He cultivated the acquaintance of many eminent German scholars and poets, and manifested a friendly sympathy in their pursuits.
In a letter to the late Dr.Follen writes of that day as follows:-- "At this time, Wieland was there the most popular of the German poets.
And although there was in his genius neither the originality nor the deep pathos of Goethe, Klopstock, or Schiller there was something in the playfulness of his imagination, in the tenderness of his sensibility, in the sunny cheerfulness of his philosophy, and in the harmony of his versification, which delighted me." To perfect his knowledge of the German language, Mr.Adams made a metrical translation of Wieland's Oberon into the English language.

The publication of this work, which at one time was designed, was superseded by the appearance of a similar translation by Sotheby.
In the summer of 1800, Mr.Adams made a tour through Silesia.

He was charmed with the inhabitants of that region, their condition and habits.
In many respects he found them bearing a great similarity to the people of his own native New England.

He communicated his impressions during this excursion, in a series of letters to a younger brother in Philadelphia.
These letters were interesting, and were considered of great value at that time, in consequence of many important facts they contained in regard to the manufacturing establishments of Silesia.

They were published, without Mr.Adams's knowledge, in the Port Folio, a weekly paper edited by Joseph Dennie, at Philadelphia.