71To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 25 April 1797 (Adams Papers)
I am honored with your letter of the 6th, which I took from the cover without breaking the seal. The secret shall not escape me; but, from the circumstance mentioned, I shall not be surprized to find, that it has transpired on it’s passage. If the tho’t of sending Mr. Jefferson proceeded from both parties, it wears the appearance of “a natural one”, otherwise, coming from so many of one party,...