Title: John Thornton Kirkland, Funeral Sermon for Abigail Smith Adams, November 1818
From: Kirkland, John Thornton
To:

				1st of Corinthians, 7th.—29,30,31.But this I say, brethren; the time is short; it remaineth that they who have wives be as though they had none, and they that weep as though they wept not, and they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not, and they that buy as though they possessed not, and they that use this world as not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away.Here is a collection of precepts of seriousness, of discretion, of moderation, and of self-government. They comprise the right adjustment of our affections respecting our connexions, our griefs and joys, our pursuits and interests, and our whole concern with this world. They are enforced by inspiring a sober & religious, not anxious & desponding, consideration of two facts; the shortness of the duration, and the precariousness of the condition, of the present life—its brevity, & its mutability.In the light of reason, of experience, and of religion, let us 1st. consider these truths, and—2d. apply them to support & encourage us in that chastised & regulated interest in present objects, which the injunctions of the sacred teacher are designed to produce.1st. The facts to employ our meditation are, the brevity & mutability of life. This I say, brethren, the time is short. I wish it to be the deep & lively conviction of your minds, not a mere confession of the mouth. Regard it as a decree of God, the ordination of sovereign wisdom and benignity, the unalterable law of our nature and state. Though it is a gloomy or disheartening thought to those who live in the pride & gaiety of life; though the unbelieving seek to withdraw their attention from a view of our state which increases their perplexity, & those who are resolved on an evil course refuse to dwell on a truth which awakens study, and obey the will of God, who gave them this fleeting existence, they will cherish a deep & just impression of the fact, that the time is short. Truly man is a thing of nought. Life is but  a vapor. Multitudes are sparks of life, no sooner kindled than they are quenched, perishing in infancy or childhood. They are like the flower, which withers before its leaves had time to expand. Behold a large portion swept away in the lively period of youth; when  every thought is joy, & every feeling hope; and the mind is open to the true end of existence, and springs forward to many pleasures & pursuits in the future; the flower has begun to blossom in the dawn, and is nipped by the chilly blast, before it has met the influence of a meridian sun. Others have entered the business of life, have contracted its sacred & tender relations, are the guides of families, the hopes of parents, the stay of children, the supports & ornaments of society; but death snatches them away from their occupations, connexions & prospects, & their life appears the dream of a night.But is the duration of our earthly existence long to those who have reached to advanced age? Their silvered heads & tottering limbs give warning against dependence on long life & long pleasure; for they tremble on the verge; & when they look back on the space they have passed, does it appear longer, or rather do they not seem as though they commenced their journey but yesterday? The time is short to the animal, & still shorter to the intellectual, rational, social, moral, religious, & immortal man; since so much of it is engrossed by infantile imbecility or inactive decrepitude, by the wants of nature, by sleep, by sickness, by trouble, by various cares, by unprofitable society. The time is short, with reference to the important ends & uses of life, considered as a preparation for a durable existence hereafter. It is a religious sense of our brevity, which is to be entertained. The shortness of life carries our views to another state. We are not insects of a day. This is not is not the last stage of human nature. Time has respect to eternity—probation to retribution. Reason points to this destination. The longest time which we can reach, improved in the best manner, is a trifle in relation to the capacity of intellectual & moral improvement, with which we find ourselves endued. Is there no other sphere, in which we may grow up to our maturity. When we consider how many are cut off in infancy or tender youth, when the faculties are beginning to unfold; when we attend to the inequality of condition, so imperfectly corresponding to character; the argument of natural religion is strengthened, that another existence is to follow, in which what is wanting here shall be supplied, and all seems irregular in this stage be united with order & rectitude. What reason may fail to prove, revelation does fully establish. Life & immortality are brought to light in the gospel, & that life a retributary scene in which God shall render to every one according to his works: this then much be the principal object of our attention. With this prospect, we are to regard our present life as a short & precarious opportunity to prepare for another & endless duration, where happiness or misery are annexed to the affections cherished & the deeds performed while in the body.Again, the fashion of this world passeth away: we are to be seriously reminded of the mutable condition of that life which is so short. The original is thought to allude to the successive scenes of a dramatic exhibition. In conformity to this idea, this world is described as a stage that presents variable scenes & character. Princes, statesmen, warriors, the rich, the learned, & the wise, & on the other hand the poor, the weak, & humble part of mankind, possess their several places on the theatre. Some lurk in obscurity, & seldom come from behind the scenes; & others appear in a conspicuous part, wearing crowns, & glittering in armor, or dressed in robes of office. In a little time the scene is shifted; the phantoms disappear; the vicissitude of affairs, or the scythe of death, clears the stage of the world of its busy actors, divests them of their fictitious ornaments, and closes the vain dream of their lives. Another idea of the illusion is that in this passage reference may be made to a grand procession, in which pageants, or emblematical figures, are carried along the streets: the crowd wait for the spectacle with eager curiosity: they look at the passing show, which soon disappears, to be presented for a few moments to other spectators. Nothing is constant but change. The face of nature is putting on new and ever varying aspects. Empires & governments are surely not founded on an immoveable basis. The condition of families is in perpetual revolution. The riches which we gather, another scatters. Wealth & poverty, prosperity & adversity, health & sickness—how frequent, how rapid are their vicissitudes. The career of hope & joy, plunges suddenly into distresses & despair: and the solitary walk of life, after many turnings & various degrees of ascent, terminates at a throne. The mighty change of death awaits us all. We are passing rapidly from the cradle to the grave; from all the objects & connexions to which we are tied here. We are hastening to a new mode of existence, to other scenes, other relations. The time of our removal is utterly uncertain. The tomb may open under every step we take. Death is ambushed about our path. Here he gives long notice of his approach: there he comes by surprize, as a thief in the night, & the blow is not felt till it is fatal. The condition of life is as mutable as its duration is short. In the light of religion let this mutability be considered. It is the work of the providence of that Being, whose nature, purposes, & perfection, are ever the same. He changeth not; therefore we are not consumed. His compassions fail not; they are new every morning: great is his faithfulness. These vicissitudes are adapted to our active nature. They are designed for our excitement and trial; for the production & exercise of our virtues, & the formation of our characters. By this discipline of uncertainty, would our heavenly father train us up to faith, to piety, to benevolence, to resignation; and prepare us for that life, where shadows & vanities are no more, where reality & certainty & stability have their seat, & where our happiness may be drawn from wells of salvation & rivers of joy which flow at God’s right hand forevermore.Let us apply these truths to our warning & consolation. Let them assist us in that adjustment of our affections, respecting our connections, our griefs & joys, our pursuits & interests, & our whole concern with the world, which the injunctions & precepts of the sacred teacher intend. This is our second topic. Consider all these valued & beloved objects; be prepared for change; & rely not on what is transitory, as if it were constant. Let not your grief or joy be excessive. Apply & use thy state aright with unrelaxed diligence, because all that belongs to it is passing away; and thus secure those things in their uses & effects, which cannot be retained in their substance. By doing the will of God in this fleeting & inconstant life, seek to attain to unfading, durable, & eternal felicity.The first precept respects the near connections of life: “this I say, brethren; it remaineth that they who have wives be as though they had none.” Let us see that our tender connections be not sustained without reflection, not our attachments indulged with thoughtless presumption & unconcern. To promote our happiness & our virtue, the author of our being, our faculties, & state, has ordained and granted the family society. Let its benefits & joys be prized, let all its offices of love be fulfilled, by those who sustain its relations. Let the intimacies of friendship, let the ties of nature, be regarded with a conscientious attention to their duties, with a grateful reception of their blessings. They are designed as the source of our best satisfactions, & the sphere of our useful activity. Doth not the Most High demand, that they who are one—who are or should have been united by previous affection—who have the same objects of tenderness & interest—whose connection is as important to others as to themselves, & is indissoluble—should find delight in each other,  & shall be knit in love? Doth religion condemn what nature requires, that the hearts of parents should rest with fondness on children, and children should find, or wish to find, their parents in the place of God? Nor will the wisdom that is from above fail to encourage the members of the same family, brothers & sisters, to cultivate a friendship inexpressibly dear. Let their intercourse be an exercise of sympathy & forbearance. Let them display a participation, in which there is no solitary joy, no unnoticed or unpitied care or sorrow. Let it be an exhibition of kindness, where they bear each other’s burden, & spring to offices of love; & help each other in the race of wisdom & the labors of goodness & the favor of God, by mutual prayers & counsels & examples. But whilst you find the highest & best solace & occupation in these relations, shall you not aim to regulate all the attachments & hopes that grow out of them, seeing the time is short, & the condition of life precarious? Let those who have husbands or wives, parents, children, friends,—making their best earthly possession, their joy & their dependence,—be in a sense as though they have them not. Regard thy friends as fleeting blessings, who may disappoint thy expectations; who, if not deprived of their value whilst they live, are weak & frail like thyself, liable to be snatched away by death. Regard them as subordinate blessings in comparison with thy supreme good, & the interests & connections of an eternal existence. Regard them as placed near thee, to be the objects of thy care & love, to try & exercise, to excite & guard thy virtues, not to be permanently enjoyed; since their breath goeth forth, in that very day—his thoughts—& they will be thine for so short a time, that it is hardly expedient to call them thine own, even now. Let not the distraction & solicitude created by thy earthly attachments & relations, withdraw every portion of your time & every part of your hearts from the impressions of divine & eternal things. For he that loveth father or mother, wife or children, more than me, is not worthy of me. So conduct yourselves in this pilgrimage which ye travel together, that ye may be a family in heaven, & all be brought home to your father’s house in peace, where there are no painful separations, no uncertainties, nor fears. Be then our natural affections & our tender attachments chastised & regulated by a religious sense of the brevity, the lubricity, the precariousness of life.It remains that they who weep be as though they wept not. Let the same lesson of sobriety & self-command be extended to our griefs. Weep we must, at some times or at others. We are born to trouble. Sufferings of affection of body or mind may—must be in a greater, or less degree the allotment of all. But how proper is the regulation of these sensations, and the government of these sorrows, under the view of our short & transitory state & eternal prospects? The law of change, which brings on the night of sorrow, may in the time appointed occasion the darkness to vanish before the light of prosperity. But if the cloud be not removed in this world, whatever afflictions befal us here will soon be lost in the joys or sorrows of another state of being. Live as Christians, & these tears will not always flow, nor these sighs forever heave our hearts. We can sigh no longer than the vital breath inspires our lungs; & we can weep only till death stops the fountains of our tears—death, which may be near, & which cannot be distant. When the short round of our earthly existence is finished, if we have profited as we ought, by lessons & warnings, & are among God’s dutiful children, his compassionate hand shall wipe our tears; and, cheered by his reviving presence, the days of mourning shall be ended. And if the discipline of our heavenly Father be ineffectual, and we refuse correction, if we have not applied events & warnings for the correction of what he condemns, for the confirmation & increase of what he approves in our characters, if we are not the better, are perhaps even the worse, for what we suffer, we have something else to weep for than our afflictions—our sins. We have other & greater sorrows to fear hereafter, sufficient to destroy the sense of any that can overwhelm us in time. Let us feel the strokes of God’s hand; and for the reasons which he has presented to our minds, set bounds to our griefs. Far from us be discontent or murmuring at those severe allotments, which it is given to the lovers of God to convert into ultimate good. In sorrow be there preserved a sense of God’s infinite & abundant mercies. Like men and christians let us feel calamities, & like men & christians bear them.It remaineth that they who rejoice be as though they rejoiced not. God desireth not that heaviness in the heart, which maketh it stoop, or that sorrow, by which the spirit is broken. There is a joy, which is a part of religious obedience; which is good for the health of the body & the vigor and activity of the mind; which keeps the heart open to social affections, to the comforts of existence, & able to resist the weight of its troubles. To promote it, God hath made the face of creation to inspire complacency; hath taught us that we ought to be thankful for a being in his world, & that a habitual gratitude to the author of nature, is explicit praise & thanksgiving to providence. In the gospel, light is sown for th righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. It contains doctrines & precepts & prospects, which minister to the cheerfulness & joy of those who cordially embrace them. The christian believes in a particular providence, reaching to every circumstance in the world, & to the minutest events in his life. He has a constant object of attention & exertion, doing his duty and working out his salvation; which preserves him from the languor & dejection of idleness. His heart is expanded with benevolent affections, which are all the friends of joy; and hope sends her cheering beam across the darkness. Surely, he ought to rejoice, who has this spirit & this hope. To him, every thorn becomes a flower, & the most rugged way is smoothed. Here are joys, which no man taketh from us, which continue in trouble, & out of trouble, in solitude & society, in life & death.The precept of the apostle has respect to worldly joys arising from external causes, which the world gives & the world can take. Rejoice as though you rejoiced not. Mingle, with the participation of what is good and grateful, the conviction of their transitoriness & uncertainty, their insufficiency to your happiness, their danger to your piety & virtue. Be sensible that your true & lasting happiness must be derived from another scene. Rejoice in whatever blessing God bestows; but remember it is Transient. Rejoice in all the agreeable circumstances of your life; but not with that thoughtless & imprudent temper, which neglects & disregards all other joys.—Rejoice; but with the sentiment that it will be nothing to us to have passed a few years of foolish exultation, & hereafter have our joy turned into mourning.The lesson of moderation & caution has respect to our pursuits & interests, & especially our desire and possession of riches, so universally, so preeminently valued. It remaineth that those who buy be as though they possessed not. Give not your whole faculties & affections to business & its gains. Exult not in the success of your views with a childish delight. What shall be said of those, whose solicitudes for wealth increase as their wants diminish, and who are vehement & constant in the pursuit of gain, as they approach the time when they can have nothing but the dust that fills their mouth? Buy—attend to your calling—lay out your skill, your property & labor for profit, as a part of your obedience to God & your duty to yourself & others. But do not set your heart upon riches, & have that covetousness which is idolatry. Consider that you can buy nothing with a sure & lasting title; and nothing which you can certainly call your own to-morrow. Be not therefore drawn aside to act as if this were your home, to neglect laying up treasures in heaven, which you may call your own when every vestige of earthly grandeur shall be destroyed, and every monument of human pride be laid low. Let not all your riches consist in that substance which you can possess but for a day; which cannot save you from the greatest evils you can suffer; & with which none can by any means redeem his brother from the grave, or give to God a ransom for his life. Finally, let our whole concern with this world be regulated by the truths of religion, & the fruits of experience which we have obtained.The last precept is—and they who use this world as not abusing it, or not using it to excess. Use it diligently and constantly, since it is so transitory. Take a lawful pleasure in thy success & prosperity; but waste them not in the gratification of vanity or the riot of intemperance; nor let them destroy your capacity of religious—seriousness, lest you manifest the stupid indolence of him who said, eat, drink, for to-morrow we die. Take the satisfactions of friendship: but regard your connexions as a school for all the benevolent virtues. Partake of pleasures; but in such measure as consists with the superior pleasures of mind, of virtue, of religion. Use thy life to thy own greatest happiness, to the benefit of others, to the glory of the giver; for at any moment they may be ravished from thee. Use thy life, & all that thou hast & art, for the purposes appointed by the Creator; for thou knowest not if thou shalt be alive on the morrow. Delay not good actions; execute thy good resolves. Trust nothing without necessity to the uncertain future. Seize every opportunity of doing good & becoming good. Be every day & hour considered as important; it may be the last hour thou hast to use. Work while it is day, lest the night come unawares, when no man can work. So employ all earthly things & relations, that what is transitory & mutable may yield unfading & everlasting benefits. The religious wisdom here taught will fix the volatile, & give permanency to the inconstant, snatch from the stream of oblivion the immortal, & the mortal from the power of death. Thy occupations, thy possessions, thy friends, thy joys and sorrows, will then follow thee into the grave, and into eternity, & lay the foundation of eternal perfection & happiness. Then will it be no evil that the scaffolding is broken down, since it hath been employed to serve a beautiful & indestructible edifice. He that doth the will of God abideth forever. The unchangeable God is his friend, and a bulwark of hope which no time nor change can weaken, nor death nor the grave destroy. He changes what is transitory & mutable for that which never passes away, the terrestrial for the celestial, the semblance for the reality, and the narrow circle of friends on earth for the assembly of just men made perfect & the society of the blessed. He goes from conflict to victory, from labor to rest, from grief to joy, from trial & discipline to perfection & glory.The reflections into which we have been led, are peculiarly suited to us, my brethren, affected with the recollection of departed excellence. The providence of God has brought home to our hearts the sense of mortality, & given us just occasion to be impressed with the fugitive, the mutable nature of our life, of the infinite value of a christian hope. A character of uncommon interest & importance is taken from the sphere which it adorned & blessed. A life passed in the exercise of all its appropriate duties, in the enjoyment of worldly advantages & distinctions, in much prosperity, yet acquainted with vicissitudes & trials, is closed in death. We are deprived of one who was the object of high estimation; conspicuous for the union of qualities great & good; a guide & a pattern in every relation she sustained; who appeared with dignity & grace in elevation, & filled with exact attention & amiable tenderness the circle of private offices & daily cares. The places which knew her will know her no more. What avail worth & loveliness of character, human preeminence, talents, accomplishments against our destination? What avail the enlightened mind, obedient passions, the spirit unwearied in acts of courtesy & kindness, the example, the conversation which diffused a benign influence—what avail the strongest ties to life—seeing our days are determined, & God has appointed our bounds that we cannot pass? But blessed be God, we are not left comfortless. When the excellent of the earth are removed, there is consolation as well as instruction. Ye will seek to mourn, bereaved friends, as becomes christians; in a manner worthy of the person you lament. You do then bless the giver of life, that the course of your endeared & honored friend was so long & so bright; that she entered so fully into the spirit of those injunctions which we have explained, & was a minister of blessings to all within her influence. You are soothed to reflect, that she was sensible of the many tokens of divine goodness which marked her lot; that she received the good of her existence with a cheerful & grateful heart; that, when called to weep, she bore adversity with an equal mind; that she used the world as not abusing it, to excess, improving well her time, talents, & opportunities, and, though desired longer in this world, was fitted for better happiness than the world can give. When the good are taken away, let us receive the instruction, whilst we seek the consolation, of religion. From the examples of the worthy who have gone to their account, let us learn what are the true principles for the conduct of life, and be followers of those who, through faith & patience, have inherited the promises. Thus may we do what in us lies to fill the void made by death, and thus become prepared, when we also shall have finished our course, to rejoin, if God so please, our virtuous friends in that world where God shall heal our transitory sorrows with imperishable joys, and repay the bitterness of death with endless life.


Title: From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 6 December 1818
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, George Washington

					My dear Son George.
					Washington 6. December 1818.

				I received about a fortnight since a few lines from you so ill written that it was with difficulty that I could read them, and to my great surprize dated at Quincy, when I had expected you were assiduously pursuing your studies at Cambridge, after an interruption not less melancholy than indispensable—Your Letter barely hinted at the temporary dissolution of your Class, and by its brevity and obscurity left me to conjecture that there had been nothing, absolutely nothing, in, or connected with the transaction, which you could take satisfaction in communicating to me, or that you imagined it would give me satisfaction to know—I wrote you in answer a Letter, which at the request of your Mother, I omitted to send. She wrote you herself, and from her Letter you will learn what sentiments were excited in my mind, by the Event in which you had borne a share—Since your return to your duties at Cambridge, I shall use with you no crimination or reproach—I am willing to flatter myself that you have had a lesson of experience which will not be lost upon you, and that through a process not very gratifying or very glorious to yourself, you will come to the conclusion, which I have so often and so earnestly endeavoured, though as it appears without success to impress upon your mind by precept.My dear George; one of the earliest principles, which that Angel who is now gone to her own Heaven inculcated upon my childhood, was, in all cases throughout life, when a difficult choice was to be made between two different and opposite lines of conduct, to put the question to myself, which of them was right, and which was wrong—And if I could answer immediately that question; to inquire no further—to take the right side, and then to be moved from it by nothing upon EarthAfter an experience of near half a century, there is no greater benefit, and were I to die to-morrow there would be no better portion that I could bestow upon my children, than that same advice. Upon their attention to it depend all my hopes of their future usefulness and prosperity.When you returned to Cambridge after following the remains of one of your best and most affectionate friends to the grave, and found your Class engaged in a struggle against the College Government, in consequence of transactions which had happened in your absence, and with which you had consequently nothing to do—did you, before entering into the combination of your Class ask yourself that simple question—If you did, and deliberately took your stand in the ranks of rebellion, the event has doubtless shewn you, that you have yet something to do to attain maturity of judgement—But I think your capacity is not so small; that you had sense enough to know that you were doing wrong, but that you thought there was Spirit, in getting the College Government at defiance, and good-fellowship at least, in sharing the fortunes good or evil of your Class—You suffered yourself to be drawn into the contest by dint of importunity perhaps, and like Adam in the Paradise Lost preferred falling with your partners, to standing erect in solitary virtue by yourself.My purpose at present, I repeat, is not to reproach you with what is past and irredeemable—I regret that you lost the opportunity of exerting and exhibiting genuine Prudence and Firmness because, could I once see proof at a critical moment that you possess those qualities, I should draw the conclusion that you possessed them for life, and should look forward with the most cheering hopes to the promise of your usefulness hereafter in the world. But next to the consciousness of having done right under strong temptation to do wrong, is the Resolution of making past error turn to future profit.—this is yet in your power, and unpleasant as the recollection of all that has happened in this affair may be, I advise you to dwell upon it with the determination to improve your own heart and understanding in the Government of your future conduct—If you cannot learn to be wise from others harm, at least do not let your own pass unheaded away. There will hereafter be no excuse for turning your eyes from the breakers, over that rook, upon which you have once struck.I never had known an instance of combination among the students at Cambridge, avowedly for the purpose of resistance against the Government, in which the students were right—Without saying that no such case could happen, it may safely be affirmed that the presumption in every case of combination is violently against the students—Now I readily admit that among the Students at College, and especially among those of the same Class there is a social connection, which generates not only a common interest, but also a community of feelings, laudable in itself, and pointing to duties, which ought faithfully to be performed. Those duties however have their bounds, and cannot extend to the sacrifice of other duties, prior to them in time and of higher and more solemn obligation—They are—1. The duty of observing the Laws and Regulations of the College—a duty, not only proper in itself, but prescribed as a condition to which you assented at your admission; which you sanctioned by your deliberate promise and for which two of your friends had become responsible for you by their bonds. 2. The duty of obedience to your Parents, who had enjoined upon you in the most earnest manner, not only an entire observance of the College Laws, but of all just respect and deference to the Instructors and Officers of the Institution; and who had repeatedly and anxiously warned you against entering into any combination for resistance whatever. 3. The duty of Self-respect—of regard to your own character—of preserving your own Independence—of discharging your own obligations—All these were duties far superior to those of common interest and common feeling with your Classmates; and when brought into collision with them upon so glaring a question as that of defiance to the authority of the College Government, ought not to have allowed you one moment of hesitation, as to the course you should have pursued. But you chose to follow a multitude to do evil, and you have now witnessed and shared the consequences.  I know not whether you will shew more respect or pay more attention to these remarks than you have to my former admonitions concerning your conduct while at College—But I also have a duty to discharge towards you as my Son—It is that of giving you faithful and affectionate advice; especially for the Government of your conduct in difficult cases—Such are those in which personal inconvenience, danger, obloquy, the ill-will and resentment of others, must follow to a certain extent the choice of either alternative to be pursued—Such was the case on the late occasion upon which you took the wrong side—Human life is full of such trying situations, and character, depends upon the manner in which they are met and passed through by individuals. The part you have taken in this instance proves that your character is not yet formed; but I do not despair of its being formed hereafter—Raw troops who are seized with a panic at the first sight of the Enemy, and run away sometimes in the course of a campaign, are found to stand without flinching a charge of the bayonet. You have once suffered yourself to be led into folly—I will hope that the next time you will judge and act for yourself—If not—if from an inherent and incurable weakness of judgement or of nerves you are destined to be for life the sport of the passions and the victim of the vices of those with whom you may chance to be associated, deeply and as I shall lament the wretchedness which it will bring upon you, my sorrows will at least not be aggravated by the consciousness of having neglected to warn you of the fate to which such voluntary subserviency cannot fail to lead.Your Mother and I had wished and intended that you should come and pass the Winter vacation with us here; but as your company may be agreeable, and you may have an opportunity to make yourself in some degree useful to your Grandfather, we are willing to forego the pleasure we had promised ourselves in seeing you here, until the next Season, from the consideration that it will during the most tedious season of the year, provide an additional comfort to him—We shall the more cheerfully submit to our privation, as we learn that Mrs Clarke is coming to pass the Winter here; so that there will be only Cousin Louisa Smith left in the family with your Grandfather, and we know, that he is fond of your company; that you can render yourself very serviceable to him; and that you can be in no possible situation better adapted to the improvement of your heart and the cultivation of your Understanding than with him. We wish you therefore to make him the offer, and ask of him the favour of spending the vacation with him—And if you yourself, should feel that you will thereby lose for the present the pleasures which you have anticipated in coming here, let it not escape your reflection that it will only be a postponement of what we hope you may enjoy with equal satisfaction and more profit the next Winter, and that your privation now will not only be compensated by the excellent society of your Grandfather, but by the meritorious consciousness of contributing to his comfort at this trying period of his distress.I remain your ever affectionate father.

					John Quincy Adams.


Title: From John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 7 December 1818
From: Adams, John
To: Adams, John Quincy

Quincy Decr. 7. 1818

I thank you, my dear Son, for your Letters and for the Presidents Speech, which is Consolation for all our Miseries for 60 Years. But I must have done with public affaires.
Your Sons who behave well have been with Us last Week. They leave Us this morning for their School.
Mr and Mrs Clark, and my little darling Susanna Maria were comfortably lodged last Night at Dedham on their Way to Washington or rather Georgetown.
Louisa and I are left alone in the Parlour. We have three Stout fellows in the neighbouring Appartment vulgarly called the Kitchen, and three good Girls. This is our present Family.
You must not think of visiting me till August or September.
Beg the favour of your Lady to make me her confidential Correspondent as She did her Mother. Her Journal was a delicious Repast to Us both. And tell her I can be as discreet as her and your Mother was.
Adieu, My dear Son and Daughter.
John Adams
P.S. Trumbull Quincy and Shaw laid Siege to me on Saturday and carried me by Storm to Boston to See the Picture. I was foolishly complaisant enough to take of my hatt, and caught the Pip. The Air of that Hall is changed. I never caught Cold there before.

J.A.


Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to George Washington Adams, 7 December 1818
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson
To: Adams, George Washington

					Dear George
					Washington 7 December 1818

				Your father wrote you a Letter yesterday in which he desires you to remain with your Grandfather to which I readily consented although with a pang which has absolutely made me sick such delight had I in the anticipation of your visit—My duties as it regards my children have always by some circumstance or other been rendered particularly painful and the sacrifices required have been almost beyond my strength—In this instance however I resign my contemplated happiness with less pain as your Grandfather has a double claim from both my gratitude and my duty to your unlimitted attention—Since I entered his family he has been uniformly kind to me and the painful circumstances which so immediately followed my marriage never appeared to affect his manners towards me or my parents; and my gratitude to him is great and sincere and it would afford me the truest pleasure to find opportunities of proving it—I have suffered so much on this subject that it is always painful to me to recur to it I will therefore say no more but that I pray you to do all that I would wish to do in the same situation by this I mean to say that I could never do enough to satisfy myself to contribute to his amusement and relief—These are cares which the young rarely feel but when by the tenderness of a good heart and an amiable disposition they can sympathize in the irremediable sorrows of the aged when the  last remains of a long life are embittered by unavailing grief it is then that they feel the comfort of a young and tender friend able and willing to sooth the few sad moments of departing existence patiently devoting his time his feelings and his pleasures to cheer the drooping mourner and they find with wonder and joy that the world yet contains a charm to lull them to peace and repose—This my dear George is in your power and you alone of all his family  can do this—Your  vacation is not long but it is an age to him whose moments may be counted exert yourself and remember that the blessing of your affectionate parent and approving parents will follow you thro’ life and that your own heart will delight in the joy of doing good—I wish I could have passed the Winter at Quincy and shared in your duty but I fear my temper is too harsh and unequal to render me servicable in such a case but my best wishes will accompany you through your arduous duty and I shall almost envy you the delight with which you must return to College after having thus usefully and amiably passed your vacation—Reading and conversation will also improve your understanding and with a man so full of knowledge and experience you must derive the most invaluable instruction—Be kind to Louisa to whom I beg you will remember me most affectionately and assure her that with me she shall ever find a home.—God Bless you my darling Son go on and prosper and may your ardent endeavours to lighten the sorrows of your most respected friend and Parent be acceptable in the sight of heaven and meet its just reward in the world to come.Your affectionate Mother

					L. C. Adams


Title: To John Adams from Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 8 December 1818
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson
To: Adams, John

					My dear Father
					Washington 13 December 1818

				Mr. Adams yesterday received a Letter from you in which you are so kind as to send me a permission to write you confidentially as I used to do the last winter—Nothing but the fear of appearing obtrusive could have prevented my writing you sooner, and having obtained the permission to pursue the old form I will continue my journal writing according to the feelings of the moment; soliciting at the same time your advice as it regards my conduct in cases, which though to you they may appear trifling, are to me of the utmost importance in the situation my husband now fills. Since the Session of Congress has began I have been informed in a variety of ways that the retirement in which Mr. A. has lived and proposed to live, during the winter, had occasioned general dissatisfaction, more particularly among those who please to style themselves his friends, and that it was said as a publick man he had duties to attend to which ought not to be affected by private circumstances—that he would seriously injure himself, as the Members of Congress had complained last winter that he was cold and unsocial and did not open enough in conversation &ca that he might serve the publick and himself better than by remaining all the time in his Closet for which few people thanked him &ca &ca. The perpetual repetition of these complaints induced me to tell him how matters stood, and to advise him to appear occasionally in publick and it is on this point that I wish your opinion—We were invited to the Christening of Mr. Bagots child with the other heads of Department merely as Spectators; and immediately a Story was made up of Mr. A——s being invited by the Prince Regent to stand proxy for him, and such an alarm was spread abroad that one really would have supposed that the Prince and a large army at his heels,  was already landed in the Country, and actually in possession of the whole Continent—and this panic reached the highest branches of the Executive and obliged us to reject the invitation already rejected accepted, and to withdraw ourselves from a ceremony to which all the other members of the Administration made a point of going—Is it possible my dear Sir that people can be so absurd ridiculous as to suffer such absurdities to influence their conduct in any degree?—Do they not by betraying fear or uneasiness at falsehoods so glaring encourage and point the shaft which is aimed at their peace? In my belief if a man acts from the pure impulse of conscious rectitude and firm integrity, if he will treat the mean and barefaced attacks of his enemies with silent indifference, if he will stand firm in his principles—he may defy the world; and he will find the sense of the nation in his favour spite of all the base intrigues of pretended friends, and open mouthed enemies—and if such sentiments do not sustain him in a publick situation, it is not worth holding, for it ceases to be a post of honour— Since Congress have assembled the principle question out of Doors has been ettiquette, which really wears quite a threatening aspect—I unfortunately involved myself in it last winter and became unconsciously as to consequences a principle Actress in this great Farce—I cannot retract without having motives imputed to me, which would degrade me in my own eyes—I therefore keep my stand quietly, having Mr. A——s sanction who is in the same predicament, and patiently look on till the heat of the battle is over—publick business has hitherto excited little or no interest, and Foreigners and Natives are all in arms on this great question, which is rappidly drawing to a crisis—I shall really think I have rendered an essential service to the nation If I am the cause of establishing such a decent and regular system as will enable people to go on smoothly in future; and on this account I recommended to the Speaker last winter to make a law upon the subject and let it go through the two houses—8th December—Two of the Servants we brought from England with us were this evening married in our presence by Mr. McCormick of the episcopal church first and afterwards by Mr. Mathews of the Roman Catholick Antoine being of the latter religion and Ellen of the former the Wedding was perfectly private and quiet—the ceremonies nearly the same—the Bride looked very pretty and the Bridegroom very happy—9th. We went to the Drawing room it being the first time of our going out—it was very crowded and I was very graciously received by all my acquaintance of last winter Mrs. Monroe looked beautiful she has grown fat and her health is perfectly restored—The circle very brilliant had no opportunity of speaking to the President all the evening—Major Jackson of Philadelphia was there he is grown very old and very deaf met also Genl. Stevens and Capt Warrington—The new Carpet was the theme of general admiration and is very elegant—We left the Drawing Room early Mr & Mrs. Smith and Mr Adams being with me—10 At a small party at Mrs. Middletons having declined an invitation to a large Ball a Com Porters The company consisted of the Foreign Ministers and two or three Members of Congress and their Ladies from New York with Mr. Otis Mr. Mason and a few others—music and some waltzing11 Nothing occurred during this day but some talk of Genl Jackson’s affairs in Congress which is likely to produce a great sensation—In the evening William Smith came and sat a half an hour—Believe me with the utmost respect and affection dear Sir your dutiful Daughter.

					L. C Adams

					Love to Louisa—


Title: To John Adams from Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 10 December 1818
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson
To: Adams, John

(Private)

				December 10-20, 1818
				December 10 Recieved a charming visit from Mr. Bagot, who sat with me an hour and chatted very agreably. Not a word about Mrs. Hay—who is giving rise to a great deal of conversation about rank and station—She has assumed a tone with the Corps Diplomatique, which places them and herself in the most unpleasant disposition situation—I have been worried with enquiries about it, but have hitherto managed to keep aloof—Mr. A—— has however been called upon to interfere, and upon the French Ministers being very urgent that Mrs. H– should accept an invitation to his Ball—was obliged to be the bearer of her determination, which is I think rather an insulting rejection of any intercourse with them what ever—The French Ministers foolish anxiety to have her at his Ball, has brought this matter to a crisis, and I fear it will produce an unpleasant state of things—She does not appear to know what stand to take and acts without any fixed plan—as the P——ts daughter she will accept of no distinction, but as Mrs. H—— claims the same, which occasions much discussion as her husband being a private individual, why she assumes any tone with them at all becomes a question Mrs. Bagot told me it was the wish of the Corps Diplomatique to do that which was most agreeable to the President, and requested me to state this to him, which I declined—being so involved myself in these questions, as to wish to avoid having any thing to say upon the subject—The ladies of the Members will not visit them if they visit Mrs. H—— first—busy at home all the evening—12 Took Mary Buchanan to see the Foreign Ministers, and returned to dinner with Mrs. Smith—Mrs. de Neuville came during my absence and invited us to pass the evening at her house to meet a small party—a conversation with Mr. de Neuville in which I took an opportunity of telling him, that I never troubled myself with politicks, and always avoided political conversations—I did this in consequence of something he had said to me—he  told me said that he knew I did all Mr. A——s secret correspondence, and that he always gave his to his wife—I told him I hoped the information he sent to his Court was more correct, for if it was not they would not derive much advantage from receiving it; and that Mr. A—— was too wise to trust me in such a case—he pretended not to believe me and said I was playing the diplomat as he knew I copied his Letters; I replied it was very possible such a story had got abroad as I certainly copied all his private Letters to his relations—the Company was small and the party intolerably stupid—13 Copied Letters and sent off the first Sheet of journal to my father—In the evening went to Mrs. Frye’s and met there Mr. Fox and Mr. Ringold—Heard of nothing but the Evacuation Ball which excites great wit and expectation—14 The great day having at length arrived we prepared to join the gay throng at about eight o’clock—Mrs. Hay having accepted the invitation on the express condition of never setting her foot in the houses of any of them the Foreign Ministers, and stipulating that no notice should be taken of her, no place assigned to her, and that no visits whatever should either be made or received by her from any of them—on these conditions made known by  to them by Mr. A—— she made her appearance to the utter astonishment of the multitude assembled, who had been gaping and whispering these three weeks about this business—Every thing was handsome, and every body seemed inclined to be pleased with the attentions of the host and hostess, who certainly possess the happy art of making every body feel at home.—Mrs. H—— requested me to call on her in the morning of the next day, which I agreed to do as she wished to speak to me on the subject of her difficulty The Corps Diplomatique looked very sour, and the evening was in a great measure spoilt to me, as I am desirous of being on good terms with every body and being constantly with her made me apparently a party in the business—The supper was elegant—The rooms tastefully ornamented with wreathes of evergreen, intermixed with the Lis of France, descending from the cieling in graceful festoons, from the centre of which there was hung a chadelier of the same materials. Champagne sparkled in every glass, and before the  termination of the evening in many eyes, and the Ball lasted till two o’clock in the morning, every person appearing to participate in the joy of the hospitable entertainers—Mr. & Mrs. Smith accompanied us and returned home at the same time—Miss Buchanan and Mrs. Frye were also of the party—The Speaker told me he intended to bring a bill into the house on the subject of ettiquette—15 Waited on Mrs. Hay according to appointment and found Mrs. Monroe with her and found soon discovered that the great object as last winter was to stop all intercourse between me and the Foreign Ministers, under the idea that it was not dignified to have any acquaintance with them—I think this doctrine preposterous—Ministers of this discription being generally recieved as representatives of their respective Nations, I cannot imagine how it is possible that they should be received in this sense—more especially when the relations between the Nations are intended to be amicable and ju mutually reciprocated. you see my dear Sir I am but a poor politician, but I can feel cordially for the situation in which this doctrine will place our own citizens in such capacities in Europe, as experience has taught that they already labour under disagreeables which require no aggravation—Such a system may do very well for a despotic government like Russia, but appears to me to be totally incompatible with all our social institutions—Mrs Hay requested me to be at home the day after tomorrow as she intended to bring Mrs. Schuyler to visit me I told her I should be very happy them both and would certainly be at home to receive them. Mrs. Monroe gave me a polite invitation to repeat my visits—My journal is insensibly taking the tone of some of the secret Memoirs of the European Courts but I hope without any mischievous tendency—16 Went to pay several morning visits and my Horses took all possible pains to overset me on the Hills. they have no inveterate aversion to mud and mire which is rather surprising being natives of Kentucky—My neck has been in great danger many times from these rebellious animals but I hope to conquer their proud spirits at last—called on Mrs. Frye and left Mrs. Smith to pass the day with her. in the course of my visits Mr. G Graham told me that Mr. de Neuville was becoming so popular and was so generally liked it was astonishing—This looked to me a little like   sounding so I simply said that I believed the whole Corps had made themselves agreeable from the union which subsisted among themselves and their general desire to make themselves pleasing to the Americans—returned home to dinner and remained at home the rest of the evening—20 Dec. I will not apologise my dear Sir for all the trifles I send you mine is a mind which wants a great deal of weeding but my heart is good and sincerely desirous of shewing the affection and Respect with which it is filled for you—

					L C A—


Title: To John Adams from John Quincy Adams, 14 December 1818
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, John

					My dear and honoured Father.
					Washington 14. December 1818

				I have been delighted in receiving your Letter of the 7th: instant, and am glad that you have seen Trumbull’s picture of Independence—I rejoice that the Picture has been painted—As a collection of likenesses taken  from the life, of the founders of the greatest Nation, this Ball of Earth has seen or will see, which ours will certainly be, it has merit—As the Representation of the sublimest scene ever enacted upon Earth the Painter has fallen, as Raphael or Michael Angelo, Jeuxis or Apelles would have fallen infinitely below the subject—Your Letter itself, written the day after the Event, forgive me my dear father for saying it—your Letter, profound, comprehensive and prophetical as it was, disclosed but a part of the mighty consequences of that Event. It was not merely the birth day of a powerful Nation—It was the opening of a new Æra in the History of Mankind—It was an Epocha in the progress of human intellect—It laid a new corner Stone to the foundations of Human Society—deeper, loftier, more durable than the everlasting Hills. Was it impossible for the Painter to embody some conception, that should lead the mind of the Spectator to some idea of the grandeur of that transaction?—He has painted a Committee of an Assembly, presenting a Report—what more has he exhibited? a Collection of interesting Portraits—Yes!—and that is much—But who from the view of that Picture would infer that this Report was the first solemn Proclamation to the human species of their unalienable and imprescriptible Rights?—who from the view of that Picture would infer, that over the head of every individual, who put his hand to that proclamation, was even then waiving in combined and terrible defiance, the flaming sword of War, the Savage Tomahawk, and the Axe of the Scaffold? No! it is not in canvas to exhibit the stupendous magnitude of that Scene—Yet methinks something more might have been shewn—The picture is comparatively cold and unmeaning—I say this to you; but I do not say it here, and beg you not to divulge it as my opinion, because it might hurt the feelings of my worthy friend the Painter, who deserves praise and gratitude for what he has done, and perhaps after all may say that the truest test of the sublime in moral sentiment, is perfect simplicity.According to your desire, my dear wife has recommenced her journal as your confidential Correspondent; and will continue it, as long as it affords you any amusement. My brother in a late Letter, mentioned to me that you had thoughts of purchasing a small piece of land adjoining your farm; and might have occasion to borrow about one thousand dollars. I have enabled him to furnish you the money in such a manner as may suit your convenience or wishes—And if on any other occasion you should want a similar or larger sum within the bounds of my faculty or credit, I pray you to apply without hesitation to me for it—I learn with regret that you have thought it necessary to deprive yourself of conveniences to which you have long been accustomed—but knowing the counterpoise of gratification which you will derive from the independence resulting from the privation, and from the noble purposes to which the fund of economy will be devoted, I have acquiesced in the wisdom, and admired the generosity of your determination.It was my intention and that of my wife to have sent for our Son George, to come and pass his Winter vacation here—But hoping that he may in some degree make himself useful to you, and contribute to your amusement; and knowing, that he could be in no situation so well suited to his improvement and instruction as under your roof, I have desired him to make you the offer, and ask of you the favour to pass the vacation with you. I hope you will indulge in this request, your dutiful and affectionate Son.

					John Quincy Adams.


Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to Harriet Welsh, 16 December 1818
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson
To: Welsh, Harriet

					My Dear Harriet
					Washington 16 Decbr. 1818

				I scarcly know how to apologize for my remissness in not writing to you sooner but did you know how I am teazed you would excuse most readily any apparent negligence and always assign some sufficient excuse for it Congress is come back and with it all the stormy passions jealousies and petty enmities which are so widely spread against those who either by talents or circumstances have risen to a high station—it is probable you will see my journal and in that you will find a faint sketch of the troubles into which do what we will we are doomed to suffer In consequence of having remained at home some weeks in Respect to my Mothers memory I am charged with assuming such airs as to decline returning any visits which are paid me—I want your advice although I candidly tell you I cannot follow it as Mr. A—— is determined to let it work—My Shawls came in good order and I must beg you to tell my Boy’s that I am afraid I shall not be able to write to them as often as I wish for great part of my time is occupied entirely with my journal which I cannot neglect as it is to please my father that I write it.I shall send by return of Ship the Vertical Jack and am very sorry Mr Cruft has not sent me any butter. Make my love acceptable to your father and Mother and believe me ever yours

					L C Adams

					Nothing heard of Mr & Mrs. Clarke—


Title: To John Adams from Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 17 December 1818
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson
To: Adams, John

					December 17-24, 1818

				17th So very cold remained at home all day and saw no one18 The day still severely cold but was persuaded to go and drink Tea with Mrs. Frye but did not bring home Mary Buchanan fearful lest she might take cold on changing her bed in such weather—Parties tolerably violent on General Jackson’s affairs—19 Dined at the french Ministers—Dinner and Ball in honor of the Dutchess of Angoulemes Birth day—The dinner truly Diplomatic—the party consisting of the Corps diplomatic all the heads of Department the President of the Senate the Speaker of the house and the Attorney General—The cold was so intense it was scarcely possible to sit at Table and of course the conversation not very lively or interesting—Mr Wirt’s chair unfortunately broke and laid him low to his utter astonishment Mr. Bagot more amusing than I ever saw him—The evening company very small but unusually select—if I may dare to use such a word—Mr de N—— a little too lively—21 Read prayers and passed the day at home in the evening passed an hour at Mrs. Smiths—22 A Ball at Mr. Bagot’s had a short conversation with Mr. Hopkinson who betrayed some of the hostility which he is said to feel against some of our popular military characters by drawing ill natured comparison’s between them and the old Revolutionary Officers—I simply observed that the wars had been so different in their natures that the Officers in each had deserved the approbation of their Country and the effect produced throughout Europe by our late success and the change of sentiment as it regarded the strength of our Nation and the solidity of our government might perhaps be as essentially beneficial as our struggle for independence—He laughed and said that was true but insisted upon giving all the praise to the Navy—which I do not think altogether just—The Hero of New Orleans however rash and unthinking he may since have proved himself can never lose the laurels he then so nobly acquired—and if he has made it difficult to support him it would disgraceful entirely to abandon him to the rancour and injustice of his enemies—Made the acquaintance of Mr. Dagget an uncommonly pleasant man—talked about Buonaparte Russia &ca—also of Mr Roberdeau Lady and family who are old friends of yours my dear Sir as he told me She was the daughter of Dr. Blair of German Town in Pennsylvania—The evening altogether social and pleasant—Mrs. Monroe was dangerously ill and the Doctor sent for from the Ball—Mr Adams played Chess with the Sweadis Danish Minister who though a very unskillful player had the satisfaction of beating him—22 Went to see Mrs. Chotard a Lady from Louisianna—She was too much indisposed to receive me—From thence to Peales to see Mr. Adams’s picture—The likeness is good but the picture altogether vulgar and by no means suitable to my taste which is probably a little too nice—Mrs. Monroe better—Dined at Mr Calhoun’s—the party small, consisting of Mr. & Mrs. Bagot Mr. Antrobus Mr. Von Sasse Mr J Monroe Mr. Gouverneur, Mr. Harrisson Smith, his daughter with Mr. A—— and myself made up the party—Returned home early—How much practice or what the french call (usage du monde) is required to receive company well and how much the greatest talents are obscured by that want of ease and small talk which though in itself trifling always produces the happy effect of sociall  socializing a company and by insensible degrees warming it into brillancy and solidity—This is one of those arts that every body feels, but few understand, and is altogether inexplicable—My mind is so completely laid open to you my dear Sir upon most subjects and those subjects are in themselves so trivial I am almost afraid of becoming insupportably tedious instead of creating as I so fondly wish one half hours amusement for a vacant evening—The Miss Roberdeau’s are always almost giantesses but have pretty faces—They recalled to my a young gentle man in Berlin who wishing to express his admiration of a young Lady of this description said “Mademoiselle vous etes bien jolie, mais il faut une echelle pour vous le dire—23 The weather Stormy with a heavy fall of Snow Mr. Cristiani came and gave his Lessons of music notwithstanding—In the evening at the Drawing Room where for the first time since my residence in this place—Some conversation with the President who made many enquiries about the Emperor of Russia his habits of living &ca—Very few people there in consequence of the bad weather and Mrs. Monroe’s indisposition which Mrs. Hay told me she thought very dangerous—The President had requested I would attend—I therefore went but kept myself quiet in a corner of the room for fear it should be said I had gone to officiate for Mrs. Monroe—There is so much scandal and illnature here it is impossible to be too guarded—Mr. Fuller member from Massachusetts was introduced to me conversed some time with him Mrs. de Forrest the wife of the Consul from buenos Ayres introduced by Mr. Dagget—he is not yet received in that character—she is a pretty woman—Mr. Sergeant very pleasant Mr. A—— introduced a Col Clark to me an old Revolutionary Officer—he appears to be a kind hearted friendly old Gentleman fond of  fighting his battles over again in a snag scat by a good Table. Not exactly like Uncle Toby however; he gave me an invitation to pass some time at his house in little York or as he wishes to have it York—Major Jackson also there he is so deaf it is difficult to converse with him in a party—all the Foreign Ministers and their Ladies attended—24 Mrs Monroe still continues very ill—went out and paid a visit to Mrs. Hagner who has recently recovered from a very dangerous sickness—Poor Woman she does not look as if she would be able to go through the trying struggle which awaits her—Mr. Cristiani dined with us and was if possible more suffisans than ever—He is certainly a man of superior talents in his profession but so full of vanity and folly that he makes himself quite ridiculous—Mr Pope sent me the Governors speech from Lexington—Being no politician I am not a judge of its merits but as I imagine it is Mr P’s writing suppose it must be very good—With the most respectful attachment

					L C A—


Title: From John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 18 December 1818
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, Thomas Boylston

				N. 18.
					My Dear Brother
					Washington 18 December 1818

				I have received your letters of 29th. Novbr.—4 and 5 Decemr. 6th. and 7th. December—numbered 5. 6. 8. 9. with the correspondence between you and the Society for the suppression of  Intemperance at Hanover enclosed in number 6 and the copy of your Letter to Mr Rush, enclosed in number 9 which copy conformably to your request I herewith return.—Before receiving these last two Letters I had written at much length a reply to that of 4 and 5 of December—but perceiving that you impute to unkindness, that which was dictated only by the warmest and sincerest affection, I shall at least for the present withhold it—I am afraid anything farther that I could now say would alienate still more your affection from me, which I should deeply lament, without rendering you the service which could be my only justifiable motive for saying it—You implicitly and distinctly deny having contracted any gaming debts—This is of itself a great relief to my mind, from the concern I had felt for your family, and yourself on that account—If in any instance I have unnecessarily wounded your feelings I am sorry for it—If in settling your accounts I have not done you to say the least entire justice, I am ready to do it as you yourself shall prescribe—while any portion of my brotherly duty of kindness to you remains in your opinion unperformed, I can with little effect urge you to be kind to yourself—May the Spirit of truth and self-knowledge be your guide, and may your undeviating self-possession hereafter, place you alike beyond the reproaches of falsehood and of truth—Your affectionate Brother


Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to John Adams, 22 December 1818
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson
To: Adams, John

					Dear John
					Washington 22 Decbr. 1818

				I yesterday received your Letter of the 15 instt. and really can scarcely find an excuse for my long silence both to you and to Charles whose Letters afford me so much real pleasure—The Legacy of the picture must be very delightful to you, both as a proof of your Grandmothers kind and affectionate remembrance, and as a very good likeness of a father whose extreme tenderness and indulgence to his children must produce the most ardent affection and gratitude—Your promise of entering College the ensuing Summer delights me, as it affords a proof of your earnest endeavours to improve yourself in your studies, and to fit yourself for the trying scenes into which you will enter—George has already ready found the temptations too strong for his philosophy, and your disposition though firm is so much more impetuous I sometimes tremble lest you should be entrapped by the many snares which will inevitably be set for you, and I shall only be able with all the tenderness and anxiety of maternal solicitude be able occasionally to warn you “to take heed to your way’s”—I build all my hopes of happiness in this world on what I must think the stable rock of my childrens love and respect; and though they may for a moment be led away from the path of rectitude, like the virtuous preux chevalier of former times they will return th to their allegiance and deserve the applause of an affectionate parent—The Books you mention are generally amusing more especially Gil Blas—The moral is perhaps not the most pure but a boy of your sense will not be misled by any book for want of reflexion. I recommend you to read Humphry Clinker which is the best of Smollets novels and which is calculated to make you laugh heartily as it full of wit and humour—I do not approve of Smollets novels generally still less of Fielding, the moral of whose works is always highly exceptionable—Your Cousin is very well but so idle I can do nothing with her and think of looking for a school to put her too to. She is now taking lesson’s of singing—Give my love to Charles Mrs. & Miss Welsh and believe with the most fervent affection your Mother

					L. C. A.

					you never said any thing about the lines I sent you


Title: From John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 24 December 1818
From: Adams, John
To: Adams, John Quincy

My dear Son
Quincy Decr 24. 1818

Your favour of the 14th. found me deeply immersed in researches, not astromical or mineralogical or metaphisical; but after old Papers, Trunks Boxes Desks Drawers locked up for thirty Years have been broken open because the Keys are lost. Nothing Stands in my Way. Every Scrap Shall be found and preserved for Your Affliction for your good. I am now employed very anxiously and laboriously, merely to Save you trouble. After all I Shall leave You an inheritance Sufficiently tormenting, for example. The huge Pile of family Letters, will make you Alternatly laugh and cry, fret and fume; Stamp and Scold as they do me. But enough of this for the present.
The recommencement of your Lady’s Journal is a reviving cordial to me.
The resource you Offer me is very kind and deserves my thanks. The Scrap of Land is in the hands of Sharping Shavers with whom I could never deal, and will not be their dupe. All are well, and among the rest as well as Usual your Affectionate Father
John Adams


Title: To John Adams from Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 25 December 1818
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson
To: Adams, John

					December 25, 1818—January 4, 1819

				25 This being Xmas day received visits as usual from Mr. & Madame de Neuville—As I have just received your Letter my Dear Sir, though an answer to it is rather premature in this place, I must say a few words on the subject of Foreign Ministers; and thought it is impossible for me to deny what you observe regarding them, respect for the family into which I have entered, will not permit me to agree altogether in your opinion, as they have done too much honor to those Stations, for me ever to utter a word of censure, upon a Class of Society who though necessary evils often produce the greatest benefits to the Nations by whom their talents are called into action: and the part you and your Son have so ably borne in this distinguished career, will testify against your general condemnation—My experience has convinced me that we endure enough of mortification in this capacity in Europe, to convince of shew us the necessity of common politeness to those so situated among us in this Country; at least until it shall be found expedient by our Government to drop this kind of intercourse; and the sort of intimacy which I have with them is nothing more than common acquaintance—I fear you will think these observations if not impertinent at least injudicious but I have informed you that I must have the privilege of writing what I think or I cannot write at all—Major Jackson called to see me he always appears under some restraint when he comes to see me and as he has not always been friendly to Mr. Adams I suppose his conscience pricks him—We had a sociable family dinner with the addition of two or three Gentlemen. Mr Holmes Mr. Baily Mr. Maury & ca—26 Went with Mary Buchanan to Mr. de Neuvilles—The party so small the married Ladies were obliged to dance to make up a Cotillion but the evening was even more sociable and agreeable than usual—27 Read Prayers—Mr. Hopkinson Mr Sergeant and Major Jackson dined with us and Mrs. Cutts and Mrs. Smith took Tea  in the Evening They had sent me word in the morning they intended coming—The day passed very sociably and such dinners suit my taste much better than those of twenty people which are always attended with fatigue and anxiety—Mr A—— possesses the talent of entertaining dinner company to great perfection when his mind is at ease and I think is seen on these occasion’s to great advantage28 Returned the visits of the Foreign Ministers Ladies and called on my Sisters—Mr. de Neuville passed the evening with Mr Adams on business Nothing new excepting that General Jackson is expected in the City immediately—I hope he will not come as I fear the impetuosity of his character will do much harm—The French Minister more flighty than ever though full of importance—It is well if the general Evacuation dont oblige him to evacuate his Post—Mr. J. Ringold came and paid a long morning visit—29 At home all the morning receiving visits—Mrs. Cutts Mrs. Lear Miss Forrest Miss Stannard, and Mr Saw who is more excentric (if not more crazy) than ever—The Evening at Mrs. Thorntons where the Doctor entertained us with some of his good things—Among a number he told us one evening last Summer two of the Spanish Patriots were visiting at his house when the Spanish Secretary of Legation and the Spanish Consul called to see him—The latter immediately asked him who those Gentlemen were and that he replied they were gentlemen who were travelling for  to amend their Constitution—Mr. King who is employed by Delaplaine to paint Portraits for his Repository was also there, and apparently possesses some talents, at least for conversation—Mr. Pederson the Danish Minister came in also and on the whole we passed a pleasant evening—In the morning was much occupied in sending out cards of invitation to Tea on Thursday eveng. next—Mr Mumford very dangerously ill little hope of recovery he has been in Congress many years—Saw in an English Paper an article announcing the death of Ellen Nicholas, one of the loveliest Girls I ever knew only twenty, accomplished, beautiful and amiable—She has been early snatched from this world of sorrow to a state of bliss where her pure soul will meet the reward her virtue and piety may safely lead her sorrowing friends to hope as destined for her—30 Passed a very bad night and breakfasted in my chamber called on Mrs. Crawford and Mrs Calhoun to introduce Miss Buchanan after which returned home Mrs. Crawford told me she would not call on Mrs. Hay—Susan Clark came to see me had made many enquiries but could not learn if they were arrived—She is looking very well and says Mr. Clark is much better tho’ still poorly his Sister Miss Clark is a pretty girl—They are living two miles beyond George Town and I fear I shall have but few opportunities of seeing her The baby is quite well—Evening at home alone—31 The weather very bad—Mr. A—— informed us at dinner of the Mr. Mumfords death—At half past seven o’clock my company assembled and thought the larger part consisted of members of Congress notwithstanding their recent loss—I had 10 114 persons out of 150 invited and the evening was social and with the aid of a little music went off tolerably well—The Ladies of the members declined, the ettiquette question not being decided—Tho’ we have many parties here they finish so early we cannot be said to be dissipated—heard much of Mr Adams’s Letter to Mr Erving—Jany. 1. 1819 I will begin this day with a fervent hope that you my dear Sir may be spared to us a long time to bless and love us—Went to the Presidents at one o’clock accompanied by Mr. Adams Mrs. Smith and Miss Buchanan It was very crowded—Mrs Monroe looked beautiful but I really felt for her as the fatigue was much more than she ought to have undertaken—Was obliged to return with Mr Sergeant as our horses were so unusually vicious there was no doing any thing with them and I feared they would break the carriage to pieces—In the evening went to Mrs French’s concert a Lady of great Respectability who has taken this method of extricating her husband from his embarassments—Mr Sergeant accompanied me—I am always very much at a loss for a beau on such occasions—She sings very well and her voice is beautifully sweet—Was extremely unwell all day—Was informed that Mr Forsythe is to go Spain and Mr Graham to the Brazils as Minister’s—Mr. Clay was at the Presidents and we had some conversation—but not a word on ettiquette Your message might not be to his taste therefore I will not venture to deliver it—but as there are two Acts of parliament on Record in England on the same subject in two different reigns it does not strike me as being so extremely incongruous more especially as all our Institutions are in some measure copied from theirs and until something is done to regulate the Station which the Officers of the Government are to hold in society they are liable to be trampled on a little too much by the members of the Legislature—4th Janry 1819. George I perceive by the address on your Letter is with you—I am much flattered by the Letters you have favoured me with but certainly do not expect that you should condescend to answer any of my foolish suggestions as I value both your eyes and your fingers too much to occasion them unnecessary fatigue—Ever with the most Respectful affection

					L. C. Adams


Title: From John Quincy Adams to Thomas Baker Johnson, 27 December 1818
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Johnson, Thomas Baker

					My Dear Sir.
					Washington 27. Decr. 1818

				Your kind Letter of 28. November condoling with me, on the distressing event of the decease of my beloved mother, is entitled to my sincere and grateful acknowledgments—The loss to me is such as can never be repaired in this world; and its heaviest aggravation is in the consciousness of its tenfold weight upon the declining days of a yet surviving Parent—The affection of sympathizing friends, the consciousness of that extensive sentiment of esteem and respect which followed the close of a well-spent life, and the remembrance of the virtues which have contributed to endear existence to me, soothe in some respect a sorrow that can cease only with life. Yet is it a sorrow not without hope—I indulge the flattering anticipation that we shall be reunited in another world with those who have been most dear to us in this—And in that hope, I seek for the humble resignation to the will of Heaven which can alone render supportable affliction so severe.I am with the highest regard and esteem, Dear Sir, your friend / and very humble Servt

					John Quincy Adams.


Title: From John Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 29 December 1818
From: Adams, John
To: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson

My dear Daugher
Quincy Decr. 29 1818

Your Journal to the 20th has Sett me on fire. Give my respectfull Compliments to Mr Clay and tell him that I Sincerely Unite with You—in Your request that he would bring in a Bill to Settle the Ettiquette of the United States. The debates in Congress Upon that important Subject, will amuse, divert, instruct and edify me to the End of my Life.
I pitty Mrs Monroe; I pitty Mrs H; but above all I pitty You. I Seriously Approve the Advice of Mrs Monroe and Mrs H.
The Corps diplomatic, is a necessary Evil in all modern civilised Nation. But they are the most plausible, the most Subtle the most intriguing, the most Seducing, and the most incendiary Clubbs in the World
As they cannot have the P. or his Lady at their Parties they naturally Court Mrs H. If She Accepts one Invitation She must all, and thus make herself a dissipated Slave.
Ettiquette is a thing to be done but not talked about. Mrs H. has no Rank but She ought to be treated as if She had.
This is no novel embarrassment. Such exist in every Court in Europe notwithstanding their Experience and established or pretended Customs. I have Seen ridiculous Scenes in Versailles between the Princes of the Blood of the Second Order and the Ambassadors of Austria and Russia.
Venice prohibited All Intercourse between Senators and Ambassadors. In Holland no Correspondence was held between Legislators and foreign Ministers but in Ceremony. The great Patriot Van Berckell for twenty Years was urged to dine with French Ambassadors but never accepted but one Invitation and that was to a dinner made by the Duke de la Vauguion in honour of the U.S. upon my reception by their H.M.
Jealousies Envys Competitions Espionage are most dangerous in Republicks and in ours more than in any other.
Your Experience in Berlin Petersburg & St. James’s; Your Sense Witt, and perfect fluency and Purity in the French Langue, will hold you constantly besieged by the foreign Ministers and their Ladies.
I therefore Advise you, as discretely as possible to comply with the Advice of Mrs Monroe and Mrs H.
Yours Affectionately
John Adams


Title: To John Adams from Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 2 January 1819
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson
To: Adams, John

					(Private)
					January 2–7, 1819

				I must begin this Sheet by observing that I have touched rather more largely upon political occurrences than is perhaps prudent considering how little I understand the subject—But the wish to amuse and interest you must be my apology and if the sentiments expressed are erronious they can do no mischiefs as they have no weight in themselves and can never be considered any thing more than the pratling of an ignorant but I trust not an assuming Woman; and as nobody ought to see these effusions but yourself I rely too much on your kind indulgence to apprehend censure2d At home all day quite indisposed, but received several morning visits on account of my horses having been more mischievous than common, and it was supposed I had been very much frightened if not seriously injured; neither of which happened to be the case,—Mr. Sergeant having insisted upon my returning with him3d The Russian Minister called having heard the same circumstance—We had just concluded the Prayers of the day—In the evening had a visit from Mr Bailey—Mr. A received Mr de Neuville and Mr. Holmes in the course of the day who sat with him a long time on business—Mr. Bailey discoursed much with me concerning Mr Adams’s famous Letter, which here excites a wonderful sensation—I have not read it, but it is said to be so excellent, that all the envious feelings which have lain dormant during this Session, will now burst forth in great and mighty bitterness, and the more so from the effect this Letter is likely to produce upon the Nation at large, who will see a clear, cool, and dispassionate statement of facts, neither coloured by party feeling, or political intrigue—Let them rear and plunge it is all in vain—Talents like his are of an order too distinguished to be misjudged by the great body of the people who cannot long be hoodwinked by the knavery of party tricks—In a Republick like ours the only fame a man can surely rely on is the fame he leaves to posterity; who judging without passion and impartiality; free from the perpetual excitements of rival ambition, and the base juggling of maneuvering politicians, are better able to appreciate and duly estimate, the qualifications and merits of the truly great—His situation is peculiar; an object of envy to his friends, and of dread to his enemies, he stands alone to be haited on all sides—This is a subject on which I ought not to dwell and I therefore hasten to close it—4 Still felt very unwell but having a large party to dine with me was obliged to exert myself to be well—Mr Harris who has just arrived from Russia sat with me an hour and gave me a great deal of information concerning my Russian acquaintance—In consequence of our Cooks watch being an hour to Slow, our party met sometime before we could assemble at Table, and we certainly suffered all the yawning tedium of “half an hour before dinner” and ere it had elapsed, I was apprehensive the dinner would prove one of those heavy undertakings through which we toil to be agreeable without attaining the end of our irksome labours—The dinner however when we did get it was so excellent, the wines so good, and the welcome so unostentatiously offered, that the genial Sun of hospitality conquered dispersed even the chilling gloom of hungry anticipation, warmed our guests into animation and saved us from the dreaded evil of unsocial dullness—Our company consisted of Mr & Mrs. Cruger Mr William’s Govr. Edwards Mr Wilson Judge Nelson Judge Butler Admiral Tait Capt Barnard Mr. Mellen and Mr. Pederson—We were disappointed of six person’s who had been invited—5 Went to visit to the Vice Presidents Lady who was however not at home—Received visits from Mrs. Hay Mr & Mrs. Paulding and Miss Kimble—Maj Mr. P–— is a gentleman who has distinguished himself as an author—he has written several satirical poems and a poem recently published called the Backwoodsman—also Letters from the South, and has acquired some celebrity. I have not read either of the publications, but have understood they are full of the inequalities which so abundantly pervade his Lay of the last Fiddle a parody of Walter Scotts Lay of the last Minstrel—In the evening a Ball at the Spanish Ministers where I had some conversation with Genl. Parker who spoke with great interest of General Jackson and related some particulars unknown to me before concerning this great personage who at present occupies so much of the attention of the publick—The Genl expressed a great degree of admiration of Mr. A——s Letter and repeatedly said he had never read any thing with such exquisite pleasure; as it was the vindication of a man whose character was not thoroughly understood, and who was unjustly oppressed for party purposes, and whose purity of intention and real services ought to plead his excuse if he had erred,   as a more faithful and disinterested Patriot could not exist—. Several other person’s mentioned this paper to me which I really felt ashamed of not having read it, but the fear of being thought to interfere in the slightest degree in political affairs renders me careless to the proceedings of Congress and to the general measures of the Administration—6 This morning read the famous Letter, which is so strongly tinted with marks of genuine feeling, so full of patriotism, so sensible of the real interests of our Country, it is no wonder it now to me that people should express their admiration in such ardent terms; or that the malignity of that blasting passion envy, should be collecting all its gall to overthrow its dreaded effects—but so much of personal enmity already escapes through the veil of political hypocricy, that the motives by which such a mode of conduct is actuated, are already sufficiently visible to excite a large portion of contempt—But still it will probably work and work most despitefully towards the Western horizon—In the evening at the Presidents the room very full but not too crowded—Heard that Mr. Mercer of Virginia had began the attack upon Mr A’s Letter on defence of Jackson. Warm work is expected in Congress—the Georgians are very angry at Jackson’s attack upon their poor imbecile Governor Rabun, and this will give an opportunity for many who have nothing to oppose, but the meanest jealousy of superior abilities superior to their own. The President did not look well though he said he felt well—7 Paid eight or ten morning visits to different Ladies—Mrs. Decatur quite sick confined to her house by the prevailing Cold or Influenza—Nothing new excepting the appointment of Mr. Graham to Rio Janeiro by the Senate. Mr. Sergeant took Tea with us and told us of Mr Mercer’s speech in the house, in which he declared he “had not slept since Mr A——s Letter was published” (nine days) which created some mirth—This is certainly a very contrary effect to that generally produced by long state papers, as they more generally act as soporifics—Mr Clay likewise took an opportunity of saying some illnatured things of the Secretary of War—which however he thought proper to retract to day—There is much rancorous ill humour afloat which must find a vent and in some way or other—I fear we shall soon lose our french Minister, as the libérales appear to be acquiring some ascendency in France—He will be a loss to us should he be removed—He is generally liked, is too weak and flighty to be mischievous, and has that immeasurable portion of amour propre which in general French renders French-Men so happy, by making them believe in a superiority which is frequently entirely imperceptible to those who surround them, and which acts as a talisman against the shafts of wit and ridicule—We shall find it very difficult to meet with a man more really well meaning towards our Country, and less inclined to give trouble, and whose manners are more generally conciliating—I will not begin a new day on this Sheet of paper.  But conclude the present with the mention of a Letter received by me from Mr Pope, in which he expresses warm satisfaction at the recent success of his party in the Senatorial election. In which Mr Logan had a majority of twelve votes—He is a staunch friend to the administration, and particularly so on the South American Question—He Mr P. talks of coming to make us a visit, but I hope he will not as I fear he has some views which would be very troublesome to us connected as we are by his late marriage—

					L. C. A.


Title: From Thomas Boylston Adams to Alicia Darrow Boylston, 3 January 1819
From: Adams, Thomas Boylston
To: Boylston, Alicia Darrow

					Jan 3. 1819

				Mr and Mrs Adams, Miss Cartwright, with Miss Adams & Brother accept with pleasure the polite invitation of Mrs Boylston, for tuesday evening.


Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 6 January 1819
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson
To: Adams, Charles Francis

					My Dear Charles
					Washington 6 January 1819

				You Letter was brought two days since, and I should have received it with the same pleasure your Letters have always given me, had I not perceived a great falling off in the hand writing, which surprized and grieved me a little; as I had always flattered myself that with due attention and constant practice, you would write a very handsome hand and with great facility—do not my dear child by a want of care acquire a slovenly habit, which you will find difficult to cure, and productive of much additional labour to yourself if you contract it—You have always attended so immediately to any advice I have thought it necessary to offer you, that I am sure of its meeting with that attention which both your affection and inclination prompt; from the conviction that it is excited influenced by the tenderit and deepest interest which can be excited in a devoted Mothers heart—. I need say no more as a word to the wise is enough. The progress you make in your Class delights me, and I recommend you to persevere as much as possible, as your triumph will be complete if you succeed in overtaking those who must be much forwarder than yourself; and you will give a very decided proof of how much may be attained by industry and constant application, and you will reap all the advantages of rapid promotion, and the approbation of your master’s, who will take delight to encourges encourage exertions so meritorious—I can  easily conceive that your occupations prevent your riding frequently in the Booby-hut, which caused you so much mirth last winter, but I hope you take as much exercise as is necessary for your health—Your wedding was much gayer I suppose than ours and I hope will prove as happy—I will respond the last sentiment of your Letter my darling boy, by assuring you that your success in overtaking your Class will “give joy to the heart of your affectionate Mother

					L. C. Adams

					I forgot to say how sorry I am to be deprived of the little Letter you mention, and hope in future Mr Clarke will be more careful for my sake—