I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
TO DR COOPER OF BOSTON.
Paris, February 28th, 1780.
Dear Sir,
This will be delivered to you by the Marquis, your friend. Your grandson is well and very contented. He has seen the world, to be sure, such a part of it, that none of the rest can ever be superlatively disagreeable to him hereafter.[57]
Instead of wishing and hoping for peace, my dear countrymen must qualify themselves for war, and learn the value of liberty by the dearness of its purchase. The foundations of lasting prosperity are laid in great military talents and virtues. Every sigh for peace, until it can be obtained with honor, is unmanly. If our enemies can be obstinate and desperate in a wicked and disgraceful cause, surely we can be determined and persevering in the most just, the most honorable, and the most glorious cause, that was ever undertaken by men.
I am, with great affection, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.