From John Adams to Benjamin Thompson, 11 November 1796
To Benjamin Thompson
Quincy near Boston November. 11th. 1796—
Sir
I have received the Letter you did me the Honor to write me from London, the twelfth of July, from the Hand of our mutual Friend Dr Walter with a Volume of your Essays, which I have read with great Pleasure.1 They are the Result of no less fertility of genius than benevolence of Heart.
I have also received the Volume which you desired might be presented to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, with the Profile of the Auther and the Letter in which you request the Academy to accept of Five Thousand Dollars in three PerCent Stock to be applied to particular Purposes.
All these I laid before the Academy on Wednesday of this Week; They were received with great sensibility for the favour and their Secretary Mr Pearson was directed to transmit you their Resolution expressing their Thanks, As no Stock was inclosed in those Letters and Paketts it was Supposed that you waited to hear from the Accademy, before you transmitted it and the Secretary will send you an Account of the Mode of transfering Stock which it was supposed might not have come to your knowledge.—
I beg you to accept of my Thanks for the elegant Present of a Volume of your Essays to me and to add my gratitude to that of the Accademy for your generous Proposal of a Donation to that Corperation.
I wish you every Success in your Career of doing good to Mankind and have the Honour to be with great Esteem for your Character your Countryman and / most humble Servant—
John Adams—
FC in AA2’s hand (Adams Papers); internal address: “Count Rumford—”
1. JA was reading the first installment of Thompson’s Essays, Political, Economical, and Philosophical, 4 vols., London, 1796–1798. A presentation copy inscribed by the author is in JA’s library at MB. Their mutual friend was Dr. Rev. William Walter (1737–1800), Harvard 1756, who served as rector of Christ Church, Boston, from 1792 until his death (; , 11:459).