By 杰里米Dibbell
One of the MHS’ most recent acquisitions arrived late last week: it’s an 18 October 1800 letter from 阿比盖尔·亚当斯 in Quincy to her friend Dr. 本杰明·拉什费城报道, responding to political attacks made against 约翰·亚当斯 during the presidential election campaign (the first contested presidential race in American history).
The MHS submitted the winning bid for this letter at the 14 April Sotheby’s auction of documents from the James S. 科普利库. 多亏了一位匿名捐赠者的礼物,这封信才得以得到.
亚当斯的论文 Editor-in-Chief Jim Taylor said of the purchase: “The 亚当斯的论文 editors at the MHS have been aware of the 阿比盖尔·亚当斯 letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush for more than fifty years and are thrilled to have it as part of our collection. The document was offered at auction as early as 1943, when the suggested price was a mere $45. It is an excellent example of the first lady’s interest in and knowledge of early national politics. 国安局有阿比盖尔的信稿. MHS最近拿到的文件是她发送的最终版本, 和草案有很大不同. 这封信, 与草案相比, 这表明她在表达自己的想法时非常谨慎.”
在信中,Mrs. Adams takes great exception to the tenor of the campaign against her husband: “If t在这里 can be any measures calculated to excite a wish in the breasts of our Countrymen for a permanent executive Majestrate, 它一定是由频繁的选举带来的道德败坏引起的, from the indecent calumny which sports with the purest Characters; and strives to level them with the meanest; which filches from the most meritorious, that which is dearer than life their good name—that previous ointment which they have stored up to embalm their memory. 真理和正义的衰落是古往今来的原因, 产生暴政, 不仅仅是野心, 和我们的国家, 在将来的某一天, 在同一鞭笞下聪明.”
我们非常高兴地欢迎这封信成为我们的藏品!