Diary of John Quincy Adams, volume 1
1785-05-02
Mr. A and myself went and dined with the Marquis de la Fayette, Comte and Chevalier de la
Luzerne, Comte de la Touche, General du Portail:1 A Letter was brought after dinner to my father from Dr. Franklin,2 informing him that Mr. Randall3
We went to see the Abbés de Chalût and Arnoux, and found them in affliction for the Death of their friend the Abbé de Mably. Abbé Chalût has written the following epitaph for him.
The abbé was a character, that would be uncommon at any 261time, but almost unknown at present in this Kingdom. Every thing that he has left, as I am told will not amount to two hundred louis d'ors. The two abbés his friends are his executors, and he begs of them to accept his library which is composed of about 250 volumes. Of all the Literati in Paris, he owned the least books: but he used to borrow those he wanted; from the bibliotheque du Roi, and made extracts from them: his works are less known than they ought to be, because he was neither an Academician nor a Courtier: But he always maintained the Reputation of a good Man, which is preferable, to any that either Courts or Academies can give. Return'd home at about 10. in the evening.
Louis Le Bègue de Presle Duportail, French military engineer in American service who
later became French minister and secretary of state for war (Lasseray, Les français sous les treize
étoiles
, 1:272–277).
That of 2 May (Adams Papers).
Papers
, 8:544, 610–611; 10:649–651).
Jay to JA, 8 March (bis), 15 March, 18 March (Adams Papers).
Jay's letter of 18 March included JA's instructions, dated 7 March; JA's commission, dated 24 Feb., is also among the Adams Papers.
The congress elected Jefferson on 10 March 1785, and Franklin notified Vergennes on 3 May
that the congress had permitted him to return (
JCC
, 28:134; Franklin, Writings, ed. Smyth,
9:321).
To God the Best and Greatest. Here lies Gabriel Bonnot de Mably, of Dauphiné. A bold enquirer, successful, unwearied, of the Law of Nature: Defender of the damaged integrity of the human race, most tenacious servant of right reason in establishing states, restoring them, stabilizing them, in leading peoples, and casting down the errors of political treatises. What he unceasingly wrote has been approved by the vote and applause of both worlds. By assiduous meditation on history, from the varied institutions of peoples, their customs, their governments, he uncovered the hidden causes of past events, and foretold the future ones. Ever devoted to strict truth, his mind, uninfluenced by his humble estate, constantly spurned honors, wealth, and all sorts of bonds of slavery. After having spent his life doing no harm to anybody, and wisely fostering his ancestral religion, he died with the most tranquil mind on the 23rd day of April 1785, as the seventy-seventh year of his life was beginning. This monument his grieving friends have erected.