Title: From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 24 October 1811
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

N. 26.
St: Petersburg 24 October 1811.

By every vessel that has arrived for several months from America, and which we should have expected to bring letters for us, we receive, instead of letters, apologies for not writing, because we were thought to be on our passage home—You only have foreseen the contingency which has actually happened, that we might  be detained over the present Winter, and you only continue to give us some evidence of the condition of our dearest friends at home—Your letter of 24. July was sent to me from Cronstadt a few days ago, by Mr Ducoster who has not yet arrived in this City himself, and Mr: Ingraham, whom I have seen informs me, that he was at your house at Quincy some days later—I have seen Boston Newspapers to the 10th: of August, but one line from you is more precious to my feelings than all the Newspapers in America—
My letter of 29. March to my brother, was one of the numerous experiments which I made last Winter to send by indirect communication, while the Navigation here continued closed by the Season—As it reached its destination in less than four months from its date, I must consider it as one of the successful experiments. I enclosed it to Messrs: Willink, at Amsterdam, requesting them to forward it by the first opportunity which they should have—But I had sent by other conveyances many other letters of earlier dates, and among the rest three to you, of 28. Feby: and of 19. and 22. March, which not being noticed in your letter I conclude you had not received when it was written—As the first of them went by the Flash, from l’Orient, which I find arrived at New-York about the 20th: of July, I hope you received it a very few days after the date of your last—The other two went from England, and I may supposed reached you in August, as also a later letter of 24. April.—The extreme irregularity in the time of transmission which you will perceive in the receipt of my several letters proceeds not only from the natural impediments to communication, but from a multitude of incidental obstacles, resulting from the actual State of the World.—By the course of the Seasons, the only part of the year during which letters can be dispatched from hence, by Sea is from the 15th: of June to the last of October and the ordinary time during which they would be received if the passages were free from the first of September to the last of January.—From February to September every letter that you receive from this region must be by conveyance like that through which I send this letter—I am now obliged to recur to it earlier than was necessary last year—The last of the homeward bound vessels sailed the 15th: of this month, and although several others have since arrived they will be obliged to Winter here.
As I anticipated at the close of my last Letter, we removed, a few days after it was written, back into the City; and although with the aid of Storch’s plan, I could again point you precisely to the spot upon which we now reside, yet as it is merely in a street, and as one street is so much like another in all European Cities, that unless you had a particular knowledge of the place, a mere indication of the spot would give you no idea of our situation, I shall not attempt it, as I did in describing to you our Summer residence—Though we do not expect to remain here longer than untill next June, I have been obliged to take the house untill the first of September old Style—I have repeated to you and to my other friends so many times the causes which detain us here, that I can have nothing further on that head to add. I foresee nothing now which should prevent our return home the next year—My residence in Russia, after I had once fixed and carried through my Resolution, with regard to the Style of my household establishment, has hitherto been very comfortable and agreeable—as much, and I believe more so than it could possibly be any where else, absent from my Country—I hope that our course of life will this winter be still more quiet and regular than it was the last—I look forward to many Circumstances not very pleasing in prospect as awaiting my return home—The disgraceful and disgusting Violence of faction, which has been increasing instead of diminishing since I came away, and which is more hideous at a distance even than in the midst of it, would make me anxiously wish to prolong my term of banishment, (as it was called) were it not that nothing can compensate for distance from my Parents and my Children—I know too well my native land, and its inhabitants, and all the Passions that are working and will work among those of my own neighbourhood, to believe that I shall go home to the personal tranquility that I am enjoying here—If an inflexible Resolution to remain in private life, were compatible with my opinion of social duties, and I were sure of my own inclination to take it, and my own firmness and perseverance to carry it through, I should still not be able to defend myself from taking a deep interest in the public Affairs of my Country, and taking such an interest, I should find stimulants to active exertion in my own heart, if not in the instigations of others, which it is not my nature to resist—I am not so much of a Pythagorician as to have forsworn the use of beans, nor have I like Socrates a familiar Spirit, warning me not to meddle with the administration of public affairs—But our ship is in the midst of the 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 guarded me from all regret that accidental occurrences have arrested my return home this year, and relieved me from the honourable burthen that was destined for me there—But I cannot wish to linger here after the necessity which has tied me shall have ceased, and I shall receive with satisfaction the President’s renewed permission to return home, though to no seat of public trust in the place of that which I am to leave.
In my last letter I mentioned a Count Strogonoff, one of the first noblemen of the Empire, and spoke of his wealth and rank, his taste for the fine arts, his garden, his cabinet of pictures and his antique monuments. Within a week before that letter was written, I had attended at the ceremony of Consecration of a new Church, a Cathedral dedicated to our Lady of Kazan, one of the most magnificent edifices that I ever beheld—This Church had been more than ten years, building, and was consecrated on the anniversary day of the Emperor’s Coronation.—The Ceremony was very splendid, though somewhat fatiguing— It was between four and five hours long, during which we were kept standing, for as I have observed heretofore there are neither pews, seats nor benches in a Russian Church, and all their religious services are performed standing—Count Strogonoff was present at this Ceremony; and though nearly eighty years of age, stood like all the rest, untill the last half-hour when he found it necessary to withdraw—As President of the Academy of Fine Arts he had been charged with the Superintendence of this Building, and had often expressed the wish to live only to see it completed—This wish was gratified, and within one fortnight afterwards his obsequies were solemnized in the same Church—I attended them also, the last Week. The Ceremonies were nearly as long as those of consecrating the Church—There are some remarkable peculiarities in the Russian funeral service, one of which has been misunderstood and misrepresented by strangers and travellers who have witnessed it—In Porter’s travels, however, which you have read, a correct account of it is given—It is a written paper containing a prayer, and a certificate of the character of the person deceased which is read by a Priest, and deposited in the Coffin before it is finally closed. It goes commonly by the name of the Passport, and is considered as a letter of recommendation for admission into Heaven.—On this occasion too I heard a Russian funeral Sermon; the first discourse from the pulpit which I had heard delivered.—Preaching is a part of the divine service very seldom performed.—I could not understand a word of the discourse; for although we have been here two full years I have not a tincture of the language—The preacher’s delivery was very good.
I wrote a few days ago to my brother intending to send the letter by Commodore Bainbridge, who after spending the Summer here is going to Gothenburg, there to embark for the United States—But as his departure has been postponed and another opportunity occurred by the way of Riga I forwarded that letter thither and shall commit this to the Commodore in its stead. There are still several of our Countrymen, here who will be going at different times in the course of the next two months, and by whom I shall continue to write.
I beg to be affectionately remembered to all our friends with you, and particularly to my Sister, whose health will I hope be restored by her visit to you—We have not for a long time had any letters from either of our Sons, though I flatter myself they will be constantly improving themselves in the faculty of writing. We are all in good health—Charles is a good boy, and is learning to read French—When we come home, I expect his English will be diverting to his brothers. My daughter Louisa, is an accomplished young lady for her weeks, and has in her mother an excellent nurse—She promises to be a nut-brown maid with a very audible voice, and as yet delights in nothing so much as a full breast of milk—We are daily seeking for resemblances in her countenance, and associate her in fancy with all our dearest friends—She has the eyes of one; the nose of another, the mouth of a third and the forehead of a fourth, but her chin is absolutely and exclusively her own. Charles has just come into my chamber, and desires me to give his duty to Grand-papa and Grand-mama and his love to his brothers George and John—to which I have only to add my own.
A25. October—
I must not again forget to wish you joy of this day—I surely ought to remember it—May the blessing of Heaven give you and my father many more happy returns of it.


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to William Cranch, 25 October 1811
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Cranch, William

my dear nephew,
Quincy, 25 October, 1811.

The solemn and impressive scenes through which I have passed the last week, were too affecting to me to commit to paper. I thank God for that support and consolation which now enables me to address the only son of my dear departed brother and sister, endeared to me by every tie of affection and consanguinity, whose lives were a worthy example to all their posterity, and whose deaths were a comment upon their lives. As they had lived together in bonds of closest conjugal harmony and affection, near fifty years, so an all wise and merciful providence has removed them together to the realms of bliss; and this, my dear nephew, is a consolation to me, that neither is left to mourn the death of the other. That they were spared to us so long is another source of thankfulness. That they endured no more pain or agony in their departing moments, is among the blessings we have to be thankful for. That they have left such bright, and, as far as the imperfections of human nature would admit, spotless characters behind them, is the richest legacy they could transmit to their posterity.
Your father was seized with a lethargy which deprived him in a great measure of his speech, and prevented us from receiving from his dying lips the testimony which he would undoubtedly have given, to the truth and excellence of that religion of which he had ever been an ornament. Heaven was satisfied, and his work was finished. Your dear mother, through her whole sickness, was full of faith, hope, and charity. Although she struggled for life, for the sake of your father, and the dear orphans, I may say, of your sister, yet, when she was informed of his death, it did not affect her as it would have done in health.
I passed the three last days of her life chiefly with her, in two of which she appeared wandering; in one of them she did not mention your father, in the other she talked much of him, and in a kind of ecstacy said, “He has only stepped behind the scene; I shall know where to find him;” so upon another occasion she said, “his whole life was prayer;” that “now all her tie to life was broken; she was both ready and willing to die.” Once, after a silence of some time, she broke out into an apostrophe—“O my son, my son”—and said no more. I presumed she had been thinking of the grief which the death of your father would occasion to you.
The day she departed, your uncle and I were in her chamber. She thanked us most tenderly for all our kindness to her, and her family, as she expressed herself; her mind appeared less wandering than through her whole sickness. She was perfectly collected, and called to her bedside my granddaughter Susan B. Adams, and taking her by the hand, conversed with her upon the importance of early piety, upon the duty which she owed to God, to her parent, and her grandparents, and upon the duty and efficacy of prayer. She dwelt upon that with great eloquence and pathos, when offered in sincerity; said she had never offered to Heaven a petition which she did not see answered in receiving the blessing, or, if denied, she could trace the kindness of the hand in withholding it; recommended to her the repeated perusal of a sermon, in Dr. Paley’s works, upon early piety, from this text, “Be sober minded;” having finished, (and I can only give you an imperfect sketch,) she said, “This is all I can offer you Susan, for your kindness to me; it is my last legacy;” and so it proved. During this conversation, we were all but herself in tears. Her lungs were sound and strong. She appeared to me much more comfortable, and likely to continue for some time, than for two days before. The family being so numerous, I usually returned home to dine; I did so this day, never to see her living face more. In less than an hour, your brother, D. Greenleaf, came in and told me her spirit had fled; Heaven kindly spared me the last sad parting pang.
I shall not make any apology to you for my minuteness; it is the sweet remembrance of the just, and will, I hope, solace you under your bereavement. Richard Norton has no doubt written to you of the respectable manner in which their remains were interred, accompanied by a numerous assembly to church, where Mr. Whitney delivered to a crowded audience an excellent discourse from Psalms: “The righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance,” in which, with much justice, he gave the characters of your respected parents. The sermon will be published.
I hope, my dear nephew, while I live, that you will consider me as a parent, and present me as such to your dear partner, although I can never supply her place to you, whose death you mourn.
Your uncle and the whole family unite in sympathy and affection.
I am, my dear nephew, / Your affectionate and sympathizing aunt,

Abigail Adams


Title: To John Adams from John Quincy Adams, 31 October 1811
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, John

N. 11—
Dear Sir.
St: Petersburg 31. October 1811.

In the month of June last Myers Fisher junr: of Philadelphia, who is established here as a partner of a Commercial House, called upon me with a Gentleman who had just arrived with a Vessel and Cargo of which he was the owner, and whom he introduced to me by the name of Mr David of Philadelphia—I thought this Gentleman a total stranger to me, and was a little surprized when he said to me, Sir, you and I are very old acquaintances with each other—Do you not recollect a boy by the name of David, who was one of your schoolfellows at Mr Le Coeur’s at Passy in the year 1778? I recollect two boys of that name, who were brothers; born in London, of French Parents, who had been sent over to France for their Education—Well, Sir, I am the youngest of those two Brothers—And then he told me several anecdotes of occurrences at the School, which had as completely escaped my Memory untill he reminded me of them, as his own person— I excused myself as well as I could for not having had a Memory so retentive as his, but the passage from twelve to forty-five years age accomplishes a metamorphosis in one’s looks, which it requires something more than Memory to trace back—It was remarkable that this was the second instance since I have been here, in which I have been recognized by schoolmates of Le Coeur’s Pension—The other was a Mr Rudolphe, and Engineer, whom I had more irretrievably forgotten than Mr David—For even now, after he brought Circumstances to my Mind, which I do remember, I can recall no trace either of his person or his name— I have not been well pleased with myself to find that my schoolmates of that period have so much better memories than mine, and I have set all the usual casuistry of self-love in motion to account for it in a manner which may spare me all mortification at the Discovery.
But the occasion upon which I mention Mr David to you is, that after having passed the Summer here he is now going to Gothenburg, intending to return thence either directly, or through England to Philadelphia, and it is by him that I shall take the opportunity of forwarding this letter—It is already the third that has occurred since the Navigation directly from Cronstadt has been closed, and I hope to have several others in November and perhaps December—There is however a very troublesome, and at this Season a very dangerous water passage over the gulph of Bothnia, between this place and Gothenburg, and the Winter has already declared itself here with such severity, that the River Neva is completely frozen over.
Since I wrote you last we have had no further news from America and expect none of any material importance, untill the Session of Congress.—We hear of nothing but the violence of political parties concentrated in the State of Massachusetts and especially in the town of Boston—Old Hillhouse used to say seven years ago, that there was no remedy for our evils, but “a little surgical operation,” and it was he and a number of heads in Connecticut and Boston, about as wise and comprehensive as his, who then seriously formed the project for dividing the Union, of which at the last Session of Congress Mr: Quincy condescended to become the Herald— It was on the very same Lilliputian scale of policy too—Because Louisiana, and the Western States would soon be able to out-vote New-England in Congress—I had settled it in my mind long before that time, that this project could never be carried into execution, but by Treason and Rebellion; and that those were the least greatest of two evils in comparison with the chance of New-England’s being occasionally out-voted in Congress—To my mind therefore the bare intimation of what Mr Quincy seriously avowed in Congress, and what Hillhouse hinted by the jocose figure of an amputation, contained those two Crimes Treason and Rebellion, as completely as in the physical world the grub obscene contains the wriggling worm—I do not imagine that either Hillhouse or Quincy ever pursued their own reflections so far as to be brought to this Conclusion, though Quincy by his “violently if they must” has admitted that the division may cost a civil War, the chances of which I suppose he will not deny, might if unsuccessful, finish by giving it the name of Rebellion—Such however was my Conclusion—That individual Treason and collective Rebellion were necessarily implied in the execution of the scheme for dividing the Union, and the system of conduct uniformly pursued by the party which first conceived that design has invariably confirmed me in the opinion which I had formed upon a consideration of it a priori, as a mere theoretical speculation.
It seemed to me that there was littleness, and contraction stamped upon the very conception, that the American Union must be dissolved, because the New-England interest might be out-voted in Congress—There was indeed no New-England Interest, clear or strong enough to unite its own Representatives in their votes—But admitting that there had been, or that in future there might be, I saw no indication that it would be without its proper and reasonable influence in the National Councils, nor could I possibly discover any Interest, which would not suffer more by the natural and inevitable collisions, of independent and disconnected bordering Nations, having no common deliberative principle of association, than it could while they were united under one and the same system of Legislation—
As the conception of dividing the Union, appeared to me little and narrow, I could not avoid assuming it as a measure of the minds by which it was entertained; and as I thought the Execution of the project would on the contrary require minds of a very enlarged and capacious character, I did not think the persons so ready to undertake this mighty work, exactly calculated to carry it through—I therefore believed that it would ultimately prove unsuccessful, though probably not untill after the experiment of a civil War—What and whom a Civil War might in its progress bring forth, I could not foresee, but judging from past and present experience I supposed, a Jeroboam, a Julius Caesar, a Cromwell or some such ferocious animal, who might or might not unite the Country again under one Government—If he did it must be military, and arbitrary—If he did not, it would be because another tyrant like himself, would head another State of a similar description, to feed between them a perpetual state of future War between the different Sections that now compose the Union—It was possible that instead of two such wild beasts, the Nation when once split up might produce an indefinite number of them, and monarchies and oligarchies, and democracies might arise as among the States of antient Greece, and the more they multiplied the more materials would they furnish for future War—Now in all these prospects of future times, grounded on the assumed principle of dividing the Union, I did see chances of splendid Fortunes for individual Avarice and Ambition, which our present simple Republican and Federative Government does not and cannot hold out; but at the expence of blood and treasure, and freedom and happiness to the great mass of the Nation in all its parts, from which the hand of a parricide would shrink with compunction.
From the frequency with which I return to this subject, in my letters to you, and to others of my friends, which will be seen by you, may be judged how much it occupies my thoughts and how deeply it affects my feelings—It enters into most of my meditations upon History, upon Government, and even upon the Poetry that I read—Marmion, and the Minstrel and the Lady of the Lake have no moral to me but to shew the consequences of dividing States which Nature admits of being United—The picture of border Wars, is a memento to me of what awaits us if we ever yield to that senseless and stupid call for division, which I have so long heard muttered in my own neighbourhood, and which Quincy has now taken a trumpet to sound forth in the very Sanctuary of Legislation—In short Union is to me what the Balance is to you; and as without this there can be no good Government among mankind in any state, so without that, there can be no good Government among the People of North-America in the state in which God has been pleased to place them.
Of ourselves we have little else to say than that we are all well—I have got into such a regular and quiet course of life, and have now so little troublesome public business to do, that my time passes smoothly away; and it would pass as happily as the condition of human Nature admits, but for the irresistible calls which I hear from my Parents and my Children—As respects myself, the interests of my family and the service of my Country, I know not which would be most desirable for me, to remain here or to return home; but the sense of duty prescribing my return is so strong that I shall feel uneasy untill I comply with its commands—Hitherto I have left it altogether at the Pleasure of the President, after declining the appointment to the Branch—I have had motives which it is unnecessary formally to explain to you, for avoiding hitherto an explicit request to be recalled—It still remains therefore at the President’s option—If he recalls me without such a request, I shall however be perfectly satisfied with his determination—If he authorizes me to remain here longer, I shall soon make the request which I have hitherto delayed—At all Events I hope to see you in the course of the ensuing year, and to take upon me that imperious duty of superintending the Education of my Sons.
I pray you assure them of my constant affection, and my mother of my unalterable duty—with my kind remembrance to all the other branches of the family, & particularly to my Sister—
A.


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Lucy Cranch Greenleaf, October 1811
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Greenleaf, Lucy Cranch

Dear Neice
Oct. 1811

I heard last Evening of the melancholy event, and sincerely sympathize with the afflicted family I send you some peices of crape  they are rusty, but the best we have. if you attend the funeral, and want a Bonnet, if mine will answer and my crape cloak they are at your service—I intended to have asked You here to day to have past it, with mrs Cushing and Caroline, but a melancholy duty calls you else where
Yours affec’ly
A A—


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Lucy Cranch Greenleaf, October 1811
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Greenleaf, Lucy Cranch

dear Mrs Greenleaf
Oct. 1811

will you get mr Norten to inform by Letters mr & mrs James Foster of the death of your dear Mother and our request to them to attend the funeral on Saturday—Louissa did write to them the morng that your Father died, but some exception was taken that they were not notified by the Family. mr George Palmer Should be written to, he had not heard of his uncle death till Louissa informd him. mr dexter will carry the Letters. get you a day  if you think proper or do any thing else you may want—had he not better wait for the plates—could you Spair your chaise for him, we have to Send ours various ways to day
your affecly
A A


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Hannah Phillips Cushing, 3 November 1811
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Cushing, Hannah Phillips

my dear Friend.
Quincy Novbr 3d 1811

I owe to your Friendship, a Letter of thanks for the interest you take in whatever concerns me or mine. I know your Sympathizing Heart will hasten to pour the balm of consolation into the afflicted Bosom of your Friend, when you learn that my dear and beloved Sister is numberd with the dead. this is an event which my mind was in a measure prepard for, from her long Sickness, but I had not realized that one grave was to receive at the Same time, her dear venerable companion also. He fell Sick upon a Saturday Evening, and the Tuesday following closed a well spent Life; She survived him only untill thursday noon having no desire to remain longer upon Earth, and upon the Saturday following, they were together consignd to the Tomb. their Remains were placed Side by Side in the Church where they so frequently had worshiped together. mr Whitney deliverd an Exellent discourse to a crowded Audience from psalms. “The Righteous Shall be held in Everlasting Remembrance”
While I weep the loss I have Sustained, I would not be unmindfull of the mercies I have received. I desire consolation in the circumstance of their both going together, having lived together near half a Centry, in the most cordial conjugal Harmony and felicity they are together gone, to the realms of Bliss. if either had lived to mourn the loss of the other, it would have been as Young expresses it, “The Survivor dies” that I have enjoyed their Society for so long a period. and that their mental faculties were not more impared, but their usefullness continued almost to their dying hour, is cause of gratefull recollection to me; and their memory is a rich inheritance to all their Surviving Relatives, and a cordial to the drooping mind, when the pangs of seperation assail it. This you my dear Friend know from Similar experience.
The week before their deaths I received Letters from washington informing me of the death of my Friend Mrs Johnson and her Son in Law mr Buchanna of a Billious fever, and of the dangerous Sickness of mrs Boyed and Pope. the latter have survived and are upon the recovery. These distressing events so near each other, have call’d for all the aid which Religion affords, and I have cause to thank Heaven that I have been supported through them, and may I have cause to Say, it is good for me that I have been afflicted, with a gratefull heart I would Bless the hand which wounds and heals.
Mrs Smith has been highly favourd. the wound is intirely healed, altho She cannot yet use her Arm. it gains Strength as She recovers. She has twice rode out. I cannot however think it Safe for her to return this winter. the Season must be far advanced before She could leave here; and a cold or fatigue against which her physicians have gaurded her, might prove fatal to her.
Letters from my son in Russia inform us, that he has declined his Seat upon the Bench. The Situation of Mrs Adams, who expected to be confined at the very time when, they ought to have embarked for Home, wholy prevented their thinking of returning this Season; and obliged him to decline the office, which he considerd already kept open too long, for the public Service. She got to bed in August with a daughter.
I feel a dissapointment, but I console myself with the pursuasion that all things are wisely ordered, and will terminate for the best good of the whole.
The president desires to be rememberd to you he has recoverd from his Lameness—Mrs Smith request her kind regards to you and gratefully remembers your Friendly attention towards her. Mrs Adams & the whole Numerous family present their regards. be kind enough to remember me to you Sisters, and your Neices. Let me know if I am to congratulate Martha upon her Marriage—I am my dear Friend affectionatly yours
Abigail Adams


Title: From John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 6 November 1811
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, Thomas Boylston

N. 25.
St: Petersburg 6. November 1811.

Since I wrote you last (which the enclosed will shew you was very lately) though I have not have had the pleasure of hearing from you, I have at least enjoyed that of hearing of you—Mr: Ducoster, brought me a letter of 24. July from my Mother, and Mr Ingraham has brought us verbal information three days later—The thread of life, as somebody says in Shakespear is of a mingled yarn; our eagerness to receive letters from home has this year been too often punished as if it were a crime, by the afflictive intelligence which they brought when they did come—For you among others how many an anxious hour have I pass’d since receiving your letter of 7. April.—In my Mother’s last letter she tells me that your health was improved and how have I longed to learn the same from yourself! I have at least the satisfaction of finding that you are becoming daily more distinguished by public notice, and hope I may congratulate you sincerely upon your Judicial dignity—Of the new accession to your family too I have been informed, and heartily wish you joy upon it—Miss Frances Foster, and Miss Louisa Catherine came so near together, that they had almost like to have been twins, if they had not had two fathers and mothers—I pray that your daughter may be as fat and healthy, as by God’s blessing mine has hitherto been—
If my young lady had come one month earlier, I should now in all probability have been halfway upon my passage home—There was a fine ship called the Dorothea, which sailed about the middle of September, for Philadelphia, and in which we might have taken passage—But my wife was not then out of her chamber, and since then there has been no good opportunity of which we could have availed ourselves—I sometimes regret that we are detained here for another Winter—Not on account of the Office which was tendered to me—Upon that subject I may say between you and me, my inclination and my resolution has not varied one iota, since I wrote you on the 10th: of April, when to be sure I expressed my sentiments merely upon speculation little thinking that at that very moment the appointment had been made, which was to put them to so close a test—But because there is so little public business which can employ me here, and that little is now of such minor importance that I cannot divest myself of the opinion, that I could perform more useful service to my Country at home than here—This opinion, with the desire to see again my Parents and Children, and the consciousness of a duty to fulfill in the Education of my two eldest boys, which I cannot fulfill here, often suggest to me moments of uneasiness that I am yet fastened to this extremity of the Eastern Hemisphere.—My wish and intention therefore is to return home the next Summer—But in the present State of the World it is scarcely possible to say whether the Ocean will be navigable for American Vessels the next year. Since the English have given up the blockade of the Baltic at the passage of the Sound, it has been renewed by French privateers—Four American vessels coming here were taken by a French privateer and carried into Dantzig in May last, and their papers sent to Paris, where they have been condemned—Two were taken in August and carried into Copenhagen—papers sent to Paris—Vessels and Cargoes condemned and confiscated—One of these was a brig belonging to Lieutenant Governor Gray—All of them unquestionably American and perfectly neutral—Among the vessels that have sailed from hence for the United States, we know already of two, the Augustus, Captain Flint, and the Horace Captain Leach, which have been taken by the Danes, after having passed Elseneur—Both these vessels had dispatches from me, and letters to my Mother dated 29. July and 12. August—And on Board the Horace was the sheeting for which she wrote to me last Spring, and also a piece which I had sent for my Sister—What the cause, real or pretended for the capture of these vessels was, I do not know, for we have yet nothing but rumours about them, and they are various—I hope however that most if not all of our other vessels which have come into the Baltic this year will escape them, and that all our merchants will be completely warned of the danger that awaits them for the next—If they attempt the passage at Elseneur they may consider it as certain that they will be taken; and if taken, certain to be condemned—
Congress are already in Session, and probably before you receive this letter, will have taken some decisive step to fix the state of our relations with Europe—But I trust that step will not have been taken without a knowledge of the manner in which France is treating us; nor without a cool and deliberate consideration of the effect, which this treatment ought to have upon our course of policy—You know my sentiments with respect to the non-importation Act of the last Session—It pass’d upon the conviction that the Berlin and Milan decrees had been effectually and bona-fide repealed—In all the proceedings of France on that subject, I had seen a Character which was far from deserving the discrimination which was then made on our part, between her and her enemy; but I did and do still respect most highly the motive upon which the Act was adopted—The sacred fulfillment of an honourable promise—At this time I think little doubt can remain upon any mind, concerning the real intentions of France—The dispute whether the Berlin and Milan Decrees have or have not been repealed, is degenerating into a cavil upon Words—Yes!—as to us, they have been repealed—At least I know not of any official act of the French Government, contrary to their Declarations to that effect—But as prohibitory duties are in common sense and common reason always equivalent to prohibition, the Tariff issued cotemporaneously with the declaration that the two decrees were revoked, was substantially a Non-importation Act, pointed directly against us—In form it certainly did not violate our neutral rights, but in substance it was the same thing—By internal regulation, it made the exercise of our neutral rights impracticable with regard to the most profitable part of our Commerce—It satisfied the letter, but not the Spirit of our prior Law—If however all this be admitted, it is clear that our pledge has been completely redeemed—If we promised to our loss, we have made our promise good—We have now a new score of injury and outrage to take up—The depredations of the present year are not committed by virtue of the decrees of Berlin and of Milan, but upon simple orders of the Emperor Napoleon, that all Colonial Merchandizes, coming from whence, and belonging to whom they may, are to be considered as English, and coming from England—therefore to be confiscated—Surely after this, it is perfectly useless to enquire whether the Decrees of Berlin and of Milan, are, or are not repealed.
At the same time it becomes constantly more and more evident that Napoleon is ardently desirous, of a War between the United States and England—A War which would be highly propitious to his purposes, which would hasten undoubtedly the ruin of England, but which would either rivet upon us the fetters of France, or make them so intolerably galling that the feeling our Country, would cast them off for the still more cruel and insufferable manacles of England—Now if there were not other reasons in abundance to deter us from a War with England, one reason equivalent to ten thousand is that he desires we should have it—For the very reason that our neutrality is the state the most unfavourable to his views, I hope we shall adhere inflexibly to it—At present we may with great safety set in substance his enmity at defiance.—And the most effectual way of doing it will be by placing him and his adversary again precisely upon the same footing—Our non importation act, is of all the measures hitherto taken, most seriously and severely felt by England—The course of Exchange is a proof, and an unanswerable proof of its great efficacy—It occasions no doubt many partial inconveniencies in our own Country, but as a defensive weapon it works so well that I should incline strongly to its continuance—But I would apply it, or an equivalent measure without hesitation and without delay to France. And I would assume a tone in Negotiation with her, which should leave no room for anybody to talk of our partiality in her favour—Armstrong’s letter of 10. March—and its effects sufficiently shewed the true tone that ought to be taken with her—When I say I incline to the continuance of the non-importation, I speak of course without a full knowledge of its operations at home; if that should make a repeal expedient, I think it will be difficult to substitute any measure of equal power in its stead—England besides her pauperism and her paper money, is getting upon very bad terms with her allies in Sicily, in Spain, and even in Portugal—She is in a great dilemma between the Cortes of Cadix and the South-American Patriots of Independence—This skein becomes from day to day more entangled, and she will never be able to unravel it.—It will I flatter myself be our policy to keep ourselves cool and calm, and to do nothing to involve us in the Catastrophe which cannot be very remote—
The last week in October we had cold enough to constitute a Washington Winter—Before the close of the month the river was frozen over, strong enough to bear passengers—There was nearly a food deep of Snow, and the Sleighs were in universal circulation—We have now had four or five days of rain and thaw, which have carried off all the Snow, and threaten to break up the river—an accident which happens not oftener than once a Century—Americans are still going to embark from Gothenburg, and I shall suffer no such opportunity to escape me without writing to somebody.—Remember me suitably to your wife and Children, and to all other members of the family—Valemus—Valete.
A.


Title: From Archibald Young to Abigail Smith Adams, 7 November 1811
From: Young, Archibald
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

November 7th 1811.
Cloathing purchased for George and John Adams
3 peices Blew Nankeen at 2 dollars pr piece61 peice yellow125 2 yd Gingham.631 yd vesting142 4  yds check169 5 doz pearl Buttons1503 yd cotton Cloth751 half oz Sewing Silk254 skains coulord cotton25Archibald Young’s Bill paid by Mrs A A.$10.29Mrs A. A. Account within22.821502924.6115.0CR By Cash—$15 9.61By Do— 4.5019.50
 Recd and settled in full to this day
Abigail Adams


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, 8 November 1811
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Peabody, Elizabeth Smith Shaw

my dear Sister
Quincy Nov’br 8 1811

I recieved your Letter by the last Mail inclosing one for your daughter, who left me last week, to our great regreet. I expostulate with her for making her visit So short She Said She had been five weeks with us. I could Scarcly credit it, untill I looked back, and then So many events had during that period rapidly Succeeded each other, that I had not calculated how the time had passed
It was a visit fraught with Such impressive Scenes, as will not I trust be Soon, or can eradicated from her mind.
“Tis a prime part of happiness, to know
How much unhappiness must prove our Lot”
I Sent the Letter in to my Neice the Same day I received it. She is well, and proposed to remain in Boston three weeks. She was very fortunate going into Town while I had a Tailoress with me, getting her Coat and a Bempant Gown which She had made immediatly and is quite Equiped for the winter. I have not been able to write you the week past. you know what a large and encumberd family is added to a constant Succession of trancient company. The calls upon me are numerous. Col Smith has been here nearly 4 weeks. Mrs Smith will not be able to return with him this winter. She cannot use her Arm at all. She has rode out three times  but being a little presumptious and riding one day rather too far—She has not been so well Since, and is now Satisfied that She must not attempt the journey this winter. the Col will return, and Mrs Adams and Abbe will go with him. it is an excellent opportunity for her to visit her Mother, and I hope it will benifit her health—and it will lessen the cares of my Family which have been numerous this Summer. but I desire to be gratefull for the Health I have enjoyed, and for the blessings which have been mingled with my afflictions. it is a gratification to me to have the Habitation which I have So long been accustomd to visit, as the dear abode of my our venerable Brother and beloved Sister, occupied by her worthy Daughter and her descendents
Mr & Mrs Greenleaf have removed into it, and She will keep her Sisters daughters with her through the winter. Brother Cranch left a will, written many years ago, in which after ordering his debts and funeral Charges to be paid, he gave the whole of his Property to his wife, to be used by her for the Benifit of her Children and Grandchildren—His will must be proved, and an administrator appointed, and altho She died without a will, Still as the Estate could not be  untill the condition of the will was fullfilld, and as She had property in trust for her, now Bonds and Administration must be taken upon her estate. this will be attended with more expence & trouble. there were not I believe any heavey debts, a hundred dollors which he borrowd during her Sickness & the drs Bills and funeral Charges will be the principle—I hope there will be Something left for mrs Greenleaf—as well as for the others; mr c Norten I presume has had nearly all his Share—Nine Hundred dollers are due from him which ought to go to the Children.
My last accounts from washington were that mrs Boyed and Pope were upon the recovery, but a Letter which came yesterday from Baltimore, written at the request of Caroline informs us of the Death of her Husband—and at the Same time what I feared was the case, that he dyed leaving no property. She has one child by him & he left four by his first wife—they have Some property which came to them by their Mother, and in which their Father had his Life but not a farthing of which She can claim—I do most Sincerely compassionate her. it was a marriage, not of choice, but persuasion of Friends and who can paint the feelings of a delicate mind. Subjected to dependence and Seeing no prospect of releif, but in a marriage which might intittle you to a home—but that very home depending upon the Brittle thread of Life—The Death of Mrs Johnson, which I  for the Sake  respected worldly affairs a release to  George and John I must commit to your Care. they have not been kept So regular this Summer, as they ought to have been: oweing to the Sickness of their Aunt, and of their being Some times in one place & sometimes in an other. here they would find too much time for play and my Family is not calculated to keep Such Children in. various work people with whom they will occasionally mix, and learn what is improper, cannot be avoided. I hope they will not give you any unnecessary trouble George is a good temper Child, and may be managed by reasoning but I discover in John a quickness of passion, and a Stiffness which requires Subduing. I wish their hand writing may be particularly attended to, English Grammer for John, before he commences Lattin George will pursue his Studies in Lattin and Greek—
Mr Adams will be so much absent this winter, that it appeard to me out of the question for them to go there. I have therefore engaged to take upon my own Shoulders the responsibility of placeing them at Atkinson. there entrance money will be Sent with them, and we Shall expect to pay the Same as others. Mr T B Adams will always answer their quarter Bills or any other expences you may necessarily be at for them—
I must close or the mail will leave me—we have Letters from Russia dated in Sep’br All well there
Let me know how mr Peabodys leg is the President found great benifit from the use of Ledwater, and putting it into poltice—I am dear and only Sister


Title: From Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Smith Adams, 11 November 1811
From: Peabody, Elizabeth Smith Shaw
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

My Dear Sister,
Atkinson Novem. 11th. 1811

The excellent Sermon you sent, me was indeed “a cordial to my Heart—” I thank Mr Whitney for the justice he has done to departed excellence, & for his sympathetick remembrace of me, & the absent Relatives—It was my ardent wish to have been present at the mournful Obsequies, but it was not to be—Mr Peabody’s Indisposition, & a number of contingencies prevented—I have been laying plans in my own mind ever since, to make you a visit, of a week—but they have all proved abortive, & I fear now the Season is so far advanced, I must give up the Idea—As I could not be there, it has been a consolation to me that my Daughter was at Quincy—though I really long to have her come home that we may sit together, & recount the Virtues of my dear Brother, & Sister—long—long will they be held in sweet remembrance by those who knew them—& by us, so long as Reason lasts—It is a comfort my dear Sister, to have those arround us who are interested, & do feel interested in all our Concerns—Those who knew their worth, & the sincere, unabated affection which has ever subsisted, between us, must lend the balm, of a sympathetic Tear—I am thankful I was with my Sister, at the first of her confinement—though she was too sick to converse with, as I wished—I was so happy as to converse more with my revered Brother Cranch than I had done for many years—& it seems now, as if I now heard those fervent Prayers, in which his whole Soul was engaged—making supplications—which could not be uttered—
I rejoice with you that Mr, & Mrs G. occupy the House of their beloved Parents—I hope no other Claimant will appear to molest them—I mentioned to Sister Cranch, that Mr Peabody would give Thomas Norton his board, & let him go to the Academy three months, if it met their approbation—My Sister seemed pleased with the proposal—Mr Peabody did not think to say anything when at Quincy, but told Mr Richard Norton at Boston—& he seemed gratified too—but we have not heard one word from his Father—My Brother, & Sister thought then that Thomas, should be taught, so as to go into a merchants Store in the Spring—
My Dear Sister, Mr Peabody, & I, are both willing, & desirous to do all we can—It pains me that we can do so little—I sincerely hope the proposed journey of your Daughter Adams, & miss Abby, will be of great benefit to her infirm state of health—The Bosom of her Mother, & the soft air of her native City, may afford some lenient Balm.—She has my fervent wishes for her perfect restoration.—Cousin Abby was here but six weeks, & half—which at two Dollars pr week made 13 Dollars—which he says, if you please you may pay to my Daughter—Eight Dollars of which I beg the favour of you to retain, & present it from me if you please to my Cousin Abby, as a token of my regard for her Parents, & of my Love for her—I would have written to her, before her departure if I could—But I know the sweetness of her desposition, will induce her to pay every possible attention to her Dear, & amiable Mother—
It will releeve you, & the President from many an anxious hour—& solitary ones too, to have your dear Daughter with you this winter—you did not say when your grand Children were to come, if they come in the Stage—the can come to the Door in it on mondays or on Fridays—or do you intend sending them by Mr Dexter in a Chaise—I wish you would let me know by friday mail if you could.—Whether my Abby will return before thansgiving, or not, I do not know—as she never was at this season from home, I fancy she will tarry in Town till after—Has not Mrs Cotton Tufts offered to take one of my dear Nieces Daughters? perhaps, she waits to be requested—one does not always know whether a thing would be pleasing to Friends—
Be assured every kind wish is included to every Branch of your, & my Connections / when I subscribe your ever obliged / & affectionate Sister

Elizabeth Peabody
Pray let me know  how Mr Cranch at  Washington is if you can—”


Title: From Thomas Boylston Adams to Orchard Cook, 14 November 1811
From: Adams, Thomas Boylston
To: Cook, Orchard

Sir.
Quincy November 14th 1811

I have just received, on my return from Boston, this Evening, your favour of the 10th: instant, and cannot but express my regret that you have found it necessary, for your own vindication, to enter into so ample an explanation of the difficulties you have recently encountered. I am very desirous of avoiding any personal interference in the disputes of individuals, with whom I have no immediate connection, other than that, which results from an Official Station, and I am happy to find, by your letter, that I stand exonerated, in your mind, from any intentional agency in the transaction to which you allude. Before the receipt of you letter I had been confidentially informed, that your last letter to me, on the subject of nominations, was in the hands of the Honble: Mr: Carlton, and that use had been made of it to your prejudice. The first suggestion was, that only a copy was in his possession, as in your letter to me, but afterwards it was said, that your original letter was in the hands of that Gentleman, the last of which is probably the fact. I cannot say but the first surmise of such an incident cause a momentary hesitation as to the truth of it, for I really believed your letter was in my drawer under lock & key; but on second thought, it occurred, that I had communicated the original to the members of Council, from your section, and that I could not remember it having been returned to me. The communication, on my part, was voluntary and for the purpose of interchanging information among the Members of the Executive Council, nor was I at all solicitous whether any letter addressed to me, of a publick nature and relating to Candidates for Office, was in my custody, or in that of any member of the board; for as I found no disposition to reserve, on the part of others, I discovered none on mine; always supposing that such communications were under the seal of secrecy and would not travel out of the Council Chamber. Having thus informed you of the manner in which this occurrence was brought about, and renewing my expressions of regret, that it has been productive of unpleasant apprehensions to you, I must refrain from comment, least in the future consequences predicted by you as likely to flow from it, I may find myself implicated in difficulties, which I must disclaim all agency in having been instrumental in exciting, and which I am extremely desirous should subside, not only for the publick good but for the sake of the reputation of the parties unhappily concerned.
I began a Letter to the Honble: Mr: Carlton yesterday, which I was able to finish only to day, and it will go by the same Mail with this to you. I have barely informed him, that I had heard it said, from high Authority, that your letter to me had been used to your disadvantage and that he was in possession of it; Also requesting a return of the Letter to me. I am perswaded that it will be returned to me, and I hope without any such use having been made of it as is suggested. I must ask the favour of you to preserve this letter, as I shall your’s from the inspection of any other person; for I think it a correct rule of correspondence, as well as of oral & colloquial intercourse between man & man, that nothing should be written or spoken, that we should be unwilling to say before the face of the person or party implicated, either to his prejudice or praise. And when difficulties have been unnaturally created, it is no time to destroy any part of the evidence by which they have been attempted to be allayed.
I formed a favourable opinion of the character and acquirements of your friend Dr: Rose during my intercourse with him on my visit to the County of Lincoln. I wish we had a Land Office in this State that he might be the Surveyor-General, as they have in Pennsylvania; at any rate, I should be pleased to see that Gentleman in some station where his peculiar talents might be employed in the service of the Commonwealth.
I perceive the delicacy of your present situation and I hope you will have the necessary courage to encounter it with honour to yourself—and with credit to the Government. Your display of courage must, as you are situated, be, in the field of forbearance, and I therefore recommend your taking no notice whatever of the publication in the Centinel. All our enemies want is to divide, well knowing that it is their only chance of victory over the Republican phalanx. I am Sir, Respectfully your Hble Servt
Thomas B Adams—


Title: From Hannah Phillips Cushing to Abigail Smith Adams, 14 November 1811
From: Cushing, Hannah Phillips
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

My Dear Friend
Middletown November 14th. 1811.

I did not need your last token of love to remind me of my duty to one who is unwearied in exertions of friendship towards me. My mind dwells much on my dear absent Friends & it is with truth I can say that you & yours have a large share of my contemplations. By my own woful experience I can & do most sensibly feel for you under your bereavments. The society of a good Brother & Sister is precious indeed, & to realize that we shall not again on earth see their faces, or hear their voices, is heart renting indeed at the same time that you have every consolation that religion can inspire to solace & support you. “The righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance.” Yes my beloved Friend we ought to rejoice for them that their days are numbered & finished, for they no doubt have, or will hear that joyful sentence “come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you.” May others speedily be raised up to fill the gaps they have left, & shine as burning lights to all around them. As to those dear Children who have in a few month been deprived of two Mothers, Providence will take care of them, in whom we must confide. Let the sympathy I feel make my condolence acceptable to all the Relatives. Our Cup is wisely mixed with joys, & sorrows, & I am thankful that you are permitted to sing of mercies, in the hopeful prospect that the knife has proved salutary to your lovely Daughter. May her life & health be continued a blessing to all her numerous Friends. I regret more then ever that her place of residence is so far from ours. But this world is not our home; we shall I trust be near each other in a happier clime. “We shall meet again,” was almost the last expression of your dying Sister to me. Give my best love to Mrs Smith & say that I hope She will not think of returning home this winter. The risque is too great has been my impression from the first.
What sore trials await, Mrs Adams & Sister. The arrows of death have flown so thick around their family, though anxious to learn they must in future dread to hear from this Country. May they lean upon the Rock of ages for support, & be enabled from the heart to say, “it is good for us that we have been afflicted.” The sudden death of our Friends which so frequently occurs, is a loud call to survivers to stand with our lamps trimed & burning, & so be enabled to welcome the stroke which shall separate us from earthly Friends, to reunite us to blessed spirits in Heaven. I presume that you will be pleased to hear that we not only had a comfortable but a pleasant journey. Passed five days in Providence with our Sister Johnston, & her daughter Mrs Hopper, & four days after we came here Sister Bowers was blessed with a fine grand daughter, now three weeks old. Both Mother & Child are well. My Sisters, & Nieces, are all enjoying the same blessing. & They are grateful for your kind remembrance of them, & Offer their condolence, with affectionate regards to you, & Family. William Bowers is placed in a good family in this Town, & attends Store. Martha I presume will not be married this winter. They wisely posepone their union in hopes of better times. I saw Miss Lord last eveg her Phyn has clothed her in flannel, & her health is better. She requested her love to you, & the Ladies.
This Town is very pleasant, the society good, & I have many near & dear Friends remaining; yet I experience a degree of melancholy pleasure daily in not seeing those dear Objects which once was so closely twined around my heart. But we come into this World for the purpose of leaving it; & it is design’d only for the infant state of our existence. “The lord reigneth let the Earth rejoice,” are most comforting reflections; & they ought to cheer, & animate us, under the pressure of our greater Trials. My heart promps me to converse still longer, but my poor eyes admonish me that it is time to quit my pen after requesting my respects to the President & love to all the Family
Your Affectionate Friend

H CushingMrs Phillips desired a most respectful & affectionate remembrance to Mrs Adams & her family—
I have just returned from a pleasant walk with Mrs E Phillips The day is very fine, & the verdure still continues in some degree, which is always delightful to my eye. How different the scene this time twelvemonth. But I must bid you again adieu, or my letter will be too late for this day.
Yours Af H C


Title: From William Cranch to Abigail Smith Adams, 16 November 1811
From: Cranch, William
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

Washington Novr. 16th. 1811.

I have not words, my dear Aunt, to express my gratitude for your kind and consoling letter of the 25th. ulto.—It was, as I wished, minute and particular respecting the last moments of my dear and venerable parents. Mr. Norton’s letters having been directed to George town remain’d there some days, so that your letter was contain’d the first information I received of the death of my mother, except the notice in the centinel of Octr. 19th.—
I am very thankful that neither of my dear parents was left to linger out a solitary existence. We could not have prayed for that the scene should close with more serenity. Death seems to have come without his terrors. The extraordinary exhiliration of spirits which illumined the last days of my mother, seems to have been kindly order’d to cheer and brighten those of my father, and to bear him up untill the time appointed for both to drop into the tomb. I am sure their prayers must have been heard and answer’d.
I thank you my dear Aunt, I thank you my dear and venerated Uncle, for all your tenderness to them in their dying moments—I thank their friends for the testimonies of respect with which they were born to the tomb.—I thank the Revd. Mr. Whitney for his prayers & Eulogy; and I thank my God that we have so many consolations under our bereavement.
I have requested my sister to thank our brother Daniel Greenleaf for the important services he render’d, as well as for all his kindness and attentions.
My excellent nephew R. C. Norton, I knew, would do all in his power to mitigate the calamity. His heart is good, and he has a solidity and firmness of character that inspire confidence. He is much respected here among his acquaintance.
I am thankful that my sister has been supported through these trying scenes. The weight of the affliction falls heavier upon her than upon any of us.
I was sorry to hear of Mrs. Smith’s affliction. I hope the painful operation she has suffer’d may effect her cure. Please to present her my respectful & affectionate remembrance and assure her of my sympathy.
I heard transiently that Mrs. C. Adams is out of health. I hope and trust the information is not correct, as it has not been mentioned in any of my letters. Please to present her my respects—and to the rest of the family my affectionate remembrance.
I hope my Uncle’s leg is heal’d and that he enjoys good health—present him my most grateful acknowledgments.
What can I say, or what can I render to you, my dear Aunt, for your kind offer to supply the place of my departed parent? You have already been a parent to me. You have always taken a parent’s interest & solicitude in my welfare and felt a parents solicitude for my happiness. I needed no assurances. I have always seen and felt it. But did I not know that you live, not for yourself, but for the happiness of others, and that your happiness consists in making others happy, I could not consent to add to your cares, your anxieties and your troubles (of which you have so many which the world knows not of) by accepting this nearer relation which you so kindly offer. In accepting it I shall only ask for the benefit of your inestimable advice in any domestic concerns should they require it. And if it shall please heaven to put  afford me an opportunity of making some poor return for all your kindness to our family I shall be more than happy.
The session of the court, the removal of my family, & the bustle occasioned by the meeting of Congress must apologize for my not having sooner answer’d by your letter.
I have received R.C. Norton’s of the 8th. and my sisters of the 11th. instant.
With truly filial affection, and with most unfeigned Gratitude, I am, my dear Aunt, your dutiful & obliged / Nephew
W. Cranch


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to John Quincy Adams, 17 November 1811
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Adams, John Quincy

my dear son
Quincy Novbr 17th 1811

The intercourse between us is daily more and more obstructed, it may prolong your tranquility that it is so: I know not how to take up my pen, yet painfull as the Duty is, I must perform it, untill the task may devolve upon some other, to tell you that your Parents are also numberd with the dead. I wrote you in Sep’br, an account of my dear Sister Cranchs Sickness, and of the little prospect I had of her Recovery. This Letter if you received, may have prepared you to expect the painfull intellegence of her death. She Sickened the beginning of June, with a plurisy fever, and from that, fell into a consumption. While the frail tennament decayed and sank under the weight of years; and disease, her mind became more active, more vigoras, and “The Souls dark Cottage, batterd and decayed,
Let in New light, through chinks which time had made”
I have past through Scenes, my dear Son in this last year; most Solemn, and impressive. God grant that it may be good for me that I have been afflicted; I have consignd to the Tomb in one day, my dear and venerable Brother Cranch, and my beloved Sister, after a sickness of four months, She expired upon the 17 day of october. Mr Cranch had flatterd himself with the hopes of her Recovery, untill the last week of her Life. It was always his wish, and prayer that he might not survive her, & his prayer was answerd, upon the Saturday previous to her death, he was Seized with a lethargy which deprived him of his Speech, and with a few lucid intervals only, he continued untill tuesday morning, when he expired She Survived him only untill the next day at Noon, willing and ready as she exprest herself to depart, having no earthly tie to hold her longer—when told that he was gone, She replied in an extacy—O he has only Stept behind the Scene, I shall know where to find him—
Amiable, virtuous, and good through Life, united in the strongest Bonds of harmony Love and affection, they were united, also in death, and their deaths, were such as is desirable. they did not out live their usefullness, nor exhibit a Second Childhood so humiliating in Age. their minds were vigoras to the last period of existance, and together their spirits have joind the Angelic Choir, and will I trust receive the Sentance of well done good and faithfull servants, enter into the joy of thy Lord.
Mr Whitney deliverd a discourse upon the day of their interment to a numerous and crowded Audience from Psalms—“The Righteous Shall be in Everlasting Remembrance” I wish for your pen to do justice to the Life and Character of one of the best of Men. Mr Whitney gave a Short and handsome Scetch of him, and of your Aunt, but he did not know him as you did.
“String, after String is Sever’d from the Heart” the three fold cord is broken—as Sisters we never knew contention, our only Struggle was who Should Serve the other most. Your Children have lost most valuable Friends, and gaurdians of their minds and Morals—So indeed have all the youths committed to her care. I have had the Children with me for some time, and think the next best place for them is Atkinson—I Shall give you my reasons in a future Letter.
Would to heaven my tale of Sorrow was closed a more distressing one remains to be told. Reluctantly with the written request of Adelaid to me, do I comply—Most sincerely do I wish not to be the first to communicate to my dear daughter and Catharine, the loss they have Sustained in the death of their Mother. a Malignant  Billious fever has prevaild in Washington the two last months, and Swept, the young, the middle aged & the Aged from the Stage. upon the 11 of Sepbr I received a Letter from Mrs Johnson in which she wrote, that she had not been well, upon the 29th of the Month she died, the 10th day of her fever; Mrs Boyd and Mrs Pope were dangerously Sick at the same time, Mr Pope and mr Boyd were both in Kentucky, which renderd their Situation more distressing. Mr Buchana, was Seizd with the Same fever in Baltimore; and died the Wednesday after Mrs Johnson—I have Letters from mrs Hellen, from Adelaid, and from mrs Buchana, to all of whom I wrote upon the first notice of their distress and affliction—Mrs Johnson was taken Sick at mr Boyds She went to Stay with her daughters during the absence of their Husbands—Mr Hellen had given up his House to the British Minister, and taken one upon the pensylvania avenue, Mrs Boyd and Pope they were obliged to remove to mr Helens, and they are upon the recovery, when my last letters from Washington arrived.
My own Bosom has been so lacerated with repeated Strokes of woe, that I can mingle, tear for tear, with the afflicted daughters of my esteemed Friend and correspondent, Whose death I most Sensibly feel and whose loss will be long regreted by me. Tell them my dear Son that I pray for them, that they may be comforted, and that they may find consolation in that Religion which teaches us Submission, and Resignation under every dispensation of Providence. Mrs Buchana has a much harder trial then they are call’d to endure; deprived both of Husband and Mother at the same time, with an Infant Babe, and I fear, without any means of Support
They must excuse my writing to them untill time has healed the wounds now bleeding. What could I say to them but that which would increase their greif—?
Many Letters have lately arrived from you to Your Sons, Your Father & Your Brother, I do most sincerely rejoice with you in the Birth of a daughter. May She live a blessing to her Parents— The last date to me was the 11th of June No 20 and compleats my list to that time, one inclosed from mrs Adams of the 6th of June. Your Father received one dated in Sepbr and your Brother also.
Shall I fill my paper with dirges? let me sing of Mercies as well as judgment, altho
“The winter is as needfull as the Spring
The thunder as the Sun”
In the midst of the troubles which encompassed me through this Season I had one trial more to endure—
This was an opperation upon your Sister, who came here with Caroline in july to consult the Physicians upon a tumour in her Breast, and which was pronounced a cancer—after taking the opinion of Drs Warren Welch & Hoolbrook, she wrote her case to dr Rush—who gave a decisive opinion, that there was no chance for her Life, but by an immediate opperation, to this with the permissions persuasion of her Friends She finally consented and five weeks since was performed by dr. Warren and his son attended by Dr Welch and Hoolbrook—She supported herself through it with calmenss & fortitude, & bears with much patience, all the concequences of weakness and confinement, and loss of the use of the Arm, as any Heroine—She is doing well, and recovering as fast as could be expected after an opperation in which the whole Breast was taken off—the wound is intirely healed, and every affected part was removed, So that we have every prospect of her perfect recovery to Health and Usefullness again. but She remains with us this winter not being able to ride, only a short distance, for at a time. Tell William this and that his Father left us this last week, having past a Month with us—that he was well, and that he came upon my writing to him, that his Mother has consented to an opperation, but she would not wait his arrival. She choice chose to save him the pain, and past through it ten days before he reach’d Quincy.
And now my dear Son, let me say to you that your Father and I are quite Satisfied with your declineing the Seat upon the Bench as you could not return in Season, and as the public Service certainly requires its being immediatly fill’d—but I am not Satisfied with your other Arguments I think your Samples not well founded, but you must think and judge for yourself
I know not how, or when this Letter will reach you. Should the address of it, prompt the prying Eye of a British officer to Creak the seal, as in former instances, he will not find any thing to gratify his curiosity, but the Solemn Events to which human Nature is Subject, and to which the Sovereign as well as the Subject, is equally liable—I feel for and commisirate the unhappy State of mind to which his own Sovereign is now reduced to teach the world, that neither Rank or power wisdom or virtue can Secure from the Lot of humanity Kings or Princes—
at present we are all well. Your sons went to Atkinson the last week, with Thomas Norten & two of Judge Cranchs Sons whom he has sent on for their Education. they are fine Boys older by Several years than George—Most tenderly and affectionatly I tender my Love to my daughter & Infant Grandaughter & to Charles and to William and Kitty—and to yourself my Blessing—
A A


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 26 November 1811
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson

my dear daughter
Quincy Novbr 26 1811

do not think that I have not participated in your Joy, upon the Birth of your daughter, because I have not sooner congratulated you upon the event. Let it be to you cause of gratitude and thankfulness that you have reason to sing of Mercies, as you have abundent occasion to do, for The lives and Health of your two sons whom you left under the care and patronage of two of the best of Friends. whose unremitting attention to their minds and Morals will I hope have an abiding influence upon their future conduct in Life, and it is with much satisfaction that I have heard, both George & John, repeat their Maxims and instructions I have done the next best thing for them that I could, we have sent them to Atkinson Academy, and placed them in the Family of Brother and Sister Peabody, with two of Judge Cranchs sons from Washington, and Thomas Norten—there they will find the renewal of the same kindness which they experienced in the Family of my dear & venerable Brother, and beloved Sister Cranch, now resting from their Labours in the Silent Tomb.
My Bosom has indeed been lacerated with wound upon wound, and I scarcly dare trust my pen to resite them to you, who alass are deeply interested in them. I have written largely, and particularly to my Son. he will communicate the Letter to you if he receives it—
Your Sister Adelaide has requested me to perform for her a most painfull office, knowing as She says from experience, that I can Sooth the wounded Bosom. If mingleing my sorrows with yours, could afford relief—most freely would it flow—they are mingled. they are united over the Graves of your dear Mother—your Brother Buchana, and my dear Brother and Sister Cranch, all of whom in less than one Month were consignd to the Tomb.
upon the 19th of Sep,br I received a Letter from your Mother, saying that she had not been well upon the 29th of the Same Month, a Billious fever of a very malignant kind put a period to her Life. your two Sisters Mrs Boyd and Pope lay dangerously Sick at the same time with the like fever, and Mr Buchana died the week after your Mother at Baltimore. the fever raged in the city for several weeks and carried off many of its inhabitants, amongst whom was Mrs Stuart who was upon a visit to her daughter Peters; Scarcly a house excaped sickness; Adelaide escaped, and was able to attend your Mother through the whole of her sickness; In replie to my inquiries respecting the Sickness of your Mother, She writes me, that the constant stupor in which she lay, for several days previous to her death, renderd her incapable of giving her, her last benidiction or expressing a wish relative to any of her other Children altho she adds, I flatter myself my poor Mother was sensible of my attentions towards her—
From mrs Buchana I have received a Letter in replie to one I wrote her—she is deeply wounded—I quote her own words
“Heaven has, and I hope will support me through all my sufferings—for the sake of a dear Infant have I struggled through with Resignation and composure—his little smile is all that is left me of past happiness” and for that blessing do I return my thanks to my Creator.
Let the current of grief flow—most deeply have I drank of it,—I will not in this letter recite to you all that I have been carried through in the past Summer, and that with more than my usual share of health. Mercy has been mingled in my cup—my dear Mrs Smith is upon the Recovery from a most Dangerous, and what must have proved fatal, dangerous Disease, and this in the midst of my affliction Mrs T Adams has also recoverd from a puking of Blood in large quantities which endangerd her Life, reduced her to a shadow and confined her three Months to her Chamber. during this period my dear sister lay sick first, with a fever; and then with a decline which terminated her Life. Mr Cranch flatterd himself that She would recover, untill the last week of her, Life when he gave her over, and sank away with only two days of Sickness. he died upon the 16 of october, She survived him only untill the next day: both of them were entomb’d upon the 19th.
My dear daughter I have derived comfort and consolation from the firm belief, that the judge of all the Earth must do Right that Resignation and Submission to his dispensations is the Duty enjoind upon us, and that it is for wise purposes that we are tried in the furnace of affliction. I dwell with delight upon the virtues of my dear Relatives and consider them happily freed from the troubles of Life, and the infirmities of Age; and I can rejoice that they are both gone together, gone as I believe, to Brighter, fairer, better, Realms; it can be for me, but a short seperation. that I may meet them again is a consoling reflection—may you receive comfort, and consolation from the Same Divine Source—
I have received only one Letter from you since the 10th of last June. knowing your Situation I have not thought much of it; present my Love to Kitty—I know how much afflicted she will be. what I Say to one, I Say to both. I have endeavourd to console your Sisters, and have written to them all. from Adelaide I have received several very Charming Letters—She is a good Girl.
Give my blessing to my Grandson and daughter—I hope I may live to see them, but whether I do or not, train them up in virtuous habits—by that alone can they live happy, or die in peace—I am your afflicted & / Sympathizing Mother

Abigail Adams


Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, 28 November 1811
From: Adams, Abigail Smith
To: Peabody, Elizabeth Smith Shaw

My Dear Sister
Quincy Novbr 28th 1811

I hear that Cousin Abbe is to return tomorrow to Atkinson. I Send by her two pr Socks for George and John. mittins I have not yet got knit, nor Georges waistcoats done; I hope I Shall before he wants them. I know they are where every proper care will be paid to them. they will both want new Hats Soon—I thought they could be purchased in Haverhill as well as here, and that it would be better for them than to get them to carry on. I believe I had better Send John a suit of blue Nankeen. he could put them on occasionally if his others Should want mending, which I hope they will not very Soon. I think they Should have two prs of overalls to one coat
whatever they may have occasion for, you will be so good as to Supply and charge with their quarter Bills to mr T B A who will pay them. Tell the Cranchs that I will send any Letters for them to their Father free of postage if they inclose them here, under cover to the President.
I hope mr J Greenleaf will remain here with his Family—mr daniel Greenleaf will I believe be prevaild upon to administer upon the estate it is not a difficult one to Settle, no Landed property and very few debts there will be Something to divide amongst them. mr Judge Cranch in connection with mr Quincy will I believe make a purchase of the House & Land belonging to it, of virchilds H that are to be found.
I Should have been very glad to have Seen you here before winter, but the days are So Short, and the Chance of its being cold prevented my urging it, altho I think we Should have enjoyd the visit my Family is so much Smaller, and Stiller,  nine persons having left it within a fortnight. it consists now of only 14 Men. I Send you three Sermons. I had given away the most of mine before you wrote. we have not heard a word from the Col. or Mrs Adams Since they left us; tho they promissed to write from North Hampton, and Albany—Mrs. Smith gets on Slowly with her Arm She cannot use her hand to feed herself or dress. the Mussels were obliged to be laid so bare that it requires a long time for them to recover—
I was glad to hear by mrs Adams that mr Peabody had so far recoverd as to be able to ride to Haverhill She regreeted that She could not make you a visit.
By Captain Welch, in the Palafox I received Letters from Russia last Evening. he has had Such a long and tedious passage that I have Letters by other vessell, two months later. I rejoice for the Sake of the family that he has arrived Safe. they begin to be very unhappy about him. I have been writing Letters to Russia, but they are of So melancholy a nature, that I fear they will dread in future to See my hand writing—I inclose to you a Letter which I received this week from judge Cranch. it is so much in the temper, and Disposition of his Father, that I beheld the living picture of him—return it
I am Sorry to Say that Edward Norton has returned from his uncles at Hollis Town to be a burden to his Father, with his cloaths worn out, and tired of Farming. Nothing I fear will do for that youth, but Severe disscipline. what a trial to have such a child? I had Spoken for a pr of Shoes for both the Boys previous to their going away, but as they were not made, I believe it will be best to have them made with you, Such as you think proper for them. I know you will find a great additional care upon you, but hope when cousin Abbe gets home that She will releive you from Some of it. I had not time to run the heals of Johns Socks—I will thank you, if you will ask Abbe to do them— let me know if any thing is wanting. I hope George will learn to Eat like a Gentleman I fear you will think that, he received neither admonition, or advice—I Should judge hard if I did not know under what care he had been placed—George may be led, and drawn. I never found him obstinate. possitive I have,—that comes by inheritance—there are faults which lean to virtues Side—I hope he will be kept at School with more Steadiness than he has been he has powers which may be high wrought, and I wish he may be obliged to buckles to his Studies. John is Slow, but will do well by and by.
Let me know how they conduct. I am more anxious for them, than if their Parents were here—I wish you would be so good as to put them to write letters to their Father. he expects it of them, and I will send the Letters they have received which are unanswerd—the last of George’s you will see, is upon reading the Scriptures—I did not let him take it, for fear he would lose it: and as his Father enjoind upon him not to loose lose it, for that he designd more upon the Same Subject I wish you to preserve it for him—I Shall write to you as often as I can. I have many calls of Duty affection and Friendship which employ my pen.
affectionatly your Sister
Abigail Adams


Title: From Mary Smith Gray Otis to Abigail Smith Adams, 29 November 1811
From: Otis, Mary Smith Gray
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

Washington Novr 29th 1811

I was much gratified my dear Mrs Adams the last week; by a line from you: especially as it announced your own health & that of your family with Mrs Smith’s restoration. I have thought of her with much anxiety & sympathised with you both, on the various events, which have call’d forth all the feelings of the human Heart.
Whilst you feel the loss of your excellent Brother & Sister, you cannot but rejoice, at the “Exeeding weight of Glory”, which we are assured awaits such pure & upright souls, as theirs were. I thank you, for the sermon; we think Mr Whitny, has done justice, in a very hansome manner to the characters of those departed saints.
Mr Otis desires his respects, to Mr Adams & yourself, he sent the letter for your son: immeadmediatly to the Secy. of State, requesting it might be forwarded with the first dispatches either to France or England.—
You wish I suppose, to know something of a City, which you saw in its rudest state. It has improved more than I expected, that is, from, the Capitol to the Presidents & so on to Georgetown; as for the hill on which we reside, it presents, but a Sombre appearance The block where Shelle kept & another at a little distance are uninhabited, the enormous rents & great expences during the Session, involves the Landlord Tennant so much, that in the recess his house is stript, & he & his family are left destitute. We are very pleasantly accomodated with the widow, of Mr Mathers, the former door keeper a very good woman, & who studies our comfort & pleasure in every thing; indeed, I did not expect, to have had so much, home felt comfort, any where in this city.
We have dined at the Presidents & were at the Drawing room on Wednesday eveg:, an immense crowd & extremly brilliant, the eveg: was delightful & drew together all the beauty & fashion, of the District; many ladies whom you formely were acquainted with Mrs Munro still retains much beauty, but the most distinguishd personage, was Madam Bonaparte, who chooses to be heard & noticed wherever she is; she has all the ease & volibility of a French woman.
Mrs Pope call’d to see us, she looks very thin & has a bad cough & complains of not getting her strength. Mrs Boydd is still confined to her room; they have had a very distressing summer. I find those, who have had the Fever, still drooping. Mr Deblois has been at the point of death & is very slowly mending. Mrs D has also been very sick. Mr Dalton has come back to the city, I have seen her but once, they are near a mile from us. Mr White & wife are with them which must be some comfort to them. What a dreadful exchange they made, in coming here. Mrs Cranch is a mile & half, from us, we were tempted by the mildness & pleasantness of weather, to take a walk there, yesterday morning. we found them all well. It has been more like May than Novr ever since we came. All whom we would wish to be on a social footing with, are so remote that we are obliged to be content with a morng: call, notwithstanding the roads are perfectly safe & good it is not agreeable to go 2 & 3 miles in the evening Mrs Breck & Mrs Lloyd are near George town
I was very much pleased to hear that Mrs Smith & Caroline, were to be with you this winter; it would have been too much, to have parted with them also. Remember me, with Affection, to them, & to Louisa. Harriet & Mary join in every sentiment of affection & Respects to Mr Adams & yourself.
If you can spare time, from your various occupations, to write, to so miserable a correspondent, it will be gratefully received by / Your Friend & Cousin
M Otis


Title: From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 30 November 1811
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

N. 27.
St: Petersburg 30. November 1811.

Although since I last wrote to my brother, on the 6th: instt: we have neither received a line from America, nor had an opportunity of transmitting a letter to any place from which it could be dispatched to you; yet remembering my engagement never to suffer a month to pass without writing at least once to you, and once to him, and perceiving that as it applies to you, I am within one day of a failure in the performance, I now resume the pen—Mr Smith, the brother of Mrs: C Millar, who brought me a letter from you, and has been several months here, is on the point of departure—He goes to Gothenburg to embark there, or wherever he can get an opportunity direct to the United States—By the same course of Route, I have already written to somebody of the family at Quincy, four times since the close of the Navigation here—But as the passage of the Gulph of Bothnia between this and Sweden, cannot be expected to remain much longer open, this may perhaps be the last opportunity by which I shall be able to send during the Winter—
My letters to you of the 29. July and 12. August were dispatched by the Augustus Captain Flint, and the Horace, Captain Leach, both of which vessels have been taken, and are still detained at Copenhagen; without a prospect of being released during the Winter—The letters by the Horace, I gave to Mr Hall, a Gentleman in Lieutt: Govr: Gray’s employ, who I am informed has proceeded to Gothenburg without waiting for the liberation of the Horace, and intends to take passage as soon as possible in another vessel, for the United States. He has doubtless taken the letters with him, and I hope they will reach you safely—But the sheeting for yourself and for my sister, which I had sent on Board the Horace, will be detained with it, and probably share the destiny of the ship—I wish it may ultimately reach you. It was rather fortunate that by being disappointed in the expectation of the table-linen, which I had ordered from the interior of the Country, where it is manufactured, I did not ship it with the sheeting—If as I expect and intend, we ourselves return home next Summer, I will bring it with me.
We are all tolerably well; our daughter Louisa having just past through the vaccine inoculation—As the fashion of the Ladies is in full dress, to bare entirely their arms, she was inoculated on the shoulder, so that the scar might not be visible—But the Doctor inoculated her in two places, both of which took the infection; and the inflammation of her arm was greater than it had been with either of our other children—Just at the time when it was at the highest, she took another disease which passes here for a species of the mumps, but which I believe was only a severe Cold, and sore throat—Between the two complaints however a third worse than either was bred, which was a high fever; and her mother was at the same time quite unwell, threatened with a sore breast—They are now both much better and I trust in a day or two more will be quite well—With this exception the Child has been the strongest and healthiest we ever had—
Charles has just this instant left me—I gave him this morning La Fontaine’s Fables, with wooden Cats to each Fable; and he has been standing this hour by the side of my Table, spelling out the titles of the Fables, and looking for the animals in the Cats—appealing every now and then to me to help him out, and so immovable from his stand that I could neither get rid of him, nor continue writing—I have at length persuaded him to go and shew the Book to his Mama and Aunt—I teach him to read French myself; and it is as yet the only language in which he can read at-all.—It is not a very illustrious pastime to teach a child of four years old his alphabet; but a suitable school or a suitable teacher would not easily be found here; and as it has always been one of my hobby-horses to teach my children something myself, I enjoy it with him by instructing him in his A.B.C.
Since our return to the City we have had the misfortune to lose one of our Countrymen, who contributed to make our Society here lively and agreeable—Mr W. H. Blodget of Philadelphia, arrived here in June last—I had seen him once in Philadelphia, and he brought me a letter of warm recommendation from Mr S. Ewing—We had the pleasure of seeing him often—He had formed a commercial connection and establishment in this City, and had a fair prospect of success—About a month ago he was seized with a Typhus fever, and died after a fortnights illness—He was but a little turned of thirty, and among the Americans in this place was highly distinguished both by the excellency of his character and by his Understanding. He is sincerely lamented by all who knew him.
I am reading a Book, not altogether new, but which has been published at Paris, in the course of the present year, and is of a singular character—It is the narrative of a pilgrimage from Paris to Jerusalem, performed in the year 1806 by a Frenchman, and one of the finest geniuses of France—He published about ten years ago a large work, called the Genius of Christianism, which I have not read, but which is much celebrated, and which I understand to be a vindication of the Christian System against the philosophical faction—Since then he published a Religious Romance called The Martyrs, which I also know only by reputation—But having laid the scene of it in Palestine, and wishing to be acquainted with the aspect of the Country by his own personal observation, he undertook this Journey, passing through Greece as he went, and returning by the way of Barbary and Spain—To the classical scholar therefore as well as to the pious Christian believer the book is extremely interesting—Protestants I believe have never admitted much merit in pilgrimages, or considered that there was any peculiar devotion due to the Holy Land, more than to any other—But I am not protestant enough, to feel an entire indifference to these things, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Valley of Jehoshaphat, The lake under which Sodom and Gomorrah were swallowed up—The river Jordan, and Siloa’s brook, that flowed fast by the Oracle of God, I am sure would affect me much as Mr Chateaubriand describes, or rather disclaims the power to describe their effect upon him—To be sure in an account of profit and loss, one can hardly think it worthwhile, at a heavy expence, and with manifold imminent degrees of one’s life to go to Jerusalem, for the sake of reading Racine’s Athalie on the spot where the real Tragedy was acted; but Reason must grant a little indulgence to Sentiment—Pawn’s Hill, and the Braintree North Common Rocks, never looked and never felt to me like any other Hills, or any other Rock—why?—because every shrub and every pebble upon them, associates itself, with the first consciousness of my existence that remains upon my Memory—Every visit to them brings with it a resurrection of departed time, and seems to connect me with the ages of my forefathers—But what solemn and sublime associated ideas, must that mountain bring forth, which was the scene of all the wonders from the sacrifice of Abraham to the sufferings of the Saviour, upon which our hopes of eternity repose—Had I been bread a Roman Catholic of this Century, I should not have gone like Mr Chauteaubriand in pilgrimage to Jerusalem—I have neither the privilege of an enthusiast nor the prerogative of a Poet—But in the twelfth Century I should have been very much tempted to follow Peter the Hermit, and Godfrey of Bouillon—The pilgrim of the present age, formally defends the Crusades, as expeditions of a wise just, and magnanimous policy, and seems more than half inclined to preach a new one at this day—His zeal is perhaps too fervid, and the Master might possibly have said to him “ye know not what Spirit ye are of”—But certainly, considered in the light in which he views them, the Crusades were not the wild, extravagant and absurd undertakings, which they have so often been presented to be
The French Literati are divided into two parties—The Philosophers and the Religionists—The latter are gaining ground fast upon their adversaries, and Chateaubriand may be considered as their greatest leader—He was lately elected a member of the National Institute, in the room of Chenier, a Regicide and a Philosopher, who had gone to his own place—But of 25 votes at the Election, Chateaubriand had only 13. and there were 12 for a rival Candidate—But though elected a member he has never been received, because instead of a panegyric upon his Predecessor, according to the usage, he had written for his reception discourses and was ready to deliver a violent invective upon Chenier, and upon the murder of Louis 16.—The time for this was not quite come—The Academy got wind of his intention; appointed a Committee to examine his discourse, and insisted upon alterations and modifications—Chateaubriand said his discourse should be that or nothing—The Academy appealed to the decision of the Emperor Napoleon, who forbade the delivery of the discourse, because it revived the memory of crimes which, he had pardoned—So the pilgrim lost his academic chair, and is like the Statues of Brutus and Cassius at the funeral of Junia, doubly conspicuous by his absence—This is one among many signs of the times. His Book has much information too about the Classic land of Greece, and he thinks that he has discovered the ruins of Sparta—Of this there may be some doubt, but of ruins in such a state of total decay, it matters little whether they bear the name of Sparta or not.—The remains of Athens are more considerable—But Greece as well as Palestine, in the hands of the Turks is at best a land of desolation—
I am still waiting for definitive orders from home—I have nothing from Quincy later than your letter of 24. July; and nothing from Washington so late by two or three months—My duty to my father—love to my children, and affectionate remembrances as usual—Ever your’s
A.


Title: From James Monroe to Abigail Smith Adams, 3 December 1811
From: Monroe, James
To: Adams, Abigail Smith

Madam
Dept of State 3d Decr 1811—

I have had the Honor to receive your Letter of the 28th ult. covering one to your Son the American Minister at St Petersburg. I fear it will be too late for the “Hornet” sloop of war: but I have had it put under cover to Mr Barlow and sent to the Collector of the Customs at Newyork, requesting him to forward it by the first safe conveyance
With great Respect / I have the Honor to be / Madam / your Mo: Obt Sert
Jas Monroe