Papers of John Adams, volume 11
1781-04-29
The Bearer of this Mr. Winslow Warren, is the Son of my Friend Major General Warren of the Massachusetts. He is, on all Sides of Families the most ancient and honourable and meritorious of that Part of America. And the Young Gentn. himself is amiable and has Merit.1
I should be vastly obliged to you, if you would shew him Brussels.
Pray shall We have the Pleasure to see you here in a few days?2 You know it would be a very great one both on publick and private Considerations to your Fnd & Sert
In a letter to Mercy Otis Warren dated 28 April—but, if JA's dating is correct, probably done on the 29th—Warren wrote, “I took leave of Mr. Adams this morning as he was just seting out for Leyden with his Coach and four, many servants, gay livery—his equipage I think much too Dutchifyed.” He also noted that when he had visited The Hague, “Mr. Adams introduced me to a Mr. Dumas a disagreable dirty old fellow—they say he is sensible: very serious, too much so” (MHi: Mercy Otis Warren Papers). JA also wrote William Temple Franklin on 29 April to introduce Warren (PPAmP: Franklin Papers).
In a letter of 26 April, Francis Dana invited Jenings to accompany him on his mission to St. Petersburg. Replying on 3 May, Jenings accepted Dana's offer and agreed to join him at Amsterdam by the middle of the following week. Ultimately Jenings declined Dana's proposal and JQA took his place. Dana, JQA, and a servant began their journey on 7 297July. Writing to the president of Congress from Berlin on 28 July, Dana indicated that Jenings' indecision delayed his departure from Amsterdam by a month (PCC, Misc. Papers, Reel No. 2, f. 157–159; JQA, Diary
, 1:89; Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev.
, 4:610–613).