Louisa Catherine Adams to John Quincy Adams, June 10, 1804

Washington June 10 th. 1804

My very best friend

I recieved your kind favor of the 31 st on Friday Evening with the Bill enclosed for which I return you many thanks

I am rejoiced to hear that your Garden affords you so much
amusement and hope to find it in high order against next summer I think if you intend to
make any alterations in the House as there is nobody at present residing there it would
be better to have them done this Summer We talked of adding a couple of Chambers and if
it is possible without too great expense I should very much desire to have some change
made in the staircase which makes the entrance to the House intolerable as it stands at
present should this be attended with any difficulty I entreat you to excuse the request
as it is only made from an idea that it would contribute both to health &.
comfort—

Is M rs. Gore much alter’d? I think M rs. Derby should come here for the heat is so excessive that
we are in a great measure obliged to adopt her mode of dress though with as much decency
as , Start deletion, we can , End, very light cloathing will admit pray do
not forget to remember me to my Boston friends when you see them, more particularly to
M rs. Smith—

M rs. Merry surprized us last night by a
visit quite en famille with M r Moore a very agreeable man
they staid a couple of hours he entertained us with some delightful airs on the Piano
which he accompanied with his voice he sings entirely in the Italian stile &. with
exquisite taste M r. M. favor’d us with a trio of his own
composing which is really one of the finest pieces of Music I ever heard the words were
likewise written by himself & begin “Lady fair where art thou roaming” this is the
gentleman who translated Anacreon he looks very young to be so celebreated M r. M. quits this place tomorrow it is probable he will visit
Boston I have a great inclination to give him a letter to you that you may become
acquainted with him— 1 The day the Chargé
left the City M rs. M. paid a visit to M rs. T. Peter and they are likely to become very intimate.— 2 Chargés namesake the D r. has very suddenly changed his Politics and is now become a furious federalist to the astonishment of all the
world— 3

Our little John has been extremely unwell & is wonderfully
reduced he is now cutting two of his high teeth which have made him suffer very much for
the last three weeks &. are not yet through I have some thoughts of taking him to
Bladensburg which is about eight miles from this place for a day or two as I think a
change of air might be of great service to him he is much better the last three days
& I make no doubt will be perfectly well when the teeth are through therefore do not
be uneasy if he had been very seriously sick I should have written you before— 4 George is very well M rs. Merry says he is formed for a Politician he understands the art of twisting a subject better than any child she ever saw— I am
sorry to say he has lost almost all his French—

Adi[eu my] best loved friend remember me affectionately [to] your
fam[ily &] be assured of the unalterable affection of y[our]

L. C. Adams