Adams Family Correspondence, volume 13
I promised My dear Thomas to write to him by the May packet. on Fryday Evening at the drawing Room the British Minister informed me that he would take charge of any Letters I might have to Send. I wrote to your Brother by the April Packet, since which there has been a continuation, and increase of that American Spirit which I informd him was rising into activity. I have sent to your Brother, by way of England and Hamburghs Coppies of the dispatches and instructions, both which Mr Thornton secretary to Mr Liston, has promised to deliver to Mr King, as I do not now know of a private Hand.1 I shall not venture News papers by this Conveyance on account of their postage.
The effect produced upon the minds of the people by the publication of the dispatches, is wonderfull, considering What a blind attachment they had towards France. previous to their publication, meetings were held in many Towns, in different states of the union petitioning Congress not to permit the merchants to Arm their vessels, and in general, not to take any active measures against France, but since they have been made acquainted with the views, and designs of France towards us, no less than 5 different addresses from this City and its Subbubs have been presented to the President within these ten days, one from the Merchants insurers & underwriters with 5000 Names one from the Major Alderman and common counsel of the city, one from the Nothern Liberties, and one from southwark and one from the Young Men of the city. York Town & Lancaster have follow’d.2 I have been more particular in enumerating these, because You well know, this city has been the Center of Jacobinism and foreign Faction. I may add to these in the order in which they have come Addresses from New York the Jersies 2 Baltimore, George Town, Alexandria and Boston. all of the addresses express their firm determination to write in such measures as shall be demed proper for the safety Security and independance of the Country, and expressive of an intire Satisfaction with the Executive in his endeavours to effect a reconciliation with France.3
The Theatre you know; has been call’d the pulse of the people. if
so the pulse of ours precedes a fever. it has been
customary to play and sing French songs and Airs. Ci era and other songs have been
countananced at all the Theatres, untill since the dispatches from France have been made
publick, the first attempt afterwards was hist, and the Presidents March call’d for. the
Mussicians not regarding the call, were driven off. the managers apologized and said,
“they had not any words to the tune.[”] one of the Actors applied to a Gentleman to
write him a National song suited to the Tune. the song inclosed is the first production
of his pen in the Poetic line, and tho not perfect, being suited to the spirit of the
times has had great effect. I had a curiosity to witness the first effect of it. it was
not then made publick, but the unbounded applause with with it was received fully
manifested the temper of the times, and such was the enthusiasm, that the last time of
singing it, (for it was four times enchord,) the whole Audience rose and joind in the
Chorus. It has several times Since been sung, and with redoubled Applause4 I relate these circumstances, as it must be
pleasing to you to learn that the spirit of the Fathers, still lives in their Son’s—and
tho from the Love of Peace, they have borne with unequal’d patience, bordering even to
submission, the injuries, and injustice of Nations who stile themselves our Friend’s,
Yet they have now arrived to such indignities, as to call upon every American to resist
and repell them, and to shew them, that we did not break from the shackles of our
Parent, to become slaves of our sister, a venal depraved corrupt and proffligate wretch,
who has rejected our proferd terms of reconciliation, and calls for bribes. I see no
prospect of a Continuence of Peace, and we must prepare for the event with firmness and
with resolution. Congress are proceeding to raise a Provisional Army, to raise a Navy
Sufficient to protect our Commerce and to fortify our harbours. a New department is
instituted, and a Minister of Marine will in a few days be appointed. our merchantmen
are Arming and we shall soon put on the appearence of defence
5
Yesterday a Letter was received from our Envoys of Feb’ry 6th they had then made to the Minister a long Memorial if
it did not receive any notice within a given time, they were determined to call for
their 3 pasports.6 I wish we could for a certainty, learn that they
were safe out of the Fiery Furnace.
I thank you my dear Thomas for your Letter of December;7 you mention only the sickness of your sister, tho your Brother writes that you had yourself been very ill. I fear you have a constitution too much like your Mothers, who has all her life been subject to inflamitory diseases, and who this very Winter was seizd with a soar throat much like what your Brother describes yours to be. I have been better in Health this winter than usual
I have the pleasure to inform you, and I bless God for it, that your Father is Supported according to the Exigencys of the times, and tho the song says, the “Rock on which the storm will beat” Supported by the Justice of the Cause, and the Integrity of his own mind, he will not despond;—
I received a Letter from Mrs Johnson this week8 She appears to me to be home sick. I wish she could have come this way. I think she would have been more satisfied. it requires Some time to live in a Country, in order to be reconciled to it and old England possesses so many conveniencies of a domestic kind and house keeping is such a science there, to what it is here, where you can organize your Household, with due subordination that I do not at all wonder a Lady feels discontented when she sits down in this Country with the domesticks which are to be had here.
My old steward the Faithfull Brisler his wife and Children live with me here. You know his valuable qualities. I could not live here without him, and I have much comfort and satisfaction with my domesticks. I hope Tilly still adheres to you, and proves the Faithfull domestick you at first found him.
Present me affectionatly to your Brother and sister. I shall not
write to him by this conveyance. the last Letter received from him is the 30 Jan’ry to Your Father—9 It is thought Gov’r
Jay is Reelected, by a very Great Majority—10
I am my dear son / most / affectionatly Your / Mother—11
RC (Adams Papers); endorsed: “Mrs: A Adams / 1 May
1798. / 28 June Recd: / 26 July acknd.”
AA’s letters to JQA of 4, 8, and 13 April, for which see vol. 12:480–483, 498–500, were accompanied by publications relating to the XYZ Affair and sent via the British packet. Rufus King reported the arrival of the letters in his 18 May letter to JQA (Adams Papers). AA sent JQA duplicates of the XYZ documents with her letter sent via Hamburg dated 21 April, for which see vol. 12:516–519.
For the petitions to Congress opposing the arming of merchant vessels, see vol. 12:467, 468, and for the Pennsylvania memorials in support of JA that followed the publication of the XYZ correspondence, see same, 4 12:499, 501–502, 518, and 519.
A public meeting held at the Lancaster County courthouse on 19
April approved an address supporting JA’s actions toward “the
preservation of the neutrality and peace.” On 28 April some young men from the
Southwark and Northern Liberties districts of Philadelphia gathered at the tavern of
James Cameron, pledging their support of the government and appointing a committee to
draft an address. They reconvened on 30 April and approved a memorial declaring their
“most entire confidence” in JA and pledging that should the need arise,
“we will assemble with promptitude, obey the orders of the constituted authorities
with alacrity, and on every occasion act with all the exertion of which we are
capable” (Adams Papers, filmed at
[7 May]; Philadelphia
Gazette, 1, 2 May;
Philadelphia Directory
, 1798, p. 32, Evans, No. 34593;
Patriotic
Addresses
, p. 195–196, 200–202; Philadelphia Carey’s United States’ Recorder, 1 May).
The resolutions and memorials supporting the executive enumerated
by AA here likely included one from the New York Chamber of Commerce,
which met on 20 April, published a series of resolutions supporting the executive on
24 April, and received a response from JA dated the 27th. Residents from
Burlington County, N.J., met at the courthouse in Mount Holly on 21 April and
similarly pledged their support of the government, as did a group from Windsor,
Montgomery, Kingston, and Princeton, N.J., which met in Princeton on the same day. The
Baltimore memorial resulted from a meeting on 17 April of town residents who declared
“themselves impelled by considerations of duty and love to their country, to express
their sentiments and declare their determination to support the constituted
authorities.” Resolutions were also adopted by residents of Georgetown, D.C., on 21
April, and that same day 1,800 Bostonians signed a memorial. In Alexandria, Va., a
meeting was held on 25 April and similarly generated an address of 27 April (Adams Papers) that praised
JA: “We are pleased to see those virtues and talents so often exercised
for the benefit of your country … exerted in the discharge of the arduous duties of
the first magistrate” (New York Commercial Advertiser, 24
April, 3 May; Philadelphia Gazette of the United States,
21, 23, 26, 28 April; Boston Price-Current, 26 April; Alexandria Times, 24, 28 April;
Patriotic Addresses
,
p. 32–33, 163–164, 172–176, 250–251).
AA referenced here, and quoted later in the letter,
“The President’s March,” for which see vol. 12:xvi–xvii. Although the enclosure has not been found, the
song’s lyrics were printed in the Philadelphia Gazette of the
United States, 26 April, and published separately by Carr’s Musical Repository
with a portrait of JA on 30 April (Philadelphia Porcupine’s Gazette, 27 April). For AA’s comments on the
portrait, see her letter to Catherine
Nuth Johnson of 4 May, below.
While JA had called on Congress to raise a
provisional army at the beginning of his presidential term, no action was taken until
after the revelation of the XYZ Affair. On 13 April Benjamin Goodhue introduced a bill
in the Senate for a provisional army of 20,000 men, and it passed ten days later in a
13 to 8 vote. A heated debate in the House followed, with Federalists arguing that
state militias could not stand against a French invasion and urging measures to deter
French hostility, while Democratic-Republicans believed the bill was unnecessary and
threatened to militarize the country with a standing army that would be used against
domestic opponents of the administration. This opposition was partially successful,
and the resulting bill limited the army to 10,000 troops, which could be called upon
only “in the event of a declaration of war against the United States, or of actual
invasion of their territory, … or of imminent danger of such invasion,” and only if
such occurred before the next session of Congress. This weakened bill passed 51 to 40
on 18 May, the Senate concurred in the amendments on 22 May, and JA
signed it on 28 May. The U.S. Department of the Navy was established by Congress on 30
April (vol. 12:118;
Annals of
Congress
, 5th Cong., 2d sess., p. 540, 546, 561, 1772; Kohn, Eagle
and Sword
, p. 224–226;
U.S. Statutes at
Large
, 1:553–554, 558–561). For the construction of naval vessels, the
fortification of U.S. ports, and the arming of merchant vessels, see vol. 12:150–151, 173, 449–450, 455.
A 7 Feb. dispatch to Timothy Pickering from the American envoys
to France, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry, enclosed a
lengthy memorial dated 17 Jan. to the French foreign minister Talleyrand and a copy of
the 18 Jan. French decree against neutral shipping, for which see vol. 12:355–356. The commissioners’
letter 5 to Talleyrand reviewed the history of
Franco-American relations, defended various U.S. decisions, in particular the
declaration of neutrality at the start of the French Revolution and the ratification
of the Jay Treaty, and detailed the abuses suffered by American shipping by French
acts against neutral vessels. In their covering letter, the commissioners informed
Pickering that if they did not receive a satisfactory answer, they would formally
request their passports to leave France (
Amer. State Papers, Foreign
Relations
, 2:169–182).
This letter has not been found, nor are there any extant letters from Johnson to AA.
AA likely meant JQA’s letter to JA of 31 Jan. 1798, in which JQA reported his inability to move forward with treaty negotiations until he received new credentials to present to the Prussian government, offered extensive comment on France’s impact in Europe, and questioned the veracity of reports about the new Russian emperor, Paul I. He also reported meeting several diplomats who had known JA during his diplomatic service (Adams Papers).
John Jay was reelected in the 1798 New York gubernatorial
contest, receiving 54 percent to his opponent Robert R. Livingston’s 46 percent of the
29,644 votes cast (Hamilton, Papers
, 21:534).
AA wrote again to TBA on 7 May,
offering further comment on the many addresses being submitted to JA,
reporting that a deputation of Philadelphia youth were expected that day for the same
purpose, and claiming that “the spirit of addressing will be succeeded by a military
spirit, and our youth will prepare to defend the Boon
obtaind through much danger many difficulties and seald with the Blood of their
Fathers.” She also noted JA’s good health despite the rigors of the
presidency (Adams Papers).
r.
d.1798
Your Favour of the 22d. Ulto. I received the 1t. Inst.
1 After a
long & severe Winter, a cold & stormy March, and April much the same, a few
Days excepted. We have at length fine Weather, and an Opportunity of getting our Seed
in the Ground. The Weather has been exceeding hot and dry for Four Days Viz from the
28th. of April to the 2d.
Inst. April 28. Thermomtr.
68. 29th. Th. 70. 30th. Th.
75— May. 1. Th. 77. (that is, in the highest Heat of the several Days)— Vegetation is
as rapid as I ever remember— Yesterday I got over to Quincy and find your Grass Lands
have a very promising Appearance, But few Canker Worms have made their Appearance this
Year, In the Season of their Ascent I gave Directions for tarring the Apple Trees.
Mr. Bass tells me there are only a few Millers to be
seen— There are but few Caterpillars to be seen on any of the Trees, if the Rose Bugs
should not molest the Trees this year, We shall have a plenty of Fruit in the
Fall—2 A Number of Pieces of Land on
your Farms will require the Steel Scythe— Will it not be best to employ Trask, tho
old, he seems to understand the Business.— Last Week I was confind to my House with my
old pulmonic Affections, which e’er long will demolish my Frame— This day Our good Old
Friend Major Humphrey departed this Life in the 87th. Year
of his Age and is gone to a better World—3 Miss S. Warner on the 27th. Ulto. sunk down to 6 rest. Through the whole of her Sickness She
exhibited an uncommon Patience and steady Submission to the Will of Heaven and has
left us the consoling Hopes of her enjoying a blessed Immortality.4
My Health does not permit me to write much, but I cannot break
off without saying a Word or two upon Politics. The Conduct of a Number of Towns near
Boston has been truly mortifying. To the Arostratic Pride & disappointed Ambition
of the Descendants of the great5
Philosopher of Cambridge (who in his Day had acquired the Reputation of a Politician) whose family possess his Temper but not his Virtues—may be ascribed the Doings of Cambridge— The
restless & disappointed Ambition of the Hero of Roxbury may in some Measure
account for theirs and French Agency for Dorchester the malicious, persevering, and
revengeful Spirit of a disappointed Colonel joind to the Duplicity of a certain Lawyer
now in public Life—for Milton—and Conduct of some other Towns may be imputed to the
Chronicle—6
th.
The Presidents Commission & Instructions were liberal more so, I think, than I should have given, were I to have been in his Place, yet taking all Things into Consideration, they were wise and prudent and as the Representative of the whole Nation, he has expressed its Sense fully, and I am sure will meet with the approbation and Gratitude of every true American.—
The Dispatches from the Envoy’s cannot be read without producing deep Resentment and an Abhorrence of the Meanness and Baseness of the component Powers of the French Nation and of their insatiable Lust of Domination & Rapine and a full Conviction, that they are mad with Infidelity, mad with Conquest & mad with Pride & Avarice— What Hope can there be of treating with them, upon any other Terms than a Surrender of our Property and our Independance, and are We not in fact reduced to this Dilemma, either to submit or to defend?
The Communication of these State Papers (the Necessity of the Measure I regret much) have opened the Eyes of Many that were blind and have turnd them from the Error of their Ways a very different View of Things is rapidly taking Place and if reduced to extremities I doubt not of a general Union—
I wish Congress would adopt some Measures for preventing the sowing of Sedition, securing of Foreigners whose Nation may 7 unjustly imprison or abuse our Citizens and provide for any Exigences that may possibly occur before the next Meeting of Congress—
The Weather still continues pleasant, Vegetation proceeds with
surprizing Rapidity— Mine & Mrs. Tufts best Regards to
Mrs. Adams— Accept of my best Wishes for Your Health
& Happiness and that your public Labors may be crownd with the utmost Success
Your Affecte Friend & H Servt
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “The President of the United States.” Dft (Adams Papers).
In his letter of 22 April, JA asked for Tufts’ opinion of the instructions to and dispatches from the U.S. envoys to France and issued directions regarding the Adamses’ farms (NBuHi).
In the Dft, Tufts expanded his comments: “The Large Extent of Your Lands requires an almost continual Oversight. Tenants are for ever complaining, Give them the greatest Advantages, yet they will but seldom consult the Interest of their Land, but what will yield them an immediate Profit is their great object without looking forward to a [measure] much greater & their measures will be taken accordingly— Our great Misfortune is, that a regular Apprenticeship to the farming Business is not establishd amongst— There are a great Number of Bushes which must be cut down the present year. Purgatory Pasture, apart of Thayers Farm, I find is much overrun with Bushes and as it is a good Pasture, this among Parts of Your Land will be attended to.”
James Humphrey (b. 1711) held several town offices in Weymouth,
serving as a selectman for more than forty years and representing the town in the
Mass. General Court (Gilbert Nash, comp., Historical Sketch of
the Town of Weymouth, Massachusetts, from 1622 to 1884, Weymouth, 1885, p.
285–286).
For the death of Susanna (Sukey) Warner, see vol. 12:537, 540.
Tufts marked for insertion here a comment placed at the bottom of
the page: “I could never make myself believe, That this great Philopher was ever a profound Politician or Complete
Statesman—nor have I found an Instance amongst the profound Philosophers of the present age that was justly entitled to that
Character—”
Tufts was possibly referring to Deacon Aaron Hill (d. 1792),
father of Dr. Aaron Hill, a key advocate for the Cambridge petition opposing merchant
armament (vol. 12:476–477,
480; Lucius R. Paige, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630–1877, Boston,
1877, p. 583, 584). For the Roxbury petition championed by Maj. Gen. William Heath,
the Dorchester petition organized in part by James Swan and John Howe, and the
petition from Milton, see vol. 12:470, 513–514, 515.