Details
ADAMS, JOHN, Signer (Massachusetts), President. Autograph letters signed in full TO THE SIGNER CAESAR RODNEY of Delaware, Quincy [Massachusetts], 26 September 1818. One full page, 4to, one short separation at fold, two small circular brown patches (from wax seal).
WITH "AWE AND REVERENCE," ADAMS CONSIDERS SOUTH AMERICA: "THAT ALL AMERICA WILL BE TORN FROM THE DOMINATION OF EUROPE I HAVE NEVER DOUBTED"
A typically strongly worded letter, with a melancholy allusion to the affectionate memory of his old colleague of Revolutionary days, James Otis, and commenting on the new-sprung Independence movement in South America. "I thank you for your permission to publish your former letter. In that letter you allude to original Letters from Mr. Otis which you have seen, and which do him honour. I dare not ask for those original Letters, because if I possessed them myself I would not part with them, But if you will favour me with Copies, you will greatly oblige me. I would hesitate at no price for them. I can never recollect the Character and History of Mr. Otis, without a tenderness of Sentiment, that all my stoical Philosophy cannot conquer. One must have lived with him to have known him.
"I wish, Sir, that I lived near you and that I could converse with you every day. You have lately travelled in the Country[,] the most interesting as far as I know, in the World. I gaze with awe and reverence on South America. And I have gazed for forty years. That all America will be torn from the Domination of Europe I have never doubted: but what will be the Effects and Consequences? Aye! there's the Rub. My maxim in all such Cases of incomprehensible difficulty, has always been 'Stand still and see, the Salvation of the Lord!'"
"A free government in South America would produce Revolutions in Religion and Government over the whole Globe: But what an hundred Despotisms can produce who can forsee? I am Sir your much obliged Friend John Adams.'
The former President's remarks on the revolutionary turmoil in South America had been prompted, no doubt, by Rodney's recent return from that Continent. The former Signer and Governor of Delaware had been appointed by President Monroe in 1817 as a member of a special Commission sent to ascertain the status and stability of the newly independent republics freed by Bolivar and his generals. Rodney and his Commissioners had disembarked in Buenos Aires in February 1881 and returned in March. Their reports were submitted to Congress and the
WITH "AWE AND REVERENCE," ADAMS CONSIDERS SOUTH AMERICA: "THAT ALL AMERICA WILL BE TORN FROM THE DOMINATION OF EUROPE I HAVE NEVER DOUBTED"
A typically strongly worded letter, with a melancholy allusion to the affectionate memory of his old colleague of Revolutionary days, James Otis, and commenting on the new-sprung Independence movement in South America. "I thank you for your permission to publish your former letter. In that letter you allude to original Letters from Mr. Otis which you have seen, and which do him honour. I dare not ask for those original Letters, because if I possessed them myself I would not part with them, But if you will favour me with Copies, you will greatly oblige me. I would hesitate at no price for them. I can never recollect the Character and History of Mr. Otis, without a tenderness of Sentiment, that all my stoical Philosophy cannot conquer. One must have lived with him to have known him.
"I wish, Sir, that I lived near you and that I could converse with you every day. You have lately travelled in the Country[,] the most interesting as far as I know, in the World. I gaze with awe and reverence on South America. And I have gazed for forty years. That all America will be torn from the Domination of Europe I have never doubted: but what will be the Effects and Consequences? Aye! there's the Rub. My maxim in all such Cases of incomprehensible difficulty, has always been 'Stand still and see, the Salvation of the Lord!'"
"A free government in South America would produce Revolutions in Religion and Government over the whole Globe: But what an hundred Despotisms can produce who can forsee? I am Sir your much obliged Friend John Adams.'
The former President's remarks on the revolutionary turmoil in South America had been prompted, no doubt, by Rodney's recent return from that Continent. The former Signer and Governor of Delaware had been appointed by President Monroe in 1817 as a member of a special Commission sent to ascertain the status and stability of the newly independent republics freed by Bolivar and his generals. Rodney and his Commissioners had disembarked in Buenos Aires in February 1881 and returned in March. Their reports were submitted to Congress and the