Abigail Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 21 July 1798
Abigail Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams
Philadelphia July [21] 17981
my dear Thomas
As there is some Probability that Thomas Welch will Embark before I shall return to Quincy, I write from hence; I shall esteem myself peculiarly fortunate to see you again in your Native Country. a longer residence abroad in your situation, would be wholy incompatable both with your interest and future establishment in Life, as you will have to commence again in your Profession— you may also find it necessary to take an active part in defence of your Country. I should like to see you enrolld in the Grenadeer Company of this city. I send you by this opportunity what I presume he will not himself neglect too, your Friend Quincys oration deliverd upon the fourth of July. it is a very handsome performance, and does honour to him—2 I hope it will bring him forward in Political Life. I wrote you the loss he sustaind in the winter past, by the death of his Mother. Never was Parent and Child more cordially united. his marriage previous to her death to an accomplishd and amiable woman, is in some measure a compensation to him— you will learn from the Papers I send, and have forwarded allready, in the week past by way of Hamburgh, the temper and disposition of our Country, that she is approaching to very serious times, when every citizen will find it necessary to exert all his Energies to preserve, and secure the Liberty and independance of the Country. Congress have risen this week after a session of Eight Months,3 the first part of which was neither employd to their honour, or the benifit of the Country. their last deeds may be ranked amongst their best, an Alien Bill a sedition Bill, and a Bill declaring void, all our Treaties & conventions with France, are of the Number.
you who were here at the Time of the insurrection and was witness to the apathy which for a long time possessd this City, would now be gratified to see the Martial Spirit which exists here. all the young men of the City are training to Arms. they have at their own expence put themselves in uniform, and are about four hundred in Number, beside a Grenadeer Company and a company of Cavilery—4 Genll Mackpherson commands them. a Company of Artilliry is forming. Mackpherson expects soon to have a regular Legion— for a time, they excercised every morning, now twice a week.5 Some young Quaker have joind them, as they say, to prevent War—6 Many More would, if they could obtain the consent of their Parents. the Quakers are more united in opposition to France than they ever were in any former War— whilst this state have come forward and retreaved their Character by active exertion, and a firm spirit, the City of Nyork manifests a coldness and an apathy, quite astonishing, as they have all at hazard, and are in a very exposed and defenceless situation. the Levingstone Aristocracy, their corruption & venality, is a mill stone upon the federal part. there is as much of Jacobinism there, as in any other state in the union, and I would hope more. even Virginna is assumeing a more cordial & candid asspect. the Members lately Elected to Congress, are said to be six out of ten, antifederal from Nyork7
N England behaves well. with few exceptions they have done themselves great honour at the late Session of the Legislature mr Dexter is Chosen senator to Congress in lieu of mr sedwick, resignd. it is the exchange of one good Man, for an other, but that is not always the case Freeman, will not be reelected. I wish I was as certain that Varnum would fail.8
I inclose to you the list of Nomination for the staff of our Army you will naturally ask, where is the Col.? Gen’ll Washington who was consulted, Named him for Adjutent General. he was nominated to the senate but decidedly negatived, for prejudices which as an officer I think ought not to have influenced them. it was done in a hurry, without proper inquiry, and upon the last day of the session. thus is one of the best officers we have, rejected for Reason’s which would have equally applied to Lee of virgina, and I Shall be glad if at the winding up—it will not be found to apply to many others9 a Military Life I have ever considerd him as peculiarly calculated to shine in. he has fought and bled in the service of his Country, and I believe would have cordially done so again, if call’d to the trial— I expect it will compleatly depress him—and tho it was done by Friends as well as foes, I cannot but think, better information would have exculpated him from “charges which would have been proved unfounded.[”] You know, and the world know, that in pecuniary affairs he never conducted with the approbation of his nearest Relatives, but the school of adversity is a usefull one, and tho not pleasent, her paths are strewed with instruction.
I hunger for Letters from you. we have not any intelligence to be relied upon since the Month of April, from any quarter, Rumours only that mr Gerry had left Paris: Mrs Johnson desires me to present her Love to you. she Says that she was mortified that you did not mention her in Mrs Adams’ Letter that you was much of a favorite with her. Mrs Johnson is not fixd in the most agreeable part of Ameria. Mr Cranch has removed to George Town, and is very intimate with the Family. our Friend are all well, who survive, but we have lost many valuable ones in the year past. Dr Clark and Belknap, are of the Number who will long be rememberd and regreeted—
I am my dear son with the / tenderest affection your / Mother10
Abigail Adams—
RC (Adams Papers); endorsed: “Mrs: A Adams / 20 July 1798 / 13 Septr: Recd / 14 Answd:.” Dft (Adams Papers).
1. The dating of this letter is based on AA’s Dft, dated 21 July, even though TBA’s reply of 14 Sept., below, dates it to 19 July. His endorsement of 20 July appears to be based on the date of AA’s letter to JQA, above, which arrived at the same time and which was also endorsed by TBA.
2. As part of Boston’s Fourth of July celebrations, Josiah Quincy III gave a speech that one Boston newspaper described as “among the most masterly productions, which the effervescence of patriotism, united to the amplest resources of genius, ever originated in any nation, or on any epocha.” Quincy compared Great Britain’s assault on American rights during the Revolutionary War with France’s more recent actions, and he censured those who quietly accepted the vilification of the government. Quincy concluded, “Above all, guard against those base, unmanly suspicions, by which foreign and domestic enemies strive to break the anchor of Independence, confidence between rulers and people” (Boston Columbian Centinel, 7 July; Josiah Quincy, An Oration, Pronounced, July 4, 1798, Boston, 1798, p. 31, No. 34429).
3. In the Dft, this sentence ends, “some of which were spent not in gathering Lawrells. it has however been a session of Buisness 90 Acts having been past.”
4. In the Dft, AA added, “the Volunteers make a very respectable appearence, the Grenadeers a stately one & the Horese are admirable.”
5. At this point in the Dft, AA inserted, “all the young Men of Family and Wealth go into the Ranks with their fellow citizens.”
6. In the Dft, AA concluded this sentence, “their scruples being satisfied in this way.”
7. In the Dft, AA continued: “and it appears as tho they meant to invite an Enemy— it is wholy unacountable that a State so important, so much to hazard, should manifest such marks of inactivity and stupidity. the Govr at the Close of the last session just before the Election came on, declared his dissatisfaction to be so great as to tempt him to resign his Station. he was however Elected, and by a much larger Majority than before I hope N. york will rouse to a sense of its danger—”
8. Massachusetts elections for the 6th Congress were held on 5 November. Nathaniel Freeman Jr. did not stand for reelection; his seat was filled by Federalist Lemuel Williams. Democratic-Republican Joseph Bradley Varnum, however, defeated seven other candidates to be reelected in the 2d middle district, causing one Boston newspaper to lament, “At a time like the present—the most active and spirited men are wanted for Congress—not those who have opposed the measures of our government for placing our foreign relations on a proper footing, without proposing any plan as a substitute for what they abuse.” Overall, the Massachusetts delegation increased its Federalist representation by one (Boston Columbian Centinel, 3 Nov.; New Bedford, Mass., Medley, 9 Nov.; Massachusetts Mercury, 9 Nov.; A New Nation Votes; ).
9. Enclosure not found. Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee, for whom see vol. 8:293, was nominated by JA on 18 July as a major general for the provisional army. The Senate confirmed Lee’s appointment at the same time they rejected that of WSS even though Lee had overextended himself in land speculation with Morris, Nicholson & Greenleaf and was in dire financial straits in 1798. He later filed for bankruptcy and spent time in debtors’ prison (, 5th Cong., special sess. no. 2, p. 292, 293; ; Charles Royster, Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution, N.Y., 1981, p. 172–175).
10. In the Dft, AA closed the letter, “feeling much out spirits I close.”