John James Valente, Jr.
Timothy Pickering to C. C. Pinckney
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May 25th, 1800
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Indignation and disgust,—these are and long have been my feelings towards Mr. Adams: disgust at his intolerable vanity; indignation for the disgrace and mischief which his conduct has brought on the cause of Federalism and the country . . . If you were to scan his actions minutely, you would find them influenced by selfishness, ambition and revenge; that his heart is cankered with envy, and deficient in sincerity; that he is blind, stone blind, to his own faults and failings, and incapable of discerning the vices and defects of his family connections.
Pickering to Rufus King
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March 4, 1804
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I am disgusted with the men who now rule, and with their measures. At some manifestations of their malignancy, I am shocked. The cowardly wretch at their head, while, like a Parisian revolutionary monster, prating about humanity, would feel an infernal pleasure in the utter destruction of his opponents.
Governeur Morris to Moss Kent
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January 15, 1815
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You will have seen that the Hartford Convention have been prudent. Their doings bring to mind one of La Fontaine’s fables. A Council of rats being convoked to devise measures of defence against feline depredations, a sleek young member was much applauded for proposing to tie a bell round puss’s neck, which giving reasonable notice of her approach, would enable every one to take care of himself. Before the question was put, an old rat (addressing the chair) said, “I too, sir, entirely approve of our young friend’s proposal, but wish, before I vote, to know who will fasten the bell.”
Documents take from
Henry Adams (ed.)
Documents Relating to New England
Federalism, 1800-1815
, New York, Burt Franklin, 1877.