Adams Papers

From John Adams to the Abbés Chalut and Arnoux, 8 July 1786

To the Abbés Chalut and Arnoux

July 8th. 17861

Mes chers Amis—

Permettez moi de vous presenter Mon Ami monsieur John Trumbull Fils du Governeur Trumbull et cidevant Colonel au service des Etats Unis— Il a l’Ambition noble de consigner a l’immortality les Evenemens de notre Histoire par son Pinceau— vous verrez son Warren et son Montgomery— Mr. Trumbull est un Citizen tres estimable, et Je vous prie de l’assister avec vos Bontés

J. A—

TRANSLATION

8 July 17861

My dear friends

Allow me to present to you my friend Mr. John Trumbull, son of Governor Trumbull and erstwhile colonel in the service of the United States. He has the noble ambition of immortalizing the events of our history with his paintbrush. You will see his Warren and his Montgomery. Mr. Trumbull is a very praiseworthy citizen, and I pray you to assist him with your hospitality.

J. A—

LbC in WSS’s hand (Adams Papers description begins Manuscripts and other materials, 1639–1889, in the Adams Manuscript Trust collection given to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1956 and enlarged by a few additions of family papers since then. Citations in the present edition are simply by date of the original document if the original is in the main chronological series of the Papers and therefore readily found in the microfilm edition of the Adams Papers (APM). description ends ); internal address: “Messieurs Les Abbes / Chalut & Arnoux—”; APM Reel 113.

1. This letter is unusual in being one of the very few from JA to any correspondent written in French. He also wrote to the Comte de Sarsfield on 7 July and to the Marquis de Lafayette on the 8th to introduce John Trumbull, but those letters were in English (both LbC’s, APM Reel 113).

Trumbull was traveling to Paris, where he would reside with Thomas Jefferson, to have his paintings “The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack of Quebec” and “The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill” engraved (AFC description begins Adams Family Correspondence, ed. L. H. Butterfield, Marc Friedlaender, Richard Alan Ryerson, Margaret A. Hogan, and others, Cambridge, 1963– . description ends , 7:153–154; Jefferson, Papers description begins The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, and others, Princeton, N.J., 1950– . description ends , 10:251–252). Besides the letters of introduction, Trumbull carried JA’s letters to Jefferson and John Paul Jones of 16 and 17 July, respectively, both below.

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    Source Project
    Adams Papers
    Title
    From John Adams to the Abbés Chalut and Arnoux, 8 July 1786
    Author
    Adams, John
    Recipients
    Chalut, Abbé
    Arnoux, Abbé
    Date
    8 July 1786

    Reference

    Cite as
    “From John Adams to the Abbés Chalut and Arnoux, 8 July 1786,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-18-02-0206. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 18, December 1785–January 1787, ed. Gregg L. Lint, Sara Martin, C. James Taylor, Sara Georgini, Hobson Woodward, Sara B. Sikes, Amanda M. Norton. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016, pp. 378–379.]