Papers of John Adams, volume 21
I had Yesterday the Pleasure of receiving your kind
Letter of the 10th of this month, and am happy
to find that you are pleased with your Situation at Bush Hill. I hope soon
to hear of the Birth of a peaceable son of Mars, and that Mrs Knox is as well and in as good Spirits as you
appear to be.1
The Paragraphs in the New York Pape[rs] I know nothing of: The Lyes in the New Haven one I never heard of till yesterday. One Thing I believe: it was not Roger Sherman, nor Dr Stiles who wrote them nor any Friend of theirs.
The Preface to Paines Nonsense has occasioned much Speculation. It is thought rather early for Electioneering. My head I thank God is not easily diverted from its Views nor my heart from its Resolutions; and therefore neither Paine nor his God father2 will much affect me: and I believe they will affect the Public as little. It only grieves me that a Character who stood high is so much lowered in the public Esteem.
The cordial and glorious reception of t[he] President in every part of his Tour, an omen for good to the People, and gives universal Pleasure, in this Part of the Country.
Although the Indian Campaign is an [evil,] yet the War I presume is a just and a necessary War, and therefore I rejoice that the Forces are so well collected and so far advanced.
The Arrival of Col Smith [is
a very] happy Event for me and my Family and We all thank you sir, for your
obli[ging] Congratulations on it.
The Death of my learned and amiab[le] Friend Dr Price has hurt me more than the little
flickerings of Politicks. Although his Zeal for Liberty was not always
accor[ding] to Knowledge, his heart was always upr[ight] and benevolent, and
his Mind was open [to] Conviction3
Three of my Family brought with them the Fever and Ague, but are better.4 I hope to see you in october by which time I hope our mutual Friend will get the better of his frenchified delirium: meantime I am with great regard / your Friend and humble servant
RC (Gilder Lehrman Institute of American
History, New York); addressed: “Henry Knox Esqr: / Secretary at War. / Philadelphia”; internal address:
“General 39 Knox / Secretary at War”;
endorsed: “The Vice President / June 19. 1791”; notation by Knox:
“Capt Henderson—” FC (Adams Papers). Text lost due
to a torn manuscript has been supplied from the FC.
Lucy Flucker Knox gave birth to a daughter, Caroline
Flucker (d. 1851) (Joseph W. Porter, ed., Memoir
of Gen. Henry Knox, of Thomaston, Maine, Bangor, Maine, 1890,
p. 10).
That is, Thomas Jefferson.
Dr. Richard Price died on 19 April from a bladder
infection. British and French political clubs publicly mourned the
dissenting minister, and The Gentleman’s
Magazine hailed him as a revolutionary whose efforts were
“linked to those of ‘Franklin, Washington, Fayette and Paine.’”
JA lamented the loss of Price, a close friend of the
Adamses in London, and blamed his swift decline on the strain of his
political controversy with Edmund Burke. On 19 June JA
wrote to WSS: “The death of our worthy Friend Dr Price has affected me very nearly; I hope
the rough usage of Mr Burke did not injure
his health” (Paul Frame, Liberty’s Apostle:
Richard Price, His Life and Times, Cardiff, Wales, 2015, p.
246, 248;
AFC
, 9:216).
Throughout the summer, AA and
TBA suffered from fever and ague, possibly malaria,
which TBA referred to as the “Southern Plague.”
JA may have included AA2’s youngest son,
Thomas Hollis Smith, in that number. Smith died on 8 July (
AFC
, 9:218, 225, 508).
It would have given me considerable pleasure to have
thought that my correspondence could have been at all agreeable to you; as
in that case, I should have done myself the honor frequently to write to
you. At present, I seize with satisfaction the opportunity of addressing
you, furnished by the visit which the Earl of Wycombe is about to pay to
your continent.1 You will
have great pleasure in his lordship’s private society, & still more so
in the contemplation of the benefit which may arise from his seeing your
present prosperous situation with his own eyes, and reporting it to us here
upon his return. I hope his lordship’s will only be the first of many visits which will be paid to your
continent, & be a harbinger of a closer public connection. With respect
to his lordship, he travels only in a private capacity, and upon the same
principles which have led him to visit almost every country in Europe but
Italy, namely to inform himself as to men & things. Having seen the old
world, it was natural for his lordship to wish to visit the new, which
besides its influence upon the affairs of the old one, is in itself so
highly interesting, especially to an Englishman.
Requesting you to have the goodness to present my
respects to Mrs. Adams, I have the honor to
remain with high regard & esteem, / Dear sir, / Your respectful humble
servt.
n.Vaughan
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “John Adams Esq.”
John Henry Petty, Earl Wycombe (1765–1809), Oxford
1783, was the M.P. for Chipping Wycombe, England, and the Earl of
Shelburne’s heir. He traveled widely through western Europe, Russia,
Canada, and the United States until 1792 (Namier and Brooke, House
of Commons
).