Adams Family Correspondence, volume 13
I had the pleasure of seeing mr Peabody here, yesterday mor’g he got here the night before, but it was late, and I was gone to Bed, tho I had exceeded my usual Hour before the President arrived. he brought William with him. I think I do not feel my last Summers sickness in any way, so sensible, as by being languid, and wanting my rest at a particular Hour. if I vary much, I lose my sleep—
I have intended every day since my return to have written you,
but every day has produced some cares which have retarded me; and the heat oppresses
me very much. I had a pleasent Journey & have found myself better ever since. I
was so sick last Summer, that I could not see company to dinner, and therefore we made
no great dinners, so that I have a double share of that buisness to do. we had one
last week and I got through better than I expected— we have an other next week— I am
happy to learn the little present to mr Peabody proved acceptable. I lookd when I was
at Boston at linnen, but I could not see any under a dollor fit to make up, and that
not better than we used to get for 3 & 6—or 4 shillings— William chose to suit
himself as in the purchase of a coat & Gown. the Coat I like much but could not
fancy his choice for a Gown. We made it up and it does very well. I think he will do
better as to linnen at Philadelphia—and as you have been so good as to send him two,
he will not want, till then, and if I go, I will endeavour to persuade him to wear
cotton in winter.— I think it will be for his Health— his cough has left him, and I
think he is better. I would have you try upon abbe the worm wafers.1 they have been used with great effect, and I
believe she has still some remaining I want you to come here in sep’br. do not defer your visit to a longer day. the days grow
short and the weather cold— If I keep well enough to go to Philadelphia, I design to
go the beginning of october—
I know you will rejoice to hear that I have received Letters from Berlin to the middle of May.2 my Children were then well, but mrs A—— continues to meet with one misfortune after an other. she was just recovering from the third— I heard from Thomas at Philadelphia this week; he is going into the Country—about six miles from the 520 city.3 the fever has not got to any Head yet, but I fear it will when the season arrives in which it used to Ravage— in Boston and new york, it is Healthy—
I will procure some stockings for the Boys I could have been
almost angry with William—tho so handsomely supplied with Cloaths, do you think he put
them on, but went to commencment in those he wore down which be sure, were proper
enough for common use but when he had others & with him, to go into so much
company—and so drest, it mortified me— but children want consideration— I send my
little Neice a Book I did not Read it untill I bought it. there is no harm in it, many
usefull lessons—but some which I do not assent to or approve of— I will never consent
to have our sex considered in an inferiour point of light. let each planet shine in
their own orbit, God and natur designd it so— if man is Lord, woman is Lordess— that is what I contend for—and if a woman does not
hold the Reigns of Government, I see no reason for her not judging how they are
conducted—
when you read the Book you will easily know the part alluded to—
I am my dear sister with Love and affection ever yours—
to miss Palmer a kind Remembrance, and to John whose turn to commencment will be next year—
RC (DLC:Shaw Family Papers); addressed: “Mrs Elizabeth Peabody / Atkinson”;
endorsed: “July 19th. 1799”; docketed: “July 1799.”
Perhaps Ching’s Worm Lozenges, patented by John Ching in 1796 as
a remedy for worms and offered for sale in Philadelphia briefly in the summer of 1797
before being widely advertised there and in New York beginning in Dec. 1798 (Anthony
Morson, Operative Chymist, Atlanta, 1997, p. 55; Philadelphia Gazette, 22 June 1797; Philadelphia Aurora General Advertiser, 13 Dec. 1798; New York Commercial Advertiser, 13 Feb. 1799).
JQA to AA, 7 May, above.
TBA to AA, 6 July, above.
st:1799.
I thank you for your favor of the 15th:
instt: which reached me yesterday at this place, where I
have been since the 15th: and where notwithstanding your
kind invitation & advice, I expect to continue until it shall be clearly ascertained
whether the pestilential fever is to prevail or not in the City this season. I am out of
the way of danger, if any should exist; and before the expiration of another month we
521 must know whether any unusual mortality takes place
among the inhabitants who stay behind, and at what period the City will again become
habitable. If the inhabitants should not generally be forced to flee, I shall be ready
to return early in September—if they are under the necessity of evacuating it, we cannot
expect to return till November, in which case I may come to you. It is true that my
board & expences will probably exceed the expence of the journey, but then I shall
suffer no interruption in my reading, which is absolutely necessary for me to renew the
practice of my profession, and though you have an idea that no such thing as retirement
is to be found here, I can assure you the contrary is the case, for I am confident that
I have not passed a week of so complete solitude for many years— We are situated in a
narrow lane at the foot of a hill, about a quarter of a mile from the great road. The
house we at present occupy is but a single story in height; its foundation laid upon a
very large rock, which overhangs a babling brook & murmuring rill, the sound of
which united to those which now & then proceed from a few antient & venerable
bull-frogs, grown hoarse by a frequent repetition of the same note, serves but to lull
our troubled spirits or “to sooth our sleep.”1 Our cot is very humble, our farm is scant,
consisting of nearly three fourths of an acre of ground, quite insufficient for the
pasturage of a single Cow—still we enjoy rural felicity, by making tributary to our
pleasures the more extensive, luxuriant & better improved farms of our neighbors. At
the close of the day, we ramble in the fields & forrests of the vicinage—here we
occasionally meet a straggling reaper a gleaner or a wood nymph—Some “Musidora” or
“lovely young Lavinia,” “veil’d in a simple robe, their best attire.”2 The companions of my walks & sports are two
young Students of medicine, natives of South Carolina & pupils of Dr: Rush. They are advanced beyond the period of Shop
attendance and are pursuing their studies preparatory to graduation; I have found them
hitherto very pleasant young men—possessing habits of stability application &
fondness for books, rarely found in Southern Constitutions.3 Should the pestilence increase at Philadelphia,
we shall have a large reinforcement of boarders, which will make this residence much
less desirable than it is now. From the above description you will be able to form a
judgement of my situation, and whether it be advisable to change it or continue in it—
The position is said to be healthy.
The Oration &ca: which were sent me
afforded amusement. Lowell should have published his opinions five or six years ago,
when it would have been a mark of courage to have advanced them— They 522 are not ill-timed even now, but at the period I mention, he would have been grossly
insulted & abused by an open & public avowal of similar sentiments. After all
these wonderful displays of courage & patriotism—I have always been & always
shall be of opinion, that the John Adams’s were the only people in their right minds
from the beginning, and were more instrumental in bringing the senses of Americans back
to the standard whence they had deviated, than all the rest of the world put together.
Publicola killed Tom Pain; Columbus & Barneveldt strangled Genet & gagged Jemmy
Sully—and the Speeches from the Presidential chair—seconded by nervous answers to
addresses, have confirmed & given stability to wavering minds, councils &
speculations.4 The councils of the
righteous have confounded the foolish, and it is a consolation to me when I think with
confidence, that future errors of opinion are capable of being corrected by courage
& perseverance. The courage of a Statesman is as often put to the proof as that of
the Soldier in actual service, and many a one who would scorn to turn his back on a
battery suddenly unmasked, would shrink from a public scrutiny of his political tenets
& opinions.
I am with the truest love & duty / Your Son
P. S. Love to Shaw— I have his few lines of the 9th:, but have nothing to say in reply, at present.5 He is very good in sending me pamphlets &
papers for which I am indebted beyond the capacity of recompense.
RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “Mrs: A Adams /
Quincy”; internal address: “Mrs: A Adams.”; endorsed: “T B
Adams July / 21. 1799.”
Moses Mendez, “The Squire of Dames,” Canto II, line 120.
James Thomson, The Seasons,
“Summer,” line 1289; “Autumn,” lines 177, 203.
TBA’s fellow boarders were John Skottowe Bellinger
and John Parker Gough. Bellinger (1777–1842) apprenticed with Benjamin Rush beginning
in June 1795 and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1799, and Gough (ca.
1779–1819) began his training in April 1796 and graduated in 1800 (TBA, Diary, 1798–1799, 3, 5 July 1799; James E.
Gibson, “Benjamin Rush’s Apprenticed Students,”Transactions
& Studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 4th ser., 14:129
[Dec. 1946]; “Early Alumni of the University of Pennsylvania,”
PMHB
, 30:123 [1906];
Charleston Southern Patriot, 23 June 1842; Salem Essex Register, 3 March 1819).
For JQA’s Publicola, Columbus, and Barneveldt essays, see vols. 9:291, 469; 10:xxx, 11.
William Smith Shaw’s letter to TBA has not been found. In a brief letter to Shaw of 23 July 1799, TBA commented on the presence of yellow fever in Philadelphia (MWA:Adams Family Letters).