Original subtitles

Four generations of one family. Their lives and causes reveal 150

years of American history.

1776

A declaration of independence has been signed by once loyal American colonists.

John Adams of Massachusetts, one time subject of his Britannic majesty, now a

traitor and rebel to his king.

George III of England, earnest, well -intentioned, plagued by ill health

will tip him to madness.

Ill -advised by ministers and generals who assure him the rebellion will be

short and sweet.

Just a brief interruption of domestic plans while British might teaches the

Americans to behave.

Madam, I am

Dr. Franklin.

This is Mr. Adams. We are members of your Congress on important...

and compassion. Madam, these are our papers. They will acquaint you with our

persons.

Well, sir, forgive me. I'm honored.

Lucy, show Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams the garret chamber. We require separate

rooms. Sir, there's a war on. You'll have to stick it together for tonight.

Thank you.

Nasty little room, isn't it?

It's a palace compared to what our soldiers sleep in.

Have you read this dispatch from General Washington?

He states that our army is in a state of wretchedness.

Defeated, diseased, without bedding or blankets, food or medicine.

Damn this Congress for their failure to provide.

Rest assured, they will vote the funds after our meeting with Lord Howe

tomorrow. That meeting is clearly a British trick.

I do not trust these wily, high -born Englishmen. Sir, rest easy.

You're in the company of a wily, low -born American.

Understand.

There are those in the Congress who will not vote funds for the army unless we

respond to every British peace offer.

Sir, don't close it.

Why not?

We shall be suffocated here.

Dr. Franklin, I have a fear of the evening air. It disagrees with my

Nonsense.

Well, sir, I have made a study of my illness and always at the start there

an open window. No, sir.

Always at the start there was an open window which you closed.

Close that window, sir, and you risk sudden dangerous dilation of your pores.

My pores?

Followed by a swelling of the arterioles.

Not only will you catch a cold...

but you lose all power of procreation.

Well, the organs of generation cannot be expected to rise when the window is

lowered.

What? That is adulterated, canting nonsense.

Indeed.

You now fancy yourself a scientist?

Well, Dr. Franklin, my wife has presented me with five fine children.

I assure you, at home, we always sleep with our window closed.

Perhaps there was a draft.

No, sir.

But, of course, you New Englanders are a race apart.

Perhaps you generate your own drafts in your person.

Well, I've often noticed when you enter a room, Mr. Adams, a definite chill

settles over it.

Dr. Franklin, I will allow the window to remain open.

I do so not out of deference to your superior wisdom, but from respect for

advanced age and our close friendship.

Dr.

Franklin, do try some of the strawberry jam. I have it. Specially sent from a

small shop in German Street for my table here. Lord Howe, we have not come all

the way from Philadelphia merely to take tea with you.

Never the Spartan, Mr. Adams.

Gentlemen, I have excellent news for you.

I am now able to assure you that our gracious king and his parliament are

favorably inclined towards redressing your grievances.

Indeed, sir. You will find them willing to grant full pardons to those who will

treat for peace.

Is that why you have invited us here, to grant us pardons? Indeed, sir, you

shall have them as soon as the rebellious colonies return to their

My lord, America will deal only as an independent state.

If we permit you to govern us again, you could do so only with force of arms.

Dr. Franklin, please.

I wave an olive branch and you see only a sword.

Is there no way to gain your trust?

If your lordship truly wishes peace...

Return home and urge the Parliament to accept our independence.

Sir, you know that is impossible.

A few months ago, you would have thought it impossible for our country to unite

against you. You unite for your own destruction.

How long can you conduct a war on little more than anger?

When passion governs, she governs badly.

How would you know that, sir? I have read it in the works of Dr. Franklin.

Gentlemen, you leave me little choice.

I fear I must now take New York and advance to Philadelphia.

More tea, Dr. Franklin.

My dearest friend, we have been three days soaking in the heaviest rain that

been known in several years.

I took a walk to the potter's field where our dead soldiers lie.

Upwards of 2 ,000 are buried here.

Disease has destroyed ten men where the sword of the enemy has killed one.

I never in my whole life was affected by so much melancholy.

But we must not despair.

One thing is more certain every day. Our people will and do fight.

Though they make a clumsy hand of it, yet they do better and better.

With Dr. Franklin departed to France as our representative, yet another of my

friends has left this Congress.

separated from all that I love, wedded to all that I hate, wasted in mind and

body with incessant application to business, I have asked leave of the

I shall decline any re -election to it.

My dearest friend, I am coming home.

Four generations of one family. Their lives and causes reveal 150

years of American history.

1776

A declaration of independence has been signed by once loyal American colonists.

John Adams of Massachusetts, one time subject of his Britannic majesty, now a

traitor and rebel to his king.

George III of England, earnest, well -intentioned, plagued by ill health

will tip him to madness.

Ill -advised by ministers and generals who assure him the rebellion will be

short and sweet.

Just a brief interruption of domestic plans while British might teaches the

Americans to behave.

Madam, I am

Dr. Franklin.

This is Mr. Adams. We are members of your Congress on important...

they will acquaint you with our persons.

Well, sir, forgive me. I'm honored.

Lucy, show Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams the garret chamber.

We require separate rooms.

Sir, there's a war on. You'll have to figure it together for tonight.

Thank you.

Nasty little room, isn't it?

It's a palace compared to what our soldiers sleep in.

Have you read this dispatch from General Washington?

He states that our army is in a state of wretchedness.

Defeated, diseased, without bedding or blankets, food or medicine.

Damn this Congress for their failure to provide.

Rest assured, they will boot the funds after our meeting with Lord Howe

tomorrow. That meeting is clearly a British trick.

I do not trust these wily, high -born Englishmen. Sir, rest easy.

You're in the company of a wily, low -born American.

Understand.

There are those in the Congress who will not vote funds for the army unless we

respond to every British peace offer.

Sir, don't close it.

Why not?

We shall be suffocated here.

Dr. Franklin, I have a fear of the evening air. It disagrees with my

Nonsense.

Well, sir, I have made a study of my illness and always at the start there

an open window. No, sir.

Always at the start there was an open window which you closed.

Close that window, sir, and you risk sudden dangerous dilation of your pores.

My pores?

Followed by a swelling of the arterioles.

Not only will you catch a cold...

but you lose all power of procreation.

Well, the organs of generation cannot be expected to rise when the window is

lowered.

What the... That is adulterated, chanting nonsense.

Indeed.

You now fancy yourself a scientist?

Well, Dr. Franklin, my wife has presented me with five fine children.

I assure you, at home, we always sleep with our window closed.

Perhaps there was a draft.

No, sir.

Well, of course.

You New Englanders are a race apart.

Perhaps you generate your own drafts in your person.

Well, I've often noticed when you enter a room, Mr. Adams, a definite chill

settles over it.

Dr. Franklin, I will allow the window to remain open.

I do so not out of deference to your superior wisdom, but from respect for

advanced age and our close friendship.

and do try some of the strawberry jam. I have it specially sent from a small

shop in German Street for my table here. Lord Howe, we have not come all the way

from Philadelphia merely to take tea with you.

Never the Spartan, Mr. Adams.

Gentlemen, I have excellent news for you.

I am now able to assure you that our gracious king and his parliament are

favorably inclined towards redressing your grievances.

Indeed, sir.

You will find them willing to grant full pardons to those who will treat for

peace.

Is that why you have invited us here, to grant us pardons? Indeed, sir, you

shall have them as soon as the rebellious colonies return to their

My lord, America will deal only as an independent state.

If we permit you to govern us again, you could do so only with force of arms.

Dr. Franklin, please.

I wave an olive branch and you see only a sword.

Is there no way to gain your trust?

If your lordship truly wishes peace...

Return home and urge the Parliament to accept our independence.

Sir, you know that is impossible.

A few months ago, you would have thought it impossible for our country to unite

against you. You unite for your own destruction.

How long can you conduct a war on little more than anger?

When passion governs, she governs badly.

How would you know that, sir? I have read it in the works of Dr. Franklin.

Gentlemen, you leave me little choice.

I fear I must now take New York and advance to Philadelphia.

More tea, Dr. Franklin.

My dearest friend, we have been three days soaking in the heaviest rain that

been known in several years.

I took a walk to the potter's field where our dead soldiers lie.

Upwards of 2 ,000 are buried here.

Disease has destroyed ten men where the sword of the enemy has killed one.

I never in my whole life was affected by so much melancholy.

But we must not despair.

One thing is more certain every day. Our people will and do fight.

Though they make a clumsy hand of it, yet they do better and better.

With Dr. Franklin departed to France as our representative, yet another of my

friends has left this Congress.

separated from all that I love, wedded to all that I hate, wasted in mind and

body with incessant application to business, I have asked leave of the

I shall decline any re -election to it.

My dearest friend, I am coming home.

Now remember, there is to be no jumping or shouting or fighting or crying. Papa

will be very tired from his journey.

Will he remember me, Mama?

Charlie, of course he will.

Would I scarce remember him?

That is ridiculous, Charlie. Papa looks exactly like me, only bigger. And Nabi.

Yes, Mama?

Very well, children.

You may open the door for your father.

Mrs. Adams, I'm James Lovell.

Lovell, the new representative from Massachusetts.

Yes, I know who you are.

Why are you here?

I'd hoped to speak with Mr. Adams before returning to Boston. I have some news

for him.

Mr. Adams has yet to arrive. We've been waiting hours.

With your leave, madam, I will wait with you.

Surely your news can wait until tomorrow.

I fear it cannot.

I carry a message from the Congress.

Children, wait for your father outside.

But, Mother, you didn't want to... Nabi, go.

Mr. Lovell, this is a private family reunion.

You would not want to spoil it with news of a lost battle.

Madam. We want no news here today.

Mrs. Adams, Silas Dean, one of our commissioners in France, has been

He was discovered in a course of financial intrigue and faces charges of

embezzlement.

Shocking.

But not surprising.

Is that your news?

There are few men who will not follow a course of self -interest when they can.

There is one who will not.

And the Congress has appointed him Dean's replacement.

Oh, no.

He will refuse.

He must refuse.

Mrs. Adams, he is needed in France.

Unfortunately, Dr.

Franklin has fallen out with Mr. Lee. Only Mr. Adams can sort out... Mr.

whatever have I done to you that you contrive to rob me of my every

Send him to France?

Put him to the hazards of a winter crossing?

His health is delicate enough and mine is worse. No, I will not suffer it.

Madam, I am sorry.

Mr. Adams will refuse.

I know that.

So does the Congress.

And they trust that you will prevail upon him to see his duty.

Oh, I will.

Be assured, I will.

And his duty is here with his wife and his children.

Madam, please. Dr. Franklin is too old to carry on... Mr. Lovell, I have

sacrificed three years to this cause.

I have, without complaint, taught French to my babies, mended fences, dug

potatoes, but I will not have this.

Besides, we can't afford it.

The Congress has granted him a small allowance. One which does not permit his

family to join him. I fear it will merely cover his own travel expenses.

then damn this Congress for the heartless villain that it is.

Mama! Abigail!

Abigail!

Mr. Adams, I fear your wife has discovered the design of Congress to

you... Mr. Lovell, I have already refused the Congress.

My dearest.

I have not the stuff of a diplomat.

My wig never fits.

And you see how badly I manage greetings.

Sir, it is your wisdom and integrity we need. Mr. Lovell, my wife and I have

much to discuss, and none of it concerns the business of the Congress.

So if you will excuse us, now.

You will stay the month.

You must stay the month. It will take a month to fit you out. No, Abigail, I

cannot go. Yes, you will go.

And you will take John Quincy with you.

But you will need the boy here.

This country needs trained diplomats more than I do.

No, I cannot take the boy. Yes, you can.

We must give him every opportunity.

How often have you said you fear the ridicule of the world because of your

narrow preference for New England? Well, what of that?

Johnny will not have that complaint when he goes with you to France.

Well, I fear... I fear you fear too much.

I never feared that you would keep me if the Congress commanded.

It has been the great blessing of my life that you do understand.

Oh,

Charlie. Tommy, your greeting.

Oh, thank you, Tommy.

Yes,

Charlie. Merci.

Merci.

En excellence, Monsieur Adams and Monsieur John Quincy Adams.

Mr. Adams, how pleased I am to see you here.

Thank you.

Did you have a good voyage, my lad? The ocean was better behaved than the crew,

Doc. You cannot believe the amount of profane swearing our sailors were given

to, without regard for the boy. He seems none the worse for it. Indeed, he is an

Adams, not a parrot. We know he will not repeat what he has heard.

A true diplomat, eh?

Where are you staying in Paris?

Well, I can make no permanent arrangements until I've settled Johnny

You'll stay here with me.

There's room enough, and I welcome your company. Thank you.

So, you're to be schooled in France, eh?

I envy you.

Here in France, there's everything to inform the understanding, refine the

taste, and purify the heart. Yes, at your age, Doctor.

But at his age, there is everything to seduce, deprave, corrupt, and debauch

him.

Still, to exclude him from temptation is to exclude him from the world in which

he is to live.

There.

Now, when can we begin our work?

Sir, you're not officially recognized until you've been introduced at

Versailles. I shall arrange a meeting with the king's minister, the Comte de

Vergine. Ah, yes. Have you established a good relationship with him?

We cannot hope for a better friend.

I dare say there's not a Frenchman who's not well disposed to our cause.

If it were not for the petty jealousies of our own people, our mission in Europe

would be carried off without a snag or stumble.

Dr. Franklin, Madame Rion is waiting for you. Ah, my dear Elaine. Dear Elaine,

indeed. Benjamin, I am furious.

Oh, so that is why you look so ravishing.

Allow me to introduce...

Is it true what Lucien Chagrin told me this morning? That you play card with

her? Well, she took her bath last night. Lies, lies.

Swear it.

And my heart not yours.

You have no heart.

Now swear.

We played chess.

Only chess. Believe me, Hélène.

Do you see how this scoundrel torments me, swearing to love me alone while

seducing half the women in Paris? Madame, my son.

It's no use.

Who can remain angry with you? I don't care what games you play. As long as you

do not play them tonight, you will be in good time for my dinner party.

And may I bring Mr. Adams?

Adams? Le fameux Adams?

C 'est un homme en vogue, oui? Oui, Monsieur Adams. I know, I know.

Who has not heard of the great...

Samuel Adams.

The Boston Tea Party.

France of Liberty.

I am honored.

Madam, you mistake me for my distinguished cousin, Samuel. I am John

No.

Yes.

Quelle dommage.

We do not feel badly, monsieur. You are a friend of Dr. Franklin, no? And that

is enough distinction for any American in Paris.

You will come to my soiree tonight.

Everyone will be there.

A tout à l 'heure.

What has happened to Dr. Franklin?

He's so altered since I last saw him in America.

Sir, I believe that Dr.

Franklin has been afflicted with the three Bs, which plague all Americans in

Paris. What do you mean?

Vanity, venery, and virgin.

Look at this, sir.

His face decorates half the teacups in Paris.

You can buy him on snuff boxes, serving trays.

Tensue engravings, with or without fur cap and witty quotations.

Yes, he's all the rage.

These French have turned him into a sort of demigod.

Indeed, he is more honored than a deity.

Yes, he's all the fashion, and he knows it.

He's making many friends for America.

For America.

Any American who serves here with him will tell you that he makes great

for Franklin.

He believes that he has captivated Paris.

It's clear that he is the captive of this city.

His venery, his lust, would be infamous anywhere else.

And his close friendship with the Comte de Végin does not serve our country

well.

Be careful, Mr. Adams.

This court is a nest of intrigue and cunning.

Mr. Adams!

Excuse me.

Let me introduce you to the Count and Countess de Berger.

I look forward to our meeting, sir.

Dr. Franklin has spoken so often of your services to your country.

All Paris is admiring your great writings, Mr. Adams.

Indeed. Yes.

Le common sense is my favorite.

Madam, you mistake me for Mr. Thomas Paine. Pray forgive me, sir.

Come. Let me take you to the Ptigato.

They shall be my peace offering.

Ouvrez la bouche.

Madame.

You must meet my cousin, Louis de Gaulle -Sauvignon.

My dearest Abbey, how shall I persuade my dear countrymen to avoid the plague

Europe? If power were in my hands, I would forever banish and exclude from

America all gold, silver, precious stones, marble, silk, velvet, and lace.

The ladies might denounce me as a tyrant, but I would remind them that

tyrants banish things of greater value.

Wisdom, virtue, and liberty.

I am with an ardor that words have not the power to express.

Yours.

Oh, doctor.

Ah, Mr. Adams.

Up working so late? I wonder if I might have a few words with you.

Pray, Mr. Adams. We'll wait for tomorrow.

Sir, I promise not to keep you up late.

Oh, Mr. Adams, I'm not retiring.

I'm going out.

At this hour?

A small private party.

A little whist followed by a little whimsy.

Well, I'm not asking for an account of your evenings, Doctor, but I have been

charged by the Congress to provide an account of our expenses here.

Can you tell me where I can find some record of the loans made by France in

months prior to my arrival?

Have you asked Mr. Lee?

Yes, Mr. Lee does not know.

All I can find are these scraps of paper. Nowhere can I locate a proper

of our records.

Mr. Adams, it is very late.

As you can observe, I... I'm an elderly man.

I save all my strength to deal with the French court.

Well, as representatives of America, we must be loved so that our country is

loved.

Yes, we must study to be courtiers here, not clerks.

Diplomacy is a difficult art. Even diplomats keep records, Doctor.

Have you kept no records?

Spies, Mr. Adams.

Spies everywhere.

Don't trust Mr.

Lee. Oh, I know Mr. Lee has a difficult temper, but I believe him to be an

honest man, loyal to his country.

You may believe that if you wish, sir, but I believe it best to keep few

records, safer to store it all in one's head.

Ah, so that it is in your memory.

Mr. Adams, who would trust the memory of a man my age?

I wouldn't.

Well, how are we to pay back the loans made by the French bankers if we have no

records? And what of our debts to our agents here in Europe?

Mr. Adams, it's been my experience in life that no one ever loses a debt by

misplacing a bill.

They will turn up, believe me.

Now, if you no longer need me, I must be going.

Do get some rest, Mr. Adams. You look tired.

Tomorrow you are to be introduced in Versailles.

Your Excellency, the Minister of the United States of America, Mr. John

Mr.

Adams. Your Majesty, I am delighted to meet you.

Nothing more precious than the cause of our North America, and you will see me

consecrate it to my zeal.

Your Dr.

Franklin has made us all the sons of freedom.

Do you like Paris?

Is this your first trip to France?

Is there a problem?

Sir, Mr.

Adams does not understand, Your Majesty.

I warned you not to waste your time copying our accounts.

Far better. You spent your time learning French.

But I have been studying. I have an excellent grammar.

Mr. Adams, French can be learned from the salon or in the boudoir, but nobody

ever mastered it from a book. You were wrong, sir. My son has.

He learns more French in one day than I have in the month I've been here. Dr.

Franklin, His Majesty wishes to hear all about your meeting with Voltaire.

Mr. Adams, why don't you make a tour of the gardens?

Everyone understands the language of the flowers.

I tell you, Johnny, the longer I live and the more I see of public men, the

I wish to be a private one.

Father, are you thinking of resigning your commission here?

There are too many American ministers in Paris.

Far better the Congress appoint only one and give him the full authority to deal

with the French.

Then you wish to carry on here alone.

Me? Never.

Oh, it's Dr.

Franklin who should have the full authority.

The French love him. He and that devious Virgin are the greatest of friends.

They deserve each other.

But you're Dr.

Franklin's friend as well, Father, are you not?

No more, Johnny.

He only studies to advance his own fame in the world.

He is vanity.

He sets about to spread his fame so the mob will stare and gape.

Have you told him so?

What do you take me for, Johnny?

I am, after all, a diplomat.

Now, where shall we spend our afternoon?

It is your free Sunday as well as mine.

Well, Father, the boys at school told me about a hall of curiosities in the

Faubourg Saint -Germain. Oh?

What curiosities?

They say there's a woman who weighs 450 pounds there.

She wears a thimble as big as my fist on her finger.

Well, we shall view this wonder of the modern world if it is your wish.

And I pray that she is adorned by more than that thimble, Johnny. Papa!

Come now, we must not waste a precious afternoon in dawdling.

I have a list of monuments and churches that we will view after we've gazed upon

your human mountain.

There's much to see here before we return to America.

Do you think that will be soon?

If Congress will not send us home, Johnny, we will go home nonetheless.

We are finished with Paris.

Fini!

Your Excellency.

I fear I have some distressing news for you.

Ah? You have me in check again?

If that were all.

My latest dispatches from America advise me that the Congress has appointed Mr.

Adams as sole American peace commissioner, granting him the power to

treaty with Great Britain.

But you are the only man qualified to undertake... Your Excellency, I am to

remain as representative to the French court.

He will not accept.

Adams must know that he has not the skill, the experience to deal with

He has accepted.

Even now he's traveling to Paris with additional reinforcements.

Two of his sons and Francis Dana, a secretary.

Naturally, he will confer with you here before attempting to treat with the

British.

Be assured...

He is committed by the Congress to seek your advice in all these matters.

How can I put it more clearly, Mr. Adams?

Much as we desire the end of hostilities between your country and England, it

would be a great mistake for you to enter into negotiations before America

won a decisive victory on the battlefield.

Yes, but that might be months from now. The Congress has sent me here to open

negotiations at this time. With the advice and approval.

of your life, France. Well, sir, we advise against it now. Your Excellency,

Adams is aware of the great debt we owe to France.

Nothing we do will jeopardize our amity. Except perhaps our efforts to make a

peace with England that does not suit France.

That is why no word of my presence in Paris has been published in the

newspapers.

If I am ignored, perhaps I will disappear and the war will go on as

no peace in sight.

Mr. Adams, you need have no fear that America will fight forever.

I have already begun drafting the agenda for negotiations between your country

and Great Britain. Voyez.

Do you approve this?

We will be happy to study it and give it a due. This calls for a general

armistice. between Great Britain and her colonies.

Where does it recognize America's independence?

That is something the powers of Europe will negotiate in your behalf.

And we will join with Russia to protect your interests. Indeed.

Empress Catherine is no friend to our revolution.

She will certainly not intercede for us.

Indeed, what king or queen can speak for us? No, sir. American independence is

not a matter for negotiation.

It is a precondition, something which you and the English must understand.

Sir, it is but a draft.

We welcome your suggestions.

You welcome my suggestions?

Sir, we have not cast off the yokes of English masters to put on the chains of

French protectors. Sir, you do not truly believe that we wish to enslave you?

Monsieur, no man is more aware of our obligation to your country than I am.

But I am also aware that you owe us a great deal in return.

Indeed, sir.

The new power France has gained in Europe is a direct result of my

struggle for independence.

Our separation from your great enemy, England, has allowed you to regain the

great power and strength you once had.

The obligations as I see them, sir, are mutual.

Mr. Adams, you are the strangest diplomat I have yet encountered.

Have you returned to Paris to make peace with the English or to declare war on

France?

You were always an honest man.

Often a wise man.

But sometimes, sir, you are completely out of your senses.

Will you now tell your French friends that I'm mad?

It is this groveling towards the French that I call lunacy. Sir, what is it that

maddened us to question the motives of our only benefactor? And you agree with

Virgin. They pay and we obey.

That would make us the beggars of the world. Where else are we?

Our treasury is bankrupt.

Our army stays alive on French funds and supplies.

It is not our place to inspect the French motives, so long as we get the

money. You would sell us to France.

Nonsense.

All we need do is make a public show of submitting to their will.

Privately, we'll follow our own course.

Oh, Mr. Adams, you do not disturb me. I am honored by your unexpected visit.

Thank you.

In the past weeks, I've come to share your view that this may not be the best

time to open negotiations with England.

Ah, indeed, we do need a great victory in the field in order to bring them to

the conference table.

Therefore, I have worked out this plan.

If the French fleet were settled in Chesapeake Bay, it could harass the

lines of communication, and we could bring them to such misery they would

to... But, Mr. Adams, the Comte de Rochambeau and Admiral de Ternay are in

America now with this express purpose in mind.

But why did no one tell me of this?

An oversight.

Rochambeau will discuss the question of a blockade with General Washington.

It is, after all...

A matter for generals, not mere diplomats such as we are.

I am hardly a diplomat, sir, until I am recognized as such.

Until my credentials as peace commissioner are made known to the

merely a guest in a foreign country.

At times, an unwanted one.

Mr. Adams, nobody would like to see you leave Paris in triumph more

than I.

But if we allowed you... To announce your mission at this time, the English

would consider any communication ridiculous.

Monsieur, I realize that I cannot go against the wishes of this court, so

as you remain our only ally.

And I see it does not serve your designs for America to make peace until you

have squeezed the last drop of advantage out of our war with England.

But, sir, you are not the only country in Europe.

My dearest Abby, a child was never more weary of a whistle than I am of

embassies. If we could flit across the Atlantic as they say the angels do from

planet to planet, I would dart to Braintree tonight, bring you over on my

and end this horrid solitude.

For God's sake, never reproach me again with not writing.

Your wounds strike too deep.

You don't know the dangers that surround me and our country.

There are spies upon every word I utter and every syllable I write.

Spies planted by the English.

Spies planted by envious and malicious politicians.

My life has been often in danger, but I never considered my reputation and

character so much in danger as now.

Congratulations, Mr. Adams.

Sir, I know of nothing that warrants your congratulations.

Sir, you must not be so modest.

I have just been advised by the Comte de Vergennes that you have raised the art

of rudeness to a new height.

Sir, is there no end to your suspicions? How can there be when every action of

this court confirms my worst fears?

They would keep us poor and weak.

Why, they make all Europe believe that we are in great distress and danger so

that other nations would be discouraged from taking our part. Nonsense.

Well, then why have the bankers of Holland failed to lend us money? Mr.

we can hardly blame France for Holland's stinginess.

You know as well as I that the Dutch will not lend us money as long as they

under the English influence. She is ripe to fall off the English tree if we

could reach her.

Show her that we are an independent power worthy of her support.

No. Why? Because the Count of Magenta does not wish us to have another ally.

He wishes us only to be dependent on France. Adams, please cease this

will not have it.

No man regrets more than I that your mission in Europe must wait to be

accomplished.

I wish the time were ripe to open negotiations with the British, but you

well as I that this is not the moment.

I well understand how in your idleness you have become a creature of mischief.

It is the way with boys.

And like a boy, your imagination makes you see enemies behind every tree.

Lacking true enemies here, you endeavor to create them.

And I must warn you, you have succeeded.

Bergen has asked me to write to the Congress, requesting your recall.

Have you done so?

No.

But if you cannot control your tongue in France, I will be obliged to seek the

help of Congress in restraining you.

Sir, you threaten all the good work I've accomplished in this court.

Dr. Franklin, since I appear to be in your way here, I shall remove myself to

Holland and do what I can for my country there. But you have no authority to act

in Holland.

My instructions from the Congress allow me to reside where I choose.

Mr. Adams, you may go to Holland or to hell.

Whichever is closer.

The University of Leiden is the very best in Europe. I know you will be happy

there.

But the students at the university will all be years older than we are.

They may not speak to us.

Well, you and your brother will have each other.

And you will make other friends.

You may use your solitude to improve your Latin. I hope you will soon be

proficient in Virgil and Tully's orations.

Oh, I know. Dr. Franklin recommended them to me.

I would you did not mention that man to me.

Father, have you quarreled again?

For the last time.

So far as my cruel fate compels me to act with him in public, I will treat him

with decency.

Further than that, I can feel nothing but contempt and abhorrence.

My Lord, I don't believe this. Look at this, Johnny. Charlie, the London

calls me a rebel chieftain. Here, read, Charlie.

He's the most obnoxious rebel of them all.

Poor Dr.

Franklin is only his duke.

What I would not give to see his face when he reads this.

Oh, we must send this to your mother.

I wonder if she got the last parcel I sent from France.

The bolt of the sauciest red cloth I ever saw.

I told her to make a dress of it, but knowing your mother, she probably sold

and bought new farm implements with the profits.

When I learned of the plot to have Mr. Adams recalled by the Congress, I

to inform you of what was happening.

The Comte de Virgin has complained to the Congress requesting his recall.

But surely Dr.

Franklin will stand by my husband.

Dr. Franklin joins Virgin in seeking his censure.

Oh, is there no end to human perfidy?

No, it is wrong to speak of betrayals.

When you have demonstrated such great loyalty, Mr. Lovell. It is my duty as an

old friend of Mr. Adams.

Now, be set another place. Mr. Lovell will stay for supper. Oh, Mrs. Adams, I

would not trouble you. No, you must rest the night before returning to Congress.

We are quite starved for polite conversation here in Braintree. I cannot

that, madam.

Surely your house must be filled with friends and admirers.

No.

Things have very much changed since the war.

Old friends have moved back to England.

Neighbors have moved away.

There is very little sociability.

Then you must be very lonely here.

That word scarcely describes the desolation of my life.

I have only Nabi for company.

She is not given to gay chatter.

She misses her brothers and her father. She's quite lovely.

That does little to improve a woman's conversation.

It does not seem to interfere with your own, madam.

What?

Mrs. Adams, I... Mr. Lovell, is something wrong? Why do you stare so?

I fear that I'm still amazed at what I find here.

Mr. Adams and others have often spoken of your wit and zeal, but... Why has no

man ever spoken of your beauty?

Quite simply, Mr. Lovell, because I am not beautiful.

I fear you have allowed your husband to wrong you sorely in Philadelphia.

Sir? He speaks of you as his Portia, his Penelope. But, madam, to another man,

you would be the Helen of this war.

Me, sir?

Helen of Troy?

I'm afraid I cannot allow you to continue in this fashion. Pray, madam,

affectionate esteem for you offends... Mr. Lovell, have you quite finished with

your tea?

Surely you would not turn me out without a night's lodging. I would as soon

spend a night under the same roof with Lord Howe.

Nabby!

Good day.

Your servant, madam.

Yes, mother?

Abby, I'm afraid we have nothing on this farm to satisfy his appetite.

Down, vanity.

I'm sorry I could find you no better quarters, Mr. Adams. This view is hardly

the best that Amsterdam has to offer.

I've had a wearisome journey, Mr. Dana. Please, close that window.

I fear I cannot fear farewell among such cold damps and putrid streams. How did

the Dutch survive surrounded by all this dead water? They drink a great deal of

Holland's gin.

Try some, Mr. Adams. It will revive you. No, sir.

To restore my spirits, I must obtain money for our country here and some

recognition of our independence.

Mr. Adams.

Oh, you look very tired.

I'll return tomorrow and we can review the situation here. Surely I have some

letters from the Congress, letters I must answer.

I'm certain they can wait till you've had a night's sleep.

Oh, do let me have my letters, Mr. Dane. I'll never sleep the night on that.

It's too soft.

Thank you.

been informed by the Congress that my commission as sole negotiator for the

peace has been ended.

I'm sorry, sir.

But now you can return home.

Because they plucked my feathers.

What need have I for such ornaments? I still have work to do. But you were

dismissed. No, sir. Merely diluted.

I have been appointed to a five -member peace commission with Dr.

Franklin. Sir, you must protest. This is all Franklin's intrigue. No, sir, the

Congress does well.

My talent, if I have any, is for making war. I'm a wretched diplomat.

I would not trust myself with such an important task as making the peace.

But I am damned if I will leave Europe without obtaining that Dutch loan.

I must study the Dutch language.

If you would obtain me a teacher.

Mr. Adams, you must rest now. You look very tired.

I fear I'm past being tired, Mr. Dana. If you know of a physician in Amsterdam

who will not kill me, I pray you fetch him.

I fear I've caught a fever.

Oh, I'm burning with it.

Quickly, sir, quickly.

Mr.

Adams, are you well enough to be out of bed?

Mr. Dana, I have wasted enough time in Amsterdam already. Where is that Dutch

teacher I asked for? Well, sir, you were in a coma for five days.

It wasn't the time to learn a new language.

I pray you keep my illness a secret. No one need know about it.

But why, sir?

My enemies would be happy to spread the report that my brain has not recovered

from that fever.

Now, the lessons.

We hear the grammar of the Dutch language, sir, but nobody learns Dutch.

Anyone of consequence will speak English with you. Nonetheless, I will make the

effort. Have you procured the book I asked for to study their form of

government? Sir, nobody understands the Dutch government.

Least of all the Dutch.

Their constitution is so...

and so whimsical a thing, it defies all reason.

Oh, it's far better to study the sights.

Mr. Dana, I have not come to Amsterdam to admire the tulips and the windmills.

This country will recognize our independence and lend us money.

But first... Let us burn these.

You fear infection from your old clothes, Mr. Adams? Indeed, Mr. Dana.

They smell of failure.

I shall have a new set made.

to fit my future success.

Danke.

May I ask, sir, what is your reason for refusing my country's appeal?

Please, sir, I would appreciate frankness.

Very well, Mr. Adams.

I must tell you, then, that it is not our habit to lend money where there is

little hope of having it returned.

For six years now, your new country has been making a revolution.

What if it fails? Who will repay your debts then?

Our revolution will not fail, sir. Believe me, America will be independent.

Mr. Adams, you ask me to be frank.

We do not lend money to grow poor.

Indeed, sir.

Your stinginess and general littleness may make you rich, but it impoverishes

your soul.

I did not know you were a preacher, Mr.

Adams. Wrong again, sir. I am a diplomat.

And you're still not discouraged, Mr.

Adams? Certainly not, Mr.

Dana. Why should I be surprised that bankers are devoted to the pursuit of

I see my errors now. I must convince the lawyers of the country first.

Do you mind?

Those who shape the opinion of the bankers.

Learn from my mistakes, Mr. Dana.

Stay away from bankers when you take up your new post in Russia.

Clearly, bankers are the last people to go to when you need money.

Thank you.

We are all so pleased to hear of General Washington's victories.

Thank you, sir.

America has many friends in Holland. What kind of friends? Friends who will

cheer her victories or friends who will help her finance a lasting peace?

But why should we help you, Mr. Adams?

You could easily become the greatest manufacturing country in the world and

ruin Europe. Oh, sir, we are a rural people, a nation of farmers.

I dare say we will not manufacture enough for our own needs in the next

years. That would not keep you from taking up arms and threatening our peace

Europe. We have enough land to conquer from our own rocks and trees. Why should

we go abroad to trouble other nations? If we want land...

All we have to do is clear a forest. Still, sir,

you study warfare.

Were you not a leader of the war in your own country?

Sir, if I study war, it is so that my sons may study mathematics, and their

may someday study poetry, painting, and architecture.

Johnny?

Charlie, what's happening here?

He mustn't pay any mind to his weeping papa.

He always cries the day he receives a letter from mother.

Well, your mother and sister are all right.

And your younger brother?

Well, then, why do you weep?

I hope that the universal neatness and

cleanliness of the people there...

will cure you of all your slovenly tricks and that you will learn from them

industry, economy... Oh, son.

Your mother does not mean to chide you.

It's just that she wants the best for you, and since she cannot be here to

oversee your life, she would instruct you by proxy.

Papa, I want her to instruct me in person.

I miss her so.

I hate it here.

Johnny, tell him of all the advantages he has in being here.

Very well, Charlie.

You shall return to Boston by the next neutral ship.

And you, Johnny, do you want to leave Holland too?

I'm to take him home?

No, I have a much more important task for you.

How would you like to go to Russia?

Have you been transferred to Russia, Father? No, I have not, but our friend

Dana has been asked to open diplomatic relations with the Russian court.

He speaks no French, and he's asked if I can spare you to be his secretary.

At first I refused. I could not bear the thought of sending you away.

But it is a wonderful opportunity.

Then it is settled.

Well, we have no choice. It is, after all, for our country.

So I'm to be sent to Russia, where I shall be very cold and lonely.

To be secretary to Mr. Dana, a man unprepared to take on his own duties.

And all this without consulting me?

Well, I never imagined you would object, Johnny.

I never imagined you would, Father.

Mr.

Adams, do come closer.

And be seated.

I want to examine.

The wizard who could obtain a loan of five million gulden from our

bankers. Was it mesmerism?

Incantation? Tell me. There was nothing supernatural in the fleet, madam.

I merely presented the cause of America to the Dutch people.

We have always considered Holland our first friend in Europe.

Mr. Atkins, are you now unfaithful to France?

Oh, madam, our relations with France were a mere wartime dalliance.

Now that the war is ending, we seek an alliance based on similar beliefs.

We have always admired Holland for her freedom of thought.

Why, every Netherlander must return that affection or pass judgment on his

ancestors. You could not turn your back on our struggle for liberty without

turning your back. Mr.

Adams, I have read your memorial to our people. The Netherlands has recognized

your country.

But I trust that this marriage between us... Our

countries will not impoverish us.

Five million gulden.

And at a mere 5 % interest.

Well, the Dutch... Tracer, do not attempt to use your art on me, for I can

scarcely afford to lend you money.

Your Serene Highness, it is far more than mere money that I wish to obtain

your hands.

I ask for protection for a new republic, an infant world.

America. And where is your Massachusetts?

Massachusetts?

Massachusetts is right here.

You will be pleased to return there, I'm sure.

Our damp Dutch weather does not agree with everyone.

Oh, is it damp here? I never noticed.

Alas, I must be leaving this lovely land and returning to France.

Now that the peace treaty is being negotiated with England, I'm wanted

Paris. I shall do my best to protect the infant, Mr. Adams.

If I may be assured that he resembles his father when he

matures.

Father? Why, you are the father.

Are you not, sir?

So, Franklin, what has happened to Mr. Adams?

Oh, I fear I'm the last man to answer that, Your Excellency.

Mr. Adams does not confide in me.

But he's being charming tonight.

He's paying court to the Countess. Yes.

Mr. Adams, I don't quite... I'm being congratulated on the success of our

negotiations with England.

Compliments of the study of these people. No other nation is so ingenious

giving them.

Monsieur, encore une fois.

Merci. Ah, there is the Washington of the negotiation.

Mr. Adams, permit me to present you to Madame de Montmorin.

Adam, le fameux Adam.

C 'est un homme en vogue, n 'est -ce pas?

Madame asks if I am the famous Adams.

I am.

I don't believe I am.

The 13 colonies of North America, the brightest jewel in King George's

crown, became a new and sovereign nation with the signing of the Treaty of

Paris.

John Adams truly called the Washington of the negotiations.

was among those who drew up and signed that treaty recognizing the new country,

the United States of America.