"My two favorite scenes of John and Abigail Adams come from their retirement years at Quincy. In the first John is out in the fields working alongside his hired hands, swinging the scythe as he murmurs curses under his breath against Tom Paine and Alexander Hamilton. Abigail is duly recording his murmurings, seconding his denunciations, noting that Thomas Jefferson should also be added to the rogues' gallery. In the second scene, Abigail has descended to the basement of the Quincy house to shell peas. John accompanies her, bringing along a copy of Descartes to read to her while she prepares dinner."
- From My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams, edited by Margaret A. Hogan and C. James Taylor with a foreword by Joseph J. Ellis
No comments:
Post a Comment