Papers of John Adams, volume 21

John Cosens Ogden to John Adams, 25 January 1793 Ogden, John Cosens Adams, John

From John Cosens Ogden

Sir Portsmouth Jany 25th 1793

I transmit you a copy of a Political Rarity—which a very few men were degenerate enough to send for a day dedicated to the celebration of the progress of Liberty.

You who are a Lawyer & Statesman, will make those comments in your own thoughts, which may perhaps awake a care for the liberty of the press—the honor of law, and safety of the citizen. As it came from a party, at first, I intended to have requested you to have laid it on the table of the Senate, among, any periodical papers, which may amuse the leisure moment of its members.—

“The Managers of the Civic Feast, present their compliments to Mr ———, Ask the favor of his company to dine, on thursday next at the Assembly room—2 O-clock, Also any friend of his, (Except) the writer of a piece in a late paper, on the situation of Ecclesiastical affairs in a Neighbouring State, which Author cannot be permited to Associate with the Citizens of ———.”1

This unmerited insult, met with general reprobation— The person to whom it was sent was not so degenerate, as to forfeit his liberty, honor & virtue for a dinner—but referred the writers to Paine on the rights of man—and the law writers on the liberty of the press.— The Star Chamber and Inquisition court, could not dictate a bolder assault on law & patriotism.

I do not send it, to draw an opinion or correspondence, but, wish to lay the progress of the plunderers & enemies, of The Church in this quarter, from time to time, before the leading Lay men of this Generation— Trusting that Providence will incline the heart of some one to step forth, and examine whether there exists any just cause for complaint—and point out a mode for redress— Such an one Religion, morality & America will bless forever.

I am Sir / with unalterable esteem / Your devoted servant

John Cosens Ogden

RC (Adams Papers).

Rev. John Cosens Ogden (1751–1800), Princeton 1770, was a political propagandist and rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, N.H., from 1786 to 1793. He was excluded from the town’s 24 Jan. civic feast celebrating the “success of the patriotic cause in France.” To Ogden, this action signaled a downturn in popularity following his high-profile theological dispute with Rev. Samuel MacClintock (1732–1804), originally from Medford, Mass., Princeton 1751, who was pastor of the First Congregational Church in nearby Greenland, N.H. The feud was published as An Epistolary Correspondence 165 between the Rev. John C. Ogden, Rector of St. Johns Church, at Portsmouth, New-Hampshire; and the Rev. Samuel MacClintock, Minister of the Congregational Society in Greenland on . . . the High Powers and Prerogatives Claimed by Diocesan Bishops as Successors of the Apostles, Portsmouth, N.H., 1791, Evans, No. 23519. MacClintock’s local influence on public opinion led to Ogden’s ouster from his pulpit in 1793 ( ANB ; New Hampshire Gazette, 23 Jan.; Princetonians , 1:38, 39; 2:94).

John Adams to John Singleton Copley, 27 January 1793 Adams, John Copley, John Singleton

To John Singleton Copley

Dear Sir Philadelphia January 27. 1793

I have it, at length, in my Power to inform you that I have received the two Copies of your admirable Picture of The Death of The Earl of Chatham. The Copy designed for the President of the United States I had the honour to deliver to him in Person, who requested me to make you his Compliments and present you his Thanks for your obliging attention. soon afterwards he desired me to transmit you the inclosed Letter, which I presume expresses more fully his Sensibility of your Politeness.1

The Copy intended for me, I shall preserve with great care, both as a Token of your Friendship as a finished Monument of the Fine Arts from one of the greatest Masters and as an indubitable Proof of American Genius. Be pleased to accept of my Sincerest Thanks for it; remember me to your amiable Family and all my old Friends and believe me, with great and / Sincere Esteem your Friend and / humble servant

John Adams

RC (MB:John Adams Papers); internal address: “John Singleton Copley Esqr.”

JA enclosed George Washington’s 12 Dec. 1792 letter thanking Copley for an engraving of his 1781 painting “The Death of the Earl of Chatham.” The president observed that the artwork, “highly valuable in itself, is rendered more estimable in my eye, when I remember that America gave birth to the celebrated artist who produced it” (Washington, Papers, Presidential Series , 11:501).

John Adams to John Trumbull, 31 January 1793 Adams, John Trumbull, John

To John Trumbull

My dear Sir Philadelphia January 31. 1793

Are you acquainted with the natural History of Mother Careys Chickens? 1 I know not the Latin Name of these chattering Birds, having never consulted the Dictionaire D’Histoire naturelle, nor Buffon nor Tournefort for information concerning this important Subject: but as a Mariner I have had frequent occasion to curse the rascally Species of Mischief makers. In the calmest Moments at Sea, they Surround the Ship, and fill the Ears of the Sailors with a mixed Sound so ambiguous that you can Scarcely know whether 166 they are laughing or Scolding. The Superstitious foremast Men are so affected with their Gibberish, that they are filled with gloomy Presages of Storms and shipwreck and every Species of bad luck: and such is the contagious nature of these Passions that the old Seamen and most experienced officers seem in some degree infected with the general Terror.

There is a little contemptible flock of these disastrous animals about our foederal Ship at this Moment, Mathew and John are here— James is at Richmond. James wrote Henrico to himself.— John, writes Cincinnatus Mirabeau and most of the other vile abuses in the national Gazette.2 a sett of despicable Fugitives from Justice in Ireland whether in Case of Debt or Crime it seems are able to disgrace the American Nation in its own Eyes as well as in the sight of Europe. But the most abominable part of the whole Story is that these People are perpetually about a Jefferson, a Madison and a Beckley.

I do not write this of my own certain Knowledge but I have heard it, and have no reason to disbelieve it.— It may be a curious Clue to you but you will not compromise me, nor make any other Use of it, than to suggest further Inquiry and more certain Evidence. I have read Several of the Ecchos and the 2d. & 3d American.3 an infernal faction have deserved it all.

your sincere friend

RC (NjP:Andre De Coppet Coll.); addressed: “John Trumbull Esqr / Councillor at Law / Hartford”; endorsed: “Honble: John Adams V.P. / Jany. 31st. 1793.”; notation by JA: “Free / John Adams.”

This was the circle of writers nurtured by Dublin-born printer Mathew Carey (1760–1839), who immigrated to Philadelphia and published the American Museum ( AFC , 9:287).

An anonymous author known as “Mirabeau” addressed a letter to “Fellow Citizen” Thomas Jefferson in the Philadelphia Federal Gazette, 7 Jan., pleading with him to remain at his post and counter perceived monarchical elements in the federal government. Another writer, “Cincinnatus,” lashed out at George Washington, Congress, and French Army officers in the pages of the Philadelphia General Advertiser on 8, 11, 14, and 21 Jan., seeking long-deferred compensation for Revolutionary War veterans ( AFC , 9:395).

Connecticut Wit Richard Alsop’s satirical poem The Echo was published in the Hartford American Mercury, 14 January. Trumbull had recently published several short commentaries on domestic and foreign affairs under the pseudonym “An American”; see, for example, Philadelphia American Daily Advertiser, 12 Dec. 1792; New York Morning Chronicle, 18 Dec.; Philadelphia Federal Gazette, 27 Dec.; Portland, Maine, Eastern Herald, 3 Jan. 1793; Boston Argus, 15 Jan.; and New-York Journal, 16 January.