Abigail Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 4 September 1799
Abigail Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams
Quincy sep’br 4th 1799
Dear Thomas
I received your two Letters together of August 26th. I have every day since designd to write to you, but have not been very well. I do not know the cause yet for many years, the Month of sep’br has depressed my Spirits more than any other. I believe it always brings with it, some dregs of the old Ague and fever—
I most sincerely mourn for the distressess of N york and Philadelphia; but know not how to succor them— Boston has yet escaped—and I hope will not be again visited.
In the Aurora of what [da]te I am unable to say, as the paper is lent, but in that [ar]ticle was publishd a farewell address to the Citizens of North thumberland, by Cooper, who it seems had been Editor of a News paper. whether the paper did not answer the views of the Author, or his customers did not pay, I know not. reasons are not assignd for laying it aside,—but the whole address is one continued libel upon the Government; artfully couchd. the Navy is ridiculed, and the President covertly attackd— the old story of employing none but those altogether subservient to his views is brought up again. this lets the cat out of the Bag for Cooper & Preistly for him, solicited to have him appointed one of the commissoners for settling British claims—and this not being complied with, has excited his Malovelence— it is a fire Brand, full of Mad french, and English democracy. it was printed in Hand Bills and circulated by dr Preistly amongst his parishoners—1 I suppose Peter will get hold of it— the N England Man was not the person peter supposes— peter is a tool; and a Black guard— his low vulgar stuff hurts his usefulness— he ought not to be Patronized by our Government; but if he had his deserts—he would be sent packing, but he could not live under his own Government unless he mended his manners—without cropt Ears—
I send you a poem which you may present to Miss Wistar if you please; the Lady Author ask’d permission to dedicate it to me— when I am not too laizy I may send you my replie to her— the poem has merrit you know she once wrote the virtues of Nature—2
when you see Mrs Powel present my Regards to her. she is one of your sentimental Ladies, always well satisfied with herself. Mrs Hare is not so loquasious, nor Mrs Francis whom I respect.3 they are all three sensible women. Miss Hare is a fine Girl
I did not fail to read the annecdote to your Father who remembers when he first left off his Wig and supposes that must be the time when he lookd like a crop
we have not any thing new—which may be Communicated— Peter you know says—he presumes assureances have been received— who & who may be in office, time must develope
I see by the papers Truxton cannot sit down quiet—4 If six officers are named and appointed to a similar service, three of which are employd, do the others forfeit their Rank—when it is not from any fault of theirs that they did not serve?— that he was named anew to the senate, and appointed to a command cannot invalidate his Prior Rank, for Rank is determind by the Age of the first commission— however Truxton must sputter away— the difference is that Talbot would have retired without uttering a word— I hope you will keep yourself out of Philadelphia, and mix as little as possible with persons from thence
I shall Sit out in october, tho not so early as I at first intended5 yours most / affectionatly
A Adams6
RC (Adams Papers); endorsed: “Mrs: A Adams / 4th: Septr: 1799. / 11th: Do: recd: / 16 Do Ansd.” Some loss of text due to placement of the seal.
1. Dr. Thomas Cooper, for whom see vol. 9:493, practiced law and maintained close ties to the Priestley family following his emigration from England to Pennsylvania in 1794. From April to June 1799 he became the editor of the Sunbury and Northumberland Gazette and used the newspaper to espouse his Democratic-Republican beliefs. On 29 June, in his final issue before stepping down as editor, Cooper published an address to his readers accusing JA of stifling opposition, appointing only political supporters, and creating a standing army and navy for his own protection rather than that of the nation. The address was published as a broadside and also reprinted in the Philadelphia Aurora General Advertiser, 12 July. Timothy Pickering enclosed a copy of the Aurora in a 1 Aug. letter to JA (Adams Papers), and in his 13 Aug. reply JA endorsed the prosecution of Cooper but not of Priestley (MHi:Pickering Papers). Cooper was not then indicted, but the issue persisted, and in the spring of 1800 he was prosecuted under the sedition law for a subsequent publication (; James Morton Smith, “President John Adams, Thomas Cooper, and Sedition: A Case Study in Suppression,” , 42:439–445; Thomas Cooper, Mr. Cooper’s Address to the Readers of the Sunbury and Northumberland Gazette, Northumberland, Penn., 29 June 1799, MWA, No. 49483).
2. AA sent Sarah Wentworth Apthorp Morton’s Virtues of Society, A Tale, Founded on Fact, for which see Morton to AA, [ca. 11 June 1799], and note 1, above. TBA’s reply of 16 Sept., below, suggests that AA neglected to send the poem, and it was instead forwarded with William Smith Shaw’s letter to TBA of 6 Sept., not found. Morton had earlier published Ouâbi; or, The Virtues of Nature, An Indian Tale, in Four Cantos, Boston, 1790, No. 22684.
3. Dorothy Willing Francis (1772–1847), wife of Philadelphia merchant Thomas Willing Francis, was a niece of Margaret Willing Hare and Elizabeth Willing Powel (Charles P. Keith, The Provincial Councillors of Pennsylvania, Phila., 1883, p. 89–93, 107).
4. Capt. Thomas Truxtun’s letter explaining his reasons for resigning was reprinted in the Boston Columbian Centinel, 4 Sept., along with the comment: “This answer of the gallant Hotspur appears dictated by a native warmth of temper, not uncommon to spirits of his mould.”
5. AA departed Quincy for Eastchester, N.Y., on 9 Oct., following JA’s 30 Sept. departure for Trenton, N.J. (AA to Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, 1 Oct., DLC:Shaw Family Papers; AA to JA, 13 Oct., Adams Papers).
6. AA again wrote to TBA on 8 Sept., reiterating her approval of JA’s handling of the dispute between Truxtun and Capt. Silas Talbot (Adams Papers).