and if the blessed principle of Rotation is attended to, a NEW SET, profiting by the mistakes of the OLD, will guide the political ship to, UNIVERSAL approbation.” Several days later, another piece in the Centinel bemoaned “the open condemnation of all the measures of Congress” in Massachusetts newspapers, concluding that the authors’ “object is no other than Rotation—the ousting of the old, to make way for a new set of goodly rulers—men of great abilities—profound euridition—and legislature knowledge” (4 Sept.).
Elbridge Gerry was reelected to the House of Representatives, where he served until March 1793. Representatives Fisher Ames, Benjamin Goodhue, Theodore Sedgwick, George Leonard, and George Thatcher were also returned to Congress. Only Jonathan Grout of Worcester County and George Partridge of Plymouth County lost their bids for reelection, to be replaced by Artemas Ward and Shearjashub Bourne, respectively (
Biog. Dir. Cong.
). For Bourne, see also Mary Smith Cranch to AA, 12 Dec. 1790, note 1, below.
JQA reported to JA on 9 Aug. (Adams Papers) that James Bowdoin was “dangerously ill. He had at first a severe paralytic stroke, and was yesterday attacked with a Dysentery.” Bowdoin died on 6 Nov. (
DAB
).
When Richard Harrison of Virginia declined the appointment of consul at Cadiz, John Codman Jr. wrote to JA requesting that his brother, Richard, be considered for the position (27 Aug., Adams Papers). JA replied on 10 Oct. (Adams Papers) that, though he would communicate Codman's letter to Thomas Jefferson, it was unlikely that the appointment would go to someone from Massachusetts. Jefferson included Codman in a list of candidates for the position in Feb. 1791, but the slot remained vacant until Feb. 1793 when the Senate confirmed Joseph Yznardi Jr., a Spanish merchant, to the post (Washington, Papers, Presidential Series
, 5:473; Jefferson, Papers
, 19:317, 22:431–432, 27:60).