511Monday Morning [18 May] (Adams Papers)
A fine Sun and Air. Cushing at Barnstable said to me—happy is he whom other Mens Errors, render wise. —Otis by getting into the general Court, has lost his Business.—Felix quern faciunt aliena Pericula cautum—other Mens Dangers, Errors, Miscarriages, Mistakes, Misfortunes. From neither the punctuation nor the substance of this paragraph is it possible to tell where Judge Cushing’s direct...
512[January 1768] (Adams Papers)
To what Object, are my Views directed? What is the End and Purpose of my Studies, Journeys, Labours of all Kinds of Body and Mind, of Tongue and Pen? Am I grasping at Money, or Scheming for Power? Am I planning the Illustration of my Family or the Welfare of my Country? These are great Questions. In Truth, I am tossed about so much, from Post to Pillar, that I have not Leisure and Tranquillity...
5131768. January 30th. Saturday Night. (Adams Papers)
To what Object, are my Views directed? What is the End and Purpose of my Studies, Journeys, Labours of all Kinds of Body and Mind, of Tongue and Pen? Am I grasping at Money, or Scheming for Power? Am I planning the Illustration of my Family or the Welfare of my Country? These are great Questions. In Truth, I am tossed about so much, from Post to Pillar, that I have not Leisure and Tranquillity...
514[August 1769] (Adams Papers)
John Tudor Esq. came to me, and for the third Time repeated his Request that I would take his Son William into my Office. I was not fond of the Proposal as I had but 10 days before taken Jona. Williams Austin, for 3 years. At last however I consented and Tudor is to come, tomorrow morning. What shall I do with 2 Clerks at a Time? And what will the Bar, and the World say? As to the last I am...
515Boston August 10. 1769. (Adams Papers)
John Tudor Esq. came to me, and for the third Time repeated his Request that I would take his Son William into my Office. I was not fond of the Proposal as I had but 10 days before taken Jona. Williams Austin, for 3 years. At last however I consented and Tudor is to come, tomorrow morning. What shall I do with 2 Clerks at a Time? And what will the Bar, and the World say? As to the last I am...
516Aug. 11th. 1769. Fryday. (Adams Papers)
Mr. Tudor came, for the first Time and attended the Office, all Day, and paid me £10 St.—In the Morning I went to take View of Mr. Copelys Copley’s Pictures, and afterwards to hear News of the Letters arrived in Scott. The Mystery of Iniquity, seems to be unravelled. Spent the Evening at Mr. Wm. Coopers, the Dr. came in and was very social. He came from a Meeting of the Overseers of the...
5171769. Aug. 12. Saturday. (Adams Papers)
Dined at Mr. Isaac Smiths and in the Evening went to Braintree.
518Aug. 13. Sunday. (Adams Papers)
At Mr. Quincys. Here is Solitude and Retirement. Still, calm, and serene, cool, tranquil, and peaceful. The Cell of the Hermit. Out at one Window, you see Mount Wollaston, the first Seat of our Ancestors, and beyond that Stony field Hill, covered over with Corn and fruits. At the other Window, an Orchard and beyond that the large Marsh called the broad Meadows. From the East Window of the...
519Monday August 14. (Adams Papers)
Dined with 350 Sons of Liberty at Robinsons, the Sign of Liberty Tree in Dorchester. We had two Tables laid in the open Field by the Barn, with between 300 and 400 Plates, and an Arning of Sail Cloth overhead, and should have spent a most agreable Day had not the Rain made some Abatement in our Pleasures. Mr. Dickinson the Farmers Brother, and Mr. Reed the Secretary of New Jersey were there,...
520Tuesday. Aug. 15. (Adams Papers)
Rode to Taunton, 16 miles before 9 O Clock, tho I stopped and breakfasted at Haywards in Easton 9 miles from Taunton. Spent all the Leisure moments I could snatch in Reading a Debate in Parliament, in 1744, upon a Motion to inquire into the Conduct of Admiral Mathews and Vice Admiral Lestock in the Mediterranean, when they had, and neglected so fine an Opportunity of destroying the combined...