12 April 1828
adams-john10 Emily Wieder Recreation Family Finances (Adams Family)
501

12. IV:30. Saturday— Round Capitol Square— Garden— George here. 27. Dinner party.

Barnard— Daniel D Barney— John Dickinson John D Hendricks— William Van Rensselaer Stephen Vance Joseph Reed John Seymour Horatio Chandler John Parris Albion K Barbour— James Clay— Henry Lee— William Roberdeau Isaac. Adams. G. W.

The Elm, Sycamore, Maple, and Locust are beginning to unfold their leaves. The Hautboy Strawberry in the garden first blossoms— The fig tree leaf is pushing, and the bud at the top of one last year’s shag bark is opening in each of my seedling beds— One new plum shews its kernel— One of my last years apple trees has already thrown up as much length of stem as it acquired in the whole of the last Season— Say four Inches— Mr Ouseley sowed this morning in the ground the Lettuce seed given me by Mr Dickins, and the turpentine seed in a Pot— Foy was here all morning, but I could not snatch a quarter of an hour from my visitors to confer with him— Immediately after Breakfast, Mr Hendricks, Senator from Indiana, Barnard, Dickinson, and Van Rensselaer members of the House from New-York, Barney from Maryland, and Vance of Ohio, came most earnestly to recommend William H. Harrison, now a Senator from Ohio, for the appointment of Major General— The Senate yesterday by a vote of 26 to 20 yesterday rejected the proposition to abolish the Office— Mr Reed, member from Massachusetts, brought a Petition from Benjamin Winslow, in prison at Barnstable for smuggling coffee, to be discharged— The petition is accompanied by a recommendation numerously signed, and by sundry other documents— G. Blake however, the District Attorney, declined signing the recommendation— Mr Reed was therefore averse to the reference of the Petition to the Attorney, which I told him was the usual course, and I promised to examine all the documents, and decide upon the case as favourably to the Petitioner as I could— Mr Seymour a Senator from Vermont called and spoke of the appointment of Major General, appearing inclined to favour the views of General Harrison— General Chandler and Mr Parris, the two Senators from Maine, came and delivered me a Letter from themselves, with recommendations signed by five members from the State in the House of Representatives, by all the members of the Executive Council, and a majority of the members from both branches of the State Legislature, in favour of William Pitt Preble, one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the State, and an inveterate and open-mouthed opponent of the Administration— These recommendations are made in language unjust, and offensive towards the Administration—accompanied by repeated and solemn protestations against the right of the General Government to submit the question to any arbitrator at all; and a groundless charge in general terms, that the agents of the general Government heretofore have not given full effect to the title of the State to the controverted territory— I told the Senators that I would give respectful consideration to the recommendations; and expressed to them much regret at the gross misrepresentations which had been made in the State, to produce alienation and distrust among the People of the State of Maine, against the Administration of the general Government—and I spoke of the unwarranted Letter of Mr Bagot to Mr Barclay of 8. December 1818. and the use recently made of it, in newspaper publications in the State to impute to me a concession of the right of the Province of New-Brunswick to exercise jurisdiction within the contested territory when it was merely an inference of Bagot himself, directly contrary to the tenor of my observations to him— There was some conversation upon the merits 502of the boundary question, and we looked over the copy of Mitchell’s map which belongs to the Department of State— Mr Parris appeared to think that much of the strength of our claim depended upon the location of the North-west angle of Nova Scotia, and that this could not reasonably be controverted— Mr Clay and Governor Barbour were here, together— They mentioned the necessity of making now, a nomination of a Major General— Scott, Gaines, Macomb and Harrison were all slightly mentioned, each whom has strong pretensions, and upon which ever of the four the choice may be fixed there will be great clamour from the friends of all the others and from the adversaries of the Administration generally— Mr Clay said that if Gaines should be appointed he could not serve with him— He alluded to a personal insult offered him, about three years since by Lieutenant Butler, Gaines’s aid, in his presence and in the Antechamber to my Cabinet— They happened to meet there; Mr Clay coming in as they with General Brown, were going out— General Brown introduced Butler to Mr Clay, who offered Butler his hand, which Butler passed on without receiving— General Gaines made some slight equivocal apology for this rudeness of Butler, which Mr Clay forbore further to notice, but which has remained upon his memory. I told him that I should under no circumstances whatever nominate General Gaines. But there are so many difficulties, besetting the measure that I propose to take the opinion of the members of the Administration concerning it, and requested a meeting at one O’Clock on Monday to consider it— Mr Lee came and took back two papers that he had left with me shewing allowances to Major Anderson of New-York, similar to those claimed by Amos Binney— He says Binney told him he should very willingly go to Congress with his claim, if he had not been born North of the river Potowmack— He has too much reason for the distrust implied by this remark— Coll. Roberdeau was here, and we conversed upon the project for resuming the survey of the Coast— Mr Talbott of Frederick came to collect the subscription for his Hotel Stock; for which I referred him to my Son John; who on the 23d. of February subscribed for 500 dollars of the Stock— My Son George who was this day twenty-seven years old arrived from Boston, about four O’Clock this afternoon— We had company to dine George and Mrs Bancroft, James Barbour, Daniel D. Barnard, Ichabod Bartlett, Thomas H. Blake, Mr. Champomier, Henry and Mrs Clay, John T De Graff, Mr Duane Edward Everett, Nathaniel and Mrs Frye, Benjamin Gorham, Edward King, Mr Marks Richard and Mrs Rush, Mr. and Miss Shepherd, William S. and Mrs Smith, Samuel L. Southard, Caleb Stetson, Daniel Webster, William and Mrs Wirt, with seven of the family 34 at table— John and Mrs Sergeant Mrs Barbour and Mrs Southard were invited, but did not come— The morning was fair and warm, but rain came up in the afternoon and a thunder gust in the Evening.

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