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 Genl 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.
"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
Massachusetts, 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 Massachusetts 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 assure 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 Compass. You speak of "Neglect," "Ingratitude" &c. But let us
entertain just Sentiments. A Citizen owes everything to the
Commonwealth. And after he has made his utmost Exertions for its
Prosperity, has he done more than his Duty? When Time enfeebles his
Powers & 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 Massachusetts.
ARTICLE, UNSIGNED.
[Boston Gazette, April 16, 1781; a draft is in the Samuel Adams Papers,
Lenox Library.1]
Extract of a Letter from the Southward.
"BEFORE this will reach you, your Countrymen will have finished the
important business of electing their Legislators, Magistrates and
Governors for the ensuing year. I hope they have made a wise choice. At
least, from the opinion I entertain of their virtue, I am persuaded
they have acted with all that deliberation and caution which the
solemnity of the transaction required. They may then reflect, each one
on his own integrity, and appeal to the Monitor within his breast, that
he has not trifled with the sacred trust reposed in him by GOD and his
country--that he has not prostituted his honor and conscience to please a
friend or a patron --that he has not been influenced with the view of
private emolument to himself and his family, but has faithfully given
his vote for the candidate whom he thought most worthy the choice of
free and virtuous citizens--I congratulate that Legislator, Magistrate &
Governor, who knows that neither smiles, entreaties, gifts,
dissimulation, intrigue, nor any base and dishonorable practices have
procured him this exalted station. His fellow citizens, unsollicited by
him, have called him into their service, from the opinion they have
formed of his integrity and adequate abilities.--He feels himself happy in
their opinion of him--happy is he indeed, if he is conscious he deserves
it.