Adams Papers
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Abigail Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 12 June 1801

Abigail Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams

Quincy june 12th 1801

Dear Thomas.

William Shaw brought me your Letter the day before Yesterday. I had learnt before, by the public papers, the Death of mrs Bingham, and many have been my reflection upon it.1 [“]Health presuming, Beauty Blooming, ah how dreadfull tis to dye,” says fair Rossomond;2 that mrs Bingham was one of the most Elegant, and highly accomplishd women our Country has furnished, no one who knew her, will deny. to a fine form, was added an affability of address, and an ease of Manners, which prepossesst and captivated all who approachd her; She had travelled, and obtained the high polish of the Beau Mond; but her conduct in many respects did not accord with my Ideas of female worth, delicacy and purity. She did not sufficiently respect herself, nor the opinion of the World; particuliarly that those of her own Country.

She was culpable in a latitude of manners, and in introducing a mode of dress, which as a mother, she ought not to have permitted in her Daughters— If I have any knowledge of humane Nature, the stile of dress introduced by her, and copied by her Daughters, has a direct tendency to seduce the unwary; to Create inflammatory passions, and call forth loose affections by unfolding to every Eye, what the veil of modesty ought to shield; and the mantle of fashion ought to cover; it originated with Harlots, and should not have betrayed a modest woman into the Snare; the concequences have been Seen in her own Family, and are of too recent a date, to need relating—3

Mrs Binghams Family, Fortune, Beauty and accomplishments gave her a lead in society, and her influence extended far beyond the bounds of your city; was that influence employd in the various Services of virtue, was it excercised in confirming and prolonging the duration of virtuous affections, in a simplicity of Manners, or in a latitude which gave occasion for censure, and which approachd so near the verge of crimminality, as to be evil Spoken of. Chastity when founded upon the firm basis of pure virtue, holds forth to the Eye of the most artfull the repulsive evidence of impregnable Security, which can awe the most dissolute into respect and admiration—

and as the poet expressess it, [“]She that hath that, is clad in compleat Steel”4

That Mrs Bingham had many amiable qualities I well know. her Friends Relatives and domesticks can bear witness to them with them—I Sympathize; by them her loss must be keenly felt—

The Worthy Old Lady, whose children rise up and call her blessed, and whose remains you lately attended to the grave, has left a Character much more worthy imitation: and an example of whatsoever things were just whatsoever things were honest, whatsoever things were pure, whatsoever things were lovely, whatsoever things were of good report, and if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on those things.5

We have Letters from your Brother to April 7th he had not then received his Letter of recall—but he acknowledges receiving one from me of 29 Jan’ry.6 Your Father thinks you ought to delay drawing his property whilst at such a loss— I know not what to do with that strange Man Stewart, the likeness is said to be so good, both of your Father and of me, that I shall regreet very much if he cannot be prevaild upon to finish them as our Children may like to look upon our Likeness when the originals are no more seen;

Your Father appears to enjoy a tranquility and a freedom from care which he has never before experienced. his Books and his Farm occupy his attention.

[“]Sure if one blessing heaven on man bestows

Tis the pure peace, that conscious virtue knows

’Tis that transcendant power, whose views refined

control the passions, and correct the mind

This tho the pride of fortune fade away,

And drowsy age on Sickening fancy prey,

Still lights the mind to feelings honest rest

And sheds around the sunshine of the Breast”7

I rejoice my dear son that you are so much more agreably situated than you have been; I must make up a packet with the cotton & your Worsted Stocking, and send you by water. I believe, I am not now in the way of hearing of private opportunityes by land

we have not any thing here very new, unless the visit the morning from the chief Justice may be considered as such— the Govr & Gen Matoon Breakfasted here on Monday last.8 I inclose You a paper by which you see the rising generation, are not unmindfull of their Benefactors—9

the new Phylosophy is gaining ground here. Yesterday morning being Sunday, a duel was fought between Charles Millar junr. and a son of Dr Rands, when Rand was killd upon the Spot. it is reported that the Quarrel arose about a Female— this is the first instance of the Kind in our State—10

We want a list of the Books which You had from NYork—in order to find if there are not some missing volms of Sets which are broken here— I have just received the Book You Sent me for which accept my thanks. the old gentleman will not forget your Father I hope. he is reading it, and Speaks highly of it—11

always Remember me to those who inquire after me.

I am my dear Son affectionatly Your / Mother

A Adams—

June 15 1801

Your Brothers Letter only contained the first number of His Gazzet—

RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “Thomas B Adams— / Philadelphia”; endorsed: “Mrs: A Adams / 12th: June 1801. / 22d: Recd: / 27th: ansd:.”

1TBA reported the death of Anne Willing Bingham in his letter to AA of 31 May, above. Bingham’s death was reported in the Boston Independent Chronicle, 4–8 June, and the Boston Columbian Centinel, 6 June.

2Joseph Addison, Rosamond, an Opera, Act II, scene iii, lines 29–31.

3For AA’s previous critiques of the Bingham family’s behavior and fashions, see vols. 13:452 and 14:50, 213.

4Milton, Comus, line 421.

5Philippians, 4:8.

6For JQA’s letter to JA of 7 April, see JQA to TBA, 11 April, note 2, above, and for AA’s letter of 29 Jan., see vol. 14:547–551. For JQA’s recall from Prussia, see his letter to AA, 10 March, and note 4, above.

7Joseph Story, The Power of Solitude, Part II, lines 367–374.

8Maj. Gen. Ebenezer Mattoon (1755–1843), of North Amherst, Mass., Dartmouth 1776, served in the House of Representatives from 1800 to 1803 (Biog. Dir. Cong. description begins Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005, Washington, D.C., 2005; rev. edn., bioguide.congress.gov. description ends ).

9AA possibly enclosed the Boston Columbian Centinel, 3 June 1801, which printed an account of JA’s attendance at a Faneuil Hall meeting of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston. At an earlier meeting the “Young Gentlemen of Boston” had voted to escort JA to the event to demonstrate that “in the shade of retirement, and humble walk of a private citizen, he was still revered and beloved as their patron, their father, and their friend.” More than 200 horsemen and 50 carriages met JA’s carriage in Milton and accompanied him to Boston. After the dinner sixteen toasts were offered, the fourth of which was to “The Sage of Quincy—Who carries with him into retirement the esteem of all good men.”

10Although only AA’s postscript is dated 15 June, this paragraph and the remainder of the letter were written at the same time. The duel AA referenced was fought on Dorchester Point (now South Boston) on 14 June between Boston merchants Charles Miller Jr. (ca. 1769–1829) and Edward Rand (b. 1773), the latter a son of Dr. Isaac Rand (1743–1822), Harvard 1761, and Rand was killed. Boston newspapers kept silent on the cause, although one Vermont newspaper echoed AA’s supposition about the cause. Miller was charged with murder and fled to New York City, remaining there until his death (Boston Constitutional Telegraphe, 17 June; Battleboro, Vt., Federal Galaxy, 29 June; New York Evening Post, 18 Sept. 1829; Lorenzo Sabine, Notes on Duels and Duelling, Alphabetically Arranged, with a Preliminary Historical Essay, 3d edn., Boston, 1859, p. 333; Florence Osgood Rand, comp., A Genealogy of the Rand Family in the United States, N.Y., 1898, p. 58).

11For Elias Boudinot’s The Age of Revelation, see AA to Boudinot, [post 15 June 1801], and note 1, below.

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