the rights of the people, repeat the Latin adage _vox populi vox
Dei_, and tell us that government in the dernier resort is in the
people; they chime away melodiously, and to render their music more
ravishing, tell us, that these are _revolution_ principles. I hold
the rights of the people as sacred, and revere the principles, that
have established the succession to the imperial Crown of Great
Britain, in the line of the illustrious house of Brunswick; but that
the difficulty lies in applying them to the cause of the whigs, _hic
labor hoc opus est_; for admitting that the collective body of the
people, that are subject to the British empire, have an inherent
right to change their form of government, or race of kings, it does
not follow, that the inhabitants of a single province, or of a number
of provinces, or any given part under a majority of the whole empire,
have such a right. By admitting that the less may rule or sequester
themselves from the greater, we unhinge all government. Novanglus
has accused me of traducing the people of this province. I deny the
charge. Popular demagogues always call themselves the people, and
when their own measures are censured, cry out, the people, the people
are abused and insulted. He says, that I once entertained different
sentiments from those now advanced. I did not write to exculpate
myself. If through ignorance, inadvertence or design, I have
heretofore contributed in any degree, to the forming that destructive
system of politics that is now in vogue, I was under the greater
obligation thus publicly to expose its errors, and point out its
pernicious tendency. He suggests, that I write from sordid motives.
I despise the imputation. I have written my real sentiments not to
serve a party (for, as he justly observes, I have sometimes quarreled
with my friends) but to serve the public; nor would I injure my
country to inherit all the treasures that avarice and ambition sigh
for. Fully convinced, that our calamities were chiefly created by the
leading whigs, and that a persevering in the same measures that gave
rise to our troubles would complete our ruin, I have written freely.
It is painful to me to give offence to an individual, but I have
not spared the ruinous policy of my brother or my friend; they are
both far advanced. Truth, from its own energy, will finally prevail;
but to have a speedy effect, it must sometimes be accompanied with
severity. The terms whig and tory have been adopted according to
the arbitrary use of them in this province, but they rather ought
to be reversed; an American tory is a supporter of our excellent
constitution, and an American whig a subverter of it.
Novanglus abuses me, for saying, that the whigs aim at independence.
The writer from Hampshire county is my advocate. He frankly asserts
the independency of the colonies without any reserve; and is the
only consistent writer I have met with on that side of the question.
For by separating us from the king as well as the parliament, he
is under no necessity of contradicting himself. Novanglus strives
to hide the inconsistencies of his hypothesis, under a huge pile
of learning. Surely he is not to learn, that arguments drawn from
obsolete maxims, raked out of the ruins of the feudal system, or from
principles of absolute monarchy, will not conclude to the present
constitution of government. When he has finished his essays, he may
expect some particular remarks upon them. I should not have taken
the trouble of writing these letters, had I not been satisfied that
real and permanent good would accrue to this province, and indeed to
all the colonies, from a speedy change of measures. Public justice
and generosity are no less characteristic of the English, than their
private honesty and hospitality. The total repeal of the stamp act,
and the partial repeal of the act imposing duties on paper, &c. may
convince us that the nation has no disposition to injure us. We
are blessed with a king that reflects honor upon a crown. He is so
far from being avaricious, that he has relinquished a part of his
revenue; and so far from being tyrannical, that he has generously
surrendered part of his prerogative for the sake of freedom. His
court is so far from being tinctured with dissipation, that the
palace is rather an academy of the literati, and the royal pair
are as exemplary in every private virtue, as they are exalted in
their stations. We have only to cease contending with the supreme
legislature, respecting its authority, with the king respecting his
prerogatives, and with Great Britain respecting our subordination;
to dismiss our illegal committees, disband our forces, despise
the thraldom _arrogant congresses_, and submit to constitutional
government, to be happy.
Many appear to consider themselves as _procul a Jove a fulmine
procul_; and because we never have experienced any severity from
Great Britain, think it impossible that we should. The English
nation will bear much from its friends; but whoever has read its
history must know, that there is a line that cannot be passed with
impunity. It is not the fault of our patriots if that line be not
already passed. They have demanded of Great Britain more than she can
grant, consistent with honor, her interest, or our own, and are now
brandishing the sword of defiance.
Do you expect to conquer in war? War is no longer a simple, but an
intricate science, not to be learned from books or two or three
campaigns, but from long experience. You need not be told that his
majesty's generals, Gage and Haldimand, are possessed of every talent
requisite to great commanders, matured by long experience in many
parts of the world, and stand high in military fame: that many of
the officers have been bred to arms from their infancy, and a large
proportion of the army _now_ here, have already reaped immortal
honors in the iron harvest of the field.--Alas! My friends, you have
nothing to oppose to this force, but a militia unused to service,
impatient of command, and destitute of resources. Can your officers
depend upon the privates, or the privates upon the officers? Your war
can be but little more than mere tumultuary rage: and besides, there
is an awful disparity between troops that fight the battles of their
sovereign, and those that follow the standard of rebellion. These
reflections may arrest you in an hour that you think not of, and come
too late to serve you. Nothing short of a miracle could gain you one
battle; but could you destroy all the British troops that are now
here, and burn the men of war that command our coast, it would be
but the beginning of sorrow; and yet without a decisive battle, one
campaign would ruin you. This province does not produce its necessary
provision, when the husbandman can pursue his calling without
molestation: what then must be your condition, when the demand
shall be increased, and the resource in a manner cut off? Figure to
yourselves what must be your distress, should your wives and children
be driven from such places, as the king's troops shall occupy, into
the interior parts of the province, and they as well as you, be
destitute of support. I take no pleasure in painting these scenes
of distress. The whigs affect to divert you from them by ridicule;
but should war commence, you can expect nothing but its severities.
Might I hazard an opinion, but few of your leaders ever intended
to engage in hostilities, but they may have rendered inevitable
what they intended for intimidation. Those that unsheath the sword
of rebellion may throw away the scabbard, they cannot be treated
with, while in arms; and if they lay them down, they are in no other
predicament than conquered rebels. The conquered in other wars do not
forfeit the rights of men, nor all the rights of citizens, even their
bravery is rewarded by a generous victor; far different is the case
of a routed rebel host. My dear countrymen, you have before you, at
your election, peace or war, happiness or misery. May the God of our
forefathers direct you in the way that leads to peace and happiness,
before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, before the evil days
come, wherein you shall say, we have no pleasure in them.
MASSACHUSETTENSIS.
LETTERS
FROM THE
HON. JOHN ADAMS,
TO THE
HON. WM. TUDOR, AND OTHERS,
ON THE
EVENTS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE WEEKLY REGISTER.
_Quincy_, _January_ 14, 1818.
MR. NILES,
In a former letter I hazarded an opinion, that the true history of
the American revolution could not be recovered. I had many reasons
for that apprehension; one of which I will attempt to explain.
Of the determination of the British cabinet to assert and maintain
the sovereign authority of parliament over the colonies, in all
cases of taxation and internal policy, the first demonstration which
arrived in America was an _order in council_ to the officers of the
customs in Massachusetts Bay, to carry into execution _the acts of
trade_, and to apply to the supreme judicature of the province for
_writs of assistance_, to authorise them to break and enter all
houses, cellars, stores, shops, ships, bales, casks, &c. to search
and seize all goods, wares, and merchandizes, on which the taxes
imposed by those acts had not been paid.
Mr. Cockle, of Salem, a deputy under Mr. Paxton, of Boston,
the collector of the customs, petitioned the superior court in
Salem, in November, 1760, for such a writ. The court doubted its
constitutionality, and consequently its legality; but as the king's
order ought to be considered, they ordered the question to be argued
before them, by counsel, at the next February term in Boston.
The community was greatly alarmed. The merchants of Salem and of
Boston, applied to Mr. Otis to defend them and their country, against
that formidable instrument of arbitrary power. They tendered him rich
fees; he engaged in their cause, but would accept no fees.
JAMES OTIS, of Boston, sprung from families among the earliest of the
planters of the colonies, and the most respectable in rank, while the
word rank, and the idea annexed to it, were tolerated in America.
He was a gentleman of general science, and extensive literature. He
had been an indefatigable student during the whole course of his
education in college, and at the bar. He was well versed in Greek
and Roman history, philosophy, oratory, poetry, and mythology, His
classical studies had been unusually ardent, and his acquisitions
uncommonly great. He had composed a treatise on Latin prosody,
which he lent to me, and I urged him to print. He consented. It is
extant, and may speak for itself. It has been lately reviewed in
the Anthology by one of our best scholars, at a mature age, and in
a respectable station. He had also composed, with equal skill and
great labour, a treatise on Greek prosody. This he also lent me,
and, by his indulgence, I had it in my possession six months. When I
returned it, I begged him to print it. He said there were no Greek
types in the country, or, if there were, there was no printer who
knew how to use them. He was a passionate admirer of the Greek poets,
especially of Homer; and he said it was in vain to attempt to read
the poets in any language, without being master of their prosody.
This classic scholar was also a great master of the laws of nature
and nations. He had read Puffendorph, Grotius, Barbeyrac, Burlamaqui,
Vattel, Heineccius; and, in the civil law, Domal, Justinian, and,
upon occasions, consulted the _corpus juris_ at large. It was a maxim
which he inculcated on his pupils, as his patron in profession, Mr.
Gridley, had done before him, "_that a lawyer ought never to be
without a volume of natural or public law, or moral philosophy, on
his table, or in his pocket_." In the history, the common law, and
statute laws of England, he had no superior, at least in Boston.
Thus qualified to resist the system of usurpation and despotism,
meditated by the British ministry, under the auspices of the earl of
Bute, Mr. Otis resigned his commission from the crown, as advocate
general, an office very lucrative at that time, and a sure road to
the highest favours of government in America, and engaged in the
cause of his country without fee or reward. His argument, speech,
discourse, oration, harangue--call it by which name you will, was the
most impressive upon his crowded audience of any, that I ever heard
before or since, excepting only many speeches by himself in Faneuil
Hall, and in the House of Representatives, which he made from time to
time, for ten years afterwards. There were no stenographers in those
days. Speeches were not printed; and all that was not remembered,
like the harangues of Indian orators, was lost in air. Who, at the
distance of fifty seven years, would attempt, upon memory, to give
even a sketch of it. Some of the heads are remembered, out of which
Livy or Sallust would not scruple to compose an oration for history.
I shall not essay an analysis or a sketch of it, at present. I shall
only essay an analysis or a sketch of it, at present. [Transcriber's
Note: This last sentence appears to be a printer error.] I shall only
say, and I do say in the most solemn manner, that Mr. Otis's oration,
against _writs of assistance_, breathed into this nation the breath
of life.
Although Mr. Otis had never before interfered in public affairs,
his exertions, on this single occasion, secured him a commanding
popularity with the friends of their country, and the terror and
vengeance of her enemies; neither of which ever deserted him.
At the next election, in May, 1761, he was elected, by a vast
majority, a representative in the legislature, of the town of Boston,
and continued to be so elected annually for nine years. Here, at
the head of the country interest, he conducted her cause with a
fortitude, prudence, ability and perseverance which has never been
exceeded in America, at every sacrifice of health, pleasure, profit
and reputation, and against all the powers of government, and all the
talents, learning, wit, scurrility and insolence of its prostitutes.
Hampden was shot in open field of battle. Otis was basely
assassinated in a coffee house, in the night, by a well dressed
banditti, with a commissioner of the customs at their head.
During the period of nine years, that Mr. Otis was at the head of
the cause of his country, he held correspondence with gentlemen in
England, Scotland and various colonies in America. He must have
written and received many letters, collected many pamphlets, and,
probably, composed manuscripts, which might have illustrated the
rising dawn of the revolution.
After my return from Europe, I asked his daughter whether she had
found among her father's manuscripts, a treatise on Greek prosody?
With hands and eyes uplifted, in a paroxysm of grief, she cried, "Oh!
sir, I have not a line from my father's pen. I have not even his name
in his own hand writing." When she was a little calmed, I asked her,
"Who has his papers? Where are they?" She answered, "They are no
more. In one of those unhappy dispositions of mind, which distressed
him after his great misfortune, and a little before his death, he
collected all his papers and pamphlets and committed them to the
flames.--He was several days employed in it."
I cannot enlarge. I submit this hint to your reflections. Enclosed
is a morsel of verse, written soon after Mr. Otis's death, by a very
young gentleman, who is now one of our excellent magistrates. If you
do not think fit to print this letter and that verse, I pray you to
return them to
JOHN ADAMS.
_On the death of_ JAMES OTIS, _killed by lightning, at
Andover, soon after the peace of 1783, written at the time._
When flush'd with conquest and elate with pride,
Britannia's monarch Heaven's high will defy'd;
And, bent on blood, by lust of rule inclin'd,
With odious chains to vex the freeborn mind;
On these young shores set up unjust command,
And spread the _slaves of office_ round the land;
Then OTIS rose, and, great in patriot fame,
To list'ning crowds _resistance_ dar'd proclaim.
From soul to soul the bright idea ran,
The fire of freedom flew from man to man,
His pen, like _Sidney's_, made the doctrine known,
His tongue, like _Tully's_, shook a tyrant's throne.
Then men grew bold, and, in the public eye,
_The right divine of monarchs dar'd to try_;
Light shone on all, despotic darkness fled--
And for a SENTIMENT a nation bled.
From men, like OTIS, INDEPENDENCE grew,
From such beginnings empire rose to view.
Born for the world, his comprehensive mind
Scann'd the wide politics of human kind:
Bless'd with a native strength and fire of thought,
With Greek and Roman learning richly fraught,
Up to the fountain head he push'd his view,
And from first principles his maxims drew.
'Spite of the times, this truth he blaz'd abroad,
"The people's safety is the law of GOD."[2]
For this he suffered; hireling slaves combin'd
To dress in shades the brightest of mankind.
And see they come, a dark designing band,
With Murder's heart and Execution's hand.
Hold, villains! Those polluted hands restrain;
Nor that exalted head with blows profane!
A nobler end awaits his patriot head;
In other sort he'll join the illustrious dead.
Yes! when the glorious work which he begun,
Shall stand the most complete beneath the sun--
When peace shall come to crown the grand design,
His eyes shall live to see the work divine.--
The Heavens shall then his generous spirit claim,
"In storms as loud as his immortal fame."[3]
Hark!--the deep thunders echo round the skies!
On wings of flame the eternal errand flies.
One chosen, charitable bolt is sped,
And OTIS mingles with the glorious dead.
[Footnote 2: _Salus populi_, was the motto of one of his essays.]
[Footnote 3: Waller, on the death of Cromwell.]
TO THE SAME.
_Quincy_, _February_ 13, 1818.
MR. NILES,
The American Revolution was not a common event. Its effects and
consequences have already been awful over a great part of the globe.
And when and where are they to cease?
But what do we mean by the American revolution? Do we mean the
American war? The revolution was effected before the war commenced.
The revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people. A change in
their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations. While
the king, and all in authority under him, were believed to govern
in justice and mercy according to the laws and constitution derived
to them from the God of nature, and transmitted to them by their
ancestors--they thought themselves bound to pray for the king and
queen and all the royal family, and all in authority under them; as
ministers ordained of God for their good. But when they saw those
powers renouncing all the principles of authority, and bent upon
the destruction of all the securities of their lives, liberties and
properties, they thought it their duty to pray for the continental
congress and all the thirteen state congresses, &c.
There might be, and there were others, who thought less about
religion and conscience, but had certain habitual sentiments of
allegiance and loyalty derived from their education; but believing
allegiance and protection to be reciprocal, when protection was
withdrawn, they thought allegiance was dissolved.
Another alteration was common to all. The people of America had
been educated in an habitual affection for England as their mother
country; and while they thought her a kind and tender parent
(erroneously enough, however, for she never was such a mother) no
affection could be more sincere. But when they found her a cruel
Beldam, willing like lady Macbeth, to "dash their brains out," it is
no wonder if their filial affections ceased and were changed into
indignation and horror.
_This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments and
affections of the people, was the real American revolution._
By what means, this great and important alteration in the religious,
moral, political and social character of the people of thirteen
colonies, all distinct, unconnected and independent of each other,
was begun, pursued and accomplished, it is surely interesting to
humanity to investigate, and perpetuate to posterity.
To this end it is greatly to be desired that young gentlemen of
letters in all the states, especially in the thirteen original
states, would undertake the laborious, but certainly interesting and
amusing task, of searching and collecting all the records, pamphlets,
newspapers, and even handbills, which in any way contributed to
change the temper and views of _the people_ and compose them into an
independent nation.
The colonies had grown up under constitutions of government so
different, there was so great a variety of religions, they were
composed of so many different nations, their customs, manners and
habits had so little resemblance, and their intercourse had been
so rare and their knowledge of each other so imperfect, that to
unite them in the same principles in theory and the same system of
action, was certainly a very difficult enterprise. The complete
accomplishment of it, in so short a time and by such simple means,
was perhaps a singular example in the history of mankind. Thirteen
clocks were made to strike together; a perfection of mechanism which
no artist had ever before effected.
In this research, the glorioles of individual gentlemen and of
separate states is of little consequence. The _means and the
measures_ are the proper objects of investigation. These may be of
use to posterity, not only in this nation, but in South America and
all other countries. They may teach mankind that revolutions are no
trifles, that they ought never to be undertaken rashly; nor without
deliberate consideration and sober reflection; nor without a solid,
immutable, eternal foundation of justice and humanity; nor without a
people possessed of intelligence, fortitude and integrity sufficient
to carry them with steadiness, patience, and perseverance, through
all the vicissitudes of fortune, the fiery trials and melancholy
disasters they may have to encounter.
The town of Boston early instituted an annual oration on the fourth
of July, in commemoration of the principles and feelings which
contributed to produce the revolution. Many of those orations I have
heard, and all that I could obtain I have read. Much ingenuity and
eloquence appears upon every subject, except those principles and
feelings. That of my honest and amiable neighbour, Josiah Quincy,
appeared to me the most directly to the purpose of the institution.
Those principles and feelings ought to be traced back for two
hundred years, and sought in the history of the country from the
first plantations in America. Nor should the principles and feelings
of the English and Scotch towards the colonies, through that whole
period ever be forgotten. The perpetual discordance between British
principles and feelings and of those of America, the next year after
the suppression of the French power in America, came to a crisis, and
produced an explosion.
It was not until after the annihilation of the French dominion in
America, that any British ministry had dared to gratify their own
wishes, and the desire of the nation, by projecting a formal plan for
raising a national revenue from America, by parliamentary taxation.
The first great manifestation of this design was by the order to
carry into strict exertions those acts of parliament which were well
known by the appellation of the _acts of trade_, which had lain a
dead letter, unexecuted for a half a century, and some of them, I
believe, for nearly a whole one.
This produced, in 1760 and 1761, _an awakening_ and a _revival_ of
American principles and feelings, with an enthusiasm which went on
increasing, till in 1775 it burst out in open violence, hostility and
fury.
The characters, the most conspicuous, the most ardent and influential
in this revival, from 1760 to 1766, were, first and foremost, before
all and above all, James Otis; next to him was Oxenbridge Thatcher;
next to him, Samuel Adams; next to him, John Hancock; then Dr.
Mayhew; then Dr. Cooper and his brother. Of Mr. Hancock's life,
character, generous nature, great and disinterested sacrifices, and
important services, if I had forces, I should be glad to write a
volume. But this I hope will be done by some younger and abler hand.
Mr. Thatcher, because his name and merits are less known, must not
be wholly omitted.--This gentleman was an eminent barrister at law,
in as large practice as any one in Boston. There was not a citizen
of that town more universally beloved for his learning, ingenuity,
every domestic and social virtue, and conscientious conduct in every
relation of life. His patriotism was as ardent as his progenitors
had been ancient and illustrious in this country. Hutchinson often
said, "Thatcher was not born a plebeian, but he was determined to die
one." In May, 1763, I believe, he was chosen by the town of Boston
one of their representatives in the legislature, a colleague with
Mr. Otis, who had been a member from May 1761, and he continued to
be re-elected annually till his death in 1765, when Mr. Samuel Adams
was elected to fill his place, in the absence of Mr. Otis, then
attending the congress at New York. Thatcher had long been jealous
of the unbounded ambition of Mr. Hutchinson, but when he found him
not content with the office of lieut. governor, the command of the
castle and its emoluments, of judge of probate for the county of
Suffolk, a seat in his majesty's council in the legislature, his
brother in-law secretary of state by the king's commission, a brother
of that secretary of state, a judge of the supreme court and a member
of council, now in 1760 and 1761, soliciting and accepting the office
of chief justice of the superior court of judicature, he concluded,
as Mr. Otis did, and as every other enlightened friend of his country
did, that he sought that office with the determined purpose of
determining all causes in favor of the ministry at St. James's, and
their servile parliament.