Chapter 96
MARCH 10 1783
GENTLEMEN
Having been just now made acquainted by your Messenger that the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Boston a.s.sembled in Town Meeting,1 have chosen me their Moderator, I beg the Favor of you to inform them, that I esteem my self greatly honourd by their Choice; but my Engagements in the Senate, which it is not in my Power to dispense with, lay me under a Necessity of praying that I may be excusd by the Town.----
With the warmest Wishes for their Prosperity, I am
Gentlemen
Your obedient hbl Servt
1 Boston Record Commissioners' Report, vol. xxvi., p. 292.
TO ARTHUR LEE.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Apr 21 1783
DR SR
I am indebted to you for several Letters which I have not acknowledged.
The Anecdote you gave me in one of them relating to a Mr Mercer & Colo Griffin in Virginia was very diverting to me. The People in this part of the Continent would never have fixed upon the Names of La Le or A1 to hold up to a publick a.s.sembly as the Heads of a British Interest in America. It would not have been sooner believed here than another Story I have heard, that a certain french Politician of Consideration in America had expressd his high Displeasure with Mr S A for stiring up his Countrymen to attend to the Importance of our retaining a Common Right to the Newfd Ld fishery. Many wonderful Tales are & will be told, some of which a Sight of the secret Journals of Congress would unravel.
I think the sooner those Journals are publishd the better. The People at large ought to know what that ill.u.s.trious Body has been doing for them and the Part each Member has acted. We are now at Peace, G.o.d be thanked, with all the World--and I hope we shall never intermeddle with the Quarrels of other Nations. Let the U S continue in peace & Union, & in order to this Let them do Justice to each other. Let there be no longer secret Journals or secret Comtees. Let the Debates in Congress be open and the whole of their transactions publishd weekly--this will tend to the speedy rectifying Mistakes & preserving mutual Confidence between the People & their Representatives. And let Care be taken to prevent Factions in America, foreign or domestick.
Will you suffer me to recommend to you my good friends & excellent fellow Citizens Mr Appleton the Bearer of this Letter & his fellow Traveller Mr Wendel. My Regards.
Adieu.
1 Laurens, Lee, Adams.
TO BENJAMIN LINCOLN.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON May 1 1783
MY DEAR SIR
Coll0 John Allan will deliver you this Letter. This Gentleman soon after the Commencement of the late Hostilities, left his Connections in Nova Scotia which were respectable there & took a decided part with us against Great Britain. In the Winter of 77 Congress appointed him Superintendent or Agent for the Indians in Nova Scotia & the Tribes to the Northward & Eastward thereof, with a Salary of 900 Dollars p Annum, & afterwards requested this State to furnish him from time to time with needful Supplies. The State raised an Artillery Company for the Defence of the Post of Machias & gave him the Command with a Cols Commission.
Congress in Feb 81 if I mistake not, empowerd our supreme Executive to enlarge that Compy to the Number of 65, officers included, & to officer the same with the express Nomination of Colo Allan to the Command. This Compy was by the Resolve to be raisd cloathed subsisted & paid as other officers & Soldiers of the US. I believe Colo A has executed the trusts reposed in him with Fidelity & to the Advantage of the Publick. As this State has supplied him at the Expence of the U S, I suppose that his Accots which remain to be settled, will as his former Accts have been, be settled in the first Instance by our a.s.sembly when it meets.
Another calls upon me. You will think me a Man of Importance! But this is one of my Days of Business. Is it not strange that an officer of the American Army should apply to the Friends.h.i.+p of one whom they have been led to look upon as their Enemy? But--I am informd that Colo Badlam was among the first who flew to Arms, that he has sustained the Character of a meritorious officer. If he has been unfortunate rather than faulty or if guilty of a Fault it was attended with Circ.u.mstances very alleviating why should an officer of Merit at the very close of the War be deprivd of the Benefits which are allotted to others? I think I know your feelings for that officer and perhaps your private Judgment of his Case from your Letter to him which I have seen. What Advantage can he expect from an Application to this State? Would not a Recommendation to Congress from Head Quarters in his favor answer a much better Purpose?
This is only a Hint to you. Perhaps I am out of my Line. I will conclude this Epistle with congratulating you most heartily on the return of Peace with Liberty and Independence & a.s.suring you that I am affectionately
Yours
TO HORATIO GATES.
[MS., Emmet Collection, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON May 2 1783
MY DEAR SIR
Our Friend Colo John Allan takes the Care of this Letter and will deliver it to you. The War being finishd, he is going to Philadelphia to receive such Directions as Congress shall think proper to give to him. You remember he was appointed in 77, Agent of the St Johns & Nova Scotia Indians, and he has since commanded an Artillery Company raised by this State for the Defence of the Post at Machias, adopted by Congress in Feb. 81 and cloathd subsisted & paid as other Officers & Soldiers of the United States. He has I doubt not, executed the Trusts reposed in him with Fidelity, and I think is ent.i.tled to the Emoluments given to Officers of his Rank. I have given him a Letter to the Secretary at War &c.
Your Recommendation first gaind him the Confidence of Congress and your repeated Favor will still be a substantial Advantage to him.
I most heartily congratulate you on the Return of Peace with Liberty & Independence.--Blessings for which Patriots have toiled & Heroes fought & bled. Our Country may now be happy if she is not wanting to her self.
We have done our Duty. Future Generations can never curse the present for carelessly surrendering their Rights.
I beg you, my Friend, not to impute my long Silence to a faulty Cause.
If you believe me to be a Man of Truth, be a.s.sured that I have constantly partic.i.p.ated with you in good & ill Fortune. I shall ever rejoice that you was honord by Providence, in captivating Burgoyne & his whole Army--An Event which wrought the most happy Change in the Face of our Affairs in Europe, and which alone, in Spite of Envy, will give you a brilliant Page in History.
Mr Yancey is gone to South Carolina. I have written by him to my old Patriotick friend Gadsden and the stronger to enforce my Recommendation of Mr Yancey have mentiond him as one whom you regard.
Oblige me with your Letters for I am sincerely and affectionately
Your Friend
& very humble Servant,
TO ELBRIDGE GERRY.1
[J. T. Austin, Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. i., pp. 408-410; a draft is in the Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON, Sept. 9, 1783.
MY DEAR SIR,
This is the first letter I have been able to write since I had the pleasure of seeing you, excepting a short one to our delegates, informing them that the general court had appointed a committee to correspond with them. Mr. Appleton and Mr. Rowe are my colleagues in this business. The correspondence is to be very extensive. "Any other important matter which relates to the being and welfare of the United States!" My bodily illness has prevented my engaging in it. I wish the delegates would begin. The welfare, and perhaps the being of the United States, in my opinion, depends much upon congress possessing the confidence of the people at large; that upon the administration of public affairs being manifestly grounded upon principles of equality and justice, or upon the people being a.s.sured that congress merit their confidence. The war is now over, and the people turn their eyes to the disposition of their money, a subject, which I hope congress will always have so clear a knowledge of, as to be able at any time to satisfy the rational enquiries of the people. To prevent groundless jealousies, it seems necessary not only that the princ.i.p.al in that department should himself be immaculate, but that care should be taken that no persons be admitted to his confidence but such as have the entire confidence of the people. Should a suspicion prevail that our high treasurer suffers men of bad principles or of no principles to be about him and employed by him, the fidelity of congress itself would be suspected, and a total loss of confidence would follow. I am much concerned for the reputation of congress, and have laboured to support it because that body is and must be the cement of the union of the states. I hope, therefore, they will always make it evident to reasonable men that their administration merits the public applause.
Will they be able to do this, if they should cease to be very watchful over men whom they trust in great departments, especially those who have the disposition of the public moneys? Power will follow the possession of money, even when it is known that it is not the possessor's property. So fascinating are riches in the eyes of mankind!
Were our financier, I was going to say, even an angel from heaven, I hope he will never have so much influence as to gain the ascendency over congress, which the first lord of the treasury has long had over the parliament of Britain; long enough to effect the ruin of that nation. These are the fears which I expressed in congress when the department was first inst.i.tuted. I was told, that the breath of congress could annihilate the financier; but I replied, that the time might come, and if they were not careful it certainly would, when even congress would not dare to blow that breath. Whether these fears are the mere creatures of the imagination you will judge.
My regards to Dr. Holten and Mr. Higgenson, if he is still in Congress.
Pray write to me often.
Adieu.