Adams Family Correspondence, volume 9
br1792
I inclose to you a memorandum which I received from Mrs Smith,1 the Receit given you for the Money I have received and will forward in a Letter to mrs Copley but at the same time I wish to know how she is to come at the money lodged in the Bank. perhaps mrs Gray has taken measures for that, but as I feel myself in some degree responsible to mrs Copley I wish when I write to her & state the facts, that she may at the same time receive her money.
My son takes Fennos paper in which is a peice dated Annopolis & signed a consistant Republican I think, for I have not now the paper by me. I would suggest to you sir whether it might not be proper for Russel to republish it.2 the people of this state appear to feel themselves safe and I believe are happy under the National Goverment, but if they mean to continue so they must be more vigilint, for never since the commencment of the Goverment has there been so formi[dable] a combination to overthrow it. there are no falsehoods too barefaced for the Antis to circulate. the zeal with which a certain Gentleman in Boston is brought forward for a Representitive shews plainly that like Moles, much work has been done in this state underground.3 mr Ames I find in one place has been Represented as having made an immence fortune by speculation, in an other place the people have been told that he was an Enemy to the Rights of the People and in an other, where such a report was known to be unpopular, that he was in favour of the Petition of the officers of the late Army, but they may be assured that Massachusetts has not a Member who has more uniformly supported the National Goverment since its commencment and with abilities which his Enemies dread.4 let our Country men look at France and ask themselves do the Rights of Men consist in the destruction & devastation of Private property do the Rights of Man consist in Murder & 327 328Massacre without distinction of Age or youth of sex or condition, Scenes which Humanity Sickens at, the very recital of which at this [distan]ce from the scene of carnage, the Youthfull Blood is frozen, and each particular Hair as shakspear expresses it, stands an End, like quills upon the fretted Porcupine.5
Mr Adams sets of on monday next could you ride up and dine with us on sunday we shall be very happy to see you. my kind Regards to mrs welch and family—
yours affectionatly
RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “Dr Thomas Welch / Boston”; docketed: “Mrs. A Adams ‘92.” Some loss of text due to a torn manuscript.
Not found.
“To the People of Maryland,” which was signed “A Consistent Federalist” and dated Annapolis, 19 Oct., appeared in the Philadelphia Gazette of the United States, 31 Oct., reprinted from the Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, 23 October. Benjamin Russell reprinted the article in the Boston Columbian Centinel, 17 Nov., under the signature “A Constant Federalist.” The article, responding to a suggestion that Charles Carroll of Carrollton replace JA as vice president, argues that Antifederalists had long opposed JA “because his abilities and principles were formidable to their views and ambition; and because to prevent his re-election would be a point gained over the constitution itself.” It goes on to summarize much of JA's diplomatic career in glowing terms and to suggest that “the knowledge he acquired, in these several missions, of the interests and views of the courts of Europe, fit him in a peculiar manner to fill, to the greatest advantage, the station he now occupies.”
Benjamin Austin Jr., who was defeated by Fisher Ames for Suffolk County representative (Boston Columbian Centinel, 3 Nov.).
During the weeks before the election, various newspaper items appeared questioning Ames’ disinterestedness and suggesting his collusion with speculators; see, for example, Boston Independent Chronicle, 25 Oct., and Boston Gazette, 29 October. After the election, the Boston Gazette, 5 Nov., printed a satirical piece breaking down who voted for Ames into categories such as “Branch Bank Officers, Directors and Runners”; “Persons interested deeply in the Funds, alias Paper-Men”; and, finally, “A noted, idle stroller, who has been too fat to engage in any Business but Speculation!” Two years earlier, Ames had been accused of withholding from Congress a petition signed by thousands of soldiers in opposition to the funding bill (Stewart, Opposition Press
, p. 42).
Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, scene v, line 20.
post 15 November 1792]1
I was not a little Surprizd at receiving intelligence through mrs smith soon after her arrival that you had never received the Money for the Silk you was so good as to purchase at my request three years ago— I am extreemly sorry that your delicacy prevented you from giving me this information at an earlier period. most assuredly Madam I would not have askd such a favour for myself nor could I have ventured it for any other person. upon my Receiving mrs smiths Letter I immediatly informd mrs Gray of it who was not less surprizd than I 329was—for 30 dollors was sent with the Letter and Mrs Gray supposd that it was paid for at the Time the silk was sent tho she now recollects that the Bill which she received was not receited. a Mr Russel Hubbard was the person who received the money and not finding mrs Copley at Home when he left the Letter he lodgd the money in the Bank of England where it now is. he thought no more of it, and mrs Adams did not see mrs Gray till two years after when she thanked her me2 for having procured her silk through mrs Copley
I inclose you the Recit which will enable you to receive at the Bank the 30 dollar with one pr cent interest from the time it was lodg'd there, as I am informd. I am unacquainted with the mercantile method of doing Buisness but suppose it is Regular. if there should still be any diffiulty remaining I hope you will be kind enough to inform me
our late dear suffering Friend mrs Rogers I shall always remember with a sisterly affection She was happily for her releazd and I believe I may add made perfect as humane Nature was capable of, through Sufferings if ever there was a sincere mourner mr Rogers may be rankd in that Class—
My dear Mrs Smith expresses herself happy in the Renewal of her acquaintane with you—and in the continuence of your Friendship. I hope she will not be in a situation to call upon you for such assistance as you have formerly renderd her, but if she should, I shall more than ever solicit your kind attention to her. I hope she will never venture to sea in circumstances similar to those in which she made her last voyage which nearly cost her her Life.
My own Health has sufferd so much by my Residence at Philadelphia that I do not propose going there this winter.
I hope mr Copley & the Ladies your daughters enjoy their Health. miss Copleys Rose Tree I still preserve & tho it has out lived several seasons & many of the productions of Nature Time has Rob'd it in some measure of its Bloom.3
I am dear Madam with my best wishes for your Health & happiness / Your Friend & Humble servant
Dft (Adams Papers). Filmed at [1792].
The dating of this letter is based on AA's letters of 3 Nov. to AA2 and of 15 Nov. to Thomas Welsh, both above.
AA initially wrote “her” then added “me” directly above it.
AA brought two rose bushes back from England in 1788, a red Lancaster and a white York, which she planted at the Old House. The Lancaster survived into the nineteenth century; the York is still flourishing at the Adams National Historical Park.