51Saturday Novr. 29th. (Adams Papers)
In the morning at about 9 o’clock, set out for Richmond which is 10. miles from London, and said to be the most Beautiful Spot in England, and perhaps in Europe. It is upon a hill, which Commands a vast plain in which Plain the River Thames runs winding about for a great ways in the midst of the Meadows, which even at this Time are covered with verdure. Returned to Town to Dine. The purpose of...
52Sunday. Novr. 30th. (Adams Papers)
Dined at Mr. Bingham’s.
53[December 1783] (Adams Papers)
This evening I went with Mr. West to the Academy of Painting &c. and had the same entertainment as that of which I spoke last Monday. This day my father dined out; in the evening I went to the Drury Lane Theatre, had the Beaux Stratagem with the Ladies Frolick. George Farquhar’s The Beaux’ Strategem , London, 1707; The Ladies’ Frolick , London, 1770, by James Love, pseudonym for James Dance (...
54Monday Decr. 1st. 1783. (Adams Papers)
This evening I went with Mr. West to the Academy of Painting &c. and had the same entertainment as that of which I spoke last Monday.
55Tuesday Decr. 2d. (Adams Papers)
This day my father dined out; in the evening I went to the Drury Lane Theatre, had the Beaux Stratagem with the Ladies Frolick. George Farquhar’s The Beaux’ Strategem , London, 1707; The Ladies’ Frolick , London, 1770, by James Love, pseudonym for James Dance ( Biographia Dramatica David Erskine Baker and others, eds., Biographia Dramatica; Or, A Companion to the Play House ... , London,...
56Friday Decr. 5th. 1783. (Adams Papers)
In the evening I went to the Covent Garden Theatre, and saw the Merchant of Venice , with Love a la Mode ; a young Lady appeared for the first Time she play’d upon any Stage in the part of Portia . Love à la Mode , London, 1793, by Charles Macklin, first produced in 1760 ( Biographia Dramatica David Erskine Baker and others, eds., Biographia Dramatica; Or, A Companion to the Play House ... ,...
57Saturday. Decr. 6th. 1783. (Adams Papers)
Dined at Mr. W. Vassal’s at Clapham. William Vassall , once a prominent Bostonian, now a loyalist refugee, whom JA later described as “one of my old friends and clients ... a man of letters and virtues, without one vice that I ever knew or suspected, except garrulity” ( Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates John Langdon Sibley and Clifford K. Shipton, Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard...
58[August 1784] (Adams Papers)
Left London, travelled to Sittingbourne. 43. miles. In the latter part of Dec. 1783, JA and JQA traveled from London to Bath via Oxford, but were unable to remain long at the famous spa because of the unsettling news that the Dutch loan which JA had obtained the previous summer had been overdrawn. Although JA ’s health had improved little during his short stay in England, he and JQA left...
59Sunday August 8th. [1784]. (Adams Papers)
Left London, travelled to Sittingbourne. 43. miles. In the latter part of Dec. 1783, JA and JQA traveled from London to Bath via Oxford, but were unable to remain long at the famous spa because of the unsettling news that the Dutch loan which JA had obtained the previous summer had been overdrawn. Although JA ’s health had improved little during his short stay in England, he and JQA left...
60[9th.] (Adams Papers)
Monday arrived at Dover and sailed for Calais. The trip from London to Paris is reported in fuller detail by AA2 ( Jour. and Corr. Journal and Correspondence of Miss Adams, Daughter of John Adams,... edited by Her Daughter [Caroline Amelia (Smith) de Windt], New York and London, 1841-[1849]; 3 vols. , 1:7–14).
61[10th.] (Adams Papers)
Tuesday 5. A. M. arrived at Calais, in the afternoon took Post, and went as far as Boulogne, 4. Posts.
62[11th.] (Adams Papers)
Wednesday went from Boulogne to Amiens.
63[12th.] (Adams Papers)
Thursday, from Amiens to Chantilly.
64[13th.] (Adams Papers)
Friday, visited the curiosities at Chantilly. Arrived at Paris. The Adamses visited the seat of the Prince of Condé and saw his kennel, stables, theater, and gardens ( same Journal and Correspondence of Miss Adams, Daughter of John Adams,... edited by Her Daughter [Caroline Amelia (Smith) de Windt], New York and London, 1841-[1849]; 3 vols. , p. 11–14).
65Sunday August 15th. 1784. (Adams Papers)
Dined at Mr. Barclay’s.
66Monday [16th.] (Adams Papers)
Dined at Mr. Hartleys.
67Tuesday [17th.] (Adams Papers)
Moved out to Auteuil. Over the course of the preceding four months, JA in correspondence with Thomas Barclay had made arrangements to rent the house in which he and JQA had obtained apartments shortly after the signing of the Definitive Treaty (entry for 10 Aug. 1783, note 2 , above). The Hôtel de Rouault and the Adamses’ life there are colorfully described by AA in Howard C. Rice Jr., ed.,...
68Wednesday [18th.] (Adams Papers)
Coll. Humphreys arrived. David Humphreys , a former aide-decamp to Washington, was appointed on 12 May secretary to the Commission (which included JA , Franklin, and Jefferson) to negotiate treaties of amity and commerce with foreign powers ( DAB Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone, eds., Dictionary of American Biography , New York, 1928-1936; 20 vols, plus index and supplements. ; JCC Worthington...
69[19th.] (Adams Papers)
Thursday went into Paris shopping.
70Saturday. [21st]. (Adams Papers)
Went to Paris. Gave Gregson a watch to repair. Am to have it again, Wednesday next.
71Sunday August 22d. (Adams Papers)
Mr. Jefferson and his Daughter, Coll: Humphreys, and Genl. dined with us. Martha Jefferson had only recently arrived with her father in Paris from America. She remained in France, attending school and studying French, until the end of Jefferson’s diplomatic mission in 1789 (Edward T. James and others, eds., Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary , 3 vols., Cambridge,...
72[24th.] (Adams Papers)
Tuesday morning. Went to Paris.
73[25th.] (Adams Papers)
Wednesday dined at the Abbé de Chalut’s.
74Thursday [26th]. (Adams Papers)
Went to Gregson’s for Watches. He was not at home.
75[27th.] (Adams Papers)
Friday dined with the Abbés at Passi.
76Saturday[28th]. (Adams Papers)
We had a large Company to dine with us. The company included the Abbés Arnoux, Chalut, and Mably, Benjamin Franklin, David Hartley, and John Paul Jones ( AA2, Jour. and Corr. Journal and Correspondence of Miss Adams, Daughter of John Adams,... edited by Her Daughter [Caroline Amelia (Smith) de Windt], New York and London, 1841-[1849]; 3 vols. , 1:17).
77[30th.] (Adams Papers)
Monday afternoon went into Paris. Subscribed for the Journal de Paris. Drank tea with Mrs. Valnais. Mrs. Joseph Dupas de Iden de Valnais , née Eunice Quincy (1760–1793), daughter of Henry Quincy (1727–1780) and distant cousin of JQA . Eunice married Valnais in 1781 while he served as French consul in Boston. He was recalled to France shortly thereafter ( Descendants of Edmund Quincy, comp....
78[September 1784] (Adams Papers)
Dined at Dr. Franklin’s. Thursday morning went into Paris. Mr. and Mrs. Mather, and Mrs. Hay dined with us. Went to the French Comedy and saw le mariage de Figaro. Samuel Mather and his wife, Margarette (Gerrish) Mather; he was the son of the Rev. Samuel Mather. Young Samuel had been chief clerk of the Boston customs office until he fled to England with the loyalists, but he returned to...
79Wednesday September 1st. (Adams Papers)
Dined at Dr. Franklin’s.
80[2d.] (Adams Papers)
Thursday morning went into Paris.
81Friday [3d]. (Adams Papers)
Mr. and Mrs. Mather, and Mrs. Hay dined with us. Went to the French Comedy and saw le mariage de Figaro. Samuel Mather and his wife, Margarette (Gerrish) Mather; he was the son of the Rev. Samuel Mather. Young Samuel had been chief clerk of the Boston customs office until he fled to England with the loyalists, but he returned to Massachusetts after his father’s death ( Sibley-Shipton, Harvard...
82Saturday[4th]. (Adams Papers)
Dined with Mr. Jefferson. Went to the Italian Comedy in the Evening; had la fausse magie, and Zemire et Azor. La fausse magie , Paris, 1775, by Jean François Marmontel, with music by André Ernest Modest Grétry. The pair also collaborated on Zémire et Azor , Paris, 1771 ( Brenner, Bibliographical List Clarence Dietz Brenner, A Bibliographical List of plays in the French Language, 1700-1789 ,...
83[5th.] (Adams Papers)
Sunday dined at Mr. Grand’s at Passy. Went after dinner to the Chateau de la Muette and saw the Dauphin. Ferdinand Grand , the Paris banker of the American ministers, lived at La Chaise, Passy ( MHS, Procs . Massachusetts Historical Society, Collections and Proceedings. , 54 [1920]: 107–108). The Château de la Muette, originally a hunting lodge in the Bois de Boulogne, was rebuilt by Louis XV,...
84[6th.] (Adams Papers)
Monday Mr. Tracy dined with us. Nathaniel Tracy had come to France via Cowes with Jefferson and his daughter Martha aboard his vessel Ceres, which had sailed from Boston in early July. His purpose was to settle claims against his firm; his lack of success eventually contributed to his worsening financial plight ( Jefferson, Papers The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , ed. Julian P. Boyd and others,...
85Tuesday[7th]. (Adams Papers)
Dined at Mr. Tracy’s and went in the evening to see la métromanie , and Crispin Rival de son Maitre , at the french Comedy. Alexis Piron, La métromanie, ou, le poète , Paris, 1738 ( Brenner, Bibliographical List Clarence Dietz Brenner, A Bibliographical List of plays in the French Language, 1700-1789 , Berkeley, 1947. ). JQA had seen Le Sage’s Crispin while living in St. Petersburg.
86[10th.] (Adams Papers)
Friday went into Paris in the afternoon.
87Saturday[11th]. (Adams Papers)
Had Company to dine with us. Following this last entry in D/JQA/9 are the following notations: Wednesday Octr. 13th. first made a fire in my Chamber. Filled my J. S. Decr. 4th. took 3. p: March 20. 1785. no fire.
88[Titlepage] (Adams Papers)
Titlepage for D/JQA/10, covering the inclusive dates mentioned, with only occasional gaps. The top line on this and the following page are written in an earlier hand, presumably the date on which he purchased the blank book. The same inscription appears on the top of the titlepages of D/JQA/11 and 12, which are identical 380-page leather-bound books all measuring 4¼” × 6¾”. Indolence is sweet...
89[January 1785] (Adams Papers)
Horace, Opera , London, 1744, p. 149 (inscribed “J.Q. Adams, Paris, March 15, 1785,” in MQA ), Bk. II, Satire III, lines 14–15: “You must shun the wicked Siren Sloth the quotation continues or be content to drop whatever honour you have gained in nobler hours” ( Horace, Satires, Epistles and Ars Poetica, transl. Fairclough Horace: Satires, Epistles and Ars Poetica with an English Translation ,...
90[Dedication] (Adams Papers)
Horace, Opera , London, 1744, p. 149 (inscribed “J.Q. Adams, Paris, March 15, 1785,” in MQA ), Bk. II, Satire III, lines 14–15: “You must shun the wicked Siren Sloth the quotation continues or be content to drop whatever honour you have gained in nobler hours” ( Horace, Satires, Epistles and Ars Poetica, transl. Fairclough Horace: Satires, Epistles and Ars Poetica with an English Translation ,...
91[January 1785] (Adams Papers)
Compliments to the Royal family at Versailles. My father carried twenty Guineas to distribute among the servants of the great folks, a tribute every minister is obliged to pay annually. Paris. Varietés ; at the palais Royal . Small Théatre, built in three weeks time. Le nouveau parvenu. Le palais du bon gout. L’lntendant Comédien malgré lui. Le mensonge excusable . Volange , an excellent actor...
92January 1st. 1785. Saturday. (Adams Papers)
Compliments to the Royal family at Versailles. My father carried twenty Guineas to distribute among the servants of the great folks, a tribute every minister is obliged to pay annually.
934th. (Adams Papers)
Paris. Varietés ; at the palais Royal . Small Théatre, built in three weeks time. Le nouveau parvenu. Le palais du bon gout. L’lntendant Comédien malgré lui. Le mensonge excusable . Volange , an excellent actor for the lowest kind of Comic-plays seven or eight parts in one piece with a wonderful facility. One or two other actors, good in their way. Yet I wonder how people of any delicacy, and...
944th. (Adams Papers)
Old Mr. Grand, and Dr. Bancroft. In the evening Mr. Chaumont and Mr. Franklin. Dr. Edward Bancroft , physician, scientist, and writer, Franklin’s confidential associate, and double agent during the Revolution ( JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:71–72 ; Julian Boyd, “Silas Deane: Death by a Kindly...
957th. (Adams Papers)
Company to dine. The Abbés wrote a billet to excuse themselves.
9610th. (Adams Papers)
Varietés. Le faux talisman, La théatromanie; Oui ou non . Poor Stuff. A good deal of genteel Company. Le faux talisman, ou, rira bien qui rira le dernier . Paris, 1782, by Charles Jacob Guillemain; La théâtromanie . Paris, 1783, by Pierre (Baron) de La Montagne; Oui ou non , Paris, 1780, by Louis Archambault Dorvigny ( Brenner, Bibliographical List Clarence Dietz Brenner, A Bibliographical...
9714th. (Adams Papers)
Paris. At the post; paid 235. livres for a parcel of packets. Walk’d in the Palais Royal. Large Company. Few Ladies.
9817th. (Adams Papers)
Paris. Italian Theatre. 1st. Representation of Alexis et Justine . Went before 5. o’clock. Could not find one place high nor low. Went to the Grands Danseurs du Roi, in a fiacre, for neither Servants nor carriage were to be found. Le trousseau d’Agnes . Le Qui-pro-quo de l’hotellerie . Rope dancing. Sophie de Brabant, Pantomime . Just such another Théatre as the Varietés. Plays just calculated...
9918th. (Adams Papers)
Ambassador’s day at Versailles, every Tuesday. Mr. A. went. Alexis et Justine , succeeded very well last night at the Italians. Words, Monvel , music, de Zede , celebrated authors. Dr. Jemm dined with us. A singular Character. Possibly Guillaume Jaume , of Lyons, a friend of the Abbés Chalut and Arnoux, who advised Franklin and Col. Gabriel Johonnot on the education of their grandson and son,...
10019th. (Adams Papers)
Paris. Mr. Appleton, and Mr. Parker, went for England. Saw Mr. Waring. Breakfasted at the Hôtel de Modene. Appleton and Parker set off in the diligence, at about 12 1/2. John Parker Jr. , a South Carolinian admitted to the Middle Temple in 1775 who later served in the Continental Congress (Edward Alfred Jones, American Members of the Inns of Court , London, 1924, p. 166; Biog. Dir. Cong....