From John Adams to Henry Knox, 19 June 1791
To Henry Knox
Braintree June 19. 1791
Dear Sir
I had Yesterday the Pleasure of receiving your kind Letter of the 10th of this month, and am happy to find that you are pleased with your Situation at Bush Hill. I hope soon to hear of the Birth of a peaceable son of Mars, and that Mrs Knox is as well and in as good Spirits as you appear to be.1
The Paragraphs in the New York Pape[rs] I know nothing of: The Lyes in the New Haven one I never heard of till yesterday. One Thing I believe: it was not Roger Sherman, nor Dr Stiles who wrote them nor any Friend of theirs.
The Preface to Paines Nonsense has occasioned much Speculation. It is thought rather early for Electioneering. My head I thank God is not easily diverted from its Views nor my heart from its Resolutions; and therefore neither Paine nor his God father2 will much affect me: and I believe they will affect the Public as little. It only grieves me that a Character who stood high is so much lowered in the public Esteem.
The cordial and glorious reception of t[he] President in every part of his Tour, an omen for good to the People, and gives universal Pleasure, in this Part of the Country.
Although the Indian Campaign is an [evil,] yet the War I presume is a just and a necessary War, and therefore I rejoice that the Forces are so well collected and so far advanced.
The Arrival of Col Smith [is a very] happy Event for me and my Family and We all thank you sir, for your obli[ging] Congratulations on it.
The Death of my learned and amiab[le] Friend Dr Price has hurt me more than the little flickerings of Politicks. Although his Zeal for Liberty was not always accor[ding] to Knowledge, his heart was always upr[ight] and benevolent, and his Mind was open [to] Conviction3
Three of my Family brought with them the Fever and Ague, but are better.4 I hope to see you in october by which time I hope our mutual Friend will get the better of his frenchified delirium: meantime I am with great regard / your Friend and humble servant
John Adams.
RC (Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York); addressed: “Henry Knox Esqr: / Secretary at War. / Philadelphia”; internal address: “General Knox / Secretary at War”; endorsed: “The Vice President / June 19. 1791”; notation by Knox: “Capt Henderson—” FC (Adams Papers). Text lost due to a torn manuscript has been supplied from the FC.
1. Lucy Flucker Knox gave birth to a daughter, Caroline Flucker (d. 1851) (Joseph W. Porter, ed., Memoir of Gen. Henry Knox, of Thomaston, Maine, Bangor, Maine, 1890, p. 10).
2. That is, Thomas Jefferson.
3. Dr. Richard Price died on 19 April from a bladder infection. British and French political clubs publicly mourned the dissenting minister, and The Gentleman’s Magazine hailed him as a revolutionary whose efforts were “linked to those of ‘Franklin, Washington, Fayette and Paine.’” JA lamented the loss of Price, a close friend of the Adamses in London, and blamed his swift decline on the strain of his political controversy with Edmund Burke. On 19 June JA wrote to WSS: “The death of our worthy Friend Dr Price has affected me very nearly; I hope the rough usage of Mr Burke did not injure his health” (Paul Frame, Liberty’s Apostle: Richard Price, His Life and Times, Cardiff, Wales, 2015, p. 246, 248; , 9:216).