John Quincy Adams went to Washington to attend th
inauguration of President James Madison on 4 March 1809.
Here is what he wrote about that day and March 6 in his Memoirs:
I went to the Capitol and witnessed the inauguration
of Mr. Madison as President of the United States.
The House was very much crowded,
and its appearance very magnificent.
He made a very short speech in a tone of voice so low
that he could not be heard, after which the official oath
was administered to him by the Chief Justice of the
United States, the four other judges of the
Supreme Court being present and in their robes.
After the ceremony was over,
I went to pay the visit of custom.
The company was received at Mr. Madison’s house;
he not having yet removed to the President’s house.
Mr. Jefferson was among the visitors.
The Court had adjourned until two o’clock.
I therefore returned to them at that hour.
Mr. Martin closed the argument in the cause of
Fletcher and Peck; after which the Court adjourned.
I came home to dinner, and in the evening went with
the ladies to a ball at Long’s in honor of the President.
The crowd was excessive—the heat oppressive
and the entertainment bad.
Mr. Jefferson was there.
About midnight the ball broke up.
6th. This morning while at breakfast, I received a note
from Mr. Madison, the new President, requesting me, as
I go up to the Capitol Hill, to call on him at his late residence
or at the President’s house; which I accordingly did.
He there informed me that he proposed to nominate me
to the Senate as Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia.
Mr. Jefferson had sent Mr. Short there last summer, but
on his nominating him the Senate rejected the nomination.
Mr. Madison said he had been informed the objection
was not to the mission, but to the man; that the
Emperor of Russia had so frequently and so strongly
urged a wish for an interchange of Ministers with this
country, that he, Mr. Madison, was very desirous of
complying with that inclination; that the commercial
relations between the two countries were important,
and that in this disposition of the Emperor, perhaps
some valuable advantages might be obtained.
He apologized for not having given me earlier notice
of this proposition, from the extraordinary pressure
of business which the recent occurrences had thrown
upon him; and observed that the nominations
must be sent in within the course of half an hour.
I thanked him for the confidence which was
indicated by this proposal, and enquired what
the particular objects of negotiation would be;
and at what time I should be required or expected to go.
He said that there would be no particular immediate
subject of negotiation, unless it should appear that
commercial arrangements of mutual benefit might be made,
but that if a negotiation for peace should ensue,
and the principles of maritime rights become
objects of the Treaty, the interests of the United States
might require their participation; that at least
it might be necessary to guard against any possible
combination of the two powers at war against us,
and that the cultivation of the Emperor of Russia’s
friendship might in this respect be very important.
He said that copies of Mr. Short’s instructions
would be furnished me, and such further
instructions as might occur as necessary.
That as to the time of my departure, it might be
as soon as my convenience would admit—
probably not under a month and perhaps more.
The salary and allowances would be those
usual to Ministers of the same rank.
I enquired what length of time
the mission would probably continue.
He said that was indefinite and might depend
upon events—perhaps three or four years.
I told him that, upon the little consideration
I was able to give the subject upon this sudden notice,
I could see no sufficient reason for refusing the nomination;
though from the circumstances the confirmation
by the Senate might be uncertain.
He again apologized for the shortness of the time
and said if upon further consideration, I should
perceive any insuperable obstacle to my acceptance,
or the confirmation of the appointment,
I might still reserve the right of finally declining.
On these grounds I consented that
the nomination should be made.
The report of the nominations was circulated
within an hour of the time when I went into court.
An important cause of the assignees
of Robert Bird was partly argued.
When I got home, I found all the nominations
known there also.
That of Mr. R. Smith, as Secretary of State,
was this day confirmed.
I spent the evening and till late at night in preparing for an
argument on the question of jurisdiction in the Courts of the
United States in cases to which corporations are parties.1
On 26 June 1809 President James Madison
sent this letter to the United States Senate:
June 26th, 1809. The considerations which led to
the nomination of a Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia
being strengthened by evidence, since received,
of the earnest desire of the Emperor to establish a
diplomatic intercourse between the two countries, and
of a disposition in his councils favorable to the extension
of a commerce mutually advantageous, as will be seen
by the extract from letters from General Armstrong and
Consul Harris, herewith confidentially communicated,
I nominate John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts
to be Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States
to the Court of St. Petersburg.2
At first the United States Senate opposed sending a mission to Russia,
and after some debate by a vote of 19 to 7 on June 27
they approved the mission led by John Quincy Adams.
On that day President James Madison sent this Commission to John Quincy Adams:
Reposing special Trust and Confidence in your Integrity,
prudence, and Ability, I have nominated and by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed
you the said John Quincy Adams, Minister Plenipotentiary
for the United States of America at the Court of His
Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia; authorizing
you hereby to do and perform all such matters and
things as to the said place or office does pertain,
or as may be duly given you in charge hereafter;
and the said Office to hold and exercise during the pleasure
of the President of the United States for the time being.3
Adams accepted the position to be the American Minister in Russia,
which had a salary of $9,000 per year.
He wrote in his Memoirs on July 5:
5th. I answered the Secretary of State’s letter
enclosing the commission and accepted the office.
It is with a deep sense of the stormy and dangerous
career upon which I enter, of the heavy responsibility
that will press upon it, and of the unpromising
prospect which it presents in perspective.
My personal motives for staying at home are
of the strongest kind: the age of my parents and the
infancy of my children both urge to the same result.
My connection with the college is another strong tie,
which I break with great reluctance;
and by refusing the office I should promote
my personal popularity more than by accepting it.
In my own opinion also I would do more for the public
service in a private station than abroad upon this mission.
To oppose all this, I have a duty of a citizen to obey the call
of his country signified by the regular constituted authority;
the satisfaction of being removed, at least for a time
and with honor from a situation where the deepest
retirement has not sheltered me from the most virulent
and unrelenting persecution, and the vague hope of
rendering to my country some important service, as
intended by the mission; finally, the desire to justify
the confidence reposed by Mr. Madison in me, and by
devoting all my powers to the support of his administration,
so far as it shall aim, as I am perfectly convinced
it does and will aim, at the welfare of the whole Union.
These are my motives—and I implore the blessing of
Almighty God upon this my undertaking; that all its
critical moments may find me in possession of myself—
in possession of the virtues which contribute all that human
power can contribute to success, and prepared alike for
whatever event his Providence destines for its termination.
Finally, with the profoundest sense of gratitude for
that goodness which has so far rescued from its
perils my beloved country, and from perils not
less menacing my own person and reputation with the
people of America, I humbly ask, from perfecting goodness,
for the extrication of my country from her difficulties and
dangers, and for myself the continued consciousness of
purity in my motives, and, so far as it has been or may
be deserved, the approbation of my countrymen.4
John Quincy Adams resigned his teaching position at Harvard College
in early July and gave a farewell lecture at the end of July that concluded:
When the moralists, the poets, and the orators
of every age shall be the immediate objects of our regard;
let us in the visions of memory behold one another
engaged in the same celestial colloquy sublime.
Let us think of one another as
fellow-students in the same pursuit.
Let us remember the pleasant hours in which we have
trod together this path of wisdom and honor; and if at
that moment the sentiment of privation should darken the
retrospect, may it be your consolation, as it will be mine,
that the only painful impression which resulted from our
intercourse arises from its cessation; as the only regret,
with which the remembrance of you can ever be associated,
is that which I now experience in bidding you FAREWELL!5
Volume II of his Memoirs of John Quincy Adams began with Chapter VII
“The Mission to Russia” which takes up
the first 497 pages covering to 31 July 1813.
The first page begins with this poem he wrote:
Eternal Spirit! Ruler of the Skies!
From whom all good and perfect gifts arise,
Oh! Grant that while this feeble hand portrays
The fleeting image of my earthly days,
Still the firm purpose of my heart may be
Good to mankind, and gratitude to thee!
And while the page a true resemblance bears
Of all my changes through a life of cares,
Let not one worthless deed here claim a place,
To stain the future, or the past disgrace,
Nor yet one thought the faithful record swell
But such a virtue may delight to tell.
Then Adams wrote,
Saturday, August 5th, 1809.
At noon this day I left my house at the corner of Boylston
and Nassau Streets in Boston accompanied by my wife,
my youngest child, Charles Francis, my wife’s sister,
Catherine Johnson, my nephew and private secretary,
William Steuben Smith, Martha Godfrey, who attends
my wife as her chambermaid, and a black man named
Nelson, to embark on a voyage to Russia, charged
with a commission as Minister Plenipotentiary from
the United States of America to that Court.6
On 16 August 1809 John Quincy Adams in a letter
to William Plumer wrote this long sentence:
The spirit of party has become so inveterate and so virulent
in our country, it has so totally absorbed the understanding
and the heart of almost all the distinguished men among us,
that I, who cannot cease to consider all the individuals of
both parties as my countrymen, who can neither approve
nor disapprove in a lump either of the men or the measures
of either party, who see both sides claiming an exclusive
privilege of patriotism, and using against each other
weapons of political warfare which I never can handle,
cannot but cherish that congenial spirit, which has
always preserved itself pure from the infectious
vapors of faction, which considers temperance
as one of the first political duties, and which can
perceive a very distinct shade of difference between
political candor and political hypocrisy.
It affords me constant pleasure to recollect
that the history of our country has fallen
into the hands of such a man.
For as impartiality lies at the bottom of all historical truth,
I have often been not without my apprehensions,
that no true history of our times would appear at least
in the course of our age; that we should have nothing
but federal histories, or republican histories,
New England histories, or Virginia histories.
We are indeed not overstocked with men
capable even of this, who have acted
a part in the public affairs of our nation.
But of men who unite both qualifications, that of having had
a practical knowledge of our affairs, and that of possessing
a mind capable of impartiality in summing up the merits of
our government, administrations, oppositions and people;
I know not another man with whom I have ever had the
opportunity of forming an acquaintance, on the correctness
of whose narrative I should so implicitly rely.
Such a historian, and I take delight in the belief,
will be a legislator without reading constituents.
You have so long meditated on your plan, and so much
longer upon the duties of man in society, as they apply
to the transactions of your own life, that I am well assured
your work will carry a profound political moral with it.
And I hope, though upon this subject I have had
no hint from you, which can ascertain that your view
of the subject is the same as mine, but I hope
that moral of your history will be the indissoluble
union of the North American continent.
The plan of a New England combination more closely
cemented than by the general ties of the federal
government, a combination first to rule the whole,
and if that should prove impracticable, to separate
from the rest, has been so far matured, and has
engaged the studies, the intrigues and the ambitions
of so many leading men in our part of the country,
that I think it will eventually produce mischievous
consequences, unless seasonably and effectually
discountenanced by men of more influence
and of more comprehensive views.
To rise upon a division system is unfortunately
one of the most obvious and apparently easy courses,
which plays before the eyes of individual
ambition in every section of the Union.
It is the natural resource of all the small statesmen
who, feeling like Caesar, and finding that Rome
is too large an object for their grasp, would
strike off a village where they might aspire to the
first station without exposing themselves to derision.
This has been the most powerful operative impulse upon
all the divisionists, from the first Kentucky conspiracy down
to the negotiations between Massachusetts, Connecticut,
and New Hampshire, of the last winter and spring.
Considered merely as a purpose of ambition,
the great objection against this scheme is its littleness.
Instead of adding all the tribes of Israel to Judah and
Benjamin, like David, it is walking in the ways
of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel
to sin by breaking off Samaria from Jerusalem.
Looking at it in reference to moral considerations,
it is detestable, as it certainly cannot be
accomplished by open and honorable means.
The abettors are obliged to discover their real
designs to affect others to practice continual deception,
and to work upon the basest materials the selfish
and dissocial passions of their instruments.
Politically speaking, it is injudicious
as it is contracted and dishonorable.
The American people are not prepared for disunion,
far less so than these people imagine.
They will continue to resist and defeat every attempt
of that character, as they uniformly have done, and such
projects will still terminate in the ruin of their projectors.
But the ill consequences of this turbulent spirit will be to
keep the country in a state of constant agitation, to embitter
the local prejudices of fellow-citizens against each other,
and to diminish the influence which we ought to have,
and might have, in the general councils of the Union.
To counteract the tendency of these partial
and foolish combinations, I know nothing so likely
to have a decisive influence as historical works,
honestly and judiciously executed.
For if the doctrine of union were a new one,
now first to be inculcated, our history would
furnish the most decisive arguments in its favor.
It is no longer the great lesson to be learned,
but the fundamental maxim to be confirmed,
and every species of influence should be exerted by all
genuine American patriots, to make its importance more
highly estimated and more unquestionably established.
I should have been glad to see a little more of this
tendency in Marshall’s Life of Washington, than I did find.
For Washington was emphatically
the man of the whole Union, and I see a
little too much of the Virginian in Marshall.
Perhaps it was unavoidable, and perhaps you will find it
equally impossible to avoid disclosing the New England man.
I have enough of that feeling myself most ardently to wish,
that the brightest examples of a truly liberal and
comprehensive American political system
may be exhibited by New England men.7
On August 31 under the title “Letters to My Children” he wrote,
It is only in a qualified sense that we can admit that
“all the world’s a stage, and all the
men and women merely players.”
But thus far it is admissible, and may be useful;
that you should each of you consider yourself as placed
here to act a part—that is, to have some single great end
or object to accomplish, towards which all the views and
all the labors of your existence should steadily be directed.
The generality of mankind are under little
embarrassment in fixing upon this purpose of existence.
Since the sentence upon our first parent, that he should
live by the sweat of his brow, toil has been the ordinary
price of subsistence, and the labor of a man’s life
is appropriated by providence to its own support.
At the entrance upon the threshold of life your
principal concern will be to procure to yourself the
supply of your wants, and this may be sufficient
for the exercise of all your faculties.
If successful in this, as you advance on the stage
your relations with human society will multiply.
One of the laws of nature requires that after having enjoyed
the blessing of existence yourself, you should perform your
part in communicating the same blessing to others.
He also wrote on that day,
Besides the immediate family, with the support of which
the individual is charged under the primary law of
self-preservation, there are remoter domestic relations—
relations of good neighborhood, of friendship,
of patriotism, and of philanthropy, which bind in
looser ties every individual to his fellow-creatures.
These are not only reconcilable with those primary
obligations of duty which mark out the objects of existence,
but are in many respects inseparable from them.
The good offices of social benevolence depend much
in their application upon the circumstances in which
the individual is placed, and are modified by them.
There are also the duties of a citizen to his country,
which are binding upon all, and more forcibly binding
in a republican government than in any other.
The principle of all other governments supposes that
the great interests of the community are, by the
operation of certain institutions, exclusively, or at least
principally committed to a certain number of individuals,
and that the duties of all others towards the body politic
are a burden which they may decline,
or which perhaps they are forbidden to assume.
But upon the republican principle, every individual
has a stake, an interest, and a voice in the common
stock of society, and consequently lies under the
obligation of attending to and promoting that
common interest to the utmost of his power,
compatibly with the discharge of his more immediate
duties of self-preservation and preservation of his kind.
These duties of self-preservation and philanthropy may
become predominant, and indicate the very object of
existence when the primary obligations are discharged
already at a man’s hands, or so facilitated as no longer to
employ a material portion of the individual’s toil and time.
When by the success of his own exertions, or by the
exuberance of prosperity inherited from his fathers, the
first necessary object of existence has been accomplished,
the obligation upon the individual is by his own voluntary
act to substitute another object for his pursuit.
One of the reasons why the rich, the great, and the
prosperous appear in such unfavorable colors is, that not
possessing the understanding to select, the spirit to assume,
or the perseverance to effect any such steady object of
pursuit, they pass their lives in idleness, or in
dishonorable occupations—mere burdens of
human society, mere cumberers of the ground.
And as employment is necessary, both to the body
and mind of man, none being provided for them,
and they being under a moral incapacity to provide
any for themselves, their existence is as burdensome
to themselves as it is useless to others.8
Adams in the last portion under 31 August 1809 suggested
the following five principles for your choice of purpose:
1. Let the chosen object of your existence be such as
naturally will engraft itself upon the necessary one—
such as may have within itself a capacity of expansion
and contraction, according to the good or ill success
which may attend its pursuit….
2. In selecting a specific branch of art or science
for your peculiar assiduity of cultivation,
do not waste too much time in deliberation.
Let your choice be made coolly, but let it not be
postponed from year to year until the chance
of choice or the leisure of pursuit shall be lost.
3. To guide your choice, consult your
own genius with the spirit of enquiry,
and if possible with the judgment of impartiality.
Consult your friends, if friends you have capable
of estimating the importance of the object and the
considerations which ought to influence your decision.
Discard, unless you have a very clear and forcible vocation,
the abstract sciences, because they are much more
difficult to be made practically useful to others
by any use that you can make of them.
Discard the mechanical arts, because the exercise
of them can scarcely ever be made pleasing to
yourself or of any important advantage to others.
The physical sciences, natural history, astronomy, ethics,
oratory, and poetry, with all the varieties of polite literature,
may divide your attention, and the accidents of life
as they occur may point you more particularly to
any one subordinate division for that extraordinary
toil and care of cultivation which a thrifty and
industrious farmer would bestow upon his garden.
4. Accustom yourself to meditate and to write upon
the subjects to which you devote your special attention.
Writing, say Lord Bacon, makes a correct man.
Reflect upon what you read, and converse upon the
topic of your enquiry with those who understand it best.
Methodize your studies and form some general plan upon
which you can resume or lay aside any particular study
without retarding or arresting your general pursuit.
5. Finally, let the uniform principle of your life,
the “frontlet between your eyes” be how to make
your talents and your knowledge most beneficial
to your country and most useful to mankind.9
In a letter to his children on 18 September 1809 John Quincy Adams wrote,
Take it, then, as a general principle to be observed
as one of the directing impulses of life that you must
have some one great purpose of existence …
to make your talents and your knowledge most
beneficial to your country and most useful to mankind.
On September 26 John Quincy wrote in his Memoirs about incidents
involving Danes on a ship that was near the castle of Cronenberg:
I went to bed last night between eleven and twelve
o’clock; but with some uneasiness upon my mind,
on finding that the captain supposed our engagement
not to break the blockade included a promise
not to stop at Elsineur to pay the usual Sound duties,
unless we should be taken and carried in.
I had understood that we should not go into
any port of Zealand for purposes of trade,
but only pass in the customary manner.
I went to sleep but waked again in less than half an hour,
with a weight and restlessness which
would not leave me quiet for repose.
I got up, went and waked the captain, and had
more than an hour’s conversation with him,
the result of which left me still in much anxiety.
I knew that my intention was not to engage
anything in violation of Danish laws,
but only no violation of the blockade.
Nor should I suppose it possible that the
admiral meant to ask anything more of us.
But as the captain seemed to think at least
that we must attempt to pass the castle of Cronberg,
unless a gun should be fired to bring us to, I felt under
much concern, lest we might get into some difficulty
by his misunderstanding of our engagement.
I was desirous that he should go on board the admiral’s ship
again and ask an explanation; and if it should be so that the
admiral meant to allow us to pass only on the condition of
our violating the laws of the territory within which we were
to pass, I would still not accept the permission, but turn
back at all hazards, and go round through the Belt.
After this conversation, and referring until the morning
whether the captain should go to ask this explanation,
I was again about retiring to bed, when the captain
went upon deck and found that the ship was adrift,
bearing down direct upon the man-of-war, and
within a mile of her—the wind at the same time
blowing very fresh.
A second anchor, a small one, was then cast,
which but partially arrested the ship.
This continued until about nine o’clock in the morning,
when she stopped.
It was fair for our progress, but we could not weigh anchor,
from the danger of drifting on shore.
About three in the afternoon she began to drift again, when
we threw out the third and last anchor, a very heavy one.
We had drifted within the ship’s length of a large brig,
whose bowsprit threatened our cabin windows all
the afternoon and evening; and we were within a
quarter of a mile of the shore and a reef of rocks.
At the approach of night I was anxious for a boat
from the shore to send the ladies and child on shore,
for which purpose a signal was made
at the main-mast-head; but no boat came out.
Shortly before sunset a boat from the British
man-of-war came on board with a lieutenant
who gave some advice to our captain.
He told him that one good anchor would hold
better than three, and recommended to him, in case
the wind should change, to cut his cables and go out.
He returned on board his ship.
The night came on with a prospect of foul weather,
which, however, cleared off about midnight.
The wind then changed and continued
freshening until the morning.10
On 29 September 1809 Quincy Adams wrote this in his Memoirs:
The French Abbé was the first man I have met
in Europe who appears to have much information
of the state of public affairs, and the first who
spoke of them without extreme reserve.
He told us many circumstances relating to the
confinement of the late King of Sweden, and
the embarrassment of the present Government
to determine what they should do with him.
He asked permission to retire to a society
of the Moravian fraternity, which he formerly
visited in Holstein; which was refused.
A proposition had been made that he should
be allowed to reside in Switzerland; but the
consent of the Swiss could not be obtained.
The present Swedish administration had applied to the
opposition party in England, to propose that he might
have an asylum in England; but the opposition had refused.
He was now on a small island;
under no other confinement, and his family with him.
The Duke of Sudermania is king, and the Prince of Holstein
and Norway, to whom the succession to the crown
has been offered, has accepted it, to take effect
after peace concluded between Sweden and Denmark.
That between Russia and Sweden is already concluded,
of which a handbill from Copenhagen gave us information—
Russia to keep Finland,
and Sweden to join in the continental system.
While at table, Mr. Ellah received newspapers by the mail.
The Hamburg papers contain an account of our sailing
from Boston, and the President’s proclamation of 9th August,
renewing the non-intercourse with Great Britain.
The Abbé told us of a curious mode of warfare
practiced here last winter against Sweden.
For about thirty days successively, one or two balloons
were sent up every day from the castle of Cronberg,
to descend upon the Swedish coast, and loaded with
copies of a printed inflammatory address to the
Swedish nation, instigating them to revolt against their
then sovereign, and urgently recommending to them
the extraordinary virtues of the King of Denmark.
They produced, however, as he says, no effect,
having immediately excited the attention of the
Swedish police, which easily procured and
suppressed all the papers that came to land.11
The Adams Memoirs go on at length about similar
difficulties on September 27, 29, and 30.
His writing on the 30th begins with this:
The captain and his companions returned
from Copenhagen this morning about six o’clock.
He brought me two letters from the Americans
there detained, entreating me to come there, which
they thought might contribute to obtain relief for them.
The wind being directly ahead, so that the ship cannot
now sail, I determined to go and hear what they desired,
see Mr. Saabye, and leave with him a representation
to be presented to the Danish Government.
I went on board the ship; took with me the articles
and papers necessary for my journey, returned to
the shore, and about one in the afternoon set off
with Mr. Smith in a post coach for Copenhagen.
A Danish gentleman, who told us he had himself
engaged the carriage, asked if we had any objection
to his taking a seat with us, which we readily gave him.
The distance is six Danish miles of fifteen to a degree,
or about twenty-eight English statute miles.
We rode it in five hours and landed at what is called
the English Hotel in the great square at Copenhagen—
kept by Rau and Schmeter—about six in the evening.
Our Danish companion here left us.
He told us he was a student in the University of
Copenhagen, and at the same time a lawyer;
that in this university there are about six hundred students
in the three learned professions, but chiefly the law.
He informed us of the names of the several places
through which we passed—Amsterdam, Hersholm, and
Lyng-bye—and pointed to us in the Sound the island of
Hueen, where he says, Tycho Brahe resided and made his
observations from a town, the ruins of which are still extant.
The island now belongs to Sweden.12
Their ship reached Kronstad in the Gulf of Finland
opposite St. Petersburg on October 23.
Adams asked Tsar Alexander to help get back American ships that had been
captured by Denmark, and the Tsar was able to get the U. S. ships that were
held at Holstein that Americans claimed were worth over $2 million.
Adams in his Diary wrote about how the US Consul Levett Harris
guided him on October 25 and November 2:
Oct. 25. — This morning Mr. Harris sent a note to the
High Chancellor of the Empire, Count Romanzoff, informing
him of my arrival, and of my wish to visit him, enquiring at
what time it would be agreeable to him to receive this visit.
He appointed seven o’clock this evening.
Mr. Harris dined with us, and at seven this evening
went with me to the Chancellor’s.
We went according to the customary style in full dress.
The Count received us with courtly state and politeness.
He asked for a copy of my credential letter,
which I gave him with a French translation.
He said that the Emperor was now indisposed
with an inflammation in both his legs,
which confined him to a seat on the sofa,
but he would be up again in the course of a few days.
Nov. 2. — Mr. Harris called again and
passed a couple of hours with us in the evening.
He also sent me a Russian and French dictionary
and grammar, from which I began the attempt
to learn the characters of the Russian alphabet.
Among the peculiarities of this country with which
it will be proper to become more conversant are the
stoves, the kitchens, the double windows, the
construction of the houses generally, and the drosskys.
These and other things will be the subjects
of more particular future observation.13
On 5 November 1809 John Quincy Adams described in the Memoirs
this meeting he had with the Emperor Alexander I of Russia:
At ten minutes past one, according to the
appointment of M. de Maisonneuve, I went to the
Imperial Palace, and at about two was conducted
by him to the entrance of the Emperor’s cabinet,
the door of which was opened, and at which he stopped.
I entered and found the Emperor alone.
As I stepped forward, he advanced to me
near to the door, and said in French,
“Monsieur, je suis charmé d’avoir le Plaisir de vous voir ici.”
I then presented to him my credential letter,
addressing him in French, said that in delivering it,
I was charged to add that the President of the
United States hoped his Imperial Majesty would consider
the mission as a proof of the President’s respect for his
Majesty’s person and character, of his desire to multiply
and to strengthen the relations of friendship and commerce
between his Majesty’s provinces and the United States,
and of grateful acknowledgment for the frequent
testimonials of good will which his Majesty on many
occasions had given towards the United States.
He replied by desiring me to assure the President of
the United States that this new addition to the relations
between the two countries gave him great pleasure; that
in everything that depended upon him he should be happy
to contribute towards increasing the friendly intercourse
between them; that with regard to the political relations of
Europe, and those unhappy disturbances which agitated its
different states, the system of the United States was wise
and just, and they might rely upon it he would do nothing
to withdraw them from it; that the Continent of Europe was
now in a manner pacified, and that the only obstacle to a
general pacification was the obstinate adherence of England
to a system of maritime pretensions which was neither
liberal nor just; that the only object now to be attained by
the war was to bring England to reasonable terms on this
subject, and that she could no longer flatter herself with
any support for her system upon the Continent; that Austria,
after abandoning herself to inconsiderate counsels,
and disregarding the advice which he had given her
(qu’on li avoit donné), had now been obliged to make peace,
and to sacrifice several of her provinces; that Austria was
thus not in a condition to renew the contest; that the King of
Prussia was in a situation to make peace equally necessary
to him, that he himself was convinced that the good of his
empire, and of Europe, was best promoted by a state of
peace and friendship between Russia and France, whose
views, he believed, from the assurance of that Government,
were not at all directed to the conquest of England, but
merely to make her recognize the only fair and equitable
principles of neutral navigation in time of war; that the
only danger to England from the establishment of those
principles would be that France might be enabled, in
consequence of them, to form and maintain again a
large navy; but this could be no justification for England’s
maintaining a system oppressive and destructive to the
fair and lawful commerce of other nations; that the
establishment of this just system of maritime rights
was the purpose of France, “and as for me, I shall
adhere invariably to those which I have declared.
I am sensible that it subjects us to inconvenience;
that the people suffer privations and some
distress under the present state of things.
But the English maxims are much more intolerable,
and, if submitted to, would be permanent.”…
He said that as between Russia and the United States
there could be no interference of interests and no
causes of disunion; but that by means of commerce
the two states might be greatly useful to each other,
and his desire was to give the greatest extension
and facility to these means of mutual benefit….
I told him that I had been in Russia formerly, and had
passed a winter at St. Petersburg during the reign of the
Empress Catherine; that I had then admired the city as
the most magnificent I had ever seen, but that I scarcely
knew it again now; that the two principal cities in population
of my country were New York and Philadelphia, the latter
of which had been founded by the celebrated Quaker Penn,
of whom his Majesty had certainly heard; that the
inhabitants in each of these two cities were now about
one hundred thousand; that they were both elegant
cities with handsome buildings three or four stories high
for the most part and forming handsome and convenient
dwelling-houses suitable to the citizens of a republic,
but which in point of splendor and magnificence could
not vie with the buildings of St. Petersburg, which to
the eye of a stranger appeared like a city of princes.14
On 15 November 1809 John Quincy in his Memoirs wrote about
his conversation on commerce with Count Romanzoff:
I told him that the great and only object desirable to the
United States was that to which they were entitled by right,
Freedom to their commerce—freedom of admission and
departure for ships—freedom of purchase and sale for
goods; the more completely they could obtain this,
the better; that in the restrictions upon them, I thought
the proceedings both of England and France unjust and
impolitic; and was persuaded that the more liberal system
established under his auspices by Russia was not only of
great advantage to both countries, but would very much
increase the commerce already existing between them.
He told me also, among other things, that Colonel Burr,
now at Gottenburg, had applied for a passport to come to
Petersburg; which had been refused him, unless
it should be regularly applied for under the sanction
of the representative of his country at this Court.
He spoke of the British Ministry, and asked
my opinion of the persons composing it.
I told him he must be infinitely better acquainted
with them than I was; which, however, he did not admit,
alleging that he had but lately entered upon the
department of foreign affairs, and before that time
had purposely avoided any particular attention
to the composition of foreign Governments.
I told him that I heard Lord Bathurst was
appointed the Secretary of State for the
foreign department in the room of Mr. Canning.15
Charles Bathurst had replaced Canning as Foreign Secretary in October,
and Adams admitted that he had heard little about Bathurst, who was
President of the Board of Trade from April 1807 to September 1812.
Adams told Romanzoff that the current opposition was being led by
“Lord Grenville and Lord Howick” and that he did not
“expect anything better from them than from the others.”
He noted that Grenville had “always been a strenuous asserter of the
English pretensions” and that he had opposed the “Treaty with Russia in 1801.”
On 8 January 1810 the diplomate Adams in St. Petersburg wrote in his Diary:
Jan. 8, 1810.— At supper I sat next to Count Czernicheff,
a young officer about twenty-five years old,
who has been repeatedly sent by the Emperor
in special missions about the person of the
Emperor of Austria and of the Emperor of France.
He has been during the whole of the last campaign
with Napoleon, and in his immediate family—constantly
the companion of his table and sleeping in his tent.
He told me he had been present at eight pitched battles,
among which were those of Eylan,
Friedland, Essling, and Wagram.
That of Essling, he said, was totally lost, “mais grandement,”
by the French, and that it was entirely the fault of
the Austrians that they did not take advantage of it.
He said that the military reputation of the Archduke Charles
was irretrievably lost, and that all the present
misfortunes were imputable to him almost alone.
He told me several particulars
relating personally to Napoleon.
I asked him if he was subject to the epilepsy.
He hesitated about answering, but finally said, as if fearful
anybody might hear, he said, “il a la galle rentrée.”
He added that he slept little, waked often in the night
and would rise in his bed, speak, give some order,
and then go to sleep again.
The Duke de Mondragone told me it was
not certain whether he was to marry a
Princess of Saxony or of this country.16
On 14 February 1810 John Quincy Adams wrote in a
letter to his brother Thomas Boylston Adams:
There is not a Republic left in Europe.
The very name of the people is
everywhere buried in oblivion.
In England, the great concerns upon which
all the passions of the Country concentrate
themselves, are intrigues and cabals of
princes and Ministers to supplant one another,
and the prices of seats at the playhouse.
In France, and the rest of Europe, king-making
and king breaking, orders of chivalry, and dissolutions
of Marriage princesses, and Jacobin grubs, bursting into
butterfly Princes, Dukes and Counts, conscriptions and
contributions, famine grinding the people into soldiers.
Soldiers sprouting into Sultans; fifty or sixty upstarts
wallowing in more than opiatic luxury, and an
icon hazzon tearing up the bowels of the Nations.
This is the present history of the Times.17
John Quincy Adams on May 23 wrote in his Diary:
May 23. — There is a custom of visiting annually
the Fortress of St. Petersburg this day,
the occasion of which I have not heard.
I thought I had not the time to spare and did not go.
Mr. Harris called upon me this afternoon and told me
he was informed that General Armstrong had left Paris.
The French Ambassador gave this evening a splendid ball,
on occasion of the marriage of the Emperor Napoleon.
It was attended by the Emperor and imperial family.
The hotel was elegantly illuminated,
as were those of General Pardo, Count Bussche,
Mr. Six, the Chevalier de Bray, and Mr. Brancia,
the Chargé d’Affaires of Naples.
As the imperial family were at the hall,
it was necessary to go early.
We went at nine o’clock, but it was daylight as at noon,
so that the illumination made scarcely any show at all.
It was past two in the morning when the Count retired,
after which we immediately came home.
It was then again broad daylight,
and by the time I got to bed, almost sunrise.
At midnight it scarcely could be called dark.
The Emperor was gracious to everybody, even beyond
his usual custom, which is remarkable for affability.
He asked Mr. Harris to show him where Mrs. Adams sat,
and danced a polonaise with her; and afterwards
one with Catherine Johnson, a circumstance the
more noticed, as she has not been presented at Court.
He enquired of me whether I had taken a walk this day,
and on my answering that I had,
he observed that he had not met me.
He said that the difference of my looks in the street,
without a wig, from that in which he had usually seen me,
had been the cause that the first time he had met me,
he did not recognize me.18
On 25 June 1810 Adams wrote in his Diary:
June 25.— Mr. Montreal offered me any money
for which I might have occasion, to be
drawn for at my own convenience.
Mr. Harris made me the same obliging offer
immediately after my first arrival here.
Under these circumstances in which I find myself here,
it is difficult to resist the opportunities thus presented
for anticipating upon my regular income;
but I find myself here, it is difficult to resist the
opportunities thus presented for anticipating upon
my regular income; but I am determined to do it.
The whole experience of my life has been one
continual proof of the difficulty with which a man
can adhere to the principle of living within his income—
the first and most important principle of private economy.
From the moment of July 1790, when I commenced
my career as a man, until the close of 1793,
I was enabled to accomplish this purpose only
by the assistance of small supplies from my father.
I had then acquired the means of maintaining myself.
In 1794 I was sent to Europe, and until my marriage
in 1797, kept more easily within my bounds
than at any preceding or subsequent period.
Since I have had a family, I have kept steady
to the principle, but at the price of uncommon
sacrifices of consideration and a reputation which,
in the spirit of this age, economy cannot escape.
In this country beyond all others, and in my situation
more than any other, the temptations to excess
in expense amount almost to compulsion.
I have withstood them hitherto, and hope for
firmness of character to withstand them in future.
I declined with thanks Mr. Montreal’s kind offer,
as I had that of Mr. Harris.19
On August 8 Adams gave advice to Count Ramonzoff about the French Empire:
Aug. 8.— I was engaged unavoidably until the instant
when by appointment I was to call upon Count Romanzoff.
I told him that setting aside all official character and
responsibility and speaking merely as an individual
speculating upon public affairs I should give to his
Excellency was, as soon as possible to convince the French
Government that the Continental system, as they called it,
and as they managed it, was promoting to the utmost
extent the views of England; was, instead of impairing her
commerce, securing to her that of the whole world;
and was pouring into her lap the means of continuing the
war, just as long as her Ministers should think is expedient.
But I said that I could hardly conceive that
the Emperor Napoleon was so blind as not
to have made this discovery already.
Three years’ experience with the effects
of it becoming every day more flagrant,
had made the inference too clear and unquestionable.
The Emperor Napoleon with all his power could neither
control the elements nor the passions of mankind.
He had found that his own brother could not,
and would not carry his system into execution,
and finally had cast at his feet the crown he had given him,
rather than continue to be his instrument there any longer.
That country was now united to France; but the trade
with England would be carried on as before, and the only
difference would be an increase of contribution to pay
some more French custom-house officers.20
In 1810 J. Q. Adams published from Boston his Lectures on
Rhetoric and Oratory Delivered to the Senior and Junior Sophisters
in Harvard University in two volumes in which he wrote,
If our nominal independence of France rested upon
no other foundation of power than the navy of England,
the consequence would be that we should
again be under the domination of England.
Her argument would be that in all reason we
ought to contribute our share to support the expense
of protecting us and we should soon be called upon
for our contribution of men as well as money.
On October 11 Adams wrote about his encounter
with the Russian Emperor in his Memoirs:
Oct. 11. — As I was walking on the Mall
in front of the Admiralty, I met the Emperor,
who stopped and spoke to me.
He said the autumn had been finer than the summer.
“But as to the summer,” said he, “we have had none.
You must have a terrible opinion of our climate.”
I said that as long as one enjoyed good health,
all climates might be rendered agreeable.
“You have a countryman arrived, I hear, said his Majesty.
“Yes, Sire; Mr. Jones,” said he;
“an acquaintance, I am told of Mr. Poinsett’s.”
Yes, Sire; Mr. Poinsett carried home with him such
agreeable ideas of his visit to Russia, that he inspired
Mr. Jones with the desire of visiting the same country.”
“And where did Mr. Jones see Mr. Poinsett?”
“They returned in company together
from Europe to America.”
“What! has Mr. Jones been in Europe before?”
“Yes, Sire; he has travelled in
France, Italy, and England.”21
In October 1810 Adams, after a conversation with Emperor Alexander
at St. Petersburg, wrote about it in his Memoirs.
I told him that our vessels had always been admitted
at Havana; that, like many other of the West India Islands,
they depended in some measure upon the continent of
North America for subsistence; that we had therefore
always enjoyed a trade with them arising from their
necessities; and it had always been very valuable,
but undoubtedly the late revolutions had very much
increased it; that I was not accurately informed
what the nature of their government was, nor
whether they had Agents or Ministers in the United States.
I had nothing upon the subject from the Government;
and only saw by the newspapers that they had sent Agents
to Washington—who had not, however, been recognized.
As to their maintaining their independence, that would
probably depend upon events and arrangements in Europe.
If the war should terminate in the establishment of
a sovereign of the Bonaparte family, or his
appointment in Spain, undoubtedly the colonies of
that nation would no longer continue in that relation.
The sentiment of the people, both upon the American
continent and in the Spanish Islands, was so unanimous
and so strongly pronounced on this point that they could
never again be made dependencies upon Spain, under
that Government unless by conquest, which Spain
would not be very able, nor, I believed,
France very willing, to undertake.
The Emperor Napoleon, nearly a year since,
had declared himself ready and willing to acknowledge
the independence of the Spanish colonies,
if the people of the countries themselves desired it.
That they would desire it, in preference to dependence
on his Spanish monarchy, was beyond all question;
and it seemed to me a thing altogether conformable
to the interest of all the European Continental powers.
The only obstacle of serious import that I could foresee
to this result would come from England.22
Adams wrote in his Diary on 23 January 1811:
Jan. 23. — I mentioned to the Count Romanzoff
that the President of the United States,
in consideration of circumstances relating to
my private affairs, had given me permission to return
to the United States, and that I had received a letter
to take leave of the Emperor with a discretionary power
to deliver it when I should be ready for my departure.
I presumed it would be proper for me
to keep it until that time.
He said certainly: or even to suppress it altogether,
if I was not under the necessity of going.
And he could assure me, when I should go,
I should be much regretted here; that they
had a very great and sincere esteem for me,
and would be happy that my stay should be prolonged.
I assured him that I was strongly sensible of the
kindness and friendly reception that I had experienced here,
and should be desirous of remaining as long as I could.
An any rate, I could not take my leave
until the approach of summer; and perhaps
I might stay until the appointment of a successor.23
On 27 January 1811 John Quincy Adams from St. Petersburg wrote
this letter to the United States Secretary of State Robert Smith
which included Cypher writing shown in italics:
I have the honor to enclose herewith a translation of the
official note which I have sent to the Chancellor, Count
Romanzoff, after receiving your instructions contained in
your favor of 2 September last in relation to the complaint
made in February last by order of the Emperor against a
certain Captain Arnold for a very courageous act of defiance
to the laws of this country, committed at Cronstadt.
A few weeks before I had the honor of
receiving your letter I had been informed
that this Captain Arnold had sailed with his vessel,
the Carmelite, from the United States during the
existence of the embargo laws and in violation of them.
This circumstance was of itself sufficient to have
mentioned as raising a probability that he would
not place himself personally within reach
of the judicial tribunals of the United States.
But as your instructions appeared to consider it
as an obligation of candor to allude to the defect of
jurisdiction in the United States for the trial of the
precise offense against which the Russian government had
complained, I felt myself bound to do so in general terms.
I have, indeed from the time when I received
Count Romanzoff’s note on this subject, very strongly
regretted what I did then apprehend, that there was
no jurisdiction in the United States competent to try
the man for an act which every civilized human being
must pronounce deserving of exemplary punishment.
And I am not positively sure that the Emperor who could
not forbear taking a strong interest in a transaction thus
characterized and which took place almost before his eyes,
will be altogether satisfied with the intimation that we
have no authority that can take cognizance of the offense.
I hope, however, that it will in no unfavorable manner
affect his friendly sentiments towards the United States.
The papers of the American vessels which arrived
at the out ports on the gulf of Finland, and on the Baltic
after the closing of the navigation at Cronstadt, which
by an express order of the Emperor were taken from the
Commission of Neutral Navigation, and referred for a
special examination to the Imperial Council, have not
yet been returned, though in my letter of 27 December
I informed you that Baron Campenhausen had assured me
that the decision was in favor of their admission,
and that I might write of the matter as entirely settled.
You will perceive, however, by reference to my letter
of that date that I was aware of an obstacle which
might still remain, as it actually did and still does.
At the same time when the demands of France
to this government were answered by denial
I had every reason but one to expect that this denial
would be supported by effectual and ultimate perseverance,
and that one was that I saw the power of
ultimate compliance was carefully retained.
Since then the diplomatic communications
between France and Russia have assumed a tone
of mutual dissatisfaction, not to say of asperity.
The annexation of the Hanseatic towns
to the French empire has brought France
into immediate contact with the Baltic Sea.
The frontier of Russia on the side of Poland
has been strengthened by additional fortifications
and troops and artillery; the levy of 90,000
to recruit Russian armies has been followed by a
conscription of 120,000 to reinforce those of France.
The new tariff of duties and prohibitions of importation
has in the midst of this fermentation been issued here,
and it is generally considered as specially pointed
against the commerce with France.
This commerce which has of late been
carried on almost entirely by land is extremely
disadvantageous to Russia, inasmuch as it consists
chiefly of importation in articles of the most expensive
luxury which must be paid for in gold and silver.
A committee of merchants was chosen from a
general meeting of all the principal merchants of this city,
to consider and represent the causes of the
unfavorable state of the exchange; and in a
memorial which was laid before the Imperial Council
while this subject was under deliberation,
they represented the great importation from France of
articles of luxury as one of the principal of those causes.
They proposed, therefore, a general prohibition of
importation of silks, velvets, laces, modes, costly wines,
which contributed in their opinions so largely to drain
this country of the precious metals, and consequently
to aggravate the load of their depreciated paper.
The council adopted most of these opinions,
and by their new tariffs, of which I shall send you
a translation, all these articles are laid under a tacit
prohibition; that is, they are not included in the list
of articles the importation of which is permitted.
The French dealers in this trade residing, or now
transiently being at St. Petersburg, immediately
took the alarm, and became so clamorous for
the interposition of their Ambassador, that by
his direction a meeting of all the French merchants
was called at the house of the French consul,
and a memorial of their grievances under the new tariff
was drawn up, and has been forwarded by the Ambassador
to Paris for the consideration of his government.
It is generally supposed here that the French government
will be much dissatisfied with these new regulations,
though if power was accustomed to listen to reason, it must
be obvious how ruinous to Russia a trade upon which she
has to pay an enormous balance must be; while in the most
imperious tone she is required to sacrifice that portion of her
commerce upon which the balance was always in her favor.
The adoption of the new system was preceded
by highly animated debates in the Imperial Council
at which the Emperor presided in person.
It was opposed altogether by the Chancellor,
Count Romanzoff, on the ground of its tendency
to embroil the country with France, and when he found
the opinion of the Council unanimous in opposition to this,
he asked and obtained permission to enter on the
journals of the council his protest against the decision.
At a subsequent meeting, however, when the
Emperor expressed his determination conformably
to the sentiments of the majority, the Count is said
to have withdrawn his protest and declared his acquiescence
in the resolution upon which the ukase was founded.
That it will give rise to discussions with France appears
highly probable, and as an opinion of anticipation
may be hazarded upon the foundation of inferences
drawn from the state of affairs, the experience of late
events, and the probable influence of French measures
upon an irresolute government, I expect these discussions
will lead to several modifications of the order itself.
The new tariff is generally considered by the
merchants as remarkably favorable to the commerce
of the Americans and there is an article in it expressly
providing in a very satisfactory manner for the care
of these cargoes, the admission of which has been
hitherto suspended, and which may eventually be admitted.
Hitherto the delay has been a benefit
to the owners rather than a disadvantage.
The American vessels are only twenty-three
or twenty-four out of more than eighty which
arrived with them, and the papers of which
were taken from the Commission for Neutral Navigation
for the special examination of the Imperial Council.
Of the whole number there are nineteen or twenty
which have been found of suspicious character,
and which have been ordered for trial, but among them
I understand that none of the Americans are included.
None of the Americans, however,
have yet been admitted to dispose of their cargoes.
Most of their masters and supercargoes who are here,
becoming uneasy under the delay, had a meeting last week
and addressed a memorial to me, requesting a further
interposition on my part with this government in their behalf.
I had already since the commencement of the year
had one conference with Count Romanzoff on the subject,
and on the 23rd instant I saw him again.
He said that the decision was at present before the Emperor
himself, requiring only his signature, and was delayed
only so far as proceeded from his personal good pleasure.
He added that although it would not be so easy for him to
urge his master, as he could his brother ministers, he would,
however, do what he could to hasten the result.24
Over many years French vessels had captured 340 American ships
with cargoes valued at over $55 million.
In 1811 the ex-President John Adams would write about this:
“France has already gone to war with us.
She is at war with us, but we are not at war with her.”
John Quincy Adams in Russia could not find a Protestant Church,
and so he decided to study the Bible daily starting in 1811.
He found these truths about God in the Bible: God exists; the soul is immortal;
afterlife had punishments and rewards; and human virtue is obeying God’s will.
Jesus commanded loving every person even enemies.
Adams also read works by Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Thomas Malthus on Population,
and William Paley’s Natural Theology.
He also studied science, and he talked with the German astronomer Johannes Kepler.
Adams in St. Petersburg on February 5, 12, 19 and 25 sent
four more reports to Secretary of State Smith.
On 26 February 1811 Secretary of State
Robert Smith wrote this letter to John Q. Adams:
On the 15th October last I had the honor of stating to you
that it had been intimated to the President by a person
particularly attentive to your interests, that your return
from the mission to St. Petersburg had become necessary
to avoid the ruinous expenses to which it subjected you,
and I was then directed to signify to you, that however
acceptable your continuance there would be, the President
could not under such circumstances refuse his acquiescence
in your wish, nor would he allow your return to impair
the sentiments which had led to your nomination.
I have now the satisfaction to inform you that the
President has thought proper to avail the public of your
services at home, and has accordingly appointed you
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate
to the seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the
United States vacated by the death of Judge Cushing.
This appointment will make it proper that you
should return to the United States as soon as the
public interest and your own convenience will permit.
You are accordingly herewith furnished with a letter
of leave to the Emperor; and in presenting it you will be
sensible of the propriety of giving not only such explanation
and assurances as may be calculated to prevent the
circumstance of your return from being misconstrued,
but such as may be best suited to convince the Emperor
of the continued friendship of the United States.
You will moreover assure the Russian government
that no time will be unnecessarily lost
in sending out your successor.25
J. Q. Adams’ mother Abigail Adams had advised President Madison
of her son’s financial situation in Russia
Adams wrote fairly long letters to Abigail on March 19 and 22,
and one to Smith on March 26.
John Quincy Adams wrote to the Secretary of State
James Monroe on April 3, 13, 22 and 29.
In a letter to his younger brother Thomas Boyleston Adams on April 10 he noted that
the Supreme Court Judge Cushing had died, and about this time
John Quincy Adams declined the appointment because he felt he was not qualified.
In his letter to Smith on April 22 Adams commented on the European political situation
in regard to a possible war, and Cypher writing is shown in italics:
For upwards of a month I had not found an opportunity
of forwarding dispatches for you to any place whence they
could be transmitted, until at the close of the last week,
when that of a Russian courier dispatched to Paris gave
me the means of enclosing a packet to Mr. Russell.
I therefore sent under cover to him a packet for you,
containing copies of my last three letters, and
a few lines in cipher to the President of the United States.
I have now the opportunity of writing by
Mr. Preuss, an American citizen who brought me
last summer dispatches from your Department;
and who now proposes to return to the United States.
From the day which terminated the last war between
France and Austria, and still more from that which so soon
succeeded it, of a family alliance between the French
Emperor and the imperial house of Austria, it has been
the general expectation of all men who speculate upon
the future destinies of mankind with a general knowledge
of the state of things, and with the habit of calculating
the operations of the sanguinary passions, to which the
occurrences of the times have given such unbounded scope,
that the next terrible conflict upon the continent of Europe
would be between France and Russia—a conflict for which
France with a policy rather wily than profound had already
been preparing in the consent that Russia should enlarge
her boundaries at the expense of Austria and Sweden.
The course of events hitherto has been
altogether conformable to this expectation.
On concluding the peace with Austria the Emperor Napoleon
wrote to the Emperor of Russia a letter, saying that
he had determined to make once more the experiment
of sparing Austria, congratulating the Emperor Alexander
upon his acquisition of Finland, and solemnly promising
never to raise an insurrection against him in Poland.
This last passage was if not a binding engagement
at least an intelligible insinuation.
The negotiation for the Emperor Napoleon’s marriage
was not only conducted with so much secrecy that neither
the Russian government nor either of their ambassadors
at Paris had a suspicion of the person contemplated as
the imperial consort of France, but their conjectures
were intentionally led to a very different direction.
Two years before a similar proposition had been made,
and the hand of the Grand Duchess Catherine, the
Emperor Alexander’s sister, had been solicited and denied.
This Princess is since married to Prince George of
Oldenburg, the son of that very Duke of Oldenburg
whose territories are now by a direct violation of the treaty
of Tilsit incorporated with the French Empire; and when
the contract of marriage with the Arch Duchess Maria Louisa
was all but signed, the Russian Ambassador was
communicating to his court that the Emperor Napoleon’s
intended bride was a daughter of the Duke of Medina.
At the time when the marriage was solemnized
the Austrian Prime Minister, Count Metternich,
was sent upon an extraordinary mission to Paris,
where he remained more than six months without
accomplishing anything which could require the agency
of a person thus distinguished particularly while another
Ambassador in form from Austria was residing at Paris.
The mission of such a minister, at such a moment,
naturally excited the attention of all Europe,
and especially of the Russian government.
At first and indeed during the whole time that
Count Metternich remained at Paris, it was given out,
and somewhat studiously, both from the French
and Austrian legations here, that the object of his mission
was to set on foot a negotiation for a general peace,
in which Austria was to assume the part of a mediator.
But it was not long before the Russian government had
notice that projects by no means friendly to this country
were interwoven with the professed attempt at a pacific
negotiation, and since the Count’s return to Vienna, Austria
has been content to have it circulated as a diplomatic secret
that the proposition of an alliance offensive and defensive
against Russia was made to her by France and rejected
It is probable that France had reckoned a little too much
upon the deep resentments of Austria against Russia for
the part which she had taken in the recent war, and in her
eagerness to recover, while enjoying the sweet of revenge,
that territory of four hundred thousand souls which
had rewarded the inaction of Russia under the guise
of her alliance with France in the short war of 1809.
Count Metternich returned home in October,
from which time until this day the coolness
between France and Russia has been increasing
until it is at the point of appearing in the form of war.
The provocations which have been multiplied on the part
of France almost every week through the winter,
the resistance of Russia to the demands of France,
her measures of commercial retaliation and her preparations
for war, have been mentioned to you in many of my former
dispatches, but I have still hoped that the war would be
deferred, if not ultimately averted, because I knew that
such was the earnest wish of the Emperor Alexander,
and his most confidential minister, Count Romanzoff,
and because the preparations on the part of France,
although considerable have not been such as to indicate
the intention of commencing the war immediately.
Even now the hope of preserving peace
is not absolutely abandoned, but its last beam
is quivering on the point of extinction.
The resolution to resign his office is already taken
by count Romanzoff, and waits only the answer to
the instructions carried by Count Chernicheff to Paris.
The conjectures of political speculators are busy
in designating the probable successor to his power,
a point which must undoubtedly be determined
n the Emperor’s mind, but which is yet undivulged.
The generals to whom the principal commands
will be given in the event of a war are also named,
doubtless by anticipation.
They are Count Kamensky, the late commander in chief
of the Moldavian army, who enjoys at this time
the first military reputation in Russia.
He is under forty years of age, but is unfortunately
still at Bucharest by the consequences of a fever.
His predecessor in that command, Prince Bagration, deemed
an excellent officer for a subordinate command, yielded.
He is now here, and General Bennigsen, who was
distinguished in the last war with France, but now resides
on his estates at a distance from the imperial residence.
His reputation is also high, but the experience
of the present and recent wars of Europe has passed
some disfavor on commanders in chief of his age.
He is little short of seventy.
These are the leaders of brightest fame which
the Russian Empire has to oppose against the Emperor
Napoleon in person, and a long train of his lieutenants,
spurred not only by the example of his fortune, the long
and constant habit of victory, and the actual enjoyment
of its fruits in wealth and glory, but by the dazzling
glances of crowns and scepters sporting in visions
before them and glowing with the color of like visions
already realized to more than one of their fellow soldiers.
It would perhaps be possible for Russia to bring into the field
armies as numerous and troops at least as trusty as those
which will follow the eagle of France; but as to the great
results of European war in these times it has been
demonstrated that the men are nothing, the officers all.
If the war should now commence, I believe that neither
Austria nor Sweden will immediately take a part in it.
I am at least sure that no apprehension of that sort is
entertained here, although insinuations are circulated
at Paris that Sweden will cooperate with France,
and had disclosed at Paris some secrets of Russia.
But this may perhaps only be the counterpart of
that threat which France used to extort from
Sweden the declaration of war against England.
Sweden was then told that if she hesitated,
she should be attacked by Russia, when Russia
had not the most distant idea of attacking Sweden.
But when the war once begins undoubtedly
there will be no exertion spared by France to draw
both Sweden and Austria into it on the side of France.
I know not whether the measures are to be considered
as preparatory to this event, but the king of Sweden
has resigned all the essential part of his executive power
into the hands of the Crown Prince, and Austria
has scaled her national bank paper at five for one.26
John Q. Adams from St. Petersburg on 29 April 1811 wrote this letter to
Secretary of State James Monroe about new tariff duties between Russia and Portugal.
Here are the last two paragraphs which were
the only portion of the letter that was put in cypher:
It is probable that if a treaty of commerce between
the United States and Russia should be contemplated
during the administration of Count Romanzoff that he
would agree to similar stipulations in favor of our vessels
and productions upon the like reciprocal conditions.
I have repeatedly received intimations of a similar nature
to those which I mentioned in my letter of 5th September
last (No. 23), but the Count has never said anything
explicit to me on this subject himself, and now should the
full power and instructions which I then requested be sent
me, it is doubtful whether I could avail myself of them
before a change of administration here will take place.
The accounts from Paris received here
are to the 7th instant.
No act of direct hostility and no public manifestation
of a rupture between the two countries had then
occurred there nor has any yet taken place here.
But there and here the war is considered as
inevitable and every arrangement for it is making
as speedily as possible by both governments.
There are a multitude of rumors in secret circulation,
the authenticity of which I do not consider as sufficiently
clear to mention them at present to you; but things all
concur in proving that the catastrophe is near at hand.
It is not improbable that on one side or the other the
blow will at least accompany if not precede the word.27
On 3 June 1811 Adams from St. Petersburg wrote
this private letter to the President James Madison:
I received on the 29th of last month, together
with some other dispatches from the Secretary of State,
one enclosing a commission to me as an associate justice
of the Supreme Court of the United States, a new letter
of leave to his Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, a blank
commission for a secretary of legation or chargé d’affaires,
and an instruction in consequence of this new appointment
to return to the United States as soon as the public
interest and my own convenience will permit.
The new mark of confidence, which you have been
pleased to show me in the nomination to an office so highly
honorable, and so far as could relate to my own personal
interest and concerns so acceptable, has made on my
mind an impression which no time can obliterate, and
which leaves me the more earnestly to regret my
incapacity to meet it with a return, the most agreeable to
you, by assuming and discharging its duties in a manner
to justify that confidence, and do honor to your appointment.
In the letters, which I had the honor of writing you
on the 7th of January and 8th of February last,
I intimated to you that the peculiar circumstances of
my family would probably make it impracticable for me to
embark with them for the United States during the present
year, and in the former I informed you that under these
circumstances, if you should judge that the termination
of my mission here had become expedient, I should
remain here as a private individual until the next summer.
This obstacle to my departure remains as when those letters
were written, and should any successor at this court arrive
during the present season, I shall still find myself under
the necessity of obtaining the Emperor’s permission to
reside here probably until this time next year,
but at least until I can commence my homeward voyage,
without exposing to extraordinary and unnecessary dangers
lives which ought to be dearer to me than my own.
There are contingencies which might enable me
at a very late period of this season to embark,
but I have little hope to reckon upon some of them,
and still less inclination to anticipate the rest.
My expectation is to be detained here the next winter
by ties which the affections of a husband
and a parent can neither dissolve nor sever.
I cannot expect, nor however it might suit my
convenience, can I permit myself to desire that you
should keep an office of such importance vacant
a full year longer to await my return, and this consideration
is decisive to induce me to decline the appointment.
It must also relieve me from the necessity of expressing
to you other motives operating upon my disposition
to produce the same result, some of which are of
peculiar delicacy, and for the avowal of which I must
in a special manner solicit your candor and indulgence.
My education to the law was regular, and during
several short periods in the course of my life,
I have been in professional practice at the bar.
But its studies were never among those most congenial
to my temper, and the great proportion of my time has
been employed in occupations so different from those of the
judicial tribunals, that I have long entertained a deep and
serious distrust of my qualifications for a seat on the bench.
This sentiment was so strong, that it induced me
soon after my return from Europe in 1801,
to decline the proposal of being a candidate for a
vacancy in the Supreme Court of my native State, at a time
when I was in private life, and when that situation would
have been altogether suitable to my own convenience.
It has long been known to my most intimate friends, and
would have been communicated to you, had the prospect of
such a nomination ever presented itself to me, as sufficiently
probable to warrant any interference to prevent it.
In the present this reluctance would be much increased
by a conviction, as clear to my understanding as it is
impressive upon my feelings, that there is another person,
a friend whom I most highly value in every respect,
better qualified than myself for that particular office
and whom my warm wishes, perhaps more than the
rigor of principle, have considered as having
pretensions to it at least far superior to mine.
I speak of Mr. Davis, the present District Judge for
Massachusetts, a man of whom an intimate acquaintance
of many years entitles me to say, that he is equally
estimable by the purity of his heart, the firmness of his
temper and the solidity of his judgment; whose education
and professional practice have been with little if any
interruption devoted to the law, and who, by an experience
of ten years in his present station, has been peculiarly
qualified for the duties of an office exactly analogous to it.
I am aware of all the considerations which
may perhaps concur in giving you other views
connected with this subject, and which may lead
your ultimate determination to another person.
Mr. Davis’s political opinions, and more especially
those of his social connections, may render it
necessary to contemplate the possible operation of
his appointment to this place upon the public sentiment.
The extent and influence of this reflection it would not
become me, were it even within my competence,
to discuss, but you will, I am persuaded, permit me the
recollection that Mr. Davis, on one signal and not untrying
occasion, manifested at once the steadiness of his mind,
his inflexible adherence to the law, his independence
of party prejudices and control, and his determination
to support at the post allotted to him the administration
of government in all constitutional measures.
I may perhaps estimate too highly the qualities of which
in that instance he gave such decisive proof, and you
may not have been made acquainted with the power of
that influence to which he then proved himself inaccessible.
I need not enlarge upon it, and can only apologize to you
for having said so much, only as it will explain to you the
motives upon which I should have such serious disinclination
to occupy a place, which my heart and my reason would
so perfectly concur in assigning by preference to another.
I must therefore intreat you, sir, to confer upon some
other person the office as a judge of the Supreme Court,
to which you have had the goodness to appoint me.
The impossibility of my return to the United States
in due time to assume its duties must
of itself forbid my acceptance of it.
The other reasons which would in any case impel me
to decline it, I should have suppressed, but for the high
sense of my personal obligation to you for the nomination,
and the wish to be justified in your opinion for renouncing
the post to which you have judged me suitably qualified.
I shall therefore wait for your further instructions
respecting my continuance at this court.
It may be proper for me, however, to add that the
public expectation in the United States, and that of
the Emperor and his government here, being now
fully prepared for my removal, and my own inclinations
and those of my friends in America being equally strong
to abridge as much as possible the period of absence
from my country, I earnestly solicit that the motive of
my personal convenience may be set aside, whenever
you shall think my recall expedient on public considerations.
If the condition of my family should prevent my
return home, when the want of my services here
has ceased, I had much rather bear the charge
and inconvenience to which it might subject me,
than remain an unnecessary encumbrance upon the public.
I shall at all events remain here a time sufficient to
receive your ultimate determination, not only upon my
letters of 7 January and 8 February, but also upon this one,
and I beg you to be assured that on my return to
the United States whenever you shall deem it proper,
and I shall find it practicable, whether in public office
of any kind or in retirement, the grateful sense
of your kindness and the most fervent wishes
for the prosperity of your public administration,
and the promotion of your personal happiness,
will be among the sentiments nearest to my heart.28
On 4 June 1811 Adams wrote in his Diary about his conference with Count Romanzoff:
June 4. — I had written yesterday a note to
Count Romanzoff, requesting a conference with him,
and this morning found on my table a note from
him appointing this day at noon for that purpose.
I went accordingly at that hour.
I thanked the Count for the packets which
he had sent me, brought by former couriers.
He said he understood they were packets which he should
be sorry for; as they were to occasion my return home.
I told him that they contained notice of my appointment
to an honorable office in my own country;
but that there was some tie which attached me so
strongly to this country that I should probably not go yet.
I then mentioned the situation of my wife,
which would make it impossible for me
to embark for America certainly until very late
in the season, and probably before the next year.
He asked me if the office was of a nature
which would admit of being long vacant.
I answered that I considered it would not;
that it ought to be filled as soon as possible;
and I could not go immediately
to assume the discharge of its duties.
I had written to the President of the United States,
requesting him to excuse me from accepting it,
and to appoint another person.
He then said that he should this evening ask the
Emperor’s permission to dispatch a courier to Paris,
and should probably send him
in the course of the day after tomorrow.
If I wished to send any letter or packet to the
Chargé d’Affaires of the United States,
he would be happy to forward it for me.
I accepted his offer; and I then observed that
from the idea which since my residence here
I had formed of the importance and mutual benefit
of the commercial relations between the United States
and Russia, from the signal manner in which Russia
had distinguished herself from all the other belligerent
powers of Europe, and from a wish to increase and
render still more advantageous the commerce between the
two countries, the idea and desire had occurred to me of
cementing still further their amity by a treaty of commerce.
I had suggested this idea to the American Government,
and was now authorized to propose the negotiation
of such a treaty, if it should be agreeable to the Emperor.
I had thought it most advisable to make to him
at first this verbal communication, instead of
sending him an official note upon the subject.
I requested him to consider it as confidential,
so that at least it should be made known only
when he thought it advisable; as I had communicated
the knowledge of it to no person whomsoever.29
While Minister Adams was in St. Petersburg he sent reports to Secretary of State
James Monroe, in the one he wrote on 22 June 1811 the portion quoted here
and other parts were printed in italics to indicate they were in cipher:
The ship Horace, Captain Thomas Leach,
belonging to Mr. William Gray of Boston,
arrived at Cronstadt last Sunday from Boston.
She had been boarded off Christiansand by the British
armed vessel Plover, Captain Campbell, who not only
broke open and read letters directed to me which had
been entrusted to Captain Leach, but detained him five
hours on board the Plover, took from him two of his men,
named Francis Flood and Samuel Patterson, both having
protections, and the former of whom Captain Leach has
no doubt of being a native American, and put on board the
Horace two of his own sick men, named Myrick Winslow
and John Gray, both British subjects, unserviceable
as seamen, and fit only for a hospital of invalids.
Captain Leach has made his protest, conformably to the
laws of the United States, but I think proper to mention
this transaction to you, as presenting a new feature in the
conduct of a British naval commander—the abandonment
of his own sick people to the mercy and humanity of
a stranger, while he forced that stranger to take them.
He also knew that the Horace was bound to a country
at war with Great Britain, where these invalid British
seamen would be liable to be held as prisoners,
and where Captain Leach could not protect them.
I shall inform Mr. Smith, the chargé d’affaires of the
United States at London, of these circumstances,
and whatever the principles of the British Government
may be with regard to the rest of Captain Campbell’s
procedure, I presume his treatment of his own men
will be thought deserving of their attention.
The Horace’s destination was Stettin or Dantzig,
but from the information which Captain Leach received
in passing the Sound of the danger to which any American
vessel would be exposed in approaching either of those,
or any other Prussian port, he was in a manner compelled to
come immediately to this country; and unfortunately found
upon his arrival that the principal part of his cargo consists
of articles, the importation of which is prohibited and which
according to the letter of the commercial ordinance now
in force, are to be destroyed at the port where they arrive.
As there could be no possible intention of fraud or of an
attempt at a contraband trade in this case, I have written
a note to Count Romanzoff stating the circumstances,
and expressing my hope that the permission of
re-exporting this merchandise would be granted.
There is another vessel, the Superior, belonging to Messrs.
Platt and Kintzing of Philadelphia, under circumstances
nearly similar, and which I have included in the application.
I have also seen this morning the Minister of Finance,
Mr. Gourieff, who is now at the head of the
Commercial Department and have urged to him
the equitable grounds for exempting these cases
from the literal rigor of the ordinance.
He assured me that he should this day make
his report to the Emperor, upon whose personal
decision it must depend, and that it would be
in favor of a permission for re-exportation.
In some general conversation which, on the occasion of
this interview, Mr. Gourieff introduced, he enquired with
some earnestness, what was the state of the political
relations between the United States and Great Britain.
You will have perceived by several of my late
dispatches how anxious an interest the Russian
government feels on this point, and how strong
their desire is that the understanding between
us and England may not kindle into a war.
It is easily to be seen how they think it would affect
their interests, and why they are so averse to the result.
At the same time I must repeat, that neither the
Emperor nor any of his ministers has ever expressed
officially to me (nor any of the ministers with whom
I have had official communications, unofficially)
any sentiment on the subjects of difference, other
than a desire to know the state of things as they are.
I told Mr. Gourieff that so long as the present English
ministry remained in power, their principles on the
subjects between the two nations left me no hope
or expectation that we should ever be upon terms
of harmony with them, but that I hoped and believed
it would not come to a state of absolute war.
He then spoke to me of the English ministry in terms
so similar to those lately used to me by Count Romanzoff,
and which were reported in my last number, that I am
strongly impressed with the belief that the opinion itself
came from a higher source, and had been expressed to both
the ministers from a source, where opinion was authority.
Indeed this opinion is at prenent by no means singular.
The successful defense of Portugal, the prospect of the
expulsion of the French from Spain, the fall of the Isle of
France, and the attitude already assumed between Russia
and France, have gathered a lustre round the Wellesley
administration, which it requires duration to render
genuine, but which is already quite sufficient to dazzle.
As this power of opinion rises in favor of them,
it falls in regard to France, and the Emperor Napoleon
will ere long find it necessary by some new achievement,
of conquest or of terror, to redeem that irresistible
influence, which, since his peace with Austria,
has been insensibly slipping from his hands.
This is the very cause which leads me most to apprehend
that he will attempt to gather his new laurels in the north.
There are many indications that he will soon abandon
the contest for Portugal, and perhaps the unconquered
part of Spain, and give his forces another direction.
I have received a letter from Captain Snow
of the ship Hercules, taken and carried into Dantzig
by a privateer under French colors,
and he has sent me a copy of his protest.
He complains that the owners of the privateer
immediately on the arrival of the Hercules at Dantzig
had her discharged, turned her officers and crew ashore,
allowed him to have nothing to do with ship or cargo,
and after twenty-five days had not sent his papers to Paris.
Notwithstanding an application which he made to the
French consul, they refused to give any support to his crew,
who at the same time were not allowed to leave the place.
Three other American vessels with their people
and their cargoes are in the same situation.
It is to be hoped they will speedily obtain relief
from the orders of the French government.
They ought to obtain immediate restoration
of their vessels and cargoes.
But I am afraid it is already beyond the
power of the French government itself.
The project mentioned in some of my late letters,
as being under discussion before the Imperial Council,
is still discussed.
Their meetings are not public, but their secrets
are kept like those of all deliberate assemblies.
Their plan is comprehensive, and would introduce
an entire new organization of the government.
Some parts of it have already been decided upon, and
adopted, but the Chancellor is averse to the honors which
would exalt him out of his Department of Foreign Affairs.
I think this part of the plan will not succeed at present.
There is nothing yet from France but fair words.
A peace with Turkey is expected.
To obtain it, the rumor is, that Russia has proposed to leave
the two provinces which she has already incorporated
with the Empire to be independent of her and of the Porte.
It is supposed that this will be accepted, of which I doubt.30
Adams at St. Petersburg wrote this report and sent it to Secretary of State Monroe on 6 July 1811:
The speech of the Emperor Napoleon to the legislative
assembly of France at the opening of their session,
the 16th of last month was brought by an extraordinary
courier from the Russian ambassador in France to his
government and arrived here on Wednesday last.
It had been a subject of great expectation,
as it was foreseen that it would indicate the prospects,
whether of peace of war, between France and Russia
which were known to depend altogether
upon the will of the French Emperor.
Its complexion is altogether pacific and has confirmed,
almost to a certainty, the hopes of those,
who have for some time past flattered themselves
that the war will not break out during the present year.
If the true intention of the speaker were to be collected
with unerring accuracy from the purport of the speech,
not a doubt could remain upon the question.
The name of Russia is not mentioned in the speech,
but there is frequent allusion to the state of
the relations between her and France,
and always in obscure and ambiguous terms.
He says, that he has no occasion to call for
any new taxes or impositions upon the people,
although he had three months before placed
one hundred millions at the disposition of his
ministers of war, because he then thought it necessary.
Three months before was precisely the time,
when he made his far-famed speech to
the Council of Commerce and Manufactures.
He says that he wishes nothing but what is
in the treaties that he has concluded: that he will never
sacrifice the blood of his people for interests, which are
not immediately those of his empire, and that he flatters
himself the peace of the continent will not be disturbed.
There seems to be in these expressions a promise that
he will give satisfaction to Russia with regard to the Duchy
of Oldenburg and to the extraordinary armaments of Poland;
but the strongest of all the pledges of peace is the
assurance that he will not ask for any additional taxes.
By the peace of the continent, however,
he is not to be understood as including the peace of Spain.
There, he says it is that the struggle
against Carthage is to be decided.
It is to be finished by a thunderbolt which will avenge
Europe and Asia by terminating this second Punic war,
but which will be delayed until England is exhausted,
until she shall have felt the evils which for twenty years
she has been so cruelly pouring upon the Continent, and
until half her families shall be covered with the funeral veil.
I observed in one of my last letters, that there were
many indications, that he would soon abandon the contest
for Portugal, and perhaps, the unconquered part of Spain.
The declaration to the contrary
here appears to be very explicit.
But Europe has already heard him at one time threaten
to plant the imperial eagles on the walls of Lisbon,
where they have not yet been seen to perch,
and at another time to drive the frightened
leopard into the sea, though the leopard
still ranges the Spanish plains undismayed.
In the action so glorious to the French arms to which
he alludes, French blood flowed in streams as copious,
at least, as the English, and the fact is not concealed
from the world, however it may present itself to him,
that all the most illustrious of his generals have failed to
accomplish hitherto his plans of conquest in the Peninsula.
The most distinguished of them all, Masséna,
the spoilt child of victory, at the moment when the
Emperor thus announced the future thunderbolt,
was in Paris, though not present to hear him;
just returned crowned with laurels from a campaign
in which he had in the face of a most attentive world been
notoriously worsted, and to add the last drop of bitterness to
the gall of his mortification, worsted by an English general.
Until the issue of this campaign, the prospect of defending
Spain and Portugal appeared so desperate to all the
best informed politicians and military men in Europe,
that the British ministry incurred no slight censure of
extreme rashness for venturing to stake anything upon it.
That they have staked and are staking more
upon it than the prize, if they ever obtain it,
will ever be worth to their cause, is my own opinion.
I do not very clearly see what advantage the British nation
will derive should they succeed in driving the French out of
Spain, unless they can keep it as a conquest of their own.
For if France should spontaneously withdraw all her armies
north of the Pyrenees, Spain, by whomsoever governed,
must in the nature of things very soon find herself in the
same dependence upon France which for so many years
has involved her in the vortex of the French political system.
But on the other hand, the war in Spain has from its
first commencement been extremely unpopular in France.
No radiance of glory has sufficed to cover, and no
accumulation of power has been adequate to suppress
the character of the transactions in which it originated.
The losses, the disasters, the disgraces,
which France has so frequently suffered
in the course of this war have rendered it
as odious as at all times it has been thought useless.
The generals and armies sent into the country
where a constant experience has proved that
neither plunder nor honor is to be acquired
are all dissatisfied with the service, and the Emperor
himself has occasionally manifested his weariness of it.
The opinion is fast gaining ground throughout Europe, that
the conquest of the Peninsula is more than he can achieve,
and if the thunderbolt lingers much longer, it will be
set at defiance in regions other than Portugal and Spain.
As the probability of another winter of peace
in this quarter increases, the present
administration recovers strength.
It is now generally believed that the political system
will undergo no change at present.
Whether the British government have made any
advances for a separate peace or not, I cannot positively
say, but if they have, it has been without success.
The seizures and confiscations of the last year
have produced such an effect, that no insurance
can be made in London on goods brought into
the Baltic by licensed vessels, and all those
sent here for English accounts come this year in ballast.
I have this day received the dispatches from your
Department, brought by Captain Bainbridge,
consisting only of duplicates—of the commission as an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States,
the letter of leave to the Emperor of Russia, and
the letter to me from the Secretary of State of 26 February.
In my letter to you on 2 June I had the honor of
informing you that I had found myself under the necessity
of declining the appointment to a seat upon the bench.
However reluctantly I adopted this determination,
the situation of my family rendered it indispensable.
From the indications of public gazettes and
of private letters, I have learned the probability
that a successor to this mission has been
appointed and may shortly be expected here.
In which case, after transmitting to him the affairs of public
trust, I shall remain here in my individual capacity until the
state of my family of our embarking for the United States,
that is, in all probability, until next June.31xx
John Quincy Adams in a letter to his son George Washington Adams
urged him to study “literature, wisdom, and virtue.”
He advised him to learn Greek and Latin so that he could read great
classics by Homer, Demosthenes, Thucydides, Lucretius, Horace, Livy,
Tacitus, and especially Cicero as well as Shakespeare.
Notes
1. Memoirs of Comprising Portions of His Diary from 1795 to 1848
by John Quincy Adams ed. Charles Francis Adams, Volume I, p. 544-546.
2. Writings of John Quincy Adams, ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford,
Volume III 1801-1810, p. 321.
3. Memoirs by John Quincy Adams, Volume I, p. 547.
4. Ibid., p. 549.
5. John Quincy Adams: American Visionary by Fred Kaplan, p. 258.
6. Memoirs by John Quincy Adams, Volume II, p. 3.
7. Writings of John Quincy Adams, ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford,
Volume III 1801-1810, p. 339.
8. Memoirs by John Quincy Adams, Volume II, p. 9, 12-13.
9. Ibid., p. 16-17.
10. Ibid., p. 28-29.
11. Ibid., p. 32-33.
12. Ibid., p. 33-34.
13. The Diary of John Quincy Adams 1794-1845, ed. Allan Nevins, p. 63.
14. Memoirs by John Quincy Adams, Volume II, p. 50-53.
15. Ibid., p. 66-67.
16. The Diary of John Quincy Adams 1794-1845,p. 69.
17. From John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 14 February 1810 (Online).
18. The Diary of John Quincy Adams 1794-1845,p. 71.
19. Ibid., p. 71-72.
20. Ibid., p. 72-73.
21. Ibid., p. 76.
22. Memoirs by John Quincy Adams, Volume II, p. 183.
23. The Diary of John Quincy Adams 1794-1845,p. 79-80.
24. Writings of John Quincy Adams, Volume IV 1811-1913, p. 1-6.
25. Ibid., p. 18-19.
26. Ibid., p. 54-59.
27. Ibid., p. 62-63.
28. Ibid., p. 93-98.
29. The Diary of John Quincy Adams 1794-1845,p. 84-85.
30. Writings of John Quincy Adams, Volume IV 1811-1913, p. 112-116.
31. Ibid., p. 131-135.
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