Diary of Charles Francis Adams, volume 4
1831-10-04
The morning was clear but an East wind soon blew up the Clouds for a Storm. I thought I would try a little fishing this morning and so went down. The tide was high and my success was tolerably good. The fish now begin to run up.1 Returned at noon and wrote my Diary. This is not the detail of a very satisfactory morning, but one thing may be considered, I do not spend many such.
Afternoon. Read the remainder of the twelfth book of Letters to Atticus. They are very short and relate rather to business, particularly to the purchase of Gardens wherein to build a monument to his daughter. It is remarkable to notice how earnestly he was engaged in this scheme. In our day, these things are little considered of. Read Bacon’s Essay Of Beauty, and Attended a Party at Mr. Beale’s given to Miss Roberdeau. The usual Quincy Company. Mr. B. came out very handsomely with a Supper Table.2 Returned home, read my Spectators and went to bed.
JQA recorded that the fishing party was “at the Creek” (Diary, 4 Oct.), that is, Black’s Creek, a tidal inlet to the north and east of the Old House.
In the course of Mary Roberdeau’s stay in Quincy, George Beale became an attentive admirer. Within the family circle, some expectation of a proposal of marriage was entertained, but that point was not reached before the end of her visit. LCA to Mrs. JA2, 4, 18, and 26 Oct.; LCA to CFA, 30 Sept.