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Vol.llI.p.:V34-

THE

LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES

SAMUEL ADAMS,

BEING

A NARRATIVE OF HIS ACTS AND OPINIONS, AND OF HIS AGENCY
IN PRODUCING AND FORWARDING THE

AMEEICAN REVOLUTION.

EXTRACTS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE, STATE PAPERS
AND POLITICAL ESSAYS.

WILLIAM V. WELLS

VOL. III.

BOSTON:
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.

1865.

ing to Act of Congresi

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by

WILLIAM V. WELLS,
in the Clerk s Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.

UNIVERSITY PRESS : WELCH, BIGELOW, & Co.,

CAMBRIDGE.

CHRONOLOGY

LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS
VOL. III.

1778.

Jan. Adams gives Baron Steuben recommendatory letters to

members of Congress . . . . . . 2 4

Feb. ? He declines to see General Burgoyne in regard to the
delay in carrying out the Saratoga convention of sur
render 4, 5

Feb. Apr. A treaty made with France. The news joyfully re
ceived in America . . . . . . . 8-11

April - Oct. The Commissioners of the British Court vainly endeavor

to induce the Americans to submit .... 14-17

May 21. Adams resumes his seat in Congress. He is made

chairman of the Marine Committee . . .12-14, 58, 59

May, June. The opposition to Adams and his friends gains ground

in Massachusetts 34-36

June. Adams, in an address directed to the Commissioners, ex

poses the unreasonableness of their demands . . 17-26

July. It is proposed, perhaps by the British Ministry, to make

Franklin, Washington, Adams, Hancock, and others
peers, if America will submit to the King ... 29

July 8. The French fleet arrives under D Estaing . . 27

August 5. Reception of the French Minister by Congress. Ad
ams has charge of the arrangements . . . .31-33

Aug. - Oct. The combined American and French expedition against
Rhode Island fails. Adams endeavors to silence the
popular outcry against D Estaing . . . .36-40

Oct. The Commissioners issue a threatening manifesto. Ad
ams writes a counter manifesto, which is published by
Congress 44-48

Oct., etc. He opposes the return of the refugees, and advocates the

confiscation of their estates . . . . .48-50

Oct. -Dec. The cabal against Adams continues. A friend in Bos
ton attempts to reconcile him and Hancock . . 54-58

IV CHRONOLOGY.

Nov., Dec. Adams is re-elected delegate to Congress. He wishes \J
to decline the service ...... 58

1779.

June 20, etc. Adams returns to Boston and resumes his duties as Sec- . /

retary of State and member of the Board of War . 66-69

July. He urges forward troops in aid of Rhode Island and

Connecticut . .69-71

August. He visits Providence and obtains additional troops for
the expedition to Penobscot; but the expedition is
unsuccessful . . . . . . . .72-74

August. He is elected representative from Boston to the State

Constitutional Convention ..... 79

Sept. 9. He becomes member of the Council. The town votes

not to fill his seat in the House .... 79

Sept. 1, etc. The Convention meets at Cambridge. It continues
with adjournments till June, 1780. Samuel Adams,
John Adams, and Bowdoin draft a Constitution . 80-97

1780.

Jan. 5. Adams writes to the Governor of Rhode Island oppos
ing the return of the refugees . . . . . 98, 99

Feb. He prepares the address of the Convention, explaining

the Constitution to their constituents . . . 89-96

Feb. Committees of Correspondence organized in England and

Ireland 108, 109

May 4. Adams is one of the incorporators of the American Acad- &gt;-

emy of Arts and Sciences . . . . .100,101

May. He is elected Councillor, but declines the honor . 101

June. He sets out for Philadelphia with Gerry. They pro
cure reinforcements for the Highlands, which are threat
ened by the British, and resume their seats in Congress
on the 29th 101-103

June, etc. Adams favors enlistments for the war, opposes the grant
of half-pay for life to the officers, and urges forward
supplies to Washington s suffering army . 104-107, 125, 126

Oct. Neglect of Adams in his native State. He is defeated / /

as candidate for Secretary of State . . . . 110-118 ^

1781.

Jan. - Mar. Adams opposes the creation of Secretaries of War, Fi
nance, and Foreign Relations, with separate depart-

jments 127-13 /

Feb. 24. \ /The ratification of the Articles of Confederation is an- . /

nounced . ..... 133 ^

CHRONOLOGY.

April. He takes final leave of Congress, and returns to honor

able poverty at Boston. Marriage of his daughter . 135-138
Oct. Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown .... 142, 143

Nov. Adams writes an answer to Governor Chittenden on the

claims of Massachusetts to the New Hampshire grants 144-147

1782.

He attempts to counteract the extravagance and dissipa
tion in Boston 157-159

Feb. 20. He declines a seat in Congress, but becomes again Pres- iS*

ident of the Massachusetts Senate . . . . 153

March, etc. He urges the importance of stipulating for a right to the
Newfoundland fisheries in the negotiations with Great
Britain 149-152

June, July. Riots in the interior headed by Ely. Adams and Ward

visit Hampshire County and restore order . . . 159-164

July 4. Adams draws up resolutions expressive of the determi
nation of Massachusetts to continue the war until
American independence is fully recognized . .166-168

July - Oct. Adams chairman of a financial committee, and deputed
with Gorham to facilitate the collection of the Conti
nental tax in Massachusetts . . . . .163-165

Aug., Sept. He opposes illicit trade with the enemy . . . 169-172

Dec. After the declaration of peace the French army sets sail

from Boston 173, 174

1783.

April. He is defeated as candidate for Governor, but is re-

elected Senator ....... 176

April, etc. He opposes restoring the rights of citizenship to the

refugees .181-184

July -Sept. He supports the Continental Impost Bill . . . 178-181

1784.

April. He disapproves of the Order of the Cincinnati . . 201 - 207

April. Although not liking the commutation of half-pay for life
into five years full pay, he sustains the authority of
Congress 207-210

April. He is re-elected to the Senate, and again chosen Presi
dent 212

Nov. He is chosen delegate to Congress, but declines the honor 212, 213
He uses his influence in favor of some disabled soldiers
and sailors 217, 218

1785.
He holds no public office this year .... 218, 219

VI CHRONOLOGY.

1786.

April, May. He is re-elected to the Senate. He declines a seat in

the Council 220* 221

Sept. -Dec. During Shays s rebellion Adams attends the meetings
of the Council. He supports Governor Bowdoin s
vigorous measures ....... 226 - 236

1787.

Feb. 3-5. He writes the Senate s declaration of rebellion, and their
reply to the propositions of the rebels, and introduces
a resolution asking the assistance of Congress . . 236 - 242

April. He is again chosen President of the Council, and after a

reconciliation with Hancock, he becomes one of his
Councillors ........ 243, 244

May 19. Two of the four cannon owned by Massachusetts at the
commencement of the Revolution are named after Ad
ams and Hancock by Congress ..... 244
He advocates the execution of the rebel prisoners . 245 - 247

1788.

Jan. 9 -Feb. 6. The Convention to ratify the Constitution of the
United States meets. Adams is a delegate from Bos
ton. He prevents a hasty rejection of the Constitu
tion. He is anxious for the preservation of the
individual State sovereignties, and advocates the Con
ciliatory Propositions. He proposes additional amend
ments, which are not accepted. The Constitution is
ratified by a small majority .... .248-276

Jan. 17. His son, Dr. Samuel Adams, dies at the age of thirty-
seven . ... . . . . . . 255

Dec. Adams is candidate for Representative to Congress, but

Fisher Ames is elected 277-280

1789-92.
Adams is Lieutenant-Governor 282 - 322

1790.

He discountenances theatrical exhibitions . . . 290, 291
Sept. 12 -Nov. 20. He corresponds with John Adams on govern- "*

ment. The correspondence is published in 1802 . 294-314 [/

1793.
Oct. He takes a deep interest in the French republic and

writes encouragingly to Genet 318-321

Oct. 8, etc. In consequence of the death of Hancock, Adams assumes

the duties of Governor . 321, 322

CHRONOLOGY. Vll

1794.

He is chosen to succeed Hancock. He advocates neu- ix"

trality in the wars of Europe ..... 323 - 342

1795.

May, July 4. He is re-elected Governor, and lays the corner-stone of

the new State House ...... 343-349

1796.

He opposes Jay s treaty. He is re-elected Governor.
He disagrees with the Senate concerning vacancies in
the Electoral College. He is fifth on the list of can- .^-

didates for the Presidency ...... 350 - 361

He retires from public life ...... 362-366

1801.
Correspondence between Jefferson and Adams . . 370-372

1802.

[.- Nov. 30. He writes a letter to Thomas Paine, praising his " Com
mon Sense " and his " Crisis," but dissuading him from
further theological writings. The letter is published,
with Paine s reply ....... 372, 373

1803.
- Oct. 2. Death of Samuel Adams ...... 374

Oct. 6. With some difficulty his friends procure a proper escort

for his funeral ........ 375-377

Oct. 9. A funeral sermon is preached at Dedham by Thomas

Thacher ......... 382-398

Oct. 19. His death is appropriately noticed in Congress by John

Eandolph ........ 377, 378

1804.
Jan. The Massachusetts Senate grudgingly pass resolutions

in his honor , . 378, 379

LIFE

SAMUEL ADAMS

CHAPTER XLVII.

Adams remains Six Months in Massachusetts. His Illness. Baron Steuben
arrives at Boston. Letter of Introduction to Adams from Franklin.
Adams promotes his Interest in Congress. Steuben s Gratitude and
Esteem. The captured British Army at Cambridge. Adams declines
an Interview with Burgoyne. Silas Deane recalled, and John Adams
appointed on the Embassy to France. Samuel Adams, Secretary of
State of Massachusetts. Correspondence with Governor Trumbull.
Arrival of the French Treaties. Franklin writes to Adams concerning
them. Arthur Lee congratulates Adams on their Arrival.

AT the election in December, 1777, Samuel and John
Adams, Hancock, Paine, Gerry, Dana, and Lovell were
chosen Congressional delegates. Hancock went to York-
town in June, where he remained but three weeks, when
he returned to Massachusetts.

During the previous summer a constitution of government
had been contemplated in Massachusetts, and, in the winter
before, the General Court had recommended the people to
choose their representatives with that view. A committee
of the Legislature, appointed during the present session-,
reported in January, 1778, a constitution, which was sul&gt;-
mitted to the people, and rejected by a great majority on
the ground that it should have emanated from delegates
elected for that specific purpose rather than from the Legis
lature. It was also preceded by no bill of rights, and the
executive power was not satisfactorily adjusted. Although
the two Adamses were in Massachusetts when this instru-

VOL. III. I

2 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Jan.

ment passed the Legislature, it is probable that neither of
them had any hand in framing it; though, a few years
later, when they were deputed to draft the present Con
stitution, they seem to have adopted the outlines of this
earlier form. Henry Marchant, one of the Rhode Island
delegates, who had left Congress for home about the same
time, writes soon after to Samuel Adams :

" I give you joy of your safe return to your family and friends.
May that usefulness, so conspicuous hitherto, be continued to a
proper adjustment of a just and permanent system of government
for your own State and to the support of the general cause. I could
wish your real merit had its proper influence, and that the eyes of
the people were not to be blinded. I want a few hours of close
conversation with you and your brother John Adams, as he is often
called, and perhaps properly so. But the little part I am called to
take in public affairs, now I am returned, and some little attention
necessary to be paid to my own, I am afraid will prevent my visit
ing you this winter." *

This implies that Marchant had entertained the idea of
Adams s intending to engage in the subject on his arrival
home ; but there is no evidence that such was the case.
The extract, however, reveals a knowledge of the machina
tions already commenced in Boston against his friend.

In December, the ship bearing Baron Steuben reached
Portsmouth, and, on the 14th, the distinguished soldier who
was to establish a new system of tactics and infuse fresh life
into the army arrived at Boston on his way to Congress.
Here he remained about five weeks, awaiting an answer
to his letter to Washington, announcing his arrival. 2 He
brought letters of introduction to Samuel Adams from
Franklin, whose encomiums were likely to enhance the
favorable idea which a few interviews with the Baron fully
warranted. Adams had long seen the want of such a disci
plinarian, whose experience in the best European schools

1 Henry Marchant to Samuel Adams, Providence, Dec. 22, 1777.

2 Kapp s Life of Steuben, p. 97.

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 3

might improve the awkward and untutored movements of
the Continental troops. He gave him letters of introduc
tion to his friends in Congress, upon whom he urged the
expediency of speedily promoting their distinguished visitor
to a position where his great acquirements might be made
available. One of his letters on this subject says :

" I have written to Mr. Gerry by the Baron Steuben, whom I
strongly recommended to my worthy colleagues and others. Mr.
Gerry will show you my letters, which makes it needless for me to
add further than that. From the recommendatory letters of Dr.
Franklin and other papers which I have seen, and the conversations
I have had with the bearer, I really esteem him a most candid and
sensible gentleman. The Doctor says he is spoken highly of to
him by two of the best judges of military merit in France, though
he is not himself a Frenchman, but a Prussian." l

The letters here referred to must have been influential in
obtaining for the Baron the objects of his visit. A resolu
tion was passed by Congress, that, in consideration of the dis
interested and heroic tender of his services as a volunteer,
the thanks of that body be presented to him by the Presi
dent in behalf of the United States. On the 5th of May he
was appointed to the office of Inspector-General, with the
rank and pay of Major-General ; his pay to commence from
the time he joined the army and entered the service of the
United States. 2 On the return of Adams to Congress, Steu
ben hastened to acknowledge the eminent services he had
rendered him in promoting his interests.

HONORABLE SIR :

I am very happy to learn of your arrival in Congress, as it af
fords me an opportunity of returning you my sincere thanks for the
kindness you have shown me since I have had the pleasure of your
acquaintance. I should be extremely happy in paying my respects
in Philadelphia, would circumstances permit it, or in Yorktown,
where I should certainly go, did the situation of affairs permit, were

1 S. Adams to , Boston, Jan. 10, 1778.

2 Journals of Congress, IV. 261.

4 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Jan.

it but to repeat the sentiments of gratitude and esteem I have
towards you.

Mr. Ternant will have the pleasure of delivering you this let
ter. He goes to Yorktown to transact some business with the
Board of War, and I am happy in the opportunity of introducing
him to your acquaintance.

I have the honor to be, honorable sir,

Your most obedient and very humble servant,

STEUBEN. .
CAMP VALLEY FORGE, 28th May, 1778.

HONORABLE SAMUEL ADAMS.

General Burgoyne and his captured army had been sent
to Boston to be embarked thence for England on parole.
The comparatively easy terms of the capitulation, which
Burgoyne had hesitated to ratify upon hearing, after his
agreement to surrender, that Clinton was advancing to his
aid, had been dictated by Gates the more readily from his
knowledge of the success of the enemy in the Highlands,
which might have afforded relief to Burgoyne. After the
first burst of enthusiasm at the victory had subsided, Con
gress began to grow dissatisfied with the terms, which, by
transporting several thousand troops to England, would
enable the enemy to send an equal number to America.
Some disputes having arisen in relation to the surrender of
cartouch-boxes, Burgoyne complained that the convention
had been broken on the part of the Americans. The corre
spondence on this subject was several times under discussion
in committee of the whole in December and January, when,
instead of granting Burgoyne s request to march his troops
for embarkation to a port in Rhode Island more accessible
to transports, it was resolved to suspend the embarkation
until the Court of Great Britain should notify Congress that
the convention of Saratoga had been ratified. 1 Congress
chose to consider Burgoyne s letter a repudiation of the
treaty, inasmuch as in his letter of the 14th of November

1 Journals of Congress, Jan. 2 and 3, 1778.

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 5

to General Gates, he had unjustly charged the United States
with a breach of faith ; affording strong grounds to fear that
he would avail himself of such pretended breach of the con
vention to disengage himself and his army from their obli
gations. The vote, which was nearly unanimous, implied a
distrust of the British General, but the right of Congress to
thus exert its power on so slight a pretext was, to say the
least, questionable. The transports which arrived at Boston
to remove the troops were ordered away ; and the captive
army was sent to Virginia in the following year. A state
ment of the circumstances was sent to Adams at Boston, by
Roberdeau, who favored the motion, as did his fellow-mem
bers, on the ground of expediency and a well-founded sus
picion of a wily and perfidious enemy. Before replying,
Mr. Adams received a letter from Burgoyne, who was at
Cambridge, asking for half an hour s interview, upon a mat
ter on which he thought the general cause of humanity, and,
possibly, the essential interests of both countries, were con
cerned. Mr. Adams availed himself of the illness under
which he was then suffering to decline the meeting, and
whatever proposition the General had to offer was not
advanced. Soon after, Adams replied to the letter of Mr.
Roberdeau :

" Your resolution," he says, " respecting Burgoyne, I think must
have nettled him. I have long, with pain, suspected a perfidious
design. This resolution must have crossed it. It will cause much
speculation in Europe. No matter. The powers there seemed
more inclined to speculate than to espouse the rights of men. Let
them speculate. Our business is to secure America against the
arts and the arms of a treacherous enemy. The former we have
more to apprehend from than the latter." l

1 Samuel Adams to General Roberdeau, Boston, Feb. 9, 1778. The illness
is referred to in the same letter. He says : " I have not been unmindful of the
favor you did me in writing to me some time ago. My not having returned
an answer has been owing, I do assure you, to many avocations, and at last to
a bodily disorder by which I have been confined to my house, a great part of
the time upon my bed, near a fortnight. I am now about my room, and

6 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Feb.

The unfitness of Silas Deane for his responsible position,
as one of the Commissioners to France, shown by his inju
dicious and unauthorized contracts, had induced Congress
to recall him in November, 1777 ; and in less than three
weeks after the departure of the Adamses from Congress,
John Adams was chosen to fill the vacancy. He had de
clined the position when strongly urged, on a previous
occasion, by Samuel Adams, Lee, and Gerry to accept it.
Finding himself again called, and now probably persuaded
as before by his kinsman, whose estimate of his shining abil
ities was only exceeded by an affectionate interest in his ad
vancement on every possible occasion, he yielded ; and nobly
resolving to devote his life and his family to the cause, re
nounced the practice of the legal profession, which he had
resumed on his return to Massachusetts, and prepared for
the voyage. The passage was fraught with perils from the
British cruisers, ever on the alert for vessels crossing the
Atlantic, and capture involved the risk of imprisonment, if
not a still gloomier fate. The parting of the two friends,
now separating for the first time, must have awakened many
interesting thoughts of the past and anxious hopes for the
future. The one was about to enter the untried field of
diplomacy, as a prelude to the more conspicuous part he was
subsequently to enact. The other, unambitious of any dis
tinction, and only anxious to devote all his energies to the
welfare of his country, was soon to resume his laborious sta
tion in Congress, and amidst the harassing routine of com
mittee service, and at times annoyed by the attacks of secret
enemies, continue cheerfully and hopefully to perform the du
ties devolving upon him. John Adams sailed for France in
February, and, landing safely at Bordeaux, arrived at Paris
in April. During his absence, a correspondence was main
tained on public affairs between the kinsmen, some portions
of which have been preserved. Samuel Adams, remaining

gladly take the opportunity to drop from my pen an expression of the honest
friendship I feel for yourself and your agreeable connections."

1778.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 7

temporarily in Boston, continued his duties as Secretary of
State. Massachusetts, though a member of the u United
States," was a distinct sovereignty, of which the President
of the Council was to some extent the executive head, and
the Secretary the acting premier. The recent refusal of the
people to accept the hastily prepared State constitution,
threw t}ie republic back upon the crude form of government
adopted on renouncing the royal authority, from which
it arose with new life in the next year, on the basis of
the present system. One of the public papers in the hand
writing of Samuel Adams, while occupying this office, shows
the relative positions of the States. The neighboring repub
lie of Connecticut had been two years under the Constitu
tion adopted in 1776, at the recommendation of Congress.
Governor Trumbull wrote to Massachusetts, as did also the
Governor of New York, for aid in fortifying and defending
the Highlands on Hudson River. Massachusetts was at
that time maintaining, besides its troops in the field, a con
siderable force to guard Burgoyne s captive army, then in
the vicinity of Boston. The following is the reply to Trum
bull : -

STATE OP MASSACHUSETTS BAT,

BOSTON, March 19, 1778.
Sm:

I am to acquaint your Excellency, in the name and by order of
the Council of this State, that your letter of the 16th instant, and
directed to the President, relative to the defence of Hudson s River,
has been received and read at that Board. The General Assembly
is now under a short adjournment ; and the Council are not author
ized in their executive capacity, and separate from the House of
Representatives, to order any part of the militia of this State be
yond its limits. The Assembly will meet on the first day of next
month. Your Excellency s letter, together with another received
this day from Governor Clinton upon the same subject, will then be
laid before that body. And although the government of this State
is now under the necessity of keeping up more than fifteen hundred
of the militia to guard the troops of convention, and for other ex-

8 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Feb.

traordinary service in and about the town of Boston, yet there can
be no doubt that a due attention will be given to so interesting and
important a concern as the defence of Hudson s River.
I have the honor to be, with the most cordial esteem,

Your Excellency s most humble servant,

SAM. ADAMS.

His Excellency GOVERNOR TRUMBULL,
Governor of Connecticut.

Before John Adams reached Europe the alliance with
France had been effected, and, by the vessel which brought
the treaty, Franklin and Lee wrote to Samuel Adams.

" By this conveyance," said Franklin, " the treaties we have con
cluded here go over to Congress. I flatter myself they will meet
with approbation. If there should be any particulars which the
Congress would like to be changed or added, there is at present an
exceeding good disposition hi this Court to oblige, and no proposi
tion, tolerably reasonable, will meet with difficulty. But the way
will be to ratify these treaties, and then propose separate, additional,
or explanatory articles.

" I send you enclosed some notes just received from a member

of P , in which you will see something of the present Court

views ; but we have fuller advice in one particular, viz. that
their great hope is to divide by means of their Commissioners.
They say that they have certain advices that they have a large
party in Congress, almost a majority, who are for returning to the
dependency. In the enclosed copy of a letter to Mr. Hartley, you
will see my sentiments of their two bills, as well as in our general
letter. I have but little time. Dr. Cooper will show you what I
have written to him. America at present stands in the highest
light of esteem and respect throughout Europe. A return to de
pendence upon England would sink her into eternal contempt. I
am, with true esteem and respect, dear sir," &C. 1

It was the unaccountably erroneous estimate of the gen
eral feeling in America, alluded to in this letter, which sug
gested the sending of the Commissioners with conciliatory

1 Franklin to S. Adams, Passy near Paris, March 2, 1778.

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS.

propositions, whose efforts the next summer so signally failed.
The confident assertions of the members of Parliament, and
the long intervals between the arrivals of despatches from
America, whence the latest intelligence had been of succes
sive disasters, seem to have created temporary doubts even in
the mind of Franklin as to the fortitude of his countrymen
to sustain their independence under the recent reverses.
Lee s letter was characteristic of his enthusiastic and hope
ful temperament.

" Let me embrace you, my dear friend, on the accomplishment of
the end of all our labors, by the treaties which will accompany this,
in which the liberty, sovereignty, and independence of the United
States are secured. I thought it absolutely necessary that we should
urge the insertion of sovereignty, that there might not hereafter be
any question on that head, as there long was in the case of the Unit
ed Provinces and the Swiss Cantons. You may be assured that
war is resolved on here ; and from the situation of things, it cannot
be long avoided.

"In England, the opposition against the American war grows
stronger every day. The minority for recalling the troops the
other day was one hundred and sixty-six. But the best of kings
and the wisest ministers are determined to push things to every ex
tremity rather than recede. By most certain accounts I know that
their preparations have more of ostentation than reality in them ;
and that they cannot possibly muster such a force for the ensuing
campaign as they had for the last. It is most certain that the pow
er of Great Britain is passing away, and that she has lost her pre
eminence among the nations of the earth. The Ministry and the
opposition are, however, agitating a very important question, which
is, into which of their ^ hands you will resign your independency ?
The minority contend you will never do it until they are brought
into place ; and the Ministry are of opinion that you will do it as
readily to them as to their opponents ; in which I conceive they are
not very far from the truth." l

Arthur Lee was correctly informed of the position of
parties in England. The conciliatory propositions already

1 Arthur Lee to Samuel Adams, Paris, Feb. 17, 1778.

10 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [April,

mentioned were proposed by Lord North to the House of
Commons simultaneously with the writing of the above let
ter to Adams. The effect of Burgoyne s defeat had been
to depress both parties in Parliament. Shame and dismay
at first sealed the lips of the promoters of the war, and for a
while silenced the opposition. But it was the silence which
precedes the storm. The torrent of reproach poured out
against the administration has rarely been equalled in Par
liamentary annals for sarcasm, invective, eloquence, and sol
emn and impressive warning. The minister, in now offering
his plan for negotiation, was too late with a project which, two
years earlier, would have been eagerly accepted by the great
majority of Congress ; but then respectful petitions and re
monstrances had been haughtily rejected, and unconditional
coercion was the choice of the Cabinet. The contest was
humiliating to Englishmen, who had seen Britain at the
zenith of her glory and renown under the guiding genius of
Pitt, and now saw her reduced to the humble attitude of a
solicitor of peace from her former subjects. The observa
tion of Lee, that the power and pre-eminence of England
was passing away, was not altogether an unwarranted enthu
siasm. A week later the address of Lord North reached
him in Paris, and again he wrote :

" Lord North s speech will show you how much they are reduced,
and the bills brought in, his insolence, folly, and infatuation. That
of the public is not less ; for they regard this compound of impu
dence and absurdity as something calculated to relieve their dis
tresses and prevent the evils they apprehend.

"The King of Prussia threatens to excite a war in Germany,
which, if he does, will not, I think, make any material diversion in
favor of our enemies. I believe the principal object of his Court at
present is to secure Holland, which it seems to me probable he will
effect. When that is done, a single year in conjunction with the
House of Bourbon will enable us to drive the enemy entirely out of
America. Looking forward to the future peace of America, it
appears to me a necessary piece of policy to confederate Canada,
that it may be a check upon New England, which may otherwise

1778.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 11

combine in time to subjugate the rest of America. There is some
such language held already by some of that country. It was with
this view that I substituted in the fifth article of the defensive
treaty confederated with, instead of subject to ; and the reduction
of the English power for the conquest, &c. Because, if Canada be
annexed as a conquest, it will add strength to New England ; if as
a confederated state, it will always be a check."

The intelligence of the treaty with France reached the
coast of New England in April. Adams wrote by the bearer
of despatches as he passed through Boston :

" I most heartily congratulate you on the happy and important
news from Europe, which will be conveyed to Congress by Mr.
Deane, the brother of our late Commissioner, who will be so kind as
to deliver you this letter. France has acted with magnanimity,
while Britain continues to discover that meanness and poverty of
spirit which renders her still more than ever contemptible in the
eyes of all sensible people. The moderation of France is such as be
comes a great and powerful nation. Britain, forgetful of her former
character, sinks into baseness in the extreme. The one is generously
holding out the arm of protection to a people most cruelly oppressed,
while the other is practising the arts of treachery and deceit to
subjugate and enslave them. This is a contrast which an ancient
Briton would have blushed to have predicted to him ; it is a true
contrast, and we will blush for them." 1

1 S. Adams to R. H. Lee, Boston, April 20, 1778.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

Adams resumes his Seat in Congress. Chairman of the Marine Committee.
Duties of the Board. Progress of the War. Hostilities declared
between France and England. The British appoint Conciliatory Com
missioners for America. Adams warns his Countrymen against the
Snare. Arrival of the Commission at Philadelphia. Their Letter to
Congress. Congress, by the Pen of Adams, refuses all Terms but the
Peaceful Recognition of American Independence. He exposes the Designs
of England in a Public Address directed to the Commissioners. Arrival
of D Estaing s Fleet. Reception of the French Ambassador. Adams
and Lee introduce the Ambassador to Congress. Novel Diplomatic Cere-

HA VING exerted himself during the session of the Legisla
ture in concerting measures for supplying Washington with
the Massachusetts quota of troops, as the spring advanced
and his health improved so that he could travel, Mr. Adams
again left home, and resumed his seat in Congress, at York-
town, on the 21st of May. 1 He soon after received a letter
from Arthur Lee, expressing his impatience for news from
England of the passage of the Conciliation Act. Lee found,
in a conversation with Gerard at Paris, that the French
Court, having heard of the introduction of Lord North s bill,
was under strong impressions that the attempt would meet
with favor in America, and he was urgent for an open ac
knowledgment by France of the independence of the States.
The treaty having been communicated in March to the Brit
ish Court, the ambassador was recalled, which was consid
ered as equivalent to a declaration of war. The bill for
conciliation had, in fact, increased the disposition of France
to treat, the object of Yergennes being to effect the sepa
ration.

" If," said Dr. Lee, " we are to judge of the acts from the bills,
1 Journals of Congress, IV. 299.

May, 1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 13

they will be an everlasting proof of the feebleness and folly of our
enemies. I trust these commissioners will return as they came,
unless they have the power, and do acknowledge clearly and fully
the sovereignty and independence of America as an indispensable

preliminary Mr. Gerard assured me that the English gave

out that they had sent half a million of guineas to soften obdurate
hearts in America. This, too, gave them some apprehension, for
they know the force of guineas in Europe." *

The declaration of war with France, and the sailing of
D Estaing s fleet for America, was the next important step
towards achieving American independence, which Adams
now regarded as near at hand.

Upon his arrival in Congress he was added to the Marine
Committee, of which important Board he was made chair
man, and continued to direct its duties for the next two
years. In this arduous position, judging from the great
number of reports and the multiplicity of business submit
ted to it, Adams might fairly have claimed exemption from
all other employments. The Marine Board had in its charge
the entire supervision of the growing navy of the United
States, and most of the commanders of the Congressional
war ships were appointed at its recommendation. Peter
Landais was nominated to the new frigate Alliance in June
of this year by Adams and Lee, and, after the Revolution,
when Landais had been dismissed from the service, Mr.
Adams exerted himself to procure a settlement of that offi
cer s accounts with the Federal Congress. 2 Two assistant
Marine Boards had been established in the previous year,
subject to the control of the parent Board in Congress, one

1 A. Lee to S. Adams, Paris, March 1, 1778.

2 "I feel myself constrained to mention to you the present situation of Cap
tain Landais, though not at his request or the smallest intimation from him.
He resides in this town, and sometimes calls to see me. As he appears to be
an injured man, I wish that justice may be done to him ; and I am the more
solicitous about it, as I was, with your worthy brother, Mr. R. H., instrumen
tal in his first appointment in the American navy." (Samuel Adams to Arthur
Lee, Feb. 10, 1783.)

14 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [May,

for the Eastern and the other for the Middle States, whose
operations were regularly reported to the governing power
at Philadelphia. Though this branch of warfare did not suc
ceed in all respects, owing to the scarcity and high prices of
naval stores and mechanical labor, still the committee and
its dependencies exerted themselves to facilitate the construc
tion of a navy as far as the Continental resources would
permit. But the privateer service, particularly that of New
England, was most successful, capturing in the first year
three hundred and fifty British vessels.

The letters of several eminent men of the Revolution in
dicate considerable uneasiness respecting the result of Lord
North s commission to America. It was perceived that the
olive-branch thus insidiously held out, conceding all that
the Colonists had originally contended for, would deceive
multitudes of sincere friends of America, and be eagerly
seized upon by the Tories as the means of destroying una
nimity among the patriot party. Samuel Adams had seen
the danger on the first intimation of the scheme. When
the conciliatory bills arrived, and were busily circulated by
the disaffected, he penetrated the design, and wrote on the
subject to his friends in Congress, and hastened his prepara
tions to join that body at Yorktown. Referring to Britain
and her emissaries, he says :

" This is what we had reason to expect ; her only design is to
amuse us, and thereby to retard our operations, till she can land the
utmost force in America. We see plainly what part we are to
take to be beforehand of her, and, by an early stroke, to give her a
mortal wound. If we delay our vigorous exertions till the Commis
sioners arrive, the people abroad may, many of them will, be amused
with the flattering prospect of peace, and will think it strange if we
do not consent to a cessation of arms till propositions can be made
and digested. This carries with it an air of plausibility ; but, from
the moment we are brought into the snare, we may tremble for the
consequence.

" As there are everywhere artful Tories enough to distract the
minds of the people, would it not be wise for Congress, by a publi-

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 15

cation of their own, to set this important intelligence in a clear light
before them, and fix in their minds the first impression in favor of
truth ? For I do assure you, it begins to be whispered by the To
ries, and as soon as they dare do it they will speak aloud, that this
is but a French finesse, and that Britain is the only real friend of
America. Should not the people be informed with the authority of
Congress that Britain persists in claiming a right to tax them ? and
that the new or intended act of Parliament expressly declares her
intention to be only a suspension of the exercise of that right till
she shall please again to exercise it, that is, till she shall have lulled
them into a state of security, that her commissioners are not to
be vested with full powers to finish any treaties, nor even to prom
ise a ratification of them. This will be left in great uncertainty
till it shall be considered in Parliament. They are allowed, as one
of our friends expresses it, to proclaim a cessation of hostilities, and
revoke their proclamation as soon as, in confidence of it, our militia
are allowed to go home. They may suspend the operation of pro
hibitory acts of trade, and take off that suspension when our mer
chants, in consequence of it, shall have been induced to send their
ships to sea. In short, they may do everything that may tend to
distract and divide us, but nothing that can afford us security. The
British Court have nothing in view but to divide by means of their
Commissioners. Of this they entertain sanguine expectations ; for I
am well assured that they say they have certain advice that they
have a large party in the Congress, almost a majority, who are for
returning to their dependency ! This cannot be true. Dr. Frank
lin, in a letter of the 2d of March, informs me that America at pres
ent stands in the highest light of esteem throughout Europe ; and, he
adds, a return to dependence on England would sink her into eter
nal contempt. Be pleased to present my due regards to all friends.
.... I intend to set out on my journey to Yorktown next week,
where I hope for the pleasure of seeing you." 1

The policy here recommended had already been adopted
by Congress. Upon the receipt of a letter from Washington,
enclosing the conciliatory bill which had been circulated
through the country, the report of a committee, critically

1 S. Adams to R. H. Lee, April 20, 1778.

16 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [June,

exposing the insidious character of the scheme, and written
by Morris, was ordered to be published. The Commissioners
having arrived at Philadelphia, provided with unlimited
gold and with powers to treat with Congress, Sir Henry
Clinton wrote to Washington, desiring a passport for their
secretary, Dr. Ferguson, to proceed to Yorktown with their
despatches. Washington, refusing the request, forwarded
to Congress this and a letter from Lord Howe to that body,
enclosing the bills. Drayton, Lee, Morris, Witherspoon,
and Adams were appointed a committee to prepare an an
swer, and, retiring into the next room for the purpose, soon
reported the reply. They assured his Lordship that, when
the King of Great Britain should be seriously disposed to
put an end to the cruel and unjust war, Congress would
readily attend to such terms of peace as might consist with
the honor of independent nations, the interest of their constit
uents, and the sacred regard they meant to pay to treaties.
A similar letter was ordered to be sent in reply to Sir Henry
Clinton. 1

The Commissioners, unwilling to await the delays of an
ordinary course, forwarded their papers direct to Congress,
where they arrived on the 13th, while Clinton s request
for a passport for Ferguson was under discussion. As the
President was reading their address to Congress, he was in
terrupted at the words, " insidious interposition of a power

1 Journals of Congress, June 6, 1778. Sullivan, in his biographical sketch
of Samuel Adams, in 1803, refers to instructions of Congress against entertain
ing any proposition which did not acknowledge the absolute independence of
the American nation, which he says " were issued on the motion of Samuel
Adams, as the members there have asserted." He has evidently confounded the
conference with Howe, Carlisle, and Eden in 1776, to which he has reference,
with some other occasion, as Samuel Adams was absent from Congress at that
time. Adams, being on this committee, whose report was to the same ef
fect, it is not improbable that the present is the time intended by the writer.
In his New American Biographical Dictionary (4th ed., pp. 55, 56), Kogers,
who lived during the Revolution, indicates this as the time, and quotes the
above reply to Lord Howe as having been suggested and written by Samuel
Adams.

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 17

which has from the first settlement of the Colonies been
actuated with enmity to us both," and a motion was made
to proceed no farther, " because of its oifensive language to
his most Christian Majesty." It would be worth while to
know who was the mover, but neither the journals nor the
letter of President Laurens on the subject mention him.
Debates ensued, and the subject was postponed from Satur
day to Monday, when, after further consideration, the motion
was amended to read that Congress could not hear any lan
guage reflecting upon the honor of his most Christian Ma
jesty, the good and powerful ally of the United States. The
letter and accompanying papers were then referred to Lee,
Adams, Dray ton, Morris, and Wither spoon, whose reply to
the Commissioners contained the repeated declaration, that
peace could only follow an explicit acknowledgment of the
independence of the States or the withdrawal of the British
fleets and armies. 1 The Commissioners remained until Octo
ber, using every exertion, open and concealed, to create loy
al sentiment, but without success. Their manifestoes were
publicly burned under the gallows, and their messengers
arrested. Bribery was equally ineffectual, and an attempt
of that kind upon the patriotic Joseph Reed of New Jersey
elicited the celebrated exclamation : " I am not worth pur
chasing ; but, such as I am, the King of Great Britain is not
rich enough to do it."

Shortly after the arrival of the letter to Henry Laurens,
and during the public excitement which it caused, Adams
published a characteristic address to the Commissioners,
grasping the salient points of the contest, and prepared with
his strongest powers of sarcasm. It was widely circulated,
and produced among the people all the effect intended by its
author.

1 Not long after, the following vote was passed in Congress : " That Mr.
S. Adams be added to the committee appointed to superintend the publication
relative to disputes, petitions, and negotiations to and with the Court of
Great Britain, and that the committee be empowered to proceed in the publi
cation as they judge proper." (Journals of Congress, Nov. 13, 1778.)

VOL. III. 2

18 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [June,

"To THE EARL OF CARLISLE, LORD VISCOUNT HOWE, SIR WILLIAM
HOWE (or, in his absence, SIR HENRY CLINTON), WILLIAM EDEN, and
GEORGE JOHNSTONE.

" Trusty and well-beloved servants of your sacred master, in whom
he is well pleased.

" As you are sent to America for the express purpose of treating
with anybody and anything, you will pardon an address from one
who disdains to flatter those whom he loves. Should you therefore
deign to read this address, your chaste ears will not be offended with
the language of adulation, a language you despise.

" I have seen your most elegant and most excellent letter l to his
Excellency, Henry Laurens, the President, and other members
of the Congress. As that body have thought your propositions
unworthy their particular regard, it may be some satisfaction to
your curiosity, and tend to appease the offended spirit of negotiation,
if one out of the many individuals on this great continent should
speak to you the sentiments of America, sentiments which your
own good sense hath doubtless suggested, and which are repeated
only to convince you that, notwithstanding the narrow ground of
private information on which we stand in this distant region, still
a knowledge of our own rights, and attention to our own interests,
and a sacred respect for the dignity of human nature, have given us
to understand the true principles which ought, and which therefore
shall, sway our conduct.

" You begin with the amiable expressions of humanity, the earnest
desire of tranquillity and peace. A better introduction to Americans
could not be devised. For the sake of the latter, we once laid our
liberties at the feet of your Prince, and even your armies have not
eradicated the former from our bosoms.

" You tell us you have powers unprecedented in the annals of your
history. And England, unhappy England, will remember with
deep contrition that these powers have been rendered of no avail by
a conduct unprecedented in the annals of mankind. Had your
royal master condescended to listen to the prayer of millions, he had
not thus have sent you. Had moderation swayed what we were
proud to call mother country] her full-blown dignity would not
have broken down under her.

" You tell us that all parties may draw some degree of consolation,
and even auspicious hope, from recollection/ We wish this most

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 19

sincerely for the sake of all parties. America, in the moment of
subjugation, would have been consoled by conscious virtue, and her
hope was, and is, in the justice of her cause and the justice of the 1
Almighty. These are sources of hope and of consolation which
neither time nor chance can alter or take away.

" You mention the mutual benefits and consideration of evils that
may naturally contribute to determine our resolutions. As to the
former, you know too well that we could derive no benefit from a
union with you, nor will I, by deducing the reasons to evince this,
put an insult upon your understandings. As to the latter, it were
to be wished you had preserved a line of conduct equal to the deli
cacy of your feelings. You could not but know that men who
sincerely love freedom disdain the consideration of all evils neces
sary to attain it. Had not your own hearts borne testimony to this
truth, you might have learned it from the annals of your own his
tory ; for in those annals instances of this kind at least are not un
precedented. But should those instances be insufficient, we pray you
to read the unconquered mind of America.

" That the acts of Parliament you transmitted were passed with
singular unanimity, we pretend not to doubt. You will pardon me,
gentlemen, for observing that the reasons of that unanimity are
strongly marked in the report of a committee of Congress agreed
to on the 22d of April last, and referred to in a late letter from Con
gress to Lord Viscount Howe and Sir Henry Clinton.

" You tell us you are willing to consent to a cessation of hostili
ties both by sea and land. It is difficult for rude Americans to
determine whether you are serious in this proposition or whether
you mean to jest with their simplicity. Upon a supposition, how
ever, that you have too much magnanimity to divert yourselves on
an occasion of so much importance to America, and, perhaps, not
very trivial in the eyes of those who sent you, permit me to assure
you, on the sacred word of a gentleman, that if you shall transport
your troops to England, where before long your Prince will cer
tainly want their assistance, we shall never follow them thither.
We are not so romantically fond of fighting, neither have \ve such
regard for the city of London, as to commence a crusade for the pos
session of that holy land. Thus you may be certain hostilities will
cease by land. It would be doing singular injustice to your national
character to suppose you are desirous of a like cessation by sea.

20 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [June,

The course of the war, and the very flourishing state of your com
merce, notwithstanding our weak efforts to interrupt it, daily show
that you can exclude us from the sea, the sea, your kingdom !

" You offer to restore free intercourse, to revive mutual affection,
and renew the common benefits of naturalization. Whenever your
countrymen shall be taught wisdom by experience, and learn from
past misfortunes to pursue their true interests in future, we shall
readily admit every intercourse which is necessary for the purposes
of commerce and usual between different nations. To revive mu
tual affection is- utterly impossible. We freely forgive you, but it
is not in nature that you should forgive us. You have injured us
too much. We might, on this occasion, give you some instances of
singular barbarity committed, as well by the forces of his Britannic
Majesty as by those of his generous and faithful allies, the Senecas,
Onondagas, and Tuscaroras. But we will not offend a courtly ear
by the recital of those disgusting scenes. Besides this, it might give
pain to that humanity which hath, as you observe, prompted your
overture?, to dwell upon the splendid victories obtained by a licen
tious soldiery over unarmed men in defenceless villages, their wan
ton devastations, their deliberate murders, or to inspect those scenes
of carnage painted by the wild excesses of savage rage. These
amiable traits of national conduct cannot but revive in our bosoms
that partial affection we once felt for everything which bore the name
of Englishman. As to the common benefits of naturalization, it is
a matter we conceive to be of the most sovereign indifference. A
few of our wealthy citizens may hereafter visit England and Rome
to see the ruins of those august temples in which the goddess of
Liberty was once adored. These will hardly claim naturalization in
either of those places as a benefit. On the other hand, such of your
subjects as shall be driven by the iron hand of Oppression to seek
for refuge among those whom they now persecute will certainly be
admitted to the benefits of naturalization. We labor to rear an asy
lum for mankind, and regret that circumstances will not permit you,
gentlemen, to contribute to a design so very agreeable to your sev
eral tempers and dispositions.

" But further, your Excellencies say, We will concur to extend
every freedom to trade that our respective interests can require.
Unfortunately, there is a little difference in these interests which
you might not have found it very easy to reconcile, had the Con-

1778.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 21

gress been disposed to risk their heads by listening to terms which
I have the honor to assure you are treated with ineffable contempt
by every honest Whig in America. The difference I allude to is,
that it is your interest to monopolize our commerce, and it is our in
terest to trade with all the world. There is, indeed, a method of cut
ting this Gordian knot which, perhaps, no statesman is acute enough
to untie. By reserving to the Parliament of Great Britain the right
of determining what our respective interests require, they might ex
tend the freedom of trade, or circumscribe it at their pleasure, for
what they might call our respective interests. But I trust it would
not be for our mutual satisfaction. Your * earnest desire to stop
the effusion of blood and the calamities of war will therefore lead
you, on maturer reflection, to reprobate a plan teeming with discord,
and which, in the space of twenty years, would produce another
wild expedition across the Atlantic, and in a few years more some
such commission as that with which his Majesty hath been pleased
to honor you/

" We cannot but admire the generosity of soul which prompts
you to agree that no military force shall be kept up in the differ
ent States of North America without the consent of the General
Congress or particular Assemblies. The only grateful return we
can make for this exemplary condescension is, to assure your Ex
cellencies, and, on behalf of my countrymen, I do most solemnly
promise and assure you, that no military* force shall be kept up in
the different States of North America without the consent of the
General Congress and that of the Legislatures of those States.
You will, therefore, cause the forces of your royal master to be
removed ; for I can venture to assure you that the Congress have
not consented, and probably will not consent, that they be kept up.

" You have also made the unsolicited offer of concurring in meas
ures calculated to discharge the debts of America, and to raise the
credit and value of the paper circulation. If your Excellencies
mean by this to apply for offices in the department of our finance, I
am to assure you (which I do with perfect respect ) that it will
be necessary to procure very ample recommendations. For, as the
English have not yet pursued measures to discharge their own debt
and raise the credit and value of their own paper circulation, but, on
the contrary, are in a fair way to increase the one and absolutely
destroy the other, you will instantly perceive that financiers from

22 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [June,

that nation would present themselves with the most awkward grace
imaginable.

" You propose to us a device to perpetuate our union. It might
not be amiss previously to establish this union, which may be done
by your acceptance of the treaty of peace and commerce tendered
to you by Congress. And such treaty I can venture to say would
continue as long as your ministers could prevail upon themselves
not to violate the faith of nations.

"You offer, to use your language, the inaccuracy of which,
considering the importance of the subject, is not to be wondered at,
or at least may be excused, * in short, to establish the powers of the
respective Legislatures in each particular State, to settle its rev
enue, its civil and military establishment, and to exercise a perfect
freedom of legislation and internal government, so that the British
States throughout North America, acting with us in peace and war,
under one common sovereign, may have the irrevocable enjoyment
of every privilege that is short of a total separation of interests,
or consistent with that total union of force on which the safety of
our common religion and liberty depends/ Let me assure you,
gentlemen, that the power of the respective Legislatures in each
particular State is most fully established, and on the most solid
foundations. It is established on the perfect freedom of legisla
tion and a vigorous administration of internal government. As to
the settlement of the revenue and the civil and military establish
ment, these are the work of the day, for which the several Legisla
tures are fully competent. I have also the pleasure to congratulate
your Excellencies that the country for the settlement of whose gov
ernment, revenue, administration, and the like, you have exposed
yourselves to the fatigues and hazards of a disagreeable voyage and
more disagreeable negotiation, hath abundant resources wherewith
to defend her liberties now, and pour forth the rich stream of rev
enue hereafter. As the States of North America mean to possess
the irrevocable enjoyment of their privileges, it is absolutely neces
sary for them to decline all connection with a Parliament who. even
in the laws under which you act, reserve in express terms the power
of revoking every proposition which you may agree to. We have a
due sense of the kind offer you make to grant us a share in your
sovereign ; but really, gentlemen, we have not the least inclination to
accept of it. He may suit you extremely well, but he is not to our

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 23

taste. You are solicitous to prevent a total separation of interests ;
and this, after all, seems to be the gist of the business. To make
you as easy as possible on this subject, I have to observe, that it
may, and probably will, in some instances, be our interest to assist
you, and then we certainly shall. Where this is not the case, your
Excellencies have doubtless too much good sense as well as good
nature to require it. We cannot perceive that our liberty does in
the least depend upon any union of force with you ; for we find that
after you have exercised your force against us for upwards of three
years, we are now upon the point of establishing our liberties in
direct opposition to it. Neither can we conceive that, after the ex
periment you have made, any nation in Europe will embark in so
unpromising a scheme as the subjugation of America. It is not
necessary that everybody should play the Quixote. One is enough
to entertain a generation at least. Your Excellencies will, I hope,
excuse me when I differ from you as to our having a religion in
common with you ; the religion of America is the religion of all
mankind. Any person may worship in the manner he thinks most
agreeable to the Deity ; and if he behaves as a good citizen, no one
concerns himself as to his faith or adorations, neither have we the
least solicitude to exalt any one sect or profession above another.

" I am extremely sorry to find in your letter some sentences which
reflect upon the character of his most Christian Majesty. It cer
tainly is not kind, or consistent with the principles of philanthropy
you profess, to traduce a gentleman s character, without affording
him an opportunity of defending himself; and that, too, a near
neighbor, and not long since an intimate brother, who besides hath
lately given you the most solid additional proofs of his pacific dis
position, and with an unparalleled sincerity which would do honor to
other princes, declared to your Court, unasked, the nature and effect
of a treaty he had just entered into with these States. Neither is
it quite according to the rules of politeness to use such terms in ad
dressing yourselves to Congress, when you well knew that he was
their good and faithful ally. It is indeed true, as you justly ob
serve, that he hath at times been at enmity with his Britannic Ma
jesty, by which we suffered some inconveniences ; but these flowed
rather from our connection with you than any ill-will towards us ;
at the same time it is a solemn truth, worthy of your serious atten
tion, that you did not commence the present war, a war in which

24 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [June,

we have suffered infinitely more than by any former contest, a
fierce, a bloody, I am sorry to add, an unprovoked and cruel war,
that you did not commence this, I say, because of any connection
between us and our present ally ; but, on the contrary, as soon as
you perceived that the treaty was in agitation, proposed terms of
peace to us in consequence of what you have been pleased to de
nominate an insidious interposition. How, then, does the account
stand between us ? America, being at peace with the world, was
formerly drawn into a war with France in consequence of her union
with Great Britain. At present, America being engaged in a war
with Great Britain, will probably obtain the most honorable terms
of peace in consequence of her friendly connection with France.
For the truth of these positions, I appeal, gentlemen, to your own
knowledge. I know it is very hard for you to part with what you
have accustomed yourselves from your earliest infancy to call your
Colonies. I pity your situation, and therefore I excuse the little
aberrations from truth which your letter contains. At the same
time it is possible that you may have been misinformed. For I
will not suppose that your letter was intended to delude the people
of these States. Such unmanly, disingenuous artifices have of late
been exerted with so little effect, that prudence, if not probity, would
prevent a repetition. To undeceive you, therefore, I take the lib
erty of assuring your Excellencies, from the very best intelligence,
that what you call the present form of the French offers to Amer
ica, in other words, the treaties of alliance and commerce between
his most Christian Majesty and these States, were not made in
consequence of any plans of accommodation concerted in Great
Britain, nor with a view to prolong this destructive war. If you
consider that these treaties were actually concluded before the draft
of the bills under which you act was sent to America, and that
much time must necessarily have been consumed in adjusting com
pacts of such intricacy and importance, and further, if you consider
the early notification of this treaty by the Court of France, and the
assurance given that America had reserved a right of admitting
even you to a similar treaty, you must be convinced of the truth of
my assertions. The fact is, that when the British minister per
ceived that we were treating with the greatest prince in Europe,
he applied himself immediately to counteract the effect of these
negotiations. And this leads me, with infinite regret, to make some

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 25

observations which may possibly be by you considered in an offen
sive point of view.

" It seems to me, gentlemen, there is something (excuse the word)
disingenuous in your procedure. I put the supposition that Con
gress had acceded to your propositions, and then I ask two ques
tions : Had you full power from your commission to make these
propositions ? Possibly you did not think it worth your while to
consider your commission, but we Americans are apt to compare
things together and to reason. The second question I ask is, What
security could you give that the British Parliament would ratify
your compacts ? You can give no such security ; and therefore we
should, after forfeiting our reputation as a people, after you had
filched from us our good name, and persuaded us to give to the com
mon enemy of man the precious jewel of our liberties, after all
this, I say, we should have been at the mercy of a Parliament
which, to say no more of it, has not treated us with too great ten
derness. It is quite needless to add that, even if that Parliament
had ratified the conditions you proposed, still poor America was to
lie at the mercy of any future Parliament, or to appeal to the sword,
which certainly is not the most pleasant business men can be en
gaged in.

" For your use I subjoin the following creed of every good Amer
ican : I believe that in every kingdom, state, or empire there must
be, from the necessity of the thing, one supreme legislative power,
with authority to bind every part in all cases the proper object of
human laws. I believe that to be bound by laws to which he does
not consent by himself, or by his representative, is the direct defini
tion of a slave. I do therefore believe that a dependence on Great
Britain, however the same may be limited or qualified, is utterly
inconsistent with every idea of liberty, for the defence of which I
have solemnly pledged my life and fortune to my countrymen ; and
this engagement I will sacredly adhere to so long as I shall live.
Amen.

" Now, if you will take the poor advice of one who is really a friend
to England and Englishmen, and who hath even some Scotch blood
in his veins, away with your fleets and your armies, acknowledge
the independence of America ; and as ambassadors, and not com
missioners, solicit a treaty of peace, amity, commerce, and alliance
with the rising States of this Western world. Your nation totters

26 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [July,

on the brink of a stupendous precipice, and even delay will ruin
her.

* You have told Congress, f if, after the time that may be necessary
to consider this communication and transmit your answer, the hor
rors and devastations of war should continue, we call God and the
world to witness that the evils which must follow are not to be im
puted to Great Britain. I wish you had spared your protestation.
Matters of this kind may appear to you in a trivial light, as mere
ornamental flowers of rhetoric, but they are serious things, registered
in the high chancery of Heaven. Remember the awful abuse of
words like those by General Burgoyne, and remember his fate.
There is One above us who will take exemplary vengeance for every
insult upon His majesty. You know that the cause of America is
just. You know that she contends for that freedom to which all
men are entitled, that she contends against oppression, rapine,
and more than savage barbarity. The blood of the innocent is
upon your hands, and all the waters of the ocean will not wash
it away. We again make our solemn appeal to the God of heaven
to decide between you and us. And we pray that, in the doubtful
scale of battle, we may be successful as we have justice on our
side, and that the merciful Saviour of the world may forgive our
oppressors.

" I am, my Lords and Gentlemen, the friend of human nature, and
one who glories in the title of

" AN AMERICAN."

With all the folly of the British administration, it had
doubts of the success of the embassy to America. The
results justified the predictions of the opposition, and the
plan of a campaign which had been formed, contingent upon
the issue of the conciliatory propositions, was now put in
practice. Aware of the departure from Toulon of a large
French squadron, which might block up the inferior fleet of
Lord Howe in the Delaware, the Ministry determined upon
the evacuation of Philadelphia, as too far from the sea for an
embarking point, when troops were to be removed from one
field of operations to another. On the 18th of June, there
fore, Sir Henry Clinton crossed the Delaware, and com
menced to march his army through the Jerseys, and the

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 27

battle of Monmouth occurred on the 28th. Washington
informed Congress of the evacuation, and that body met at
Philadelphia on the twenty-second day of July.

The retreat of the British and departure of Lord Howe s
fleet was hardly accomplished when the French squadron,
under D Estaing, arrived off the coast. It consisted of
twelve ships of the line and four frigates, and brought four
thousand French troops. M. Gerard, the French Ambassa
dor to the United States, came in the flag-ship, and now,
also, returned Silas Deane, late Commissioner to France.
The arrival of the French was hailed with joy throughout
America. It was the first tangible evidence that a great
power had now become the ally of the United States, and
was to stand faithfully by them to the end.

An hereditary prejudice had always existed in the Colo
nies against France, nourished by the remembrance of hard-
fought fields, in which the New England men especially had
carried the royal arms triumphantly through Canada, and
added new territory to the King s dominions. Samuel Ad
ams, from the time he renounced the idea of petitioning and
remonstrating, and was convinced of the relentless wrong-
headed policy of the Ministry, had looked to France as the
friend of America in the approaching struggle ; and one of
his first steps, after promoting a concert of action among the
Colonies, had been by secret agents to sound the sentiments
of the French Canadians. His anxiety to establish diplo
matic relations with France appears in his correspondence
long prior to the Declaration ; and he had calculated the
advantages and the likelihood of such an event before many
members of Congress had seriously contemplated a separa
tion from the mother country as probable or possible. It
must then have been with inexpressible pleasure that he
witnessed the approach of their ally, and prepared for the
formal reception of the French Minister. John Adams, writ
ing to him from Europe at this time, says :

"It is an observation that I have often heard you make, that

28 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [July,

France is the natural ally of the United States. This observation
is, in my opinion, both just and important. The reasons are obvi
ous. As long as Great Britain shall have Canada, Nova Scotia,
and the Floridas, or any of them, so long will Great Britain be the
enemy of the United States, let her disguise it as much as she will.
" It is not so much to the honor of human nature, but the fact is
certain that neighboring nations are never friends in reality. In
the times of the most perfect peace between them, their hearts and
their passions are hostile ; and this will certainly be the case for
ever between the thirteen United States and the English Colonies.
France and England, as neighbors and rivals, have never been, and
never will be, friends. The hatred and jealousy between the na
tions are eternal and ineradicable. As we, therefore, on the one hand
have the surest ground to expect the jealousy and hatred of Great
Britain, so on the other we have the strongest reasons to depend
upon the friendship and alliance of France, and no one reason in
the world to expect her enmity or her jealousy, as she has given
up every pretension to any spot of ground on the continent. The
United States, therefore, will be for ages the bulwark of France
against the hostile designs of England against her ; and France is
the natural defence of the United States against the capricious
spirit of Britain against them. France is a nation so vastly emi
nent, having been for many centuries what they call the dominant
power of Europe, being incomparably the most powerful by land,
that, united in a close alliance with our States, and enjoying the ben
efit of our trade, there is not the smallest reason to doubt that both
will be a sufficient curb upon the naval power of Great Britain." l

These views fully represent the opinions of Samuel Ad
ams, but probably expressed his hostility to Britain with
more moderation than he was used to utter it. To his
old age lie could never conquer his extreme aversion to
England and its institutions. He had accustomed himself
to draw comparisons between the two countries highly favor
able to the virtue, manliness, and national honor of his
native land, comparisons based on continuous acts of tyr
anny before the Revolution, and of perfidy and barbarity

1 John to Samuel Adams, July 28, 1778.

1778.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 29

during the war, on the part of the enemy, and he could
never be brought to place faith in the professions of that
power. He was jealously careful, throughout the struggle,
to guard against any possible event that might change
the friendly relations between France and America. This
partiality for France was of much longer standing with him
than with most other American statesmen, and had far
deeper root than the ebullition of feeling which sprung up
at the time of the alliance. It was with a thorough under
standing of this intense dislike of British aristocratic institu
tions that John Adams wrote, in one of his letters to El-
bridge Gerry describing a proposition which had been made
to Franklin, Lee, and himself by the British Ministry. He
says :

" We had an example here last week. A long letter, containing
a project for an agreement with America, was thrown into one of
our grates. There are reasons to believe that it came with the
privity of the King. You may possibly see it some time. Full of
flattery, and proposing that America should be governed by a Con
gress of American peers, to be created and appointed by the King ;
and of bribery, proposing that a number, not exceeding two hundred
American peers should be made, and that such as had stood fore
most, and suffered most, and made most enemies in the contest, as
Franklin, "Washington, Adams, and Hancock, by name, should be
of the number. Ask our friend if he should like to be a peer ? " *

Gerry and Samuel Adams must have had a hearty laugh
over the idea. But, absurd as the project seemed to them
and the writer, it was doubtless gravely entertained by the
British administration. There is nothing more remarkable
throughout the war of the Revolution than the total misap
prehension of American sentiment by the Ministry. Judg
ing the Colonists by their own standard, they had coolly
attempted bribery even before the war, at least upon Samuel
Adams, and perhaps upon others, though his straitened
circumstances and powerful influence made him a more

1 John to Samuel Adams, Passy, July 9, 1778.

30 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [July, Aug.

prominent object than others. Three years after the com
mencement of the war, they essayed a general system of
bribery, and were probably as much astonished as disap
pointed at the failure. Political corruption at home, at least
in the Rockingham administration, had become almost sec
ond nature, and that the same methods would not succeed
among American statesmen was a matter of surprise ; for
many yet persisted in believing that most of the leaders
were unscrupulous demagogues and desperate adventurers,
pushing an ignorant, semi-barbarous people to rebellion for
their aggrandizement, and that, were their ambition or
avarice once satisfied, the opposition to government would
be at an end. The determined disbelief in American integ
rity was equalled by the general ignorance in Parliament of
the popular feeling and resources of America. They could
not comprehend how such masses of people could be imbued
with one sentiment, and that the exasperation against Brit
ain, instead of being overawed by accumulated forces, was
only the more inflamed by every battle. The success of the
attempt at conciliation had evidently at first been counted
upon by a large party with considerable confidence ; but
the measure was soon generally regarded with astonishment
and ridicule. The unfortunate Commissioners were a sub
ject of amusement and unsparing sarcasm among the more
intelligent in America, after the first importance of their
mission had worn away. A party in Parliament, wiser than
the majority, saw the hopelessness of the contest, especially
since the French alliance. They advocated making peace
at once, and, by a timely treaty of commerce, regaining
the trade of the Colonies upon a new basis. They had seen
the impossibility of conquering a determined people of
equal courage and intelligence with themselves, living in
a distant part of the world and supported by the conscious
ness of a just cause. An English preacher, referring to the
American character at this time, says : " There is a distant
country, once united to this, where every inhabitant has in

1778.J LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 31

his house, as a part of his furniture, a boqjc on law and gov
ernment to enable him to understand his Colonial rights,
a musket to enable him to defend those rights, and a Bible
to understand and practise religion. What can hurt such a
country ? Is it any wonder we have not succeeded ? How
secure must it be while it preserves its virtue against all
attacks." 1 But the counsels of the temperate and far-see
ing could not prevail. America was not yet known to the
British rulers. Their information had come from disaffected
or Tory sources, or from the reports of their officers ; nor
could they realize the preponderance of the patriot over the-
opposite party. A wiser policy would have been either to
pursue coercive measures with more vigor or to acknowl
edge the independence of the States. By adopting the
middle course they strengthened the American cause and
exposed their own weakness.

The reception of the Sieur Gerard at Philadelphia, on the
5th of August, was an occasion of state ceremony never
before witnessed in America, where court etiquette had
been known only by report. Mr. Adams had charge of the
arrangements for the presentation. On the previous day it
was ordered that the door of the Congress Chamber be open
during the audience, and that the authorities of Pennsyl
vania be informed when it was to take place. Each member
of Congress was entitled to admit two persons, all others be
ing excluded excepting those provided with tickets signed
by the committee. 2 The presentation is thus described by
Lyman :

"In pursuance of the ceremonial established by Congress, the
Honorable Richard Henry Lee, Esq., one of the delegates from
Virginia, and the Honorable Samuel Adams, Esq., one of the del
egates from Massachusetts Bay, in a coach and six provided by
Congress, waited upon the Minister at his house. In a few minutes

1 Dr. Richard Price s Fast Sermon, Feb. 10 (quoted in Curwen s Journal,
June 1, 1778).

2 Journals of Congress, Aug. 5, 1778.

32 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Aug.

the Minister and tlje two delegates entered the coach, Mr. Lee
placing himself at the left hand on the back seat, Mr. Adams occu
pying the front seat. The Minister s chariot being behind, received
his secretary. The carriages being arrived at the State-House in
this city, the two members of Congress, placing themselves at the
Minister s left hand, a little before one o clock, introduced him to his
chair in the Congress chamber, the President and Congress sitting.
The Minister being seated, he gave his credentials into the hands of
his secretary, who advanced and delivered them to the President.
The Secretary of Congress then read and translated them ; which
being done, Mr. Lee announced the Minister to the President and
Congress. At this time the President, the Congress, and the Minis
ter rose together; he bowed to the President and the Congress,
they bowed to him ; whereupon the whole seated themselves. In a
moment the Minister rose, and made a speech to Congress, they
sitting. The speech being finished, the Minister sat down, and giv
ing a copy of his speech to the secretary, he presented it to the
President. The President and the Congress then rose, and the
President pronounced their answer to the speech, the Minister stand
ing. The answer being ended, the whole were again seated, and
the President giving a copy of the answer to the Secretary of Con
gress, he presented it to the Minister. The President, the Congress,
and the Minister then again rose together ; the Minister bowed to
the President, who returned the salute, and then to the Congress,
who also bowed in return ; and the Minister having bowed to the
President, and received his bow, he withdrew and was attended
home in the same manner in which he had been conducted to the
audience. Within the bar of the House, the Congress formed a
semicircle on each side of the President and the Minister, the Pres
ident sitting at one extremity of the circle, at a table upon a plat
form elevated two steps, the Minister sitting at the opposite
extremity of the circle in an arm-chair upon the same level as the
Congress. The door of the Congress chamber being thrown open
below the bar, about two hundred gentlemen were admitted to the
audience, among whom were the Vice-President of the Supreme
Executive Council of Pennsylvania, the Supreme Executive Coun
cil, the Speaker and members of the House of Assembly, several
foreigners of distinction, and officers of the army. The audience
being over, the Congress and the Minister at a proper hour repaired

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 33

to an entertainment given by the Congress to the Minister, at which
were present, by invitation, several foreigners of distinction and
gentlemen of public character. The entertainment was conducted
with a decorum suited to the occasion, and gave perfect satisfaction
to the whole company." 1

1 Lyman s Diplomacy of the United States, I. 57 (quoted in Lossing s Field-
Book, II. 650).

After the correspondence in this, and the narration in the preceding chap
ter, showing the continuance of that affectionate friendship which had existed
so many years between the Adamses, it is somewhat difficult to reconcile with
that intimacy the following curious anecdote found in Kapp s Life of Steuben,
pp. 97, 98, quoted from Duponceau s MS. letters :

" Once at a dinner given by Governor Hancock to General Steuben [in De
cember, 1777, or January, 1778], I sat next to Samuel Adams, and happened
by mistake to call him Mr. John Adams. Sir, said he, looking sternly at
me, I would have you know that there is a great difference between Mr. Sam
uel Adams (striking his breast and laying a strong emphasis on the word
Samuel) and Mr. John Adams. This remark let me into the little jeal
ousies that then existed between some of the great men of the day, and I
was afterward on my guard against addressing people by their Christian
names."

Samuel and John Adams left Congress and travelled together to Boston in
November, 1777; and the dinner alluded to must have taken place that win
ter, during Steuben s five weeks sojourn in Boston. It is not stated whether
John Adams was present or not. He was certainly in Massachusetts ; for,
having been appointed one of the Commissioners to France (see p. 6), he did
not sail for Europe until February. The probability is, that Duponceau,
even if he understood English perfectly, which is doubtful, misinterpreted a re
ply, in which Mr. Adams, with characteristic generosity, paid a tribute to the
great abilities of his kinsman, whose welfare and advancement, as we have seen,
had been near to his heart from the earliest days of the Revolution. Such a
remark, made in such a spirit, cannot be consistently coupled with the cordial
relationship shown in the correspondence of the Adamses for five years from
the time they parted in Boston this winter. See pp. 62, 63, 103, 109, 141,
155, 176, 183, and 220 of this volume.

VOL. III.

CHAPTER XLIX.

Politics in Massachusetts. Hancock elected Speaker of the Assembly.
James Warren. Adams appeals to Massachusetts for her Quota of
Troops for the Relief of Rhode Island. Failure of the combined Ameri
can and French Expedition. Popular Outcry against D Estaing. Ad
ams endeavors to silence the Clamor and preserve Harmony with the
French Allies. Honors to La Fayette. Plan for the Reduction of Can
ada presented to Adams and Lee by Arnold. Quarrel among the Amer
ican Ministers in Paris. Threatening Manifesto by the British Commis
sioners. Adams prepares a counter Manifesto, which is published by
Congress. He opposes the return of the Refugees, and advocates the Con
fiscation of their Estates.

WHILE Samuel Adams was representing his State in Con
gress, a party which included most of the Tories still re
maining in Boston, and was swelled by those who sided with
Hancock in the enmity between himself and Adams, had
been gradually gaining the ascendency, and had carried the
May elections. Until then the indefatigable James Warren,
the firm friend, as we have seen, of the Adamses, had occu
pied the most prominent positions in the State, serving suc
cessively as Speaker of the House, on the Northern Navy
Board, and in other responsible capacities. From the com
mencement of the Revolution he had ranked among the
most zealous and consistent men of Massachusetts, and it
has been said that he had more of the characteristics of
Samuel Adams than any other of the Boston patriots. On
the return of Hancock from Congress, knowing Warren s
friendship for Adams, he had included him in the deter
mined onset upon all who counted themselves in the Adams
interest. These were a small number indeed ; but, like
those whom Eliot describes as forming that party in 1771,
during the cabal against Adams, " they were the sternest
republicans," and only offended in adhering too firmly to

Aug., 1778.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 35

the first principles of the Revolution. Hancock was now
elected Speaker of the House in the place of Warren, and
the influence of his party was powerful and far-reaching
enough to extend even to distant parts of the State ; and a
man to whose abilities, wisdom, and industry his contempo
raries bear unanimous testimony retired to make room for
the popular idol and his followers.

" Your curiosity," says Warren, in one of his letters at this time,
" will lead you to inquire how my town came to leave me out [from
the General Court], 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 have aided them,
and the policy, or rather what you will call the cunning of a party
here, who have set up an idol whom 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 chosen by my
town, who made their appearance on this occasion for the first time
for seven years. The partiality of you and the rest of my friends
has made me an object of great importance with this party, and
everything is done to get me out of sight. In short, the plan is, to
sacrifice you and me to the shrine of the idol. I hope, for the sake
of the character and interest of our country, they won t 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 cannot deprive me."

And again in the following month :

" 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 colors 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
instance 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

36 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Aug.

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 Boston seat had a
large share in this matter, and some of them that you would hardly
suspect. This may be adding ingratitude to witchcraft, as my
whole conduct has been uniformly favorable to your town ; and if
you will not construe it into vanity, I will tell you I have some
times 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 voyage. I have now the honor to be the
object of the same rancor, and the victim of the same intrigue and
policy as against you. However, I am content with regard to my
self, if your interest is secured." *

Samuel A. Otis, in a letter to John Lowell, then in Con
gress, thus refers to the late political changes :

" My respectful compliments to Mr. Adams and Mr. Gerry, and
inform them, their old friend and the unshaken friend of his coun
try and mankind, General Warren (except his seat at the Navy
Board) is become the private citizen ; upon which [I] shall make
no other comment than that these are times of peculiar rotation." 2

For nearly two years, the British had held possession of
Newport, where General Pigot maintained an army of six
thousand men. The failure of General Spencer, in the pre
vious year, to dispossess the enemy had been made a subject
of inquiry by Congress. It was now deemed expedient to
repeat the attempt. Washington had foreseen this, and
aware of the eagerness of the New England people to engage
in such an enterprise, had directed five thousand troops to be
raised in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut for
the purpose. In June, Congress passed a resolution request
ing the New England delegates to urge their respective States
to raise the quotas agreed upon. The appeal to Massachu
setts was made by Adams. After referring to the repeated
depredations of the enemy in Rhode Island, and the object

1 James Warren to Samuel Adams, May 31 and June 17, 1778.
8 Historical Magazine, September, 1857 ; I. 268.

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 37

of the enclosed resolutions, he concludes : " But such has
been the attention of the Massachusetts Bay to the safety of
all these United States, it renders it needless for us to en
large upon the necessity of their turning an immediate at
tention to the relief of one in their own neighborhood, which
now bears a very large share in the calamities of war." 1
The State thus applied to responded as usual with alacrity,
and, amid the greatest enthusiasm, the expedition was or
ganized. The Massachusetts quota was commanded by
Hancock, who was appointed Major-General of the militia
of that State, the whole expedition, continentals and mili
tia from all sources, numbering some eight or ten thousand
men, under Sullivan, La Fayette, and Greene. It was a part
of the plan that the French forces should assist in the expe
dition, but D Estaing, anxious to encounter the enemy, put
to sea, carrying his four thousand troops with him ; and the
fleets, when about engaging, were separated by a severe gale
and disabled. Expecting the speedy return of D Estaing, the
Americans commenced their cannonade against the British
works. The French squadron soon after appeared off New
port considerably damaged by the storm and the enemy,
and, much to the chagrin of the Americans, immediately
sailed for Boston to repair. Hancock thereupon returned
home in his carriage, 2 and Sullivan, finding that the fleet
could not be brought back, and his men were constantly
deserting, retired from his position, pursued by the enemy
from Newport. A battle ensued, in which Sullivan main
tained his ground with the loss of about two hundred men,
the British losing a still larger number, and in a few days he
effected his retreat to the mainland, just in time to avoid
the British reinforcements from New York. 8

1 The manuscript, dated June 13, in Mr. Adams s handwriting, is signed
by Samuel Adams, E. Gerry, T. M. Dana, and James Lovell.

2 Writings of Laco as published in the Massachusetts Sentinel, February
and March, 1789, Boston, 1789, 8, p. 10.

3 Lossing s Field-Book of the ^Revolution, I. 652. Bradford s History of
Massachusetts from 1775 to 1789, pp. 163, 164.

38 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

The militia for this expedition were mainly raised and
paid by Massachusetts, and the expense falling heavily upon
that State, great dissatisfaction arose. Sullivan did not con
ceal his anger at the unsuccessful issue, which he attributed
to the sudden desertion of the French fleet. His complaints
were echoed throughout New England, and a dangerous
feud sprang up between the French and the many who had
imputed the misfortune to them. A serious riot occurred
in Boston 1 between the American and French sailors. The
old antipathy to the French was revived. Washington and
others used every effort to restore harmony ; and Congress,
in October, to that end passed a resolution complimenting
D Estaing and his command for their bravery, zeal, and at
tachment to the American cause. 2 A complimentary letter
was reported by a committee consisting of Lee, Adams, Mor
ris, and Lovell, to whom D Estaing s letter had been referred.
On the day of this reference a series of resolutions were
passed, approving of Sullivan s retreat as prudent, timely,
and well conducted. The thanks of Congress were also
presented to La Fayette and others. At the same time,
Lee, Drayton, Adams, Duer, and Morris were chosen to con
fer with the French Ambassador as to the future operations
of the fleet. The indications of great anxiety in Congress,
respecting the attempts of a large party in New England to
cast odium upon D Estaing, are very apparent, not alone
in the proceedings of that body, but in the letters of Samuel
Adams and the policy of Washington. The movement of
the French Admiral, who was much chagrined at these im
putations, appears to have been dictated by imperative ne
cessity, and as it proved, in his dismantled condition, he
would have been unable to avoid Howe s fleet, which pur
sued him to his anchorage at Boston. The Tories witnessed
these growing hostilities with pleasure, and eagerly catch
ing at the opportunity, fanned the flame with well-timed
industry as an auxiliary to the efforts of the British Cominis-

1 Hildreth, ILL 255. 8 Journals of Congress, IV. 525, 604.

1778.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 39

sioners, who had not yet departed, and were busily at work
in the Southern and Middle States disseminating documents
and employing active emissaries. Adams saw the danger,
and exerted himself particularly to stay the imprudent con
duct of the discontented in Massachusetts. Describing the
condition of affairs at this time, he writes :

" General Sullivan behaved as usual with bravery ; but some will
have it that there is a mixture of imprudence in everything he does.
He promises himself to share with Gates in the glory of victory,
and, as an officer of spirit, no doubt he felt vexed with the disap
pointment ; but he was too sanguine in my opinion, when he ex
pected that Count D Estaing would remain there in the circumstances
which he was thrown into by a violent storm, which he met with
when in pursuit of Lord Howe. This unforeseen and unavoidable
accident left him too much inferior to the British squadron to run
the risk with any degree of prudence. It was a misfortune which
xve all regret, but must bear. Knowing the high temper of the
people of my native town, I immediately, upon hearing it, wrote to
some of the principal men to prevent blame being cast upon the
Count for leaving Rhode Island." *

Some of these letters have been found. In one of them
he writes :

" The Rhode Island expedition is at length finished. Our cause
is not dishonored, though we did not succeed to our wishes. Con
gress has approved the retreat, thanked General Sullivan and his
brave troops, and applauded the patriotic exertions of New England.
Major- General Hancock was unluckily at Boston, and missed the
laurel. In my opinion, it is in a great degree impolitic at this
juncture to suffer an odium to be cast on the Count D Estaing. If
there should be a disposition to do it, I am persuaded men of distinc
tion and influence will check it. The Tories will try their utmost
to discredit our alliance. And he who not long ago expressed his
opinion that * a connection with France will ruin America/ will not
fail to promote a jealousy if he can thereby establish his popularity.
Such a man should be critically watched on this occasion." 2

1 Samuel to John Adams, Philadelphia, Oct. 25, 1778.
a S. Adams to J. Warren, Philadelphia, Sept. 12, 1778.

40 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

And again to another friend in Boston :

" I am sorry to hear there is such a disposition in some persons
in Boston to cast an odium on the French Admiral for his leaving
Rhode Island. In my opinion, it is at this juncture impolitic in the
extreme. Even if his conduct was thought to be blameworthy,
prudence, I think, would dictate silence to us. Men of distinction
and influence will surely, by all means, check such a disposition.
The Tories will try their utmost to discredit our new alliance. You
know how much depends upon our cultivating mutual confidence.
It is not in the power of undisguised Tories to hurt our cause.
Injudicious, though honest Whigs, may, and too often do, injure it.
Those whose chief aim is to establish a popularity, in order to
obtain the emolument of places or the breath of applause, will think
they may serve themselves by declaiming on this subject, though
they essentially wound their country. If there be any of my virtu
ous and public-spirited fellow-citizens who pay the least heed to my
opinions, I wish they would patiently regard what I say on this
occasion." l

Immediately after the reception of the French Ambassa
dor, Franklin, who was now at Paris in the capacity of a
commissioner, was accredited Minister Plenipotentiary to the
French Court, and Samuel Adams was one of the committee
appointed to prepare a draft of instructions. The same
committee reported a series of resolutions, which were
adopted by Congress, thanking La Fayette for the disinter
ested zeal which had led him to America, and for his cour
age and abilities in the service of the United States ; and
Franklin was directed to cause an elegant sword, with the
proper devices, to bo made and presented to him in the
name of the United States. They also reported a letter to
the King of France, relative to his distinguished services.
The instructions to Franklin were sent by La Fayette, who
carried also a plan for the reduction of Canada, which had
been submitted to Congress by Arnold, and subsequently
underwent several weeks discussion. Arnold s letter to

1 Samuel Adams to Samuel Phillips Savage, Philadelphia, Sept. 14, 1778.

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 41

Congress on this subject stated that he had taken the liberty
of laying the plan before two gentlemen of the Marine Com
mittee, Colonel Lee and Mr. Samuel Adams, who, said he,
" have done me the honor to agree with me in sentiment
respecting the practicability, propriety, and usefulness of it."
Approved by Congress, the plan was embodied in the in
structions to Franklin, who was to consult La Fayette on any
difficulties that might arise. 1 It was transmitted by order of
Congress to Washington, with a request that he should make
such observations thereon as appeared to him proper ; the
members were placed under an injunction of secrecy as to
the plan, and the committee was directed to communicate
it to the French Minister. Washington, after mature delib
eration, disapproved of the project, and the committee subse
quently reported against attempting it at present, owing to
the obstacles to be surmounted in acquiring a naval supe
riority and the hostility of many of the Northern Indian
tribes. 2 It was consequently deferred until circumstances
should render the co-operation of the States more certain,
practicable, and effectual ; and the altered views of Congress
were sent to La Fayette. The plan, which was very minute
ly and elaborately drawn up, became known in England,
where Samuel Adams was supposed to be its author. A por
trait of him, published in an historical work 3 the following

1 Secret Journals of Congress, II. 117.

2 It was in December of this year that a number of letters, received by Con
gress from Washington on this subject, were referred to a committee of which
Mr. Adams was a member, and, on their recommendation, the General-in-
Chief, after putting the army in winter quarters, attended Congress, where he
verbally explained his objections to the expedition.

3 " An Impartial History of the War in America between Great Britain
and her Colonies from its Commencement to the End of the Year 1779,"
p. 209. The volume is anonymous, but there is reason to believe that it was
partly the work of Edmund Burke, whose writings on the American war,
published in the Annual Register during the Revolution, were transcribed
into " A Concise History of the Late War in America," published in the Co
lumbian Magazine in 1789, and reprinted in the following year with plates.
Soon after, a lampooning poem by " Camillo Querno, Poet Laureate to tho

42 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct.

year in London, represents him consulting the map of Can
ada, and holding in his hand the " Plan for the Reduction of
Canada." The impression, however, originated in the de
sire of Adams for its acquisition, which was well known in
England. The portrait, which bears a slight resemblance
to him, was probably drawn from a personal description,
given by some of the Boston refugees then residing in
London, perhaps Hutchinson himself. The conquest of
Canada, as has been shown in the earlier years of the Revo
lution, was always an object of primary importance with
Adams, involving as it did the fisheries and other great
advantages. These, and particularly the permanent tran
quillity of the Northern and Western frontiers, he thought
could never be secured until Canada was made a part of
the Confederacy.

" We must, * said he, about this time, " have a respectable army
in the spring to put a good face on our negotiations, or to fight.
I hope we shall secure to the United States Canada, Nova Scotia,
and the fisheries, by our arms or by treaty. We shall never be on
a solid footing till Great Britain cedes to us what Nature designs we
should have, or wrest it from her." 1

The appointment of Franklin as envoy terminated the
quarrel which had been going on at Paris for some time
between Franklin and Deane on the one side and Arthur
Lee on the other. The recall of Deane left the others equal
ly at enmity and at variance as to several matters of diplo
matic policy. John Adams, on his arrival, had avoided
engaging in the difference, though he was inclined to agree
with Lee. Samuel Adams had written to them, being

Congress," was published in London, delineating the character of the Amer
ican leaders. Samuel Adams was particularly the object of attack. It has
been thought that the lampoons were based upon the engravings appearing in
the History above mentioned

1 Letter of S. Adams, Nov. 3, 1778. See, also, several letters written during
the next seven years.

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 43

the intimate friend of both, urging a mutual confidence
between them, and perhaps his letter had some good effect.
He was always for harmonizing; and in the present case
the abilities of the disputants rendered a unison of senti
ment necessary to the public interests. John Adams, on
his arrival, saw that three Commissioners were too many for
the proper transaction of business, and sent a letter to Sam
uel Adams on the subject, enumerating the disadvantages
of the existing system, and concluding : " The inconven
iences arising from the multiplicity of ministers and the
complication of business are infinite." 1 Arthur Lee, on the
other hand, had written to Samuel Adams : " If it should be
a question in Congress about my destination, I shall be much
obliged to you for remembering that I should prefer being
at the Court of France." 2 But, after the arrival of John
Adams, his views changed : "I formerly desired you to
support my destination to this department ; but, as I believe
it is an object of desire to others, I do not wish to be a com
petitor with any one, and shall be content wherever I can
best serve the great cause in peace with all men." 3 La
Fayette arrived in Paris in February, 1779, and delivered
the letters and instructions already alluded to. John Ad
ams returned to America. The correspondence all through
this period discloses plainly the great influence attributed by
the gentlemen at Paris to Samuel Adams as the principal
adviser in Congress. Their wishes, hopes, fears, personal
desires, and aspirations are confided to him in a manner
showing their confidence in his power to carry measures
in that body. From the commencement of the Revolution
he had, to some extent, filled the part of a republican War
wick, watchfully eying the abilities of each promising gen
ius, and quietly clearing the path before him to preferment.
The same observant, self-abnegating principle which had

1 John to Samuel Adams, Passy, May 21, 1778 (J. Adams s Works, III.
159, 160).

2 A. Lee to S. Adams, Paris, Oct. 4, 1777.

8 A. Lee to S. Adams, Paris, Sept. 12, 1778.

44 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct.

originally brought into notice nearly every young man who
afterwards reached political eminence in Massachusetts was
now exhibited in a wider field : he sought nothing for him
self, but cheerfully directed others to the brilliant positions
merited by their talents and patriotism. After the change
in the mission to France had been decided upon, he said, in
one of his letters to John Adams :

"I suppose you have been fully and officially informed of the
state of our military affairs since the enemy evacuated this city and
met with a drubbing at Monmouth ; and as public letters will doubt
less be forwarded by this conveyance, it is needless for me to give
you a particular detail of what has happened since. By those let
ters you will be informed that Dr. Franklin is appointed Minister
Plenipotentiary at Versailles. It is not yet determined how you
will be disposed of ; but, as Congress entertain great expectations
of your services, you may depend upon employment being allotted
for you somewhere. The critical situation of the powers of Europe
in genera} renders it somewhat difficult for us to determine to which
of them to make our addresses at present. Every cabinet, I sup
pose, is busily engaged in making the necessary arrangements and
preparing for the opening a campaign, if war should take place. In
this case, I should think France must be our pole-star while it con
tinues, and our connections must be formed with her. In the mean
time, however, Holland, whose policy is always to be at peace, may
be open for a negotiation ; and, in my opinion, we ought to take the
earliest opportunity to tempt her." x

Seeing the utter hopelessness of effecting a reconciliation,
the British Commissioners, who had persistently continued
their exertions, now issued a manifesto which, as sanctioned
by a Ministry and Parliament professing to represent hu
manity and civilization, was such as to lower them in the
estimation of the world, and to increase the hatred felt
towards their nation throughout America. This paper, af
ter reminding the people that the grievances against which
they had appealed to Heaven had been amply and fully re-

1 Samuel to John Adams, Philadelphia, Oct. 25, 1778.

1778.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 45

dressed in the peaceable propositions of Britain, deliberately
threatened that, if submission was not tendered within forty
days, the war would thenceforth be waged with all the ven
geance and cruelty which savages could inflict, and that
desolation should be its leading object. The resolves of
Congress and writings of Samuel Adams and Dray ton, who
had been particularly active in refuting the previously pub
lished arguments of the Commissioners, 1 had already ex
plained the fallacies of the Ministry, and the insidious
designs hidden beneath the specious garb of conciliation.
There was danger and hate in those propositions, which the
sagacity of Congress penetrated and clearly exposed. The
time for conciliation had passed, and American indepen
dence was inevitable ; yet the Ministry, blind to the decrees
of fate and of nature, were determined to rule or ruin. En
lightened Englishmen condemned these atrocious threats
as unjust, unchristian, and inhuman. " A war of revenge,"
said one, " is threatened such as Moloch in Pandemonium
advised, which will fix an inveterate hatred in the people of
America against the very name of Englishman, and which
will remain to the latest posterity." " Against whom,"
asked Burke, " are these dreadful menaces pronounced but
against those who are conscious of rectitude, who are act
ing in a righteous^ cause, and contending for freedom and
their country ? "

America read the infamous paper, which was added to the
already fearful account against the mother country. Sam
uel Adams, glowing with indignation at the perfidious power
which had driven his country into the smoke and blood of
war, penned a counter manifesto, which was adopted as the
sense of Congress, and published throughout the United
States.

1 " Those who principally distinguished themselves in the composition of
them were Mr. Samuel Adams of Boston and Mr. Drayton of South Car
olina (both members of Congress), and the author of Common Sense." (J.
Andrews s History of the War in America, etc., London, 1786, III. 110.)

46 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct.

" BY THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
" A Manifesto.

" The United States having been driven to hostilities by the op
pressive and tyrannous measures of Great Britain, having been
compelled to commit the essential rights of men to the decision of
arms, and having been at length forced to shake off a yoke which
had grown too burdensome to bear, they declared themselves free
and independent.

" Confiding in the justice of their cause ; confiding in Him who
disposes of human events ; although weak and unprovided, they set
the power of their enemies at defiance.

" In this confidence they have continued through the various for
tunes of three bloody campaigns, unawed by the power, unsubdued
by the barbarity of their foes. Their virtuous citizens have borne
without repining the loss of many things which make life desirable.
Their brave troops have patiently endured the hardships and dan
gers of a situation fruitful in both beyond former example.

" The Congress, considering themselves bound to love their ene
mies as children of that Being who is equally the Father of all,
and desirous, since they could not prevent, at least to alleviate the
calamities of war, have studied to spare those who were in arms
against them, and to lighten the chains of captivity.

" The conduct of those serving under the King of Great Britain
hath, with some few exceptions, been diametrically opposite. They
have laid waste the open country, burned the defenceless villages,
and butchered the citizens of America.

"Their prisons have been the slaughter-houses of her soldiers,
their ships of her seamen, and the severest injuries have been ag
gravated by the grossest insults.

" Foiled in their vain attempts to subjugate the unconquerable
spirit of freedom, they have meanly assailed the representatives of
America with bribes, with deceit, and the servility of adulation.
They have made a mock of religion by impious appeals to God,
whilst in the violation of His sacred command. They have made a
mock even of reason itself, by endeavoring to prove that the lib
erty and happiness of America could safely be intrusted to those
who have sold their own, unawed by the sense of virtue or of shame.

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 47

" Treated with the contempt which such conduct deserved, they
have applied to individuals. They have solicited them to break
the bonds of allegiance and imbue their souls with the blackest
crimes. But fearing that none could be found through these United
States equal to the wickedness of their purpose, to influence weak
minds they have threatened more wide devastation.

" While the shadow of hope remained that our enemies could be
taught by our example to respect those laws which are held sacred
among civilized nations, and to comply with the dictates of a re
ligion which they pretend, in common with us, to believe and revere,
they have been left to the influence of that religion and that exam
ple. But since their incorrigible dispositions cannot be touched by
kindness and compassion, it becomes our duty by other means to
vindicate the rights of humanity.

" We, therefore, the Congress of the United States of America, do
solemnly declare and proclaim that if our enemies presume to exe
cute their threats, or persist in their present career of barbarity, we
will take such exemplary vengeance as shall deter others from a
like conduct. We appeal to the God who searcheth the hearts of
men for the rectitude of our intentions ; and in his holy presence
declare that, as we are not moved by any light or hasty suggestions
of anger or revenge, so through every possible change of fortune
we will adhere to this our determination.

" Done in Congress by unanimous consent, the thirtieth day of
October, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight.

Attest, C. T., Secretary.

"H. L., President."

This was no idle threat. It was penned in all the reso
lute character of its author and of the determined body
who issued it to the world. Curwen says :

" A passenger lately fled from America, on the score of sufferings
there, declares the late menace in the Commissioners proclamation
will assuredly effect what neither persuasions nor threats have yet
had force enough to bring about, a solid and firm union of all
ranks and classes, for want of which alone, in the Middle Colonies, he
says, the British army has not, long since, been driven into the sea.
The manifesto, which 1 presume you have seen, issued by the Con
gress in consequence of that proclamation, renders it more than

48 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct.

probable that, should the dreadful expedient threatened take place,
history will hardly furnish a parallel to the cruelty and carnage of
the following campaign, which God in his infinite mercy prevent." l

During this summer, the Loyalists, of whom Warren
wrote to Samuel Adams that, at the last May elections in
Boston, they had made their appearance in politics for the
first time in seven years, had felt sufficiently encouraged to
assist the refugees in an effort for the restoration of their
forfeited privileges of citizenship. Some who had fled to
Halifax at the time of the evacuation now applied for admis
sion. Many who, prior to the war, had bitterly and insult
ingly opposed the measures of the patriots, were left entirely
destitute by their sudden departure ; and most of them, ex
pecting that each successive campaign would be the last,
and that the royal authority would be restored, had waited
with impatience for the favorable change which should in
vite their return. But the last hope vanished with the
resolute reply of Congress to the Commissioners, and the
succeeding publications, which even more particularly dis
played the hopelessness of any attempt at reconciliation.
The penalties enacted in the several States, during the war,
against the adherents of the Crown, embraced in one in
stance death, and in others banishment and confiscation of
property. Massachusetts, whose people had particularly suf
fered by the Tory interest up to the winter of 1776, was
inexorable ; and Samuel Adams, for all his humane disposi
tion, was relentless in his advocacy of rigid measures against
them. He drew the strictest lines of demarcation between
patriotism and treachery, and recognized no mitigating cir
cumstances for the desertion of the cause of Liberty in her
hour of greatest need. He had reason to know* the spirit in
which much of that sentiment of loyalty had been nour
ished ; he fully appreciated the extent of venality and cor
ruption among the place-hunters in the royal interest, before
the Revolution had witnessed the malignity of the governors

1 Curwen s Journal, pp. 209, 210; 4th ed., p. 230.

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 49

and the petty hostility of the lesser members of the party,
and with his friends knew full well the dreadful penalty
which awaited the principal supporters of the patriot cause,
had its enemies triumphed. Among other considerations,
weighing heavily with him in this matter, was the laxity of
manners which a revival of the old Tory element would
introduce anew into his native town, and which was already
becoming prevalent even with those who remained and pre
served a discreet silence in political affairs. It was his wish
that Boston might become a " Christian Sparta" ; and basing
the happiness of a people upon their virtue, and the absence
of certain extravagances which he believed tended to de
moralize all communities, he saw with dislike the possible
renewal of habits which history taught him were fatal to
public liberty. He knew that these people were anxiously
awaiting in Nova Scotia the desired turn in events which
would enable them to hasten back and fatten upon the ruin
of freedom. It was in all respects unreasonable and unjust
to permit them peaceably to resume their residence in the
scene of their recent treachery. He never hesitated to
announce this hostility to their return, and thus acquired
many powerful enemies, especially among the resident To
ries, whose animosity followed him to the grave, and was
bitterly expressed long after his death. On some public
occasion, briefly alluded to in the following letter, perhaps
in the Legislature during his visit to Boston in the last win
ter, he appears to have spoken on the subject. Writing
from Philadelphia, in reply to a letter from Warren relating
to the motion for the admission of the refugees, Gardner,
Harrison, Gray, and Anderson, he says :

" It is the opinion of the people in this country, 1 that a Galloway
could not atone for his public crimes with the sacrifice of a hundred
lives. A Galloway ? a Gray ! a Gardner ! Examine them, and say
which is the greatest criminal. Confiscation, you tell me, labors ;

1 That is, in Pennsylvania. During the Revolution, and until the adoption
of the Constitution, the word "country" was often used to designate the
different States.

VOL. III. 4

50 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct., 1778.

* it labors very hard. I have heard objections made to it, not in
this country, but in my own. But I thought those objections were
made by interested men. Shall those traitors who first conspired
the ruin of our liberties ; those who basely forsook their country in
her distress, and sought protection from the enemy, when they
thought them in the plenitude of power, who have been ever since
stimulating and doing all in their power to aid and comfort them,
while they have been doing their utmost to enslave and ruin us,
shall these wretches have their estates reserved for them and re
stored at the conclusion of this glorious struggle, in which some of
the richest blood of America has been spilled, for the sake of a few
who may have money in England, and for this reason have main
tained a dastardly and criminal neutrality ? It cannot be. I ven
tured to speak my mind in a place where I could claim no right to
speak. I spoke with leave, which I should have disdained to do,
had I not felt the importance of the subject to our country. I will
tell you my opinion. If you do not act a decisive part, if you
suffer those traitors to return and enjoy their estates, the world will
say you have no sense of public injury and have lost your under
standing." l

The article in the treaty with England, after the war, re
lating to the refugees, was not satisfactory to Mr. Adams for
the same reasons, and he was always uncompromising in his
hostility to the return, at least of the principal characters
among them. In Massachusetts, until the treaty, the law,
which Adams probably aided to prepare, provided for the
arrest and banishment of Tories, unless swearing fealty to
the United States. Persons thus accused, on conviction by
a jury, could be sent into the enemy s jurisdiction. Up
wards of three hundred were designated by name, who, hav
ing fled, were liable, should they return, to apprehension,
imprisonment, and transportation to a place possessed by the
British ; and for a second voluntary return, death without
benefit of clergy. A year later, while in Boston, Mr. Adams
was equally determined against receiving those who had fled
even to adjoining States, and he employed his pen and per
sonal influence against their return.

1 Samuel Adams to James Warren, Philadelphia, October, 1778.

CHAPTER L.

Depreciation of Paper Currency. Straitened Circumstances of Adams. His
Family at Boston. The Legislature grant him the Use of a Confiscated
House and some Furniture. His Home and Domestic Relations. Let
ters to his Wife and Daughter. The Quarrel with Hancock. Its Cause
unknown. Efforts at a Eeconciliation. Magnanimous Expressions of
Adams. He is assailed by his Enemies in Massachusetts. Re-elected to
Congress. Declines, and desires to retire to his Family. Affairs of Silas
Deane and the American Embassies to European Courts.

THROUGH the several Congressional terms of Samuel
Adams, making an aggregate service of some six years in
that body, his family in Massachusetts lived in an humble,
quiet manner, with barely the means of maintenance. The
paper currency had depreciated so as to be almost worthless ;
and though the grants of salaries to the public officers seem
to have been made with tolerable regularity, the delegates
in Congress were often put to the closest straits to make
even a respectable appearance. Samuel Adams with one of
his colleagues, about this time, occupied the commonest
lodgings in Philadelphia, and lived in the most frugal style.
The value of the Continental money may be inferred from
a letter to Mr. Adams early in 1779, which says : " I was
asked four hundred dollars for a hat, three hundred for a
pair of leather breeches, one hundred and twenty-five for a
pair of shoes, and a suit of clothes sixteen hundred." 1 An
other writes to Elbridge Gerry : " I now owe one hundred
and forty-seven dollars for board, and some little borrowed
of my landlady, besides twenty-six borrowed for every-day
expenses, and perhaps sixteen more to tailors and shoemak
ers. How under Heaven am I to get this with Provincial
paper, which does not pass here for anything at all, and is
next to nothing where it was issued ? " 2 Without the strict-

1 Letter from a Member of Congress, dated Jan. 21, 1779.

2 Austin s Life of Gerry, I. 332.

52 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct.

est economy he could neither support his family in Boston
nor meet his own expenses in Philadelphia. Not long after
the evacuation of Boston by the British, and the confiscation
of the Tory property, the house of Robert Hallowell, for
merly comptroller under the crown, 1 had been rented to him
by the Legislature. Subsequently his right of occupancy
was continued to him for a limited period, as his own house
had been partially destroyed by the British. The resolve
of the Assembly on this subject reads :

" That the Honorable Samuel Adams, Esq., Secretary of State,
be permitted to continue to occupy the house where he now dwells,
belonging to Robert Hallowell, Esq., an absentee, for one year from
and after the first day of April next ; he to allow such rent for the
same as the General Assembly shall hereafter order ; and the agent
of the said Hallowell s estate is hereby directed to conform himself
accordingly, any law or resolve to the contrary notwithstanding." 2

The Legislature also sold to Mr. Adams a quantity of
furniture out of the estates of absentees ; his unpaid
salary for services before the war being allowed in the
account. The estimate now made (ninety pounds and
seventeen shillings) was somewhat less than the amount
charged by the Committee of Sequestration in the follow
ing year. 3

Some of the letters of Samuel Adams from Philadelphia,
towards the close of 1778, especially the familiar ones to his
family, illustrate the character of the man better than the
most elaborate descriptions. They lift the veil and give an
insight into the undisguised sentiments of his heart, as he
might unbosom them in the confidence of his home. Those
to his wife and daughter are full of affectionate solicitude for
their happiness, and show that the name of tender father
and husband, which his daughter delighted to use when
describing him to her children, was well merited. His wife
he usually addressed as " my dear Betty," and to her he

1 Sabine s American Loyalists, p. 344. 3 See p. 136.

2 Journals of the House, Dec. 4, 1779.

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 53

often confided the more particular matters relating to his
political associations, relying on her discreet good sense to
communicate with his intimate friends who might visit the
house. His social relationship with his daughter, whose
education he had personally conducted, and whose devoted
love never failed him to his dying day, appears in some of
these letters.

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 8th, 1778.
MY DEAR DAUGHTER,

Your very dutiful and obliging letter of the 28th of August came
to my hand yesterday, and brought me the afflicting news of your
mother s illness. When you tell me the doctor thinks she is on
the mending hand, and he hopes she will be cleverly in a day or
two, I am apt to conclude her disorder had not much abated when
you wrote. I know she is exceedingly loath to give me the least
pain, and therefore I suspect that she has dictated to you to make
the best of it to me. She begs me not to make myself very anx
ious for her. This is a request which it is impossible for me to
comply with. I shall be very uneasy till I hear again from you.
I pray God she may recover her health, and long continue a rich
blessing to you and me. I am satisfied you do all in your power
for so excellent a mother. You are under great obligations to her,
and I am sure you are of a grateful disposition. I hope her life
will be spared, and that you will have the opportunity of present
ing to her my warmest respects. I rejoice to hear that your late
disorder was so gentle, and that you have got over it. I com
mend you, my dear, to the care and protection of the Almighty.
That he may reward your filial piety is the ardent prayer of your
Very affectionate father,

S. ADAMS.

In his last year in Congress, he wrote to his daughter :

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 17th, 1780.
MY DEAR HANNAH,

Nothing, I assure you, but the want of leisure has prevented my
acknowledging the receipt of your very obliging letter of the 12th of
July. You cannot imagine with how much pleasure I received it.
I have no reason to doubt your sincerity, when you express the warm-

54 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct.

est affection for your mother and me, because I have had the most
convincing proof of it in the whole course of your life. Be equally
attentive to every relation into which an all-wise Providence may lead
you, and I will venture to predict for my dear daughter an unfailing
source of happiness in the reflections of her own mind. If you
carefully fulfil the various duties of life from a principle of obedi
ence to your Heavenly Father, you shall enjoy that peace which
the world cannot give nor take away. In steadily pursuing the
path of wisdom and virtue I am sometimes inclined to think you
have been influenced with a view of pleasing me. This is indeed
something, and I owe you the debt of gratitude. But the blessing
of an earthly parent, I am persuaded, has not been your principal
motive to be religious. If this has been any influence on your
mind, you know you cannot gratify me so much as by seeking most
earnestly the favor of Him who made and supported you, who will
supply you with whatever His infinite wisdom sees best for you in
this world, and, above all, who has given us his Son to purchase for
us the reward of eternal life. Adieu, and believe that I have all
the feelings of a father.

S. ADAMS.

In one of the letters to his wife, he has occasion to refer
to the machinations of a political party in Boston against
him.

" My Boston friends tell me, with- great solicitude, that I have
enemies there. I thank them for their concern for me, and tell
them that I knew it before. The man who acts an honest part in
public life must often counteract the passions, inclinations, or humors
of wicked men, and this must create him enemies. I am, therefore,
not disappointed or mortified. I flatter myself that no virtuous
man who knows me will, or can be, my enemy, because I think he
can have no suspicion of my integrity. But they say my enemies
* are plotting against me/ Neither does that discompose me ; for
what else can I expect from such kind of men? If they mean to
make me uneasy, they miss their aim, for I am happy, and it is not
in their power to disturb my peace. They add, the design is to get
me recalled from this service. I am in no pain about such an event,
for I know there are many who can serve their country here with
greater capacity, though none more honestly. The sooner, there-

1778.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 55

fore, another is elected in my room the better. I shall the sooner
retire to the sweet enjoyment of domestic life. This, you can wit
ness, I have often wished for ; and I trust that all-gracious Provi
dence has spared your precious life through a dangerous illness to
heighten the pleasures of my retirement. If my enemies are gov
erned by malice or envy, I could not wish them a severer punish
ment than their own feelings. But, my dear, I thank God I have
many friends. You know them. Remember me to them all as you
have opportunity. I could say many more things to you, but I am
called off." 1

The enmity alluded to in this letter seems to have been
deep seated. Its working has been already described in the
extracts from James Warren s letters to his friend. Among
the papers of Mr. Adams are letters signed S. P. S., from
some prominent man in Boston, probably Samuel Phillips
Savage. He was evidently a friend both of Adams and
Hancock. This person essayed to effect a reconciliation be
tween them, though he must have seen that, while Adams
steadily pursued his duties in Philadelphia, regardless of
enemies at home, Hancock and his followers in Boston
were industriously assailing his motives, secure from con
tradiction by him, and even from his resentment. In one
of these letters his friend urges his desire of pacification.
He says :

" What follows is between thee and me, and friendship must apol
ogize for what is imprudent or what is otherwise amiss. I most
sincerely value you as my friend; but much as I value you, my
country lies nearer my heart, and I greatly fear the difference now

subsisting between you and your once worthy friend, Mr. H ,

may greatly hurt her interest. The effects are already visible.
The enemies of America triumph in the strife, and are taking every
measure to increase the flame. The friends of their country cannot
stand by idle spectators ; they see the increasing contest with weep
ing eyes and aching hearts, and wish a reconciliation. Permit me,
my friend, to attempt (however inadequate to the task) a restoration

1 To Mrs. Adams, Philadelphia, Oct. 20, 1778.

56 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Nor.

of friendship between two who once were dear to each other, and
who now, perhaps from mistakes and misapprehensions, seem too
distant." l

The reply of Adams is the best commentary upon the
difference which, originating in some occurrence in Phila
delphia just previous to the Declaration of Independence,
had gradually assumed in Boston the proportions of a politi
cal faction. A quarrel or feud requires two parties. The
continued absence of Adams in Congress prevented his
actively opposing his detractors, if he had wished to do so,
and he had taken no other notice of Hancock s conduct than
the quiet expressions of contempt in the private letters al
ready quoted. Let us see, then, how he responds to his
friend s letter.

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 1, 1778.
MY DEAR Sm,

I duly received your favor of October by the last post, and
should have immediately answered it, had I not been that day ex
ceedingly engaged. I do not keep copies of all my letters, they
are trifles. You were mistaken in supposing that I ascribed the
independence of America to New England only. I never was so
assuming as to think so. My words are, that America is obliged to
New England, and this is an acknowledged truth. It is the opin
ion of others, as well as myself, that the principles and manners of
New England, from time to time, led to that great event. I pray
God she may ever maintain those principles which, in my opinion,
are essentially necessary to support and perpetuate her liberty.
You may see my sentiments of the patriotism of other States in a
letter I lately wrote to Mrs. Adams (if it is in being), in which I
relate a conversation which passed between Monsieur and my
self. But enough of this. I love my country. My fears concern
ing her are that she will ruin herself by idolatry.

A part of your letter, you tell me, is confidential. I always keep
the secrets of my friends when I can do it honestly, though I con
fess I do not like to be encumbered with them. In this instance I

1 S. P. S. to Samuel Adams, Boston, October, 1778.

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 57

will be your confidant. But let me ask you, can a difference be
tween Mr. and me, either real or imaginary, be of any conse
quence to the world? I think not. Tories, you say, triumph.
They may make sport of it ; but indeed, my friend, it is too unim
portant a matter for a sensible Whig to weep and break his heart
about. I am desirous of making you easy ; and I do assure you
that, so far. from brooding in my heart an unfriendly disposition
towards that man, I seldom think of him, unless I happen to take
up a Boston newspaper or hear his name mentioned in chit-chat
conversation. You call upon me by all that is sacred to forgive
him. Do you think he has injured me ? If he has, should he not
ask for forgiveness ? No man ever found me inexorable. I do
not wish him to ask me to forgive him ; this would be too humili
ating. If he is conscious of having done or designed me an in
jury, let him do so no more, and I will promise to forgive and forget
him too ; or, I would add, to do him all the service in my power.
But this is needless ; it is not in my power to serve him. He is
above it.

If you wish to know the foundation of this wonderful collision,
ask my friend J. W., or another, whom you properly call my closest
friend. To them I have related the trifling tale, and they can
repeat it to you.

The precepts and examples you refer me to I shall always rever
ence most highly.

I am, with unfeigned sincerity,

Your obliged and affectionate friend,

SAMUEL ADAMS.
S. P. S.

On the subject of this political attack upon him, he says
to Mrs. Adams, who, with anxious solicitude, continued to
notify him of the cabal :

" It is diverting enough to hear the different language held forth
concerning me by a kind of men whom I despise beyond expression.
In New England they say I am averse to an accommodation with
Great Britain, and make that an exception against me. In Phila
delphia I am charged indirectly, at least, with a frequent inter
change of visits with a companion of Berkenhout, Lord Lindsay,
Governor Johnstone, and the son of Lord Bute, with a view of

58 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. pec.

secretly bringing about an accommodation with that King and
nation which I have solemnly abjured. What is there which mal
ice joined with a small share of wit will not suggest ? I am not apt
to conceal my sentiments. They are far from being problematical.
They are well known here and at Boston ; and I can trust my con
sistency in the judgment of every honest and sensible man that is
acquainted with me. The censure of fools or knaves is applause." *

Towards the close of the year, for reasons which these
extracts may have sufficiently explained, together with a
desire to return to his family, Mr. Adams notified the Presi
dent of the Massachusetts Council of his wish to be recalled
from Congress, to which he had been re-elected by the As
sembly.

" I am informed that the General Assembly have been pleased to
appoint me one of their delegates in Congress for the year 1779.
This repeated mark of confidence in me is indeed flattering. The
duties of the department are arduous and pressing. I will never
decline the service of my country ; but my health requires relaxa
tion, and at this period of my life my inclination would lead me to
wish to be employed in a more limited sphere, I will, nevertheless,
continue to act in Congress to the utmost of my ability, in pursu
ance of the powers and instructions with which I am honored, in
hopes that, as the month of April next will complete another full
year of my residence here, I shall then be relieved by one of my
absent colleagues, or some other gentleman, and be permitted to
retire to my family." 2

The service, however, was so urgently pressed upon him,
that he yielded his own inclinations, and continued at his
post. His position on working committees, especially as
chairman of the Marine Board, entailed onerous duties upon
him, as appears by the archives of the several States, and
particularly those of Massachusetts, where his name occurs
in letters on public affairs, which are usually in his hand
writing. The journals for this and the following year at-

1 Samuel Adams to his wife, Philadelphia, Dec. 13, 1778.

2 S. Adams to Jeremiah Powell, Philadelphia, Dec. 1, 1778.

1778.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 59

test to the number and variety of subjects submitted to that
Board, which, after that of the Treasury with Gerry at its
head, was the most constantly employed in Congress. It
consisted of one member from each State, and, like those of
War and the Treasury, had its separate offices apart from
the Congress. It often happens in the records of votes in
the journals that, for one or two days at a time, the name of
Samuel Adams is omitted, which is probably to be accounted
for by his absence on committee occupations. One of the
many papers will illustrate the method of transacting busi
ness. Gerard, the French Minister had asked the opinion
of Congress respecting his offering a premium to the owners
of privateers that should intercept masts and spars belonging
to the enemy coming from Halifax. The Marine Commit
tee, to whom it was referred, reported favorably, and their
chairman thus enclosed to the New England States the offer
of the French envoy :

MARINE COMMITTEE, PHILADELPHIA,

December 15, 1778.
MR,

Pursuant to the direction of Congress and the request of the
Minister Plenipotentiary of France, I have the honor of trans
mitting to the Council of Massachusetts Bay a declaration under
the hand and seal of that Minister, promising a reward to every ves
sel that shall take or destroy a vessel of the enemy loaded with
masts or spars, and destined to the ports of Halifax, Newport, or
New York. It is the particular desire of the Minister that this
declaration may be addressed to that Honorable Board, to the end
that the same may be made known in such a manner as their wis
dom shall direct.

I am, sir, your most obedient and very humble servant,

SAM. ADAMS, Chairman.
THE HONORABLE THE PRESIDENT OF MASSACHUSETTS BAT.

Early in 1779, the charges which had been made against
the integrity of Silas Deane, late Commissioner to France,
were taken up in Congress, and a committee was appointed
to examine into foreign affairs and the conduct of the late

60 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Jan.

and present Commissioners to the courts of Europe. The
subject thus made special became a prominent matter of
dispute, and two parties were at last formed, headed on the
one side by Robert Morris, and by Richard Henry Lee on
the other. Deane was charged with having appropriated to
his own use portions of the public moneys passing through
his hands, and was not able to vindicate himself, owing to
the extremely loose manner in which his accounts had been
kept. Arthur Lee had written to Adams from Paris, send
ing evidences of the, proceedings of Deane, 1 who now re
torted, in Philadelphia, with an Address to the People of the
United States, in which the conduct of the Lees in Europe
was assailed with much bitterness. Paine, the author of
" Common Sense," engaged in the controversy, and dis
closed some state secrets intrusted to him as Secretary to
the Committee of Foreign Affairs, which greatly irritated the
French Minister, and caused Paine s dismissal from his posi
tion. The accusations against Deane do not appear to have
been proved, though the suspicions were never entirely
cleared away. During the investigation in Congress, Sam
uel Adams, who was not of the committee, was too deeply
engaged in other occupations to be more than a spectator of
the contest ; but, with that faithfulness and trust which
characterized his friendships through life, he had the fullest
confidence in the correctness of the views of Arthur Lee, and
he defended him on all proper occasions from attack. Writ
ing to Lee on this subject, some time afterwards, he says :

" I resent the treatment you have met with in America with all
the feelings of friendship. Among your enemies, you may depend
upon it, there are some of the worst kind of men. I cannot help
entertaining a suspicion that they are the enemies of their country.
I am sure they cannot, at present, do a more vital injury to the
cause of America than by raising the popular jealousy and clamor
against its earliest, ablest, and most persevering friends. This they
are endeavoring to do, not only with you, but others ; and they are

1 A. Lee to S. Adams, Paris, Sept. 12, 1778.

1779.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 61

masters of so much sophistry as to deceive some who, I think, are
not so suspicious of them as they ought to be. Mr. , in the opin
ion of some of his own party, was injudicious in his publication of
the 5th of December last. They are at least constrained to say it,
whether they think so or not. It is the opinion of the best men, I
know, that he has done more mischief than it will ever be in his
power to atone for. I never had but one opinion of this man since
1774, when I first knew him, and that is, that he is commercial and
interested. I believe he has, for a twelvemonth past, thought it his
interest to throw us into divisions and parties, and that he has been
as influential in effecting it as any man in America. Interested
men, who are united in politics and commercial combinations, are,
and must be, his advocates. Perhaps the persons whose names you
mention in the first part of your letter may be his secret and power
ful supporters: I do not pretend to affirm it. These men most
certainly should preserve their minds free from prejudice in dis
putes of this kind. They should stand totally unconnected with any
party, as they would avoid doing injustice to the joint cause of
France and America, and lessening that strong attachment and mu
tual confidence between the two nations which every true friend and
subject of both wishes may long subsist.

" Your letter to the editor of the Leyden Gazette, written upon
your seeing Mr. s first publication, fell into my hands about a
fortnight ago. I published it with a few loose observations in one of
our newspapers. I have since had the pleasure of being informed
that you have sent to Congress a reply to Deane s accusations,
which has given great satisfaction to impartial men. I foresaw, soon
after his arrival, that your lot would be to suffer persecution for
a while. This is frequently the portion of good men, but they are
never substantially injured by it. My friend and your late col
league, 1 in his letter to me, has mentioned you in the most honor
able as well as the most friendly terms. I should have written to
him by this opportunity, but I am led by yours to believe that my
letter would not reach him. But if he should be in France when
you receive this letter, pray mention my friendly regards to him,
and let him know that his lady and family are in health.

" The young gentleman who carries this letter is Mr. William

1 John Adams.

62 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Feb.

Knox, brother of the General, and has the reputation of an honest
friend to the liberties of h^s country ; your kind notice of him as
such will oblige me." l

The report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs was made
in Congress, after the subject had been under their considera
tion three months, with all the light which the evidence at
hand could throw upon it. They were of opinion that all
ministers to European courts should be recalled, save those to
Versailles and Madrid ; that suspicions and animosities had
arisen among the several Commissioners, Vhich might be
highly prejudicial to the honor and interest of the United
States, and that the appointments of the said Commissioners
be vacated, and new ones made. A debate ensued on the
motion to insert the names of each of the Commissioners,
which was carried. John Adams, however, was excepted
from the implied censure, owing to his having arrived at
Paris subsequently to the outbreak of the feud. Frank
lin, though he had lately been appointed Minister Plenipo
tentiary, was included ; and, on the following day, a motion
was made for his recall from that service, the entire
delegations of Virginia and North Carolina voting in the
affirmative, as did Gerry, Morris, and Paca ; but there
was a decided majority, including Samuel Adams, against it.
The evidence submitted by the committee, justifying such
strong language as " prejudicial to the honor and interest
of the United States," which, after lengthy debate, was
adopted with great unanimity, indicates the violent nature
of the " animosity and suspicions " among the gentlemen in
Paris. The letters of John Adams to his kinsman, how
ever, hint at the feeling existing, and show the wisdom of
continuing Franklin at that Court. It is difficult to see in
whom the advocates of his removal could have placed a
greater degree of confidence. John Adams says :

" I think him [Arthur Lee] a faithful man and able. Yet what
the determination will be upon the complaint of Mr. Deane, I can-

1 S. Adams to A. Lee, Boston, August 1, 1779.

1779.J LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 63

not say. This is a subject which I cannot write or talk about ; I
would not feel such another sensation to be made a prince. I con
fess, I expected the most dismal consequences from it, because I
thought it would render business and confidence between us three
totally impracticable ; that it would destroy all confidence between
this Court and us, and that it would startle Spain ; that it would
alienate many in Holland from us; and that it would encourage
the Ministry in England, and disconcert opposition so much, that
they would even make another vigorous campaign, besides all the
evils it would produce among you. But the arrival of Dr. Frank
lin s .commission has relieved me of all these fears. This Court
have confidence in him alone ; but I think they were cautious even
of him, when he had two colleagues to whom he was obliged to
communicate everything, one of whom was upon as bad terms with
him as with Mr. Deane. I have had a kind of task here, as Mr.
Lovell expresses himself; determined to be the partisan of neither,
yet to be the friend of both, as far as the service would admit. I
am fixed in these two opinions, that leaving the Doctor here alone
is right, and that Mr. Lee is a very honest and faithful man." l

1 John to Samuel Adams, Passy, Feb. 14, 1779.

CHAPTER LI.

Progress of the War. Indications of an Approaching Accommodation. ^Ad
ams considers the Wresting of Nova Scotia and Canada from the Enemy
and the Right to the Fisheries as necessary to a Permanent Peace. He
determines to attend the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention lately
called. He arrives at Boston. Malignant Attacks of his Enemies.
Condition of the Town during the War. Invasion of Connecticut.
Adams urges forward Troops in Aid of Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Expedition to the Penobscot. Adams visits Providence and obtains ad
ditional Troops. -Failure of the Expedition. Individual Sovereignty of
each State at this Epoch. Adams elected to the Assembly and Council.
Continues to act as Secretary of State.

DURING the winter and spring the seat of war was re
moved to the Southern States, in accordance with the plan
of the British Ministry, who believed that a stronger senti
ment of loyalty could be found there than existed in the
North. Georgia was resolved upon as the point for a de
scent ; and before summer the successes of the British, aided
by a loyal population, justified their expectations, but were
offset in the North by the brilliant capture of Stony Point
by Wayne in July. During this time Congress was urged
by the French Ambassador to fix upon some terms of accom
modation with Great Britain ; and the policy of France ap
peared in the desire, among other points, to induce America
not to insist too strongly upon the right to the Newfound
land fisheries or to the acquisition of Canada or Nova Sco
tia, France, herself, probably having an eye to those
advantages for herself in the final settlement. Massachu
setts was particularly set upon the right to the fisheries,
a point upon which every one of her statesmen was equally
solicitous, and which it was supposed could not be overval
ued. Adams, among others, was especially determined on
this subject. In April he wrote, referring to the terms

1779.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 65

which should be demanded of Britain, in case of any treaty
being attempted :

" Should not the people, then, speak the language which becomes
them, and assure her that, after so virtuous and successful a strug
gle, they are determined to demand enough for the purpose of secur
ing their own internal and external happiness ? This is the aim of
the Revolution, and the extent of the wishes of our great and good
ally, who, I dare affirm, is invariably determined not to separate
his interest from that of America, and to support the cause of the
United States as his own. Our happiness depends upon indepen
dence. To be prosperous, we must have an extensive trade. This
will require a respectable navy. Our ships must be manned, and
the source of seamen is the fishery. Among those who ought to see
the importance of the fishery, I am afraid there are some who think
that in insisting upon that, we should insist upon too much. Nova
Scotia and Canada would be a great and permanent protection to
the fishery. But these, say some, are not parts of the United
States, and what right should we have to claim them ? The ces
sion of these territories would prevent any views of Britain to dis
turb our peace in future, and cut off a source of corrupt British
influence, which, issuing from them, might diffuse mischief and
poison through the States. Will not, then, the possession of Nova
Scotia and Canada be necessary, if we mean to make peace on
pacific principles ? If we are to have no overtures this year, and
Providence blesses us with the spirit of enterprise, would it not be
better for us, provided it be practicable, to wrest these places from
the hands of the enemy than to trust to the uncertainty of treaty ?
I confess we have a choice of difficulties. Pray God we may sur
mount them all. None, however, reach the pinnacle of eminence
and glory but the virtuous and brave." l

This subject of the fisheries grew into the first magnitude
not long after, and was a closely contested point in subse
quent treaties. With it was associated the conquest of Can
ada, which had been a prime object with the American
government from the commencement of hostilities with the
mother country. During the seven years war England had

1 S. Adams to S. Cooper, Philadelphia, April 29, 1779.

VOL. III. 5

66 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [April,

taken that country from the French, and principally with
New England troops. Its importance, in connection with
the fishery interests, had been long understood. Samuel
Adams always considered its acquisition as necessary to the
future prosperity and peace of the United States. Although
the attempts of the Provincials, in 1775, proved unsuccessful,
Mr. Adams did not resign the idea, but, until the close of
the war, urged the necessity of wresting that province from
the British. Peace with England terminated the project.
In the war of 1812, the first aggressive thought of the
United States was for the capture of Canada ; but the dis
graceful result of the expedition under Hull put an end to
attempts at conquest in that quarter.

Receiving no response to his application for a recall, his
health failing, wearied with the long absence from his fam
ily, and doubtless reflecting upon the rather thankless nature
of the service he was performing, Mr. Adams addressed his
friend Warren again on the subject :

" I do sincerely hope the General Assembly will appoint another
person to take my place here. I wrote a letter to them last De
cember, requesting that I might be relieved by one of my absent
colleagues or some other gentleman, and permitted to return to my
family in the spring. I find my health declining, and the air of
this country is unfriendly to it. I am, therefore, steadfastly deter
mined to get myself excused in April or May at farthest. In doing
this, I shall immediately make room for an abler man. Such may
easily be found, and, I hope, prevailed upon to come. I should also
gratify those whose hearts are bent upon my removal, and shall
save them the abundance of pains in making their interest to effect
it. These men agree with me, if in nothing else, in wishing most
cordially for my retirement from public business. Perhaps they
would choose to have me recalled with disgrace. I hope this is not
in their power ; though I think I could bear even that with becom
ing fortitude, for I am conscious that I do not deserve to be dis
graced by my country, and can be happy in the reflections of my
own mind.

" The arts they make use of are contemptible. Last year, as you

1779.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 67

observe, I was an enemy to Washington. This was said to render
me odious to the people. The man who fabricated the charge did
not believe it himself. When he endeavored to make others be
lieve it, he attempted to injure me by imposing upon them. His
own heart must, therefore, reproach him with complicated acts of
injustice, and if he has any feeling he must despise himself. If I
indulged the spirit of revenge, could I wish for more ? Now, you
tell me, their art is to prejudice the people against the Lees, and
propagate that I am a friend to them. How trifling is this ! am I
accountable to the people for my opinions of men ? If I have found,
from long and intimate acquaintance with those gentlemen, that they
are, and have been from the beginning of this contest, among the
most able and zealous defenders of the rights of America and man
kind, shall I not be their friend ? I will avow my friendship to
them in the face of the world. As an inhabitant of Massachusetts
Bay I should think myself ungrateful not to esteem Arthur Lee
most highly for his voluntary services to that State in times of her
greatest necessity, to the injury of his private interest and at the
risk of his life." 1

The rejection of the State Constitution, in the previous
summer, by Massachusetts, threw the community back upon
the original form ; and owing to the Rhode Island expedition
and other hinderances, the subject was not revived until Feb
ruary of this year, when, in pursuance of a resolve of the
General Court, a vote was taken throughout the State, re
sulting in favor of a convention for framing a new form of
government. In June, the Legislature provided for the as
sembling of this body in September at Cambridge. Adams
found this an additional incentive for returning to Boston,
the forming of a new constitution of government being a
subject in which he was too deeply interested to be absent.
His friends, too, were doubtless desirous of his wisdom and
experience in the matter. His health continued in the
same precarious state, and he was determined to breathe
some Northern air during the summer. As the Legislature
seemed determined not to accept his resignation, he left

1 S. Adams to J. Warren, Philadelphia, March 23, 1779.

68 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [June,

Philadelphia about the 20th of June, and arrived at Boston
early in July. Gerry, Lovell, and Hilton were left to repre
sent the State in Congress ; and although he remained in
Massachusetts nearly a year, no person was appointed to
succeed him, and he eventually returned and served another
twelvemonth. On reaching home, Samuel Adams did not
find in every respect that republics are ungrateful. He was
warmly greeted by many friends, who keenly resented the
obloquy to which his name and motives had been subjected
in the town whose inhabitants had ever been so dear to him,
and to whose fame as the fortress of American liberty from
the commencement of the Revolution he, above all others,
had contributed with the utmost sacrifices of himself and
family.

Adams was as regardless of the cabal against him now as
he had been in Philadelphia ; and applying himself to gath
ering about him what trifling remnant of worldly goods his
frugal and practical wife had been able to rescue from the
desolation caused by the British soldiery during their occu
pation of the town, he resolved to enjoy that domestic happi
ness which his letters to Mrs. Adams had so longingly
mentioned. No man loved the pleasures of his home more
devotedly than Samuel Adams, and few were better fitted to
make a home happy. His amiable and endearing disposi
tion was remembered in his family long after his death.
His wife could do more with the slender means at her com
mand than most matrons, even in thrifty New England, to
surround the family with comforts ; and at last the pleasant
social hours which had characterized their circle before the
Revolution seemed about to be renewed. But from that
circle some were missing who would never return. Otis,
Thacher, Joseph Warren, Quincy, Molineux, the pioneers
of liberty, the dear and trusted companions of Adams,
had departed from the scene. Hancock, whom he had
reared and schooled in the line of political life, was his ran
corous enemy, Gerry and John Adams were away. A few,

1779.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 69

sucli as James Warren, Cooper, Winthrop, Bowdoin, Sul
livan, Morton, and Jarvis, remained among his intimate
friends, but the difference could already be discerned be
tween Boston now and the Boston of 1774. Great numbers
of those who had formerly made up the assemblages at the
Old South and at Faneuil Hall, and had stood out under his
leadership against the plans of the Tories, were gone, some
dead, and others away in the war, either in the army or in the
extensive privateer service of New England. The glory of
Boston as a commercial mart and a great ship-building de
pot had necessarily declined beneath the calamities it had
undergone ; and though it was still a centre of wealth and
population, the attempts of some of the leading families
at extravagance and display were but sad commentaries
on its departed prosperity. Distress among the poor was
apparent on every hand, and already the influence of the
Tories and their sympathizers had begun to be felt in
public life. But the town continued through the Revo
lution to put forth its strength, and freely gave its wealth
and blood to the cause which had there first sprung into
life.

The position of Secretary of State seems to have been as
signed by common consent to Samuel Adams. The office
had been created by the Council in September, 1775, while
the Legislature was at Watertown, immediately upon his
return from Congress, and thenceforth he continued to dis
charge its duties whenever he visited Massachusetts, the
deputy serving during his absence. When at home, he also
acted as a member of the State Board of War.

About the time of his arrival in Boston, the British had
made a landing in Connecticut, and early in July letters
were received from the governments of Rhode Island and
Connecticut, urging Massachusetts to forward assistance
speedily. This was promptly considered, for the danger
was common to all New England. The expedition, which
was fitted out at New York by Sir Henry Clinton, was com-

70 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [July,

manded by the infamous Governor Tryon. Landing in large
force, the enemy captured New Haven, burned Fairfield, and
marked their course with a wanton destruction of property
and savage cruelty to defenceless people, scarcely exceeded
by the atrocities committed two years later by Arnold and
his Hessians. The correspondence with the respective sov
ereign States on this subject was conducted by Mr. Adams,
and he devoted, as usual, all his energies to the emergency.
In reply to Governor Trumbuirs appeal for aid, he says,
at the close of a resolute and cheering letter :

" Orders are issued to the Brigadiers of the counties of Hamp
shire and Berkshire to detach and forward under proper officers,
with all possible despatch, a number consisting of one fifth part
of their militia to such place in Connecticut as your Excellency
shall appoint, and to continue in service for the defence of the State
of Connecticut during the space of one month after their arrival at
the place designated, unless they shall be sooner discharged. It is
presumed that the aid of one thousand men at least will be afforded
by means of this order. The Council very sensibly feel the distress
which the State of Connecticut has already suffered by the incur
sions and depredations of a desperate and malicious enemy, and
trust in God that the people of New England will always be spir
ited to exert themselves upon every pressing occasion for the com
mon safety, and that these exertions will be attended with the
Divine blessing." x

Letters of a like tenor were sent to Lieutenant-Governor
Bowen of Rhode Island, to General Gates, then in command
of the military in that department, and to Meshech Weare,
President of the Council of the State of New Hampshire.
To General Gates he says, referring to the troops about
leaving for the defence of Rhode Island :

" The progress of the enemy into the State of Connecticut, and
the devastation they have already made in some of the towns there,
require our most vigorous exertions. Orders have been given to
forward the troops destined for the defence of Rhode Island with all

1 July 13, 1779.

1779.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 71

possible despatch ; and the commanding officers of the counties of
Hampshire arid Berkshire are also directed to detach a number
from their militia and march them forthwith for the relief of
Connecticut to such place as Governor Trumbull shall appoint;
of which due notice is forwarded to the Governor. Should the
enemy direct their force to Connecticut, or any part of New
England, and attempt to make that the seat of war this summer,
nothing shall be wanting on the part of this Board to defeat their
designs." l

The aid from Massachusetts was not required, as the
enemy, having sated their appetite for devastation, and
harassed by the rapidly gathering militia, returned to New
York. Massachusetts seemed never weary of furnishing
troops for the war. Indeed, the record of that devoted
State may be proudly viewed by the present generation as
the most glorious of the original thirteen ; for out of about
two hundred and thirty-one thousand soldiers raised for the
armies of the Revolution, Massachusetts supplied nearly
sixty-eight thousand, or more than one fourth of the entire
Continental forces. The drafts upon her resources were
continual, but she never faltered in the great duty she had
assumed. Besides the Penobscot and other expeditions which
this year added to her burdens, two special drafts were
made upon calls from the Federal government. One of
these was by Washington. The following, in the handwrit
ing of Samuel Adams, though not signed by him, is evi
dently the rough draft of his official answer.

STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAT,

IN COUNCIL, Nov. 12, 1779.
SrR,

Your Excellency s letter of the 4th of October to the Council
of this State was duly received and immediately laid before the Gen
eral Assembly, which fortunately happened to be then sitting. The
Assembly have cheerfully complied with your requisition, and ac
cordingly ordered two thousand men to be raised with all possible
despatch for the purposes mentioned. The Council have appointed

1 July 14, 1779.

72 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [July, Aug.

Brigadier- General Fellows to take the command. Enclosed is a
copy of the resolution of the General Assembly. Wishing that
success may ever attend the arms of the United States and our ally,
I am, in the name and behalf of the Council,

Your Excellency s most obedient and humble servant.
His EXCELLENCY GENERAL WASHINGTON.

The required force was at once raised, both by volunteer
ing and drafting, printed notifications having been as usual
served upon the citizens.

An expedition was set on foot this summer to dislodge the
British forces from a post on the east side of the Penobscot
River, where they had recently penetrated from Nova Sco
tia, and could at their pleasure harass the fishing and
coasting vessels and attack the inhabitants of the seaboard.
About forty vessels, transports and fighting ships, were fitted
out at the expense of Massachusetts. The military force to
be thus conveyed consisted of about fifteen hundred men.
The enterprise, like that to Rhode Island in the previous
year, was very popular, and the resources of the State were
freely devoted to it. Samuel Adams exerted himself with
his usual energy to forward the expedition, which, under
the joint command of Captain Saltonstall, who had charge
of the fleet, and Generals Lovell and Wadsworth, who headed
the troops,, sailed in the middle of July. Owing to a disa
greement between the commanders of the fleet and of the
army, the efficiency of the whole was much weakened. On
arriving at Penobscot, the works were assaulted with great
bravery, but the marine force not coming to the support of
the attacking party, they were repulsed with the loss of a
hundred men. Finding the post so formidable, Lovell sent
back for reinforcements of Continental troops. Three thou
sand men were now at Providence under Gates. Upon the
arrival of this requisition, Adams repaired thither to obtain
the desired assistance. While there he wrote back to the
President of the Council :

1779.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 73

PROVIDENCE, August 10, 1779.

SIR,

I have the honor to acquaint the Honorable the Council Board,
that I arrived here last evening, and, upon communicating their re
quest to Major-General Gates, I found him ready as usual to afford
every assistance in his power for the service of the great cause.
He has ordered Colonel Jackson, with a detachment from his regi
ment, consisting of four hundred men, to join General Lovell at
Penobscot. This corps I have reason to believe, both officers and
privates, will do honor to themselves and their country when an op
portunity shall present. I had the satisfaction of seeing them on
their march this morning at sunrise, and the Council may expect
them in the neighborhood of Boston to-morrow evening. In the
mean time, I hope that transports and every accommodation will be
prepared for them, that their passage to the place of their destination
may not be delayed. I shall immediately forward to Brigadier-
General Godfrey the order of the Honorable Board, for the detach
ing four hundred militia to serve in Providence in the room of these
troops, and remain with all regard,

Sir, your most obedient humble servant,

SAMUEL ADAMS.
To THE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL, OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY.

On the following day, he again addressed the Presi
dent.

PROVIDENCE, August 11, 1779.
SIR,

General Gates writes to the Council, by this express, that Col
onel Jackson s regiment will have arrived at Boston before this let
ter reaches you. I presume they will sail under the strongest con
voy that can be made up. Should they meet with a superior force
of the enemy at sea, I conceive it ought to be a point settled and
indispensable, that the commanders of the armed vessels run the
utmost risk to give the troops an opportunity of making their es-
scape. I wrote yesterday to Brigadier- General Godfrey, and this
morning received his answer, with assurance of punctual obedience
to the orders of Council.

Your most obedient servant,

SAMUEL ADAMS.
To THE HONORABLE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF MASSACHUSETTS BAT.

74 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Aug.

These reinforcements did not reach their destination in
time to effect the intended service. A formidable British
fleet was sent from New York, to escape which the Ameri
cans were forced to destroy a number of their vessels, the
remainder falling into the hands of the enemy. The Gen
eral Court of Massachusetts instituted an inquiry into the
causes of the failure, which resulted in the cashiering of
Saltonstall for his dilatoriness, while Lovell and Wads-
worth were highly commended for their bravery and good
conduct.

The Massachusetts Legislature was in session nearly the
whole of this year. Its efforts were directed towards a reg
ulation of the State finances, and energetic, though almost
hopeless, exertions to alleviate the general financial distress.
Most of these plans proved ineffectual, especially that to reg
ulate the price of articles of living, for which purpose county
conventions were also held. The continued depreciation of
the paper currency augmented the difficulty, and compelled
a resort to additional taxes to meet the State and Continen
tal needs. Many who had ranked as prosperous merchants,
mechanics, and farmers, before the Kevolution, were now
reduced to absolute want, while others had arisen from
humble circumstances to affluence. A letter on this subject
by Curwen, a refugee from Massachusetts, then living in
England, will best illustrate the social and financial condi
tion of the State. An old acquaintance had just arrived
from Boston, and he writes :

" From him and young Gardner, only son of Jonathan Gardner,
Jr., I have obtained the annexed list of prices, which, instead of a
score of arguments, may prove the low condition of Congressional
credit, and show the exorbitant rate of the useful articles of life
and perhaps their scarcity. It is a melancholy truth, that, whilst
some are wallowing in undeserved wealth that plunder and rapine
have thrown into their hands, the wisest, most peaceable, and most
deserving, such as you and I know, are now suffering want, accom
panied by many indignities that a licentious, lawless people can
pour forth upon them.

1779.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 75

"Those who, five years ago, were the meaner people* are now, by
a strange revolution, become almost the only men of power, riches,
and influence ; those who, on the contrary, were leaders and in the
highest line of life are glad at this time to be unknown and unno
ticed to escape insult and plunder, the wretched condition of all
who are not violent and adopters of republican principles. The
Cabots of Beverly, who, you know, had but five years ago a very
moderate share of property, are now said to be by far the most
wealthy in New England. Hasket Derby claims the second place
in the list, and ****** puts in for a place among the first
three. Mr. Goodale, by agency concerns in privateers and buying
shares, counts almost as many pounds as most of his neighbors.
The following are persons of the most eminence for business in
Salem, as far as my memory serves, viz. Hasket Derby, William
Pickman, George Crowinshield, William Vans, Captain Harraden
(a brave and noticeable privateer captain), Joseph Henfield, Captain
Silsbee, Samuel Gardner, Joseph and Joshua Grafton s sons, Fran
cis Clarke, Captain George Dodge s youngest sons, Jos. Orne.
E. H. Derby s Province tax is eleven thousand pounds, and his
neighbors complain he is not half taxed. The immensely large
nominal sums which some are said to be worth shrink into diminu
tive bulk when measured by the European standard of gold and
silver. In New England, a dollar bill is worth only two and two
thirds of an English halfpenny. Pins at one shilling apiece, needles
at two shillings, beef two shillings sixpence, veal two shillings, mut
ton and lamb one shilling sixpence, butter six shillings per pound,
rum eight dollars per gallon, molasses two dollars, brown sugar ten
shillings per pound, loaf sugar fifteen shillings, Bohea tea seven
dollars per pound, coffee five dollars, Irish pork sixty dollars per
barrel, lemons three shillings apiece, wood twenty dollars a cord,
ordinary French cloth twenty-two dollars a yard, hose nine dollars
a pair. A suit of clothes which cost five guineas here would cost
five hundred dollars in Boston." l

Besides these enormous prices, so crushing to the poor,
the paralysis of trade rendered them the more unwilling and
unable to meet the taxation. Rumors of an intended Brit
ish descent kept the sea-coasts in a continual alarm, and

1 Curwen s Journal, Feb. 10, 1780.

76 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

called for increased defences in Boston Harbor. A portion
of the troops from the Penobscot expedition were stationed
at Castle Island, and an additional militia force was ordered
out to man the other fortifications. The taxes for this year
amounted to about two hundred thousand dollars in real
value ; a sum insignificant at the present day, but at that
time of formidable dimensions, and represented in the depre
ciated paper by two millions of dollars. 1 The most pinching
misery was experienced in some parts of the State, thou
sands lacking the common necessaries of life. Early in the
year, the Legislature had directed the State Board of War to
purchase flour and grain for the use of the inhabitants, and
authorized Cumberland Dugan, in Philadelphia, to make
these purchases on the account of Massachusetts. Such,
however, was the depreciation of the individual State paper
that the agent was unable to pass it, except at a serious dis
count. The Massachusetts delegation, before Adams left
Philadelphia, had procured the passage of a resolve in Con
gress, 2 recommending the grain-producing States to permit
the exportation of flour and grain from their sea-coasts un
der the direction of the Massachusetts Board of War.

These proceedings illustrate more forcibly than any ex
tended disquisition on the subject the entire sovereignty of
each State prior to the adoption of the Federal Constitution
in 1788. Each of the original thirteen Colonies considered it
self a distinct republic, exercising its own prerogatives, mak
ing war, as we have seen in the case of Massachusetts, on its
own responsibility, raising troops, fitting out fleets against
the enemy, and negotiating with other States as friendly
allies in a common cause. This is also shown by a corre
spondence which took place this summer between Samuel
Adams and Meshech Weare, who occupied a corresponding
position in New Hampshire, relative to an act of piracy said
to have been committed on the high seas, by " the American

1 Bradford s Massachusetts, from 1775 to 1789, p. 182.

2 Journals of Congress, V. 147.

1779.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 77

prize vessel Adventure " upon a French ship, of which the
French Ambassador had complained to Congress. The en
tire adjustment of the affair was between the two States as
independent sovereignties. Some letters written within a
few years of the adoption of the Constitution refer to Mas
sachusetts as " our republic " ; and in 1784 the Legislature,
for a while assuming to be a sovereign State, forbade the
residence of aliens within her borders, in opposition to the
treaty with Britain, which had been ratified for the United *
States by their deputies in Congress assembled. The mis
sion of the Congressional delegates, prior to the date of the
Constitution, partook somewhat of a diplomatic character.
The same may be said of the powers of the French consuls
residing at the seaports of the several States. In January
of this year, the commission of Yalnais, as Consul to Boston
and other ports in Massachusetts, had been referred by Con
gress to the Marine Committee, 1 and Samuel Adams notified
the President of the Massachusetts Council of the appoint
ment. The Council immediately applied to the Congress to
know the powers of such an officer. The subject being again
submitted to the Marine Committee, Adams reported a plan
of adjustment of such powers, to be agreed upon between a
committee of Congress and the French Minister. Every act
shows the tenderness of the States respecting their particu
lar sovereignty, and their unwillingness to surrender to the
Federal power more than was barely sufficient to conduct
the war. Under such a wide-extended assertion of State
rights, it is rather surprising that the whole were induced to
accept the Articles of Confederation, than that the instru
ment did not concede more central power to Congress.

The negotiation for breadstuff s, on the part of the Mas
sachusetts agent, would probably have failed but for an
arrangement made by the delegation in Congress with Hille-
gas, 2 Continental Treasurer, by which an exchange of Con-

1 Journals of Congress, V. 29.

a Michael Hillegas was nominated by Mr. Adams in November of the previ
ous year, on the remodelling of the Treasury Board.

78 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

tinental and State paper was effected for sixty thousand
dollars. The correspondence on this subject with the sev
eral financial parties, with the Massachusetts government,
and with the Governors of the States whence the supplies
were to be obtained, was all conducted by Mr. Adams. The
Schooner " Banner " had lately arrived from Baltimore,
loaded with grain, under the sanction of Governor Johnston
of that State, to whom Adams had written from Philadel
phia, desiring him to facilitate her loading.

Besides the distresses resulting from taxation and the
reimbursement of losses from the unfortunate expeditions
to Rhode Island and Penobscot, the subject of enlistment
was a source of much anxiety to the State government.
The term of those now in service would expire with the
year. With a view of inducing a re-enlistment of men
already in camp, a committee of the Legislature visited the
army, being authorized to give a bounty of three hundred
dollars to those who enlisted for the war, for which purpose
an appropriation was voted of seven hundred thousand dol
lars. Advances were made to the officers, and the Mas
sachusetts towns were required by special enactment to
furnish clothing for those who should re-enlist. At the call
of Washington upon Congress for militia, Massachusetts
sent two thousand men, and at that time appropriated addi
tional money for bounties and contingent expenses ; and, on
the adjournment of the Legislature in October, the Council
was authorized to call out four thousand men if required ;
and that they would be needed seemed not improbable from
the aspect of the large British force at New York. Massa
chusetts remained resolute and determined to the last in
support of American liberty, and cheerfully devoted her sub
stance and energies to the war, which in the end was found
to have drained her resources in men and means to an
extent appalling to contemplate. The successive issues of
paper by Congress, amounting, at the time Adams left Phil
adelphia this year, to above one hundred and fifty millions,

1779.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 79

had depreciated its value to about twenty for one, and the
demands upon the States continued. Speculation and fraud,
then as since, took advantage of the public calamities. 1
Rogues and Tories, it was observed, grew rich, while the
honest and patriotic were impoverished, and Washington
made it the subject of repeated letters. Confidence in the
Continental paper was lessened by the great quantities of
counterfeit money of that kind, struck oif in New York by
the British, and scattered broadcast over the land, and so
faithfully executed as in most cases to defy detection. The
constant efforts of Washington to recruit and supply his
army met with a generous response from Massachusetts ;
and Samuel Adams, both in his official positions there and
in Congress, though his enemies circulated reports to the
contrary, was an unfailing advocate of all measures calcu
lated to give a permanent character to the army, by pro
moting enlistments for the war, and to supply means for its
support.

Aware of his intended return to Massachusetts, the town
had chosen him to the Assembly in the last May election.
In September, after his arrival, he became a member of the
Council, and the town refused by vote to fill the vacancy
thus created in the House. 2 He still continued to act as
Secretary of State until the elections under the new Consti
tution, in the following year, effected a change of govern
ment. Twelve delegates from Boston (of whom Adams had
the largest number of votes and stood first on the list) were
elected in August to represent the town in the approaching
Convention, to prepare a State Constitution. 3

1 Hildreth, III. 272.

z Boston Town Eecords, May 5, Sept. 9, 1779.

8 Mr, Adams was thus, by appointment and election, encumbered with th3
six important public trusts of delegate to the Continental Congress, Secretary
of State of the " Republic of Massachusetts Bay," member of the Massachu
setts Council, and of the House of Representatives, delegate to the Consti
tutional Convention, and member of the Massachusetts Board of War.

CHAPTER LII.

The Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. Adams a Delegate from
Boston. Eminent Members. Adams chosen to the Drafting Committee
from the Convention at large. Is selected with John Adams and Bow-
doin to prepare the Instrument. Probability of his having aided in the
Work. Evidences of his Authorship of the Declaration of Eights. He
drafts the Address of the Convention to the People.

ON the 1st of September, the delegates to the Constitu
tional Convention assembled at Cambridge. 1 The principal

1 The important part taken by Samuel Adams in preparing this form of
government was often spoken of by members of the Convention who were
surviving within the memory of persons yet living, and the contemporary
records of his agency in the work are not a few. Time has so buried in ob
livion the name and deeds of the subject of these memoirs, that even under
the hands of the restorer the picture shows but faint traces of the original.
Adams s entire indifference as to those memorials, which have gone so far to
embellish the names of others less careless of future fame, leaves the inquirer
nearly in the dark as to details. Among the several great minds in that body
John and Samuel Adams stood particularly prominent. The superior legal
abilities and knowledge of the forms of government possessed by the one
were not more necessary to the work than the great wisdom and experience,
the methodical habit of thought, and the sound judgment, of the other. To
John Adams has been accorded the entire honor of producing the imperishable
structure, including even the Declaration of Eights, unaided by the pen and
judgment of the elder Adams or Bowdoin, who, with him, were deputed to
draft it ; and a traditional speech of his has been cited in evidence of his over
shadowing influence in the Convention.

It is believed tha"t an irresistible array of contemporary evidence has been
gathered to show that Samuel Adams was the author of the famous state paper
of the House of Eepresentatives in the winter of 1773 (see II. 31-42), during
the great controversy with the royal Governor on the supremacy of Parlia
ment. Facts which have come to light place the question beyond a doubt.
Yet, alluding to this paper near half a century afterwards, John Adams,
through an error of memory, claimed it for himself. The mistake which he
made in regard to the state paper of 1773 he may have repeated in regard to
the Constitution of 1779.

The speeches of Samuel Adams explaining his own ideas of government

Sept., 1779.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 81

points which had caused the rejection of the Constitution of
1778 were : that it came direct from the General Court
instead of a Convention of special delegates ; the short no
tice at which it had been prepared by the legislative commit-

were remembered by several of the delegates, one of whom, Judge Bobbins of
Dedham, said to the late Samuel Adams Wells, that they were remarkable
features in the proceedings, and powerful agents in shaping the ultimate de
cisions. One address he particularly alluded to for its ability and length.
Mr. Thaxter, another member, used to say of John and Samuel Adams, that
while the former had the best understanding of the law of any man in Massa
chusetts, the latter was better versed in the rights of the people, and that,
without the distinguishing qualities of each, the Constitution could not have
proved the excellent model of government it was. By this he evidently
meant that instrument as matured by the committee who drafted it. How
materially the Adamses differed in their ideas of government is shown in
their published correspondence ten years later. The Marquis de Chastellux,
in his work on America, describes an interview with Samuel Adams at Phila
delphia, when the subject of the Massachusetts Constitution, then just gone
into operation, was raised. After the conversation, in which Adams with
considerable minuteness had expressed his theories of the American State
governments, and especially of the Constitution of Massachusetts, the writer
enters in his Diary : " Such was the idea Mr. Adams gave me of his own
work, for it is he who had the greatest part in the formation of the new laws."
(De Chasteliux s Travels, I. 271.) The translator, in a note, says he has
some reason to think they were rather the work of John Adams. The two
opinions may offset one another, but that of Chastellux was evidently received
from persons about him, who were aware of Samuel Adams s agency, or else
from the tenor of Mr. Adams s remarks. And as further indicating the gen
eral belief at the time the new Constitution went into effect, that Samuel
Adams was in part its author, see the letter of M. Marbois, the French Secre
tary of Legation to the United States in 1782, who states it with confidence in
a government despatch, that the Massachusetts Constitution was in a great
measure the work of Samuel Adams. Marbois was no friend of Adams, and
in the same breath misrepresents his motives relative to the Newfoundland
fisheries, and his opposition to government, even to this form, which the
writer says was in part his. Had it not been at that time generally under
stood that Samuel Adams was instrumental in producing the Constitution, the
fact would scarcely have been so positively alluded to by both De Chastellux
and M. Marbois. Joseph Allen, a member from Worcester, a nephew of Sam
uel Adams, and during part of the time Secretary of the Convention, was
well aware that his uncle was actively engaged in preparing parts of the Con
stitution. He had for some years enjoyed the confidence of Mr. Adams, and
being intimate with the family always interested himself in the public acts of
his revered relative. This testimony is supported by the Rev. John Eliot in

VOL. III. 6

82 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

tee, the absence of a bill of rights, reserving and expressing
the natural and inalienable privileges of the people, and the
unsatisfactory adjustment of the executive powers. The
first men of Massachusetts had been now deputed for a

his Biographical Dictionary, published shortly after the death of Adams, when
his public services were fresh in memory. Dr. Eliot had resided all his life
in Boston, and the first historians have not hesitated to quote from him as an
impartial writer. In this memoir he states that Samuel Adams was not only
a leader in the debates, but was eminently useful from his knowledge and ex
perience in the committee which made the first draft, as well as in the great
body which shaped it in its present form. This is contemporary evidence of
the most trustworthy character. Many members were living when this was
penned, and the writer, who knew Samuel Adams all his life, repeatedly offici
ated as chaplain of this Convention. The records sufficiently show the part
which Mr. Adams took in the labors of that body. His advice seems to have
been continually sought, and some of the suggestions from the numerous com
mittees on which he served (and of several of which he was chairman) are
thought to have been the result of his most mature deliberation upon the
original instrument, while listening to the opinions of other members. Judge
Sullivan, who was one of the committee of thirty who selected Bowdoin and
the two Adamses to prepare the original form, refers in his memoir of Adams
to his partiality to this frame of government, and records it as a fact per
sonally known to him that Samuel Adams had assisted to digest and compile
it. Another contemporary, Bradford the historian, having witnessed the
whole career of Samuel Adams through the Revolution and until his death,
states unqualifiedly that he was one of the framers of the Constitution of
Massachusetts, and had a principal share in preparing the Bill of Rights.
His agency in producing that instrument seems, in the last century and early
in this, to have been generally understood and conceded.

But the production of so important a document was not intrusted to a sin
gle pen. The three principal statesmen of the Convention had been chosen to
consult together and prepare the plan. The very selection imposed a duty
upon each to bring to the task all his knowledge and abilities. Can it be
supposed that Samuel Adams and Bowdoin remained idle ? Was their expe
rience of no value in matters certainly doubtful in the new field they were ex
ploring ? One of the objects which had brought Samuel Adams home from
Congress at this time was to take part in forming the government of a people
to whose happiness he had for years devoted himself. Holten and Hawley
both wrote to him expressing their views, one from Philadelphia and the
other from his retirement at Northampton, showing that they considered him
as the best person to address when desirous of advancing their own ideas of
government. He had long pondered over, and was full of the subject. That
he should not have assisted in digesting the model, when designated by the
Convention for that special purpose, seems incredible.

1779.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 83

work which was to lay the foundation for the government
of future generations, and which, from the critical and
inquisitive character of the New England people, would
require mature wisdom to digest, and able argument to

Whenever the Constitution is mentioned by the Adamses in their corre
spondence, after John Adams had sailed again for Europe, it is in a manner
indicating their joint deliberations. " I assure you," writes the younger
Adams from Paris, in February, 1780, "it is more comfortable making Con
stitutions in the dead of winter at Cambridge or Boston than sailing in a
leaky ship, or climbing on foot or upon mules over the mountains of Galicia
or the Pyrenees." He seems to remind his friend of work on which, but a few
months before, they had been engaged together. The reply of Samuel Adams
in March, after the Convention had amended the original form, leads to the
same inference. " The Convention," he saya, " is adjourned till the first
Wednesday next. The fabric is not materially injured. It is proposed that
the people should state their objections, if they have any, and that the Conven
tion should adapt it to the general sentiment, and give it their sanction. A
new Convention is to be called, if two thirds of the people shall think it expe
dient, in the year 1 795, to make alterations as experience may dictate."

It is probable that rough sketches of the several great features were pre
pared by each of the committee of three, during the time allowed them by
the Convention for that purpose, and that John Adams, to whose legal knowl
edge the others were quite ready to defer, finally embodied in his draft the re
sults of their joint conclusions. No trace, however, of any such paper in his
handwriting has been discovered. The report was submitted to the Conven
tion by Bowdoin, the chairman, in the name of the general committee. So
exactly did this form of government represent the known theories of Samuel
Adams, that for a long time in Boston he was reputed to have been its origi
nator, though afterwards, in public estimation the authorship was divided be
tween the two kinsmen. Hildreth appears to have satisfied himself of the asso
ciated labors of the three composing the special sub-committee. He says :
" The Adamses and Bowdoin, acting as a sub-committee, reported at an ad
journed session the draft of a Constitution, which, being modified and adopted
by the Convention, and approved by the people, went into operation the same
year." (History of the United States, III. 375.) Bowdoin s agency does not
seem to have been hinted at by any member of the Convention ; but his good
judgment, matured in his long leadership of the Council under the royal gov
ernment, must have been felt in the deliberations of the committee. John
Adams, too, questioned in his subsequent writings the beneficial tendencies
of frequent elections of governors and senators, under the American constitu
tions. As such annual elections formed the basis of the Massachusetts system,
which was opposed to the avowed hereditary anti-democratic principles of
John Adams, there is an evident inconsistency in his claiming, as he did in
after years, the entire instrument as his composition.

84 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

support. The Convention consisted of the same number
of Representatives as the Legislature. Among the Boston
members were B owdoin, Samuel Adams, Hancock, Lovell.
and Jarvis. Braintree sent John Adams, who had lately re-

A great characteristic of Samuel Adams was his perfect consistency. His
tenacity of opinion on most subjects was remarkable, and gave a tone to the
politics of America for many years. After he had retired from national posi
tion to his native State, this trait was still more observable. His views being
founded in preconceived ideas of justice and expediency, adopted before the
Revolution, he never swerved from them to the end of his days; and this is
particularly applicable to his theories of government. He always thought
that the Massachusetts system was as near perfection as it was possible to
arrive with the lights then existing. This opinion appears in his letters and
speeches and all his public conduct. He regarded that work with the partial
ity of one who had assisted in its creation, not as one who had been suddenly
converted to a plan proposed by another. But John Adams in after years,
briefly enumerating the variety of ideas in the Convention, named his kinsman
among those who advocated a single Assembly, a Legislature with but one
branch (Works, IX. 618). This is totally inconsistent with the political ideas
of Samuel Adams. The statement having been brought to the notice of
ex-Governor Strong, who was one of the four balloted for by the Convention
at large, he replied (May 31, 1819) : "I have no recollection that Mr. Adams
opposed any material part of the present Constitution. If he had, I think I
should certainly remember it. I know that he strongly advocated some parts
of its important clauses, and I have no doubt he approved of, and voted
for, the whole as a system of government for this State." After naming the
principal members of the Convention, including the two Adamses, Bowdoin,
Paine, Gushing, Pickering, and Parsons, he continues : " These generally
agreed in the principles of the Constitution, but they were often opposed by
divers members of the Convention, who wished for what was termed a more
popular government. Mr. Strong also indorsed emphatically the statement
of Eliot as to Samuel Adams s watchfulness, knowledge, and experience in
that Convention. This is the testimony of an eyewitness, and one of the most
distinguished of the Assembly. Again, the assent of Samuel Adams to the
Constitution was indispensable for its adoption. No man in that body, as
appears by the recorded votes, wielded so powerful an influence ; and had he
ever been in favor of a Legislature with but a single branch, he would assur
edly have made his ideas known to the Convention ; but among all the sub
jects discussed, as shown by the minutes, this essential question was not even
raised.

Writing to John Adams a few years earlier on the subject of a Constitution
proposed for Massachusetts, Samuel Adams, then on a visit to Boston, says :
"Our Assembly have appointed a committee to prepare a form of government ;
they have not yet reported ; I believe they will agree in the two legislative

1779.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 85

turned from Europe, and Paine, Parsons, Strong, Sullivan,
Gushing, and Pickering were counted among the distin
guished lights of the body. After the organization, the ear
liest attention was given to that essential feature which had

branches. Their great difficulty seems to be to determine upon a free and
adequate representation. They are at present an unwieldy body." No
opposition to two branches is here implied, but the reader would rather infer
from this fragment a degree of satisfaction at the reduction of the unwieldy
representative body, and the probable agreement upon a Senate and House. It
is, in fact, simply impossible that Samuel Adams should have favored an idea
so obviously at variance with his avowed opinions as a legislator and the ideas
he subsequently expressed. In the conversation with Chastellux, even as im
perfectly reported by that writer, he explains the relative powers of the Sen
ate and House, and points with approbation to the moderating power of one
upon the other. The checks and balances necessary to a sound government
were frequently alluded to in his writings. The passage of a bill through the
second House he called "its second digestion." When this Constitution was
put to the first practical test a few years later, in Shays s rebellion, Mr.
Adams, who was a leading member of the Senate, was prompt in opposing the
unreasonable demands of the insurgents, one of which was the abolition of
the Senate as an expensive and needless branch of the government ; and the
upper House was a continual offset to the Representatives, many of whom were
too ready to compromise with the rebels. His whole subsequent course shows
a thorough appreciation of, and partiality for, the Senate, as an indispensable
portion of the government. In a correspondence between the two Adamses,
when one was Vice-President of the United States, and the other Lieutenant-
Governor of Massachusetts, in which their respective ideas of government are
given, Samuel Adams describes the several functions of Governor, Senate, and
House, iinder the Massachusetts Constitution, and argues in defence of their
efficiency and wholesome balance upon each other. He was also the author of
the Address of the Convention to the people, lucidly explaining the instrument
to the commonest capacity. The drafting of that paper would scarcely have
been intrusted to one whose views were opposed to so great a principle of the
Constitution. But the Address dwells particularly upon the two departments
of Senate and House as necessary for the full and free exercise of the powers
of government, the one representing the property, and the other the per
sons of the Commonwealth. It cannot be supposed that the author of that
Address wrote in direct opposition to his own ideas.

The form itself is, in many respects, an elaboration of the original, rejected
Constitution of 1778. A comparison of these papers leaves no room for ques
tion that the committee of three had the prior instrument before them, and in
corporated portions into their work, transposing, rearranging, and adopting
them, with sometimes but trifling changes of phraseology. The points of re
semblance are apparent upon a cursory examination. A Legislature with two

86 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept., Oct.

been omitted in the rejected Constitution of the previous
year. This was the all-important subject of a declaration of
rights. Long and very general debates, of which no records
are known to exist, attended this question ; but the vote was
unanimous that the government to be formed should be a
free republic, and that " the essence of a free republic con
sists in a people being governed by fixed laws of their own
making." A committee of twenty-six members, proportioned
among the several counties, and four chosen at large by bal
lot from the Convention, thirty in all, was then ap
pointed to prepare the Declaration of Rights and Constitu
tion of Government. Of the four, Samuel Adams received
the greatest number of votes, two hundred and nine out
of two hundred and thirty-seven. Then came a free and gen
eral conversation upon the principles of government, which

branches ; the powers of Senate and House separated and defined ; the man
ner and time of holding elections ; the property qualifications of State officers ;
the numerical basis of popular representation ; the number of senators ; the
manner of electing members of Congress ; the disqualifications of the judges
from holding a seat in the Legislature ; the command of the military and naval
forces by the governor ; and other minor points are nearly the same in each.
The two forms differ particularly in those features for which the people had re
jected the earlier one. Taking the rejected constitution for their basis, the
committee built from its materials the more perfect structure which was sub
mitted to the Convention. This fact seems to have been in the memory of
Judge Sullivan, in associating Samuel Adams with the " compiling and digest
ing " of it.

That Samuel Adams was the principal agent in preparing the Declaration
of Eights has been often conceded. His first object was always to prepare a
foundation of theory. This is shown, among other instances, in his Massa
chusetts Resolves in 1765, which served as the basis of the Colonial policy dur
ing the eventful nine years of controversy preceding the first Congress, and in
the first act of the Committee of Correspondence in 1772. According to Gor
don, he had been suspected, in 1776, of opposing the proprietary interest in
Pennsylvania, and of favoring a democratic form of government in that State,
by " concerning himself unduly in the business," so much that his life was
threatened. The narration io substantiated by a letter written while the vote
for a Constitutional Convention was pending in the present year in Massachu
setts. " I was mortified," says the writer, "a few days ago, to read the fol
lowing paragraph in a letter wrote by a gentleman of your country, who cer
tainly has a very good heart, and once idolized Mr. Adams. After giving his

1779.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 87

apparently lasted for the greater part of one day, when, on
the 7th of September, having been in session a week, they
adjourned for six weeks. The committee of thirty, to
whom the subject was intrusted, deputed a sub-committee,
consisting of Bowdoin and the two Adamses, to draft the
instrument, which was submitted to the Convention at the
reassembling, on the 28th of October. Before that time,
however, John Adams had been appointed by Congress
Minister to treat with Great Britain for peace and com
merce, and he was thus unable to take any part in the dis
cussions of the amendments proposed during a part of Octo
ber and November. The account of the proceedings given
by Governor Strong, in a letter on the subject, bears close
comparison with the published proceedings of the Conven
tion, and attest to his brightness of memory, since the jour
nal was not published until long after his death. " The

opinion freely of the Pennsylvania Constitution, he says : Mr. Samuel Adams
of your State is generally suspected among the gentlemen of that State to have
laid the foundation of that government, and if the gentlemen have their proper
weight, I would not answer for his safety. " If Mr. Adams had any share in
that work, which is very probable, it was clearly in the Declaration of Rights,
which was completed two weeks before he left Philadelphia in 1776, while the
form of government was not prepared until after his departure. The " foun
dation " here evidently implies the Declaration of Eights, which, in the Massa
chusetts as in the Pennsylvania Convention, was the step taken towards estab
lishing the form of government The great primal truths of the rights of
man contained in these Declarations were first announced as the basis of re
publican government in the Virginia Convention in May, 1776. But those
principles had again and again been enunciated by Samuel Adams in his
state papers from 1765 to 1772 as the foundation of the rights for which the
Colonists were contending. They were adopted with slight verbal alterations
by the original States, and each new member of the Union has found little to
discard or change. The Declaration of Rights, prefacing the Massachusetts
Constitution, embodies the substance of the instrument adopted by Virginia ;
but it is far more lengthy and detailed, containing many specifications which
experience and local circumstances seemed to demand. Bradford says that
Samuel Adams had the principal hand in preparing it; and its spirit and
phraseology are in perfect keeping with his lifelong theories and writings.
His partiality for its provisions led him to offer several of the articles as
amendments to the Federal Constitution in the Massachusetts Convention in
1788.

88 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Nor,

Convention," he says, " met at the time and place fixed
by the adjournment; the committee finished their busi
ness on the morning of the meeting, and presented their
report to that body. The third article in the Declara
tion of Rights soon engrossed their attention. Part of
the members thought it highly important to authorize fu
ture members of the Legislature to require the separate
towns to support ministers, and the people to attend their
public services ; while others strenuously contended that no
such authority should be given. After the subject had been
discussed for several days, with much zeal, and without any
prospect of agreement, the Convention voted to choose a
committee to reconcile, if possible, the opposing parties.
Four of the committee, of whom Mr. Adams was one, were
in favor of giving the authority in question, and three were
against it. The committee met several times, and during
their absence from the Convention the debates were sus
pended. At length, the committee agreed to report the
third article as it now stands in the Declaration of Rights,
all the members engaging to support it, except Mr. Sand-
ford, a clergyman and delegate from some town in the pres
ent county of Norfolk. He observed that the article was as
unexceptionable as anything that could be said on the sub
ject, but declared that he would never agree that any
authority should be given to the Legislature to make laws
concerning public worship or the appointment of public
teachers ; however, he promised not to oppose the accept
ance of the report. When the report was made to the Con
vention, there was little or no debate, and it was adopted by
an almost unanimous vote." l Several times during the
session, the proceedings were delayed by the absence of
many of the members; on one occasion there were but
ninety-three present, and two hundred and seven absent.
On the 12th of November, they adjourned to meet at the
Representative Chamber at Boston in January. The Pres-

1 Caleb Strong to Samuel Adams Wells, Northampton, May 31, 1819.

1779.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 89

ident, by order of the Convention, published an appeal to
the members, enjoining a constant and general attendance
for the proper consideration of business. From this it would
appear that at this time a large number did not feel a befit
ting interest in the task intrusted to them. When they
met again, on the 6th of January, the attendance was too
small for business, and adjournments were had from day to
day, until the 27th, when, there being but sixty present, the
proceedings were recommenced, and continued until March
2d. The Convention having adopted the form of govern
ment, it again adjourned to the first Wednesday in June,
the Constitution to be meanwhile laid before the people by
their respective delegates. If two thirds of the voting in
habitants approved, it was to become the government for
Massachusetts. Towards the close of the session in Febru
ary, a committee was appointed to prepare an address to the
people upon the Constitution about to be submitted to their
judgment. This paper, which was under careful considera
tion by the Convention parts of two days, being read by par
agraphs and repeatedly amended, is said by Dr. Eliot to
have been composed by Samuel Adams " and another gen
tleman, who has since filled several offices of honor and trust
in the Commonwealth." 1 The unmistakable style of the
paper sufficiently indicates the authorship ; but fragments
of the Address in the handwriting of Samuel Adams leave
no room for doubt. It is probable that the amendments
which the original draft underwent, at the hands of a com
mittee to whom it was afterwards submitted, were made by
Sullivan. The paper is a compendium of the opinions of
Samuel Adams on government ; and whoever studies it in
connection with his general writings on that subject will
have a correct view of the principle upon which were
founded all his ideas of political society. It not only coin-

1 Mr. Adams undoubtedly submitted his draft to the correct judgment of
his friend, James Sullivan, who was also of the committee. The other mem
bers were Lowell, Gray, West, Thomson, and Parsons.

90 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Feb.

cides with his writings previously published, beginning with
his earliest essays, but it will bear the closest comparison
with all his subsequent opinions as they appear in his private
letters and his speeches while Governor of Massachusetts.
He was added to the committee for supervising the printing
and distributing the eighteen hundred copies of the Consti
tution and Address ordered by the Convention, and he sent
one to John Adams by a son of Dr. Warren, who was then
setting out for Europe, with the good wishes of his late fa
ther s truest and most beloved friend. John Adams wrote
to one of his correspondents how much the Address was
admired there for its " noble simplicity." It exactly accom
plished its objects in Massachusetts, where, circulated among
the towns, it tended, by its wise reasoning and judicious
statement of the Constitution, to harmonize the conflicting
views of government consequent upon the breaking up of
the old established forms, and very materially aided in se
curing the popular assent to the work of the Convention.

"AN ADDRESS OF THE CONVENTION FOR FRAMING A NEW
CONSTITUTION OF GOVERNMENT FOR THE STATE OF
MASSACHUSETTS BAY TO THEIR CONSTITUENTS.

" FRIENDS AND COUNTRYMEN,

" Having had your appointment and instruction, we have under
taken the arduous task of preparing a civil Constitution for the peo
ple of Massachusetts Bay, and we now submit it to your candid
consideration. It is your interest to revise it with the greatest care
and circumspection ; and it is your undoubted right, either to propose
such alterations and amendments as you shall judge proper, or to
give it your own sanction in its present form, or totally to reject it.

" In framing a Constitution to be adapted as far as possible to the
circumstances of posterity yet unborn, you will conceive it to be
exceedingly difficult, if not impracticable, to succeed in every part
of it to the full satisfaction of all. Could the whole body of the peo
ple have convened for the same purpose, there might have been
equal reason to conclude that a perfect unanimity of sentiments
would have been an object not to be obtained. In a business so

1780.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 91

universally interesting, we have endeavored to act as became the
representatives of a wise, understanding, and free people. And, as
we have reason to believe you would yourselves have done, we
have opened our sentiments to each other with candor, and made
such mutual concessions as we could consistently, and without mar
ring the only plau which, in our most mature judgment, we can
at present offer to you.

" The interest of the society is common to all its members. The
great inquiry is, wherein this common interest consists. In deter
mining this question, an advantage may arise from a variety of sen
timents offered to public examination concerning it. But wise men
are not apt to be obstinately tenacious of their own opinions. They
will always pay a due regard to those of other men, and keep their
minds open to conviction. We conceive that in the present instance,
by accommodating ourselves to each other, and individually yielding
particular and even favorite opinions of smaller moment to essen
tial principles and considerations of general utility, the public opin
ion of the plan now before you may be consolidated ; but without
such mutual condescension in unimportant matters, we may almost
venture to predict that we shall not soon, if ever, be blessed with
such a Constitution as those are entitled to who have struggled hard
for freedom and independence. You will permit us, on this occa
sion, just to hint to you our own apprehension that there may be
amongst us some persons disaffected to that great cause for which
we are contending, who may be secretly instructed by our common
enemy to divide and distract us, in hopes of preventing our union in
any form of government whatever, and, by this means, of depriving
us of the most honorable testimony as well as the greatest security
of our freedom and independence. If there be such men, it is our
wisdom to mark them, and guard ourselves against their designs.

" We may not expect to agree in a perfect system of government.
This is not the lot of mankind. The great end of government is to
promote the supreme good of human society. Every social affec
tion should therefore be interested in the forming of a government,
and in judging of one when it is formed. Would it not be prudent
for individuals to cast out of the scale smaller considerations, and
fall in with an evident majority, unless in matters in which their
consciences shall constrain them to determine otherwise ? Such a
sacrifice, made for the sake of union, would afford a strong evidence

92 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Feb.

of public affection ; and union, strengthened by the social feeling,
would promise a greater stability to any constitution, and in its ope
ration a greater degree of happiness to the society. It is here to
be remembered that, on the expiration of fifteen years, a new con
vention may be held, in order that such amendments may be made
in the plan you may now agree to as experience, that best in
structor, shall then point out to be expedient or necessary.

"A government without power to exert itself is at best but a
useless piece of machinery. It is probable that, for want of energy,
it would speedily lose even the appearance of government, and sink
into anarchy. Unless a due proportion of weight is given to each
of the powers of government, there will soon be a confusion of the
whole. An overbearing of any one of its parts on the rest would
destroy the balance, and accelerate its dissolution and ruin ; and a
power without any restraint is tyranny. The powers of govern
ment must then be balanced. To do this accurately requires the
highest skill in political architecture. Those who are to be invested
with the administration should have such powers given to them as
are requisite to render them useful in their respective places ; and
such checks should be added to every branch of power as may be
sufficient to prevent its becoming formidable and injurious to the
commonwealth. If we have been so fortunate as to succeed in this
point of the greatest importance, our happiness will be complete in
the prospect of having laid a good foundation for many generations.
You are the judges how far we have succeeded, and whether we
have raised our superstructure, agreeably to our professed design,
upon the principles of a free commonwealth.

" In order to assist your judgments, we have thought it necessary
briefly to explain to you the grounds and reasons upon which we
have formed our plan. In the third article of the Declaration of
Rights we have, with as much precision as we were capable of,
provided for the free exercise of the rights of conscience. We are
very sensible that our constituents hold those rights infinitely more
valuable than all others ; and we flatter ourselves that, while we
have considered morality and the public worship of GOD as im
portant to the happiness of society, we have sufficiently guarded the
rights of conscience from every possible infringement. This article
underwent long debates, and took time in proportion to its impor
tance ; and we feel ourselves peculiarly happy in being able to in-

1780.J LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 93

form you that, though the debates were managed by persons of
various denominations, it was finally agreed upon with much more
unanimity than usually takes place in disquisitions of this nature.
We wish you to consider the subject with candor and attention.
Sorely it would be an affront to the people of Massachusetts Bay to
labor to convince them that the honor and happiness of a people de
pend upon morality, and that the public worship of GOD has a ten
dency to inculcate the principles thereof, as well as to preserve a people
from forsaking civilization, and falling into a state of savage barbarity.

" In the form now presented to you, there are no more depart
ments of government than are absolutely necessary for the free and
full exercise of the powers thereof. The House of Representatives
is intended as the representative of the persons, and the Senate of
the property, of the Commonwealth. These are to be annually
chosen, and to sit in separate bodies, each having a negative upon
the acts of the other. This power of a negative in each must ever
be necessary ; for all bodies of men assembled on the same occa
sion, and united by one common interest of rank, honor, or estate,
are liable,, like an individual, to mistake, bias, and prejudice. These
two Houses are vested with the powers of legislation, and are to be
chosen by the male inhabitants who are twenty-one years of age
and have a freehold of the small annual income of three pounds, or
sixty pounds in any estate. Your delegates considered that persons
who are twenty-one years of age and have no property are either
those who live upon a part of a paternal estate, expecting the fee
thereof, who are but just entering into business, or those whose idle
ness of life and profligacy of manners will forever bar them from
acquiring and possessing property. And we will submit it to the
former class, whether they would not think it safer for them to have
their right of voting for a representative suspended for [a] small
space of time than forever hereafter to have their privileges liable
to the control of men who will pay less regard to the rights of
property because they have nothing to lose.

" The power of revising and stating objections to any bill or re
solve that shall be passed by the two Houses we were of opinion
ought to be lodged in the hands of some one person ; not only to
preserve the laws from being unsystematical and inaccurate, but that
a due balance may be preserved in the three capital powers of gov
ernment. The legislative, the judicial, and executive powers natu-

94 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Feb.

rally exist in every government ; and the history of the rise and fall
of the empires of the world affords us ample proof that, when the
same man or body of men enact, interpret, and execute the laws,
property becomes too precarious to be valuable, and a people are
finally borne down with the force of corruption resulting from the
union of those powers. The Governor is emphatically the represen
tative of the whole people, being chosen, not by one town or county,
but by the people at large. We have, therefore, thought it safest
to rest this power in his hands, and, as the safety of the Common
wealth requires that there should be one Commander-in- Chief over
the militia, we have given the Governor that command, for the
same reason that we thought him the only proper person that could
be trusted with the power of revising the bills and resolves of the
General Assembly ; but the people may, if they please, choose their
own officers.

" You will observe that we have resolved that representation
ought to be founded on the principle of equality, but it cannot be un
derstood thereby that each town in the Commonwealth shall have a
weight and importance in a just proportion to its numbers and prop
erty. An exact representation would be impracticable, even in a
system of government arising from the state of nature, and much
more so in a state already divided into nearly three hundred corpo
rations. But we have agreed that each town having one hundred
^nd fifty ratable polls shall be entitled t-o send one member; and,
to prevent an advantage arising to the greater towns by their num
bers, have agreed that no town shall send two, unless it hath three
hundred and seventy-five ratable polls; and then the still larger
towns are to send one member for every two hundred and twenty-
five ratable polls over and above three hundred and seventy-five.
This method of calculation will give a more exact representation
when applied to all the towns in the State than any that we could
fix upon.

" We have, however, digressed from this rule in admitting the
small towns now incorporated to send members. There are but a
few of them which will not, from their continual increase, be able
to send one upon the above plan in a very little time. And the few
who will never probably have that number have been heretofore in
the exercise of this privilege, and will now be very unwilling to
relinquish it.

1780.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 95

" To prevent the Governor from abusing the power which is ne
cessary to be put into his hands, we have provided that he shall have
a Council to advise him at all times and upon all important occa
sions, and he, with the advice of his Council, is to have the appoint
ment of civil officers. This was very readily agreed to by your
delegates, and will undoubtedly be agreeable to their constituents ;
for if those officers who are to interpret and execute the laws are to
be dependent upon the election of the people, it must forever keep
them under the control of ambitious, artful, and interested men who
can obtain most votes for them. If they were to be appointed by
the two Houses, or either of them, the persons appointing them
would be too numerous to be accountable for putting weak or wick
ed men into office. Besides, the House is designed as the grand
inquest of the Commonwealth, and are to impeach officers for male-
conduct ; the Senate are to try the merits of such impeachments ; it
would be therefore unfit that they should have the creation of those
officers which the one may impeach and the other remove ; but we
conceive there is the greatest propriety in vesting the Governor
with this power, he being, as we have before observed, the complete
representative of all the people, and at all times liable to be im
peached by the House before the Senate for maleadministration.
And we would here observe, that all the powers which we have
given the Governor are necessary to be lodged in the hands of one
man as the general of the army and first magistrate, and none can
be entitled to it but he who has the annual and united suffrages of
the whole Commonwealth.

u You will readily conceive it to be necessary for your own safety
that your own judges should hold their offices during good behavior ;
for men who hold their places upon so precarious a tenure as
annual or other frequent appointments, will never so assiduously
apply themselves to study as will be necessary to the filling their
places with dignity. Judges should at all times feel themselves
independent and free.

" Your delegates have further provided that the supreme judicial
department, by fixed and ample salaries, may be enabled to devote
themselves wholly to the duties of their important office ; and for
this reason, as well as to keep this department separate from others
in government, have excluded them from a seat in the Legislature ;
and when our constituents consider that the final decision of their

96 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Feb.

lives and property must be had in this court, we conceive they will
universally approve the measure. The judges of probate, and those
other officers whose presence is always necessary in their respective
counties, are also excluded.

"We have attended to the inconveniences suggested to have
arisen from having but one judge of probate in each county ; but
the creating and altering courts of justice being a mere matter of
legislation, we have left it with your future Legislature to make such
alterations as the circumstances of the several counties may require.

" Your delegates did not conceive themselves to be vested with
power to set up one denomination of Christians above another, for
religion must at all times be a matter between GOD and individ
uals ; but we have nevertheless found ourselves obliged, by a solemn
test, to provide for the exclusion of those from offices who will not
disclaim those principles of spiritual jurisdiction which Roman Cath
olics in some countries have held, and which are subversive of a free
government established by the people. We find it necessary to con
tinue the former laws and modes of proceeding in courts of justice
until a future Legislature shall alter them : for, unless this is done,
the title to estates will become precarious, lawsuits will be multi
plied, and universal confusion must take place. And lest the
Commonwealth, for want of a due administration of civil justice,
should be involved in anarchy, we have proposed to continue the
present magistrates and officers until new appointments shall take
place.

" Thus we have with plainness and sincerity given you the rea
sons upon which we founded the principal parts of the system laid
before you, which appeared to us as most necessary to be explained.
And we do most humbly beseech the great Disposer of all events,
that we and our posterity may be established in, and long enjoy, the
blessings of a well-ordered and free government. In the name and
pursuant to a resolution of the Convention.

" JAMES BOWDOIN, President.

"Attest: SAMUEL BARRETT, Secretary"

Mr. Adams remained in Boston until the summer of this
year, and attended the Convention at its meeting in June,
when, by the returns from the towns, it was found that the
Constitution had been accepted with some proposed amend-

1780. LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 97

ments. By the town records he appears to have presided at
most of the public meetings during his stay in Boston, and
in Faneuil Hall he read to the inhabitants the form of gov
ernment and the Address to the people. 1 This was about
the time that the instrument was submitted to the popular
vote ; and it is probable that, at the same time he was
called upon verbally to explain portions of the Constitution
which the Address had not made sufficiently clear to the
minds of particular inquirers.

1 Boston Town Eeoords, May 3, 1780.

VOL. III.

CHAPTER LIII.

Adams opposes the Return of the Refugees. His Memorial to the Connecti
cut Assembly. He is one of the Incorporators of the Academy of Arts
and Sciences. He sets out again for Congress. Reinforcements for the
Highlands. He favors Enlistments for a Permanent Army. He opposes
granting Half-pay for Life to the Officers. Suffering Condition of Wash
ington s Army. Adams urges forward Supplies. First Election in Massa
chusetts under the new Constitution. Hancock elected Governor. Gen
erous Sentiments of Adams on the occasion. His Republican Simplicity
of Life as described by the Marquis de Chastellux. Ungrateful Neglect of
Adams by his Native State. He is defeated as a Candidate for State Sec
retary. Indignation of James Warren. Stoical Philosophy of Adams.

THE opposition of Mr. Adams to the return of the refu
gees has been already referred to. In a letter written in
October, 1778, he forcibly states his objections to receiving
them, and as his opinions, always founded in reason and
carefully considered, were seldom changed in any essential
particular, he was most uncompromising in his determina
tion against the proposed reinstating of this dangerous ele
ment in American society. For some time efforts had been
made to procure the admission of Tories in some of the ad
jacent States. Adams exerted himself to procure a formal
remonstrance against it in the Massachusetts Legislature,
and, in his capacity of Secretary of State, addressed the fol
lowing letter to the Governor of Rhode Island.

STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY,
January 5, 1780.

SIR,

The General Assembly of this State, conceiving that great evil
may arise to the United States from permitting persons inimical to
our common cause to reside within them, and having reason to ap
prehend that certain persons of such character, who by an act of
government are excluded from this State, are meditating a design
to obtain a residence within the State of Rhode Island, have thought

Jan., 1780.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 99

it necessary to address you on the subject, and request that you
would be pleased to communicate their sentiments to your General
Assembly.

It is, in the opinion of this Assembly, highly criminal for a citizen
to be an indifferent spectator of the miseries of his country, much
more to desert her while struggling for liberty, and still more to
seek refuge in the very time of her conflict in the arms of her cruel
and inveterate enemies. It cannot, then, be thought strange that
those who love and revere their country feel an indignation against
the men who have held her safety, her liberty, and her honor at so
cheap a rate.

The injury which this State unavoidably sustains from the arts of
so many internal enemies hath been a sufficient caution against re
ceiving into her bosom those who have withdrawn their persons and
their aid in the time of her distress ; and there is less reason for
others to expect favor and forgiveness, who, having basely betrayed
a diffidence in the wisdom and fortitude of this country and the
righteous cause she was contending for, have imagined themselves
more secure under the power of its invaders, and fled to them for
protection.

It is, indeed, much to be regretted that the greatest vigilance is
insufficient to detect the most virulent enemies of the public liberty
and bring them to condign punishment. This government, how
ever, hath taken every measure which prudence dictated to effect
so necessary a purpose. Notorious offenders have been proscribed
by the laws, and forbidden to return from their voluntary and
shameful exile. .Mutual interest and mutual friendship most strongly
remonstrate against such persons being permitted to reside within
any of the sister States. While we are embarked in the same
cause, while we are actuated by the same principles and views,
while we partake of the same public feeling, and are confederated
for the same great purpose of mutual safety and defence, honor and
justice forbid us to entertain a suspicion that the State of Rhode
Island would afford shelter and protection to those who have for
feited the rights of citizens in the United States.

In the name and behalf of the General Assembly, I am, &c.

Having attended the Constitution with watchful eye in its
several stages of progress towards acceptance, and being

100 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [May, June,

satisfied of its success, Mr. Adams, after about a year s stay
in Boston, prepared to resume his place in Congress, which,
during his long absence, had never been filled by a legisla
tive appointment. Until his departure, he spared no effort
to procure from Massachusetts her quota of money and men
for the war, and restrain the wide-spreading complaints
among the people at the extraordinary burdens thus un
avoidably imposed. His letters at this time speak encour
agingly of the prospect, and reflect the same cheerful, hope
ful spirit which, in the darkest hours, had given courage
to his countrymen. The depreciation of the currency had
become such as to excite just apprehensions in the firmest
minds. Massachusetts paper money was worth one fortieth
of its apparent value. The debt of the Commonwealth was
rapidly accumulating. In the spring session the Legislature
levied a tax of nearly a million of dollars, to be paid in spe
cie, and voted to raise two hundred and forty thousand dol
lars -annually for seven years to enable the State to meet its
engagements. In the general distress, the five Eastern
States held a convention at Hartford in 1779, and proposed
a new regulation of prices on the basis of twenty for one,
and they suggested a convention to meet in Pennsylvania
at the commencement of the new year. Massachusetts
chose Gerry and Osgood as delegates ; and Adams wrote to
Gerry, notifying him of his appointment, and explaining its
object. The wretched condition of the country baffled the
ablest financiers. The expedients and discussions in the
Massachusetts Legislature, during the winter and spring of
1780, have but slight importance in history ; but, burdened
with debt and distress, the State still supplied money and
men. Though the people groaned under the constant req
uisitions, Massachusetts never failed the common cause ;
and four thousand seven hundred men responded to the
call of Washington at the close of the present year.

A short time before the departure of Mr. Adams for
Congress, he joined a number of gentlemen of philosophical

1780.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 101

pursuits in an application to the Legislature for an act of
incorporation of the American Academy of Arts and Sci
ences. His tastes, however, did not incline to subjects of a
scientific character, though he was deeply impressed with
the importance of such associations, and always favored
their encouragement by legislative enactment. His thoughts
were almost continually devoted to the great moving events
of the times and the political condition of the people. As
he never gave close attention to such matters, he made no
professions of scientific attainments ; and no account exists
of any conversations, speeches, or writings upon any but
political, religious, or social subjects : his time was all taken
up with public affairs. Colleges, seminaries of learning of
every kind, but especially common schools for youth, he
always deemed of the highest importance ; and he thought
he could never do enough to advance their interests. One
of his first public positions in his native town, before the
Revolution, had been that of a school-examiner ; and, in his
advanced age, we find him serving on committees to devise
means for the improvement of the common-school system.
His son, Dr. Adams, was a contributor to the literature of
the Academy of Arts and Sciences, and one of his papers is
extant. Mr. Adams was elected a member of the Gover
nor s Council in May, but he declined the honor. 1

Towards the middle of June, Gerry, who was tempora
rily in Boston, and Adams set out together for Philadelphia.
They arrived at Hartford, and visited Governor Trumbull,
just as he had received a letter from Washington, apprising
him of the approach of a heavy British armament by sea
to attack the Highlands. Adams and Gerry immediately
wrote to General Fellows, then commanding a considerable
force in Berkshire County, near the New York line, inform
ing him of the threatened danger, and urging that a supply
of men and provisions should be instantly prepared for the

1 Joseph Dorr to Samuel Adam8, Mendon, June 5, 1780, acknowledging
Mr. Adams s letter of June 1.

102 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [June,

reinforcement of General Richard Howe, who held the post
at the Highlands. This was sent by express, which also took
a letter to Howe, enclosing a copy of the message to General
Fellows. A messenger was likewise sent to Boston with
the following letter :

HARTFOED, June 20, 1780.

SIR,

We have the honor of transmitting to you the copy of a letter
from General Washington to Governor Trumbull. The contents
are of such pressing importance that we thought it our indispensable
duty to forward an express to Brigadier-General Fellows of the
county of Berkshire with the letter, a copy of which we also enclose ;
and to inform Major-General Howe, who commands at that point,
of the measures we have taken.

Although we have acted on this urgent occasion without author
ity, yet we flatter ourselves that, in consideration of the very critical
situation of the army, our proceeding thus far will meet with the
approbation of the General Assembly.

We are, with the greatest respect and esteem, sir,

Your most obedient and very humble servants,

SAMUEL ADAMS,
E. GERRY.
HON. JAMES BOWDOIN, ESQ., President of the Council of Massachusetts Bay.

The General Court, on the receipt of this, unanimonsly
approved of the action of their delegates, and passed a reso
lution placing General Fellows under marching orders. On
the 21st, news having arrived at Hartford that the British
fleet was within twenty miles of the Highland fortifications,
Adams and Gerry again wrote to Fellows to march forthwith
to the relief of the American garrison ; and a few days later
Howe wrote to thank them for their timely exertions,
"which," said he, "you have made in support of a post
deservedly the object of capital consideration. Indeed, its
importance is above description." The letter informed them
that Sir Henry Clinton did arrive with a heavy force, sev
enty-two sail of transports, battering cannon, mortars, framed
platforms, pickaxes, tools of every sort, and every detail for

1780.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 103

offensive operations. The fortifications on the Highlands
had been coveted by the enemy, and perhaps even now
Arnold meditated the treason which he committed a few
months later. The possession by the enemy of the High
land posts would give them the entire command of the Hud
son, and effect what had been aimed at in the summer of
1777 by the capture of Ticonderoga.

Adams and Gerry reached Philadelphia in the last week
in June. 1 Soon after their arrival, Adams addressed his
kinsman in Europe.

" I wrote you several times when I was at Boston, and received
your favor by the Marquis de La Fayette. Another, to which you
referred me, has not yet come to hand. This letter will be deliv
ered to you by Mr. Searl, a member of Congress from the State of
Pennsylvania. He will be better able to inform you of the state of
things here than I can, who, after twelve months absence from this
city, returned but a few days ago. The people of Massachusetts
have at length agreed to the form of a civil Constitution, in nothing
varying from a copy which I sent you by a son of our friend Gen
eral Warren. This great business was carried through with much
good humor by the people, even in Berkshire, where some persons
led us to expect it would meet with many obstructions. Never was
a good constitution more needed than at this juncture. Among
other more lasting advantages, I hope that, in consequence of it,
the part which that State must take in the war will be conducted
with greater attention and better effect. Who is to be the first man
will be determined in September, when, if our newspapers rightly
inform us, the new government is to take place. The burden will
fall on the shoulders of one of two gentlemen whom you know.
May Heaven lead the people to the wisest choice. The first chosen
Governor may probably have it in his power to do more good or
more hurt than any of his successors. The French fleet is not yet
arrived. Perhaps their long passage may turn out for the best.
An earlier arrival might have found us not altogether prepared to
co-operate with them to the best advantage. I now think we shall

1 Journals of Congress, June 29, 1780. "Mr. Samuel Adams, a delegate of
Massachusetts Bay, attended and took his seat in Congress."

104 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [July,

be ready to join them. One would think the exertion which Amer
ica might make with such aid would rid us of British barbarians.
I hope this will be a vigorous and effective campaign. I left Mas
sachusetts exceedingly active in filling up their battalions by drafts,
besides raising four thousand militia for the service.

" Mr. Laurens arrived here a few days past. He will speedily
embark for Holland, to prosecute a business which you are not
unacquainted with." l

The French fleet, with the army under Rochambeau,
arrived at Newport on the day this letter was written.
Laurens sailed soon after for Holland, charged with the
negotiation of a treaty with that power. His capture by a
British frigate, and the recovery of his despatches, which
he had thrown overboard, led to a declaration of war by
Great Britain against Holland, and the precedent has since
been of weight in the defining of international rights on
the high seas.

The journals of Congress for this year contain no records
of votes, and little can be gleaned from them of the par
ticular employment of Mr. Adams. The attention of that
body was principally directed to the public finances, the
downward tendency of which it was powerless to prevent.
The various propositions for raising and supplying the army
met with but partial success, and the approval by Congress
of the plan of the Convention of States did very little to
quiet the general apprehension. Two hundred millions of
dollars in paper money had been emitted, and the deprecia
tion was steadily increasing. Congress gave its assent to a
plan for the reorganization of the army, which Washington
had assisted to prepare, by which all the new regiments
were to be enlisted for the war, thus giving stability to the
Continental forces. One of the many false statements set on
foot in Boston by the political enemies of Adams was that
he was opposed to permanent enlistments.

" Your virtue and firmness," writes Warren, " have and will con-
1 Samuel to John Adams, Philadelphia, July 10, 1780.

1780.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 105

tinue to expose you to persecution. The tongue of malice has
always been improved against you, and things old and new are
mustered to render you obnoxious. It is now reported that you
are against filling up the battalions for the war, and are in favor 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 cal
umny." l

Mr. Adams soon after alluded to this subject in one of
his letters.

" The report," he says, " which you mention as propagated by me
is groundless. Would any man in his senses, who wishes the war
carried on with vigor, prefer the temporary and expensive drafts of
militia to a permanent and well-appointed army? But envy has
no other business than to calumniate." 2

But though earnest in his efforts to make the army per
manent and efficient as an indispensable means of achieving
success, Mr. Adams was opposed to the plan of granting
half-pay for life to the officers who should serve till the end
of the war, for reasons which he afterwards wrote to Noah
Webster "were satisfactory to himself," and were explained
in a letter to which he alluded, but which has not been
found. The measure, however, at the repeated solicitations
of Washington, was adopted by Congress. No member of
that body was more zealous than Adams in providing means
for the support of the army ; and though he could not in
dorse Washington s plan of half-pay for life, he displays an
urgent desire to aid the Commander-in-Chief in his appeals
to the State for supplies. Small as the force was in the
spring, it was with the greatest difficulty that the General
could feed his men. At times the soldiers resorted to plun
der to appease the cravings of hunger, and once Washington
sent Heath to the Eastern States to solicit subsistence for
his army. Adams, in his correspondence, sometimes ex
presses his impatience at the interposition in Congress of

1 J. Warren to S. Adams, Sept. 17, 1780.

2 S. Adams to J. Warren, Philadelphia, Nov. 20, 1780.

106 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

any affairs of lesser importance, while those of the army
were so pressing. A characteristic letter to a friend in Bos
ton on this subject has recently come to light.

" On Tuesday last," he says, " Congress took up the disputes re
lating to the New Hampshire grants, agreeably to an order which
passed the 9th of June, and for want of nine States, exclusive of the
three interested ones, the matter was put off until yesterday. The
delegates from New Hampshire and New York were prepared with
instructions from their respective States. A letter from Mr. Chit-
tenden and others, styling themselves " The Executive Council of
Vermont," was sent in by their agents, now in this city, claiming the
rights of sovereignty of an independent State, and refusing to sub
mit the question of their independence to Congress, as being incom
petent to judge and determine thereon. As there was no question
proposed, a conversation, rather than a debate, ensued, which ended
with a call for adjournment at the usual hour. This day a letter
was sent in to the President from agents in Vermont, praying that,
in case any question should be agitated concerning the rights and
independence of their State, they might be permitted to be present
and hear the debates. Another convention was begun, which was
very soon interrupted by a call of the attention of the House to the
present state and circumstances of the army. I am of opinion that
Congress will not easily agree in the question proper to be first put,
however obvious it may seem to be. This is among a thousand
other affairs with which it is the fate of Congress to be plagued, to
the exclusion of considerations of infinitely greater consequence, and
which require immediate attention. As an individual, I wish most
heartily that it could subside, as things of much greater moment
most generally do, till a more convenient season. But New York
presses hard for a decision ; and I submit to your judgment, whether
it would not be prudent that the claims of Massachusetts to the
lands in question should be here in readiness, lest a construction
should be put on a further delay, that a consciousness in the As
sembly of the State having no right in them is the real occasion
of it. I mention this to you in particular, because I recollect how
far you had gone in investigating the title. If you can be spared
from the Assembly, I hope you will be appointed to vindicate the
claim.

1780.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 107

" I just now told you that the attention of Congress was called to
the army. General Washington has written several letters, ac
quainting Congress of the distressed circumstances of the army for
want of provisions, and particularly meat. They have several
times lately been without provisions for three or four days. They
have even plundered the neighboring villages ; and what will be the
consequence of such a spirit in our army, if it should prevail, may
be easily conceived. You are sensible that the dependence is
chiefly on the Eastern States for that kind of supply. Massachu
setts has indeed been more punctual than the rest. The Commis
sary-General has told me that the very existence of the army has
been in a great measure owing to the industry and care of our
committee at Springfield. Yet even our supplies have not been
equal to expectation. 597 head of cattle have been sent from
Massachusetts to the army from the 1st of July to the 7th of Sep
tember, about 200 to the posts at the Northward, and about 200 to
the French army, which last are not included in the supply re
quired as our quota. Congress have pressingly called New Hamp
shire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut for 1,000 head weekly, less
than which will not be more than sufficient for the immediate de
mands of the army. Our quota is 285, as you will see by a resolu
tion forwarded by this express. Beside which magazines must be
laid up this winter for the army the next year. Indeed, my friend,
we must make the utmost exertion in the great cause. It is now
twelve o clock, and the express will set off very early in the
morning.

" I suppose our countrymen have by this time made choice of
their senators and magistrates. I hope Heaven has directed them
to a choice that will do them honor. I cannot help feeling anxious
to know whether they have united in a man for Governor endowed
with those virtues which should be characteristic of the First Magis
trate. Be pleased to let my much esteemed friend, Dr. Cooper,
know that if he has written, I have not received a line from him
since I left Boston. We suffer for want of such favors." l

While Mr. Adams was at Philadelphia, the treason of
Arnold occurred. By what signs Adams had been, led to

1 S. Adams to John Lowell, Sept. 15, 1780 (Historical Magazine, Septem
ber, 1857 ; I. 260).

108 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct.

suspect that officer of disloyalty to the cause does not ap
pear ; but, in a letter to Mrs. Adams soon after, he says :

" By the enclosed papers you will observe that the late General
Arnold, after having committed the blackest treason against his
country, has thrown himself into the arms of her enemies. The
particulars you will see in the paper. You know that I have had
my suspicions of this traitor, and therefore it is not wonderful that
I am not astonished as if some other officer had been detected of
the treason. He has been gibbeted in the streets by the populace,
anathematized by some of the clergy in the pulpit, and his name
has, with indignation, been struck out of the list of officers by order
of Congress." 1

While the British were meeting with uninterrupted suc
cess in the Southern States, offset by scarcely an instance
of defeat in the North, the Ministry indulged hopes of bring
ing the war to a speedy close, encouraged by the North Car
olina Tories, and the subjugation of Georgia and a part of
South Carolina. The struggle, however, was assuming pro
portions in Europe little anticipated by the English at the
outbreak of hostilities. Out of the insane attempt to estab
lish a profitless tyranny in their peaceful and loyal Colonies
had already grown disgraceful reverses to their arms, a
rapidly accumulating public debt, destructive inroads upon
commerce, and war with their ancient enemies, France and
Spain. It was found necessary to enroll eighty thousand
volunteers in Ireland to guard against the threatened French
invasion, and the first use of the arms placed in such hands
was to attempt the independence of the Irish Parliament,
a peril contemplated with openly expressed dread by British
statesmen. At the same time the opportunity was taken to
attempt Parliamentary reform in England. The religious
agitation, leading to formidable riots in London, gave the
Americans hope of a civil war, which might lead to the
speedier establishment of American independence.

A part of the political machinery set in motion in Eng-

1 To Mrs. Adams, Oct. 3, 1780.

1780.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 109

land and Ireland at this time was the Committee of Corre
spondence, which the leaders there knew had produced that
union in America which formed the basis of the Revolution
ary power. John Adams and Francis Dana, in France, both
noticed the adoption of this great engine of resistance, and
wrote home of its wonderful effects. Each, as he described
its working, renewed the fame of Samuel Adams, its inven
tor, and one pointed out the want of his " sage counsel," in
conducting the system. 1 That other powerful agency of
non-importation and non-consumption, equally the result of
Samuel Adams s genius, was also adopted in Ireland as a
means of counteracting the oppressive measures enacted
against the commerce and general rights of the Irish. It
must have been with peculiar pleasure that Adams wit
nessed the revival of these means of opposition in the very
heart of the nation against whose tyranny he had originally
employed them. They were now apparently to subserve a
double purpose in the liberation of that country and his own.
The complications with the other courts of Europe at this
time resulted in the " Armed Neutrality " manifesto, issued
in February of this year by the Empress Catherine of Russia,
denying the belligerent right of placing restrictions on the
trade of neutral nations. Under this doctrine, a port could
no longer be considered as blockaded by mere proclamation,
but the blockade must be maintained by a sufficient force.
Nearly every power acquiesced in this doctrine, which was
especially acceptable to the Baltic States, whose trade in
timber and naval stores was obstructed by the policy of Eng
land. This blow at the maritime pretensions of Great
Britain, which at one time seemed likely to embroil her in
a general continental war, was cordially indorsed by Con
gress, through a resolution offered by Samuel Adams.

" Her Imperial Majesty of all the Russias, attentive to the free-

1 John to Samuel Adams, Paris, Feb. 23, 1780 (Sparks s American Diplo
matic Correspondence,. III. 383). Francis Dana to Elbridge Gerry, Paris,
Feb. 26, 1780 (Austin s Life of Gerry, I. 300).

110 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

dom of commerce and the rights of nations, in her declaration to
the belligerent and neutral powers, having proposed regulations
founded upon principles of justice, equity, and moderation, of which
their most Christian and Catholic Majesties and most of the neutral
maritime powers of Europe have declared their approbation ;

" Congress, willing to testify their regard to the rights of com
merce, and their respect for the Sovereign who hath proposed and
the powers who have approved the said regulations, Resolve :

" That the Board of Admiralty prepare and report instructions
for the commanders of armed vessels commissioned by the United
States, conformable to the principles contained in the declaration of
the Empress of all the Russias on the rights of neutral vessels ;

" That the Ministers Plenipotentiary from the United States, if
invited thereto, be, and hereby are, respectively empowered to ac
cede to such regulations, conformable to the spirit of the said decla
ration, as may be agreed upon by the Congress expected to assemble
in pursuance of the invitation of her Imperial Majesty.

" Ordered, That copies of the above resolution be transmitted to
the respective Ministers of the United States at foreign ports, and
to the Honorable the Minister Plenipotentiary at France." l

At the commencement of the new year, the authority to
sign the " Armed Neutrality " was sent to John Adams at
Amsterdam ; but the alliance produced none of the expected
results.

Meantime, the elections under the new Constitution bad
taken place in Massachusetts, and Hancock was elevated to
the chief-magistracy of the Commonwealth by an overwhelm
ing majority. Devoted to his Congressional duties, Adams
knew little of what was secretly done at home ; and only
when his wife or intimate friends advised him, after the
election, was he made fully acquainted with the aspersions
which had been circulated to render him obnoxious to the
people. All his inestimable services, his self-denials, and
the space occupied in the eyes of Europe and America by
his great character, seem to have passed from memory with
his absence. His friends and admirers, who had counted

1 Journals of Congress, Oct. 5, 1780. Lossing s Field-Book, II. 468.

1780.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. Ill

with certainty upon his election, witnessed with mortifica
tion the first instance of that extraordinary neglect which
continued, to a greater or less extent, until old age had ex
hausted his strength and brought him to the verge of the
tomb. Such, however, though in a less remarkable degree,
was the fate of many another public servant, and Adams ap
pears to have disregarded what was viewed with deep emo
tion by others. The man whom, to use the words of James
Warren, he had " formed and fashioned," whom he had
led by the hand through the early days of the Revolution,
directing his steps with wise counsel and friendly forbear
ance, had now by his wealth and political address secured
to himself the only substantial recognition of great services
which the people could bestow. Most other leading charac
ters of the Revolution had already reached the eminences
coveted by worldly ambition ; and some owed their eleva
tion, more than history and biography can ever recount, to
the generous support of Samuel Adams. He alone, as usual,
asked nothing for himself, and, modestly retiring from the
field, was content to see whomever the popular voice de
manded raised to official station, provided that its high du
ties were properly appreciated, and the occupant capable of
meeting its responsibilities. His noble simplicity of charac
ter and manner of living is thus described by the Marquis
de Chastellux, who passed an evening with him, by appoint
ment, at his humble lodgings in Philadelphia. After attend
ing a dinner at which some of Rochambeau s officers and
several members of Congress were present, he says, in his
diary :

" Mr. Samuel Adams, deputy for Massachusetts Bay, was not at
this dinner, but on rising from table I went to see him. When I
entered the room, I found him tete-a-tete with a young girl of fif
teen, who was preparing his tea ; but we shall not be scandalized at
this, on considering that he is at least sixty. Everybody in Europe
knows he was one of the prime movers of the present Revolution.
I experienced in his company the satisfaction one rarely has in the

112 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

world, nay, even on the theatre, of finding the person of the actor
corresponding with the character he performs. In him I saw a
man wrapt up in his object, who never spoke but to give a good
opinion of his cause and a high idea of his country. His simple
and frugal exterior seemed intended as a contrast with the energy
and extent of his ideas, which were wholly turned towards the
Republic, and lost nothing of their warmth by being expressed with
method and precision; as an army marching towards the enemy
has not a less determined air for observing the laws of tactics.

" Amongst many facts he cited in honor of his country, I shall
relate one which merits to be transmitted to posterity. Two young
soldiers had deserted from the army, and returned to their father s
house. Their father, incensed at this action, loaded them with
irons, and conducted them himself to their General, Lord Stirling.
He did what every other officer would have done, he pardoned
them. The father, as patriotic, but less austere than a Roman, was
happy to preserve his children ; nevertheless, he seemed astonished,
and approaching the General, My Lord/ says he, with tears in his
eyes, * * more than I hoped for. " l

Instances of Roman-like firmness, such as this, Samuel
Adams loved to recount. True magnanimity of character,
virtue, and republican simplicity he hoped might yet form
the basis of his country s prosperity ; and as he was himself
a striking example of the principles he desired to inculcate,
he had the utmost aversion for everything approaching cant,
meanness, or servility. It has been said that whoever enters
the presence of a great man is disappointed at finding the
reality fall below the conception. Samuel Adams was an
exception to this rule. Accounts agree in describing " the
majesty of a countenance never debased by a grovelling
idea," the dignified serenity of manner, the simple yet ele
vated train of thought and language, all blended with an
unaffected, polite gravity, which made a lasting impression
upon strangers, and was in keeping with the idea his friends
had conceived of him abroad. Titles, honors, and public
applause, in the estimation of such a character, were unim-

1 De Chastellux s Travels in America, I. 220, 221.

1780.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 113

portant trifles, compared to the grand principles of human
liberty which his countrymen were now asserting for all
time ; and his sole anxiety in contemplating the condition
of his native Province was that a republican severity of man
ners, upon which he believed public virtue and freedom
were founded, might be maintained under competent rulers.
In reply to a letter from his wife, lamenting the ingratitude
of his country, he writes :

" You were mistaken when you supposed that I had heard who
were chosen into the highest places under our Constitution. I had
reason to believe that Mr. Hancock would be Governor. I am
disposed to think that my fellow-citizens have upright views in giv
ing him their suffrages. Many circumstances have combined to.
make this election appear to be politically necessary; and if the
people who are now blessed with so great a privilege will exercise
the watchfulness over men whom they exalt to places of power
which their duty and interest should lead them to do, I natter my
self that this will prove a happy choice. You may wonder at my
saying so, but I think I am not misguided in my judgment in this
instance. If they have now chosen a wise and virtuous Governor,
a few only will be disappointed ; if not, many will see their error,
and will be induced to greater vigilance for the future. I am far
from being an enemy to that gentleman, though he has been pre
vailed upon to mark me as such. I have so much friendship for
him as to wish with all my heart that, in the most critical circum
stances, he may distinguish between his real friends and his flattering
enemies ; or, rather, between the real friends of the country and
those who will be ready to offer the essence of flattery to him who
is the first man in it. This will require an accurate knowledge of
men. I therefore again wish that he may have the most faithful
counsellors to assist him in the administration of affairs. Can 1
say more ? If, with the best advice, he is able to hold the reins of
government with dignity, I wish him a continuance of the honor.
If he renders our country secure in a flourishing condition, I will
never be so partial and unjust as to withhold my tribute of ap
plause." l

1 To Mrs. Adams, Philadelphia, Oct. 17 and Nov. 11, 1780.

VOL. III. 8

114 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct.

And in another letter to his wife, he says :

" Bat why do I trouble you with a subject of this nature ? Let
me ask you, before I finish this letter, are you in health ? Have
you a sufficiency of fire-wood and other necessaries for the approach
ing cold season ? Are your family cares alleviated with the visits
and cheerful conversation of your friends and mine ? You must
answer these questions, for I am greatly interested in them."

Later in the year, when he received intelligence of the
round of balls and glittering entertainments with which the
new government was inaugurated in Boston, he was alarmed
at these infringements upon those sterling principles which
he conceived to underlie the whole structure of liberty. He
saw with dislike any departure from the frugality and econ
omy becoming a people just emerging from a long struggle
for life and freedom, and reduced to the last resource for
the means of meeting the public liabilities. With financial
ruin impending, he could not conceal his displeasure at the
pernicious example set by the rulers of the infant republic,
an example which, at length, helped to produce a formid
able rebellion against its very existence. He says in a let
ter to a friend on this subject :

" Our government, I perceive, is organized on the basis of the
new Constitution. I am afraid there is more pomp and parade than
is consistent with the sober republican principle with which the
framers of it thought they had founded it. Why should this new
era be introduced with entertainments expensive, and tending to
dissipate the minds of the people ? Does it become us to lead the
people to such public diversions as promote superfluity of dress and
ornament, when it is as much as they can bear to support the ex
pense of clothing a naked army ? Will vanity and levity ever be
the stability of government either in states or in cities, or, what
let me hint to you is of the last importance, in families ? Of what
kind are those manners by which we are truly informed in a late
speech, not only the freedom, but the very existence of republics
is greatly affected ? How fruitless is it to recommend the adapt
ing the laws in the most perfect manner possible to the suppression
of idleness, dissipation, and extravagancy/ if such recommendations

1780.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 115

are counteracted by the example of men of religious influence and
public station ? I meant to consider the subject in the view of the
mere citizen. But I have mentioned the sacred name of religion.
I confess I am surprised to hear that some particular persons have
been so unguarded as to give their countenance to such kind of

amusements. I wish Mr. would recollect his former ideas.

When his friend Whitefield thundered in the pulpit, he disclaimed
diversions, in some instances, which to me have always appeared
innocent. Has he changed his opinions, or has the tendency of
things altered ? Do certain amusements tend to quench the spirit
of religion at one time, and are they harmless at another ? Are
morals so vague as to be sanctified or dispensed with by the author
ity of different men ? He does not believe this. But I will not be
severe, for I love my friend. Religion out of the question for the
present." *

Had Samuel Adams been desirous to present a dignified
attitude in history, he could not have chosen a more auspi
cious time for retiring than the present, when he could leave
public life with the reputation of having been the principal
leader in the Revolution and chief promoter of indepen
dence ; and at a moment when the new form of government
for his native State, in which he had been so deeply inter
ested, had gone into operation. To look no farther back
than the year of the Stamp Act, he had thenceforth guided
his native Province through the turbulent scenes of the Rev
olution ; and to be the foremost man in Massachusetts, was
to be the leader of the spirit of American liberty. With the
Declaration of Independence the grand mission of Samuel
Adams was fulfilled. He could reach no eminence more
exposed to the malignant hate of his enemies, none which
could increase the admiration of those who wrought with
him and followed his counsels. The statesman thenceforth,
to a great extent, gave place to the warrior, and Adams
might have withdrawn to the shades of private life with the
consciousness of having filled his allotted sphere, and earned
a place in that Pantheon which posterity erects to heroic

1 Samuel Adams to John Scollay, Dec. 30, 1780.

116 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct., Nov.

names. From his retreat he might have contemplated the
wonderful events which he, more than any other man living,
had aided to produce, and perhaps have devoted his declin
ing days to recounting how those events had been brought
about, had he felt any desire for such a work. But poverty
forbade him the pleasures of retirement.

The Convention had resolved that the Constitution should
go into effect in October of this year, when the Representa
tives should be chosen throughout the State. By this elec
tion, James Warren was returned to the Assembly from
Plymouth, and Samuel Adams, who had been named by his
few friends in the Legislature as a candidate for Secretary
of the Commonwealth, was beaten by Mr. John Avery, for
merly Deputy Secretary, who was put forward by the oppo
site party. This crowning act of ingratitude was surveyed
with blank astonishment by the intimate friends of Mr. Ad
ams, whose name had been used without his knowledge.
His faithful colaborer in the darkest scenes of the Revolu
tion now wrote to him :

" This day has completed all our elections, except for a Lieutenant-
Governor in the room of Mr. Bowdoin, who refused ; to-morrow
that is to be done, and I suppose will be in the same style. It is
impossible to describe to you, in its fullest sense, the prevalence of
a certain influence here. The papers will at least show you that
it exceeds anything that ever took place in any country ; and if it
be as lasting as it is violent and expensive, it will be a singular
phenomenon indeed. I had no hand in the matter, having gone to

the evening 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 country, the State, nor the two
Houses have shown 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 Secretary, could not be supported in
competition with Mr. A. I have feelings on this occasion which I
shall not attempt to describe in a letter. Everything past is for-

1780.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 117

gotten ; everybody 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." 1

For a long series of years Mr. Adams remained in com
paratively subordinate positions, and contentedly pursued his
public duties in an honorable poverty. Replying to his
friend, he writes :

"In your letter of the 17th of September, which is still before
me, you say that the tongue of malice has always been employed
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 more watchful over myself, lest
by any misconduct I might afford occasion to the malicious man to
say things of me which would give me just cause to be ashamed.
It is said to be a misfortune to a man when all speak well of him.
Is it, then, an advantage to a man to have enemies ? It may be so,
if he has wisdom to make good use of them. We are apt to be par
tial in our judgment of ourselves. Our friends are either blind to
our faults, or not faithful enough to tell us of them. The malicious
man will speak all manner of evil against us, and contrive means
to send it post haste to our ears ; and if among much slander they
say some truths, what are we to do but to correct past errors and
guard against future ones ? " 2

Enough has been taken from his correspondence on this
subject to display the entire devotion of this remarkable man
to his country under every circumstance, and his equanimity
when experiencing keenly " the ingratitude of republics."
An extract from a letter to Mrs. Adams, in reply to one in
which the fond wife could not repress her chagrin at the ill
requital his fellow-countrymen had rendered for his unceas
ing labors in their behalf, will illustrate the tenderness of
his domestic relations as well.

" Yesterday," he says, " I wrote to Mr. Wells in haste, because I
was informed that Dr. Cragie was then instantly setting off for

1 James Warren to S: Adams, Boston, Nov. 2, 1780.

2 To James Warren, Philadelphia, Nov. 20, 1780.

118 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Nov., 1780.

Boston. As he has waited another day, I have the opportunity of
acknowledging the receipt of your letters of the 25th of October
and the 8th of November, which were brought to me by the post.
You seem, my dear, to express more concern than I think you
ought at certain events that have of late taken place in the Com
monwealth of Massachusetts. Do you not consider that, in a free
republic, the people have an uncontrollable right of choosing whom
they please to take their posts in the administration of public affairs ?
No man has a claim on his country for having rendered public ser
vice. It is the duty of every one to use his utmost exertions in
promoting the cause of liberty and virtue ; and having so done, if
his country thinks proper to call others to the arduous task, he
ought cheerfully to acquiesce, and console himself with the contem
plations of an honest man in private life. You know how ardently
I have wished for the sweets of retirement. I am like to have my
wish.

" You are witness that I have not raised a fortune in the service
of my country. I glory in being what the world calls a poor man.
If my mind has ever been tinctured with envy, the rich and the
great have not been its objects. If I have been vain, popularity,
though I had as much of it as any man ought to have, is not the
phantom I have pursued. He who gains the approbation of the
virtuous citizens, I will own, may feel himself happy ; but he is in
reality much more so who knows he deserves it. Such a man, if he
cannot retreat with splendor, he may with dignity. I will trust in
the all-gracious Being, who in his own good way has provided us
with food and raiment ; and having spent the greatest part of my life
in public cares, like the weary traveller, fatigued with the journey
of the day, I can rest with you in a cottage. If I live till the spring,
I will take my final leave of Congress and return to Boston. I
have reason to be fixed in this determination, which I will then
explain to you. I grow more domestic as I increase in years." l

1 To Mrs. Adams, Philadelphia, Nov. 24, 1780.

CHAPTER LIY.

Adams as a Friend. His Intimate Friendships Fow, but Faithful. British
Successes in the South. Prostration of the Public Credit. Decreasing
Power of Congress. Negotiations for Peace. Desponding Sentiments.
Adams reports a Plan for reorganizing the Army. He opposes the
Creation of Secretaries of War, Finance, and Foreign Relations with Sep
arate Departments. Correspondence with Richard Henry Lee. Articles
of Confederation ratified. Adams signs them on the Eve of his Departure
for Home. He takes final Leave of Congress. Arrival at Boston. His
honorable Poverty. Marriage of his Daughter. " The Last of the
Puritans."

ONE of the most admirable traits in the character of Sam
uel Adams was the faithful nature of his friendship, which
no turn in the tide of popular favor or altered circumstances
or the most plausible misrepresentations could change. There
never was an instance of a more devoted and disinterested
friendship than that which existed between the Lees of Vir
ginia and Samuel Adams. Commencing, as we have seen,
before the Revolution, it had been maintained for several
years by means of correspondence. In 1774 Adams and
Richard Henry Lee saw each other for the first time at Phil
adelphia, and thenceforth they were for several years dele
gates together in Congress. It was not until the present
year that he met with Arthur Lee, one of the most able
and accomplished men of the Southern States. For nearly
fifteen years he had resided in Europe, exerting his graceful
pen and nervous eloquence in the cause of America until
the Declaration of Independence, and from that time serv
ing his country as Minister to the Courts of France and
Spain with all the zeal of an upright, courageous gentleman.
The letters of Mr. Adams to Arthur Lee express the warmth
of his feeling for him. At the close of one, he says, " Be
assured that I am, in a style too much out of fashion, your

120 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Nov.

friend " ; and in another, " Be assured that as I am a friend
to every one possessed of public virtue, with affection, I must
be constantly yours." How highly Mr. Adams esteemed his
abilities has been already seen in his letters, in his probable
agency in securing him his appointment in Europe, and par
ticularly in his indignant avowal of his friendship for the
Lees, " in the face of the world," when an attempt was made
in Boston to prejudice the people against him for that friend
ship. For some time Mr. Lee had been desirous of return
ing to America, with the intention of practising law in some
principal city. His brother then wrote him :

" Philadelphia and Boston seem to me to be the only theatres
for great actors to play upon. Our most worthy and wise friend,
Samuel Adams, Esq., can advise you respecting the latter, and in
telligence of the former may be well obtained from Chief Justice
McKean, the Attorney- General, Mr. Sergeant, and President Read.
The first of these gentlemen is one of those few whom I have known
in Congress since 1774, and whom I have found uniformly sensible,
firm, and attached to the cause of America, upon the best princi
ples. J recommend that gentleman to your particular attention.

" With respect to your obtaining full justification from Congress,
although it is justly your due, and so necessary to be obtained, you
know that men are such things as renders it wise to take measures
even for coming at justice. You are too well acquainted with hu
man nature not fully to feel the wisdom of Polonius s advice to his
son, * Give every man your ear, but few your voice. I would not
seem to know who were my enemies in Congress, but you will
know your friends ; the latter will have your voice, while the former
will have only your ear. Mr. Samuel Adams may be grappled to
your soul with hooks of steel ; his friendship for you, his knowledge
of men, and his wise penetration can, and will, wonderfully assist
you with regard to men and measures." l

Arthur Lee reached Boston in September, and while there
the Legislature granted him six thousand acres of land in
payment for his. services as agent of the Colony of Massachu-

1 B. H. to Arthur Lee, Chantilly, Aug. 31, 1780.

1780.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 121

setts Bay before the Revolution. He left for Philadelphia in
September, bearing letters to Samuel Adams from his friends,
among others from Dr. Cooper. Here the two friends
grasped hands for the first time ; and, as they gazed with cu
rious interest upon each other, the meeting must have been
a memorable epoch in their lives. Adams wrote back soon
after to Dr. Cooper :

" Your favor of the 21st of September was delivered to me by my
ever worthy friend, Mr. Arthur Lee, who came to this city about a
fortnight ago. The respect which you say was paid to him by the
principal gentlemen in Boston is exceedingly pleasing to me, because,
from an intimate and confidential correspondence with him for ten
years, I am convinced that he was among the most early and con
sistent of the American patriots. His inflexible virtue in the first
stages of our contest rendered him obnoxious to the great and pow
erful in England, and equally, of late, to interested persons in France
and their connections in America. My friendship for him is not
private; it is grounded altogether on public principles. You tell
me his short residence in the State of Massachusetts has been very
far from diminishing that estimation in which the people held him
there. I should have been indeed sorry if it had been otherwise ;
for his great services to them in particular had justly merited their
esteem. I rejoice that my own countrymen are not ungrateful. I
hope they will always be too just either to pay servile homage to
the weak and wicked, or to withhold the marks of their approbation
due to the wise and good." l

On the subject of the claims of Arthur Lee upon the coun
try for his long services in Europe, Adams wrote to Richard
Henry Lee :

" The whispers of envy and malice have sometimes influence
enough to prevent the justice due to the virtuous citizen. When
this is the case, it affords a symptom of the decay of public spirit
more threatening to the liberties of a commonwealth than hosts of
foreign enemies. Monarchs have their favorites, who serve as
pimps on their honest subjects ; but republics should examine the

1 To Rev. Samuel Cooper, Nov. 7, 1780.

122 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. . [Nor.

conduct of their servants with an impartial eye. And it discovers
the want of public virtue as much to withhold their smiles from the
wise and good as to bestow them on the wicked and unfaithful.
Mr. Lee, as yet. has neither smiles nor frowns. I am still in hopes
he will meet with the rewards which I am sure he would have re
ceived, if he had returned a few years ago. He will have them
when the trustees of the public shall have fortitude enough to be
uninfluenced by great names and characters given to men of base
and depraved minds. You will ask, When will that be ? Perhaps
not in this age ; but the historian will, in some future time, draw
forth the proofs of his patriotism, and unprejudiced posterity will
acknowledge that Arthur Lee has borne a great share in defending
and establishing the liberties of America. I say posterity, for I
believe a wiser generation will enjoy the fruits of the toil of patriots
and heroes in the present day." l

A few years later, when Mr. Adams had retired from Con
gress, and was President of the Massachusetts Senate, he in
troduced a bill to facilitate the surveying of the lands which
had been granted to Arthur Lee. The intimate friendships
of Samuel Adams were few, but founded upon a rock. Some
of those of the earlier days of the Revolution were severed by
natural causes ; and towards the close of the century oppo
site political views produced an estrangement from John
Adams, who for some cause, never fully explained, was led
to believe that Samuel Adams was his enemy and wished
to injure him ; but there were never any good grounds for
such a supposition, which perhaps grew out of the virulent
party sentiments of that time, when John Adams s Presiden
tial administration was bitterly assailed. The friendship of
Gerry, Dr. Jarvis, Governor Strong, Dr. Cooper, Judge Sul
livan, James Warren, and others, who knew and revered his
character, was retained to the last. The dearest friend he
ever had was Dr. Warren, and the void created in his heart
by the death of that brilliant young patriot was probably at
no time completely filled. Though he never spoke of him in
his letters, he did not forget the very great services rendered
1 To R. H. Lee, Philadelphia, Jan. 15, 1781.

1780.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 123

by this partner and special confidant in all his plans prior to
1775 ; and, in his reminiscences of the Revolution in his old
age, he recurred oftenest and the most affectionately to the
name of Joseph Warren.

The intimacy ever existing between Samuel Adams and
Elbridge Gerry has been already described. The two men
thoroughly understood each other, and never for a moment
wavered in their friendship. Years after the death of the
venerable Adams, Gerry, who became at length Vice-Presi-
dent of the United States, used to hold up the example of
the departed statesman as one of the most perfect presented
ill "history, ancient or modern. His partiality for Adams,
his deep veneration for his disinterested patriotism, and his
appreciation of those virtues and abilities which a near ac
quaintance had enabled him to contemplate for successive
years, under the most extraordinary circumstances, was
such that he often designated that character to young men
about entering public life as a model for close study, and
worthy of imitation for its purity and republican simplicity
and dignity. The conversations of Gerry on this subject,
had they been preserved, would have shed a flood of light on
the deeds and words of Adams. He was full of anecdotes
concerning him and the great events which he helped to
bring about. One of the letters of Adams, written towards
the close of this year, when Gerry had become a member of
the Massachusetts Legislature, shows how greatly he prized
this friendship, and at the same time serves to establish his
perfect consistency. His opinions were not written in sand ;
they were lifelong, the same before the Revolution and to
his latest days.

" Let me entreat yon," he writes, " my dear sir, not to think me
unmindful of the several favors I have received from you since I
arrived in this city. I hate protestations among friends ; and the
making apologies is so formal a business, that I know not in what
manner to begin it. Yet it seems necessary that I should say some
thing in excuse for my not having written to you. Shall I tell you

124 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Nov.

of my trembling hand, and how unfit an instrument it is to guide a
pen ? I do assure you that writing is on that account become pain
ful to me. I am persuaded you never doubted of the reality of my
friendship for you, and I solemnly affirm it has not abated a single
iota. Let this suffice on the score of apology, and permit me to
hope that I shall receive your letters frequently while I remain
here, which, however, will be only until next spring. I shall then
take my final leave of Congress, and seek that retirement from pub
lic cares which my country seems to point out for me, and to which
my own inclination leads me.

" I perceive it has been in your option to take a seat in either
House of the General Assembly, or to return to Congress. I can
not say in which of these departments you will have it in your
power to render the most substantial service to the public. We
feel the want of you here, and yet I think you have wisely chosen
a seat for the present in the House of Representatives. Many vir
tuous men there may want the information which you may be able
to give them. Possibly you may have much of the old ground to
go over again. More, in my opinion, is to be done than conquering
our British enemies, in order to establish the liberties of our country
on a solid basis. Human nature, I am afraid, is too much debased to
relish the republican principles in which the new government of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts appears to be founded. Mankind
are prone enough to political idolatry ; and may it not be added,
that the former government, I mean the last charter, being calcu
lated to make servile men rather than free citizens, the minds of
many of our countrymen have been inured to a cringing obsequi
ousness too deeply wrought into habit to be easily eradicated?
Such a temper is widely different from that just reverence which
every virtuous citizen will show to the upright magistrate. If my
fears on this head are ill grounded, I hope I shall be excused.
They proceed from a cordial affection for that country to the service
of which I have devoted the greatest part of my life.

" May Heaven inspire the present rulers with wisdom and sound
understanding! In all probability they will stamp the character
of the people. It is natural for a sensible observer to form an esti
mate of the people from an opinion of the men whom they set up
for their legislators and magistrates. And, besides, if we look ID to
the history of governors, we shall find that their principles and man-

1780.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 125

ners have always had a mighty influence on the people. Should
vanity and foppery ever be the ruling taste among the great, the
body of the people would be in danger of catching the distemper,
and the ridiculous maxims of the one would become fashionable
among the other. I pray God we may never be addicted to levity
and the folly of parade. Pomp and show serve very well to pro
mote the purposes of European and Asiatic grandeur in countries
where the mystery of iniquity is carried to the highest pitch, and
millions are tame enough to believe that they are born only to be
subservient to the capricious will of a single man or a few ! It re
quires counsel and sound judgment to render our country secure in a
flourishing condition. If men of wisdom and knowledge, of modera
tion and temperance, of patience, fortitude, and perseverance, of sobri
ety and true republican simplicity of manners, of zeal for the honor of
the Supreme Being and the welfare of the Commonwealth, if men
possessed of these and other excellent qualities are chosen to fill the
seats of government, we may expect that our affairs will rest on
a solid and permanent foundation. I thank you, my dear sir, for
mentioning my family so affectionately in one of your letters.
Oblige them with your visits as often as you can." l

The winter and spring of 1781 was a period of deep
depression. The success of the enemy in the South, the
destructive raid of the traitor Arnold in Virginia, the utter
prostration of the public credit and the difficulty of raising
money, the revolts of bodies of the soldiery at the insuffera
ble neglect of their wants, the murmurs of property hold
ers at the onerous but unavoidable taxations, were all
calculated to produce the gloomiest apprehensions. After
the reverses in the South, efforts were made to reorganize
the Southern forces, Steuben and Nelson being actively en
gaged in Virginia in collecting recruits for the army under
General Greene. Clothing, ammunition, and supplies of all
kinds were needed ; some of the troops being without shoes,
hats, or tents. The route of the main army in Virginia was
sometimes traced by its bloody footprints. To urge upon
Congress its utmost efforts for the supply of the army which

1 S. Adams to E. Gerry, Philadelphia, Nov. 27, 1780.

126 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Jan.

was soon to cope with Cornwallis and his well-appointed vet
erans, Colonel B. Harrison of the artillery was despatched
to Philadelphia, and, as chairman of a committee to confer
with that officer, Mr. Adams soon after reported a series of
resolutions, which were adopted and, as far as practicable,
carried into execution. To meet the exigency of the case,
all the regular troops from Pennsylvania to Georgia, except
ing Moylan s dragoons, were constituted the Southern army,
which the troops of the Pennsylvania line were ordered to
join. Arrangements were made for filling the quota of
troops from that State, and for procuring supplies regularly
and speedily from States farther south, where the Tory in
terest had been opposed to furnishing its quota. Ten thou
sand suits of clothes complete, four hundred wagons, eight
hundred and sixty tents, five thousand muskets, eight thou
sand knapsacks, and a proportionate supply of haversacks,
canteens, blankets, powder, and lead, were ordered from the
Board of War, for which they were authorized to contract
to pay in specie, payable in six months, with interest secured
by bills of exchange on the Minister at the Court of Ver
sailles. 1 Arrangements were also made with the States of
Delaware, Virginia, and North Carolina for supplies. Con
gress in these efforts, feeble at best, to restore confidence and
improve the condition of the army, exerted its power to the
utmost limit in aid of Steuben and Greene ; but it exhib
ited little more than the shadow of authority. It could
only appeal to the several States, each of which considered
itself especially unable to respond. The supplies of clothing
and cash which arrived from France with Laurens, and the
presence of the French troops soon after, gave new hopes for
the cause. Adams, during this period of depression, devoted
his energies in Congress to the consideration of the weighty
subjects of finance and the alleviation of the distresses of
the army. He was for allowing no lesser matters to occupy
attention. All his letters treat of the topic nearest his heart.

1 Journals of Congress, Feb. 20, 1781.

1781.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 127

" My friend," he writes, " we must not suffer anything to discour
age us in this great conflict. Let us recur to first principles without
delay. It is our duty to make every proper exertion in our respec
tive States to revive the old patriotic feelings among the people at
large, and to get the public departments, especially the most impor
tant of them, filled with men of understanding and inflexible virtue.
It would indeed be alarming if the United States should intrust the
ship in which our all is at stake with inexperienced or unprincipled
pilots. Our cause is surely too interesting to mankind to be put
under the direction of men vain, avaricious, or concealed under the
hypocritical guise of patriotism, without a spark of public or private
virtue. We may possibly be more in danger of this than many of
our honest citizens may imagine. Is there not reason to apprehend
that even those who are inimical to our cause may steal into places
of the highest trust ? I need not remind you that men of this char
acter have had seats in Congress from the beginning. Where is
Galloway, Low, Allen, and Alexander ? If it was so in those times
of vigilance and zeal, how much more is it to be expected when the
love of many is waxen cold, and their minds are distracted with the
pursuit of pleasure and exorbitant riches. We cannot be persuaded
to believe that bad men have been sent by their States with a view
of giving a fatal stab to our cause in its infancy ; but is it unreason
able to suppose that their elections were secretly influenced by art
ful men with that design ? Our most dangerous enemies may be in
our bosoms." l

Who were the members of Congress thus confidentially
referred to is left to conjecture. That body certainly was
not now composed of the talent and ability of the celebrated
convention who voted the Declaration of Independence. It
had in fact dwindled down into a small and not widely influ
ential assemblage, offering no field for oratorical or states
manlike abilities for the ambitious ; a thankless arena for
the exertions of the industrious, and constantly decreasing
in public estimation. An effort was made this winter by a
party in Congress to dispense with the existing method of
transacting foreign business by committees, and to create a

1 S. Adams to R. H. Lee, Philadelphia, Jan. 15, 1781.

128 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Jan.

department with a secretary, who should correspond with for
eign ambassadors and United States ministers abroad. In
fact, there was to be a " foreign office " similar to those of
European courts. 1 Mr. Adams is represented in the corre
spondence of the day as being opposed to this change. By
his influence, the subject of a Secretary of War was also
postponed, nor was any appointed until after his departure
from Congress. As we have seen, he was by no means sat
isfied with the aspect of affairs in that body. His letter just
quoted recommends a " return to first principles without
delay " ; and he undoubtedly had grave reasons for advocat
ing a continuance of the committee system. Luzerne, the
French Minister, wrote to his government :

" Divisions prevail in Congress about the new mode of transact
ing business by secretaries of different departments. Samuel Ad
ams, whose obstinate, resolute character was so useful to the Revo
lution in its origin, but who shows himself so ill suited to the con
duct of affairs in an organized government, has placed himself at the
head of the advocates of the old system of committees of Congress,
instead of relying on ministers or secretaries under the new arrange
ment." 2

The French Court entertained such designs relative to the
fisheries and other matters, as was subsequently discovered,
that it may be this " obstinate and resolute character " was
now particularly called for. The penetration of Adams
doubtless discerned what his great caution forbade him to
consign to written correspondence, though he significantly
hints at it. He had seen good reason for many years to be
watchful. At this distance, however, it is impossible to bring
to light all the grounds of his present course.

The sturdy persistency of purpose with which the Colo
nies at least the New England ones commenced the
Revolutionary contest had not burned so brightly of late.
Pressing financial difficulties, added to the military disasters

1 Journals of Congress, Jan. 17, 1781.

2 M. de La Luzerne to Vergennes, March 25, 1781.

1781.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 129

in the South, seem to have increased the desire for peace,
even on terms less rigid than those with which the war com
menced. Not long after the departure of Samuel Adams
from Congress, the French Ambassador communicated to
that body the proposals of Russia and Germany to act as me
diators, and bring about a peace ; and a majority was found,
despite the opposition of the New England members, ready
to accept of terms, even if the independence of the United
States was not expressly acknowledged, though it was to be
substantially understood, 1 thus impliedly renouncing, under
the pressure of accumulated calamities, the great object of
the Revolution. Southern members were particularly the
advocates of such a cessation of hostilities, for their territory
was at this time suffering the terrors of British invasion ;
but they seemed to forget the fortitude of Boston in its
early Revolutionary trials. The measure was carried, and
separate commissioners were appointed to represent the
several sections of the Union, a precedent which would
certainly have found a determined opponent in Samuel
Adams, had it been broached while he was in Congress.
The scheme fortunately proved a failure. England peremp
torily refused to make any admission of American inde
pendence. The negotiations were broken off; and a few
months afterwards, the capture of Cornwallis having decided
the contest, the express acknowledgment of independence
was obtained from the mother coimtry without any modifica
tion of the absolute terms announced by Congress in 1778,
through the pen of Adams.

However Mr. Adams s opposition to the establishment of a
foreign office may have been connected with the premoni
tion of these events, that question seems to have occupied
Congress for several days, and was only defeated after
a hard struggle, and evidently by his personal influence.
General John Sullivan, whose indiscreet conduct after the
failure of the Rhode Island expedition in 1778 had raised

1 Hildreth, HE. 413.
VOL. in. 9

130 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Jan.

doubts in the minds of many as to his prudence, was sup
posed to be a candidate for Secretary of the War Depart
ment ; and, in a letter soon after, he considers Mr. Adams s
opposition as having been founded upon a fear that he (Gen
eral Sullivan) would be elected. 1 It must be supposed,
however, that these objections sprung from a much deeper
policy than is thus indicated. Mr. Adams was about quit
ting Congress ; and now, as always, he based his conduct
upon what he conceived to be the public good. He was
equally jealous at this time of the creation of a superinten
dent of finance, and his reasons for opposing that measure
are given in a letter to Elbridge Gerry, written in Boston,
after the proclamation of peace.

" Were our financier, I was going to say, even an angel from
heaven, I hope he will never have so much influence as to gain the
ascendency over Congress which the first Lord of the Treasury has
long had over the Parliament of Britain, long enough to effect the
ruin of that nation. These are the fears which I expressed in Con
gress when the department was first instituted. I was told that the
breath of Congress could annihilate the financier ; but I replied that
the time might come, and, if they were not careful, it certainly
would, when even Congress would not dare to blow that breath." 2

Robert Morris was appointed, who did inestimable service
in evolving some order out of the financial chaos in which
the country was plunged, and gave no delegate who voted
for him any cause to regret the extraordinary powers con
ferred upon the office. Mr. Adams was never insensible to
the absolute necessity of giving to Congress the exclusive
management of foreign, financial, and military affairs. With
all his dislike of delegated power, he recognized the efficacy
of a central government vested with the power to act for the
States in a national capacity. But he considered it the safest
way, at least for the present, that the general duties should
be performed by the old and tried system of standing com-

1 General Sullivan to Washington, March 6, 1781.

2 S. Adams to E. Gerry, Boston, Sept. 9, 1783.

1781.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 131

mittees, a system which thus far had been found to work
harmoniously, and, as it gave opportunity for the joint delib
eration of several members upon any subject, was more in
consonance with his conceptions of democracy than govern
ment by the separate acts of special departments having a
single head. A jealousy of delegated power in any form was
a characteristic of Samuel Adams, and certainly his experi
ence taught him that such jealousy was a political virtue.
It is unquestionable that his opposition to the foreign office
was founded upon a course of reasoning equally satisfactory
to his own mind.

Mr. Lee, replying to his friend s letter of January 15th,
acknowledges the truth of his remarks, and discloses a de
gree of anxiety as to the designs of certain members, and
the fate of the Articles of Confederation, now about to be
decided, which would imply a strong influence in Congress
itself against the final adoption of that instrument ; and
from his seat at Chantilly he invokes the aid of his friend to
save it from serious interested combinations, with which it
was menaced. We have seen the Articles discussed in the
fall of 1777, finally accepted by Congress, and submitted to
the several States for their ratification. After three years
of delay, caused by the not unreasonable jealousy of the
larger States by the small landless ones, the vexed question
was at last reaching a conclusion. The invasion of Virginia
by Arnold, and the evident necessity of reviving the union
spirit, caused the Virginia Assembly to renounce its claim x
to the territory northwest of the Ohio ; and when New York
followed in the same disinterested spirit, Maryland gave in
its assent, completing the thirteen. The territory ceded by
Virginia was to be accepted by Congress ; and the following
letter was written in order to overcome the opposition to
this act as well as to forward the plan of confederation, tho
delay in which had to some extent damaged the cause.
The Articles of Confederation had passed through the hands
of Lee and Adams, when they came from the committee of

132 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [ Fel &gt;-

which they were members, and from that time they had
shown a constant anxiety for the success of this first at
tempt to establish a form of Federal government. Lee now
writes :

" At present my design is to be confined chiefly to the considera
tion of the cession made to the United States by this Commonwealth,
at our last session of Assembly, of all the country northwest of the
river Ohio which is contained within the charter limits of this coun
try. The country thus yielded is greater in extent than that which
remains to us between the ocean and the Ohio, and in point of cli
mate and soil is far preferable. The terms of cession, so far as I
can judge, are perfectly reasonable. Notwithstanding this, there
are powerful reasons which I can clearly see will obstruct, if not
defeat, the acceptation of this cession by Congress. It will be a
means of perfecting our union by closing the confederation, and thus
our independency will be secured in a greater measure. It will bar
the hopes of some powerful confederated land-jobbers, who have
long had in contemplation immense possessions in this ceded coun
try, under pretence of Indian purchases and other plausible but not
solid titles. It is plain, therefore, that personal interest and politi
cal views, Toryism, British interest, and land-jobbing views, combine
numbers without and within doors to reject this proffered cession.
The modes and methods which these artists pursue are well under
stood by the judicious, attentive friends to the independence of
these States. They pretend great friendship and concern for the
independency, the union, and confederation of America, but by cir
cuitous means attack and destroy the things that are indispensable
to those ends. Hitherto, the avarice and ambition of Virginia has
prevented confederation. Now, when Virginia has yielded half
and more than half of her charter claim, the argument will be
applied to the terms as improper, and for certain purposes per
haps it may be said that the quantity ceded is not enough ; in short,
anything that can operate the delay and defeat of a measure cal
culated to sever us completely from Great Britain, and to pre
clude the avaricious views of land-mongers, will be industriously
pressed.

" But, my dear friend, cannot virtue for once be as active as
vice ? can we not by effectual industry contrive to have a plan

1781.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 133

adopted by which our great bond of union may be secured ? Let
me observe here, that our Assembly is luckily called again to meet
before our annual dissolution ; and if that great business can be con
sidered and determined on by Congress in season for us, so that we
may know the result before the next meeting of the Assembly passes
away, I think it will greatly conduce to the general good and happi
ness of the United States. After that which the uniform friends of
American liberty have already done, if they can be happy enough
to complete this great bond of union, strength, confidence, and credit,
the confederation, they may reasonably be contented with the fair
prospect that will open upon them for future happiness and security.
Our Assembly is called by the Governor to meet on the 1st of
next month, and the session will not be long." 1

Mr. Adams had just been appointed one of a committee
of seven to whom were referred the acts and resolutions of
Virginia, New York, and Connecticut, respecting the relin-
quishment of the Western territory. 2 Congress, however,
was unable to agree upon the terms of settlement ; and the
cession of those vast tracts now comprising the States of
Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin was not
accomplished until March, 1784. On the 12th of February,
1781, the Maryland delegates having laid before Congress a
certified copy of the acceptance by that State of the Articles
of Confederation, the final ratification was announced to the
public on the 24th ; and it was voted that the " important
event " should be communicated to the executives of the
several States and to the American ministers in Europe,
who were ordered to notify the respective courts where they
resided. Special information was also transmitted to Wash
ington, who was directed to announce it to the army. Thus
the " bond of union," the primary frame of government,
which brought the original thirteen States out of their con
dition of distinct republics into as perfect a confederation as
the crude ideas of a nationality would admit, became opera
tive four years and a half after the instrument had been re-

1 R. H. Lee to S. Adams, Chantilly, Feb. 5, 1781.

2 Journals of Congress, Jan. 31, 1781.

134 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [March,

ported. In that time every argument had been exhausted in
Congress as well as in the State governments. Every spe
cies of sectional jealousy had interposed to prevent its suc
cess, and even speculative interests had not been wanting
as agents for its defeat. Under all the circumstances, it is
remarkable that it was adopted at all, limited as were the
powers which it conceded to the central government. Mr.
Adams had the satisfaction of affixing his signature on the
eve of his final departure from Congress, appropriately ter
minating his career in that body by an act for that national
union of American interests, which seventeen years before
he had been the first to recommend, when his native town
through him directed her representatives to urge a united
application by all the Colonies for a redress of grievances.
Some of his friends in Massachusetts still entertained hopes
of placing him at the head of the State government this
year ; and among these, Caleb Davis, one of the Boston dele
gation in the last Assembly, had written to him with that
view. In reply he says :

" You mention a certain juncture when you wish me to return.
I think I can discover your motive and your old partiality for me.
I do assure you I am not at all solicitous about anything of the kind
which your letter seems to indicate. I have always endeavored to
confine my desires in this life within moderate bounds, and it is time
for me to reduce them to a narrower compass. You speak of neg
lect, ingratitude/ &c. But let us entertain just sentiments. A
citizen owes everything to the commonwealth ; and after he has made
his utmost exertions for its prosperity, has he done more than his
duty ? When time enfeebles his powers, and renders him unfit for
further service, his country, to preserve its own vigor, will wisely
call upon others ; and if he decently retreats to make room for
them, he will show that he has not totally lost his understanding.
Besides, there is a period in life when a man should covet the ex
alted pleasures of reflection in retirement." l

Already, in conformity with the determination expressed

1 S. Adams to Caleb Davis, April 3, 1781.

1781.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 135

during the past year, he had addressed to the Massachusetts
Legislature his desire to be recalled. The following is the
letter : -

PHILADELPHIA, 13th March, 1781.
bin,

I beg the favor of you to communicate to the General Assembly
my wish to return home as early as may be ; and to request that I
may be relieved by one of my colleagues, or in such manner as
shall be thought most proper.

I flatter myself I shall be excused in making this request, from a
consideration of the length of time since I last left Massachusetts,
and that I am apprehensive my health will not admit of my spend
ing another summer in this city.

I am, with every sentiment of duty and respect to the Assembly,
sir, your most obedient and very humble servant,

SAMUEL ADAMS.

HONORABLE THE PRESIDENT OP THE SENATE OF THE COMMONWEALTH OP
MASSACHUSETTS.

On the 12th of April he announced his intention of finally
quitting Congress, and, having obtained leave of absence from
that body, took his departure in the following week, and
reached Boston towards the close of the month. He had
left Massachusetts, for the first time, in 1774, to attend Con
gress, and after his Congressional career, he never again was
absent from his native State ; his political course being con
fined to Massachusetts, though the weight of his character
and opinions continued to be felt in all national questions.
After devoting the best part of his life to his country, he re
turned to his family to find himself poor and homeless. The
commercial successes of Gerry and Bowdoin, the wealth of
Hancock, the thrift of John Adams, the profits accruing to
professional pursuits, more or less enjoyed by most of his
coworkers in the Revolution, were unknown to Samuel
Adams. He had not even the shelter of a roof he could
call his own, though for a nominal rent he was still per
mitted by act of Legislature to occupy the confiscated resi
dence of Robert Hallowell ; and certain articles of furniture

136 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [March,

out of the estates of Tories, " with the use of which he had
been indulged," he was allowed to purchase for " ninety-two
pounds and seven shillings," money due him for his services
as Clerk of the House of Representatives during the year
1774, services which had gone thus far unremunerated.
To such pecuniary straits was the " Father of the Revolu
tion " reduced, when America was about issuing from the
great struggle, with the prize of independence almost won.
The following is copied from his original manuscript peti
tion :

To THE HONORABLE COUNCIL AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, IN GEN
ERAL COURT ASSEMBLED.

March 9, 1780.

The petition of Samuel Adams of Boston humbly shows :

That when the British troops were in possession of the town of
Boston, in 1775, he suffered the loss of the greatest and most valu
able part of his household furniture, and has since been indulged
with the use of sundry articles belonging to certain absentees until
the General Assembly should be pleased to otherwise order them to
be disposed of.

Your petitioner prays the Honorable Court that he may be per
mitted to avail himself of the purchase of the said furniture at the
prices that may be set upon them by good and discreet men.

And as in duty bound, he shall pray, &c.

SAMUEL ADAMS.

Mr. Everett, who seems in early life to have informed him
self about Samuel Adams from contemporary sources, said,
in 1825, of his straitened circumstances :

" Samuel Adams was the counterpart of his distinguished associ
ate in proscription. Hancock served the cause with his liberal opu
lence, Adams with his incorruptible poverty. His family, at times,
suffered almost for the comforts of life, when he might have sold his
influence over the counsels of America for uncounted gold, when he
might have emptied the royal treasury if he would have betrayed
his country. Samuel Adams was the last of the Puritans, a class
of men to whom the cause of civil and religious liberty on both sides

1781-1 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 137

of the Atlantic is mainly indebted for the great progress which it
has made for the last two hundred years ; and when the Declaration
of Independence was signed, that dispensation might be considered
as brought to a close." 1

The Rev. Mr. Thacher, whose discourse at the death of
Adams has been occasionally quoted in these pages, says that
the virtue of his venerable friend had been " repeatedly tried
in the crucible of poverty and necessity."

" While he was occupied abroad," continues Mr. Thacher, " in the
most important and responsible public duties, the amiable partner
of his cares supported the family at home by manual industry ; and
notwithstanding his whole resources were so small that there are
few among my hearers who would not have deemed it a very imper
fect support, yet, such was the union of dignity with economy, that,
to the foreigner or the native casually visiting the family nothing of
degradation or debasement appeared, but every circumstance of
propriety necessary to the honorable grade which his country had
assigned him. In this situation did his country permit this illustri
ous character to remain ; and while inferior merit and circumstan
tial claims, oftentimes trivial, entitled their owners to large dona
tions from the public, he knew by very painful experience the in
gratitude and baseness of mankind." 2

This is no overdrawn picture. Thacher was not only a
witness of its truth in common with the whole community,
but it is the concurrent testimony of numbers of his family
and friends who survived to within a few years of this writ
ing. Wise in the management of everything but what con
cerned his own benefit, he never knew the value of money ;
yet he was not improvident in the use of his humble means,
and the economy of his energetic and careful wife to some
extent made amends for his deficiency in thrift. Before the
Revolution he had dearly enjoyed the pleasures of his home ;
and now, contented with his condition, and heedful only for
the public welfare, he could look without envy upon the
affluence of others, and turned with true zest to the scanty

1 Everett s Orations, I. 545. 2 Thacher s Discourse, pp. 20, 21.

138 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [May -Aug.

comforts of his little family circle. His daughter, shortly af
ter his arrival, was married to a younger brother of Mrs. Ad
ams, and it was with the deepest satisfaction that he saw his
child mated .with a gentleman who could at least raise her
above the poverty to which she had so often been subjected.

At the May elections before his return, his intended re
tirement from Congress being known, Mr. Adams was elected
to the Senate of Massachusetts, and at the opening of the
session he took his seat as President of that body. In this
position he continued his exertions for the supplying of
troops and provisions, and endeavored to suppress the mur
murs which were now growing louder and more general at
the repeated calls upon the public resources. Massachu
setts had in reality been more prompt and liberal than any
other State in this respect, but the burden was becoming
insupportable.

Though absent from Congress, he continued to take the
deepest interest in the proceedings of that body, and frag
ments existing among his papers make it probable that he
gave the hint for some of its important proceedings. In
July of this year, the South Carolina and Georgia delegates
applied to Congress to recommend a special loan from the
several States in aid of numbers of distressed inhabitants of
the two first-named States, who had lately arrived at Phila
delphia from Charleston in cartels. These unfortunates
were in a most destitute condition, having suffered cruelly
at the hands of the enemy. The motion, as offered by Mr.
Bland of Virginia, did not prevail, but Congress passed one
subsequently, authorizing the opening of a subscription of
thirty thousand dollars in the several States not in the pos
session of the enemy ; South Carolina and Georgia pledg
ing their faith for the repayment, with interest, as soon as
they should be in a condition to do so. 1 Massachusetts,
being the wealthiest and most populous of the States beyond
British power, was expected to meet a large portion of this

1 Journals of Congress, July 23, 1781.

1781.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 189

loan. How deeply Mr. Adams sympathized with these suf
ferers (among whom, it is believed, was the family of his
wife s brother, Andrew Elton Wells) is shown by the fol
lowing reply, which he sent to his friend, John Lowell, then
a member of the Massachusetts delegation in Congress.
" If the following is agreeable," he writes, " you will please
get it transcribed ; if otherwise, alter it to your liking. My
trembling hand will not admit of my making a fair copy.

" GENTLEMEN,

" A few days ago we had the pleasure of receiving your letter of
the 31st of July, enclosing a copy of a resolution of Congress in
favor of our brethren of South Carolina and Georgia who have
partook so largely in that cruelty which has marked the character
of our British enemies. Humanity should induce us, with the ut
most cheerfulness, to take a part with you in procuring relief for
those oppressed men. But when we consider them as having en
dured so severe a conflict with patience and fortitude as patriots, and
in support of the common cause of our country, we feel the additional
obligation of fellow-citizens. Indeed, the people of this Common
wealth have been, and are still, called upon for extraordinary ad
vances of money and for various purposes ; but we are fully per
suaded that this application will have its due weight, more especially
as we think it cannot but instantly awaken a recollection that those
very gentlemen who are now drinking so deeply of the cup of afflic
tion were among the earliest to administer comfort to the inhabi
tants of this metropolis when they were suffering for the same
glorious cause, under the cruel oppression of the memorable Port
Bill. We shall write to you as occasion shall require, and are with
sincerity,

" Your affectionate fellow-citizens." 1

The extent to which Massachusetts, embarrassed as she
then was, contributed to this laudable object is not known,
but it is presumable that the generosity of South Carolina
and Georgia to Boston, in the hour of her distress, was not
forgotten.

1 Historical Magazine, September, 1857 ; I. 261.

CHAPTER LV.

Adams President of the State Senate. The disputed Vermont Territory.
Effect in England of the Surrender of Cornwallis. Approach of Peace
with Great Britain. The Right to the Newfoundland Fisheries. Adams
urges the Building of a Powerful Navy. Intercepted Letter of Marbois to
the French Government. Adams arouses New England on the Fishery
Question. Declines a Seat in Congress. His Dignified Appearance
when presiding over the State Senate. Extravagance and Dissipation in
Boston. Adams and his Friends attempt to counteract the Evil. Distress
among the People. Riots in the Interior headed by Ely. Adams visits
Hampshire County and restores Order. The Continental Tax. Adams
and Gorham deputed to facilitate its Collection in Massachusetts. Letters
of the Commissioners. Bankrupt Condition of the Country.

RESIDING again in Boston, Mr. Adams now enjoyed the
long-coveted leisure to attend to the local circumstances of
" his beloved town," in whose moral as well as substantial
improvement he was ever interested. An effort was made
about this time by James Sullivan, and perhaps by others,
to effect a reconciliation between Adams and Hancock,
and at one time was supposed to have been successful ;
but the causes of disagreement still existed, and the breach
was not to be healed for years, though Mr. Adams did not
allow these differences to interfere with his public duties,
whenever those duties brought him necessarily in contact
with his former associate. During his last visit from Con
gress, he had been one of a committee, including Dr. Cooper
and several other ministers appointed by the town, " to adopt
measures for the promotion of virtue and good order," evi
dently having reference to the laxity of manners already
observable, and so repugnant to the spirit and demeanor
which Adams considered as indispensable to the achievement
of national liberty. Some articles in the public papers at
this time have been attributed to him, on the ground of

Sept., 1780.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 141

their hostility to Hancock s style of living and public exam
ple ; but it is believed that he wrote little for the press after
quitting Congress. The following letter to John Adams
alluded to one of the town meetings, when probably the sub
ject under discussion was the illicit trade then commencing
to injure the public cause. Of most of these town meetings
Mr. Adams was moderator, and it is not improbable that he
had much to do with having them called. The letter is
without date, but was evidently written in September or
October of 1781, as about that time La Fayette sailed from
Boston on his return to France.

" The Marquis de La Fayette is so obliging as to take the care
of this letter, which for the sake of him, the Count de Noailles, and
others our French friends who take refuge with him in the alli
ance, I hope will arrive safely. In the same conveyance there
is a packet intended for you from Congress, by which you will
doubtless be informed of what has been doing there* It is six
months since I left Philadelphia ; you cannot therefore expect that
I should give you any of the intelligence of that city. I presume
Mr. L. makes known to you everything that is interesting. I wrote
to you frequently while I was there, and suppose all my letters
have miscarried as well as yours, if you have written to me, for
I have not received one for many months, except a line by the
Sieur de L Etombe, to whom I pay great attention, both on ac
count of your recommendation and his merit. I give you credit for
a packet of Gazettes lately received, because I knew the direction
on the cover was your handwriting.

" Matters go on here just as you would expect, from your knowl
edge of the people ; zealous in the great cause, they hesitate at no
labor or expense for its support. Anxious to have a code of laws
for the internal government adapted to the spirit of their own Con
stitution, the General Court have appointed the supreme judges
with Mr. Bowdoin, who is at present perfectly at leisure, to revise
the laws and report proper and necessary amendments. The two
great vacancies in the offices of President and Professor of Mathe
matics, &c., in our university, are filled with gentlemen of learning
and excellent character, the Reverend Mr. Willard of Beverly, and
the Reverend Mr. Williams of . The Academy of Arts and

142 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct.

Sciences is in a flourishing way. A new society is incorporated by
the name of the Medical Society; and this metropolis has lately
appointed a committee to consider the present management of the
schools, and report what further improvements may be made, in
which the better education of female children is designed to be com
prehended. All these things, I hope, are pleasing to you. Our
people treat foreigners of merit who come among them with good
humor and civility, being desirous of adopting the virtuous manners
of others and engrafting them into our stock. Laudable examples
on their side and ours will be productive of mutual benefit. Indeed,
men of influence must form the manners of the people. They can
operate more towards cultivating the principles and fixing the habits
of virtue than all the force of laws. This I think is verified by the
experience of the world, and should induce the people who exercise
the right of electing their own rulers to be circumspect in making
their choice. You are well enough acquainted with the character
of our first magistrate, to judge what effect his influence may have
upon manners.

" Enclosed are some of the proceedings of a late town meeting,
which I send to you as a private citizen for your mere information.
The meeting was called in consequence of a letter received by our
Selectmen from Marblehead, in which it was proposed that the sub
ject should be considered in a committee of the maritime towns.
But this town judged it more proper to lay the matter before the
General Court, and have accordingly instructed their Representa
tives, and recommended it to the others to take the same method.
They could not think it becoming in them to write to you, through
a fellow-citizen, on a subject which concerns the American republic,
although they have an entire confidence in your attachment to the
interest of the United States and of this Commonwealth, which is
an essential part of them.

" Please to pay my due regards to Mr. Dana, Mr. Thaxter, &c.
I rejoice to hear of the welfare of one of your sons, whom I had
almost given up as lost. The Count de Noailles tells me he has a
letter for you from your lady. Mrs. Adams sends compliments.
Miss has changed her name, and left her father s house." l

In October, the decisive victory at Yorktown sent a gleam

1 Samuel to John Adams, Boston, 1781.

1781.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 143

of joy and exultation through the country, and gave the
assurance of a speedy termination of the war. With the
first prospect of peace, and indeed long before it was made
probable by the surrender of Cornwallis, a participation in
the Newfoundland fisheries became a primary object with
the people of Massachusetts, and their delegates in Congress
were instructed warmly to support this point in any negotia
tions. John Adams, who was still in Europe, and was au
thorized to treat with Great Britain whenever she should be
so disposed, well understood the importance of the demand,
and was faithful in urging it. Samuel Adams dearly esti
mated this right, especially as a means of encouraging native
industry. This is shown in much of his correspondence, in
which he continually alludes to it. To the President of
Congress he writes :

" Are we soon to have peace ? However desirable this may be,
we must not wish for it on any terms but such as shall be honorable
and safe to our country. Let us not disgrace ourselves by giving
just occasion for it to be said hereafter, that we finished our great
contest with an inglorious accommodation. Things are whispered
here which, if true, will cause much discontent. The citizens of
this part of America will say and judge, my dear sir, if it will not
be just, that the fishing-banks are at least as important as tobacco-
yards or rice-swamps or the flourishing wheat-fields of Pennsylva
nia. The name only of independence is not worth the blood of a
single citizen. We have not been so long contending for trifles.
A navy must support our independence ; and Britain will tell you
the fishery is her grand nursery of seamen."

And again to the same person :

" I take it for granted, that a very great majority of the people in
each of the United States are determined to support this righteous
and necessary war till they shall obtain their grand object, an un
disputed sovereignty. This must hereafter be maintained, under
God, by the wisdom and vigor of their own counsels and their own
strength. Their policy will lead them, if they mean to form any con
nection with Europe, to make themselves respectable in the eyes of the

144 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Nov.

nations, by holding up to them the benefits of their trade. Trade
must be so free to all as to make it the interest of each to protect it,
till they are able to protect it themselves. This the United States
must do by a navy. Till they shall have erected a powerful navy,
they will be liable to insults which may injure and depreciate their
character as a sovereign and independent state ; and while they may
be incapable of resisting it themselves, no friendly power may ven
ture to or can resent it on their behalf. The United States must,
then, build a navy. They have, or may have, all the materials in
plenty. But what will ships of war avail without seamen? and
where will they find a nursery for seamen but in the fishery ? " l

, Mr. Adams had good reasons to apprehend that, in the ap
proaching negotiations, the all-important right to the fish
eries would not have its proper weight ; and his exertions to
maintain the ruling importance of this branch of industry in
Massachusetts will presently appear. Members of Congress
from the Southern and Middle States took but little interest
in the subject ; and the instructions given to the envoys did
not make it indispensable to insist upon the point.

The correspondence of Mr. Adams makes occasional refer
ence to the claims of New York, Massachusetts, and New
Hampshire to the territory of Vermont, which in 1777 had
declared itself an independent State, and in the following
year elected Thomas Chittenden Governor. As the Green
Mountain Boys were determined to support their right, and
the growing importance of the dispute had given the common
enemy encouragement to open negotiations with Vermont,
Congress, in well-grounded alarm, had essayed to effect an
arrangement between the several claimants to the lands in
question. A civil war seemed at one time to be impending.
Mr. Adams, it was thought, had, from the first, been favor
able to the independence of Vermont, and in 1776 was
reported to have advised Colonel Warner to that effect.
Massachusetts was now anxious that the new State should
be formed, but refused to come into the proposed Congres-

1 S. Adams to Thomas McKean, Boston, September, 1781.

1781.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 145

sional conference on the subject, fearing some ulterior de
signs of Now York and New Hampshire on the disputed
territory. Governor Chittenden, a man of great ability, and
universally respected in Vermont, addressed a letter to Sam
uel Adams, desiring to have the position of Massachusetts
denned on the subject of her particular claim to any portion
of Vermont. The following draft of a reply is in the hand
writing of Mr. Adams :

SIR,

Your letter dated Manchester, the 28th of October, and directed
to the President of the Council of this State, has been laid before
the General Assembly, according to your request, and duly consid
ered. Two questions of importance are therein proposed, viz. " Over
what part of this State (by which we suppose is to be understood
Vermont) we mean to extend our claim ? " and " How far we mean
to carry such pretensions into execution, in the trial at Congress on
the first day of February next ? "

This State hath an ancient and just claim to all the territory
referred to in your letter lying between the rivers Connecticut and
Hudson, bounded as follows ; viz. easterly by Connecticut River ;
westerly by the eastern line of New York ; northerly by the north
ern boundary of Massachusetts Bay ; and southerly by the northern
limits of the Massachusetts jurisdiction as it was settled by the King
of Great Britain in the year 1739.

This we take to be a full answer to your first question, according
to its true intent, because we suppose a part of the district of coun
try which has been commonly called the New Hampshire grants,
and is contained within the bounds above described, is a part of
that territory which you call the State of Vermont. Over this tract
of country we mean to extend our claim, notwithstanding the decis
ion of the King of Great Britain aforesaid in favor of the Province
of New Hampshire, in 1739, which we have ever considered to be
unjust. And as the General Assembly hath no authority to divest
the State of any of its constitutional rights, we mean to continue,
assert, and maintain the said claim, before anybody competent to
try and determine the same, against the pretensions of any people
whomsoever.

However necessary you, sir, may judge it that an explicit ac-

VOL. III. 10

146 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Nov.

knowledgment of the independence of the State of Vermont should
be made, in order to bring about an equitable accommodation of the
difficulties subsisting between the States mentioned in your letter,
this State cannot come into such an acknowledgment consistently
with its connection with the United States of America and the en
gagements it has solemnly entered into with them. We have, there
fore, reason to expect that such formality of state in this address to
you as would be correspondent with that which is adopted in your
letter will be candidly dispensed with at this time.

In the name and by the order of the General Assembly,
I am with due respect, sir,

Your most obedient and very humble servant,

SAMUEL ADAMS.
THOMAS CHITTENDEN, ESQ., at Manchester.

The letter is without date, but was written not long after
that of Chittenden, of which the original is missing. It is a
plain exponent of the position of Massachusetts in this in
teresting question, and a fair instance of the direct, compre
hensive, and yet perfectly simple style of Samuel Adams s
writings on all subjects. The letter of Chittenden was
evidently penned with a careful observance of state for
mality ; addressing Mr. Adams as President of the Senate,
with the expectation that, in returning the courtesy, he
would unguardedly acknowledge him as Governor of the
State of Vermont. The habitual caution of Adams is shown
in the reply, which recognizes Mr. Chittenden only as a pri
vate citizen. In February of the previous year, while Mr.
Adams was Secretary of State, he received a letter from the
Secretary of New York, asking for copies of papers relative
to this subject. His answer is as follows :

BOSTON, February 17, 1780.

SIR,

Your letter of the 19th of January did not reach my hand till
yesterday. I am sorry to acquaint you that the affairs of this gov
ernment, immediately previous to the enemy s taking possession of
this town in 1775, being under the direction of persons inimical to
us, the papers in the files of the Secretary of the Province were

1781.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 147

deranged and thrown into such disorder as to render it impractica
ble for me immediately to comply with your request to send you
authenticated copies of the papers you have mentioned. I can con
ceive of no reason why you should not be served with the copies as
you desire. The Council have ordered the papers to be looked up
for the use of a committee appointed to state our claim. This will
be done with the greatest despatch, and will enable me to convince
you of the readiness with which I am disposed to gratify you in all
cases consistent with the duties of my office.

In the mean time, I am, with the greatest esteem, &c.,

SAMUEL ADAMS.
HON. JOHN MORIN SCOTT, ESQ.

The matter was repeatedly before Congress, and in Au
gust of this year that body offered to recognize the indepen
dence of Vermont, and admit her into the Union upon the
indispensable condition that she would relinquish her en
croachment upon the lands of New Hampshire and New
York, several townships from both of which States had been
absorbed. New York protested against this, but the Massa
chusetts delegation in Congress, doubtless by instruction,
voted in the affirmative. The desire of Massachusetts, in
asserting its claim, probably was to secure the independence
of Vermont, and prevent its partition between New York
and New Hampshire. After the resolution of Congress,
New York determined to prosecute her claim, prepared to
assert it by force, and marched troops for the purpose ; and
New Hampshire threatened a similar course. A timely
letter from Washington to Chittenden induced the Legis
lature of Vermont to establish the western bank of the
Connecticut River on the one part, and a line drawn from
the northwest corner of Massachusetts northward to Lake
Champlain on the other, as the eastern and western bounda
ries of the State, relinquishing all claim of jurisdiction with
out those limits ; and the impending danger of a civil war
was thus averted.

Britain s hope of subjugating America terminated with the

148 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Jan.

tidings of the capture of Cornwallis, bitter tidings indeed
to the nobleman who had vowed never to cease his measures
of unjust coercion until " America was prostrate at his feet."

" On Sunday the 25th [of November, 1781,] about noon, official
intelligence of the surrender of the British forces at Yorktown ar
rived from Falmouth at Lord Germain s house in Pall Mall. Lord
Walsingham, who, previous to his father Sir William de Grey s
elevation to the peerage, had been Under-Secretary of State in that
department, and who was selected to second the address in the
House of Peers on the subsequent Tuesday, happened to be there
when the messenger brought the news. Without communicating
it to any other person, Lord George, for the purpose of despatch,
immediately got with him into a hackney-coach, and drove to Lord
Stormont s residence in Portland Place. Having imparted to him
the disastrous information, and taken him into the carriage, they
instantly proceeded to the Chancellor s house in Great Russel
Street, Bloomsbury, whom they found at home; when, after a
short consultation, they determined to lay it themselves, in person,
before Lord North. He had not received any intimation of the
event when they arrived at his door in Downing Street, between
one and two o clock. The First Minister s firmness, and even his
presence of mind, gave way for a short time under this awful disas
ter. I asked Lord George afterwards how he took the communica
tion when made to him ? As he would have taken a ball in his
breast, replied Lord George. For he opened his arms, exclaiming
wildly, as he paced up and down the apartment during a few min
utes, O God ! it is all over ! words which he repeated many
times under emotions of the deepest agitation and distress." l

Sensible of the irretrievable loss of " the brightest jewel
in the crown," brought about by the folly of past and pres
ent administrations, the Ministry now prepared to treat for
peace. Lord North, yielding to the opposition and the press
ure of public opinion, resigned ; and overtures, under the
new order of affairs, were speedily commenced. An accom
modation not involving entire independence was at first
proposed ; but the American Commissioners at Paris, in

1 WraxalTs Historical Memoirs, November, 1781.

1782.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 149

accordance with the spirit of their country, insisted upon
absolute independence as the only basis of negotiation.
France, anxious for peace with Great Britain, was equally
desirous of a cessation of the American war, from her par
ticipation in which she had no hope of attaining her long-cher
ished idea of commercial supremacy, but saw herself loaded
with debt by reason of the enormous expense at which it had
been conducted on her part. The American ministers at
the several European courts were nearly unanimous in their
suspicions that France would attempt to effect such arrange
ments as would give her the control of the foreign relations
of the United States. The plan for the reduction of Can
ada, offered by Arnold in 1778, had been regarded as an
intrigue of France to gain possession of the Newfoundland
fisheries, and it was not long before the design of excluding
the Americans from these and the Western territories be
came apparent.

A participation in the fisheries became the ruling topic in
Massachusetts, and an intense excitement was created there,
on the suspicion that the right was possibly to be renounced.
The French Minister, in his desire for peace, proposed that
the Grand Bank fisheries should be yielded to Great Brit
ain, and the disposition of the Western lands left mainly to
future treaties. Pending the negotiations in Paris, Oswald,
the British Commissioner, willing to create a jealousy of
France, sent to Franklin and Jay (John Adams not having
yet returned from Holland) a copy of a letter from Marbois,
the French Secretary of Legation, which had been inter
cepted in its passage from America, in which the supposed
policy of the French Court was disclosed, and the character
of Samuel Adams curiously depicted. The letter had the
effect of precipitating the treaty at Paris, and left the Com
missioners in no doubt as to the intentions of France. If
there was really anything in these French intrigues, the evil
designs were so unmasked in the letter that less danger was
to be apprehended. As to the renunciation of the fisheries,

150 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [March,

which the French Legation in America had probably been
instructed to promote, Marbois writes to his government :

" But Mr. Samuel Adams is using all his endeavors to raise in
the State of Massachusetts a strong opposition to peace, if the East
ern States are not thereby admitted to the fisheries, and in particu
lar to that of Newfoundland. Mr. Adams delights in trouble and
difficulty, and prides himself in forming an opposition against the
government whereof he is himself President. 1 His aims and inten
tions are to render the minority of consequence ; and at this very
moment he is attacking the Constitution of Massachusetts, although
it be in a great measure his own work. But he has disliked it,
since the people have shown their uniform attachment to it. It
may be expected that, with this disposition, no measure can meet
the approbation of Mr. Samuel Adams ; and if the States should
agree relative to the fisheries, and be certain of partaking of them,
all his measures and intrigues would be directed towards the con
quest of Canada and Nova Scotia ; but he could not have used a
fitter engine than the fisheries for stirring up the passions of the
Eastern people, by renewing this question which had lain dormant
during his two years absence from Boston. He has raised the ex
pectations of the people to an extravagant pitch. The public
prints hold forth the importance of the fisheries. The reigning
toast in the East is, May the United States ever maintain their
rights to the fisheries/ It has often been repeated in the delibera
tions of the General Gourt, * No peace without the fisheries.
However clear the principle may be in this matter, it would
be useless, and even dangerous, to attempt informing the people
through the public papers. But it appears to me possible to use all
means for preventing the consequences of success to Mr. Samuel
Adams and his party ; and I take the liberty of submitting them
to your discernment and indulgence." 2

Few as are the memorials of Samuel Adams s personal ac
tions, especially after he finally left Congress, this letter, in
tended to convey to the French Court the feelings of America
on an all-absorbing question, is particularly interesting. John

1 He was President of the Senate.

8 M. Marbois to the Count de Vergennes, Philadelphia, March 13, 1782.

1782.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 151

Adams, writing on this subject thirty years afterwards, with
the printed letter probably at hand, says : " I cannot dismiss
this letter of M. Marbois without observing that his philippic
against Mr. Samuel Adams is a jewel in the crown of that
patriot and hero, almost as brilliant as his exception from
pardon in General Gage s proclamation." 1 So much impor
tance did Samuel Adams attach to the fisheries, that he would
rather have no peace with Britain than that she should be
permitted to dictate terms respecting the mutual right to
them. In his funeral discourse Thacher says of his inde
pendence and decision of character : "It was from this
manly, open principle, at the close of the war, he opposed a
peace with Britain, unless the Northern States retained their
full privilege in the fishery, though it is credibly reported
such a peace was then patronized by the French Ministry."
The value of the fisheries was estimated at the close of the
Revolution even higher than in after times. Massachusetts
was then in her industrial interests the most considerable
of the States ; and her fisheries, until the war, had given
employment to a far greater proportion of her population
than at present. The solicitude for their preservation was
greatly enhanced by the supposed inattention of the South
ern members of Congress to a matter which was undervalued
out of New England, and lost weight in comparison with
other interests claiming national attention. After the letter
of Marbois had been published in America, Mr. Adams thus
referred to it while writing to a friend at Philadelphia :

" I am indebted to you for several letters which I have not ac
knowledged. The anecdote you gave me in one of them, relating
to Mr. M. Mercer and Colonel Griffin in Virginia, was very divert
ing to me. The people in this part of the continent would never
have fixed upon the names of L. L. or A. to hold up to a public
assembly as the heads of the British interest in America. It would
not have been sooner believed here than another story I have heard,
that a certain French politician of consideration in America had

1 John Adams s Works, I. 673.

152 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [March,

expressed his high displeasure with Mr. S. A. for stirring up his
countrymen to attend to the importance of our retaining a common
right in the Newfoundland fishery. Many wonderful tales are, and
will be told, some of which a sight of the secret journals of Congress
would unravel. I think the sooner those journals are published the
better. The people at large ought to know what that illustrious
body has been doing for them, and the part each member has
acted." 1

Fortunately, John Adams was at Paris, the only one of
the Commissioners thoroughly alive to the vital necessity
of the fisheries to Massachusetts, where most of his life had
been passed, and the desires and welfare of whose people
were always near to his heart. Besides the cod and other
coast fisheries, the whaling business, though much impaired
by the war, was still of importance ; and New England had,
not long before, surpassed all the rest of the world in the
courage and adventurous spirit of her seamen and the ex
tent of her enterprise. A number of the inhabitants of Nan-
tucket applied to Samuel Adams to procure some indulgence
from Congress, owing to the distresses caused by the war.
Concluding a letter on this subject to Arthur Lee, he says :
" You are sensible of the absolute dependence of this State
upon the fishery for its trade, and how great an advantage
will accrue from it to the United States, if they ever intend
to have a navy. I hope our peace-makers are instructed, by
all means to secure a common right in it." 2

The negotiations at Paris were continued until towards
the close of the year, when the treaty was signed, recogniz
ing the independence of the United States, adjusting the
mutual rights to the territories, providing in some measure
for the restitution of the confiscated estates of the Loyalists,
and establishing the Mississippi as the western, and Nova
Scotia the northern and eastern boundaries.

At the meeting of the Legislature in the winter of 1782,

1 S. Adams to a person unknown, Boston, April 21, 1783.

2 S. Adams to A. Lee, Boston, Feb. 10, 1783.

1782.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 153

Mr. Adams, despite his resignation and repeatedly expressed
desire for a continuance in Massachusetts, was re-elected to
Congress, and a letter from the two Houses, in joint conven
tion, was sent, desiring to know if he would accept the office.
He says, in reply :

" In obedience to the order of the Honorable Court, requiring
me to inform them whether I accept the seat in Congress for this
Commonwealth to which I have been elected, I return my answer
in the negative. Having served in that department more than
seven years with much fatigue, and at a great distance from my
family, I now beg to be relieved, and that another may be appointed
in my room, assuring the Honorable Court that I esteem the re
peated instances of their confidence the greatest honor, and, next to
the consciousness of my own fidelity, the greatest happiness of my
life.

" SAMUEL ADAMS.
"BOSTON, Feb. 20, 1782."

A few of his friends put his name forward this year as a
candidate for Governor, but he seems to have interested
himself very little personally in the matter, and fell far be
hind Hancock, who was elected. He resumed, however,
his place in the Senate, of which he was again chosen Pres
ident. The original documents and rough drafts of bills
and resolutions, preserved in the State archives, indicate his
revision in many instances. In fact, as long as he remained
a member of the Senate, his peculiar handwriting appears
in amendments and marginal notes on the manuscript state
papers. As presiding officer of that august body, he is said
to have been particularly happy, and given uninterrupted
satisfaction ; and his intimate knowledge of parliamentary
usages, together with a never-failing courtesy of demeanor,
was borne in memory many years by some of his fellow-
members. He was very tenacious of the dignity of the Sen
ate during his Presidency. A degree of formality, which
would now be ridiculed, was then the invariable accompa
niment of business. Messages from one House to the other

154 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [March,

were carried by members especially appointed for the pur
pose, sometimes by a committee of several, whose chairman
acted as spokesman, as in Colonial times. Before being ad
mitted the messenger was announced by the doorkeeper,
who stood with his hand upon the latch.

" He was accidentally absent one day when a venerable member
of the House was in attendance with a message. A junior member
of the Senate, who knew no difference in rank between a door
keeper and a Senator, seized the door and announced the message,
and considered himself as having performed a very kind and ser
viceable act, until the indignation of the President, Samuel Adams,
terrified the astonished member, by threatening an expulsion for
betraying the dignity of his station and the body to which he be
longed." 1

Mr. Adams, from about middle life, was more or less af
fected with a constitutional tremulousness of voice and hand,
peculiar to his family, which sometimes continued for several
weeks together, and then disappeared for as long a time.
His handwriting indicates the existence and the intervals of
this visitation ; and in several of his letters, after the Revolu
tion, he -excuses himself from a lengthy correspondence by
" his trembling hand," " a tremor which," says a contem
porary, " was never communicated to his soul" Gordon, de
scribing the celebrated scene with Hutchinson, refers to this ; 2
and the affidavit of Richard Sylvester, in the winter of 1769,
forwarded by Hutchinson to the Ministry in evidence against

1 Austin s Life of Gerry, I. 474.

2 Gordon s American Revolution, I. 288. See also Austin s Life of Gerry,
I. 359. The kindness of Professor Silliman supplies the following extract from
a hitherto unpublished letter of John Adams to John Trumbull, dated March
18, 1817. The letter will appear in full in Professor Fisher s forthcoming Me
moirs of Professor Silliman the elder.

" Who will paint Samuel Adams at the head of ten thousand freemen and
volunteers, with his quivering, paralytic hands, in the Council Chamber, shak
ing the souls of Hutchinson and Dalrymple, and driving down to the Castle
the two offending regiments which Lord North ever afterwards called &lt; Sam
Adams s regiments. "

t/e

~, ,.f Si

S//6 .

1782.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 155

Adams of treason, also alludes to it. 1 His daughter and
grandchildren in old age were equally affected. To the end
of his days he continued to wear garments in the style of the
Revolution, which, added to his gravity of aspect and dignity
of address, gave an impressiveness to his remarks, not les
sened by a very clear and decisive manner of speaking, while
the tremulousness of voice accorded with his veteran appear
ance. John Adams, writing to his kinsman from the Hague
this year, says :

" The great work of peace advances slowly. Our excellent friend,
Mr. Laurens, has declined acting on the commission on account of
his ill health, an excuse that I might allege perhaps with equal rea
son for transmitting a resignation of all my employments, for I am
really in a very feeble state. I have returned to my old physician,
a saddle-horse ; and if his skill does not restore me, I shall cer
tainly try the air of the Blue Hills.

" This moment comes in an invitation to sup with the Prince and
Princess of Orange at his country-seat, which they call the Maison
du Bois, this evening. All this is right. The Sons of Liberty have
the best right of any people under heaven to dine and sup with this
family. I wish you could be of the party. I always think of you
when I see any of the portraits of this family. William the First
looks much like you." 2

Throughout this year Mr. Adams appears, by the Boston
records, to have presided at many town meetings ; and on
some days he left the chair repeatedly to take part in the
debates.

With the cessation of hostilities and the negotiations for
peace, the necessary taxations for meeting State and na
tional liabilities came more urgently before the country.
Liberty had been achieved, but at a price involving entire
communities in financial ruin. Massachusetts seems par
ticularly to have suffered. Her own debt, at the close of
the war, when consolidated and added to the obligations

1 London State Paper Office, America and West Indies, Vol. 152.

2 John to Samuel Adams, June 15, 1782. The resemblance in the portraits
has been remarked by others.

156 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [April,

due to the officers and soldiers, amounted to upwards of one
and a half millions of pounds. The State s proportion of the
Federal debt was at least a million and a half, while every
town had been more or less drained of its substance to sup
port the army. Before the war the State debt had fallen
short of one hundred thousand pounds. An aggregate of
more than three millions among a population of but three
hundred and sixty thousand people was an enormous
weight, for which the priceless blessings of freedom seemed
to many hardly an adequate compensation. Private debts
had accumulated to an amazing extent in the effort to meet
the taxes ; and when recourse was had to the law for col
lecting such indebtedness, dissatisfaction was manifested in
some of the interior counties. The confusion of the times
had served as an excuse for some, or had prevented others
from discharging their obligations.

These were not the only causes which led to the succeed
ing public difficulties. That laxity of manners and dissipa
tion which Samuel Adams had continually feared would sap
the foundations of public morality, and consequently of pub
lic liberty, and against which his letters had for some years
warned his friends in Massachusetts, had been alarmingly
developed by the war, and with the return of peace was
becoming still more prevalent. Minot, the contemporary
historian of the rebellion the seeds of which were this year
germinating, says :

"The usual consequences of war were conspicuous upon the
habits of the people of Massachusetts. Those of the maritime
towns relapsed into the voluptuousness which arises from the preca
rious wealth of naval adventurers. An emulation prevailed among
men of fortune to exceed each other in the full display of their
riches. This was imitated among the less opulent classes of citi
zens, and drew them off from those principles of diligence and econ
omy which constitute the best support of all governments, and
particularly of the republican. Besides which, what was most to
be lamented, the discipline and manners of the army had vitiated
the taste, and relaxed the industry of the yeomen. In this disposi-

1782.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 157

tion of the people to indulge the use of luxuries, and in the ex
hausted state of the country, the merchants saw a market for for
eign manufactures. The political character of America, standing in
a respectable view abroad, gave a confidence and credit to individ
uals heretofore unknown. This credit was improved, and goods
were imported to a much greater amount than could be consumed
and paid for." *

Extravagance in living at this time is said to have ex
ceeded anything of the kind then known in the history of
Massachusetts. Hancock, as Chief Magistrate, led the way
in a series of routs, balls, and glittering reunions, entirely
incompatible with the stern spirit of republicanism which
had produced and sustained the Revolution. His ostenta
tion, profuse hospitality, and a natural desire to surround
his office with consequence and eclat, led him to extremes ill
suited to the distresses of the people he was called to gov
ern, to whom, from his conspicuous station, he should have
offered a very different example. Adams, though far from
being a bigoted opponent of innocent pleasures, saw with
misgivings the tendency of the style of life inaugurated
under the new government; and on his arrival from Con
gress at once commenced, with the assistance of a few
friends, to stem the tide of dissipation. But Boston, after
the Revolution, was not that embodiment of rigid principle
which started into action against the Stamp Act, and fol
lowed the " Chief Incendiary " through the trials and dan
gers of the ten years preceding the war. Most of the lead
ing patriots were dead or away in foreign lands ; and the
masses who once composed the meetings at .Faneuil Hall
and the Old South, and looked to the original leaders for
guidance, were thinned by the war. These efforts to effect
a moral reform were not attended with much success,
though public meetings at which Mr. Adams presided were
held on the subject ; 2 and he attempted to effect something

1 Minot s Insurrections in Massachusetts, p. 12.
8 Boston Town Records, 1780, 1781.

158 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [June,

by combinations among families. Writing to a friend on
the increasing levity of public manners, he says :

" It was asked in the reign of Charles the Second of England,
How shall we turn the minds of the people from an attention to their
liberties ? The answer was, By making them extravagant, luxuri
ous, and effeminate. Hutchinson advised the abridgment of what
are called English liberties by the same means. We shall never
subdue them, said Bernard, but by eradicating their manners and
the principles of their education. Will the judicious citizens of
Boston be now caught in the snare which their artful, insidious
enemies, a few years ago, laid for them in vain ? Shall we ruin
ourselves by the very means which they pointed out in their con
fidential letters, though even they did not dare openly to avow them ?
Pownall, who was indeed a mere fribble, ventured to have his riots
and his routs at his own house to please a few boys and girls. So
ber people were disgusted at it, and his Privy- Councillors never
thought it prudent to venture so far as expensive balls. Our Brad-
fords, Winslows, and Winthrops would have revolted at the idea of
opening scenes of dissipation and folly, knowing them to be incon
sistent with their great design in transplanting themselves into what
they called this outside of the world. But I fear I shall say too
much. I love the people of Boston. I once thought that city would
be the Christian Sparta. But alas ! will men never be free ? They
will be free no longer than while they remain virtuous. Sydney
tells us, there are times when people are not worth saving ; mean
ing, when they have lost their virtue. I pray Gk&gt;d this may never
be truly said of my beloved town." 1

There will doubtless be many ready to assert that Adams
held an impracticable idea of public virtue ; but it was very
nearly realized before the Revolution ; had it not been, that
contest never could have been conceived and successfully
accomplished. The terrible ordeal through which our coun
try has just passed has been traced by acute reasoners to
the decline of the public morality essential to freedom ;
and the historian in future generations may found his the-

1 S. Adams to J. Scollay.

1782.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 159

ory of the great Rebellion upon the extravagance, irreligion,
and universal depravity of the age. That frugality and
economy which Samuel Adams endeavored to inculcate was
defeated by the conspicuous examples of the Governor and
some of the wealthy families, by whom the efforts of Adams
and those of his friends who still adhered to the old code
of morality and frugal habits were derided as Utopian.
Though the disturbances which succeeded cannot be en
tirely traced to these examples, it is certain that they were
in no small degree attributable to such causes. Returned
Revolutionary soldiers, and others who had suffered in the
public cause, contrasted their poverty with the extravagance
and dissipation of those who were profiting by the war. The
results were such as to threaten the destruction of all that
had been attained in the preceding twenty years struggle.

The first symptoms of any outbreak in Massachusetts, re
sulting from the financial burdens imposed by the Revolu
tion, appeared soon after the close of the war. Insurrections
caused by the action taken by Congress to meet the public
liabilities, and the executions issued by the courts for the
payment of private demands, had arisen this year in Hamp
shire County. The courts of Northampton were menaced
with violence, and the effect was to retard the collection
of taxes throughout the State. In June, demonstrations of
lawlessness on a more formidable scale occurred ; bodies of
armed malecontents appeared in the field against the legal
authorities, and collisions took place between the rioters
and the State forces in the vicinity of South Hadley, which
resulted only in a few wounds on either side. The mob out
numbering the government party, the latter were taken pris
oners, but were released on the road to Old Hadley. There
the insurgents, finding their opponents rapidly collecting,
and all the boats being secured on the west side of the river,
they turned towards Amherst, where the advance of the gov
ernment ranks fell upon their rear, and a second skirmish
ensued. By the vigilance of the officers, both parties were

160 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. P^e,

prevented from firing, and only one man was badly wounded.
The leader of this mob was the notorious Samuel Ely, who
had been already indicted at the session of the Supreme Ju
dicial Court at Northampton for an attempt to prevent the
sitting of the Court of Common Pleas at that place. 1 He
urged in his defence the authority of a popular convention,
which seems to have taken the law into their own hands in
Western Massachusetts. While under sentence of the court,
Ely, who pleaded guilty to the indictment, had been released
from prison by the mob, and was now apparently their ring
leader. He effected his escape, however, pending the pro
posals of the rioters to repair to Northampton and choose a
joint committee to arrange matters, if possible, without blood
shed. The committee met, and agreed that three hostages
should be given for the return of Ely, and the mob prom
ised to disperse. On the 15th, however, they assembled at
Hatfield, and marched to Northampton to effect the release
of their hostages. Despatches having been sent to the adja
cent towns on Sunday morning, the 16th, some twelve hun
dred men, under General Parks, were mustered, including
a small detachment of Continental troops and a light piece
of artillery, and marched to Northampton for the support of
government. The opposite party, consisting of about half
that number, were surprised, surrounded, and captured.
Willing to spare the effusion of blood, another agreement
was made between mutually appointed committees, when,
the mob having dispersed at a watchword, the State forces
were dismissed after receiving the thanks of the General for
their alacrity and attention to orders, and civil war was thus
temporarily averted. 2

These disturbances, fomented by a few fanatical malecon-
tents, were the commencement of Shays s rebellion, which
grew into such alarming proportions four years afterwards.

1 Minot s Insurrections, p. 26.

2 A detailed account of these riots is contained in the Independent Ledger
for July 1, 1782. " Correspondence from Springfield, June 25."

1782.J LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 161

Appreciating the circumstances under which the public dis
satisfaction had arisen, the General Court were determined
to avert any serious internal dissensions at this critical
period, by making every reasonable concession within the
bounds of prudence and consistent with the dignity of gov
ernment. One of the methods of relieving private debtors
was the passage of the Tender Act, in July of this year,
by which debts were made payable in other property than
money, so that executions might be legally satisfied by
neat cattle, and other enumerated articles. The act, how
ever, had an entirely opposite effect from that intended.
Its constitutionality was questioned, and it tended to de
stroy that implicit reliance upon the inviolability of legal
engagements between debtor and creditor, ever necessary
in a well-ordered government, and led the way to open
attacks upon the courts, and defiance of the constituted
authorities during the succeeding rebellion. After the es
tablishment of republican institutions in America, Samuel
Adams felt the most intense jealousy of any infringement
upon the letter of the law. The great experiment of self-
government was now to be tested before the curious gaze of
the world ; and he viewed with resentment the first signs of
an attempt to harm the structure newly erected by the will
and suffrages of the people. An armed array against the
Constitution he could scarcely find it in his heart to forgive,
even in this early instance. But, though at a subsequent
period he inexorably advocated the execution of the leaders
in the rebellion of 1786, he was disposed to show forbear
ance in this incipient outbreak, with the belief that such a
course would convince the insurgents of their error, without
having recourse to that severity which his more rigid sense
of justice would have favored. Though several minor dis
turbances followed the riot, involving the violent rescue of
some who had been arrested as ringleaders in the late troub
les, the General Court in the next session chose to pardon
all the offenders, and undoubtedly by their conciliatory

VOL. III. 11

162 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [July,

measures encouraged the disaffected to engage in the great
er rebellion of 1786. On the eve of adjournment in the
present instance, the Legislature, on the motion of Samuel
Adams, appointed a committee to examine into tho causes
of complaint. The resolution, which is singularly lenient
in tone, is as follows :

" Whereas it hath been represented to the General Court that an
uneasiness has lately taken place in the minds of some of the inhab
itants of the county of Hampshire, and it is of importance still to
preserve the union which has so remarkably prevailed ; Resolved,
That a committee be appointed to repair to the county of Hamp
shire, who are hereby authorized and directed to take such measures
as to them shall appear eligible ; to call before them such persons
in the said county as they shall think proper ; to inquire into the
grounds of dissatisfaction ; to correct misinformations ; to remove
groundless jealousies ; and to make report to the General Assembly
(or in case they should not be sitting, to the Governor and Council)
of their doings, and what further measures are necessary to be taken
in the premises."

The projector of this conciliatory committee was made its
chairman. The Senate on the next day passed the follow
ing order :

" Ordered, That the Honorable Samuel Adams, with such as the
Honorable House shall join, be a committee to repair to the county
of Hampshire for the purposes expressed in a resolve of the Gen
eral Court of the 2d instant, and report as in the said resolve is
mentioned." *

The House appointed Nathaniel Gorham and Artemas
Ward. It is believed that only Adams and Ward proceeded
on this mission. In the following September both were
paid their expenses out of the public treasury. They were
at Hatfield in July, and probably held examinations in
several of the adjacent towns ; but the most diligent inquiry
has brought to light very little relative to their proceedings,
nor has their Report to the Legislature or Council been

1 Journal of the Massachusetts Assembly, July, 1782.

1782.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 163

discovered. 1 Thacher, after mentioning the fidelity of Ad
ams in the c-ffice of President of the Senate, says of this
mission :

" While in this station, he performed an important service to his
country; for commotions having arisen in the Western counties,
he with several other gentlemen were joined in a committee to visit
the disaffected places, and to quiet by their authority and influence
the begun sedition. This trust was executed with such propriety
and firmness that every trace of disturbance immediately vanished.
Thus were the seeds of a dangerous rebellion crushed in embryo ;
and the more important was this benefit to this country, as the war
between America and Great Britain actually existed." 2

On the 4th of July a committee consisting of some of the
principal members of the Legislature, with Samuel Adams
as their chairman, was appointed " to consider what meas
ures were to be taken to reduce the expenses of government,
show the best method of supplying the public treasury, and
reforming the state of the finances." The session was now
drawing to a close ; and in the interval the committee con
fided the affair to their chairman, who, with James Sulli
van, prepared a voluminous report. A copy exists among
the papers of Mr. Adams, but Sullivan asserts that he as
sisted in its preparation. Among its recommendations is
the establishment of customs and imposts as the sole re
source remaining for sustaining public credit and meeting
the public obligations. 3 A year later, Mr. Adams, with a
small party in Massachusetts, found himself opposed to a
very general feeling in the State against a similar measure,
when recommended by Congress as a means of recruiting
the Federal treasury.

1 The action of this committee is alluded to in Tudor s Life of Otis, p. 258,
where it appears that a convention, composed of two hundred, met the com
mittee at Hatficld. The members were addressed by Mr. Hawley with such
tact and ability that the rebels renounced their dangerous intentions, and
signed a petition to the Governor and Council for pardon.

2 Thacher s Discourse, p. 16.

3 Amory s Life of Sullivan, I. 131.

164 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [July,

The investigating committee remained in Hampshire Coun
ty probably about a fortnight. A portion of this time Mr.
Adams is believed to have been the guest of Colonel Phelps
of Hadley. The Legislature appropriated 40 for their
expenses on the mission.

Until that body met again, there was little rest for those
who had taken upon themselves a variety of onerous duties,
forming a part of the business of the last and the approach
ing sessions. To meet the requisitions of Congress, it was
necessary to give prompt attention to collecting the Conti
nental tax, which, however disagreeable it might be to an
already overburdened people, was vital to the very being
of the Federal power. Massachusetts, groaning under the
load, still contributed men and money. But the difficulty of
collecting the tax, even where the quota was only two hun
dred thousand pounds, affords some idea of the crushing
burdens, and accounts in some measure for the troubles in
the interior. The requisition of Congress, the act for which
passed in October of the previous year, called for eight mil
lions of dollars ; but at the close of 1782 less than half a
million had been obtained from all the States. Massachu
setts appointed a certain number of commissioners to col
lect this tax ; and Samuel Adams and Nathaniel G-orham, in
the name of the General Assembly, despatched circulars to
the most influential men, who were selected for the busi
ness. Excuses presently began to come back in answer,
and many entirely disregarded the duties thus imposed
upon them. Most of the replies are directed to Mr. Adams ;
and if all were published in a volume, they would afford an
interesting statement of the financial distress then prevailing
in all parts of Massachusetts.

With these commissions were forwarded the printed reso
lutions of the Legislature on the subject, and a circular let
ter to the selectmen and assessors of the several towns. One
of the appointees, replying to Mr. Adams, represents the dif
ficulty of obtaining even the smallest sum, the scarcity of

1782.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 165

money, and the general murmuring at any continued taxa
tion. 1 Another says : I received some time in August last
a resolution of Court, by which I had the honor of being ap
pointed one of the commissioners to expedite the payment of
the Continental tax in this county. The urgent necessities
of government were a sufficient inducement to me to do
everything in my power to contribute to their relief." The
commissioner then represents that he has taken active meas
ures to collect, but that the people declared themselves un
able to contribute. " So that upon the whole," he continues,
" I have not been able to obtain a shilling. Groundless sur
mises and jealousies are not uncommon among a people
involved like us in difficulties, and threatened with greater
in this county, and this part of it especially." 2 The writer
thereupon desired to have some person appointed in his
place. Another writes : " I found the Continental tax in a
neglected state, the previous steps to payment not taken ;
but, in a few instances, the collectors were without warrants
for collecting, some without rate bills. In some towns the
number of collectors was not completed, in some the rates
not posted, in others but in part, and no collections made in
any." 3 This was the burden of nearly all the replies ; and
the aggregate sum collected was so inconsiderable that, dur
ing the time expended in these exertions, the State was
obliged to borrow, and pledge the tax for payment.

1 David Mosely to Samuel Adams and Nathaniel Gorham, Westfield, Oct. 7,
1782.

2 Joseph Nye to Samuel Adams, Sandwich, Sept. 19, 1782.

a Cotton Tufts to Samuel Adams, Weymouth, Sept. 24, 1782.

CHAPTER LYI.

Negotiations in Paris. Hopes in England of avoiding a total Recognition- of
American Independence. British Intrigues for a Treaty distinct from
France. Adams s decisive Resolutions. Massachusetts determines to
prosecute the War until American Independence is recognized and estab
lished. Congress follows the Example. Adams opposes Illicit Trade
with the Enemy. His Circular Letter and Resolutions. The French
Army embark at Boston. Congratulatory Correspondence between Wash
ington and the Legislature. Adams contemplates America as a Nation.
His Hopes for the Future. Dissatisfied with the Treaty. Deplorable
Condition of the Federal Finances. The Continental Impost Bill opposed
in Massachusetts. Adams supports it. He objects to admitting the
Refugees to Citizenship. His Reasons.

IN the mean time the treaty with Great Britain was still
pending in Paris. Sir Guy Carleton was appointed Comman-
der-in-Chief in America, and, with Admiral Digby, attempted
to induce Congress to agree to a separate treaty ; but that
body refused to negotiate except in concert with their allies,
who had so signally assisted in promoting the happy issue
of the war. It was at first the determination of George
the Third, which he would " never relinquish but with his
crown and life," to prevent a total, unequivocal recognition
of the independence of America ; and Lord Shelburne had
hopes of recovering British sovereignty on terms similar
to those granted to Ireland. There were those in England
who nattered the King with this project of reunion ; and
perhaps the waiving by Congress, in their instructions to the
Commissioners, of an express acknowledgment of indepen
dence had some weight in producing these hopes. Samuel
Adams was in receipt of information respecting the negotia
tions, and was aware of the " private agents sent into Amer
ica," to influence public opinion. The intention was fully
understood, though Sir William Jones, who was the special

July, 1782.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 167

agent of Earl Shelburne for tins purpose, returned to England
from Paris without visiting America. The French Court,
however, were still apprehensive that the Americans might
be induced to make a separate peace, and on terms short of
absolute independence. Enough had been seen of the active
policy of British agents in former years to justify prompt
action in so prominent a State as Massachusetts, whose
example thrown early into the scale would do much to
counteract such designs. Dr. Franklin advised Congress
of his suspicions of Sir William Jones s plans; but his letter,
written late in June, did not reach America until some time
after Mr. Adams had received intelligence to the same effect.
Shortly before the adjournment, he drew up a resolution
expressing the sense of the Massachusetts Legislature, and
indicative of that determined spirit which from the begin
ning had marked his counsels. 1

COMMONWEALTH OP MASSACHUSETTS,
IN SENATE, July 4th, 1782.

Whereas the King of Great Britain, despairing to effect the
subjugation of the United States of North America by menaces and
the violence of a cruel and vindictive war, entertains the idea of
effecting his purpose by artfully disseminating the seeds of dis
union among ourselves, and detaching some of these United States,
or some bodies of men therein, from the common cause, and from a
connection with our illustrious ally,

Resolved unanimously, That every idea of deviating from the
treaty of the United States with his most Christian Majesty in the
smallest article, or of listening to the proposals of accommodation
with the Court of Great Britain in a partial and separate capacity,
shall forever be rejected by us with the greatest abhorrence and

1 This subject had given some anxiety to Gerard, the French Minister,
soon after his arrival in 1778. In reply to a letter from him on the possibility
of a treaty with Great Britain, separately from France, a committee, including
Samuel Adams, was appointed to reassure the Envoy. The report says, in the
most positive terms, that " these United States will not conclude either truce
or peace with the common enemy, without the formal consent of their ally
first obtained." (Journals of Congress, Jan. 14, 1779.)

168 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Aug.

detestation. And as we engaged in the present war with a solemn
determination to secure, if possible, the rich blessings of freedom to
the present and future generations, a determination which we are
firmly persuaded was suitable to the dignity of our nation and the
precepts of our religion, and which we therefore reflect on with the
highest satisfaction, so will we persevere in our utmost exertions
to support the just and necessary war we are engaged in ; and, with
the aid of that almighty and most merciful Being who has ever
appeared for us in our distress, we will prosecute the war with un
remitting ardor, until the independence of the United States shall
be fully recognized and established.
Sent down for concurrence,

SAM. ADAMS, President.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

July 4th, 1782.
Read and unanimously concurred in,

NATHANIEL GORHAM, Speaker.
Approved: JOHN HANCOCK. 1

In October, Congress received the letters of Jay, La Fay-
ette, and Franklin, exposing the intrigues of the British
agents at Paris to effect a treaty independent of France, and
justifying all the fears of dangerous consequences expressed
in these Massachusetts resolutions, which had meanwhile
been extensively published in the American press. Mr.
Adams had also written on the subject to Arthur Lee, now a
member of Congress. On the 4th of October Congress passed
its resolutions, reiterating the determined spirit of Massa
chusetts, and resolving to conclude no peace without the
assent of France. Renouncing its policy of the previous
year, Congress now expressed its determination to prosecute
the war with vigor, until the combined arms of France and
the United States should accomplish a peace based upon the
absolute sovereignty and independence of America. And to
guard against the machinations of the enemy, the respective

1 This paper is interesting as containing the autographs of the two pro
scribed patriots, written exactly six years after the Declaration of Indepen
dence.

1782. 1

LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 169

States were recommended to seize all British emissaries and
spies, and bring them to condign punishment. 1

A disposition to indulge in the use of luxuries, and the
consequent market created for foreign manufactures, for
which, owing to the decline in home industry during the
war, only specie could be exchanged, was one of the evils
which Mr. Adams had feared as the struggle drew towards
a close. As these expensive habits increased, competition in
trade induced many unscrupulous persons to violate the law
against importing British manufactures ; and a considerable
illicit trade was already established along the coast. This
was increasing to such an extent, under the influence of
British emissaries, and the results, both in draining the
country of specie and in corrupting the public sentiment,
were so greatly to be feared, that Congress, on the 21st of
June, recommended the Legislatures, or in case of their
recess the Executives of the several States, to impress on
their respective citizens at large, by every means in their
power, the baneful consequences apprehended from a con
tinuation of this hateful and infamous traffic. 2 Co-operat
ing with Congress, Mr. Adams procured, on the 19th of
August, a town meeting at Faneuil Hall, of which he was
moderator, " to take into consideration what steps were
proper to be taken on account of the alarming and destruc
tive lengths to which the illicit trade with our enemies
is now carried." On the 6th of September, the commit
tee of which Mr. Adams was chairman reported a series of
resolutions, and a circular letter from Boston to the other
towns, for the suppression of a traffic disgraceful to the par
ticipants and injurious to the cause.

" The artful and insidious Cabinet of Britain, sensible of the in-
efficacy of their fleets and armies to enslave America, and hitherto
disappointed in their expectations from bribery and corruption (en
gines which, to their astonishment, have proved of no use when

1 Journals of Congress, October 4, 1782.

2 Journals of Congress, June 21, 1782.

170 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

applied to the free sons of America, though in common the most
successful of all means to subdue mankind to the will of tyrants),
have, in the excess of their folly and lust of domination, adopted the
absurd idea of subjugating America by throwing in upon us a flood
of their manufactures, and encouraging a commercial intercourse
between us and them. For this purpose, their admirals and gener
als appear to have assumed the characters of custom-house officers,
brokers, and such others as may be necessary to facilitate their
views. By this trade they expect to destroy that great, that mutual
confidence so happily subsisting between us and our magnanimous
allies ; to revive that foolish predilection which we once had for
British manufactures and British manners ; to open to themselves
new avenues and acquire fresh means of instilling the principles of
Toryism, and sowing the seeds of disaffection among the weak and
unwary ; to send their emissaries into all parts of the continent to
foment divisions, create distrust as to our rulers, and by the meanest
and the vilest arts to destroy that happy union which has hitherto
been, and while it continues cannot fail (under God) to be, our
sure rock of defence ; and above all, to drain us of our money, the
sinews of war. Having drawn from us our medium in this way,
having made their arrangements, posted their emissaries, and se
cured their partisans, they expect, by a violent run on our national
bank, to annihilate at one blow our national credit and deprive us
of all future means of defence. Such are clearly their views, and
these are the mean arts which haughty, though fallen, Britain is
compelled to make use of. To the disgrace of America, a few of
her sons, blinded by the lure, and devoid of all principle, have
snatched at the bait, and, misled by avarice, have taken the high
road to infamy and ruin.

"The United States in Congress assembled, sensible of these
evils, and attentive to the safety of their constituents, have in every
instance within their jurisdiction, by their ordinances, endeavored
to suppress such illegal commerce, trade, and intercourse, and in
other instances, recommended to the Legislatures of the several
States to make effectual provision by laws for that purpose, and
called on the people to give aid in carrying such laws into effect.

" The inhabitants of Boston in town meeting, determined ever to
be watchful of their common rights and liberties, and attentive to
the public safety, sensible of the evil and destructive tendency of such

1782.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 171

trade and intercourse, impressed with the necessity of restraining
it, of testifying their abhorrence of such base practices, and giving
all possible aid in the execution of the laws, do enter into the fol
lowing resolutions."

A series of ten resolutions was then adopted unanimous
ly by the meeting, pledging itself to detect and bring to
punishment all those who should import goods from any
part of the British dominions or any goods of British manu
facture ; to uphold and countenance informers against a
crime so injurious to their country, regarding them as char
acters highly deserving of respect and esteem ; denouncing as
enemies to American freedom all who should be concerned
in such trade ; instructing the Boston Representatives to
call for an immediate revision of the laws respecting trade
and intercourse with the enemy ; urging all citizens to be
watchful and vigilant in detecting illegally imported goods ;
recommending the forming of associations for such purposes ;
and adopting a circular letter containing the foregoing reso
lutions, and invoking the aid of, every town in suppressing
this shameful traffic. The printed address to the other
towns was signed by the venerable William Cooper, who still
held the office of town clerk.

"BOSTON, Sept. 6. 1782.
" GENTLEMEN,

" The rapid and destructive progress of an illicit trade with the
British, in their different ports on this continent, has filled the in
habitants of this town with the most alarming apprehensions. As
it is not surprising that a cruel and insidious enemy, so often dis
graced by the failure of their other efforts to accomplish the ruin of
this country, should have recourse to this last expedient, from which
they undoubtedly expect the most important benefits, it is easy to
see, gentlemen, that the continuance of this pernicious traffic must
necessarily involve the want of a sufficient medium for the common
purposes of society, a circumstance, should it unfortunately happen,
which must soon destroy the pecuniary and indispensable resources
of the government, and, by giving a deep wound to our military
operations, so necessary for our defence, endanger the very being of
this Commonwealth.

172 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Nov., Dec.

" Impressed with these sentiments, this town has thought proper,
at a meeting of its inhabitants, legally convened for this express
purpose, to communicate the enclosed resolutions for your serious
consideration, in the fullest confidence of your adopting such meas
ures as, in giving vigor to the laws, must undoubtedly contribute to
the total extirpation of such an unnatural commerce.

" As we are sensible that the efficacy of the best plan for the
attainment of so salutary an object must, at last, depend on the
united efforts of the other towns in this government, we trust, in
such an interesting conjuncture, that the patriotic ardor which has
so long and uniformly distinguished the inhabitants of this State
will induce the most zealous concurrence in these or similar meas
ures, which can have no other object but the public good." 1

Sucli resolutions as these, and the ones introduced in
July in the Legislature, proved to the world the unalterable
determination of America to consider no propositions of
peace with Great Britain short of total independence, and
led the way to the resolutions adopted in October by Con
gress to the same effect. Mr. Adams was inflexible in his
determination to exclude every Loyalist from a residence in
the State, and was most stringent in his desire to see en
forced the law of Congress against permitting any British
subject to remain, or even to be naturalized ; for his pene
tration discerned that, in most of these instances, the desire
of acknowledgment was founded in no love of America, but
in the anticipation of commercial advantages. When British
spies and emissaries were busily at work to destroy the sen
timent of independence as a basis of negotiation, he wished
to see every vestige of Toryism banished from the country.
During the late session of the Legislature, an English mer
chant, who had just arrived by the way of Holland, pre
sented his petition for naturalization. The General Court
refused it, and directed him to leave the State, but he subse
quently had interest enough to obtain permission to apply
to Congress for his papers. Mr. Adams wrote to Arthur
Lee in Congress, explaining the circumstances.

1 Boston Town Records, September, 1782.

1782.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 173

" Some of our good citizens," said he, " are disgusted with the

favor shown to Mr. B . They say that, being a partner of

Messrs. Champion and Dickenson, the latter of whom is reported to
have been always inimical to America, by his residence here he will
probably be instrumental in the importation of as many English
goods as he will be able to vend ; or, in other words, that the new
house in Boston will be nearly, if not quite, as convenient in time
of war as the old house in London was in time of peace. Whether
there will be any danger, Congress will judge. Jealousy is a neces
sary political virtue, especially in times like these. Such a plan
would gratify those among us who are still hankering after the
onions of Egypt, and would sacrifice our great cause to the desire
of gain. What need is there of our admitting (to use the lan
guage of Congress) any British subject whatever ? Congress surely
had some good reason when they so earnestly cautioned us against
it. Our citizens are in more danger of being seduced by art than
subjugated by arms. I give you this notice, that you may have an
opportunity of conversing on the subject in your patriotic circles (if
you think it worth while) in season." l

As Massachusetts had commenced the war of the Revolu
tion, so at its close she was appropriately the place of em
barkation for the departing French army, which marched
from the Hudson, after the declaration of peace, and sailed
from Boston in December of this year for the West Indies,
under command of Baron Viomenil. The conduct of the
French troops, from their first landing, had been truly that
of " magnanimous allies." Their marches had been attended
with far less mischief than those of the American soldiery ;
and their supplies being paid for in cash, they had seldom or
never resorted to pillaging as the Continental troops often
did, or the seizure of supplies to be paid for by arbitration,
which was at times authorized by Congress. Though not at
all times successful, the French had contributed by their
efforts very materially to the independence of the United
States ; and their whole conduct offered a favorable con
trast to the atrocities of the British, as illustrated in the

1 Samuel Adams to Arthur Lee, Nov. 21, 1782.

174 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Dec.

employment of savages against helpless communities, the
hanging of prisoners, the ravishing of women, and the mas
sacre of surrendering garrisons. The French troops re
mained several days in and around Boston. Among their
officers was Count Segur, who mentions in his writings a
visit to Samuel Adams. Desirous of testifying " the grati
tude and respect of the town to the army and navy of his
most Christian Majesty," Mr. Adams procured a town meet
ing, of which he was the moderator, and he and James
Sullivan were appointed a committee to prepare an address
to Baron Viome nil, pursuant to the object of the meeting. 1

The Legislature, early in the next year, took occasion
to congratulate Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the
American armies, upon the auspicious event of peace and *
independence. The letter, which for the Senate and House
was from Samuel Adams and Tristam Dalton, is not found
among the Massachusetts archives, though the reply of
Washington is on file, as follows :

HEAD-QUARTERS, 29th March, 1783.
GENTLEMEN,

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your joint letter
of the 18th instant.

Happy, inexpressibly happy, in the certain intelligence of a gen
eral peace, which was concluded on the 20th of January last, I feel
an additional pleasure in reflecting that this glorious event will
prove a sure means to dispel the fears expressed by your Common
wealth for their northeastern boundary, that territory being by the
treaty secured to the United States in its fullest extent.

I have to thank you for the justice you do me, to believe that my
attention to all parts of the United States is extended in proportion
to the magnitude of the object, and that no partial considerations
have any influence on my mind.

You will permit me, gentlemen, on this occasion, to express my
warmest congratulations to you, to the Senate, and Representatives
of your Commonwealth, and through them to all its good citizens,
whose prompt exertions in the general cause have contributed largely

1 Boston Town Records, Dec. 7, 1782.

1782.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 175

towards the attainment of the great and noble prize for which the
United States have so long and so successfully contended.

With the highest respect and regard, I have the honor to be,
gentlemen,

Your most obedient and most humble servant,

GEO. WASHINGTON.
THE HONORABLE SAMUEL ADAMS AND TBISTAM DALTON, ESQUIRES.

Fervently and devoutly did Samuel Adams join in the
exclamation of Washington, " Happy, inexpressibly happy,
in the certain intelligence of a general peace." We have
seen him struggling for a national independence up to the
immortal Declaration which asserted it to the world, and
aiding with all his powers in the arduous contest for its
attainment. His letters show the solemn joy which ani
mated his soul, as he contemplated the grand achievement
and the vast future of his country.

" I thank God," he writes, " that I have lived to see my country
independent and free. She may long enjoy her independence and
freedom if she will. It depends on her virtue. She has gained the
glorious prize, and it is my most fervent wish (in which I doubt not
you heartily join me) that she may value and improve it as she
ought." l

And again, to another correspondent :

"We are now at peace, God be thanked, with all the world; and
I hope we shall never intermeddle with the -quarrels of other na
tions. Let the United States continue in peace and union ; and
in order to this, let them do justice to each other. Let there no
longer be secret journals or secret committees. Let the debates in
Congress be open, and the whole of their transactions published
weekly. This will tend to the speedy rectifying mistakes, and
preserving mutual confidence between the people and their repre
sentatives, and let care be taken to prevent factions in America,
foreign or domestic" 2

1 S. Adams to R. H. Lee, Boston, Dec. 2, 1783.

2 Boston, April 21, 1783.

176 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [April,

Writing to John Adams at Paris relative to the terms of
the treaty, which he had lately received, he says, in reference
to Great Britain :

" The sooner a commercial treaty is settled with that nation the
better, as it appears to me. Our General Court in the late session
thought of making retaliation on England for her prohibiting impor
tations from America into her West India Islands but in British
bottoms. They were sensible of the difficulty in the way of the
United States coming into general regulations of this kind, and
have written to their delegates on the subject. Should the States
agree to give Congress a more extensive power, it may yet be a
great while before it is completed ; and Britain, in the mean time,
seeing our trade daily reverting to its old channel, may think it
needless and impolitic to enter into express stipulations in favor of
any part of it, while she promises herself the whole without them." l

Mr. Adams did not wholly approve of the treaty. He
was convinced that both the independence which the United
States had successfully maintained, and the acknowledged
hopelessness of a continuance of the strife, on the part of
Great Britain, warranted the demand of terms less ambigu
ous in themselves, and more favorable to American interests.
Those restricting the commerce with the British West Indies
were particularly distasteful to him, but peace under any
honorable stipulations was of paramount importance.

The customary oration on the 5th of March, commemora
tive of the Massacre in 1770, was this year formally discontin
ued, and the 4th of July substituted as a day of celebration.
Mr. Adams was as usual one of the committee to provide an
orator for the occasion. In April, his name was brought
forward by some of his friends as a candidate for Lieutenant-
Governor, with Hancock as Governor. Thomas Gushing
was his opponent ; and though Hancock was elected, Adams
received but a small proportion of votes. But among twenty-
three candidates for Senator from Suffolk County, he was re-
elected by a considerable majority, and resumed his place as

1 To John Adams, April 16, 1784.

1783.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 177

presiding officer of that body. In May, he was one of the
town s committee to draft instructions to the newly elected
Representatives, 1 and in July he was on a committee of the
Legislature with Bowdoin and Lowell to report at the next
session on the claims of Massachusetts to the Western lands,
which in part were subsequently ceded to the United States.
The momentous question of finance, which had been
steadily increasing in magnitude as the war progressed, now
claimed the chief attention of Congress. Hamilton, Madison,
and Ellsworth, with Morris, the superintendent of finances,
were well qualified to grapple with its difficulties. The
failure of the Impost Bill of 1781 did not discourage a sec
ond attempt, which was made in April of this year, in the
form of a bill to confer upon Congress the right to collect
internal revenues from the several States. This seemed the
only plan by which the sinking credit of the country could
be maintained. Congress was authorized to levy moderate
specific duties upon certain enumerated imported articles
for a period of twenty-five years, the proceeds to be used
exclusively for discharging the principal and interest of the
war debt ; and the States were recommended to appropriate
a portion of their own revenues for the same purpose. The
plan was sent forth with an address to the States, eloquently
urging its adoption as a means of trying the great experi
ment of republicanism, for which the States were held re
sponsible in the eyes of the world. Congress was powerless
to enforce the collection of this or any Federal revenue, and
the address was simply an appeal to the pride and moral
sentiment of the people, through their Legislatures. It was
one of a series of comprehensive projects conceived by pa
triotic statesmen, for more effectually nationalizing the coun
try, rescuing it from financial confusion, and establishing
a joint responsibility for the common debt. It was not
wholly adopted, but the very proposal and the consequent
agitation opened the way to greater results.

1 Town Kecords for March, April, and May, 1763.

VOL. III. 12

178 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [July,

Deeply impressed with the deplorable bankruptcy of the
country, and particularly with the distresses of the army,
Washington urged upon Congress a commutation of the
half-pay for life, which had been granted in the fall of 1780,
into five years full pay, the certificates for which were to be
issued immediately. Already meetings of the officers of the
army had been proposed to take into consideration the un
happy aspect of their affairs, and there was reason to fear
alarming combinations against the authority of Congress.
The commutation of half-pay which had been under discus
sion for some time, and had been strongly disapproved in
New England, particularly in Massachusetts and Connecti
cut, was in agitation in Boston when the Impost Bill passed
and was submitted to the States for ratification. Mr. Adams
had been opposed while in Congress to the original grant of
half-pay for life, and probably did not indorse the commuta
tion, payable in one gross sum at the present moment of
financial distress, though it would benefit his own son, Dr.
Adams, who, on retiring from the army, at the close of the
war, was one of the officers entitled to it. 1 But he did not
allow his doubts of the good policy of the proposed meas
ures to alter his conviction of the unquestionable obligation
of the States to meet their pledged faith in the action of Con
gress. His views on this subject were explicitly given shortly
after to correspondents in Connecticut, where these questions
were discussed under great excitement. His opinion being
particularly solicited, he advised a prompt support of the act
in fulfilment of the public engagements with the army.

The General Assembly, representing the Massachusetts
sentiment, had a majority against the proposed Impost Bill ;
and in July they addressed a letter to Congress pointing to
the commutation and half-pay as a matter of general com
plaint in New England, and as a reason why the Massachu
setts Legislature had not been able to agree in granting the
impost duty. They promised to consider the subject again

1 SaffelTs Records of the Revolutionary War, p. 410.

1783.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 179

at the next session. Sullivan was chairman of the commit
tee appointed to draft this address, which is signed by Sam
uel Adams as President of the Senate, and Tristam Dalton
as Speaker of the House. Mr. Adams was individually fa
vorable to the Impost Bill, as the only method of providing
Congress with the means of sustaining the general govern
ment. He strongly supported that of the previous year, as
is shown in his correspondence with John Lowell, then in
Congress ; l and one of his friends termed the one now pend
ing in the House " the darling child " of Mr. Adams. Con
gress, he held, should be supported ; for, said he, " it is, and
must be, the cement of the union of the States." His strict
regard for the rights of individual States never caused him
to lose sight of the authority necessarily vested in the pre
siding Legislature of the nation.

When the General Court convened, a committee, of which
Mr. Adams was chairman, was appointed on the plan of the
former Committee of Correspondence, for a more perfect
interchange of opinion between the General Court and the
Massachusetts delegation in Congress. Adams, writing to
Gerry on this subject, says :

" Mr. Appleton and Mr. Rowe are my colleagues in this business.
The correspondence is to be very extensive. Any other impor
tant matter which relates to the being ^and welfare of the United
States ! My bodily illness has prevented my engaging in it. I
wish the delegates would begin. The welfare, and perhaps the be
ing, of the United States, in my opinion, depends much upon Con
gress possessing the confidence of the people at large ; that upon
the administration of public affairs being manifestly grounded upon
principles of equality and justice ; or upon the people being assured
that Congress merit their confidence. The war is now over, and
the people turn their eyes to the disposition of their money, a sub
ject which I hope Congress will always have so clear a knowledge
of as to be able at any time to satisfy the rational inquiries of the
people. To prevent groundless jealousies, it seems necessary, not

1 Historical Magazine, September, 1857; I. 261.

180 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

only that the principal in that department should himself be immac
ulate, but that care should be taken that no persons be admitted to
his confidence but such as have the entire confidence of the people.
Should a suspicion prevail that our high treasurer suffers men of
bad principles or of no principles to be about him and employed by
him, the fidelity of Congress itself would be suspected, and a total
loss of confidence would follow. I am much concerned for the rep
utation of Congress, and have labored to support it, because that
body is, and must be, the cement of the union of the States. I
hope, therefore, they will always make it evident to reasonable men
that their administration merits the public applause. Will they be
able to do this if they should cease to be very watchful over men
whom they trust in great departments, especially those who have
the disposition of the public moneys ? Power will follow the pos
session of money, even when it is known that it is not the posses
sor s property. So fascinating are riches in the eyes of mankind ! " l

The Committee of Correspondence at this time received a
letter from the delegates relating to the public finances, the
half-pay and commutation, and the reduction of the civil list.
The delegates intimated that, " whatever might be the ab
stract propriety of an impost for supplying the Continental
treasury, yet, as the only mode for one State to secure re
dress for grievances by the union was to withhold supplies,
it was prudent to delay the proposed impost until arrange
ments were effected," and that they had given such opinion
to Congress. 2 This letter was not communicated to the Leg
islature, gwin^r to a misapprehension on the part of the Com
mittee, who had not met since receiving it. It was during
the excitement attending the Impost Bill, and a committee
of investigation was appointed by the Legislature, who sum
moned the Committee of Correspondence before them. Mr.
Rowe, having denied all knowledge of the delegates letter,
was exonerated from blame. Mr. Adams alleged his feeble
health, the pressure of business upon him as President of
the Senate, and the recent examination of Mr. Higginson,

1 S. Adams to E. Gerry, Sept. 9, 1783 (Austin s Life of Gerry, I. 408 - 410).
8 Austin s Gerry, I. 412, 413.

1783.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 181

which he thought superseded the necessity of any further
information. Mr. Appleton s excuse, which was, that, hav
ing read the letter, he had put it into his pocket, and
thought no more about it, was voted unsatisfactory by the
Legislature; and at the ensuing election he lost his seat.
There was nearly interest enough to subject even Mr. Ad
ams to reproof, but his enemies did not succeed in reaching
that point. His known partiality to the Impost Bill was
associated with the suppression of the letter, the story was
industriously spread, and was used against him at the polls
the following year with great effect, on account of the in
veterate repugnance of a large number of the inhabitants
to increasing the State taxation for Federal purposes. Mr.
Adams alludes to it in a letter to Mr. Gerry :

"Your letter of the llth of September, directed to the Commit
tee, was through mere forgetfulness omitted to be communicated in
season. This was attributed to an abominable design to withhold
from the Court the sentiment of the delegates respecting the expe
diency of refusing to yield supplies to the Continental treasury, till
justice should be done with regard to the old money now in our
public treasury and private hands. I could not help diverting my
self with, the ebullition of apparent zeal for the public good on this
occasion ; and upon its being said by a gentleman in Senate that
it was the subject of warm conversation among the people without
doors, I observed, that the clamor would undoubtedly subside on the
afternoon of the first Monday in April next." 1

Upon the arrival in America of the preliminary articles
of a treaty with England, the enmity of the New England
people against the Loyalists was again manifested. Efforts
having been made this year in the Legislature to restore the
refugees to their original rights, the Committee of Corre
spondence, Inspection, and Safety, at a public meeting, were
instructed by Mr. Adams, who was especially appointed for
that purpose, to write to the several towns in the Common
wealth, and desire them to come into resolves similar to

1 S. Adams to E. Gerry (Austin s Gerry, I. 415).

182 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1783.

those adopted by Boston town meeting. The resolves are
direct in their hostility to the return of the Tories. The
Committee are enjoined to oppose " to the utmost of their
power every enemy to the just rights and liberties of man
kind ; and that after so wicked a conspiracy against these
rights and liberties by certain ingrates, most of them natives
of these States, and who have been refugees and declared
traitors to their country, it is the opinion of this town that
they ought never to be suffered to return, but excluded
from having lot or place among us." 1 The arguments
employed by Mr. Adams against the return of these people
have been already given. In the following year the sub
ject was renewed, but the bitterness against the Tories
gradually decreased, and after a few years the estates were
generally restored. Mr. Adams seems to have been con
stantly associated with the State legislation on the subject.
In February, 1784, he was one of a large committee, com
posed of the principal gentleman of the Senate and House,
to take into consideration the confiscated estates ; and in
March of the same year he was chairman of a committee
appointed for similar purposes. In his opposition to the
return of the Loyalists, he pursued what he deemed a con
sistent course towards them. It was founded in no feelings
of personal animosity, but in an anxious care for the public
welfare. Nor was he desirous of excluding them all. His
action referred particularly to those inveterate, dangerous
characters whose presence would certainly, in any future
complications, prove firebrands in a community towards
which they could entertain no friendly feelings. In form
ing the preliminary articles to the treaty with Britain, John
Adams, as well as the other negotiators at Paris, steadily
refused compensation to the Tories whose property had been
destroyed in the war, Ainless the late enemy would make
similar awards for the injuries done by their troops. The
definitive treaty, in its fifth article, simply agreed that Con-

1 Boston Town Records, April, 1783.

1783.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 183

gress should " earnestly recommend " to the several Legisla
tures a restitution of the confiscated estates of Loyalists, and
that no legal impediment should be placed in the way of
such persons in the prosecution of their just rights. This
was all that the American commission felt warranted to
concede, with a knowledge of the popular sentiment at
home. Soon after the required recommendation had been
made, Samuel Adams thus wrote to his kinsman at Paris :

" When the recommendations of Congress, in pursuance of the
fifth article of the treaty, were received here, they were treated
with great decency, and very seriously considered. They were
construed differently by men of sense, who were above the influence
of old prejudices, or of party or family connections. This differ
ence, I suppose, was owing to certain ambiguities in the treaty,
which I afterwards found had been acknowledged in a joint letter to
Congress of the 18th July, in which it appeared that our negotia
tion had studiously avoided any expressions in the articles of the
treaty which should amount to absolute stipulations in favor of the
Tories.

" From the first sight I had of the articles, I have been of opin
ion that no such construction could fairly be put upon them, but
that it would finally lie with the several Legislatures of the States
how far it would be proper to show lenity to them; and I was
happy in being confirmed in this opinion by an expression in your
joint letter to Congress, September 10th : It is much to be wished
that the legislators may not involve all the Tories in banishment
and ruin, but that such discrimination may be made as to entitle the
decisions to the approbation of disinterested men and dispassionate
posterity/ In this view, I early inculcated moderation and liberal
ity towards them as far as could be consistent with that leading
principle of nature which ought to govern nations as it does individ
uals, self-preservation. I cannot think that all can be admitted
consistently with the safety of the Commonwealth. I gave you my
reasons in my letter of November 4th. Nor can I believe you
intended to be understood universally in your private letter above
referred to. Some of them would be useful and good citizens ;
others, I believe, highly dangerous." l

1 Samuel to John Adams, Boston, April 16, 1784.

184 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1783.

The letter alluded to has not been found ; but the grounds
of Mr. Adams s opposition to the restoration of those per
sons to citizenship sufficiently appear in his writings already
quoted. His resolutions, adopted at the town meeting on
the 6th of September, 1783, show his anxiety respecting
British emissaries, and the dangerous power of the numer
ous Tories, whose wealth and political machinations were
becoming sufficiently important to awaken apprehension.
Adams always continued to be wary of such enemies to his
country, whose treachery and avarice had prolonged the
war and aided the cause of the foreign invader. He had
known their pernicious influence before and during the Rev
olution; and experience taught him that their presence
while republican institutions were forming, while a dem
ocratic government was only an experiment, was justly to
be feared by true Americans.

CHAPTER LVII.

Negro Servitude in Massachusetts in the Olden Time. The Slave-trade con
ducted between Boston and the Coast of Africa. Public Sales of Slaves.
Disappearance of Slavery at the Revolution. Adams s Views on Slav
ery. Boston in the Last Century. Appearance of the Town. Soci
ety, Equipages, and Dress. Domestic Life. Industrial Classes. Scenes
in the Streets. Shops, Buildings, and Signs. Gallows, Pillory, Stocks,
and Whipping-post. Commerce, Ship-building, and Seamen. Educa^
tion. Popular Literature. Comparative Hardihood and Longevity in
the Last and Present Century. Washington retires to Private Life.
Definitive Treaty with Great Britain. Republican Theories of Adams.
His Ideas of Heraldry, Pedigree, and Secret Associations. Order of the
Cincinnati. He opposes it as Anti-democratic and Hereditary in Charac
ter. The Half-pay and Commutation. Determined Opposition to Com
mutation in New England. Adams supports the Authority of Congress.

DURING the present year, the final case relative to negro
slavery was decided by the highest judicial authority of Mas
sachusetts, by which involuntary servitude was abolished in
the State. Mr. Adams had always disapproved of a condi
tion of humanity so repulsive to his ideas of liberty. Family
tradition represents him as often conversing on this subject ;
and though he would not by word or deed attempt an in
terference with the institution as existing in the Southern
States, knowing that such action would effectually defeat
his grand object of American independence, he was uncom
promising in his determination to eradicate the evil from
New England.

Slaves were not only bought and sold in Massachusetts,
but the slave-trade with the African coast and the West
Indies was openly countenanced. Under the caption of
" Just imported from Africa," Captain Gwin advertises in
the Boston Gazette for July 13, 1761, " a number of prime
young slaves from the Windward Coast, to be sold on board
his ship lying at New Boston." In the same paper is offered

186 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1783.

" a likely, hearty male negro child, about a month old, to be
given away " ; and again, " To be sold, a likely negro woman,
about thirty-five years of age ; a very good cook, understands
household business, and can be recommended for her hon
esty." Ephraim Smith on the same day advertises his run
away negro man-servant Peter. After a full description the
owner continues : " Whoever shall apprehend the same ne
gro fellow and commit him to any of his Majesty s gaols, or
secure him, so that his master may have him again, shall
have five dollars reward, and all charges paid. All mas
ters of vessels and others are cautioned not to carry off or
conceal the said negro, as they would avoid the penalty of
the law." A year previous, we find in the Gazette: "To
be sold, a Spanish Indian woman twenty-two years of age,
who can do any household work ; is sold because she is a
notable breeder " ; and " by inquiring of the printer, a fine
negro boy can be heard of, to be given away." On the same
day Peter Chardon at Loudoun Place advertises his negro
woman, twenty-nine years old, for sale. Harris and Aves,
on Foster Hutchinson s wharf, offer for sale four young ne
gro men and one young girl, just imported from Barbadoes,
together with a quantity of rum and sugar. Ebenezer Smith
of Cambridge holds for sale his strong, hearty negro girl and
her son, about a week old. Joseph Lynde of Maiden, having
lost his negro John, offers four dollars to any person who will
catch and return him to his master. John is described as
" a pock-broken fellow, a scar on one of his shins, has lost
one of his fore teeth, and pretends to be a doctor." Instances
might be multiplied. The newspapers contain such adver
tisements up to about the year of the first Congress. The
policy of the British government had been to encourage the
slave-trade, and instructions were received by the royal Gov
ernors Bernard and Hutchinson to negative bills passed by
the Legislature for its suppression. But though the sale
and barter of slaves, and even the detestable commerce, was
thus countenanced, slavery existed in little more than a mild

1783.J LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 1ST

form, gradually dying out under the progress of democratic
theories and the manifest superiority of free labor. In one
instance, the local courts of the Province ordered a slave to
be set at liberty who had been urged to sue for his freedom ;
and the decision was based upon the recognized principle,
that a slave becomes free upon touching English territory.
Slave property, as the Revolution approached, had but lit
tle value in Massachusetts, and was steadily depreciating,
so that the custom increased of giving away negro chil
dren to whoever would accept of them. The refusal by Mr.
Adams of a present of this kind to Ms wife, in 1764, has
already been mentioned. The terms upon which " Surry "
was received were, that the girl should become free upon
crossing his threshold.

Against the curse of the slave-trade he frequently raised
his voice. Prior to the controversies with the mother coun
try, he consulted and corresponded with the celebrated Dr.
Samuel Hopkins of Newport, R. I., on the subject of the
African slave-trade ; and the two had resolved upon a vigor
ous warfare against it through the press, when the Stamp
Act and its consequences engrossed the attention of Adams
to the exclusion of most other matters. Another eminent
divine with whom he probably conversed on this topic was
Samuel Fothergill, whose efforts long before the Revolu
tion were directed towards the emancipation of slaves held
by the Society of Friends in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The eloquence and solemnity of manner attributed to this
preacher are thus referred to by one who seems to have
heard Mr. Adams speak of his power. " You will con
ceive of his style and manner of speaking," says Mr. Mat-
lack, " from a description by Samuel Adams of the eifect of
his prayer in the Old South in Boston. 4 When he prayed/
said he to me, it seemed as if heaven and earth were
brought together. " l Mr. Adams was among those in the

1 Timothy Matlack to William Findley, Jan. 11, 1817 (Collections of the
Mass. Hist. Society, Second Series, VIII. 189).

188 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1783.

Massachusetts Convention of 1788 who indorsed the prohibi
tion of the slave-trade after 1808 by the Federal Constitution.
He was unequivocally opposed by nature and education to
human servitude, and none more ardently than he longed
for its discontinuance ; but the infancy of the country was
not the time to jeopardize her yet untried institutions by
an opposition which would then have been equally danger
ous and unavailing.

A few persons are yet living whose recollection extends to
the appearance of Boston in the latter part of the last cen
tury, its quaint old buildings, relieved here and there in
the newer districts with more modern architecture ; its
narrow, crooked streets, even then retaining some names
loyally indicative of " good old Colony times " ; the costume
of its people, and their habits, amusements, and routine of
life. Those customs exist now only in story and print ; but
to Americans they present not merely the charm of antiq
uity : they belong to an era and a race which gave a great
and free country to posterity. The reminiscences of aged
persons, added to the fugitive facts to be gathered from
diaries, pamphlets, books, letters, and particularly the news
papers of those times, afford outlines for endless pictures of
past generations. It is easy to carry the imagination far
beyond the limits permitted by our work, among the towns
people in their daily pursuits, and to trace the gradual
decline of old customs before the change of fashion, the
progress of knowledge, and the improvements in the arts.

Prior to the Revolution, the conveniences of life were by
no means equal to those existing after the restoration of
peace, and the consequent expansion of commerce. Then,
as if to offset the privations of the war, an era of unprece
dented extravagance commenced, inaugurated by those who
had grown rich by trade or privateering, who were imitated
by others less able to incur such expenses. With this
change many comforts and luxuries, before unknown, were
freely introduced.

1783.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 189

While the Colonies were yet at peace with the mother
country, and no speck on the political horizon presaged the
approaching storm, the style of living in the interior towns
was more primitive. Dr. Hedge has lately depicted the
contrast between the two centuries :

"What was luxury then would be penance now. Picture to
yourselves the style of living of a family of average means in those
years, and compare it with the average style of to-day. House un-
painted, uncarpeted, dimly lighted ; cavernous firesides that appro
priated half the heat, and gave out half the smoke ; furnaces and
stoves unknown ; gas-light unimagined. For dress, the single state
suit that lasted a lifetime, of broadcloth or brocade for festive occa
sions, with homespun coats and stuffed gowns for ordinary wear.
For the board, the inevitable porridge and salted meats ; coarse
fare, served in coarse dishes, eaten with coarse implements ; no
grace of the table, save always the customary ( grace before meat,
that duly auspicated the homely meal. Such the prevailing style
of the middle class in New England in 1758. Compare it with the
way of life on the same plane of society at the present day ; with
our upholstery and warming apparatus and gas-light ; with our
changes of raiment ; with the wardrobes of your wives and daugh
ters, ay, and your maid-servants, the cost of which for a single fam
ily, if not for a single matron or miss, exceeds the entire sum allotted
to the public expenses of this town, schools, highways, consta
bles, and all, a hundred years ago." 1

This description, obtained from contemporary documents,
or the recollections of those whose memory reached farthest
into the last century, applied rather to country than to city
life. Boston, during the Revolution, contained some sixteen
thousand inhabitants. It was a trading, ship-building com
munity, the scene of maritime industry, and bustling with
active commerce. Its inhabitants were in many instances
wealthy ; and as idleness was disreputable, comparatively few
instances of poverty were known. Numbers of the opulent
citizens lived with elegance. The education of many young

1 Seventeen Hundred Fifty-eight and Eighteen Hundred Fifty-eight : a New-
Year s Discourse.

190 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1783.

ladies was considered incomplete without the accomplish
ment of the spinnet or harpsichord. The most costly dresses
were ordered from England. On public occasions, promi
nent wealthy citizens often treated assemblages of the people
to hogsheads of wine or punch. " The soldiers," wrote
Andrew Eliot in 1769, soon after the establishment of mili
tary rule in Boston, "are in raptures at the cheapness of
spirituous liquors among us."

The advertisements in the newspapers before the Revolu
tion afford some indication of the general condition of the
people. Teas, dried fruits, coffee, wines in great variety,
cocoa, chocolate, rum, brandy, ale, spices, sugars, and nu
merous luxuries and conveniencies, are offered for sale, and
were evidently in common use among the people ; and
meats, fish, and game were of course plentiful and cheap.
For furniture and wearing apparel the shopkeepers adver
tised paper-hangings, pictures, plushes, English damask,
cambrics, Irish linens, China silks, crimson Genoa velvet,
vest patterns, gloves, swords, fans, ribbons, feathers, lawns,
lace, fine dyed jeans, figured silk cloaks, best Bellandine
sewing silks, gartering, galloons, silk ferrets, and Prussian
flowered silk bonnets. A community in the daily consump
tion of these and a thousand similar articles must necessa
rily have been commercially prosperous, and in the highest
enjoyment of life. This is fully substantiated by a British
traveller, who writes as early as 1741 :

" The conversation in this town is as polite as in most of the cities
and towns of England ; many of their merchants having traded into
Europe, and those that stayed at home having the advantage of
society with travellers; so that a gentleman from London would
almost think himself at home at Boston when he observes the num
ber of people, their houses, their furniture, their tables, their dress
and conversation, which is perhaps as splendid and showy as that of
the most considerable tradesman in London. Upon the whole, Bos
ton is the most flourishing town for trade and commerce in the Eng
lish America. Near 600 sail of ships have been laden here in a
year for Europe and the British plantations. The goodness of the

1783.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 191

pavement may compare with most in London; to gallop a horse
upon it is three shillings and fourpence forfeit." l

The prosperity here described increased up to the time of
the taxation troubles, when it gradually ceased, and years
elapsed before the town recovered from the effects of the
Revolution.

The furniture of the better sort of dwellings was often
imported from England, particularly the finest clocks, many
of which yet remain in proof of the excellence of the manu
facture ; feather-beds were used in the best houses, and bed
clothing was commonly quilted and worked with beautiful
designs ; artists were liberally patronized for the adornment
of dwellings. China ware and porcelain were in common
use ; and the remnants of the table-ware that have been pre
served show a refined taste in the choice of such articles.
Jewellery of great value was displayed by the wealthy on
grand occasions ; and costly silver plate was frequently seen ;
and, in fine, there was every evidence of a thriving popula
tion, loyal to the Crown before the Parlimentary schemes
for destroying their liberties, profuse in the consumption of
English manufactures, and using more and more of " home "
(that is, English) luxuries, to a degree not relished by the
sterner republicans, who rigidly adhered to the precepts of
their Puritan ancestors.

Among the floating population were seen people from all
parts of the world ; and the number of public houses for a
town of such size shows the constant presence of seafar
ing men and the class of adventurers always frequenting a
seaport. The public signs were such as, " Noah s Ark,"
" Lighthouse Tavern," " Half Moon," " Indian Queen Tav
ern," " Green Dragon," " Three Crowns," " Orange Tree,"
" Anchor Tavern," "Blue Anchor," " Ship in Distress," and
others of a like maritime type. Here the sailors and people
engaged in all branches of shipping business used to meet,
smoke, and drink punch, and discuss the affairs of their call-

1 Oldmixon s "British Empire in America," 2d ed. (quoted in Drake s
Boston, p. 607).

192 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1783.

ing and the prospects of trade. This was the class among
whom the patriot leaders, particularly Samuel Adams,
exerted themselves to carry their measures at "body" meet
ings. 1 The men employed at the rope-walks were a numer
ous and influential body. These establishments, of which
there were several in the town, furnished the rigging for
the vessels continually launched from the ship-yards. The
affrays immediately preceding the Massacre, in 1770, were
between the hands in Gray s rope-walks and a party of the
Twenty-ninth Regiment. They were generally young men
used to hard work, jealous of their liberties, proud of their
physical strength, and quite willing at any time to meet the
soldiers in fair combat. These, with the carpenters, sail-
makers, calkers, mast-yard hands, blacksmiths, and block-
makers, composed the rival parties known prior to the Rev
olution as the " North-Enders" and " South-En ders," and
eagerly filled the ranks of the army or served as privateers-
men during the war. In the pot-houses along the wharves
there must have been lively and often noisy gatherings of
this class, the greater part of them stanch in the cause of
liberty, producing scenes curiously illustrative of the spirit
of that day. The boisterous laugh and coarse jest, the odd
nautical expressions, and the loud wrangling over the news
papers and political events, were all significant features of
the times.

Conspicuous paintings or figures were used instead of the
gilt-lettered signs adopted in after years. Among the in
stances found in Drake s History of Boston, besides those
already given, may be mentioned the " Dog and Pot,"
" Three Nuns and Comb," " Two Sugar Loaves," " Wooden
Head," " King s Arms," " Bunch of Grapes," " Bible and
Dove," " Black Boy and Butt," " Blue Dog and Rainbow,"
" Crown and Sceptre," " Blue Glove," " Golden Ball," " Hat
and Helmet," "Three Horseshoes," "Tun and Bacchus,"
" Elephant," " King s Head and Looking-Glass," and " Buck

1 Mass meetings, in distinction from the regular town meetings of freeholders.

1783.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 193

and Breeches. " These represented the business, not of cof
fee-houses and taverns only, but also of shops and stores,
which were known popularly and in newspaper advertise
ments by their signs.

Carried back to the Revolution, Boston would offer a cu
rious contrast to its present appearance ; and but for the
scanty remaining landmarks which the march of progress
has spared, one of its inhabitants, if permitted to revisit the
scenes of life, might seek in vain to recognize the former
Provincial town in its metropolitan descendant. The Old
South, Faneuil Hall, the old State House, and a few other
relics are yet standing, though some have been touched by
the hand of improvement. But the ancient vestiges are
fast disappearing, and a few generations hence will know
of " Old Boston " only by tradition. The former names
of streets have not escaped the change, which has some
times been made with a questionable view to more fash
ionable or anti-monarchical appellations, to the unwar
ranted obliteration of historical associations. What was
once Black-Horse Lane is now Prince Street; the present
High Street was formerly Cow Lane ; Crab Lane is now a
part of Kilby Street ; Crooked Lane has become Wilson s
Lane ; Flounder Lane is merged in the south end of Broad
Street ; Frog Lane has been changed to Orange Street ;
George to Hancock Street ; Castle William to Fort Indepen
dence ; Hog Alley to Avery Street ; Longacre to Tremont
Street ; Love Lane to Tileston Street ; Paddy s Alley to
North Centre Street ; Pond to Bedford Street ; Round Lane
to William Street ; Marlborough to Washington Street ; King
to State Street ; Queen to Court Street ; and Pudding Lane
to Devonshire Street. These are but a few of the alterations
appearing in several pages of Drake s History of Boston,
where the old names are carefully arranged in alphabetical
order and explained.

Towards the close of the last century, an English writer
who visited Boston thus describes the town :

VOL III. 13

194 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1783.

"In the year 1740, Boston was esteemed the largest town in
America ; now Philadelphia and New York rank before it ; never
theless, it is a very flourishing place, full of business and activity.
The merchants and tradesmen meet every day from twelve to two
o clock in State Street, as on an exchange. "VVe inquired for a
porter to fetch our luggage from the ship to the tavern, and a free
negro offered himself, for which service he required half a dollar.
The negroes in this State are all free, and are a respectable body of
people. They have a Free-Masons club, in which they admit no
white person. However, I believe they are not yet admitted to
hold offices of State, though they vote for them. This town or city
contains about eighteen thousand inhabitants. State Street is the
principal one, about twenty yards wide ; is near the centre of the
town, and leads down to the Long Wharf. Cornhill is another con
siderable street for trade : it put me in mind of Basingstoke. Their
footways are not yet paved with flat stones ; the horse and footway
being alike pitched with pebbles, and posts and a gutter to divide
them, like the old-fashioned towns in England. The buildings, like
wise, are but indifferent ; many of them, as well as their churches,
are weather-boarded at the side, and all of them roofed with shin
gles. A very awkward looking railed enclosure on the top of the
houses, for drying clothes, which gives them a very odd appearance.
The part of the town called New or West Boston is an exception to
this, for the houses there are all neat and elegant, of brick, with
handsome entrances and door-cases, and a flight of steps up to the
entrance." 1

Convenient sidewalks, it appears, did not exist in every
street; though fashion, retreating before the advance of
commerce, had already begun to spread to the westward,
and some modern improvements were adopted. The old
town was built principally of wood, and hence the disas
trous conflagrations which occurred in its early history.

Among the busy throng in the streets we may picture
the sailor, with his swarthy face, wide trousers, and long
queue. In the neighboring seaports and in Boston was cen-

1 Henry "Wansey s Excursion to the United States of North America in the
Summer of 1794, pp. 38, 39.

1783.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 195

tred that wonderfully energetic class whose adventures in the
whale-fishery elicited from Burke, in Parliament, his splen
did eulogy of New England courage and enterprise. From
Massachusetts sailed the best seamen and the stanchest ships
in the world ; and Boston was made the maritime centre of
America by the indomitable character of her people. The
common, popular expressions, and even the slang phrases,
were those of the sea ; boatmen, seamen, and wharf laborers
were powerful elements in most of the town commotions
which preceded the Revolution. Even the boys, in any excite
ment, cheered like ships crews, and imitated the boatswain s
call in their jeering and ridicule of the British soldiers. The
sailors of the last century, if we may judge from the descrip
tions given by the English novelists, seldom, if ever, attained
to the standard of education often met with among seafaring
men of the present generation. The brutal coarseness of
English naval commanders, as pictured by the popular nov
elists, is corroborated in at least one instance by John Ad
ams, who in his Diary alludes with disgust to the " coarse,
low, vulgar dialect," and "brutal, hoggish manners" of
Rear- Admiral Montagu, in command of the British fleet at
Boston in 1772, who, with his wife, was very much disliked
at certain social meetings that winter. About the time of
the French war, and between then and the Revolution,
packets were sometimes advertised to go armed, as in the
case of the ship Happy Return, which, in the summer of
1761, sailed for London from Long Wharf, " mounting six
teen carriage-guns, and men answerable ; also fitted for close
quarters." The fishermen of the Grand Banks, on return
ing with their fares, showed their adaptability to every kind
of life, by throwing off the garb of the sailor, and tilling
their farms until the return of the fishing season.

Family carriages were rare. The showy equipage of John
Hancock, drawn by four horses, occasionally passed through
the streets, eclipsing all rivals. Numbers of the wealthier
people kept their " chariots," which are mentioned in some

196 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1783.

of Samuel Adams s essays as having been repeatedly chal
lenged and stopped by the sentinels after the establishment
of military rule in 1768. Such displays, however, were not
frequent in the streets of Boston. People usually walked to
and from their places of business, and the town was not
then so extensive as to demand a general use of vehicles.
Chairs, similar to those used in England, were occasionally
seen. " A new and second-hand chair and a new and sec
ond-hand chaise, to be sold cheap for cash," are advertised in
the Boston Gazette in 1761.

Amid a peaceful and industrious population the shedding
of blood was regarded with horror. Life and property were
always safe, capital offences were extremely rare, and the
punishment of crime was certain. Delinquent debtors were
often imprisoned, and once a printer was prosecuted and
imprisoned by the Legislature for what was termed a libel
on their proceedings in general, and many members in par
ticular. The pillory was among the penalties for certain
crimes. Public whipping was sometimes executed upon cer
tain offenders, inflicted at the cart-tail or at the whipping
post, which stood, as late as 1770, near the Town House in
King Street. The stocks were in the neighborhood. The
gallows were out on the public highway towards Roxbury.
Samuel Adams was always opposed to punishment at the
whipping-post as barbarous and cruel ; and to his influence
was principally due its discontinuance in Massachusetts.
While President of the Senate, he urged the passage of a
law, substituting in certain cases imprisonment and hard
labor for the degrading exhibitions of whipping and sitting
on the gallows, believing that no benefit could be derived
either to the offender or the spectators. The dreadful flog
gings of deserters from the British army were spectacles of
which he heard with indignation. Public whipping, how
ever, practically ceased long before its formal abolition by
the Legislature, though the post was allowed to stand in
many of the country towns ; and this punishment was among

1783.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 197

the penalties especially prescribed by the General Court in
1786, during the Shays s rebellion.

From the earliest times encouragement was extended to
education and general reading. Popular instruction was
believed to be the basis of public liberty, and nowhere in the
world was greater importance attached to the necessity of
educating the people than in Massachusetts. Oldmixon,
already quoted, says that, in 1741, there were five printing
houses in Boston, and that the presses were generally full
of work ; " which," he says, " is in a great measure owing
to the colleges and schools for useful learning in New
England ; whereas in New York there is but one little
bookseller s shop ; and none at all in Virginia, Maryland,
Carolina, Barbadoes, and the Sugar Islands." " The Town
House or Exchange was surrounded with booksellers shops."
Pamphlets were attentively read, and newspapers flourished.
A circulating library was opened by John Mem, in 1765,
upon terms which placed books within the reach of near
ly the whole community. His stock, soon after, comprised
" above ten thousand volumes." The number of books im
ported from England is the best evidence of the popular
reading. Mein s catalogue, in one advertisement, occu
pies nearly an entire page in the Massachusetts Gazette.
Philip Freeman of the " Blue Glove," in Union Street, and
Joshua Winter, near by, both booksellers, advertise exten
sively in the Boston Gazette in 1761. Their lists embrace
classical, nautical, mercantile, historical, philosophical, and
particularly theological and religious works, some of which
are rarely seen in the present day. Vattel s Law of Nations ;
The Lives of the Martyrs, or the Dreadful Effects of Pop
ery ; Paradise Lost ; Bland s Military Discipline ; great
numbers of sermons ; The Trader s Sure Guide ; Rollin s
Ancient History ; Trapp s Virgil ; Lives of the Roman Em
perors ; Hewett s Tradesman ; Watts s Improvement of the
Mind ; Cicero s Orations ; Lucas on Happiness ; Young s
Night Thoughts ; Anson s Voyages ; The Country House-

198 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1783.

wife ; Pilgrim s Progress ; and the Life of the King of Prus
sia, are a fair sample of the reading offered by these col
lections. Such works as Pamela, Fielding s and Smollett s
novels, the Royal Jester, and the like, are here and there
mentioned, but do not appear to be in general favor. The
books found in the private libraries of New England were
generally of a serious character. The highly wrought " sen
sational " novels of the French and modern English school
had not yet made their appearance. Books were bought
to be carefully read and preserved for future reference.
The library of Samuel Adams contained at his death about
four hundred volumes, and their appearance indicated that
they had not been kept merely for show. Those on govern
ment, history, morals, and philosophy were evidently the
familiar companions of their owner, and each contained his
name in his own handwriting.

Innumerable conveniences and comforts, now thought
lessly enjoyed by millions, had not in the days of the Rev
olution entered into the remotest conceptions of man ; and
yet it may be believed that as much of happiness existed
then as has been attained by succeeding generations. The
wants of society were fewer and more easily satisfied. The
present dissipation, with its attendant evils, was unknown to
our more sedate ancestors, whose " routs and riots/ in the
most lively circles, were but simple, social reunions, in com
parison to our costly displays. If light could only be had
from candles, where now the magic gas is within the reach
of all, the glaring midnight assemblies of fashion and folly,
which have kept pace with the march of improvement, were
seldom seen. If the want of railroads, steamboats, and swift
mail-coaches compelled a resort to horseback-riding or walk
ing, the exercise found its reward in a better condition of
physical health than now generally exists among both sexes.
If the absence (until the scenes of the war) of exciting news
left the community in a somewhat primitive quiet as to the
events of the great world, the contented tranquillity of a pro-

1783.J LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 199

vincial situation prolonged life, and fostered a positiveness
and stability of character which stood the country in need
in the hour of her extreme trial. And so comparisons might
be made favorable to our ancestors in all that related to fru
gality, simplicity of life, and the honorable thrift which led
to the most exact observance of obligations now so frequent
ly ignored both in public and private station. It may yet be
conceded that Samuel Adams entertained no Utopian, im
practicable idea of public morality, when inculcating the
great truth, that the liberties as well as the virtue and phys
ical condition of a people decrease in proportion as they
become effeminate and luxurious.

It was towards the close of 1783 that, the final treaty with
Great Britain having been signed and transmitted to Amer
ica, the invading forces departed, leaving the country, at
least its Atlantic regions, in the quiet possession of the
patriots, who had achieved a national independence after
seven years of uninterrupted hostilities. Washington, bid
ding adieu to his companions in arms, in a scene memorable
from the most affecting recollections, and amid the unutter
able emotions of his brave officers, proceeded to Annapolis,
where he resigned his command. " Having," said he,
" now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the
great theatre of action ; and bidding an affectionate fare
well to this august body, under whose orders I have so long
acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of
all the employments of public life." With the reverence of
a grateful people, the illustrious chief withdrew temporarily
from the scene, and resumed his rank as a private citizen.

Suffering under the manifold calamities of a protracted
war, the United States issued from the contest burdened
with taxes, its currency depreciated almost to worthlessness,
and in a general financial condition discouraging to the
ablest statesmen. Massachusetts, as we have seen, had been
among the foremost in contributions of men, money, and

200 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1783.

supplies, and was now groaning under enormous liabilities.
The patriots, however, confident in the ultimate resources
of the country, looked beyond the present embarrassments,
and saw the great destiny dawning upon America. A par
ticular source of apprehension with some was the possible
subsidence of the spirit of democracy, and the gradual build
ing up of a military or aristocratic family power, which might
in time override the true republican doctrines upon which
in New England the Revolution had been founded. Samuel
Adams, unlike Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris, John Adams,
Ames, and some others of the Northern statesmen, never
lost his faith in the capacity of the " common people " to
govern themselves. The idea of placing political power in
the hands of a select few he considered as destructive to lib
erty. His theory was, that the people should be elevated
and educated, that a manly development of character should
be encouraged by perfect political equality, and that then
they would never require rulers to be selected from among
the privileged classes. Upon the virtue and intelligence of
the masses, guided by liberal popular education, he was will
ing to stake the republican experiment. No brave, hardy
people, brought up under a good common-school system, and
taught to revere the ordinary rules of frugality and morality,
could, in his opinion, ever be enslaved. They might be led
astray, as in all times and countries, but they would be quick
to see and return to their best interests under a government
of their own making. 1 Of secret societies and combinations,
such as Free-Masonry, he expressed his unqualified disap
proval, founded probably in the fear that they would acquire
an undue political power, and encourage the growth of he
reditary and family influences, which he regarded as danger-

1 Judge Sullivan, writing in 1803, from an intimate acquaintance with Sam
uel Adams, says, " Mr. Adams never yielded to the now fashionable idea, that
there is no such thing as public virtue, or that the people of America cannot
be the safe keepers of their own interests. Such an idea goes radically to the
destruction of republicanism, and he therefore abhorred it."

1783.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 201

ous to republican liberty, and leading to the establishment
of aristocratic grades above the common people.

He equally disliked the growing desire among certain
families to trace their descent to noble sources in England.
Aside from its frivolity, he thought it aristocratic and un
worthy of a true republican. Heraldry, orders, and coats-
of-arms he considered as exploded vanities for Americans,
whose nationality was to spring from ideas entirely for
eign to such distinctions, which, in succeeding generations,
might lead to more substantial assumptions of superiority.
An acquaintance once proposed to seek out his pedigree,
which it was thought might be followed back from Henry
Adams of Braintree to some ancient stock of English nobil
ity. " I think you had better not try," said Mr. Adams.
" It is a subject I have not thought much about. On this
side the water, I believe my ancestors were exemplary men
and good citizens ; but I have never looked much beyond
that, not knowing what scoundrels a further research might
rake out."

He regarded with anxiety all movements tending to en
courage the distinction of patrician and plebeian in any form.
As President of the Massachusetts Senate, he spared no
effort to make his opinions felt on this subject, particularly
as he descried danger already in an attempt which alarmed
not only him, but many other eminent men.

At the close of the war many officers of the army formed
themselves into the Order of the Cincinnati, a military asso
ciation which extended through all the States, and was to
meet from time to time by their deputies in a general con
gress. The Order, which was distinguished by its badges
and ornaments, was hereditary, membership descending by
primogeniture ; and the strict republicans imagined that it
would create and foster an hereditary aristocracy. Though
sanctioned and presided over by Washington, this novel feat
ure aroused the public jealousy, North and South, and
created violent dissensions, which at one time threatened

202 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1783.

serious consequences. Among its enemies were Franklin,
Samuel and John Adams, Gerry, Jay, and others scarcely
less distinguished ; while in Europe, the opposition to its
principles was equally decided, especially in France. The
evil results predicted were not realized. The Order was
what it professed to be, a fraternal bond to render perma
nent the cordial affection subsisting between the officers for
mutual acts of kindness, and " to promote and cherish be
tween the respective States that unison and national honor
so essentially necessary to their happiness and the future
dignity of the American empire." But judging by the ex
amples of history, and especially by that of their own coun
try, its opponents found no redeeming features in the Order ;
and though by the influence of Washington the hereditary
principle was abolished, the society was regarded as equally
dangerous.

It will serve as an instance of the extreme jealousy at
that time harbored against any and every appearance of
aristocratic sentiments, that Samuel Adams expressed his
fears that the members of the Order, by becoming the joint
proprietors of large tracts of land, and peopling their terri
tories with multitudes from Germany, who .would live in
military service and fealty to their landlords, might in time
revive the old feudal system. " And why," he continues,
" may not these lords and tenants or vassals, in process of
time, become feudatory to a superior lord, who may then be
set up and acknowledged, binding themselves to assist him
in defence of the feudal society ? And thus a system of
military policy may be erected similar to that of the North
ern conquerors of Europe, calculated merely for the support
of an army." l Vassalage among the Germans was an idea
habitually associated in America with the old feudal estab
lishments. As time has proved, Mr. Adams could scarcely
have fixed upon a people the genius of whose character and
habits is so entirely democratic as the Germans. The fear

1 S. Adams to E. Gerry, Boston, Sept. 15, 1785.

1784.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 203

of the anxious statesman, however, may well be pardoned.
The speck which he descried in the political horizon never
became a cloud : the storm came from a different quarter ;
but the cause of the evil was the same. At the South there
was already that aristocratic and almost feudal element
against which he warned his countrymen; at length, in
another century, it produced a terrible convulsion ; and a
class without sympathy for the masses, opposed to the gov
ernment of majorities, and favoring a patrician order, waged
against democracy a bitter war, which for a time threatened
to destroy the Federal structure.

Letters, speeches, and legislative resolutions followed each
other in opposition to the Cincinnati, which was denounced
as a bold stroke aimed at the civil liberties of America. The
objections raised by Mr. Adams are interesting, not only in
their bearing upon the society, but as illustrating an entire
consistency of character and opinions throughout his long
life. The extreme aversion to aristocratic claims and as
sumptions, which we have seen distinguishing him from his
youth up and through all the arduous contests of intellect
which preceded the war of the Revolution, is here plainly
apparent, and may be traced to his latest days.

\
BOSTON, April 19, 1784.

MY DEAR SIR,

Mr. Higgenson was so obliging as to show me your letter to
him, dated the 4th of March. I was happy in having adopted an
opinion of the Cincinnati so similar to what I found yours to be. I
think I am as sensible as any man ought to be of the important ser
vices of our late army, and am very desirous that their full share
of merit may be gratefully acknowledged and rewarded by the
country. This would have been done (for the prejudice of the
people against the gratuity of five years pay began to subside), had
they not adopted a plan so disgustful to the common feeling. It
appears wonderful that they could imagine that a people who had
freely spent their blood and treasure in support of their equal rights
and liberties could so soon be reconciled to the odious hereditary
distinction of families. This country must be, to a great degree,

204 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [April,

humiliated and debased before they will patiently bear to see in
dividuals stalking with their assumed honorary badges, and proudly
boasting, " These are the distinctions of our blood." I cannot think
that many of our officers entertained such an idea of haughty pre
eminence ; but the human mind is so captivated with the thought of
being elevated above the ignoble vulgar, that their sons, if they
should not themselves, when they perceive the multitude grown
giddy with gazing, may assume more than the mere pageantry of
nobility. When men begin to applaud themselves, they are not
easily persuaded to believe they can take a greater share of honor
than justly belongs to them. They will be pleased with the adula
tory speeches of other men, and flatter themselves they are entitled
to power and authority, as well as the ostentatious show of superi
ority above their equals. I confess I do not barely dislike the
Order. "With you I think it is dangerous, and look upon it with
the eye of jealousy. When the pride of family possesses the minds
of men, it is threatening to the community in proportion to the good
they have done. The unsuspecting people, when they are in a mood
to be grateful, will cry up the virtues of their benefactors, and be
ready to say, " Surely those men who have done such great things
for us will never think of setting up a tyranny over us." But even
patriots and heroes may become different men, when new and dif
ferent prospects shall have altered their feelings and views ; and
the undiscerning people may too late repent that they have suffered
them to exalt themselves and their families on the ruins of the
common liberty.

The Cincinnati are very unpopular here. You will wonder then
that one of the Order has had a majority of the votes of this town
for a senator for the county. I am afraid the citizens are not so
vigilant as they used and still ought to be. It was given out at the
moment of election that he intended to withdraw himself from the
society. If he does, it may weaken their influence ; if not, he will
probably destroy his own. You have doubtless seen the sentiments
of the General Court of the Order. The reprobating speech of the
Governor of South Carolina has been published here.

I had the pleasure of receiving by the same post your several
letters of the loth, 20th, and 24th ultimo. If I have a seat in the
General Court the ensuing year, (which is uncertain,) I shall with
great reluctance communicate your intention to leave Congress, unless

1784.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 205

you will gratify the earnest wishes of your friends by altering your
determination. I assure you, there is no friend to our country,
within my circle, who is not solicitous for your continuance longer.
I was in hopes, when you was prevailed upon again to take a seat,
you would have held it at least two years. Let me entreat you to
release me from the obligation of complying with your request.

Adieu,

SAMUEL ADAMS.*

In a letter to John Adams at this time, he urges, among
other objections to the Order, that " they convened in con
gress expressly to deliberate and adopt measures on great
and national concerns proper only for the cognizance of tho
United States in Congress assembled, and the different leg
islators and officers of government." Hence he reasoned
that, " being an order of military men, they might soon pro
ceed to enforce their resolutions, not only to the lessening
the dignity of the States in the eye of Europe, but the put
ting an end to their free existence." 2 There were no pre
cedents in favor of the society, but every reason from example
to fear its influence. Another letter on this subject should
be given entire, as showing incidentally the sentiments of
Adams respecting Washington and his association with the
Order.

BOSTON, April 23, 1784.

Mr DEAR Sm,

I observe by the enclosed newspaper that the Cincinnati in con
gress assembled are to meet at Philadelphia on the 5th of May,
and that General Washington is to preside. That gentleman has
an idea of the nature and tendency of the Order very different from
mine ; otherwise, I am certain, he would never have given it his sanc
tion. I look upon it to be as rapid a stride towards an hereditary
military nobility as ever was made in so short a time. My fears
may be ill grounded ; but if they are not, it is impossible for me not
to think it a great misfortune to these States that he is a member ;
for the reputation he has justly acquired by his conduct while Com-
mander-in-Chief of our armies, and the gratitude and warm affec-

1 To Elbridge Gerry. s Samuel to John Adams, Dec. 16, 1784.

206 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [April,

tion which his countrymen do and ought to feel towards him, will
probably give weight to anything he patronizes, and lustre to all
who may be connected with him. It is a tribute due to the man
who serves his country well, to esteem him highly and confide in
him. We ought not, however, to think any man incapable of error.
But so it is with the bulk of mankind, and even in a free country :
they reprobate the idea of implicit faith, and at the same time, while
the impression of gratitude is deep in their minds, they will not ad
mit that of a benefactor which must be said of every man, aliquan-
do dormitat. I would never inculcate a base and envious suspicion
of any man, especially of those who have rendered signal services
to their country. But there is a degree of watchfulness over all
men possessed of power or influence, upon which the liberties of
mankind much depend. It is necessary to guard against the infirm
ities of the best as well as the wickedness of the worst of men.
Such is the weakness of human nature, that tyranny has perhaps
oftener sprung from that than any other source. It is this that
unravels the mystery of millions being enslaved by the few.

What was it that induced the Cincinnati gentlemen, who have
undertaken to deliberate and act upon matters which may essentially
concern the happiness and future dignity of the American empire/
to admit foreign military subjects into their society ? Was there
not danger before that a foreign influence might prevail in America?
Do not foreigners wish to have weight in our councils ? Can such
a junction of the subjects of different nations (and those nations
widely differing in their principles of government), to deliberate
upon things which relate to the union and national honor, the happi
ness and future dignity of one, consist with sound policy? Are we
sure that these two nations will never have separate views, and very
national and interested ones too, because they once united in the
same object, and it was accidentally their mutual interest to fight
side by side ? If we could admit that the Cincinnati had a right to
erect themselves into an Order for the national purposes of their
institution, had they a right to call in foreign aid for those purposes ?
It appears to me as impolitic, preposterous, and dangerous as it
would be for the United States to invite and admit, a delegation
from that foreign power into their Congress.

I take notice that the committee of Congress propose that the
governments of the ten new States to be formed shall be in repub-

1784.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 207

lican form, and shall admit no person to be a citizen who holds any
hereditary title. I hope Congress will not fail to make this an
indispensable condition.

Believe me to be your sincere and affectionate friend,

SAMUEL ADAMS.

HON. MR. GERRY.

Reference has already been made to the proposal of Wash
ington, in 1783, for the immediate relief of the officers of the
army by a commutation of the half-pay for life which had
been voted them by Congress into five years full pay, in one
gross sum. Throughout New England a strong opposition
was made to this measure, and, as we have seen, the Legis
lature of Massachusetts at that time were as reluctant to
indorse it as the Northern members of Congress had been to
acquiesce in the half-pay proposition in 1780. In Connecti
cut particularly, the commutation produced popular agita
tions, and public conventions and meetings were held to
prevent the consummation of the laws of Congress. At the
convention at Middletown, two thirds of the towns in Con
necticut were represented. These incipient steps towards
throwing the Federal Congress into contempt alarmed the
more moderate and reasonable in New England, and even
from France the American Commissioners sent strenuous
letters against popular movements in opposition to the estab
lished government. Noah Webster, then only twenty-five
years of age, with others, exerted himself in his native State
to support the action of Congress, and was the author, in
1784, of a series of essays, which were extensively read, and
for which he received personally the thanks of Governor
Trumbull. Among the papers of Mr. Adams is found a
correspondence on this subject from which may be gathered
his sentiments in relation to these important matters.

HARTFORD, 24th March, 1784.
Sm,

The importance of this communication will, I flatter myself, be
a sufficient apology for the freedom I take of writing to a gentleman
with whom I have not the honor of an acquaintance. You are very

208 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [April,

sensible, sir, that an unconstitutional body of men, the convention,
headed by a few designing characters, principally Tories, have for
a long time been endeavoring to throw the State into confusion, and
crush the most illustrious characters. The leaders, in order to sup
port the faction, hold up this idea to their constituents, that the
States are disaffected with Congress, and are disposed to take meas
ures similar to the constitutional plan in this State. It is said, sir,
that their Committee of Correspondence have written to several
gentlemen in other States, among whom your name is mentioned.
It is reported that in your answer you reprobated the proceedings
of the convention, in the most explicit manner. It is the wish of
several gentlemen here, that, in order to show the deluded people of
this State, many of whom are honest and well meaning, in what
point of view the convention in this State is considered by our sis
ter States, your letter to their committee might be published in our
papers. For this purpose, I now send to you requesting a copy,
and permission to publish it, either with your name or without it,
as will be most agreeable. We conceive it could do no injury to
the author, and would be very beneficial to this State. The conven
tion begin to be suspected, and a few efforts of good men may soon
bring them into contempt. If you can comply with this request,
and so soon as to have the letter published before the next election,
April 12th, you will probably do a public service, and particularly

oblige

Your very humble servant,

NOAH WEBSTER.
HON. SAMUEL ADAMS, ESQ.

It was more than a month before public business permit
ted Mr. Adams to reply, and his opinions are then, as usual,
decidedly expressed and to the point.

BOSTON, April 30, 1784.
SIR,

I was favored with your letter of the 24th March ; but by a multi
plicity of affairs, which it happened I was at that time engaged in,
I was prevented returning your answer so speedily as you desired.
For this reason, I afterwards thought an answer would be of no im
portance. Decency alone, however, should have induced me to ac
knowledge the favor. I hope you will excuse the omission.

Some time in the month of September last, a gentleman in Con-

1784.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 209

necticut, by his letter, requested me to give him my opinion of a
subject (I think) too much altercated in that State as well as this,
the commutation of the half-pay granted by Congress to the late
officers of the army for life, for full pay during the term of five
years. I did not hesitate to say in return, that Congress was, in
the nature of their appointment, the sole judge of the necessary
means of supporting the late army which had been raised for the de
fence of our common rights against the invasions of Great Britain ;
and if, upon their own deliberate counsels, and the repeated repre
sentations of the Commander-in-Chief of the army, they judged that
the grant of half-pay for life was a measure absolutely necessary
for the support of a disciplined army for that purpose, they had an
undoubted right to make it ; and as it was made in behalf of the
United States, by their representatives authorized to do it, each
State was held in justice and honor, even though it should seem to
any to have been an ill-judged measure, to comply with it. Because
States and individual persons are equally bound to fulfil their obli
gations ; and it is given as a characteristic of a good and honest man,
that " though he sweareth (or promiseth) to his own hurt, he chang-
eth not." I moreover acquainted him, that, although I was never
pleased with the idea of half-pay for life, for reasons which were
satisfactory to myself, some of which I freely explained to him, yet
I had always thought that, as the opportunities of the officers of the
army for acquiring moderate fortunes, or making such provision for
their families as men generally wish to make, were by no means
equal to those of their fellow-citizens at home, it would be but just
and reasonable that an adequate compensation should be made them
at, or as soon as conveniently might be after, the end of the war, and
that therefore a suitable compensation had fully coincided with my
views of justice and policy.

Nothing was mentioned in his letter to me respecting county con
ventions or their proceedings, and therefore I made no observations
upon them. I hope it will not be in the power of designing men,
by imposing upon " credulous, though well-meaning persons," long
to keep this country, which may be happy if they will, in a state of
discord and animosity. We may see, from the present state of
Great Britain, how rapidly such a spirit will drive a nation to de
struction. It is prudent for the people to keep a watchful eye over
the conduct of those who are intrusted with their public affairs.

VOL. III. 14

LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [April, 1784.

Such attention is the people s great security ; for the wisest and best
of men are liable to error and misconduct. But there is decency
and respect due to constitutional authority ; and those men who, un
der any pretence or by any means whatever, would lessen the weight
of government, lawfully exercised, must be enemies to our happy
Revolution and the common liberty. County conventions and pop
ular committees served an excellent purpose when they were first in
practice. No one needs to regret the share he may have had in
them. But I candidly own that it is my opinion, with deference to
the opinions of other men, that, as we now have constitutional and
regular governments, and all our men in authority depend upon the
annual elections of the people, we are safe without them. To say
the least, they are useless. Bodies of men, under any denomination
whatever, who convene themselves with a design to deliberate upon
and adopt measures which are cognizable by Legislatures only, will,
if continued, soon bring Legislatures to contempt and dissolution.
If the public affairs are ill conducted, if dishonest men have crept
unawares into government, it is our happiness under American con
stitutions the remedy is at hand, and in the power of the great body
of the people. Due circumspection and wisdom at the next elec
tion will set all right, without the aid of any self-created conven
tions or societies of men whatever. The whole people will not
probably mistake their own true interests, nor err in the judgment
of the men to whom they may safely commit the care of them.
While we retain those simple democracies in all our towns, which
are the basis of our State Constitutions, and make a good use of
them, it appears to me we cannot be enslaved or materially injured.
It must, however, be confessed that imperfection unavoidably at
tends all human affairs.

I am, sir, with great esteem, your obedient servant,

SAMUEL ADAMS.

CHAPTER LVIII.

Adams in Favor of incorporating Boston as a City. Chosen President of
the Senate. Elected to Congress. Again declines. His Views of the
National Position and Duties of America. Counsels against Disunion
and British Intrigues. His disinterested Exertions for Disabled Soldiers
and Sailors. Is defeated for Governor. Declines a Seat in the Govern
or s Council.

AN effort was made in May of the present year, by a
number of the most influential and intelligent men of Bos
ton, for a change of the old municipal form of government
into that of an incorporated city. The arguments on either
side of this question have not been recorded ; but a com
mittee of thirteen, with Mr. Adams as chairman, and includ
ing Robert Treat Paine, James Sullivan, Perez Morton, and
Thomas Dawes, was appointed to take the subject into con
sideration. 1 On the 4th of June following they reported
two plans. The first of these provided for a " mayor and
aldermen and common council of the city of Boston," with
a recorder, twelve overseers of the poor, sixteen fire wards,
seven assessors, a county treasurer, and registrar. The
second plan embraced a " president and selectmen of the
city of Boston," with the other officers nearly as above.
These forms were ordered to be printed and distributed
through the town. On the 17th, at a public meeting,
both were summarily rejected by a great majority, the
people not being prepared for any innovations upon -their
ancient style of town government. In the following year a
further attempt was made$ when, on the petition of a num
ber of inhabitants to that effect, a committee was appointed
at town meeting, to " state the defects in the present consti-

1 Boston Town Records, May, 1784. Quincy s Municipal History of Bos
ton, pp. 23-25.

212 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Nor.

tution of the town, and to report how far the same may be
remedied without having the town incorporated in a city,
and how far and in what manner they, or any of them, may
be cured by such incorporation." 1 The committee, com
posed, like the other, of the most influential men, including
Samuel Adams, finding the popular sentiment adverse to
any of the proposed changes, reported virtually against
them ; and the project of incorporation was not renewed for
six years, and then ineffectually, though advocated by Sulli
van, Paine, John Quincy Adams, Austin, Gore, and others
of equal public standing. The venerable system of general
meetings was that upon which most of the great pre-Revolu-
tionary results had been accomplished by the patriots, and
it was many years before its inconveniences, and its want of
adaption to the growth of the town, could reconcile the peo
ple to any new order of administration.

Having been re-elected to the Senate in April, Mr. Adams
was again chosen President. Towards the close of the year
he received the votes of the two Houses in joint ballot for
delegate to Congress ; but the condition of his health would
not admit of his resuming his place in that body, from
which, as we have seen, he had retired after a term of ser
vice commencing with the first Congress and extending
nearly to the close of the Revolution. Perhaps, too, he
remembered the malignant assaults which in his absence
had been made upon his character and public course. He
declined the honor in the following letter :

BOSTON, November 8th, 1784.
SIR,

I have this morning received your official notification of the honor
the General Court have been pleased to confer on me, by electing
me one of the delegates to represenfc this Commonwealth in the
United States in Congress assembled. The election is flattering to
me, as it is a repeated mark of great confidence. But to enter into
the spirit of the business usually before that assembly, as becomes

1 Boston Town Records, Nov. 9, 1785.

1784.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 213

each of its members, is a task which, under the very precarious
state of health I have experienced for several years past, I dare not
undertake. It gives me pain to decline any trust which our repub
lic calls upon me to execute, but a regard to its most important in
terests places me under the necessity of doing it. I beg the favor
of you, sir, to lay this letter before the General Court for their in
formation, and be assured that I am

Your friend and humble servant,

SAMUEL ADAMS.*
MR. SECRETARY AVERT.

Congress convened at Trenton this year, and Richard
Henry Lee was chosen President. The declining power
of that body is shown by the little interest felt by many
of the delegates in its counsels. Mr. Lee wrote to Samuel
Adams, that he was much grieved to observe the wonderful
lassitude prevailing in public affairs. " It is now," he says,
" eighteen days since Congress ought to have assembled here,
and as yet we have but five States ; and it surprises me that
these five are Southern ; none but the worthy Dr. Holton
from your State being yet arrived from the Eastward, whence
formerly we used to derive much punctuality, alacrity, and
judicious despatch of public business. And yet there are
many subjects of great importance, that demand the speedy,
temperate, wise, and firm discussion of Congress." 2 Mr.
Adams now resumed his familiar correspondence with his
Virginia friend, and their sentiments on most of the great
topics of government which a few years later agitated the
public mind are found to be identical, as heretofore they had
been on those of the Revolution. Only a few of the letters
which for several years had passed between these patriots
have been recovered. One from Mr. Lee, without date, but
written evidently towards the close of the present year, is
strongly opposed to the projected increase of the Federal
power. The existing confederation, he admitted, should not

1 Compare his letters on similar occasions, Dec. 1, 1778; March 13, 1781 ;
and Feb. 20, 1782 (ante, III. 58, 135, and 153).

2 K. H. Lee to S. Adams, Nov. 18, 1784.

214 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Dec.

be presumptuously called an infallible system for all times
and all situations ; " but," he continues, " though this is
true, yet as it is a great and fundamental system of union
and security, no change should be admitted until proved to
be necessary by the fairest, fullest, and most mature experi
ence." He was in favor of defraying the Federal liabilities
by encouraging a payment of the quota of each State, the
money to be collected in ways most agreeable to each.
" This," he says, " is the plan of the confederation, and this
I own will be mine, until more satisfactory experience has
proved its inefncacy." An unwillingness to confer increased
power upon Congress is evident throughout the correspond
ence of Lee, in opposition to the opinions of Hamilton, who
had been for several years in favor of vesting complete
sovereignty in Congress in all matters relating to national
finance, trade, and foreign relations. Prior to the conven
tion for forming the Federal Constitution, the opinions of
Samuel Adams on this subject do not appear in any of his
letters ; but it may be presumed that, with his usual con
sistency, he was careful of the rights of individual States ;
while it is certain that he was never opposed to vesting Con
gress with exclusive and sufficient power to direct the sys
tem of finance and foreign relations of the confederated
government, and he never lost sight of the national charac
ter t)f the United States, and the necessity of a perfect and
permanent union, upon terms of equality, for the benefit of
the whole. One of his letters gives an idea of the national
position which he was desirous the United States should as
sume before the world.

BOSTON, December 23, 1784.
MY DEAR SIR,

I congratulate our country on the choice Congress has lately
made of a President. He who fills that chair is the most respect
able citizen; and while he performs his duty well, he adorns the
most dignified station in your confederated republic.

You observe in your letter to me, that at this moment modera
tion, wisdom, firmness, and attention are the principles proper for

1784.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 215

our adoption. I agree with you, and devoutly wish that every man
who has a share in the administration of public affairs may possess
a large portion of those and other great qualities. They are in a
particular manner necessary to him who presides in the important
counsels of the American Amphictyon.

Congress has need to watch lest the commonwealth suffer harm.
I doubt not they will be assiduous in their labors for the public wel
fare, and I pray God they may be his honored instruments in exalt
ing to the highest pitch of human happiness that people who have
testified to the oppressed world, that by patience, fortitude, and per
severance the iron rod can be wrested from the arm of a tyrant,
and that all nations may be free, if they will magnanimously con
tend for their liberty.

By God s blessing on the counsels and the arms of our country,
we are now ranked with nations: may he keep us from exulting
beyond measure. Great pains are yet to be taken, and much wis
dom is requisite, that we may stand as a nation in a respectable
character. Better it would have been for us to have fallen in our
highly famed struggle for our rights, or even to have remained in
our ignoble state of bondage, hoping for better times, than now to
become a contemptible nation. The world have given us an exalted
character, and thus have laid on us a heavy tax ! They have raised
expectations from us ! How shall we meet those expectations ?
They have attributed to us wisdom ! How shall we confirm them in
this opinion of us ? Inexperienced as we are in the refinements of
nations, can we expect to shine in the world as able politicians?
Shall we, then, be hackneyed in the path of deception because some
others, famed for their dexterity in politics, have long trod that
path, and thought they had gained advantage by it ? Or, because
it is said all nations are self-interested, and that no friendship in
treaties and national transactions is almost as proverbial as no
friendship in trade, shall we depart from that excellent rule of
equity, the observance of which should be characteristic of all na
tions, especially republics, as it is of all good men, to do to others
as we would have them do to us ? Could we be induced thus to
prostitute ourselves, how should we appear in the eyes of the virtu
ous and wise ? Should there be found a citizen of the United States
so unprincipled as to ask what will become of us if we do not follow
the corrupt maxims of the world, I should tell him that the strength

216 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Dec,

of a republic is consolidated by its virtues, and that righteousness
will exalt a nation. Was it true, as some affirm, that the Old World
is absorbed in all kinds of vice, unhumanized and enslaved, it would
indeed be a melancholy subject to contemplate ; and I should think
that common prudence would dictate to a nation situated as we are
to have as little to do with them as possible. Such indiscriminate
censure, however, may spring from ignorance of the world or unrea
sonable prejudice. Nations as well as individuals have different
characters. We should not forget the friendship and kindness of
one, because we have experienced the injustice and cruelty of an
other. But the inconstancy of friendship, and even infidelity, has
been seen often enough among individuals to lead wise men to sup
pose it may happen in any case, and to excuse a kind of circumspec
tion, different from base suspicion, consistent with the generous
sentiments of friendship, and, considering the weakness of the hu
man mind, a necessary guard. Does not the true policy, the honor
and safety of our country greatly depend upon a national character
consisting, among other particulars, in simplicity and candor in all
her public transactions, showing herself in reality friendly to those
to whom she professes to be a friend ; a constant regard to mutual
benefit in commercial treaties ; suspecting the honesty of those who
will not deal with her on equitable principles, and guarding her trade
against their selfish designs by wise commercial laws, an exact and
punctilious fulfilment of obligations on her part, to be performed
by virtue of all treaties, and an unalterable determination to dis
charge her national debts with all possible speed. If, my honored
friend, the leading men in the United States would, by precept and
example, disseminate through the lower classes of people the prin
ciples of piety to God, love to our country, and universal benevo
lence, should we not secure the favor of Heaven and the honor
and esteem of the wise and virtuous part of the world ?

Great Britain, though she has concluded a treaty of peace with
us, appears to be not a cordial friend. She cannot forget her un
paralleled injustice towards us, and naturally supposes there can be
no forgiveness on our part. She seems to have meant nothing more
than a truce. A sensible gentleman, very lately from Canada, in
forms me that General Haldiman, who is going to England, has
ordered those posts to be reinforced which, by treaty, were to be
delivered to us. Encroachments are made, as I apprehend, on our

1784.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 217

Eastern territories. Our fishery may, under some frivolous pre
tence, be next interrupted. Should we not guard ourselves against
British intrigue and factions ? Her emissaries, under the guise of
merchants, repenting refugees, schoolmasters, and other characters,
unless care is taken, may effect another and fatal revolution. The
Commonwealth of England lasted twelve years, and then the exiled
king was restored with all the rage and madness of royalty ! a
caution to the citizens of the United States zealously to counteract
the hopes our enemies entertain of " discord, disunion, and apathy
on our part," to watch over the public liberty with a jealous eye, and
practise the moral and political virtues upon which the very ex-
stence of a commonwealth depends. Mrs. Adams desires me to
present her respectful compliments to you and your connections.
I am, with great esteem, your affectionate friend,

SAMUEL ADAMS.
His EXCELLENCY RICHARD HENRY LEE, President of Congress.

Mr. Adams availed himself of his influence with gentle
men in Congress to forward the interests of several war-worn
soldiers and sailors, whose just claims of a special nature had
particularly excited his sympathies. His humble mansion
was the resort of many of these applicants. One of them
was the noted Captain Landais, of the frigate Alliance, who
received his appointment partly through the influence of
Mr. Adams. He was unable for several years to obtain a
settlement with Congress for his pay, and was reduced to
destitution. After detailing the case, though without solici
tation of Landais, Mr. Adams concludes his letter : " You
will oblige me if you will interest yourself (if leisure will
admit of it), as far as you may think it just, in his fa
vor." Of Colonel Waller, who fought in Canada, he writes
to another friend : " He carries with him the strongest
evidence of the abuse he then met with, and his honora
ble scars recommend him to the notice and friendship of
every true patriot." And again : " I know your attachment
to an early, constant, and persevering patriot, and that you
are ever ready to .render to such a man the best service in
your power." His letter recommending Mr. Leonard Jar-

218 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [April,

vis concludes : " It is not by his solicitation, or even knowl
edge, that I write this. I am induced to it, because I think
that good men living at a distance from the seat of the Fed
eral government, and capable of serving the United States,
should be made known." Israel Keith was an applicant for
the office of marshal, in a Northern district. Mr. Adams,
after stating his claims and merits, says : " You will gratify
the wishes of Mr. Keith, as far as shall consist with your own
ideas of propriety." Learning that Mr. Edward Church was
in New York, he writes of him : " I take him to have been a
steady friend to the liberties of our country, and a man of
sense and integrity ; if it will not weary you with applica
tions, I will beg your notice of him ; and after your own
inquiries, afford him your influence, if you shall think it
proper, in promoting him to a suitable employment under
Congress in the State of Georgia. This I mention without
his solicitation or even knowledge." Adams, at this time,
as well as several years before, wrote painfully, and was
obliged occasionally to employ an amanuensis, owing to the
constitutional trembling of his hand, so that it was now no
ordinary task for him to maintain his correspondence with
friends in different States. This makes his exertions in be
half of those in whom he interested himself still more
praiseworthy. In his native State, his judicious care for
the distressed, particularly those who had actively served
their country, was constantly exemplified.

Hancock having resigned the office of Chief Magistrate,
owing to ill health, Bowdoin and Adams were among the
candidates before the people, in the April elections of
1785, but neither was successful. Adams received votes for
the offices of Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, and Senator.
There being no choice by the popular vote, the election
went into the General Court, where Bowdoin was chosen.
Cushing was Lieutenant-Governor, and Samuel B. Phillips,
Jr., President of the Senate. Bowdoin found an increasing
public debt, which, with the clamor of many creditors and

1785.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 219

the general popular discontent, heightened the difficulties of
the office. His first message to the Legislature recommended
economy and retrenchment, for the purpose of paying the
debts, and a convention to augment the authority of Con
gress. The General Court seconded the proposition, passed
resolutions in favor of " a convention of delegates from all
the States of the Union, as soon as may be, to revise the
Articles of Confederation, and report to Congress how far it
may be necessary to alter and enlarge the same." A feeling
was slowly gaining ground in Massachusetts, among the
most intelligent of her people, that the powers conferred
upon Congress by the Articles of Confederation were in
adequate for the due execution of its functions, and should
be increased, at least so far as regarded the collection of
moneys to meet the Federal debt. Still this was by no
means general, and was originally urged in the Legislature
by a small minority. The views of Adams and Bowdoin
were alike on nearly all public questions. Adams was a
prompt supporter of the energetic measures of Bowdoin s
gubernatorial terms, during which some of the most crit
ical passages in the history of the country occurred. In
the delicate affair of Captain Stanhope of the British frig
ate Mercury in 1785, in which a popular outrage upon that
officer was alleged, Mr. Adams wrote to John Adams, then
Minister to England, explaining the circumstances, and up
holding the Governor in treating it as a case belonging to
the ordinary processes of law. He seems to have taken no
very active part in politics this year, and, for the first time
in nearly a quarter of a century, filled no public station.
Very little can be ascertained of his life, public or private,
during this time. John Adams, upon receiving his diplo
matic appointment to England, wrote from France to his
kinsman of his whereabouts and destination, and sent the
letter by his son, John Quincy Adams, now returning home,
and already giving promise of the distinguished abilities
which afterwards made him so conspicuous in the political
world.

220 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [April,

" The child whom you used to lead out into the Common to see
with detestation the British troops, and with pleasure the Boston
militia, will have the honor to deliver you this letter. He has since
seen the troops of most nations in Europe, without any ambition, I
hope, of becoming a military man. He thinks of the bar and peace
and civil life, and I hope will follow and enjoy them with less inter
ruption than his father could. If you have in Boston a virtuous
club, such as we used to delight and improve ourselves in, they will
inspire him with such sentiments as a young American ought to
entertain, and give him less occasion for lighter company.

" I think it no small proof of his discretion, that he chooses to go
to New England rather than to Old. You and I know that it will
probably be more for his honor and his happiness in the result, but
young gentlemen of eighteen do not always see through the same
medium with old ones of fifty." 1

It is probable that some of the precepts which helped to
form the character of the child and youth were received
from the wise teachings of his father s illustrious friend.
Samuel Adams loved children, but particularly those exhib
iting remarkable talents ; and his interest in such a lad
must have been enhanced by the reflection that he was the
son of one of his own most intimate associates and cowork-
ers in the Revolution.

" The child," he says in reply, " whom I led by the hand, with a
particular design, I find is now become a promising youth. He
brought me one of your letters. God bless the lad ! If I was
instrumental at that time of enkindling the sparks of patriotism in
his tender heart, it will add to my consolation in the latest hour." 2

By the town records Mr. Adams appears to have received
votes for the several offices of Governor, Lieutenant-Gov
ernor, and Senator at the annual elections in the spring of
1786. Nominating conventions were then unknown ; the
citizens gave their suffrages entirely from individual prefer
ence. Adams resumed his seat in the Senate. His support-

1 John to Samuel Adams, Auteuil, April 27, 1785 (Adams s Works, IX.
532).

8 Samuel to John Adams, Boston, April 13, 1786 (Ibid., p. 547).

1786.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 221

ers in the popular elections were generally men of the stanch
pre-Revolutionary school, whose numbers, however, had much
diminished during the war. As he was on terms of perfect
friendship politically and personally with Bowdoin, who was
re-elected Governor, it is not easy to conjecture the circum
stances which caused him to decline the position of Coun
cillor, tendered him on the meeting of the Legislature.
The following manuscript note is found in the State ar
chives :

BOSTON, May 5, 1786.

SIR,

I received your letter of the 2d instant, officially acquainting
me that I was that day " elected by the two branches of the Legis
lature, agreeably to the Constitution, a Councillor to advise the
Governor in the executive part of the government."

I am very much honored by the election ; but although from the
experience of the past year I should promise myself great satisfac
tion in such connection with his Excellency, and the honorable
gentlemen who compose that Board the present year, yet, from a
conviction that it is my duty, I am constrained to decline accepting
of that trust.

I request you to communicate this to the General Court, and be
assured that I am with esteem, sir,

Your humble servant,

SAM. ADAMS.
ME. SECRETARY AVERT.

CHAPTER LIX.

Shays s Rebellion. Its Causes and Gradual Development. Adams presides
over a Public Meeting in Boston. Conciliatory Address to the Insurgents.

Meeting of the Legislature. Adams summoned to attend the Governor s
Council. Patriotic Course of Governor Bowdoin. The Senate in favor
of sustaining the Laws. They vote for a Suspension of the Habeas Corpus,

Feeble Policy of the Assembly. They refuse to concur. Opinions of
Sullivan and Parsons. Adams urges a Vigorous Enforcement of the
Laws. His Reply to the Proposition of the Insurgents. No Compro
mise with Rebels in Arms. Adams reports a Declaration of Rebellion.

The Habeas Corpus suspended for Eight Months. Trial and Con
viction of the Leaders. Political Parties in Massachusetts. Hancock
elected Governor. Reconciliation between Adams and Hancock. The
two Cannon. Adams joins the Executive Council. Efforts in favor of
the Condemned. Adams advocates their Execution. The Prisoners par
doned.

AFTER the peace with England, the popular discontent in
several States had been gradually increasing with the pub
lic burdens, and culminated in Massachusetts in 1786 with
Shays s rebellion. The premonitions of this event, in the
summer of 1782, have been already touched upon, and the
policy of forbearance adopted by the Legislature. Sam
uel Adams, at the head of a deputation, visited Hampshire
County, and quiet was temporarily restored ; but the fire, it
seems, was only smothered, and burst forth anew at the
instigation of sundry mischievous agitators, who believed
that by violently breaking up the courts of justice they
could escape the payment of their debts. Gradually men of
respectability and character were induced to join the move
ment, impelled by false views of the distress growing out of
the Revolution. For several years the collection of both
Federal and State taxes, though continually attempted, had
not been generally enforced. The country was exhausted
by the war ; commerce was already passing into the control

Aug., 1786.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 223

of British merchants ; and an increasing consumption of
foreign productions caused a constant drain of specie. It
was impossible for the people to meet the public demands.
A growing extravagance in the manner of living, against
which the old republicans vainly remonstrated, hastened
the crisis, by encouraging profuseness where rigid economy
was imperatively demanded. Personal debts, in thousands
of instances, had been suffered to accumulate, and were now
carried to the courts, which, in the western counties, were
declared to be " engines of destruction." The grant of
funds to Congress for Federal purposes, the inordinate fees
of lawyers, the costs of civil suits, and the high salaries of
sundry public officers were among the heads of complaint ;
and even the State Senate, with its small property qualifica
tion, was denounced as a needless and aristocratic branch of
the government. These alleged grievances were magnified
by demagogues and malecontents in the western part of the
State, aided by the Tories, whose evil influence was already
felt. Artful persuasions were used to bring the dissatisfied
together in seditious meetings for the overthrow of govern
ment, with the impression that relief would be found under
some new order of affairs, growing out of anarchy and con
fusion. Mr. Adams, among others, had long deprecated
such assemblies, of which he plainly discerned the aim.
Four years earlier, Ely, who then led the rioters in Western
Massachusetts, had claimed to act upon the authority of one
of these conventions assembled to prevent the sitting of the
courts, and similar meetings had been organized in several
of the States, soon after the peace with Great Britain, to
thwart the measures of Congress. At the very outset of the
democratic system, these movements were alarming to the
most intelligent men, who saw that, without a due respect
for the Federal laws, there could be no permanency to any
form of government. The present practice of holding politi
cal conventions to define party platforms, prior to popular
elections, was yet unknown. Nor can any similarity be

224 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

found between them and the seditious meetings in which
the rebellion of 1786 commenced, and which had the ex
press object of opposing by violence the established authori
ties of the land. The conventions and the mischievous
agents of discord are occasionally mentioned in Mr. Adams s
correspondence. A letter to Noah Webster on this subject
has already been given. To John Adams he says :

" I am fully in the sentiment expressed in your joint letter of
September 10th, that now we have regular and constitutional gov
ernments, popular committees and county conventions are not only
useless, but dangerous. They served an excellent purpose, and
were highly necessary when they were set up, and I shall not repent
the small share I then took in them."

And again :

" There are two great objects which, I think, should engage the
attention of patriots here, and which appear to me to involve every
thing else, to preserve entire our political liberties and to support
our national faith. To effect either of these capital ends, we must
counterwork the designs of Great Britain, who, to say the least,
does not appear to be our most cordial friend, by her emissaries
among us, to ruin both. The internal enemies of this country
ridiculed our early ideas of opposition, embarrassed our measures
through the whole conflict, and prolonged the war. They had nearly
broken up our army in 1782, and they are now practising the same
arts by influencing many weak men to withhold the necessary aid
of taxes, to destroy the public faith. I should, therefore, think it
very impolitic to increase their number by admitting the Tory refu
gees without discrimination. Jonathan Philanthrop, whom you well
knew, with many others, took a very active part, and they were
very successful in promoting the designs of the British government
before the war. There are some among them who would be the
fittest instruments to be employed by that court in tearing up, or
rather in undermining, the foundations of our newly erected fabric." l

As the disturbances swelled into an organized armed re
sistance to the laws, Mr. Adams saw that persuasion and

1 Samuel to John Adams, Boston, April 16, 1784 ; July 21, 1786.

1786.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 225

forbearance would be only temporary remedies, and indirect
encouragement to the insurgents to renew their lawless pro
ceedings whenever the acts of administration were contrary
to their particular opinions. He therefore counselled vigor
ous coercive steps to maintain the dignity of government,
when, from ample experience, it had been shown that the
misguided rioters would impute to weakness what was in
tended for conciliation. Governor Bowdoin proved himself
to be the man for the occasion. He had prorogued the Leg
islature to January ; and in the mean time the malecon-
tents were emboldened by the evidences of their increasing
strength in the western counties. As in 1782, they at first
made Hampshire County the centre of their proceedings.
At Northampton, as before, the sitting of the court of com
mon pleas was prevented by an armed force of fifteen hun
dred men. The Governor summoned the Legislature to meet
late in September, and issued a proclamation, forbidding
assemblages of the people to obstruct the regular course of
the law, and calling on public officers and all good citizens
to aid in preventing such meetings. The proclamation only
added fuel to the flames, though worded with appropriate
firmness and moderation. In the interval, the most influen
tial men of Boston, those who had long commanded the
public respect, procured a public meeting at Faneuil Hall
on the 9th, of which Samuel Adams was moderator. A
committee, consisting of Adams, Sullivan, Jarvis, Higginson,
Paine, and Jackson, were appointed to prepare an address
to the Governor, expressive of the public disapprobation of
the riotous proceedings in the interior, and of " their readi
ness to assist government in every measure taken for the
preservation of the constitutional rights of the people."
The address was presently reported, and also a circular to
the several towns, after the old Revolutionary form. The
style and peculiar expressions running through these doc
uments, as well as the similarity in language to several of
Mr. Adams s letters just prior to this date, would indicate

VOL. III. 15

226 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Sept.

his composition ; but the circular exists in the handwriting
of his friend, Judge Sullivan. It eloquently recalls the
principles which had sustained the Revolution, and, through
trials and bloodshed, produced the inestimable blessings of
a free, popular government, and calling to mind that there
could be no medium between a state of government and a
state of nature, urges the people to subordination, frugality,
and industry, as a means of retrieving their circumstances
and establishing the public credit. It is asserted that the
disturbances arise from " British emissaries residing among
us, whose every wish is for our overthrow and ruin, or
from the machinations of wicked and unprincipled men,
who seek their own emolument to the destruction of their
country, or from a combination of both." The committee
close by entreating their fellow-citizens, " by the mutual ties
of friendship and affection ; by the sacred compact which
holds us in one society ; by the blood of our brethren, shed
to obtain our freedom ; by the tender regard we feel for our
rising offspring, claiming freedom from our hands as their
inheritance by the grant of Heaven, to use your endeav
ors that redress of grievances be sought for in a constitu
tional and orderly way only." l This address probably had
no more effect than the Governor s proclamation, though it
is written in a spirit of singular gentleness, and appeals
powerfully to the national pride, affecting recollections,
and tenderest sympathies of the people. The insurgents,
gathering recruits among the multitudes who were suffering
from the results of the war, rapidly spread through the
State, and having prevented the sitting of the court of
common pleas at Worcester, assembled in large numbers
at Springfield, intending to prevent the session of the
supreme court now about convening.

The earliest meetings of the Governor and Council in re
lation to the outbreak were held in September. On the 7th,
Governor Bowdoin called a special consultation, at which,

1 Massachusetts Sentinel, Sept. 13, 1786.

1786.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 227

besides the members of the Council, were Samuel Adams,
Samuel Phillips, the judges of the Supreme Court, General
Lincoln, and the Attorney-General. These meetings con
tinued, at short intervals, nearly to the close of the year,
having been sometimes held on the Sabbath, Mr. Adams
regularly attending. This solicitation of his advice, even
after he had declined a seat at the Council to which he had
been appointed, indicates the value placed upon his judg
ment, as well as the friendship which had existed for so
many years between himself and Bowdoin.

Meantime, the Legislature met in special session, and re
ceived the Governor s official account of his proceedings for
the maintenance of law and order. While desiring that due
forbearance might be shown, the Executive plainly avowed
the necessity of effective steps for supporting the govern
ment. The Senate, representing to some extent the prop
erty and intellectual strength of the State, did not hesitate
to indorse the Governor s manly and outspoken policy, and
were ready for the adoption of decisive measures. But in
the House, where the rebels were more intimately and nu
merously represented, a majority persistently delayed any
exercise of force, and by its hesitancy gave encouragement
to the revolt, and lessened public confidence in the stabil
ity of the government. Disposed to a temporizing course,
until a change in accordance with their ideas of the adminis
tration of the laws had been effected, many in the House
looked upon the existing commotions as a means of carry
ing measures which conceded most, if not all of the " re
forms " demanded by the insurgents.

The two Houses were thus at variance in their policy
during most of this session. A joint committee appointed
to reply to the Governor s speech having indorsed his views,
their report was bitterly opposed. The Senate agreed at
once to the proposed measures ; but the only really effec
tive means of suppressing the rebellion, a suspension of
the writ of habeas corpus for a period far within the time

228 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct.

prescribed by the Constitution, met with a determined
opposition in the House, where, " under the influence of
lawless counsels," the report was recommitted by a consid
erable majority. With the further object of concession, this
branch of the Legislature voted to remove the General Court
out of Boston, which was one of the peremptory demands of
the insurgents in their published circulars. A bill also origi
nated there, in pursuance of the wishes of the disaffected,
for abolishing the lower courts. The delay thus occasioned,
and the indefinite postponement of coercion, caused great
apprehension among the zealous advocates of order, 1 who
saw in this reluctance an evidence of the weakness of the
government ; and at the same time a class from among the
wealthiest citizens, alleging a distrust of the permanency of
a republican system, looked forward to a new revolution,
from which might spring a firmer government and more
security for the rights of property. 2 In this crisis Mr. Ad
ams, solicitous to obtain the aid of the most distinguished
friends of government outside of the Legislature, applied to
several gentlemen, desiring their views upon the condition
of public affairs. Judge Sullivan says, in a letter written
two weeks after the commencement of the session :

" My interest in the State, independent of any use I may have
been of in the late Revolution, may apologize for my intruding my
sentiments upon you in this day of public distress. I do not con
ceive that the court of common pleas is a grievance or even an
inconvenience sufficient to raise the present commotions. There
can be no substitute that can give satisfaction ; and an attempt to
find one yields to the insurgents, and overturns the government.
Nor do I consider the suppression of the habeas corpus, on the other
hand, to be of importance. Let me, to save your time from being
wasted by me, only say that it is my opinion that an act ought to
be reported and passed for the following purposes: 1. For par
doning all, or nearly all, the late insurgents. 2. Declaring such in-

1 Holland s History of Western Massachusetts, I. 250.
z Minot s History of the Insurrections in 1786, pp. 62, 63.

1786.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 229

surrections in future high treason. 3. Providing a trial for such
offences, in such counties as the General Court shall order. Let
this be accompanied with a resolution, separate from the act, declar
ing such commotions rebellion, and requesting the Governor to call
out the force of the State to quell them in future ; and let an act be
reported providing a system of law-martial, not to control the per
sons or property of the citizens, and only to be exercised on the
militia when called out by the Governor. Let this be accompanied
by another resolution, declaring that the General Court will attend
to the petitions of the people in their several towns, and redress all
grievances which the powers of government can redress. I could
wish that the idea of a county convention being a legal body could
be exploded. I will only add, that I believe such decisive meas
ures will save our freedom ; while, on the other hand, temporizing
will inevitably overthrow the Constitution." l

This advice coincided, with one or two exceptions, with
the opinions of Mr. Adams, and it was soon after adopted in
part by the General Court.

Through the month of October, owing to the humane but
ill-judged pacific mildness of the Legislature, the revolt
was steadily gaining strength. The Constitution clothed
the Governor with ample powers to crush rebellion, if de
clared by the Legislature to exist, but this declaration the
House would not make. This was observed by the insur
gents, and it encouraged them to persistency, while the
speeches advocating coercion were eagerly used by the rebel
leaders to fan the flames of insurrection. Circular letters
passed from town to town, in imitation of those of the Revo
lution ; new conventions were called ; and the militia, in
many towns, were ordered by the rebel selectmen to be
ready for active service. The report embodying the sus
pension of the habeas corpus was "suffered to remain tabled
in the House ; and in the mean time sundry expedients, de
signed to alleviate the public burdens, gave rise to lengthy
debates. The proposed Tender Act, allowing the payment

1 James Sullivan to S. Adams, Oct. 12, 1786 (Amory s Life of Sullivan,
I. 197).

230 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Oct.

of back taxes and private debts with real and personal estate
instead of specie, was particularly contested ; and here the
House again disagreed with the Senate, who were opposed
to such an act, unless a just discrimination should be made
in favor of foreign creditors, whose rights had been solemn
ly guaranteed by the Federal Congress, in the name of the
whole United States.

These discussions assume historical importance as a fore
runner of a similar condition of affairs preceding the gigan
tic rebellion which has just threatened the national existence.
The same violent and unreasonable commotions excited by
designing demagogues, the same apologizing for the rebels,
who had their friends and spokesmen in the government
councils, the same weak reluctance in the commencement to
adopt vigorous measures, all was the same but the prompt
action of the Executive, who in this early instance had the
courage to make the Constitution his only guide. During
the debates intelligence arrived that the rioters had assem
bled in formidable numbers in Bristol County, with the
avowed intention of preventing the approaching session of
the Supreme Judicial Court. The occasion was seized upon
in the Senate to advance the policy of enforcing obedience to
the laws. A committee, with Samuel Adams as its chair
man, and probably appointed, as Bradford says, at his in
stance, was chosen to request the Governor to order the
Major-General of that division to protect the court in its
session at Taunton.

" COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

"!N SENATE, Oct. 21, 1786.

11 Ordered, That Samuel Adams and Tristam Dalton, Esqrs., with
such as the Honorable House may join, be a committee to wait
upon his Excellency the Governor, and acquaint him that, informa
tion having been given that there is a degree of probability that
some attempts may be made to prevent the sitting of the Supreme
Judicial Court at Taunton on Tuesday next, although the Legisla
ture entertain full confidence that his Excellency will exercise that

1786.J LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 231

authority on the occasion with which the Constitution has vested
him, yet they cannot forbear expressing their desire that he would
immediately give the most serious attention to the business."

The House, now for the first time assenting to coercion,
concurred in the proposal, and joined the Senate in passing
a riot act amply providing for the public emergency. In
their message to the Governor, the Legislature tendered all
the aid incumbent upon them, and were confident that he
would still persevere in the exercise of such powers as were
vested in him by their excellent Constitution for enforcing
due obedience to the authority and laws of government ;
but as yet no formal declaration of rebellion could be ob
tained, owing to the cross-purposes between the Senate and
House. The requisite orders, however, were immediately
given by the Governor to Major-General Cobb, then also
chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Bristol Coun
ty. To the firmness of that officer was due the dispersion
of the rebels without bloodshed ; and similar preparations
having been made at Cambridge, the insurgents were in
timidated from breaking up the Supreme Court in Middle
sex County.

The message was also the means of bringing up in the
House the resolves for the suspension of the habeas corpus.
The Governor, having complied with the request of the Leg
islature in protecting the courts, officially notified them of
his proceedings. The Senate, in return, originated a mes
sage of thanks, the House concurring, in which the neglected
resolves were introduced with eome address. In the contro
versies with the royal governors, prior to the war of the
Revolution, Adams, and Bowdoin, as leaders respectively of
the House and Council, had often concerted their plans to
effect important political purposes ; and it is probable that
some such understanding existed in this instance. " This
message," says Minot, the contemporary historian of the in
surrection, " proved eventually of great consequence, as it
was the foundation of very spirited measures on the part of

232 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Nov.

the Governor." 1 Bradford, the historian, in a sketch of
Samuel Adams written from personal knowledge, says that
" he exerted all his influence in suppressing the insurrec
tion, and gave his firm support to the measures adopted by
Governor Bowdoin." 2

The opposition between the Senate and House continued
as to several urgent points. Leniency was misconstrued by
the insurgents, who still increased in boldness as a pacific
disposition was manifested towards them. The alarming
strides of the insurrection in Hampshire County were the
subject of a special message from the Governor, on the 7th
of November ; and by the recommendation of the committee
to whom this was referred, the important resolves which had
so long slept in the House were forced up for discussion.
The friends of the bill rallied to its support, and a series of
exciting debates ensued between them and the advocates of
continued forbearance. An additional clause had been in
troduced for the trial of insurgents outside of the county
where the offence was committed. This was hotly contested
by the opponents of the bill, whose ideas of the criminality
of treason were not yet equal to such an infringement on
personal rights. But these weak arguments at last gave
way before the palpable fact, that total anarchy must pres
ently ensue, unless society was protected by its legally
elected officers. There was danger, too, that the rebels
would seize the arms in the Federal arsenal at Spring
field, and with the aid of the disaffected in the adjacent
States, perhaps produce another revolution, and renew the
horrors of a continental war. Congress, apprehending such
a result, had already voted that an armed force should be
raised by the several States, for the support of the Massa
chusetts government, though ostensibly for service against
the Northwestern Indians. 3

1 Minot s Insurrections, pp. 58, 59.

2 Bradford s Biographical Notices, pp. 22, 23.
8 Journals of Congress, Oct. 20, 1786.

1786.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 233

Alarmed at the timidity and dilatory course of the House,
implying a partial acquiescence in these daring violations of
the laws, the public were gradually losing confidence in the
General Court, 1 which was now signally failing in the first
test of its efficiency to maintain the constitutional govern
ment, and an adjournment began to be considered preferable
to such continued exhibitions of feebleness and divided
counsels. Theophilus Parsons, then, as afterwards, one of
the most distinguished jurists in Massachusetts, was among
those who deprecated the conduct of the House. Writing
to a friend on this subject, he says :

" Such are the reasons which have induced me to form my opin
ion, and I sincerely wish that all our rulers had entertained the
same, and given it its full operation. We should not then have been
puzzled to distinguish between political wisdom and personal timid
ity, nor between lenient measures and a submission to the claims of
rebels in arms. But nil desperandum de republica. It is not yet
too late ; but if spirited measures are not adopted, and executed, be
fore the next election, I fear the most alarming apprehensions will
be justified." 2

These were the views of the leading intellects. But re
bellion, with its hand at the throat of the country, had now
been allowed to assume such formidable dimensions, that
temporizing could no longer be tolerated, and the report was
at last adopted. The writ of habeas corpus was suspended
for eight months, and a bill passed, empowering the Govern
or and Council summarily to imprison any persons whose
enlargement they might deem dangerous to the public lib
erty ; pardon was offered to all who had been engaged in
the late riots who should take the oath of allegiance ; the
Court of Common Pleas was temporarily discontinued ; the
expenses of lawsuits were lessened ; and although the Legis
lature could not annihilate the public debt, nor interfere
with private contracts, the Legal Tender Act, which the
Senate had opposed early in this as well as in the previous

1 Minot, p. 62. a Parsons s Life of Chief Justice Parsons, p. 131.

234 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Nov.

session, finally passed both Houses with certain modifica
tions. At the motion of the Senate, its operation was limited
to eight months. This session, in which, for the sake of
harmony of action, the Senate conceded several important
points to the House, closed on the 18th of November with
an address to the people, which the ministers of the Gospel
were requested to read to their congregations, setting forth
the financial condition of the State, the true causes of the
disturbances, and the efforts of the Legislature to alleviate
the public distresses, and eloquently calling upon the differ
ent officers of the community and the whole body of the
people to support the Constitution and laws.

In popular governments, the masses are easily misled by
artful demagogues, whose recitals of fictitious grievances are
powerful incentives to insurrection. The misguided and
ignorant, who can be thus precipitated into revolt, without
the intelligence to discriminate between real and fancied
wrongs, are seldom to be reached by argument. To a
blinded multitude, banded together for the purposes of law
less violence, with uncertain objects and cowardly instincts,
persuasion and compromise are but additional evidences of
the weakness and consequently of the contemptible charac
ter of the authorities. Government can exist only as a pos
itive power, able and willing to defend itself equally against
internal and external enemies. It is an institution for the
protection of the whole people, who obey it only while it
commands respect by a readiness to assert its prerogative
whenever assailed. Hesitation, instead of conciliating its
assailants, is usually regarded as a lack of confidence in its
own self-sustaining power, and opens it to assault on the
same principle that every undefended thing in nature invites
attack from the stronger or rapacious of its kind. It is only
by the prompt exertion of the strong arm that any govern
ment, republican or monarchical, when threatened, can be
maintained. Thus it happened that the Act of Indemnity
passed by the Legislature was treated with contempt by the

1786.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 235

insurgents, who, with some reason in this instance, attributed
it to timidity rather than forbearance ; and a few days after
the adjournment, the rioters, collecting in armed force, broke
up the Court of General Sessions at Worcester. Finding
that the late conciliatory proceedings, had only served to
increase the tumult, the Governor, as Commander-in-Chief,
now issued his orders, announcing his intention of crushing
every dangerous opposition to the constituted authorities ;
and the whole of the State militia was directed to be in read
iness to take the field. The coercion, which should have
been countenanced by the Legislature as early as August,
was now pushed forward on a scale commensurate with the
power and extent of the insurrection. " In this dark scene
of adversity," says Eliot, who was an eyewitness of these
events, " when even a civil war had commenced, no man
was more firm and intrepid than Mr. Adams. It was his
constant declaration, that republics could only exist by a
due submission to the laws ; that the laws ought to be put
in force against all opposition ; and that a government could
be supported by the exertions of a free, virtuous, and en
lightened people."

The acts of violence at Worcester having been followed by
similar ones elsewhere, especially at Springfield, where the
notorious Shays was the leading spirit, Governor Bowdoin
at once called out four thousand four hundred troops, which
were placed under General Lincoln, an officer high in the
public confidence for his prudence and energy. General
Brooke, who had also lately shown his efficiency in support
ing the laws, was intrusted with an important command.
General Shepard, whose firmness during the disturbances
at Springfield, earlier in the year, had been much applauded,
was ordered to hold the arsenal at that place against the
rioters, who now numbered two thousand men. Lincoln,
aware of the critical situation of Shepard, marched to his
relief ; but before his arrival, Shays having wrought up his
deluded followers by incendiary appeals, and being advised
of the approach of the State forces, attacked Shepard, who

236 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Jan., Feb.

firing upon the advancing columns, after repeated warnings,
killed three and wounded one. The rebels thereupon broke,
and fled in confusion to Ludlow, some ten miles distant.
Nothing discouraged, the leaders again collected their forces,
and were preparing for another attack upon the arsenal,
when the arrival of Lincoln from Worcester, with four regi
ments, compelled them to retire to Northampton and Hadley,
whither they were followed by Lincoln and Shepard. Con
tinuing their retreat, they posted themselves at Pelham,
while Lincoln sheltered his troops at Hadley from the in
tense severity of the weather. Here some ineffectual nego
tiations took place, pending which the rebels, who were left
without supplies, were obliged to retreat to Petersham. Ad
vised of this movement, Lincoln immediately put his army
in motion, and marching all night through a heavy snow
storm a distance of thirty miles, reached Petersham early
in the morning, surprised and dispersed the insurgents, and
took one hundred and fifty prisoners, after a pursuit extend
ing two miles along the road. The head and front of the
rebellion being thus broken, the rebels, unable to continue
an organized resistance, formed in marauding parties, by
which a system of guerilla warfare was maintained in the
western part of the State.

The time for the meeting of the Legislature had arrived
in January, but owing to the general disturbances, a quo
rum could not be obtained in the House until the 3d of
February. The plans for the session seem to have been
prearranged by some guiding minds ; for there was a con
cert of action between the two branches as well as with the
Governor, unknown since the outbreak. To Bowdoin s
patriotic address, urging a determined suppression of the
rebellion, the Senate replied by the hand of Samuel Adams,
declaring a rebellion to exist, and promising to support him
in all his measures to restore the supremacy of the law.
The House immediately concurred, and the paper was pre
sented to the Governor by Mr. Adams in person, as chair
man of the joint committee for that purpose.

1787.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 237

" To HIS EXCELLENCY JAMES BOWDOIN, ESQ., GOVERNOR OF THE COM
MONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

" MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY :

"The Senate and House of Representatives in General Court
assembled have read and duly attended to your speech at the open
ing of this session, and take this earliest opportunity to express their
entire satisfaction in the measures you have been pleased to take,
pursuant to the powers vested in you by the Constitution, for the
subduing a turbulent spirit which has too long insulted the govern
ment of this Commonwealth, prostrated the courts of law and justice
in divers counties, and threatened even the overthrow of the Con
stitution itself.

" The General Court congratulate your Excellency on the success
with which Providence has been pleased hitherto to bless the wise,
spirited, and prudent measures which you have taken; and they
earnestly entreat your Excellency still to encounter, repel, and
resist, by all fitting ways, enterprises, and means, all and every
such person and persons as attempt or enterprise in a hostile man
ner the destruction, detriment, or annoyance of this Commonwealth,
and to pursue such further constitutional measures as you may
think necessary for extirpating the spirit of rebellion, quieting the
minds of the good people of the Commonwealth, and establishing
the just authority of government. And in order that your Excel
lency may be possessed of the full power of the Constitution to
effect these great purposes, the General Court have thought it
highly necessary, after mature deliberation, to declare that a rebel
lion exists within this Commonwealth.

" This Court are fully persuaded that by far the greater part of the
citizens of this Commonwealth are warmly attached to our present
happy Constitution. They have a high sense of the merit of a
respectable body of the militia, who have with readiness attended
your Excellency s orders on this pressing emergency, as well as the
patriotic zeal of a number of private citizens who have cheerfully
advanced their money in aid to government; and you may be
assured, sir, that the most speedy and effectual means will be used
for the payment of the officers and soldiers who have been, or may
be, employed in this necessary and most important service ; and for
the reimbursement of the moneys generously advanced for its sup
port.

238 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Feb.

" It is to be expected that vigor, decision, and energy, under the
direction and blessing of Heaven, will soon terminate this unnatural,
unprovoked rebellion, prevent the effusion of blood, and the fatal
consequences to be dreaded from a civil war ; and it is the determi
nation of this Court to establish a criterion for discriminating be
tween good citizens and others, that each may be regarded accord
ing to their characters and deserts.

" If it should appear to your Excellency that the time for which
the militia under the command of Major- General Lincoln are enlisted
is too short to effect the great objects in view, it is the request of
this Court that you would be pleased to direct the Commanding
General to re-enlist the same men, or enlist others for such further
time as you may think necessary, or to replace them by detach
ments from the militia, and, if you shall think it expedient, to in
crease their numbers and continue them in service until those pur
poses shall be completely accomplished.

" The General Court will give the most ready attention to your
message- of the 3d instant, and every other communication you shall
be pleased to lay before them. They will vigorously pursue every
measure that may be calculated to support the Constitution, and
will still continue to redress any real grievances, if such shall be
found to exist, humbly beseeching Almighty God to preserve union
and harmony among the several powers of government, as well as
among the honest and virtuous citizens of the Commonwealth, and
to restore to us the inestimable blessings of peace and liberty under
a wise and righteous administration of government."

This vigorous policy took immediate possession of the
Legislature. No formidable opposition was thenceforth
made in the House to the determined measures proposed in
the Senate. On the day following the adoption of the Ad
dress to the Governor a remarkable document was received
from the insurgents. It was a formal proposition for a sort
of armistice, by which all prisoners were to be liberated by
the government, and a general pardon extended to all offend
ers, upon which they were to lay down their arms and dis
perse. Until that promise should be made by the General
Court, the rebels would remain under arms and in open
defiance of the authorities. Had the Assembly accepted

1787.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 239

this proposition, it would not only have virtually recognized
the rebellion as a power to be treated with, but, by a fatal
precedent, would have openly encouraged future insurrec
tions. The petition was as follows :

" COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

" To THE HONORABLE THE SENATE AND THE HONORABLE HOUSE OF REPRE
SENTATIVES IN GENERAL COURT ASSEMBLED AT THEIR NEXT SESSION.

" A petition of the officers of the counties of Worcester, Hampshire,
Middlesex, and Berkshire, now at arms, humbly showeth :

" That your petitioners being sensible that we have been in an
error in having recourse to arms, and not seeking redress in a con
stitutional way, we therefore heartily pray your Honors to over
look our failing, in respect to our rising in arms, as your Honors
must be sensible we had great cause of uneasiness, as will appear by
your redressing many grievances the last session. Yet we declare
that it is our hearts desire that good government may be kept up
in a constitutional way ; and, as it appears to us that the time is
near approaching when much human blood will be spilt unless a
reconciliation can immediately take place, which scene strikes us
with horror, let the foundation cause be where it may, we there
fore solemnly promise that we will lay down our arms and repair
to our respective homes in a peaceable and quiet manner, and so
remain, provided your Honors will grant to your petitioners and
all those of our brethren who have had recourse to arms, or in
other ways aided and assisted in our cause, a general pardon for
their past offences ; all which we humbly submit to the wisdom,
candor, and benevolence of your Honors ; and we in duty bound
shall ever pray.

" [Read and accepted by the officers.]

"FRANCIS STONE,

Chairman of the Committee of Counties.
PELHAM, Jan. 30th, 1787."

The Senate made short work of the paper, and on the
same day passed the following resolution :

"Ordered, that Samuel Adams, Esq., with such as the Honor
able House may join, be a committee to state the reasons why a
proposal made in a certain paper signed Francis Stone, chairman

240 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Feb.

of a committee of certain officers from the counties of Worcester,
Hampshire, Middlesex, and Berkshire, who are in arms against
the government, cannot be complied with."

Messrs. Gorliam and Ward were appointed by the House,
and on the following day Mr. Adams, as chairman, reported
over his own signature the following in the form of a joint
resolution, which was ordered to be published :

" COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

" A paper called a petition from the officers of the counties of
Worcester, Hampshire, Middlesex, and Berkshire, now at arms, and
signed by Francis Stone, chairman of the committee from the above
counties, and addressed to the General Court, was read.

" Whereupon, Voted, That the paper cannot be sustained :

"First. Because those concerned therein openly avow them
selves to be at arms and in a state of hostility against the govern
ment ; and for this reason alone the said paper would be unsustain
able, even if the tenor of the application had discovered a spirit
suitable to the object of it.

" Secondly. Because it does not appear what officers or how many
are represented by the said paper, or that the said Stone had au
thority from any officers whatever to make the application by him
subscribed.

" Thirdly. Because the applicants, although they call themselves pe
titioners, and acknowledge an error] yet consider that error only as
a failing and attempt, at least in part, to justify themselves therein.

"Fourthly. The said applicants appear to view themselves on
equal if not better standing than the Legislature by proposing a
reconciliation /

"Fifthly. They appear to threaten the authority and govern
ment of the Commonwealth with a great effusion of blood, unless
this * reconciliation can immediately take place.

" Sixthly. They implicitly declare their determination to con
tinue in arms, unless all who now are and have been in a state of
open war with the government, including those who have been ap
prehended and are now in custody as well as all others who have
in any way aided or assisted in their cause, can have another full
pardon granted for all offences, in addition to that which they have
so lately despised.

1787. 1 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 241

"Seventhly. If the paper presented had been a proper petition,
subscribed by the persons who desire a pardon, and expressive of
a due sense of their crime, with proper resolutions of amendment,
yet their engagements could not be depended on, as their cause
has been supported by a multitude of falsehoods ; and as no en
gagement can be more solemn than those made by the leaders of
the rebels in the county of Middlesex, on the week before the ju
dicial courts sat last in the said county, that they would not take
any measures to obstruct the sitting of the said courts ; which en
gagements were so far regarded as to induce the Commander-in-
Chief to write counter orders to a considerable part of the militia
whom he had ordered to be detached ; and yet those engagements
were on the next day violated."

This plain rejection of all compromise with rebels against
a popular government was published throughout the disaf
fected counties, and left the insurgents little to hope for
from their friends in the House.

The state of rebellion having been at last acknowledged
and declared by the Legislature, another important step re
mained to be taken. This was to secure the aid of the
United States government in case it should be needed. On
the 5th Mr. Adams introduced the following resolution :

" COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

"!N SENATE, Feb. 5, 1787.

"Resolved, That his Excellency the Governor be requested to
write to Congress and inform them of the commotions that have
taken place in this Commonwealth, and the measures that have
been adopted by government in consequence thereof; and of the
declaration now made by the General Court that a rebellion exists
within this State ; and that, although the Legislature are firmly
persuaded that by far the greater part of the Commonwealth are
well affected to government, and that in all probability they will be
able speedily and effectually to suppress the rebellion, yet, if any
unforeseen event should take place which may frustrate the meas
ures of government, they rely upon such support from the United
States as is expressly and solemnly stipulated by the Articles of
Confederation."

VOL. in. 16

242 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Feb. -Apr.

A touch of the old opposition was again encountered in
the House, where, after debate, the bill was rejected by the
western county influence ; for the friends of the rebels had
no relish for the enlistment of additional force, and even
some of the loyally disposed members questioned the wis
dom of such an invasion of a sovereign State. A new bill
materially modified was prepared in the House, which in
turn was rejected by the Senate, who resolved " to adhere to
their own vote " ; and Samuel Adams and Samuel Baker
were appointed to confer with the committee of the House
on the subject. On the 9th a sufficient number had been
gained to secure the passage of the original bill. Congress,
however, as already stated, had taken measures to protect
the arsenal at Springfield and sustain the State government
of Massachusetts.

On the 6th, the Governor gave official notice of the suc
cess of the State forces at Petersham. This seemed to be
the turning-point of the rebellion, but it was deemed pru
dent to keep up a force of fifteen hundred men. A free
pardon, with certain exceptions, was offered to all who
should lay down their arms and take the oath of allegiance ;
and three commissioners were appointed, with discretionary
powers to pardon even those who had been excepted in the
general act of indemnity, excepting Shays, Wheeler, Par
sons, and Day, the principal characters. On the 10th of
March, as there was apparently no further demand for legis
lative action relative to public disturbances, the session was
closed.

The first important business in the Supreme Judicial
Courts in the several counties where the rebellion had been
most active was the trial of the prominent insurgents.
Many were convicted of sedition, and an aggregate of four
teen in four counties were found guilty of treason and con
demned to death. The time of execution of some of these
misguided men came before the expiration of Bowdoin s
term, and he mercifully postponed the day, at the urgent
request of many influential persons, so that when he went

1787.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 24&

out of office none of them had suffered the penalty of the
law.

At the annual elections in April, the most powerful par
ties were found to be the friends of the captive rebels on the
one side, and the advocates of condign punishment on the
other. The former party amounted to a third of the entire
population of the State. Hancock, who during the crisis
had taken little if any part in politics, and, as the insur
gents and their sympathizers had reason to believe, would
be more ready to pardon the convicts, now became a candi
date for Governor against Bowdoin, whose character and
inflexible sense of justice left less to hope for in favor of the
prisoners. In fact, this became the great issue of the elec
tion. For Lieutenant-Governor, the candidates were Gen
eral Lincoln, lately distinguished for his services in quelling
the rebellion, Samuel Adams, and Thomas Gushing. Mr.
Adams did not exert himself in his own behalf, but used his
influence for Bowdoin and Gushing. The popular sentiment
for the condemned, however, was all powerful, especially in
the western counties, and the Hancock ticket was elected
by a large majority. In Boston, Adams received but one
hundred and seventy-nine votes for Lieutenant-Governor.
Suffolk County, by thirteen hundred and seventy-three votes,
retained him in the Senate ; which, as it had resolutely sus
tained Bowdoin in his energetic measures during the insur
rection, now reinstated Adams as President, in appreciation
of his determined course when the very existence of the
government was imperilled.

Since the winter of 1776, familiar association had ceased
between Adams and Hancock. From the year when Adams
had brought his young townsman forward into political life,
at the commencement of the Revolution, his power of har
monizing and managing had been at times severely taxed to
provide against the vacillating conduct of Hancock. As the
contest with the mother country proceeded, and became
more national in character by the assembling of the Colo
nies in General Congress, those circumstances occurred

244 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [May,

which terminated their friendly intercourse. 1 For several
years thenceforth Hancock lost no opportunity to display
his enmity ; but Adams, with a magnanimity peculiar to
himself, never retaliated in kind, and in the divisions thus
created scarcely ever alluded to his former friend and asso
ciate. Time, however, seems to have softened the asperity
of this difference ; and after the present election, when
Hancock had resumed the gubernatorial chair, their friends
determined* if possible to effect a reconciliation. This was
happily accomplished ; and Adams, when chosen by the Sen
ate, consented to become one of the Governors Councillors.
Not long after this renewal of intimacy the State applied
to Congress for two brass cannon which had been used in
the war. Congress promptly returned them to their native
State, having named them, probably at the suggestion of the
Massachusetts delegation, respectively after the two pro
scribed patriots of the Revolution. The inscription on one
is as follows :

The

ADAMS.

Sacred to Liberty.

This is one of four cannon

which constituted the whole train

of Field Artillery,
possessed by the British Colonies of

North America

at the commencement of the war

on the 19th of April. 1775.

This Cannon

and its fellow

belonging to a number of citizens of

Boston
were used in many engagements

during the war.

The other two, the property of the
Government of Massachusetts,

were taken by the enemy.

By order of the United States

in Congress assembled.

May 19. 1788. 2

1 See, ante, II. 380-387, 503-512.

2 The pieces are now in the top of Bunker Hill Monument.

1787.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 245

The three commissioners who had been appointed to
grant indemnity at their own discretion to repentant rebels
reported in the session of the Legislature under Hancock s
administration, " that beyond the obvious and well-known
causes of the rebellion, a delusion in regard to the action
and position of the General Court had been a powerful
cause in sowing discord and discontent, and that this de
lusion had in too many instances been excited and fostered
by the members of the General Court themselves." 1 The
wisdom and justice of Bowdoin s course was fully indorsed
by the present Legislature, who, much to the surprise of
those who had placed them in power, presently carried out
all the measures of the late administration, a pointed re
buke to the public sentiment by which Bowdoin had been
defeated, despite his highly honorable conduct. Yet, as
many of the members owed their seats to the friends of the
rebellion, it was thought expedient to throw discredit on the
previous General Court, by ostentatiously raising a commit
tee to bring in a bill for the repeal of the law suspending
the writ of habeas corpus, one of the obnoxious measures of
the former Legislature, which would have expired by limita
tion two weeks later. 2 The general course of the govern
ment, however, was a triumphant vindication of the vigor
ous policy of Bowdoin.

At the numerous meetings of Governor Hancock and his
Council Board, composed for the most part of gentlemen of
very mature years and judgment, the subject now most
discussed was the fate of the condemned leaders of the re
bellion. Postponements from time to time had occurred,

1 Holland s Western Massachusetts, I. 287, 288.

2 Holland, who gives a full and complete account of Shays s rebellion, says
of the conduct of the Legislature in this instance (I. 289) : " The motives
that led to this action are too evident to call for statement or admit of apol
ogy. The repeal could hardly have been carried through its various stages
before the law would have expired of itself. It is not wonderful that the pro
ject should afterwards have miscarried, and that its advocates should have be
come so heartily ashamed of it as openly to renounce it."

246 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1787.

and the gloomy preparations for death had once been made
in Hampshire County, but a reprieve had stopped the execu
tion. It was argued, that, now the constitutional authorities
were re-established, as this was the first instance of treason
under the new government, no salutary effect upon the peo
ple could be anticipated from such a spectacle, and that the
late Governor and Council having themselves put off the
fatal day, it was an evidence that even then the executions
had not been considered necessary to the public safety. It
was also said that those members who had urged Bowdoin
to pardon the criminals were now under solemn obligations
to counsel clemency. What arguments were used in reply
are not known. One of Sullivan s speeches in the Council
has been published, in which the views above were eloquent
ly expressed. 1 Samuel Adams, though one of the most hu
mane and merciful of men, was inexorable in this instance.
He could not forgive an attempt to destroy by violence a
government instituted by the people, whose establishment
had cost the best blood of America. It was worse than a
solitary instance of murder, to which the death penalty was
naturally attached, inasmuch as many lives had been sacri
ficed, and incalculable calamities visited upon an innocent
people. He, therefore, as Thacher says, advised the Exec
utive " to inflict that just, condign punishment which the
judicial sentence had awarded on the detestable leaders of
that banditti who raised the rebellion." 2 " In monarchies,"
said Mr. Adams, " the crime of treason and rebellion may
admit of being pardoned or lightly punished ; but the man
who dares to rebel against the laws of a republic ought to
suffer death." The insurgent chiefs had been impartially
tried, and their punishment in accordance with the sentence
Mr. Adams believed to be necessary as a solemn warning to
traitors who in after times might menace popular elective
government. Public opinion was strongly in favor of leni
ency, and to such an extent that numerous members of the

1 Amory s Sullivan, I. 205-207. l Thacher s Discourse, pp. 17, 18.

1787.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 247

Legislature who had taken an active part against the rebels
had lost their seats in the succeeding General Court. But
Adams, as usual, pursued what he deemed to be the path of
duty, regardless of public clamor ; and it has been said that,
had his own son been among the condemned, his Spartan
character would with equal firmness have devoted the offend
er to a merited death. 1 The advocates of clemency, how
ever, prevailed in the Council ; and Hancock, who was himself
disposed to the side of mercy, after repeated delays, finally
pardoned the prisoners.

1 Had Samuel Adams been in the executive chair, probably every one upon
whom the sentence of death had been passed would have suffered the extreme
penalty of the law.

CHAPTER LX.

Inefficiency of the Articles of Confederation. Plans for their Revisal. The
Federal Constitution. Convention in Massachusetts. Adams a Dele
gate from Boston. Importance attached by the Country to his Views.
His Anxiety for the Preservation of the individual State Sovereignties.
He fears for the future Peace of the Country, if the Question of State Rights
is not definitely settled. Death of Dr. Samuel Adams. Public Appre
hensions that the Constitution would be rejected. The Conciliatory Prop
ositions. Statements as to their Origin. Adams advocates them, and
recommends their Adoption. He proposes Additional Amendments.
Ratification of the Constitution. Its Narrow Escape from Defeat. Ad
ams and the State Rights of the last Century. His Desire for Perpetual
Union. Union, to be permanent, should have the respective Federal and
State Powers distinctly specified and carefully observed.

A PARTIAL result of the insurrection, as well as of the dis
turbances elsewhere, which were to some extent encouraged
by the independent character of the State governments un
der the Confederacy, was to confirm the impression which
had already become general, that the central government
should be vested with more authority than could be exer
cised under the existing system. But, long before this
outbreak, the necessity of a government more national in
character had been admitted by every intelligent statesman.
At the close of the war, Samuel Adams, as we have seen,
had been very solicitous for a proper support of the measures
of Congress. He was desirous that the several States should
sustain the waning importance of that body by a ready com
pliance with its necessary demands for imposts to meet the
common obligations ; and the few scraps which have been
preserved of his correspondence, from the close of the war
until 1787, express his recognition of its power for general
purposes, and his unhesitating disapproval of popular con
ventions, then becoming too frequent, for the purpose of
questioning and contravening the acts of Congress. Few,

1787.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 249

however, had matured any definite plans of government,
even among those who had earliest seen the necessity of a
radical change.

From the very ratification of the Articles of Confedera
tion efforts had been made to revise and amend them;
amendment had been advocated by eminent men, and rec
ommended by public bodies ; and, just before Shays s rebel
lion, a convention from eight States met for that purpose at
Annapolis ; but as yet there was no approach to unanimity.
The jealousy against enlarging the powers of Congress was
wide-spread, and every step in that direction met with de
cided opposition among the many who feared tyranny under
a consolidated government. Hence the Convention which
met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, and formed the present
Constitution, came together with no other expressed object
than a revision of the existing form. The general impres
sion of the majority of its members was, that all the exigen
cies of the times could thus be fully met, and few looked
beyond such a result.

The inadequacy of the Articles for the direction of a con
tinent, of which the political elements were just settling
themselves after the Revolution, was generally admitted.
Mr. Adams had for some time seen the necessity of a con
vention. He thought that its members should be vested
with unlimited and specific powers to revise the original
form of government, and to increase the central power
enough to create a more efficient system of general taxation,
and provide for the regulation of foreign treaties and trade
on a national basis ; but that the Continental Congress
should be preserved, with such modifications as should en
able it to collect imposts for Federal purposes. The circum
stances existing when the Articles of Confederation were
adopted during the war, and to meet which that system was
as perfect as could then have been devised, had materially
altered when, with the establishment of national indepen
dence, America commenced its republican experience.

250 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1787.

The doctrine of State sovereignty, that is, that there
should be a confederacy of sovereign States united, but pre
serving the individuality of each, was most attractive to the
delegates from the smaller States ; while those favoring a
strong central government were found in the delegations
from the Carolinas, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylva
nia. The divisions continued during several months of ani
mated argument, and a variety of plans of government were
brought forward, some of them embodying elements of aris
tocracy ; but the more conservative party, in the end, carried
their point; and after a struggle which at times threatened
,to dissolve the Convention, the Constitution was matured
and adopted. It was presently sent to Congress, and by
that body to the several State Legislatures for acceptance.

On its reception by the Governor of Massachusetts, the
proposed Constitution was laid before the Legislature, with a
recommendation to submit it to a Convention to be sum
moned for the purpose. The delegates to this body, chosen
like Representatives to the Legislature, met at Boston on
the 9th of January, 1788. Among them were the foremost
men of Massachusetts in ability and political strength, in
cluding Hancock, Adams, Parsons, Bowdoin, Sedgwick,
Strong, Ames, Davis, Dana, King, and Cushing. Elbridge
Gerry, who had been a delegate to the Philadelphia Con
vention, and had already expressed his disapproval of the
Constitution, was invited to attend, though not an elected
member.

This State Convention continued in session nearly four
weeks. As their deliberations involved the decision of Mas
sachusetts, which in turn must influence several other States,
and indeed was believed to control the fate of the Constitu
tion, their progress was everywhere watched with intense
interest. The principal members were Adams and Han
cock, the most conspicuous men in New England, and as
they went it was commonly thought a majority of the Con
vention would be apt to follow. For this reason the friends

1788.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 251

of the Constitution and the entire community turned to
them with the strongest solicitude for an avowal of their
opinion. The opposition of Massachusetts was especially-
feared, from its effect upon New York, Maryland, and Vir
ginia. Madison, writing from New York, soon after the
Massachusetts Convention assembled, says :

" According to the prospect at the date of the latest letters there
was very great reason to fear that the voice of that State would be
in the negative. The operation of such an event on this State may

easily be foreseen The decision of Massachusetts either

way will involve the result in this State."

And again, referring to the reception of the Constitution,
soon after its passage in the general Convention at Philadel
phia :

" It is said Mr. Samuel Adams objects to one point only, namely,
the prohibition of a religious test. Mr. Bowdoin s objections are said
to be against the great number of members composing the Legisla
ture, and the intricate election of the President."

But the principal objections of Samuel Adams to the in
strument had no reference whatever to a religious test.
His views are embodied with sufficient distinctness in the
following letter, written just after the form of the proposed
Constitution had become known in Boston, and before the
assembling of the State Convention. To his friend in Vir
ginia he says :

" The session of our General Court, which lasted six weeks, and
my station there requiring my punctual and eonstant attendance,
prevented my considering the new Constitution, as it is already
called, so closely as it was necessary for me, before I should venture
an opinion. I confess, as I enter the building, I stumble at the
threshold. I meet with a national government instead of a federal
union of sovereign States. I am not able to conceive why the wis
dom of the Convention led them to giye the preference to the former
before the latter. If the several Spates in the Union are to become
one entire nation under one"Legislature 3 the powers of which shall
extend to every subject of legislation, and its laws be supreme

252 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [ l788 -

and control the whole, the idea of sovereignty in these States must
tyd lost. Indeed, I think, upon such a supposition, those sovereign
ties ought to be eradicated from the mind ; for they would be
imperia in imperio, justly deemed a solecism in politics, and they
would be highly dangerous and destructive of the peace, union, and
safety of the nation. 1

" And can this national Legislature be competent to make laws
for the free internal government of one people, living in climates so
remote, and whose habits and particular interests are, arid probably
always will be, so different ? Is it to be expected that general laws
can be adapted to the feelings of the more Eastern and the more
Southern parts of so extensive a nation ? It appears to me difficult,
if practicable. Hence, then, may we not look for discontent, mis
trust, disaffection to government, and frequent insurrections, which
will require standing armies to suppress them in one place and
another, where they may happen to arise.^ Or, if laws could be
made, adapted to the local habits, feelings, views, and interests of
those distant parts, would they not cause jealousies of partiality in
government which would excite envy and other malignant passions,
productive of wars and fighting ? But should we continue distinct
sovereign States, confederated for the purpose of mutual safety and
happiness, each contributing to the Federal head such a part of its
sovereignty as would render the government fully adequate to those
purposes, and no more, the people would govern themselves more
easily, the laws of each State being well adapted to its own genius
and circumstances, and the liberties of the United States would be
more secure than they can be, as I humbly conceive, under the
proposed new Constitution.

"You are sensible, sir, that the seeds of aristocracy began to
spring, even before the conclusion of our struggle for the natural

1 Mr. Adams here refers to an unlimited extension of the central power
over the local affairs of the States ; for all his writings on this subject admit
that the Federal head should be vested with such attributes as should give the
United States the standing and weight of nationality. The continuation of
this letter sufficiently explains these views. As early as 1784 and 1786, when
writing to Richard Henry Lee and John Adams, he refers to the vital impor
tance of preserving the national character and faith. He speaks of the United
States as a nation, when supporting the Constitution in the Massachusetts
Convention ; and in the inaugurals, while Governor, continually acknowledges
the supremacy of Congress for national purposes.

1788.1

LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 253

rights of men, seeds which, like a canker-worm, lie at the root of
free governments. So great is the wickedness of some men and the
stupid servility of others, that one would be almost inclined to con
clude that communities cannot be free. The few haughty families
think that they must govern ; the body of the people tamely consent,
and submit to be their slaves. This unravels the mystery of mil
lions being enslaved by the few ! But I must desist ; my weak
hand prevents my proceeding further at present. I will send you
my poor opinion of the political structure at another time." l

It was doubtless owing to the well-known views here ex
pressed, which Mr. Adams freely uttered in conversation,
that he had not been chosen a delegate to the national Con
vention at Philadelphia. Boston and the neighboring towns,
which he would particularly have represented, had he been
a member, drew their prosperity from trade. This made
them favorable to a strong Federal power, which would in
crease foreign confidence in the national stability, and lead
to satisfactory commercial relations with European states,
such as could not be expected under a less positive central
government. This vesting of authority, however, in the
Federal head for the regulation of trade, the establishment
of foreign relations, and the collection of a national revenue
was exactly what Mr. Adams desired, provided there were
very distinct reservations of all powers not expressly dele
gated by the several States. But at that time to enter
tain objections to the Constitution as it originally emanated
from the Convention, or to express an honest distrust of
what was conceived to be an undue concentration of power
at the Federal head, was distorted into anti-Federalism,
an opposition to any confederation of States for general
purposes. Almost immediately the country became thus
politically divided ; and, though the issue of adopting the
Constitution died out with the establishment of the govern
ment under the new system, the opposing views of" Federal
ists " and " Republicans," or " Democrats " as these came

1 S. Adams to B. H. Lee, Dec. 3, 1787.

254 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1788.

in time to be called, formed the staple of American politics
far into the next century.

The firm union of America had been for twenty years, and
was still, desired by Samuel Adams. He had persistently
urged the confederation of the Colonies from the outset, and
promoted it by his wise and timely measures. The principle
which he had recognized at the commencement of the Revo
lution as the life of the national independence to which his
single aim was directed had now most weight with him as
he anxiously sought for the safest course for his country,
when the long-desired freedom had been attained. With
him in these patriotic hopes and fears were some of the most
illustrious men of the Eevolution, North and South, men
who had staked all in the contest, and ranked second to
none in acknowledged wisdom and virtue.

It is more than probable that when the Massachusetts
Convention assembled, a majority were against adopting the
Constitution. The first motion after organizing was made
by Mr. Adams, " That the Convention would attend morning
prayers daily, and that the gentlemen of the clergy of every
denomination be requested to officiate in turn." This was
a step towards harmonizing possible sectarian differences
among so many members which recalls to mind a similar
wise policy at the opening of the first Continental Congress
in 1774. Adams and Hancock, though their sentiments had
not been expressed for or against adopting the Constitution,
were regarded by many as likely to be opposed to it. A
strong feeling in favor of adoption was publicly manifested
in Boston by all interested in commerce and trade. But
Adams never felt the public pulse for his own political guid
ance, though he had faith that the people in their capacity
for self-government were generally right on public ques
tions. He addressed himself to the consideration of great
issues, with a proper appreciation of the interest felt as to his
own course and its influence upon others ; but the con
sciousness that the result of the Convention -rested in no

1788.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 255

small degree upon him had no other effect than to increase
the sense of a grave responsibility. It probably did, how
ever, deter him from raising any objections to the Constitu
tion during the debates, in which he took little or no part.
He noted the arguments advanced both in this Convention
and in those of the sister States ; and his delay in assenting
to the instrument arose entirely from his desire that amend
ments should be introduced which he considered as essential
to its acceptance by the country.

A few days after the Convention assembled he met with
a severe domestic affliction in the death of his son, Dr. Sam
uel Adams, who expired at his father s house in Winter
Street on the 17th of January, at the age of thirty-seven.
Having served in his professional capacity through the war
of the Revolution, 1 he returned to Boston with a shattered
constitution and unable to resume his practice. One of his
intimate acquaintances wrote of him, that " he possessed a
substantial mind, social feelings, and a generous heart, and
his greatest pleasure was to do good to his fellow/men."
He was a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society,
and a writer for scientific publications. He died of a scrof- L
ulous affection of several of the vital organs. At the invita
tion of Mr. Adams, the Convention adjourned to attend the
funeral, which took place from the family residence, on the
afternoon of the 18th. The loss of his only son deeply
affected Mr. Adams, who now, as was afterwards remem
bered, evinced unusual emotion.

1 "JOHN HANCOCK, ESQ.,

Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

" This certifies that Dr. Samuel Adams, surgeon of the regiment under my
command, has served in that capacity from the 14th of March, 1778, vice Dr.
John Spofford, resigned 14th of March, 1778; and having never received
any warrant of his appointment, I therefore wish, if agreeable to your Excel
lency, that he may now be commissioned with one.

" JOHN CRANE, Colonel Massachusetts Artillery.
" WEST POINT, 5th May, 1782.

" In Council, July 2, 1782. Read and advised that a warrant be made out
agreeable to the above recommendation.

"JOHN AVERT, Secretary."

256 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1788.

When the Convention had been two weeks deliberating,
and animated debates had brought it no nearer ratifying
the Constitution, many began to fear, and with great reason,
that it would totally fail to accomplish its object. Some
of the bad blood engendered during the insurrection made
itself apparent at times ; and though ex-Governor Bowdoin
was present as a member, an occasional reflection was heard
against the late administration, which had been exceedingly
unpopular in the western part of the State from its vigor
ous coercive measures against the insurgents. The rebel
lious counties were largely represented in the Convention,
and perhaps it was thought that the erection of a strong
central government would tend to the more prompt suppres
sion of any future risings. Some rather pointed remarks
touching the recent disturbances were leading to delicate
ground, when the subject was quieted by the motion to ad
journ. It was wise policy to prevent, if possible, any recur
rence to the past ; or perhaps Adams, who had been an
unflinching supporter of Bowdoin during the rebellion,
might have arisen in defence of his friend. Bowdoin was an
advocate of the Constitution, and early in the Convention
spoke in favor of its adoption. An attempt was also made
by some of the opponents to precipitate a vote on the main
question, by stopping the consideration by paragraphs, and
taking up the subject at large. This was evidently a pre
concerted plan ; for its progress, summarily terminated by an
adjournment, was renewed on the next morning, and occu
pying a part of two days, was contested by some of the prin
cipal speakers on both sides. These particular debates are
abridged in the report, and the votes are not given ; but
those who are mentioned as having favored the measure are
found by the journals to have uniformly voted in the nega
tive on the final question of ratifying the Constitution.
Among them was General Thompson, who frequently took
the floor against the ratification, and who, as a member of
the Legislature during the insurrection, had opposed the

1788.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 257

policy of Bowdoin, and on that issue had this year been
re-elected. Had the attempt succeeded, it might, and prob
ably would, have defeated the Constitution. Some of the
number gave their pecuniary necessities as a reason why the
business should be urged forward ; but when Mr. Nasson
renewed his motion on the second morning, Mr. Adams
immediately arose, and objected to such ill-judged haste. ..
The journal says :

" The Hon. Mr. Adams said he was one of those who had difficul
ties and doubts respecting some parts of the proposed Constitution.
He had, he said, for several months after the publication of it, laid
by all the writings in the public papers on the subject, in order to
be enabled leisurely to consider them. He had, he said, still more
difficulties on his mind, but that he had chosen rather to be an audi
tor than an objector, and he had particular reasons therefor. As
this was the case with him, and others, he believed, were in a
similar situation, he was desirous to have a full investigation of the
subject, that thereby such might be confirmed either in favor or
against the Constitution ; and was therefore against the motion.
We ought not, he said, to be stingy of our time or the public money,
when so important an object demanded them ; and the public expect
that we will not. Pie was sorry, he said, for gentlemen s necessi
ties, but he would rather support the gentlemen who were so
necessitated, or lend them money to do it, than they should hurry
so great a subject. He therefore hoped that the question would be
put, and that we should proceed as we began."

The question being then demanded, the motion was neg
atived without a return of the House, a result which was
received with " a buzz of congratulation " in the gallery.
The debates by paragraphs were then resumed, and lasted
another week.

In this week a plan was agreed upon among several
prominent members, of which various accounts have been
given by contemporaries. To meet the objections of those
opposed to the Constitution, it was arranged to prepare
certain amendments, afterwards historically known as the

VOL. III. 17

258 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1788.

" Conciliatory Propositions," which Hancock should be per
suaded to indorse, and submit in person to the Convention.
The late Colonel Joseph May related from his personal
knowledge the following interesting facts concerning the
Convention.

" Adams and Hancock were both members of the Convention in
Massachusetts, and the two most powerful men in the State : Mr.
Hancock on account of his wealth and social rank (much thought
of in 1787-88) and the chivalrous patriotism with which he went
into the contest ; but Adams had more intelligence, more judgment,
and was less swayed by personal ambition than Hancock, and be
sides had done more for the independence which was then secured.
Neither was well pleased with the Constitution. It made the cen
tral government too strong, and cut off the State rights and local
power of the people. In short, it was not sufficiently democratic,
as we say in these days. Mr. Adams foresaw none of the conse
quences of a strong central government which are now so obvious.
The friends of the Constitution were anxious to have the votes of
both ; for it was thought Massachusetts would go as Hancock and
Adams went, and New Hampshire would follow Massachusetts, and
other States would copy their example. Adams questioned the pol
icy of the adoption without amendments, and let men know his rea
sons ; but Hancock was in great trouble, and, as usual on such
occasions, he had, or affected to have, the gout, and remained at
home, wrapped up in flannel. The friends of the Constitution gath
ered about him, flattered his vanity, told him the salvation of the
nation rested with him : if the Constitution was not accepted, we
should be a ruined nation ; if he said accept it, Massachusetts and
the nation would obey. They persuaded him to that opinion. It
was reported abroad that he had made up his mind, and had recov
ered from his illness so far that, on a certain day, he would appear
again in the Convention, and would make a speech which would
probably be in favor of adopting the Constitution. Theophilus Par
sons, afterwards the famous judge, was the most active in procur
ing this result. He wrote a speech for Hancock to read in the
Convention.

" So when the day arrived, Mr. Hancock was helped out of his
house into his coach, and driven down to the place where the Con-

1788.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 259

vention was held, Federal Street, and thence carried into the
Convention by several young gentlemen, who were friends of the
family and in the secret. He rose in his place and apologized for
his absence, for his feebleness, and declaring that nothing but the
greatness of the emergency would have brought him from his bed
of sickness ; but duty to his country prevailed over considerations
of health. He hoped they would pardon him for reading a speech
which lie had carefully prepared, not being well enough to make it in
any other manner. Then he read the speech which Parsons had writ
ten for him, and from Parsons s manuscript, and sat down. One of
his friends took the manuscript hastily from him, afraid that the look
er-on might see that it was not in Hancock s hand, but Parsons s."

The narrator of this incident was intimate in the Han
cock family, and his account agrees substantially with that
of Stephen Higginson, " Laco," in the Massachusetts Senti
nel in the following year. It is to some extent corroborated
in "the recently published life of Parsons. It differs from
the journal of the Convention, in a few slight particulars as
to Hancock s introductory remarks and in the fact that a
short adjournment intervened between the remarks and the
offering of the propositions. Colonel May, who was an
administrator of the Hancock estate, found the original
draft in the handwriting of Parsons among Hancock s pa
pers. There is no doubt that Parsons wrote it.

As to the origination of the plan and Adams s connection
with it, there is another contemporary narrative. Among
the papers of Samuel Adams there is a copy of the " Concil
iatory Propositions " and preamble, as submitted by Han
cock. That Adams had had it under his personal inspection
is shown by interlineations in his handwriting ; but the doc
ument was penned by some person who often acted as an
amanuensis for him, especially when his " trembling hand "
rendered such services requisite. It was related early in
the present century by Joseph Vinal, who visited both Han
cock and Adams, that during the illness of the former, while
the Convention was sitting, he called at Hancock s house,
and found Adams in the room with him ; that while he

260 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1778.

was there several gentlemen came in, who appeared to be
a committee. They desired to know specifically the objec
tions of Hancock and Adams to the Constitution, and to
endeavor to remove them by some means that would con
ciliate their favor and support. Adams, in the course of a
free conversation, enumerated his objections, and suggested
some of the amendments which seemed to be generally
demanded, and which were afterwards proposed in the Con
vention. Hancock agreed with him, and added that, if such
amendments were prepared, he would present them in per
son to the Convention, an oifer which seemed to give great
satisfaction to all present, one gentleman declaring that
he should be willing to help drag the Governor in his car
riage to the Convention.

Colonel May next relates the course adopted to secure
the co-operation of Adams :

"The same means were undertaken to influence Mr. Adams. It
was not, however, so easy. They had done what they could with
experiment : flattery would have no effect upon him ; but they knew
two things, first, that he had great confidence in the democratic
instincts of the people ; and second, that he was a modest man, and
sometimes doubted his own judgment when it differed from the
democratic instincts aforesaid. So they induced some of the leading
mechanics of Boston to hold a meeting at the Green Dragon Inn
in Union Street, their private gathering-place, and pass resolutions
in favor of the Constitution, and send a committee to present them
to him. He was surprised at the news of the meeting, and the na
ture of the resolutions, and asked who was there. They were just
the men, or the class of men, whom he confided in. He inquired
why they had f not called him to attend the meeting. O, we
wanted the voice of the people/ was the answer. Mr. Adams was
still more surprised, and, after long consideration, concluded to ac
cept the Constitution with the amendments."

Daniel Webster, in 1833, thus alludes to this occasion,
which seems to have been generally known in former
times :

1788.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 261

" These resolutions were carried to the Boston delegates in the
Convention, and placed in the hands of Samuel Adams. That
great and distinguished friend of American liberty, it was feared,
might have doubts about the new Constitution. Naturally cautious
and sagacious, it was apprehended he might fear the practicability
or the safety of a general government. He received the resolutions
from the hands of Paul Revere, a brass-founder by occupation, a
man of sense and character and of high public spirit, whom the
mechanics of Boston ought never to forget. How many mechanics,
said Mr. Adams, were at the Green Dragon when the resolutions
were passed ? More sir, was the reply, than the Green Dragon
could hold. And where were the rest, Mr. Revere ? In the
streets, sir. And how many were in the streets ? More, sir,
than there are stars in the sky. " *

The influence, however, which the resolutions of these
mechanics had upon Mr. Adams has evidently been much
exaggerated in local tradition. The honest convictions of
so large and respectable an assemblage of the people un
doubtedly had weight with him ; but his acquiescence might
be more reasonably traced to the " Conciliatory Proposi
tions," as he himself first named them, though even
such amendments were not absolutely necessary to secure
his vote. We have only to look at his seconding of the prop
ositions upon their introduction, and his speeches thereupon
in favor of adopting the Constitution, to see that the one
and only thing which had kept him back was the desire for
amendments.

These propositions, which came out on the last day of
January, consisted of nine amendments ; reserving to the
several States all powers not expressly delegated to Con
gress ; altering the basis of representation ; restricting the
powers of taxation, and the granting of commercial monopo
lies by Congress ; providing for grand jury indictments in
capital trials ; limiting the jurisdiction of the Federal courts
in cases between the citizens of different States, and prescrib
ing the right of trial by jury in such cases. This embraces

1 Webster s Works, I. 303.

262 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1788.

all the points which Mr. Adams had already raised in ob
jection. That he had been previously consulted as to the
.substance of these amendments, and that they had been
prepared partly with reference to his expressed ideas, is
highly probable. Whatever intentions Parsons and his
friends may have had, as to-- bringing over Hancock by
means of the propositions, Adams attached importance to
them for their harmonizing influence in this Convention
as well as in those of other States. That he was prepared
to advocate them is also apparent ; for, as if by preconcert,
he immediately arose, and, having heartily indorsed them,
moved for their consideration by the Convention. In his
remarks on this occasion, he very plainly specifies what his
own objections had been, and the effects likely to be pro
duced by the proposed amendments. Addressing the chair,
he said :

" I feel myself happy in contemplating the idea that many bene
fits will result from your Excellency s conciliatory proposition to
the Commonwealth and to the United States ; and I think it ought
to precede the motion made by the gentlemen from Newburyport,
and to be at this time considered by the Convention. I have said
that I had my doubts of this Constitution. I could not digest every
part as readily as some gentlemen ; but this, sir, is my misfortune,
not my fault. Other gentlemen have had their doubts ; but, in my
opinion, the proposition submitted will have a tendency to remove
such doubts, and to conciliate the minds of the Convention and the
people without doors. This subject, sir, is of the greatest magni
tude, and has employed the attention of every rational man in the
United States ; but the minds of the people are not so well agreed
on it as all of us could wish. A proposal of this sort, coming from
Massachusetts, from her importance will have its weight. Four
or five States have considered and ratified the Constitution as it
stands ; but we know there is a diversity of opinion, even in these
States, and one of them- is greatly agitated. If this Convention
should particularize the amendments necessary to be proposed, it
appears to me it must have weight in other States, where Conven
tions have not yet met. I have observed the sentiments of gentle-

1788.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 263

men on the subject as far as Virginia, and I have found that the
objections were similar in the newspapers and in some of the Con
ventions. Considering these circumstances, it appears to me that
such a measure will have the most salutary effect throughout the
Union. It is of the greatest importance that America should still be
united in sentiment. I think I have riot heretofore been unmindful
of the advantage of such an union. It is essential that the people
should be united in the Federal government to withstand the com
mon enemy, and to preserve their valuable rights and liberties.
We find in the great State of Pennsylvania one third of the Con
vention are opposed to it. Should, then, there be large majorities in
the several States^, I should fear the consequences of such disunion.

" Sir, there are many parts of it I esteem as highly valuable,
particularly the article which empowers Congress to regulate com
merce, to form treaties, &c. For want of this power in our national
head, our friends are grieved and our enemies insult us. Our am
bassador at the Court of London is considered as a mere cipher,
instead of the representative of the United States. Therefore it
appears to me that a power to remedy this evil should be given to
Congress, and the remedy applied as soon as possible.

" The only difficulty on gentlemen s minds is, whether it is best
to accept this Constitution on conditional amendments, or rely on
amendments in future, as the Constitution provides. When I look
over the article which provides for a revision, I have my doubts.
Suppose, sir, nine States accept the Constitution without any condi
tions at all, and the four States should wish to have amendments,
where will you find nine States to propose, and the Legislatures of
nine States to agree to the introduction of amendments. Therefore
it seems to me that the expectation of amendments taking place at
any future time will be frustrated. This method, if we take it, will
be the most likely to bring about the amendments, as the Conventions
of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, Maryland, Virginia,
and South Carolina have not yet met. I apprehend, sir, that these
States will be influenced by the proposition which your Excellency-
has submitted, as the resolutions of Massachusetts have ever had
their influence. If this should be the case, the necessary amend
ments would be introduced more early and more safely. From
these considerations, as your Excellency did not think it proper to
make a motion, with submission I move that the paper read by your

264 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1788.

Excellency be now taken under consideration by the Conven
tion."

This motion having been seconded, and the proposition
submitted to a special committee, and again placed before
the Convention, another week of debate ensued, in which
the eloquence of Fisher Ames was particularly conspicuous
in support of the Constitution. Mr. Adams took up the
proposed amendments the day after their introduction, and
considered their bearing upon the points in objection, and
argued that these propositions would prove much more effec
tual in reconciling the country at large to the Constitution
than the clause in that instrument providing for future re
vision. By plain matter-of-fact statements, he endeavored
to remove the objections of members. He was convinced
that the passage of the Constitution, with the proposed
amendments by this Convention, would alone secure its
acceptance by the nation. In fact, this speech, brief and
condensed as it is, affords a complete index to the opinions
of Mr. Adams on the Constitution. A curious feature of it
is his evident desire to encourage the general idea of Han
cock s origination of the amendments. Their success de
pended mainly on the popular supposition that the Governor
had presented his own views and suggestions, and Adams
constantly speaks of them as " your Excellency s proposi
tions."

"As your Excellency was pleased yesterday to offer for the con
sideration of this Convention certain propositions intended to accom
pany the ratification of the Constitution before us, I did myself the
honor to bring them forward by a regular motion, not only from the
respect due to your Excellency, but from a clear conviction in my
own mind that they would tend to effect the salutary and important
purposes which you had in view, * the removing the fears and qui
eting the apprehensions of many of the good people of this Com
monwealth, and the more effectually guarding against an undue
administration of the Federal government.

" I beg leave, sir, more particularly to consider those proposi
tions, and in a very few words to express my own opinion that they

1788.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 265

must have a strong tendency to ease the minds of gentlemen who
wish for the immediate operation of some essential parts of the pro
posed Constitution, as well as the most speedy and effectual means
of obtaining alterations in some other parts of it, which they are
solicitous should be made. I will not repeat the reasons I offered,
when the motion was made, which convinced me that the measure
now under consideration will have a more speedy as well as a more
certain influence in effecting the purpose last mentioned than the
measures proposed in the Constitution before us.

" Your Excellency s first proposition is, that it be explicitly de
clared that all powers not expressly delegated to Congress are re
served to the several States, to be by them exercised. This appears
to my mind to be a summary of a bill of rights which gentlemen are
anxious to obtain. It removes a doubt which many have entertained
respecting the matter, and gives assurance that, if any law made
by the Federal government shall be extended beyond the power
granted by the proposed Constitution, and inconsistent with the
Constitution of this State, it will be an error, and adjudged by the
courts of law to be void. It is consonant with the second article
in the present confederation, that each State retains its sovereignty,
freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right
which is not by the confederation expressly delegated to the United
States in Congress assembled. I have long considered the watch
fulness of the people over the conduct of their rulers the strongest
guard against the encroachments of power ; and I hope the people
of this country will always be thus watchful.

" Another of your Excellency s propositions is calculated to quiet
the apprehensions of gentlemen, lest Congress should exercise an
unreasonable control over the State Legislatures with regard to the
time, place, and manner of holding elections, which, by the fourth
section of the first article, are to be prescribed in each State by the
Legislature thereof, subject to the control of Congress. I have had
my fears lest this control should infringe the freedom of elections,
which ought ever to be held sacred. Gentlemen who have objected
to this controlling power in Congress have expressed their wishes
that it had been restricted to such States as may neglect or refuse
that power vested in them, and to be exercised by them if they
please. Your Excellency proposes, in substance, the same restric
tion which, I should think, cannot but meet with their full approba
tion.

266 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1788.

" The power to be given to Congress to lay and collect taxes, du
ties, imposts, and excises has alarmed the minds of some gentlemen.
They tell you, sir, that the exercise of the power of laying and col
lecting direct taxes might greatly distress the several States, and
render them incapable of raising moneys for the payment of their
respective State debts, or for any purpose. They say the impost and
excise may be made adequate to the public emergencies in the time
of peace, and ask why the laying of direct taxes may not be confined
to a time of war. You are pleased to propose to us that it be a
recommendation that 4 Congress do not lay direct taxes, but when
the moneys arising from the impost and excise shall be insufficient
for the public exigencies. The prospect of approaching war might
necessarily create an expense beyond the productions of impost and
excise. How, then, would the government have the necessary means
of providing for the public defence? Must they not have recourse to
resources besides impost and excise ? The people, while they watch
for their own safety, must and will have a just confidence in a Leg
islature of their own election. The approach of war is seldom, if
ever, without observation. It is generally observed by the people
at large ; and I believe no Legislature of a free country would ven
ture a measure which would directly touch the purses of the people
under a mere pretence, or unless they could show to the people s
satisfaction that there had in fact been a real public exigency to
justify it.

" Your Excellency s next proposition is to introduce the indictment
of a grand jury, before any person shall be tried for any crime by
which he may incur infamous punishment or the loss of life ; and it
is followed by another, which recommends a trial by jury in civil
actions between citizens of different States, if either of the parties
shall request it. These and several others, which I have not men
tioned, are so evidently beneficial as to need no comment of mine ;
and they are all, in every particular, of so general a nature, and so
equally interesting to every State, that I cannot but persuade myself
to think they would all readily join with us in the measure pro
posed by your Excellency, if we should now adopt it. Gentlemen
may make additional propositions, if they see fit. It is presumed
that we shall exercise candor towards each other, and that whilst,
on the one hand, gentlemen will cheerfully agree to any proposition
intended to promote a general union which may not be inconsistent

1788.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 267

with their own mature judgment, others will avoid the making such
as may be needless or tend to embarrass the minds of the people of
this Commonwealth and our sister States, and thereby not only frus
trate your Excellency s wise intention, but endanger the loss of that
degree of reputation which, I flatter myself, this Commonwealth has
justly sustained."

After the propositions had been a few days under discus
sion, Mr. Adams embodied in a resolution, to be added to
the first article, some further amendments which suggested
themselves to him as essential.

" And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize
Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of
conscience ; or to prevent the people of the United States who are
peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms ; or to raise stand
ing armies, unless when necessary for the defence of the United
States, or of some one or more of them ; or to prevent the people
from petitioning, in a peaceable and orderly manner, the Federal
Legislature for a redress of grievances ; or to subject the people to
unreasonable searches and seizures of their persons, papers, or pos
sessions."

These were long debated, but the journal makes no report
of the arguments, merely adding that, " not meeting with
the approbation of those gentlemen whose minds they were
intended to ease, the honorable gentleman withdrew them."
The only ground upon which reasonably to account for the
rejection of these precious principles of human liberty is,
that the original propositions being now under debate, and
the acceptance of the Constitution, even with that recom
mendation, being still doubtful, it was judged hazardous to
hamper the main issue with further conditions. The wis
dom of all these amendments, some of which had been
canvassed in other States, was apparent when most of them
were accepted by the nation ; the first, third, sixth, sev
enth, and eighth clauses of the " Conciliatory Propositions "
being adopted as articles in the amendments to the United
States Constitution ; while the whole of Mr. Adams s reso-

268 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1788.

lutions, above quoted, now form the first, second, third, and
fourth articles.

Several prominent members of the Convention objected
to the clause for the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus,
that it did not, as in the Massachusetts Constitution, limit
the time. Mr. Adams evidently acquiesced in this impor
tant power, as now delegated for the preservation of the
general government ; for, in replying to the inquiries of a
member on that subject, he explained that this power, given
to the Federal Legislature to suspend the habeas corpus in
cases of rebellion or invasion, did not deprive the several
States of the exercise of that power within their own limits.
In this he was entirely consistent, having a year before
pressed upon the Legislature a suspension of the writ dur
ing Shays s rebellion. In the discussion of the section rela
tive to the slave-trade, which the reporter of the debates has
unfortunately abridged, it was considered by some that the
prohibition of that traffic after the year 1808 was " one of
the beauties of the Constitution, as a step towards the aboli
tion of slavery." Others opposed it, preferring a clause for
the immediate prevention of the slave-trade. Mr. Adams
was among those who " rejoiced that a door was now to be
opened for the annihilation of this odious, abhorrent prac
tice in a certain time." Those who occupied this ground
are represented as the opposite of a party who were in favor
of eventually emancipating slaves by some special provision
in the Constitution.

With all the harmonizing influence of the " Conciliatory
Propositions," the Constitution narrowly escaped defeat, hav
ing passed by a majority of only nineteen out of three hun
dred and fifty-five votes. In Massachusetts, New York,
Pennsylvania, and Virginia a majority in its favor was very
doubtful; and had the question been decided by a direct
popular vote, it must have been rejected, such was the gen
eral prejudice against it. Aware of this, Mr. Adams and
others who urged the adoption of the " Conciliatory Proposi-

1788.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 269

tions " could not have devised a plan of more consummate
wisdom than this ; for it must be inferred, from the small
majority the Constitution finally received, that, had debate
been silenced, and the question hurried to a vote early in
the session, as was once attempted, not all the efforts of Ad-
arns and Hancock, and all its eloquent advocates, could have
saved it. Adams intimated to the Convention his belief
that, with the proposed amendments, a general acquiescence
among the other States was probable ; and the result verified
his conjecture. Only two of the States adopted the Con
stitution after Massachusetts without recommending simi
lar amendments for the future consideration of Congress.
Whether, in case of a failure, another Federal Convention
would have succeeded in creating a system combining the
checks and balances necessary for the cohesion of a vast
republic such as ours, or whether America could ever have
advanced to its subsequent glory and power under any
other form, are profound questions as yet beyond mortal
solution.

In glancing back over the course and opinions of Samuel
Adams in this interesting period of our national history, we
find him actuated by a high, patriotic consciousness of duty,
untainted by a single consideration of selfishness or sectional
feeling. If he is thought to have erred in judgment, it must
be remembered that he could not know the future. Repub
lican institutions were yet on trial, and no precedent offered
as a guide. Patriot statesmen could only reason upon the
great principl^s^of human freedom, apply them to the cir
cumstances of the times, and adapt them to the genius of
the people. The great and the wise cherished their own
peculiar views of government, which they desired to frame
upon the surest foundations. Adams, though he at first
feared for the permanency of a national union which seemed
totally to extinguish the sovereignty of the States, had been
by no means opposed to the entire Constitution, even before
the proposed amendments were offered ; but he then be-

270 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1778.

lieved that it was an instrument too defective in its original
shape to long sustain the liberties of America. He saw also
the necessity of its adoption with such amendments as would
render it acceptable to the whole country. He delayed giv
ing it his assent earlier in the Convention, with the hope
that some such amendments would be introduced. The
difference between the views of Adams and those of Par
sons, Cabot, and other special advocates of the Constitution,
as originally submitted, was, that the latter appear to have
urged its adoption unconditionally up to the time of the
" Conciliatory Propositions," apprehending that, though it
had defects, it was better to accept it, and trust to the clause
providing for future amendments, rather than imperil the
whole ; while Adams, fearing that the amendments could not
be easily effected after the instrument had been adopted,
desired to have them settled at once and definitely. There
should be nothing left to inference, which might renew in
another form and for another generation momentous ques
tions similar to those which he had so often contested with
the crown writers, and upon which was founded the memo
rable controversy with Governor Hutchinson in the winter
of 1773. His thoughts on this subject have already been
given in his speech to the Convention. He had confidence
enough in that body to believe that nothing would be lost by
delaying decisive action, until amendments could be brought
forward. The Constitution, as originally framed, was dis
tasteful to numbers in the general Convention of 1787, but
for very different reasons. Hamilton and Morris, after vainly
laboring to make the foundation of the instrument a life ten
ure of office for the President and Senate, had reluctantly
assented to it in the present form, rather than risk a failure.
Franklin objected to it for its lack of simplicity. He pro
posed an Executive without a salary, and a Legislature of
a single body. In the end, these adverse elements harmo
nized, and the Constitution went forth as perfect a form of
government as the world has ever seen, and, in fact, the only

1788.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 271

plan upon which the members could have agreed. Hamil
ton and Madison immediately became its able and eloquent
advocates in " The Federalist," assisted by Jay, who had not
been a member ; and their joint efforts were all-powerful in
dispelling popular objections and securing its adoption in
several of the State Conventions. Upon similar considera
tions Mr. Adams would have voted for it in the Massachu
setts Convention under any and all circumstances, and would
have influenced others in the same direction. Most of his
doubts were shared by Jefferson, who wrote to that effect
from Paris ; and the amendments which Jefferson desired
he afterwards admitted were fully met by the Massachusetts
propositions, the first of which that relating to the re
served rights of States supplied, in his opinion, the vital
absence of a bill of rights, which, he said, was what " the
people were entitled to against every government on earth,
general or particular, and what no just government should
refuse or rest on inference." Adams had already said that
this amendment appeared to him " to be a summary of a
bill of rights." The necessity of this was generally recog
nized, and was recommended as an amendment to the Con
stitution by the Conventions of Virginia, New York, North
Carolina, and Rhode Island.

The adoption of the amendments by Congress was a sub
ject of great anxiety with him for many months, until they
were finally added to the Constitution. His apprehensions,
as to lessening the importance of each State by the exercise
of the Federal authority over their local affairs, and thus
reducing them to the condition of mere corporations, are ap
parent in his writings in 1789. To extend a single power,
without the requisite safeguards, over such a variety of cli
mate and a people so diverse in character would, he feared,
sooner or later lead to national calamity. Without a plain
discrimination at the outset between these authorities, and
a definition of their respective forces, the States could not
long continue to revolve harmoniously around the central

272 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1788.

power. Dissatisfied ones would wander from their orbits,
and a federative union be eventually destroyed by the very
means intended for its perpetuation.

In a letter to Elbridge Gerry, who was then in Congress,
written while the proposed amendments were pending, he
says :

" I hope Congress, before they adjourn, will take into very serious
consideration the necessary amendments to the Constitution. Those
whom I call the best, the most judicious and disinterested Federal
ists, who wish for the perpetual union, liberty, and happiness of the
States and their respective citizens, many of them, if not all, are
anxiously expecting them. They wish to see a line drawn as clearly
as may be between the Federal powers vested in Congress and the
distinct sovereignty of the several States, upon which the private
and personal rights of the citizens depend. Without such distinc
tion, there will be danger of the Constitution issuing imperceptibly
and gradually into a consolidated government over all the States,
which, although it may be wished for by some, was reprobated in
the idea by the highest advocates of the Constitution, as it stood
without amendments. I am fully persuaded that the people of the
United States, living in different climates, being of different educa
tion and manners, and possessed of different habits and feelings,
under one consolidated government, cannot long remain free, or in
deed contented, under any kind of government but despotisi ."

He wrote to Richard Henry Lee :

" You must not expect that I shall be even with you upon the
epistolary score, for the reason which I have heretofore given you.
I wish to know from you the state of Federal affairs as often as
your leisure may admit. We organize our State governments,
and I heartily wish that their authority and dignity may be pre
served within their several jurisdictions as far as may be consistent
with the purposes for which the Federal government is designed.
They are, in my opinion, petit politicians who would wish to lessen
the due weight of the State governments ; for I think the Fed
eral must depend upon the influence of these to carry their laws
into effect; and while those laws have for their sole object the

1788.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 273

promoting the purposes of the Federal Union, there is reason to
expect they will have the due support of the State authorities." l

And again to Lee :

" I have always been apprehensive that, through the weakness
of the human mind, often discovered in the wisest and best of men,
or the perverseness of the interested and designing, in as well as out
of government, misconstructions would be given to the Federal Con
stitution, which would disappoint the views and expectations of the
honest among those who acceded to it, and hazard the liberty, inde
pendence, and happiness of the people. I was particularly afraid
that, unless great care should be taken to prevent it, the Consti
tution, in the administration of it, would gradually, but swiftly and
imperceptibly, run into a consolidated government, pervading and
legislating through all the States ; not for Federal purposes only, as
it professes, but in all cases whatsoever. Such a government would
soon totally annihilate the sovereignty of the several States, so ne
cessary to the support of the confederated commonwealth, and sink
both in despotism. I know these have been called vulgar opin
ions and prejudices. Be it so. I think it is Lord Shaftesbury who
tells us that it is folly to despise the opinions of the vulgar. This
aphorism, if indeed it is his, I eagerly caught from a nobleman many
years ago whose writings, in some accounts, I never much admired.
Should a strong federalist, as some call themselves, see what has
now dropped from my pen, he would say that I am an Anti-Fed, an
amendment-monger, &c. Those are truly vulgar terms, invented
and used by some whose feelings would be sorely wounded to be
ranked among such kind of men, and invented and used for the
mean purpose of deceiving and entrapping others whom they call
the vulgar. But in this enlightened age, one would think there was
no such vulgar to be thus amused and ensnared.

" I mean, my friend, to let you know how deeply I am impressed
with the sense of the importance of amendments ; that the good
people may clearly see the distinction for there is a distinction
between the Federal powers vested in Congress and the sovereign
authority belonging to the several States, which is the palladium of
the private and personal rights of the citizens. I freely protest to
you, that I earnestly wish some amendments may be judiciously and

1 S. Adams to R. H. Lee, July 14, 1789.
VOL. in. 18

274 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1788.

deliberately made, without partial or local considerations, that there
may be no uncomfortable jarrings among the several powers ; that
the whole people may in every State contemplate their own safety
on solid grounds, and the union of the States be perpetual." 1

None of Mr. Adams s letters, if any were written, on the
immediate subject of the Constitution have come to light of
a date later than 1T89. The adoption by Congress of the
amendments rendered the instrument satisfactory to him.
He was ever a consistent and unvarying supporter of the
Federal system of government, though not always of partic
ular measures of administration, and was watchful against
any infringement by Federal or State authorities upon each
other, as equally dangerous to mutual safety. Eliot, who saw
much of him towards the close of his life, says : " It was a
favorite expression, which he often gave as a toast in public
companies and private circles, The States united and the
States separate.

In his public address while Governor of Massachusetts, we
find Adams repeatedly enjoining an obedience to the Fed
eral Constitution and the State Commonwealth as distinct
but correlative authorities. That doctrine was entertained
by many wise and patriotic statesmen, whose anxiety for the
integrity of the Union cannot be questioned. It was founded
on the essential principles of the long struggle for human
rights to which they had devoted their lives and fortunes.
The sophistry of treason, enveloping the subject in a cloud
of false reasoning, has yet to be entirely dissipated by the
light of truth. The original theory was seized upon as a
plausible pretext for the late Rebellion, until what was once
the shining palladium of civil liberty became the badge of
disunion for the overthrow of popular government. The
doctrine of State rights as enunciated by the Revolutionary
fathers, with all its solicitude for the inviolable preservation
of State sovereignty in the administration of local govern
ment, asserted with equal positiveness the supremacy of the

1 S. Adams to K. H. Lee, Aug. 24, 1789.

1788.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 275

Federal power for all the purposes of nationality. But as
construed in after years by the leaders of rebellion, it estab
lished the entire sovereignty of the States, not only in local,
but in general affairs, and the consequent right of destroy
ing the Union at pleasure. The one viewed the Constitu
tion as a bond of perpetual union and common protection ;
the other considered it a mere league of States, to be broken
at the will of any member. The Constitution was originally
regarded as a means of giving America greater coherence
than was afforded by the Articles of Confederation ; accord
ing to the later arguments of treason, it reserved to rebels
the right of remanding the country back into the chaotic
helplessness of the old system. The one cheerfully admitted
the power of declaring war and making treaties, as stipu
lated in the Constitution, to reside solely in the Federal
head ; the other, ignoring the express renunciation of that
power, claimed for the States attributes which are purely
national. The wide gulf between these interpretations of
the Federal and State powers reaches to the very foundation
of the American structure ; and it is now that the great
objects of our mixed system of government should be placed
beyond the contingency of future convulsions. The princi
ple of State rights is indestructible ; but its limitation to the
specific purpose of State legislation must be established as
the arc of American liberty. But with all this treasonable
distortion of their maxims, the great advocates of State
rights require no apology. Their opinions may be fear
lessly held up to the view of posterity ; they are on record,
and there they must remain forever. In reality these issues
were a natural consequence of the principles with which the
Revolution commenced. The doctrine of State rights was
a continuation of the old pre-Revolutionary line drawn be
tween the general rights claimed under the British Consti
tution and those special privileges which were guaranteed
by the Provincial charters : the one extending over all parts
of the King s dominions, the other relating exclusively to

276 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1788.

the internal affairs of the Provinces. Each might work har
moniously in its appropriate sphere, but discord and ruin
would come of any infringement by the stronger upon the
weaker. The Colonies all cheerfully acknowledged obedi
ence to the British Constitution ; but their local constitu
tions or charters, proceeding direct from the Crown, were
not less sacred, and the rights vested in them were claimed
as being independent of any other power. The deliberate
violation of those charters by Parliament had produced
the Revolutionary war and the dismemberment of the Brit
ish empire. Experience was now the only guide, and the
patriots might well recur to the past and to original prin
ciples.

On taking the oath as Lieutenant-Governor in 1790, Mr.
Adams particularly expresses his idea of a union of alle
giance to the Federal and State authorities, and it is defined
in almost all his inaugurals. Even his Fast proclamations
are occasionally made the vehicles for reasserting this prin
ciple. Collectively these instances plainly prove his anxiety
for the perpetual integrity of the Federal union, and to that
end for the preservation of the proper balances in the several
State governments. He was reviled and subjected to party
rancor in his declining years for these opinions, which, how
ever, no considerations of political fashion or popularity
could alter. And yet, if we may judge by the published
correspondence of some of the ultra Federalists of the day,
the century had hardly closed before they began to doubt
the permanency of republican institutions, and longed for
such changes as would check the expansion of democracy in
the American government.

CHAPTER LXI.

Congressional Election in Massachusetts. Adams a Candidate. Is assailed
as Old and Anti-Federal. Efforts of Friends in his Favor. Is defeated
by Fisher Ames. Party Distinctions. " Anti-Federalism " merely a
Political Epithet. The Federalists and Republicans equally desirous of
National Union. Gubernatorial Campaign. The " Laco " Essays.
Hancock and Adams elected. Duties and Emoluments of the Lieutenant-
Governor. His Inaugural Addresses. His high Estimation of Wash
ington. His Declaration as to Federal and State Authorities. Reminis
cences of him by Dr. Waterhouse and Brissot de Warville. He discoun
tenances Theatrical Exhibitions.

TOWARDS the close of 1788, the Federal Constitution hav
ing been accepted by all but two States, the elections for
Congress took place in Massachusetts ; and Mr. Adams^now
claimed equally by Federalists and Anti-Fed ft relists, or
Republicans, as the latter_sooii denominated themselves,
b^rnTm 5 anvpriirlrito for the natirmal House of Representa-
tives. He had repeatedly declined that position after his
-imah^eturn from Philadelphia, in 1781, when elected to it by
the Legislature ; but the importance of the position, under
the new government, may have induced him to again look
towards it as a means of serving his country. But though
voted for by some of both parties, he was the exclusive
candidate of neither. Between them, his friends appear to
have made a strong effort in his behalf. The newspapers,
just before the election, contain many articles reminding the
public how much they were indebted to him, among all the
old patriots, for the benefits of the free institutions resulting
from the Revolution. One writer says :

" The uniform character which this gentleman has sustained, dur
ing a long course of severe trials, must ever endear him to his coun
trymen. His firmness in support of his principles must readily
convince every man that he was not guided by sinister views, as it
was in his power at those periods to have secured to himself the

278 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1788.

most liberal bounties of the British nation. The integrity of this
patriot has often been conspicuous in times the most perilous, when
even many of the friends of America dared but to whisper their
political sentiments. At those times how often have we admired
the zeal of this veteran, when asserting the liberties of his country
in opposition to the arbitrary acts of the British Parliament, the ma
lignity of a band of Tories, and the threats of a mercenary soldiery !
" The enemies of this gentleman, we know, are many ; but the
friends to liberty, we trust, remain his friends ; and, provided they
now unite in their choice of this great and good man, they will have
the glory of introducing this patriot into our new government among
other worthy characters, who early stood forth in vindication of the
injured rights of this country, and resolutely pursued those measures
which matured our national independence. By this conduct we shall
convince the world that we still adhere to our old principles, not
withstanding the attempts of some individuals to quench every spark
of real republicanism. While we are careful to introduce to our
Federal Legislature the American Fabius, let us not be unmindful
of the American Cato."

Another says :

" It is but too true that a prophet is without honor in his own
country ; but there is scarce another spot in the globe where the
actions of this great and good man are not celebrated. From youth
to manhood, and from thence to old age, he has been a decided friend
to the rights of mankind. Whenever he has promised, he hath not
deceived ; and I now challenge the greatest among his enemies (if
real enemies can be found to this gentleman in America) to step for
ward and point either to the conduct or the moment wherein he has
once deviated from that steady attachment for the people of this
country. So early as 1760 he distinguished himself for his oppo
sition to Great Britain, and in the cabinet took a very active part
against the king s governors, Bernard and Hutchinson. His pen
was always conspicuous in the controversies between the General
Assembly and those gentlemen ; and with a few others, and but a
few, to support him, he beat them from the field. As the opposition
became more serious, his abilities and perseverance became more
brilliant ; and in almost every important Assembly from that day to
the present, he has not only been a member, but in it a man of atten-

1788.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 279

tion and business. America, in her darkest periods, ever found him
forward and near the helm, and for her sake he with cheerfulness
for seven years served her with a halter about his neck. Naked he
went into her employ, and naked he came out of it."

It seems strange that any contemporary of Samuel Adams
(and this last writer was evidently some intimate friend, who
had been near him during the Revolution) should have felt
obliged to remind the people of Boston and vicinity of his
claims on the gratitude of his country ; but new men had
come up in the last ten years, and new issues occupied the
public mind. Adams himself had long before been willing
that younger and fresher talents should take the field ; and
it was with the belief that his counsels might aid in organ
izing the new government, rather than any ambition for
preferment, that he consented to become a candidate. A
writer in the Sentinel had published some disparaging re
marks on both Otis and Adams. One who seems to have
fought under their leadership says in reply :

" Twenty years have I been acquainted with Mr. Adams and Mr.
Otis. I know them in their public and in their private characters,
and have trodden the thorny path of politics with both. Mr. Adams
needs no eulogium upon his reputation ; his name is sufficiently re
spected, and his patriotism universally known. Every man in the
community would be glad that the decline of his life may be rendered
easy and agreeable by a permanent appointment at home, which he
will undoubtedly obtain from the new government."

" He is the poor man s friend," says another, " and if he has a
prejudice in his politics, it leans to the rights and privileges of the
common people. It has been said he is old and Anti-Federal. My
fellow-citizens, be not deceived. His age and experience are the
very qualifications you want. His influence caused the Constitution
to be adopted in this State ; and if he fails to give it his support for
a fair trial, remember it will be the first time he ever failed you.
In forty years he has never deceived you. In times of more con
sequence than the present he has proved true."

Still another writes :

280 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1788.

"Aristides, surnamed the Just, was banished by the people he
had saved ; Cato was persecuted by his countrymen in Rome : but
those were times when liberty was not thoroughly understood, and
before the benefits of even the art of printing was thought of. But
neither of these would be so extraordinary as that the Hon. Samuel
Adams should be neglected and borne down by a party in that town
the inhabitants of which he has preserved from massacre and rapine.
.... If there ever was a great and good man persecuted and
reviled, Mr. Adams has been the man." l

These notices appear to have come from those who had
personally served with him. It was right that the remem
brance of former days should have weight now ; and that,
after the toils of many years and the restoration of peace,
the principal characters of the great contest should assume
the direction of the public affairs which, in dark and stormy
times, they had so successfully managed. The efforts of his
friends, however, were unavailing ; the election resulted in
favor of Fisher Ames, a young lawyer, now in his thirty-first
year, whose eloquence, both at the bar and in debates on
public occasions, particularly in advocating the Constitu
tion in the late Convention, had already given him political
prominence. There were many who saw in this an ungrate
ful forge tf ulness of the distinguished services of Samuel Ad
ams. The divisions which had arisen on the adoption of the
Constitution had increased in virulence. The Federalists
claimed the accomplishment of the great measure as the re
sult of their own labors against disorganizes and enemies to
government, an extreme assertion, for which even the ex
cess of partisan rancor can afford no excuse. That some
impracticable theorists had been radically opposed to the
Constitution, both in the Federal and State Conventions,
cannot be doubted. Many were hostile to the federative
principle in any form, absurdly contending that each sover
eign State could properly legislate for its own external as
well as local affairs. These were truly " Anti-Federalists,"

1 Independent Chronicle, December 11, 18, 1788.

1788.] v LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 281

and among them were found men of unquestioned ability.
But to class with them the large and respectable party ex
tending through the entire country, North and South, who
honestly deemed certain amendments essential to the ulti
mate success of the new plan of government, was an injus
tice which nothing but shrewd political management could
so long have maintained. Partisan strategy, employing the
powerful weapon of odious epithets, was then as strong as at
any subsequent period in American history, and was as art
fully used. The reconstruction of the States under a new
system opened inviting fields for official preferment, for the
acquisition of which politicians were then, as now, not over
scrupulous. Hence the opposing parties which sprang up
with the question of a Federal Constitution formed them
selves after the adoption of that instrument upon grounds
existing only in name. The dominant party, holding most
of the offices of honor and profit, easily affixed the stigma of
" Anti-Federalism " indiscriminately upon all who stood out
side of their lines, even those whose indorsement of the
Constitution had been only withheld until amendments were
adopted in the State Conventions. When, as was shortly
the case, these amendments were sanctioned by Congress,
the agitations on that particular subject should have ceased.
Practically, all were thenceforth Federalists, at least in the
recognition of a national legislative head. The only points
of variance were theoretical, as to the distinction to be
preserved between the Federal and State authorities. But
the reputation of having even recommended amendments was
eagerly seized upon and used to stigmatize their opponents
by a school of politicians who now rose into power. Even
the stoical equanimity of Mr. Adams was not entirely proof
against this wholesale injustice, as we have seen by his letter
to Richard Henry Lee on the subject. The greatest Revo
lutionary sacrifices were ignored. 1 Elbridge Gerry, who

1 About this time an anonymous letter was thrown over his garden wall,
warning Mr. Adams against the intentions of certain parties who were watch-

282 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [178.9.

appears to have particularly felt this political proscription,
wrote to one of his friends :

"The vigilant enemies of free government have heen long in
the execution of their plan to hunt down all who remain attached
to Revolution principles. They have attacked us in detail, and
have deprived you, Mr. Samuel Adams, and myself in a great meas
ure of that public confidence to which a faithful attachment to the
public interest entitles us; and they are now aiming to throw
Mr. Hancock out of the saddle, who, with all his foibles, is yet
attached to the Whig cause. There seems to be a disposition in the
dominant party to establish a nobility of opinion, under whose control,
in a short time, will be placed the government of the Union and of
the States, and whose insufferable arrogance marks out for degrada
tion all who will not submit to their authority. It is beginning to
be fashionable to consider the opponents of the Constitution as em
bodying themselves with the lower classes of the people ; and that one
forfeits all title to the respect of a gentleman, unless he is one of
the privileged order. Is this, my friend, to be the operation of the
free government which all our labors in the Revolution have tended
to produce ? "

In the spring of 1789 the reconcilation between Adams
and Hancock, which had taken place socially in 1787, be
came of political significance, and their names were now
brought forward together for the two leading offices of the
Commonwealth. Their long alienation had been the foun
dation of wide-reaching enmities among their friends, that is,
among the most influential men in Massachusetts. Taken
in connection with other questions, it had helped to deter-

ing him, and, unless he changed his political course, were determined to assas
sinate him. The writer professed to be actuated by personal esteem for Mr.
Adams and by friendship for his late son; and added that the intelligence
was given at his own personal peril. On the back of the missive, in Mr. Ad
ams s handwriting, is the following : " This letter was found this morning in
my yard, and immediately brought to me by my servant " ; and then follow
some contemptuous observations revealing a spark of the old Revolutionary
fire. He concludes that little is to be feared from secret conspirators, who, if
they really intended to assail him, dared only to do so in the dark. Neither
the informant nor the conspirators were ever again heard from.

1789.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 283

mine local politics in Boston, and only gave place to the
more absorbing State issues raised by Shays s rebellion,
which, iii turn, at the close of the insurrection, were soon
merged in the grand question of a stronger Federal govern
ment. This union of the two chiefs was therefore a matter
of much public interest, the more so as the relative impor
tance of their respective Revolutionary services had lately
been the subject of a noted newspaper discussion. The cel
ebrated " Laco " endeavored to show, through the columns
of the Massachusetts Sentinel, that Hancock had wavered in
the most imminent crisis of the Revolution, and had, in
reality, only attained his prominence through the ability of
his colleagues, who had advanced him as a part of their
general political plan. These essays were penned in a sort
of indignant reply to some electioneering articles, in which
Hancock had been styled the " Saviour of his Country."
They were by far the most vigorously written pieces of the
time. If their author was ambitious of a local literary fame,
he was more than gratified ; though the evident personal
hostility to Hancock, which was not entirely concealed un
der the claim to impartiality and candor, is said to have in
creased the friends rather than the enemies of the Governor.
The office of Lieutenant-Governor had been filled succes
sively by Gushing and Lincoln since the organization of the
State government in 1780. The present election, on the
first Monday in April, resulted largely in favor of Hancock
and Adams, the latter having received in Boston twelve
hundred and nineteen votes, against Lincoln s six hundred
and seventeen. The public pleasure at seeing the two pro
scribed patriots and signers of the Declaration of Indepen
dence reconciled was testified in various ways, and the
election tickets, some of which are still preserved, bear
their names ingeniously printed in letters of gold. Perhaps,
too, the omission of Adams from any participation in the
national government, either by appointment or popular
election, had some weight in the result. Falsely branded

284 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

among his enemies as an " Anti-Federalist," he soon gained
the reputation of being opposed to any federal system, which
at a distance was easily distorted into a reputation for the
most absurd doctrines and a violent dislike of the exist
ing administration, when in reality it commanded his high
est respect and confidence. Such misrepresentations were
enough effectually to debar his appointment to any position
under the Federal government. Almost at the same time
with this election, Richard Henry Lee, the old pre-Revolu-
tionary friend of Samuel Adams, took his seat in Congress
as a member from Virginia ; and James Sullivan, writing to
him from Boston, says :

" Your arrival in Congress gives great satisfaction to the old
Revolutionists of this State. While I presume to congratulate you
on the subject, I wish to indulge myself in the pleasure of mention
ing the success of the supporters of your old friend, the Honorable
Samuel Adams. He has been exceedingly maltreated, or you would
now have had him by the hand in the Senate of the United States.
But the votes in our late elections, a sample whereof is exhibited in
the Gazette enclosed, will evince how much he lives in the esteem
of his fellow-citizens."

When taking the oath as Lieutenant-Governor, on the
27th of May, Mr. Adams preceded the act with some brief
remarks to the Legislature, a custom which he then
thought necessary, though he discontinued it after the fol
lowing year, while holding the office for successive terms.
His speech is thus reported :
" MR. PRESIDENT,

" I have been politely notified by a joint committee of the two
branches of the General Court that, having examined the returns
of the votes for a Lieutenant-Governor of the Commonwealth, it
appears that a majority of the electors have seen fit to give me their
suffrages.

" I am impressed with a warm sense of the honor done me, and
it is a pleasing reflection, in my own mind, that I have this testi
monial of the confidence of my countrymen, without my solicitation
or interference in any manner to obtain it.

1789.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 285

" I rejoice in the freedom of our elections ; and it affords me par
ticular satisfaction to be invited to take a share in government by
citizens possessed of the most lively feelings of natural and civil
liberty, and enlightened with the knowledge and true ends of civil
government, who, in conjunction with their sister States, have
gloriously contended for the rights of mankind, and given the world
another lesson, drawn from experience, that all countries may be
free, since it has pleased the righteous Governor of the universe to
smile upon their virtuous exertions, and crown them with indepen
dence and liberty.

" If it be not improper on this occasion, may I beg leave to ex
press a devout and fervent wish that gracious Heaven may guide
the public councils of the great confederated commonwealth, and the
several free and independent republics which compose it, so that
the people may be highly respected and prosperous in their affairs
abroad, and enjoy at home that tranquillity which results from a
well-grounded confidence that their personal and domestic rights
are secure.

" I feel, sir, a diffidence of my own abilities, and am anxious but
in certain events they may be found inadequate to the importance
of the duties I may be called to perform ; but relying on the aid of
Divine grace, and hoping for the justice, candor, and liberal senti
ments of the General Court and of my fellow-citizens at large, I
venture to accept the trust, and am now ready to be qualified in the
mode prescribed by the Constitution."

The duties of the Lieutenant-Governor were little more
than nominal, and no salary was attached to the office.
Gushing, while holding it, had received the emoluments
accruing from the command of the Castle in Boston har
bor. Upon Lincoln s election, in 1788, Governor Hancock
declined to appoint him to the command ; and when a ques
tion was raised in the Legislature as to the cause of this in
novation, which deprived a public office of the accustomed
salary, the Governor replied that he had the sole right to
appoint, and that it was for him to decide whether he would
have any one to command the Castle. The affair created
no little discussion in the public press. Hancock s treat-

286 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

ment of Lincoln was regarded as illiberal and unjust, and
was ascribed to personal motives. When Samuel Adams
was elected to this office, Hancock expressed to him his
intention to carry out this policy as to the salary. Adams,
as might have been expected, promptly declined receiving
wages for a sinecure, which the command of the Castle
certainly was ; although in August of the previous year,
when the expediency and legality of giving a salary to the
Lieutenant-Governor was under consideration in the Senate,
of which Adams was then President, he had opposed the ap
propriation, on the ground that already the emoluments of
the Castle were attached to the office. The subject was
finally settled by giving the Lieutenant-Governor a salary of
about five hundred dollars a year. This sum, with the in
significant fees arising from his membership of the Council,
constituted the entire public income of Mr. Adams for some
years.

Meantime the Federal Congress had met at New York,
and Washington and John Adams received the electoral
vote for President and Vice-President of the United States.
Before the close of the year, the most important of the
amendments to the Constitution recommended by the sev
eral State Conventions were adopted. In organizing the
new government, nothing seems to have been more closely
debated, both in the Senate and the House, than the Pres
ident s power of removing officers without the consent of
the Senate. Upon this point the ablest minds were divided ;
and though the disputed power was finally conferred by
small majorities, in principle it was displeasing to many
eminent men, more especially those who were known as hav
ing been originally opposed to an undue concentration of
power in the 1 Federal head. Mr. Adams, strictly construing
the Constitution, was among those who questioned the right
of Congress to confer any such powers, particularly when
not specified in that instrument. He wrote to Richard
Henry Lee on this subject :

1790.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

" The power of removing Federal officers at the pleasure of the
President is to be found in the Constitution, or it is not. If it is,
what need was there of an act or decision of Congress to authorize
it ? But if it is not, could Congress give so important a power ?
Liberty, this is the great object of their State governments ; and
has not the Federal Constitution the same object in view? If,
therefore, a doubt arises respecting the exercise of any power, no
construction, I conceive, should militate with the main design or
object of the charter. If there is a total silence in the Constitution,
is it not natural to conclude that an officer holding during pleasure
is removable by the same power that appointed him, whether vested
in a single person or a joint number ? I am sensible it is said that
a single person, being amenable for his exercise of power, will use
the utmost circumspection ; this may be true, but may not this idea
be carried too far in practice ? May not some powers vested in a
single man give him such weight and influence as to render any
restraint from his feeling himself amenable of little or no effect?
If this power, lodged in the discretion of a single person, will afford
a greater security against corruption, because of his amenability,
why should not the power of appointing as well as of removing
officers be given him ? In the one case the gracious hand may be
held forth, in the other the threatening rod; and both may be
used for improper purposes. In England, the king can do no
wrong, is a maxim. His ministers are made accountable for him ;
and how often have corrupt ministers been brought to the block for
follies and crimes committed by their royal masters, who can do no
wrong ? And it may also be asked, how often such ministers and
counsellors have found means to get themselves screened from ban
ishment through the influence of their masters by procuring Parlia
mentary sanctions to such crimes and follies.

" But in the removal of officers, the President has not a constitu
tional council ; he must, therefore, be solely accountable.

" I need not tell you, who have known so thoroughly the senti
ments of my heart, that I have always had a very high esteem for
the late Commander-in-Chief of our armies ; and I now most sin
cerely believe that, while President Washington continues in the
chair, he will be able to give to all good men a satisfactory reason
for every instance of his public conduct. I feel myself constrained,
contrary to my usual manner, to make professions of sincerity on

288 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

this occasion, because Dr. Gordon, in his history of the Revolution,
among many other anecdotes, innocent and trifling enough, has
gravely said that I was concerned in an attempt to remove General
Washington from command, and mentions an anonymous letter
written to your late Governor Henry, which I affirm I never saw
nor heard of till I lately met with it in reading the history. This is
a digression to which a man of my years is liable.

" Who will succeed the present President, for it is the lot of
man to die ? Perhaps the next and the next may inherit his vir
tues ; but, my friend, I fear the time will come when a bribe shall
remove the most excellent man from office for the purpose of mak
ing room for the worst. It will be called an error in judgment ;
the bribe will be concealed ; it may, however, be vehemently sus
pected; and who, in times* of great degeneracy, will venture to
search out and detect the corrupt practices of men ? Unless a suffi
cient check is provided and clearly ascertained for every power
given, will not the Constitution and the liberties of the citizens, for
want of such checks, be finally subverted ? " l

This objection was shared by the wisest men of the day.
With the lights then before them, the examples of history
as a guide, and the very genius of the people and of demo
cratic government opposed, as it seemed, to whatever was
likely to extend the executive power, they could hardly
think otherwise. Having renounced one government for
its aggressions on the popular rights, their own experience
warned them against any measure which might renew the
evil under a different name.

At the annual election in the spring of 1790, Hancock
and Adams were again chosen. Mr. Adams addressed the
Legislature, when he was sworn into office, and briefly ex
plained his idea of the allegiance due by the citizens to the
Federal and the State governments respectively.

"MR. PRESIDENT,

" Having been regularly informed that a majority of the late elect
ors in the several towns and districts within this Commonwealth
have honored me with their suffrages for the office of Lieutenant-

1 S. Adams to R. H. Lee, Boston, August 29, 1789.

1790.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 289

Governor, I now present myself before the two branches of the
General Court to be qualified as the Constitution directs. I do the
more readily obey this repeated call, because I cannot help flattering
myself that it has proceeded from a persuasion in the minds of my
fellow-citizens of the attachment of my heart to their rights and lib
erties, and my earnest desires that they may be perpetuated. My
fellow-citizens may be assured that I feel that attachment and the
strength of those desires. The first of my wishes, as they respect
this life, is for our country ; and the best of my feeble abilities shall
be ever employed for her prosperity.

" I shall presently be called upon by you, sir, as it is enjoined by
the Constitution, to make a declaration upon oath (and shall do
it with cheerfulness, because the injunction accords with my own
judgment and conscience) that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
is, and of right ought to be, a free, sovereign, and independent State.
I shall also be called upon to make another declaration, with the
same solemnity, to support the Constitution of the United States.
I see the consistency of this, for it cannot have been intended but
that these Constitutions should mutually aid and support each other.
It is my humble opinion that, while the Commonwealth of Massa
chusetts maintains her own just authority, weight, and dignity, she
will be among the firmest pillars of the Federal Union.

" May the administration of the Federal government, and those
of the several States in the Union, be guided by the unerring finger
of Heaven ! Each of them and all of them united will then, if the
people are wise, be as prosperous as the wisdom of human institu
tions and the circumstances of human society will admit."

During this and two succeeding terms in which Mr.
Adams was Lieutenant-Governor, little is known by any rec
ords of his public acts. The office seems to have allowed
him the leisure so much needed in his declining years.
Dr. Waterhouse writes :

"I never saw Mr. Adams until the year 1792 ; he was then far
in the vale of years, with a constitution which was, judging from
his appearance, naturally strong, but nearly worn out, not with toil,
but care. He still continued to use all the exercise his strength
would permit, by visiting occasionally a Mr. Hewes, a constable,

VOL. III. 19

290 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

a respectable calling in Boston in those days, whatever it may be
now. They had been friends from early life, and the same intimacy
was common between their respective ladies. Mr. Adams was then
Lieutenant- Governor, a place of honor, but little profit, and no
duty at all, except in case of the death of the Governor, when, ex
officio, the duties of the executive devolved upon the Lieutenant.
Mr. Adams lived in a large old-fashioned frame-house on Winter
Street, which had once been painted yellow, but, like its venerable
owner, was a good deal the worse for wear. He entertained little
or no company, having neither means nor inclination to do it."

Brissot de Warville says, after a visit to Samuel Adams
about this time :

" If ever a man was sincerely an idolater of republicanism, it was
Samuel Adams ; and never a man united more virtues to give re
spect to his opinions. He has the excess of republican virtues,
untainted probity, simplicity, modesty, and, above all, firmness. He
will have no capitulation with abuses. He fears as much the des
potism of virtue and talents as the despotism of vice. Cherishing
the greatest love and respect for Washington, he voted to take from
him the command at the end of a certain time. He recollected that
Caesar could not have succeeded in overturning the Republic but by
prolonging the command of the army. The event has proved that
the application was false ; but it was by a miracle, and the safety,
of a country should never be risked on the faith of a miracle." l

After the organization of the Federal government, the leg
islative proceedings of the several States assumed a subordi
nate character. The permission of theatrical representations
was one of the local questions in Massachusetts. In 1790
a petition was presented to the Legislature for opening a
theatre in Boston, which was rejected. In November of the

1 Brissot s New Travels in the United States, 2d ed., I. 93. The writer
probably alludes to the vote of Congress in December, 1776, when a commit
tee, of which Samuel Adams was a member, reported the resolutions investing
Washington with dictatorial powers, and specifying the term of six months.
Segur, in his brief allusion to Boston, through which he passed with the
French army on its departure from America at the close of the war, mentions
having visited Samuel Adams.

1790.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 291

following year, though many of the old residents, including
Mr. Adams, opposed the proceeding, a town meeting in
structed the Boston Representatives to obtain, if possible, a
repeal of the prohibitory act ; but the effort did not succeed.
It was especially advocated by Morton, Tudor, and Dr. Jar-
vis, and opposed by Samuel Adams, Dawes, Austin, and H.
G. Otis. The latter is represented as having spoken with
such eloquenoe at Faneuil Hall in opposition to Goodman s
instructions to the Representatives that Samuel Adams
" thanked God that there was one young man willing to
step forth in the good old cause of morality and religion." *
Though the prohibitory act remained unrepealed, a theatre
was opened in Boston, and representations were given under
the name of moral lectures. Upon the meeting of the Leg
islature, Governor Hancock denounced this infraction of
the law, and soon after the whole theatrical company were
arrested on the stage. The audience, enraged at the at
tempt against their public amusements, took the portrait of
the Governor from the stage-box, and trod it under foot.
During these commotions, it was customary, says an eye
witness, to go to the theatre armed with clubs. Applica
tion was renewed to the Legislature, who, finding that the
public voice was largely in favor of it, repealed the act.
Mr. Adams, then Governor, refused to sign the bill, and the
prohibitory law was nominally in force during the successive
administrations.

1 Loring s Hundred Boston Orators, p. 200. A town meeting was held on
this subject some time in 1791, at which the voice of Adams was drowned in
the uproar created by those in favor of repealing the prohibitory act. See an
extract from the Argus of Nov. 1, 1791, quoted in Alsop and D wight s Echo,
1807, pp. 10, 11, and the lines cited in the present work (II. 410) from their
parody.

CHAPTER LXII.

Theories of Government after the Revolution. American Statesmen.
Aristocratic, Monarchical, and Democratic Ideas. Celebrated Corre
spondence between Samuel and John Adams. The French Revolution.
Its Effect on Politics in America. Rise of the Republican or Demo
cratic Party. Enthusiasm for Republican France. Samuel Adams a
Zealous Sympathizer with the French Revolution. Domineering Conduct
of England towards the United States. Landing and Proceedings of
Genet the French Ambassador. The European Wars. Washington s
Proclamation of Neutrality. Death and Funeral of John Hancock.

WHILE the Revolution was in progress, there was little
difference in the political creed of the American leaders.
The devotion to a common cause left no disposition for
wrangling on the principles of general government ; and it
was not until the final separation from Britain, and the
division of the country into political parties, that the vari
ous theories fully developed themselves. Samuel Adams,
in forwarding the Revolution, had based every movement
upon the broadest principles of democracy, of which he was
often called the " Father " by politicians of the last century.
His whole faith and hope was in the people, from whom,
said he, " all power should proceed." He believed that
learning and virtue, founded on moral and religious educa
tion, would in time govern the country ; to which end he
was never weary of promoting a widely diffused common-
school system, whereby the poorest inhabitant might edu
cate his children to a point, at least, where talent could
win its way on equal terms with their more wealthy neigh
bors. This was democratic doctrine in its purest form, and,
as Mr. Adams conceived it, was the principle for which the
Revolution had been accomplished.

With the establishment of peace, and the first steps
towards forming a new government, many eminent men

1790.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 293

came into prominence who had been comparatively subor
dinate characters before the Revolution, or had been until
lately little known beyond their immediate field of politics.
The novel questions presented by such a vast country, de
pendent upon its own genius to meet the circumstances of
a new nationality, brought into full light the powers of men
who had taken no very conspicuous stand in achieving in
dependence. With some few exceptions, they might be re
garded as another generation of statesmen, when compared
with Washington, Franklin, the Adamses, Gadsden, Jeffer
son, Henry, Hawley, and the Lees. In the same way Otis,
Samuel Adams, and Franklin had been known in England
as political leaders long before the Warrens, John Adams,
Gerry, Hancock, Sullivan, Jay, Quincy, and Jefferson at
tracted notice abroad. Otis and Samuel Adams and a few
other pre-Revolutionary men but these two particularly
began the contest with England. Even at the time of
the Stamp Act such men were at middle life or past it ; and
when, after a quarter of a century of toil, the prize of Amer
ican independence had been gained, and the new nation
commenced its career, few of them survived to share in the
glorious spectacle, or those who still lived were superannu
ated, worn out in the public service, and scarcely available
for the great offices. At the close of the war, such men
as Madison, Hamilton, the Pinckneys, Burr, Walcott, John
Quincy Adams, Monroe, Clinton, the Livingstons, Randolph,
Ames, Gouverneur Morris, and Sedgwick men conspicuous
for their abilities began to claim the attention of the na
tion, and were presently exceeded in public importance only
by those great luminaries of the Revolution who had been
raised to the highest stations. Most of them had their
peculiar ideas of government, and were generally ardent
partisans. Many, by their name of " Federalist," claimed
to be the special supporters of a union of the States, and
tried to cast reproach upon men whose desire for union
was at least equal to theirs, although they wished to estab-

294 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

lish it upon a more popular and truly democratic basis,
as the means of preserving it unimpaired for posterity. In
others we find aristocratic or even monarchical tendencies,
and a candid disbelief in the self-governing capacity of the
masses. The difference between the Democrats and the
Federalists soon assumed the proportions of a violent par
tisanship ; and it was not until another century had com
menced that the doctrines of democracy gained sufficient
strength to control the government for successive Presiden
tial terms.

John Adams, after a nine years public service in Europe,
returned in the summer of 1788. During his absence the
war had terminated and the Federal Constitution had been
adopted. In this time he had found leisure to study, and
write extensively on the history of the Italian republics
flourishing in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in which
he had observed that the struggle for power was conducted
by noble families. A long residence in diplomatic circles
had , apparently altered his early New England ideas ; and
Shays s rebellion and the other popular commotions which
followed hard upon the achievement of independence had
shaken his faith in the masses, so that he now entered the
second place in the national government with little liking
for democracy. In his publications he endeavored to show
that a certain mixture of aristocracy and monarchy was ne
cessary for the maintenance of a free government. He had
agreed with Samuel Adams in general before the Revolu
tion, but now he was directly opposed to him in theories of
government ; and the two kinsmen belonged to antagonistic
parties from the commencement of the first administration.
John Adams was disposed to favor the use of honorary titles
and distinctions, and the establishment of an aristocratic
Senate, which would supply an object for the ambition of
the rich and well-born, while its power would be balanced
by a popular assembly. Samuel Adams, on the other hand,
cherished an inherent love for the essential principles of de-

1790.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 295

mocracy, and saw no permanent happiness for his country
should such principles be disowned. Of his school, it is
needless to say, was Jefferson, whose ideas, afterwards prac
tically illustrated in his administrations, have been supposed
to be the foundation of the Democratic party. These polit
ical differences between the Adamses were exemplified in
the character and address of the two men. While occupy
ing their respective positions in the national and State gov
ernments, they temporarily renewed their correspondence,
which had been discontinued for several years during the
absence of John Adams at foreign courts. These letters on
aristocracy and democracy were repeatedly published in dif
ferent parts of the country, and appear to have excited in
terest, as much owing to the reputation of their writers as
to the nature of the subjects treated.

How the correspondence got into print is unknown ; but
in the change of political sentiment which produced a dem
ocratic administration at the close of John Adams s term,
these letters appear to have been received as the standard
of difference between the parties of which the Adamses
were such prominent members. 1 A careful reading of
them gives a clear insight into the respective political creeds
of the two men. It is very evident, both from these letters
and from the innumerable instances in the more extended
writings of John Adams, that he was, like other Federalists,

1 The letters were also published as a part of a political pamphlet with the
following title : " Propositions of Colonel Hamilton, of New- York, in the Con
vention for establishing a Constitutional Government for the United States.
Also, a Summary, of the Political Opinions of John Adams, late President of
the United States, illustrated and proved by Extracts from his Writings on
Government. And a most interesting Discussion, of the Fundamental Points
of Difference between the Two Great Political Parties in the United States,
by the said John Adams, a Federalist, and Samuel Adams, late Governor of
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a Republican, in Four Letters, written
while the Former was Vice-President of the United States, and the Latter was
Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts. Pittsfield : Printed by Phinehas Al
len, 1802." It may be found in the Law Library of Harvard University.
(Political Tracts, Vol. II.)

296 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

a believer in an essentially different system from the pres
ent Constitution, though had he been in the Convention,
he might not have advocated his anti-democratic theories
to so great an extent as Hamilton. But he denied that
the people, or even the people s representatives, are the best
keepers of the popular liberties ; " the majority would in
vade the liberty of the minority sooner and oftener than an
absolute monarchy." l

1 In the following correspondence (p. 312) Samuel Adams says of the Brit
ish, referring to the Kevolutionary War, " We feared their arts more than
their arms." This was a favorite expression with him, and several instances
may be found in the present work. In the letter of the Assembly to Deberdt
in 1788 (I. 156) occurs the sentence, "There is a way of subduing a people
by art as well as by arms"; as " Sincerus," in 1776, he says (II. 351, 352),
" He was more concerned for the probable success of their arts than their arms " ;
in a letter to James Warren in 1776 (II. 399), " Their arts may be more dan
gerous than their arms " ; in a letter to Elbridge Gerry in 1776 (II. 448), "I
confess it is my opinion that more, much more, is to be apprehended from the
arts of our enemies than their arms " ; and in a letter to General Koberdeau in
1778 (III. 5), Our business is to secure America against the arts and arms of
a treacherous enemy. The former we have more to apprehend from than the
latter." This frequent recurrence of the same phrase supplies an additional
proof of his authorship of the letter to Deberdt.

FOUR

LETTERS:

BEING AN

interesting &lt;Horre0pontonce

BETWEEN

THOSE EMINENTLY DISTINGUISHED CHARACTERS,
JOHN ADAMS,

LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES ;
AND

SAMUEL ADAMS,

LATE GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS.
ON THE

IMPORTANT SUBJECT OF GOVERNMENT.

BOSTON:
PRINTED FOR ADAMS & RHOADES 1802.

298 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

ADVERTISEMENT.

IN fulfilling our engagement, we have the pleasure of presenting
to the public the following letters from persons who have been emi
nently distinguished in the course of the American Revolution. At
the time they were written, Mr. JOHN ADAMS was Vice-President
of the United States, and Mr. SAMUEL ADAMS the Lieutenant-
Governor of Massachusetts. They will, then, naturally be consid
ered as expressing the opinions of public men, on a great and public
question deeply interesting to every citizen. Had they have been
earlier communicated, the uncommon agitation of the intervening
time at certain periods might have given their contents a degree of
importance, which the returning tranquillity of the country at this
moment may in some measure prevent. We must still believe, not
withstanding, that but few publications can be more attractive of
general notice, as well from the elevated station which the authors
of them have long maintained in the world as from the nature and
importance of the PRINCIPLES now brought into view, on the merits
of which they so widely differ.

We shall not presume to anticipate the judgment of our fellow-
citizens throughout the Union on these important letters, by inter
posing any comments of our own. The names hitherto omitted are
supplied ; and we trust that no exception will be taken to their
being now published, as the spirit of the correspondence would be
evidently defective without them. We shall only remark, in justice
to Mr. SAMUEL ADAMS, that, in the composition of his answers, he
was obliged to use the hand of a friend, as he had been long inca
pable of using his own with facility ; and that his replies must be
viewed as the extemporaneous productions of the moment in which
they were written, without his having had an opportunity of giving
them a second inspection. This circumstance will, no doubt, be
duly appreciated.

The letters now appear in their proper order : what -will be the
public sense respecting them we will not pretend to calculate. We
must at least hope, for the honor of the community, that the senti
ments they contain will not be received with a torpid insensibility
or a disgraceful indifference.

1790.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 299

LETTER I.

NEW YORK, September 12, 1790.
DEAR Sra,

Upon my return from Philadelphia, to which beloved city I have
been for the purpose of getting an house to put my head in next
winter, I had the pleasure of receiving your favor of the 2d of
this month. The sight of our old Liberty Hall, and of several of
our old friends, had brought your venerable idea to my mind, and
continued it there a great part of the last week ; so that a letter
from you, on my arrival, seemed but in continuation. I am much
obliged to the " confidential friend " for writing the short letter you
dictated, and shall beg a continuance of similar good offices.

Captain Nathaniel Byfield Lyde, whom I know very well, has
my hearty good wishes. I shall give your letter and his to the
Secretary of the Treasury, the duty of whose department it is to
receive and examine all applications of the kind. Applications will
probably be made in behalf of the officers who served the last war
in the navy, and they will be likely to have the preference to all
others ; but Captain Lyde s application shall nevertheless be pre
sented, and have a fair chance.

My family as well as myself are, I thank God, in good health,
and as good spirits as the prospect of a troublesome removal will
admit. Mrs. Adams desires her particular regards to your lady and
yourself.

What, my old friend, is this world about to become ? Is the
millennium commencing? Are the kingdoms of it about to be
governed by reason ? Your Boston town meetings and our Har
vard College have set the universe in motion. Everything will be
pulled down. So much seems certain. But what will be built up ?
Are there any principles of political architecture ? What are they ?
Were Voltaire and Rousseau masters of them ? Are their disci
ples acquainted with them? Locke taught them principles of lib
erty ; but I doubt whether they have not yet to learn the principles
of government. Will the struggle in Europe be anything more
than a change of impostors and impositions ?

With great esteem and sincere affection, I am, my dear sir,
your friend and servant,

JOHN ADAMS.

His HONOR SAMUEL ADAMS, ESQ., Lieutenant- Governor of Massachusetts.

300 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

LETTER II.

BOSTON, October 4, 1790.
DEAR SIR,

With pleasure I received your letter of September 12th. And
as our good friend, to whom I dictated my last, is yet in town, I
have requested of him a second favor.

You ask, what the world is about to become ? and, Is the millen
nium commencing ? I have not studied the prophecies, and cannot
even conjecture. The golden age, so finely pictured by poets, I
believe has never as yet existed but in their own imaginations.
In the earliest periods, when, for the honor of human nature, one
should have thought that man had not learnt to be cruel, what
scenes of horror have been exhibited in families of some of the best
instructors in piety and morals ! Even the heart of our first father
was grievously wounded at the sight of the murder of one of his
sons, perpetrated by the hand of the other. Has mankind since
seen the happy age ? No, my friend. The same tragedies have
been acted on the theatre of the world, the same arts of tormenting
have been studied and practised to this day ; and even religion
and reason united have never succeeded to establish the per
manent foundations of political freedom and happiness in the most
enlightened countries on the earth.

After a compliment to Boston town meetings, and our Harvard
College, as having " set the universe in motion," you tell me every
thing will be pulled down. I think, with you, " so much seems cer
tain." " But what," say you, " will be built up ? " Hay, wood, and
stubble may probably be the materials, till men shall be yet more
enlightened and more friendly to each other. " Are there any prin
ciples of political architecture ? " Undoubtedly. " What are they ? "
Philosophers, ancient and modern, have laid down different plans,
and all have thought themselves masters of the true principles.
Their disciples have followed them, probably with a blind prejudice,
which is always an enemy to truth, and have thereby added fresh
fuel to the fire of contention, and increased the political disorder.

Kings have been deposed by aspiring nobles, whose pride could
not brook restraint. These have waged everlasting war against the
common rights of men. The love of liberty is interwoven in the
soul of man, and can never be totally extinguished ; and there are

1790.J LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 301

certain periods when human patience can no longer endure indignity
and oppression. The spark of liberty then kindles into a flame,
when the injured people, attentive to the feelings of their just rights,
magnanimously contend for their complete restoration. But such
contests have too often ended in nothing more than " a change of
impostors and impositions." The patriots of Rome put an end to
the life of Csesar, and Rome submitted to a race of tyrants in his
stead. Were the people of England free, after they had obliged
King John to concede to them their ancient rights and liberties, and
promised to govern them according to the old law of the land ?
Were they free after they had wantonly deposed their Henrys,
Edwards, and Richards, to gratify family pride ? Or, after they
had brought their first Charles to the block, and banished his
family ? They were not. The nation was then governed by King,
Lords, and Commons ; and its liberties were lost by a strife among
three powers, soberly intended to check each other, and keep the
scales even.

But while we daily see the violence of the human passions con
trolling the laws of reason and religion, and stifling the very feelings
of humanity, can we wonder that, in such tumults, little or no
regard is had to political checks and balances ? And such tumults
have always happened within as well as without doors. The best
formed constitutions that have yet been contrived by the wit of
man have, and will, come to an end, because " the kingdoms of the
earth have not been governed by reason." The pride of kings, of
nobles and leaders of the people, who have all governed in their
turns, have disadjusted the delicate frame, and thrown all into con
fusion.

What, then, is to be done ? Let divines and philosophers, states
men and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age, by
impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their
little boys and girls, of inculcating in the minds of youth the fear
and love of the Deity and universal philanthropy, and, in subordi
nation to these great principles, the love of their country; of in
structing them in the art of self-government, without which they
never can act a wise part in the government of societies, great or
small ; in short, of leading them in the study and practice of the
exalted virtues of the Christian system, which will happily tend to
subdue the turbulent passions of men, and introduce that golden age

802 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

beautifully described in figurative language, when the wolf shall
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid ; the
cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down
together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox ; none shall then
hurt or destroy, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the
Lord. When this millennium shall commence, if there shall be
any need of civil government, indulge me in the fancy that it will
be in the republican form, or something better.

I thank you for your countenance to our friend Lyde. Mrs.
Adams tells me to remember her to yourself, lady, and connections,
and be assured that I am, sincerely, your friend,

SAMUEL ADAMS.

THE VICE-PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES.

LETTER III.

NEW YORK, October 18, 1790.
DEAR SIR,

I am thankful to our common friend, as well as to you, for your
favor of the 4th, which I received last night. My fears are in uni
son with yours, that hay, wood, and stubble will be the materials of
the new political buildings in Europe, till men shall be more en
lightened and friendly to each other.

You agree that there are undoubtedly principles of political archi
tecture ; but, instead of particularizing any of them, you seem to
place all your hopes in the universal, or at least more general, prev
alence of knowledge and benevolence. I think, with you, that
knowledge and benevolence ought to be promoted as much as possi
ble ; but despairing of ever seeing them sufficiently general for the
security of society, I am for seeking institutions which may supply
in some degree the defect. If there were no ignorance, error, or
vice, there would be neither principles nor systems of civil or politi
cal government.

I am not often satisfied with the opinions of Hume ; but in this
he seems well founded, that all projects of government, founded in
the supposition or expectation of extraordinary degrees of virtue,
are evidently chimerical. Nor do I believe it possible, humanly
speaking, that men should ever be greatly improved in knowledge

1790.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 303

or benevolence without assistance from the principles and system of
government.

I am very willing to agree with you in fancying that, in the
greatest improvements in society, government will be in the repub
lican form. It is a fixed principle with me that all good govern
ment is and must be republican. But, at the same time, your can
dor will agree with me, that there is not in lexicography a more
fraudulent word. Whenever I use the word republic with approba
tion, I mean a government in which the people have collectively or
by representation an essential share in the sovereignty. The re
publican forms of Poland and Venice are much worse, and those of
Holland and Bern very little better, than the monarchical form in
France before the late revolution. By the republican form, I know
you do not mean the plan of Milton, Nedham, or Turgot ; for, after
a fair trial of its miseries, the simple monarchical form will ever be,
as it has ever been, preferred to it by mankind. Are we not, my
friend, in danger of rendering the word republican unpopular in this
country by an indiscreet, indeterminate, and equivocal use of it ?
The people of England have been obliged to wean themselves from
the use of it by making it unpopular and unfashionable, because
they found k was artfully used by some, and simply understood by
others, to mean the government of their Interregnum Parliament.
They found they could not wean themselves from that destructive
form of government so entirely as that a mischievous party would
not still remain in favor of it by any other means than by making
the words republic and republican unpopular. They have succeeded
to such a degree that, with a vast majority of that nation, a republi
can is as unamiable as a witch, a blasphemer, a rebel, or a tyrant.
If in this country the word republic should be generally understood,
as it is by some, to mean a form of government inconsistent with a
mixture of three powers forming a mutual balance, we may depend
upon it that such mischievous effects will be produced by the use of
it as will compel the people of America to renounce, detest, and ex
ecrate it as the English do. With these explanations, restrictions,
and limitations, I agree with you in your love of republican govern
ments, but in no other sense.

With you, I have also the honor most perfectly to harmonize
in your sentiments of the humanity and wisdom of promoting educa
tion in knowledge, virtue, and benevolence. But I think that these

304 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. t 1790 -

will confirm mankind in the opinion of the necessity of preserving
and strengthening the dikes against the ocean, its tides and storms.
Human appetites, passions, prejudices, and self-love will never be
conquered by benevolence and knowledge alone, introduced by hu
man means. The millennium itself neither supposes nor implies it.
All civil government is then to cease, and the Messiah is to reign.
That happy and holy state is therefore wholly out of this question.
You and I agree in the utility of universal education. But will na
tions agree in it as fully and extensively as we do, and be at the
expense of it ? We know, with as much certainty as attends any
human knowledge, that they will not. We cannot, therefore, advise
the people to depend for their safety, liberty, and security upon
hopes and blessings which we know will not fall to their lot. If we
do our duty, then, to the people, we shall not deceive them, but ad
vise them to depend upon what is in their power, and will relieve
them.

Philosophers, ancient and modern, do not appear to me to have
studied nature, the whole of nature, and nothing but nature. Ly-
curgus s principle was, war and family pride ; Solon s was, what the
people would bear, &c. The best writings of antiquity upon gov
ernment those, I mean, of Aristotle, Zeno, and Cicero are lost.
We have human nature, society, and universal history to observe
and study ; and from these we may draw all the real principles
which ought to be regarded. Disciples will follow their masters,
and interested partisans their chieftains; let us like it or not, we
cannot help it. But if the true principles can be discovered, and
fairly, fully, and impartially laid before the people, the more light
increases, the more the reason of them will be seen, and the more
disciples they will have. Prejudice, passion, and private interest,
which will always mingle in human inquiries, one would think
might be enlisted on the side of truth, at least in the greatest num
ber, for certainly the majority are interested in the truth if they
could see to the end of all its consequences. " Kings have been
deposed by aspiring nobles." True, and never by any other.
" These " (the nobles I suppose) " have waged everlasting war
against the common rights of men." True, when they have been
possessed of the summa imperil in one body, without a check. So
have the plebeians, so have the people, so have kings, so has
human nature in every shape and combination, and so it ever will.

1790.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 305

But, on the other hand, the nobles have been essential parties in the
preservation of liberty whenever and wherever it has existed. In
Europe they alone have preserved it against kings and people,
wherever it has been preserved, or at least with very little assistance
from the people. One hideous despotism, as horrid as that of
Turkey, would have been the lot of every nation of Europe, if the
nobles had not made stands. By nobles, I mean not peculiarly an
hereditary nobility, or any particular modification, but the natural
and actual aristocracy among mankind. The existence of this you
will not deny. You and I have seen four noble families rise up in
Boston, the Craftses, Gores, Daweses, and Austins. These are
as really a nobility in our town as the Howards, Somersets, Berties,
&c., in England. Blind undistinguishing reproaches against the
aristocratical part of mankind, a division which nature has made
and we cannot abolish, are neither pious nor benevolent. They
are as pernicious as they are false. They serve only to foment
prejudice, jealousy, envy, animosity, and malevolence. They serve
no ends but those of sophistry, fraud, and the spirit of party. It
would not be true, but it would not be more egregiously false, to
say that the people have waged everlasting war against the rights
of men.

" The love of liberty," you say, " is interwoven in the soul of
man." So it is, according to La Fontaine, in that of a wolf ; and I
doubt whether it be much more rational, generous, or social in one
than in the other, until in man it is enlightened by experience, reflec
tion, education, and civil and political institutions, which are at first
produced, and constantly supported and improved, by a few, that is,
by the nobility. The wolf in the fable, who preferred running in
the forest, lean and hungry, to the sleek, plump, and round sides of
the dog, because he found the latter was sometimes restrained, had
more love of liberty than most men. The numbers of men, in all
ages, have preferred ease, slumber, and good cheer to liberty, when
they have been in competition. We must not, then, depend alone
upon the love of liberty in the soul of man for its preservation.
Some political institutions must be prepared to assist this love
against its enemies. Without these, the struggle will ever end, only
in a change of impostors. When the people who have no property
feel the power in their own hands to determine all questions by a
majority, they ever attack those who have property, till the injured

VOL. III. 20

306 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

men of property lose all patience, and recur to finesse, trick, and
stratagem, to outwit those who have too much strength, because
they have too many hands, to be resisted any other way. Let us be
impartial, then, and speak the whole truth. Till we do, we shall
never discover all the true principles that are necessary. The mul
titude, therefore, as well as the nobles, must have a check. This is
one principle.

" Were the people of England free, after they had obliged King
John to concede to them their ancient rights ? " The people never
did this. There was no people who pretended to anything. It was
the nobles alone. The people pretended to nothing but to be vil
lains, vassals, and retainers to the king or the nobles. The nobles,
I agree, were not free, because all was determined by a majority of
their votes or by arms, not by law. Their feuds deposed their
" Henrys, Edwards, and Richards," to gratify lordly ambition, patri
cian rivalry, and " family pride." But if they had not been deposed,
the kings would have become despots, because the people would not
and could not join the nobles in any regular and constitutional oppo
sition to them. They would have become despots, I repeat it, and
that by means of the villains, vassals, and retainers aforesaid. It
is not family pride, my friend, but family popularity, that does the
great mischief as well as the great good. Pride in the heart of
man is an evil fruit and concomitant of every advantage, of riches,
of knowledge, of genius, of talents, of beauty, of strength, of virtue,
and even of piety. It is sometimes ridiculous, and often pernicious ;
but it is even sometimes, and in some degree, useful. But the pride
of families would be always and only ridiculous, if it had not family
popularity to work with. The attachment and devotion of the peo
ple to some families inspires them with pride. As long as gratitude
or interest, ambition or avarice, love, hope, or fear, shall be human
motives of action, so long will numbers attach themselves to particu
lar families. When the people will, in spite of all that can be said
or done, cry a man or family up to the skies, exaggerate all his tal
ents and virtues, not hear a word of his weakness or faults, follow
implicitly his advice, detest every man he hates, adore every man
he loves, and knock down all who will not swim down the stream
with them, where is your remedy ? When a man or family are thus
popular, how can you prevent them from being proud ? You and I
know of instances in which popularity has been a wind, a tide, a

1790.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 307

whirlwind. The history of all ages and nations is full of such ex
amples.

Popularity, that has great fortune to dazzle, splendid largesses to
excite warm gratitude, sublime, beautiful, and uncommon genius or
talents to produce deep admiration, or anything to support high
hopes and strong fears, will be proud ; and its power will be em
ployed to mortify enemies, gratify friends, procure votes, emolu
ments, and power. Such family popularity ever did, and ever will,
govern in every nation, in every climate, hot and cold, wet and dry,
among civilized and savage people, Christians and Mahometans,
Jews and heathens. Declamation against family pride is a pretty
juvenile exercise, but unworthy of statesmen. They know the evil
and danger is too serious to be sported with. The only way, God
knows, is to put these families into a hole by themselves, and set
two watches upon them, a superior to them all on one side, and
the people on the other.

There are a few popular men in the Massachusetts, my friend,
who have, I fear, less honor, sincerity, and virtue than they ought to
have. These, if they are not guarded against, may do another mis
chief. They may excite a party spirit and a mobbish spirit instead
of the spirit of liberty, and produce another Wat Tyler s rebellion.
They can do no more. But I really think their party language
ought not to be countenanced nor their shibboleths pronounced.
The miserable stuff that they utter about the well born is as despica
ble as themselves. The eugeneis of the Greeks, the bien nees of the
French, the gewellgebornen [sic] of the Germans and Dutch, the
beloved families of the Creeks, are but a few samples of national
expressions of the same thing, for which every nation on earth has a
similar expression. One would think that our scribblers were all
the sons of redemptioners or transported convicts. They think, with
Tarquin, " in novo populo, ubi omnis repentina atque ex virtute no-
bilitas sit, futurum locum forti ac strenuo viro"

Let us be impartial. There is not more of family pride on one
side than of vulgar malignity and popular envy on the other. Pop
ularity in one family raises envy in others. But the popularity of
the least deserving will triumph over envy and malignity ; while
that which is acquired by real merit will very often be overborne
and oppressed by it.

Let us do justice to the people and to the nobles, for nobles

308 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

there are, as I have before proved, in Boston as well as in Madrid.
But to do justice to both you must establish an arbitrator between
them. This is another principle.

It is time that you and I should have some sweet communion
together. I do not believe that we, who have preserved for more
than thirty years an uninterrupted friendship, and have so long
thought and acted harmoniously together in the worst of times,
are now so far asunder in sentiment as some people pretend ; in
full confidence of which, I have used this freedom, being ever your
warm friend,

JOHN ADAMS.

His HONOK SAMUEL ADAMS, ESQ.,

Lieutenant- Governor of Massachusetts.

LETTER IV.

BOSTON, November 20, 1790.
MY DEAR SIR,

I lately received your letter of the 18th of October. The senti
ments and observations contained in it demand my attention.

A republic, you tell me, is a government in which " the people
have an essential share in the sovereignty." Is not the whole sover
eignty, my friend, essentially in the people? Is not government
designed for the welfare and happiness of all the people ? and is
it not the uncontrollable, essential right of the people to amend
and alter or annul their Constitution, and frame a new one, when
ever they shall think it will better promote their own welfare and
happiness to do it ? That the sovereignty resides in the people, is
a political doctrine which I have never heard an American politi
cian seriously deny. The Constitutions of the American States
reserve to the people the exercise of the rights of sovereignty
by the annual or biennial election of their governors, senators,
and representatives ; and by empowering their own representatives
to impeach the greatest officers of the State before the senators,
who are also chosen by themselves. We the people, is the style
of the Federal Constitution: they adopted it; and, conformably
to it, they delegate the exercise of the powers of government to
particular persons, who, after short intervals, resign their powers
to the people; and they will re-elect them, or appoint others, as
they think fit.

1790.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 309

The American Legislatures are nicely balanced. They consist
of two branches, each having a check upon the determinations of
the other. They sit in different chambers, and probably often
reason differently in their respective chambers on the same ques
tion: if they disagree in their decisions, by a conference their
reasons and arguments are mutually communicated to each other ;
candid explanations tend to bring them to agreement ; and then,
according to the Massachusetts Constitution, the matter is laid
before the First Magistrate for his revision. He states objections,
if he has any, with his reasons, and returns them to the legislators,
who, by larger majorities, ultimately decide. Here is a mixture
of three powers, founded in the nature of man, calculated to call
forth the rational faculties, in the great points of legislation, into
exertion, to cultivate mutual friendship and good humor, and,
finally, to enable them to decide, not by the impulse of passion or
party prejudice, but by the calm voice of reason, which is the voice
of God. In this mixture you may see your " natural and actual
aristocracy among mankind," operating among the several powers
in legislation, and producing the most happy effects. But the
son of an excellent man may never inherit the great qualities
of his father ; this is a common observation, and there are many
instances of its truth. Should we not, therefore, conclude that
hereditary nobility is a solecism in government ? Their lordships
sons or grandsons may be destitute of the faintest feelings of honor
or honesty, and yet retain an essential share in the government,
by right of inheritance from ancestors who may have been the
minions of ministers, the favorites of mistresses, or men of real and
distinguished merit. The same may be said of hereditary kings.
Their successors may also become so degenerated and corrupt as
to have neither inclination nor capacity to know the extent and
limits of their own powers, nor, consequently, those of others. Such
kind of political beings, nobles or kings, possessing hereditary right
to essential shares in an equipoised government, are very unfit
persons to hold the scales. Having no just conception of the
principles of the government, nor of the part which they and their
copartners bear in the administration, they run a wild career,
destroy the checks and balances, by interfering in each other s
departments, till the nation is involved in confusion, and reduced
to the danger, at least, of bloodshed, to remove a tyranny which

310 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

may ensue. Much safer is it, and much more does it tend to pro
mote the welfare and happiness of society, to fill up the offices of
government, after the mode prescribed in the American Constitu
tions, by frequent elections of the people. They may, indeed, be
deceived in their choice ; they sometimes are. But the evil is not
incurable, the remedy is always near ; they will feel their mis
takes and correct them.

I am very willing to agree with you in thinking that improve
ments in knowledge and benevolence receive much assistance from
the principles and systems of good government. But is it not as
true that, without knowledge and benevolence, men would neither
have been capable nor disposed to search for the principles or form
the system? Should we not, my friend, bear a grateful remem
brance of our pious and benevolent ancestors, who early laid plans
of education, by which means wisdom, knowledge, and virtue have
been generally diffused among the body of the people, and they
have been enabled to form and establish a civil Constitution calcu
lated for the preservation of their rights and liberties ? This Con
stitution was evidently founded in the expectation of the further
progress and extraordinary degrees of virtue. It enjoins the en
couragement of all seminaries of literature, which are the nurseries
of virtue, depending upon these for the support of government,
rather than titles, splendor, or force. Mr. Hume may call this a
" chimerical project " ; I am far from thinking the people can be de
ceived by urging upon them a dependence on the more general
prevalence of knowledge and virtue. It is one of the most essential
means of further and still further improvements in society, and of
correcting and amending moral sentiments and habits and political
institutions, till " by human means," directed by Divine influence,
men shall be prepared for that " happy and holy state " when " the
Messiah is to reign."

" It is a fixed principle that all good government is, and must be,
republican." You have my hearty concurrence ; and I believe we
are well enough acquainted with each other s ideas to understand
what we respectively mean when we " use the word with approba
tion." The body of the people in this country are not so ignorant
as those in England were in the time of the Interregnum Parlia
ment. They are better educated. They will not easily be pre
vailed upon to believe that " a republican is as unamiable as a witch,

1790.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 311

a blasphemer, a rebel, or a tyrant." They are charmed with their
own forms of government, in which are admitted a mixture of pow
ers to check the human passions, and control them from rushing
into exorbitances. So well assured are they that their liberties are
best secured by their own frequent and free election of fit persons to
be the essential sharers in the administration of their government,
and that this form of government is truly republican, that the body
of the people will not be persuaded nor compelled to " renounce,
detest, and execrate" the very word republican, "as the English
do." Their education has " confirmed them in the opinion of the
necessity of preserving and strengthening the dikes against the
ocean, its tides and storms"; and I think they have made more
safe and more durable dikes than the English have done.

We agree in the utility of universal education ; but " will nations
agree in it as fully and extensively as we do ? " Why should they
not ? It would not be fair to conclude that, because they have not
yet been disposed to agree in it, they never will. It is allowed that
the present age is more enlightened than former ones. Freedom of
inquiry is certainly more encouraged ; the feelings of humanity have
softened the heart ; the true principles of civil and religious liberty
are better understood ; tyranny, in all its shapes, is more detested ;
and bigotry, if not still blind, must be mortified to see that she is
despised. Such an age may afford at least a flattering expectation
that nations as well as individuals will view the utility of universal
education in so strong a light as to induce sufficient national patron
age and support. Future ages will probably be more enlightened
than this.

The love of liberty is interwoven in the soul of man, " so it is
in that of a wolf." However irrational, ungenerous, and unsocial
the love of liberty may be in a rude savage, he is capable of being
enlightened by experience, reflection, education, and civil and polit
ical institutions. But the nature of the wolf is, and ever will be,
confined to running in the forest to satisfy his hunger and his brutal
appetites ; the dog is inclined in a very easy way to seek his living,
and fattens his sides from what comes from his master s kitchen.
The comparison of La Fontaine is, in my opinion, ungenerous,
unnatural, and unjust.

Among the numbers of men, my friend, are to be found not only
those who have " preferred ease, slumber, and good cheer to lib-

312 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

erty," but others who have eagerly sought after thrones and scep
tres, hereditary shares in sovereignty, riches and splendor, titles,
dtars, garters, crosses, eagles, and many other childish playthings, at
the expense of real nobility, without one thought or care for the
liberty and happiness of the rest of mankind.

" The people who have no property feel the power of governing
by a majority, and ever attack those who have property." " The
injured men of property recur to finesse, trick, and stratagem to
outwit them." True: these may proceed from a lust of domina
tion in some of both parties. Be this as it may, it has been known
that such deceitful tricks have been practised by some of the rich
upon their unsuspecting fellow-citizens, to turn the determination of
questions so as to answer their own selfish purposes. To plunder or
filch the rights of men are crimes equally immoral and nefarious,
though committed in different manners. Neither of them is confined
to the rich or the poor ; they are too common among both. The
Lords as well as the Commons of Great Britain, by continued large
majorities endeavored by finesse, tricks, and stratagems, as well as
threats, to prevail on the American Colonies to surrender their lib
erty and property to their disposal. These failing, they attempted
to plunder our rights by force of arms. We feared their arts more
than their arms. Did the members of that hereditary House of
Lords, who constituted those repeated majorities, then possess the
spirit of nobility ? Not so, I think. That spirit resided in the illus
trious minorities in both Houses.

But " by nobles," who have prevented " one hideous despotism
as horrid as that of Turkey from falling to the lot of every nation
of Europe," you mean, " not peculiarly an hereditary nobility, or
any particular modification, but the natural and actual aristocracy
among mankind," the existence of which I am not disposed to
deny. Where is this aristocracy found ? Among men of all ranks
and conditions. The cottager may beget a wise son ; the noble, a
fool. The one is capable of great improvement ; the other is not.
Education is within the power of men and societies of men ; wise
and judicious modes of education, patronized and supported by com
munities, will draw together the sons of the rich and the poor, among
whom it makes no distinction ; it will cultivate the natural genius,
elevate the soul, excite laudable emulation to excel in knowledge,
piety, and benevolence ; and finally it will reward its patrons and

1790.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 313

benefactors by shedding its benign influence on the public mind.
Education inures men to thinking and reflection, to reasoning and
demonstration. It discovers to them the moral and religious duties
they owe to God, their country, and to all mankind. Even sav
ages might, by the means of education, be instructed to frame the
best civil and political institutions with as much skill and ingenuity
as they now shape their arrows. Education leads youth to "the
study of human nature, society, and universal history," from whence
they may " draw all the principles " of political architecture which
ought to be regarded. All men are " interested in the truth " ; ed
ucation, by showing them " the end of all its consequences," would
induce at least the greatest numbers to enlist on its side. The man
of good understanding, who has been well educated, and improves
these advantages as far as his circumstances will allow, in promoting
the happiness of mankind, in my opinion, and I am inclined to think
in yours, is indeed " well born."

It may be " puerile and unworthy of statesmen " to declaim against
family pride ; but there is, and always has been, such a ridiculous-
kind of vanity among men. " Statesmen know the evil and danger
is too serious to be sported with." I am content they should be put
into one hole, as you propose ; but I have some fears that your
watchmen on each side will not well agree. When a man can rec
ollect the virtues of his ancestors, he certainly has abundantly more
solid satisfaction than another who boasts that he sprang from those
who were rich or noble, but never discovers the least degree of virtue
or worth of any kind. " Family popularity," if I mistake not, has its
source in family pride. It is by all means sought after, that hom
age may be paid to the name of the title or estate, to supply the
want in the possessor of any great or good quality whatsoever.
There are individuals among men who study the art of making
themselves popular for the purpose of getting into places of honor
and emoluments, and, by these means, of gratifying hereafter the
noble passion, " family pride." Others are so enchanted with the
music of the sound, that they conceive it to be supreme felicity.
This is indeed vanity of vanities, and if such deluded men ever
come to their senses, they will find it to be vexation of spirit.
When they reflect on their own folly and injustice, in having swal
lowed the breath of applause with avidity and great delight, for
merit which they are conscious they never had, and that many who

314 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1790.

have been the loudest in sounding their praises had nothing in view
but their own private and selfish interests, it will excite in them the
feelings of shame, remorse, and self-contempt. The truly virtuous
man and real patriot is satisfied with the approbation of the wise and
discerning : he rejoices in the contemplation of the purity of his own
intentions, and waits in humble hope for the plaudit of his final
Judge.

I shall not venture again to trespass on the benevolence of our
confidential friend. You will not be sorry. It will afford you re
lief; for, in common civility, you must be at the trouble of reading
one s epistles. I hope there will be a time when we may have
" sweet communion together." In the interim, let me not lose the
benefit of your valuable letters. Adieu.

Believe me, your sincere friend,

SAMUEL ADAMS.
THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

The establishment of an American hereditary aristoc
racy was by no means all that was desired by some of the
Federalists. That decided monarchical ideas were current
among many influential men from the very outset of the
Federal government will now scarcely be denied. Monar
chy, in a more or less modified form, found advocates before
the close of the war ; and such ideas assumed definite shape
as soon as it was proposed to remodel the Articles of Con
federation into a government better suited to the national
exigencies. Not only were such speculations common among
thousands of Tories, who during the war professed to be
Whigs from pecuniary motives only, but there were well-
meaning men who sincerely looked upon the British system
as offering the greatest security to property and the safest
guarantee of social and individual happiness. Volumes
have been written to disprove the existence of these feel
ings ; but it has been established beyond controversy, as the
correspondence of one and another of the Federalists of that
day has been published, not to speak of the proposal of
some of the army officers to Washington in 1782. Gloss
ing over these facts cannot alter them ; nor, indeed, does it

1793.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 315

reflect any credit upon such men to distort their views to
suit those of after times. The avowal of aristocratic or
monarchical opinions at the close of the Revolution needs no
apology. Republican government was as yet an experiment,
whose speedy failure wise men the world over confidently
predicted. The existence of such opinions remained no
secret to close observers. Though discussed in confidential
private circles, enough was from time to time disclosed to
excite the jealousy or anxiety of some of the old Revolution
ary characters ; and their alarm might well be awakened,
when, after the great struggle had ended in the accomplish
ment of all their wishes, the question was seriously raised,
whether some kind of hereditary government might not be
best for the country. The Revolution was commenced, not
in opposition to the structure of the British government, but
against arbitrary assumptions of illegal power by those who
administered it at that time ; and when the contest ended in
a separation, there were thousands who saw no inconsistency
in returning to a monarchical constitution, altered, indeed, to
suit the new order of things, but retaining all its excellences.
The plan of government proposed by Colonel Hamilton, in
the Constitutional Convention* in 1787, beyond question
looked forward to the eventual establishment of a monarchy,
with titles of nobility. It provided that the supreme legis
lative power of the United States should be vested in two
different orders of men, the one to be called the Assembly,
and the other the Senate ; that the Senate should consist
of persons elected to serve during good behavior, their elec
tion to be made by electors chosen for that purpose by the
people ; that the supreme executive authority should be vest
ed in a Governor, to be elected to serve during good behav
ior, and to have a negative, not only on all laws about to be
passed, but on the execution of laws passed, together with
the appointment of the Governors of all the States. In the
election of Senators and a President for life, a king and no
bility were foreshadowed ; and had that plan been adopted,

316 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1793.

regal pomp would long since have been inaugurated at
Washington, if the democratic feelings of the people could
meantime have been sufficiently perverted by the glare and
parade of a privileged aristocracy. The Governors of the
States being creatures of the national Executive, the powers
of that officer would have penetrated to the minutest inter
nal concerns of every community ; for an adroit politician
in the Presidency would naturally have appointed none as
Governors who, with their local dependents throughout each
State, were not of his party, if indeed parties could long
have existed under such a system. Samuel Adams himself
had for some time been sensible of the tendency of political
Speculation. " The seeds of aristocracy," he wrote in 1787,
" began to spring even before the conclusion of our struggle
for the natural rights of men, seeds which, like a canker-
worm, lie at the root of free governments." The term
" during good behavior " admits of but one interpretation.
A superior order, thus deliberately organized among a peo
ple, all of whom had been born and reared under an English
monarch, must in no great time have become hereditary.
With the enormous power which such a body would have
centred in itself, it would soon have become its own judge
as to the meaning of " good behavior," and nothing short
of a revolution could have destroyed the incubus. With
out a revolution, this nobility would have proved the step
ping-stone to monarchy, as did the somewhat similar gov
ernment of France in 1799, upon the overthrow of the
Directory. Napoleon, as First Consul, resembled Hamilton s
Chief Magistrate for life ; and the French Dictator s privilege
of nominating life senators differed from the plan of Morris
only in the fact that the First Consul selected those officers
from among a limited number of eligible candidates ; and
even in that the plans were not entirely different, for Morris
desired the exclusion of the poor from the electors for na
tional representatives.

Charles Pinckney s plan was more democratic ; yet it

1793.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 317

gave the Legislature of the United States the power to
revise, negative, and annul all laws of the several States
which might be supposed to infringe upon the powers exclu
sively delegated to Congress. Edmund Randolph s Virginia
plan proposed that the first branch of the National Legisla
ture should be elected by the people, and the second by
the first out of a proper number of persons nominated by
the individual Legislatures ; and, furthermore, that the Ex
ecutive should be elected by Congress for a term of years,
and that he and a convenient number of the national judi
ciary should compose a Council of Revision, with author
ity to examine every act of the National Legislature before
it should operate, and every act of a particular Legislature
before a negative thereon should be final, and that the dis
sent of such Council should amount to a rejection.

Hamilton plainly disbelieved in the permanency of repub
lican institutions, and always leaned towards the British
Constitution. The " hereditary interest of a king," and the
" permanent barrier against innovation " offered by the
British House of Lords, were the subjects of his special
encomiums when addressing the Convention. Gouverneur
Morris, who was quite as influential in that body as Hamil
ton, and more active, advocated an aristocracy and a Senate
for life, to be appointed by the Chief Magistrate, a Senate
which, he said, " must have great personal property, must
have the aristocratic spirit, and must love to lord it through
pride." These leaders had thousands of followers. Jeffer
son has left indisputable proofs of such tendencies in certain
political circles during the first three Federal Administra
tions, and those proofs are amply supported by the contem
porary letters of others. 1 Much as the democratic teachings

1 A remarkable collection of the monarchical opinions of a number of leading
men will be found in Randall s Life of Jefferson, I. 560 - 573. The private
correspondence of prominent Federalists is arrayed in evidence of their own
views on this subject ; and that it was no secret, is shown by quotations from
the writings of the first seven Presidents of the United States, each of whom
pointedly alludes to the existence of a positive monarchical sentiment.

318 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1793.

of the Republicans of that day have been assailed as ultra
and impracticable, and indicating a wrong-headed opposition
to government, it may be that this party and its principles
served as a wholesome check on the influence of such Feder
alists as went to the other extreme against the popular
power. 1

Those who in 1789 had been stigmatized as "Anti-Feder
alists," in the course of time assumed the name of " Repub
licans." Jefferson was their national leader, and Samuel
Adams their recognized head in Massachusetts. They were
subsequently known as the Democratic party. At the close
of 1792 all the original questions which had grown into
importance with the new government were definitely settled.
The most essential amendments to the Constitution had
been adopted ; the appointments to the principal Federal
offices made ; the revenue system digested ; the public debt
funded ; and nearly every great national issue set at rest.
The only party questions arose from theoretical differences,
involving no great practical subject. There had been, par
ticularly in Pennsylvania, some opposition to the collection
of the revenue, which shortly grew into armed rebellion ;
and the Indian war in the Northwest had added to the com
mon anxieties and burdens : but these offered no grounds
for party quarrels.

Events, however, had occurred in Europe which could not
but exert a controlling influence upon the young republic.
The progress of the French Revolution, which had been
watched with interest by all parties, presently formed wide

1 The old Republicans felt the same jealousy of these departures from what
they considered the original principles of the Revolution that they did of the
Society of the Cincinnati at the close of the war. That association, however
innocent in its intention, Samuel Adams considered to be " as rapid a stride
towards an hereditary military nobility as ever was made in so short a time,"
and he feared that its members, "when they perceived the multitude grown
giddy with gazing, might in time assume more than the mere pageantry of
nobility." (Letters in April, 1784.) Time has proved any such fear ground
less ; but there is some excuse for it in the unmistakable sentiment which was
then known to exist among powerful and influential men.

1793.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 319

divisions between those who sympathized with the people
and the less enthusiastic observers, who saw the dangers of
the movement. The Republicans, headed by Jefferson, gave
their moral support to this first practical assertion of demo
cratic theories in Europe ; for consistency, if not duty,
seemed to demand that a nation to which was owing in no
small degree the establishment of American independence
should be countenanced in the struggle for its own freedom.
The government of France was republican in form ; and, in
the spectacle of a people declaring against the oppression of
monarchy and aristocracy, the hopes and sympathies of
Samuel Adams could not be problematical. If the whole
of Euorpe had arisen in arms against kings and nobles, the
best wishes of his heart would have been with the cause of
democracy. Reading and experience alike taught him that
kingcraft and hereditary power were other names for tyran
ny. " No people," he used to say in conversation, " ever
groan under the yoke of slavery unless they deserve it. Let
them throw off the despotism, or perish with their oppres
sors."

" I have," he writes to General Clinton, " a strong attachment to
the French republic, more especially because they have founded
their Constitution upon principles similar to our own, and upon
which alone, I think, free and lawful governments must be founded,
and to which all nations that embrace them will naturally be bound
by the strongest ties of friendship. I hope we soon shall see the
time when all the machinations of those who wish to destroy the
affection and confidence between the two republics shall be detected
and treated with contempt." l

In some of the principal cities the temporary success of
the Revolutionary armies, and the anniversary of the French
alliance with the United States, were celebrated with civic
feasts, which were honored with the presence of the most
distinguished republican leaders. One of these took place
at Boston in January, 1792. A barbecued ox, mounted on

1 To George Clinton, Dec. 24, 1793.

320 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1793.

a car drawn by sixteen horses, and decorated with the flags
of France and the United States, passed through the streets,
followed by cart-loads of bread and hogsheads of punch,
which were dealt out to an immense throng in State Street,
while in Faneuil Hall three hundred select guests sat down
to a feast, over which Samuel Adams presided, assisted by
the French Consul. The day was observed as a universal
jubilee, at least by the friends of the French republic. The
ungenerous course of England towards America, since the
war, had assisted in creating this partiality for France.

While the sympathy for the French Revolution was every
where kindling, the enthusiasm was increased by the land
ing of citizen Genet as Ambassador. The declaration of
war by France against England arrived about the same time ;
and the position of the American government towards the
belligerents became a question of extreme delicacy. The
United States were bound by the treaty with France, signed
during the American Revolution, to guarantee that nation
forever against all other powers the existing possessions of
the crown of France in America, as well as those which it
might acquire by the future treaty of peace. This stipula
tion virtually pledged the United States to France, and the
whole subject was surrounded with novel complications,
embarrassing to every well-wisher of his country. The
meetings in which Washington sought the counsel of his
Cabinet found those statesmen divided in opinion on some
essential points, but unanimously in favor of a proclamation
of neutrality, which was issued in April, 1793. One of the
first acts of Genet was to fit out privateers, manned by
Americans, but flying the French flag, which soon made
themselves felt upon British commerce. By authority of
the French Convention he also created Courts of Admi
ralty in the ports of the United States, presided over by the
several French Consuls, for condemning the prizes thus
captured. In these and other extraordinary proceedings,
though Washington peremptorily discountenanced and for-

1793.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 321

bade them, Genet was supported by some portion of the
Republican party, aided by its most influential presses and
sundry political clubs. Jefferson and Randolph, who were
inclined at first to adhere to the party of alliance, were
not satisfied as to the illegality of the captures made by
privateers ; but all their leaning towards the French cause,
and resentment at the injustice of England, could not have
obtained from them any concession to the demands of the
Ambassador. Samuel Adams, however, seems to have
thought it better for America to secure the friendship of
France, in the person of Genet, than to risk a quarrel with
their " republican ally " by even appearing to favor the
large British party in the United States. In a letter to
Genet he says :

"I am thoroughly convinced that your heart is animated with
the same zeal for the interests of our country as for your own ; and
I have much pleasure in seeing that you firmly hope that a public
discussion will insure to your conduct the approbation of all reason
able men, and will cover with shame those who, yielding to the force
of prejudice, have so skilfully aimed calumnies and outrageous
charges at you. I hope sincerely that your official residence in the
United States may render you personally happy ; and I am already
convinced that it cannot but be useful to the universal cause of lib
erty and the rights of man." l

During the Revolution Adams had seen some of the most
eminent of his fellow-laborers disappear from the field. In
the winter of 1788 he had been one of the pall-bearers at the
funeral of Thomas Gushing, his friend and colleague in the
Massachusetts Legislature prior to the war, and in the Con
tinental Congress. A still more interesting separation now
took place. On the 8th of October, 1793, occurred the death
of John Hancock. In the immense funeral which did honor
to the public career of that celebrated patriot, Adams fol-

1 Samuel Adams to Genet, Boston, Oct. 22, 1793. On the conduct of the
Republicans towards Genet, see C. de Witt s Jefferson, translated by Church,
pp. 195-207, 414-423.
VOL. ill. 21

322 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1793.

lowed the bier as chief mourner ; but his failing strength
was unequal to the effort ; and, on reaching State Street,
he was obliged to withdraw from the procession. It can be
imagined how much the recollections which must have
crowded upon him had to do with his fatigue. Himself the
observed of the multitude, and in all probability soon to fol
low his Revolutionary associate to his reward, the aged states
man might well reflect upon the path* they had so long
trodden together, and recall the momentous events in which
they had taken so large a part.

CHAPTER LXIII.

Adams as Governor of Massachusetts. His Address to the Legislature. The
Family Circle. His House in Winter Street. He is presented with a Car
riage and Horses. The " Peacock Tavern." Unostentatious Manner of
Living. His Library and the great Family Bible. His Habits and Per
sonal Appearance in advanced Life. He is elected Governor in 1794.
The European Wars. British Aggressions on American Commerce.
Order in Council. John Jay sent to negotiate a Treaty of Commerce.
Hostilities imminent with Great Britain. Adams is desirous of Neutrality
and Peace, but recommends preparing for War. Is re-elected in 1795.
Lays the Corner-Stone of the new State House. The Federalists attack
his Political Acts and Opinions. James Sullivan defends him. Sermons
by Dr. Osgood and Dr. Forbes. Adams on the Necessity of National
Union.

WHEN Adams became Governor, on the death of Hancock,
Washington was in his second Presidential term. Questions
of increasing magnitude were arising out of the French Rev
olution, and augmented the difficulties surrounding the
Federal Administration. The war between France and
England had given rise to complications as to the powers
of belligerents on the high seas. England claimed the right
of seizing French goods from American vessels, and even of
capturing neutral ships laden with breadstuffs for France.
She seemed totally to ignore the existence of American mar
itime rights ; and disregarding the treaty of 1783, she con
tinued to hold the western posts, and in other respects acted
the part of an overruling power, careless of its encroach
ments upon weaker nations. The infant commerce of the
country had also been subjected to the piracies of Algerine
cruisers, which led eventually to the first achievements of
the American navy in defence of the national honor. All
these things were of great interest to Massachusetts for their
effect on trade and commerce, upon which depended the
prosperity of the State ; but as they fell exclusively under

324 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Jan.

the jurisdiction of the Federal government, they were not,
of course, much discussed in the State Legislature.

The General Court convened on the 17th of January.
On that day, at noon, Mr. Adams pronounced without notes
his speech to the Senate and House :

" FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE TWO BRANCHES OP THE LEGIS
LATURE,

" It having pleased the Supreme Being, since your last meeting,
in his holy Providence to remove from this transitory life our late
excellent Governor Hancock, the multitude of his surviving fellow-
citizens, who have often given strong testimonials of their approba
tion of his important services, while they drop a tear, may certainly
profit by the recollection of his virtuous and patriotic example.

" You are sensible that on this melancholy event our Constitution
directs that the Lieutenant- Govern or for the time being shall per
form all the duties which were incumbent on him, and exercise all
the powers and authorities, during the vacancy of the chair, which
by the Constitution he was vested with when personally present.
Diffident as I am of my abilities, I have yet felt myself constrained
to undertake the performance of those duties, and the exercise of
those powers and authorities in consequence of a sovereign act of
GOD. To him I look for that wisdom which is profitable to direct.
The Constitution must be my rule, and the true interest of my con
stituents, whose agents I am, my invariable object.

" The people of this Commonwealth have heretofore been pos
sessed of the entire sovereignty within and over their own territo
ries. They were not controllable by any other terms than those to
which their constituted representative body gave their consent.
This, I presume, was the case with every other State of the Union.
But after the memorable Declaration of their Independence was by
solemn treaty agreed to and ratified by the British King, the only
power that could have any pretence to dispute it, they considered
themselves decidedly free and independent of all other people.
Having taken rank among nations, it was judged that their great
affairs could not well be conducted under the direction of a number
of distinct sovereignties. They therefore formed and adopted a Fed
eral Constitution, by which certain powers of sovereignty are del
egated and intrusted to such persons as they shall judge proper

1794.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 325

from time to time to elect, to be exercised conformably to, and
within the restrictions of, the said Constitution, for the purpose of
strengthening and confirming the Union, and promoting the safety
and happiness of the confederated commonwealth. All powers not
vested in Congress remain in the separate States, to be exercised
according to their respective Constitutions. Should not unremitting
caution be used, lest any degree of interference or infringement
might take place, either on the rights of the Federal government on
the one side, or those of the several States on the other ? Instances
of this kind may happen, for infallibility is not the lot of any man
or body of men, even the best of them on earth. The human mind,
in its present state being very imperfect, is liable to a multitude of
errors. Prejudice, that great source of error, often creeps in, and
takes possession of the hearts of honest men, without even their per
ceiving it themselves. Honest men will not feel themselves dis
gusted when mistakes are pointed out to them with decency,
candor, and friendship, nor will they, when convinced of truth, think
their own dignity degraded by correcting their own errors.

"Among the objects of the Constitution of this Commonwealth,
liberty and equality stand in a conspicuous light. It is the first
article in the Declaration of Rights, * all men are born free and
equal, and have certain natural, essential, and inalienable rights.
In the supposed state of nature, all men are equally bound by the
laws of nature, or, to speak more properly, the laws of the Creator.
They are imprinted by the finger of God on the heart of man.
Thou shalt do no injury to thy neighbor is the voice of Nature, and
it is confirmed by written Revelation. In the state of nature every
man hath an equal right by honest means to acquire property and to
enjoy it, in general, to pursue his own happiness, and none can
consistently control or interrupt him in the pursuit. But, so turbu
lent are the passions of some, and so selfish the feelings of others,
that in such a state, there being no social compact, the weak cannot
always be protected from the violence of the strong, nor the honest
and unsuspecting from the arts and intrigues of the selfish and cun
ning. Hence it is easy to conceive that men, naturally formed for
society, were inclined to enter into mutual compact for the better
security of their natural rights. In this state of society, the inal
ienable rights of nature are held sacred, and each member is entitled
to an equal share of all the social rights. No man can of right

326 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [Jan.

become possessed of a greater share. If any one usurps it, he so
far becomes a tyrant, and when he can obtain sufficient strength the
people will feel the rod of a tyrant. Or, if this exclusive privilege
can be supposed to be held in virtue of compact, it argues a very
capital defect, and the people, when more enlightened, will alter
their compact and extinguish the very idea.

" These opinions I conceive to be conformable to the sentiments
held up in our State Constitution. It is there declared that govern
ment is instituted for the common good, not for the profit, honor, or
private interest of any one man, family, or class of men. And fur
ther, all the inhabitants of this Commonwealth having such qualifi
cations as shall be established by their Constitution have an equal
right to elect or be elected for public employments.

" Before the formation of this Constitution it had been affirmed as
a self-evident truth in the Declaration of Independence, very delib
erately made by the representatives of the United States of Amer
ica in Congress assembled, that all men are created equal, and are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable right?. This
Declaration of Independence was received and ratified by all the
States in the Union, and has never been disannulled. May we not
from hence conclude that the doctrine of liberty and equality is an
article in the political creed of the United States ?

" Our Federal Constitution ordains that no title of nobility shall
be granted by the United States. The framers of that Constitution
probably foresaw that such titles, vain and insignificant in them
selves, might be in time, as they generally, and, I believe, always
have been, introductory to the absurd and unnatural claim of hered
itary and exclusive privileges.

" The republic of France have also adopted the same principle,
and laid it as the foundation of their Constitution. That nation
having for many ages groaned under the exercise of the pretended
right claimed by their kings and nobles, until their very feelings as
men were become torpid, at length suddenly awoke from their long
slumber, abolished the usurpation, and placed every man upon the
footing of equal rights. All men are born free and equal in rights,
if I mistake not, is their language.

" From the quotations I have made, I think it appears that the
Constitutions referred to, different as they may be in forms, agree
altogether in the most essential principles upon which legitimate

1794.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 827

governments are founded. I have said essential principles, because
I conceive that, without liberty and equality, there cannot exist that
tranquillity of mind which results from the assurance of every
citizen that his own personal safety and rights are secure. This, I
think, is a sentiment of the celebrated Montesquieu, and it is the
end and design of all free and lawful governments. Such assur
ance impressed upon the heart of each would lead to the peace,
order, and happiness of all. For I should think no man, in the ex
ercise of his reason, would be inclined in any instance to trespass
upon the equal rights of citizens, knowing that if he should do it he
would weaken and risk the security of his own. Even different na
tions, having grounded their respective constitutions upon the afore
mentioned principles, will shortly feel the happy effects of mutual
friendship, mutual confidence, and mutual strength. Indeed, I can
not but be of opinion that when those principles shall be rightly
understood and universally established, the whole family and broth
erhood of man will then nearly approach to, if not fully enjoy, that
state of peace and prosperity which ancient philosophers and sages
have foretold.

" I fear I have dwelt too long upon this subject. Another pre
sents itself to my mind which, I think, is indeed great and impor
tant. I mean the education of our children and youth. Perhaps
the minds even of infants may receive impressions, good or bad, at
an earlier period than many imagine. It has been observed that
1 education has a greater influence on manners than human laws
can have. Human laws excite fears and apprehensions, lest crimes
committed may be detected and punished ; but a virtuous education
is calculated to reach and influence the heart and to prevent crimes.
A very judicious writer has quoted Plato, who, in showing what care
for the security of states ought to be taken for the education of
youth, speaks of it as almost sufficient to supply the place both of
legislation and administration. Such an education, which leads the
youth beyond mere outside show, will impress their minds with a
profound reverence of the Deity, universal benevolence, and a warm
attachment and affection towards their country. It will excite in
them a just regard to Divine revelation, which informs them of the
original character and dignity of man, and it will inspire them with
a sense of true honor, which consists in conforming as much as pos
sible their principles, habits, and manners to that original character.

328 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [Jan.

It will enlarge their powers of mind, and prompt them impartially to
search for truth in the consideration of every subject that may em
ploy their thoughts ; and, among other branches of knowledge, it will
instruct them in the skill of political architecture and jurisprudence,
and qualify them to discover any error, if there should be such, in
the forms and administration of government, and point out the
method of correcting them. But I need not press this subject, being
persuaded that this Legislature, from the inclination of their minds,
as well as in regard to the duty enjoined by the Constitution, will
cherish the interest of literature, the sciences, and all their semi
naries.

" Fellow-citizens, legislation is within your department, yet the
Constitution assigns a part to be taken by the Governor when bills
and resolves, intended to operate as laws, shall be presented to him,
which is merely to state objections, if he has any, of which the Leg
islature will judge and finally determine. Let me entreat you to
despatch the weightier business so early in the session as to afford
me opportunity to perform my duty with due consideration and
ease.

" I have communications to make, such as the state of the Treas
ury, of the military stores belonging to the Commonwealth, and oth
ers, which I shall transmit to you by the Secretary.

" SAMUEL ADAMS.

" COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, January 17, 1794,"

It is only by studying the political condition of the coun
try towards the close of the last century that this recurrence
in a gubernatorial speech to the original doctrines of repub
lican government can be properly appreciated. What might
now be regarded as needless repetitions of trite principles
had, at that time, a distinct bearing upon the great questions
which were agitating Europe and America. The French
Revolution was a gigantic effort of the masses to throw off
the insupportable weight of a depraved, privileged class.
The fires of democracy which had lain dormant for ages
first found vent in America. The next crater burst forth in
France, where the popular mind had been gradually pre
pared for the approaching upheaval. The hideous excesses
which followed, natural effects of so violent a convulsion,

1794.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 329

were deeply deplored by the friends of republicanism in
America ; but the democratic principles which underlay that
revolution, and the establishment of popular liberties among
the nations of Europe, never failed to excite an abiding
interest in the Western world ; and a bright and hopeful
future seemed to loom up beyond the bloody scenes attend
ing the extinction of monarchy and aristocracy. 1 The the
ories of government entertained by the statesmen of America
became more diverse as the century advanced. A want of
faith in the capacity of the people to govern themselves
under a purely republican Constitution, and a doubt of
the permanency of such institutions, if not strengthened by
the infusion of an aristocratic element, prevailed, as we have

1 In July of this year, Mr. Adams attended a grand Eepublican banquet at
Faneuil Hall in honor of the destruction of the Bastile. The Independent
Chronicle of July 17th contains a description of the celebration, at which the
flags of the two republics were equally conspicuous. The French Consul
presided. The Governor, on retiring, gave as a toast, " May the laurel of
victory never wither on the brow of republicanism." On another occasion
(Sept. 22, 1795), at the celebration of the "Anniversary of the French Repub
lic," he proposed, " May Heaven direct the measures of the republic of France
and the United Netherlands, and may they establish a Constitution that may
secure the liberties of the citizens." There is scarcely any document by
Adams, during his administration, which does not contain evidences of his
decided sympathy with the French Eevolution. Even his Fast proclamations
indicate it. In that issued in March of this year he recommends the ministers
of religion to supplicate Divine aid,

" To guide and succeed the counsels of our Federal government, as well as
those of the several States in the Union, that under their respective Constitu
tions they may be led to such decisions as will establish the liberty, peace,
rights, and honor of our country ; to inspire our friends and allies, the repub
lic of France, with a spirit of wisdom and true religion, that, firmly relying on
the strength of His almighty arm, they may still go on prosperously, till their
arduous conflict for a government of their own, founded on the justice and
equal rights of men, shall be finally crowned with success."

And again, in the Fast Proclamation, October, 1776 :

" That the nations who are contending for true liberty may still be succeeded
by His almighty aid ; that every nation and society of men may be inspired
with the knowledge and feeling of their natural and just rights, and enabled to
form such systems of civil government as shall be fully adapted to promote
and establish their social security and happiness."

330 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1794.

seen, among some of the leading Federalists. The influence
of aristocratic and wealthy families was already beginning to
be felt, an influence which the more rigid republicans re
garded without any mean jealousy, but with an anxious fear
of its eifect upon that system of democracy which, following
the example of the New World, France had lately adopted.
Mr. Adams in his old age fondly reverted to the vital princi
ples of the great writers on human liberty, whose precepts
he had studied early in life, and had maintained during the
disputes with the mother country. Those original ideas of
popular rights with which the Revolution commenced had,
it was thought, become somewhat indistinct since the estab
lishment of the nation ; and now, when their avowal in
Europe had set the world in motion, he revived the argu
ments which he had used in his vigorous manhood, and
endeavored to impress them anew upon the community over
which he was called to preside.

One feature in the original form of the Federal Constitu
tion to which Mr. Adams had objected was the amenability
of the States to the national courts. His letters on the sub
ject predicted disputes between the Federal and State au
thorities, unless the instrument was amended in that as well
as in other particulars. One of the amendments proposed
by the Massachusetts Convention limited the amount in
which the Supreme Federal Court could have jurisdiction in
causes between citizens of different States ; but the suability
of any State by individuals through that court does not ap
pear to have been suggested in the debates. A judge of
the Supreme Court having decided that a State could be
sued by an individual, a suit under that ruling was insti
tuted against Massachusetts by an alien. This was shortly
before the death of Governor Hancock, who summoned a
special session of the Legislature, where it was resolved to
take no notice of the suit ; and a resolution having been
adopted for amending the Constitution in that particular,
the Governor was requested to transmit it to the other Legis-

1794.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 831

latures. This was done by Samuel Adams in his executive
capacity. Together with Jarvis and Judge Sullivan, he was
instrumental in securing the adoption of the amendment
guaranteeing the States individually against the Federal
judicial power. It was in conformity with his ideas of entire
State sovereignty in local affairs, as the only practicable and
durable relation with the Federal government.

That republican simplicity which all contemporary allu
sions to Samuel Adams invariably describe as his peculiar
characteristic was not confined to his political creed. Neves
did the executive of a wealthy and cultivated community
illustrate with more consistency, by his manner of life, the
professions of his heart. His natural aversion to display and
parade was not less remarkable now than in the primitive
days of the Revolution. Dr. Waterhouse, who. Mved near
the Governor, thus alludes to this trait :

" The then salary of the Governor of Massachusetts, 1 if our mem
ory serves, was a thousand pounds currency, or three thousand three
hundred and thirty-three dollars, but a very small sum towards
enabling the incumbent of the gubernatorial chair to follow the ex
ample in style and hospitality set by Mr. Hancock, who lived and
entertained like a prince. Mr. Adams possessed neither carriage
nor horses, but he had been elected Governor only a few weeks,
when some gentlemen of Boston presented the venerable patriot
with a new and handsome chariot .and a pair of as handsome horses
as there were in the city. The first use he made of his equipage
shows the man in a point of view too rare not to be admired. Seat
ing himself beside his venerable lady, they drove to Constable
Hewes s, where the Governor alighted, and, handing Mrs. Hewes
into the seat, the two old ladies drove off together, while he staid
and talked with his old friend, and we stood by devouring their
discourse."

Another account of this says, that the carriage arrived in
time for him to ride to the State House to deliver his inau

1 Massachusetts at this time, and for a quarter of a century later, included
the whole of the present State of Maine.

332 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1794.

gural, but that, after directing the coachman to drive the
ladies about town, he quietly walked to the Representatives
chamber, and pronounced his speech. On retiring from
public life in 1797, Mr. Adams returned the gift to the do
nors. 1

His dwelling, which was a large, old-fashioned frame-house
on the south side of Winter Street, was a part of the confis
cated estate of Sylvanus Gardiner, a Loyalist absentee, whose
property, like that of many others, was sold during the war
to satisfy the demands of creditors, under an act of the Gen
eral Court in 1781, entitled " An Act to provide for the Pay
ment of Debts due from Conspirators and Absentees." The
purchaser was John Bois, who, in May, 1784, sold the prop
erty to Mr. Adams for one thousand pounds, secured by
mortgage, which was taken up in April, 1793. 2

We have already alluded to the afflicting death of Dr.
Samuel Adams in 1788. 8 He bequeathed to his father his
claims for services as surgeon during the war. The redemp
tion of these, soon after the organization of the Federal gov-

1 This is the only presentation of a public nature ever made to Samuel Ad
orns. He was known always to have disapproved of gifts to public servants,
such as orders, ribbons, and medals.

2 The house was taken down about the year 1820, and upon its site was
erected the residence of the late John Randall, M. D., who married Miss Eliz
abeth Wells, a granddaughter of Samuel Adams. The lot is thus described
in an abstract from the records made in 1782. "Bounded north on Winter
Street, 51 feet 6 inches; west on the land of John Thaxter and Ebenezer
White, there measuring 66 feet 8 inches ; south on land of Dr. John Sprague,
there measuring 67 feet 8 inches ; including house, outhouses, and every privi
lege and appurtenance."

What remained of the old homestead on Purchase Street, built by the elder
Samuel Adams about the year 1712, where Governor Adams and his children
were born, was sold in October, 1802, to " Philip Wentworth of Boston, in the
county of Suffolk, gentleman." It is believed to have been mortgaged before
this sale for nearly all it was worth.

3 Dr. Adams died a bachelor. His father having left at his own death only
a daughter, the name of Adams is no longer borne by any of his descendants.
It was commonly said in former times that, " had not the death of an only son
relieved his latter-day poverty, Samuel Adams would have been obliged to
claim a burial at the hand of charity or at the public expense."

1794.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 333

ernment, placed Mr. Adams above the financial straits to
which he had been subjected for the greater part of his
life. Dr. Adams had the good sense, even under consider
able pecuniary pressure, to refuse all offers of speculators to
buy his scrip. The old patriot thus became the owner of
twelve hundred pounds, the largest amount of ready money
he had ever possessed. In May, 1794, he expended a con
siderable portion of this in the purchase of the " Peacock
Tavern " and forty acres of land at Jamaica Plains, " with
the- dwelling-house and other buildings and edifices thereon
standing ; the whole being late the property of Lemuel
Childs." These investments proved to be so profitable,
that, at the time of Mr. Adams s death, his real estate was
worth sixteen thousand dollars, and had very materially in
creased in value at the time of his daughter s death, about
the year 1820.

The house in Winter Street was a heavily framed and sub
stantial-looking structure, built early in the last century, and
was perhaps older than its proprietor. It was of three sto
ries, and had been painted yellow ; but, according to some
of the family, its clapboarded sides looked dingy and weather
worn. From the front door, which was of oaken panels and
ornamented with a brass knocker, there was but a single step
into the street ; and the windows of the lower story descend
ed to within two feet of the ground. Over the arch of the
front entrance, and almost touching it, was a large bow-win
dow. The windows, with this exception, were small. The
dwellings above and below on that side of the street were
of the same style, saving two or three small shops, one of
which, a baker s, stood next west of Mr. Adams s house.
In the rear of the residence was a paved court-yard and a
garden adorned with flowers and shrubbery.

The interior was a model of neatness and thrifty house
keeping. The front door opened into a broad entry, from
which a staircase with heavily capped, twisted banisters,
led to the upper stories, and terminated near a bow-window

334 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1794

on the second landing. The two principal apartments be
low were the east and west parlors, though only one was
known as a parlor ; the other was used by Mr. Adams
towards the close of his life as a sitting-room. Here also
was his library, of which some of the books are yet preserved,
and here he commonly received his most intimate visitors.
The parlor was spacious, even for those days. There was a
large fireplace, with huge brass andirons. The jambs were
fronted with porcelain tiles with sky-blue figures. These
tiles were about five inches square, and formed a sort of
mosaic work, comfortably reflecting the light of the fire.
Most of the furniture was old but substantial. The inven
tory, taken soon after the death of Mr. Adams, 1 shows that,
while Governor, he maintained some little state at his resi
dence, such as a proper regard for the dignity of the office
required. The fragments of the old eight-day clock, said to
have belonged to his father, are yet in existence. Among
the paintings were the life-size picture of himself by John
ston, one of Mrs. Adams by the same artist, 2 and a number

1 This " inventory and appraisement " is in the records of the Probate
Court, Boston, Dec. 12, 1803. The total value of all his personal estate was
$ 665.70. It is a curious list of old-fashioned household ware, in which figure
carpets, pictures, fire-dogs, swords, silver plate, bed-curtains, " lolling-chairs,"
clocks, urns, glasses, desks, and books. The appraisers were William Donni-
son, Andrew Oliver, and Azor Archibald. The first of these was General
Donnison, an old friend of the family, who held a number of offices, civil and
military, during the Eevolution. He was the executor of the will of Mrs. Ad
ams in 1808.

2 Major John Johnston, a brave officer of the Revolution. Reduced to want,
after the peace with England, he resorted to painting as a means of support.
His portraits are more remarkable as faithful likenesses than for skill in color
ing and drawing. The painting of Mrs. Adams still exists. That of Gov
ernor Adams, taken in 1795, was destroyed a few years since by fire. The
frontispiece of this volume is from a folio mezzotint engraved by Graham
from the original painting in 1797. The author has met with but a single
copy, which is in the rare collection of John W. Randall, Esq., of Boston.

There is in Boston, in the possession of J. K. Wiggin, Esq., another
equally rare mezzotint of Adams, engraved by Samuel Okey from a painting
by J. Mitchell after the Copley portrait, and " printed by and for Cha s Reak
& Sam 1 Okey, Newport, Rhode-Island, April, 1775." If this means that

1794.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 335

of framed engravings of eminent Americans, tne portrait
of Washington occupying the most conspicuous place.
There were also six oval-shaped half-length portraits of dis
tinguished advocates of liberty in the Old World, said to
have been presented by Jefferson, who visited him in 1784.

Persons who were living within ten years of this writing
have described Governor Adams as they used to see him in
their youthful days. He always walked with his family to
and from church, until his failing strength prevented. 1 His
stature was a little above the medium height. He wore a
tie-wig, cocked hat, buckled shoes, knee-breeches, and a red
cloak, and held himself very erect, with the ease and address
of a polite gentleman. On stopping to speak with any per
son in the street, his salutation was formal, yet cordial. His
gestures were animated, and in conversation there was a
slight tremulous motion of the head. He never wore glass
es in public, except when engaged in his official duties at
the State House. His complexion was florid, and his eyes
dark blue. The eyebrows were heavy, almost to bushiness,
and contrasted remarkably with the clear forehead, which, at
the age of seventy, had but few wrinkles. The face had a
benignant, but careworn expression, blended with a native
dignity (some have said majesty) of countenance, which
never failed to impress strangers. 2

the portrait was engraved as well as printed at Newport, it is interesting
as a specimen of early American mezzotint. Beneath it are the following
verses :

When haughty North, impress d w h proud disdain,

Spurn d at the virtue which rejects his chain;

Heard with a tyrant-scorn our rights implor d ;

And when we su d for justice, sent the sword :

Lo ! Adams rose, in warfare nobly try d,

His country s saviour, father, shield, & guide ;

Urg d by her wrongs, he wag d y glorious strife

Nor paus d to waste a coward-thought on life.

1 Owing, it is said, to some circumstance displeasing to him, which occurred
at the New South, or Summer Street, Church, where he had worshipped from
childhood, he removed, about the year 1792, to the Old South, which he at
tended ever after.

8 An aged citizen of West Bridgewater, whose father was a member of the

336 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [May,

His manner of living was regular and frugal, for lie hoped
even from his official salary to be able to leave his family
provided for at his death, which he felt could not be far dis
tant. Yet there was nothing approaching to parsimony in
his nature. On public occasions, where wine was used, he
rarely went further than to touch it to his lips, generally
making a single glass suffice during the entertainment. He
eat but little and of the simplest food. Though the table
was bountifully supplied, he was often satisfied with milk
and coarse brown bread. No comfort within his means was
wanting in the household, nor was any reasonable gratifica
tion denied his family. Grace preceded every meal, and
morning and evening prayers were read from the old Bible. 1

first Provincial Congress in 1774, was asked if he had ever seen Sam Adams.
" Sir," said he, impressively, "I once touched the hem of his garment "; and
he then narrated how, in his own boyhood, on a bleak winter evening about the
year 1782, he was riding with his father in a sleigh down what is now Wash
ington Street. Adam Colson, one of the Boston Tea-Party, was driving.
The weather was piercingly cold. Passing by the head of Essex Street, they
overtook some one whom his father and Colson addressed with marked respect
and invited to ride with them. Acknowledging the courtesy, this person took
a seat in the sleigh, the lad, during the rest of the ride, being sheltered un
der the folds of the stranger s great red cloak. The old people conversed on
some political subject until they came to Concert Hall, when the passenger,
having been assisted out of the sleigh, politely took his leave. The boy, after
some time, asked who the gentleman was. " That," said his father, " was
Sam Adams."

1 This Bible is now the property of Mr. Drake, the well-known antiquarian.
It was originally owned by the father of Samuel Adams, who probably pur
chased it soon after his marriage with Miss Fifield in 1713. The entries begin
with the date of his own birth, and are carried in his handwriting down to
1740. The next is by the subject of these memoirs, who notes the death of
his father in 1747 (0. S.). The record thus begun is continued by Adams
until 1764, the year of his second marriage. Mr. Drake, in the New Eng
land Historical and Genealogical Register, July, 1854, VIII. 283, says of the
volume : " It is in folio, and a large folio for that day, being about seventeen
inohes high and three and a half in thickness, and of proportionable width.
The paper and print are beautiful, and the binding was of the most substantial
kind, with massive brass mountings and clasps. That it does not contain the
Apocrypha is easily accounted for. The Old Testament was printed in 1708,
the New in 1707, and the Psalms in 1679 ; the last at Edinburgh and the first

1794.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 337

A grand-niece of Samuel Adams was invited to stay at the
house several weeks in the winter of 1795. Although now
about ninety years old, she has a clear recollection of her
visit. The family circle was one of the most cheerful and
agreeable in the town. The Governor enjoyed nothing
more than the society of young persons. He loved to have
them about him, and both he and Mrs. Adams took special
pains to bring together such as were congenial. The three
children of his daughter, Mrs. Wells, passed much of their
time at the house. One of them was his special favorite, and
some of the pleasantest memories of this grandson s life have
been those which were associated with the affectionate kind
ness of his revered relative. There were three servants,
among them the faithful old negress Surry, who had been
in the family thirty years.

Mrs. Adams s friends fondly claimed for her the merit of
being the best housekeeper in Boston ; and it often excited
remark among her more fashionable acquaintances, that the
wife of the Governor of Massachusetts should condescend to
personally meddle with the details of household duties. But
she had been reared in the hard school of adversity, and all
through the Revolution had known what it was to work
with her hands ; and, though elegant in her person, and
possessing more than ordinary accomplishments, she was
never above a matronly supervision of her domestic affairs.

Mr. Adams was this year re-elected Governor. A desper
ate effort was made by the Federalists to defeat him ; but he
had a large majority over Judge William Gushing, the only
other candidate who got even a respectable vote. Some of
the newspapers, as usual, published squibs, written with all

at London. Copies of this edition of the Bible are of exceeding rarity, at
least they are believed to be so, as our great Bible collector, George Livermore,
Esq., has never yet been able to obtain one, and the venerable Dr. Jenks has
remarked to the editor that he has seen no other copy of the edition. It con
tains several beautifully executed maps, but no ornamental plates, with the
exception of a view of London in the title-page and vignettes upon the cor
ners of the maps."

VOL. in. 22

338 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. w [May,

the violent prejudice characterizing the party warfare of
that day ; but the State was too firmly Republican for the
opposition to be seriously felt. His enemies laid particular
stress on the tried legal abilities of Judge Gushing, who had
been Chief Justice under the royal government in Hutchin-
son s adminstration, but, alone among those of his station,
had taken the patriot side at the commencement of the Rev
olution. The advanced age of Adams was also urged to
prove his unfitness for the office. Among the indignant
responses to these flings, the following may be taken as
characteristic of the estimation in which he was held by
the Republicans. The writer is concluding a lengthy review
of his public career.

" As to Mr. Gushing, it would be an affront to the common under
standing of the world to place him for a moment, in point of political
reputation or ability, on a footing with Mr. Adams. This last
character appeared in the front of your opposition to the British
power, with a halter around his neck, and is known everywhere in
Europe as well as America. As to Mr. Gushing, the moderation
of his political character might have secured, him the place under
any government. Whether America was triumphant or enslaved,
he had done nothing to forfeit the favor of any party ; and shall
Samuel Adams be deprived of the suffrages of his fellow-citizens
in Boston by the influence of such a competitor ? What has he
done ? What has Samuel Adams not done for the trade and trades
men of Boston ? If he had passed as many hours in raking oysters
as he has spent by day and by night, without fee or reward, in the
service of his countrymen in general and his townsmen in a par
ticular manner, he would have been as rich as the most opulent
speculator on the continent."

At this time the country was intensely excited by the
continued aggressions of Great Britain. Although a defini
tive treaty of peace with that power was signed in 1783,
acknowledging American independence, no specific treaty
of commerce had been negotiate d. All the efforts of John
Adams, while Ambassador to England, had been unavailing
to establish a basis for commercial intercourse, and no

1794.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 339

British Minister had been appointed to the United States.
The European wars growing out of the French Revolution
opened a vast field for the employment of American shipping,
which had thus already secured to itself a lucrative carrying
trade. With the arrogance of conscious power, and perhaps
influenced by an ever active commercial jealousy, the Brit
ish government continued to direct its cruisers to capture
neutral vessels laden with breadstuffs for France ; and an
Order in Council was issued in the summer of 1793, author
izing British war ships to seize all vessels carrying French
goods bound to a French colony. These and other acts,
aimed especially against the commerce of the United States,
had for two or three years been subjects of angry complaint
among merchants. Madison s resolutions, in favor of dis
criminating duties on the products of nations with whom
no commercial treaty existed, had lately passed Congress ;
but as yet the young republic had taken no decisive meas
ures for redress. It needed only this Order in Council to
raise a storm of indignation, especially in the sea-coast cities ;
and the fact gradually forced itself upon all unprejudiced
minds, that the hostility of the mother country had not
ceased with the Revolutionary war. Congress passed acts
for increasing the navy, and for the fortification of the
principal harbors, in preparation for a contest which the
most sagacious statesmen believed to be at hand. Governor
Adams considered war as very imminent. In a letter to the
Governor of New York, he said :

" In reviewing the political situation of the United States in their
relation to foreign nations, particularly with regard to that with
Great Britain, we have reason to apprehend that the continuation
of peace cannot long be expected, unless events shall prove more
propitious than they promise at present. If I may judge from the
reports of newspapers, the Legislature of your State at their late
session made some provision for fortifying the harbors of the coast
of New York ; and having it in intention to have the same matter
laid before the General Court of this Commonwealth, which will be
in session in a little time, I am desirous of being able to inform

340 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1794.

them of the nature and extent of the views of your Assembly on
that important subject, in hopes that this State may not be behind
any other in the Union in making suitable provision within them
selves for the defence of the sea-coast of the Commonwealth." 1

The Legislature convened on the thirty-first day of May.
Adams delivered a speech to both branches at the Represent
atives Chamber, where " the Governor was attended by the
Secretary and the sheriff of the county." With all his
anxiety for the preservation of the individual rights of the
States, Mr. Adams in this address explicitly recognizes the
Federal supremacy in national affairs. That supremacy was
sometimes questioned by extreme Republicans as it was
overestimated by ultra-Federalists ; but Adams endeavored
to point out the proper mean between Federal and State
authority, that a clear definition of the just limits of each
might prevent fatal collisions in the future. This speech
expresses his opinion on the impending troubles with Great
Britain. He was desirous of peace, but considered the in
fant republic as quite competent to defend her honor and
commercial rights ; and he was for making preparations for
war if a proper respect for the United States could not
otherwise be secured.

" We are met," he said, " at a very critical period. The baneful
influence of war in Europe has already too far extended itself into
this remote region, a war of kings and nobles against the equal
rights of men. Their first object was to control the common right
of all civil societies, by prostrating the attempt of a magnanimous
nation to establish a constitution of government for themselves ac
cording to their own mind. More lately the nefarious design has
been to crush the new-formed republic in its infancy. But the God
of armies, who favors the brave in a righteous cause, has hitherto
appeared for its protection, and crowned the astonishing efforts of its
defenders with astonishing victories.

" Great Britain takes an active part with the mighty combination
of kings. Indeed, it does not appear that she has yet made a demand

1 Adams to George Clinton, April 10, 1794.

1794.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 341

on our confederate republic to join the league, a demand which
we are well informed she has made upon some of the neutral repub
lics of Europe. But whilst we have preserved the most strict neu
trality towards the belligerent powers of Europe, in observance of
treaties made under the authority of the United States, which are
the supreme law of the land, she, for the sake of aiding the cause in
which she is so deeply engaged, has employed her naval force in
committing depredations on our lawful and unprotected commerce.
Thus, in fact, she has commenced hostilities. The Federal govern
ment, although very solicitous, if possible, to prevent the calamities
of war, have meditated measures preparatory for the event. The
papers and communications which I have received on this subject
shall be laid before you. It was a declared intention of the people
of the United States, when they adopted our present Constitution,
6 to form a more perfect union/ an important object indeed. The
deliberate voice of the people is commonly the voice of reason ;
the voice of the people ought, therefore, to be attended to. Union
formed upon the genuine republican principles and views of our
political institutions, by combining our strength, will have a pow
erful tendency in time of war to reduce an unreasonable enemy to
terms of justice and the re-establishment of tranquillity, and in
peace to secure the blessings of equal liberty to the present and
future generations." l

Neutrality in the wars of Europe is the policy indicated
by Governor Adams in every allusion to the subject found
in his public addresses. Nor could his avowed interest in
the success of the republican arms of France overbalance
his appreciation of the value of peace to a young and rising
nation like the United States. Convinced that the country
would have been justified in making reprisals for the contin
ued outrages of British cruisers, he yet recognized the ad
vantageous position which perfect impartiality of conduct
would insure ; and he acknowledged the wisdom of President
Washington s proclamation of neutrality, issued soon after
the arrival of Genet. Many of the ultra-sympathizers with
France, however, looked upon the proclamation as rather

1 Independent Chronicle, June 2, 1794.

342 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1795.

intended to conciliate Great Britain, whose every act from
the close of the Revolutionary war had betrayed a dictato
rial feeling towards the United States, if not positive hostil
ity. This soon became the all-engrossing question of the
time, and was the subject of excited debate in and out of
Congress, when Washington nominated Chief Justice Jay
an envoy extraordinary to obtain redress if possible from
Great Britain, recommending at the same time the proper
military precautions, in case negotiation should prove un
successful. Adams approved of this embassy as the act of
the national authorities ; but he was convinced that the pro
posed treaty should be explicit and final in guaranteeing the
national rights, and that any evasions now, to suit tempo
rary purposes, would produce no lasting peace, but sooner
or later lead to renewed complications and perhaps war.
The party strife received a new bitterness from this issue ;
and, as at the adoption of the Constitution, the Federalists
freely applied such epithets to their opponents as " disor-
ganizers," " Jacobins," " Anti-Federalists," and " enemies
to government." In his address to the Legislature in Jan
uary, 1795, Mr. Adams thus alludes to the British aggres
sions and the embassy to London :

" We have been under apprehensions of being made a party in
the desolating contests in Europe. Permit me just to observe, that
the first and main principle which urged the combined powers to
enter into the contest is, in my opinion, unsupportable by reason and
nature, and in violation of the most essential rights of nations and
of men. The repeated acts of violence which have been committed
on the property of American citizens might, in the opinion of some,
have justified reprisals ; but the policy of the Federal government
has directed to other measures. The wisdom of our own counsels,
with the unexampled successes of our magnanimous ally, the repub
lic of France, afford the strongest ground of hope that, under the
continued smiles of Divine Providence, peace and tranquillity, so
interesting to a rising republic, will in the end be firmly estab
lished."

1795.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 343

Governor Adams was again elected in 1795, and, as before,
by an almost unanimous vote, notwithstanding the continued
attacks of a class who systematically aspersed his every mo
tive. Scurrilous poetry and hints of his incompetency, by
reason of his old age, to fill -the executive station were not
wanting in the columns of the Sentinel, sometimes coming
from the opposite political party, at others from the remnants
of the old Tory faction, who, after the peace, had been per
mitted to return to Massachusetts, a concession which,
during the Revolution, was strenuously opposed by Mr. Ad
ams, for reasons already given. The Chronicle, then the
recognized Republican party organ, thought it necessary
once to reply to these assaults :

" The character of our Chief Magistrate stands on a basis too per
manently fixed to be shaken by the desperate attempts of a British
faction ; and the pages of American history will transmit his name
to posterity with all the effulgence of honor and veneration which
are due to the virtues of those patriots who advocated the cause of
their country at periods the most interesting and important ; while
the contemptible wretches who are spending the pitiful remains of
their existence in vilifying the Chief Magistrate will be buried in
obscurity, and their more ignominious tools will be swept away
among the offal of society."

It was in truth a strange spectacle, that one whose abilities
and courage in leading the Revolution had provoked the bit
terest attacks from the Loyalist writers should now, in his
old age, be the object of calumny and lampoon among the
people to whose welfare his whole life had been devoted.
But his assailants were not confined to the writers in party
newspapers. In the heat of political rancor even the pulpit
was used for his detraction. To defeat him in the late elec
tion, no one instrument had been more confidently relied on
by his enemies than a sermon by the Rev. David Osgood of
Medford, an eminent preacher, who engaged with much zeal
in the political controversies of his day, and had attached
himself to the decided Hamiltonian school. He rudely as-

344 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1795.

sailed the Governor, whose actions, especially as regarded the
French Revolution, were distorted to suit the purposes of
the Federal party. 1 The sermon was immediately published,
and widely circulated ; but with all its literary merit, its
purpose was not attained. Republicans read it with indig
nation, and even Federalists were found who reprobated its
assertions and temper. James Sullivan, who, to use the
words of his biographer, was " incensed at this almost sacri
legious attack upon one whom he considered entitled to
gratitude and veneration for his invaluable services to the
country," answered it in an able pamphlet ; and references
to the sermon are occasionally found in the correspondence
of that time. The Rev. Perez Fobes evidently had these
revilings in mind when, in his election sermon this year, he
touchingly alluded to the patriarch.

" In the presence of an Assembly that contains so many living
characters of dignity, his Excellency claims our first attention. Two
annual suns have not yet revolved over the silent corpse of the pa
triot, the generous, the amiable Hancock, since we saw him here.
The man of dignity, the patron of liberty, the friend of religion, of
its ministers and institutions, must die ! But happy for us, his co-
patriot lives, and this day fills his vacant seat. Venerable with age,
more venerable for his piety and unconquerable love of liberty, we
behold him again placed in the first seat of government by the
united voice of his grateful country. She loved his brother in pro
scription, and still remembers the name of Adams, enrolled with him
on the immortal list of exemptions from pardon, for no other crime
but that of being a friend to his country. If his inflexible attach
ment to the same principles has since procured him the wounds of
censure, are they not wounds without a cause? And will he not

1 This political animosity extended far into the present century, long after
the death of Adams, and indeed has not yet entirely disappeared. A curious
instance of it will be found in the Boston Patriot, July 26, 1826. Within a
few years a distinguished Massachusetts statesman was invited to New York
by a literary society, before whom he lectured on the " Patriots of the Revolu
tion." In that address the speaker seemed studiously to avoid even mention
ing the name of Samuel Adams.

1795.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 345

with his dying breath forgive his enemies, and pray for the liberties
of mankind ? His eminent services in the cause of freedom are too
deeply engraved on the hearts of all true republicans ever to be
forgotten. May the fostering hand of Heaven guard him at this
critical period of life from every adverse event which might shake
the few remaining sands that now measure his important life.
With all the sensibilities of an imperfect, offending mortal, united
with the honest intrepidity of virtue, may he not appeal to Heaven
and earth, in the language of an inspired patriot of his own name,
and say : I am old and gray-headed ; I have walked before you from
my childhood to this day. Behold, here I am, witness against me
before the Lord and before his people. Whom have I defrauded ?
Whom have I oppressed ? Or of whose hand have I taken a bribe ?
And the people will say : * Thou hast not defrauded, thou hast not
oppressed us, the Lord is witness. The Lord think upon you for
good according to all that you have done for this people. "

The inaugural speech was delivered on the 3d of June.
The Governor goes back to the original principle, that " the
sovereignty of a nation always of right resides in the people."
He then speaks of the condition of the country.

" We have a regular exercise of our Federal and State govern
ments ; and we owe our unceasing gratitude to the Supreme Ruler
of the universe, who safely carried us through our arduous struggle
for freedom, for which other nations are now contending at the ex
pense of their blood and treasure. We cannot but rejoice that the
principles for which we contended, and which are constitutionally
established in United America, are irresistibly spreading themselves
through two mighty nations in Europe. We are now able to em
brace those powerful sister republics ; and what adds much to our
joy on this occasion is, that those nations became allied to us in an
hour when we were engaged in our hard conflict with an oppressive
tyranny."

His recognition of the distinct functions of the State and
Federal power is seen in the concluding paragraph :

" Let us, fellow-citizens, cultivate a due observance of the laws
which are constitutionally made by the authority of this government
as well as those of the Federal government, agreeable to the Con-

346 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1795.

stitution of the United States. Let us transmit our liberties, our
equal rights, our laws, and our free republican Constitutions, with
their various concomitant blessings, to those who are coming upon
the stage of action, and hope in God that they will be handed down
in purity and energy to the latest posterity." l

In all his public documents, while Governor of Massachu
setts, appears this same earnest solicitude for the preserva
tion of the national unity, which he considered as dependent
upon a faithful mutual observance of the respective Federal
and State obligations. In another address to the Legisla
ture in 1795, he says :

" We have solemnly engaged ourselves, fellow-citizens, to support
the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this
Commonwealth. This must be reconcilable in the mind of every
man who judiciously considers the sovereign rights of the one as
limited to Federal purposes, and the sovereign rights of the other
as acting upon and directing the internal concerns of our own
republic.

" Those who wish to persuade the world to believe that a free
representative republic cannot be supported will no doubt make use
of every art to injure, and by degrees to alter, and finally to erad
icate, the principles of our free Constitutions. But the virtuous
and enlightened citizens of this Commonwealth and of all United
America have understanding and firmness sufficient to support those
Constitutions of civil government which they have themselves formed,
and which have done them so much honor in the estimation of the
world.

"It is with pain that I mention the insurrection 2 which has lately
taken place in a sister State. It was pointed more immediately at
an act of the Federal government. An act of that government as
well as of the governments in the Union is constitutionally an act
of the people ; and our Constitutions provide a safe and easy method
to redress any real grievances. No people can be more free than
under a Constitution established by their voluntary compact, and

1 Independent Chronicle, June 4, 1795.

2 The " Whiskey Rebellion " in Pennsylvania.

1795.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 347

exercised by men appointed by their own frequent suffrages. If any
law shall prove oppressive in its operation, the future deliberations
of a freely elective representative will aiford a constitutional remedy.
But the measures adopted by the President of the United States,
supported by the virtue of citizens of every description in that and
the adjacent States, have prevailed, and there is an end to the insur
rection. Let the glory be given to Him who alone governs all
events, while we express the just feelings of respect and gratitude
due to all those whom he honors as instruments to carry into effect
his gracious designs."

On March 5, 1795, he appointed a day of fasting,

" To pray that the light of the Gospel and the rights of conscience
may be continued to the people of United America, and that his
holy word may be improved by them, so that the name of GOD may
be exalted and their own liberty and happiness secured. That he
would be graciously pleased to bless our Federal government, that
by a wise administration it may be a sure guide and safe protection
in national concerns for the people who have established and who
support it. That he would continue to us the invaluable blessings

II O

of civil liberty, guarding us against intestine commotions, and en
abling the United States in the exercise of such governmental pow
ers as are devolved upon them, so that the honor and dignity of our
nation upon the sea and the land may be supported, and peace with
the other powers of the world, upon safe and honorable terms, may
be maintained. That he would direct the administration of our Fed
eral and State governments, so that the lives, liberty, and property
of all the citizens, and the just rights of the people as men and citi
zens, may forever be acknowledged and at all times defended by
Constitutions founded upon equal rights, and by good and wholesome
laws, wisely and judiciously administered and duly executed."

And in the same year, addressing the Legislature, he
said :

" The sovereignty of a nation always of right resides in the body
of the people ; and while they have delegated to their freely elected
Legislature the power of exercising that sovereignty in their behalf,
the executive department, as well as the magistrates who are ap
pointed to render the Constitution efficient by carrying the laws into

348 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1795.

effect, are no less important to the people. For what avails the
making of good and wholesome laws, unless they are duly ex
ecuted?"

Again, in January, 1796, while denning the mutual rela
tions of Federal and State authorities :

" The government of the United States is intrusted solely with
such powers as regard our safety as a nation ; and all powers not
given to Congress by the Constitution remain in the individual
States and the people. In all good governments the legislative, ex
ecutive, and judiciary powers are confined within the limits of their
respective departments. If, therefore, it should be found that the
constitutional rights of our Federal and local governments should
on either side be infringed, or that either of the departments afore
said should interfere with another, it will, if continued, essentially
alter the Constitution, and may in time, I hope far distant, be pro
ductive of such convulsions as may shake the political ground upon
which we now happily stand." l

Quotations to this effect might be multiplied, were it ne
cessary further to show the anxiety of the venerable states
man to avert future national calamities, by inculcating in
the infancy of the Republic those original principles which,
in his opinion, were essential to the public safety.

The corner-stone of the new State House was laid on the
4th of July, this year. A silver plate, bearing the names of
the depositors, and a quantity of current coin, were placed
beneath the stone, which was plummed and levelled by
Governor Adams, assisted by the Grand Masters of Masonic
Lodges. It was drawn to the spot by fifteen white horses,
one for each State then in the Union. The Legislature
attended in full numbers, marching in company with the
Masons from what is now known as the Old State House.
Having completed the ceremony, Adams delivered a short
address to the immense concourse of citizens, 2 after which,

1 Independent Chronicle, Jan. 21, 1796.

2 Independent Chronicle, July 6, 1795. The inscription on the stone is
found in Snow s History of Boston, 2d ed., p. 323, note, as follows :

" This corner-stone of a building intended for the use of the legislative and

1795.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 349

amid cheers, cannonading, and musketry, the Executive and
officers of the day were escorted to the Council Chamber.

executive branches of government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
was laid by his Excellency Samuel Adams, Esq., Governor of said Common
wealth, assisted by the Most Worshipful Paul Revere, Grand Master, and the
Right Worshipful William Sedley, Deputy Grand Master, the Grand War
dens, and brethren of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, on the 4th day of
July, An. Dom. 1795, A. L. 5795, being the XXth anniversary of American
Independence."

CHAPTER LXIV.

Arrival of Jay s Treaty. Washington reluctant to give it his Assent. It
encounters a Storm of Opposition throughout America. Arguments of
the Federalists in its Favor, and of the Republicans against it. Adams
opposed to the Treaty as " Pregnant with Evil." National Relations with
England and France. Washington ratifies the Treaty. Memorable
Debate in Congress an granting the Appropriations. Adams re-elected
Governor in 1796. Washington retires from Office. Third Presidential
Election. Question of Vacancies in the Electoral College. Adams Fifth
on the List of Candidates.

EARLY in the present year the treaty which Mr. Jay had
negotiated with Great Britain arrived, and Washington
called a special session of the Senate to consider it. After
two weeks discussion, that body advised a ratification, and
the treaty was presently published in the newspapers. Its
terms surprised and disappointed all parties. Jt was in
stantly assailed in every part of the country as destructive to
the commercial interests of the United States, and deroga
tory to their national honor. The most eminent men in
America were divided as to the expediency of a ratification.
The whole country was agitated. Public meetings were
held in the principal cities, and resolutions expressing an un
qualified disapproval were forwarded to the President from
numerous commercial bodies. Many of the old Revolu
tionary patriots were opposed to the treaty, and among them
Mr. Adams did not hesitate to employ all the influence of
his personal and official character against it. He did not
believe that, for the sake of having a treaty, the country
should hasten to accept one which exhibited in so remarkable
a degree the advantage which a strong power has in negotiat
ing with a weaker ; nor did he conceive that delay in the
matter would necessarily lead to war. A number of inter
esting letters, which were in existence several years since,

1796.J LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 351

prove that he regarded it with particular disfavor. Popular
demonstrations of angry discontent took place. Public
meetings were held. A British vessel, supposed to have been
a privateer, was burned in Boston harbor; and parties of
rioters, among them many boys, paraded the streets at night,
carrying on poles the rinds of watermelons cut into gro
tesque imitations of the human face, and illuminated by
candles. Windows were broken and other violence com
mitted. An application was signed by two hundred resi
dents, requesting the Governor to call out the military. He
thought, however, that the disturbance was not of sufficient
magnitude to warrant bringing on a collision between the
troops and citizens, and replied that it was " only a water
melon frolic," which would soon subside without his hav
ing recourse to such harsh measures. 1 The arguments
against the treaty were numerous, and not easily refuted.
Some of the ablest writers in America engaged in contro
versies as to its merits, among them Hamilton and Brock-
hoist Livingston.

One of Governor Adams s principal objections related to
the clause which conceded to Great Britain the right to
search American vessels on the high seas, an arrogant
assumption of maritime power, founded on the principle that
might makes right, an assumption to which he thought it
disgraceful for America to yield, and which a firm front on
our part would oblige England to relinquish. In his ad
dress to the Legislature in January, 1796, he was explicit
in the avowal of his dislike of the treaty.

" I have been accustomed," he says, " to speak my mind upon
matters of great moment to our common country with freedom, and
every citizen of the United States has the same right that I have.
I may never hereafter have an opportunity of publicly expressing
my opinion on the treaty lately made with the Court of London.

1 This circumstance gave rise to the remark among the enemies of Governor
Adams s administration, that he was quite consistent in thus countenancing a
mob, for he had been the grand mob-leader during the Revolution.

352 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. I 1796 -

I am therefore constrained, with all due respect to our constituted
authorities, to declare that the treaty appears to ine to be pregnant
with evil. It controls some of the powers specially vested in Con
gress for the security of the people ; and I fear that it may restore to
Great Britain such an influence over the government and people of
this country as may not be consistent with the general welfare.
This subject, however, it is expected will come up before Congress,
whose immediate province it is to discuss it, and to determine, so far
as it may be in their power, as they shall think for the safety and
welfare of the people."

He foresaw trouble as to this right of search, and his pre
diction was verified. Some of the newspapers which were
in mourning for the death of Samuel Adams in October,
1803, contained also announcements that the British frigate
Cambrian was cruising off New York harbor, boarding
American vessels and impressing their crews ; while other
war ships were arriving on the coast with the same object.
A few years later the inevitable collision, which had been
long pending, was hastened by the affair between the Leop
ard and Chesapeake, arising out of this very question.
Another clause expressly gave to Great Britain the right of
capturing on the high seas American ships suspected of hav
ing on board articles contraband of war. A British war
ship might carry the prize into port, and seize all such prop
erty. A subsequent article was so worded that even pro
visions and breadstuffs, if considered as contraband by the
existing law of nations, could also be taken ; but the owners
were to be indemnified for the seizure, and paid for the de
tention. Out of this treaty, but particularly from those
articles which admitted the right of search, and that the
flag of neutrals did not cover the merchandise, grew the war
of 1812. These fatal concessions were the Pandora s box
whence sprung a destructive contest, in which the rally
ing cry was " Free trade and sailors rights." In a bril
liant succession of American victories, the star of British
invincibility on the ocean went down ; and the achievements

1796.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 353

of American genius and courage justified the confidence re
posed in the naval prowess of the young Republic. The
spirit which at last aroused the nation to assert its injured
honor, by the declaration of war, completed the ruin of the
Federalists, who were not more violent in advocating Jay s
treaty in 1796 than they were in opposing and hampering
the war in 1812. Could the life and usefulness of Samuel
Adams have been prolonged to that time, he would have
been a stanch supporter of the war. His opinion of conven
tions designed to contravene the constitutional government
of the United States may be seen in a letter already quoted ,
relating to an organized opposition to the authority of Con
gress, similar to that of the afterwards famous Hartford
Convention. 1 If the principal reason for accepting the
treaty was to avoid the danger of a conflict with Great
Britain, it is plain that the concession served but to en
courage the haughty demeanor of that power, and, at best,
only delayed the war. As it was, the defect in the treaty
respecting impressment was even now considered of so grave
a character that Congress, in this session, passed an act cre
ating government agents to reside abroad for the protection
of American seamen against British cruisers. It had been
argued, during the public discussions, that if war with either
France or Great Britain was unavoidable, it would be more
politic for the nation, and more congenial to public senti
ment, to engage the latter than the former power ; that in
case of a war with England, the aid of France, the natural
and pledged ally of the United States, would be ready with
all the energy of its triumphant arms ; while in the event
of a collision with France, the country ought not to count
upon the affections and could not rely upon the power of
England for assistance. War with Great Britain, however,
was not believed to be a necessary alternative, though the-
disposition of that court had been decidedly hostile to her
former Colonies. But a year had not passed after the ratifi-

1 See pp. 208-210 of this volume.
VOL. ill. 23

354 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1796.

cation of the treaty before the relations with France as
sumed an aspect so threatening that a resort to arms was
deemed inevitable, and a conflict with that nation was only
averted by careful negotiation.

Among the many objections raised against the treaty were
these : that no compensation was made for the twelve
years detention of the Western posts, nor for negroes car
ried away by the British, contrary to the original treaty of
peace in 1783 ; that the navigation of the St. Lawrence was
denied to us, while the British were allowed that of the
Mississippi ; that the terms were far from reciprocal in
numerous instances relating to inland as well as foreign
trade and navigation, and must prove destructive to Ameri
can commerce in their operation ; and finally, that Mr. Jay
has been unduly influenced in his negotiations by the belief
that the continued ascendency of the Federalists, and the
prevention of a war with Great Britain, depended on his
making a treaty, and that the British Ministry, profiting by
their knowledge of this, " had insisted on everything he
could venture to give, and had conceded nothing which they
could decently refuse."

President Washington hesitated for some time, and at first
decided to give a conditional sanction, only to take effect
upon the revocation of the Order in Council by Great Brit
ain ; but finally, following the advice of his Cabinet, he de
termined to ratify it at once. At the meeting of Congress in
March, 1796, occurred the famous contest between the Fed
eralists and the Democrats, or Republicans, as to granting
appropriations for carrying the treaty into effect, in which
Fisher Ames distinguished himself by a masterly speech in
its favor, while Madison, Giles, Gallatin, and Livingston led
the opposition. A considerable party raised the question,
whether the Constitution, by vesting the national legisla
tive authority in Congress, had not also clothed that body
with the power of executing or rejecting a treaty ; and the
right claimed by the British Parliament of passing upon all

1796.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 355

treaties was cited as an instance. There was no precedent
by which to determine this novel point, and it was closely
debated in and out of Congress. Before the meeting of the
Massachusetts Legislature in January, 1796, Governor Ad
ams had considered this subject ; and, as might be supposed,
his opinions leaned towards as direct a connection as possi
ble between the people and their immediate representatives
in deciding a question of great national importance. He
does not appear to have adopted the extreme ground of
some eminent statesmen, that Congress should exercise the
final decision as to accepting a treaty, but he thought that,
by the terms of the Constitution, there was actually a con
flict between the treaty-making power of the President and
Senate and the authority of the House ; and in his speech
he suggested an amendment in the Constitution to remedy
the defect.

" Under these impressions," he says, " I cannot forbear to men
tion to you a subject which has lately arrested the public attention,
and employed the pens of ingenious men of different sentiments con
cerning it. In discussing a subject so exceedingly momentous as a
national treaty, no personal attachment or prejudice, no private or
selfish feelings, no arts of deception, should be suffered to intermingle.
Truth should be the object, and reason the guide.

" By the Constitution of the United States it is provided that all
legislative powers therein granted shall be vested in a Congress to
consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. These several
branches have and exercise a positive negative upon each other.
No legislative act, therefore, can pass without their joint concur
rence. But in another part of the Constitution, under the head of
executive, the President has the power, with the advice and consent
of the Senate, provided two thirds of the Senate present concur, to
make treaties ; and all treaties which are made, or shall be made,
under the authority of the United States shall be among the su
preme laws of the land. The Senate, therefore, partakes with the
executive so far as to advise and consent, but the most popular
branch of Congress has no concern therein. I do earnestly recom
mend to you to turn your attention to those parts of the Constitu-

356 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1796.

tion, at least, which relate to the legislative and executive powers,
and judge for yourselves whether they may not be construed to
militate with each other, and lead to an absurd conclusion that there
actually exists in the government of the United States two distinct
and decisive Legislatures.

" I am far from being desirous that unnecessary alterations of our
Constitution should be proposed ; but it is of great consequence to
the liberties of a nation to review its civil constitution, and com
pare the practice of its administrators with the essential principles
upon which it is founded. We, fellow-citizens, are under thestrong-
est obligations, from the solemnity of our mutual compacts and even
our sacred oaths, with a watchful eye at every point, to defend and
suppoft our Constitutions ; and to strengthen the essential principles
upon which they are founded, when it shall become needful, falls, in
my opinion, within these solemn obligations."

The Governor, with this speech, transmitted the resolu
tions lately adopted in Virginia, recommending amendments
to the Constitution ; but they were not favorably received,
and both Senate and House replied decidedly against sug
gesting any amendments. The appropriations having at
last been voted by Congress, after several weeks debate, the
treaty was carried into effect in April by a small majority.

The growth and stability of the Kepublican party, in and
around Boston and on the sea-board, was this year again
exemplified by the re-election of Governor Adams, who re
ceived in his native town sixteen hundred and fourteen
votes, against Increase Sumner s eight hundred and forty-
eight. Several other candidates obtained in Boston one vote
each. Adams had a large majority in the State, though the
western counties went for Sumner, who was supported by
many Federalists.

The Governor s Council was at that time chosen by the
Legislature. During the several administrations of Mr.
Adams, there are found among his constitutional advisers
the names of his old fellow-laborers, James Warren, General
Eleazer Brooks, Samuel Holton, James Bowdoin, General
William Shepard, Azor Orne, and Oliver Wendell, besides

1796.1

LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 357

others of less note. From 1794 until 1797 the Lieutenant-
Governor was Moses Gill, a member with Adams in the
Provincial Congress during the Revolution. The State
Treasurer was Peleg Coffin ; the Secretary of State, John
Avery, who had acted as deputy when Mr. Adams filled that
office at intervals during the war ; the Attorney-General was
his particular and intimate friend, James Sullivan, after
wards Governor of the State, a man of great abilities, and
the never-failing supporter and champion of the venerable
patriot against his partisan assailants. The inauguration
ceremonies took place on the Common, and some interesting
reminiscences are yet preserved of these events. His ad
dress to the Legislature speaks the sentiments of a heart
truly devoted to the public welfare, and keenly sensitive of
any undue assertion of power by the Executive.

" FELLOW-CITIZENS,

" It is not my intention to interrupt your business by a lengthy
address. I have requested a meeting with you at this time, princi
pally with the view of familiarizing the several branches of govern
ment with each other, of cultivating harmony in sentiment upon
constitutional principles, and cherishing that mutual friendship which
always invites a free discussion in matters of important concern.

" The union of the States is not less important than that of the
several departments of each of them. We have all of us recently
laid ourselves under a sacred obligation to defend and support our
Federal and State Constitutions. A principal object in the estab
lishment of the former, as it is expressed in the preamble, was, to
form a more perfect Union. To preserve this Union entire, and
transmit it unbroken to posterity, is the duty of the people of United
America, and it is for their lasting interest, their public safety
and welfare. Let them be watchful for the preservation of the
Union, attentive to the fundamental principles of our free Constitu
tions, and careful in the application of those principles in the forma
tion of our laws, lest that great object which the people had in view
in establishing the independence of our country may be impercep
tibly lost.

" The members of the General Court, coming from all parts of

358 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1796.

the Commonwealth, must be well acquainted with the local circum
stances and wants of the citizens ; to alleviate and provide for which,
it is presumed you will diligently inquire into the state of the Com
monwealth, and render such legislative aid as may be found neces
sary for the promoting of useful improvements, and the advancement
of those kinds of industry among the people which contribute to
their individual happiness as well as that of the public. Honest
industry tends to the increase of sobriety, temperance, and all the
moral and political virtues. I trust also that you will attend to the
general police of the Commonwealth, by revising and making such
laws and ordinances, conformably to our Constitution, as in your
wisdom you may think further necessary to secure as far as possible
the safety and prosperity of the people at large.

" It is yours, fellow-citizens, to legislate, and mine only to revise
your bills under limited and qualified powers; and I rejoice that
they are thus limited. These are features which belong to a free
government alone. 1

" I do not, I ought not to, forget that there are other duties con
stitutionally attached to the supreme executive. I hope I shall be
enabled within my department, with the continued advice of a wise
and faithful Council, so to act my part, as that a future retrospect
of my conduct may afford me consoling reflections, and that my
administration may be satisfactory to reasonable and candid men,
and finally meet with the approbation of God, the Judge of all.
May his wisdom preside in all our counsels and deliberations, and
lead to such decisions as may be happily adapted to confirm and
perpetuate the public liberty, and secure the private and personal
rights of the citizens from suffering any injury.

" I shall further communicate to you by subsequent messages as
occasion may offer.

" SAMUEL ADAMS.
" COUNCIL CHAMBER, May 31, 1796."

1 He was guarded almost to over-cautiousness against the use of the veto
power. The Legislature he considered as not only the direct exponent and
embodiment of the popular will, but as constituting a body whose combined
deliberations must necessarily have brought to bear on general and special
subjects a far greater degree of wisdom and correct judgment than any one
man could possibly claim. The duty of the Chief Magistrate, he always held,
was to execute the laws, not to make them.

1796.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 359

Very little of the private correspondence of Adams, during
his successive administrations, has been preserved. It is
probable that now, in his old age, he seldom wrote, except
in compliance with his public duties. He continued to
receive friendly letters from some of his associates in the
Revolution ; but most of his old correspondents, with whom
he had concerted measures of public safety in former years,
were dead, or, like himself, near the end of life s journey.
A letter from the distinguished painter, John Singleton
Copley, remains among his papers, and is interesting as
coming from the father of an eminent English statesman,
and reviving recollections of the earlier days of the contest
with Great Britain. Copley left his native Province in 1774
to reside in England. His son, the late Lord Lyndhurst,
was about visiting his birthplace, and the old artist thought
the occasion a fitting one to renew the acquaintance, and
secure the kind offices of Governor Adams for the gifted
young student.

GEORGE STREET, HANOVER SQUARE,

8th October, 1795.
DEAR SIR,

After the lapse of one-and-twenty years, and the many great and
important concerns that have successively occupied your mind, if
you still retain any remembrance of Mr. Copley, who once had the
honor of your acquaintance, you will not, I flatter myself, be dis
pleased that I take the liberty to address a letter to you in behalf of
my son. He goes to see his native country, and transact some busi
ness for me before he fixes for life. He has lately been elected
fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He has also the assurance
of the University of the additional appointment of travelling fellow,
as soon as the forms can be gone through. Unless the wind should
prove unfavorable, the appointment must follow him. I wish to
introduce him to you ; and it is his own desire to know and be known
to a gentleman who has borne so distinguished a part in promoting
the happiness and true dignity of his country, and who now enjoys,
under the calm sunshine of its prosperity, the applause and gratitude
of a brave, wise, and enlightened people. I congratulate you on the
attainment of this highest earthly bliss ; and it is my most sincere

360 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1796.

wish that your reward may follow you when time shall be no more.
I am, sir, with great respect and esteem,

Your most obedient, humble servant,

J. S. COPLEY.
His EXCELLENCY SAMUEL ADAMS.

Washington had lately declared his intention of with
drawing from public life. After the choice of Presidential
electors in Massachusetts, the Legislature, by joint resolu
tion, authorized the Electoral College to fill any vacancies
in their body, and to certify the same to the Executive, who
should furnish the necessary credentials. Governor Adams
signed this resolution on the day of its passage ; but before
night, having more maturely considered the subject, he
entered the Secretary s office, and erased his name, and on
the following day sent a message to the Senate, expressing
his belief that the filling of vacancies among the electors by
proxies appointed by themselves formed a dangerous prece
dent for so momentous a question as the choice of President
of the United States. The Senate, however, declined a
reconsideration, on the ground that the resolution, having
once been signed by the Governor and recorded in the Sec
retary s office, had become a law. The next day he again
addressed the two Houses. He did not deny that the reso
lution was a formal act of government ; but added that the
matter was now properly before the General Court, and the
only question was, whether it ought to be repealed, and
another provision made for the same object. *

" But," said he, " should my fellow-citizens of the Senate and
House think differently from me, while I shall feel quite contented
with your decision, I shall be happy that I have candidly acknowl
edged an error in signing that resolve, and yet done with firmness
what has appeared to me as the true interest of the State of which
I am a member, and the nation of which I am a citizen."

The message was referred to a joint committee, who re
ported in favor of repealing the objectionable resolution, in
accordance with the suggestion of the Governor. The Sen-

1797.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 361

ate did not accept this report, and applied to the House for
concurrence in their action. A long and able debate ensued
on this novel question, extending into the evening, when, by
a vote of fifty-seven to forty-one, the House concurred with
the Senate.

In the vote of the Electoral College for President, Sam
uel Adams was honored by Virginia with nearly her whole
strength, receiving fifteen of the votes of that State, and
ranking next to their own Jefferson. 1 By the provisions of
the Constitution at that time the votes for all the candidates
were counted, and the person having the highest number
became President, while the second office fell to whoever
had the next highest number. Mr. Adams stood fifth on
the entire list, having been preceded by John Adams, Jef
ferson, Thomas Pinckney, and Burr. The honor was unso
licited, and was probably due, if not to the direct influence
of Jefferson, at least to that of some of the old Revolution
ary friends of Adams in Virginia, who were of the Jefferson
school of politics, then rapidly growing in power.

1 The Virginia votes stood as follows : Thomas Jefferson, 20 ; S. Adams,
15 ; George Clinton, 3; George Washington, 1 ; J. Adams, 1 ; Thomas Pinck
ney, 1 ; Aaron Burr, 1. The vote of the State was manifestly for Jefferson
for President, and S. Adams for Vice-President, though this specification ceased
in the Electoral College. Samuel Adams was named by his friends a candi
date for Presidential Elector in the Boston District against Thomas Dawes,
who was chosen.

CHAPTER LXY.

Adams retires from Public Life. His Parting Address to the Legislature.
The Two Houses respond. Fast Proclamation. Affectionate Attentions
received in his Old Age. Fourth Presidential Election. Triumph of
the Democratic Party. Correspondence with Jefferson. Letter to
Thomas Paine. Last Sickness of Adams. His Death and Funeral.
Party Prejudices carried beyond the Grave. Tribute of Respect by John
Randolph adopted in Congress. Resolutions of the Massachusetts Senate.

Last Will and Testament of Adams. Thacher s Funeral Discourse.

Will of Mrs. Adams.

As the century drew to a close, Samuel Adams perceived,
in the decline of his strength and the increasing weight of
years, the necessity of a final retirement from public duties.
These admonitions were not lost upon him. Addressing the
Legislature in January, 1797, he announced this determina
tion, and thus concludes a speech of more than ordinary
length :

" I think it is a duty incumbent upon me to acquaint you and our
fellow-citizens at large, that, having arrived to a stage of life marked
in holy writ and verified by constant experience as a time of labor
and sorrow, it is highly proper, both upon my own account and that
of the public, to decline the future suffrages of my fellow-citizens for
the office I have now the honor to sustain. I have had this in con
templation for near a twelvemonth past. The infirmities of age ren
der me an unfit person in my own opinion, and very probably in the
opinion of others, to continue in this station ; and I mention it now,
that those of the electors who may probably be too warmly attached
to me may not nullify their own votes by giving them for me. I
have always been convinced that many others might have been
found to fill my place with greater advantage to the Commonwealth
than is now, or ever has been, in my power. In the civil depart
ment, during the times of war and peace, I have served her in vari
ous stations to the best of my ability, and I hope with general

1797.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 363

approbation ; and I can say with truth, that I have not enriched
myself in her service. My warmest thanks are justly due to my
constituents for the confidence they have repeatedly placed in me.
When I shall be released from the burdens of my public station, I
shall not forget my country. Her welfare and happiness, her peace
and prosperity, her liberty and independence, will always have a
great share in the best wishes of my heart." x

Venerable with years, and standing among men most of
whom were yet unborn when he was advocating the natural
and the charter liberties of the Colonies, Adams delivered
his farewell. His hearers looked upon him as a patriarch
associated with bygone generations, as a connecting link
between the early Colonial days and the new American
empire already expanding into splendid proportions. His
parting words are perfectly consistent with his character,
and in their unaffected style showed an unchangeable devo
tion to the welfare of America. Several public allusions to
the occasion, written by spectators, appeared in the press.

" The republican sentiments," says one, " which he has through
life practised are earnestly recommended for our future conduct ;
and while the address breathes those fervent wishes for the peace
and happiness of his country, he enforces those great objects with
that Christian pathos which will endear his name to every real
friend to America." 2

The committee appointed by the Senate to reply to his
farewell soon reported an address expressive of the senti
ments of many who had witnessed his Revolutionary career.

" Your Excellency having announced your determination to retire
from the public service, the Senate ask leave to express the sense
they entertain of the many and important services rendered by you
to our common country.

" In times of difficulty and danger, you, sir, were engaged in the
cause of freedom, and years of unremitting exertion in various civil
departments since the establishment of our independence prove the
interest you have felt in the preservation of so invaluable a blessing.

1 Independent Chronicle, Jan. 30, 1797. s Ibid.

364 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1797.

" To have lived to see the independence of your country firmly
established, her prosperity increasing, and the principles of liberty
and good government daily gaining strength, must be a source of
happiness in retirement equal to the fondest wishes of your heart.

" It is the sincere wish of the Senate that you may enjoy such a
measure of health as will long permit you to witness and partake of
the blessings of that independence which you have so largely con
tributed to insure, and that the evening of your life may be as tran
quil and happy as its morning and meridian have been active and
honorable."

The answer of the House was not less affecting.

" Your Excellency having announced your determination to de
cline the future suffrages of your fellow-citizens, we naturally recol
lect your early labors in the cause of freedom, the firmness and
integrity with which you have discharged the duties of the most
important public stations, and the courage with which you asserted
the rights of your country through the trying vicissitudes of a Revo
lutionary war : these great services claim this public acknowledgment
of our gratitude and respect.

" Having been repeatedly called by your fellow-citizens to the
first office in their gift, it must afford you very pleasurable feelings
in your own mind, after having been so distinguished by your
country, in withdrawing from the councils of the Commonwealth
and retiring to peaceful repose, to be conscious of the good will of
the people towards you, and that you have served them with purity
of intention and upright zeal." *

The political career of Samuel Adams was ended. He
remained in office until May, 1797, when, Judge Sumner
having been elected to the executive chair, he became a
private citizen, after a continuous and entire devotion to the
rights and liberties of America for upwards of half a cen
tury. 2

1 Independent Chronicle, Feb. 2, 1797.

2 Tudor, in his Lifo of Otis, p. 274, makes a few interesting remarks on
Adams s political character :

" He attached an exclusive value to the habits and principles in which he had
been educated, and wished to adjust wide concerns too closely after a particu-

1797.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 365

The usual Fast Proclamation was published on the 20th
of March, 1797. Those of preceding years having been
omitted for the sake of brevity, this may appropriately claim
place, as the last public paper of Adams.

PROCLAMATION BY HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR ADAMS.

It having been the invariable practice, derived from the days of
our renowned ancestors, at this season of the year to set apart a day
of public fasting and prayer, and the practice appearing to be in
itself productive, if well improved, of happy effects on the public
mind,

I have therefore thought fit, by and with the advice and consent
of the Council, to appoint Thursday, the fourth day of May next
ensuing, to be observed and improved throughout this Common
wealth for the purpose of public fasting and prayer, earnestly rec
ommending to the ministers of the Gospel, with their respective
congregations, then to assemble together and seriously to consider,
and with one united voice to confess, our past sins and transgres
sions, with holy resolutions, by the grace of God, to turn our feet
into the path of his law, humbly beseeching him to endue us with
all the Christian spirit of piety, benevolence, and the love of our
country ; and that in all our public deliberations we may be pos
sessed of a sacred regard to the fundamental principles of our free,
elective, civil Constitutions ; that we may be preserved from con
suming fires and all other desolating judgments.

And as at this season the general business of the year commences,
it seems highly proper humbly to implore the Divine blessing on our
husbandry, trade, and fishery, and all the labor of our hands ; on
our University and schools of education ; on the administration of
the government of the United States ; and in a particular manner

lar model. One of his colleagues who knew him well, and estimated him
highly, described him with good-natured exaggeration in the following man
ner : * Samuel Adams would have the State of Massachusetts govern the
Union, the town of Boston govern Massachusetts, and that he should gov
ern the town of Boston, .and then the whole would not be intentionally ill
governed. "

366 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1797.

that all misunderstanding between them and a sister republic may
be happily so adjusted as to prevent an open rupture and establish
permanent peace.

And as it is our duty to extend our wishes to the happiness of the
great family of man, I conceive we cannot better express ourselves
than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world that
the rod of tyrants may be broken into pieces, and the oppressed
made free ; that wars may cease in all the earth, and that the confu
sions that are and have been among the nations may be overruled
by the promoting and speedily bringing on that holy and happy
period when the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
may be everywhere established, and all the people willingly bow to
the sceptre of Him who is the Prince of Peace.

And I do hereby recommend that all unnecessary labor and
recreation may be suspended on the said day.

SAMUEL ADAMS.
20th day of March, 1797.

In the retirement of his home Mr. Adams enjoyed the
society of friends, and his declining years were attended
with affectionate care by a devoted wife and daughter, and
the cheerful company of family connections. The author has
conversed with persons who remembered him walking in his
garden, clad in cap and gown, or in the summer time seated
at his door. He was occasionally visited by some of the old
patriots, worn out like himself in public duty.

" At this time," says Judge Sullivan, who was often with him in
his later years, " Mr. Adams delighted in a recapitulation of the
scenes of the Revolution. In this, as in other circumstances, he
resembled the late Earl of Chatham, who, while he was in advanced
age, became impatient of all topics which did not relate to the
French war, in which his administration had added gems to the
crown of his nation. A recollection of the dangerous and difficult
circumstances of the war, which had been encountered by the cour
age and overcome by the genius of his country, fell like the choicest
cordials on the palsied nerves of Mr. Adams. To the advantages of
education, trials, and victories, Mr. Adams added the deportment of
a gentleman : he was a well-bred, polite man. Among strangers,

1800.1

LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 367

and in mixed companies, he was reserved and silent ; but among his
friends he was cheerful and companionable, was a lover of chaste
wit, and remarkably fond of anecdote."

His granddaughter, Miss Elizabeth Wells, had often acted
as his amanuensis, and during his recent administrations
had penned, at his dictation, inaugurals and other State docu
ments. These kind offices he never failed to acknowledge
with that courtesy which he invariably used in addressing
ladies, and which in this case was mingled with an affec
tionate regard for his amiable and accomplished relative.
If confined to the house, he was never more pleased than
when Miss Elizabeth or either of her brothers read to him
from the favorite books in his library, or from the news
papers, many of which were sent to him from all directions.
He took the greatest interest in common schools, and some
times visited them, listening attentively to the recitations.
He was known and loved literally by crowds of school-chil
dren, who well understood his desire for their advancement.
Eliot, in his biographical sketch, says that Mr. Adams was
a constant advocate of public schools, by which " he meant
such as there are in every town in Massachusetts, which
diffuse knowledge equally among all classes of the people."
The same idea of educating children of all conditions alike
will be found in one of his letters to John Adams in 1790.
In the summer of 1795, when addressing the Legislature, he
alludes with pleasure to the establishment of academies in
different parts of the State ; but while acknowledging the
advantages derived from those institutions, he fears that a
large increase of them might proportionably lessen " the
ancient and beneficial mode of education in grammar
schools," the peculiar advantage of which, he says, "is
that the poor and the rich may derive equal benefit from
them, while none, excepting the more wealthy, generally
speaking, can avail themselves of the benefits of the acad
emies."

In January, 1800, he received a letter from Jefferson, in

868 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1800.

answer to a note introducing two gentlemen to the Yice-
President.

PHILADELPHIA, February 26, 1800.
DEAR SIR,

Mr. Irving delivered me your favor of January 31st, and I thank
you for making me acquainted with him. You will always do me
a favor in giving me an opportunity of knowing gentlemen as esti
mable in their principles and talents as I find Mr. Irving to be.
I have not yet seen Mr. Winthrop. A letter from you, my respect
able friend, after three-and-twenty years of separation, has given
me a pleasure I cannot express. It recalls to my mind the anxious
days we then passed in struggling for the cause of mankind. Your
principles have been tested in the crucible of time, and have come
out pure. You have proved that it was monarchy, and not merely
British monarchy, you opposed. A government by representatives
elected by the people at short periods was our object, and our max
im at that day was, " Where annual election ends, tyranny begins."
Nor have our departures from it been sanctioned by the happiness
of their effects. A debt of a hundred millions, growing by usurious
interest, and an artificial paper phalanx overruling the agricultural
masses of our country, with other et ceteras, have a portentous
aspect.

I fear our friends on the other side of the water, laboring in the
same cause, have yet a great deal of crime and misery to wade
through. My confidence has been placed in the head, not in the
heart, of Bonaparte. I hoped he would calculate truly the differ
ence between the fame of a Washington and a Cromwell. 1 What
ever his views may be, he has at least transferred the destinies of the
republic from the civil to the military arm. Some will use this as
a lesson against the practicability of republican governments. I
read it as a lesson against the danger of standing armies.

Adieu, my ever respected and venerable friend. May that kind
overruling Providence which has so long spared you to our country
still foster your remaining years with whatever may make them
comfortable to yourself and soothing to your friends. Accept the
cordial salutations of your affectionate friend,

TH. JEFFERSON.

1 The news of the dissolution of the French Directory, and the appointment
of Napoleon as First Consul, had recently reached America.

1800.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 369

In the year 1800, Caleb Strong was elected Governor.
He had long been a sincere friend of Samuel Adams, and
had been his associate on several important occasions before
and during the Revolution. Though a decided Federalist,
his generous nature forbade him to draw party distinctions
when estimating the noble and disinterested character of
Adams, or to forget the debt of gratitude due from his coun
try for a lifetime spent in sustaining its liberties. The old
statesman had been spared to witness the dawn of a new cen
tury ; and it required no prophetic eye to foresee the future
grandeur of the Republic, and the teeming millions who
would populate its vast domain, as the principles of popu
lar government principles favorable to human progress
were practically tested. On some public occasion, perhaps
the day of inauguration, a large military procession, with
Governor Strong and suite at its head, was passing through
Winter Street. As they approached the house of Adams,
they saw him looking upon the pageant. Strong immedi
ately ordered a halt, and alighting from the vehicle, met his
ancient friend at the door, where he grasped him by the
hand, while, with uncovered head, he publicly expressed his
deep reverence for the name of Samuel Adams. The mili
tary presented arms, and the multitude remained uncovered
and silent during the interview.

Owing principally to complications arising out of Jay s
treaty, and the subsequent relations with France, the admin
istration of John Adams had been gradually losing its popu
larity, and in the election this year Jefferson was chosen to
the Presidency. The national Democratic party, which had
been gathering strength under his leadership, now began
to assume that ascendency which has since had so powerful
an influence in shaping American policy. Before long it
absorbed the Republican party, which had sprung from a
wide-spread sympathy with the French Revolution, and had
largely increased its numbers during the excitement caused
by Jay s treaty. Samuel Adams had been the principal

VOL. III. 24

870 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1801.

leader of this party in Massachusetts. In fact, though it has
since become habitual to speak of Jefferson as the " Father
of Democracy" (a term merited in its national sense), its
fundamental doctrines, considered as the distinguishing mark
of a party, must be traced to the early teachings of Adams
in New England. His political sympathies having been with
the principles of the Republicans, he was highly gratified at
their success in the late election. The event gave rise to
the following correspondence.

WASHINGTON, March 29, 1801.

I addressed a letter to you, my very dear and ancient friend, on
the 4th of March; not indeed to you by name, but through the
medium of my fellow-citizens, whom occasion called on me to ad
dress. 1 In meditating the matter of that address, I often asked
myself, Is this exactly in the spirit of the patriarch Samuel Adams ?
Will he approve of it ? I have felt a great deal for our country in
the times we have seen, but individually for no one so much as
yourself. When I have been told that you were avoided, insulted,
frowned on, I could but ejaculate, " Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do." I confess I felt an indignation for you
which for myself I have been able under every trial to keep entirely
passive. However, the storm is over, and we are in port. The
ship was not rigged for the service she was put on. She will show
the smoothness of her motions on her republican tack. I hope we
shall once more see harmony restored among our citizens, and an
entire oblivion of past feuds. Some of the leaders, who have most
committed themselves, cannot come into this. I hope the great body
of our fellow-citizens will do it. I will sacrifice everything but
principle to procure it. A few examples of justice on officers who
have perverted their functions to the oppression of their fellow-citi
zens must, in justice to those citizens, be made. But opinion, and
the just maintenance of it, shall never be a crime in my view, nor
bring injury on the individual. Those whose misconduct in office
ought to have produced their removal, even by my predecessor,
must not be protected by the delicacy due only to honest men.
How much I lament that time has deprived me of your aid. It

1 Alluding to his Inaugural.

1801.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 371

would have been a day of glory which should have called you to the
first office of the administration. But give us your counsel, my
friend, and give us your blessing ; and be assured that there exists
not in the heart of man a more faithful esteem than mine to you,
and that I shall ever bear you the most affectionate veneration and

respect.

TH. JEFFERSON.

BOSTON, April 24, 1801.
MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,

Your letter of the 29th of March last came duly to my hand. I
sincerely congratulate our country on the arrival of the day of glory
which has called you to the first office in the administration of our
Federal government. Your warm feelings of friendship most cer
tainly have carried you to a higher tone of expression than my
utmost merits will bear. If I have at any time been avoided or
frowned upon, your kind ejaculation, in the language of the most
perfect friend of man, surpasses every injury. The storm is over
and we are now in port, and I dare say the ship will be rigged for
her proper service. She must also be well manned and very care
fully officered. No man should be fit to sustain an office who can
not conform to the principles by which he must be governed. With
you I hope we shall once more see harmony restored ; but after so
severe and long a storm, it will take a proportionate time to still
the raging of the waves. The world has been governed by preju
dice and passion, which never can be friendly to truth ; and while
you nobly resolve to retain those principles of candor and justice,
resulting from a free elective representative government, such as
they have been taught to hate and despise, you must depend upon
being hated yourself, because they hate your principles ; not a man
of them will dare openly to despise you. Your inaugural speech,
to say nothing of your eminent services to the acceptance of our
country, will secure you from contempt. It may require some time
before the great body of our fellow-citizens will settle in harmony,
good will, and peace. The eyes of the people have too generally been
fast closed from the view of their own happiness. Such, alas ! has
been always the lot of man. But Providence, who rules the world,
seems now to be rapidly changing the sentiments of mankind in Eu
rope and America. May Heaven grant that the principles of liberty

372 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1802.

and virtue, truth and justice, may pervade the whole earth. When,
deep prejudices shall be removed in some, the self-interestedness of
others shall cease, and many honest men, whose minds, for want of
better information, [. . . . ?], shall return to the use of their own
understanding, the happy and wished-for time shall come. It is not
in my power, my dear friend, to give you counsel ; an old man is apt
to natter himself that he stands upon an equal footing with younger
men ; he indeed cannot help feeling that tne powers of his mind, as
well as his body, are weakened, and fondly wishing his young friends
to think that he can instruct them by his experience, when in all
probability he has forgotten every trace of it that was worth his
memory. Be assured that my esteem for you is as cordial, if possi
ble, as yours is to me. Though an old man cannot advise you, he
can give you his blessing. You have my blessing and my prayers.

SAMUEL ADAMS.

P. S. My dear Mrs. Adams will not suffer me to close this let
ter till I let you know that she recollects the pleasure and entertain
ment you afforded us when you were about to embark for France, 1
and she hopes that your administration may be happy to yourself and
prosperous to your country.

The last writing of Samuel Adams of which any trace re
mains is a letter to Thomas Paine, who returned to Amer
ica in October, 1802, after an absence of fourteen years in
France. Having been informed that he intended to recom
mence in the United States writing against Christianity,
Mr. Adams addressed him the following lines :

BOSTON, November 30, 1802.
Sm,

I have frequently with pleasure reflected on your services to my
native and your adopted country. Your Common Sense, and your
Crisis, unquestionably awakened the public mind, and led the people
loudly to call for a declaration of our national independence. I
therefore esteemed you as a warm friend to the liberty and lasting
welfare of the human race. But when I heard you had turned your

1 In July, 1784, when Jefferson as minister plenipotentiary embarked at
Boston for France, to act in conjunction with Franklin and John Adams in
negotiating treaties of commerce with foreign nations.

1803.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 373

mind to a defence of infidelity, I felt myself much astonished and
more grieved, that you had attempted a measure so injurious to the
feelings and so repugnant to the true interest of so great a part of
the citizens of the United States. The people of New England, if
you will allow me to use a Scripture phrase, are fast returning to
their first love. Will you excite among them the spirit of angry
controversy at a time when they are hastening to amity and peace ?
I am told that some of our newspapers have announced your inten
tion to publish an additional pamphlet upon the principles of your
Age of Reason. Do you think that your pen, or the pen of any
other man, can unchristianize the mass of our citizens, or have you
hopes of converting a few of them to assist you in so bad a cause ?
We ought to think ourselves happy in the enjoyment of opinion,
without the danger of persecution by civil or ecclesiastical law.
Our friend, the President of the United States, has been calumni
ated for his liberal sentiments by men who have attributed that
liberality to a latent design to promote the cause of infidelity.
This, and all other slanders, have been made without the least
shadow of proof. Neither religion nor liberty can long subsist
in the tumult of altercation, and amidst the noise and violence of

faction. Felix qui cautus. Adieu.

SAMUEL ADAMS.

Paine replied to this in January of the following year, in
a long and very respectful letter, defending his works by
quotations from Scripture and the writings of eminent di
vines, and aiming to prove that the ideas advanced in his
Age of Reason were the real basis of all true religion. It
was not answered ; but the two letters were soon printed in
several forms, as circulars and pamphlets, and in the news
papers throughout the United States. As Adams had en
tered upon no extended argument, the publication could
only have carried weight as his expressed opinion against
infidel sophistry.

As the year advanced, it was evident that the eventful
life of Adams was hastening to a close. During the summer
of 1803, he was occasionally seen walking for a few minutes
in front of his house. His steps were slow and feeble, and

374 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1803.

it was seldom that Dr. Jarvis would permit even this slight
exercise. Late in September, it was observed that he spoko
less frequently, and that occasionally his mind seemed to
wander. He was perfectly conscious of his approaching
dissolution. He enjoined upon his family that there should
be an entire absence of parade or ostentation in the funeral,
and that his coffin should be of the plainest description. On
the night of Saturday, October 1st, he slept for a few hours,
but breathed with difficulty. Towards daylight on Sunday
morning, he was evidently sinking fast, and Dr. Jarvis in
formed the family that the hour was at hand. At a few
minutes past seven, Mr. Adams uttered some words in a
whisper. Mrs. Wells bent over to catch them, but they
were unintelligible ; and immediately his spirit passed peace
fully away. 1 A few gentlemen, who had been present,
friends of the family, now left the house ; and soon after
the solemn event was announced by the tolling of all the
church-bells.

The Independent Chronicle, which was in mourning, thus
speaks of the deceased :

SAMUEL ADAMS
"Is DEAD!

" We have the painful task to announce to the public, that on yes
terday morning, about a quarter past seven o clock, at his house in
this town, died, in the eighty-second year of his age, SAMUEL ADAMS,
late Governor of this Commonwealth, the consistent and inflexible
patriot and republican.

" To attempt at this moment even to sketch an outline of a char
acter equally conspicuous for private virtue and public service would
betray a .want of that information respecting the deceased which
time and profound reflection alone can justly describe. We shall
now only observe, that he has been a prodigy of talents and industry
of which the lapse of ages will not produce a parallel.

1 It was said among the friends of Adams at the time of his decease, in
speaking of his religious character, that it was a somewhat remarkable coinci
dence that his birth, baptism, and death all occurred on Sunday.

1803.] LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 375

"In his useful career, he seemed occupied with but one sentiment;
and that comprehended every circumstance which had any relation
to the interests and independence of his native country, and the
rights and liberty of the human race.

" The foe of tyrants in every form ; the friend of virtue and her
friends, he died beloved, as he had lived respected. Admiring
posterity, penetrated by a just sense of his transcendent merits,
will emphatically hail him as the undeviating friend of civil and
religious liberty, and the FATHER OF THE AMERICAN REVOLU
TION!

Let virtuosi, with assiduous dread,
Preserve from rust a medalled Caesar s head ;
Freemen will keep, with more industrious aim,
From slander s vile aspersion HANCOCK S fame.

While sun and stars revolve with course sublime,
ADAMS shall scorn th all-sweeping rage of time ;
His glorious toils in life perennial bloom,
Till Nature s winter strip his laurelled tomb.

" The funeral, we understand, will be from his late dwelling-house
in Winter Street on Thursday next, at four o clock, P. M. The
friends of our POLITICAL PARENT, in this and the neighboring
towns, are requested to attend."

A few particular friends of the family took charge of the
arrangements for the funeral, and they learned that party
rancor could extend even to these sad details. Judge Sulli
van, some months afterwards, wrote to his friend General
Dearborn :

" I promised soon to forward to you some anecdotes in regard to
Samuel Adams s funeral. But on reflection I find that I cannot do
it without appearing to estimate my own consequence and influence
more than perhaps either truth or modesty would allow of; and I
therefore enclose a funeral sermon preached by Thomas Thacher of
Dedham. I arrived in town the day after the Governor died. Gov
ernor Strong was far in the country ; the Lieutenant-Governor had
no authority ; the Adjutant-General wished, but was afraid to act ;
the Major-General would issue no order. Jarvis and a few others
proposed to form a procession of the school-boys, which I had inter-

376

LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

[1803.

est enough to prevent. If there could not be a proper military pro
cession, I wanted none. But the bier of Samuel Adams, followed
only by his widow, supported by two 75 men, who had never for
saken their old principles, I considered enough. They were afraid
of this, and found power to order out a military corps, and there was
the usual parade. Before this was determined upon, Thacher left
the town, and under his good and worthy feelings, composed and
delivered finally the excellent sermon enclosed." 1

On the morning of October 6th cards appeared in the
newspapers, calling the selectmen, the reverend clergy, for
eign consuls, and such public characters as might be in Bos
ton, to meet at the new State House to attend the remains
to the grave ; and Major-General Eliot, by his adjutant, " de
sired the officers of the first division, who could attend the
funeral of the deceased with convenience, to assemble at
Trinity Church in uniform." The procession formed at the
new State House, under the superintendence of Majors
Gibbs and Brazer and Mr. J. S. Lovell ; and the funeral
train moved from the house in Winter Street at four o clock
in the following order :

Military Escort.

The Independent Cadets,

under command of Colonel Welles.

Hon. James Sullivan,
Hon. Oliver Wendell,
His Honor Lieut.-Gov.

William Cooper, Esq.,
Gen. William Heath,
Hon. Elbridge Gerry,

Bobbins,

Relations.

Marshal of the United States.

Legislature, Judicial, and Executive

Officers of the United States.

Sheriff of Suffolk.
Councillors, Senators, and Representatives

of Massachusetts.

Judicial Officers of Massachusetts.

President and Professors of Harvard College.

Reverend Clergy of this and the neighboring towns.

1 Amory s Life of Sullivan, II. 111.

1803.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 377

Selectmen.

Overseers of the Poor. Board of Health.
Municipal Officers of Boston.

Foreign Consuls.

Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Massachusetts Charitable Society.

Officers of the Militia.

Citizens and Strangers.

Private Carriages.

The cortege passed up Winter Street, down West and
through Washington, around the old State House, and
thence by Court and Tremont Streets to the Granary Bury-
ing-ground, where the body was placed in the family tomb. 1
The bells were tolled while the funeral was in motion ; the
shops were shut in the streets through which it passed ; the
ships in the harbor wore their flags at half-mast, and minute-
guns were fired by the artillery companies and at Fort
Independence.

Judge Sullivan, noble-hearted and faithful friend to the
last, prepared a graphic outline of the character and public
career of Adams, which was published in the Independent
Chronicle of October 10th. Coming from one who had
long enjoyed his intimacy, and who had personally witnessed
the most important actions of his life, the sketch is justly
regarded as perfectly reliable authority ; and as such having
been occasionally quoted in these volumes, it need not be
here reproduced. " This," says Sullivan in conclusion, " is
but a gazette sketch of his character ; to give his history at
full length would be to give a history of the American Rev
olution."

The death of Adams was formally brought before Con
gress by John Randolph on the 19th of October.

" It has been lately announced to the public," said he, " that one
of the earliest patriots of the Revolution has paid his last debt to

1 A number of gentlemen, among whom was an experienced anatomist and
physician, entered the tomb in 1857, and were able to identify a portion of the
coffin and remains. These were collected and placed in a proper receptacle,
upon which were carved the initial letters of the patriot s name.

378 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. [1803.

Nature. I had hoped that some other gentleman, better qualified
for the task, would have undertaken to call the attention of the
House to this interesting event. It cannot indeed be a matter of
deep regret that one of the first statesmen of our country has
descended to the grave full of years and full of honors ; that his
character and fame are put beyond the reach of that time and
chance to which everything mortal is exposed. But it becomes this
House to cherish a sentiment of veneration for such men, since
such men are rare, and to keep alive the spirit to which we owe
the Constitution under which we are now deliberating. This great
man, the associate of Hancock, shared with him the honor of being
proscribed by a flagitious Ministry, whose object was to triumph
over the liberties of their country by trampling on those of her
Colonies. With his great compatriot, he made an early and decided
stand against British encroachment, whilst souls more timid were
trembling and irresolute. It is the glorious privilege of minds of
this stamp to give an example to a people, and fix the destiny
of nations.

" I feel myself in every way unequal to the attempt of doing
justice to the merits of our departed countryman. Called upon by
the occasion to say something, I could not have said less. I would
not, by any poor eulogium of mine, enfeeble the sentiment which
pervades the House, but content myself with moving the following
resolutions :

" JResolved unanimously, That this rfouse is penetrated with a full
sense of the eminent services rendered to his country in the most
arduous times by the late Samuel Adams, deceased, and that the
members thereof wear crape on the left arm for one month in testi
mony of the national gratitude and reverence towards the memory
of that undaunted and illustrious patriot."

The motion having been seconded with some appropriate
remarks by Mr. Eliot of Vermont, it was carried unani
mously, when, on motion of Mr. Nicholson, the House ad
journed.

The Massachusetts Legislature convened in January fol
lowing ; and a series of resolutions were offered in the Senate
highly eulogistic of the public services of the late Governor.

1804.] LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 379

These immediately became a subject for cavil ; and after
considerable discussion they were " whittled down " l to suit
a certain political sentiment. The difference between the
original resolutions and those with which the friends of
Adams were finally obliged to be content may be seen by
consulting the written archives of the Senate. The follow
ing were adopted :

" It having pleased the Supreme Being, in the course of his all-
wise and righteous providence, since the last session of the General
Court, to remove by death the venerable Samuel Adams, lately
Governor of this Commonwealth, and one of the most distinguished
patriots of the United States, during our Revolutionary war with
Great Britain,

"Ordered, That in token of sincere and profound respect for the
memory of the distinguished services of that illustrious man, the
members of both branches of the Legislature wear black crape on
the left arm during the remainder of the present session of the Gen
eral Court."

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF SAMUEL ADAMS.

In the name of God, Amen. I, Samuel Adams of Boston, in the
County of Suffolk, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Esquire,
being, through Divine goodness, of sound and disposing mind and
memory, and considering the uncertainty of human life, do make and
ordain this to be my last will and testament, in manner and form
following, viz.: Principally and first of all, I recommend my soul to
that Almighty Being who gave it, and my body I commit to the
dust, relying on the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my
sins ; and as to such worldly estate as God hath been pleased to
bestow upon me, I give, devise, and dispose of the same in the fol
lowing manner :

1 The phrase is James Sullivan s. See his Life, by Amory, II. 111. " It
was whittled down," he says, " by Mason, Tudor, and others." It may be
taken as an evidence of the extreme bitterness existing between the Eepubli-
cans and Federalists, that partisan rancor on such an occasion could extend
beyond the grave, and that men were found who could weigh the name of
Samuel Adams against private and political prejudices.

380 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

Imprimis. I order that my executors hereinafter named dis
pose of all the real estate which I shall die seized and possessed of,
not lying in the town of Boston, as soon as conveniently may be
after my decease; and I further order, that my just debts and
funeral charges be paid out of the proceeds of the real estate before
mentioned ; and if the said real estate shall not be sufficient for the
payment of my debts and funeral charges, the deficiency shall be
supplied out of my personal estate; and in -case my real estate not
lying in the town of Boston should yield a sum more than sufficient
to pay my just debts and funeral charges, the surplus shall be placed
upon interest, and the principal sum of such surplus and the interest
thereof I dispose of in the way and to the uses hereinafter provided
with respect to my real estate lying in Boston, or the proceeds
thereof, if it shall be sold.

Item. I give to my beloved wife Elizabeth all her wearing ap
parel. I also give her such books as she was the owner of previous
to my intermarriage with her ; and I also give to my said wife one
half of all my other personal estate, to her sole use and disposal.

Item. I give to my beloved daughter Hannah Wells the use and
improvement of the residue of my personal estate during her natural
life.

Item. I give to such of the children of my said daughter as may
be living at the time of her decease, and such as shall legally repre
sent them, if any of them should die before that time, in equal shares,
all my real estate in the town of Boston, and all my personal estate,
the use of which is given to my said daughter during her natural
life. Reserving, nevertheless, to my said wife and daughter respec
tively the use and improvement of my real estate in Boston, and
which I hereby give them ; that is to say, that my said wife shall
have the use and improvement of one half of the said real estate in
Boston during her natural life, and my said daughter shall have the
use and improvement of the other half thereof during her natural
life, and in case my daughter shall survive my wife, she shall have
the use and improvement of the whole of said real estate in Boston
during her natural life.

Item. It is my will, and I further order, anything hereinbefore
to the contrary notwithstanding, that if my said wife at any time be
desirous of having my real estate in Boston sold, and of receiving
one half of the interest of the proceeds thereof during her natural

LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 381

life in lieu of the use and improvement of a moiety of said real es
tate, it shall be the duty of my executors, and they are hereby au
thorized to sell the same, and the principal sum arising therefrom
shall be to the use and benefit of the children of my said daughter
instead of the fee of said real estate and the interest thereof to the
use of my said wife and daughter respectively in the proportion and
for the terms mentioned in the article immediately preceding, in lieu
of their right to the use and improvement of said real estate.

And I do hereby nominate and appoint my said wife Elizabeth,
and Thomas Wells of Boston, aforesaid, gentleman, executors of
this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all former will
and wills by rne heretofore made.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this
twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thou
sand seven hundred and ninety.

SAMUEL ADAMS. [L. s.]

Signed, sealed, published, and declared by the said testator,
Samuel Adams, as and for his last will and testament, in presence
of us, who, at his request, in his presence and in the presence of each
other, have hereunto subscribed our respective names as witnesses.

JOHN AVERT, JR.

JOHN SWEETZER, JR.

JOHN ROULSTONE.

SUFFOLK, ss.: COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. At a
Probate Court held at Boston, within and for the county of Suffolk,
on the 10th day of October, 1803, by the Honorable Thomas
Dawes, Jr., Esq., Judge of Probate of said county, the annexed will
being presented by Elizabeth Adams, the executor therein named,
for probate, John Avery, Esq., appears and makes oath that he saw
the said testator, Samuel Adams, sign, seal, and heard him publish
the same instrument as his last will and testament, and that he was
then, to the best of his discernment, of a sound disposing mind and
memory, and that he and John Sweetzer, Jr., Esq., and John Roul-
stone, who are now deceased, subscribed their names thereto as wit
nesses in his presence.

THOMAS DAWES, JR., J. Prolate.

Examined: PERKINS NICHOLS, Regr.

882 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

The following discourse was delivered by a son of Oxen-
bridge Thacher, whose death, in 1765, created a vacancy in
the Legislature, to fill which Samuel Adams was elected.
Another son was the distinguished Dr. Peter Thacher, min
ister of Maiden, and afterwards of Brattle Street Church in
Boston. Some brief quotations from it have been made in
the foregoing narrative to illustrate particular points; but
the extreme scarcity of the pamphlet warrants its publication
entire with any extended memoir of Samuel Adams. The
author is indebted for this copy to Samuel G. Drake, Esq.,
of Boston.

Crifrufe 0f IJ

TO THE MEMORY OF

SAMUEL ADAMS, L.L.D. A.A.S.

LATE GOVERNOR OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS;

WHO DIED, OCTOBER 2, 1803, IN THE

82D YEAR OF HIS AGE.

EXPRESSED

IN A

DISCOURSE,

DELIVERED THE NEXT LORD S DAY AFTER HIS
FUNERAL.

trg % iJLwpuest 0f

BY THOMAS THACHER, A. M.

MINISTER OF THE THIRD PARISH IN DEDHAM.

-UrCUNQUE FERENT EA FACTA MINORES,

VlNCET AMOR PATRICE, LAUDUM&lt;yJE IMMENSA CUPIDO.

Virg. jEne. Lib. vi. /. 822.
Ne^er to those chambers, where the mighty rest,
Since their foundation, came a nobler Guest :
Nor e er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed
A fairer Spirit, or more welcome Shade. TICKEL.

DEDHAM:
PRINTED AND SOLD BY J

January 1 804.

384 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

TRIBUTE OF RESPECT, &c.

ECCLESIA8TES vii. 1.

A good name is better than precious ointment.

The desire of present reputation, as well as future fame by exist
ing in the good opinion and applause of posterity, is a priiiJnle
deeply engraven on the human heart. Implanted by the DEITY, for
wise and valuable purposes, it is the parent of actions useful and
beneficent, as well as great and splendid. When bounded by relig
ion and morality, it may be safely encouraged by the approbation,
and supported by the gratitude, of mankind.

The wisest of men hath therefore sanctioned this principle by the
declaration in the text, that a good name is better than precious oint
ment ; because the former defies the ravages both of time and death,
and exhibits to after periods the intellectual and moral pre-eminence
of those who by their brilliant talents and conduct have commanded
admiration, and for their important services to mankind have im
posed an everlasting obligation on their own age and on posterity ;
whereas the latter can only preserve some faint and imperfect rep
resentation of the body, by screening it from the putrescence of the
tomb.

Among nations, not only civilized and polished, but ignorant and
barbarous, this sentiment has stimulated to noble and important
enterprise ; and the honor and even adoration which those great
characters have received from their own and after generations is an
unquestionable proof that it is founded on truth and nature. Nor
are its rewards confined to him who obtaineth the prize. For,
while on the one hand generous and noble minds are excited to dis
tinguish themselves with zeal and ardor for their religion and coun
try, on the other, the contemplation of moral and intellectual excel
lence, when delineated by example, affords a pleasing source of
instruction and improvement for every grade in society.

It cannot indeed be denied that the love of fame, when neither
bounded by piety nor benevolence, is a principle productive of incal
culable mischief and misery to the human race ; that in consequence
of being actuated by it, men of great ability have sacrificed moral
principle, their friends, and their country to their ambition; and

LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 385

that their actions have, by a fortune they did not deserve, been em
bellished by the efforts of genius, and transmitted to after ages with
honor and admiration.

Therefore we do not wonder that wise and good men are frugal
of praise ; nor that they are critical in examining the character and
conduct of those who have lived in a former period. We ought both
to justify and applaud them when they unveil the mask which hath
concealed the crimes of the great, and when they throw aside that
false mirror through which their character and moral complexion
have been viewed.

But however sparing we ought to be in bestowing encomium
upon the wicked, or cautious in deciding on the conduct of men of
whose motives we are ignorant, yet uncommon merit, whether
moral or mental, when exhibited before our eyes and senses, de
mands a tribute of respect ; more especially when its efforts have
been copiously evidenced in our own age and country. For if a
good man in the shade of retirement, acquitting himself honorably
in every relation of life, hath a claim to our approbation, if it be
injustice to withhold it from his person when living, or his memory
when dead, most certainly this tribute is due to him who, in addition
to the practice of religion and social virtue, hath exhibited those
powers of mind that fall to the lot of few, that goodness of heart
which led him to the most excellent study and pursuit, that ardent
patriotism which produced the most important advantages to his
country ; and who has for his past actions acquired such a celeb
rity of reputation as will both secure him a place in the brightest
page of history, and entitle him to the gratitude of very late poster
ity. To suffer such an illustrious character to descend to the silent
grave without those honors to his memory which prove our sensi
bility of his worth, to attempt to bury in silence and oblivion the
important services he has performed, would expose us not only to
the charge of envy, but to the blackest ingratitude. It would ex
hibit that sottish apathy and indifference which neither have pene
tration to discern, nor dignity of sentiment to admire, human nature,
when ennobled by those qualities which produce glory to their
owner and important advantage to mankind.

You will naturally suppose I have been led to these reflections by
the death of the late Governor of this Commonwealth, who for
so many years made a distinguished figure on the public stage, was

VOL. in. 25

386 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

so important an instrument in the late Revolution, and to whom,
upon every account, they are so directly applicable.

I am by no means fond of funeral encomium. You can all of you
witness, that I have been sparing of drawing characters for the dead.
Examples of religion and virtue have occurred since my residence
in this place which might not have been improperly exhibited for
your imitation. But there are also inconveniences arising from the
practice which more than balance the good which might be expected.
For some fault or weakness is to be found in the character of those
whom we most love and esteem. There are few in the shade of
private life whose reputation is so far elevated as to rise superior to
envy and local prejudice. If all were noticed in this way whose
moral merit rendered them worthy of it, it would raise expectation
in other instances where such respect would be injurious. Besides,
a character exhibited to the public eye should have some interesting
and original traits. It should be eventful and uncommon, in a
word, so distinguished as to have a commanding influence on sur
vivors. As these circumstances are not usually expected in retire
ment, so we observe that pre-eminent merit alone, in such a situation,
is a sufficient warrant for deviating from general custom.

Reasons of a different kind have generally prevented me from
noticing in this manner those eminent and worthy characters who
have retired from the world when in a public station, want of per
sonal knowledge sufficient to undertake the duty ; a wish to avoid the
imputation of flattery to their connections ; and at the same time a
consciousness that there were others better qualified than myself to
avail themselves of such an opportunity to acquire popularity and
consideration. In this effort, no suspicion can exist of mercenary
design. If censure is escaped, it will be as much as can be expected,
and more than, under existing circumstances, can be rationally
hoped.

It is not my intention to enter on a polemical defence of the po
litical sentiments of the dead, or of the party to which he was
allied. Such a subject is disagreeable, both to the inclination and
habit of the speaker. Every man placed in so elevated a situation
as the deceased is like a city on a hill, he cannot be hid. His life
and actions are displayed before the world. All have a right to
judge of them according to their own estimation. Fully persuaded
the character about to be drawn will bear not only a critical, but a

LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 387

malignant inspection, private friendship, though like the single sol
dier inhuming the ashes of the great Pompey, will not shrink back
from offering one solitary suffrage. 1

The remark of a celebrated writer, "that it is necessary for
every great man to be born at a proper time," was never more
verified than in the character we are about to portray. The same
sentiment may be applied to the most celebrated men who have
lived either in ancient or modern time. Had many of the most
distinguished characters in Greece or Rome lived in any other age
or in any other country or government besides that in which they
flourished, they probably would have lived unknown, and their
names perished in the same sepulchre with their body. Had the
venerable first settlers of this Commonwealth lived in the present
age, their manners would be derided, their virtues exploded, and
themselves destined to occupy an inferior or retired grade in society.
Or were some of our most conspicuous men to have lived when our
country was first settled, they had sailed down the stream of life
neglected, and would have been ingulfed in darkness and oblivion.
And to add no more, had the illustrious Washington, who, having
merited and received the applause and admiration of the whole
civilized world, expired with the universal groan of his country,
had he lived, I say, but seventy years earlier, he might have passed
through life known only in a confined circle as the best private
citizen. The wisdom, therefore, of Divine Providence will be strik
ingly displayed by an immediate review of the life of this great
man of whom we are now speaking, by fitting him with such gen
ius, disposition, and acquirements, so exactly adapted to the great
and important part he was to act, as well as in opening those scenes
before him on which these qualities were so splendidly displayed.

He was born at Boston, of a reputable family, in the year 1722.
The superior powers of his mind were cultivated at the grammar

1 The author, at the time this discourse was delivered, had no authentic in
formation of the laudable attention paid by the government to the memory of
Mr. Adams, in directing a public funeral ; nor had he seen the excellent and
ingenious biographical remarks of the Hon. Judge Sullivan on the subject,
which, had they been printed as a pamphlet, had superseded the necessity of
publishing this discourse. The author hath seen several other valuable tes
timonies to his memory, as well as noticed with pleasure the respect paid by
the Legislature of the United States.

LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

school in that place, and afterwards at the University of Harvard,
in Cambridge, where he received its public honors in 1740.

Though we are not able to give any anecdotes of his early life,
yet in respect to his literary progress we may very naturally infer
from his after appearance in the world that he was one of the best
scholars of that day. His correct moral deportment in every subse
quent period of his life, as well as the silence of his enemies,
amount to a demonstration that his juvenile years were neither
stained by vice, nor yet degraded by indolence and folly.

His disposition for political inquiry, and the predominant senti
ments which he retained to the conclusion of his life, were evi
denced at an early period ; for when he commenced Master of Arts
in the year 1743, according to a custom then existing, each candi
date proposed his own question for discussion ; the subject of which
was usually either religious, moral, physical, or political. The ques
tion proposed by Mr. Adams, the affirmative of which he defended,
was this, " Whether it be lawful to resist the Supreme Magistrate,
if the Commonwealth cannot otherwise be preserved ? " So early
was he in avowing an opinion scarcely contemplated at that day,
nnless in the retirement of a closet.

Early distinguished for his talents as a writer, his first attempts
were marks of filial piety. In consequence of these efforts, he
preserved the estate of his father from what he considered an unjust
prosecution. Even in this cause, in which he had powerful inter
ests to contend with him, by the acuteness of his wit and depth of
his understanding he gained the respect of every party. And such
was the influence of his pen and language, that the family estate
was liberated from that prosecution by an act of the Legislature. 1

He was known and celebrated as a political writer during the
administration of Governor Shirley, whose character was respecta
ble, and who was probably as great a friend to his country as the
time in which he presided and the offices he sustained would admit.

1 The father of Mr. Adams was a reputable magistrate in Boston, who
unfortunately had engaged in the Land Bank bubble, and was one of its
directors. In consequence of this embarrassment, his house was attached, and
after a due course of law taken by execution. When exposed to sale, Mr.
Adams said and wrote so much against the procedure, that no one ventured to
become a purchaser. Some time after this, the Legislature liberated the
directors from the prosecution.

LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 389

Mr. Adams, however, was opposed to the union of so great a degree
of civil and military power as was intrusted to that gentleman, and
endeavored to awaken his countrymen to a sense of danger, though
at a distance. It is true that the topics then discussed are of very
little importance to the present age. But yet the few distinguished
characters who yet survive speak with the highest respect of the wit,
ingenuity, and profound argument discovered by the deceased, and
affirm that the reputation he then gained laid the foundation of
that public confidence and esteem which afterwards introduced him
to those important situations where his fellow-citizens largely expe
rienced those talents with which the God of nature had so amply
endowed him.

The public mind being thus impressed in his favor, he was elected,
in the year 1765, to represent his native city in the General Assem
bly. Important and interesting was this period. Our political ho
rizon was overcast with clouds. " The thunder, which in past time
had only grumbled in the air, was ready to burst upon our heads."
The Stamp Act, and the claim of the British Parliament " to bind
America in all cases whatsoever," was heard as a knell announcing
the funeral of American liberty. Truly difficult and resppnsible
was the duty of a pilot called to steer in so violent a tempest !
Such, however, was the skill and dexterity discovered by our de
parted friend that even the favorable and flattering opinion which his
fellow-citizens had formed was exceeded by the ability he displayed
in directing their affairs. He became at once the most influential
member of the Legislature. He was the soul that animated that
respected body to all their most important resolutions, and to their
unequivocal opposition to every unjust claim and innovation made
by the corrupt ministers -of Great Britain. In cases where other
great and good men were perplexed and apprehensive that this
ardor for liberty would hasten, not defeat, the design of despotism,
this illustrious patriot remained undismayed. Aut Ccesar aut nullus
was his maxim. He wished either to see his country completely
emancipated from every unjust, unconstitutional claim, or else that
it might become the common sepulchre of its inhabitants ; for slav
ery and dependence he abhorred, even in their mildest and most pol
ished form.

For nearly ten years successively he continued in the Legisla
ture ; where, I presume, it will not be overrating his merit to af-

890 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

firm, that no one man (at least in the Northern Provinces) did so
much, both in opposing the designs of our common enemy and in
exciting the people to defend their privileges, as this departed pa
triot. He was a sentinel, ever at his post, a watchman ever
awake to discern, and prepared to sound the alarm, when any dan
ger approached.

When the charter of this late Province was dissolved, he was
chosen a member of the General Congress, and of the Provincial
Convention, which succeeded the legal and constitutional govern
ment. In these employments it would exhaust both your time and
patience to relate the great and important services he performed.
We leave the last to some correct historian more capable of his
duty. Sufficient it will be for us to observe, that the character Mr.
Adams had acquired in his native Province was preserved and sus
tained when he was a member of the General Council of these
States. The great qualities of his mind were more fully displayed
in proportion as the field for their exertion was extended. And the
records of that period will announce, that the energy of his language
was not inferior to the depth of his mind. It was an eloquence ad
mirably adapted to the age in which he flourished, and exactly cal
culated to attain the object of his pursuit. It may be described in
the language of the poet, "Thoughts which breathe and words
which burn," an eloquence, not consisting of theatrical gesture,
or the pomp of words, not that kind which hath been described as
" more concerned for the cadence of a period than the fall of a
commonwealth " ; but that which was a true picture of a heart
glowing with the sublime enthusiasm and ardor of patriotism ; an
eloquence to which, as before, his fellow-citizens had listened with
applause and rapture, so afterwards senates heard with reverence
and conviction ; an eloquence little inferior to the best models in an
tiquity for simplicity, majesty, and persuasion.

The power of language was, however, by no means his only
qualification for the important post his country had assigned him.
He had a penetration which no artifice nor sophistry could deceive, a
decision which no difficulty or embarrassment could discourage, and
a fortitude which no danger, however formidable, could appall. To
these might be added a happy address to the heart and understand
ing of those who were his colleagues ; so that he could combine men
of opposite interest in supporting and establishing any favorite

LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 391

point ; by which accomplishments he became one of the most active
and efficient members of the General Congress. And though in
this, as well as in the former situation which he filled, he was joined
by an illustrious band of patriots, who deserve the eternal gratitude
of their country, yet among many of these choice spirits he ap
peared (to borrow the language of the Roman poet) " as the moon
among the lesser lights of heaven."

Of the high importance and consideration attached to his charac
ter, what greater proof can be adduced than that he and another
eminent patriot 1 were proscribed from a general pardon in the last
act of state exercised by the British government in this Common
wealth ! We certainly have no reason to doubt but that he would
have maintained his principles as firmly on the scaffold as in the
Senate, had Providence called him to the dreadful sacrifice.

When our valuable State Constitution was framed and adopted,
Mr. Adams was chosen a member of the Senate, which honorable
body elected him their president. In this office he remained sev
eral years, executing its incident duties with great correctness and
fidelity. While in this station, he performed an important service
for his country ; for commotions having arisen in the western coun
ties, he and several other gentlemen were joined in a committee to
visit the disaffected places, and to quiet, by their authority and in
fluence, the begun sedition. This trust was executed with such pro
priety and firmness that every trace of disturbance immediately
vanished. Thus were the seeds of a dangerous rebellion crushed in
embryo ; and the more important was this benefit to this country,
as the war between America and Great Britain then actually
existed.

After being elected several years a member of the Executive
Council, he was, in the year 1789, elected Second Magistrate of
this Commonwealth. In this office he continued till the year 1794,
when at that election, being the next preceding the death of Mr.
Hancock, he was chosen Governor. In this honorable station the
repeated suffrages of his country confirmed him, until in the year
1797, being oppressed with age and infirmity, he voluntarily retired
from every public employment.

That some acts of his administration were censured while he was

1 The Hon. John Hancock, Esq.

392 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

First Magistrate cannot be denied. That there was a division and
discord in the opinions of men who deserved equally well of their
country; that it was carried to a very painful length; that it hath
since progressed in a very affecting manner, even to this day ; that
it now threatens our country with terrible calamity, are facts, alas !
too obvious to be concealed. Every man, howeyer, of real worth
and respectability, who differed from the Governor in opinion, was
ready to allow that his intention was pure and upright ; nor could
they be induced to believe that one who sustained so venerable a
name, and had so long been the friend and father of his country,
would ever err from design. They thought a candid allowance
ought to be made for the infirmity attending the decline of life, as
well as for a mind which, though retaining much of its former vigor,
yet in some degree sympathized with a debilitated constitution.

Though in every part of his conduct he demonstrated himself the
friend of his country and an advocate for the rights of mankind,
yet he did not, like some pretended patriots, vary his opinion with
the mere whim and caprice of the multitude. But when differing
from the majority, he acted with great independence and decision.
It was from this manly, open principle, at the close of the late war,
he opposed a peace with Britain, unless the Northern States retained
their full privilege in the fishery ; though it is credibly reported such
a peace was then patronized by the French Ministry. The same
dignified consistency led him, in the year 1787, when he was of the
Council to the Executive, to advise the Supreme Magistrate to in
flict that just condign punishment which the judicial sentence had
awarded on the detestable leaders of that banditti who raised the
rebellion in 1786. And we doubt not he was actuated by a motive
equally pure and correct to oppose the treaty with Great Britain,
though in this last instance he was almost alone. Certain it is, that
he put his election as Chief Magistrate to hazard by the avowal of a
sentiment so opposite and disagreeable to the favorite wishes of the
most influential and leading characters in the Commonwealth. 1

1 Without giving any opinion upon the utility or injury of that treaty to the
United States, the author feels himself warranted to affirm, that, unless there
be such a degree of candor in the people as to admit every Chief Magistrate to
act with independence in those important trusts of deciding on laws and meas
ures, according to his best and most deliberate conviction, that every trait of
republican government will soon vanish, and the community become a prey

LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 393

We cannot close our remarks on his political character, without
affirming that his integrity was proof, not only against all fear and
terror, but against every species of corruption and blandishment
offered him as a temptation. That many such attempts were made
is very probable ; considering, on the one hand, the influence and
consideration he possessed with his fellow-citizens ; and on the other,
the depressed and deranged state of his private affairs. But we
shall only speak of such, facts as were either believed from credible
report or are properly authenticated by documents of that period.

Some years previous to the Revolution it was reported " that
Mr. Adams was offered a lucrative place under the British govern
ment, if he would change his political conduct, and abandon that
cause and interest in which he was engaged ; that this offer was
made after the dissolution of the General Court of that year, which
happened soon after its first session ; that, in consequence of this
last circumstance, he was deprived of a stipend allowed him by the
Representatives as their clerk, which, though small, still was a great
part of his support : but yet, in this critical condition, he reprobated
the offer, choosing rather to subsist by individual or common benefi
cence, or even perish, than to sacrifice the cause of truth, and be
tray the liberty of his country." How far this particular anecdote
is founded on fact, I do not determine. But it is plain, from indu
bitable testimony, that some efforts of this kind had been made ;

to some successful usurper. If it be said the people will always adhere to
their best interests, it is admitted. But yet, they want time and reflection, as
much as an individual, before they can properly determine. If we were under
a royal government, or an hereditary aristocracy, there would be just causes
to apprehend danger from the exercise of those trusts which we deposit with
our Executive. But the short time that intervenes between every act of this
sort and a new election gives assurance that if injury hath been designed it
will be soon redressed. Besides, under a form of government like ours, every
First Magistrate is a representative of the people. Any exercise of his right
contrary to the sense of the Legislature is but an appeal to the fountain and
origin of all power, the people. The latter in their sovereign capacity will
determine whom of their servants they think most worthy of their confidence.
Whenever any faithful Magistrate is called by duty and conscience to differ
from his fellow-citizens who fill a respectable department, he will find his situ
ation " a painful pre-eminence." But yet such firmness may at some time save
the community from . terrible convulsion and distraction, may I not add,
from total ruin ?

394 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

for in the private correspondence of Governor Hutchinson with the
English Ministry, he replies to a question put to nim by some one
of them, or of their friends, Why hath not Mr. Adams been taken
off from his opposition by an office? that " such was the obsti
nacy and inflexible disposition of the man, that he never would be
conciliated by any office or gift whatever ; that, was he even to ac
cept of any emolument or favor from the Crown, he would be still
more confirmed in his opposition ; and therefore such an attempt
would answer no manner of purpose." What an honorable testi
mony this from a gentleman who was his avowed political enemy
and antagonist ! " What the Eastern sage in vain wished for, our
departed friend obtained. 1 His adversary had written a book. He
had, without intending it, engraven his fame in characters never to
be erased, and given such a memorial of his conflicting, triumphant
virtue as is worthy the applause and admiration of every future
age."

Had there been no other proof of his uncorruptible integrity
except what we have just recited, it would have entitled him to an
honorable remembrance in the annals of his country. But the fact
is, that his virtue was repeatedly tried in the crucible of poverty
and necessity ; that his sensibility was equally wounded by the
neglect of his friends, and by the malignity of his enemies ; that
under each, he was triumphant, and that every new trial exhibited
some new proof that no external evil or depression could tempt
him to any conduct unworthy of his reputation. For while he was
occupied abroad in the most important and responsible public duties,
the amiable partner of his cares supported the family at home by
manual industry ; and notwithstanding his whole resources were so

1 This testimony from Mr. H. s letters, as well as Governor Adams s con
duct respecting his father s estate, and his reputation as a writer in the time
of Governor Shirley, I received from the verbal communication of my venera
ble and highly esteemed friend, the Honorable Samuel Dexter, Esq., who was
for a number of years previous to the Revolution the particular and intimate
friend of Mr. Adams, was one of the committee of the General Court, in 1775,
for publishing Hutchinson s letters, and who still retains those very superior
powers of mind which distinguished him in early life, and enabled him to
make so important a figure among the friends of his country at that period.
It is highly probable that the letters referred to are preserved in the archives
of the Historical Society ; if not, they would be well worth their care to col
lect and reprint as historical memoranda.

LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 395

small that there are few among my hearers who would not have
deemed it a very imperfect support, yet such was the union of dig
nity with economy, that, to the foreigner or the native casually visit
ing the family, nothing of degradation or abasement appeared, but
every circumstance of propriety necessary to the honorable grade
which his country had assigned him. In this situation did his country
permit this illustrious character to remain ; and while inferior merit
and circumstantial claims, oftentimes trivial, entitled their owners to
large donations from the public, he knew, by very painful experience,
the ingratitude and baseness of mankind. It would be, however,
unjust in us to pass over in silence the marks of friendship and
attachment which in those periods were exhibited by worthy and
respectable individuals to the deceased, which did honor to them
selves, the object of their esteem, and to human nature. The speak
er is not able, from knowledge or acquaintance, to announce their
names; but the testimony of their conscience is a better reward
than any praise in his power to bestow.

In this honorable and voluntary poverty he continued to a very
late period of his life ; and had it not been prevented by the painful,
melancholy event of the death of an only, valuable son, by which he
obtained a decent competency, he must have recurred either to in
dividual or to common charity for the continuation of his existence.
Such contempt of opulence, of personal convenience, is held in very
little estimation at the present day ; and I know not but that this
statement of facts, so honorable to the deceased, may be viewed in a
very different light by some. But in the most splendid eras of an
tiquity, nay, in some former period of our own history, such temper
ance and such elevation would have been highly applauded ; neither
would such virtue, alas ! now almost obsolete, have been attributed
to pride, to indolence, nor yet to the want of wisdom to estimate
riches by their just value.

The dignity of his manners was well expressed by the majesty of
his countenance, an index of a mind never debased by grovelling
ideas nor occupied in contemplating low pursuits. Yet this appear
ance was accompanied with a suavity of temper, qualifying him for
those charities and graces so highly ornamental to the most sublime
and dignified character. Few are there who better discharged the
social relations of life than our departed friend ; neither would it be
easy to find a more tender husband, more affectionate parent, or

396 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

more faithful friend. He would easily relax from severer care and
study, to enjoy the delight of private conversation. Nor did he ever
omit any patronage or kindness due to any in the circle of his ac
quaintance which was in his power to execute. So that some who
disliked his political conduct loved and revered him as a neighbor
and friend. But though he could thus disrobe himself from more
elevated duty to attend the calls of common life ; yet his life and
manners embraced such correct decorum as never to deserve a
reproof from the wise or good. His house was the seat of domestic
peace, of method and regularity. In a word, to borrow the lan
guage of a very great, in describing the life and manners of a very
good man, " When did his walls ever witness any tumult or dissi
pation, when was any spectacle or conduct either to be seen or
heard within them inconsistent with the discipline of a most venera
ble and holy man ? " 1

While we are employed in reviewing other laudable and distin
guished traits in the character of this great man, it would be highly
blameable to omit his reverence for the Supreme Being, his belief
in Divine revelation, and his attention to every religious duty. His
mind was early imbued with piety, as well as cultivated by science.
But his religion was rational ; it was free from bigotry as from os
tentation. It was known by its best effects, i. e. a life free from
vice, and productive both of benevolent affections and undeviating
morality. As he supposed the institutions of religion and its practi
cal precepts produced this effect; so no one was more uniformly
steady than he in cultivating the practice of them. Accordingly,
his family can attest the constancy of his morning and evening devo
tion, the temple of the Most High God, his reverence for the
Christian Sabbath, and the altar of Jesus Christ, his compliance
with every ritual derived from the authority of Heaven. If he pre
ferred the mode of divine worship in which he was born and edu
cated to other religious institutions of antiquity, or to other forms in
which Christianity has appeared, it was not from the prejudices of
education, or mere mechanical habit ; but because he conceived our
churches, when confined to their original design, were excellent
schools of morality ; that they were adapted to promote the future
happiness of mankind ; and because by experience he had known

1 Cicero for Deiotarus.

LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 397

them a powerful auxiliary in defending the civil as well as religious
privileges of America. In this mode of thinking he was instituted.
The purity of his life witnessed the sincerity of his profession, and
with the same faith he expired. The last printed production of
which he was the author has given unquestionable proofs of his be
lief in, and respect for, our holy religion.

The celebrated Plutarch assigned this as his first and highest
motive for recording the lives of great and good men, " that, by
meditating on their sublime virtues, he might both enlarge his under
standing and correct his heart." Much may be collected from the
religious and moral character of this great man whom we have
attempted to describe which will assist us in the same laudable
design. Such an example of piety and purity is better than a sys
tem of ethics to instruct us in our duty to Almighty God, and in the
practice of those moral and social virtues which embellish and
dignify human life. We have had presented before us a man
struggling with adverse fortune, yet elevated by his mind above
every external evil ; never discouraged by the numerous obstacles
opposing his progress ; performing with fortitude every dangerous
duty ; equally uniform, open, and consistent in his opinion and con
duct, under the cruel coldness and negligence of his friend, as under
the malignant obloquy and rancor of his enemy ; and finally, under
the darkest scenes of his existence, refreshing the native energy of
his soul by sublime contemplation on the wisdom and goodness of
the eternal Providence. And now let me ask whether the portrait
thus exhibited doth not warrant us in borrowing the eulogium of
the son of Sirah on King Josiah, and applying it to our departed
friend. " His remembrance is like the composition of a perfume
made by the art of the apothecary. It is sweet as honey in all
mouths, and as music at a banquet of wine."

But in addition to the private virtues of the man, contemplate
the sage and patriot, the important instrument of American
sovereignty and independence. Therefore, for a moment, review
some of the numerous advantages of our separation from Britain.
Our country free from those scenes of war and carnage which has
crimsoned Europe, and now threaten it with a second desolation,
behold the opulence introduced by our enlarged commerce, our pro
gression in agriculture, arts, and sciences, the " gorgeous palaces"
erected by individuals, the magnificent public fabrics, and " the cloud-

398 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

capt towers," appearing to pierce the very sky ; consider the plenty
and felicity disseminated among every class in society, can you
possibly cease to venerate the memory of one whose counsels and
efforts were so important a means in procuring them ! Will you
suffer the poor man whose wisdom relieved the city to be basely for
gotten ?

Finally, if we wish to continue those copious blessings already
enumerated, and to convey them for an inheritance to posterity, let
us cultivate the memory and virtue of those illustrious men by
whom they were obtained. Let their august image ever dwell be
fore our eyes ; that they may still live, not mere.ly on marble or
canvas, or yet in the historic page, but in the heart and morals of
the survivor. Then may we expect from the tomb of the patriots,
as the phoenix from its ashes, their exalted worth, their dignified
qualities, will be newly delineated in the life and actions of posterity ;
and that our country will still produce characters so elevated and
noble, that even those venerable shades will cheerfully hail them
as kindred spirits. But if, which God forbid ! we sink in luxury
and licentiousness ; if our hearts are cankered with avarice, and we
become dead to every noble and generous principle ; if the torch of
civil discord is blown up, and is permitted to blaze with increasing
fury ; if unbridled faction and unprincipled ambition are elevated to
dominion, while true patriotism and genuine worth are thrown into
obscurity, then may we expect a total eclipse of our past and pres
ent glory. We shall be ripe for the avenging hand of Heaven.
Every footstep of order and liberty will vanish, and the iron age of
despotism most probably succeed. Then may it be said of this grea,t
and good man, whose memory and virtue we have celebrated, as well
as other illustrious luminaries whose eyes are now closed in the
slumbers of the grave, " that Heaven hath not so much deprived them
of life, as rewarded them with death"

FINIS.

LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS. 399

WILL OF MRS. ELIZABETH ADAMS. 1

In the name of God, Amen. I, Elizabeth Adams of Boston, in
the County of Suffolk, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, widow,
being of sound and perfect mind and memory, and being in my
usual health of body, but calling to mind the uncertainty of life, do
make this my last will and testament. I commend my soul into
the hands of my blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and, de
pending absolutely, entirely, and exclusively on his atonement and
finished work of righteousness for the pardon of my sins and accept
ance with God to eternal life, I commit my body to the earth to be
decently and prudently buried at the discretion of my executor here
after named. Respecting my worldly estate, after all my debts,
charges, and expenses are paid, I dispose of the same as follows,
viz. : Imprimis. I give and bequeath to my daughter Hannah Wells
any one of my gowns which she may choose. I also give her my
picture, and ten dollars to buy a ring. Item. I give and bequeath
to Elizabeth Wells,, daughter of the aforesaid Hannah, six chairs
of my own working, six pictures which were given me by Captain
Homans, one half of my books, and any one of my gowns she may
choose, after the choice of her mother as aforesaid. Item. I give
to Thomas Wells, son of my said daughter, Stackhouse on the Bible,
in two volumes, and half the remainder of my books.

Item. I give to Samuel [Adams] Wells, brother of Thomas afore
said, the other half of the remainder of my books. Item. I give
to my sister Mary Newell three hundred dollars. I also give to
my sister Newell one of my gowns. Item. I give to my niece
Mildred Byles one half of my wearing apparel, after taking out the
gowns herein particularly disposed of, and six hundred dollars, she
paying the lawful interest thereof to her mother during her natural
life.

Item. I give to Abijah Adams two hundred dollars, and ten dol
lars to his wife to buy a ring. Item. I give to William Donnison,
Esq., two hundred dollars, and ten dollars to his wife to buy a
ring. Item. I give to Mrs. Abigail Leighton fifty dollars and two
third parts of all the residue and remainder of my wearing apparel,
not herein otherwise disposed of; and I give the other third part of

1 The widow of Samuel Adams died in May, 1808, aged seventy-four.

400 LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS.

the residue and remainder of my wearing apparel, not otherwise
herein disposed of, to the female domestic servant who shall live
with me during the time of my last sickness.

Item. I give to Joseph Allen, Esq., and Samuel Allen, both
of Worcester, and to Mrs. Avery, wife of the Reverend Joseph
Avery of Holden, ten dollars each for a ring of Mr. Adams s and my
hair, which hair is reserved in my little trunk for that purpose.
Item. I give to each of the children of my brother Francis Wells
ten dollars to buy a ring. Item. I give to Mr. William Breed ten
dollars to buy a ring. Item. I give to Francis Wells and his sister,
lately Mary Wells, now the wife of Joseph Plummer, both of the
County of Burk, near Wynesborough, in the State of Georgia, chil
dren of my late brother Andrew Elton Wells, all the residue and
remainder of my estate, real, personal, and mixed, of which I may
die seized and not hereinbefore disposed of, to have and to hold to
them and their heirs forever ; but if at the time this will shall take
effect, the said Francis and Mary last mentioned shall both be dead,
leaving no children, then it is my will that the said residue and re
mainder of all my estate, real, personal, and mixed, rest in the hands
of my executor as a fund, the interest of which is to be applied to
the relief and benefit of the virtuous poor of the town of Boston.

Item. It is my will that all my household goods not hereinbefore
disposed of be sold at public auction to the highest bidder. And
lastly, I do hereby constitute, ordain, and appoint William Donni-
son of Boston, in the county and Commonwealth aforesaid. Esquire,
sole executor of this my last will and testament, who is to be com
pensated for his services without affecting the legacy hereinbefore
given to him. In testimony whereof I do hereunto set my hand
and seal this fifteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and seven, at Boston.

ELIZABETH ADAMS. \_A seal.~]

Signed, sealed, published, and Declared by the above-named Eliz
abeth Adams to be her last will and testament, in the presence of us,
who have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses in the pres
ence of the testator.

GEO. BENDER, JR.

WILLIAM B. WHITE.

ELIJAH WHITE.

LIFE OP SAMUEL ADAMS. 401

Memorandum. Having given to my daughter Hannah Wells two
thousand dollars, and the interest of three thousand dollars due for
many years from her husband in my lifetime and before the making
of this will, is the reason why I have not given her any more in this
will than what is hereinbefore mentioned in the first item.

ELIZABETH ADAMS.

Whereas, on the fifteenth day of December last past, I made my
last will and testament, and by mistake therein I gave to Mrs. Abi
gail Leighton a part of my wearing apparel, I do therefore revoke
that bequest as far as relates to the said apparel ; and I do now give
and bequeath the said wearing apparel to Mrs. Ann Wheeler which
was before given to Mrs. Leighton ; and it is my intention in my life
time to put up and mark for Mrs.Wheeler the said apparel ; but if I
should not be able to do it, then my executor will set out the same
after my death. I do also give and bequeath to my brother Ebene-
zer Wells twenty dollars to buy rings for himself and his wife ; and
I declare this to be a codicil to be annexed to, and to make a part
of, my last will and testament which I have hereinbefore described.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this four
teenth day of February, eighteen hundred and eight.

ELIZABETH ADAMS.

Signed, sealed, published, and declared by the said Elizabeth Ad
ams as a codicil to be annexed to her last will and testament in
presence of us,

MARY WHITE,
MARY GREENE.

[L. s.] SUFFOLK, ss.: COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
At a Probate Court holden at Boston within and for the County of
Suffolk on the ninth day of May, Anno Domini 1808, by the Hon
orable Thomas Dawes, Jr., Esq., Judge of the Probate of Wills, &c.,
the annexed will, dated the loth December, 1808, being presented
by William Donnison, Esq., the executor therein named, for probate,
George Bender, Jr., and Elijah White, both of Boston, in said county,
appear and make oath that they saw the said Elizabeth Adams sign,
seal, and heard her publish the same instrument as her last will and
testament ; and that she was then, to the best of their discernment,

VOL. in. 26

402 LIFE OF SAMUEL ADAMS.

of a sound disposing mind and memory ; and that they, with William
B. White, who is absent, subscribed their names thereto as witnesses
in the presence of said testator and of each other. And the annexed
codicil being also presented by said executor, Mary Greene appears
and makes oath that she saw said testatrix sign, seal, and publish
the same as a codicil to said will, and she then appeared to be
of a sound disposing mind, and that she, said Greene, with Mary
White, who is absent, subscribed their names as witnesses of said
codicil in presence of said testatrix and of each other ; and all the
heirs at law of said deceased having had due notice, and now making
no objection, I do prove, approve, and allow said will and codicil, and
order the same to be recorded. Given under my hand and seal of
office the day and year before written.

THOMAS DA WES, JR.,

Judge of Probate.

Examined : JOHN HEARD, JR., Eeg.

APPENDIX I.

THE ORATION SAID TO HAVE BEEN DELIVERED BY SAMUEL
ADAMS AT PHILADELPHIA, AUGUST 1, 1776.

(See Vol. H. pp. 439, 440.)

A N

ORATION

Delivered at the STATE-HOUSE,

I N
PHILADELPHIA,

T O

A very NUMEROUS AUDIENCE;

On THURSDAY the ift of AUGUST

1776;

BY SAMUEL ADAMS,

MEMBER of the **** ********** the GENERAL
CONGRESS

O F

THE ****** ****** OF AMERICA.

Per damna, per caedes, ab ipfo
Ducit opes, animumque ferro.

HOR.
Oh ! fave my Country, Heaven ! fliall be my last.

POPE.

PHILADELPHIA Printed;

LONDON, Re-printed for E. JOHNSON, No. 4,

Ludgate-Hill.

M.DCC.LXXVI.

ORATION.

COUNTRYMEN AND BRETHREN :

I would gladly have declined an honor to which I find myself un
equal. I have not the calmfless and impartiality which the infinite
importance of this occasion demands. I will not deny the charge of
my enemies, that resentment for the accumulated injuries of our
country, and an ardor for her glory, rising to enthusiasm, may de
prive me of that accuracy of judgment and expression which men of
cooler passions may possess. Let me beseech you, then, to hear me
with caution, to examine without prejudice, and to correct the mis
takes into which I may be hurried by my zeal.

Truth loves an appeal to the common sense of mankind. Your
unperverted understandings can best determine on subjects of a
practical nature. The positions and plans which are said to be
above the comprehension of the multitude may be always suspected
to be visionary and fruitless. He who made all men hath made the
truths necessary to human happiness obviousj^o. all.

Our forefathers threw off the yokeof Popery in religion ; for you
is reserved the honor of levelling the popery of politics. They
opened the Bible to all, and maintained the capacity of every man to
judge for himself in religion. Are we sufficient for the comprehen
sion of the sublimest spiritual truths, and unequal to material and
temporal ones ? Heaven hath trusted us with the management of
things for eternity, and man denies us ability to judge of the pres
ent, or to know from our feelings and experience what will make us
happy. " You can discern," say they, " objects distant and remote,
but cannot perceive those within your grasp. Let us have the dis
tribution of present goods, and cut out and manage as you please the
interests of futurity." This day, I trust, the reign of political prot
estantism will commence. We have explored the temple of royalty,

408 APPENDIX I.

and found that the idol we have bowed down to has eyes which see
not, ears that hear not our prayers, and a heart like the nether mill
stone. 1 "We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom alone
men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven, and with a propi
tious eye beholds his subjects assuming that freedom of thought and
dignity of self-direction which he bestowed on them. From the
rising to the setting sun may his kingdom come.

Having been a slave to the influence of opinions early acquired
and distinctions generally received, I am ever inclined not to despise,
but pity, those who are yet in darkness. But to the eye of reason
what can be more clear than that all men have an equal right to
happiness ? Nature made no other distinction than that of higher
or lower degrees of power of mind and body. But what mysterious
distribution of character has the craft of statesmen, more fatal than
priestcraft, introduced ?

According to their doctrine, the offspring of perhaps the lewd em
braces of a successful invader shall, from generation to generation,
arrogate the right of lavishing on their pleasures a proportion of the
fruits of the earth more than sufficient to supply the wants of thou
sands of their fellow-creatures, claim authority to manage them like
beasts of burden, and without superior industry, capacity, or virtue,
nay, though disgraceful to humanity by their ignorance, intemper
ance, and brutality, shall be deemed best calculated to frame laws,
and to consult for the welfare of society.

1 The homage that is paid in some countries to monarchs and their favorites
is disgraceful to humanity. Should one of my honest countrymen be suddenly
conveyed to an European court, he would fancy himself admitted into some
heathen temple. The policy of courtiers seems to have been to render their
sovereigns as dependent on themselves as possible, by accustoming them to
hear with their ears, see with their eyes, and perform the most common offices
with their assistance and under their direction ; like the cunning of priests, who
labor to place themselves between the Deity and mankind, and to make them
selves the only channels of communication between earth and Heaven. Such
monarchs resemble Eabelais s Queen, who never chewed anything ; not that
her teeth were not good and strong, and that her food did not require mastica
tion, but such was the indispensable ceremonial of her court : her officers took
her meat and chewed it nobly, having their mouths lined with crimson satin,
and their teeth cased over with fine white ivory ; after this they passed it into
her stomach by a golden pipe. Rabelais, lib. 5. [One sentence of this note
has been omitted. W.]

ORATION AT PHILADELPHIA. 409

Were the talents and virtues which Heaven has bestowed on men
given merely to make them more obedient drudges, to be sacrificed
to the follies and ambition of a few, or were not the noble gifts so
equally dispensed with a divine purpose and law, that they should,
as nearly as possible, be equally exerted, and the blessings of Provi
dence be equally enjoyed by all ? Away, then, with those absurd
systems which, to gratify the pride of a few, debase the greatest part
of our species below the order of men ! What an affront to the King
of the universe to maintain that the happiness of a monster sunk in
debauchery, and spreading desolation and murder among men, of
a Caligula, a Nero, or a Charles, is more precious in his sight than
that of millions of his suppliant creatures who do justice, love mercy,
and walk humbly with their God ! No ! in the judgment of Heaven,
there is no other superiority among men than a superiority in wis
dom and virtue. And can we have a safer model in forming ours ?
The Deity, then, has not given any order or family of men authority
over others, and if any men have given it, they only could give it
for themselves. Our forefathers, tis said, consented to be subject to
the laws of Great Britain. I will not at present dispute it, nor mark
out the limits and conditions of their submission ; but will it be de
nied that they contracted to pay obedience, and to be under the con
trol of Great Britain, because it appeared to them most beneficial in
their then present circumstances and situation ? We, my country
men, have the same right to consult and provide for our happiness
which they had to promote theirs. If they had a view to posterity
in their contracts, it must have been to advance the felicity of their
descendants. If they erred in their expectations and prospects, we
can never be condemned for a conduct which they would have rec
ommended had they foreseen our present condition.

Ye darkeners of counsel, who would make the property, lives,
and religion of millions depend on the evasive interpretations of
musty parchments, who would send us to antiquated charters of un
certain and contradictory meaning, to prove that the present genera
tion are not bound to be victims to cruel and unforgiving despotism,
tell us whether our pious and generous ancestors bequeathed to us
the miserable privilege of having the rewards of our honest industry,
the fruits of those fields which they purchased and bled for, wrested
from us at the will of men over whom we have no check ? Did they
contract for us that, with folded arms, we should expect that justice

410 APPENDIX I.

and mercy from brutal and inflamed invaders which had been de
nied to our supplications at the foot of the throne ? Were we to
hear our character as a people ridiculed with indifference ? Did
they promise for us that our meekness and patience should be in
sulted, our coasts harassed, our towns demolished and plundered,
and our wives and offspring exposed to nakedness, hunger, and death,
without our feeling the resentment of men, and exerting those powers
of self-preservation which God has given us ? No man had once a
greater veneration for Englishmen than I entertained. They were
dear to me as branches of the same parental trunk, and partakers of
the same religion and laws. I still view with respect the remains
of the Constitution as I would a lifeless body which had once been
animated by a great and heroic soul. But when I am roused by the
din of arms ; when I behold legions of foreign assassins paid by Eng
lishmen to imbrue their hands in our blood ; when I tread over the
uncoffined bones of my countrymen, neighbors, and friends ; when I
see the locks of a venerable father torn by savage hands, and a fee
ble mother clasping her infants to her bosom, and on her knees im
ploring their lives from her own slaves, whom Englishmen have al
lured to treachery and murder ; when I behold my country, once the
seat of industry, peace, and plenty, changed by Englishmen to a the
atre of blood and misery, Heaven forgive me if I cannot root out
those passions which it has implanted in my bosom, and detest sub
mission to a people who have either ceased to be human or have
not virtue enough to feel their own wretchedness and servitude.

Men who content themselves with the semblance of truth and a
display of words talk much of our obligations to Great Britain for
protection ! Had she a single eye to our advantage ? A nation of
shopkeepers * are very seldom so disinterested. Let us not be so
amused with words ; the extension of her commerce was her object.
When she defended our coasts she fought for her customers, and
convoyed our ships loaded with wealth, which we had acquired for
her by our industry. She has treated us as beasts of burden, whom
the lordly masters cherish that they may carry a greater load. Let
us inquire also against whom she has protected us ? Against her
own enemies with whom we had no quarrel, or only on her account,
and against whom we always readily exerted our wealth and strength

1 [This may be the original of Bonaparte s well-known expression, as the
oration was translated into French, and published at Paris. W.j

ORATION AT PHILADELPHIA. 411

when they were required. Were these Colonies backward in giving
assistance to Great Britain when they were called upon in 1739 to
aid the expedition against Carthagena ? They at that time sent
three thousand men to join the British army, although the war com
menced without their consent. But the last war, t is said, was purely
American. This is a vulgar error, which, like many others, has
gained credit by being confidently repeated. The dispute between
the courts of Great Britain and France related to the limits of Can
ada and Nova Scotia. The controverted territory was not claimed
by any in the Colonies, but by the Crown of Great Britain. It was
therefore their own quarrel. The infringement of a right which
England had, by the treaty of Utrecht, of trading in the Indian
country of Ohio was another cause of the war. The French seized
large quantities of British manufacture, and took possession of a fort
which a company of British merchants and factors had erected for
the security of their commerce. The war was therefore waged in
defence of lands claimed by the Crown and for the protection of
British property. The French had at that time no quarrel with
America ; and, as appears by letters sent from their commander-in-
chief to some of the Colonies, wished to remain in peace with us.
The part, therefore, which we then took, and the miseries to which
we exposed ourselves, ought to be charged to our affection for Britain.
These Colonies granted more than their proportion to the support of
the war. They raised, clothed, and maintained nearly twenty-five
thousand men ; and so sensible were the people of England of our
great exertions, that a message was annually sent to the House of
Commons purporting, that " his Majesty, being highly satisfied of
the zeal and vigor with which his faithful subjects in North America
had exerted themselves in defence of his Majesty s just rights and
possessions, recommended it to the House to take the same into
consideration, and enable him to give them a proper compensation."

But what purpose can arguments of this kind answer? Did the
protection we received annul our rights as men, and lay us under an
obligation of being miserable ?

Who among you, my countrymen, that is a father, would claim
authority to make your child a slave, because you had nourished him
in his infancy ?

T is a strange species of generosity which requires a return in
finitely more valuable than anything it could have bestowed ; that

412 APPENDIX I.

demands as a reward for a defence of our property a surrender of
those inestimable privileges to the arbitrary will of vindictive ty
rants, which alone give value to that very property.

Political right and public happiness are different words for the
same idea. They who wander into metaphysical labyrinths, or have
recourse to original contracts to determine the rights of men, either
impose on themselves or mean to delude others. Public utility is
the only certain criterion. It is a test which brings disputes to a
speedy decision, and makes its appeal to the feelings of mankind.
The force of truth has obliged men to use arguments drawn from
this principle, who were combating it in practice and speculation.
The advocates for a despotic government and non-resistance to the
magistrate employ reasons in favor of their systems, drawn from a
consideration of their tendency to promote public happiness.

The Author of nature directs all his operations to the production
of the greatest good, and has made human virtue to consist in a dis
position and conduct which tends to the common felicity of his crea
tures. An abridgment of the natural freedom of man, by the insti
tution of political societies, is vindicable only on this foot. How ab
surd, then, is it to draw arguments from the nature of civil society
for the annihilation of those very ends which society was intended to
procure. Men associate for their mutual advantage. Hence the
good and happiness of the members that is, the majority of the
members of any state, is the great standard by which everything
relating to that state must finally be determined ; and though it may
be supposed that a body of people may be bound by a voluntary
resignation (which they have been so infatuated as to make) of all
their interests to a single person, or to a few, it can never be con
ceived that the resignation is obligatory to their posterity ; because it
is manifestly contrary to the good of the whole that it should be so.

These are the sentiments of the wisest and most virtuous champi
ons of freedom. Attend to a portion on this subject from a book in
our defence, written, I had almost said, by the pen of inspiration.
" I lay no stress," says he, " on charters ; they derive their rights
from a higher source. It is inconsistent with common sense to im
agine that any people would ever think of settling in a distant coun
try on any such condition, or that the people from whom they with
drew should forever be masters of their property, and have power
to subject them to any modes of government they pleased. And

ORATION AT PHILADELPHIA. 413

had there been express stipulations to this purpose in all the char
ters of the Colonies, they would, in my opinion, be no more bound by
them than if it had been stipulated with them that they should go
naked, or expose themselves to the incursions of wolves and tigers."

Such are the opinions of every virtuous and enlightened patriot in
Great Britain. Their petition to Heaven is, " That there may be one
free country left upon earth, to which they may fly when venality,
luxury, and vice shall have completed the ruin of liberty there."

Courage, then, my countrymen ! our contest is not only whether
we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to man
kind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty. Dismissing,
therefore, the justice of our cause as incontestable, the only question
is, What is best for us to pursue in our present circumstances?

The doctrine of dependence on Great Britain is, I believe, gener
ally exploded ; but as I would attend to the honest weakness of the
simplest of men, you will pardon me if I offer a few words on that
subject.

"We are now on this continent, to the astonishment of the world,
three millions of souls united in one common cause. We have large
armies, well disciplined and appointed, with commanders inferior to
none in military skill, and superior in activity and zeal. We are
furnished with arsenals and stores beyond our most sanguine expec
tations, and foreign nations are waiting to crown our success by their
alliances. These are instances of, I would say, an almost astonishing
Providence in our favor; our success has staggered our enemies, and
almost given faith to infidels ; so that we may truly say, it is not
our own arm which has saved us.

The hand of Heaven appears to have led us on to be, perhaps,
humble instruments and means in the great providential dispensa
tion which is completing. We have fled from the political Sodom ;
let us not look back, lest we perish and become a monument of infa
my and derision to the world ! For can we ever expect more una
nimity and a better preparation for defence, more infatuation of coun
sel among our enemies, and more valor and zeal among ourselves ?
The same force and resistance which are sufficient to procure us our
liberties will secure us a glorious independence, and support us in
the dignity of free, imperial States. We cannot suppose that our
opposition has made a corrupt and dissipated nation more friendly
to America, or created in them a greater respect for the rights of

414 APPENDIX I.

mankind. We can therefore expect a restoration and establishment
of our privileges, and a compensation for the injuries we have re
ceived, from their want of power, from their fears, and not from their
virtues. The unanimity and valor which will effect an honorable
peace can render a future contest for our liberties unnecessary.
He who has strength to chain down the wolf is a madman, if he lets
him loose without drawing his teeth and paring his nails.

From the day on which an accommodation takes place between
England and America, on any other terms than as independent
States, I shall date the ruin of this country. A politic minister
will study to lull us into security by granting us the full extent of
our petitions. The warm sunshine of influence would melt down
the virtue which the violence of the storm rendered more firm and
unyielding. In a state of tranquillity, wealth, and luxury, our de
scendants would forget the arts of war and the noble activity and
zeal which made their ancestors invincible. Every art of corruption
would be employed to loosen the bond of union which renders our
resistance formidable. When the spirit of liberty which now ani
mates our hearts and gives success to our arms is extinct, our
numbers will accelerate our ruin, and render us easier victims to
tyranny. 1 Ye abandoned minions of an infatuated Ministry, if
peradventure any should yet remain among us, remember that a
Warren and Montgomery are numbered among the dead ! Contem-

1 Temporary tumults and civil wars may give much disturbance to rulers,
but they do not constitute the real misfortunes of a people, who may even en
joy some respite while they are disputing who shall play the tyrant over them.
It is from their permanent situation that their real prosperity or calamity must
arise ; when all submit tamely to the yoke, then it is that all are perishing, then
it is that their chiefs, destroying them at their ease, itbi solitudinem faciunt
pacem appellant. When the intrigues of the Ministry agitated the kingdom of
France, and the Coadjutor of Paris carried a poniard in his pocket to Parlia
ment, all this did not hinder the bulk of the French nation from growing
numerous, and enjoying themselves in happiness and at their ease. Ancient
Greece flourished in the midst of the most cruel wars : human blood was
spilt in torrents, and yet the country swarmed with inhabitants. It appears,
says Machiavel, that in the midst of murders, proscriptions, and civil wars our
Republic became only the more powerful : the virtue of the citizens, their man
ners, their independence, had a greater effect to strengthen it than all its dis
sensions had to weaken it. A little agitation gives vigor to the mind ; and
liberty, not peace, is the real source of the prosperity of our species. J. J. Rous-
8EAU.

ORATION AT PHILADELPHIA. 415

plate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say what
should be the reward of such sacrifices. Bid us and our posterity
bow the knee, supplicate the friendship, and plough and sow and
reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the
dogs of war to riot in our blood, and hunt us from the face of the
earth! If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of
servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in
peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick
the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

To unite the supremacy of Great Britain and the liberty of Amer
ica is utterly impossible. So vast a continent, and at such a dis
tance from the seat of empire, will every day grow more unmanage
able. The motion of so unwieldy a body cannot be directed with
any despatch and uniformity, without committing to the Parliament
of Great Britain powers inconsistent with our freedom. The au
thority and force which would be absolutely necessary for the
preservation of the peace and good order of this continent would put
all our valuable rights within the reach of that nation.

As the administration of government requires firmer and more
numerous supports in proportion to its extent, the burdens imposed
on us would be excessive, and we should have the melancholy pros
pect of their increasing on our posterity. The scale of officers, from
the rapacious and needy commissioner to the haughty governor, and
from the governor with his hungry train to perhaps a licentious and
prodigal viceroy, must be upheld by you and your children. The
fleets and armies which will be employed to silence your murmurs
and complaints must be supported by the fruits of your industry.

And yet, with all this enlargement of the expense and powers of
government, the administration of it at such a distance, and over so
extensive a territory, must necessarily fail of putting the laws into
vigorous execution, removing private oppressions, and forming plans
for the advancement of agriculture and commerce, and preserving
the vast empire in any tolerable peace and security. If our poster
ity retain any spark of patriotism, they can never tamely submit to
such burdens. This country will be made the field of bloody con
tention till it gains that independence for which Nature formed it.
It is therefore injustice and cruelty to our offspring, and would
stamp us with the character of baseness and cowardice, to leave the

416 APPENDIX I.

salvation of this country to be worked out by them with accumu
lated difficulty and danger.

Prejudice, I confess, may warp our judgments. Let us hear the
decision of Englishmen on this subject, who cannot be suspected of
partiality. " The Americans," say they, " are but little short of half
our number. To this number they have grown from a small body
of original settlers by a very rapid increase. The probability is
that they will go on to increase, and that in fifty or sixty years they
will be double our number, and form a mighty empire, consisting
of a variety of States, all equal or superior to ourselves in all the
arts and accomplishments which give dignity and happiness to hu
man life. In that period will they still be bound to acknowledge
that supremacy over them which we now claim ? Can there be any
person who will assert this, or whose mind does not revolt at the
idea of a vast continent, holding all that is valuable to it at the dis
cretion of a handful of people on the other side the Atlantic ? But
if at that period this would be unreasonable, what makes it other
wise now ? Draw the line, if you can. But there is still a greater
difficulty.

" Britain is now, / will suppose, the seat of liberty and virtue,
and its legislature consists of a body of able and independent men,
who govern with wisdom and justice. The time may come when all
will be reversed ; when its excellent Constitution of government will
be subverted ; when, pressed by debts and taxes, it will be greedy to
draw to itself an increase of revenue from every distant province, in
order to ease its own burdens ; when the influence of the Crown,
strengthened by luxury and an universal profligacy of manners, will
have tainted every heart, broken down every fence of liberty, and
rendered us a nation of tame and contented vassals ; when a gen
eral election will be nothing but a general auction of boroughs ; and
when the Parliament the grand council of the nation, and once
the faithful guardian of the state and a terror to evil ministers
will be degenerated into a body of sycophants, dependent and venal,
always ready to confirm any measures, and little more than a pub
lic court for registering royal edicts. Such, it is possible, may some
time or other be the state of Great Britain. What will at that pe
riod be the duty of the Colonies ? Will they be still bound to un
conditional submission ? Must they always continue an appendage
to our government, and follow it implicitly through every change

ORATION AT PHILADELPHIA. 417

that can happen to it ? Wretched condition, indeed, of millions of
freemen as good as ourselves ! Will you say that we now govern
equitably, and that there is no danger of such revolution ? Would
to God that this were true. But will you not always say the same?
Who shall judge whether we govern equitably or not ? Can
you give the Colonies any security that such a period will never
come?" No! THE PERIOD, COUNTRYMEN, is ALREADY COME.
The calamities were at our door. The rod of oppression was raised
over us. We were roused from our slumbers ; and may we never
sink into repose until we can convey a clear and undisputed inheri
tance to our posterity. This day we are called upon to give a glori
ous example of what the wisest and best of men were rejoiced to
view only in speculation. This day presents the world with the
most august spectacle that its annals ever unfolded, millions of
freemen, deliberately and voluntarily forming themselves into a soci
ety for their common defence and common happiness. Immortal
spirits of Hampden, Locke, and Sidney, will it not add to your
benevolent joys to behold your posterity rising to the dignity of
men, and evincing to the world the reality and expediency of your
systems, and in the actual enjoyments of that equal liberty which
you were happy, when on earth, in delineating and recommending
to mankind !

Other nations have received their laws from conquerors ; some
are indebted for a constitution to the sufferings of their ancestors
through revolving centuries. The people of this country alone have
formally and deliberately chosen a government for themselves, and,
with open and uninfluenced consent, bound themselves into a social
compact. Here no man proclaims his birth or wealth as a title
to honorable distinction, or to sanctify ignorance and vice with the
name of hereditary authority. He who has most zeal and ability
to promote public felicity, let him be the servant of the public. 1

1 A celebrated foreigner gives us a very just description of the methods by
which eminence is generally acquired in monarchies. " One makes a fortune
because he can cringe, another because he can lie ; this man because he sea
sonably dishonors himself, that because he betrays his friend ; but the surest
means to mount as high as Alberoni, is to offer, like him, ragouts of mush
rooms to the Duke of Vendome, and there are Vendomes everywhere.
They who are called great have generally no other ascendency over us but
what our weakness permits them, or what our meanness gives them."

VOL. III. 27

418 APPENDIX I.

This is the only line of distinction drawn by Nature. Leave the
bird of night to the obscurity for which Nature intended him, and
expect only from the eagle to brush the clouds with his wings, and
look boldly in the face of the sun.

Some who would persuade us that they have tender feelings for
future generations, while they are insensible to the happiness of the
present, are perpetually foreboding a train of dissensions under our
popular system. Such men s reasoning amounts to this, give up all
that is valuable to Great Britain, and then you will have no induce
ments to quarrel among yourselves ; or suffer yourselves to be
chained down by your enemies, that you may not be able to fight
with your friends. 1

This is an insult on your virtue as well as your common sense.
Your unanimity this day and through the course of the war is a de
cisive refutation of such invidious predictions. Our enemies have
already had evidence that our present Constitution contains in it the
justice and ardor of freedom, and the wisdom and vigor of the most
absolute system. When the law is the will of the people, it will be
uniform and coherent; but fluctuation, contradiction, and inconsis
tency of councils must be expected under those governments where
every revolution in the ministry of a court produces one in the state ;
such being the folly and pride of all ministers, that they ever pursue
measures directly opposite to those of their predecessors.

We shall neither be exposed to the necessary convulsions of elec-

1 From the absurd reasonings of some men we may conclude that they are
of opinion that all free governments are equally liable to convulsions ; but the
differences that are in the constitution and genius of popular governments are
astonishingly great, some being for defence, some for increase, some more equal,
others more unequal, some turbulent and seditious, others like streams in a
perpetual tranquillity. That which causeth much sedition in a commonwealth
is inequality, as in Rome where the Senate oppressed the people. But if a
commonwealth be perfectly equal, it is void of sedition, and has attained to
perfection, being void of all internal causes of dissolution. Many ancient
moral writers, Cicero in particular, have said that a well-constituted common
wealth is immortal, ceterna est. An equal commonwealth is a government
founded upon a balance, which is perfectly popular, and which from the bal
ance, through the free suffrage of the people given by ballot, amounts in the
superstructures to a senate debating and proposing, a representative of the
people resolving, and a magistracy executing ; each of these three orders being
upon rotation, that is, elected for certain terms, enjoining like intervals. Vide
HARRINGTON.

ORATION AT PHILADELPHIA. 419

five monarchies, nor to the want of wisdom, fortitude, and virtue to
which hereditary succession is liable. In your hands it will be to
perpetuate a prudent, active, and just legislature, and which will
never expire until you yourselves lose the virtues which give it ex
istence. And, brethren and fellow-countrymen, if it was ever grant
ed to mortals to trace the designs of Providence, and interpret its
manifestations in favor of their cause, we may, with humility of soul,
cry out, " Not unto us, not unto us, but to Thy name be the praise."
The confusion of the devices among our enemies, and the rage of the
elements against them, have done almost as much towards our suc
cess as either our councils or our arms.

The time at which this attempt on our liberties was made, when
we were ripened into maturity, had acquired a knowledge of war,
and were free from the incursions of enemies in this country ; the
gradual advances of our oppressors, enabling us to prepare for our
defence ; the unusual fertility of our lands and clemency of the sea
sons ; the success which at first attended our feeble arms, producing
unanimity among our friends and reducing our internal foes to ac
quiescence, these are all strong and palpable marks and assur
ances that Providence is yet gracious unto Zion, that it will turn
away the captivity of Jacob.

Our glorious reformers, when they broke through the fetters of
superstition, effected more than could be expected from an age so
darkened. But they left much to be done by their posterity. They
lopped off, indeed, some of the branches of Popery, but they left the
root and stock when they left us under the domination of human sys
tems and decisions, usurping the infallibility which can be attributed
to revelation alone. They dethroned one usurper, only to raise up
another ; they refused allegiance to the Pope, only to place the civil
magistrate in the throne of Christ, vested with authority to enact
laws and inflict penalties in his kingdom. And if we now cast our
eyes over the nations of the earth, we shall find that instead of pos
sessing the pure religion of the Gospel, they may be divided either
into infidels, who deny the truth, or politicians, who make religion a
stalking-horse for their ambition, or professors, who walk in the
trammels of orthodoxy, and are more attentive to traditions and
ordinances of men than to the oracles of truth.

The civil magistrate has everywhere contaminated religion by
making it an engine of policy ; and freedom of thought and the

420 APPENDIX I.

right of private judgment in matters of conscience, driven from
every other corner of the earth, direct their course to this happy
country as their last asylum. Let us cherish the noble guests, and
shelter them under the wings of a universal toleration. Be this the
seat of unbounded religious freedom. She will bring with her, in her
train, industry, wisdom, and commerce. She thrives most when left
to shoot forth in her natural luxuriance, and asks from human pol
icy only not to be checked in her growth by artificial encourage
ments.

Thus, by the beneficence of Providence, we shall behold an em
pire arising, founded on the justice and the voluntary consent of the
people, and giving full scope to the exercise of those faculties and
rights which most ennoble our species. Besides the advantages of
liberty and the most equal Constitution, Heaven has given us a coun
try with every variety of climate and soil, pouring forth in abun
dance whatever is necessary for the support, comfort, and strength
of a nation. Within our own borders we possess all the means of
sustenance, defence, and commerce ; at the same time these advan
tages are so distributed among the different States of this continent
as if Nature had in view to proclaim to us, Be united among your
selves, and you will want nothing from the rest of the world.

The more northern States most amply supply us with every ne
cessary, and many of the luxuries of life, with iron, timber, and
masts for ships of commerce or of war, with flax for the manufac
tory of linen, and seed either for oil or exportation.

So abundant are our harvests, that almost every part raises more
than double the quantity of grain requisite for the support of the
inhabitants. From Georgia and the Carolinas, we have, as well for
our own wants as for the purpose of supplying the wants of other
powers, indigo, rice, hemp, naval stores, and lumber.

Virginia and Maryland teem with wheat, Indian corn, and tobac
co. Every nation whose harvest is precarious, or whose lands yield
not those commodities which we cultivate, will gladly exchange their
superfluities and manufactures for ours.

We have already received many and large cargoes of clothing,
military stores, &c., from our commerce with foreign powers ; and,
in spite of the efforts of the boasted navy of England, we shall con
tinue to profit by this connection.

The want of our naval stores has already increased the price of

ORATION AT PHILADELPHIA. 421

these articles to a great height, especially in Britain. Without our
lumber, it will be impossible for those haughty islanders to convey
the products of the West Indies to their own ports; for a while
they may with difficulty effect it, but without our assistance their
resources must soon fail. Indeed, the West India Islands appear as
the necessary appendages to this our empire. They must owe their
support to it, and erelong, I doubt not, some of them will from ne
cessity wish to enjoy the benefit of our protection.

These natural advantages will enable us to remain independent
of the world, or make it the interest of European powers to court
our alliance, and aid in protecting us against the invasions of others.
What argument, therefore, do we want, to show the equity of our
conduct ; or motive of interest, to recommend it to our prudence ?
Nature points out the path, and our enemies have obliged us to pur
sue it.

If there is any man so base, or so weak, as to prefer a dependence
on Great Britain to the dignity and happiness of living a member
of a free and independent nation, let me tell him that necessity
now demands what the generous principles of patriotism should
have dictated.

We have now no other alternative than independence, or the
most ignominious and galling servitude. The legions of our ene
mies thicken on our plains ; desolation and death mark their bloody
career ; whilst the mangled corses of our countrymen seem to cry
out to us as a voice from heaven, " Will you permit our posterity
to groan under the galling chains of our murderers ? Has our blood
been expended in vain ? Is the only reward which our constancy
till death has obtained for our country, that it should be sunk in a
deeper and more ignominious vassalage? Recollect who are the
men that demand your submission ; to whose decrees you are in
vited to pay obedience ! Men who, unmindful of their relation to
you as brethren, of your long implicit submission to their laws, of
the sacrifice which you and your forefathers made of your natural
advantages for commerce to their avarice, formed a deliberate
plan to wrest from you the small pittance of property which they
had permitted you to acquire. Remember that the men who wish
to rule over you are they who, in pursuit of this plan of despotism,
annulled the sacred contracts which had been made with your an
cestors, conveyed into your cities a mercenary soldiery to compel

422 APPENDIX I.

you to submission by insult and murder, who called your patience
cowardice, your piety hypocrisy.

Countrymen! the men who now invite you to surrender your
rights into their hands are the men who have let loose the merciless
savages to riot in the blood of their brethren, who have dared to
establish popery triumphant in our land, who have taught treach
ery to your slaves, and courted them to assassinate your wives and
children.

These are the men to whom we are exhorted to sacrifice the bless
ings which Providence holds out to us, the happiness, the dignity
of uncontrolled freedom and independence.

Let not your generous indignation be directed against any among
us who may advise so absurd and maddening a measure. Their
number is but few, and daily decreases ; and the spirit which can ren
der them patient of slavery will render them contemptible enemies.

Our Union is now complete ; our Constitution composed, estab
lished, and approved. You are now the guardians of your own lib
erties. We may justly address you, as the Decemviri did the
Romans, and say, " Nothing that we propose can pass into a law
without your consent. Be yourselves, O Americans, the authors of
those laws on which your happiness depends ! "

You have now in the field armies sufficient to repel the whole
force of your enemies, and their base and mercenary auxiliaries.
The hearts of your soldiers beat high with the spirit of freedom.
They are animated with the justice of their cause ; and while they
grasp their swords, can look up to Heaven for assistance. Your ad
versaries are composed of wretches who laugh at the rights of hu
manity, who turn religion into derision, and would, for higher wages,
direct their swords against their leaders or their country. Go on,
then, in your generous enterprise, with gratitude to Heaven for past
success, and confidence of it in the future. For my own part, I ask
no greater blessing than to share with you the common danger and
common glory. If I have a wish dearer to my soul than that my
ashes may be mingled with those of a Warren and Montgomery,
it is, that these American States may never cease to be free and
independent I

APPENDIX II.

ADAMS GENEALOGY. 1

HENRY ADAMS of Braintree [was] of the sixteenth generation
from Ap Adam, who " came out of the Marches of Wales," at a very
remote period, about six hundred years ago. And it will per
haps not exceed the bounds of probability to say, that no emigrant to
the shores of New England has at this day so numerous a poster
ity. He brought with him eight sons, and he was the great-great
grandfather of JOHN ADAMS, second President of the United States.
This great-great-grandson erected a granite column to his memory,
with the following inscription thereon :

" IN MEMORY OF HENRY ADAMS WHO TOOK HIS FLIGHT FROM THE
DRAGON PERSECUTION IN DEVONSHIRE IN ENGLAND, AND ALIGHTED WITH

EIGHT SONS, NEAR MOUNT WOLLASTON. ONE OF THE SONS RETURNED

TO ENGLAND, AND AFTER TAKING TIME TO EXPLORE THE COUNTRY, FOUR

REMOVED TO MfiDFIELD AND THE NEIGHBORING TOWNS J TWO TO CHELMS-

FORD. ONE ONLY, JOSEPH, WHO LIES HERE AT HIS LEFT HAND, RE
MAINED HERE, WHO WAS AN ORIGINAL PROPRIETOR IN THE TOWNSHIP

OF BRAINTREE, INCORPORATED IN 1639.

" THIS STONE AND SEVERAL OTHERS HAVE BEEN PLACED IN THIS YARD,
BY A GREAT-GREAT-GRANDSON, FROM A VENERATION Or THE PIETY, HUMIL
ITY, SIMPLICITY, PRUDENCE, PATIENCE, TEMPERANCE, FRUGALITY, INDUS
TRY AND PERSEVERANCE OF HIS ANCESTORS, IN HOPES OF RECOMMENDING
AN IMITATION OF THEIR VIRTUES TO THEIR POSTERITY."

1 From theN. E. Hist, and Geneal. Eegister, January, 1853; VII. 40-43.
The extracts here given are preceded by a pedigree showing the descent of
Henry Adams from Ap Adam. It was discovered by William Downing
Bruce, of the Middle Temple, London, who is maternally descended from the
Adams family, " among the papers of the late Edward Hamlin Adams, Esq.,
M. P. for the county of Carmarthen, and it is now in the possession of his
son, Edward Adams, Esq., of Middleton Hall, in the said county. Mr. Adams
is a gentleman of great wealth and consequence in this county." For Samuel
Adams s feeling in regard to his English ancestry see Vol. HI. p. 201.

424 APPENDIX n.

President Adams has by some been supposed to be wrong in
assigning Devonshire as the place from which his ancestor came.
What the President s authority was for Devonshire is not stated ;
nor does there any proof appear that he was wrong. Henry died in
October, 1646. He left a will, which has lately been discovered, in
which he speaks of his wife, and mentions the following six chil
dren, Peter, John, Ursula, Joseph, Edward, and Samuel. From
the manner of their mention there does not appear to be any cer
tainty of their order of birth. His will was proved 8 June, 1647.

The children of HENRY ADAMS, according to the best account
which we have been able to obtain, are as follows : I. HENRY, b.
1 604, settled in Medfield, where he was killed in the second year of
Philip s War, and his wife likewise, in the most tragical manner.
Her name was Elizabeth Paine, and they were married in 1643.
Their children were, 1. Eleazer, b. 1644; 2. Jasper, b. 1647; 3.
Elizabeth, b. 1649; 4. John, b. 1652; 5. Moses, b. 1654; 6.
Henry, b. 1657; 7. Samuel, b. 1661. II. SAMUEL, settled in
Chelmsford, d. 1666. III. THOMAS, settled in Chelmsford. IV.
PETER, settled in Braintree, and had sons, 1. Peter, of Medway ; 2.
Samuel, of Medfield ; and 3. Joseph, of Medfield and Canterbury.
V. EDWARD, of Medfield, whose children were, 1. Henry, of Med
field, &c. ; 2. John, of Medway ; 3. Jonathan, of Medway ; 4.
James, of Barrington ; 5. Elisha, of Bristol ; 6. Edwin, of Bristol ;
7. Elishib, of Bristol. VI. JONATHAN, of Medfield, who had sons,
1. Jasper, of Medway; and 2. Jonathan, of Medway. VII. JOHN.
VIII. JOSEPH, of Braintree, b. 1626; freeman 1653: d. 6 Dec.
1694. His monument is at Quincy in the family burial-place, and
is that referred to in the inscription on his father s tombstone, " who
lies here at his left hand." IX. URSULA.

VIII. JOSEPH ADAMS, of Braintree, the eighth son of HENRY, m.
Abigail, dau. of Gregory Baxter. She died 27 August, 1 692. Their
children were, 1. Hannah, b. 1652; m. S. Savil. 2. Joseph, b. 24
Oct. 1654; m. 1. Mary Chapin, 1682, who d. 14 June, 1687; 2.
Hannah Bass; he d. 12 Feb. 1736-7. 3. Abigail, b. 1658; m.
John, son of John Bass of Braintree. 4. John, b. 1661 ; lived in
Boston, followed the seas, and is known in the records as Captain
John Adams ; his 1st wife was Hannah ; and he m. 2d, Han
nah, dau. of Anthony Checkley, Esq. Captain Adams died intes
tate, before 20 January, 1712. 5. Bethia (probably twin of John),

ADAMS GENEALOGY. 425

b. 1661; m. John Webb of Braintree. 6. Samuel, b. 1665. 7.
Mary, b. 1667 ; m. 1st, Samuel Webb; 2d, Samuel Bass. 8. Peter,
b. 1669; m. Mary Webb, 1695. 9. Jonathan, b. 1671. 10. Me-
hitable, b. 1678 ; m. Thomas White of Braintree.

JOSEPH ADAMS, the second child of " VIII. Joseph of Brain-
tree," at the head of the last paragraph, was the grandfather of
JOHN ADAMS, second President of the United States. He had by
his first wife, Mary Chapin, 1. Mary, b. 1683 ; m. Ephraim Jones of
Braintree. 2. Abigail, b. 1684; m. Seth Chapin of Mendon. Andi
by his 2d wife, Hannah Bass, he had, 3. Joseph of Newington, b.
June, 1688; H. C. 1710; d. 20 May, 1784. 4. John, father of
President John, 1691 ; m. Susanna, dau. of Peter Boylston of Brook-
line ; d. 25 May, 1761. 5. Samuel, b. 1694; m. Sarah, dau. of
Moses Paine. 6. Josiah, b. 1696; m. Hannah Thompson. 7.
Hannah, b. 1698; m. Benjamin Owen of Braintree. 8. Ruth, b.
1700 ; m. Rev. Nathan Webb of Uxbridge. 9. Bethia, b. 1702 ; m.
Ebenezer Hunt of Weymouth. 10. Ebenezer, b. 1704.

CAPTAIN JOHN ADAMS, brother of Joseph, at the head of the last
paragraph, was the grandfather of SAMUEL ADAMS the Patriot,
signer of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of Massachu
setts, &c., &c. He had by his first wife Hannah , 1. Hannah,

b. 24 Jan. 1685. 2. John, b. 28 Sept. 1687. 3. SAMUEL, of Bos
ton, father of SAMUEL the Patriot, bapt. 12 May, 1689 ; m. Mary,
only dau. of Richard Fyfield of Boston, 21 April, 1713; d. 8
March, 1748. By his 2d wife, Hannah, dau. of Anthony Checkley,
Esq., he had, 4. Joseph, b. 20 Dec, 1695. 5. Mary (twin of Joseph)
m. Samuel Jones of Boston, 12 May, 1715. They were m. by Rev.
Mr. John Webb. 6. Thomas, b. 29 March, 1701. 7. Abijah, b.
11 May, 1702; m. Deborah Cutler, 1725; d. 1768. He lived in
Boston, and was many years Clerk of Faneuil Hall Market, to
which office he was chosen 23 March, 1753.

HENRY ADAMS, sixth child of Henry of Medfield, and grandson
of the Henry who came to Braintree, lived in Medfield, and had the
following children, and perhaps others: 1. Thomas, of Medfield,
who was grandfather of Miss HANNAH ADAMS of Boston, the cel
ebrated authoress ; 2. Jeremiah, of Medway ; 3. Henry, of Med
field. Thomas, of Medfield (father of HANNAH the authoress, just
mentioned), died there 13 July, 1812, aged 87.

JOSEPH ADAMS of Newington, N. H., third child of Joseph of

426 APPENDIX II.

Braintree, and grandson of the first Joseph of Braintree, had sons,
1. Benjamin; 2. Joseph, M. D.; 3. Ebenezer. Of this family is
the inventor of the famous Adams Printing Press.

EBENEZER ADAMS, brother of Joseph of Newington, was the
father of Zabdiel, minister of Lunenburgh, and was born in Brain-
tree, 5 Nov. 1739 ; d. 1 March, 1801.

HENRY ADAMS, Esq., of Medfield, third son of Henry of the same
town above mentioned, was the father of Elisha, Esq., of Medfield,
Rev. Amos of Roxbury, and Enoch of Medfield.

The REV. AMOS ADAMS, of Roxbury, married Sarah, daughter of
Dr. Charles Chauncy. She died in Boston, July, 1748. Mr. Ad
ams was an author of reputation, and has left some productions
behind him of a historical character, of much value. He died at
Dorchester, October 5th, 1775, in the 48th year of his age. A brief
sketch of him is contained in Allen s Biographical Dictionary.

EBENEZER ADAMS of Braintree, well known in his time as CAP
TAIN EBENEZER ADAMS, was the tenth child of the second Joseph
of Braintree, as before mentioned. His wife was Anne, dau. of
Peter Boylston of Brookline. He was the father of the REV. ZAB
DIEL ADAMS, minister of Lunenburgh, Mass., a distinguished preach
er, and the author of several good sermons ; and the grandfather of
Z. B. ADAMS, M. D., of Boston, an eminent physician, and most
valued citizen.

The children of Ebenezer and Anne (Boylston) Adams, were, 1.
Peter ; 2. Anne ; 3. Boylston ; 4. Ebenezer, before mentioned ;
5. Zabdiel, minister of Lunenburgh ; 6. Micajah. Of this family,
Ebenezer, m. Mehitable Spear, 14 December, 1758; the 5th of
whose children was Zabdiel Adams., Esq., b. (just within the limits
of Roxbury, and near the line separating it from Boston) 9 Dec.
1767. His wife was Rachel Lyon, b. 23 March, 1772, an only
child ; her parents dying while she was an infant, she was brought
up by her maternal grandfather, the late Jonathan Bird of this city.
The oldest child by this marriage was ZABDIEL BOYLSTON ADAMS,
M. D., of Boston, above mentioned.

RECORDS IN THE ADAMS FAMILY BIBLE. 427

RECORDS IN THE ADAMS FAMILY BIBLE. 1
(See Vol. HI. pp. 336.)

Sam u : Adams, the son of John and Hannah Adams, born the 6 th
day of May, 1689.

Mary Fifield, daughter to Richard and Mary Fifield, born the 8 th
day of May, 1694.

Sam 11 : Adams and Mary Fifield were maryed on Tuesday in the
forenoon, being the 21 day of Aprill, 1713, by y e Rev d : Mr. Pem-
berton.

Richard Adams (their first born;) born the 21 th : of January,
1715- 16 ; being on Saturday morning at seven of the Clock. The
said Richard Adams dyed on Tuesday the 26 th : day of June, about
10 of y e Clock at night, 1716.

Mary Adams their first daughter, born Tuesday morning, at 4 of
the clock, being the 30 th : day of July, 1717.

Hannah Adams their 2 d daughter, born the 6 th day of Nov br : at
half an hour after eleven at night, 1720, and dyed the 13 th Jan.
\_oUit.~] at eight of the Clock at night.

Samuel Adams their second son, born the sixteenth day of Sept br
at twelve of the Clock at noon, being Sabbath day, 1722.

John Adams their third son, born the 4 th : of September, 1724,
about ten of the Clocke in y e morning (Fryday.) Baptised pr. Mr.
Checkley. Dyed Aug 8t : 9. 1725, about 2. of y e Clock, Monday
morning.

John Adams their fourth son, born 28 th : Oct br : 1726, Fryday, 5
of y e Clock post meridian. Baptised pr. Mr. Checkley. Dyed
June 15. 1727, at four of y e Clock Thursday morning.

Joseph Adams their fifth son born the 29 th : of Decem br : 1728,
one quarter after one of y e Clock in y e morning, Sabbath day.
Baptised pr. the Rev. Mr. Checkley y e same day.

Abigail Adams, their third daughter, born July 20. 1730, eight
minutes after nine Monday night. Baptised by Mr. Checkley, and
dyed the 29 th : of August, following.

Thomas Adams, their sixth son, born Dece br : 22. 1731, Wednes-

1 From the N. E. Hist, and Geneal. Register, July, 1854; VIII. 283-285.

428 APPENDIX II.

day, ten minutes after 2 o Clock, afternoon; and dyed the 16 th : of
August, 1733, 20 minutes after four of the Clock in the morning.

Sarah Adams, their fourth daughter, born the 18 th of Nov br : 1733,
at half an hour after 8 o Clock, the Lord s day morning. Baptised
the same day by the Rev. Mr. Checkley. Dyed the 28. Feb.
1735-6, at 2 O Clock, morning.

Abigail Adams, their fifth daughter, and Eleventh living child,
born Wednesday the 22 of Oct br : 1735, at 12 o Clock at noon.
Baptized by the Rev. Mr. Samuel Checkley. Dyed the 3 d day of
March, 1735-6.

Mehetable Adams, their sixth daughter, born the 12 th of April,
40 minutes after 11 o Clock, A. M. Saturday. Baptised by the
Rev d : Mr. Checkley 1740, dyed June 11 th at 11 o Clock at
night.

\_Here ends the record of SAMUEL ADAMS, ESQ., as kept by him
self, which occupies a folio page of the size of the Bible, upon paper
apparently bound in it for the purpose. At the foot of the same
page, SAMUEL THE PATRIOT has recorded the death of his father,
as follows: ]

Samuel Adams aforesaid, dyed on Tuesday the eighth day of
March, 1747, about eleven o Clock in the forenoon; having lived
with his wife thirty-four years, and about ten months. By her he
had twelve children, only three of which survived him.

[ Then follows upon the next page the record as kept by SAMUEL
ADAMS the son .]

Samuel Adams, son of Samuel Adams, Esq. born the 16 th : day
of September, 1722.

Elizabeth Checkley, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Samuel Checkley,
born the 15 th : of March, 1725.

Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Checkley were marryd on Tues
day the 17 th of Octob r : 1749, at evening, by y e Rev d : Mr. Samuel
Checkley. Detur, Pietatis Metam tangere ; Contentiq. vivant !

Samuel Adams their first child, born the 14 th : of September,
1750, at one quarter of an hour after two in the morning, being Fry-
day, and was baptiz d y e Sabbath following, by y e Rev. Mr. Check-
ley And dyed on Wednesday y e 2 d : of October following,

at 5 O clock in y e morning, aged 18 days.

Samuel Adams their second child was born Wensday the 16 of
October, 1751, at one quarter of an hour after ten in the morning,

RECORDS IN THE ADAMS FAMILY BIBLE. 429

and baptized the Sabbath following, by the Rev d . Mr. Checkley.
Born the 27 day New Style, and died January 17th, 1788.

Joseph Adams, their third child, born Saturday 23 d : June, 1753,
at three quarters after nine in the morning, and baptized the day
following by Rev d . M r . Checkley, and dyed the evening of the next
day at ten of the Clock.

Mary Adams their first daughter and fourth child, corn on Lord s
day the 23 June, 1754, at half after six in the morning. The same

day baptiz d by the Rev d . Mr. Checkley and dyed on

Thursday the 3 d . October following, at three o Clock in the morn
ing, aged three months and 9 days.

Hannah Adams their second daughter and fifth child, born
Wednesday, January 21, 1756, at a quarter after eight in the morn
ing. Baptiz d the Sabbath following by the Rev. Mr. Checkley.

Wensday, July 6 th : 1757. This day my dear Wife was deliv
ered of a dead son, being our fifth child. God was pleased to sup
port her under great weakness, and continue her life till Lord s day
the 25 th of the same month, when she expired at eight o Clock
A. M. To her husband she was as sincere a Friend as she was a
faithful Wife. Her exact economy in all other relative capacitys,
her kindred on his side as well as her own admire. She ran her
Christian race with a remarkable steadiness and finished [it] in tri
umph. She left two small children. God grant they may inherit
her graces ! SAMUEL ADAMS.

My son Samuel and daughter Hannah had the meazles in Febru
ary, 1759. S. A. They also had the small-pox very favorably, by
inoculation, March, 1764.

Elizabeth Wells, daughter of Francis Wells, Esq r was born Jan
uary 26. 1735- 6.

Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Wells were married by the Rev d .
Mr. Checkley, December 6th, 1764.

[Such are the entire records. From the variation in the color of
the ink, they were evidently written from time to time, excepting
about half of that by the elder Adams. This half was perhaps cop
ied from memoranda at the time he provided himself with the Bible.
Most of the deaths were inserted, apparently, at or near the time of
their occurrence. There are slight and unimportant variations in
the spelling of some words. These are printed as they were writ
ten.]

INDEXES.

LIST

LETTERS AND EXTRACTS PROM LETTERS.

There is an alphabetical arrangement of names of writers, under which the names
of those addressed form subordinate alphabets.

From ADAMS, John, to
ADAMS, Samuel 1776, Sept. 8. . . .II. 443, 444

1778, May 21. . . . III. 43

July 9. III. 29

28. . . HI. 27, 28

1779, Feb. 14. . . . III. 62, 63

1780, Feb. . . III. 83, n.

. . . .1. 509, n.

1782, June 15. ... III. 155

1785, April 27. . . . III. 220

1790, Sept. 12. ... in. 299

Oct. 18. . . III. 302-308

TRUMBULL, John 1817, March 18. . . III. 154, n.

TUDOR, William April 15. . .1. 322 ; II. 333

June 5 n. 391

ADAMS, Samuel,

ADAMS, Mrs. Elizabeth (WELLS). 1776, Dec. 9. . . II. 454

11. ... II. 454

19. . . .II. 455, 456

1777, Jan. 29. . . II. 454, 455

1778, Oct. 20. . . . III. 54, 55

Dec. 13. . . HI. 57, 58

1780, Oct. 3. ... III. 108

17 and Nov. 11. . III. 113

Nov. 24. . . III. 117, 118

1781, Feb. 1. . . . H. 510, 511
ADAMS, Hannah (afterwards Mrs.

WELLS) ........ 1778, Sept. 8. ... III. 53

1780, Aug. 17. . . HI. 53, 54
VOL. uj. 28

434 LIST OF LETTERS.

From ADAMS, Samuel, (continued,} to
ADAMS, John 1773, Feb. 22 or March 1. . II. 41

1776, Jan. 15 and 16. . II. 357-359

Aug. 13. . . . II. 441

16. . . . II. 442

Sept. 16. . . . H. 444, 445

30. . . II. 445 - 447

1777, Jan. 9. ... II. 462, 463

1778, Oct. 25. . . III. 39, 44

1780, March. . . . III. 83, n.

July 10. . . III. 103, 104

1781, Sept. or Oct. . in. 141, 142.
1784, April 16. . III. 176, 183, 224

Dec. 16. . . . III. 205
1786, April 13. ... III. 220

July 21. . I. 442, n. ; HI. 224
1790, Oct. 4. . . . III. 300-302

Nov. 20. . . III. 308-314

ALLEN, Joseph 1771, Nov. 7. . . . " I. 342, 243

AVERT, John 1784, Nov. 8. . . HI. 212, 213

1786, May 5 HI. 221

BOSTON, Selectmen of .... 1773, May 14 II. 70

BOWDOIN, James 1780, June 20. ... III. 102

CHAUNCT, Charles . . . . . 1774, Sept. 19. . . . II. 228

CHECKLEY, William 1776, March 16. . . .1. 54, 55

CHITTENDEN, Thomas . . . . 1781, Nov. . . ILL 145, 146

CLINTON, George 1793, Dec. 24. ... III. 319

1794, April 10. . . III. 339, 340
COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE
of the other Colonies. (Circu
lar Letter of the Massachusetts

Committee.) 1773, Oct. 21. . . H. 96-98

(Circular, etc.) 1774, March. . . . II. 145, 146

(Circular of the Convention

of Committees) .... 1774, May 12. . . 11.158,159
COOPER, Samuel 1776, April 3. . . II. 389, 390, 393

30. . II. 394 - 396

1779, April 29. . . . III. 65

1780, Nov. 7 III. 121

DAVIS, Caleb 1781, April 3. ... III. 134

DEBERDT, Dennys 1765, Dec. ... I. 146, 147

21. . . . I. 103-105

1766, Feb. 20. . . I. 112, 113

Dec. 16, 17. ... I. 132

1767, May 9. . . .1. 139, 140

LIST OF LETTERS. 435

From ADAMS, Samuel, (continued,) to
DEBERDT, Dennys, continued . . 1768, Jan. 13. . . 1.153-158,200

1768, Jan. 30. . . 1.167-169

April 20 I. 180

May 14. . . I. 181, 182

June I. 187

Oct. 3 I. 219

1769, July 31 I. 267

Nov. 16. . . I. 288, 289

DICKINSON, John 1773, March 27. . . . H. 59, 60

FRANKLIN, Benjamin .... 1770, July 13. . . . I. 345, 346

Nov. 6. . . .1. 370 - 372
1771, June 29. . . 1.406-410

1774, March 28. . . H. 146 - 148
GADSDEN, Christopher .... 1765 I. 50, n.

1766, Dec. 11. . . . I. 132, 133

GATES, Gen. Horatio ..... 1779, July 14. . . III. 70, 71
GAT, Fisher, and the rest of the

Committee in Farmington . . 1774, Aug. 4. ... II. 204

GENET, Edmond Charles . . . 1793, Oct. 22. ... III. 321

GERRY, Elbridge 1772, Oct. 27 I. 492

29. . .1. 493, 494

Nov. 5. . . .1. 496, 499

14. . . .1. 500

1775, June 22. . . . II. 315

Sept. 26. ... II. 323

1776, Jan. 2. ... II. 335
1776, Sept. 23. . . II. 447, 448
1780, Nov. 27. . . III. 123-125

1783, Sept. 9. . . in. 130, 179, 180
1783 or 1784. . . . III. 181

1784, April 19. . . HI. 203-205

23. . n. 509 ; III. 205 - 207

1785, Sept. 15. ... III. 202
1788, Jan III. 272

GREENE, Gov. William .... 1788, Jan. 5. . . III. 98, 99

GREENLEAF, Stephen 1758, Aug. 16 1.27

HANCOCK, John 1770, May 11. . . . I. 343

HAWLEY, Joseph 1773, Oct. 3 H. 92

13. . . H. 92, 93
1776, April 15. . . . H. 397, 398

July 9 II. 434

JEFFERSON, Thomas 1801, April 24. . . III. 371, 372

KENT, Benjamin ...... 1776, July 27. . . II. 434, 435

KIRKLAND, Samuel 1775, March. II. 282

436 LIST OF LETTERS.

From ADAMS, Samuel, (continued,} to
LEE, Arthur 1771, April 19. ... I. 124

July 31 I. 414

Sept. 27. . . I. 418, 419

Oct. 31 I. 419

1771, Nov. 13. . I. 432, 433, 448

1772, Jan. 14. . . . I. 448, n.

Nov. 3. . . I. 483, 484, 495

1773, April 9 and 12. . I. 470 ; H. 8, 24,

25, 46, 49, 50, 63, 64, 84

May 6. ... II. 47, 70

17. . . H. 70, 74

June 21 n. 78

28. . . II. 78, 79

Nov. 9. . . . U. 107, 108

Dec. 31. . IE. 123, n., 124, 125

1774, April 4. . . II. 89, 149, 150

May 18. . . II. 167, 168

1775, Feb. 14. . . . II. 273, 274

1776, Dec. . H. 463, 464

1777, Oct. 26. . . . II. 497
1779, Aug. 1. . . HI. 60-62

1782, Nov. 21. . . . in. 173

1783, Feb. 10. . III. 13, n., 152
LEE, Richard Henry 1773, April 10. . . II. 8, 9, 66, 67

1774, July. . . II. 191, 202, 203

1775, March 21. II. 256, 257, 280, 281

1776, July 15. . . 11.435-437

1777, June 26 and 29. II. 470, 471, 475

July 12. . . 11.484-486

22. . . . II. 476

1778, April 20. . . III. 11, 14, 15
1781, Jan. 15. . III. 121, 122, 127

1783, Dec. 2 III. 175

1784, Dec. 23. . . III. 214-217
1787, Dec. 3. . . III. 251-253
1789, July 14. . . III. 272, 273

Aug. 24. . . JII. 273, 274

- 29. II. 506, 507 ; III. 287, 288

LOWELL, John 1780, Sept. 15. . . III. 106, 107

LUCAS, Dr. Charles 1771 I. 383

MCKEAN, Thomas 1781, Sept. . . HI. 143, 144

MARBLEHEAD COMMITTEE OF COR
RESPONDENCE 1774, Aug. 2. ... II. 205

MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL COURT. 1782, Feb. 20. . . . III. 153

LIST OF LETTERS. 437

From ADAMS, Samuel, (continued,} to

OTIS, James 1775, Nov. 23. . . II. 329, 330

PAINE, Thomas 1802, Nov. 30. . IE. 341 ; HI. 372, 373

POWELL, Jeremiah 1778, Dec. 1 III. 58

PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OP

MASSACHUSETTS BAY . . . 1778, Dec. 15. . . . in. 59

1779, Aug. 10. . . . HI. 73

11. . . . HI. 73
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE OF

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MAS
SACHUSETTS , 1781, March 13. . . HI. 135

ROBERDEAU, Gen. Daniel . . . 1778, Feb. 9. . II. 466 ; III. 5, and n.

S., J., Esq., London 1765, Dec. 20. ... I. 103

S., S. P. (SAVAGE, Samuel Phil
lips?) 1778, Nov. 1. . . . Id. 56, 57

SAVAGE, Samuel Phillips ... Sept. 14. ... HI. 40

SAYRE, Stephen 1770, Nov. 16. . . . .1. 376

23. . .1. 376, 377

1771, Jan. 12 I. 381

SCOLLAY, John 1780, Dec. 30. . . HI. 114, 115

1782 ? HI. 158

SCOTT, John Morin 1780, Feb. 17. . . III. 146, 147

SESSIONS, Darius 1772, Dec. 28 U. 15

1773, Jan. 2 H. 16

Jan.? . . . . n. 17
SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSES OF REP
RESENTATIVES AND BURGESSES

of the other Colonies. (Circu
lar letter of the Massachusetts

House.) 1768, Feb. 11. . . I. 170, 171

STUART, Lieut.-Col 1776, Dec. 31. . . . II. 450, 451

TIMOTHY, Peter 1770, Nov. 21. . I. 366, 367, 375

TRUMBULL, Gov. Jonathan, the elder 1778, March 19. . . . 111.7,8

1779, July 13. ... HI. 70

W., G., London 1765, Nov. 13. . . . 1.99-102

WARREN, James 1771, March 25. . . I. 324

1772, July 16 I. 481

1774, May 14. . . H. 163, 164

1775, July 2. ... II. 317, 318

Oct. 29. . II. 328, 331, 332

1776, Jan. 7. ... II. 354, 355

10. . . . n. 342

April 16. . . II. 398-400

Dec. 4. . . . II. 452 - 454

25. . . H. 455, 457, 458

438 INDEX.

From ADAMS, Samuel, (continued,) to
WARREN, James, continued . . . 1776, Dec. 31. . . .II. 464

1778, Sept. 12. . . . III. 39

Oct. m. 49, 50

1779, March 23. . H. 510 ; III. 66, 67

1780, Nov. 20. . . III. 105, 117
WARREN, Joseph 1774, Sept. 9. . . . II. 222

25. . . II. 236, 337
WASHINGTON, George .... 1777, Aug. 2. ... II. 487

1779, Nov. 12. . . III. 71, 72

WEBSTER, Noah 1784, April 30. . . in. 208-210

WELLS, Andrew Elton .... 1772, Oct. 21. ... I. 493

WILKES, John 1770, Dec. 27. . . . 1.377,378

WILLIAMS, Ezekiel 1774, July 29. . . II. 204, 205

WILLIAMS, Josiah 1770, Nov. 28. . . . I. 341, 342

YOUNG, Thomas 1774, Oct. 17. . . .II. 242

1765, Dec. 20. . . I. 96, 97, 147

1778, June 10. ... III. 3

Nov. 3. ... III. 42
1783, April 21. . HI. 151, 152, 175

ALLEN, George,
WELLS, William Vincent I. 138, n.

ANDREWS, John,
BARRELL, William 1774, Aug. 10. ... n. 215

11. . . . n. 209

BERNARD, Francis,

HlLLSBOROUGH, Wills HlLL, 1st

Earl of 1768, May 30. . . 1.183,184

June. . . . .1. 190

July 9. I. 195, 196

Sept. 16. . . . I. 212, 214

Oct. 3 I. 217

1769, Feb. 25. . . . I. 443, 444

July I. 264

BROWN, John,
ADAMS, Samuel, and WARREN, J. 1775, March 29. . . . n. 276

BULL, Lieut.- Gov. William,
DARTMOUTH, William LEGGE, 2d

Earl of . . 1774, July. ... II. 167, n.

LIST OF LETTERS. 439

From CHURCH, Benjamin, to
ADAMS, Samuel 1774, Sept. 29. . . . II. 239, 240

COMMISSIONERS OF THE CUSTOMS, Boston,
HOOD, Com. Samuel 1768 I. 188

COOPER, Samuel,

ADAMS, Samuel 1776, April 18. . . . II. 394

FRANKLIN, Benjamin .... 1770, Nov. 10. ... I. 365

1771, Jan. 1 I. 378

1773, March 15. ... I. 489

COPLEY, John Singleton,
ADAMS, Samuel 1795, Oct. 8. TTT. 359, 360

CRANE, John,
HANCOCK, John 1782, May 5. . . . ITT. 255, n.

DANA, Francis,
GERRY, Elbridge 1780, Feb I. 510, n.

DICKINSON, John,
ADAMS, Samuel 1773, April 10. . . II. 60, 61

ELIOT, Andrew,

HOLLIS, Thomas 1769, Jan. 29 I. 466

1771, Jan. 26. . . I. 367, 368

April 25. . . . I. 389, 442

F., I,
CHURCH, Benjamin 1775, Sept. or Oct. . II. 333, 334

FRANKLIN, Benjamin,

ADAMS, Samuel 1778, March 2 III. 8

Ross, John 1768, May 14. . . I. 228, n.

GAGE, Gen. Thomas,
DARTMOUTH, William LEGGE, 2d

Earl of 1774, May 19. . . . H. 164

July 5. . . . .II. 203

20. . . n. 201, 219

Aug. 27. . H. 214, 226, n.
1775, Oct. 15. . . .II. 237, n.

HlLLSBOROUGH, Wills HlLL, 1st

Earl of 1768, June 17 1.188

440 INDEX.

From GERRY, Elbridge, to
ADAMS, Samuel 1772, Oct. 27 I. 492

MASSACHUSETTS DELEGATES in the

Continental Congress . . . 1775, June 4 II. 308

1788 or 1789. . . . III. 282

GREENE, Gen. Nathaniel,
WARD, Samuel ...... 1775, Dec. 31. . . IE. 237, n.

HANCOCK, John,
MASSACHUSETTS COMMITTEE OP

SAFETY 1775, April 24. . . .11.296,297

HAWLEY, Joseph,

ADAMS, John 1774, July 25. ... n. 192

ADAMS, Samuel 1776, April 1 ? . . . 11.392

HENRY, Patrick,
ADAMS, John 1776, May 20. . . . n. 406, 407

HOGG, James,
HENDERSON, Kichard .... 1775, Dec. . . .II. 338, 339

HUTCHINSON, Thomas,
BERNARD, Francis .... 1769, Oct. 5. . . . I. 279, 280

Oct. ... I. 281, 301

Nov I. 290

Dec. 20. ... I. 292

1770, Jan. 10. . . . I. 294, 295

21. . . . I. 299

March 25. . . I. 335, 337, 338

Aug. 3, 5. . . I. 352

12 I. 244

28. . . .1. 366

Sept. 15. . . . I. 355-357

Oct 1.368

1771, May 10 I. 393

June 5 I. 396

Dec. 3. . . . I. 438, 439

1772, Jan. 29. . . I. 458; II. 52

May 29. . . . I. 473, 474

Nov. 10. . . I. 497, 498

1773, Feb. 23. . . . H. 24, 62

June 14. ... H. 77

LIST OF LETTERS. 441

From HUTCHINSON, Thomas, (continued,) to
DARTMOUTH, William LEGGE, 2d

Earl of 1773, March 9 n.50

July 10. . H. 149, n.

Sept. 23. . . . 11.88,89

Oct. 9. . . II. 99-102, 133

Dec. ? n. 114

GAGE, Gen. Thomas March 7. . I. 488 ; II. 56, 57

GAMBIER, James ...... 1772, May 7 I. 467

HlLLSBOROUGH, Wills HlLL, 1st

Earl of 1770, July 26. . . 1.347,366

1771, Oct. 15 I. 421

1772, Jan. 31 1.459

JACKSON, Kichard 1771, Oct I. 427

M^CKAT, Gen 1773, Feb. 23. . . H. 12, 24

MAJDUIT, Israel 21. . . . II, 12, 30

, John 1773, Jan. . . . , . II. 25

, Thomas 1771, July . . .1. 371, 410, 411

Oct. 14. ... I. 420
. 17 I. 438

1772, June 15. . I. 472, 475, 478

Nov. 13. . . I. 497 ; II. 1, 2

1773, Feb. 24. ... II. 49

March 27 II. 57

April 19. . .1. 489, 490
TRTON, (90. William .... July 6. ... II. 75, n.

WHATELY Thomas 1771, Jan. 25. . . . 1.379

WILLIAMS,CW April 5 I. 389

1773, April 7. . . H. 30, 57

1772, April I. 466

28. . . .1 469

1773, Feb. 19 II. 11

March. ... II. 43, 44

Oct. 27. . . . II. 125

Dec. 3. . . . H. 115, 116

JEFFERSON, Thomas,

ADAMS, Samuel 1800, Feb. 26. . . . III. 368

1801, March 29. . . III. 370, 371

WELLS, Samuel Ada^ .... 1819, May 12. . . . II. 411

KENT, Benjamin,

ADAMS, Samuel . . ... 1774, Aug. 20. ... II. 226

1776, Aug. 15. . . . II. 438

442 LIST OF LETTERS.

From KNOX, Gen. Henry, to
GERRY, Elbridge 1778, Jan. 4 n. 501

LA LUZERNE, Anne Cesar DE,
VERGENNES, Charles GRAVIER,

Count DE 1781, March 25.. . . III. 128

LEE, Arthur,

ADAMS, Samuel 1771, June 10. . . I. 414, 41i

773, Jan. 25. . L 470, 483 ; II.8

June 11. . . 11.45,33

23. . . . II. 83,84

Oct. 13. ... II 46
1774, Feb. 8. . I. 415, 416; 11.144

July 8 II 192

1777, Sept. 9. . . .11.494495

Oct. 4. . . II. 495 ; II. 43

Nov. . . . 1.496

1778, Feb. 17. ... III. 9
. 28. . . . IU 10, 11

March 1. . . II. 12, 13

Sept. 12. . . . HI. 43

LEE, Kichard Henry,

ADAMS, Samuel 1773, Feb. 4. . . . II. 64, 65

1781, Feb. 5. H- 132, 133

1784, Nov. 18. ... HI. 213

LEE, Arthur 1780, Aug. 31. . . in. 120

LOVELL, James,

ADAMS, Samuel 1779, July 13. . . II. 511

QUINCT, Josiah, Jr 1774, Oct. 28. . . II. 245

WASHINGTON, George .... 1775, Nov. 19. . II. 341, 342

McKEAN, Thomas,
ADAMS, John 1815, Nov. 20. .. . n. 494

MADISON, James,

1788, Jan. . . . ILL 251

MARBOIS, Franois, Marquis DE BABE-,
VERGENNES, Charles GRAVIER,

Count DE 1782, March 13 HI. 150

MARCHANT, Henry,
ADAMS, Samuel 1777, Dec. 2- HL 2

LIST OP LETTERS. 443

From MATLACK, Timothy, to
FINDLEY, William 1817, Jan. 11. . . . III. 187

MAUDUIT, Israel,
HUTCHINSON, Thomas .... 1769, Nov. 19. . . .1. 292

MONTAGU, Admiral John,

1774 H. 242

MONTREAL, Committee of,
MASSACHUSETTS COMMITTEE OF

SAFETY 1775, April 28. . . H. 276, 277

MORGAN, John,
ADAMS, Samuel 1776, June 25. . . . II. 403

MORTON, Perez,
ADAMS, Samuel 1776, Jan. 19. ... II. 356

MOSELY, David,

ADAMS, Samuel, and GORHAM, Na
thaniel 1782, Oct. 7. . IH. 164, 165

NTE, Joseph,
ADAMS, Samuel 1782, Sept. 19. . . . HI. 165

OTIS, Samuel Allyne,
LOWELL, John 1778, June 4. ... III. 36

PARSONS, Samuel Holden,
ADAMS, Samuel 1773, March . . . IE. 82

PICKERING, John,
ADAMS, Samuel 1773, July 5. . . .II. 77, n.

PITTS, John,
ADAMS, Samuel 1774, Oct. 16. . . .II. 240

QUINCY, Josiah, Jr.,

QUINCY, Mrs. Abigail (PHILLIPS) 1774, Dec. 7. ... II. 304

1775, Jan. 7 II. 304

ROGERS, Nathaniel,
HUTCHINSON, Thomas .... 1770, March 12. . . . .1. 326

S., S. P. (SAVAGE, Samuel Phillips ?)
ADAMS, Samuel 1778, Oct. HI. 55, 56

444 LIST OF LETTERS.

From SAYRE, Stephen, to
ADAMS, Samuel 1770, Sept. 18. . . . I. 375, 376

SESSIONS, Darius, and others,
ADAMS, Samuel 1772, Dec II. 14

STEUBEN, Frederick William Augustus Henry Ferdinand, Baron VON,
ADAMS, Samuel 1778, May 28. . . . HI. 3, 4

STBONG, Caleb,
WELLS, Samuel Adams . . . . 1819, May 31. . . III. 87, 88

SULLIVAN, James,

ADAMS, Samuel 1786, Oct. 12. . . III. 228, 229

DEARBORN, Gen. Henry . . . . 1804 111.375,376

TAYLOR, John,
VAN COURTLANDT, Pierre . . . 1776, Nov. 3. ... II. 359

TUFTS, Cotton,
ADAMS, Samuel 1782, Sept. 24. ... III. 165

WASHINGTON, George,
TRUMBULL, Goo. Jonathan, the elder 1777, July 31. . . . 11.488

WEBSTER, Noah,
ADAMS, Samuel 1784, March 24. . . III. 207, 208

YOUNG, Thomas,
ADAMS, Samuel 1774, Sept. 4. ... II. 237, 238

LETTERS WHOSE WRITERS NAMES ARE NOT GIVEN.

ADAMS, Samuel London, 1775, April 10. . . II. 312

Sept. 27. . II. 329

Philadelphia, 1779, Jan. 21. . III. 51

GERRY, Elbridge 1780. . . in. 51

HENRY, Patrick 1778, Jan. 12. . . .II. 502

Philadelphia, 1774, Dec. 26. . II. 251

London, 1775, Jan. 30. . . II. 269

Feb. 10. H. 268-270

April 25. . II. 289, 290
Virginia, 1776, Jan, . . II. 311
Boston, 11. . . II. 431
London, 1777, June. . . H. 417

GENERAL INDEX.

[References supplied by the preceding List of Letters are not repeated in this Index.]

Adams genealogy, III. 423-
426.

ADAMS, Abijah, III. 399.

ADAMS, Mrs. Elizabeth (CHECKLET),
b. March 15, 1725-6, d. 1757, I.
25, II. 20, III. 428, 429.

ADAMS, Mrs. Elizabeth (WELLS), b.
Jan. 26, 1735-6, d. 1808, I. 138,
II. 20, III. 53, 142, 372. Married,
I. 53, III. 429. Her character, I.
273, II. 17, III. 337. Mr. Adams s
will, 380, 381 . Her will, 399 - 402.

ADAMS, Hannah. See WELLS, Mrs.
H. (A.).

ADAMS, Hannah, the authoress, III. 425.

ADAMS, Henry, III. 201, 423-426.

ADAMS, Capt. John, b. 1661, I. 1, 25,
in. 424, 425.

ADAMS, Pres. John, 6. 1735, d. 1826,
I. 84 - 86, 224, 244, 327, 370, 379,
474, II. 64, 151, 169, 199, 207, 319,
460, 462, III. 2, 33 n., 143, 425.
Second cousin of S. Adams, I. 1
n. ; who brings him forward, 33 ;
" the creature of S. Adams," II.
430. Writes the Braintree Instruc
tions in 1765, I. 65, 66 n. ; and the
Boston Instructions in 1768, 191.
His errors as to the authorship of
certain state-papers, 172, 173 n., 501
n. His Dissertation on the Canon and
Feudal Law, 174 n. Defends the
soldiers concerned in the Massacre,
329, 330. Enters the House, 344.
Ketires for a while from public life,
390. Refuses to deliver the oration,
March 5, 1773, II. 22, 23. Not the
author of the replies to the Gov
ernor in January and March, 1773,
31-42 n. Advises the impeach
ment of the judges, 134 n. In Con

gress, 176, 178, 338-340, 368, 376,
411, 499, III. 1. Not a member
of the second Provincial Congress,
U. 261 n. On Gates s black list,
269. Not desirous of independence,
302, 397. Commissioner to France,
III. 6. His share in the Massachu
setts Constitution of 1779, 80-87 n.
President, 286, 361, 369. His anti
democratic feelings, 294 - 296. His
Letters on Government, 297-314.
His inscription over Henry Ad
ams, 423, 424.

ADAMS, Pres. John Quincy, b. 1767,
d. 1848, III. 219, 220.

ADAMS, Joseph, b. 1728, I. 4, 24, III.
427. Others, 423 - 426.

ADAMS, Mrs. Mary (FIFIELD), wife of
Samuel, the elder, I. 2, 24, II. 20 n.,
III. 427, 428.

ADAMS, Mary, daughter of Samuel, the
elder. See ALLEN, Mrs. M. (A.).

ADAMS, Samuel, the elder, b. 1689, d.
1748 (N. S.), I. 1-24, III. 425,
427, 428.

ADAMS, Samuel, the son, b. 1722, d.
1803.

Sketches of, by John Adams, I.
86, 87, II. 419 ; J. T. Austin, 428,
429; George Bancroft, I. 53, 54,
152, II. 428; Dr. Bolton, 139;
Brissot de Warville, III. 290 ; De
Chastellux, 111, 112; English con
temporaries, II. 430, 431 ; Edward
Everett, 128 ; Perez Fobes, III. 344,
345; Joseph Galloway, II. 230;
James Grahame, 429, 430; Gov.
Hutchinson, I. 410, II. 100-102,
135 ; anonymous writers in the In
dependent Chronicle, III. 277-280,
343, 363, 374, 375 ; Pres. Jefferson,

446

GENERAL INDEX.

IE. 411 ; La Luzerne, III. 128 ;
an anonymous writer in a L/ondon
newspaper, II. 417 ; Marbois, III.
150 ; Josiah Quincy, II. 304 ; John
Randolph, III. 377, 378 ; James
Rivington, II. 426, 277 ; Judge
Sullivan, III. 366, 367; William
Tudor, II. 421, 422; Tudor quot
ing a colleague of Adams, III. 364
n. ; Mrs. Mercy Warren, I. 411;
Dr. Waterhouse, III. 289, 290.

His person, I. 5, II. 408, 409,
HI. 112, 335. Tremulousness, II.
409, III. 154, 155. Likeness to
William I. of Orange, 155. Cos
tume, II. 207-212. Portraits, I.
475-477, II. 153, III. 41, 42, 334 n.
He is partly of Scotch descent, 25.

His character : 1. Personal.
His religious character,!. 87, II. 18.
(The family Bible described, III.
336 n. ; the records in, 427 - 429.
His theological knowledge, I. 6, II.
32 n.) His industry, I. 202, 203,

II. 390. (Extent of his reading,
32 n.) His disregard of riches,
I. 271-273, II. 22. (His salary,
I. 120, 337, 468, III. 331. His
poverty, 135-138. See also Pur
chase St. estate, Winter
St. estate.) His disregard of
fame, II. 391, 429. His patience
tinder neglect, HI. 117, 118, 134.
His incorruptibility, II. 192-196.
His dislike of parade and extrava
gance, 300, III. 114, 115, 125, 157,
158, 331. (Wishes that Boston
should be a Christian Sparta, 158.)
His courage and hopefulness, I.
400, II. 294, 428, 429, 491-493,

III. 282 n. His inflexibility, II.

421, 422. 2. Domestic and social

character, I. 53, 54, II. 18-22, III.
52-54, 336, 337, 366, 367. His
opinion of matrimony, I. 54. His
assistance to young men, 33, 340
-343. His friendships, III. 119
-123. His feelings towards John
Adams, 33 n., 122. See also HAN
COCK, JEFFERSON, OTIS, and WAR
REN (Joseph).

His political life: His early
inclination to politics, I. 6, 10-23.
His democratic feelings, III. 200
-205, 260, 261. See also Ed

ucation. He is the first to

openly advocate the independence
of the Colonies, I. 144-148, II.
129, 149, 241-245. Originator of
the non-importation and non-con
sumption schemes, I. 149 ; of the
Provincial Committee, 496, 497,
509-511 n. ; and, in intention, of
the Intercolonial Committees, II.
9 - 13. Party hatred of him, III.

344, 379 n. His views on the

Federal Constitution, III. 262 - 267 ;
the amendments proposed by him,
267. On the suspension of the
habeas corpus, 268. On the relative
allegiance due to Federal and State
authority, 272-276, 289, 324,325,

340, 345 - 348. His influence in

the Legislature, I. 97, 98 ; among
the people, 201, 202, 208, 209,
265, II. 128; in Congress, 220;
in the Massachusetts Constitutional

Convention, III. 279. " I should

advise persisting in our struggle for
liberty, were it revealed that only
one in a thousand was to survive,"
II. 232. " Keep the enemy in the
wrong," 281. " Independent we are
and independent we will be," 408.

"Watermelon frolic," III. 351.

His style of oratory, II. 183, 354,
407 -412. The illustration of the
philosopher and the mouse, 184.

His ability as a political writer,

I. 441-447. List of his pseudo-
nymes, 445 n.

His writings : An supremo Ma-
gistratui resistere liceat, si aliter servari
Respublica nequit, I. 10 ; essays in
The Public Advertiser, 15-23; es
says in other newspapers, especially
in The Boston Gazette, I. passim ;
numerous state-papers of the House
and Senate, I. - III., passim (see
the Chronology prefixed to each
volume) ; The True Sentiments of
America, I. 152-167; An Appeal
to the World, 282 - 286 ; Natural
Rights of the Colonists as Men, as
Christians, and as Subjects, 502
507; part of Hancock s Oration,
March 5, 1774, II. 137-140; To
the People of Pennsylvania, 360
363 ; To the People in General, 370
-375 ; To the Earl of Carlisle, etc.,

GENERAL INDEX.

447

III. 18 - 28 ; Address of the Conven
tion for framing a New Constitution
of Government, etc., 90-96; ad
dresses, as Lieutenant - Governor,
284, 285, 288, 289 ; Letters on Gov
ernment, 297-314; addresses, etc.,
as Governor, 324 - 329 n., 340 - 342,
344-348, 351, 352, 355-358, 362,
363, 365, 366 ; he is not the author
of A Review of Dr. May hew s Re
marks, etc., I. 34-36 n. ; nor of
An Oration delivered at . . . . Phil
adelphia, etc., II. 439, 440, III. 405
- 422. See also the " List of Let
ters" immediately preceding this
Index.

Nicknames and Epithets :
Sam the Maltster, I. 24 ; Samuel
the Publican, 36; The Father of
America, 375 ; Instar omnium, 410 ;
The Chief Incendiary of the House,
427 ; One of Plutarch s men, II.
185 ; The first politician in the
world, 304 ; The Psalm-singer, 333
and n. ; The Palinurus of the Rev
olution, 423 ; The Man of the Rev
olution, 424; The Would-be Crom
well of America, 426 ; The Crom
well of New England, 430; The
Last of the Puritans, III. 136 ; The
American Cato, 278 ; Father of the
American Revolution, Political Par
ent, 375. Sam. Adams s regi
ments, I. 326, III. 154. Adams s
conspiracy, meaning the Revolu
tion, II. 418. Adams s crew, mean
ing the patriots, 418 n.

Anecdotes : " Spurned by
the royal foot," I. 167 ; "Mr. Mod
erator, I agree ! I agree ! " 300 ;
" Mr. Speaker, where is the place
for your Clerk ? " II. 173 ; " I move
that the gentleman be presented
with a pair of spurs," 494 ; the dig
nity of the Senate, III. 154; the
mechanics at the Green Dragon,
260, 261 ; the carriage given to
Adams, 331. 332.

His last will, III. 379-381.

For other events of his life,
see the Chronology prefixed
to each volume.

ADAMS, Samuel, M, D., the grandson,
b. 1751, d. 1788, I. 25, II. 19, 214,
III. 428. His services as army

surgeon, II. 320, 404. His death,
III. 255. His bequest, 332.

Agents of the Assembly, The Gov
ernor refuses to pay the salaries of
the, II. 101 n.

ALLEN, James, brother-in-law of Sam
uel ADAMS, I. 4, 24, II. 19 n.

ALLEN, Joseph, son of James, I. 342,
II. 19 n., III. 81 n., 400.

ALLEN, Mrs. Mary (ADAMS), wife
of James, I. 4, 24, II. 19, HI.
427.

ALLEN, Samuel, son of James, II. 19
n., III. 400.

Alliances with European powers,

II. 437, 460-464, 495, III. 350-
356. See also FRANCE.

AMERICAN ACADEMY OP ARTS AND
SCIENCES, III. 101, 141, 142.

AMES, Fisher, III. 250, 264, 280, 354.

ANDERSON, James, III. 49.

ANTI-FEDERALISTS, afterwards RE
PUBLICANS, III. 253, 273, 280, 281,
318.

Appeal to the World, An, I. 282 - 286.

APPLETON, Nathaniel, II. 181, 205,

III. 179-181.

APTHORP, East, D. D., author of A

Review of Dr. Mayhew s Remarks,

etc., I. 34-36 n.
ARNOLD, Gen. Benedict, II. 487, III.

40, 125, 149. Suspected by Adams,

108.
Articles of Confederation,

II. 436, 472-482, III. 131-134.
Inadequate, 248, 249. See also
Constitution.

AUCHMUTY, Robert, I. 9, II. 75.
AUSTIN, Benjamin, I. 497, II. 205,

III. 291.

AVERY, John, II. 448, III. 357, 381.

Opponent of Adams, 116.
AVERY, Rev. Joseph, II. 19 n.
AVERY, Mrs. Mary (ALLEN), I. 138,

II. 19 n., 20 n., III. 400.

BAKER, Samuel, III. 242.

BARBER, Nathaniel, II. 250.

BARRE, Isaac, defends the Colonies,

I. 55, 235, 247, II. 142 ; their best

friend, I. 415. His portrait placed

in Faneuil Hall, 68.
BARRE, Mass. Its name changed from

Hutchinson, I. 41.
BERNARD, Gov., afterwards Sir Fran-

448

GENERAL INDEX.

cis, I. 39-267 (passim), 270, 283,
402, 481, II. 352. Appointed Gov
ernor ; his character, I. 39 - 42.
His shuffling conduct, 174-176,
256. The House petitions for his
removal, 198, 258. He is recalled,
252. Leaves Boston, 266. His in
fluence used in England against the
Colonies, 285, 291, 294.

Billeting Act, I. 131-134,139-
143, 221, 222, 262, 263, 291.

Bills of credit, I. 7.

BOARD OP COMMISSIONERS OP THE
REVENUE, I. 173, 181. See also
COMMISSIONERS.

Bois, John, III. 332.

BONAPARTE. See NAPOLEON.

BOSTON, Instructions of, to its Repre
sentatives in 1764,1. 46-51; 1765,
65-68; 1768, 190; 1770, 338.
Misrepresented to the British Min
istry, 129, 130, 178, 246, 250. Brit
ish troops occupy, 218 ; their con
duct, 229-231, 307-318. Massa
cre in King s Street, 310 -318 ; its
anniversary celebrated, 381, 459,

II. 51-53, 137-140, 278-281.
The harbor closed by the Port Bill,
142, 143, 155-171, 396. " Suffer
ing in the common cause," 158-
160. False alarm of its bombard
ment, 223, 237. Rejects a munici
pal government, III. 211, 212. Fa
vors a strong Federal power, 253.
Patriotic ministers, II. 153. "Bos
ton town meetings have set the
universe in motion," III. 299. In
1768, described, I. 199-201; after
the Revolution, III. 188 - 199. Fash
ionable life before the Revolution,
11.209-213. Four noble families,

III. 305. Firewardens, II. 140,
141.

BOTTA, Carlo Giuseppe Guglielmo,
Mistake of, in regard to Adams
and Washington, II. 507.

BOWDOIN, James, I. 122, 338, II. 84,
135, 152, 169, 176, 250, III. 116,
141, 251, 356. His patriotism, I.
466, 467, 474. Governor, III. 218
-243, 245. In favor of the new
Massachusetts Constitution, 256.

BOWERS, Jerathmeel, I. 474, II. 70,
253.

BRADFORD, John, II. 250.

BRAINTREE, Instructions of, to its

Representatives, I. 65.
BREED, William, III. 400.
BROOKS, Gen. Eleazer, III. 356.
BROWN, John, secret agent, II. 275-

277, 298, 305.
BRUCE, William Downing, III. 423

BUNKER HILL, Battle of, II. 313, 317.
BURGOYNE, Gen. John, II. 495, III.

26. The convention of Saratoga,

4,5.
BURKE, Edmund, I. 106, 226, 235,

338, II. 142, 349, III. 41 n., 45.
BUTE, John STUART, 3d Earl of, I.

61, III. 57.
BYLES, Mildred, III. 399.

CJSSAR, Caius Julius, I. 324, 422.

CAMBRIDGE. See GENERAL ASSEM
BLY.

CAMDEN, Charles PRATT, Baron, after
wards Earl, I. 143, 293, II. 258.
Address to, I. 160.

CAMPBELL, Lieut. -Colonel, II. 463.

CANADA, II. 305, 389. Massachusetts
corresponds with, 274-277. Con
quest of, 340, 345, 402, 442, III.
11; its importance, 65, 66; Ar
nold s plan for, attributed to Ad
ams, 40-42. Would have been
one of the United Colonies, had
their independence been declared
earlier, II. 434, 436.

Cannon named after Adams and
Hancock, III. 244.

CARLETON, Sir Guy, II. 457, 458, III.
166.

CARR, Dabney, proposes intercolonial
committees of correspondence, II. 62.

CASTLE WILLIAM, Additional guard
at, I. 79. Delivered to the British
troops, 355-362, 375, 392. The
command of, given to the Lieuten-
ant-Governor, III. 285, 286.

CATHERINE II., Empress of Russia,
Resolve of Congress in consequence
of the Armed Neutrality of, III.
109.

Caucus, Origin of the word, I. 3.

CAUCUS CLUB, I. 85-87.

CHAMPION, ,111. 173.

CHARLES I., of England, I. 452.

Charter of Massachusetts, I. 165,
166.

GENEHAL INDEX.

449

CHASE, Samuel, II. 336. " The Sam
uel Adams of Maryland/ 326, 405.
CHATHAM, William PITT, 1st Earl of,

I. 125, 143, 225, 293, III. 366.
Quoted, I. 107-109, II. 257,258.
Address to, I. 161.

CHAUNCY, Charles, D. D., II. 153.

Controversy with Seabury, I. 249,

250.
CHECKLEY, Elizabeth. See ADAMS,

Mrs. E. (C.).
CHECKLEY, Rev. Samuel, the elder, I.

3, 24, II. 20.
CHECKLEY, Rev. Samuel, the younger,

II. 20.

CHECKLEY, William, marriage of, I.
54, II 20.

CIIITTENDEN, Gov. Thomas, III. 106,
144-147.

CHRONUS, pseudon,, replies of Adams
to, I. 439-441, 447-458.

CHURCH, Benjamin, I. 33, 211, II.
250, 278. His Letter to the Towns,
I. 511. Deserts the patriot party,
458, II. 51, 52. His oration, 51-53.
His treachery and death, 332 - 334.

CINCINNATI, Society of the, I. 201 -
207.

CLARK, Rev. Jonas, II. 290, 292.

CLERICCS AMERICANUS, pseudon., I.
212.

CLINTON, Sir Henry, III. 69, 102.

CLYMER, D., II. 511.

CLYMER, George, II. 61.

COFFIN, Peleg, III. 357.

COLLINS, John, II. 351.

COLONIES, The English jealous of the
growing industry of the, I. 7. Rep
resentation of, in Parliament, 88 -
94, 100-105, 164, 168, 457. Do
not desire separation from Great
Britain, 145-147, 153. Their co
operation invited by Massachusetts,
169, 170. Power of the King over,
I. 154, 155, 451. Power of Parlia
ment over, 56 - 60, 73, 87, 88 n., 92
-97, 157, 169, 227, 425-432, 450,
453-458, 505-507, II. 25-50, 86
-88, 146, 147. Nature of their de
pendence on Great Britain, 361
363. Not indebted to Great Brit
ain for protection, III. 410-412.
Cannot advantageously be ruled by
a country so distant as England,
415, 417. Variety of their produc-
VOL. in. 29

tions, 420. See also Indepen
dence, Intercourse.

COLONISTS, Justice of the cause of the,
I. 305, 306. Supposed to be In
dians or negroes, 461. Their char
acter, 461 -463. Report by Adams
on their natural rights, 502-507.
See also Petitions.

COLSON, Adam, III. 336 n.

COMMISSIONERS, on the affair of the
Gaspee, II. 13, 17. Of Great Brit
ain in 1778, III. 13-31 ; Adams s
Address to, 18-26; their threat
ening manifesto and the reply of
Congress, 44 -48.

COMMISSIONERS OF THE CUSTOMS, I.
156, 223, 273, 412, 448. See also
BOARD, etc.

COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE, I.
49, 170, 372-374, 406.. 488. Intro
duced into England, III. 109. The
Provincial Committee, II. 205 - 207.
Proposed by Adams, I. 496, 497;
and not by James Warren, 509 - 51 1
n. Its report, 499-512. Defended
by Adams, II. 131, 182-187. The
Intercolonial Committee proposed
by Dabney Carr, 62. The Massa
chusetts Committee in 1783 accused
of suppressing a letter, III. 179-
181.

COMMITTEE OF SAFETY, in 1774, IL
199.

COMMITTEES OF SAFETY, Directions
of Congress to, II. 364-366, 376.

Conciliatory Propositions,
The, UI. 258 - 269.

CONCORD, Eight at, II. 294.

Confederation of the New Eng
land Colonies alone, II. 285 - 287,
330, 331, 357, 358. See also Ar
ticles of Confederation.

CONGRESS, The General, proposed by
Adams, II. 81 - 94 ; by others, 170.
How the measure was carried in the
Massachusetts Assembly, 174-178.
The first prayer in, 221 -255. Re
duced to twenty-one members, 491,
502. A strong Tory party in, III.
15, 127. Adams opposes substitut
ing Secretaries of State, War, etc.,
for committees of, 127-131. Fi
nancial difficulties of, 177. See also
PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.

CONNECTICUT, III. 69-71, 107.

450

GENERAL INDEX.

Considerations on the Expediency of ad
mitting Representatives from the Colo
nies, etc., I. 89.

Constitution, A bad, may be
changed for a better, II. 133. Of
Massachusetts changed by Parlia
ment, 143 ; a new constitution pro
posed, 444, III, 1, 67, etc. ; the Con
stitutional Convention, 80-97, 103 ;
their Address to their constituents,
90 - 96. Of the United States,
Convention to ratify the, 250-269.
Various constitutions proposed in
1787, 314-318.

Constitutional Courant, The, I. 82.

CON WAY, Henry Seymour, I. 68, 108,
109, 123, 143. Address to, 159.

CONWAY, Maj.-Gen. Thomas, II. 501,
502.

COOKE, Elisha, I. 3.

COOPER, Samuel, D. D., I. 85, 213,
244, 319, 474, 489, II. 139, 153,
161, 250, 278, III. 140.

COOPER, William, town clerk, II. 141,
161, 250, 263, III. 376.

COPLEY, John Singleton, III. 359.
His portrait of Adams described, I.
475 -477 ; engraved by Revere, II.
153 ; by Johnston, and by Okey
after a copy by Mitchell, III. 334 n.
A mediator between the people and
the Loyalists, II. 113, 114. Signs
an adulatory address to Hutchinson,
168.

CORNER, Capt. John, I. 185, 186, 215.

Costume in Massachusetts in 1774,

II. 207-213.

COUDRAY, P. C. J. B. T. DU. See

Du COUDRAY.
Country, meaning Colony or State,

III. 49 n.

County conventions, Adams s
opinion of, III. 209, 210, 224.

COURT OF ADMIRALTY, Jurisdiction
of, extended, I. 371.

Courts closed on account of the
Stamp Act, I. 78, 82, 84, 111, 113,
114.

CRAGIE, Dr., III. 117.

CUSHING, Thomas, I. 12, 105, 237,
336, 465, II. 183, 199, 207, 250,
289, 319, 368, III. 176, 250. Chos
en Representative and Speaker, I.
119, 120, 141, 181, 183, 255, 338,
344, 390, 471, 472, II. 70, 156.

Delegate to Congress, 176, 261.
His journey, 296-300. Not pre
pared for independence, I. 489 -
491, n. 86, 96, 340; the conse
quence, 355. Refuses to serve on
the Committee of Correspondence,
I. 497. His interview with Hutch
inson, II. 48. Lieutenant-Govcrnor,
HI. 218, 243, 283. His political
opinions, II. 100. His character,
I. 86, 391, 490, II. 151. His death,
III. 321.

GUSHING, Judge William, III. 337,
338.

DALRYMPLE, Col William, I. 218,
220,319-327, 355, 356, III. 154 n.

DALTON, Tristam, III. 174, 230.

DANA, Francis, III. 1, 250.

DARTMOUTH, William LEGGE, 2d
Earl of, I. 112, II. 14, 79, 86, 125,
348. His character, I. 483, 484, II.
49.

DAVIS, Aaron, II. 238 n.

DAWES, Thomas, Jr., in. 291, 361,
401, 402.

DEANE, Silas, II. 215, 460. His inju
dicious contracts, 471. Recalled,
III. 6. His brother, 11. Congress
investigates his conduct, 59 -63.

DEBERDT, Dennys, I. 80, 112, 129,
130, 363.

Declaration of Independ
ence. See Independence.

Declaration of Rights, by Congress in
1774, II. 233.

Declaratory Act, I. 116-118,
144.

DELANEY, , Mistake of Hutchin
son about, II. 36 n.

DELAWARE, II. 394.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY, HI. 253, 318

DENNING, William, II. 250.

Deserters, British, II. 202 n.
One saved from the lash by Adams,
I. 223.

DESTAING, Count. See ESTAING.

DlCKENSON, , III. 173.

DICKINSON, John, I. 179, 269, II. 57,
236, 269, 405, 416, 417. Con
trasted with Adams, I. 447, II. 58.
Mistake of Hutchinson about, 36 n.
Favors conciliation, 324. Opposes
the Declaration of Independence,
432, 433.

GENERAL INDEX.

451

Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal
Laiv, A, I. 174 n.

DONATION COMMITTEE, The, ap
pointed, II. 181. Their replies to
donors, 204, 205, 264-268. Slan
ders against, 255.

DONNISON, Gen. William, HI. 334 n.,
?99, 400.

DUCIIE, Jacob, D. D., his prayer in
Congress, II. 222 - 225.

Du COUDRAY, Philippe Charles Jean
Baptiste TRONSON, II. 471, 472.

DUDINGSTON, Lieut., II. 13.

DUNMORE, Gen. John MURRAY, 4th
Earl of, II. 327, 352.

DUPONCEAU, Peter S., anecdote con
cerning Adams, III. 33 n.

EAST INDIA COMPANY, II. 80, 81, 103,

104, 158, 179.

EDES AND GILL, I. 240, 241, II. 250.
Education of the people, Adams

on the importance of the, II. 328,

III. 301, 304, 311, 327, 367.
Election. Where annual election

ends, tyranny begins, III. 368.
ELECTORAL COLLEGE, Vacancies in,

III. 360, 361.
ELIOT, Andrew, II. 100.
ELY, Samuel, III. 160, 223.
Englishman s Right, The, I. 12.
Episcopate, Establishment of an,

alarming, I. 157.
ESTAING, Charles Hector, Count D ,

III. 13, 27. The expedition to

Newport, 37-40.

Family pride, III. 204,306,307,
313.

FARMINGTON, Conn., II. 204.

FEDERALISTS, III. 280, 281, 293.

FELLOWS, Gen. John, III. 101, 102.

FENTON, Col, II. 193.

FERITER, Nicholas, I. 308.

FIFIELD, Mrs. Mary, II. 20 n.

FIFIELD, Mary, the daughter. See AD
AMS, Mrs. M. (F.).

Fisheries, The Newfoundland, The
Colonies deprived of, II. 259. Their
importance to New England, III.
65, 66, 144, 149-152.

FLUCKER, Thomas, II. 177.

FOSTER, Col, II. 286-.

FOTHERGILL, Samuel, III. 187.

FRANCE, II. 393, 495, 496, III. 17,

23, 24, 39, 323, 326. The treaty
with, 8-11. " The natural ally of
the United States," 28. Desires
peace between Great Britain and
the United States, 64, 149; but
fears that the United States Avould
make a separate peace, 167, 168.
The Republic, 319, 329, 342; com
bination against, 340, 341.

FRANCIS, Col., II. 486.

FRANKLIN, Benjamin, I. 89, 109, 380,
410, II. 101 n., 148 n., 270, 306,
325, 336, 417, 443, 460, 461, III. 29.
Adams and Lee distrust, I. 364,
365, 415, 416. Sends Hutchinson s
letters to America, II. 74-78. De
sires the union of the Colonies, 84,
85 ; but not their independence,
397. Advises moderate measures.
"A good philosopher, but a bung
ling politician," 143 and n. Min
ister Plenipotentiary to France, III.
40, 44, 62, 63, 167/168. A Federal
constitution proposed by him, 270.

FROTHINGHAM, Richard, Error of, in
regard to Samuel and John Adams,

II. 179.

FULLER, Rose, I. 244, 245.

GADSDEN, Christopher, I. 132, II.
232. Like Samuel Adams, 216.

GAGE, Gen. Thomas, I. 220, 257, II.
166, 230, 253, 389. Ordered to
maintain the public tranquillity in
Massachusetts, I. 180. Governor
of Massachusetts, II. 144, 164. His
character, 165, 201. His proclama
tion, 309.

GALLOWAY, Joseph, II. 432, III. 49,
127. Opposes the party of inde
pendence, II. 228. His plan for a
union of the Colonies, 229. His
treachery, 312.

GARDINER, Sylvanus, III. 332.

GARDNER, Henry, III. 49, 74.

GASPEE, schooner, II. 13-17, 65, 275.

GATES, Gen. Horatio, II. 435, 450,

III. 70, 73. Adams s opinion of,
II. 442. Supersedes Schuyler, 483
- 489 ; and wishes to supersede
Washington, 500 - 502, 508.

GENERAL COURT, The, its Resolves
in October, 1765, I. 74-77; it will
not rescind them, 192-198. Con
vened and kept at Cambridge, 256

452

GENERAL INDEX.

-479; convened at Salem, II. 170,
172 ; protests, 173. Alone has the
right to levy taxes, I. 413. Want of
intelligence in, II. 30. The Secre
tary, coming to prorogue, is shut
out, 137, 177. Its feebleness in
Shays s rebellion, III. 227 - 238.
See also Agents.

GENET, Edmond Charles, III. 320,
321.

GEORGE III., III. 166. Address to,

I. 165. Adams s opinion of, II.
353, 379.

GEORGIA, II. 246, 270, 271, 395, III.
138, 139, 420.

GERARD, Conrad Alexandre, III. 12,
13, 27, 59, 167. His reception by
Congress, 31-33.

GERRY, Elbridge, I. 492, II. 286, 291,
333, 385, III. 1, 59, 100, 250, 376.
Delegate to Congress, II. 356, 499.
Assists Adams in Congressional
caucuses, 425. Ignorant of the plot
against Washington, 501. His
friendship for Adams, III. 123.

GILL, Moses, III. 357.

GODFREY, Gen., III. 73.

GORDON, William, D. D., I. 509 n.,

II. 337, 381. His mistake in re
gard to Adams and Washington,
507.

Government, Adams s views on,

III. 90-96. J. and S. Adams s
letters on, 297-314. Views of the
Pseudo- Adams on, 407 - 412. See
also Constitution, Proper
ty, Subordination.

Governor s salary, The, paid by
the Crown, I. 387, 388, 408, 479 -
481, 485-487.

GRANT, John, I. 37.

GRAY, Harrison, I. 86, 105, II. 168,
III. 49.

GRAY, John, I. 308-310.

GREAT BRITAIN, III. 1 1 . The people
slaves, I. 226. Its political corrup
tion, II. 372. Aggressions of, III.
323. Jay s treaty with, 350-356.
See also COLONIES.

Green Dragon Inn, III. 260,
261.

GREENLEAF, Joseph, II. 240, 250.

GREENLEAF, Stephen, I. 26, 27.

GRENVILLE, George, I. 106, 108, 143,
226, 228, 235, 338. His scheme of

taxation, 55, 58. Hung in effigy,

77.

GRIDLEY, Jeremiah, I. 43, 84.
GRIFFIN, Col, III. 151.

Habeas corpus, III. 227-229,
245.

Half- pay for life, Adams opposed
to granting to Revolutionary offi
cers, III. 105. Commuted to five
years full pay, 178, 207, 209.

HALLOWELL, Robert, Adams occupies
the house of, III. 52.

HAMILTON, Alexander, not satisfied
with the Constitution, III. 200, 270,
271. His plan of government, 315-
317.

HANCOCK, John, I. 115, 120,301,313,
II. Ill, 116, 117, 151, 199, 250, 263,
269, 278, 284, 318, 333, 499, III. 33
n., 37, 39, 330, 375. Brought into
public life by Adams, I. 33, 119, II.
381, 382. Representative, I. 119,
141, 181, 255, 390, II. 69, 156, 319.
His sloop Liberty seized, 1. 186 - 189,
224. Deserts the patriot party, 397 -
399,403,437,458,465-467; returns
to it, 469 - 475. Engages Copley to
paint his and Adams s portraits, 475
-477. Refuses to serve on the Com
mittee of Correspondence, 497. His
oration, March 5, 1774, written by
Adams, II. 137 - 140. His costume,
210, 211. Delegate to Congress,
261, 355, III. 1. Goes from Lex
ington to Philadelphia, II. 289 - 301.
President of Congress, 307 ; refuses
to resign, 383. "A desperado,"
311. "Adams s tool," 426. His
rupture with Adams, 381 - 387.
Author of the report that Adams
plotted against Washington, 503-
512, III. 67. To be made a peer,
29. Governor, 110, 113, 176, 243,
247, 288; his ostentation, 114, 157.
Reconciliation with Adams attempt
ed, 55 - 58 ; effected, 243, 244, 282,
283. His speech in favor of ratify
ing the Constitution written by Par
sons, 258-260. The Conciliatory
Propositions, 258-269. Refuses to
appoint Lincoln commander of the
Castle, 285, 286. His portrait de-
troyed at the theatre, 291. His
death, 321, 324.

GENERAL INDEX.

453

HARNETT, Cornelius, the Samuel Ad
ams of North Carolina, II. 421.

HARRISON, , III. 49.

HARVARD COLLEGE, I. 35 n., 334,
III. 141. Has set the universe in
motion, 299.

HAWLEY, Joseph, I. 480, 481, II. 31,
91. His character, I. 126, 127, 152,
391. Not the author of the reply
to the Governor, January, 1773, II.
31 n. Persuades the insurgents at
Hatfield to disperse, III. 163.

HEATH, Messrs., of Maryland, II. 317.

HEATH, Gen. William, III. 376.

HEXRY, Patrick, I. 60, II. 62, 219, 406.
Not the first to oppose Parliamen
tary taxation, I. 45 and n.

HEWES, Shubael, constable, III. 289,
331.

HIGGINSON, Stephen, " Laco," II. 385,
386, III. 180, 225, 259, 283.

HILL, John, I. 309.

HILLEGAS, Michael, III. 77 n.

HILLSBOROUGH, Wills HILL, 1st Earl
of, I. 180, 207, 226, 235, 291, 294,
483.

HOLLAND, III. 44, 63, 104, 303, 329 n.

HOLLIS, Thomas, I. 35 n., 173.

HOLTON, Samuel, III. 356.

HOMANS, Capt., III. 399.

HONEYWOOD, Elizabeth, II. 19 n.

HOPKINS, Stephen, I. 77, II. 390.

HOUSTON, John, II. 337.

HOWE, Gen. Richard, III. 102.

HOWE, Richard, 4th Viscount, after
wards 1st Earl, II. 436, III. 18, 39.
Negotiations for peace, H. 443-446,
448.

HOWE, Gen. Sir William, 5th Viscount,
II. 317, 436, 448, 457, 470, 490,
495, III. 18.

HUME, David, III. 302.

HUTCHINSON, Thomas, I. 91, 291,
300, II. 382. Opposes the Land
Bank, I. 9. His enmity to Adams,
28. A town named after him
changes its name, 41 n. Rejected
by the House as agent, 45. Flees
to the Castle ; his house sacked, 61,
62, 123. Attempts to force himself
into the Council, 123, 134 - 137.
Misrepresents the Colonies, 151. A
pensioner of Great Britain, 183.
His sons import and sell tea, 265,
280, 298, 299, II. 105, 106. As

sumes the government of the Prov
ince; his character, I. 268, 269,
376. After the Boston Massacre,
317-325, III. 154 n. Delivers the
Castle to British troops, 355-362,
Governor, 1. 380 II. 1 44. Defends
the authority of Parliament over
the Colonies, 25-50. His secret
correspondence exposed, 73 78.
The House petitions for his re
moval, 77. Superseded by Gage,
144. Sails for England, 168, 169.

Impartial History of the War in Ameri
ca, An, III. 41 n.

Impeachment of the Ministry,
I. 418.

Impressment of seamen, in 1 747,
I. 14; in 1768, 185; in 1803, in.
352.

Independence of the Colonies
first advocated by Adams, I. 144.
His arguments in favor of declar
ing the, II. 360-363, 370-375,
393 - 401 . Declared, 432 - 435.

Instructions to the Colonial
Governors from the Ministry, I.
295, 296, 353, 401, 403, 412, 413,
424, 469.

Insurrection in Western Mas
sachusetts in 1782, III. 159-163;
in 1786, 222-247.

Intercourse between the Colonies
difficult, H. 68.

IRVING, , III. 368.

JACKSON, Col, III. 73.

JACKSON, Richard, Colonial agent, I.

80, 112, 129, 130, 168.
JARVIS, Charles, M. D., IH. 291, 331,

374, 375.

JARVIS, Col. Leonard, III. 217, 218.
JAY, John, II. 223, III. 271. His

treaty, 350-356.
JEFFERSON, Thomas, II. 397, 402,

III. 271, 361, 369. His respect for

Adams, II. 425, III. 370.
JEFFRIES, David, II. 205.
JOHNSTON, Major John, paints Mr.

and Mrs. Adams, III. 334 n.
JOHNSTONE, Gov. George, III. 57.
JONES, Sir William, fi. 1675. His

opinion on Colonial taxation, 1. 165.
JONES, Sir William, 6. 1746, I. 363,

IH. 166, 167.

454

GENERAL INDEX.

Judges, Payment of the salaries of,
by the Crown, I. 155, 156, 165,
420, 483, 485-487, 493, 494, II. 1,
78, 79, 145, 146. Impeached, 134-
137.

JUNIUS AMERICANUS, pseudon., U. 47.

KEITH, Israel, III. 218.

KlNGSMAN, - , I. 9.

KNOX, Gen. Henry, I. 314, II. 457.
KNOX, William, III. 61, 62.

LACO, pseudon. See HIGGINSON, Ste
phen.

LA FAYETTE, M. J. P. R. Y. G. MO-
TIER, Marquis DE, II. 497, III. 38,
40, 41, 43, 103, 141.

Land Bank Scheme, or Manu
factory Scheme, I. 8-10, 26-29,
III. 388 n.

LANDAIS, Peter, III. 13 and n., 217.

LAURENS, Henry, III. 18, 104, 126, 155.

Laws must be sanctioned by public
approbation, I. 456.

LEE, Arthur, I. 363 - 365, II. 47, 460,
461, 463, III. 43. Accuses Deane,
60-63. His friendship with Ad
ams, 119-122.

LEE, Gen. Charles, II. 308, 315, 367,
377, 388, 390, 463. His manners,
316.

LEE, Richard Henry, II. 62, 64, 65,
368, 417, 424, 451, III. 31, 119, 284.
His resolutions, II. 405-415, 432-
438. His proclamation of thanks
giving, 1777, 493. His controversy
with Deane, III. 60-63. Presi
dent of Congress, 213, 214.

LEIGHTON, Mrs. Abigail, III. 399, 401.

LEONARD, Daniel, " Massachusetten-
sis," I. 443 n., II. 4, 5, 174, 175.

LEONARD, George, I. 9.

L ETOMBE, DE, III. 141.

LEXINGTON, Battle of, II. 293, 294.

Liberty, Adams s views of, I. 18 -
23, 502-507, III. 300, 301, 311,
325. J. Adams on, 305.

LILLIE, Theophilus, I. 302.

LINCOLN, Gen. Benjamin, III. 235,
236, 238, 283. Not appointed com
mander of the Castle, 285, 286.

LINDSAY, Lord, III. 57.

LIVINGSTON, , II. 317.

LIVINGSTON, , his founderies, II.

450.

LOUISBTJRG, I. 13, 14, 30.

LOVELL, James, I. 381. Imprisoned

as a spy, II. 341 - 344. Delegate

to Congress, 499, III. 1.
LOVELL, John, I. 5, II. 341, 344.
LOVELL, Gen. Solomon, III. 72 - 74.
Loyalists, Motives of, II. 262.
Loyalty, Essay by Adams on, I.

16, 17.

LUCAS, Charles, M. D., I. 381 -383.
LYDE, Nathaniel Byfield, III. 299.
LYNDHURST, John Singleton COPLEY,

1st Baron, III. 359.

MADISON, James, III. 271, 339.

MALCOM, Daniel, I. 129, 186, 224.

Manufactory Scheme. See
Lan d B an k .

Manufactures encouraged, 1. 176.

MARBLEHEAD, III. 142. Riot at, II.
154, 155. Donation to Boston, 205.

MARINE COMMITTEE, III. 13, 41, 58,
59.

MARYLAND, II. 394, 405, 468, III. 420.

MASSACHUSETTENSIS, pseudon. See
LEONARD, Daniel.

MASSACHUSETTS, Services of, in the
Revolution, III. 71, 107. Its in
fluence over the other States, 251,
258, 262, 263. See also C h a r t e r ,
Constitution, GENERAL COURT,
Insurrection, Militia.

MAUDUIT, Israel, I. 44, 45.

MAY, Joseph, III. 258-261.

MAYHEW, Jonathan, D. D., II. 62 n.,
153. His controversy with East
Apthorp, I. 34 - 36 n.

MEDICAL SOCIETY, Boston, III. 142.

MEIGS, Major Return Jonathan, II.
442.

MEIN, John, I. 287, III. 197.

MERCER, M., II. 314, III. 151.

MIDDLETON, Henry, II. 269.

MIFFLIN, Gen. Thomas, II. 315, 316,
324, 455, 508. At Staten Island,
436. At Philadelphia, 456.

Military spirit encouraged by
Adams, I. 402.

Militia, Massachusetts, I. 375, 376.
How to be officered, II. 329 - 332.
Their alacrity, 447.

MITCHELL, J., Copy of Copley s por
trait of Adams by, III. 334 n.

MOHAWKS, Address to the, II. 282 -
284.

GENERAL INDEX.

455

MOLINEUX, William, I. 313, 366, 474,

II. 104, 105, 111, 181. His charac
ter, 138, 152, 240.

MONK, Christopher, IT. 140.
MONTAGU, Admiral John, II. 13, 124,

III. 195.

MONTGOMERY, Gen. Richard, II. 339,
340, 347-.

MORGAN, John, M. D., II. 403, 404.

MORRIS, Gouverncur, III. 200, 270.
His plan of government, 317.

MORRIS, Robert, III. 60, 130.

MORTON, Perez, II. 322, III. 211, 291.

MOUNT DESERT, given to Gov. Ber
nard, 1.41.

NAPOLEON I., III. 368.

N a v y , An American, II. 335, 336,

III. 144.
Negroes in the American army,

II. 344.

Neutrality in European wars,
Adams in favor of, III. 341, 342.

NEWBURTPORT, II. 448. Public spirit
of the merchants of, 163, 197.

NEWELL, Mrs. Mary, III. 399.

NEW HAMPSHIRE, III. 107. Does
not desire independence, II. 356,
357.

NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS. See VER
MONT.

NEW JERSEY, II. 395, 436. Disposed
to give up the cause, 453-458.

NEW SOUTH CHURCH, I. 3, III. 335 n.

Newspapers of the Eevolution,
I. 240 - 242.

NEW YORK (City], Congress at, 1765,
I. 64, 65, 80.

NEW YORK (State), II. 264, 389, 395,

III. 268, 339. Suspension of the
Legislature, I. 157. Claims Ver
mont, III. 144-147.

N o b i 1 i t y , A, defended by J. Adams,
III. 304-308. S. Adams on, 312
-314, 326.

Non-importation and n o n -
consumption, I. 150, 181,
249, 278-281, 296-304, 353, 354,
365-367, 378, 417, II. 162, 172.
First suggested by Adams, I. 81,
82, 149. See also WARREN, Joseph
(Solemn League, etc.).

NORTH, Frederick, 1st Earl of Guil-
ford, I. 151, 226-228, 247, 294,
332, 333. America must fear

you before she can love you," 226.
Would see America prostrate at
his feet, 227. " The absurd opinion
that all men are equal," 293. His
conciliatory bill, II. 259, 349, 498,
III. 10 ; its reception in America,
14-30. Hears of Cornwallis s sur
render, 148.

NORTH CAROLINA, II. 394, III. 420.

NORTHAMPTON, III. 159, 160, 236.

NOVA SCOTIA, III. 28, 42, 49, 65, 150.
Instructions to an agent among the
Indians, II. 467.

OKEY, Samuel, engraver, HI. 334 n.

OLDMIXON, John, I. 89.

OLIVER, Andrew, I. 120. Hung in ef
figy, 61. Compelled to resign, 82.
Lieutenant-Governor, 380. His let
ters, II. 73 - 77. Impeached, 134 -
137.

Ordnance supplies, II. 450.

ORNE, Gen. Azor, II. 291, III. 356.

OSGOOD, David, D. D., preaches
against Adams, III. 343, 344.

OTIS, Harrison Gray, III. 291.

OTIS, James, I. 105, 115, 119, 120,
181, 204, 212, 213, 240, 244, 255,
265, 270, 497, II. 85. "A flame of
fire," 44. Draws up a memorial
for the London agent, 45 n., 49.
Publishes The Rights of the Colonies,
50. Proposes the New York Con
gress, 64, 65. Not the author of
the answer of the House to the
Governor, October, 1765, 71 n. ;
nor of The True Sentiments of Amer
ica, 172-174 n., III. 296 n. ; nor
of the Appeal to the World, I.
285 n. ; nor of The Rights of the
Colonists, 501 n. Characterized by
J. Adams, 86, 87. His political
views, 88-97, 152. His attack
on Bernard, 175. Writes an ad
dress to Bernard, 190. His dis
pute with Adams, 196. Absent
from the Boston convention in
1768, 216, 217. Attacks the Com
missioners of the Customs, 273 -
275. Assaulted by Robinson and
others, 275 - 277. .Adams s care of
him, 391. Opposes Adams, 395,
896, 403. His insanity, 390, 439,
458. His final appearance in pub-
lie, 500.

456

GENERAL INDEX.

PAINE, Robert Treat, I. 330, II. 152,
207, 269, III. 211. Delegate to
Congress, II. 176, 261, 296-300,
355, III. 1. Councillor, II. 319.
Not prepared for independence, 340.

PAINE, Thomas. His Common Sense
and Crisis, II. 340, 341, 394, III.
372. Advised not to write on the
ological subjects, 372.

PALMER, Col., II. 317, 322.

PARLIAMENT, Corruption in, I. 463.
See also COLONIES.

PARSONS, Gen. Samuel Holden, pro
poses a general Congress, II. 82.

PARSONS, Theophilus, III. 250, 270.
Writes an oration for Hancock, 258,
259.

PAXTON, Charles, I. 129, 144, 151.

PATSON, Jonathan, I. 37, 38.

Peacock Tavern, III. 333.

Peerage, Plan of an American, I.
90, III. 29.

PEMBERTON, Samuel, I. 275, 328, II.
22.

PENNSYLVANIA, III. 263, 268, 318,
346. New Constitution of, II.
438, III. 87 n. Lukewarm, II.
453-458.

PENOBSCOT, Expedition to, HI. 72
74.

Pensioners, II. 350.

PERCY, Hugh, afterwards Duke of
Northumberland, II. 292-295.

Petitions of the Colonists disre
garded, I. 440, 441, II. 373.

PHILADELPHIA, II. 129, 306 n. Plan
for its military government, 469.

PHILANTHROP, pseudon. See SEW-
ALL, Jonathan.

PHILLIPS, Samuel, III. 227.

PHILLIPS, Samuel B., Jr., III. 218.

PHILLIPS, William, I. 471, II. 69, 70,
115, 156, 169, 181, 199.

PHIPS, Gov. Sir William, I. 392.

PICKERING, John, Jr., I. 468, II. 77
n.

PICKERING, Col Timothy, II. 295.

PIERCE, Joseph, I. 202.

PIERPONT, Eobert, II. 127.

PINCKNEY, Charles, his plan of gov
ernment, III. 316, 317.

PITT, William. See CHATHAM.

PLUMMER, Mrs. Mary (WELLS), wife
of Joseph, III. 400.

PLYMOUTH, Mass., II. 163.

POLLARD, Col, I. 27.

POND, Eliphalet, I. 9.

PORT, Jane, II. 217.

PORTSMOUTH, N. H., Toryism of, II.
188, 356, 357.

POWNALL, Gov. Thomas, I. 31, 39,
236, 333, 365.

President, The, of the United
States. His power of removing
officers, III. 286-288.

PRESTON, Capt. Thomas, I. 314-318,
328-330, 346.

Prices in 1779, III. 51, 75.

PROCTOR, Capt. Edward, II. 113.

Property, The security of, the end
of government, I. 154.

PROVIDENCE, R. L, II. 197.

Province-House, The, I. 481,
482.

PROVINCIAL CONGRESS, II. 248, 249,
252, 254, 272-278, 312, 318. Its
boldness, 260, 261. Dissolved, 319.

Public Advertiser, The, I. 15.

Public good, The, above all other
considerations, II. 133.

Purchase Street estate de
scribed, I. 2, II. 21. The house in
jured by the British, 380. Sold,
III. 332 n.

PUTNAM, Gen. Israel, II. 452, 455, 456.

PYNCHON, Dr., II. 286.

QUAKERS, The opposition to indepen
dence of the, II. 360, 369.

Quartering troops. See Billet
ing Act.

QUERNO, Camillo, pseudon., III. 41 n.

QUEUE, the dog, II. 21.

Quieu whew, an expression used
by Otis, I. 172 n.

QUINCY, Josiah, Jr., b. 1744, d. 1775,
I. 33, 244, 304, II. 60, 139, 181, 199,
214, 250. His death, II. 296, 303.
Advocates armed resistance to Great
Britain, I. 148. Defends the sol
diers tried for the Massacre, 329.
Writes the Boston Instructions, in
1770, 338-340. Counsels modera
tion, II. 120, His death, 296, 303.
His friendship for Adams, 304.

KANDALL, John, III. 332.
RANDOLPH, Edmund, his plan of

government, III. 317.
RANDOLPH, John, III. 377.

GENERAL INDEX.

457

EANDOLPH, Peyton, H. 218, 269, 301,
307, 383.

EAWSON, Edward, II. 286.

E e b e 1 1 io n of 1861, etc., HI. 203.
Compared with Shays s rebellion,
230. See also State sover
eignty.

EEED, George, II. 264.

EEED, Joseph, I. 269, 288, H. 224,
316. The King not rich enough to
purchase, III. 17.

Eefugees in Canada, Adams op
poses the return of, III. 48-50, 98,
99, 181-184, 224.

Eepresentation and legislation
inseparable, I. 457, II. 147. See
also COLONIES, Taxation.

E e p u b 1 i c , J. Adams s definition of
a, III. 303 ; to which S. Adams ob
jects, 308.

EEPUBLICANS, afterwards DEMOCRATS,
III. 318, 319.

E e t a 1 i a t i o n for British outrages,
n. 366, 367.

EEVERE, Paul, I. 471, II. 68, 228, III.
349. Engraves Copley s portrait of
Adams, II. 153. Rides express to
Lexington, 291, 292.

Review of Dr. Mayhew s Remarks, A,
I. 34-36 n.

EHODE ISLAND, III. 98.

EICHARDSON, Ebenezer, I. 302-304.

EICHARDSON, Jeffrey, I. 309.

Rights of the British Colonies, The, I. 50.

Rights of the Colonists, I. 502-507.

E i o t s in Great Britain, I. 228 n.

EIVINGTON, James, II. 510, 511.

BOBBINS, Lieut.-Gov. Edward H., III.
376.

EOBINSON, John, I. 276, 277.

EOCKINGHAM, Charles WATSON-
WENT WORTH, 2d Marquess of, I.
106, 112, 125, II. 258. Address to,
I. 159, 160.

EOLFE, Rev. Benjamin, I. 25 n.

EOTCH, Francis, II. 110, 112, 118-122.

EOWE, John, I. 186, II. 115, 120, 138,
181, III. 179, 180.

EUDDOCK, John, I. 37.

EDSSIA, II. 458, III. 129. Eefuses to
aid Great Britain, II. 393.

ST. CLAIR, Gen. Arthur,.II. 483-486.
SALEM, II. 265, III. 75. See also
GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

SALTONSTALL, Capt. Dudley, III. 72 -
74.

SARATOGA, Convention of, III. 4, 5

SATTER, Thomas, I. 37, 38.

SAVANNAH, Ga., Eiot at, II. 270, 271.

SATRE, Stephen, I. 363, 364 n.,
375 n.

SCHUTLER, Gen. Philip, commands the
Northern Army, 1776, II. 435, 442,
450, 457. Superseded by Gates,
483-489.

SEABURT, Rev., afterwards Bp. Sam
uel. His controversy with Dr.
Chauncy, I. 249, 250.

SEARL, James ?, III. 103.

SEDLEY, William, III. 349.

Sentiments of a British American, The,

I. 50.

SESSIONS, Darius, II. 286.

SEWALL, Jonathan, " Philanthrop," I.

330-332, 368, 379, 442 n., III. 224.
Shays s rebellion, III. 222 -

247.

SHEAFE, Edward, I. 105 n., 113.
SHED, Samuel, I. 86.
SHELBURNE, William PETTY, 2d Earl

of, afterwards 1st Marquess of LANS-

DOWNE, I. 138, 139, 143, 174, 175,

II. 258. Address to, I. 158.
SHETARD, Gen. William, III. 235, 236,

356.
SHIRLEY, Gov. William, I. 13, 30 - 32,

HI. 388.

SIBLEY, John Langdon, I. 35 n.
Silver Scheme, I. 8.
SINCLAIR, Gen. Arthur. See ST.

CLAIR.
Slave trade, Prohibition of the,

III. 268.

Slavery in Massachusetts, I. 138,
HI. 185-188.

SMITH, Adam, on Colonial represen
tation, I. 89.

SNYDER, Christopher, I. 303.

SOCIETY OF THE BILL OF EIGHTS,
II. 63, 64.

SOCIETY FOR PROPAGATING THE GOS
PEL, etc., I. 35 n.

SONS OF LIBERTY, I. 61, 189, 203,
269-271, II. 204. Their origin,
I. 63, 64.

SOUTH CAROLINA, H. 129, 325-327,
394, 453, III. 138, 139, 420.

Southern jealousy of New Eng
land, II. 227 n., 311, 323, 324.

458

GENERAL INDEX.

SPARHAWK, Samuel Hirst, I. 400, II.
166.

Stamp Act passed, I. 56. Its in
justice, 55-60, 68, 72, 99, 100,
103. Riot in Boston, 61 - 63 ; com
pensation to sufferers by the riot,
122, 126; celebration of the anni
versary of the riot, 126, 203, 269 -
271. Goes into operation, 77, 82.
Debates in Parliament on, 107 -
109. Repealed, 109, 125. The re
peal celebrated, 114 - 116, 150, 177,
247. Parliament regrets the re
peal, I. 142, 143.

Standing army dangerous, I.
156, 221, 232, 234, 261, 392.

STANHOPE, Capt., III. 219.

State House, Laying of the cor
ner-stone of the, III. 348.

State sovereignty and the rela
tive allegiance due to Federal and
State authority, III. 76, 77, 250-276.

STATES, Amenability of the, to Fed
eral courts, III. 330.

STEPHEN, Gen. Adam, II. 484, 485.

STEUBEN, Frederic William Augustus
Henry Ferdinand, Baron VON, III.
2-4, 33 n., 125.

STOCKBRIDGE INDIANS, II. 284.

STOCKTON, Richard, II. 436.

STONE, Francis, Petition of, to the
General Court, III. 239, 240.

STRONG, Gov. Caleb, III. 250. Testi
fies his respect for Adams, 369.

STUARTS, Kings of Great Britain, I.
245.

S u b o r d i n a t i o n not the object of
government, I. 332.

SUFFOLK COUNTY CONGRESS pro
posed by Adams, II. 206, 207.
Warren s resolves, 227-231.

Sugar Act, I. 45.

SULLIVAN, Judge James, II. 286, III.
89, 140, 163, 211, 331, 357. De
fends Adams, 344. Has charge of
his funeral, 375, 376. Writes a
sketch of him, 377, 387 n.

SULLIVAN, Gen. John, II. 470, III.
37-39, 129, 130.

SUMNER, Judge, afterwards Gov. In
crease, III. 356, 364.

SURRY, a slave liberated by Adams,
I. 138, II. 20, III. 337.

SYLVESTER, Richard, Affidavit of,
against Adams, I. 209-211.

TAUNTON, Mass., H. 4, 175, 207, HI.
230.

Taxation, Amount produced by
Colonial, I. 162. Taxation and re
presentation inseparable, 160, 225
226, 238, 259. See also COLONIES
(Power of Parliament over), GEN
ERAL COURT.

Tax-collectors, Laws relating
to Colonial and Provincial, I. 38-
40 n.

Tea-party, The Boston, II. 122-
125.

TEMPLE, Sir John, married, I. 474 n.
Shows Hutchinson s letters, II. 74,
78.

TenderAct, III. 229, 233.

TERNANT, , III. 4.

THACIIER, Oxenbridge, argues against
the writs of assistance, I. 43. Pub
lishes The Sentiments of a British
American, 50. His death, 70. His
sons, III. 382.

THACHER, Peter. Funeral sermon on
Adams by, III. 375, 376, 382-398.

Theatre, The, discountenanced by
Adams, III. 291.

THOMAS, Isaiah, I. 16, 244, II. 250.

THOMSON, Charles, II. 218, 301
" The Sam Adams of Philadelphia,"
421.

TICONDEROGA, in danger, II. 457
Surrender of, 483 - 486.

TORIES, II. 398, III. 39, 40, 48, 57,
79, 108, 208, 314. To be disarm
ed, II. 364, 365, 367, 377, 468. See
also Refugees.

Town meetings, Legality of, II.
53-57.

TOWNSHEND, Charles, I. 55, 125,
143, 225.

Trade with the Colonies, Advan
tage of, to Great Britain, I. 83, III.
421 . Illicit trade of the Americans
and British, 169-172.

Tradesman s Protest, II. 104, 105.

Transportation of political of*
fenders to England for trial, I. 292,
II. 166, 190-192, 269, 270, 289.

TRANSYLVANIA, II. 338, 339.

Treaty-making power, Proposed
amendment of the Constitution in
regard to the, III. 355, 356.

TRUE PATRIOT, A, pseudon., probably
Otis, I. 175.

GENERAL INDEX.

459

True Sentiments of America, The, I.

1 52 - 1 74, 1 80. The authorship, 1 72

-174 n.
TBUMBDLL, Gov. Jonathan, the elder,

II. 286, 450, III. 71, 101, 102.
TKYON, Gov. William, II. 352, III.

70.
TUDOR, William, II. 441, III. 291.

Union, Preservation of the, III. 341,
357.

UNITED STATES. See COLONIES, CON
GRESS, Constitution, Presi
dent.

VALNAIS, , III. 77.

VERMONT, Claims of Massachusetts

to, II. 359, III. 106, 144-147.
Veto, Adams s sparing use of the,

III. 358 n.

VINAL, Joseph, III. 259, 260.

VIRGINIA, II. 394, 405-407, III. 132,
268, 420. Establishes intercolonial
Committees of Correspondence, II.
61-63, 71-73. Patriotism of, 266,
453. Donations to Boston, 266, 267.
Ravaged by Dunmore, 327, 352.

WADSWORTH, Gen. Peleg, III. 72 - 74.

WALKER, Col, II. 286.

WALKER, Thomas, II. 277.

WALLER, Col, III. 217.

WANTON, Gov. Joseph, II. 13, 14, 17.

WARD, Gen. Artemas, II. 307, III.
162, 240.

WARD, Goo. Samuel, II. 380, 381.

WARNER, Col. Seth, II. 358, 359.

WARREN, James, II. Ill, 175, 286,
III. 356. Not the originator of
the Committee of Correspondence,
1.509-511 n. Writes A List of
Infringements and Violations of Rights,
510. Loses his seat in the Assem
bly, III. 34-36; is re-elected, 116.

WARREN, Gen. Joseph, I. 175, 205,
211-213, 244, II. 19, 64, 150, 151,
181, 199, 205, 275. Brought for
ward by Adams, I. 33, 204. His
oration, March 5, 1772, 459, II.
138; March 5, 1775, 278-281.
His Solemn League and Covenant,
172, 182, 201 ; defended by Adams,
183-185, 189, 190, 196, 197. The
leader in Massachusetts in Adams s
absence, 225, 307. His Suffolk

Resolves, 227, 228. Desires rec
onciliation with Great Britain, 397.
Grief of Adams at his death, 313,
III. 122. His son, 90, 193.
WARREN, Mrs. Mercy (Oris), I. 411,

II. 509.

WASHINGTON, George, II. 342, 343,
358, 397, 451, 455, 490, III. 199,
354, 360, 387. Nominated as com-
mander-in-chief by J. Adams, II.
308, 309. Compared to the Earl
of Essex, 311. Praised and sup
ported by Adams, 315, 324, 325,
344 _ 347, 375, 376, 403, 436, 456-
460, III. 205, 206, 287, 290. Vis
ited by Adams, II. 442. His ma
noeuvring against Howe in 1777,
470, 471. Adams has no part in
the combination against, 500-512.
To be made a peer, III. 29.

WEARE, Meshech, III. 70, 76.

WEBSTER, Noah, III. 207.

WEDDERBURN, Alexander, 1st Earl of
Rosslyn, I. 388, II. 77 n.

WELLS, Andrew Elton, brother-in-law
of Samuel ADAMS, I. 492, II. 246,
270, 111. 139, 400.

WELLS, Ebenezer, brother of Andrew
Elton, III. 401.

WELLS, Elizabeth, daughter of Fran
cis. See ADAMS, Mrs. E. (W.).

WELLS, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas,

III. 399.

WELLS, Francis, father-in-law of Sam
uel ADAMS, I. 52, 53, II. 20, 270.

WELLS, Francis, son of Andrew Elton,
III. 400.

WELLS, Mrs. Hannah (ADAMS), wife
of Capt. Thomas, I. 25, II. 19-21,
III. 138, 142, 337, 374, 429. Her
father s will, 380. Her mother s
will, 399, 401.

WELLS, Mary, daughter of Andrew El
ton. ee PLUMMER, Mrs. M. (W.).

WELLS, Samuel Adams, sow. of Capt.
Thomas, I. vi., x., III. 399.

WELLS, Capt. Thomas, son of Francis,

II. 20, III. 381.

WELLS, Thomas, son of Capt. Thomas,

III. 399.

WENDELL, Oliver, II. 254, III. 356,
376.

WENT WORTH, Gov. John, II. 357.

WENTWORTH, Philip, buys the Pur
chase St. estate, III. 332 n.

460

GENERAL INDEX.

WETHERSFIELD, Conn., II. 204.
WHATELY, Thomas, II. 78.
WHEELER, Mrs. Ann, III. 401.
WHIPPING-POST CLUB, I. 16.
WHITE, Mrs. Mary (AVERT), II. 20 n.
WILKES, John, I. 293, 377, 378.
WILKINSON, Gen. James, and the

spurs, II. 493, 494.
WILLARD, Pres. Joseph, III. 141.
WILLIAMS, Jonathan, II. 1 1 1 , 1 1 5, 269.
WILLIAMS, Prof. Samuel, III. 141.
WILLIAMSON, Dr. Hugh, II. 123 n.
WILSON, James, opposes Adams, II.

353, 354, 356, 357.

Winter St. estate, The, III.

290,332. Described, 333-335.

WINTHROP, , in. 368.

WITHERSPOON, John, D. D., II. 437,

451. Gen. Wilkinson s spurs, 494 n.
WOOSTER, Gen. David, II. 320, 345,

346.

Writs of assistance, I. 43.
WTTHE, George, H. 346, 353, 368,

375.

YOUNG, Thomas, M. D., I. 366, 379,
n. Ill, 139, 238 n., 250.

THE END.

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