Chapter 79
TO MRS. ADAMS.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
PHILADE March 7-1779--
MY DEAR BETSY
Yesterday your obliging Letter of the 3d of February was deliverd to me by Mr Hoskins. I thank you for the Concern you express for my Health, which through the Divine Favor I again enjoy as usual. The Advice you give me on this Head shall be duly regarded.
Your Wish that I would resign the Office of Secretary perfectly coincides with my own Inclination. I never sought for that or any other Place. Indeed I never was pleasd with it, for Reasons which you are not unacquainted with. I am very sorry for Mr ---- that he should treat me with Unkindness. I never gave any just occasion for it; but if he was bid to do it, how could he disobey? I heartily forgive him, for I do verily believe it did not proceed from the Malevolence of his Heart. To do him Justice I must say he is a good nat.u.r.d Man, and would do the Duties of that office better than I should. But if he depends upon the Interest of a certain popular Gentleman he may be disappointed; for he proposd last Summer to Mr L, who mentiond it to me with a generous Disdain. But a Change of Place oftentimes induces a Change of Opinion, and even a Promise made in York Town or Philadelphia, may be forgot in the Hurry of Affairs in Boston. I do not think Mr A. is my Enemy; or if he is, I am under no great Apprehensions from it. There are others who are of much more Consideration, at least in their own Estimation than he; and even these might upon certain Conditions be made my Friends. I mean as much my Friends as they are or can be to one another. A few flattering Speeches to this Man, and a Promise to that, of a Vote & Interest to keep him snug in the Possession of Places & Emoluments would effectually secure their gracious Smiles. But who would condescend to such Baseness for the Friends.h.i.+p of any Man? Let those who can do this, enjoy the Fruits of it. I do not covet them upon such Terms. I should become contemptible in my own Eyes; and you know that I had rather be despisd by all the World, hard as my Fate would be, than to be conscious to my self that I deservd Contempt.
I receivd a Letter a few Days ago from France dated the 7th of December, in which my patriotick Friend Arthur Lee is mentiond in Terms of the highest Confidence and Respect. I will give you the following Extracts.--" Your old Friend is a Man of Honor and Integrity "--" He has been of Opinion that the publick Money has been too freely issued here, and has often opposd it."--"Insinuations, I have been told, have been made at Court against him, that he was too friendly to the English, too much attachd to Lord Shelburne, and even that he corresponded with his Lords.h.i.+p and communicated Intelligence to him. This, whoever suggested it, I am perfectly confident was a cruel Calumny, and could not have made Impression, if his Colleagues had contradicted it in the Manner you and I should have done. You and I have had Opportunity to know his invariable Attachment to our Cause long before Hostilities commencd; and I have not a Colour of Ground for Suspicion that from that time to this he has deviated an Iota from the Cause of his Country, in Thought Word or Deed. When he left England, or soon after, he wrote a Letter of mere Compliment to his Lords.h.i.+p, a mere Card to bid him farewell, and receivd such another in Return; which he a.s.sures me are all the Letters that ever pa.s.sd between them, and I have not a Doubt of the Truth of it"--"Some of the Gentlemen of Character who are now in America from this Country, particularly the ---- and ----, it is to be feard, have had Prejudices insinuated into them against your old Correspondent. I am extremely sorry for this, because I think it is against a worthy Character, and because I think it will be likely to have unhappy Effects both with you and abroad."
You may show the foregoing Extracts to such of my Confidential Friends as you think proper. They are the Sentiments of one in whom they have great Confidence, and may serve to convince them that the Insinuations of Mr Dean though artfully made and designed to prejudice the Reputation of an honest Man, are groundless, and that Dr Lee, who took an early decided and active Part in this glorious Contest, continues the consistent Patriot.
Your Letters my dear, cannot come to me too frequently. Remember me to my Daughter, Sister Polly, Brother Tommy and other Friends, and be a.s.sured that I am
most affectionately
your
March 9th
TO JOHN ADAMS.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
Mar 9 [1779]
Mr L will write you fully by this Oppty. I take up my pen chiefly to let you know that I am in the Land of the Living and bear you affectionately on my Mind. While I am in this World I am resolvd that no Vexation shall put me out of Temper if I can possibly command myself. Even old Age which is making Strides towards me shall not prevail to make me peevish. I find that an older Man than I am, can in the apparent Coolness of Mind, stabb a dreaded Rival to the Vitals. His Words are like Honey, but there is a large Mixture of Poison. You who are in the Midst of Life & Usefulness, do not expect to escape the envenomd Shaft, but you have always the Cure at hand, Moderation, Fort.i.tude & Prudence. It matters little what becomes of an old worn out Servt in this World. He has his foot on the Grave & with Pleasure views it. But the virtuous Patriot, who is in the full Exercise of the Powers of Body & Mind, shall have my remaining feeble Voice in his Support agt the insidious Enemy of him & Mankind. I have said eno on this Head, & have not time to begin a new Subject. Adieu.
TO BENJAMIN AUSTIN.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
PHILADE Mar 9--79
MY DEAR SIR
Mr Hoskins who arrivd here a few days ago, was kind enough to deliver to me your favor of the 7th of Feb. It gave me a particular pleasure, because I was convincd that you had not totally forgot your old Friend.
You see, I rank myself among your friends. HOW often have we chatted together by the fire side, and settled essential Points to mutual Satisfaction. Yet we have not always thought alike of Men who have conducted the n.o.ble Contest for the Rights of our Country, which we have been & are still engagd in. I congratulate my Countrymen on our having thus far got through the Conflict, but we are still engagd in it. And I repeat it, because while too many of our Countrymen are flattering themselves with the airy Prospect of Peace, Britain, if we may credit our latest & best Accounts from Europe, is preparing for a vigorous Campaign. It is prudent for us to enquire of the Watchman What of the Night? The Caution given us on another occasion may with propriety be adapted to this. Be ye ready; lest when the Time of Danger approaches, ye be found distracted with the eager Pursuit of Riches, or sleeping in the delusive Lap of pleasure & Dissipation. But this is a Digression from the intended Subject of my Letter. You ask my opinion of two Men who have lately appeard on the publick Stage; and with your usual Frankness, express your own
Has not the first by his artful Address conceald his Weakness from the pub-lick Eye, while the other, by an improper Use of the Weapons in his hands, has given Advantage to his Adversary, and thereby discoverd his Folly. Mr Dean had in his first Publication said so much as to make it necessary that some other Person should say more. Common Sense undertook the Task and producd stubborn & undeniable facts, but not contenting himself with relating such facts only as were pertinent to his Argument he gave occasion to the Swarms of Writers against him to avail themselves, by diverting the Attention of his Readers from the proper Point. I will mention an Instance. After he had provd to the Satisfaction of every one, that the Cannon & Stores forwarded to America by Mr Deane, had been negociated by Mary Johnson & Beaumarchais before his Arrival in France, and consequently that the Merit of the Negociation did not belong to Mr Dean, what Necessity was there for Common Sense to mention them as a Present? It was nothing to his purpose; and it was too delicate a Subject for him to touch upon, or to attempt to prove if it had been true. His prudence therefore and even his Veracity was called in Question by his Adversaries, and his Authority & Influence as a Writer of facts lessend. The faithful Historian however, will hereafter unfold the secret Politicks of the present Day. The Newspaper Writings of these two Men, have drawn not only the Conduct but the Characters of others into Dispute. Had Mr Dean been only called upon explicitly to state his Charges, if he had any, against Dr Lee, I believe he would not have attempted it, and a Scrutiny of any Mans Character but his own would have been unnecessary.
Although he has insinuated many things against the Doctor, & steppd aside from the Line of Propriety & Decency to bring in Invective, yet I do not recollect that he has explicitly criminated him in either, nor do I believe it is in his Power. If no one steps forward to accuse him, why should his Integrity be doubted? Why should you, my Friend, express yourself in so languid a Tone, "I cant yet but have a great opinion of Dr Lee," and "rather than the Cause of America should be betrayd I would give up the dearest Connections I have on Earth." Has Dr Lee forfeited the good opinion you "always had" of him? Do you doubt his Integrity & Attachment to the Cause of America? Has any one chargd him with Mal Conduct? Shall the mere Insinuations & angry Reflections of a disappointed Man lessen your good opinion of one whom you know to have been, early, decided, active, persevering and inflexible in the Cause of America? If this should be the prevailing Disposition, what honest Man will be safe? The consistent Patriot, after having endurd Fatigue & Danger for the Establishment of publick Liberty, would find himself still in the greatest Perils among his own Countrymen. I will say nothing decisively of Mr Dean at present; but I would a.s.sure you of one thing, that were I connected with Dr Lee as a publick Man, and conscious of my own Tardiness, I should think I had every thing to apprehend, not from a peevish, fretful Temper with which interrested Men have attempted to stigmatize him, but from his stern Virtue and Republican Jealousy. I may be partial to Dr Lee. I confess I feel the strongest Obligation to him, for the eminent Services he renderd to America when he was in England, and to the Ma.s.sachusetts Bay in particular. I hope my Countrymen are not all ungrateful. Some of them, I have been taught to believe are so; otherwise the publick Character of an old Servant would not have been aspersd, nor wd it have been said, as I am informd it has, that he had been bribd to desert his Country. It is his honorable Lot to have Enemies. Honorable, because he flatters himself his Enemies are among the weak & the wicked. I leave my own Character, under G.o.d, in the Care of my virtuous fellow Citizens. I will contend for Dr Lees, because I am his Friend; and I am his friend, because I have long had abundant Reason to be convincd that he is a Friend to our Country. I have said I may be thought partial to him. Be pleasd then to take the Testimony of another, and show it to his Friends and his Enemies. "Your old friend, says one, is a Man of Honor and Integrity." "He has been of opinion that the publick Monies have been too freely issued here, & has often opposd it." Let me remark here that it is no Wonder he has exposd himself to the Resentment of a Man thro whose hands the Chief of the money pa.s.sed. "Insinuations, I have been told, have been made at Court against your old friend that he was too friendly to the English, too much attachd to Ld Shelburne & even that he corresponded with his Lords.h.i.+p & communicated Intelligence to him. This, whoever suggested it, I am perfectly confident was a cruel Calumny. You and I have had opportunity to know his invariable Attachment to our Cause long before Hostilities commencd & I have not a Color of Ground for Suspicion that from that time to this he has deviated from the Cause of his Country in Thought Word or Deed."
You may tell the Friends of Virtue and Liberty, that the Letter from which the foregoing Extracts are taken was written to me by one in whom they have always very justly placed great Confidence. I could transcribe more Pa.s.sages which mention Dr Lee as "a worthy Character,"
the unwarrantable Lengths to which the Animosities of interrested Men have been carried against him, & the Inveteracy of many Subaltern & collateral Characters but I think I have given enough to satisfy every reasonable Man.
Adieu.
TO MRS. ADAMS.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers. Lenox Library.]
PHILADA Mar 23 1779
MY DEAR BETSY
In Answer to a part of yours of the 20th of Feb. which I overlookd, I will transcribe an Extract of a Letter which I wrote last December to the Council of Ma.s.sachusetts State. You may show it to my Friends & inform that I am still determind to return to Boston in April or May--there to resign the place I hold as Secretary and to get my self excusd from any further Service here. No "Bribe" shall prevail on me to desert my Country. I will still exert my poor Abilities in her Service.
But as I am satisfied that there are others who are much more capable of serving her in this Department than I am, I may be allowd to say, that after near five years absense from my Family, and in a Climate unfriendly to my Health. I have Reason to expect I may be permitted to spend the Remainder of my Days in my native Place and enjoy the Pleasures of domestick Life. There, I shall on all occasions contribute my Mite in promoting the Peace and Prosperity of my fellow Citizens. In their Service, I began my political Race. I have ever kept their Interest in View. It will never be in my Power to render them much more Service; but my best Wishes for them will be coequal with my Life.
I do not think my Countrymen are ungrateful; but I am affraid there is a Faction among them, consisting of a few Men, who are under the Dominion of those Pa.s.sions which have been the Bane of Society in all Ages--Ambition and Avarice. I wish their Number may not increase. They are congenial Spirits with Hutchinson and those who aimd at grasping Wealth and Power. America, when she was wise, was jealous of such Designs. She opposd them though they were backd with the Wealth and Power of Great Britain. Such Kind of Men do me great Honor as they ever have done in being my Enemies. While such Men exist, and I believe they ever will in this World of Vanity, an honest Man would feel mortified indeed, to have it said that all Men spoke well of him. These Men hate, but I would not believe them if they were to say, they despisd the Man whose Integrity they cannot shake. They dread, but they cannot despise him of whom they entertain an opinion, that he is a virtuous Citizen.--I do not covet their Esteem. They are not among the Mult.i.tude of my Brethren, of whom I should count it an Honor to be accepted. The Eclat of the World is Vanity. There is a solid Satisfaction in ones having, and being conscious that he merits the good opinion of Men of true Discernment and real Worth. But to have a Name among the weak and the wicked is Shame and Reproach. Adieu my Dear. I hope to see you shortly, and then I will explain to you why I have written in this Strain.
TO JAMES WARREN.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
PHILADE March 23 1779
MY DEAR SIR
I am to acknowledge the Receipt of your Favor of the 12th & 28th of Feby. The Letter you mention in the former came to hand, but I am apt to think it will have no Effect at all. There was an omission in the Navy Boards not having Notice officially of the inclosd Resolution of Congress, but I hope the Delay has not been attended with any material Inconvenience.
I do sincerely hope the General a.s.sembly will appoint another Person to take my place here. I wrote a Letter to them last December, requesting that I might be relievd by one of my absent Colleagues or some other Gentleman, & permitted to return to my Family in the Spring. I find my Health declining, and the Air of this Country is unfriendly to it. I am therefore steadfastly determind to get my self excusd in April or May at farthest. In doing this, I shall immediately make Room for an abler Man. Such may easily be found, and, I hope, prevaild upon to come. I shall also gratify those whose Hearts are bent upon my Removal, and shall save them Abundance of Pains in making their Interest to effect it. These Men agree with me, if in Nothing else, in wis.h.i.+ng most cordially for my Retirement from publick Business. Perhaps they would chuse to have me recalled with Disgrace. I hope this is not in their Power; though I think I could bear even that with becoming Fort.i.tude, for I am conscious that I do not deserve to be disgracd by my Country, and can be happy in the Reflections of my own Mind. The Arts they make use of are contemptible. Last year, as you observe, I was an Enemy to General Was.h.i.+ngton. This was said, to render me odious to the People.
The Man who fabricated the Charge did not believe it himself. When he endeavord to make others believe it, he attempted to injure me by imposing upon them. His own Heart must therefore reproach him with complicated Acts of Injustice, and if he has any Feeling he must despise himself. If I indulgd the Spirit of Revenge, could I wish for more? NOW, you tell me, their Art is, to prejudice the People against the Lees, and propagate that I am a Friend to them. HOW trifling is this? Am I accountable to the People for my opinions of Men? If I have found from long & intimate Acquaintance with those Gentlemen, that they are, and have been from the Beginning of this Contest, among the most able & zealous Defenders of the Rights of America and Mankind, shall I not be their Friend? I will avow my Friends.h.i.+p to them in the Face of the World. As an Inhabitant of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, I should think my self ungrateful, not to esteem Arthur Lee most highly, for his voluntary Services to that State, in Times of her greatest Necessity, to the Injury of his private Interest, and at the Risque of his Life.
Adieu my Friend.
March 24--79
The Bearer of this Letter being prevented setting off by a Storm, I have had Time to transcribe the inclosd Extracts. They were written to me, as you will observe, in Confidence. I think I am warranted in communicating them to you, because I know the Writer has as much Confidence in your Prudence & Discretion as in mine, if not more. And I do not see how I can better use them for the purpose he intended in sending them to me, than by sending them to you. The Parts which are descriptive of the Weakness, or if you think more proper, the reserved Caution of Age, you will judge prudent to keep secret for the present.
There are some of our Friends, who, having so long habituated themselves to admire the Wisdom of the Philosopher cannot easily be perswaded to believe, that in the different Character of a Politician, he may be liable to human Frailties at the Age of more than three score and ten. Those Parts which may serve to set Dr Lee in his true Character of an honest & diligent Servant of the publick, you will make Use of for that Purpose. For it is of equal Importance that the Fidelity of one or the Treachery of another, in the service of the publick, should be made known. A Man of inflexible Republican Virtue cannot but incur both the Dread & the Hatred of those who are--ambitious--desirous of making Fortunes--artful and enterprizing--especially if much of the publick Money has pa.s.sd, unaccounted for, through their Hands. Mr Dean would have the World believe that Dr Lee is a dishonest Man & a Traitor. The Writer of these Extracts, who has had full Opportunity of enquiring, says, he is "a Man of Integrity and Honor,"--"a worthy Character"--"invariably attachd to the Cause of America." I am inclind to think, that no honest & sensible Man who is acquainted with both will hesitate to determine, which of their Opinions to rely upon, or which of them in the present Case ought to be supposd the impartial Judge.
Adieu.
TO JAMES LOVELL.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]