The Writings of Samuel Adams Volume IV Part 26

PHILAD. Jany 17 1781

MY DEAR SIR

Your favor of the 17th of Novr was duly receivd. It bodes very ill to Government when Men are exalted to places of high trust through their own Sollicitations. He only fills a place with Dignity, who is invited to it by his Fellow Citizens, from the Experience they have had of his adequate Abilities, & who does the Duties of it with Zeal & Fidelity.

Such a Man, being conscious that neither Smiles, Intreaties, Gifts, Intrigue nor any dishonorable Practices have procured him his high Station, may rely on the People who gave him their free Suffrages, to approve of his honest Endeavors to serve them. And having Nothing in View but that the Publick may be best servd, he will chearfully resign his Place whenever the People shall make Choice of another whom they judge more capable than he. The People are certainly the best Judges, who are most likely to render them substantial Service; & whoever interposes in their Elections, with his own Sollicitations for himself, it is to be feard, if he is of any Consequence, will in time become a dangerous Party Man. He ought therefore to be despisd as an obtruder. I hope there are not many such Men in our Government. I am sorry to be informd that there are any. They should be watchd; for if they have no evil Designs, their Vanity may prompt them to do Mischief. The Express waits. Adieu.

TO JAMES WARREN.

[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]

PHILADE Feb 1st 1781--

MY DEAR SIR

I have not had Leisure to write to you since the 20th of Novr. Indeed I am not willing to trust a Confidential Letter to the Post, which has shamefully been catchd in the same Trap more than once. I gladly embrace the opportunity by Mr Otis, with whom I have had frequent & candid Conversations concerning Men & Things. He will be able to tell you some Truths which I do not think it prudent to commit to Paper. You & I have been long struggling for the Liberty of our Country. I believe its Independence will be finally acknowledgd by the World. But are not many Nations England in particular called Independent? And do you think the People of England are free. No People, in my opinion can be long free who are not virtuous; and it is no Sign of Virtue, when the Councils of an enlightned Country are directed by a foreign Influence.

If I were a Minister at a foreign Court, my Vanity might be flatterd, in imagining that by having Address enough to rule its Measures, I might fix myself in the Esteem and Confidence of my Country, but I should entertain a contemptible Opinion of the Wisdom & Virtue of that Court if it would suffer me to do it. The Councils of a Nation must be weak in the extreme, or it must be reducd to the greatest Degree of Dependence to submit to so servile a Condition. You will not think I have the remotest Reference in what I now say, jealous as I allow my self to be, to the Amphictyon of the United States of America. It is presumd they will always have too high a Sense of their Dignity to suffer themselves & their Nation to be degraded. But when Peace is happily settled & a Number of foreign Ministers are about our Court, it will require Men of great Knowledge of the World & Experience in Affairs to penetrate their various Intrigues. I have been a.s.sured that the Court of France would be highly disgusted with any of its Ministers if they should improperly interfere in our Councils; and indeed when I consider the Jealousy of a rising Republick, I think nothing would equal the Impolicy of their attempting it, but the Imprudence of Congress in submitting to it. ---- But I am unexpectedly called off and Mr Otis is just going. I intended to have written to you largely but must omit it till the next opportunity. Pray inform my worthy Friend Capt Bradford that I must also omit writing to him, as I intended, for the same Reason.

your affectionate,

TO MRS. ADAMS.

[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]

PHILADE Feb. 1st 1781

MY DEAR BETSY

My last was by Major Clarkson. He is a young officer of military Merit.

I wish you would entertain him with a Dish of Tea.

Our new AEra of Government, I fancy, has occasiond a Revolution in political Circles & a Change of Connections. I cannot otherwise account for the long Silence of my Friend Doctor Cooper. I used to correspond with him very confidentially. We indeed thought aloud together. But I have receivd only one Letter from him since I left Boston, which was deliverd to me by Mr A Lee. I considerd it as a Compliment to that most deserving Patriot, rather than a Letter of Friendship to me. I have written several Times to him, & once desired particular Information, which he might have given me without offending any Man, but he has not done it. I hope the Doctor does not think his Letters troublesome to me. He has no Reason to think so. But, he chuses to close the Correspondence, & you know, that I am disposd on such Occasions, to retaliate. It sometimes affects my Feelings, but I shall never be in Debt on that Score. You may let the Dr read this Letter if he pleases, but no other Person; for when I think amiss of the private Conduct of a Friend, I let none know it, but him & you. Indeed I shall say nothing to you at present that I would not wish him to know. I employ no Pimps or Spies on my Fellow Citizens, & yet I hear of many things that are said & done in Boston. I may sometimes be misinformd, & I am always inclind to think I am, when I cannot reconcile what is said with the Honor & Integrity of Friendship. If Mr W C1 has "spoken very disrespectfully" of me, I am sorry for him. It gives me no Pain on my Account because I deserve not his reproach. I know he is apt to be sanguine in his Opinions of Men, & his Zeal in Elections has been commendable. But as I did not interest myself at all in the late Elections he might have spared me. I have candidly declared, when I was asked in Boston, who I thought to be most endowd with those great Qualities, which should characterize the first Magistrate of so respectable a Commonwealth. This is the Right, it is the Duty of every Citizen. And had I been present, I should most certainly have voted for that Candidate. I may have been mistaken in my Judgment; and, as it becomes a Citizen, I will, acquiesce in the Choice of a Majority of the People, who ought to know & prefer the fittest Person. If they do not, they are hardly worthy to be servd by any Man. I hope we shall never fall into those Dregs of Time, when it shall be the Custom for one Citizen to treat another ill, merely because a popular Man has markd him as his Enemy, or because others, for servile Purposes, have reported him as such. This may afford Sport for the Enemies of our Cause, who are laying the Snare with great Art & Industry. James Rivington has publishd in his Royal Gazette, that the Acrimony between Mr Hanc.o.c.k & me, was owing to his Attachment to General Washington, & my being on the Contrary, desirous of his Removal. This is an old Story which Men have believd and disbelievd as they pleasd, without much Concern of mine. It was a pityful Contrivance to render me obnoxious to the General & our common Friends. If there has been any Difference between Mr H and me, Rivington knows not the Origin of it. Mr Hanc.o.c.k never thought me an Enemy to Gen1 Washington. He never thought that I was desirous of his being removd, & therefore could never treat me with Acrimony on that Account. I never wishd for the Removal of General Washington, but if I had even attempted to effect it, it might have been an Evidence of my Deficiency in Judgment, or Rashness, but it could be no Evidence that I was his Enemy. Mr W C may think that I am an Enemy to Mr Hanc.o.c.k, because he may have heard that I preferd another as a Governor before him. At this Rate, I must be thought an Enemy to every Man to whom I cannot give the Preference for an exalted Station for which few of the Many can be supposd to be qualified.

Ridiculous [&] mischievous as this is, I am told that some carry their opinions further and that it is not enough, that a Man who cannot consistently vote for a Governor is to be reckon'd his Enemy, but he is for this Reason to be excluded from every Department. Who could wish to hold a Seat in Government on so slavish a Tenure? The People of Ma.s.sachusetts under the old Government have seen enough of the mischievous Effects of the Governors having a Power to negative Elections & I cannot see the Difference between this & his being able to influence or prevent an Election by causing it to be believd that a Candidate is his Enemy. He who gives his Suffrage according to the Dictates of a well informd Judgment, is certainly a virtuous Citizen.

And is it to be supposd that such a Man would withhold his Influence in favor of a wise Measure, because a Gentleman is placed in the Chair by his Fellow Citizens, whom he did not vote for? Such a Supposition savours so much of a Narrow, illiberal party Spirit, that I should think no intelligent Man would countenance it. If it should prevail, it would produce evil Consequences; for some Men, if they are made to believe their political Existence depends on their being thought the Governors Friends, will not easily prevail on themselves to risque that Existence by giving him Advice, however salutary it might be, & necessary for the Honor & Safety of the Commonwealth, if they think it will disgust him.

You may wonder, my Dear, that I send this Budget of Politicks to you. I see no Reason why a Man may not communicate his political opinions to his Wife, if he pleases. But to tell you the truth I consider this Epistle, after the License I have already given you, as indirectly addressd to the Friend I have mentiond. I would gladly know his opinion, Whether there is not more Parade among our Gentry than is consistent with sober republican Principles. Is it to imitate the Vanity of former times that every order of Men have been so fond of addressing the Governor? Are we to pay the same Ceremonies to the next & the next? Will not such high Strains of Panegyrick injure the Feelings of modest Men? And if there should happen to be a weak Man, will they not make him intollerably vain? Republicks should adopt the Rule of another Society. The Yea should be Yea, and the Nay, Nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of Evil. Adieu.

1 William Cooper.

TO MRS. ADAMS.

[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]

PHILADELPHIA Mar. 15 1781

MY DEAR BETSY

Mr Bagnal, the Bearer of this Letter, this Moment informs me, that he sets off in half an hour for Boston I am sorry he did not give me more timely Notice, because I chuse to write to my Confidential Friends by private Hands rather than the Post. I have in a Letter forwarded yesterday, given Notice to the General a.s.sembly, of my Wish to return home as early as may be and requested to be relievd by one of my Colleagues or otherwise as may be thought proper. I expect to have General Wards Servant to attend me on my Journey. He is afterwards to return here. I am much concernd at the Dissentions in the New South Society, who have generally been remarkeable for Peace & Harmony. They should strive for a conciliatory Spirit as far as is consistent with good Conscience, condescend to each other in smaller Matters, and bear with each others Tempers. I have not been unmindful of my Sons Situation, as mentiond in his Letter to me some time ago. He will see by the Journals of Congress (Sept. 30, 1780) that the officers in the Medical Department, are int.i.tled annually to draw Cloathing from the Stores of the Cloathier General in the same Manner & under the same Regulations as are establishd for officers of the Line by a Resolution Novr 25, 1779-- such Cloathing to be deliverd by the Cloathier General or any sub Cloathier in the State in which the officer to receive the Cloathing shall reside. I have sent the Journals of the Dates above mentiond, and wish Mr Davis or some other of my Friends would speak to Mr Ruggles, who I think is the Sub Cloathier in the State, in Behalf of my Son. I hope however that the Matter is already settled, & he gone to Newport. I am uneasy at his being absent from his Station any length of Time; for however necessary it may be, it may be turnd to the Disadvantage of his Character, which if I am not flatterd, he has. .h.i.therto kept unsullied. In this virtuous & important Struggle, he will remember that all of us must ruff it as well as we can.----The medical Committee inform me that it is the Duty of the State Cloathier to furnish him without the intervention of the Commander in Chiefe or Board of War.

Pray let Mrs Fogs know that Mr Level & I have done all we could for the Release of her Son who was made a Sea Prisoner & carried to New York.

Our officers have some of them been sent to England, but not any of the Seamen, so that it is hoped he is still there. Many of them have died.

They have lately been better treated than they were some time ago. The British Sea Officers are retaind in close Confinement here till we hear what is become of ours. We are in hopes there will soon be an Exchange of the whole.

Remember me to Friends----Adieu.

ARTICLE, UNSIGNED.

[Boston Gazette, April 2, 1781; a draft is in the Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.1]

Extract of a Letter from the Southward.

"As we have a Const.i.tution which is admired for its genuine Principles, I have been sollicitous to know, whether our Countrymen at large partook of the Spirit of those who formed it. I have conceived strong Hopes, that in organizing their Government and electing Persons to fill the important Places of Trust, no Consideration would avail, to govern their Suffrages in Favour of any Candidate, unless he was possessed of those Qualities which are necessary, to enable him to perform the Duties of the Office to be filled, to the Advantage of the Publick. I have flattered my self, that both the Governors and the Governed would have lain aside the gawdy Trappings of Monarchy, and put on that Simplicity which is the Ornament and Strength of a free Republick. HOW far it has been done, I am not able to judge at this Distance. It is a great Satisfaction to me to be informed, that some of the best Men in the Commonwealth have been elected into the Princ.i.p.al Departments of Government. Men, who will dignify the Character of our Country--who will revive and disseminate those Principles, moral and political, to propagate which, our Ancestors transplanted themselves into this new World--Men who by the Wisdom of their Councils and their exemplary Manners, will establish the public Liberty on the Foundation of a Rock.--These Men will secure to themselves more of the Esteem of their virtuous, and even of their vicious Fellow-Citizens, than they could by a thousand courtly Addresses which are commonly the Breath of Vanity and Adulation.--There is a charm in Virtue to force Esteem.--If Men of a different Character have by any Means been advanced to those hallow'd Seats, who have even sollicited public Employments to give a Scope to Views of Ambition and Avarice, Pa.s.sions which have in all Ages been the Bane of human Society; or, to gratify the raging Thirst for popular Applause, a Disease with which little minds are usually tormented, it is our Happiness that the Const.i.tution requires annual Elections, and such Mistakes may be corrected at the next.

"I was sorry to hear, that the Number of Votes returned, the last Time, did not amount to a Quarter of the Number of qualified Electors in the Commonwealth. The Choice of Legislators, Magistrates and Governors, is surely a Business of the greatest Moment, and claims the Attention of every Citizen. The Framers of our Const.i.tution, while they gave due Attention to Political were not forgetful of Civil Liberty--that personal Freedom and those Rights of Property, which the meanest Citizen is int.i.tled to, and the Security of which is the great End of political Society. It was not indeed their Province to make particular Laws for these Purposes. To do this, and to provide for the equal and impartial Execution of such Laws, agreeable to the Const.i.tution, is the Duty of the Legislature. Hence every Citizen will see, and I hope will be deeply impressed with a Sense of it, how exceedingly important it is to himself, and how intimately the welfare of his Children is connected with it, that those who are to have a Share in making as well as in judging and executing the Laws should be Men of singular Wisdom and Integrity. Such as are conscious that they are deficient in either of these Qualities, should even TREMBLE at being named as Candidates! I hope the great Business of Elections will never be left by the Many, to be done by the Few; for before we are aware of it, that few may become the Engine of Corruption--the Tool of a Junto.--Heaven forbid! that our Countrymen should ever be bya.s.s'd in their Choice, by unreasonable Predilections for any man, or that an Attachment to the Const.i.tution, as has been the Case in other Countries, should be lost in Devotion to Persons. The Effect of this would soon be, to change the Love of Liberty into the Spirit of Faction. Let each Citizen remember, at the Moment he is offering his Vote, that he is not making a Present or a Compliment to please an Individual, or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn Trusts in human Society, for which he is accountable to G.o.d and his Country.

"When the great Body of the People are determined not to be imposed upon by a false Glare of Virtues held before their Eyes, but, making up their own Minds, shall impartially give in their Suffrages, after their best Enquiries into the Characters of Candidates, for those whom they judge to be the fittest Persons, there will be no Danger that the generous Enthusiasm of Freedom, so characteristic of the People of Ma.s.sachusetts, will ever sink into the Violence and Rage of Party, which has often proved fatal to free Republicks."

1 Endorsed by Adams: "The foregoing was sent to Mr Edes by the Post March 13, 1781."

TO CALEB DAVIS1

[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]

PHILADE April 3 1781

DEAR SIR /

I have just receivd your favor of the 17th Ulto by Mr Dugan. The Request he proposes to make to Congress for Liberty to bring his Effects from Ireland, cannot be complied with consistently with the inclosd ordinance, which strictly forbids all Intercourse between the Citizens of the United States & the Subjects of Great Britain. There have been so many undue Advantages taken from Indulgences of this Kind, as to render the Continuance of them unsafe to us and disgustful to our Ally. I shall always pay a due Regard to your Recommendations, and should have been particularly desirous of rendering Service to your Friend Mr Dugan whom I personally know & of whose Integrity I have no Reason to doubt.

Your Letter of the 23d of Feby never came to hand; and I regret it the more, because you tell me, you then wrote fully of the State of Affairs in Boston which I should have been glad to have receivd. Let me observe to you as a private Friend, the Delegates of Ma.s.sachusetts are by no means duly informd of what is done in their own State; & when they receive any kind of Information, it is not in a Manner adapted to give them Weight. I do not mention this on my own Account; for I intend very soon to take Leave of Congress & get myself excusd from any future Attendance. I will then explain the Hint I have now given you, more fully than I chuse to do in a Letter by the Post. 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 a.s.sure you, I am not at all sollicitous about any thing of the Kind which your Letter seems to intimate. I have always endeavord to confine my Desires in this Life within moderate Bounds, and it is time for me to reduce them to a narrower Compa.s.s. You speak of "Neglect," "Ingrat.i.tude" &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 & renders him unfit for further Service, his Country, to preserve its own Vigour will wisely call upon others; and if he decently retreats to make Room for them he will show that he has not yet totally lost his Understanding. Besides, there is a Period in Life when a Man should covet the exalted Pleasure of Reflection in Retirement.

I thank you, my dear Sir, for the information you gave Mrs A of Mr Dugans coming. Pray let her know that I receivd her Letter & am well.

My Compts to the Circle about you.

Your affectionate,

1 Speaker of the House of Representatives of Ma.s.sachusetts.