Papers of John Adams, volume 21
I have waited with impatience to hear from you as the
begining of Feb: I sent a Box containing the 2d: vol Gerradaccis History of Bologna. you have been in search
after it for some time; I met with it by accident in the city & am
pleased to complete your copy you deserve it more than any having
brought into light Paradisum voluptatis a real fact.
what a pleasing article it would make in the
Philadelphia gazeeteer. the book is very scarce it is not in Crofts nor
Beauclerks catalogue, it is in consul Smith’s, with it a few tracts
& some papers for my amiable Friend Mrs
Adams with a Dolphin catched at Harvard.— the Box was sent the 12 feb:
by captain Billington the ship called the Apollo for Philadelphia. I
hope the Dolphin swam safe to her, with my best complimts, &
entertain’d her.1
wonderful events have taken place since you left Europe & beyond our expectation but not our wishes. Having secured the church by making the Priests Salaried & informed the army they were citizens as well as soldiers & that men were to be distinguishd only by actual merit & services—titles being useless burdens2 to the state & their nobles hereditary tyrants, all necessary reforms would succeed—for but very lately could a french man conceive that the happiness & liberty of 30 millions of people were of more importance than the pomp & power of one man alone.
The Flight of the King & his return has totally ruined the Aristocrats had he escaped the trial would have been over with the loss of some thousands.
The New assembly is much esteem’d by the people & will pursue the plan of the constituent Assembly so that the Democrats are stronger than before.3 what think you now of a Royal republick This is as superior to Nieuchattel as the extent of France is to the Swiss Canton.
more than one house would have been impossible as the upper one with the present principles would have tore the other in peices.
you who are well read in plato must be sensible how
much the French are obliged to him their principles maxims rights &
priveledges, are all taken from his writings and Laws. some americans
also were indebted to him & own’d it, & it does honour to all
who 71 have so done to bring into effect
principles wch are the produce of one of the
first of men near 3 thousand years agoe— rules of Justice & natural
jurisprudence, but his times were not worthy of him & they had no
Idea that a great nation could speak by their representatives— Taylor is
translating all Plato.—4
how desirable it would have been that Plotinus his Disciple had obtained
leave of that wretch Gallienus to have built Platonopilis & to have
been govern’d by the laws of Plato.5
it would be an amusing performance to trace parallel principles & Laws.
The spirit of enquiry is abroad & cannot be dampt but to break out with greater force. Plato was thankful that he lived in the time of Socrates. I am most thankful that I have seen the things of this day & their Issue for now I have no fears. tho probably this will be the last country which will profit.
The French have gone on so prudently & strenously that it is not likely they will make any essential alterations.
no resentment or revenge seem to have operated with them, without levelling their Nobility they could not have effected any essential good.6
I am not fond of your mediator—a single person may
run away but it is more likely he may
ride.7
The French assembly by their caution confirms me in my principles power is dangerous to be trusted in one hand.
I rejoice to hear that perfect calm & contentment reigns in every part with you; France now enjoys the same without the necessity of an adequate remedy against competitions, which do not exist. after Death the works of Great men follow them the Living are to be satisfied with having done their duty.
many thanks for the Books & Papers you sent me by
general mansel & Mr Knox, were most
acceptable.8
Burke & Payne’s book have occasioned most valuable discussions & truth which fears no trial comes out the stronger.— Burke has been defeated by several.
I am ashamed to mention the enormous outrages at Birmingham it is a disgrace to this country & a reproach to the chruch; that some of the best citizens & one of the first Philosophers should be markd out for objects of malice & revenge; but I hope this persecution will operate for good as the Riots against the R catholicks promoted their cause & gain’d them redress.
72the remedy is plain & just— annul the test Laws & there would be no more persecution.
Nedham is in high repute in France & is
translated9 The
excellent Dt Price lived not to see the N.
assembly but he rejoiced to have seen what he did & maintaind
constantly that God was good.
Mrs Macaulay departed the
night before the Kings flight but left a spirited answer to Burke.10
it is reported that a nation lately emancipated has proposed with the assistance of 20 men of war to give liberty to the spanish colonies.
what a fine revenge, for assisting America & the insult from Nootka sound.
11
Col Smith I saw very little of so cautious & reserved that one might imagine he had read Payne.
one would think a distinction between friends &
foes is easy to a Diplomatick— I hope he is returned safe & well
& the little Hollis & mother are also well. my River is enlarged
& increased as is my Library in useful books but the rage for
Splendid Editions is not lessen’d. The illness & approaching
dissolution of my excellent friend Mr Timy Hollis12 prevented me going to Paris
& since some unfortunate circumstances, tho it is my desire &
inclination; but I hope this winter to pass some time there for the
revolution of America & since the New constitution of France have
kept up my spirits which otherwise would have been low indeed if I had
depended on the situation & principles of this country.
The life of Payne is wrote by a Secretary to a Lord in office some truth with much untruth all regarding me is notoriously false never having seen the book till printed—13
let me have the satisfaction to hear from you that you are all well & happy.
I should not forget to give due praise to Dt Priestley who supports his losses with
fortitude & dignity has recd many approbations. all his manuscripts
& apparatus & Library the work of years totally lost &
destroyed & never to be recovered!
mackintosh a young man of 23 has produced a very capital book vindiciæ Gallicæ.14
The French revolution engages all our attention indeed the human species is interested in their Success— the world never produced the like, the consequence of Printing.— preserve it sacred & unrestrained & the communication of sentiments free & not burden’d with postage when you think of your committees of correspondence.
73pray what is the state of the Libraries in Philadephia I understand there are two? of Roman or Greek medals imagine there are none.
I am Dear Sir / with great Esteem / your sincere Friend
Think of the Revolution of Poland— all good is possible.15
I am highly gratified with your Jounals & acts of congress.
antonietta is gained over to the revolution.
[. . .] having represented to her that the Kng will be [de]clared an imbecille & she confined in [. . .] convent & a regent appointed
conde she hates & he would probably be regent
this in case an antirevolution takes places
of wch there is not the
least probability16
in consequence madam has wrote to the emperor not to concern him self about it & it has operated accordingly
we had a noble meeting on the above 300 & our friends the Americans were not forgot
RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “To / John Adams / Vice President of / the United States / Philadelphia / America”; endorsed: “T B Hollis to / Mr Adams—”; notation by Hollis: “American.” Some loss of text where the seal was removed.
For Hollis’ shipment of books, see his 3 March
letter, and note 2, above. Hollis consulted Thomas Crofts, Bibliotheca Croftsiana, London, 1783, and
Topham Beauclerk, Bibliotheca
Beauclerkiana, London, 1781. He also reviewed Joseph Smith, Bibliotheca Smithiana, seu catalogus
librorum, Venice, Italy, 1755. Smith (ca. 1673–1782) was a
bookseller and patron of the arts who served as the British consul at
Venice from 1744 to 1760 (
DNB
).
Hollis numbered the previous two words indicating they were to be reversed.
Louis XVI’s weakening grasp on power spurred French
revolutionaries to organize a more constitutionally viable government.
On 16 May 1791 the French National Assembly agreed to dissolve following
the king’s signing of the Constitution of 1791, which occurred on 14
Sept., and rendered current members ineligible for election to a new
body, the Legislative Assembly. Composed mainly of lawyers, the assembly
convened on 1 Oct. and earned mixed reviews in the Anglo-American press
(Bosher, French Rev.
, p. xviii, xix, 133,
157; London, World, 5 Oct.; London Morning Chronicle, 14 Oct.; Boston Columbian Centinel, 15 Jan.).
English mathematician, philosopher, and translator
Thomas Taylor (1758–1835) was compiling The
Works of Plato, viz. His Fifty-Five Dialogues and Twelve
Epistles, 5 vols., London, 1804 (
DNB
).
After settling in Rome, Neoplatonist philosopher
Plotinus (A.D. 205–270) unsuccessfully petitioned the emperor, Publius
Licinius Egnatius Gallienus, to build a community on the ruins of the
Pythagorean settlement at Campania (
Oxford Classical
Dicy.
).
Hollis numbered the previous two words indicating they were to be reversed.
By “mediator,” Hollis meant JA’s articulation of independent executive power within a tripartite federal government, for which see vols. 18:548, 19:130, 20:67.
JA sent congressional journals and books
with his 1 June 1790
letter to Hollis; they were delivered by John Maunsell and
Boston merchant William Knox (1756–1795), who 74 served as the first U.S. consul
at Dublin from 1790 to 1792, for which see Hollis’ 3 March [1791] letter, and note 1, above (vol. 20:366, 367;
Washington, Papers, Presidential Series
,
9:188).
Marchmont Nedham (Needham), De la souveraineté du peuple, et de l’excellence d’un état
libre, transl. Theophile Mandar, 2 vols., Paris, 1790.
Prior to her death on 22 June, British historian
Catharine Sawbridge Macaulay Graham published Observations on the Reflections of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, on
the Revolution in France, in a Letter for the Right Hon. the Earl of
Stanhope, London, 1790. Graham argued that the 1689 Bill of
Rights was an inadequate model for revolutionaries to use, since natural
rights were universal rather than dependent on the monarchy’s largesse
(Bridget Hill, The Republican Virago: The Life
and Times of Catharine Macaulay, Historian, N.Y., 1992, p.
229).
For the Nootka Sound crisis, see vol. 20:index.
London philanthropist Timothy Hollis (1709–1791), a
nephew of Hollis’ benefactor Thomas Hollis, died on 14 Dec. 1791 (Disney, Memoirs
, p. 57).
Writing under the pseudonym Francis Oldys, Scottish
antiquarian George Chalmers published The Life
of Thomas Pain: The Author of Rights of Men, with a Defence of His
Writings, London, 1791 (vol. 17:284).
Sir James Mackintosh (1765–1832) was a philosopher
and political writer originally from Aldourie, Scotland. He published
Vindiciæ Gallicæ: Defence of the French
Revolution and Its English Admirers against the Accusations of the
Right Hon. Edmund Burke; Including Some Strictures on the Late
Production of Mons. de Calonne, London, 1791 (
DNB
).
The Polish Constitution of 3 May 1791 set up a
hereditary monarchy and a powerful parliament. Citizens embraced
sweeping political and cultural reforms, which were opposed by Russia
and Prussia, ultimately leading to the second partition of Poland in
1793 (Jerzy Lukowski and Hubert Zawadzki, A
Concise History of Poland, 3d edn., Cambridge, Eng., 2019, p.
161, 163, 165).
For the trial and execution of Marie Antoinette, see Descriptive List of Illustrations, No. 3, above.