Papers of John Adams, volume 15
g[
11 November 1783]1
Mr: Copley presents his compliments to Mr: Adams, has seen Lord Mansfield and been informed that it is necessary to be early at the House, Mr Copley will go with Mr Adams and his friends at 12 o’Clock precisely, and shall be glad to know where they are to meet and thinks there will be no dificulty in gaining Admittance2
RC (PHi:Dreer Coll.); addressed: “John Adams Esquire”; endorsed: “Mr Copely” and in another hand “1783.”
This date is derived from accounts by JA and JQA of their attending the House of Lords at the opening of Parliament on Tuesday, 11 Nov. (JA, D&A
, 3:150–151; JQA, Diary
, 1:202–203). JA indicated that “Mr. Copely . . . procured me, and that from the great Lord Mansfield [William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield], a place in the house of lords, to hear the king’s speech at the opening of parliament, and to witness the introduction of the Prince of Wales, then arrived at the age of twenty one.”
The most detailed description of the event is JQA’s in his 14 Nov. letter to Peter Jay Munro (NNMus). There he wrote that the House was “this year uncommonly Crowded, because the Prince of Wales was sworn in and took his seat as Duke of Cornwall— I had a fine opportunity of seeing the King, the Prince of Wales, and all the peers, spiritual and temporal; it was a very magnificent sight indeed the Robes of the Lords were scarlet and white the Kings and the Prince of Wales’s were a Purple Velvet, with a white kind of a Cape, which came down, to about the middle of their Backs; and a Golden Chain round their necks, the King had his Crown on when he delivered his most gracious speech from the throne; he speaks (or rather reads, for he read his speech) most admirably well I believe there was not a person in the House, lost one word of what he said the speech is of no great importance to you and so I shall not say anything about it. The Prince of Wales took his oaths in a very gay manner. he look’d up,—and down,—and then on one side,—and then on the other,—and was smiling all the time; he is a very fine figure of a Man, I never saw so handsome a Prince and the King is also a very good looking Man,—but their Robes shew them to great Advantage—”
Artist John Singleton Copley not only socialized with JA during his 1783 sojourn in London but painted his portrait. For more on the Copley portrait of JA, see Descriptive List of Illustrations, Nos. 6 and 7, above.
th.1783.1
I duely received2 the Letter you did me the Honour to write me on the 26th. of May with two addresses inclosed one to the Ministers and Churches of the reformed in Holland, the other to those in France,3 and it should have been answered sooner had not a long Sickness prevented.— I am duely Sensible of the Honour, you do me, Gentlemen by confiding this benevolent Office to my Care, and it would give me great Pleasure to be able to give you 355
356
357encouragement to hope for Success:4 but Solicitations of this Kind are consider’d so differently in America, and in Europe, that an appointment which would be considered as very honourable in the former is regarded in the latter in a different Light. this difference of Sentiment is so real and so serious, that in the opinion of others, as well as in my own, it is inconsistent with the publick Character I have at present the honour to hold under the United States for me to accept of this.— It is agreed on all hands that my Name appearing in this Business would do a great Injury to the Loan of which I have the Care in Holland; so that I must beg the favour of you, Gentlemen, to make my Apology to the Second Congregational Church in Newport for declining a Trust, which my Regard to their Constitution as well as their Welfare, and my personal Respect for you would have induced me to accept with Pleasure had it been compatible with my Duty.
On occasion of a great Fire in Charlestown formerly and of an application of Dartmouth Colledge lately I have seen that there is such a degree of Ridicule attends such solicitations of Benevolence in Europe, that I cannot advise you to expect any Relief in this way: if you were to send an agent on Purpose, in my opinion he would not obtain enough to pay his Expences.
With great Esteem and Respect I have the Honour to be / Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble Servant.
RC in JQA’s hand (MHi:Channing Family Coll.); internal address: “The Honourable William Ellery, Henry Marchant / Robert Stevens, and William Channing Esqrs: / a Committee of the Second Congregational / Church in Newport.—”; endorsed: “J. Adams.—” LbC (Adams Papers); APM Reel 107.
In the Letterbook, where the original text and the alterations are in JA’s hand, JA originally wrote “The Hague August [2?] 1783” and then interlined “London November 12” over the original place and date. This indicates (see note 2) that JA received the church’s 26 May letter (vol. 14:498–501) during his visit to the Netherlands in July and August. It is likely the letter Matthew Ridley “received by yesterday’s Post from England” and forwarded to JA with his letter of 28 July, above. Why JA then drafted a reply in his Letterbook, but apparently did not have JQA copy it and send it off, is unknown.
In the Letterbook, to this point this sentence originally read “I received, to Day, from London.”
In the Letterbook at this point the comma appears to have been originally a period, and the remainder of the sentence was crowded into the space between the original end of the sentence and the following paragraph beginning “I am duely Sensible.”
In the Letterbook “But Solicitations” began a new paragraph, and this sentence continued “but having lately had occasion to try an Experiment.”
In JA’s hand.