Abigail Adams to Mary Smith Cranch, 10 November 1800
Abigail Adams to Mary Smith Cranch
Philadelphia Novbr 10 1800
my dear sister
I arrived in this city last Evening & came to the old House, now occupied by Francis as an Hotel.1 tho the furniture and arrangment of the House is changed I feel more at home here than I should any where Else in the city, and when sitting with my son & other friends who call to see me, I can scarcly persuade myself, that tomorrow I Must quit it, for an unknown & an unseen abode— My Journey has hitherto been as Propitious as I could have expected at this season. hearing by Louissa & from my Worthy Brother Cranch that You & Yours were regaining Your Strength, & gradually advancing I hope to Health, has given a new spring to My spirits; and I shall go on My Way rejoicing Mercy & judgment are the mingled cup allotted me. Shall I receive good and not evil. at N york I found my poor unhappy Son, for so I Must still call him, laid upon a Bed of sickness destitute of a home, the kindness of a friend afforded him an assylum. a distressing cough, an affection of the liver and a Dropsy will soon terminate a Life, which might have been Ma[de] valuable to himself and others. you will easily suppose that this Scene was too powerfull and distressing to me: Sally was with him but his Physician Says, he is past recovery— I shall carry a Melancholy report to the President, who passing through new york without Stoping knew not his situation—
I shall not say any thing to You upon political subjects, no not upon the little Gen’ll Letter but reserve it for a future Letter when I arrive at Washington and you have more health to laugh at the folly, and pitty the Weakness Vanity and ambitious views of, as very a sparrow as sterns commented upon, in his Sentimental journey, or More describes in his fables—2
with My best wishes for your perfect restoration to Health and that of your Family, I am My ever / dear sister your affectionate
A Adams—
thank Mr Cranch for his kind Letters & Mrs Black for her sisterly attention—3 heaven reward her, May She never know the want of a Friend
RC (MWA:Abigail Adams Letters); addressed: “Mrs Mary Cranch / Quincy”; endorsed by Richard Cranch: “Letter from Mrs / A Adams from / Washington Novr 10. / 1800.” Some loss of text due to wear at the edge.
1. After the Adamses’ departure from Philadelphia, innkeeper John Francis leased the President’s House and opened it as the Union Hotel (Thompson Westcott, The Historic Mansions and Buildings of Philadelphia, Phila., 1895, p. 271).
2. On 24 Oct., New York City newspaper editor John Lang published the 54-page pamphlet Letter from Alexander Hamilton, Concerning the Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq. President of the United States, N.Y., 1800, No. 37566. Hamilton criticized JA’s administration as “a heterogeneous compound of right and wrong, of wisdom and error” (p. 20) and used as an unauthorized source James McHenry’s 31 May transcript of his conversation with JA at the time of his resignation. Federalists were upset by the pamphlet, believing it undermined their chances of victory in the presidential election and laid bare the party’s internal factions, while Democratic-Republicans were elated. In a 1 Nov. letter to Thomas Jefferson, Bishop James Madison described the pamphlet as a “Thunderbolt” and predicted that “Republicanism is likely to be completely triumphant.” Though JA drafted an undated 90-page reply to the pamphlet (Adams Papers, filmed at [1800–1801]), he did not publicly respond until he used the Dft as the basis for a response in the Boston Patriot, 7 June 1809, in which he wrote that Hamilton’s pamphlet came “from his mere imagination, from confused rumors, or downright false information.”
Zealous sparrows are featured in both Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. By Mr. Yorick, 2 vols., London, 1768, 2:55–56, and Edward Moore, Fable XIV, “The Sparrow, and the Dove,” in Fables for the Female Sex, London, 1744 (, 25:169–185; Karen E. Robbins, James McHenry, Forgotten Federalist, Athens, Ga., 2013, p. 252, 306–307; , 32:239). For Hamilton’s earlier electioneering activities, see AA to AA2, 4 May 1800, and note 2, above.