With the utmost pleasure I would write to you as often as you wish were my health perfectly and entirely restored. This unfortunately is not the case as I am still subject to chills and fear I shall continue to be so throughout the winter—This has induced me to fix my Tuesdays once a fortnight instead of once a week which is more than I am able to undertake— You would laugh could you see Mary...
Your father has intended writing to you several days but something or other perpetually occurring he has not yet fulfilled his intention—And finding nothing to do I shall devote half an hour to your and in the first place tell you how much I am flattered by the improvement which I am informed has taken place in your appearance and manners and which your Grandmother obligingly attributes to my...
353From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 29 April 1817 (Adams Papers)
I have received your Letter of the 11th. and your mother has that of the 16th. from Paris. I wrote you by Mr Boyle, and have not written since, supposing a Letter could not reach Paris before you would have left it.—We shall from this day be constantly expecting your return, and I write this merely with the chance of its finding you at Bruxelles. We are preparing with all possible despatch to...
354From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 15 November 1821 (Adams Papers)
I thank you for your letter of the 4th. November I am very glad to hear that you are so nearly through Hallams Middle Ages.—I am travelling through the same country from the benevolence of your friend Quincy.—who after travelling through it himself gave me a lease of it for a term.—It is a valuable compendium and I am very glad to find that he gives so great a character of MU RATORI, whose...
355From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 26 March 1822 (Adams Papers)
I am delighted with your number 22. It is not too free. It is modest enough. It is wise learned and ingenious. I have sometimes the feelings of Theophrastus who at 115 as I learn from casauban, thought it hard to die when he had just learned to live. Never was I more ardently interested in historical and political studies or Amusements. Hobard Johnson Morton, Winslow Bradford and a hundred...
3rd: December. My whole morning was occupied with visits and writing cards of invitation—we have had 40 or more Members of Congress already here and all who call I invite to my Evengs. if I can help it I will invite only those who call lest it should be said I am courting them to further any particular purpose—We dined alone and Mary being sick I denied myself to company—Mr Petry called and...
You will be quite worn out my dear George with my would be poetic effusions; but as I told you in my last I know that the événemens de tout les jours are so well and so constantly sent to you by your brother, I have nothing left but to send you the singular scraps of my folly elicited occasionally by unlooked for circumstances On the departure of General Lafayette from our own house I felt...
358From Thomas Jefferson to George Washington Adams, 9 August 1824 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson returns his thanks to mr George Washington Adams for the eloquent oration on the late 4 th of July which he has been so kind as to send him. he deems it a subject of worthy congratulations to his fellow citizens that a young character of so much promise, and descended thro’ a lineage so meritorious, is now entering on the stage of life, with so much personal, as well as...
359From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 20 February 1825 (Adams Papers)
Your letter has given me great pleasure, and so have those of your brother John—they are lively, animating and cheerful, and at the same time judicious and prudent, which to me is of more importance than all the rest. This great nation appears to me to be as well satisfied as so great a nation can be and in their satisfaction I sincerely rejoice. What obligations does this event impose upon...
I have at length received your Letter, after having unpatiently waited untill your more important avocations were so far terminated, as to permit you to think of so trifling a personage as your Mother—As however the period is arrived at which you have some little time to spare, I avail myself with pleasure of the opportunity thus offerered, of renewing a correspondence so warmly urged during...
361From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 25 May 1826 (Adams Papers)
I had postponed a reply to your last two Letters under the expectation of seeing you here. With your mother I had been deeply concerned to learn that your health was suffering; and I knew that she had invited you to come and seek its restoration with us. Your Letter to her of the gave indications of recovery from another department of the Materia Madica, and followed as it was immediately...
N. 9 has reached me and I hasten to answer it although I must complain a little at your neglecting to do so to the Letters I send you— Some time since my Dear George I wrote to inquire if any goods had arrived at Washington for your Uncle and begged you to write me word. I have looked in vain hitherto for the answer to my question but do not find it any where—As he is rather of an anxious...
I am at length about to attempt to answer your Letter but am not quite sure whether I shall be successfull as it is late and impossible to guard against interruptions— In the first place the Missouri question is decided—How I leave you to judge as you will read the account in the publick papers—The juggling between the Clerks of the House and the Speaker places our National Councils in so...
I was much gratified by the receipt of your Letter my dear George yesterday at noon and am somewhat surprized to find that you have not read my translation of Plato which was sent on some weeks since to your Grandfather by Mr. A. and which I supposed you had already read soon after its arrival—The two first Dialogues were sent together and the copying of them was very laborious to me—I wish...
It is some time my dear George since I wrote but much sickness and trouble have kept my mind in a state of anxiety which has prevented my answering your last which was most kind and affectionate—Our pore coachman John Cook was found dead in his bed last week and left us a prey to surmizes and conjectures as to the causes of his decease which can never be satisfied— I had got thus far when your...
366From Edward Everett to George Washington Adams, 17 October 1825 (Adams Papers)
I will thank you to Send Me by the bearer the diplomas of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences of which We Spoke at Mr Lloyd’s. If they do Not happen to be in Your Keeping may I trouble You to let me know when I shall send for them. Your friend & Servant MHi : Edward Everett Papers.
My absence from the City must plead My excuse for not sooner congratulating you on your success in obtaining the prize and still more on the probability of your obtaining a reputation as an Orator one of the most essential requisites for a Publick man in our Country—It is a talent which may be considered as leading most directly and immediately to promotion and frequently to the highest...
368From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 26 December 1817 (Adams Papers)
I have but one moment of time to answer your Letter of the 2d: instant—and to direct you at the close of the Winter Vacation to offer yourself and pass examination for admission to the present Freshman Class; and, I hope you will assiduously employ the interval in preparing yourself for it. I cannot but acknowledge my surprize and mortification, to learn that you have been wasting your time...
369From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 1 October 1823 (Adams Papers)
I have constituted and appointed you my Agent and Attorney, for the management of my property in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, excepting that in the town of Quincy, and for the transaction of my private business; for which I hereby give you full authority, subject to the instructions herein contained. The following is the specific property, which I commit to your care. 1. House in Court...
370From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 20 June 1826 (Adams Papers)
Mr Walker delivered me your Laconic epistle of the 3d. instt. promising an answer at an early day to my Letter of the 25th. ulto—for which answer I am patiently waiting—I made suitable allowance, for the accession to your necessary occupations, occasioned by the Session of the Legislature—From which however you will have been relieved before you shall receive this— Your Accounts for the...
I yesterday received your Letter dated Quincy and was delighted to find your very formidable journey without accident. I admire very much your kindness in having lengthened your ride, and separated from your Brothers for the purpose of delivering the Letter of your new acquaintance who I think must be exquisitely delighted by this exalted mark of friendship and devotion— I am sorry you could...
372From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 16 October 1826 (Adams Papers)
We had a jovial day at Newport, after you left me, till five in the afternoon, when I embarked in the Revenue Cutter, Captain Cahoone—As we went on board the vessel, the gale subsided; the sun burst forth, and his last hour was unclouded—We proceeded with a light breeze and beautiful weather till last Evening, when coming to the pass of Hell-gate we were compelled to drop anchor—This morning...
373From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 24 October 1826 (Adams Papers)
Your Letters of the 16th. and 20th. instt have been received, and have given me great pleasure. The first relieving me from some concern on account of your health, and the second announcing an intention of diligence, and a commencement of performance highly satisfactory—Perseverance for a very short time in that plan of regularly rising at 5 in the morning, and devoting yourself to the...
I send you a sheet of journal my Dear George which you can read to your Grandfather if you please or such parts of it as you think fit—I shall address it to you thro’ the winter which I think will be more prudent and I wish that you could coax y. Grandfather to give you all that I have written as I think it would be safer in your possession in case of accidents— Journal 30 Novbr. 1823 In a...
I was very happy to hear from you my dear George as I felt anxious on account of the great heat knowing you would be exposed to all the ferver of an intense Sun and am very glad to find that you have not suffered from it— You say so little concerning the brilliant display of which we are told so much in the papers, that I suppose you were in too enthusiastic admir a state of admiration to find...
376From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 13 March 1820 (Adams Papers)
If you have a desire of a long life and a happy life I advise you to read Cicero. Your Father has expressed sufficient admiration of his office and his other writings but I wish at this time to recommend to you particular his treatise on Friendship. his dream of Scipio his letter to his brother Quintus about to take upon him for the third time the Government of Asia, and above all his treatise...
Accept my congratulations my Dear George on your success in the performance of a task become unpleasant from its constant repetition and the almost impossibility of striking out something novel either to amuse or instruct—The line you adopted was very correct and gave more scope than the beaten topic’s usually appropriated to the day and avoided one of the evils into which fourth of July...
Last Eveng Mr. Ingersol called and sat with us sometime and we had a good and pleasant chat after which Messieurs Walsh and Hopkinson came and remained with us till ten o’clock—Mr Walsh told me he had received a Letter from your father in which he speaks of his (Mr W’s) neutrality concerning the Russell business. He told me that this was a misunderstanding and that he had made no comments on...
379From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 27 January 1822 (Adams Papers)
The splendid account we receive from you and others of the dinners parties and balls from Washington almost persuade me to give you an account of the splendour of my family In addition to those which you know very well, we have Mr Shaw Mr DeWint and his lady & two servants. Your two brothers who by the way are very studious & skate, cut & saw wood no more than is beneficial to their health....
In the course of my ride from New Brunswick yesterday my Dear George the wish you expressed for something like a translation or imitation of the Lines I wrote in french and I dictated to Elizabeth while she wrote the very indifferent lines which follow—One verse is added and I beg you to alter or correct as you please—I know they are not good but they in a great degree convey the ideas...
I mentioned to you that I had been amusing myself in translating the Dialogue of Plato. I now send you the first sheet and shall continue to send one every week until I have completed the first—You will find it miserably done but your father says the sense is preserved and that is all that is necessary as I do not pique myself upon my translating powers—You I know can study them to more...
382From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 5 October 1823 (Adams Papers)
I now enclose you a Letter for George Davis, which you will deliver to him—The subscription as I told you is conditional to be paid only, unless a sum of (I think 50000) Dollars should be subscribed before the first of January next and deposited in Bank—If you are admitted to attend the Meetings, I shall expect you will give me an account of the proceedings and of the progress of the object,...
383From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 27 December 1821 (Adams Papers)
I have mourned with your mourning in your No. 9 of the 16th Dec. for the loss of Colonel Trimble, and laughed through your gaiety concerning the Ball at the English Ambassador’s. The transitions from grave to gay and from gay to grave are very frequent in this mingled world and we ought to make sober reflections on them all. But I must transide from the letter to a former one.— You are reading...
My health is so bad that I am obliged to relinquish my correspondence almost in spite of myself for if the inclination to write seizes me my Letters can give no pleasure to those who receive them as they are tinged with the languor and weakness which pervades both my mind and my frame.—My friends here tell me that the great struggle which is now making in the political world is in great part...
385From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 11 June 1821 (Adams Papers)
I have finished the Sprit of the King. About 3400 pages, as romantick as any of Scotts Novels and as ennuiuse as they are Sprightly. The great modern novellist is as true an historian as any We have. L’Esprit de la Fronde concludes with an Observation which every reader must have made on every page of the Work. It is, “It now remains to profit of a great truth, of which this history is but a...
386From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 14 May 1822 (Adams Papers)
I will not trouble you, to read a history of my pains and aches, as an apology for neglecting to acknowledge your letters which I have regularly received as far as No 28. I am now better and thank you for your punctual attention. I preserve all your letters in a bundle—hæc olim meminisse juvabit—your observations upon Congress, and its Members, are as they ought to be, candid cautious and...
Abby left us this morning my Dear George on her way to Boston under the protection of Mr Fuller who intends going on without stopping on the road. She is in fine health and has enjoyed her visit apparently very much— I am really sorry for the loss Mr. Welsh has sustained in the death of his amiable Wife whose poor babes are at an age to want all her care and tenderness— I have read your lines...
Thank you my Dear George for your Letter and the Farce which arrived safely the day before yesterday and which I should have answered yesterday had I not been again confined to my chamber by a return of my Fever and many of the inflamatory symtoms which attended my illness in Boston—I was taken ill the day after I wrote to Hariet and went out too soon which occasioned a return of the Fever...
389From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 10 October 1822 (Adams Papers)
I have received your letter of the 23d ulto. & your father’s letter & octavo volume mentioned in it The book will answer for itself wherever it goes & I hope will satisfy the world. If you take the “Old Colony Memorial” you will see some ancient documents concerning the fisheries, if you do not take that paper I hope you will subscribe for it, for it is of great importance to the history of...
Shall I first congratulate you on the honours which you have just received or will they be attended with labour and be both tiresome and unprofitable? Having however a deep interest in the Bank it is a very good thing that you can overlook the management of your property —I have written a long Letter to Johnson which I fear may offend him a little but he will get over it and as young people...
You will probably have received the translations I sent you my dear Son of Plato as I understand you have made a visit to Quincy to your Grandfather— In a conversation held at our house in the course of last winter I heard Socrates compared to our Saviour Jesus and it was this comparison which induced me to read the life of Socrates, and the dialogues of Plato; with attention; that I might...
392From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 11 July 1822 (Adams Papers)
I agree with you in your number 34. that the quarterly is guilty of damning Stuart, and Reid, with faint praise, or rather with insidious praise; but they may say what they will, they can never destroy the reputation of either, as a profound investigator of the science of the human mind; both have added to the stock of human knowledge, and cleared up many perplexing points and questions; They...
393From Thomas Jefferson to George Washington Adams, 9 August 1824 (Adams Papers)
Th: Jefferson returns his thanks to mr George Washington Adams for the eloquent oration on the late 4th. of July which he has been so kind as to send him. he deems it a subject of worthy congratulations to his fellow citizens that a young character of so much promise, and descended thro’ a lineage so meritorious, is now entering on the stage of life, with so much personal, as well as...
394From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 8 November 1825 (Adams Papers)
I enclose herewith a Certificate of two Shares, N. 657. 658. in the Middlesex Canal, transferred to you in consideration of which, I expect you will pay some attention, to the direction of that Corporation and to the management of its concerns. I received your Letter announcing the departure of your mother, and her attendants from Quincy; they arrived here on the 18th. instt. all well except...
As I know you will be very anxious to hear from me my Dear George I hasten to write merely to inform you that my health though still very weak is much better and I am able to ride out— No change has yet taken place in our establishment and we have all the trouble of our removal still in anticipation but my chief concern is the disposal of our house which I fear will be attended with much...
396From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 6 January 1822 (Adams Papers)
A cold frosty snowy morning. I have received your No 11. I am glad you have got through the spirit of laws. You ought to read the Persian letters, the temple of Gnidus, and the other works of Montesquieu. But before you proceed further, I advise you to read, again, your father’s lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory, and that with close attention, steady care, and keen discernment—for although you...
397From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 8 June 1821 (Adams Papers)
Though the theory of Government is a nice and dangerous Study as I have found by experience; Yet I am glad to find that the lectures you have attended have drawn your Attention to it—Without Some knowledge it, you will be always in confusion, blown about by every Wind. It is a melancholly pursuit, because it is humiliating to human Nature. Selfishness prevails over benevolence; Knavery over...
What! a letter from George I cried when your father put your last epistle in my hand yesterday afternoon? I was surprized for I thought that you ceased to wish to keep up any thing like friendly intercourse with your family and to feel that I was not altogether forgotten in the solitude of my chamber did occasion my heart to spring with joy. I am delighted to observe by the tone of your Letter...
399From John Adams to George Washington Adams, 15 May 1822 (Adams Papers)
I will not trouble you to read a history of my pains and aches, as an apology for neglecting to acknowledge your letters, which I have regularly received—I am now better and thank you for your punctual attention. I preserve all your letters in a bundle—hec olin meminisse juvabit—Your observations upon Congress, and its members, are as they ought to be, candid cautious and prudent; It is an old...
400From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, October 1826 (Adams Papers)
There are four Deeds of the Executors to John Quincy Adams, executed, acknowledged, and left at the Office of the Register of Deeds at Dedham, to be recorded, which when recorded you will receive from the Register, and carefully keep There is one Bond, and four Mortagages, executed and acknowledged by me, to the Executors, and one Power of Attorney to my Co-Executor Josiah Quincy—all left also...