Thomas Boylston Adams to John Quincy Adams, 15 December 1803
Thomas Boylston Adams to John Quincy Adams
Quincy December 15th: 1803.
Dear Brother.
I reached Boston on Saturday Evening the 10th: inst: and came out to Quincy on Sunday afternoon, with Cousin Shaw—1 Our parents are well; my Mother is wonderfully recovered, and seems to me to be as active & busy as ever about her family— this is a great comfort to me, and will help to render solitude in some measure supportable. to me. I feel, that there will be ample time to reflect on my future course of conduct, but all my thoughts seem to begin & terminate with the practice of law. I dont know but it haunts me like a Spectre, for I some times start with terror from a profound reverie
on writs & attachments. Your advice to keep up a show of my profession, I have already determined to follow, and this is all I should be likely to do for some time, with the best intentions of doing more. In short, I must not be idle & without an object of pursuit, and what at this season is to be done in the Country, without it be reading & study? I can think of nothing else, and I design to buckle to with some earnestness, to keep off the Blue Devils. When Spring approaches I will do something at farming, that I may learn a little of practical husbandry, before I undertake to assume the management of a farm. Thus, you see my thoughts have taken a kind of hum-drum-turn in the space of four or five days. I shall look with some earnestness for your return, though I have no expectation of seeing you much before April. In the mean time, if I can make for your convenience any arrangements, preparatory to your return, I shall give my attention with pleasure.
The fame of your Resolution laid on the table of Senate has reached us, and excites conversation; some of which we shall not be in the way of hearing. I believe, that you have seized the right reading of the Treaty and have pointed out the only mode of reconciling it with the Constitution, as it should be.2 It is doubted here whether the Government folks will second the measure, as they have all endeavoured to support the Treaty on Constitutional grounds; not one among them has had the honesty or the courage to pursue the principles, which some articles of the treaty involve, to the end of the chapter; if they had, they must have arrived precisely at the point, which brought up the Honb̃le member from Massachusetts. The appeal to the people, will not be without its terrors to the Administration; though I concur with you in thinking, that no obstacle would be opposed to the ratification of the proposed amendment, by the Constitutional majority of the States. But, suppose a majority should not consent to the addition? The Treaty will stand at least on as firm a basis as it does now. Your friends anticipate for you a plentiful harvest of abuse & Slander from both parties; but they also presume, that you are prepared to meet & to disregard it. I do not intend to be much in Boston and therefore can promise you few details of the sentiments of your constituents.
The conduct of the descendent of the house of Ormond is thought to be rather extraordinary by some people, tho’ others think they can discover the secret movements of disappointed ambition in his meditated exclusion of the present chief magistrate, from the chance of a second Election.3
The projected amendment to the Constitution, seems to linger in Senate, and doubts are entertained whether it will pass. The requisite number cannot, they say, be made up, without the absentees; but Gen: Armstrong has gone on, and Sumpter may probably arrive, so that the resolution may not eventually depend upon your vote, as some people have been heard to say it [will.]4 I claim the privilege of writing politicks to you, [but] do [not ex]pect a return in the same coin.
My Books and furniture have reached this place, in good condition, but the embarrassment is for want of a room to hold them. I am rejoiced that my fathers Law Books, which were loaned to me, are returned in as good condition as I received them.
Our friends are all well; I saw yesterday our good Uncle & Aunt Cranch, and my redoubtable namesake T. B. A Norton, who is a pretty lad.
Present me kindly to your wife and the whole family, in which you reside.
sincerely your’s
T B Adams.5
RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “John Q Adams Esqr: / City of Washington”; internal address: “J Q Adams Esqr:”; endorsed: “T. B. Adams. 15. Decr: 1803. / 25. Decr: recd: / 27. do:: Ansd:.” Some loss of text where the seal was removed.
1. After laboring with only modest success as an attorney in Philadelphia since April 1799, TBA returned to Quincy to reside. In a 5 Nov. 1803 letter to William Smith Shaw, he reported that he had sent a shipment of books to Boston, and in a note to William Smith of the 21 st (both MHi:Misc. Bound Coll.) he reported that a second shipment consisting of furniture and baggage was also on its way. TBA lived with his parents at Peacefield until 1810, maintaining a law office in a farm building behind the house (vol. 13:440, 488; Laurel A. Racine, Historic Furnishings Report: The Birthplaces of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, Charlestown, 2001, p. 47).
2. Despite voting to fund the Louisiana Purchase, JQA agreed with his fellow Federalists that the acquisition of the territory required constitutional authorization, although he argued that congressional action could eventually address the deficiency. To that end, on 25 Nov. 1803 he discussed the idea with James Madison, showing the secretary of state a draft constitutional amendment and reporting his intention to introduce a resolution calling for a committee to study the question. Madison told JQA that many in Congress disagreed about the necessity of such action, not disclosing that earlier in the year Thomas Jefferson had likewise argued that a constitutional amendment was needed but agreed to remain silent on the question after members of his cabinet convinced him that seeking one would jeopardize the purchase. JQA introduced the motion as planned on 25 November. The measure was tabled and then rejected on 9 Dec., after the Democratic-Republican majority had proceeded as if the constitutional question were settled (, p. 53–55, 157–158; , 40:681–685, 41:viii; , 3:19–21; , 8th Cong., 1st sess., p. 105–106, 211, 213; , 4:361). For JQA’s role in drafting a plan of government for the new territory, see his 14 Jan. 1804 letter to TBA, and note 1, below.
3. Senator Pierce Butler, who frequently noted his descent from James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, was a notable opponent of the 12th Amendment. The South Carolinian opposed the amendment as detrimental to his state, although it was politically advantageous for Democratic-Republicans and for Jefferson (Terry W. Lipscomb, The Letters of Pierce Butler, 1790–1794: Nation Building and Enterprise in the New American Republic, Columbia, S.C., 2007, p. xxxv; Grier Hersh, “The Scotch-Irish in York and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania,” The Scotch-Irish in America: Proceedings and Addresses of the Scotch-Irish Congress, 8:342 [4–7 June 1896]; , 8th Cong., 1st sess., p. 207–209).
4. John Armstrong Jr. of New York was elected to fill the vacancy caused by DeWitt Clinton’s resignation in Nov. 1803. Armstrong took his seat in the Senate on 7 Dec., while Thomas Sumter of South Carolina did not arrive for the session until 6 Feb. 1804. Both missed the 2 Dec. 1803 vote on the 12th Amendment. Vice President Aaron Burr ruled that the vote met the required two-thirds majority, overruling Uriah Tracy’s objection (, 8th Cong., 1st sess., p. 321, 350; Biog. Dir. Cong.; Annals of Congress, 8th Cong., 1st sess., p. 209).
5. JQA replied to this letter on 27 Dec. (Adams Papers), congratulating TBA on his decision to settle in Quincy and criticizing Democratic-Republicans for rejecting JQA’s proposed constitutional amendment regarding Louisiana. “They liked my principle when it gave them my vote,” he wrote, “but they dared not look its consequences in the face.” JQA had previously written to TBA on 7 Dec. (MHi:De Windt Family Papers), seeking an update on Carl August Engel’s claim against Jacob Mark & Co., and TBA responded on 21 Dec. (Adams Papers), reporting that the pursuit of the claim was likely to be protracted but he hoped it would be successful.