Adams Family Correspondence, volume 4
I have this moment received, with Surprise and Grief, your Billet.
I pray you Sir, to send my Children to me this Evening and your Account, together with their Chests and Effects tomorrow. I have the Honour to be, with great Respect, Sir, your humble servant,
For the background of this exchange with Verheyk, see JA to AA, 25 Sept. and note (vol. 3, above), and JA's letter, “not sent,” to the Rector and Preceptor of the Latin School, 18 Oct., above.
From surviving correspondence it does not appear that JA explicitly told AA of this incident, but a few weeks later, in reporting to her that he was sending the two boys with Thaxter to continue their studies at Leyden, he spoke bitterly of the mean-spiritedness of Dutch schoolmasters (to AA, 18 Dec., below).