Adams Family Correspondence, volume 12
ry3 1798
I Embrace the opportunity by the British packet of writing you a few lines, tho I have not any thing very material to communicate to you.
I have already informd your Brother and sister of the safe arrival of her Parents and sisters at George Town after a passage of 60 days.1 Since which, I have received Letters both from mr and Mrs Johnson both of whom with the young Ladies were well. young mr T B Johnson came on from Cambridge & past a couple of days with us on his way to visit his Parents. when he returns, I expect the pleasure of a visit from the Family2
344I wish I could learn as much respecting my dear Children at Berlin, but not a line has reachd us of a later date than 16 sep’br from London.3
Congress have been in Session ever Since Nov’br I forwarded by way of Hamburgh the Presidents speech at the opening of the session, and the answers of the two Houses. all have yet gone on cooly. at present the Country is more quiet and tranquil, than for several years past. it is not infested with Jacobin Clubs—and tho no doubt there is combustible materials sufficient to kindle a fire. it is watching for a fit occasion, whilst the Friends of Government are waiting with consumate Patience the result of the Extraordinary mission to France, supporting their losses with patience, and restraining their indignation, knowing that they have a right to justice, for the wanton plunder committed in defiance of Treaties, and the Laws of Nations. The News of Admiral Duncans victory over our Friends the Dutch, has excited feelings of compassion for them. so have the exorbitent requisitions of our Galic allies. we pitty them all, and can say to them whilst we commissirate your sufferings, we beseech you to keep your distance, and do not infect us with your Pestilence
Mr Munroe has just publishd a Book of four Hundred and six pages.! which he calls a “view of the conduct of the Executive of the united states” illustrated by His instructions and correspondence, and other Authentic Documents; Fauchett has also written a Book, and these two luminous works, have Shone so Bright upon all good Democrats, that all Mistery is dispelld, and the Executive alone is found Guilty, of the crime of loveing their own Country so well as whilst desireing and wishing to do justice to all, to be unwilling to subjugate it self to any one.4 some of the Jacobins do not even want to read Munroe. they are sure he was the injured Man and to requite him for his Patriotism, they fully intended he should have been Govenour of Virginna, but it so happened that—he had not a vote, and what was still worse a Federalist is chosen in his stead.5 well there is one more Chance, and it is said mr Tazewell designs to decline an other Election to make way for mr Monroe in the Senate. There has been one other Book written by a Gentleman formerly in publick office, but as I do not wish to circulate scandle, I shall not send it you. I dare Vouch for it, your Brother has had it, or accounts of it.6
some persons have given it the tittle of “whose’s the Dupe.[”] others of a more proflicate turn have quoted the old saw, of the
345
greatest sin this side Hell, is first to kiss and then to tell; but confessions have not washd the Ethiope white, nor at all cleard up the publick transactions, which stood fair and unshaken, by the disclosure of a private Amour. alass—alass—how weak is Humane Nature.
I know not into whose Hands this may fall. it would not be prudent to write any thing but what is known to the world. I saw your Friend mr Charles Hall yesterday who inquired affectionatly after you. he is doing very well in his profession. he is to dine with us to day. I heard from your sister last week. she is well. I wish I could add happy Charles is doing well in Buisness. our Friends at Quincy are well and at Boston— I got your Letter by mr Hall, tho not untill a long time. he very unwisely put it into the post office, and in a list of letters publishd as remaining in the post office, I saw my Name.7 the Ring committed to him, he unfortunately lost I am not however less sensible of the Gratefull remembrance of the Donor— Your Father is so pressd with buisness that he cannot write you by this opportunity. he desires to be rememberd to you, and to your Brother, to whom I have not time now to write
Wishing each of you many happy returns of the season, I am my dear Children / your ever affectionate / Mother
I send Report on Blounts conspiracy—
RC (Adams Papers); endorsed: “Mrs: A. Adams. / 3 January 1798 / 12 Feby Recd: / Do Answd.”
See AA to JQA, 2 Dec. 1797, above.
Catherine Nuth Johnson did not visit AA in Philadelphia until the spring of 1800 (AA, New Letters
, p. 244; AA2, Jour. and Corr.
, 2:177)
Not found.
James Monroe, A View of the Conduct of the Executive, in the Foreign Affairs of the United States, Evans, No. 32491, and Jean Antoine Joseph Fauchet, A Sketch of the Present State of Our Political Relations with the United States of North-America, Evans, No. 32115, were both published by Benjamin Franklin Bache in Philadelphia in 1797.
James Wood (1747–1813) was elected governor of Virginia in 1796 and reelected on 7 Dec. 1797. He served until 1799, when Monroe was elected (Monroe, Papers
, 4:291, 338; Journal of the Hose of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Richmond, on Monday, the Fourth Day of December, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-Seven, Richmond, Va., 1798, p. 7, Evans, No. 34936).
Alexander Hamilton, Observations on Certain Documents Contained in No. V & VI of “The History of the United States For the Year 1796,” in Which the Charge of Speculation Against Alexander Hamilton, Late Secretary of the Treasury, is Fully Refuted, Phila., 1797, Evans, No. 32222. The author responded to charges leveled against him by James Thomson Callender, who alleged that while Hamilton was secretary of the treasury, he and James Reynolds were involved in “improper pecuniary speculation.” Hamilton claimed that Reynolds had been blackmailing him and that his “real crime is an amorous connection” with Reynolds’s wife Maria, which he argued the Reynoldses had
346
pursued “with the design to extort money from me” (p. 9). For more on the pamphlet, see Hamilton, Papers
, 21:121–145, 215–285.
TBA to AA, 10 Sept. 1797, above. The New York Daily Advertiser, 5, 7 Oct., included “mrs. Adams” on its list of letters being held at the post office.
ry5
th1798
I received your kind Letter of December1 and was surprized to find that my Letter should convey the first intelligence of the Death of mr & Mrs Hall to mr & Mrs Black, as their Brother assured me he had written three weeks before. I told him I would take charge of any Letter from him, and could nearly vouch for its going safely
I was much dissatisfied when mrs Brisler sought the Child so earnestly and could not find it, and thought it my duty to inform mrs Black of it, as I did immediatly upon his sending the child to me. my own conclusions were that it was at Nurse with Some person, and in some place that he did not chuse my people Should see. however this may be, the Nurse who brought the child and whom I saw Nurse it in my Chamber whilst she stay’d, is a very decent respectable healthy looking Woman, above the common-level of such persons here
I have already written mrs Black my opinion of her and her replies to such questions as I put to her;2 I shall send some of my people to see the child as you say, when they are not expected, and I will have it brought me as often as once a Month, and I will let the Nurse know, that the Child has relatives who are much interested for it, and design to take it in the spring, if the Child lives untill the spring. the Sooner mr Black comes for it, the better, for this city is a very unhealthy place for Children
as soon as Mrs Brisler is well enough she will go with Betsy, and see the Baby. mrs Brislr has had one of her old ill turns, but is better.
I expect that your next Letter will bring me tydings of Abdes Death. I look upon it a release to Pheby, but I am fully sensible her days of usefullness are nearly over and what is to be done with her I cannot tell. for this Winter she must remain where she is, but there is no reason that the whole of the House should be devoted to her as it is in a manner, for no other person will occupy it, who will give any thing for it, whilst she resides there, and she must have somebody to look after her. 12 or 13 years she has lived there, and never paid a sou. more than that she has lately received as much as her 347 House rent from me; and as long as I am able I shall be willing to do for her,—but I think some new plan must be struck out for her.3
I received Letters from sister Peabody yesterday for myself and mrs smith.4 she thinks mr Atwood ought to have some acknowledgment made to him for his trouble. she says Charles left a New Watch Worth 20 dollors. suppose that should be given him, but I know not who has a right to do it. to miss sarah Atwood she also thinks some Handsome present ought to be made. query who ought to make these presents? She ought to have what is reasonable and proper & handsome considering all circumstances, but the situation of Charles Family is well known they are not in independant circumstances. I would not have them however receive from Strangers obligations which should be thought the Family ought to reward. sister Peabody has twice written me upon this subject. she says Charles left in Money about 40 dollors with which she has paid all extra Charges. his Cloaths which were given him by mr Atwood I think ought all to return to mr Atwood. he was his appretenc and mr Atwood received from him all the service of his time &c— he treated him like a child in his sickness, and I shall ever esteem & respect the Family for it. I wish you would consult dr Tufts and mr Cranch upon it. I will be at the expence of a Ring for mrs Atwood, such as cousin Betsy smith has, for mrs Rogers. pray inquire of her and get her to have one made with Charles Name, & present it to mrs Atwood for me, and I will pay for it. I do not want this known however beyond ourselves— Tis true he was my Nephew but not the only relative I had or have who stands in need of pecuniary assistance. Marys sickness was much longer and more expensive. that too ought to be considerd.
I wish you would write me fully upon the subject and whether you have had any Letters from william since the Death of his Brother—
The News from abroad of the Peace made by the Emperor with the directory of France (to call it a Republick, would be a subversion of terms) is an Event big with concequences. the treatment of our envoys, as rumourd; for the Executive has not received any communication from them since their arrival in France excites however unpleasent sensations, for the insolent proposition & threat sent to swisserland a Nutral power shows us that tyrants stick at nothing.5 the threatned invasion of England I do not much credit. they may be Mad enough however to attempt it, for I believe they fear nothing so much as Disbanding there Armies.
348our American minister in England is making a Tour of it, so that at this most critical moment the Government is indebted to News Paper intelligence for all they have.6 “I never left my post a moment but upon buisness for my Country during the whole war” crys—you know who— but my paper is full, and the post will be gone—
adieu my dear sister affectionatly / Your
RC (MWA:Abigail Adams Letters).
Cranch to AA, 24 Dec. 1797, above.
After reporting to Esther Duncan Black in a letter of 15 Dec. that William Black was making it difficult for her to visit the infant, AA wrote again on the 18th that she had seen the baby, Nancy Hall, who was in good health and being well cared for by the nurse (both NcD:Trent History of Medicine Manuscript Coll.).
Phoebe Abdee, who had previously resided in the John Quincy Adams Birthplace, was then living in one of the smaller Adams properties, described during the Dec. 1798 tax assessment as a two-story house, measuring 29 by 18 feet, and containing eight windows, the whole of which was valued at $75 (vol. 5:303; “The Presidents Valluation,” [Dec. 1798], Adams Papers, Wills and Deeds).
Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to AA, 19 Dec. 1797, above; no letters from Peabody to AA2 have been found for this period.
In late December reports surfaced in the Philadelphia press that in October France had sent an envoy to the Swiss confederation to demand the expulsion of the British envoy, whom the Directory feared was sowing the seeds of counterrevolution against France. In November, while on his way to Rastatt, Germany, Napoleon encouraged republican factions in the Swiss cantons and recommended to the Directory that the French intervene. The Directory agreed and sent 15,000 troops into Switzerland in the opening months of 1798. By the end of March France had dissolved the Swiss confederation and established the Helvetic Republic with a constitution resembling its own (Philadelphia Gazette, 27 Dec. 1797; Philadelphia Aurora General Advertiser, 4 Jan. 1798;
Cambridge Modern Hist.
, 8:639, 858).
In the fall of 1797 Rufus King spent several weeks traveling through England and Wales, a fact that was reported by the Philadelphia Gazette, 29 Dec., and criticized by the Philadelphia Aurora General Advertiser, 3 Jan. 1798: “From London prints it appears that Rufus King, the American ambassador at the British court, is deeply engaged; he arrived at Worcester, the 10th of October—on a tour through England” (Robert Ernst, Rufus King: American Federalist, Chapel Hill, N.C., 1968, p. 227).