On the 22d. of September, the day upon which I entered on the Execution of the duties of my Office, I received your Letter of the 16th. which the pressure of business prevented me from answering immediately—Your mother however answered it for me, and now that I am enabled to catch a moment of leisure, I take advantage of it to write to you myself. Your remarks upon Mr Gilman’s discourses which...
In your letter of 18 January to your Mama, you mentioned that you read to your Aunt Cranch a chapter in the Bible, or a Section of Dr. Doddridges annotations every evening, this information gave me great pleasure, for so great is my veneration for the Bible & so strong my belief that when duly read & meditated upon, it is of all the books in the world, that which contributes most to make men...
3From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 30 March 1825 (Adams Papers)
I have this day drawn upon you, at sight, for ten thousand Dollars, in favour of Richard Smith, Cashier of the United States Branch Bank or Order—I drew for the whole sum, because I cannot comprehend, how you should want five hundred dollars, to supply any claims upon you, on my account, while you are in the receipt of all the rents due not only on the first of January last, but on the first...
On the 5th. of last month I received your letter dated on the first & have been in expectation of receiving the statement of your account promised in it which has not yet arrived. It gives me great pleasure to learn that you are perseveringly devoting your attention to the art of regular account-keeping & I can not erase exhorting you to master it thoroughly & to apply it unintermittingly to...
5From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 4 March 1824 (Adams Papers)
I duly received your Letter of 15. January, with a Statement of your Account of Agency to the close of last year, upon which I have one remark to make, to which I wish you to pay the most pointed attention—It is that in charging yourself in the Account B. with $1139..29 for Cash received, you do not shew on the credit side, in what manner or for what purposes it has been expended—You only...
On examining my books at the Athenarum, I find there are several volumes missing; among which—Vols. 1. 2. and 32. of Voltaire—1. Volume of Racine—One Volume, from three different sets of Shakespear. 1. Vol: of the Glasgow Sophocles; and some others—part of not all of which, you have—There is danger, if you keep them out that they will get damaged, or mislaid and forgotten; and then make broken...
7From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 13 April 1826 (Adams Papers)
I have received your Letter of the 1st. instt. and am expecting another with your quarterly account—From your account of the projected Railway in Quincy, I shall follow Mr Cruft’s advice, and take no part in it—of which you will at proper time notify the Gentleman who wrote to me on the subject. With respect to the woodland you must obtain more direct and precise information—both as to the...
In your letter of 18. January to your Mama, you mentioned that you read to your Aunt Cranch a Chapter in the Bible, or a Section of Dr: Doddridge’s annotations every Evening—This information gave me great pleasure, for so great is my veneration for the Bible, and so strong my belief that when duly read and meditated upon, it is of all the books in the world that which contributes most to make...
I received about a fortnight since a few lines from you so ill written that it was with difficulty that I could read them, and to my great surprize dated at Quincy, when I had expected you were assiduously pursuing your studies at Cambridge, after an interruption not less melancholy than indispensable—Your Letter barely hinted at the temporary dissolution of your Class, and by its brevity and...
10From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 28 October 1819 (Adams Papers)
Since my return to this City I have received your Letters of the 12th and 21st. instt. the former, enclosing a list of my books which you have in your possession—and the latter, six dollars in Bank Bills. It is not, nor has it been my intention to withdraw from you the permission to take out from time to time at the Athenaeum such of my Books as you may wish to peruse—but merely to caution you...