The Writings of Samuel Adams, volume II (1770 1773)

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He also says that "the people of Ireland were under the same
mistake" with our ancestors; that is, in thinking themselves exempt
from the controul of English acts of parliament. But nothing drops
from his pen to shew that this was a mistake, excepting that
"particular persons in Ireland did pennance for advancing and
adhering to those principles." The same mighty force of reasoning is
used to prove that this colony was mistaken, viz. "They suffer'd the
loss of the charter." Such arguments may serve to evince the power
of the parent state, but neither its wisdom nor justice appears from
them. The sense of the nation however was very different after the
revolution. The House of Commons voted the judgment against the
Charter a Grievance; and a bill was brought in and passed that house
for restoring the Charters, among which that of this province was
expresly mentioned; notwithstanding the mistake abovemention'd was
one great article of charge against it. But the parliament was
proroug'd sooner than was expected, by reason of the King's going to
Ireland.

Our historian tells his readers by way of consolation, that "it may
serve as some excuse for our ancestors, but they were not alone in
their mistaken apprehensions of the nature of their subjection"; and
he appears to be mighty glad that "so sensible a gentleman as Mr.
Molineux, the friend of Mr. Locke, engag'd in the cause". But we
want no excuse for any supposed mistakes of our ancestors. Let us
first see it prov'd that they were mistakes. 'Till then we must hold
ourselves obliged to them for sentiments transmitted to us so worthy
of their character, and so important to our security: And we shall
esteem the arguments of so sensible, and it might justly be added,
so learned a gentleman as Mr. Molineux, especially as they had the
approbation of his friend Mr. Locke to be valid, while we see
nothing to oppose them, but the unsupported opinion of Mr.
Hutchinson.

VALERIUS POPLICOLA.

1 Attributed to Adams by Wells and by Bancroft, and also by the
annotations of the Dorr file of the Gazette.
2 Mr. Vattel, law of nature and nations.
3 Hooker's Eccl. Poi.

TO ARTHUR LEE.

[Ms., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library a text with variations is
in R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. ii., pp. 184-187.]
BOSTON Octob 31 1771.

Sir

I Inclose a printed Copy of a Resolve of the Council of this
province, whereby Junius Americanus is censurd for asserting that
the late Secretary Oliver stood recorded in the Councils Books as a
perjurd traitor. You may easily suppose that the Friends of America
for whom that Writer has been & is a firm & able Advocate, resent
this Conduct of the Council whose Ingratitude to say nothing of the
Injustice of this proceeding is the more extraordinary as Junius
Americanus has taken so much pains to vindicate that very Body
against the malignant Aspersions of Bernard & others. There was
however only Eight of twenty six Councellors present when they were
prevaild upon by an artful man to pass this Resolve. You will see by
the inclosd some remarks upon the former proceedings of the Council,
or rather a recital of parts of them, by which I think it appears
that the Assertion could not be groundless nor malicious; nor can it
be false if their own publication is true. I can conceive that the
Design of the first mover of this Resolve was to injure the Credit
of all the Writings of Junius Americanus, which I believe he very
sensibly feels, & also to make it appear to the World that the
Council, as they had before said of the House, had departed from &
disavowd the Sentiments of former Assemblys; and that this Change
has been effected by the Influence of Mr. Hutchinson. With Regard to
the Council, it is hardly possible for any one at a distance to
ascertain their political Sentiments from what they see of their
determinations publishd here in general, for it has been the
practice of the Governor to summon a general Council at the Time
when the Assembly is sitting & of Course the whole Number of
Councillors is present - but in their Capacity of Advisers to the
Governor they are adjournd from week to week during the Session of
the Assembly & till it is over when the Country Gentlemen Members of
Council return home. Thus the general Council being kept alive by
Adjournments, the principal & most important part of the Business of
their executive department is done by seven or eight who live in &
about the Town, & if the Governor can manage a Majority of so small
a Number, Matters will be conducted according to his mind. I believe
I may safely affirm that by far the greater Number of civil officers
have been appointed at these adjournments; so that it is much the
same as if they were appointed solely by our ostensible Governor or
rather by his Master, the Minister for the time being. You will not
then be surprisd if I tell you that among the five Judges of our
Superior Court of Justice, there are the following near Connections
with the first & second in Station in the province. Mr Lynde is
Chiefe Justice; his Daughter is married to the Son of Mr Oliver, the
Lt Govr; Mr Oliver another of the Judges is his Brother; his Son
married Gov Hutchinsons Daughter; & Judge Hutchinson lately
appointed, who is also Judge of the probate of Wills for the first
County, an important department, is the Govrs brother. Besides which
the young Mr Oliver is a Justice of the Common pleas for the County
of Essex. Mr Cotton a Brother in Law of the Govr is deputy Secretary
of the province & Register in the probate office under Mr
Hutchinson; a cousin german of the Govr was sent for out of another
province to fill up the place of Clerk to the Common pleas in this
County; & the eldest Son of the Govr will probably soon be appointed
a Justice of the same Court in the room of his Uncle advancd to the
superior bench. I should have first mentiond that the Gov & the Lt
Gov' are Brothers by Marriage.

The House of Representatives, notwithstanding the Advantages which a
new Governor always has in his hands I have reason to think will be
so firm as at least not to give up any Right. The Body of the people
are uneasy at the large Strides that are made & making towards an
absolute Tyranny - many are alarmd but are of different Sentiments
with regard to the next step to be taken - some indeed think that
every Step has been taken but one & the ultima Ratio would require
prudence unanimity and fortitude. The Conspirators against our
Liberties are employing all their Influence to divide the people,
partly by intimidating them for which purpose a fleet of Ships lies
within gun Shot of the Town & the Capital Fort within three miles of
it is garrisond by the Kings Troops, and partly by Arts & Intrigue;
by flattering those who are pleasd with Flattery; forming
Connections with them, introducing Levity Luxury & Indolence &
assuring them that if they are quiet the Ministry will alter their
Measures. I fear some of the Southern Colonies are taken with this
Bait, for we see hardly anything in their publick papers but
Advertisements of the Baubles of Britain for sale. This is the
general Appearance of things here while the people are anxiously
waiting for some happy Event from your side the Water - for my own
part I confess I have no great Expectations from thence, & have long
been of Opinion that America herself under God must finally work out
her own Salvation.

I have been told by a friend that a Manuscript has been sent from
hence upon the Subject of the Tryals of Preston & the Soldiers, for
your perusal entitled a Hue & Cry &c. Had I seen & thought it
answerable to what I have heard of it, I should have endeavord to
have had it publishd here. I wish it had been or still might be
publishd in London if you have seen it & think it worth while,
subject entirely to your Correction and Amendment. But after all
what will the best & most animating publications signify, if the
many are willing to submit & be enslavd by the few.

I wrote you about a fortnight past by Capt. Hood1 & can add nothing
more at present but that I am sincerely
your friend & hbl servt

1 See above, page 230.

TO JOSEPH ALLEN.

[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library; a text is in W. V. Wells,
Life of Samuel Adams, vol. i., pp. 342, 343.]

Nov 7 1771

DEAR KINSMAN

As you are just now setting out on the Journey of Life, give me
leave to express to you my ardent Wish that you may meet with all
that prosperity which shall be consistent with your real happiness.
I cannot but think you have a good prospect; yet your path will in
all probability be uneven: Sometimes you must expect like all other
Travellers, to meet with Difficulties on the Road; let me therefore
recommend to you the Advice of one of the Ancients, a Man of
sterling Sense, tho a Heathen. "OEquam memento Rebus in arduis,
servare mentem." In the busy Scenes of Life, you may now and then be
disposd to drive on hard, & make rather too much haste to be rich;
you will then be upon your Guard against Temptations which if
yielded to, will poison the Streams of all future Comfort: You will
then in a more particular manner, impress upon your mind the advice
of an inspired writer, to "maintain a Conscience void of offence." I
do not flatter you when I say, you have hitherto supported a good
reputation: You will still preserve it unsullied; remembering that a
good name is your Life.

ARTICLE SIGNED "CANDIDUS."

[Boston Gazette, November 11, 1771.]

Messieurs EDES & GILL,

WE read that "Jeroboam the Son of Nebat made Israel to sin": For
this he "stands recorded" and repeatedly stigmatiz'd, in the sacred
volumn, as a "perjur'd Traitor," and a Rebel against GOD and his
Country. However mysterious fawning priests and flatterers may
affect to think it, Kings and Governors may be guilty of treason and
rebellion: And they have in general in all ages and countries been
more frequently guilty of it, than their subjects. Nay, what has
been commonly called rebellion in the people, has often been nothing
else but a manly & glorious struggle in opposition to the lawless
power of rebellious Kings and Princes; who being elevated above the
rest of mankind, and paid by them only to be their protectors, have
been taught by enthusiasts to believe they were authoriz'd by GOD to
enslave and butcher them! It is not uncommon for men, by their own
inattention and folly, to suffer those things which an all-gracious
providence design'd for their good, to become the greatest evils. If
we look into the present state of the world, I believe this will
hold good with regard to civil government in general: And the
history of past ages will inform us, that even those civil
institutions which have been best calculated for the safety and
happiness of the people, have sooner or later degenerated into
settled tyranny; which can no more be called civil government, and
is in fact upon some accounts a state much more to be deprecated
than anarchy itself. It may be said of each, that it is a state of
war: And it is beyond measure astonishing that free people can see
the miseries of such a state approaching to them with large and
hasty strides, and suffer themselves to be deluded by the artful
insinuations of a man in tower, and his indefatigable sychophants,
into a full perswasion that their liberties are in no danger. May we
not be allow'd to adopt the language of scripture, and apply it upon
so important a consideration; that seeing, men will see and not
perceive, and hearing, they will hear and not understand?

Jeroboam must needs have been a very wicked Governor: And he
discover'd so much of the malignancy of treason against his people,
in making them to sin against the supreme Being upon whose power and
protection the welfare of nations as well as individuals so
manifestly depends, and by whose goodness that people in particular
were so greatly oblig'd, that one would have thought, they would
upon a retrospect of their folly, in being thus seduc'd, have
testified to future generations their just resentment and
indignation, by at least dethroning so impious a traitor. Perhaps
they relented when they consider'd that their Governor was "born and
educated among them": But this heightened his wickedness; as it
might have convinc'd them, that he was as destitute of the common
feelings of love for one's native country, as he was of religion and
piety. This, and many other instances of later date may serve to
show, that the people have no solid reason to depend upon every man
that he will be a good Governor, merely because of his having had
his birth and education among them; as well as the folly and
wickedness of priests and minions, who would from such a
circumstance endeavor to dupe the people into a perswasion of their
security under any man's administration. - The sin which the people
of Israel were prevail'd upon by Jeroboam the son of Nebat to
commit, respected their religious worship on a Thanksgiving day: He
had ordained a solemn festival to be kept at Bethel; in which, it
seems, he had a particular view to serve a political purpose: And
the people knew it, although he had artfully endeavored to colour it
with a plausible appearance. At this festival, through his
influence, they sacrificed unto Calves! This was the dire effect of
their foolish adulation of their Governor, while they professed to
observe a day set apart in honor to the King of kings. - Their
thanksgiving began with prophaness & ended in idolatry; or rather it
began & ended with both. There is no question but the priests were
the vicegerents of the Governor, or his heralds to publish his
impious proclamations to the people. But is it not strange that the
people were so king-ridden and priest-ridden, especially in matters
which concern'd their Religion, as to look upon the joint authority
of their Governor and Clergy, sufficient to justify them in sinning
against the authority of God himself: and in acting in open violation
of his law, revealed to them from Heaven with signs and miracles at
Mount Sinai, and register'd in their book of the law, as well as
engrav'd on the tables of their hearts! - It is no unusual thing for
people to complement their Governors with the sacrifice of their
consciences, after they have surrender'd to them their civil liberty,
which had been the folly of that people long before; for they grew
weary of their liberty in the days of Samuel the prophet, and
exchanged that civil government which the wisdom of heaven had
prescribed to them, for an absolute despotic monarchy; that they might
in that regard be like the nations round about them. - Even in these
enlightened times, the people in some parts of the world are so
bewitched by the enchantments of priest-craft and king- craft, as to
believe that tho' they sin against their own consciences, in
compliance with the instruction of the one, or in obedience to the
command of the other, they shall never suffer, but shall be rewarded
in the world to come, for being so implicitly subject to the higher
powers: And the experience of the world tells us that there are, and
always have been various ways of rewarding them for it in this world.
On the contrary, if they hesitate to declare a blind belief in the
most palpable absurdities in government and religion, they are sure to
fall into the immediate hands of spiritual inquisitors, to be whipped
and tortured into an acknowledgment of the error, or threatened with
the further pains of eternal damnation if they persist in their
contumacy. Thanks be to GOD, there is not yet so formidable a junction
of the secular and ecclesiastical powers in this country; and there is
reason to hope there are but few of the clergy who would desire it.
Yet such is the deplorable condition we are in, and so notorious is it
to all, that should any man, be he who he may, tell me that our civil
liberties were continued, or that our religious privileges were not in
danger, I should detest him, if in his senses, as a perfidious man.
And if any clergyman should in compliance with the humours or designs
of a man in power, echo such a false declaration in the church of GOD,
he would in my opinion do well seriously to consider, whether an
excessive complaisance may not have betrayed him into the sin of
Ananias and Saphira, in lying against the Holy Ghost! This is a most
weighty consideration: But the times require plain dealing. We hope
and believe, nay we know that there are more than seven thousand who
will never bow the knee to Baal, or servilely submit to Tyranny,
temporal or spiritual: But are we not fallen into an age when some
even of the Clergy think it no shame to flatter the Idol; and
thereby to lay the people, as in the days of Jeroboam, the son of
Nebat, under a temptation to commit great wickedness, and sin
against God? Let us beware of the poison of flattery - If the people
are tainted with this folly, they will never have VIRTUE enough to
demand a restoration of their liberties in the very face of a
TYRANT, if the necessity of the times should call for so noble an
exertion. And how soon there may be such NECESSITY, GOD only knows.
May HE grant them FORTITUDE as well as SOUND PRUDENCE in the day of
TRIAL! He who can flatter a despot, or be flattered by him, without
feeling the remonstrances of his own mind against it, may be
remarkable for the guise and appearance of sanctity, but he has very
little if any true religion - If he habitually allows himself in it,
without any remorse, he is a hardened impenitent sinner against GOD
and his COUNTRY. Whatever his profession may be, he is not fit to be
trusted; and when once discover'd, he will never be trusted by any
but fools and children. To complement a great man to the injury of
truth and liberty, may be in the opinion of a very degenerate age,
the part of a polite and well-bred gentleman - Wise men however will
denominate him a Traitor or a Fool. But how much more aggravated
must be the folly and madness of those, who instead of worshipping
GOD in the solemn assembly, "in spirit and in truth," can utter a
lie TO HIM!! -in order to render themselves acceptable to a man who
is a worm or to the son of a man who is a worm.

CANDIDUS.

TO ARTHUR LEE.

[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library; a text with variations is
in R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. ii., pp. 187-189.]

BOSTON Novr 13 1771.

MY DEAR SIR, - Several Vessells have lately arrivd from London, but
I have not had the pleasure of a Line from you by either of them.
Since the Resolve of Council, by which Junius Americanus was so
severely censurd, there has been a proclamation issued by the
Governor with their Advice, for a general Thanksgiving which has
been the practice of the Country at this time of the year from its
first Settlement. The pious proclamation has given the greatest
offence to the people in general, as it appears evidently to be
calculated to serve the purpose of the British Administration,
rather than that of Religion. We were the last year called upon to
thank the Almighty for the Blessings of the Administration of
Government, in this Province, which many lookd upon as an impious
Farce. Now we are demurely exhorted to render our hearty & humble
Thanks to the same omniscient Being for the Continuance of our civil
& religious Privileges & the Enlargement of our Trade. This I imagine
was contrivd to try the feelings of the people; and if the Governor
could dupe the Clergy as he had the Council, & they the people, so
that the proclamation should be read as usual in our Churches, he
would have nothing to do but acquaint Lord Hillsborough that most
certainly the people in General acquiescd in the measures of
Government, since they had appealed even to God himself that
notwithstanding the faction & turbulence of a party, their Liberties
were continued & their Trade enlargd. I am at a loss to say whether
this measure was more insolent to the people or affrontive to the
Majesty of Heaven, neither of whom however a modern Politician
regards, if at all, so much as the Smiles of his noble Patron. But
the people saw thro it in general, & openly declared that they would
not hear the proclamation read. The Consequence was, that it was
read in but two of all our Churches in this Town consisting of
twelve besides three Episcopalian Churches; there indeed it has not
been customary ever to read them. Of those two Clergymen who read
it, one of them being a Stranger in the province, & having been
settled but about Six Weeks, performd the servile task a week before
the usual Time when the people were not aware of it, they were
however much disgusted at it. The Minister of the other is a known
Flatterer of the Governor & is the very person who formd the fulsome
Address of which I wrote you some time ago - he was deserted by a
great number of his Auditory in the midst of his reading. Thus every
Art is practisd & every Tool employd to make it appear as if this
people were easy in their Chains, & that this great revolution is
brought about by the inimitable Address of Mr Hutchinson. There is
one part of the proclamation which I think deserves Notice on your
side the Water, & that relates to the Accommodation with the
Spaniards in the Affair of Faulkland Island. This must have been
referrd to under the Terms of the preservation of the peace of
Europe. From what I wrote you last you cannot wonder if the Governor
carrys any thing he pleases in his Divan here. His last Manoevre has
exposd him more than any thing. Ne lude cum sacris is a proverb.
Should he once lose the Reputation which his friends have with the
utmost pains been building for him among the Clergy for these thirty
years past, as a consummate Saint, he must fall like Samson when his
Locks were cut off. The people are determind to keep their Day of
Festivity but not for all the purposes of the infamous proclamation.
I beg you would omit no Opportunity of writing to me & be assured
that I am in a Stile too much out of fashion

Your Friend

ARTICLE SIGNED "COTTON MATHER."1

[Boston Gazette, November 25, 1771.]

MESSIEURS EDES & GILL,

Mucius SCAEVOLA, a writer whom I very much admire, tells us, "A
Massachusetts Governor the King by Compact may nominate and appoint,
but not pay: For his support he must stipulate with the people, &
until he does, he is no legal Governor; without this, if he undertakes
to rule he is a USURPER." - These sentiments have given great disgust
to the Governor & Council, and the publisher, it is said, is to be
prosecuted: But if he has spoken the words of truth and soberness,
why should he be punished? Is there any man in the community that
can procure harm in a process of law, to him who speaks necessary
and important truths? If there be such a man, mark him for a Tyrant.
Is there any man whose publick conduct will not bear the scrutiny of
truth? he is a Traitor, and it is high time he was pointed out.

I have upon this occasion looked into the Charter of the province in
which the COMPACT between the King and the people is contain'd, and
I find not a single word about the King's paying his Governor. If
therefore the Charter is altogether silent about it, Mucius is
certainly to be justified in saying that by the compact the King may
not pay him; that is, there is nothing in the Charter to warrant it.
But it is asked, whether the King may not pay his Governor
notwithstanding? And ought it not to be looked upon as a mark of
royal bounty and goodness, thus to save the people from being
"burdened by a tax upon their polls and estates for a Governor's
support?" This is the Court language; and great pains have been
taken by some gentlemen, whose particular business it is to ride
through the several counties, to spread it in every part of the
province. But it has a tendency to mislead and ensnare. It no doubt
sounds very agreeably in the ears of an unwary man, that by this
ministerial manoeuvre, the province have a saving of a thousand
pounds sterling every year, for the support of a Governor. Let us
consider the matter a little. Did not our ancestors, when they
accepted this Charter, understand that they had contracted for a
free government? And did not the King on his part intend that it
should be so? Was it not understood, that by this contract every
power of government was to be under a check adequate to the
importance of it, without which, according to the best reasoners on
government, and the experience of mankind in all ages of the world,
that power must be a tyranny? Undoubtedly it was the sense of both
parties in the contract, that the government to be erected by the
Charter, should be a free government, and that every power of it
should be properly controuled in order to constitute it so. I would
then ask, what weight remains in the scale of the democratick part
of the constitution to check the monarchick in the hands of the
governor, if the king has not only an uncontroulable power to
nominate and appoint a governor, but may pay him too? If any one
will point out to me a sufficient weight to balance the scale, I
will differ from Mucius: But until that is done, I must be of his
mind, that the king has no right to pay his governor: "For that, he
must stipulate with the people;" otherwise our civil constitution is
rendered materially different from what the contracting parties
intended it should be, viz, a free constitution. It places the
governor in such a state of independency as must make any man
formidable. - It puts it in his power in many instances to act the
tyrant, even under the appearance of all the forms of the
constitution. The man who is possessed of a power to act the tyrant
when he thinks proper, let him become possessed of it as he may, is
at least an USURPER of power that cannot belong to him in any free
state - Power is intoxicating: There have been few men, if any, who
when possessed of an unrestrained power, have not made a very bad
use of it - They have generally exercised such a power to the terror
both of the good and the evil, and of the good more than the evil -
While a governor is possessed of a power without any other check
than that which the constitution has provided, upon a supposition
that the king by charter may pay him as well as appoint him, for
aught I can see, under such an administration as the present, I mean
in England, he may make the people slaves as soon as he pleases and
keep them so as long as he pleases. I have heard it asked, What! may
not the king make a present to his governor of fifteen hundred
sterling every year, if he sees fit? Is not his MAJESTY allowed to
be upon a footing with even a private subject? This reasoning is
very plausible, but I think not just. In some respects the king is
more restrained than the lowest of his subjects. He may not for
instance, turn a Roman Catholic, or marry one of that religion and
hold his crown: He forfeits it by law if he does. And why? Because
it has been found that the Roman Catholic principles are
inconsistent with the principles of the British constitution, which
is the rule of his government. And there is the same reason why the
governor who is appointed by the crown, should stipulate with the
people for his support, if that mutual check among the several
powers of government, which is essential to every free constitution,
is otherwise destroyed. - If the king's paying or making yearly
presents to his governor, renders him a different being in the state
from that which the Charter intends he shall be, and that to the
prejudice of the people, the king by the compact may not pay him,
for in such a case, it would be inconsistent with the principles of
our constitution - No king can have a right to put it in the power
of his governor to become a tyrant, or govern arbitrarily; for he
cannot be a tyrant or govern arbitrarily himself.

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