第48章

perils。Butweshallpreservethem；andourmassofweight&wealthonthegoodsideissogreat，astoleavenodangerthatforcewilleverbeattemptedagainstus。WehaveonlytoawakeandsnaptheLilliputiancordswithwhichtheyhavebeenentanglingusduringthefirstsleepwhichsucceededourlabors。Iwillforwardthetestimonialofthedeathofmrs。Mazzei，whichIcandothemoreincontrovertiblyassheisburiedinmygraveyard，andIpasshergravedaily。Theformalitiesoftheproofyourequire，willoccasiondelay。JohnPage&hissonMannarewell。ThefatherremarriedtoaladyfromN。York。BeverleyRandolphelasuaconsorteliving&

well。Theironlychildmarriedtothe2dofT。M。Randolph。Theeldestsonyouknowmarriedmyeldestdaughter，isanablelearned&

worthycharacter，butkeptdownbyillhealth。Theyhavetwochildren&stilllivewithme。Myyoungerdaughterwell。Colo。

Innisiswell，&atruerepublicanstillasareallthosebeforenamed。Colo。MonroeisourM。P。atParisamostworthypatriot&

honestman。Thesearethepersonsyouinquireafter。Ibegintofeeltheeffectsofage。Myhealthhassuddenlybrokedown，withsymptomswhichgivemetobelieveIshallnothavemuchtoencounterofthe_tediumvitae_。Whileitremains，however，myheartwillbewarminit’sfriendships，andamongthese，willalwaysfostertheaffectionwithwhichIam，dearSir，yourfriendandservant。

ANENTENTEWITHADAMS

_ToJamesMadison，withEnclosure_

_Jan。1，1797_

YoursofDec。19。hascomesafely。Theeventoftheelectionhasneverbeenamatterofdoubtinmymind。IknewthattheEasternstatesweredisciplinedintheschoolsoftheirtownmeetingstosacrificedifferencesofopiniontothegreatobjectofoperatinginphalanx，&thatthemorefree&moralagencypracticedintheotherstateswouldalwaysmakeupthesupplementoftheirweight。IndeedthevotecomesmuchneareranequalitythanIhadexpected。Iknowthedifficultyofobtainingbelieftoone’sdeclarationsofadisinclinationtohonors，&thatitisgreatestwiththosewhostillremainintheworld。Butnoargumentswerewantingtoreconcilemetoarelinquishmentofthefirstofficeoracquiescenceunderthesecond。Astothefirstitwasimpossiblethatamoresolidunwillingnesssettledonfullcalculation，couldhaveexistedinanyman’smind，shortofthedegreeofabsoluterefusal。TheonlyviewonwhichIwouldhavegoneintoitforawhilewastoputourvesselonherrepublicantackbeforesheshouldbethrowntoomuchtoleewardofhertrueprinciples。Astothesecond，itistheonlyofficeintheworldaboutwhichIamunabletodecideinmyownmindwhetherIhadratherhaveitornothaveit。Pridedoesnotenterintotheestimate；forIthinkwiththeRomansthatthegeneraloftodayshouldbeasoldiertomorrowifnecessary。Icanparticularlyhavenofeelingswhichwouldrevoltatasecondarypositiontomr。

Adams。Iamhisjuniorinlife，washisjuniorinCongress，hisjuniorinthediplomaticline，hisjuniorlatelyinthecivilgovernment。BeforethereceiptofyourletterIhadwrittentheenclosedonetohim。Ihadintendeditsometime，buthaddeferreditfromtimetotimeunderthediscouragementofadespairofmakinghimbelieveIcouldbesincereinit。ThepapersbythelastpostnotrenderingitnecessarytochangeanythingintheletterIencloseitopenforyourperusal，notonlythatyoumaypossesstheactualstateofdispositionsbetweenus，butthatifanythingshouldrenderthedeliveryofitineligibleinyouropinion，youmayreturnittome。Ifmr。Adamscanbeinducedtoadministerthegovernmentonit’strueprinciples，&torelinquishhisbiastoanEnglishconstitution，itistobeconsideredwhetheritwouldnotbeonthewholeforthepublicgoodtocometoagoodunderstandingwithhimastohisfutureelections。HeisperhapstheonlysurebarrieragainstHamilton’sgettingin。

SincemylastIhavereceivedapacketofbooks&pamphlets，thechoicenessofwhichtestifiesthattheycomefromyou。TheincidentsofHamilton’sinsurrectionisacuriousworkindeed。Theheroofitexhibitshimselfinalltheattitudesofadexterousbalancemaster。

ThePoliticalprogressisaworkofvalue&ofasingularcomplexion。Theeyeoftheauthorseemstobeanaturalachromatic，whichdivest