The Original Writings of Samuel Adams, Volume 4

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Nothing was mentiond in his Letter to me, of the Nature or the
Proceedings of County Conventions, & therefore I made no Observation
upon them. I hope it will not be in the Power of any designing Men, by
imposing upon credulous tho' well meaning Persons long to keep this
Country, who may be happy if they will, long in a State of Discord &
Animosity. We may see, from the present State of Great Britain, how
rapidly such a Spirit will drive a Nation to destruction. It is prudent
for the People to keep a watchful Eye over the Conduct of all those who
are entrusted with Publick Affairs. Such Attention is the Peoples great
Security.1 But there is Decency & Respect due to Constitutional
Authority, and those Men, who under any Pretence or by any Means
whatever, would lessen the Weight of Government lawfully exercised,
must be Enemies to our happy Revolution & the Common Liberty. County
Conventions & popular Committees servd an excellent Purpose when they
were first in Practice. No one therefore needs to regret the Share he
may then have had in them. But I candidly own it is my Opinion, with
Deferrence to the Opinions of other Men, that as we now have
constitutional & regular Governments and all our Men in Authority
depend upon the annual & free Elections of the People, we are safe
without them. To say the least, they are become useless. Bodies of Men,
under any Denomination whatever, who convene themselves for the Purpose
of deliberating upon & adopting Measures which are cognizable by
Legislatures only will, if continued, bring Legislatures to Contempt &
Dissolution. If the publick Affairs are illy conducted, if dishonest or
incapable Men have crept unawares into Government, it is happy for us,
that under our American Constitutions the Remedy is at hand, & in the
Power of the great Body of the People. Due Circumspection & Wisdom at
the next Elections will set all right, without the Aid of any self
Created Conventions or Societies of Men whatever.2 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 confessd,
that Imperfection attends all human affairs.

I am

Sir

your very humble Servant

1 At this point the draft included the words: "for the wisest & best of
Men are liable to Error & Misconduct."

2 At this point the draft included the words "The whole People will not
probably mistake their own true Interests, nor err in their Judgment of
the Men to whom they may safely commit the Care of them."

TO JOHN ADAMS.

[MS, Adams Papers, Quincy]

BOSTON June 20 1784

DEAR SIR

The Hurry of the General Court which is now sitting prevents my writing
a Letter at this Time.

Your amiable Lady who with her Daughter embarks this day will, I hope,
deliver you this Note, which is only to express a fervent Wish that
they may be favord in their Passage & shortly have a joyful Meeting
with you.

It is a long time since I receivd a Letter from you.

Adieu--Believe me

Your affectionate friend

& humble servt

TO JOHN ADAMS.

[MS., Adams Papers,1 Quincy.]

BOSTON 2d Decr 1784.

MY DEAR SIR

I received several of your Letters with Pleasure, particularly that of
May, which I will answer at a Time of more Leisure. Captn Dashwood of
this Town is going to London, to sollicit Payment of the British Crown,
for Goods taken from him when the Troops left the Town, not as
forfeited, but under the Apprehension that they would be of Use to our
Army, & with an Express Promise that they should be paid for. It
appears to me to be among the bona Fide Debts mention'd in the Treaty,
and if there may be on the Part of the Crown itself a Failure of a
Compliance with a positive stipulated Article, it will be difficult for
the Governments in America to prevail with their Citizens to think it
reasonable that they should pay the just Debts owing from them to
British Subjects. Dashwood has my Promise to write to you again on the
Subject & I must fulfill it. It is with reluctance that I give you this
repeated Trouble, especially as I know you must be press'd with Affairs
of greater National Importance. You are best able to say whether you
can afford him Aid or not. I have ventured to assure him, that if it be
in your Power consistantly to interpose your Influence, you will
undoubtedly be disposd to do it. What aggravates the Misfortune of this
Citizen if he should not obtain Justice in England is that his British
Crediter now demands the Payment of his Debt with Interest, & tho' this
Sum is very small in Comparison with the Value of the Goods taken from
him, the Payment, as he says & I suppose truly, will compleatly ruin
him.

your affectionate

1 Although the copy actually transmitted, no part of this letter is in
the autograph of Adams except the subscription and signature.

TO RICHARD HENRY LEE.

[MS., Lee Papers, American Philosophical Society; a draft is in the
Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library; a text is in W. V. Wells, Life of
Samuel Adams, vol. iii., pp. 214-217.]

BOSTON Decr 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 respected Citizen, and
while he performs his Duty well, he adorns the most dignified Station
in our Confederated Republick.

You observe in your Letter to me, that "at this Moment, Moderation,
Wisdom, Firmness & Attention are the Principles proper for our
Adoption." I agree with you, and devoutly wish that every Man who has a
Share in the Administration of publick Affairs may possess a large
Portion of those & other great Qualities. They are in a particular
Manner necessary to him who presides in the important Councils of the
American Amphyction.

Congress has need to watch, lest the Commonwealth suffer Harm. I doubt
not they will be assiduous in their Labours for the publick Wellfare;
and I pray God they may be His honord Instruments in exalting to the
highest Pitch of human Happiness that People, who have testified to the
oppressed World, that by Patience, Fortitude & Perseverance the iron
Rod can be wrested from the Arm of a Tyrant, and that all Nations may
be free, if they will magnanimously contend for their Liberty.

By Gods Blessing on the Councils & the Arms of our Country, we are now
rank'd with Nations. May He keep us from exulting beyond Measure! Great
Pains are yet to be taken & much Wisdom 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 remaind 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, & 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 their
Opinion of us? Inexperiencd as we are in the Refinements of Nations,
Can we expect to shine in the World as able Politicians? Shall we then
be hacknied in the Path of Deception because some others famed for
their Dexterity in Politicks have long trod that Path & thought they
have gaind Advantage by it? Or, because it is said All Nations are
selfinterested & 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 characteristick of all Nations especially Republicks, as it
is of all good Men, to do to others as we would have them do to us?
Could we be indued thus to prostitute ourselves, HOW should we appear
in the Eyes of the Virtuous & 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 of a Republick is consolidated by its Virtues, & that
Righteousness will exalt a Nation.

Was it true as some affirm, that the old World is absorbd in all kinds
of Vice, unhumanizd & enslavd, it would indeed be a melancholly 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 unreasonable Prejudice. Nations as well as
Individuals have different Characters. We should not forget the
Friendship & Kindness of One because we have experiencd the Injustice &
Cruelty of Another. But the Inconstancy of Friendship & even Infidelity
has been seen often enough among Individuals to lead wise men to
suppose it may happen in any Case & to exercise a kind of
Circumspection, different from base Suspicion, consistent with the
generous Sentiments of Friendship and, considering the Weakness of the
human Mind, a necessary Guard.

Does not the true Policy, the Honor & Safety of our Country greatly
depend upon a National Character consisting, among other Particulars,
in Simplicity & Candor in all her Publick Transactions; shewing 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, & guarding her Trade against their selfish Designs by wise
Commercial Laws--An exact & punctilious Fullfillment of Obligations on her
Part to be performd by Virtue of all Treaties-- and, An unalterable
Determination to discharge her National Debts with all possible
Speed.--If, my honord Friend, the leading Men in the United States would
by Precept & Example disseminate thro' the lower Classes of People the
Principles of Piety to God, Love to our Country & universal
Benevolence, should we not secure the Favor of Heaven & the Honor &
Esteem of the wise and virtuous Part of the World.

Great Britain, tho' she has concluded a Treaty of Peace with us,
appears to be not a cordial Friend. She cannot forget her unparralled
Injustice towards us & 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 informs me, that General
Haldiman who is going to England, has orderd those Posts to be
reinforcd, which by Treaty were to be deliverd to us. Encroachments are
made, as I apprehend, on our Eastern Territories. Our Fishery may,
under some frivolous Pretence be next interrupted. Should we not guard
ourselves against British Intrigues & Factions. Her Emissaries, under
the Guise of Merchants, Repenting Refugees, Schoolmasters, and other
Characters, unless Care is taken, may effect another & fatal
Revolution. The Commonwealth of England lasted twelve years, and then
the exiled King was restored with all the Rage & Madness of Royalty!--A
Caution to the Citizens of the United States zealously to counteract
the Hopes our Enemies entertain of "Discord, Disunion, & Apathy on our
Part," to watch over the publick Liberty & Safety with a jealous Eye,
and to practice the moral and political Virtues upon which the very
Existence of a Commonwealth depends.

Mrs. Adams desires me to present her respectful Compliments to you &
your Connections. I am with great Esteem Your affectionate Friend

1785

TO RICHARD HENRY LEE.

[MS., Lenox Library.]

BOSTON March 24 17851

MY HONORD FRIEND

Could I be perswaded to believe that by your long Silence you would
intimate to me a Desire on your Part to put an End to our Epistolary
Correspondence, you should never again be troubled with my Letters. But
as I am not disposd to entertain unfavorable Thoughts of one whom I
have valued as an unchanging Friend, I will now sollicit you in Behalf
of two Persons both of whom I believe you will recollect, and whose
Services to the United States, in their different Way, have in my
Opinion been meritorious.

Mr Kirkland has for many years been a Missionary to the Indians of the
six Nations under the Society in Scotland for promoting Christian
Knowledge. He was recognizd by Congress & in 1779 was appointed by that
Body to be Chaplain at Fort Stanwix; for this Cause that Charitable
Society forbore to continue his usual Stipend. He had Influence
sufficient to keep the Indians steadily attachd to the United States
during the War, and you will judge Sir, of the Policy of engaging so
useful a Man in the same Mission under Congress, lest another should be
employed by that Society under the Pretext of promoting Christian
knowledge among the Indians, [who] may be secretly instructed to
instill into their Minds Prejudices in favor of Great Britain and
dangerous to our Interest. Mr Kirkland is or soon will be in New York
to state his Case to Congress.

Colo John Allan left a valueable Estate and powerful family Connections
in Hallifax in the Beginning of the late War & took a decided Part with
the United States. He had the Happiness of your Friendship when
Congress sat in Baltimore; and was there appointed Superintendant of
the Indians in the Eastern Department. I do not fear I shall dishonor
myself by assuring you, that in my Opinion he has been a faithful &
successful Servant of the Publick. He is gone to Congress to settle his
Affairs. If it shall appear to you that I have not mistaken his true
Character, your Sense of Justice will prevent the Necessity of any
Sollicitation in his Behalf from, My dear Sir,

your unfeigned

& affectionate friend,

1 A letter by Adams to Elbridge Gerry, dated February 24, 1785, is in
Magazine of American History, vol. xii., pp. 177, 178.

TO RICHARD HENRY LEE.

[MS., Lenox Library]

BOSTON April 14 1785

MY DEAR SIR

Give me Leave to introduce to you Mr Graham1 the Bearer of this Letter
& his Lady, Mrs Macauley Graham, who have honord this Town & highly
gratified the virtuous Citizens by a residence of some Months past. We
sometimes meet with genuine republican Sentiments in Persons born under
Monarchy. It is truly mortifying when one meets with the reverse
Character. I firmly believe that the benevolent Creator designd the
republican Form of Government for Man. Will you venture so far as to
say that all other Institutions that we know of are unnatural & tend
more or less to distress human Societies? Will the Lion ever associate
with the Lamb or the Leopard with the Kid till our favorite principles
shall be universally establishd? I am with Truth & sincerity,

your affectiont friend,

1 On the same date Adams wrote to Washington, introducing Graham; a
manuscript is in the Lenox Library and also in the Library of Congress.

TO JOHN ADAMS.

[MS., Adams Papers, Quincy.]

BOSTON July 2 1785

DEAR SIR

I cannot omit the Opportunity of writing by Monsr de la Etombe who is
going to France & will take the Care of this Letter. You must not
expect it to be a long one. There are many Things which I wish to say
to you, but the Tremor of my Hand is so increasd that I am put to
Difficulty to guide my Pen.

Our Merchants are complaining bitterly that Great Britain is ruining
their Trade, and there is great Reason to complain; but I think much
greater, to complain of too many of the Citizens thro' the Common
wealth who are imitating the Britons in every idle Amusement &
expensive Foppery which it is in their Power to invent for the
Destruction of a young Country. Can our People expect to indulge
themselves in the unbounded Use of every unmeaning & fantastick
Extravagance because they would follow the Lead of Europeans, & not
spend all their Money? You would be surprizd to see the Equipage, the
Furniture & expensive Living of too many, the Pride & Vanity of Dress
which pervades thro every Class, confounding every Distinction between
the Poor & the Rich and evincing the Want both of Example & AEconomy.

Before this reaches you, you will have heard of the Change in our
chiefe Magistrate. I confess it is what I have long wishd for. Our new
Governor1 has issued his Proclamation for the Encouragement of Piety
Virtue Education & Manners and for the Suppressing of Vice. This with
the good Example of a first Magistrate & others may perhaps restore our
Virtue.

Monsieur le Etomb's true Decency of Manners has done honor to your
Letter of Recommendation.

Mrs A joins in sincere Respects to your Lady & Family.

Adieu my dear sir

1 James Bowdoin, who had succeeded John Hancock.

TO JOHN ADAMS.

[MS., Adams Papers, Quincy; a draft, dated 1784, is in the Samuel Adams
Papers, Lenox Library.]

BOSTON 16th Augt 1785

MY DEAR SIR

The Governour of this Commonwealth will transmit to you Copies of
Letters which lately passed between him and Capt Stanhope Commander of
the British Ship of War Mercury. This is the same Person, as I am told,
who, when a Prisoner here in the early time of the War, was not too
delicate in Point of Honor to break his Parole. The Governor however
had treated him from the Time of his Arrival with the Civilities and
Respect due to a Foreigner in his Station, without personal or national
Distinction. The occasion of this Epistolary Correspondence which the
Governor was necessarily carried into by the Petulance of Stanhope, was
a Fricas which happened on the Evening of the 31st Ulto, between the
[latter] and a young Sailor who alledges that he and a Number of
American Prisoners on board the Mercury had been flogged by Stanhopes
order for refusing to do the Duty of Seamen. The Altercation caused the
People near to collect, and the Captain, either really or pretending to
be, apprehensive of Danger, hast'ned away, a Number following excited
by common Curiosity, till his Fears were quieted in the House of one of
his Friends and the Scene ended. This gave rise to Stanhopes Letter the
following Day. Whatever his Opinion might be of his own Importance, the
Governor considerd him entitled only to the Common Protection of the
Law, nor could he see any Obstacle in the Captains Way to obtain legal
Satisfaction if he had receivd Injury, which required the extraordinary
Interposition of Government; for Stanhope was the same Day abroad in
the Town without the least Molestation or appearing to be apprehensive
of any Affront. Perhaps this Gentleman's Ideas of Propriety of Conduct
in the Governor might have led him to expect he would take the Part of
a Grand Juryman or a Justice of the Peace, to enquire into
Misdemeanours, or decide on little Controversies which frequently
happen among Persons who know not how to keep upon Terms with each
other.

I should not have troubled you with this Detail, had it not seemed to
me somewhat necessary. You know it was formerly usual for such kind of
Men as Stanhope appears to be, to fly to their Ships from pretended
Danger, and by false representations impose on their too credulous
Government. Adieu my friend, & believe me

Yours

TO RICHARD HENRY LEE.

[Historical Magazine, 2d ser., vol. i., pp. 167, 168.]

BOSTON Decr. 17, 1785.

MY DEAR SIR.

It gave much Pleasure to find that your Countrymen had again honour'd
you with their Confidence in Congress. My most earnest wish is, that
the Seats in that Sacred Hall may ever be filled with Men of true
Wisdom. This Wish, I know, cannot be gratified when the United States
shall become debased in Principles and Manners. HOW much then depends
upon the Exertions of the present members to perpetuate the Honour and
Happiness of our Country by guarding its Virtue!

I beg leave once more to trespass upon your Time by calling your
attention to my Friend Captn Landais. You and I patronized him when he
first came into this Country: and I have never for a Moment repented of
the small share I had in his Promotion in the American Navy, although
he has met with the Fate which sometimes has been the Lot of honest
Men, through the errors, to say the least, of Courts. He had long
suffered as other virtuous Men had, by a Faction on the other side of
the Atlantick, which found means to extend itself to this Country, and
as you well remember, to the very Doors of Congress!--But enough of
this--Your kind Assistance was greatly beneficial to him in his late
Application to Congress, and he and I gratefully acknowledged it. But
he remains still embarrassed, and as I conceive, not without Reason--His
Pay as Commander of the Alliance is offered to him in a Certificate.
But what is such a Piece of Paper worth. If it be said, all our brave
Sea Officers & Men are thus to be paid, should it not be remembered,
that those who continued in the service to the end of the War are
allowed a Gratuity. This Allowance was Established several years after
he left the Service, and cannot include him, nor does he desire it--But he
was broke by a Court Martial--True. And if a private Gentleman discharges
his domestick servant even for a Fault, does he not in Justice pay him
his due wages? And are not States bound by the Rules of Justice?
Captain Landais has been obliged to pay an interest on money he has
borrowed for his support and other necessary expenses, more than the
Value of his Pay, and the want of his just Dues has kept him out of
Business--He also suffers by a short Allowance of Interest on the Gratuity
granted to him for an important service. Congress ordered 12,000 Livres
to be paid him for that service, in France. The Payment there would
have been and it was intended to be an advantage to him. It was paid to
him in America, and not till the last year--Should not the interest on
that sum have commenced in 1777 when the service was performed instead
of 79 as it is now settled? But his greatest Grievance, in which indeed
he is a sufferer in common with others is the Detention of Prize Money
--You recollect this mysterious Business and how often we were written to,
and very pressingly by my worthy Friend your Brother. We have been
lately told that Capt. Paul Jones has received a large sum on that
account. This Jones Captn. Landais looks upon as his inveterate Enemy &
he has not the least Confidence in him--If you think as I do that he has a
Right to authentick copies of Letters written by Jones to Congress or
any of the Boards on an affair so interesting to him, on his proper
application, your Advice to him on this as well as his other concerns
will add to the obligations I am already under to you.

Will you be so kind as to transmit me the names of the present Members
of Congress and the States they severally represent,--

I am

Your affectionate Friend1

1A letter by Adams to Rufus King, dated January 30, 1786, is in Life
and Correspondence of Rufus King, vol. i., pp. 153, 154.

1786

TO JOHN ADAMS.

[MS., Adams Papers, Quincy; a text is in John Adams, Works, vol. ix.,
p. 547.]

BOSTON April 13 1786

DEAR SIR

Doctor Gordon is to deliver you this Letter. He is going to the Land of
his Nativity, wishing for the best Happiness of his own Country & ours
and hoping that mutual Affection will be at length restored, as the
only Means of the prosperity of both. As he determines to spend the
Remainder of his Days in the Country where he was born, what rational
Man who considers the Ties of human Nature will wonder, if "Esto
perpetua" is his most ardent Prayer for her! But the Attachments he has
made here, his private Friendships and the Part he has taken in our
publick Cause afford Reason to believe that his second Wish is for us.
I am affraid however, that the Doctor builds too much upon the Hopes of
the Return of mutual Affection; for Can this exist without Forgivness
of Injury, and Can his Country ever cordially forgive ours whom she
intended to injure so greatly? Her very Disappointment will perpetually
irritate her own Feelings and in Spite of Reason or Religion prevent
her conceiving a Sentiment of Friendship for us. And besides, she will
never believe that there is a Possibility that we can forgive her. We
must therefore be content, at least for a great While to come, to live
with her as a prudent Man will with one who indeed has professd a
Friendship for him, but whose Sincerity he has Reason vehemently to
suspect; guarding against Injury from him by making it his Interest to
do as little as possible. This is an arduous Task our Country has
committed to you. Trade is a Matter I have had so little to do with,
that it is not in my Power to aid you in this more than in any one
thing else. May He who has endued you with a Strength of Understanding
which your Country confides in afford you all that Light which is
necessary for so great an Undertaking!

The Child 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.-- Adieu my Friend. Mrs Adams desires your Lady & Family may
be assured of her cordial Esteem & Love.

Believe that I am very affectionately

Your Friend

& humble Servant

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