Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 24 February 1812
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson

my dear daughter
Quincy. Feb’ry 24 1812

I beleive I have written you only one Letter since the commencment of the present Year, and I have received only one from you, dated last June, now Eight months.
if you do not write more frequently to your Friends in washington, which I hope you do: have we not all reason to complain of you? Little miss Louisa, allowd by all to be a very fine child, has no right to exclude her unknown Friends from a share of her Mammas attention—
My Letters to you for three months have been of So melancholy a cast, that I know they must have overwhelmd you with greif. fain would I have been Spared the painfull office.
I have the pleasure to inclose to you, Letters from Mrs Buchana, and from Adelaid, which I hope will afford you both comfort, and consolation, as I am assured from under their own hands, that they are now in the enjoyment, of health and tranquility—I presume, that they will communicate to you the proposed alliance of mr Hellen with Adelaid. how you will feel affected with this event I know not. I have considerd it, and weighed it, and cannot but approve it. altho to my own feelings I could never reconcile a double connection, yet to those who can I will Say, who can So tenderly feel for the bereved children as a sister doubly bound to them; by consanguinity, and adoption? Loveing them for the affection borne to a Dear Departed Sister whose voice from the Tomb, is, be kind to my dear Children, Supply to them the Mother they have lost. altho I have not much personal knowledge of mr Hellen, from the Love and affection of the whole Family towards him, and the estimable Character he has Sustaind, as Husband, Father Friend, and benefactor—I have felt a sincere pleasure from the communication of the object of his choice, and I Shall not fail to express it to her. as She wished through mrs Buchana to know my mind. I knew her only as a child untill since the death of your Mother. I have been in the habit of corresponding with her, and have received much pleasure, from the Sedate and thoughtfull, the prudent and judicious Specimins, I have had of her judgement and Discretion, and now her mind is more at ease, the brilliancy of your Mothers wit, Stings whilst it Sparkles.
Matrimony is much in fashion here. Hannah Smith, who has grown up into notice Since you left us—is engaged to mr Pickman of Salem, Son to the Hon’ble mr Pickman, who was in Senate with my Son, and well known to him the young gentleman, has an agreable person, polite and affable manners a well informd mind, and a fair and honorable Character. It is a good Match for her, and will I hope, dispell the gloom which threatned a Melancholy upon the Death of william, to whom she was most tenderly attached—
The next in order is Charlot Welch addrest by a mr Baily a Member of the legislature, and by profession a Lawyer—in good practise, and with a comfortable Property a widower of 35 without Children, a sensible well informd gentleman from Wiscasset—
I am happy in having it in my power to write you Some cheering intelligence. we have witnessed enough of the vissisitudes of Life, to make us Sensible of its changes, and in this respect, all things come alike to all. your dear sons are well and happy under the care, and protection of their uncle and Aunt Peabody—but a Father and a Mother—may be too long absent from their Children: Parents cannot forget their Children, but may not the Children, upon whose youthfull minds impressions are deeply engraven, by long absence feel less Sensibly the Stamp?
there is much due to our country and much to our Families—Should an other year elapse without your return,— new obsticals may again arrise—and prevent what I Still flatter myself you earnestly desire; that of Seeing again / your only Surviveing and / affectionate Mother
Abigail Adams


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Adelaide Johnson, 26 February 1812
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Johnson, Adelaide

my dear Adelaide
Quincy Febry 26 1812

I received your Letter with the inclosures and have written and forwarded them by a vessel just going to St Petersburgh—since I wrote to you last I have received two Letters from my son, one dated 2 of october and the other 25th they had just removed from their Country residence into the city, and were all well much improved in their health from the Air of the Country through the hot months. they appear delighted with their little Russian Girl: who my son says is “a very accomplishd Lady for her weeks, and promises to be a nut brown Maid”
I persume the Letter which the President received from mr Adams was one written when he had reason to think he was recalld and a successor appointd when the circumstances of his Family would not permit his return, that he should feel a reluctance to exchange his present situation, honourd Respected, quiet and tranquil to return and embark upon the tempestuous sea of polics ferreted by every blast, feared and calumniated by every Riveling scribler is a state of warfare in which he is averse to engage. “He says our ship is in the midst of a tempest, and in undertaking any part of her management, it is inevitable necessity not only to share in all her dangers but to be made responsible for her fate. these considerations have effectually gaurded me against from all regret that accidental occurences have arrested my return home this year—but I cannot wish to linger here after the necessity which has tied me shall have ceased and I shall receive with Satisfaction the Presidents renewed permission to return home, tho to no seat of public trust in the place of that which I am to leave”
If His Father and I were twenty years Younger, we might not feel all the regret which we now do at his continuence abroad. our Age gives us little reason to expect more than a few short years of enjoyment with him if he was to return immediatly, and domestic pleasures are all we wish for—altho retierd, we still feel an interest in the public concerns of our country, and are attentive observers of the passing Events—And if we respect ourselves our government must be Supported; we have strength to do it, and justice to aid it. however Arduous the task of the President, I hope and trust he will again receive the suffrages of the states—there is not any change which will give equal satisfactions—I read all the debates which the national intelligencer gives us and have been pleased with mr Giles and mr Anderson both—I shall feel however very angry with them if they do not allow us the Navy we ask for our the protection of commerce & our Cities. mr Quincy has done himself and country honour by his late Speech upon that Subject, and this is more than I can say of some former speeches
I rejoice to hear of the improved State of health of your Friends—to  one of whom present the regards of your Friend and of every other occurrence which may increase your happiness and give you a prospect of greater usefullness in Life—may your virtues increase with the accumulation of your duties untill the Eulogium of Soloman may be Yours that many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all—
A Adams


Title: From Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to John Quincy Adams, 26 February 1812
From: Peabody, Elizabeth Smith Shaw
To: Adams, John Quincy

My Dear Nephew,
Atkinson February 26th, 1812.

My Dear Sister, has I presume written, & given you some account of the Situation of our Connections at Quincy, & of those melancholy Dispensations of divine Providence which in the last five Months, has deprived both your Family, & mine, of some of the tenderest,—dearest,—most valued Relatives.—While I sympathize with you, & your lovely Wife, in the loss of a fond Mother, & a beloved Sister, I trust you reciprocate the Grief, & with me lament the Bereavement of my venerable, ever respected, & greatly beloved Brother & Sister Cranch. To you my Nephew, I need not say, how much they were venerated for their Fidelity—the sincerity of their Friendship—their ardent desire of doing good—their undesembled Piety—their fervent Devotion—& all the “Charities,” of Life—
Seldom, if ever, were Families, or three Sisters, who have lived in greater Harmony than we have ever done—Our Dispositions, Habits of Oeconomy, literary Pursuits,—our moral, & religious Principles—all—all conspired to cement the Bands—But the great Arbiter of Life, & Death, has now loosened, & broke assunder the three-fold silken Cord, which for so many years, had been closely twisted together with the Bands of Unity, Peace, & Love—And the House we were wont to visit, now sits solitary, where glowed unabated conjugal Affection, & in a delightful manner beamed the Smiles of Benevolence, & Love.
Fifty years had my dear Brother, & Sister Cranch dwelt together as “joint Heirs,” united in every wish, “walking in all the Statutes, & Ordinances of the Lord blameless,” so far as human Imperfection would admit, bright Examples of the Christian Graces, & Virtues.—
I was at Quincy in June, & with my Sister, when she was first taken sick with a Fever, which proved of the Inflamatory kind, & very distressing—I did not quit her sick Chamber, till my Brother, & the Phisicians thought she might recover—But they soon found her System was too enfeebled ever to regain its wonted Strength—Her mind appeared ever resigned to the disposal, & Government of her heavenly Parent—trusting in the merits of the Redeemer, she was composed, & cheerful—
My Brother Cranch was confined but three Days, soon his reason, & speech faild, which we all regret—When my Sister, was told that the dear Partner of all her joys, & Sorrows had taken his flight, her kindred Spirit seemed no longer to have a wish to be detained here upon Earth—And Heaven was pleased to spare them the anguish, of seeing either laid in the Tomb.
“Together free’d their gentle Spirits flew,
We trust, “To Scenes where Love & Bliss immortal reign.”
Lovely in Life, undivided in Death—One Funeral Obsiquie—One solemn Dirge, breathed its plaintive Notes,—One silent Tomb enshrines their sleeping Dust—While “Hope, springs beyond the Grave,” & cheers us with the Belief, that they have joined the celestial Choir, & are reaping the reward of the Faithful—Here, do I love daily to meditate, upon them, & dwell upon an Idea so solacing, so ameliorating to the feelings of Humanity—& so full of monotory Lessons to us, whose Days are protracted—
Your excellent Father, & Mother, feel the loss of their early Sentimental Companion the confidential Friend, the kind Soother, & cheerful Visiter of their sick Bed, perhaps more than myself, whose abode, is far distant—They, who “prevent the Wish,” were ever unremitted in their assiduities, & spared no pains to alleviate the distressed Family, which the tenderest fraternal affection could dictate.—Their Hands, & their Hearts have been full—And I rejoice that your Sister Smith, & Daughter are with your Parents during this long cold winter, to cheer their gloomy hours, while I regret the Disease which occasioned her absense from Home, & from which she could have no relief, but by submiting to a painful Opperation, which she did with that cheerful composure, that pious Fortitude, & true magnanimity of Soul, which has ever disignated her Character, through every trying Situation of her Life—Pardon my prolixity—I love to recount the Virtues of my Friends—
Perhaps, your Brother Thomas has informed you that Judge Cranch has sent his two Sons here, to be fitted for College, & that they are steady worthy youths,—Thomas Norton, & your two Sons, have been since commited to our Care. It gave me pleasure to have them all together, as it might renew family Friendship,—They are all promising Youths, but very different in their Genius, Temper, & brilliancy of Intellects—Yours particularly have rich Soil, capable of high Cultivation, & require constant attention—George, wrote to you in the winter, but in so bad hand writing, that I desired your Mother to send it on, or not, as she chose—I have now persuaded him to try, & write slower though I fear you will think it bad enough now—He has acquired a strong Taste for English Authors, & has a supprizing capability of comprehending the sense, & design—& of retaining Events recorded in History—This winter he has read Goldsmith’s History of England.—Miltons Paradise lost, & Thomsons Seasons have delighted him—with a number of other Books of Taste—Popes works, he has read while at Quincy—We presumed you did not want to have him pushed forward at his age, in the Classicks—& we have indulged him in pursuing those Authors in the Evening, as an amusement—for he does not love to play like John—Though he now enjoys health, yet I am fearful he will injure himself, for Books, make even Children inactive—
Perhaps, you will not approve, when I say, that I am less concerned at present, for the correctness of his Morals. than for the singular Habits, & awkward ways he has by some means contracted, which, if they cannot be removed, will shade his fine Talents—I have therefore delivered him up to my Daughter, who is firm, mild, & gentle in her manners—who is young enough to interest his attention, & old enough not to endanger his Heart—All the little Lads, love her very much—She certainly possesses the “Honey of persuasion,” for the small Ones, if older, do not feel its Influence—
John is a charming Child, parses english, & is studying Murry’s Grammer, & an abridgment of Geography &ce—& will make, I believe a better writer than George—
Permit me to congratulate you, & Mrs Adams, upon the Birth of a dear Daughter,—may all your Children live to be Blessings—
You will be good enough to present Mr Peabody’s & my kind regards to Mr William Smith,—he is remembered with affection—& accept of Mr Peabody’s & my Daughters, most respectful Compliments, & the sincere wishes for the Health, Prosperity & Happiness of yourself, & Lady, of Her, who has the Honour to subscribe your Aunt

Elizabeth Peabody


Title: To John Adams from Josiah, III Quincy, 27 February 1812
From: Quincy, Josiah, III
To: Adams, John

Dear Sir.
Washington. 27. Feb. 1812.

Be assured that I receive, with the sentiments of respect and humility, which I ought the very high approbation, you have been pleased to express of my exertion in behalf of the Navy. I had hoped a different event from that which followed. But what sailors call an undertow sunk our hopes, while they were yet vivid and perfect. The “base and mean and disgraceful motives” of which you intimate are, indeed, too prevalent among us. And I know not whether anything generous, elevated, or rational can be again expected, in our day. Those passions having gained so general an ascendancy and penetrated such an innumerable host of ephemeral politicians, in every part of the country. We have only to hope that, in the language of the sibyl—
via prima salutis
Quod minime reris—pandetur—
with sentiments of very great respect for you & your lady / I am Sir yr. hl. St

Josiah Quincy


Title: From John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 4 March 1812
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, Thomas Boylston

28.
St. Petersburg 4. March 1812.

I have not forgotten the engagement which I voluntarily undertook, at the beginning of the last year, not to suffer any month to pass over without writing at least once to you, and once to my Mother, and I am sufficiently sensible that in regard to yourself I have failed in the fulfillment of this promise; inasmuch as my last Letter to you bears date the 25th: of January—the last opportunity by a private hand of forwarding letters to Gothenburg was early in February, by which I wrote to my Mother—Since then, although I might have written to you, I could not have dispatched my Epistle; and even now, I know not when, or by whom this will be forwarded—If this cause be not sufficient for my excuse, I must recur to the other, that since the 11th: of August, six months and twenty two days, I have not received a line from you, and that your last letter that has come to hand is nine months, and two days old. That the length of this interval is not ascribable entirely to insuperable obstructions in the communication, appears from the Circumstance that I have received by two different conveyances, letters from my Mother, so long subsequent to yours, that her last received are dated the 15th. of November; and from her I have learnt that you had received many of my letters written to you last Summer—As you have not availed yourself of any one of the channels of communication that I had suggested to you for transmitting letters to me in the Winter; so at least if you have none of them have reached me, when my promise of writing monthly, pressed upon my mind at the close of last month, as a duty, the spirit of procrastination whispered to me that you had not seen fit to accept my proposition for your part; and that after a full year’s perseverance in advance, upon the confidence that you would accede to the agrement, without receiving even an acknowledgment of my letter containing my promise, I might fairly conclude that the arrangement had not suited your convenience and that I was absolved from the further adherence to my assumpsit.
I am not at all satisfied with this reasoning, nor should I have yielded to it so far as to have permitted the month of February to pass without writing to you, had the occasion presented itself of forwarding my letter—But resolving to allow no accumulation of materials for excuse and apology. I take one of the first days in March to perform the duty of February, and to tell you, what before this time it would not have been during the whole Winter in my power to say; that we are all well.
My Mothers last letter was so full of melancholy tidings, that it contributed to apologize for your not having written at the same time. The reluctance which we naturally feel to being the first Messenger of ill news, may have arrested your pen.—The hand of a friend however mitigates the violence of the shock, which such intelligence must give; and your Mother’s letter brought the most soothing tinctures to the wounds which it disclosed.
My wife has as your readily conceive been deeply affected the severe and multiplied strokes of Calamity which have befallen her family. Her own health, always delicate and infirm, suffers much from the severity of this climate, and has felt the affect of the distressing Events, at Washington, in the decease of her Sister and Mother following in so short a space of time one upon the other.—And by the loss of Mr. and Mrs. Cranch, and the removal of our children to Atkinson she has a new source of anxiety, upon her mind, in which I feel scarcely less concerned than herself.—I conclude, either that the increase of your own family, or the necessary avocations of your business have made it inconvenient to take my sons into your house; my Mother mentions that they were gone to Atkinson, but without adding the motives upon which that place was preferred.
My present instructions from the government are to remain here; and unless some other change should occur, they will fix us here for another Winter. I am rejoiced that the seat upon the Bench which had been assigned to me has been now allotted to another, but I sometimes regret the loss of the opportunity which it offered me to return home—As I could not avail myself of that opportunity last year, I should have been best satisfied to have returned during the present. The prospect of another Russian Winter, and especially of the state of things which may and probably will attend it is not pleasing—and I have written to request that at the utmost not more than one Winter further should be required of me, to stay here.—I shall not trouble you, with the particulars which make this so desirable to me, but in the management of my concerns committed to you, it may contribute to our accomodation if you concert your arrangements upon the calculation that we shall return in the Summer or Autumn of the next year.
All the information that we receive from the United States of a public Nature indicates a disposition and measures leading to War.—As far as these may conflict in preparation and in the raising of a force sufficient to give weight to our claims for right and redress of wrong, it gives me pleasure to see them.—But I cannot reconcile myself to the idea of a War from which we can in all probability derive no benefit, and which can only promote the purposes of France.—That it is forced upon us by the stupid obstinacy of the British Cabinet, thought sufficient for our justification; is not enough to remove my anxieties, or to gild the anticipation of our becoming once parties to a European War.
There is a great probability that the ensuing Summer, will exhibit a new aspect of alliances and of hostilities. War between France and Russia is generally expected here, and at Paris—Last year at this time it was likewise expected, but the Summer pass’d over without producing it. If it should actually break out this Spring, you will have heard of actual hostilities before you receive this letter.—Sweden has not yet reaped the advantages which she had promised herself from her new relations with France.—French troops have taken military possession of Swedish Pomerania, and a Count Löwenhielm, a son of the Minister whom we knew at the Hague is now here; upon a special Mission occasioned by that Event.—A Minister has also been appointed in Sweden to go to the United States.
Our affairs in France are said to be in a favourable situation. I hear that Mr. Barlow has already concluded an advantageous Treaty of Commerce—I have a letter from him dated early in January, mentioning that such a Treaty was in contemplation, but the particular Articles of it had not then been discussed.
We have had the mildest winter I ever knew at St. Petersburg—Its coldest weather has been within the course of the last week, and has not been more severe than I have experienced at Boston.
Remember me suitably to your family and my father’s and believe me to be ever affectionately yours.


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Abigail Louisa Smith Adams Johnson, 5 March 1812
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Johnson, Abigail Louisa Smith Adams

My dear Abbe
Quincy March 5th 1812

I know my dear Child I shall wound your affectionate heart when I communicate to you the affliction we are all in, for the loss of our dear little Francis. She Struggled for a Month with the hooping cough, and I flatterd myself that She would get the better of it, but it proved too hard for her delicate Frame & on Wednesday the 24th her pure and spotless Spirit assended to heaven, their to join the Infant Choir, who surround the Throne of the Almighty. What a consolation to the bereved parents, who an are assured by their Redemer that of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.
She was you know a lovely Babe. She grew more & more beautifull sweet Innocent. She is Beautifull even in death, a sweet and benign Smile Sits upon her lifeless form, and leaves us the remembrance of what She once was—
your Aunt was advised to change the air for her. she took her into Town on a Thursday, but She grew worse and on Wednesday of the next Week She died, at her Aunt Fosters, in the Evening of the Same day mr James Foster & mr Shaw brought her up a corpse
your uncle and Aunt came up at noon in Deep distress and affliction, which you can more easily conceive than I describe. tomorrow we shall commit her to the Tomb and place her by the Side of her venerable uncle and Aunt Cranch. Thus my dear Child, we See that neither Innocence or beauty, Infancy or Age, are exempt from the Sting of —nor can we fathom the Depth of that wisdom, which takes the lovely Infant, unconsious either of good or Evil. just as the bud begins to expand and open its leaves to the rising Sun— It is our Duty in Silent Submission to bow to the awefull Mandate, and receive it as a lesson full of instruction both to the young and the Aged, that we may each of us improve it arright is the ardent and fervent prayer of your / afflicted Grandmother

A AdamsMy best Love to your Mother who I know will Sincerely Sympathize with us.


Title: To John Adams from Richard Cranch Norton, 5 March 1812
From: Norton, Richard Cranch
To: Adams, John

Honored Sir,
Washington, March 5th. 1812.

When I called upon you, the evening before I left Quincy for this place, you did me the honor to request that I would, on my arrival, write to you & inform you what reception I met with from the gentleman to whom you had the goodness to give me letters of introduction; & whether there was a probability that my brother Edward would obtain the commission for which, under your patronage, he has made application.
Your letter, Sir, procured for me a very polite reception from both the gentleman to whom they were addressed. I called upon Dr. Rush the afternoon before I left Philadelphia. He received me very politely & invited me to stay & take tea with him, which I did, & spent a very agreeable evening with him & his family who treated me with great attention. Dr. Rush expressed the highest respect for you & your Lady, & regretted it very much that his distance from you deprived him of the pleasure of personal intercourse with you. He spoke in very high terms of my uncle Cranch, & expressed a wish to become personally acquainted with him, observing that he should always consider himself honored by the acquaintance of any of the friends of President Adams. On my taking leave, he very urgently requested that I would never pass thro’ Philadelphia without calling on him, & at the same time gave me a letter of introduction to his son, the Comptroller, at Washington. I had the pleasure, while in Philadelphia, of attending one of the Doctor’s lectures, & was delighted with his agreeable & perspicuous manner. The Medical Institution in Philadelphia is, I presume, far superior to any other of the kind in the United States. The number of students now attending the lectures is very large.
On arriving at Washington, I waited upon the Secretary at War, at his office, & presented him your letter in favor of my brother. He received me with politeness; &, tho’ he made no absolute promise with regard to my brother’s obtaining the commission, gave me such encouragement as leads me to think he will obtain it. I believe no appointments in the new army have yet been made.
I have also called upon Mr. Rush, & am much pleased with him; he is a very sensible, agreeable man.
My journey to this place was, upon the whole, as pleasant as I had reason to expect, considering the season of the year & the badness of the roads.
I have again, after an intermission of several months, resumed the study of the law, & am now reading with Mr. Jones, the District Attorney, & one of the most distinguished lawyers in this vicinity.
Congress are at present engaged in the discussion of the bill for raising additional taxes, which will probably pass without much opposition.
The Supreme Court are still in session. They have lately decided the case of the Schooner Exchange—a very singular case & involving an important question of National law. The statement of the case together with the opinion of the court upon it, appears in this day’s Intelligencer.
My uncle & family are well excepting little Edward, who has been rather indisposed for some days, but is now better.
As you very obligingly, Sir, gave me permission to enclose, under cover to you, any letters that I might wish to write to my friends in your vicinity, I have several times taken that liberty, as I now do to enclose one to my father.
Be so good as to present my most respectful regards to my honored Aunt & likewise to Mrs. Smith, & remember me respectfully to the rest of your family.
May your eminently useful life & that of my honored Aunt be preserved for many years, & may those years be as happy as your lives have been useful.
With sentiments of the highest respect / I am, Sir, / Your greatly obliged humble servt.
R. C. Norton.


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to John Quincy Adams, 12 March 1812
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Adams, John Quincy

No 4my dear Son
Quincy March 12th 1812

I have already acknowledged the receipt of your Letter by Captain Bainbridge received three weeks Since and Stated that 4 Numbers were missing. Yesterday we received from new york a Letter for your Brother No 25 dated Nov’br 6th which arrived in the Ship Phenix Capt. Freeman 60 Days from Gottenburgh, in which vessel came mr Loring Austin by whom you write that you Sent a Letter for me, which I presume he keeps to deliver himself—your duplicate press coppy of october 21 No 24 was inclosed the original has not come to hand—Your Brother is absent attending the court at Bristol, and I could not refrain breaking the Seals of the Letters to learn the dates & the State of your Healths—there was a passage in your Letter of Nov’br 6th respecting your the two Daughters which has prevented my Sending the Letters to mrs Adams, whose anguish of heart would be opend affresh  is now bleading under the recent wound of occasiond by the Death of her Dear Lovely Infant, too Beautifull even in Death—She We lost her upon the 4th of March, after having Struggled a Month with the hooping Cough—it became too powerfull for her delicate Frame any longer to Sustain, and She expired under it, to the inexpressible Grief of her Parents. She was a lovely and desirable child—but her Heavenly parent calld her to his kingdom, and it is our Duty to Submit however painfull the Struggle—My Letters to you are of late nothing but Messengers of woe—Mr Barlow I Sent to the Secretary of State two Letters to go by Mr Barlow, but unfortunately they did not reach, untill after he Saild as Mr Munroe informd me by Letter. at the Same time he wrote me that he had inclosed them to mr Barlow and forwarded them to the Collector at Newyork to go by the first vessel—I hope you may have got them
The there was one passage in your Letter which gave me much pleasure, as it holds up the prospect of again Seeing you in Your Native Country if it please God to Spair my Life—I am fully of opinion that you could Serve your Country at home with more advantage to her than you can render her abroad—we will not Say anything of Gibes and Geers  Revilings & abuse—that unfortunately is the lot and portion of every Man of Tallents who has hardihood to Stem, the torrent, and Stand in the Gap—but Sterling honesty and integrity will Sustain him through evil report, and finally good Report will be awarded to him—I have already written you my mind with Respect to the Duty which is due to your sons, at this critical period of their Lives—I have just forwarded Letters from them to you, but by what vessel I do not know. I hear every week from them, and in April vacancy Shall have them with me. they are well
The Natural World is in a turmoil as well as the political—we have such accounts of Earthquakes as this Country never before witnessd—the Southern State particularly Georgia & North Carolina Give us accounts of an almost incredible Nature. I do not learn that any lives have been lost—but of Rocks removed, acres Sunk, iruption of a mountain Similar to Vessuvius. there are there is a most extrordanary account from the Mississippa written by a Gentleman by the Name of Peine—but as we have not received a confirmation from any other quarter Some persons Doubt its authenticity. I we have as yet escaped from any Shock that I have heard of altho washington Philadelphia & Nyork have been Slightly affected—I have not mentioned in any of my Letters the awfull and horrible Catastrophy of the Destruction of the Theatre at Richmond in which the lives of many of its most valuable Citizens were involved—Men women and Children all Swallowd up in one general conflagration—with circumstances So agonizing as no tongue can relate no language paint describe—you will no doubt receive accounts of it in the newspapers—
We are now approaching our annual Election. The parties  are as usual contending for the victory altho I think with less bitterness than usual. the Presentments for Libels against all the Newspapers Save one by, the Grand jury has put Parties upon a little more caution. it appears that out of 22 Libels Since june last 92 of them were in one Single paper calld the Scourge—the Printer of which was fined and imprisoned—so that a check has been given to the licentiousness of the press.—
Mr Strong will carry more votes against mr Gerry than any other Man the federal party could have fired upon and the declineing of Mr Greys declineing a ReElection has thrown a damp upon the Spirits of the Friends of the Govr. Mr Gerry has been necessitated to Set his face against the most influential and powerfull Men in the State who were left to pass a set of Resolutions which he could not overlook, without countenancing an opposition to the National Government, and to remove Some Men from office and to make many new appointments which is always unpleasant unless to a vindictive Spirit. these things became necessary in the Present State of our public affairs when a war with England appears almost unavoidable—You will no doubt receive dispatches & newspapers from the Department of State which will give you the great National measures which are neing, an Army of 25 thousand Men is agreed upon and past, a System of taxation adopted in which you will See that they have been obliged to adopt advocate the Same System had to a greater extent than was practiced under the Administration of your Father a Navey has found new and powerfull advocates from the Southern States, and mr Quincy has done himself and State honour by the Speech which I inclose. mr Loyd of the Senate is said to have equald him. Mr Cheves of South Carolina and mr Basset of Virginia with many minor advocats Shine conspicuous upon the page of History—I think they will effect their purpose before the Rising of Congress.—and what is of much value in National Counsels, their has been the greatest unanimity and majority ever experienced Since the commencement of our Government upon all measures of Defence—I still hope that we may be preserved from the calamities of war and that for the Reasons you have Stated and which no doubt the Administration are fully Sensible of—I think Napoleon deserves a higher tone from us. the conduct of his cruizers Privateers are no fairer than Algerine cruizers. they insult our Government, and provoke us to Retaliation. If we had only a respectable protecting Navy we Should not be thus Bearded


Title: From Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Smith Adams, 13 March 1812
From: Peabody, Elizabeth Smith Shaw
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

Atkinson March 13th. 1812

By your Letter I was glad to find it was only the agitation occasioned by extraordinary, & unexpected events which prevented your usual kindness of writing, & not your own; or family’s Sickness—We were brought almost to the depths of dispair respecting Peace, & the sudden assurance of it, was like the blaze of meridian day, without the twilight—
My fears now are that, like Jeshuran we shall rebell”—Profuseness, & extravaganc, or splendid festivals, is no way to fill our coffers, or repair our empty treasury—
Pray tell me, is Mr Everet going to England, & given up his Connections with his doating People?—or is this report among the falsities of the day?—
A young Gentleman, a son of Doctor Cogswells will be one of your neighbourd I suppose, he has a call at Dedham & I presume he will soon be ordained there—Sam. Gilman I hear is preaching at Milton—but one Lady observed he had too much poetry in his Sermons—I sincerely hope both these young Candidates will make useful ministers of the Gospel—I cannot say, that I do not feel particularly interrested in their welfare—
The Spring has opened upon us with unusual mildness, the southern breezes seemed to transport us, from the severe cold of winter, immediately to the temperature of May,—
We enjoy our usual health—though I feel affraid of March upon Mr Peabody’s account—for several years he has been more feeble in this month—
I hear that Quincy Tufts has had the typhus fever very bad—I hope he has recovered—I have been expecting Dr Tufts would have sent Mr Peabody some Interest—I think if you would enclose it in your letter, it would be the safest way of conveying it to Mr Peabody—
And when you send me any, I had rather you would not send any change, but keep it for to be added to the next quarter—that silver may not denote a value, & become a temptation to postmasters—
May this find you, your family, & connections in health—& write soon to your / affectionate Sister
E– Peabody


Title: From Elizabeth Smith to Abigail Smith Adams, 14 March 1812
From: Smith, Elizabeth
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

My dear Mrs Adams
Boston March 14th 1812

It would be injustice in me not to return an immediate Answer to your letter, and its important Contents.—Your Opinion upon every Subject I have ever highly respected, but pardon me if I say upon this One you have err’d.—The Gentleman mentioned I esteem for his own personal Merit,—and as the chosen friend of my much lov’d Cousin I shall Continue to regard him.—And I fervently wish his future bles life may be render’d happy to himself and a blessing to his family by a choice more suitable in every respect than the One you allude too,—
Think me not Culpable dear Madam—Nor let it lessen me in your Opinion,—for I must say that upon Mature deliberation, I Cannot upon any Consideration Comply with your wishes,
A visit to Quincy I have long Anticipated but that pleasure must still be deferr’d.—
Believe me with every sentiment of esteem & affection upon every other Subject your oblig’d Cousin
E Smith


Title: To John Adams from William Cranch, 15 March 1812
From: Cranch, William
To: Adams, John

Dr Sir,
Washington March 15th. 1812.

Upon the representations of Mr. Quincy, I made, through him, to Mr. Elwyn, the agent of Lewis Brotherson Verchild, an offer of 2000 Dollars for the title of the Verchilds to that part of the estate which was holden by my father. He has declined accepting it, and I am not sorry, because I am satisfied, that the claim of the Verchilds is good for nothing.
I understand that Lewis B. Verchild claims by descent from his father James George Verchild, who took the whole as survivor under a joint devise to himself & his brother Jasper Paine Verchild, as joint tenants, by a residuary devise in the Will of their father President Verchild.
The first objection to this claim is, that L. B. Verchild is an alien born, & therefore can not take lands by descent. He was born, out of the United States, in the year 1776. His father died in 1786, after the treaty of peace and before Mr. Jay’s treaty.
If it be admitted that his father was once lawfully seized, that he continued to hold untill the treaty of peace, and that his estate was saved from the Effect of his disability as an alien, by the 6th. article of that treaty which provides that no future confiscations should be made, yet his son was not thereby render’d capable of taking lands by descent in this Country.
It has been decided by the Supreme Court of the U.S. that an alien cannot take lands in this Country by descent; and that a person who never owed allegiance to any State, nor to the United States, is an alien. But it has not yet been decided whether the 6th. section article of the treaty of peace, which prohibits future confiscations, took away the disability of Alienage from those british subjects who then held lands in this country, or rather who would then have holden but for that disability. Such a case is now before the Supreme Court. It has been argued this term, but will not be decided untill the next, as there seems considerable difference of opinion among the Judges upon the question. The case is this—Lord Fairfax, a citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia, claiming as Lord proprietor of a tract of land called the Northern neck, lying between the Patowmack and Rappahannock rivers, under a royal Charter, died seized thereof in 1781, having by his Will devised the same to Denny Martin a british subject, who never was in this Country, but who continued to hold, if he could hold, untill after the treaty of peace. In 1785 the legislature of Virginia by an act of assembly, assumed the rights of the Lord Proprietor and granted out such of those lands which as had never been granted by him. The question is, whether the rights of Denny Martin, as devisee, are saved, by the treaty of peace, from the operation of the principle, that altho’ an alien may take land by purchase yet he can hold only untill office found; or, in other words, whether the treaty of peace removes, from Denny Martin, the disability of Alienage; and consequently, whether the act of Virginia be not a violation of the 6th. article of that treaty.
It is contended, with great force of argument founded upon strong authorities, that the finding of an office; and the consequent seizure of the lands of Denny Martin, (or any other act of the Government of Virginia having the like effect,) is a confiscation founded on a disability growing out of the war, and is therefore written in both the letter and the spirit of the treaty.
But on the other hand it may be said that if it be a principle that the disability is removed by the treaty because it is a disability which grew out of the war, the principle will apply not only to Denny Martin himself, but to his heirs—and not only to his heirs but to the heirs of every person who became an alien to the United States in consequence of their separation of from Great Britain. The extent of the consequences of such a principle forbids such a construction. The class cases contemplated by the treaty constitute a much smaller class. The confiscations intended to be prohibited by the treaty were such as arose jure belli, not jure civili. The confiscation of land purchased by an alien, is entirely under the municipal law, not under the law of Nations. It is either an appendage of the feudal system or was derived from the Saxon laws. If the exemption be limitted to those who claim’d lands at the date of the treaty It would be putting those who took a part in the war  against us, in a better situation that their innocent heirs.
Thus stands the question in the case of Lord Fairfax’s devisee; but that case cannot affect ours case, further than it may tend to show what effect the treaty of peace had upon the rights of those who then claim’d title to the land. It will not decide the question whether that treaty, like the other of 1794, gave inheritable blood to all the heirs of those then held the land.
I understand the law to be settled that the plea of Alienage is a good bar to all claims by descent cast between the 4th. of July 1776 and the 19th. of November 1794, (the date of Mr. Jays treaty.)
If any person who held land on the 4th. of July 1776, continued to hold on the 19th. of November 1794, such person and his heirs were never after to be consider’d aliens with respect to such land.
If the an estate in fee, in joint-tenancy, vested in Jasper P. Verchild and James Geo. Verchild, under their fathers will, and if the James George took the whole by survivorship, and died seized thereof, intestate, in 1786, leaving no heir at law but Lewis B. Verchild, there is an end of the Verchild claim.
But if the Estate did not pass by the will of President Verchild, either in consequence of the Will not being executed, or proved & register’d according to the laws of Massachusetts, or for any other reason, then it is to be enquired who were his heirs at law according to the laws of Mass: at the time of his death (1769) and to whom the land has descended; and if any person who was entitled to hold the land in 1776 continued to hold in 1794, the claim of such person or those claiming under him, I think, ought to be respected.
I shall be much obliged to you, Sir, if you will inform me what you think I ought to do respecting this business; and to cause to be communicated to me any facts within your knowledge relative thereto, which may enable me properly to estimate the claim.—We are all well, and beg you to accept the assurances of our most affectionate respect for yourself, my Aunt, & the family, from yr. most obliged & affectionate

W. Cranch


Title: From Thomas Boylston Adams to John Quincy Adams, 18 March 1812
From: Adams, Thomas Boylston
To: Adams, John Quincy

N 23. / 14
Quincy March 18th: 1812.

Two of your Letters, viz No 24. Dup: & 25. Origl came to hand on the 16th: inst: These are the latest dates of any received from you, although the vessel that brought them had an uncommonly long passage from Gottenburg. We are happy to hear of your health and that of your family, as we have done more frequently than we could reasonably have expected. My Letters to you, thought not much behind yours in number, have been, I am very conscious, deficient in matter of interest. I have really felt an inconquerable aversion to writing—a sickness and sorrow at the heart, which must have given to my letters a melancholy tinge, that would have made them very unacceptable visitors to kindred, in a distant land. You will have little charity, I fear, for such excuses, but you must hear them—they are not fictitious, but real burthens upon my mind and spirits, which cannot be beguiled. Causes are not wanting for this state of my feelings, and I have been very recently called to fresh trials of my fortitude more sever than any that had hitherto been cast upon me. My Child, a lovely babe of spotless purity and innocence; the delight of our eyes, has been taken from us, at the tender age of Eight months & Eleven days. She expired in the arms of her Aunt Foster for whom she was named at 12 oClock on the 4th of March. We had taken her to Boston a week before for the benefit of a change of air, as she was violently suffering with the whooping cough. No relief however was obtained by the change, but she gradually pined & sickened until she sunk without a gasp into eternity. Oh what a sight for a parent to behold! To be intimate with Death, he must be introduced into your own family; he must bar from you a limb and then, but not till then, do you feel his power. We continue to bless God for the children yet spared to us, who have survived and almost conquered this ruthless disease, which has proved fatal to many infants in this and the neighbouring Towns. My wife is slowly recovering from this sudden shock; but what can supply the place in a Mother’s heart of a lovely infant torn from her bosom while yet unweaned? It is an affliction almost beyond the reach of earthly consolation. I have rarely suffered myself to enter, even in imagination, into those scenes of anguish, which have ere this been realized, by yourself and your family, since the various afflicting events have occurred, that must have called them forth. In one of your latest letters you express the impatience you have often felt for intelligence from America, and your frequent cause to lament when news has reached you; shortly after this sentiment was recorded by your pen, how much more appropriate must it have been to the tidings which were then on their passage to you, from Washington & Quincy. These events were all in the course of nature and to be expected at no very remote period; but that so many instances of mortality in the circle of our family connections, should have occurred in the short space of little more than two years, could not fail to arrest the attention, as the thought very naturally associated with the period of your absence.
I dined to day at my Father’s who had just received and handed me your No 12 Origl and No 11. Duplicate, dated Feby & March of the last year; being the same which were taken from Capt. Hinkley at Hamburg, and as we suppose sent to the Bureau at Paris. A paper in the hand writing of a frenchman, in which a short anlysis of the contents seems to have been intended found its way into the enclosure, whether by design or accident I cannot divine. It is of as little importance as the contents of the letters in a political view could have been to the French Government, but the passage relative to the unexpected arrival of a number of American Vessels at Revel, Riga &ca late in the season under English Convoy and with bad and insufficient or forged papers, is translated & noted. The caption of the paper is thus, “Lettre addressée de S’Pétersbourg fevr 1811. Sans signature à M. Thomas Adams, retirée à Quincy Etats Unis, Vraisemblablement par son frere.
1e Detail de Commerce
2d le paragraphe suivt—then follows a translation of the passage referred to. The No 12 had the fortune to be smeared in part with something which stained it yellow and obliterated half a page of the manuscript—Some of the Emperor’s aqua-fortis, vraisemblablement. Je voudrais bien moi que sa Majesté  fusse obligé de s’entretenir plus souvent avec de details de Commerce. Il me semble qu’il en profiterait.
I have much, much more to write you, but the time fails me to add more than that a few days ago, I sent a letter to N York to the care of Capt. Henry with a line of introduction to you. A disclosure of information of a very interesting nature made to our Genl Govt by that same Gentleman has just reached us, and I have no doubt will precede him in all parts of Europe—I need say no more to put you on guard.
Very truly & faithfully your’s
SansSignature.


Title: From John Adams to Richard Cranch Norton, 20 March 1812
From: Adams, John
To: Norton, Richard Cranch

Dear Sir
Quincy March 20th. 1812—

Thank you for your very handsom and very amiable Letter of the 5th. It gave me great pleasure to find that my Friends had received you with Civility; And as it is both pleasant and Convenient to know and be known among People Respectable in Society: tho’ no particular Advantage should be derived from it.
Your Situation, in the Office of Mr: Jones, Connected as you are with the Chief Justice, at the Seat of the National Government, is a Signal Advantage. My Advice is to attend the Tryals in the Supreme Court, and the debates in Congress, as much as possible.
I consider every Lawyer as covered with the Robes of Magistracy, and invested with an important Public Trust. Non nobis nate Sumus Solis. Tis not the Ties nor the Skill in Special Pleadings, nor the Address and Eloquence at the Bar: but the public and private Justice, that ought to be his Ultimate Object. Hale Holt Coke, and Mansfield must be respected: but Puffendorf Grotius, Vattel Bynkershoek, Vinnius and Cerjacius ought not to be forgotten, or neglected. Some Treatise of Ethicks ought to be in the Pocket or on the Table of every Lawyer, as long as he lives,—
Sometime ago, I gave a Letter of Introduction to your Uncle, to Oliver Whipple Esqr. Will be so good as to Inform me whether he is at Washington, or where, Whether he is in Business public or private.
I am Affectionately Yours.
John Adams.


Title: From William Stephens Smith to Abigail Amelia Adams Smith, 29 March 1812
From: Smith, William Stephens
To: Smith, Abigail Amelia Adams

my dear:
Lebanon, March 29, 1812.

I received your letter of the 6th instant, and mourn most sincerely with you for the loss your brother and sister have met with in the death of their amiable child. You wonder why it was sent to entwine itself around your hearts, and then to be thus snatched away, is amongst the mysterious ways of Providence. Read Parnell’s Hermit:
“Be taught by these, confess the Almighty just,
And where you can’t unriddle, learn to trust.”
This stroke must fall very heavy upon your sister, who always appeared full of sweet, charming sensibilities towards her children, and brings to my recollection a few lines of Watts:
“Children, these dear young limbs, these little other selves, how they dilate the heart to wider dimensions, and soften every fibre, to increase the mother’s sad capacity of pain.”
I would request you to present my sincere condolence to your brother and sister on this distressing subject; but believing that premature consolation is but the remembrance of sorrow, it may perhaps be well to omit it.
I am apprehensive your good mother is surfeited by the length of my letter in answer to her interrogatories; but I still think there has been too much talk of war. I recollect a speech of a member in the British House of Commons in opposition to immediate war measures, which became a subject of debate, in answer to a warm war speech, not inapplicable to our Congressional talk. He said: “It is very easy, Mr. Speaker, to talk big, either within doors or without; and considering the spirit of resentment that has been industriously stirred up in the nation, I know it would be mighty popular in us to come to vigorous resolutions immediately, but I do not know if it would be mighty wise.”
I am sure it would not be wise, as long as there are any hopes of obtaining redress by peaceable means; and even when we came to an end of all our hopes in this way, we ought not to begin to talk till we are ready to act. Threatening speeches, or even threatening resolutions, are but words.
They are vox et preterea nihil; and therefore the less they are made use of the better: but if any such are ever made use of, they ought to be instantly followed with suitable actions; for if they are not, those who have injured us will despise our menaces, and the whole world will laugh at our folly.
They all join in love and affection to you, with / Yours, affectionately,
W. S. Smith.


Title: From Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Smith Adams, March 1812
From: Peabody, Elizabeth Smith Shaw
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

Atkinson March 1812

I have been for several Days waiting, & hoping I should find leisure to write to my Dear Sister, but as each hour brings it indispensible Duties, I hope you will accept of a moment devoted to you, & wish you to excuse the many Imperfections you will necessarily observe, of everything done in a hurry—Last Wednesday Cousin Thomas arrived, walked from Haverhill, & got here about four PM—we were all glad too see him, & hope, he has come fraught with Parental Instructions to diligently improve his Time—He is young, but he has had great advantages, & every incitement to wake his mind to Literature—I long to make the young feel as you, & I do, hate to leave a Book,—Duties, imperious tear me with reluctance from such Sources of Entertainment, & Knowledge—but It is difficult to make Boys look into a Book long enough to become interested—& if they do, they are apt to run beyond the line, & prefer English, to Latin, or Greek—I sometimes fear this will be the case with George, for I cannot make him believe Cicero, is easy, or charming—I have turned him to his Fathers Lectures upon the Subject—I tell him his writings contain a Treasure, for which youths should dig, or they cannot reap benefit from the rich Mine—You ask when Mr Vose will take the Academy? I believe, not till Fall Vacation—We are happy, in having a worthy Preceptor, who is indefatiguable in his Exertions, for his Scholars Improvement, & one whom the Children love—After I received your last letter, & said that you thought Mr Nortons, desired alliance “could not be,” I sat alone, musing upon his solitary Situation—& wishing a proper Person could be thought of—But alas! my Sister, a but, & an if—is attached to every Being—Their Rank, & Expectations, stile of Life to high, or too humble, & poor—too young, or too old—Enthusiastic, or without Principle—You say, we know what Partner he requires—true—& I sat meditating, almost dispairing—when my amicable Friends the Miss Whites of Haverhill, forcibly struck my Mind—Betsy is a fine girl—amiable—dignified—but her health of late has not been so good, as I wish—& she is not a Proffessor of Religion—though a very charming Disposition—so sweet, that I am astonished she is not married— She does not chuse to be, says one—But there is her Sister Sarah, who is a Proffessor of religion—a very discreet, virtuous, sober-minded worthy person—Who has experienced more of the hardships of Life, & is patiently struggling with Circumstances & endeavouring to get her living by attending to a School in Newbury port, I believe she is there now—She went to this academy, & boarded here, for two years—She is a sweet-tempered, amiable industrious, ingenious person—& if she was but a few years older, & had more property, I know of no second person, that I could more seriously recommend for Mr Nortons wife, to take charge of his children, & his Interests in house, & parish than her, who I know would rejoice in doing Good—Your Daughter Nancy, will give you the just Character of the whole family, perhaps better than I possibly could—ask your Dear Nancy what is her opinion—I am thankful her Father, & Mother can be with her—Please to give my love to them all—
Our Vacation will commence the monday after the Fast—A Tuesday, if you chuse I will send the Children in our Stage into Boston & I suppose you will take them from their as soon as you can—They will go a Tuesday noon, & get into Boston, about six Clock—
If I do not close my Letter, I shall lose this opportunity of sending my respects, & Love to the President, & your dear family. Accept it, warm from the heart / of your Sister—
E P—We hope when it is good travelling you, & your dear Daughter, will not fail of letting her Aunt see her before she returns—


Title: From John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 7 April 1812
From: Adams, John
To: Adams, John Quincy

My dear Sir
Quincy April 7. 1812

though I owe you many Apologies for neglecting to write for so long a time, it would give you no pleasure to read them. The Misfortunes  afflictions and griefs in our Family in 1811 were sufficiently pungent, and to repeat them would be to renew them. I feel too much for you, your Consort and your Sister, as well as for Mr Smith to wish to renew the Sorrows which you must have felt at the first News of them. I have been called lately to weep in the Chamber of my Birth over the remains of a beautiful Babe of your Brother’s, less than year old. Why have I been preserved more than three quarters of a Century, and what was that fair flower blasted so soon; are questions that We are not permitted to ask.
If you ask me what is the State of public affairs, my answer must be, no State at all.
Yesterday was the great Struggle for Governor. Whether Gerry or Strong will have it, I know not. Your Friend Plumer will probably be Govr of N.H. Mass. will not tolerate a decided Character. They cry, he feels himself too independent.
The fine day Yesterday, and the copious Doses of Stimulants and Provocations administered before hand brought out all the Members in both Sides. The Parcimony, or Antipathy of Congress in the naval department opperated unfavourably for the national Govt. Perhaps Henry’s disclosures in this State operated the Same Way, as paying too dear for the Whistle. It will have a different Effect in other States. Mr Madison I presume will be elected again whether Mr Gerry is or not. Mirabeau called Mr Pitt Le Ministre des Preparatifs. We are a Nation of Preparations. In what they will all End I know not. One Thing I know they might get a Navy sooner and easier than an Army. Armies grow not in our Soil. Our People are too happy to produce Soldiers by Profession. They may get enough to overrun Canada.
We are taught to expect nothing from The Prince any more than the King. We are amused with rumours of Wars in Europe Indian War We have at home, and We want a War with some Power in Europe to preserve us from Fanaticism, which is Spreading round about Us like a Fire of Clapboard’s and Shingles. Instead of believing in the Perfectibility of Man or expecting his perfection I begin to intirtain some apprehensions that he will lose much of that little reason he once possessed.
Mr Gray’s retirement from his Office has had a bad Effect, as was expected. The Causes which determined him I Suppose were in his Family. They were not all of a Sect in Politicks.
Whether you are to return next Summer, I know not. You are losing your Time I fear, forgotten, but not forgetting your Country. You are loosing your Acquaintance with your Countrymen however, and their manners and their Politicks. If you were acquiring an Independence for your Family I should regret your absence much less. But that is impossible.
My Love to Mrs A. Miss K. Mr S. Mr Charles and the young Russian of whom I hear such pleasing Accounts that I long to take her in my Arms. We are all well. Your Sons are well. We expect them here in the Vacation from Atkinson. Your Sister and her daughter are here.
Your Brother has attended his Duty as a Counsellor and a Judge with Punctuality.
My Health is so tollerable that I still entertain hopes of seeing you once more. Mean time Adieu that you may be long continued a Blessing to your Family and Country is the daily prayer of
A.


Title: From John Adams to William Cranch, 7 April 1812
From: Adams, John
To: Cranch, William

Dear Sir
Quincy April 7th 1812

Your letter of the 15th of March I communicated to your brother and Sister Greenleaf & requested them to search among your Fathers papers they have done so & I presume have sent you Copies of what they have found
I have never given the smallest attention to the Title & I had rather at this day undertake to go through Sir Isaac Newtons Principia than investigate the Title to any tract of land. Neither Mr Quincy nor your fathers heirs nor my Son in any Opinion can justify any compromise in the business the Law ought to take its course If you tamper with one, there will soon be more claimants & they will rise in their demands.
The patch of rocks and Shrubs & trees that is now in the possession of my son John Quincy Adams, has been a nuisance to me & all the neighbourhood for half a century or more My son will do as he thinks fit I would do nothing but by Judgment of Law.
Mr Quincy has acted from honest principles in the business but in my opinion injudiciously as he does in many other things & as his father did before him & his Grand father too Wit, Satyre, Eloquence are not always judgment—his Great Grand father, as Old father Niles once told me was the most judicious man he ever knew My father was of the same opinion but judgment abandoned the family when Judge Quincy expired in London with the small-pox. He made an excellent speach upon a Navy which as it was the first I had read upon that subject appeared to me the most important Speech I had ever read it has been followed by others of Great merit. But where is the genius of North America? although we are the most enlightened people under heaven, we want the Demon of Socrates—
With great esteem I am your affectionate
John Adams


Title: To John Adams from Richard Cranch Norton, 7 April 1812
From: Norton, Richard Cranch
To: Adams, John

Honored Sir,
Washington, April 7th. 1812.

I have received your very obliging favor of the 20th. ult. The excellent advice it contains in regard to my professional studies will not soon be forgotten. Of the peculiar advantages which I possess for obtaining legal knowledge I am fully sensible, nor do I suffer them to pass unimproved. I have made a point of attending the Supreme Court as often as possible during its sessions. More practical knowledge is, I am persuaded, to be acquired in this way than by reading merely. In attending the Court, I have also had in view, in subordination to that most important object, information on points of legal knowledge & practice, the attainment of the Stenographic art. With this view I have made a practice of noting down in Short-hand the arguments of Counsel; by which means, while I fix those arguments & the principles of law brought into view in them, more firmly in my mind than I otherwise could, I acquire a habit of attention & improve myself in an art which may be considerable use to me in future life. I also frequently attend the debates both in the Senate & the House of Representatives. Both houses have been sitting, for a considerable part of the week past, in conclave. The result of their deliberations you will have before this letter reaches you. It seems to be the general opinion that the embargo which they have laid will produce a war with England immediately. I had hoped that we should have been able to settle our differences with that country without being obliged to have recourse to this last resort. I am not, I must confess, prepared, with some of our politicians, to hail war as the harbinger of prosperity to our country. I have never entered into an investigation of the comparative advantages & disadvantages of a state of war, but my general impression has always been that it is a state to be deprecated as one of the greatest calamities that can befal a nation, & always to be avoided when it can be done consistently with the national honor & safety. Whenever such a cause renders it necessary, I hope & trust I shall be the last to object to it.
Your recommendation, Sir, has obtained for my brother Edward the commission he wished; &, from the present appearance of things, it is not unlikely that he may soon be called into the field.
The Vice President, by the last accounts, continued dangerously ill.
Mr. Whipple, of whose situation you wish to be informed, resides in Georgetown. He has opened an office there, but, I believe, gets little or no business as a lawyer. He, not long since, published a pamphlet giving, I believe, (for I have not read it) some account of the late revolutions in South America, & I have lately seen an advertisement of his in the papers, in which he offers for sale certain stuccos & washes for preserving the roofs of houses against fire. I frequently see him at court, & he has several times been at my uncle’s.
Be so good as to present my respect to your Lady, to Mrs. Smith, if still with you, & to the rest of your family.
Sensible of the high favor you have conferred upon me by admitting me to a correspondence with you, & of the obligations I am under to you, / I am, Honored Sir, / most respectfully, / Your obedt. servt.
R. C. Norton.


Title: From Mary Smith Gray Otis to Abigail Smith Adams, 11 April 1812
From: Otis, Mary Smith Gray
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

Washington April 11th 1812

With pleasure & I hope, with Gratitude, I take up my pen, to assure you my dear Mrs A that we are all in perfect health; & could I but know that all the dear friends, I have left behind were so too, I should feel better reconciled to so long a seperation from them; having Husband & children with me, I could endure all other privations, & they are not few with great patience. A principle one is, of attending on the Sabbath, to a pious rational Preacher, such as you & I have been accustomed to hear. The B—— clergy, are stigmatized here, as Infidels, but I believe, there is as much, pure vital Religion, amongst them, as in any place whatever (Dr Mason notwithstanding) One of our Chaplains, we can hear, with a degree of pleasure, He is respectable man, & a truly pious & humble christian; one who is willing to spend & be spent in the service of his Master.—One such sermon, as you mention of Mr W—— would give me more satisfaction, than half a dozen, such as we generally hear. I acquiesce entirely in the sentiment, that there is more Good than Evil, more Fair than Foul days; notwithstanding, the last 4 days have been unpleasant. “But like benefits, which are said, to be wrote in the Sand: whilst injurys are engraved on Marble;” the former are obliterated, with the first passing gale. It would however, be convince hard to convince the “Child of Misery,” under the pressure of poverty & sickness, that “Life is Fair.”
Frost & snow, have left this region ever since the first of Feby: and I saw the last week a fine Apricot tree in full bloom.—My brother’s situation, gives me much anxiety; they write me encouragingly but I very much fear, he will never be well. We have also very unpleasant accounts from our son Saml: borne down by repeated afflictions & a debilitated state of body: there is too much reason to fear, he will sink under them. These circumstances make me anxious for adjournment; & having pass’d the Embargo bill, which they tell us is Supplementary to War, what can they do better, than go home & prepare for it. Perseverance in the minority, will not obtain for us a Navy, the only thing which can give us security at home, or respectability abroad But, our brethren in the back country, secure in there own native woods, care not if the Comercial states are anhilated.Mr Quincy is quite unhappy, at being so long absent from his family, wasting his time which he says ought to be devoted to his family them in “Strenous Idelness.”
I am glad to hear C W—is like to be so happily setteled. I am an advocate for Matrimony where there is any prospect, of being eligibly situated: & wish every good Girl, had a partner such as would make them happy. But without such a prospect a “State of single blessedness” is to be prefered.
Mr Otis, Harriet & Mary, join in Respects to yourself & Husband; with Love and Affection to all the members of your family
With your Friend & Cousin
M: Otis


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to John Quincy Adams, 12 April 1812
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Adams, John Quincy

No 6—
my dear son
Quincy April 12th 1812

As Congress are going to lay an Embargo, of sixty days, the Bill having already past the House, all is hurry and Dispatch to get every vessel to Sea before it passes into a Law, in three days one hundred were cleard at the Single port of N york thirty from Boston. how many from Salem and the numerous ports in this state we have not yet learnt, how many of them will be permitted to return Safe; time must determine, by some of them Letters have gone to you. I should have written by more of them if they had not have driven all before them, and fitted a vessel for Sea, in less time than I could write a Letter;
I knew not what to say to you respecting public affairs.—so I will write you some domestic occurences, and in the first place, the most importent Subject is Health, of which we are, at this present writing, most of us in the full enjoyment of—Mrs T B A, excepted, who has been sick with a fewer Since the loss of her Dear-Babe, of which I have already written you an account, She is happily recovering, and time I hope will Soften, and Religion subdue her grief.—your Brother does not enjoy such health as I wish he did. he has however been able to attend his duty as Judge,and to give with his Brother-judges satisfaction in the discharge of their office. your sons, whom I am impatient to see and embrace; are well, and will be with me next week for the vacancy. The Horace has arrived safe at last, and was orderd to Newyork from the vineyard, so that I have not yet got my Sheeting The Letters I got last week, so that I have received your No 25 october 22d, and No 26—October 24th, No 26;; Novbr 30th, No 27, and decbr 22d No 28. I have not any acknowledgment of any from me later than July,1811 you have not any reason to regret their delay. alass  they are only fraught with heavy tidings, and must overwhelm you and yours in Grief and Sorrow. My last accounts from Washington—I have communicated to mrs Adams. and I have inclosed a Letter from Adelaide to her sister which I presume will inform her of her present prospects—She has not yet announced her Marriage to me. I presume it is soon to take place—
we have had an uncommon cold Winter, and it continues to this day, with scarcly any appearance of vegetation—it has however been healthy, I mentioned the arrival of the Horace—I thank you for your attention to my commission—but I must decline your intended present to me, now I know the amount. I shall see that your Brother gives you credit for it. the table linnen I should be equally glad to receive upon the same terms; could you be yourself the Bearer, it would give me pleasure, which but in anticipation, sheds a ray of joy and gladness, over any setting sun, but such are the Rumours of hostility between Russia & France and Sweeden, and Such the real occasion for War between America England and France, that I know not what power will remain at peace. every thing appears to be working up to a crisis. we shall never be prepared for war untill the Event takes place, so very reluctant are the Rulers, and people to throw away the scabbard,; If we could be permitted to build a defensive Navy; as we fondly hoped we should, at the commencement of the present Session of Congress—and as I still believe we shall, we might look with boldness upon our adversaries, and we should soon prove to them, that we were not degenerate descendents from a brave, but misguided people—and we might defy all the Henry’s in the British Service—I presume you will learn the whole of that plot, long before this reaches you, I have sent the correspondence in a former Letter to you, Comments are unnecessary—
I observed to you in a former Letter that the leading federalists could not have found any other Man than mr Strong to put in Competion with Govr Gerry, who would have carried so many votes against him. not that he is the Man to their mind; but they are so resentfull to find themselves unmasked, and their conduct condemnd and the Secret motives of their conduct displayd to the world, that they are determined to put him aside if possible—and they have not scrupld to use any means to accomplish their purpose—at present the return of votes give them a prospect of success—the Senate will be Republican by a considerable Majority—and the house too, unweildy and cumbersome as it is like to be—the last year there were over seven hundred Members—
Mr Gerry has acted from principle. he has thought it his duty to support the National Government, and to censure those who calumniated it—he has been obliged to remove many from office,—some because they declared, if called to act in  line, that they would not obey orders—every Man, Who serves his Country faithfully, must very frequently offend those who have  views and objects, of whom, there are much too great a number—and he will become unpopular.
the opposition to a Navy, countenanced by Members from our own State, tends to weaken the affection of our commercial States towards the National Government, and is a very impolitic measure—I sent you a speech of mr Quincys in favour of a Navy. mr Loyed in senate was equally impressive— dr Mitchel your Friend urged it with all his Eloquence, and mr Giles and mr Clay & a host of others; mr varnum & Cutts in Senate turned the vote against the Bill—but they will try it again I presume in some other way,
My advice to you is get home if practable—here you may do more service than you can abroad—you cannot be an in different spectator—nor do I wish you to be an inactive one—
most affectionately Yours
A—


Title: From Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Smith Adams, 26 April 1812
From: Peabody, Elizabeth Smith Shaw
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

My Dear Sister,
Atkinson April 26th. 1812

The human Pores have been so long obstructed by the late severe Season, & peircing winds of March, that it has occasiond many to be “sick in April”—The want of usual Perspiration, is I believe the Cause of the spotted Fever—The arrows of the “destroying Angel have not as yet, been permited to reach us, though his Shafts have pierced many Families, in the Towns adjacent, as I suppose, the News Papers inform you—The Phisician in new Salem, applies fresh pounded Onions to the part seized with pain, & with success; it is said, gives almost immediate releif—
I am glad to hear that you are recovering from your late Indisposition, & that the dear Children arrived safe at your House, the Thursday after they left us—I hope, they will be very good, & give you know unnecessary Trouble—We have a good Taylor in the Neighbourhood, & she will make cloathing you may find they want. I did not know what they had at Quincy, therefore could not tell what they would want purchased for the Summer. I made their old Stockings do through the mud of the winter—I purchased a pd of wool but the woman disappointed me, in not kniting them so soon as she promised—Thin Cotton Shirts, & English Stockings, are poor wear—How much better those are we knit ourselves—Last week Mrs Welsh was good enough to come here with Mr Allen, & make us a visit—She looks thin to what she used too,—ut it is the fashion of our family as we grow into years—Mrs Welsh appeared quite cheerful, & pleased with her Daughter’s prospects—may all their pleasing anticipations be realized, & every deserving amiable Daughter, meet with a Partner, worthy of her—But never let, or encourage any One, to change a single Life, for fear of the Epithet affixed—“Tis only said to fool us,” untill Fancy is sanctioned, by deliberate Judgment, & they have the highest probability of being more than comfortable in the married State—I had rather see One unhappy, then Ten—Mrs Allen, & Cousin Betsy, are both recovering, the latter, hopes to be able to set her face northward soon—But the weather is unfavourable for the infirm—Abbey’s long confinement to the House has enfeebled her, & we both suffer by it—for she cannot bear the cold air so well as her aged Father, & Mother—
I have my Sister, always written in haste, & have never made any remark upon the address in the Centinel “to the afflicted.” As I know there is nothing more grateful than to hear the Virtues of our dearest Friends duly appreciated, & our relatives spoken of which esteem, & affection, this Tribute to his Memory, must serve to soothe, & ameliorate their Grief—But my Sister, from a view of what your wrote, respecting this Youth, I could not help thinking there was a difficency in the mode of his Education—His fortune ample, his Talents good, his Person beautiful, carressed by his fond Parents, who sought to gratify every wish—I confess, when I see such a One, I always tremble for them—& believe them peculiarly exposed to all the Evils, & Shafts of every Discription which fly through this checkered Scene—Difficulties, & Trials always invigorate, & fortify the Mind, while those who are dandled in the Lap of Prosperity, find their reason weakened, & their Passions unsubdued—Therefore, their Pride takes fire, & resents Disappointment of any kind—& they will not live to see a Superior in Fortune, Science, or of a Rival in any thing, nor will they bear the Evils of Life, when they can “end them with a mere Bodkin”—not having their mind impressed with this solemn word of Truth, that “after Death, they must appear at the Judgment Seat”—The other Gentleman you mentioned as commiting Suicide, might have profited perhaps, had he read George Barnwell, once a year—O what anguish it must occasion a good Parents heart, when the only consolation, a Friend can offer, is to say, “perhaps, they are gone, that their Conduct, may give no further disgrace to their family”—
While I regret with the relatives the Death of Mrs Smith, I rejoice, that Mrs Adams, & her Daughter were with her—It seems quite providential that she had an opportunity to make her good mother a visit, before she departed, & can be here no more—
I am glad to hear that our connections are in better health at Quincy—My respects & best Love to the President—to yourself, & where it is due—from / your ever affectionate Sister
E—PeabodyWe hope to have the pleasure of seeing you, & Mrs Smith when the Children return—if not let them take the Stage that comes derictly to the house—


Title: From John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 28 April 1812
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, Thomas Boylston

N. 29.
St: Petersburg 28. April 1812.

The only notice of existence directly from yourself that I have received since your letter of 2. June 1811. is by a scrap of half a dozen lines dated 5. January last which I received together with a letter of the same date from my Mother, by the way of Paris— This scrap was also enclosed with three or four newspapers, and short as it was gave me great pleasure— The letter which it mentions as having been sent by the Mary and Eliza, for Gothenburg has not yet come to hand.
About a Month ago I wrote to my Mother and to Lieutt Governor Gray, requesting that if my letters should be received in Season, and if an opportunity should present itself, which could with prudence be seized, my two Sons George and John might be sent over to me here, the next Summer— But it was not untill last week that I found it possible to forward the letters to Mr Russell in London, to be dispatched from thence by him. It is therefore altogether uncertain whether they will reach their destination in time, to be acted upon, this year. If they should I have desired Mr Gray to call upon you for the expences and charges of their passage— I shall also depend upon you, and upon my Mother to provide them with whatever may be necessary for their voyage, and upon you alone for the expence it will occasion. . . . . If it should be too late for them to embark the present year, I I cannot now give any further advice, concerning them— I have wirtten to the President requesting him not to protract my residence here beyond the next year, and my expectation and wish is then to return to the United States— As however it will depend upon his dispositions, or at least upon those of the President of the United States for the time being, it is my earnest desire, if I should be detained in Europe after the present year to have my sons sent to me. I can no longer reconcile either to my feelings or to my sense of duty their absence from me— I must go to them or they must come to me.
The North of Europe is likely to become once more a scene of great political interest. Events of extraordinary magnitude seem approaching to their maturity, and a few months, perhaps a few weeks may exhibit a new Resolution in the political aspect of Europe.— Immense preparations for War have been making these two years by France and by Russia, and their dispositions with regard to each other have been continually widening and verging towards hostilities— Almost all the military force of the Empire is upon the borders, and the Emperor Alexander has already left his Capital to join them— France on the other part, besides her own strength, and that of all the Confederates of the Rhine has secured to herself the alliance and co-operation of Austria, Prussia, and probably Denmark.— Sweden, to judge from present appearances will be in alliance with Russia— We are expecting soon to hear of the French Emperor’s having left Paris, and perhaps when they shall be within reaching distance of each other a last attempt will be made for an arrangement by Negotiation— The British Orders of Council will present the only insuperable obstacle to the continuance of renewal of the Peace— By proscribing all Commerce to France, and by allowing it at the same time to the other powers of War with England, and in alliance with France, England sows among the Allies seeds of discord, which can have no other fruit than War— Deprived of all the benefits of Commerce themselves, the French Nation will not endure to see their neighbours, not only indulged with their natural portion of it, but made the instruments of forcing upon France herself the merchandize of her enemy, by contraband trade. France therefore has assumed the principle that every vessel sailing under the protection of English Convoy has forfeited the neutral Character and with her Cargo become subject to Confiscation— She requires of her allies that they should adopt the same principle, and practice upon it by effectual commercial regulations— Neither Sweden nor Russia is inclined to submit to the restrictions which would result from this system, and their resistance against it will be the immediate Cause of the War, if, as there is every reason for believing, the War should actually break out.
The River Neva, after having been six full months frozen over, has this day broken up once more The Winter has been unusually long, though less than usually severe. The degree of cold has never been at any one time more  than I have occasionally known it at Boston, and almost every Winter at Berlin— The changes of weather have been sudden and frequent, and the season has not been healthy— My own family has been sickly more than either of the preceding Winters; and not one of us has escaped severe indisposition— The melancholy and distressing intelligence from our friends and relatives in America coming upon us time after time in repeated strokes, has added to the gloom and distress of the Season, and the lowering prospects of approaching War, which have been constantly darkening, the whole Winter through, have by no means contributed to enliven the scene— I look to the goodness of Heaven for a more cheerful and more cheering Summer—
And so no more at present from your faithful friend
A.


Title: From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 30 April 1812
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

St: Petersburg 30 April 1812.

The enclosed is a copy of a letter, which was written near a Month, before an opportunity occurred of sending it, on its way to you—I am afraid that the delay will entirely defeat its object, and that it will be found impracticable to send out my two Sons to me the next Summer.—The river Neva is now again open, and I trust that in about six weeks or two Months opportunities for writing to you will again present themselves.—To you, my dear Mother, and to you alone I am indebted for information concerning my family and friends in your Quarter of the World, from June last, untill the commencement of the present year—I have received from you several letters in the course of the Winter, and have never suffered a month to pass by without writing to you—Since I wrote you last, we have received your letter to my wife of 25. November, which she has answered. I sent last week this answer, with another letter from her, and my own of 30. March to Mr Russell at London, with a request to him to forward them—I suppose he will have no difficulty to do this; for although Mr Foster did threaten that if our non-importation should not be repealed, his Government would retaliate; and although I trust it has not been repealed, yet a non-importation from America, may not be so convenient in England just now, with the quartern loaf, at 18 or 19 pence—and all the importation of grain and flour from France, of which they boasted so much last year, prohibited not only by Law, but by scarcity.
The effects of our Non-importation are doubtless felt, and pretty strongly felt in England; nor is there any doubt of her disposition to retaliate, whenever retaliation shall not consist in self-starvation—There were no inconsiderable pains taken last Summer to demonstrate in Parliament and to the Public, that England was quite independent of America for supplies of bread, and official statements were published to shew that in the course of the preceeding year, more than double the quantity of this staff of life, had been imported from France, to that which had come from the United States.—The strength of this argument rested on the position that France was an infallible source of subsistence for England, and that it was better to depend upon France for subsistence than upon America—Therefore England might boldly threaten America with non-importation and even proceed to War, with perfect indifference, as to the consequences—This calculation has been for the present disconcerted by a scanty harvest in France— The Emperor Napoleon says that nine years of abundance in France been succeeded by one year of mediocrity—That is to say; a year when Famine has driven the people to such riotous extremities, that in one City he has been shooting a number of men and women to preserve the Peace—He has also been obliged to provide two millions of Rumford soups a day, from April to September, to be distributed throughout the Empire.—A good harvest in France, the present year, will doubtless supply the deficiencies of the last, but will not produce the superfluity for exportation, of the preceding years—England as is well know never, or at least scarcely ever produces grain sufficient for her own consumption; and although she may this year have markets open to her, which for some years past have been closed; yet for her own wants, as well as for those of her armies in Spain and Portugal, she must depend upon importation from America.—Her threats of retaliation upon non-importation are therefore not very formidable; and whether she perseveres in her present system of War, with the language of Peace, or proceeds to that of open and avowed War, I am persuaded the Event will prove to all who have eyes to see or ears to hear, that her dependance upon commercial intercourse with us, is more essential to her, than ours upon her is to us.—Her Government however has not yet acquired this conviction, nor is it probable they will, untill the evidence of it shall be more clear and unequivocal, than five years of experience has yet proved it.
I wrote only two days ago to my brother, and with respect to the situation of political affairs, here said as much as discretion would permit—I can now have the pleasure which has been denied me the whole Winter of saying to you that we are all Well—We have all been, each in turn very sick, and once were so all together.
1. May. 1812.
In a Hamburg Newspaper which I received last Evening, there is a paragraph, dated London 28. March. asserting that by letters that morning arrived from Liverpool it appeared an Embargo was laid upon all the American vessels there, untill the arrival of despatches expected from America—And another Article dated 31. March announces that the 41st: regiment, and the 4th: Battalion of the 60th: and 103 regiments had received orders to embark for America; and that the Lord Mayor of London had again advanced the price of bread, three pence Sterling the quartern loaf—If this information is correct, as I think it most probable it is, the British Government have come to their determination, and are resolved upon a War with the United States—They have probably chosen their time for this measure, when they suppose it cannot be known in time to stop the supplies which can be shipped before the new Harvest comes in—They doubtless calculate also, upon having a new Market opened to them in the Baltic—They certainly have reason for trusting in some degree to this resource, but the armies assembled in the North of Europe must so greatly increase the consumption on this part of the Continent, that the most abundant granaries will have no extraordinary superfluity to send abroad.
I have been sincerely and anxiously desirous that this War might ultimately be avoided—I saw little prospect of any ultimate benefit to be derived from it to my own Country; and I could not look forward to its possible consequences upon our internal organizations, without some apprehension—But as it must come, I feel great consolation in the spirit of unanimity which appears to have marked the late proceedings in Congress and hope it is a solid pledge of that which carry us through this trial, with honour and success.—The present English Ministry, have assumed as a Principle that there shall be no neutrality upon the Ocean—Between submission to this edict of expulsion from one of the most important common possessions of mankind, and a War to maintain our right to it, the United States have exhausted every expedient that wisdom could suggest and honour could endure—To forego the right of navigating the Ocean, would be a pusillanimity which of itself would degrade us from the rank and the rights of an Independent Nation—Yet it has been too clearly demonstrated that nothing but force can mow maintain it—That Britain should abuse her maritime power in the consciousness of its superiority, is so conformable to the ordinary experience of mankind, that it is hardly worthwhile to indulge our indignation upon seeing it—But as it is the nature of the serpent to sting, it is the duty of man to bruise his head for self-protection— On the high seas, we have no resource and can have no efficacious defence against her. But she is not has vulnerable parts; and I pray to God, that those who have the Administration of our public affairs may have studied and discovered where they are situated, and prepared to touch them till she shall feel.
As the Embargo at Liverpool must undoubtedly be extended to the other Ports of the British Islands, it will doubtless have been combined with orders to take and carry in vessels at sea—In that case we shall have no access to or from the Baltic the present year, and I must at all events be disappointed in the wish of having my sons come to me—I expressly requested in my former letters to you, and to Mr: Gray, that they might not be sent if we should have War with England—I shall on many accounts regret the loss of our commercial intercourse with Russia; but it had already become the last year much less advantageous though vastly more extensive than the preceding seasons—And the prospects of the present year are more unfavourable than they have ever been before—A War between France and Russia, now more than probable, will necessarily open all the Ports of this Country to the English flag, with advantages of commerce with which we could not stand a Competition—All the Articles of Merchandize that our vessels bring here, are the same of which the English have such floods to pour upon the Continent when once opened to them—The only exception is Cotton; of which even now, just at the opening of a new year’s Navigation the Market is so overstocked that it can scarcely be sold, at its first cost in America—There has been during the last year a great outlet to foreign merchandize, by land carriage from this Country into Germany—But as all Germanywill be in alliance with France against Russia, the moment the War breaks out all commercial intercourse will be stop’d, and all the issues of exportation choaked up—The consumption of these Colonial Merchandizes in this Country is very small, and scarcely sufficient to afford a market for fifty vessels in a year—When the English will have many hundreds flocking here, the chance of ours in competition with them, must in nine cases out of ten be equivalent to a total loss of the Voyage and Cargo—If there should between Russia and France be no War, I do not yet believe that England will venture upon one against us—I think therefore that our merchants must on every possible contingency renounce all hope of a profitable trade with Russia this year.
I commit this letter to the care of a Gentleman going to Copenhagen, and intending to go from thence to America—If he does not go himself he will forward it by the first occasion that may fall in his way. Perchance it may be read by others before it reaches you—This has happened to so many of my letters both coming and going that I sometimes think of sending all my private letters, patent.—
Your’s faithfully
A.


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, 5 May 1812
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Peabody, Elizabeth Smith Shaw

My dear Sister
Quincy May 5 1812

I received by the last Mail your Letter of the 26th of April. the Severe weather of this week has made me almost Sick. it has brought an inflamation in my Eyes with Such a pain in the Eye Balls that I have not been able to turn them in my head. they are rather better than they were two days past, or I could not have written a line. my intention was to have gone into Boston with the Children, but now I cannot.
I had a coat waistcoat &c of their Grandfathers which was so faded and worn, that it was unfit for him to wear. I had them riped and carried to mr Marsh who coulour’d them, and it has made each of them handsome coats—velvets are pretty near finishd, and the Bottle green they have; I think they have best wear as they have nearly out grown them. the velvet overalls you got for them is but poor; and the coulour comes off so, that their hands look as if they had dipt them in ink by one days wear; I have got them each what is calld washington cord, which will do to wear with their new coats untill Winter. I found they had Sufficient blue Nankeen coats & overalls for Summer. I bought Some factory blue & white Gingham for waistcoats which they will wear with them and I think they will do untill fall of the year. they have also a supply of pocket handkerchiefs. If too many you will put by Some as they were very Scarce. Some of the Ruffels upon their Shirts are going I have Sent three new ones which cousin Abbe will be kind enough to put on when necessary. I think the children have improved in their writing and in their Behaviour. George is very easily managed ready to hear to reason. John has not yet got the Mastery of his fire yet. they have not Been so well attended to, with respect to regularity in their writing & reading as they would have been, if I had not been sick almost ever since they have been here. I got better and went out last week, and now am confined by my Eyes.
we had a Letter yesterday from Russia 24 Janry. mr Adams Says in it he hopes to see us in the course of the year—I flatter myself that I Shall make you a visit of a day or two in June. the Weather will not be pleasent untill then
we thank you for the excellent peice of cheese you sent us. I wish I had any thing equally good to return
If you can possible Spair cousin Abbe, let her come to the Salt water this Spring. I shall rejoice to have her here.
The Young Gentleman I mentiond to you in a former Letter whose tragical end, was not then accounted for, has since been found to have arisen from a dissapointed passion. a young Lady from Virgina who was at School at mrs Saunders in Roxbury with his Sister, became intimate in the family, and he it Seems became enamourd of her, a miss Yaton by name but from his Youth and hers, conceald it. they however enterd into  mutual engagements of fidelity. about a month before the fatal event, he received a Letter from her, requesting him to think no more of her, for She had received offers, Since She had returnd home, which were more agreable to her. a Letter was found addrest to her, and several peices of Poetry, which Show his despair, and distraction—fatal passion.
we all Send abundance of Love and respect, with kind wishes for your health, & that of your worthy partner. Mrs TBA is here to day and well, desires to be rememberd to you—we do not forget Lydia in the number of Friends—a good old domestic is a Friend, as Such we must ever Love and Cherish them. I charge the Boys to be kind to her. affec’ly Your Sister
A AdamsOh that from memory I could blot
That lovely face, that beauteous Bloom
Theresa my unhappy lot
Will cause my sun to Set at noon