Diary of Charles Francis Adams, volume 2
1828-12-17
Morning at the Office, busy in writing my reply to my father’s last letter. It was chiefly confined to the subject which has principally agitated this place for some time, and which is now interesting every body in the trial of Genl. Lyman.1 In the afternoon I finished the 324Secret Journals of Congress and in the evening read Dr. Johnson’s Life. The whole day being passed very busily and not without profit. The Jury could not agree in their verdict.
CFA recalled that he had been present during the conversation between Clay and JQA, which immediately preceded the latter’s statement in the National Intelligencer concerning New England Federalists and the embargo (see entry for 19 Oct., and note, above). Old Federalists in Boston, he reiterated, were ready to forget the past and paid no attention to Jefferson’s letter; consequently they regarded JQA’s statement as an unprovoked denunciation of themselves (CFA to JQA, 17 Dec. 1828, Adams Papers).