Adams Papers

John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 30 May 1801

John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams

9.

30. May 1801.

My dear Brother

I enclose you for Mr: Oldschool a letter commencing the review of a new publication of Mr: Gentz—1 You will perhaps enquire, why I begin upon this before I have finished the examination of the Etat de la France— The reason is that this last book was lent to me; that the owner called upon me to return it and that I have been unable to procure me a copy of it either in this town or at the Leipzig fair, where I sent to get one— I was obliged therefore to postpone the further consideration of that work for the present; but I shall I hope in due time furnish you two or three more letters upon it— Gentz is publishing an answer to it, of which I shall request Mr: Oldschool to take notice upon a proper occasion.2

My wife recovers very slowly from the illness which was consequent upon her delivery. Till within these four days she has not been able to walk across her chamber.— We hope however in about three weeks to leave Berlin, and I write this day to our friend Pitcairn requesting him to bespeak us a passage on board the Catherine, Captain Ingersoll, of New-york, and thither bound.3 We shall probably sail about the last of July, and in two months from that time, with the favour of the winds we flatter ourselves we shall stand on the same Continent with you. I shall give you immediate notice of our arrival, and if your convenience will permit, we indulge ourselves with the expectation that you will meet us there before we proceed to Boston, or Quincy.

Young Mr: Adams, as Captain Wallach would call him, is in good health, and when milk is plenty in good spirits.4 It is not yet definitively settled, who he is like, or rather he is by turns like all his pappa’s and mamma’s dearest friends— You have your turn among the rest; but Louisa is sorely perplexed to ascertain how he came by his blue eyes

Your client Mr: Engel has at last obtained a small office which will support his family and which removes him from Berlin— He requests therefore that whatever information you may wish to give him in future concerning his affairs in your hands you would direct it to his brother in law, a merchant, residing in this town, and bearing the name of Anton Frederic Palmié5

Mr: Welsh left us a fortnight since, for Amsterdam where he purposes to embark if he finds a good opportunity— I shall send this letter to him but know not whether it will reach Amsterdam in Season

My last letters to you were of 5. and 9. May— Being without a Secretary and having packed up my letter books, I know not exactly how this letter should be numbered; but I have put it 9. at a guess.6

Yours ever

A.

FC-Pr (Adams Papers); internal address: “T. B. Adams Esqr.”; APM Reel 131.

1JQA enclosed his letter to JA of 30 May (LbC, APM Reel 131), which wholly comprised the first installment of a review of Friedrich von Gentz, Ueber den Ursprung und Charakter des Krieges gegen die Französische Revoluzion, Berlin, 1801, analyzing opposition to the French Revolution. Gentz claimed that neighboring countries had a right to intervene in French affairs because the French Revolution threatened their own well-being, a position JQA called “so plain, so strong, so fair, that not a doubt can be left upon an honest mind.” The review appeared in Port Folio, 1:266–268, 301–302, 307–308 (22 Aug., 19, 26 Sept.).

2For JQA’s earlier review of Alexandre Maurice Blanc de Hauterive, De l’état de la France, a la fin de l’an VIII, see his letter to JA of 25 April, and note 1, above. Gentz responded to Hauterive with Von dem Politischen Zustande von Europa vor und nach der Französischen Revoluzion, Berlin, 1801, arguing that French imperialism had to be countered to maintain a balance of power in Europe and to thwart the inherent chaos of the French Revolution (Murray Forsyth, “The Old European States-System: Gentz versus Hauterive,” Historical Journal, 23:522–524 [Sept. 1980]).

3In his 30 May letter to Joseph Pitcairn (OCHP:Joseph Pitcairn Letters), JQA requested that he book them passage to Boston or New York and reserve lodging for them in Hamburg prior to their departure. On 17 June JQA, LCA, and GWA departed Berlin for Hamburg, where they arrived on the 21st. Instead of traveling aboard the ship Catharine, Capt. Josiah Ingersoll, the Adamses sailed on 8 July for Philadelphia on the ship America, Capt. Wills. JQA found the voyage difficult: “The sea affects my head—disqualifies me for all application of mind—insomuch that all the time I pass upon the sea is in a manner lost time—” LCA similarly described the voyage as “long and wearisome,” while GWA was ill for much of its early stages. The trio arrived in Philadelphia on 4 Sept. (D/JQA/24, APM Reel 27; New York Commercial Advertiser, 1 Sept.; New York Mercantile Advertiser, 19 Sept.; JQA to TBA, 7 July, NN:Lee Kohns Coll.; LCA, D&A description begins Diary and Autobiographical Writings of Louisa Catherine Adams, ed. Judith S. Graham and others, Cambridge, 2013; 2 vols. description ends , 1:157).

4Probably Capt. Moses A. Wallach (ca. 1756–1836), a Boston armorer and militia commander (Ann Smith Lainhart, “John Haven Dexter and the 1789 Boston City Directory,” NEHGR description begins New England Historical and Genealogical Register. description ends , 140:257 [July 1986]; City of Boston Registry:Boston Deaths and Burials, 26:167).

5For JQA and TBA’s assistance to Carl August Engel in pursuing a claim against Jacob Mark & Co. of New York, see vols. 13:460; 14:187, 190. Antoine Frédéric Palmié (1770–1852) was a Berlin merchant (Manfred A. Pahlmann, Anfänge des Städtischen Parlamentarismus in Deutschland, Berlin, 1997, p. 306; J. P. Erman, Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire des réfugiés françois dans les états du roi, 9 vols., Berlin, 1782–1799, 6:108–109).

6JQA was incorrect and should have marked this letter No. 10. His 5 May letter to TBA has not been found, but see AA to TBA, 12 July, and note 4, below. In letters to TBA of 28 April (LbC, APM Reel 134) and 9 May (Adams Papers), JQA restated his travel plans and his expectation that he, LCA, and GWA would not reach the United States before October. He also wrote to JA on 1 June (MWA: Adams Family Letters) of the family’s departure plans and the health of LCA and GWA, enclosing the 1–15 May fifth and final installment of his twice-monthly gazette of events in Europe (FC-Pr, APM Reel 131).

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