Adams Papers
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Thomas Boylston Adams to Joseph Pitcairn, 27 March 1801

Thomas Boylston Adams to Joseph Pitcairn

Philadelphia 27th: March 1801.

Dear Sir.

A ship called the Cleopatra sailed from this port a few weeks since without bearing any thing for you from me, which I desire may be attributed to my want of notice, that she was about to depart— I now enclose you the sequel of the Port Folio, and at the same time have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 8th: December, which came to hand on the 5th: instt:.1

In return for your European intelligence, I can only announce to you the commencement of a new era in our political history; one which my letters to you, more than a twelvemonth ago anticipated, and to which my mind has been familiarized by the frequency of my contemplations respecting it.2 A change of men has yet produced no visible change of measures, nor would it be fair or reasonable to predict as to the future conduct of administration, evil consequences, as the result of error or design— The depravity of heart, which exists among what is called the Democratic Republicans, is indicative of little respect for moral obligations, nor have we good reason to expect, that their craving appetites for place, power & profit, will be satisfied with occasional vacancies being supplied, or a few obnoxious officers removed for the sake of filling them from their number—

One real benefit is already felt as a consequence of the new order of men. The clamors of the vulgar herd, which without ceasing have disturbed the peace & quiet of the Country for a series of years, are now no more They have been so swallowed up in the enjoyment of the fancied triumph of Democracy or Republicanism over, their opposites, that it has to them operated like a reality— The streams, whence the vilest slanders used to flow, in such abundance, threatening to inundate & overwhelm the brightest fame of our most estimable people—are become fountains of fulsome flattery to the rulers of the day— The gall of Jacobinism is become sweet as honey, and an aspiring, giddy & depraved faction, (to whom might rightly have been applied two lines of a great poet—

“Ne’er didst thou hear, more sweet than sweetest song,

charming the soul, thou ne’er didst hear thy praise.)

is now rioting & reveling & wallowing in the luxury of “soft music, warbling voice, & melting lay’s:”3

You will not learn first from me, the distribution which has been made of public honors & offices, since the new men came in— Chancellor Livingston of NewYork, is Commissioned, as Minister, to the french Nation, and he will probably sail in May or June— meantime, Beau Dawson has just emba[rked] as messenger; with the Convention.4

Mr: Madison is Secretary of State; Genl: Dearborne of War—the o[ther] Departments are yet vacant—5 Sundry inferior officers have been removed & creatures put in their places—6 This I expected—it could not be otherwise and the federalists, who expect, that the President will be able, if disposed to persevere in a system of moderation & forbearance with respect to app[oint]ments, will be disapointed— It begins to be well understood by both or all parties a[nd] us, that success in obtaining a Candidate of their own, at the head of gov[ern]ment, is sufficient to authorize a system of proscription with regard to t[heir] opponents— This is Republicanism—

Dear Sir, I am very sincerely / Your’s

T B Ada[ms]

RC (OCHP:Joseph Pitcairn Letters); addressed: “Joseph Pitcairn Esqr: / Consul of the United States / Hamburg.”; internal address: “Jo: Pitcairn Esqr:”; endorsed: “T. B. Adams / 27 March 1801 / Rd 6 June / And 3 July.” Some loss of text due to wear at the edge.

1The ship Cleopatra, Capt. Blakiston, departed Philadelphia for Hamburg on 21 March. TBA may have sent this letter aboard the ship Tom, Capt. Turner, or the brig Molly, Capt. Huggins, both of which were accepting mail for Hamburg on 27 March. The Tom departed on 3 April and the Molly three days later. Pitcairn’s letter of 8 Dec. 1800 has not been found (Philadelphia Gazette, 27, 28 March 1801; Philadelphia American Daily Advertiser, 3, 6 April).

2TBA predicted that Thomas Jefferson would win the presidency in a letter to Pitcairn of 31 May 1800, for which see vol. 14:265–267.

3The Philadelphia Aurora General Advertiser, 26 March 1801, declared that “the principles of 1776, are restored, after suffering a protracted period of dishonor.” TBA closed his comments by quoting Robert Lowth, “The Choice of Hercules,” stanza XIX, lines 6–8.

4Jefferson wrote to Robert R. Livingston on 24 Feb. 1801 informing him that upon the commencement of his administration he intended to nominate him as minister to France. Jefferson submitted the nomination to the Senate on 5 March and the appointment was confirmed the same day. Livingston accepted on 12 March, but his departure was delayed until after Virginia representative John “Beau” Dawson departed for France on 22 March with the conditionally ratified Convention of 1800. France agreed to the Senate’s amendment and ratified the convention on 31 July 1801. Livingston departed on 15 Oct., arriving in Paris on 3 Dec. (vol. 14:376, 484; Jefferson, Papers description begins The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, James P. McClure, and others, Princeton, N.J., 1950– . description ends , 33:viii, 61, 253, 255; 36:207; New York Commercial Advertiser, 15 Oct.).

5Jefferson began assembling his five-member cabinet the day after his inauguration, a process that would stretch into midsummer. On 5 March he nominated James Madison as secretary of state, Henry Dearborn as secretary of war, and Levi Lincoln as U.S. attorney general, and the Senate confirmed the appointments the same day (U.S. Senate, Exec. Jour. description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America, Washington, D.C., 1789– . description ends , 7th Cong., special sess., p. 395–396). Jefferson would take longer to name secretaries of the navy and the treasury, for which see TBA to JQA, 12 April, and note 5, and AA to TBA, 16 May, and note 2, both below.

6Soon after entering office Jefferson sent out a circular letter to many of the federal officers JA nominated, advising them that because JA was “so restricted in time as not to admit sufficient enquiry & consideration,” the appointments would be reevaluated and should be considered void until further notice. He then began removing federal office-holders and installing others by recess appointments. By the date of this letter he had made 42 new appointments. During the course of his first term he deposed and replaced 146 federal officeholders, or 46 percent of the 316 positions under the power of the president. For AA’s later correspondence with Jefferson on the appointments, see Jefferson to AA, 13 June 1804, and AA to Jefferson, 1 July, both below (Jefferson, Papers description begins The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, James P. McClure, and others, Princeton, N.J., 1950– . description ends , 33:ix–x, 172–173, 663–665, 674–675; Carl E. Prince, “The Passing of the Aristocracy: Jefferson’s Removal of the Federalists, 1801–1805,” JAH description begins Journal of American History. description ends , 57:565–567 [Dec. 1970]). Jefferson’s actions set the stage for the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison, for which see Hannah Phillips Cushing to AA, 18 Dec. 1801, and note 8, below.

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