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Philadelphia, 9 February, 1794.
MY DEAREST FRIEND,
So ! the tables are turned on the French faction ! and the English faction will exult, in their turn, in the prospect of the West India Islands, a conquest to England, the French navy wholly ruined, and insurrection spreading from province to province. Alas ! I see no cause of joy in all these exultations in either side. I am compelled to console myself as well as I can.
" Durum ! sed levius fit patentiA, Quidquid corrigere est nefas."
" Est aliquis et dolendi decor : hie sapienti ser- vandus est : et quemadmodum in ceteris rebus, ita et in lacrimis aliquid sat est. Imprudentium ut gaudia, sic dolores exundavere. Aequo animo excipe neces-
Don t be impatient for the meaning of these mysteries. Wait till John comes up to translate them.
Indeed and in truth I see no consolation upon these occasions but in stoicism or Christianity. I am no more delighted with the idea of the West Indies in the hands of the English, than I was with Brabant and Flanders in the power of Dumourier.
Yours, affectionately.
- John Adams
- Source:
- Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife. Edited by His Grandson, Charles Francis Adams, Volume II, 1841
