Adams Family Correspondence, volume 13
th1799—
I have been informd to day, that a paper from N york the daily advertizer was received in Town on saturday night, which states that the Senate have refused to concur in the nomination of mr Murrey, and congratulating the public upon it, that the Senate have offerd their Reasons, which are promised in the next Paper; We are told that [“]in a multitude of Counsellors their is safety”1
I cannot but own, that this intelligence has given me much pain and anxiety; and I shall not feel less, untill I hear from you;
I should regreet indeed if a Majority of the Senate should become the dupes of intrigue be it as it will, each have excercised the powers given them by the constitution—and time will discover, who is right & who is wrong:
I am as ever your
RC (DLC:Shaw Family Papers); endorsed: “Mrs Adams”; docketed: “1799 March 4.”
AA accurately summarized the contents of the New
York Commercial Advertiser, 25 Feb., which further
declared the hope “that the reception of any further overtures from the Five-headed Monster, will be preceded by this dignified and
emphatic sentence—’First annul your marauding decrees and
withdraw your plundering corsairs from our coasts.’” The Boston Russell’s Gazette, 7 March, discounted the news, labeling
it “an atrocious lie … evidently intended to give an improper bias to public opinion,
and perhaps to influence the decision of the Senate.”
AA also wrote to William Smith Shaw on 4 March, reporting that she was “much out of humour” and not “in spirits to write” but thought Congress had “done as much harm as good this session” (DLC:Shaw Family Papers).