No More Learning

Look in mercy on me, accept my sigh,
Say why do I wait so long.
Let thy face be softened!
How long, O my. lady!
May thy kindness be turned to me!
Like a dove I mourn, full of sighing.
The Priest :
With sorrow and woe
His soul is full of sighing,
Tears he sheds, he pours out laments.
II
O mother of the gods, who performest the commands of Bel,
Who makest the young grass sprout, queen of mankind,
Creator of all, guide of every birth,
Mother Ishtar, whose might no god approaches,
Exalted mistress, mighty in command!
A prayer I will utter, let her do what seems her good.
O my lady, make me to know my doing,
Food I have not eaten, weeping was my nourishment,
Water I have not drunk, tears were my drink,
My heart has not been joyful nor my spirits glad.
Many are my sins, sorrowful my soul.
O my lady, make me to know my doing,
Make me a place of rest,
Cleanse my sin, lift up my face.
May my god, the lord of prayer, before thee set my prayer!
May my goddess, the lady of supplication, before thee set my
supplication!
May the storm-god set my prayer before thee!
[The intercession of a number of gods is here invoked. ]
Let thy eye rest graciously on me.
Turn thy face graciously to me.
Let thy heart be gentle, thy spirit mild.
III
O lady, in sorrow of heart sore oppressed I cry to thee.
O lady, to thy servant favor show.
Let thy heart be favorable,


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ACCADIAN-BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN LITERATURE
79
To thy servant full of sorrow show thy pity,
Turn to him thy face, accept his prayer.
IV
To thy servant with whom thou art angry graciously turn,
May the anger of my lord be appeased,
Appeased the god I know not!
The goddess I know, the goddess I know not,
The god who was angry with me,
The goddess who was angry with me be appeased!
The sin which I have committed I know not.
May my god name a gracious name,
My goddess name a gracious name,
The god I know, the god I know not
Name a gracious name,
The goddess I know, the goddess I know not
Name a gracious name!
Pure food I have not eaten,
Pure water I have not drunk,
The wrath of my god, though I knew it not, was my food,
The anger of my goddess, though I knew it not, cast me
down.
O lord, many are my sins, great my misdeeds.
[These phrases are repeated many times. )
The lord has looked on me in anger,
The god has punished me in wrath,
The goddess was angry with me and hath brought me to
sorrow.
I sought for help, but no one took my hand,
I wept, but no one to me came,
I cry aloud, there is none that hears me,
Sorrowful I lie on the ground, look not up.
To my merciful god I turn, I sigh aloud,
The feet of my goddess I kiss [. ]
To the known and unknown god I loud do sigh,
To the known and unknown goddess I loud do sigh,
O lord, look on me, hear my prayer,
O goddess, look on me, hear my prayer.
Men are perverse, nothing they know.
Men of every name, what do they know?
Do they good or ill, nothing they know.
O lord, cast not down thy servant!
:


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80
ACCADIAN-BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN LITERATURE
Him, plunged into the flood, seize by the hand!
The sin I have committed turn thou to favor!
The evil I have done may the wind carry it away!
Tear in pieces my wrong-doings like a garment!
My god, my sins are seven times seven- forgive my sins!
My goddess, my sins are seven times seven - forgive my sins!
Known and unknown god, my sins are seven times seven - forgive
my sins!
Known and unknown goddess, my sins are seven times seven forgive
my sins!
Forgive my sins, and I will humbly bow before thee.
V
May the lord, the mighty ruler Adar, announce my prayer to thee!
May the suppliant lady Nippur announce my prayer to thee!
May the lord of heaven and earth, the lord of Eridu, announce my
prayer to thee!
The mother of the great house, the goddess Damkina, announce my
prayer to thee!
May Marduk, the lord of Babylon, announce my prayer to thee!
May his consort, the exalted child of heaven and earth, announce my
prayer to thee!
May the exalted minister, the god who names the good name, an-
nounce my prayer to thee!
May the bride, the first-born of the god, announce my prayer to thee!
May the god of storm-flood, the lord Harsaga, announce my prayer
to thee!
May the gracious lady of the land announce my prayer to thee!
X. INSCRIPTION OF SENNACHERIB
( Taylor-cylinder, B. C. 701.
Cf. 2 Kings xviii. , xix. )
S
ENNACHERIB, the great king, the powerful king,
The king of the world, the king of As ria,
The king of the four zones,
The wise shepherd, the favorite of the great gods,
The protector of justice, the lover of righteousness,
The giver of help, the aider of the weak,
The perfect hero, the stalwart warrior, the first of princes,
The destroyer of the rebellious, the destroyer of enemies -
Assur, the mighty rock, a kingdom without rival has granted
me,


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ACCADIAN-BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN LITERATURE
81
Over all who sit on sacred seats he has exalted my arms,
From the upper sea of the setting sun
To the lower sea of the rising sun,
All the blackheaded people he has cast beneath my feet,
The rebellious princes shun battle with me.
They forsook their dwellings; like a falcon
Which dwells in the clefts, they fed alone to an inaccessi-
ble place.
To the city of Ekron I went,
The governors and princes who had done evil I slew,
I bound their corpses to poles around the city.
The inhabitants of the city who had done evil I reckoned as
spoil;
To the rest who had done no wrong I spoke peace.
Padi, their king, I brought from Jerusalem,
King over them I made him.
The tribute of my lordship I laid upon him.
Hezekiah of Judah, who had not submitted to me,
Forty-six of his strong cities, small cities without number, I
besieged.
Casting down the walls, advancing engines, by assault I took
them.
Two hundred thousand, one hundred and fifty men and
women, young and old,
Horses, mules, asses, camels, oxen, sheep,
I brought out and reckoned as spoil.
Hezekiah himself I shut up like a caged bird
In Jerusalem, his royal city,
The walls I fortified against him,
Whoever came out of the gates I turned him back.
His cities which I had plundered I divided from his land
And gave them to Mitinti, king of Ashdod,
To Padi, king of Ekron, and to Silbal, king of Gaza.
To the former tribute paid yearly
I added the tribute of alliance of my lordship and
Laid that upon him. Hezekiah himself
Was overwhelmed by the fear of the brightness of my lord-
ship.
The Arabians and his other faithful warriors
Whom, for the defence of Jerusalem, his royal city,
He had brought in, fell into fear,
With thirty talents of gold and eight hundred talents of
silver, precious stones,


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82
ACCADIAN-BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN LITERATURE
Couches of ivory, thrones of ivory,
And his daughters, his women of the palace,
The young men and the young women, to Nineveh, the city
of my lordship,
I caused to be brought after me, and he sent his ambassadors
To give tribute and to pay homage.
XI. INVOCATION TO THE GODDESS BELTIS
T"
10 BELTIs, the great Lady, chief of heaven and earth,
Queen of all the gods, mighty in all the lands.
Honored is her festival among the Ishtars.
She surpasses her offspring in power.
She, the shining one, like her brother, the sun,
Enlightens Heaven and earth,
Mistress of the spirits of the underworld,
First-born of Anu, great among the gods,
Ruler over her enemies,
The seas she stirs up,
The wooded mountains tramples under foot.
Mistress of the spirits of upper air,
Goddess of battle and fight,
Without whom the heavenly temple
None would render obedience,
She, the bestower of strength, grants the desire of the
faithful,
Prayers she hears, supplication receives, entreaty accepts.
Ishtar, the perfect light, all-powerful,
Who enlightens Heaven and earth,
Her name is proclaimed throughout all the lands,
Esarhaddon, king of lands, fear not.
To her it is good to pray.
XII. ORACLES OF ISHTAR OF ARBELA
(B. C. 680-668)
E
SARHADDON, king of lands, fear not.
The lord, the spirit who speaks to thee
I speak to him, I have not kept it back.
Thine enemies, like the floods of Sivan
Before thee flee perpetually.
I the great goddess, Ishtar of Arbela
Have put thine enemies to flight.


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ACCADIAN-BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN LITERATURE
83
Where are the words I spake to thee?
Thou hast not trusted them.
I, Ishtar of Arbela, thy foes
Into thy hands I give
In the van and by thy side I go, fear not
In the midst of thy princes thou art.
In the midst of my host I advance and rest.
O Esarhaddon, fear not.
Sixty great gods are with me to guard thee,
The Moon-god on thy right, the Sun-god on thy left,
Around thee stand the sixty great gods,
And make the centre firm.
Trust not to man, look thou to me
Honor me and fear not.
To Esarhaddon, my king,
Long days and length of years I give.
Thy throne beneath the heavens I have established;
In a golden dwelling thee I will guard in heaven
Guard like the diadem of my head.
The former word which I spake thou didst not trust,
But trust thou now this later word and glorify me,
When the day dawns bright complete thy sacrifice.
Pure food thou shalt eat, pure waters drink,
In thy palace thou shalt be pure.
Thy son, thy son's son the kingdom
By the blessing of Nergal shall rule.
XIII. AN ERECHITE'S LAMENT
Hºw
ow long, O my Lady, shall the strong enemy hold thy
sanctuary?
There is want in Erech, thy principal city;
Blood is flowing like water in Eulbar, the house of thy oracle;
He has kindled and poured out fire like hailstones on all thy
lands.
My Lady, sorely am I fettered by misfortune;
My Lady, thou hast surrounded me, and brought me to grief.
The mighty enemy has smitten me down like a single reed.
Not wise myself, I cannot take counsel;
I mourn day and night like the fields.
I, thy servant, pray to thee.
Let thy heart take rest, let thy disposition be softened.


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84
--
ABIGAIL ADAMS
( 1744-1818)
BY LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE
Kui
He Constitution of the State of Massachusetts, adopted in the
year 1780, contains an article for the Encouragement of
Literature, which, it declares, should be fostered because its
influence is to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity
and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry and fru-
gality, honesty and punctuality in dealings, sincerity and good humor,
and all social affections and generous sentiments among the people. ”
In these words, as in a mirror, is reflected the Massachusetts of the
eighteenth century, where households like
the Adamses', the Warrens', the Otises',
made the standard of citizenship. Six
years before this remarkable document
was framed, Abigail Adams had written
to her husband, then engaged in nation-
making in Philadelphia :-"I most sincerely
wish that some more liberal plan might
be laid and executed for the benefit of
the rising generation, and that our
Constitution may be distinguished for en-
couraging learning and virtue. And he,
spending his days and nights for his coun-
try, sacrificing his profession, giving up
the hope of wealth, writes her:-“I believe my children will think
that I might as well have labored a little, night and day, for their
benefit. But I will tell them that I studied and labored to procure
a free constitution of government for them to solace themselves
under; and if they do not prefer this to ample fortune, to ease and
elegance, they are not my children. They shall live upon thin diet,
wear mean clothes, and work hard with cheerful hearts and free
spirits, or they may be the children of the earth, or of no one,
for me. ”
In old Weymouth, one of those quiet Massachusetts towns, half-
hidden among the umbrageous hills, where the meeting-house and the
school-house rose before the settlers' cabins were built, where the one
elm-shaded main street stretches its breadth between two lines of
self-respecting, isolated frame houses, each with its grassy dooryard,
its lilac bushes, its fresh-painted offices, its decorous wood-pile laid
f

new
ABIGAIL ADAMS


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ABIGAIL ADAMS
85
-
with architectural balance and symmetry, — there, in the dignified
parsonage, on the uth of November, 1744, was born to Parson William
Smith and Elizabeth his wife, Abigail, the second of three beautiful
daughters. Her mother was a Quincy, of a distinguished line, and
her mother was a Norton, of a strain not less honorable. Nor were
the Smiths unimportant.
In that day girls had little instruction. Abigail says of herself, in
one of her letters:— "I never was sent to any school. Female educa-
tion, in the best families, went no further than writing and arithmetic;
in some few and rare instances, music and dancing. It was fashion-
able to ridicule female learning. ” But the household was bookish.
Her mother knew the British Poets” and all the literature of Queen
Anne's Augustan age. Her beloved grandmother Quincy, at Mount
Wollaston, seems to have had both learning and wisdom, and to her
father she owed the sense of fun, the shrewdness, the clever way of
putting things which make her letters so delightful.
The good parson was skillful in adapting Scripture to special exi-
gencies, and throughout the Revolution he astonished his hearers by
the peculiar fitness of his texts to political uses. It is related of him
that when his eldest daughter married Richard Cranch, he preached
to his people from Luke, tenth chapter, forty-second verse: “And
Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away
from her. ” When, a year later, young John Adams came courting
the brilliant Abigail, the parish, which assumed a right to be heard
on the question of the destiny of the minister's daughter, grimly ob-
jected. He was upright, singularly abstemious, studious; but he was
poor, he was the son of a small farmer, and she was of the gentry.
He was hot-headed and somewhat tactless, and offended his critics.
Worst of all, he was a lawyer, and the prejudice of colonial society
reckoned a lawyer hardly honest. He won this most important of
his cases, however, and Parson Smith's marriage sermon for the bride
of nineteen was preached from the text, «For John came neither
eating bread nor drinking wine, and ye say, He hath a devil. ”
For ten years Mrs. Adams seems to have lived a most happy life,
either in Boston or Braintree, her greatest grief being the frequent
absences of her husband on circuit. His letters to her are many and
delightful, expressing again and again, in the somewhat formal
phrases of the period, his affection and admiration. She
She wrote
seldom, her household duties and the care of the children, of whom
there were four in ten years, occupying her busy hands.
Meanwhile, the clouds were growing black in the political sky.
Mr. Adams wrote arguments and appeals in the news journals over
Latin signatures, papers of instructions to Representatives to the
General Court, and legal portions of the controversy between the
D


## p. 86 (#100) #############################################

86
ABIGAIL ADAMS
can
ror.
delegates and Governor Hutchinson. In all this work Mrs. Adams
constantly sympathized and advised. In August, 1774, he went to
Philadelphia as a delegate to a general council of the colonies called
to concert measures for united action. And now begins the famous
correspondence, which goes on for a period of nine years, which was
intended to be seen only by the eyes of her husband, which she
begs him, again and again, to destroy as not worth the keeping, yet
which has given her a name and place among the world's most charm-
ing letter-writers.
Her courage, her cheerfulness, her patriotism, her patience never
fail her. Braintree, where, with her little brood, she is to stay, is
close to the British lines. Raids and foraging expeditions are immi-
nent. Hopes of a peaceful settlement grow dim.
“What course you
or will take,” she writes her husband, is all wrapped in the
bosom of futurity. Uncertainty and expectation leave the mind great
scope. Did ever any kingdom or State regain its liberty, when once
it was invaded, without bloodshed? I cannot think of it without hor-
Yet we are told that all the misfortunes of Sparta were occas-
ioned by their too great solicitude for present tranquillity, and, from
an excessive love of peace, they neglected the means of making it
sure and lasting. They ought to have reflected, says Polybius, that,
(as there is nothing more desirable or advantageous than peace, when
founded in justice and honor, so there is nothing more shameful, and
at the same time more pernicious, when attained by bad measures,
and purchased at the price of liberty. ) »
Thus in the high Roman fashion she faces danger; yet her sense
of fun never deserts her, and in the very next letter she writes,
parodying her husband's documents: -« The drouth has been very
severe. My poor cows will certainly prefer a petition to you, setting
forth their grievances, and informing you that they have been de-
prived of their ancient privileges, whereby they are become great
sufferers, and desiring that these may be restored to them. More
especially as their living, by reason of the drouth, is all taken from
them, and their property which they hold elsewhere is decaying, they
humbly pray that you would consider them, lest hunger should break
through stone walls. ”
By midsummer the small hardships entailed by the British occu-
pation of Boston were most vexatious. “We shall very soon have no
coffee, nor sugar, nor pepper, but whortleberries and milk we are
not obliged to commerce for,” she writes, and in letter after letter
she begs for pins. Needles are desperately needed, but without pins
how can domestic life go on, and not a pin in the province!
On the 14th of September she describes the excitement in Boston,
the Governor mounting cannon on Beacon Hill, digging intrenchments


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ABIGAIL ADAMS
87
so
on the Neck, planting guns, throwing up breastworks, encamping a
regiment. In consequence of the powder being taken from Charles-
town, she goes on to say, a general alarm spread through all the
towns and was soon caught in Braintree. And then she describes
one of the most extraordinary scenes in history. About eight o'clock
on Sunday evening, she writes to her husband, at least two hundred
men, preceded by a horse-cart, passed by her door in dead silence,
and marched down to the powder-house, whence they took out the
town's powder, because they dared not trust it where there were
many Tories, carried it into the other parish, and there secreted it.
On their way they captured a notorious “King's man,” and found on
him two warrants aimed at the Commonwealth. When their patriotic
trust was discharged, they turned their attention to the trembling
Briton. Profoundly excited and indignant though they were, they
never thought of mob violence, but, true to the inherited instincts of
their race, they resolved themselves into a public meeting! The
hostile warrants being produced and exhibited, it was put to a vote
whether they should be burned or preserved. The majority voted
for burning them. Then the two hundred gathered in a circle round
the single lantern, and maintained a rigid silence while the offending
papers were consumed. That done -- the blazing eyes in that grim
circle of patriots watching the blazing writs — «they called a vote
whether they should huzza; but, it being Sunday evening, it passed
in the negative! ”
Only in the New England of John Winthrop and the Mathers, of
John Quincy and the Adamses, would such a scene have been pos-
sible: a land of self-conquest and self-control, of a deep love of the
public welfare and a willingness to take trouble for a public object.
A little later Mrs. Adams writes her husband that there has been
a conspiracy among the negroes, though it has been kept quiet. "I
wish most sincerely,” she adds, that there was not a slave in the
province. It always appeared a most iniquitous scheme to me - to
fight ourselves for what we are daily robbing and plundering from
those who have as good a right to freedom as we have. ”
Nor were the sympathies of this clever logician confined to
the slaves. A month or two before the Declaration of Independence
was made she writes her constructive statesman:--"I long to hear
that you have declared an independence. And by the way, in the
new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to
make, I desire you would remember the ladies, and be more gener-
ous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such un-
limited power into the hands of the husbands! Remember, all men
would be tyrants if they could! If particular care and attention is
not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and


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88
ABIGAIL ADAMS
will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice
or representation. That your sex are naturally tyrannical is a truth
so thoroughly established as to admit of no dispute; but such of you
as wish to be happy willingly give up the harsh title of master for
the more tender and endearing one of friend. Why, then, not put
it out of the power of the vicious and the lawless to use us with
cruelty and indignity with impunity ? Men of sense in all ages abhor
those customs which treat us only as the vassals of your sex. Regard
us, then, as being placed by Providence under your protection; and
in imitation of the Supreme Being, make use of that power only for
our happiness,” — a declaration of principles which the practical house-
wife follows up by saying :-"I have not yet attempted making salt-
petre, but after soap-making, believe I shall make the experiment.
find as much as I can do to manufacture clothing for my family,
which would else be naked. I have lately seen a small manuscript
describing the proportions of the various sorts of powder fit for can-
non, small arms, and pistols.
If it would be of any service your
way, I will get it transcribed and send it to you. ”
She is interested in everything, and she writes about everything
in the same whole-hearted way,— farming, paper money, the mak-
ing of molasses from corn-stalks, the new remedy of inoculation,
(Common Sense) and its author, the children's handwriting, the state
of Harvard College, the rate of taxes, the most helpful methods
of enlistment, Chesterfield's Letters, the town elections, the higher
education of women, and the getting of homespun enough for Mr.
Adams's new suit.
She manages, with astonishing skill, to keep the household in
comfort. She goes through trials of sickness, death, agonizing sus-
pense, and ever with the same heroic cheerfulness, that her anxious
husband may be spared the pangs which she endures. When he is
sent to France and Holland, she accepts the new parting as another
service pledged to her country. She sees her darling boy of ten go
with his father, aware that at the best she must bear months of
silence, knowing that they may perish at sea or fall into the hands
of privateers; but she writes with indomitable cheer, sending the lad
tender letters of good advice, a little didactic to modern taste, but
throbbing with affection. “Dear as you are to me,” says this tender
mother, “I would much rather you should have found your grave in
the ocean you have crossed than see you an immoral, profligate, or
graceless child. ”
It was the lot of this country parson's daughter to spend three
years in London as wife of the first American minister, to see her
husband Vice-President of the United States for eight years and Pres-
ident for four, and to greet her son as the eminent Monroe's valued


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ABIGAIL ADAMS
89
Secretary of State, though she died, seventy-four years young,"
before he became President. She could not, in any station, be more
truly a lady than when she made soap and chopped kindling on her
Braintree farm. At Braintree she was no more simply modest than
at the Court of St. James or in the Executive Mansion. Her letters
exactly reflect her ardent, sincere, energetic nature. She shows a
charming delight when her husband tells her that his affairs could
not possibly be better managed than she manages them, and that she
shines not less as a statesman than as a farmeress. And though she
was greatly admired and complimented, no praise so pleased her as
his declaration that for all the ingratitude, calumnies, and misunder-
standings that he had endured, — and they were numberless, - her
perfect comprehension of him had been his sufficient compensation.
lucia Liiket Ruble
Puukee
TO HER HUSBAND
BRAINTREE, May 24th, 1775.
My Dearest Friend :
OUR
L.
UR house has been, upon this alarm, in the same scene of
confusion that it was upon the former. Soldiers coming
in for a lodging, for breakfast, for supper, for drink, etc.
Sometimes refugees from Boston, tired and fatigued, seek an
asylum for a day, a night, a week. You can hardly imagine
how we live; yet —
« To the houseless child of want,
Our doors are open still;
And though our portions are but scant,
We give them with good will. ”
My best wishes attend you, both for your health and happiness,
and that you may be directed into the wisest and best measures
for our safety and the security of our posterity.
I wish you
were nearer to us: we know not what a day will bring forth,
nor what distress one hour may throw us into. Hitherto I have
been able to maintain a calmness and presence of mind, and
hope I shall, let the exigency of the time be what it will.
Adieu, breakfast calls.
Your affectionate
PORTIA.


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90
ABIGAIL ADAMS
WEYMOUTH, June 15th, 1775.
HOPE we shall see each other again, and rejoice together in
happier days; the little ones are well, and send duty to papa.
Don't fail of letting me hear from you by every opportunity.
Every line is like a precious relic of the saints.
I
me.
I have a request to make of you; something like the barrel
of sand, I suppose you will think it, but really of much more
importance to me. It is, that you would send out Mr. Bass, and
purchase me a bundle of pins and put them in your trunk for
The cry for pins is so great that what I used to buy for
seven shillings and sixpence are now twenty shillings, and not
to be had for that. A bundle contains six thousand, for which
I used to give a dollar; but if you can procure them for fifty
shillings, or three pounds, pray let me have them. I am, with
the tenderest regard,
Your
Portia.
BRAINTREE, June 18th, 1775.
My Dearest Friend :
TH
HE day - perhaps the decisive day is come, on which the
fate of America depends. My bursting heart must find vent
at my pen. I have just heard that our dear friend, Dr. Warren,
is no more, but fell gloriously fighting for his country, saying,
Better to die honorably in the field than ignominiously hang
upon the gallows. ” Great is our loss. He has distinguished
himself in every engagement by his courage and fortitude, by ani-
mating the soldiers, and leading them on by his own example. A
particular account of these dreadful but, I hope, glorious days,
will be transmitted you, no doubt, in the exactest manner.
«The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong;
but the God of Israel is He that giveth strength and power unto
His people. Trust in Him at all times, ye people: pour out your
hearts before Him; God is a refuge for us. " Charlestown is laid
in ashes. The battle began upon our intrenchments upon Bunker's
Hill, Saturday morning about three o'clock, and has not ceased
yet, and it is now three o'clock Sabbath afternoon.
It is expected they will come out over the Neck to-night, and
a dreadful battle must ensue. Almighty God, cover the heads of
our countrymen, and be a shield to our dear friends! How many


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ABIGAIL ADAMS
91
have fallen we know not. The constant roar of the cannon is so
distressing that we cannot eat, drink, or sleep. May we be sup-
ported and sustained in the dreadful conflict. I shall tarry here
till it is thought unsafe by my friends, and then I have secured
myself a retreat at your brother's, who has kindly offered me part
of his house.
I cannot compose myself to write any further at
present. I will add more as I hear further.
Your
PORTIA.
Со
If a
BRAINTREE, November 27th, 1775.
OLONEL WARREN returned last week to Plymouth, so that I
shall not hear anything from you until he goes back again,
which will not be till the last of this month. He damped
my spirits greatly by telling me that the court had prolonged
your stay another month. I was pleasing myself with the thought
that you would soon be upon your return. It is in vain to repine.
I hope the public will reap what I sacrifice.
I wish I knew what mighty things were fabricating.
form of government is to be established here, what one will be
assumed? Will it be left to our Assemblies to choose one ? And
will not many men have many minds? And shall we not run into
dissensions among ourselves ?
I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creat-
ure; and that power, whether vested in many or a few, is ever
grasping, and, like the grave, cries, “Give, give! ” The great fish
swallow up the small; and he who is most strenuous for the rights
of the people, when vested with power, is as eager after the pre-
rogatives of government. You tell me of degrees of perfection to
which human nature is capable of arriving, and I believe it, but
at the same time lament that our admiration should arise from the
scarcity of the instances.
The building up a great empire, which was only hinted at by
my correspondent, may now, I suppose, be realized even by the
unbelievers; yet will not ten thousand difficulties arise in the
formation of it ? The reins of government have been so long
slackened that I fear the people will not quietly submit to those
restraints which are necessary for the peace and security of the
community. If we separate from Britain, what code of laws will
be established ? How shall we be governed so as to retain our
liberties? Can any government be free which is not administered
THE UNIVERSITY OF


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ABIGAIL ADAMS
by general stated laws ? Who shall frame these laws ? Who will
give them force and energy? It is true, your resolutions, as a
body, have hitherto had the force of laws; but will they continue
to have ?
When I consider these things, and the prejudices of people in
favor of ancient customs and regulations, I feel anxious for the
fate of our monarchy, or democracy, or whatever is to take place.
I soon get lost in the labyrinth of perplexities; but, whatever
occurs, may justice and righteousness be the stability of our times,
and order arise out of confusion. Great difficulties may be sur-
mounted by patience and perseverance.
I believe I have tired you with politics. As to news, we have
not any at all. I shudder at the approach of winter, when I
think I am to remain desolate.
I must bid you good-night; 'tis late for me, who am much
of an invalid. I was disappointed last week in receiving a packet
by post, and, upon unsealing it, finding only four newspapers.
I think you are more cautious than you need be. All letters, I
believe, have come safe to hand. I have sixteen from you, and
wish I had as many more.
Your
PORTIA.
[By permission of the family
BRAINTREE, April 20th, 1777.
T"
HERE is a general cry against the merchants, against monopo-
lizers, etc. , who, 'tis said, have created a partial scarcity.
That a scarcity prevails of every article, not only of luxury
but even the necessaries of life, is a certain fact. Everything
bears an exorbitant price. The Act, which was in some measure
regarded and stemmed the torrent of oppression, is now no more
heeded than if it had never been made. Indian corn at five shil-
lings; rye, eleven and twelve shillings, but scarcely any to be had
even at that price; beef, eightpence; veal, sixpence and eight-
pence; butter, one and sixpence; mutton, none; lamb, none; pork,
none; mean sugar, four pounds per hundred; molasses, none;
cotton-wool, none; New England rum, eight shillings per gallon;
coffee, two and sixpence per pound; chocolate, three shillings.
What can be done? Will gold and silver remedy this evil ?
By your accounts of board, housekeeping, etc. , I fancy you are
not better off than we are here. I live in hopes that we see the


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ABIGAIL ADAMS
93
most difficult time we have to experience. Why is Carolina so
much better furnished than any other State, and at so reasonable
prices?
Your
Portia.
BRAINTREE, June 8th, 1779.
ix months have already elapsed since I heard a syllable from
S,
opportunity of conveying a line to you. Letters of various
dates have lain months at the Navy Board, and a packet and frig-
ate, both ready to sail at an hour's warning, have been months
waiting the orders of Congress. They no doubt have their rea-
sons, or ought to have, for detaining them. I must patiently wait
their motions, however painful it is; and that it is so, your own
feelings will testify. Yet I know not but you are less a sufferer
than you would be to hear from us, to know our distresses, and
yet be unable to relieve them. The universal cry for bread, to
a humane heart, is painful beyond description, and the great price
demanded and given for it verifies that pathetic passage of Sacred
Writ, “All that a man hath will he give for his life. ” Yet He
who miraculously fed a multitude with five loaves and two fishes
has graciously interposed in our favor, and delivered many of the
enemy's supplies into our hands, so that our distresses have been
mitigated. I have been able as yet to supply my own family,
sparingly, but at a price that would astonish you. Corn is sold at
four dollars, hard money, per bushel, which is equal to eighty at
the rate of exchange.
Labor is at eight dollars per day, and in three weeks it will be
at twelve, it is probable, or it will be more stable than anything
else. Goods of all kinds are at such a price that I hardly dare
mention it. Linens are sold at twenty dollars per yard; the most
ordinary sort of calicoes at thirty and forty; broadcloths at forty
pounds per yard; West India goods full as high; molasses at
twenty dollars per gallon; sugar, four dollars per pound; Bohea
tea at forty dollars; and our own produce in proportion; butch-
er's meat at six and eight shillings per pound; board at fifty and
sixty dollars per week; rates high. That, I suppose, you will re-
joice at; so would I, did it remedy the evil. I pay five hundred
dollars, and a new Continental rate has just appeared, my pro-
portion of which will be two hundred more. I have come to this
determination, -- to sell no more bills, unless I can procure hard


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ABIGAIL ADAMS
money for them, although I shall be obliged to allow a discount.
If I sell for paper, I throw away more than half, so rapid is the
depreciation; nor do I know that it will be received long. I sold
a bill to Blodget at five for one, which was looked upon as high
at that time. The week after I received it, two emissions were
taken out of circulation, and the greater part of what I had
proved to be of that sort; so that those to whom I was indebted
are obliged to wait, and before it becomes due, or is exchanged,
it will be good for - as much as it will fetch, which will be noth-
ing, if it goes on as it has done for this three months past. I
will not tire your patience any longer. I have not drawn any
further upon you.
I mean to wait the return of the Alliance,
which with longing eyes I look for. God grant it may bring
me comfortable tidings from my dear, dear friend, whose welfare
is so essential to my happiness that it is entwined around my
heart, and cannot be impaired or separated from it without rend-
ing it asunder.
I cannot say that I think our affairs go very well here. Our
currency seems to be the source of all our evils. We cannot fill
up our Continental army by means of it. No bounty will prevail
with them. What can be done with it? It will sink in less than
a year.
The advantage the enemy daily gains over us is owing
to this. Most truly did you prophesy, when you said that they
would do all the mischief in their power with the forces they had
here.
My tenderest regards ever attend you. In all places and situ-
ations, know me to be ever, ever yours.
.
A
AUTEUIL, 5th September, 1784.
My Dear Sister :
UTEUIL is a village four miles distant from Paris, and one from
Passy. The house we have taken is large, commodious,
and agreeably situated near the woods of Boulogne, which
belong to the King, and which Mr. Adams calls his park, for he
walks an hour or two every day in them. The house is much
larger than we have need of; upon occasion, forty beds may be
made in it. I fancy it must be very cold in winter. There are
few houses with the privilege which this enjoys, that of having
the salon, as it is called, the apartment where we receive com-
pany, upon the first floor. This room is very elegant, and about


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95
a third larger than General Warren's hall. The dining-room is
upon the right hand, and the salon upon the left, of the entry,
which has large glass doors opposite to each other, one opening
into the court, as they call it, the other into a large and beauti-
ful garden. Out of the dining-room you pass through an entry
into the kitchen, which is rather small for so large a house. In
this entry are stairs which you ascend, at the top of which is a
long gallery fronting the street, with six windows, and opposite to
each window you open into the chambers, which all look into the
garden.
But with an expense of thirty thousand livres in looking-
glasses, there is no table in the house better than an oak board,
nor a carpet belonging to the house. The floors I abhor, made
of red tiles in the shape of Mrs. Quincy's floor-cloth tiles. These
floors will by no means bear water, so that the method of clean-
ing them is to have them waxed, and then a manservant with
foot brushes drives round your room, dancing here and there like
a Merry Andrew. This is calculated to take from your foot every
atom of dirt, and leave the room in a few moments as he found
it. The house must be exceedingly cold in winter. The dining-
rooms, of which you make no other use, are laid with small
stones, like the red tiles for shape and size. The servants' apart-
ments are generally upon the first floor, and the stairs which you
commonly have to ascend to get into the family apartments are
so dirty that I have been obliged to hold up my clothes as though
I was passing through a cow-yard.
I have been but little abroad. It is customary in this country
for strangers to make the first visit. As I cannot speak the lan-
guage, I think I should make rather an awkward figure. I have
dined abroad several times with Mr. Adams's particular friends,
the Abbés, who are very polite and civil, — three sensible and
worthy men. The Abbé de Mably has lately published a book,
which he has dedicated to Mr. Adams. This gentleman is nearly
eighty years old; the Abbé Chalut, seventy-five; and Arnoux
about fifty, a fine sprightly man, who takes great pleasure in
obliging his friends. Their apartments were really nice. I have
dined once at Dr. Franklin's, and once at Mr. Barclay's, our con-
sul, who has a very agreeable woman for his wife, and where I
feel like being with a friend. Mrs. Barclay has assisted me in
my purchases, gone with me to different shops, etc. To-morrow
I am to dine at Monsieur Grand's; but I have really felt so


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ABIGAIL ADAMS
happy within doors, and am so pleasingly situated, that I have
had little inclination to change the scene. I have not been to one
public amusement as yet, not even the opera, though we have
one very near us.
You may easily suppose I have been fully employed, beginning
housekeeping anew, and arranging my family to our no small
expenses and trouble; for I have had bed-linen and table-linen to
purchase and make, spoons and forks to get made of silver,
three dozen of each, — besides tea furniture, china for the table,
servants to procure, etc. The expense of living abroad I always
supposed to be high, but my ideas were nowise adequate to the
thing. I could have furnished myself in the town of Boston with
everything I have, twenty or thirty per cent. cheaper than I have
been able to do it here. Everything which will bear the name of
elegant is imported from England, and if you will have it, you
must pay for it, duties and all. I cannot get a dozen handsome
wineglasses under three guineas, nor a pair of small decanters for
less than a guinea and a half. The only gauze fit to wear is
English, at a crown a yard; so that really a guinea goes no further
than a copper with us. For this house, garden, stables, etc. , we
give two hundred guineas a year. Wood is two guineas and a
half per cord; coal, six livres the basket of about two bushels;
this article of firing we calculate at one hundred guineas a year.
The difference between coming upon this negotiation to France,
and remaining at the Hague, where the house was already fur-
nished at the expense of a thousand pounds sterling, will increase
the expense here to six or seven hundred guineas; at a time, too,
when Congress has cut off five hundred guineas from what they
have heretofore given. For our coachman and horses alone (Mr.
Adams purchased a coach in England) we give fifteen guineas a
month. It is the policy of this country to oblige you to a certain
number of servants, and one will not touch what belongs to the
business of another, though he or she has time enough to per-
form the whole. In the first place, there is a coachman who does
not an individual thing but attend to the carriages and horses;
then the gardener, who has business enough; then comes the cook;
then the maître d'hotel, — his business is to purchase articles in
the family, and oversee that nobody cheats but himself; a valet de
chambre, — John serves in this capacity; a femme de chambre,
Esther serves for this, and is worth a dozen others; a coiffeuse,–
for this place I have a French girl about nineteen, whom I have


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(
((
been upon the point of turning away, because madam will not
brush a chamber: “it is not de fashion, it is not her business. ”
I would not have kept her a day longer, but found, upon inquiry,
that I could not better myself, and hair-dressing here is very
expensive unless you keep such a madam in the house. She
sews tolerably well, so I make her as useful as I can. She is
more particularly devoted to mademoiselle.