by James Traub
41“to sing your praises: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to Abigail Smith, October 1, 1785.
41“exceedingly severe upon the foibles: Elizabeth Smith Shaw to AA, February 14, 1786.
42“was rather peculiar: Shaw to AA, March 18, 1786.
42“has made persons suppose: Diaries, February 1, 1786.
42“A Gentleman, who is very severe: Abigail Smith to JQA, April 25, 1786.
42“Most of our damsels: Diaries, January 13, 1786.
43“You are admitted, Adams.”: Ibid., March 18, 1786.
43Undergraduates could be addressed: Samuel Eliot Morison, Harrison Gray Otis, 1765–1848: The Urbane Federalist (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1969), 34.
43The Harvard of 1786: The Harvard of this day is described in Robert McCaughey, Josiah Quincy, 1772–1864: The Last Federalist (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974), 14–16.
43“regarded the undergraduates: Ibid., 179.
43“Find out who are the best scholars: John Adams to JQA, June 3, 1786.
44He set himself the task: Diaries, February 15, 1787ff.
44“His genius is very good: Ibid., May 31, 1787.
44describes being constantly fined: Morison, Harrison Gray Otis, 37–38.
45“I took my Scissors: Elizabeth Cranch to AA, July 1, 1786.
45students often did their homework: Adams’ journal is itself one of the chief sources of information about Harvard at that time.
45at times Mr. Williams: Diaries, May 3, 1786.
45“Whether the immortality: Ibid., May 16, 1786.
46Samuel Adams, hero: David P. Szatmary, Shays’ Rebellion: The Making of An Agrarian Insurrection (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1980), 83.
46“Citizens,”: Diaries, September 7, 1786.
47“In arguing against equality,”: Ibid., September 26, 1786.
47“a popular Tyranny: AA to JQA, November 28, 1786.
47“The people,”: John Adams, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, Against the Attack of M. Turgot in His Letter to Dr. Price, Dated the Twenty-Second Day of March, 1778 (Philadelphia: Budd and Bartram, 1797).
47In fact, he told Abigail: AA to JQA, March 20, 1787.
47The rebellion burned through New England: Szatmary, Shays’ Rebellion, 106–114.
48“I could wish you: JQA to Thomas Boylston Adams, July 2, 1787.
48“It is not without many melancholy: Diaries, June 20, 1787.
49“Nature,”: Ibid., July 18, 1787.
50Both his aunts were struck: Elizabeth Smith Shaw to AA, July 22, 1787.
50“complimented and flattered: Columbian Magazine, July 1787.
CHAPTER 5: FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE (1788–1794)
51Theophilus Parsons was: Theophilus Parsons Jr., The Memoir of Theophilus Parsons (Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1859), 272ff.
51“universal skepticism”: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), November 7, 1787, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.
52“himself a law library,”: Ibid., November 26, 1787.
52“I felt a depression: Ibid., December 6, 1787.
52“similar to what affected: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to William Cranch, February 16, 1788, in L. H. Butterfield, Marc Friedlaender, Richard Alan Ryerson, and Margaret A. Hogan, eds., Adams Family Correspondence (AFC) (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963). All letters cited in this chapter are from AFC unless otherwise noted.
52He filled his diary: Diaries, January 10, 1788ff.
53“a youth about to enter: Ibid., September 5, 1788.
53“it was too far: Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams (hereafter AA), September 21, 1788.
54“He is determined: Lucy Cranch to AA, August 18, 1787.
54“I think I am on a way: Diaries, October 14, 1788.
55“As they are handsome: Ibid., August 13, 1788.
55“Three more months,”: JQA to William Cranch, April 7, 1790.
55“You may worship: Abigail Smith to JQA, June 6, 1790.
56“The partial gods: “A Vision,” 1790, in John Quincy Adams, Poems of Religion and Society (Buffalo, NY: Derby, 1853), 109–116.
56“a walk in the grove: Diaries, June 4, 1790.
56“all my hopes of future happiness: JQA to James Bridge, August 1790, in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
56“I will give you one piece: AA to JQA, August 20, 1790.
56“a certain Lady: Elizabeth Smith Shaw to AA, October 16, 1790.
56“are not such as can warrant: AA to JQA, November 7, 1790.
56“Letter from my mother.”: Diaries, November 13, 1790.
57“you have Brothers: JA to JQA, September 8, 1790.
58“Do you know a man: Charles Adams to JQA, November 7, 1790.
58Prostitution had become: See Barbara Mell Hobson, Uneasy Virtue: The Politics of Prostitution and the American Reform Tradition (New York: Basic Books, 1987), 11–15.
58“Mall. I got fortunately home.”: Diaries, September 3, 1792ff.
58“Miss Jones: Ibid., June 14, 1792.
58“four years of wretchedness”: Ibid., November 18, 1838.
59“No branch will: JQA to William Cranch, December 7, 1787.
60He visited President Washington: Diaries, February 1, 1791ff.
60“appears to have lost: AA to Mary Smith Cranch, March 12, 1791.
60“perseverance and fortitude.”: Diaries, April 2, 1791.
60“at least a respectable reputation.”: Ibid., May 16, 1791.
61Paine called for a “general Revolution”: Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man (New York: Dutton, 1951), 25ff.
61“America has less to fear: Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–87 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1969), 415.
61“that which a whole nation chuses: Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed., Writings of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Writings) (New York: Macmillan, 1913), vol. 1, 65–109.
62they provoked a response: Ibid., 65n.
62“There is more of method: Ibid., 66n.
62“the machines, Arts and Channels: JA to JQA, September 13, 1791.
62“700 men who looked: JQA to Thomas Boylston Adams, February 1, 1792.
63arguing in a published essay: Writings, vol. 1, 127–129.
63“my sentiments in general: JQA to JA, February 4, 1792, in Writings.
63“Democratic societies” sprang up: George C. Herring, From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 70–73.
63“the random violence: Cited in Robert Kagan, Dangerous Nation (New York: Knopf, 2006), 110.
64The imagery of Americans: Writings, vol. 1, 135–145, 148–175.
65“the result of the President’s: Samuel Flagg Bemis, John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy (New York: Norton, 1949), 39.
65“I had laid down: Diaries, June 3, 1794.
65Adams was noncommittal but reflected: Ibid., June 11, 1794.
65he sought a prior understanding: JQA to John Adams, July 27, 1794.
66“When it got out of sight,”: Diaries, September 17, 1794.
CHAPTER 6: I SHALL BE MUCH MISTAKEN IF HE IS NOT SOON FOUND AT THE HEAD OF THE DIPLOMATIQUE CORPS (1794–1795)
68Adams’ return to European soil: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), October 15, 1794, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.
68The French revolutionary army had attacked: See T. C. W. Blanning, The French Revolutionary Wars, 1787–1802 (London: Arnold, 1996), 135.
69“it will grant fraternity: Ibid., 101.
69“Disguise thyself: Diaries, March 17, 1795.
69He was, he felt: Ibid., January 18, 1795.
69“A state of lifeless imbecility: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to John Adams (hereafter JA), November 9, 1794, in Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed
., Writings of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Writings) (New York: Macmillan, 1913). All letters in this chapter are cited from Writings.
69The disease of dependence had seeped: Diaries, March 8, 1795.
69Patriotic clubs arose: JQA to Secretary of State Edmund Randolph, June 24, 1795.
70“Each of them too hastily: Diaries, February 3, 1795.
70“values himself much upon: Ibid., April 16, 1795.
70“a testimony from the first hand: Ibid., March 23, 1795.
71“We talked much: Ibid., March 12, 1795.
72With a commerce stagnated: JQA to JA, September 21, 1997.
72“the prophecy of Rousseau: JQA to JA, July 27, 1795.
73“natural boundaries”: Paul W. Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics, 1763–1848 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994), 113.
73“both parties entered: Ibid., 117.
74the two sides signed Jay’s Treaty: See Samuel Flagg Bemis, John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy (New York: Norton, 1949), 58–59.
74“the policy of the French: JQA to JA, May 22, 1795.
75“unquestionably the most intelligent: Uriah Tracy to Oliver Wolcott Sr., May 27, 1797.
76“I have no language: JA to JQA, April 26, 1795.
76“Mr. J Q Adams: George Washington to JA, August 20, 1795.
76“If resentment were a good: JQA to Daniel Sargent, October 12, 1795.
77“my imagination is apt: JQA to JA, June 24, 1796.
77he even wrote his father: JQA to JA, April 4, 1796.
77The Directory, he explained: JQA to JA, August 13, 1796.
78“Every hour of neutrality: JQA to Charles Adams, December 30, 1795.
78If Washington’s “system: JQA to Sylvanus Bourne, December 24, 1795.
78Washington warned: The text of George Washington’s Farewell Address is available online: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp.
CHAPTER 7: A YOUNG LADY OF FINE PARTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS (1795–1797)
79“Can a widowed heart: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to Abigail Adams (hereafter AA), November 17, 1795, in Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed., Writings of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Writings) (New York: Macmillan, 1913).
79she wrote back to say: AA to JQA, February 29, 1796, in Writings.
80“undeserved estimation: JQA to John Adams (hereafter JA), October 26, 1795, in Writings.
80“Minister Plenipotentiary,”: JQA to Lord Grenville, December 9, 1795, in Writings.
80“If I stay here: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), November 27, 1795, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.
81Soon he was spending every evening: Ibid., January 6, 1796ff.
81her anxiety about her mother’s origins: Thorough accounts of Louisa’s origins and upbringing are available in Margery M. Heffron, Louisa Catherine: The Other Mrs. Adams (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014), and in Michael O’Brien, Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2010).
82Louisa had grown up: Judith S. Graham, Beth Luey, Margaret Hogan, and James C. Taylor, eds., Diary and Autobiographical Writings of Louisa Catherine Adams (Boston: Belknap, 2013), vol. 1, 3ff.
82For that very reason: Ibid., vol. 1, 41.
82“Very agreeable evening,”: Diaries, January 27, 1796ff.
82“partial conversation with Louisa.”: Ibid., March 14, 1796.
83“demanded an explanation.”: Ibid., April 13, 1796.
83Adams was convinced: JQA to Louisa Catherine Adams (hereafter LCA), June 2, 1796, in Adams Papers Microfilm (hereafter APM), Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston.
83“Thus it was with me: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 41–42.
83“infinitely better suited: Diaries, June 4, 1796.
84“I was not formed: Ibid., June 30, 1796.
84He noted his daily schedule: Ibid.
84“I see you sitting: JQA to LCA, June 2, 1796, in APM.
85“Oh Philosophy,”: LCA to JQA, July 4, 1796, in APM.
85“you are now of an Age: JA to JQA, May 19, 1796, in APM.
85“I would hope for: AA to JQA, May 20, 1796, in APM.
85“She has none: JQA to AA, July 25, 1796, in APM.
85a prospect he broached: JQA to Charles Adams, June 9, 1796, in Writings.
85“For your own happiness,”: JQA to LCA, August 3, 1796, in APM.
85“erroneously supposed me: LCA to JQA, September 29, 1796, in APM.
86“it will not expose us: JQA to LCA, November 12, 1796.
86“You are still at a period: JQA to LCA, November 21, 1796, in APM.
86“a feeble ray of Hope”: LCA to JQA November 29, 1796, in APM.
86“an act of folly.”: JQA to Joshua Johnson (hereafter JJ), January 9, 1797, in APM.
86“you will be sensible: JQA to LCA, January 10, 1797, in APM.
86“astonished and mortified me: LCA to JQA, January 17, 1797, in APM.
87Many years later she admitted: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 44.
87“You imagine that I receive: JQA to LCA, February 7, 1797, in APM.
87“I shall soon: LCA to JQA, February 17, 1797, in APM.
87“acquiescence and obsequiousness: JQA to LCA February 12, 1797, in APM.
88“you may rest assured: JQA to AA, June 26, 1797, in APM.
88“The sentiments do honor: President George Washington to JA, February 20, 1797, in Writings.
89“totally contrary to every expectation: JQA to JA, July 22, 1797, in APM.
89Joshua had written to Adams: JJ to JQA, September 26, 1796, in APM.
89“We were married: Diaries, July 26, 1797.
89“You see I have really joined: JQA to William Vans Murray, August 4, 1797, in APM.
90“distressing scene.”: Diaries, September 8, 1797.
90“the most wretched moment: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 52.
90“worse then notting.”: Frederick Delius to JQA, September 29, 1797, in APM.
90“Find the affairs of Mr. J.: Diaries, October 9, 1797.
90“I am not the person: JQA to Delius, October 9, 1797, in APM.
91“something more than merely: JQA to JJ, October 11, 1797, in APM.
91she had urged Adams: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 50.
91“It was strict and rigid: Ibid., vol. 1, 51.
91“all confidence was destroyed: Ibid.
CHAPTER 8: PRESIDENT ADAMS’ POLITICAL TELESCOPE (1797–1801)
92“Almost sick myself,”: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), October 21, 1797, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.
93she recoiled from the commonness: Judith S. Graham, Beth Luey, Margaret Hogan, and James C. Taylor, eds., Diary and Autobiographical Writings of Louisa Catherine Adams (Boston: Belknap, 2013), vol. 1, 55.
93Berlin had gained a reputation: Giles MacDonogh, Berlin (New York: St. Martin’s, 1998), 86.
94“His disposition is martial: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to William Vans Murray (hereafter WVM) December 23, 1797, in Adams Papers Microfilm (APM), Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. All subsequent letters cited in this chapter are from APM unless otherwise noted.
94The city had a dizzyingly complicated: Diaries, December 8, 1797.
94“stiffness, coldness, formality: Ibid., January 6, 1798.
94Louisa, however, could hear: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 55.
94“list carpet,”: Ibid., vol. 1, 81.
95“The Queen,” she wrote: Ibid., vol. 1, 58.
95“a remarkably handsome: Ibid., vol. 1, 166n.
95whom he liked very much: Tom’s diary of the period sheds light on Louisa’s plight: Berlin and the Prussian Court in 1798: Journal of Thomas Boylston Adams, Secretary to the Uni
ted States Legation at Berlin (New York: New York Public Library, 1916).
95“a most lovely woman: Thomas Boylston Adams (hereafter TBA) to Abigail Adams (hereafter AA), September 10, 1797.
95“soothed me in my afflictions”: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 89.
96“The Queen,” she recalled: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 104–105.
96“walked boldly forward: Ibid., vol. 1, 144.
96In mid-1797 Napoleon had just completed: See Phillip G. Dwyer, Napoleon: The Path to Power (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007).
96“political telescope”: John Adams (hereafter JA) to JQA, June 2, 1797.
97“They are tearing up: JQA to JA, May 11, 1797.
97Adams had feared since: See JQA to Elbridge Gerry, November 26, 1797.
97most leading Federalists: See Peter Hill, William Vans Murray, Federalist Diplomat: The Shaping of Peace with France, 1797–1801 (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1971). For evidence of Pickering’s fear and hatred of France, see Gerard H. Clarfield, Timothy Pickering and the American Republic (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1969), 172–177.
98the “quasi-war” with France: See Alexander de Conde, The Quasi-War: The Politics and Diplomacy of the Undeclared War with France, 1797–1801 (New York: Scribner, 1966).
98“Is France to establish: JA to JQA, July 15, 1797.
99“such passages as you conceive: AA to William Cranch, January 19, 1798.
99“the experience of the last six years: JQA to JA, January 31, 1798, in Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed., Writings of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Writings) (New York: Macmillan, 1913).
100“must either bow down: JQA to WVM, July 22, 1798, in Writings.
100He even proposed to Secretary Pickering: JQA to Thomas Pickering, February 19, 1798, in Writings.
100Adams cautioned him: JQA to WVM, June 7, 1798, in Writings.
100within this atmosphere of war hysteria: de Conde, The Quasi-War, 74ff.
101he wrote a letter to his mother: JQA to AA, June 22, 1798, in Writings.
101“declared their desire: JQA to Thomas Pickering, June 18, 1798, in Writings.
101wrote to him immediately: JQA to WVM, October 2, 1798, in Writings.
101“a great and important change”: JQA to JA, September 25, 1798, in Writings.
101he wrote to Pickering: JQA to Pickering, October 6, 1798, in Writings.
