From James Verling Godwin to John Adams, 17 April 1792
From James Verling Godwin
April 17th. 1792 38 Arch Street
“Unshook by Arms, unhurt by warring bands,
Firm as the heavens, our Independence stands: … 1
To Those from whom (next heaven) such blessings flow,
Their loud applause whole millions shall bestow:
Their unborn sons, at many distant dates,
Shall hail the Men who dar’d defend the States.
Dear to remembrance, when all time is past,
The Name of Adams shall for ever last.”—2
Sir,
Thro’ life I have experienced that Gentlemen of Zeal sense & liberal Principles are, in general, the most easy of access—tho’ my mind revolts at the very thought of my Presuming, Sir, to adopt an address of this Nature, yet I trust, Sir, your humanity and Benevolence, and the motives that impell me, will procure me Pardon and plead my apology.
Before I respectfully solicit, Sir, your kind attention to the purport of my address—it may not be improper to say something of the Person who most humbly, Sir, wishes to boast the honor of your patronage & favor. My relatives in Virginia, (Col: Kinchen Godwin, a Delegate from Nansemond County to Richmond)3 have disapproved my line of business before and since the War, (during which I serv’d as a Volunteer, in Georgia & South Carolina) relative to my going on the Stage. Concerned with young Dr. Ladd in his Poem call’d the Prospect of America, I have had in contemplation, Sir, (since his Death) a Grand Exhibition—that of all the Patriots, to be Portray’d in Transparent Painting (large as life) and to deliver Eulogiums on each Character, interspersed with Music, Intrumental & Vocal—
An Invitation, Sir, from Mr. Hallam to join the old American Company, occasion’d my coming to this City—4 I find he is at New York—a long expensive Journey, Sir, (attended by an unfortunate delay,—severe Sickness in my Family and the Death of my youngest Daughter) situates me sans any money.— and I cannot do any thing in the Public line, untill my Apparatus shall be ready—and it will be some weeks before the Comedians return hither— My Wife (a niece of Col. Charles Scott’s)5 and two Daughters, Sir, are with me—immediately necessitated, Sir, for a little money— I have, respectfully presumed to solicit the honor of assistance from the Benevolence of one of the First Characters of the United States— The Alleviation, Sir, would be great (for I am really distress’d & perplexed for a few dollars) but the reflection, Sir, of owing my Relief to the Bounty of such a Personage—would ever be the Proudest boast, of, / Sir, / your Excellencys, / most humble and / very obedient / Servant.
Jm. Verling Godwin,
RC (Adams Papers) internal address: “His Excellency John Adams—Vice-President—”; endorsed: “John Verling Goodwin / April 17th 1792.”
1. Ellipsis in MS.
2. James Verling Godwin, an itinerant dancer and actor, married Mary Scott on 30 Nov. 1791. Godwin quoted Joseph Brown Ladd, “The Prospect of America,” lines 91–92, 95–98, 115–116. Originally from Newport, R.I., Ladd (b. 1764) was a physician and budding poet who dedicated this poem to George Washington. Ladd was killed in a duel with New Haven lawyer Ralph Isaacs Jr. in 1786 (Brent H. Holcomb, comp., Marriages of Granville County, North Carolina, Baltimore, 1981, p. 125; Brooks McNamara, The American Playhouse in the Eighteenth Century, Cambridge, 1969, p. 74; W. B. Chittenden, The Literary Remains of Joseph Brown Ladd, M.D., N.Y., 1832, p. i, xx, xxiv; , 4:349).
3. Kinchen Godwin, of Nansemond County, Va., served in the state senate from 1793 to 1794 (, 1:177).
4. English actor Lewis Hallam Jr. (1740–1808) managed his family’s traveling theater troupe, best known as the American Company, from 1786 to 1797 (Don B. Wilmeth and Tice L. Miller, The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre, Cambridge, Eng., 1996, p. 182, entry on the Hallam family).