 | Letters of Mrs. Adams, |  |
TO JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
'T is almost four months since you left your native
land, and embarked upon the mighty waters, in quest
of a foreign country. Although I have not particularly
written to you since, yet you may be assured
you have constantly been upon my heart and mind.
It is a very difficult task, my dear son, for a tender
parent to bring her mind to part with a child of
your years going to a distant land; nor could I have
acquiesced in such a separation under any other care
than that of the most excellent parent and guardian
who accompanied you. You have arrived at years
capable of improving under the advantages you will
be likely to have, if you do but properly attend to
them. They are talents put into your hands, of
which an account will be required of you hereafter;
and, being possessed of one, two, or four, see to it
that you double your numbers.
The most amiable and most useful disposition in a
young mind is diffidence of itself; and this should
lead you to seek advice and instruction from him,
who is your natural guardian, and will always counsel
and direct you in the best manner, both for your
present and future happiness. You are in possession
of a natural good understanding, and of spirits unbroken
by adversity and untamed with care. Improve
and virtue, such as will render you an ornament
to society, an honor to your country, and a
blessing to your parents. Great learning and superior
abilities, should you ever possess them, will be
of little value and small estimation, unless virtue,
honor, truth, and integrity are added to them. Adhere
to those religious sentiments and principles
which were early instilled into your mind, and remember,
that you are accountable to your Maker
for all your words and actions.
Let, me enjoin it upon you to attend constantly and
steadfastly to the precepts and instructions of your
father, as you value the happiness of your mother
and your own welfare. His care and attention to
you render many things unnecessary for me to
write, which I might otherwise do; but the inadvertency
and heedlessness of youth require line upon
line and precept upon precept, and, when enforced
by the joint efforts of both parents, will, I hope, have
a due influence upon your conduct; for, dear as you
are to me, I would much rather you should have
found your grave in the ocean you have crossed, or
that any untimely death crop you in your infant
years, than sec you an immoral, profligate, or graceless
child.
You have entered early in life upon the great
theatre of of the world, which is full of temptations
and vice of every kind, You are not wholly unacquainted
with history, in which you have read of
crimes which your inexperienced mind could scarcely
of them with horror, and to view vice as
That, to be hated, needs but to be seen."
Yet you must keep a strict guard upon yourself,
or the odious monster will soon lose its terror by becoming
familiar to you. The modern history of our
own times, furnishes as black a list of crimes, as can
be paralleled in ancient times, even if we go back to
Nero, Caligula, or Cæsar Borgia. Young as you
are, the cruel war, into which we have been compelled
by the haughty tyrant of Britain and the bloody
emissaries of his vengeance, may stamp upon your
mind this certain truth, that the welfare and prosperity
of all countries, communities, and, I may add,
individuals, depend upon their morals. That nation
to which we were once united, as it has departed
from justice, eluded and subverted the wise laws
which formerly governed it, and suffered the worst
of crimes to go unpunished, has lost its valor, wisdom,
and humanity, and, from being the dread and
terror of Europe, has sunk into derision and infamy.
But, to quit political subjects, I have been greatly
anxious for your safety, having never heard of the
frigate since she sailed, till, about a week ago, a
New York paper informed, that she was taken and
carried into Plymouth. I did not fully credit this
report, though it gave me much uneasiness. I yesterday
heard that a French vessel was arrived at
Portsmouth, which brought news of the safe arrival
it will not be long before I shall be assured of your
safety. You must write me an account of your
voyage, of your situation, and of every thing entertaining
you can recollect.
| Letters of Mrs. Adams, | |