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ADAMS, John. Letter signed (“John Adams”) to George Alexander Otis, Montezillo. 22 April 1820. 1 ½ pp. Small seal hole, affecting a few letters of text.
ADAMS, John. Letter signed (“John Adams”) to George Alexander Otis, Montezillo. 22 April 1820. 1 ½ pp. Small seal hole, affecting a few letters of text. “FOR FIVE AND FORTY YEARS I HAVE INVARIABLY PREACHED THE DOCTRINE OF AMERICAN NEUTRALITY.” The retired president effusively thanks Otis for the gift of a translation of De Pradt's Europe after the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle.” The translation is faithful as Elegant and is a meritorious service rendered to your Country. It ought to be in the hands of every public man in America; it is a work of great experience and profound knowledge of Europe, and the condition of the world....” He assumes that Louis the 18th must have permitted its publication, because “it counsels him to a course of conduct which can alone save his family from the fate of the Stuarts...But this country is as deeply interested in the investigation of the present state of society in Europe, as any nation of Europe, and the general aphorism to be deduced from the whole, by the United States is, that perpetual neutrality in all the wars of Europe, a total abstraction from all their quarrels is not only a moral and religious duty but their highest and soundest political interest. If it be possible to live peaceably with all Europe, is our duty to that quarter of the World as well as to ourselves. For by intermingling in their affairs we shall only be a plague to them, as they will be a torment to us....” “For five and 40 years I have invariably preached the doctrine of American neutrality but we should keep aloof from Europe, and hold her aloof from us. Peace and friendship with all, perplexing political alliances with none, has been one of my fundamental maxims for almost half a Century...