 | Letters of Mrs. Adams, |  |
TO MRS. SHAW.
MR. S—called upon us a day or two ago, and
delivered me your kind letter of July the 20th. It
was of a later date than any I had received from
you, though near four months old. It was a little
unfortunate for the gentleman, that Mr. Adams entered
immediately into an inquiry of him respecting
which, be sure, the gentleman drew a most gloomy
picture, and finished the whole by saying, that the
people in the United States were as much oppressed
by taxes as they were in Europe. This being so
wholly groundless, it roused the quick feelings of
Mr. Adams, who replied, a little warmly, "Give me
leave to tell you, Sir, that people who hold this
language, betray a total ignorance of the subject.
Name the article in this country, even to the light
of heaven, the air you breathe, and the water you
drink, which is not taxed. Loaded down with accumulated
burdens is this free people, yet the whole
is not sufficient to pay even the interest of the national
debt, and the charges of government. Mr.
Pitt's surplus is a vision, and new methods of taxation
must be devised. Pray, are our farmers perishing
in the midst of plenty, as in Ireland? Are
our fishermen starving? Cannot the laborer find a
subsistence? Or has the price of labor fallen to
sixpence, and subsistence risen to a shilling? Or
is it only trade that languishes? Thank God, that
necessity, then, will oblige those who have lived
luxuriously at the expense of others, and upon property
which was not their own, to do so no longer.
There is not a merchant in England, France, or
Holland, with a capital which could buy fifty of our
most opulent merchants, that lives at half the expense
which I have been informed many of ours
have run into during the war, and since."
By this time I had got into that part of your letter,
in business. I knew Mr. Adams was a perfect
stranger to this, and could design nothing against the
gentleman; but still I felt pained for him, as I presumed
he had never had such a lesson before. He
drew in his horns, and was more upon his guard the
remainder of the time. We asked him to dine with
us the next day, but he was engaged. Mr. Adams
will return his visit, and then we shall send him a
card of invitation. In his manners and address he
appears much of a gentleman.
The accounts you gave me of the singing of your
birds, and the prattle of your children, entertained
me much. Do you know that European birds have
not half the melody of ours? Nor is their fruit
half so sweet, nor their flowers half so fragrant, nor
their manners half so pure, nor their people half so
virtuous; but keep this to yourself, or I shall be
thought more than half deficient in understanding
and taste. I will not dispute what every person
must assent to; that the fine arts, manufactures,
and agriculture have arrived at a greater degree of
maturity and perfection. But what is their age?
What their individual riches, when compared with
us? Far removed from my mind may the national
prejudice be, of conceiving all that is good and
excellent comprised within the narrow compass of
the United States. The Universal Parent has dispensed
his blessings throughout all creation, and,
though to some he hath given a more goodly heritage
than to others, we have reason to believe that
apportioning to each his proper station. Though
seas, mountains, and rivers are geographical boundaries,
they contract not the benevolence and good will
of the liberal mind, which can extend itself beyond
the limits of country and kindred, and claim fellowship
with Christian, Jew, or Turk. What a lesson
did the great Author of our religion give to mankind
by the parable of the Jew and the Samaritan; but
how little has it been regarded! To the glory of the
present age, they are shaking off that narrow, contracted
spirit of priestcraft and usurpation, which has
for so many ages tyrannized over the minds of mankind,
and deluged the world in blood. They consider
religion not as a state stalking-horse, to raise
men to temporal power and dignity; but as a wise
and benevolent system, calculated to still the boisterous
passions, to restrain the malevolent ones, to
curb the ambitious, and to harmonize mankind to
the temper of its great Author, who came to make
peace, and not to destroy. The late act of toleration,
passed by Virginia, is esteemed here as an example
to the world.
We are now really in the gloomy month of November,
such as I have heard it described, but did
not last year experience. Now we have it, all
smoke, fog, and darkness; and the general mourning
for the Princess Amelia adds to the gloom of
the scene. I was yesterday at the drawing-room, for
the first time since her death; and, though I cannot
say all faces gathered blackness, all bodies appeared
nephews, it would have been absurd to have shown
any appearance of grief. Poor John Bull is vastly
angry and mortified. Had it been given to the
Prince of Wales, his liberal hand would soon have
poured forth the golden shower; and, as his aunt
acquired it all in this nation, here it ought to have
remained, says John; but he cannot alter it, so he
vents himself, as usual, in abuse and bellowing.
| Letters of Mrs. Adams, | |