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Subject Area: Political Theory
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

9 Aug. 1770: TO CATHARINE MACAULAY. 1 - John Adams, The Works of John Adams, vol. 9 (Letters and State Papers 1799-1811) [1854]

Edition used:

The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations, by his Grandson Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1856). 10 volumes. Vol. 9.

Part of: The Works of John Adams, 10 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


TO CATHARINE MACAULAY.1

9 August, 1770.

Madam,—

I received from Mr. Gill an intimation that a letter from me would not be disagreeable to you; and I have been emboldened, by that means, to run the venture of giving you this trouble. I have read, with much admiration, Mrs. Macaulay’s History of England, &c. It is formed upon the plan which I have ever wished to see adopted by historians. It is calculated to strip off the gilding and false lustre from worthless princes and nobles, and to bestow the reward of virtue, praise, upon the generous and worthy only. No charms of eloquence can atone for the want of this exact historical morality; and I must be allowed to say, I have never seen a history in which it is more religiously regarded. It was from this history, as well as from the concurrent testimony of all who have come to this country from England, that I had formed the highest opinion of the author as one of the brightest ornaments, not only of her sex, but of her age and country. I could not, therefore, but esteem the information given me by Mr. Gill, as one of the most agreeable and fortunate occurrences of my life.

Indeed, it was rather a mortification to me to find that a few fugitive speculations in a newspaper had excited your curiosity to inquire after me. The production, which some person in England, I know not who, has been pleased to entitle “A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law,” was written at Braintree, about eleven miles from Boston, in the year 1765;—written at random, weekly, without any preconceived plan, printed in the newspapers without correction, and so little noticed or regarded here, that the author never thought it worth his while to give it either a title or a signature. And, indeed, the editor in London might with more propriety have called it “The—what d’ye call it,” or, as the Critical Reviewers did, “a flimsy, lively rhapsody,” than by the title he has given it. But it seems it happened to hit the taste of some one, who has given it a longer duration than a few weeks, by printing it in conjunction with the letters of the House of Representatives of this province, and by ascribing it to a very venerable, learned name. I am very sorry that Mr. Gridley’s name was affixed to it for many reasons. The mistakes, inaccuracies, and want of arrangement in it are utterly unworthy of Mr. Gridley’s great and deserved character for learning, and the general spirit and sentiments of it are by no means reconcilable to his known opinions and principles in politics. It was, indeed, written by your present correspondent, who then had formed designs which he never has and never will attempt to execute. Oppressed and borne down, as he is, by the infirmities of ill health, and the calls of a numerous, growing family, whose only hopes are in his continual application to the drudgeries of his profession, it is almost impossible for him to pursue any inquiries or to enjoy any pleasures of the literary kind.1

However, he has been informed that you have in contemplation a history of the present reign, or some other history in which the affairs of America are to have a share. If this is true, it would give him infinite pleasure; and, whether it is so or not, if he can by any means in his power, by letters or other ways, contribute any thing to your assistance in any of your inquiries, or to your amusement, he will always esteem himself very happy in attempting it.

Pray excuse the trouble of this letter, and believe me, with great esteem and admiration, &c.

[1 ]The author of the History of England.

[1 ]Mrs. Macaulay, in her reply, notices this in the following manner:—

“You must give me leave to say, that on the principle of having a right to treat your own performances with freedom, you have not done common justice to the work entitled, ‘A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Laws.’ ”