[Dedication]
Paris J. Q. Adams: August:
20th. 1783.
Vitanda est improba Syren, Desidia.1
1. Horace, Opera, London, 1744, p. 149 (inscribed “J.Q. Adams, Paris, March 15, 1785,” in MQA), Bk. II, Satire III, lines 14–15: “You must shun the wicked Siren Sloth [the quotation continues] or be content to drop whatever honour you have gained in nobler hours” ( , p. 153). These two lines appear on the second leaf, between the titlepage and first page of Diary entries.