1From John Quincy Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 21 August 1809 (Adams Papers)
It is related of Augustus Caesar, that being upon his death-bed, he turned just before he expired to the friends who were standing around, and asked them what they thought of the part which he had acted on the scene of human life—They express’d their admiration as their feelings or their prudence inspired—Then said he “Plaudite”. In the article of Death, Augustus was what he had been...
2From John Quincy Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 31 May 1814 (Adams Papers)
I was very glad to receive your Letter of 8. May, and was on the whole well satisfied with the hand-writing.—There was one f too much in the word afraid, but I see you discovered the fault, and drew the pen across the letter to strike it out—This has defaced the paper a little, but I hope your next Letter will be without blot, erasure, or Paté. You tell me that Priestly looked into Duncan’s...
3From John Quincy Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 20 June 1814 (Adams Papers)
I received your second Letter, dated 23. May, just as I was coming on board the ship at Gothenburg, so that I had not then time to answer it.— The ship was called the John Adams, and I came in her from Gothenburg to this Country— I have written to your Mama, a particular account of the Voyage, and I dare say she will permit you to read it. I was very sorry for Mrs Severin that her house in the...
4From John Quincy Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 22 July 1814 (Adams Papers)
Your third Letter, dated 11. June, came to me the day before yesterday Morning, and gave me so much pleasure that I take care to answer it immediately. I see that you tried very much to write it without making any mistakes, and although you did not entirely succeed, yet there were not many; and if you always take as much care, I dare say, you will before long be able to write a Letter without...
5From John Quincy Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 12 August 1814 (Adams Papers)
Your Letter of 15 July, gives me much pleasure, as it always does to receive a Letter from you; and it would have given me still more, if it had been better written—Comparing it with your former Letters which I have on file, I find it not so well written as either of the others, although the first of them is dated nearly three months before. Your brother George learnt with much difficulty to...
It was so long since I had received a Letter from you that I began to be quite impatient; and then your Mama, who loves you so dearly that she is always very anxious when you are not in perfect good health had written me that you was not well; so that I was quite distressed on your Account, when your Letter of 15 August came, last Saturday, and gave me great joy. So you have had the...
After I had written you in my last Letter that you needed not to answer it, because I expected to be half way on my return to St: Petersburg before your answer could arrive here, I was very sorry, when I found that I should not go so soon as I had supposed, because by my own asking your Mama and you not to write I saw that I should be several weeks, without hearing from you, and knowing how...
8From John Quincy Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 6 December 1814 (Adams Papers)
A few days ago, I received your Letter with two dates—the first of 4th: September; and the second of the 8th: November—It was marked number 6—But I had received and answered nearly a month since, another number 6 that was dated 8th. October—One of the two Letters should have been marked number 7—But there is another circumstance that I was not pleased to see—The last part of your Letter, dated...
The last Letter that I wrote you was on the 6th: of this Month, by Mr Shaw—And on Tuesday last I received your Letter of 18 November, but it is not numbered—I have marked it number 8 as it should be; but if you keep copies of all the Letters that you write, I wonder how it comes to pass that you forget to number them. I was quite rejoiced to see this last Letter of your’s so much better...
10From Abigail Smith Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 25 December 1814 (Adams Papers)
I have received two very pretty Letters from you, with which I have been much pleased, both with the composition, and the hand writing. I should long ago, have written to you if I had known how to have conveyd my Letter to you! I think much about you, and your Mother, Since your Father left you, and more, Since your uncle and Aunt Smith; and your dear little Cousin have all come away I think...
11From Antoine Claude Juste de Noailles to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 7 February 1815 (Adams Papers)
AU NOM DU ROI. Nous Ambassadeur de S. M. le Roi de France près S. M. l’Empereur de toutes les Russies prions les Officiers Civils et Militaires, chargés de maintenir l’ordre public dans tous les Pays amis ou alliés de la France, de laisser librement passer Madame Louise Catherine Adams et Monsieur charles Francois Adams son fils, se rendant à Paris avec leurs domestiques. et de leur donner...
12From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 6 May 1815 (Adams Papers)
Hence forward I Shall adress you all three at once. Yesterday was one of the happiest days of my Life. It brought me News of your Father and Mother at Paris and your Uncle Aunt and Cousin at New York all in good health. My Boys! I want to Say Something to you on the Subject of Languages. I have no great Opinion of those who boast of possessing a great number of them. If you know Greek and...
13From Abigail Smith Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 12 July 1815 (Adams Papers)
A seperate Letter my dear Child is due to you, not only as a reply, to one which you have written me, for which I thank you! but to assure you; that the improvements you have made, in your hand writing; and composition, have given me great pleasure. and also to congratulate you upon the arrival of your two Brothers in England, towards whom I hope you will find yourself allied, not only by the...
14From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 1 September 1815 (Adams Papers)
I have received Letters from you all, and you know not how gratifying they have been to my heart. With pleasure I See the great Advantage you have already derived from the Advice of your Father. I have recd. four Letters from George N. 1. 2. 4 and 5. Number Three only is missing. George writes like the elder Brother he is. John writes with that Vivacity and Spirit which always delighted Us;...
15From John Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 11 September 1815 (Adams Papers)
I thank you for your kind Letter of July 26. Your Visit to Mr Clarksons must have been very pleasant. Such a number of young Ladies who all spoke in your mother tongue must have had to you, all the charms of Novelty as well as beauty. I have never read Mr Clarkson’s History of Quakers Anabaptists or Methodists You are too young to form a permanent Judgment whether you like London, Petersburg...
16From John Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 3 October 1815 (Adams Papers)
Mr John C Gray is to take this letter, & with it my fervent wishes for your happiness, & for that and the success of your education. We are anxious to know whether your parents have placed you in any public or private school, who are your instructors who your fellow Students, and what branches of Literature & Science you are taught. You have had great opportunities to see the masterpeices of...
17From John Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 23 October 1815 (Adams Papers)
I have heard much of your progress in French German & Russian but little of your Proficiency in Greek and Latin. I have no great partiality for the pursuit of a great Variety of Languages. I never knew or read of a Man celebrated for reading, writing and speaking Eleven Languages who was good for any thing else. Greek and latin are indispensible for a Scholar; and with these he may easily...
18From John Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 17 November 1815 (Adams Papers)
Your beautiful letter of Sept 11th has given me great pleasure. You are at a very respectable Academy, and have all the means, & advantages for instruction that I could wish for you. You must have made a rapid progress, in your Nomenclature, if in so short a time, you can distinguish the faces, and call the names of 140 out of 275 of your fellow Students I wish I could have the benefit and...
19From Abigail Smith Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 28 November 1815 (Adams Papers)
I thank you my dear Grandson for your very pretty Letter, as you cannot have any remembrance of your Grandparents. it is the more praiseworthy in you, to write to them, and then your hand writeing is so handsome, that it does you honour for your Age. The house which Your Father has taken in the Country, having a Garden full of fruit and vegetables, must be much pleasanter to you, and to your...
20From John Quincy Adams to John Adams, 16 December 1815 (Adams Papers)
Your Mama, and I, consent that you shall ask Doctor Nicholes’s permission to come home for the Holidays, on Tuesday; upon Condition that you will return to School after the Holidays, as cheerfully, as you now come from it. Your affectionate Father. MHi : Adams Papers.
21From John Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 18 December 1815 (Adams Papers)
Your pretty little letter of October 3rd., mongrel as it is, part English, part French, has diverted me much. I have ran about here, & there, and every where, with delight especially to Auteuil. But my good boy you have many voyages & Journeys to perform, before you can trace all the residences of your vagrant Grand Father. You must go to the Rue de Richlieu to Passy, & to the place de...
22From Abigail Smith Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 28 March 1816 (Adams Papers)
I must write you a short Letter, least you Should think yourself neglected, as I have written to both your Brothers, and your Grandfather is so much engaged with his Books that he cannot write to any of his Grandsons now. your Mother writes me word, that you have forgotten your Russian & German Languages. you should not forget, what you learn that is valuable. that is the misfortune of old...
23From John Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 15 May 1816 (Adams Papers)
you are a frolicksome little fellow; and I delight in your Fun with your School mates as heartily as you do, because it proves that you are all good natured and good humoured and live together in harmony. When I lived in Holland, the Dablers in English laughed a little, sub rosâ at a question put by William the fifth Prince of Orange to a Stranger who Spoke the Language “What for a Countryman...
24From John Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 25 June 1816 (Adams Papers)
I give you credit for finding time to write me in London where there are So many Objects to engage your Attention So! you have Seen, the Lion in the Tower! And how many more, of your and my Fellow Creatures? Pray did you See, as I did, the Phyal of holy Oil, with which Kings are anointed? That little bottle and its Contents were to me the most curious Objects that I saw upon Tour Hill; made...
25From John Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 10 August 1816 (Adams Papers)
I see little in this Play but the Manners of the Atheanians and The Naivete et Nettite du Style. The Miseries of Domestick Life; when all Confidence is wanting: between Parents and Children Masters and Servants, Friends and Neighbours, Husbands and Wives, Lovers and Mistresses; are held Up to View in a Mirror. Such Morals are surely no better than those of London or Boston, Paris or New York....
26From John Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 10 August 1816 (Adams Papers)
Do you See, in these Plays of Terence, which are the Translations from Menander, the Character of the Athenians? Are not the Slaves Superior Beings to the Citizens? Every Smart Expression; every brilliant Image, every Moral Sentiment is in the Mouth of a Slave. To be Sure, however, Masters and Slaves are nearly on a Level, in Principles of Conduct. MHi : Adams Papers. {{Included with...
27From John Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 28 August 1816 (Adams Papers)
This is Commencement Day, at Harvard Colledge or in more magnificent Language at The University at Cambridge . But whether you call it Colledge or University, I hope you will one day Study there and take your Degrees there. I have recd your Letter of June 23d. Charles! have you left your Genius frozen in Russia? You was celebrated in Petersburg, and from thence in America, as a Smart Boy. This...
28From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 9 September 1816 (Adams Papers)
I have now gone through Terence, and noted a few Lines for you to consider. Many perhaps have escaped my Notice that deserved it MHi : Adams Papers.
29From John Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 21 March 1817 (Adams Papers)
I now hope to see you, after 8 years Absence. I cannot write you a formal Letter. You have a kind of fame for a facility of learning Languages. Let me caution you against indulging that Curiosity too much. Languages are a boundless and unfathomable Ocean. Greek and Latin and Arithmatick and Geometry are your most proper Studies at present. French and Italian and German will be easy here after...
Your papa was much pleased with your Letter as it was very prettily written and the style was tolerably good with a little attention you will very soon write a good and handsome hand and I hope that you will equally improve in all the other branches of education concerning which both your father and myself are so anxious— I am very sorry to learn from a Letter from your grandmama that your...
31From John Quincy Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 14 December 1817 (Adams Papers)
A very few days after my arrival in this City, I received your Letter of 19. September, the contents of which I dare say you have before this time forgotten; unless you kept a copy of it, as you remember you used to do, of the Letters that you wrote to me from St. Petersburg, when I was at Ghent. This Letter of yours of 19. September last, I have kept upon my file, ever since I received it;...
As Mr. Pope is so good as to offer to convey your skates to Boston I have siezed the opportunity of writing you a few lines in answer to your Letter my dear Charles which was very gratifying to me as it afforded ample proofs of your being good at school by the compliment so handsomely paid you by Mr. Gould—Such a compliment when it is addressed by a person in the capacity of a master or...
I will begin my letter, by offerering the joint congratulations of your father and myself, to you and your brothers, and all our mutual friends, on the anniversary of the new year, which we passed with more than usual pleasure, in consequence of the very flattering accounts which we have received in a variety of forms from Boston, of the good conduct and improvement of yourself and your...
34From John Quincy Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 19 January 1818 (Adams Papers)
Your new-years day Letter was received with much pleasure. I had heard something before, about your having had the Φ. Β. K. medal to wear for a week, and generally that Mr Gould was well satisfied with your attention to your studies, and with your good conduct; all which was very delightful to your mother and me—But it would have been still more agreeable if you had written that you continued...
Your Letter gave me much pleasure though I thought I perceived some few marks of carelessness and want of attention which I hope in time you will correct—Your father & myself are delighted to find that Mr Gould is so kind to you and that he is sufficiently satisfied with your progress to reward you thus publicly and I am sure you have too much ambition to improve and retain these marks of...
I am much gratified to learn that you have made an agreeable acquaintance, and still more that the young friend you have chosen, is a boy of emulation—his fortune is of little consequence, as with talents & industry much may be done in this Country, and by constant application you may both attain honour and reputation—I have no doubt that you took pains to distinguish yourself at the...
Your two last Letters have come safely to hand and I am much pleased at your steadiness and punctuality in writing—I suppose that John’s approaching wedding takes so much of his time in necessary preparation, that he has not been able to pay due attention to his correspondents—Give my Love to him however and tell him I hope he is going to give me a dutiful and amiable Daughter who will make up...
The observations which you make in your Letter to me of the 29 March on the Books you have been reading are just and prove that you derive advantage from your application, and that you digest, and reflect upon the subject of your at author There is a striking similarity between that part of Scottish Chiefs which you mention and Telemachus and from both these much instruction is to be...
Is it because I have not answered your last Letter my dear Charles that you have not written to me? or is it because you are not so attentive as you used to be and devote too much time to novel reading? I hope not the latter as I am inclined to think that much of this sort of reading has a tendency to weaken the judgement, and to create an artificial taste, and what is worse an artificial and...
You tell me in your last Letter that “you believe you did not write to me, because you had not received a Letter from me” I think you have in some of your former Letters mentioned that you kept a book in which you copied them; by refering to this book you would be able to know positively how the matter stood. but at any rate you must not be so punctilious as to wait for a Letter from me but...
I could almost wish your Letters were filled with observations on any other books than Novels which I am afraid occupy more of your time than I think strictly good for you—However as you tell me that you find it too warm to read much now and that you intend to walk out in the evenings I will only say that I recommend you most earnestly to study something more worthy of you and more calculated...
42From John Quincy Adams to Charles Francis Adams, 30 November 1818 (Adams Papers)
Your dear Mother not long since received a Letter from you, in which I read with great pleasure, that you get on at School pretty fast, and that in three weeks you hope to begin College Studies—As it is just three weeks since you wrote that Letter; if your hopes have been fulfilled you will this very day begin upon your College studies; and Oh! how happy shall I be, if you can hereafter write...
As I hear there has been a great fall of snow during the last week or two in Boston I suppose you have seen many of those booby huts which you wrote me about last winter and perhaps have rode in one—I am not fond of them for they are apt to make me sea sick and should like much better to have a pretty Russian Traineau— As it is also the season for skating I must renew my cautions both to John...
You Letter was brought two days since, and I should have received it with the same pleasure your Letters have always given me, had I not perceived a great falling off in the hand writing, which surprized and grieved me a little; as I had always flattered myself that with due attention and constant practice, you would write a very handsome hand and with great facility—do not my dear child by a...
I was delighted with your Letter and was only sorry you did not mention your health, which I understand has been very indifferent, and which causes me the most serious anxiety: write me I entreat you and beg your good friend Harriet, to write me what your complaint has been, and if you have any cough, I wish you to take the yolk of a new laid egg alone in a spoon every morning when you first...
I have just received your little and your big Letter, and return you many thanks for both, which gave me infinite pleasure—As I am not at the head of so large a literary Institution as Mr. Shaw, I am not so fastidious in my taste; and find your production very good, considering the circumstances under which it was written: and I have no doubt, that altho’ it was full of defects as to the...
The character you give of your friend Dawes is so pleasing, that I am much rejoiced at your having met such a friend, and I hope your friendship will prove as durable as the good qualities on which it is founded—The adventures of a Fancy must be very amusing from your extract, and the moral appears to be excellent—It shews you that you must never do evil in the hope that good may come of it,...
In yours of the 4th & 7th you tell me that you had taken a fresh cold but that it was nearly well—I am very happy to hear it and will only caution you against any imprudence during the coming season which though it betokens the approach of Summer is infinitely more injurious than actual cold weather; be careful to make no change in your cold clothing until I write you and do not hastily throw...
Well, Charles, how comes on the file? is yours as big as John’s? are your walks so delightful you cannot get one moment of time to write me? or are you so busy in giving your french Lessons to your friend Dawes that you are obliged to decline my correspondence?—I am so perfectly sure that you have some very good reason for your silence I by no means wish to reproach you—But as it is long time...
Why what is the matter my Son? surely when you wrote your last Letter you must have been suffering from a billious attack and saw every thing with a jaundiced eye? yet the Roast Beef and Plum Pudding seemed to pro duce such excellent effects I hope it was only a little qualm and does not require any very violent remedies—As to the Shirts I left some linen at Quincy which may be made for you...