On May 3 1814, John Quincy Adams, is still in Reval, in what is now the city of Tallinn in Estonia, and writes in his diary.
3d. Admiral Spiridoff this morning sent me an officer requesting me to send him my passport; which I did. The same officer, about a quarter of an hour afterwards, brought it back to me. The Admiral soon after paid me a morning visit and invited me to dine with him to-morrow. Mr. Walther came with Captain Brinkman, the master of the vessel bound to Stockholm, with whom I agreed to take my passage and to pay him thirty ducats for myself, my servant, and my carriage. I was much engaged, and almost the whole day, in writing. Took a short walk round the city before dinner, and in the evening went to the theatre; where I saw the opera of Jean de Paris in German. The French author is St.-Just, the German translator Herklots, and the music by Boieldieu. The performance was very good, and the company appears to me generally better than that of the German players at St. Petersburg. The ice has this day broken up, and the harbor is clear. Captain Brinkman told me he expected to go on Sunday or Monday. He cannot venture to go sooner, because the ice is still in the gulf, and by a westerly wind may yet be driven back. Mr. Walther told me that the official news of the taking of Paris and the order for a Te Deum had arrived this day from St. Petersburg, so that the regular day of rejoicing and the Te Deum would be to-morrow.
(The image above is from here.)
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