5170. MERRY (A.), Character.—
With
respect to Merry [British Minister] he appears
so reasonable and good a man, that I should be
sorry to lose him as long as there remains a possibility
of reclaiming him to the exercise of his
own dispositions. If his wife perseveres, she
must eat her soup at home, and we shall endeavor
to draw him into society as if she did not exist.
It is unfortunate that the good understanding
of nations should hang on the caprice of an
individual, who ostensibly has nothing to do
with them.—
To James Monroe.
Ford ed., viii, 292.
(W.
Jan. 1804)
