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.