1795 - Winter
Manchester, Kingdom of Mercia (still called England by the King)
Only in his late twenties, John Quincy Adams appeared to be a man on the rise. His father, John Adams, had belatedly risen to the position of Leader of Parliament after the resignation of his exhausted successor. Like his father, the younger Adams had something of a pompous arrogance to him and tended to be viewed by others as remote and condescending.
However, the son would enjoy knowing that his father's predecessor, not his father, had selected him to serve as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Mercia (as officially known in the treaty negotiated by France but still known by all locals as "England"). The German-born Prince was a nephew of King William IV of England (known to "foreigners" as Wessex). By coincidence, one of his cousins had risen to be King of the neighboring Kingdom of Anglia (also known to locals as the true England). Yes another cousin, a second son of King William IV, ruled Northumberland to the north.
Of course, it need not be mentioned that a fourth cousin, King Frederick, ruled North America.
As an American, Adams had naturally studied at Harvard and then travelled somewhat extensively in America. The treatment of slaves and indentured servants in South Carolina had raised his eyebrows a great deal and Adams was quickly converted to his father's abolitionism.
When assigned as Ambassador to "Mercia", Adams would notice one thing in particular. In contrast to America, the English regional accents were virtually mutually incomprehensible, sometimes even across county lines. Adams had come to think of England as...well...ENGLAND. One people. The longer he served in Mercia, the more he realized this was not entirely accurate.
In America, one could travel from Quebec to Boston to Philadelphia to Savannah to New Orleans and basically hear the same tongue. Oh, there was some accent of course but "American English" was basically one language. Having never thought much of this, Adams' experience in Britain would offer an epiphany. When the assorted regional peoples of Britain had departed for America (most had arrived over the centuries as Indentured Servants), the ships were a conglomeration of peoples from all over the island. Thrown into the same towns, they must have merged and mongrelized their dialects into the American speech so common in 1795.
However, in Britain, the assorted Englishmen often remained in the same fields which had been plowed by their ancestors. The identity of Yorkshiremen or Sussex men or Warshiremen or what have you. Their unique accents remained and only in the larger cities attracting people from migrants from the surrounding countryside did one see a unification of language.
An intellectual, Adams would wonder if the separation of England into four different countries (not counting Scotland, Wales and Cornwall-Devon) would halt this gradual but perceptible merging of dialect. He imagined if England's industrial advancements (and he witnessed many in his year as Ambassador, enough to send reports home filled with concern related to the technological advancements he had seen) had been occurring when Britain remained united that, sooner or later, there would truly be one "English" language spoken from Kent to Scotland. But perhaps the new borders cropping up would hinder this.
He supposed he wouldn't live long enough to know.
He wondered how his counterparts were doing in the adjacent nations.
Kingdom of Scotland
Coat of Arms of King John I of Scotland
The Kingdom of North America's Ambassador to Scotland was something of a surprise. Patrick Calhoun of Virginia was something of a backwoods hick. The scion of Scots-Irish immigrants early in the century, the fiftyish Patrick would bring his family from Pennsylvania to Virginia decades ago and become a profitable horse farmer in the western reaches of Virginia, almost to the border of Shawnee. Like many of his Presbyterian countrymen which settled the backcountry, Patrick Calhoun was adamantly opposed to the Anglican gentry which dominated the east of Virginia.
For three terms in Parliament, Calhoun was a steady opponent of...well...just about anything. In an unexpected development, Calhoun would lose his election in 1794 but gain the ear of the new Leader in Parliament. Though their positions were opposed in many areas, John Adams and Patrick Calhoun were kindred spirits in opposing things. Thus, when the previous Ambassador to Scotland resigned, Calhoun was a natural substitute in Adams' mind.
In truth, Calhoun was somewhat rough around the edges and perhaps Adams prejudice against Scots (them being seen as "rough" themselves") would affect his judgement. The Scots of Edinburgh and Glasgow found him more amusing than anything. However, this did not do anything to hinder the good relationship between the nations or the steady flow of Scots sailing across to America. Calhoun helped negotiate trade agreements not only with Scotland but Northumberland (which did not have an American Ambassador as yet) as well.
Calhoun would bring his younger children with him including his young son John, now entering his teens. John was intelligent but somewhat behind in his studies. Patrick had envisioned the boy entering one of the Scottish elite schools but was cautioned that could be an embarrassment should John falter. Instead, Calhoun hired a tutor, an America of Scots-Irish descent like him. Andrew Jackson was of similar origins, the scion of Scots-Irish settlers in North Carolina. His father had died in a logging accident three weeks prior to his birth, leaving the family destitute. Jackson had struggled to improve his family lot but little had been accomplished beyond his elder brothers establishing viable farms for their growing families. Though he longed to study at some elite American University, this was not to be yet Jackson had managed to gain a series of clerk positions which allowed him to study in his free time. Indeed, the hardworking and clever Jackson intended to be a lawyer despite his lack of formal schooling and Patrick Calhoun offered him the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to Scotland at Calhoun expense in return for acting as young John's tutor.
Being responsible for only one child's education was not terribly rigorous (and Jackson may have exaggerated his proficiency in some subjects) thus allowing Jackson time to explore the many schools and libraries of Edinburgh. Within two years, the man's elocution, penmanship and knowledge of the classics expanded greatly.
So impressed was Patrick Calhoun that, by 1796, he would hire Jackson as his own personal secretary (on the nation's budget, of course). As Patrick had the ear of the Secretary of the Treasury and leader of Parliament John Adams, he would later recommended Jackson for office himself and Jackson would find himself from a tutor with falsified credentials to the Concul to Northumberland (King Frederick opted not to send an official Ambassador to Northumberland due to a fear of offending William IV of England whom was still sensitive to his second son's treason).
Jackson and the younger Calhoun would remain close over the years even after Patrick Calhoun resigned in 1799. To his surprise, Jackson was reassigned from Northumberland to the role of Ambassador to Scotland in 1800 and was able to appoint young John Calhoun, then attending the University of Edinburgh, as his own private secretary. It would be a partnership which would last a lifetime.
