The Original Writings of Samuel Adams, Volume 4

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In every view we see the Necessity of a sufficient Naval Force. A few
Ships of War at the Bar of Charlestown, & a Frigate or two in Stone
River, might at this time effect the Recovery of that City. I need not
inform you, what an Effect the Sight of a Sixty Gun Ship would probably
have at Penobscott.-- Do not our Enemies conceive the Idea of Uti
possidetis? And can there be Peace in America while Britain holds a
Foot of Ground in any Part of it?

Adieu.

TO JOHN SCOLLAY.

[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library; a portion of the text, with
modifications, is in W. V. Wells, Life of Samuel Adams, vol. iii., pp.
114, 115.]

PHILADE Decr 30 1780

MY DEAR SIR

I receivd your favor of the 6th Instant, but not till the 25th. The
Post has been very irregular of late, & our Letters grow old before we
receive them. It is a Shame that the Mail has been catchd a second time
in the same trap. I inclosd to you a Warrant on Mr Appleton for the
Amount of your Demand for boarding the Orphans of our late Friend Genl
Warren. I think I did not send the Letter by that Post. But being
uncertain I informd you in a subsequent Letter of my having sent the
Warrant, and desired you to inform me whether it had come safely to
hand. I expect to hear from you in Answer to my last at least, & shall
then conduct the Matter if necessary, as you have proposd.

Our Government, I perceive, is organizd on the Basis of the new
Constitution. I am affraid there is more Pomp & Parade than is
consistent with those sober Republican Principles, upon which the
Framers of it thought they had founded it. Why should this new AEra be
introducd with Entertainments expensive & tending to dissipate the
Minds of the People? Does it become us to lead the People to such
publick Diversions as promote Superfluity of Dress & Ornament, when it
is as much as they can bear to support the Expense of cloathing a naked
Army? Will Vanity & Levity ever be the Stability of Government, either
in States, in Cities, or what, let me hint to you is of the last
Importance, in Families? Of what Kind are those Manners, by which, as
we are truly informd in a late Speech, "not only the freedom but the
very Existence of Republicks is greatly affected?" HOW fruitless is it,
to recommend "the adapting the Laws in the most perfect Manner
possible, to the Suppression of Idleness Dissipation & Extravagancy,"
if such Recommendations are counteracted by the Example of Men of
Religion, Influence & publick Station? I meant to consider this Subject
in the View of the mere Citizen. But I have mentiond the sacred Word
Religion. I confess, I am surprizd 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 Whitfield thunderd in the Pulpit against Assemblies & Balls. I
think he has disclaimd Diversions, in some Instances, which to me have
always appeard innocent. Has he changd his Opinions, or has the
Tendency of things alterd? Do certain Manners tend to quench the Spirit
of Religion at one time & are they harmless at another? Are Morals so
vague as to be sanctified or dispens'd with by the Authority 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. It was
asked in the Reign of Charles the 2d of England, HOW shall we turn the
Minds of the People from an Attention to their Liberties? The Answer
was, by making them extravagant, luxurious, effeminate. Hutchinson
advisd the Abridgment of what our People called English Liberties, by
the same Means. We shall never subdue them, said Bernard, but by
eradicating their Manners & 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
Confidential Letters, tho even they did not dare openly to avow them?
Pownal, who was indeed a mere Fribble, venturd to have his Riots &
Routs at his own house, to please a few Boys & Girls. Sober People were
disgusted at it, & his privy Councellors never thought it prudent to
venture so far as expensive Balls. Our Bradfords, Winslows & Winthrops
would have revolted at the Idea of opening Scenes of Dissipation &
Folly; knowing them to be inconsistent 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. Sidney tells us, there are times when People are not worth
saving. Meaning, when they have lost their Virtue. I pray God, this may
never be truly said of my beloved Town. Adieu. My Respects to Mrs
Scollay & Family & believe me to be sincerely

Your Friend

If Mr B A 1 thinks a Question from me worth his answering, ask him
whether he has lost some value-able Books which I have seen in his
Library, the Works of our illustrious Forefathers.

1 Benjamin Austin.

1781

TO RICHARD HENRY LEE.

[MS., Lee Papers, American Philosophical Society.]

PHILADE Jany 15th 1781

MY DEAR SIR

Your second Letter came to hand in due Season. My much Esteemed Friend
Mr Arthur Lee will take the Charge of this. I will say to you as I have
said to my Boston Friends, who are sollicitous to know what Treatment
he meets with here. The more I have conversd with him, the more I have
been confirmd in a good opinion of him, and lamented the Mistakes and
Prejudices of some Men & the Wickedness of others. His Enemies, I
think, dare not openly attack his Reputation or Conduct. But the
Whispers of Envy & 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 publick Spirit, more threatning to
the Liberties of a Common Wealth than Hosts of foreign Enemies.
Monarchs have their Favorites who serve as Pimps on their honest
Subjects. But Republicks should examine the Conduct of their Servants
with an impartial Eye; and it discovers the Want of pub-lick Virtue, as
much, to withhold their Smiles from the wise and good as to bestow them
on the wicked & unfaithful. Mr Lee has as yet had neither Smiles nor
Frowns. I am still in hopes, he will meet with the Rewards which I am
sure he would have receivd if he had returnd a few years ago. He will
have them, when the Trustees of the Publick shall have Fortitude
enough, to be uninfluencd by great Names & Characters given to Men of
base & depraved Minds. You will ask, when that will be. Perhaps not in
this Age. But the Historian will in some future time draw forth the
Proofs of his Patriotism, & unprejudicd Posterity will acknowledge that
Arthur Lee has borne a great Share in defending & establishing the
Liberties of America. I say Posterity; for I believe that a wiser
Generation will enjoy the Fruits of the Toil of Patriots & Heroes in
the present Day.

My Friend, we must not suffer any thing to discourage us in this great
Conflict. Let us recur to first Principles without Delay. It is our
Duty, to make every proper Exertion in our respective States to revive
the old patriotick Feelings among the People at large, and to get the
publick Departments, especially the most important of them, filled with
Men of Understanding & inflexible Virtue. It would be indeed alarming,
if the United States should ever entrust the Ship in which our all is
at Stake, with inexperiencd or unprincipled Pilots. Our Cause is surely
too interesting to Mankind, to be put under the Direction of Men, vain,
avaricious or conceald under the Hypocritical Guise of Patriotism,
without a Spark of publick 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 Character have had Seats in Congress from the
begining. Where is Galloway, LOW, Allen & Alexander?--If it was so in
those Times of Vigilance & Zeal, how much more is it to be expected,
when the Love of many is waxen cold, & their Minds are distracted with
the Pursuit of Pleasure & exorbitant Riches. We cannot be perswaded 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 unreasonable
to suppose that their Elections were secretly influencd by artful Men,
with that Design. Our most dangerous Enemies may be in our Bosoms.

Mr Lee will inform you how Matters go on here.

I must let you know that when your Kinsman Mr William Lee was in Boston
in Sept 1779 he borrowed five hundred Dollars of Moses Gill Esqr, and
drew his Bill on his Brother Mr George Lee of Westmoreland County. I
wish it may be paid on Sight, for it was advancd on my Application.

My Regards to Mrs Lee &c. Adieu & believe me to be

Your Friend

TO JOHN PITTS.

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

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 assured 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 Hancock & 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 Hancock
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 Hancock, 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
Massachusetts 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 Assembly, 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 intitled 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
hitherto 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 Constitution 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 Principal 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, Passions 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 Constitution 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 Constitution, 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
intitled 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 Constitution, 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 byass'd in their Choice, by unreasonable
Predilections for any man, or that an Attachment to the Constitution,
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 GOD and his Country.

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