Adams Family Correspondence, volume 11
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th1796 Quincy
Your Letter of June the 29th was as refreshing to me as cold water to a thirsty Soul. the very superscription gave a flow to my spirits which I had not experienced for many Months before. be assured not one unkind thought ever enterd my mind at not hearing from you. it was anxious Solisitude for Your Health, painfull suspence at what might be the cause of Your long silence. Your Brother had informd me from England, that you had been sick, and the Nature of your Complaints. Maternal affection felt the pains, heightned by the Idea of Distance, a foreign Land, destitute of Fraternal aid, and those alleviations which Soothe the Heart, and mitigate the Sufferings. Not a Bosom as Sterns Says to Uncle Toby, to rest Your Head upon, nor a Heart to repose Your Sorrows to.1 poor Fellow, if after commisiration and pity, could assuage even the pain of recollection, be assured You would find an ample fund, sufficient to allay them all, in the sympathetic Heart of Your Mother, who has herself experienced much ill Health through the Summer. I would recommend to You to try the Waters of Bath. they are said to be Soverign in those complaints to which you are Subject.2 Your Brothers New appointment will determine You to return Home next spring I presume. I should however recommend to you to visit France before that period.3 See for yourself a very extradonary People, whose
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future Destiny no Eye can penetrate, nor am I sufficently versd in the Prophesys, with Pater West, to rejoice in this Revolution which has consignd so many Innocent Victims to the World of Spirits, immolated so many fellow Creatures, to Mad ambition, and a thirst of Domination and conquest which now mark every step of their progress.4 Heaven grant that we may not be Scorched by their Flames. even at this Distance we feel the Heat of them.
The die is cast! All America is or ought to be in mourning The President of the united states refuses again to be considerd as a canditate for that office. He has addrest the people of the united states. read and Judge for yourself. is it not repleat with profound wisdom? how enlarged and comprehensive his views? How wise and judicious his advise? and, his warnings? with a modesty, I could almost say, peculiar to himself, with a Heart and mind Duly imprest with Religious Sentiments and an affectionate attachment to his Countrymen, he resigns the important trusts Committed to him, coverd with Glory and Crownd with Laurels, which will place him in the Archives of Time with the first of Heroes and the greatest of Benefactors to Mankind.
The present period is to the people of America a solemn pause! an Epoch in their Annals Big with the Fate of America.
Heaven Guide and direct them.
Before your Letter of June reachd me I felt so anxious for you, that I requested your Father to write to the Secretary of state, and inquire of him if any Letter had reachd him of a later Date. he was kind enough to reply and make some extracts from them, and at the close of his Letter, he says “the intelligence with which the Letters of your Youngest Son have been written, shew that the affairs of the united States in the Netherlands might very well be intrusted to his direction,[”] but he adds, I do not know what are the Presidents intentions.5
I quote this passage to shew you that your Letters have given satisfaction. the President has not left to a successor the promotion of Your Brother. I find by the Secretary of States Letter, that he was to remain in Holland untill further orders. when he receives them, I presume he will go to England and take his companion, who I hope will prove to him all he wants, and all he wishes, who will Do him good and not evil all the Days of her Life. I have felt a little anxious least I should have hurt his feelings in some sentiments exprest to him in a Letter, soon after I heard of his appointment, but he must 383 asscribe them to the real cause an anxious Solicitude for his welfare—6
adieu my Dear son. may you be safely returnd to Your Native land, and to the Arms of / your affectionate Mother
RC (Adams Papers); endorsed: “Mrs: A Adams TBA / 25 Septr: 1796 / 27 Jany 1797 Recd: / 7 April answd:.”
“How can you live comfortless, captain Shandy, and alone, without a bosom to lean your head on—or trust your cares to?” (Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, vol. 8, chap. 25).
For AA’s trip to Bath in Dec. 1786 and Jan. 1787, on which she was accompanied by AA2 and WSS, see vol. 7:410–411, 414–415, 445–448. JA and JQA had also made a brief visit to the town in Dec. 1783, for which see JA, D&A
, 3:151–152, and JQA’s excellent account of the trip in his letter to Peter Jay Munro, 29 Dec. (NNMus). TBA did not take the waters at Bath during the three months he and JQA spent in London from July to Oct. 1797.
While TBA would not return to America until 1799, he did spend nearly a month in Paris during April and May 1797. For the best description of his visit, see his letter to AA of 24 July, in which he enumerates the sites “worth a travellers curiosity” that he visited in the capital and also the country estates near Paris that had been damaged during the revolution (Adams Papers).
AA is referring to Rev. Samuel West, for whom see vol. 7:176. West was well known for his belief in biblical prophesies and the predictions they held about modern events, especially those of the American Revolution, and for his opposition to the French Revolution (Sprague, Annals Amer. Pulpit, 8:40, 41, 43).
JA’s letter to Timothy Pickering requesting information about TBA has not been found but was dated 29 Aug. 1796. In his reply of 5 Sept., Pickering informed JA that he had recently received a letter from TBA dated 28 May, not found, in which TBA cited ill health as the cause of his interrupted correspondence (Adams Papers).
See AA to JQA, 10 Aug., above.
r.1796.
Your favor of the 13th came to hand on the 26th. by which I find that you had not determined on the time of your departure or the Rout you should persue, tho you say you should prefer that by way of England if you are permitted & a Passage in a Neutral Vessell could be obtaind to carry you to your destination;1 I donot know the propriutory or Impropiutory of your comeing this way, therefore I will not venture an opinion on the case, but should you fix on this rout you need not be under any apprehentions of meeting with Neutral Vessells to convey you when you want to go as many are continually going back & forward. It is true, I do know the motive of your wishing to come this way & I should not act candid if I was not to tell you, that I wish it & that before the Month of March as I find it absolutely necessary for me to quit this for Amica either in that
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Month or early in April! for unless I go to Amica soon I may loose every thing that I have been labouring for during my life & leave my Family unprovided for & even unprotected, on meeting I can explain more to you & you will also have an opportunity to confer & make such arrangements as may tend to your future happiness & relieve me from a doubt whether my Child is to go with me or not2
I had receved previous to your letter, an Official communication from Mr. King, that the Directory of France, had come to the determination not to molest our Flag, I wish this Country would act with the same moderation; but they cannot help every now & then takeing some of our Vessells.—
By the latest Accounts from Amica we find that the opinion of the People is altered. it is now generally beleived that the President will be reelected & that he will serve the Office,3 it will be productive of one good & which is the prevention of a struggle for the Seat.— Dr. Nichol & Mr. Anstic are the Commissions appointed on the part of this Governmt to Settle the claims for our Captured property, the Commissions have advrtized to meet on the 10th. of next Month to do business & they tell me that they have hopes of finishing the whole in Eighteen Months, I much wish they may but I have my doubts—4 I am now looking out for an opportunity to send you the Books Mr. Hall left with me and as soon as I can meet with one they shall be forwarded—5
Mr. Bourne had wrote me that he had determined on postponeing his Visit to Amrica this Year & informed me of his Intentions to carry on Business at Amsterdam, I have a very high respect for this Gentleman & when I get fixt in Amrica shall do my best endeavors to serve him—
It is with much pleasure that I can inform you that Mrs. Johnson & all the Ladies are well, they Join in Affectionate Compliments to you; with every Sentiment of regard I am / Dear Sir / Your Affecte. Freind
RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “John Q. Adams Esqr. / Minister Resident from the / U. S. A. / Hague”; endorsed by TBA: “Joshua Johnson Esqr. / 30 Septr: 1796 / 12 Octr Recd: / 14 Do Ansd:.”
In his letter to Johnson of 13 Sept., JQA reiterated that it was unlikely he would depart for Portugal until the following spring but that it was his desire to travel via London, if permitted. Because it would be impossible for him to take passage in a British vessel, he asked Johnson if American or other neutral vessels regularly traveled between England and Portugal and when they would depart. JQA also passed along the news that Sylvanus Bourne had delayed his tour of the United States (Adams Papers).
For Johnson’s business dealings in London and subsequent financial failure, see LCA, D&A, 1:3, 36, 50–54, 86–87.
Johnson may have read the rumor of George Washington’s continued service in the London Bell’s Weekly Messenger, which on 11 Sept. reported, “A letter from Philadelphia, dated July 22, states the probability of General Washington continuing the Presidency of the United States, nothwithstanding his recent determination to the contrary, provided he is re-elected.”
Britons John Anstey and John Nicholl were appointed to the five-man commission established under Art. 7 of the Jay Treaty, which was to determine property damages that resulted from maritime seizures. The American representatives to the commission were Christopher Gore and William Pinkney. Col. John Trumbull was then chosen to be the fifth representative by the other four. The commission opened for public business on 10 Oct. and, after periods of interruption, finished on 24 Feb. 1804, having ruled on more than 500 claims that ultimately awarded $11,650,000 to American claimants and $143,430 to British claimants (John Bassett Moore, History and Digest of the International Arbitrations to Which the United States Has Been a Party, 6 vols., Washington, D.C., 1898, 1:316–322, 341–344).
On 12 July 1796 JQA had written to Joseph Hall requesting him to purchase Samuel Johnson’s Works of the English Poets, 75 vols., London, 1790. Further qualifying his request, JQA asked, “As this purchase is for one of my friends here, and not for myself, I wish the set may be very neat and handsome,” “handsomely bound, gilt, lettered &ca:” (LbC, APM Reel 128). In a letter of 2 Sept. Joshua Johnson informed JQA that Hall had delivered the books but that he would hold them until JQA’s return, to which JQA replied on 13 Sept. asking instead that the books be forwarded to him (both Adams Papers).