 | Letters of Mrs. Adams, |  |
TO JOHN ADAMS.
I hope you have received several letters from me in.
this fortnight past. I wrote by Mr. Lynch and by
Dr. Franklin, the latter of whom I had the pleasure
of dining with, and of admiring him, whose character
from my infancy I had been taught to venerate.
I found him social but not talkative, and, when he
spoke, something useful dropped from his tongue.
He was grave, yet pleasant and affable. You know
I make some pretensions to physiognomy, and I
thought I could read in his countenance the virtues
of his heart, among which, patriotism shone in its
full lustre; and with that is blended every virtue of
a Christian. For a true patriot must be a religious
man. I have been led to think from a late defection,[1]
that he who neglects his duty to his Maker, may
well be expected to be deficient and insincere in his
duty towards the public. Even suppose him to possess
a large share of what is called honor and public
by a loose, immoral conduct, corrupt the minds
of youth, and vitiate the morals of the age, and thus
injure the public more than they can compensate by
intrepidity, generosity, and honor? Let revenge or
ambition, pride, lust, or profit, tempt these men to a
base and vile action; you may as well hope to bind
up a hungry tiger with a cobweb, as to hold such
debauched patriots in the visionary chains of decency,
or to charm them with the intellectual beauty of
truth and reason.
But where am I running? I mean to thank you
for all your obliging favors lately received; and
though some of them are very laconic, yet, were
they to contain only two lines to tell me that you
were well, they would be acceptable to me. I think
however, you are more apprehensive than you need
be; the gentleman, to whose care they have always
been directed, has been very kind in his conveyance,
and very careful. I hope, however, that it will not
now be long before we shall have nearer interviews.
You must tell me, that you will return next, month;
a late appointment[2]
will make it inconvenient (provided
you accept) for you to go again to Congress.
It seems human nature is the same in all ages and
countries. Ambition and avarice reign everywhere,
and, where they predominate, there will be bickerings
after places of honor and profit. There is an
old adage, "Kissing goes by favor," that is daily verified.
business in collecting facts will be very difficult, and
the sufferings of this people cannot be described
with pen, ink, and paper. Besides, these ministers of
Satan are rendering it every day more and more
difficult, by their ravages and devastation, to tell a
tale which will freeze the young blood of succeeding
generations, as well as harrow up the souls of
the present.
Nothing new has transpired since I wrote you
last. I have not heard of one person's escape out
of town, nor of any manœuvre of any kind.
I will only ask you to measure by your own the
affectionate regard of your nearest friend.[3]
| Letters of Mrs. Adams, | |