John Adams, in another land, would surely have been a
courtier--a Cavalier rather than a Roundhead. John T. Morse, Jr., says
that the Vice-president liked "the trappings of authority." The same
historian declares that in his advice to President Washington, "... he
talked of dress and undress, of attendants, gentlemen-in-waiting,
chamberlains, etc., as if he were arranging the household of a
European monarch."
Gulian C. Verplanck (sometimes known by the nom de plume of "Francis
Herbert"), wrote in 1829, quite an interesting account of Richmond
Hill as he personally recalled it. He draws for us a graphic picture
of a dinner party given by the Vice-president and Mrs. Adams for
various illustrious guests.
After entering the house by a side door on the right, they mounted a
broad staircase with a heavy mahogany railing. Dinner was served in a
large room on the second floor with Venetian windows and a door
opening out onto the balcony under the portico. And then he gives us
these vivid little vignettes of those who sat at the great table:
In the centre sat "Vice-president Adams in full dress, with his bag
and _solitaire_, his hair frizzed out each side of his face as you see
it in Stuart's older pictures of him.
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