Opening the text

Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution: with a Memoir of Mrs. AdamsAdams, John

History

Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution: with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams

Name: Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution: with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams
Author: Adams, John

Adams, John

Adams, Abigail, 1744-1818 -- Correspondence; Adams, John, 1735-1826 -- Correspondence; Presidents -- United States -- Correspondence

modesty as well as sense and spirit, which you will say is uncommon.

Mr. Jones and Doctor Hall are not yet arrived.

Mr. Henry is made a General in Virginia, and therefore could not come.
Mr. Pendleton and Colonel Bland excused themselves on account of age and
ill-health. Messrs. Nelson, Wythe, and Lee are chosen, and are here in
the stead of the other three. Wythe and Lee are inoculated. You shall
hear more about them. Although they come in the room of very good men,
we have lost nothing by the change, I believe. Remember me in the
tenderest language to all our little folks. I am yours.




62. JOHN ADAMS.


   Philadelphia, 1 October, 1775.

This morning I received your two letters, of 8 September and 16
September. What shall I say? The intelligence they contain came upon me
by surprise, as I never had the least intimation before that any of my
family was ill, excepting in a card from Mrs. Warren, received a few
days ago, in which she informed me that "Mrs. Adams had been unwell, but
was better."

You may easily conceive the state of mind in which I am at present.
Uncertain and apprehensive at first, I suddenly thought of setting off
immediately for Braintree, and I have not yet determined otherwise. Yet
the state of public affairs is so critical that I am half afraid to
leave my station, although my presence here is of no great consequence.

I feel, I tremble for you. Poor Tommy! I hope, by this time, however, he
has recovered his plump cheeks and his fine bloom. By your account of
Patty I fear, but still I will hope she has been supported, and is upon
the recovery. I rejoice to learn that Abby and her brothers have
hitherto escaped, and pray God that His goodness may be still continued
to them. Your description of the distressed state of the neighborhood is
affecting indeed. It is not uncommon for a train of calamities to come
together. Fire, sword, pestilence, famine, often keep company and visit
a country in a flock.

At this distance I can do no good to you or yours. I pray God to support
you. I hope our friends and neighbors are kind as usual. I feel for them
in the general calamity. I am so far from thinking you melancholy, that
I am charmed with that admirable fortitude and that divine spirit of
resignation which appear in your letters. I cannot express the
satisfaction it gives me, nor how much it contributes to support me.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution: with a Memoir of Mrs. AdamsAdams, John

History

Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution: with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams

Adams, John

Adams, Abigail, 1744-1818 -- Correspondence; Adams, John, 1735-1826 -- Correspondence; Presidents -- United States -- Correspondence

modesty as well as sense and spirit, which you will say is uncommon.

Mr. Jones and Doctor Hall are not yet arrived.

Mr. Henry is made a General in Virginia, and therefore could not come.
Mr. Pendleton and Colonel Bland excused themselves on account of age and
ill-health. Messrs. Nelson, Wythe, and Lee are chosen, and are here in
the stead of the other three. Wythe and Lee are inoculated. You shall
hear more about them. Although they come in the room of very good men,
we have lost nothing by the change, I believe. Remember me in the
tenderest language to all our little folks. I am yours.




62. JOHN ADAMS.


   Philadelphia, 1 October, 1775.

This morning I received your two letters, of 8 September and 16
September. What shall I say? The intelligence they contain came upon me
by surprise, as I never had the least intimation before that any of my
family was ill, excepting in a card from Mrs. Warren, received a few
days ago, in which she informed me that "Mrs. Adams had been unwell, but
was better."

You may easily conceive the state of mind in which I am at present.
Uncertain and apprehensive at first, I suddenly thought of setting off
immediately for Braintree, and I have not yet determined otherwise. Yet
the state of public affairs is so critical that I am half afraid to
leave my station, although my presence here is of no great consequence.

I feel, I tremble for you. Poor Tommy! I hope, by this time, however, he
has recovered his plump cheeks and his fine bloom. By your account of
Patty I fear, but still I will hope she has been supported, and is upon
the recovery. I rejoice to learn that Abby and her brothers have
hitherto escaped, and pray God that His goodness may be still continued
to them. Your description of the distressed state of the neighborhood is
affecting indeed. It is not uncommon for a train of calamities to come
together. Fire, sword, pestilence, famine, often keep company and visit
a country in a flock.

At this distance I can do no good to you or yours. I pray God to support
you. I hope our friends and neighbors are kind as usual. I feel for them
in the general calamity. I am so far from thinking you melancholy, that
I am charmed with that admirable fortitude and that divine spirit of
resignation which appear in your letters. I cannot express the
satisfaction it gives me, nor how much it contributes to support me.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution: with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams

Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution: with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams

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