Adams Papers

Tuesday [24 October].
[from the Diary of John Adams]

Tuesday [24 October].

Rode to Boston. Arrived about 1/2 after 10. Went into the Court House, and sett down by Mr. Paine att the Lawyers Table. I felt Shy, under Awe and concern, for Mr. Gridley, Mr. Prat, Mr. Otis,1 Mr. Kent,2 and Mr. Thatcher were all present and looked sour. I had no Acquaintance with any Body but Paine and Quincy and they took but little Notice. However I attended Court Steadily all Day, and at night, went to Consort with Samll. Quincy and Dr. Gardiner.3 There I saw the most Spacious and elegant Room, the gayest Company of Gentlemen and the finest Row of Ladies, that ever I saw. But the weather was so dull and I so disordered that I could not make one half the observations that I wanted to make.

1James Otis Jr. (1725–1783), Harvard 1743, the celebrated lawyer and pamphleteer.

2Benjamin Kent (1708–1788), Harvard 1727, another leading lawyer and later attorney general of the Province.

3Silvester Gardiner (1707–1786), Boston physician and druggist; founder of Gardiner, Maine; one of JA’s early law clients.

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