The Writings of Samuel Adams Volume III Part 26

MY DEAR SIR/

I wrote to you the 7th Instant by Mr Anthony by the way of Providence, and should not so soon have troubled you with another Letter, but to inform you that upon looking over the journals of Congress I find that the Recommendation of the 26th of October to export Produce for a certain Purpose is confind to the foreign West Indies--and the Resolution to stop all Trade till the first of March is subsequent to it. This last Resolution prevents your exporting merchantable Fish to Spain, for the purpose mentiond, which I am satisfied was not intended, because I am very certain the Congress means to encourage the Importation of those necessary Articles under the Direction of proper Persons, from every part of the World. I design to propose to my Colleagues to joyn with me in a Motion, to extend the Recommendation so as to admit of exporting fish to any Place besides the foreign West Indies.

A few days ago, being one of a Committee to consider General Was.h.i.+ngton's last Letter to Congress, I proposd to the Committee and they readily consented to report the Inclosd Resolution1 which were unanimously agreed to in Congress. The Committee reorted that a certain sum should be paid to Mr [Lovell] out of the military Chest towards enabling him to remove himself & his Family from Boston, but Precedent was objected to and the last Resolve was subst.i.tuted in its stead. The Gentlemen present however contributed and put into my hands Eighty-two Dollars for the Benefit of Mrs [Lovell], which I shall remit either in Cash or a good Bill. I hope I shall soon be so happy as to hear that he is releasd from Bondage. I feel very tenderly for the rest of my fellow Citizens who are detaind in that worst of Prisons. Methinks there is one Way speedily to release them all.

Adieu,

_________________________________________________________________ 1See above, page 248.

TO JOHN PITTS.1

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

PHILADe Jany 21 1776

MY DEAR SIR

It is a long time since I had the pleasure of receiving a Letter from you. I flatter myself that you still place me among your Friends. I am not conscious of having done any thing to forfeit your Regards for me and therefore I will attribute your Omission not to a designd Neglect, but to a more probable Cause, the constant Attention you are called upon to give to the publick Affairs of our Colony. It is for this Reason that I make myself easy, though one post arrives and one Express after another without a Line from you; a.s.suring myself that your Time is employd to much better purpose than writing to or thinking of me.

I speak Truth when I tell you, that I shall be exceedingly gratified in receiving your Favors, whenever your Leisure may admit of your suspending your Attention to Matters of greater Importance. I will add that your Letters will certainly be profitable to me; for I shall gain that Intelligence and Instruction from them which will enable me the better to serve the Publick in the Station I am placed in here. Give me Leave to tell you therefore, that I think it is a part of the Duty you owe to our Country to write to me as often as you can.

You have seen the MOST GRACIOUS Speech--Most Gracious! How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words! It discovers, to be sure, the most BENEVOLENT & HUMANE Feelings of its Author. I have heard that he is his own Minister --that he follows the Dictates of his own Heart. If so, why should we cast the odium of distressing Mankind upon his Minions & Flatterers only. Guilt must lie at his Door. Divine Vengeance will fall on his head; for all-gracious Heaven cannot be an indifferent Spectator of the virtuous Struggles of this people.

In a former Letter I desired you to acquaint me of your Father's health and the Circ.u.mstances of the Family. I have a very great Regard for them and repeat the Request.

Adieu,

_________________________________________________________________ 1Of Boston. In the preceding year he had been a member of the second and third provincial congresses of Ma.s.sachusetts.

TO JAMES SULLIVAN.1

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

PHILADE Jany 12 1776

MY DEAR SIR

Your very acceptable Letter of the 3d Inst duly came to hand. I thank you heartily for the favor and shall be much obligd to you if you will write to me as often as your Leisure will admit of it.

It gave me pain to be informd by you, that by an unlucky Circ.u.mstance you were prevented from executing a plan, the Success of which would have afforded you Laurels, and probably in its immediate Effects turnd the present Crisis in favor of our Country. We are indebted to you for your laudable Endeavor; Another Tryal will, I hope, crown your utmost Wish.

I have seen the Speech which is falsly & shamefully called MOST GRACIOUS. It breathes the most malevolent Spirit, wantonly proposes Measures calculated to distress Mankind, and determines my Opinion of the Author of it as a Man of a wicked Heart. What a pity it is, that Men are become so degenerate and servile, as to bestow Epithets which can be appropriated to the Supreme Being alone, upon Speeches & Actions which will hereafter be read & spoken of by every Man who shall profess to have a spark of Virtue & Honor, with the utmost Contempt and Detestation.--What have we to expect from Britain, but Chains & Slavery? I hope we shall act the part which the great Law of Nature Points out. It is high time that we should a.s.sume that Character, which I am sorry to find the Capital of your Colony has publickly and expressly disavowd. It is my most fervent prayer to Almighty G.o.d, that he would direct and prosper the Councils of America, inspire her Armies with true Courage, s.h.i.+eld them in every Instance of Danger and lead them on to Victory & Tryumph.

I am yr affectionate Friend,

_________________________________________________________________ 1Of Biddeford; a member of each provincial congress of Ma.s.sachusetts.

TO JOHN ADAMS.

[MS., Adams Papers, Quincy; a modified text is in John Adams, Works, vol. ix., pp. 371-373, and a draft is in the Lenox Library.]

PHILADE Jany 15 1776.

MY DEAR SIR

Altho I have at present but little Leisure, I can not omit writing you a few Lines by this Express.

I have seen certain Instructions which were given by the Capital of the Colony of New Hamps.h.i.+re to its Delegates in their provincial Convention,1 the Spirit of which I am not altogether pleasd with. There is one part of them at least, which I think discovers a Timidity which is unbecoming a People oppressd and insulted as they are, and who at their own request have been advisd & authorizd by Congress to set up and exercise Government in such form as they should judge most conducive to their own Happiness. It is easy to understand what they mean when they speak of "perfecting a form of Govt STABLE and PERMANENT"-They indeed explain themselves by saying that they "SHOULD PREFER THE GOVT OF CONGRESS, (their provincial Convention) till quieter times." The Reason they a.s.sign for it, I fear, will be considerd as showing a Readiness to condescend to the Humours of their Enemies, and their publickly expressly & totally disavowing Independency either on the Nation or THE MAN who insolently & perseveringly demands the Surrender of their Liberties with the Bayonet pointed at their b.r.e.a.s.t.s may be construed to argue a Servility & Baseness of Soul for which Language doth not afford an Epithet. It is by indiscrete Resolutions and Publications that the Friends of America have too often given occasion to their Enemies to injure her Cause. I hope however that the Town of Portsmouth doth not in this Instance speak the Sense of that Colony. I wish, if it be not too late, that you would write your Sentiments of the Subject to our worthy Friend Mr L------ who I suppose is now in Portsmouth.--If that Colony should take a wrong Step, I fear it would wholly defeat a Design which, I confess I have much at heart.

A motion was made in Congress the other Day to the following purpose--that whereas we had been chargd with aiming at Independency, a Comte should be appointed to explain to the People at large the Principles & Grounds of our Opposition &c.

The Motion alarmd me. I thought Congress had already been explicit enough, & was apprehensive that we might get our selves upon dangerous Ground. Some of us prevaild so far as to have the Matter postpond but could not prevent the a.s.signing a Day to consider it.--I may perhaps have been wrong in opposing this Motion, and I ought the rather to suspect it, because the Majority of your Colony as well as of the Congress were of a different Opinion.

I had lately some free Conversation with an eminent Gentleman whom you well know, and whom your Portia, in one of her Letters, admired if I recollect right, for his EXPRESSIVE SILENCE, about a Confederation--A Matter which our much valued Friend Coll W------ is very sollicitous to have compleated. We agreed that it must soon be brought on, & that if all the Colonies could not come into it, it had better be done by those of them that inclind to it. I told him that I would endeavor to unite the New England Colonies in confederating, if NONE of the rest would joyn in it.

He approvd of it, and said, if I succeeded, he would cast in his Lot among us.

Adieu.

Jany 16th

As this Express did not sett off yesterday, according to my Expectation, I have the Opportunity of acquainting you that Congress has just receivd a Letter from General Was.h.i.+ngton inclosing the Copy of an Application of our General a.s.sembly to him to order payment to four Companies stationd at Braintree Weymouth & Hingham. The General says they were never regimented, & he can not comply with the Request of the a.s.sembly without the Direction of Congress. A Come is appointed to consider the Letter, of which I am one. I fear there will be a Difficulty, and therefore I shall endeavor to prevent a Report on this part of the Letter, unless I shall see a prospect of justice being done to the Colony, till I can receive from you authentick Evidence of those companies having been actually employed by the continental officers, as I conceive they have been, in the Service of the Continent. I wish you wd inform me whether the two Companies stationd at Chelsea & Malden were paid out of the Continents Chest. I suppose they were, and if so, I cannot see Reason for any Hesitation about the paymt of these. I wish also to know how many Men our Colony is at the Expence of maintaining for the Defence of its Sea Coasts. Pray let me have some Intelligence from you, of the Colony which we represent. You are sensible of the Danger it has frequently been in of suffering greatly for Want of regular information.

_________________________________________________________________ 1Cf. New Hamps.h.i.+re Provincial Papers, vol. vii., pp. 701, 702.

ARTICLE SIGNED "CANDIDUS."

[W. V. Wells, Life of Samuel Adams,1 vol. ii., pp. 360-363.]

[February 3, 1776.]

When the little pamphlet, ent.i.tled " Common Sense," first made its appearance in favor of that so often abjured idea of independence upon Great Britain, I was informed that no less than three gentlemen of respectable abilities were engaged to answer it. As yet, I have seen nothing which directly pretends to dispute a single position of the author. The oblique essay in Humphrey's paper, and solemn "Testimony of the Quakers," however intended, having offered nothing to the purpose, I shall take leave to examine this important question with all candor and attention, and submit the result to my much interested country.

Dependence of one man or state upon another is either absolute or limited by some certain terms of agreement. The dependence of these Colonies, which Great Britain calls const.i.tutional, as declared by acts of Parliament, is absolute. If the contrary of this be the bugbear so many have been disclaiming against, I could wish my countrymen would consider the consequence of so stupid a profession. If a limited dependence is intended, I would be much obliged to any one who will show me the Britannico- American Magna Charta, wherein the terms of our limited dependence are precisely stated. If no such thing can be found, and absolute dependence be accounted inadmissible, the sound we are squabbling about has certainly no determinate meaning. If we say we mean that kind of dependence we acknowledged at and before the year 1763, I answer, vague and uncertain laws, and more especially const.i.tutions, are the very instruments of slavery.

The Magna Charta of England was very explicit, considering the time it was formed, and yet much blood was spilled in disputes concerning its meaning.

Besides the danger of an indefinite dependence upon an undetermined power, it might be worth while to consider what the characters are on whom we are so ready to acknowledge ourselves dependent. The votaries of this idol tell us, upon the good people of our mother country, whom they represent as the most just, humane, and affectionate friends we can have in the world.

Were this true, it were some encouragement; but who can pretend ignorance, that these just and humane friends are as much under the tyranny of men of a reverse character as we should be could these miscreants gain their ends? I disclaim any more than a mutual dependence on any man or number of men on earth; but an indefinite dependence upon a combination of men who have, in the face of the sun, broken through the most solemn covenants, debauched the hereditary, and corrupted the elective guardians of the people's rights; who have, in fact, established an absolute tyranny in Great Britain and Ireland, and openly declared themselves competent to bind the Colonies in all cases whatsoever,--I say, indefinite dependence on such a combination of usurping innovators is evidently as dangerous to liberty, as fatal to civil and social happiness, as any one step that could be proposed even by the destroyer of men. The utmost that the honest party in Great Britain can do is to warn us to avoid this dependence at all hazards. Does not even a Duke of Grafton declare the ministerial measures illegal and dangerous? And shall America, no way connected with this Administration, press our submission to such measures and reconciliation to the authors of them? Would not such pigeon-hearted wretches equally forward the recall of the Stuart family and establishment of Popery throughout Christendom, did they consider the party in favor of those loyal measures the strongest? Shame on the men who can court exemption from present trouble and expense at the price of their posterity's liberty! The honest party in England cannot wish for the reconciliation proposed. It is as unsafe to them as to us, and they thoroughly apprehend it. What check have they now upon the Crown, and what shadow of control can they pretend, when the Crown can command fifteen or twenty millions a year which they have nothing to say to? A proper proportion of our commerce is all that can benefit any good man in Britain or Ireland; and G.o.d forbid we should be so cruel as to furnish bad men with the power to enslave both Britain and America. Administration has now fairly dissevered the dangerous tie. Execrated will he be by the latest posterity who again joins the fatal cord!

"But," say the puling, pusillanimous cowards, "we shall be subject to a long and b.l.o.o.d.y war, if we declare independence." On the contrary, I affirm it the only step that can bring the contest to a speedy and happy issue. By declaring independence we put ourselves on a footing for an equal negotiation. Now we are called a pack of villainous rebels, who, like the St. Vincent's Indians, can expect nothing more than a pardon for our lives, and the sovereign favor respecting freedom, and property to be at the King's will. Grant, Almighty G.o.d, that I may be numbered with the dead before that sable day dawns on North America.

All Europe knows the illegal and inhuman treatment we have received from Britons. All Europe wishes the haughty Empress of the Main reduced to a more humble deportment. After herself has thrust her Colonies from her, the maritime powers cannot be such idiots as to suffer her to reduce them to a more absolute obedience of her dictates than they were heretofore obliged to yield. Does not the most superficial politician know, that while we profess ourselves the subjects of Great Britain, and yet hold arms against her, they have a right to treat us as rebels, and that, according to the laws of nature and nations, no other state has a right to interfere in the dispute? But, on the other hand, on our declaration of independence, the maritime states, at least, will find it their interest (which always secures the question of inclination) to protect a people who can be so advantageous to them. So that those shortsighted politicians, who conclude that this step will involve us in slaughter and devastation, may plainly perceive that no measure in our power will so naturally and effectually work our deliverance. The motion of a finger of the Grand Monarch would produce as gentle a temper in the omnipotent British minister as appeared in the Manilla ransom and Falkland Island affairs. From without, certainly, we have everything to hope, nothing to fear. From within, some tell us that the Presbyterians, if freed from the restraining power of Great Britain, would overrun the peaceable Quakers in this government. For my own part, I despise and detest the bickerings of sectaries, and am apprehensive of no trouble from that quarter, especially while no peculiar honors or emoluments are annexed to either. I heartily wish too many of the Quakers did not give cause of complaint, by endeavoring to counteract the measures of their fellow-citizens for the common safety. If they profess themselves only pilgrims here, let them walk through the men of this world without interfering with their actions on either side. If they would not pull down kings, let them not support tyrants; for, whether they understand it or not, there is, and ever has been, an essential difference in the characters.

Finally, with M. de Vattel, I account a state a moral person, having an interest and will of its own; and I think that state a monster whose prime mover has an interest and will in direct opposition to its prosperity and security. This position has been so clearly demonstrated in the pamphlet first mentioned in this essay, that I shall only add, if there are any arguments in favor of returning to a state of dependence on Great Britain, that is, on the present Administration of Great Britain, I could wish they were timely offered, that they may be soberly considered before the cunning proposals of the Cabinet set all the timid, lazy, and irresolute members of the community into a clamor for peace at any rate.