UNIVERSITY
OF PITTSBURGH
'781
LIBRARY
Founded 1791
COLLECTIONS
VOL. 73
Committee of Publication
HENRY CABOT LODGE
WINSLOW WARREN
WORTHINGTON CHAUNCEY FORD
WARREN-ADAMS
LETTERS
Being chiefly a correspondence among
John Adams, Samuel Adams,
and James Warren
VOL. II
1778-1814
The Massachusetts Historical Society '■"•"•
1925 '_'V
^.1
FIVE HUNDRED COPIES OF THIS
VOLUME HAVE BEEN PRINTED FROM
TYPE AND THE TYPE DISTRIBUTED
Contents
1778
January 2. Mercy Warren to Abigail Adams i
Consolation for departure of John Adams. Giving advice and practice.
Messages and a reminder.
January 8. Mercy Warren to Abigail Adams 2
Adams' appointment to Holland. Scarcity of good articles but plenty
of useless baubles. A bit of cambric.
February 4. Hannah Winthrop to Mercy Warren 4
Luxurious living of British officers. Burgoyne and the court-martial of
Colonel Henley. Detention of Convention troops.
March 7. Martha Washington to Mercy Warren 5
Providence good to Massachusetts as against Virginia. Burgoyne's
army. Drowning of M. de Pliarne. Family news. Mrs. Gates.
March 10. Mercy Warren to James Warren 7
Conspiracies at Cambridge and traitors at Boston. Burgoyne and
Washington. British transports.
May 8. James Warren to Samuel Adams 8
French vessels have arrived. Entertainments for the French officers.
Navy Board in want of money.
May 10. James Warren to Samuel Adams 9
French officers entertained. Absence of Hancock. Prejudices awakened
by the Tories. Indiscretion of a member of Congress.
May 13. James Warren TO Samuel Adams 10
No news of war with France. Interview with Mr. Carmichael. A town
meeting.
May 21. James Warren TO William Bingham 11
No intelligence from the army. Naval officers. Captain Avery's mis-
sion. Coit's misconduct.
May 25. Samuel Adams TO James Warren 11
Money for the Navy Board, Good appearance of the army. Steuben's
appointment. Hancock. On opposing Washington. Robert Morris.
Good humor of the Congress.
vi Contents
May 31. James Warren TO Samuel Adams 13
Is not chosen to the General Court or Board. Sources of the opposi-
tion. Boston has lost its compass. Smallpox in Boston. Hancock's
leave-taking.
June I. Samuel Adams TO James Warren 15
Arts of the Forces against the French connection. Lands for Arthur
Lee. Is now on the Marine Committee. Naval transfers and appoint-
ments.
June 2. Mercy Warren to James Warren 16
Fickleness and ingratitude of man. A clear conscience. Thomas. Has
long felt disgust. Town meeting. Adams and Congress.
June 7. James Warren to John Adams 18
Rumors of his capture. Good condition of the army. Currency and
prices. Omitted from the Court. Envy and Hancock.
June 13. Samuel Adams to James Warren 21
Supposes he declined an election. The British force commissioners.
Lee's land.
June 19. Samuel Adams to James Warren 22
Introduces Pierre Landais.
June 20. Samuel Adams to James Warren 23
Consolation for being dropped from the Court.
June 26. James Warren to Samuel Adams 24
Congress and the British Commissioners. Reasons for being dropped.
Lee's land. Naval matters. Annoyances and captains. Adams' voyage.
June 28. James Warren to Samuel Adams 27
The army. British troops at Rutland. The king's birthday. Captain
Burke.
July I. James Warren to John Adams 29
Safe arrival of Boston. Prizes and merchantmen move freely.
July 5. James Warren to Samuel Adams 30
More sentiments on the navy. Burke and Landais, Manley and Barry.
McNeil's mission. Horses and cost of living.
July 14. Samuel Adams to James Warren 32
False ideas of politeness.
July 15. Samuel Adams to James Warren 33
To settle ceremonial in receiving M. Gerard. Articles of Confederation
signed. His nephew.
July 17. James Warren to Samuel Adams 35
Congress returns to Philadelphia. Charles Lee. Captain John Green.
Contents vii
July 26. John Adams to James Warren 36
Alteration in tJie state. Congressional representatives. Should take
Canada. Offer of peace from Great Britain.
August 4. John Adams to James Warren 38
Congress and the conciliatory bills. British control of the sea. The re-
ligious prejudice. A forecast of the future.
August 9. Samuel Adams to James Warren 41
Dana's return and Warren's business.
August 18. James Warren to Samuel Adams 41
Ceremonials. Naval matters and rumors. Hancock and the Rhode
Island expedition.
August 25. James Warren to Samuel Adams 43
Captains Manley, and Landais. The Rhode Island expedition. Aid to
the French fleet. Return of Hancock.
August 29. Hannah Winthrop to Mercy Warren 45
Movement of troops. Phillips festivity.
September 2. James Warren to Samuel Adams 46
Appearance of a fleet. Rancor against the French.
September 22. Samuel Adams to James Warren 46
Introducing Ebenezer Hazard and his scheme.
September 30. James Warren to Samuel Adams 47
Contempt an excellent antidote. Proposed admission of loyalists.
Hancock and the French. Toasts and explanation.
October 7. James Warren to John Adams 50
News and events. D'Estaing at Rhode Island. French sailors and to-
nes' estates. The General court. Hancock.
October 15. Mercy Warren to John Adams 53
Warren's retirement. Great change of manners. The French fleet en-
tertains. D'Estaing and Lafayette. Mft. Holker. Franklin and the
ladies.
October 20. Samuel Adams to James Warren 57
Toasts at the dinner to the French. Superior respect for general and
army. Count Pulaski.
October 25. James Warren to Samuel Adams 59
Envious spirit abroad. British and French fleets. Luxury and extrava-
gance. Resignation from Navy Board and reasons. Captain Brown's
wishes. Money wanted. Repairs to the French fleet.
viii Contents
October 28. James Warren to the President of Congress . . 61
Letter of resignation.
November 5. James Warren to Samuel Adams 63
Advice has weight. Introduces Mr. Temple.
November 8. Elbridge Gerry to James Warren 64
Marine Committee and Manley. Increase of salary of Navy Board.
Speculators and folly.
November 9. Samuel Adams to James Warren 65
His letter of resignation. Navy Board's future. Letter to be suspended.
Picture of Boston.
November 23. Samuel Adams to James Warren 67
News from John Adams. Dissatisfaction of A. Lee. Public corruption.
Deane's statement.
December 2. John Adams to James Warren 71
Merit of modesty.
December 5. John Adams to James Warren 73
Ambition and avarice. Lee, Franklin and Deane. Commercial specu-
lations.
December 8. James Warren to Samuel Adams 77
Matters of money. The repairs to the French fleet.
December 10. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 78
Death of James Otis.
December 15. Mercy Warren to John Adams 80
Possible loss of letters. Expects a narration of customs, manners and
genius of nations. Mr. Warren still in Navy Board. Death of Otis.
December 16. James Warren to Samuel Adams 82
Folly and wickedness stalk abroad. Anniversary celebration. Dele-
gates in Congress.
1779
January i. James Warren to John Adams 83
Deane's letter. Tends to less public confidence in Congress.
January 19. Mercy Warren to Abigail Adams 84
On death of father. Her visitor.
February 12. James Warren to Samuel Adams 86
Is promoting the cause of truth. Deane's Address. Court in session.
Matters of the Navy Board. Situation of the ships. Money.
Contents ix
February 25. John Adams to James Warren 89
Deane's Address and its effects on policy. Currency the only enemy.
Remedy simple. Raging delirium and corruption.
February 28. James Warren to Samuel Adams 91
Great opinion of Dana. Is an old-fashioned fellow. Opposition to Wash-
ington. The Navy Board.
March 6. Richard Henry Lee to James Warren 94
Is thankful for the Jesuits' bark. Deane and his adherents.
March 19. Mercy Warren to Abigail Adams 94
Muses have deserted her. John Adams honest. Young Abigail.
March 30. James Warren to Samuel Adams 96
Ingenuity of politicians exhausted on peace proposals. Danger of peace
on bad terms. Military operations. General Gates.
March 31. George Washington TO James Warren 97
Business has prevented his writing. Bad effect of depreciation of cur-
rency, stock-jobbing and party discussions. The remedy. Designs of
the enemy.
May II. Samuel Adams to James Warren 100
His health. A vote on the recall of Franklin.
June 6. James Warren to Mercy Warren loi
Writes to a saint. On going to Congress. Ships coming in.
June 13. James Warren to John Adams 103
Little news from Europe. Military movements. Increasing the army.
Prices and extravagance. A tax voted. Naval affairs. The French fleet
in the West Indies. Hancock. Party ready to oust him.
June 15. James Lovell to James Warren 107
Depends upon the virtuous few. Fisheries in the treaty of peace. The
money problems. Disposition made for John Adams.
July 13. James Lovell to James Warren 109
Question of the fisheries and peace. A communication from Gerard.
Backwardness to serve in Congress. Charleston.
July 29. James Warren TO John Adams iii
Letters. British in Carolina. Sullivan's western expedition and British
ravaging. Naval matters and the currency. A constitution to be
framed. Elkanah Watson.
July 29. Mercy Warren TO John Adams 113
Multitude of correspondents. Spirit of party. Death of John Win-
throp.
X Contents
August 6. Mercy Warren TO Abigail Adams 115
Congratulations on a reunited family. Counts upon a visit.
August 13. James LovELL TO James Warren 117
A paper in circulation. A French letter on John Adams. Ought not to
come as a delegate. The prospect of peace.
September [.^]. John Adams to Mercy Warren 119
Very little intelligence from America. A demagogue and band of specu-
lators. Professor Winthrop.
September II. John Adams to James Warren . . . . . . .120
Judges proposed. Recommends Richard Cranch.
December — . James Warren to James Lovell 121
Malevolence of an attack upon him. Dearth of foreign news. Massa-
chusetts members of Congress.
1780
January 25. Elbridge Gerry to James Warren 123
Policy of America rests on a navy. Removal of Congress. Economy
and resources. Letter on "Appreciation." A new Quartermaster Gen-
eral.
February 23. John Adams to James Warren 125
Names of French vessels for America. Arrival of Gerard, Jay and Car-
michael at Cadiz. British debt.
February 28. John Adams to James Warren 126
Lafayette going to Boston. Spain and Holland.
February 28. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 127
The Alexanders and Jonathan Williams. Americans in Paris. Gellee's
letter. Envy and treachery surround them. Lord Chesterfield's Letters.
March 16. John Adams to James Warren 129
Incidents and dangers of his voyage. Talk about him in England.
March 18. John Adams to James Warren 130
Introduces Petry. French plans. Rodney's fortune. Hessians and the
tree of Cracovie.
April 2. Mercy Warren to James Warren 132
Franklin's character. Lee's pamphlet.
June 23. John Adams to Mercy Warren 133
Loss of Charleston. The Gordon riots.
Contents xi
July II. James Warren TO John Adams 134
EflFect of the capture of Charleston. A success for our arms. Bowdoin
and Hancock rival candidates for governor. Raynal's History.
July 19. James Warren to John Adams 136
Arrival of British goods and politics involved. Matter of trade permits.
August 3. Samuel Adams to James Warren 137
Account not settled. The fleets and privateers.
September 17. James Warren to Samuel Adams 138
Result of the elections. The secretaryship.
October 12. James Warren to John Adams 139
Loss of letters. Arnold's treason. Situation of the armies and fleets.
Taxes and specie. The new government. Bowdoin. The Continental
navy and Landais. Delegates to Congress.
October 30. Arthur Lee to James Warren 142
Good disposition of Congress. Detention of clothing from France. Is
charged with the fault. Franklin's recall. Retreat of Cornwallis.
November 2. James Warren to Samuel Adams 144
Elections completed. Boston's neglect of Adams. The elected and
Hancock.
November 15. Mercy Warren to John Adams 145
Son has been captured by British. Recommends him. His objects in
going to Europe. Politics in Massachusetts. Worship of Hancock.
November 20. Samuel Adams to James Warren 148
The tongue of malice. Charge against him is untrue. Avery and the
secretaryship. Cooper's conduct.
November 22. James Warren to John Adams 150
Governing powers in Massachusetts. Persons marked for sacrifice.
Vermont and Canada. The French fleet. _
December 4. James Warren to Samuel Adams 151
Inattention to public principles. Convention at Hartford. Washington
as dictator. Supplies for the army.
December 5. James Lovell to James Warren 153
Naval affairs starved. News from Spain.
December 9. John Adams to James Warren .154
Great Britain must be renounced forever. Policy of the Dutch. Ray-
nal's History.
xii Contents
December 9. John Adams to Mercy Warren 156
No communication with England. American youth in Europe. Has a
stronger attachment for America.
December 19. James Warren to John Adams 157
Death of Admiral Ternay. Festivities of the new government.
December 25. Arthur Lee to James Warren 158
John Laurens and Dana. Blodget's deposition on the Alliance.
December 28. Mercy Warren to John Adams 159
Anxiety for her son. Capture of Henry Laurens. Character and ambi-
tion. Again recommends her son.
1781
January i. Samuel Adams to James Warren 161
Sends a letter of James Sullivan to Hancock and a defence of Bowdoin
for publication.
January 8. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 164
Intercepted letters. Hutchinson's character.
March 5. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 165
Letters from Europe. Situation of Henry Laurens. Morgan's success.
June 15. Arthur Lee to James Warren 166
Blodget's error. A minister for foreign affairs. Influence of the tories.
Intrigues at the court of France. His Massachusetts lands.
July 27. Arthur Lee to James Warren 169
Settlement of accounts. Instructions for peace. What John Adams
should do. His enemies in Congress. Land and Morris.
1782
April 8. Arthur Lee to James Warren 171
Interest on state votes. Results of Deane's exposure. The fishery
question. Admission of Vermont.
July — . Arthur Lee TO James Warren ,172
Patriotism short lived. Peace commission named. Instructions bind
them to France. Behavior of Spain.
July 2. John Adams to James Warren 174
Practice of agriculture. English plans and peace proposals. Weakness
of the present ministry. Rise of stocks.
Contents xiii
August 19. John Adams TO James Warren 176
Holland and Spain. Split in the British ministry. Gibraltar, peace and
problems of a peace.
October 7. James Warren to John Adams 178
Opinion of the Dutch. Politics the same in Europe and America. Im-
provements in husbandry.
October 24. Mercy Warren to John Adams 179
The Dutch negotiation. Must be treated in her history. America not
behind Europe in political system. Her son.
November i. James Warren to John Adams 181
The Dutch treaty. Jay and Spain. British cabinet and loyalists.
State officers.
December 12. Arthur Lee to James Warren 184
Despatches from France given to Morris. Manners of the place de-
scribed. Preliminary articles of peace and France. Conduct of John
Adams and Jay. Franklin's envy.
December 15. John Adams to James Warren 186
Sends the preliminary treaty of peace with Great Britain. Sweden in-
vites an alliance. Owe it to Providence. The union of the states.
1783
January 29. John Adams to Mercy Warren 188
Her annals and the Dutch negotiation. General Warren for Congress.
Results of peace. Treaty of commerce with Great Britain.
February 19. Arthur Lee to James Warren 190
His Massachusetts lands. Peace. Quotas of states and the Confedera-
tion.
March 20. John Adams to James Warren 190
Peace and a commercial treaty with Great Britain. Influence at work.
Balance of power in Europe and instructions from Congress. Mis-
takes in foreign affairs.
March 21. John Adams to James Warren 194
Condition of affairs in England. A treaty of commerce. Shelburne
and Vergennes. Baron Breteuil. Policy of Vergennes analysed. Amer-
ica should be an asylum.
April 5. Benjamin Lincoln TO James Warren . 200
Apportioning the debts of the United States. Provisions of the Con-
federation, Blacks in the South. Valuation of lands and buildings.
xiv Contents
April 9. John Adams to James Warren 205
Instructions from Congress. Emigrants from Europe. His resignation
and health. Wishes to return. Will not be loved in London.
April 12. John Adams to James Warren 207
The treaty in Congress. Approaches made by European nations. His
son.
April 13. John Adams to James Warren 208
Dr. Franklin and his character.
April 16. John Adams to James Warren 213
At peace, but not out of danger. Foreign officers and Congress. Lafay-
ette.
May 4. Mercy Warren to John Adams 215
Congratulations on his negotiations. Cannot retire from public service.
Wishes to hear from him.
June 24. James Warren to John Adams 217
Reception given to the peace. Commercial treaty with Great Britain.
Tories under the treaty. Domestic politics.
August 13. Arthur Lee to James Warren 220
A consular appointment. His land. Dana at St. Petersburg.
September 10. John Adams to James Warren 221
His new appointment. Trade with the West Indies. Dana's return.
Further treaties. Death of James Otis.
September 10. John Adams to Mercy Warren 223
Wishes to retire. Pomp and parade without effect on him. Death of
Otis.
September 17. Arthur Lee to James Warren 224
Motion on soldiers' clothing.
October 16. Arthur Lee to James Warren 226
Consular offices. Strictures on the Philadelphia Address.
October 27. James Warren to John Adams 229
Politics of European courts. What Congress is doing. Franklin. Trade .
and immigration.
November 15. James Warren to John Adams 233
Residence of Congress. Abuse of John Temple.
November 26. Jabez Bowen to James Warren 234
The proposed impost measure. Favors the Confederation.
Contents xv
1784
February 26. James Warren to John Adams 235
Hancock's conduct. Delegation in the Congress. Deaths. Penobscot
and the Cincinnati.
June I. Mercy Warren to John Adams 238
Mrs. Adams goes to Europe. Dependence not pleasing to American
ears.
June 30. John Adams to James Warren 240
Young Warren. Jay minister of foreign affairs.
August 8. Arthur Lee to James Warren 241
Introductions. An Indian treaty.
September 5. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 242
Manners of the Parisians. Pleasure the business of life. Prostitution.
The theatre compared with the English. Etiquette of visits. Auteuil.
Family gossip. War impends.
1785
January 28. James Warren to John Adams 248
R. Morris and reduced salaries. Congress well disposed. Imbecility and
subserviency. Usury. Hancock resigns.
April 26. John Adams to James Warren 250
The Massachusetts elections. John Temple comes to America. Return
of John Quincy Adams. Resignation of Dr. Franklin.
April 27. Mercy Warren to John Adams 252
Restrictions on commerce and avidity for pleasure. His wish for
retirement. Hancock's resignation. Mrs. Macaulay. Mr. Warren a
friend.
May 6. John Adams to Mercy Warren 255
Minister to Great Britain. Requirements. His own qualities. Warren,
Dana and Gerry.
June 9. Martha Washington to Mercy Warren 257
Mrs. Macaulay Graham. Friendship between Washington and Warren.
July 15. Catherine Macaulay Graham TO Mercy Warren . . 257
Remembrances of Milton. Young Warren's return from Spain. Would
live in Boston. Mrs. Washington's letter.
xvi Contents
September — . Mercy Warren to John Adams 259
Adams, as minister, foretold. Envy. Warren in retirement. Dana and
Gerry. Ambitions of her son.
September 4. James Warren to John Adams 262
Adams' new employment. Local elections. Temple's position. Frank-
lin's resignation. Young Adams. Scarcity of money.
October 4. James Warren to Elbridge Gerry 264
His time to leave Congress. Consuls and Winslow Warren. Hancock's
gout. A disagreeable accountant.
October 6. James Warren to John Adams 266
A favor for his son.
October 9. James Warren to Elbridge Gerry 267
His son's wish to be consul.
December 12. John Adams to Mercy Warren 268
A story of Gibraltar. Existence at Braintree. Afflictions of America.
Stanhope's letters.
1786
March 6. Nathaniel Gorham to James Warren 269
Settling the public accounts. Representation in Congress. The impost.
Congress and commerce.
April 30. James Warren to John Adams 271
Winslow's return. The Barbary pirates. The trade in fish. Oil in the
French market. Situation at home. Books wanted.
May 24. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 273
Consolation for the death of her son, Mr. Adams' position.
May 24. John Adams to Mercy Warren 275
His situation. A profession better than politics. Warren and public life.
July 4. John Adams to James Warren 276
The Algerine losses. Oil. Pictured ruin of the country. Sends books.
Marriage of his daughter. Confidence wanted.
October 22. James Warren to John Adams 278
Anarchy and confusion bordering on a civil war. Situation in the
counties.
1787
January 9. John Adams to James Warren 280
Change of manners and principles. Some disquisitions on govern-
ment. His own task.
Contents xvii
February 26. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 282
Opinion on her history. Governor Hutchinson.
March 6. Catherine Macaulay Graham to Mercy Warren . 283
Governments of America. Adams' work on the constitutions. A treaty
with France. Personal matters.
March 12. Benjamin Lincoln to Mr. and Mrs. Warren . . 285
Commends Henry Warren.
May 2. Mercy Warren to Henry Knox 285
Relief for her son.
May 14. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 287
Montague on Shakespeare. London manners unfriendly to easy
social intercourse. Mrs. Fitzherbert. Henry Warren's service. Has a
grandson. Occupation of Mr. Adams.
May 18. James Warren to John Adams 291
Views on politics and government. Proposal to annihilate the Senate.
The rebellion. Choice of Hancock. Will stand for the town of Alilton.
May 30. Henry Knox to Mercy Warren 294
Reflections on politics. Monstrous system of the state governments.
Remedy offered by the convention. Formation of a constitution.
August 21. Henry Knox to Mercy Warren 297
Good promise of the convention. Personal loss„
November — . Catherine Macaulay Graham to Mercy
Warren 298
Awaits deliberations of the convention. Grounded on simple demo-
cracy. Mrs. Russell. Marriage of her daughter.
December 25. John Adams to Mercy Warren 300
The Sack of Rome. American books in London.
1788 -
March — . Catherine Macaulay Graham to Mercy Warren . 301
Death of Mrs. Russell. The convention's results. Trial of Warren
Hastings.
August 26. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 303
The constitution in North Carolina.
October 29. Catherine Macaulay Graham to Mercy Warren . 303
The national government. Mr. Adams' return to America. Brave
stand of the Turks.
xviii Contents
1789
March 2, John Adams to Mercy Warren 305
Rest in retreat. Obedience of the people.
March 9. Mercy Warren to Henry Knox 306
Would like to see the Federal City. Wishes for Washington.
March 29. Henry Knox to Mercy Warren 307
The new administration. Not yet fully organized.
April 2. Mercy Warren to John Adams 308
Widow of Colonel Walker. Calumnies against General Warren. Wishes
for his happiness.
May 7. Mercy Warren to John Adams 310
Persecution of General Warren. Attacks upon the son. Influence at
work in the insurgents.
May 29. John Adams TO Mercy Warren 313
Unpopularity of General Warren. Has no patronage. Incendiaries in
Massachusetts. President is source of honor.
June 18. Mercy Warren TO Henry Knox 315
Offices for Henry and Winslow Warren. Washington.
July 9. Henry Knox to Mercy Warren 316
Henry Warren's wish for an appointment. The president and candi-
dates. No appointments in the military establishment.
1790
March 25. Benjamin Lincoln to Mercy Warren 317
Her proposed History. Proffers assistance.
June 4. George Washington TO Mercy Warren 318
Accepts the dedication of her Poems.
June 12. Martha Washington TO Mercy Warren 319
Severe illness of the President. Her grandchildren. Hopes to get to
Mt. Vernon.
July 13. James Winthrop TO Mercy Warren 320
Subscriptions to her book. Death of Madam Winthrop. Hancock's
disorder.
September 21. Benjamin Lincoln to Mercy Warren .... 321
Return of her son Henry. Siege of Charleston.
September 24. AIercy Warren to John Adams 323
Sends her Poems.
Contents xix
September 24. Mercy Warren to Henry Knox 323
Presents her volume of Poems,
November 4. George Washington to Mercy Warren . . .323
Acknowledges the gift of her Poems.
December 26. John Adams to Mercy Warren 324
On her Poems.
1791
January 14. Mercy Warren to John Adams 325
An unsealed letter. Her volumes.
July I. Alexander Hamilton to Mercy Warren 326
Acknowledges her volume.
August 3. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 327
Gibbons History. Mrs, Macaulay's reply to Burke.
1792
January 12. Henry Knox to Mercy Warren 327
Condolence for death of her son George.
March 4. Mrs. J. Sargent Murray to Mercy Warren . . .328
Sends proposals.
April 20. Jabez Bo wen to Mercy Warren 329
Family matters.
1797
February 20. John Adams to Elbridge Gerry 330
Information from the South. Mr. Jefferson. News from abroad.
March 4. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warr'en 332
Congratulations and reflections.
October I. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 333
Death of her mother. A carriage accident. About to leave Quincy.
Pestilence.
1798
March 15. Harrison Gray Otis to Mercy Warren . . . .334
His health. European relations.
XX Contents
April 25. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 336
Contest with France. Demand for a contribution. The nation being
aroused. Good sense of the people. Message from the president.
June 17. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 339
French oppression. Address and reply. The envoys in France. Sup-
port of the president.
1799
October 5. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 341
Abbe Barruel's book.
1803
January 16. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 342
Pleasure in seeing her writing. A visit from her son. Times have
changed. Health.
August 28. Mercy Warren to John Adams . 344
Mrs. Adams' health,
August 30. John Adams to Mercy Warren 344
Mrs. Adams' health.
1 80s
February 8. Thomas Jefferson to Mercy Warren 345
Subscriptions to her History.
June I. Mrs. J. Sargent Murray TO Mercy Warren . . . .346
Her subscription paper.
November 25. John Dickinson to Mercy Warren 347
Relations with James Otis.
1806
April 26. Thomas Jefferson to Mercy Warren 347
Has received her History.
December 22. John Dickinson to Mercy Warren ...... 348
His health. Great changes in prospect. Her History.
1807
February 4. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 350
Comments on her History. On war and retaliation.
Contents xxi
March 9. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 352
Her health. Counting years by revolutions. John Adams on Napoleon.
Aaron Burr. Young Smith's Quixotism. Mrs. Lincoln's death.
March II. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 355
Bernard's titles. Death of Mrs, Ware,
1808
May 3. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 356
Promise of a visit. The embargo and politics,
October i. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 357
His book and her criticisms. The new order of things. Sir William
Jones' poems. The passion flower.
November 28. Samuel Latham Mitchell to Mercy Warren . 359
Her History for the Library of Congress.
December II. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 359
Death of General Warren. His character.
1809
February 4. Harrison Gray Otis to Mercy Warren .... 361
Refuses to discuss politics.
September 4. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 363
Consecration to religious uses. The passion flower. His brother's
catalogue.
November 12. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 364
Dickinson's works. Generous living. His tracts on prophecies.
1810
July 25, James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 365
His view of prophecy. Its consummation. Need of a universal govern-
ment,
November II. James Winthrop to James Warren 367
Great Britain, France and the neutrals.
December 14, James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 368
Mr, Baldwin's books. The newspapers of Boston, Is studying the
Russian language.
xxii Contents
1812
February 8. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 370
Mr. Judson's missionary project. Christianity in Asia.
December 13. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 371
Old governments of Europe should be extirpated. Burning of Moscow.
December 17. Elbridge Gerry to Mercy Warren 373
Re-election of Madison. John Adams and a reconciliation of differ-
ences.
1813
February 28. James Winthrop to Mercy Warren 375
Napoleon's commission and Antichrist. Failure of the missionaries
in India. A remedy for a disease.
April 9. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 377
Events taking place in the world. Liberty and abuse.
April 17. John Adams to Elbridge Gerry 378
Mrs. Warren on the continental navy. Omission to describe the im-
portance of the first steps. History not the province of ladies.
April 26. John Adams to Elbridge Gerry 380
Writing the history of the Revolution. Controversy with Governor
Hutchinson. Deaths of his contemporaries. Dr. Rush.
June 20. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 382
Warlike state of nations. The remonstrance of the General Court of
Massachusetts.
July II. Abigail Adams TO Mercy Warren 383
John Quincy Adams in Russia. Party violence. Her daughter Smith.
September 5. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 385
Death of Abigail Adams Smith. Family news.
September 12. Mercy Warren to John Adams 386
McKean's letter on Otis. Dialogue of the Dead.
November 24. John Adams to Mercy Warren 388
Dialogue of the Dead. Entire separation between America and Europe.
December 22. Mercy Warren to John Adams 388
Family visits. Recollections of the past. A superintending Providence.
Contents xxiii
1814
March 31. Mercy Warren to John Adams 390
Pleasure given by his letters. John Quincy Adams. Balm of sympathy.
Madame de Stael.
May 5. Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren 392
Death of Samuel AUeyne Otis.
July 4. John Adams to Elbridge Gerry 393
Memories of the past.
July 10. Mercy Warren to John Adams 394
Decline of her health. Would like to hear his observations on events.
The Group and its origin. Modern generation neglectful of history.
August 17. John Adams to Mercy Warren 396
Authorship of the Group. The Tories. Peace in Europe.
Appendix
1772
November 8. James Warren to Samuel Adams 399
Spirit of Boston. Plymouth will follow his direction.
November 17. James Warren to Samuel Adams 400
Petition of Plymouth.
December 8. James Warren to Samuel Adams 401
Action of towns in Plymouth County. The Hingham letter. Marble-
head and Roxbury.
1773
October II. To Mr. Adams. Poem by Mrs. Warren . . . .402
December 17. John Adams to James Warren 403
Destruction of tea in Boston harbor. Want of wisdom in the rulers.
Probable effects.
1774
July I. James Warren to Samuel Adams 4^5
Warning against danger.
July 10. James Warren to Samuel Adams 4^5
Plymouth town-meeting. Edward Winslow. Addresses to the gov-
ernor. Action of the judges.
xxiv Contents
1775
January i. James Warren to Samuel Adams 407
Sloop with provisions for Boston cast away. The Tories.
January 20. James Warren to Harrison Gray 408
Cannot be intimidated. Is not able to pay his demand.
April-May. Hannah Winthrop to Mercy Warren 409
The day of Lexington and their flight. Milton quoted. Andover
described.
June 21. James Warren to Samuel Adams 412
Action at Charlestown and Bunker Hill. Congress and jealousy.
Appointments.
July 9. James Warren to Samuel Adams 414
Washington and his family. Thomas's character. Another action
expected.
July 20. James Warren to Samuel Adams 415
Great expectations. The new Assembly. Elections by towns. Humors
and caprice of the army. The fast.
July 27. James Warren to Samuel Adams 416
Warns against Governor Tryon. The army and Assembly.
August 4. James Warren to Samuel Adams 417
Good state of the army. Situation in Boston. Captures of tenders. His
son.
September 28. James Warren to Samuel Adams 419
Adams' horsemanship. Arnold and Canada. Machias and captured
vessels. Money wanted.
October 2. James Warren to ■ 420
Operations around Boston. Supply vessels taken. Arnold and reported
aid from Europe.
October 23. James Warren to Samuel Adams 422
Neither side can attack. Probability of success. Committee to the
Congress. Letter of resignation from Dr. Church.
October 26. James Warren to Samuel Adams • . 424
Change of measures in Great Britain. Dr. Church's letter and examina-
tion.
November 12. James Warren to Samuel Adams 425
Reinforcements for Boston. Expulsion of inhabitants. New modelling
of the army. Dis pute over appointment of officers.
Contents xxv
December 5. James Warren to Samuel Adams 427
Narrow spirit of the House of Representatives. Arnold a genius. Suc-
cess of the privateers. Barbarity of the British.
December 19. James Warren to Samuel Adams 429
Matters engaging their attention. On shipping fish to Spain. Delegates
to Congress. Trade restrictions.
1776
January 14. James Warren to Samuel Adams 430
Military operations and state of the army. Business of the General
Court. Militia bill. A fixed constitution. News.
January 31. James Warren to Samuel Adams 433
Manley's exploit. The militia coming in. Lovell's exchange.
February 14. James Warren to Samuel Adams 434
"Common Sense." Want of powder prevents action. Officers of the
militia.
February 28. James Warren to Samuel Adams 436
Letter from London.
May 2. James Warren to Samuel Adams 436
Independence and arming of vessels. Operations around Boston.
Politicians in the General Court. Paymaster for the Eastern Depart-
ment.
August 15. James Warren to Samuel Adams 438
Privateering. Exchange of prisoners. His health.
October 24. James Warren to Samuel Adams 439
Engagement of the militia. The privateers. Naval operations dis-
couraged.
November 18. James Warren to Samuel Adams 440
The Court again in Boston. A Board of War and a large grant. Report
of Howe's embarkation.
December 29. James Warren to Samuel Adams 441
Lethargy and want of principle prevail. Indecision of Congress. Fool-
ish lenity to enemies. Capture of General Lee. Firmness wanted in
the councils.
1777
February 2. James Warren to Samuel Adams 444
Success of the army. Great expectations of Congress. Pensions and
sinecures. Bounties to recruits.
xxvi Contents
February 24. James Warren to Samuel Adams 446
Bounties voted by the Court. Is dismissed from the Board of War.
April 2. James Warren to Samuel Adams 448
Lottery, loan office and privateers. Matters before the Court. The
losses of Mr. Temple.
June 16. James Warren to Samuel Adams 449
Regulating act and its influence on the army. Prizes.
August 7. James Warren to Samuel Adams 450
The Northern army and St. Clair's retreat. Want of confidence in
the commanders.
November II. Hannah WiNTHROP to Mercy Warren . . . .451
Arrival of the convention troops in Boston. Description of officers and
men. Burgoyne and his opinions. General Phillips on the country.
Warren 'Adams Letters
1778-1814
5iSSiS2ili§iSSIiMSSSiiiS|iSS|SMii||§ISS§§ilffi
Warren-Adams Letters
Mercy Warren to Abigail Adams Adams mss.
Plimouth, Jan. 2d, 1778
My Dear Friend, — Great Advantages are often Attended
with Great Inconveniences, and Great Minds Called to severe
tryals. If your Dearest Friend had not Abilities to Render such
important services to his Country, he would not be Called to the
self Denying task of Leaving for a time His Beloved Wife and
Little pratling Brood. Therefore while I Weep with my Friend
the painful absence, I Congratulate her that she is so Nearly Con-
nected with a Gentleman whose Learning, patriotism and pru-
dence qualify Him to Negotiate at Foreign Courts the affairs of
America at this Very Critical period.
I think I know your public spirit and Fortitude to be such that
you will Throw no Impediment in his way. Why should you.''
You are yet young, and may sit down together many years in
peace after He has finished the Work to his own Honor to the
satisfaction of his Constituents and to the Approbation of his
Conscience. You cannot, my Dear, avoid anticipating the Ad-
vantages that will probably Redound from this Honorable Em-
bassy to your self to your Children andyour Country. But while
I wish to say some what to support your Resolution and spirits
Methinks something Wispers me within that you will justly say
that we are very Ready to Give advice when we but Illy practice
upon the principles we lay down. True — but we may profit by
the advice though we despise the Weakness of the Adviser. Yet
I have not so 111 an opinion of myself as to think were I just in
your situation I should not strive for the Exertion of a Little
Heroism upon such an occasion.
2 IVarren 'Adams Letters [1778
I was in hopes we should have had the pleasure of seeing Mr.
Adams at Plimouth before he left America. I should be very
happy to see you together by my fire side if it was but for one day
before he Crosses the Atlantic; but if that cannot be my best
Wishes await him. Assure him that my Fervant prayer is that he
May Experience the peculiar protection of providence through
Every stage of his useful Life.
But I think before we part I Must desire him to Look into a
Letter from Marcia Dated March, 1776 (if he has not Destroyed
it), which will Remind him of a Certain Bargain which I Expect he
will fulfill. His Excuse was once that he should Never be Called to
the Different Courts of Europe. But I have seen Events so pre-
cipitated, and the Wheels of Revolution so Rapidly Move on,
that I have Expected it for several years. And if I am Notwith-
standing His Vast Avocations Gratifyed with one Letter from the
Court of France, however high I May Esteem the Indulgence, I
shall not be More pleased with the Honour done me by the
Embassadour of America than obliged by this Mark of Friendship
from Mr. Adams.
One thing More I Must beg you to assure him that if it is pos-
sible for me or mine to do anything to Lessen the Inconvenience
or pain of absence that His portia or Her Children May suffer. He
may Depend upon the Ready aid of His and your very Affection-
ate Friend
Marcia Warren
Mercy Warren to Abigail Adams Adams mss.
Jan. 8th, 1778
In your late hasty lines you ask three questions, Viz., what I
think of a Certain appointment, what you ought to do, and what I
would do. To the first I answer I think the Appointment most
Judicious, and though we want his services hear I think the Stat
Holder the best qualifyed of any man on the Continent to Repre-
sent the united states of America. By his penetrating Genius he
May see through and Defeat the tricks of old statesmen and
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 3
Courtiers, at the same time He Guards against the Imbecility and
Wickedness of more Modern politicians.
To the second I reply you must be too sensible of the path that
duty points out and the part you ought to act to stand in Need of
the premonitions of Friendship. To your 3d question, I have too
Great a Regard to my own Character to [say] Frankly No, yet
am too suspicious of my own Heart positively to say yes. There-
fore must Leave it a little problematical till further Examination
and tryal.
I had some secret hopes that a Certain Embarkation would
have been made from plimouth, but if there is a better place Layed
you will with my best Regards bid your Friend Adieu in my Name,
and suffer me to accompany your Every Good wish for his safety,
success and happy Return.
I am sorry I cannot supply you with the little Articles you wrote
for, but I lend out of my own store \ oz. of different threads, just to
keep you at Work till Either you or myself can get a larger supply.
My son has no Cambrick. But there is a Frenchman here with
whom I should have traded for you, but he cannot yet Give me
his price, and I dare not purchase at a Venture, as he seems fully
acquainted with the spirit of the Country, and knows no bounds to
his Demands. If you will limit me I will follow your Directions
and purchase whatever you want. He has a Great Variety of those
Luxuries we have been Fond off.
This European Commerce is attended with some Inconvenien-
cies, for though we want their Cloathing, Warlike stores, etc., etc.,
they throw in upon us such an Innundation, useless Baubles that
the Wealthy may purchase and the poorer Will, that I fear their
will be little of that Frugality and Oeconomy so Necessary to
support the Increasing public Burdens.
12 Jan. Since the Above was wrote I have been trying to trade
with Monsieur, but find it will not do for Either of us. I cannot
Get a bit of Cambrick fit for your use under £9 per yd. Threads
he has in plenty at 1/ per scain. I therefore send 10 scains of a
sort from my little stock till you can do better. With Great sin-
cerity subscribe your Friend Marcia Warren
4 Warren 'Adams Letters [1778
Hannah Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Feb. 4, 1778
Methinks I hear Mrs Warren wondring how they do at head
Quarters at Cambridge. Perhaps her wonder may encrease when
I tell her the British Officers live in the most Luxurious manner
Possible, rioting on the Fat of the Land, Stalking at Large with
the Self-importance of Lords of the Soil. G[enera]l B[urgoy]n has
been allowed a Court Martial on a Continental Col[one]l for doing
his duty in preventing an insurrection of British Troops.^ at which
Court B n took upon himself to Preside, interrogating and aim-
ing to intimedate the Witnesses on our part, encouraging those on
his own, displaying his Parliamentary Eloquence, Spouting forth
his Contempt of Americans, Sometimes in insidious Ironical Com-
pliments, at others by open direct abuse insulting and painting in
the Blackest Colors Coll. Henly, whom he often Calld Criminal
at the Bar. This Scene has Continued almost three weeks and the
Court Sitting Tame hearers. I hope the Public will be favord
with the whole of this Tryal,^ if not prevented by the interruption
of an important Order just arrivd, to declare them all Prisoners of
War. O amazing reverse of Circumstances! an Epithet G 1
B n constrained G 1 Glover (who applied it to him on the
Tryal) with the haughtiness of an Emperor of the whole world to
retract and to confess it an inadvertant Slip and to call him only a
Prisoner of Convention. What will be the Consequence of this
Manuvre time must tell.
I enclose you a Letter which I think will entertain you if new to
you. Forgive the bad writing. Please to return it with your
comments For my time in Copying it I think I may with some
degree of asurance ask to peep into your Cabinet and be Favord
with some of your entertaining Manuscripts.
Pray accept of much affection from your ever Sincere
\No signature^
P.S Pray excuse an erasement. I was just now askd by a by-
1 David Henley to William Heath, January 8, 1778, in 7 Mass. Hist. Collections, iv.
201. Henley was acquitted.
2 The Proceedings of the court martial were printed both in Boston and London.
1778] JVarren' Adams Letters 5
stander if I did not think my Scrips would make a pretty Figure
in one of Gains N. York papers as Letters are often intercepted,
the bad writing must be my Signature in Future.
P.S Upon further inquiry I find the order I mentioned not to
be the declaring the British Prisoners of War, as was at first
represented, But detaining them here Till the British King or
Parliament Ratify the Convention.^ Don't you think the Con-
tinuance of these Cormorants will bring us into difficulty.
I sincerely hope the Sequel of this Court Martial will Lower the
Crest of some of these high plumed officers.
Martha Washington to Mercy Warren
Valley Forge, March the 7th, 1778
Dear Madame, — I am now to thank you for the two very kind
Letters which you have been pleased to favor me with, the one
written some time last summer, and the other by Mr. Bowdoin.
It gave me a peculiar pleasure to hear by that Gentleman that
you and Genl. Warren enjoyd good health. And this pleasure
was not a little increased by hearing from yourself that you are so
very happy in your state — • no traces of the enemy being left;
but on the other hand, plenty of everything useful and necessary
to be procured, indeed I think providence was very bountifuU in
her goodness to your state; even when the enemy was in it, we
found there every article in plenty, and full sufficient for the use
of the army, in Virginia we have had no British troops since the
cruel Dunmore left us, but how soon w& shall, is not at this time
known. I hope, and trust, that all the states will make a vigorous
push early this spring, if every thing can be prepared for it, and
thereby putting a stop to British cruelties, and afford us that
pease liberty and happyness which we have so long contended
for.
I Congress on January 8, 1778, resolved, "That the embarkation of Lieutenant General
Burgoyne, and the troops under his command, be suspended till a distinct and exphcit
ratification of the convention of Saratoga shall be properly notified by the Court of Great
Britain to Congress." Journals oj the Continental Congress, x. 35.
6 TVarren-Adams Letters [1778
It has given me unspeakable pleasure to hear that Genl. Bur-
goyne and his army are in safe quarters in your state, would
bountifull providence aim a like stroke at Genl. Howe, the mea-
sure of my happyness would be compleat.
I came to this place some time about the first of February,
where I found the General very well. I left my children at our
House, Mrs. Custis ^ has lately had a fine girl,^ which makes the
second since she left Cambridge, she is so much confined with her
children, that she stays altogether with them.
I left Mr. Bowdoin in Alexandria, he was a good deal distressed
on account of Mr. PHarne,^ a french gentleman, his partener who
was by accident drowned crossing the Potomack river: his Body
was not found when I left home; his behaviour and agreeable
manners, rendered him a favourite with all that knew him, and
caused his death to be much lamented.
The General is incamped in what is called the great valley on the
Banks of the Schuylkill, officers and men are chiefly in Hutts,
which they say is tolarable comfortable; the army are as healthy
as can well be expected in general. The General's appartment is
very small he has had a log cabbin built to dine in which has made
our quarters much more tolarable than they were at first.
It would give me pleasure to deliver your compliments to Mrs.
Gates, ^ but she lives at so great a distance from me that I have
not seen her since we parted at New York two years ago. The
General joins me in offering our respectful compliments to Genl.
Warren and yourself.
I am dr madam with esteem your affectionate Friend and very
Hble servt.
Martha Washington
1 Eleanor Calvert, wife of John Parke Custis.
2 Martha Parke Custis, born December i, 1777, married Thomas Peter.
3 Emanuel de Pliarne had come from France in 1775, with Pierre Penet to enter into
contracts with the Continental Congress for arms and munitions.
4 Mary (Valence) Gates.
1778] W^arren- Adams Letters 7
Mercy Warren to James Warren
Plimouth, March lo, 1778
My dearest friend, — I am not out of spirits. Your Henry
says I am not, and there is nothing he observes more or more
ardently wishes than to support the spirits of his mamah. I hope
this fiHal principle in him will ever coincide with the virtuous dis-
position heaven has bestowed to prevent his deviation from that
line of conduct which can alone make him happy.
But we have here the most disagreeable reports. Faith, forti-
tude and courage are necessary to bear us up amidst the train of
public evils even if the body was in health and the mind free from
domestic anxiety.
War is likely to thicken upon us. Conspiracies at Cambridge,
Traitors at Boston, among which it is said some very unexpected
names appear, though we do not yet learn who.
Burgoyne's troops supplied with arms, our own army without
clothes, without provisions and without tents, many of them
deserting to the enemy and others on the borders of mutiny,
General Washington under suspicions, about to be dismissed or to
retire in disgust, the toast among the soldiers Washington or no
army,^ and to complete the picture, the General Court laying on
taxes and making regulations that the people are determined not
to comply with. Yet I do not feel greatly terrified by these dismal
accounts. We often see the clouds gather blackness and when big
with the lowering storm they are suddenly dispersed by that
almighty hand who sits at the helm and suffers no ill to befall his
creatures but when necessary to promote the mighty designs of his
providence; that providence has hitherto protected us. I strike
out three fourths of this gloomy tale as only the vague rumours of
the day and reverse the scene and view America finally triumphant
though innumerable difficulties may rise up in her way.
We have two British transports now in this harbor.^ A number
1 This refers to the Conway cabal and its design of placing Gates in command of the
army.
2 For taking the Convention troops to England. The total number of transports was
twenty-five, under the command of Hugh Dalrymple. A list, with the tonnage of vessels
is in Heath Papers, viii-177.
8 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1778
of our people went on board yesterday and returned mightily
pleased with the civility and the presents they received. What a
weakness! How easily are mankind duped by each other without
either love confidence or esteem.
I have been better this day than any one since you left me. I
know you pity me under this long confinement, were you to look
in upon me and in your way "Come up spirits," and then paint
some agreeable images as usual I know nothing that would have so
ready a tendency to restore health; that cheerful voice has always
a very happy effect on your
Marcia
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, May 8th, 1778
My Dear Sir, — I hope by this Time you have got over the
greater part of your long and tedious Journey to York Town, and
you will soon get through, and find all things to your Wishes.
Nothing material has occurred here since your departure but what
you will have an account of before this can reach you. We are
now enjoying the first fruits of our New Connections, several of
the fleet from France are arrived, with large quantities of Cloath-
ing, etc., and a French Man of War of 36 Guns, so that your
beloved Harbour looks quite Brilliant. I want you should enjoy
the prospect from your Windows. The public, and private Per-
sons are treating the officers of the French Man of War with every
Mark of Respect, and I understand they are highly pleased with
Your Town. Tomorrow the Council entertain them with a public
Dinner at Marston'. I am to be one of the Guests, you will cer-
tainly see among the Toasts, the Congress, and the King of
France. You will remember the Embarrassments of the Navy
Board for want of Money, and our Embarrassments Increase with
the great Accumulation of Business which grows on us every Day,
with six Sail of Ships and Brigantines on hand in this Port and a
number of other Demands we can't at this time command 500
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1778] VTarren- Adams Letters 9
dollars, we have Indeed some Warrants on the Loan Offices but
can get no Money. You will also remember the provision for the
Members of the Board, the Cloathers Otis & Andrews are in great
difficulty for want of Money and should be supplied, to preserve
any kind of Credit to the Continent.
I wish you every Happiness and am Your Sincere Friend
J. Warren
Mr. Hancock talks of going in a day or two.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, May loth, 1778
My Dear Sir, — I wrote to you two days ago since which
nothing very material has occurr'd. I was yesterday at an Ele-
gant Entertainment made at Marston's House by our Council
for the Officers of the French Frigate and other Strangers, this
was attended with fireing of cannon, etc. and seemd to give great
Satisfaction, and if not quite Conformable to the rigid rules and
Oeconomy of a Young Republic may under our Circumstances be
good policy, the Representatives of your Town were all present
Except Gen'l Hancock who did not honour us with his Company,
why he did not is a subject of Conjecture for you and others with-
out being able to assign a reason in any other way. had you been
present you might not have appeared as the greatest Man in
Company while the Council were there and at the head of the
Feast, tho' you might Actually have been so. The Tories are very
Industrious in Instilling prejudices into the minds of the people
against our Connections with France. The danger of Popery is
held up to them, and every other Art that Wickedness and weak-
ness can devise is practised, but I hope with little Effect, this
may be more Excusable in some People but what will you think of
a Member of Congress who for the sake of Establishing his own
popularity or for any other reason should Express his Appre-
hensions or rather his Opinion that this Connection will ruin
America, when such an Opinion was given in the hearing of one
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
lo JVarren- Adams Letters [1778
Tory Lady, you may easily conceive it is told to others, and quoted
by the great Numbers with which your dear Town abounds. My
regards to Mr's Gerry and Lovel.
Adieu. Yours etc.
J. Warren
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, May 13th, 1778
My dear Sir, — The Inclosed was designed to have gone by
the Express which went two days ago and which I unluckily
miss'd but the small Importance of it renders the loss of little
Consequence. We had yesterday an Arrival from France in five
weeks, there was no war declared at that Time, though other
matters of Intelligence are Confirmed by her. I need not descend
to any perticulars. you certainly have much better Intelligence
than I can give or will have before this reaches you. I have had
much Conversation with Mr. Carmichal. he laments your being
gone, and wishes to be Acquainted with you. I remember the
Letter you Communicated to me. I told him that Congress had
made an Appointment for him if I remembered right, he seemed
to be pleased with it. whether I did right or not I doubt, if I did
you will approve it. if I did not you will not Expose a Friend who
you know, never did any thing with a design to Injure the Cause.
I have in some measure given him my opinion of Men and Meas-
ures. We hear Nothing of the Boston. Mrs. Warren goes this
Afternoon to Visit your Good Lady. I suppose they will have a
Little Chat on the Subject of Politics. I am Your Assured Friend
J. Warren
Your beloved Town have had their Meeting for Choice of
Representatives this Forenoon the only Alteration they have
made is to leave out Mr. [John] Brown and [David] Jeffries and
put in their places Deacon [William] Phillips and Mr. [John]
Lowel. whether the Alteration be good, or whether they might
not have made as good a one in some other way you can Judge.
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1778] JVarren 'Adams Letters n
James Warren to William Bingham Adams mss.
Plymouth, N. England, May 21, 1778
We have no late Intelligence from the Army. The Operations
of the Campaign had not Commenced when we last heard. We
flatter ourselves it will Open and Conclude to our Advantage and
place American Independence out of the reach of British Tyranny.
Your favour by the Brigt. Resistance with the Inclosures have been
received by the Navy Board. Capt. Thompson ' is suspended and
will be Tryed by a Court Martial. We wish for the return of Capt.
Hinman ^ and his Officers. This is to be handed to you by Capt.
Avery,^ whose principal Business at Martineco is to Claim, and
Obtain possession of the Sloop America in Behalf of the owners.
This Sloop has been Intrusted to the Command of Capt. Coit ^
who after a short Cruise Carried her to Martineco, and there by
his Infamous Conduct lost his own Life and left her in a Situation
that has occasioned the owners this Trouble and Expence. Some
of my Friends are Concerned in that Vessel; if you can Afford
him any Assistance you will do an act of kindness to them, and
oblige me. I am Sir with Respect Your Most Obed't Humble
Serv't
J. Warren
Samuel Adams to James Warren
York Tov^^n, May 25, 1778
My dear Sir, — Your favor by Capt. Colter ^ overtook me on
the Road; agreably to your Request I immediately on my Ar-
rival here mentioned to a Gentlemen of the Marine Committee
1 Thomas Thompson.
2 EHsha Hinman.
3 Probably Samuel Avery of Milton. He had commanded the privateer Eagle in 1777
and the privateer America, the vessel of the text, in 1778.
4 William Coit. The owners of the America were of Plymouth, and their petition for a
commission for Coit, dated September 20, 1777, is in the Massachusetts Archives.
5 Mr. Edmund C. Burnett has identified this name as that of Captain Harmon Courter,
a bearer of despatches from Franklin.
12 TVarren- Adams Letters [1778
the Necessity and Importance of keeping your Board duly supplyd
with Cash to enable you effectually to do the Duty of your De-
partment, and was told that 50m Dollars had been lately remitted
to you. I will not fail to do what in me lies to forward that Service,
as our Navy has always lain near my Heart.
I am exceedingly pleasd to find that our Army makes a much
better Appearance than it has done since the Commencement of
this War. It is very respectable in Point of Numbers and Dis-
cipline has been happily improvd by the Baron de Stuben who is
appointed Inspector General with the Rank of Major General. '^
The invariable Accounts from Philadelphia are that the Enemy
are making Preparations for an Embarkation, and it is expected
they will soon leave that Place. Where they will proceed next you
can as easily conjecture as we. I am not apprehensive of their
visiting Boston; I wish however that more effectual Measures
might be taken to strengthen and secure that Harbour and Town
from Insult to which I think it is too much exposd.
I recollect that your Election of Councillors will come on the
Day after tomorrow. Has Mr [Hancock] waited for the Event
of that important Day.f* ^ or is he on his Journey to this Place.'' It
is a Matter of so much uncertainty here, that Nothing, I suppose
prevents many Wagers being laid upon it, but its being not of so
much Moment as some others. Was he present here, he might, if
he pleasd, vindicate me against a Report which has given Occa-
sion to my Friends to rally me, that I have been called to Account
and severely reprehended at a Boston Town Meeting for being in a
Conspiracy against a very great Man [Washington].^ You know
how little I care for such Rumours. It is easy for me to conjecture
by what Means it extended it self from Manheim, where I first
heard it, to York Town; and it may not be difficult to guess how it
came from Boston to that Place. Manheim is about twelve Miles
1 May 5. Journals of the Continental Congress, xi. 465.
2 Though a delegate to Congress Hancock did not attend until June 19, 1778. On
July 9 he was granted leave of absence. On May 13 he had been elected a representative
of Boston in the General Court.
3 Probably the subject was discussed in the Town Meeting of May 13 when a memorial
to the General Court on the men supplied to the Continental Army was presented.
Boston Record Commission, xxvi. 19.
1778] TVarren- Adams Letters 13
East of the Susquehanna; there lives Mr. R. M.,^ a very intimate
Acquaintance of my excellent Friend. Mr. H. is said to be on the
Road, but no one makes it certain. When he arrives Messrs.
Gerry and Dana ^ propose to set off for N. England. I shall be
mortified at their leaving us, for I verily think that the Accession
even of thai Gentleman will not make up for the Absence of the
other two.
I am happy to find C[ongress] in perfect good humour and at-
tentive to Business, though so hard put to it in this place, as
hardly to have a Room a peice, in which to write a Letter to a
Friend. It brings to my Mind the Circumstances and Tempter of
the old Deputies who sat down under a Tree to eat their Bread
and Cheese. This is the Kind of Men who are the Terror of Ty-
rants. I hope I shall shortly be able to write you something of
Importance, from the Army at least. In the meantime Vale et
me ama.
\No signature.]
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, May 31, 1778
My Dear Sir, — The Papers will Inform you that I am no
longer a Member of the General Court. My Town left me out, and
the House did not take Notice enough of me to Elect me a Member
of the Board and so saved me the Trouble of a refusal, your
Curiosity will lead you to Enquire how my Town came to leave
me out, and how the Interest I used to have in the House vanished
and sunk on this occasion, it may not satisfy you to carry it to
the Account only of the versatility and Caprice of Mankind, they
have had their Effects, but they would not do alone. Envy and
the Ambition of some people has aided them, and the policy or
rather what you will Call the Cunning of a party here, who have
1 Robert Morris. This friendship for Hancock is noted in Oberholtzer, Robert Morris,
272.
2 Leave of absence to Dana was granted August 7, but Gerry remained through the
year.
3 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
14 TVarren- Adams Letters [1778
set up an Idol they are determined to worship with or without
reason has had the greatest, they have even made use of the
Tories to prevent my being Chose by my Town, who made their
Appearance on this Occasion for the first Time for seven Years.
The partiaHty of you and the rest of my friends has made me an
object of great Importance with this party, and every thing is
done to get me out of sight, in short the plan is to Sacrifise you
and me to the Shrine of their Idol. I hope for the sake of the Char-
acter and Interest of our Country they wont Succeed against you.
for myself I am Content to be as private a Man as they can make
me. I have a Good Conscience that is all I want and of that they
cant deprive me. I am not disappointed. I have all I expected
you will see the List of the House and will form your own Expec-
tations. I suppose my Cousin will be an Influential Member,
with regard to the Constitution I am of the Opinion it will not
prevail, and that Anarchy and Confusion will take place before
we have one settled Your dear Town have with others lost their
Compass and with it lost sight of their old principles and policy,
they have acted accordingly upon this Occasion, while no Man
can Entertain a reasonable prospect of getting a better form, the
Small Pox is still lurking in Town and has made its Appearance in
such a Manner as has alarmed the House, the Court is therefore
Adjourned to Watertown. what else is done I cant say. No for-
eign News, we learn Philadelphia is Evacuated, where are they
going next, some Conjecture to the West Indies while others
think the North Rivers or Connecticut are the Object, we shall
know soon, we have yet no Intelligence of the Arrival of the
Boston I dont write to Mr. Gerry because I suppose he is on his
way here, if still with you my regards to him. I shall write to Mr.
Lovel. Doct'r Holton is waiting for General Hancock, who I
hear took a pompous Leave of the House Yesterday by going up
and shakeing Hands with the Speaker, etc., after moving for
leave to return soon if his health would not admit of his Tarrying
long. I suppose a Cavelcade will attend him, Subscriptions for
that purpose haveing been Circulated for a week. I believe he
will go Tomorrow, you will provide for his reception as you think
fit. I am Your Assured Friend J. W.
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 15
Samuel Adams to James Warren
York Town, June i, 1778
My dear Sir, — I wrote to you a few Days ago by Mr. Brails-
ford,^ since which I have receivd your Favors of the lOth and
13th of May. The Arts you mention as being practicd by the
Tories in Boston, to prejudice the People against our new Con-
nections, are similar to those which I find on reading a late
Philada. Paper, are practiced there. The Danger of Popery is
particularly held up by the Partizans of that King, who would wish
to drain Ireland of its Catholicks to carry on his bloody Purposes
in America. I do not wonder that a certain Gentleman, though of
the Character you have described, should joyn in such an objec-
tion. He may think it will give him Popularity among a particular
class of Men, and serve one Purpose which I believe he has con-
stantly in View; but I am satisfied that such a Suggestion will
have a different Effect.
I have receivd several Letters from my Friend Dr. Lee since my
Arrival here. Those by the Way of Boston are Duplicates, and
contain Nothing of Importance more than what we receivd by
Mr. Dean. I wish you would revive in the House of Representa-
tives the Proposition which was made last Winter relating to that
Gentleman.^ I have an additional Reason inducing me to urge
this Matter, which I will communicate to you at another Time,
and which I am very sure you will approve of. At present I
believe you are satisfied that it is both Policy and Justice that it
should be done.
Congress has been pleasd to put me on the Marine Committee.'
I mention this to you, in hopes that I shall have the Pleasure of
receiving your Letters the oftener on that Account, and particu-
larly on the Subject of the Navy, which I will use my utmost
Endeavours to build up. The Committee have orderd a Letter
to your Board by this Post. Capt. Burk ^ is to have the Command
of the Resistance which may be a Step to further Promotion here-
I Norton Brailsford. 2 For granting land to Lee in Massachusetts.
3 May 27, 1778.
4 William Bourke. Capt. Daniel Waters had refused the offer of the vessel.
i6 Warren 'Adams Letters [1778
after. The french Gentleman ^ who was jed with Promises at
Boston and afterwards substantially relievd by you is highly
esteemd by this Committee, and will be rewarded and employed,
and Capt. Peck^ is not unnoticed. The new Frigate at Salisbury,
though before christened by another Name, has that of the
Alliance given to her by the Committee. This Letter I intended
to have finishd and forwarded by the Post, this Morning, (June 2)
but was prevented. Capt. Barry who is to take the Command of
the Raughley will deliver it to you. I am apprehensive for our
Friend Mr. J. A. who if I mistake not had saild seven Weeks
when the last Vessel left Nantz. The Bearer is in Haste. Adieu.
[No signature.]
Mercy Warren to James Warren
Plimouth, June 2, 1778
You, my Dearest Friend, who have so often heard me express
my opinion of the folly, fickleness and ingratitude of mankind will
not wonder when I tell you I am not at all surprised to see them
forsake a man who for many years has at the expense of his own
health and happiness uniformly aimed to promote their interest,
but I own I did not expect to see your town so suddenly deviate
from the principles they formerly professed.
I never supposed that in the midst of the contest and at the
most critical period thereof they would suffer the inveterate
enemies of this country to lift up their heads and openly oppose
the measures and malign the men who have suffered so much in
the public cause. Yet strange as it may appear one of the most
subtile emissaries ^ of Britain and the most malignant of your foes
was suffered yesterday in full meeting of the town to stand up and
cast the most illiberal reflections on a man whose primary object
has been to rescue these people from the thraldom of a foreign
yoke and to preserve their rights against the machinations of the
more dangerous enemies that lurk in their own bosoms. With this
sole point in view how much fatigue and painful watching have
I Pierre Landais. 2 A designer of vessels. 3 Ned Winslow the elder.
1778] fVarren-Adams Letters 17
you sustained, and from your absence and sufferings how much
anxiety have I felt and how many tears has it cost me. But you
ate now released by the suffrages of the people and stand acquitted
to your God, your country and your conscience if you never en-
gage again. I feel the highest pleasure from the knowledge of
your integrity and the certainty I have that the voice of popu-
larity was never a stimulus to any one action of your life. You
have justly despised the breath of the vulgar and looked with
contempt on those selfish wretches who lie in wait for the applause
of the multitude and court adulation from every servile lip.^
How often has the young gentleman who is the bearer of this
agreed with me in sentiment that the reward of patriotism was
not in this world, and as he is just setting out in the craggy path
of political strife may he conduct so as to reap the laurels due to
unblemished virtue. But some say he has entered at the wrong
end of the dangerous labyrinth yet I cannot believe him so lost
to the noble feelings of friendship and honour as to unite with the
enemies of his country to undermine a man I know he cannot but
esteem and who from personal regard and a generous confidence
in his profession of Whiggism has long considered Mr. G. Thomas
in the light of a friend.
You will perhaps think me a little chagrined at the late conduct
of your townsmen but it is not heightened. I have long felt so
much indignation and disgust for the ingratitude and baseness of
your constituents (a very few excepted) that I could scarce bear
the reflection that you were sacrificing the best comforts of life,
your domestic felicity to support the Interests of those who stood
ready to repay your indefatigable labour with undeserved ex-
ecration.
I will now indulge the hope that your duty will not urge you in
future to be much separated from your family, that we may
shortly sit down in private tranquillity till Nature makes the last
demand "when Conscience like a faithful friend Shall smooth the
bed of death." I propose to go to Barnstable on Thursday. Shall
spend the day with my father and when I return it will be in full
I Thomas Nicholson was chosen to represent Plymouth in the Great and General
Court.
1 8 Warren -Adams Letters [1778
expectation of meeting you in a day or two more. In addition to
my wishes to see you and my purpose of returning with you I
have still another weighty reason for urging your return next
week as proposed. The meeting of this town for raising their
quota of men by assignment stands adjourned to next Monday
sevenight you will then have an opportunity once more to exert
your abilities in favor of the wisest measures and if you think
proper to thank people for the late marks of respect shown to a
truly disinterested friend of his country.
Do you hear nothing from the Boston frigate. If Mr. Adams
falls into the hands of foreign enemies he is to be pitied but less
than those traduced by internal foes in the presence of friends
who have not spirit enough to resent it. Don't you admire the
late address of Congress; ^ but it is not the same people they
addressed three years ago so that I fear it will have but little effect.
I hope to hear from you soon and be assured notwithstanding the
caprice of woman, the instability of man and every deformity in
which human nature is exhibited in modern times, you will ever
have a faithful friend in your affectionate
Marcia
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Boston, N. England, June 7th, 1778
My Dear Sir, — We are yet in a State of Uncertainty whether
you are Arrived in France or England, and Consequently whether
you are now acting as an Embassador or suffering as Prisoner;
all we know is that the last Ship from France brings no Account
of you tho' you had been out seven weeks when she left Rockfort.
The Enemy have Circulated a Report that the Boston was taken,
and mention the Name of the Ship that Captured her: ^ but I
don't Incline to give Credit to it, and think there are reasons to
doubt it. As I think myself Interested in the Event, I am anxious
to hear of your safe Arrival. Nothing for several weeks has got
in from any part of Europe tho' the winds have been remarkably
I Journals oj ike Continental Congress, xi. 474. 2 Adams, Familiar Letters, 338.
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 19
favourable. Our Curiosity is therefore wrought up to a high Key
to hear what is passing in Europe, whether there be a declaration
of War between France and England and whether any other
Powers have Acknowledged our Independence, and Concluded a
Treaty with us. Thus stand matters with regard to foreign News;
with regard to domestic News, I am Informed by my Friends at
Congress that our Army is very respectable both with regard to
Numbers and discipline. The Baron de Stubun has performed
wonders in regulating the discipline of the Army. They are well
Cloathed, and well provided with Provisions, Arms, and Ammuni-
tion, and Congress have determined that the Officers who serve to
the End of the War shall receive half pay for seven Years, and the
Soldiers have eighty dollars, which has given satisfaction to the
first and Contentment to the last, and prevented both resigna-
tions and desertions, but no Operations of Consequence have yet
taken place. The Enemy have made one or two Excursions which
the Papers we shall send you will give an Account of, but were by
our last Accounts Immured in Philadelphia, and preparing to
leave it. Where they will next go is a Subject of Conjecture:
some think they will leave the Continent, others that North
River, Connecticut or this State is their Object. No Material
Alteration in our Currency, it is rather better. Goods of all kinds
are much more plenty, some are cheaper but they don't yet fall in
proportion to the demand for money which is become very Con-
siderable, and I think must in time have its Effect. The produce
of the Country is yet Extravagantly dear and is the principal
Cause of keeping down the value of our Currency. The Country-
men have so long had the Advantage of high prices that they don't
feel the want of money so much as the Merchants and Tradesmen.
Connecticut as well as some other States have passed a regulating
Act which operates much as ours did. They are Nevertheless ob-
stinate in Adhering to it, and have sent down a Committee to
Induce our Court to come into the Measure, this Session many
Members I hear are fond of it. It stands at present suspended for
an Answer to a Letter wrote Congress. The Court met here and
frighted with the Appearance of danger of the Small Pox, after
Election Adjourned to Watertown, where they now are. The
2 0 JVarren- Adams Letters [1778
Papers will Announce to you that I am no longer a Member of
the General Court. My Town did not chose me, and the Court did
not Compliment me with an Election at the Board, so that, were I
dismiss'd from the Navy Board, I should be truly a private Man,
and an Independent Farmer, and should be as Contented and
satisfied with my situation as ever you saw one, for really I am
Tired of public Life, tho' I was determined never to desert the
Colours I helped to hoist. If you Enquire how all this came to
pass I must tell you it is oweing to various Causes. The people
feel themselves uneasy and don't know the reason, they have
therefore shifted their Members more generally than ever. I
scorned to make or suifer any Influence in my favour. The Tories
and the Influence from Boston, and some other places had their
full play, which are the reasons I am not in the House. The greater
part of the C[ourt] from Envy, and other reasons never loved me,
and the Complextion of the House, Consisting of Members (the
most Influential of them) whose politicks are very difl"erent from
mine, and who are of the moderate Class which you know I never
belonged to, may account for my not being Elected. But above
all the partiality of my Friends which has rendered me Obnoxious
to a Certain great Man,^ and his numerous party by holding me
up to view in Competition with him, the Policy therefore has been
to get me out of sight and prevent my being an Obstacle to his
Glory and Ambition. The returns are not yet made from the
several Towns of their Approbation or Disapprobation of the
Form of Government sent to them, but I believe it is pretty Clear
that the Majority have decided against it in much less time than
the Convention took to decide in its favour. The Town of Boston
(whose wise Observations you will see in the Papers) ^ and the
County of Essex have had a great Share, and Influence in this
Determination, for you must know it has become very popular to
find fault with the doings of the General Court or Convention,
by those who can't mend them, and a little Clamour much more a
great one may easily damn any measure good or Bad. The Great
Man Tarried here till after Election, and then went off with the
Pomp and retinue of an Eastern Prince. I was not in the List of
I Hancock. 2 Boston Record Commission, xxvi. 22.
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 21
his Attendants and was not Solicitous enough to officiously offer
my service, and to receive that Honour. I suppose the Sin is
unpardonable. I must suffer the consequences of his frowns, and
be Content to be ranked among those who never Adulate and
flatter. Your Friend Adams is at Congress. Gerry and Dana
propose to return when Mr. Hancock and Doct'r Holton who is
your Successor Arrive, This is the third Letter I have wrote you
since your departure. I hope the others as well as this will reach
you. This is to go by a packet that Carries public Letters for you
and the other Commissioners or rather Embassadors, the Captain
of which is to deliver them to you in Person, so that the danger of
the Seas Excepted, the Opportunity is fine. I have accordingly
Informed your Lady of it, and Expect her Letters in Tomorrow
which I presume will Inform you that the Family are well. My
Love to Master John, and believe me to be with Great Sincerity
Your Assured Friend and Humble Serv't,
J. Warren
Samuel Adams to James Warren
York Town, June 13, 1778
My dear Sir, — Since my last I have seen a List of the new
Councillors and Representatives of our State. I am sorry to find
that your Name is not in the List. I presume you declind the
Choice, which I still very much disapprove of, for Reasons you
have before heard me mention.
By the inclosd News Paper you will see that the Scene begins to
open. You may depend upon it that Congress will not attend to
any Propositions until Independence is acknowledgd. The Day
before yesterday, we were informd by a Letter from General
Washington that Sr. H. Clinton had requested a Passport for
Dr. Ferguson,^ Secretary to the British King's Commissioners,
who was chargd with a Letter from them to Congress; and that he
had acquainted Sr. Harry that he could not grant the Request
till he should receive the Directions of Congress. In the Midst of a
I Adam Ferguson (1723-1816).
2 2 JVarren "Adams Letters [1778
Debate on the Report of a Committee on this Subject, the Letters
were brought in, having been receivd by our General and for-
warded. This Mode of Conveyance suited the IncHnation of the
House, they being, as I thought, at that Juncture ready to assent
to a Proposition approving of the General's Conduct in refusing
to grant a Passport to the Messenger^ and expressing themselves
content that he should receive the Message and send it by a
Messenger of his own.
The Contents of the Letter, as far as they were read appeard
extraordinary indeed, and show'd plainly that their Design was
to draw us back to a Subjection to their King. Some Expressions
in the Letter gave particular Disgust to all the Members. The
House adjournd till Monday when I think I may assure you the
Subject will be treated with becoming Spirit and Propriety.
I wish you would speak to some leading Member in the House of
Representatives relating to the Resolution which was offerd
concerning Dr. Lee. I have a Reason which strongly influences
me to wish that such a Resolution may now pass. Justice and
Policy as well as Gratitude require it. There are a few bad Men,
one of whom you are not unacquainted with, who, so far from
desiring that Respect should be shown to that patriotic and highly
deserving Gentleman would rejoyce to see him disgrac'd.
My friendly Regards to your good Lady and all Friends.
Adieu.
\No signature^
Samuel Adams to James Warren
York Town, June 19, 1778
My dear Sir, — I have Time only to write you a few Words by
Captn. Landais who is appointed by Congress to the Command of
the new Ship of War Alliance. This Gentleman is esteemd for his
Experience and Knowledge in Marine Affairs and will go first to
Portsmouth to direct in the Construction of the Ship designd to
be built there. I wish you would (with the other Gentlemen of
your Board) assist him with a popular as well as able Lieutenant:
1778] Warren- Adams Letters 23
popular; because as he is a frenchman, it may be difficult for him
to procure a sufficient Number of American Seamen. He is in
hopes of geting french Sailors out of the Vessels that are or may
be at Boston, etc.
I will by the next Post send you a full Account of our late
Transactions with the British Peace Makers which conclude with
confirming on our Part our former Resolutions.
We have just reed. Advice that the Enemy have totally evacu-
ated Philadelphia and we expect every moment to have the News
confirmd. Mr. Hancock and Dr. Holton are arrivd. The last
mentiond deliverd me a Letter from you which I will more fully
acknowledge in my next. Adieu my Friend.
S. Adams
Samuel Adams to James Warren
York Town, June 20, 1778
Dear Sir, — In my Letter of yesterday's date (by Capt.
Landais) I promisd to write again by the next Post, and give you
a full Account of our Transactions with the British Peace Makers.
Cap. Landais after the ensealing of my Letter obtaind a News
Paper which he intends to deliver to you. That will answer the
Purpose. The President has informd us of an opportunity previ-
ous to the Post which I readily embrace. It gave me much Con-
cern to find an omission of your Name in both Houses of Assembly.
I indulged Hopes that it was occasiond by your Time and Atten-
tion being so much employd in the Affairs of the Continent, and
am sorry that an Opportunity was not afforded to you of declining
a Seat, if you had thought it necessary, on that occasion. But, my
Friend, you must expect and be content to be now and then
neglected when the Influence of aspiring but worthless Men shall
prevail in an Hour while your own and your Countrys Friends are
unsuspecting and unguarded. Believe me, you cannot long be
unnoticed by your Country, while she remains virtuous and wise;
when a People becomes so abandond (which I trust is far from
being the Case of our Country) as to be not worth saving, no wise
2 4 JVarren- Adams Letters [1778
Patriot will further attempt to save them. He will then seek a
Place of Retreat where he may enjoy the happy Reflections of his
own Mind, and count a private Station the highest Post of Honor.
But — the Express waits, which obliges me to break off abruptly.
Heaven knows best, how to dispose of you and me. Adieu.
S. A
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, June 26, 1778
My dear Sir, — I have had the great pleasure of receiving
your several favours, per Blaisford, Capt. Barry, and one by an
Unknown hand. I am Glad to find you so well pleased with the
Situation of the Army, and the doings of Congress for you know I
ever Entertain an Opinion that things are right when they go
according to your mind. I Expect very soon to have an Account
under your hand, of the reception Congress gave to the proposals
of the British Commissioners, and of their Ultimate determina-
tions on them and their silly Errand, we expect the Dignity of
Congress will Appear with great Lustre on this Occasion, we have
handed about in this Town a List of their proposals, but I cant
suppose they are Genuine, they are Indeed too Contemptible
even for the British Administration to be the Authors of. My
Letter per Mr. Collins which I presume has reached you before
now will Inform you that I did not leave my station in the Political
Ship before the Gale was over, or fly from those Colours I helped
you and some few other Good Patriots to Hoist. You know I have
been on Deck for twelve Years, and I believe you will not be able
with all your discernment and Watchfulness to recollect an In-
stance of my flinching. I was left out by my Town, without an
Ostensible reason to give. I was not Noticed by the two Houses
for reasons best known to themselves, the Mutability of Mankind,
the Enmity of the Tories united with the Intrigues of a party you
are acquainted with must Account for it. I will only Inform you
that the Bar Seat had a large Share in this matter, and some of
them that you would hardly suspect, this may be adding In-
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1778] TV arren- Adams Letters 25
gratitude to Witchcraft, as my whole Conduct has been Uni-
formly favourable to your Town, and if you will not Construe it
into vanity I will tell you I have sometimes thought I did them as
much service as any Representative they have had since you left
the House. You and I have been Companions the whole Vo[yage].
I have now the Honour to be the Object of the same rancour, and
the victim of the same Intrigue and policy as against you. how-
ever I am Content with regard to myself if your Interest is Se-
cured, with regard to your Friend Dr. Lee I took Care early in
the Session to Apply to some Members to have the Business done,
the Court is now Adjourned to September. I question whether it
is done, tho' I am not certain. I was promised but as they set out
of Town, I had not the Advantage of pursueing the matter. I will
not forget or Neglect it. but you are to Consider that I and my
Applications may for a while be treated with Neglect, and if you
will permit me to use Metaphors suggested by the Nature of my
Business, A New Crew is Ship'd and the principle direction fallen
into hands whose Seamanship we did not use to Esteem, and who
for want of Fortitude never dared to go aloft to view the fair and
open Coast before them, or to Examine and Ascertain the strength
of the Ship and how well she was Constructed and fitted for the
Voyage. Millions of such Seamen never would have Conducted
her to the Lattitude and Longitude she is now in. but enough of
this your own reflections I dare say Exhibit pictures much more
to the Life.
I am Extremely Glad to find you on the Marine Committee, for
Notwithstanding you have not been used to Naval Matters, I
conceive you will do great Service there. I shall write to you often
the little time I shall be connected with you in that Station, and
very freely, for the Subject must be better Understood, and more
Attended to, or the Navy given up, though I conceive it will soon
be more Important and more necessary than an Army, did your
Committee attend to this matter would they write us that they
hoped 50,000 dollars would supply all our demands for some time,
we received that Money, we have recv'd the greatest part of
80,000. dollars we drew for in favour of Mr. Shaw,^ and this Morn-
I Nathaniel Shaw, Jr., Continental Agent at New London, Connecticut.
2 6 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1778
ing we had not a lOO dollars in the office, and if Capt. Bradford ^
had not been good enough to Supply us with £1000. we could not
have paid the Bounty to Seamen this day Entered, we must stop
payment of all Bills, however reasonable or Justly due, or however
hard we are duned. where to look next, or what is to be done next
week I know not. this is Indeed Embarrassing, why Sir we
want 500,000 dollars if it be meant we should do any thing to
purpose, is it feared we shall Squander profusely, or apply fraudu-
lently, our Accounts will be at any time ready in three days for
the strictest Scrutiny. I am, my Friend, also Mortified, and it is
hard to be both perplexed and Mortified, while we work for
Nothing, and spend necessarily more than our pay. Many things
take place to make me feel very small in this office, to say nothing
of our Inability to Answer the Expectations of the public and of
their never knowing the reason, why when you have Appointed
Captains in the Navy cant it be left to us to say which shall go in
any Ship here on a vacancy and while we and every Body else
sees the service suffering, must we wait for an Appointment from
the Marine Committee, they Expect the Raleigh is prepared for
the Sea. but two days ago a Captain for her Arrived here, and
every Body acquainted with Seamen must know they will not
Engage in a Ship till they know the Captain, the public have
Clamoured, to save our Reputation we have been obliged to take
pains to let it be known, that you dare not trust us so far. the
Brigantine Resistance has lai[n] some time, to get her to sea we
appointed or rather ordere[d] Capt. Olney to take Command of
her. he is a deserving Officer, and I think would make a figure in a
better Vessel, he readily obeyed and things were going on finely.
An Appointment arrives for Burke, he may be a good officer but
besides the Mortification to us, the Brigantine will be delayed.
My favourite plan was to get a Number of these Vessels to Sea in
Company. Your Committee have Approved, and desired it, but
how is it possible, the Raleigh would have been ready for the Sea,
if she had a Captain, she has now no Men. you have Appointed a
Good one. I believe we shall Man her soon, but the Warren is
almost Manned. Must she wait for her. I wish you would make
I John Bradford, Continental Agent at Boston.
1778] Warren 'Adams Letters 27
that a Question and give me an Answer. Why when you have
packets of Importance to be sent to your Commissioners must
they go through the hands of the Council of this State in Vessels
provided hy us. are your own Immediate Officers, Insufficient for
such a purpose? if not it seemed a more regular Channel of Con-
veyance, if they are you may form a Board here of persons as
Competent to that or any other purpose as the Council, and I will
be ready to resign and make way for such an Appointment. I
wont mention some other Instances because I wont be tedious. I
own I am a proud fellow, but after all it is a subordinate passion
to my Wishes for the Good of the Voyage. I am well pleased that
you have given a Name to the New frigate at Salisbury, and that
it is a New One.
I hope our Friend Adams is safe arrived we hear so, and believe
it. twenty-two days after they were out, they took perhaps the
richest prize that has been made this War. she was retaken on
this Coast and Carried to Hallifax, within fourteen hours sail of
this Port, she made some resistance. Our Friend would keep the
Deck, and shew great Marks of Courage, tho the first Shot cut
away the Mizen Topsail or Cross Jack Yard over his head. I
suppose my Good Friend, Mr. Gerry, is now on the road, as
General Hancock must have been with you some time ago. my
Expectations of it for some time past have prevented my writeing
to him. if he should be still detained with you, please to Assure
him of my Invariable Friendship, and tell him the reasons I have
not wrote him lately. I have only to Add, Compliments to all
Friends, and am Assuredly Yours
{No signature.]
Did Coll Lee Receive the Jesuits Bark in safety.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, June 28, 1778
My Dear Sir, — The Navy was the principal Subject of a long
and perhaps tedious Letter two days ago which I suppose will go
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 8 Warren -Adams Letters [1778
with this, if it requires an Apology I will tell you it was wrote in
perfect Composure, and good Humour and in Justification of the
familiarity I used that it was wrote to you as a friend not as one of
my Masters. I intend the Cheif Subject of this shall be the Army,
the takeing of Burgoyne and his Army was certainly a glorious
Event for America, but I cant help considering it as a Misfortune
to us that this State was pitched upon as the place of their Cap-
tivity, especially as they are detained here so much longer than
was at first expected, under every restriction that Whig Prin-
ciples and true policy would dictate they would have many
Oppertunities by their Arts and Intrigues to Encourage and Con-
firm the Ungodly, and to Shake the Confidence of the faithful,
what then is to be Expected from an Excess of Complaisance pro-
ductive of Unbounded Indulgence but a perfect Knowledge of our
Country, a Conciliation of the Affections of our simple Country-
men to their Murtherers discord, and an Estrangement from their
true Friends, the prevalence of Toryism and every evil work. One
Regiment more only is yet removed to Rutland since you left us.
was it ever Expected that there should be a free open Communica-
tion between Cambridge and Rutland and their Officers suffered
to pass and repass at pleasure and to come into this Town, did
you ever suppose that our General would dine with theirs on the
Tyrants Birth day, and I presume of course drink his Health,
did you Imagine that Politeness had risen to such a pitch that
Gen'l Phillips and some of his officers were in return Invited on a
party of pleasure down this Harbour, and that when he Excused
himself because the officers of a Regiment to March to Rutland
the day after that Appointed for the frolick were to dine with him
on that day, the March was offered to be postponed to another,
etc., etc. I do assure you my Friend an old Roman Republican
would make an Awkward figure here in these days of refinement,
and might Exclaim O Tempora, O Mores, till his Heart acked
without any Effect. I wish for my part these Troops were properly
treated and restrained or dismiss'd on their own Terms. We have
no News but from the Southward, as all the Armies are said to be
in motion we Expect great Events, have you a single Member that
deserves the Character of Insolent, Overbearing, and dogmatical.
1778] JVarren-Adams Letters 29
If not will vanity, Ambition, or popularity without Merit atone
for giveing it. Will you in your next give me the Character of Mr.
M[ar]ch[an]t. I am always pleased with your pictures. I trouble
you no More at this Time than to desire your Care of the Inclosed
Letters and to deliver them with my regards to the Young Gentle-
man they are directed to.
Adieu says your Friend,
[No signature.]
Capt. Burke hesitated about accepting Command of the
Brigantine but has done it at last, the prejudices of the Officers
here against him are great, as you have patronized him I hope he
will turn out an honest man. he has desired a Court of Enquiry
Into his Conduct dureing his Captivity.
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Boston, N. England, July ist, 1778
Sir, — I have wrote you several long Letters since you left us,
some of which you will doubtless by the Enemy be releiv'd from
the trouble of reading. My last was by Capt. Barnes about four-
teen days ago, at a time when we had reason to be anxious for
your safety. Two days ago for the first time we were Ascertained
of the safe Arrival of the Boston and of your being in Paris. This
Intelligence we have by a Packet from France In forty-six days,
which brought public and private Letters. I am told there are
Letters from you tho' I have not the Honour and Happiness of
being Numbered among those to whom they are directed. I sup-
pose the public Letters that go by this Conveyance with the
Gazettes we shall Inclose will give you all the News of this Coun-
try. Great Expectations are formed here from the Circumstances
and Situation of our own Army, and that of the Enemy. We
have no Cruisers on our Coasts at this Time they are all Called
into Halllfax where they are in the Horrors from the Apprehen-
sion of a French Fleet said to be In these Seas, tho' we have yet
no particular Account of them. By this Means our prizes and
30 JVarren- Adams Letters [1778
Merchantmen have a fine Chance to get in, and they succeed
Accordingly. This Vessel goes of so suddenly that I fear Mrs.
Adams will not hear of this opportunity to write. If she does not
it may be some satisfaction to you to be Informed that she is well.
I am obliged to Conclude and am Your Assured Friend and
Humble Serv't,
J. Warren
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, July 5, 1778
My Dear Sir, — I have wrote you very lately and very lengthy,
if they come so fast as to be Troublesome, you will give me Notice
and I will stop my hand. The Army was the principle Subject of
my last. I will now in turn give you a few more of my Sentiments
with regard to the Navy. The Manning and dispatch of your
Ships here depend very much on the Character of the Command-
ers, all we can do seems to little purpose, unless the Captains and
Officers are popular, and such as the Seamen have a Confidence
in. Capt. Burke may be a good Officer, but there are suspicions
subsisting and a certain unpopular air and manner in his Be-
haviour that has Occasioned those Men who Intended to go in
that Brigantine to leave her, and I fear in spite of every thing I
can do it will be long before she goes to Sea. This Appointment
seems to be a matter of Speculation, and as the Service is retarded
by it gives great occasion for the observations of the Speculators,
but Nothing has afforded a more ample subject for those People
and for the resentment of the Navy Officers than the late Appoint-
ment of Capt. Landais to the Alliance. I am afraid this will be
productive of much Confusion and Mischief, he is an Ingenuous
and well Behaved Man. I am pleased to see him taken Notice of,
but this Appointment seems to be marked with some degree of
Enthusiasm, you have certainly Exceeded his Expectations if not
wishes, and have you done Justice to some Exceeding good offi-
cers here, who have older Commissions than his, and with their
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1778] Warren- Adams Letters 31
Familys been long starving on their bare pay. Manley, Olney,
and Waters have reason to suppose themselves Neglected, espe-
cially the first, as he was made acquainted that the Marine Com-
mittee (as they wrote us) Intended that Ship for him if he was
Honourably acquitted by a Court Martial. Capt. Landais when
he went from here seemed to Expect no more than some kind of
Superintendency in the Construction of Ships, there are two very
good Lieutenants in that Ship but I am told they will both leave
her and the service. I fear he will never man her unless with
Frenchmen and I suppose that would hardly be Agreable to Con-
gress, she is much the finest Frigate you have had. however my
Exertions shall not be wanting more especially as I find there is
an Opinion that you was his chief Patron. Capt. Manley will
hand you this, he is a Blunt, Honest, and I believe Brave Officer,
he was first in the Service, and merited much by his Conduct.
I hope therefore he will be continued and satisfied, more especially
as he is extreemly popular with Officers, and Seamen, and can
Man a Ship with dispatch when a Man as deserving could do
nothing in that way, which is an Object you must attend to or be
content to have your Ships lay in Port. Capt. Barry's Character
stands high, and his Conduct is agreable. I think therefore we
shall have but little difficulty in Maning his Ship tho' he is a
Stranger.
Capt. McNeil is gone to make you a Visit, his Address is Insin-
uating, and his Assurance great, he may tell you fine Storys, but
be Assured he has had as fair and Impartial a Trial as a Man ever
had, and as much Tenderness and delicacy both in the prosecution
and Sentence as he ought to wish for. _ We have frequently wrote
for an Establishment for Pursers, and Pilots, the Service suffers
for want of it. do see it done both with regard to wages and prize
money, and Expedite the other Business we have wrote about
perticularly send us Money. We Celebrated the 4th of July here
yesterday with great parade and festivity, we have no News here
we long to hear how matters stand with the Army and where the
French Fleet are. I am with regards to all Friends Yours As-
suredly,
\No signature^
3 2 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1778
Did you ever propose an Allowance of Hay and Oates for our
Horses since we have been in this Service, our Board and Horse-
keeping has from the begining cost us more than our pay, and
since last December we have been at least a dollar a day out of
pocket, the Service is hard enough, the least that could be done
is to afford us support here, if we are not Enabled to take any
kind of Care of our Familys. we are Obliged to give Carpenters,
Riggers and some other Tradesmen five dollars a day, while we
have but about four. Ceteris paribus they have the Advantage
of us. they are at Home with their Familys, we are Abroad and
Absent from ours, your Resolve about the Frenchman's Pendant
is thought very Extraordinary, it is a great Triumph to the
Skippers, and is Improved with some marks of Insult, and is
mortifying to your own Officers, if it is a fact that our Ships are
allowed to wear their pendants in the Ports of France in presence
of Men of War, all the officers lately there give us wrong Informa-
tion, and certain it is one of your Vessels of War lately at Marti-
nico [was] not permitted to wear her pendant, to the Mortification
of Capt. Chew, who was a Man of great Spirit. I hope proper
respect will be paid to the Judgment of Courts Martial, and their
Sentences never altered but where Errors, fraud. Injustice or
partiality plainly appear.
A French Cutter now here fires a morning and Evening Gun.
Samuel Adams to James Warren
Philada., July 14, 1778
My dear Sir, — I am to acknowledge the Receipt of your
favors of the 26th and 28th of June. I have long been apprehen-
sive, you know, that false Ideas of Politeness would injure the
Minds of our Countrymen and prove destructive to Morals and
Liberty. But I own, I did not expect that the most ridiculous
FoUey would have taken so early and large a Stride as it appears
to have done in the Instance you mention. It cannot in my
opinion be supported by any Principles of Truth and Propriety
and discovers a Degree of Servility shocking to sober Humanity.
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 33
And yet a Conduct so void of common Sense will find Advocates
among many who never had and never can have a Spark of that
Republican Feeling which you have always possessd. These
People are formd to be Asses and Slaves; Let them remain so.
But surely they ought not to be advanced to places of Influence,
to spread by their Examples, the Principles of Servility and
Slavery among the People. I will take an Opportunity when I am
at Leisure to answer your Letter of the 26, which I have communi-
cated to my Friend Colo. Lee. Yesterday I made a short Visit to
Monsr. Gerard. If I can form any Judgm[en]t of him, his Manners
would suit our Country. But I expect to be better acquainted
with him soon. Mr. H[ancock] has asked and obtaind Leive of
Absence and Is going home! Adieu.
S. A
Samuel Adams to James Warren
Philada., July 15, 1778
My dear Sir, — Mr. H[ancock] Informs me that he will cer-
tainly set off for Boston immediately after Dinner, and being
now in Congress I have Time only to write you a short Letter.
The Sieur Gerrard, will soon have an Audience in Congress in
the stile of "Minister Plenopotentlary of his most Christian
Majesty the King of France." Would you think that one so
little of the Man of the World as I am should be joynd in a Com-
mittee to settle Ceremonials.'' It is however of some Importance
that we agree upon Forms that are adapted to the true republican
Principles; for this Instance may be recurrd to as a Precedent in
Futurity.^
The Articles of Confederation were signd last Week by seven
[eight] States. North Carolina has sent a full Ratification of it, so
the Members of that State will sign when they arrive which is
expected In a few Days. Congress has written a Letter to the
I The Committee was composed of Richard Henry Lee, Samuel Adams and Gouver-
neur Morris. They reported on July 17 but the report was debated and the final form
adopted on July 20. Journals oj the Continental Congress, xi. 688, 698, 707.
34 JVarren- Adams Letters [1778
States of Georgia, Maryland, Delaware and Jersey pressing them
to authorize their Delegates to joyn in this most necessary Trans-
action. I believe there will [be] no Difficulty except with Mary-
land, and she will finally accede. The Articles have undergone no
Alterations.
The french Minister arrivd in this City on Lords Day, and the
day following, last Monday the Delegates of Massachusetts Bay
paid him their Complements in Form. I know not that those of
any other State have observd this Ceremony. It appeard to us
highly proper. We were receivd with Politeness, and heard some
handsome Things said of the State we have the Honor to repre-
sent.
The Minister plenipotentiary deliverd to Congress a Letter
from his Sovereign expressd in the strongest Terms of Affection
and Friendship.
I can at present add no more than to inform you, that your
Nephew,^ the Son of my old Friend James Otis Esq, came into
this City a few Days ago with the Intention of purchasing some
Necessaries, but being destitute of Cash his Friends were under a
Necessity of Supplying him with the Sum of twenty pounds Law-
ful Money for the Repayment of which I have taken his written
Request to his Grandfather, agreably to his own Proposal. I have
indorsed the order and inclosd it in this Letter. I know not
whether this will altogether meet with Approbation; I was the
rather inclind to interest myself for this young Gentleman, be-
cause I have been satisfactorily informd that he has behavd well
in his military Character. I gave my best Advice respecting his
Morals. When you receive the Money you will please to repay to
Mr. Hancock fourteen Dollars and thirteen and two thirds to Mr.
Dana, (both which Gentlemen will be at Boston shortly) and the
Remainder to Mrs. A., upon Notice of which I will account with
two other Gentlemen concernd, Mr. Holten and Colo. Pickering.
I remain your very affectionate
S. A
Mr. Dana desires his particular Respects to you.
I Probably James Otis, an ensign in Col. Henry Jackson's regiment.
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 35
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, July 17, 1778
My dear Sir, — I suppose I may now Congratulate you on
your return to your Antient and most Convenient Seat Philadelphia.
I hope you will now possess it at least as long as you please, we
are told the Enemy have suffered great loss in their passage from
Philadelphia to York, tho' I could wish they had suffered a Com-
pleat defeat, we have a report of Town that the French Fleet
have arrived at the Delaware. I think it high Time to hear of
their Arrival somewhere. I hope they will do great service, it is
said they are under the directions of Congress, you can hardly
Conceive the Uncertainty we have been in about the Military
Operations. Gen'l Lee has one day been Exalted by Applauses to
the Starrs, and the next Condemned for Capital Offences: at least
to the Tryal of a Court Martial for them. We have not a word of
News that I can give you, every thing remains here as it did. I
shall therefore trouble you no further at this time than to recom-
mend to your Notice and that of my other Friends Capt. Green ^
the Bearer of this, who came from France as Commander of the
Queen of France, and has in all respects Behaved as a Gentleman,
and a Friend to America. I Expect a Packet from you soon. I am
sure if Numbers and length of Letters are a proper Charge against
you the Ballance is against you. I have wrote to your Committee
per this Conveyance, do attend to our Letters. I am forced to
ask for so many things that I cant repeat them. My best regards
to Mr. Gerry and Mr. Lovel. I dont write to the first because I
Expect him every day. I am in haste. Your Friend etc.^
J. w.
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library. 2 John Green.
3 Letters from Samuel Adams to James Warren, July 20 and 25, 1778, are in Writings
of Samuel Adams, iv. 41, 45.
36 Warren -Adams Letters [1778
John Adams to James Warren Adams mss.
Passi, July 26, 1778
My dear Sir, — Yours of [7] June by Captain Barnes fortu-
nately reached me yesterday. I was much surprised, you may
well imagine, at its Contents. But I suppose the Cause of their
not electing you to the Council must have been your engagements
in the Navy Board.
I am unhappy to learn by the Newspapers that our Constitu-
tion is likely to occasion much Alteration in the State, but not-
withstanding all our Dissentions, there is a Mass of Prudence and
Integrity among our People that will finally conduct them into
the right way.
I wish now that I had accepted of your polite offer of your Son.
It is however for his Interest, because he may pursue Business
there to much better Profit. If Mr. Austin should leave me, I
should have occasion for a Clerk, which would afford a young
Gentleman a decent subsistence and no more. The Frigates, the
Merchandise, the Negotiations and the vast Correspondence we
have, render a Clerk indispensably necessary for each of the
Commissioners, and for some of them more than one.
Mr. Hancock, Mr. Adams and my respectable successor. Dr.
Holten, are gone to Congress, but you don't mention Mr. Paine.
Where is he.^ Earning Twenty thousand dollars a year at the Bar.?
If he is I wish him Joy and hope in time to arrive at some Part of
the same Honour and Profit. Dane, I suppose, is earning Thirty
thousands. Upon my word, I think these Gentry ought to throw
their Profits into Hotchpotch with a poor Brother at Passi.
Where is the Spirit and the Genius of America.? To suffer the
feeble Remnants of our Enemies in Philadelphia and Rhode
Island to come out with such Insolence and burn Houses and
Vessels without Retaliation is intolerable.
Will it ever do to think of Race while Great Britain has Canada,
Nova Scotia and the Floridas, or any of them.? Such a Race will
be but short. We shall have perpetual Wars with Britain while
she has a foot of Ground in America. But if the belligerent Powers
shall be exhausted so as to think of Race, leaving Canada in the
1778] TV arren- Adams Letters 37
Hands of Britain, which I hope they will not, the Boundaries of
Canada must be ascertained, and of the Floridas too.
I believe I can tell you a Piece of News. The Cabinet at London
have determined to send to their Commissioners in America In-
structions to offer you Independence, provided you will make Peace
with them separate from France and make a commercial Treaty
with them, by which they may retain something like their late
Monopoly.
They certainly think that Americans are not Men of Honour.
They believe them capable of violating their first Treaty, their
first solemn sacred Faith, within a few Moments of Its unanimous
Ratification. Is It because they have seen, or heard, anything like
this Perfidy in Americans, or Is it because they feel themselves
capable of such Conduct and infer from thence that all other
Men are equally so?
Is there a Man in America who would not run all Hazards, who
would not suffer the last Extremity, rather than stain the first
Page of our History with so foul a Breach of Faith ^ Is there [one]
who would confess and prove to the World that America has no
Honour, no Confidence, no faith, no Piety for the sake of avoiding
the Evils of War 1
But where and how did the King and Council obtain Authority
to make such an offer.? They have no such Power. Parliament
alone can do It.
But they mean no such Thing. They mean only to seduce
soldiers to Desertion. They mean only to draw In Congress or
some public Body to break their Faith with France, and to do the
same Act which shall forfeit the Confidence of all Mankind, and
then they think they can manage America. Their object In this
Piece of Policy, as In all their others towards America, appears to
me to be to seduce, to deceive, and to divide. They must, how-
ever, be brought to mingle some sincerity with their Policy before
they will succeed. I am as ever, yours.
38 TV arren -Adams Letters [1778
John Adams to James Warren
Passy, August 4, 1778
My dear Sir, — Your kind Favor of July ist was brought here
Yesterday from Bordeaux where Capt. Ayres has arrived, but was
not deliver'd me till this day, this is only the second received from
you. I have infinite Satisfaction in learning from all parts of
America the prosperous Train of our Affairs and the Unanimity
and Spirit of the people. Every Vessel brings us fresh Occasions
of Ardour to the French and of Depression to the English in the
War that is now begun in earnest.
The Resolutions of Congress upon the conciliatory Bills, the
Address to the People the Ratification of the Treaty, the Answer
to the Commissioners, the President's Letter, the Message of
G[overnor] Livingston and the Letter of Mr. Drayton are read
here with an Avidity that would surprise you. It is not one of the
least Misfortunes of Great Britain, that she has to contend with
so much Eloquence, that there are such Painters to exhibit her
attrocious Actions to the World and transmit them to posterity,
every publication of this kind seems to excite the Ardour of the
French Nation and of their Fleets and Armies, as much as if they
were Americans.
While American Orators are thus employed in perpetuating the
Remembrance of the Injustice and Cruelty of G. Britain towards
us, the French Fleet has been giving such a Check to her naval
Pride as she has not experienced before for many Ages. The
Vessel which is to carry this will carry Information of a general
Engagement between D'Orvielliers and Keppell, which termi-
nated in a disgraceful Flight of the British Fleet.^ We hope soon
to hear of D'Estaing's Success which would demonstrate to the
Universe that Britain is no longer Mistress of the Ocean. But the
Events of War are always uncertain and a Misfortune may have
happen'd to the French Fleet in America. But even if this should
be the Case, which I dont believe, still Britain is not Mistress of
I July 27. The maneuver failed because of Sir Hugh Palliser's neglect of Keppel's
orders.
1778] TV arren- Adams Letters 39
the Sea, and every day will bring fresh proofs that she is not. The
Springs of her Naval power are dried away.
I have hitherto had the Happiness to find that my Pulse beat
in exact Unison with those of my Countrymen. I have venturd
with some Freedom to give my Opinion what Congress would do
with the Conciliatory Bills, with the Commissioners with the
Treaty, etc., etc., and every packet brings us proceedings of Con-
gress, according in Substance, but executed in a Manner infinitely
exceeding my Abilities.
Nothing has given me more Joy than the Universal Disdain
that is expressed both in public and private Letters at the Idea of
Departing from the Treaty and violating the public Faith. This
Faith is our American Glory, and it is our Bulwark, it is the only
Foundation on which our Union can rest securely, it is the only
Support of our Credit both in Finance and Commerce, it is our
sole Security for the Assistance of Foreign powers. If the British
Court with their Arts could strike it or the Confidence in it we
should be undone forever. She would triumph over us after all
our Toil and Danger; she would subjugate us more intirely than
she ever intended. The Idea of Infidelity cannot be treated with
too much Resentment or too much Horror. The Man who can
think of it with Patience is a Traitor in his Heart, and ought to be
execrated as one who adds the deepest Hypocrisy to the blackest
Treason.
Is there a sensible Hypocrite in America who can start a
Jealousy that Religion may be in danger, and from whence can
this arise.'' not from France. She claims no Inch of Ground upon
your Continent, she claims no legislative Authority over you, no
negative upon your Laws, no Right of appointing you Bishops,
nor of sending you Missionaries. Besides the Spirit for cruisading
for Religion is not in France. The Rage of making Proselytes
which has existed In former Centuries is no more. There is a
Spirit more liberal here in this Respect than I expected to find.
Where has been the danger to the Religion of the protestant
Cantons of Switzerland from an Alliance with France, which has
subsisted with entire Harmony for 150 Years or thereabouts.
But this Subject is fitter for Ridicule than serious Argument, as
40 JVarren-Adams Letters [1778
nothing can be clearer than that in this enhghten'd tollerant Age,
at this vast Distance, without Claim or Colour of Authority, with
an express Acknowledgement and Warranty of Sovereignty, this,
I had almost said tollerant Nation can never endanger our
Religion.
The longer I live in Europe and the more I consider our Affairs
the more important our Alliance to France appears to me. it is a
Rock upon which we may safely build, narrow and illiberal
prejudices peculiar to John Bull, with which I might perhaps have
been in some degree infected when I was John Bull, have now no
Influence with me. I never was however much of John Bull. I
was John Yankee and such I shall live and die. Is G. Britain to be
annihilated.'' No such thing. A Revolution in her Government
may possibly take place, but whether in Favor of Despotism or
Republicanism is the Question. The Scarcity of Virtue and even
the Semblance of it seems an invincible Obstacle to the latter.
But the Annihilation of a Nation never takes place. It depends
wholly on herself to determine whether she shall sink down into
the Rank of the middling powers of Europe or whether she shall
maintain the second place in the Scale, if she continues this War
the first will be her Fate, if she stops short in her mad Career and
makes peace she may still be in the second predicament. America
will grow with astonishing Rapidity and England France and
every other Nation in Europe will be the better for her prosperity.
Peace which is her dear Delight will be her Wealth and her glory,
for I cannot see the Seed of a War with any part of the World in
future but with Great Britain, and such States as may be weak
enough, if any such there should be, to become her Allies. That
such a peace may be speedily concluded and that you and I may
return to our Farms to enjoy the Fruits of them, spending our
old Age in recounting to our Children the Toils and Dangers we
have encounter'd for their Benefit is the Wish of Your Friend and
very humble Servant,
John Adams
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 41
Samuel Adams to James Warren
My dear Sir, — As Mr. Dana purposes to set off early tomor-
row Morning I am unwilling to omit writing a Letter to you to be
deliverd by him. I part with him with great Reluctance, because I
esteem him a very valuable Member of Congress. It is a Consola-
tion to me that he has a Seat in the General Assembly, where I am
satisfied he will be greatly instrumental in promoting the Repu-
tation and true Interest of our Country. I sincerely regret that
you have not a Seat there; nevertheless I hope you will not with-
draw your Influence, which though not a Member, you may
employ for the publick Good. There are yet remaining some of
the old Patriots who have long struggled with you against the
publick Enemies. You will derive to yourself great Delight by a
Recapitulation, of past Scenes, in a Circle of such Friends, and
by joyning with them in further EflForts, you may make your self
still more servicable to our great Cause. I know you are engaged
in an important Continental Department and your Hands are full
of Business; but I hope you will find Time to continue and further
to cultivate an Intimacy with the leading Men of that State in the
Government of which, I will venture to say, you must again have
a great Share. Adieu my Friend.
S. A.
Philada., Augt. 9, '78.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Augt. i8, 1778
My dear Sir, — Since my last which I own was many days ago,
I have had the pleasure of several of your favours of the 14th, 1 5th
and 27th July and thank you for them. I think Congress have
pitched on a person to settle Ceremonials who will not be in favour
of what I hate, pompous parade, etc. I should have voted for you
for that reason, in my Opinion all the plainess and simplicity Con-
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
42 JVarren- Adams Letters [1778
sistent with decency should be used on such an Occasion as agree-
ing best with our Circumstances and profession; but their is such a
variant and Inconsistency between the practice and profession of
patriots as well as Christians that I can easily Conceive even a
Member of Congress Exhibiting on such an Occasion all the Mag-
nificence of Monarchy. I want much to hear of the full Comple-
tion of the Confederation. I shall take Care of the Order you sent
me and in a few days have it settled. Manley has returned here
greatly Chagrined, and full of Bitterness and resentment against
you, who he Considers as the principle Occasion of his disappoint-
ment, it Is Circulated with Industry that you are the patron of
McNeil and Intend to have the decision of the Court Martial set
aside. You can hardly Conceive with how much pleasure this, and
indeed every other Story to your disadvantage is received and
propagated here by a Party who are determined at all Events to
ruin your Interest. I stop'd their Career in this by reading and
telling a paragraph In your Letter relating to that matter. I shall
always oppose the measures of this Party, for if I have no partial-
ity for you, I have a prejudice against many of them. I cant bare
the Influence of Men who were so hid In Holes and Corners a few
Years ago that it was difficult to find them; and when found dared
not tell you which side they belonged to. Especially when that
Influence is directed against the Capital and most Staunch Friends
this Country ever had. those Men must have an Idol, they most
of them worship'd Hutchinson; they all now worship another
who, if he has not H's Abilities, certainly equals him In Ambition
and Exceeds him in Vanity. I wish I could give you a few Anec-
dotes, they would Excite your Indignation and perhaps ridicule.
The servility and flattery I am daily a Witness [of] is disgusting
enough.
Mr. Hancock Is returned, seems to be In pretty good Health, is
gone on the Expedition against R. Island, and there as Major
General of this State Commands, as the Newspapers will Inform
you, the second Line of the Army. I am told he sollicited the
Council to be ordered on this Business, which after some Opposi-
tion obtained. What a noble Example of Heroism, as well as
Patriotism does this Conduct Exhibit, we want a Homer or a
1778] TVarren- Adams Letters 43
Virgil to Celebrate it and surely Congress itself must be the
Mecenas to prompt and Encourage them.^
We have no News, our Expectations are now fixed on the R.
Island Expedition, we are very anxious for the return of the
French Fleet, without which I fear it will not Succeed, we have
had a hard Gale of Wind and other very unfavourable weather
since our Army was Collected, my best regards to Mr. Gerry,
Lovel and Dana. I am your Friend.
\No signature?^
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Augt. 25th, 1778
My dear Sir, — I wrote you by last Post pretty much in a
hurry, nor do I recollect the perticulars of it. I believe there may
have been in it some Treason against puppysand villains and some
other things, which may Consign it to the Flames before this
reaches you, but I think I did not say enough about Capt. Manley.
I do think no Caution ought to be used in speaking of his Bravery,
with a Command of a Single Ship my opinion is he would equal
perhaps any in that respect, tho his Judgment and Abilities might
not be equal to others in the direction of more Ships than one.
however, between us, I would much rather trust him even there
than another I could name, whose pretences to both are more
Confident, and besides who believed better in the begining in a
Little Schooner Exposed to all the Men of War, and who did more
service by makeing prizes, and in short_^as Capt. Hinman Cant be
Expected here in Season for the Ship at Norwich, I do think
Manley should have her. As for Capt. Landais, no Exertions of
mine shall be wanting to Afford him every Assistance in my power
to man his Ship, he rises in my Esteem every day and I have the
pleasure to add in that of others too. the other Captains are Con-
vinced that he is Master of his Business, and that with his agre-
able Manners and disposition force Conviction of the Judicious-
1 On Hancock's return to Massachusetts, see Writings of Samuel Adams, iv. 49.
2 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
44 JVarren- Adams Letters [1778
ness of the Appointment against every prejudice. I suppose you
have such direct Intelligence from your Generals that it would be
vain, or at least Unnecessary for me to think of giving you any
Intelligence of the proceedings at Rhode Island. I may however
venture to predict that there is an End of our Expectations from
that Expedition, the French Fleet has left them and I think they
must retreat and leave the Island, there is no other Alternative
but to strike a great and Capital Blow, such an one as the Genius of
an Hanibal or a Frederic would dictate, or leave the Island. The
French Fleet is hourly Expected here, an Agent from them has
applyed to us for Pilots to meet them off Cape Cod and for Sparrs
to repair them. I have sent out twelve Pilots and am provideing
the Sparrs. the Council have desired us to furnish every thing
they have Occasion for. I Consented, but I find they will heave
themselves into the hands of those kind of Gentry here who will
take Care to make their money of them (I say I, Mr. Deschon is
gone to Providence on our Business, Mr. Vernon has been absent
six months). I am somewhat perplexed to know how to dispose
of the Raleigh and Resistance^ which are both ready for Sea and
would have sailed this day if the Fleet had Continued before
Rhode Island.^ I wish I could have the Sentiments of the Marine
Committee as soon as possible, tho' I dont know but shall take
some measures without, as soon as I can see Count De Estaing.
We have no foreign News, nor any other domestic. I am yours
Sincerely.
\No signature.]
Augt. 27th. The French Fleet do not yet appear. Our Army
still Continues on Rhode Island. General Hancock returned last
Evening to this Town, it is reported and believed, I suppose, that
he is come to order back the French Squadron, if it was reported
that he came to arrest the Course of Nature, or reverse the de-
crees of Providence, there are enough to believe it practicable.
I They were ordered to cruise off North CaroHna, to take armed vessels fitted out by
the Goodriches (John, Bridger and William) of Virginia.
1778] JVarren -Adams Letters 45
Hannah Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, Aug. 29, 1778
It would be a Vain thing in me to pretend to give you the tidings
the occurrences that the fleeting days and weeks present to View
especially as you are so nearly connected with one who has so
large a share in the Present Scene and who I doubt not communi-
cates freely to you. We who are at a greater distance and can
only behold Events as they take place have nothing to do but
wonder and patiently wait the Issue. We have lately seen vast
numbers of men hieing away for a field of battle hurrying thither
with the most Sanguine expectations but the great Mover of Uni-
versal Nature has seen fit by the operation of His Stormy winds to
check our fond imaginations and we daily have the Mortification
of seeing the men return without the Palm of Victory. Our Son
the Librarian^ was a Zealous Volunteer and is not yet come back
from Camp. The British G 1 P[hillip]s here kept a day of
Festivity on the occasion and humanely orderd his officers not to
insult our Men on their return. We who live among them must
expect to meet with Chagrin as they are always by some Means or
other Possest of the Secret many days before we are.
I have lately been Favord with a Review which Contains some
lines which gave me great Pleasure. If you have not happend to
have seen it or was not the Philomela who sang it I doubt not
they will amuse you; but I must beg the Favour you would return
them as they Cost me some time in Copying. Rather than detain
you from what will give you more pleasure than anything of mine
be pleasd to Accept Sincere Affection from your Unalterable
Friend,^
Hannah Winthrop
1 James Winthrop.
2 A letter from Samuel Adams to James Warren, Seotember i, 1778, is in Writings oj
Samuel Adams, iv. 52.
46 Warren -Adams Letters [1778
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Sept. 2d, 1778
My Dear Sir, — We are all under Arms. A Fleet of fifteen sail
of the Line and seven Frigates appeared in the Bay last Sunday and
Yesterday came Close in by the Light House, they are not to be
seen this Morning, but I suppose will show themselves again
about Noon, we suppose this to be Lord Howe's Squadron
Joined by some new Comers, the French Admiral is makeing
every disposition to receive them if they Attempt to come in, not
only in the Arrangement of his Ships, but by fortifying Nantasket,
George's Island, etc., where he has mounted Cannon and landed
men. whether they mean to amuse this Squadron till their Troops
make a safe retreat to Hallifax, or whether they design to Attack
the French even in this port is Uncertain, but I rather think the
first, we have a foolish Spirit prevailing with rancour against the
French for leaving Rhode Island. I call it a foolish one because in
my Opinion, if the Conduct of the French has been bad. Common
discretion would dictate silence to us, and that the only thing was
to make the best of it at present, this is the doctrine I preach and
practise. I cant bear to see the Whiggs falling in with the views
of the Tories and Joining with them in a Clamour that may prove
greatly Injurious if not ruinous to us. but we have always been
plagued more with the Folly of the Whigs than with the wicked-
ness of the Tories. Time wont permit me to add more than that I
am your Friend.^
\No signature.]
Samuel Adams to James Warren
My Dear Sir, — The Bearer of this Letter, Ebenezer Hazard
Esq, is a sensible Gentleman of good Character, and has had a
liberal Education at the College in Princetown. He has a few years
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 A letter from Samuel Adams to James Warren, September 12, 1778, is in Writings of
Samuel Adams, iv. 58.
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 47
past been at Pains to obtain Copies of publick Records and Manu-
scripts relating to America. These with such others as he may be
able to avail himself of he intends to publish, in hopes that some
other Gentleman finding Materials thus collected may be induced
to furnish the Publick with the History of the United States.
Congress has countenanced his laudable Undertaking. As I am
sure you are ready to aflford Assistance to a Person disposd to
serve Mankind in this or any other Way, (and I can assure you he
is a true Republican Whigg) I have taken the Liberty to recom-
mend him to your Patronage. Might he not be permitted to have
Access to the Records of our State. Are there not some valuable
Manuscripts in the Hands of private Gentlemen in the County of
Plymouth or in the Records of that County or Town 1 The Papers
which were carefully collected by the late Revd. and curious Mr.
Prince were left to the Hon Mr. Gill. It might perhaps serve Mr.
Hazards Purpose to be introducd to that Gentleman. But I
forget that you have your Hands full of publick Business. Excuse
me my Friend. Adieu. Your affectionate
S. Adams
Philadelphia, Sept. 22, '78.
James Warren to Samuel Adams.^
Boston, Septr. 30th, 1778
My dear Sir, — I have received your favours of the 1st and
1 2th Instant. I shall dismiss the subject of Manley and McNeil,
and neither give you any further trouble on that head, nor Expose
my Letters to your Critical Comments on a subject so little Inter-
esting. I am glad to find you possessing your Soul in so much
peace and Serenity. Contempt is an Excellent Antidote to the
Influence of the Arts and Malice of wicked Men on the peace of
an honest Man's Mind; but I think I have heard you hold it as
a Maxim even in Politics not too much to despise your Enemies,
perhaps you only mean you dont think my support of any Conse-
quence. You would be surprised at the State of the political
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
48 J^^arren- Adams Letters [1778
System here, at the little and the great Arts that are practised to
pull down the fabric of the last twelve Years, and at the prime
Conductors, the design seems to be to lay it in ruins and under
them to Bury the fabricators, even in the House a motion has
been made and supported by several B [Boston] Members to
Admit Treasurer Gray, Doctr. Gardner, Jemmy Anderson,^ etc.,
to return in peace, this will at once without detail give you a view
of Matters, however in Justice to the House I must also tell you
it did not obtain at that Time and that they are by way of Con-
trast on a Confiscation Bill; but it Labours very hard, and if it
passes at all will not be very Comprehensive, some People of
Influence are against the Principle and Consequently every part
of it, and some other Great Ones, haveing no principle themselves
but their own Ambition and popular Applause, will Contend with
violence for the Principle and then reduce it to Nothing by the
small Number to be Inserted, the first is to please the Whiggs,
the last the Tories, for all are to be pleased and most people will
be pleased and Trumpet the praises of some Men, however Incon-
sistant their Conduct is and however Manifestly Calculated to
serve their own Ambitious purposes. The disposition that at first
appeared to Cast an Odium on the Count and to discredit our
New Allies seems to have entirely subsided and has been suc-
ceeded by the most perfect good humour and respect shown them.
General Hancock has made most Magnificent Entertainments for
the Count and his officers, both at his own and the public Houses
and last Week the General Court Entertained them at Dinner in
Faneuil Hall with much military Parade, on this Occasion the
General had an opportunity of Exhibiting a Specimen of his Mili-
tary Talents, etc. I cant descend to particulars that I wish to tell
you, but as the Papers have not given a List of the Toasts and the
Manner In which each was distinguished, having the honour to be
present I will give some of them to you.
1. The United States. The A.D.C. was directed to give the
Signal for 13 Cannon to fire.
2. the Monarch and Kingdom of France. Ditto.
I Harrison Gray, Sylvester Gardiner and James Anderson, who were all included in the
prescription act of 1778.
1778] W^arren- Adams Letters 49
3. The Congress, the A.D.C. lookd wishfully, the General
Shook his Head. No Cannon fired.
4. The Army and Navy of France. Ditto.
5. Genl. W[ashington] and the Army, the General waved the
Signal to the Aid with great Earnestness. Another Aid by his
Side waved his hand over his head. 13 Cannon. A General Shout
and Clap, no Cannon fired after this Toast. I ventured after-
wards to ask the General how it came to pass that Congress were
not treated with the highest marks of Respect and Distinction and
told him I was sorry to see the day when they were not. he said
he had his Orders and they were Included in the United States.
I told him I thought Genl. W. and the Army were; that I had as
great a Respect for Genl. W. and the Army as any Man, but if
they were not Included also in the United States I wished they
were disbanded, this is the only time we have spoke since his
return. I leave you to make your Comments, and to say whether
this was oweing to no principle, or to a wish to distinguish the
Military above the Civil, or to Contrast himself with Men he had
represented as Inimical to the General and Army, but perhaps
you wish also to have this subject dismissed as no more Interest-
ing than the other.
We have no News, prizes are frequently comeing in and sorrfe
Cruisers are Insulting our Coast, and I think the French Squad'-cn
too. they have taken a large Number of Vessels. The Count doni;
Incline to send after them, he has Formed an Opinion that X
larger Fleet is on the Coast and these are designed to draw oiit a'
part of his Ships and take them; but I am Confident there 'are'
not more than three on the Coast. I want to know what you are;
doing, is the Confederation Compleated. are you takeing aiiy ,
measures for the Appreciation of your Currency, what says -
Monsr. Gerard with regard to the Conduct of the Squadron. '
how stands matters with Spain, etc., etc. we have been Appre-
hensive of an Attack on this State, but are now pretty easy and
generally think the Enemy are going. I have received the money
on Jemmy Otis's Order and disposed of it according to your Orde^,',-'
except to Mr. Dana, who I have not seen since I received it ''
Please to give my regards to your Brethren, perticularly to Mr.
50 M^arren- Adams Letters [1778
Gerry and Lovel, and desire Mr. Gerry to let me know under his
own hand why he has done writing to me. I suppose I am soon to
have the pleasure of seeing him here and you the Mortification of
looseing his Company and Assistance. I am your Sincere Friend,
etc.
\No signature?^
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Boston, Oct. 7th, 1778
My Dear Sir, — As I keep no Copies of the Letters I write to
you, and have been so Careless as to keep no Memorandum of
them I can't recollect either the Number or Contents, but this I
am certain of, that they are both Numerous and Lengthy, and
that I have not received a Single Line from you. This is equally a
subject of Complaint among all your Friends, and I am to be
satisfied while I don't find myself distinguished by any perticular
marks of Neglect. I don't write to the Embassador, or make any
distinction between the Embassador and the Delegate I write to
my Friend and use no kind of Ceremony, I leave that to the Great,
and the Numerous Courtiers about you, supposeing that my usual
familiarity, Carelessness, and sincerity may at least please by way
.of variety. I know you wish to be minutely Informed of the true
state of your Native Country, and I wish I could recollect on the
short Notice I have of this opportunity every thing I can Conceive
would gratify your Curiosity, as I have but little time I must
leave the great Movements of Congress, and the General State of
America to the ofiicial Letters of Congress, and those perticular
.pnes, you will receive from your Friends, at Philadelphia, the great
3«at of Intelligence, and Confine myself pretty much to our own
Affairs, and situation. I dare say before this reaches you, you will
be Informed of the Train of misfortunes that have attended
(^'ount d Estaing's Squadron, and the Consequent ill success of the
second Rhode Island Expedition, since which the Enemy have
with their usual humanity destroyed the Town of Bedford, and
, plundered Marthas Vineyard as you will see by the Papers we
1778 ] W^arren -Adams Letters 5 1
shall Inclose you per this opportunity. They have for some time
past been Inactive and still, their Fleet principally at New York,
which by the Addition of Byron's Squadron now all arrived is
formidable, not less than seventeen sail of the Line and a Number
of Frigates, with a 6o-gun ship and two Frigates Cruising on our
Coast. Boston with the French Fleet now here has been supposed
their principal Object, and I once did believe they would attempt
that, and the destruction of the Sea Coasts of this State but the
Season is now so far Advanced, I think they will not risque such
an Expedition, besides the Count has by fortifying George's Island
and other parts of the Harbour made it Impregnable by Sea. I
think no Squadron in Europe could force their way into this Har-
bour while the French Fleet remain here, and at this Season of the
Year it would be Madness to make an Attempt by Sea when in
the Bay a Single Night may prove the destruction of the whole of
them. I think an Attack by Land equally Improbable because if
they make it from Rhode Island and should be Able to penetrate
to this Town, and not be Able to carry it, their retreat and supplies
would at least be very uncertain. The Conjectures of their future
operations are various. Most people think the Enemy will leave
the United States, and we are now Informed they have Embarked
twelve Regiments at New York soon after the Arrival of a packet
there from England. A few days will decide upon all our Uncer-
tainties,
The French officers and Seamen in this Squadron behave them-
selves Extreemly well; they are indeed the most peaceable, quiet
and orderly set of men in their profession I ever saw, but there has
Notwithstanding been several disagreable riots and Quarrels be-
tween them and the English Sailors here. I believe set on by the
Tories, who wish to blow up a Breeze between us and our New
Allies. I wish it was in my power to tell you that the Number and
Influence of the Tories here were reduced, but I think they gain
ground fast. This I Impute to the Coincideing of the Ambitious
Views of a Certain Gentleman here, with the wicked and Timour-
ous views of others. Things at present Appear to be in a strange
way. we have no Constitution nor have we any probability of
geting one. A Bill for Confiscating the Tories Estates has had two
5 2 W^arren -Adams Letters [1778
readings in the House. ^ I am told there is no probabiHty of its
succeeding on the third; so far from it that even some Members on
the B. Seat have without reserve Expressed their Sentiments that
they should be suffered to return. Tempora Mutantur. Our Act
prescribeing an Oath of Allegiance has had no Effect.^ Most of the
Tories to whom it was tendered have swallowed it without diffi-
culty, few Towns have had resolution enough to Tender it, and
where it has been Tendered and refused and the refusers Com-
mitted for Transportation, the Council have not had resolution
enough to Carry it into Execution; so that while they Complain
that their Laws and resolutions are not Executed they themselves
set the Example. A Certain Assembly in this State would make
a strange Appearance to you, who have been acquainted with
vigorous Measures upon the most steady and vigorous principles.
Mr. John Pickering is now the Speaker of the House of Repre-
sentatives. Mr. Nath'U Gorham, who Mr. Adams Calls my
Cousin, is Member for Lunenburge where he has resided since the
destruction of Charlestown. Edward Bacon is Member for Barn-
stable, etc., etc. The Boston Members I presume you know. I
have before told you that I have no Share in the Conduct of
Matters. I was left out by my Town. I have given you the Causes
of it. When I quit the Navy Board I shall be a Simple honest
Farmer, and shall have nothing to do but humbly to look at the
Conduct of public Men, and public Measures. Mr. Paine has
never Attended Congress since you left us. Mr. Dana is Just re-
turned. Gen'l Hancock went last June, after he had taken Care of
the public here at Election. He returned very soon finding the
Climate did not agree with him. He was not gone but about six
weeks. It used to agree with him better than with any of you.
Perhaps the Air in the President's Seat is purer than it is in more
humble Stations. After his return he went on the R. Island Ex-
pedition and there staid Just long enough to gain among the
Multitude the popular Eclat, and then left it so soon as to make
the more discerning laugh. He is making great Entertainments
and figureing away in a most Magnificent Manner. The Eyes of
1 The act was not passed till April 30, 1779. Acts and Resolves, v. 1056.
2 lb., V. 770.
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 53
many People are open and see his views and Motives, and some of
the Judicious think Nothing Necessary but to veer away rope.
Last week this day was Assigned for the Choice of Delegates.
This early Assignment was the policy of some Men to strike at
some of the present delegates with more certain success, and per-
ticularly at Mr. Adams. If the great Man fails he will be Mortified
indeed. Yesterday the House voted him a Marquee with all its
furniture and Apparatus, for to do them Justice they are very
respectful, and ready to gratify him; but this Vote was Unani-
mously Nonconcurred by the Council, and this is not the only
Mortification in that way. The Boston and other frigates have
sent in a prize they took since they left France. Your Lady will
write you by this opportunity. She was here yesterday. Mrs.
Warren is to dine with her tomorrow. You will please to make My
Respectful Compliments to your Associates and Believe me to be
Your Assured Friend,^
J. W.
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plimouth, October 15, 1778
Sir, — A Long absence from your Native shore would insure a
Welcome to a line from me had I no other Claim to your Attention.
But when I can Recur to former Instances of Friendship and indul-
gence and in addition to that assure you I take up my pen in Com-
pliance with the Repeated request of your Good Lady, I can sup-
pose it possible that Even the most important Negotiations may
for a Moment be suspended.
Nor shall the Distance or uncertainty of Conveyance which
forbids the hope of a speedy answer, Check my inclination to
Converse with a Gentleman, made dear to me by the high style
of friendship subsisting between him and the person who De-
servedly holds the first place in my Heart, and as I have thus early
mentioned this unshaken patriot I will just hint to you that
I Letters from Samuel Adams to James Warren, October ii and 14, 1778, are in
Writings of Samuel Adams, iv. 68, 72.
54 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1778
Wearied with the perplexities and Embarrasments of pubHc life,
sickened by the Ingratitude and Baseness of Mankind, and sigh-
ing for the felicity of Domestic peace, He is about to leave the
Mazy paths of politics, and War, and Return to the still, unvarie-
gated scenes of the sequestered Roof.
I hope, sir, you will not be led by the Contrast which your own
manner of Life Exhibits, (amidst the Intrigues of statesmen and
the pleasures of the Court of Versailles) to Disapprove the Resolu-
tion. Were you now in the State of Massachusetts you might
perhaps see Reasons sufficient to lead you to a similar Determina-
tion. But I shall leave it to some more Descriptive hand to Give
you a true Idea of our present situation.
A state of War has Ever been Deemed unfriendly to Virtue, but
such a total Change of Manners in so short a period I believe was
never known in the History of Man.^
When Rapacity and profusion, pride and servility, and almost
Every Vice is Contrasted in the same Breast, when a society is
without Virtue, and Government without Energy, it is then Neces-
sary some Masterly hand (who Can trace the sources of Human
action) should take the Helm and New Form the Characters of
the people.
When such a Genius will arise, or when Contingent Circum-
stances will permit its Exertion must be left till He who Rules
the Empire of Creation shall by the Fiat of His Finger Commis-
sion some Agent Endowed to Execute the Benevolent purpose.
But though such an Happy Event may not soon take place yet
I believe the Idol which has been set up in Susa, whom all but
Daniel and the Righteous three have Fallen Down and Wor-
shipped, will soon prove to be an Image of Clay, instead of pure
Gold, and that will be sufficient to Destroy the Adulation paid
the Brittle pageant though perhaps not to Root out the spirit of
Idolatry.
It is probable the Next you Receive from Mrs. A ^s will
Give you an account of a superb Entertainment made this Day
I Impressed by the spirit of the times Mrs. Warren wrote a poem "On The Genius of
America weeping the absurd Follies of the Day. — October lo, 1778" which is in her
volume of Poems, 246.
1778] JVarren 'Adams Letters 55
by the Count De Estainge.^ Some Domestic Avocations obliged
me to Decline the Invitation or I should Gladly have joined the
Little Circle at Braintree, and made one of the party, but as I had
once been on Board the Languedoc I was not impelled by Curi-
osity. With me the speculative would have been the principle
part of the Repast, and ample as is the Field which this Connexion,
and the Circumstances leading to it afford, I thought I might as
well Enjoy it in my own Apartment, as in the saloon of a Marquiss,
or the state Room of the first Count in France.
The squadrons of the House of Bourbon, fortifying the Harbour,
Riding in the port of Boston, and Displaying the Ensigns of
Harmony, are Events which though precipitated by the Folly of
Britain, have outrun the Expectations of America. And as there
has not yet been time to prove the sincerity of either party, I think
most of those officers who Remember the Late War, (when we
Huged ourselves in the protection of Britain) Look as if they
Wished, Rather than believed ancient prejudices Obliterated, and
half doubting our Friendship, Reluctantly hold back that Flow of
affection which in Reallity we are ready to Return in full Measure,
while the younger part unconscious of injuries, Discover an
Honest Joy Dancing in their Eye, and Every Feature softned by
the Wish of Mutual Confidence, Extend their arms to Embrace
their New allies.
I am not about to Characterize those Respectable strangers
which appear in our Capital, I am not Enough acquainted with
their Language and Manners to judge with precision. Yet I think
while the Errand on which the Count De Estainge came out
Excites our Gratitude, the Dignity of his aspect Commands our
Respect, and his Reserved affability (if I may so Express it)
Heightens our Esteem. But he is Certainly an unfortunate
officer. I wish he may yet win some palm of Victory before he
Returns to the arms of his sovereign.
I have been in Company with the Marquiss Lafayette but a
few Minits, but am told this Character Needs not an American
pencil, having Reached a hight far beyond his years before he
Crossed the Atlantic.
I Familiar Letters, 342.
56 TVarren- Adams Letters [1778
Are you, sir, acquainted with Mrs. Holker? A seperation at
such a Distance from a partner possessed of so many accomplish-
ments must be very painful. Penetrating and active, sensible and
judicious, the Consul acquits himself in the Eye of the public
whilst the politeness of his Manners and his agreeable Depart-
ment insures his Welcome at Every social Board, and I Could not
but Wisper my friend portia when he Lately made me a Visit
that she was not the only Lady who sacrificed at the shrine of
public utility, the best blessings of Friendship.
Yet such is Human Nature that Man is seldom known by his
Demeanour, and the first favorable impression is too Frequently
Forfeited by Guilt or Indiscretion Long before the Conclusion of
the Drama. I therefore only Mention two or three Distinguished
Characters among us just to Remind you of a proposal of your
own from which I now Expect to Reap Great advantages.
Are not the Customs and Manners of Cotemporary Nations
More Especially if Drawn by a hand Remarkable for its perspecu-
ity, More Interesting and Entertaining than the Dry uncertain
Narations of distant ages.^* The politest Court in Europe must
afford Variety indeed.
Are you, sir, as much in the Good Graces of the parissian
Ladies as your Venerable CoUigue t We often hear he is not more
an Adept in politics than a Favorite of the Fair. He has too many
Complements of Gratulation and Esteem from Each quarter of
the World to make it of any Consequence whither I offer my Little
tribute of Respect or not. Yet I would tell him as a Friend to
Mankind, as a Daughter of America and a Lover of Merit, that
no one more ardently Wishes for the Continuance of his Health
Vigour and usefulness, and so disinterested is my Regard, that I
do not wish the patriotic sage to leave the soft Caresses of the
Court of France. Least his unpolished Countrywomen should
be more apt to Gaze at and admire the Virtues of the philosopher
than to Embrace the Man.
Every Article of Intelligence both from the Field and the
Cabinet you must have from your Numerous Correspondents and
Every Anecdote of Lesser Moment Worthy your Attention you
Receive under a signature more pleasing than mine.
1778] W^arren- Adams Letters 57
But when you Look over the List of your Friends and Recol-
lect their impatience to hear from you, you will not forget that
few, very few, will be more Gratifyed with the Notices of your
Welfare or the Intimations of your Regard, than Your sincere
and very Humble Servant,^
Marcia Warren
Samuel Adams to James Warren
Philadelphia, Oct. 20th, 1778
My dear Sir: — I am much pleasd with the Respect lately
shown to the Count D'Estaing and his Officers, but not with the
Etiquet of your publick Entertainment.^ The Arrangement of
the Toasts was not perfectly agreable to my Idea of Propriety.
This may be thought unworthy of Notice. But there is no Appear-
ance made by the Publick but, like that of a private Individual,
adds more or less to its Honor or Disgrace. Besides, Things which
detatchd and by themselves are justly considerd as Trifles light
as Air, when they are connected with and made Parts of a great
Machine, become important and do good or Hurt. The Monarch
and Kingdom of France preceeded the Congress; and the Army
and Navy of France that of America. Nations and independent
sovereign States do not compliment after the Manner of Belles
and Beaus. The superior Respect paid to the General and Army
of America to that shown to the Congress, viz. by the Addition of
a feu du joie, I suppose was conformable to the Practice of all wise
States in giving a just Preference to the Military above the civil
1 A letter from Samuel Adams to James Warren, October 17, 1778, is in Writings of
Samuel Adams, iv. 75.
2 "On Friday last, at the invitation of the Government of this State, the Count D'
Estaing and his officers dined at Faneuil Hall, with the Honourable Council and House of
Representatives, the Continental military officers in the land and sea service, the gentle-
men of the civil and ecclesiastical order, and a great number of other gentlemen — it is
thought not less than 400, were seated at once at the several tables in the Hall. The enter-
tainment was splendid. The genuine joy was never observed to rise higher upon any
public occasion; and the toasts, and every circumstance thro' the day, express'd it in the
most lively manner; the great and mutual pleasure diffused by the present happy Union
between France and these States; which British tyranny has now rendered so important
to the interest of both nations." Independent Chronicle, October i, 1778.
58 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1778
Power. It must be confessed it is grounded on Principles truly
and altogether Republican. Yet the old fashiond Whiggs murmur
at it; and with a Mixture of Pleasure and Indignation contrast
the present with past Times when it was made a Capital Point,
to keep the former under the Controul of the latter. Men are
prone to Idolatry; and some who seem to scorn the worshiping
Gods of other Nations, will bow down to graven Images of Gold
and Silver, and, strange Infatuation! of Wood in the form of an
Ass an Ape or a Calf, no matter what, if it be the Work of their
own Hands. In Truth, my Friend, the Congress appears to be
in an awkard Situation. While they are exerting their utmost
Influence, on all proper Occasions, to support the civil Authority
of the several States over the military, there are some Men, even
in that State which my Partiality had almost led me to pronounce
the most respectable in the Union who would have less Respect
shown to them than to the Creatures which they have made.
Tyrants have been the Scourges and Plagues of Mankind, and
Armies their Instruments. These have been said by ignorant
Flatterers and Sycophants to be the Vicegerents of the Almighty
to punish Men for their Sins, and therefore not to be resisted or
contrould. The Time may come when the Sins of America may be
punishd by a standing Army; and that Time will surely come when
the Body of the People, shall be so lost to the Exercise of common
Understanding and Caution, as to suffer the Civil to stoop to the
Military Power.
I will finish this Scrawl with an Anecdote. Not many Days ago
a Sherriff of the County of Philadelphia attempted to serve a Writ
on the Person of the Count Pulaski. He was at the Head of his
Legion and resisted the Officer. A Representation of it was made
to Congress by the Chief Justice who well understands his Duty
and is a Gentleman of Spirit. The Count was immediately orderd
to submit to the Magistrate, and informd that Congress was
determind to resent any Opposition made to the civil Authority
by any of their officers.^ The Count acted upon the Principle
of Honor. The Debt was for the Support of his Legion, and he
thought the Charge unreasonable as it probably was. He was
I Journals of the Continental Congress, xii. 974.
1778] IV arren- Adams Letters 59
ignorant of the Law of the Land and made the Amend honorable.
The Board of War afterwards adjusted the Account and the
Creditor was satisfied. Adieu.
S. A
I intreat you not to resign your Seat at the Navy Board.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Octr. 25th, 1778
My Dear Sir, — I received yours by Mr. Thaxter in safety and
hope you have before this found leisure to pursue the subject. I
am fully Convinced that no Man, let his Integrity and services be
ever so great or Meritorious, is to Escape free from the Malignant
and Envious Spirit now prevailing. Doctr. Lee must Expect his
Share, if it is not a proper reward for public virtue, I have learnt
to Consider it as a certain mark of it and whoever escapes is in
some degree suspicious.
We have just received an Account that a large Fleet of British
Men of War and Transports have left N. York and many People
are Apprehensive they are comeing this way. preparations are
makeing to receive them, for my own part I Cant Conceive that
even Britons are yet so Infatuated as to risque an Expedition
here at this Season, if they should they may give us some trouble
and probably ruin themselves. One storm such as we frequently
have at this Time of Year may gratify our wishes and leave the
French perfectly at Liberty to pursue their Conquests in the West
Indies, we have no other Intelligence of any kind of Importance
to give you. the French Squadron still remain here, all ready, or
nearly ready, for the Sea. the General Court is adjourned to
January. Most People are Engaged in geting and some in spend-
ing Money as fast as they can. superb Entertainments are very
Common. Genl. H[ancock] gives a Magnificent Ball to the French
Officers, and to the Gentlemen and Ladies of the Town next
Thursday Evening, indeed all manner of Extravagance prevails
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
6o Warren 'Adams Letters [1778
here in dress, furniture, Equipage and Liveing, amidst the distress
of the public and Multitudes of Individuals, how long the Man-
ners of this People will be Uncorrupted and fit to Enjoy that
Liberty you have so long Contended for I know not. I fear you
have lost your Labour, they will be soon fit to receive some
Ambitious Master.
we have had an Agreable Visit from your Lady and Daughter at
Plymouth. I have not seen her since her return a few days ago;
she was then very well. Inclosed is a Letter for the President
which you will please to deliver, it contains my resignation of my
office at the Navy Board, perhaps you will think I do wrong. I
cant help it. this Business is very laborious, requiring close and
constant Attention. I have no time to Attend to my Family and
private Affairs, subject to the disagreable Circumstance of liveing
from my Family and not in the most agreable manner, and besides
all this, it is too Expensive for me. I live very frugally. I Board
very simply, but that and my Horsekeeping only, without a
Servant and any kind of Elegancies, has, while Board was fifteen
dollars per week and under, cost me about 500 dollars more than
my pay. it is now twenty dollars per week, hay 30/ per hundred,
this Expense with the Neglect of my private Affairs will ruin me.
the honour of holding this place will not Compensate for all this
and the public will receive no detriment by my retirement, you
will easily find others Capable of doing this Business better than I
can. when Congress permits me, I will go Home and pray for
your Success. I am in the mean Time your assured Friend, etc.
J. Warren
My regards to Mr. Gerry, Lovel and other Friends.
October 27th. No further Intelligence of the British fleet, nor
have we any News from any quarter.
I am desired by Capt. Brown, whom you once mentioned to me,
to recall your Attention to him. he dont seem to think there is
now room for him to be appointed to the Command of a frigate,
but he thinks there would be Advantages from haveing a Super-
intendant Appointed, whose Business it should be to superintend
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 6i
and direct the repairs and fixing the Ships under the direction of
the Navy Board, you will Judge of the propriety of such an
Officer, your Navy here seems to be Important enough to Com-
mand your Attention, this will always be their head Quarters,
docks and Yards would Cost no doubt a great deal of Money, but
if Congress could see how we are Imposed on, Cheated and de-
layed in our Business and Unavoidably so, they perhaps would
think the Money well laid out. You furnished us not long ago
with an ample and generous supply, you will perhaps be sur-
prised when I tell you it Is gone, we must write to you for more,
tho' I do it with reluctance, yet it is necessary, and we must be
supplyed without any kind of delay or the whole Business must
stop at once. We must mention other things to your Committee
which I beg your Immediate Attention to. we have supplyed
the French Squadron to the Amount of about 130,000 dollars,
you ape to Consider there are In this harbour six frigates, a
Brigantlne and Sloop, a large Ship Building at Portsmouth, two
frigates at Connecticut and a Ship In Connecticut River, all call-
ing for Money as fast as it can be told, the truth is the Money
fetches so little that I am sick with seeing the Bills brought Into
this Office. I cant add more at present, haveing our hands full.
Adeu.
We have done a great deal of Business for the French Squad-
ron, when we rendered our Accounts by the Advice of General
Whipple, we charged a Commission of five per cent, whether
it will be admitted or not I dont know. I rather doubt It, tho'
we have earned it. Will you please to Seal the Inclosed before
delivery.
James Warren to the President of Congress ^
[Henry Laurens]
Boston, Oct. 28th, 1778
Sir, — I Beg leave to make my Acknowledgements to Congress
for the Honour they have done me by the repeated Marks of their
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
62 T^^arren- Adams Letters [1778
Confidence in the several Appointments they have Conferred upon
me. If anything could add to the Zeal with which I have served
the publick in the present great Contest, and Excite me to greater
diligence it would be the Gratitude I feel on these occasions. How-
ever Circumscribed my Abilities are I have Endeavoured to sup-
ply the want of greater by an honest and assiduous attention
to my duty, and I flatter myself that my Exertions have produced
some Advantages to the Common Cause. I Wish it was in my
power to Continue at the Navy Board, and serve the publick in
that Station in a way that would at once be honourable and ad-
vantageous to the public and myself. I have been Engaged many
Years in public Service to the Injury of my small Fortune and the
great disadvantage of my Family. The Business in this Depart-
ment is very Extensive and requires Constant Attention to the
total Exclusion of the private Business or relaxation of the Mem-
bers, and under the present Circumstances of things Nothing but
the Solicitations of Gentlemen well affected to our Cause, and my
own Inclinations to serve it, has Induced me to Continue as a
Member to this Time. As there are undoubtedly Many Gentle-
men of greater Abilities, who in Addition to my Motives may have
in Contemplation the honour and profitt of this Employment, and
the public will receive no detriment by my retirement, I Beg the
favour of Congress to permit me to resign, Assuring them that
I shall Consider it my duty to attend to the Business here till
they have had an Opportunity to make a new Appointment. As I
feel greatly Interested in the Cause of America, I sincerely wish
Success to every Department Constituted to promote it, and
particularly to the Navy, which I flatter myself by a Judicious
Management and proper Attention may soon be on a footing to
rank America with the most distinguished Naval Powers.
I Beg Leave also to Inform Congress that by the Integrity and
Honour of Coll. Laomi Baldwin (who Commanded a Regiment
when I was Paymaster) I have discovered a considerable part of
the deficiencies which I could not then account for. He has paid
into my hands 576 dollars which after long Enquiry he has been
Able to Account for no other way than by his receiving it from my
office by mistake. This Money waits for the disposition of the
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 63
Honourable Congress. I shall be happy in being fortunate enough
to discover the remainder.
I have the Honour to be with the Greatest Esteem and Respect
Your Excellency's Most obed't Humble Serv't,
J. w.
This resignation was not accepted by Congress, but at their
request and the urgency of many other Gentlemen the writer con-
tinued to serve in that department for two or three Years longer.^
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Novr. 5th, 1778
My Dear Sir, — I am to thank you for your favours of the
17th and 20th of October, which were received last Evening. I
am not able at present to make any perticular reply to the Con-
tents of them, can only say that your Advice has always great
weight with me and your Entreaties still more; but whatever
Influence they might have had in this Instance they came too late,
my resignation was sent forward last week by Express and per-
haps by this Time is handed to you. I had no reason to suppose
it would be disagreable either to you or Mr. Gerry. I had hinted
it to both of you and no Objection was made, however, when you
are possessed of my reasons, I am Inclined to suppose you will
think it best, the Business is Enormously great and serving on
the Terms we do is Injurious to our Families, not to mention till
I see you one or two other things.
Mr. Temple will hand you this, his Character, his Conduct and
his Suflferings in Consequence of them are too well known to you
to require anything said by me to Insure him a handsome recep-
tion from you. I have no doubt he deserves it. we have no news.
I am yours affectionately
J. Warren
1 A letter from Samuel Adams to James Warren, November 3, 1778, is in Writings oj
Samuel Adams, iv. 88.
2 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
64 Warren -Adams Letters [1778
Elbridge Gerry to James Warren
Philadelphia, Novr. 8th, 1778
My dear Sir, — I am a little apprehensive that some of my
Friends will consider Silence to their Letters, which an indifferent
State of Health and much Fatigue has for some Time rendered
inevitable, as an abatement of Friendship, but conscious of the
sincerest Esteem for my Friend General Warren and having long
experienced his Candour, I flatter myself he will consider such
omissions, as they really are, the Effects of Necessity. I shall
trouble You with little, in Answer to your several Favours of the
13th May, 7th July, 4th Augt., and 3d Sep. last, as their early
Dates render it unnecessary. The marine Commee I presume,
have taken the proper Steps to do Justice to Capt. Manly; the
bravery of this officer seems not to be questioned, but many ap-
pear to Want Confidence in his Abilities and Experience, and on
that Ground oppose his being high in office: I presume not to
judge of their Motives and Designs on this Occasion, or without
further information, of his Character as an officer. I am much
concerned to find, that You intend to quit the Business of the
navy Board, as it will be soon an important and respectable
Department. Under the present State of Affairs it is impossible
to do Justice to the Commissioners, but Congress have increased
their Salary to 3000 Dollars Per Year, perhaps you consider the
Levity of the Times as an Argument for Quitting the Service, if
so, I will readily acknowledge that the Vices of some and Follies
of others are very displeasing; but in a Revolution like the present,
necessarily producing an entire Change of the Governments and
Constitutions of thirteen States, the Suspension of Law and Jus-
tice, the Want of necessary Arrangements for preventing Frauds,
and the most favorable Oppertunities for Speculators and In-
grossers, it must reasonably be expected that the Morals of the
people will be greatly injured, and for a while, present a gloomy
prospect, but I trust, there is yet Wisdom and Vertue enough in
America to recover her Citizens from their Errors, and lead a
brave and deserving People into paths conducive to their Happi-
ness, true it is the Work is arduous, And it is equally true, that
1778] Warren-Adams Letters 65
it is necessary; for should We exceed in Power and Wealth every
Empire on Earth, and neglect the Morals of the People, is it not
evident, that our Independance, instead of Freedom would pro-
duce a Slavery, far exceeding that of every other Nation? If the
best and ablest Friends of America, who under providence have
opposed the corrupt Arts, not less than the powerful Arms of G.
Britain, will unite in checking the Career of Vanity, Vice and
Folly, the Leaders of this feeble Train will vanish at the Appear-
ance of Opposition, and leave the Way clear to the promotion of
the opposite Virtues; but if on the other Hand, those on whom We
have principally relied, should suffer themselves to be disgusted
at the natural appearance of Bubbles on the mighty Ocean of our
affairs, and withdraw from the Service, I fear that our Liberties,
like such shortlived phaenomenons will burst, and leave not be-
hind, a Trace of their former existence.
I know that You have had much Fatigue and Tryal, and met
with many Things that are very disagreable. I assure You that
We have had a full Share of these in Congress; I most ardently
wish to return to my native Country, and co-operate with my
Friends in their salutary Measures, pray confer with our Friend
Mr. Dana, on these affairs, as I am persuaded he can inform You
of many Things which will assist You in pursuing the necessary
Measures. . . .
E. Gerry
Samuel Adams to James Warren
My dear Sir, — I have receivd your favor of the 7 October
by Mr. Dod. I cannot say that I am by any Means pleasd with
the inclosd Letter to [Congress].^ I am glad however that you
allowd me the Perusal of it before its Presentation. I consider
the Confidence you place in me in this Instance as sufficient to
warrant me in delaying to deliver it, till I shall hear further from
you, which I will accordingly do in hopes that you will alter your
Determination.
I His letter of resignation, p. 6i, supra.
66 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1778
We now begin to hope for Peace soon on our own Terms; or if
the War should continue longer, that it will be conducted in such a
Manner as will render a large Army less necessary, which will
enable us to be at greater Expence for an American Navy; the
building up of which is looked upon by all wise and good Men
whom I converse with as necessary and highly important. Gen-
eral Whipple is again returnd to Congress; and as he is a Man of
Sense and great Experience in Marine Affairs, and was formerly
of the Marine Comtee. I was soUicitous that he should again be of
the Number.^ Congress have added him to the Committee, and I
hope he will act as Chairman during the Absence of Colo. Lee who
is gone to Virginia. From several Hints which Genl. W. has
dropd to me, I am in Hopes that Measures will be come into
which may add Weight to your Board and facilitate the Business
of it.
The Navy Boards, especially that in the Eastern Department
where it is probable there will constantly be a great Resort of our
Ships of War, will be standing Boards, and of the greatest Im-
portance to the United States. The best Men must fill those
Places.
I will not, least you should think me indelicate, add more on
this Subject, than my earnest Request that you will for the present
suspend your Resignation.
I am glad that you have discoverd the Mistake you mention,^
and will communicate it.
The Picture, my dear Friend, which you give me of my beloved
Native town mortifies me greatly. I had the Vanity to think she
would afford Examples of Industry, Frugality, Temperance and
other publick Virtues. I fear with you that we have lost our
Labour. When ambitious Men aim at establishing a Popularity
by confounding the Distinction between Virtue and Vice and
through the Degeneracy of Times they can effect it, the People
will tamely submit to a Master. Adieu.
\No signature.]
Philada., Novr. 9th, 1778.
1 He was appointed on the Committee November 6, in place of Josiah Bartlett, absent.
2 In his accounts.
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 67
Samuel Adams to James Warren
Philada., Novr. 23, 1778
My dear Sir, — I have lately receivd a Letter from our
worthy Friend Mr. J. A[dams] of an old Date, the 21st of May.
"Our Affairs says he in this Kingdom, I find in a State of Confu-
sion and Darkness that surprizes me. Prodigious Sums of Money
have been expended and large Sums are still due; but there are no
Books of Accounts nor any Documents from whence I have been
able to learn what the United States have receivd as an Equiva-
lent." And yet we are told by a Gentleman lately from France
that the Accounts and Documents were left in the Hands of a
Person in Paris. My Friend A. L[ee] is called by those who dread
his Vigilance "a dissatisfied Man." Having receivd many Letters
from him since I last saw you, I know he is dissatisfied. What
Man who regards the Publick Interest, or his own Reputation,
can be satisfied, when he sees Millions of Livres spent, himself
accountable with others for the Expenditure, and the Man
through whose hands the greatest Part has passd without con-
sulting him after being repeatedly called upon by him, unready
or unwilling to account for them. There are other Things which
my Friend complains of, and I think not without Justice. When
I consider the high Character which one Man sustains and the
Depth of Art which he is Master of; the low mercantile Cunning
and plausibility of another, the servile and adulating Disposition
of some on this side of the Water, the Commercial Interests and
Connections of others, and the too formidable Combination of
Men of Ambition, Avarice and Vanity,_to sacrifice the Characters
of those whose Conduct is a perpetual Remonstrance against them
I cannot say I am without Apprehensions of what may befall
that eminent American Patriot. I fear America is too unsuspect-
ing long to continue free. Men of corrupt Principles, who seek to
accumulate Honor and Wealth to themselves, to the Prejudice of
the Publick, will endeavor to lull the People into Security, or,
as they will call it, perfect good Humour, that they may not keep
a vigilant Eye over them. It is the Right of the People which
they ought to exercise, a Duty which they owe to their Posterity
68 JVarren -Adams Letters [1778
to think and speak and publish with a decent Freedom, their
Sentiments of pubHck Men and Measures. Adieu.
Deer. 9. The foregoing I had laid aside, and probably should
never have forwarded it to you, had not an extraordinary Peice
appeard in the last Saturday's paper signd S. Dean, in which he
avows himself to be the Author of the Queries I sent you a few
Weeks ago. I believe you will find the Plausibility of this Per-
formance, which I shall inclose, to be answerable to a Character
I have given you in the Letter above. He "had the Honor to be
the Commercial and political Agent of America in Europe."
He might have said more justly that he had the Honor of being
employd by the secret Committee of Commerce as their Agent,
and by the secret Committee of Correspondence as their Intelli-
gencer. Mr. A Lee he says "having by a wanton Display of his
Errand, given great and just Cause of Disgust to the Court of
Spain, returnd." I will relate to you certain Matters which may
explain, if that Court was disgusted with him as Mr. D[eane]
asserts, how it came to pass Soon after the secret Committee was
appointed, which if I remember rightly was about three years ago,
they wrote a Letter to Mr. Lee then in England, requesting a
political Correspondence with him, and desiring he would give
them the best Intelligence he could, and pledging to him their
Confidence. Mr. Lee being thus honord, in Mr. Dean's Sense, as a
political Agent of America, and having the solemn Assurance of
Confidence and Secrecy, with his usual fidelity and as became him
in that Character, proceeded with unsuspecting Frankness to
open to the Committee what he thought as well as what he knew
of Men and Measures. There was at that time in England a Mr.
Carmichael, who is lately arrivd in America and since appointed
a Delegate in Congress for the State of Maryland. Mr. Lee had a
good opinion of this young Gentleman; and he being at that time
about to return hither by the Way of France, Mr. Lee thought him
a safe hand, and entrusted him with Dispatches to the secret
Committee. His Letter was written on the inner Sides of the
Outside Leaves of a small pocket Dictionary, and so neatly closd
to the Covers as not to afi"ord the least Suspicion if it should meet
1778] TVarren- Adams Letters 69
with the Fate of being taken by the Enemy. Mr. Carmichael
took the Dictionary and went over to France where he remaind
till his late Embarkation for Portsmouth at which place he arrivd
last Summer. In France he met with Mr. Dean. The Letter was
opend! Who probably committed this Act, Mr. Dana can in-
form you as well as I can. To him I refer you. I desire you would
ask him and if you please let him know that I desire it of you. He
can tell you more than I chuse to trust in writing. I hope you are
by this time become confidential with him. But this is Digression.
I have seen the Letter. It is dated the 3d of June, '76.^ There are
containd in it free Sentiments of the Minister of Spain, but such
as a Man of Mr. Lee's Integrity could not withhold from the
Committee.^ Such Intelligence, I must say, being thus pyrated.
Such Secrets betrayd, Judge who "wantonly displayd his Errand,"
and by whose Means the Court of Spain saw Cause to distrust
Arthur Lee, if they did distrust him. I say if they did distrust
him, because I doubt the Fact. If they restricted him to the City
of Burgos, as Mr. Dean says, I rather think it was owing to the
Caution of that Court, least she should too early offend the Court
of London by giving Countenance to an American Commissioner.
Mr. Dean says, "At this Place (Berlin) he (A. L[ee]) was so
unfortunate as to do nothing, unless indeed he may give the
Name of Business to the Loss of his Papers," by which a Discov-
ery was made of the Secrets of his Colleagues and the British
Ministry enabled to counteract the Measures taken for the Bene-
fit of America. The Anecdote is this. In Berlin, Mr. Lee being
invited and dining abroad, the British Envoy found Means to get
his Closet and his Trunk /orcd/ open and his Papers were pilferd.
But Mr. Lee having Intelligence of it, fmmediately made Appli-
cation to the Minister of Berlin and by his Interposition the
Papers were returnd; as I am informd in a few Hours.^ Mr. Dean
designs to hold up my worthy Friend in this Instance as careless
of the Secrets of his Colleagues. But what Security is there
against the Rape of the Lock.'* This indeed is the second Instance
1 Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence (Wharton), ii. 95.
2 "Spain is more reserved; her minister here an old woman."
3 Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence (Wharton), 11. 351.
70 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1778
of his losing his' Papers. The first by the Behaviour of the Person
to whom he had regularly committed them, for which I will not
now give a Name; and the other by the Theft of a British Minister.
If he had been as fortunate in the early discovery of the one as
the other, Mr. Dean might allow "the Name of Business" to be
given, if not to the Loss of his Papers, to his Activity and Address
in recovering them.
It is pleasant to see Mr. Dean indulging his Talent in Insinua-
tion to lead his Readers to conclude that A. L[ee] was secretly in-
triguing with the British Ministry and thereby embarrassing our
Affairs in France. His Acquaintance with the Earl of Shelburne
who had formerly been his Patron in England, was the Ground of
Suspicion of his disclosing our Secrets; "joynd to his undisguisd
Hatred and Expressions of Contempt of the french Nation in
General."
I have good Grounds to be satisfied from a Conversation I have
had with a Great Man who ought to be and undoubtedly is per-
fectly acquainted with the French Court,HhatMr. L[ee] Is thought
of there differently from what Mr. Dean would have the People
here think of him, and that the Insinuation " that he had given uni-
versal Disgust to the Nation whose Assistance we sollicited" is
void of any just Foundation. But so long ago as "in the Summer
of 1777 a Correspondence between a certain Dr. Berkenhout and
the Hon Arthur Lee Esq took place." Aye, and it was "on politi-
cal Subjects," If Mr. L[ee] had left it to be discoverd by the
Sagacity of others that there was such a Correspondence between
him and Dr. Berkenhout and that Dr. B. was in the Confidence of
the British Ministry, Mr. Dean might have supposd there were
Grounds to suspect Mr. L[ee]'s Integrity; but unfortunately Mr.
Lee told it himself to his Colleagues and related to them a Part
of the Correspondence. Mr. D[eane] would here insinuate as he
did in his Queries that it was a criminal Correspondence. But if
it has been, would Mr. Lee have exposd himself to Mr. •Dean.'*
The Man whom he conceivd to be his mortal Enemy .^ Surely not.
A wise Minister will endeavor to possess himself of the secret
Designs of the publick Enemy. This is done by a Variety of
I Gerard, the French Minister.
1778] IVarren- Adams Letters 71
Means. Mr. Lee corresponds with Dr. Berkenhout (as Mr. Dean
says) a Confident of the British Ministry. A shortsighted Politi-
cian believes or a prejudicd and designing Man insinuates that it
is a Criminal Correspondence. If it was so, Why was not Mr.
D[eane], who knew it in the Summer of 1777, so faithful as to
acquaint his Constituents, the Congress, of it? To have done this
would have shown the Appearance of Fidelity. He relates a
Story and as he says himself "simply" thus. "A Gentleman of
Character told me that his Correspondent in England" etc.
(See the 3 Collumn of his piece.) Who this Gentleman of Charac-
ter is, and who the Correspondent in England^ it was needless to
tell us; but we learn that in Mr. D[eane]'s Opinion a Gentleman of
Character may have an English Correspondent. This Correspond-
ent informd this Gentleman of Character, and because Mr. Dean
tells us so, it is sufficient for us faithfully to believe it and damn
Dr. Lee's Character. But I fear I have tired your Patience.
Adieu. \No signature.]
John Adams to James Warren
Passy, Deer. 2, 1778
My dear Sir, — Last Night, I reed, your Letter of Octr. 7th by
a Special Messenger from M. De Sartine, who writes me that he
knows not how where nor by whom it arrived. I mention this that
it may Serve as an Answer in some Measure to the Complaint in
your Letter, that neither you nor my other Friends have heard
from me. I have wrote very often, to you and them but there is
Strange Management with Letters and most that We write are
sunk in the Sea.
I sincerely grieve for my Country in the News that you are not
of either House. But it is some Comfort to me to think that I
shall be soon a private Farmer, as well as you, and both pursueing
our Experiments in Husbandry. The longer I live and the more I
see of public Men, the more I wish to be a private one. Modesty
is a Virtue, that can never thrive, in public. Modest Merit! is
there such a Thing remaining in public Life.'* It is now become a
72 TVarren -Adams Letters [1778
Maxim with some, who are even Men of Merit, that the World
esteems a Man in Proportion as he esteems himself, and are
generally disposed to allow him, to be what he pretends to be.
Accordingly, I am often astonished at the Boldness with which
Persons make their Pretensions, a Man must be his own Trump-
eter, he must write or dictate Paragraphs of Praise in the News
Papers, he must dress, have a Retinue, and Equipage, he must
ostentatiously publish to the World his own Writings with his
Name, and must write even some Panegyrics upon them, he must
get his Picture drawn, his Statue made, and must hire all the
Artists in his Turn, to set about Works to spread his Name make
the Mob stare and gape, and perpetuate his Fame. I would
undertake, if I could bring my Feelings to bear it, to become one
of the most trumpeted, admired, courted, worshlp'd Idols in the
whole World in four or five Years. I have learned the whole Art,
I am a perfect Master of it. I learnd a great deal of it from
Hutchinson and the Tories, and have learned more of it since
from Whigs and Tories both, in America and Europe, if you will
learn the Art I will teach you.
I have not yet begun to practice this, there is one Practice
more which I forget. He must get his Brothers, Cousins, Sons and
other Relations into Place about him and must teach them to
practice all the same Arts both for them selves and him. He must
never do any Thing for any Body who is not his Friend, or in other
Words his Tool.
What I am going to say, will be thought by many to be practic-
ing upon some of the above Rules. You and I have had an ugly
Modesty about Us, which has despoyld Us of almost all our Im-
portance. We have taken even Pains to conceal our Names, We
have delighted in the shade. We have made few Friends, no Tools,
and what is worse when the Cause of Truth, Justice, and Liberty
have demanded it We have even Sacrificed Those who called
themselves our Friends and have made Enemies.
No Man ever made a great Fortune in the World, by pursuing
these Maxims. We therefore do not expect it, and for my own
Part I declare, that the Moment, I can get into Life perfectly
private, will be the happiest of my Life.
1778] IVarren- Adams Letters 73
The little Art and the less Ambition with which I see the World
full disgusts and shocks me more and more. And I will abandon
it to its Course, the Moment I can do it with Honour and Con-
science.
Remember me, Sir, in the most respectfull Manner to your
good Lady, whose Manners, Virtues, Genius, and Spirit will
render her immortal, notwithstanding the general Depravity.
I am, her and your Friend,
John Adams
John Adams to James Warren Adams mss.
Passy, December 5, 1778
My dear Sir, — On the twenty first of May, I wrote you a very
long letter upon the subject of foreign affairs in general, and
particularly in this Country: on the twenty eighth of July, I wrote
you another very lengthy letter, on the seventh of August I wrote
you again, in answer to yours of 21 June, on the 27 of November I
wrote you again. I hope some of these letters have reached you,
but so many vessells have been taken that I fear some have mis-
carried.
I wish I could unbosom myself to you, without Reserve, con-
cerning the state of our affairs here. But you know the Danger.
The two Passions, of Ambition and Avarice, which have been the
Bane of Liberty, and the great Curse of human kind in all ages and
countries, are not without their Influence upon our affairs here.
But I fancy the last of the two, has done the most Mischief.
Where the Carcas is, there the Crows will assemble, and you and I
have had too much Experience of the Greediness, with which the
Continental Treasury has been aimed at by many, to expect that
the Coffers of the American Banker here, would not make some
Mens Mouths water. This appetite for the Bankers Treasures
I take to have been the source of most of the Altercations and Dis-
sentions that have happened here. Your old Friend ^ I take to be a
Man of Honour and Integrity, yet to be very frank he cannot
I Arthur Lee.
74 TVarren- Adams Letters [1778
easily govern his Temper, and he has some Notions of Elegance,
Rank and Dignity, that may be carried rather too far. He has
been of opinion that the public Money has been too freely issued
here, and has often opposed. The other ^ you knew personally,
and that he loves his ease, hates to offend, and seldom gives any
opinion untill obliged to do it. I know also, and it is necessary
you should be informed that he is overwhelmed with a Corre-
spondence from all quarters, most of them upon trifling subjects,
and in a mere trifling style; with unmeaning visits from Multi-
tudes of People chiefly from the vanity of having it to say they
have seen him.
There is another thing which I am obliged to mention. There
are so many private Families Ladies and Gentlemen that he visits
so often and they are so fond of him that he cannot well avoid it
and so much Intercourse with Accademicians, that all these things
together keep his mind in such a constant State of Dissipation
that if he is left alone here, the public Business will sufl^er in a
degree beyond description, provided our affairs are continued
upon the present footing.
If indeed you take out of his hands the public Treasury, and the
Direction of the Frigates and continental Vessells that are sent
here, and all Commercial affairs, and intrust them to Persons to be
appointed by Congress, at Nantes and Bourdeaux, I should think
it would be best to leave him here alone, with such a Secretary as
you can confide in.
But if he is left here alone, even with such a secretary, and all
maritime and commercial as well as political affairs, and money
matters are left in his hands I am perswaded that France and
America both will have Reason to repent it. He is not only so
indolent, that Business will be neglected; but you know that altho'
he has as determined a soul as any Man, yet it is his constant
Policy never to say Yes or No decidedly but when he cannot
avoid it, and it is certain in order to preserve the Friendship be-
tween the two Countries the Minister here must upon some occa-
sions speak freely and without Reserve, preserving Decency and
Politeness at the same time. Both he and his Colleague,^ who is or
I Benjamin Franklin. z Silas Deane.
1778] JVarren 'Adams Letters 75
has been lately with you, were, I am sorry to say In a constant
opposition to your old Friend, and this Misunderstanding was no
secret, at Court, in the City, or in the seaport Towns, either to
French, English or Americans, and this was carried so far, that
Insinuations, I have been told have been made at Court, against
your old Friend, not by either of his Colleagues, that I know of,
but by somebody or other, emboldened by and taking advantage
of the Misunderstanding among the three, that he was too friendly
to the English, too much attached to Lord Shelborne, and even
that he corresponded with his Lordship and communicated Intelli-
gence to him.
This, whoever suggested it, was I am perfectly confident, a
cruel Calumny, and could not have made an Impression if the
Colleagues had contradicted it in the manner that you and I
should have done. You and I had opportunity to know his
invariable attachment to our Cause, long enough before Hostili-
ties commenced, and I have not a Colour of Ground for Suspicion,
that from that time to this he has deviated an Iota from the Cause
of our Country in Thought, Word or Deed. When he left England
or soon after, he wrote a Letter of mere Compliment to his Lord-
ship, a mere card to bid him farewell, and received such another
in return which he assures me are all the letters that ever passed
between them, and I have not a doubt of the Truth of it.
The other Gentleman,^ whom you know, I need not say much of.
You know his ambition, you know his Desire of making a Fortune,
of promoting his Relations, you also know his Art, and his Enter-
prize. Such Characters are often useful, altho always to be
carefully watched and controuled, especially in such a Govern-
ment as ours.
There has been so much said among Americans here and in
America, about his making a Fortune, by speculating in English
Funds, and by private Trade, that it is saying nothing new to
mention it. Our Countrymen will naturally like to know if it is
true, and it will be expected of me that I should say something of
it. I assure you I know nothing about it. An intimate Friend of
his, who recommended the Major to you, certainly speculated
I Silas Deane.
76 JVarren- Adams Letters [1778
largely In the Funds, and some Persons suspect that the other was
concerned with him. But I know of no Proof that he was.
Combinations, Associations, Copartnerships In Trade, have
been formed here, In which he and his Brothers are or have been
supposed to be connected, but I know nothing more than you do
about them.
But supposing it was proved that he speculated and traded, the
Question will arise whether it was justifiable. Neither you nor I
should have done It, It Is true; But If he did not employ the public
Money, nor so much of his own Time, as to neglect the public
Business, where is the Harm.^* That Is the Question, and It ought
to be remembered that he was here a long time, not as Ambassa-
dor, Envoy, Commissioner or Minister, or in any other Trust or
Character from Congress, but merely as an Agent for the Com-
mittees of Commerce and Correspondence.
Some of the Gentlemen of Character, who are now in America,
from this Country, particularly the Minister and Consul, altho
their Characters are very good. It Is to be feared have had Preju-
dices Insinuated Into them against your old Correspondent. I am
extremely sorry for this, because I think it Is against a worthy
Character, and because it will be likely to have unhappy Effects
both with you and abroad.
The other Gentleman, whose Consolation when left out by his
first Constituents was that he stood well with the Body to which
he was sent, consoled himself also when recalled by that Body,
with the Thought that he was esteemed by the Court where he
had resided. This no doubt, will be displayed in all its variegated
Colours. The Letter from the Minister, expressing high Esteem,
the Present from an higher Personage, and above all, the Fleet,
and the Magnificence that accompanied, will be all repeated, and
rung in Changes, in order to magnify Merit. Yet I am sorry to
see In your News Papers such expressions as these Mr. "who
was the principal Negotiator." Such expressions If true ought
not to be used, because they have only a tendency to occasion
Division and Animosity, and cannot do any Good. But there Is
cause to doubt the Justice of them. In short I think upon an
Examination of the Treaties and a Comparison of them, with the
1778] W^arren- Adams Letters 77
Treaties and Instructions sent from Congress, I think it is plain
that there was not much Negociation or Discussion in the Case.
I wish with all my Heart there had been more.
This letter is not so free as I wish to write to you, but still it is
too free, to be used without Discretion. You will use it accord-
ingly only for the public Good. Knowing the animosity that has
been in two against one here, which I believe to have been carried
unwarrantable Lengths, knowing the Inveteracy of many Sub-
altern and Collateral Characters, which I think is injurious to the
Individual as well as the public, and knowing that you have these
things, and will have them in Contemplation, and much at Heart
I have said thus much of my sentiments upon these subjects,
which I hope will do no harm.
Believe me to be your Friend,
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Deer. 8th, 1778
My dear Sir, — I have only time to acknowledge the receipt
of your several favours of the 3d and 9th of Novr. and likewise of
the Curious Extracts per M. Dod and others. I am, as usual,
much obliged to you for three favours, but as the Gratifying one
Curiosity frequently Excites another, I wish to know how these
Accounts have Operated at Philadelphia since the recall. I think
you have put your Treasury upon a proper footing and perhaps
you will soon find it necessary to make similar Establishments for
your other public Boards. I have wrote to the President relative
to the money received from Coll. Baldwin and agreable to your
desire suspended the matter of resignation for further Considera-
tion.
We have no kind of Intelligence here. I shall write you again
soon, in the Meantime am with regards to my other Friends
yours assuredly
J. Warren
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
jS JVarren- Adams Letters [1778
The Navy Board must have another Supply of Money, it is of
so little value that it goes off very fast, we paid last Saturday to
Mr. Huntington 50,000 dollars for the Ship Confederacy and 10,000
to Mr. Cotton for the other Ship.
We have done much Business for the French Squadron and
some of it attended with much difficulty, for which we have
Charged a Commission, and that after adviseing with General
Whipple I hope the Marine Committee will approve of it, and think
we are Intitled to it, not supposeing we were to do the Business of
the French as well as the American Squadron.
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
Braintree, December 10, 1779 [1778]
Nothing but a very bad soar finger has withheld my Hand from
writing to my Friend, and telling her that I most sincerely sympa-
thize with her in the late melancholy dispensation of providence
towards her, an event tho not unexpected yet when we are calld
to the trial of resigning our dear Friends to the grave Nature will
recoil, and the Belief of a Glorious immortality can only support
the anguish of a bleading Heart, or bring the mind quietly to
submit to the allotments of Heaven.^
From this and other sources you have reason for consolation,
your parent had lived to a good old age with Honour and reputa-
tion, the recollection of his virtues will embalm his memory to you
The sweet remembrance of the just
Shall flourish when they sleep in Dust.
Nor am I unmindfuU of my Friend or less disposed to sympa-
thize with her in an other call which she will soon have to exert
her fortitude; this life is well termed a checkerd state; tis wisely
orderd so, since with all the visisitudes we pass through we are
still strongly attached to it. I rejoice with my Friend that she has
the best of earthly comforts to support her, and console her,
through the painfull tasks to which she is call'd, there is such a
I James Otis, her father, died November 9, 1778.
1778] JVarren- Adams Letters 79
cheering influence, in the Bosom of a Friend, that those only who
are deprived of it, can truly estimate its worth.
The most Forlorn and Dismal of all States is that of widowhood,
how often does my Heart bleed at thinking how nearly my own
Situation is allied to that, nor can I sometimes refrain from wish-
ing that the wisdom of the continent had made choice of some
person whose seperation from his partner would have been little
or no pain, or mortification — many such might have been found
I dare say Heaven can witness for me that I judge not by my own
feelings, but from the conduct of too many of my sex.
Two Letters I have had the pleasure of receiving since I saw
you, the latest date 27 of August.
Never says the writer was the Spirit of a Nation higher than
the French, never Nation had more cause for dejection than Eng-
land, persons from England say that the general opinion is that
Independance will be agree'd to, but be not deceived, it is time
enough to believe it when it is fact, he adds do not be anxious
about Spain, nor any thing else. Let us sing, o be joyfull! I fancy
the writer has imbibed some of the Spirit of the Nation from the
climate, he appears to be in high Spirits.
This Letter was wrote more than ten days ago, but my finger
was so bad that I could not finish it.
I now propose sending it by my Daughter who earnestly hopes
to see plimouth tomorrow. I commit her to the care of a Friend
who I hope will advise admonish and direct her, with the same
freedom she would one of her own tho large in Stature, she is
young in years. My best regards to our worthy suffering Friend
Mrs. Lothrope. I never see her but she brings to my mind Shake-
spears "patience on a Monument smiling at grief."
Love attend Master Henery with his smiling countanance &
Master George with his grave senatorial face.
You will be so good as to write often to me. I shall endeavour to
fuUfill my promise whenever any thing offers worth communi-
cating from your Sincere Friend,
Portia
8o JJ^arren- Adams Letters [1778
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plimouth, December 15th, 1778
Sir, — I cannot but think myself a sufferer by the Many Cap-
tures on American Navigation, for as you are undoubtedly a
Gentleman of the strictest Veracity, I must suppose the Watery
Damsels that Attend the ouzy Board of the Grey Headed Nep-
tune, are much more Fortunate than the Woodland Dames of
America. Otherways Notwithstanding the Bussy and important
scenes in which you are ingaged a Folio from the Court of France
Must have Reached Braintree, and an octavo sheet at Least
would have found its way to Plimouth before this.
But if by thus Frequently seting down the Most Weighty
secrets of state, as well as the social Communications of the
Friendly Heart, the Dark Counsels of the Deities Below do not
Gain an influence sufficient to Embarass your Negotiations, we
can better forgive this peculation of the Nereides, or we may
suppose the Females beneath, have some Curiosity as well as
those who walk upon the surface of a World, where knowledge is
circumscribed within such Narrow Limits, and the sex too often
forbidden to taste the Golden Fruit.
But perhaps you May have forgot through the Multiplicity of
your Avocations, and the Magnitude of the objects, and say
surely I Never promissed to write to more than one Lady, on the
Western side the Atlantic, but that Lady has furnished me with
a written testimony signed by yourself, that the first safe Convey-
ance should Forward some observations, and Remarks, to Mrs.
W n, which if Collected by Mr. Adams must surely be a
treasure.
And I have still a Further Demand upon you. You May Recol-
lect six years ago, at a certain fire side, where many Political plans
were Laid, Discussed, and Digested, you said it was your Opinion,
the Contest Between Britain and America would not be setled
till your sons and my sons were able to Visit, and Negotiate at the
Different Courts of Europe. A Lady Replied (though perhaps
not from prescience, presentiment, or anything but presumption),
that you Must do this Work yourselves, and that she Expected
1778] TVarren -Adams Letters 8i
from you a pleasing Naration of the Different Customs, Manners,
Genius, and Taste of Nations with whom we were little acquainted.
You have been absent almost a year, and None are yet arrived.
You Must Remember sir, that when we are Descending a preci-
pice the Velocity is much more Rapid than when we Mount,
though Expectation points us to the summit, and hope spreads
her Wings to accelerate our Motion. And if you postpone your
Communications by the year, I Cannot Expect to Receive many,
for if no premature stroke precipitates the Moment, the sun will
not Revolve Many times round this Inconsiderable Globe before
I hope to tread the starry pavement, and look down with pity on
the Regalia of princes, the Empires of a Day, the pomp of Royalty,
and even the pride of Republican or Aristocratic Grandeur.
I Wrote you a Long Letter Dated October 15th, which went in
a packet forwarded by the Count De Estalgn. It was Void of
poetick Imagery, or any Flights of Fancy, but Contained many
solemn Truths, which if that packet arrived safe, were doubtless
Corroborated by better Hands.
I write this in a Solitary Hour. Mr. Warren yet at the Navy
Board, Exerting all the powers of a Good Head and an Excellent
Heart to put the affairs of the American Marine on a Reputable
Footing, as far as falls within His Department. We have hitherto
been unfortunate by sea, the Causes shall leave for others to
Investigate.
Mrs. Adams will Doubtless write you by this Conveyance.
She has lately made me an agreable Visit, and I often see her
on my way to the Capital: whither I Repair when I Can Leave my
Little Family, which now Consists of only my two younger sons
in the parlour, the three Elder being at an age that makes it
proper they should Leave the parental Roof, probably you do
not Remember any of them. But I shall in a few days have a
young person with me whom you will Never forget, one Miss
Naby Adams, who I expect will spend the Winter at Plimouth.
There are Certain Moments in the Lives of the Greatest phi-
losophers and politicians, when the Mind is Relieved, and Gathers
fresh Vigour, from some trivial interruption accidentally thrown
in the way. This Reflection quiets the Bussy Monitor within, who
82 TVarren- Adams Letters [1778
sometimes Wispers, why do you Break in (by Recounting the
uninteresting occurrances that fall in your way) on the important
Moments of a Gentleman whose time is not his own.
And I wish the same Reflection would have an influence on
Him, so far as to unbend his Mind Enough to write a person very
Avaritious of the Notices of the Worthy, and of Every Attainable
Means of improvement in this scanty portion of Existence.
This Goes by Capt. Landais of the Alliance with whom I have
a son. I took up my pen Intending only a few Lines to Let you
know Notwithstanding the Convulsions of Nations, the Fluctua-
tion of Events and the Vicissitudes of time, there are yet a few, a
very few, of your acquaintance whom you most Esteemed in the
Days of Tranquility who Remain Invariably the same. Nor
Can I Lay it down till I have told you that both you and your
Country have lost a Friend in the Death of Coll. Otis: who after
long and patiently waiting to be called from his post. Bid Adieu to
Mortality the 9th of Nov., 1778, when He paid this Last Debt
to Nature. Both public and private Virtue Might justly Mourn
the Deceased patron, while a Large tribute of Gratitude Mingled
with tears, is Due to the Memory of an Excellent Father. From
your unfeigned Friend and Humble Servant ^
Marcia Warren
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Deer. i6th, 1778
My dear Sir, — I am at the Close of a very Busy Day to tell
you that all things here remain much in the Situation they were,
no new thing haveing lately taken place. Folly and Wickedness
stalk abroad with the same shameless rapidity and Confidence
they ever have done and find Numbers to keep them in Counte-
nance. Assemblies, Gameing, and the fashionable Amusements
Engage the Genteel People, or those who cant be so without
1 A letter from John Adams to Mercy Warren, December i8 [misdated in printing 15],
1778, is in Writings oj John Adams ^ ix. 474.
2 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1779] IVarren- Adams Letters 83
them, while more Laudable Entertainments Engage others of a
different Turn of Mind. As the Seasons of the Year revolve the
22d of December returns next week and again brings us to the
Celebration of our Anniversary. I wish I could have your Com-
pany again at Plymouth on that Occasion, it would certainly be
an additional pleasure. The Papers furnish us with Lists of
Delegates Chosen for several States, pray why is Mr. Carroll left
out in Maryland, and you perhaps will ask why are some others
Chose in another State.
The Inclosed Letter I beg your Care off. it is from Mrs. War-
ren to a Lady of her Acquaintance sent to Mr. Mathews. I can
add no more but that I am assuredly yours, etc.
J. Warren
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plymouth, N. E., J any. i, 1779
My dear Sir, — I keep no Copies of Letters and therefor am
unable to refer to the dates or the Contents. I know I have wrote
you many and some of them very Lengthy, the Contents may be
of no great Consequence, whether they are lost or received, how
many you have wrote me, you can best tell, only one has yet
reached me. I have been now ten days from the Capital, and
therefore unable to give you such Intelligence as I might if there,
however I believe you will not get much from there at this Time,
nothing very Remarkable having taken place the last three weeks
I was at Boston. The Papers that will be sent by the Navy Board
by this Good Oppertunity and your Friend, the Marquis Fayette,
will give you every thing you can wish to know from here. The
principal Subject of Conversation seems to be a Letter lately
published by Mr. Deane, attacking with great Freedom the
Character and Conduct of Doctor Lee and, indeed, that of his
whole Family.^ this Letter is neither Elegant or Nervous, is
calculated to command the Attention and fix the prejudices of the
I Probably Deane's " Address" printed in the Pennsylvania Packet^ December s, 1778,
and widely copied.
84 TVarren- Adams Letters [1779
People and is designed to strike deep, as neither Congress or In-
dividuals that compose it are spared, it is no difficult Matter to
engage the prejudices of the people in a Country where Jealousy
is excited on the Slightest Surmise.
Whether the author has sufficient Grounds for his Charges
against Doctor Lee and for his Complaints against Congress, or
whether this is a political dust he designs to avail himself of,
you can better tell in France than I can here, if Dr. Lee and his
Connections are guilty of Treachery or any Misconduct I hope
they will be discovered and punished; but I must own at present
I doubt it, and some People think the author might as well have
bent his attention to clear himself from some Insinuations not
much to his advantage, however, let matters be as they may,
this has a Tendency to lessen the Confidence of the People in
Congress, and to create Factions that may injure the Common
Cause. The Tories have by such means a full Swing for their
Arts, which they Improve to the greatest Advantage. I say
nothing to you of the State of our Currency and other difficulties
we have to struggle with, the Enemy still retain N. York and R.
Island, the French and English Squadrons are supposed to be
gone to the West Indies, from whence we expect great Events.
Mrs. Adams writes you by this opportunity. Your pretty
Daughter is here on a Winter's Visit to Mrs. Warren. She is very
well and wont own that she is not happy. I am with every wish
for your Happiness your Friend and Servant^
J. Warren
Mercy Warren to Abigail Adams Adams mss.
J mi. 19, 1779
I intended writing my Friend Mrs. Adams when Mr. Thaxter
returned but dare say he gave you a satisfactory Reason why I
did not. since which many matters have taken up my time, the
bussy and the gloomy scenes have alternately played before me
I A letter from Samuel Adams to James Warren, January 6, 1779, is in Writings of
Samuel Adams, iv. 113.
1779] TVarren- Adams Letters 85
and commanded my Attention almost ever since I left your house
with a Heart full of anxiety.
I saw my Father no more as my foreboding Heart presaged.
He breathed his last sigh and bid Adieu to mortality before I
reached his now Desolate Mansion.
Why was this such a painful Circumstance to me. How incon-
sistent, how irrational are our Wishes, when the saint is on the
Threshold of Eternity and his Lord has commissioned a Messenger
to Release him from his Labours and Bestow the Reward shall we
wish a Moments Detention, that we may be permited the painful,
the terifying satisfaction of standing by his Couch, while the
trembling soul is taking Leave of its shattered tenement, and is
looking abroad, amidst the Dark, profound, ethereal oeconimy,
for a New and more permanent Habitation.
My excellent parent had long done his Work, and was patiently
waiting this important Change. He longed to Depart and to be
with Christ, and to unite his song of praise with the separate
spirit of one whose Life was such that her Children could not be
forgiven if they did not arise and call her Blessed, so long as
Memory is lent them.
Forgive the fond overflowings of fillial affection, and I will lead
you from a subject so unpolite to a more Fashionable theme, to the
Disputes of polititions and statsmen. there if any where is Devel-
oped the Dark Windings of the Human Heart. How often when
they have involved themselves in Guilt, do they send a Hue and
Cry for justice to overtake such as are about to Detect them,
perhaps we may soon see the Methods taken to exculpate the
knave were the best Means of Bringing to light the knavery: and
had the Former been silent, the odium of the Latter might have
been fixed where it was not due, but by opening a Door for a strict
scrutiny I hope truth will be Discovered. And punishment and
Disgrace will rest where it ought.
If your Little Good Girl is unhappy she Conceals it from me, for
she smiles as if she enjoyed herself and says plimouth is as pleasant
as either Boston or Braintree. I shall endeavour to keep her in
that sentiment as long as I can. if you hear anything from france
we are not so immersed in our own Happiness but what she and
86 W^arren 'Adams Letters [1779
I can listen with pleasure, nor would Inteligence from any other
quarter be unentertaining handed forward by your pen.
Make my Regards to Mr. Thaxter and to all other Bralntree
Friends. I will not write what I think of this young gentleman,
but when I see you I will tell you.
It gives me pleasure in such a day as this when Vice is strength-
ened by Fashion, and Crimes are fostered by the appelation of
Taste, to see any coming on the stage of action who have under-
standing and Virtue sufficient to Dare to be Good, but this may
be one of the Antiquated Whims of your undisguised Friend ^
Marcia Warren
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Fehy. 12th, 1779
My dear Sir, — From the principle that has long Uniformly
Influenced my Conduct I went Home to join in the Celebration of
our Anniversary, where I had the Misfortune to be taken very
Lame, which has detained me till Yesterday, when for the first
time I returned here, this only has prevented my acknowledge-
ments of your several favours of Novr. 23d and Jany. 6th, and
also the Copy of a Letter from Paris, all which I have Improved
in my small Circle to promote the Cause of Truth and patriotism
and in support of the Characters of Honest and able patriots
against arts and Insinuations which appear to me groundless in
their Nature and Infamous in the manner they are done in.
I wish Truth had a more general Influence upon Mankind than
it has, and that it was not in the power of designing Men to blind
them, or party views to Lead them Astray against that and their
own Interest; but we have seen it has done so and I see it now and
fear I shall as long as I live. The late publications in Philadel-
phia are a General Topic here and I suppose all over the Conti-
nent. Opinions are as various as Characters and Given with some
1 A letter from Samuel Adams to James Warren, February 12, 1779, is in Writings of
Samuel Adams, iv. 123.
2 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1779] JVarren-Adams Letters 87
warmth on both Sides, however Baneful Mr. D[eane's] Address
may be to our Affairs it finds Advocates here and it is difficult to
prevent even many honest Men from being Captivated with an
Address that falls in with their Jealousy at a Time when they find
themselves uneasy and pressed with many difficulties, but what
must the man deserve who while he pretends to be a Patriot can
Cooly hazard the ruin of the finest proposals by Exciteing Ground-
less Jealousies and Animosities when the most perfect Unanimity
should subsist to prevent the most desolating ruin, but I hope he
and every Body will have their deserts. I may write you more
on this subject hereafter when I have had more Opportunity to
make my Observations here. As for News I can give you None
but what you will find in the Papers.
The Court is setting. I can tell you but little about them. I
am told they are upon a new Valuation, a Bill of Confiscation,
upon a Tax Bill for 1,000,000 of money, a New Constitution and
talk of riseing next week. Your old Friend figures away in the
usual Stile, sometimes the pendulum swings one way and some-
times the other — I mean with regard to Whiggism or Toryism,
but never fails to swing uniformly against all that wont Bow down
and worship a very Silly Image, you will have an Instance in a
Letter which I am told has gone forward lately from a Certain
Assembly to Congress relating to the Ships here and the Navy
Board, this Letter had its rise from him and was Calculated and
designed to Carry very Injurious reflections on the Board, but
was greatly Amended (to his Mortification) by the other Branch.
I believe it contains now but little more than a desire to have the
Navy Board under their direction, if Congress think it necessary
they should have more Masters they will do it, but I hope at the
same time they will appoint one new Member in the room of one
old one. I would not detain you longer, but it is necessary you
should be acquainted with some Facts, last Deer, the Council
requested us to send the Dean with their Brigantine Hazard
down to the Eastward to Attack the Enemy, we represented to
them that the Navigation was hazardous and that the force
proposed was Insufficient, which was also the Opinion of the
Board of War. they then proposed we should Join another Ship,
88 W^arren- Adams Letters [1779
which we consented to, provided they could furnish us with fifty
or sixty Men to man the Boston quick, so that they might Sail
before the Enemy could know it at Newport and take measures
to destroy them, but no such thing was done, we then proposed
that they should join the Hazard with the Dean and go on the
Coast of Virginia, where their Force was Adequate to the Service;
but the Board of War said the Brigantine was not Built to defend
the Coasts of other States, would not agree to it and the Council
was quite Inattentive to our Arguments and pressing Solicita-
tions, we were therefore finally obliged to order the Deane to
that service alone, the hazard is Cruiseing for profitable prizes
and the Clamour is that we dont take measures to Clear that
Coast.
Has Congress reconsidered their Vote for augmenting our
Salaries, we have had no official Information of it. I wish to
know how the matter stands, if it be on the old Foot I must quit
or be ruined. I am your sincere Friend.
[No signature.]
My best regards to Mr. Gerry and Mr. Lovel. I wish they
would let me know how the world goes. No Body writes to me
but you.
The Navy Board has Just received two warrants from your
Committee for 100,576 dollars and a promise of 50,000 in Money.
My Friend, you must consider this as next to No supply, we have
borrowed nearly 50,000 already and paid it away, if we get the
100,000 from the Loan Office in Connecticut, which I dont Ex-
pect, it will by no Means supply Huntington, Cotton, and Langdon
for the Ships they are Building and Equiping,^ and we shall not
have a penny left for all the other great demands on us. what
then becomes of your Navy, you must haul up your Ships or
supply us Immediately with a much larger Sum.
I Joshua Huntington (1751-1821), John Cotton, of Chatham, Conn., and John Lang-
don, of Portsmouth, N.H. Some letters on the operations of these agents will be found in
the Huntington Papers, Conn. Hist. Soc. Collections, xx, and in Out-Letters of the Continental
Marine Committee and Board 0} Admiralty, 1776-1780, printed by the Naval History
Society.
17791 JVarren- Adams Letters 89
John Adams to James Warren
Passy, Feb. 25, 1779
Dear Sir, — Yours of the i. Jany. was delivered me, by the
Marquis de la Fayette. I wish I was as happy as you, in not being
obliged to copy my Letters. Sense or Nonsense, frivolous or
weighty, I must copy every Line I write, for I know not what
Accusations may be brought against me, grounded on my Letters
if I do not. My Letters are lyable to more Misfortunes and foul
Play too than yours, and I keep no Clerk, so the original and Copy,
must be done with these weak Eyes, almost blind with reading
and writing; yet every Body complains of me for not writing
enough, especially my Wife.
The Address you mention, produced astonishment, here and all
over Europe. Yet it seems to be not discountenanced: rather
Supported. You have Reason to be confident of Dr. L[ee]'s
Integrity and Fidelity — no Man more falthfull, and his Charac-
ter must be vindicated or no Mans will be safe. I shall not how-
ever enter into this Business. He is able to justify himself and
willing. You may tell your Lady however, she was not mistaken
in the Character she gave me of him.
I shall not enter particularly into the Inconveniences, which
must result from such an outrageous Measure as that Address. I
wish to know, who will correspond with Us or any Body connected
with Us, if they are to be thus exposed. What Prince, Minister or
State will confide In Us, if Negociatlons are thus to be laid open.''
Where is our Secrecy, or a Possibility of it.^ Is the Confederation
annihilated.'' Is the Union lost.'' has Congress so little authority
as to be obliged to endure this.^ God forbid. Yet I think the
Probability is that he will succeed, get the two L[ee]'s recalld, and
himself appointed to some Trust abroad, if this should be the
Case what is to become of Us .'' at least if this done before they are
asked if guilty or not guilty, before they are allowed to defend
themselves which I doubt not they can do.
This Publication gave the Ministry a Lift in England, and will
hoist the Loan which before labourd. The Capture of St Lucie,
also which is just arrived, will give another Spur. Yet the Dis-
90 JVarren-Adams Letters [1779
contents In England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales ought to be
terrible to Administration. They can do no great Things against
Us.
The only Enemy, of any great Consequence which is left to Us
is our Currency. Taxation and Oeconomy, must be the Cry in
America, a Depreciation and Appreciation Law must be made.
The People will not Succumb to G. B. if the Bills depreciate,
untill a Thousand Dollars, must be given for a Silver Shilling.
They will not Succumbe to G. B. if our regular Army, was wholly
disbanded. For even then the English could not make an Excur-
sion into the Country, from under the Guns of their Men of War,
without Militia Men enough turning out to knock them in the
Head. The Consumption of British Soldiers and Sailors in the
West Indies is like to be such that you need not fear, any great
force, with you. The Tories must now act against every Light
of Conscience, for they know that we cannot now succumbe to
G. B. without having France and Spain upon our Backs.
What C[ongress] will do with the Paper I dont know, but they
had better, by a Vote annihilate it all, or call it in to be burned,
infinitely, and go over the same ground again ten times than that
G. B. should prevail. Burn it all with my good Will. My share
shall go to the Flames with the utmost cheerfulness, call it all in,
in a Loan if you will, but then dont let it stand at Sterling Stand-
ard to be redeemed. This would be greater Injustice than to burn
it all.
This vile Paper discourages and disheartens the Whiggs, and
emboldens the Tories, more than it ought, blow it away, any way.
Many have a Prejudice, that our Independance is connected with
it. Convince both sides that our Independance dont depend upon
that. That our Plate, our Stocks and all shall go rather than our
Sovereignty depend upon it. It is worth them all and more, nay
our Houses and Farms into the Bargain.
Our Remedy is so simple, that I am astonished, there should be
the least Hesitation about it, in the Mind of the most ignorant and
mean of the People.
Taxation alone, is amply Sufficient to carry on our Share of the
War in future. I am sure that the thirteen States can raise Money
1779] JVarren- Adams -Letters 91
enough if they will to bear all their future Expences as they rise,
if the People are so blind, blockish and stupid, as not to see it and
be willing for it, it is a Pity.
But the Delirium that rages, is enough to discourage every Man
of Virtue and Honour, the Foppery, the Avarice, the Ambition,
the Vanity, the Rage, the Fury, is enough to induce every Man
of Sense and Virtue to abandon such an execrable Race, to their
own Perdition, and if they could be ruined alone it would be just.
There is Cause to fear that our Countrymen and Women, after
having astonished the Universe by their Wisdom and Virtue, will
become a Spectacle of Contempt and Derision to the foolish and
wicked, and of Grief and shame to the wise among Mankind, and
all this in the Space of a few Years.
I see so much Corruption, wherever I cast my Eyes. I see the
virtuous few struggling against it, with so little success, that a
Retreat infinitely less Splendid than that of Pythagoras, at the
Head of a little school to teach a few Children the Elements of
Knowledge would be a kind of Heaven to me. I have the Honour
to be reduced to a private Citizen and if I could remain there with-
out an eternal Clamour, no Consideration in the World should
induce me ever again to rise out of it. But you know the Noise,
the Lyes, the Slanders, the stupid Groans and Lamentations, that
would be raised at such a Resolution.
However let them groan and hiss and curse as they will, I will
never be again with my own Consent the sport of wise Men nor
Fools.
\No signature^
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Fehy. 28th, 1779
My Dear Sir, — I have received yours of the nth Instant.
Your Apprehensions are so far just that the honest and virtuous
friends to their Country do not Indeed unite their Councils and
Efforts; but it rather proceeds from Inattention and a Multi-
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
92 JVarren- Adams Letters [1779
plicity of Business and other pursuits than from a want of Esteeni
and the prevalence of Jealousies among them. I have a great
Opinion of Mr. Dana's Political Principles and Conduct, but from
the Constant Attention he gives to the Executive and General
Courts I never have an Opportunity to see him. I have not once
met him in three months and Consequently have never yet been
able to ask the Question you authorised me to do. any Intercourse
with him is rendered more difficult by his always returning Home
when he is not prevented by Urgent Business. I am sensible the
Torrent you mention should be Stemmed, and of the fatal Conse-
quences of the Manners you mention, as well as of the Policy of
some People here; but we are a rope of Sand without any Cement,
some of us are too much Engaged and others too Inattentive to
get any thing done, the Little Leisure I have is Imployed in my
small Efforts, for which in some Companies I get the Character of
an old Fashioned Fellow, and in others of a strong Party Man. I
fear you have a hard Task where you are. I hope it will not prey
on your Spirits or Injure your Health. I am fully persuaded of
the Existence of such a Combination as you mention in Doctr.
Cooper. We have Instances of it here with regard to you, and my
other Friends at Congress, last Winter the Art was to hold you
up as an Enemy to General Washington; now It Is to prejudice
the People against the Lees, and to propagate that you are a
Friend to them, and at Last the matter has been Carried so far
as to obtain a Vote in the House for a Committee to Consider the
Propriety of recalling three of their Delegates and sending three
now here, tho' this would not only be Affrontlve to you, but also
an Implicit Censure on the Measures you have adopted, yet
every Art has been practised to Effect it and among others the
Measure for preparing materials for a Fleet on the Lakes at Sara-
toga, and an Expedition Into Canada that way Is Absurdly given
as a reason, while no Body can doubt that you are all against It.
but I believe It will not Succeed, the Court is to rise Tomorrow.
And now I must say a little to you about the Navy Board and
Confess to you that I am Extreemly surprised at your last Letter
from the Marine Committee, have they no kind of Confidence
in the Members of the Navy Board here, and do they wish to hold
1779] W^arren- Adams Letters 93
them up to the Officers of the Navy in a Contemptible Light, if
not why are not your Orders directed to them, to be given to the
Commanders, and in most Cases at least some discretion of theirs
to be used, instead of that of the Captains. I own I am Mortifyed
and will not long submit to it. You should have [some one] at
this Board you can place Confidence in. if we are not such, you
should displace us and appoint others, it is Impossible you can
Judge 300 Miles of. if the Conduct of the Raleigh had been left to
us she would probably have been saved, and She and the Dean
would have Effected the Service you wished for, and made a
Cruise, and yet you have Committed in my Humble Opinion a
greater Error in ordering the Queen of France on the Coast of
Virginia alone, and to be followed by the Ranger and then the
Confederacy, the Ranger will sail with her, but in my Opinion
they will both be lost. I am Confident no Merchant would Insure
them for eighty per ct. one frigate will take them both, if they
should Escape being taken by the Enemy they will get Nothing
and then there will be an End of your Maning your Ships here.
I think we had formed a Grand Plan, if you had permitted us to
Execute it. but I will not have the Reputation of the present one.
it shall be known whose Orders they sail under.
Your Committee has never given their disapprobation to our
takeing the Commission Charged Mr. Holker for Business done
for the French Fleet, which I Construe as an Approbation and
shall, as I think we justly may and ought to do, take them, as he
has paid them to us. Am I right. Adeu. Your Friend
J. Warren
Yesterday we had the agreable Account of the Arrival of a
Spanish Frigate at Philadelphia and that an Alliance is formed
with Spain; that she has brought a large Sum of Hard Money,
upon which Gold and Silver and Goods had fallen at a Great
rate. I wish half of it may prove true.
94 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1779
Richard Henry Lee to James Warren
Philadelphia, March 6th, 1779
Sir, — I thank you very sincerely for your kindness in forward-
ing the parcel of bark by Mr. Brailsford, which I have received in
good order, and would thankfully have paid that gentleman for
his trouble in the carriage, but his civility would not suffer him to
receive anything. I have no doubt. Sir, but that the same good-
ness which has forwarded this parcel of bark, will contrive the
other by the first convenient opportunity. This is a medicine
rendered necessary in my family from situation and climate which
expose us to intermitting fevers. Indeed long habit has made its
constant use indispensable to me.
I am extremely sensible. Sir, of your obliging sentiments of me
and my family, and I hope we shall continue to deserve them. If
all men like General Warren possessed wisdom, integrity, and
discernment, such characters as Mr. Deane and his Adherents
would never disgrace public employments, or venture upon such
experiments as have lately been made on the public. However,
indiscernment begins now to discern, and even the interested
friends of Mr. Deane seem ashamed to support him. It will be
happy for him if resentment rises no higher than contempt.
I have the honor to be with singular respect and esteem Sir
your most obliged and very humble Servant,
Richard Henry Lee
Mercy Warren to Abigail Adams Adams mss.
Plimouth, March 19, 1779
If anything would awake the sleeping Muses or call back the
Wandering Deities the Imagery of this Delightful Morn when the
hand of Nature has decorated every twig with spangles of peculiar
Briliancy, joined with the Repeated Request of my Friend would
not fail to do it. the subject you point out requires Heroics. But
alas! Clio is Deaf, perhaps irrevocably stunned till the Noise of
1779] JVarren- Adams Letters 95
War shall cease. The Harmony of Calliope suffers by the jaring of
patriots, and Melpomene is starved amidst the General Cry for
Bread.
In short, I believe the famed Nine sickened by the unpromising
aspect of this Decayed Village, (once the Asylum of piety) and
grown weary of their old Friend, sensible they had heretofore
made a Lodgment in an unthrifty soil, have bid an Everlasting
Adieu. And as their Ladyships have taken Wing (probably in
pursuit of some more happy Clime,) I hope they will not rest till
they light on the Head of some Votive Genius whose productions
will do honour to the Admired Train, as well as to the Cold Re-
gions of the North.
But if they should ever condescend again to make a Temporary
Visit to one almost secluded from society, (which Brightens the
Ideas and gives a polish to Expression) you may Depend upon it
your absent partner will not be forgot, but at present you must
be content to let me tell you in plain prose that I think him
Honest, that if by living among the Refinements of polititions and
Courtiers, his Integrity should be undermined, or his taste per-
verted, my Motto to every Character in Future shall be. That
Man is all a Lye.
I return you a Letter with thanks for the perusal, wish if
proper you would forward some others when you send for your
Daughter who I really love, and love her the more the longer she
resides with me.
In future I shall call her my Naby and Back my Claim with
the promise of her papah to whom I shall appeal if you Monopo-
lize too much.
You do not tell me why you was so confident I had a Letter
from France. Depend upon it you shall see it when I have. I
think I might expect two or three in a year, if it was only a Com-
plimentary Return for the Many Visits made a Lady, by a Gentle-
man with regard to whom were it in my power, I should Discover
perhaps too much of the spirit of the times, by engrossing his
hours wholly to myself, and to a Number of amiable youth, but
he is impeled by a Coincidence of Circumstance to a style of Life
not agreeable to his taste. Call me Miserly if you please, yet I am
96 JVarren -Adams Letters [1779
sensible you can, you may feelingly join with me and the Bonny
Scotch Lass, and warble the Mournful Chorus
From Morn to Eve,
There's Little pleasure in the Room,
When my Good Man's awaw.
I shall return a Number of Letters with a Manuscript Volume
by Miss N[abb]y. it has been an agreable Entertainment to me,
and when you come to Plimouth which I hope will be within
a few weeks I shall endeavour to make all the Retaliation in my
power.
You ask what I think of the Late Dispute among the higher
powers of America. I know little of it except what is in the public
papers, where I think may be discovered the precipitation and
timidity of Guilt in a certain Indiscreet writer yet I like not the
Expression of Englifyed American, which I saw dropped from a
pen I view in a very different Light.
I shall only Gently Remind you that your promise is not yet
compleated of writing much and frequently through the Course of
the Winter, to her who subscribes your affectionate Friend ^
M. Warren
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, March 30th, 1779
My Dear Sir, — I have for sometime been Exceeding Uneasy
about you. it has been reported here that you are in Bad Health,
and I cant reconcile myself to be easy while anything prevents
your Services to your Country, at a Time when it so much wants
Able and Honest Men. I hope this report is without foundation,
but your long Silence seems to be a Confirmation of the Truth of
it. I shall Earnestly Expect a Letter by the Post To morrow in
answer to the several Letters I have wrote you. Our Speculations
here are Employed upon the Mighty Secret Congress is possessed
1 A letter from Samuel Adams to James Warren, March 23, 1779, is in Writings of
Samuel Adams, iv. 139.
2 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York PubHc Library.
1779] TVarren- Adams Letters 97
off and the great Business before them, the Ingenuity of our
politicians has been Exhausted and their patience wore out. they
now begin to be Content with supposeing that propositions of
Peace have some how been made to you and that you are Consid-
ering the Terms, this alone Is no small Object. I have always
had my Apprehensions of danger from Negotiations of this Kind,
the designs of the disaffected, the Views of the Interested, will
have their Influence upon the Timidity of some and Weakness of
others to precipitate us Into rash and sudden Concessions. The
doctrine that almost any peace is preferable to a Continuance of
the war is a dangerous one, because it pleases the Feelings and
Taste of the Many who have abandoned every valuable Consider-
ation to a rage for Ease, Luxurious Living and Expensive diver-
sions, in Short we are arrived to that Stage of Civilization and
polished Manners which I think Incompatible with public or
private Virtue, and therefore worse than Barbarism. I wish for
Peace, but had rather the War should Continue the remaining
part of my Life than Accept a Peace on Bad Terms.
What are to be the Military Operations of this Summer. Is
there a judicious plan, or are there to be any wild Romantic
Expeditions that promise nothing but Expense, Loss and disap-
pointment, Except serving the purposes of falling in with the
Views of the Dons of . I have not a word of News to tell you.
we anxiously wait for Intelligence from Georgia. I saw Mrs.
Adams a few days ago very well. I am yours Sincerely
J. W.
I am very happy here in our Friend General Gates, but I fear he
is to leave us soon, he is a true Genuine Republican of sterling
virtue, etc., etc.
George Washington to James Warren
Head Quarters, Middlebrook, Mar. 31, 1779
Dear Sir, — I beseech you not to ascribe my delay in answer-
ing your obliging favour of the i6th of Deer, to disrespect, or want
98 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1779
of inclination to continue a corrispondance in which I have al-
ways taken pleasure, and thought myself honored.
Your letter of the above date came to my hand in Philadelphia,
where I attended at the request of Congress to settle some impor-
tant matters respecting the Army and its future operations; and
where I was detained till some time in Febru'y. during that
period my time was so much occupied by the immediate and
pressing business which carried me there, that I could attend to
little else; and upon my return to Camp I found the ordinary
business of the army had run so much behind hand, that together
with the arrangements I had to carry into execution no leizure
was left me to indulge myself sooner in making the acknowledg-
ment I am now about to do, of the pleasure I felt at finding that I
still enjoyed a share of your confidence and esteem, and now and
then would be informed of it by letter, believe me Sir when I add,
that this proof of your holding me in remembrance, is most pleas-
ing and acceptable.
Our conflict is not like to cease so soon as every good man would
wish. The measure of inequity is not yet filled, and unless we can
return a little more to first principles, and act a little more upon
patriotic grounds, I do not know when it will, or, what may be the
issue of the contest. Speculation, peculation, engrossing, fore-
stalling, with all their concomitants, afi^ord too many melancholy
proofs of the decay of public virtue; and too glaring instances of
its being the interest and desire of too many, who would wish to
be thought friends, to continue the War.
Nothing I am convinced but the depreciation of our currency
proceeding in a great measure from the foregoing causes, aided by
stock jobbing and party dissentions, has fed the hopes of the
enemy and kept the Arms of Briton in America untill now. They
do not scruple to declare this themselves, and add that, we shall
be our own conquerors. Cannot our common Country (America)
possess virtue enough to disappoint them.? Is the consideration
of a little dirty pelf, to individuals, to be placed in competition
with the essential rights and liberties of the present generation,
and of millions yet unborn.? shall a few designing men for their
own aggrandizement, and to gratify their own avarice, overset
1779] JVarren- Adams Letters gc)
the goodly fabric we have been rearing at the expence of so much
time, blood, and treasure? and shall we at last become the victims
of our own abominable lust of gain ? Forbid it heaven ! forbid it all,
and every state in the union! by enacting and enforcing, effica-
tious laws for checking the growth of these monstrous evils, and
restoring matters in some degree to the pristine state they were
in at the commencement of the War. Our cause is noble, it is the
cause of Mankind! and the danger to it springs from ourselves.
Shall we slumber and sleep then while we should be punishing
those miscreants who have brought these troubles upon us, and
who are aiming to continue us in them? While we should be striv-
ing to fill our Battalions, and devising ways and means to appreci-
ate the currency, on the credit of which every thing depends? I
hope not, let vigorous measures be adopted, not to limit the price
of articles, for this I conceive is inconsistent with the very nature
of things, and impracticable in itself, but to punish speculators,
forestallers, and extortioners, and above all, to sink the money by
heavy Taxes. To promote public and private oeconomy, encour-
age manufactures etca. Measure of this sort gone heartily into
by the several states, will strike at once at the root of all our mis-
fortunes, and give the coup-de-grace to British hope of subjugat-
ing this great Continent, either by their Arms or their Arts. The
first as I have before observed they acknowledge is unequal to the
task, the latter I am sure will be so if we are not lost to every thing
that is good and virtuous.
A little time now, must unfold in some degree, the Enemy's
designs. Whether the state of affairs in Europe will permit them
to augment their Army with more than recruits for the Regiments
now in America, and therewith attempt an active and vigorous
campain, or whether with their Canadian and Florida force they
will aid and abet the Indians in ravaging on our Western Frontier,
while their shipping with detachments harrass (and if they mean
to prosecute the predatory War threatned by Administration
through their Commissioners) burn and destroy our Seacoast,
or whether contrary to expectation they are more disposed to
negotiate than to either, is more than I can determine. The
latter will depend very much on their apprehensions of Spain, and
loo JVarren- Adams Letters [1779
their own foreign alliances. At present we seem to be in a Chaos
but this cannot last long, as I presume the ultimate determination
of the British Court will be developed at the meeting of Parlia-
ment after the hoUidays.
Mrs. Washington joins me in a tender of cordial wishes and best
respects to Mrs. Warren, she would have done herself the pleas-
ure of writing but the present conveyance by Cap. Gilman to
Boston was sudden. I am, with sincere esteem and regard Dr.
Sir. Yr. Most Obedt. Ser.
Go. Washington
Samuel Adams to James Warren
My dear Sir, — Mr. Hodgdon forwarded to me your Letter of
April. I thank you for the Concern you express for my Health.
It is a Blessing which I have less enjoyd the Winter past than
in any equal Part of my Life. I hope by the Blessing of God to
recover it when I may have the Pleasure of living In my own
Country.
We have had on the Carpet Questions relating to our Ministers
abroad — Whether they should be recalled. It was agreed that the
Question be put severally with Respect to Each. A Majority of
Voices were against the Recall of Doctor Franklin, though some
Gentlemen spoke warmly against him.^ That^ for the Recall of
Dr. Lee, met with an equal Division, and so it was lost.^ I will
only remark to you that after long Debates, In which as great
Freedoms, I suppose, were used as could be consistently with
Decency and Truth, his Abilities, his Integrity and warm Attach-
ment to America remain unimpeachable. It is unfortunate when
Attempts are made to remove a Servant of the Publick, whose
Fidelity shines the brighter, the more his Conduct Is sifted, but so
It will happen when others wish to supplant him. I do not say
this Is the Case at present. I hope there Is no Motive more un-
worthy; but I will not answer for all among the Thousands in
America, who may conceive themselves fit for important Trusts,
I Journals of the Continental Congress, xiii. 500. 2 lb., xiv. 542.
1779] W^arren- Adams Letters loi
and some of them may shortly offer themselves with a View of
serving such Purposes as may not be agreable to others. I suspect
from a Letter which I have heard publickly read that our Friend
J. A[dams] is or will be as obnoxious to a Party as Dr. F[ranklin]
and Dr. Lee, and for the same Reason. But I will tell you all
when I see you. Pray inform Mr. Story that his Petition is re-
ferrd to the Treasury and that I expect it will have a favorable
Issue. Be so good as to let Mrs. A. know that I am well, but
have not Time to write to her now. Adieu my Friend. Yr. affec-
tionate
S. A
May nth, '79.
James Warren to Mercy Warren
Boston, June 6th, 1779
My dear Mercy, — I have read one Excellent Sermon this day
and heard two others. What next can I do better than write to a
Saint. What if she has Trembling Nerves and a palpitating Heart.
She has good Sense she has Exalted Virtue and refined Piety. She
is amiable even in that Weakness which is the Consequence of the
Exquisite delicacy and softness of her Sex. She would be so to me
if she had more of that rough fortitude which the Times and the
Circumstances pictured in her Letter of the 2d Instant read yes-
terday may seem to you to require. All Nature is a Mystery.
Why then should I Attempt to Explore the reasons and to say how
it is that a Mind, possessed of a Masculine Genius well stocked
with Learning, fortified by Phylosophy and Religion, should be so
easily Impressed by the adverse Circumstances or Inconveniences
of this World; but this will happen whether we can account for it
or Not. a brilliant and Busy Imagination often if not always
Accompanys great qualities. It Commands Admiration but is
often Mischievous and when yours is not directed to the bright
side of things, I often wish it as Sluggish as my own, but I long to
Banter and Laugh you out of your whimsical Gloom. What!
want Fortitude because I have Faith, curious indeed; be un-
102 JVarren- Adams Letters [1779
hinged because self Interest Wickedness and Wicked Men Abound.
When was it Otherwise — it is Glorious to defeat them " and after
all the Struggle" what? Why secure to ourselves and Entail to
Posterity Independence, Peace and Happiness. This is a Subject
for an Heroic Poem — rouse therefore Your Muse. Tune it with
Nervous harmony to Celebrate the Success of this great Struggle
and the Characters of those whose Integrity and Virtue have de-
feated the Policy and Force of our Enemies and above all that
Providence by whose direction I verily believe without a doubt we
shall be saved. "I cant go to Congress, I wont go." Who would
not with the Assurance of such good Company. I never thought
of it before, you gave such great Encouragement. Sure it would
be a Charming ride to shake of the Chagrin and it might be made
on Grand Principles. If it be now more difficult and dangerous
than ever it will be more glorious in proportion. If you fie on the
Sentiment as roman Enthusiasm I call on you to Contest it. If
it be Just you must practise upon it. What signify Sentiments
without Exciting virtuous practise. But they did not choose me,
so there is an End of all my Enthusiasm and your fears. Genl.
Ward is Chose, however I will claim a little Merit with you if it
be at the Expense of the prophecies of my sweet Prophetess. I
prevented my own and promoted his Choice. Her little trembling
Nerves was among the Influential reasons. The Others I will tell
you at Another Time, only be assured for the present despair of
the Cause was not Among them. I think there will soon be Another
Choice — perhaps two. will you go if I wlll.^
We have an Account that the Enemy are gone up North River.
Some say they have destroyed Peeks Hill. They will Catch a
Tartar and a dire flogging soon. Why should I not prophecy as
well as other Folks.'' My next may tell you of a Grand Fleet of
our Allies in these Seas, of successful operations in Europe or the
West Indies, etc., etc, to make your Heart beat with Joy instead
of anxiety. Two ships are now coming In; perhaps they may
bring the News I wish for. if not we shall have It. I Expect to get
three ships away this week, to have some Share In raising an Army
and laying a Tax to support It, and then to fly on the wings of
I The choice fell upon George Partridge and Artemas Ward.
1779] Ji^arren- Adams Letters 103
Love to the Arms of a Beloved Wife whose I am with the Greatest
Affection
J. Warren
No Rain yet Oh, Dismal. I dread a drought more than the
Arms of Britain or the policy of Villains.
I wrote you yesterday by Coll. Freeman. Perhaps I shall write
you again Tomorrow. You cant help it if you would, nor can I
if an oppy presents and I can get a Minutes Time. Take care of
your Health that I may have the pleasure of seeing you well. I
am glad to hear Mrs. Lothrop Continues to grow better. My Love
to her and the Boys.
Monday Morning. How do you do this fine Cool Morning.''
I hope very well. I am persuaded the Faintness and Languor and
Complained of was oweing to the first comeing of warm weather.
Perhaps that has an Influence on the Mind and Spirits. I am
Nothing is a very humble Sentiment. Did ever such an Idea
pass over the Imagination of a Poet before. If it returns I advise
you to set down and write a Satyr on Villains, — there are enough
of them. If not — take in the Fools then I am sure you will have
enough. I am sure the remedy will succeed and you will feel a
Laudable Pride. The Ship in last Night is a prize of the Boston —
a French Ship from So Carolina to France taken by a York
Privateer and retaken by the Boston.
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Boston, N. England, June 13, 1779
Dear Sir, — The Providence Frigate and a Packet have been
long held in readiness to proceed to France, the first is now or-
dered to another service and we have yet no orders for the last.
this is to go by a small private Vessel accidentally met with. I
dare say you experience in common with us the Inconveniences
of the little Intercourse between Europe and America, and wish
with the same Anxiety to hear from here that we often do from
Europe. We seldom hear what is acting on your Great Stage, and
I04 JVarren -Adams Letters [1779
when we do it is very general, that great preparations still continue
to be made in France and Spain and of numbers of prizes carried
into their Ports without any declaration of War, etc. with regard
to us I presume the many Letters you will have by this opportu-
nity will give you better Information than my Time and other
Circumstances will admit off. The Campaigne is now fully opened,
at least on the side of the Enemy, and seems to be carrying on
with more vigour, and in a different Manner from former ones,
they early made a descent on Georgia with a Considerable Force,
where they have supported themselves much longer than was at
first expected, and if the Climate don't do more for us than the
Exertions and military prowess of the Southern States, I fear they
will penetrate as far as Charlestown, tho we have no late Intelli-
gence on which to ground any perticular Accounts of the State of
things in that quarter. A strong detachment of the Army from
New York with such Naval Force as they were able to Muster
have made a Sudden Attack upon Virginia, destroyed Portsmouth
in that State, and done considerable other damage, and as sud-
denly returned and gone up the North River, where they still
remain fortifying some places and endeavouring to possess them-
selves of others, this military finess gives us reason to apprehend
they may next play the same Game somewhere else, and perhaps
some parts of the Eastern States may be the Objects of the next
Maneuvre. we are therefore preparing for them, but the State
of our Currency, and the selfish avaricious Spirit prevailing here,
have almost extinguished the remains of Patriotism you left,
created innumerable difficulties and rendered our exertions lan-
guid. However Means are taking and I hope will be effectual to
rouse the People to a Sense of their true Interest and to excite
them again vigorously to Unite in repelling the common danger.
Near 3000 men are now raising here to join the Army as soon as
possible and our Militia are all ordered to be held in readiness at a
minutes warning, but our greatest difficulties are the amazing
depreciation of our Money and the scarcity of provisions, espe-
cially Bread, you may form some idea of them from the price of
Board in this Town from 45 to 50 dollars per week, and of the
first from the prices of Molasses 8 dollars gallon, tho' plenty here
1779] JVarren- Adams Letters 105
and every thing In the same or greater proportion, Bohea Tea
40 dollars per lb., and of the last from the prices of Indian corn
40 dollars per bushel, and meat from 6/ to 8/ per lb, all European
Goods are also excessive high. If the Subject was not serious and
melancholy, It would be laughable to hear the rates of Gauze and
other Geugaws, and to see the eagerness with which they are pur-
chased, and to observe the Vanity, Folly and Extravagance which
infests all ranks of People in their Dress, and LIveing. Every
Bodys Invention has been strained to find a remedy without
success. Taxation seems to be the only one, and to that we have
got pretty well reconciled, the General Assembly freely granted
a Tax of £1,000,000. last winter that is now collecting with little
grumbling, or difficulty, we have already this Session without
much debate, voted another of £2,800,000. part of which is to
discharge 6 Million of dollars, our proportion of 45 Million re-
quired of the several States by Congress, so you will understand
that we deal in our Millions as well as Britain, and raise them as
easily. It would require a volume to give you a minute detail of
our situation, the above Sketch must suffice for the present, if
you ask where our Army Is I answer I believe the Main Body are
In the Jersles. If you ask what they are doing, I cant tell.
With regard to our Naval Affairs, you may expect I should
speak with more precision, as I am still drudging at the Navy
Board for a morsel of Bread, while others, and among them fellows
who would have cleaned my shoes five years ago, have amassed
fortunes, and are riding In chariots, were you to be set down here
you could not realize what you would see. you would think you
was upon enchanted Ground In a world turned topsy turvy,
beyond the description of Hogarths Humourous pencil or Chur-
chills Satyr, but to take up my thread.
The French Squadron has made such a diversion In the West
Indies, that we have been but little troubled with their frigates,
and indeed they have but very few Ships on these Stations, our
frigates and privateers have succeeded accordingly and made
many prizes, and among others taken several privateers and
Vessels of Force as you will see by the Papers we send by this
Vessel. Adams, Gerry, Lovel, and Holton are still at Congress.
io6 JVarren- Adams Letters [1779
Mr. Adams has been unwell and is expected here every day. he is
returned a Member for this Town and is chose a Councellor, so he
has his option of two Seats, which he will take I dont know. Mr.
Dana returned last August, and has remained ever since and I
believe will not go again. H[ancoc]k has been once but was gone
but about six weeks, he tarried at Congress but about 2 weeks,
the air of Philadelphia did not suit him on a Common Seat, he
returned for better Health, he is now Speaker of our House, and a
sinecure delegate of Congress, the last serves as a feather among
others in his cap, to decorate an Illustrious Speaker. Mr. Edwards
was chose last winter, has resigned. Gen'l Ward is chose in his
room whether he will go I cant say. Your Friend and Servant
who is now a Member of the House might have been chose but
prevented it, and promoted the other. The Letters I forward
from your good Lady will inform you of her welfare. I can only
add that I am as I ever was Your Assured Friend and Humble
Servant,
J. Warren
Do let me know what you are, a Plenipo., a Commissioner, or
what, that I may address properly, be you which of them you may
you are an object of Envy. There is a Combination Political and
Commercial that would supplant you and all your Brethren in
Europe if they could, they wish to be able to establish their
Aristocratic Principles and to make their fortunes at the same
time, this Party neither like the political principles, or manners
of N. England, and at the same time they fear them, you know
them, part of their policy therefore is to reduce their trade, and
consequently their power and influence, what would more effec-
tually do that than by ceding all right and claim to the fishery to
get a Peace, rather than see us flourish, they would be content
that America should never be a Maritime Power. I want to say
more on this Subject, but I think I wont, if our Allies should fall
into their views, they must dismiss all expectations of Trade from
us, we shall have nothing to give them. Your Predecessor has made
a great racket here, and blew up a flame that I apprehended
Mischief from, but the poor Man is fallen by his own devices, and
1779] JVarren 'Adams Letters 107
the Characters of the Lees are established, if I had a good Memory
I should quote a Text from the Book of Proverbs applicable to
this matter.
James Lovell to James Warren
June 15th, 1779
General Warren, — As Mr. Adams is on his Journey to Bos-
ton it is not essential that I should now write minutely, relative to
the Points which have been agitated here lately; all proper Com-
munications will be made to you by him in a Way to which an
Epistle is only a secondary Satisfaction. He will also give you the
whole of what has reached us yet from Sth. Carolina, touching the
good Fortune of Genl. Lincoln. But these Considerations would
not acquit me to myself if I neglected thus early to acknowledge
my Obligations to you for the obliging Expression of your "Desire
to be considered as my Friend," contained in your Letter of May
30th which reached me the Night before last. Be assured, dear
Sir, that you have hereby liquidated a full Page in my Book of
Sufferings. There was a Season when I counted upon Thousands
and Tens of Thousands; but, for several Months back I have been
fully persuaded that all my Hazards Toils and Watchings were to
be recompensed by the Approbation of a virtuous Few. I wish the
"unusual Anxiety and Weights upon your Spirits" may be thrown
off so far as It was occasioned by the Ultimata which are one time
or other to be debated here: I cannot but think a decent Coalition
would take Place among such as it is supposed will differ, from
local Interests or varied Degrees of Resolution. I believe our Ally
intends well for us. But such Belief does not warrant the laying
aside political Watchfulness: Nor should the Exertion of this occa-
sion any Disgust in those who feel themselves to be thoroughly
well intentioned. If, after Conversation with Mr. S. A[dams]
you wish Informations may be sent from this Place respecting the
Result of Points not quite decided when he left us relative to Cod
and Hadock, I will endeavor to give you all the Satisfaction my
Circumstances will allow. You will always consider the Distinc-
io8 JVarren- Adams Letters [1779
tion between catching and dryings being Rights with widely-
differing Foundations.^
As to our Money, it cannot be mended but by stopping the
Press. Taxes, if the States should even comply punctually with
our Recommendations, which their past Conduct does not warrant
us to look for, will not answer by themselves. We are about to
borrow 20 Millions of the People on probable temptations.^ But
can we offer Interest in exact Proportion to Exchange to such
Persons as now may be disposed to lend, and not pay the same to
those who have /orw^Wy lent. I think not. We did equal Justice
when we offered Bills on France. We must do the same at this
Time. Give 6 per Cent conditional, to rise in proportion to the
Quantity in Circulation at the Date of the Certificate and the Due
of Interest; ^ as, unavoidably, Something of an Emission must go
on, till we are otherwise supplied. For my Part, I think such a
Measure would alone be sufficient to obtain much Money.
Some Thoughts are suggested of holding the Principal till the
Currency shall be 1/8 appreciated; but this is holding up no Temp-
tation, for, if the Press is stopped, the Appreciation would inevi-
tably be 1/8 in a very short Term indeed.
If the "Sacrifice of Consistency" which you justly notice was
made in a Case where there were Abilities of a Size to produce any
great Events, I should be more chagrined than I am at observing
the public Want of a republican Delicacy in the Case stated.
I am sorry that the Opportunities for Holland were not the
Carriers of my Letters as I have been unlucky here. Our worthy
Friend John Adams must think I neglect him in his very odd
Situation. We are ripening towards Measures which must induce
an immediate and definite consequential Disposition of him, and
I have no doubt of an honorable one. As to the Assents and Dis-
sents in our tragicomical Journals, the Grounds of them are hard
to be fathomed; and the Case you mention is a very delicate one;
I dare venture, however, to say that it is not to be accounted for
by Want of Honesty, but rather by the Quantity of that Species
1 Fishery provisions in the treaty of peace.
2 Journals of the Continental Congress, xiv. 717.
3 "or Depreciation" is written in the margin.
1779] JVarren- Adams Letters 109
which puts us off of Guard against the Arts of designing Men.
By hearsay or conjecture you are become so much Master of my
Situation, that I shall have no great Fears of your Reproof, if,
feeling half as unwell from Watching as I do at present, I shall,
now and then, omit a direct Return to your kind Correspondence.
I slight my Feelings, at this Time, to prove my ready acceptance
of the Intercourse to which you so pleasingly have provoked
Your most humble Servant,
James Lovell
James Lovell to James Warren
Confidential. July 13 th, 1779
Dear Sir, — Three days ago I wrote to Mr. Adams inclosing
Papers that show the Spirit of the Parties in a certain little-great
Assembly. I must ingeniously acknowledge to you that if I
had been properly convinced that Gr: Britain was seriously dis-
posed for Peace, I should have rested on an Instruction to our
Plenipotentiary " in no case to give up a common right of Fishery."
But I have seen Reason to wish for a Stipulation that Britain shall
not disturb us in the Exercise of that Right. If France can harbour
no too-interested Views in regard to that grand Branch of Com-
merce, Britain surely would make every advantage of our Inatten-
tion to it at the Hour of Peacemaking. And it has seemed to me
as if some Persons here were much more bent upon coaxing than
upon forcing a Peace from our Enemy; We are told that Passen-
gers and Letters are put on shore in Nth. Carolina from a Vessel
arrived in Cheseapeak which left Rochelle the loth of May. We
have not had a Line from our Appointments in France for a long
Season. Mr. Gerard reed. Letters via Boston, as mentioned in
yr. Gazettes but they were not of very modern date.
We had a Communication from him in a private Audience ^
Yesterday but under the Injunctions of the House for Secrecy,
so that A and B will be stigmatized if they communicate the
Substance in a private confidential Letter, should they be dis-
I Journab of the Continental Congress, xiv. 821.
no JVarren -Adams Letters [ 1779
covered, while C and D, under the Signature of Americanus or
0 Tempora 0 Mores, may publish the whole to the World in a
News Paper.
I find that Gentlemen in your Neighborhood are rather back-
ward to accept a Delegation to Congress. The Reasons lay fair to
Conjecture. Some cannot in Conscience and Honor hold several
Appointments incompatible with each other; and Some cannot
bring themselves to consent to sacrifice Time, Health and Estate
for a Station of abundant Anxiety and an equal Portion of
Obloquy. I presume that all new elected Members ought to come
forward before an old one though he has had a whole years Respite.
One of your State would have had a terrible time here for several
months back if he had been an acting Delegate. He must have
gone against the Interests of his Constituents or the Designs of
his favorite old Associates.
Mrs. Lovell writes that you had a Confirmation of the Sth.
Carolina good news by a Vessel in at the Hyannas. I am sorry for
that preparatory Contrast to what I now must tell you. The
Print of last Tuesday is Full on the Head of Disappointment; and
Genl. Lincoln writes me June 5th: "Matters are not going on right
here and if this Department is not immediately attended to by
Congress and an army sent more respectable than the one already
here, this State must be lost. You will see by my Letter to Con-
gress that by the loth of Augst. there will be but few troops on the
Ground unless reinforcements arrive, which I have little reason to
expect^ I will not venture to write to you concerning the State
of our grand army. I will leave that for Major Rice^ to tell with
the Minute Anecdotes of the Southern Department. With Esteem
and Aft'ection your humb Servt.
J. L.
I Nathan Rice, aid to General Lincoln.
1779] IVarren- Adams Letters
III
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plymouth, N. E., July 29th, 1779
My Dear Sir, — I am told that In the few Letters which have
been received from you here you complain greatly that your
Friends dont write to you oftener, and that you seldom hear from
America. I easily conceive such a Situation painful, and have con-
tributed my mite to prevent it by writing by every good oppor-
tunity and long Letters too, for I know that People in high Sta-
tions have their Curiosity as well as others, and if they assume
Brevity themselves in their Letters, they love to have matters in
detail from others, upon this Principle I filled a large sheet which
went six weeks ago per Capt. Thompson in a little flying Schooner,
which I dare say will run clear and deliver you the Letter in
safety, and make it unnecessary to be lengthy in this. Our Spirits
have been alternately raised and depressed by the accounts we
have had at different times from South Carolina, sometimes the
British Army has been wholly routed, and destroyed, and at
others were advancing with a prospect of carrying Charlestown,
in short the accounts both here and at Philadelphia have been
interrupted, confused and uncertain. I dont learn that Congress
ever get any regular Official Accounts. I had a Letter from Mr.
Lovel of the i8th Instant, In which he gives such accounts as they
had received from Transient Persons, from which compared with
each other he dared only to Infer that we might expect good Tid-
ings from thence. I now hear a Vessel arrived at New London in a
short passage, says the Britons had reached their Shipping and
Embarked. I dont understand how it is that these fellows can
prowl about a Country for six months, "with an Army of Conti-
nentals and Militia all round them, and then get off without much
loss.
Gen'l Sullivan is gone into the Woods with about 5000 Men.
(an Expedition I have no great Opinion of) while the Enemy have
been ravaging the Coasts of Connecticut and burning their Towns,
etc., etc., according to the true Spirit of Magnanimity and Hu-
manity of the Plan expressed by their Commissioners, if there be
no Check to their proceedings, it seems to me this is their Plan of
112 JVarren -Adams Letters [ 1779
Operation, for the present Campaigne. if it be Infamous for its
Barbarism, or Contemptible for its Malicious Littleness, British
Historians and Poets may reconcile it if they can to their boasted
national Politeness and Magnanimity, or which is more probable
deny the facts, the last we hear of them is at Rhode Island, what
Town is the object of the next Expedition is uncertain. I suppose
they will soon work themselves out of Stock on that side and
must come round the Cape to find new objects to glut their
Cruelty and revenge.
You will find by the Papers that a Detachment from Gen'l
Washington's Army under Gen'l Wayne has shewn what the
Spirit of Enterprize may do if exerted, we just hear that Count
D'Estaing has gained a great Naval Victory in the West Indies.
I wish it may prove true, if it does probably some of their Ships
will be sent this way, to avoid Hurricanes, and assist us. Our
Continental Ships as well as Privateers have been very success-
full, many Prizes are sent in. We are now engaged in an Expedi-
tion against the Enemy, who have made a Lodgment at Penob-
scot, about 20 Sail of Armed Vessels of different forces sailed
about 10 days ago to join 1600 Troops assembled at the Eastward,
if the Enemy do not draw of their Force, or reinforce them they
are stupid indeed, if they do the last, our Fleet may be in danger,
and a Capital Loss may ensue. I gave you an account in my last
of the deplorable State of our Currency, since which an alarm of
danger from that quarter has become so general, as to form Asso-
ciations of Merchants and a pretty general Convention of dele-
gates from the several Towns at Concord. I have some Expecta-
tions from these measures, whether they sprung from Fear, or a
resolute Fortitude, from self Interest, or genuine Patriotism, you
will see their several proceedings in the Papers.
In September we are to have a Convention at Cambridge to
form a Constitution of Government, this is to go by the Mercury
Packet Capt. Samson, who carries dispatches of Congress, what
they contain I dont know, I hope some honourable appointment
for you. I have felt some resentment lately for your detention in
Europe without being in a public active Character and Station.
I am however assured by Mr, Adams that a great Majority of
1779] Ti^arren- Adams Letters 113
Congress have very favourable Sentiments and designs with
regard to you.
There goes Passenger' in this Packet Mr. Elkanah Watson,^ a
young Gentleman I am told of very good Character, he is Son of
Capt. Watson of this Town, and a remote relation of mine, he has
lived and served his Time with John Browne of Providence, and I
suppose is now in pursuit of Commercial plans, he intends to go
to Paris, and seems to be possessed of a Laudable Ambition to be
taken Notice of by Gentlemen of distinction, you will therefore
by some Attention to him cherish a good Principle in the Mind of
a youth and oblige Your Friend and Humble Servant,
J. Warren
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Sir, — This Morning your Vigalent and invariable Friend
wrote you a Long Letter which makes it unnecessary for me to
take up my pen, nor should I have done it by this opportunity,
but in Compliance with the Wishes of Him who is so partial as to
think it in my power to Contribute to the Entertainment of a
Gentleman who (from Interest, from Vanity, and from more
Noble principles) has such a Multitude of Correspondents. There
is such Variety of Genius occasionally exerted in this way that
were it not for the adverse Circumstances which prevents a safe
passage you would have Little Cause to Complain that you was
Forgotten on this side the Atlantic. Your Iliad would be Replete
with Intellgence and your Cabinet Crouded with Epistolary
Lumber, among which if you had Leasure to Retrospect you
would find several unanswered from a Lady who makes no Claim
to a Reply but from your politeness and Friendship. Neither of
which will I suspect or Censure till assured in some Future para-
graph that you have not time to answer Letters but when the
Interest of the public or the Indispensable Duties of private Life
Require it.
Certain I am, did all the political, Military, and Gubenatorial
1 (1758-1842), author of Men and Times o^ the Revolution.
114 TVarren-Adams Letters [1779
Observations which are Designed for your perusal Reach the
Gardens of Passy, you would be willing to unbend a Little, by
indulging to the familiar style of Female Composition. But as
most of them have been Lost through fear, Misfortune, accident
or Treachery, I imagine the Avidity is still kept up, and that you
open Every paquet with Expectation and desire to Investigate
the Plans of statsmen and survey the Martial opperations of the
Heros of a Country whose Honour and Happiness you have so
much at Heart.
And though no one is better qualified to penetrate the Arcana
of American politics than yourself, yet I think you must be sur-
prised at the inconsistency of Character which appears in some
and at a Loss, if not for the stimulus that provoked, yet for the
Influence which carried into Execution certain Resolves which
have been painful to the best, and a Rich Repast to the Worst
Men that Disgrace your Native Land.
How much longer shall we be Embarassed and Distressed by
the selfish insiduous arts of Gamblers, Courtiers, and Stock
Jobbers among ourselves, while a Mercyless Foe is laying waste
our Borders, Burning our Defenceless Cities, and Murdering the
Innocent of all ages and Ranks.
The spirit of party has entered into all our Departments, the
Deanites, that is to say the Votaries of pleasure or the Men of
Taste and Refinement, make no inconsiderable Figure. Some Deify
the phantom Fashion, whether she appears in a French, a British,
or American Dress: while others Worship only at the shrine of
plutus. yet the old Republicans, (a solitary few) with decent
solemnity and confidence still persevere, their Hands unstained
by Bribes, though poverty stares them in the face, their hearts
unshaken by the Levity, the Luxury, the Caprice or Whim, the
Folly or ingratitude of the times, when we survey the picture we
cannot but sigh with a late celebrated writer, "Alas for poor
Human Nature."
On my way from Boston I lodged a week since at the foot of
Pens Hill, the Family there are well, and as happy as possible in
the absence of a Tender Husband, and a Fond Father. More
perticuler accounts you will doubtless have by this conveyance
1779] W^arren 'Adams Letters 115
from the Mistress of the Mansion. There I had the pleasure of
seeing your signature to several short Letters which lead us to
hope our Calamities will be shortened, or Rather not increased.
As from a long Friendship with him, and a perticular Intimacy
with his Lady, I feel myself sensibly touched by the Death of Dr.
Winthrop, I cannot but mingle a simpathetic tear on this occasion
with you, and his philosophic Friend at Passy. Both of whom so
highly esteemed, and were so intimately acquainted with his Vir-
tues, in his literary, patriotic, and Christian Character. I fear it
will be long before Harvard sees a successor that will fill the
Chair of the professor with Equal Honour and Ability.^
Let me assure you sir, when I begun this I designed but one
page but you are so well acquainted with the Loquacity of the sex
that you will easily believe I check my own inclinations when at
the Bottom of the Third I subscribe the Name of your sincere
Friend and Humble Servant
Marcia Warren
Plimouth, July 29, 1779.
Mercy Warren to Abigail Adams Adams mss.
Eleriver, August 6, 1779
My Dear Friend, —
And are you sure the News is true,
And are you sure He's come.
Beneath the shady Forrest of Ele River, while my Best Friend
has walked towards the fertile plain, to survey the Reapers, or
perhaps ascends the Rugged Hills to vi-ew the sportive Flocks, I
take up my pen to congratulate you, most sincerely to congratu-
late you on the safe Return of yours, from the busy and wearisome
scenes of politics, pleasure, and politeness, to the still Delights of
Domestic Felicity, where the Gladned Mother can scarcely sup-
press the tear of Rapture, to listen and smile alternately at the
Narrations of her young traveler, and the simple tale, with which
I Prof. John Winthrop died May 3, 1779. Mrs. Warren composed some verses ad-
dressed to the widow which are printed in her Poems, 235.
ii6 TVarren- Adams Letters [1779
the two younger Masters (emulous for papahs Attention) strive
to entertain him, while the observing Daughter silently watches
every accent, and treasures up every article of Inteligence for her
future improvement, the Father thanks his Negligent Country-
men for suffering him so soon to Indulge in the Highest Joys of
Life. But the Patriot must secretly chide the want of Decission,
that Inattention to the Interests of the States, that has permlted
him thus early to leave Europe, when by a longer stay he might
have rendered them such essential service.^
When I participate the Family Happiness, and take a part in
the Felicity of my Friend, I flatter myself it is an Emenation of
Benevolence.
But there is not a spark of patriotism in the Cordial Gratula-
tion in the larger scale which is the Measure of patriotic Merit,
what are the little streams of social affection, the Heart felt
pleasure of the Wife, the parent and the Friend, who would not
sacrifice without a sigh these smaller Considerations when pro
bono publico requires, always assured of the Gratitude and ap-
plause of the unchanging Multitude.
But to be serious both you and I wish well to our Country, and
will hope that some Good may result even from the Mistakes of
her Rulers.
It is strongly impressed on my mind that the Return of a
Gentleman rather unexpectedly to his American Friends, may give
a New turn to the state of parties, and eventually be productive
of Happy Consequences. But my design is to say little of public
affairs. The full Heart enwrapt (after the Anxieties and impa-
tience of a long absence) in the tender scenes of Mutual affection
has no Room at pres[ent for] Foreign Cares, yet hope your own
Happiness will not prevent the Recollection, nor his Avocations
the Completion of a promise you made when we parted to come
to Plimouth soon after Mr. Adams came home, you little thought
then I should have a Demand upon you so soon. However I
shall not relinquish it. I will not admit even the Indolence of
Felicity as an Excuse. And though it has been observed by some
that Indolence is characteristic of Genius, I think Generosity
I John Adams returned from France August 2, 1779.
1779] IVarren-Adams Letters 117
indicates a Greatness of soul that will supply the Defects of
Genius, but when we seen them united in their Exertions to
Bestow Happiness, we then see the perfection of Human Nature.
And with my Friendly and Respectful Compliments to Mr.
Adams you will tell him this Visit shall be placed on the List of
Charities. But if he is a Believer in the Doctrine of supereroga-
tion^ he will have more to do, for more will certainly be required.
Mean time I shall hear from you both if you wish to Gratify
your assured and affectionate Friend
Marcia Warren
My Regards to Monsieur Francy[?], and to the sister of the
young Frenchman.
James Lovell to James Warren
Aug. 13 th, 1779
Dear Sir, — Tho', on the one hand, I may be perfectly right in
supposing that it is almost immaterial to which individual, of a
select number of Patriots in Boston who honor me with their
Correspondence, I, from time to time, make direct confidential
Communications, immaterial I mean so far as relates to the meer
matter of Information, yet, surely it must appear odd, at least, if
not ungrateful, that I should send Scrawl after Scrawl to one who
replys in the Ratio of two to seven while I suffer a long very
entertaining Letter, from another, of July 19th to lay by me un-
acknowledged ten days.
Apprized as you must have been by Mr. S. A[dams] of the
Principles, Views and Conduct of most political Men here, you
may notwithstanding have been unacquainted even till now with
the exact Contents of a Paper which is handed about in a particu-
lar Circle in your Neighbourhood so as to influence the minds of
some good men as well as to strengthen the Plots of some bad
ones. I wish you to see it. Mr. Ellis Gray a worthy Man,^ will
I He had been chairman of the Boston Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and
Safety in 1776.
ii8 W^arren 'Adams Letters [1779
put you in the Train of having it, I doubt not: it is too much for
me to copy at this Time, and perhaps needless. For if Mr. Gray
cannot furnish you with it Mr. Thos. Gushing can. The latter also
can, if he will, tell by whose extraordinary Gare it was sent to
Boston. I own I have much Guriosity to know.
Sir, you may see the low arts that have been used to prejudice
the Minds of Gongress so far as to make them destroy the good
Man's prospect of the best Reward in Republics — the approba-
tion of the People. You may see it by the Use that has been made
of the following Scrap laid on the Table by Mr. G. Morris May
3d, 1779. Tis the Extract of a Letter from Paris dated the 7th of
Deer., 1778, and said to be written by a confidential Friend o/the
Minister of the Marine. Mr. Holker furnished it, so that it was
probably to him.
"Mr. J Adams, le Depute ne reussit pas ici que de Raison: 11 parait etre
entierement livre au Sr. Lee, lequel comme vous le scavez est une espece de
fol."
Mr. J. Adams the Deputy does not succeed here further than is reasonable:
He appears to be intirely devoted to Mr. Lee, who, as you know, is a sort of
mad-man.
The rest of the paper relates to an appointment of a Monsr.
D'Obre ^ who is Son in Law of Mr. Schweighauser at Nantes, in-
sinuating that he betrays our Vessels to the People of Jersey be-
cause he is Son of the Mair of that Place. The Maliciousness of
which I have many Vouchers by me that prove. The Paper con-
cludes with an assertion that if Doctr. Franklin is not sole Deputy
in France Things will go on but lamely or in his own Phrase with
"but one wing."
I hope Mr. Adams will in a few days be with you: he was left
off the western Isles on the 29th of June by a Vessel which arrived
at Virginia Aug. ist. I hope he will come soon on to Gongress.
And, as G[u]sh[in]g says, "People here" are of opinion that he
ought not to come as a Delegate, but in his present Gharacter,
and with a proper Dignity, as if he was fit to deal with a gallant
Nation. "People here," are my Gircle. If Mr. A[dams] is reso-
lutely determined not to negotiate a Peace for us upon being
I Dobree.
1779] W^arren- Adams Letters 119
unanimously chosen for such a Work, then I would wish him to
have an Election as Delegate if he only tarries a Month upon it;
the Election to be made after he is here.
As to Peace, I am persuaded the eastern Delegates have always
been justly dubious of the reality of any honest Intentions in
Britain, tho' we were sure France and Spain were willing to know
our Sentiments about Newfoundland and the Floridas. I am
pretty sure that what the Gazettes say of the Mediation of Spain
being rejected is true. Mr. Adams has sent Word that he is com-
ing with good News, and I am told that a Vessel is now in this
River after a short Passage from Nantes. I will go to Congress
and will not seal till I know whether I can tell you any Thing
more explicitly.
I find no Letters or Intelligence. But shall probably give you a
Confirmation by next post of what we are told authentically from
Martinique. With much Esteem I am, Sir, Your humble Servant,
James Lovell
[Endorsed:] I broke the Seal to tell that on the 28th of July at
15 Leagues from Boston in Latt 42 Mr. Adams was left in the
Sensible 36 Guns with a Vessel of 24 and several of 14 and 16.
John Adams to Mercy Warren
[September, 1779.'']
Madam, — A few days ago, I was favoured with your obliging
Letter of 29 July, and am much obliged to the Gentleman who
perswaded you to write, as well as to you; for complying with his
Desire.
I shall never have so many Correspondents as to make me
neglect the Letters of a Lady, whose Character I revere so much
and whose Correspondence I prize so highly. I have had the
Pleasure of two Letters, at Passy, both of which I very punctually
answered, and should have answered all if they had been one
hundred.
In Truth, Madam, I had very little Intelligence from America
I20 JVarren- Adams Letters [1779
during my Absence. Your Friend, was as usual my best Corre-
spondent, among the Gent. From Congress I could obtain no
Intelligence at all.
If I comprehend the Resolves you mention, I am not at a Loss
for the Influence, that obtained them. A factious Demagogue,
disappointed in his Views of Ambition and Avarice, assisted by,
a numerous Band of mercantile Speculators in Contract with him,
on both side[s] the Water, with a factious, foreign Minister, Con-
sel, and Vice Consull, have forced up into Vegetation these Hot-
bed Plants, by the best opinion I can form.
I fear, Madam, we shall be much longer, distressed by Gamblers
and Stockjobbers. I can see no End to it. Yet sometimes Things
are ordered better than we can foresee.
The Follies and Frivolities of our Countrymen, are too Serious
to be ridiculous. Time however, and the Perseverance of the few
who now, disapprove them, may produce a Cure. We shall find,
by and by, that those who corrupt our Symplicity, will be re-
strained. The Government, influenced chiefly by the Yeomanry
will, after a little while, take Care of the Coxcombs and Coquettes.
Our Calamities, I think, will not be greatly increased, altho
they may be prolonged.
I join with you, most sincerely. Madam, in deploring the Loss
of our great and excellent Friend Dr. Winthrop, for whose Name
and Character I shall ever entertain the highest Veneration.
The University, the State and the Republick of Letters, have all
Cause to lament the Death of this able and amiable Man. I am
with great Respect, and Esteem,
John Adams
John Adams to James Warren
Braintree, Sept. ii, 1779
My dear Friend, — I was told in Boston that Mr. Avery ^ and
Mr. Wendell ^ had been proposed for Judges of the Inf [erio]r C[our]t
for the County of Suffolk, in the Room of my Friend Pemberton.^
I John Avery, died 1796. 2 Oliver Wendell (1733-1818).
3 Samuel Pemberton had died August 21, 1779.
1779] JVarren- Adams Letters 121
I said not a Word, but since I have been at home, I have reflected
upon this and altho these Gentlemen have amiable Characters I
cannot think them so well qualified for this Place as Mr. Cranch,^
whose great Natural Abilities, and whose late Application to the
Study of the Law and to public affairs, made him occur to my
Mind. It is the first Time of my whole Life, that I recollect that
I ever proposed a Relation of mine, for a Place, and I certainly
should not have done it in this Case, if he had not, entirely with-
out my knowledge untill my arrival, been brought into public View.
If you think as I do, that the public will be as faithfully and ably
served by such an Appointment, as by any other, and will men-
tion it to Mr. Sever,^ who is acquainted with him, perhaps it may
be proposed in Council. There is but one objection that I know
of, and that is, he is my Brother. This may be enough.' in haste
yours,
John Adams
James Warren to James Lovell
Boston, [December , 1779]
My dear Sir, — Two Days ago recieved your kind favour of
the 29th Novr. I am much obliged to you for your attention to
my Reputation. I am not at all surpriz'd at the Arts of base men.
I have seen so many of them during the Course of my Pilgrimage
that they are become familiar, but in no way can they attack me
with so little effect as by Imputations or Suggestions of Fraud or
Negligence in my public Conduct. I entred into the Service of the
Public from the purest Principles. I haVe serv'd them a great
while; I have spent in that way the best Part of my Life, and
sacrific'd my Interest, and now my Conscience bids me brave
every attack upon my Integrity and assiduity, were my abilities
equal to either, I would extend the Challenge. No Instance per-
haps was ever mark'd with more malevolence, than that you have
1 Richard Cranch (1726-1811), who had married a daughter of Rev. William Smith.
2 William Sever (i 729-1 809).
3 A letter from James Warren to Arthur Lee, September 17, 1779, is printed in Lee,
Life oj Arthur Lee, 11. 271.
122 JVarren- Adams Letters [1779
given me a Copy of, and the Falsehood and Misrepresentation are
equal to the malice, all these are so gross and the Improbability
so glaring, that nothing but the manner of conveying the Informa-
tion can entitle it to the attention of the marine Comtee or
induce them to lay it before Congress on that Subject I need make
no observations. I shall only say to you that whatever Notice
is taken of it, the N[avy] B[oard] are ready for the severest
Scrutiny, the N. B. have great merit, they have done nearly all
the Business of your Navy, which is a full Evidence of their Dili-
gence, their Integrity will appear on examination, and if I mis-
take not will shine in Proportion to the Strictness of the Scrutiny.
We have done Business enough to earn a fortune and are now so
far from making one that all the emoluments we have ever
deriv'd from this Office have not paid our simple board, at the
most moderate rate, without a Glass of Wine for ourselves or any
Indulgence whatever. The Commissions mention'd in the anony-
mous Letter are groundless and ridiculous, and so indeed is the
whole, unless what relates to Mr. Deshon's agency for the french
at N. London which may be true or false, I know nothing about it.
with Regard to the authors I have no difficulty about them, or the
motives to this Business, the authors are, I think, displac'd offi-
cers and their Connections, and their motives are resentment and
Revenge and the whole Process is in Character, but I forbear to
take up your time or give you further Trouble on this Subject and
only say, that if Congress at any time choose to appoint a better
man in my room, I shall be glad to resign. I should have done it
before for other reasons, if I had not attended to the requests of
my Friends, for I really cannot afford to stay here unless Congress
have increased our Salarys.
A great Dearth of foreign News has prevail'd here for a long
time and our Impatience is severely tried on this Occasion, much
was expected from the great military and naval operations in
Europe, and we get nothing certain about them, a rumor prevails
this morning that a vessel at Cape Ann from Martinico brings
advice that the English and combin'd Fleets in Europe are call'd
in, and that a treaty of Peace under the mediation of Russia was
on foot, this is far from being certain, if it proves true it will have
1780] JVarren 'Adams Letters 123
a sudden and curious operation upon our Currency and com-
mercial matters, our internal matters remain pretty much in
their usual Situation. I suppose you are before now informed of
the Election of all the members of Congress for this State, and of
Genl. Ward in the room of Mr. Dana. I hear Genl. Hancock
intends soon to set out for Congress that he may be able to return
home early in the Spring.
The French Frigate that carried Mr. Adams has been spoke
with seven Days after sailing, 200 Leagues to the Eastward, all
well I hope she is now in France.
I beg my Compliments may be made to your Brethren, and
particularly to my good Friend Mr. Gerry. I am your Friend and
humble Servt.
Elbridge Gerry to James Warren
Philadelphia, Jany. 25, 1780
My dear Sir, — It is a long Time since We have heard from our
Friends eastward, and We impute it to the Severity of the Winter,
but yesterday I received by the Post your agreable Favour of the
27th Deer., the Desire of which was increased by the Detention.
I should have been glad to have seen your Remarks on the
anonymous Letter, but Mr Lovell informs me, he has not yet
received them.
The Policy of America will succeed or fail in my Opinion, in
proportion to her Exertions for establishing a Navy. I well re-
member that You was the first to promote it, and altho It was
disapproved by some in Point of Time, the Benefit derived from
the Measure has clearly manifested the Wisdom of it. the State of
our Finances will check it's present Growth, but I doubt not that
it will soon flourish, and that Time will suggest Improvements in
the Arrangements and Regulations of the Boards that are ap-
pointed to cherish and conduct it. I am very sensible that the
officers of these Departments have been poorly rewarded, and was
lately of a Committee who reported that their present Salaries
should have a Retrospect to Novr. 1778, but the Subject is not yet
124 JVarren- Adams Letters [1780
considerd by Congress: I think however that You have their
fullest Confidence.
Congress have not yet determined whether to remove eastward
or southward; both are talked of, but your Remarks respecting
the Navy, are conclusive in my Mind, in Favour of the former.
The great objects of Attention in Congress are Oeconomy and
Resources. Necessity dictates their Measures, and I hope will
produce salutary Effects, the Departments of the Muster and
Barrack Masters are abolished and the Business of the former
annexed to the office of Inspector. Generals Schuyler and Mifflin
and Colo Pickering are appointed a Committee,^ with full Powers
to inform themselves by Inspection or otherwise of the State of the
Staff Departments, to call on any of the officers thereof for Infor-
mation, to discharge all persons therein that are supernumerary
or delinquent, to break up unnecessary issuing Posts and establish
others where requisite, to stop all Issues of Rations not indis-
pensibly necessary for the Service, and in Conjuncture with
General Washington to reduce the Number of Horses and Waggons
in the Service and Expence of Transportation, and to adopt a
general Reformation of the Departments, the States are to be
also called on for their respective quotas of Supplies and authorized
to stop all purchases by continental officers, when Measures are
adopted for complying with the Requisitions of Congress; and to
induce the States to purchase cheap, they are to be credited equal
prices for Articles of the same Kind and quality, and in proportion
for other Articles.
I inclose You the News papers containing three sensible Letters
by a Gentleman in Maryland on "Appreciation," and can give
You nothing new, excepting certain Information from the Court
of France that by their Interposition the british Court have failed
in their Applications for Recruits to the several Powers of
Germany.
The Massachusetts Delegates are sitting in Congress by Vertue
only of a Certificate of their Appointment from the Deputy
Secretary. They have never aspired to be commissioned, but wish
not to loose their Rank as warrant officers.
I Journals of the Continental Congress, xvi. 77, 79.
lySo] TVarren- Adams Letters 125
I observe your Apprehensions relative to a new Q[uarter]
M[aster] G[eneral], but have no Reason to suppose them well
grounded, altho the Matter has been suggested in Congress. I re-
main Sir with every Sentiment of respect your Friend and hum Ser.
E. Gerry
John Adams to James Warren
Paris, Fehy. 23 d, 1780
Dear Sir, — The French Court seem to be now every day more
and more convinced of the good Policy, and indeed the Necessity
of prosecuting the War with Vigour in the American Seas. They
have been and are making great Preparations accordingly, and
are determined to maintain a clear Superiority.
M. de la Motte Piquet has with him, the Hannibal^ the M-ag-
nifique^ the Diadem, the Dauphin Royal, the Artesien, the Re-
flectir, and the Vengeur, and if M. de Grace has joined him from
Chesapeak Bay, the Rohuste, the Fendant and the Sphinx, in all
ten Ships of the Line.
M. de Guichen is gone to join him, with the Couronne, eighty
Guns, the Triomphant, eighty, the Palmier, seventy-four, the
Victoire, the Destin, the Conquer ant: the Citoyen, the Intrepide,
the Hercule, the Souverain, all of seventy-four; the Jason, the
Actionaire, the Caton, the Julien, the Solitaire, the St. Michel, the
Triton, all of sixty-four. The Frigates the Medee, Courageuse,
Gentille and the Charmante, all of thirty-two. He had above an
hundred Sail of Vessels under his Convoy, and the Regiments of
Touraine and Enghien, of more than thirteen hundred Men each,
and the second Battalion of Royal Comtois and of Walsh of seven
hundred Men each — making in the whole more than four thou-
sand Troops. Besides these, there are seven more preparing at
Brest to sail.
Messs. Gerard, Jay and Charmichael are arrived at Cadiz in a
French Frigate, the Confederacy having been dismasted and driven
to Martinique. The Alliance carries this with Mr. Lee and Mr.
Izard, who will no doubt be treated with all Respect at Boston.
126 JVarren- Adams Letters [1780
Notwithstanding the Commotions in England and Ireland, the
Success of Prevost at Savannah, and of Rodney off Gibraltar, and
even the silly Story of Omoa in South America,^ is enough to em-
bolden the Ministry to go on with a Debt of two hundred Millions
already contracted, to borrow twelve or fourteen Millions a Year
in the Beginning of a War with France and Spain, each having
a greater Navy than they ever had, each discovering a greater
fighting Spirit than they ever did before, and obliging the English
to purchase every Advantage at a dear Rate.
The Premiums and Bounties that they are obliged to give to
raise Men, both for the Service by Sea and Land, and the Interest
of Money they borrow, are greater than were ever given in any
former Wars, even in the last Year of the last War. This cannot
always last, nor indeed long. Yet I dont expect to see Peace very
soon.
I have sent a Trunk to the Care of the Navy Board, for my
dear Mrs. A[dams], in which is something for Mrs. W[arren].
Pray write me as often as possible, and send the News papers to
me. Your Friend and Servant,
John Adams
John Adams to James Warren Adams mss.
Paris, Hotel de Valois,
Rue Richelieu, Fehy. 28, 1780
Dear Sir, — I have written so fully to Congress and to par-
ticular Friends before, and have so little time now, that I have
little more to do than make up a Letter for the Bearer to deliver
you.
The Marquis de la Fayette is going to Boston in a Frigate and
surely he wants no Recommendation of mine; his own Merit and
his Fame are enough. He has been the same Friend to us here
that he was in America. He has been very assiduous to procure
Cloaths and Arms for our Army and to promote our Interest in
every other way within his Circle. I can tell you nothing from
I In Honduras, Central America.
lySo] JVarren- Adams Letters 127
Madrid as yet. But I do hope Mr. Jay will succeed. England
may possibly try to get Russia and Denmark to negotiate for
Peace, but she will not sue merely because she will not consent to
such Terms as every American holds indispensable. Holland is
very angry, but does not resent. She has been very ill treated,
but cannot avenge herself. I beg that every Word I say to you
about Peace may be kept secret, because I shall write to Congress
upon that subject all that is proper for me to say to any Body in
America.
I have written you by the Alliance^ which will sail soon. Lan-
dais is at Paris. Jones goes in the Alliance. Your son is on board,
by this time inured to the [indecipherable] to War. We have not
yet learned who are our delegates this year, nor how the Consti-
tution goes on.
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
Febry. 28, 1780
By Capt. Sampson there came two Letters, one from Mr. Lee,
one from a Mr. Gellee,^ to Mr Adams; by Mr. Lee's I find that
affairs go on in the old course at Passy, the Counsel there is com-
posed of the same Honorable Members, says Mr. Lee, as when you
left it, " with the reinforcement of Samll. Wharton,^ Samll. Petrie
and the Alexanders,^ a match is concludd between one of the
daughters ^ and Jonathan Williams; this August and natural family
compact will I hope promote the publick as well as private
Interests."
There is a party in France of worthless ambitious intrigueing
Americans, who are disposed to ruin the reputation of every Man
whose views do not coinside with their selfish schemes, of this
you will be satisfied when I tell you that mr. Gellee writes thus,
1 N. M. Gellee, secretary to Dr. Franklin.
2 Member of the firm of IBaynton, Wharton and Morgan.
3 Robert, William and Alexander John Alexander, sons of William Alexander, Lord
Provost of Edinburgh.
4 Mariamne Alexander.
128 JVarren- Adams Letters [1780
After your departure reports were circulated here that you were gone
to England and that during your Station here, you had entertaind an
Illicit correspondence with the British Ministry, it was even published
here that mr Samll. Adams had headed a conspiration and contrived to
surrender Boston to the English. In vain did I endeavour to shew them
the absurdity of the former opinion, by your embarking in the same ship
with the Chevalier, but you know the people in this country are in
general very Ignorant of American affairs which give designing Men an
opportunity to shew their Malignity.
How happy, my dear Madam, would America have been, had
it been her Lot, to have contended only with foreign Enemies, but
the rancour of her internal foes have rendred the task of the
patriot peculiarly difficult and Dangerous.
I some times contemplate the Situation of my absent Friend,
honourd as he is at present with the confidence of his Country, as
the most critical and hazardous Embassy to his reputation his
honour, and I know not but I may add life, that could possibly
have been entrusted to him. I view him beset with the machina-
tions of envy, the snares of treachery, the malice of dissimulation
and the clandestine stabs of calumny.
can the Innocence of the dove or the wisdom of a more subtle
animal serene him from all these foes t can the strictest Integrity
and the most unwearied exertions for the benlfit and happiness of
Mankind secure to him more, than the approbation of his own
Heart,
all other applause without that would be of small estimation,
yet one would wish not to be conslderd as a selfish designing
Baneful! foe, when they have worn out their lives in the Service
of their country.
Those who envy him, his situation see not with my Eyes, nor
feel with my Heart, perhaps I feel and fear too much.
I have heard this winter of a Letter from a Lady ^ to her son
containing strictures upon Lord Chesterfields Letters. I have not
been favourd with a sight of it, tho I have wished for it. a collec-
tion of his Lordships Letters came Into my Hands this winter
which I read, and tho they contain only a part of what he has
I Mrs. Warren.
lySo] W^arren- Adams Letters 129
written, I found enough to satisfy me, that his Lordship with all
his elegance and graces, was a Hypocritical polished Libertine, a
mere Lovelace, but with this difference, that Lovelace was the
most generous Man of the two, since he had justice sufficient to
acknowledge the merrit he was destroying, and died penitently
warning others, whilst his Lordship not content, himself with
practiseing; but is in an advanced age, inculcateing the most
immoral pernicious and Libertine principals into the mind of a
youth whose natural Guardian he was, and at the same time calling
upon him to wear the outward garb of virtue knowing that if that
was cast aside, he would not be so well able to succeed in his
persuits.
I could prove to his Lordship were he living that there was one
woman in the world who could act consequentially more than 24
hours, since I shall dispise to the end of my days that part of his
character, yet I am not so blinded by his abuse upon our sex, as
not to allow his Lordship the merrit of an elegant pen, a knowledge
of Mankind and a compiler of many excellent maxims and rules
for the conduct of youth, but they are so poisoned with a mixture
of Libertinism that I believe they will do much more injury than
benifit to Mankind. I wish, my dear Madam, you would favour
me with a coppy of the Letter said to be in your power. . . .
Portia
John Adams to James Warren
Paris, Hotel de Valois,
Rue de Richelieu, March i6th, 1780
Dear Sir, — Your Letter of the 13th of June last, is not an-
swered, not received 'till my Arrival here. You will be so over-
loaded with News about the Time this will reach You, that I will
not add to the Heap. We have none from America a long Time —
none since Christmas. You say I was envied — perhaps so: but
they would not have envied me in the Gulph Stream, nor when
chased forty eight Hours by three British Frigates, nor when
sailing in a Ship, leaking seven Feet of Water in an Hour, in a
130 TVarren -Adams Letters [1780
Gale of Wind that blowed the poor Courier de U Europe, our fellow
Voyager, to the Bottom with all her People, nor when devoured
by Vermin in Company with Mules, Hogs, and Poultry, on the
Mountains of Gallicia. They would not envy Mr. Jay in the dis-
masted Confederacy, etc. They would not envy Us here, at least
they ought not, for it is not an enviable Situation : to see things go
wrong for want of adopting the simplest and most obvious plans
in the World. However, I have seen enough of Envy to know,
that it will have its perfect Work. Let it. It is a Distemper, that
I hope will never seize me. I had rather of the two have another,
which is sometimes they say contracted here by an Acquaintance
with the elegant Nymphs of the Boulevards. But enough of this.
The People of England have done me the Honor to talk lately
a great deal about me. They have pleased themselves with the
Tales that the Ministry propagated, that I was coming to London.
Lord North said he wished I had come in the Cartel Ship. I be-
lieve him. But they have no Thoughts of Peace upon my Terms,
i.e. upon American Terms. Ireland however will make herself
independent before ours will be acknowledged: and England will
have a Congress very soon. Ireland and England have learned our
Policy, and are treading in our Steps. Holland is very angry, and
will not always bear. Yet England cannot learn Wisdom. She
will fall like the strong Man. I should be very glad She would
come to her Reason: but she will not a long Time. Your's
John Adams
John Adams to James Warren Adams mss.
Paris, March i8th, 1780
My dear Sir, — Monsieur Jean Baptiste Petry, Secretary to
the Comte de Chatelet, a Marshal of the Camps and Armies of the
King of France, is, as he says, going to America, and as he is con-
nected with some Gentlemen to whom I am much obliged, I can-
not but comply with his Desire and give him a few Letters of
Introduction. He is represented to be a worthy, sensible and
agreeable Man.
lySo] TVarren- Adams Letters 13^
The Marquis de la Fayette sailed about loth March from
Rochelle and will be in Boston, as we hope, by the loth of April.
He will explain to Congress and to General Washington what I
cannot explain to you. The Bearer will give you further Com-
mentaries. This Court will by little and little be convinced of the
true System, after which I hope they will be less unfortunate; in
all human Probability they must be, if they do not neglect it too
long.
Rodney's Fleet seems to have been the favorite of Fortune, but
you know she is a great changeling, and frowns upon one, some-
times in half an hour after having lavished upon him her Smiles and
Favors. We are anxious to know the fate of Charlestown, which
we hope was saved by a Storm.
Faucitte ^ vapours in a Leiden Gazette that he has obtained
40,000 of the Langrave of Hesse. This Soul selling Langrave, as
they call him in Germany, has hardly 40,000 Men in his Domin-
ions. This is the Fruit of the Cracovie. Now I must write more
or you wont understand me. Craquer signifies, in a kind of
familiar banting stile, to lie, and Craqueur is a Lyar. There is a
Tree in the grand Alley of the Palais Royal at Paris which they
call the Tree of Cracovie, from the name of a City in Poland and
its similitude to the Word Craque, I'Arbre de Cracovie. The News
Mongers of Paris assemble commonly under this Tree, so that it is
become proverbial to call false News Les Nouvelles de I'arbre de
Cracovie — News from the Tree of Cracovie.'^ I have spent a
Multitude of Words in Explanation of this Trifle, which does not
deserve them.
Pray introduce Mr. Petry to Madam Warren, the most ac-
complished Lady in America, next to one whom I will not men-
tion, but whose Prerogative of being the first I can never give up.
Affectionately yours.
1 Sir William Fawcett — Faucitt in the Army Lists from 1756-1785 — (1728-1804).
2 Littre, Dictionnaire, i. 879, sub verba Cracovie.
132 JVarren -Adams Letters [1780
Mercy Warren to James Warren
Sunday, Apr. 2, 1780
It appears to me there are very Extraordinary doings among
some of the servants of the public. I have Long been apprehensive
that the Character of a Venerable old Man was in Danger of
being tarnished both from his Connexions and his own aviritious
spirit. I think I told you on the appearance of Dean's address
that I trembled for Dr F[rankli]n, as I wished a Man of his abili-
ties might Descend to the Grave unimpeached by an indulgence
of the Various passions that must mark Every Name with In-
famy. Poor Capt Landais. I pity him yet hope his Character
and Rank may be Retrieved as at present I believe him Greatly
injured; but whether Guilty or Innocent whether sacrificed or
acquited I apprehend this affair in all its Circumstances — when
a Thorough investigation is made will open a Curious system of
Villany. But you know my opinion where there is no Religious
Principle there is no Check and the political and Moral Conduct is
adapted as far as Circumstances will admit to the Narrow Inter-
ests of the individual. The philosopher is the Creature of Caprice
and the Cool Reasoner the sport of passion. True this is Con-
sistent Enough when there are no Views of a higher Existence and
no Wishes but what are Circumscribed within the Limits of a
Golden Hemisphere. But how amazingly different will be Their
Ideas when the Grand Electric spark shall Wrap Creation in
Flames and the Convulsion awake from their Earthey Lodgments
the sceptical tribes of Every Denomination.
I have been Expecting Mr Lee's pamphlet ^ by Every oppor-
tunity. Did you forget it or is it in better hands.'' perhaps Win-
slow May bring it, who I Expect tomorrow as he assures me
he shall then be at Plimouth with Mr Tillotson and Lady and
others.
I hope they will keep the appointment as you know the Diffi-
cultyes of being prepared at all times to Entertain strangers in
I Extracts from a Letter written to the President of Congress, first printed at Williamsburg
in 1779, and reprinted at Philadelphia, 1780.
lySo] IVarren- Adams Letters 133
such a Barren place. I have not been out this afternoon as am a
Little unwell. It has been very Cold and for your sake I choose
to take Good Care of your affectionate Wife
M. Warren
John Adams to Mercy Warren
June 23, 1780
My dear Portia, — We are very much affected with the Loss
of Charlestown it seems the most disagreable affair, We have ever
met with. I dont know that the Consequences, will be bad, but
the Loss of so many Men Ships, and Artillery and Stores is heavy
besides the Town. To maintain it, they must weaken themselves
at N. York and elsewhere. We hope to hear of something to
ballance it.
I inclose a Paper, giving an Account of the Troubles in Lon-
don.^ What they will come to, in the End, I dont know, it seems
hitherto a fanatical Business. Their civil Liberties, and most
essential Interests are forgotten, while they are running mad for
their own contracted notions, it is said, that the Catholic Bill will
be repealed, the true motive for making that Law, with the Min-
istry and King was, to engage the Irish Catholicks, on their
Side, and get them to inlist into the American Service.
In the midst of the dismay of these Mobs comes the News from
Charlestown.
The Ways of Heaven are dark and intricate, it seems as if they
were to be permitted to have success enough, to lead them on,
untill they become the most striking Spectacle of Horror that ever
was seen.
These Riots discover Symptoms of deep distress and misery,
among the lower Classes of People, the particular Spight against
the Prisons is one mark of it. The decided part they took against
the Ministry, shews upon what Ground they stand, it is however a
shocking Scene, the King, seems in a fair Way to the Summit of
all his wishes, absolute Power. Martial Law is very agreable to
I The Gordon riots, June 6-8.
134 W^arren 'Adams Letters [1780
him. G[overnor] Hutchinson died in the Beginning of the Affray.^
Lord Mansfield's House underwent a worse Fate, than his.
I suppose that it will cost two millions Sterling, to indemnify the
Sufferers, this must be added to all the other Expences of the War.
They forget the State of Ireland, France Spain, West Indies, N.
America, the armed Neutrality of the maritime Powers, and their
own distracted State, in their Joy for the News of Charlestown,
which in reality however unpleasant to Us ought to be more
dreadful to them, because it will be a Grave to their Army and a
drain to their Purses without any considerable Advantage.
They however think not of Peace. We are all well.
\No signature^
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Boston, July nth, 1780
My dear Sir, — My last Letters went by my Son Winslow who
left this place about three weeks ago, for Amsterdam, and I hope
will soon be able to deliver them to you at Paris.
At that time I flattered myself that we should be able to hold
Charlestown, but you will find before this reaches you that the
Enemy have got it, with the four Continental Ships that were
ordered there last November, this is a great reduction of our Navy,
and seems to be occasioned more by ill policy, than the fortune of
War. it was certainly a very odd measure to shut up those Ships
in a place where they could not possibly do any service, and where
probably they would be lost, the Loss of Charlestown at first
seemed to have disagreeable Effects, it produced some degree of
dejection, but those Effects were soon changed for more agreeable
ones, it has done more good than hurt, it has waked us from a
profound Sleep, and roused every Man to Action, we shall now
have a fine Army, and they will be supplied and when our Allies
arrive, (who by the way we yet hear Nothing more of than that
they sailed the 2d May) I dare say we shall Beat the Britons,
though flushed with Victory over the Capital of a Country, which
I June 3, at Brompton, near London.
1780] JVarren -Adams Letters 135
had not public Spirit enough in the midst of plenty to supply pro-
visions for those that would fight or Courage to fight themselves,
the Spirit of '75 seems to be revived, our Papers which will be
sent you will give an Account of a Brilliant Action on our side, in
which a few Continental Troops and a few of the brave Jersey
Militia beat back, and drove out of that Country an Army of
British Savages with a loss of 7 or 800 killed and wounded, we
have no other News. As to our Navy the Confederacy is at Phila-
delphia, the Deane and Trumbull are here, the latter repairing her
Injurys suffered by a noble and well conducted Action with a Ship
of superior force. The Alliance laying in France tho' exceedingly
wanted here, our New Constitution is established, and Is to oper-
ate on the last Wednesday in October. The Election of Gov'r,
Lieut. Gov'r and Senate to be made on the beginning of Septem-
ber. Mr. B[owdoin] has again come into public Life that he may
with the greater Advantage stand as a candidate. In competition
with H[ancock] for the highest honor and rank in this State, who
will carry the Election is very uncertain. I dont envy either of
them their feelings, the Vanity of one of them will Sting like an
Adder If it Is disappointed, and the Advancements made by the
other if they dont succeed will hurt his Modest pride, the upper
counties will be for H., the Interest of the other will lay In the
lower ones. I dont hear who is to be the Lieut. [Governor], or
anything about It, only that an Interest is making for C[ushing] in
this Town. If H. Is Chief, why will not C. make an excellent
second. The old General Court will have one short Sessions more
and then Die, and give place to a new one. one of my last gave
you an account of the proceedings of this State with regard to
Money. Notwithstanding which It has continued to depreciate till
it got to 75 and 80 for one. there is no accounting for it, or reason-
ing about it. It is progressive, retrograde, eccentric, regular or
irregular just as the D 1 will have It, and Nobody, not even
Coll. Quincey can tell why. it seems just now to make a pause, and
If there is any reasoning about it I think it will in the Course of a
Month return to about forty, would you wish to hear anything of
the Husbandry of the Country. I have already told you in a
former Letter that we had a most horrible winter, the Spring and
136 JVarren- Adams Letters [1780
former part of the Summer were very dry, the whole Country has
suffered by droughts and some parts of it very severely, we have
lately had fine rains, but they came too late for Hay, and a full
Crop of English Corn. I dont remember that you ever mentioned
to me your Friend the Abbe Raynal's History of the East and West
Indies. I told you before that I was exceedingly pleased with it.
I like it the better because it contains many fine reflections on
Agriculture, and the dignity and advantages of it.
I shall write nothing about your good Family, as Mrs. Adams
will write by this very good Oppertunity herself, and Capt.
Samson ^ will take the best Care of all Letters to you. please to
make my regards to Mr. Dana, and remember me to Mr. Thaxter,
and your two Sons, and believe me to be with Great Sincerity
Your Friend and Humble Servant,
J. Warren
Mr. Gerry has returned from Congress. Mr. Adams and Gen'l
Ward are gone. Mr. Partridge is also returned.
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Boston, July 19, 1780
My Dear Sir, — Having already wrote you pretty largely by
Capt. Samson, this is only to Inform you that two days ago ar-
rived here one Mr. Mitchel ^ with a Load of English Goods from
London, this seems to be a prevailing and encreasing object of
Commerce one arrived in the Spring little Notice was taken of it.
four more Vessels are said to be on their way here, it is certain
there is one, and Mr. Duncan is in her. he and Mitchel married
two Daughters of Geo. Bethune ' I dont say any thing of their
political Principles, there are no Tories or Tory Connections
here, we are all Whiggs, and the Man that hid himself in the heat
of the day, and has never done any thing since has as much Merit
as one that has been in the front of the Battle, these Men had
Address enough to procure flaggs from our Council to carry to
I Of the Mercury packet. 2 Henry Mitchell.
3 George Bethune (d. 1785) married in 1754 Mary Faneuil, niece of Peter Faneuil.
1780] JVarren -Adams Letters 137
England a Number of Prisoners, under the Pretence that they
would carry as many more to France and come out from there
with a Load of Goods. Mitchel now says they would not suffer
an Exchange for the Prisoners they carried, and took their Ships
from them but afterwards paid them for their Ships.
They come boldly in under the Protection of Permits from
Doct'r Franklin. I thought you should be acquainted with these
Circumstances: you are best able to judge if it be good Policy for
us, and consistent with our Connections with France, to carry on
such a Trade, if it be I think it should be publicly avowed, if not
it should be publickly discountenanced, my own Judgment is we
can do very well without it, and that all Intercourse with that
accursed and barbarous Nation should be intirely broke of, and
that we should use ourselves to the Manufactures and Mer-
chandize of other Nations, to prevent as much as possible the
hankering after those of Britain, the Leeks and onions of Egypt,
when a Peace takes place. I have had but one Letter from you
since you left us and that a very short one. I always take pleasure
in your Letters, if you can find Friends out of your own Family,
more pleased with your Friendship, or more Sincere and Zealous
in his or theirs, I will not complain that you do not write to me
oftener. I am Yours sincerely,
J. Warren
Samuel Adams to James Warren
Philadelphia, Augt. 3d, 1780
My dear Sir, — I receivd your favor of the 13th of July by
yesterdays Post. On my Journey I met Mr. Gerry at Hartford,
where we were unexpectedly engaged in publick Business with
Governor Trumbull. I utterly forgot that I had your Letter to
him, but since you have empowerd me to open it, I find, it would
have been of no Advantage to you to have deliverd it to him there.
I waited upon the only Gentleman of the Committee of Commerce
now in Town, who told me your Account was not settled. I urgd
it, and will continue to do so as a Matter which ought not to be
138 TVarren- Adams Letters [1780
delayd. When this is done, I will pursue the Step which you
request.
I do not like the Situations of the two Fleets. The English
appears to be the superior, and while they lie before R[hode]
Island, they may serve two great Purposes, the intercepting the
2d Division from France, and the giving their Cork Fleet an Op-
portunity of arriving at N. York. If our Privatiers were cruising
off the Hook at this Juncture it might be advantageous to them
as well as to the Publick. I am sorry to find that the Trumbull and
the Dean are to run a double and I think a needless Risque of
Falling into the Enemies Hands; but if this be an ill judged
Measure, you are not accountable for it.
The Doctor is this Moment going, which prevents my adding
to this Letter. I refer you to him for Intelligence.
Adieu my dear Sir, and be assured that I am Your affectionate,
S. A
James Warren to Samuel Adams *
Boston, Sepr. 17th, 1780
My Dear Sir, — I very seldom hear from you. whether you
are prevented from writeing by more Important concerns, or
whether you have no Inclination for the Correspondence, you
best can tell; but as I always incline to put Construction on my
Friends Conduct, the most favourable to them and myself, I shall
suppose the first and Continue writeing to you. The Elections, so
far as lay with the People at large are made, a Governor is Un-
doubtedly chosen and the Votes of your own beloved Town will
give you at once an Idea of the Majority in favour of Mr. Han-
cock, and a General one of their proceedings through the whole.
Mr. Powel was their Man for Lieut. A great Majority through
the State was in favour of Mr. Hancock. I believe no Choice is
made of Lieut. Governor and that will be the Case in part in
respect to Senators in the different Counties, and in most In-
stances where a Choice is made they seem Calculated for that
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
lySo] M^arren- Adams Letters 139
Interest and to render their Idol as Uncontroulable as possible,
if I have a Seat in the House I shall use my Influence to Choose
you the Secretary, but the Influence of all that dont worship
devoutly may be very small and you and I may have none at all.
for my own part I am Content to retire into private Life while I
can lay my hand upon heart and say that I have in no Instance
deviated from the Principles I professed, or those of my Constit-
uents when they Chose me. your Virtue and Firmness have and
will Continue to Expose you to persecution, the Tongue of
Malice has always been Employed against you, and things, old
and new, are mustered to render you Obnoxious, it is now re-
ported that you are against filling up the Battalions for the war
and are in favour of drafts of the Militia from time to time. I
venture to Contradict many things and this among the rest, but
there is no End to Calumny.^
\No signature?^
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Boston, October 12th, 1780
My Dear Sir, — My last two or three Letters were by Capt.
Samson, who if he has not shared the ill fate of some others, must
have been handed you long before this. Three Letters went by my
Son. he had the Misfortune to be taken, and carried to Newfound-
land, and I suppose the Letters went to the Bottom, with a great
number of others, in them I endeavoured to give you as perticular
an account of our affairs here, at that time as I could. I have no
copies, and therefore cant recollect the contents, you must there-
fore be content with a short detail of matters as they now stand.
The papers we shall send you by this Opportunity will give you a
general state of the Conduct of Military Matters from the Loss of
Charlestown to the defection and Treachery of Arnold, and the
hanging of Major Andre, you will learn that the one has fled to
New York, and the other been properly treated as a Spy, and that
I A letter from Samuel Adams to James Warren, October 3 [not 6], 1780, is in Writings
of Samuel Adams, iv. 207.
140 JVarren -Adams Letters [1780
both of them deserved infinitely more than they have or will suffer
here, if Arnolds Villany and Clintons Meaness had succeeded it
would have been a fatal Blow, as it is, it is hard to say which of
the two has acted the most infamous part, if one has betrayed his
trust, and his Country, the other has disgraced his Nation (if
possible) and Mankind by stooping to a Measure that would mark
a Savage with Eternal Infamy.
Since the defeat of Gen'l Gates in the South, in which the
Enemy lost more than they got, our Affairs are constantly assum-
ing a Good Countenance there, our Army is re-established there,
have been successful in several Skirmishes, and I think the Militia
there will soon be good Soldiers and learn to stand both the fire
and the Bayonet of the Enemy. The Grand Army by drafts, etc.,
is said to be in as good a condition as to Numbers, etc., as at any
time, we have had great difficulties in supplying them with
Provisions, etc. they have sometimes suffered, but I hope the
measures taken by the several States will prevent in future any
difficulty from that quarter. They are acting on the defensive,
watching the Enemy, and they in their turn watching them, no
Enterprize or great Strokes on either side, and every thing looks
like an Inactive Campaign. The French Fleet and Army are shut
up in Newport by a Superior British Fleet. A reinforcement has
been expected all Summer, it is now time perhaps to dismiss all
further Expectations of that kind, and to satisfy our selves with
Speculations on some ill Management of matters somewhere,
the Troops and Ships arrived are said to be very fine, and I think
if we are disappointed, they must be mortifyed. to be reduced to a
state of Inaction after crossing the Atlantic with high Expecta-
tions must be among the last stages of Mortification, to fine offi-
cers of high Birth and distinction, with regard to ourselves
Penobscot is still in the hands of the Enemy, who keeps 4 or 500
Men there, and some Armed Vessels, we keep on the Eastern
Shore at different places about 600 Men to guard against their
depredations, some few Skirmishes have taken place but nothing
of consequence. Our Coast has not been much infested with
British Ships, and Privateers this Season the French Fleet keep
the British Men of War pretty much collected, and from that cir-
lySo] IVarren- Adams Letters 141
cumstance only great advantages have been derived to our Trade,
and perhaps in a War which seems to be a Tryal whose Purse
shall hold out longest the advantage may be general. Britain has
kept up a great Force to watch that Fleet and Army, and conse-
quently have been at great Expence.
Our Privateers have made many prizes and perticularly struck
a great Stroke on the Quebec Fleet.^ Our Taxes are heavy the
People groan, and pay them slowly, and complain of the Scarcity
of Money, but still it does not Appreciate, it stands at about
seventy for one, and will be uniformly Mysterious. A great deal
of Silver is circulating. Bargains are almost as common in hard
as Paper Money, it is difficult to say where it all comes from,
tho' the French Fleet and Army introduce a great deal. The New
Government is the Principal Topic of Conversation, the General
Court meets under the New Constitution the week after next.
Hancock is undoubtedly chosen Governor by a very great Major-
ity, his Popularity is greater than ever. No Body was set in com-
petition with him but Mr. Bowdoin and he stood no chance,
frequent and brilliant Entertainments strengthen his popularity,
and whether it will end in Absolute Adoration, or in the Exhaus-
tion of the Sources of profusion I cant say. he this day feasts the
French Minister (who came to Town last Evening) and the Coun-
cil at the Castle. No Person has a Majority of Votes for a Lieu-
tenant Governor, it is said Mr. Bowdoin has the greatest Num-
ber, and probably may be chose by the two Houses, about twenty-
six Senators are chose by the several districts, some whole
Counties have made no choice at all, Plymouth among the rest.
The Continental Navy is reduced to four Ships and a Brig't.
The Trumhul and Dean with the Brig't. -Saratoga are on a Cruize.
the Confederacy is at Philadelphia, where she has lain five months,
and will not sail soon, the Alliance is here, and lays waiting for
Money to fix her out. she came here in a distracted Situation.
Landais behaves like a Madman, is censured by a Court of En-
quiry and suspended, to be tryed by a Court Martial. Barry is
in command of her. Officers and Men came here cursing with
I It was stated that twenty-two vessels were intercepted and captured. Gentleman's
Magazine, l. 444.
142 JVarren- Adams Letters [1780
bitterness the Managers of our affairs in France, they have cer-
tainly been abused by some Body or other. Your Trunk is not
to be found on Board, if it came out it is lost, but as Doct'r
Winship ^ in whose care I understand it was left did not return in
this Ship, perhaps he kept back the Trunk, and the sooner it is
enquired after the better. I have received but two short Letters
from you, one by the Marquiss, the other by the Alliance, do you
treat all your Friends in this way, or am I the most neglected,
as for the Affairs of Europe, we know but little more of them than
of those in the Moon. I had the pleasure of some Acquaintance
with Doct'r Lee and learnt some things from him, but few that
are pleasing, he is gone to Philadelphia. The Delegates are new
chosen, Adams, Lovel, and Ward are at Congress Gerry, Holton,
and Partridge are at Home, one is yet wanted to compleat the
Number 7. Strong ^ and Danielson ^ have been chosen and refused.
Mrs. Adams shall be informed of this Opportunity, and will
doubtless write you. it grows late, and as I dont recollect any
thing further at present conclude with Assurances of Friendship
Yours Affectionately,
J. Warren
October i6th. The Enemy have lately made some havock
among our Privateers, and Mr. Knox is arrived from England
with a Load of Goods. I suppose under the Sanction of Doct'r
F's Certificate.^
Arthur Lee to James Warren
Philadelphia, Oct. 30th, 1780
My dear Sir, — I arrivd in this City after a tedious [journey]
about a fortnight since. I am in hopes of settling my Affairs with
Congress without the disagreable necessity of a public Appeal. I
find Congress much disposd to attend to public business, and
avoid disputes; a laudable disposition and worthy of being culti-
I Amos Winship, surgeon on the Alliance. 2 Caleb Strong?
3 Timothy Danielson (1733-1791). Dexter, Yale Biographies, 11. 411.
4 A letter from Samuel Adams to James Warren, October 24, 1780, is in Writings 0/
Samuel Adams, iv. 212.
1780] IVarren- Adams Letters 143
vated, tho' my Arch-Enemy Mr. Duane avails himself of it to
prevent my having full justice, which Congress, but for the fear
of his exciting new discord upon it, seem perfectly inclind to
do me.
The conversations I had in the course of my journey with the
Governors Trumbull and Clinton satisfy me that they are good
and wise Whigs. I stayd some days with the Army which is in
every respect ill-supplied; but after the example of their Leaders,
they bear it with patriotic patience. The detention of the Cloth-
ing, which was to have been sent from France, subjects them to
great distress, and enquiry is now making into the cause of that
detention. The Admiralty have applied to me for an Account of
it; but the most satisfactory facts ought to come from the Purser,
Sailing Master, Captain of Marines and Log Book of the Alliance.
By ascertaining when She arrivd at L'Orient, when the Supplies
She brought were shipt, how long She lay with them in without
Dr. Franklin's ordering or taking any measures for her Sailing,
how soon after her arrival at L'Orient She might have been laden
and fitted for Sea, what prevented this being done, the alterations
and expense the frigate was subjected to by Capt. Jones and the
violence of his conduct towards the Purser and some of her People
together with his Agent Mr. Moylan's ^ attempt to starve the
Crew; all these would shew to whom public odium and punish-
ment is due. Capt. Jones in Letters to the Admiralty and Mr. R.
Morris has accusd me of being the cause of all this; and therefore
I am more desirous that the truth shoud be fully investigated.
Among other things he has insinuated that my family and Bag-
gage were accommodated in the Space which shoud have been
occupied by the public Stores. Now the -Officers can testify and I
rely on your friendship for having these points put to them, that
my Carriage was left behind because it woud have taken up room
in the frigate, that I brought with me only my youngest Nephew,
who was my Secretary, that my other Nephew having paid his
passage in a Merchant Vessel was taken in during the voyage with
several other passengers, the vessel being in distress and obllgd to
put back. That instead of occupying any useful room in the
I James Moylan, commercial agent at L'Orient.
144 TVarren- Adams Letters [1780
frigate, I lay upon the tiller case and both my Nephews with one
of the Officers in his birth. It is perpetually Dr. Franklin's prac-
tice to employ his wicked tools; a number of whom he keeps al-
ways connected with him, to accuse others of the crimes of which
he is himself guilty. His recal is to be movd for on monday, but I
do not think it will be carried.
By the latest advices from Europe 53 Sail of the british W. and
E. India fleets were safe in Spanish ports with 1500 land forces
bound for the E. Indies.^ We may compute their value at 3 mil-
lion sterlg. which is a most dreadful blow and must bankrupt half
the Nation. Clinton with 3500 troops has landed at Portsmouth
in Virginia and is overrunning the Country which is very ill-
prepard to repel him.
I beg you will not forget my most respectful Compliments to
Mrs. Warren. It is no flattery to say that I never met with a
Lady whose conversation pleased me more, and of whose esteem
I shoud be more flatterd.
If you shoud be in town please to remember me to the President
and his Family, to Capt. Bradford Mr. Vernon, Dr. Cooper and
other friends. I have the honor to be with the greatest esteem.
Dear Sir, your most Obedt Servt
A. Lee
P.S. Oct. 31st. By the latest intelligence we learn that Corn-
wallis had began a precipitate retreat from Charlotte, and it was
thought the cause of it was some attack made upon their posses-
sions by the Spaniards, Genl Grean and Baron Steuben.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Novr. 2d, 1780
My dear Sir, — This day has Compleated all our Elections
Except for a Lieut. Governor in the room of Mr. Bowdoin, who
refused. Tomorrow that is to be done and I suppose will be in the
same stile, it is Impossible to describe to you in its full Extent the
1 Taken on August 7.
2 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1780] JVarren- Adams Letters 145
prevalence of a Certain Influence here, the Papers will at least
shew you that It Exceeds any that ever took place In any Country,
and If it be as lasting as It Is violent and Extensive, will be a
Singular Phenomenon, indeed, I had no hand in the matter have-
ing gone to [Plymouth] the Saturday before and not knowing till I
got Home that I was a Representative, when I returned I found
things as they were, but in the whole System (for a System it is)
Nothing Excited my resentment so much as the Neglect you are
treated with, neither your Beloved Town, the County, the State,
or the Two Houses have shewn any Gratitude for your many and
great Services, and the Man who had the greatest hand in the
greatest revolution in the world, in the Choice of a Secretary,
could not be supported in Competition with Mr. Avery. I have
feelings on this Occasion which I shall not Attempt to describe in
a Letter. Mr. Bowdoin, Genl. Ward and myself had the highest
Numbers of Votes for Lieut. Governor, but the House selected
Mr. Bowdoin and Coll. Orne for the Senate to take one from, who
they will select tomorrow, I neither know nor Care. Mr. Powel
has been Chose a Senator this day In the room of Mr. Bowdoin
and Mr. Jona. Greenleaf in the room of Mr. Gerry, and the former
Elected President. \Some lines erased and others struck out.]
every thing past Is forgot and every Body that will not worship
the great Image Is to be treated In that way, and the man that
formed and fashioned It, not for the purposes of Idolatry but
public good has not Escaped.^
[No signature.]
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Boston, November 15, 1780
Sir, — I put a Letter of Introduction Into the Hand of a Son
who has since unfortunately been made a prisoner by the Portland
Man of War, and though held as an Hostage till the fulfilment of
Certain Conditions Mentioned in a Cartel sent to Boston, he has
been treated with Great Humanity and politeness, by Admiral
I The rest of the letter is missing.
146 TVarren- Adams Letters [1780
Edwards,^ and by late Letters I find he purposes to pursue his
Voyage to Europe, and if he meets with no New Disappointment
in England, it will not be long before he will reach Paris, where
agreable to your friendly and polite invitation he will immedi-
ately wait on you.
I believe I may venture to say he is a youth who will by no part
of his Conduct disgrace the Recommendations of his Friends, or
disappoint the Expectations of the parent. Yet whoever enters at
an early period, amidst a World of strangers and traverses a stage
where art, not Nature reigns, ought to be well acquainted with
himself, as well as with the History of Man, to parry the Intrigues
laid for Innocence, and even thus Guarded, without the aid of
Experience he may be liable to many inconveniences in a Country
where politeness assumes the air of Friendship, where Refinement
is wrought up into the Exstream of Elegance, and Luxury height-
ened by a systematical desire to please.
I am sir too well acquainted with your disposition to think it
necessary to ask your philosophic Hints, which united with his
own Good sense, I trust will lead him through with approbation.
Shall I again repeat that I think myself Happy in the full Con-
fidence of Friendship with a Gentleman at once so competent to
advise. Direct, and aid, and so Ready to point the youthful ardor
of early years to that Line of Conduct which leads to Happiness.
His Views are chiefly of a Commercial Nature, but improved by
Industry and Observation, it may be a Happy Opportunity of
Qualifying for more extensive usefulness. I once thought I should
have trembled for the safety of a son, in the Morning of Expecta-
tion, in the Zenith of Warm hope, steping into the Larger Theatres
of Intrigue, Bussiness, and Luxuriant Taste.
But I have now no Idea that the Morals of youth can suffer
much by leaving Boston for any part of Europe, and the Change of
Manners in this Country has brought me to bid Defiance to any
disagreable Consequences from a Change of place. A thousand
things on this occasion might flow from the lip of Maternal ten-
derness, did not Civility to you, and an Attention to your pub-
lic Avocation, forbid.
I Richard Edwards. See Allen, A Naval History of the American Revolution, 625 .
i78o] JVarren -Adams Letters 147
I shall therfore only add on this subject, if my son reaches your
Residence, whither it be in France or Holland, I am sure of a New
proof of your Friendship to the Father, in the Explicit opinions
you will occasionally give, both of Men, and Manners, and the
kind assistance you will confer (if necessary) to the prosperity
of a Beloved Son. as I understand he destroyed most of his
Letters on the Capture of the Pallas, the above is nearly a copy
of a few Lines designed for you dated May iSth, '80.
In that was hinted the situation of your Country, the Various
opinions of priests, polititians, statsmen, soldiers and courtiers,
with regard to the Establishment of Civil Government in the
Common Wealth of Massachusetts. The Arrangement of officers
under the New Constitution you will have from other hands, and a
Detail of the administration, as well as opperation, of a system, so
compleat in all its parts, that the Wishes of all parties are con-
centered in one Great Object, and Whigs and Tories, Infidel and
Religionists all agree that some portion of Idolitry is Necessary
for the support of the political Machine, of course the Daily
Incense is offered in the Capital, and the Guilded puppet placed
on the public Theatre a few years ago (for certain purposses) is
Become the Idol to whom the supple Homage of Adulation is
paid, by a people once Disinterested, Firm, Discerning, and
Tenatious of Their Rights.
That tinture of Enthusiasm which is perhaps characteristic of
the North American is now heated with the Emulation of Exhib-
iting the Highest Instances of Worship, yet the Image whose Feet
are of Clay,^ may in a short time become as the Chaff of the
summer Threshing Floor, unless like another Pisastratus, for the
sake of prolonging his power, he should Govern according to the
Minutest Forms of the Constitution.
Forgive this little sally, was you sir in this City you would not
Wonder. Addresses, Assemblys, Entertainments and Balls have
ushered in the Happy Era of Republicanism, if this Infant Com-
mon Wealth can thus stand in its pupilage, when Time has
Matured its strength, and the Horrors of War are Dispeled, will
it not become the Wonder of the World. But I forbear. I in-
I Hancock.
148 TVarren -Adams Letters [1780
tended no political observations when I began, least amidst the
complicated scenes arround us, I might be led to say something
to the Disadvantage of my Country, if it should chance to be
perused by any Eye but yours. . . .
Marcia Warren
Samuel Adams to James Warren
Philadelphia, Novr. 20th, 1780
My dear Sir, — In your Letter of the 17th of Septr. which is
still before me you say, that "the Tongue of Malice has always
been employd against me," and in mentioning it, you discover
the Feelings of a Friend. It may perhaps in some Measure relieve
those Feelings, if I tell you that it serves to make me the more
Watchful over my self, lest by any Misconduct, I should afford
Occasion to malicious Men, to say that of me which would give
me just Cause to be ashamd. It is said to be a Misfortune to a
Man, when all speak well of him. Is it then an Advantage to a
Man, that he has Enemies.^ It may be so, if he has Wisdom to
make a good Use of them. We are apt to be partial, in our own
Judgment of our selves. Our Friends are either blind to our
Faults, or not faithful enough to tell us of them. The malicious
Man will utter all Manner of Evil of us, and contrive Means to
send it post haste to our Ears, and if among much Slander, they
say some Truths, what have we to do, but to correct past Errors,
and guard against future ones. The Report you mention as propa-
gated of me, is groundless. Would any Man in his Senses, who
wishes that the War may be carried on with Vigor, prefer the
temporary and expensive Drafts of Militia, to a permanent and
well appointed Army. But Envy knows no other Business than
to calumniate.'*
Mr. Penny [Penet] has deliverd me your Favor of the 2d In-
stant. He has also brought us a Paper which exhibits a Picture
of the Times. You express too much Resentment at the Ingrati-
tude which you imagine has been shown to your Friend — that
his Name has not been found in any of the Lists, and especially.
lySo] JVarren- Adams Letters 149
that he could not be supported In Competition with Mr. [Avery].
Your Friend makes no Claims on his Country, nor does he set
himself In Competition with Mr. [Avery] whose Connexions have
made him a necessary Man.^ He Is, I confess, one whom I have
esteemd for his Honesty and easy good Humour. We have been
entertaind with the Speeches both before and after putting on the
Regalia, and we expect to see Congratulatory Addresses from
various Orders, civil and eccleslastick. I shall pity the Governor
if he Is apt to be discomposd with the high Complimentary Stile.
I could wish, if we must have abundant Addresses to see the
manly Simplicity of Barckly the Quaker In his Dedication to
Charles the 2d of England.^ Excepting that Instance, I do not
recollect ever to have seen an Address to a Great Man, that was
not more or less, and very often deeply, tincturd with Flattery.
If the Town Clerk of Ephesus,^ has "treated me with great
Disrespect," I am sorry /or him. It gives me no Uneasiness on my
own Account. If he treats every one in that way who "will not
worship the Great Image," he leaves me In the best of Company,
Company which he may at another Time, find it his Interest, If
that governs him, to court and respect. We are even reducd to the
Hutchlnsonlan Times, if a Citizen shall think himself constraind
to maHgn his old Friend, merely because the Great Man has been
prevaild upon to mark him as his Enemy t But the History of all
Ages and all Countries shows, that there Is no Absurdity Into
which Idolatry will not lead Men. Pray remember me to my
Friend Mr. Gerry, and tell him I have not forgot his Letters and
that I will write him soon. All my Friends complain of me for
Omission on that Score. Mr. Peny I suppose will return in a few
Days. Adieu. Your affectionate,
S. A
Will you call on Mrs. A. and let her know that I am well.
1 Perhaps Avery is the person described in a letter to Mrs. Adams, March 7, 1779, in
Writings of Samuel Adams, iv. 129.
2 Robert Barclay (1648-1690). The letter to the King, dated November 25, 1675, is
in the Apology.
3 William Cooper.
150 W^arren -Adams Letters [1780
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Boston, November 22d, 1780
My Dear Sir, — Two days ago I received your favour of the
1 8th March, without ever hearing before of, or seeing since the
Gentleman there recommended, when I have an Opportunity I
shall most certainly pay proper respect to your recommendations,
by taking proper Notice of him. my last to you was by a French
frigate from Newport with a copy of what went by Capt. Hayden
from here to Amsterdam I believe I gave you a General State of
our Affairs here, and as you will doubtless get one of them, I shall
not trouble you with repetitions, since that our New Government
has taken place, the Papers will tell you who are the Governing
Powers, that compose the Administration, it is only necessary for
me to tell you that it is now perfectly Systematic, the Influence
here is as uniform, and extensive as in England, and the Criterion
to determine the qualifications for office much the same as in the
most Arbitrary Governments, or in the most servile Nations,
how long this will last I dont know, whether Pisistratus will be
able to establish himself Perpetual Archon, or whether he will be
able to convey that Honor and rank to his Family by hereditary
right Time must determine he has no Guards, yet established,
but he has unbounded Adulation, and Submission and that may
effect here all the purposes for which Guards were necessary at
Athens, it is certain there is a greater Influence, and a more
unlimited Confidence here than is consistent with a Republi-
can Government, that Influence has already effected here what
Hutchinson was never able to do, it has not only removed S.
Ad[ams] from all Share in the Government but taken from him his
Bread, and given the Secretaryship to Mr. Avery,^ Son-in-Law to
the Lieutenant Governor. Your Friend Gerry is the next Object
and who among you that at Congress committed the unpardonable
Sin of opposing or not submitting to his Measures, is uncertain,
perhaps the Extent of the Atlantic may secure you, and Mr.
Dana for a while, we have no public News, our Troops have
I John Avery (i 739-1 806) keld the office of Secretary of the Commonwealth from 1780
to his death.
1780] Tf^arren- Adams Letters 151
gained some Advantages In Carolina, but there is no prospect of
any great, and decisive Strokes. Clinton is landed in Virginia
with about 3500 Troops what will be the Issue is uncertain.
Chesapeak is a fine Trap, if policy and spirit should dictate to the
French in the W. Indies an Expedition here. The State of Ver-
mont as they stile themselves grow Troublesome. I believe it is
certain they have made a Truce with the Gov. of Canada for a
Number of days, and it Is said they are on this occasion making
peremptory demands on Congress, to acknowledge their Inde-
pendence, within a certain Time, the French Fleet and Army
still at Newport and the several States employed in ways and
means to fill up their Army during the War and in arranging their
finances to pay and supply them, if any Body asks how long the
War is to continue, I shall refer them to you, who can tell much
better than I can. Mrs. Warren writes to you, and may make her
own Acknowledgments for the Compliment you make her. My
Compliments to Mr. Dana and the Young Gentlemen. I am Your
Friend and Humble Servant,
J. Warren
P.S. We hear that Mr. Laurence [Laurens] is taken and carried
to Newfoundland,^ and that you are at Amsterdam I wish you
success and Happiness wherever you are.
No Advice yet of the Trunk committed to Doct'r Winship, and
perhaps never will, unless you catch him in France.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Plymo., Deer. 4th, 1780
My Dear Sir, — My last was upon the Subject of dissipation
of Manners, this shall be on Inattention to public Principles.
Either of them may be dangerous to a Young Republic, and when
united may Shake the foundations of an old one. I suppose you
have before this seen the doings and Resolutions of the Hartford
1 Taken in the Mercury packet from Philadelphia.
2 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
152 W^arren- Adams Letters [1780
Convention.^ if one of them does not astonish you I have forgot
my political Catechism, surely History will not be Credited when
it shall record that a Convention of Delegates from the four New
England States and from the next to them met at Hartford in the
Year 1780, and in the heigth of our Contest for public Liberty and
Security solemnly Resolved to recommend it to their several
States to Vest the Military with Civil Powers of an Extraordinary
kind and, where their own Interest is Concerned, no less than a
Compulsive power over deficient States to oblige them by the
point of the Bayonet to furnish money and supplies for their own
pay and support, this must have been done without recollecting
political Maxims, without attending to Historical Admonitions
and warnings, or the Principles on which our Opposition to
Britain rests. General Washington is a Good and a Great Man.
I love and Reverence him. But he is only a Man and therefore
should not be vested with such powers, and besides we do not
know that his successor will be either Great or Good, much less
can we tell what Influence this precedent may have half a Cen-
tury hence, sat Verbum sapienti. I hope the Resolution will at
least shew Congress that something is necessary to be done, it
is obvious that your proportions of Men and supplies to the
several States are unequal and Consequently Unjust.^ but what
is more surpriseing is your Method for a final Adjustment, which
is a full and ample Encouragement to every State to be totally
deficient, the Exertions of M[assachusetts] and Hampshire sup-
ported your Army last Campaign, they gave Three pounds for
Beef. Connecticut and the other deficient States as a reward for
their Shameful Negligence are to be Excused upon paying 33/4.
we are now again Exerting ourselves on your New Requisitions
(which by the way come very late), but this cant last long unless
the other States are made to do their Duty, shall the M. over
Taxed as they are furnish the whole and P[ennsylvania] not a
Thousandth part, and Connecticut not a quarter, and so sink
one-half the value and be at the same time Continually wounded
with the Groans of the Army, some new Step must be taken, or
1 Records oj Connecticut, ii. 562.
2 Journals of the Continental Congress, xvni. loii.
1780] JVarren- Adams Letters ^SZ
the Ship will go on Shoar. I have no News. I wish you every
Happiness and am your Friend,
J. Warren
What has been the fate of our Memorial, if Congress will not
do us Justice, I will Instantly quit, or rather I must.
James Lovell to James Warren
Deer. 5, 1780
Dear Sir, — In your Letter of Sepr. 28 you make the most just
Remarks upon the manner in which our naval Affairs have been
fostered here; I think it not becoming my Situation to say starved.
Some days ago the Salaries given Sepr. 13 and 23 were made to
have retrospect to Nov 2d 1778, but, yesterday, to Sepr. i 1777.
By Letters from Spain reed, yesterday I find that our Friend
Jos. Gardoqui will be here to succeed Don Mirailles. Spain is slow
towards alliance, well disposed as to Money for our Use, but, be
assured, she wants it herself there. She may help us nearer home.
She was upon a Scheme of getting some in France which Necker
found out and stopped by his Influence.^
I shall not be able to hint these Things to Mr. Gerry. In short,
I believe I shall soon be obliged to omit taking Pen in hand except
on Committees; I shall otherwise neither serve the public nor my
friends with propriety. Your Friend and humb Servt.
J. L.
Some Constitutions of Bodies politic may be supposed to be so
good in themselves that, like some human Frames, they may not
want a skilful Physician to watch them: They may only now and
then stand in need of an half bred Apothecary and his Assistant,
with their Ivory Tube.
I "No printing" is written against this paragraph.
154 TVarren -Adams Letters [1780
John Adams to James Warren Adams mss.
Amsterdam, Deer. 9, 1780
My dear Friend, — Your Favours of July 11 and 19 are
before me. They were received at Paris in my absence and it is
not long since I received them. I have led such a wandering Life
that I have not had Time to answer them, till now.
We expect every day to receive the Lists of the new Adminis-
tration, the Speech at opening the first General Court, etc. A
high regale they will be.
I am of your Mind concerning the Flaggs to England and the
Importations from thence. Poor Trumbull and Tyler, as well as
Mr. Laurens, will convince our Countrymen, I hope. Great
Britain has become literally in the Language of old Authors con-
cerning Atilla, "The Scourge of God and the Plague of Mankind."
She must be abandoned and renounced for-ever. There has been
too much weak Communication with them which must be cut off.
I can tell you little News from this Country. The Designs of
France and Spain you will learn from others; you cannot have
them from me because I know them not. The Design of the Dutch
is to keep Peace, if possible. No Resentments of Injuries or In-
sults, No Regard to national Honour or Dignity will turn them
out of their pacific Course. They will lend Money and hire Trans-
ports to the English and sell Goods to America and naval Stores
to France and Spain; in short, get Money out of all Nations, but
go to war with none. They will not lend us any Money, nor do
anything to favour us, but get Money out of us, lest England
should declare War against them for aiding, abetting and com-
forting Rebellion, against Treaties which the English have long
since declared void, but the Dutch still hold sacred, as their
Honour and their Religion.
Such a Nation of Idolaters at the Shrine of Mammon never
existed, I believe, before. The English are as great Idolaters, but
they have more Gods than one.
The Republick, however, has acceded to the armed Neutrality,
and we expect in the Course of five or six Weeks to know the
Principles and the System of it, how many Nations have joined
lySo] JVarren- Adams Letters 155
in it, and what we may expect from it. The Principle that free
Ships shall make free Goods, will assist us in procuring present
Supplies, and will be more useful to America hereafter, when she,
as I hope, will be neutral, although other Nations may be at war,
than to any nation of Europe. But I don't expect that any sensible
Advantage will result from it to us, very soon. The Prince of
Orange and the States General will proceed so slowly, not to say
will affect so many Delays, that it will be some years before any
great Thing will result from it.
My eloquent Friend, the Abby Raynal, whose History you men-
tion, is publishing a new Edition of that work in which he has
inserted the compleat History of our Revolution. He says he
has mentioned my Name as one of the Characters without which
the Revolution would not have been accomplished. At the same
time, he says, he has cast some Blame upon me. I told him I was
then sure at least of such an Immortality as he wanted who burnt
the Temple, but I have promised to attack him if he has abused
me. He won't let me see it; perhaps he may alter it and erase my
Name. I told him he ought to, if he has ascribed a fifth part of the
work to me, as he says has, because ^ it is exactly one three mil-
lionth that belongs to me. Be it as it may suum cuique Decus
Posteritas expendit. I wish I were at home, that I might do some-
thing worthy of History; here I can do nothing. The beauteous
olive Branch will never decorate my Brows. I must spend my
Life in the Pride, Pomp and Circumstance of glorious War, with-
out sharing any of its Laurels.
My most profound Respect to Mrs. Warren. I dread her His-
tory more than that of the Abby. I want to know in what Colours
she will draw Brother Lee. He little knew what eyes were upon
him. Most affectionately yours.
I It is exactly th that belongs to me. — Note by John Adams.
3,000,000 ° ' •'
156 W^arren- Adams Letters [1780
John Adams to Mercy Warren Adams mss.
Amsterdam, Deer. 9, 1780
Madame, — It is not long since I received your Favour of the 24
of July, and a wandering unsettled Life has prevented me hitherto
from answering it. Be assured, Madame, that my Friends are not
so good Correspondents as you think them. You may almost al-
ways take It for granted that I am uninformed and that every
Piece of Information from home will be agreeable and usefull to me.
I wish Success to the Act for cutting off, forever, all Communi-
cation with England. We shall never have any but such as will be
pernicious to us. That unfortunate Nation grows every day more
and more inimical to us and to themselves. They have been great
and wise, but their Day is past. They will persecute us, as they
did our Fathers, and the worst Engine they have to play against
us is the Remainders of a Prejudice in their favour.
The Letter, Madame, which you sent me by your Son, I sup-
pose is in the Sea. His Capture is no longer unknown to you.
Where he is I know not; I hope in America, exchanged. It would
have given me great Pleasure to have contributed somewhat to his
Entertainment in Europe. It is not, however, a Country where I
should wish the Sons of my Friends, any more than my own, to
reside. There are Snares enough for youth every where; but they
are fewer in America than here, and American youth discover in
Europe, I think, a greater Propensity to Folly and Vice than the
Natives. I grow every day more and more wearied and disgusted
with Europe, and more and more Impatient to return forever to
that Country where alone I ever was or shall be happy. Perhaps,
however, I may not be so fortunate in crossing the Ocean the
fourth time. Perhaps a long Imprisonment, or a Fate more dis-
agreeable, still may be before me. Whatever it may be I shall
meet it with Fortitude and comfort myself with the Reflection
that no Man ever suffered in a nobler Cause.
There are in my Power means enough for the Pursuits of
Pleasure and of Knowledge: but I have not the Inclination to
make that Advantage of them which I should have done in earlier
Life, before my Soul was bowed down with Care.
1780] JVarren- Adams Letters 157
I have seen in the Course of the last year a Variety of King-
doms, Empires and Republicks, and as great a Variety of Re-
ligions, and had a fine opportunity of remarking the Effects of
them upon human Nature, and indeed upon the very Face of the
Earth. And the Result of all has been a stronger Attachment to
the Religion and Government of my native Country than ever.
I wish every American youth could have borne me Company. He
would not afterwards need to swear upon the high Altar Enmity
to Britain, nor Friendship to America. It seems to me impossible
that Arnold should have been a Traitor if he had ever made the
Journey from Ferrol to Amsterdam. How much should we de-
plore that Spirit of Dissipation, Vanity and Knavery, which in-
fects so many Americans and threatens to ruin our Manners and
Liberties in Imitation of the old World.
This to be sure, Madame, is preaching; but it is preaching to a
Lady who knows it to be sound doctrine and therefore will not
despise the sermon because it contains nothing new. I have the
Honour, etc.
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plymouth, December 19th, 1780
My dear Sir, — Having wrote you so often and so fully, I
presume you would readily excuse me if I omitted this Oppor-
tunity more especially as I am at a distance from the Capital, and
have no certain News to hand you, but that Admiral de Ternay
died a few days ago of a fever after a few days Illness, which per-
haps may have been occasioned by Chagrin and disappointment.
it is also reported here that Cornwallis with 4000 Men have been
surrounded by our Troops in Carolina and taken Prisoners, if
this should prove true, it will be a great Stroke, and damp the Joy
in England on the Acquisition of Charlestown.
Our New Government has been Ushered in with Great Splendor,
Balls, Assemblies, Entertainments and Feasts equal to any thing
you can tell of in Europe. The silly feelings of Compassion for the
distresses of the Country, and the wants and sufferings of the
158 JVarren- Adams Letters [1780
Army have little to do in the Capital. The whirl of pleasure and
amusement has taken into its Vortex the Deacons and the other
good People who seldom used to be seen in public but at their
Devotions. Whether you will find good Deacon I rs ^ and good
Mr. Scol[la]y ^ in the dancing or drawing room at a Game of Whist
or leading down a Country Dame is uncertain, but if the present
G[overno]r is in office on your return you may possibly find them
in one or the other, we are trying to get an Army for the war or
three years I hope to succeed. I shall write you more by the
next Conveyance permit me to trouble you with the Inclosed
Letter, and to ask you to tell me how my Son does, and if his
Conduct meets your Approbation. Accept Mrs. Warren's re-
gards, and believe me to be Your Sincere Friend and Humble
Servant,
J. Warren
Arthur Lee to James Warren
Philadelphia, Deer. 25, 1780
Dear Sir, — This will be deliverd to you by my friend Col.
Laurens,^ who is sent Minister to sollicit immediate aid from the
Court of Versailles. It is late, but still it may be of use. I have
proposd to Congress the sending a Minister to the Court of Peters-
burg, as the Power of most influence in the neutral Confedera-
tion which Confederation it is probable will greatly influence the
terms of a general pacification. Our friend Mr. Dana is accord-
ingly namd Charge des afaires at that Court: Congress have also
adopted another proposition for establishing a Secretary of State
for foreign Affairs, but have not yet fixt upon the person. A Com-
mittee have reported that Doer, Franklin ought to be recalld.
But Congress have not yet determind upon the report, nor do I
know what will be their opinion.
I have learnt this day that the Purser of the Alliance ^ deposd,
upon Capt. Landais trial that he brought over in the Alliance five
hundred pounds worth of Goods on my Account. But he ought to
I Ivers? 2 John Scollay. 3 John Laurens. 4 Nathan Blodget.
lyso] JVarren -Adams Letters 159
have stated the whole truth which was, that I objected to their
coming in the Alliance, lest it shoud be an infringment of the
rules of the Navy, nor woud agree to it, but on his assuring me,
that he had leave from the Navy-board to bring a certain quantity
of Goods on his own account and in his own berth, and that these
shoud be a part of that quantity. This I always understood they
were, and therefore that they infringd no rule nor occupied any
space that woud otherwise have been employd for the public. If
these things were not so, he mislead me; for the freight of them in
any of the Ships that came with us woud have been but £50, an
object too inconsiderable to induce any one to do what he thought
wrong.
With my best respects to Mrs. Warren, I have the honor to be,
Dear Sir, your most sincere friend and Servant,
Arthur Lee
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plimouth, December 28th, 1780
Sir, — Mr. Warren directed to you only one week since, by
Capt. Cazneau bound to Amsterdam, therefore has now left it to
me to write one line asking your Care of the inclosed, to a son for
whose Welfare (a Heart so Replete as yours with all the parental
affections) will not wonder I am exceedingly solicitous.
We have not heard from him since he embarked at N'foundland
on Board the Vestal Frigate, in which we learn your Friend, the
Hon'ble Mr. Laurens, was sent to England, and it is Reported
here, was immediately Confined to the tower. I hope this Worthy
Man will receive no personal injury, nor the Bussiness on which
he went be Materially affected by his Detention.
Will not the Minstry be at a Loss how to dispose of one in the
Character he bears, it will be Humiliating to acknowledge him in
the Rank of an Ambassador, it will be trifling, and ridiculous to
deny it, it will be mean, ungenerous and base, to treat him in any
manner beneath the distinction due to a public Envoy.
How much beyond the Line Marked out in a Letter to you, have
i6o TVarren- Adams Letters [1780
this Good Gentlemans Perigrinations Extended, before he ^'Re-
tires to Learn to die^
But some need not, nor do others wait for such Favourable
Circumstances to preceed the Grand Exit. The late sudden
Death of a certain Great Officer at N'port is Matter of speculation
here.^ Time must develope the Characters of Men, and unravel
the Intrigues of princes, while the Innocent may Weep for the
unfortunate and the Vulgar gaze at the fall of Greatness, as sud-
denly brought low as the Meanest of his own Class. But often a
Coincidence of Circumstance may occasion the Vague suspition,
and an imputation of Guilt may for a time light on the Head of
those who least deserve it.
Happy is the Man who has Equanimity and Virtue enough to
Govern the Reins of Ambition, and preventing the Furious
Courser from Rushing into forbidden tracks, has true Greatness
of soul to bear him above the Disappointments of Life, whither
occasioned by the Common acidents of Time, or the Villany of
others.
The political situation, the state of Commerce, and the Military
opperations of your Country is a Field I dare not enter, they are
subjects, too much above the Delineation of my pen. the state of
parties, the Rapid Growth of Idolatry, the Worship of the pageant,
the Mimic Greatness of Monarchy in Embrio, are too much below
its Exertions to describe, nor will I for your sake even make the
Attempt.
Mrs. Adams will not write by this Conveyance as it is an un-
expected one by way of N'port, but she was well a few days
since.
if a youth I have named before is in the same City with you, the
highest mark of your Friendship will be that advice I know you
sir to be capable of giving to the young and inexperienced stranger.
Nor am I less confident of your Readiness to assist the Laudable
Wishes of the son of your Friend, (if he deserves it,) by that in-
fluence which Flows from a polite and Generous Heart, and that
he will not fail to make himself Worthy of your Warmest Recom-
mendations, is the most Flattering hope of his Mother, who sub-
I Ternay.
1780] JVarren- Adams Letters 161
scribes with the usual Respect and Esteem. But, sir, before she
adds her Name, pray remind my young Friends, that all Health
and Happiness is sincerely wished them by
M. Warren
Mr. Warren intends writing by the first opportunity from
Boston, desires best Regards to yourself and Mr. Dana, nor is Mr.
Thaxter forgoten by his American Friends.
Samuel Adams to James Warren
Philadelphia, Novr, i8, 1780
Permit me, my dear Sir, with the most unfeigned Sincerity, to con-
gratulate your Excellency on your Advancement to the Chair of Govern-
ment in the State of Massachusetts Bay. It aifords me inexpressible
Pleasure to find that the Freemen of your State have been guided by
their Judgment, their Gratitude and Regard for publick Virtue, to give
their Suffrages for a Gentleman, who not only possesses sufficient Skill
to regulate the political Wheels of Government, but has the Abilities
and Disposition to draw forth all the Resources of that important State
in Time of publick Danger and lead its Forces against the Common
Enemy, with that Judgment and Bravery which must ensure Success.
As I ever supposd your Excellency would have no Rival for the
Chair after your Constitution of Government was formed, my Surprize
was beyond Description when I found that you had a Competitor for
the Chief Magistracy; ^ who in times of publick Danger feard to venture
upon the Stage, and whose after Conduct seems rather to have proceeded
from fortunate Successes on our Side, than from the Result of Choice
and Deliberation.
There are already in America, too many Persons possessing the most
important Offices, who at the Commencement of the present Contest,
when the Event was doubtful, used every Artifice to destroy that
Theater upon which they now appear with so much Safety and Satis-
faction. Though this may easily be accounted for, from the Principles
which govern the human Heart, yet I confess, I am not able to decide
upon the Conduct of those, who have from the earliest Period been high
in their Professions, have condemnd the doubting, the timid and the
I James Bowdoin.
1 62 JVarren- Adams Letters [1780
neutral American, and yet use all their Influence to promote those very
Persons, in opposition to others who have every Claim, that Principles
of Gratitude and Patriotism can inspire to draw their Esteem and
Influence. When I discover Conduct like this, I cannot help observing,
that it is possible for some Men to possess the best of Principles for the
most pernicious Purposes.
That your Excellency may long experience the Gratitude of a brave
and generous People, equal to the Merit you have discoverd, both in
publick and private Life, is the most fervent Wish of, dear Sir, Your
Excellencys most obedient and most humble Servant.
His Excellency Gov. Hancock,
Boston.
The foregoing is copied from a Letter signd John Sullivan, publishd
at New York in the Royal Gazzette extraordinary, printed by James
Rivington Monday Deer. i8, 1780, and said to be a Copy from the
original. The Design of the Writer seems to be merely to please a Great
Man: That of the Publisher, partly to expose the Writer, but principally
to sow the Seeds of Disgust in the Minds of some very respectable Citi-
zens in this Common Wealth. I think Mr. Rivington could not have
wishd for a fairer Opportunity, but I am satisfied, they have more Wis-
dom than to be caught in the Snare.
The Letter is written in the true Stile of modern Address; and it is a
Pity it did not make its Appearance in public before; because as it is a
perfect Model, it might have been of Use to others, from whom some
Inaccuracies have escaped, by Means of their not having been Adepts
in that Kind of writing. I have been told that he has frequently been
addressed himself, and I am inclind to beleive it. The Effects are such
as one might expect from a Man of his Cast. He who is easily susceptible
of Flattery, will soon perswade himself that he is in Reality that Great
Man which his Flatterers only meant to perswade him to think they
believe him to be. He will be apt to suppose, that others will have the
same exquisite Feelings by being flatterd, as he has had, and that they
will conceive themselves as highly honord by it, as he conceives himself
to be when others flatter him. Persons who relish Flattery, will for ever
be deceivd by those who design to deceive them. He will therefore em-
ploy himself in the daubing Business as often as he can find suitable
Subjects, and will colour in so fantastick a Manner, as to excite a Blush
on the Cheek of any Man who has a Spark of Modesty. He will go on
suffering himself to be deceivd, and deceiving others like himself, till
he meets with him who only can be called the truly great Man, I mean the
1780] JVarren -Adams Letters 163
Man of stern Virtue. Such a Man will never fail to frown when he is
flatterd, and his Frowns are Death to the Sychophant.
This Writer pays no great CompHment to the People (indeed I imagine
he did not intend it) in supposing that among them all, there could be
but one esteemd qualified "to regulate the political Wheels of Govern-
ment," as he expresses it, [illegible] however that he was mistaken. Two
were actually in Nomination, and more were thought of by Men of
great Judgment, Authority and Experience in publick Aff^airs. He is
totally unacquainted with the Character of the People, as they are with
his; nor does he know any thing of the Honourable Gentleman, whom he
calls his Excellencys "Competitor," who, he says, "in time of publick
Danger feard to venture upon the Stage, and whose after Conduct seems
rather to have proceeded irom. fortunate Successes on our side, than from
the Result of Choice and deliberation." I am also ready to presume,
that he is not fully acquainted with the Person whom he takes upon
himself so freely to address. He ought to have supposd that his Excel-
lency would not have been well pleasd with a fulsom_e Compliment paid
to himself, at the Expence of one of the best Characters in the State.
But when men will flatter, they run a tilt with Honor, Justice and Truth,
and if their Flattery takes, they feel no Remorse. The Gentleman whom
he has attackd, was long before he paddled out of obscurity one of the
Helmsmen of the Ship of the State; was markd by Bernard and Hutchin-
son as a Champion for American Liberty, was negatived by them re-
peatedly, by express Order of the British Ministry, when he had the full
Voice of his Country for a Councillor; continued in the high Esteem of
his fellow Citizens, till the Royal Government was dissolvd by Common
Consent, when the opportunity offerd, for him to take a Seat which had
so long been prevented by the Governor. This he did, at Watertown,
while the Enemy were in Boston. A Time, which Men, perhaps less
brave, but perhaps however, of more solid Judgment than the Letter
writer, thought to be a "Time of publick Danger." He remaind a
Member of that Board, till every Body saw his Health was in so bad a
State as no longer to allow of it. He therefore resignd his Seat; a Cir-
cumstance, which, though all judgd necessary, was regretted by all.
He has since however, sustaind the honorable Places of President of
that much revered Body who formd the Constitution, and President of
the Council of the State and he is at this time President of the American
Society of Arts and Sciences in Aiassachusetts. How Httle are the Great
Characters in this Revolution known, to those who were not the earliest
in the virtuous Conflict!
Aristides
164 IVarren- Adams Letters [1781
Dear Sir, — The Letter with the Strictures upon it, I propose
to be publishd in Boston if you approve of it. I hope the Press
there is free, as the Constitution dictates. If it is not, the Liber-
ties of the People which we have been struggling for, will, in my
opinion be soon lost. I see nothing in the strictures disrespectfull
to the Governor or the Government. Indeed they were hastily
drawn, and I am not unmindful of the Fable of the Ape and her
young one. My Design is to discountenance the Lovers of Flat-
tery, and to vindicate a respectable Character which has been
wantonly attackd. We must support such characters. You will
easily see that for one reason and one only, it would be imprudent
for me to be known. I am willing however that you should con-
sult confidential judicious Friends.^ Yours. Adieu.
\No signature.]
Jany. i, '8l.
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
Janry. 8th, 1781
Mr. A s instructions, received by mr. Searl,^ will oblige him
to continue in Holland this winter. A Letter arrived for me at the
Southward, mr. L[ovel]l coverd it with, a Letter of his own, and
the Enemy kidnapt them both, when they stole the last mail,
possibly mr. Rivington may give it me by and by. I question it,
however, my absent Friend, made wise by experience, is so warry
that I dare say, they will get no Booty in politicks from him. I
saw by the last pensilvana paper under York News, that they had
got a Letter of Dr. Rush's which they have promissed to print in
the Next paper in which say they, he treats the Rebel Senate with
great freedom, that both you and I can believe, from former
Specimens. Rush will care as little as any body. I wait for a key
to a Letter which I have now in my possession to give you some-
thing, I fancy which will be entertaining. I mean to write you
1 The communication is not found in any Boston newspaper and was probably unpub-
lished.
2 James Searle, agent of Pennsylvania to negotiate a loan in Europe.
1781] JVarren- Adams Letters 165
soon and send to Boston for conveyance, my hands freaze by the
fire. I return the Muslin having been supplied, the black hanker-
chiefs mr. Gorge may sell at 75, but I had rather the coulourd
should be returnd if they will not fetch 80. I can part with them
so here. Regards to the young Gentleman, enclose a Letter and
peice of News paper, have you seen Hutchinsons character/ and
an other peice in the paper, remarks upon George Germains
speech in the house of commons.'' you will know the writer, pity
my fingers now, and I will tire you out an other time. Nabby
sends Duty, longs to come to plimouth, but I am jealous of trust-
ing her there again least she should love it better than home. I
wish you would not live there, come to Boston, to Braintre I had
rather, I fancy the place will be to be sold again, yours most
affectionately when you are not affronted when you are, sorrow-
full very sorrowfull.^
J. C
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
Braintree, March 5, 1781
I hoped before this time to have given you some intelligence
from abroad but the Mars brings me only two Letters from mr.
Thaxter, written before he left Paris. I find by a few lines of mr.
dana, that mr. Guile had many Letters, he sailed in October and
has not since been heard of. the best that can be hoped of him, is
that he may be taken, and even that is a situation to be depre-
cated considering the inhumane policy which the New parliment
and the successes of the Britains at Charlestown have induced
them to adopt, as you. will see from extracts from mr. A[dam]s
Letters to Congress, which I enclose to you, but should be glad
may be returnd to me as soon as a safe conveyance offers.
1 "Extract of a letter lately received from a gentleman in Europe" in The Independent
Chronicle, January 4, 1781.
2 A letter from James Warren to Arthur Lee, January 10, 1781, is printed in Lee, Life
of Arthur Lee, 11. 273; and one from Samuel Adams to James Warren, February i, 1781, in
Writings of Samuel Adams, iv. 242.
1 66 Warren 'Adams Letters [1781
Retaliation is a painfull task to the Humane breasts of Ameri-
cans, yet is certainly due in justice to the worthy suffering citizens
and especially to so aged and so respectable a personage as the late
president Laurence [Laurens], and more particularly so on ac-
count of the publick character with which he was invested.
o! My dear Madam when I reflect upon this worthy Mans
situation I cannot feel sufficient Gratitude to Heaven for pre-
serving my dearest Friend from a similar situation, and thereby
trying me with a calamity which would have "harrowd up my
soul."
I congratulate you Madam upon the rising Hero In the south.
General Morgan by his repeated Successes has brightend the page
of our History, and immortalized his own Name, whilst the op-
portunely expedition of our Allies checked the treacherous Arnold
in his cruel ravages, and opens a prospect for his speedy destruc-
tion. May the ancient spirit of America rise with her successes,
and crush the venal passion for Gain, may every virtuous citizen
cooperate with the Martial Spirit, and drive from these Distressed
States the Mercenary invaders since that and that alone is like to
give us peace.
With regard to our commercial affairs, you must have misun-
derstood me with regard to Tea, because I never had any but
what I purchased by the pound for my family. . . .
\No signature^
Arthur Lee to James Warren
Philadelphia, June 15th, 1781
Dear Sir, — I receivd lately some Letters from you of an old
date. Others Dr. Shippen tells me he forwarded to Virginia and
in the confusion of the times they will probably be lost. Mr.
Blodget was exceedingly wrong in answering questions , which
criminated himself and as far as they concernd me were extra-
judicial. He was unjust in teUing upon Oath the truth and not the
whole truth, which whole truth woud have shewn that the goods
were to be containd in one trunk, and that it was at his persuasion
lySi] W^arren- Adams Letters 167
and assurance that the trunk shoud make a part of what he was
allowd to bring that I allowd them to be brought In the Alliance
contrary to what I repeatedly exprest to him. As the Admiralty
Board is filld with Duane's friends and Creatures, they did not
fail to report this and every thing else they coud cull out against
me to Congress. But it has had no Effect, that I know of, on that
Body, nor has any use been made [of] it without doors.
There is now operating in union against Dr. Lee's being Minis-
ter for foreign Affairs, the french interest, that of Dr. Franklin
and of Mr. Duane or of the Tories. You will not therefore wonder
that no choice has been made since their Candidate Chancellor
Livingston, who, on being detected with his Brother In partner-
ship with Arnold In his illicit plan of Commerce with N. York,
retird from Congress, can get but three States.^ You may judge
Sir, by their proposing and supporting such a Candidate, for the
most confidential office in the U. S., to what a pitch of audacity
toryism has arrlvd in Congress. You will also judge what respect
the french have for our whigg principles when they cultivate and
countenance most openly the avowd Tories. Their policy in this
Is to have a party devoted to their measures, which they know
are not for the interest of America, and which they therefore
justly conclude the true whIgs woud not support. But they have
not sagacity enough to perceive that the Tories are only coinciding
with them to gain an ascendency over the Whigs, and that they
are ministering to views directly opposite to what they pretend
the support of our Independence.
What I always knew must now be clear to every one — that it
was not Dr. Lee but his principles that were offensive to the
french Court: since in conjunction with Dr. Franklin, they have
commenc'd the very same intrigues against our friend Mr. J.
Adams. They know that his intentions are to honest, and his
mind too firm, for their purposes; and therefore they are endeavor-
ing to disgrace him, or shakle him with the wiles of that old,
corrupt Serpent, who has constantly sold this Country to them.
I On January 17, 1781, Robert R. Livingston was nominated by James Mitchell
Varnum and Arthur Lee by Thomas McKean, for the office of Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
On August 10 Livingston was again nominated by WiUiam Floyd and elected.
1 68 IVarren -Adams Letters [1781
From what I know past relative to the Fishery, I am sure that is
one of their objects; and that this manouvre is principally to
trick us out of that, to which they know Mr. Adams is an invinci-
ble obstacle. I am not without my fears, that the wisdom and
virtue of Congress, will not be proof against the wiles and tempta-
tions they employ. It seems to me therefore, that you shoud
endeavor to have strong Instructions sent from N. Hampshire
and Rhode Island to their Delegates, who certainly stand in need
of them, in support of Mr. Adams and in maintenance of a full
and clear right to the Fishery.
I have heard nothing of the Grant of Land made me by the
General Court. I am very desirous of having that matter finisht
and therefore shall be much obligd to you to attend to its execu-
tion. It is not clear to me that those french politics and a confi-
dence in their promises of a second Division, which I believe was
never intended, will occasion the total loss of Virginia. It is al-
ready almost ruind. Had the 2d Division been sent as it was
promist, it woud have enabled us to drive the Enemy out of the
Country, confirmd our Independency and finisht the War. But to
finish the war is neither the interest nor object of France; there-
fore it is weak in us to expect they will per-form such a promise.
But if we coud not penetrate so far into their policy, yet their not
having performd what they have promist for fifteen months,
while they are sending larger naval Armaments to different parts
of the world, to make conquests, shoud warn us that we are made
the dupes of their policy and the instruments of their ambition.
Your friends in Virginia are in the neighbourhood of the war,
and I fear will be made particular objects of its cruelty and
destruction.
I beg my respects to Mrs. Warren and Mrs. Adams and my
Compts. to the two Mr. Bowdoins, Mrs. Gerry, Mr. Lowell and
the rest of our patriotic friends. Farewell.
[No signature.]
1 78 1] TVarren- Adams Letters 169
Arthur Lee to James Warren
Philadelphia, July 27th, 1781
Dear Sir, — I receive! your favor of the 29th of April a few days
ago. The Gentleman you have fixt upon for a high office is in-
debted to your partiality. Certain it is, that the French have put
their veto upon him which is at present absolute. That influence
flows in a full stream here, and until it ebbs you must not expect
to see his name in any public employment.
It was my intention to have returnd immediately into perfect
privacy, but some difficulties about what I had advancd for the
State of Virginia obligd me to go thither and return to settle my
Accounts, which they are very slow in doing and without which I
shall not demand the Salary that is due to me during the time I
was Commissioner.
Congress have very injudiciously I fear, and contrary to their
resolutions when there was a plot to remove me, joind Dr.
F[ranklin] in commission with Mr. Adams when they know that
unprincipled old man has created diff"erences with Mr. Adams and
is endeavoring to ruin his reputation. Mr. Jay, Laurens the elder
and Govr. Jefferson are added. But their Instructions ^ are such
as throw them at the feet of Count Vergennes in every thing but
Independency. Mr. Adams can no more escape the Snares of old
Franklin with the Count to assist him, that I coud. I do not say
that such treatment of Mr. Adams is unwise and unworthy; only, it
is as cruel as if they had stretchd him upon an iron bed of torture and
left the old man at full liberty to glut himself with tormenting him.
And yet it is not easy to determine what our friend shoud [do.]
If he resigns he will save himself; if he c(5ntinues he may serve the
Public. If he resigns he will leave the Public at the mercy of those
unprincipled men; If he continues, he may be a check upon them
or detect their wickedness. But whether there will ever [be] virtue
enough candidly to enquire and duely to punish State crimes; I
cannot determine. Now at least is not the time; but perhaps when
foreign influence ceases, justice will have its course and vice its
reward.
I Journals of the Continental Congress, xx. 651.
lyo TVarren- Adams Letters [1781
I cannot say how much I feel myself flattered by Mrs. Warren's
remembrance of me. I sympathize with her and Mrs. Adams in
the feelings I know they must have for their Country and their
friend from the unworthy proceedings with regard to him in
Congress. But as pity humiliates the object of it; I would have
them convert it into a noble contempt of those persons who are
the authors of this ungrateful treatment. His Country, unless
lost to all principle, will do him justice.
My Enemies in Congress avail themselves as much as possible
of Mr. Blodget's testimony, to establish a conclusion that I pre-
vented the Clothing and other Stores from being brought in the
Alliance. Not one of them believe this, but their wish is to impose
it upon others in order to shield Dr. Franklin, his Agents and
Partners, whose roguery they know was the real cause, and who
seem to have determind that the refuse things they purchasd
shoud never reach America to bear witness against them. But as
the fact upon which they found their calumny is upon Oath and
partially stated, I think it proper that the whole shewing what
space the Goods occupyd, when they were taken in, and whether
they did in any manner whatsoever interfere with the Stores,
shoud also be upon Oath, and I beleive Congress will direct the
Navy-board to examine Mr. Blodget on Oath to these points.
From the present situation of things it must be some years
before the Land granted me can be settled or any profit drawn
from it; therefore it woud be reasonable that it shoud be ex-
empted from taxes for a certain number of years; otherwise the
grant will be a burthen not a benefit. I shall be much obligd to
you to attend to this circumstance, and have it inserted when the
Grant is compleated.
Politics here, are all comprizd in a few words. We lean entirely
on the French and on Mr. R. Morris. I wish they may prove
neither broken reeds, nor Spears to peirce us. No late Advices
from Europe.
Please to make my respects acceptable to Mrs. Warren and the
Mrs. Adams's, and remember me to Mr. Adams, Gerry, Lowell,
Russel and all other friends to the honor and independence of
America. Adieu. [No signature.]
1782] IVarren- Adams Letters 171
Arthur Lee to James Warren
Philadelphia, April 8th, 1782
Dear Sir, — I venture so far to trespass on your goodness as to
beg the favor of you to get the interest from your Treasury, due
for two years upon the enclosd 629 Dolls, of the one for forty
emission of your State, and transmit the money to me by the first
safe opportunity. I must also trouble you with keeping the Bills
themselves for me; that they may be ready to be disposd of, or to
draw the interest as hereafter may appear most beneficial.
You will oblige me much, by letting me know, whether, the
grant made me by your Assembly has been located, or in what
state it rests.
It gave me great pleasure to hear, that you and Mrs. Warren
were settled so near Boston, and at so beautiful a Seat as that of
the late Govr. Hutchinson.^ It has not always happend in like
manner, that the forfeited Seats of the wicked, have been filld
with men of virtue. But in this corrupt world, it is sufficient that
we have some examples of it for our consolation.
The detection of Mr. Deane, seems not to have drawn any
punishment nor even odium on those who countenancd and
profited by his wickedness. Among these Dr. Franklin and Mr.
R. Morris, are the most conspicuous. The latter was obligd to
acknowledge in the News-papers that he was in partnership with
Mr. D[eane] but pretended he thought him a man of honor. The
Doctor by Letters of the strongest recommendation endeavord to
deceive Congress into a renewal of their confidence in him, with a
new and important appointment. There are Letters in town from
Mr. Searle, late member of Congress, declaring that he has been
repeatedly scandalizd by hearing Mr. Deane utter the abuse
against America and France, which is containd in his intercepted
Letters, at Dr. F[ranklin]'s table, without any reprehension from
the Doctor. Under all there suspicions. Dr. Franklin is appointed
one of the Commissioners to negociate a peace, because France
wills it; and Congress are complaisant enough to say they trust
in his zeal and integrity. God forgive them!
I In Milton.
172 TVarren -Adams Letters [1782
The Fishery, I am afraid, Is the object and will be the sacrifice
of this appointment. This question will come on In Congress, and
I think your ablest members shoud be here. But Instructions
from Congress will avail little, If a corrupt Commissioner is
entrusted with them, who certainly never meaning to return to
this Country, will feel himself very easy about our reproaches,
while he is enjoying In France the reward of his Treachery. I
know from what passd at the Treaties we concluded, that to
monopolize the Fishery Is the object of France, and I am most
sure that Dr. Franklin will be the instrument of effecting it.
The Members from your State, and from Connecticut, seem
desirous of admitting Vermont into the Confederation; but it
appears very doubtful, whether this can be done agreable to the
Confederation or consistent with true policy. The small States,
upon this precedent, may dismember the great ones; or as they
have an equal voice In proportioning the Quotas, may combine
together to burthen the larger States with the whole expence.
To acknowlege their independence without giving them a voice
in Congress woud answer I conceive every purpose of attaching
them to our cause, without hazarding our union by admitting
them a Member of the confederation. . . . ^
A. Lee
Arthur Lee to James Warren
{July, 1782.]
Dear Sir, — Your favor of the ist ult. reachd me safely. I am
very much obligd to you for your attention to me both as to the
Paper money and the Grant. It Is not a little unfortunate that
the person so fit for the business shoud have been visited with so
grelvous a disorder, for which I am very sorry as well on his ac-
count as my own. It is probable that times of more safety In. those
parts will soon happen, for I think the Enemy can hardly con-
tinue the war long, and all parties seem disposd to peace.
I A letter from John Adams to James Warren, June 17, 1782, is in Writings of John
Adams, ix. 511.
1782] IVarren -Adams Letters 173
I wish it were in my power to give you any comfort as to the
spirit that generally prevails in this Country. It seems as if
patriotism was an unnatural feeling, and therefore short-livd;
while prostitution and servility, were so congenial with human
nature, that they revive and flourish with wonderful rapidity.
By the absolute order of France, Dr. Franklin and Mr. Jay
were joind in commission with Mr. Adams for negociating a
Peace. At this very time Congress had the fullest evidence and
conviction that Dr. Franklin was both a dishonest and incapable
man. Mr. Laurens and Mr. Jefferson were added, but the first
was a prisoner, and the latter woud not go. Mr. Jay has with a
very becoming spirit desird to be left out of a Commission, which
is accompanied with Instructions to obey ultimately the opinion
of the french Ministers. This he states, as in his apprehension,
so humiliating to the Commissioners, so disgraceful and injurious
to America that he cannot submit to it. I have movd in vain for a
reconsideration of the Instructions. The yoke is riveted upon us,
and the Man who I am sure sold us in the negociation with France,
is the sole adjunct with Mr. Adams, in a negociation on which
every thing that is dear and honorable to us depend. He, good
man, felt no qualms at such a commission, no sense of dishonor or
injury to his Country. On the contrary he expressd the utmost
alacrity in accepting it, and I believe most cordially; since it puts
him in the way of receiving money, which is the God of his Idol-
atry.
The French, therefore, are to make a peace for us; we have
presumd only to desire Independance; but whether it shall be on
secure and honorable terms, whether by the stipulations annexd
to it we shall participate In the Fishery", in the navigation of the
Missisippi, [or] in the western territory, whether conditions trench-
ing nearer, and more shamefully on our rights will accompany the
naked and nugatory assertion of Independance, is in the sovereign
arbitration of the french Court. To judge what is for our own
interest, to instruct our Plenipotentiaries, for them to think and
act for us, are treason against the Alliance, by which we were
acknowledgd independent and sovereign. In short, the most
servile display of the most servile principles, is what alone must
174 IVarren 'Adams Letters [1782
entitle us to the patronage of our great and generous Protector.
This was not the sentiment, or language, that commenced the
revolution, and I can pledge myself it is not the sentiment or
language that will bring it to a happy issue. But there seems to
be no pubHc here to appeal to. Sordid pursuits and servile attach-
ments have apparently absorbd all the Faculties of our fellow
Citizens. In the last resort, I hope the jealousy of G. Britain and
of the other Powers in Europe will prevent France from abusing
the power which we have thus basely and imprudently confided
to her.
Spain has behavd towards us with very little wisdom or de-
cency; but it is much to be suspected that the French are at the
bottom of it; insomuch that a well-info rmd person on the spot,
writes thus: "I have many reasons for believing that the french
Court does not wish to see us declard independent by other
Nations, lest we shoud become less manageable as we become less
dependent on her for support." I have endeavord to inculcate
this truth into those to whom it woud be useful, and yet they
constantly act in opposition to it.
The rapacity of a certain person after power and profit, and the
little caution or wisdom that governs appointments are the rea-
sons for the accumulation of Offices in an unprincipled and sus-
pected Individual. The distress of our Finances which he has the
art of colouring high, and plentiful promises of relief from his
wonderful abilities, operate like a charm upon weak minds.
I beg you will make my best & most respectful wishes acceptable
to Mrs. Warren, and believe [me] always, with the most perfect
esteem. Dear Sir, your most sincere friend.
\No signature.]
John Adams to James Warren
The Hague, 2 July, 1782
Dear Sir, — It is a long time since I had a Line from you, and
from Sickness, and various Engagements it is long since I had the
Pleasure of Writing to you. I suppose that Milton Hill, furnishes
1782] W^arren -Adams Letters 175
you with Amusement enough, In your beloved Science and Prac-
tice of Agriculture. I wish I had Fortune enough to purchase me
an equal Farm upon Pens Hill, and enter into an Emulation with
you, which should make his Hill shine the brightest. I find that
the various Combinations of Street Dust, Marsh Mud and Horse
dung, furnish a more delicate Employment, than the foul Regions
of Machiavillian Politicks, but when Honest Wisdom tryumphs
over its opposite, as is sometimes the Case, Politicks themselves
afford an exquisite Entertainment, to a well regulated Mind.
It is a Problem at present whether the English will evacuate N.
York and Charlestown or not. it is very probable they would if
they could, but how to get away, a great Number of Transports
must be had, these must be protected by a superior Fleet. If
Pigot, who succeeds Rodney should go with the whole Fleet, the
French and Spaniards may do Mischief in the West Indies in the
meantime.
It is supposed, that Carleton has orders to make Propositions
to Congress but what can they be.f* Reconciliation, Seperate
Peace, even upon an express Acknowledgement of our Independ-
ence, can never be thought of. We must keep our faith and not
violate our Treaties. It Is whispered too that the Garrisons of N.
York and Charlestown are to be removed to Rhode Island, which
is to be fortified as a Place of Arms, etc. This Policy is beyond my
Comprehension. There is but one sensible System for the English,
and it is amazing to me, they dont see It, that Is evacuate the
United States and declare them by an Act of Parliament inde-
pendent. Then, they might defend themselves better against
France and Spain and other European Powers, would wish them
success, and aid them by Negotiation to obtain more favourable
Terms of Peace. But the present British Ministry have forced
themselves into Power, partly by decrying the Capacity and
Activity of the old Ministry and partly by Promises to the King
and Nation that they had Address enough to make a seperate
Peace with America and Holland. Both these Professions were
false. They now appear to be so, and the Ministry know not what
to do.
The present Ministry therefore, as I conjecture will languish
176 IVarren -Adams Letters [1782
away the time undecided what to do, untill they become as un-
popular as the past, unless the Parliament should be dissolved,
and a new Election should give them a more decided Majority,
ready to vote for American Independence, the Principles of the
Armed Neutrality; Fisheries to France and Spain, Restitutions
to Holland, Gibraltar and Minorca to Spain &c &c &c.
Thus it is that an Empire has, in a Frenzy, committed Suicide
upon itself, almost as suddenly, as one of its Individuals could
have swallowed a Pistol Bullet.
They have succeeded in propagating a general opinion in
Europe that Peace will be soon made, and that their Stocks will
rise after a Peace which opinions have actually raised them before
the Peace, 5 or 6 Per Cent, by foreigners sending over considerable
Sums to purchase in. if the Conferences for Peace should be
broken off, the Stocks will fall again. Both sides will be loth to
break off: but I really dont expect that any thing will come of them
this year. My most profound Respects to your good Lady. Adieu.
\No signature.]
John Adams to James Warren
The Hague, August 19, 1782
My dear Sir, — There is now an Harmony so entire between
France America and Holland, that I think Aifairs must come to a
good Conclusion, if they do not it will I am perswaded be our
Fault. But I am determined It shall not be mine, and I dont
believe it will be Mr. Jay's.
Spain is now Inclined to make a Treaty with Us, as I am
Informed, and the Comte d'Aranda Is authorized to treat with him
at Paris. This however, must not be made publick tho it may be
communicated In Confidence. Mr. Dana seems weary, and I dont
wonder. You have no Conception of the Torments that Mr. Jay
and he and I have endured.
However the Foundations of great Things are never laid without
Patience and long suffering.
Shelburne and Fox have split upon a nice Point and the lat-
1782] H^arren-Adams Letters 177
ter hass hewn himself I think a profound Statesman: the later
[former] a selfish, and equivocal Character. He must come finally
and with an ill Grace to the Idea of the other, or he will put the
last hand to the ruin of that Country.
The Plan seems to be now to agree if they can upon some,
Preliminaries at Paris and then have a Congress to settle the
Treaty, after discussing every Thing.
If Gibraltar falls and the English have no signal Sucess, the
national Discouragement will increase, so as to force a Peace per-
haps, if they relieve Gibraltar, which will be very hazardous, if
they have good News from the East Indies, and especially if they
have any naval Advantages they will struggle for another Cam-
paign or two. Naval Victories intoxicate them to Frenzy. But
these are but Drams to a Man in an Hectick. If there should be
serious Negotiations for Peace, We shall have many Ugly Ques-
tions to debate. I dont intend to be answerable for any bad
decision of them, but I cannot answer that they will not be badly
decided. Canada, Nova Scotia, Boundaries, Tories, Fisheries,
are Bones to pick. But the Pretensions of France, Spain and
Holland will not be more easily adjusted, nor the Pretensions of
Neutrals, in short the Field is so vast, and the objects of such
Magnitude, that the first Glance of the Eye aifrightens one, but I
have looked at it so long that it has lost its Terror to me. Why
should one be anxious, it is easy for a Man to do his Duty. He
always has this in his Power and this is as much as he ought to
have.
I hope Mrs. Warren will give my Dutch Negotiation a Place in
her History, it is one of the most extraordinary, in all the diplo-
matic Records. But it has succeeded to a Marvel. Adieu. ^
[No signature,]
I A letter from John Adams to James Warren, September 6, 1782, is in Writings oj
John Adams, ix. 513.
178 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1782
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, Octr. 7th, 1782
My dear Sir, — Your Letters of the 17th June and 2d of July
have given me great pleasure, perhaps more, because they were
unexpected. A Spirit of Jealousy, founded on a long Intermission,
had made me suppose you had totally forgot me, and never in-
tended again to write a single Line. I hope the reasons you give
for so long silence are by the fine Air of The Hague and by Exer-
cise removed and that I shall again frequently hear from you in
this way. one thing you may be assured of, that you cannot write
to a more sincere and determined Friend. I like my new Allies the
Dutch very well, and when my Imagination roves into futurity,
and speculates and combines, I can suppose they may do us as
much real service as some others, and from Motives quite as dis-
interested; and I like the Alliance perhaps the better because it
has been formed by an Independent Statesman in spite of the
false politics of his own Country and the designing politics of
others, and I trust he will be regarded even by the present Gen-
eration, in spite of the rascally Venality or Envy of those who
from their Exalted Stations have a greater Opportunity of doing
him Justice. But, my Friend, the divine Science of Politics is
composed of the same Materials here as in Europe, there is,
indeed, something exceedingly singular in your Country. None
ever ran with more rapid strides or was more distinguished by its
virtue and public spirit, and no Country ever Catched the Vices of
others and degenerated so fast. I will not prevent your singing or
laughing by Attempting a description or saying more on this
Subject. I wish for Peace, but what kind of one must we have had,
if it had been made this Year.'' I wish to see you return to our
Hills. I shall certainly take pleasure in roving with you among
the Partridges, Squirrels, etc., and will even venture upon an
Emulation with you which shall make his Hill shine the brightest,
tho' I conceive I should fail in the Attempt. I expect, notwith-
standing all your great Engagement and the great Game you have
to Play, the Splendor of Courts and the Entertainments of Princes
and Princesses, that you will bring with you great Improvements
1782] W^arren -Adams Letters 179
in the delightful Science of Husbandry, do ascertain what Marie
is that we may know whether we have it here or not. I can tell you
no news but what you will have more directly from other hands,
they may tell you how our Constitution operates in practice, how
our Executive support their dignity and how our Legislature
preserve their Independence. I am quite a private Man, a distant
Spectator that sees but little, enough, however, to feel some dis-
gust, detestation and Contempt. The Papers will shew you in
what manner Mr. Temple is persecuted here and his defence.
this matter has formed Considerable Parties and I think Temple
gains Ground fast. I need not tell you that your Family are well.
You will undoubtedly hear from them by this Opportunity. I am
your Friend.
\No signature^
The Muse, Mrs. W., wishes you Health and Happiness. I beg
your Care of the Inclosed, it contains one for my Son, I wish to go
safely, and am told there is no dependence on the common Post
form Amsterdam to France.
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, October 24th, 1782
Sir, — Many Months have Elapsed and many Great Events
have taken place since I took up my pen to address you, among
which few are more important to this Country than the Dutch
Negotiation, and perhaps None have been attended with Greater
Difficulties and none more Replete w^th Honour to the prime
actors than this. Yet I should not have Ventured to pass my
Censure on its opposers, or to Give sanction to the Measure by a
full approbation of the spirit and Dignity which has brought it to
a Completion, had I not been repeatedly called upon in the late
Letters to your Friend, a Friend who, though now a private
Gentleman, is not less Attentive to the Interest of the public, nor
less Attached to the Minister at the Hague than when you both,
stimulated by the Noblest Motives, of patriotism, and bound by
i8o Tf^arren -Adams Letters [1782
the strong ties of Mutual Friendship, Nursed the Embrio of oppo-
sition, Discussed the Nature of Government and Formed the
plans of Revolution by the social Fire side at Plimouth. But the
Enthusiasm of Poetry has Languished under the hand of Time:
and the Muse Grown too timid amidst the Noise of War to at-
tempt an Elogium on the Virtues of patience, perseverance and
patriotism, Though the sterling Worth of those Capital Virtues
have been tryed in the Fiery Furnace of Intrigue, Deception and
ingratitude.
But the Historian must be very Negligent of Fame who is not
ambitious that all the Extraordinary Transactions in the Diplo-
matic system should stand Conspicuous in his Work. But when
the poignancy of sarcasm is strongly feit by the too susceptable
Hearts, some little thirst of revenge will arise in the most Good
Naturd of the Human Race, nor is any office so illustrious, or
any character so sacred, but he must submit if he provokes the
threatenings Even to the Menaces of a Woman. He will not find
himself secure though hid in the pallaces of princes, or shielded by
the stronger Bulwark of his own integrity, therefore Depend upon
it a Blank shall be left in Certain annals for your Dutch Negotia-
tion, unless you Condescend to furnish with your own Hand a few
more Authentic Documents to Adorn the Interesting Page.
If the Refinements of the European World has Wrought the
Divine science of Politics into a Mechanical system, composed of
all the Foperies of Life, be assured, sir, America is not a Century
behind them in Taste. You will not therefore be surprized when
told that the test of Merit is Wealth: And that every thing which
is Lucrative is Honorable in this Country. But as Mankind in all
ages are governed Less by Reason than Opinion, it may again
become Fashionable to be Virtuous and the Man be more Re-
spected for the Probaty of his Heart than for the Trapings of his
Horses. But as the Morals of a people Depend more on the
Genius of their Rulers than the Mode of Government, the leading
Characters among us do not at present promise such a Happy
Revolution in Manners. And so little prospect of success is there
to the struggles of the uncorrupted few, that I do not find myself
quite willing your much estemed Friend, Mr. Warren, who has
1782] TVarren 'Adams Letters 181
but just retired from the public Walks (sickened by the servility
and weakness of Man and wearied with the unremiting Vigalence
of Near twenty years in the Field of Politics) should again return
to the Emharased scene. Yet Convinced of the Necessity of send-
ing our best men to Congress, and knowing you deem It a point of
the utmost importance, I dare not urge my Arguments against his
repairing to Philadelphia to you. Were it prudent to transmit
them beyond the Atlantic, some of them you would Acknowledge
Weighty. Others you might place to the score of Female Timidity,
Delicacy, or perhaps Pride.
What a Many Headed Monster is a Republic grafted on the
Principles of Despotism. Nor Is a sovereign without a Crown a
Less Dangerous Annimal than the Monarch whose Brow Is
Graced with the splendor of a Diadem.
If any Expression In this appears like a Decay of public spirit
in the Wane of Life, a Line from your pen might Revive the
Languid torper, though not as the Rescript of a Minister but as
the Admonishlon of a Friend. . . .
As I have touched on the Domestic feelings, to which you are
not insensible, I shall Mention a son, Dear to his parents and
amiable In the Eyes of a Friend, has any part of his Conduct
since in Europe rendered him unworthy , that Mr. Adams has Never
once Named him in his long absence, if he has, your tenderness
will still Impose silence; if not, the Fluttering Hopes of a Mother
will be strengthened in your Next Letter to one who subscribes
with much Respect and unabating Esteem Your assured Friend
and humble servant
M. Warren
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, Nov. i, 1782
My dear Sir, — I made my acknowledgments of the receipt
of your favors of June 17 and July the 2d by Capt. Grinnall, who
sailed for Amsterdam about a fortnight ago. Since which I have
the pleasure of yours of August 19th with the Inclosed Pamphlet,
1 82 Warren -Adams Letters [1782
conveying a State of the origin and progress of the Treaty with
Holland, an Event which will make a figure in History in Propor-
tion to its Importance, when Justice will be done to the Integrity
and Ability, the Zeal and Perseverance of him who negotiated it.
All the Honest part of America do that now equal to his wishes;
but there are others, and some of them in high Stations and great
Confidence, who have been stunned and mortified at this Success,
some of them, perhaps, Influenced by Envy and some by Interest,
but you know all about it. I need not tell you that Foreigners of
high rank and character would not believe it possible. That the
mighty of this part of the Globe condemned the measures taken
to effect it, and at last believed the accounts of the success of them
with reluctance. I wish I could know your Ideas of our present
domestic Situation; of men vested with Imperial powers and,
what is as bad, furnished with sources of Corruption equal to a
King of Britain; of the Sagacity of that Congress which has found
Abilities and Integrity where the Congress in 1775 and ^'jd^ etc.,
would never have suspected they were to be found, but I quit a
subject I hate to reflect upon. I have conceived a great Opinion
of Mr. Jay. he has conducted, if I am well informed, with great
dignity. I dont believe it will be your fault or his if matters do
not conclude well, if I was to give you two Instructions, they
should be very discretionary. I have some Conception what you
and he and Mr. Dana have endured. I dont wonder if you are all
weary. The Good Dr. is now appointed to negotiate with Sweden,
no doubt he will succeed and add a new Plume to his Cap.
I wish Mr. Jay may make an advantageous Treaty with Spain,
it will be no unfavorable Circumstance to have it done at Paris
instead of Madrid, or any other place, or places where he has
danced attendance on that Court. Great Expectations and fears
are formed here upon the fate of Gibraltar, if it falls, we expect a
Peace, if it does not, we expect at least another Campaign, but I
hope we shall be prepared for either.
You have, indeed, a large Field before you. The Questions to
be decided are numerous and Important, quite enough so without
descending to the Trifling Consideration of the Tories; and can it
be possible at this Time of day that the British Cabinet should
1782] TVarren -Adams Letters 183
interest themselves in their favor, what would they do for them,
surely they would not wish them to have Neponset Hill, they
deserve Nothing, but if they must have anything, they can
expect no more than the Money their Estates sold for, out of the
respective Treasurys where it is lodged, and that I hope is more
than they will ever get, at least till Britain pays for all the devas-
tations made on the Estates of honest Men. Mrs. W. writes you
by this Opportunity. Great Events must find a place in her
History, especially when Impartiality and Friendship combine
to Insert them. That you may enjoy Health and Happiness Is the
Prayer of your Friend
J. W.
Not a Word about the dear Commonwealth of M[assachusetts].
Yes. The first Magistrate is ; the Executive Council is .
The Legislature is in the Usual Stile, sometimes making wise Laws
and sometimes not; however, constantly making New, or repealing
old ones. The present Members of Congress elected are, Gerry,
Osgood, S. Higginson, Gorham, Holton and J. W. I believe the
last must stay at Home and cultivate his Farm.
Nov. 24th. The preceeding Letter was designed to go by the
Firebrand^ who slipd away unexpectedly and left that and many
others for you behind. Other owners might have been complai-
sant enough at least to have taken Mrs. Adams', but even Fortune
cannot change the Spots of the Beast, or alter the Skin of the
Ethiopian, since she saild nothing worthy your Notice has taken
place. The French Fleet are still here and not quite ready for
Sea. The French Army is expected soon, in order to embark on
Board the Fleet. Mr. Gorham and Dr. Holton set out for Con-
gress in a few days. I suppose Higginson will refuse and I am
uncertain whether Gerry will go.
184 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1782
Arthur Lee to James Warren
In Congress, Deer. 12th, 1782
Dear Sir, — I enclose you three Newspapers containing the
Essays of Lucius, Valerius and Bellesarlus which deserve your
perusal and being represented In your Papers. Barney is arrivd
with Dispatches. He left L'Orient the 17 Jany. He keeps strict
silence and none of his Crew are allowd to come on shore. The
Letters were all carried to Mr. Morris, from whom Congress have
not yet receivd any Intelligence. When his speculations are set-
tled we shall be favord with the news. All these restraints upon
public information and the engrossing all the Letters, are by his
own orders. Congress knowing nothing of it; and I verily believe
for the sole purpose of speculation. I was persuaded when his
friends proposd the purchasing Barney's vessel and dispatching
her under his direction, that it was for the same purpose. Thro'
the whole war he has made his public trust subservient to his
private Speculation, and has thereby become as rich as a Jew.
You wish to have some observations on the manners of this
place. They are as little worthy of panygeric as an awkward imi-
tation of the French can make them. Broke suddenly loose from
the simplicity of quaker manners, dress and fashions and affecting
the vanity, and nonsense, if nothing worse, of french parade, you
may conceive they are more fit subjects of ridicule than of admira-
tion. Mr. Morris, Mr. Bingham,^ Mr. Ross,^ and others, who have
made large fortunes during this war, employ their wealth In a
manner not very consistent with that unostentatious virtue which
ought to animate our Infant republic. Extravagance, ostentation
and dissipation distinguish what are calld the Ladies of the first
rank. There are however exceptions, there being prudent, ami-
able and worthy persons of both Sexes. But the generality seem
to be intoxicated with a sudden change of manners and unex-
pected elevation.
I had not time to finish this Letter, being occupyd by attending
to the Dispatches. The preliminary Articles are well enough, but
being conditiond on the conclusion of Peace with France, which
I William Bingham (1751-1804). 2 John Ross (1726-1800).
1782] IVarren 'Adams Letters 185
seems to me not probable this year; we still remain dependent on
the issue of this Campaign at least, which if very successful on
the part of the Enemy may make them retract these conditions,
and if ever so prosperous on the part of our Ally, we cannot hope
for any thing better, as the latter seems more averse to our par-
ticipation in the Fishery, and our possessing the western Country,
than the English themselves are. We are placd in this uncomfort-
able situation, by the ambition of our Ally, And by the obliga-
tion our Alliance is supposd to have imposd upon us not to make
Peace without their concurrence. My latest Letters give the most
sanguine expectations of speedy peace. But from reasoning on all
circumstances it appears to me at least very doubtful. I wish
most sincerely that peace may take place, and give us an oppor-
tunity of arranging our governments and Finances and of paying
our Debts.
I receivd the two Joes you was so good as to send me for inter-
est; and am very much obligd to you for your attention to my
Affairs. When peace will permit the travelling in the extreme
parts of your State, and I am freed from Congress, I shall revisit
you, and take a view of the Country where the grant to me may
be located. In the mean time I trust to your goodness and care
to have the location made as advantageously as possible.
Mr. J. Adams is so persuaded, that Peace is settled that he has
desird leave to resign and return home. I am not of opinion that
we can spare him yet. He and Mr. Jay have acted a spirited, in-
dependent, and therefore, in my judgment, a most laudable part;
and will be necessary in Europe to counteract the treachery of
old Franklin. I had drawn up a vote of thanks to Mr. Adams
for the extraordinary Services he ha& renderd us in Holland;
but upon sounding I found the jealousy which Dr. F's friends,
after his example, entertain of any approbation bestowd upon
another, being a censure upon him woud render the passage of
it doubtful. It was therefore thought more prudent not to move
it. There never I think existed a man more meanly envious and
selfish than Dr. Franklin. The reason probably why it is not
seen so as to make men dispise him is, that men in general listen
much to professions, and look little to actions.
1 86 JVarren- Adams Letters [1782
Mr, Adams has mentlond one mark of his tricking and selfish
disposition. He obtaind a promise from Mr. Jay when at Madrid,
to give his voice for appointing his Grandson W. T. Frankhn, a
young insignificant Boy as any in existence, to be Secretary to the
Embassy for making Peace, who ought to be a person of consum-
mate prudence, ablHty and worth. Upon this he appoints him to
that office without consulting the other Commissioners. Thus
while Govr. Franklin is planning our destruction in London, his
father and Son, are entrusted with all our Secrets in Paris. If
it shoud be said that the establishd character of the old man
will justify such a confidence; the same cannot be urged in favor
of the young one, who is yet to be tried and has no character
at all.
I enclose you a Paper containing the preliminary Articles.
With the most cordial remembrance of Mrs. Warren's politeness
and very agreable conversation, I beg you will present to her my
best respects. My Nephew T. Shippen is equally pleasd with
the Society at Milton and desires his respects. Farewell.
A. Lee
John Adams to James Warren
Paris, Deer. 15, 1782
Dear Sir, — This goes with the Preliminary Treaty between
the Crown of G. Britain and the United States of America, it is
not to be in force untill France and Great Britain shall agree and
sign. When this will be is not yet known, it is supposd that the
principal Points remaining are Spanish or Dutch.
The great Interests of our Country In the West and In the East
are secured, as well as her Independence. St Croix is the Bound-
ary against Nova Scotia. The Fisheries are very safe, the Mis-
slsippi and Western Lands to the middle of the great Lakes, are
as well secured to Us as they could be by England. All these
Advantages would not have been obtained If we had litterally pur-
sued our Instructions, the Necessity of departing from which in
some degree will I hope be our Excuse.
1782] JVarren 'Adams Letters 187
The King of Sweden ^ is the first Power in Europe who has
invited Us to an alliance, the Commissioners are arrived here, and
the Treaty will be soon made. The other neutral Powers may
possibly acknowledge our Independence all together, it is pos-
sible, that England herself may advise it, but this is no more than
Conjecture. The K. of Sweden has inserted in his Commission
an handsome Compliment to Us, says that he had a great desire
to form a Connection with a People who had so well established
their Independence, and by their Wisdom and Bravery so well de-
served it.
England has been wise to be the third Power in Europe to
acknowledge Us. Is it my Vanity which makes me believe that
the Dutch Negotiation has wrought this mighty Reverse, and
carried Us tryumphantly to the End of all our Wishes? without
this, the War would have continued for years, and the House of
Bourbon so pressed for Peace and We so dependent on them that
We should have lost the Western Country and the Fisheries and
very probably been left in a Truce, in a state of Poverty and Weak-
ness, which would have made Us long the miserable Satellites of
some great European Planet.
It is the Providence of God, not the good Will of England of
France, nor yet the Wisdom and Firmness of Congress that has
done this. To that Providence let Us with humble Gratitude and
Adoration ascribe it. Without making an Ostentation of Piety
upon the Occasion however, let us turn our Thoughts to what Is
future.
The Union of the States, an affectionate Respect and Attach-
ment among all their Members, the Education of the rising Gener-
ation, the Formation of a national System of Oeconomy Policy,
and Manners are the great Concerns which still lye before us.
We must guard as much as Prudence will permit against the Con-
tagion of European Manners, and that excessive Influx of Com-
merce Luxury and Inhabitants from abroad, which will soon
embarrass Us. with great Esteem, your Friend,
\No signature?^
I Gustavus III.
1 88 JVarren -Adams Letters [1783
John Adams to Mercy Warren
Paris, January 29, 1783
Madam, — Your Favour of the 25 of October never reached me
till to day, but it has given me great Pleasure as your Letters al-
ways do. I was disappointed however in finding no Line from
Mr. Warren except the Superscription of yours.
I assure you, Madam, what I said about certain Annals was no
Sarcasm. I have the utmost Veneration for them, although I
never was honoured with a Sight of any of them. Let me intreat
you not to reserve any Place in them for the Dutch Negotiation,
if you intend to celebrate my Patience, of all Virtues or Qualities
I hate most to be praised for my Patience. I had rather you should
immortalize my Impudence, for I rather think it was this quality,
than the other which produced the Effect in Holland. I entered
into the Seven United Provinces with as much Impudence, as I
should have appeared in the 13 United States of America. As
Johnny Morehead ^ said to Mr. Bollan,^ "Mr. Such an one used,
Sir, to come into my House with as much Impudence, as you
would come into your own." If the word shocks you. Madam, call
it modest Assurance, or honest Boldness, or almost what you will
except Patience.
The Times, Madam have made a Strange Being of me. I shall
appear a Domestic Animal, never at home, a bashfull Creature,
braving the Fronts of the greatest ones of the Earth, a timid Man,
venturing on a long Series of the greatest dangers, an irritable
fiery Mortal, enduring every Provocation and Disgust, a delicate
Valetudinarian bearing the greatest Hardships, an humble Farmer,
dispising Pomp Shew Power and Wealth, as profuse as a Prodigal
and as proud as Caesar — But an honest Man in all and to the
Death.
Alas! who would wish for such a Character! Who would wish to
live in Times and Circumstances when to be an honest Man, one
must be all the rest.'' Not I. it can never be the Duty of one Man
1 Rev. John Morehead, a native of Belfast, Ireland, and pastor of the Presbyterian
Church in Long Lane, now Federal Street, from 1730 to his death in 1773. He was of a
quick temper.
2 William BoUan (1740-1774?).
1783] JVarren -Adams Letters 189
to be concerned in more than one Revolution, and therefore I will
never have any Thing to do with another.
But to be more to the Purpose. I sincerely hope my Friend Mr.
Warren will go to Congress. I am astonished to learn that at a
Time when a large Portion of the Massachusetts was at Stake and
in question, and all their Fisheries there should be, but one Mem-
ber attending the Great Wheel from that State. ^
The Reflection, Mrs. Warren, that we are now at Peace after
the Contests of one and twenty years, which you and I have been
witnesses of, is sweet indeed. Those Qualities which through the
Course of that Period have attracted the Attention and Confi-
dence of the People, will now be little regarded. Content. They
have answered their End, and may now be laid aside. Yet it is too
soon for Mr. Warren or me to retire. Stability and Dignity must
be given to the Laws, or our Labours have all been in vain and the
old Hands must do this or it will not be done.
I hope to have the Pleasure of renewing old Acquaintances e'er
long, and of being no stranger at the Blue Hills.
There is but one Case in which it is possible that I should stay in
Europe another year, and that is that Congress should renew the
Commission with which I came out to make a Treaty of Commerce
with Great Britain, in that Case I should hope my Dr. Mrs.
Adams would come to me. But there is not I think the least
Probability of that, nor indeed do I desire it. The first and strong-
est Wish of my Heart is to go home to my Family. But in all
Events The Mountain shall come to Mahomet or Mahomet shall
go to the Mountain. My Family shall come to me or I will go to
them. With the greatest Esteem and Respect, Madam, I have the
Honour to be, your Frnd. and Sert.
John Adams
I A paragraph has here been struck out, but in the Letter Book is left untouched.
It read as follows: "I have never had an Opportunity, Madam, to see your Son since he has
been in Europe, but once or twice at Amsterdam, and that before I had a House there.
He has been travelling from Place to Place; and altho' I have often enquired after him, I
have seldom been able to hear of him. I have heard nothing to his disadvantage, except a
Shyness and Secrecy which, as it is uncommon in young Gentlemen of his Age and Educa-
tion, is the more remarked, and a general Reputation which he brought with him from
Boston of loving Play. But I have not been able to learn that he has indulged it improperly
in Europe. But my Advice to him and every young American is and uniformly will be to
stay in Europe but a little while."
190 JVarren- Adams Letters [1783
Arthur Lee to James Warren
In Congress, Fehy. 19th, 1783
Dear Sir, — Since I wrote to request you to send me a Certl-
fyd Copy of the Resolve of the Assembly for granting me 6 00
Acres of Land; Mr. Gorham tells me that it has expird, and he
believes was renewd. Whether it has or not, I still beg that I may
have a Copy of the first resolution, for It Is that I want. If how-
ever It shoud have expird, you will permit me to beg your atten-
tion to having It renewd upon the best terms which your knowl-
edge of the subject may suggest.
I cannot but hope that Peace Is near, and yet It seems ex-
traordinary that neither Congress, the french Minister, nor Genl.
Carleton has any intelligence on the subject. As to the neglect
with which Congress is treated, that is neither new nor undeservd;
but that all other sources of official intelligence upon a matter so
very interesting and important, shoud be equally dry, Is aston-
ishing.
The mode of settling the Quotas of the States, and of establish-
ing funds for the payment of our debts are questions now before
Congress. I wish we had your assistance In discussing them. The
Confederation is a stumbling block to those who wish to introduce
new, and I think arbitrary systems. The vanity of being wiser
than others, and of being able to amend whatever is already done,
enlists many under this banner, who do not mean any thing undue.
But these Dispositions are often moulded to their measures by
artful men, and others without intending it, are made to minister
to their pernicious purposes. . . .
Arthur Lee
John Adams to James Warren
Confidential. Paris, March 20th, 1783
Sir, — I was in hopes that the Peace would have put Us at ease,
but It has not as yet much diminished our Anxiety. The long
interval, In which we have not been able to obtain any Intelligence
1783] IVarren -Adams Letters 191
from America, either by the way of Spain, France, Holland or
England — the unsettled State of Parties and Councils in London,
where there has been no responsible Minister this fortnight at
least — the delay of the definitive Treaty, which it is now given
out will not be signed for some time, as there is to be a Congress
and a Mediation here — and many other Causes, leave us in a
painful state of Suspence and Solicitude.
The Revocation of the Commission to make a Treaty of Com-
merce with Great Britain,^ without issuing another, appears in
Experience to be one of the most unfortunate measures, which
Congress ever adopted. My Lord Shelburne and his Colleagues
had been convinced by various Arguments, that it was the Inter-
est and best Policy of the British Nation to cultivate the Friend-
ship of America, and to allow her the amplest advantages in Trade;
and the Voice of the Nation was falling In with this Principle: so
that if there had been a Commission in being we should have had a
provisional Treaty of Commerce with Great Britain, signed at the
same time with the provisional Articles of Peace. But now there is
great danger, that a new Ministry will come in, tainted with Pas-
sions, Prejudices and Principles as unfriendly to Us, as they are
contracted in their Nature. If any portion of foreign Influence
contributed to the Revocation in question, the same will undoubt-
edly be employed In England; for it insinuates itself every where
to embroil Affairs there, and to prevent If possible a friendly Dispo-
sition towards Us from prevailing. Can We blame this Influence.?
We ought only to blame ourselves for giving way to It. It is not
founded In our Interests, nor in any Interests that We are under
any Obligations to favor. We are under no Ties of Honor, Con-
science or good Faith, nor of Policy, Gratitude or Politeness, to
sacrifice any profits which We can obtain In Trade with Great
Britain, merely to promote the Trade of France. It is of the last
Importance to Us in a political Light, that our Commerce should
be impartial In future, and be drawn to no Country by any other
Attraction than the best Bargains. The Price and Quality of
Goods should be our only Criterion. Let the Rivalry of our Trade
I Journals oj the Continental Congress, xx. 746. See Adams to Livingston, February 5,
1783, Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence (Wharton), vi. 242.
192 W^arren -Adams Letters [1783
be free and unrestrained. Let Nations contend which shall furnish
Us the best Goods at the cheapest Rate, and Detur digniori.
This is the only principle, which can warrant Us from too close
an Attachment to one Scale in the Ballance of Europe, which will
excite Jealousies in the other. Gentlemen can never be too often
requested to recollect the Debates in Congress in the Years 1775
and 1776, when the Treaty with France was first in Contempla-
tion. The Nature of those Connections, which ought to be formed
between America and Europe, will never be better understood
than they were at that time. It was then said, there is a Ballance
of Power in Europe. Nature has formed it. Practice and Habit
have confirmed it, and it must forever exist. It may be disturbed
for a time, by the accidental Removal of a Weight from one Scale
to the other; but there will be a continual Effort to restore the
Equilibrium. The Powers of Europe now think Great Britain too
powerful. They will see her Power diminished with pleasure. But
they cannot see Us throw ourselves headlong into the Scale of
Bourbon without Jealousy and Terror. We must therefore give no
exclusive priviledges in Trade to the House of Bourbon. If We
give exclusive priviledges in Trade, or form perpetual Alliances
offensive and defensive with the Powers in one Scale, We infallibly
make Enemies of those in the other, and some of these at least will
declare War in favor of Great Britain. Congress adopted these
Principles and this System in its purity, and by their Wisdom have
succeeded most perfectly in preventing every Power in the World
from taking Part against them. I hope I shall not give offence, if I
humbly request Congress to take a review of the original Report
of the Committee, which I think I remember very well as it is in
my handwriting, and of the Alterations made in it, after debating
it paragraph by paragraph in Congress.^ Compare the Plan of a
Treaty, which was sent over by Dr. Franklin, with the Treaty as it
was signed and remark in how many particulars the distresses of
our Affairs have compelled Us to depart from the purity of our
first Principle. It is most certain We have now no Motive to de-
part farther from it. One principal Duty of our Ministers abroad
should have been to keep the several Courts informed that this
I Journals oj the Continental Congress, v. 576.
1783] TVarren -Adams Letters 193
was our System, which would have greatly facihtated and acceler-
ated the progress of our Cause in Europe. But the Instructions,
with which those Ministers have been bound, and the artful
Obstructions thrown in their way, have rendered them much less
useful than they might have been.
I am very sorry to say, but my Duty obliges me to say, that in
my poor Opinion our foreign Affairs have been very ill conducted.
Had I been permitted, on my Arrival in Paris in 1780, to open a
Negociation with the British Ministry, if it had only been so far as
to communicate to them, and if they had neglected to take Notice,
to the Nation, Copies of my Commission to make Peace and a
Treaty of Commerce with Great Britain — Had Mr. Dana been
permitted to communicate his Commission to the Ministers of the
several Courts to which he is destined — Had Mr. Jay, Mr. Dana
and myself been encouraged and countenanced as We ought to
have been, instead of being opposed, obstructed, neglected and
slighted, as We have been in our several Departments, many
thousands of Lives would have been saved, many Millions of
Money, and the War would have come to a Conclusion much
sooner, upon Terms quite as advantageous to America, more
equitable to Holland, and more glorious for France. I must and
do most solemnly deliver it as my Opinion, that French Policy has
obstructed the progress of our Cause in Europe, more than British.
It is high time that We should be upon our Guard, and not mis-
take Evil for Good.
Mr. Marbois ^ has not been alone in his Idea, ''Hhat the inde-
pendent Party will always stand in great Want of our Support,''^ nor
in his Endeavors to keep the independent Party always in want of
such Support.
Every Step, which our Negociations advanced in Europe, di-
minished this "Want of Support." It was a Crime in me to wish
to do something in Holland to render Us less dependent on France,
as it was in Mr. Samuel Adams to toast, "May the United States
ever maintain their Right to the Fisheries."
But I venture to say, the Authors of this shackling and clipping
System, this enfeebling and impoverishing Plan, have been very
I Francois Barbe-Marbois (1745-1837).
194 W^arren -Adams Letters [1783
bad French Politicians. They have been ignorant of America, the
Character of her people and her Resources. They must reform
their Policy, or their Master and his Country will have Cause to
repent it. They must change their System; and the sooner they
are plainly and honestly told so, the better. The United States of
America are not a Power to be trifled with. There has been too
much trifling in many Respects.
There are Intimations of a Desire of Commercial Treaties and
Connections at present in various Parts of Europe. The United
States have been admitted to dance amongst the proudest Powers
of Europe at a Masquerade Ball at the Court of Turin, and Portu-
gal has acknowledged their Independence by the Act inclosed.
With great Respect and Esteem, I have the Honour to be Sir,
your most obedient and most humble Servant.
John Adams
General Warren.^
John Adams to James Warren
Confidential. Paris, March 21st, 1783
Sir, — The Situation of things in England cannot be too much
attended to at this time. The whimsical State of Parties; the
Anarchy in Government and the Confusion of Opinions among
the People, have been occasioned in a great Measure by the want
of an American Commission to make a Treaty of Commerce with
Great Britain. It is this that has brought all things to a Stand.
The Merchants and Manufacturers know not what to do, nor
what they can depend upon. Had a provisional Treaty of Com-
merce accompanied the provisional Treaty of the 30th of Novem-
ber, the Nation would have been so decidedly satisfied with the
Peace, that Mr. Fox and my Lord North would never have been
able to have obtained a Vote of the House of Commons, that the
Peace was inadequate. The critical Moment for obtaining the best
possible Treaty of Commerce, I very much fear, is lost forever.
I This letter, as the contents indicate, was originally written to the President of Con-
gress, but the destination was afterwards changed and Warren made the recipient.
1783] JVarren -Adams Letters 195
The true secret Motive of this Peace, was the precarious Situa-
tion of the Ministers who made it. I mean the Earl of Shelburne
and the C. de Vergennes.^ The Earl's Continuance in Office cer-
tainly depended upon his making Peace, at least a provisional one
with America. And I knew, perhaps better than my Colleagues,
that after the Signature of the provisional Treaty, the Comte's
Continuance in Office depended too upon the Peace. I am com-
manded by Congress to write the Characters of Ministers, and I
must obey. There are Commis and Deputy Commis in the Of-
fice of Interpreters, or some other Scribblers, who employ them-
selves incessantly in filling all the Gazettes of Europe with
pompous Panegyricks of this Minister, and sublime Ideas of his
Power and Credit, as well as his Abilities. But this is mere PufF
and Bubble. He has long Experience in Courts, and is adroit
enough in ordinary Business, but is by no means a great Minister.
He has neither the extensive knowledge nor the Foresight, nor the
Wisdom, nor the Virtue, nor the Temper of a great Man. His
Politicks are disturbed by little Passions, weak Prejudices and
unworthy Tricks, in every Step of their Progress. Not having
those great Abilities and that decided Character, which command
Respect, he has not the Advantage of high Birth and Nobility,
which in this Country might serve as a Substitute for them. The
Queen is not his Friend. He has not given that Satisfaction to
Spain, which is pretended, and he has disgusted Holland. And if
America has any Regard to the Character of her Ministers, to her
Fisheries or her Western Lands, he has given Cause enough of
Disgust to America. Feeling his Weakness and his Danger, he has
united himself to De Fleury,^ to whom the French don't scruple to
give very hard Names, By Means of this Comptroller of Finances,
whose Reputation here is very bad, and the Chancellor, he has
obtained a Feather in placing himself at the Head of the Council
of Finances, which has been trumpetted as the Place of Monsieur
de Maurepas, but it is not. Mr. de Maurepas ^ was President of
the Conseil de Roi, a very different Place from this, which is
1 Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes (1717-1787).
2 Jean Francois Joly de Fleury (1718-1802), hero of the song: "Si c'est du fleuri, ce
n'est pas du joli."
3 Jean Frederic Phelippeaux, comte de Maurepas (1701-1781).
19^ TVarren -Adams Letters [1783
merely a nominal thing. He will not suffer the Baron de Breteuil ^
to come from Vienna, from a Jealousy of him. And it has been
given to me as a serious Opinion by Noblemen of great Considera-
tion, among the rest, by one who is dear to America, that he will
not stand his Ground very long — some say not six Months. If
there is Truth in this Representation, and I verily believe it to be
literally true, Congress will easily see, that if the Comte had not
made Peace, after the Signature of the provisional Treaty, he
would not have been able to stand the Clamour. The Fact was,
there was a great Cry against him. You heard in all Companies:
"He has done wrong. There should have been a Congress of
Ministers of all the Powers at War. The Ministers of France,
Spain, England, Holland and the United States, should have all
assembled in one Room and discussed the whole Peace in presence
of each other, and all signed together. Instead of that, he sends
Rayneval and his Son to London, communicates nothing to the
American Ministers, nothing to the Dutch Ministers, and leaves
the Americans to sign first; whereby England was at liberty to
turn her whole Force against France and Spain. The Americans
have done right, but the Comte has cheated himself." This was
the language of France, and Congress may easily see by it, that
the Comte's Continuance in Office, after this faux pas, depended
upon his making a Peace. He felt it, and accordingly hastened it
to a Conclusion so suddenly, as to violate his Promises solemnly
made and often repeated to the Dutch Minister.
The Baron Breteuil, Ambassador at Vienna, is of high Birth
and numerous noble Connections, and very rich. He has a Son,
to whom the Duchess de Polignac has a desire to marry her
Daughter. Breteuil desires to enter into the Ministry, or to be
Intendant of Bretagne. But the Comte has hitherto refused to
let him come home, because he dreads him. It is now said,
however, that Orders are gone to him to come to France. And it
is ardently to be wished, that Breteuil or some other Minister
may take the Place of Vergennes. There cannot be a worse in my
Opinion for America. He has meant Us too much Evil; is too
conscious of it and too sensible that We know it; and he has been
I Louis Auguste le Tonnelier, baron de Breteuil (1733-1807).
1783] TVarren 'Adams Letters 197
too cleverly defeated in some of his ill Intentions, ever to be our
Friend.
It is not easy to explain the Motives of a little Mind, which has
no fixed Principle of Action. It is not easy to assign the Reason of
his long continued Rancour against our Rights to the Fisheries and
the Western Lands — against our obtaining Loans or Subsidies
from the King sufficiently noble and ample to have established our
Credit, and to have enabled Us to strike an effectual Blow against
New York — against our having an effectual Assistance of Men of
War, and against the Progress of our Negociations in Europe.
He is incapable of any Sentiment so patriotic, as to do all this
to keep Us dependent upon France, that She might avail herself
of our Weight and our Commerce. He wished to keep Us depend-
ent, that he might have Us in his own Power, that he might have
the miserable Gloriole of being the Pacificateur of Europe, of
having America, Holland, Spain and France in his Pocket, That
he might be made a Grandee of Spain, and obtain a Reputation
imposing enough to secure him his Place.
That he has pursued the Design for many Years of manoeuvring
Us out of our Fisheries and Western Territories, is past all doubt.
Mr. Gerard, who was a faithful Representative of him, betrayed
such a Design when he was at Philadelphia. Mr. Marbois, who is,
I am very sorry to see, too faithful a Representative of him, has
pursued the same Design. Mr. RaynevaV who is another of his
Images, has held the same Language, and the Comte himself has
held it too. His Attack upon me in his Letters to Dr. Franklin,
which the Dr. was left to transmit to Congress without informing
me, was an Attack upon the Fishery and Western Country.
Franklin's Motive was to get my Commission, and Vergennes's
Motive was to get it for him. Not that he loved Franklin more
than me, but because he knew Franklin would be more obsequious.
The Pretence, that I had given Offence, was a mere Fiction. Such
an invention they knew would be most likely to intimidate Mem-
bers of Congress, and carry their Point. I repeat it, it was not
true that I had given Offence. To suppose that I had, is to sup-
pose him the most senseless Despot that ever existed. The Secret
I Joseph Matthias Gerard de Rayneval (1746-1812).
198 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1783
was, that I was known to be too much attached to the Western
Countries and the Fisheries, and to be a Man, who would neither
be decleved, wheedled, flattered, or Intimidated into a Surrender
of them. Franklin he knew would let him do as he pleased, and
assist him in Inventing an Excuse for It.
I cannot account for his Enmity to Us, but by supposing an
Affectation of a Reputation of great Foresight. He affected to fore-
see, that We should suddenly become a great Nation, very rich
and powerful — so powerful, as to be independent and keep our-
selves neutral In a future War. He thought by crippling Us, he
could keep Us dependent and oblige Us to join France in a future
War against England. He thought too, that by getting America,
Holland and Spain wholly into his Power, he could make the
Peace as he pleased, and thus oblige every one to acknowledge him
as its Guardian, and trumpet his Fame so high, as to make the
Nation forget who he was and is, and oblige the King to continue
him in Power. But he has been vastly disappointed. And the
Truth is, that the American Ministers made the Peace In spight of
him, let his hireling Trumpetters say what they will.
It may not however be of any very great Importance to Us, who
is the Minister here. Let who will be the Minister, We must be
jealous of him, and trust him no farther than We see him. Every
humiliating Instruction to your Ministers in Europe must be
repealed, and they must see with their own Eyes. We must pre-
serve a good Understanding with France, and the King and the
Nation are well disposed to it. But we shall never preserve their
Friendship, unless We take Care of their Ministers. We must not
send our Army to Capua. We must cherish our Militia in every
State, keep ourselves prepared for whatever may happen. This is
the Way to preserve and improve the Peace. We can have no
Dependance upon England, whose People are still capable of
horrid Deeds; If they had the Power. They have no sincere Friend-
ship for the United States, altho' they are willing to acquiesce in
the Peace, and avail themselves of our Commerce. They are
humbled, in appearance at least, feel their real Situation and have
left off their vain Boastings. But there is Cause to suspect, that
they are confounded rather than humbled, and that they have
1783] U^arren 'Adams Letters 199
not sincerely repented of their past Conduct. A Correspondent of
mine says, They are in a State of political Reprobation — "of
Hell or Heaven, of Liberty or Slavery they reck not."
As the Courtiers still entertain their old Malice against Us, it
is not probable, that the true Interest of the Nation will be im-
mediately and steadily pursued. But as Shelburne pursued for a
long time an oscillating kind of Policy to the Disgrace and Loss of
the Nation, it will now require so much time to get rid of old
Prejudices in Commercial Matters, that its Rivals will get the Start.
If the Duke of Portland,^ Ld. John Cavendish,^ Mr. Fox, etca.
are now in Power, this Administration cannot last long, and I fear
they will not understand so well as Shelburne the true System
towards America. Administration will fluctuate for some time,
and there are terrible Symptoms of bloody Contests, which will
drive Multitudes to America, but will weaken and ruin that Is-
land more completely, than it is our Interest, or that of Mankind
perhaps, to wish.
The annual Interest of their Debt added to the Expences of
Government exceed by several Millions all their Revenues, an
horrid Truth which presents the Prospect at least of a partial
Bankruptcy; and this alone, without any other Commotion, will
drive great Numbers to our Country.
It is our Business to render our Country an Asylum, worthy to
receive all who may wish to fly to it. This can only be done, by
rendering the Minds of the People really independent. By guard-
ing them against the Introduction of Luxury and Effeminacy,
By watching over the Education of Youth, By keeping out Vices
and cultivating Virtues, By improving our Militia, and by forming
a Navy. These alone can compose a Rock of Defence. Without
these. Alliances will be a Snare. With them. We may have what
Alliances We please, and none but such as we chuse. With great
Esteem and Respect, I have the Honour to be. Sir, your most
obedient and most humble Servant
John Adams ^
I WilliamHenryCavendishBentinck, Duke of Portland (1738-1809). 2 (1732-1796).
3 Only the word "confidential" at the opening of this letter, the closing "With great
Esteem" etc. and the name of General Warren are in John Adams' handwriting. See note
to letter of March 20, 1783.
2 00 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1783
Benjamin Lincoln to James Warren
Philadelphia, April 5, 1783
Dear Sir, — Congress have referred to the several States, the
propriety of repeaHng part of our present confederation, and of
estabHshing new principles, for apportioning the Debts of the
United States.
When questions, of such importance as these, are to be agitated,
it is no less the duty, than the Interest, of every citizen, to offer
his own sentiments, on the propositions. I shall therefore, with
freedom, and as concisely as possible, offer you mine, agreeably to
my promise, made in my letter of the second instant.
The questions, to be considered, are whether that part of the
confederation, shall be repealed, which directs, that the expences
'of the United States, shall be borne by the several States, accord-
ing to the value of their located lands, and buildings; and whether
a new system, shall be substituted, which provides, that the pro-
portion of each State, shall be ascertained, by the number of their
white inhabitants, added to three-fifths of their black Inhabitants.
Did the substitution recommended. Include the whole number of
souls in each State, and direct them all to be brought into the
estimation, I should not hesitate to adopt it, and should consent
to the repeal most readily, not because I think the scheme a per-
fect one, but because, I think it preferable, to the one pointed out
by the confederation, and that it is the best we can now obtain.
The only question with me, at present is, whether there shall be
a deduction from the numbers in any State, merely because the
complexions of part [of] the inhabitants, of some of the States, are
different, from those of the inhabitants of others.
The reason why we do not apportion, the public debts, on the
several States equally, is because, each State, has not equal abili-
ties, to pay a like sum; this brings us to the necessity, of enquiring
into, and of ascertaining, the abilities of the several States, that
we may know what proportion, each can pay, so that all the in-
habitants, of the United States, shall bear their just proportion of
the common burden.
In order, that I may give you my sentiments on the questions.
1783] JVarren -Adams Letters 201
in as clear a manner as possible, I shall suggest some general
principles, which I think will be admitted as true, and that they
are the basis on which, a determination of the present questions,
must rest.
A people may always be estimated rich, when a great proportion
of their inhabitants are laborers, for it will not be controverted,
that by the hand of the laborer, the State is supported; when from
the richness of the soil, and from the clemency of their seasons, a
sufficiency, for the support of their inhabitants, is produced, by a
small proportion of that labor; When the surplus, affords a valu-
able and important article for exportation; and when, from the
mildness of the climate, little clothing is necessary, and the labors
of the summer, are not consumed, by providing subsistence for the
winter.
I suppose that it will not be denied, by any, that a people thus
circumstanced, will be rich, if they are not wanting to themselves,
and that, if the value of such means of wealth, could with exact-
ness be ascertained, we should have good documents, by which,
we might form a system, for apportioning the public debts, that
would do equal right to all. On this belief I shall ground my
present observations on the subject.
I say all the blacks, in the southern States, should be numbered,
and brought into the estimation, Because a greater proportion of
them are laborers, than are among the same number of people, in
the Northern States. In the southern, there are in these respects,
no distinction of sex, the mother with her babe is as many hours
in the field, and has an equal task assigned her, with her husband,
and if she, being thus incumbred, is unable to perform it, he is
obliged to compleat it, in addition to his own. Because from the
nature and richness of the soil, which is easy of culture, the same
quantity of labor, for the support of an individual, is not necessary
in the Southern States, as in the northern, where the soil is stiff,
the lands stoney, and are with difficulty cultivated. Because in
the southern States, they have a large surplus of beef and pork,
which make a very valuable article of exportation. To obtain this
they are at little or no expence, for their cattle and swine roam at
large and from the growths of the forests, (such being the tempera-
2 02 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1783
ture of the climate,) their spontaneous productions, are sufficient
to feed them, summer and winter, without any attention of the
laborer, and no cost is incurred, in fencing and clearing the lands,
on which these are raised. While in the Northern States all the
cattle and swine are fed five months in a year from food provided
for them in the summer and at all times from the groath of land,
which to clear and fence involves the owner in a very great expence
and after all our care the surplus of beef and pork for exportation
is very inconsiderable. Because the surplus, provided by the la-
bors of the Southern States, of articles of exportation, far exceed,
in quantity and value the surplus procured by the labors in the
Northern States, where a great part of their time Is spent, in laying
in necessaries for the winter, in which, little business is performed.
Because, food not so expensive in kind, and not in so great a
quantity, is required by the laborers. In the Southern States, as is
required by those In the Northern, there animal food cannot be
dispensed with. Because in the Southern States, their seasons are
so clement, that very little expence is necessary for clothing,
and especially for the laborers, and to provide necessaries for the
winter. In the Northern States, warm clothing must be had, and
as I observed before, a great proportion of their time, is spent in
the summer, in providing for the winter. Because, the laborer,
from the best Information I can obtain, in procuring the principal
articles of export, can earn nearly double the sum, each day, to
that which is earned, by our fishermen, in taking and curing fish,
which are our cheif article of export.
These are among the reasons, which have induced me to say,
that all the blacks, ought to be taken into the estimation. Indeed,
I think, in consideration of the peculiar advantages, enjoyed by
the Southern, which cannot be enjoyed by the Northern States,
that the Southern, should take a greater proportion of the com-
mon debt than even this would give them.
Here I should drop the subject, was there any common arbiter,
to decide among the United States, whose mind would not be
swayed by interest nor his Judgment fettered by fear. We might
with safety rely, on such a decision, as insuring to us, that justice,
which to obtain, I see very little hope, under our present consti-
1783] JVarren- Adams Letters 203
tution. But Is there such an arbiter to be found, among all the
Sons of the United States? I am convinced there Is not. If then,
there Is little probability, that the most perfect justice can be
obtained, and the very best method cannot be called Into practice,
while something must be done, which I think Is our case, and the
very great advances made by the Massachusetts makes It particu-
larly necessary for her to have all our public accounts liquidated
and apportioned on the several States, which I am confident
would greatly relieve her from her present burdens, I think there-
fore, although she may be fully convinced, that the system pro-
posed for her consideration and adoption, will not do her perfect
justice; yet If she Is convinced that It is the best which can be
obtained, and that fewer evils will arise from her adopting than
from her rejecting It, she will no doubt do the former.
To procure an estimate of all the located lands and buildings,
in the several States, agreeably to the mode pointed out by the
confederation, is a work of time, and we know, from long experi-
ence, by the operation of laws of this kind in our State, how little
dependance can be placed, in such returns, when they are obtained.
If It is with difficulty that a just valuation can be procured and
established In so small an extent of country as Is our State, and
where there are many of the inhabitants, who have a pretty good
knowledge of the several parts of It, and can correct the errors,
which always mark such returns; can we hope for a just one from
the several States, and that an equal proportion can be settled
by such returns, where we have no persons, who have such a knowl-
edge of all the States, as will give them, any just pretentions, to a
right, of correcting the several returns, from their own informa-
tion. Besides, I am confident, should 4 just return be made, of all
the buildings, and the full number of the acres of Land, in each
State, yet I have not a doubt, but the different estimates of value
put on them, by the several States, would be so unequal, that it
would be a source of continual disputes, and a fountain, from
which, unceasing dissentions would flow.
The real and estimated value of estates, are very different
things, the first is determined by their produce, and the other by
the sum they will sell for. We often find, that the produce of a
2 04 JVarren -Adams Letters [1783
farm, after all the labors and expences are paid, is of more value,
in the support of a family, than would be the interest of the money,
arising from the capital the farm would fetch. So on the other
hand, we some times see lands, from their local situation, and the
number of purchasers, sell for a sum, the common interest of
which, will far exceed in value, the neat income of the Land. The
real value of an estate, taken for the apportionment of taxes,
should be estimated by its produce, not by the sum, which the
possessor may have given for it; for, from the produce, are the
taxes to be paid, they should therefore be proportioned thereby.
It is from the want of this system. In the Massachusetts, that all
the lands in the first settled part of the State, and near the Sea,
pay a much greater tax than lands do which have been more
lately settled, though their produce is equal.
Was the value of lands, always determined by the value of their
produce, we should be freed from a repetition of the evils, we have
experienced in our State, from the want of this attention, and
should have no apprehensions, of an unequal apportionment, of
the debt of the United States, made on the letter of the confedera-
tion — letter I say because, I think if the spirit was attended to,
we should have a return of what I before called, the real value of
the States; But this we may not expect, the located lands and
Buildings, will be estimated, at what they will sell for, an appor-
tionment, on such an estimate, will saddle the Northern States,
with an unequal proportion, of the public debts. Because lands,
in an old and well settled country, will sell for more money, than
lands, which will yield an equal produce, will sell for, in a new one,
this we are taught by every day experience.
Though, I think the w[hole] number of inhabitants, should
come into consideration, yet as that cannot be obtained, I think
fewer evils will be experienced, by adopting the proposed System,
than will be suffered, should it be rejected.
Thus my dear Sir, I have in as few words as possible, given. you
my ideas, on a subject, interesting in its nature, and on the speedy
settlement of which, much depends.
I have the honor to be. Dear Sir, with great esteem your obedient
humble Servant, B. Lincoln
1783] IVarren -Adams Letters 205
John Adams to James Warren Adams mss.
Paris, April 9, 1783
Dear Sir, — I hope this will find you in Congress, support-
ing your Country and her Friends, where you ought to have been
many years past. For want of a few more hands of your Stamp at
the great Wheel, we poor Creatures are trembling here under a
fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation from Phila-
delphia.
It is utterly inconceivable how Congress can have been deceived
into such Instructions as they gave us, which without all Con-
troversy would have ruined our Country, if they had been obeyed.
Those Instructions put some of our essential Interests into the
Power of the worst Enemy of those Interests.
Great Britain is in a State that is undefinable — Unable for
many Weeks to form any Administration at all. the King is now
reported to have made a Combination so whimsical that it cannot
be expected to last, if it can operate at all. It must be divided in
Sentiment upon every material Question. The Distress for Grain,
the Poverty of the Treasury, the Weakness of public Credit, the
Weight of Taxes, the general Discontents and Animosities, and
the Danger, if not the Certainty of a publick Bankruptcy, at
least in part, threaten that devoted Country with Calamities of
which no Man can foresee the End.
You are threatened with an Inondation of Emigrants from all
Parts of Europe. But there will not be such an Appearance as is
talked of. It is not so easy for Men to change Countries. If you
were to listen to the Conversation in private Circles, or in Coffee
Houses, or to the Paragraphs in the Gazettes, you would think
that all Europe was about to empty itself into America; but after
all the Number of Emigrants will be small.
I am in Expectation every hour of recieving your Acceptance of
my Resignation, and indeed I stand in need of it. The Scenes of
Gloom, Danger and Perplexity I have gone thro', by Sea and Land,
and the Shocks of various Climates, have affected my Health to a
great degree, and, what is worse, my Spirits. Firm as some People
have been complaisant enough to suppose my Temper is, I assure
2o6 JVarren "Adams Letters [1783
you it has been shaken to its foundations, and more by the fluc-
tuating Councils of Philadelphia, than by anything else. When a
Man sees entrusted to him the most essential Interests of his
Country, sees that they depend essentially upon him, and that he
must defend them against the Malice of Enemies, the Finesse of
Allies, the Treachery of a Colleague, and sees that he is not to be
supported even by his Employers, you may well imagine a Man
does not sleep on a Bed of Roses. It is enough to poison the Life of
a Man in its most secret Sources.
The Fever, which I had at Amsterdam, which held me for five
days hiccoughing and senseless over the Grave, exhausted me in
such a Manner that I never have been able to recover from it
entirely. I have rode and walked and exercised incessantly now
for a Year and three Quarters, and have lived in all Respects with
great Caution, but all does not do. I have Weaknesses of Mind
and Body, to which I have been all my Life before a Stranger.
But I am not yet however so weak as to stay in Europe with a
Wound upon my Honour, and if I had the Health of Hercules, I
would go home. Leave or no Leave, the Moment another Person
is appointed to Great Britain. No fooling in such a March. I
will not be horse jockeyed. At least, if I am, De Vergennes and
Franklin shall not be the Jockies.
It is not that I am ambitious of the Honour of a Commission to
St. James's, or that I fondly expect a happy Life there. I could be
happier I believe at The Hague. But my Enemies, because they
are Enemies or Despisers of the Interests of my Country, shall
never have such a Triumph over me. I should think myself for-
ever unworthy of the Confidence of Congress, or of any other
Body possessed of Sense or Spirit, if I did. In Truth I sigh for
Repose. My Family has become an indispensible Necessary of
Life to me. I am no longer a Boy, nor a young Man, and there is
no Employment however honorable, no Course of Life however
briUiant, has such a Lustre in my Imagination as absolutely a
private Life. My Farm and my Family glitter before my Eyes
every Day and Night.
You may well imagine that I shall not be beloved in London.
I have been, as you know, too old and atrocious an Offender not
1783] IVarren -Adams Letters 207
to have Millions of Enemies there. You know, too, that I have
acted too daring and decided a Part In France and Holland, as
well as in America, not to have numerous Enemies and powerful
ones too in all those Countries. The Peace does not open to me
in public Life Prospects of Glory and Triumph and Power and
Wealth, that can flatter or excite Ambition or Avarice In me.
I knew very well for many Years before I engaged in publick,
that if I ever should engage, whatever Dangers I might brave,
whatever Losses I might suflFer, and whatever Successes I might
have. Rewards and Fortunes were never made for me nor mine;
that the utmost I could ever expect would be a comfortable or
even a tolerable old Age. For this I would gladly now compound.
At home I might enjoy It. Abroad I certainly cannot. Decide my
Fate, therefore, as soon as possible, if it Is not yet decided; which
I wish and hope, and let me embrace you at Philadelphia or at
Milton. With great Affection and Esteem your Friend.
Paris, 15th Aprils 1783- Delivered to Mr. George Mason of
Virginia.
John Adams to James Warren
Paris, April 12, 1783
Dear Sir, — What would I have given to have been your Door-
keeper for a few days while you had under Deliberation the Dis-
patches We sent by Barney,^ that I might have listened with my
Ear at the Key hole and overheard your Debates. I fancy some
Members will be of opinion, that they have committed a Mistake
in committing the Lamb so unreservedly to the Custody of the
Wolf. If Congress are not betrayed by the Want of Intelligence
or by Misinformation into any unseasonable votes, all will be
very well. I should not wish to see, any other vote than a simple
Ratification of the provisional Treaty of the 30. of Nov. 1782.
Yet the Departure of Barney was, by various means partly acci-
dental and partly designed so long delayed, even to the 17 of
January, and the English and the French might have sent the
I The preliminary articles of peace. Barney commanded the Washington. The papers
did not reach Congress until March 12.
2o8 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1783
News in their own Way and in their own Colours so much sooner,
tho We know not that they did, that you might be led to form
opinions upon partial Evidence. You may well suppose. We are
anxious to know. Not a Word from any Part of America, directly
or indirectly which gives cause to suppose that you have reed, the
News even of the Treaty of the 30. of Nov. Nor that you have
reed, the Dutch Treaty, four Copies of which I put on board four
different Vessells at Amsterdam in October.^ We cannot account
for the failure of Arrivals in Spain, France, Holland, so absolutely
without supposing an Embargo.
The Treaty with Sweeden is made,^ Denmark has ordered our
Flag to be respected like that of Republicks of the first order.'
Portugal has done the same.^ The Emperor has an Inclination to
treat with Us but The House of Austria never makes the first Ad-
vances. Mr. Dana has announced himself to the Chancellor Oster-
man ^ and reed, for answer that the Way was clear.
Mr. Fox the new Minister declares his good dispositions and his
Determination to finish with the Utmost Liberality. Mr. Hartly
it is said is to finish with Us, and the Duke of Manchester with the
other Powers.
Your Son is said by some to have gone to Italy and by others
to have embarked for America from Marseilles where he has
wisely been to lay the foundation of Trade and Fortune.
Our young Men may lawfully make their Fortunes. We their
Fathers have been employed in preparing the Way. I dont know
what to do with my Boys, however. Affectionately yours,
J. Adams
John Adams to James Warren
Confidential, Paris, April 13 th, 1783
Dear Sir, — I have in some late Letters opened to You in
Confidence the Dangers, which our most important Interests have
1 Adams' letter transmitting the treaties was dated October 8, 1782, and reached
Congress January 21, 1783. Two days later the treaty with the Netherlands was ratified.
2 Concluded April 3, 1783.
3 See Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence (Wharton), vi. 261, 372.
4 lb., 480, 538. 5 Jean, comte d'Ostermann (1724-1811).
1783] W^arren -Adams Letters 209
been In, as well as the Opposition and Jealousy and Slanders,
which your Ministers have met with, from the vain, ambitious
and despotic Character of one Minister, I mean the C. de Ver-
gennes. But You will form but an imperfect Idea after all of the
Difficulties We have had to encounter, without taking into Con-
sideration another Character equally selfish and interested, equally
vain and ambitious, more jealous and envious, and more false and
deceitful, I mean Dr. Franklin.
It is a saying of Algernon Sidney concerning Sir Walter Raw-
leigh, that "his Morals were not sufficiently exact for a great
Man." And the Observation can never be applied with more
propriety than to Dr. Franklin. His whole Life has been one
continued Insult to good Manners and to Decency. His Son,
and Grandson, as he calls him with characteristic Modesty; the
Effrontery with which he has forced these his Offspring up In
the World, not less than his Speech of Polly Baker, are Out-
rages to Morality and Decorum, which would never have been
forgiven In any other American. These things however are
not the worst of his Faults. They shew however the Character
of the Man; in what Contempt he holds the Opinions of the
World, and with what Haughtiness he Is capable of persevering
through Life in a gross and odious System of Falsehood and Im-
posture.
A sacred regard to Truth Is among the first and most essential
Virtues of a public Man. How many Kings have involved them-
selves and their Kingdoms in Misfortunes, by a Laxness in this
particular.^ How much Mischief has been done in all Ages by
Ministers of State, who have Indulged themselves in a Duplicity
and Finesse, or In other Words, in an Hipocrlsy and Falsehood,
which some are even abandoned enough to recommend and pre-
scribe to Politicians, but which never yet did any thing but Harm
and Mischief. I am sorry to say, but strict and impartial Justice
obliges me to say, that from five complete Years of Experience of
Dr. Franklin, which I have now had in Europe, I can have no
Dependence on his Word. I never know when he speaks the
Truth, and when not. If he talked as much as other Men, and
deviated from the Truth as often In proportion as he does now.
2IO JVarren 'Adams Letters [1783
he would have been the Scorn of the Universe long ago. But his
perpetual Taciturnity has saved him.
It would be Folly to deny, that he has had a great Genius, and
that he had written several things in Philosophy and in Politicks,
profoundly. But his Philosophy and his Politicks have been
infinitely exaggerated, by the studied Arts of Empiricism, until
his Reputation has become one of the grossest Impostures, that
has ever been practised upon Mankind since the Days of Mahomet.
A Reputation so imposing in a Man of Artifice and Duplicity,
of Ambition and Vanity, of Jealousy and Envy, is as real a
Tyranny as that of the Grand Seignior. It is in vain to talk of
Laws of Justice, of Right, of Truth, of Liberty, against the
Authority of such a Reputation. It produces all the Servility of
Adulation, all the Fear, all the Expectation and Dependence in
common Minds, that is produced by the imposing Pomp of a
Court and of Imperial Splendour. He had been very sensible of
this, and has taken Advantage of it.
As if he had been conscious of the Laziness, Inactivity and
real Insignificance of his advanced Age, he has considered every
American Minister, who has come to Europe, as his natural
Enemy. He has been afraid that some one would serve his
Country, acquire a Reputation, and begin to be thought of by
Congress to replace him.
Sensible that his Character has not been so much respected in
America as in Europe, he has sought an Alliance to support him
with Mr. de Sartine and the C. de Vergennes and their "Autours"
— Satellites. It is impossible to prove, but from what I know of
him, I have no doubt, that he is the Man, who, by means of the
Emissaries or Satellites just alluded to, made to those Ministers all
the malicious Insinuations against Mr. Lee and Mr. Izard, which,
altho' absolutely false and groundless, have made as much Noise
in the World, and had almost the same Effects, as if they had been
true. From the same detestable Source came the Insinuations and
Prejudices against me, and the shameless abandoned Attack upon
me, the History of which You know better than I. Hence too the
Prejudices against Mr. Dana, Mr. Jay and every other. These
are my Opinions, tho' I cannot prove them, otherwise than by
1783 ] TVarren -Adams Letters 2 1 1
what I have seen and heard myself, what results from a long
Series of Letters and Transactions, and what I know of the Char-
acters of the Men. The C. has had his Head filled with so many
Prejudices against others, and in favor of him, and has found him
so convenient a Minister, ready always to comply with every
Desire, never asking any thing but when ordered and obliged to
ask for Money, never proposing any thing, never advising any
thing, that he has adopted all his Passions, Prejudices and Jeal-
ousies, and has supported him, as if his own Office depended upon
him. He and his Office of Interpreters have filled all the Gazettes
of Europe with the most senseless Flattery of him, and by means
of the Police set every Spectacle, Society, and even private Club
and Circle to clapping him with such Applause, as they give to
Opera Girls. This being the unfortunate Situation of foreign
Affairs, what is to be done?
Franklin has, as he gives out, asked Leave to resign. He does
not mean to obtain it, but to save the Shame of being recalled.
I wish with all my Soul he was out of public Service, and in Retire-
ment, repenting of his past Life, and preparing, as he ought to be,
for another World. But as the Peace is made, and he is old, and it
will make a horrid Wonder in the World to remove him, and it
would be impossible to publish the whole Truth in Justification of
it to the People of America as well as of Europe, perhaps it may
be as well to let him alone. But at least Congress should firmly
and steadily support their other Ministers against his insidious
Manouvres. They should add no more Feathers to his Cap.
This will however be difficult. He will watch Opportunities, and
French Influence will forever aid him, and both will be eternally
attacking openly and secretly every other Minister. So that I
am persuaded he will remain as long -as he lives, the Demon of
Discord among our Ministers, and the Curse and Scourge of our
foreign Affairs.
France has suffered as much as America, by the unskilful and dis-
honest Conduct of our foreign Affairs. They have had no Confi-
dence in any but him, and he either knew nothing or cared noth-
ing about Affairs. They have not only not confided in any other,
but they have persecuted every other. By which Means France
212 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1783
has not derived half the Advantage from the Alliance In the
War, nor will She hold half the Benefit after the Peace, which
She might have done. If She had vouchsafed to hearken to the
Advice of those, who would have given It honestly and wisely.
To enter Into the contemptible detail of all the unworthy
Artifices, the Follies and Impositions, that have been the Fruit
of these Characters; the "petit Commerce" of and
and ^ the Arts In Holland, Spain, Russia, Sweeden, Den-
mark and all the rest of Europe, to prevent the progress of
our Cause, and defeat our Negoclatlons; to straiten In the Article
of Money, and distress Us In the War; to keep Us humble, tame
and dependent; to strip Us of the Fishery and Western Lands,
the Millions of Affronts, Neglects, Contempts, or. In one French
Word, "Desagremens," which have been put upon the Servants
of Congress, would fill Volumes.
The Moral and the Politick of all Is, " See with your own Eyes,
judge with your own Understanding, repeal every shackling In-
struction to your Ministers, support them Inflexibly against all
foreign Influence, and all little spiteful Intrigues."
For my own part, I have been made a Sacrifice to such Intrigues
In so gross a manner, that unless I am restored and supported,
I am unalterably determined to retire. So resolves your invariable
Friend,
J. Adams ^
[Note.] Paris, i6 April. Delivered to Capt. Adam Hoops of
Philadelphia, who was bound to Nantes to embark for America.
1 Blanks in the original.
2 Illiberal as this and the following letter now seem to be there was good reason at the
time to suspect the attitude and measures of France. It was the cordial relations existing
between Franklin and the Court of France that aroused the suspicions of Adams; Lafayette,
as a Frenchman of influence at the Court would naturally be placed in the same class. In
the light of subsequent events it is recognized that Franklin was on the whole the better
interpreter of the French view, but the efforts of Jay and Adams to counter the extreme
aims of France in the peace were needed and did conserve the interests of the United States.
It is as absurd to believe that Franklin entertained any sentiments hostile to American in-
terests as it is to assume that Adams would intentionally yield one iota of what he consid-
ered to be American rights. Both men were earnest patriots, serving their country loyally;
but Adams expressed his views freely and frankly and, while he makes history interesting,
he suffers by comparison with Franklin's "taciturnity."
1783] U^arren- Adams Letters 213
John Adams to James Warren
Paris, A'pril i6, 1783
Dear Sir, — It is my duty to unbosom myself to some Friend
in Congress upon whose discretion I can rely, and there is none to
whom I can do it with more Propriety than to you of whose
Patriotism and Friendship I have had so long Experience.
We are at Peace, but not out of Danger. That there have been
dangerous Designs against our real Independence, if not against our
Union and Confederation, is past a doubt in my mind, and we have
cause to fear that such designs may be revived in various shapes.
Europe is generally sensible that the United States in half a Century
will, if they keep together, give the Tone to the World. This is not
a flattering Idea to them, and we may depend upon [it] there will
be a succession of vain Politicians who will maneuvere to break Us.
Let me beg of you to look up some old Papers in Mr. Thomp-
son's office, I mean the Contracts entered into with Monsieur de
Coudrai and other French officers, the M. de la Fayette among
others, by Mr. Deane, and Mr. Deane's Letters. If De Coudrai
had been made Major General older than Green, with the com-
mand of the whole artillery and all military Manufactures, sub-
ject only to the Command of Congress and the Commander in
Chief, and if the Marechall M. had been that Commander in Chief
as was proposed, what would have been the Situation of our Army
and Country! in whose Power should we have been.'' Pursue the
History of our foreign afl"airs from that time to this and see if all
has been right, See if we have not motives enough to think of
standing on our own Legs and judging for ourselves.
The Marquis de la Fayette is an amiable Nobleman and has
great Merit. I enjoy his Friendship and wish a Continuance of it;
But I will conceal nothing from you. I see in that Youth the seeds
of Mischief to our Country if we do not take Care.
He was taken early into our Service and placed in an high
Command, in which he has behaved well, but he has gained more
applause than human nature at twenty-five can bear. It has in-
kindled in him an unbounded Ambition which it concerns Us
much to watch.
2 14 JVarren- Adams Letters [1783
The Instructions of Congress to their foreign Ministers to con-
sult with him was very ill judged; it was lowering themselves and
their Servants. There is no American Minister who would not
have been always ready and willing to consult with him; but to
enjoin it and make it a Duty, was an humiliation that would
astonish all the World if it was known. Your Ministers will never
be respected, never have any Influence, while you depress them in
this manner. Every Frenchman of Course who knows it, and
enough do know it, will consider your Servants as mere Instru-
ments in their hands. If Dr. Franklin Mr. Jay, Mr. Laurens, Mr.
Dana, have occasion for the Advice of the Marquis, it would be
wonderfuU. It may be said that he Is a convenient Go-between. I
say for this very Reason It should have been avoided. There
ought to be no Go-between. Your Ministers should confer di-
rectly with the Ministers of other Powers, and if they choose at
any time to make Use of a third Person, they ought to choose him.
The Marquis may live these fifty years. Ten years may bring
him by the order of Succession to the Command of your Army.
You have given him a great deal too much of Popularity in our
own Country. He Is connected with a Family of vast Influence in
France. He rises fast In the French Army. He may be soon in the
Ministry. This Mongrel Character of French Patriot and Ameri-
can Patriot cannot exist long, and If hereafter It should be seriously
the Politicks of the French Court to break our Union, Imagination
cannot conceive a more Proper Instrument for the Purpose than
the Marquis. He Is now very active, everlastingly busy, ardent to
distinguish himself every Way, especially to Increase his Merit
towards America, aiming as I believe at some Employment from
Congress. Pains are taken to give him the Credit of every Thing,
believe me It Is of infinite Importance that you yourselves and
your Servants should have the Reputation of their own Measures
and of doing your Service.
I know the Confederation of our States to be a brittle Vessell,
I know it will be an object of Jealousy to France. Severe strokes
will be aimed at it; If We are not upon our Guard to ward them off,
it will be broken and what a scene of Misery to our Country does
this Idea open.
1783] TVarren -Adams Letters 215
Amidst all the Joys of Peace and the glorious Prospect before
Us I see in Europe so many Causes of Inquietude that I cannot be
longer easy without laying my Thoughts open to a friend. I have
freely hinted at the Characters which have given me unutterable
Distress, because they have endangered and dishonoured our
Country, and I now give you my apprehensions of another.
Our Country is a singular one. It is a Temple of Liberty set
open to all the World. If there is anything on Earth worthy of
being contended for it is this glorious object. I never had thro my
whole Life any other Ambition than to cherish, promote and pro-
tect it, and never will have any other for myself nor my children.
For this object however I have [endured] as much as any Con-
queror ever had; for this I have run as great Risques and made as
great Sacrifices as any of the pretended Heroes whose object was
Domination and Power, Wealth and Pleasure. For this I have
opened to you Characters with Freedom which it is to me per-
sonally dangerous to touch, but it is necessary and come what will
I will not flinch. These People know me, they know I stand in
their Way, and therefore you will hear of insinuations enough
darkly circulated, to lessen me at home. I care not. Let me come
home and tell my own story your Frd.
J. Adams
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, May 4th, 1783
Sir, — Did not the stronger motive of friendship excite, I think
the Gratitude due from each individual of your Country would
be a stimulus sufficient to set the pen in motion. Urged by such
Laudable principles an apology for calling aside your Attention
from objects of Greater Magnitude is unnecessary. And if I am
the Last to Congratulate you on the success of your Negotiations,
I will venture to say I am not the Least sensible of their impor-
tance, and among the Multitude of your friends you have few who
enjoy more pleasure in your Triumph over your Enemies, or in
that Firmness, Intrepidity, and Perseverance that at once ob-
2i6 TVarren -Adams Letters [1783
talned it and secured the Claims of America on a Basis that
promisses Wealth and Honor (and if not incompatible) T will add
Happiness to posterity.
And do you think now, sir, to retire to sit down Quietly and
enjoy the sweets of Domestic life. No. Never, till Weary Nature
diminishes your Capacity for acting in the sphere of Dignified
Difficulty, you was not made for the purpose of Resting in the
cool sequestered shade of life, it is yours to tread the bold and
craggy path of politics, to Counteract the Intrigues of statesmen
and Princes, to settle the Boundaries of Nations and mark the line
of Empire, and what is more difficult to Atchieve, to convince
Mankind that probity is the surest Road to Honour.
A people destitute of public or private Virtue cannot be long
Happy by the Exertions of a few of the best or Wisest of her Citi-
zens. Yet I believe the Example of one Good Man unawed by
threats, uncorrupted by Gold and unmoved by the Machinations,
Refinements and Duplicity of systematical Villany, has a Greater
tendency to keep alive the Respect due to Real Merit than either
judiciary Restraints or the best digested Code of Moral injunction.
I feel myself disposed to Loquacity (Nothing Novel in my pen)
but least the subject before me should betray me into some Ex-
pressions that might bear the semblance of Flattery, instead of
that just mean of applause due to Distinguished Worth, I leave
all Panegirick to the Historian and the Poet. And in the simple
familiar style of unadorned Friendship, inquire whether the Amer-
ican Minister at the Hague Received several Letters under the
signature of Marcia, and if the Cold Phlegmatic Dutchman, more
Honest than polite, Delayed a return, surely the influence of a
Milder Clime will soften to Condesention, and the Ettiquette of
Varsellies and Paris forbid such an affront to a Lady.
Therefore I shall peep as eagerly into the next paket as an
inspector to a Plenipo, for a Letter Directed to one who asks not
forgiveness for these short interruptions, the little interludes of
common Life Give fresh Exhileration to the spirits and fill up the
Vacant Moment when the mind is Worn down by the Higher
Avocations to Bussiness, or Fatigued by the parade of Courts and
the pomp and Glare of Grandeur.
1783] TVarren 'Adams Letters 217
Political connexions, the state of parties and the Internal Feuds
in your Beloved Country, you doubtless have through the hands
of more Interested Observers. And if, through the Inattention of
public or the Negligence of private Men you have not all the In-
telligence you might Expect, you have Every thing Worthy of
your Notice from a quarter that Enhances the Value of the Com-
munication.
I therefore only add that your American Friends wish most
Ardently to see; that the Friends of America wish your Residence
in Europe, and that wherever you Reside, or whatever is your
Mode of Life an affectionate prayer for your Happiness will be
Breathed from the Lips of, Sir, your assured Friend and Humble
servant
M. Warren
P.S. Please to make particular Compliments to the American
Gentlemen of my acquaintance. A Letter from Mr. J[ohn] in the
high style of Russian politeness would be very pleasing to his
young Friends on Milton Hill.
May 9th. Mr. Warren expecting a more direct opportunity
soon will write you Largely, this will be handed you by a Mr.
Watson ^ of Marblehead, formerly of Pllmouth, who wishes for an
opportunity to wait on you.
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, June 24th, 1783
My Dear Sir, — I thank you for j^our Letters of the 6th Sep-
tember and 15th December and should have done it long before
now, but I expected to do it viva voce at Braintree or Milton, in the
Month of June at furthest, but as that may probably be postponed
to November, I will not loose another Opportunity of writing to
you and especially so good an one as this by the America. I con-
gratulate you on the Peace and the honourable Share you have
had in making it. they both give me pleasure. Your Countrymen
I Elkanah Watson.
2i8 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1783
at present feel and express their Gratitude for your Conduct on
this occasion, and those that have lead to it, and if you return soon
you may enjoy it but it is not a permanent plant in your Country
at least in every Instance, every Body thinks the Terms honour-
able on our part, and quite equal to the most sanguine Expecta-
tions and yet every Body is not pleased, had such an Event taken
place in 1778, we should have received it with Extacy, every Body
would have rejoiced without any other Exception than the Tories,
but we love Money now better than we did then, the Farmer cant
bear to see the fall of his produce, and the Merchant regrets that
there is an End of the prospects of making a fortune by a single
Voyage. Indeed the Contrast is great, every thing is getting into
its old Station. European Goods have got below it. our Harbours
are crouded with Ships. Boston and Philadelphia can furnish
those Goods as cheap as London or Paris, but that matter will
come right when the European Merchants have paid for the
Experiment and learn'd to leave the Importation of Goods here
to our Merchants.
I suppose you are now engaged in the Treaty of Commerce with
Britain, shall we have the Transport Trade as before from the
West Indies, to enable us to get our Ships to Market, that is a
matter of Importance to this State, and perhaps more so to New
Hampshire. The other States will be Indifferent which way it is
decided, and some of them will prefer our being Excluded from it,
because they may get their Goods to Market cheaper if our Ships
have nothing else to do. The English Islands cannot be Indiffer-
ent, if we cannot carry their freights they must pay dear for our
Lumber on one hand while freight may rise on the other, but if
Britain should think it right to confine that Business to their own
Ships, they cant complain if we do the same with regard to the
Transport of Tobacco, rice, oil, etc., etc.; for if the cases are not
exactly similar they are near enough for policy to accomodate the
same measures to.
The Tories in all parts of America reprobate the Article that
relates to their Brother refugees and say it would have been better
for them if no mention had been made of them, while it gives some
Uneasiness to the Whiggs who think it may produce dissensions
1783] Ji^arren -Adams Letters 219
among us, especially if any of them are admitted, our Papers will
by the Instructions to Representatives from several Towns, give
you an Idea of the Temper and Sense of the People on this head.
the only one that both sides agree in Excepting to and wishing
Obliterated, but let it remain, it is best we should not have every
thing we wish for, and it is a Trifle in Comparison of those great
Acquisitions we have secured, if we could have foreseen this
period and this state of things it would have made us happy ten
years ago. it would certainly have saved you and I many an
anxious day and night, but flattering as our present prospect is, I
agree with you it is to be ascribed to the Providence of God, and
that we have much yet before us. if we do not improve our pres-
ent Advantages they may not make us happy, but how are we to
guard against "the Contagion of European Manners, and that
Excessive Influx of Commerce, Luxury and Inhabitants from
abroad which will soon Embarrass us." Commerce will flow with
an irresistable Tide. Manners and Luxury will follow of course,
and Inhabitants from abroad wanted in some proportion, it will
be difficult to draw the Line where to stop, you must come and
help us do the Great work, we want a Chief Magistrate of abili-
ties, you must be the Man. my wish is to see it and you will be if
you come, you can hardly conceive the Inconveniences we sufl^er
from the Imbecillity of Administration in this State, and yet the
Inchantment is too strong to be broken, without you. the neces-
sity of a Rotation provided for in the Constitution never appeared
more evident, but even the Constitution is not observed with that
sacred regard it should be. it is violated upon any Occasion to
serve a purpose. Judge S n ^ was chosen a Representative for
the Town of Boston after being an Inhabitant only about six
Months, and the House have declared the Election Valid, what
security is there for the remaining parts of the Constitution.
Ways and Means to pay our Debts, etc., are the principal Objects
of Congress, and their Legislatures. Among these Imposts and
Excises hold the first place, and are pursued with Enthusiasm.
I wish they may not be to the ruin of Commerce, and Liberty. I
have too much to say to you on this subject for the remaining part
I James Sullivan (1744-1808).
2 20 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1783
of this Letter, and too much on the dangers I apprehend from the
Influence and Views of some Men at and about Congress, and the
trusting that or any Body of Men with a standing revenue out of
the reach of our own Controul. The principal and Interest of our
Debts must be paid. I cant say what is the best method but I
think it would be best to assign to each State its proper proportion,
and let them do it in their own way. this mode is not without
Objections but I think it the safest.
Mr. Gerry goes to Congress this week, if you ask why I dont
go, I will tell you because I have been Sick the whole Spring, and
dare not Venture to go at this Season. Mrs. Adams and Nabby
are on a Visit at Heverhill. you may suppose they are well, and
will doubtless have it under their hands by this Opportunity.
Mrs. Warren joins in Wishes for your Health and prosperity, our
Good wishes extend to Mr. Thaxter, Mr. Storer and your Son.
will you make my respectful regards to your Friend Mr. Jay. I
love him for his Friendship for you, I honour him for his Probity
and Patriotism in the Execution of his Important Commissions.
I am Sir Your Friend with Great Esteem,
J. Warren
Arthur Lee to James Warren
In Congress, Princeton, Augt. 13, 1783
Dear Sir, — I had the honor of writing to Mrs. Warren relative
to Your Son's object.^ I have now to add that it is not probable
any question on the subject will come on 'till the new delegation
takes place of the present; therefore it woud be prudent to impress
them before they leave your State, in his favor.
Our removal to Philadelphia, tho much urgd, has not yet been
effected; but such is the influence of art and cultivation over right
and judgment that I cannot promise a vote will not at length be
obtaind for that pernicious measure.
Will you have the goodness to inform me, whether any thing has
been done relative to the land voted to. me; and how the paper-
I Winslow Warren had applied, July 2, 1783, to be appointed consul.
1783 ] JVarren -Adams Letters 221
money, of which I troubled you with a parcell to receive the inter-
est, is now circumstanced. Whether it is funded, has depreciated or
appretiated ?
We have not a word from any Minister in Europe relative to the
definitive treaty, which is not a Httle surprising. Mr. Dana was
well at Petersburg in April, when he informd us that the Empress
would not receive him 'till the ratification of the definitive treaty,
and a new Letter of credence is sent dated posterior to the ac-
knowlegment of our Independence by the british Crown. ^ This
seems to be an over-delicacy. Please to present my best respects to
Mrs. Warren, Mrs. J. Adams, Mr. Bodwoine, and Mr. S. Adams.
Farewell.
A. Lee
John Adams to James Warren
Paris, Septr. lo, 1783
My dear Friend, — I received with great Pleasure yours of
24. June. The Approbation of my Countrymen is a great Pleasure
and Support to me but that Approbation does not extend I fancy
so far as you and several others seem to imagine, if it does I am
unfit for their Purposes, having neither Health nor Patience, for
the arduous and trying Duties of their first Magistrate, an honor
too high and a situation too delicate for me.
A Residence in the Massachusetts is the desire of my Soul, and
the only one where I can enjoy Life. I still hope to pass my Eve-
ning, hastening on apace, in that Country: But Congress have
tied me again to Europe by a new Commission so honourable to
me, as to have really touched my heart.^ Upon a very long Letter
of mine they have founded this Commission and have owned it,
in their Journals. Whoever shall compare the Letter and Com-
mission together, will own that it does me infinite honour, and
ought to silence forever every Complaint on my part for what is
past. I am now indifferent who goes to England, but still think
the public Good requires that some one should go.
1 Journals of the Continental Congress, xxiv. 348,
2 May I, 1783, Congress had appointed Adams, Franklin and Jay, to negotiate a
treaty of commerce with Great Britain. Journals of the Continental Congress, xxiv. 320.
22 2 W^arren "Adams Letters [1783
We shall do our Utmost Endeavour to secure to Massachusetts
and N. Hampshire a Way to Market for their ships through the
West India Islands. But N. Hampshire and Rhode Island too,
should support in Congress, those Men to whom if to any body
they must be indebted, for this Benefit, and not sacrifice them to
the Vanity of another, who will take little Pains about it, who is
afraid to think in the day, for fear he should not sleep at night,
whose whole Time and thoughts s[eem] to be taken up, with little
clandestine Projects to gratify his private vanity and secure to
himself, and his Name exclusive Reputation, at the Expence even
of others who do real Business for the Benefit of the public and
who think and act wholly for its good.
our Navigation will be materially affected, by our Treaties
with Denmark and Portugal, which Dr. Franklin has been secretly
contriving to get the exclusive Management of, as he did that of
Sweeden. N. H. and R. Island shd be upon their Guard, and
join others in this Business who think a little about it.
Mr. Dana will soon be with you. He can give you very enter-
taining and instructive Histories not of Voyages and Travels
alone, but of Negotiations. His defeat comes from the same source,
very secret and cunning, but very malicious to every Man and
every Project, calculated for the public Good. This one Man
seems to have a positive Spight against every public service, that
he does not exclusively perform himself. He opposes it and perse-
cutes the Agent in it with a Malice and Rancour that is astonish-
ing. I could have formed no Idea, that Jealousy Envy and Vanity
could have gone such Lengths.
I think our Country should form Treaties with the Two Em-
pires, as well as Denmark and Portugal, to these should be added,
Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, perhaps too the Kings of
Sardinia, and Naples, one Commission, may be enough for all
these Purposes, in order to save Expence. But this Commission
ought not to be given to one alone at Paris, when three are obliged
to reside there on another Negotiation. We should be all joined
in it, and when We have completed the Business We may all go
home.
My best Respects and kindest Regards to your Family. My
1783] W^arren -Adams Letters 223
Friend Mr. Otis, seems to have been permitted to see the Building
finished which he framed, and then taken away in a manner
equally happy and distinguished.^ He was a favourite of Nature
in his Genius and in his Death. The History of our Country I
hope will do Justice to this great Character. With great Esteem,
your Frd. and Sert.
J. Adams
John Adams to Mercy Warren
Paris, Septr. lo, 1783
Madam, — It is but a very few days, since I received your Let-
ter of the 4. of May, which afforded me, as your Letters always
do, a delicious Entertainment. Your friendly Congratulations,
on the Success of my feeble Efforts, are very agreable to me, and
very obliging.
You say that I shall never retire, till weary Nature diminishes
my Capacity of acting in dignified difficulty. Give me leave to
say, that the Period is already arrived. Nature is weary, the
Capacity is diminished but what is more agreable to Think of, the
dignified difficulties are all at an End. I always had a Knack at a
Difficulty. My Country Clients used to tell me, Mr. Adams is
excellent at a difficult Case, and having a reputation for this I was
always vexed with them. Few of the Race of Adam have had more
Difficulties fall to his share. But I consider them as all at an End
in a manner.
Probity, Madam, would be not only the surest, but the only
Road to honour if Mankind were not deceived. But there are so
many Ways of cheating and imposing upon the most enlightened
People, that it is almost impossible to keep Steady their Appro-
bation of the Just, their Contempt of the Vile, or their Abhorrence
of the Wicked.
I believe I have never failed to Answer a Letter from Marcia, if
I have I was very much to blame, and very inattentive to my own
Interest, for I prize very highly her Letters, both for the Pleasure
and Instruction I derive from them.
I The "Patriot." He was killed by lightning May 23, 1783, at Andover.
2 24 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1783
I have absolutely got above all Fatigue from Pomp and Parade.
It has no Effect upon me. one may be familiarized to any Thing.
My house stands in a very public Place at the Confluence of Sev-
eral, much frequented streets. There are generally half a dozen
Chariots at a Time, rolling by upon the Pavements, for at least
one and twenty hours out of the four and twenty making an
incessant Roar, like the Falls of Niagara. Yet I dont hear it. I
write, read, etc., as if all were still. The imposing Glare of a Court,
at present has as little Effect on me. I am as insensible to it, as
an Indian would be.
I have indeed, Madame, been horridly neglected in the Article
of Intelligence. I have endeavoured to correspond with Members
of Congress, but before my Letters could reach them they had
retired. I have been Shamefully uninformed of what has passed
at Philadelphia and Boston. But I hope for better Times.
It was with very Affecting Sentiments that I learned, the Death
of Mr. Otis, my worthy Master. Extraordinary In Death as In
Life, he has left a Character, which will never die, while the
Memory of the American Revolution remains, whose Foundations
he laid, with an Energy, and with those masterly Abilities which
no other Man possessed.
With very great Respect and Esteem I have the honor to be,
Madam, your Sincere Friend and very humble Servant,
John Adams
Arthur Lee to James Warren
Princeton, Se-pr. 17th, 1783
My dear Sir, — Not having expected Mr. Higgenson's ^ going
so soon, I have but a moment to write you. His conduct In Con-
gress has been that of an able and upright friend to his. Country;
and I therefore much regret his leaving us. He will communicate
to you all the News we have here. My private Letters give me
reason to expect that the definitive treaty will soon arrive.^
1 Stephen Higginson (1743-1828).
2 The treaty was laid before Congress December 13, 1783.
1783] IVarren 'Adams Letters 225
I have thought it my duty to move Congress for Information
from the Super-intendant of Finance; what Cloathing has been
purchased with the public money and why the Soldiers have not
receivd what was orderd by Congress. The Superintendant has
answerd, that he does not know what has been purchasd, and that
he thought it was more proper to sell the Cloathing than distribute
it to the Soldiery. In laying out the public Money Commissions
accrue to his friends, in selling the things so purchasd, new Com-
missions arise to the Sellers. In this case, it is his Clerk, Mr.
Swanwick,^ who is to have this emolument. In the mean time the
Soldiers have been fifteen months without their cloathing tho two
millions of dollars have been taken out of the public Coffers for
that purpose. Thus while fallacious reports on this man's conduct
are publlshd in all the Papers, and his tools are filling the Papers
with praises calculated to deceive the public; the public money is
lavishd away, the Soldiery, defrauded and the public plunderd.
I wish this matter were stated In Your Papers. Those of Phila-
delphia are altogether in his pay.
I hope the location of my Grant is made and well made; and
shall be obllgd to you for information on the subject.
I beg my best respects to Mrs. Warren and the rest of your
Family, and when you see that of Mr. Bodwoin, that you will have
the goodness to remember me to them. Farewell.
A. Lee
P.S. I enclose you the motions I made relative to the Soldier's
Cloathing, with the short speech which introducd them, together
with an Account of the Monies said to have been laid out in pur-
chasing Cloathing, but not accounted for. All this you will put
into the Papers If you see fit.
[Enclosure]
Mr. A. Lee having in his place stated to Congress That he had seen a part of the
Massachusetts line march thro' Princeton, and observing that the Soldiers were
ill-cloathd, and knowing that much larger Sums of public money had been
chargd as laid out for cloathing than woud have cloathed the whole Army com-
pleatly, and that by a Resolve of Congress the Army shoud have receivd Cloath-
I John Swanwick, who was cashier in Morris' firm.
2 26 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1783
ing once a year; he enquird of the Commanding Officer of those Troops, how it
happend that the Soldiers were so ill cloathd; and having been informd by him
that the Soldiers had not receivd their Cloathing the last twelve months, but that
their Uniforms were turnd and new facd — which information was farther con-
firmd by a General Officer with this addition, that the Soldiers were obligd to sell
their Certificates at Philadelphia for part even of what they wore — Mr. A. Lee
thought it his duty to his Country and to the Soldiery to move the following
Resolutions: *
Arthur Lee to James Warren
Princeton, Oct. i6th, 1783
Dear Sir, — I receivd your favor of the ist by last post. No
day is fixd for entering upon the business of Consuls, and it seems
the opinion of some that no minister above them shoud be con-
tinued in Europe unless for very extraordinary [reasons]. We
tried upon another occasion to obtain a resolution that none but
Citizens shoud be eligible to the Office of Consul, which woud have
excluded a great number of Candidates. But we lost the question. ^
The attempts to get us into Philadelphia tho strenuous, have
been hitherto resisted and I hope will continue to be so, or I am
satisfyd we shoud have the most ample reason to rue It.
I enclose you a continuation of some strictures on the Phila-
delphia Address, which I observe were printed in one of your
Papers. They are necessary to compleat the proof of the impu-
dence of the Addressers. I shall be obligd to you [to] send these
to the same Printer that he may insert them also.
Please to make my respects to Mrs. Warren, and remember me
to your Son. Farewell.
A. L.
Continuation of the Strictures in a late Address to Congress
FROM some of the CiTIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA &C.
Gentlemen, — I had the honor of shewing you, in my former Address that
what some of your Citizens had the confidence to assert in their Address to
Congress, namely — that you had in an essential manner distinguish'd your-
1 The resolutions and votes are printed in the Journals of the Continental Congressl,
XXV. 536.
2 Journals of the Continental Congress, xxv. 620, 637.
1783]
IVarren 'Adams Letters
227
selves by every exertion which principle coud inspire or fortitude support — was
not quite consonant to truth. That measuring your exertions with your means
they appeard the most feeble in the union. That tho' essentially distinguishd
from the other States in the Union by the vast profits, emoluments and advantages
arising from the residence of Congress — their treasury — Officers — and the
foreign Ministers among you; by freedom from an Enemy or Impress among you
for several years; prospering in agriculture, trade, and commerce — you had been
almost as deficient in the whole of your contributions as those States which were
essentially distinguishd from you — by the devastation of their fields — the
destruction of their Capitols — the interruption of their trade, and commerce —
and by all the calamities, which internal war can bring upon a distressd People.
The object of this Address will be, to prove to you, that if you have been
justly chargeable with defective exertions in furnishing your quota to the field, and
to the continental treasury your alertness in taking money out of the same treasury
for state purposes, has distinguishd you far beyond any State in the Union. This
fact will appear most clearly from the following view drawn from the journals of
Congress.
Monies Drawn out of the Treasury of the U. S.
In the
By
year
1775
1776
1778
1779
1780
Total
N. Hampshire
40,000
177,500
202,500
27,000
78,000
525,000
Massachusetts
443,333
312,200
813,000
73,600
1,642,133
Rhode Island
120,000
550,000
316,000
38,000
1,024,000
Connecticut
12,500
257,266
174,000
58,000
501,766
New- York
50,000
166,200
101,000
34,500
11,000
462,500
New Jersey
S,ooo
100,000
297,500
7,500
2,000
402,000
Pensylvania
14,000
1,035,000
473,600
2,009,200
2,500
3,556,800
Delaware
3,100
4,000
7,100
Maryland
98,738
261,470
816,000
114,000
1,290,208
Virginia
95,333
75,021
323,000
153,000
648,354
N. Carolina
12,400
623,278
159,808
169,000
954,746
8. Carolina
570,276 .
2,500
181,000
754,746
Georgia
S,ioo
72,000
113,839
6,000
449,289
666,128
From this it is plain, that for five years of the war, you were not very free of
your fortunes, but exceedingly liberal of your drafts on the Continental Treasury,
so that you receivd twice as much as Massachusetts and six times as much as
Virginia. Yet these States are to redeem a fifth more than you. If we take the
middle of each year for reducing the Sums taken in them respectively, we shall
find the whole to amount to — 1,152,848 hard dollars, which you have taken out
of the United Treasury; and you boast of having put into it 100,000.
2 28 TVarren -Adams Letters [1783
The error then of the Addressers seems to be this — that they have claimd a
general pre-eminence of merit, during the whole war, from having contributed a
little more money than most of the States in the Union, during the last year of
the war. But surely you will allow it to be just, that when such comparisons are
drawn, they shoud flow from a view of the sum total of the Contributions of each
State in — Men, Money, and Specifics, during the whole war, deducting the
monies they drew from the common fund.
When you are forming this estimate, I hope you will not forget, what I know
from having servd in that campaign, that at the close of the year 1776, when the
Enemy threatnd immediately your State and your City, the State of Virginia
alone furnishd two thirds of the Troops, which enabled our illustrious General, to
execute an enterprize against the Enemy's posts in the Jerseys, repelld the danger
from you at that time and gave an ascendency to our military reputation which
it never lost. Had we then depended on the boasted exertions of a City, containing
forty thousand Inhabitants, jree of their fortunes and their lives, as the Address
says, the fact shews that — in the most pressing danger to themselves and to the
Union, they woud hardly have furnishd Regulars enough to have attackd a
Picket of the Enemy. Yet we see, that in the same year your State drew from the
public treasury — 1,035,000 dlls — when paper-money was little if at all de-
pritiated. I shall not repeat the reasons that were then given, for your not making
more adequate exertions. The[y] did no honor to your patriotism. It was a mis-
fortune that revolution principles prevaild so little among you. But surely you
shoud have had more modesty, remembering those circumstances, than to have
boasted, that you were distinguishd for doing, what you were in fact distinguishd
for not doing. I perceive that you will attempt to draw some source of defence,
from the payments you have made since the close of the year 1782, which I am
informd exceed those of any other State. But let it be rememberd, that the pre-
eminence which the residence of Congress gave you in the eyes of Europe, drew
almost the whole of the foreign trade to your City on the cessation of hostilities;
insomuch that it is matter of common notoriety that in a few months, the duty of
2 pr Ct on Imports, brot into your treasury fifty thousand pounds. So that the
whole of your contribution very little exceeds the produce of a single tax.
The same cause drew to you many rich Emigrants, who have deposited large
sums of specie in that Bank, which the public money raisd in your City for your
sole emolument. The States ought to order an enquiry by what authority so
partial a use was made of the public money, while several of them were laid waste
by the Enemy for want of Arms, and Ammunition to repel them, while the troops
to the southward were destitute of Cloathing, and recruiting their lines, was for
that reason renderd impracticable.
Having now fulfiUd the purpose with which I addressd you. Gentlemen, I shall
take my leave with recommending to you that modesty, without which even
merit loses its lustre and its beauty.
1783] IVarren -Adams Letters 229
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, October 27th, 1783
Dear Sir, — Your Favours of the 20th and 21st of March, and
the 9th, 1 2th, 13th and i6th of April, have come safe to Hand, but
did not reach me till this Month, and found me on this Hill, at
Work among my Potatoes, instead of being in Congress "at the
great Wheel." Nor do I regret this on my own Account. I am
quite contented with a private life, and my Ambition is quite
satisfied by excelling in the perfection of my Composts, the Cul-
ture of my Lands, and in the Quality and Abundance of my Crops;
but I own I sometimes wish to be at the Wheel to serve my Coun-
try, and to support her Friends, and my Own, who I am happy to
say are always the same, and never more than since I receiv'd
your Letters, for though my Ideas with regard to the Politicks and
Conduct of the French Court, were in general right before, you
have certainly given me some new Ones with regard to the Folly
of our Own. from this Folly (by which I mean not only Weakness
but Corruption) has proceeded all the Difficulties, Embarrass-
ments, Neglects, and even Insults that you, and other honest Men
have suffer'd, and the Dangers this Country has been expos'd to,
and from which it has by the Vigilance, Industry, and Ability of a
Few been rescued with Difficulty. The Foreign Influence (or the
French and Frankleian Politicks) which produces all this is very
extensive, and very strong, the Traits of it are to be seen every
where, in Boston as well as Philadelphia, but to be sure the last is
the Place where the Focus is collected, and where it operates with
its greatest Force. An honest Young Gentleman sent there to
represent his Country, and who feels, and resents with Spirit its
Injuries, in a Fortnight will be soften'd, and in another Week be-
come quite Tame and Compliant. Louisdores must have a Share
in such wonderful Conversions, and I think I can observe the
Effects of them at Boston. I am told that Congress since they left
Philadelphia have acted with more Freedom than before, it is to
be wish'd they may never return. This Influence is greatly
strengthened by an Union with those who wish to Establish an
Oligarchy, and who have nearly effected it. these play into each
230 JVarren -Adams Letters [1783
others Hands, and by their joint Efforts bear down all Opposition.
Morris is a King, and more than a King. He has the Keys of the
Treasury at his Command, Appropriates Money as he pleases,
and every Body must look up to him for Justice and for Favour.
When Wilson ^ succeeds as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Fitz-
williams ^ is at the Head of the Marine, and a Suitable Person
succeeds Gen'l Lincoln, who has resign'd the War Department,^
when he shall say what Number of Troops shall be kept up, and
have an Host of New Placemen to collect an Impost Mortgaged
for Twenty-five Years, he will have us all in his Pocket; It is this
Alliance that makes me tremble, the Foreign Influence might be
destroy'd, or be discourag'd by the Expence, or ballanc'd by
Ministers from other Courts, especially from Britain, but if this
Oligarchal System is not Annihilated, I think our Liberties must
be. You will be able to Judge from all this what an Influence
Money and Fortune give a Man in this Country, especially when
you recollect the Character you have heard given of this Man, and
his Abilities; and you will no longer wonder at the want of In-
telligence, because much is to be done to accommodate Matters to
their System before it is given. This will account for the Revoca-
tion of the Commission for a Treaty of Commerce, however fatal
it may probably prove to the Interests of our Country, for the
wrong Sentiments prevailing with regard to Commerce, and for
the Plan of a Monopoly now subsisting in Favour of France our
disinterested and generous Ally; for the Obstructions to your
Negotiations in Holland : for your Instructions at different Times,
and why no Appointment has been made to the Court of Great
Britain, and for the ill Conduct of our Foreign Affairs in All re-
spects. No Appointment is yet made to the Court of Britain,
because your Character and Conduct is so unexceptionable and
good in the Eyes of all honest Men, and the People in General,
that they dare not yet treat you with that Neglect that is con-
sistent with their Views, and yet they can't wish to have you the
Man. thus they Jockey, and Play into each others Hands, and
1 James Wilson (i 742-1 798).
2 Probably Thomas Fitzsimons (1741-1811) is intended.
3 Lincoln's resignation was accepted by Congress October 29.
1783] TVarren -Adams Letters 231
gratify the Court and the Doctor. I sincerely with all the Ardour
of Friendship and Patriotism lament your want of Health, and
Support. I have pray'd for your Health, and done all in my Power
in my small Circle to give you Support, and have very good
Reasons why I have not given it in a Place where it might have
been more Efficacious. I could not go to Congress immediately on
my Election which was out of Season, and Unexpected, and before
I had an Opportunity I was prevented by Sickness.
What shall I say about your coming Home.^ You know that as
a Friend I wish to see you. Your Country wants you here. Your
Family would be happy to have you return. But where and in
what Situation should we have been if you and Mr. Jay had not
been in Europe .f* When I form an Idea of it I feel like a Man that
has had a Hair-Breadth Escape from a Precipice. Your Delinea-
tion of the Character and Views of a Young Nobleman is exceed-
ingly Just, and shews in a convincing Light the wrong policy of
our Country in their Instructions, even if it could possibly be good
Policy to let down and humble their Ministers; After all I don't
know that I detest any Character more than that of the Old Man,
who is, as you might expect your determin'd Enemy. You will be-
fore this reaches you get a paragraph of one of his Letters, which if
you should by an Interval be in possession of your right Mind will
put the Matter out of Doubt; How long will he live.'' and if he lives
how long can he be able to preserve the good Opinion and Confi-
dence of his Country.? The Bubble must burst soon, or Mankind
are more lost to Sentiment and Virtue, than I can suppose. I wish
instead of being a Door-Keeper for three or four Days you could
be on a Seat in Congress, and have a full Swing in developing the
Character and Conduct of this Man, and descanting on the false
Politicks of your Country. I should like to be your Colleague.
With regard to the State of our particular Affairs, Government
here is in the same Hands. Our Delegates are Gerry, Partridge,
Osgood, Sullivan and Danielson — the Wisdom of our Legislature
have left out Holton and Higginson two very good and uncorrupt
Men for the sake of the two last. The great Political Object that
now engages the Contemplation of the Continent is the Support of
Publick Credit, and it is indeed an Object worthy their serious
232 TVarren -Adams Letters [1783
Deliberations, and should be done. The Financier proposes an
Impost as Part of the Plan. Congress have recommended it by
their Act. Our Assembly in the present Session have again pass'd
it, but by a small Majority of only three in the House of Repre-
sentatives, this is favorable to the System I have describ'd. I
don't like it because I think it injurious to Commerce, and danger-
ous to Publick Liberty, and because I think a more safe, sure, and
easy Way may be devis'd for doing it. I am, sincerely Your Friend
and most Humble Servant, J. Warren
New- York is still possess'd by the Enemy, the Want of Trans-
ports and the Safety of the Loyalists have been the pretences for
delaying the Evacuation, but I think they are now seriously pro-
viding for it, and I believe it will be done soon. Great Quantities
of European Goods have since the Peace pour'd in upon us from
every Quarter, and most of them in Foreign Bottoms; but the
miserable Market they have come to, must discourage them in
future, and perhaps work a Cure for the Evil, and leave us to im-
port for ourselves, and on our own Bottoms. The Abundance of
fine Things have however destroyed the Ideas of Frugality which
Necessity had before given, and drain'd us of our Money — how a
sufficiency has been found to purchase what has been brought us,
is beyond my Comprehension. Our Fisheries the last Season have
for want of Vessels been very inconsiderable, but growing fast into
Importance; I suppose the Manufactory of Pot, and Pearl Ashes
will soon recover their former Perfection, and that the Quantities
of Flax Seed will this Year be considerable. Some Emigrations
from the Old Countries, chiefly from Ireland have been made to
the Southern States, but none have arriv'd here, which I wonder
at; a Moderate Proportion would be serviceable, we want La-
bourers, and we want Occupiers for some of our Vacant Lands. I
don't like the predilection they shew in favour of the Southern
States. The immense Territory acquir'd by the Treaty of Peace,
and the ample Provision for the Extent and Security of our
Fishery gratify the most sanguine Wishes of your Friends, while
your Enemies dare not deny that we are under Providence in-
debted to you for these great Acquisitions.
1783] IVarren -Adams Letters 233
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, November 15th, 1783
My Dear Sir, — Since my last which went In a French Brlgan-
tlne by way of Nantes, Copy of which you have above, Nothing
Material has taken place, except a Resolution of Congress to erect
Buildings and to reside alternately on the Delaware and Potow-
mack, and in the mean Time, they have adjourn'd to Annapolis
on the 1 2th Instant, this is conslder'd by the Patriots as a Tri-
umph. Our Friend Gerry thinks the Measure will have Benefi-
cial, and Extensive, Consequences, and particularly that It will
strengthen the Union, and Confidence of the Southern and North-
ern States; It will at least embarrass those Measures which had
been so successful while Congress sat at Philadelphia, and which
would have been fully executed had It return'd there again. The
last Ships from London bring us Advices that the definitive Treaty
was sign'd the beginning of September but no Official Account Is
yet arriv'd, nor do we hear any Thing of the Commercial Treaty.
I can suppose that many Difficulties attend that Business. Mr.
Temple who goes for England and designs to go also to France
takes this, and will hand or forward it to you. I think he has been
used here very hardly. Our G r and his Tools have been the
Immediate Actors, whether their Conduct Originated from their
Own little, narrow Policy, or is deriv'd from a higher Source I
don't know — for my Part I have not a Single Reason to suppose
he ever did, or ever wished to Injure this Country, and he certainly
has done it Service in some Instances, and for some Cause or
other has suffer'd greatly. You will probably see him, and hear
his Account of the whole Matter; ^ His principal Views in going
to Europe are to endeavour to get from the present Ministry some
compensation for the Losses he sustaln'd by a former Administra-
tion, and to see and bring Dr. Franklin to an explicit Declaration
with respect to the Letters; I wish him Success in both. If It be
convenient for you to give him any Assistance, you will in my
Opinion do Service to an honest Man, and oblige those who think
I Temple's case was set forth by himself in two papers described in Collections, lxxv.
2344, 2353-
2 34 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1783
him so. Your Lady and Daughter spent the Day with us Yester-
day. You will probably have it under their own Hands by this
Opportunity that they are well. I am, with great Respect, Your
Friend and Humble Servant,
J. Warren
Jabez Bowen to James Warren
Providence, Novmr. 26, 1783
Dear Sir, — Your Letter of the 26th ulto. came safe to hand.
I should have Answer'd it before but expected to have given you
some further Account of the Impost, as our General Assembly was
then about to meet. The Session was short, and verry little Pub-
lick Business done. The Assembly now stands Prorogued to the
fourth Monday of December, at which time the Question will be
fully discussed, and I doubt not but the Event will fully answer
your wishes notwithstanding the great Intrest that is continually
making to push it thro' from a Certain Quarter.
Nothing can or will go right till the Publick Accounts are set-
tled. The efforts already made have Cost the Nation large sums
of Money and no progress is yet made in the Business and I
have Reason to believe will not 'till the whole Plan of Finance is
adopted.
This State have an Impost of Two pr. Cent on all Foreign
Goods, the Nt. proceeds whereof, are appropriated to pay the
Intrest on the States Debt. We have also a Tax now Collecting
to pay the Intrest on Loan Office Certificates and other Consoli-
dated Debts due from the United States according to a Resolve
of Congress. We have long expected an Ordinance of Congress for
the Keepers of the Loan Offices to Consolidate all the Certificates
and give Notes for One Years Intrest, which should be Received
by the Collectors in Payment of the said Tax. This Measure I am
informd is perplexed in Congress on Purpose to keep the Publick
Creditors on the side of the Ministerial Plan. How do you ap-
prove the Resolve for establishing Two Federal Towns, Trentown
and George Town on the Potomock. in my Opinion they have
1784] TVarren 'Adams Letters 235
overturned every Argument that could be adduced for the perma-
nent Residence of Congress.
By what I have wrote; you will conclude I am an opposer of all
the Measures Recommended by Congress. I assure you it is far
otherwise. I am for abiding by the Confederation strictly, it has
carri'd us Triumphantly thro' a long and Bloody War, and where
can be the necessity of Investing that Body with more extensive
powers in a Time of Peace, this Doctrine must be contrary to the
Experience of all Nations. I wish to hear that all Party disputes
are Banished from Congress, and that the Honour and Happiness
of the Nation alone takes up and occupyes their whole attention,
then may we hope for good Days indeed.
We expected the Pleasure of a Visit from you and your good
Lady, but the cause that prevented must be submitted to. we
shall hope for the fulfilment of the promise when the Pleasant
Season for Jorneing returns.
Mrs. Bowen presents her best Compliments to Mrs. Warren and
your self, you will both please to Accept myne. also Remember
us affectionately to the Young Gentlemen Your Sons, and Be-
lieve that I am with sentiments of the greatest Esteem Your
Obedient and verry Humb Servant,
Jabez Bowen
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, Feby. 26th, 1784
My Dear Sir, — Since my last which went by Mr. Temple, I
have had the pleasure of receiving yours of the loth Sepr. by Mr.
Thaxter. The Approbation of your Country is as Extensive as it
ought to be, that is, universal; but as there remains now no Ex-
pectation of your return here before another Election, I dare say
we shall not be Embarrassed by the Modesty of our present first
Magistrate. Whatever Qualities he may want in the Opinion of
others, he is himself a Stranger to any deficiencies and never once
thought the duties too Arduous for him, or the honour too high, or
the situation too delicate, he has, however, lately threatened us
236 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1784
with a Resignation, he was either Affronted that the General
Court the last Sessions did not answer his Speech, or he took it in
his head that he would be a great Man as well as General Wash-
ington.^ he proclaimed his design in all Companies with great
formality and summoned his Council to receive it. they met. he
altered his resolution and we continue as happy as ever in his
Administration, his Character is neither stained with ridicule or
Contempt, a privilege peculiar to himself. The General Court is
now sitting, but I hear of nothing very important yet done, no
stable provision is yet made for paying the Interest of the National
Debt. I hope it will never be by an Impost, but I wish it were
done in some more secure way. but it appears to me that the
States want Confidence in the Administration, it must be taken
out of Morris' hands, the Treasury put in Commission by rota-
tion, and then I believe ways and means will be found, especially
if this last measure should be attended with strict and Impartial
justice to the several States. I have not heard lately from Con-
gress, but I presume from the Character I have of the Members,
their foreign policy will in future be conducted in a different Stile,
and that the old man's arts will not be so successful as usual, they
talk of an adjournment in April. Good Providence has so ordered
for our own Good that Sullivan has resigned and the Court
unanimously chose Mr. Dana a Delegate in his room, the resigna-
tion was very fortunate and the Choice as Judicious. Mr. Dana
dined with me about ten days ago and will go on soon, if Congress
does not adjourn.
I wish it had been convenient for you and your Country to have
returned and taken up your residence here, and joined with me
in the Cultivation of the pleasant Hills in Braintree and Milton,
but instead of that you are Calling away your Family. Your
Father Smith is Dead.^ Coll. Quincy will live but a few days.^
Mr. Cranch and Family may go to Boston, and we be left solitary
on our Hill, what delays your Treaty of Commerce with Britain.
I suppose want of Instructions from Congress; but I am sure the
1 On December 23, 1783, Washington had resigned his Commission in an address to
the Continental Congress.
2 Died September 17, 1783. 3 Josiah Quincy, died March 3, 1784.
1784] IVarren -Adams Letters 237
best that could be given might be Compleated in a minute by
referring the whole to your discretion. The delay may create dif-
ficulties by giving time to prejudice to grow and rancle from the
Conduct and narrow Policy of Britain, who will never grow wise
from Prosperity or Adversity.
I am told that Penobscot is Evacuated, the Commanding Of-
ficer after applying to our Government for a Commission to some
Person to receive the delivery of the place and waiting in vain,
went off at last, after having burned the Barracks, etc., which we
seemed to care nothing about. I think he did right. Mrs. Warren
desires her regards to you. we are all well, except Charles, who is
in a dangerous situation. You have not given me a single hint
for the Improvement of the Noble Science of Husbandry since
you have been in Europe, do you reserve them all for your own
use, that you may Excel us in that Art on your return, as much
[as] you have done in Politics abroad. I am with Great Esteem
your Friend and Servant,
J. Warren
March loth. Congress have made their Recommendations to
the several States, agreeable to the Treaty. A Committee of the
General Court have it under Consideration, but it is said will not
report this Session. Nothing seems to be a more General Subject
of Conversation than the Cincinnati Clubb. People seem not to
have considered the nature and dangerous tendency of the Institu-
tion till they were roused and alarmed by a Pamphlet wrote in So.
CaroHna, said by Mr. Burke, ^ which I would enclose if the Ex-
pense of postage would not be too great. The most ( .?) of the People,
in N. England more especially, have manifested great uneasiness
at the half pay for Life to the Officers of the Army, since com-
muted for five years pay; but the uneasiness seemed to be sub-
siding till Irritated to fresh resentment by this Institution.
County Conventions and Town Meetings are now frequently
expressing their Resentments and determinations to pay no Taxes
I iEdanus Burke's Considerations on the Society, or Order of Cincinnati, published in
Charleston over the signature of "Cassius" and reprinted in Philadelphia, New York,
Hartford and Newport. No edition appears to have been printed in Boston. The author-
ship was soon discovered.
238 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1784
for the Commutations. The Officers, I think, deserve some such
Consideration; but then they should be content in other respects
to be on a footing with their fellow Citizens, without claiming any
distinctions that are Invidious now and may be dangerous here-
after. Miss Nabby is here on a Visit, and I dare say you will hear
from her mamah by this opportunity. Coll. Quincy died last
Week. Adieu. I am as above.
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, June i, 1784
Sir, — This will be handed you by a person ^ who will insure the
welcome did it come from one who has much less claim to your
Friendship than the writer, at the same time her communica-
tions will render any other needless from your American Friends,
this therefore is only a Line in Testimony of my Respects and
Regards, though if I was to indulge my pen it would be very
expressive of my wishes for your Early Return to your Native
Country, where perhaps your abilities are as much wanted and
your Exertions might be as serviceable as in any Department you
may fill in Europe. Yet I cannot say you would be more happy
here, but I think your Conduct has evinced to the World that this
is but a secondary Consideration with you.
You will be too Happy when you receive this to make it of any
Consequence whether another Line is added. May the Felicity of
my Friend be equal to their wishes, nor mared by a Common
Course of Human events, more than is necessary in a state of
Moral Discipline, some little interruptions we must feel to ease our
presumption, and some greater we have always to fear to Remind
us of our Dependence. Dependence is a word not very pleasing to
an American ear. But, though we have broken the yoke of Britain
and defy the potentates of the Earth, we must not, we cannot
expunge it from our Vocabulary, our happiness Depends on too
many Contingencies to suffer us to forget our weakness and our
intire Dependence on the Great Font of Felicity for the smallest
I Mrs. Adams.
1784] TVarren 'Adams Letters 239
stream of enjoyment. What Language is this to a Man of the
World, to a Minister of State, immersed in the Deep Systems of
Political Refinement among the Nations, improved by Arts, Er-
udition and Experience, caressed in the Courts of Princes amidst
the splendor of Greatness, the Glass of Pomp and all the Pag-
eantry of Ambition, unshackled by a want of power for the Zenith
of indulgence. But when I address the Embassadeur I do not for-
get that I write to the Philosopher, to one who can contrast the
Rational simplicity and the quiet Delight of his own little Villa at
the foot of Pens Hill with the Briliancy of the Birth night or the
parade of office, and find the latter sink in the comparison when
tryed by the Feelings of the Man, not by the Rivalry of Pride.
Sure I am that were you to behold the Variegated Beauties which
the summit of Milton this Day exhibits to the Eye of Reason and
Gratitude, you would heave one sigh for the tranquil hour of Con-
templation in some Delightful Recess
Where the free soul looks down and pities Kings.
Mr. Warren intends writing, if anything prevents yet be as-
sured he is the same Friend to his Country, to Virtue, to all Hon-
est Men, consequently invariably yours, that he was when you
Laboured together, planted, hastened and matured the seed of a
most Glorious Revolution, few, very few, of the first capital
hands Remain with us. Death, Desertion, indifference or Foreign
Employments, have left him almost alone. But the Recollection
and Feeling of Conscious Rectitude is the best Companion of
declining years.
Though I expect much communication from my Friend, Mrs.
Adams, yet from your Punctuality and long experienced Friend-
ship I hope my Pleasure will be enhanced by a Line from yourself
to yours Respectfully and affectionately
M. Warren
240 JVarren -Adams Letters [1784
John Adams to James Warren
The Hague, June 30, 1784
Dear Sir, — Your amiable Son, has done me the favour of his
Company, here, for a Day or two, and this Morning goes to Am-
sterdam, intending to return to England at the End of the Week.
From London He embarks soon for Lisbon. My Son ^ returned
with him from London where I sent him to meet his Mother and
Sister. But he was dissapointed as well as L I still expect Mrs.
Adams every day: but her last Letters, (those by your Son) leave
me still room to doubt — in short, every Thing public and private,
in which I have been concerned has been so much In doubt, and
suspence, ever since the Peace, that If I have not learned to recon-
cile myself to any Thing, it is because I am not a Philosopher. I
now repent having written for my Family, and that I had not
gone home. Yet I ought not to repent because, it was Bono pub-
lico, that induced me to resolve to stay in Europe, to try, if I
could execute a Commission which Congress promised to me,
F[ranklin] and J[ay], and have not performed, "une Perfidle tres
permise dans un Grand Rol," as Voltaire says of the King of
Prussia.
Jay is minister of foreign Affairs. This is a great Point gained in
favour of our Country. Wisdom and Virtue have tryumphed, for
once. And I hope and believe, he will give an entire new Cast, to
the Complexion of our foreign Affairs, and you may depend upon
it, that for some time to come as for a long time past, the Character
and the System of our Country has been entirely decided by our
foreign affairs.
If I had not been very sensible of this, you would never have
heard of me a second time across the Atlantic, if I had not been
very sensible of this, you would have seen me at Milton again
or heard of me in a British Dungeon four years ago. My kind
Respects to Mrs. Warren and all your Family. Your Friend,
John Adams
«
I John Quincy Adams.
1784] TVarren -Adams Letters 241
Arthur Lee to James Warren
New- York, Augt 8th, 1784
Dear Sir, — I have long hoped for the pleasure of hearing from
you, if it were only to inform me that your family and our friends
are well. The political Sea appears to be perfectly calm with
you, and indeed so it is every where. Repose, after such scenes
of turbulence and agitation as were experienced for some years,
seems to be the general wish. Had not the Cincinnati agitated us
a little, we shoud have been sound asleep.
Give me leave to introduce to you and to Mrs. Warren, Mr.
Blake, Mr. Middleton,^ Mr. Kean ^ and Mr. Heyward,^ gentlemen
of consideration from South Carolina, who travel to see their
sister States in the East. I wish there was more intercourse of this
kind, to remove prejudices and cultivate harmony among us.
Mr. H. Laurens arrivd here two days ago. He is in good health
and spirits after all his sufferings. He brings some pamphlets in
which the anti-american reveries of Dean and Galloway, publishd
by Ld. ShefFeild ^ are fully reported. The King of England and
Mr. Pitt, he thinks, are well disposd towards a commercial treaty
with America. I am persuaded, that, with the downfal of the
Coalition, these incendiaries will be extinguished.
We hear that Mrs. Hayley ^ and Mrs. Graham,* are with you.
I beg the favor of you to present them my respects. No choice
of Consuls has been yet made, nor can be till Congress meet
again.
I am now, on my way to hold treaties with the Indian Nations,
if troops can be raisd in time, to garrison the western posts, of
which I despair very much. What is done with the Continental
State paper issued by your State.'* Is fts redemption provided for,
and what credit is it in.'* I have heard nothing of the Land that
was to be located for me, and begin to dispair of its ever taking
effect. If any thing is, or is likely to be done, I shall be glad to be
1 Arthur Middleton (1742-1787).
2 John Kean (c. 1756-1795). 3 Thomas Heyward, Jr. (1746-1809).
4 John Baker Holroyd, Earl of Sheffield (1735-1821), whose Observations on the Com-
merce of the American States reached a sixth edition in a year.
5 Mary, widow of George Hayley, a merchant of London with American connections.
6 Catherine Macaulay Graham (1731-1791).
242 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1784
informd of it. A letter for me enclosd to the Chairman of the
Committee of Congress, Annapolis will be forwarded to me.
Please to present my best respects to Mrs. Warren, and re-
member me to your Son, Mr. Bowdoine and Mr. S. Adams.
Farewell.^
A. Lee
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
AuTEUiL, near Paris, September 5th, 1784
Although I have not yet written to you, be assured. Madam,
you have been the subject of some of my most pleasing thoughts:
the sweet communion we have often had together, and the pleas-
ant Hours I have past both at Milton, and Bralntree I have not
realized in Europe; I visit, and am visited; but not being able to
converse in the language of the Country, I can only silently ob-
serve Manners and Men. I have been here so little while that it
would be improper for me to pass Sentence, or form judgments of a
People from a converse of so short duration, this I may however
say with truth that their Manners are totally different from those
of our own Country. If you ask me what Is the Business of Life
here.^ I answer Pleasure. The Beau Monde you reply; ay. Madam,
from the Throne to the footstool, it is the Science of every Being
in Paris, and Its environs, it is a matter of great Speculation to
me, when these People labour. I am persuaded the greater part
of these people who crowd the Streets, the publick walks, the
Theatres, the Spectacles as they term them, must subsist upon
Bread and Water. In London the Streets are also full of People,
but their Dress, their Gait, every appearance Indicates Business,
except upon Sundays, when every Person devotes the Day, either
at Church or In walking as is most agreeable to his fancy: but here
from the gayety of the Dress, and the Places they frequent I
judge Pleasure Is the Business of Life, we have no days with us,
or rather In our Country by which I can give you an Idea of the
I A letter from John Adams to James Warren, August 27, 1784, is in Writings of John
Adams, ix. 524.
1784] TVarr en -Adams Letters 243
Sabbath here; except Commencement and Election; Paris upon
that day pours forth all her Citizens into the environs for the
purposes of recreation, we have a Beautiful wood, cut into walks,
within a few rods of our dwelling, which upon this Day, resounds
with Musick and Dancing, jollity and Mirth of every kind. In
this Wood Booths are erected, where cake, fruit, and wine are sold,
here Milliners repair with their gauzes, ribbons and many other
articles in the pedling Stile, but for other purposes I imagine, than
the mere sale of their Merchandize; but every thing here is a sub-
ject of merchandize.
I believe this Nation is the only one in the world who could
make Pleasure the Business of Life, and yet retain such a relish
for it, as never to complain of its being tasteless or insipid; the
Parisians seem to have exhausted Nature, and Art in this Science;
and to be triste Is a complaint of a most serious Nature.
What Idea my dear Madam can you form of the Manners of a
Nation one city of which furnishes (Blush o, my sex when I name
it) 52,000 unmarried females so lost to a Sense of Honour, and
Shame as publlckly to enrole their Names in a Notary Office for
the most abandoned purposes and to commit iniquity with im-
punity: thousands of these miserable wretches perish annually
with Disease and Poverty, whilst the most sacred of institutions
Is prostituted to unite titles and Estates. In the family of Mon-
sieur Grand who Is a Protestant I have seen a Decorum and De-
cency of Manners, a conjugal and family affection, which are
rarely found, where seperate apartments, seperate Pleasures and
amusements shew the world that Nothing but the Name is united.
But whilst absolutions are held In estimation and Pleasure can be
bought and sold, what restraint have mankind upon their Appe-
tites and Passions.'' there are few of them left In a Neighbouring
Country amongst the Beau Monde, even where dispensations are
not practised, which of the two Countries can you form the most
favourable opinion of, and which is the least pernicious to the
morals.'' that where vice is Licenced: or where It Is suffered to
walk at large soliciting the unwary, and unguarded as It is to a
most astonishing height In the Streets of London and where
virtuous females are frequently subject to Insult. In Paris no
2 44 TVarren -Adams Letters [1784
such thing happens, but the greatest Decency and Respect is
shown by all orders to the female Character. The Stage is in Lon-
don made use of as a vehicle to corrupt the Morals, in Paris no
such thing is permitted, they are too Polite to wound the Ear. in
one Country, vice is like a ferocious Beast, seeking whom it may
devour: in the other like a subtle Poison secretly penetrating and
working destruction, in one Country you cannot travel a mile
without danger to your person and Property, yet Publick execu-
tions abound; in the other your person and property are safe;
executions are Rare, but in a Lawful way, Beware, for with whom-
soever you have to deal, you may rely upon an attempt to over-
reach you. In the Graces of motion and action this People shine
unrivalled, the Theatres exhibit to me the most pleasing amuse-
ment I have yet found; the little knowledge I have of the Lan-
guage, enables me to judge here, and the actions to quote an old
phrase, speak louder than words. I was the other Evening at
what is called the French Theatre (to distinguish it from several
others) it being the only one upon which tragedies are acted,
here I saw a piece of the celebrated Racine, a sacred Drama called
Athalia. the dresses were superb, the House Elegant and Beauti-
ful, the Actors beyond the reach of my pen. The Character of the
high-Priest admirably well supported and Athalia, would have
shown as Sophonisba, or Lady Macbeth : if the term shine, may be
applied to a Character full of Cruelty and Horrour: to these pub-
lick Spectacles (and to every other amusement) you may go, with
perfect security to your Person and property; Decency and good
order, are preserved, yet are they equally crowded with those of
London, but in London, at going in and coming out of the Theatre,
you find yourself in a Mob: and are every Moment in Danger of
being robbed; in short the term John Bull which Swift formerly
gave to the English Nation, is still very applicable to their Man-
ners; the cleanliness of Britain joined to the civility and politeness
of France, would make a most agreeable assemblage: you will
smile at my Choice, but as I am like to reside sometime in this
Country, why should I not wish them the article in which they are
most deficient.
It is the established Custom of this Country for Strangers to
1784] TVarren -Adams Letters 245
make the first visit; not speaking the Language lays me under
embarassments, for to visit a Lady, merely to bow to her, is pain-
ful especially where they are so fond of conversing, as the Ladies
here generally are, so that my female acquaintance is rather con-
fined as yet, and my residence 4 miles from Paris will make it still
more so. There are four American Ladies who have visited me,
Mrs. Barclay,^ with whom I have a Friendship and whom I can
call upon at all times without Ceremony, and who is an excellent
Lady; a Mrs. Price, a Canadian Lady, Mrs. Valnais, and Mrs.
Bingham.^ Mrs. Bingham is a very young Lady, not more than
twenty, very agreeable, and very handsome: rather too much
given to the foibles of the Country for the mother of two Children,^
which she already is.
As to politicks. Madam, the world is at Peace, and I have wholly
done with them. Your good Husband and mine would speculate
upon treaties of Commerce, could they spend their Evenings to-
gether, as I sincerely wish they could, or upon what they love
better, agriculture, and Husbandry; which is become full as neces-
sary for our Country, This same surly John Bull is kicking up the
Dust and growling, looking upon the fat pastures he has lost, with
a malicious and envious Eye, and though he is offered admission
upon Decent Terms, he is so mortified and stomachful, that al-
though he longs for a morcel, he has not yet agreed for a single Bite.
This Village of Auteuil,^ where we reside is four miles from Paris,
and one from Passy, a very pretty Summer retreat, but not so well
calculated for Winter: I fear it will prove as cold as Milton Hill;
if I was to judge of the Winters here by what I have experienced
of the fall I should think they were equally severe as with us. we
begin already to find fires necessary.
During the little time I was in England, I saw more of the
curiosities of London than I have yet seen of Paris so that I am
not able to give you any account of any publick Buildings or
1 Wife of Thomas Barclay, one of the Continental Commissioners for settling accounts
in Europe.
2 Anne Willing of Philadelphia.
3 The elder daughter, Anne Louisa, married in 1798, Alexander Baring, later Lord
Ashburton (1774-1848), and the younger, Maria Matilda, married (i) James Alexander,
comte de Tilly (1764-1816), (2) Henry Baring and (3) the Marquis de Blaisel.
4 See Writings of John Adams, ix. 524.
246 IVarren -Adams Letters [1784
amusements, except the Theatres of which I shall grow very fond,
as soon as I am mistress enough of the Language to comprehend
all the Beauties of it. there are three theatres in Paris constantly
open, but that upon which tragedies are acted is the most pleasing
to me. Corneille, Racine, Crebillon and Moliere are very fre-
quently given here, upon the Stage the best pronunciation is to be
acquired. There Is a Mrs. Siddons in London, who Is said to be
the female Garrick of the present day. I had not the happiness to
see her when I was In London, as she was then In Ireland, but I
saw no actors upon their Stage, which by any means equal those
which I have met with here. The People of this Country, keep up
their intercourse with each other by dining together after which
they repair to the Theatres and to the publick walks.
I sigh (though not allow'd) for my social tea parties which I left
In America, and the friendship of my chosen few, and their agree-
able converse would be a rich repast to me, could I transplant
them round me in the Village of Auteuil, with my habits, tastes
and Sentiments, which are too firmly rivetted to change with
change of Country or Climate, and at my age the greatest of my
enjoyments consisted in the reciprocation of Friendship.
How is my good friend Charles? finely recovered I hope. I do
not despair of seeing him here, and at this house he may be assured
of a welcome whenever he wishes to try the air of France. Gay
Harry, has he got more flesh and Health.'' Grave Mr. George is
well I hope, and fixed in some business to his mind. Let not my
esteemed Friend the eldest of the Brothers, think I have forgotten
or neglected him by naming him last, his tenderness for his Broth-
ers, and his better Health will excuse me. If I have been guilty of a
breach of order, he will accept my good wishes for his Health and
Prosperity without regard to place.
Shall I ask General Warren how farming and Husbandry flour-
ish; I thought often of him, and the delight he would have received
In a Journey from Deal to London, the rich variety of grass and
Grain, with which that Country was loaded as I rode through it, ex-
hibited a prospect of the highest cultivation, all Nature look'd like
a Garden; the Villages around Paris are pleasant: but neither
the Land, nor the cultivation equal a neighbouring Nation.
1784] TVarren -Adams Letters 247
When you see our good Friend Madam WInthrop, be pleased
to make my regards to her; you will also remember me to your
Neighbours at the foot of the Hill; and let me hear from you by
every opportunity, as the correspondence of my Friends is the
only compensation I can receive for the loss of their Society.
Is Polly married ? Happiness attend her and her partner if she
is. to Mr. and Mrs. Otis, to one and all of my dear Friends be
kind enough to remember me; the truth of one Maxim of Roche-
foucault I experience "that absence heightens rather than dim-
inishes those affections which are strong and Sincere."
December 12th. You will see, my dear Madam, by the date of
the above, that my Letter has lain by long, waiting a private con-
veyance. Mr. Tracy and Mr. Jackson, design to return to London
this week and I shall request the favour of them to take charge of
it. Since it was written there have been some changes in the
political world, and the Emperor has recalled his Ambassador from
the United Provinces. Every thing seems to wear an Hostile
Appearance, the Dutch are not in the least intimidated but are
determined at all events to refuse the opening of the Scheld to
the Emperor, this Court is endeavouring to Mediate between the
Emperor and the Dutch, when the affair was to be debated in the
Kings Counsel, the Queen said to the Count de Vergennes, "M.
le Comte, you must remember that the Emperor is my brother."
"I certainly shall Madam," replied the Count, "but your Majesty
will remember that you are Queen of France."
Thus much for Politicks, you ask about treaties of Commerce.
Courts like Ladies, stand upon Punctilios and chuse to be ad-
dress'd upon their own ground I am not at Liberty to say more.
This is the 12th of December, and we have got an American
Snow Storm, the climate is not so pleasant as I expected to find it;
I love the cheerful Sun shine of America, and the Clear blue Sky.
Adieu my dear Madam. I have so much writing to do, that I am,
tho unwillingly obliged to close requesting my Son to copy for me:
you will not fail writing soon to your Friend and humble Servant.^
Abigail Adams
I The body of the letter is in the writing of John Quincy Adams. A letter from John
Adams to Mercy Warren, December 13, 1784, is in Writings oj John Adams, ix. 528.
248 TVarren -Adams Letters [1785
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, Jany. 28th, 1785
My dear Sir, — I Received your favour of the 27th August
sometime ago, and Intended before this to have wrote to you; but
want of direct conveyance and some other Circumstances have
prevented.
I am very Glad to find my Friends so agreeably situated at
Auteuil. At the same time the preference given to the Hills of
Penn and Neponsit give me an additional pleasure by affording a
prospect of once more seeing them in their Neighbourhood. I
always feel your Mortification when the reduction of your Sala-
ries took place, the measure was unexpected and astonishing.
I had never heard of a proposal of the kind and I considered it as a
finess under the popular masque of oeconomy to answer particular
purposes, which general and good policy would not warrant, my
Enquiries have Convinced me of the Justness of my own Senti-
ments. I suppose it originated from the then Premier, the King,
or Grand Monarch of America,^ and was designed to get rid of
those Men who were Employed abroad, and could not be brought
into a support of foreign Measures, and those of the Aristocracy
here, which were closely united and made a Common Cause, in
support of which the most refined Intrigue has been practised, and
at Times and in some Instances deceived and duped some very
good Men. I presume our Friend Gerry was in Opposition to this
measure, because his Penetration and rectitude has always se-
cured him against their Artifice. But this is Conjecture. I have
never heard the Matter from him. But I hope this matter will be
reconsidered and all honest men have Justice done them. Con-
gress seems at present to be well disposed, they have got clear of
that sink of Corrupt Influence which so long Contaminated some
of their measures, and, God be thanked, have substituted a Board
of Treasury in the stead of the super Intendant of Finnance, an
Office which made rapid strides to Dominion, and if the cautious
Wisdom of R. Island, by Negativing the proposed Impost, had
not prevented, would soon have found a King for us. And this
I Robert Morris.
1785] TVarren -Adams Letters 249
Board, too, is guarded by a rotation, that best, if not only security
(in this stage of Manners more particularly) for public Liberty.
Everything that relates to the Movement of Congress you will
have more Compleately from the place of their residence than I
can give you from here. In this place the System of Politics re-
mains much as it has been; the same Imbecility, the same servility
and the same Inattention still prevail and are likely to continue.
Money is the only object attended to, and the only Acquisition
that commands respect. Patriotism is ridiculed; Integrity and
Ability are of little Consequence. Foreign Commerce has ex-
tended itself beyond its natural supports and, by its Extravagant
Imports greatly Exceeding the Exports, drained off all the Money,
embarrassed itself, and every other resource of the Country, while
Luxury keeps pace with the manners of older and more affluent
countries, some checks by the denial of Credit in Europe may give
time to the rising Fisheries and other Staples of the Country to
form a Ballance to the Evils we now suffer. The Bank here has
not been of any service to us. it has rather facilitated the Exporta-
tion of Money and Increased the Exorbitancy of Interest, or
rather of Usury, which had before reached such a Stage of Enor-
mity as would have disgraced the Jewish Usurers in any Country
of the world, and must in a short time put an End both to Trade
and the Cultivation of Lands.
I am always happy to receive your Letters and shall be obliged
by any Information of what is passing on the great Theatre of
Europe. I shall readily embrace any Opportunity to Inform you
of anything you wish to know from here, and shall do it with the
Fidelity of the Friendship I profess. . . .
J. Warren
29th. Our first Magistrate ^ has this day made a formal Resig-
nation. When we shall get another without a new Election I can't
tell.
I Hancock.
250 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1785
John Adams to James Warren
AuTEUiL, near Paris, April 26, 1785
Dear Sir, — I see by the publick Papers that Mr. Hancock has
resigned, and I suppose you have just passed through the Bustle
of a new Election, it is a question here among us Americans Who?
General Warren, Mr Bowdoin, Mr Gushing and General Lincoln,
are in nomination. But we cannot elect you know and therefore
nobody says who he would vote for. We all agree that there is
danger of less Unanimity than in the last. I know so well the In-
fluence of Boston that I believe it will be a Boston Man, but which
of the two I know not.^
But to something in which it is more proper for me to inter-
meddle. Temple,^ your Friend, is appointed Consul General, but
whether he has yet imbarked for N. York where I suppose his
Residence will be I know not. As much depends upon his Char-
acter and Conduct, both to Great Britain and America, it is a
matter of Importance that he should be well advised, and I believe
that no American has more regard for him than you have or more
Influence with him. He is not without Knowledge in General and
has had peculiar Opportunities for knowing the Commerce of
America, and has numerous Acquaintances, some Friends and
powerful Connections in America. I believe him to be in general a
Well-meaning Man, and if his oflice depended upon a genteel
Behaviour he would be very well qualified. But, he values him-
self much upon a Knowledge of Courts which he has not, and he
looses himself too much in Ceremonies and Forms to be a great
Master of Substance and Essence. He is not a prudent Man, and
has the most confused Conceptions of the public opinion and of the
Reasonings upon which it is founded, and of the real Springs and
motives of Events of any Man of so much sense and experience I
ever saw.
Such a Character therefore in my Opinion, if his Friends do not
advise him, will be in danger of doing much Mischief to the pub-
lick altho he may be sure of making his own Career very short. If
1 James Bowdoin was elected governor.
2 John Temple (1732-1798), married in 1767 Elizabeth, daughter of James Bowdoin.
lySs ] IVarren -Adams Letters 251
he goes on with those Airs of Mystery, and suffers his own Con-
duct to be equivocal or Hable to two Interpretations, if he enters
into personal Disputes without a manifest necessity, or brings on
needless questions with Congress or its Members, or the States or
Governors, with French or Dutch or other foreign ConsuUs or
Ministers, or subjects or starts and presses too hastily, indiscreet
Claims for his Master, he will soon destroy himself altho he
may previously do great harm. He is now an Englishman, and
a servant of his King, let him then make no Pretensions as an
American, because they will not be admitted and will only expose
him. He must proceed Slowly, Softly and smoothly. He must
support the Rights of his Master and the English Nation, but he
must allow the Rights of all others. He is now in the right Road.
He was the servant of the King and should have always looked to
him and him alone for Service, unless he had renounced his
Service more decidedly and engaged more clearly than he did
against him.
My son will deliver you this. He has corresponded for sometime
with yours at Lisbon and will give you the News of him. I have
seen with Pleasure this Friendship forming, and hope there will
be more formed in America between him and the sons of those
Persons with whom I have passed my Life in Harmony, and acted
in Concert for the Publick.
It is long since I had a Letter from you, or Mrs. Warren to
whom I pray you to present my best Regards. Mrs. Maccaulay
and Mrs. Warren I suppose have compared Notes of the History
of Liberty on both sides the Atlantic.
By the last Letters from America, it appears probable that the
Dr's Resignation will be accepted; an Event which will make a
great Change in our foreign Affairs. No Man that I know would
be likely to conduct them better here than his Successor Mr. Jef-
ferson, yours, etc.,
J. Adams
252 IVarren -Adams Letters [1785
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton Hill, April 27th, 1785
I thank you, Sir, for your Favour of the 24th December. I take
up my pen to acknowledge it and to Congratulate you on your
Domestic Felicity in the last eight months, but shall not direct to
you at the pleasant Villa of Auteuil, but to the Court of London,
as it is probable before this you and your Family have left the
Residence of the distinguished Literati of France, perhaps for the
Grotto of Pope, or some more elegant spot immortalised as the
abode of British Genius. For whom the Americans have and would
long continue a predilection, did not both the ministry and the
people practice every method of allienation. Yet possibly more
conciliating measures may be adopted before the Negotiation is
far advanced. The Mercantile Class are very angry. While the
Republic Resents with Dignity the Late Restrictions on commerce,
they would be happy to see every Nation in Europe take the same
steps, provided we were thereby obliged to live within ourselves
(which we can very well do) and had wisdom and Virtue to retain
our own principles and manners, independently supporting a Na-
tional Character Respected for the Simplicity, Magnanimity and
Vigour. But alasl the Weakness of Human Nature. I fear we
are already to far advanced in every species of Luxury to Recede,
though much more than our political salvation depended on the
Reform. An avidity for Pleasure has increased with our Freedom
and a thirst of acquisition for its support pushes to the most
dangerous Experiments. And though sensible it is owing to the
Perversion of Reason, a Corruption of Taste and the Cravings of
Artificial Necessity which causes the Restless pursuit of objects
seldom attainable. Yet Neither the Reasonings of the Philosopher
nor the maxims of Religion will bring back to that Mediocrity
which ought to bound the wishes of Man, Either the people or the
individual who has tasted the more Refined and Elegant accom-
modations of life.
But to whom am I writing, this moment cast my eye on a
paragraph of yours. "I feel myself disposed to whine like Cicero
in Exile." And is it possible that you, sir, after five or six years
1785] IVarren- Adams Letters 253
spent in the most splendid Courts in Europe, can look back and
sigh for the Retirement and simplicity of Pens Hill, if you Really
do I pronounce you a Philosopher of the first Magnitude, and if
ever you Volluntarily return to that style, I think you will have a
right to stand foremost in the list of Genuine Republicans. You
will at least have a right to equal Claim to some deserving Badge
Emphatically expressive of ancient Patriotism, as any of the
Noble Order of the Cincinnati. I dare not say more than equal
least I speak Treason.
A late Resignation you have doubtless heard off. And had you
been with us when the period of annual Election Revolved, it is
probable your Country would have manifested some tokens of
Gratitude by giving you their Suffrages for the first office of State.
Yet there is no dependence on the popular Voice, there would
have been a manoeuvring against it, least you should have held
it too long for the convenience of another who means to come in
again the next year.
There is such a blind Attachment to this man of straw that I
have little doubt he will have the opportunity of establishing
himself for life — perhaps the power of entailing an Hereditary
succession, if that should be the Case many would cry " Come over
into Macedonia and help us^'' for I cannot suppose you think we are
yet ripe for Monarchic Government.
I am very sorry you complain so much of your eyes; yet I dare
say your optical Faculties are still strong enough to discover
and, I hope, to remove many Political Errors on each side the
Atlantic.
But why do I spend a Moment on these Subjects. I have not
one to loose when Duty does not Direct to some Point of Utility,
or the social affections interest from the part those have to act
with whom we are tenderly connected.
But before I conclude you, sir, will give me leave to observe
that I have lived long enough to be convinced that we must pass
through the world ourselves in order to know it thoroughly.
Neither the Page of History nor the experienced lessons of those
who have gone before us can investigate the Character of Man or
Develope the Human Mind till we see the Blunders of public and
2 54 JVarren -Adams Letters [1785
feel the Ingratitude and Baseness of private Men. The one I
doubt not you will allways be quick sighted enough to discern;
the other I wish you may never be thoroughly taught. For with
all your thirst for science you will be Happier to die without the
acquirement of this knowledge.
I have indeed seen Mrs. Macaulay. she has been treated in
Boston and its Environs with every mark of Respect, she is a
Lady of most Extraordinary talent, a Commanding Genius and
Brilliance of thought, this in my opinion often outruns her ca-
pacity of Expression, which is often a little too prolix both in
Conversation and Composition; or rather, the Periods are a little
too lengthy to please at once. I dare say this will be corrected in
future, as one of her American Friends had the Courage to tell
her of it. she Replied she believed the observation just, as she had
always aimed more at the investigation of truth than the orna-
ments of style. But I think in this age of Refinement the Graces
of the Letter ought to soften the harshness of the Forms and
prevent the mind from Fatigue while listening to the Humiliating
story of Human Conduct.
We have a subscription out for an American Edition of her
History down to 1744. it fills very fast and I dare say will succeed
to her Wishes.
It was kind in you to wish the World would spread a Vail of
Candour over a Circumstance you mentioned. Doubtless that
Ladys Independency of spirit led her to suppose she might asso-
ciate for the remainder of Life with an inoffensive obliging youth
with the same impunity a Gentleman of three score and ten might
marry a Damsel of fifteen.
Mr. Warren, perhaps, will not write by this ship, we had short
Notice. He is going a Journey and the season requires his Care
and attention — in his Private Walks. But in whatever Depart-
ment or wherever he resides, be assured you have there a Friend.
You know his attachments are strong and when he likes or dis-
likes, either men or measures, the shaking of a leaf will not alter
his opinion.
We wish for some of your excellent long Letters, some In that
style directed to him at Philadelphia, Depend upon it were not
lyss] IVarren -Adams Letters 255
useless, either to you or to your Country, though from a Con-
currence of Circumstances he was not there.
I will not tell you his opinions with regard to our personal situa-
tion. He will do it himself ere long. He has wrote you very
particularly several times since Mrs. Adams left us. I believe the
intercourse will be more secure while you Reside in England — A
pleasing Circumstance to your Friends, particularly to yours
Respectfully
M. Warren
John Adams to Mercy Warren Adams mss.
AuTEUiL, May 6, 1785
Madam, — My Son would go home very improperly without a
Letter to Mrs. Warren, whose Virtues and accomplishments his
Father has so long admired.
The time is at length come in which the United States of Amer-
ica are to have a Minister at the Court of Great Britain, a time
foretold by the Prophets and Seers, and Dreamers of Dreams, but
never until very lately stedfastly believed by any to be so near at
hand. It is much to be wished that they could have had one to
general satisfaction in America, and more Respectable in many
Points than the Person on whom the lot has fallen. It is Fortune
and Figure, Birth and Grace, Titles and Ribbons, that make
Impressions on Courtiers and succeed with the fair, as they say.
This is true in a Sense. But how do they succeed.? Why, to
be earnestly courted to every Ball, every Entertainment, every
Horse Race and Gaming Table, and perhaps to receive certain
other Favours which shall be nameless, but all this at the Expense
of incessant Fatigue and Chagrin, to" the consumption of all his
Time and an Inattention to Business and neglect of all his Duties.
This is a success of which our Country has no occasion and for
which her humble Minister has no Ambition. He has not the less
Reason, however, to wish that he had more Advantages and
better Qualifications for the Service, and above all that he had
former Health and better Spirits, since he will probably meet with
enough to try the strongest Nerves, if you consider the Groups
256 W^arren -Adams Letters [1785
upon Groups of Tories and Refugees in that Country in the Va-
riety of their Shapes and shades of their Colours, the Numbers
of Emissaries from other parts of Europe, the Concourse of unex-
ceptionable Americans, the impassioned English, Scotch and
Irish, all watching his Motions and most of them wishing and
contriving his Fall. Whatever lustre in the Eyes of some People
there may be in the Feather of being the first Minister to England,
you. Madam, will easily see that his Situation is more to be
dreaded and pitied than envied.
All this, however, does not distress him. His Age is too far
advanced and his Character too fixed, to have any Apprehension
of being drawn into any intentional Fault, or imposed on to betray
the Interest of his Constituents. He will therefore have no Penal-
ties to apprehend but the loss of his Place, and to this Idea he is
perfectly reconciled.
When shall I have the Pleasure to hear again of my Friend
Warren in public.'* His Retreat has been a great Mortification
and Misfortune to me. Yet I cannot blame him, for I catch
myself wishing myself on the next Hill half a dozen times in a
day. I hope, however, to hear by some of the next opportunities
that he is again called to the Service of his Country. I am anxious
to know if Mr. Dana is to be again in public at home or abroad.
I hope he will not be suffered to retire too. Our Country has not
such Characters to spare from her most important Employments.
I promise myself from Mr. Gerry's Attendance in Congress all
those changes for the better in the Management of the general
Affairs of the Union, which I have often seen proceed from the
Clearness of his Head and the goodness of his heart. I know of
scarcely any Man of more Address, more Industry or Persever-
ance. He never appeared in Congress without a great Influence.
He deserves to stand higher in the Estimation of the Massachu-
setts than he has appeared to me at this distance to stand. He
has merited more of that State than I am afraid they know of.
But I am wandering into Speculations which may be suspected
of Impertinence. Be pleased to present my best Respects to Mr.
Warren and believe me, with the greatest Esteem, Madam, your
most obedient servant.
1785] JVarren -Adams Letters 257
Martha Washington to Mercy Warren
Mount Vernon, June the 9th, 1785
My Dear Madam, — I had the pleasure to receive your
obHging letter of the 14th of april by Mrs. Macauly Graham
— the kind expressions of which, added to the recollection of
those days in which you honored me with your friendship, fill me
with agreeable sensations, and will ever be dear to my remem-
brance.
I thank you for introducing a lady so well known in the literary
world as Mrs. Macauly Graham, whose agreeable company we
have had the pleasure of a few days. She now returns to make
happy those whom she left.
The friendship which subsisted between General Warren and
Mr. Washington will never be forgotten by the latter; it was
among the first formed, and most lasting at Cambridge, and
with equal pleasure would be renewed by him. why it has slept,
the general cannot tell, he recollects writing a long letter to
Genl. Warren in the year 1779, when the army were Cantoned on
the Raritan near Bound Brook in the Jersys. since which, all
intercourse by letter has ceased: tho friendship is the same.
He joins me in every good wish for you and General Warren,
and begs me to add the strongest assurances of the sincear esteem
and regard he has for you both. With sentiments of friendship and
affection I am. Dear Madam, you obedt. and obliged.
M. Washington
Catherine Macaulay Graham- to Mercy Warren
Dear Madam, — I think I hear you say, with all that animated
severity which I acknowledge has sometimes offended the delicacy
of your friend's sentiment, Well there is no trusting to the boasted
sincerity of that idle Woman, how was I deceived when I be-
lieved her capable of the solid qualities of the mind, can patriot-
ism dwell in a heart where friendship has no place, with what in-
difference of temper does she fly from society to society, pleased
258 JVarren -Adams Letters [1785
with the present set of companions regardless of the past, how
have I mistaken a plausibility of speech and diction for the real
language of the heart.
Before you proceed any further in your observations, I must
tell you, my Dear friend, that your vivacity has led you into an
error that I have never forgotten or remembered with a cold indif-
ference the many endearing obligations which we have received
from our friends at Milton. That this is absolutely the first
moment which I have been able to snatch from a crowd of com-
pany or from the fatigue of travelling to express those sentiments
of esteem, of friendship, and of gratitude which I have always
felt for Mrs Warren.
A variety of reasons have at length determined me to give up
all thoughts of a subscription for a new publication of my history
in this country.
The state of my health, inclines me to take the advantage of
two or three years' residence in the mild and steady climate of the
South of France and the delicacy of my sentiment urges me to
leave my visit to the Americans free and unclogged with any con-
siderations of interest.
I am informed by Mr. Gerry that your Son is returned from
Hispaniola. I flatter myself that your Journey to Plymouth was
made with the intention of establishing him in business in this
place and consequently that his present state of health is equal to
such an undertaking.
Had I resided any time in America I should undoubtedly have
made Boston the seat of my residence, but as the calls of maternal
affection and the interest of our families oblige us to a separate
residence in different quarters of the Globe I shall with your leave
continue our Epistolary correspondence when I am established in
a Domestic way in France.
We must now take leave of you, my Dear Madam, as we are on
the eve of our departure for France, we must beg the favor of you
to preserve us a place in your affection and that you will remember
us to the General, to the young Gentlemen of your family, and
particularly to our sick friend; we also desire to be remembered
particularly to Mr. Russel and his family. The uninterrupted
1785] li^arren 'Adams Letters 259
kindness and civility we have received from that polite benevo-
lent man we shall not easily forget.
There are a variety of other people, my Dear Madam, who
claim our attention from the civilities we have received from them
we must beg of you to dispose of our compliments according to
that propriety which is so evident in all your actions.
Enclosed you will find a letter from Mrs. Washington. I return
you my thanks, Dear Madam, for the very kind remembrance
which followed us to Providence. Our reception at Mount Vernon
was of the most friendly and engaging kind we spent ten days
very happily in one of the sweetest situations on the continent.
The opinion we had formed of the illustrious owners was rather
improved than lessened by that converse which our situation
enabled us to enjoy. I am, Dear Madam, Your AflFecnt. and
Obednt. Servnt.
Cath. Macaulay Graham
New York, July 15, '85.^
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, Sep.^ 1785
The account of your son's arrival you will have from himself,
the Pleasure his Friends receive from his return you will not
doubt, and in every instance where my advice or attention may
be either useful or pleasing, be assured I shall treat him as my
own, not only from that long Friendship I have felt for his parents,
backed by their particular Request, but from the affection I dare
say his amiable manners will always secure.
That the Dreamers have augured an'd the Prophets long since
foretold Mr. Adams would be the first American minister to the
Court of Great Britain, is not more certain than the Gen-
eral satisfaction expressed in the Completion of this Event.
And though it is a station attended with Difficulty and Fatigue,
requiring much Delicacy and address, I have no doubt his abilities
I A letter from James Warren to Washington, September 2, 1785, is printed in Corre-
sponderue of the Revolution, Letters to Washington, iv. 113.
2 6o JVarren -Adams Letters [1785
and Perseverance are adequate to the Important trust. Nor will
the train of Emmissaries who deHght in mischief affect his Repu-
tation, Integrity or Vigilance, however Variegated in shape or
shaded with such dazzling Light as might put out the Eye of one
less firmly attached to the interest of his Country.
Yet there are few Characters so impeccable that there is no
danger of loosing sight of their patriotism amidst the Golden
mists which remarkably pervade a certain Island, speculatists
have observed that this shining Fog is more or less apt to injure
the Optics of the Greatest Politicians and statesmen. But neither
Balls, nor Birth days, or the Nameless Favours that the Digni-
fied splendor of either sex can bestow will, I trust, influence the
Probaty of a Gentleman who long Braved the ordeal trial (even
in the purlieus of a Brilliant Court), and that has stood the test
for more than seven years amidst jarring Factions on each side
the Atlantic, that would equally have rejoiced in his Fall.
I cannot see anything you, sir, have to dread from a late
appointment. Nor have I penetration to discover anything piti-
able in your situation. As to Envy I cannot be so explicit, it is
a kind of canker worm that Generally crawls round the loftiest
Branches and Grows meagre in the innutritions soil that Genders
it. it is a Reptile that may infest but seldom destroy the Heart
of Oak, and while you enjoy the Dignity of office may self-
approbation ever counterballance the Malignancy of Rivalships.
These may weaken the Hands but seldom depress the Heart of
true Magnanimity.
Your next question is, when shall I again see my Friend Warren
in public life. I answer, when Republics are Famed for their
Gratitude and the Multitude learn to Discriminate; when they
more Respect their Real Friends than they admire the popular
Demagogue or the lukewarm adherents to public liberty, who
have sacrificed nothing in the Cause and held the powerful Bal-
lance of Wealth, which in all Countrys outweigh the shining quali-
ties of Honest patriotism, and not before. He has never retreated
from the service of his Country. Particular Circumstance which,
I dare say, Mr. Adams would have thought weighty, led him at a
certain period to decline several Honorary offices, this his En-
lyss] W^arren -Adams Letters 261
emies have industriously improved to prevent his Re-election,
While his independency of spirit, supported by the Rectitude of
his intentions, never suffered him to make the smallest Exertions
to counteract. Yet Notwithstanding his fondness for private life,
if his Country should ever again require his services. Depend upon
it he will step forth with the same indefatigable Zeal and Integrity
that has hitherto distinguished his Character.
Mr. Dana is appointed one of the Judges of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Warren bids me tell you he thinks this the only Circumstance
that marks with any degree of Reputation the administration of
Hancock. Mr. Gerry will not be eligable by the Confederation
as a Delegate to Congress after November. I wish his Country-
men may never forget his Merits. But if his Happiness depended
on their Favour, probably he might long pursue without ever
overtaking the Phantom. But I have Reason to believe he means
in future to build on the more solid Base of Domestic Felicity.
I fear your very eligable situation at the Court of London will
Hush every Future sigh for the silent Hills in the Neighbourhood
of Tremont, and, perhaps before you return to your Native Land,
your Friends, who now ardently wish for your smiles, may stand
in the Presence of a Monarch Infinitely superior to the Bustling
potentates of this spot [ .^] of Creation.
Shall I ask the Favour of you, sir, to transmit by some safe
Conveyance the enclosed to your young Friend in Lisbon, and
shall I ask you if there is a Probability of a treaty with portugal.
Nothing would have induced this young Gentleman to have fixed
himself in a Country where the Religion, the Manners, and the
Government are so different to the liberal Ideas in which he has
been educated, but the promise of a cgnsular appointment from
many of the most Respectable Members of Congress. He has
been long kept in suspence, because Congress do not appoint
where no treaties are Formed, and, perhaps, there may yet be
time for you to give a hint in his Favour, if you think his Merits
and his Father's services deserve this small Consideration. I
know you must be sensible this uniform Patriot has long laboured
in the arduous struggle for the liberties of his Country: without
any Emolument either of Honour or Profit to Himself or his
262 IVarren -Adams Letters [1785
Family, a small appointment in a distant Country to an amiable
son is a very inadequate Compensation for his Fatigues and his
sufferings. You will excuse this Freedom of Communication from
one who subscribes very Respectfully your Friend and Humble
Servant
M. Warren
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, Septem. 4th, 1785
Dear Sir, — When I used to be in Company with the Prophets
and the Dreamers of Dreams, I could hardly realize that I should
ever have the Honour and Pleasure of corresponding with an
Ambassador at the Courts of Versailles, or London, and yet this
Event among many other strange ones has taken Place. I re-
ceiv'd a few Days ago by the Hand of your admirable Son, yours
dated Auteuil, April 26th, and know no Reason why I may not
expect very soon another from London of a later Date, as the
Publick Intelligence announces your Arrival there, with many
Circumstances which indicate a Residence for some Time. How
many Difficulties you will have to Combat in this new Employ
can't easily be foreseen, while it is pretty clear you will have
some, but I hope they will not be insurmountable to those
Abilities and Experience which have already triumph'd over so
many.
We have got through the Bustle of a new Election and after
much Difficulty the Choice fell where probably you would have
plac'd it. Mr. Bowdoin was chose by the two Houses and all is
Peace, Tranquillity and Satisfaction. Mr. Hancock's Influence,
which was great, was in favour of Cushing, more probably to keep
a Door open for Himself at another Election, and by that means
retrieve the Mistake he made in his Resignation, than frorn any
other Principle. All other Parties were obliged to unite to defeat
his Purposes, and he at last in Despair of his main Design, gave
out that he did not care who was chose if it was not the Man on
Milton Hill. If Ambition was my ruling Principle, and I was a
1785] JVarren -Adams Letters 263
Politician, I should have shaken Hands with this mighty man;
but as it is I will still be honest and continue to despise his Caprice,
Incapacity, and Indolence, and do every Thing I can to prevent
his again having it in his Power to disgrace this Government by
an Administration of Imbecility and weakness, and if I enjoy
none of the Honour and Emoluments of a Government, my vigor-
ous Zeal and Steadiness for many Years had some Share in obtain-
ing, I will be satisfied if the Man on Bacon-Hill does not. however,
he has gain'd tho' at a second or third Voting a Choice of a Dele-
gate, and has now in View the Presidency of Congress, he may
get it; my Fears make me think it probable, while my Hopes
blast his Expectations.
Mr. Temple has not yet arrived and when he does I don't
know that my Regard for Him or Influence with Him will be so
great as you seem to imagine. I was of Opinion that he was us'd
ill by some People in this Country, and so far as Justice requir'd
espous'd his Cause, while in general I agreed with you in the
Character given of Him. His being a well-meaning Man, as you
express it, cover'd a Number of Faults and engag'd me in the Line
of conduct I observ'd. His present Employment has decided his
Pretensions with Regard to America, and he should in future be
unequivocally the faithful Servant of the King of Great Britain,
and if I have any Influence I shall, when Opportunity presents,
use it to make him as prudent as he should be faithful.
The Doctor's Resignation has been accepted and it is said he
is on his Way to America. If his Letters and his Measures were
Inimical to you in Europe, you may expect the same Line of
Conduct will be pursu'd Here with more Facility than there, but
perhaps with as little Success.
Your Son has visited me twice. Yesterday he din'd with me.
I am much pleased with him and shall take Pains to cultivate
a Friendship between Him and my Sons; from the Intimacy
and confidence that has subsisted between the Fathers and the
Mothers it seems a very natural one. he has promised to continue
his Correspondence with Winslow and to visit us often. Tom I
have not seen lately, but my favorite Charles spent a Night or
two with us after Commencement. I would have them all con-
264 JVarren -Adams Letters [1785
sider this as one of their Homes. I will say nothing to you of
Congress. You have everything from them at first Hand. The
foolish Extravagance of this Country has involved us in Confu-
sion and Distress; when or how we shall be extricated I don't
know, the Evil seems to be out of the Reach of present CEconomy
or Frugality. The Scarcity of Money is beyond your Conception.
Trade is stagnated, Lands will not sell. No Improvements can be
made in Agriculture or Manufactures. Bankruptcies, and unex-
pected ones too, are Common, No Man can pay his Debts, and
if the Moderation or good Policy of the Creditors does not prevent,
Anarchy may be the Consequence. The late Acts of this Govern-
ment laying enormous Duties and Illiberal Restrictions on other
Foreigners besides British, as well as absurd ones on their own
Trade, increases the Confusion and Distress.
When are we to expect the Completion of any Commercial
Treaties and how does the Government of Britain seem dispos'd.f*
Will you tell me.? Mrs. Warren has not been well for some Time,
has wrote you lately and intends writing to Mrs. Adams by this
Opportunity if possible. Present my best Regards to Mrs. Adams,
my Love to Nabby. I wish her in every Stage and Connection
of Life all that Happiness her Amiable Qualities and Accomplish-
ments entitle her to. Your Friend, etc ^
J. Warren
James Warren to Elbridge Gerry
Milton, Octr. 4th, 1785
My dear Sir, — The Time^ approaches when you must leave
Congress, however Contrary it may be to the Interest and wishes
of your Constituents. When your Successors arrive at Congress,
especially if H[ancock] is one of them, and more especially if he
obtains the presidency, there will probably be an End of Winslow's
Expectations. It always appeared to me a singular Resolution,
that no Consuls should be appointed where there were no Com-
mercial Treaties; and if it can be supported as a good general
I The body of the letter is in another hand.
1785] IVarren "Adams Letters 265
Rule, it should like other general rules be subject to some Excep-
tions, and Consuls appointed where the Trade was large, and the
National disposition favourable. This is now the Case of Portu-
gal, and besides we can hear of no kind of Obstacle to a Treaty,
and yet none is made. It is a matter of Speculation here, why in
the Course of more than 12 Months since Mr. Jefferson's Arrival,
not one such Treaty has been made, especially when every Body is
willing. Mr. Adams is gone to Britain. Mr. Jefferson remains at
the Court of France. Dr. Franklin is retd. to America. Who is
now to compleat this great Business, is another question that I
am not able to answer, and If it is never done, are no Consuls
to be appointed ^. Winslow would be much obliged by a Line from
you. and I dare say frequent Oppys. present from New York.
Mr. Low Corresponds with him, and will forward it without any
trouble to you. I have not a word of News, not even Tittle Tattle
to give you. H has got the Gout; whether it is a political, or
natural fit, I dont know. If the former, he may have some reason
to despair of the Presidency, and may wrap up in Baze, as a pre-
paratory to a resignation when the Court meets. If every Body
loved him as I do, they would save him that trouble, and excuse
without the Expence of a single pelce of Baze. I suppose by this
Time Mr. Temple may be with you. He Is now decidedly the
Servant of the British King, and should be allowed to pursue his
Interest. I hope prudence will direct him to pursue it smoothly
and softly, without any disagreable Altercations with Congress,
or any of the United States, or with any foreign Consuls or
Ministers. So shall his days be long In the Land of his Nativity.
Will you make my regards to your two Brethren, to your Presi-
dent and to my Friend Doctor Lee, and beleive me to be Yours
sincerely,
J. Warren
I think a very singular Character is sent here to settle the marine
Accounts. He is dark, reserved, disgusts every Body, affronts or
ill treats all, is abused in return, and bears it as a dull Horse does
a whip. His whole Time seems to be spent in finding, or makeing
difficulties where there are none, and his motive, if I can trace It,
2 66 TJ^arren -Adams Letters [1785
is to Continue in office. You may rely on it he will not finish
this Business this six Years to come in the way he is in, and a
Man of Abilities well disposed might do it in 3 Months. I sus-
pect by way of Apology for himse[lf] he will represent our Accounts
as irregular and Incompleat; but I can shew they are as much to
the Contrary as the nature of things could admit off.
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, Octo. 6th, 1785
Dear Sir, — I wrote you very lately and very largely, without
any interested views but what arise from the pleasure of Cor-
responding with a Man whose Confidence and Friendship I have
long experienced and wish to continue. The design of this is to
engage your Interest in a matter which I wish exceedingly to
accomplish. Applications to great Men are Taxes which they
must submit to. Your rank and Influence and the Claim I have
on your Friendship are the only Apologies I shall make. I shall
say nothing of the qualifications and Merits of my son Winslow.
You know him and I flatter myself from some Circumstances
that you have already formed a favourable Opinion of them.
He went to Lisbon with great and well-founded Expectations
of being appointed the Consul there, and still remains there with
such Expectations. Congress have delayed the Appointment until
a Commercial Treaty should be formed, by a Letter from my
friend Gerry last Evening I am Informed they now have it in
Contemplation and probably will appoint the foreign Ministers
and Consuls General, and leave the Appointment to the several
Ports with them, and that Lisbon will fall into the department of
Mr. Jefferson. Will you write to him and use your Influence to
gratify me in the Acquisition of this small favour, if the profits
of the office should not be large, it will give him Consequence, and
assist him in his other Business. A disappointment would mortify
and injure the feelings of a young Man, as well as give a Triumph
to my Enemies after the matter has been so long talked of. I
think I have done some services to my Country and had a con-
1785] Warren 'Adams Letters 267
siderable Share (I mean for an Individual) in the American Revo-
lution, if Winslow succeeds it will be the only reward to and the
only place at present held or expected by any of the Family.
You will make my sincere regards to Mrs, Adams and Love to
Nabby, and believe me to be as usual with great Esteem your
Friend, etc.
J. Warren
James Warren to Elbridge Gerry
Milton, Octr. 9th, 1785
My dear Sir, — Since my last which went by the Monday's
Post, I am honoured by your Friendly and polite favour of the
27th Ulto. by which I learn that Congress are in a way to adopt a
Mode for the Appointment of Consuls. Whether the Mode be so
consistent with propriety, or dignity, as a direct one by them-
selves, is a subject out of the reach of a Plebean, occupied in the
manureing and culture of the Field, but I think a Ploughman may
discern that it is better than none, and therefore I hope it will
succeed. I have taken your advice and wrote to Mr. Jefferson,
and have engaged some of my Friends here to do it. I request my
Friend Gerry to Interest himself in the same way; he is always
the first on my List, my Opinion of his Abilities and Generosity
have placed him there, and if that Situation gives him much
Trouble, it at the same time gives me much confidence and
pleasure, if the President, and any other Gentleman of Congress,
will write in Winslow's favour, they would oblige me. I asked the
favour of the G[overnor], the only favour I ever did, or will ask of
one. he replied that he wished it to succeed, but that he had never
corresponded. I dare say this is all true, but yet it was a strange
Answer from a Man whose rank Intitled him to write to any Body,
but it is characteristic, how much is a Man's Friendship to be
Coveted, or his Enmity dreaded, who does not feel that Ardent
Animating Glow, unrestrained by Timid Cautious Moderation,
which will force him, as it were Mechanically to stretch out his
Arm to serve a Friend, or blast an Enemy.
2 68 JVarren- Adams Letters [1785
I think the Exchange you mention, will be a good one, but I am
intirely in your sentiment with regard to the residence of foreign
Ministers here. The Addresses you mention, and the Anecdotes
are Curiosities I wish to see. My Compliments to all my Friends.
I am Yours most Assuredly,
J. Warren
John Adams to Mercy Warren
Grosvenor Square, Deer. 12, 1785
Madam, — I am much obliged to you for your Letter and refer
you to General Warren for what respects your son.
You suppose my present situation to be eligible and I confess it.
I have it in my Power here to enjoy the society of Persons of great
Worth, and if I please of high Rank, and if our publick Affairs here
went well, I should not desire a better situation, but they do not.
A Lady, who was born at Gibraltar, came to England and
Married a Man of Merit, Fortune and Rank. She had every
Thing which this Country affords, to make Life agreable. Yet
she used to say, it was true, that England was very clever, but it
was nothing to be compared to Gib[raltar].
If the Circumstance of Birth and Education could give such
an Attachment to that Barren Rock, it is not surprizing that I
should be fond of my barren Mountain. Yet the World would
laugh at me as well as the Lady of Gibraltar.
I have been so long agitated in the World, and puzzled with
Business, that indeed I dont know, whether I should feel my
Existence at Braintree, and My Eyes and my Health will not
admit of Reading or Writing by Candle Light, so that I should
want Amusement of Evenings, but the Care of a Farm, and Books
and Papers in the Day, would Serve me very well, and as far as
I can judge of my own Inclinations I had rather live in that Retire-
ment, for my personal Enjoyment, upon one hundred a Year than
at any Court in Europe upon five Thousand. It may be depended
on then that I have no dread upon my Mind of being obliged to
return and plant Cabbages at the foot of Penns hill.
1786] IVarren 'Adams Letters 269
The Dismall Accounts of the Misfortunes and Afflictions of our
Friends in America, distress Us a good deal, but the Jewish av-
arice in the Loan of Money, which We hear of, much more.
While such Interest can be obtained, much Property will be
diverted from Trade. But this must have an End. The great
Fish will have eaten all the little ones, and then they must look
out for other Prey. The Multiplicity of Law Suits, is much like
what I remember after the Peace of 1763, but when a certain
Quantity of Property had shifted hands they diminished, it is
generally agreed that our People have been imprudent and
extravagant, but I hope that Profligacy and want of Principle
have not taken any deep root. I wish it were in my Power to
comfort them with any hopes of relief from this Country, but it
is not. There is, instead of any Consideration of our Losses,
Inconveniences, or Distresses, a visible and indecent Joy at all
the Accounts of them. If Revenge is sweet our People will have it,
in a few years, but that is no rational Consolation.
Captain Stanhope's Letters to the Governor, are by no means
approved at this Court, as Congress will be informed Officially
before this reaches you. With the greatest Esteem and respect
I have the honour to be, Madam, your sincere Friend and humble
servant,
John Adams
Nathaniel Gorham to James Warren
New York, March 6, 1786
Dear Sir, — Your esteemed favour of the nth ulto. reed, and
would observe in answer to the first part of it, that the Board of
Treasury have (by order) laid before Congress a plan for expedit-
ing the settlement of the public Accounts ^ by which plan four
or five thousand dollars will be Annually saved, and Mr. Pennet
will consiquently be discharged, and some other Person employed
for a short time to bring the accounts in that quarter to a close,
but the great inattention and negligence of the States with regard
^Journals oj the Continental Congress, March 24, 1786.
270 W^arren -Adams Letters [1786
to their representation renders it impossible for Congress to pass
upon this report and various other matters in which the wellfare
of the Union is deeply interested — it being a money matter there
being only seven States represented, R. Island Connecticut Dela-
ware Maryland North Carolina and Georgia being absent, indeed
the principle of the confederation as it respects representation and
the mode of voting is calculated to encourage delinquency, there
is no reason that Rhode Island, Delaware and Georgia should
have equal weight in the federal councills with Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania and Virginia, and if the representation had been
apportiond according to numbers or property, and a suitable
quorum established and the major vote to determine questions,
this inattention would not exist, but as unanimity is now neces-
sary upon the most trivial questions we feel all the inconveniences
of the liberum Veto of a Polish Diet, the applications from our
foreign creditors are of such a nature as to make a deep impression
with Congress and they have thought it their duty again to call
the consideration of the States to the subject of an Impost, more
especially as the situation of N. York enables them so to Tax their
Neighbours of Connecticut and N. Jersey as to creatfe such a
temper in those States as will greatly weaken if not destroy the
Union. The Assembly of N. Jersey have lately entered into a
resolution that they will not comply with the last or any future
requisition of Congress untill N. York gives up their Impost or
applys it for the general purposes of the Union, indeed there is
nothing but the restraining hand of Congress, (weak as it is), that
prevents N. Jersey and Connecticut from entering the lists very
seriously with N. York and bloodshed would very quickly be the
consiquence. but however N. Jersey may suifer by her paying
taxes, for N. York her refusal to comply with the requisition is
unjustifiable, and unless she recinds her resolution must work the
end of all federal Government. Congress sent an express to
demand an attested copy of the resolution, he returned with it
last night, tomorrow it will be very seriously considered, but as
N. Jersey is one of the seven States now on the floor they may
perhaps embarras Congress in their proceedings, they have how-
ever wrote in the most pressing manner for the attendance of the
1786] TVarren 'Adams Letters 271
delinquent States. Congress yesterday agreed on another applica-
tion to the States on the subject of Commerce, it is plain from the
whole tenor of Mr. Adams' letters, that unless Congress possess
the power of restricting the British trade there is no probability
of his being able to do any thing to purpose with that Court.
I will endeavor as far as I am able to have an equitable adjustment
of your account, we do not get any account of the President's
state of health, we are therefore intirely at a loss when to expect
him. Your Son Mr. Warren being returnd to Boston I inclose
some letters which I red. under cover for him. please to make my
best respects to Mrs. Warren and be assured that I am with esteem
and regard your most Humble Servant,
Nathaniel Gorham
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, April 30th, 1786
Dear Sir, — I was a few days ago honoured with your favour
of the 1 2th of Deer. I am much obliged to you for your Attention
to my Son and your favourable, if not partial, Opinion of the
Merits of his Family. Winslow left Lisbon and returned Home
last fall, after a disagreeable residence there for more than Twelve
months at a great Expense, fully convinced of the futility of
Court promises, which his former Experience could no longer
justify any future dependence upon. It has been my Opinion that
Consuls should be appointed in several of the European Ports,
and particularly at Lisbon, where we have had a great Trade till
interrupted by the Algerine Corsairs, no resource is so natural
and beneficial for the supply of that great Branch of Business, the
Fishery, as the Trade with Lisbon and Cadiz, and I can scarcely
conceive how It can be supported without it, unless by a depend-
ence on foreigners for the Importation, which must defeat all the
policy of our Navigation Acts, however founded in Policy or
CEconomy. How we are to be relieved from the Injury of those
Pirates I am at a loss to determine, their Generosity will not do it
and our Poverty cant, and if it is not done the Fishery and Trade
272 IVarren -Adams Letters [1786
must be depressed and discouraged. You who are acquainted with
the Means the Agents to Algiers are possessed of can Judge of their
prospects of Success. I can only wish them Success. I can form
some Idea of the difficulty and delay of your Treaties which render
their Completion uncertain even to the best Informed. The
Trade with Britain, If It has been attended with the same loss and
disappointment to them, has almost ruined us, and with their own
Conduct may Justify a severe Navigation Act with regard to
them, but I am not so well satisfied of the propriety of It with
regard to any other Nation, tho' I think the policy of the French
In their duty on our Fish and the Bountys on their own very
absurd. I wish I could see for the Benefit of Mankind a fair
Experiment made of a Government supported without Duties or
Bounties, at least that they should operate only as prohibitions
or severe restrictions, without any regard to a revenue. In that
case even those In question might not have existed.
If our Oil can find a Market In France It will, I think, disconcert
the views of the British Ministry and be very advantageous to us
as well as to the Commerce of France. I took great pains to
Impress the Marquiss de Fayate with proper Sentiments on that
subject when here last, and have reason from his Letters to sup-
pose It has had a good Effect.
I know you wish to be Informed of the situation of your be-
loved Country. It would give me pleasure to gratify you. In
former Times, when you was absent, I used to attempt it; but it is
now so novel and so extraordinary that I dare not undertake the
Task. The constant drain of Specie to make remittances for
Baubles Imported from England Is so great as to occasion an
extream Scarcity. Commerce is ruined and, what Is worse, the
husbandry and Manufactures of the Country cannot be supported,
the only Branch of Business that promises any Success is the
Fishery, and that Is greatly Injured from the same Cause. No
Debts can be paid, or Taxes collected, the first are severely de-
manded by multiplied Law suits; the last are become more
necessary than ever by the wants of the public. Our General
Court sets often and long, do little and give no satisfaction to
their Constituents. Paper Money, Tenders of Lands, etc., sus-
1786] Warren -Adams Letters 273
pension of Law processes, and a variety of Expedients are pro-
posed and nothing adopted. A total Change in principles and
Manners, Interest is the great Object, the only Pursuit, and
Riches only respected, everything seems verging to confusion and
anarchy and certainly great Wisdom and Address are necessary
to prevent it. Our Elections have been much the same this as the
last Year, indeed when a Man is once in it is for Life. A repetition
annually is nugatory, few attend the Meetings and hardly one
inquired further than who was in last and vote for him again
without the trouble of recuring to Principles, or tracing Conse-
quences.
Be assured no Body can wish you and Family more happiness,
or desire more to see you in the Vicinity than your Friends on
Milton Hill, make our Compliments to Mrs. Adams and Love to
Nabby. I am your Friend and Servant,
Jas. Warren
Will you give me your Opinion of the Encyclopedia and whether
it be worth purchasing.
If it would not be an Impertinent request to a Minister of State,
I would ask the favour to send me the Gent'n pocket Farrier and
Trusler's practical Husbandry.^ I will pay the Cost to your order
here. R. Baldwin Pater Noster Row. A Charming Enthusiasm is
prevailing for Agriculture.
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
London, May 24, 1786
My dear Madam, — The affliction under which you are now
laboring has been protracted to a much longer period, than I
feard when I first left America, it was then I Buried the Dear
and amiable youth, ^ for whose loss your maternal Bosom heaves
the sad sigh, and over whose urn, all who knew him must drop a
tear of affectionate remembrance.
I John Trusler (1735-1820), whose Practical Husbandry was first published in 1780.
z Charles Warren, who died at St. Lucar. Verses by the mother are in her Poems, Zifi.
2 74 TVarren -Adams Letters [1786
Long at his couch Death took his patient Stand
And menanc'd oft and oft withheld the blow-
To give reflection time with lenient art
Each fond Delusion from his Soul to steal
Teach him from folly peaceably to part
And wean him from a World, he lov'd so well
nor were the admonitions given in vain, the last visit which I
made him I saw in his languid countanance, the Smile of compla-
cent resignation to the will of Heaven.
What ever farce the BoastfuU Hero plays
Virtue alone has Majesty in Death.
Be this your consolation that tho young in Years, he was
mature in virtue, that he lived beloved and died lamented, and
who that lives to riper years can ensure more to themselves.
Let not the popular torrent which at present sets against your
worthy partner distress you, time will convince the World who
are their approved and unshaken Friends, whatever mistaken
judgments they at present form. I foresaw this when I so ear-
nestly pressd the General to accept his last appointment and attend
Congress, if only for a few Months.
all that is well intended is not well received, the consciousness
of doing our Duty is however a support, but the designing Jack-
daw will sometimes borrow the plumes of the Jay and pass him-
self off to those who judge only by appearances.
you appear to think your Friend at the height of prosperity, and
swallowed up by the Gayetyes of Europe, but the estimate is far
from the truth. I am much less addicted to them than most of my
fair countrymen whom I have left behind me. I do not feel myself
at all captivated, either with the Manners or politicks of Europe
I think our own Country much the happiest spot upon the Globe,
as much as it needs reforming and amending. I should think it
still happier, if the inclination was more wanting than the ability,
to vie with the Luxeries and extravagance of Europe.
Be so good my dear Madam as to present my best respects to
your worthy partner, and affectionate remembrance to your Sons,
and be assured I am at all times Your Friend.
Abigail Adams
1786] Warren 'Adams Letters 275
John Adams to Mercy Warren Adams mss.
London, May 24, 1786
Madam, — I this day received your favor of April 8th and sin-
cerely condole with you under the loss of your amiable son.
These afflictions are the lot of humanity and so little of the system
of which we are a part is submitted to our view, that as we never
can discover the reasons of them, they are left only to our Reflec-
tions and submission.
My situation would be eligible to the height of my wishes, if I
saw a disposition in this Country friendly to mine, or even friendly
to their own true Interests, but the fact is far otherwise.
To see as I do the affairs of my Country everywhere laboring
under embarrassments, to know that thousands are looking up to
me for relief from their distresses, and to have no power to do the
least thing for their assistance, is painful beyond all expression.
You speak of honors, Madam; but what honors have been de-
creed to me.^* Do you suppose I am honored in this Country.? The
Refugees indeed honor me now and then, as you see in the news-
papers. You speak of affluence too. If I were my own master and
could I spend what is allowed me as I should choose, I should live
in affluence indeed; but when you consider that I have a Rank to
support here that I hold in trust for others, and that this Rank
cannot be let down, without betraying that trust, you may de-
pend upon it, I am driven to my wits' ends for means.
I know of no change at Braintree or Weymouth in their politi-
cal friendships, but one thing I know, that a good Profession, or
even trade, is better for the Individual than all Politicks. Our
Country will do like all others — play their affairs into the Hands
of a few cunning fellows, and leave their faithful servants to close
their long glories with a sigh to find the unwilling Gratitude
of base mankind. Yet I don't wholly approve this sentiment.
Human nature is not ungrateful. But while many rate their
merits higher than the truth, it is almost impossible that the
public mind should be exactly informed to whom they are really
obliged.
Real services are never held out to view. The modesty of the
276 TVarren -Adams Letters [1786
individual, the Jealousy of Rivals, or the public Interest, require
that they should be concealed. Do you wonder then that osten-
sible pageants should be adored, while those who moved the
springs are neglected. I expect my turn and am prepared for it
in my own mind. My family and circumstances are not prepared
for it by any means. Yet they must come to it — I always foresaw
it and shall meet it firmly.
At least I believe so. I wish my friend Warren in public Life,
because I know he would be useful there.
But his numerous refusals I am informed are made use of
against him, and I really fear will prevail. I expect to be myself
in private Life very soon and in his neighborhood, and I don't
despair of going even sometimes to Plymouth inferior Court to
get my bread and my boys thro' the Colledge. The young Rogues
shall not be disappointed of their Education, if I am obliged to
draw Justice's writs to attain it. I am obliged in Europe to spend
immense sums in support of dignity, but I'll be hanged if I trouble
my head about it in private Life in America. I am. Madam, your
J. Adams
John Adams to James Warren
London, July 4, 1786
Dear Sir, — Your Favour of 30. April, is arrived. I am sur-
prized to read in your Letter that "our Poverty can't relieve Us
from the Piracies of the Algerines." Are the thirteen United States
then not worth two or three hundred Thousand Guineas.^ Sup-
pose they borrow it at Six per Cent, there will be Eighteen
thousand Guineas to pay yearly. We now loose a Million sterling
a Year, by this War. Are we able to loose a Million and not pay
Eighteen Thousand Pounds t Give Congress Power and let them
lay on Duties upon Imports or Exports upon thirteen states
sufficient to pay this Interest and you may borrow the Money.
But I never heard or read of Sluggards, who saw so many fan-
tastical Lions in the way, as our People appear to have seen since
the Peace.
1786] W^arren "Adams Letters 277
Our Oil may find a Market In every City where a Lamp is
burn'd in the night, if our Merchants will take Pains by Samples
and Experiments to Shew the Inhabitants the Superior Qualities
of our Sperma Ceti OIL
The Picture you draw of the Ruin of the Country is horrible.
Bad as It may be, Paper Money or a suspension of Law Processes,
I will venture to say would make it much worse. I cannot be of
your opinion that there Is a "total Change in Principles and
manners" nor that "Interest is the only Pursuit," nor that
"Riches only are respected." If you look back to the year 1760
and from thence to 1774, you will find that Interest was courted
and Riches respected, by as many, as they were during the War,
and during the War by as many, as since the Peace, as great a
Number of Men of Merit, who are poor are respected now, as were
respected at any time since our Memory. It is most certain that
our Countrymen, are not and never were, Spartans In their Con-
tempt of Wealth, and I will go farther and say they ought not to
be. Such a Trait In their Character would render them lazy
Drones, unfit for the Agriculture Manufactures Fisheries, and
Commerce, and Population of their Country: and fit only for
War. I am never apprehensive of Anarchy, because I know there
is Wisdom and Address enough to prevent it.
All Things must tend to restore publick Faith and Confidence.
The Debt must be funded and the Interest paid. This will put an
End to that Speculation In public Paper, which now employs all
the Capitals, and produce a Circulation that will relieve every
Distress.
The Encyclopaedia is a valuable Collection of Knowledge and
worth the Money. The Gentleman's Pocket Farrier and Trusler's
practical Husbandry, I will endeavour to send you. You may pay
Dr. Tufts for them.
The Enthusiasm for Agriculture like Virtue will be its own
Reward, may it run and be glorified.
I have given my Daughter ^ to Col. Smlth,^ a Man of Merit
formed In the School of his Countries Afflictions. I shall want her
Company, In my old Age, but the Conveniences of Parents are
I Abigail Adams (1765-1813). 2 William Stephens Smith (1755-1816).
278 JVarren -Adams Letters [1786
not the principal Points to be consulted, in the Marriages of
Children. The young Couple appear to be very happy, and may
they continue so as long as they live.
To return to Politicks, our Countrymen are not yet informed of
the magical Effects of Circulation, and of the ruin of Stagnation.
Stagnation must exist and Circulation can never take place in
Society where there is not Confidence of the Members in the
Public and in one Another. This Confidence never will be
restored, untill the Debt is funded and all Apprehensions of
Paper Knavery is annihilated The only Way and the effectual
Way to restore our affairs is for every Wise and good Man to
Unite in restoring Confidence in the Public.
With great Esteem and regard, I am, dear Sir, your most obe-
dient and humble Sert.,
John Adams
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, Octo. 22d, 1786
My dear Sir, — A few days since I had the pleasure of receiv-
ing yours of the 4th July. You think the picture I gave you in my
last too high wrought; You cannot be of my Opinion that there is
here a total Change in Principles and Manners, nor that Interest
is the only pursuit and that Riches only are respected.
Your distance will not permit you to form your Opinion from
your own Observation. Your partiality for your Country Inclines
you to more favourable Accounts and that Patriotism which I
revere exhibits to your Imagination more agreable Colours and
like self Love hides those deformities which disgust and give pain.
I sincerely wish that the present situation of the Country was
such as to Justify your partiality and wishes, and to Condemn any
picture and the Opinion and Apprehensions I expressed to you,
but unhappily it does not. We are now in a State of Anarchy and
Confusion bordering on a Civil War. The General Court at their
last Session could not, or would not, see the general Uneasiness
that threatened this Event, however, they did not provide for the
1786] W^arren- Adams Letters 279
public Tranquility during their recess, but dosed themselves into
an unusual Adjournment for six or seven months. They have been
called to meet on the present Occasion sooner than the Time ad-
journed to; have set near a Month without any Appearance of
that Wisdom and Address necessary to redress the unhappy Situa-
tion we are fallen into. I do not say that they are Incompetent to
the Business before them, or that the State of things is Incapable
of redress; but it is possible (at least) that they should set till next
Election without devising the mode of doing it. The Papers will
Inform you that the Three upper Counties (and Bristol is not
much better) have refused submission to the Government estab-
lished by the Constitution and Obedience to the Laws made under
It; that Is, they have violated their Compact and are In a State of
Rebellion, while the three Eastern Counties are petitioning to be
separated from us and formed Into a new Government of their
own Construction. These are very singular Events, which must
have been produced by some singular Causes; If they are the
natural Consequences of that state of things I described In my
last, you will not think my picture more horrible than the reality.
I have long been mortified by the Imbecility and Inattention with
which our public Affairs have been Conducted. It Is probable that
when I wrote that Letter I felt also some Indignation. I claim a
right to express It to you. my small Efforts were Joined with
yours and others for many Years In raising a Glorious Fabrick
on Foundations that should have been as permanent as Time, but
suffered to fall Into ruin In less than half the Time It took to build
it. I feel for the Character of the Country. I am mortified at the
Triumphs of our Enemies. I am sorry for you, who must from
your situation be peculiarly exposed to them. I wish everything
may be so Conducted as to restore Order and submission to
Government; but I fear it will be some time first. The Scarcity of
Money is a great Obstacle and the folly and Extravagance that
made It scarce In a great degree remains. I am acquainted with
Coll. Smith's Character, tho' I have not the pleasure of knowing
his Person. I am glad you have given your Daughter to a man of
so much Merit. Please to give her my Blessing and good Wishes.
Mrs. Warren desires her regards to be Joined with mine to Mr.
2 8o JVarren 'Adams Letters [1787
and Mrs. Adams and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I am with great
Esteem and regard your most obedt. Humble Servt.
James Warren
26th. I have just heard that the Supream Court are setting at
Taunton, supported by 450 of the Militia which proved a stronger
Body than the Mob mustered to prevent it.
John Adams to James Warren
Grosvenor Square, Jan. 9, 1787
Dear Sir, — I have received, your Favour of October the 22d
and am sorry to find you so true a Prophet. Yet I am happy to
perceive that Government arrouses itself with some degree of
Dignity, and is likely to prevail. It is apparent however that
Discontents, and a restless Temper, have taken a deep root and
will require much Prudence as well as firmness, to guard against
their Tendency. When We find ourselves disposed to think there
is a total Change of manners and Principles We should recollect,
what the manners and Principles were before the War. if you
recollect the War of 1755, or even the War of 1745, you must re-
member, very Signal Proofs of a disposition in our People, to run
eagerly after foreign manners and Fashions, if you begin at 1760,
and recollect, how many Persons satt out with Us, on the same
side of the political question, and were warned off, some by little
Marks of distinction, some by little offices and some by great ones,
some by their avarice, others by their ambition, some by their
vanity, others by their fears, some by envy and others by Revenge,
how much difficulty there was to keep the People steady, but espe-
cially those who flattered themselves they were Leaders, You will
be very sensible that our Countrymen have never merited the
Character of very exalted Virtue, it is not to be expected that
they should have grown much better. I find myself very much
averse to believe that they are grown much worse. Yet this is very
possible and your Situation affords you opportunities to know,
which I have not. if it is indeed true, that there is a general De-
1787] JVarren 'Adams Letters 281
generacy, it is an allarming Consideration. The great Question is
what can be done to check its further Growth, or to restore Things
to their former State? When at home in 1779 I remarked a general
Caution, and I thought timidity among the leading Characters,
which made me apprehensive of disagreable Consequences. If the
People are upon the Watch, and are laying hold of every unpopu-
lar Idea or Expression, to propagate it, to exagerate it and to mis-
represent it, this will naturally make Men afraid to pursue their
own Judgments. Symptoms of this I thought appeared, and I
should not wonder if the best Men became unpopular. There is no
Remedy, but a general Conviction of the danger, and a general
Agreement against it. My own Sentiments differ very widely
from many of the best Characters, even from Mr. Adams and
General Warren. I think the first Magistrate must be sett up very
high in real Power as well as in the opinion of the People, without
this we may lament Disorders but never cure them. The Appear-
ance of County Conventions and their Resolutions, set me upon
throwing together some Disquisitions concerning our Govern-
ments, which are now printed. I will send you a Copy of it.^
Popularity was never my Mistress, nor was I ever, or shall I ever
be a popular Man. This Book will make me unpopular. But one
Thing I know a Man must be sensible of the Errors of the People,
and upon his Guard against them, and must run the risque of
their Displeasure sometimes, or he will never do them any good
in the long run. I deliver the Book up, to the Mercy of a World,
that will never show me much Mercy, as my Confession of politi-
cal Faith. Unpopular as it may be at present, the time will come,
after I am dead, when the System of it in general must be adopted,
with bitter repentance that it was not heeded sooner. It is much
easier to pull down a Government,' in such a Conjuncture of
affairs as We have seen, than to build up, at such a Season as the
present, if the Massachusetts can be governed without a total
Seperation of the Executive Power from the Senate, the House
and the People, I am altogether ignorant of the Character of that
People, and have not made one Sound Observation upon the
I Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States, published in London,
1787.
2 82 JVarren -Adams Letters [1787
History of Nations. My Situation here is mournful! and unpleas-
ant enough, and it would not be more gay, anywhere else. You
and I have not had an easy task in Life hitherto, and I at least
have no Cause to hope that mine will become easier. But I will
be as cheerful and contented under it, as I can, let it be what it
will.
My Family joins me, in affectionate Respects to yours, and I
remain with unalterable Esteem, your friend and humble Servant
John Adams
inclosed is a Letter of Mr. Hartley's, it contains Knowledge
of Iron, that may be useful in America.
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, 26 Feb., 1787
Madam, — I have just been honored with a very short visit
from General Warren. He reminded me of my duty with respect
to the manuscript, which you was pleased to intrust me with. I
should have returned it with my own hand, in order at the same
time to have expressed the pleasure which the perusal of it gave
me, but one of my hands has been so lame owing to its being
frozen ip the march of the third instant, that it has been exceed-
ingly inconvenient to me to ride. Harry stood the fatigue ex-
ceedingly well and was not frozen at all.
I acknowledge that I was in some measure prevented from the
full enjoyment of your history, by a cause which you mentioned
when you delivered the book to me. But notwithstanding that
difficulty, it appears to me that the stile is nervous and perspicu-
ous and flowing. The facts are justly and methodically narrated.
The characters, which indeed form the most difficult part of his-
tory, appear to be accurately defined, and so far as I have had
opportunity to be acquainted with them to be perfectly just. But
you must not charge me with trimming when I start the following
query. The Royalists constantly attributed to Mr. Hutchinson a
character for great abilities. Though we cannot form a very high
1787] IVarren -Adams Letters 283
opinion of the political talents of a man who has made the estab-
lishment of a particular system the pursuit of his whole life, and is
disappointed in the attainment of his object: yet would it not be
better to give him, on the credit of his own party, a little unde-
served praise, to procure their judgment in favor of the work?
You know already my opinion of the former Governor, and that
it is not mine alone. These are the only things which occurred to
me as rendering a revision expedient. I cannot suppose that mere
slips of the pen were included in your injunctions. The remarks
now made are not grounded on any acquaintance I had with Mr.
H[utchinson.] The dispute ran so high before I was able to judge
of the controversy, that every man had taken his side, and of
course I was acquainted with only the leaders on one side. The
friendship which has long subsisted between our families and which
may properly be considered as hereditary, will when considered
by your good sense and a very small share of your candor, be my
apology for the freedom of the present remarks. I have the honor
to be, Madam, with much esteem Your most Obedt. Servant,
James Winthrop
Catherine Macaulay Graham to Mercy Warren
I thank you, dear Madam, for the favor of your letter of the
sixth of January. The having seen and conversed in person with
the Author gave an additional pleasure to the renewal of our old
correspondence.
We have indeed been much alarmed for the safety of the infant
Governments of America and I sincerely hope that this attempt
to disturb the public tranquility wilHike most others of the same
Nature when they fail only serve to give it a more permanent
establishment. I have heard that things are grown better in many
ways since I left America, the high price of provision be lowered
and I hope the tast for the Luxuries of Europe decreased, indeed
I always flattered myself that the mortifications you have sus-
tained on the article of commerce and the disappointment of Land
not taking a great rise after the Revolution from the incoming of
284 TVarren -Adams Letters [1787
forreign Settlers will rather prove advantageous In the event of
things than otherwise.
Mr. Adams has published a Defence of the American Constitu-
tions I have not yet had time to read it, therefore can give you no
account of it; but I suppose you will have received a copy before
this comes to hand
We are now upon the Eve of a Treaty with France ^ which is in a
stile of politicks so new to this Country and so agreable to the
present views of our old enemy that it alarms many; yet the two
houses of parliament seem only to have considered it as a party
business, tho it might have been imagined that the spirit of re-
formation which has taken place in the counsels of that formidable
power would have produced more serious and anxious debates
and more deliberate conclusions I thank you, Dear Madam, for
your kind wishes and do most sincerely return them by earnest
desires and hopes that you may never again experience the sorrows
you have felt.
I was happy to hear that Mrs. Russel had brought so agreable
an addition to Mr. Russel's felicity as a child, and I sincerely
hope that it has not been clouded with the loss which rumour
says he has sustained in one of his ships taken by an Algerine
Corsair.
When you see our mutual friend Mr. Gerry I shall be obliged to
you if you will make our compliments of congratulation on his
marriage ^ which tho an event of an old date we only heard this
winter by Dr. Prevost ^ the Bishop of New York.
You flatter me much, Dear Madam, in interesting yourself on
the subject of my composition my present thoughts are employed
on education for tho the History of your late glorious revolution
is what I should certainly undertake were I again young, yet as
things are I must for many reasons decline the task.
My Daughter I thank God enjoys at present a perfect state of
health she is much obliged by your remembrance and joins me and
Mr. Graham in best compliments to your self Genl. Warren and
1 The treaty negotiated by William Eden and Dupont de Nemours.
2 To a daughter of James Thompson of New York,
3 Samuel Provoost (1742-1815).
1787] TVarren 'Adams Letters 285
family. From Dear Madam Your Very Sincere Friend And Obedt.
Servt.
Cath: Macaulay Graham
Knights bridge, near London, March 6, '87.
pray make our compliments to Mr. Otys's family and to your
Sister and to General Lincoln and his family.
Benjamin Lincoln to Mr. and Mrs. Warren
General Lincoln presents his respectful compliments to General
Warren and Lady. Whilst he mingles his joys with those of their
other friends on the safe return of their son Major Warren,^ he
begs leave to add his warm congratulations on the very important
and felicitating circumstance that in addition to a knowledge of
duty he has ever discharged it with ability and the greatest
punctuality. He has not only merited, but has gained the esteem
of all who have been happy enough to form an acquaintance with
him.
Monday morn,
12 March, 1787.
Mercy Warren to Henry Knox Knox mss.
Milton, May 2d, 1787
Sir, — From your extensive acquaintance, connexions and
Correspondence, I am sensible you cannot wish to see a new sig-
nature to your address. Nor shouM I interrupt the thread of
political attention, or break in on the more agreable moment of
polite amusement, but from the habits of Friendship which for
several Years has subsisted between yourself and his parents, a
son of mine has requested me to apply to you in a small affair
relative to bussiness. This young Gentleman in common with
many in these days of commercial embarasment has had the
I Henry Warren.
2 86 IVarren -Adams Letters [1787
misfortune to suffer many disappointments in the mercantile line,
which has obliged him to bring his affairs to a certain point and
offer an equal dividend to his Creditors, and he now only waits
for an answer to a Letter wrote several weeks since to your
Brother on a matter of no considerable moment which yet I
understand cannot be negotiated with Mr. Breck^ without his
consent.
By Mr. Breck and by all else (except in one very singular
instance) he has been treated in the most delicate and polite
manner.
But as it is both proper and equitable that each creditor should
receive a similar proposition, the settlement of all his affairs now
only remain at a stand till Mr. Breck shall receive an intimation
from Mr. W. Knox that he is at liberty to compound in the same
manner that other Gentlemen have already consented. Your
Goodness of disposition, without the additional motive of Friend-
ship which we have the honour to Claim, I am confident would
lead you to wish a young person in the meridian of active life
might as soon as possible be extricated from any further impedi-
ments to usefulness and industry. I therefore think I am certain
it will not be many days before either yourself or Brother will pay
the necessary attention to this request and authorise Mr. Breck
to act agreable to his own and to the inclination of every other
Gentleman of Generosity and Benevolence.
You will not fail to make my best Compliments to Mrs. Knox,
shall not we have the pleasure of seeing you both in the environs
of Boston in the Course of the ensuing season. In the interim
your Friends on Milton hill would be gratifyd in knowing how the
political Hemisphere opens to your eye on the important spring
of '87.
But if you, sir, should judge that inquiries of this nature are not
altogether consonant to Female Genius, then tell us the Grada-
tions of Theatrical improvement and anything that will do honour
to the taste, the understanding, or the heart of a single American,
either as a writer, a Hero, a statesman, or an Honest man.
I know the amor patriae burns too strongly in your breast to
I Samuel Breck.
1 787] Tf^arren -Adams Letters 287
consider these as frivolous inquiries. But till further encouraged
I will check the laudable curiosity of my sex: yet not deny that a
full share thereof occupies the bosom of your sincere Friend and
very Humble servant,
M. Warren
Of Genl. Warren's compliments and best wishes General Knox
and Lady may ever be assured.
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
London, May 14, 1787
My dear Madam, — I have lately been reading Mrs. Mon-
tague's essays upon the Genious and writings of Shakspear,^ and
I am so well pleased with them; that I take the Liberty of present-
ing them to you. the Lady is still living, a widow,^ and possessd
of an ample fortune, without any children. She has a Nephew
who bears the same name and has lately been returnd a Member
to Parliament. I should have wished to have formed an acquaint-
ance with her, if I had not learnt that she was a violent Anti
American, tho a sister of a Mr. Robinson ^ who has written some
things in favour of our Country, and who has always been Friendly
to our cause.
I have resided in this Country near two years and in that time,
I have made some few acquaintance whom I esteem and shall
leave with regret, but the customs and manners of a Metropolis
are unfriendly to that social intercourse which I have ever been
accustomed to. Amusement and diversion may always be pur-
chased at the Theatres and places o"f public resort, so that little
pains Is taken to cultivate that benevolence and interchange of
kindness which sweetens life, in lieu of which mere visits of form
are substituted to keep up the union; not only the wrinkled brow
1 Mrs. Elizabeth (Robinson) Montague (1720-1800). Her volume on Shakespeare,
which reached a third edition in England and was translated into French and Italian, was
in answer to some contemptuous allusions to Shakespeare by Voltaire.
2 Her husband was Edward Montague, a grandson of Edward Montague, first Earl of
Sandwich (1625-1672). He died May I2, 1775.
3 Matthew Robinson (17 13-1800).
2 88 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1787
of age is grasping at the card table and even tricking with mean
avarice, but the virgin bloom of innocence and beauty is withered
at the same vigils. I do not think I should draw a false picture of
the Nobility and Gentry of this Metropolis, if I was to assert, that
Money and pleasure are the sole objects of their ardent persuit,
publick virtue, and indeed all virtue is exposed to sale, and as to
principle, where is it to be found, either in the present administra-
tion, or opposition? Luxury, dissapation and vice, have a natural
tendency to extirpate every generous principle, and leave the
Heart susceptable of the most malignant vices, to the total
absence of principle must be asscribed the conduct of the Heir
apparant to the British Throne, which is the Subject of much
speculation at this Moment, the World have supposed that a
Marriage had taken place between the prince, and a Lady known
by the Name of Fitzherbert,^ whom for three years he persued,
driving her for more than half that time out of her country to
avoid him, as she was in independent circumstances, of an ancient
and respectable family; of a Fair Character and honorable con-
nections every person presumed her married to him, tho contrary
to the established Laws of the Land, and this not only by a
Catholick priest, but a protestant one too, every step for more
than a Year has confirmed this Idea, as the Lady has attended
him; not only to the Watering places, but into all publick, and
private parties, and at the prince's request has been countananced
by the first persons in the Kingdom, and the publick papers have
announced the report and given credit to it uncontradicted
throughout Europe, but now at a time when he wishes to be
relieved from the load of debt he has contracted, and finds that
this affair is like to become a subject of parlimentary discussion,
he authorizes Charles Fox (A Man as unprincipald as the prince)
to declare the whole story a Malicious falsehood, and in the most
explicit terms to deny even the Shadow of a Marriage, yet not a
person whom I have heard mention the subject since believes; a
syllable of mr Fox's assertion thus does this young Man set both
Law and Decency at defiance; his Friends are even so barefaced
I Maria Anne Fitzherbert (1756-1837), wife of George IV, was daughter of Walter
Smythe of Brambridge, Hampshire.
1787] TVarren -Adams Letters 289
as to pretend that no connextion but of the platonick kind has
ever subsisted between them, he a mere Scipio and she a vestal,
what a prospect for this Country! what a prostration of Honour
and virtue! the Heir Apparant, frequenting the Haunts of intem-
perance and vice, his greatest intimates sycophants and knaves,
appearing in company so disguised as to lose himself, and commit
the greatest rudeness, which was the case not a Month since, yet
when sober really possessing the outward appearance of a well
bred Gentleman, by some he is held up as a Man of Learning and
abilities, but of this I cannot learn any Specimens; not even a
refinement in his vices, since he is branded with a taste, for the
lowest and most vulgar.
but I will quit him, since I shall never owe him; either honour
or Allegence, and will turn my attention to my own Country,
which tho not terrified with the prospect of a proffligate prince to
govern it, appears to be in an untranquilized state, embarressed
in its Finances, distrest in its commerce and unbalanced in its
Governments, but I have Faith that will remove Mountains, and
as distress and difficulties in private life, are frequently spurs to
dilligence, so have we seen publick industry excited in the same
manner, during the late War. Success crowned our efforts and
gave us Independance. our misfortune is that there we became
indolent and intoxicated; Luxury with ten thousand evils in her
train, exiled the humble virtues, Industry and frugality, were
swallowed up in dissipation.
"but it is not upon Record," says a late writer, "that any state
was ever yet so exhausted, but that whilst it enjoyed Liberty it
might draw new resources from its own vitals. Though the tree
is lopped, yet so long as the root remains unhurt, it will through
out a greater Luxuriancy of Branches, produce fruits of better
flavour and derive fresh vigor from the ax."
Why, my Dear Madam, may we not console ourselves with
Ideas of this kind, instead of giving way to despondency? I was
very happy to learn that my young Friend Harry distinguishd
himself with the ardour of a patriot, and the zeal of a good Citizen
in accompanying General Lincoln in his late expedition, had
Pericles lived in the present day, he could not have made the
290 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1787
boast, which he does In his funeral oration over the Athenians,
saying that they were the only -people^ who thought those who did
not lend their assistance in State affairs, not indolent, but good
for Nothing, it is indeed a pleasing presage of future good, when
the most promising youth, shrink not from danger, through a fond-
ness for those delights, which a peaceful affluent Life bestows
"but bare their bold breast, and pour their generous Blood"
esteeming it a dishonour that their Country should stand in need
of any thing which their valour can acchive.
I long, my dear Madam, to return to my native land. My little
Cottage encompassed with my Friends has more charms for me
than the Drawing Room of St. James, where studied civility,
and disguised coldness cover malignant Hearts.
I will not close this letter without informing you that I am —
a grand — o no! that would be confesing myself old, which would
be quite unfashionable and vulgar; but true it is, I have a fine
grandson.^ I regret a little that it was not a Daughter, for then I
would have claimd the little one for the great one. Mrs. Smith
desires me to present her respectfuU compliments to you, with
thanks for your kind and Friendly Letter, which she will notice
as soon as she is able, be so good as to present my regards to the
Genii, and all your worthy family. I must acquit myself of a
promise made to a Young Gentleman, who requested me when
I wrote to you, to lay him respectfully at your feet, by which I
presume he meant that I should express, the high esteem and pro-
found veneration, which he always professes towards you, and I
knew not how to do it better: than by giving you his own words.
I dare say you will be at no loss to recollect this Gentleman by
the Name of Shipping; who is as genteel well Bred a Youth as
any one from our Country, and who is quite at home with us as
well as his companion Mr. Cutting, who I think will make a
figure in Life, as he has both abilities and application.
I know not what to say for my companion that he has not
written a single Letter by this opportunity, but that he is so much
engaged in travelling through the Itallian Republicks that I
cannot draw of his attention, except only to official Letters.
I William Steuben Smith.
1787] IVarren -Adams Letters 291
he says his Friends must accept his printed letters. I will not
apoligize for the length of my Letter, concious as I am of all
my Sins of omission, but be assured dear Madam, that neither a
want of affection or Regard are in the number, for those my
Heart shall not reproach Your assured Friend,
Abigail Adams
James Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Milton, N. E., May i8th, 1787
Dear Sir, — I Thank you for your favour of Jany. 9th and for
the very valuable Present which accompanied it. I have read
your Book with great pleasure as well as Information. The
Avidity of the rest of the Family to read it has prevented a second
perusal, which I enjoy in prospect. I do not recollect a single
Sentiment different from my own, except we might differ a little
with respect to the first Magistrate, and perhaps not very essen-
tially. I do not wish to see him surrounded with the Pomp,
Parade and Magnificence of an European Prince; but I should
be willing he should have an Addition of some real powers he is
not now possessed of; but I think I should hardly agree that an
Unqualified Negative upon the Law should be among them,
because I think a Limited one like ours more agreable to reason
and quite adequate to all the purposes of a Check and a Ballance.
if I should say there are no faults to be found in your Book, you
would consider it as flattery, if I say there are very few, and
those not very Essential, you will think me honest, but at the
same time that I make a Compliment to the whole performance,
if I mention one of the greatest, you -will Consider It as the dic-
tate of Friendship. You say there are as yet no Appearances
of Artificial Inequalities of Condition, etc. That may be true,
because the Barefaced and Arrogant System of the Cincinnati
Association is not fully matured, but It is rapidly progressing.
The People, who have no Stability, who equally forget Benefits
and Injuries, have almost forgot this Insolent Attempt at dis-
tinction and are Introducing the Members into the Legislature,
292 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1787
and the first Civil and Military Offices, is it not a fault that you
have omitted on so fair an Occasion to mention this Attempt in
the severe Terms it deserves? You are certainly mistaken, if
popularity is not your Mistress. You enjoy it as much as any
Man should do. it is enough to recommend anything here to
say it is Mr. Adams' Opinion. I feel the Influence of it myself,
and often see it with pleasure in others. I have just heard that
you Intend to come Home this Summer. We will be glad to see
you and will show you that you are mistaken; but I will not
Insure you that it will last, but I think your Book will not make
you Unpopular.
it is true that some Persons have proposed in County Conven-
tions to annihilate the Senate. But this Sentiment (if adopted by
any of them) does not seem to prevail. The Truth of the Matter
is, the People resemble a Child, who feels hurt and uneasy, and
quarrels with every thing about him. They have fallen upon this
Branch of the Legislature indiscriminately with other parts of the
Constitution as they occurred to their Minds. What I mean is,
that there is no particular System among them. I will not how-
ever undertake to say that there will not be some fatal Change
before long. Such is the Situation of things here that no Man can
calculate the Events of the present Year.
It is very true that Government has been roused from a pro-
found Sleep, but they waked with that peevish disposition which is
common to the Interruption of sweet Sleep and pleasing Dreams.
Measures were taken accordingly. The People were Irritated, not
softened and conciliated. The Rebels were dispersed, but not
subdued, and for fear that Capt. Shays should destroy the Consti-
tution they violated it themselves. After all the Apparatus of the
Suspension of the Habeas Corpus, prosecutions of some miserable
Scribblers, Declarations of Rebellion, Acts of disqualifications,
etc., etc., it is said the Rebels are again mustering in force, it is
certain a General discontent and disapprobation prevails in the
Country, and has shewn itself in the late Elections. Mr. H[an-
cock] is undoubtedly chose the first Magistrate. I do not regret
the change so much as I once should, tho' I am sorry for it. if I
used to dispise the Administration of H., I am disappointed in
1787] W^arren 'Adams Letters 293
that of B[owdoin]. Every Phylosopher is not a Politician. The
surrounding solid orb in the Heavens may restore the scattered
rays of Light to the Sun and prevent the waste of that Body by an
endless diffusion. But no Government can be supported but on
its own Principles.
Mr. Gushing and General Lincoln were chiefly voted for as the
second Magistrate, but I suppose neither of them Chose by the
People. The Senators are generally Changed, even the good and
Inoffensive Mr. Cranch is left out — I Imagine because he was of
the Court of Common Pleas, our old Friend Mr. A[dams], how-
ever, is rechosen, tho' he seems to have forsaken all his old princi-
ples and professions and to have become the most arbitrary and
despotic Man in the Commonwealth. There is an Appearance of
as general a Change in the House. In this Universal Concussion,
this rage of Innovation, the Town of Milton have honoured me
with an Election to represent them. The dread of reviving the
Clamour of refusing everything, joined with the Idea of its being
the Duty of every Man to go upon Deck when called upon In a
Storm, has Induced me to accept, to forsake the peaceful and
retired walks of Agriculture and again embark on a Tumultuous
Ocean of Politics, while I feel myself embarrassed at a loss what
Measures should be adopted in our present Situation, and for
the Peace of Jerusalem. I frequently recollect your Observation,
that you and I have not had an easy Task in Life hitherto.
I am embarked, I must act. you know I have no Cunning or
Time serving Talents. I shall satisfy my own Conscience and
Judgment. I hope to satisfy all the reasonable Expectations of
Good Men from my public Conduct, If any are formed, and leave
the rest.
Mrs. Warren and the rest of my Family join me In very affec-
tionate regards and respect for yours. I am with great Esteem
your sincere Friend and Humble Servt.
J. Warren
2 94- TVarren -Adams Letters [1787
Henry Knox to Mercy Warren
New- York, 30th May, 1787
Madam, — Having but just returned from Philadelphia, it was
only yesterday I had the honor to receive your favor of the 2d
instant.
Respecting politicks, as you have given me the opportunity, I
shall take the liberty of indulging confidentially a few reflections,
relying on your goodness for an excuse if any sentiment should
escape, which in appearance should seem to be contrary to our
former opinions.
When I survey the animal Man, analyze his passions, and in-
vestigate his views; Take a retrospect of his progressions through
the various stages of society, and his blind impulses to pursue the
present enjoyment to the exclusion of future good, I tremble at
the present awful crisis. I arrange in my imagination two or
three hundred millions of our posterity, with their eyes fixed on
our conduct, ready to applaud our wisdom, or to execrate our
folly; I long for that degree of intuition which belongs to a higher
race than man, in order to exhibit strongly to the view of my
countrymen the effects which will flow from the causes estab-
lished at the present moment, whether arising from design or
accident.
That our system operates badly indeed, no person who knows
the discontents, which pervade the United States will deny. Not
only a ruined commerce, but such destruction of moral principle
as must alarm every upright, and intelligent lover of his country.
Anarchy with its horrid train of miseries seem ready to over-
whelm this region marked by nature for happiness. Were we to
examine our political systems without prejudice, perhaps we shall
there find the source of all the evils of which we complain, and of
all those which we apprehend.
Our respectable and enlightened friend Mr. Adams's Book will
be the surest basis of his reputation. It is true he has been a little
unfortunate in his title. It is not a defence of the constitutions of
the United States, it is rather a sarcasm on them. But it should
have been entitled "The Soul of a free government." But still it
1787] JVarren -Adams Letters 295
will be the means of great good. It Is a word spoken In season. He
clearly points out one of the capital causes of our misery and
prostrate character — the will, the caprice the headlong conduct,
of a government without strong checks by different branches, or a
division of power by a balance, A mad democracy sweeps away
every moral and divine trait from the human character. Hence It
is that reason Law, and patriotism is banished from almost every
Legislature. Private convenience, paper money, and ex post
facto Laws, are the main springs of the American governments.
In addition to these local evils all national character, and Inter-
ests are lost by the monsterous system of State governments;
which from their construction, compared with the general govern-
ment, must necessarily produce the effects which we experience of
overturning even almost the appearance of a general government.
Granted says candor, but the remedy .f' pardon me, the conven-
tion is sitting — and shall one of the Cincinnati presume to give
his opinion.'*
I confess however, that my only hope of human assistance Is
founded on the convention. Should they possess the hardihood
to be unpopular, and propose an efficient National government,
free from the entanglements of the present defective state systems
we may yet be a happy and great nation. But I have no expecta-
tions if their propositions should be truly wise, that they will be
immediately accepted. I should rather suppose that they would
be ridiculed in the same as was the ark of old, while building by
Noah. But If human nature be Influenced by Invariable princi-
ples, we are on the eve of political storms.
If the convention should propose to erect a temple to liberty on
the solid, and durable foundation of Law and Justice, all men of
principle In the first instance will embrace the proposal. Dema-
gogues and vicious characters will oppose for a while. But reason
will at length triumph. But should the convention be desirous of
acquiring present popularity; should they possess local and not
general views; should they propose a patch work to the present
wretchedly defective thing called the Confederation, look out ye
patriots, supplicate Heaven! for you will have need of its pro-
tection !
296 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1787
Seperate Anarchies will take place. Hostile conflicts will hap-
pen, and in proportion to their number, and duration, will be the
strength of the tyrany which will be established on the issue. The
party triumphant, will never submit its actions to the decisions
of a free legislature — no — The tyrants will direct. If they call
an assembly of the people, it will be for the purpose, of devising
ways and means of raising more money, like the notables in
France.
But say you, all this may appear true to a man of warm imagi-
nation, but still a distant glimpse has not been given of the govern-
ment of Laws, of the paradise of humanity. True, madam. I
should be first happy to hear your opinion on the subject, do you
remember the idea which you once whispered to me at Mr.
Russell's.^ I like the principle to be established hereafter. But I
wish at present to try the experiment of a strong national republic.
The state governments should be deprived of the power of injuring
themselves or the Nation. The people have parted with power
enough to form an excellent constitution; But it is incorp[ora]ted
and diffused among bodies which cannot use it to good purpose.
It must be concentered in a national government, the power of
which should be divided between a strong executive, a senate, and
assembly. The powers which each should have, would be a sub-
ject of nice discussion and much detail. The time of the executive,
and senate should be such as to give stability to the system. The
Assembly to be for one two or at most three years. A Judicial to
be formed on the highest principles of Independency. This gov-
ernment should possess every power necessary for national pur-
poses which would leave the state governments but very little.
But every power should be defined with accuracy, and checked
according to the highest human wisdom, an attempt to overleap
the bounds of the constitution by those who are in the execution
of it, should be certainly and severely punished.
Thus, madam, I have hastily confided to your liberality my
sentiments of our present critical situation, and stated the mildest
remedy that the case will admit. To attempt less will I am appre-
hensive precipitate us into the gulph of seperate anarchies, on the
issue of which we may see established seperate tyrannies. The
1787] W^arren 'Adams Letters 297
tyrants will find ways and means by reciprocal alliances between
themselves to render the fetters of the people as durable as brass
or iron.
I have said nothing on the subject of foreign intrigues, which
will agitate us in the course of the commotions. This circumstance
is too obvious to need any illustration.
I should be happy madam to receive your communications
from time to time particularly on the subject enlarged on in this
letter. Your sentiments shall remain with me. I beg you to
present to the general my affectionate and respectful compliments,
and to believe me to be most respectfully, you obedient humble
Servt.
H. Knox
Mrs. Knox presents her compliments to the Genl. and yourself.
Henry Knox to Mercy Warren
New York, 21 August, 1787
Madam, — Your highly esteemed favor of the 21st of June was
duly received. But my absences and avocations lately, have been
such, that I have been unable at an earlier period, to set down to
form a reply.
Indeed I wished that somewhat of the proceedings of the con-
vention might be first known, in order to discover the complexion
the remainder of our lives was likely to assume, as far as depended
on government.
Although this wish has not been gratified in such a manner, as
to be communicated on paper, at present", yet it is well ascertained
that great unanimity prevails in the convention. That the im-
portant principles are fixed — and that their deliberations are
drawing to a close, so that the members will probably seperate
before the 15th of next month.
In this state of things the true lovers of their country will wait
to receive the result of the deliberations of the convention. I look
forward to the period of publication with a degree of anxiety. I
298 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1787
am persuaded that some ardent and intelligent spirits may regard
the propositions of the convention as inadequate to remedy the
evils of our situation; while others and a greater majority too will
be apt at the first blush to consider the proposed government as
too high toned.
But if the characters of the convention be duly estimated, and
the nature and circumstances of the society I flatter myself the
government proposed will be received by the multitude as the
best that can be obtained at present.
If however it should be otherwise, if the still small voice of
reason should not be heard, but local demagogues successfully
oppose the erection of a fair national republic, we shall most
probably feel the force of blind events. Whether they will be
rigid, or flexible, adverse or prosperous must be left for the
present to those superior beings who can penetrate further into
futurity than we poor mortals.
The information you are pleased to request on certain points
respecting the Cincinnati and the characters of certain Gentlemen
shall be candidly given when I shall have the honor of seeing you,
which I hope will be in the ensuing October or November.
Mrs. Knox and myself have recently sustained the sharp afflic-
tion of losing our youngest child of about eleven months old, of a
disorder incident to children when cutting their teeth. However
much our affections have been lacerated on this occasion we are
forced to believe that the system in which we are, and every thing
therein, is governed by infinite wisdom.
I beg General Warren to accept my best wishes for his happi-
ness, mental, and corporeal. I am, madam, with perfect respect
and esteem Your Most obedient humble Servant,
H. Knox
Catherine Macaulay Graham to Mercy Warren
Dear Madam, — I have long wished, long hoped, and long
expected, to receive a letter from you; the letter is at length
arrived, and your reasons for not gratifying me before, are so
friendly that I cannot complain.
1787] U^arren -Adams Letters 299
Indeed I have expected with much impatience the result of the
deliberations of your convention and as your letter contained this
result it gave me a very pleasing proof of your attention. You
pay me the compliment, Dear Madam, of asking for my observa-
tions on the plan of federal government proposed by the con-
vention to the considerations of the States. I will give them you
freely.
In the first place I must own to you that from some hints that
were flung out in our papers I feared that it would lead much more
to the principles of Monarchy and Aristocracy than I find in the
propositions indeed they are grownded on simple Democracy and
appear to me to be so well guarded that in the present situation of
the united States were they to be adopted they bid fair to stand
for ages without contracting any alloy that may affect their Tem-
perament and indeed Dear Madam if some system of power is not
established which may protect instead of ruining the liberties of
America and which may direct the jarring interests of the several
States to one great end of general good your contentions and dissa-
pointments must in the end bring on a government whose prin-
ciples will be as much at variance with the rights of men as are
the most of our European ones. In short, Dear Madam, it is my
opinion that were some plan of the kind now proposed by the
convention to be adopted and carried into execution and were
your people less fond of Commerce and European luxuries would
they attend to the cultivation of their Lands and employ their
industry in those manufactures which are necessary to the com-
forts of life and were strict prohibitions made against the consump-
tion of any forreign manufactures you would in a short time be the
happiest and the greatest people in the World.
The rumors of war on this part of the Globe are now over and
the free States of Holland subjected to the yoke my sentiments on
this subject are I dare say so similar to your own that I think I
need not trouble you with them.
The account you give me of Mrs. Russel fills me with concern
both for her own sake, her Husband's, her Father and Mother's,
and for what you, my Dear Madam, must suffer on the occasion
for the friendship you entertained for your Niece was I know of
300 JVarren -Adams Letters [1787
the tenderest kind, her constitution appeared to be always delicate
but her Sister whom I am sorry to hear is in the same hapless
condition had the air of robustness.
I have certainly brought my Daughter acquainted with you
Dear Madam and I think I sent you her kindest remembrance in
my last letter She is lately married to a Mr. Gregorie who is Capt.
of an East India Man the Match is very much to mine and the
rest of her friends' liking.^
You are so kind as to inquire after my present employment.
I am still writing Letters on education ^ When I have finished
this work I propose to resume my pen on a political subject which
I have in view and this I fancy will close my sublunary labors.
My Daughter, Dear Madam, returns you her particular compli-
ments and thanks for the sentiments you have entertained in her
favor Mr. Graham also joins me in respectful regards to yrself
Genrl. Warren and family, From Dear Madam Your affecte And
Obedt. Servt.
Cath : Macaulay Graham
Knights bridge, near London, Novhr., '87.
Postscript. If there is any defect in the plan proposed by the
Convention it is the want of a rotation of the presidents of Con-
gress coerced by law, for I still think this to be the only firm sup-
port of Freedom in every mode of its existence.
John Adams to Mercy Warren
London, Deer. 25, 1787
Madam, — The Sack of Rome,^ has so much Merit in itself
that for the honour of America, I should wish to see it acted on the
Stage in London before crouded Audiences. The Dedication of it
does so much honour to me, that I should be proud to see it in
1 Charles Gregory. The marriage took place June 7, at Marylebone Church. The
young lady was described as "daughter and heiress of the late Dr. George Macaulay, and
of the female Historian of England."
2 Later embodied in a volume, Letters on Education, with Observations on Religious
and Metaphysical Subjects.
3 It is included in her Poems, Dramatic and Miscellaneous, 1790.
1788] Ji^arren 'Adams Letters 301
print even if it could not be acted. I have shewn it, in discreet
confidence to several good Judges, but least their opinion might
not be satisfactory I procured it at last to be seriously read, by
several of the first tragical Writers in this nation, among whom
were the Author of the Grecian Daughter ^ and the Author of the
Carmelite.- They have noted their opinion in a Writing that is
inclosed. It requires almost as much interest and Intrigue to get
a Play Acted, as to be a Member of Parliament, and a printed
Play that has not been Acted will not sell. I have not been able to
find a Printer who would accept the Copy on Condition of print-
ing it.
In short nothing American sells here. Ramsay's History
Dwight and Barlow's Poems are not sold, nor, I fear will Dr.
Gordon's, notwithstanding the prescious Materials he must be
possessed of.
There is a universal desire and endeavour to forget America,
and an unanimous Resolution to read nothing which shall bring it
to their Thoughts. They cannot recollect it, without Pain.
Your Annals, or History, I hope you will continue, for there
are few Persons possessed of more Facts, or who can record them
in a more agreable manner. Yet let me not deceive you. America
must support the Publication of it. no other Country will con-
tribute much towards it.
In the Month of April, May or June, I hope to see my Friends
at Milton Hill, in the mean time I am. Madam, with great
Esteem, your most obedient and most humble Servant,
John Adams
Catherine Macaulay Graham to Mercy Warren
Dear Madam, — I am very sorry to be driven by the course of
events to awaken melanchoUy reflections in you rather than to
endeavor to amuse you with the Bagatelles of human life. Accept
however the simpathy of a friend for the great loss you have sus-
tained in the Death of your very worthy and aimable Niece Mrs.
I Arthur Murphy. 2 Richard Cumberland.
302 JVarren- Adams Letters [1788
Russel whose affections to you were I know stronger than is com-
monly existing in this dissipated country in the hearts of children
towards their parents.^
Tho' I have nothing to say that can any wise entertain you yet
I would not miss the opportunity of Mr. Adams's return to shew
you how much I value Dear Madam your correspondence.
I find by the accounts received from America that the plan of
Government recommended by the Convention has been accepted
already by the majority of the States, we are a little surprised
here to find that New England and Connecticut should be the
earliest in acceeding.
The Town of London has been much amused this Winter in the
pompous shew of Mr. Hasting's trial, facts are strong, and much
eloquence, has been displayed by the prosecutors; but most
people think that his party among the powerful, is strong enough
to preserve him from any other punishment than the mortifica-
tions attending the trial.
The political state of this Country is as usual; for we have
gained no virtue by the loss of America, and as the present low
condition of the finances of our Neighbors the French and the
important undertakings of Russia and Austria give these powers
no opportunity to disturb the peace of Europe we believe that our
present appearance of felicity will have no end.
Pray make Mr. Graham's and my best compliments to Mr.
Warren and all friends, particularly our compliments of condo-
lance to Mr. Russel, for the great misfortune he has sustained in
the loss of his excellent partner; [and] accept Dear Madam all
that is affectte. from Your Sincere Friend And Obednt. Servt.
Cath: Macaulay Graham
Mrs. Gregorie whose marriage I believe I acquainted you with
in my last begs to be remembered to you.
March, 1788. Binfield, near, Oakingham; Berkshire.
^ Sarah (Sever) Russell (1757-1787), wife of Thomas Russell.
1788] JVarren 'Adams Letters 303
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, 26 Aug.^ 1788
We have had contradictory accounts from N. CaroHna. The
last Week Russell announced in his paper the rejection of the
Constitution by a majority of 100 clear. He was so mortified that
he could not help mentioning it three or four times in his paper.
Now the story is that the Convention voted by that majority to
amend the Constitution, and then adjourned to a distant day,
and that they had not then heard of the accession of New York.
It is impossible to describe the anxiety of the victorious party in
this state upon hearing the first report. They immediately begun
to vilify that State as being originally peopled by outlaws and
convicts, who were driven from the more civilized parts of the
world into the wilds of Carolina, where they had formed a settle-
ment but little superior in morals to the infernal world. . . .
James Winthrop
Catherine Macaulay Graham to Mercy Warren
My Dear Madam, — I wish we were nearer together that we
might oftener have an opportunity of exchanging sentiments of
friendship as I flatter myself it would conduce to our mutual
happiness.
I find that the National Government proposed by the federal
convention is adopted by a majority of the States. To Europeans
who are used to the form the parade the expence and all the high
prerogatives of monarchy it must necessarily carry the appearance
of perfect freedom but you who are used to liberty in its most
pleasing Garb and who have so lately and so dearly purchased an
independance it must carry a contrary aspect nor do I wonder
that the american patriots should entertain apprehensions against
a system that appears to give a larger trust to that faithless ambi-
tious animal man but whether there may or may not be grounds
for fear and jealousy I think it shews more levity and more of
304 JVarren- Adams Letters [1788
party spirit than I hoped was in America to enter on any new
frame of Government by which trust must be reposed and may
be abused with such marks of festivity and joy.
I am much obliged to you for sending me the reasons of dissent
in Pensilvania and the pamphlet circulated in the Massachusets
the one is well drawn up and the other is written with spirit and
energy.
I assure you, Dear Madam, I pay a very anxious attention to
the concerns of America and were not my inclinations drawn that
way on determined principles my friendship for yourself and
family would engage me to interest myself in the welfare of any
country of which you were Citizens.
Mr. Adams I see by the papers has been long returned to his
native Country he is a very warm Federalist and by what I have
discerned of yours and Mr. Warren's politicall sentiments and
opinions you will not agree quite so well on public matters as you
did formerly.
I am exceedingly sorry that you have had so many occasions
to mourn the hopless hand of Death in your own family the tender-
ness of youth in female constitution has much to dread from the
rigor of your climate but it must be some very forcible and un-
lucky stroke of destiny which could carry of in the flower of his age
Mr. Lincoln who appeared a very stout and healthy young man.^
As your friendship inclines you to interest yourself in the con-
cerns of my family I have the pleasure to inform you that Mrs.
Gregorie has got a Daughter and that the Mother and the Child
are both well.
The Turks have made a stand against the German and Russian
forces which has surprized all Europe. I believe they owe the
present figure they make in arms to the restless ambition of the
french court which has carved out work enough to employ it for
some time at home, but I cannot leave this subject without pay-
ing a tribute of praise to the sensible and intrepid conduct of the
French who have disputed rights with a Sovereign backed with
above a hundred thousand military men.
I Mary, daughter of James and Ruth (Cunningham) Otis married Benjamin Lincoln
(1755-1788), son of General Benjamin Lincoln. The young man died January i8, 1788.
1789] IVarren -Adams Letters 305
Mr. Graham joins me in affectionate regards to your self Mr.
Warren and family and compliments to all friends who do us the
honor to remember us From Dear Madam with an high esteem
Your Sincere Friend And Servt
Cath: Macaulay Graham
BiNFiELD, near Bracknal, Berks., Octhr, 29, '88.
I have taken a small Villa in Berkshire about thirty miles from
London where I propose to reside chiefly being quite tired of the
absurdities of the Capital.
John Adams to Mercy Warren
Braintree, March 2, 1789
Dear Madam, — Your friendly Letter of the third and twenti-
eth of February, I did not receive till Saturday last. To your
Friend, who has now been returned from N. York these five Weeks,
I have delivered your inclosed Letter as desired. She will acknow-
ledge the Receipt of it, and transmit you the Compliments of her
fellow Travellers, our Correspondence has had a short Interrup-
tion, it is true, as all others in which I have had any concern have
been. I have indeed enjoyed a delightful Rest, tho my Mind has
been constantly employed with my private and domestic affairs,
which by a negligence of fifteen Years were in such disorder, as
would require several Years to rectify. The Period from the 17.
June, 1788, to this 2d of March, 1789, has been the Sweetest
Morsel of my Life, and I despair of ever tasting such another.
This delightful Retreat, humble as it is, I shall quit with great
regret. There never was and never will be found for me, an office
in public Life, that will furnish the Entertainment and Refresh-
ment of the Mountain the Meadow and the Stream.
According to private Accounts from the Southward there is a
Majority of Votes for me to be Vice President. But the People of
our united America find it much easier to institute Authority than
to yield Obedience. They have Smarted Severely under a total
oblivion of the two first Principles of Liberty and of Commerce,
3o6 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1789
that Laws are the fountain of Freedom and Punctuality the
Source of Credit. Yet there is still room to fear, that there is not
enough of the Spirit of Union to insure Obedience to the Laws nor
enough of Shame and Scorn of Evasion, to secure that Revenue on
which Punctuality will depend. The Resources of this Country
are abundantly Superiour to every Exigency and if they are not
applied, it must be owing to a Want of Knowledge or a Want of
Integrity. . . .
John Adams
Mercy Warren to Henry Knox Knox mss.
Plimouth, March 9th, 1789
I acknowledge a Letter has been long due to General Knox,
but as I only am the sufferer thereby no apology is necessary for
the neglect. Yet I think I could make a very hansome one consid-
ering the great events which have since taken place, events too
interesting to admit of silence and too Delicate for a Lady to
touch upon.
But as we now seem to have verged to the entrance of a perma-
nent and I hope peacefull Government, an object which has long
been the wish of every good man and woman in America, though
they may have varied in opinion relative to some particular points,
I feel less timidity than for some months past, even if I should
accidentally touch on the subject of politics. Yet in this letter I
mean to avoid them and, only after enquiries relative to the
Health of Mrs. Knox and Family, ask you to transmit the enclosed
to my friend Mrs. Montgomery, if she should happen to have left
the continent before this reaches N-York, sure [that] you will
excuse the freedom I feel no hesitancy in making the request. . . .
I think I should like to look into the Federal City once in the
course of my perigrinations, though not that I sigh for the splen-
dour of Courts, or the indulgence of curiosity that might be fed
with variety of observation on the dawn of infant empire and the
Regalia of Monarchy, but I have still those antiquated feelings
about me which seldom approaches the pallaces of kings. I love
1789] JVarren- Adams Letters 307
my old Friends, many of whom are collected at New York; I am
fond of the society of the truly worthy, and at the head of the
Respectable list I revere and esteem the illustrious Washington
and lady, of them both I have too high an opinion to suspect
they will ever forget their friends and correspondents at Plimouth
who most sincerely wish he may pass through his Elevated situa-
tion (till nature summons him to the Grave) with the same Eclat
that has accompanied his Name through a considerable part of
the habitable Globe. . . .
M. Warren
Henry Knox to Mercy Warren
New York, 29 March, 1789
Madam, — I had the pleasure last evening to receive your
favor of the 9th instant with its enclosure for Mrs. Montgomery.^
That Lady has not yet gone to Europe being at the Manor of
Livingston. The letter shall be delivered to some of her family
in this City.
I was very sorry when in Boston that my business was of such a
nature as prevented my visiting you and the general at Plymouth.
I hope on my next journey, I shall be more at liberty, to indulge
my respect and attachment for you and him.
I would the objects at this place were of sufficient attraction,
to induce you and the Genl. to an excursion. If the length of the
Journey by land should deter, the opportunities by Water by the
Way of Newport, are at once convenient, safe and pleasant.
The birth and principles of a government destined for so rising
and extensive an empire form a momentous crisis. The trains for
happiness or misery will be involved in its first measures. A
knowledge of human nature, and the existing circumstances of
the Country, with wisdom to apply them, will be eminently
required. Whether the necessary qualifications for a proper
administration, will be easily found, or have been brought forward
by the late elections, must be determined by experience.
I Janet, daughter of Robert -R. Livingston and widow of Richard Montgomery.
3o8 IVarren -Adams Letters [1789
But with your zeal for the happiness of your Country, and with
your beleif for the glory it may attain, it would be highly pleasing
for you to be an immediate spectator of the various agitations
and projects at the off-set. Such an uncommon event in the an-
nals of human nature would be a proper object for the exercise of
the mind and pen of a Philosophic historian.
The roads have been so bad to the southward, that the number
of members necessary to form the two houses, have not yet
arrived. But about the first of april they will be completed, only
two representatives, and one senator being deficient.
The government will not however be fully organized by the
arrival of the President and vice President untill about the first
of May.
With respects to Genl. Warren I am Madam your sincere and
Most Obedient humble Servant
H. Knox
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plimouth, April 2d, 1789
Sir, — You are too well acquainted with the history of the
world and the distresses of mankind to expect to stand on the
eminence of rank, fortune, and influence, without solicitations
from various quarters.
Where you feel a friendship it will always be a sufficient stimu-
lus for the exertion of every kind office without importunity, and
when applyed to by strangers in distress your benevolence, I trust,
will excite due attention.
This is all the apology I shall make for enclosing a letter from
a lady whose history you may have been acquainted with until
the period when Col. Walker, like many other good men who
suffered in the public cause, was neglected by that public and
obliged to retire to an obscure corner, there silently to endure
penury and slight : which from a state of affluence and independ-
ence is trying enough to the feelings of the human heart, without
1789] JVarren 'Adams Letters 309
the extremes of want and the insolence of more fortunate adven-
turers in life, who once thought themselves honoured hy the
notice of persons now in peculiar distress.
Col. Walker has been dead three or four months. You will see
by her letter the situation of his wife. If you think it consistent
with justice, doubtless you will attend to her application when it
comes in your way. She Is a Friendless Widow, a sensible well bred
woman, once possessed of Fortune and consequently courted and
respected by the World. And all the alleviation that I know of
in her present reversed situation is that she has no children for
whom her heart might be daily wrung, and that the suffering of
her Husband and herself were in consequence of principles that
urged them to risque everything to obtain liberty, independence
and happiness to others. Many a similar victim to public Virtue
we have and shall see on a survey of the convulsions and Revolu-
tions of our own day.
I thank you, sir, for a letter received by my son, a son who has
suffered too severely from the malice of his Contemporaries; but
perhaps not so much from any impropriety in his own Conduct,
as from the determined system of political enmity that has ran-
sacked the lower Regions for calumnies to ruin his Father — your
Friend — and a man you know, or ought to know, has never de-
viated from the line of probity in public or in private life: not-
withstanding the efforts to destroy his influence in the public
walks, and to cut him off from the pleasures of private Friendship
by the basest and most Groundless insinuations.
I most sincerely wish you every Happiness in the elevated situa-
tion you are about to occupy, nor do I think there is much danger
of the difficulties you mention. I cannot, sir, entirely agree with
you in the observation that the people of America will be remark-
ably averse to yield obedience to the authority they have insti-
tuted. I am persuaded the new Government will operate very
quietly unless the reins are held too taught, which may Gall
some restive spirits for a while; but mankind are much more prone
to servile compliance to the will of power than to a sober and
Rational attention to that Freedom and independence which is
the just claim of nature, and is by no means incompatible with
3IO IVarren 'Adams Letters [1789
the necessary subordination which must subsist to maintain a
just and regular Government.
You will make my best regards to Mrs. Adams and to your
Children, and believe me, with the highest esteem and respect,
your assured friend and Humble servant.
M. Warren
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plimouth, May 7, 1789
Sir, — Presuming on the Confidential and unremitting friend-
ship that has long subsisted between us, grounded on the close
connection commenced with Mr. Warren in the early part of your
life, I again address you without waiting an answer to my last
which, according to your usual politeness and punctuality, I
doubt not will be noticed as soon as the particular engagements
that have lately occupied your attention, the etiquette of the
entree public and the consequent ceremonies, are a little over.
I do not mean to flatter the most virtuous and the most ele-
vated Characters, but I must assure you, sir, I have too high an
opinion of yours, to imagine it will ever suffer a diminution in my
mind from any failure in friendship which I always thought
formed on the purest principles, strengthened by mutual confi-
dence and exertion in every patriotic measure, and Increased by a
thousand circumstances of fiery tryal through the arduous struggle
for the liberties of America.
You, my Dear sir, have successfully surmounted all: you have
baffled the intrigues of your foes: have reached the acme of
applause, and are placed In a situation to do eminent service to
your country, to establish your family and to assist most essen-
tially your friends. Gen. Warren has unfortunately been the butt
of party maHce, headed by a man (I know you very justly and
heartily despise), who by his machinations has destroyed his
public influence and aided by some others for very obvious de-
signs have most injuriously traduced his character, and wish to
ruin his Family; But Mr. Adams is the last man in the united
1789] TVarren -Adams Letters 311
states, who I should suppose would listen to the misrepresenta-
tions, or be impressed by the calumnies of open or disguised Ene-
mies to the prejudice of an old and a tryed Friend — a friend
whose zeal and exertions in the public cause you are acquainted
with and whose integrity you never could suspect. Perhaps no
other person has for so many years possessed so great a share
of his esteem and confidence as yourself: of consequence, it must
be supposed that you know his undisguised temper and senti-
ments much better than any one of the several descriptions of men
who have stuck at no falsehoods or even fosgeries to prostrate his
political Character.
You, sir, will be sensible on a short recollection whence these
Reflections have arisen. I yet consider the free and explicit man-
ner of some late conversations as a mark of your sincerity and
friendship; and though none of my Family are soliciting, at least
I am persuaded you will not forget them at a time when you have
it so much in your power to oblige without injustice to yourself,
your Family, or your Country: but, on the contrary, may indulge
the feehngs of a Friend and the Patriot by an attention to the
interest of a Gentleman who has an equal claim from his Country
with any man that is of a uniform attachment thereto, and an
indefatigable industry to support its welfare joined with the
strictest probity can justify that claim
But the vindictive spirit of his enemies, not sufficiently Grati-
fied by their too successful Efforts against him, have endeavoured
to wound in a still more tender part by levelling their envenomed
shafts at the reputation of a son. was there a propriety in calling
your attention at this time to private objects, I could give you a
curious detail of fact, relative to this matter. Yet I do not think
it by any means necessary in order to secure your patronage.
I am sure of it whenever an opportunity offers to serve any one
of a family personally attached from infancy to you and yours.
This is a very free letter; but when I have been used to write
and converse with the simplicity of truth and the unreserve of
confidential Esteem, neither rank nor station, nor distance or
time, will check the disposition to "throw open the Volume of the
soul." Especially when candor has heretofore beheld its contents
312 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1789
with the most favorable eye. I shall only lock myself up In
reserve when convinced there is no stability in human Friendships
by Mr. Adams' forgetfulness of, or indifference toward, such an
invariable Friend as I know he has from his first entrance on life
possessed in Mr, Warren. But though ill treated, maligned and
persecuted in a most unjust and singular manner, he yet bears
and has borne the unprovoked abuse with the Dignity of con-
scious rectitude and that Philippic calmness which is never the
companion of insurgency^ Anarchy or Fraud. I always have
thought those Ideas when applied to a person of his established
and uniform character were too ridiculous to require a serious
refutation; till by a strange combination of parties (invidious to
each other, and who have only united when it would aid the de-
pression of a man of too much independence of mind to subserve
their designs) they have in some instances been so successful as
to injure him in the opinion of some he highly esteems.
But time will make curious disclosures, when you, sir, may be
astonished to find the incendiaries who fomented the discontents
among the ignorant and miserable insurgents of the Massachu-
setts in a class least suspected by the world; by persons who to
screen their own Guilt fabricated and secretly caused the vague
and malignant rumour to light on one of the most cherished
friends to the Constitution and to his Country; a gentleman
whose services have been distinguished; whose patriotism has
been unshaken and his Virtue incorruptible; whose fortune has
been impaired and whose Family have personally suffered in the
public cause. Yet neither himself nor any one of a family of young
Gentlemen of promising expectations have sustained any office
of honour or emolument since the commencement of the Consti-
tution of Massachusetts.
I only mention these things from a sense of justice, from that
justice which I would wish to exercise toward any one, however
disconnected, were I equally sure of their merit and their mal-
treatment.
You, sir, will excuse my detaining you thus long when I tell you
the sensibility of my feeling heart has been awakened on many
trying occasions; nor is it totally an uninteresting subject to
1789] TVarren -Adams Letters 313
yourself. For so fluctuating is the popular voice, and so replete
with vicissitude are all human afi"airs, that those whose command-
ing good fortune augurs no change for the worse may yet con-
template in a more solemn hour the injustice, the ingratitude and
abuse experienced by themselves, which has been felt before by
some of their Friends.
I will swell this long Epistle with only one truth more, which I
dare say I may ever subjoin to my correspondence with you, that
I am, respected sir, with great esteem your sincere well-wisher,
assured Friend and very Humble servant
M. Warren
John Adams to Mercy Warren Adams mss.
Nev^^ York, May 29th, 1789
Madam, — A little before my departure from Braintree I
received your favor inclosing a letter from Mrs. Walker. Last
night I received that of the 7th May. There was no necessity
of any apology for writing to me after so long a correspondence.
There has never been on my part any failure of friendship to Mr.
Warren or yourself. You are very much mistaken in your opinion
of my situation. I have neither reached the acme of applause nor
am I in a situation to establish my Family or assist my Friends.
I am and have been extremely mortified from my first arrival in
America to hear from all quarters the unpopularity of my Friend
Warren and his family, whom I was formerly accustomed to hear
spoken of with affection and respect by all. It is not my fault to
have listened to the uninterrupted Ebulitions of the public wrath.
For I must have been wholly out of society not to have heard
them, and they hurt my heart most too intimately not to make
a deep impression. No doubt there have been many and great
exaggerations and misrepresentations. But one thing is indubit-
able, that G[eneral] Warren did differ for a time from all his
Friends and did countenance measures that appear to me, as they
did to those Friends, extremely pernicious.
You are pleased to say, Madam, that you are sure of our Patron-
314 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1789
age for certain purposes. In the first place, I have no patronage;
in the next, neither your children nor my own would be sure of it
If I had It. Beyond my own clear conviction of the public good I
should belie the whole course of my public and private conduct and
all the maxims of my life, if I should ever consider public author-
ity entrusted to me to be made subservient to my private views,
or those of my Family or Friends. The friendship between Gen-
eral Warren and me began and has continued on different prin-
ciples.
No man knows better than I do that time will make curious
disclosures. I should not be astonished to find Incendiaries who
fomented the discontents among the Insurgents of Massachusetts
in a class the least suspected by the world. From my earliest
youth I have been perfectly aware that the popular voice Is
fluctuating and that human affairs are full of vicissitudes. I have
long contemplated in many very solemn hours the Injustice,
Ingratitude, and Abuse experienced by myself, and it would be
no surprise to me If my latter end should be as melancholy an
Instance of popular mutability as the annals of anarchy ever
exhibited to the World. If this should happen to me or to others.
It will wholly be owing to the Ignorance of the great leaders in the
Revolution of the nature of Government and their obstinacy in
refusing to learn It. But enough and too much of this.
You have not Informed me. Madam, what particular View you
have for Mr. Warren or your sons. The Candidates are very
numerous and equally Importunate. I must say to you as to
every one else, I am not the Person to apply to. The Constitu-
tion has wisely made the President the Judge in the first instance
of the pretensions of all. Every application must be made to him
and it ought to be made In writing. With my sincere respects to
Mr. Warren I am. Madam, your Friend and humble Servant
J. Adams
1789] JVarren- Adams Letters 315
Mercy Warren to Henry Knox Knox mss.
Plimouth, June i8, 1789
Sir, — Though not used to make applications for office, I feel
such a Confidence in your friendship as justifys my nameing to
you at his request Major Henry Warren, who wishes (and perhaps
no one is better intitled to expect it) the appointment of Collector
of Customs for the port of Plimouth and Duxborough.
You, sir, are acquainted with mr. Winslow Warren, who thinks
you will not forget him in the arrangement of the military depart-
ment, but I believe you may not recollect the young Gentleman
named above. General Lincoln is undoubtedly his friend. He was
his first aid de camp in the successful expedition against the insur-
gents of the western counties, he will name him to the President,
but knowing your intimacy and influence with him and your
Friendship for their parents, my sons are led to suppose that
your recommendation alone is sufficient.
I know not the regular mode of application for favours of this
kind, but judge that an address for much greater matters than
this might be made with success to the confidential Friend of
General Washington, and I am mistaken Indeed if your Influence
should ever be withheld when you have it in your power to serve
any one of my Family.^
Though I have not before acknowledged your favour of March
29 I now thank you, sir, for your care of the inclosures, for the
polite return, and for your invitation to make an excurssion to
N. York. You judge right when you observe " that my zeal for the
happiness of my Country and my belief in the Glory she may
attain, were sufficient to induce me to wish to be an immediate
spectator of the various agitations and projects of the off-set."
when the wheels of a new Government destined for so rising and
extensive an empire were set in motion.
It would have given me peculiar pleasure to have seen the
entra public of the president and the just tribute of honour and
I William Watson was appointed Collector for the port of Plymouth in August, 1789,
and continued in office until he was removed under President Jefferson and Henry Warren
named in his place, November, 1803. Winslow Warren was commissioned a lieutenant in
the Second Regiment, March, 1 791.
3i6 TVarren- Adams Letters [1789
Gratitude the united voice pays to real merit conspicuously
marked with modesty and Dignity in our much revered Chief
magistrate. But I can contemplate, perhaps with equal pleasure,
beneath my own private roof the felicity this people may enjoy
under the administration of a Man made by Heaven to Conduct
War and revolution with Glory to his Country: to sit down in
peace with Honour and eclat to himself: and peculiarly blessed
with the happy tallent of uniting the affections of mankind, we
now behold him to the pride and admiration of the present and
doubtless to the Wonder of future Generations, at the head of our
civil police with the hearts of all parties in his hand and the
blessings of the whole Continent on his head. Heaven grant that
he may be continued to Govern the united states in the untryed
path of infant empire and untrodden systems with the same just
and universal applause He acquired in the field when Gloriously
leading the armies of America to Victory, Freedom and inde-
pendence. . . .
M. Warren
Henry Knox to Mercy Warren Knox mss.
New York, 9 July, 1789
Madam, — Two posts past I had the pleasure to receive the
favor of your letter dated the i8th of June.
You judge truly, Madam, in thinking I should derive satisfac-
tion in serving any of your family. All, however, that I do at
present is to advise the mode of proceeding most likely to effect
the object desired.
As the president has the nomination to all offices, all applica-
tions should be made to him in writing. It will, therefore, be
necessary that Major H. Warren should immediately write to the
President stating this request. It would be proper that his letter
be accompanied by vouchers of his character and fitness for the
office. Genl. Lincoln and Mr. Bowdoin would be good signers to
this paper. Were the merchants and principal people also of
Plymouth and Duxborough to sign another declaration of their
1790] JVarren- Adams Letters 317
desire of his filling the oflice, it would be a still firmer support to
his request.
As the president is decided to make his nominations on the
highest principles of impartiality, those who can produce to him
the best evidence of their qualifications for the offices for which
they are candidates, and also of their being acceptable to the
community, will undoubtedly receive his support.
As the military establishment will not probably be augmented,
at present no new appointments can take place.
If an augmentation should be made, and I should be so cir-
cumstanced as to be able to advance the views of Mr. W. Warren,
I shall eagerly embrace the opportunity.
The machine of government has required a considerable length
of time to put it into motion, but it is ardently to be desired it
may answer the public expectation.
The President has been quite sick, but Is now on the recovery,
although his disease will require time before it is subdued.
The minds of Mrs. Knox and myself have been severely exer-
cised between hope and fear for some Days past, respecting the
life of one of our children who has been at the point of death.
We hope the crisis Is past and that it is the will of the supreme
principle of life to bless it with a longer continuance on this
globe.
Please to present me sincerely to the General. I am. Madam,
most respectfully your most Obedient Serv.,
H. Knox
Benjamin Lincoln to Mercy Warren
Boston, March 25, 1790
Madam, — Your favour of the 22 ulto. has been received.
I am pleased with the information that you are attempting the
history of the late important transaction of this country which led
to its seperation from Great Britain. It must be considered as a
fortunate circumstance indeed when there unites in the historian
the means of the best information, the power of perfectly pre-
3i8 W^arren 'Adams Letters [1790
serving the materials, an ability pleasingly to arrange them and a
disposition to undertake the laborous task.
Permit me, Madam, to assure you that there is nothing In my
power which I will not undertake to facilitate the execution of
your laudable design. My public papers are at your command.
As it will be a work of time to examine them all, I will aid in the
business if you will please to point me to any particular transac-
tion on which you wish information. I have the honour of being,
Madam, with Sentiments of real esteem your friend and servant,
B. Lincoln
George Washington to Mercy Warren
New York, June 4th, 1790
Madam, — I did not receive before the last Mail the letter
wherein you favored me with a copy of the Dedication, which you
propose affixing to a Work preparing for publication.^ Although
I have ever wished to avoid being drawn into public view more
than was essentially necessary for public purposes; yet, on the
present occasion, duly sensible of the Merits of the respectable
and amiable writer, I shall not hesitate to accept the intended
honor.
With only leisure to thank you for your Indulgent sentiments,
and to wish that your Work may meet with the encouragement
which I have no doubt it deserves; I hasten to present the Com-
pliments of Mrs. Washington, and to subscribe myself, with great
esteem and regard, Madam, Your Most Obedient and Very
Humble Servt.
Go. Washington
I Poems, Dramatic and Miscellaneous. By Mrs. M. Warren. Printed by Thomas and
Andrews at Boston in 1790. The Dedication to Washington is dated March 20, 1790. See
letter from Washington, November 4, 1790, infra. Mrs. Warren's letter offering the Dedi-
cation, May I, 1790, is printed in Correspondence of the Revolution, Letters to Washington,
IV. 326.
1790] TV arren- Adams Letters 319
Martha Washington to Mercy Warren
New York, June the 12, 1790
My dear Madam, — I ought to apologise for the interval that
has passed between the receipt and acknowledgment of your
obliging letter written in March last; but I hardly know what
apology will be sufficient to excuse the apparent, though uninten-
tional neglect. I believe the truth is always the best ground for an
apology on such occasions. Though I may not have a great deal
of business of consequence to do; yet I have a great many avoca-
tions of one kind or another which imperceptibly consumes my
time, and I know not wheather one's reluctance to writing much,
does not increase with one's years. The sevear illness with which
the President was attacked some weeks agoe, absorbed every
other consideration, in my care and anxiety for him. These
reasons, I trust, will have their due weight in your candid mind.
During the President's sickness, the kindness which everybody
manifested, and the interest which was universally taken in his
fate, were really very affecting to me. He seemed less concerned
himself as to the event, than perhaps almost any other person in
ye United states. Happily he is now perfectly recovered, and I am
restored to my ordinary state of tranquility, and usually good
flow of spirits. For my part, I contrive to be as happy hear as I
could be at any place except Mount Vernon. In truth I should be
very ungreatfuU if I did not acknowledge that every thing has
been done, which politeness, hospitality or friendship could sug-
gest, to make my situation as satisfactory and agreeable as
possible. My grand children have likewise good oppertunities for
acquiring an useful and accomplished education. In their happi-
ness, my own Is, in a great measure, "involved. But for the ties
of affection which attract me so strongly to my near connection
and worthy friends, I should feel myself indeed much weaned
from all enjoyments of this transitory life.
If congress should have recess this summer (as it is expected
will be the case) I hope to go home to Mount Vernon for a few
months; and from that expectation I already derive much com-
fort. Especially as, I believe, the exercise, relaxation and amuse-
3 20 TVarren- Adams Letters [1790
ment to be expected from such a journey, will tend very much to
confirm the President's health. This is also the opinion of all his
Physicians.
In passing down the vale of time, and in journeying through
such a mutable world as that in which we are placed, we must
expect to meet with a great and continual mixture of afflictions
and blessings. This is a mingled cup which an over ruling provi-
dence undoubtedly dispences to us for the wisest and best of pur-
poses. And as you justly observe, shall we short-sighted mortals
dare to arraign the decrees of eternal wisdom.
That you and yours may always be under the kind protection
and guardianship of that providence is the sincere wish of, dear
Madam, your affectionate friend and humble Servant
M. Washington
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, 13 /w/y, 1790
Madam, — Your very polite letter of 25 May I have been
honored with. It was left at my lodgings while I was upon a
journey. The flattering attention which you shewed toward an
old friend, would have been sufficient of itself, to have engaged
me in forwarding the work proposed in the advertisement which
you inclosed. But before the receit of it I was already engaged,
and if a Gentleman of the University had supported it as readily
as he promised, we should have had more subscribers in that
society. As it is, finding your work in the press, I have returned
the paper to the printer with several names in the civil line
affixed to it, and some of them I hope you will not be displeased
to see.
Your compliments of condolance were very interesting to us all.
Madam Winthrop's ^ death we did not generally expect, and for a
considerable time did not see the need of it. Her own opinion
from the beginning was, that it was her last illness. But You
I Hannah, daughter of Thomas Fayerweather. She had for a first husband Farr
Tolman, and married Professor Winthrop in 1756. Professor Winthrop died May 3, 1779.
i79o] W^arren- Adams Letters 321
know every circumstance, the same chamber, the same bed, every
object the same, the age of the patient, and the time of the year
being the same as took place with respect to Dr. Winthrop at his
death, were all fitted for impressing his widow with the idea of
following her husband to his long home. She frequently spoke
familiarly of her death, but those around her could [not] join in the
conversation. The idea was too painful.
The mansion house is settled upon me. When I shall get into
it I do not know. I have lived pretty much by accident till I
have turned thirty-eight. It is not I believe the want of that
sensibility which induces partial attachments, that has prevented
me from a regular manner of life; but it has been the want of funds.
Governor Hancock's disorder tho' not severe seems to be fixed.
In the strife of parties it is difficult to know what to believe. I am
Madam, with much respect to You and General Warren Your
most obedt Servant,
James Winthrop
I forgot to mention Major Warren's visit. I got home to dine
that day, but did not know of his being in this town till the next
morning. My respects to him and his brothers. When is he to do
better than I have done.^ It will take some weeks to abate the
gloominess of ideas with regard to the house where my Parents
resided; but I hope soon to have the pleasure of waiting on
General Warren and Lady there, and their sons as often as they
come into this town.
Benjamin Lincoln to Mercy Warren
Boston, Sepr. 21, 1790
Dear Madam, — This will be given you by my young friend
your amiable Son H[enr]y. He returns to you not because he is
materially worse than when he left Plymouth but because Doer.
Dexter, his Physician, friend, and councillor thinks the business in
the office is of such a nature as will endanger the loss of his little
remaining health if he pursues it. It is with real regret that I part
322 W^arren- Adams Letters [1790
with him I want him as a clerk but I want him more as a com-
panion, for I can obtain ten Clerks where I can find one young
Gentleman whose mind like his is furnished with useful knowledge
and whose disposition is so well calculated to promote the happi-
ness of all connected with him Nothing but a knowledge that our
seperation will promote his interest could make the measure
tolerable to me My best wishes will always attend him and no-
thing will make me more happy than having an opportunity
really to serve him saving that information by which I should be
convinced that his situation in life was so perfectly eligible as to
make him independent of any aid from mortals about him.
He will deliver you a copy of my private letter to General
Washington there is nothing in it which should recommend it to
any saving to the faithful historian whose chief enquiry is for a
state of facts. It is a short narrative of an important transaction,
the mgst so to me of any one in which I held a part.
Some have thought that the seige should not have been under-
taken with so small an allowance of provisions and that I ought
not to have retained so large a proportion of officers. Respecting
the first I have, I think, explained in the said letter. I detained a
larger number of officers than I otherwise should have detained
but for the assurance that a very large reinforcement of militia
would be sent in to my aid. Had they arrived the experienced
officers would have rendered the most important services I was
buoyed up from a hope that I should receive the reinforcement
untill it was too late to send out the officers. Had they been sent
out when the seige first commenced it would have been of the
worst consequences not only to the garrison but to the Citizens at
large my apprehensions could not have been concealed. However
an officer may feel his feelings should be to himself. If you shall
wish for a farther state of facts pray point them to him who has
the honor of being with esteem and friendship yours sincerely
B. Lincoln
i79o] JVarren -Adams Letters 323
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plimouth, Sept. 24, 1790
Sir, — Though the vice-president of the United States and his
lady may have forgotten Mrs. Warren, yet her former friend, Mr.
Adams, will accept a small volume from the hand of their sincere
and very Humble servant
M. Warren
Mercy Warren to Henry Knox Knox mss.
Plimouth, Sept. 24, 1790
Sir, — Though some of my late letters have been received by
the minister at War with a silence which perhaps ought to forbid
further interruption, yet as I will not suppose it a designed neg-
lect, I ask my friend. General Knox, to accept a small volume
lately offered the public by His most Obedient Humble servant,
M. Warren
George Washington to Mercy Warren
Mount Vernon, Novr. 4th, 1790
Madam, — My engagements since the receipt of your letter of
the 1 2th of Septr., with which I was honored two days ago, have
prevented an attentive perusal of the Book ^ that accompanied it;
but, from the reputation of its Author, from the parts I have read,
and from a general idea of the pieces, I am persuaded of its gracious
and distinguished reception by the friends of virtue and science.
I desire to assure you of the gratitude with which your Flatter-
ing expressions of regard impress me, and of the respectful con-
sideration, with which I have the honor to be. Madam, Your Most
Obedt. and Most Hble. Ser.
Go. Washington
I Poems, Dramatic and Miscellaneous . Boston, 1790. See letter of Washington, June
4, 1790, supra.
324 TVarren 'Adams Letters [1790
John Adams to Mercy Warren
Philadelphia, Deer. 26, 1790
Madam, — Yesterday I had the Pleasure of receiving your
favour of September the twenty fourth, with an elegant Copy of
your Poems dramatic and miscellaneous; for both which I pray
you to accept my best Thanks. It is but a few days since We
received three other Copies addressed to me, but without a Letter
or any other indication from whom or whence they came. As We
were subscribers for the Publication, these might come from some
Bookseller who in due time, will produce his Account which We
shall be ready with pleasure to discharge. If they came from you.
Madam, We are so much the more obliged and thankful to you:
and shall hereafter receive from a Bookseller those for which
We subscribed. All will not be too many, and We shall know very
well how to dispose of them with Pleasure and Advantage.
The Poems are not all of them new to me, by whom some of
them have been read and esteemed some years ago. However
foolishly some European Writers may have sported with American
Reputation for Genius, Literature and Science: I know not where
they will find a female Poet of their own to prefer to the ingenious
Author of these Compositions.
I am ignorant, Madam, of any foundation you may have for the
Distinction you make between The Vice President and Mr.
Adams, or for an insinuation that either may have forgotten Mrs.
Warren since Mrs. Warren is certainly indebted to The Vice
President and Mr. Adams in Partnership for the last Letter.
Be pleased. Madam, to present my respectful Regards to
General Warren and all Friends. With great Esteem I have the
Honour to be. Madam your most obedient and most humble
Servant,
John Adams
i79i] TVarren- Adams Letters 325
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plimouth, Jan. 14th, 1791
Sir, — An unsealed letter from you came to my hand this day.
for the letter I thank you, as it contained expressions of regard
and esteem which I have been used to receive from your pen.
for the manner I own myself at a loss.
Does not an unsealed letter from you, sir, appear like a diminu-
tion of that confidential intercourse that long subsisted and con-
veyed warm from the heart the strong expressions of friendship
in many a close sealed packet.
Was you, sir, apprehensive that your own reputation might
suffer by an attention to any one of a family you '"''had been used to
hear spoken off with respect and affection hy all,^^ unless the public
first inspected the correspondence. Yet perhaps you might mean
to do me honour by letting the world see your polite encomium
on a late publication.
Indeed I feel myself flattered by the Compliment and yet more
by its being in the stile of my old friend.
I acknowledge I stand indebted to the vice president for one
letter before his of the 26 December.
But you must permit me to say some expressions in that letter
appeared so irreconcilable with former sentiment that I was
impaled much against my inclination to consider it as forbiding
any further interruption.
Delicate friendship, conscious of its own disinterested attach-
ment, is easily wounded. I might, perhaps, feel too sensibly some
former impressions that may hereafter be explained, but I can
never tax myself with a voluntary neglect of punctuallity or the
want of attention in any other instance towards a friend I thought
unimpressable by the Ebullitions of party or political malice.^
I In a brief note of February 14, Mr. Adams stated that the unsealed letter was unin-
tentional and due to carelessness on the part of the secretary. He prepared a letter of the
same date which was not sent. It opened with an explanation of the absence of sealing
and continued: "Neither 'the ebullitions of party nor political malice' have made any
impressions on me. The expressions you allude to were the result of very sober reflection
upon facts proved to me by the testimony of many witnesses of unquestionable veracity,
among whom were not a few of the best friends General Warren ever had in his life. A
civil war, Madam, is in my opinion a very serious thing. This Country has once at least
326 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1791
A copy of the work you informed me you had just received I
forwarded immediately on publication. I know not what should
thus long have retarded its passage. Nor can I inform you, sir,
from whom you received three other volumes. But could I have
supposed, as you obligingly intimate, that you could have dis-
posed of so many with -pleasure and advantage they should have
been much at your service from the hand of the author.
Mr. Warren returns both friendly and respectful regards.
You will present me also to Mrs. Adams. I am, Respected sir,
with sincere esteem your most Obedient and Humble servant
M. Warren
Alexander Hamilton to Mercy Warren
Philadelphia, July i, 1791
Madam, — In making you, thus late, my acknowledgements for
the honor you did me, by presenting me with a volume of your
poems, I dare not attempt an apology for the delay. I can only
throw myself upon your clemency for a pardon.
I have not however been equally delinquent towards the work
itself, which I have read, more than once, with great interest. It
is certain that in the Ladies of Castille,^ the sex will find a new
occasion of triumph. Not being a poet myself, I am in the less
danger of feeling mortification at the idea, that in the career of
dramatic composition at least, female genius in the United States has
outstripped the Male. With great consideration and esteem I have
the honor to be. Madam, Your most obedt and humble Servant,
A. Hamilton
been within a hair's breadth of a very bloody one, nor is it likely to be soon so secure against
the probability of another as I wish it. There is more than one among those persons whom
twenty years ago I counted among my friends who are not so explicit and decided as I
presume to think they ought to be in favor of those principles and measures which appear
to me indispensable to preserve the liberty, peace and safety of this people. As .long as
this indecision remains, it is impossible there should be the same confidence between them
and me which there was once. The affection for them which I once had will never be
forgotten, nor can it ever be destroyed; but confidence can never be the same without the
same foundation for it." — Adams mss.
I A tragedy in five acts, written in 1783-1784, at the request of a "young gentleman
in Europe" — her son, Winslow.
1792] JVarren- Adams Letters 327
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, 3 Aug.^ 1791
Madam, — I send the two first Volumes of Gibbons' continua-
tion, the whole work not being at home. You will see that all the
answers which the first part produced have not tamed him on the
subject of Christianity. Besides some gross allusions he takes
every opportunity to exalt the character of the heathen or
mahometan princes who discovered any appearance of virtue;
not considering that under our system every man almost has more
virtue than the saints of the infidels, if such an expression is not
an absurdity.
I have several times since my return mentioned in company
Mrs. Macaulay's answer to Burke,^ but cannot find that any
copies of it are abroad, except yours. This I a little wonder at,
considering the eminence of the writer and the value of the work.
For clear, comprehensive reasoning I think it a capital perform-
ance, tho' it has not Paine's zeal. I have read Burke but it
is a dreadful heavy work. He spends his whole force in proving
the inefficiency of experiments in France that have succeeded in
America. It is true that in both countries the establishments are
new, and require vigilance to guard them against the attempts of
those who are still attached to hereditary distinctions. But every
day will add strength to systems that are right, while errors will
gradually wear out. . . .
James Winthrop
Henry Knox to Mercy Warren
Philadelphia, 12 Jany., 1792
Madam, — Although I duly received your favor of the 12th
of last month, yet my anxiety for your grief has prevented until
now my writing to you.
In such a case it is only for a parent to feel a parent's woe.^
1 It was published, anonymously, in 1790, being in the form of a letter addressed to
t he Earl of Stanhope.
2 Her son George Warren died in Maine.
328 JVarren -Adams Letters [1796
Although consolations might be offered to alleviate your afflictions,
yet it is fairly presumed that minds elevated and improved as
yours and that of General Warren's, have on so dreadful an
occasion had recourse to the proper and only sources of comfort.
Great father of spirits, how severe the Agony of a tender parent
on such a loss! I cannot dwell on the theme!
Permit me only to add, my ardent prayer, that your farther
continuance here, may as much as possible be an anticipation of
the happiness destined hereafter to reward the good.
I am madam with sentiments of entire cordiality and respect
Your and General Warren's sincere friend and very humble
Servant,
H. Knox
Mrs. Judith Sargent Murray to Mercy Warren
Boston, Franklin Place, March 4th, 1796
Respected Madam, — Although I cannot boast the honor of a
personal acquaintance with you, yet having repeatedly perused,
with highly zested pleasure, the volume with which you have
obliged the world, I trace in that invaluable publication, amid the
brilliant manifestations of Genius so conspicuously displayed
therein, unequivocal demonstration of a mind fraught with a
sufficient degree of candour, and benevolence, to embolden a more
humble Adventurer in the Career of fame, to solicit your sanction
to an attempt, originating in an ardent solicitude to please, and
cherished, and matured, by the emulative glow, so frequently
enkindled by great examples. When the Virtues are combined
with talents, admiration is then the growth of Reason, and justice
delighteth to entwine for the brow of merit, thus established, her
ever blooming chaplets. Yes, honored Lady, It is most true " To
lead the envied way is thine^ But, tracing thy splendid footsteps,
the daughters of Columbia become ambitious of some reflected
ray, by which to point the lengthening view, with such wide
expansion out spread before them; and the literary Votaress,
aspiring to distinction, will ambitiously seek to authorize her pre-
1796] IVarren 'Adams Letters 329
tensions by the Celebrious name of Warren. It is hence, Madam,
that the inclosed proposals meet your eye, and if you will con-
descend to propitiate the wishes of the Gleaner, by your own
signature, and that of any of your numerous friends, you will, in
the course of the Essays, contained In the work, be furnished with
a reason for my assuming the masculine character, and you will
confer a very high obligation on one, who has wept over your mis-
fortunes, who has been improved, and charmed by your ''''Fame
emhelished lays,^^ who entertains a fervent wish for your continued,
and augmenting celebrity, and who has the honor to be, with
great respect, and high esteem Madam, your most obedient
humble servant,
J. Sargent Murray^
Jabez Bowen to Mercy Warren
Providence, April 20th, 1796
Dear Madam, — Your favour of the 21st of March came duly
to hand, and tho' we have not keept up that correspondence which
arose from an Acquaintance formed when the whole Soule was
Engaged for the saving of our Country from the Yorke of Oppres-
sion, Yet we on our parts have omitted no oppertunity that pre-
sented, to enquire after the Welfare of you and Yours.
The verry heavy Afflictions that has befallen our Families,
particularly in the Removing our First Born, our Eldest Son,^
one would naturally suppose should tend to draw the Cords of
Friendship more close: may we make such Improvements from
these dispensations, as shall enable us more and more to Honour
our great Benefactor let our circumstances in Life be as they may.
You enquire after the Health of our Aged Parents ^ I have the
1 Mrs. Judith (Sargent Stevens) Murray, daughter of Winthrop Sargent, printed in
the Massachusetts Magazine essays gathered in three volumes in 1798 as The Gleaner, by
Constantia and also "Poetical Essays" over the signature Honora Martesia in the Boston
Weekly Magazine. A "new series" of The Gleaner appeared in London in 1845. She died
at Natchez, Mississippi, June 6, 1820, aged sixty-nine years. Her second husband was Rev.
John Murray (1741-1815), said to be the first preacher of universal salvation in America.
2 Obadiah Bowen (1763-1793), being lost in the shipwreck of the Mary, off Dunkirk.
3 Ephraim Bowen (d. 1812) and Mary Fenner.
330 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1797
pleasure to inform you that they Enjoy Life with much Vivacity
and Health. Sisters Nancy and Fanny have both Marrid in
South Carolina the first to Mr. Ed. Mitchel^ the latter to Mr.
John E. Moore.2 Eliza, Marrid Mr. John Ward ^ and sister Mary
remains in her Father's house to Comfort the old Folks. The rest
of our Friends with whom you are Acquainted enjoy health,
except Sister Clarke who has been long an Invalid.
My Business in the Loan Office makes it verry difficult to leave
Town, so that I cannot promise a Visit soon. Nevertheless we
shall be really glad to see you and the General here soon, we will
exert our best Abilities to make the Time pass agreably and
Pleasantly.
When we settled our Accounts there was Twelve Books re-
mained on hand, and which I expected you would have Orderd
out of my Hands. I will use my Endeavours to dispose of them,
or will send them to the person you may direct.
Mrs. Bowen presents her best Comps. to you the Genl. and
the other Branches of your Family, with whom I joyn, and
Remain, Madam your Friend and Obedient Servant,
Jabez Bowen*
John Adams to Elbridge Gerry
Phila., Feb. 20, 1797
My dear Sir, — Your favour of 30th of January has not yet
been answered. It is full of Observations, which could not be
made but by a Man of Experience as well as Wisdom and public
Spirit.
Information will not be easy for me to obtain especially from
the Southern States where my Friends are generally so old and so
disinclined to interfere, if not so indolent, that I shall be obliged
to receive it frequently from Enemies or at least from cold Friends.
I Married September 6, 1792. 2 Married August 24, 1789.
3 Married December 25, 1792.
4 (1739-1815.) See Yale Biographies (Dexter), 11, 452.
1797] JVarren -Adams Letters 331
I shall seize it however with avidity, let It come from whom it
will, if I can depend upon it as fact.
I feel no apprehensions from Mr. Jefferson. The Cause of the
irritation upon his Nerves, which broke out in some disagreable
Appearances, a few years ago, is now removed as I believe; and
I expect, from his ancient friendship, his good Sense and general
good dispositions, a decorum of Conduct at least, if not as cordial
and uniform a Support as I have given to my Predecessor, which
is and shall be, the Pride and boast of my Life. I have had Temp-
tations, which however I found no disposition in my heart to
comply with and found no difficulty to resist.
As to information from abroad; that is already in a train that it
will be very difficult, if not impossible for me, to interrupt. There
are, who, you may suppose, have enough of my Confidence.
There are none, whom I distrust. But I wish I could be more
confident than I am of the Industry Vigilance and Zeal as well as
Judgment and discernment of some. Talents of some sorts, how-
ever brilliant, are not always the only ones, necessary to search
the hearts of Courtiers and penetrate the Views of Cabinets.
The Places abroad are or will be, before my Day arrives, all full.
It is my private opinion that Ministers at the Neutral Courts of
Sweeden and Denmark, would at this important Period, be not
only usefuU, but important. But among the Representatives
there are so many against all foreign Missions and so many more
against enlarging the Number, that I fear it will be hopeless to
propose such a measure.
Indeed the Office before me, is not a "Sinecure." I never in my
life felt such an awful Weight of Obligation to devote all my time,
and all the forces that remain, to the Public.
It will be in your Power to alleviate the Burden a great deal,
unless yours should be increas'd in a way that I must confess
Is the Wish of your Friend and Sert.
John Adams
332 JVarren -Adams Letters [1797
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
QuiNCY, March 4th, 1797
My dear Madam, — I received yesterday your obliging favour
of Feb'ry 27th. I have been so little a favorite of fortune that I
never once examined my Numbers of the Newspapers, or other-
ways, concluding that those who were equally interested would
take proper care for me. as I had formd no expectations, I meet
with no dissapointment, and am quite pleased that my adventure
should be appropriated to the promotion of Science and Literature.
The few shillings in your hands be so kind as to lay out, in the
purchase of some little Books, and present them for me, to the
Lovely Marcia as a token of approbation for the sweet engageing
simplicity of manners, which were so conspicuous in her.
For your Congratulations upon a late important event, accept
my acknowledgments, considering it as the voluntary and un-
solicited Gift, of a Free and enlightened people, it is a precious
and valuable Deposit, and calls for every exertion of the Head,
and every virtue of the Heart, to do justice to so sacred a Trust,
yet however pure the intentions, or upright the conduct, offences
will come.
High Stations, Tumult, but not bliss create.
As to a Crown, my Dear Madam, I will not deny, that there is
one which I asspire after, and in a Country where envy can never
enter to plant Thorns beneath it. the fashion of this world pas-
seth away. I would hope that I have not lived in vain, but have
learned how to estimate, and what value to place upon the fleeting
and transitory enjoyments of it.
I shall esteem myself peculiarly fortunate. If at the close of my
publick Life, I can retire, esteemed beloved and equally respected
with my predecessor.
Old Friends can never be forgotten by me. in that number I
have long been accustomed to consider the Genii, and Mrs.
Warren, it will always give me pleasure to see them at peace-
Field, or where ever else they may meet, their Friend and Humble
Servant, Abigail Adams
1797] JVarren- Adams Letters 333
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
QuiNCY, October ist, 1797
My dear Madam, — I acknowledge myself indebted to you for
two kind Letters, both of which found me in circumstances
of distress; the first which came to me before I went to Phila-
delphia, I fully intended to have replied to at the Time, but the
many cares and avocations which at that time occupied my mind,
preparitory to my going, and the peculiar melencholy circum-
stance of the Death of my Mother and Neice within a day or two
of each other, not only arrested me in my journey, but added to
the cares with which I had before felt myself opprest. to you
therefore, who have so frequently been summoned on like solemn
occasions I need make no further appology.
Your last kind Letter, which I had no right to expect, and was
therefore received as a pledge of a Friendship which bears the
stamp of Time, and which I hope will endure with our Lives,
however we may discent upon some subjects, upon that of mutual
good will esteem, and real affection I trust we shall be ever united,
and your Letter expressive of it should have met a ready reply
but I was disabled both with my Eyes and Hands, having met an
accident in a carriage which like to have cost me my Life. I have
however recovered so as to leave only a small scar behind.
Your kind invitation to visit you in the only stile which can
ever be agreable to me, that of Hospitality and freedom, would
have given both Mr. Adams and myself great pleasure, a promise
which he made to the Secretaries, of not being absent from Quincy
more than one day at a Time, that their communications might
always find him, has confined him to this place ever since his
return, one only visit have I made, an'd that to my sister in New
Hampshire. I fulfiUd two duties, that of visiting a very dear
Sister, which I had not done before, since her residence and
marriage in that State, and placing my two Grandsons at an
accademy there, and in her Family and under her inspection,
that they may receive a Genuine New England education which
I am Yankey enough to prefer to any other I have yet seen.
We leave this place in a few days, without knowing where we
334 W^arren 'Adams Letters [1798
are to stop, the distrest state of a city which seems devoted to
Calamity, and the pestilence which still rages there, renders it
dangerous to enter it at this Time, and the certain clamour which
will be raised if Congress are convened at any other place, renders
it difficult for the president to know what is best and most for
the Good of the Country, and the Safety of its Members; without
being much nearer, where a more accurate statement of Facts
can be ascertained. The Philadelphians will complain and say
there is no danger, tho at present their city is deserted of two
thirds of its inhabitants.
I received a Letter from Mrs. Otis, a few days since. She with
her Family are at Bristol about eighteen miles from the city, and
were all well.
When I was at providence I took Tea at the late Govenour
Bowen. they inquired kindly and particuliarly after you and your
Family, and desired a particuliar remembrance to you.
The president joins me in an affectionate remembrance to his
old Friend the Genii, and to Mrs. Warren both of whom it would
have given him pleasure to have seen at Quincy. I am, dear
Madam, with sentiments of Regard and esteem Your affectionate
Friend
Abigail Adams
Harrison Gray Otis to Mercy Warren
Phila., March 15, 1798
My dear Madam, — It is a long time that I have been your
Debtor for your affectionate enquiry after my health when I was
in Boston. That journey naturally created an accumulation of
business which pressed rather heavily upon my return; and my
complaint made it desirable to avoid as much as possible, the
occupation of writing. I am thank God, much better. My friends
thought I was never very ill, and I doubt not that absence from
home and a privation of my habitual domestic pleasures aggra-
vated my indisposition. I was however harrassed by a hoarseness
and pain in my breast which have not entirely left me. The pain
1798] JVarren- Adams Letters 335
is changeable and fugitive; and as I retain strength and appetite
and sleep well, I am not without hope that it is chiefly rheumatic.
You will perceive by the papers, all the news that we have
lately received. The dispatches which accompanied the late letter
from our Commissioners are not even now fully decyphered.
It is however whispered but I know not on what ground, that they
consist of the little details of their transactions and opinions,
which will not aid a public investigation of the state of our affairs,
and which might be injurious to our friends who remain in France.
It is sufficiently evident that they are not to be received, and not
less so, that a hostile and predatory conduct towards us, will
continue on the part of our dear Allies. Our only chance of
escaping from war, or from the calamities of war, inflicted under
some other name, seems to consist in the prospect that the powers
at war cannot long remain in their present high and constrained
attitude. But whether Great Britain is doomed to yield to the
arms and politicks of France, or whether the five Kings will
squabble with each other, so that "honest men may come to
their dues," are events shrouded from our foresight. I shall bear
either of them with Christian Fortitude, if our own Country can
be permitted to remain at peace. I write this at my desk in the
Hall of Congress, so that if it does not discover either fancy or
genius, I hope you will impute the deficiency in part, to a very
heavy Speaker who now assails my ear with a very somniferous
monotony.
I send you the substance of my speech on foreign intercourse;
not on account of its merit but to satisfy you that my hoarseness
is in some measure relieved.
With great respect and regard, and friendly remembrance to
Uncle Warren and my Plimouth Connections, I am. Dear Madam,
Your affect. Nephew,
H. G. Otis
3 3^ Warren -Adams Letters [1798
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
Philadelphia, April 25, 1798
My dear Madam, — I received your obliging favour of April
7th on the 18 of this month, for which accept my sincere thanks.
To hear of the Health, and welfare, of old, and esteemed Friends,
gives pleasure to her, who sincerely rejoices, that the decline of
Life, of all those, whom she highly values; is renderd agreable
by the enjoyment of Health, peace, and Competance. Blessing[s]
at all periods valuable but more particularly so, when active Life,
yealds to the more tranquil and contemplative Scenes of Age.
A scene to which your Friends are as rapidly hastning, as time
can carry them; and accelerated by the Burdens which are de-
volved upon them, when retirement from the "worlds mad stage"
would be more consonant to their feelings, particularly as they
have weather'd one political storm, and enterd the Harbour with
safety, it Is hard to be calld again to engage in a Tempest, and
with a power which defies all Laws, both humane and devine,
whose Ambition knows no limits, and which seems to threaten
universal domination, and like an other Alexander, weep for new
worlds to conquer. "In proportion, (to use the words of a cele-
brated writer) as we have been attracted towards the focus of
illegality, and irreliglon all the venemous and blighting insects of
our Country, have been awakened into life, and the promise of the
years has been blasted."
The olive Branch, tendered to our Gallic Allies, by our Envoys;
has been rejected with scorn, nor would the Military Despots,
give to our Ambassadors, an opportunity of presenting those
liberal generous and pacific terms, with which they were Charged,
they seemed to think all negotiation useless, which possessd not
the power of Midas. The haughtiness by which the proud repell
us, has this of good in it; that in making us keep our distance, they
must keep their distance too, having swallowd up all the Repub-
licks with which they have contended, drained them of all their
resources, they proceed from the same rapacious spirit, to im-
prison the Ambassador of a sovereign power: not as alledged, for
offering a Bribe, but having exacted from his court one heavy
1798] Warren 'Adams Letters 337
contribution, as the price of peace; and employd that very money
in establishing their late military despotism, they refuse to sign
the Treaty, which was a few days protracted, in order to obtain
the consent of an Ally, against whom some articles militated with
their former engagements, having obtained their consent, the
Minister presented the Treaty for signature, and was refused,
unless a new gift of a still more oppressive sum was given upon the
refusal of his court to comply, the Minister; contrary to the Law of
Nations is imprisoned, and portugal threatened with an invasion.
The dispatches from our Envoys which you have undoubtedly
read; and which I now send you, will be prooif sufficient, to shew,
what a pitch of venality, Rapacity and avarice, the present Rulers
of France have arrived at. The confidence with which they boast
of a powerfull party in this Country devoted to their views, is
daily experienced, their emissaries are scatterd through all parts
of this extensive union, sowing the seeds of vice, irreligion, cor-
ruption, and sedition, hence has grown up that spirit of party,
and of faction within those walls, where wisdom and patriotism
alone should preside; where you behold sophistry, substituted
instead of argument, and personal Reflections giving place to
National Dignity and Decorum. I wish however a veil to be
thrown over the disgracefuU business which occupied much too
large a portion of the present session; and that it may sink into
oblivion with the party views which supported it
The Nation appears to be rousing from the Lethargy, which
has too long benumbed its powers, and rising to a Sence of its own
Dignity, and consequence, with a firm resolution to repell the
insults offerd her, too long a habit of humiliation, does not seem a
very good preparative to manly and vigorous sentiments, but the
reluctance which every American feeh to engage in Hostilities
with any Nation, and the desire they have to sacrifice all con-
sideration to the preservation of peace, short of their Independ-
ance, and Security, has restrained them from expressing the full
extent of their Indignation against a Nation, which they con-
siderd as oppressed, and in the early stages of its Revolution,
sincerely wished it success in obtaining and securing to itself
equal Liberty and social Rights, but when we see them from
3 3^ Warren 'Adams Letters [1798
being oppressed, become themselves the greatest of all oppressors
and usurpers, we can no longer wish them success.
If we become a united people, there is no doubt but we can
withstand the storms which threatens us. united we stand, united
we are formidable, and sufficient to ourselves, nor need we seek a
Foreign Aid, or dread a Foreign Foe.
As Calumny, and abuse upon the Fairest Characters and the
best Men in France, was one of the most powerfuU engines, em-
ployed to overturn one set of Rulers and in sitting up others
who in their turn shared the same fate, so have their emissaries
adopted the same weapons in this Country and the Liberty of the
press is become licentious beyond any former period, the Good
sense of the American people in general directs them Right,
where they can see and judge for themselves, but in distant and
remote parts of the union, this continued abuse, deception, and
falshood is productive of great mischief, and tends to destroy
that confidence and Harmony which is the Life Health and
Security of a Republick.
I write to you, my dear Madam, with the Freedom and con-
fidence of an old Friend, who, I am sure, will unite with me in
sincere, and ardent wishes, for the peace security and prosperity
of our common Country.
The president desires me to present to Genii. Warren the
Remembrance of an old Friend who would be much more at
his ease, and happier in cultivating the usefuU science of Agri-
culture with him, than, in the arduous, complicated, turbulant and
difficult task assignd him. he will however do his utmost, that
the fruits of the Husbandman, and the Commerce of the Mer-
chant shall be protected and secured, and that the Liberty and
Independance which we obtaind and secured from the Grasp
of one Foreign Nation, shall not be unjustly wrested from us
by any other power, if we are but just to ourselves, and in these
endavours he hopes for the aid and countanance of all his fellow
citizens.
When I return to Quincy, which I hope may be in the course
of the summer, it will give me great pleasure to see and welcome
you and Genii. Warren at Peace Field.
1798] JVarren- Adams Letters 339
My compliments to your son and daughter and to Miss Marcia.
From dear Madam your Friend and Humble Servant
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
Philadelphia, June 17, 1798
You and I, my Dear Madam, have trod together, through one
Gloomy Scene, of War, havock and desolation; and we have seen
our Country rise superiour to oppression, and despotism and take
its Rank among the Nations, presenting at this period, the only
spectacle^ of a Free Republic, which has not been Revolutionized,
by the Gormandizing and insatiable thirst of that power, which
like the Grave, crys Give, Give, whilst the departed wealth,
opulence and Liberty of Batavia, the Cruelly oppress'd Geneva,
Genoa, all Itally, and the partitiond and Barterd Venice, with
the Barbarously Sacrificed Switzerland, and Bern cry to us with
an awefuU warning voice, to behold their Fate, and secure our-
selves by a direct opposite conduct to that which has proved fatal
to them.
I would hope that the destroying Angel may not be commis-
sioned to visit us in wrath, but that he may visit us on an errand
of Love, to warn us against those contaminating principles and
abominations, which have made all Europe one Golgotha.
May the God of our Fathers protect us, and if we must be
scourged, remember Mercy for us.
"You observe. That Providence has deposited a high trust in
the Hands of the President, and that it is optional, with him, from
the confidence reposed in him by the p'eople, to abuse his power,
or to continue the object for which our Country has made such
costly sacrifices."
Hastening to that period which in Scripture is termed the Life
of Man, having every thing at stake which can render the remnant
peacefull, or the future happy, reputation and honour. Life
Liberty, and property, is it possible to have a wish or desire which
is not interwoven with the present and future prosperity, freedom
340 W^arren -Adams Letters [1798
and independance of united America? it depends upon the people
to say that they will remain a free and happy Republic.
Permit me to transcribe a sentance from an answer to an
address presented by the inhabitants of the County of Otsego in
the State of New York.
"Your reliance on the good sense fortitude, and integrity of
your fellow citizens, I trust will not deceive you. all depends
upon these virtues, if these fail us, we are lost, our constitution
and administration all depend upon them, our Government
without these aids has no power at Home, or abroad: we have no
other principle of union, or capacity of defence."
In an other replie, to the people of Potts Town in (Penn) are
these words, "Your confidence, that I will not surrender the
rights of the Nation, shall not be betrayed. If the Nation were
capable of such a surrender (which it is not) some other Hand
must affix the signature to the ignominious deed"
With these sentiments will my Friend live and with these senti-
ments he will like the Brave avoyer, Steiguer of Bern,^ meet death
if decreed to him.
The stay of our envoys in France is protracted to an allarming
degree for their personal safety, and I had almost said for our
National honour. The Decree of the Directory respecting Neutrals
and the declaration of Talleyrand, that we could only Buy it off,
ought to have been the signal for the departure of our Envoys
The cup of Humiliation was full, what has since happend, are its
overflowings, they have Borne it! but the indignation of their
Country spurns it. I inclose to you the last dispatch Heaven
Grant, that it may he the last.
The testimonials in Approbation of the measures persued by
the Chief Magistrate of the Union, with respect to France, which
as you observe, have poured in from all quarters of the Union,
are indeed an incourageing, and gratefuU reward, for his Labour-
ious and hazardous exertions in the publick Service; whilst the
rising Generation, upon whom the hopes and expectations of all
America is fixed, for their Security, and Defence are zealous, and
sincere, with their profferd Lives, and fortunes, Their Fathers
^ Nicolas Frederic de Steiguer (i 729-1 799).
1799] TV arren- Adams Letters 341
may be permitted to repose; having performed their Routine of
active Duty, and spend the remnant of their Days, in devoute
supHcations for the success of their offspring.
The president directs me to reciprocate the Kind wishes of his
Friend Genii. Warren, and to assure him that he retains a pleasing
remembrance of the past they have acted together in the defence
of the Liberties of their common Country.
Mr. and Mrs. otis the Elder and junr. are both well, were with us
last evening. I most ardently long for a visit to Quincy, the
Green fields, and shady Groves would be a pleasing contrast to
the Brick Walls and crouded streets of Philadelphia, particularly
so, if I could shut out all the political clouds which darken our
horizon
With a kind remembrance to every Branch of your Family
particularly the Little Marcia I am, my dear Madam, your
Friend and Humble Servant,
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
Quincy, October 5, 1799
As I have an opportunity by the Lieut Govenour I send you a
late publication by the Abbe BarrueV which will remove I pre-
sume all doubts from your mind, respecting the existance of such
a person as zvishaupt: ^ when you have read the Books, you will
oblige me by returning them to Judge Cranch's. the Abbe was the
writer of the History of the French Clergy, you will perceive that
he is a Bigoted Catholick, but a man of science, and great indus-
tery, the system which he discloses freezes one with horror, it was
reserved for wishaupt to put in practise, the principles of Voltair,
and the whole junto of French phylosophers, aided by Frederic
the Great as he is call'd.
1 Augustin de Barruel (1741-1820), whose Memoires sur le Jacobinisms appeared in
1797 and was translated into English and published in London in 1797-98.
2 Adam Weishaupt (1748-1830), founder of the Order of the Illuminati.
342 JVarren -Adams Letters [1803
you will be so good as to present my Respects to the Genii, and
to believe me at all Times your truly affectionate friend,
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
QuiNCY, Janry. i6th, 1803
My Dear Madam, — It was with much pleasure I recognized
the Hand writing of an old Friend, tho only in the signature of her
name, it recall'd to mind those days of pleasureable intercourse,
"when thought met thought," and a happy union of sentiment
endeard our Friendship, which neither time, or distance has
effaced from my Bosom. I have sympathized with you, in sick-
ness and in sorrow, much oftner than my pen has detailed it to
you. I too have tasted of the bitter cup of affliction — and one
is not, cut off in the Meridian of Life.
I was happy that my son had an opportunity of paying his
respects to the ancient Friends of his parents. We should be
equally glad to see your sons whenever they pass this way. his
visit to plimouth was necessarily short, or he would have spent
more time with you. You observe that you have not seen any
effect of my pen for a long time; Indeed, my Dear Madam, I
have avoided writing for these two years past a single Letter,
except to my Sister, and Children. The sacred Deposit of private
confidence has been betrayed, and the bonds of Friendly inter-
course snapt asunder to serve the most malicious purposes: even
a jocular expression, has been made to wear the garb of sober
reality: the most innocent expressions have been twisted, mangled
and tortured into meanings wholly foreign to the sentiments of the
writer. I have been ready to exclaim with the poet, "What sin
unknown dipt you in Ink.?"
There now lies before me an Aegis of the present year; in which
is draged to light the intercepted Letter,^ said to have been
written to your worthy Husband, in the year 1775, and pubHshd
in an English Magazine. The design of the pubHsher appears
1 See Vol. I, 88, supra. The National Mgis was published at Worcester.
1803] W^arren- Adams Letters 343
from the introduction of the Letter, to make it beHeved, that the
person alluded to as a pidling Genius, was Gcnll. Washington, and
that the supposed writer, was engaged in a plot to get him re-
moved from the command of the Army, that he possest a san-
guinary revengefull temper, and was desirious of punishment
without mercy: without adverting to the period when the Letter
was written the state of the Country at that time, before the
declaration of Independance had sit it free from the shackles and
chains which were prepared for it, and when we were hazarding
an attempt to form a Government for ourselves, it was natural
for the Letter writer to inquire: will your judges be Bold? will
they feel firm? will they dare to execute the Laws under their
present circumstances? with their Capitol in the possession of a
powerfuU enemy, and many of their near and dear Friends shut
up within it, prisoners to them. The old Actors are gone off the
Stage, few remain who remember the perils and dangers to which
we were then exposed, and fewer still who are willing to do Justice
to those who hazarded their lives and fortunes, for to secure to
them the blessings which they now possess, and upon which they
riot and scoff, little regard is paid to the prohibition, thou shalt
not bear false witness, or to that system of Benevolence which
teaches us to Love one an other: and which I trust, we my dear
Madam shall never lose sight of, however reviled and despight-
fully used.
Your Friends tho not exempt from the infirmities of age, are in
the enjoyment of many blessings, amongst which is a comfortable
portion of Health, and rural felicity, we enjoy the present with
gratitude, and look forward to brighter prospects and more dur-
able happiness in a future state of existance, where we hope to
meet and rejoice with those whom we have loved, and revered
upon Earth.
as to the little pecuniary matter between us, which but for
your reminding me of, would never have been recollected by me,
I know not where the papers are. I have not seen them or thought
of them for many years : I have not any thing upon Book and the
amount can be but a trifi"el, and I beg you not to give yourself any
further concern about it, as I have not any demand upon you, but
344 JVarren- Adams Letters [1803
a continuence of that Friendship and regard, commenced in early
Life, and never designedly forfeited, by your Friend,
Abigail Adams
Both Mr. Adams and your Friend unite our best wishes for the
Health and happiness of Genii. Warren and yourself and Family.
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plymouth, August 28th, 1803
Sir, — The painful tidings I have this afternoon transiently
heard relative to the health of my long beloved friend, Mrs.
Adams, induce me to trouble you with a line to enquire what is
her present situation, of which you will be so kind as to inform me by
the return of the post. I pray that she may not be in so hazardous
a state as is reported, but that her useful life may be protracted.
You will mention me to her with my best affection — affection
which has not diminished with time, and with esteem and friend-
ship reciprocated through the Varieties of life, which I hope will be
continued in a more perfect state, whichever of us first changes her
existence. With much respect, I am. Sir, your Obedt. Hble. Servt.^
Mercy Warren
John Adams to Mercy Warren
Quincy, August 30th, 1803
Dear Madam, — I received, with much Pleasure, late, the last
Evening your kind Letter of the 28th of the month, and should
have answered it sooner, if it had come earlier to my hand
We have been in great affliction in this Family for more than
three months, on Account of the dangerous illness of your Friend
my Companion, on whose preservation all my hopes of Comfort
in this World, seem to be suspended. An Unfortunate Fall, first
threw her into a fever, a return of that obstinate Intermittent,
I The body of the letter is by another hand.
i8o3] JVarren- Adams Letters 345
which has distressed her at times for so many Years, and brought
again that chronic Diarrhea, which a few years ago threatened her
Life for a long time. This was followed by a Carbuncle, which is
still in Operation, She has suffered, through the whole extream
pains, and has been reduced so low, that it has often seemed im-
possible to support her Strength in a degree sufficient to sustain her.
She desires me to present you her best Thanks for your kind
Enquiries and friendly Sentiment, and Authorises me to say that
she thinks herself better this morning than she has been for many
days past, having rested more quietly than she has done for a
long time.
Although her own opinion has been that she should not survive
this Disorder, she has been in a very happy State of Mind, calmly
resigned to her Destiny and the Will of the Supream Ruler.
The Day is far spent with Us all. It can not be long before We
must exchange this Theatre for some other. I hope it will be one, in
which there are no Politicks. With great Esteem and regard to you
and Mr. Warren, I am. Madam your Friend and humble Servant,
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson to Mercy Warren
Th: Jefferson presents his compliments to Mrs. Warren and
returns her the paper she had been pleased to inclose to him with
his own subscription and that of the heads of departments except
General Dearborne, who had signed another paper.^ he learns
with great satisfaction that Mrs. Warren's attention has been so
long turned to the events which have been passing, the last
thirty years will furnish a more instructive lesson to mankind
than any equal period known in history, he has no doubt the work
she has prepared will be equally useful to our country and honour-
able to herself, he prays her to offer his respects to General
Warren and to accept herself his salutations and assurances of
high consideration.
Washington, Feh. 8, 1805.
I A subscription paper for her History.
346 JVarren- Adams Letters [1805
Mrs. Judith Sargent Murray to Mercy Warren
Boston, Franklin Place, June ist, 1805
Respected Madam, — It was with pride, and pleasure, that I
received your Prospectus — pride, that my name was still found
written in the volume of your memory, and pleasure, that you
had at length determined to endow the world with a production it
has long wished to see issue from the press, upon which antici-
pation delights to dwell, and which is considered as a fund in re-
serve, containing historical facts, biographical information, moral
truths, and elevated sentiments, cloathed in habiliments, whose
substantial texture are evincive of strong, and abundant resources,
inwove with all the brilliant, and variegated powers of fancy, and
receiving their beautiful finishing, and last gloss, from the fashion-
ing hand of elegance and taste. May your volumes obtain the
celebrity they will no doubt merit, and may the publication look
with a benign aspect upon the evening of your useful, and digni-
fied career.
I have been induced to delay returning the subscription paper,
by a hope of augmenting my list of suffrages, but I have been
disappointed. I persuade myself, it is not necessary to observe,
that I have not been negligent in exhibiting your proposals but,
in almost every instance, apologies have been the only result of
my solicitations. The Life of Washington,^ it is said, forestals, if
not wholly precludes, the utility of this history; and, very many
urge the political principles attributed to the otherwise admired
writer, as a reason for withholding their signatures. Genius
revolts from an idea so contracted; but Genius is not possessed
by the multitude, and Mrs. Warren must be apprized, that, in
this Commercial Country, a taste for Literature has not yet ob-
tained the ascendency.
I have the honour to reciprocate those sentiments of amity,
which constitute the conclusion of your letter, and I am,, with
affectionate admiration, etc., etc.. Madam, your most obedient
J. Sargent Murray
I By John Marshall. See Beveridge, Life of John Marshall, m. 223.
i8o5] JVarren 'Adams Letters 347
John Dickinson to Mercy Warren
My esteemed Friend, — Thy Letter with Its Inclosure came
to my Hands Yesterday, for which I return many Thanks.
Thy Approbation I consider as a real Honor, and It Is greatly
endeared to Me, by coming from a Sister of my very deserving
and highly valued Friend James Otis.
Our Acquaintance with one another was formed at the first
Congress held at New York, In the Year 1765; and it soon grew
into Friendship.
At this distant Period I have a pleasing Recollection of his
Candor, Spirit, Patriotism and Philanthropy. [With a lonjger
continued Existence on this Earth [than was] allotted to him, I
have endeavoured, as well as I could, to aid the Cause In which
his Heart was engaged, by asserting and maintaining the Liberties,
for which he would have been willing to share in all the Distresses
of our Revolution, and, If necessary, to lay down his Life.
It soothes my Mind, to hear this pure Testimony to departed
worth.
May Divine Goodness graciously bestow on his Relations, a
plentiful portion of Consolations.
Thy generous Exertions to inform thy fellow Citizens, and to
present thy Country before the World in a justly favorable Light,
will be, I firmly believe, attended with the desired Success. With
every respectful Consideration I am thy Sincere Friend,
John Dickinson
Wilmington the 25th of the 9th Month 1805.
Thomas Jefferson to Mercy Warren
Th: Jefferson presents his respectful compliments to Mrs.
Warren and his thanks for the copy of her History of the Ameri-
can revolution which he received yesterday.^ his emploiments
have not yet permitted him to enter on It's reading; but he
I A copy of the History was in the Jefferson Library when purchased for the Library
of Congress.
34^ Warren 'Adams Letters [1806
anticipates much pleasure from the perusal of a work which
taking truth, both of fact and principle, for it's general guide,
will furnish in addition original matter of value, not before given
to the public.
He prays Mrs. Warren and Genl. Warren to accept his friendly
salutations and assurances of high respect and esteem.
Washington, Apr. 26, '06.
John Dickinson to Mercy Warren
My greatly esteemed Friend, — In thy Intercourse with the
World thou must have observed, how much Pleasure may be
derived from a Communion of Minds without personal Acquaint-
ance: That Pleasure I perceive to be strongly communicated by
thy Correspondence.
I am gratefully sensible of thy kind Enquiries about my Health.
Excepting a pain in the small of my Back at times severe, it is good,
considering my Age, having entered upon my seventy fifth Year on
the thirteenth Day of last Month. I see, and hear, and walk, and
ride, as well as I did in my Youth. Such an old Age could hardly
be expected by a Man born in the Middle part of Maryland.
These and several other Circumstances, relating to private
Condition are gratifying: But — When I look at the State of the
world, I see Cause, according to the apostolic Language, to be
"troubled on every Side, and perplexed; but not despairing."
Great Changes have taken place; and as great, I presume, will
succeed. Human Affairs are now flowing along in a vast Torrent.
It will not continue. It does not appear to Me likely, that any of
the Actors in the present Tragedies will establish the Jews in the
Land of Canaan.
The best Commentators I have met with, when speaking only
of their general Conversion, represent that Event as two or three
Centuries remote.
That Nation is indeed, to use thy Expression, "a standing
Miracle," and most certainly and wonderfully will be instru-
mental in accomplishing the divine purposes.
i8o6] JVarren- Adams Letters 349
Connected with their general Conversion will be the mighty
Revolution in papal Christendom, and the fall of the Turkish
Empire.
These Things seem to be rapidly approaching; yet, they are not
very near, unless some Errors have been committed by Commen-
tators in their Calculations.
Tho I do not believe the present state of France to be particu-
larly designated in any Prophesy, yet I doubt not, but her Con-
duct will under providential superintendence, be made to promote
beneficent Plans of Infinite Wisdom.
When I recollect, how amazingly the Roman Conquest facili-
tated the propagation of the Religion of our Blessed Saviour, I
cannot forbear applying to him the Expressions used by the poet
with an other Meaning —
For him the self-devoted Decii dyed,
The Scipios conquered, and the Fabii fell.
Again — When that Empire having attained its utmost Gran-
deur, as all things human how ever magnificent tend to Decay,
was dissolving, to how many barbarous Nations "walking in
Darkness," did its expiring Agonies convey the Light of the
Gospel!
Coming nearer to our own Days we may observe, that when
the Christian Verity was deeply corrupted, the Abomination of
the Court of Rome and the inordinate passions of Princes, became
subservient to a wholesome Reformation.
In this Retrospection it is found, first, that the Effects produced,
were directly contrary to the Intentions of the Agents: and sec-
ondly, that the Agents were generally bad Men.
Such Instances of over-ruling Government, seem to hold for
Encouragement in these convulsive seasons. "The Lord reigneth,
let the Earth rejoice."
Limited as our Capacities are. We are favored so far as to per-
ceive, that the Sovereign of the Universe can deduce Good out of
Evil; and that he is inclined so to do: But our sentiments on this
Head must be mingled with pure Humility, for "who hath known
the Mind of the Lord? or, who hath been his Councellor.^"
350 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1807
That every happiness may attend the Sister of the Man I loved,
herself worthy to be loved, is the Prayer of thy sincere Friend
John Dickinson
Wilmington, the 22d of the 12 Month, 1806.
I received from Matthew Carey of Philadelphia on the 4th of
the last ninth Month, the two setts of thy valuable History for
which I had subscribed, and paid him for them twelve Dollars.
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, 4 Feh.^ 1807
Madam, — I cannot avoid writing to express the pleasure I
derived from reading your history of the revolution. It is a well
digested and polished narrative, and gave great satisfaction. But
I am afraid you will not believe my praise unless qualified with
some remarks to shew that I gave it a critical reading. To say
that we are pleased with a book, that we have read so carelessly,
as hardly to know what is in it, is hardly giving any praise at all.
It is only saying that we met with nothing offensive, and that is
hardly to be deemed praise. I must therefore give you proof that
I have read it.
In Vol I. It is said that Mr. Bernard retired with a title and a
pension of a thousand pounds sterHng a year. Of the pension I
have nothing to remark, but the proof of royal favor in granting
him a title was a considerable time before he left the government.
I have heard Mr. Otis fill up a Chasm in his public speech, with
Mr. Bernard's titles at full length "His excellency Sir Francis
Bernard of Nettleham, Baronet, Governor and Commander in
chief of his Majesty's province of the Massachusetts in New
England, and vice Admiral of the same." To a man of the Gov-
ernor's disposition, pleased with those little exterior circumstances,
the ridicule was well applied and the hearers generally understood
it.i
I In April, 1769, Bernard was created a baronet as of Nettleham in the county of
Lincoln.
i8o7] JVarren- Adams Letters 351
In the last Volume I suspect an anachronism, as respecting
one of the attacks on the island of Jersey. The first expedition
was some time in the summer, I believe before Cornwallis had got
into difficulty in Virginia. Yet the Commodore is charged with
blame in not hastening to America where he might be wanted.
I do not know how it would stand on a strict comparison of dates.
This was merely the impression made on me in reading.
There are several passages in the course of the work which
mark the goodness of the Author's mind, and probably if her
system of kind treatment could be applied to a state of war, the
condition of mankind would be ameliorated. But I have serious
doubts whether the maxims of friendly intercourse can be applied
to such a state. It seems to me that the nature of war requires
the parties to do all the hurt they can. The mildest, that has been
supposed to [be] a true maxim, is that the conquerors succeede to
all the rights of government, possessed by their immediate pre-
decessors. In some cases this may be true, where an extensive
country is obliged to submit, the Victor wants the revenue, and
of course must preserve things as free from change as possible,
not indeed from any sense of duty to the vanquished, but from a
regard to his own Interest. This does not go so far as to justify a
state of war, but merely to define the rights resulting from that
state. War is a state that I believe Is always to be deprecated,
when it does not arise from inevitable necessity. But when one
nation, depending on its strength and not on the justice of Its
cause, makes war upon another, the necessity of war is inevitable
on the part of the invaded State. The two nations are to be con-
sidered as two individuals in a state of nature. The invader will
do all he can to enforce submission or to destroy his antagonist;
the invaded has acquired a right to do all he can to repel or even
to destroy the Invader. In the quarrel of two individuals, it ends
with the life of one of them, when carried to the utmost length of
war. In such a case between nations it ends with the submission
or conquest of one of the parties. This is the political death of one
of the nations. Private citizens are only to be considered as
members of the body politic, and in a dispute between two govern-
ments, their subjects immediately are exposed to annoyance, as
35 2 JVarren- Adams Letters [1807
members of the same body with the government. It will not do
for the citizen to say because I am not concerned in directing
national affairs I am in no degree answerable for the public pro-
ceedings. All being members of the same body, and joined in the
same social compact, must stand or fall together. A Government
making war without its subjects is as bad a supposition as a man's
head quarrelling with a neighbor without the support of hands
or feet.
As to the right of retaliation for all unnecessary cruelty it ap-
pears to me as strict a right as that of defence in any other form.
No principles of morals oblige us to take all the disadvantage of
our principles, and leave all the advantage of them to the adver-
sary. When the enemy admits a good principle in common with
us, we are bound to allow him as much benefit from it, as we derive
from it ourselves. But if the enemy denies or resists the rule of
good conduct, he ceases to be a christian, and becomes in our view
an heathen and a subject of coercion. Don't set me down as an
heretic, tho' this is my construction of the good book.
My respects to the General. Mrs. Hilliard joins in good wishes
to you and your family. I am, Madam, with much respect Your
obedient Servant
James Winthrop
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
QuiNCY, March 9th, 1807
My Dear Mrs. Warren, — To your kind and friendly Letter
I fully designed an immediate replie, but a severe attack of a
Rheumatick complaint in my Head has confined me to my
Chamber for several weeks and renderd me unable to hold a pen.
tho recovering from it, my head still feels craked: shatterd I am
sure it is. you will therefore pardon any inaccuracy I may commit,
my Health which you so kindly inquire after, has been better for
two years past, than for many of those which preceeded them. I
am frequently reminded that here I have no abiding place. I
bend to the blast, it passes over for the present and I rise again.
I Soy] TV arren -Adams Letters 353
your Letter, my dear Madam, written so much in the stile of
Mrs. Warren's ancient Friendship, renewed all those sensations
which formerly gave me pleasure, and from which I have derived
sincere and durable gratification, and I anticipate a still closer and
more cordial union in the world of spirits to which we are hasten-
ing, when these earthly tabernacles shall be moulderd into Dust.
If we were to count our years by the revolutions we have wit-
nessed, we might number them with the Antediluvians, so rapid
have been the changes : that the mind tho fleet in its progress, has
been outstripped by them, and we are left Hke statues gaping at
what we can neither fathom, or comprehend.
you inquire what does mr. Adams think of Napolean.'' If you
had asked Mrs. Adams, she would have replied to you in the
words of Pope,
If plagues and earthquakes brake not heavens design
Why then a Borgia or a Napoline?
I am Authorized to replie to your question. What does mr.
Adams think Napoleon was made for."* "My answer shall be as
prompt and frank as her question. Napoleon's Maker alone can
tell all he was made for. in general Napoleon was, I will not
say made, but permitted for a cat-o'nine-tails, to inflict ten thou-
sand lashes upon the back of Europe as divine vengeance for the
Atheism, Infidelity, Fornications, Adulteries, Incests, and
Sodomies, as well as Briberies, Robberies, Murders, Thefts,
Intrigues, and fraudelent speculations of her inhabitants, and if
we are far enough advanced in the career, and certainly we have
progressd very rapidly, to whip us for the same crimes, and after
he has answerd the end he was made, or permitted for, to be
thrown into the fire, now I think I have" meritted the answer from
Mrs. Warren which she has promised me to the Question, what
was Napoleon made ioxV*
May I ask Mrs. Warren in my turn, what was Col. Burr made
ioxt and what can you make of him or his projects.^ enveloped
in as many Mystery as Mrs. Ratcliff''s castle of udolphus.? how he
mounted to power we know, and a faithfuU historic page ought
to record, and after he had answered the end for which he was
354 IVarren -Adams Letters [1807
permitted, we know how he fell, what is yet left for him to per-
form, time must unveil.
I thank you, my Dear Madam, for your inquiries after my
Daughter, she was well a few days since, she had Letters from
her son dated in Novbr. he was then at Trinidad where he
expected to pass the winter, a don Quixot expedition ^ which
could never have met with his Grandfathers or my assent or
consent, if it had been known to us before he had saild. it has
been a source of much anxiety to us, and to his Mother.
I cannot close this Letter, without droping a sympathizing tear
with you over the remains of your belovd Neice, and my valued
Friend.2 g]^g -y^^as from her youth all that was amiable Lovely and
good, the youthful companion of my daughter, I always saw her
with pleasure, and parted from her with regret. She was endeard
to me by the misfortunes of her youth which from her strong
sensibility and dutifuU affection, I was frequently made the
depositary of her sorrow and tears. She always exprest for me a
sincere Regard, when I learnt her new engagement, knowing the
delicate state of her Health, I feard she might find it too arduous
for her, but her companion she had long known, esteemd and
valued as his many virtues deserved.
Heaven spared her to act well the Mothers part towards her
sons, to whom she devoted herself and having reared them to
Manhood, for wise ends which we cannot comprehend, took her
out of Life, what can we say, but that the ways of Heaven are
dark and intricate.
I pray you to present Mr. Adams's and my regards to Genii.
Warren, we both of us rejoice to hear that he enjoys so much
health at his advanced period of Life, we shall always be happy to
hear of the welfare of Friends whom we have loved from our early
years and with whom we have past many, very many social hours
of pleasing converse, in unity of Bond and Spirit, with Sincere
Regard I subscribe your Friend
Abigail Adams
1 That of Francisco Miranda.
2 MaryOtis,widowof Benjamin Lincoln, Jr., and wife of Rev. Henry Ware of Cambridge.
She died February 17, 1807.
i8o7] Warren 'Adams Letters 355
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge ii Marchj 1807
Madam, — Your letter of 4th Feb. I was favored with, and I
need not add gratified by receiving on the tenth of that month.
It was written at the same time with mine and gave me additional
pleasure when I recollected that we thought of writing at once.
There was no doubt in my mind, that you had sufficient evidence
to justify the statement made in your history respecting Mr.
Bernard's civil promotion. The Remembrancer does not contradict
my idea, that he was made a baronet before he quitted his govern-
ment. This is an high and the only hereditary order of knighthood.
The Remembrancer states that after his leaving America he was
still further promoted to the title of Baron Nettleham. This was
ennobling him. I had never, till the receipt of your valuable letter,
any knowledge of this last promotion, and do now rather suspect
that the compilers of the Remembrancer, tho' in general they may
be correct, have in this instance confounded the two things and
that Mr. B. remained Sir Francis till his death, without acquiring
the degree of My Lord. At any rate an historian in following the
documents, is intitled to the respect of the reader, and is exempted
from any charge of inattention or carelessness. But when a work
so extensive as yours discovers such long continued attention in
arranging multiplied materials into an elegant and well formed
narrative, there is not only a freedom from blame, but a great
degree of praise attached to the author. The Major, I presume,
told you of the other part of my remark, made to him at the
same conversation, "that if I was about to review the book, for
the public eye, such a minute criticism I should be ashamed to
insert."
Please to present my respects to the General and your young
friends, whom I also claim as belonging to my list.
Accept my sincere condolance on the death of Mrs. Ware. It is
a melancholy proof that even the best principles when carried to
excess terminate in evil. Nobody doubts her being a woman whose
conduct was regulated by piety and good conscience; yet perhaps
a fear that she had not come up to her own standard, by occupying
356 Warren -Adams Letters [1808
too much of her attention, produced such a dreadful subversion of
mind.^ I am, Madam, very sincerely Your most obedient servant
James Winthrop
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, 3 May^ 1808
Madam, — A few days ago I received the honor of your letter
of 20th April, and need not add, was flattered by the sentiments
of friendship contained [in] it. The pleasure it gave me by the
assurance, that all our Plymouth Friends are in health, was very
great, and next in degree to the enjoyment of my own health.
Your polite invitation to take a trip to Plymouth, I hope, will
take effect some time in July. Our Courts will hold on till the
latter part of June, as they have for two months past, every
second week, and sometimes oftener. They hardly leave me time
to rest myself between them. From the end of June to the middle
of August, we shall have a vacation, and hope to improve part of
it in a tour to the old Colony, and to have the honor of paying my
respects in person to you and the General. Not that I consider the
reason assigned in your letter as the most operative; tho' generally
I feel disposed to adopt your reasoning, but in this instance it
would grieve me to have it just. The reason implied in the ques-
tion "Do you not wish to see your old friend General Warren
once more before he is gathered to the band of worthy patriots
who are swept oif before him?" is, that the time may be short.
True, it may be short, but I hope otherwise. I hope to have the
pleasure of seeing him many times, and enjoying his conversa-
tion often, before our separation.
It is to me surprizing that a political faction should have been
able to produce so great an effect on the mind of the community,
by their misrepresentations of the embargo. The election of Sen-
ators seems to be so far influenced as to deprive the republicans of
I The series of letters exchanged between Mrs. Warren and John Adams in July and
August, 1807, on her History, is printed in 5 Collections, iv. 317. In the same volumes are
letters from Elbridge Gerry to Mrs. Warren on the controversy and breach of intercourse
to which it led and on the eventual reconciliation, largely due to Gerry's tactful handling.
i8o8] JVarren- Adams Letters 357
their majority at that board, and merely to gratify a few traders,
who depend on the commercial credit given them by Great Britain.
Those merchants, whose large capitals enable them to trade to all
parts of the World, are represented as acknowledging the wisdom
of the embargo. A few men, whose politics reach no further than
their own counting house, and their habitual course of negotiation,
seem to think the whole world is going to overset, because they
are for a little while interrupted. A very little attention would
shew them how to employ their stock in a different mode, by
which the community would be enriched and the nations who
have interrupted our old modes of supply would be punished by
the permanent loss of our customs.^
Mrs. Hilliard joins in respects to the General and you, and is
much gratified to find by the friendly inquiries you made respect-
ing her that she has not slipt through your memory. Please to
present my remembrances to your Sons, who sometimes dot in
upon us, but will not be prevailed on to make a visit. I intend to
be better in this respect than they. I am, Madam, with much
respect. Your most obedient Servant,
James Winthrop
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, i Octo.^ 1808
Dear Madam, — I am much gratified by a visit from your
eldest son, who is now here. He did me the honor of presenting
your letter, which contains a review of my book consistent with
your habitual politeness.^ I will not teaze you with a long argu-
ment on this subject, for to be honest about the matter, we all of
us have our own courses of reasoning, and I cannot expect those,
who have been used to a different theory, at once to abandon it for
1 This situation led to the election of James Lloyd, Jr., and the resignation of John
Quincy Adams as United States Senator from Massachusetts. See "The Recall of John
Quincy Adams in 1808," Proceedings, xlv. 354.
2 This could refer to his Attempt to translate the Prophetic Part of the Apocalypse of St.
John into Familiar Language, Boston, 1794, or Attempt to arrange in the Order of Time those
Scripture Prophecies yet remaining to be fulfilled, Cambridge, 1803, or his essay, about to be
published, Appendix to the New Testament,
358 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1808
the sake of supporting mine. I confess therefore that I did not
expect so many complimentary expressions, where I did not hope
so much for conviction, as to lay open what I think a connected
System. What the clergy consider as a political statement, I con-
sider as the application of prophecy to the visible church compre-
hending the whole body of believers. The raising of the new order
of things in their favor, as is now going on, I consider as the
Kingdoms of the World becoming the Kingdoms of the Lord,
and the resistance of the Popish and British powers as producing
that time of trouble of which Daniel speaks in the beginning of
his last chapter.
In Justification of this mode of applying it, I will at present only
state, that all the commentaries on the Revelation, that I have
seen, begin with applying the prophecy to the visible church, and
to human empires, until their stock of history was run out. Many
of the boldest figures of the Apocalypse are agreed to apply to
events that have already taken place. The beginning of the ninth
chapter is agreed to shew the rise of the Mohometans, and that
of the thirteenth to relate in the same manner to Popery. Yet,
as if the Commentators were afraid to trust their own principles
of construction, they have supposed both these powers destined to
a miraculous fall. I have taken the same principles and read the
whole book by them, and find them true and the book also intel-
ligible, consistent and true.
Let me ask, where would have been the surprise, if the whole
matter had been expected, as it has happened.'' Yet you will find
toward the conclusion of each series, into which John divides his
book, abrupt warnings to be upon the watch. That the book shall
remain obscure till toward the conclusion, when it shall become
plain. Charge not my opinion with vanity, If I say the book now
under consideration resolves the problem.
Pardon my having trespassed so long upon your patience.
It was not intended at the setting out.
By Mr. Warren I send for your perusal two small volumes con-
taining the poems of Sir William Jones. ^ Knowing your taste for
fine writing, I have presumed, that you will incline to look into
I Poems, consisting chiefly of Translations from the Asiatick Languages, 1772.
i8o8] Vl^arren- Adams Letters 359
the Hindoo mythology, and that you [will] be pleased at finding his
elegant pen employed in giving that mythology an English dress.
Please to make my respects to the General and to the Major
and his family. It is not from forgetfulness if we do not com-
municate oftener. I am, Madam, with perfect respect Your most
obedient servant
James Winthrop
The passion flower which I undertook to preserve was lost. I
then desired Mrs. Craigie to preserve one, and she undertook it
I have sent to her this afternoon for it but she has forgot, what
book she put it in, but has promised to look for it and send it here.
She was sorry for having mislaid it.
Samuel Latham Mitchill to Mercy Warren
Washington, Novr. 28, 1808
Madam, — As one of the joint committee appointed by the two
houses of congress to provide books for their Library, I do myself
the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of your history of the
rise, progress and termination of the American revolution. By
some oversight of the committee, it had happened, that your
excellent performance had not been purchased. It has therefore
arrived in good season and is the more acceptable to us. And
they who search this collection, for the history of their country,
will be sure to find the Volumes of Mrs. Warren on the same shelf,
with those of Gordon, Ramsay and Marshall.
Permit me to assure you of my high and sincere respect.
Sam. L. Mitchill
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, ii Deer., 1808
Madam, — Tho' nothing is to be expected from me, on the
melancholy occasion of the death of a friend,^ which is not already
I General Warren died at Plymouth, November 27, 1808.
360 JVarren 'Adams Letters [1808
familiar to your own mind, yet as novelty is not always to be steered
for, but the satisfaction of comparing ideas, and being reminded
by our friends of the consolations, which we have administred
to others in affliction, I hope you will not consider my condolence
as impertinent. It is impossible that the habitual exchange of good
Offices between you and General Warren, which continued for
half a century, with unremitted attention on both parts, should
now be suspended, without your feeling an important loss of
happiness. Though we all admit that the necessity of parting
with our friends must at some time or other operate, yet we are
seldom prepared to say, that now is the right time. But let us
endeavor to satisfy ourselves, upon almost any supposition, that a
different time would be better, and we shall find so much greater
inconveniences staring us in the face, as to oblige us to relinquish
our amendment, and to confess that Providence has contrived
the event better for us than we could for ourselves and that he
does not willingly afilict his children. When we consider how soon
the services of a valuable man are forgotten, even by those who
knew him in his best days, we can hardly form a wish, that a friend
should outlive his usefulness, and should for any length of time
survive that energy of mind, which made us respect him. This is
an inconvenience necessarily attached to extreme old age. On
the other hand, it is exceedingly grievous to lose a friend in the
vigor of life, and while there was a prospect of many years useful-
ness to others, and of enjoyment to himself. Between these
extremes is the case before us. Having lived in times that required
uncommon exertion, and acquitted himself with honor, having
without any remarkable decay of either body or mind surpassed
the age which even but few attain, he died peaceably in the bosom
of his family, wept by them, and regretted by his other friends.
If death can ever be a kindly visitant, it must I think be in such
circumstances. I am sensible that at the first stroke, feelings must
have their way, but if we can for a moment interrupt grief by the
suggestions of reason, or the still more consoling prospects of
another life, every succeeding effort will be better than the former,
and the mind becomes tranquillized under our loss. I know that to
press these things upon your well regulated mind, would not only
i8o9] IVarren -Adams Letters 361
be impertinence but folly in me. You have so often been called
by the loss of very valuable friends to fortify your mind, You are
so well instructed in the doctrines of the bible, and in the principles
and hopes of Christianity, that while you consider the parting of
friends as an evil, you find it diminished by the idea of its being
temporary. "We shall rest for a season, and stand in our lot in
the latter days." Tho' death is the last enemy that will be over-
come, yet he must at last submit, and we trust that ourselves with
many who have gone before us, will have the benefit of the promise.
I trust you have seen a tribute of respect to the memory of the
General in last Thursday's Chronicle} It would have found its
way there sooner, if I had not expected it from some other quarter.
My respects to your sons and connections. I am Madam with
perfect respect Your most obedient Servant
James Winthrop
For a rarity this letter was written without the aid of glasses
and revised with them.
Harrison Gray Otis to Mercy Warren
Boston, ^feby., 1809
My dear Aunt, — If I could allow the right of any person to
interrogate me as to "what I am about," you may well suppose
that there is no individual of your political party, whom I would
prefer for a confessor to your much respected self. But it certainly
must occur to you that if I have really turned conspirator against
the State, I ought not to put it even in your power to hang me;
nor even to write a letter which under the present arbitrary gov-
ernment, might by a forced construction, if found by accident,
be construed into evidence of treason. Your enquiry therefore if
it extends to my secret machinations, you must permit me to
decline, and if it applies only to my overt acts, it is superfluous,
as they will appear on record in the public and political bodies
with which I am associated.
I December 8.
362 Warren -Adams Letters [1809
To be serious, my dear Aunt, my respect and affection for you,
are so utterly at variance with the political views and party
attachments which to my great sorrow and mortification, you
have been led to embrace; that I have for twenty years, studiously
evaded all discussions of the last, lest the former might be brought
into jeopardy. And from this determination I cannot consent to
be diverted, at this late period of your existence, when my duty
and your afflictions equally require, that all the sentiments which
I have an opportunity to express to you, should breath nothing
but tenderness consolation, and respectful love. To mingle with
these the acidulating, corrosive ingredients of political creeds,
would be to turn the milk of human kindness into poison. I will
not engage in such a process. I will not disturb the vale which is
consecrated to repose, and bedewed with sorrow, by the noisy
echos of party disputes. I will not agitate the groves of cypress
and weeping willows by the noise and bustle of excited passions.
When I enter these retirements I will put off my shoes. When I
write to them my letters shall not be bearers of the "fierce debate
and tart reply," but so far as depends on me, they shall be the
messengers of affection and of peace.
It was my firm intention to have made you a visit soon after
the death of my uncle, but I have been constantly overwhelmed
with the concerns of others from which I have not been at liberty
to escape. Whether I live in vain or even worse than in vain, I can
truly say, I have not yet had a chance of living much for myself,
nor for the pleasures and advantages of sweet communion with
any particular connections. I sometimes am so sanguine as to
hope that these blessings are not forever alienated from me even
in this world, but the hours fly, and my white hairs become daily
more discernible.
My family all unite with me, in the sincere assur[ance] of
regard and duty to you and yours, with w[hich] I am, dear Madam,
Your dutiful Nephew,^
H. G. Otis
I A letter from Elbridge Gerry to Mrs. Warren, June 5, 1809, is in 5 Collections, iv. 498.
i8o9] JVarren -Adams Letters 363
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Sept. 4, 1809
Madam, — When I wrote last, and to which your very polite
answer of 19 Aug. has been received, I did not mean to waste any
of your time in wandering through the mazy nonsense of heathen-
ism, but only to suggest that in the origin of society consecration
to religious uses was one of the arts used to preserve useful know-
ledge and useful things from being destroyed by an unthinking
people. The consecration lasted in many cases longer than the
reason on which it was founded. Many useful improvements were
preserved among the Hebrews by being applied to the service of
the tabernacle. Now in a cultivated state of Society it would
be superstitious to accumulate things of the kind in churches,
when there are so many reasons for preserving them in other places.
Hence I rather consider the heathen idolatry, as exceeding the
reason on which it was founded, and lasting much longer than any
consecration reasonably required. Some things in it were too gross
to admit even of this palliation and we can only say with the
Apostle, that they were times of ignorance. Since the Gospel has
appeared and brought with it light to all nations, this ignorance
has been gradually decreasing, and I think we stand a good
chance to see the bible universally allowed to be preached in all
countries. The vast extension of European Colonies within a few
years past, and the pains taken to distribute the bible in the native
language of each country are circumstances which promise speed-
ily to realize the Universality of the Gospel.
I am a little apprehensive that the passion flower suffered on its
journey. It is very tender, and is hardly ever, when left upon the
vine, found expanded on the second day.* If any body in Plymouth
has Martyn's botany, there is an handsome figure of it, and if the
plates are colored, as is sometimes the case, It is a good likeness.
My Brother's catalogue ^ is not sent to the press and it seems to
me that he aims at an ideal perfection which prevents us from
having it at all. He is now gone to Brunswick commencement.
You must not let any despondency cloud the evening of your
I William Winthrop and a manuscript catalogue of Harvard graduates.
364 TVarren- Adams Letters [1809
days. Some clouds seemed to be hovering about when you wrote
last, but there were also clear shinings between them. And I am
in hopes that every effort will be attended with success, which has
for its object the giving permanence to the habitual serenity of
your thoughts.
Every time I receive your signature, it gladdens my heart, by
proving that my name is recorded in your memory. But this is
not the only pleasure. I always find those just sentiments in the
letter which are worthy of your adoption. I am. Madam, very
sincerely Your most obedient Servant
James Winthrop
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, 12 Nov.^ 1809
Madam, — Agreeably to your directions of the 4th instant I saw
Mr. Baldwin, and requested the loan of Mr. Dickenson's works.
He had been prepared for the application by Judge Thatcher, and
with great politeness agreed immediately. I have, however, no
doubt of his complying even as readily as he did, without any
such previous application. The goodness of his disposition and the
habitual intercourse between us would have been sufficient. To
morrow I propose to carry the books to Boston in order to their
being forwarded in the way you propose. I long to see Maria, but
hardly expect it this time, so give my love to her when you see her.
You have often checked me for indulging in such levity of
imagination, and trivial conversation; but I do it partly upon the
principle of its restoring the equilibrium of my faculties, when
fatigued by severe application either to study or business. I find
by experience, that what is called generous living does not answer
the end. Two or three times since my last visit to Plymouth, I
have tried a glass of wine, but it each time did me hurt. With
respect to the produce of the vine I am almost a nazarite, and find
the meagre draft of warm water to produce more uniform health
and spirits, than is derived from wine.
About three months ago I collected my tracts on the prophecies,
i8io] Warren -Adams Letters 365
and republished them, with some additional remarks.^ The whole
makes a book of about the size of a Psalm Book. The printer
undertook to sell them and to allow a year for doing it, provided I
would advance a certain sum to begin, and I promised at the same
[time] not to distribute any till he had made his trial. I believe
he has sold about half a dozen in this vicinity. If it goes on in the
same proportion in other towns, I must make my savings against
next summer in order to indemnify him.
In the additional remarks one or two pages are bestowed upon
the New testament principles of health. It is hoped that the
clergy, if any of them will be at the trouble of examining them,
will find the opinions sufficiently orthodox. The privation of the
Pope of his temporal sovereignty is an additional proof of our
general theory.
My best respects to your immediate connexions, and my best
wishes for the confirmation of your health and prosperity. I am,
Madam, with great respect Your most obedient servant
James Winthrop
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, 25 July, 18 10
Madam, — This morning I received the honor of your letter
dated the 20th and it can hardly be necessary to say that I was
exceedingly gratified. The ease and the politeness with which you
have stated your opinions upon certain points of our faith, dis-
cover the same elevated and discriminating mind, which has
always marked your writings, and been the admiration of your
friends.
Though I have given a view of the subject of prophecy, which
appears to me to be more connected and systematic, than any
other work that has come to my hands on this subject; though my
understanding is convinced, so that repeated reviews of the work
have not shewn me any error; yet I cannot blame those whose
habits of considering the subject are different from mine, for not
I Appendix to the New Testament, printed by Hilliard and Metcalf, Cambridge, 1809.
366 TV arren -Adams Letters [isio
being ready at once to change their opinions. We both look for the
coming of the Lord, and for his setting up in some part of the
creation, a visible kingdom, where his saints "will see him as
he is," at that time; and the reason assigned is that they will have
bodies like his. Whatever may be the texture of spiritual bodies,
they will be discernible by spiritual organs, as material bodies are
perceived by material organs. Hence Saint Paul draws the con-
clusion, that we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.
So far we all agree.
The question that remains is, where this is to be.'' It will be
readily confessed, that it is equally in the power of Deity to pre-
pare for himself a throne, either on this planet or in any other
part of the Universe, on which he will not disdain to sit. Wherever
it will be, his condescension will be manifested by his becoming
the visible president of his creatures. Commentators in general
have supposed some other place for the consummation of these
prophecies, but I have adopted that which fulfils them here as
being more systematic, and more consonant to the measuring of
them by time. And I believe the system you have just read
provides for all the times mentioned, and estimates those that are
future by the same principles as those already past. This is an
advantage.
The instances of visible translation which you have with so
much ability stated all of them apply to the intermediate state.
It is expressly declared of Christ that he will again appear to his
disciples In the same visible form as when he was taken from among
them. We believe the same thing of Enoch, Elijah, and all the
dead saints. The mode of their recovery or return Is no where
explained but we believe in the event. Prophecy In this, as in
most other instances, has mentioned the event without pointing
out the mode. As a large part of the series is already completed,
and appears to have come round naturally, the conclusion seems
to be just that the residue will also be fulfilled In such a rnanner
as to give the least possible shock either to our sense or our under-
standing. As for example Christ is to be the Universal Prince,
the preparation is now making by the Union of a number of
European States to establish a maritime law of Nations. This is
i8io] IVarren -Adams Letters 367
from time to time published by the head of the confederation.
When this business has become Universal, the guardian of the law
will reside at Jerusalem, and all the questions of the Intercourse
between Nations will be referred to him, and his decision will be
final. At present people are classing into parties upon this very
question. One party looks with horror upon the European Con-
federation, while the other party thinks a law of nations to be
precisely what is wanting to secure the freedom of the seas. But a
law without any officer having authority to execute it, is an
absurdity. Hence arises the need of an Universal Government,
and as I read the prophecies such an one we shall have in about
half a century. The Judgment on the Ancient establishments is
now far advanced, and reckoning the fall of Antichrist as the
signal, the time fast approaches for the triumph of the saints.
But I shall tire your patience, and must therefore conclude with
adding the wishes of Mrs. Milliard to my own that your health
and enjoyment may still remain an happiness to those who are
already advanced in life, and a light to those who are advancing.
I am. Madam, very respectfully Your most obedient servant,
James Winthrop
James Winthrop to James Warren
Cambridge, it Nov., 1810
Dear Sir, — I thank you for your appendix to Madam's
letter. If I can learn what book or kind of book you wish to read,
it will part of my happiness to help you to it. It is diverting to see
Great Britain nestling in a distress of her own creating. When her
orders in Council were made, it was with an evident view to
monopolize all the trade of the World; but if she had, it could not
have supported her. It is true that the trade of neutrals was
cramped, and by the countervailing orders of France nearly
annihilated. Very Httle trade was carried on with France, except
by English vessels specially licensed by both governments, and
the case was the same in England. Thus these two powers ex-
cluded neutrals and paid each other for making war. They have
368 JVarren- Adams Letters [18 10
now got to understand It. The neutrals have begun to estabhsh
manufactures for their own supply, the English have found so
little vent for their fabrics, especially woollen, that they sell for
little more than half the usual price, and when we take into
consideration the improvement made by their importation of
Spanish sheep, the cloths do not probably sell for a quarter of the
price, that cloth of equal goodness would have borne two years ago.
Ca ira, they fall into a pit of their own digging. Yours sincerely,
James Winthrop
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, Deer. 14, 18 10
Madam, — At the end of the College Vacation in February, I
received from you Mr. Baldwin's books, accompanied by your
charming letter. I immediately returned the books to the owner
and delivered him your message. He desired me to make his
respects to you, and to say that whenever he goes to Plymouth
he will not fail to wait upon you. He was gratified with the idea
of having rendered a service, tho' a small one, to a person of your
eminence in the literary as well as polite world.
I have not seen the jEgis. Nobody here takes it. I take the
Chronicle and other Democratic papers from Boston, except the
Patriot which did not need aid. The eastern papers I took while
they continued democratic. When they apostatised, they lost
me for a customer. I do not now take the Boston papers for the
sake of reading them, but it is necessary to contribute toward
public information, and I have chosen the democratic side. The
federals are willing to read if they are not called upon to pay.
By this means readers are found. They do not however always
read with judgment. An instance I recollect. One of my federal
neighbors with whom the Democrat was left, sent it home after
he had read it and sent me word that there was a most excellent
speech of Mr. Otis in it. I a little wondered at the intelligence,
and on searching for the speech found only the remarks upon it.
It happened to be on the opposite side of the question from my
i8io] TVarren- Adams Letters 369
federal neighbor. To return, not having seen the JEgis I am unable
to give any opinion of the review.
Though in a former letter I mentioned your friendly remarks as
an inducement to try to justify indulging in light and trivial
conversation, it was not done on any supposition of deficiency of
candor on your part. So far from it, that if I had suspected any
want of candor, I should not have given any reasons at all. But
knowing the high value you set upon that virtue, I was willing to
inform you of all the operations of my own mind, so far as they
influence my outward conduct. The reasons did not arise from
pique, but from confidence.
All this winter I have been occupied, except when engaged in
business, in peeping into the Russian language. As I could not
buy a dictionary, I have been engaged in epitomizing a borrowed
one. It seems to be an odd pursuit for a person just compleating
his fifty-eighth year; but it Is not so bad as Cato the censor, who
learned greek at upward of eighty. But the more languages we
learn, the easier new ones become. We see more of their resemb-
lance in construction and learn to apply general principles, as we
do in other branches of knowledge. It every day becomes more
evident, that all languages are branches of one original, as Moses
has declared.
Mrs. Hllllard and Harriet send their respects, and thanks for
your congratulations. The occasion however has not yet fully
matured, but It is apprehended will take place.
I am glad to learn by Mr. Warren's letter, that your health
continues as good as usual. ^ I am, Madam, with great respect
Your most obedient servant,
James Winthrop
I A letter from Elbridge Gerry to Mrs. Warren, November 7, 181 1, is in 5 Collections,
IV. 499.
370 W^arren -Adams Letters [1812
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, 8 Feb., 1812
Madam, — This morning I was honored with the receit of your
letter of the 5th. inst. inclosing one of 31 Aug., 181 1, intended to
have been delivered hy Mr. Judson Jr. When last at Plymouth I
had the pleasure of seeing him, and the pleasure would have been
renewed and heightened by his bringing your letter. I do not know
how long it is since any communication has passed between us,
but it is very long; and give me leave to add, that it has not been
owing to neglect or forgetfulness on my part; but to the want of
any other matter, than such as we suppose always exists in the
minds of those, who are in the habit of friendly intercourse.
I should have been glad to have seen Mr. Judson ^ before his
departure from his own country to Calcutta, but as by this time
he has probably gone, the attempt to see him would be vain, and
writing would be little if any better. I wish him all the success,
that the nature and importance of his Enterprise deserve. As it
respects Christianity, this is an eventful and interesting time.
The Exertions made in England and in this country to propagate
the knowledge of the Bible in the most remote and benighted
corners of the earth, are so great and at present so prosperous;
that a very few years will probably shew Christianity to be the
prevailing religion all over the World. At present it is the only one
of any note in America. In Russia it is the religion of the Govern-
ment and generally predominant among the people. In India and
the Islands, so far as they have been subjected by the English or
Dutch, it is the religion of the Government and common among
the people. In China and Persia the Government has little to do
with it, but a large proportion of the people adopt it, and an en-
terprising Christian probably would not be without supporters.
China and Japan still reject it. But as the power of the Christians
prevails in India, it will not be long before some question arises
between them and the Chinese, which may require force to
determine. In that case the resistance of China would be very
I Adoniram Judson (1788-1850), whose life was written by Francis Wayland (1853)
and his son Edward Judson (1883).
i8i2] IVarren 'Adams Letters 371
short. These things will all be done within half a century. And
about 1866 Mahometanism will be diverted, and the Messiah's
Kingdom established at Jerusalem and the Arabian peninsula
will be his Domicil of Empire. I wish Mr. Judson would send me a
catalogue of the books printed in the Oriental languages at Cal-
cutta with their prices, including bibles, dictionaries and gram-
mars. They are printed to be sold cheap, but we want to regulate
our expence, and not run into a thoughtless expenditure. If he
has not already gone, I shall be obliged to you to get him to make
a memorandum of my wish and as soon as he can after his ar-
rival to transmit it to me. It is a branch of learning in which I
am at present interested. If he has already gone, his father will
have no objection to inserting such a clause in his first letter. If
there be any expence in procuring such a catalogue, I will gladly
defray it, but without it I know not what books to try for. Dr.
Marchman the Baptist Missionary at Serampore, and one of their
principal translators, will easily help him in this respect.
I hope your health remains good, and that your eyes have
amended. Let me hear from you soon. My best regards to your
children. I am with much respect, Madam, Your most obedient
Servant,
James Winthrop
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, 13 Deer., 1812
Madam, — I hope your health continues as good as it has been
for some time past. It is long since I have heard directly from
Plymouth. Has any communication been yet received from Mr.
Judson in India. How does his father bear his absence.'*
Two events have, since the Commencement of the French
Revolution, taken place, which have satisfied me of the detestable
maxims of the old governments of Europe, and convinced me that
they ought to be extirpated. One of them was that Louis i6th.
paid two armies at the same time for fighting with each other.
As King of France he was commander in chief of all the armies
37 2 TV arren -Adams Letters [1812
of the state, and he put them in motion to defend the country
against the German Armies and the French Emigrants. He at the
same time was paying the emigrants for invading their country,
under the pretence of restoring the King to the ancient preroga-
tives, that he had himself renounced. When this fact was ascer-
tained, It cost him his head.
The other events which characterize the extreme depravity of
the old governments, are the late Conduct of the Russians in
setting fire to their towns, when they found themselves unable to
resist the french invaders in the field. They have claimed the
honor of a great victory over the french army because they held
in check the column of the latter which was on the right of the
French and nearest to Moscow. In the centre and on the left
Victory was decisive in favor of the French. So that as it respects
the whole battle the Russians were the losers. Their subsequent
conduct, shews pretty plainly what sort of victory they boasted
of; for the next view we have of this same victorious army Is that
it retreated, the french continued their march toward Moscow,
and the governor in despair of making any effectual defence set
on fire and actually destroyed great part of the city, when the
arrival of the French saved the remainder, and stopped the con-
flagration. If this can with any propriety of speech be called a
victory it is difficult to determine what is not one.
Moscow Is described as the most extensive town in Europe being
about twenty four English miles in circuit, and tho' larger than
London or Paris, did not probably contain more than a quarter of
the population of either of those cities. The houses were chiefly
of wood, and at a distance from each other. This accounts for the
time it took to burn so much of the town as was consumed, and
the number of fires to be kindled. But it seems the french Troops,
whether from seeing the flames at a distance In the bearing of
Moscow, or from other means of Intelligence, took the alarm and
arrived in time to save the greater part of the city. While the
Russians were destroying their own towns and turning out the
inhabitants at the beginning of winter to perish by cold and
hunger, the french appeared as their saviors. Can there be any
doubt to which party the affections of those distressed people
i8i2] W^arren- Adams Letters 373
will incline? The same policy, barbarous and mistaken as it was,
had been pursued by the Russians at Smolensko and other places
which they had lost, and was pursued so constantly and system-
atically, as to leave little doubt of being grounded on imperial
orders. But surely no government has a right to distress or
destroy a part of their subjects, whom it finds itself unable to
protect. Accordingly it has been the policy of European Nations,
when they found it necessary to leave a place to the mercy of an
enemy to withdraw their troops and let the inhabitants make the
best terms they could with the victorious general. At the end of
the War it has been customary to restore conquests. But what
claim can a government have to the benefit of the rule, who con-
sider it not as their duty to preserve their people, but suppose they
have also a right to destroy them.
A reverse of the British influence seems to have taken place in
Spain. Madison probably re-elected. All these things tend to
give us peace.
Our friends here all join in respect to you and yours, please
to accept my best respects for you and your children. I am,
Madam, with great respect Your most obedient Servant
James Winthrop
Elbridge Gerry to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, 17th Decr.^ 181 2
I have received, my dear Madam, your friendly letter of the
7th, and proposing a ride to Quincy yesterday, I called at the Post
office and was favored with that of the 12th and with the copy it
enclosed.
Your congratulations are always a source of great pleasure,
especially when they respect my family or self; because I am sure
they are the sincere effusions of friendship. Those which respect
the health of Mrs. Gerry, as you justly conceive, relate to a
primary object; one that is essential to my happiness. And those
which regard my supposed election, are highly flattering; as well
for the sanction they imply of my political conduct, as for the
374 IVarren 'Adams Letters [1812
interest they manifest, in whatever concerns myself or family,
for these unequivocal expressions of your good opinion and
friendship, accept Madam my sincere and grateful acknowledg-
ments. The re-election of Mr. Madison was in my mind an event
of vast magnitude; for had it been defeated, G. Britain would have
had a well founded prospect of a triumph over our liberty, and
with all the Powers of Europe, would have considered her corrupt
influence over us, as being paramount to our political Virtue, and
to our sense of national honor. My opinion of Mr. Madison,
is perfectly coincident with your own; "that we have more to
hope" from his election, than from that of any other person "that
could have been selected in the U States." The Sphere of the
Vice-President is contracted, and the public expectations, it is
conceived, will not extend beyond its limits.
At Quincy, I had a very agreable Interview with President
Adams and his Family; and in a tete a tete, with Mrs. Adams, I
remarked on the pleasure which I had derived from the informa-
tion received of her visit with her daughter and one of her grand
daughters, to Plymouth. I likewise stated the pleasing impression
made on my mind, by the proposition of the President for termin-
ating the differences which had existed between him and yourself;
to which she replyed, that as they were not accepted, the Presi-
dent did not regret this circumstance, conceiving as he did, that
he had gone too far in his advances. This conversation happened,
in the absence of the President, who was called on by a person
in waiting, and who returning, prevented further observations.
Circumstanced as this affair then was, I deemed it ineligible to
pursue the subject further at that time; especially as Mrs. Adams
appeared to me a little uneasy; and to be guarded in her observa-
tions. Should there be any future prospect of restoring mutual
friendship to my respected, my highly respected friends; I shall
pursue the object with unremitted endeavours.
I return the letters and answers by your Grandson Mr. Winslow
Warren; and having attentively perused both, my desires are more
ardent to terminate amicably, this unhappy dissention between
a Lady and Gentleman; who were once affectionate friends, and
always, Ornaments of Society. The productions alluded to, if they
i8i3] JVarren- Adams Letters 375
should attain publicity, will be sedulously applied to the injury
of the fame of both parties, by their respective enemies. I regret
exceedingly, that existing circumstances, seem to increase the
difficulty of approximating to each other my particular friends;
but despair is inadmissible, in any case, accept, I pray you,
Madam, with every member of your amiable family, the affec-
tionate regards of my own, and of your sincere and respectful
friend,
E. Gerry
P. S. A visit to Plymouth this winter, will I fear be impractic-
able. It would give me great pleasure.^
James Winthrop to Mercy Warren
Cambridge, 28 Feh.^ 1813
Madam, — Your two letters of Jan. 6 and Feb. 21. I received
with great pleasure in due season. The first of them gives a true,
tho' melancholy picture of the weakness and absurdity of the old
establishments of Europe, and of the World. They have been now
for a number of years on the decline, and are now mostly blotted
out from the map; or in the scripture style are judged by righteous
men. We trust that a better order of things is begun on that
Continent.
I am sorry for the disaster of the french army in the north.
Napoleon's commission seems to be to reform the Western Roman
Empire. Nearly all of it is now reduced. Only England still sur-
vives with the little kingdom of Portugal. This remainder will
soon vanish. But the northern powers or Gog will require some
time longer. Ezekiel, if I rightly understand his 39th chapter
allows seven prophetic years or 2520 common years for the con-
test between the believers and unbelievers. These are to be reck-
oned from the rise of Antichrist in A D. 532. When the judgment
on Antichrist begun in 1792, half the period was elapsed. At the
I A letter from Mrs. Adams to Mrs. Warren, December 30, i8iz, and Mrs. Warren's
reply, January 26, 1813, are in 5 Collections, iv. 501, 503.
376 IVarren 'Adams Letters [181 3
commencement of the second half begun the judgment on Anti-
christ, the 70 years of Jewish expectation and the Judgment on
Gog or the northern powers. For this last Ezekiel allots seven
months or 210 common years. It will therefore end about the year
2000. He says the place of their defeat shall be on the east side
of the sea, in the valley of passengers, and shall be called the
valley of Hamon Gog. Ez. xxxix. 11. 12. The valley of passengers
or resort of travellers agrees remarkably well with the Nether-
lands, which have for many years been distinguished as a principal
part of the grand tour, and are on the East side of the Ocean. If
then that part of Europe is still to be the seat of war between the
northern and southern states of Europe till Gog is exhausted,
we may not look for its speedy reduction. The other powers we
may consider as revolutionized already beyond a recovery. The
Judgment on Antichrist will determine, according to Daniel,
about 1 82 1.
The federal or british party are much elated by the late dis-
tresses of the French army; but I believe their triumph will be
short Mr. Madison's election goes but little way in the scale of
these great events; but it shews the preponderating sentiment of
our nation. It seems to me that Great Britain will hold Portugal
but a very little longer. Their power in that country will be of still
shorter duration, if they send any considerable reinforcement to
Canada; for I do not think, they have army enough for both
services.
I am sorry the missionaries failed of their admission to India,
and suspect it was not so much owing to their being Americans,
as to their design of teaching Christianity. I believe that at
present the religion of the New Testament is at as low an Ebb in
India as in any part of the World, unless it be in Japan. If I
recollect rightly, Buchanan ^ says the Government there prefer a
native heathen before a Christian for the Offices in their gift;
and that a revenue is raised from some parts of Idolatrous worship.
It is then no wonder that they are loth to establish a better sys-
tem. The repulsed missionaries are reported to have gone to
Madagascar. But they will probably not fare much better there.
I Claudius Buchanan, who wrote much on mission work in Asia.
i8i3] Ji^arren 'Adams Letters 2>17
The island is now in possession of the EngHsh, who during the
present war reduced the french colony there. The natives are still
in a most barbarous state.
Accept reciprocal Congratulations on the Commencement of
the New Year, and on having entered your 85th. Very few have
the indulgence of so long a term for the enjoyment of their facul-
ties in so much ease and comfort. It is however a blessing which
your friends enjoy with you.
I am sorry for the disease of my friend Henry Warren. I have
taken a week to enquire for some leeks, but have not yet met with
any. There are none in the Botanic Gardens, nor in any other,
that I can hear of in this vicinity. There are however some in-
stances of outgrowing the disorder. The late Rev. Mr. Badger of
Natic was one.^
My love, if you please, to Maria, I long to see her, and to your
children. Mrs. Hilliard joins her good wishes to those of Mrs.
Peck and myself for the continuance of your health and happiness.
My brother has been unwell this winter, but is now pretty well
reestablished. He superintends his farm in this neighborhood and
about 18 months ago built him a new house on the old site, in
which he lives. I am, Madam, with much respect Your most
obedient servant,
James Winthrop
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
QuiNCY, -^^n7 9th, 1813
My dear Madam, — I cannot let . my son pass through
Plimouth without stoping to inquire after your Health, and that
of your Family!
Nor of asking you who have lived many Years, and whose
observations and experience must have excited in your mind.
Reflections which ought not to terminate with your days.
what is your opinion of the great and important events which
are taking place in the civilized world .? will they terminate in the
I Stephen Badger (i7Z5-i8o3).
378 TVarren -Adams Letters [181 3
freedom and happiness of the Great Family of Man? and are the
Members of that great Family capable of appreciating and enjoy-
ing so great a Blessing?
Do we who boast of being the most enlightend Nation use our
Liberty, without abusing it? what shall we answer? verily we are
Guilty.
So great a system seems to be unfolding that the mind is be-
wilderd in the contemplation, it can only rest upon the belief
that there is a wise and just Moral Govenour of the universe, who
will order and direct all things to his own Glory.
Let me again see the Signature of my Friend to convince me
that she is yet a sublinary Being, which will give pleasure to her
assured Friend,^
A. Adams
John Adams to Elbridge Gerry
QuiNCY, April 17, 1 81 3
Dear Sir, — Since I have read again, your Law "for encourag-
ing the fitting out armed Vessells," printed in Edes's Watertown
Gazette of the thirteenth of November, 1775; I have had the
Curiosity to look into several of our Historians, in order to see
what notice they have taken of this Transaction, which had such
important Consequences.
It was natural to begin with Mrs. Warren, as she was a native
of this Province, a Daughter of the first Member of the Counsell,
and the Consort of the Speaker of the House, composing the
Legislature which enacted it. In the first Volume of her History,
page 239, Chap. 7. 1775, after representing the want of Arms and
Ammunition she says:
These Circumstances accellerated a spirritted measure, before contemplated
only by a few; the arming and equipping of ships to cruize on British Property,
was a bold attempt, that startled the Apprehensions of many, zealously opposed to
the undue exercise of British power; but necessity impelled, and the Enterprize
I A letter from Elbridge Gerry to Mrs. Warren, April 20, 18 13, is in 5 Collections, iv.
504.
i8i3] JVarren 'Adams Letters 379
was pursued. The General Assembly of the Massachusetts soon resolved to build,
equip, and arm, a number of Vessels suitable for the purpose, to cruise and cap-
ture any British Ships that might be found, on or near their Coasts. They granted
Letters of Marque and Reprisal to several Adventurers, and appoint Courts of
Admiralty for the Tryal and condemnation of any captures within those Limits.
By these means, the seasonable capture, in the beginning of this Enterprise,
of a British Ship, laden with Ordnance, and an assorted cargo of warlike stores,
sufficiently supplied the exegencies of the Army and dissipated the fears of those,
who had suiTered the most painful Apprehensions for the safety of their Country.
These Naval Preparations may perhaps be said, not to have been merely of a
defensive nature, the Line yet avowedly observed by the Americans, But they
had advanced too far to recede. Sophistical distinctions of Words or names were
laid aside. It is a Fact of which every one is sensible that successful Opposition to
arbitrary sway, places a civic crown, on the head of the Hero that resists; when
contingences that defeat, confer an hempen cord, instead of a wreath of laurel.
The Success and Catastrophe of the infant Navy of America, will be shewn in
the succeeding Pages.
I should have expected that this ingenious Lady would have at
least inserted your Law, which is certainly one of the most impor-
tant Documents in the History of the World, in her Appendix to
this volume. But no; the above Paragraph is all she says upon an
Event so extreamly important to the Salvation of her Country
at that time and at this. Had that Law been conceived or drawn
by her Brother, her Father, or her Husband, Her Reader would
have been favoured with a more ample detail and a more elegant
panegyrick. But I presume this was written after She had con-
ceived the horror of a Navy, which appears in other Parts of her
History; and after she had acquired the habit of concording with
my Enemies, in condemning me and my zeal to promote a Navy
in 1798.
In page 247 are recorded the Proceedings of Congress towards a
Naval Establishment, in a still more summary manner.
Many Gentlemen, sanguine in Opinion, that an American Navy was no
Utopian project, but that her Marine might rapidly rise to a respectable height;
engaged with an energy that seldom fails of carrying into execution any Attempt
the human mind, on principles of reason is capable of forming. They accordingly
built, on the large rivers from Portsmouth to Pensylvania, a Number of Vessels,
Row Gallies, and Frigates, from four to forty Guns; fitted manned, and com-
pleatly equipped them for Sea in the Course of a few Months. All encouragement
was given both to public and private Adventurers, who engaged in the Sea
380 TV arren 'Adams Letters [1813
Service; Success was equal to expectation; many very valuable Prizes, and a vast
number of Provision Vessels, from England, Ireland and Nova Scotia were
captured, and by this means, the Americans were soon supplied, not only with
the Necessaries for War, but with the conveniences and the Luxuries of Life.
Is this not strange, that one of the boldest, most dangerous and
most important Measures and Epochas in the History of the New
World The Commencement of an independent National Estab-
lishment of a new maritime and Naval military Power should be
thus carelessly and confusedly hurried over? Had the Historian
never read the Law of Massachusetts? Nor the Journal of Con-
gress? One would think that this momentous Business was all per-
formed by a few rash Individuals and private Adventurers.
History is not the Province of the Ladies. These three Volumes
nevertheless contain many Facts, worthy of Preservation. Little
Passions and Prejudices, want of Information, false Information,
want of Experience, erroneous Judgment, and frequent Partial-
ity, are among the Faults. Other Historians shall soon be exam-
ined, by your faithful Friend,
John Adams
John Adams to Elbridge Gerry
QuiNCY, April 26, 1813
Dear Sir, — Although Governor Gage's Prediction to General
Jo. Warren has not yet been fully accomplished In this Country;
yet as his observation was suggested by History, it will be found
too just, some time or other. Selfishness has disappointed The
Hopes of Patriotism and Philanthropy in all Ages, not only in
England at the Period of her Commonwealth.
Edes's Watertown Gazette shall be carefully returned to you or
Mr. Austin if he requires it.
Had your Motion in Congress been adopted, and a Man of
Sense and Letters appointed in each State to collect Memorials
of the Rise Progress and Termination of the Revolution: We
should now Possess a Monument of more inestimable Value than
all the Histories and Orations that have been written. The Few,
i8i3] TVarren- Adams Letters 381
if they are not more selfish than the Many, are more cunning;
and all the Ages of the World, have not produced such glar-
ing proofs of it, as the History of this Country for the last thirty
years. I look back with Astonishment at the Height and Depth,
the Length and Breadth of this Stupendous Fabrick of Artifice.
If I had suspicions of the Depravity of our Politicians, I had
no Idea of their Genius. That Mr. Jay, the President of Con-
gress when your motion was made, admired it, is no Surprize to
me. His head could conceive and his heart feel the importance
of it.
Your Allusion to the Controversy with Governor Hutchinson
has touch'd me to the quick. I want the Journal of the General
Court, which contains his Speeches and the Answers his Replica-
tions and your Rejoinders. These were printed alltogether in
a Pamphlet. But I cannot find that Pamphlet nor hear of it.
Governor Adams once showed it to me, and Judge Paine men-
tioned it to me, a year or two ago: but I dared not say a word to
him about it, much less to ask the Loan of it.
You, my Friend, have been hurt by your Country: so have I.
We have sacrificed our Lives our Families our Popularity, our
Reputations our Pleasures our Comforts to the Publick: while
the Politicians have accumulated Fortunes, Palaces in the City
and Villas In the Country. It is in my opinion our duty to brave
the Imputation of Vanity and Egotism by recording Facts that
no other human Beings know. Our Country will be benefited by
it, some time or other. There are a few Anecdotes which I wish
to reduce to writing, particularly the Impeachment of the Judges
and the Controversy with General Brattle.
You talk to me at seventy-seven Years of Age of Writing
History. If I was only thirty, I would not undertake an History
of the Revolution In less than twenty years. A few Facts I wish to
put upon Paper: and an Awful Warning to do it soon has been
given me by the Sudden Death of our Friend Rush. Livingstone
and Clymer had preceeded him in the same Year; the same
Spring.^ How few remain. Three in Massachusetts I believe are a
I Benjamin Rush died April 19, 1813; Robert R. Livingston, February 26; and George
Clymer, January 23.
382 TVarren- Adams Letters [1813
Majority of the Surviving Signers of a Declaration which has
had too much Credit in the World, and the Expence of the most
of its Signers.^
As a Man of Science, Letters, Taste, Sense, Phylosophy,
Patriotism, Religion, Morality, Merit, Usefulness, taken all-
together Rush has not left his equal in America, nor that I know
in the World. In him is taken away, and in a manner most sudden
and totally unexpected a main Prop of my Life. "Why should I
grieve when grieving I must bear.^"
I can conceive no reason why Governor Plumer may not be
furnished with every Scratch of a Pen relative to the X, Y, and Z
Embassy. I know not where to look for any one Paper relative
to it.
It would give me great Pleasure to see Commodore Williams.^
His List of Prizes would be very acceptable. I wish he would
write his own Life. With high Esteem and strong Affection,
John Adams
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
QuiNCY, June 20, 1 81 3
Such is the warlike state of Nations and their various destinies,
that we cannot calculate what is to be the end of these things,
who are to be the conquerors, or why they thus destroy each other,
but thus it has been from Age to Age, and will continue so, as
long as time endures.
Whether Bonaparte is again to become the conqueror, time
must decide.
The conduct of our own State Government cannot surely meet
the approbation of any real American. I should much rather
chuse, that the Name of my Family should be blotted from the
page of History, than appear upon Record as the proposer of
1 Samuel Adams died in 1803, leaving John Adams, Robert Treat Paine and Elbridge
Gerry the surviving Signers from Massachusetts. Paine and Gerry died in 1814.
2 John Foster Williams (1743-1814), but he does not appear to have held the rank of
commodore.
i8i3] TVarren- Adams Letters 383
such a Resolution as past the Senate in their late Session.^ I do not
view this war, as waged for conquest, or ambition, but for our
injured Rights, for our freedom, and the security of our Independ-
ence, and therefore shall rejoice when any Naval victory, or mili-
tary success attend upon our Arms, which may give us any hope or
prospect of Peace, which always ought to be the object aimed at,
and I sincerely believe is so by our Government, most sincerely
do I wish that war could have been avoided.
I inclose to you for your perusal several Letters from my son,^
they will perhaps give you a better Idea of the contending powers
than I am able to. you will be so good as to return them when
read.
I am dear Madam with sentiments of Love veneration and
esteem, your Friend,
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
QuiNCY, July nth, 181 3
My Dear Madam, — I received your obliging favour with the
Letters inclosed, and was gratified that the sentiments which they
containd met your cordial approbation, and excited congenial
feelings in the Bosoms of your sons — If I may judge from the
marks which distinguish them.
I have Indeed great cause for pleasure and satisfaction, in the
ability. Integrity, and fidelity with which my son has devoted
himself to his Country, and if In the hand of providence he may
be instrumental in restoring peace to it^ It will enhance every
other pleasure and compensate me for the loss I sustain in his
company and society, which would be most dear to both his
Father and Mother, who know that they have but a short space
of time left to enjoy it.
Read, my dear Madam, the inclosed Letter, which altho written
1 The Remonstrance against the war adopted by the General Court June 15, 1813. It
is printed in the Columbian Ceniinel, June 23, 18 13.
2 John Quincy Adams.
384 Warren "Adams Letters [1813
more than a year since, I received but yesterday, and as usual
opened. I rather wonder, when it containd such \cui\ kers, that
they were good enough to forwa[rd cut\ the account of the Char-
acters which are \cui\ for any political information which it con-
tains. What favorable issue can we expect to negotiation with a
ministry formed of such Characters.'* May not British faith bear a
parallel with Galic.^
I am extreemly grieved at the party violence which prevails,
and which leads to such disgracefuU outrages as that committed
upon your Son. I hope the injury not so great as you at first
feard. pray let me hear how he is. There is yet Law and I hope
justice, to [punish] such offenders, and to bind them to good
behaviour, the scripture calls for an eye, for an eye, yet even that
will not restore lost sight.
Since I received your Letter in which you so kindly interest
yourself for my Dear Daughter Smith, I have received a Letter
from my Grandson John A. Smith, who writes to me, that it is
his Mother's most earnest wish to be brought to Quincy, and that
altho for six weeks she has not been able to get across her Room,
yet he thinks she has gained some strength; and in compliance
with her desire he has undertaken to journey with her by slow
degrees, and if possible get her here, which will relieve my mind
of that constant anxiety which I daily have to know how she is.
her son gives me but a melancholy account of her health. I hope
the journey and change of air, society of her family and Friends,
will have a favorable effect.
"God tempers the wind to the shorn Lamb," Sterne tell us,
and all our troubles in this Life are no doubt designed for salutary
purposes, with them is blended goodness and mercy — and with
Jobe, I would say, altho he slay me, I will trust in him. with an
affectionate remembrance to all your family I subscribe yours as
ever,
Abigail Adams
i8i3] JVarren- Adams Letters 385
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
QuiNCY, Sep'hr 5th, 1813
My dear Madam, — Your kind and sympathetic Letter de-
mands my thanks, and receives my gratitude. My own loss is
not to be estimated by words, and can only be alleviated by the
consoling belief that my dear Daughter is partakeing of that Life
and immortality brought to light by him, who endured the cross,
and is gone before to prepare a place; for those who Love him, and
keep his commandments.^
Her patience submission, and Resignation have been a lesson
to me, neither to murmur or complain, but cheerfully to resign
her into the Hands of that Being, who gave her to me, and who
certainly had the best right to remand her, gratefull to him, that
her sufferings were so soon terminated.
She has left me a treasure, whose conduct upon this trying
occasion, exemplifies her faith in the Religion of which she has
been early in Life a public professor, and the precepts of which,
its promisses and rewards, are the sources to which she resorts for
comfort, deprived thus early in Life of a parent who was devoted
to her, and to whom she was attached by the strongest ties of
fillial Love duty and gratitude.
The president thanks you for your sympathy with him. the
precepts of phylosophy may teach us to endure what the laws
of the universe make necessary, it may infuse stubborness but
Religion alone can teach submission and patience, as Johnson
remarks.
My dear Caroline has exprest a wish in unison with your own,
and gratefully accepts your kind invitation to visit the Ancient
Friend of her Mother, and of her Grandparents, and to manifest
to you the Respect and Veneration in which from her earliest
years she has been instructed to hold the partial Friend of her
Mother. It would give me pleasure to accompany her, but I feel
more wedded to home than ever, and could not leave the Bereaved
Father a prey to solitude.
I beg leave to substitute in my Room an other Granddaughter,
I Abigail (Adams) Smith died August 15, 1813.
386 TVarren -Adams Letters [1813
a good girl lively and affectionate. She is very desirious of paying
her respects to, and being noticed by a Lady so highly and so
justly respected as the venerated Friend of many years, the long
tried and Ancient Friend of her Grandparents. She is the Eldest
Daughter of my son Charles well known to you in early Life.^
I regret that Mrs. Adams,^ my son Thomas's wife, cannot have
the long anticipated pleasure of visiting you with them, as she
was prepared to do, when yesterday she was summond to Boston
to attend the funeral of her sisters child — an Infant of a year old,
suddenly taken out of Life, by the disease of the season.
In that warfare there is no distinction.
I have not, dear Madam, received any late Letters from my
son in Russia, when any arrive which I can communicate, it will
be a double pleasure to know that my Friend will share it with me.
Col. Smith the respected partner of my late dear Daughter
accompanies the Ladies, and will do himself the pleasure of waiting
upon you.
be assured that I am what I ever have been, and ever shall be
your affectionate Friend,
Abigail Adams
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plymouth, September 12, 181 3
Sir, — I was much gratified by seeing your signature affixed
to a Letter addressed to Mm. Warren. I am also gratified and
obliged by the marks of your attention manifest in the interesting
inclosures in yours under date September 1st, one of which deeply
affected me as a Sister.^ I have for many years known your
1 Charles Adams (1770-1800) married in 1795, Sarah Smith (1769-1828), Their eldest
daughter Susanna B. (1796-1846) married (i) Charles Thomas Clark (1793-1818) and (2)
William R. H. Treadway (1795-1836).
2 Ann (Harod) Adams.
3 A letter from Governor McKean, August 20, 1813, in which he wrote: "In the Con-
gress of 1765 there were several conspicuous characters: Mr. James Otis appeared to me
to be the boldest and best speaker. I voted for him as our President, but Brigadier Ruggles
succeeded by one vote, owing to the number of the Committee from New York, as we
voted individually: when the business was finished our President would not sign the peti-
tions, and peremptorily refused to assign any reasons, until I pressed him so hard that he
i8i3] If^arren- Adams Letters 387
respect and regard for a brother so justly esteemed by his connec-
tions, his friends and his country. No American knew him better
than the author of the dialogue, nor is any one more capable of
portraying his character and handing it down to posterity than
yourself.
The sketch in my hand in connection with some of the greatest
actors who have exhibited their parts on this narrow stage of
human action, is a proof of your correct knowledge of history and
your capacity for comparing the ages of Charlemagne, Frederick
the Great, Rousseau and Otis, though in times so remote from
each other, and drawing the results of their sentiments and trans-
actions and the operations thereof on the moral conduct of man-
kind in our own age and in that of Posterity.
I have. Sir, availed myself of the liberty you gave me of extract-
ing or copying any part of your communications. Depend upon it.
I shall make no improper use thereof, though I have copied the
Dialogue and taken a few sentences from Govr. McKean's letter.
I should as you enjoined have returned the Packet earlier, had not
my own Optics been too weak and my other eyes so occupied,
especially in the last six days, while so engaged and delighted by a
visit from a part of your family. Lovely Girls ! sent by Providence
to support the pillow of age, while nightly recollecting the tomb
that encloses the most amiable of daughters. I am, respected Sir,
with all due regard your friend ^
Mercy Warren
at last said, 'it was against his conscience* on which word I rung the change so loud, that a
plain challenge was given by him and accepted, in the presence of the whole corps; but he
departed the next morning before day without an adieu to any of his brethren. He seemed
to accord with what was done during the session so fully and heartily, that Mr. Otis told
me frequently it gave him surprise, as he confessed he suspected his sincerity."
A second enclosure was a "Dialogue of the Dead," apparently written by John Adams
"of a musing moment of an evening at Richmond Hill when Congress sat at New York in
1789, immediately after the arrival of the news of Dr. Franklin's death." As Franklin
died April 17, 1790, the year given by Mr. Adams was in error, but no copy of the Dialogue
has been found.
I The body of the letter is by a son and only the signature, very infirm, is by Mrs.
Warren.
388 TVarren 'Adams Letters [18 13
John Adams to Mercy Warren Adams mss.
QuiNCY, November 24, 181 3
Governor McKean's notice of your brother I thought worth
preserving in your family. The oddity of the Dialogue ^ and the
particular moment of its composition, were the circumstances that
made it rather an object of curiosity than use. I think, however,
the Traits of Character are correct.
I know not. Madam, what your Father, your Husband, or your
Brother, would think of these times. A mighty effort of nature
is in operation that no understanding below that Providence which
superintends and directs it can comprehend. An entire separation,
in government at least, between America and Europe seems to be
commencing, but what will be its course, when and how it will
terminate, and what influence it will have upon Asia and Africa,
no living man, I believe, will pretend to foresee. We have acted
our parts. The curtain will soon be drawn upon us. We must leave
the future to that Providence which has protected the Past. This
sentiment of duty and interest, I doubt not, Madam, will be
approved by you, as I hope it is realised with gratitude and entire
confidence and submission by your old friend and respectful
humble Servant,
John Adams
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plymouth, December 22d, 181 3
Sir, — Your Letter of the 24th ult. ought to be early acknow-
ledged by one who, through a long life, has not been insensible of
the worth of friendship, or negligent whenever in her power to
cherish the invaluable treasure. I am, therefore, delighted to see
our young people strengthening each other in that disposition
which may be a source of happiness to them as they tread over
the stage of life so replete with trial and change.
I See page 387, supra. This letter is also printed in 5 Collections, iv. 504.
i8i3] TVarren 'Adams Letters 389
TTie pleasure I received from Mrs. Adams' visit with her excel-
lent daughter is delightful on reflection. Since which have been
much gratified by a visit from the surviving partner of my dear
Mrs. Smith and his daughter. You inform me your family were
pleased with their visit, which leads me to anticipate another in
some future day.
I thank you for your candor and the interest you profess for
each member of my family, and particularly for your expressions
of approbation and esteem of my Mercy Otis Warren.
It is impossible. Sir, for you and myself to correspond without
recollecting past time, when my father, my husband, my brother
and yourself were united in effort to emancipate their country
from the yoke of foreign domination. I can easily conceive, had
you not mentioned them, how pleasant it would be to you to con-
verse with those departed worthies in this day of present difficulty
and distress which seems to have pervaded the whole habitable
globe. But all the wisdom and virtues of your former associates in
the great struggle which we have witnessed might not be able to
extricate from present evils, though with unparalleled wisdom
and success, the patriots of the Revolution finished it with dig-
nity to themselves and with the hope of universal benefit to man-
kind.
May I ask what is the present prospect and what may be the
termination and final result of existing commotions, as they relate
both to Europe and America.'' You have wisely and seriously
observed in your last that ''''no understanding helow that Providence
which superintends and directs it, can comprehend the mighty efforts
of nature which are in operation^ Yet it may not be improper or
impious for us to converse on the adorable goodness that has
protected in one age, and the immense prower and wisdom that
permits in another miseries of every kind to overspread the un-
grateful nations which have not duly regarded the hand of the
supreme Governor of the Universe in all his dispensations.
I am pleased with the dialogue sent me. It evinces at once your
veneration for the memory of your former friend and is a just
tribute to the memory of a man who suffered so much as did Mr.
Otis in the service of his country. The great characters which
390 TVarren- Adams Letters [1814
your imagination has grouped together in the regions of the dead
are, I think, correctly portrayed. They, as you observe, with
regard to ourselves, have acted their parts: when the curtain is
drawn may we all find favor before the Judge of all the Earth, who
will do right.
As a ship from Gottenberg arrived in the harbor of Plymouth
yesterday, my son, the Postmaster, had the pleasure this day to
forward to your hand a Letter which we presume was from your
absent Son. Your correspondence with him is among the rich
treasures you enjoy in the downhill of life. I subscribe, respected
Sir, your aged Friend and Humble Servant ^
Mercy Warren
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plymouth, March 31, 1814
I doubt not. Sir, you will be pleased when I tell you that the
Evening of my Life is smoothed by the intercourse with a number
of sensible, pious, elegant correspondents. Younger than myself,
indeed they are; but there are yet a few left who stand near the
grade of old age as well as myself, though not so far advanced.
It is truly a satisfaction to me to receive letters from a Gentleman
with whom I have corresponded for near half a century, and to
find therein the same flow of esteem, friendship and confidence,
which used to' drop profusely from his pen. That confidence is
strongly exhibited in the inclosure of yours of the 24th Inst. It is,
indeed, a very important Letter. The communication, however, is
safe in the bosom of my family.
While I congratulate my Country that she has such an Envoy at
this important crisis at the Court of Petersburgh, I must again
give you joy that you have a Son so capable of transacting the
great affairs of Nations and of the World. He developes the in-
trigues of European Courts with ease, and traces their Machia-
velian Politicians with accuracy. He writes like a Patriot, a Politi-
I Not even the signature is hers. Letters of John Adams to Mrs. Warren, February 2,
and March 24, 1814, is in 5 Collections, iv. 505, 508,
i8i4] TVarren- Adams Letters 391
cian, and a Christian; but it is not possible for the wisest of them
all to calculate on the mighty Revolutions and astonishing
changes that our Children may see. While we are rapidly passing
beyond the vale, what a consolation is it to reflect that infinite
goodness, as well as wisdom and power sits at the helm of Creation,
where this world would appear as a pebble to them, had mankind
the intellect and the permission to take a view of it from the third
heaven.
The balm of sympathy tendered in your last letter was grate-
fully received by both myself and my children. They offer, tho'
with a tearful eye, their high consideration of respect and regard
to yourself and Mrs. Adams, who have felt that the stricken deer
must have time to weep. You have learnt by lessons of severity
as well as mercy the wisdom and peace of a resigned frame of
spirit. They also adore the hand that smites them, and I trust
will meet with becoming resignation the resumption of the choic-
est comforts that have been loaned them for a time, by the bene-
ficent being who gives all things in just measure.
An admonitory sentence from one who has parted with the
most amiable of Children, and has seen other comforts withering
around him, will even be advantageous to those who are seeking
after improvement in that wisdom which is from above.
I anticipate the pleasure of Mrs. Adam's letter, not only on
account of the promise you made relative to her anecdotes of
Madam de Stael, but for the many pleasant things I always find
in her letters, which are always fraught with hints for moral and
religious improvement, that the feeble mind of mortals stands in
need of. The polite compliment from the Baron in the French
stile was perhaps no more than was due to your Lady, but the
bloom of an Angel when applied to your" daughter would have
diminished in his eye, had he been acquainted with the intellectual
charms of my lovely friend.
A Gentleman may be indulged in a little vanity as well as
gaiety, when contemplating the blessings of his own house, more
especially when writing to one truly attached to each member
thereof. •
I return your son's letter with the spirit of those who still cry
392 W^arren- Adams Letters [1814
more, more, however much good they receive. To the sweet Girls
of your family name affectionately your Friend ^
Mercy Warren
Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren
QuiNCY, May the 5th, 18 14
Dear Madam, — I most sincerely sympathize with you and the
Bereved distrest Family at Washington, in the dispensation of
heaven which has broken assunder the last paternal ligament;
and left you the only surviving pillar, of the once numerous
edifice.^
To us, who in the course of nature expect, and hope to join the
spirits of the just; are consolations, which to the bereved Widow;
and Children, are more distant and remote; for they may survive,
to feel all the anguish, of a long seperation; and to lament the loss,
of a tender, affectionate, attentive. Husband, and doating Father.
He died at his post, probably a sacrifice to over exertion, and
too great a weight, and press of Business; for his years, he died,
with the Love, respect, and esteem of his Country, having for
twenty-five years, exhibited, a strikeing example of attention and
punctuality worthy imitation. If we live to old Age, "string after
string is severed from the heart" untill, as one expresses it, we
have scarcly anything left to resign, but Breath.
To a mind elevated and endowed like your own, full of confi-
dence and hope, you can look through nature to Natures God and
trust the Ruler of the skies, sure that all events are permitted and
contrould, by infinite wisdom, justice, and Benevolence.
The circumstance of loosing a Friend distant from home, must
add to the pain of my dear Relative, and her return to her own
habitation, be solitary indeed. Mr. Otis was a most pleasant
companion, both at home, and abroad.
when at Philadelphia, I lived in constant habits of intimacy,
and Friendly intercourse with the Family, and was witness to the
cheerfulness and urbanity of his manners, which in public Life
I Only the signature is hers. 2 Samuel AUeyne Otis, died April 22, 1814.
i8i4] JVarren- Adams Letters 393
secured him against the shafts of malice, he was always moderate,
and never imposed his own opinions upon those who dissented
from him upon political Questions, he was firm in his own, and
decided, but left others the same Liberty, accordingly for twenty-
five years that he acted as Secretary to the Senate of the United
States, amidst all the conflicts of party, he retaind, the Love and
Esteem of that Body.
I need not say to you, who so well know his Character, that
he adorned the Doctrine which he professed, as a christian Liberal,
candid, and Charitable.
His uniform habits of temperance and sobriety and uninter-
rupted Health, gave him a vigor, which promised a much longer
duration, and made him dear to his Family and Friends, few of
the infirmities of Age were discoverable in him. his loss will be
most heavily felt, by his partner and his dear daughters.
I know, my dear Madam, you will offer to them, all the sym-
pathy, and consolation which your own experience can suggest,
and which supported you through a similar trying scene.
That you may still enjoy the consolations and support of the
most High, and finally be received to the Mansions of the blest, is
ardently hoped for By your affectionate Friend,
Abigail Adams
John Adams to Elbridge Gerry
QuiNCY, July 4, 1 814
My dear Friend, — I have received your kind letter of the
30th of June with emotions, which it would be in vain for me to
attempt to describe. My Attendance at Lexington is out of all
question: the State of my health renders it both morally and
physically impossible.
I dare not express even to you, in a confidential private Letter,
my recollections, my reflections, my feelings or Opinions, on this
day and these times.
Five and forty years ago, when any terrible News arrived from
England of their hostile designs against our Liberties, when the
394 W^arren- Adams Letters [1814
people gaping and stareing, pale and trembling asked me, "What
I thought of the News," my invariable Answer was, "The worse,
the better."
Nothing ever did arrouse this People, but the last and extream-
est expression and Exertion of the Contempt, the Malice and
Vengeance of Great Britain, and this, in my Opinion We shall
soon see and feel.
My Son, just beginning to be convalescent from a very severe
and dangerous Sickness which has reduced him very low, has gone
to Rhode Island for his health, your invariable Friend
John Adams
Mercy Warren to John Adams Adams mss.
Plymouth, July lo, 1814
It is very many days since I addressed a line to any of my
Quincy friends, and as I think I have been sometime in arrears
for a very agreeable Letter from the late President, my first
attention is due to him. I am quickened to discharge this obliga-
tion from having recently heard by my sister Otis that your
health is declining. The years you have counted up admonish
that the harbingers of dissolution are drawing near after three
score and ten. Yet I most sincerely hope that the life of a Gentle-
man who acted so great a part in a revolution that astonished
the world and lived to set his seal to an honorable peace after a
desolating war, 'may be spared to see peace again restored to the
United States, notwithstanding the severe threats of our old in-
veterate enemy.
I should like very much to hear your observations on the gloomy
aspect of the times. I am disposed to ask you very many ques-
tions which a Letter cannot contain. I sit in my elbow chair in the
old corner and were you and Mrs. Adams and Mrs. Warren again
to meet there before we meet in the eternal world, I think the
conversation of this trio would be neither unpleasing nor unprofit-
able. What think you. Sir, of a little jaunt to Plymouth in com-
pany with Mrs. Adams and my sweet Caroline.'' The ride might
1814] TVarren 'Adams Letters 395
contribute to your health and to that of my long tried friend, your
excellent partner. I am told that my amiable young friend just
mentioned contemplates a distant residence from that of her
Grand-Parents. I expect to see her before she spreads her wings
for the Southward. I cannot close this without inquiring when and
what you hear from the Ambassador at the Court of Petersburg.''
My next question, Sir, you may deem impertinent. Do you
remember who was the author of a little pamphlet entitled the
Group? To your hand it was committed by the writer. You
brought it forward to the public eye. I will therefore give you
my reason for naming it now. A friend of mine who lately visited
the Athenaeum saw it among a bundle of pamphlets with a high
encomium on the Author who, he asserted, was Mr. Samuel
Barrett. You can, if you please, give a written testimony con-
tradictory of this false assertion.
You and Mr. Gerry are the only surviving Gentlemen that I
recollect, who know anything of the character, the manners, the
movements, and a thousand circumstances that took place and
occupied the attention of the Patriots who struggled and suffered
in the cause of their Country from 1765 to 1783, when the instru-
ment of Independence signed by yourself and others was acknow-
ledged by foreign nations.
Am I mistaken when I observe that the generations of men
which have since arisen have been too notoriously negligent in
their enquiries relative to the principles and the foundation of
the rights and liberties acquired by the labours and blood of
their Ancestors, that with few exceptions they appear a very
ignorant and narrow minded people. I forbear to say more on
this or any other subject, lest I should trespass on your patience.
With the most cordial wishes for the restoration of your health
and my affectionate regards to Mrs. Adams, to Susan, Caroline
and others of your family, subscribes respectfully your Friend
and Humble Servant ^
Mercy Warren
I The entire letter is in the writing of her son. On July 15 John Adams replied and the
letter is in Writings of John Adams, x. 98. A second letter from Mrs. Warren, August 4,
1814, is in 5 Collections, iv. 509, and was the last letter she wrote to Mr. Adams. She died
October 19, 1814.
396 JVarren- Adams Letters [1814
John Adams to Mercy Warren Adams mss.
QuiNCY, August 17, 1 8 14
DearMadam, — I have certified in the book in the Athenaeum that
to my certain knowledge, The Group was written by Mrs, Warren.
Your poHte invitation to Plymouth is esteemed as an effusion of
friendship, ancient and modern: but three score and nineteen
years have reduced me to the situation, the temper and humor of
Mr. Selden, who Clarendon says, would not have slept out of his
own bed for any office the King could have given him.
The difference of Character and Conduct in New England for
the last fifty years is not so great in reality as in appearance.
The Tories had the ascendancy from 1761 to 1775 and then
1775 and 1776 scarcely turned the majority. Through the whole
Revolution the Tories sat on our skirts and were a dead weight,
obstructing and embarrassing all our Efforts. They have now
the entire dominion of the five states of New England. Stoning-
ton, however, appears to have shaken off their yoke, and New
York is setting a good Example.
Could you have believed forty years ago that in so short a time
Plymouth, Duxbury and Boston, would have been rivalled and
exceeded by New York in Patriotism, Fortitude and Courage.?
I do not consider the peace in Europe as yet concluded. The
great questions of the Liberty of the Scheldt, of Ostend, Nieuport,
Bruges, etc., are still to be discussed in a Congress of Ambassadors
at Vienna, and other questions too numerous to be mentioned.
The War between Protestantism and Catholicism lasted thirty
years, i. e., from 1618 to 1648. The War between Republican-
ism and Despotism has already reached thirty-nine years. The
religious war is not yet ended. When the political war will ter-
minate must be left to him who rules the armies of Heaven.
In one thing I am clear. If the war continues between Great
Britain and the United States, as I believe it will, it will soon
rekindle the flames in Europe. . . .
The alarm in Plymouth had no share in their [the children's]
early return to the mansion of your old Friend
John Adams
Appendix
Appendix
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Plymo. Novr, the 8th, 1772
Dear Sir, — I Received yours of the 4th Instant ^ with the more pleas-
ure as the Contents Exhibit Instances of that Spirit in your Town still re-
maining and reviving I hoped to the Salvation of this poor Country, after
a Languor and feebleness which has discouraged almost every good man
in it. May it Increase, flourish and be diffused in every Breast till
Tyranny shall Tremble at the Foundation and Tyrants call on the Rocks
and Mountains to Cover them. After I left Boston for so long a time and
heard of no steps taken as proposed when I was there, I must own my
sanguine Hopes were succeeded by a despondency Bordering on despair,
and when I heard of a meeting of your Town, tho' my Expectations were
raised, yet I could not easily conceive what measures you would fall upon.
Embarrassd as you are by the Timidity of Friends, and the Intrigues
and power of professd Enemies, Internal and External, I hoped however
much from your firm and unshaken Constancy and ardour which to your
Honour I never yet saw damp'd. The Leading Steps you took are I think
very well, as they serve the purposes both of Strengthing your Interest
and holding him [Hutchinson] up in his proper colours, his Answer to your
first Message is thought Insolent, that to your last Stupid, the General
plan you have finally adopted, if it takes in the other Towns in general
and is supported with Spirit, I think will produce great Consequences and
I don't know but Considering all Circumstances is the least the Times
will Admit of. it may answer the same purposes to the Body Politick as
removing Obstructions and promoting a free Circulation does to the
Body Natural — Eradicate the seeds of the distemper and restore Health.
I am now to acquaint you that I have talkd with many of my Townsmen
since I received your Letter and have the pleasure to find their Pulse
beating high and their Resentment equal to any I can suppose you have
found in other Towns. I believe I shall have no difficulty in geting at
meeting here and carrying the point to second you as proposed. One
thing you may be assured of, no Assiduity in me shall be wanting. I am
Ballanceing in my mind whether to Attempt it before we receive your
^ From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
* Vol. I. II, su-pra.
400 Appendix [1772
Letter and report, or wait till then. Some reasons determine me to the
last, however, shall consult my Friends here, and should be glad to hear
from you on the subject again. I cant but wonder that none of your
Neighbouring Towns have Catched the glow, perhaps it is designed they
should have before them a full view of the Transactions of the Metropolis.
You will please to Excuse the Inaccuracies of this which is wrote in a
Hurry to a Friend whose Candour is always ready to overlook faults that
dont proceed from a wicked Heart. I am with great Sincerity Your
Friend and Humbl. Servt.
Jas : Warren
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Plymo. Novt. 17th, 1772
Dear Sir, — I have the pleasure of Incloseing a Copy of a Petition,
handed to me yesterday as one of the Selectmen of this Town, the
Petition was signed by Capt. Thos. Jackson and a hundred other reputable
Inhabitants, and at the same time Inform you that the selectmen have in
Consequence of it Issued their Warrants for a Meeting of the Town on
this day week, which, so far as we have gone, I hope will fully answer
your Expectations from your Mother Plymouth and Justify my Engage-
ments of Assiduity, etc. I can only add at present that the sentiments of
the people here are very different from the Tory Representations you
mention, they feel and Resent both the Indignities and Injuries repeatedly
offerd them, and see the fatal Consequences of this last Ministerial
Maneovre. I should be glad to hear again from you soon, and that you
would furnish me with any materials for Conducting this matter so as
best to serve a good Cause, it is the desire of the Petitioners that their
Petition may be Inserted in the Papers, which I dare say you will have no
Objection to, even if it gives you the trouble of seeing it done.^ I am in
great Haste your assured Friend and Humbl. Servt.
Jas: Warren
I desire you would send home my Collegue to do his duty on this and
other Occasions.^
* From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library. ,
> Vol.1. i2n, supra. 3 Isaac Lothrop.
1 772 ] Appendix 401
James Warren to Samuel Adams'
Plymo., Deer, the 8th, 1772
Dear Sir, — Since my last disturbance I have the pleasure of re-
ceiveing two Letters from your Town to the Selectmen of the several
Towns in this County, which I have distributed to them with a degree of
pleasure that might be sufficient to render an Apology for giveing me any
Trouble unnecessary, what Consequences they may produce I cant yet
determine. I shant fail to Exert myself to have as many Towns as possible
meet, but fear the Bigger part of them will not. they are Dead and the
Dead cant be raised without a Miracle. I am sensible that the Tories
spare no pains (as you say) to disparage the measures which with their
other Conduct shews their Apprehensions. They are Nettled much, the
Great Sachem of Chessemuttuck wrote to one of his Tools here to observe
and give him a perticular Account of all our proceedings and especially for
a Copy of the warrant for the meeting. The Enjoying £400 per annum
Undisturbed by the Clamour of the Rabble, tho it be the wages of Un-
righteousness is an Object of no small Consequence to a Poor Sachem who
had spent all his Wampum and must appear in state equal to the Noble
Blood runing in his Veins, the Letter of our Committee of Communi-
cation to yours gives you the proceedings of our Town so far as they have
yet gone, you may depend upon it the whole will be of a piece with this,
the Hingham Letter, whether the produce of a Hingham Genius or
fabricated in the Cabal, is a low dirty Business founded upon the Pillars
and chief Corner Stones of the Tory Cause. Misrepresentation, or rather
Lies and Scandal and defamation, however, a young Fellow here of a
riseing and promiseing Genius, I thought, might begin his Operations
upon this Occasion and has taken him in hand, and done pretty well for
the first. I am glad to see in the last Spy the Motions in Marblehead. I
wish the measure would take a general run. why does it Labour so in
Roxbury. that damps the Spirit in some other Towns. I hope, however,
it will terminate well there, do give me (in your next) what well Grounded
hopes you have of success, and let me know if there has been any dis-
sentions among the friends to the good Cause and perticularly between
you and Otis. I have Occasion for frequent and perticular Intelligence to
discountenance the Tory lies of the day. It is Court Week. I am obliged
to write in a great Hurry and must now Conclude.^ Your Sincere Freind
and Humbl. Servt.
Jas: Warren
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 See Vol. I. 14, supra.
40 2 Appendix [ 1772
To Mr. Adams Adams mss.
[By Mercy Warren]
Though short! Far short my pen of the sublime
That urges on and bids me write in Rhyme.
And hope my Friend the EflFort will Excuse
Nor Blame the Heart: but check the Niggard Muse.
Is it a Wild Enthupostick^ Flame,
That swells the Bosom panting after Fame,
Dilates the Mind: with every sails unfurl'd,
To catch the plaudit of a Gazing World.
Is there no permanent, no steady pole,
To point us on, and Guide the Wandring soul.
Does prejudice and passion Rule Mankind.
Are there no springs that actuate the Mind
Whose deep Meanders have some Nobler source
Than Vain self Love, to Guide their Winding Course.
That Gen'rous Ardor stiled Benevolence,
Is it an Art to Gratify the sense
Or Give imagination further scope.
That aeiry queen, who Guides the Helm of hope
Holds A False Mirrour to the Dazzel'd sight,
A Dim perspective, A Delusive Light,
That swells the Bubbles of Life's shortned span,
While Wisdom smiles at the Deluded Man.
Wrap'd in Extaticks, by imagin'd Fame,
When the next Moment Will Blot out his Name.
Can't the Wise precepts of A platos school
(or shall I Name a still more perfect Rule)
Rouze up the soul, to that Exalted Height,
To Walk by Reason, And Reject the Cheat:
Or are the Fetters that Enslave the Mind
Of that Firm Base, that Adamantine kind,
So Firmly Lock'd, and so securely Reve'd,
The more we search, the More are we Deceived.
Are Truth, and Friendship, no where to be Found,
And patriot Virtue Nothing but a Sound
Then May A Cesar Equal Honour Claim
With Noble Brutus, celebrated Name,
I Thus in the text but an unknown word. Cj. entheus, imagination.
1773] Appendix 403
For the poor tribute of a short applause.
One stabs A tyrant trampling on the Laws,
While the proud Despot Marks his Baneful Way
With Virtue's tears, and triumphs or'e his prey.
Self the sole point in which they'r both agreed.
By this Rome's shackled, or by this she's Freed.
Self Love, that stimulus to Noblest Aims,
Bids Nero Light the Capitol in Flames,
Or Bids H ^ sell his Native Land
And his Vile Brother lend his perjur'd Hand.
While Fredom weeps and Heav'n delays to shed
Its awful Vengeance on the Guilty Head.
If such is Life, And Fancy throw the Bowl,
If appetite and caprice Rule the Whole,
If Virtuous Friendship has no solid Base,
But False Deception holds the sacred place,
Then from thy Mem'ry Race out every Line
Nor Recolect one sentiment of mine
But Dark Oblivion, sable Veil Draw ore.
And I'll Forbear to interupt the more.
For if Vice Boasts her origin the same,
With social joy and patriotic Flame,
Then I must Wish to bid the World Farewell,
Turn Anchorit and choose some Lonely Cell
Beneath some peaceful Hermitage Reclin'd
To Weep the Misery of all Mankind,
till Days and Years, till time shall cease to roll
And truth Eternal strike the Wond'ring soul.
Plimouth, October ii, 1773.
John Adams to James Warren
Boston Dec'r. 17, 1773
Dear Sir, — The Dye is cast: The People have passed the River and
cutt away the Bridge: last Night Three Cargoes of Tea, were emptied into
the Harbour. This is the grandest Event, which has ever yet happened
since the Controversy, with Britain, opened!
The Subimity of it, charms me!
For my own Part, I cannot express my own Sentiments of it, better
I The capital H is nearly erased. It refers to Hutchinson.
404 Appendix [1773
than in the Words of Coll. Doane ^ to me, last Evening — Balch ^ should
repeat them. The worst that can happen, I think, says he in Consequence
of it, will be that the Province must pay for it. Now, I think the Province
may pay for it, if it is burn'd as easily as it is drank — and I think it
is a matter of indifference whether it is drank or drowned. The Province
must pay for it, in either Case. But there is this Difference. I believe it
will take them lo Years to get the Province to pay for it — if so, we shall
Save 10 Years Interest of the Money. Whereas if it is drank it must be
paid for immediately, thus He. However, He agreed with me that the
Province would never pay for it, and also in this, that the final Ruin of
our Constitution of Government, and of all American Liberties, would be
the certain Consequence of Suffering it to be landed.
Governor Hutchinson and his Family and Friends will never have done
with their good services to Great Britain and the Colonies! But for him,
this Tea might have been Saved to the East India Company. Whereas
this Loss if the rest of the Colonies should follow our Example, will in the
opinion of many Persons bankrupt the Company. However, I dare say,
that the Governors, and Consignees, and Custom House Officers, in the
other Colonies will have more Wisdom than ours have had, and take
effectual Care that their Tea shall be sent back to England untouched, if
not it will as surely be destroyed there as it has been here.
Threats, Phantoms, Bugbears, by the million, will be invented and
propagated among the People upon this Occasion. Individuals will be
threatned with Suits and Prosecutions. Armies and Navies will be talked
of and military Execution. Charters annull'd. Treason, Tryals in England
and all that. But — these Terms are all but Imaginations. Yet if they
should become Realities they had better be Suffered, than the great
Principle of Parliamentary Taxation given up.
The Town of Boston was never more Still and calm of a Saturday night
than it was last Night. All Things were conducted with great order,
Decency and perfect Submission to Government. No Doubt, we all thought
the Administration in better Hands, than it had been.
Please to make Mrs. Adams's most respectful! Compliments to Mrs.
Warren and mine. I am your Friend,
John Adams
I Elisha Doane (1732). 2 Nathaniel Balch.
1774] Appendix 405
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Plymo., July I, 1774
My Dear Sir, — Beware of the Ides of March was a Caution given to
Cesar and his Neglect of it afterwards regretted by his Friends, let me
Intreat you not to Neglect the Cautions given by your Friends, his rid
the world of a Tyrant and yours may deprive your Country of the
Wisdom and vertue of a distinguished Patriot. I feel the Emotions of a
Friend when I Consider the hazard you and some others may be Exposed
to. we have Just received the Spy of yesterday with the Extraordinary
Proclamation,^ which will save me some trouble in one way if it Occasion
some in Another. We have been Embarrassed with a division about the
Covenant, but I think this will remove the Difficulties and believe we
shall get it signed by Tomorrow. Mr. Thomas ^ waits and can add no
more, but desire you to be referred to him for further perticulars. You
will find him a young Gentleman after your own Heart, which from me is
a warm recommendation. I am with great sincerity your Friend, etc.
Jas: Warren
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Plymo., July the loth, 1774
My Dear Sir, — The day after I wrote to you by Mr. Thomas we had
a very full meeting of the Inhabitants and after a debate voted (by a
large Majority) to adopt the Covenant as it came to us, with only a very
small Alteration, when about seventy signed it, since which by the
Intrigues of our Friend Spooner chiefly it has been at a stand, and diffi-
culties have multiplied upon us. it is now takeing a start and the Number
of signers has Increased to about a hundred. I hope finally we shall re-
trieve our Credit and I shall be able to give a good Account of my Town.
Experience has often taught you the difficulty of reasoning People into
measures for their own Happiness, and the Ease with which they may be
Intimidated and drove from them. Little Ned Winslow (one of my
Cousins) with a few other Insignificant Tories appeared at the meeting
and played their Game by holding up the Terrors of the Governor's
Proclamation which rather served us than themselves, from these Gentry
in this Town we have little to fear, it is the Wolves in Sheeps Cloath-
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 Gage's Proclamation for discouraging certain illegal combinations, issued at Salem,
June 29, 1774.
3 Perhaps Isaiah Thomas publisher of the Massachusetts Spy.
4 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
4o6 Appendix [1774
ing who do the mischief, principally by persuadeing people that great
difficulties will Ensue by breaking up of Intercourse with non-Signers;
but as I consider the Articles as material shall Endeavour to preserve it.
great Enquiries are made what is done at Marblehead, Salem, Newberry
Port, etc. shall be glad if you would Enable me to answer the queries,
which I cant do at present for want of Intelligence, and when your hand
is in you may mention Boston and tell me what you do with the Cove-
nant there. I congratulate you on the Compleat Victory obtained at
your last Meeting.^ Custom House Officers and the Tories here were
greatly Elated with the sure and certain Expectation of your defeat
which they seemed to Entertain no doubt of and were of course greatly
disconcerted, last Week our Court of Sessions sett here. Voted and made
Addresses to the present Governor and his predecessor. I cant give you a
perticular Account, not haveing been able to see or hear either of them, as
the whole matter Except the motion and the Choice of the Committee
was conducted in private, however by what I can learn the first is a
humble Imitation of Worcester, and the other of your Boston Addressers,
and each of them aiming to Excel in Adulation and Servility the Copy. A
proper Committee for the purpose of Copying and fawning was appointed.
Coll. Edson and my two Cousins, Pelham and Ned Winslow, Junr., tho'
the last had never qualified himself as a Justice and therefore not properly
of their Body, but his Impudent and as they think shineing Talents were
thought necessary to supply what their modesty seemd to suppose their
own Stupidity could not perform. Mr. Sever would not unite with them
in the motion for the first Address which was made by Foster, was not
present when the second was moved by Mr. Winslow, Introduced with
most Extravagant Encomiums on Hutchinsons Vertues and Adminis-
tration; but took Care to be present at the report and made with Mr.
Cotton and Mayhew a resolute, firm and well supported Opposition, but
nine poor Tools Carried it against them. A Number of others were against
the motion when first made, but as the report was delayed to the last of
the Court they were gone, and there is reason to suppose (servile as a
Court of Sessions are) they would hardly have Obtained a vote if it had
been made before a large Number were gone, so much for Plymouth
Intelligence. I add no more but that I wish to hear from you and agre-
able to your promise to see you here before you go on your Tour. I am
with Compliments to your good Lady Your Friend and Countryman,
Jas: Warren
I Probably the Town Meeting of June 28, in which, by a vast majority, the Committee
of Correspondence was upheld. Boston Rec. Com. xviii. 178.
1 775 ] Appendix 407
* James Warren to Samuel Adams^
Plymo., Jan. the i, 1775
Dear Sir, — This is designed principally to Inform you that the last
Storm cast away about nine or ten miles from hence a Sloop from Virginia,
haveing on Board among other things a considerable donation for your
suffering Town, as soon as that Circumstance was known here, a number
of the Inhabitants of this Town, about twenty, took a Sloop and went
down with a determination to assist the Master, and more especially to
secure and bring up as much of the donation as could be saved, but re-
turned as they went, without Effecting anything, the Master absolutely
refuseing to let them take any Articles, telling them it was his design to
have the whole Cargo sold on the Beach, his Conduct is very strange,
but as we dont know the Man, we are unable to Conjecture whether it
proceeds from Weakness or Wickedness, or from Evil Concellors. it is
said he has put himself under the direction of one or two Marshfield
Tories, the donation Consists (as I hear) of Corn, flour, wheat Bread,
pork, and some Butter.^
I hear nothing from you of late more than I should if you was Appre-
hended, Transported, Tryed, and Executed on the Statutes of Harry the
8th or George the Third. I sincerely wish this may prove a happy year to
you, tho' I am Inclined to think it will be a Troublesome one to both of
us. I should be glad of a [illegible] of your Conjectures on that subject.
Your Company will be much desired on our Anniversary and not a little
Expected. I am much engaged in military matters to prepare for the
opening of the Campaign in the Spring. The Tories that return from
Boston report that foreign Troops are to be sent over, that our new
Treasurer ' refuses to receive any money, etc., etc., and of late seem to
prick up their Ears. Ruggles' Impudence is an Example for them and the
publication of Massachusettensis are read with more devotion and
Esteem than Holy writt. we have no News, have Established a Post
that leaves Boston on Thursday Noon, desire a Line from you. I am,
with Compliments to your good Lady, your sincere Friend and Humble
Servt.
Jas. Warren
Brackets or Mortons I know not which the Post may be seen at. I
think the late Movements of the Troops in their Excursions into the
Country a piece of Generalship, this practised without Exciting the Ap-
prehensions of the People will enable him to surprise them one day with
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 See 4 Collections, iv. 161. 3 Henry Gardner.
4o8 Appendix [1775
an Important Blow, struck when they had no Expectation, when I was
at Cambridge I should have tho't such a movement would have made
more noise.
James Warren to Harrison Gray^
Plymo., J any. 20th, 1775
Sir, — I Received yours of the 27th of December and have observed
the Contents with that Care and Attention which their Extraordinary
Nature seems to demand. I do not use myself to analyse with a Critical
Exactness Letters I Receive, unless necessary to discover the Temper and
disposition of Mind, The Governing Principles, or the Ends proposed by
the Writer. Whether Resentment, Disappointment in the part you have
Unhappily taken in Government, or the feeble PoUcy of the Party, mark
most strongly your Letter, I shall not undertake to determine, but I have
no difficulty in assuring you that if you expect by any or all of these to
Intimidate or drive me from the Paths I have walked in to those devious
Tracks which neither Honour or Conscience lead to or Countenance, you
have mistaken your Man. I have long since fortified myself against either
Allurements, or Threats. I am now perfectly satisfyed with the part I
have taken in Government both from its rectitude and the prospect of
Success attending it. Whether you are so or not with that you have
taken, or what kind of Ideas you have formed of Treason, is not my
Business at present to Enquire. But if I may presume to advise on this
Occasion it should be, that Policy might so far prevail over resentment
as to make you very spareing of your Charges of Treason, or even In-
gratitude, against any man, and much more so against Bodies of Men,
respectable for their Numbers, Fortunes, Abilities and pubHck Virtues.
The production or winding up of a piece of small Witt, however satisfied
you might be with the little Fondling, can by no means Ballance the Haz-
ard of a Recrimination. The Connection in our Family ^ makes it very
painful to me to Address you in this manner, had you Confined yourself
to the proper subject of your Letter, without Unnecessarily and even
wantonly Insulting both me and my Friends, I should have Addressed
you in a very different Stile. I am very sensible that I owe you money,
and that every Man has a right to Call for his Debts; but then I think
every man should give a little warning, and not (by a sudden Transition
from a full satisfaction of the security already had and without any
1 From the New York Public Library.
2 Mrs. Warren's brother, Samuel Allyne Otis, married for his first wife Elizabeth, only
daughter of Harrison Gray.
1775] Appendix 409
reason to doubt the Goodness of it more now than at any former time)
make (as you say) an unexpected demand either of the money Imme-
diately, or a Mortgage. Security of any kind I never was asked for before.
My Credit has always been good. My Circumstances are at least as good
now as ever, had you suggested to me last Summer any uneasiness, I
would have found a way before this to have discharged the Debt. I will
Endeavour to do it when my Vessels return in the Spring. I cannot pay
this Sum of Money at present. I am not willing to give a Mortgage, nor
will I ever Injure you or your Children. What you mean by your Insinua-
tion of my Conduct being such as Exposes me to ruin I know not. Surely
you can charge me neither with Drunkeness, Idleness, or Extravagance,
the Common Sources of ruin, if you have in Contemplation the Idea of
Gibbets and Confiscations, let me tell you it is the most Utopian and
Contemptible one that ever Entered the Head of a Man. Few Hearts
have been wicked enough to wish for them and much fewer Heads weak
enough to Expect them. I will not at present suppose yours among them.
I will therefore presume that I have traced this Conduct of yours to its
true Sources. I am, Sir, Your Obedt. Humble Servt.
Jas: Warren
Hannah Winthrop to Mercy Warren
[Andover, April or May, 1775]
Can the Friend of my heart, who is engraven there as with the point of
a diamond, question whether it is in the power of the greatest Commo-
tion, danger or Abscense, to erase the tender Idea, or in the least impair
the sincerest friendship? No, you have been the object of my waking
thoughts and my nightly dreams; but since we were dispossest of our
earthly enjoyments all nature has seemed reversed, and with it the
weakened mind of your friend, rendered incapable of attending to those
pleasures which made life agreeable. Nor can she yet forget, nor will old
Time ever cease the horrors of that midnight.cry, preceeding the Bloody
Massacre at Lexington, when we were rousd from the benign Slumbers
of the Season, by beat of drum and ringing of Bell, with the fire alarm,
That a thousand of the Troops of George the third were gone forth to
murder the peacefull inhabitants of the surrounding Villages. A few hours
with the dawning day convinced us the Bloody purpose was executing.
The platoon firing assuring us the rising Sun must witness the Bloody
Carnage. Not knowing what the Event would be at Cambridge at the
return of these Bloody ruffians, and seeing another Brigade dispatched
to the Assistance of the former, Looking with the ferocity of Barbarians,
4 1 o Appendix [ i us
it seemed necessary to retire to some place of Safety till the Calamity was
passed. My partner had been a fortnight confind by illness. After dinner
we set out not knowing whither we went, we were directed to a place
called fresh pond about a mile from this town,^ but what a distressd house
did we find there fiUd with women whose husbands were gone forth to
meet the Assailiants, 70 or 80 of these with numbers of Infant Children,
crying and agonizing for the Fate of their husbands. In addition to this
scene of distress we were for some time in sight of the Battle, the glisten-
ing instruments of death proclaiming by an incessant fire that much
blood must be shed, that many widowd and orphand ones be left as mon-
uments of that persecuting Barbarity of British Tyranny. Another un-
comfortable night we passd, some nodding in their Chairs, others resting
their weary limbs on the floor. The welcome harbingers of day give notice
of its dawning light, but brings us news it is unsafe to return to Cam-
bridge as the enemy were advancing up the river and firing on the town,
to stay in this place was impracticable, methlnks In that hour I felt the
force of my Mother Eve's Soliloquy on being driven out of Paradise, com-
paring small things with great
O unexpected stroke, worse than of death!
Must I thus leave thee, Paradise.^ thus leave
Thee, native soil! these happy walks, and shades,
fit haunt of Gods.^ where I had hope to spend
quiet, tho sad, the respite of that day
that must be mortal to us both.?. . .
how shall I part, and whither wander down
into a lower world; to this obscure
and wild.'' how shall we breath in other air
Less pure, accustomed to immortal fruits.?
and could only be consold by the mild reply of Michael her Guardian
Angel.
Lament not Eve, but patiently resign
What justly thou has lost: nor set thy heart
thus over fond, on that which is not thine,
thy going is not Lonely; with thee goes
thy husband, him to follow thou art bound,
where he abides, think there thy native soil.'^
His benign words to Adam must also afford Consolation to the lonely
Soul.
His omnipresence fills Land, sea and air, . . .
surmise not then
His presence to these narrow bounds confind.'
I Cambridge. a Paradise Lost, xi. 268 ff. 3 Ih., 336 if.
1775] Appendix 411
Thus with precipitancy were we driven to the town of Andover, following
some of our Acquaintance, five of us to be conveyd with one poor tired
horse and chaise. Thus we began our pilgrimage alternately walking and
riding, the roads filld with frighted women and children, some in carts
with their tattered furniture, others on foot fleeing into the woods. But
what added greatly to the horror of the scene was our passing thro the
Bloody field at Menotomy which was strewd with the mangled Bodies,
we met one affectionate Father with a cart looking for his murderd son
and picking up his Neighbours who had fallen in Battle, in order for their
Burial.
I should not have chose this town for an Asylum, being but twenty
miles from seaports where men of war and their Pirates are stationed, but
in being fixd here I see it is not in man to direct his steps, As you kindly
enquire after our Situation, I must tell you it is Rural and romanticaly
pleasing. Seated in a truly retired spot, no house in sight, within a mile
of Neighbours thinly settled, the House decent and neat stands under the
shade of two venerable elms, on a gently rising, one iiight of steps with a
View of a spacious meadow before it, a small Rivulet meandring thro it,
the grassy Carpet interspersd with a Variety of flowers, shrubs, several
little mounts rising in the conic form, intersected with fertile spots of
waving grain. The Horizon bounded with a thick wood as if nature in-
tended a Barricade against the Canonade of some formidable despot.
But here all is perfect Silence, nothing is heard but the melody of the
groves and the unintelligible Language of the Animal Creation. From the
profound stillness and serenity of this woody region I can almost per-
suade myself we are the only human inhabitants of Creation and instead
of Lossing my fondness for Society I shall have a higher relish for the
pleasures of friendly converse and social endearments, tho the Family we
live with are very obliging. But alas the gloomy appearance of mortal
things sets the Vanity of human life in the clearest demonstration before
me, nor can I forbear to drop a tear over that Seminary which has been
the glory of this Land, and lamenting those walls early dedicated to the
Study of Science and calm Philosophy Instead of the delightful! harmony
of nature nothing but the din of arms and the clarion of War, the Youth
dispersd, the hands of their preceptors sealed up, those fountains of
Knowledge the Library and Apparatus entirely useless and perhaps may
fall into those hands whose highest joy would be to plunge us into dark-
ness and Ignorance that we might become fitter objects for Slavery and
Despotic rule, my partner wishes some attention might be paid to these
important Treasures. Oh, shall we ever be restord to that peaceful!
abode, that happy roof, where retird from all the glitter and noise of the
gay and busy world, my Consort would joy to finish his mortal life in in-
4 1 2 Appendix [ 1 775
vestigating the great Temple of the Skies and adoring the Divine Archi-
tect of Heaven and quietly quitting this lower Creation.
When I think of the sufferings of my Friends in Boston, I am ashamed
that my inconvenience should have such an undue effect upon me. I
blush that I have so little Fortitude to encounter the Struggles we must
expect to meet before the unnatural Campaign is over. I must confess I
sometimes Indulge Fears which excite mirth rather than Sympathy in
my Philosop[h]er. I have not seen our son since his return from sea. It
is a Satisfaction that our Sons possess that love of Liberty which will en-
gage them in the Cause of their Bleeding Country. It would give me
great pleasure to pay you a Visit in your hospitable abode of peace and
elegance, but the Length of the journey and the uncertainty of the times
forbid it. It would add Inexpressible pleasure to us to see you in our
Rural retirement, then might I profit by your Example of Equanimity
and patience in times of Affliction. We are now cut off from all our Liv-
ing, but those divine intimations in that sacred Book which have been the
Consolation of many an exild one must be our Support, pray let me hear
from you as often as possible. As it has been the mode of some distin-
guished Patriots on the other side the water in their late letters to a per-
son of my acquaintance in these perilous times not to affix any Signature
to them but that of Sentiment and Affection, so in humble imitation, after
offering my partner's and my best Affection to you and Coll. Warren to
subscribe yours Unalterably
\No signature^
James Warren to Samuel Adams
Watertown, June 21, 1775
My Dear Sir, — I got up yesterday morning with a determination to
have wrote to you and acknowledged the pleasure I received by yours,
but was then prevented and shall be able now to write very little before
the Bearer will call for this. The Multiplicity of Business to be done in
the present Situation and Hurry of our Affairs fills up every moment of
my Time with an Attention hardly tolerable. The late Action at Charles-
town you will hear of before this reaches you. I gave our Friend, J.
Adams, an Imperfect Account of it yesterday.^ I refer you to him and
haveing nothing to be relied on since shall only say that tho' the Troops
and Torys in Boston Exult much, I think they have nothing to Bragg of
but the possession of the Ground, and what was still of more Consequence
to us, the Death of our worthy Friend Doctr. Warren, but you may de-
I Vol. I. 62, sufra.
1 775 ] Appendix 4 1 3
pend on it they paid very dearly for their Acquisition. I believe we shall
find their killd and wounded very great, perhaps not much less than looo,
and among them many officers. Their Troops that came over it is said
were 5000, Commanded by Lord How. it is amazeing how uncertain we re-
main to this time of many facts you might suppose we were fully possessd
of. we are not at this time able to ascertain the number of our own men
killd and wounded, tho' we have reason to suppose they will not greatly
Exceed 100. we are well pleased with the Spirit and Resolutions of your
Congress, we could only have wished you had suffered us to have Em-
braced so good an Opportunity to form for ourselves a Constitution
worthy of Freemen, all Bodies have their Foibles. Jealousy, however
Groundless, may predominate in yours, we have, however, submitted
and are sending out our Letters and shall Express our Gratitude by this
Conveyance for your kindness and Benevolence to us in this Respect,
our Good Major Hawley can be very sincere and your Brother Cushing
I suppose likes it. he has relieved me by an Intimation of a probability
that you will regulate the Constitution of all the Colonies. I must again
refer you to my Friend Adams for my Sentiments of the Situation of our
own Army, you would tremble to be possessd of the true state of it. fine
fellows you know our Countrymen are and want nothing but a general
of {struck out] abilities to make them a fine army, all our Efforts, which
are many, cannot supply that defect. Yours must do it. could you be-
lieve he never left his House on Saturday last. I shall Add no more. I
wish that was the worst of it. by the way I must do Justice to Thomas,
he is a good Officer and is Esteemed, we have no trouble with his Camp;
it is always in good order and things are Conducted with dignity and
Spirit in the military Stile, we Yesterday chose Heath to succeed our
Friend Warren as second Major General. Whitcomb is the first. The
Humanity of the Good Genl. Gage that we have heard so much of has
reduced Charlestown to ashes and will I presume treat all other Towns
in his power in the same manner. I am now called on and must conclude,
with my regards, etc., to all our Friends and am with my best wishes for
every Happiness to you your Friend
Jas: Warren
do write to me and among other things let me know how it is with your
Health and Spirits.
414 Appendix [ 1 775
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, July 9th, 1775
I dined Yesterday with Genl. Washington, he is an amiable man and
fully answers the high Character you and my Friend Adams have given
of him. I admire the Activity, Spirit and Obligeing Behaviour of Miflin.
Coll. Read [Reed] is a very sensible, agreable Gentleman. . . . The armys
have been for some time very quiet, we hear little from them, but at
times a few Cannon, this Morning they have fired many, I suppose on
Roxbury. I wish we were able to return the Compliment. I should have
told you if I had not done it before that we are Concerned here about the
Arrangement of the other Generals, particularly our own. I can't tell you
how high Thomas' Character runs here, he was by far the best Officer we
had. I hope you'l find some way to rectifie what realy is a mistake. I
fear your Excessive Establishments may be the Ground of Uneasiness.
I hope they wont descend lower than to the Generals. I observe you are
very spareing of your Intelligence but I am well pleased with some of
your proceedings I have heard off, and my Expectations are much raised
with what is to come, if the present policy, or rather Folly, of Britain
should last a little longer we may be a Grand and a happy People. I now
fear the repeal of the Acts which I have heretofore wished for. We talk
of riseing this day to take a little Breath before we meet in General As-
sembly, the arrival of the Generals have relieved us of much trouble from
the Army, when are we to see all the Governments, and our own with
them, reformed and set upon a Good Bottom, we look for such an
Event, dont you talk of adjourning this way. I find the General
wishes for it. we have done it, all along we hear that some of the
Troops destined for York are arrived and the whole Expected every
Minute, and that the army in Boston are prepareing for some new Ex-
pedition, have many Boats of a particular Construction, flat bottomed
and Calculated for Shoal Water. I Expect another Action very soon.
A few more such as the last will ruin them. I refer you to Mr. J.
Adams to whom I have given an Account of that matter which I believe
true. I wrote to him Yesterday and he will have it by this Opportunity,
do let me know how your Health is. I met Mrs. Adams the other Day.
She was well and looked as Blooming as a Girl. I Pity the poor Crea-
tures left in Boston, was very glad to see your Son out. My regards to
all our Friends. I am obliged to Mr. Gushing for his frequent mention of
me. I am your Friend, Jas: Warren
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library. A part of this let-
ter is printed in i. 69, supra, and only what was not in that note is here given.
1775 ] Appendix 4 1 5
I have just heard that our Army at Roxbury succeeded last Night in
an Attempt to Burn Brown's House which Excited their Ire to fire the
Cannon this morning.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, July 20, 1775
My Dear Sir, — I had the pleasure of yours of the 2d Instant by Mr.
Thomas this day. it has been so long on its passage that I shall look for
another in a day or two, tho' I claim no title to such a favour but from the
most sincere Friendship. I am very sorry you have so much reason to
Complain of your friends. I flatter myself, however, that I am not the
most negligent of them, if I have not done my Duty I shall Endeavour
for the future to reform, if you Continue to wish for Letters from me.
They Certainly have paid Excessively dear for the purchase of Bunker's
Hill, but your Intelligence of the Death of How is without founda-
tion, he seems to have deserved that fate and, perhaps, it is reserved to
the next dome they may take. I want much to see you, but the Impor-
tance of the Business you are Engaged in suppresses every desire of that
kind for the present. I am sensible from what has Transpired, tho' you
have not been perticular, that your Patience is put to the Trial. I hope
it will be supported, you flatter me with great Expectations. I hope I
shall not be disappointed, but you must be aided by the folly and Wicked-
ness of Britain, so much Moderation and Timidity still prevail here that
there is no doing without them. I should be glad to give you a minute
Account of our Civil and Military Affairs, but they are so numerous and
so Complicated that it is difficult to know where to begin, or where to
End, and besides I have wrote pretty fully to our good Friend Mr.
Adams,^ which I consider in some Sort as writing to you. Our New As-
sembly met here yesterday. Chose only a Speaker and Clerk — your un-
worthy Friend for the first, Mr. Freeman for the second, the Choice of
Concellors was postponed till Tomorrow Morning. I must furnish you
with a List of them by another Opportunity. The Inhabitants of your
poor devoted Town had a very Social Collection from their dispersions
at Concord on Tuesday last to the number of about 200 and Chose Mr.
[Samuel] Adams, Hancock, [John] Pitts and [Dr. Benjamin] Church to
Represent them. I have no Expectation that the Election of Tomorrow
will please either you or me. I could almost wish we were again reduced
to a Congress till we had a Constitution worth Contending for. our As-
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 Vol. I. 82, supra.
4 1 6 Appendix [ 1775
sembly is numerous, about i6o Members, pretty nearly of the old Com-
plection. Our Congress was dissolved yesterday morning, their most
material proceedings you have seen in the papers, from them you will be
able to form some Judgment of the general Tenour of the whole. I cant
describe the difficulties we have had from the Caprice, Humour and
whims of the Army, as well as many others. The Army is now perfectly
quiet and in good Spirits, while their's is out of humour, ill supplied and
dispirited, from the Appearances here, situated so nigh as we are to two
Camps, you could hardly suppose an Army was within fifty miles of us.
The Town is as still as perhaps it ever was on a Sunday. This Fast has
been observed as you could wish, with that deference to the Authority
that appointed it, and with that devotion that our Circumstances re-
quire, it is a grand Solemnity. 3,000,000 of People on their knees at
once, supplicating the Aid of Heaven is a strikeing Circumstance and a
very singular one in America. May the Blessings of Heaven follow in
answer to our prayers, it gives me great satisfaction to hear your Health
is better, if Gage's Proclimation has Contributed to it, as I am told it
has, I will in one Instance acknowledge my Obligations to him. I am de-
sired to Inclose to you a Letter from one Mrs. Nash and to desire Mr.
Hooper's Care of it. my regards to all Enquireing Friends and sincerely
yours
Jas : Warren
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, July 27th, 1775
My Dear Sir, — I yesterday received yours of the 12th Instant ^ by
your Friend, Mr. Hughes. I shant fail to Introduce him to our friends and
do everything I can to make his Visit here agreable to him. the Recom-
mendation you have given is quite sufficient to Engage my good Opinion
of him. I have but Just seen him. Expect to see him again this day. we
sent you a Hint sometime ago with regard to takeing up Crown Officers.
I could wish to see it Improved more and especially in one Instance, if
I have Tryon's Character, his Intrigues are dangerous and require your
perticular Attention, no Events of more Consequence that that of
Choosing your Honour to the Board have taken place since my last. The
Armys Continue to look at each other and fortify themselves, no Action
or prospect of [one.] it is said they are very sickly and dispirited in
Boston. Our Army is tolerably well and in good Spirits. I really wish to
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 Vol. I. 82, supra.
1775] Appendix 4 1 7
have something to write you of the Operations of war, but it is a barren
time. I have not been at the Camp since my arrival here — I mean to our
new Assembly, we are going on in the old way with Business enough
before us. The Council met but yesterday, they choose a Secretary this
day. I presume you will be the man. I hear you talk of adjourning. I
want to see you, but I fear if you adjourn the same Reverence will not
attend the proceedings of your Committee, my room is full of Company
this morning and I am much hurried. I cant therefore add more than my
regards to all friends, perticularly my good Friend, Mr. Adams. I am
sincerely your Friend,
J. Warren
I shall write you again as soon as I can. we have great Numbers of
Gentlemen resorting to this Colony from the rest, could wish to know
what men you would like to hear of.
James Warren to Samuel Adams '
Watertown, Augi. 4th, 1775
My Dear Sir, — I am greatly obliged to you for your Letter of the
24th July ^ which I received on Sunday last. I Intended to have wrote
you before this and perticularly by an Express of the Generals, which he
told me would go on Wednesday, and I suppose is now gone; but I have
not had it in my power to do it. Interruptions of one kind or another have
prevented whenever I had assigned a Time for it. besides I have some
doubts how it should be performed. I am sensible Confiding in your
Candour I have wrote with great Ease to myself and I suppose Incorrect-
ness; but have Endeavoured to Collect facts, etc., and give them to you
as well as I could, and it seems to me, as far as I can recollect, I have
generally given you or my Good Friend, Mr. J. Adams (which I conceive
to be the same thing) all the Facts and material Events that had taken
place here which I could suppose you was not otherways acquainted with,
however, I designed it and if I have failed from any other reason but from
want of ability, will try to reform, being vfiry well disposed both from
Inclination and Policy to Contribute all I can to the weight and Im-
portance of the Mass[achusetts] Delegates, and Especially to that of Mr.
Adams who I can assure you I think was a Judicious Choice and is a man
after my own heart.
I can again assure you with Confidence that every thing in the Army
is easy. I know of no Suspicions or Uneasiness among the Officers or
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 Vol. I. 89, ^M^ra.
4 1 8 Appendix [ 1775
Soldiers, General Spencer at first left the Camp but is again returnd
and I believe Behaves well. General Washington's, Lee's, Gates', and the
Character of the Gentlemen with them are greatly Esteemed and unlim-
ited Confidence is placed in them. The state of our Army is very pleas-
ing, they are Healthy, vigorous, Intrepid, and orderly and well supplied
with every thing but one. that I cant think of without Gloom and fearful
Apprehensions, but I trust the Goodness of a kind Providence and the
Vigilance of your Congress, for God's Sake, Exert yourselves to free us
from our Apprehensions, you will hear from the General on this Head,
the Situation of our Brethren in Boston is beyond description miserable,
in want of Necessaries, sickly and dyeing. Tyranny, Famine and Pesti-
lence are their Portion at once. I must refer you to my Friend Adams to
whom I wrote all the perticulars I knew with regard to them, and like-
wise for the little Skirmishes that have taken place after so profound a
Tranquility.^ very little has happened since I wrote him. the Rifle men
and some others are continually firing on them and they frequently re-
turn the fire of their Cannon, we kill them some men almost every day.
The People at Machias, an obscure, small Town in the Eastermost parts
of this Colony, you may remember some time ago took two Sloops from
one Jones (a dog) and a Tender, they have now taken another Tender
without the loss of a man, and among other things with ten bbls. powder
and £50 sterling in Cash, in this way they will be a Maritime Power,
they Bid as fair for it as Charthage in the days of Queen Dido, and almost
as much so as England in the days of Queen Bess. We may be able an-
other Year to Convey the Delegates to Philadelphia (if they Choose to go
by water) against the Navy of Britain. Are we not to hear of an Expedi-
tion into Canada and of Treaties with foreign powers, at least Commer-
cial, do let the Grandeur and Importence of your measures command the
Astonishment while the Wisdom of them Excites the Reverence of the
world. You tell me you Expect a short Adjournment. I will be glad to
see you. we are drudging on in the old way, and a dull one it is, not so
much as Enlivened with the usual Altercations with an Infamous Gov-
ernor. I Inclosed a Letter for you in Mr. Adams, give my perticular re-
gards to him. My Compliments to all Friends. Mr. Paine I will next
write to him. I have taken Care to see your Son provided for and should
have done it before but for a mistake. I took another man of the same
Name, a Surgeon of one of the Regiments, to be him and signed the war-
rant with great pleasure, as I always feel Interested in whatever relates to
your family, no News from England, what the old Squaw is about, we
cant conjecture and dont much Care. I hope she is raising Troops to sub-
due America. I am your Friend. Adieu. Jas: Warren
I Vol. I. 95, supra.
1775 ] Appendix 419
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, Se-pr. 28, 1775
My Dear Sir, — I had the pleasure Yesterday of hearing for the first
Time of your safe Arrival at Philadelphia, and of your performing the
Journey in a manner that Contributed much to your Health, to the
Sociability on the way, and to the Character of the Statesman, as it is
said that Horsemanship and dexterity in rideing on the Saddle are neces-
sary to Compleat that Character, I really give you Joy on this Occasion
and that this Important Acquisition was made by the help of flannel
without Injury. I am obliged to my Friend, Mr. Adams, for this Intelli-
gence, whose Letter ^ I received yesterday by Mr. Cabot wholly on that
Subject, which shews the Importance of it in his mind and his fondness
for Fame and Glory, for he assumes the whole merit of first Adviseing
and then giveing the Necessary Instructions. I never feel disposed to les-
sen his Glory and Fame and shall readily in this Instance allow him the
Honour of Compleating the Character of a Great Statesman and pro-
longing the Life of a distinguished Patriot. In my last to Mr. Adams I
promised to write you soon, as I always choose to keep my promises, I
sit down this morning for that purpose, tho' I am unable to give you any
Important Intelligence. All things remain pretty much in the same state
as when I last wrote Mr. Adams, we make Advances upon them daily
with our works, they have for a week past been very still, scarce a shott
has been fired. Arnold went off with his detachment, Embarked at New-
berry Port, and without Interruption arrived safe at Kennebeck. it is
said they supposed we gave out as a Blind that this Expedition was de-
signed for Quebec, and that the real Intention was to attack Hallifax, get
their Stores and destroy their Guard there. Accordingly a Fleet and
Force is sent to defend it, unless they practise this kind of policy and
have gone to Quebec, but what but their Cowardice or want of Common
Sense should have prevented our small Fleet in their passage from New-
berry to Kennebeck. they are indeed poor Dogs. Wallace at Newport
makes great Havock among the Trade and sends whole Fleets to Boston,
our Machias Admiral has been and Burnt the Fort on St. John's River,
took away all the Cannon, six or seven, and has taken a Vessel Bound to
Boston with thirty head Cattle, seventy Sheep, some Swine, 2000 lbs.
Butter and Cheese, seventy Dollars, six watches, some English Goods.
Our Assembly are setting, but no one Event of any Consequences has
taken place, do let me know how we are to account for the strange delay
of the Money that was ordered from Philadelphia, our Conjectures are
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 Vol. I. 109, supra.
4 2 o Appendix [ 1775
various and my Curiosity is much raised, it is certainly very Extraor-
dinary to have an Army of 20,000 men, appointed and stationed without
one single Dollar to support or provide for them. The Character and
Credit of many of the Officers at Stake and suffering. The provisions in a
manner stopd. Our Friends astonished and our Enemies diverted. I shall
write you as soon as possible again, in the meantime am with wishes for
your Happiness your Friend
J.W.
Present with the Inclosed Letter my regards to my Friend Adams, my
Compliments to Mr. Cushing, Pain, Hancock, Ward, and all Enquiring
Friends, if there be any, particularly to Mr. Collins to whom shall write
soon.
James Warren to (?) ^
Watertown, Oct. 2d, 1775
Sir, — You will see by this Instance what difficulties you may Involve
yourself in, by what at first you perhaps meant only as a Compliment.
As was no more than the Natural Effusions of a friendly disposition I
have had it in Contemplation to write to you, ever since you thought it
worth while to request it, and have waited only for some Events of Im-
portance to take place, that I might with the greater probability succeed
in my Wishes by gratifying you with some Intelligence. Things in our
Camp and about Boston remain pretty much as they were when you left
us. We have made some small Advances upon them since; every thing
of that Kind as soon as they discover it, has Irritated and made them
very waspish for a little while. A smart Cannonade at first has been the
Certain Consequence, which has done us very little Injury, and we have
generally Treated with Neglect, and suffered them to Tire themselves like
other Children with their own ill humour, till after a little while when the
peevish fit has gone off they can see us without any seeming Emotion
finish at our Ease, what at first so highly provoked them. I do not recol-
lect any Skirmishes that have happened between our Troops and theirs,
or any Important Military Movements, I mean since you was here, it
has been a rare thing for ten days past to hear a Cannon, we keep them
Confined and watch them with Care. I am inclined to think we shall
have occasion to do little else. The Duty and fatigue of the army in Bos-
ton is so great and IntoUerable, that Joined with their manner of Living
must sweep them off by Thousands. Desertions from them are frequent,
I From the Emmet Collection in the New York Public Library.
1 775 ] Appendix 421
very commonly four or five in a week, they say the soldiers are very
Uneasy, Almost ready to Mutiny, that they have had fresh provisions
served them but once since the Battle of Lexington and no Vegetables.
that they are in their Beds but one Night in four and that great Numbers
wait only for an Opportunity to desert. A Party of our Men last week
went upon Governor's Island and brought off all the Stock except a few
Horses which they could not catch and did not think prudent to fire att.
The People at Marblehead have taken a Vessel from New Providence
with Turtle and other delacacies the produce of that Island and designed
for the delicate palates of the Rebels in Boston, but by a S: West Wind
forced into Marblehead. The People of Cape Ann have taken a Brigan-
tine from Quebec for Boston with Cattle, Sheep, Oatmeal, and some For-
rage for the Rebel army and Carried her into that place. The armed Ves-
sel at Machias have destroyed the remains of the fort at St. John's River,
brought off some Cannon and taken a Brigantine from Nova Scotia for
Boston with Stock, etc. Coll. Arnold was eight days ago sixty miles up
Kennebeck with his detachment for Quebec, all in high Spirits and well
provided, so that we have the most pleasing prospects of Success in Can-
ada. Two letters were found on Board the Brigantine from Quebec wrote
by one Gamble, who chartered her. he is an Officer in the Army and Inti-
mately acquainted with Gage, one Letter is to Gage, the other to Maj.
Sherriff, telling them that no Aid is to be Expected to Government from
that Quarter, that Carlton dare not Issue his Orders to the Militia, sup-
posing they would not be obeyed, and that the Canadians, poisoned from
N. England, had got the use of that damned Abused word Liberty. We
have no Communication with Boston but by a Boat to Chelsea once or
twice a week, in which are suffered to come out only one or two persons of
little or no Consequence. We cant learn with any Certainty if any rein-
forcements are Expected from England, the Soldiers are Indeed told
that large ones will soon arrive, this we consider as Calculated to quiet
them and reconcile them to the severity of their Duty and hard fare. I
have now only to apologise for this Letter which is wrote in a hurry and
with a Carelessness only to be used with the most Intimate Acquaintance,
among which I should be proud to rank you as one. I am your sincere
Friend
Jas : Warren
My regards to all Friends.
There is a Report that Gage is Superceded and that the Command of
the Army and Government here is given to Howe.^
I In substance this letter is not unlike that printed in i. 122, so it could hardly have
been written to John Adams, to whom Warren did write on the same day.
42 2 Appendix [ 177s
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, OctT. 23 d, 1775
My Dear Sir, — I have waited to the last Hour in hopes of haveing
the Advantage of some delightful subject to write on, as you gave me
reason to hope for in one of your last favours; but all things hereabouts
remain in pretty much the same Situation, we look at their Lines and
they view ours, and Consider them in the same formidable Light. No-
thing in the Military way has taken place here nor do I know that any plan
is on foot, or under Consideration, they want Courage to attack us and
we want powder to attack them and so there is no Attack on either side.
No Reinforcements are yet arrived, we may however Expect them every
day. I believe they look for them every hour, if they come they will be a
great relief to them, their duty is now Excessive severe, they are upon
Guard at least two nights in three, which with the provisions they have
makes them very sickly and uneasy, it is Conjectured by some that are
out of Town that a great part of them would make no resistance if at-
tacked, but that is a Circumstance too precarious to depend on. however
I could wish for a Resolution in our Councils to make an Attempt, tho' I
know it to be hazardous, they are. Indeed, very strong, and if we should
fail the Attempt would both cost us many a Brave fellow and perhaps
damp and discourage those that remained, as well as occasion Murmur-
ings, finding faults with the Conduct of Officers, and many other Eifects of
disappointment, but if we should succeed the Consequences would be
Important and Grand. I can hardly think they would look us in the face
again even with Amherst at the Head of 20,000 Hanoverians, Hessians,
Scotch Rebels, Irish Papists, etc. What then is the probability.'' Upon
this Question my Mind has often Ballanced and does now, and nothing
but Faith, strong Faith, and Confidence to a degree of Enthusiasm, pre-
ponderates and determines my wishes. I have such reliance on the Right-
eousness of our Cause as Inclines me to think any thing will succeed. I
wrote yesterday every Article of Intelligence I could collect to my good
Friend, Mr. J. Adams,^ every thing of that kind I write to one of you I
Consider as wrote to both. I shant therefore trouble you with Repetition.
Nothing has turned up this day but a Confirmation of the Arrival of one
of our Vessels (tho' not the one I mentioned to him) with l\ Tons pow-
der, 500 Stands of Arms, and 8 Cannon mounted on Deck, she is in at
Townsend, near Kennebeck. The Grand Conference Ended last Evening,
what is Concluded upon I know not. You great Folks keep things so Im-
penetrably secret that we small ones must be Content with our own Con-
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 Vol. I. 149, supra.
1775 ] Appendix 423
jectures. Mr. Lynch and Coll. Harrison have spent this day at Roxbury
and go of in the Morning. I am just returned from head quarters where I
have been to take my Leave of them, but missed of the pleasure of seeing
them. I have left my Compliments and an Invitation to Breakfast with
me in the Morning: I may or may not see them. I am however Inclined
to think they will leave us well satisfied and I believe their Visit here will
be serviceable. I Imagine they are so with regard to the Establishment
for our Army and Convinced it was made on principles of Oeconomy. I
shall Inclose you to be made use of at discretion an Abstract from the
Journal of the Year 1759, by which you will see how much the Expense
then Exceeds the Expense now. Our General Court are drudging on in
the old way, with this difference only, that questions are more numerous,
more difficult and complicated, and less Abilities to determine them. I
never flatter any Man, but really want you here. I have taken some pleas-
ure when I have been in the house with you. I take none now. I last
Evening received a Letter from Church,^ Conceived in a stile truly poet-
ical and in Terms of the greatest Assurance and Confidence, desireing
from his high Opinion of the Immaculate House of Representatives, and
great regard and Affection for his Constituents, to resign his Seat, he
undoubtedly Intended to steal a march upon and outgeneral us. I dont
know but he will succeed, and prevent an Expulsion. I wish this was
Cushing's House, we have in hand a Militia Bill,^ a Bill to Encourage In-
dividuals fixing out Privateers and to Establish Courts of Admiralty to
determine on Captures by the Verdict of a Jury,^ to prevent Persons
holding places Incompatible, by which your Honour is not to be allowed
to hold the place of a Justice of the Superior Court and I am as a Sheriff
Excluded from a Seat at the Board and as an Officer of the Army from a
Seat in either House, so that I may in time, how soon I know not, have
more leisure to write to you. several others are in Contemplation. I
thank you for your Letters and wish for more. I have forwarded to Mrs.
Adams and your Son those you Inclosed by safe hands, they were well
not long since and hope are so now. My regards to my Friends Mr. Han-
cock, Cushing and Pain; also to my Friend Collins, for whom I have a
great Respect. I am with great Sincerity your Friend
J.W.
I have a Thousand things yet to say that Time and Circumstances
wont permit. I hope the Unexampled Barbarity of our Enemies will
remove all hesitations and dubitations and stimulate to revenge as well
as Justice. Mrs. Warren, my good wife, sends her regard to my good
Friend.
I Dr. Benjamin Church. 2 Province Laws, v. 445. 3 lb., 436.
42 4 Appendix [ 177s
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, Octr. 26th, 1775
My dear Sir, — I had the pleasure of receiving yours by Mr. Tracey
two days ago, and am much ObUged to you for it. I am sorry your Friends
dont write you oftner, especially those of them who are more capable of it
than I am, and have Abundantly more leisure. I think their Negligence
Unpardonable — that of the Committee in perticular; but to tell you the
Truth I never Expected your Correspondence would be much Enlarged
by their Appointment. I wrote to you not more than three days ago, and
now again purely to shew the readiness I have to Comply with your re-
quests and my own duty, not haveing a single new Article of Intelligence
to hand you, how long you will wish the Continuance of such a Corre-
spondence I can't say. I am very sensible of the hazard and danger of
depending so much on a Change of Measures in Britain, that is a Rock
that some of us have ever carefully avoided and should never split upon,
but in a general Shipwreck, when we must go with the rest, whether it
be occasioned by Timidity, Folly or Wickedness. I was in hopes before
this to have found more such Instances and Examples as Lord Effingham
has given the world; but the prevaiUng Luxury and Consequent rage for
money has absorbed every other Sentiment and left scarce the least
Trace of honour or virtue in any public Class among them. I perceive
you had got Church's Letter, which, with an Account of his manner of
Conducting this matter, gives you every thing we have here on which we
Judge of him and the Criminality of his Conduct, there are Indeed some
other Collateral Evidences against him, such as his keeping this Corre-
spondence a secret to every one, Instead of Communicating it to the
President or some of the Members of Congress, or to the General, if he
Intended it for the Good of the publick, especially when the General in
great Confidence has Sollicited him to Recommend to him some proper
person in Boston from whom he might receive Intelligence. Add to all
which the General Inattention and Unfeeling manner he discovered when
he was among us, I used to Impute that to the Indolence of his Temper,
but am now Convinced that it proceeded from the Wickedness of his
Heart. I have now no difficulty to account for the knowledge Gage had
of all our Congress Secrets, and how some later plans have been rendered
abortive; or for the Indulgence shewn him when he went into Boston
after the Lexington Battle, do I discover a want of charity that the Evi-
dences wont warrant. The judgment of the publick and of Individuals
are very severe upon the Letter here, you are to consider that at the
Time this letter was wrote, our Army were forming very fast into Order
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1 775 ] Appendix 425
and discipline, and were so formidable that he could hardly Advise them
to make another Attack with any prospect of Success. And with regard
to powder we had about that time many Accounts of the Arrival of it,
which I dare say he believed, when he could no longer promise himself
that the Event of the Contest would be as lucky as the defeat of our Army
at Bunker's Hill, it seems natural that he should tell them the Truths he
has done in order to Enforce his Sollicitations for Peace, but I quit this
subject as it might lead me into a page or two more, and only now Inform
you that we have this day taken the proper steps to have him brought to
the Barr of the House Tomorrow, lo o'Clock. then I expect him and as
great a Concourse as Curiosity can Collect.
The 27th. Doctr. Church has been brought according to order to the
Barr and has made with great Assurance and Confidence an artful, plau-
sible defence, attended with all the poetical Oratory he was master of, and
really has Exceeded what I thought him Capable of. the Guards with our
Messenger have taken him back and we are now debateing by Candle
Light, while I write to a Friend I think will never fall under a Single Sus-
picion of Treason to his Country, we have no kind of news, shall write
you again soon, whether we shall pass Judgment or suspend it least we
Influence the final Judgment on the Charge against him, or whether
we shall now admit his resignation are the questions. I suppose Coll.
Reed will be the Bearer of this and give you a full and ample Account at
least of the state of the Army. I have taken good Care of your Letters.
I do sincerely wish you every Happiness. Adeu.
J.W.
You must make my regards to your Brethren Coll. Hancock, Mr.
Cushing and Mr. Paine, and any other Gentlemen who may think it
worth while to accept them. Time wont permit and you may add, I have
nothing Important to write.
My good Friend Mr. Adams shall write to if possible. Mrs. Warren,
one of the Choicest Gifts of Heaven, sets by att the writeing this Post-
script and desires her regards to your Honour.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
, Watertown, Novr. 12th, 1775
Dear Sir, — The Bearer of this I suppose will be Mr. Revere, who
Carries you from the Council some very Important dispatches, taken by
a Fish Boat in a Schooner made Prize off and Carried into Beverly.
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
42 6 Appendix [ 1 775
Among other things there is to be found in one Letter the Success and
Effects of your Loyal and Dutiful Petition. Administration from it pre-
sumed there must be a Weakness among us. this presumption has Ani-
mated and Encouraged them to pursue vigorous measures and exert their
whole strength, what will be thought of the piddling Genius now. The
five Regiments destined for Boston this Fall are partly arrived and the
rest daily Expected, how many are in I cant learn with certainty, it is
said they are in Choice Spirits in Boston, tho' they are starveing for wood
and fresh Provisions, and in want of Bread, with regard to the Inhabit-
ants they are at least as miserable as ever, it was reported last week that
Howe had called upon all that were desirous of leaving the Town to give
in their names by a certain time, I think the next day, at 12 o'Clock.^ we
Expected proposals for their comeing out but hear no more of this matter.
Our Military Movements are much the same as they have been lately,
they keep within their walls and we watch them, the want of a certain
Article has prevented our being able to do more, with an Abundance of it,
some Capital and Grand Stroke would have been struck and perhaps put
an End to the War. my Greatest Uneasiness arises from the present
State of the two Armies. Ours is new modelling, while theirs is reinforce-
ing. in the new Arrangement of our Army the Regiments are to be re-
duced from thirty-nine to twenty seven, you will easily conceive the diffi-
culty of doing it without disgusting Soldiers as well as Officers, our own
men you know are much attached to perticular Officers, and I hear there
is in the Camp much Conversation and Uneasiness on this Subject. I am
not in the Cabinet. I hope matters have been well digested and that this
Business will end well, it is certainly a Critical Time. Prizes chiefly with
wood from the Eastward and Stock, Hay and provisions from Nova
Scotia are frequently bringing into our Harbours, if these dont Enrich us,
the want of them must distress our Enemies, the Vessel from Ireland is,
however, a valuable Prize and has many good Bits on Board. The Intelli-
gence you will have by the Bearer, with the R[oyal] silly Proclamation,^
will, I presume, put an End to the Petitioning. I shall Expect some
Movements worthy of so august a Body. A Declaration of Independency,
Treaties with foreign powers, a Test that shall draw a clear and distin-
guishing Line between Whiggs and Tories, and some other matters in the
same stile, however they might formerly be thought Extravagant, may
now perhaps be considered by even piddling Genius, as not Exceeding the
Line of Moderation. Our General Court was adjourned last Night to the
29th Instant, the two Houses have not parted in the best Humour — a
poor time to altercate. I have not time to give you the State of the Con-
1 Broadsides {Collections, lxxv.) No. 1826.
2 Of August 23. Broadsides {Collections, lxxv.) No. 1818.
1 775 ] Appendix 427
troversy. the appointing Field Officers is the Subject. The Council
Claim the Exclusive Right as a Prerogative of the Governour; we claim
an Equal Share with them as a part of the Assembly of this Colony by
Virtue of your Resolves which are so clear and plain that there is no room
for doubt and which, if not rightly understood by us, do distinguish us
from the other Colonies by depriving us of a great privilege given them,
can an Adherence to the old rotten Charter be a Ballance for haveing the
militia in the hands of the People, they have lost much of the Respect and
Confidence of the People by their Behaviour on this Occasion, tho the
Occasion is malancholy it Excites ridicule in the Gravest among us to see
more especially some Individuals among them contending for the Prero-
gative of the Governour with all the Zeal of Bernard and Hutchinson,
the Hauteur and Pomp of Majesty, you would certainly think of some
ridiculous Animal apeing a fine Gentleman, or etc. Mr. Revere waits. I
must refer you to him for the perticulars of a little Affair last week, the
Regulars landing on Sewals Point, etc. I am yours, etc.
J. W.
My regards to all Friends, perticularly Mr. Adams to whom I wrote per
Capt. Mcpherson a few days since, dont think I have not a Respect for
your Body. I have, but some of them certainly think themselves either
Kings or Governours at least, you wont know them when you get here.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, Deer. 5th, 1775
My Dear Sir, — I Received your favour of the 4th November ^ Just
before I went Home, where I Tarried for a Rarity about nine or ten days
and returned here last Week. I thank you for the Letter and as the Senti-
ment pleased me much I have made use of it, or part of it, to Counteract
that penurious narrow Spirit too often prevailing in a House of Represent-
atives and to Impress upon others the Necessity of Guarding against
such an Incompatibility of Offices as we harve before very Justly, as well
as loudly Complained of. it is indeed too true that the doctrine you
mention with regard to School Masters has been preached even in the
House, as I am told in the debates on the Tax Bill and they are not Ex-
empted as usual, this is a Circumstance I never knew till the Bill was
passed, haveing unluckily been out of the House in every reading of it. I
should certainly have Exerted my small Abilities had I been there, in sup-
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 Vol. I. 169, supra.
42 8 Appendix [1775
port of the principles and policy of our Fathers. Our Government, how-
ever disposed to promote Virtue and the public and private happiness of
the People, is not Considered here as permanent, we are all in Continual
Expectation of another Change, and besides the late Conduct of the
Council has weakened that Confidence and Reverence necessary to give a
well disguised Government its full Operation and Effects. I hope how-
ever there will be an End put to that. I believe your and my Friend's
Letter will make them more modest. I think I see it, tho' I have not seen
the Letter, they say you have left things Just as they were. I wrote to
my Friend, J. Adams, two days ago,^ which went yesterday by Capt.
Stephenson of the Riflemen, to him I must refer you for all the perticulars
I could then recollect, since which the only material things that have
taken place are Letters from Arnold in the Neighborhood of Quebec, and
some more prizes taken. I suppose you will have the Letters received, or
the Copies of them, by this Express, You will by them see that this Ar-
nold is a Genius in this way. he has made a March under such Circum-
stances, and attended with such difficulties, as modern story cant equal,
it must be Compared with Hanibal's over the Alps, or Xenophon's re-
treat. I think we are in a fine way to have possession of all Canada and
perhaps Carleton too. Our Privateers more than answer our Expecta-
tions, since the Grand Prize I wrote Mr, Adams of several other vessels
have been taken, perticularly one from Scotland dunnaged with Coal and
filled up with Bail Goods to a very Considerable Amount and Consigned
to James Anderson, who by the way is become a Captain in Gorham's
Regiment of Fensible Americans, it is said another Vessel with dry Goods
for Canada is also taken and one with Fish from the Land, this Success
Confirms the Sentiments I have long had. Fifteen privateers fixed out
last June would before this have put an End to the War, or at least have
Obliged the Fleet and Army to leave Boston, the state of your dear
Town and the remaining Inhabitants there is truly miserable, if the Suc-
cessor of Gage would have more regard to his word than his predecessor,
he wants his humanity, he last week turned ashore at pudding Point
three hundred poor miserable Inhabitants, almost destitute of every
necessary, and there left them Exposed to the rigour of the Season and it
is said five or six died before they could be relieved, the Houses there are
no Shelter, the windows are all out, and the floors taken up. this day we
are in Expectation of another set being sent out in the same manner, but
with the Addition of a Species of Barbarity any but a British Minister or
British Soldier would Blush at. we are Informed he has Inoculated them
in order the more Effectually to destroy them and spread the Small Pox
among us. I have many things to say to you which time wont permit. I
I Vol. I. 187, swpra.
1775] Appendix 429
must therefore Conclude this Scroll wrote in hurry and Confusion and am
your sincere Friend \No signature \
Lord Stanhope's Son and another, said to be a relation of Lord North's,
were Intercepted at Rhode Island in one of their Night Walks and se-
cured. One of them offered loo Guineas and his Gold Watch to be re-
leased. I think Stanhope Commanded a small armed Vessel.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, Deer. 19, 1775
My Dear Sir, — I have but very short notice of this Opportunity,
you will therefore escape the Trouble of a long Letter from me at this time,
you will doubtless be Informed by the General of the Military Opera-
tions, in what manner and when the Army began and advanced their
works on Lechmore's Point, and of the Cannonading and Bombardment
that has Ensued, and of the Success of it, of the several Prizes our Priva-
teers have taken, and of the Loss of one of the Continental Privateers
taken and Carried into Boston, it is said the People are sent to England.
I shall therefore leave all those matters and, after Congratulating you on
our Success in Canada and wishing for the Completion of our wishes in
that quarter, tell you a little General Court News, and ask a little Con-
gress News in return, the Capital matters we are Engaged in are regulat-
ing the Militia, paying of the Soldiery, aiding and assisting the Quarter-
master General in Supplying the Army with Hay and wood, two very
scarce Articles, fixing out Vessels for Importing Powder, etc., promoteing
the Manufacture of Arms and Salt Petre, Building Powder Mills, and in
short every thing else, it is Impossible to describe the Business we have
to do. it is Increased, perhaps doubled, by this Colony being so much the
Seat of War. we are to begin this day upon the Consideration of a Militia
Bill reported yesterday, there being an End of the Contest between the
two Houses I hope we shall get a good one. we are Emitting 75,000 more,
not dareing to trust to a remittance from Philadelphia. Hay and wood
have given us a deal of trouble, they are dear, but they are very scarce,
the General has at times thought the People here Extravagant in their
demands, and that they took unreasonable Advantages, while the Cir-
cumstances are such as would confimand the same or greater price for
both if no Army was here and the Importation of Eastern wood stopd. to
reconcile the General to these Sentiments to avoid any Imputation of
that kind from the Continent and at the same time do Justice and give
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
4 3 o Appendix [ 1 775
satisfaction to our own People. It is Labor, etc. we are fixing out ten
Vessels for powder, etc. these are all to go to the foreign W. Indies. We
Conceive by your resolves we are not at Liberty to carry any produce, etc.,
to any other place, therefore, tho we have fine merchantable Fish we do
not Ship it to Spain, where probably we might get powder, etc., with
more certainty and less money, was this Intended or was it an Inad-
vertency.^ the Manufacture of Salt petre is flourishing here beyond our
Expectations, we have a Committee to Build two powder Mills, one at
Sutton, the other at Stoughton.
when are we to hear of your Confederation, proposed in your last Ses-
sion, is it not time to have the Constitution of our supream Legislative
accurately fixd and fully Established and known, you have recom-
mended to us to make a Law against harbouring deserters.^ I wish you
would recommend to all the Colonies to make similar and severe Acts
against the Violaters of the Association, it appears to us Important and
I believe must be done, the Soldiery in Boston are very sickly and Ex-
tremely distressed for necessaries; ours are healthy, vigorous and spirited,
the Inlistments rather Increase, we last Fryday Chose delegates to re-
present us in Congress from the last of January next to the last of De-
cember, the only Alteration is Gerry in the room of Cushing, whose Ab-
sence could no longer he dispensed with ! the Important Post he holds in the
County of Suffolk requireing his Attendance may be the reason. I have
not time to add one word more and Indeed can hardly recollect what I
have wrote. Aiy regards to my Friend Adams. I wrote him by last Post,
should like to learn whether he or you ever receive any from me. Adeu.
What are become of the papers sent him by Coll. Reed which you said
diverted you.
May Vessels be permitted to go to the W. Indies and elsewhere in
Ballast to purchase molasses, etc. I dont know that it is against any of
your resolves, and those Articles may be wanted, but then all the hard
money will go. what Effect that may have on our Currency, etc., may be
worth Considering, do let me have your Opinion as soon as you can on
this subject.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, January 14, 1776
My Dear Sir, — I now set down to write to you after a longer Interval
than the Obligations I readily Acknowledge myself under for your sev-
I Vol. I. 203, supra. 2 Journals of the Continental Congress, iii. 324.
3 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1 776 ] Appendix 4 3 1
eral favours can Justify, since my last I have been to Plymouth and been
so Crouded with Business here that I have not been able to gratify my
own IncHnations, or Comply with your desires. Very few things, how-
ever, have turned up here worthy of your Notice. The Military Opera-
tions are the same now as they have been for Months past, purely defen-
sive and Guarding against the Excursions of the Enemy, Excepting a
Little Affair which happened last Monday Night, which tho' not very
Important was well Executed and is not without good Effects, Inureing
our Soldiers to Service, giveing them fresh Spirits and Encourageing In-
listments. I mean the Burning the Houses at Charlestown, the perticu-
lars of which, I dare say, you will have before this reaches you.
I wish it was in my power to give you a more favourable Account of
the state of the Army than it is. The InHstments by no means answer
my Expectations, nor can I account for this Backwardness in a way satis-
factory to myself. I cannot give you the Exact Numbers, but doubt
whether they exceed lo or ii,ooo after all the Amazeing diligence and
Trouble of the General, assisted by Endeavours of Individuals, as well as
the General Court. I am very anxious about this matter, it is high time
that our Army was Established. I could have wished that some other
Mode had at first been adopted, but it is now too late to rectify any orig-
inal Error, we must go on and do as well as we can. I shall only mention
to you that I think the service has suffered and the Inlistments been Em-
barrassd by the low state in which you keep your Treasury here, had the
General been able to have paid of the old army to the last of December,
when their Term Expired, and to give Assurances for the pay of the Mil-
itia when their Continuance in the Army should End it might have pro-
duced many good Effects and, among others, added some Thousands to
the Army, you will be surprised, perhaps, when I tell you there is but
about 10,000 dollars here and that left by the necessary Parsimony of the
General, not knowing what Occasion there might be for a little. The
time for which our Militia came in Ends tomorrow, we have presumed so
much on the publick Spirit of our Countryman as to make no other pro-
vision, tho' every thing depends on their staying, and they wish to be at
Home, our House adjourned Yesterday Morning and the Members went
down among them to use their Influence. I flatter myself the most of
them will stay to the last of this Month, our Naval Operations have been
for a while suspended, the Privateers mostly hauled up. I can therefore
give you no Account of any late Captures. I hear they are again fixing
and hope they will soon have their usual Success. Our General Court are
Extremely Busy, the Business Croud ing on them is. Indeed, without
Bounds, besides the Common Business; and the availing ourselves of our
present Situation to make some and repeal other Laws, the necessary At-
43 2 Appendix [ 1776
tention we are obliged to give the Army is a very great Addition to it.
Could your Congress be sensible of our Assiduity, and the Chearfulness
with which we submit to the Trouble and a great Expense of Time and
Money for the publick good, it would of itself be an Irrefragable Argu-
ment of the publick Spirit which reigns here. The Continent calls for aid
to the Army in wood. Hay, Blankets, Men, etc., are of themselves suffi-
cient to Employ us the length of our usual Sessions, we have, however,
been so long used to Climbing Mountains that we go on with a persever-
ance that demands Admiration. I am sensible the Circumstances you
mention must give you pain, they are, indeed, not just, you must, how-
ever. Extend your Charity and make Allowances to some of the Authors.
I really believe the great perplexities they have been Involved in have
prevented their seeing things in their true Light. The principle thing
peculiar to ourselves that we have been Engaged in is a Militia Bill, which
with much difficulty is now nearly Compleated. It is too lengthy and
would be too tedious to give you a perticular Account of. it may suffice
to say that all poles from sixteen to fifty, with the usual Exceptions, are
to form the Train Band, and the Alarm much as usual, it provides for
three Major Generals in the Colony, and a Brigadier in every County
where are more than one Regiment, who, with the Field Officers of the
Regiments are to be chosen by either House with the Concurrence of the
other, and Commissioned by the Council. A ship is arrived at Falmouth
which left England the beginning of November, by her we have the Ad-
dresses of both Houses in the usual state, some Additions to the Minority.
Parliament and Administration going on the same way as usual, etc.,
etc., which are things of no great Consequence. The passengers relate
some Interesting Facts: that the People begin to feel and stirr themselves;
that 1800 Troops sailed for Boston were drove back by hard gales of wind
in a shattered Condition; that 13,000 Sheep and Hoggs were shipd and
sailed for Boston drove back and lost, which are to be ranked in that
Train of Events Providence has ordered for the Salvation of this Country,
you are to have the Papers from the General and so I shall add no more,
but Improve the Little Time left me to Enquire whether your Congress
should not by this time have a fixed Constitution that we may know and
Consider as 'permanent; whether it is not time that you should form your
Alliances as the has his. what is become of your Fleet, what is the
destination of the French Armament in the West Indies, and whether
you cant Improve so favourable a Circumstance to our Advantage, etc.,
etc. if we are not yet ripe for wise, prudent and Spirited measures when
shall we be. but I must leave these Enquiries and Expect that if Con-
sistent with your Engagements and Honour you will tell me more than I
ask for. Our Good Friend, Mr, J. Adams, will set out in a week or ten
1 776 ] Appendix 433
days. I wish him with you, as I think this must be an Important Crisis
and I hope will produce great Events. I am with the greatest Sincerity
your Friend
\No signature^
We are Improveing the Manufactory of Saltpetre with great rapidity,
we Expect in three weeks Newberry Port alone will make loo lbs. per
day. Powder Mills are also Building.
No News from Canada later than 5 Dec. when the Armies were
Joined, reinforced by Canadians and in good Health and Spirits, and all
Appearances favourable.
17th. we are now called on for more men to come in till the ist of April,
seven Regiments to consist of 728 each, Connecticut for four, N. Hamp-
shire for two, in all thirteen, all which will but Compleat the Army to
your Establishment, from which you may Judge of the present Situation
of it. Two Prizes Carried in Yesterday to Newberry Port by a small
Privateer, one a Ship from London with Coal and Porter, the other a
Brigantine from Ireland with Provisions.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, J any. 31, 1776
My Dear Sir, — I have httle more Time than to Express my Obliga-
tions to you for your several Favours since my last, if you conceive the
pleasure with which I receive and read your Letters I am sure your
Benevolence would prompt you to continue writing even if the propor-
tion of your Letters to mine, I mean in Number, should be as six to one.
Our Valuable Friends, Mr. J. Adams, and Gerry, left us last Thursday,
and I hope will be with you soon, from them you will learn the State of
things here. Civil and Military, more Compleatly than I could give it you
in a Volume. I shall therefore give you no Trouble about matters that
had taken place before they left us, and very little has happened since.
Manly last week took two Ships from Whitehaven, with Coal, Beer,
Potatoes, and some other small Articles, a Tender came to their relief
with a Force superiour to Manley's, but he Bravely Beat Him off and
Triumphantly Carried them into Plymouth. Advices from Canada, I sup-
pose, you have as soon as we. I ani glad to hear our Friends were all well
before Quebec on the 14th Instant. Our Militia, I believe, will Come in
agreable to the summons of the Court, we hear from some Towns that
more are Inlisted than their Quota, and I hope will Join the Army at the
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
434 Appendix { i -^6
Time Expected. The Regiments for Canada are raising fast. Coll. [John]
Fellows raised a Regiment in Berkshire by Gen. Schuyler's Orders, and
these are gone. I hope that wont Interfere with [Elisha] Porters getting
his Regiment. I hear he goes on well. We yesterday proceeded to the
Choice of Officers of Militia. Coll. Hancock was Unanimously Chose by
the House the first Major General. I am glad to hear of the Arrival of so
fine a parcel of Saltpetre at Philadelphia. I wish to hear more News M
that kind, what the Movements of the Troops in Boston will be next I
cant say. some things look as if they Intended to decamp from Boston,
and I suppose move South if they do. I am glad General Lee is gone to
York. I am glad you have done Lovel so much honour and justice.^ the
General sent in the proposal Yesterday. I will read the Pamphlet you
recommend as soon as I can get it and will then give you my Opinion of
it. I am Obliged to Conclude and have only time to wish you all Happi-
ness and am with respects to our Friends yours etc.
J.W.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, Fehy. 14th, 1776
My Dear Sir, — I have neglected writeing to you by several Oppor-
tunities, prevented by various reasons, among others by the hurry at-
tending the Close of a Sessions, we have been about riseing for a Week
past, but new matters Continually pressing upon us has delayed it to
this day. the design is to be up this Evening, but I suspect the same
Cause will delay us one day longer. I have just left the House, being very
unwell. I Intend to set out for Home in the Morning, if I feel any ways
fit for a journey. I have Endeavoured to get the Pamphlet you men-
tioned, but have not succeeded. I have not had the pleasure of seeing
Mrs. Adams and cant learn what the Title is, however, I Conjecture it
may be Common Sense, which I have seen, and am (I dare say you will
believe) among the many Admirers of it and therefore shant blame you
on Account of its differing from my Sentiments, the Sentiments, the
principles, and the whole Book are prodigiously admired here by the
best Judges. Doctor Winthrop and Major Hawley are charmed with it.
we three should certainly vote for a declaration of Independence without
delay, being fully Convinced of the Advantage and necessity of it. what
can prevail with the Congress to hesitate, when will the Time and Cir-
cumstances more proper arrive; can they ever; I dread the postponeing
1 Journals oj the Continental Congress, iv. 32.
2 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1776 ] Appendix 435
this step and I dread [it] the more because I find the House of Lords have
got before them your Petition, if they accept your offers and close with
you on your own Terms, how are you to get clear of it. and if you cant
where shall we be and what shall we do next; then certainly we shall not
be in so good a Situation for such a Measure as now. besides Spring is
almost arrived, when we shall want every aid and every Advantage,
therefore Guard against the Embarrassments that may be the Conse-
quence of Treating and proposals of reconciliation by takeing a Step in
its nature, and I hope in your Intention, as unalterable as the Laws of
the Meeds, etc. I wish I could give you any thing pleasing, or even new,
but there is a perfect dearth of News here, no military Operations on our
side have yet taken place, the General is yet in want of powder sufficient
to Enable him to Undertake any thing of Consequence. last Night a de-
tachment of the Enemy got on Dorchester Hill, Burnt several Buildings,
and took four or five prisoners, and then retreated without any loss. I
cant Ascertain the perticulars of this Affair, which tho' not great is some-
what Mortifying, no prizes lately taken, we have ordered a Committee
to furnish you with our Journals and Acts as fast as they are printed, by
which you will be able to form some Judgment how we spend our Time,
the Reinforcement of the Army by our Militia is more than equal to my
Expectations and I believe equal to the call for them. I hope to hear
from you soon, where is your fleet, my regards to Mr. J. Adams and
Gerry, and Coll. Hancock. I shall write to Mr. Adams by first Oppor-
tunity, I cant add more this Evening but that I am your Friend.
\No signature.]
I am directed by the House to desire our delegates to furnish us with
three or four sets of the printed Journals of your August Body. I have
lost the Vote or would Inclose it.
We have not surmounted all our difficulties in forming the Militia by
Compleating the Bill, the House chose Coll, Hancock the first, your
Humble Servant the Second and Coll. [Azor] Orne the third Major Gen-
erals, the Board nonconcurred the second, because they think, as they
say, the Choice militates with a Clause in the Act, forgetting it did as
much so with the Choice of several of their Honours, as military Officers,
Brigadiers, etc. the Vote by means of the nonconcurrence is again before
us. I am unable to say what the House will do with it. Orne refuses.
Coll. Hancock is objected to as being unable to attend, etc. it lays for the
present and will till next Session. Thompson for Cumberland is among
the Brigadiers and concurred, and gives much uneasiness in that County,
and I suppose some others will in others, I am glad to be out of the List,
but the Council have done it in a manner as ungracious and Indelicate as
4 3 6 Appendix [ i i^e
Bernard or Hutchinson would have done; for which reason I have serious
thoughts of quiting my civil commission and [illegible] an Independent
[illegible] Saltpetre comes in finely and we have given Encouragement
to Build two more powder mills.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Plymo., Feby. 28th, 1776
My Dear Sir, — I have been at Home near a fortnight and dureing
the whole time have been very 111 and am so yet. I can only Inclose you
a Letter from London which came this Evening to my hands in the Shat-
tered Condition you will find it, having narrowly Escaped the flames to
which it was Committed with a large Number of others to Escape the In-
spection of the Pirates in the Channel and was saved with one other for
the General and one for Doctor FrankHn by the Assiduity of Mr. Fur-
nace who was a Passenger on Board and who Informs me that thirty-
nine Commissioners are comeing out to treat with the several Colonies,
three to each, they are to disown your Authority, this policy is as flimsy
as the rest of their Conduct, do take Care that they all give the same
Answer • — that is, refer them to you. Adeu.
J.W.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, May 2, 1776
My Dear Sir, — No Abatement of Affection or Inclination to Cor-
respond with my much Esteemed Friend, but want of Health, and Con-
sequently Spirits, Joined to the few Occurrences that take place here of
late, are the true reasons that I have wrote so seldom to you. I am much
obliged to you for your agreable favour of April 16.' I perfectly agree
with you in the sentiments there Expressed, it is really surpriseing to me
that a matter of so great Consequence should be delayed so long. G.
Britain is Engageing Hessians, Hanoverians and all the powers of Earth
and Hell they can against us, and we delay the only measure that would
determine any one Power to Act a part favourable to us. it may be said
that your late Resolves with regard to armed Vessels and Trade may be
considered as such, it is true they seem to be connected with a declara-
tion of Independence, [but] seem rather a consequence than a prior Step.
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 Ibid. 3 Vol. I. 224, supra.
I i^i^i ] Appendix 437
that declaration should therefore be Explicitly made first and these fol-
lowing would have Evinced our determination to act such a part as
would Intitle us to the Confidence of other Nations. I hope, however, the
wisdom of Congress will steer things in such a Channel as at least to make
a diversion in our favour in Europe, surely the favourable Opportunity
the Enemies of Britain have while their strength is thus Employed abroad
in the ridiculous manner it is will not fail to be Embraced. Our Eyes are
upon Heaven and you. what shall I say to you about your dear Colony.
Things look rather dull and gloomy here. The Troops left here are too
few in my Opinion and want that Animation necessary to make them
serviceable, in Consequence of it little has been done, I mean Compara-
tively, to fortify the Town of Boston, six weeks are elapsed and not so
much done as you would have Expected in two. however, they are now
in a way to do something. Fort Hill in a tolerable state of defence; some
very good works at Charlestown, Dorchester, and others going on at
Castle Island, to aid this Business we have been obliged to call in some
six Coast men, to Hire others by the month, and to order a Regiment of
728 men to be raised, this last goes on heavily, what the reasons are I
am not able to say, but it alarms me much to find this Colony already
Involved in any difficulty to raise one Regiment, when I think the En-
couragement is good, our Politicians in General Court have been En-
gaged too much in small Innovations of our Internal Police, such as Con-
fession Bills, Fee Bills, etc., which do not relate to the grand Question,
which is Extensive enough to Employ the most Enlarged Genius and
Employ all our Time, is not this like picking up pins while the Ship is
sinking, thus far have I wrote, but was Interrupted by Company, shall
be able to add only.
May 3d. This Morning 3 o Clock I was called up by an Express who
brought the Inclosed, the hurry this occasions will save you a longer
letter. I always Apprehended they would not leave Boston, you will be
able to make your own Judgment on this matter, and I dare say the
Congress will Conduct on this Occasion with their usual Wisdom. I pre-
sume as soon as the Court can be Collected this morning they will send
Expresses to General Washington, etc., perhaps not to Congress, suppose-
ing you will have it from him.^ I am Dear Sir with proper regards to all
Friends yours sincerely.
\No signature.]
I believe you will want a Paymaster in your Eastern department. I am
sure you want money here. Your Service is much Injured by the Soldiers
not haveing their pay according to Engagements. I am Concerned for the
I. Writings of Washington (Ford), iv. Sjn.
4 3 8 Appendix [ i ii(i
publick Credit and I am sure it is good policy to have your Bills in as
many hands as they are due to.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, August 15, 1776
My Dear Sir, — I have not wrote to you since you have been a
Member of a free and Independent State. I must, therefore, first Con-
gratulate you on an Event which, I presume, is as agreeable to you as any
that could take place, I wish you may live and Enjoy it in full health
many Years. I want to know what you are about now. how goes on the
Confederation, foreign Alliances and some other great matters. I seem to
think that they will (now your declaration is made) go on more smoothly
than before. I wish I could give you anything of Consequence from here,
but what you are already informed of. Our Attention is turned to the
Motions of the Armies at New York and we are with anxious Solicitude
every day Expecting great Events. I hope when they come they will be
favourable to us.
The Spirit of Privateering prevails here greatly, the Success of those
that have before Engaged in that Business has been sufficient to make a
whole Country privateering mad. many kinds of West India Goods that
we used to be told we should sufi^er for want of, are now plentier and
cheaper than I have known them for many Years.
An Opinion prevails here, and I think now without foundation, that
the Hessians will not fight till a Carteel for the Exchange of Prisoners is
settled, would it not therefore be Excellent policy to refuse to settle one
that should Include them. You will have heard of the Reception and
polite Treatment Lord Howe gave Mr. Tracey when he went on Board his
Ship to get an Exchange of Prisoners, for the purpose of geting his
Brother and Crew from Hallifax.^ he must have had some views more
than politeness or Benevolence dictated, or he never would have Con-
versed with him as he did. it was really a piece of finesse. I am not in a
Condition to write this Morning nor should I have done it, but after so
long a silence to tell you that my Esteem and regard for my Friend Mr.
Adams is as great as ever and to Express my Concern for your Health. I
am sorry to hear it is declineing, tho I cant wonder at it, such long and
Intense Application in a place so unhealthy must be too much for a firmer
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 The privateer Yankee Hero, of Newburyport, James Tracy, commander, was taken
in June, 1776, by the British ship Milford. The prisoners were brought to Marblehead in
December, 1776. The brother's name was Robert Tracy.
I 'j^^ ] Appendix 439
Constitution than yours. I am sensible of the Importance of your being
at Congress at this time and I know the reluctance you have at leaveing
your Duty there; but your health must be attended to. we shall want you
again, you must therefore take a ride and Relax your Mind and Breath
some of our Northern Elastic Air. Mr. Gerry is here and Intends to set
out for Philadelphia on Monday next. My regards to Mr. Adams. I am
your Friend,
J.W.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Watertown, Ocir. 24th, 1776
My Dear Sir, — I Received yours from Springfield and shall pay a
proper regard to the Contents, have also spoke to Major Hawley as you
desired. I believe there will be no danger of Barber's failing, since you
left us we have been Engaged almost wholly about raising our Quota of
Men. we have Committees gone to each Camp with great Encourage-
ment in Addition to yours, and we have further Instructed them to
Consult with the Generals and if they desired that our Militia now in the
Army and Engaged to the 17th Novr. and first of December should be
Continued, that they Endeavour to prevail with them to remain to the
first of Feby. and to Engage them, three pounds per mo. from 17th Nov.
this thing with a Representation made to Congress by a Committee, and
which you will see before this reaches you, was done when we received
Advice of the progress of our Enemies on the Lake and soon got a Copy of
a Letter Genl. Schuyler sent to the Berkshire Committees, we have now
a Committee Considering what further aid we can give the Northern
Army, the MiHtia of Hampshire and Berkshire that have Arms are al-
ready marched. I believe we shall send up Ammunition and what Arms
we have to those Counties, and provide some more men below. I hope
their Career will be stoped. it would be a Misfortune indeed to have
either of our Armies routed, we are this d"ay designing to pass on a
Commission for a Committee of War, who are to be vested with ample
powers and Consequently may reUeve the Assembly, dispatch Business
and save money, we have no other News from any quarter, a few prizes
are daily dropping in. it is reported that a ship with forty light Horse on
Board has been taken in the Channel of England by a Salem Privateer
after an Obstinate Engagement, in which the privateer lost seventeen
men. we are about moveing to Boston, haveing taken the Room belonging
to the County. A Committee are Enlargeing and prepareing the Repre-
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
440 Appendix [ 1776
sentatives Room and say it will be finished next Tuesday, many of our
Members, however, go with reluctance and it will delay it as much as
possible, but these are small matters in Comparison of those which may
be the Consequences of a General Action at York or Ticonderoga, and of
those of forming a new Army, etc. God Grant us Success in both. I am an
Enthusiast. I have full Confidence we shall succeed, tho' some things
appear rather against us. I sent forward your Letter to Mrs. Adams. I
hope to hear from you and of your safe Arrival at Philadelphia. I am with
great Sincerity your Friend
J.W.
My regards to Mr. Gerry. I wrote to him last Sunday by the Express.
Mr. Adams passed through this Town last Tuesday when the Court was
setting, without seeing or being seen by any Body.
Our Naval Operations are Counteracted and discouraged by many
sagacious devises of our Enemies or pretended Friends, but truly the
lovers of Mammon, some of which I think should be Immediately rem-
edied. A Vessel is sent out with orders to return directly back, or with
Letters of that purpose, but designed only to shew upon a certain Occa-
sion. She is on her arrival in the West Indies, Britain, or some such places
Registered in the Name of some Person there, and then is Completely
fixed [fitted], the last is to Guard her against the British Cruisers, and if
she is taken by ours, she is Claimed by the Original Owner, and the other
said to be only designed for a protection against the Men of war, and to
support the pretence the Orders and Letters are Advanced, by this means
a very profitable Trade is Carried on to Hallifax, Newfoundland, the W.
India Islands, etc., etc., and when they have been taken many of them
have been \torn\. The Anxiety for the Event of the present Campaign is
great, this is not to be wondered at. the Exultation and Tryumphing of
the Tories is Intolerable, our want of Spirit to Crush them Contemptible;
but above all the Indiscretion and Timidity of many of our Whiggs is
truely ridiculous, tho' dangerous, being Calculated to aid and promote a
general panic upon [any] reverse of our Affairs, a thing more [to be]
dreaded than almost any thing.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Islovr. i8th, 1776
My Dear Sir, — we are again set down in our Ancient and most Con-
venient Seat, your dear Town of Boston, where we proceed in Business
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1776 ] Appendix 44 1
with a dispatch that Evinces the Conveniency of doing Business here,
haveing done more in the week we have been here than we should have
done in two at Watertown. we have chosen our delegates for the Ensuing
Year, all the old ones were Chose by a great Majority and some of you al-
most Unanimously, to you we have added Mr. Dana and Mr. James
Lovel, who we hear is arrived at the Jerseys, we have passed an Act for
Reinforcing the Army in good Season to furnish 4000 men requested by
Genl. Washington, if they shall be still wanted; tho' by the Intelligence
we have of the retreat of the Army from Crown Point, and the rumour of
the retreat of the British Army to the City of New York, we flatter our-
selves this Campaign is at an End. we have formed a Board of War, with
a very Extensive Commission, and appropriated to their disposition
£200,000 to purchase every thing necessary to Enable us to Act vigorously
the next Year, this Liberal Grant from our House, possessed of such a
portion of Saveing Grace as they are, may shew how much we are in
Earnest, if there be now an End of the Campaign, dont Britain make a
Contemptible figure, now I have given you an Account of some of our
doings shall I Enquire what your high Mightinesses are about, where is
your Confederation, are your Embassadors gone, etc., etc. I wish I
could Entertain you with any News of Importance but I can only tell
you of prizes taken, but this is become so common that we hardly hear of
them ourselves, unless they are from Europe with such Articles as we
want much, and very rich besides, we have had divers such lately. A
report prevails this day that Howe is Embarking his Troops, which
occasions many Conjectures about the place of their destination. I forgot
to tell you that this Harbour really looks Brilliant and Grand, as full of
Ships as in the more flourishing State of Commerce, and all but a few
armed Vessels prizes, you will please to remember that I have not a Line
from you since your Arrival at Philadelphia. My regards to my good
Friend Mr. Gerry. I am assuredly yours, etc.
\^o signature^
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Deer. 29th, 1776
My dear Sir, — Since my last I have several of your favours, that of
the 4th Instant I received yesterday and one of the 12th this day by
Mr. Brown. I hear there is one other in town which in my Absence has
been opened by the Council and is yet in the possession of some of
them and contains some matters of secrecy and Importance, why I dont
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
442 Appendix [1776
get it remains to some of them to Account for. they have frequently
served me in this way lately, under pretence of the letters being publick
ones, for which reason I could wish my Friends would not in future direct
to me as Speaker of the House. I own I am astonished to find such a Leth-
argy and want of principle, a spirit prevailing in any one of the United
Colonies, as to suffer an Army of loor 15,000, or even double that number
to traverse through the heart of it with as little Interruption as a Man in
times of profound peace might make a Journey, this has furnished me
with Ideas intirely new and given me more anxiety than my own Ap-
prehensions, or any thing that ever before took place have suggested,
the Triumph of our Enemies and the disgrace to the Country mortify me
much, but dont discourage me. I have full faith and Confidence we shall
yet prevail, were I to see an Experiment of the like kind tried here with
like success, I should think I had never Entertained proper Sentiments of
this Country or the Contest we are Engaged in; but till I do I shall be-
lieve the Event of such a project here would be such as you and I could
wish. I believe our hardy Countrymen would soon make such an Army
repent their rashness and cut them to pieces before they should march
thirty miles, but how comes it to pass that such an Event should take
place any where, is it not oweing to the Indecition of Congress, to their
delays, to the Lenity and Indulgence every where shewn our Internal
Enemies, by which they have had Opportunities and Improved them to
destroy the principle and spirit of defence, which was once vigorous
enough any where to prevent such a disgrace, had Congress taken the
same measures for forming an Army last June which they did in Septr.,
we should before this have had a fine Army on foot, well Cloathed and
supplyed with everything, and the British Army probably cooped up in a
Garrison under the Cannon of their Ships, Cut to pieces, or gone of in
disgrace, had Congress last winter instead of this gone in Earnest into a
Treaty with other powers, it would have Encouraged your friends and
silenced your Enemies. I feel every day Embarrassment from their most
Inveterate of all Enemies among ourselves; their secret Operations have
always Injured us, Countermined now by our Absurd policy of foolish
Lenity towards them and supported by Hopes from the small Advan-
tages gained by the Enemy, they dare act their part without disguise,
they poison the minds of the people. Interrupt our best measures and, in
some measure, prevent our raising the Army so fast as I could wish,
however, I have the pleasure to tell you that the prospects with regard to
our quota are good, many are Inlisted and many are daily Inlisting.
large quantities of Cloathing have been and now are providing with In-
dustry and success, some of which is gone forward, the Alfred prize is
arrived with Cloathing for twelve Regiments and a large quantity of
1776] Appendix 443
Blankets, tho' at the same time I must Lament the Loss of one of your
Vessels lately taken by the Enemy, with a large quantity of powder and
some arms. I am told one Bunker was the Master. I had before formed
my Opinion of your "Excellent superlatively wise and great patriot." I
despise his Timidity and Inconsistency. I have long dreaded their Ef-
fects, however, we are really Engaged in the Cause of God and Men, and
I trust neither the Folly or wickedness of any Individual or Number of
Men will prevent a happy Issue. Mr. P[aine], I suppose, has got Home.
I wish him the Enjoyment of domestic Felicity. I am glad to find you
approveing our Choice of Delegates. I cant say when Mr. Adams pro-
poses to go. I am sensible you must want him, but I believe he dont go
very soon. Mr. Dana and Lovel, I suppose, go this week. I condole with
you on the Loss of General Lee. this Misfortune is greatly Lamented
here, how could he be so Improvident as to suffer himself to be so Ex-
posed to the Treachery of Rascals about him or to be taken in such a
manner by a few light Horse, we are in daily and anxious Expectation of
hearing the Issue of a general Action, the Lord Grant it may be in our
favour. I hope they will neither get the Congress Napping or any other
way. I like some of the materials of it too well to wish a Change of the
whole. I am pleased to hear that our Affairs abroad wear a good Aspect.
Our Attention is turned almost wholly on the war in general and the
particular defence of this State, you know what situation you left this
Town in. it has since been Improveing and will I hope soon be in a good
posture of defence, however, I could wish there was more Firmness and
Spirit in our Councils, there is an Instability and versa[ti]lity in them
that by no means pleases me and I think Injures the good Cause, many
things take place that I dont like and many are omitted that I do. I feel
the want of that Connection I used to have, we have many new people
and some old ones that are Timid and want firm Nerves, and others
seven Years behind us in politicks, however, will do as well as I can;
sufficient for you are your own difficulties, I am apprised of the regard
the British Government have for us. I shaU do all I can to be provided
for them in the Spring, and tho' I should deprecate my Country's being
the seat of War on any other Occasion, supposeing it best for the whole,
I should be willing, now my dependence is on Providence and our own
Exertions, and will think them sufficient, I hope there will be no Occa-
sion for foreign Troops here, A Diversion in the West Indies or else-
where might answer our purposes as well. My Compliments to my good
Friend Mr. Gerry, shall write him soon. Aden, my good Friend. I wish
you the Blessings of Heaven and am, etc. [A^o signature^
The Troops are Embarking or Embarkd at Rhode Island, but where
444 Appendix [1777
Bound we know not. one of your armed Schooners formerly Com-
manded by Burke and some time ago taken by the Enemy, last week in a
Storm run into a Harbour nigh Portsmouth, the Crew 50 in Number
delivered up the Vessel and themselves prisoners.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Fehy. 2d, 1777
My dear Sir, — I had the pleasure of receiving yours of the 8th Jany,
three days ago. I have not been negligent of the hint you mention, but
have been greatly at a loss in what manner to put it in Execution here
that would not at the same time destroy all hopes of Success, the neces-
sity of Communicating it to so many would certainly have that Effect.
I am, therefore, glad to hear that you have fallen on other measures not
liable to that Objection. I wish it may be Attended with success. It will
certainly be an Important Event if Effected. I shall let it sleep in Ob-
livion till I hear of the Attempt. I am glad to hear that our Troops and
some of our Officers have Obtained a Name and a Character in the Army.
I Enjoy and sincerely Congratulate you on the agreable reverse of our
Affairs. The Incursion of the Enemy into the Jersies, though it at first
gave great Spirit to our Internal Enemies and damped the Spirits of such
of our Friends as are Constituted only to sail before the wind, has al-
ready turned much to our Advantage, the late success of our Arms has
Blasted and Confounded the Hopes and Insolence of the one, and in-
spired the other with a degree of resolution that may last till the next
Misfortune. We have, indeed, had enough to do with the sauciness of the
Tories, and the Timidity and wretched folly of many of the whigs. the
Events of War are uncertain, but I think we have much to hope for from
the present Enterpriseing Spirit of the Army, when you please you will
give me the reason why the resolution you mention was not Communi-
cated to me. you have raised my Curiosity with regard to this matter.
I hope your Resolution with respect to the Officers in your hands will not
abate if Genl. Lee should be treated in the manner you Expect. Lenity
and even kindness and Tenderness on our Side is want of policy when
Opposed to Barbarity on the other. I have great Expectations from the
present Spirit of Congress, it gives me great pleasure to hear things go
agreable to your Mind, while they do I ever presume they are Conducted
to the Advantage of the Country, what the perticulars are I do not En-
quire, but Consider as \}i\t. Arcana of State, however, if I may Conjecture
that the forming a General Constitution be one subject. I hope to hear
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1 777 J Appendix 445
soon that it is Compleated and that in the Execution of it the defects and
wretched management in the old Country will be Avoided. Pensions and
Sinecures will be an Abhorrence to the present Age, and does it not ap-
proach nearly to them to keep up one of the highest Officers with pay and
perquisites with the Command of a very Inferiour one. it is a Charming
thing to be a favourite at Court, had I been so lucky, the paymaster's
pay and perquisites might have been Continued to me to this time, my
resignation Notwithstanding. I dont mention this as a thing I wish. I
should despise the Pay, etc., of a Major General without doing the Duty,
or flying to the Assistance of a Neighbouring State if attacked, if there
be now Existing any such Instance you may depend on its being the sub-
ject of Conversation, if any such should hereafter Exist do define the
powers with which he is Invested, that we may know whether it is neces-
sary for the Court to Interpose upon the smallest Occasions — the move-
ing a single Company or furnishing them with a Blanket or a Dinner,
sat verbum sapienti. my Friend Gerry has a Compleat Idea of what
has taken place before now. My Friend Mr. Adams gave me the Slip
and left me disappointed in looseing an Opportunity of saying many
things to him which I had prepared for the parting Interview. I shall
persecute him with Letters as soon as I can. I hope he is well and now
with you, and also Mr. Lovel, by whom I wrote you. we have no kind of
News, we are on the Eve of a three weeks recess which, if nothing takes
place to prevent, will Commence in a day or two, haveing passed a Bill
against Treason, a Tax Bill, and one or two others, and varied our deter-
minations about raiseing the Army till it is become almost a Byword,
and the Business much delayed, how many Men are Engaged I know not.
I believe a Considerable Number, the whole would soon be got if we were
steady, but we have lately passed and sent out a new resolve, bitterly
against my Sentiments, holding up a design of levying them on the
Towns. I fear the Operation of this will be to stop any further Inlist-
ments till the Soldiers can Extort from their Townsmen fifty Dollars
apiece in addition to the Bounty already given. I wish you Health and
happiness and am, with regards to my Good Friends, yours sincerely.
\No signature^
Brigadier Knox is here and has sent in a Memorial and desired the
Bounty we give to the fifteen Battalions may be given to four others now
to be raised, it seems to be Curious to have one of your Generals peti-
tioner for this Bounty, but how they can be raised without I know not.
however, it is not Complyed with.
This Town is full of People of Consequence, your Promotions are rapid
and the Increase of the Army has Multiplied Officers so that they are as
44^ Appendix [ 1777
numerous here as the British Officers used to be. I feel like a very In-
considerable person and that it is time for me to retire to my Farm, etc.,
etc., but this Letter is long enough. Adeu.
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Plymo., Febry. 24th, 1777
My dear Sir, — I have now for a rarity been at Home a fortnight
where I had the pleasure of receiveing your favour of the ist Instant two
days ago. I have a prospect of being at home one week more and then the
Court meets again. I never at Home or Abroad received a Line from you
that was displeasing to me. I never received one that did not give me
great pleasure. I always Consider them as favours and Endeavour in
some measure to deserve them, if my Friend had been Capable of being
Infected with the 111 humours of any Man, I should have suspected he had
caught a little of the pevishness of the when he seems to have lost
his Confidence in the Attention and Affection of his Friend, it was cer-
tainly a fortunate Circumstance that Mr. Lovel arrived as he did, with a
full Conviction of both, to be serious I do Employ every leisure hour in
writeing to you and my other friends, but I have been Extreemly En-
gaged in Business and greatly fatigued. I have since that by Mr. Lovel
wrote you a very long Letter by Mr. Bromfield, which I hope you have
received by this time. I did not, however, give you any Account of the
reception the proceedings of the Committees you mention, supposeing it
would be taken for granted that they were agreable to the New England
Assemblies whose Committees they were, and indeed this was the fact,
they were received, believed and submitted to like the doctrines of holy
writt. A quotation from the report of the Convention would silence any
Man and knock down all Opposition at once, and this was really carried
a great length with regard to the whole, and in general was and is Uni-
versally the case. A Spirit of Enthusiasm prevailed with regard to this
matter, and had it not been for the Audacity of a few who ventured at the
hazard of their reputation to question the policy of some part of the report,
we might have been Involved in greater Confusion than we are. I recol-
lect, however, but one Instance, the Convention reported th^t the
Bounty to be given to the Soldiers in the N. England States should be
no more than £10. each. I was always for giveing a Bounty to the Soldier
in Addition to that given by Congress, supposeing that Justice required
it. but I always wished it should be small, and ever Opposed the Ex-
travagant Measures taken with regard to that matter, but when the
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
I m ] Appendix 447
measures were once Adopted and when I saw the fatal Influence of the
Versatility of our Counsels and the Continual Change of our Measures
both with regard to raising our quota of the Army and the Authority of
our Government, I was for Adhering to our former measures as the least
of two Errors, and for being steady for once and avoiding the great Con-
fusions that would Ensue from haveing some Inlisted on one Encourage-
ment and others on another, this might Occasion some Mortification to
a Man who had assumed some Extraordinary airs from the Exercise of
his new Commission and pleased himself with Expectations of Absolute
Submission to the decrees of a Body he belonged to, and is the only
Source I can conceive of, from whence should arise a Pet in the writer of
the Letter which produced one in the receiver. I had once the honour of
being president of the Board of War. I remained such with my head full
of a Thousand projects and my hands full of Business, till the House took
it into their heads that my Attendance there as Speaker was necessary
for carrying on the public Business, they passed accordingly a Vote of
dismission from the Board in Terms no way dishonorary to me. this was
Concurred. I was sent for and have there remained ever since, without
any Ideas of my own Importance quite satisfied to be there, or any where
that shall be assigned me. I am, however, plyed hard enough with pub-
lick Business, had not Providence sent us a succession of Storms I should
not have found leisure to write you this long Scroll even at Home. I
promised myself here an Opportunity of Attending to a few small matters
of my own and the Benefits of some relaxation, but the Board of War
have Earnestly desired me to purchase some Vessels and Cargoes, and
Charter others for them during this recess, this I am doing and have now
six Vessels on hand with which I find full Employment, some of them
are ordered to the Gentleman you recommend; several are already gone
to that House, and I am glad to find their orders Coincideing with your
wishes. No Matters of Intelligence can I give you from here. I have Col-
lected and Conveyed in a Letter to my Friend Mr. Adams, wrote two
days ago, all I could think of. I dare say he'will Communicate it to you
without Pet or pevishness. I think you have done well in regarding the
Memory and takeing Care of the Families of those who have Nobly sac-
rificed their Lives for the publick good, money is much better spent this
way than in another Instance hinted to you in my last, which, by the
way, I never should have mentioned if it had not been worse than heaving
it away and in a manner that is a dead weight on our public Operations,
if he (you know who) was a real Statue, we should know what to Expect
and act accordingly. Adeu my Friend. [iVo signature.]
My Compliments to Mr. Gerry, shall write him soon.
448 Appendix [1777
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, A-pril 2d, 1777
My dear Sir, — I have often within a week past Attempted to write
to you without being able to perform it. something or other has always
taken place to Call me off and I Expect will now before I have wrote five
lines more, however, it is not much to be regretted on your part, since I
have little more to say to you than a bare Expression of my Friendship,
which you was well assured of before, no kind of Intelligence has lately
been received here but of a Capture made by an Indian party of a small
Number of our men at Ticonderoga and a request to push forward our
Men for the support of that Important Post, which we are Endeavouring
to do. the Tickets for your Lottery have had an amazeing rapid sale here.
Your Loan Office, I am told, is successful, but I dont know the perticu-
lars, being as great a stranger, and perhaps for the same reasons, to the
L[oan] Officers as you used to be to the friends of Government who sat in
the House with you. we have now and then a prize come in, but it is a
rarity. I wish again to let loose the privateers, we are takeing measures
to Compleat the fortifications of this harbour and I beUeve if the plan be
not too Extensive it will be tolerably Executed, about two-thirds of our
fifteen Battalions are raised, we have in the House been Employed
among many other things in passing Acts for takeing Care of the Estates
of Absentees, etc., for preventing desertion, for Establishing an Oath of
Abjuration and Allegiance to be taken by all that have been King's
Officers (excepting Mandamus Councellors and a few others), and those
suspected of being Inimical, who on refusal are to be sent to England or
the West Indies, it is also to be taken by all Ofl^icers, Civil and Military,
etc. we are also about many other Acts of a more private nature and Re-
solves in Abundance. I am again Interrupted and so must Conclude after
desireing your Attention to the Affairs of my Friend, Mr. Temple, he has
suffered Extremely and in a way a little out of the Common Course, not
by the ravages of the Enemy, but by the wanton destruction of some of
our own Army, which has laid waste his whole Farm and destroyed at
once the well Contrived and Judicious work of many Years and left his
Buildings in a Situation very little better, whether there be a propriety
in takeing up this matter at this time I cant say. if there be I could wish
it, as his Circumstances require it and his Industry in the Noble profes-
sion of Husbandry with many other good qualities have great Merit. I
am with Compliments to all Friends and the best wishes for your Happi-
ness your sincere Friend.
\No signature^
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
I 111 ] Appendix 449
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, June i6th, 1777
My dear Sir, — It is now a long time since I have had a Line from
you, so long that I cant recollect the Time when I received the last, if I
was given to Jealousy I might perhaps suppose you Inclined to drop the
Correspondence. I have wrote three or four to you since I received one
from you. I saw Mrs. Adams a few days ago and Complained to her. she
Excuses you and finds many reasons — Multiplicity of Business, etc. I
believe it true and wonder you can write so much as you do. I want, how-
ever, to hear how your Confederation goes on and what the state of your
foreign Intelligence, as to us the Regulateing Act (which by the way
your dear Town had no small hand in at first) has bro't us into a sad
Hobble, we seem not to know how to go forward or backward, at the
same time a favourer of it acknowledges the difficulty, if not Impossi-
bility, of Executeing it. he cant think of repealing it. the principle Ob-
jection made is the Influence it will have on our Army, but, I believe, as
true a reason is an Increasing Animosity between Town and Country.
they are both to blame, which most I shant determine, the Conduct of
the Town has certainly been very versatile and Impolitic, they could not
have Injured their own Interest more than they did by their last Instruc-
tions.^ we all see the want of their old pilots, but I wont forsake them, or
give you any further pain on that subject. I am inclined to think we shall
in a little time get right again, the Repealing the Act, the Source of 111
will and every evil work, Encourageing a free Trade and the Arrival of a
Number of prizes will regulate better than any Act we can make, last
Saturday we had four Brigantines comeing up at once, two of them from
Bilboa and two of them prizes, all with valuable Cargoes, and yesterday
we had an Account of the Arrival of a prize at the Eastward with salt,
Linnens and twenty Tons of Cordage, and also of the Arrival of a Brig-
antine (sent out by the Board of War) from France with 108 Chests
Arms, 100 bbl. powder, a quantity of Lead, flints, steel, files, etc., etc. this
is an Important Arrival for us. I am obliged to write in a great hurry
this morning, or should perhaps have been a little more Correct, and
much longer, as I have much to say and many Enquiries to make. I
wish you every Happiness and am, as usual, your sincere Friend.
\No signature.]
1 From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
2 Of May 26. Boston Rec. Com., xviii. 284.
4 5 o Appendix [ 1777
James Warren to Samuel Adams ^
Boston, Augt. 7th, 1777
My dear Sir, — I had the pleasure of yours of the 22d July last Night
by the Post. I have before received several of your favours which I have
not yet acknowledged, perticularly by Coll. Whipple, but had the mis-
fortune not to see him being absent from this Town when he went through
it. so have lost the Advantages I might have derived from a Conversation
with him. the Letters you mention per. Capt. Collins I have not re-
ceived, you will please to let me know who he is and when he came this
way. the return you furnished me with of the Northward Army is
nearly Conformable in Numbers to the Ideas I had of them. I have been
from the beginning persuaded that there were at that post not less than
5000 Men, and it is to me a Mystery why there were not more there. I
think I can reckon up 3500 men in the seven Battalions from this State
who must have been there, or there must have been great Negligence in
the officers, and it is said that the Hampshire Battalions Contained more
than 2000 — A Number sufficient I should suppose to have defended a
place an Army has been so long fortifying and reputed so strong against
20,000 Men. Nothing can Justify the Evacuation but a deficiency and
weakness in all respects equal to the Representation Genl. St. Clair
makes. This Movement has raised a general Clamour in the Country
and has every where Excited Indignation and distrust, and in many fear-
ful Apprehensions that do our Cause no good, we Continue to have
Alarming Accounts of the progress of the Enemy in that quarter and
have pressing requisitions from Genl. Schuyler for reinforcements of the
Militia, one-sixth of the County of Worcester and numbers from Berk-
shire, etc., are gone, we have voted 2000 more and made an Establish-
ment for them to remain to the last of November, but the Militia has
been so harrassed by frequent drafts and there is such a want of Confi-
dence in your Commanders that way, that I fear we shall get them with
difficulty, we have been in Expectation of a Visit this way and this Town
was one day in great Confusion; but they have not yet Arrived, we are
last Night Informed that they are landed below you. they seem to have
a great Affection for visiting the Congress. I hope they will be properly
received there. I am obliged to write in Extreem haste this morning,
being now Called to go down the harbour as one of a Committee to view
the fortifications, the Company and Boat wait while I scribble this to
you. I must therefore omit many things I have to say about the Form of
I From the Samuel Adams Papers in the New York Public Library.
1777 ] Appendix 4 5 1
our Government here, or your Confederation at Congress, etc., and Con-
clude with Assurances of regard and Friendship and am yours, etc.
J. W.
My regards to our Friends. Manly, you will hear, is taken, you have
lost a fine frigate.
Hannah Winthrop to Mercy Warren
It is not a great while since I wrote my dear Friend on my disappoint-
ment in not paying her a Visit. Now methinks I hear her wondring how
it is with her Cambridge Friends, who are at this time delugd with
British and Hessian, what shall I call them? who are Prancing and Pa-
trolling every Corner of the Town, ornamented with their glittering side
arms, Weapons of distruction. A short detail of our Situation may per-
haps amuse you. You will be able to form a judgment of our unhappy
Circumstances.
Last thursday, which was a very stormy day, a large number of
British Troops came softly thro the Town via Watertown to Prospect
hill, on Friday we heard the Hessians were to make a Procession in the
same rout, we thot we should have nothing to do with them, but View
them as they Passt. To be sure the sight was truly astonishing. I never
had the least Idea that the Creation producd such a sordid set of crea-
tures in human Figure — poor, dirty, emaciated men, great numbers of
women, who seemd to be the beasts of burthen, having a bushel basket
on their back, by which they were bent double, the contents seemd to be
Pots and Kettles, various sorts of Furniture, children peeping thro'
gridirons and other utensils, some very young Infants who were born on
the road, the women bare feet, cloathd in dirty raggs, such effluvia fiUd
the air while they were passing, had they not been smoaking all the time,
I should have been apprehensive of being contaminated by them. After
a noble looking advancd Guard Gen. J — — y B[urgoy]n headed this
terrible group on horseback. The other G[enera]l also, cloathd in Blue
Cloaks. Hessians, Anspachers, Brunswickers, etc., etc., etc., followed on.
The Hessian G[enera]l gave us a Polite Bow as they Passd. Not so the
British, their Baggage Waggons drawn by poor half starvd horses. But to
bring up the rear, another fine Noble looking Guard of American Brawny
Victorious Yeomanry, who assisted in bringing these sons of slavery to
terms, some of our Waggons drawn by fat oxen, driven by joyous looking
Yankees closd the cavalcade. The Generals and other Officers went to
Bradishs, where they Quarter at present. The Privates trudgd thro
452 Appendix [ i ^-n
thick and thin to the hills, where we thot they were to be confind, but
what was our Surprise when in the morning we beheld an inundation of
those disagreable objects filling our streets! How mortifying is it? they
in a manner demanding our Houses and Colleges for their genteel accom-
modation. Did the brave G Gates ever mean this? Did our Legisla-
ture ever intend the military should prevail above the Civil? is there not
a degree of unkindness in loading poor Cambridge, almost ruined before
this great army seem[d] to be let loose upon us, and what will be the Con-
sequence time will discover.
Some Polite ones say, we ought not to look on them as Prisoners, they
are persons of distinguished rank, perhaps too we must not view them in
the light of enemys. I fear this distinction will be soon lost. Surpriseing
that our G[enera]l or any of our C[olone]ls should insist on the first
University in America being disbanded for their more genteel accomo-
dation, and we poor oppressed people seek an Asylum in the woods against
a piercing Winter.
where is the stern Virtue of an A[dam]s who opposd such an infraction
in former days? Who is there to plead our Cause? Pity, Pity, it is our
Assembly had not settled these matters before their adjournment. It will
be vastly more difficult to abridg them after such an unbounded Licence,
perhaps you may see some of them at Plimouth. for my part I think,
insult Famine and a Train of evils present to View. G[enera]l B[urgoy]n
dind a Saterday in Boston with G[enera]l H[eat]h. He rode thro the
Town properly attended down Court Street and thro the Main Street,
and on his return walkt on foot to Charlestown Ferry Followd by a great
Number of Spectators as ever attended a pope and generously observd
to an officer with him the Decent and modest behavior of the inhabitants
as he passd, saying if he had been conducting Prisoners through the City
of London, not all the Guards of Majesty could have prevented Insults.
He likewise acknowledges Lincoln and Arnold to be great Generals. It is
said we shall have not less than seven thousand persons to feed in Cam-
bridge and its environs, more than its inhabitants. Two hundred and
fifty cord of wood will not serve them a week, think then how we must be
distrest. wood is risen to £5.10 pr.Cord and but Httle to be purchasd. I
never thought I could lie down to sleep surrounded by these enemies, but
we strangely become enured to those things which appear difficult when
distant.
While I am writing a Neighbor comes in with an enlivened Counte-
nance to tell us G[enera]l How has Surrenderd to G[enera]l Washington,
but can we sufi^er ourselves to believe Providence will so marvelously
appear for us? Ah the Events of Battles are so Precarious we dare not
indulge the thought till it is confirmd by the best authority, my Partner
1777 ] Appendix 453
joyns me in the sincerest regards to General Warren and Lady, and as
you must be tird by this time of my chit chat, allow me to subscribe Ever
yours
\No signature^
Cambridge, Novr. nth, 1777.
P.S. G[enera]l B[urgoy]n has repeated said he was convincd it was im-
possible Great Britain should ever subdue America, he therefore wishd a
Union might take place that would never be broken and that he might get
home soon to prevent any more attempts that way.
If you like anecdotes I will give you one more. When G[enera]l Phillips
was travelling thro the back of Albany, where it is very rocky and barren,
he expressd his Astonishment that they should ever cross the Atlantic
and go thro such difficulty to conquer so unfavorable a Country which
would not be worth a keeping when conquered, when they came upon the
fertile banks of Connecticut river G[enera]l Whipple said to him. This is
the Country which we are fighting for. Ah, replyd the G[enera]l. This is
a country worth a Ten Years war.
We hear no Parole signd yet.
Ind
ex
Abarca de Bolea, Pedro Pablo, conde de
Aranda, ii. 176.
Accounts, committee of, i. 89.
Actionnaire, 11. 125.
Adams, Abigail, death of mother, i. 159;
inoculated, 261, 267, 268; farmer, 320;
on Lord Chesterfield, 11. 128; in Europe,
238, 240, 242, 274, 287; on presidency, 332;
French mission, 336; war with France,
337, 339; abuse of confidence, 342; health,
344, 345, .352; on S. A. Otis, 392.
Adams, Abigail, 11. 79, 81, 84, 95, 165;
married, 277.
Adams, Ann (Harod), 11. 386.
Adams, Charles, i. 268; 11. 263, 386.
Adams, Elizabeth (Wells), i. 11.
Adams, John, 11. 445; on Waterhouse, i. 2 «.;
in Continental Congress, 27 «.; feels his
insufficiency, 29; opening letters, 39; in
Provincial Congress, 40 n.\ health, 66,
265; II, 206; return to Congress, i. 105,
106; committee on hostilities, 143, 144; on
Supreme Court, 150, 178; militia officers,
192; republic, 201; form of government,
221; 'Thoughts on Government,' 230,
240; Braxton's reply, 242; on woman's
rights, 236; preamble, 242, 245; resigns,
265; II. 205; leaves Congress, i. 280; on
horse hire, 290; naval committee, 311;
cost of living, T,;^^, 341; leaves for Europe,
II. I; voyage, 27; on affairs in France, 67;
merit, 71; description of manners, 81; on
currency, 90; honesty, 95; obnoxious, loi,
106; disposition of, 108, 112; return, 115,
118; want of success in France, 118;
charges, 128; second voyage to France,
129; on Europe, 156; intrigues against,
167; peace commission, 169, 185; Dutch
negotiation, 177, 179, 182, 188; self-
examination, 188; report on foreign
relations, 192; on Franklin, 209; wanted
as governor, 219, 221, 253; wishes to
retire, 223; minister to England, 255, 259,
275; on social unrest, 277, 280; Defence
of the Constitutions, 281, 284, 291, 294;
returns, 304, 305; vice president, 305; on
Warren, 313; patronage, 313; Mrs.
Warren's poems, 324; an unsealed letter,
325; on Jefferson, 331; intercepted letter,
342; on Napoleon, 353; reconciliation with
Warren, 374; Dialogue of the Dead, 387 n.,
389; thoughts on July 4, 393; failing
health, 394; Mrs. Warren's poem, 402; tea
letter, 403.
Adams, John Quincy, 11. 217, 240, 259, 263,
357 "•, 3^3^ 39O'
Adams, Robert, i. 193 n.
Adams, Samuel, i. 45, loi, 120, 272, 293; 11.
150, 293; on Hutchinson, i. 8; moderation,
9; boy for, 10; in Continental Congress,
27 n.; illness, 60, 265; secretary of province,
94, 173; II. 417; rides a horse, i, no; 11.
419; on government, i. 195; independence,
224; account of expenses, 290, 324; horse
hire, 280; loyalists, 292; opposed to Wash-
ington, II. 12, 92; on marine committee,
15; health, 96; councillor, 106; rumors,
128, 138; for secretary, 145; malice, I48;
on Bowdoin and Hancock, 161 ; warning
on safety, 405; not a justice, 423.
Adams,Samuel,jr.,i.8o,90,94,98, I90;ii.4i8.
Adams, Sarah (Smith), 11. 386 n.
Adams, Susanna Boylston, 11. 386 n.
Adams, Thomas Boylston, i. 226; 11. 263, 386.
'Adulateur,' the, i. 18 ».
Aitken, Robert, i. 256 n.
Albany, N.Y., militia for, i. 323.
Aldrich^ , I. 343.
Alexander, Alexander John, 11. 127 n.
Alexander, Mariamne, 11. 127 n.
Alexander, Robert, 11. 127 n.
Alexander, William, 11. 127 n.
Alfred, i. 304, 335, 365; 11. 442.
Algiers, corsairs, 11. 271, 276.
Allan, John, i, 286.
Allen, Ethan, i. 131.
Allen, JoUey, i. 220.
Alliance, 11. 16, 22, 30, 82, 125, 127, 135, 141,
143, 158, 167,
Alliances, with foreign powers, i. 127.
456
Index
Allison, Francis, i. 80.
Ambassadors, to foreign courts, i. 127.
Amboy, N.J., i. 337.
America, an asylum, 11. 199.
America^ 11. 11 w., 217.
Amherst, Jeffrey, i. 133, 141; 11. 422.
Amphitrite, i, 339.
Amsterdam, prices of stocks, i. 308.
Amuzettes, i. 54.
Anderson, James, 11. 48, 428.
Andover, 11. 4I1.
Andre, John, 11. 139.
Anthony, , i. 203.
Antigua, powder in, i. 135; prize from, 193.
Appleton, Nathaniel, i. 285.
Apportionment under the Confederation, 11.
200.
Appreciation, papers on, 11, 124.
Apprentice, boy, i. 10.
Aranda, see Abarca de Bolea.
Arbre de Cracovie, 11. 131.
Arms, imported, i. 339, 351.
Army, before Boston, wants direction, i. 47;
cleanliness and health, 53; operations, 67;
size, 77; continental, 11. 12, 19.
Army, continental, i. 58, 6l; 11, 416, 418;
officers, I. 73, 78, 79, 85; vote for, 80; size,
81; appointments, 97; committee on, 119,
125, 149, 152, 169, 174; numbering the
regiments, 269; new plan, i. 275; 11. 426;
clothing, I. 278; II. 143; situation, 140, 432;
enlistments, 431, 439; paymaster, 437;
northern, 450.
Army, British, honor in, i. 141; situation, 11.
416, 420, 422; standing, dangers, i. 198.
Arnold, Benedict, i. 368; expedition against
Quebec, 109, 123, 140, 148, 152, 181; 11.
419, 421, 428; brigadier general, i. 204; at
Fort Stanwix, 366; at Saratoga, 373;
treachery, 11. 139, 157; in the south, 166.
Arnold, , captain, i. 316.
Artesien, 11. 125.
Artillery, commissary of, i. 86, 90.
Association, continental, i. 166,
Athalie, Racine's, 11. 244.
Attainder, bill of, suggested, i. 75.
Augusta, I. 375.
Austin, Benjamin, i. 319 «.
Austin, James Trecothick, 11. 2^-
Austin, Jonathan Williams, i. 248.
Austria and America, 11. 208.
Auteuil, II. 245.
Avery, John, 11. 120, 145, 149, 150.
Avery, Samuel, 11. 11.
Ayres, John, captain, i. 318; 11. 38.
Bacon, Edward, 11. 52.
Badger, Stephen, 11. 377.
Bailey, Francis, i. 375.
Baker, , i. 177.
Balch, Nathaniel, 11. 404.
Baldwin, Jeduthon, i. 343.
Baldwin, Loammi, 11. 62, 77; Dickinson's
writings, 364, 368.
Bancroft, Edward, i. 380.
Bant, William, i. 87.
Barbadoes, i. 147.
Barbe-Marbois, Francois, 11. 193, 197.
Barber, Francis, 11. 439.
Barclay, Robert, dedication, 11, 149.
Barclay, Mrs. Thomas, 11. 245.
Barlow, Joel, 11. 301.
Barnard, John, i, 2,
Barnes, , 11. 29, 36.
Barney, Joshua, 11. 184, 207.
Barnstable, Mass., privateers, 1. 193; militia,
273 n.
Barrell, William, i. 95.
Barrett, Samuel, claims the Group, 11. 395.
Barruel, Augustin de, 11. 34I.
Barry, John, 11. 16, 24, 31, I4I.
Bates, , I. III.
Bayard, John, i. 124 n.
Beaumarchais, Caron de, 1. 301 n.
Bentinck, William Henry Cavendish, Duke
of Portland, 11. 199.
Berkenhout, John, Lee and, 11. 70.
Bernard, Francis, i. 100; on Hutchinson's
salary, 7 «.; title, 11. 350, 355.
Bethune, George, 11. 136.
Bethune, Mary (Faneuil), 11. 136 «.
Bigelow, Timothy, i. 354, 357.
Bills of credit, continental, i. 56 «., 58, 61,
80, 92, 151; standing of, 268, 322, 377; 11.
^35> HI-
Bingham, Anne (Willing), 11. 245.
Bingham, Anne Louise, 11. 245 n.
Bingham, Maria Matilda, 11. 245 n.
Bingham, William, 11. 184.
Blair, , captain, i. 360.
Blake, , 11. 24 1.
Bland, Richard, i. 112.
Index
457
Blodget, Nathan, ii. 158, 166, 170.
Boats, flat, for lakes, i. 133.
Boileau, Jacques, i. 37.
Bollan, William, n. 188.
Bonaparte, J. Adams on, 11. 353; doubt on,
382.
Borre, Prudhomme de, i. 303.
Boston, 'massacre,' Lovell's oration, i. 10
pleasures of, 17; tea, 18, 19; 11. 403
fortifications, i. 32; of harbor, 216, 226
237; refugees, 48; British army in, 68
situation in, 71, 100, 113, 150; 11. 426
operations near, i. 83, 96; 11. 422, 431
437; inhabitants and Gage, i. 98, 100, loi
102, 194; channels in harbor, 129; plan of,
130; S. Adams desires an attack on, 141
play interrupted, 151; move upon, 210
defense of, 217, 225, 238, 239, 244, 271; 11
443; condition after evacuation, i. 262
tories, 292, 369; navy board, 312, 324
General Court and, 332, 34I; 11. 440
representatives, 10; meeting, 406,
Boston, I. 304, 312 «., 366, 372; II. 10, 14, 18,
29, 53, 88, 103.
Boston Patriot, 11. 368.
Boundaries, settlement of disputes, under
confederation, i. 376.
Bounties, army, i. 152; for inlistments, 211,
258, 276, 277, 295, 299, 304, 325; II. 446;
money for, i. 285.
Bourke, William, 11. 15, 26, 29, 30.
Bowdoin, Elizabeth, i. 216 «.
Bowdoin, James, i. 152, 241, 264; 11. 5; on
Paine's Common Sense, i. 208; governor,
243, 253, 340; committee of war, 275
«.; for governor, 11. 135, 141, 144,
161; governor, 250, 262, 293; refuses aid,
267.
Bowen, Eliza, 11. 330.
Bowen, Ephraim, 11. 329 n.
Bowen, Fanny, 11. 33c.
Bowen, Jabez, letters, 11. 234, 329; on impost,
234-
Bowen, Mary, 11. 330.
Bowen, Mary (Fenner), 11. 329 n,
Bowen, Nancy, 11. 330.
Bowen, Obadiah, 11. 329 n.
Bowers, Jerathmeel, i. 226.
Boylston, Thomas, i. 99, 100, 199.
Bradford, John, i. 370; 11. 26.
Brailsford, Norton, 11. 15, 24, 94.
Brattle, William, i. 13; 11. 381; recantation,
I. 32 n.
Braxton, Carter, i. 218 «.; address to
Virginia convention, 242, 252, 257.
Breck, Samuel, 11. 286.
Breteuil, Louis Auguste le Tonnelier, baron
de, II. 196.
Brewer, David, i. 195.
Bromfield, Henry, 11. 446; committee of war,
I. 276 n.
Bromfield, , i. 196.
Brown, Gawen, i. 162.
Brown, John, 11. 10.
Brown, John, i. 52, 98, 169.
Brown, Woodbridge, i. 226.
Brown, , captain, 11. 60.
Brown's House, affair at, i. 83.
Browne, John, of Providence, 11. 113.
Brownson, Nathan, i. 321.
Bruce, , i. 346.
Brunswick, N.J., i. 289, 336.
Bryan, George, i. 298.
Buchanan, Archibald, i. 39.
Buchanan, Claudius, 11. 376.
Buffoonery, Morgan lecture on, i. 17.
Bunker, David, 11. 443.
Bunker Hill, battle of, i. 59, 62, 66, 69, 78;
II. 412; British account, i. 79; official
relation, 144 n.
Burbank, Silas, 1. 91, loi.
Burbeck, Edward, i. 187, 194.
Burgoyne, John, i. 53, 56, 62, 69 «., 360, 362;
return to England, 68; march from
Canada, 263; at Fort Edward, 353, 354;
Saratoga, 356; dangerous situation, 357,
364, 368, 371, 372; surrender, 374; at
Boston, 374, 377; 11. 28, 32, 451 ; hand bill,
I. 375; trial of Henley, 11. 4.
Burke, ^^danus, 11. 237.
Burke, Edmund, i. 34; 11. 327.
Burke, Thomas, i. 293 «.; 11. 444.
Burlington, N.J., British at, i. 279.
Burnet, Gilbert, i. 21.
Burr, Aaron, 11. 353.
Burr, Thaddeus, i. 1 10 n.
Butler, Francis, i. 122 w.
Cabot, Andrew, i. iii.
Cabot, I. 304.
Cadwalader, John, i. 250.
Calipash, calipee, i. 122.
458
Index
Callahan, , i. io8.
Callihorne [Callahan?], , I. io8.
Calumny, effect of, ii. 338.
Calvert, Benedict, i. 229.
Cambridge, General Court at, i. 10; gather-
ing of forces, 32; army at, 48; small
pox, 194; convention on constitution, 11.
112.
Campbell, Archibald, i. 292.
Campbell, Donald, i. 92.
Campbell, Elizabeth (Murray), i. 70 n.
Campbell, , col., i. 270.
Canada, 11. '>^(i\ Continental Congress and, i.
52; attitude of, 84; situation in, 123;
expedition against, 109, 123, 134, 187, 255;
II. 92; proposed government, i. 131, 155;
committee, 206; importance of, 208, 258;
evil news, 247; specie, 249.
Cane, Maurice, i. 121.
Cannon, of bar iron, i. 306.
Captains, Navy Board and, 11. 26.
Carey, Mathew, 11. 350.
Cargill, James, captures by, i. 100, 140, 163,
185.
Carleton, Guy, Lord Dorchester, i. 53, 123,
133, 149, 362; II. 421; retreat, 1. 277; peace
propositions, 11. 175.
Carmichael, William, i. 321, 380; 11. 125;
appointment, 10; Lee's letter, 68.
Carroll, Charles, of CarroUton, i. 294 «.; 11.
83; committee to Canada, i. ao6.
Carroll, John, to go to Canada, i. 207.
Cartel, prisoners, 11. 438.
Cary, Richard, i. 93.
Cary, Richard, jr., i. 93.
Castle Island, i. 216,
Catherine of Russia, i. 263 n.
Catholics in Great Britain, 11. 133.
Caton, II. 125.
Cavendish, John, lord, 11. 199.
Cazneau, Andrew, captain, 11. 1 59.
Cerberus, i. 133 n.
Ceremonials, 11. 41.
Chamblee, i. 179.
Charleston, S.C, 11. 104; tea, i. 20; loss of, 11.
'^1>1>-, 134; Lincoln on siege, 322.
Charlestown, Mass., 1. 15; incident, 50; burn-
ing of, 59, 72; army at, 68; fort, 216; ruins,
229.
Charmante, 11. 125.
Chase, Samuel, i. 39, 93, 293, 294 n.\ on
prospect of redress, 35; committee to
Canada, 206.
Chatelet, comte de, 11. 130.
Cheever, Ezekiel, commissary of artillery, i.
86 «.
Cheney, Andrew Francis, tory, i. 292.
Chesapeake Bay, trade of, i. 145.
Chesemuttock, Sachem of, i. 14; 11. 401.
Chesterfield, Lord, see Philip Dormer
Stanhope.
Chew, Samuel, 11. 32.
Christianity, propagation of, 11. 370.
Church, Benjamin, jr., i. 56, 60, 6y, director
of hospital, 93, 94; treasonable correspond-
ence, 121, 134, 137, 139, 140, 141, 142,
152; II. 423, 424; dismissed from office, i.
142, 164; punishment, 148, 153, 172, 174,
178, 180; hearing, 168; fears for, 254.
Cincinnati, Society of, 11. 237, 291, 298.
Citoyen, 11. 125.
Clairac, Chevalier de, i. 256 n.
Clark, Abraham, i. 293.
Clark, Annie, i. 70 n.
Clark, Charles Thomas, 11. 386 n.
Clark, Susanna Boylston (Adams), 11. 386.
Clinton, George, 1. 218.
Clinton, 6"ir Henry, i. 53, 69 w.; 11. 144, 151.
Clothing, I. 155; purchasing agents, 320; for
troops, II. 225.
Clymer, George, i. 123 «., 293 «.; death, 11.
381.
Cobble Hill, I. 114, 183, 188.
Coit, William, 11. 11.
Collins, Elizabeth, i. 74 «.
Collins, Ezra, i. 74.
Collins, Stephen, i. 74, 75, 82, 107, 118.
Collins, Zaccheus, i. 74 n.
Collins, , captain, i. 316, 338; 11. 450.
Commissary of artillery, i. 86, 90; musters,
86, 90.
Concord, currency convention, 11. 112.
Concord, i. 189.
Confederacy, 11. 78, 93, 125, 130, 135, 141.
Confederation, articles of, i. 199, 263, 309,
322, 337; II. 430; votes of states in, i. 338;
progress, 374, 375; signed, 11. 2y> fP-
portionment of debts, 200; representation
under, 270.
Confiscation bill, 11. 48, 51, 87.
Congress, Continental, 1774, i. 26; annual,
28; moves slowly, 51; rumor, 56; business
Index
459
of, 67, 75; addresses, 75, 79; adjournment,
90; committee to camp, 119, 125, I49, 169;
secrecy, 124, 126, 138, 170; committee on
hostilities, 1 43; governments, 242; Eastern
district, 245; committee on the Howes,
274; pay of troops, 276; bounties, 277;
foreign relations, 281; 11. 192; naval
committee, i. 31 1; finance, 360; adjourns
to Yorktown, 371 ; Hancock's speech, 378;
address, II, 18,38; returns to Philadelphia,
35; toast and salute, 49; representation,
no, 270; resolutions, 120; economy, 124;
requisitions, 152, 190; at Annapolis, 233;
proceedings, 236; indecision, 442.
'Congress' mortar, i. 189.
Connecticut, i, 75; general officers, 86; land-
jobbers, 168; militia, 188; misconduct of
troops, 194; cowardice, 323; regulation act,
II. 19; rewarded, 152,
Conquirant^ 11. 125.
Consuls, appointment of, 11. 226, 241, 264,
266, 267.
Contempt of enemies, 11. 47.
Convention, constitutional, 11. 295, 297, 299.
Convention, troops of, 11. 4, 5, 7; in Boston,
451.
Conway, Thomas, i. "^TiZ'i Warren on, 319.
Conyngham, Gustavus, i. 381.
Cooke, Nicholas, 1. 151.
Coolidge, Nathaniel, i. 149.
Cooper, Myles, ' Friendly Address,' i. 47 n.
Cooper, Samuel, i. 58, 73, 194, 268.
Cooper, William, i. 144, 319 w.; 11. 92;
Adams on, 149.
Cornwallis, Charles, 11. 144, 157.
Cossacks, British said to want, i. 289, 295.
Cotton, John, 11. 78, 88.
Cotton, , I. 301 ; 11. 406.
Council, Massachusetts, i. 83; militia officers,
178.
Courageuse, 11. 125.
Courier de V Europe, 11. 130.
Couronne, 11. 125,
Courter, Harmon, 11. 11.
Covenant, 11. 405, 406.
Crafts, Edward, i. 187.
Crafts, Thomas, jr., i. 186, 194, 195, 240,
248, 253, 304.
Craige, Andrew, i. 190.
Cramah^, Hector Theophilus, i. 148.
Cranch, Richard, 11. 121, 293.
Crane, Stephen, naval committee, 1. 311 n,
Cumberland, Richard, 11. 301.
Currency, danger of, 11. 90, 98; mending,
108, 112.
Cushing, Thomas, 1. 10, 15,63, I90«.,3i9n.;
II. 118, 293, 413; in Continental Congress,
I. 27 ».; II. 430; discouraging letter, i. 57;
in council, 94; Supreme Court, 150, 178;
militia appointments, 192; conduct of,
211; for Congress, 264; letter from, 286;
naval agent, 305, 324; councillor, 331;
Springfield convention, 350; lieutenant
governor, 11, 135.
Custis, Eleanor (Calvert), i. 220, 229; 11. 6.
Custis, John Parkfe, i. 220, 229.
Custis, Martha Parke, 11. 6.
Cutting, John Brown, 11. 290.
Dalton, Tristram, i. 286 «., 319 «., 324.
Dana, Francis, i. 217, 264, 266; 11. 13, 41, 52,
65, 106, 150, 176, 193, 208, 256, 44I; Lee's
letter, 69; absorption in business, 92; for
Russia, 1 58; at St. Petersburg, 221 ; return,
222; Congress, 236; judge, 261.
Danbury, descent upon, i. 323.
Dane, Nathan, 11, 36.
Danielson, Timothy, i, 252 «., 276 w.; 11. 142,
231.
Dartmouth, Lord, see William Legge.
Dauphin Royal, 11. 125.
Davis's, I. 149.
Deane, Silas, committee on hostilities, i. 143,
144, 162; naval committee, 311; charges
against, 379, 380; expenditures, 11. 67;
statement, 68, 83, 86, 89, 94, 96; Adams
on, 75; fall of, 106, 171.
Deane, 11. 87, 93, 135, 138, 141.
Dedham, Mass., i. 106.
De la Balme, Mottin, i. 233-
Delaware Bay, blockading, i. 145; govern-
ment, 251.
Democrat, the, 11. 368.
Denmark, honors flag, 11. 208; treaty, 222;
minister, 331.
Departments, staff, committee, 11. 124.
Dependence, 11. 238.
Derby, John, returns from England, i. 84.
Deserters, law on, 11. 430.
Deshon, John, navy board, i. 312 «., 324,
350; II. 44, 122.
Destin, 11. 125.
460
Index
De Witt, , 115, 158.
Dexter, Samuel, i. no.
Diadem, 11. 125.
Dialogue of the Dead, by John Adams, 11.
387 "., 389-
Dickinson, John, letters to Otis, i. 3, 4, 5, 6;
sends Farmer's Letters, 3; corrections, 4;
on Massachusetts, 3; advises moderation,
4; letter to Boston, 5; a colonel, 51 ; Adams
on, 88; change of heart,25i; error in con-
duct, 280; letters to Mrs. Warren, 11. 347,
348; on Otis, 347; writings, 364.
Dickinson, Philemon, i, 370 n.
Dilly, Charles, i. 8 n.
Dilly, Edward, i. 8 «.
Dimsdale, Thomas, i, 263,
Doane, Elisha, i. 23; 11. 404.
Dobree, , 11. 118,
Dodd, William, i. 381; 11. 65, 77.
Donop, Carl Emil Kurt von, death, 1. 374.
Dorchester Neck, i. 133; importance of,
154; occupied, 210; fort on, 216, 237;
rendezvous, 268; aflFair, 11. 435.
Draper's newspaper, i, 12, 155.
Drayton, William Henry, i. 230; 11. 38.
Duane, James, i. 378 w.; 11. 143, 167.
Duche, Elizabeth (Hopkinson), i. 165 n.
Duche, Jacob, i. 80, 143, 165.
Du Coudray, Philippe Charles John Baptist
Tronson, 11. 213; arrival, i. 318; embarrass-
ment, 2ZZ-
Dudley, Charles, i. 121.
Duer, William, i. 378 w.; on Cushing, 212,
Dunmore, Lord, see John Murray.
Dwight, Timothy, 11. 301.
Dwight, , col., I. 109.
Dyer, Eliphalet, i. 115, 119 «., 158; Canada
committee, 190.
Dyre, , i. 190.
Eagle, II. II, n.
East India, American prisoners for, i. 363.
Eclipse of sun, by Cynthia, i. 283.
Edel, Benjamin, i. 66 «.; comes out of Bos-
ton, 49.
Edes, Peter, i. 151.
Edes and Gill, i. 170.
Edson, , II. 406.
Edwards, Richard, 11. 146.
Edwards, Timothy, 11. 106.
Egg. Plymouth prophetical, i. 283.
Eliot, Andrew, reported confinement, 1. 73,78.
Elmer, Jonathan, i. 293 n.
Embargo, Adams on, i. 312; Jefferson's, 11.
356-
Emigration from Europe, 11. 205, 232.
Encyclopedia, French, 11, 273, 277.
Enos, Roger, deserts Arnold, i. 181, 188.
Ervin, , dr., i. 360.
Estaing, Charles Hector, comte d', 11. 38,
112; entertainment, 55.
Eugene, Frangois, i. 70 n.
Europe, balance of power, 192.
Evans, John, i. 298 n.
Extravagance, prevalence of, 11. 59, dd, 82,
86, 91, 105, 114, 147, 154, 178, 180, 184,
249, 264, 269, 289.
Falmouth, i. 178; burning of, 154.
Faneuil, Mary, 11. 136 n.
Faneuil, Peter, 11. 136 n.
'Farmer's Letters' (Dickinson's), i. 3, 5.
Fast, continental, i. 58, 80, 83; 11. 416,
Fawcett, Sir William, 11. 131.
Fayerweather, Anne, i. 102 n.
Fayerweather, Hannah, i. 16 w.
Fee bill, i. 219.
Fellows, John, i. 80 n.\ 11. 434.
Pendant, 11. 125.
Fenner, Mary, 11, 329 n.
Ferguson, Adam, passport for, 11. 21,
Fermoy, Mathieu Alexis Roche de, i. 347.
Fessenden, Josiah, i. 55, 58, 81, 1 10, 169, 181,
195, 219, 264.
Firebrand, 11. 183.
Fire ships, i. 256.
Fish, export of, i. 198, 203; 11. 430.
Fisheries, sacrifice of, 11. 106, 107, 109, 168,
172; rights, 193, 197; trade, 271.
Fitzherbert, Maria Anne, 11. 288.
Fitzsimons, Thomas, 11. 230.
Fleet, Thomas, article in paper of, i. 2.
Fleming, John, i. 122.
Fleury, Jean Francois Joly de, 11. 195.
Flora, I. 366, 373.
Flour, purchase of, i. 288.
Folwell, John, i. 157.
Forster, , captain, i. 193 n.
Forster, , Dr., i. 143.
Fort Ann, i. 354.
Fort Chamblee, i, 169.
Fort Edward, i. 353, 354.
Index
461
Fort Hill, I. 237.
Fort Mifflin, i. 375.
Fort Miller, N.Y., i. 356.
Fort Schuyler, i. 355, 360.
Fort Stanwix, i. 366.
Foster, Jedidiah, I. 131 w., 178; 11. 406; judge,
I. 219, 226.
Foster, Thomas Wait, i. 187.
Foster, , i. 109.
Fox, Charles James, 11. 176, 199, 208, 288.
Fox, I. 366, 373.
France, policy of, i. 184; 11. 171, 173; army
in America, i. 241; fleet, 259; recognition
of America, 302; supplies from, 302, 306,
307, 317; officers, 303; ports open, 307;
war with Great Britain,309, 313, 315,321,
330; doubt, 313; aid to America, 322, 357,
381; fleet at Boston, 11. 8,9, 44,46, 51, 55;
tories on, 9, 15; pennants in ports, 32;
minister, ■^'^, 34; repair of squadron, 61 , 78,
93, 122; recall proposed, 100; fleet in West
Indies, 102, 105, 112; preparations and
ships, 125; Americans in, 127; at Newport,
140, 151; cultivates tories, 167; peace
objects, 185, 193; American minister, 198;
influence, 229; Mrs. Adams on, 242;
treaty with Great Britain, 284; mission
to, 335. 'i'i^:- 340-
Francy, , 11. 117.
Franklin, Benjamin, i. 57, 211, 293 «., 380;
II. 118, 171, 182, 185, 387 «.; letter from
England, i. 8; return, 34; committee to
camp, 119, 120, 125, 149; to Canada,
206; goes to France, 283; reception, 301;
Adams on, 11. 74, 209, 222; Mrs. Warren
on, 132; trade permits, 137, 142; recall of,
144, 158; peace commission, 169, 171, 173;
Vergennes and, 197; resignation, 211, 251,
263; Warren on, 231.
Franklin, William, 11. 186.
Franklin, William Temple, 11. 186.
Franklin, i. 270.
Fraser, Simon, i. 373.
Freeman, James, 11. 103; clerk to council, i.
83 «.
Freeman, Samuel, i. 60.
Freeman, , col., i. 131 n.
Furnace, , 11. 436.
Frye, James, i. 91.
Frye, Joseph, i. 91; brigadier general, 204;
resigns, 218 w.
Gadsden, Christopher, on navy, i. 81, 311.
Gage, Thomas, i. 50, 68, 84, 106; treachery
feared, 48; reinforcements, 57; courage,
69; denounced, 72; inhabitants of Boston,
98, 100, I02; governor general, 133; goes
to England, 141, 151; proclamation, 405,
416.
Gaine, Hugh, i. 310.
Gallies, row, i. 130, 154,
Gamble, Thomas, i. 123; n. 421.
Game Cock, i. 339.
Gansevoort, Peter, i. 356.
Gardiner, Sylvester, 11. 48.
Gardner, Christopher, i. 96 n.
Gardner, Henry, 11. 407.
Gardner, , captain, i. 319 w.
Gardoqui, Joseph and Sons, i. 370 «.; 11. 153.
Gates, Horatio, i. 54, 257, 277, 282, 307, 323,
368; II. 97, 452; major general, i. 246; on
pay of troops, 278; command of northern
army, 329, 351, 357; victory over Bur-
goyne, 374; defeat, 11. I40.
Gates, Mary (Valence), 11. 6.
Gellee, N. M., 11. 127.
Generals, continental, appointments, i. 64;
criticised, 69; method, 79, 85.
Gentille, 11. 125.
George III, reply to London, i. 109; procla-
mation, II. 426.
George IV and Mrs. Fitzherbert, 11. 288.
George Tavern, i. 96.
George's Island, i. 216, 217, 238.
Georgia, defense of, i, 170; for independence,
249; descent on, 11. 104.
Gerard, Conrad Alexandre, 11. 23^ 125, 197;
on A. Lee, 70; communication from, 109.
Germain, George, 11. 165.
Germans, arousing, i. 76; not to be hired,
II. 124, 131.
Gerry, Elbridge, i. 13, 15, 78, 81, 183, 219,
238, 260, 22(>y 342; n. 14, 27, 50, 136, 137,
150, 248; elected to Congress, i. 212 w.,
267, 272; II. 142, 183, 231, 256, 261, 264,
430; marriage, 284; vice president, 373;
reconciliation of Adams and Warren, 374;
law on armed vessels, 378, 380; writing
history, 381.
Gibbon, Edward, History, 11. 327.
Gibraltar, 11. 177, 182; praised, 268.
Gill, John, I. 49 n., 58, 99, 100, 151.
Gill, Moses, i. 319 «.
462
Index
Gille, , 11. 165.
Oilman, , 11. 100.
Gist, Mordecai, i. 148, 181.
Glover, John, letters, i, 353, 355; on Schuyler
and St. Clair, 355, 356; Henley court
martial, 11. 4.
Glover, Jonathan, committee of war, i. 276 n.
Goddard, William, post office, i. 25.
Goodrich, Bridger, 11. 44 n.
Goodrich, John, 11. 44 n.
Goodrich, William, 11. 44 n.
Gordon, William, i, 144 n.\ 11. 301.
Gordon riots, 11. 133.
Gorham, Nathaniel, 11. 52, 182, 190; naval
accounts, 269.
Government, setting up, in states, i. 170;
form of, 221; preamble, 245; universal, 11.
367-
Governor's Island, i. 216.
Graham, Catharine Macaulay, i. 7 «,; 11.
241; style, 254; letters, 257, 283, 298, 301,
303; on the Washingtons, 259; on the
constitution, 299, 303; education, 300;
reply to Burke, 327.
Graham, , Dr., i. 158.
Grand, Ferdinand, 11. 243.
Grant, James, i. 54.
Grasse, Frangois Joseph Paul,comte de,ii. 1 25.
Gray, Ellis, 11. 117.
Gray, Harrison, 11. 48; Warren on, 408.
Great Britain, intelligence from, i. 2,yi
elections, 1774, 34; opinion in, 74, 84;
address to, 75, 80; preparation in, 129,
132; fear of negotiations, 209; commis-
sioners, 210, 214, 223, 225, 247; II. 436;
property of subjects, i. 258; fleet, 277;
Cossacks, 289, 295, 300; army, 299, 362;
war with France, 309, 313, 315, 321, 330;
losses of merchants, 314; relations with
Spain, 360; peace commissioners, 1778, 11.
21,23, 24, 37, 39; relations with, 40; con-
ditions in, 89, 432; conduct of war, 99,
126; burning towns, iii; situation, 130,
^94, 205; trade with, 136; capture of fleet,
I44; peace and, 175, 177; recognizes
America, 187; treaty of commerce, 189,
^91, 193, 194, 218, 221, 236, 271; hostile
feelings, 198; treaty with France, 284;
commerce and neutrals, 367; policy, 424.
Green, John, at Red Bank, i. 375.
Green, John, 11. 35.
Greene, Nathanael, i. 277, 282, 307.
Greenleaf, Benjamin, i. 131 n.
GreenJeaf, Jonathan, 11. 145.
Greenleaf, , captain, i. 131 n.
Greenleaf, Mr., i, 238.
Gregory, Charles, 11. 300, 302, 304.
Gridley, Richard, i. 91, loi.
Grinnall, , captain, 11. 181.
Group, the, i. 36, 169; authorship, 41; 11.
395, 396; reprinted, i. 51,
Guichen, Luc Urbain du Bouexic, comte de,
II. 125.
Gustavus III, II. 187 «.
Gwinnett, Button, i. 249 n.
H., I., in Draper's paper, i. 12.
Halifax, N.S., burning of hay, i. 50; fears an
attack, 106.
Hall, Edward, i. 52 w., 62.
Hall, Elihu, i. 52 w., 62.
Hall, Lyman, i. 249 «.
Hall and Sellers, i. 5.
Hall, , Dr., i. 143.
Hamilton, Alexander, on Mrs. Warren's
poems, II. 326.
Hancock, Dorothy (Quincy), i. no.
Hancock, Ebenezer, paymaster, i. 285.
Hancock, John, i. 45, 64, 151, 152, 190; 11.
123, 235; letters, i. 57; on Washington, 57;
marriage, no; slights Randolph, 112, 123,
i57,i6i,i8i;majorgeneral,243«.,323;ii.
434, 435; treasurer of Harvard College, i.
310; in General Court, 331 ; governor, 340;
leave of absence, 376; speech in Congress,
378; not at French entertainment, 11. 9;
councillors, 12; takes leave, 14,33; opposes
Warren, 20; Rhode Island expedition, 42,
44, 52; entertains French, 48, 59; marquee
for, 53; an idol, 54, 147; on Navy Board,
87; speaker, 106; governor, 135, 138, 141,
145, 149, 150; 292; threatens to resign,
236; resigns, 249, 250, 253; influence, 262;
gout, 265, 321.
Hancock, i. 270, 304; loss of, 350, 373.
Hannibal, 11. 125.
Hare, Robert, i. 273 «.
Hare, , i. 273, 274.
Hare and Twell, i. 273.
Harrison, Benjamin, i. 88 «., 115; committee
to camp, 119, 120, 125, 149; II. 423; naval
committee, i. 311 n.
Index
463
Harrison, , i. no.
Hart, Joseph, i. 157.
Hart, Josiah, i. 157.
Hartford, convention, 11. 152.
Hartley, David, 11. 208, 282.
Harvard College, commencement, i. i;
Hancock, treasurer, 310; catalogue of
graduates, 11. 363.
Hastings, Warren, 11. 302,
Haussegger, Nicholas, i. 76 n.
Hawley, Joseph, i. 57, 122, 173, 178, 190,
227, 285; II. 413; evacuation of Boston, i.
224; for Congress, 264, 266, 271.
Hayden, , captain, 11. 1 50.
Hayley, George, 11. 241 n.
Hayley, Mary, 11. 241.
Hazard, Ebenezer, 11. 46.
Hazard, i. 305 «.; 11. 87.
Heath, William, i. 13, 58, 78; 11. 413; in
command at Boston, i. 304.
Henley, David, 1.323, 324; court martial, 11. 4.
Henry, Patrick, i. 109, 112; on Braxton's
pamphlet, 257.
Henry, John, i. 124.
Henshaw, William, i. 47 n.
Herand, John, i. 301 n.
Hercule, 11. 125.
Herkimer, Nicholas, death, i. 356.
Hessians, employment of, i. 129, 133, 362;
at Burlington, 279; sickness, 300; in
Boston, II. 451.
Hewes, Joseph, i. 328, 347.
Heyward, Thomas, jr., i. 294 n.\ 11. 241.
Hichborn, Benjamin, i. 87; intercepted
letters, 88, loi, 114, 118, 136, 154, 205;
exchange proposed, 99; escape, 150.
Hicks, John, i. 99, 100.
Higginson, Stephen, 11. 183, 224, 231.
Hillegas, Michael, i. 123 n.
Hingham, Mass., i. 12, 14; 11. 401.
Hinman, Elisha, i. 350; 11. 11, 43.
Hodgdon, Samuel, 11. 100.
Hoge, Jonathan, i. 298 n.
Holker, John, 11. 93, 118.
Holker, Mrs., 11. 56.
Holland, not hostile, i. 309; angry, 11. 127;
to keep peace, 154; alliance, 117, 178, 179,
182, 188.
Holroyd, John Baker, earl of Sheffield, 11.
241.
Helton, Samuel, 11. 14, 142, 183, 231.
Hooper, Annie (Clark), i. 70.
Hooper, William, i. 70; asks for opinions on
government, 230, 231.
Hoops, Adam, 11. 212.
Hopkins, Ezek, i. 271.
Hopkins, Stephen, i. 73, 85.
Hopkins, , of Baltimore, i. 93.
Hopkinson, Elizabeth, I. 165 n.
Hopkinson, Francis, i. 165 n.\ navy board,
312.
Hopkinson, Mary, i. 165 n.
Hopkinson, Thomas, i. 165 n.
Horn, John, i. 200.
Hospital, establishment of, i. 93; church, 93.
Hostilities, committee on, i. 143, 144, 159,
1 6a.
Houston, William Churchill, i. 353.
Howard, Charles, Lord Howard of Effing-
ham, I. 141.
Howe, Richard, Lord, i. 261, 262, 272; 11.
413, 415; Congress and, i. 274.
Howe, Joseph, i. 41.
Howe, Sir William, i. 53, 56, 68, 69 w., 188;
II. 452; in Boston, 1. 1 13, 210; in command,
133 w., I4I, I5i;ii. 421,428; proclamation,
I. 179; leaves Boston, 216; in New York,
263; intentions, 271; prophecy, 283; Lee
and, 292; atrocities, 293; plans, 328, 342,
360, 362; at New Castle, 355; in the
Jersies, 357; for Philadelphia, 364, 369,
371; on Burgoyne's defeat, 375.
Howland, , i. 60.
Hubley, John, i. 298 n.
Hughes, Hugh, i. 82; 11. 416.
Humphreys, James, jr., i. 51 «., 260 n.
Huntington, Joshua, 11. 78, 88.
Huntington, Samuel, naval committee, I.
311 «.
Hussar, German, i. 76.
Hutchinson, Thomas, i. 20, 24, 23^ 55> '°°>
1 53, 366; II. 399, 403, 404; pension for, 1. 7;
Caesar and, 8; voyage to England, 24;
letters, 49; policy, 244; death, 11. 134;
character, 165; Milton seat, 171 ; abilities
defended, 282; controversy with, 381.
Impost, Rhode Island and, 11. 234, 248; New
York and, 270.
Independence, declaration of, i. 261, 268,
281; II. 434, 438; recognition by France, i.
302.
464
Index
Independence, i. 182 «., 301, 305 n.
Independent Chronicle, 11. 368.
India, British, 11. 370, 376,
Indians, Continental Congress and, i. 52;
Kirkland's mission, 79; dangers, 208, 258.
Industry, i. 122 n.
Inequalities of condition, 11. 291.
Inlistments, bounties for, i. 21 1, 258, 276.
Inman, Elizabeth Murray (Campbell), i. 70.
Inman, Ralph, i. 70 «.
Inoculation, practice of, 1. 257 «., 261, 263.
Intrepide, 11. 125.
Ireland, 11. 130; address to, i. 75; troops and
provisions, 108.
Italy, ports open, i. 307.
I vers, , II. 158.
Izard, Ralph, 11. 125.
Jackson, David, i. 297.
Jackson, Henry, i. 323, 325; Rhode Island,
317 «.
Jackson, Jonathan, committee of war, i.
276 n.
Jackson, Thomas, petition, 11. 400.
Jackson, Dr., i. 143.
Jackson, , 11. 247.
Jamaica, i. 75.
Jason, II. 125.
Jay, John, 11. 125, 127, 130, 176, 193, 220,
381; peace commission, 169, 173, 182, 185;
minister of foreign affairs, 240.
Jefferson, Thomas, peace commission, 11.
i69> 173; minister, 251; consular appoint-
ments, 266; Adams on, 331; subscribes to
History, 345, 347.
Jeffries, David, 11. 10.
'Jemmibullero,' i. 2 n.
Jenny, i. 193 n.
Jersey, island of, 11. 351.
Jesuit's bark, i. 370; 11. 94.
Johnson, 6'/> John, i. 356.
Johnson, Thomas, jr., governor, i. 294, 298.
Johnson, Sir William, i. 53.
Jones, Ichabod, i. 100,
Jones, John Paul, i. 350; 11. 127, 143.
Jones, Josiah, i. 98, 100.
Jones, Sir William, Poems, 11. 358.
Judges, commissions, and salaries, i. 150,
242.
Judson, Adoniram, jr., 11. 370.
Julien, 11. 125,
Kaighn, see Keays.
Kean, John, 11. 241.
Keays, John, i. 74.
Keppel, Augustus, 11. 38.
Kirkland, Samuel, mission to Indians, i. 79.
Knox, Henry, i. 87, 157, 186; Warren's
creditors, 11. 285; on politics, 294; on a
constitution, 295, 297; memorial, 445.
Knox, William, 11. 286,
Knox, , colonel, i. 356.
Knox, , II. 142.
Labor, north and south, 11. 201.
Ladies of Castille, 11. 326.
Lafayette, Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves
Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de, 11. 55, 89,
126, 131, 272; Adams on, 213, 231.
La Motte-Picquet, Toussaint Guiliaume,
Comte Picquet de La Motte, fleet, 11. 125.
Lancaster, Mass., i. 14.
Land jobbers and Connecticut, i. 168.
Landais, Pierre, 11. 16, 82, 127, 132, 141, 158;
appointment, 22, 30, 43.
Lands, vacant, fund for credit, i. 365;
valuation, 11. 203.
Langdon, John, i. 351; 11. 88; Canada
committee, i. 190; naval committee, 311;
naval board, 324.
Langdon, John, i. 109.
Languages, study of, 11. 369.
Languedoc, 11. 55.
Laurens, Henry, i. 294 n.; captured, 11. 151,
154, 159, 166; peace commissioner, 169,
173; returns, 241.
Laurens, John, 11. 158.
Law, Richard, i. 340.
Leach, John, prisoner, i. 78, 151.
Lead, I. 131, 155, 163.
Lechmere Point, i. 183; 11. 429.
Lee, Arthur, i. 125,358; 11. 118, 125, 142; on
cultivating Europe, 1. 314; letters, 360,
361, 379; on continental agency in France,
379; grant of land, 11. 15, 22, 25, 168, 170,
171, 185, 190, 220, 225, 241 ; malignant
spirit, 59; dissatisfied, 67; secret letter, 68;
in Berlin, 69; Berkenhout and, 70; Adams
on, 73; Deane's attack, 83, 89; recall
proposed, 100; pamphlet, 132; on Alliance,
143, 158, 166, 170; minister for foreign
affairs, 167, 169; motion on clothing, 225.
Lee, Charles, recommendation, i. 47; on
Index
465
British generals, 53, 62; favors pikemen,
54; general, 58, 61, 64, 65, 72; conditions,
64, 70; defense of, 69; Warren on, 77; dogs
of) ^9) 137; for Canada, 208; capture of,
282, 283; II. 443, 444; deserter, i. 292; at
Monmouth, 11. 35.
Lee, Francis Lightfoot, i. 112.
Lee, Richard Henry, i. 80 «., 1 25, 293, 370; 11.
27; Adams on government, i. 231; inde-
pendence, 256 «.; naval committee, 311;
Jesuit's bark, 11. 94.
Lee, William, i. 84, 380.
Lee, William Raymond, i. 323, 325, 343,
Leeks, 11. 377.
Legge, William, Lord Dartmouth, i. 21, 84,
360.
Leonard, David, i. 343.
Lethargy, 11. 442.
Letters, of marque, 363; intercepted, see
Hichborn.
Lexington, battle of, 11. 409.
Light house, Boston harbor, burnt, i. 84, 96,
Lincoln, Benjamin, i. 190, 264, 368; 11. 293;
major general, i. 243, 274; on Ticonderoga
loss, 348; at Saratoga, 373; Charleston, 11.
107, no, 321; on apportionment of debts,
200; resigns, 230; on Henry Warren, 285,
321; papers, 318.
Lincoln, Benjamin, Jr., 11. 304 n.
Lincoln, Mary (Otis), i. 206; 11. 304 «., 354.
Linn, John, i. 374.
Little Hannah^ 1. 193 n.
Lively, i. 109.
Liverpool, i. 375.
Livingston, Abraham, i. 320.
Livingston, Robert R., i. 80 «.; minister for
foreign affairs, 11. 167; death, 381.
Livingston, William, 11. 38; speech of, i. 298.
Livingston, , i. 278.
Lloyd, Edward, i. 294 n.
Lloyd, James, Jr., 11. 357 n.
Loan offices, continental, i. 298, 309; n. 448.
London, reply of King, i. 109; commercial
failures, 313.
Long, Pierce, i. 343, 354.
Long Island, Mass., affair at, i. 83; fort on,
130, 216.
Lothrop, Isaac, i. 14, 21, 45; 11. 400 n.
Lothrop, Mrs., 11. 79, 103.
Lottery, continental, i. 297, 309, 316; 11. 448.
Louis XV, death of, i. 31.
Louis XVI, crime of, 11. 371.
Lovell, James, i. 287; 11. 142, 434, 446;
oration, i. 10; prisoner, 78, 100, 151;
grant to, 204.
Lovells Island, I. 216.
Low, Isaac, 11. 265.
Lowdan, John, i. 298 n.
Lowell, John, supreme court, i. 150; for
Congress, 264; representative of Boston, 11.
10.
Lowrie, James, i. 189 n.
Loyalists, Boston, i. 48, 84; Plymouth, 11.
401; detested, 1. 50; conduct, 65; act of
oblivion, 208 n.; Adams on, 292; in
Massachusetts, 316, 326, 369; Great
Britain and, 11. 182; in treaty of peace,
218.
Lux, George, i. 93,94, 124.
Lydia, i. 342.
Lynch, Thomas, committee to camp, i. 119,
120, 125, 149; II. 423.
Lynch, I. 318 n.
Macaulay, Catharine, letter to Otis, i. 7.
See Graham.
Macaulay, George, 11. 300 n.
McDougall, Alexander, i. 370.
Machias, capture of ships, i. loo; 11. 418;
threatened, 1. 1 5 1 ; defence, 368 ; operations,
11.419,421.
McKean, Thomas, i. 250; letter, 11. 386 n.,
388.
McNeill, Hector, i. 312, 317, 319, 329, 335,
350; difference with Manley, 304, 31 1;
decline of reputation, 366; new cruise, 373;
claims, 11. 31; Adams as support, 42, 47.
McPherson, John, i. 156, 169, 177, 182; 11.
Madison, James, election to presidency, 11.
374- '
Magaw, Robert, i. 54 n.
Magnijique, 11. 125.
Manchester, duke of, see George Montagu.
Manchester, i. 368.
Manley, John, i. 241, 317, 319, 329, 335; n.
31; prizes taken, i. 189 n., 193 «.; n. 433;
difference with McNeill, i. 304, 311, 366;
chagrin of, 11. 42; Warren on, 43, 47;
opposition to, 64; captured, 451.
Manners, change of, i. 197.
Marblehead, Mass., i. 12, 13, 15; 11. 401.
466
Index
Marchant, Henry, ii. 29.
Marchman, , 11. 371.
Marcia, see Mercy Warren.
Marine Committee, i. 271.
Marl, 11. 179.
Mars, I. 305 ».; 11. 165.
Marshall, John, Life of Washington, 11. 346.
Marshall, Thomas, i. 239, 253.
Marston, Benjamin, i. 188.
Marston, Elizabeth (Winslow), i. 188 n.
Martindale, , captain, i. 194.
Maryland, reply to Sharpe, i. 6; votes and
resolves, 35; riflemen, 76; eccentricity,
251; pay of troops, 276; suppression of
tories, 291; representation in Congress,
293-
Mason, Anne (Fayerweather), 1. 102.
Mason, David, i. 187, 195.
Mason, George, 11. 207.
Mason, Thaddeus, i. 102.
Mason, , i. loi.
' Massachusettensis,' i. 40 «.; 11. 407.
Massachusetts, Dickinson on, i. 3; attack
on charter, 8; General Court at Cambridge,
10; Provincial Congress, 40, 47; bills of
credit, 47, 365; government and constitu-
tion, 48, 60, 64, 97, 171, 183, 227, 233, 237;
dearth of public character, 83; council, 83;
secretary of, 94, 173; accounts, 116, 118,
129, 144, 151, 159; delegation in Congress,
116; correspondence committee, 131, 140,
143; misfortune in appointments, 143;
grant of money, 191; council, 196, 252;
representation, 241; governor, 243, 340,
376; battalions, 246, 257; election, 256;
defence of, 261 ; troops for New York, 268,
273; numbering the regiments, 269; navy,
270; pay of militia, 275, 276; committee of
war, 275; vote in Congress, 285; board of
war, 287; II. 441, 447; recruiting, i. 289,
295> 299) "y^Z-. 326, 339; constitution, 296,
322, 329, 332, 334, 338, 339, 341, 350, 368;
II. 36, 112, 135, 147; regulating act, i. 305,
330, 334; trade, 313; equal representation,
3^7. 334; freeing negroes, 335, 339; Schuy-
ler's complaints, 352; legislation, 11. 87;
delegates in Congress, 92, 124, 183; pre-
pares for defence, 104; election of gover-
nor, 135, 138; exertions of, 152; treasury
notes, 171; public accounts, 203; evil con-
dition, 272, 277, 278; attack on Senate,
292; federal constitution, 303; resolve on
war, 382.
Massachusetts, i. 182 «.
Mather, Samuel, i. 78.
Mathews, , 11. 83.
Matlack, Timothy, i. 250.
Maurepas, Jean Fred6ric Phelippeaux, comte
de, II. 195.
Mayhew, , 11. 406.
Mayo, Joseph, i. 13.
Mease, James, i. 320 «.
Medee, 11. 125,
Medford, Mass., i. 1 5.
Mein, John, i. 122 n.
Menotomy, 11. 411.
Mercer, Hugh, education of son, i. 288.
Mercury in inoculation, i, 263.
Mercury, i. 301 «., 305 «.; 11. 112, 136 «.,
151.
Merit, modest, 11. 71.
Mersereau, Joshua, i. 277 n.
Mesplet, Fleury, i. 52 n.
Middlebrook, i. 2Z^'
Middleton, Arthur, i. 294 «.; 11. 241.
Mifflin, Jonathan, i. 132, 134; letter, 374.
Mifflin, Thomas, i. 51 n., 55, 77, 88, 98, 199,
257, 307, 316; quartermaster general, 86;
brigadier general, 246; on departments, 11.
124.
Milford, I. 317; II. 438 n.
Militia, reluctance to serve, i. 81; appoint-
ment of officers, 177, 183, 191, 197; low
estimation, 318, 323, 349; bill, 11. 429, 432,
435-
Minute men, i. 47.
Miralles, Don Juan de, 11. 153.
Miranda, Francisco, 11. 354.
Mitchell, Edward, 11. 330.
Mitchell, Henry, 11. 136.
Mitchell, Nancy (Bowen), 11. 330.
Mitchill, Samuel Latham, letter, 11. 359.
Molasses from cornstalk, i. 368.
Moliere, Jean Baptiste Poquelin, dit, Mrs.
Adams on, 1. 19.
Monarchy, North American, i. 167, 201.
Monopolizers, Washington and, 1. 176.
Montague, Edward, 11. 287 n.
Montague, Elizabeth (Robinson), 11. 287,
Montagu, George, duke of Manchester, 11.
208.
Montagu, John, Earl of Sandwich, i. 314.
Inaex
467
Montgomery, Janet (Livingston), 11. 306,
307-
Montgomery, Richard, i. 131; n. 307 n.
Montserrat, powder, i. 136,
Moon, the, proposed fort, 1. 130, 216.
Moore, Fanny (Bowen), 11. 330.
Moore, John E., 11. 330.
Morality, principles of, i. 172.
Morehead, John, r^o., 11. 188.
Morgan, Daniel, 1. 360; 11. 166.
Morgan, John, director of hospitals, i. 142,
164, 174, 185, 187, 229; inoculation, 263.
Morgan, Mary (Hopkinson), 1. 165 ».;
described, 229,
Morgan lecture, i. 17.
Morris, Gouverneur, 11. 118.
Morris, Robert, i. 293, 379 w.; 11. 13, 143,
170, 171, 184, 248; conduct, 225; king,
230.
Morris, Thomas, i. 379 »., 380.
Morris^ i- 314.
Morton, Perez, i. 87.
Moscow, destruction of, 11. 372.
Mount Independence, i. 346.
Moylan, James, 11. 143.
Murphy, Arthur, 11. 301 «.
Murray, David, viscount Stormont, i. 302.
Murray, John, Earl of Dunmore, 1. 145; 11. 5;
conduct in Virginia, i. 191; rumor, 277.
Murray, John, rev., 11. 329 n.
Murray, Judith (Sargent | Stevens), letters,
II. 328, 346.
Muses, Mrs. Warren on, 11. 94.
Musketo shore, i. 314, 360.
Musters, commissary of, i. 86, 90.
Nancy, i. 189 n.
Nation, making a, 11. 295.
National Aegis, 11. 342, 368.
Navy, Warren's proposition, i. 78; Gadsden
on, 81 ; Adams, 145; vessels fitting, 151;
idle, 268; of Massachusetts, 270; conti-
nental, 297, 304; II. 440; local boards, i.
305> 3"> 312, 327, 332; commissions, 340;
Boston, 350, 365; check for board, 367;
suspension of officers, 372; importance of,
II. 123; beginnings of, 378.
Navy Board, money for, 11. 8, 12, 25, 61, 78,
88; confidence in, 26, 92; pay, 64; im-
portance, 66; reflections on, 87, 122;
accounts, 265, 269.
Negroes, freeing, in Massachusetts, i. 22Si
339-
Nelson, Thomas, 1. 112.
Netherlands in prophecy, 11. 376.
Neutrality, armed, ii. 154.
Neutrals, trade of, 11. 367.
Nevis, powder, i. 136.
Newburyport, Mass., 1. 12; saltworks, 177,
193; privateers, 193.
Newcastle, Del., Howe at, i. 355.
New England, jealousy of, i. 77, 324; con-
vention of states, 286, 293; British designs,
315,361,362.
Newfoundland, provisioning, i. 98; loss at,
190.
New Hampshire, 11. 218; government for, i.
170, 175, 182; militia, 188; misconduct of
troops, 194; independency, 233; grants and
statehood, 321; exertions of, 11. 152.
New Jersey, government, i. 250; lethargy,
279; representation in Congress, 293;
Howe in, 328, 357, 370; New York and, 11.
270.
Newport, R.I., i. 289; trial of Gaspee actors,
16; threatened, 151; British at, 296.
New York, plot discovered, i. 259; expecta-
tions, 260; weakness, 263; troops from
Massachusetts, 268, 273; force at, 272.
Nicholson, Thomas, 11. 17.
Nicola, Lewis, on fireships, i. 256.
New York, tea, i. 20; government, 250;
change at, 272; impost, 11. 270.
Nixon, John, navy board, i. 312, 254.
Noddle's Island, i. 216, 237.
Non-exportation, efficacy of, i. 30, 128, 166,
176, 185; except for powder, 170.
Norfolk, Va., bombarded, i. 200.
North Carolina, recommendation by Con-
gress, I. 67; preparations, 230; independ-
ence, "232, 249; ratifies confederation, 11.
33; constitution, 303.
Oath of allegiance, 11. 52, 448.
O'Brian, Jeremiah, i. 140, 163, 185.
Officers, militia, difl^erence on appointing, i.
178, 183; II. 427; pay, I. 194; promotion,
296; foreign, difficulty of, 223, 34i;
Schuyler, on, 352; British, of convention,
II. 4; half-pay, 237.
Oliver, Andrew, death of, i. 25.
Oliver, Peter, i. 25.
468
Index
Oliver Cromwell, i. 335.
Olney, Joseph, 11. 26, 31.
Omoa, II. 126.
Oriskany, N.Y., i. 356 n.
Orne, Azor, i. 15, 190, 229 «., 252 «., 286 «.,
324, 350; II. 145, 435.
Orne, Joshua, i. 229 n.
Orne, Mrs., i. 229.
Orvilliers, Louis Guillouet, comte d', 11. 38.
Osgood, Samuel, major ^ i. 212; 11. 183, 231.
Ostermann, Jean, comte d', 11. 20&,
Otis, Elizabeth (Gray), 11. 408.
Otis, Harrison Gray, 11. 341 ; letters, 334, 361 ;
political conduct, 361.
Otis, James, i. 15; 11. 401; commencement
expenses, i. i; Bluster, 2 «.; Dickinson on,
4; on committee of correspondence, 1 1 ;
curious behavior, 61; council, 152; death,
II. 223, 224; McKean on, 386 n.
Otis, James, death, 11. 78, 82, 85.
Otis, James, ensign^ 11. 34 w., 49.
Otis, Joseph, i. 59.
Otis, Mary, 11. 304 «., 354.
Otis, Rebecca (Sturgis), death of, i. i n.
Otis, Ruth Cunningham, 11. 304 n.
Otis, Samuel Alleyne, 11. 341, 408 «.; com-
mittee of war, I. 276 «.; cloathing, 320;
agent, 369; death, 11. 392.
Otis and Andrews, difficulties, 11. 9.
Otsego County, N. Y., reply to address, 11. 340.
Paca, William, i. 293, 294 n.
Paddock, , i. 187.
Paine, Robert Treat, i. 98; 11. 36, 443; in
continental congress, l. 27 «.; 11. 52;
supreme court, I. 150, 178; to Canada, 190;
illness, 265, 266; leaves Congress, 280;
speaker, 331; Springfield convention, 350.
Paine, Samuel, i. 133.
Paine, Thomas, Common Sense, i. 204, 208,
215; II. 434; influence of, i. 243.
Pallas, I. 133 w.; 11. I47.
Palmer, Joseph, i, 40 «., 66, 131 n., 178, 190,
253, 264; committee of war, 276 n.
Palmer, Joseph Pearce, i. 91, 92, loi.
Palmes, Richard, i. 372.
Palmier, 11, 125.
Paper on politics, 11. 117, 122.
Park, , I. 244.
Partridge, George, i. 276; for Congress, 11.
102, 136, 142, 231.
Passion flower, 11. 359, 363.
Passy, France, American commissioners at,
I. 381.
Paterson, John, i. 347.
Paul of Russia, i. 263 «.
Pay, high, for officers, i. 79, 194; soldiers,
152, 186, 189, 278.
Paymaster general, i. 91; Warren, 93, 152;
duties, 218; needs, 238.
Peace, British commissioners, 11. 21, 23, 24,
37, 39; rumors of, 97, 119, 127; conditions,
109, 177; American commissioners, 169;
instructions, 173, 205, 214; prehminary
articles, 184, 186, 190, 207; secret motive,
195; acceptable, 217; definitive treaty.
Peck, John, i. 177, 305, 11. 16.
Pedrero, i. 54 n.
Peekskill, N.Y., troops at, i. 339.
Pemberton, Samuel, 11. 120.
Pendleton, Edmund, i. 80, 112.
Penet, Pierre, 11. 6 n., 148.
Penn, John, i. 230, 231, 280.
Penn, Richard, i. 79.
Pennants in French ports, 11. 32.
Pennet, , 11. 265, 269.
Pennsylvania, martial spirit, i. 51; riflemen,
76; representation in Congress, 213, 293;
instructions to delegates, 250; lethargy,
279; government, 298.
'Pennsylvania Chronicle,' i. 5.
'Pennsylvania Gazette,' Farmer's Letters in,
Penobscot, expedition, i. 305; 11. 112;
evacuated, 237.
Peter, Martha Parke (Custis), 11. 6 n.
Peter, Thomas, 11. 6 «.
Petition to King, Congress, i. 75, 79, 84, 178.
Petrie, Samuel, 11. 127,
Petty, Jean Baptiste, 11. 130, 150.
Petticks Island, i. 217.
Petty, William, Lord Shelburne, 11. 75, 176,
191, 195, 199.
Philadelphia, review of troops, 62; Quaker
interest, 213; town meeting, 250; British
and, 278, 300, 334; navy board, 312;
Howe and, 364, 369, 371 ; evacuated, 11. 14,
23; address, 226; pestilence, 334.
Phillips, William, 11. 10.
Phillips, William, general, 11. 28, 45; on
conquering America, 453.
Index
469
Phinney, Edmund, i. 80.
Phips, Jedidiah, i. 177, 284.
Phips farm, i. 48.
Pickering, John, i. 78, 81; speaker, 11. 52.
Pickering, Timothy, on departments, 11. 124.
Pigeon, John, i. 91, loi.
Pigot, Hugh, II. 175.
Pike men, favored, i. 54 n.
Pinckney, Charies, 1. 294 ».
Pitcairn, John, i. d^).
Pitt, William, 11. 241.
Pitts, John, I. 58.
Places, multiplicity of, in one person, i. 173.
Pliarne, Emanuel de, death of, 11. 6.
Ploughed Hill, i. 107.
Plumer, William, 11. 382.
Plymouth, Mass., town meeting and petition,
I. 12; II. 399, 400, 405; annual festivity,
1. 19, 22; letter and protest, 20; threatened,
151, 177; privateers, 193; militia, 273 «.;
prophetical egg, 283; attacks Warren, 11.
17; collector of port, 315.
Point Alderton, i. 216.
Politician, art of a, i. 160.
Polk, Josiah, i. 294 n.
Pomeroy, Seth, i. 79, 85 w.
Poor, Enoch, i. 347, 354.
Pope, Alexander, i. 37.
Popery, danger of, 11. 9, 15, 39; loss of
temporal power, 365.
Port bill, Boston, losses from, i. i6o.
Porter, Elisha, 11. 434.
Porter, introduction of manufacture, i. 273.
Portia, see Abigail Adams.
Portland, duke of, see Bentinck.
Portland, 11. 145.
Portsmouth, N.H., arms, i. 339.
Portugal, rumor of war with England, i. 262;
attitude of, 307; feeling against, 321;
recognizes America, 11. 194, 208; treaty,
222, 265; Great Britain and, 376.
Post, defective service, i. 279.
Post office, establishment of, i. 25, 91 ; un-
certainty, 337.
Potes, , captain, i. 278.
Pottstown, Penn., reply to address, 11. 340.
Powder, i. 55, 65, 92, 93, 99, 108, 169; efforts
to obtain, 66, 115, 170; anxiety on, 68, 132;
from Anrigua, 135; supplies, 199, 238.
Powell, Jeremiah, 11. 138, 145.
Pownall, Thomas, Hutchinson's salary, i. 7 «.
Preble, Jedidiah, i. 106.
Prescott, James, committee of war, i. 276 n.
Prescott, William, i. 109.
Prevost, Augustine, 11. 126.
Price, James, on Canada, i. 52 n.
Price, James, 11. 245.
Prices, 1. 1 59, 175, 298; regulating act, Mass.,
305> 330. 334; extravagant, 367; 11. 3, 19,
32, 104.
Prince, Thomas, papers, 11. 47.
Princeton, N.J., affair at, i. 283.
Privateers, i. 182, 189, 213, 255, 267, 271;
resolves, 227; embargo, 312, 317; pre-
valence, II. 438.
Proctor, John, i. 298 n.
Prophecy, Winthrop on, 11. 357, 365, 375.
Prospect Hill, i. 107.
Providence, R.I., continental ships, i. 305,
3", 318, 335> 350. 365-
Providence, 11. 103.
Provoost, Samuel, 11. 284.
Pulaski, Kazimierz (Casimir), civil power
and, II. 58.
Purviance, Samuel and Robert, i. 288.
Putnam, Israel, i. 50, 68, 151; general, 61,
64, 65; at Cobble Hill, 114.
Quakers, i. 168, 213; non-resistance, 280.
Quartermaster General, i. 86, 90, 92; 11. 125.
Quebec, Arnold's expedition, I. 109, 149, 152,
248; capture of fleet, 11. 141.
^ueen 0/ France, 11. 35, 93.
Quincy, Dorothy, marriage, i. no.
Quincy, Elizabeth, i. 159.
Quincy, Josiah, i. 131, 230; 11. 236, 238.
Rainbow, i. 305 n., 366, 373.
Raleigh, i. 365; 11. 16, 26, 44, 93.
Ramsay, David, 11. 301.
Randolph, -Peyton, i. 158; returns to Con-
gress, 112; death of, 161, 181.
Randolph, i. 371.
Ranger, i. 365; 11. 93.
Rapatio, I. 18.
Raynal, Guillaume Thomas Francois, His-
toire, II. 136, 155.
Rayneval, Joseph Matthias Gerard de, 11.
196, 197.
Read, George, i. 218 «.
Read, , captain, i. 129.
Rebels, Warren's use of word, i. 113.
470
Index
Reconciliation, ii. 435.
Redbank, defence of, i, 374, 375.
Redman, John, i. 164.
Reed, Joseph, i. 85, 88, 99 w., 168, 174; n.
414; a lieut.-colonel, i. 51 ; resigns, 238.
Reflecteur, 11. 125.
Reed, William, supreme court, 1. 150, 178,226.
Regulating act, 11, 449.
Religion, jealousy of, u. 39.
Republic, J. Adams on, i. 201.
Resistance, 11. 11, 15, 26, 44.
Retaliation, 11. 166, 352.
Revere, Paul, i. 20, 183, 187; 11. 425.
Rhode Island, troops for, i. 273, 323;
attempt upon, 304, 310, 315, 317, 329,
330. 37^5 372, 377; expedition, 11. 42, 44,
50; impost in, 234, 248.
Rice, Nathan, 11. no.
Riedesel, Friedrich Adolph, baron, 11. 451.
Riflemen, i. 54, 58, 61, 64, 67, 76, 84; re-
strained, 100; trouble with, 107.
Rivington, James, 11. 161, 164.
Roberdeau, Daniel, i. 250, 293 n.
Robinson, Matthew, 11. 287.
Robuste, II. 125.
Roche de Fermoy, see Fermoy.
Rodney, George Brydges, 11. 126, 131.
Rogers, John, i. 294 n.
Rose, I. 121 ».
Ross, John, II. 184.
Roxbury, Mass., town proceedings, 1. 13, 15;
11. 401; army at, i. 67; strength of, 83.
'Royal American Magazine,' i. 22-
Ruggles, Timothy, 407; at Albany Congress,
II. 386.
Rumsey, Benjamin, i. 294 n.
Rush, Benjamin, i. 263; 11. 164, 381.
Russell, Jonathan, i. i n.
Russell, Lothrop, i. i.
Russell, Rachel, i. 21.
Russell, Sarah (Sever), 11. 299, 302.
Russell, Thomas, 11. 258, 284.
Russia, attitude of, i. 307; mediation, 11. 122;
minister to, 158; invasion of, 372.
Rutland, convention prisoners, 11. 28.
Rutledge, Edward, i. 276 w.; naval com-
mittee, 311 «.
Rutledge, John, i. 230.
Sack of Rome, by Mrs. Warren, 11. 300.
Sail cloth, I. 200.
St. Clair, Arthur, evacuation of Ticonderoga,
I. 342, 343, 344, 345, 347, 348; II. 450;
Glover on, i. 355, 356; inquiry, 356.
St. Eustatius, powder, i. 136.
St. Johns, Canada, i. 123, 131, 152, 181.
St. Kitts, powder, i. 136.
St. Martens, powder, i. 136.
St. Michel, 11. 125.
Salaries, reduction of, 11. 248.
Salem, Mass., i. 98; privateers, 193; election
disallowed, 253.
Salt, South Carolina, I. 313; Massachusetts,
368.
Saltonstall, Dudley, i. 271.
Saltpetre, efforts to make, i. 66, 67, 115, 153,
157. 158, 163, 177, 189, 193; II. 430, 433;
need, i. 132; supply, 199.
Sampson, Deborah, i. 305 n.
Sampson, Peleg, i. 305 n.
Sampson, Simeon, i. 182, 305; 11. 112, 127,
136, 13?-
San Domingo, i. 362.
Sandwich, see John Montagu.
Sandwich, Mass., i. 368.
Saratoga, N.Y., i. 348; Burgoyne at, 356.
Saratoga, 11. 141.
Sargent, Judith, 11. 329 n.
Sargent, Winthrop, 11. 329 n.
Sartine, Antoine Raymond Jean Gualbert
Gabriel de, 11. 71, 210.
Savage, Samuel Phillips, committee of war,
I. 276 «.
Sawbridge, Catharine, i. 7 n.
Saxe, Maurice, comte de, i. 70.
Schools, grammar, i. 171.
Schuyler, Philip, i. 125, 131, 132, 140, 148,
156; 355; "• 439; general, i. 61, 64, 65; in
command, 208; on Ticonderoga, 295, 343;
criticised, 342, 344, 353 n., 357, 364; inves-
tigation of, 347, 356; distrust, 348; letter
on Massachusetts, 352, 364; Glover on,
355, 356; on departments, 11. 124.
Schweighauser, John D., 11. 118.
Scollay, John, 11. 157.
Scollay, Mercy, i. 22-
Scot, , captain, i. 22-
Seamen, number of, i. 174.
Searle, James, i. 277 n.; 11. 164, 171.
Secretary of Massachusetts, i. 94, 173.
Sellers, Hall and, i. 5.
Sensible, 11. 119.
Index
471
Sergeant, Jonathan Dickinson, i. 231, 293 «.;
naval committee, 311 n.
Sergeant, Nathaniel Peaslee, supreme court,
1. 150, 178.
Sever, William, i. 131 «.; 11. 121, 406; su-
preme court, I. 150; council, 152.
Sewall, David, i. 264.
Sewall, Jonathan, i. 2, loi; Massachuset-
tensis, 11. 407.
Sharpe, Horatio, i. 6.
Shaw, Nathaniel, Jr., 11, 25.
Shays' rebellion, 11. 279, 292, 312, 314.
Shelburne, Lord, see William Petty.
Sherburne, Mass., saltpeter, i. 193.
Sheriff, William, i. 63, 123.
Sherman, Roger, i, 293; naval committee,
340.
Shippen, Thomas, 11. 186, 290.
Shippen, , dr., 11. 166.
Ships, number and construction, i. 174, 182;
destruction of British on lakes, 279, 282.
Shipwright, row gallies, i. 130; number, 174.
Skene, Philip, prisoner, i. 65.
Slaves, in apportionment, 11. 201.
Smallpox, I. 84, 194, 257, 260, 263; Boston,
261, 267; II. I4, 428.
Smith, Abigail (Adams), 11. 277, 290; illness,
384; death, 385.
Smith, Carolina, 11. 385.
Smith, Elizabeth (Quincy), death of, i. 159.
Smith, John Adams, 11. 384.
Smith, Jonathan Bayard, i. 191, 293 n.
Smith, William, rev., death, 11. 236.
Smith, William, of Md., i. 294 n.
Smith, William Stephens, 11. 277, 279, 386.
Smith, William Steuben, 11. 290 »., 354.
Smith, , of Baltimore, i. 93; of Mass.,
I. 324.
Smythe, Walter, 11, 288.
Snow Bird, i. 200.
Solitaire, 11. 125.
Somerset county, Md., tories, i. 292.
Somerset Court House, N.J., i. 336.-
Sourland Hills, i. 336.
South Carolina, i. 277; seizure of arms, 50;
defence of, 170; government, 170, 175,
182, 230, 249; independence, 232; repre-
sentation in Congress, 294; religious estab-
lishment, 296; trade enterprise, 313; Brit-
ish in, II. 107, no. III.
Souther, Daniel, i. 182.
Souverain, 11. 125.
Sovereignty, offer to foreign powers, I. 127.
Spain, attitude of, i. 127; fiat for, 198, 203;
ports open, i. 307; difference with Great
Britain, 314, 360; alliance with, 11. 93, 153;
mediation of, 119; policy, 174; treaty, 176,
182,
Spanktown, skirmish, i. 298.
Spencer, Joseph, I. 86, 95,349:11. 418; Rhode
Island expedition, i. 372.
Sphinx, 11. 125.
Spooner, Sarah Warren, i. 152 n.
Spooner, Walter, i. 178; council, 152.
Spooner, , 11. 405.
Springfield, Mass., convention, 350.
Squantum, proposed fort, i. 130, 216.
Stamp office, destruction of, i. 358.
Stanhope, Edwin, captain, 11. 269.
Stanhope, Philip Dormer, Earl of Chester-
field, 11. 128.
States, votes of, under confederation, i. 338,
375; reserved powers, 375.
Steigner, Nicolas Frederic de, 11. 340.
Steuben, Frederick William Augustus Henry
Ferdinand von, 11. 12, 19.
Stevens, Ebenezer, i. 343.
Stevenson, John, captain, i. 193; 11. 424.
Stewart, Walter, i. 282.
Stille, , I. 290.
Stillman, Samuel, i. 143, 165.
Stillwater, N.Y., i. 348.
Stirling, Thomas, Lord, i. 208.
Stockton, Richard, i. 293 n.
Stone, Thomas, i. 294 n.
Storer, Ebenezer, i. 310 n.
Stormont, see David Murray.
Story, William, i. 131 «.; 11. loi.
Stoughton, Mass., i. 193.
Strong, Caleb, 11. 142.
Sturgis,"Rebecca, i. i n.
Suffolk county, justices, 11. 120.
Sullivan, James, judge, i. 219, 226; repre-
sentative, II. 219, 231, 236.
Sullivan, John, i. 188, 282; mission from
Howe, 272, 274; on Staten Island, 364;
western expedition, 11. 11 1; letter to
Hancock, 161.
Sulphur, I. 163.
Sun, eclipse of, i. 283.
Sutton, Mass., powder mill, i. 193.
Swanwick, John, 11. 225.
472
Index
Sweden, treaty, ii. 187, 208; minister, 331.
Swift, Samuel, i. 107,
Taxes, continental, 1. 374, 377; currency and,
II. 90; Massachusetts, 105, 427.
Taylor, Eldad, i. 131 «., 252.
Taylor, George, i. 298 w.
Tea, in Boston, i. 18; 11. 166; Charleston, i.
20; New York, 20; privilege, 238; Boston
party, n. 403.
Temple, Elizabeth (Bowdoin), i. 216 «.; ap-
plication to Congress, 267, 270, 272, 273,
310.
Temple, Sir John, i. 216 w., 271, 316; 11. 63,
448; persecution, 179, 233; consul general,
250, 263, 265.
Ternay, Charles Gabriel d'Arsac, Marquis
de, death of, 11, 157, 160.
Test act proposed, i. 178, 184.
Thacher, Peter, i. 144 n.
Thanksgiving, day of, victory over Bur-
goyne, i. 374.
Thaxter, John, 11. 84, 86, 165.
Thayer, Ebenezer, i. 40 n.
Thayer, Ebenezer, Jr., 1. 252.
Theatres, French and English, 11. 244.
Thomas, George, 11. 17.
Thomas, Isaiah, 11. 405.
Thomas, John, i. 91, loi, 157; provision for,
68, 74, 78, 79, 85; in action, 83; Warren
on, 95; II. 413, 414.
Thompson, James, 11. 284.
Thompson, Thomas, captain, i. 312, 350; 11,
III; suspended, 11.
Thompson, William, i. 226; 11. 435.
Thomson, Charles, 1. 198.
Thynne, Thomas, viscount Weymouth, i. 21,
360; war with France, 315, 362.
Ticonderoga, affairs at, i. 272, 296; militia
for, 323; weakness of, 327, 342; evacuation
of, 342, 344, 346, 348, 357, 359; "• 45°-
Tilghman, Matthew, i. 294 n.
Tillotson, , II. 132.
Toasts at banquet to French, 11. 48, 57.
Tolley, Walter, i. 39.
Tolman, Farr, i. 16 «.
Tolman, Hannah (Fayerweather), i. 16 «.
Tories, see Loyalists.
Tracy, James, 11. 438.
Tracy, Robert, 11. 438 «.
Tracy, , 1. 168; 11. 247, 424.
Trade, colonial, i. 88, 95; with the enemy, 98
problems of, 126, 138, 146, 153, 155, 176
obstructing, 145, 166; foreign, 184, 213
spirit of, 222; with Europe, 11. 3.
Trade, colonial defence of, i. 87.
Trapier, Paul, Jr., i. 294 n.
Treadway, Susanna B. (Adams | Clark), 11.
386 n.
Treadway, William R. H., 11. 386 ».
Treasury, continental, i. 89.
Treaties, of commerce, i. 127.
Trenton, N.J., British at, i. 279.
Triomphant, 11. 125.
Triton, 11. 125.
Trot, George, i. 186, 194, 240, 248.
Trumbull, John, 11. 154.
Trumbull, Jonathan, i. 57, 66, 327, 352; 11.
137-
Trumbull, i. 365 n.; 11. 135, 138, 141.
Trusler, John, 11. 273, 277.
Tryon, William, i. 24; 11. 416; on tea, 20; to
be watched, 65.
Tucker, Samuel, i. 241.
Tudor, William, recommended, i. 65, 87.
Tull, Thomas, i. 35, 320.
Tupper, Benjamin, at light house, i. 96;
adventure, 217.
Turin, court of, recognizes America, 11. 194.
Turks, rising of, 11. 304.
Turnbull, William, i. 320.
Tyler, Royall, 11. 154.
United States, future influence, 11. 213.
Valnais, Mrs., 11. 245.
Vengeur, 11. 125.
Vergennes, Charles Gravier,comte de, 11. 169,
210; character of, 195.
Vermont, 11. 151, 172.
Vernon, William, navy board, i. 312, 324; 11.
44.
Vestal, II. 1 59.
Veto, governor's, i. 242.
Vice, licensed, 11. 243.
Victoire, 11. 125.
Virginia, assertion of rights of colonies, 1.6 ».;
riflemen, 76; delegation in Congress, 112;
government, 191 ; independence, 232, 249;
constitution, 257; religious establishment,
296; British in, 11. 104; donation from,
407.
Index
473
Wadsworth, , major, i. 301.
Wainwood, Godfrey, i. 121 n.
Walker, , i. 147; 11. 308.
Wallace, James, i. 121, 145, 151; 11. 419.
Waltham, Mass., treatment of Dr. Church, i.
War, nature of, 11. 351,
Ward, Artemas, i. 57, 58, 91, 237, 254;
general, 58, 61, 64; reflection upon, 63;
command at Boston, 218, 268, 271, 297;
for Congress, 264; 11. 102, 106, 123, 142;
resigns command, i. 304; lieutenant
governor, 11. 145.
Ward, Eliza (Bowen), 11. 330.
Ward, John, 11. 330.
Ward, Joseph, i. 249; recommended, 306.
Ward, Samuel, i. 73, 85, 165, 185; death, 233.
Ward, Samuel, Jr., i. 165.
Ware, Henry, 11. 354 n.
Ware, Mary (Otis | Lincoln), 11. 354 «., 355.
Warren, Charles, 11. 237, 240, 246, 258;
death, 273, 275.
Warren, George, 11. 79, 165, 246; death, 327.
Warren, Henry, 11. 7, 79, 246, 282, 285, 289,
309, 311, 321; for collector of Plymouth,
315, 316; Lincoln on, 321; death, 377.
Warren, J., i. 273 n.
Warren, James, i. 2, 12 w,; suggested as
general, 67, 78; on Lee, 69 ».; occupation,
71; speaker, 83, 256; 11. 415; paymaster,
I. 93, 218; n. 445; resigns, i. 218, 226,
240; judge, 240; governorship, 243, 340;
accounts, 260; major general, 274; 11. 435;
board of war, i. 287; 11. 447; navy board,
I. 312 «., 319 «., 324, 327, 332; speaker,
326, 33 1; question of rank, 349; resigns
commission, 349; dropped from General
Court, 11. 13, 16, 20, 21, 23, 24, 2,^, 54; on
Burgoyne's army, 28, 32; on navy, 30; pay,
32; resignation, 59, 60, 61 , d^,, 65; congress,
106, 183, 189, 220; attacked, 117, 121;
lieutenant governor, 145; in retirement,
179, 229, 239, 260; Washington and, 257;
represents Milton, 293; enemies, 309, 310;
death, 359.
Warren, Joseph, i. ^2:, 48, 53, 57, 68, 80 «.,
90; death of, 59, 63, 66, 70, 72; letters to,
64, 65; appointments, 74; education of
son, 288.
Warren, Mercy, the Group, 36; 11. 395, 396;
opinion, i. 1 84; characters, 201 ; history, 11.
155, 301, 317; dedication of poems, 318;
poems, 320, 323; Adams' unsealed letter,
325; History, 345, 346, 350; on armed
vessels, 378; death, 395 «.; poem to J.
Adams, 402.
Warren, Mercy, comforted, 11. loi.
Warren, Mercy Otis, 11. 389.
Warren, Sarah, i. 152 n.
Warren, Winslow, 11, 134, 160, 181, 208;
captured, 139, 145, 156, 159; Adams on,
189 w.; wishes to be consul, 220, 261, 264,
266, 267; return, 271 ; military appoint-
ment, 315, 317.
Warren, 11. 26.
Warren, Winslow, Jr., 11. 374.
Washington, George, i. 47, 61 , 65, 72, 77, 102,
130, 164, 315, 324, 352; commander-in-
chief, 57, 61, 64; on Thomas, 85; army
appointments, 97; Hichborn's release, 99;
affair of Dr. Church, 121 ; monopolizers,
176; high opinion of, 186; difficulties en-
countered, 188; want of public spirit, 192;
on paymaster general, 218; defence of
Boston, 257; pay of troops, 276; powers
increased, 282; foreign officers, "^^^y, p'an
of campaign, 336; northern army, 357;
in Philadelphia, 357; retreats, 369, 371; on
the Schuylkill, 11. 6; cabal against, 7, 343;
toast and salute, 49; on currency, 98;
dictator, 152; Warren and, 257, 307, 316,
414; distribution of office, 314, 316; dedi-
cation of poems, 318, 323.
Washington, Martha, letters, i. 200, 220; 11.
5; Mrs. Warren's visit, i. 228; Mrs.
Graham, 11. 257; on president's illness, 319.
Washington, privateer, i. 194 n.
Waterhouse, Samuel, scribbler, i. 2 n.
Waters, Daniel, 11. 15 "., 31.
Waters, Josiah, i. 157.
Watson, tlkanah, i. 305 w.; 11. 113, 217-
Watson, William, n. 315 «•
Watson, , I. 24,
Watts, , captain, i. 356.
Wayne, Anthony, exploit, 11. 112.
Wedderburn, Alexander, i. 362.
Weishaupt, Adam, 11. 341.
Wells, Agrippa, i. 343-
Wells, Elizabeth, i. 11.
Wendell, Oliver, i. 94 «., 108; 11. 120.
Wentworth, Jonathan, i. 301, 308.
West, Samuel, election sermon, i. 256 n.
474
Index
West, , I. 122 «.
West Indies, i. 147, 203; French in, 210; pro-
tection of property, 255; trade, 11. 218,
222.
Weymouth, see Thomas Thynne.
Whalemen, i. 181.
Wharton, John, navy board, i. 312.
Wharton, Samuel, 11. 127.
Wharton, Thomas, Jr., i. 298.
Wheeler, Samuel, i. 307.
Whipple, Abraham, i. 271.
Whipple, William, 11. 78, 450; on inde-
pendence, 1. 233; Adams on, 331, ^'i'^'-, ma-
rine committee, 11. (if>\ reply to Phillips,
453.
Whitcomb, George, committee of war, i.
275 «.
Whitcomb, John, i. 91, 343; 11. 413.
White, , of Marshfield, i. 97.
Whiting, William, i. dd «., 131 «., 154, 157,
177.
Whitney, Josiah, i. 253.
Whittaker, , Dr., i. 193.
Whitwell, , Parsotiy i. 193.
Wiley, , 1. 307.
Williams, John Foster, 11, 382.
Williams, Jonathan, i. 379 «,; 11. 127.
Wilson, James, i. 276 n., 293 ».; 11. 230.
Winship, Amos, 11. 142, 151.
Winslow, Edward, i. 20 n.; 11. 16, 405, 406,
Winslow, Elizabeth, i. 188 ».
Winslow, Isaac, i. 13.
Winslow, Pelham, 11. 406.
Winthrop, Hannah (Fairweather), i. 179 «.;
removal of General Court, 11 ».; inter-
cepted letter, 88 ».; act of oblivion, 208 «.;
small pox, 257 «.; death, 11. 320; Lexington,
409.
Winthrop, James, i. 60, 252, 254, 258, 260,
328; governorship, 243, 340; for Congress,
264; on Mrs. Warren's history, 11. 282,
35o> 355; poems, 320; on Gibbon, 327; on
embargo, 356; on prophecy, 357, 365, 375;
on Warren, 359; preservation of know-
ledge, 2(>3'i almost a nazarite, 364; appen-
dix to the New Testament, 365; studies
Russian, 369.
Winthrop, James, 11. 45.
Winthrop, John, i. 16 «.; death, 11, 115, 120.
Winthrop, William, i. ai8, 283; catalogue, 11.
Winthrop, , i. 109.
Wisner, Henry, i. 158.
Witherspoon, John, i. 293 n.
Woedtke, Frederick William de, 1. 211, 217.
Women, as politicians, i. 221; rights and
grievances, 235.
Wood, want of, i. 176.
Wooster, David, i. 86, 374 ».; flight from
Quebec, 248.
Worcester county, Md., tories, i. 292.
Wrentham, Mass., saltpeter, i. 193.
Wythe, George, i. 112, 276 ».; committee on
hostilities, 143, 144, 160, 162; Adams on
government, 231.
Yankee Hero, 11. 438 n.
Yorktown, Penn,, Congress at, i. 371 «.; 11.
13-
Young, Arthur, i. 260 ».
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