Papers of John Adams, volume 19
I am honoured with your Letter of the 4. of July and thank you for your friendly Congratulations on my Arrival.
The Decision of the Convention at Poughkeepsie, is of very great Importance to this Nation, perhaps to Some others.— I am extreamly anxious, that, as the new Constitution has already proceeded to far, it Should be adopted kindly and cordially, by all the three that remain. a little time I hope will reconcile all.—
Mrs Adams is very Sensible of the Honour of your Congratulations, and desires to present her best Respects with mine to you and Mrs Jay.
With every Sentiment of / Esteem I am yours
RC (private owner, 2011); addressed: “Honble: John Jay Esqr / Member of Convention / New York / Poughkeepsie.”; internal address: “Mr Jay”; endorsed: “Mr. Adams / 18 July 1788.”
I am much obliged to you, for your kind Congratulations on my Arrival, and Mrs Adams returns you her Compliments and Thanks.
The Accession of Virginia, to the New Constitution is a great Event.— You and I Should not materially differ, I fancy, if We were to compare Notes of a perfect Commonwealth. But I consider the present Project, as a commencement of a national Government, to be a valuable Acquisition. What would Aristotle and Plato have Said, if any one had talked to them, of a fœderative Republick of thirteen States, inhabiting a Country of five hundred Leagues in extent?
The new Government must Act with Caution and make itself felt, by its Beneficence, or We Shall have a new Convention for Amendments. it is a Severe Mortification to me, to find so many of my old Friends, in opposition. But this is no surprize to me, as I have always differed very materially from them in opinion of the best Plan of Government.
I am, my dear sir, with great Esteem / your most obedient servant
RC (NjP:Straus Autograph Coll.); addressed: “The Honorable / Arthur Lee Esqr / One of the commisioners of / the board of treasury / New York”; internal address: “The Hon Arthur Lee Esqr”; notation: “Mr Drane will greatly / oblige me by / copying these by / Saturday next / RHL.”
Being returned at New-york, after a yourneÿ of five weeks in the countrÿ, to take a view of the land, I wished to employ this moment to inform your Hon. of the issue— I was about 70 miles above albanÿ— Saw differents tracts of Land— Probably, if the price be not to high—our choice wil be the circuits of kingston, where we have Seen two farm, who Suided to our circumstances.1 In two or three weeks we wil know it with certainty—during that time I Shal paÿ a visit at Philadelphia and Mount vernon, intendng to go to the first 328 place, next fridaÿ with the Stage. a Strong desire to See Philadelphia and B. Franklin, a wish to pay my obliged Compliments to Esqr. John Ross. who was So polite to refuse ten guineas for the passage of my two Childres, and a invitation of America’s late Commander at chief are mÿ motifs!2 I congratulate Massachusetts People with your election at Congres, and hope they wil in respect to you follow the Romans Example in respect to Cicero, being Sure that they wil never be disappointed by you in the Same manner—
your Saying Sir! in the gold Lion at Leyden.3 of Some European Court—, theÿ “love not these democratical principles,[”] must be proved for an unbeliever, thoug I never doubted of it— Some-times— that theÿ, by theer own intrest, would consider Sinceritÿ in Engagements as a dutÿ—but I Saw a new proof of a people’s miserÿ, who needs the adsistance of forein power to defend theer liberty—
Be So good Sir! to inform me what the best and accuratest compilation is of the events of the late American War? there is published Some work of the Marquis deChastellux—and another in four volumes of T. Andrews?4 what is the real value of bo[ok]s your defence of American Independence accomplished in two vol. or wil they be joined with a 3th? maÿ I know it before I go to the countrÿ? Permit me, to recommend mÿ and mÿ familÿ to your favour, and be Sure that I am, with due respect / Sir! / Your much obedient / and Obliged Servant
P. S adres bÿ Mrs. M. and H. Oudenaarden Hanover Square N. 18 New-york.5
RC (Adams Papers).
Van der Kemp left Le Havre on 25 March with his wife, Reinira Engelbartha Johanna Vos Van der Kemp, traveling to New York on the frigate L’Henriette, Capt. Benjamin Weeks; they arrived on 4 May. Van der Kemp wrote to JA on 5 Sept. (Adams Papers) to report that he had purchased “a Small farm … two miles from Esopus,” near Kingston, N.Y., where his wife’s relatives, the Beeckmans, had settled (Van der Kemp, Autobiography
, p. 111, 116–117).
Philadelphia merchant John Ross (1729–1800) was one of the owners of the frigate on which Van der Kemp and his family sailed to America; upon their arrival, Ross “ordered that no charge should be made” for the passage of Van der Kemp’s two children and requested that he stay in touch. Van der Kemp visited Ross and Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, then traveled on to see George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, “where simplicity, order, unadorned grandeur, and dignity, had taken up their abode.” Overall, Van der Kemp preferred the company of Martha Washington: “I was infinitely better pleased by the unassuming, modest gentleness of the lady, than with the conscious superiority of her consort” (J. Ross and B. Franklin, “Memoir of John Ross, Merchant, of Philadelphia,”
PMHB
, 23:77, 84 [April 1899]; Van der Kemp, Autobiography
, p. 111, 112, 114–117).
JA lodged at the Lyon d’Or Inn.
Van der Kemp likely meant the Chevalier de Chastellux’s Travels in North-America in the years 1780, 1781, and 1782, 2 vols.,
329
London, 1787; and John Andrews’ History of the War with America, France, Spain, and Holland: Commencing in 1775 and Ending in 1783, 4 vols., London, 1785–1786.
That is, New York City merchants Marinus and Henry Oudenaarde (New York Daily Advertiser, 23 April).