american 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 JOHN T. MORSE, JR. 
 
 A 
 
American 
 
 . JOHN ADAMS 
 
 JOHN T. MORSE, JR. 
 
 BOSTON 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 
 New York: 11 East Seventeenth Street 
 
 1885 
 
Copyright, 1884, 
 BY JOHN T. MORSE, JR. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 The Riverside Press, Cambridge : 
 Electrotyped and Printed by H, 0. Houghton & Co. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 YOUTH . . . . 1 I/ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 AT THE BAR 17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE FIRST CONGRESS . . ... . . .50 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS . . .82 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 INDEPENDENCE . . 104 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 AFTER INDEPENDENCE . . . . . . .130 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 FIRST FOREIGN MISSION . . . . . .147 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SECOND FOREIGN MISSION : IN FRANCE AND ENG 
 LAND . ... 156 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE TREATY OF PEACE : THE ENGLISH MISSION . .198 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 THE VICE-PRESIDENCY . . . . . .241 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 THE PRESIDENCY 265 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE BREAKING UP 311 
 
 INDEX . 331 
 
JOHN ADAMS. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 YOUTH. 
 
 IN the first charter of the colony of Massa 
 chusetts Bay, granted by Charles I. and dated 
 March 4, 1629, the name of Thomas Adams 
 appears as one of the grantees. But he never 
 crossed the Atlantic, and Henry Adams, pos 
 sibly though not certainly his younger brother, 
 first bore the name on this side of the water. 
 In 1636 this Henry was one of the grantees of 
 sundry parcels of land at Mount Wollaston, 
 soon afterward made the town of Braintree, in 
 which neighborhood descendants from him 
 have continued to have dwellings and to own 
 extensive tracts of land to the present day. 
 The John Adams with whom we have to do 
 was of the fourth generation in descent from 
 Henry, and was born at Braintree, October 19, 
 1735. His father was also named John Adams ; 
 his mother was Susanna Boylston, daughter of 
 i 
 
2 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 Peter Boylston, of the neighboring town of 
 Brookline. 
 
 The founder of the American family appar 
 ently could do little better for himself than 
 simply to hold his own in the desperate strug 
 gle for existence amid sterile hills and hostile 
 Indians. At his death he left, as his whole es 
 tate, a small bit of land, of which there was 
 no dearth on the new continent, a house of 
 three rooms, and a barn ; in the house there 
 were three beds, some kitchen utensils, a silver 
 spoon, and a few old books ; in the barn were 
 a cow and calf, pigs and a little fodder. The 
 whole property was valued at 75 13s. Lit 
 tle by little, however, the sturdy workers in 
 successive years wrenched increased belongings 
 from the reluctant soil ; so that the inventory 
 of the estate of our John Adams s father, who 
 died in 1760, shows 1,330 9s. Sd. 
 
 A man so well-to-do as this could afford to 
 give one son a good education, and John 
 Adams, being the eldest, had the advantage of 
 going through Harvard College. Such was the 
 privilege, the only privilege, with which primo 
 geniture was invested by the custom of the fam 
 ily. Indeed, our John Adams s grandfather, 
 who also had educated his eldest son at college, 
 afterward divided his property among his other 
 children, thinking that thus he made matters 
 
YOUTH. 3 
 
 as nearly equal and fair between them all as 
 was possible. John Adams was graduated in 
 the_ class of 1755, which, as his son tells us, 
 "in proportion to its numbers contained as 
 many men afterwards eminent in the civil and 
 ecclesiastical departments as any class that 
 ever was graduated at that institution." He 
 was reputed to be a very good scholar, but can 
 not be accurately compared with his comrades, 
 since rank was not then given for scholarship. 
 The students took precedence according to the 
 social standing of their parents, and upon such 
 a scale the Adams family were a trifle nearer 
 to the bottom than to the top. In a class of 
 twenty-four members John was fourteenth, and 
 even for this modest station " he was probably 
 indebted rather to the standing of his mater 
 nal family than to that of his father." John 
 Quincy Adams very frankly says that in those 
 days " the effect of a college education was to 
 introduce a youth of the condition of John 
 Adams into a different class of familiar ac 
 quaintance from that of his father." Later in 
 life John Adams became noted as an aristocrat, 
 and incurred not a little ridicule and animosity 
 through his proclivities and personal preten 
 sions of this kind. In fact, he was that pecul 
 iar production of American domestic manufac 
 ture which may perhaps be properly described 
 
4 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 as a self-made aristocrat,^ a character familiar 
 enough on this side of the Atlantic, but which 
 Lord Thurlow almost alone could bring within 
 the comprehension of Englishmen. Fortu 
 nately, in Adams s individual case, his ability 
 to maintain the position prevented his passion 
 from appearing so comical as the like feeling so 
 often does with inferior men. Nor indeed was 
 he always and altogether devoid of sound sense 
 in this respect ; he wrote in 1791 that, if he 
 could ever suppose family pride to be any way 
 excusable, he should " think a descent from a 
 line of virtuous, independent New England 
 farmers for a hundred and sixty years was a 
 better foundation for it than a descent from 
 regal or noble scoundrels ever since the flood." 
 The truth is that a proper pride in one s own 
 descent, if it can be sustained, is neither an un- 
 amiable nor a mischief-working trait; Adams 
 had it in the true American shape, and was in 
 fluenced by it only in the direction of good. 
 He was at once gratified and satisfied with 
 having a lineage simply respectable. 
 
 The boyhood and youth of John Adams are 
 incumbered with none of those tedious apoc 
 rypha which constitute a prophetic atmosphere 
 in the initial chapter of most biographies. No 
 one ever dreamed that he was to be a great 
 man until he was well advanced in middle age, 
 
 o 
 
YOUTH. 5 
 
 and even then, in the estimation of all persons 
 save himself, he had many peers and perhaps a 
 very few superiors. As " the fourth Harry, our 
 King " philosophically remarked, upon hear 
 ing of " Lord Perse s " death at Otterbourne, 
 
 " I have a hondrith captains in Inglande, he sayd, 
 As good as ever was hee ; " 
 
 though probably enough Percy s valuation of 
 himself was different. Pretty much the first 
 authentic knowledge which we get of John 
 Adams comes from his own pen. On Novem- 
 bejt* 15, 1755, just after his twentieth birthday, 
 he began a diary. Intermittently, suffering 
 many serious breaks provokingly to diminish 
 its just value, he continued it until November 
 21^1777. Only a few years more elapsed be 
 fore the famous diary of his son John Quincy 
 Adams was begun, which ran through its re 
 markable course until 1848 ; and it is said that 
 a similar work has been done in the third gen 
 eration. If this be so, much more than one 
 hundred years of American annals will be illu 
 minated by the memorials of this one family 
 in a manner unprecedented in history and 
 equally useful and agreeable. So portentous a 
 habit of diary-writing is an odd form for the 
 development of heredity. But at least it en 
 ables historical students to observe the descent 
 of traits of mind and character more naturally 
 
6 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 transmissible than such a taste. The Adams 
 blood was strong blood, too strong to be seri 
 ously modified by alien strains introduced by 
 marriage. It was not a picturesque stream, but 
 it was vigorous, it cut its way without much 
 loitering or meandering, and when strange rivu 
 lets united with it they had to take its color as 
 well as its course. John Quincy Adams, whose 
 story has been told before that of his father in 
 this series, was a veritable chip from the old 
 block, a sturdy, close - fibred old block well 
 adapted for making just such solid, slightly 
 cross-grained chips. Only the son was more 
 civilized, or rather more self-restrained and 
 conventional than the father ; the ruggedness 
 of the earlier fighter and self-made man was 
 rubbed smoother in the offspring, inheriting 
 greatness and growing up amid more polishing 
 forces. 
 
 In youth John Adams was an admirable 
 specimen of the New England Puritan of his 
 generation, not excessively strait-laced in mat 
 ters of doctrine, but religious by habit and by 
 instinct, rigid in every point of morals, con 
 scientious, upright, pure-minded, industrious. 
 The real truth about that singular community 
 is that they mingled theology with loose mor 
 als, in a proportion not correctly appreciated 
 by their descendants; for historians have dwelt 
 
YOUTH. 
 
 upon the one ingredient of this mixture, and 
 have ignored the other, so that the truth has 
 become obscured. Certain it is that long ser 
 mons and much polemical controversy were off 
 set by a great deal of hard drinking and not a 
 little indulgence in carnal sins. John Adams, 
 like the better men of the day, reversed the pro 
 portions, and instead of subordinating morality 
 to religion, he gave to morals a decided prepon 
 derance. In his diary he grumbles not only at 
 others, but also very freely at himself, partly 
 because it was then his nature always to grum 
 ble a good deal about everything and every 
 body, partly to fulfill the acknowledged Chris 
 tum duty of self-abasement. He had an early 
 tendency to censoriousness, not to be compared 
 in degree to that development of this failure 
 which disfigured his son, but furnishing a strong 
 germ for the later growth. While passing 
 through periods of discontent, which occasion 
 ally beset his opening manhood, his deprecia 
 tory habit was too strong to be checked even 
 in his own case, and he constantly falls his 
 own victim, beneath his passion for uncharita 
 ble criticism. Also like his son, though more 
 intermittently and in a less degree, he is pos 
 sessed of the devil of suspiciousness, constantly 
 conceiving himself to be the object of limitless 
 envy, malice, hostility, and of the most ignoble 
 
8 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 undermining processes. As a young man he 
 often imagined that his neighbors and acquaint- 
 ances were resolved that he should not get on 
 in the world, though it does not appear that he 
 encountered any peculiar or exceptional obsta 
 cles of this kind. But to his credit it may be 
 noted that in his early years he had a knowl 
 edge of these weaknesses of his disposition, 
 liv- wishes Unit IK- e<ui]<l COIMJIUT his u natural 
 pride and self -conceit ; expect no more defer 
 ence from my fellows than I deserve ; acquire 
 meekness and humility," etc. He acknowledges 
 having been too ready with " ill-natured re 
 marks upon the intellectuals, manners, practice, 
 etc., of other people." He wisely resolves " for 
 the future, never to say an ill-natured thing 
 concerning ministers or the ministerial profes 
 sion ; never to say an envious thing concerning 
 governors, judges, clerks, sheriffs, lawyers, or 
 any other honorable or lucrative offices or offi 
 cers ; never to show my own importance or su 
 periority by remarking the foibles, vices, or in 
 feriority of others. But I now resolve, as far as 
 lies in me, to take notice chiefly of the amiable 
 qualities of other people ; to put the most favor 
 able construction upon the weaknesses, bigotry, 
 and errors of others, etc. ; and to labor more for 
 an inoffensive and amiable than for a shining 
 and invidious character ; " most wise com- 
 
 V 
 
YOUTH. 9 
 
 munings, showing an admirable introspection, 
 yet resolves which could not at present be con 
 sistently carried out by their maker. Adams s 
 nature, both in its good and in its ill traits, 
 was far too strong to be greatly re-shaped by 
 any efforts which he could make. The ele 
 ments of his powerful character were immuta 
 ble, and underwent no substantial and perma 
 nent modifications either through voluntary ef 
 fort or by the pressure of circumstances ; in all 
 important points he was the same from the 
 cradle to the grave, with perhaps a brief ex 
 ception during the earlier period of his service 
 in the Revolutionary Congress, when we shall 
 see him rising superior to all his foibles, and 
 presenting a wonderfully noble appearance. 
 The overweening vanity, which became a ridic 
 ulous disfigurement after he had climbed high 
 upon the ladder of distinction, was not yet ex 
 cessive while he still lingered upon the first 
 rounds. Indeed, he is shrewd enough to say : 
 " Vanity, I am sensible, is my cardinal vice "") 
 and cardinal folly ; " and he even has occa^/ 
 sional fits of genuine diffidence of his own pow 
 ers and distrust as to his prospects of moder 
 ate success. Only when that success actually 
 came did all chance of curing himself of the 
 fault disappear. As a young man he cherished 
 no lofty ambition, or at least he kept it mod- 
 
10 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 estly in the background. He does not at all 
 resemble his rival of later years, Alexander 
 Hamilton ; he is conscious of no extraordinary 
 ability, and longs for no remarkable career, nor 
 asserts any fitness for it. ^His anticipations, 
 even his hopes, seem limited to achieving that 
 measure of prosperity, good repute, and influ 
 ence, which attend upon the more prominent 
 men of any neighborhood. A circuit of forty 
 miles around Boston is a large enough sphere, 
 beyond which his dreams of the future do not 
 wander. 
 
 A youth who had received a collegiate edu 
 cation at a cost of not inconsiderable sacrifice 
 on the part of his parents, lay in those days 
 under a sort of moral obligation to adopt a pro 
 fession. Between law, divinity, and medicine, 
 therefore, Adams had to make his choice. Fur 
 ther, while contemplating the subject and pre 
 paring himself for one of these pursuits he 
 ought to support himself. To this end he ob 
 tained the position of master of the grammar 
 school at Worcester, whither he repaired in the 
 summer of 1755. His first tendency was to 
 become a clergyman,^ not so much, apparently, 
 by reason of any strong fancy for the clerical 
 calling as because there seems to have been a 
 sort of understanding on the part of his family 
 and friends that he should make this selection, 
 
YOUTH. 11 
 
 and lie was willing enough to gratify them. 
 It was not altogether so singular and foolish a 
 notion as at first it strikes us. The New Eng 
 land clergy still retained much of the prestige 
 and influence which they had enjoyed in the 
 earlier colonial days, when they had exercised 
 a civil authority often overshadowing that of 
 the nominal officers of government. Men of 
 great ability and strong character still found 
 room for their aspirations in the ministry. 
 They were a set to be respected, obeyed, even 
 to some extent to be feared, but hardly to be 
 loved, and vastly unlike the Christian minister 
 of the present day. They were not required 
 to be sweet-tempered, nor addicted to loving- 
 kindness, nor to be charitably disposed towards 
 one another, or indeed towards anybody. On 
 the contrary, they were a dictatorial, militant, 
 polemical, not to say a quarrelsome and harsh- 
 tongued race. They were permitted and even 
 encouraged to display much vigor in speech and 
 action. Nevertheless the figure of impetuous, 
 dogmatic, combative, opinionated, energetic, 
 practical, and withal liberal John Adams in a 
 pulpit &s exceedingly droll. He was much too i 
 big, too enterprising, too masterful for such a I 
 cage. He would have resembled the wolf of V 
 the story, who could never keep himself wholly 
 covered by the old dame s cloak. His irrepress- 
 
12 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 ibly secular nature would have been constantly 
 protruding at one point or another from be 
 neath the clerical raiment. It would have been 
 inevitable that sooner or later he should escape 
 altogether from the uncongenial thraldom, at 
 the cost of a more or less serious waste of time 
 and somewhat ridiculous process of change. 
 Fortunately his good sense or sound instinct 
 saved him from a too costly blunder. Yet for 
 many months his diary is sprinkled with re 
 marks concerning the flinty theology, and the 
 intense, though very unchristian, Christianity 
 of those days. Nevertheless the truth con 
 stantly peeps out ; disputatious enough, and 
 severe upon backslidings, he appears not suffi 
 ciently narrow in intellect and merciless in dis 
 position ; he* could not squeeze himself within 
 the rigid confines which hemmed in the local 
 divine. It is to no purpose that he resolves 
 " to rise with the sun and to study the Scrip 
 tures on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sun 
 day mornings," and that occasionally he writes 
 " Scripture poetry industriously " of a morning. 
 The effort is too obvious. Yet he was relig 
 iously inclined. The great Lisbon earthquake 
 of 1755, which filled Europe with infidels, in 
 spired him with a sense of religious awe. " God 
 Almighty," he says, " has exerted the strength 
 of his tremendous arm, and shook one of the 
 
YOUTH. 13 
 
 finest, richest, and most populous cities in 
 Europe into ruin and destruction by an earth 
 quake. The greatest part of Europe and the 
 greatest part of America have been in violent 
 convulsions, and admonished the inhabitants of 
 both that neither riches nor honors nor the 
 solid globe itself is a proper basis on which to 
 build our hopes of security." The Byronic pe 
 riod of his youth even takes a religious form. 
 He gloomily reflects that : 
 
 " One third of our time is consumed in sleep, and 
 three sevenths of the remainder is spent in procuring 
 a mere animal sustenance ; and if we live to the age 
 of three-score and ten, and then sit down to make an 
 estimate in our minds of the happiness we have en 
 joyed and the misery we have suffered, we shall find, 
 I am apt to think, that the overbalance of happi 
 ness is quite inconsiderable. We shall find that we 
 have been, through the greater part of our lives, pur 
 suing shadows, and empty but glittering phantoms, 
 rather than substances. 1 We shall find that we have 
 applied our whole vigor, all our faculties, in the pur 
 suit of honor or wealth or learning, or some other 
 such delusive trifle, instead of the real and everlast 
 ing excellences of piety and virtue. Habits of con 
 templating the Deity and his transcendent excel 
 lences, and correspondent habits of complacency in 
 and dependence upon Him ; habits of reverence and 
 gratitude to God, and habits of love and compassion 
 to our fellow-men, and habits of temperance, recollec- 
 
14 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 tion, and self-government, will afford us a real and 
 substantial pleasure. We may then exult in a con 
 sciousness of the favor of God and the prospect of 
 everlasting felicity." 
 
 A young man of twenty who, in our day, 
 should write in this strain would be thought fit 
 for nothing better than the church ; but Adams 
 was really at war with the prevalent church 
 spirit of New England. Thus one evening in 
 a conversation with Major Greene " about the 
 divinity and satisfaction of Jesus Christ," the 
 major advanced the argument that " a mere 
 creature or finite being could, not make satis 
 faction to infinite justice for any crimes," and 
 suggested that " these things are very mysteri 
 ous." Adams s crisp commentary was : " Thus 
 mystery is made a convenient cover for absurd 
 ity." Again he asks : " Where do we find 
 a precept in the gospel requiring ecclesiasti 
 cal synods ? convocations ? councils ? decrees ? 
 creeds ? confessions ? oaths ? subscriptions ? and 
 whole cart-loads of other trumpery that we 
 find religion incumbered with in these days ? " 
 Independence in thought and expression soon 
 caused him to be charged with the heinous un- 
 soundness of Arminianism, an accusation which 
 he endeavored neither to palliate nor deny, but 
 quite cheerfully admitted. A few such com 
 ments, more commerce even with the tiny colo- 
 
YOUTH. 15 
 
 nial world around him, a little thinking and 
 discussion upon doctrinal points, sufficed for his 
 shrewd common sense, and satisfied him that 
 he was not fitted to labor in the ministerial 
 vineyard as he saw it platted and walled in. 
 Accordingly, upon August 21, 1756, he defi 
 nitely renounced the scheme. On the follow 
 ing day he writes gravely in his diary : 
 
 " Yesterday I completed a contract with Mr. Put 
 nam to study law under his inspection for two years. 
 . . . Necessity drove me to this determination, but 
 my inclination, I think, was to preach ; however, that 
 would not do. But I set out with firm resolutions, I 
 think, never to commit any meanness or injustice in 
 the practice of law. The study and practice of law, 
 I am sure, does not dissolve the obligations of mo 
 rality or of religion ; and, although the reason of my 
 quitting divinity was my opinion concerning some dis 
 puted points, I hope I shall not give reason of offense 
 to any in that profession by imprudent warmth." 
 
 Thus fortunately for himself and for the peo 
 ple of the colonies, Adams escaped the first 
 peril which threatened the abridgment of his 
 great usefulness. Yet the choice was not made 
 without opposition from "uncles and other re- 
 lations, full of the most illiberal prejudices 
 against the law." Adams says that he had "a 
 proper veneration and affection " for these rel 
 atives, but that being " under no obligation of 
 
16 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 gratitude " to them he " thought little of their 
 opinions." Young men nowadays are little 
 apt to be controlled by uncles or even aunts in 
 such matters, but John Adams s independence 
 was more characteristic of himself than of those 
 times. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 AT THE BAB. 
 
 ON August 23, 1756, Adams says that he 
 " came to Mr. Putnam s and began law, and 
 studied not very closely this week." But he 
 was no sluggard in any respect save that he 
 was fond of lying abed late of mornings. Jus 
 tinian s Institutes with Vinnius s Notes, the 
 works of Br acton, Britton, Fleta, Glanville, 
 and all the other ponderous Latin tomes be 
 hind which the law of that day lay intrenched, 
 yielded up their wisdom to his persistency. He 
 had his hours of relaxation, in which he smoked 
 his pipe, chatted with Dr. Savil s wife, and read 
 her Ovid s " Art of Love," a singular volume, 
 truly, for a young Puritan to read aloud with 
 a lady ! Yet in the main he was a hard stu 
 dent ; so that by October, 1758, he was ready to 
 begin business, and came to Boston to consult 
 with Jeremiah Gridley, the leader and "father" 
 of that bar, as to the necessary steps " for an 
 introduction to the practice of law in this coun 
 try." Gridley was very kind with the young 
 
18 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 man, who seems to have shown upon this occa 
 sion a real and becoming bashfulness. Among 
 other pieces of advice the shrewd old lawyer 
 gave to the youngster these two: first, u to pur 
 sue the study of the law rather than the gain of 
 it ; pursue the gain of it enough to keep out of 
 the briars, but give your main attention to the 
 study of it ; " second, " not to marry early, 
 for an early marriage will obstruct your im 
 provement, and in the next place it will involve 
 you in expense." On Monday, November 6, 
 the same distinguished friend, with a few words 
 of kindly presentation, recommended Adams to 
 the court for the oath. This formality being 
 satisfactorily concluded, says Adams, " I shook 
 hands with the bar, and received their congrat 
 ulations, and invited them over to Stone s to 
 drink some punch, where the most of us re 
 sorted and had a very cheerful chat." Through 
 this alcoholic christening the neophyte was in 
 troduced into the full communion of the breth 
 ren, and thereafter it only remained for him to 
 secure clients. He had not to wait quite so 
 long for these trailing-footed gentry as is often 
 the wearisome lot of young lawyers ; for the 
 colonists were a singularly litigious race, suing 
 out writs upon provocations which in these 
 good-natured days would hardly be thought to 
 justify hard words, unconsciously training that 
 
AT THE BAR. 19 
 
 contradictory and law-loving temper which 
 really went far to bring about the quarrels with 
 Parliament, so soon to occur. Fees were small, 
 mercifully adapted not to discourage the poor 
 est client, so that the man who could not afford 
 " to take the law " might as well at on ce seek 
 the tranquil shelter of the " town farm." Ac 
 cordingly, though Adams was anxious and oc 
 casionally dispirited, he seems to have done 
 very well. 
 
 He had many admirable qualifications for 
 success, of which by no means the least was his 
 firm resolution to succeed ; for throughout his 
 life any resolution which he seriously made was 
 pretty sure to be carried through. He was, of 
 course, honest, trustworthy, and industrious ; 
 he exacted of himself the highest degree of 
 care and skill ; he cultivated as well as he 
 could the slender stock of tact with which na 
 ture had scantily endowed him ; more useful 
 traits, not needing cultivation, were a stubborn 
 ness and combativeness which made him a hard 
 man to beat at the bar as afterwards in politi 
 cal life. In a word, he was sure to get clients, 
 and soon did so. He followed the first part of 
 Gridley s advice to such good purpose that he 
 afterwards said : " I believe no lawyer in Amer 
 ica ever did so much business as I did after 
 wards, in the seventeen years that I passed in 
 
20 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 the practice at the bar, for so little profit." 
 Yet this " little profit " was enough to enable 
 him to treat more lightly Gridley s second 
 item, for on October 25, 1764, he took to him 
 self a wife ." The lady was Abigail Smith, 
 daughter of William Smith, a clergyman in the 
 neighboring town of Weymouth, and of his 
 wife, Elizabeth (Quincy) Smith. But the mat 
 rimonial venture was far from proving an 
 " obstruction to improvement ; " for " by this 
 marriage John Adams became allied with a nu 
 merous connection of families, among the most 
 respectable for their weight and influence in 
 the province, and it was immediately percep 
 tible in the considerable increase of his profes 
 sional practice." In other respects, also, it was 
 a singularly happy union. Mrs. Adams was a 
 woman of unusually fine mind and noble char 
 acter, and proved herself a most able helpmate 
 and congenial comrade for her husband through 
 out the many severe trials as well as in the 
 brilliant triumphs of his long career. Not often 
 does fate allot to a great man a domestic part 
 ner so fit to counsel and sustain as was Abigail 
 Adams, whose memory deserves to be, as indeed 
 it still is, held in high esteem and admiration. 
 
 History depicts no race less fitted by charac 
 ter, habits, and traditions to endure oppression 
 
AT THE BAR. 21 
 
 than the colonists of New England. Numeri 
 cally the chief proportion of them, and in point 
 of influence nearly all who were worthy of 
 consideration, were allied with the men who 
 had successfully defied and overthrown the 
 British monarchy. The surroundings and mode 
 of life of settlers in a new country had per 
 mitted no deterioration in the physical courage V 
 and hardihood of that class which, in Crom- 
 well s army, had constituted as fine a body of 
 troops as the world has seen to the present day. 
 It was simply impossible to affect New Eng- 
 landers through the sense of fear. Far removed 
 from the sight of monarchical power, and from 
 contact with the offensive display of aristoc 
 racy, they had ceased to hate this form of gov 
 ernment and even entertained feelings of loy 
 alty and attachment towards it. But these 
 sentiments throve only upon the condition of 
 good treatment ; and on the instant when 
 harshness destroyed the sense of reciprocity the 
 good will of the dependent body disappeared. 
 Even while the rebellious temper slumbered, 
 the independent spirit had been nourished by 
 all the conditions of social, intellectual, even of 
 civil life. The chief officers of government 
 had been sent over from England, and some 
 legislation had taken place in Parliament ; but 
 the smaller laws and regulations, which, with 
 

 22 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 the ministers thereof, touched the daily lives 
 and affairs of the people, had been largely es 
 tablished by the colonists themselves. They 
 were a thinking race, intelligent, disputatious, 
 and combative. The religion which absorbed 
 much of their mental activity had cherished 
 these qualities ; and though their creed was nar 
 row, rigid, and severe, yet they did not accept 
 it like slaves of a hierarchy, without thought 
 and criticism. On the contrary, their theology 
 was notably polemical, and discussion and dis 
 pute on matters of doctrine were the very es 
 sence of their Christianity. Their faith con 
 stituted a sort of gymnasium or arena for the 
 constant matching of strength and skill. They 
 were ready at every sort of intellectual combat. 
 The very sternness of their beliefs was the ex 
 ponent of their uncompromising spirit, the out 
 growth of a certain fierceness of disposition, and 
 by no means a weight or pall which had set 
 tled down upon their faculties of free thought. 
 Men with such bodies, minds, and morals, not 
 slow to take offense, quick to find arguments 
 upon their own side, utterly fearless, and of 
 most stubborn mettle, furnished poor material 
 for the construction of a subservient class. 
 Moreover, they were shrewd, practical men of 
 business, with the aptitude of the Anglo-Saxon 
 for affairs, and with his taste for money-getting, 
 
AT THE BAR. 23 
 
 his proneness for enterprise, his passion for 
 worldly success ; hence they were very sensi 
 tive to any obstacle cast in the way of their 
 steady progress towards material prosperity. 
 The king and the ruling classes of Great Brit 
 ain had no comprehension whatsoever of all 
 these distinguishing traits of the singular race 
 with whom they undertook to deal upon a sys 
 tem fundamentally wrong, and of which every 
 development and detail was a blunder. 
 
 In nearly every respect John Adams was a 
 typical New Englander of the times ; at least 
 it may be said that in no one individual did the 
 colonial character find a more respectable or a 
 more comprehensible development than in him, 
 so that to understand and appreciate him is to 
 understand and appreciate the New England 
 of his day ; and to draw him is to draw the col 
 onists in their best form. It was inevitable 
 from the outset that he should be a patriot ; if 
 men of his mind and temper could hesitate, 
 there could be no material out of which to con 
 struct a " liberty party " in the province. At 
 first, of course, older and better known men 
 took the lead, and he, still a parvus lulus, was 
 fain to follow with unequal steps the vigorous 
 strides of the fiery Otis, and of that earliest of 
 genuine democrats, Samuel Adams. But the 
 career of Otis was like the electric flash which 
 
24 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 so appropriately slew him, brief, brilliant, start 
 ling, sinking into melancholy darkness; and 
 John Adams pressed steadily forward, first to 
 the side of his distinguished cousin, and erelong 
 in advance of him. 
 
 It was in 1761 that Otis delivered his daring 
 and famous argument against the writs of as 
 sistance. This was the first log of the pile 
 which afterward made the great blaze of the 
 Revolution. John Adams had the good for 
 tune to hear that bold and stirring speech, and 
 came away from the impressive scene all aglow 
 with patriotic ardor. The influence of such 
 free and noble eloquence upon the young man 
 was tremendous. As his son classically puts it: 
 " It was to Mr. Adams like the oath of Ham- 
 ilcar administered to Hannibal." He took 
 some slight notes of the argument at the time, 
 and in his old age he proved the indelible im 
 pression which it had made upon him, by writ 
 ing out the vivid story. His memoranda, 
 though involving some natural inaccuracies, 
 constitute the best among the meagre records 
 of this important event. He said afterward 
 that at this scene he had witnessed the birth of 
 American Independence. " American Inde 
 pendence was then and there born. The seeds 
 of patriots and heroes, to defend the non sine 
 diis animosus infans, to defend the vigorous 
 
AT THE BAR. 25 
 
 youth, were then and there sown. Every man 
 of an immense, crowded audience appeared to 
 me to go away, as I did, ready to take arms 
 against writs of assistance. Then and there 
 was the first scene of the first act of opposition 
 to the arbitrary claims of Great Britain. Then 
 and there the child Independence was born. 
 In fifteen years, i. e., in 1776, he grew up to 
 manhood and declared himself free." Such im 
 passioned language, written in the tranquillity 
 of extreme age nearly three-score years after the 
 occurrence, shows what feelings were aroused 
 at the time. The seed which Otis flung into 
 the mind of this youth fell upon a sufficiently 
 warm and fertile soil. 
 
 In this initial struggle of the writs of assist 
 ance the royal government obtained a nominal 
 victory in the affirmation of the technical legal 
 ity of the process ; but the colonists enjoyed 
 the substance of success, since the attempt to 
 issue the obnoxious writ was not repeated. 
 The troubled waters, not being soon again dis 
 turbed, recovered their usual placidity of sur 
 face, but the strong under-current of popular 
 thought and temper had been stimulated not in 
 the direction of loyalty. From the day of 
 Otis s argument Adams, for his part, remained 
 a patriot through his very marrow. Yet he 
 continued to give close attention to his own 
 
26 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 professional business, which he steadily in 
 creased. Gradually he gained that repute and 
 standing among his fellow citizens which care 
 ful study, sound sense, and a strong character 
 are sure in time to secure. He held from time 
 to time some of the smaller local offices which 
 indicate that a young man is well thought of 
 by his neighbors. Such was his position when 
 in 1Y65 the Stamp Act set the province in a 
 flame and launched him, altogether unexpect 
 edly, upon that public career which was to en 
 dure to the end of his active years. This mo 
 mentous piece of legislation was passed in Par 
 liament innocently and thoughtlessly enough 
 by a vote of 294 to 49, in March, 1765. It 
 was to take effect on November 1 of the same 
 year. But the simple-minded indifference of 
 the English legislators was abundantly offset 
 by the rage of the provincials. The tale of the 
 revolt is too familiar to be repeated; every 
 child knows how the effigy of stamp-distribu 
 tor Oliver was first hanged and then burned ; 
 how he himself was compelled by the zealous 
 "Sons of Liberty" to resign his office; how 
 his place of business was demolished ; how his 
 house and the houses of Hutchinson and of 
 other officials were sacked by the mob. These 
 v. extravagant doings disgusted Adams, whose 
 r notions of resistance were widely different. In 
 
AT THE BAR. 27 
 
 his own town of Brain tree he took the lead of vy 
 the malcontents ; lie drew up and circulated * 
 for signatures a petition to the selectmen, ask 
 ing for a town-meeting, at which lie presented 
 a draft of instructions to the representative of 
 the town in the colonial General Court. These, 
 being carried unanimously, were " published 
 in Draper s paper, and . . . adopted by forty 
 otEeiTtbwns of the province as instructions to 
 their respective representatives." Adams be 
 came ji man of prominence. 
 
 When the time came for putting the new 
 statute in operation, divers expedients for evad 
 ing it were resorted to. But Chief Justice 
 Hutchinson in the county of Suffolk prevented 
 the opening of the courts there and the trans 
 action of business without stamps. On De 
 cember 18 Adams wrote gloomily : 
 
 " The probate office is shut, the custom house is 
 shut, the courts of justice are shut, and all business 
 seems at a stand. ... I have not drawn a writ since 
 the first of November. . . . This long interval of in 
 dolence and idleness will make a large chasm in my 
 affairs, if it should not reduce me to distress and in 
 capacitate me to answer the demands upon me. . . . 
 I was but just getting into my gears, just getting 
 under sail, and an embargo is laid upon the ship. 
 Thirty years of my life are passed in preparation for 
 business. ... I have groped in dark obscurity till 
 
28 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 of late, and had but just become known and gained a 
 small degree of reputation when this execrable proj 
 ect was set on foot for my ruin as well as that of 
 America in general, and of Great Britain." 
 
 Adams was not alone in feeling the stress of 
 this enforced cessation of all business. On the 
 very day when he was writing these grievous 
 forebodings a town-meeting was holding in Bos 
 ton, at which a memorial was adopted, pray 
 ing the governor and council to remove the 
 fatal obstruction out of the way of the daily 
 occupations of the people. The next day news 
 came to Mr. Adams at Braintree that he had 
 been associated with the venerable Jeremiah 
 Gridley and James Otis as counsel for the town 
 to support this memorial. This politico-pro 
 fessional honor, which was the greater since he 
 was not a citizen of Boston, surprised him and 
 caused him no little perturbation. He saw in 
 it some personal peril, and, what he dreaded 
 much more, a sure opposition to his profes 
 sional advancement on the part of the govern 
 ment and the numerous body of loyalists. 
 Moreover, he distrusted his capacity for so mo 
 mentous and responsible a task. But there is 
 no instance in Adams s life when either fear of 
 consequences or modesty seriously affected his 
 action. Upon this occasion he did not hesitate 
 an instant. " I am now," he at once declared, 
 
AT THE BAR. 29 
 
 "imderjdl obligations of interest and ambi 
 tion, as well as honor, gratitude, and duty, to 
 exert the utmost of my abilities in this impor 
 tant cause. On the evening of the very next 
 day, with no possibility for preparation, with 
 few hours even for thought or consultation, the 
 three lawyers were obliged to make their argu 
 ments before the governor and council. Mr. 
 Adams had to speak first. " Then it fell upon 
 me, he said, " without one moment s oppor 
 tunity to consult any authorities, to open an 
 argument upon a question that was never made 
 before, and I wish I could hope it never would 
 be made again, that is, whether the courts of 
 law should be open or not." 
 
 John Quincy Adams alleges, not without 
 justice, that his father placed the demands of 
 the colonists upon a stronger, as well as upon 
 a more daring basis than did either of his col 
 leagues. " Mr. Otis reasoned with great learn 
 ing and zeal on the judges oaths, etc., Mr. 
 Gridley on the great inconveniences that would 
 ensue the interruption of justice." Mr. Adams, 
 though advancing also points of expediency, 
 " grounded his argument on the invalidity of 
 the Stamp Act, it not being in any sense our 
 Act, having never consented to it." This was 
 recognized as the one sufficient and unanswer 
 able statement of the colonial position from 
 
30 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 this time forth to the day of Independence 
 the injustice and unlawfulness of legislation, 
 especially for taxation, over persons not repre 
 sented in the legislature. But in British ears 
 such language was rebellious, even revolution 
 ary. 
 
 No historian has conceived or described the 
 condition of affairs, of society, of temper and 
 feeling, at least in the southern part of this 
 country, at the time of the Stamp Act, with 
 anything like the accuracy and vividness which 
 illuminate the closing pages of " The Virgin 
 ians." With a moderation happily combined 
 with force, and with a frank recognition of the 
 way he would have been struck by his own ar 
 guments had he listened to them from the 
 other side, Thackeray puts into the mouth of 
 George Warrington the English justification of 
 English policy. It may be admitted that, if 
 Parliament could not tax the colonists, then 
 there was the case of a government which 
 could exact no revenue from its subjects, and 
 which, therefore, could only take with thanks 
 their voluntary contributions. In any theory 
 of government such a proposition is an absurd 
 ity. It may further be admitted that English 
 men " at home " were a much more heavily 
 taxed community than there was any endeavor 
 to make the expatriated colonial Englishmen. 
 
AT THE BAR. 31 
 
 It is also true that Great Britain acknowledged 
 and performed reasonably well the duties 
 which are part of the function of government. 
 Against these weighty arguments there was 
 but one which could prevail, and that was the 
 broad and fundamental one advanced by Mr. 
 Adams ; it reached deeper than any of the 
 English arguments, it came before them and 
 settled the controversy before one could get to 
 them. Great Britain said : a government with 
 out a power of taxation is an impossible ab 
 surdity. The colonies replied with a still ear> 
 Her fact : but taxation cannot be exercised 
 without representation. The truth at the very 
 bottom was fortunately the American truth ; 
 and this Mr. Adams saw clearly and said 
 boldly, so that the " liberty party" never for 
 got the exposition. There was a question 
 which he did not shirk, though he contem 
 plated it with something like a shudder. If 
 there could be no government without taxation, 
 and no taxation without representation, and 
 there was no chance that representation would 
 be conceded, what then ? Only independ 
 ence. Such a chain of logic was enough to 
 make so thoughtful a man as Adams very se 
 rious, and one is not surprised to find these 
 brief, pregnant entries in his diary : 
 
 " Sunday. At home with my family, thinking." 
 
32 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 " Christmas. At home, thinking, reading, search 
 ing, concerning taxation without consent." 
 
 But lie never had any doubt of the sound 
 ness of his position. He reiterated it after 
 wards in court in behalf of John Hancock, who 
 was suc d for duties on a cargo of madeira 
 wine, which had been landed at night, smug 
 gler-fashion. Adams, as counsel for the de 
 fendant, impugned the statute because " it was 
 made without our consent. My client, Mr. 
 Hancock, never consented to it ; lie never voted 
 for it himself, and he never voted for any man 
 to make such a law for him." This cause, by 
 the way, gave Adams plenty of business for 
 one winter, since the government lawyers 
 seemed " determined to examine the whole 
 town as witnesses." It was finally disposed of 
 in a manner less formal, though not less effec 
 tive, than the usual docket-entry, " by the bat 
 tle of Lexington." 
 
 By the share which he took in this business 
 of the Stamp Act, Adams conclusively cast in 
 his lot with the patriot party, and thereafter 
 stood second only to such older leaders as Otis, 
 Samuel Adams, and Hancock. He continued, 
 however, to devote himself sedulously to his 
 law business, accepting only the not very oner 
 ous public office of selectman in the spring of 
 1766. He was advised to apply to the gov 
 
AT THE BAR. 
 
 emor for the position of justice of th^ peace, 
 then a post of substantial honor and value. 
 But he refused to do so, because he feared that 
 a " great fermentation of the country " was at 
 hand, and he had no fancy for hampering him 
 self with any " obligations of gratitude." 
 
 Early in 1768, through the persuasion of 
 friends, he removed to Boston, and occupied the 
 "White House, so called, in Brattle Square, 
 taking the step, however, not without misgiv 
 ings on the score of his health, which at this 
 time was not good and gave him no little con 
 cernment. He had not been long in his new 
 quarters when his friend, Jonathan Sewall, at 
 torney general of the province, called upon 
 him and, with many nattering words as to his 
 character and standing at the bar, offered him 
 the post of advocate general in the court of 
 admiralty. It was a lucrative office, " a sure 
 introduction to the most profitable business in 
 the province, ... a first step in the ladder of X 
 royal favor and promotion." Unquestionably 
 the proposal was insidious, since the policy of 
 such indirect bribes was systematically pursued 
 at this juncture by Bernard and Hutchinson. 
 But Sewall endeavored, of course, to gloss over 
 the purport of his errand by stating that he was 
 specially instructed by the governor to say that 
 
 there was no design to interfere with Adams s 
 3 
 
34 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 well-known political sympathies. Words, how 
 ever, could not conceal the too obvious trap. 
 Adams was prompt and positive in his refusal. 
 Sewall declined to take No for an answer, and 
 returned again to the charge a few weeks later. 
 But he gathered nothing by his persistence. 
 It was time lost to endeavor to mould a man 
 whose distinguishing trait was a supreme stub 
 bornness, which became preeminently invinci 
 ble upon any question of personal independ 
 ence. 
 
 In October, 1768, the two regiments which 
 Hutchinson had advised the King s ministers to 
 send over debarked and marched through Bos 
 ton town " with muskets charged, bayonets 
 fixed, drums beating, fifes playing," and all the 
 circumstance of war ! Overflowing their bar 
 racks, these unwelcome guests took possession 
 of the town-house and other public buildings, 
 and by their cannon commanded the state- 
 house and court-house. The officers certainly 
 endeavored to maintain a conciliatory bearing 
 and kept the troops creditably quiet and or 
 derly. But it was impossible to give an ami 
 able complexion to a military occupation. The 
 townspeople obstinately regarded the red-coats 
 as triumphant invaders, and hated, and, it must 
 be confessed, taunted them continually as such. 
 The odiousness of the situation was especially 
 
AT THE BAR. 35 
 
 forced upon Adams by the daily drill of a regi 
 ment in the great square before his house. But 
 in the evening the " Sons of Liberty " point 
 edly sought to cleanse his ears from the offense 
 of the British military music, by serenading 
 beneath his windows. Long afterwards, writ 
 ing of this time, recalling the confidence placed 
 in him by the patriots and his resolve not to 
 disappoint them, Adams said : " My daily re 
 flections for two years at the sight of those 
 soldiers before my door were serious enough. 
 . . . The danger I was in appeared in full view 
 before me ; and I very deliberately and indeed 
 very solemnly determined at all events to ad 
 here to my principles in favor of my native 
 country, which, indeed, was all the country I 
 knew, or which had been known by my father, 
 grandfather, or groat - grandfather." Yet he 
 held himself in prudent restraint, and declined 
 to attend or speak at the town meetings. 
 44 That way madness lies," he used to say, with 
 a reference to the sad condition of Otis. Yet 
 he was destined to perform a singularly trying 
 task in connection with these same red-coats, 
 in spite of his desire to stand aloof from any 
 public appearance. 
 
 It was a mere question of time when a seri 
 ous collision with the troops should take place. 
 It came at last, as every one knows, upon the 
 
36 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 memorable evening of March 5, 1770, in the 
 shape of the famous " Boston Massacre." On 
 that fatal day a crowd of the disorderly loafers 
 and boys of the town, with their natural weap 
 ons of sticks and stones, so threatened and 
 abused the solitary sentry pacing upon King 
 Street that he called for aid. To his summons 
 speedily responded Captain Preston, bringing 
 six more soldiers. The force of the civilian 
 tormentors also received large accessions. The 
 mob, pressing angrily upon the officer and his 
 little force, so far alarmed them that they fired a 
 volley. Each musket was loaded with two balls, 
 and each ball found its human mark. Five 
 men were slain outright ; others were wounded. 
 Forthwith the whole regiment turned out and 
 formed in defensive array across the street upon 
 the northerly side of the town-house. Before 
 it a great and unterrified crowd swelled and 
 raged. An awful conflict was impending. 
 Fortunately Hutchinson appeared upon the 
 scene, and by wise words checked the tumult 
 at its present stage. He promised that the 
 officer and the men should at once be placed 
 under arrest and tried for murder. The peo 
 ple, with the native respect of their race for 
 law, were satisfied, and further bloodshed was 
 averted. During the night Preston and the 
 soldiers were arrested. 
 
AT THE BAR. 37 
 
 The very next morning, the heat of the tur 
 moil still seething, there came into Mr. Adams s 
 office one Forrest, pleasantly nick-named the 
 " Irish infant." This emissary was charged to 
 induce Adams to act as counsel for the accused, 
 and he evidently expected to find his task dif 
 ficult of accomplishment ; but Adams acceded 
 to the request as soon as it was preferred, mak 
 ing some remarks to the point of professional 
 duty, trite and commonplace in their ethical 
 aspect, but honorably distinguished in that 
 they were backed by instant action at a mo 
 ment of grave trial. With him acted Josiah 
 Quincy, junior, then a young man lately called 
 to the bar. It was no welcome duty which 
 professional obligation and perhaps still higher 
 sentiments thus thrust upon these two lawyers. 
 It has been suggested that the choice of Mr. 
 Adams, especially, was due to the astute cow 
 ardice of Hutchinson, who wished first to hand 
 icap a strong patriot by rendering him an ob 
 ject of suspicion among the less reasonable mal 
 contents, and next, in case of being ultimately 
 compelled to pardon the accused men, to in 
 terpose between himself and an angry people 
 the character and influence of the most highly 
 considered lawyer on the popular side. It 
 may well be supposed, however, that Captain 
 Preston, on trial for his life amid strange and 
 
38 JOHN ADAMS, 
 
 hostile surroundings, selected his counsel with 
 a single eye to his own interest. Mr. C. F. 
 Adams regards this engagement in this cause 
 as constituting one of the four great moral 
 trials and triumphs marking his grandfather s 
 career. Undoubtedly it was so. It was not 
 only that, so far as his own feelings were con 
 cerned, the position was odious, but he was 
 called upon to risk losing the well-earned con 
 fidence of those of his fellow townsmen with 
 whom he was in profound sympathy in matters 
 of momentous importance; to imperil a repu 
 tation and popularity won by twelve long years 
 of honest labor, and necessary to his success 
 and even to his livelihood. It is difficult to ad 
 mire too highly the spirit which saw no cause 
 even for an hour s hesitation in the sudden de 
 mand for such sacrifices. That he was un 
 questionably right is now so evident that it is 
 hard to appreciate that he could have incurred 
 great censure and peril at the time. Yet this 
 was the case. The cooler and more intelligent 
 patriots could be counted upon to appreciate 
 the case justly, and in time also a large propor 
 tion of the party would follow. But at first 
 there was a great clamor of rebuke and wrath. 
 Even Josiah Quincy, senior, a man from whom, 
 if from any one, better judgment might have 
 been anticipated, wrote to his son a letter min- 
 
AT THE BAR, 39 
 
 gled of incredulity, indignation, and remon 
 strance. It seems ridiculous to find that long 
 years afterwards, after the Revolution, after 
 Adams had signed the Declaration of Inde 
 pendence, had been insulted at the English 
 Court, and had served as vice-president with 
 Washington, this legal service of his was 
 dragged out by his opponents as evidence of his 
 subjection to British influence ; yet such folly 
 actually occurred. 
 
 The trial of Preston began October 24, and 
 closed October 30. It resulted in an acquittal, 
 since it was of course impossible to adduce sat 
 isfactory evidence that he had given the com 
 mand to fire. The trial of the soldiers fol 
 lowed, which a short-hand writer endeavored 
 to report ; but he failed lamentably in catching 
 the tenor of the counsel s arguments. Of these 
 defendants all were acquitted save two, who 
 were found guilty of manslaughter. They 
 claimed their privilege of clergy, and so saved 
 their lives ; but were branded on the hand 
 with a hot iron, a disgrace which they keenly 
 felt to be undeserved, and which won for them 
 the honest sympathy of Mr. Adams. It may 
 be remarked that Adams was much annoyed 
 at a story, to which a sort of corroboration was 
 afterward given by some unfair language of 
 Hutchinson in his history, that his motive in 
 
40 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 engaging for the prisoners came in the shape 
 of a large fee. In fact, his entire remunera 
 tion for all services rendered to all his eight 
 clients was only nineteen guineas, which were 
 not accompanied or followed by so much as 
 even a courteous word of thanks from Preston. 
 But he had the comfort of appreciating the 
 character of his own conduct at least as well 
 as if he were judging the behavior of another 
 person. He said of it, two or three years later : 
 " It was one of the most gallant, manly, and 
 disinterested actions of my whole life, and one 
 of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my 
 country." So fairly could he at times estimate 
 himself and his doings ! 
 
 One gratification, however, was his besides 
 the mens conscia recti and the paltry guineas. 
 After his acceptance of the position of defend 
 ant s counsel had become known, and before 
 the trial, a vacancy occurred in the representa 
 tion of the town of Boston in the General 
 Court. Upon June 3 Adams was elected to 
 fill this place by the handsome vote of 418 out 
 of a total of 536, good evidence that the peo 
 ple had come to their senses concerning the 
 true character of his action. But gratifying as 
 such a testimonial of popularity was at the mo 
 ment, when he had staked his good repute upon 
 a question of principle, yet in other respects 
 
AT THE BAR. 41 
 
 the honor was less welcome. Heretofore he 
 had carefully abstained from entanglement in 
 public affairs, contenting himself with a bold 
 profession of patriotic sentiment, and shunning 
 sedulously that active share which he was often 
 and inevitably urged and tempted to assume. 
 He had devoted himself with steady and almost 
 exclusive persistence to the practice of his pro 
 fession, recognizing no object superior to that. 
 Success in this he was already grasping. 
 Twelve years he had been in practice, and now 
 " had more business at the bar than any man 
 in the province." He felt that an entry upon 
 a public career would rob him of the ripening 
 harvest of his years of toil, that it would expose 
 him to anxiety, complications, and personal 
 danger, and his family perhaps to poverty. 
 His later reminiscence of his feelings upon ac 
 cepting this office is impressively pathetic : 
 
 " My health was feeble. I was throwing away as 
 bright prospects as any man ever had before him, 
 and I had devoted myself to endless labor and anx 
 iety, if not to infamy and to death, and that for noth 
 ing, except what indeed was and ought to be in all 
 a sense of duty. In the evening I expressed to Mrs. 
 Adams all my apprehensions. That excellent lady, 
 who has always encouraged me, burst into a flood of 
 tears, and said she was very sensible of all the dan 
 ger to her and to our children, as well as to me, but 
 
42 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 she thought I had done as I ought ; she was very 
 willing to share in all that was to come, and to place 
 her trust in Providence." 
 
 Thus solemnly, with a sense of costly self- 
 sacrifice to duty, and with dark presagings, 
 Adams consented to enter upon that public 
 career which in the inscrutable future proved 
 to be laden with such rich rewards for his noble 
 courage, and such brilliant confutation of his 
 melancholy forebodings. 
 
 This first incursion into the domain of public 
 life, undertaken in so grave a temper, was not 
 of long duration. Considering the hale and 
 prolonged old age which Mr. Adams came to 
 enjoy, his health in what should have x been vig 
 orous years seems to have given him a surpris 
 ing amount of solicitude. So now, within a 
 few months after his election, he fell into such 
 a condition with " a pain in his breast, and a 
 complaint in his lungs, which seriously threat 
 ened his life," that he felt sure that city life 
 was disagreeing with him. Accordingly in the 
 spring of 1771, just three years after coming 
 to town, he removed his household back to 
 Braintree, and of course at the end of his year 
 of service he could not again be returned as a 
 member from Boston. He was very despond 
 ent at this time. He held the inhabitants of 
 Boston in " the most pleasing and grateful re- 
 
AT THE BAR. 43 
 
 membrance." He said : " I wish to God it was 
 in my power to serve them, as much as it is 
 in my inclination. But it is not ; my wishes 
 are impotent, my endeavors fruitless and inef 
 fectual to them, and ruinous to myself." He 
 fell occasionally into moods of melancholy like 
 this, doubtless by reason of ill health. Prob 
 ably also after having tasted the singular fas-- 
 ciiiation of active concernment in public affairs 
 he was not able altogether without regret to 
 contemplate his apparent future, with "no 
 journeys to Cambridge, no General Court to 
 attend," nothing but " law and husbandry." 
 He had come to be a man of some note, which 
 is always pleasant, whatever disingenuous pro 
 fessions prominent men may sometimes make. 
 Already, many months before, when stopping 
 at a tavern on his way to Plymouth, he was 
 surprised by having a fellow-traveler, unknown 
 to him, go out to saddle and bridle his horse 
 and hold the stirrup for him, saying, " Mr. 
 Adams, as a man of liberty, I respect you ; 
 God bless you ! I 11 stand by you while I live, 
 and from hence to Cape Cod you won t find ten 
 men amiss." Now too, upon coming to Brain- 
 tree, the representative from that town, who 
 once had been pleased to call Mr. Adams " a 
 petty lawyer," complimented him as the " first 
 lawyer in the province," and offered to stand 
 
44 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 aside if Mr. Adams would be willing to repre 
 sent Braintree in the General Court. One 
 could not lightly throw away such prestige. 
 
 From the farm at Braintree he rode habit 
 ually to his office in Boston, and by this whole 
 some life regained his good health, and fortu 
 nately suffered no material loss in the popular 
 estimation. His interest in colonial affairs con 
 tinued unabated. He set down, for the in 
 struction of his family, " if this wretched jour 
 nal should ever be read " by them, that he was 
 the unwavering enemy of Hutchinson and of 
 Hutchinson s system, and he predicted that the 
 governor had inaugurated a contention, which 
 would " never be fully terminated but by wars 
 and confusions and carnage." " With great 
 anxiety and hazard, with continual application 
 to business, with loss of health, reputation, 
 profit, and as fair prospects and opportunities 
 of advancement as others, who have greedily 
 embraced them, I have for ten years together 
 invariably opposed this system and its fautors." 
 So Pym or Hampden might have spoken con 
 cerning Straff ord. But now there came one of 
 those lulls in the political storm, when sanguine 
 people sometimes think that it has spent its 
 force and is to give way to fairer days. Adams 
 beheld this with some bewilderment and re 
 gret, but with constancy of spirit. " The me* 
 
AT THE BAR. 45 
 
 lodious harmony, the perfect concords, the en 
 tire confidence and affection that seem to be 
 restored, greatly surprise me. Will it be last 
 ing ? I believe there is no man in so curious a 
 situation as I am ; I am, for what I can see, 
 quite left alone in the world." He had not, 
 however, to wait long before the tranquillity 
 passed, the gales were blowing anew more 
 fiercely than ever, and the old comrades were 
 all in company again. 
 
 In truth, it was ridiculous for Mr. Adams to 
 fancy that he could remain permanently a vil 
 lager of Braintree, a long hour s journey from 
 Boston. That redoubtable young town, though 
 for a while it was making such a commotion in 
 the world, had only about 16,000 inhabitants, 
 and it could not have been sufficiently metro 
 politan to justify Mr. Adams in fleeing from 
 its crowds into the wholesome solitudes of the 
 country. It was a morbid notion on his part. 
 By the autumn of 1772 he came to this con 
 clusion, and found his health so reestablished 
 that he not only moved back to town but ac 
 tually bought a house in Queen Street, near 
 the court house. He, however, registered a 
 pledge to himself " to meddle not with public 
 affairs of town or province. I am determined 
 my own life and the welfare of my whole fam 
 ily, which is much dearer to me, are too great 
 
46 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 sacrifices for me to make. I have served my 
 country and her professed friends, at an im 
 mense expense to me of time, peace, health, 
 money, and preferment, both of which last have 
 courted my acceptance and been inexorably re 
 fused, lest I should be laid under a temptation 
 to forsake the sentiments of the friends of this 
 country. ... I will devote myself wholly to 
 my private business, my office and my farm, 
 and I hope to lay a foundation for better for 
 tune to my children and a happier life than 
 has fallen to my share." Yet these sentiments, 
 which he seems not to have kept to himself, 
 brought upon him some harsh criticism. James 
 Otis, the fiery zealot, one day sneeringly said 
 to him, with a blimtness which sounds some 
 what startling in our more cautious day, that 
 he would never learn military exercises because 
 he had not the heart. " How do you know ? " 
 replied Adams. " You never searched my 
 heart." " Yes, I have," retorted Otis ; " tired 
 with one year s service, dancing from Boston to 
 Braintree and from Braintree to Boston ; mop 
 ing about the streets of this town as hypped as 
 Father Flynt at ninety, and seemingly regard 
 less of everything but to get money enough to 
 carry you smoothly through this world." This 
 was the other side of the shield from that upon 
 which Mr. Adams was wont to look, and which 
 
AT THE BAR. 47 
 
 has been shown in the sundry communings 
 cited from his diary concerning his sacrifices. 
 Otis was impetuous and extravagant of tongue, 
 and probably his picture was the less fair of 
 the two. Yet truly Mr. Adams appears a little 
 absurd in putting on the airs and claiming the 
 privileges of " an infirm man," as he calls him 
 self, at the age of thirty-seven. But at times 
 he could give way to patriotic outbursts such 
 as would not have misbecome even the pungent 
 and reckless Otis himself. One evening at Mr. 
 Cranch s " I said, there was no more justice 
 left in Britain than there was in "hell ; that I 
 wished for war, and that the whole Bourbon 
 family was upon the back of Great Britain ; 
 avowed a thorough disaffection to that country ; 
 wished that anything might happen to them, 
 and, as the clergy prayed of our enemies in 
 time of war, that they might be brought to 
 reason or to ruin." Yet he was afterward pen 
 itent for this language, and took himself to 
 task "with severity, for these rash, inexperi 
 enced, boyish, raw, and awkward expressions. 
 A man who has no better government of his 
 tongue, no more command of his temper, is un 
 fit for everything but children s play and the 
 company of boys," etc., etc. 
 
 In justice to Mr. Adams it should be said 
 that, so far as any records show, he had not 
 
48 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 often to blame himself in this manner ; habit 
 ually he was not less moderate than firm and 
 courageous. One is greatly struck with the 
 change of tone which insensibly steals over the 
 diary as the young man, at first having only 
 himself to care for, develops into the man of ma 
 ture years with the weighty and difficult inter 
 ests of the province at heart. The tendency to 
 selfishness and narrow egotism, the heartburn 
 ings, jealousies, suspicions, carpings, and harsh 
 criticisms, which do not give a very amiable im 
 pression of the youth, all disappear as the times 
 change. A loftier elevation and finer atmos- 
 
 o 
 
 phere are insensibly reached. A grave, reso 
 lute, anxious air pervades the pages; a trust 
 and sense of comradeship towards fellow pa 
 triots ; almost as much of regret as of rancor 
 towards many of those who should be standing 
 by the province but are not ; hostility of course, 
 but a singular absence of personal abuse and 
 acrimony, even towards such men as Hutchin- 
 son. No unmeasured rage, no flames of anger 
 and ill-considered words, but an immutable 
 conviction and a stubborn determination are 
 characteristics which he shares with the great 
 bulk of the " liberty party." There is no 
 excitement exhausting itself with the efferves 
 cence of its own passion, there are no protesta 
 tions too extravagant to be fulfilled ; the exte- 
 
AT THE BAR. 49 
 
 rior is all coolness, and persistence ; the heat 
 glows fiercely far inside. Thus one clearly 
 reads in Mr. Adams s diary the temper of his 
 coadjutors and of the times; and if the same 
 perusal could have been had in England, it is 
 barely possibly that events might have been 
 different. Cromwell and the Puritans were 
 not in so remote a past that the royal gov 
 ernment could be justified in an utter failure 
 to appreciate the moral and mental traits of 
 the people of New England, if only those traits 
 could once be got beneath the eyes of the king 
 and cabinet. But Adams s diary was for him 
 self alone. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE FIRST CONGRESS. 
 
 IT has been seen that nearly three years be 
 fore the time at which we have now arrived 
 Mr. Adams had experienced no small solicitude 
 and misgivings when summoned to take a part 
 in public life. He had soon escaped from func 
 tions which were really distasteful to him, and 
 had gladly resumed the practice of his profes 
 sion and that care for his private interests 
 which naturally lay close to the heart of a 
 shrewd and prudent man, bred in the practical 
 and business-like atmosphere of the New Eng 
 land of those days, and having a wife and chil 
 dren to support. Hitherto he has been seen 
 holding aloof so far as possible from any promi 
 nent and active share in the disturbed and ex 
 citing, but certainly also the perilous politics of 
 the times. Even within a few weeks of the 
 event which was to make his career perma 
 nently and irrevocably that of the public man, 
 he writes to a friend that he can send no inter 
 esting news, because " I have very little con- 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 51 
 
 nection with public affairs, and I hope to have 
 less." Nevertheless it is perfectly obvious that 
 if the services of men having his qualities of 
 mind and character could not be commanded 
 by the patriots, then the sooner submission was 
 made to Great Britain the better. At the 
 ripe age of thirty-eight, well read in private 
 and in public law, of a temperament happily 
 combining prudence and boldness, notably trust 
 worthy, active, and energetic, standing already 
 in the front rank of his profession if not ac 
 tually at its head in the province, it was inev 
 itable that he should be compelled to assume 
 important and responsible duties in the mo 
 mentous contest so rapidly developing. His 
 reluctance was not of the mouth only, not the 
 pretended holding back of a man who never 
 theless desired to be driven forward ; he was 
 sincere in his shrinking from a prominent po 
 sition, yet he could surely be counted upon 
 ultimately to take it, because refusal would 
 have been contrary to his nature. 
 
 It was apparently in March^ 1774, that Mr. 
 Adams was contemplating a project somewhat 
 amusing in view of the near future. " Have I 
 patience and industry enough," he says, "to 
 write a history of the contest between Britain 
 and America ? It would be proper to begin," 
 etc. Comical enough was this proposition for 
 
52 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 writing an historical narrative, before the ma 
 terial even for the introductory chapter had 
 been completed. 
 
 A few days later he gives to James Warren 
 his opinion : " that there is not spirit enough 
 on either side to bring the question to a com 
 plete decision, and that we shall oscillate like 
 a pendulum, and fluctuate like the ocean, for 
 many years to come, and never obtain a com 
 plete redress of American grievances, nor sub 
 mit to an absolute establishment of parliament 
 ary authority, but be trimming between both, as 
 we have been for ten years past, for more years 
 to come than you and I shall live. Our chil 
 dren may see revolutions," etc., etc. Evidently 
 he was not well pleased at these predictions, 
 which his despondent judgment forced from 
 him. But the " revolutions," so much more to 
 his taste than the "trimming," were already at 
 hand. Less than three months later, on June 
 17, the provincial assembly was sitting with 
 closed doors ; the secretary of the governor, 
 with a message for their dissolution in his 
 hand, was knocking in vain for admittance, 
 while the members were hastily choosing five 
 persons to represent Massachusetts at a meet 
 ing of committees from the several colonies to 
 be Ijeld at Philadelphia on September 1. One 
 hundred and seventeen members voteH " aye," 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. V > 53 
 
 
 
 ^> 
 
 " 
 
 twelve voted " no ; " the doors were , 
 
 and the " last provincial assembly 
 acted under the royal authority in Massachu 
 setts " was at an end. The five representatives 
 to the first Congress of North America were : 
 James Bowdoin, Thomas Gushing, Samuel 
 Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine. 
 ~Jt-so- happened that at the very hour when this 
 nomination was making, John Adams was pre 
 siding at Faneuil Hall over a meeting of citi 
 zens engaged in considering what measures 
 should be taken concerning the recent acts of 
 Parliament for the destruction of the commerce 
 of the town. 
 
 The first glimpse of Mr. Adams s feeling at 
 this juncture comes in a few hurried, disjointed 
 sentences, written in his diary three days later ; 
 he is " in Danvers, bound to Ipswich," still at 
 tending closely to his law business, starting on 
 the Eastern circuit. He says : 
 
 " There is a new and grand scene open before 
 me : a_ Congress. This will be an assembly of the 
 wisest men upon the continent, who are Americans 
 in principle, that is, against the taxation of Ameri 
 cans by authority of Parliament. I feel myself un 
 equal to this business. A more extensive knowledge 
 of the realm, the colonies, and of commerce, as well 
 as of law and policy, is necessary, than I am master 
 of. What can be done ? Will it be expedient to 
 
54 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 propose an annual Congress of Committees ? to peti 
 tion ? Will it do to petition at all ? to the King ? 
 to the Lords ? to the Commons ? What will such 
 consultations avail ? Deliberations alone will not do. 
 We must petition, or recommend to the Assemblies 
 to petition, or " 
 
 The alternative to be introduced by this " or" 
 gives him pause; it is too terrible, doubtless 
 also as yet too little considered in all its vague, 
 vast, and multiform possibilities, to be defi 
 nitely shaped in words even on these secret 
 pages. He will not be run away with by a 
 hasty pen, though his only reader is himself. 
 Five days later he comes back from " a long 
 walk through . . . corn, rye, grass," and 
 writes : 
 
 " I wander alone and ponder. I muse, I mope, I 
 ruminate. .I am often in reveries and brown studies. 
 The objects before me are too grand and multifari 
 ous for my comprehension. We have not men fit 
 for the times. We are deficient in genius, in educa 
 tion, in travel, in fortune, in everything. I feel un 
 utterable anxiety. God grant us wisdom and forti 
 tude ! Should the opposition be suppressed, should 
 this country submit, what infamy and ruin ! God 
 forbid ! Death in any form is less terrible." 
 
 On June 25 he writes to his friend Warren, 
 who had been instrumental in appointing him 
 to Congress : 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 55 
 
 " I suppose you sent me there to school. I thank 
 you for thinking me an apt scholar, or capable of 
 learning. For my own part I am at a loss, totally 
 at a loss, what to do when we get there ; but I hope 
 to be there taught. It is to be a school of political 
 prophets, I suppose, a nursery of American states 
 men." 
 
 Mr. Adams estimated with much candor and 
 fairness the deficiencies which he recognized as 
 likely to stand in the way of his usefulness and 
 success in Congress. But in speaking of his 
 qualifications he did not mention, and doubt 
 less did not at all appreciate, one fact which 
 told largely in his favor. In our day men ha 
 bitually go to Congress with only such crude 
 training in the oral discussion of public ques 
 tions as they have gained in the juvenile de 
 bating societies of school or college, or possi 
 bly through an occasional appearance " 011 the 
 stump." But Adams had enjoyed the advan 
 tage of a peculiar and singularly admirable 
 schooling, and it was only because this had 
 been a matter of course in his life ever since 
 he had come of age, that he failed now to set 
 it down at its true value. He had been accus 
 tomed always to take an active part in the 
 town -meetings, that old institution of New 
 England, than which nothing finer as a prepar 
 atory school of debate has ever existed in the 
 
56 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 world. In these assemblages, at which nearly 
 all the voters of the town were present, every 
 public question was discussed with that ardor 
 which the near personal interest of the speak 
 ers can alone supply. There was no indiffer 
 ence. Every one made it a point to be present, 
 and the concourse was a more striking one than 
 many more pretentious and dignified gather 
 ings. The colonists were a disputatious, shrewd, 
 and hard-headed race. When they met to ar 
 range all those matters of domestic polity, 
 which by virtue of their nearness seemed much 
 more important than grander but more distant 
 and abstract questions, there was no lack of 
 earnestness or of keen ability in their debates. 
 Men learned the essential elements of vigorous 
 and able discussion. They did not perhaps learn 
 all the intricacies of parliamentary tactics, but 
 they did acquire a good deal of skill in the way 
 of observation and of management. It was 
 a democratic political body, 1 wherein perfect 
 equality prevailed so far as privilege or the dis 
 tinction of the individual were concerned, but 
 where the inequality arising from difference in 
 
 i Gordon, iu his History of Independence, says : " Every 
 town is an incorporated republic ; " and Mr. Hosmer, in an 
 admirable pamphlet lately published upon this subject, calls 
 the town-meeting the " proper primordial cell of a republican 
 body politic," and says that it existed " in well-developed form 
 only in New England." 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 57 
 
 natural ability counted for all that it was worth. 
 In such conflicts every man learned to strike 
 with all the skill and strength that he could 
 master, and learned also to take as good and 
 often better than he could give back. Behind 
 it all lay the fundamental Anglo-Saxon feeling 
 of respect for law and order, for common sense 
 and the sounder reason. It was generally the 
 stronger argument which prevailed. It was to 
 the judgment, not to the emotions that appeal 
 had to be made in bodies composed of such ma 
 terial. A throng of Yankee farmers or mer 
 chants listening to a speaker for the purpose of 
 detecting the weak points in his speech com 
 pelled the ablest and the coolest man to do his 
 best. No one could afford to lose either his 
 temper or his head. Service in such tourna 
 ments, though the contests were not of national 
 moment, very soon made veterans of the active 
 participants. Courage, independence, self-con 
 trol, thoroughness, readiness, were soon acquired 
 amid the rough but strong and honest handling 
 of such encounters. From these fields Adams 
 came to one more conspicuous, with his mental 
 sinews more toughened and more active than 
 could have been expected by any one who had 
 not witnessed the scenes of the rude arena. He 
 had learned how to prepare himself for an ar 
 gument and to study a question which was to 
 
58 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 be discussed, how to put his points with clear 
 ness, force, and brevity ; he was at home in ad 
 dressing a body of hearers ; he was not discom 
 posed by attacks, however vigorous ; he could 
 hold his position or assail the position of an 
 opponent with perfect coolness and dangerous 
 tenacity ; he had learned self-confidence and to 
 fear no man, though by the fortunes of war he 
 must sometimes be defeated. Altogether^ he 
 was much better fitted for parliamentary labors 
 than lie himself suspected. 
 
 From this period of his life for nearly thirty 
 years Mr. Adams continued to expand in popu 
 lar estimation, unfortunately also in his own 
 estimation, through constantly enlarging meas 
 ures of greatness. But at no time does he ap 
 pear to the student of his character so noble, 
 so admirable, or so attractive as during two or 
 three years about this time. The entries in 
 the diary are brief and often made at provok- 
 ingly long intervals ; nor do very many letters 
 remain. Yet there are dashes of strong color 
 sufficient to give a singularly vivid picture of 
 his state of mind and feeling. There is a pro 
 found consciousness of being in the presence 
 of great events, of living in momentous and 
 pregnant times. This develops him grandly. 
 Before the immensity of the crisis all thoughts 
 of self, all personal rivalries, even political 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 59 
 
 enmities, disappear. There is perceptible 
 scarcely any trace of that unfortunate vanity 
 and egotism which so marred his aspect when 
 time had taught him that he was really a great 
 man. At present he does not know that he is 
 great ; he is simply one meaning to do his best, 
 and harassed with a genuine, modest doubt how 
 good that best will be. Amid the surround 
 ings his new duties impress him with a sense 
 of awe. Who is he to take counsel for his 
 fellow citizens, he who has only studied the 
 few books which he has been able to afford to 
 import from England, who has never seen a 
 town with more than sixteen thousand inhab 
 itants, nor ever had any experience whatsoever 
 of statecraft, who gathers only by hearsay his 
 ideas concerning the power and resources of 
 England, the temper of her rulers and her peo 
 ple, and who really has scarcely more knowl 
 edge of any province south of Massachusetts? 
 How can he weigh, and compare, and judge 
 wisely? Yet he has at least the wisdom to 
 measure his own exceeding ignorance, and ob 
 viously he will commit no such rash blunders 
 as those into which he will by and by be led 
 by the over-weening self-confidence of later 
 years. Now he will ponder and reflect, and 
 will act prudently and moderately ; for he feels 
 most gravely his immense responsibility. But 
 
60 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 though he feels this, it does not make a coward 
 of him ; the courage and the spirit of John 
 Adams were the same from the cradle to the 
 grave. There is not a shadow of timidity ; 
 modesty and self-distrust do not take that 
 shape nor betray him into irresolution. In 
 every line that he writes the firm and manly 
 temper is distinctly seen. If he will be anx 
 ious, so also he will be bold and will fear no 
 consequences either for his country or for him 
 self. His nerve is good ; he is profoundly 
 thoughtful, but not in the least agitated. His 
 own affairs must give him some thought, but 
 not for himself, only for his family. He does 
 not say this; if he did, the fact might be 
 less sure ; but his letters, clear, brief, blunt, 
 straightforward, written often in haste and 
 always with unquestionable simplicity and 
 frankness, leave no doubt concerning his gen 
 erous courage in all matters of his private in 
 terests. The only direct recognition of his 
 personal risk is in a passage of a letter to 
 James Warren : 
 
 " There is one ugly reflection. Brutus and Cas- 
 sius were conquered and slain, Hampden died in the 
 field, Sidney on the scaffold, Harrington in jail, etc. 
 This is cold comfort. Politics are an ordeal path 
 among red-hot ploughshares. Who then would be a 
 politician for the pleasure of running about barefoot 
 among them ? Yet somebody must." 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 61 
 
 After he had been a short while in Congress 
 he writes reassuringly to his wife : 
 
 " Be not under any concern for me. There is lit 
 tle danger from anything we shall do at the Congress. 
 There is such a spirit through the colonies, and the 
 members of Congress are such characters, that no 
 danger can happen to us, which will not involve the 
 whole continent in universal desolation ; and in that 
 case, who would wish to live ? " 
 
 He was willing to take his turn and to do 
 his sEafe ; but he insisted that after he had 
 contributed his fair proportion of toil and sac 
 rifice, and had assumed his just measure of 
 peril, others should come forward to succeed 
 him and play their parts also. In truth, at this 
 crisis a prominent public position did not hold 
 out those lures to ambition which exist in es 
 tablished governments ; there were no appar 
 ent prizes of glory, power, or prosperity ; there 
 were alarming visible chances of utter destruc 
 tion. The self-seeking and aspiring class saw 
 meagre temptations. So Adams may be rigidly 
 believed when he writes : 
 
 " To say the truth, I was much averse to being 
 chosen, and shall continue so ; for I am determined, 
 if things are settled, to avoid public life. ... At 
 
 such a time as this there are many dangerous things 
 to be done, which nobody else will do, and therefore 
 
62 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 I cannot help attempting thorn ; but ID peaceful 
 times there are always hands enough, ready." 
 
 The letters of Adams to his wife from the 
 time of his appointment to Congress are de 
 lightful reading. Not because they communi 
 cate interesting historical facts, which indeed it 
 was not safe to set down in correspondence, but 
 rather because in a thousand little ways they 
 cast such a vivid light upon the very striking 
 character of the man himself, and give us his 
 personal surroundings, also that atmosphere of 
 the times which was intense to a degree which 
 we hardly picture to ourselves as we read cold 
 sketches of them. We see his anxiety some 
 times transiently darkening into despondency ; 
 for his energetic, impatient temperament chafes 
 occasionally at the delays of more timid souls. 
 But anon his high spirit gives him gleams of 
 bright hope ; no one who has a cause so near 
 at heart as Adams had the cause of America 
 ever despairs more than temporarily in hours of 
 fatigue. Generally Adams s courag~is~- 9f-4Jie 
 stubborn and determined sort ; he feels with 
 something of bitterness the sacrifices which he 
 seems to be making at the cost of his family, 
 and meets them as might be expected of such a 
 typical descendant of the New England Puri 
 tans. 
 
 " We live, my dear soul, in an age of trial. What 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 63 
 
 will be the consequence, I know not. The town of 
 Boston, for aught I can see, must suffer martyrdom. 
 It must expire." 
 
 " I go mourning in my heart all the day long, 
 though I say nothing. I am melancholy for the 
 public and anxious for my family. As for myself, a 
 frock and trousers, a hoe and a spade, would do for 
 my remaining days. For God s sake make your chil 
 dren hardy ) active, and industrious ; for strength, ac 
 tivity, and industry will be their only resource and 
 dependence." 
 
 This he reiterates : 
 
 " The education of our children is never out of my 
 
 / 
 
 mini~ Train them to virtue. Habituate them to in- * 
 dustry, activity, ancl spirit. Make .them, consider every 
 vice as shameful and unmanly. Fire them with am- 
 bition to be useful." 
 
 On August 10, 1774, Mr. Adams set forth 
 upon a journey which was to give him his first 
 opportunity to see other places than the small 
 town of Boston and the eastern villages, to 
 meet persons whose habits of thought and ways 
 of life differed from those prevalent among the 
 descendants of the Pilgrims. With three of 
 his fellow delegates 1 he started in a coach, 
 " and rode to Coolidge s," whither a " large 
 number of gentlemen " had gone before and 
 
 1 Bowdoin declined ; Sam Adams, Gushing, Paine, and 
 John Adams went. 
 
64 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 had " prepared an entertainment for them." 
 The parting after dinner " was truly affecting, 
 beyond all description affecting." The follow 
 ing days proved most interesting and agree 
 able. At every place of any consequence the 
 travelers were received with flattering atten 
 tions. The people turned out in crowds, bells 
 were rung, even cannon were fired ; the feast 
 ing was frequent and plentiful; every person 
 of any note called on them ; and they had am 
 ple opportunities to learn the opinions and to 
 judge the feelings of the influential citizens all 
 along the route. Adams was naturally much 
 pleased; he began to have that sense of self- 
 importance which expanded so rapidly during 
 many years to come. " No governor of a prov 
 ince or general of an army," he complacently 
 remarks, " was ever treated with so much cere 
 mony and assiduity." But he modestly trans 
 lates the " expressions of respect to us " into 
 " demonstrations of the sympathy of this peo 
 ple with the Massachusetts Bay and its capi 
 tal." He told his wife : 
 
 " I have not time nor language to express the hos 
 pitality and the studied and expensive respect with 
 which we have been treated in every stage of our 
 progress. If Camden, Chatham, Richmond, and St. 
 Asaph had traveled through the country, they could 
 not have been entertained with greater demonstra- 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 65 
 
 tions of respect than Gushing, Paine, and the brace 
 of Adamses have been. ... I confess the kindness, 
 the affection, the applause which have been given to 
 me, and especially to our province, have many a 
 time filled my bosom and streamed from my eyes." 
 
 It was the period when gentlemen, dining 
 and shaking hands, were full of noble patriot 
 ism and a generous sense of brotherhood, be 
 fore the problems and hardships of a tedious 
 and painful conflict had bred weariness and 
 doubt, before the rivalries of office and author 
 ity had given rise to jealousy and division. 
 
 But amid the courtesies the Massachusetts 
 men had not been without instructive hints as 
 to what difference of opinion they must expect 
 to encounter, and how it would be prudent for 
 them to bear themselves. Forthwith after his 
 appointment Adams had written to the shrewd 
 old lawyer, the Nestor of the Massachusetts pa 
 triots, Joseph Hawley, and in reply had re 
 ceived a singularly wise as well as kindly letter 
 of advice. Having disposed of Adams s ex 
 pressions of diffidence with some friendly words 
 of encouragement, this sagacious counselor said : 
 
 " You cannot, sir, but be fully apprised, that a 
 good issue of the Congress depends a good deal on 
 the harmony, good understanding, and I had almost 
 said brotherly love of its members. . . . Now there is 
 an opinion which does in some degree obtain in the 
 5 
 
66 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 other colonies, that the Massachusetts gentlemen, 
 and especially of the town of Boston, do affect to 
 dictate and take the lead in continental measures ; 
 that we are apt, from an inward vanity and self-con 
 ceit, to assume big and haughty airs. Whether this 
 opinion has any foundation in fact I am not certain. 
 . . . Now I pray that everything in the conduct and 
 behavior of our gentlemen, which might tend to 
 beget or strengthen such an opinion, might be most 
 carefully avoided. It is highly probable, in my opin 
 ion, that you will meet gentlemen from several of the 
 other colonies, fully equal to yourselves or any of 
 you, in their knowledge of Great Britain, the colo 
 nies, law, history, government, commerce, etc. . . . 
 And by what we from time to time see in the public 
 papers and what our assembly and committees have 
 received from the assemblies and committees of the 
 more southern colonies, we must be satisfied that 
 they have men of as much sense and literature as any 
 we can or ever could boast of." 
 
 Do these cautious words indicate that this 
 keen reader of men had already seen in John 
 Adams the presumptuous and headstrong tem 
 perament which was to make life so hard for 
 him in the years to come ? But the sound acU 
 monition, well meant and well taken, was cor 
 roborated by occurrences on the journey. In 
 New York, McDougall, an eminent patriot, 
 advised the Massachusetts men " to avoid every 
 expression here which looked like an allusion 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 67 
 
 to the last appeal." A party in that province, 
 he said, were " intimidated, lest the leveling 
 spirit of the New England colonies should prop 
 agate itself into New York. Another party 
 are prompted by Episcopalian prejudices 
 against New England." At an entertainment 
 in the city Mr. Philip Livingston, "a great, 
 rough, rapid mortal," with whom " there is no 
 holding any conversation," seemed u to dread 
 New England, the leveling spirit," etc., threw 
 out distasteful hints " of the Goths and Van 
 dals," and made unpleasant allusions to " our 
 hanging the Quakers," etc. Perhaps it is to 
 the self-restraint which Mr. Adams had to im 
 pose on his resentful tongue at these interviews 
 that we must attribute his harsh criticism of 
 the city and its people : 
 
 " We have been treated," he admitted, " with an 
 assiduous respect; but I have not seen one real 
 gentleman, one well-bred man since I came to town. 
 At their entertainments there is no conversation that 
 is agreeable ; there is no modesty, no attention to one 
 another. They talk very loud, very fast, and all to 
 gether. If they ask you a question, before you can 
 utter three words of your answer, they will break 
 out upon you again, and talk away." 
 
 But if Mr. Adams was a little pettish at not 
 being listened to with a gentlemanlike deference 
 by the New Yorkers, he had worse to endure 
 
-i 
 
 68 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 before he set foot in Philadelphia. A party of 
 Philadelphia!! " Sons of Liberty " came out to 
 meet the Massachusetts travelers, and warned 
 them they had been represented as " four des 
 perate adventurers," John Adams and Paine 
 being young lawyers of " no great talents, 
 reputation, or weight," who were seeking to 
 raise themselves into consequence by "court 
 ing popularity." Moreover, they were " sus 
 pected of having independence in view ; " but 
 if they should utter the word they would be 
 "undone, "for independence was as "unpopu 
 lar in Pennsylvania and in all the middle and 
 southern states as the stamp act itself." 
 
 All this could hardly have been gratifying, 
 even if it were wholesome. But the quartette 
 took it wonderfully well, and shrewdly acted 
 upon it. They were even so far reticent and 
 moderate in the debates as to be outstripped 
 by many in rebellious expressions ; and though 
 really more sternly in earnest and more ad 
 vanced in their views than any others, they 
 skillfully so managed it that for a long while 
 they were not recognized as constituting a van 
 guard, or as being either leaders or drivers 
 of the rest. Indeed, their visible moderation 
 provoked some uncomplimentary utterances 
 of surprise. While they measured their words 
 rather within than beyond the limits of what 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 69 
 
 their colony was anxious to make good, the im 
 petuous southerners vented more reckless lan 
 guage, and soon found themselves committed to 
 the forward movement by this hasty and unin 
 tentional assumption of a position at the head 
 of the column. "The gentlemen from Vnv 
 ginia" pleased Mr. Adams much. They "ap 
 pear to be the most spirited and consistent of 
 any," he said. "Young Rutledge," who "was 
 high enough," apparently astonished and per 
 haps not a little amused Mr. Adams, hereto 
 fore without experience of a temperament so 
 unlike the restrained but stubborn spirit of the 
 old-fashioned New Englander. Sometimes 
 tongues moved freely under artificial stimulus ; 
 thus one day " we went with Mr. William Bar- 
 rell to his store, and drank punch, and ate 
 dried smoked sprats with him ; " in the evening 
 at Mr. Mifflin s there was " an elegant supper, 
 and we drank sentiments till eleven o clock. 
 Lee and Harrison were very high. Lee had 
 dined with Mr. Dickinson, and drank bur 
 gundy the whole afternoon." There were 
 enough treasonable toasts that festal night to 
 have seriously troubled the patriotic revelers, 
 had the royal authorities found it more con 
 venient to punish such vinous disaffection. 
 
 Not much real work could be done by this 
 first Congress. In fact it was simply a conclave 
 
70 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 of selected citizens convened to talk over the 
 imminent crisis. The people had invested them 
 with no authority, and could expect only wise 
 counsel. Thus the sole definite result -of- their 
 deliberations was a recommendation of a non- 
 exportation and non-importation league of all 
 the provinces. It was a poor medicine, but it 
 was according to the knowledge of the times ; 
 heroic but mistaken surgery, reminding one of 
 the blood-letting which used to be practised in 
 those same days at the very times when all the 
 vigor of the system seemed likely to be taxed 
 to the uttermost. On the verge of a war .with 
 Great Britain, the colonists were bidden by 
 their wise men to impoverish themselves as 
 much as possible, and to cut off the supply of 
 all the numerous articles of common necessity 
 and daily use, which they would only be able 
 to replenish after the war should be over. It 
 is true that they hoped to avoid war by this 
 commercial pressure upon England, and there 
 is so much plausibility in the argument that, 
 had not the folly of the policy been demon 
 strated by its palpable failure before the war of 
 the Revolution, and again, a generation later, 
 before the war of 1812, it might possibly still 
 be believed in to this day. It is now known 
 that commercial pressure has often hastened 
 peace, but never averted war. But when the 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 71 
 
 first Congress met, experiments had not yet 
 manifested this truth. Mr. Adams Apparently 
 had some glimmering appreciation of the case, a ^ 
 for he only tavored half of the_measure r ap- 
 proving of non-exportation, buJLjnot . -QJL non 
 importation. This was foolish, being a plan: 
 for putting out money without taking it back. 
 
 Upon another question which arose also, Mr. 
 Adams was very imperfectly satisfied with the 
 result of the deliberations. A great committee 
 was formed, upon which each colony was rep- 
 resenird l>y two of its members, and whieh 
 was charged with the duty of drafting a 
 declaration of rights. A second committee, 
 of Tialf the size, was also deputed to spe 
 cify wherein the enumerated rights had been 
 infringed. The report of the second com 
 mittee, when rendered, was referred to the 
 first committee, which was at the same time 
 increased in numbers. Mr. Adams was an orig 
 inal member of the first committee, which 
 afterward for a time became of such impor 
 tance as to supersede the regular sittings of the 
 full Congress, and at last suffered very natu 
 rally from the jealousy of those who were not 
 included in it. Adams was alscLjaae,joL.ihfi. , 
 sub-committee appointed to drajt__the report, 
 and lie struggled hard to have embodied in the 
 declaration an assertion of " natural rights," as 
 
72 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 ^general basis. " I was," he said, " very stren 
 uous for retaining and insisting on it, as a 
 resource to which we might be driven by Par 
 liament much sooner than we were aware." 
 But after long and earnest discussion he was 
 defeated, as has been supposed, through the 
 " influence of the conservative Virginia mem 
 bers." i 
 
 The really important function, which this 
 Congress fulfilled efficiently and witli_Jhe_.best 
 results, was the establishment of a sen.se_oi 
 unity among the colonies. Not only were > their 
 representative men enabled to know each other, 
 but through the reports which they carried 
 home and spread abroad among their neigh 
 bors, the people of each province could form 
 some fair estimate of the prevalent temper and 
 the quality of sentiment in every other prov 
 ince. The temperature of each colony could 
 be marked with fair accuracy on the patriotic 
 thermometer. The wishes and the fears of the 
 several communities, based on their distinct in 
 terests, were appreciated with a near approach 
 to accuracy. The leaders in the movement 
 could discern the obstacles which they had to 
 encounter. The characters and opinions of in 
 fluential men were learned ; it was known how 
 far each could be relied upon, and at what 
 
 1 Mr. C. F. Adams, in his Life of John Adams. 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 73 
 
 point of advance one or another might be ex 
 pected to take fright. On the whole, the out 
 come of all this comparison and observation 
 was satisfactory. There was a substantial con 
 cordance, which left room indeed for much 
 variety in schemes of policy, in anticipations 
 of results, in doctrines concerning rights, and 
 in theories as to the relationship of the col 
 onies to that step-dame, called the mother- 
 country. But in the main there was a funda 
 mental consent that England was exercising an 
 intolerable tyranny, and that resistance must 
 be made to whatever point might prove neces 
 sary. Also there was a manifest loyalty to 
 wards each other, and a determination to stand 
 together and to make the cause of one the 
 cause of all. To the delegation from Massa 
 chusetts this feeling was all-important and most 
 reassuring. Adams seized eagerly upcn every 
 indication of it. By nature he was a man of 
 action rather than of observation ; and upon the 
 present errand he had to do violence to his na 
 tive qualities in many ways. It is droll to see 
 this impetuous and imperious creature seeking 
 to curb himself, this most self-asserting of men 
 actually keeping himself in the background by 
 an exertion of will nothing less than tremen 
 dous. His painful consciousness of the necessi- 
 ties of the situation, impressed upon him by 
 
74 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 others and confirmed by his own common-sense, 
 is constantly apparent. For two months the 
 rash and outspoken man is politic and reticent, 
 the headstrong leader assumes moderation in 
 the middle rank. In September he wrote: 
 "We have had numberless prejudices to re 
 move here. We have been obliged to act with 
 great delicacy and caution. We have been 
 obliged to keep ourselves out of sight, and to 
 feel pulses, and to sound the depths ; to insin 
 uate our sentiments, designs, and desires by 
 means of other persons, sometimes of one prov 
 ince, sometimes of another." 
 
 No reports of the debates remain which can 
 give us any just knowledge of the part he 
 played or the influence he exercised. It was 
 not prudent for semi-rebels to keep such rec 
 ords. But his diary and his letters, especially 
 those to his wife, from which most of the 
 foregoing quotations have been made, reflect 
 with picturesque and delightful naturalness his 
 struggles with himself, his opinions of others, 
 his anxiety, his irritations, his alternate hopes 
 and fears, and intermittent turns of despon 
 dency and reassurance. The reader of these 
 memorials, which Adams has left behind him, 
 will be struck to see how very emotional he 
 was; varying moods succeed each other, as 
 shadow and sunshine chase one another over 
 
" T> * 
 
 FIRST CONGRESS 
 
 the face of the fields in spring-time. 
 ment, hopefulness, kindliness, weariness, dis- 
 likings, mistrust, doubt, pleasure, ennui, moral- 
 izings, checker in lively succession records only 
 too brief for so varied a display. Beyond this 
 personal element they also give much of the 
 atmosphere of Congress. At first he burst 
 forth in enthusiastic admiration of that body : 
 " There is in the Congress a collection of the 
 greatest men upon this continent in point of 
 abilities, virtues, and fortunes. The magna 
 nimity and public spirit which I see here make 
 me blush for the sordid, venal herd which I 
 have seen in my own province." Again he 
 wrote to Warren : " Here are fortunes, abilities, 
 learning, eloquence, acuteness, equal to any I 
 ever met with in my life. . . . Every question 
 is discussed with a moderation, an acuteness, 
 and a minuteness equal to that of Queen Eliza 
 beth s privy council." But the moderation and 
 minuteness, admirable qualities as they were, 
 involved vexation in the shape of " infinite de 
 lays." So occasionally Adams finds his pulse 
 beating somewhat faster than that of others, 
 and says with less satisfaction: "But then, 
 when you ask the question, 4 What is to be 
 done ? they answer : 4 Stand still. Bear with 
 patience. If you come to a rupture with the 
 troops all is lost ! Resuming the first charter, 
 
76 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 absolute independency, etc., are ideas which 
 startle people here." " They shudder at the 
 prospect of blood," he says, yet are " unani 
 mously and unalterably against submission " by 
 Massachusetts to any of the Acts of Parlia 
 ment. Adams felt very keenly the inconsist 
 ency between these sentiments. He knew that 
 the choice lay between submission and blood, 
 and he was irritated at seeing Congress guilty 
 of what seemed to him the weakness, unques 
 tionably wholly alien from his own character, 
 of recoiling from the consequences of that 
 which they acknowledged to be the proper 
 course. He noted with disgust the " general 
 opinion here, that it is practicable for us in the 
 Massachusetts to live wholly without a legisla 
 ture and courts of justice as long as will be 
 necessary to obtain relief." "A more adequate 
 support and relief to the Massachusetts should 
 be adopted," he said, than "figurative pane 
 gyrics upon our wisdom, fortitude, and tem 
 perance," coupled with "most fervent exhor 
 tations to perseverance." " Patience, forbear 
 ance, long-suffering are the lessons taught here 
 for our province," lessons which oftentimes 
 severely taxed his " art and address," though 
 he did his best to receive them with a serene 
 countenance. 
 
 But anon these expressions of impatience and 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 77 
 
 discontent were varied by outbursts of enthusi 
 astic joyousness. A rumor came of a bombard 
 ment of Boston, and he writes : " War ! War ! 
 War ! was the cry, and it was pronounced in a 
 tone which would have done honor to the ora 
 tory of a Briton or a Roman. If it had proved 
 true, 1 you would have heard the thunder of an 
 American Congress." When the spirited reso 
 lutions from Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 
 were presented to Congress, and received in a 
 warm, kindred temper, he exclaims in joyous 
 triumph : " This day convinced me that Amer 
 ica will support the Massachusetts, or perish 
 with her." He was profoundly affected by 
 manifestations of sympathy for his province. 
 The intensity of such times is brought home to 
 us as we read his words : " The esteem, the af 
 fection, the admiration for the people of Bos 
 ton and the Massachusetts, which were ex 
 pressed yesterday, and the fixed determination 
 that they should be supported, were enough to 
 melt a heart of stone. I saw the tears gush 
 into the eyes of the old, grave, pacific Quakers 
 of Pennsylvania." 
 
 All the while, through these trying alterna 
 tions, he more and more accustomed himself to 
 think, though never openly to speak, of the end 
 towards which events were surely tending, an 
 
 1 The rumor was quickly contradicted. 
 
78 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 end which he anticipated more confidently, and 
 contemplated more resolutely than probably 
 any of his comrades. Let our people, he ad 
 vised, drill and lay in military stores, but " let 
 them avoid war, if possible, if possible, I say." 
 Many little indications show how slender, in 
 his inmost thought, he conceived this possibil 
 ity to be. On September 20, 17T4, he was in 
 a very ardent frame of mind. " Frugality, my 
 dear," he wrote to a wife who needed no such 
 admonitions, " frugality, economy, parsimony 
 must be our refuge. I hope the ladies are 
 every day diminishing their ornaments, and the 
 gentlemen too. Let us eat potatoes and drink 
 water. Let us wear canvas and undressed 
 sheepskins, rather than submit to the unright 
 eous and ignominious domination that is pre 
 pared for us." These injunctions to abstemi 
 ousness were perhaps merely reactionary after 
 some of the " incessant feasting " which was 
 trying the digestion of the writer. For these 
 patriots at this early stage of the troubles were 
 not without alleviations amid their cares and 
 toils. From nine in the morning till three in 
 the afternoon they attended to business, " then 
 we adjourn and go to dine with some of the 
 nobles of Pennsylvania at four o clock, and feast 
 upon ten thousand delicacies, and sit drinking 
 madeira, claret, and burgundy till six or seven, 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 79 
 
 and then go home fatigued to death with busi 
 ness, company, and care." Similar allusions to 
 "a mighty feast," "an elegant feast," to tur 
 tle, rich dishes, and glorious wines abound. 
 It was probably when the gastric resources had 
 been too sorely taxed by these fiery hospitalities 
 that he became irritated and impatient, so that 
 he said to his wife : " Tedious indeed is our 
 business, slow as snails." " I am wearied to 
 death with the life I lead." 
 
 As the October days glided by and the end 
 of the session did not seem to be at hand, his 
 natural impatience frequently broke out, ex 
 pressed with that sarcastic acerbity which he 
 so often displayed. 
 
 " The deliberations of Congress are spun out to an 
 immeasurable length. There is so much wit, sense, 
 learning, acuteness, subtlety, eloquence, etc., among 
 fifty gentlemen, . . . that an immensity of time is 
 spent unnecessarily." 
 
 " This assembly is like no other that ever existed. 
 Every man in it is a great man, an orator, a critic, a ; 
 statesman ; and therefore every man upon every 
 question must show his oratory, his criticism, and his 
 political abilities. The consequence of this is, that 
 business is drawn and spun out to an immeasurable 
 length. I believe, if it was moved and seconded that 
 we should come to a resolution that three and two 
 make five, we should be entertained with logic and 
 rhetoric, law, history, politics, and mathematics ; and 
 
80 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 then we should pass the resolution, unanimously, 
 in the affirmative." 
 
 " These great wits, these subtle critics, these re 
 fined geniuses, these learned lawyers, these wise states 
 men, are so fond of showing their parts and powers, 
 as to make their consultations very tedious. Young 
 Ned Rutledge is a perfect bob-o-lincoln, a swal 
 low, a sparrow, a peacock ; excessively vain, exces 
 sively weak, and excessively variable and unsteady ; 
 jejune, inane, and puerile." 
 
 The Adams censoriousness was bubbling to 
 the surface. Even the "perpetual round of 
 feasting" began to pall upon his simple New 
 England stomach, and he grumbles that " Phil 
 adelphia, with all its trade and wealth and reg 
 ularity, is not Boston. The morals of our 
 people are much better; their manners are 
 more polite and agreeable; they are purer 
 English ; our language is better ; our taste is 
 better ; our persons are handsomer ; our spirit 
 is greater ; our laws are wiser ; our religion is 
 superior; our education is better." But by 
 November 28, when he was able at last to start 
 for home, he recovered his good -nature, and 
 though he had to depart in " a very great rain," 
 yet he could speak of " the happy, the peace 
 ful, the elegant, the hospitable and polite city 
 of Philadelphia," and declared his expectation 
 " ever to retain a most grateful, pleasing sense 
 of the many civilities " he had received there. 
 
THE FIRST CONGRESS. 81 
 
 In truth there were sound reasons to account 
 for Mr. Adams s irritability and critical out 
 bursts. Though he had sense enough not to 
 say so, yet evidently he was dissatisfied with 
 the practical achievements of the Congress. 
 In a momentous crisis, with events pressing 
 and anxious throngs hanging expectant upon 
 the counsels of the sages in debate, those sages 
 had broken up their deliberations, and were 
 carrying home to their constituents only a rec 
 ommendation of commercial non-intercourse. 
 One half of this scheme* Adams plainly saw to 
 be foolish ; the mischief of the other half he did 
 not comprehend; yet he was shrewd enough to 
 give it small credit for efficiency. Of an active, 
 impatient temperament, he was sorely discour 
 aged at this outcome of a gathering to which 
 he had gone with high hopes. He could hardly 
 be expected to appreciate that a greater rate 
 of speed would probably have resulted in a 
 check and reaction. By doing too much Con 
 gress would have stimulated a revulsion of pop 
 ular feeling ; by doing too little it tempted 
 the people to demand more. The really serious 
 misfortune was, that the little which was done 
 was unpopular. On his way home Mr. Adams 
 learned that non-intercourse was so ill-received 
 in New York that the tories were jubilant, and 
 expected to obtain conclusive possession of the 
 province. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. 
 
 ME. ADAMS came home only to change the 
 scene of his public labor. The provincial as 
 sembly at once summoned him for consultation, 
 and directly afterward he was chosen a mem 
 ber of that body as a delegate from Braintree. 
 No sooner had it adjourned, in December, than 
 he found himself involved in a new undertak 
 ing. The lively newspaper discussions, con 
 ducted after the fashion of the times by essays 
 and arguments in the form of letters, consti 
 tuted an important means of influencing popu 
 lar sentiment. The tory " Massachusettensis " 1 
 was doing very effective work on the king s 
 side, and was accomplishing a perceptible de 
 fection from the patriot ranks. Adams took 
 up his pen, as " Novanglus," in the Boston 
 Gazette, and maintained the controversy with 
 absorbing ardor and gratifying success until 
 the bloodshed at Lexington put an end to 
 merely inky warfare. The last of his papers, 
 1 Judge Leonard. 
 
THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. 83 
 
 in type at the time of the fray, was 
 never published. 
 
 Shortly after that conflict Mr. Adams rode 
 over the scene of action and pursuit, carefully 
 gathering information. On his return he was 
 taken seriously ill with a fever, and before he 
 was fairly recovered he was obliged to set forth 
 on his way to Philadelphia, where Congress 
 wasjo-iaeet again on May 5, 1775. He trav 
 eled in a " sulky," with a servant on horseback, 
 and arrived on May 10. It was no light mat 
 ter in those troubled times, within a few days 
 after bloody collisions between British troops 
 and Yankee farmers, to leave his wife and 
 small children alone in a farmhouse not many 
 miles from the waters on which rode his maj 
 esty s ships of war. He wrote to Mrs. Adams : 
 " Many fears and jealousies and imaginary 
 dangers will be suggested to you, but I hope 
 you will not be impressed by them. In case 
 of real danger, of which you cannot fail to 
 have previous intimations, fly to the woods 
 with our children." But he was happy in be 
 ing well mated for the exigencies of such days. 
 His admirable wife would perhaps have not 
 been less distinguished than himself, had she 
 not been handicapped by the misfortune of sex. 
 She was a woman of rare mind, high courage, 
 and of a; patriotism not less intense and devoted 
 
84 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 than that of any hero of the Revolution. Mr. 
 Adams found infinite support and comfort in 
 her and gratefully acknowledged it. His ac 
 count of Dickinson, by way of comparison with 
 his own case, is at once comical and pathetic. 
 That gentleman s mother and wife, he says, 
 " were continually distressing him with their 
 remonstrances. His mother said to him : 
 Johnny, you will be hanged ; your estate will 
 be forfeited and confiscated ; you w r ill leave 
 your excellent wife a widow, and your charm 
 ing children orphans, beggars and infamous. 
 From my soul I pitied Mr. Dickinson. ... If 
 my mother and my wife had expressed such 
 sentiments to me, I was certain that, if they 
 did not wholly unman me and make me an 
 apostate, they would make me the most miser 
 able man alive." But he was "very happy" 
 in that his mother and wife, and indeed all 
 his own and his wife s families, had been uni 
 formly of the same mind as himself, " so that I 
 always enjoyed perfect peace at home." Thus 
 free from any dread of a fusilade in the rear, 
 he could push forward faster than many others. 
 Everywhere along his route towards Phila 
 delphia he beheld cheering signs of the spirit 
 which he longed to see universal among the 
 people. In New York the tories " durst not 
 show their heads ; " the patriots had "shut up 
 
THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. 85 
 
 the port, seized the custom-house, arms, ammu 
 nition, etc., called a provincial Congress," and 
 agreed " to stand by whatever shall be ordered 
 by the continental and their provincial Con 
 gress." The great tory, Dr. Cooper, had fled 
 on board a man-of-war. "The Jerse} T s are 
 aroused and greatly assist the friends of lib 
 erty in New York. North Carolina has done 
 bravely." In Connecticut "everything is do 
 ing . . . that can be done by men, both for New 
 York and Boston." In Philadelphia he saw a 
 " wonderful phenomenon, ... a field-day, on 
 which three battalions of soldiers were re 
 viewed, making full two thousand men " of all 
 arms. Colonel Washington was showing his 
 opinion of the situation by appearing in Con 
 gress in his uniform. Qn all sides were the 
 tokens of warlike preparation. Adams was 
 overjoyed. " We shall see better times yet ! " 
 he cheerily exclaimed. " The military spirit 
 which runs through the continent is truly 
 amazing." He himself caught some whiff of 
 the enthusiasm for actual gunpowder. " I have 
 bought," he said, "some military books, and 
 intend to buy more." " Oh, that I were a sol 
 dier ! I will be. I am reading military books. 
 Every one must, and will, and shall be a sol 
 dier." But in cooler moments he concluded 
 that his age and health rendered it foolish for 
 
86 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 him to think of undertaking camp-life. He 
 was right, of course ; his proper place was 
 among the civilians. Yet he accepted it not 
 without some grumbling. A little later, when 
 he rode out with a great cavalcade to honor 
 Washington and others on their departure for 
 the leaguer around Boston, he wrote home, de 
 scribing the " pride and pomp " of the occa 
 sion: "I, poor creature, worn out with scrib 
 bling for my bread and my liberty, low in 
 spirits and weak in health, must leave others 
 to wear the laurels which I have sown." He 
 seemed at times to have an unpleasant jealousy 
 that the military heroes appeared to be en 
 countering greater dangers than the civilians, 
 and he argued to show that, in one way and 
 another, his risk was not less than that of an 
 officer in the army. He says that sometimes 
 he feels "an ambition to be engaged in the 
 more active, gay, and dangerous scenes ; daru 
 gerous, I say, but I recall the word, for there 
 is no course more dangerous than that which I 
 am in." But he had no need to defend either 
 his courage or his capacity for self-devotion ; 
 neither could be arraigned, even by malicious 
 opponents. 
 
 Naturally the display of activity and zeal on 
 the part of the disaffected disturbed those who, 
 without being tories, were yet of a less deter- 
 
THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. 87 
 
 mined temper, less hopeless of reconciliation, 
 more reluctant to go fast, and dreading noth 
 ing so much as an inevitable step towards sep 
 aration. Independence was still spoken of 
 deprecatingly, with awe and bated breath, and 
 its friends were compelled to recognize the 
 continuing necessity of suppressing their views 
 and maintaining for the present only a sort of 
 secret brotherhood. Yet it was inevitable that 
 their sentiments should be divined by the keen 
 observers, who thought differently. The mod- 
 eratist or reconciliationist party not only un 
 derstood the temper prevalent, though not uni 
 versal, in the New England section, but they 
 read Mr. Adams with perfect accuracy a 
 perusal never, it must be confessed, very diffi 
 cult to be made by any clever man. It was 
 not without disappointment after his encourag 
 ing journey that he " found this Congress like 
 the last ; . . . a strong jealousy of us from 
 New England, and the Massachusetts in par 
 ticular ; suspicions entertained of designs of in 
 dependency, an American republic, presbyte- 
 rian principles, and twenty other things." He 
 had to admit that his " sentiments were heard 
 in Congress with great caution, and seemed to 
 make but little impression." The reticence 
 and self-restraint practiced by him in the early 
 weeks of the preceding summer session had not 
 
88 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 long retarded a just estimate both of his opin 
 ions and his abilities. This is proved by the 
 fact that the moderates now singled him out as 
 their chief and most dangerous antagonist. It 
 was this respect and hostility manifested pre 
 eminently towards him by the opponents of 
 separation which, combined with his own stren 
 uous force, placed him during this winter at 
 the head of the party of independence. 
 
 In strong contrast with him, upon the other 
 side, was Dickinson, leader of the conciliation- 
 ists, rich, courteous, popular, cultivated, plausi 
 ble, amiable, moderate by nature, and handi 
 capped by the ladies at home. This tardy, 
 though really sincere patriot, now insisted that a 
 second petition, another " olive-branch," should 
 be sent to the king. Adams wrought earnestly 
 against " this measure of imbecility," the suc 
 cess of wli if h lie afterward, said ^embarrassed 
 every exertion of Congress." Dickinson pre 
 vailed, though only narrowly and imperfectly ; 
 and Adams was extremely disgusted. His 
 views were well-established ; he had a perma 
 nent faith that " powder and artillery are the 
 most efficacious, sure, and infallible conciliatory 
 measures we can adopt." During the debate 
 he left the hall and was followed by Mr. Dick 
 inson, who overtook him in the yard, and be 
 rated him with severe language in an outburst 
 
THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. 89 
 
 of temper quite unusual with the civil Penn- 
 sylvanian. Mr. Adams retorted, according to 
 his own account, " very coolly." But from this 
 time forth there was a breach between these 
 two, and though in debate they were able to 
 preserve the amenities, they spoke no more 
 with each other in private. 
 
 But there were more horses harnessed to the 
 Congressional coach than Mr. Dickinson could 
 drive. Many necessities were pressing upon 
 that body, and many problems were imminent, 
 which could not readily be solved in consistence 
 with loyalist or even with moderatist princi 
 ples. Adams, hampered by no such principles, 
 would have had little difficulty in establishing 
 a policy of great energy possibly of too great 
 energy had he been allowed to dictate to the 
 assembly. Many years afterwards, in writing 
 his autobiography, he gave a very graphic and 
 comprehensive sketch of his views at this time. 
 It is true that he was looking back through a 
 long vista of years, and his memory was not 
 always accurate, so that we may doubt whether 
 at the actual moment his scheme was quite so 
 bold and broad, so rounded and complete, as 
 he recalled it. But unquestionably his feelings 
 are substantially well shown. 
 
 " I thought," he says, " the first step ought to be to 
 recommend to the people of every state in the Union 
 
90 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 to seize on all the crown officers and hold them, with 
 civility, humanity, and generosity, as hostages for the 
 security of the people of Boston, and to be exchanged 
 for them as soon as the British army would release 
 them ; that we ought to recommend to the people of 
 all the states to institute governments for themselves, 
 under their own authority, and that without loss of 
 time ; that we ought to declare the colonies free, sov 
 ereign, and independent states, and then to inform 
 Great Britain that we were willing to enter into ne 
 gotiations with them for the redress of all grievances 
 and a restoration of harmony between the two coun 
 tries upon permanent principles. All this I thought 
 might be done before we entered into any connection, 
 alliances, or negotiations with foreign powers. I 
 was also for informing Great Britain, very frankly, 
 that hitherto we were free ; but, if the war should be 
 continued, we were determined to seek alliances with 
 France, Spain, and any other power of Europe that 
 would contract with us. That we ought immediately 
 to adopt the army in Cambridge as a continental 
 army, to appoint a general and all other officers, take 
 upon ourselves the pay, subsistence, clothing, arm 
 ing, and munitions of the troops. This is a concise 
 sketch of the plan which I thought the only reason 
 able one ; and from conversation with the members 
 of Congress I was then convinced, and have been 
 ever since convinced, that it was the general sense 
 of a considerable majority of that body. This sys 
 tem of measures I publidy and privately avowed 
 without reserve." 
 
THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. 91 
 
 It is evident from some contemporary state 
 ments that, at least in the early days of the 
 session, these avowals were not quite so open 
 and unreserved as Mr. Adams afterward re 
 membered them to have been. Though it is 
 true that the chief parts of this plan were soon 
 adopted, and though it is altogether credible 
 that the feeling which led to that adoption was 
 already very perceptible to Mr. Adams in his 
 private interviews with individual delegates, 
 yet it is tolerably certain that, had he exploded 
 such a box of startling fireworks in the face of 
 Congress during the first days of its sitting, 
 the outcry and scattering would have stricken 
 him with sore dismay. Fortunately, though 
 burning with impatience, he was more politic 
 than he afterwards described himself, and he 
 had sufficient good sense to wait a little until 
 events brought the delegates face to face with 
 issues which the moderatists could rationally 
 and consistently decide only in one way. He 
 did not like the waiting, he chafed and growled, 
 but he wisely endured, nevertheless, until his 
 hour came. When and how that hour ad 
 vanced is now to be seen. 
 
 (Mr. Dickinson had not carried his motion 
 for a second memorial to King George without 
 paying a price for rh ; Congress simultaneously 
 declared that, by reason of grave doubt as to 
 
92 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 the success of that measure, it was expedient 
 to put the colonies chiefly threatened, espe 
 cially New York, into a condition for defense. 
 This was a practical measure, bringing some 
 comfort to the party of action. Soon also there 
 came from the Massachusetts Assembly a let 
 ter, setting forth the condition of that province 
 now so long without any real government, and 
 asking " explicit advice respecting the taking 
 up and exercising the powers of civil govern 
 ment." This missive presented a problem 
 which many gentlemen would gladly have 
 shunned, or at least postponed, but which could 
 be shunned and postponed no longer ; a large 
 and busy population could not exist for an in 
 definite period without civil authorities of some 
 sort ; the people of Massachusetts Bay had al 
 ready been in this anomalous condition for a 
 long while, and though they had done wonder 
 fully well, yet the strain was not much longer 
 to be endured. If Congress, thus supplicated, 
 refused to take some action in the premises, it 
 would be open to the charge of abdicating its 
 function of adviser to the colonies, and so would 
 lose a large part of its raison d etre. The let 
 ter was referred to a committee ; and upon 
 their report a long debate ensued. The Massa 
 chusetts delegates were much consulted, and at 
 last, on June 9, Congress replied that, " no 
 
THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. 93 
 
 obedience being due to the act of Parliament 
 for altering tlieir""charter, nor to any officers 
 who endeavor to subvert jthat charter^ letters 
 should be written to the people; in the several 
 towns requeuing- them to elect representatives 
 to an assembly, \vli<> should in their turn elect 
 a ccmncil, and these two bodies should exercise 
 the powers of government for the time/ 
 
 This was very good, but a much more im 
 portant matter was still to be disposed of. 
 From the beginning of the session it had been 
 a main object with Mr. Adams to induce the 
 Congress to adopt, so to speak, the army which 
 was engaged in besieging the British forces in 
 Boston. At present this extraordinary martial 
 assemblage was in the most singular condition 
 ever presented by such a body. It could not 
 be said that the officers commanded by any 
 lawful title or authority, or that the rank and 
 file obeyed otherwise than by virtue of their 
 own willingness to do so. .The whole existing 
 condition of military as well as of civil af 
 fairs was based upon little more than general 
 understanding and mutual acquiescence? Mr. 
 Adams was profoundly resolved that the army 
 sKouliTBecome the army of Congress, for non 
 descript as that body still was, yet at least the 
 army, when adopted by it, would become more 
 the army of all the provinces and less that of 
 
94 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 Massachusetts alone than it might now be de 
 scribed. He was overwhelmed with letters both 
 from influential civilians of Massachusetts and 
 from the principal military officers, imploring 
 him in urgent terms to carry through this 
 measure. It was no easy matter; for, besides 
 the inevitable opposition of the moderates and 
 conciliationists, he had to encounter many per 
 sonal jealousies and ambitions. The adoption 
 of the army involved the nomination of a com- 
 mander-in-chief, and of subordinate generals, 
 and there were many who either wished these 
 positions, or had friends and favorite aspirants 
 whose possible pretensions they espoused. Mr. 
 Adams found that he could make little prog 
 ress towards unanimity by private interviews, 
 arguments, and appeals. Accordingly, at last, 
 he came to a very characteristic decision. More 
 than once in his life he showed his taste and 
 capacity for a coup d^tat in politics. When he 
 dealt such a blow, he did it in the most effect 
 ual way, vigorously, and without warning ; thus 
 he confounded his opponents and carried his 
 point. We shall see more than one other strik 
 ing instance of this sudden strategy and impet 
 uous courage, in his future career. Now, find 
 ing not only that he could not control the 
 delegation from his own state, but that even the 
 gentlemen from Virginia would not agree to 
 
THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. 05 
 
 unite upon their own fellow citizen, " full of 
 anxieties concerning these confusions, and ap 
 prehending daily " the receipt of distressing 
 news from Boston, despairing of effecting an 
 agreement by personal persuasion, but recog 
 nizing that here again was a case where the 
 issue, if forced, could have but one conclusion, 
 he one morning, just before going into the hall, 
 announced to Samuel Adams that he had re 
 solved to take a step which would compel his 
 colleagues from Massachusetts and all the other 
 delegates " to declare themselves for or against 
 something. I am determined this morning to 
 make a direct motion that Congress should 
 adopt the army before Boston, and appoint 
 Colonel Washington commander of it. Mr. 
 Adams seemed to think very seriously of it, but 
 said nothing." 
 
 The move was made with the same decisive 
 promptitude which marked this divulging of 
 the intention. Upon the opening of that day s 
 session Mr. Adams obtained the floor, and 
 made the motion for the adoption. He then 
 proceeded briefly to sketch the imperative ne 
 cessities of the time, and closed with a eulogy 
 upon a certain gentleman from Virginia, " who 
 could unite the cordial exertions of all the col 
 onies better than any other person." There 
 was no doubt who was signified; even the 
 
96 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 modest gentleman himself could not pretend to 
 be ignorant, and hastily sought refuge in the 
 library. Washington was not the only person 
 who was startled out of his composure by this 
 sudden thrusting forward of a proposal which 
 heretofore had only been a subject of private, 
 and by no means harmonious discussion. Mr. 
 Hancock, in the president s chair, could not 
 conceal his mortification, for he had his own 
 aspirations in this same direction. Many gen 
 tlemen expressed doubts as to the propriety of 
 placing this Southerner at the head of an army 
 in New England, chiefly composed of New Eng 
 land troops, and now commanded by New Eng 
 land officers apparently equal to their func 
 tions. Mr. Pendleton, though himself from 
 Virginia, was especially prominent in this pres 
 entation of the case; so was Mr. Sherman of 
 Connecticut ; and even Mr. Adams s own col 
 league, Mr. Gushing, allowed it to be under 
 stood that he was of the same opinion. But 
 Mr. Adams had dealt a master-stroke. There 
 must be some wriggling of individuals, who 
 might thereafter remain his enemies ; but of 
 enemies he was never afraid. It was inevita 
 ble that he should carry his point, that Con 
 gress should accept his measure ; so he had the 
 satisfaction of seeing the delegates, one by one, 
 many pleased, some doubtful, a few sorely 
 
THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. 97 
 
 grumbling, fall into line behind the standard 
 which he had so audaciously planted. A little 
 work was shrewdly done outside the hall, a few 
 days were prudently suffered to elapse for ef 
 fervescence ; the reluctant ones were given 
 sufficient opportunity to see that they were 
 helpless, and then upon the formal motion of 
 Thomas Johnson of Maryland, George Wash 
 ington was unanimously chosen commander-in- 
 chief of the united forces of the colonies. On 
 June 17, the day of the gallant battle of Bun 
 ker s Hill, Adams wrote in joyous triumph to 
 his wife : " I can now inform you that the 
 Congress have made choice of the modest and 
 virtuous, the amiable, generous, and brave 
 George Washington, esquire, to be general of 
 the American army. This appointment will 
 have a great effect in cementing and securing 
 the union of these colonies." With some nat 
 ural anxiety to have his action justified by 
 the good acceptance of his fellow-citizens of 
 Massachusetts, he adds : " I hope the people 
 of our province will treat the general with all 
 that confidence and affection, that politeness 
 and respect, which is due to one of the most 
 important characters in the world. The liber 
 ties of America depend upon him in a great de 
 gree." The next day he wrote, still in the high 
 est spirits : " This Congress are all as deep as 
 
98 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 the delegates from the Massachusetts, and the 
 whole continent as forward as Boston. We 
 shall have a redress of grievances, or an as 
 sumption of all the powers of government, leg 
 islative, executive, and judicial, throughout the 
 whole continent, very soon." He had been 
 conducting an arduous struggle, he had gained 
 two points, deserving to be regarded not only 
 as essential but as finally decisive of the suc 
 cess of his policy. He chiefly had induced 
 Congress __tq recominencT Massachusetts J&-SS- 
 tablish a rebellious^government ; he had com 
 pelled Congress to adopt an army conducting 
 open war against King George. Thus, as he 
 sald^Tierhad got all the other provinces as deep 
 in rebellion as his own Massachusetts, and the 
 two acts logically involved independence. 
 
 Concerning this nomination of Washington, 
 Mr. C. F. Adams says : " In the life of Mr. 
 Adams, more than in that of most men, occur 
 instances of this calm but decided assumption 
 of a fearful responsibility in critical moments. 
 But what is still more remarkable is, that they 
 were attended with a uniformly favorable re 
 sult." Without now discussing the other in 
 stances, it may be admitted that the present 
 one deserves even this somewhat magniloquent 
 laudation. The measure brought the possi 
 bility of a hearty union of the colonies in real 
 
THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. 99 
 
 war to a sharp, immediate, practical test. It 
 was the extreme of audacity for this one man 
 to stand forth alone, having secured no support- 
 ers, apparently not having even felt the pulse 
 of New England, to propose that there should 
 be set over an army of New England troops, 
 led by New England officers, encamped on 
 New England soil, supported by New England 
 resources, fighting in what was thus far chiefly 
 if not solely a New England quarrel, and which 
 had met with no reverses, a commander from 
 a distant, and, in a proper sense, even a foreign 
 state. Had the New Englanders received this 
 slightly-known Southerner with dissatisfaction, 
 a more unfortunate and fatal move could not 
 have been made. In truth the responsibility 
 assumed was sufficiently great ! But the stake 
 to be won was the union of the thirteen prov 
 inces, and the irrevocable assurance that the 
 quarrel to its end was to be not that of one but 
 that of all. Unless this stake could be won 
 all must be lost. But to determine when and 
 how to play the test card in so momentous a 
 game called for the highest nerve. Adams 
 acted upon an implicit faith in the liberal in 
 telligence of the people of his region. The re 
 sult proved his thorough comprehension of 
 them, and set the seal of wisdom upon his fear 
 less assumption of one of the greatest political 
 
100 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 risks recorded in the world s history. It was 
 to this sufficiency on his part for an emergency, 
 instinctively felt rather than plainly formu 
 lated, that Adams owed in his lifetime and has 
 owed since his death a great respect and ad 
 miration among the people, as being a strong, 
 virile man, who could be trusted at the crucial 
 moment in spite of all sorts of somewhat igno 
 ble foibles and very inexcusable blunders. 
 
 As if to encourage men of moderate capacity 
 by showing that no one is always and evenly 
 wise, we have now to see in a small matter the 
 reverse of that sagacious judgment just dis 
 played in a great matter. Throughout life 
 Mr. Adams startled his friends by his petty 
 mistakes not less constantly than he astounded 
 his enemies by his grand actions. Repeatedly 
 he got into trouble through an uncontrollable 
 propensity to act without forethought, upon 
 sudden impulse. This was a poor development 
 of the same trait which, in happier moments, 
 led to such prompt, daring, and fortunate move 
 ments as the nomination of Washington. A 
 few weeks after that event it happened that a 
 young man, whose patriotism had been under 
 a cloud, was about to leave Philadelphia for 
 the neighborhood of Boston. Opportunities for 
 sending letters by safe hands being then gladly 
 availed of, this person begged to be allowed to 
 
THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. 101 
 
 carry home some letters for Mr. Adams. But 
 Adams had none written, and declined the of 
 fer. Then the youth became importunate, 
 urging that to carry only a few lines from Mr. 
 Adams would set right his injured reputation. 
 Foolishly Mr. Adams yielded, or rather the 
 folly lay in what he wrote. By persons in ; 
 whom he could place perfect confidence he had , 
 for months been sending the most guarded 
 communications ; now he seized this dubious^ 
 chance to put in writing remarks which a pru 
 dent statesman would not have uttered in con 
 versation without sealing every keyhole. To 
 General Warren he began : " I am determined 
 to write freely to you this time," and thor 
 oughly did he fulfill this determination. The 
 other letter to his wife was a little less dis 
 tinctly outspoken ; but between the two the do 
 ings and the plans of Adams and his advanced 
 friends in Congress were boldly sketched, and 
 some very harsh remarks were indulged in con 
 cerning delegates who were not fully in har 
 mony with him. In Rhode Island the British 
 intercepted the bearer and captured the letters, 
 which were at once published and widely dis 
 tributed on both sides of the water. They 
 were construed as plainly showing that some 
 at least among the Americans were aiming at 
 independence ; and they made a great turmoil, 
 
102 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 stimulating resentment in the mother country, 
 alarming the moderates in the provinces, and 
 corroborating the extreme charges of the tories. 
 It was afterward insisted that they did more 
 good than harm, because they caused lines to 
 be drawn sharply and hastened the final issue. 
 Adams himself sought consolation in this view 
 of the matter in his autobiography. But if 
 this effect was really produced, yet it could 
 not have been foreseen, and it therefore con 
 stituted no excuse for Mr. Adams s reckless 
 ness, which had been almost incredibleT" 
 
 Neither did this dimly visible result act as 
 an immediate shelter against the flight of evils 
 from this Pandora s box. To Warren, Adams 
 had said : "A certain great fortune and pid 
 dling genius, whose fame has been trumpeted 
 so loudly, has given a silly cast to our whole 
 doings." He closed the letter to his wife with 
 this unfinished sentence : " The fidgets, the 
 whims, the caprice, the vanity, the superstition, 
 the irritability of some of us are enough to ; " 
 words failed him for the expression of his dis 
 gust. "No mortal tale can equal it," as he 
 had already said. The " piddling genius " was 
 easily recognized as Mr. Dickinson, and the un 
 fortunate victims of the fidgets, etc., were of 
 course the conciliationists. Widespread wrath 
 naturally ensued ; and Mr. Adams was made 
 
THE SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. 103 
 
 for a while extremely uncomfortable. Dickin 
 son cut him ; many more treated him little 
 better; he walked the streets a marked and 
 unpopular man, shunned, distrusted, and dis 
 liked by many. He put the best face he could 
 upon it, and said that the letters did not amount 
 to so very much, after all the talk about them ; 
 but it is plain enough that he would have been 
 glad to recall them. If they were nothing 
 worse, at least they were crying evidence of his 
 incorrigible and besetting weakness. He lived 
 to be an old man and had his full share of se- I N 
 vere lessons, but neither years nor mortifica- < f\ 
 tions could ever teach him to curb his hasty, > 
 ungovernable tongue. The little member was 
 too much for him to the end, great, wise, and 
 strong-willed as he was. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 CONGRESS adjourned for the summer vaca 
 tion of 1775, which enabled Mr. Adams to 
 spend August at home. But during nearly all 
 this brief recess he was busy with the provin 
 cial executive council, and got little rest. On 
 the last day of the month he set out again for 
 Philadelphia, where he arrived in the middle 
 of September. In addition to public cares he 
 was for many weeks harassed with ill news 
 from home. Dysentery became epidemic in 
 the neighborhood of Boston during this sum 
 mer and autumn. His brother had died of it 
 before he left home ; his wife s mother died in 
 September ; his wife herself and three of his 
 four children were in turn stricken with the 
 disease. Besides these troubles, the complex 
 ion of Congress gave him much disquietude. 
 During the recess a reaction had set in : or at 
 best the momentum acquired prior to the ad 
 journment had been wholly lost. From the 
 first secret committee Massachusetts was con- 
 
INDEPENDENCE. 105 
 
 spicuously omitted. Dickinson, Deane, and 
 Jay, conciliationists all, seemed to lead a ma 
 jority, and to give color to the actions of the 
 whole body. Those unfortunate letters of Mr. 
 Adams had been efficiently used by the mod 
 erates to alarm the many who dreaded political 
 convulsion, prolonged war, and schemes for in 
 dependence. Even old friends and coadjutors 
 of the detected correspondent now looked coldly 
 on him, since intimacy with him had become 
 more than ever compromising. Yet he stood 
 stoutly to his purposes. 
 
 " I assure you," he wrote to his wife, " the letters 
 had no such bad effects as the tories intended and as 
 some of our short-sighted whigs apprehended ; so far 
 otherwise that I see and hear every day fresh proofs 
 that everybody is coming fast into every political 
 sentiment contained in them. I assure you I could 
 mention compliments passed upon them, and if a se 
 rious decision could be had upon them, the public 
 voice would be found in their favor." 
 
 More and more zealously he was giving his 
 whole heart and soul, his life and prospects to 
 the great cause. Almost every day he was en 
 gaged in debate, almost every day he had some 
 thing to say about instituting state governments, 
 about the folly of petitions to the king and of 
 conciliatory measures. A paragraph from one 
 of his letters to his wife, October 7, 1775, 
 
106 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 though long, is worth quoting, to show the in 
 tense and lofty spirit which animated him in 
 these critical days : 
 
 " The situation of things is so alarming that it is 
 our duty to prepare our minds and hearts for every 
 event, even the worst. From my earliest entrance 
 into life I have been engaged in the public cause of 
 America ; and from first to last I have had upon my 
 mind a strong impression that things would be 
 wrought up to their present crisis. I saw from the 
 beginning that the controversy was of such a nature 
 that it never would be settled, and every day con 
 vinces me more and more. This has been the source 
 of all the disquietude of my life. It has lain down 
 and risen up with me these twelve years. The 
 thought that we might be driven to the sad necessity 
 of breaking our connection with Great Britain, ex 
 clusive of the carnage and destruction which it was 
 easy to see must attend the separation, always gave 
 me a great deal of grief. And even now I would 
 gladly retire from public life forever, renounce jail 
 chance for profits or honors from the public, nay, I 
 would cheerfully contribute my little property, to ob 
 tain peaj3e and liberty. But all these must go and 
 myTife too^tfeTore I can surrender the right of my 
 country to a free Constitution. I dare not consent 
 to it. I should be the most miserable of mortals ever 
 after, whatever honors or emoluments might sur 
 round me." 
 
 Solemn words of faith and self-devotion ! 
 
INDEPENDENCE. 107 
 
 Yet the man who spoke them was still a subject 
 of Great Britain, a rebel. No wonder t,hat he 
 chafed at the names, and longed rather to be 
 called a free citizen and a patriot. 
 
 In spite of the hostility which he had excited, 
 he was acquiring great influence. His energy 
 and capacity for business compelled recognition 
 at a time when there was more work to be 
 done than hands to do it. The days of feast 
 ing and of comfortable discussion at the tables 
 of Philadelphia magnates belonged to the past. 
 Hard labor had succeeded to those banquetings. 
 Adams thus sketches his daily round in the au 
 tumn of 1775 : " I am really engaged in con 
 stant business from seven to ten in the morning 
 in committee, from ten to four in Congress, 
 and from six to ten again in committee." The 
 incessant toiling injured by degrees his consti 
 tution, and within a few months he began to 
 fear that he should break down before his two 
 great objects, independence and a confedera 
 tion, could be attained, at the present creeping 
 pace, as it seemed to him. 
 
 This lukewarmness, so prevalent this autumn, 
 struck him the more painfully because he had 
 just come from a neighborhood where the 
 aroused people were waging real war, and had 
 set their hot hands to the plough with a dogged 
 determination to drive it to the end of the fur- 
 
108 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 row, The change to the tepid patriotism of the 
 Quaker City embittered him. To his diary he 
 confided sojue very abusive fleers at the man 
 ners and appearance of many of his co-delegates. 
 " There appears to me," he says, " a remark 
 able want of judgment in some of our mem 
 bers." Chase he describes as violent, boister 
 ous, tedious upon frivolous points. So, too, is E. 
 Rutledge, who is likewise an uncouth, ungrace 
 ful speaker, with offensive habits of shrugging 
 his shoulders, distorting his body, wriggling his 
 head, rolling his eyes, and speaking through 
 his nose. John Rutledge also "dodges his 
 head" disagreeably ; and both "spout out their 
 language in a rough and rapid torrent, but 
 without much force or effect." Dyer, though 
 with some good qualities, is long-winded, round 
 about, obscure, cloudy, very talkative, and very 
 tedious. Sherman s air is the " reverse of 
 grace " when he keeps his hands still, but 
 when he gesticulates " it is stiffness and awk 
 wardness itself, rigid as starched linen or buck 
 ram, awkward as a junior bachelor or sopho 
 more," so that Hogarth s genius could have 
 invented nothing worse. Bad as Sherman is, 
 Dickinson s " air, gait, and action are not much 
 more elegant." Thus wrote the father of 
 that bitter-tongued son, who, it is clear, took 
 his ruthless sarcasm and censoriousness as an 
 
INDEPENDENCE. 109 
 
 honest inheritance. But the words were only 
 an impetuous outburst of irritation due to 
 a passing discontent, which disappeared alto 
 gether soon afterward, when the business of 
 Congress began to run more to the writer s 
 taste. There had to be some private safety- 
 vent, when he must so repress himself in public. 
 " Zeal and fire and activity and enterprise," 
 he acknowledged, " strike my imagination too 
 much. I am obliged to be constantly on my 
 guard, yet the heat within will burst forth at 
 times." Very soon, however, the stern logic 
 of facts, the irresistible pressure of events con 
 trolled the action of this session of Congress 
 not less conclusively than the preceding. Men 
 might prattle of olive-branches and the restora 
 tion of harmony, but scarcely concealed behind 
 the thin fog raised by such language stood the 
 solid substance of a veritable rebellion. An 
 American army was besieging a British army ; 
 governments, not rooted in royal or parliamen 
 tary authority, were established in several prov- 
 rQces. The Congress which had adopted that 
 army, given it a commander, and provided for 
 its maintenance, which also had promoted the or- 
 ganization of those governments, was a congre 
 gation of rebels, if ever there were rebels in the 
 world. Dickinson and Deane were as liable to 
 be hanged as were the Adamses and the Lees ; 
 
110 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 and Washington himself was in scarcely more 
 danger than any of these civilians. In this 
 condition of affairs advance was inevitable. All 
 history shows that the unresting pressure of a 
 body of able men, resolutely striving for a def 
 inite end, furnishes a motive power which no 
 inertia of a reluctant mass can permanently 
 resist. Progression gains point after point till 
 the conclusion is so assured that resistance 
 ceases. A fresh indicatioii^pf _ihis truth was 
 now seen in the movement to establish a fleet 
 at the continental charge. " This naked prop 
 osition," Mr. C. F. Adams tells us, "was at 
 once met with a storm of ridicule," in which 
 some delegates joined who might have been 
 looked for on the other side. But the tempest 
 spent itself in a few days, and then a commit 
 tee was appointed, charged to procure vessels 
 to be placed under the control of Washington. 
 Within less than two months a real navy was 
 in course of active preparation. Mr. Adams 
 was a member of the committee and set zeal 
 ously about the work ; he sought information 
 on all sides and exhaustively ; and besides the 
 practical equipment and manning of the vessels, 
 he, was soon ready with a maritime code. 
 
 About the same time an application JErom 
 New Hampshire for advice concerning its inter 
 nal policy was answered by a recommendation 
 
INDEPENDENCE. Ill 
 
 for calling a " full and free representation of the 
 jjeogle ; " and with advice that " the represen 
 tatives, if they think it necessary, establish 
 such a form of government as in their judg 
 ment will best produce the happiness of the 
 people during the continuance of the present 
 dispute." The ease with which this resolution 
 passed, almost unchallenged by the Dickinson 
 party, was very encouraging. During this 
 autumn also was made the first effort to organ 
 ize foreign embassies. Mr. Adams described 
 this endeavor as follows : 
 
 "In consequence of many conversations between 
 Mr. Chase and me he made a motion . . . for send 
 ing ambassadors to France. I seconded the motion. 
 You know the state of tfie nerves of Congress at 
 that time. . . . Whether the effect of the motion re 
 sembled the shock of electricity, of mesmerism, or 
 of galvanism the most exactly, I leave you philoso 
 phers to determine, but the grimaces, the agitations 
 and convulsions were very great." 
 
 Vehement debates ensued, of his own share 
 in which Mr. Adams says : " I was remarkably 
 cool and, for me, unusually eloquent. On no 
 occasion, before or after, did I ever make a 
 greater impression on Congress." " Attention 
 and approbation were marked on every counte 
 nance." Many gentlemen came to pay him 
 their compliments ; and even Dickinson praised 
 
112 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 him. Nevertheless his oratory failed to secure 
 the practical reward of success ; the step was 
 too far in advance of the present position of a 
 majority of members. There were "many 
 motions" and much "tedious discussion," but 
 " after all our argumentation the whole termi 
 nated in a committee of secret correspondence." 
 So Mr. Adams was again relegated to the odi 
 ous duty 6f waiting patiently. But he and his 
 abettors had insured ultimate success ; indeed, 
 it was only a question how far the colonies 
 would soon go in this direction. It even ap 
 peared that there were some persons who de 
 sired to push foreign connections to a point 
 much beyond that at which Mr. Adams would 
 have rested. Thus, Patrick Henry was in favor 
 o| jalliances, even if they must be bought by 
 concessions of territory ; whereas Adams de 
 sired only treaties of commerce, advising that 
 " we should separate ourselves as far as possible 
 and as long as possible from all European poli 
 tics and wars." He anticipated the "Monroe 
 Doctrine." 
 
 On December 9, 1775, Mr. Adams set out on 
 a short visit to Massachusetts. He was anx 
 ious to learn accurately the present temper of 
 the people. While there, besides advising 
 Washington upon an important question con 
 cerning the extent of his military jurisdiction, 
 
F 
 
 C 
 
 INDEPENDENCE. 113 
 
 he also arranged a personal matter. He* k 3tad 
 lately been appointed chief justice of the prov 
 ince, apparently not with the expectation of 
 securing his actual presence on the bench, but 
 for the sake of the strength and prestige which 
 his name would give to the newly-constituted 
 tribunal of justice. He now accepted the office 
 upon the clear understanding that he should 
 not take his seat unless upon some pressing 
 occasion. 
 
 On January 24, 1776, having found both the 
 leaders and the people in full accord with his 
 own sentiments, he set out in company with 
 Elbriclge Gerry, on his return to Philadelphia. 
 The two carried with them some important in 
 structions to the Massachusetts delegates, pos 
 sibly the fruit of Mr. Adams s visit, or at least 
 matured and ripened beneath the heat of his 
 presence. These gentlemen were bidden to 
 urge Congress " to concert, direct, and order 
 such further measures as shall to them appear 
 best calculated for the establishment of right 
 and liberty to the American colonies, upon a 
 basis permanent and secure against the power 
 and art of the British administration, and 
 guarded against any future encroachments of 
 their enemies." 
 
 But again the change from the patriotic at 
 mosphere of Massachusetts to the tamer cli- 
 
114 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 mate of Philadelphia dispirited Adams seri 
 ously. He wrote home, February 11, to his 
 wife : " There is a deep anxiety, a kind of 
 thoughtful melancholy, and in some a lowness 
 of spirits approaching to despondency, prevail 
 ing through the southern colonies at present." 
 But he had at last learned to value these inter 
 missions correctly ; he had seen them before, 
 even in Massachusetts, and he recognized them 
 as transitory. " In this or a similar condition we 
 shall remain, I think, until late in the spring, 
 when some critical event will take place ; per 
 haps sooner. But the arbiter of events . . . 
 only knows which way the torrent will be turned. 
 Judging by experience, by probabilities and by 
 all appearances, I conclude it will roll on to 
 dominion and glory, though the circumstances 
 and consequences may be bloody." This was 
 correct forecasting ; late in the spring of 1776 
 a very " critical event " did happen, entailing 
 " bloody consequences," " dominion," and 
 "glory." "In such great changes and commo 
 tions," he says, " individuals are but atoms. It 
 is scarcely worth while to consider what the 
 consequences will be to us." The "effects 
 upon present and future millions, and millions 
 of millions," engage his thoughts. The fre 
 quent recurrence of such expressions indicates 
 a peculiar sense of awe on his part. He felt, to 
 
INDEPENDENCE. 115 
 
 a degree that few others did at this time, that 
 he was in the presence of momentous events. 
 The prescience of a shadowy but grand future 
 was always with him, and impressed him like 
 a great religious mystery. This feeling lent a 
 solemn earnestness to his conduct, the wonder 
 ful force of which is plainly perceptible, even 
 to this day, in the meagre fragmentary records 
 which have come down to us. 
 
 As the winter of 1776 advanced it could no 
 longer be doubted that the American provinces 
 were rapidly nearing an avowed independence. 
 The" middle states might be reluctant, and 
 their representatives in Congress might set 
 their backs towards the point which they were 
 approaching ; but they approached it neverthe 
 less. They were like men on a raft, carried by 
 an irresistible current in one direction, while ob 
 stinately steering in the other. Adams listened 
 to their talk with contempt ; he had no sym 
 pathy with their unwillingness to assert an un 
 deniable fact. " I cannot but despise," he said, 
 " the understanding which sincerely expects an 
 honorable peace, for its credulity, and detest 
 the hypocritical heart, which pretends to expect 
 it when in truth it does not." He spoke with 
 bitter irony of the timid ones who could not 
 bring themselves to use a dreaded phrase, who 
 were appalled by a word. " If a post or two 
 
116 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 more should bring you unlimited latitude of 
 trade to all nations, and a polite invitation to 
 all nations to trade with you, take care that 
 you do not call it or think it independency ; no 
 such matter; independency is a hobgoblin of 
 such frightful mien that it would throw a deli 
 cate person into fits to look it in the face." But 
 by degrees he was able plainly to see the fea 
 tures of this alarming monster drawing nearer 
 and nearer. He beheld an unquestionable 
 and great advance by the other provinces to 
 wards the faith long since familiar to New Eng 
 land minds. " The newspapers here are full of 
 free speculations, the tendency of which you 
 will easily discover. The writers reason from 
 topics which have been long in contemplation 
 and fully understood by the people at large in 
 New England, but have been attended to in the 
 southern colonies only by gentlemen of free 
 spirits and liberal minds, who are very few." 
 
 The " barons of the south " and the proprie 
 tary interests of the middle states had long 
 been his betes noires. " All our misfprtunjeSjl 
 lie said, " arise from a single source, the reluc 
 tance of the southern colonies to a republican 
 government." But these obstacles were begin 
 ning to yield. With the influence of Virginia 
 in favor of independence it was a question of 
 no very long time for the rest of the southern 
 
INDEPENDENCE. 117 
 
 provinces to fall into line, even at the sacrifice 
 of strong prejudices. Still the conciliationists, 
 not giving up the struggle, spread reports that 
 commissioners were coming from the king on 
 an errand of peace and harmony. Their talk 
 bred vexatious delay and aroused Mr. Adams s 
 ire. " A more egregious bubble," he said, 
 " was never blown up, yet it has gained credit 
 like a charm not only with, but against, the 
 clearest evidence." "This story of commis 
 sioners is as arrant an illusion as ever was 
 hatched in the brain of an enthusiast, a politi 
 cian, or a maniac. I have laughed at it, scolded 
 at it, grieved at it, and I don t know but I may 
 at an unguarded moment have rip d at it. But 
 it is vain to reason against such delusions." 
 
 Still among these obstructions the great mo 
 tive power worked ceaselessly and carried 
 steadily forward the ship of state, or rather 
 the fleet of thirteen ships which had lashed 
 themselves together just sufficiently securely 
 to render uniform movement a necessity. East- 
 ened between New England and Virginia, the 
 middle states had to drift forward with these 
 flanking vessels. Chief engineer Adams fed 
 the fires and let not the machinery rest. A 
 personal attack upon him made at this time 
 was really a hopeful symptom of the despera 
 tion to which his opponents were fast being re- 
 
118 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 duced. Maryland instructed her delegates to 
 move a self-denying ordinance, of which the 
 implication was that Mr. Adams was urging 
 forward independence because he was chief jus 
 tice of Massachusetts, and so had a personal gain 
 to achieve by making the office permanent. 
 But not much could be gained by this sort of 
 strategy. By the spring he was very sanguine. 
 " As to declarations of independency," he said 
 to his wife, " be patient. Read our privateer 
 ing laws and our commercial laws. What sig 
 nifies a word ? " Yet the word did signify a 
 great deal, and he was resolved that it should 
 be spoken bluntly and with authority. 
 
 He saw that it would be so spoken very soon. 
 On May 29, 1776, he wrote cheerfully : " Mary 
 land has passed a few eccentric resolves, but 
 these are only flashes which will soon expire. 
 The proprietary governments are not only in- 
 cumbered with a large body of Quakers, but are 
 embarrassed by a proprietary interest; both 
 together clog their operations a little, but these 
 clogs are falling off, as you ^ will soon see." 
 The middle colonies had " never tasted the bit 
 ter cup," "never smarted," and were "therefore 
 a little cooler ; but you will see that the colonies 
 are united indissolubly." Of this union he was 
 assured: " Those few persons," he said, " who 
 have attended closely to the proceedings of the 
 
INDEPENDENCE. 119 
 
 several colonies for a number of years past, and 
 reflected deeply upon the causes of this mighty 
 contest, have foreseen that such an unanimity 
 would take place as soon as a separation should 
 "become neccessary." One immense relief he 
 was now enjoying, which probably contributed 
 hot a little to raise his spirits. The odious 
 season of reticence was over; he was at last 
 able to work in the cause openly and inces 
 santly, in Congress and out of it, in debate, on 
 committees, and in conversation. His influ 
 ence was becoming very great ; his hand was 
 ffclfc- every where ; during the autumn of 1775, 
 the winter and spring of 1776, he says that he 
 unquestionably did more business than any 
 otheFmember of the body. He had broad ideas ; 
 he practiced a deep and far-reaching strategy. 
 Long since he had conceived and formulated 
 a complete scheme of independence, and he laid 
 bhis through piece by piece, 
 
 with tjie idea that when every item which 
 went to the construction of the composite fact 
 should be accomplished, so that the fact unde 
 niably existed, then at last its declaration, even 
 if postponed so late, could no longer be with- 
 stood. The three chief articles in his scheme, 
 still remaining to be accomplished, were, ^a 
 government in _eyfi^.,jp&Lony, a confederation 
 among them all, and treaties with foreign na- 
 
120 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 tions to acknowledge us a sovereigii^staifi." In 
 fact, "a government in every colony" really 
 covered the whole ground, and was independ 
 ence. A league between these free govern 
 ments, and connections with foreign states were 
 logically only natural and desirable corollaries, 
 not integral parts of the proposition ; but practi 
 cally they were very useful links to maintain it. 
 By the month of May the stage had been 
 reached at which the general organization of 
 free governments among the states, many of 
 which had not yet gone through the form, 
 seemed possible. On May 6 Mr. Adams 
 brought forward a resolution, which, after be 
 ing debated three days, was passed upon May 
 9. It recommended to those several colonies, 
 wherein no government " sufficient to the exi 
 gencies of their affairs " had yet been estab 
 lished, to adopt such a government as should 
 " best conduce to the happiness and safety " of 
 themselves and of America. Good so far as it 
 went, this resolve was yet felt to be somewhat 
 vague and easy of evasion. To cure these de 
 fects Mr. Adams, Mr. Rutledge, and Mr. Lee 
 were directed to prepare a preamble. They 
 reported, on May 15, a paragraph which cov 
 ered the whole ground of separation from Great 
 Britain and independence <>f the colonies. Tills 
 skillful composition recited that his Britannic 
 
INDEPENDENCE. 121 
 
 Majesty, in conjunction with the Lords and 
 Commons, had " excluded the inhabitants of 
 these United Colonies from the protection of 
 his crown ; that the whole force of his king 
 dom, aided by foreign mercenaries, was being 
 exerted for the destruction of the good people 
 of these colonies ; that it was irreconcilable to 
 reason and good conscience for the colonists 
 now to take oaths and affirmations for the sup 
 port of any government under the crown of 
 Great Britain ; that it was necessary that every 
 kind of authority under that crown should be 
 totally suppressed, and that all the powers of 
 government should be exerted under the au 
 thority of the people of the colonies," etc., etc. 
 This was plain speaking, which no one could 
 pretend to misunderstand. It involved inde 
 pendence, though it was not a formal and ex 
 plicit declaration ; but it was the substance, 
 the thing itself ; only verbal recognition of the 
 fact remained to be made, and was of course 
 inevitable. This was sufficiently well appre 
 ciated ; Mr. Duane said that this was a " piece 
 of mechanism to work out independence." The 
 moderatists fought hard and not without bit 
 terness, though they recognized that they were 
 foredoomed to defeat. Finally the preamble 
 was adopted. Mr. Adams was profoundly 
 happy in his triumph, but he was too deeply 
 
122 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 impressed with the grandeur of the occasion, 
 too much overawed by a consciousness of his 
 own leading part and chief responsibility, to 
 be jubilant or elated as over a less momentous 
 victory. He writes almost solemnly to his 
 wife : 
 
 "Is it not a saying of Moses : Who am I, that I 
 should go in and out before this great people ? 
 When I consider the great events which are passed 
 and those greater which are rapidly advancing, and 
 that I may have been instrumental in touching some 
 springs and turning some small wheels, which have 
 had and will have such effects, I feel an awe upon 
 my mind which is not easily described. Great Brit 
 ain has at last driven America to the last step, a 
 complete separation from her, a total, absolute inde 
 pendence, not only of her parliament but of her 
 crown. For such is the amount of the resolve of the 
 15th. Confederation among ourselves or alliances 
 with foreign nations are not necessary to a perfect 
 separation from Great Britain. . . . Confederation 
 will be necessary for our internal concord, and alli 
 ances may be so for our external defense." 
 
 Mr. Adams was of opinion that this step 
 could have been wisely taken at a much earlier 
 date, had it not been for the foolish delays in 
 terposed by delegates who " must petition and 
 negotiate," notably the Pennsylvanians, aided 
 by a few New Yorkers and some others from 
 
INDEPENDENCE. 123 
 
 the lukewarm middle states. He believed that 
 twelve months before " the people were as ripe 
 as they are now." But this must be doubted. 
 Looking back upon the progress, it seems to 
 have been sufficiently rapid for safety and per 
 manence. 
 
 The thorough approbation entertained for 
 this action of Congress was at once made mani 
 fest in the alacrity with which the several colo 
 nies prepared to assume the functions of in 
 dependence. Even Pennsylvania recognized 
 that the gift of freedom was proffered to her 
 accompanied by such a pressure of circum 
 stances that she could not reject it. Her effete 
 assembly of conciliationists was dying of inani 
 tion. A body of representatives was chosen 
 by the people, and voted " that the government 
 of this province is not competent for the exi 
 gencies of our affairs." 
 
 But it was desirable a that a fact of such su 
 preme importance as the birth of thirteen new 
 nations should not remain merely a matter of 
 logical inference. It must be embodied in a 
 declaration incapable of misinterpretation, not 
 open to be explained away by ingenious con 
 structions or canceled by technical arguments. 
 Independence could not be left to be gathered 
 among the recitals of a preamble. Readers will 
 probably forgive me for narrating in the brief- 
 
124 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 est manner the familiar story of the passage of 
 the great Declaration. On June 7, Richard 
 Henry Lee of Virginia moved " certain resolu 
 tions respecting independency." John Adams 
 seconded the motion. Its consideration was re 
 ferred to the next morning at ten o clock, when 
 members were " enjoined to attend punctually." 
 A debate of three days ensued. It appeared 
 that four New England colonies and three 
 southern colonies were prepared to vote at once 
 in the affirmative ; but unanimity was desirable 
 and could probably be obtained by a little de 
 lay. So a postponement was voted until July 1. 
 There was abundance of work to be done in 
 the mean time, not only in the provinces, but 
 in Congress also, where the machinery for the 
 new order of things was all to be constructed 
 and set in order, ready for immediate use so 
 soon as the creative vote could be taken. Three 
 committees were appointed; one was charged 
 with drafting the document itself, so that it 
 should be ready for adoption on July 1. The 
 members of this committee, in order of prece 
 dence, were Jefferson, John Adams, Franklin, 
 Sherman, and R. R. Livingston. A second 
 committee was deputed to devise a scheme for 
 a confederation between the colonies ; a third 
 had the duty of arranging a plan for treaties 
 with foreign powers. Upon this last committee 
 
INDEPENDENCE. 125 
 
 also Adams was placed, though in company 
 with colleagues by no means of his way of 
 thinking. On the following day he was further 
 put at the head of a " board of war and ord 
 nance," consisting of five members of Congress 
 and charged with a multiplicity of laborious 
 duties. Evidently these were busy days for 
 him. But they were days of triumph in which 
 work was a pleasure. All those matters which 
 had been promoted by him more zealously than 
 by any other delegate seemed now on the eve 
 of accomplishment ; and then, he said, " I shall 
 think that I have answered the end of my crea 
 tion, and sing my nunc dimittis, return to my 
 farm, ride circuits, plead law, or judge causes." 
 So confident was he of the sure and speedy 
 achievement of his purpose that he actually be 
 gan now to preach patience to others. 
 
 When it came to the matter of writing the 
 Declaration, some civilities were exchanged be- 
 tween Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, each po 
 litely requesting the other to undertake it. But 
 as it had been probably generally expected, if 
 not tacitly understood, that Jefferson should do 
 the composition, he readily engaged to try his 
 hand. In old age Jefferson and Adams made 
 statements slightly differing from each other 
 concerning this transaction. Jefferson said that 
 he submitted his paper to Franklin and Adams 
 
126 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 separately, that each interlined in his own 
 handwriting such corrections as occurred to 
 him, but that these were " two or three only 
 and merely verbal ; " that the instrument was 
 then reported by the committee. Adams said 
 that after the paper was written he and Jeffer 
 son conned it over together, that he was de 
 lighted with its " high tone and flights of ora 
 tory," and that, according to his recollection, 
 he neither made nor suggested any alteration, 
 though he felt sure that the passage concerning 
 slavery would be rejected by the southern del 
 egates, and though there were some expressions 
 which he did not wholly approve, especially 
 that which stigmatized George III. as a tyrant. 
 The paper, he says, was then read before the 
 whole committee of five, and he could not re 
 call that it was criticised at all. The variance 
 between these two accounts is insignificant, 
 and in view of the fact that they were made 
 nearly half a century after the events took 
 place, it is only surprising that they were not 
 more discordant. The controversy excited 
 some interest at the time and afterwards ; 
 though, as Mr. C. F. Adams truly says, the 
 question " does not rise beyond the character 
 of a curiosity of literature." Yet he himself 
 cares enough about it to endeavor to show that 
 his grandfather s statement has not been dis- 
 
INDEPENDENCE. 127 
 
 credited by the evidence. But the contrary 
 seems to be the more correct conclusion. The 
 only evidence of any real value which exists in 
 the case is the original draft of the Declara 
 tion in Jefferson s handwriting, bearing two or 
 three trifling alterations interlined in the hand 
 writings of Adams and Franklin. It should 
 be noted, too, that Jefferson assumes to speak 
 positively, while Adams carefully limits his 
 statement by saying that it is according to his 
 present memory. His memory was not a per 
 fectly trustworthy one. 
 
 On July 1, debate was resumed in committee 
 of the whole on the original resolution of Mr. 
 Lee, which was reported to Congress and car 
 ried by that body on the next day. The Dec 
 laration was then at once reported and dis 
 cussed until late on July 4. There was no 
 doubt that it would be carried, but Dickinson 
 and others who remained strongly opposed to 
 it were determined, as a sort of solemn though 
 hopeless duty, to speak out their minds against 
 it. Jefferson, utterly helpless in debate, sat 
 silent and very uncomfortable, while the hot 
 battle raged. John Adams, in this supreme 
 hour, bore the whole burden of supporting a 
 measure which he regarded as the consumma- y( 
 tion of all the labor expended by him since he 
 came into public life, substantially as " the 
 
y 
 
 128 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 end of his creation," as he had said. His in- 
 tense earnestness, his familiarity with every 
 possible argument, compelled him to be mag 
 nificently eloquent. He himself did not know 
 what a grand effort he was making, but his 
 hearers have borne their testimony to his power 
 and impressiveness in many tributes of ardent 
 praise. Jefferson uttered words of warmest 
 admiration and gratitude. Adams, he said, 
 was the " Colossus of that debate." Stockton 
 called him the " Atlas of independence." His 
 praise was in every mouth. 
 
 On July 3, Adams wrote two letters to his 
 wife. In one he said : " Yesterday the great 
 est question was decided which ever was de 
 bated in America, and a greater perhaps never 
 was nor will be decided among men." In the 
 other : " The second day of July, 1776, will be 
 the most memorable epoch in the history of 
 America. I am apt to believe that it will be 
 celebrated by succeeding generations as the 
 great Anniversary Festival. It ought to be 
 commemorated as the day of deliverance, by 
 solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It 
 ought to be solemnized with pomp, and parade, 
 with shows, games, sports, bells, bonfires, and 
 illuminations, from one end of this continent 
 to the other, from this time forward for ever 
 more. You will think me transported with en- 
 
INDEPENDENCE. 129 
 
 thusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of 
 the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost 
 us to maintain this Declaration, and support 
 and defend these states. Yet through all the 
 gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and 
 glory. I can see that the end is more than 
 worth all the means ; and that posterity will 
 triumph in that day s transaction, even though 
 we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall 
 not." Posterity has selected for its anniver 
 sary July 4, instead of July 2, though the ques 
 tion was really settled on the earlier day. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AFTER INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 AMID the exultation and excitement attend 
 ant upon these closing hours of American colo 
 nialism, Adams gave striking evidence of the 
 cool judgment and statesmanlike comprehen 
 sion which constituted a solid stratum beneath 
 his impetuous temper. He wrote to Samuel 
 Chase : 
 
 " If you imagine that I expect this Declaration 
 will ward off calamities from this country, you are 
 much mistaken. A bloody conflict we are destined 
 to endure. This has been my opinion from the be 
 ginning. . . . Every political event since the nine 
 teenth of April, 1775, has confirmed me in this 
 opinion. If you imagine that I flatter myself with 
 happiness and halcyon days after a separation from 
 Great Britain, you are mistaken again. I do not ex 
 pect that our new government will be so quiet as I 
 could wish, nor that happy harmony, confidence, and 
 affection between the colonies, that every good Amer 
 ican ought to study and pray for, for a long time. 
 But freedom is a counterbalance for poverty, discord, 
 and war, and more. It is your hard lot and mine to 
 
AFTER INDEPENDENCE. 131 
 
 be called into life at such a time. Yet even these 
 times have their pleasures." 
 
 In such words there spoke a cool states 
 man as well as a warm patriot, accurately 
 measuring a great victory even in the flush of 
 it, appreciating justly the struggles yet to 
 come. 
 
 The enthusiastic gentleman, who called Mr. 
 Adams the Atlas of American independence, 
 confused the fact of independence with the 
 declaration of it. The only Atlas of American 
 independence was the great leader who won 
 the War of the Revolution. He established 
 the fact; Mr. Adams induced Congress to de 
 clare it. To Mr. Adams belongs, accurately 
 speaking, the chief credit for having not only 
 defended the Declaration triumphantly in de 
 bate, but for having brought his fellow-dele 
 gates to the point of passing votes which, prior 
 to the formal declaration, involved it ;is a logi 
 cal conclusion. His earnestness in this cause 
 appears to have been greater than that of any 
 other member ; he pressed upon his object as 
 a beleaguering army presses upon a city ; he 
 captured one outwork after another ; week by 
 week he made the ultimate result more and 
 more inevitable by inducing Congress to take 
 one step after another in the desired direction ; 
 his intensity of purpose affected others, as it 
 
132 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 always will ; his tenacity was untiring ; his elo 
 quence was never silent ; so thoroughly did he 
 study the subject that no individual could cope 
 with the force, variety, readiness, and breadth 
 of his arguments ; so keen did his perceptions 
 become beneath the influence of his deep re 
 solve that he was able so far to subdue his own 
 nature as to become diplomatic, ingenious, and 
 patient in his methods. The same result would 
 without doubt have been reached had John 
 Adams never existed, so that in a certain sense 
 of the words, the declaration was not due to 
 him ; but as that phrase is ordinarily used, to 
 signify that his efforts were the most conspicu 
 ous visible impulse, it is proper to say that the 
 achievement was his work. 
 
 Foolish as it generally is to speculate upon 
 what would have been if historical events had 
 not occurred as they did, yet occasionally a sup 
 position seems sure enough to be of interest 
 and value in enabling us to appreciate the im 
 portance of an individual and the relationship 
 of some prominent man to the public affairs 
 in which he is concerned. No one doubts that 
 the American colonies would at some time or 
 other have become independent states, though 
 George Washington had never lived. But no 
 one who has carefully studied that period can 
 doubt that independence would not have been 
 
AFTER INDEPENDENCE. 133 
 
 achieved in the especial struggle of 1776 with 
 out George Washington. His existence was 
 essential to American success in that war. 
 With him the colonies were on the verge of 
 failure ; without him they would inevitably 
 have passed over that verge, and would have 
 had to wait during an uncertain period for a 
 better opportunity. The combination of his 
 moral and mental qualities was so singular that 
 he is an absolutely unique character in history. 
 Other men belong to types and classes, and in 
 dividual members of any type or class may be 
 compared with each other. Washington is the 
 only man of his type or class. Thus it hap 
 pens that no one has yet succeeded in describ 
 ing his character. Every effort that has been 
 made is avowedly a total failure. There have 
 been men as honest, as just, as patriotic, as de 
 voted, as persistent, as noble-minded, as digni 
 fied, as much above suspicion, men as capable 
 of inspiring that confidence which leads to will 
 ing obedience, men infinitely more magnetic 
 and able to excite much warmer personal alle 
 giance, men of larger brains, of greater strate 
 gic abilities natural and acquired, of wider ap 
 titude for statesmanship. Yet still Washington 
 stands by himself, a man not susceptible of 
 comparison with any other, whether for praise 
 or disparagement ; a man who never did a sin- 
 
134 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 gle act indicative of genius, yet who amid 
 problems as novel and perplexing as ever tor 
 tured the toiler in public affairs never made a 
 serious mistake. One writer will tell us that 
 it was the grand morality of his nature which 
 brought him success ; another prefers to say 
 that it was his judgment ; but neither of these 
 mere suggestions of leading traits accomplishes 
 the explanation, or guides us to the heart of 
 the undiscoverable secret. This lurks as hid 
 den from the historian as does the principle of 
 life from the anatomist. 
 
 John Adams s character, on the other hand, 
 can puzzle no one ; his broad, earnest, powerful, 
 impetuous, yet simple humanity is perfectly in 
 telligible, equally in its moral and in its mental 
 developments. Injijs -department he promoted 
 independence more efficiently than any one else, 
 he would have been a greater loss than any 
 other one man in Congress to that cause ; but 
 independence would not have been lost in his 
 loss, would probably not even have been seri 
 ously postponed. Popular sentiment would 
 have demanded it and Congress would have re 
 flected that sentiment almost as soon, though 
 the tongue of Mr. Adams had never moved. 
 Adams, however, could never fully realize this 
 essential difference between the value of his 
 own personality and the value of that of Wash- 
 
AFTER INDEPENDENCE. 135 
 
 i ngton. Throughout life he felt that, in the 
 preeminence universally given to Washington, 
 he was robbed of insignia properly appurtenant 
 to his glory. In 1822, in a letter to Mr. Pick 
 ering, he recalled the jealousy and distrust 
 towards New England in the earlier stages of 
 the struggle, and the resulting necessity upon 
 him of keeping somewhat in the rear in order 
 to give an apparent leadership to Virginia. 
 The whole policy of the United States, he said, 
 had been subsequently colored and affected by 
 this same state of feeling, and this consequent 
 according of precedence to Southerners. " With 
 out it Mr. Washington would never have com 
 manded our armies ; nor Mr. Jefferson have 
 been the author of the Declaration of Inde 
 pendence ; nor Mr. Richard Henry Lee the 
 mover of it ; nor Mr. Chase the mover of for 
 eign connections ; . . . nor had Mr. Johnson 
 ever been the nominator of Washington for 
 General." There was some justice in Mr. 
 Adams s feeling ; the suspicion entertained 
 towards Massachusetts had compelled him to 
 yield to others a conspicuousness really belong 
 ing to himself. Jefferson, Lee, Chase, and 
 Johnson together were far from constituting an 
 equivalent for him. But his unconquerable 
 blunder, originating in 1776-77, before he left 
 Congress, and acquiring much greater proper- 
 
136 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 tions afterwards, lay in his utter incapacity to 
 see that there could be no comparison between 
 Washington and himself, that not even any 
 common measure could exist for them, since it 
 is impossible to establish a proportion between 
 the absolutely essential and the highly impor 
 tant. 
 
 Before Mr. Adams left Congress in the spring 
 of 1777 he was obliged to witness such a train 
 of disasters as made every one despondent, 
 the defeat on Long Island, the evacuation of 
 New York, the retreat through the Jerseys, the 
 abandonment of Philadelphia. Deep discour 
 agement prevailed, certainly not without rea 
 son. The times were critical, and the colonies 
 were terribly near ruin. General Greene re 
 iterated to Mr. Adams that the business was 
 hopeless. Such a series of events naturally 
 produced some feeling of doubt concerning 
 the capacity of Washington ; personal and less 
 honorable motives also exercised a like influ 
 ence in some quarters. There was an effort to 
 set up Gates as a rival, after the surrender of 
 Burgoyne. Adams was fortunately no longer 
 a member of Congress when these designs had 
 come near maturity. It is probable that he 
 thus fortunately escaped any share in them ; 
 but his affiliations had been so largely with 
 those who became anti-Washingtonians, and 
 
AFTER INDEPENDENCE. 137 
 
 his predilections were already so far known, 
 that he was regarded as of that connection and 
 sympathy. Mr. C. F. Adams endeavors to 
 clear his grandfather from the obloquy attend 
 ant upon such sentiments, but he is obviously 
 uncomfortable beneath the necessity and per 
 forms his task unsatisfactorily. Really his best 
 sentences are those in which he shapes not so 
 much a denial as a palliation, " Neither is it 
 any cause of wonder or censure that the patri 
 ots in Congress, who had not yet any decisive 
 experience of his [Washington s] true qualities, 
 should have viewed with much uneasiness the 
 power which circumstances were accumulating 
 in his hands. History had no lesson to prompt 
 confidence in him, and on the other hand it 
 was full of warnings. In this light the attempt, 
 whilst organizing another army in the north, 
 to raise up a second chief as a resource in case 
 of failure with the first, must be viewed as a 
 measure not without much precautionary wis 
 dom." This " attempt," he acknowledges, was 
 " actively promoted " by John Adams. In spite 
 of the plausible skill with which this argument 
 is put, it remains an excuse rather than a vin 
 dication. It was John Adams s business to 
 form a correct judgment of men and measures ; 
 so far as he failed to do so he failed to show the 
 ability demanded by his position ; if his error 
 
138 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 was wholly of the head, it affects only our opin 
 ion of the soundness of his judgment in mili 
 tary matters and in reading men ; if any per 
 sonal motive, though unrecognized by himself, 
 likewise interfered, this fact may lower a little 
 our opinion of his character. 
 
 -Mr^Ldams had spoken of the Declaration of 
 Independence as the " end of his creation." 
 The arduous and exhausting efforts which he 
 made to achieve it told so severely upon his 
 health that his words threatened to be fulfilled 
 in a sense quite different from that in which 
 he had uttered them. But worn out as he 
 was, the consummation brought him no .rest.- 
 The Declaration at once proved to be a begin 
 ning of more than it had brought to an end. 
 The thirteen embryotic nations, created by it, 
 were to be united into a single nationality, or 
 federation, of a character so peculiar that no 
 historical precedent afforded any real aid in 
 the task. In this direction Mr. Adams was 
 able to render very important services. From 
 the beginning he had given much thought to 
 the subject of government. " Would that we 
 were good architects ! " had been his anxious 
 cry long before the conciliationists had been 
 worsted or permanent separation had appeared 
 other than a remote possibility. His services 
 in promoting independence have naturally mo- 
 
AFTER INDEPENDENCE. 139 
 
 nopolized attention almost to the entire exclu 
 sion of his other labors. But in fact, though 
 more showy, they were not so greatly more 
 valuable than other matters which he was car 
 ing for at this time, and which have been very 
 little heard of. They were in their nature de 
 structive ; it was at the annihilation of royal 
 domination that they were aimed, from which 
 independence was the inevitable result. But 
 destruction seldom demands the highest order 
 of intellectual effort ; a destroyer is not a states 
 man ; and if John Adams had only been the 
 chief mover in substituting independence for 
 dependence, it would be more complimentary 
 than accurate to say that he was the statesman 
 of the Revolution. There were enough other 
 destroyers in those days, and that work was 
 sure to be thoroughly done. But Adams had 
 the higher, constructive faculty. Many re 
 marks and sentences, scattered through his 
 contemporaneous writings during the revolu 
 tionary period, show his quick natural eye for 
 governmental matters ; he seems to be in a 
 ceaseless condition of observation and thought 
 concerning them. The influence which he ex 
 erted was so indefinite that it can be estimated 
 hardly with a valuable approximation to ac 
 curacy ; but it must have been very great. 
 He was constantly engaged in studying the 
 
J 
 
 140 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 forms of government in the middle and in the 
 southern sections, each differing widely from 
 those of New England as well as from each 
 other. He used to speculate upon the varying 
 influences of these forms, and to consider what 
 changes must be effected in order to accom 
 plish unanimity of feeling arid of action. From 
 an early day his eye had ranged forward to the 
 time when the existing systems must be suc 
 ceeded by different ones, and he busied himself 
 much with thinking what new principles should 
 be incorporated in the new machinery. He 
 watched with anxiety all indications of opinion 
 in this direction, and lost no opportunity to in 
 culcate his own ideas, which were clear and 
 decided. Many months prior to the time at 
 which we are now arrived, Tom Paine pub 
 lished " Common Sense." Adams, to whom 
 this anonymous but famous publication was by 
 many attributed, was in fact greatly disgusted 
 at the lack of the architectural element in it, 
 and was soon stirred to write and publish an 
 other pamphlet, also anonymous, which was de 
 signed to supply the serious deficiency of 
 Paine s. This paper profoundly discussed plans 
 and forms of government in a practical way, 
 for the purpose of meeting the near wants of 
 the colonies. Its authorship being shrewdly 
 surmised, it was widely circulated and read 
 
AFTER INDEPENDENCE. 141 
 
 with great interest, especially by those men in 
 the several provinces who were soon to be 
 chiefly concerned in framing the new constitu 
 tions. Adams modestly said of it, that it had 
 at least " contributed to set people thinking on 
 the subject," so that the " manufacture of gov 
 ernments " became for the time " as much 
 talked of as that of saltpetre was before." Of 
 course it is impossible to say what effect this 
 pamphlet had ; yet that it had very much is 
 more than probable. 
 
 With his habit of noticing such matters 
 Adams had early remarked upon the difference 
 between the theories of state - polity at the 
 North and at the South, a difference much 
 wfder apparently in the spirit of administration 
 than in the description of the apparatus. He 
 himself was saturated, so to speak, with the 
 doctrines and practice of New England, and 
 whether in writing or in talk he was never 
 backward to enforce his faith with the extreme 
 earnestness of deep conviction. By corre 
 spondence and conversation with leading men 
 in every quarter he efficiently backed his pam 
 phlet. When, therefore, ^the innovation of a 
 more popular and- democratic spirit is observ 
 able in one. and another of the new constitu 
 tions, it is fair to presume that Adams had done 
 much to bring about the change. In a letter 
 
142 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 to Patrick Henry, accompanying his pamphlet, 
 Adams said : " The dons, the bashaws, the 
 grandees, the patricians, the sachems, the na 
 bobs, call them by what name you please, 1 
 sigh, groan, and fret, and sometimes stamp and 
 foam and curse ; but all in vain. The decree 
 is gone forth and it cannot be recalled, that a 
 more equal liberty than has prevailed in other 
 parts of the earth must be established in Amer 
 ica. That exuberance of pride, which has pro 
 duced an insolent domination in a few, a very 
 few, opulent, monopolizing families, will be 
 brought down nearer to the confines of reason 
 and moderation than they have been used to." 
 To Mr. Hughes of New York he writes, dep 
 recating any scheme " for making your gov 
 ernor and counselors for life or during good be 
 havior. I should dread such a constitution in 
 these perilous times. . . . The people ought to 
 have frequently the opportunity, especially in 
 these dangerous times, of considering the con 
 duct of their leaders, and of approving or dis 
 approving. You will have no safety without 
 it." He says that Pennsylvania is " in a good 
 way. . . . The large body of the people will 
 be possessed of more power and importance, 
 and a proud junto of less." In a letter to 
 
 1 Elsewhere he called them, by a better nomenclature, " the 
 barons of the South." 
 

 AFTER INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 Richard Henry Lee he rejoices because 
 will be " much more uniformity in the govern 
 ments than could have been expected a few 
 months ago," a result presumably due in large 
 part to his own unremitting exertions. His 
 " Thoughts on Government " had done good 
 work in Virginia, far beyond his expectations, 
 and generally he was " amazed to find an in 
 clination so prevalent throughout all the south 
 ern colonies to adopt plans so nearly resem 
 bling that " which he had enforced in his po 
 litical sermons. 
 
 Immediately following independence came 
 also a necessity for the formation of a federa 
 tion". Some sort of a bond, a league, must be 
 devised for tying the thirteen nations together 
 for a few purposes. Nevertheless, the alliance 
 was not to have the effect of creating a single 
 nationality, was not to deprive each ally of its 
 character of absolute sovereignty as an individ 
 ual state. Mr. Adams recognized that this 
 could not be done at once in any perfect or 
 permanent form. Whatever should be ar 
 ranged now would necessarily be an experi 
 ment, a temporary expedient, out of which, by 
 a study of its defects as they should develop, 
 there might in time be evolved a satisfactory 
 system. But none the less zealously did he 
 enter upon the task of making the federation 
 
144 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 as efficient as possible under the circumstances, 
 and he did much hard and important work in 
 this department. No sketch of it can well be 
 given in this limited space, nor perhaps would 
 such a sketch be very valuable except to a stu 
 dent of constitutional history. Therefore, after 
 July 4, 1776, the remainder of Adams s Con 
 gressional career, though laborious to the point 
 of exhaustion, gives no salient points for de 
 scription. It was in the routine of business 
 that his time was now consumed, and very 
 largely in work upon the committees. It 
 would seem that there could not have been 
 many of these upon which he had not a place ; 
 for he was a member of upwards of ninety 
 which were recorded, and of a great many oth 
 ers which were unrecorded. He says that he 
 was kept incessantly at work from four o clock 
 in the morning until ten o clock at night. Be 
 sides the arduous business of forming the fed 
 eration, he was also obliged to devote himself 
 to that subject, with which his previous efforts 
 had already allied him in the minds of mem 
 bers, the establishment of connections with 
 European powers. Independence would not 
 permit this important matter to be longer post 
 poned ; and a committee, of which Adams was 
 an important working member, was charged to 
 consider and report a system of foreign policy 
 
AFTER INDEPENDENCE. 145 
 
 far the thirteen colonies, and to suggest forms 
 of commercial treaties. 
 
 But labors more difficult, more vexatious, 
 more omnivorous of time, were entailed upon 
 Mr. Adams by his position at the head of the 
 war department. The task of organization 
 was enormous ; the knowledge and arrange 
 ment of details were appalling. Nor was this 
 all. The powexJlLCQnffre.ss, if any real power 
 it had, over the army, was so undefined even 
 in theory, so vague in its practical bearing 
 upon the officers, so difficult of enforcement, 
 that the relationship of the Congressional com 
 mittee, which really constituted the war de 
 partment, with that body, was excessively deli 
 cate. Adams s zealous and hasty temperament 
 was subjected to some severe trials. Aggrieved 
 officers would sometimes become not only 
 disrespectful but insubordinate. But in such 
 crises he acquitted himself well. A sense of 
 weakness in the last resort perhaps prevented 
 his giving loose to any outburst of anger, while 
 his high spirit and profound earnestness lent 
 to his language an impressive force and an ap 
 pearance of firmness almost imperious. His 
 deep sincerity inspired all his communications 
 and gave them a tone which procured respect 
 and turned aside resentment. He breathed 
 into others an honesty of purpose, a vigor, a 
 10 
 
146 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 devotedness akin to his own. Being also a 
 man of much business ability and untiring in 
 dustry, he made, substantially, a war-minister 
 admirably adapted to the peculiar and exact 
 ing requirements of that anomalous period. 
 
 But it was impossible that a man not enjoy 
 ing a rugged physique could endure for an in 
 definite time labors so engrossing and anxie 
 ties so great, away from the comforts of home, 
 and in a climate which, during many months of 
 the year, appeared to him extremely hot. His 
 desire for relief, more and more earnestly ex 
 pressed, at last took a definite and resolute 
 shape. He wanted to have the Massachusetts 
 delegation so increased in numbers that the 
 members could take turns in attending Con 
 gress and in staying at home* If this could 
 not be done, he tendered his resignation. The 
 reply came in the shape of a permission to 
 take a long vacation, which he did in the winter 
 of 1776-7. Then he returned to spend the 
 spring, summer, and autumn of 1777 in a con 
 tinuance of the same labors which have just 
 been described. At last the limit of specific 
 duties which he had long ago set for himself 
 having been achieved and even overpast, he 
 definitively carried out his design of retirement. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FIRST FOREIGN MISSION. 
 
 IT was on November 11, 1777, that John 
 Adams, accompanied by his kinsman Samuel 
 Adams, set forth from Philadelphia on his 
 homeward journey. He was at last a private 
 citizen, rejoiced to be able again to attend to 
 his own affairs, and to resume the important 
 task of money - gathering at his old calling. 
 Yet he was hardly allowed even to get on his 
 professional harness. He was arguing an ad 
 miralty cause in Portsmouth when a letter 
 reached him, dated December 3, 1777, from 
 Richard Henry Lee and James Lovell, an 
 nouncing his appointment as commissioner at 
 the court of France, wishing him a quick and 
 pleasant voyage, and cheerfully suggesting that 
 he should have his dispatch bags sufficiently 
 weighted to be able to sink them instantly in 
 case of capture. The day after he received 
 this letter he accepted the trust, though the 
 duty imposed by it was far from attractive. 
 Besides the ordinary discomforts and perils of 
 
148 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 a winter passage in a sailing vessel he had to 
 consider the chances of seizure by British ships, 
 which covered the ocean and were taking mul 
 titudes of prizes. If captured, he would be but 
 a traitor, having in prospect certainly the 
 Tower of London and possibly all the penalties 
 of the English statutes against high treason. 
 If he should arrive safely, he would be only 
 one of three commissioners at the French 
 court; and France, though kindly rendering 
 courteous services, had not yet become the ally 
 of the states and was still in nominal friend 
 ship with Great Britain. Moreover, he was to 
 step into an uninviting scene of dissension and 
 suspicion. The states were represented by 
 Franklin, Arthur Lee, and Silas Deane ; Adams 
 was to supersede Deane, who had oeen embar 
 rassing Congress by reckless engagements with 
 French military officers, and who in many other 
 ways had shown himself, to say the best of it, 
 eminently unfit for diplomatic functions. There 
 was much ill-feeling, of which the new ambas 
 sador could not expect to escape a share. Al 
 together, it was greatly to his credit that he 
 promptly agreed to fill the post. 
 
 On February 13, 1778, he set sail in the 
 frigate Boston, accompanied by his young son, 
 John Quincy Adams. On the 20th, an English 
 ship of war gave them chase. Adams urged the 
 
FIRST FOREIGN MISSION. 149 
 
 officers and crew to fight desperately, deeming 
 it " more eligible " for himself " to be killed on 
 board the Boston or sunk to the bottom in her, 
 than to be taken prisoner." But a favoring 
 breeze saved him from the choice between such 
 melancholy alternatives, and on March 31 he 
 found himself riding safely at anchor in the 
 river at Bordeaux. 
 
 At the French court he was pleasantly re- 
 ceived. People, he says, at first supposed that 
 he was " the famous Adams ; " but when 
 somebody asked him if this were so, he mod 
 estly explained that he was only a cousin of 
 that distinguished person. Thereafter he re 
 ceived less attention. It was unfortunate too 
 that he knew nothing of the language ; but he 
 got along, sometimes by the aid of an inter 
 preter, sometimes by " gibbering something 
 like French." This deficiency, however, rather 
 diminished his pleasure than his usefulness ; 
 for he soon found that his chief labors were to 
 be with his own countrymen and colleagues. 
 The affairs of the mission he found much worse 
 than he had anticipated. The jealousies and 
 hostilities among the American representatives 
 there were very great. He wrote in his diary : 
 " It is with much grief and concern that I have 
 learned, from my first landing in France, the 
 disputes between the Americans in this king 
 
150 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 dom ; the animosities between Mr. Deane and 
 Mr. Lee ; between Dr. Franklin and Mr. Lee ; 
 between Mr. Izard and Dr. Franklin ; between 
 Dr. Bancroft and Mr. Lee ; between Mr. Car- 
 michael and all. It is a rope of sand. I am 
 at present wholly untainted with these preju 
 dices, and will endeavor to keep myself so." 
 He % heard that Deane and Bancroft had made 
 fortunes by " dabbling in the English funds, and 
 in trade, and in fitting out privateers ; " also 
 that " the Lees were selfish." " I am sorry for 
 these things ; but it is no part of my business 
 to quarrel with anybody without cause." All 
 the business and affairs of the commission had 
 been conducted in the most lax manner; no 
 minute-book, letter-book, or account-book had 
 been kept ; expenditure had been lavish, " pro 
 digious " as he said, but there was no way to 
 learn how the money had gone or how much 
 was still owing. Utterly inexperienced as he 
 was in such affairs, he yet showed good sense 
 and energy. He endeavored to avoid allying 
 himself with any faction, siding now with 
 Franklin and again with Lee according to his 
 views of the merits of each specific discussion, 
 and seeking at the same time, not to lose the 
 confidence of the Count de Vergennes, the 
 French minister of foreign affairs, who was 
 very partial to Franklin and inimical to Lee. 
 
FIRST FOREIGN MISSION. 151 
 
 Further, he set himself zealously to bring the 
 business department of the mission into a 
 proper condition. The commissioners had 
 complete control over the fiscal affairs of the 
 states abroad, and had heretofore managed them 
 in a manner inconceivably loose and careless. 
 As Mr. Adams wrote home to the commer 
 cial committee of Congress : " Agents of vari 
 ous sorts are drawing bills upon us, and the 
 commanders of vessels of war are drawing on 
 us for expenses and supplies which we never 
 ordered. . . . We find it so difficult to obtain 
 accounts from agents of the expenditure of 
 moneys and of the goods and merchandises 
 shipped by them, that we can never know the 
 true state of our finances." All this shocked 
 Mr. Adams, who had the notions and habits of 
 a man of business, and he at once endeavored 
 to arrange a system of rigordus accuracy and 
 accountability, in spite of the indifference, and 
 occasionally the reluctance, of his colleagues. 
 Henceforth records were kept ; letters were 
 copied ; accounts were accurately set down. 
 
 But the reforms in matters of detail which 
 he could accomplish were by no means suffi 
 cient to counteract the clumsy and inefficient 
 way in which the business of the states was 
 conducted, and to which he had no mind to be 
 even a silent party. An entire reorganization 
 
152 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 was evidently needed, and on May 21, 1778, he 
 wrote a plain and bold letter, which he ad 
 dressed to Samuel Adams, since, apart from his 
 colleagues, he could not properly communicate 
 with Congress. He urged the gross impropri 
 ety of leaving the salaries of the ministers en 
 tirely uncertain, so that they spent what they 
 chose and then sent their accounts (such as 
 they were) to be allowed by Congress ; the 
 error of blending the business of a public min 
 ister with that of a commercial agent ; and, 
 most important of all, the folly of maintain 
 ing three commissioners where a single envoy 
 would be vastly more serviceable. By such 
 advice he knowingly advised himself out of 
 office ; for Dr. Franklin was sure to be re 
 tained at the French court, Lee already had a 
 letter of credence to Madrid, and no niche was 
 left for him. But he was too honest a public 
 servant to consider this, and he repined not 
 at all when precisely this result came about. 
 Congress lost no time in following his sugges 
 tions, leaving Franklin in Paris, and ordering 
 Lee to Madrid, at the same time in a strange 
 perplexity overlooking Mr. Adams so entirely 
 as not even to order him to return home. He 
 was greatly vexed and puzzled at this anomalous 
 condition. Dr. Franklin, who was finding life 
 near the French court very pleasant, advised 
 
FIRST FOREIGN MISSION 153 
 
 him tranquilly to await instructions. But this 
 counsel did not accord with his active tempera 
 ment or his New England sense of duty. He 
 wrote to his wife : " I cannot eat pensions and 
 sinecures ; they would stick in my throat." 
 Rather than do so, he said that he would again 
 run the gauntlet of the British cruisers and the 
 storms of the Atlantic. It was no easy matter, 
 however, to get a passage in those days, and his ^ 
 best endeavors did not bring him back to Bos 
 ton until August 2, 1779, after an absence of 
 nearly a year andjjjhalf. In a certain sense 
 his mission had been needless and useless. He 
 had been away a long while, had undergone 
 great dangers, and had cost the country money 
 which could ill be spared ; and for all that he 
 had* accomplished strictly in the way of diplo- " 
 niacy he mi^ht as well have spent the eighteen 
 But he had aided to 
 
 execrable condition of affairs at 
 Paris, and he had proved his entire and un- / 
 selfish devotion to the public interest. These 
 were two important facts, worth in their fruits 
 all they had cost to the nation and to himself. 
 
 He had moreover gathered some ideas con 
 cerning Great Britain, France, and Holland. 
 These ideas were not wholly correct, being col 
 ored by the atmosphere of the passing day and 
 stimulated too much by his own wishes ; but 
 
154 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 they promoted the temporary advantages of the 
 states very well. For example, he came back 
 with a theory of the decadence of Great Brit 
 ain. " This power," he said, "loses every day 
 her consideration, and runs towards her ruin. 
 Her riches, in which her power consisted, she 
 has lost with us and never can regain. . . . She 
 resembles the melancholy spectacle of a great, 
 wide-spreading tree that has been girdled at the 
 root." There was no grain of truth in this sort 
 of talk, but it was nourishment to the American 
 Congress. Towards France his feelings were 
 of course most friendly. " The longer I live in 
 Europe, and the more I consider our affairs, 
 the more important our alliance with France 
 appears to me. It is a rock upon which we 
 may safely build. Narrow and illiberal preju 
 dices, peculiar to John Bull, with which I might 
 perhaps have been in some degree infected 
 when I was John Bull, have now no influence 
 over me. I never was, however, much of John 
 Bull, I was John Yankee, and such I shall live 
 and die." A very single-minded John Yankee 
 he certainly was, for amid all his yearning for 
 a French alliance, which he valued for its prac 
 tical usefulness, he was jealous of too great a 
 subservience to that power. 
 
 " It is a delicate and dangerous connection. . . . 
 There may be danger that too much will be demanded 
 
FIRST FOREIGN MISSION. 155 
 
 of us. There is danger that the people and their 
 representatives may have too much timidity in their 
 conduct towards this power, and that your ministers 
 here may have too much diffidence of themselves 
 and too much complaisance for the court. There is 
 danger that French councils and emissaries and cor 
 respondents may have too much influence in our de 
 liberations. I hope that this court may not inter 
 fere by attaching themselves to persons, parties, or 
 measures in America." 
 
 Again he wrote that it would be desirable to 
 link the two countries very closely together, 
 "provided always, that we preserve prudence 
 and resolution enough to receive implicitly no 
 advice whatever, but to judge always for our 
 selves," etc., etc. Within a few months the 
 need of this watchful independence was abun 
 dantly proved ; and the early years of the his 
 tory of the United States fully justified Adams s 
 cautious dread of an undue warmth of senti 
 ment towards France. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SECOND FOREIGN MISSION: IN FRANCE AND 
 HOLLAND. 
 
 SCARCELY was Mr. Adams given time to 
 make his greetings to his friends, after his re 
 turn through the gauntlet of storms and British 
 cruisers, ere he was again set at work. A con 
 vention was summoned to prepare a constitu 
 tion for Massachusetts, and he was chosen a 
 delegate. It was a congenial task, and he was 
 early assuming an active and influential part 
 in the proceedings when, more to his surprise 
 than to his gratification, he was interrupted by 
 receiving a second time the honor of a foreign 
 mission. The history of the establishment of 
 diplomatic relations between the new states of 
 North America and the old countries of Europe, 
 the narrative of the reluctant and clumsy ap 
 proaches by England towards a negotiation for 
 peace, and especially the intricate tale of the 
 subtle manoeuvres of the French foreign office 
 in connection with its trans-Atlantic allies and 
 supposed dear friends, together form a remark- 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 157 
 
 ably interesting chapter in American history. 
 All the complexities of this web, involved be 
 yond the average of diplomatic labyrinths, 
 have been unraveled with admirable clearness 
 by Mr. C. F. Adams in his life of John Adams. 
 A writer more competent to the difficult task 
 could not have been desired, and he has so per 
 formed it that no successor can do more than 
 follow his lucid and generally fair and dispas 
 sionate recital. His account of his grandfather 
 is naturally tinged with the sentiment of the 
 plus JEneas ; neither on the other hand can he 
 condone the French minister s selfishness and 
 duplicity, though really not excessive according 
 to the technical code of morals in European for 
 eign offices of that day. But otherwise his ac 
 count of these events is keen, just, vivid, and 
 exhaustive. 
 
 During the period with which we have now 
 to deal, the Count de Vergennes managed the 
 foreign affairs of France. He was a diplomate 
 of that school with which picturesque writers 
 of historical romance have made us so familiar, 
 a character as classic as the crusty father of 
 the British stage ; of great ability, wily, far- 
 sighted, inscrutable, with no liking for any 
 country save France, and no hatred for any 
 country except England, firm in the old-fash 
 ioned faith that honesty had no place in poli- 
 
158 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 tics, especially in diplomacy ; apt and graceful 
 in the distinguished art of professional lying, 
 overbearing and imperious as became the vin 
 dicator and representative of the power of the 
 French monarchy. Such was this famous min 
 ister, a dangerous and difficult man with whom 
 to have dealings. From the beginning to the 
 end of his close connection with American af 
 fairs he played the game wholly for his own 
 hand, with some animosity towards his oppo 
 nent, but with not the slightest idea of commit 
 ting the folly of the pettiest self-sacrifice for 
 the assistance of his nominal partners. They 
 were really to help him ; he was apparently to 
 help them. It is now substantially proved that 
 the unmixed motive of the French cabinet in 
 secretly encouraging and aiding the revolted 
 colonies, before open war had broken out be 
 tween France and England, had been only to t 
 weaken the power and to sap the permanent 
 resources of the natural and apparently the 
 eternal enemy of France. After that war had 
 been declared, the same purpose constituted the 
 sole inducement to the alliance with the Amer 
 ican rebels. To the government of France, 
 therefore, thus actuated, no gratitude was due 
 from the colonists at any time, and in de Ver- 
 gennes, as the embodiment of the foreign pol 
 icy of that government, no confidence could be 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 159 
 
 safely reposed. Yet the kindly feeling of grat 
 itude and the sense of obligation cherished for 
 a generation in America towards France were 
 not wholly erroneous or misplaced ; for a con 
 siderable proportion of the French people were 
 warmly and generously interested in the suc 
 cess of the Revolution, and many individuals 
 gave it not only sincere good-will but substan 
 tial aid. Yet, though it is fair to mention and 
 to remember this fact, we shall have nothing 
 more to do with it in this narrative. 
 
 Mr. Adams had to deal with the governors, 
 not with the governed. But when he first came 
 to the country he no more understood than did 
 the rest of his countrymen the real difference 
 involved in this distinction. France was but 
 an integral idea for him, and he approached her 
 people and her government alike with an un- 
 discriminating though somewhat cautious feel 
 ing of trust. It is important to note this fact, 
 evidence of which may be found in some of his 
 language quoted at the close of the last chap 
 ter, because it indicates that his subsequent 
 suspicions of de Vergennes were the outgrowth 
 of observation and not of any original disliking. 
 Neither were these suspicions, which, it must 
 be acknowledged, were soon awakened, stimu 
 lated by Mr. Adams s natural temperament ; 
 for though he had a strong element of suspicion 
 
160 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 in him, it was seldom set in action by any other 
 spur than jealousy. The feeling towards the 
 Frenchman was the keen instinct of a man at 
 once shrewd and honest, which had satisfied 
 him of the true condition of affairs even during 
 his first visit to France. Almost alone among 
 his countrymen, he even then saw that it was 
 unwise for the colonies to give themselves blind 
 fold to the guidance of the great French min 
 ister. For a long while he was, if not entirely 
 solitary, yet at least with few co-believers in 
 this faith, and at times he occupied an invid 
 ious and dangerous position by reason of it. 
 But by good fortune he persisted in it, and in 
 all his action was controlled by it ; and if he 
 can hardly be said thereby to have been led to 
 save his country in spite of herself, yet at least 
 it is undeniable that through this he accom 
 plished for her very much which would never 
 have been accomplished by any person holding 
 a different opinion in so vital a matter. 
 
 Through the medium of M. Gerard, the 
 French minister, or emissary to Congress, ad 
 vices came in the autumn of 1779 that England 
 might not improbably soon be ready to nego 
 tiate for peace. In order to lose no time when 
 this happy moment should be at hand, it was 
 thought best to have an American envoy, pre 
 pared to treat, stationed in Europe to avail of 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 161 
 
 the first opportunity which should occur. For 
 this purpose, as has been said, Mr. Adams was 
 
 selected ;^on November 3, 1779, he~"received 
 
 ^,, "~> > ^. *> ~ in i _ . ~ 
 
 notice of his appointment, and on the next day 
 he accepted it, with some expressions of reluc 
 tance and diffidence, which were probably sin 
 cere, since the mission was attended with both 
 pfiysical danger and the gravest possible re 
 sponsibility. On November 13 he put to sea 
 in the frigate Le Sensible. She proved to be 
 so unsea worthy that she could barely be 
 brought into the port of Ferrol in safety ; and 
 the passengers were compelled to make a long, 
 tedious journey by land to Paris, amid hard 
 ships so severe that they seem incredible as oc 
 curring in a civilized country of Europe less 
 than a century ago. 
 
 Before Mr. Adams s instructions had been 
 drafted, the noxious and perfidious influence of 
 de Vgrgennes, noxious and perfidious, that is 
 to say, from an American point of view, had 
 had its first effect. For a while that minister s 
 desire bad been that the war should draw along 
 a weary and endless length, in order the more 
 thoroughly to drain the vitality of England. 
 How severely the vitality of the colonies might 
 also be drained was matter of indifference, so 
 long as they retained strength enough to con 
 tinue fighting. To keep them up to their work 
 11 
 
162 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 his plan had been to give them tonics, in the 
 shape of money, arms, and encouragement, se 
 cretly administered in such quantities as should 
 be necessary in order to prevent their succumb 
 ing ; but he had not cared to give them enough 
 assistance, though it might be possible to do so, 
 to enable them quite to conclude the struggle. 
 Even the open outbreak of hostility between 
 France and England had modified his designs 
 only a little, and had affected the details rather 
 than changed the fundamental theory of his 
 action. Now, however, affairs having drifted 
 to that point that the war seemed to be almost 
 \ fought out, and peace looming apparently not 
 very far away, he recognized only a sole object 
 as necessary so far as the revolted states were 
 concerned. He must see them independent; 
 so mighty a limb must be lopped forever from 
 the parent trunk. Beyond this he cared for 
 nothing else ; as for all the points which were 
 of highest moment and dearest interest to those 
 states, his dear and confiding allies, points of 
 boundaries, fisheries, navigation of the Missis 
 sippi, and such like, he cared not in the least for 
 any of these. The earliest indication of the feel 
 ing in Congress had been that stipulations con 
 cerning these three matters should be inserted 
 in the instructions to the American negotiator 
 as ultimata. But this by no means consorted 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 163 
 
 with the views of de Vergennes, who saw that 
 such ultimata might operate to obstruct a paci 
 fication desirable for France, if England should 
 resolutely refuse them ; whereas, if they were 
 urgent demands only and not ultimata, the 
 sacrifice of them might indirectly effect some 
 gain for France. They might be used as a 
 price to Great Britain, and the thing bought 
 with them might inure to France. Accord 
 ingly the strenuous efforts of M, Gerard were 
 put forth, and finally with success, to pare down 
 the Congressional instructions to the modest 
 form desired by de Vergennes. It was voted 
 that the envoy in treating for peace should have 
 as his~only ultimatum the recognition by Great ^ 
 Britain of the independence of the ex-colonies. 
 But7~in order not to abandon altogether these 
 other important matters, he received also an 
 other and distinct commission for entering into 
 a commercial treaty, and in this he was directed 
 to secure the " right " to the fisheries. 
 
 Massachusetts watched all this with extreme 
 anxiety. The fisheries were to her matter of 
 profound concern, far surpassing any question 
 of boundary, and of vastly deeper interest than 
 the navigation of the Mississippi. She was in 
 exorably resolved that this great industry of 
 her people should never be annihilated. To 
 this resolution of so influential a state the ap- 
 
164 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 pointment of Mr. Adams was largely due. The 
 matter of the foreign representation of the col 
 onies at this time was complicated by many in 
 trigues and quarrels, local jealousies, and per 
 sonal animosities. Thus it happened that New 
 York and other states were willing to send Mr. 
 Adams to Spain, but wished Mr. Jay to be the 
 negotiator for peace. This arrangement would 
 have sufficiently pleased de Vergennes also, 
 whose keen perception and accurate advices 
 had already marked Mr. Adams as a man likely 
 to be obstructive to purely French interests. 
 But the New Englanders clung with unflinch 
 ing stubbornness to their countryman. They 
 are said to have felt that, ultimatum or no ulti 
 matum, he would save their fisheries if it were 
 a human possibility to do so. They prevailed. 
 Jay was appointed to Madrid, and Adams gojb 
 the contingent commissions to England, for 
 both peace and commerce. In the end Adams 
 was chiefly instrumental in saving the fisheries, 
 and if the choice of him was stimulated by this 
 hope, the instinct or judgment appeared to 
 have been correct. Yet it is perhaps worth no 
 ticing that his sentiments on this subject at 
 this time were hardly identical with his subse 
 quent expressions at Paris. " Necessity," he 
 said, " has taught us to dig in the ground in 
 stead of fishing in the sea for our bread, and 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 165 
 
 we have found that the resource did not fail us. 
 The fishing was a source of luxury and vanity 
 that did us much injury." Part of the fish 
 had been exchanged in the West Indies " for 
 rum, and molasses to be distilled into rum, 
 which injured our health and our morals ; " the 
 rest came back from Europe in the shape of 
 lace and ribbons. To be compelled to substi 
 tute the culture of flax and wool for fishing, 
 would conduce to an "acquisition of morals 
 and of wisdom which would perhaps make us 
 gainers in the end." Yet when it came actu 
 ally to negotiating, Mr. Adams forgot all this 
 horror of rum and frippery, all this desire for 
 flax, wool, and morals, and made a fight for 
 salt fish which won for him even more closely 
 than before the heart of New England. 
 
 Mr. Adams was a singular man ito be selected 
 for a difficult errand in diplomacy, especially 
 under circumstances demanding wariness and 
 adroitness, if not even craft and dissimulation. 
 He might have been expected to prove but an 
 indifferent player in the most intricate and ar 
 tificial of invented games. He seemed to pos 
 sess nearly every quality which a diplomatist 
 ought not to have, and almost no quality which 
 a diplomatist needed. That he was utterly de 
 void of experience was the least objection, for 
 so were all his countrymen, and it was hoped 
 
166 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 that the friendly aid of de Vergennes might 
 make up for this defect. But further than this 
 he was of a restless, eager temperament, hot to 
 urge forward whatever business he had in hand, 
 chafing under any necessity for patience, dislik 
 ing to bide his time, frank and outspoken in 
 spite of bis best efforts at self-control, and hope 
 lessly incapable of prolonged concealment of his 
 opinions, motives, and purposes in action, his 
 likings and dislikings towards persons. It has 
 been seen, for example, how cautiously he tried 
 to conceal his wish for the declaration of inde 
 pendence, yet every one in Congress soon knew 
 him as the chief promoter of that doctrine ; and 
 already, in his brief and unimportant sojourn in 
 France, de Vergennes had got far in reading his 
 mind. Yet it so happened that, with every 
 such prognostic against him, he was precisely 
 the man for the place and the duty. With the 
 shrewdness of his race he had considerable in- 
 p sight into character ; a strong element of sus 
 picion led him not quite to assume, as he might 
 have done, that all diplomatists were dishonest, 
 but induced him to- watch them with a wise 
 doubt and keenness ; he had devoted all the 
 powers of a strong mind to the study of the 
 situation, so that he was thoroughly master of 
 all the various interests and probabilities which 
 it was necessary for him to take into account ; 
 

 SECOND FOREIGN M 1 SSI ON. 167 
 
 he was a patriot to the very centre of his mar 
 row, and so fearless and stubborn that he both 
 made and persisted in the boldest demands on 
 behalf of his country ; he was high-spirited, 
 too, and presented such a front that he seemed 
 to represent one of the greatest powers in the 
 civilized world, so that, in spite of the well- 
 known fact that he had only some revolted 
 and more than half exhausted colonies at his 
 back, yet his manly bearing had great moral 
 effect ; if it was true that quick-sighted states 
 men easily saw what he wanted, it was also 
 true that he impressed them with a sense that 
 he would make a hard fight to get it ; they 
 could never expect to bully him, and not easily 
 to circumvent him ; if he made enemies, as he 
 did, powerful, dangerous, and insidious ones, he 
 at least showed admirable sturdiness and cour 
 age in facing them ; he was eloquent and forci 
 ble in discussion, making a deep impression by 
 an air of earnest straightforwardness ; all these 
 proved valuable qualifications upon the pecul 
 iar mission on which he was now dispatched. 
 Had the business of the colonies been conducted 
 by a diplomatist of the European school, burrow 
 ing subterraneously in secret mines and coun 
 termines, endeavoring to meet art with wiles, 
 and diplomatic lies with professional falsehood, 
 valuable time would surely have been lost, and 
 
168 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 smaller advantages would probably have been 
 gained ; but Adams strode along stoutly in 
 broad daylight, breaking the snares which were 
 set for his feet, shouldering aside those who 
 sought to crowd him from his path, unceremo 
 nious, making direct for his goal, with his eyes 
 wide open and his tongue not silent to speak 
 the plain truth. Certainly this trans-Atlantic 
 negotiator excited surprise by his anomalous 
 and untraditional conduct among the ministers 
 and envoys of the European cabinets ; but in the 
 end he proved too much for them all ; their 
 peculiar skill was of no avail against his novel 
 and original tactics ; their covert indirection 
 could not stand before his blunt directness. 
 So he carried his points with brilliant success. 
 
 Yet it is not to be inferred from this record 
 of achievements that Mr. Adams was a good 
 diplomatist, or that in a career devoted to di 
 plomacy he could have won reputation or re 
 peated such triumphs as are about to be nar- 
 . rated. The contrary is probable. His heat, 
 quickness, pugnacity, want of tact, and naive 
 J egotism could not have been compatible with 
 permanent success in this calling. It only so 
 happened that at this special juncture, peculiar 
 and exceptional needs existed which his quali 
 fications fortunately met. Dr. Franklin, who 
 was our minister at Versailles at this time, and 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 169 
 
 with whom, by the way, Mr. Adams did not 
 get along very well, had much more general 
 fitness for diplomacy according to the usual re 
 quirements of the profession ; cool and dispas 
 sionate, keen, astute, and far-sighted, by no 
 means incapable of discovering craft and of 
 meeting it by still craftier craft, no nation in 
 most emergencies could have wished its af 
 fairs in better hands than those of the distin 
 guished philosopher, as he was commonly 
 called, though in fact he was the only living 
 American of note in 1780 who was a real man 
 of the world. Yet just now Franklin was al 
 most useless. Leading the most charming life, 
 caressed by the French women, flattered by 
 the French men, the companion of the noblest, 
 the wittiest, and "the most dissipated in the 
 realm, visiting, dining, feasting, he comforta 
 bly agreed with de Vergennes, and quite con 
 tentedly fell in with that minister s policy. It 
 was fortunate for the colonies that for a time, 
 just at this crisis, the easy-going sage was 
 forced into unwelcome coupling with the ener 
 getic man of business. 
 
 Directly after his arrival in Paris Mr. Adams 
 wrote to de Vergennes. " I am persuaded," 
 he says, " it is the intention of my constituents 
 and of all America, and I am sure it is my own 
 determination, to take no steps of consequence 
 
170 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 in pursuance of my commissions without con 
 sulting his majesty s ministers." Accordingly 
 he asks the count s advice as to whether he 
 shall make his twofold errand known either 
 to the public or to the court of London. This 
 was abundantly civil, and under all the circum 
 stances not quite servile. The response of the 
 Frenchman was extraordinary. He stated that 
 he preferred to give no definite reply until af 
 ter the return from the states of his emissary, 
 Monsieur Gerard, " because he is probably the 
 bearer of your instructions, and will certainly 
 be able to make me better acquainted with the 
 nature and extent of your commission. But 
 in the meantime I am of opinion that it will 
 be prudent to conceal your eventual character, 
 and above all to take the necessary precautions 
 that the object of your commission may re 
 main unknown at the court of London." Mr. 
 Adams heard with an indignation which he 
 could not venture to express this audacious in 
 timation of a design, assumed to have been 
 successfully carried out, to " penetrate into the 
 secrets of Congress," and obtain " copies of the 
 most confidential communications " between 
 that body and its ministers. Neither did the 
 advice at all accord with his own notions. He 
 saw no sound reason for keeping the object of 
 his mission a secret ; on the contrary, he would 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 171 
 
 decidedly have preferred at once to divulge it, 
 and even formally to communicate it to the 
 British cabinet. Probably he did not yet sus 
 pect what his grandson tells us was the true 
 state of the case : viz., that de Vergennes 
 dreaded the possible result of the commercial 
 portion of his commission, and immediately 
 upon learning it set agents at work in Phila 
 delphia to procure its cancellation. Neverthe 
 less he answered courteously and submissively, 
 engaging to maintain the desired concealment 
 so far as depended upon himself. He could 
 not do otherwise ; it was intended that he 
 should subordinate his own judgment to that 
 of his French friend. But he wrote to the 
 president of Congress to say that the story of 
 his mission and its purpose had not been, as of 
 course it could not have been, kef)t a close se 
 cret, but on the contrary, having been " heard 
 of in all companies," had been used by the 
 English ministerial writers " as evidence of a 
 drooping spirit in America." This, however, 
 concerned only his authority to treat for peace. 
 A few days later. Monsieur Gerard having ar 
 rived, de Vergennes did Mr. Adams the honor 
 to say that he found that Mr. Adams had given 
 him a truthful statement of his instructions. 
 He was willing now to have Mr. Adams s 
 " eventual character," but meaning thereby 
 
172 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 only as an emissary for peace, made public 
 very soon. He still persisted in demanding se 
 crecy as to " the full powers which authorize 
 you to negotiate a treaty of commerce with the 
 court of London. I think it will be prudent 
 not to communicate them to anybody whatever, 
 and to take every necessary precaution that 
 the British ministry may not have a premature 
 knowledge of them. You will no doubt easily 
 feel the motives which induce me to advise you 
 to take this precaution, and it would be need 
 less to explain." Mr. Adams did indeed soon 
 begin to comprehend these " motives " with 
 sufficient accuracy to make explanations almost 
 " needless ; " yet for the present he held his 
 tongue with such patience as he could com 
 mand. 
 
 This correspondence took place in February, 
 1780 ; but it was not till the end of March and 
 after further stimulation of de Vergennes 
 careless memory, that Mr. Adams carried his 
 point of procuring publication even of the 
 "principal object " of his mission. "I ought 
 to confess to Congress," he said, with a slight 
 irony in the choice of phrases not unworthy of 
 the count himself, " that the delicacy of the 
 Count de Vergennes about communicating my 
 powers is not perfectly consonant to my man 
 ner of thinking ; and if I had followed my own 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSI01 
 
 judgment, I should have pursued a bolder 
 by communicating immediately after my arrival 
 to Lord George Germain my full powers to 
 treat both of peace and commerce." Yet he 
 modestly hopes that Congress will approve his 
 deference to the French minister. There was 
 little danger that they would not ; it was only 
 Mr. Adams s boldness and independence, never 
 his submissiveness, which imperilled his good 
 standing with that now spiritless body. 
 
 Mr. Adams said of himself with perfect truth, 
 that he could not eat the bread of idleness. 
 His restless energy always demanded some out 
 let, whereas now he found himself likely to re 
 main for an indefinite time without a duty or 
 a task. He was free to enjoy with a clear 
 conscience all the novel fascinations of the gay 
 est city of the world, having the public purse 
 open to his hand and perfect idleness as his 
 only official function for the passing time. 
 Such an opportunity would not have been 
 thrown away by most men ; but for him the 
 pursuit of ease and pleasure, even as a tempo 
 rary recess and with ample excuse, meant 
 wretchedness. Without delay he set himself 
 to discover some occupation, to find some toil, 
 to devise some opening for activity. This he 
 soon saw in the utter ignorance of the people 
 about him concerning American affairs, and he 
 
174 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 entered upon the work of enlightening them 
 by a series of articles, which he prepared and 
 caused to be translated and published in a 
 prominent newspaper, edited by M. Genet, a 
 chief secretary in the foreign office, father of 
 Edmond Genet, the famous French minister to 
 the United States in Washington s time. This 
 well-meant and doubtless useful enterprise, 
 however, ultimately brought him into trouble, 
 as his zeal was constantly doing throughout his 
 life in ways that always seemed to him grossly 
 undeserved and the hardest of luck. For at 
 the request of de Vergennes, whose attention 
 was attracted by these publications, he now be 
 gan to furnish often to that gentleman a va 
 riety of interesting items of information from 
 the states, of which more will soon be heard. 
 He further kept up an active volunteer corre 
 spondence with Congress, sending them all 
 sorts of news, facts which he observed and 
 heard, conjectures and suggestions from his 
 own brain, which he conceived might be of use 
 or interest to them. In a word, he did vigor 
 ously many things which might naturally have 
 been expected from Franklin, but which that 
 tranquil philosopher had not permitted to dis 
 turb his daily ease. 
 
 For a time all went well ; Franklin, secure in 
 his great prestige, contemplated with indifTer- 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 175 
 
 ence the busy intrusion of Adams ; de Vergennes 
 was glad to get all he could from so effusive a 
 source, and Congress seemed sufficiently pleased 
 with the one-sided correspondence. Yet a cau 
 tious man, worldly-wise and selfish, would never 
 have done as Adams was doing, and in due 
 time, without any consciousness at all that he 
 deserved such retribution, he found himself in 
 trouble. Early in 1780, Congress issued a rec-. 
 ommendation to the several states to arrange 
 for the redemption in silver of the continental 
 paper money at the rate of forty dollars for 
 one. The adoption of this advice by Massa 
 chusetts, and the laying of a tax by that state ^_ 
 to provide the money for her share, were an 
 nounced to Mr. Adams in a letter of June 16, 
 1780, from his brother-in-law, Richard Cranch. 
 A copy of this letter he promptly sent to de 
 Vergennes. Immediately afterwards he re 
 ceived further news of a resolution of Congress 
 to pay the continental loan certificates accord 
 ing to their value in real money at the time of 
 their issue. A copy of this letter also he for 
 warded to M. de Vergennes, with a letter of 
 his own, explaining, says Mr. C. F. Adams, the 
 " distinction between the action of Congress on 
 the paper money and on the loan certificates, 
 which that body had neglected to make clear." l 
 
 1 V. Dipt. Corr. of the Amer. Rev. 207. 
 
176 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 The letter is brief, and seems fully as much 
 deprecatory as explanatory. But whatever was 
 its character, it was a mistake. Mr. Adams 
 would have done better to allow such disagree 
 able intelligence to reach the count through 
 the regular channels of communication. He 
 was under no sort of obligation to send the 
 news, nor to explain it, nor to enter on any de 
 fense ; indeed, had he held his tongue, it was 
 not supposable that the count would ever have 
 known when or how fully he had got his infor 
 mation. Moreover, it was in his discretion to 
 make such communications to the count as he 
 saw fit; if it was not meddlesome in him to 
 make any, at least it was indiscreet in him to 
 make these especial ones. His punishment was 
 swift. De Vergennes at once took fire on be 
 half of his countrymen, who were numerously 
 and largely creditors of the colonies. He wrote 
 to Mr. Adams a letter far from pleasant in 
 tone. " Such financial measures," he said, 
 " might be necessary, but their burden should 
 fall on the Americans alone, and an exception 
 ought to be made in favor of strangers." 
 
 " In order to make you sensible of the truth of 
 this observation, I will only remark, sir, that the 
 Americans alone ought to support the expense which 
 is occasioned by the defense of their liberty, and that 
 they ought to consider the depreciation of their paper 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 177 
 
 money only as an impost which ought to fall upon 
 themselves, as the paper money was at first estab 
 lished only to relieve them from the necessity of pay 
 ing taxes. I will only add that the French, if they 
 are obliged to submit to the reduction proposed by 
 Congress, will find themselves victims of their zeal, 
 and I may say of the rashness with which they ex 
 posed themselves in furnishing the Americans with 
 arms, ammunition, and clothing, and in a word with 
 all things of the first necessity, of which the Amer 
 icans at the time stood in need." 
 
 Having delivered this severe and offensive 
 criticism, the writer expressed his confidence 
 that Mr. Adams would use all his endeavors to 
 engage Congress to do justice to the subjects 
 of the king, and further stated that the Cheva 
 lier de la Luzerne, French minister at Philadel 
 phia, had " orders to make the strongest repre 
 sentations on this subject." 
 
 Mr. Adams, thus rudely smitten, began im 
 perfectly to appreciate the position into which 
 his naive and unreflecting simplicity had 
 brought him. He instantly replied, hoping 
 that the orders to de la Luzerne might be held 
 back until Dr. Franklin could communicate 
 with the French government. It was rather 
 late to remember that the whole business lay 
 properly in Franklin s department, and unfor 
 tunately the tardy gleam of prudence was only 
 12 
 
178 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 a passing illumination. Actually under date 
 of the same day on which this reply was sent, 
 the Diplomatic Correspondence contains a very 
 long and elaborate argument, addressed by Mr. 
 Adams to de Vergennes, wherein the ever- 
 ready diplomate gratuitously endeavored to 
 vindicate the action of Congress. It was a 
 difficult task which he so readily assumed ; for 
 though, if it is ever honest for a government 
 to force creditors to take less than it has prom 
 ised to them, it was justifiable for the colonial 
 Congress and the several states to do so at 
 this time, yet it is by no means clear that 
 such a transaction is ever excusable. More 
 over, apart from this doubt, Mr. Adams was 
 addressing an argument to a man sure to be 
 incensed by it, not open to conviction, and in 
 the first flush of anger. Adams afterwards 
 said that he might easily have shunned this 
 argument, as Franklin did, by sending the 
 French minister s letter to Congress, and ex 
 pressing no opinion of his own to de Vergennes. 
 But this course he condemned as " duplicity," 
 and declared : " I thought it my indispensable 
 duty to my country and to Congress, to France 
 and the count himself, to be explicit." Mr. 
 C. F. Adams also tries to show that his ances 
 tor could not have shunned this effort with 
 out compromising himself or his countrymen. 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 179 
 
 But it is not possible to take these views. At 
 the outset Mr. Adams was at perfect liberty to 
 keep silence, and would have been wise to do so. 
 The trouble was that keeping silence was some 
 thing he could never do. On the same day he 
 wrote to Dr. Franklin a sort of admonitory 
 letter, phrased in courteous language certainly, 
 but conveying to him information which the 
 doctor might well feel piqued at receiving from 
 such a source, and intimating that he would do 
 well to bestir himself and to mend matters 
 without more delay. Shortly after he had thus 
 prodded the minister of the states, he wrote 
 two letters to Congress, containing a sufficiently 
 fair narrative of the facts, but between the 
 lines of which one sees, or easily fancies that 
 he sees, a nascent uneasiness, a dawning sense 
 of having been imprudent. The same is visi 
 ble in another letter to Franklin, dated seven 
 days later, in which the now anxious and for a 
 moment self-distrustful writer begs the doctor, 
 if he is materially wrong in any part of his 
 argument to de Vergennes, to point out the 
 error, since he is "open to conviction," and 
 the subject is one "much out of the way of 
 [his] particular pursuits," so that he naturally 
 may be " inaccurate in some things." The 
 next day brought a curt letter from de Ver 
 gennes, embodying a sharp snub. Still a few 
 
180 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 days more brought a letter from Franklin to de 
 Vergennes, in which the American said that, 
 though he did not yet fully understand the 
 whole business, he could at least see that for 
 eigners and especially Frenchmen should not 
 be permitted to suffer. He added that the sen 
 timents of the colonists in general, so far as he 
 had been able to learn them from private and 
 public sources, " differ widely from those that 
 seem to be expressed by Mr. Adams in his 
 letter to your excellency." Franklin was wrong 
 in these assertions, but he was at least politic ; 
 he was turning aside wrath, gaining time, mak 
 ing the blow fall by slow degrees. 
 
 So the result of Mr. Adams s well-meant 
 blunders was that he had not affected the opin 
 ions of the French minister in the least, but 
 that he had secured for himself the ill-will both 
 of that powerful diplomatist and of Dr. Frank 
 lin. They both snubbed him, and of course 
 quickly allowed it to be understood by mem- 
 v bers of Congress that Mr. Adams was an un 
 welcome busybody. This was in a large degree 
 unjust and undeserved, but it was unfortu 
 nately plausible. Mr. Adams could explain in 
 self-defense that he had been requested by de 
 Vergennes himself to convey information to 
 that gentleman directly from time to time on 
 American affairs ; and the explanation might 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 181 
 
 serve as an- excuse for, if not a full justification 
 of, his encroachment on the proper functions of 
 Dr. Franklin. But a public man is unfortu 
 nately situated when he is so placed that he is 
 obliged to explain. It seemed in derogation of 
 Mr. Adams s usefulness abroad that, whether 
 with or without fault on his own part, he had 
 incurred the displeasure of de Vergennes and 
 the jealousy of Franklin. Congress indeed 
 stood manfully by him ; yet it was impossible 
 that his prestige should not be rather weakened 
 than strengthened by what had occurred. Al 
 together, his ill-considered readiness had done 
 him a serious temporary hurt on this occasion, 
 as on so many others, in his outspoken, not to 
 say loquacious career. 
 
 The ill feeling between Adams and Franklin 
 reached a point which it is painful now to con 
 template, as existing between two men who 
 should have been such hearty co-laborers in the 
 common cause. That they did not openly quar 
 rel was probably due only to their sense of pro 
 priety and dignity, and to the age and position 
 of Dr. Franklin. In fact they were utterly in 
 compatible, both mentally and morally ; from 
 finding that they could not work in unison the 
 step to extreme personal dislike was not a long 
 one. In 1811 Mr. Adams put his sentiments 
 not only in writing but in print with his usual 
 
182 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 straightforward and unsparing directness. He 
 charged that Franklin had " concerted " with 
 de Vergennes " to crash Mr. Adanis and get 
 possession of his commission for peace ; " and 
 lie stigmatized the conspiracy, not unjustly, if 
 his suspicions were correct, as a " vulgar and 
 low intrigue," a " base trick." He said that 
 when de Vergennes wished to send complaints 
 of him to Congress, Franklin, who was not offi 
 cially bound to interfere in the business, became 
 a " willing auxiliary ... at the expense of his 
 duty and his character." He said that he had 
 never believed Dr. Franklin s expressions of 
 44 reluctance," and that the majority of Con 
 gress had "always seen that it was Dr. F. s 
 heart s desire to avail himself of these means 
 and this opportunity to strike Mr. Adams out of 
 existence as a public minister, and get himself 
 into his place." He denied that he ever inter 
 meddled in Franklin s province, and explained 
 his neglect to consult with the doctor on the 
 ground that he knew the " extreme indolence 
 and dissipation " of that great man. He did 
 not confine himself to accusing Franklin of an 
 ungenerous enmity to himself, but directly as 
 sailed his morals and the purity of his patriot 
 ism. These bitter pages are not pleasant read 
 ing, however much truth there may be in them. 
 In such a misunderstanding, as in a family 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 183 
 
 quarrel, it would have been better had each 
 party rigorously held his peace. Yet since this 
 was not done, and the feud has been published 
 to the world, it may be fairly said that, except 
 in points of discretion at the time, and good 
 taste afterward, it is difficult not to sympathize 
 with Mr. Adams. He had nine tenths of the 
 substance of right on his side. 
 
 For a while just now Mr. Adams resembles 
 a ship blundering through a fog bank. Appar 
 ently he had taken leave of all discretion. In 
 credible as it seems, he actually seized this mo 
 ment of Count de Vergennes s extreme irri 
 tation, an irritation of which he himself had 
 been made the unfortunate scape-goat, to write 
 to that minister a letter urging a vigorous and 
 expensive naval enterprise by the French in 
 American waters, and suggesting that besides 
 its strictly strategic advantages it would have 
 the very great moral use of proving the sincer 
 ity of the French in the alliance ! Not that 
 he himself, as he graciously said, doubted that 
 sincerity, but others were questioning it. 
 Nothing could have been more inopportune or 
 more unconciliatory than this proposal, made 
 at the precise moment when conciliation would 
 have been the chief point of a sound policy. 
 The French treasury was beginning to feel se 
 verely the cost of the war, and however hn- 
 
184 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 perfect may have been the sincerity of the gov 
 ernment at other times and in other respects, 
 they were now at least doing all they could 
 afford to do in the way of substantial military 
 assistance. De Vergennes replied with chill 
 ing civility. A few days afterward Mr. Adams 
 touched another sensitive spot, renewing his 
 old suggestion that it would be well for him to 
 communicate to the British court the full char 
 acter of his commissions. In this he was prob 
 ably quite right ; but in urging it upon the 
 minister just at this moment he was again im 
 prudent, if not actually wrong. He knew per 
 fectly well that de Vergennes did not wish this 
 communication to be made ; it is true also that 
 he more than half suspected the concealed mo 
 tives of the minister s reluctance, though he 
 did not fully know precisely in what shape the 
 ministerial policy was being developed. Still, 
 being aware of the unwelcome character of his 
 proposal, he ought to have refrained from urg 
 ing it for a little while, until the offense which 
 he had so lately given could drop a little fur 
 ther into the past. In those days of tardy com 
 munication diplomatic matters moved so slowly 
 that a month more or less would not have 
 counted for very much, and certainly he would 
 have been likely to lose less by pausing than 
 he could hope to gain by pushing forward just 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 185 
 
 at this moment. Upon the receipt of the re 
 iterated and unwelcome request, the patience 
 and politeness of de Vergennes at last fairly 
 broke down. His response was curt, and in 
 substance, though not in language, almost inso 
 lent. He sent Mr. Adams a paper setting forth 
 categorically his reasons for thinking that the 
 time had not come for informing the English 
 government concerning the Congressional com 
 missions. He hoped that Mr. Adams would 
 see the force of these arguments, but other 
 wise, he said, " I pray you, and in the name of 
 the king request you, to communicate your let 
 ter and my answer to the United States, and 
 to suspend, until you shall receive orders from 
 them, all measures with regard to the English 
 ministry." For his own part, he acknowledged 
 that he intended with all expedition to appeal 
 to Congress to check the intended communica 
 tion. This was not pleasant ; but the reading 
 of the enclosed statement of reasons must have 
 been still less so. They were, said the writer, 
 " so plain that they must appear at first view." 
 After this doubtful compliment to the sagacity 
 of Mr. Adams, who had failed to discern con 
 siderations so remarkably obvious, a number 
 of snubs followed. Mr. Adams was told that 
 " it required no effort of genius " to compre 
 hend that he could not fulfill all his commis- 
 
186 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 sions at once ; that the English ministry would 
 regard his communication, so far as related to 
 the treaty of commerce, as " ridiculous," and 
 would return either " no answer " or " an in 
 solent one ; " that Mr. Adams s purpose could 
 never be achieved by the means he suggested, 
 with the too plain innuendo that his sugges 
 tion was a foolish one. Finally, but not until 
 the eighth paragraph had been reached in the 
 discussion and disposition of Mr. Adams s 
 several points, the Frenchman said, as if re 
 lieved at last to find a break in the chain of ig 
 norance and folly : " This is a sensible reflec 
 tion." There was a sharper satire in this praise 
 than in the blame which had preceded it ; and 
 the subtle minister then continued to show that 
 the " reflection " was " sensible " only because 
 it showed that even Mr. Adams himself could 
 appreciate and admit that under some circum 
 stances he would do well to withhold the com 
 munication of his powers. 
 
 As a real confutation of Mr. Adams s argu 
 ments, this document was very imperfectly sat 
 isfactory. As a manifestation of ill-temper it 
 was more efficient ; for it was cutting and sar 
 castic enough to have irritated a man of a 
 milder disposition than Mr. Adams enjoyed. 
 On July 26, however, he replied to it in tolera 
 bly submissive form, though not concealing that 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 187 
 
 he was rather silenced by the authority than 
 convinced by the arguments of his opponent, 
 since an opponent de Vergennes had by this 
 time substantially become. But on July 27, 
 Mr. Adams was moved to write a second and a 
 less wise letter. He had overlooked, he said, 
 the count s statement that in the beginning the 
 French " king, without having been solicited 
 by the Congress, had taken measures the most 
 efficacious to sustain the American cause." He 
 sought now to prove, and did prove, that this 
 was an erroneous assertion, inasmuch as the 
 colonists had solicited aid before it had been 
 tendered to them. He would have done better 
 had he continued to overlook the error, rather 
 than be so zealous to prove his countrymen 
 beggars of aid, instead of recipients of it un 
 sought. But if this was a trifling matter, on a 
 following page he committed a gross and un 
 pardonable folly. " I am so convinced," he 
 said, " by experience of the absolute necessity 
 of more consultations and communications be 
 tween his majesty s ministers and the minis 
 ters of Congress, that I am determined to omit 
 no opportunity of communicating my senti 
 ments to your excellency, upon everything 
 that appears to me of importance to the com 
 mon cause, in which I can do it with propri 
 ety." In other words, Dr. Franklin was so 
 
188 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 outrageously neglecting his duties that Mr. 
 Adams must volunteer to perform them ; and 
 though he was even now in trouble by reason 
 of news given to de Yergennes at that gentle 
 man s own request, he actually declares his 
 resolution, untaught by experience, to thrust 
 farther unasked communications before that 
 minister. Some very unfriendly demon must 
 have prompted this extraordinary epistolary 
 effort ! Two days afterward he received from 
 de Vergennes a sharp and well-merited rebuke. 
 To avoid the receipt of more letters like Mr. 
 Adams s last, the minister now wrote : " I 
 think it my duty to inform you that, Mr. Frank 
 lin being the sole person who has letters of cre 
 dence to the king from the United States, it 
 is with him only that I ought and can treat of 
 matters which concern them, and particularly 
 of that which is the subject of your observa 
 tions." Then the minister mischievously sent 
 the whole correspondence to Dr. Franklin, ex 
 pressing the malicious hope that he would for 
 ward it all to Congress, so " that they may 
 know the line of conduct which Mr. Adams 
 pursues with regard to us, and that they may 
 judge whether he is endowed, as Congress no 
 doubt desires, with that conciliatory spirit 
 which is necessary for the important and deli 
 cate business with which he is entrusted." In 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 189 
 
 a word, de Vergennes had come to hate Adams, 
 and wished to destroy Mm. Franklin did in 
 fact write to Congress a letter in a tone which 
 could not have been unsatisfactory to Ver 
 gennes, and the result came back in the shape 
 of some mild fault-finding for Mr. Adams in an 
 official letter from the President of Congress, 
 a censure much more gentle than he might 
 well have anticipated in view of the powerful 
 influences which he had managed to set in mo 
 tion against himself. Fortunately, too, such 
 sting as there was in this was amply cured by 
 a vote of December 12, 1780, passed concern 
 ing the correspondence relating to the redemp 
 tion of debts, by which Congress instructed the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs " to inform Mr. 
 Adams of the satisfaction which they receive 
 from his industrious attention to the interests 
 and honor of these United States abroad, es 
 pecially in the transactions communicated to 
 them by his letter." 
 
 During these two months of June and July, 
 1780, Mr. Adams had certainly succeeded in 
 stirring up a very considerable embroilment, 
 and in making Paris a rather uncomfortable 
 place of residence for himself for the time be 
 ing. It was as well for him to seek some new 
 and more tranquil pastures, at least tempora 
 rily. Fortunately he was able to do so with 
 
190 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 a good grace. So early as in February preced 
 ing lie had seen that a minister in Holland 
 might do good service, especially in opelirhg 
 the way for loans of money. He had lately 
 been contemplating a volunteer and tentative 
 trip thither, and had asked for passports from 
 the count de Vergennes; these he now re 
 ceived, with an intimation, not precisely that 
 his absence was better than his company, but at 
 least that for a few weeks he might rest assured 
 that no negotiations would arise to demand his 
 attention. So on July 27 he set out for Am 
 sterdam. This visit, intended to be brief and of 
 exploration only, finally ran on through a full 
 year, and covered the initiation of some im 
 portant transactions. Mr. Adams s chief mo 
 tive was to try the financial prospects, to see 
 what chance there was for the colonies to delve 
 into the treasure-chests and deep pockets of the 
 rich bankers and money-lenders of the Low 
 Countries. He found only a black ignorance 
 prevalent concerning the condition and re 
 sources of his country, and that it was of no 
 use to talk of loans until he could substitute for 
 this lack of knowledge abundant and favorable 
 information. To this end he at once bent him 
 self by industriously employing the press, and 
 by seeking to extend his personal acquaintance 
 and influence as far as possible in useful direc- 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 191 
 
 tions. At first this was another of his purely 
 voluntary undertakings, from which he had not 
 yet been turned aside ; but while he was prose 
 cuting it, direct authority for engaging a loan 
 reached him from Congress. As ill luck would 
 have it, however, just at this same crisis the 
 English captured some papers disagreeably 
 compromising the relations of the Dutch with 
 Great Britain. At once the English ministry 
 became very menacing ; the Dutch cowered in 
 alarm ; and for the time all chance of borrow 
 ing money disappeared. " Not a merchant or 
 banker in the place, of any influence," says 
 Mr. C. F. Adams, "would venture at such a 
 moment even to appear to know that a person 
 suspected of being an American agent was at 
 hand." But after a while the cloud showed 
 symptoms of passing over; even a reaction 
 against the spirit of timid submission to Eng 
 land began to set in. Mr. Adams patiently 
 stayed by, watching the turn of affairs, and 
 while thus engaged received from Congress two 
 new commissions. The one authorized him 
 to give in the adhesion of the United States 
 to the armed neutrality; the other appointed 
 him minister plenipotentiary to the United 
 Provinces, and instructed him to negotiate a 
 treaty of alliance as soon as possible. Thus 
 he obtained not onlv new incentives but fresh 
 
192 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 points of departure, of which it may be con 
 ceived that he was not slow to avail himself. 
 He at once announced to the ministers of vari 
 ous European nations at the Hague his power 
 in relation to the armed neutrality ; and soon 
 afterward presented to the States General a 
 memorial requesting to be recognized as min 
 ister from the United States. But this recog 
 nition, involving of course the recognition of 
 the nation also, was not easily to be obtained. 
 Against it worked the fear of Great Britain and 
 all the influence of that court, which, though 
 at last on the wane, had long been overshadow 
 ing in Holland, and was now strenuously 
 pushed to the utmost point in this matter. 
 Further, the influence of France was unques 
 tionably, though covertly and indirectly, ar 
 rayed upon the same side. No more conclusive 
 evidence could have been desired as to the pre 
 cise limits of the good will of de Vergennes to 
 the American states. Had he had their inter 
 ests nearly at heart he would have had every 
 reason to advance this alliance ; but having no 
 other interests save those of France at heart, 
 he pursued the contrary course; for it best 
 suited a purely French policy to have the colo 
 nies feel exclusively dependent upon France, 
 and remain otherwise solitary, unfriended, un 
 supported. It is not fair to blame de Ver- 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 193 
 
 gennes for this; his primary, perhaps his sole 
 duties were to his own country. But the fact 
 undeniably indicates that he was not the disin 
 terested friend of the colonies which he pro 
 fessed to be, and that he could not wisely be 
 trusted in that implicit manner in which he de 
 manded to be trusted by them. He was dis 
 honest, but not to a degree or in a way which 
 the diplomatic morality of that day severely con 
 demned. He only pretended to be influenced 
 by sentiments which he did not really feel, and 
 called for a confidence which he had no right 
 to. Mr. Adams, however, could not fail to sus 
 pect him, almost to understand him, and to be 
 come more than ever persuaded of the true 
 relationship of the French government to the 
 United States. He wrote to Jonathan Jackson, 
 that the French minister, the Duke de la Vau- 
 guyon, doubtless acting upon instructions from 
 de Vergennes, " did everything in his power " 
 to obstruct the negotiation ; and that it was 
 only upon the blunt statement made to him by 
 Mr. Adams, that " no advice of his or of the 
 Comte de Vergennes, nor even a requisition 
 from the king, should restrain me," that he de 
 sisted from his perfidious opposition, and " fell 
 in with me, in order to give the air of French 
 influence " to the measures. 
 
 Amid these labors in Holland Mr. Adams 
 
 18 
 
194 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 was interrupted by a summons to Paris. There 
 were some prospects of a negotiation, which, 
 however, speedily vanished and permitted him 
 to return. Besides his own endeavors, events 
 were working for him very effectually. For 
 the time England was like a man with a fight 
 ing mania ; wildly excited, she turned a bellig 
 erent front to any nation upon the slightest 
 even imaginary provocation. Utterly reckless 
 as to the number of her foes, she now added 
 Holland to the array, making a short and hasty 
 stride from threats to a declaration of war. 
 Mr. Adams could have suggested nothing 
 better for his own purposes, had he been al 
 lowed to dictate British policy. Still the game 
 was not won ; things moved slowly in Holland, 
 where the governmental machine was of very 
 cumbrous construction, and any party possessed 
 immense facilities in the way of obstruction. 
 The stadtholder and his allies, conservatively 
 minded, and heretofore well-disposed towards 
 England, still remained hostile to Mr. Adams s 
 projects ; but a feeling friendly to him and to 
 the colonies had rapidly made way among the 
 merchants and popular party in politics. This 
 was attributable in part to indignation against 
 Great Britain, in part to the news of the Ameri 
 can success in the capture of Cornwallis s army, 
 and in part to Adams s personal exertions, es- 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 195 
 
 pecially in disseminating a knowledge concern 
 ing his country, and sketching probable open 
 ings for trade and financial dealings. At last 
 he became convinced that these sentiments of 
 good will had acquired such strength and exten 
 sion that a bold measure upon his part would 
 be crowned with immediate success. 
 
 With characteristic audacity, therefore, he 
 now preferred a formal demand for a categori 
 cal answer to his petition, presented several 
 months before, asking that he should be recog 
 nized by the States General as the minister of 
 an independent nation. In furtherance of this 
 move he made a series of personal visits to the 
 representatives of the several cities. It was a 
 step, if not altogether unconventional, yet at 
 least requiring no small amount of nerve and of 
 willingness for personal self-sacrifice ; since had 
 it failed, Adams would inevitably and perhaps 
 properly have been condemned for ill-judgment 
 and recklessness. This, coming in immediate 
 corroboration of the unfriendly criticisms of de 
 Vergennes and Franklin, would probably have 
 been a greater burden than his reputation could 
 have sustained. But as usual his courage was 
 ample. The deputies, one and all, replied to 
 him that they had as yet no authority to act 
 in the premises ; but they would apply to their 
 constituents for instructions. They promptly 
 
196 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 did so, and the condition of feeling which Mr. 
 Adams had anticipated, and which he had been 
 largely instrumental in producing, was mani 
 fested in the responses. The constituencies, in 
 rapid succession, declared for the recognition, 
 and on April 19, 1782, a year after the pre 
 sentation of the first memorial, it took place. 
 Mr. Adams was then formally installed at the 
 Hague as the minister of the new people. The 
 French minister, the Duke de la Vauguyon, 
 having covertly retarded the result so far as he 
 well could, but now becoming all courtesy 
 and congratulation, gave a grand entertainment 
 in honor of the achievement, and presented 
 Mr. Adams to the ministers of the European 
 powers as the latest member of their distin 
 guished body. It was a great triumph won 
 over grave difficulties. Mr. C. F. Adams says 
 concerning it : " This may be justly regarded, 
 not simply as the third moral trial, but what 
 Mr. Adams himself always regarded it, as the 
 greatest success of his life ; " and this is hardly 
 exaggeration. Practical advantages immedi 
 ately followed. The Dutch bankers came for 
 ward with offers to lend money, and some sorely 
 needed and very helpful loans were consum 
 mated. Further, on October 7, Mr. Adams 
 had the pleasure of setting his hand to a treaty 
 of amity and commerce, the second which was 
 
SECOND FOREIGN MISSION. 197 
 
 ratified with his country as a free nation. Con 
 cerning this Dutch achievement he wrote : "No 
 body knows that I do anything ; or have any 
 thing to do. One thing, thank God ! is certain. 
 I have planted the American standard at the 
 Hague. There let it wave and fly in triumph 
 over Sir Joseph Yorke and British pride. I 
 shall look down upon the flagstaff with pleas 
 ure from the other world." The Declaration 
 of Independence, the Massachusetts Constitu 
 tion, the French alliance had not given him 
 " more satisfaction or more pleasing prospects 
 for our country" than this "pledge against 
 friends and enemies," this "barrier against all 
 dangers from the house of Bourbon," and 
 " present security against England." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE TREATY OF PEACE: THE ENGLISH 
 MISSION. 
 
 THE Revolutionary war was protracted by 
 the English in a manner altogether needless 
 and wicked. Long after its result was known 
 by every one to be inevitable, that result was 
 still postponed at the expense of blood, suffer 
 ing, and money, for no better motives than the 
 selfish pride of the British ministry and the 
 dull obstinacy of the English king. Even the 
 rules of war condemn a general who sacrifices 
 life to prolong a battle when the prolongation 
 can bring no possible advantage ; but no court- 
 martial had jurisdiction over Lord North, and 
 impeachment has never been used to punish 
 mere barbarity on the part of a cabinet minis 
 ter. Mr. Adams appreciated these facts at the 
 time as accurately as if he had been removed 
 from the picture by the distance of two or 
 three generations. It caused him extreme and 
 perfectly just wrath and indignation. Bitter 
 explanations of the truth are sprinkled through 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 199 
 
 his letters, official and personal, from the time 
 of his second arrival in Europe. The hope of 
 coming peace had a dangerous influence in re 
 laxing the efforts and lowering the morale of 
 the people in the states. He steadily endeav 
 ored to counteract this mischief, and repeated 
 to them with emphasis, often passing into anger, 
 his conviction that the end was not near at 
 hand. He encouraged them, indeed, with oc 
 casional descriptions of the condition of affairs 
 in England, which are a little amusing to read 
 now. His animosity to the government party 
 was intense, and many of his anticipations were 
 the offspring of his wishes rather than of his 
 judgment. The nation seemed to him on the 
 brink of civil war, and to be saved for the time 
 from that disaster solely because of the utter 
 dearth of leaders sufficiently trustworthy to 
 gain the confidence of the discontented people. 
 Thus, he declared, " it may truly be said, that 
 the British empire is crumbling to pieces like 
 a rope of sand," so that, if the war should con 
 tinue, " it would not be surprising to see Scot- " 
 land become discontented with the Union, Asia 
 cast off the yoke of dependence, and even the 
 West India islands divorce themselves and seek 
 the protection of France, of Spain, or even of 
 the United States." In a word, throughout 
 England " the stubble is so dry, that the small- 
 
200 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 est spark thrown into it may set the whole field 
 in a blaze." "His lordship talks about the mis 
 ery of the people in America. Let him look at 
 home, and then say where is misery ! where the 
 hideous prospect of an internal civil war is 
 added to a war with all the world ! " 
 
 But all this did not blind him in the least to 
 the dogged resolve of king and cabinet to 
 fight for a long while yet. The English, he 
 says, " have ever made it a part of their politi 
 cal system to hold out to America some false 
 hopes of reconciliation and peace, in order to 
 slacken our nerves and retard our preparations. 
 . . . But serious thoughts of peace upon any 
 terms that we can agree to, I am persuaded 
 they never had." He said that he would think 
 himself to be wanting in his duty to his coun 
 trymen, if he " did not warn them against any 
 relaxation of their exertions by sea or land, 
 from a fond expectation of peace. They will 
 deceive themselves if they depend upon it. 
 Never, never will the English make peace 
 while they have an army in North America." 
 " There is nothing further from the thoughts 
 <of the king of England, his ministers, parlia 
 ment, or nation (for they are now all Azs), than 
 peace upon any terms that America can agree 
 to. ... I think I see very clearly that Amer 
 ica must grow up in war. It is a painful pros- 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 201 
 
 pect, to be sure." But he goes on at some 
 length to show that it must and can be encoun 
 tered successfully. " I am so fully convinced 
 that peace is a great way off," he again reiter* 
 ates, " and that we have more cruelty to en- 
 counter than ever, that I ought to be explicit 
 to Congress." Thus earnestly and unceasingly 
 did he endeavor to make the Americans look 
 the worst possibilities of the future fairly in 
 the face, appreciate all they had to expect, and 
 escape the snare of too sanguine anticipation, 
 with its fatal consequence of languor in the 
 prosecution of the war. France and Spain, he 
 said, cannot desert the states; self-interest 
 binds the trio together in an indissoluble alli 
 ance for the purposes of this struggle. But even 
 should those nations abandon America, should 
 his country " be deserted by all the world, she 
 ought seriously to maintain her resolution to be 
 free. She has the means within herself. Her 
 greatest misfortune has been that she has never 
 yet felt her full strength, nor considered the ex 
 tent of her resources." It was the resolute 
 temper of such patriots as Mr. Adams that was 
 bringing forward the end more rapidly than 
 the prudent ones among them ventured to be 
 lieve. 
 
 If the postponement of that end was wicked 
 on the part of the English government, their 
 
202 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 ungracious and shambling approaches to it were 
 contemptible and almost ridiculous, their ma 
 noeuvres were very clumsy, their efforts to 
 save appearances in abandoning substantiate 
 were extremely comical and pitiful. There 
 were secret embassies, private and informal 
 overtures made through unknown men, propo 
 sals so impossible as to be altogether absurd, 
 ludicrous efforts to throw dust in the eyes of 
 French, Spanish, and American negotiators, 
 endeavors to wean the allies from each other, 
 to induce France to desert the states, even to 
 bribe the states to turn about and join England 
 in a war against France. There was nothing 
 so preposterous or so hopeless that the poor old 
 king in his desperation, and the king s friends 
 in their servility, would not try for it, nothing 
 so base and contemptible that they would not 
 stoop to it, and seek to make others also stoop. 
 There was endless shilly-shallying ; there was 
 much traveling of emissaries under assumed 
 names; infinite skirmishing about the central 
 fact of American independence. It was no fact, 
 the English cabinet said, and it could not be a 
 fact until they should admit it ; for the present 
 they stoutly alleged that it was only a foolish 
 mirage ; yet all the while they knew perfectly 
 well that it was as irrevocably established as if 
 an American minister had been already received 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 203 
 
 by George III. Though they might criminally 
 waste a little time in such nonsense, all the 
 world saw that they could not hold out much 
 longer. 
 
 Amid his transactions in Holland Mr. Adams 
 had been interrupted by a summons from de 
 Vergennes to come at once to Paris, and advise 
 concerning some pending suggestions. It was 
 about the time of Mr. Cumberland s futile 
 expedition to Madrid. Immediately after the 
 failure of this originally hopeless attempt, 
 Russia and Austria endeavored to intervene, 
 with so far a temporary appearance of success 
 that some articles were actually proposed. De 
 Vergennes had intended from the outset to be 
 master in the negotiations whenever they 
 should take place, and to this end he had con 
 ceived it wise to prevent either Spain or the 
 United States from making demands inconven 
 ient to him or incompatible with his purely 
 French purposes. Spain he must manage and 
 cajole as best he could ; but the states he ex 
 pected to handle more cavalierly and imperi 
 ously. He had no notion of letting this crude 
 people, this embryotic nationality, impede the 
 motions or interfere with the interests of the 
 great kingdom of France. So hitherto he had 
 quietly attended to all the preliminary and ten 
 tative business which had been going forward, 
 
204 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 without communicating anything of it to Mr. 
 Adams. Accordingly now, when affairs had 
 come to a point at which that gentleman could 
 no longer be utterly ignored, he suddenly found 
 himself called upon to speak and act in the 
 middle of transactions of which he did not know 
 the earlier stages. It was much as if a player 
 should be ordered to go upon the stage and take 
 a chief part in the second act of a play, of which 
 he had not been allowed to see or read the first 
 act. 
 
 On July 6, 1781, Mr. Adams appeared in 
 Paris and was allowed to know that the basis 
 of negotiation covered three points of interest 
 to him : 1. A negotiation for peace between the 
 states and Gre : at Britain without any interven 
 tion of France, or of those mediators who were 
 to act in arranging the demands of the Euro 
 pean belligerents. 2. No treaty, however, was 
 to be signed, until the quarrels of these Euro 
 pean belligerents should also have been success 
 fully composed. 3. A truce was _ to Jae. arranged 
 for one or two years, during which -period 
 everything should remain in statu quo, for the 
 purpose of giving ample time for negotiation. 
 This was divulged to him, but he was not told 
 of a fourth article, though not less interesting 
 to him than these. This was, that when this 
 basis should have been acceded to by all the 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 205 
 
 parties, the mediation should go forward. The 
 difficulty in this apparently simple proposition, 
 a difficulty sufficiently great to induce de Yer* 
 gennes to indulge in the gross ill faith of con 
 cealing it, lay in the stipulation concerning "all 
 the parties." Were the states a party or were 
 they not ? Were they a nation, independent 
 like the rest, or were they colonies in a condi 
 tion of revolt ? If they constituted a " party " 
 they were entitled to be treated like the other 
 parties, and to accede to and share in the me 
 diation, appearing before the world in all re 
 spects precisely like their comrade nations. 
 To this it was foreseen that England would 
 object, and that she would not consent thus at 
 once to set herself upon terms of equality with 
 those whom she still regarded as rebellious sub 
 jects. > Also the states, being present at the 
 mediation, might urge in their own behalf mat 
 ters which would cause new snarls in a busi 
 ness already unduly complicated, whence might 
 arise some interference with the clever ways 
 and strictly national purpose of the count. 
 These were the reasons why de Vergennes re 
 frained from mentioning this fourth point to 
 Mr. Adams. 
 
 But if that astute diplomatist fancied that 
 the concealment of this article would carry with 
 it the concealment of the vital point which it 
 
206 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 involved, he was in error. Though unversed in 
 intrigue, Mr. Adams had not the less a shrewd 
 and comprehensive head, and from the first 
 article he gathered the necessary suggestion. 
 Why should his country be separated from the 
 rest and bidden to treat with Great Britain in 
 a side closet, as it were, apart from the public 
 room in which the European dignitaries were 
 conducting their part of the same business ? 
 Proud, independent, and long ago suspicious of 
 the French minister, Mr. Adams not only at 
 once saw this question, but surmised the answer 
 to it. Yet since his belief could after all be 
 nothing more than a surmise, which he had to 
 grope for in the dark, unaided by knowledge 
 which he ought to have received, he framed a 
 cautious reply. With professions of modesty, 
 he said that it seemed to him that an obvious 
 inference from the isolation of the states was, 
 that their independence was a matter to be set 
 tled between thenselves and Great Britain ; 
 and he could not but fear that before the me 
 diators some other power, seeking its own ends, 
 might come to such an understanding with 
 Great Britain as would jeopardize American 
 nationality. Therefore he said fairly that he 
 did not like the plan. The point was put by 
 him clearly and strenuously; subsequently, as 
 will be seen, it proved to be pregnant with 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 207 
 
 grave difficulties. But for the moment he was 
 saved the necessity of pushing it to a conclu 
 sion by reason of the failure of the whole 
 scheme of pacification. Indeed, he was de 
 tained in Paris but a very short time on this 
 occasion, and quickly returned to his Dutch ne 
 gotiations. He had, however, corroborated the 
 notion of Count de Vergennes, that he would 
 be an uncomfortable person for that selfish di 
 plomatist to get along with in the coining dis 
 cussions. 
 
 Perfectly convinced of this incompatibility, 
 de Vergennes was using all his arts and his in 
 fluence with Congress to relieve himself of the 
 anticipated embarrassment. His envoy to the 
 states now prosecuted a serious crusade against 
 the contumacious New Englander, and met 
 with a success which cannot be narrated with 
 out shame. To-day it is so easy to see how 
 pertinaciously the French cabinet sought to 
 lower the tone of the American Congress, that 
 it seems surprising that so many members could 
 at the time have remained blind to endeavors 
 apparently perfectly obvious. Even so far back 
 as in 1799, the ultimata being then under dis- ( 
 cussion in Congress, and among them being a 
 distinct recognition by Great Britain of the 
 independence of the states, M. Ge rard, the 
 French minister at Philadelphia, had actually 
 
208 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 suggested, in view of a probable refusal by 
 England of this demand, that Geneva and the 
 Swiss Cantons had never yet obtained any 
 such formal acknowledgement, and still en 
 joyed " their sovereignty and independence 
 only under the guarantee of France ! " The 
 suspicion which such language ought to have 
 awakened might have found corroboration in 
 the hostility to Mr. Adams, the true cause of 
 which was often hinted at. Yet so far were 
 the Americans from being put upon their guard 
 by the conduct of de Vergennes s emissaries, 
 and so far were they from appreciating the true 
 meaning of this dislike to Mr. Adams, that they 
 made one concession after another before the 
 steady and subtle pressure applied by their 
 dangerous ally. In March, 1781, de la Luzerne, 
 M. Gerard s successor, began a series of efforts 
 to bring about the recall of Mr. Adams. In 
 this he was fortunately unsuccessful ; he was 
 going too far. Yet his arts and persistence 
 were not without other fruits. In July, 1781, 
 he succeeded in obtaining a revocation of the 
 powers which had been given to Mr. Adams to 
 negotiate a treaty of commerce with England 
 so soon as peace should be established, powers 
 which, as we have seen, were so obnoxious to 
 de Vergennes that he had obstinately insisted 
 that they should be kept a close secret. Fur- 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 
 
 ther, though Congress persisted in retainM 
 Mr. Adams, they were induced to join with 
 him four coadjutors, the five to act as a joint 
 commission in treating for peace. These four 
 were Dr. Franklin, minister to France, John 
 Jay, minister at Madrid, Laurens, then a pris 
 oner in the Tower of London, and who was re 
 leased in exchange for Lord Cornwallis just in 
 time to be present at the closing of the nego 
 tiation, and Jefferson, who did not succeed in 
 getting away from the United States. 
 
 There was no objection to this arrangement^ 
 considered in itself, and without regard to the 
 influence by which it had been brought about. 
 Indeed, in view of Adams s relations with the 
 French court, it was perhaps an act of pru 
 dence. It might possibly be construed as a 
 slur on him ; but it had not necessarily that as 
 pect, and he himself received it in a very manly 
 and generous spirit, refusing to see in it " any 
 trial at all of spirit and fortitude," but prefer 
 ring to regard it as " a comfort." " The meas 
 ure is right," he wrote ; " it is more respect 
 ful to the powers of Europe concerned, and 
 more likely to give satisfaction in America." 
 Unfortunately, however, worse remained be 
 hind. Not content with removing all ultimata 
 except the fundamental one of the recognition 
 of American independence a recession, of 
 
 14 
 
210 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 which the foolish and gratuitous pusillanimity 
 was made painfully apparent by the subse 
 quent progress and result of the negotiations 
 Congress now actually transmuted its five in 
 dependent representatives, the commissioners, 
 into mere puppets of M. de Vergennes. That 
 effete body, at the express request and almost 
 accepting the very verbal dictation of de la 
 Luzerne, now instructed their peace commis 
 sioners u to make the most candid and confi 
 dential communications upon all subjects to 
 the ministers of our generous ally, the King of 
 France ; to undertake nothing in the negotia 
 tions for peace or truce without their knowl 
 edge or concurrence," and " ultimately to gov 
 ern themselves by their advice and opinion." 
 At last bottom was indeed reached ; no lower 
 depth of humiliation existed below this, where 
 the shrewd and resolute diplomacy of de Ver 
 gennes had succeeded in placing the dear allies 
 of his country, the proteges, now properly so 
 called, of the kind French monarch. 
 
 The American commissioners abroad took 
 these instructions in different and characteristic 
 ways. Dr. Franklin received them in his usual 
 bland and easy fashion ; he was on the best 
 of terms with de Vergennes; he certainly had 
 not pride among his failings, and he gave no 
 sign of displeasure. Mr. Adams s hot and 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 211 
 
 proud temper blazed up amid his absorbing oc 
 cupations in Holland, and he was for a moment 
 impelled to throw up his position at once ; but 
 he soon fell back beneath the control of his 
 better reason, his patriotism, and that admira 
 ble independent self-confidence, his peculiar 
 trait, which led him so often to undertake and 
 accomplish very difficult tasks on his own re 
 sponsibility. He wisely and honorably con 
 cluded to stand by his post and do his best for 
 his country, without too much respect for her 
 demands. Mr. Jay was hurt, and felt himself 
 subjected to an unworthy indignity, altogether 
 against his nice sense of right. He had already 
 seen that France was covertly leagued with 
 Spain to prevent the granting of the American 
 request for the privilege of navigating the Mis 
 sissippi through Spanish territory. He under 
 stood the dangerous character of the new Amer 
 ican position, and saw that he was so hampered 
 that he could not do his countrymen justice. 
 He would play no part in such a game ; and 
 wrote home, not resigning, but requesting that a 
 successor might be appointed. Events, however, 
 marched at last with such speed that this re 
 quest never was, or well could be granted. 
 
 At last peace was really at hand. The un 
 mistakable harbingers were to be seen in 
 every quarter. The French cabinet, having 
 
212 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 gained a controlling influence over the Ameri 
 can negotiation, now thought it time to under 
 take the further task of bringing these confid 
 ing friends into a yielding and convenient 
 mood, forewarning them that they must not 
 expect much. They were told that the French 
 king took their submission graciously and would 
 do his best for them, of course ; but if he should 
 " not obtain for every state all they wished, 
 they must attribute the sacrifice he might be 
 compelled to make of his inclinations to the 
 tyrannic rule of necessity." Then came refer 
 ences to " the other powers at war," reminding 
 one of the way in which Mr. Spenlow kept Mr. 
 Jorkins darkly suspended over David Copper- 
 field s head ; nor, indeed, could one deny, as an 
 abstract proposition, that, " if France should 
 continue hostilities merely on account of Amer 
 ica, after reasonable terms were offered, it was 
 impossible to say what the event might be." 
 The true meaning of such paragraphs had to 
 be sought between the lines. The American 
 negotiators had peculiar perils before them, 
 and more to dread from their allies than from 
 their foes. 
 
 England meanwhile was also in her bungling 
 fashion really getting ready for peace. With 
 grimaces and writhings, indicating her reluc 
 tance, her suffering, and her humiliation, and 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 213 
 
 so not altogether ungrateful in the eyes of the 
 Americans, who were in some measure com 
 pensated for her backwardness by beholding 
 its cause, the mother-country at last prepared 
 to let the colonies go. The year 1782 opened 
 with the ministry of Lord North tottering to 
 its fall. General Conway moved an address 
 to the king, praying for peace. The majority 
 against this motion was of one vote only. Lord 
 North resigned ; the whigs, under the Marquis 
 of Rockingham, came in. Even while the cab 
 inet was in a transition state, the first serious 
 move was made. Mr. Digges, an emissary 
 without official character, was dispatched to 
 ask whether the American commissioner had 
 power to conclude as well as to negotiate. His 
 errand was to Mr. Adams, and Mr. C. F. 
 Adams conceives that his real object was to 
 discover whether the Americans would not 
 make a separate peace or truce without regard 
 to France. Nothing came of this. But when 
 the new ministry was fairly installed, with 
 Fox at the head of the department of foreign 
 affairs and Lord Shelburne in charge of the 
 colonies, Dr. Franklin wrote privately to Shel 
 burne, expressing a hope that a peace might 
 now be arranged. In reply Shelburne sent Mr. 
 Richard Oswald, "a pacifical man," to Paris 
 to sound the doctor. But Oswald, though 
 
214 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 coming from the colonial department, was so 
 thoughtless as to talk with de Vergennes con 
 cerning a general negotiation. Fox, finding 
 his province thus invaded, sent over his own 
 agent, Thomas Grenville, to de Vergennes. A 
 graver question than one of etiquette, or even 
 of official jealousy, underlay this misunder 
 standing, the question whether the states were 
 to be treated with as colonies or as an inde 
 pendent power, the same about which Adams 
 had already expressed his views to de Ver 
 gennes. Fox and Shelburne quarreled over it 
 in the first instance in the cabinet. Fox was 
 out-voted, and announced that he would retire 
 with his followers. At the same critical mo 
 ment Lord Rockingham died ; and then Fox 
 and Shelburne further disputed as to who 
 should fill his place. Shelburne carried the 
 day, unfortunately, as it seemed, for the peace 
 party. For Shelburne was resolved to regard 
 the states as still colonies, who might indeed 
 acquire independence by and through the 
 treaty, but who did not yet possess that dis 
 tinction. (He at once recalled Grenville and 
 gave Mr. Oswald a commission to treat. But 
 this commission was carefully so worded as 
 not to recognize, even by implication, the in 
 dependence or the nationality of the states. 
 It authorized Oswald only to treat with " any 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 215 
 
 commissioner or commissioners, named or to 
 be named by the thirteen colonies or planta 
 tions in North America, and any body or bod 
 ies, corporate or politic, or any assembly or as 
 semblies, or description of men, or any person 
 or persons whatsoever, a peace or truce with 
 the said colonies or plantations, or any part 
 thereof." In such a petty temper did the no 
 ble lord approach this negotiation, and by this 
 silly and unusual farrago of words endeavor to 
 save a dignity which, wounded by facts, could 
 hardly be plastered over by phrases. 
 
 But if for the English this was mere matter 
 of pride in a point of detail, it wore a different 
 aspect to an American. Mr. Jay had no notion 
 of accepting for his country the character of 
 revolted colonies, whose independence was to 
 be granted by an article in a treaty with Great 
 Britain, and was therefore contingent for the 
 present, and non-existent until the grant should 
 take place. Suppose, indeed, that after such an 
 admission the treaty should never be consum 
 mated ; in what a position would the states be 
 left ! They were, and long had been and had 
 asserted themselves to be, a free nation, hav 
 ing a government which had sent and received 
 foreign ministers. This character was to be ac 
 knowledged on all sides at the outset, and they 
 would transact business on no other basis. In- 
 
216 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 dependence and nationality could not come to 
 them as a concession or gift from Great Britain, 
 having been long since taken and held by their 
 own strength in her despite. Assurances were 
 offered that the independence should of course 
 be recognized by an article of the treaty ; but 
 neither would this do. In this position Jay 
 found no support where he had a right to ex 
 pect it. Dr. Franklin, with more of worldly 
 wisdom than of sensitive spirit, took little in 
 terest in this point ; declaring that, provided 
 independence became an admitted fact, he cared 
 not for the manner of its becoming so. De 
 Vergennes said that the commission was am 
 ply sufficient ; and even covertly intimated this 
 opinion to the British ministry. But from Mr. 
 Adams in Holland Mr. Jay received encourag 
 ing letters, thoroughly corroborating his opin 
 ions and sustaining him fully and cheerfully. 
 Only Mr. Adams suggested that a commission 
 to treat with the United States of America, in 
 the same form in which such documents ran as 
 towards any other country, would seem to him 
 satisfactory. A formal ""statement from the 
 British could be waived. The admission might 
 come more easily than an explicit declaration. 
 This suggestion gave Lord Shelburne a chance 
 to recede, of which he availed himself. Mr. 
 Oswald was authorized to treat with the com- 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 217 
 
 missioners of the United States of America; 
 and the point was at last reached at which the 
 task of negotiation could be fairly entered upon. 
 The Americans at once put forward their 
 claims in brief and simple fashion ; these in 
 volved questions of boundary, the navigation 
 of the Mississippi, so far as England could deal 
 with it, and the enjoyment of the northeastern 
 fisheries. The English court began, of course, 
 by refusal and objection, and de Vergennes was 
 really upon their side in the controversy. The 
 territory demanded by the United States seemed 
 to him unreasonably extensive ; the navigation 
 of the Mississippi nearly concerned Spain, who 
 did not wish the states to establish any claim, 
 to it ; and he was anxious for his own purposes 
 to do Spain a good turn in this particular ; 
 while as for the fisheries, he intended that they 
 should be shared between England and France. 
 Further than this, the English demanded that 
 the states should reimburse all tories and loy 
 alists in America for their losses in the war ; 
 and de Vergennes said that this requirement, 
 which the American commissioners scouted, 
 was no more than a proper concession to Eng 
 land. Matters standing thus, Franklin and 
 Jay had to fight their diplomatic battle as best 
 they could, certainly without that valuable aid 
 and potent, generous assistance from the French 
 
218 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 court of which Congress had been so sanguine. 
 Fortunately Mr. Oswald, the " pacifical man," 
 was heartily anxious to bring about a success 
 ful conclusion. But he had not full powers to 
 grant all that the Americans desired, and in 
 his frequent communications to the cabinet his 
 good-nature became so apparent that it was 
 deemed best to dispatch a coadjutor of a dif 
 ferent temper. Accordingly Mr. Strachey ap 
 peared in Paris as the exponent of English ar 
 rogance, insolence, and general offensiveness. 
 
 This new move boded ill ; but as good luck 
 would have it, just at this juncture Mr. Jay 
 also received a no less effective reinforcement. 
 Mr. Adams, having got through with his busi 
 ness in J5olland, arrived in Paris on October 
 26. He at once had a long interview with Mr. 
 Jay, received full information of all that had 
 passed, and declared himself in perfect accord 
 with all the positions assumed by that gentle 
 man. The-two fell immediately into entire har 
 mony, and with the happiest results. For a vi 
 tal question was impending. Matters had just 
 reached the stage at which the final terms of the 
 treaty were to be discussed with a view to an 
 actual conclusion. The instructions of the com 
 missioners, it will be remembered, compelled 
 them to keep in close and candid communica 
 tion with de Vergennes, and to be guided and 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 219 
 
 governed by his good counsel. Yet two of the 
 three commissioners present thoroughly dis 
 trusted him, 1 and were assured that obedience 
 to these instructions would cost their country a 
 very high price. Should they, then, disobey ? 
 Franklin had said,_ no. Jay had__saidj j;es. 
 Adams, now^coming into the business, promptly 
 gaveTffie casting vote on Jay s side. There 
 upon Franklin yielded. It was a bold step. An 
 immense responsibility was assumed ; a great 
 risk, at once national and personal, was ven 
 tured. Men have been impeached and con 
 demned upon less weighty matters and more 
 venial charges. But the commissioners had the 
 moral courage which is so often born out of the 
 grandeur of momentous events. Henceforth 
 they went on in the negotiation without once 
 asking advice or countenance from de Ver- 
 gennes ; without even officially informing him 
 
 1 About this time Mr. Adams gave to Jonathan Jackson 
 this true and pungent summary of the French policy : " In 
 substance it has been this : in assistance afforded us in naval 
 force and in money to keep us from succumbing, and nothing 
 more ; to prevent us from ridding ourselves wholly of our 
 enemies ; to prevent us from growing powerful or rich ; to 
 prevent us from obtaining acknowledgments of our independ 
 ence by other foreign powers, and to prevent us from obtain 
 ing consideration in Europe, or any advantage in the peace 
 but what is expressly stipulated in the treaty ; to deprive us 
 of the grand fishery, the Mississippi river, the western lands, 
 and to saddle us with the tories." 
 
220 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 of their progress, though Mr. Adams gave him 
 private news very regularly. If he offered 
 them no aid under the circumstances, he can 
 hardly be blamed ; but such few criticisms or 
 hints as he did throw out were by no means 
 upon their side in the discussions. 
 
 Considering that the recognition of independ 
 ence was the only ultimatum which the Amer 
 icans were ordered to insist upon, they certainly 
 made a wonderfully good bargain. They did 
 very well in the way of boundaries ; they got all 
 that the English could grant concerning navi 
 gation of the Mississippi ; the English claim 
 to compensation for loyalists they cut down to 
 a stipulation, which they frankly said would 
 be of no value, that Congress should use its in 
 fluence with the states to prevent any legal im 
 pediment being placed in the way of the col 
 lection of debts. This was the suggestion of 
 Mr. Adams. But the question of the fisheries 
 caused their chief difficulty; it seemed as 
 though the Americans must make a concession 
 here, or else break off the negotiation alto 
 gether. Mr. Strachey went to London to see 
 precisely what the cabinet would do, but at 
 the same time left behind him the distinct in 
 timation that he had no idea that the min 
 istry would meet the American demands. 
 Mr. Vaughan, distrusting the influence which 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 221 
 
 Strachey might exert, set off immediately 
 after him in order to counteract his contumacy. 
 The ministry had, hoAvever, already decided, 
 and directed its envoys to insist to the last 
 point, but ultimately to yield rather than jeop 
 ardize the pacification. Thus instructed, they 
 came to a final session. The question of the 
 fisheries came up at once ; the Americans ap 
 peared resolute, and for a while matters did not 
 promise well ; but soon the Englishmen began 
 to weaken ; they said that at least they would 
 like to substitute the word " liberty " in place 
 of the less agreeable word " right." But Mr. 
 Adams thereupon arose and with much warmth 
 and ardor delivered himself of an eloquent ex 
 position of his views. A "right" it was, he 
 said, and a " right " it should be called. He 
 even went so far as to say that the conciliation 
 hung upon the point which he urged. The 
 fervor of his manner, which in moments of ex 
 citement was always impressive, lending an air 
 of earnest and intense conviction to his words, 
 satisfied the Englishmen that they must avail 
 themselves of all the latitude of concession 
 which had been allowed to them. They 
 yielded ; and a bright." in the fisheries became 
 and has ever since remained a part of the na 
 tional property. They had to yield once more, 
 as has been stated, on the question of compen- 
 
222 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 sation to tories, and then the bargain was finally 
 struck, substantially upon the American basis. 
 The agreement was signed, and the conclu 
 sion was reported to de Vergennes. At first 
 he took the announcement tranquilly enough ; 
 he had been pushing forward his own negotia 
 tions with England for some time very smoothly, 
 and had been satisfied to have the Americans 
 take care of themselves and keep out of his 
 way. But in the course of a fortnight after 
 the American conclusion the aspect of affairs 
 changed ; obstacles appeared in the way ; he 
 became alarmed lest England should do, what 
 it seems that the king and some of his advisers 
 probably would have liked very well to do, 
 viz., not only patch up a conciliation with the 
 states, but persuade them into a union with 
 Great Britain against France. Thereupon he 
 began to inveigh loudly against the bad faith 
 of the Americans, and to employ his usual tac 
 tics at Philadelphia to have them discredited, 
 and their acts repudiated by Congress. The 
 states, as he truly said, had bound themselves to 
 make no separate treaty or peace with England, 
 until France and England should also come to 
 terms of final agreement ; and now they had 
 broken this compact. But the commissioners 
 defended themselves upon the facts altogether 
 satisfactorily. They had made no treaty at 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 223 
 
 all ; they had only agreed that, whenever the 
 treaty between France and England should be 
 signed, then a treaty between the United States 
 and England should also be signed, and the 
 exact tenor of this latter treaty had been agreed 
 upon. This had been done formally in writing, 
 over signatures, only because the English min 
 istry had agreed to stand by such a bargain as 
 Mr. Oswald should sign, and any less formal ar 
 rangement might be repudiated without actual 
 bad faith. They had taken care at the outset 
 expressly to provide, that the whole business 
 was strictly preparatory, and could become 
 definitive only when England and France 
 should ratify their treaty. It is instructive to 
 see that neither the French nor the English 
 ministers felt at all sure that the Americans 
 were honest in this stipulation. From the 
 English side they were approached with hints 
 reaching at least to a conclusive pacification 
 and treaty, if not even to an alliance with 
 Great Britain ; on the French side they were 
 assailed, because it was supposed that they 
 might very probably cherish precisely these de 
 signs. But these American gentlemen, self- 
 made men representing a self-made nation, and 
 uneducated in the aristocratic morals of diplo 
 macy, astonished the high-bred scions of nobil 
 ity witlj whom they were dealing by behaving 
 
224 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 with strict integrity, by actually telling the 
 truth and standing to their word. When de 
 Vergennes and Shelburne had mastered this 
 novel idea of honesty, they went on with their 
 negotiations, and brought them to a successful 
 T issue. Preliminaries were signed by the con 
 tending European powers on January 21, 1783 ; 
 but it was not until September 3 that the defini 
 tive treaties were all in shape for simultaneous 
 execution ; on that day the American commis 
 sioners had the pleasure of setting their hands 
 to the most important treaty that the United 
 States ever has made or is likely ever to make. 
 The pride and pleasure which Mr. Jay, Mr. 
 Adams, and, chiefly by procuration, it must be 
 said, Dr. Franklin also, were entitled to feel at 
 this consummation had been slightly dashed by 
 the receipt of a letter embodying something 
 very like a rebuke from Robert R. Livingston, 
 who was now in charge of the foreign affairs 
 of the United States. Alarmed by the expres 
 sions of indignation which came to him from 
 the Count de Vergennes, that gentleman wrote 
 to the envoys, not so much praising them for 
 having done better than they had been bidden, 
 as blaming them for having done so well with 
 out French assistance. The past could not be 
 undone, most fortunately; but Mr. Living 
 ston now wished to apologize, and to propitiate 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 225 
 
 de Vergennes by informing him of a secret ar 
 ticle whereby the southern boundary was made 
 contingent upon the result of the European ne 
 gotiations. The commissioners were naturally 
 incensed at this treatment so precisely opposite 
 to what they had handsomely merited, and an 
 elaborate reply was prepared by Mr. Jay, and 
 inserted in their letter-book. But it was never 
 sent ; it was superfluous. As between Congress 
 and the commissioners, it was the former body 
 that was placed upon the defensive, and a very 
 difficult defensive too. The less said about the 
 instructions and the deviations from them the 
 better it was for the members of that over- 
 timid and blundering legislature. All the 
 honor, praise, and gratitude which the Ameri 
 can people had to bestow belonged solely to the 
 commissioners, and few persons were long so 
 dull or so prejudiced as not to acknowledge this 
 truth, and to give the honor where the honor 
 was due. Yet it was a long while before Mr. 
 Adams s sense of indignation wore away; he 
 said, with excusable acerbity, " that an attack 
 had been made on him by the Count de Ver 
 gennes, and Congress had been induced to dis 
 grace him; that he would not bear this dis 
 grace if he could help it, etc. A few days 
 later he wrote : 
 
 " I am weary, disgusted, affronted, and disap- 
 
 15 
 
226 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 pointed. ... I have been injured, and my country 
 has joined in the injury ; it has basely prostituted its 
 own honor by sacrificing mine. But the sacrifice of 
 me was not so servile and intolerable as putting us 
 all under guardianship. (Congress surrendered their 
 own sovereignty into the hands of a French minis 
 ter. Blush ! blush ! ye guilty records ! blush and 
 perish ! It is glory to have broken such infamous 
 orders. Infamous, I say, for so they will be to all 
 posterity. How can such a stain be washed out ? 
 Can we cast a veil over it and forget it ? " 
 
 Severe words these, painful and humiliating 
 to read ; but perfectly true. Congress, which 
 well merited the lash of bitter rebuke, laid it 
 cruelly upon Adams and Jay, who deserved it 
 not at all. But Mr. Adams, even amid the 
 utterances of his bitter resentment, manfully 
 said: "This state of mind I must alter, and 
 work while the day lasts." Of such sound 
 quality did the substratum of his character 
 always prove to be, whenever events forced 
 their way down to it through the thin upper 
 crusts of egotism and rashness. 
 
 The negotiations at the Hague and in Paris, 
 though they take a short time in the telling, 
 had been protracted and tedious ; long before 
 they were completed the novelty of European 
 life had worn off, and Mr. Adams was thor 
 oughly, even pitifully homesick. So soon as 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 227 
 
 an agreement had been reached and the execu 
 tion of a definitive treaty substantially assured, 
 on December 4, 1782, he sent in his resignation 
 of all his foreign employments, and wrote to 
 his wife with much positiveness and a sort of 
 joyful triumph, that he should now soon be on 
 the way home, " in the spring or beginning of 
 summer." If the acceptance of his resignation 
 should not " arrive in a reasonable time," he 
 declared that he would " come home without 
 it." But by May, 1783, he had to say that he 
 could not see " a possibility of embarking be 
 fore September or October ; " and most heart 
 ily he added that he was in the " most disgust 
 ing and provoking situation imaginable ; " he 
 was so sincerely anxious to get back that he 
 would rather be "carting street dust and marsh 
 mud " than be waiting as he was. These reit 
 erations of his longing, his resolve to return, 
 his expressions of pleasure in the anticipation, 
 of vexation at the repeated delays, are really 
 pathetic. Events, however, were too strong for 
 him; the business already in hand moved in 
 crab-like fashion ; in June he began to talk 
 about the following spring ; then new duties 
 came in sight faster than old ones could be 
 dispatched. For in September, 1783, he had 
 the mingled honor and disappointment of being 
 commissioned, in conjunction with Dr. Frank- 
 
228 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 lin and Mr. Jay, to negotiate a treaty of... com 
 merce with Great Britain. Such a commercial 
 alliance was a matter which he had long had 
 near at heart, as being of the first importance 
 to the states ; the revocation of his previous 
 commission had profoundly annoyed him at the 
 time, and had never since ceased to rankle in 
 his memory ; he had opinions and hopes as to 
 the future relationship of the two countries, to 
 be carried out through the ways of commerce, 
 which he had thought out with infinite care 
 and which he felt that he could do much to 
 promote. In a word, the opportunity was a 
 duty, and he must stay abroad for it. Reluc 
 tantly he reached the conclusion, which was, 
 however, obviously inevitable. But he made 
 the best possible compromise ; he wrote to bis 
 wife urging her to come out with their daugh 
 ter to join him, indeed scarcely leaving her the 
 option to say no, had she been so minded. 
 
 By the autumn, instead of being on the 
 ocean, as he had hoped, he was on a sick-bed. 
 His constitution seems to have been a peculiar 
 mixture of strength and weakness. He lived 
 an active, hard-working life, and survived to a 
 goodly old age ; the likenesses of him show us 
 a sturdy and ruddy man, too stout for symme 
 try, but looking as though the rotund habit 
 were the result of a superabundant vigor of 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 229 
 
 physique ; he went through a great amount of 
 open air exposure and even hardship, such for 
 example as his horseback trips between Boston 
 and Philadelphia, his stormy passages across 
 the Atlantic, his long, hard journey from Fer- 
 rol to Paris, and many lesser expeditions. 
 These broke at intervals the unwholesome in 
 door life of the civilian, and, since he bore 
 them well, ought to have added to his robust 
 ness. Yet he constantly complains of his 
 health, and at times becomes quite low-spirited 
 about it. That he was not hypochondriacal is 
 sufficiently proved by the attacks of grave ill 
 ness which he had in the prime of life. Two 
 years before the present time he had suffered 
 from a fever in Holland. Now again, in this 
 autumn of 1783, he was prostrated by another 
 fever of great severity. He was cared for in 
 Paris by Sir James Jay, who brought him 
 through it ; but he, was left much debilitated, 
 and had to endure the tedium of a long conva 
 lescence. Most of this period he passed in 
 London, seeing as much as he well could of the 
 capital city of that " mother-country " whose 
 galling yoke he had done so much to break. He 
 had the rare fortune during this visit, says his 
 grandson, " to witness the confession, made to 
 his Parliament and people by George the Third 
 himself, that he had made a treaty of peace 
 
230 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 with the colonies no longer, but now the inde 
 pendent states of North America." He was far 
 from fully restored to vigorous health when he 
 received an unwelcome summons to Amster 
 dam, to arrange for meeting " the immense 
 flock of new bills," which the states were draw 
 ing on the Dutch bankers with happy prodigal 
 ity and a perfect recklessness as to the chance 
 or means of payment. A stormy winter voy 
 age, involving extraordinary and prolonged ex 
 posure, was endured more successfully than 
 could have been hoped by the invalid. Not 
 less trying, in a different way, was the task 
 which he had to perform upon his arrival, of 
 borrowing more money upon the hard terms 
 made by unwilling lenders with a borrower 
 bearing, to speak plainly, a very disreputable 
 character in the financial world. But he 
 achieved a success beyond explanation, except 
 upon the principle that the banking houses 
 were already so deeply engaged for America 
 that they could not permit her to become in 
 solvent. 
 
 Meantime Congress sent out a commission 
 empowering Mr. Adams, Dr. Franklin, and Mr. 
 Jefferson to negotiate treaties of commerce 
 with any foreign powers which should be will 
 ing to form such connections. The Prussian 
 cabinet had already been in communication 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 231 
 
 with Adams on the subject, and a new field of 
 labor was thus opened before him. Fortu 
 nately, about this time, in the summer of 1784, 
 his wife and daughter arrived ; he began house 
 keeping at Auteuil, close by Paris ; and the 
 reestablishment of a domestic circle, with occu 
 pation sufficiently useful and not too laborious, 
 reconciled him to a longer exile. He had sev 
 eral months of a kind of comfort and happiness 
 to which he had long been a stranger, yet upon 
 which he placed a very high value, for he was 
 a man naturally of domestic tastes and strong 
 family affections. 
 
 But Congress prepared another interruption 
 for him, by appointing him, February 24, _ 1785, 
 minister to Great Britain. The position could 
 be looked at from more than one point of view. 
 In the picturesque aspect, it was striking and 
 impressive to appear as the first accredited en 
 voy in the court of that venerable and noble 
 nation of which his newly-created country had 
 so lately been only a subject part. As the 
 Count de Vergennes said to him, "It is a mark." 
 It was indeed a " mark," and a very proud one, 
 and the responsibility imposed upon the man 
 appointed to set that mark before the world 
 was very grave. Mr. Adams was so constituted 
 as to feel this burden fully ; but he was also 
 so constituted as to bear it well. There was 
 
232 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 about him very much of the grandeur of sim 
 plicity, a grandeur which, it must be confessed, 
 scarcely survived the eighteenth century, and 
 has belonged only to the earliest generation of 
 our statesmen. He had natural dignity, self- 
 respect, and independence, and he copied no 
 forms of social development alien to the train 
 ing of his youth. That youth had been pro 
 vincial, but by no means of that semi-barbarous 
 and backwoods character that was afterwards 
 prevalent in the country. Colonial Boston was 
 a civilized community, wherein a liberal educa 
 tion was to be had, some broad views to be 
 acquired, and honorable ambitions nourished. 
 One could learn there, if not much of the tech 
 nical polish of aristocratic society, at least a 
 gentlemanly bearing and plain good manners. 
 John Adams had the good sense not to seek to 
 exchange these qualities for that peculiar finish 
 of high European society, which certainly he 
 could never have acquired. Thus in the mere 
 matter of " making an appearance " he was a 
 well-selected representative of the states. Nor 
 was this so petty a point of view as it might 
 seem. Much of real importance could be af 
 fected by the demeanor and personal impres 
 sion made by the American minister. " You 
 will be stared at a great deal," said the Duke 
 of Dorset, preparing Mr. Adams for that pe- 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 233 
 
 culiar insolence which Englishmen have car 
 ried to a point unknown in any other age or 
 among any other people. " I fear they will 
 gaze with evil eyes," said Mr. Adams ; the 
 Duke assured him, with more of civility than 
 prophecy, that he believed they would not. 
 Mrs. Adams perhaps felt this much more keenly 
 than her husband. She was made very anx 
 ious by the thought that she had the social 
 repute of her countrywomen to answer for. 
 
 Fortunately the presentation of Mr. Adams 
 to the king was private. The American after 
 ward frankly acknowledged that he felt and 
 displayed some nervousness in his address. He 
 would have been utterly devoid of imagination 
 and emotion, almost, one might say, of intelli 
 gence, had he not done so, and his manifesta 
 tion of excitement is more than pardonable. 
 He had the good fortune, however, to make a 
 remark, which has taken its place among the 
 famous sayings of history. The monarch inti 
 mated that he was not unaware of Mr. Adams s 
 feelings of imperfect confidence, at least, to 
 wards the French ministry, and so expressed 
 this as to put Mr. Adams in a position of some 
 delicacy and possible embarrassment. The re 
 ply had the happy readiness of an inspiration. 
 The ambassador said a few words, " apparently," 
 says Mr. C. F. Adams, "falling in with the 
 
234 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 sense of the king s language;" but he closed 
 with the sentence : " I must avow to your maj 
 esty that I have no attachment but to my own 
 country." George III. had the good sense and 
 sound feeling to be perfectly pleased with a 
 statement so manly and independent, in spite 
 of certain disagreeable reflections which might 
 easily have been aroused by it, and though it 
 was something nearer to a correction than is 
 often administered to a royal personage. 
 
 But if at this interview George III. behaved 
 like a gentleman of liberal mind, he was not 
 equal to the stress of long continuing such 
 behavior. He afterward habitually treated 
 Mr. Adams with marked coldness, he publicly 
 turned his back upon that gentleman and Mr. 
 Jefferson, and he thus set an example which 
 was promptly and heartily followed by the 
 whole court circle, with only a few individual 
 exceptions. This, of course, made Mr. Adams s 
 stay in London far from comfortable. Occupy- 
 ing a position necessarily stimulating all the 
 sensitiveness of his proud nature, living in a 
 strange land lately hostile and still unfriendly, 
 rebuffed in nearly every society by frigid inso 
 lence, he maintained as much retirement as 
 was possible. Yet he found some little conso 
 lation and moral aid in noting "an awkward 
 timidity in general." "This people," he re- 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 235 
 
 marked, " cannot look me in the face ; there is 
 conscious guilt and shame in their countenances 
 when they look at me. "They feel that they 
 have behaved ill, and that I am sensible of it." 
 Moreover his salary, which had lately been very 
 inopportunely reduced, was too narrow to en 
 able him to keep up a style of living like that 
 of other foreign ministers, and it would have 
 been folly to pretend that, under the peculiar 
 circumstances, this was not a little humiliating. 
 "Some years hence," said his wife, "it may 
 be a pleasure to reside here in the character 
 of American minister, but with the present sal 
 ary and the present temper of the English no 
 one need envy the embassy." No amount of 
 sound sense or just and spirited reasoning could 
 argue down a sense of irritation at being 
 obliged to make a poverty-stricken showing be 
 fore the critical, malicious, and hostile eyes of 
 persons of real ability and distinction, yet who, 
 having been bred amid pomp and circumstance, 
 gravely regarded these as matters of profound- 
 est substance. But all this might have been 
 tranquilly endured, had not vastly greater mor 
 tifications been chargeable to his own country. 
 He was in duty bound to press for a fulfill 
 ment of the terms of the treaty of peace on the 
 part of Great Britain ; but so soon as the first 
 words dropped from his mouth, he was met with 
 
236 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 the query, why his own country did not per 
 form her part in this reciprocal contract. The 
 only reply was, that she could not ; that the 
 government was too feeble ; that it was hardly 
 a government at all. Then the Englishmen 
 retorted with insolent truth, that in dealing 
 with such a flickering existence they must 
 keep hold of some security. In a word, Adams 
 represented a congress of states, in no proper 
 sense of the word a nation, divided among 
 themselves, almost insolvent, unable to per 
 form their agreements, irresponsible, apparently 
 falling asunder into political chaos and finan 
 cial ruin. On every side the finger of scorn 
 and contempt was pointed at these feeble crea 
 tures, who had tried to join in the stately march 
 of the nations before they could so much as 
 stand up for ever so short a time on their own 
 legs. To all the reproaches and insults, bred 
 of this pitiable display, there could be no re 
 ply save in the unsatisfactory way of prophe 
 cies. Altogether, there was no denying the 
 truth, that this English residence was very 
 disagreeable. Mr. Adams s courage and inde 
 pendence were never put to a severer test; 
 and though he presented a very fine spectacle, 
 admirable before sensible men then and before 
 posterity afterward, yet he himself could get 
 scant comfort. 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 237 
 
 Neither had he the compensating pleasure of 
 feeling that he was accomplishing any service 
 of real value for his country. Even before 
 peace had been actually concluded he had tried 
 to impress upon such Englishmen as he had 
 fallen in with, the points of what he regarded 
 as a wise policy to be pursued by Great Britain 
 towards the states. He had given deep and 
 careful reflection to the future relationship of 
 the two countries, which he felt to be of mo 
 mentous concern to both. He had reached firm 
 convictions upon the subject, which he urged 
 with extreme warmth and earnestness when 
 ever opportunity offered, sometimes indeed in 
 his eager way making opportunities which 
 more diplomatically-minded men would have 
 thought it best not to seize. His views were 
 never brought to the test of trial, and of course 
 never received the seal of success. Yet it 
 seems credible that they did not less honor to 
 his head than they certainly did to his heart. 
 He hoped to see England accept the new situ 
 ation in a frank and not unkindly spirit. 
 Friendship between the two countries seemed 
 to him not only possible butjjatural ; more 
 pecially since friendship appeared likely to 
 promote the material prosperity of each. As 
 mercantile communities they might be ex 
 pected to see and to value the probable results 
 
238 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 of a good understanding. Each might forget 
 the past, England condoning a successful re 
 bellion, the states forgiving years of oppression 
 and the vast price of freedom. As friends and 
 allies, commercially at least, the two might go 
 on to prosperity and greatness far beyond what 
 would have been possible beneath the previous 
 conditions. Together they might gather and 
 divide the wealth of the world. 1 Perhaps there 
 was a little of romance in this horoscope ; yet 
 it may have been both shrewd and practicable 
 in a purely business point of view, so to speak. 
 But in desiring to carry it out Mr. Adams drew 
 great drafts upon a very scanty reserve of mag 
 nanimity. America s capacity to forgive and 
 forget was never tried ; whether it would have 
 been so great as he required, cannot be known. 
 For England, who held the key to the future 
 by having first to declare her commercial pol 
 icy, did at once, decisively, and with manifes 
 tations of rancorous ungraciousness, establish 
 a scheme of hostile repression. Her plans were 
 careful, thorough, merciless. The states were 
 to be crushed in and driven back upon them 
 selves at every point, to be hampered by every 
 tax, burden, and restriction that ingenious 
 hatred could devise, to be shut out from every 
 
 1 See, for example, the conversation with Mr. Oswald, De 
 cember 9, 1782, reported in the diary, Works, iii. 344 et seq. 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 239 
 
 port and from every trade that British power 
 could close against them, in a word, to be hope 
 lessly curtailed, impoverished, and ruined if the 
 great commercial nation of the world could by 
 any means effect this object. Military efforts 
 having failed, civil measures were to be resorted 
 to with no diminution of obstinate and bitter 
 animosity. It was only the field of hostilities 
 which was changed. 
 
 Mr. Adams beheld these developments with 
 dismay and cruel disappointment. His gener 
 ous forecastings, his broad schemes and brill 
 iant hopes were all brought to nought ; his 
 worst dread must be substituted for these fond 
 anticipations. He was not discouraged for his 
 county, nor had he any idea at all that she 
 should give up the game, or that she must in 
 the long run surely be beaten. He only re 
 gretted the severe struggle, the needless waste, 
 which were imposed upon her by what he re 
 garded as narrow and revengeful conduct. But 
 he could not help it. He did all in his power ; 
 but to no purpose. When at last he became 
 finally convinced of this, when he saw that 
 nothing could be accomplished at London for 
 the states, he made up his mind that it was not 
 worth while for him to do violence to his in 
 clinations by remaining there longer. 
 
 Accordingly he sent in his resignation, and 
 
240 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 V on AprL^_20, 1788, set sail for home, bringing 
 with him some very correct notions as to Eng 
 lish policy and sentiment towards the states, 
 and yet feeling much less animosity towards 
 that country than might have been looked for 
 even in a man of a less hot disposition than 
 his. A report commendatory of his services in 
 Great Britain, drawn by Jay, was laid before 
 Congress, September 24, 1787. But there was 
 a disposition among some members to think 
 that he had not managed matters with the best 
 skill and discretion, and the report was rejected. 
 A little reflection, however, made evident the 
 unjust severity of this indirect censure, and a 
 few days later the resolutions were easily car 
 ried, as they ought to have been in the first 
 instance. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 
 
 THE homeward voyage from Europe breaks 
 the Jjfe of John Adams into two parts, very 
 dissimilar in their characteristics. Thus far 
 he^has appeared a great and successful man. 
 He has owed little or nothing to good fortune. 
 His achievements have been only the fair re 
 sults of his hard toil and his personal risk ; his 
 distinction has been won by his ability and his 
 self-devotion. His fair deserts at the hands of 
 his countrymen are second only to those of 
 Washington, and are far beyond those of any 
 other public servant of the time. He has ap 
 peared honest, able, patriotic, laborious, disin 
 terested, altogether a noble and admirable char 
 acter ; generally his faults have been in abey 
 ance ; his virtues have stood out in bold relief. 
 Had his career ended at this point he would 
 have been less distinguished than he is in the 
 knowledge and estimation of the multitude of 
 after generations, but he would have appeared 
 a greater man than he does to all persons suffi- 
 
 16 
 
242 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 ciently familiar with the early history of the 
 United States to make their opinion and their 
 esteem really valuable. Though he is to reach 
 higher official positions in the future than in 
 the past, yet it is undeniable that the past em 
 bodies far the brighter part of his public life. 
 Heretofore the service and advantage of his 
 country have been pursued by him with a sin 
 gle eye ; his foolish jealousy towards Washing 
 ton has been the only important blemish which 
 
 4 any fair-minded opponent can urge against his 
 character ; and though he has committed slight 
 errors in discretion, yet upon all substantial 
 points, at least, his judgment has been sound. 
 But henceforth, though his patriotism will not 
 to his own consciousness become less pure or a 
 less controlling motive, yet the observer will 
 see that it becomes adulterated with a concern 
 for himself, unintentional indeed and unsus 
 pected by him, but nevertheless unquestion 
 ably lowering him perceptibly. His vanity is 
 to make him sometimes ridiculous ; his egotism 
 
 , >is occasionally to destroy the accuracy of his 
 vision, so that he is to misjudge his own just 
 proportion in comparison with other men, with 
 the great party of which he becomes a mem 
 ber, even with the country which he fancies 
 that he is serving with entire singleness of pur- 
 ^ pose. Anger will at times destroy his dignity ; 
 
THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 243 
 
 disappointment will lead him to do what self- | V 
 respect would condemn. He will be led into 
 more than one unfortunate personal feud, in 
 which, though more wronged than wronging, 
 he will not appear altogether free from blame. 
 In a word, the personal element is henceforth 
 to play much too large a part in the composi 
 tion, and the politician is to mar the aspect of 
 the statesman. Yet this criticism must not be 
 construed too severely ; to the end he remains, 
 so far as he is able to read his own heart and to 
 know himself, a thoroughly honest-minded and 
 devoted servant of his country. 
 
 Adams came home to find that new and 
 weighty subjects of popular concernment were 
 absorbing the attention of all persons. Inde 
 pendence had become an historical fact, belong 
 ing to the past, a truth established and done 
 with ; foreign relationships, treaties, alliances, 
 were for the time being little thought of. These 
 matters had been his department of labor. 
 With the novel and all-engrossing topic which 
 had crowded them out of the people s thought 
 he had no connection ; and he stood silently by 
 while men, whose names until lately had been 
 less famous than his own, were filling the gen 
 eral ear with ardent discussions concerning that 
 new constitution which they had lately framed 
 and sent out to the people for acceptance or 
 
244 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 rejection as the case might be. In the consti 
 tutional convention Adams would have been 
 peculiarly well fitted to play a prominent and 
 influential part, had he been in the country 
 during its sessions. His studies and reflection 
 had been largely in that direction for many 
 years, and his observations and practical expe 
 rience abroad gave him advantages over all the 
 members of that body. But the tardy commu 
 nication with Europe had prevented his keep 
 ing abreast with these matters ; and of course 
 he could take no active part ; indeed many of 
 the state conventions were in final session 
 while he was crossing the ocean, and Massa 
 chusetts ratified before his arrival. On the 
 whole he was well pleased with the document, 
 not regarding it as perfect, as indeed no one 
 among its friends did ; but in the main believ 
 ing it to embody much good and to involve 
 such possibilities as to make it an experiment 
 well worth trying. Certainly he was not among 
 those who dreaded that it created too strong, 
 too centralized, too imperial a system of gov 
 ernment. He, however, confined himself to 
 watching with sympathy the labors of those 
 engaged in promoting its success, and rejoiced 
 with them in a triumph won without his assist 
 ance. 
 
 Possibly the fact that Adams had been allied 
 
THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 245 
 
 with neither party in this struggle was in sub 
 stantial aid of his just deserts from other 
 causes, when it became necessary to select a 
 candidate for the vice-presidency. If past ser 
 vices only were to be rewarded, it is as certain 
 that he deserved the second place as that Wash 
 ington deserved the first. He received it, but 
 not in such a handsome way as he had a right 
 to anticipate. That-first election, as compared 
 with subsequent ones, was a very crude and 
 clumsy piece of business from the politician s 
 point of view. The Federalists, that is to say 
 the friends of tlienew constitution, ought to 
 have united upon Adams ; but they had not 
 time for crystallization. Their opponents, the 
 enemies of the constitution, were even less 
 able to consolidate. Accordingly the votes for 
 vice-president were disorganized and scattering 
 to a degree which now seems singularly, even 
 ludicrously bungling. Personal and local pre 
 dilections and enmities were expressed with a 
 freedom never afterwards possible. The result 
 was that out of sixty-nine votes Adams had only 
 thirty-four, a trifle less than a majority, but 
 enough to elect him. He had not been voted 
 for specifically as vice-president, of course, such 
 not being then the constitutional regulation ; 
 but this had not the less been the unques 
 tioned meaning of the voting, since Washing 
 
246 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 ton s election was tacitly a unanimous under 
 standing. Yet if it could have been explicitly 
 stipulated that the second vote of each elector 
 was given for a vice-president there would un 
 doubtedly have been a larger total for Adams. 
 For several votes which in such case would 
 have been cast for him were now turned from 
 him, in order, as it was plausibly said, to avoid 
 the danger of a unanimous and therefore 
 equal vote for him and Washington. But this 
 argument was disingenuous. There never was 
 the slightest Chance of a unanimous vote for 
 Adams, and the withholding of votes from him 
 was really designed only to curtail his personal 
 prestige by keeping him conspicuously in a 
 secondary position. It was the mind and hand 
 of Alexander Hamilton which chiefly arranged 
 and carried out this scheme, not wisely or gen 
 erously, it must be confessed. It was done not 
 with any hope or even wish to prevent Mr. 
 Adams from alighting on the vice-presidential 
 perch, but only to clip his wings as a precau 
 tion against too free subsequent flights. This 
 was the first occasion upon which these two 
 men had been brought into any relationship 
 with each other, and certainly it did not augur 
 well for their future harmony. Unfortunately, 
 the worst auspices which could be seen in it 
 were fulfilled. A personal prejudice, improp- 
 
THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 247 
 
 erly called distrust, on the part of Hamilton 
 towards Adams, from this time forth led to do 
 ings which Ada ins, being human, could not but 
 resent ; mutual dislike grew into strong ani 
 mosity, which in time ripened into bitter vin- 
 dictiveness. The quarrel had such vitality that 
 it survived to subsequent generations, so that 
 later historians in each family have kept the 
 warfare immortal. The Adams writers repre 
 sent Hamilton as clandestine, underhanded, sub 
 stantially dishonorable. The Hamilton writers 
 represent Mr. Adams as an obstinate, wrong- 
 headed old blunderer, whom their distinguished 
 progenitor in vain strove to keep from working 
 perpetual serious mischief. In fact, Hamilton, 
 though constantly carried by his antipathy be 
 yond the limits of good judgment, did nothing 
 morally reprehensible ; Adams, though com 
 mitting very provoking errors as a politician 
 and party leader, never went far wrong as 
 a statesman and patriot. In the present trans 
 action of this first election, Hamilton unques 
 tionably overdid matters. Even if it be ad 
 mitted that his avowed basis of action was 
 sound, yet he diverted votes from Adams be 
 yond the need of his purpose, and exposed him 
 self to imputations which he would have done 
 better to avoid. But his exertion of influence 
 through letters to his friends was not blame- 
 
248 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 worthy upon any other ground than this of in 
 discretion ; he had a perfect right to use his 
 authority with individuals as he did. Adams 
 came into office, not so much gratified at hav 
 ing gained it as embittered at having been de 
 prived of a free and fair working of his chances, 
 as he expressed it. It was an unfortunate 
 frame of mind in which to start upon a new 
 career. 
 
 On April 20 Mr. Adams was introduced to 
 the chair of the senate, and delivered a brief 
 inaugural address. With an admirably happy 
 choice of language, not without a touch of 
 satire, he spoke of his office as " a respectable 
 situation." It was not a position in which 
 either by nature or by past experience he was 
 fitted to shine; as he correctly said, he had 
 been more accustomed to share in debates than 
 to preside over them. He was always full of 
 interest in whatever was going forward, hot and 
 combative, and ready of speech, so that in 
 many a fray his tongue must have quivered 
 behind his teeth, fiercely impatient to break 
 loose. But he had some unexpected compen 
 sation for mere silent " respectability " in an 
 unusual number of opportunities to exercise 
 personal power in important matters. Cer 
 tainly no other vice-president has ever had the 
 like, and probably no officer of the United 
 
THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 249 
 
 States has ever been able to do so much by 
 positive acts of individual authority. This was 
 due to the equal division of parties in the sen 
 ate, and his right to give the casting vote. 
 
 The chief measures introduced in those early 
 days were constructive, giving permanent form 
 and character to the government. It is true, as 
 has been so often said, that there were at first 
 no parties, strictly so called, that is to say no 
 political organizations having avowed leaders 
 and defined principles. But there was the raw 
 material, in the shape of two bodies of men 
 holding fundamentally different opinions as to 
 the constitution, and as to the government to 
 be set up and conducted under it. The Feder 
 alists, as they already began to be called, had 
 the advantage of immediate and clearly defined 
 purposes and of able leaders. There were cer 
 tain things which they wished to have done, a 
 series of acts which they sought to have passed 
 by Congress. Hamilton, an ideal leader for 
 precisely such a campaign, devised the general 
 scheme, got ready the specific measures, fur 
 nished the arguments, controlled senators and 
 representatives. But not infrequently it hap 
 pened that important Federalist measures hung 
 doubtful in an evenly divided senate, waiting 
 to receive the breath of life from the casting 
 vote of the vice-president. They always got 
 
250 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 it from him. He was not in the modern sense 
 of the phrase by any means a party man ; he 
 acted beneath no sense of allegiance, in obedi 
 ence to no bond of political fellowship. He had 
 not been nominated or elected by any party ; 
 certainly he had not the hearty or undivided 
 support of any party. Consequently he was 
 perfectly free to vote, and he did vote upon 
 every measure solely with reference to his own 
 opinion of its merits and its effect. He could 
 not be charged by any one with disloyalty or in 
 gratitude, however he might at any time choose 
 to vote. Nevertheless, no less than twenty 
 times during the life of the first Congress he 
 X voted for the Federalists. 
 
 In fact, Adams was by his moral and mental 
 nature a Federalist. Practical, energetic, self- 
 willed, he believed in authority, which indeed 
 he was resolved for his own part always to 
 have and to exercise. The helplessness of 
 the old so-called government of the states, and 
 their consequent poor standing abroad, had cor 
 roborated these instinctive conclusions. High 
 in office, with a chance of rising still higher, 
 even to the pinnacle, he intended that the gov 
 ernment of which he was a part should be pow 
 erful and respected. W^en _the question was 
 raised as to the president s power to remove his 
 cabinet officers without the advice and consent 
 
THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 251 
 
 QtJhfi. senate,. Adams carried tlie measure by 
 his casting vote in favor of. ibak authority, and 
 malicious people said that he w.as dignifying . 
 the office because he expected in due time to 
 fill it. But he was no more a democrat than he 
 was an aristocrat; he believed in the masses 
 not as governors, but at best only as electors of 
 governors. His theory of equality between 
 men was limited to an equality of rights before 
 the law. 1 In point of fitness to manage the 
 affairs of the nation he well knew that, as 
 matter of fact, there was the greatest inequal 
 ity ; he would have laughed to scorn the notion 
 that there were many men who could be set in / 
 competition with himself in such functions, f He 
 believed that there was a governing class,, and 
 that in it he occupied no insignificant position ; 
 he was resolved to keep that class where it be 
 longed, at the top of society. But he did not 
 believe that the right to be in that class was 
 heritable, like houses and lands; it was ap 
 purtenant only to mental and moral fitness. 
 He was sometimes accused, like other Federal 
 ists, of an undue partiality for the British form 
 of government. But he scouted with curt con 
 tempt the charge that he had any " design or 
 desire " to introduce a " king, lords, and com- 
 
 1 See, for example, his remarks on equality in a letter of 
 Feb. 4, 1794; C. F. Adams s Life of Adams, oct. ed., p. 462. 
 
252 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 mons, or in other words an hereditary executive 
 or an hereditary senate, either into the govern 
 ment of the United States or that of any indi 
 vidual state." He was therefore no aristocrat 
 in the common sense of the phrase. The 
 charge of a predilection for kings and lords 
 was rank absurdity in his case, as in the cases 
 of most of the other Americans against whom 
 it was brought ; but it was so serviceable and 
 popular a shape of abuse, that it was liberally 
 employed by the anti-Federalists for many 
 years, and Adams suffered from it as much or 
 more than any other public man of the times. 
 There was, however, that certain semblance or 
 very slight foundation of truth in this allega 
 tion of aristocratic tendencies which is usually 
 to be found in those general beliefs which 
 nevertheless are substantially false. In 1770, 
 in the simple provincial days, when he was only 
 thirty-four years old, he said : t4 Formalities 
 and ceremonies are an abomination in my sight, 
 I hate them in religion, government, sci 
 ence, life." But there was in him an instinct 
 which he little suspected when he wrote these 
 words in the days of youthful ardor and sim 
 plicity. As he grew older, saw more of the 
 world, and found himself among the men hap 
 pily entitled to receive the trappings of author 
 ity, he grew fond of such ornamentation. He 
 
THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 253 
 
 conceived that high office should have appropri 
 ate surroundings ; undoubtedly he carried this 
 notion to excess upon some occasions. But it 
 was the office and not the man which he wished 
 to exalt. The trouble was that people could 
 not draw the distinction, which seemed fine but 
 was essential. Nor could he assist them to do 
 so by discretion in his own conduct. For ex 
 ample, his behavior provoked criticism along 
 a considerable portion of his route from home 
 upon his journey to be inaugurated as vice- 
 president, upon which occasion he rode amid 
 what his detractors chose to call an "escort of 
 horse." The question of titles coming up im 
 mediately after the organization of Congress, he 
 was well understood, in spite of his disclaim 
 ers, to favor some fine phraseology of this kind. 
 His advice to Washington concerning the 
 proper etiquette to be established by the presi 
 dent savored largely of the same feeling. He ^ 
 talked of dress and undress, of attendants, 
 gentlemen-in-waiting, chamberlains, etc., as if 
 he were arranging the household of a Euro 
 pean monarch. But lie had seen much of this 
 sort ot thing, and had observed that it exerted 
 a real power, whether it ought to or not. The 
 oflice of president, he said, u has no equal in 
 the world, excepting those only which are held 
 by crowned heads ; nor is the royal authority 
 
254 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 > in all cases to be compared with it. ... If the 
 state and pomp essential to this great depart 
 ment are not, in a good degree, preserved, it 
 will be in vain for America to hope for consid 
 eration with foreign powers." 
 
 Such a matter as this seems of small conse 
 quence, but it meant very much in those days. 
 Moreover, the opposition wanted some one to 
 abuse, a fact which Adams would have done 
 well to make food for reflection, but did not. 
 A For a long while they had to hold Washington 
 sacred ; they stood in some awe of Hamilton, 
 whose political principles they could impugn, 
 but whom they could not and indeed dared not 
 try to make ridiculous ; Adams alone served 
 their turn as a target for personal vituperation. 
 He had not the art of conciliation ; he \vas 
 growing extravagantly vain ; he was dogmatic; 
 without being quarrelsome, yet he had no skill 
 in avoiding quarrels. He was a prominent 
 man, yet had no personal following, no praeto 
 rian guard of devoted personal admirers to fight 
 defensive battles in his behalf. Neither was he 
 popular with the principal men of his own 
 party, who cared little how vehemently or even 
 how unjustly he was assaulted by his oppo 
 nents. He was therefore constantly pricked by 
 many small arrows of malice, none carrying 
 mortal wounds, but all keeping up a constant 
 
THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 255 
 
 irritation of the moral system. All this was 
 very hard to bear ; yet it did not really mean 
 very much. This was apparent when it came 
 to the time of the second presidential election, 
 when Adams had the pleasure of receiving the 
 full and fair support of his party. He owed w 
 this, however, more than he was pleased to ac 
 knowledge, to the aid of one whom he did not 
 love. Hamilton, propitiated by the uniform 
 and very valuable support accorded by him, 
 as vice-president, to the Federal measures, now 
 favored his reelection, and the word of Ham 
 ilton was law. But, besides this, parties had 
 at last become well-defined. The anti-Fed 
 eralists were agreed upon George Clinton as 
 their candidate, and the Federalists were com 
 pelled to unite in good earnest. The electo 
 ral votes stood, for Adams, 77 ; for Clinton, 50. 
 He had reason to be pleased ; yet he could not 
 be wholly pleased, since he had to see that 
 Washington was the choice of the nation, while 
 he was only the choice of a party. Moreover, 
 in the French revolution and the excitement 
 which it was creating in the United States he 
 scented coming scenes of trouble. The rest 
 lessness of the times was upon him ; he longed 
 to take an active part. "My country," he said 
 with impatient vexation, "has in its wisdom 
 contrived for me the most insignificant office 
 
256 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 that ever the invention of man contrived or his 
 imagination conceived. And as I can do nei 
 ther good nor evil, I must be borne away by 
 others, and meet the common fate." To be 
 borne away by others never much comported 
 with the character of John Adams. 
 
 During the troubled years of bis second term 
 little is heard of Adams. The Federalists had 
 gained such a preponderance in the Senate that 
 he had fewer opportunities than before to cast 
 a deciding vote. Public attention was absorbed 
 for the time by the men who could influence 
 the course of the United States towards France 
 and England in that epoch of hate and fury. 
 Adams, in his " insignificant office," enjoying 
 comparative shelter, saw with honest admira 
 tion the steadfastness of Washington s character 
 amid extreme trial, and witnessed with profound 
 sympathy the suffering so cruelly inflicted upon 
 the president by the base calumnies of those 
 enemies who now at last dared to indulge aloud 
 in low detraction. For a time he felt a gener 
 ous appreciation of that sublime greatness, and 
 forgot to make envious comparisons. 
 
 Monsieur Genet, as every one knows, came 
 to the United States with the definite purpose 
 of uniting them with France in the struggle 
 against England. The one step essential to 
 this end was to make the Democratic party 
 
Im 
 
 THE VICE-PRESIDENCY^ W 257 
 
 dominant in the national councils, and nothing 
 seemed to be needed to accomplish this save a 
 little discretion on the part of the French gov 
 ernment, a little tact on the part of the min 
 ister. Fortunately, however, for the young 
 country, discretion and tact were never more 
 conspicuously absent. The consequence was 
 that to France and Monsieur Genet Mr. Adams 
 owed a gratitude, which it must be acknowl 
 edged that he never showed, for the continued 
 ascendency of his party and his own accession 
 to the presidency. But the measure of thanks 
 which he might be inclined to return is not to 
 be estimated with confidence. For the dis 
 tinction came to him in such shape that it 
 brought at best as much irritation as pleasure ; v 
 and again it was the hand of Hamilton which 
 poured the bitter ingredients into the cup. 
 
 When it became necessary for the people a 
 third time to choose a president and vice-presi 
 dent of the United States, it seemed moderately 
 certain that the Federalists would control the 
 election ; but they had no such reserve of su- 
 perflous votes that they could afford to run any 
 risks or to make any blunders. The first mat 
 ter to be determined was the selection of can 
 didates. Hamilton was the leader of the party^ 
 inasmuch as he led the men to whom the bulk 
 of the party looked for guidance. In its upper 
 
 17 
 
258 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 stratum he was obeyed with the loyalty of 
 hero-worship ; but he was not popular enough 
 with the mass of voters to be an eligible nomi 
 nee. Eliminating him, there was no one else 
 to compete with Adams, whose public services 
 had been of the first order both in quantity and 
 quality, who seemed officially to stand next in 
 the order of succession, and who was not more 
 unpopular than all the prominent Federalists, 
 none of whom had the art of winning the affec 
 tion of the multitude. Adams accordingly was 
 agreed upon as one candidate, and then geo 
 graphical wisdom indicated that the other 
 should be a southerner. The choice fell upon 
 Thomas Pinckney, an excellent gentleman, of 
 the best character, of high ability, and suffi 
 ciently distinguished in the public service. In 
 no department of fitness, however, could any 
 comparison be drawn between Adams and 
 Pinckney which would not show Adams to be 
 unquestionably entitled to the higher position. 
 The matter was not open to a doubt ; it was 
 generally understood that Adams was the Fed 
 eralist candidate for the presidency, and that 
 Pinckney was candidate for the vice-presi 
 dency. But as the constitution yet stood the 
 electors could not thus designate them in vot 
 ing ; and whoever should get the highest num 
 ber of votes would be president. 
 
THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 259 
 
 Hamilton saw in this the opportunity, through 
 nis personal influence, to give effect to his per 
 sonal predilection. He had a deep, instinctive 
 dislike for Mr. Adams ; it was very well for 
 him to assert in self -justification that the 
 grounds of his prejudice lay in doubts as to 
 Mr. Adams s fitness for high official position. 
 Possibly he tried really to believe this ; yet he 
 certainly did not oppose Mr. Adams with that 
 openness or by those methods which would 
 have naturally resulted from a sense of pos 
 sessing strong and sound objections to him. 
 The plain truth was, that as matter of fact it 
 was sheer nonsense to deny Adams s fitness. 
 His disqualification was solely his unsubmis-^ 
 " vfl JjfllTgraTTlfiTltii Thft re wa,a no question 
 That Hamilton was leader of the party ; and if 
 it could be fairly agreed that his leadership in 
 volved of necessity his right to dictate the gen 
 eral policy, then Adams was not the man for 
 the presidency. But such logic could not be 
 openly proclaimed. Hamilton, if he had worked 
 openly, must have impugned Adams s fitness 
 on some other ground than that he would not 
 fall prone beneath Hamiltonian influence. Such 
 other grounds were not easy discoverable ; 
 hence Hamilton had to work in covert personal 
 ways. By private advice and letters he urged 
 strenuously upon the Federalist electors, es- 
 
260 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 pecially those of New England, to cast all their 
 votes for Adams and Pinckney. There was 
 much danger, he said, that the deflection of 
 a very few Federalist votes from either one, 
 caused by some local or personal predilection, 
 .might give the victory to the Democrats, who 
 were a perfectly united body. Every Federal 
 ist must vote for Adams and Pinckney, and 
 not a vote must be thrown away. The perfect 
 carrying out of this scheme would give the 
 same number of votes to both these candidates, 
 and practically would only throw into a Feder 
 alist Congress the question of ranking them. 
 This was plausible arguing, and the figures of 
 the subsequent election seemed to corrobo 
 rate it. When the counting showed that Mr. 
 Adams had only one more vote than was nec- 
 essary to an election, and only three more votes 
 than Mr. Jefferson, who actually secured the 
 vice-presidency to the exclusion of Pinckney, 
 it seemed that Hamilton had been very wise 
 in his monitions. 
 
 But the whole story was not apparent in 
 these simple facts. From the beginning it had 
 been almost certain that some southern Feder 
 alists would not vote for Mr. Adams, in order 
 that thus they might give the presidency to 
 Pinckney, provided they could trust the New 
 Englanders to vote equally for both candidates 
 
THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 261 
 
 It was well understood that Hamilton s influ 
 ence would not be seriously used against a de 
 sign with which he was more than suspected 
 of sympathizing ; and it was apparent that his 
 advice to the New Englanders was not alto 
 gether so ingenuous as it seemed. Hence the 
 Federalists went into the colleges in the worst 
 possible condition of mutual suspicion and dis 
 trust, with divided purposes, and much too 
 deeply interested in secondary objects. This 
 led to the throwing away of votes. Some South 
 erners, who voted for Mr. Pinckney, voted also 
 for Mr. Jefferson instead of Mr. Adams, and 
 eighteen New Englanders voted for Mr. Adams 
 and not for Mr. Pinckney. It was highly im 
 probable that the voting would have gone thus 
 had it not been known that Hamilton was con 
 cerning himself in the election, and that he pre 
 ferred Pinckney to Adams. Abstractly con 
 sidered, his advice was sound, but he well knew 
 that, if those, whom alone he could hope to con 
 trol, should follow it, then others, less subject to 
 him, would neglect it, and would bring about a 
 result which may fairly be called wrong. He 
 had in fact, though not in form, done what he 
 could to make Mr. Adams a third time vice- 
 president, when the Federalist party intended 
 to make him president. Mr. Adams did not 
 at first understand all this. He said that Ham- 
 
262 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 ilton and " Iris connections did not, I believe, 
 meditate by surprise to bring in Pinckney. I 
 believe they honestly meant to bring in me ; 
 but they were frightened into a belief that I 
 should fail, and they in their agony thought it 
 better to bring in Pinckney than Jefferson. . . . 
 I believe there were no very dishonest intrigues 
 in this business. The zeal of some was not 
 very ardent for me, but I believe none opposed 
 me." But not many days had elapsed after 
 these words were written before the whole 
 truth was set before Mr. Adams. Thereupon 
 his feelings underwent a sudden and violent 
 change, and from that time forth he cherished 
 towards Hamilton a resentment and distrust 
 which under all the circumstances were entirely 
 natural and pardonable. He was a good en 
 emy, whole-souled and hearty in his hatreds. 
 Upon the other side Hamilton, generally not 
 so bitter and unforgiving, indulged an excep 
 tional vindictiveness in this quarrel ; so that 
 this animosity speedily attained such intensity 
 as to become a potent, almost an omnipotent in 
 fluence with each of these powerful men, and 
 through them bore powerfully upon the course 
 of national events for many years to come. 
 
 It was perhaps a little amusing to see how 
 incensed Mr. Adams was, when he discovered 
 that there had really been a design to deprive 
 
THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 263 
 
 him of a place which he seems to have looked 
 upon much as if it were substantially his own 
 property. There is such an opportunity to learn 
 some of his traits from a naive passage in a let 
 ter written by him on March 30, 1797, to Henry 
 Knox, that, though not otherwise valuable, it 
 must be quoted. He says : "But to see such 
 a character as Jefferson, and much more such 
 an unknown being as Pinckney, brought over 
 my head, and trampling on the bellies of hun 
 dreds of other men infinitely his superiors in 
 talents, services, and reputation, filled me with 
 apprehensions for the safety of us all. It dem 
 onstrated to me that, if the project succeeded, 
 our constitution could not have lasted four* 
 years. We should have been set afloat and 
 landed the Lord knows where. That must be 
 a sordid people indeed a people destitute of a 
 sense of honor, equity, and character, that could 
 submit to be governed, and see hundreds of its 
 most meritorious public men governed, by a 
 Pinckney, under an elective government. . . . 
 I mean by this no disrespect to Mr. Pinckney. 
 I believe him to be a worthy man. I speak 
 only in comparison with others." Volumes of 
 comment could not tell more than these sen 
 tences. The vehemence and extravagance of 
 expression, the notion that his defeat would 
 have destroyed the national existence, the gross 
 
264 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 depreciation of Pinckney so soon as lie became 
 a rival, the vanity involved in the tranquil as 
 sumption that in his own hands at least the 
 great republic is perfectly and unquestionably 
 safe, show Mr. Adams s weaknesses in strong 
 relief. His own utter unconsciousness, too, is 
 delightful ; he thinks that he is perfectly lib 
 eral and just when he frankly says that Pinck 
 ney is a " worthy man." In fact Pinckney was 
 very much more, and the interests of the people 
 have more than once since that day been in 
 trusted to presidents much his inferiors in char 
 acter and ability, and have come safely through 
 the jeopardy. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 ADAMS S victory was none the less a victory 
 because it was narrow. Though, he had only 
 seventy^one votes against Jefferson s sixty-eight, 
 he_was president of the United States. Vexed 
 as he was, hurt in his vanity, incensed with 
 Hamilton, yet his heart swelled with a not ig 
 noble triumph. If the recognition of his long 
 public service had not come in precisely the 
 shape it should have come, at least he could 
 say to himself that this imperfection was due 
 to the jealous antipathy of an individual. It 
 was Hamilton, rather than his countrymen, who 
 had attenuated his triumph. But the inaugu 
 ral ceremonies further disturbed his self-satis 
 faction. Certainly every president may fairly 
 expect to be the grand central point of obser 
 vation and interest during the hours of his own 
 inauguration. It was exceptionally hard luck 
 for Adams that he undeniably was not so. 
 Washington was present, of course, and toward 
 him all faces seemed to be turned ; all were 
 
266 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 silent, and numbers wept as they gazed at the 
 great national hero now leaving the public ser 
 vice ; when he left the hall the spectators, ab 
 sorbed only in him, rushed after him in throngs. 
 A man less sensitive and egotistical than Adams 
 might have felt that he was unfortunately sit 
 uated under the peculiar circumstances. He 
 felt it keenly. He was reminded of the " rep 
 resentation of a tragedy ; " he said that he was 
 the " unbeloved one ; " he was surprised, ac 
 tually bewildered, at the distance which he saw 
 that the people had established between him 
 self and Washington. No one would furnish 
 him any other solution of the " enigma " of the 
 " streaming eyes," he said, and so he had per 
 force to suppose that it was " all grief for the 
 loss of their beloved." If all this had been de 
 signed by a thoughtful Providence as moral 
 discipline for an excessively vain man, it could 
 be objected to solely on the ground that the 
 victim was no longer young enough to be sus 
 ceptible of improvement ; so the only effect on 
 Mr. Adams was to exasperate and embitter 
 him. 
 
 In this condition of things the Democrats 
 made an effort to capture Mr. Adams. They 
 took good care to let him know all that had 
 been done against him. Pickering, they said, 
 in his official reports had maliciously kept in 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 267 
 
 the background his services in connection with 
 the treaty of 1783 ; Hamilton and Jay had 
 meant to keep him only a vice-president, be 
 cause, fortunately, he was not the man to ap 
 pear only as the head of a party, and to be led 
 by Hamilton. Jefferson wrote a letter to him, 
 rejoicing that he had not been " cheated out of 
 his succession by a trick worthy the subtlety of 
 his arch-friend of New York, who had been 
 able to make of his real friends tools for defeat 
 ing their and his just wishes." This letter was 
 indeed never delivered to Mr. Adams ; for Jef 
 ferson sent it open to Madison with instruc 
 tions to deliver it or not, as he should see fit, 
 and, for some reasons not known, Madison did 
 not see fit. But it explained Jefferson s plans. 
 In the letter to Madison he said : " If Mr. 
 Adams could be induced to administer the gov 
 ernment on its true principles, quitting his bias 
 for an English constitution, it would be worthy 
 of consideration whether it would not be for the 
 public good to come to a good understanding 
 with him as to his future elections." In pursu 
 ance of the same policy the vice-president, on 
 arriving in Philadelphia, promptly called upon 
 Adams, and also paid him a handsome compli 
 ment upon taking the chair of the senate, and 
 was cordially zealous to establish a friendly 
 relationship. Mrs. Adams, triumphing in the 
 
268 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 defeat of Hamilton s " Machiavelian policy," ex 
 pressed pleasure at Jefferson s success, between 
 whom and her husband, she said, there had 
 never been " any public or private animosity." 
 Hamilton had made a mistake, great enough in 
 its real outcome, but which might have borne 
 such fruits as would have seemed to him noth 
 ing less than fatal, had they occurred. With 
 many men the anticipations of Jefferson and 
 the Democrats would have proved well-founded. 
 But it was not so with Adams ; no one by any 
 subtlety or under any cover could introduce a 
 policy into his brain. He had his own ideas, 
 and did his own thinking. Neither through his 
 wounded self-love, nor his hot resentment, could 
 he be beguiled by Jefferson into the ranks of 
 Democracy. For good or for ill he had no 
 master, open or unsuspected, either in Hamil 
 ton or in Jefferson. No writer has ever denied 
 that he was at least an independent president. 
 
 To sketch the administration of John Adams 
 with correct lines and in truthful colors is a 
 task of extreme difficulty. The general effect 
 of an accurate picture must be singularly pain 
 ful and depressing, it must show us great men 
 appearing small, true patriots forgetting their 
 country in anxiety for their party, honest men 
 made purblind by prejudice, and straying per 
 ilously near the line of dishonor. The story of 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 269 
 
 these four years, though in them the national 
 emergency was of the gravest, is largely a tale 
 of the most bitter feud in American history. 
 Even the one great act of patriotism which Mr. 
 Adams performed stands like a lighthouse be- 
 dimmed in a dense distorting fog of odious 
 personal considerations. The quarrel between 
 him and Hamilton constitutes a chapter which 
 one who admires either of them would like to 
 omit. Each has to stand on the defensive, and 
 the defense is not easy to be made. It was a 
 wretched affair in which heroes became petty, 
 and noble men ceased to inspire respect. The 
 student finds the political literature of the 
 period to be a mass of crimination and recrimi 
 nation ; amid such acrimony it is not easy for 
 him to hold himself uncontaminated by the 
 temper of the combatants ; nor can he think it 
 pleasant to have as his chief duty the allotment 
 of censure among men at all other times praise 
 worthy. We have to show Adams pursuing a 
 course substantially of sound statesmanship, 
 but, through hot-headedness, pugnacity, an ego 
 tism almost criminal in a republic, and a lack 
 of tact great enough to be accounted a sin, 
 stumbling perpetually and hurting himself 
 sorely upon many obstacles which he ought to 
 have avoided, until finally he emerges from his 
 stony path doing the smallest and most foolish 
 
270 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 act into which a magnanimous man was ever 
 betrayed ; we have to show Hamilton following 
 an object of personal ambition by unworthy 
 machinations, allowing his former prejudice 
 against Mr. Adams to become degraded into a 
 fierce personal resentment, and in pursuance 
 thereof losing sight of patriotism in the effort 
 to destroy his enemy by methods so mean and 
 so unwise that we cannot read of them without 
 a sense of humiliation, which he unfortunately 
 never felt. Neither is it pleasant to see the 
 lesser reputation of Pickering, that brave, faith 
 ful and upright Puritan, and the good name of 
 Wolcott, who always meant to be an honest 
 man, smirched with the blemish of unfairness. 
 Such animosities live forever, even sometimes 
 gaining increased bitterness from the loyalty of 
 the descendants of the original combatants. 
 Thus it has been with these quarrels ; the story 
 has been told many times, never with an ap 
 proach towards impartiality, till it requires no 
 small courage to tread again upon the " dark 
 and bloody ground." 
 
 The wars between England and France, be 
 tween monarchism and democracy or Jacobin 
 ism, or whatever the political principle of the 
 French revolutionists is to be called, were 
 fought over again in the United States, with 
 less of bloodshed indeed, but not with less of 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 271 
 
 rancor than distinguished the real contest. 
 Each party in the country averred that it 
 wished to keep out of the fight, and that its 
 opponents wished to plunge into it. England 
 and France, alike devoid of fear or respect for 
 the United States, were equally resolved, in de 
 fault of securing her as an ally, at least to get 
 the utmost plunder out of her. England smote 
 her upon one cheek with Orders in Council, 
 France buffeted her upon the other with de 
 crees launched from Berlin and Milan, the con 
 quered capitals of prostrate Europe. England 
 impressed her seamen, France shut up her ships 
 and confiscated her merchandise. Jefferson 
 berated England, Hamilton reviled France. 
 There were abundant reasons for the United 
 States to declare war against each of them; 
 but there was also a controlling reason against 
 any war at all, a reason which none expressed, 
 but to which all submitted ; so that the wrath 
 was pretty sure to vent itself only in words, 
 unless the angry partisans should lose command 
 of themselves, and get carried farther than they 
 intended. In a most uncomfortable position 
 between the two factions stood Mr. Adams, on 
 the whole the safest statesman in the country 
 to hold the helm in this crisis. His tempera 
 ment was that of the English race from which 
 he was descended, and which can never sin- 
 
272 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 cerely and permanently appreciate or sympa 
 thize with the French temperament ; moreover, 
 he had long since made up his mind that the 
 theory of the states owing any gratitude to 
 France was little better than sheer nonsense. 
 But when the Federalists counted upon these 
 influences to keep him in the so-called Angli 
 can wing of their party, they forgot that hostil 
 ity to England had struck deep root in his mind 
 through youth and middle age ; they forgot that 
 he had been neglected and insulted for three 
 years in London, and that he had there ac 
 quired full knowledge of the deliberate design 
 of England to crush and ruin her ex-colonies. 
 So with about equal prejudices against each 
 combatant, Mr. Adams was undoubtedly the 
 most even-minded man then in public life in 
 the states, tfis eye was single in fact not less 
 than in intention ; he not only fancied himself, 
 as all the rest fancied themselves, but he really 
 was, which the rest were not, unbiased, devoid 
 of friendship and trust towards each country 
 alike. Caring exclusively for the United States, 
 as he had so boldly stated to King George, he 
 had not the slightest doubt that the best policy 
 for them was to keep out of the war. From 
 the first days of the Revolutionary Congress he 
 had always dreaded European alliances ; he saw 
 no reason now for changing the settled opinion 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 273 
 
 which he had held for upwards of twenty years. 
 War with either meant, of course, alliance with 
 the other, and general entanglement in the for 
 eign snarl. The resolution to keep the peace, if 
 possible, is the key to his policy throughout his 
 four years. Even Jefferson said of him : " I 
 do not believe Mr. Adams wishes war with 
 
 v . . /H 
 
 France, nor do I believe he will truckle to Eng 
 land as servilely as has been done." Mr. Hil- 
 dreth, also, who loves him not, says that his 
 " opinions and feelings were precisely such as 
 to free him from all possibility of foreign in 
 fluence, and to fit him for carrying out with 
 energy and impartiality the system of exact 
 neutrality which Washington had adopted." 
 These estimates of his character and senti 
 ments, from unfriendly quarters, were perfectly 
 correct. 
 
 But the grave and very doubtful question 
 was, whether it would be possible to keep the 
 peace. Just at the time of Adams s acces 
 sion France seemed to be reaching the point 
 of outrage at which the most helpless or the 
 most pusillanimous nation must strike back. 
 Her villainous stealings had been supplemented 
 by even more exasperating insults. The rela 
 tionship of the two countries was briefly this : 
 Gouverneur Morris, while minister at Paris, 
 had manifested so active an antipathy to the 
 
 18 
 
274 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 revolution, that the success of that movement 
 made it necessary to recall him. To cure the 
 feelings which he had wounded, Mr. Monroe, 
 of quite an opposite way of thinking, was sent 
 to supersede him. But Monroe was carried 
 away by the Jacobinical excitement into be 
 havior so extravagantly foolish as seriously to 
 compromise the national interests. He was 
 called home, and General C. C. Pinckney, a 
 moderate Federalist, was sent as his successor. 
 Thus matters stood, so far as was known in the 
 states, when Adams came to the presidency. 
 But embarrassing news soon arrived. The 
 French directory, at parting with Monroe, had 
 given him a grand ovation which, under the 
 circumstances, was an intolerable insult to the 
 United States ; and furthermore the same reck 
 less body had refused to receive Mr. Pinckney 
 or to permit him to remain in France, even 
 threatening him with police interference. A 
 difficult problem was already before the new 
 president. 
 
 Mr. Adams s natural advisers were the mem 
 bers of his cabinet. His relations with this 
 body, soon to become so peculiar and unfortu 
 nate, were at first nearly normal and amicable. 
 He had retained Washington s secretaries, Pick 
 ering in the state department, Wolcott in the 
 treasury, and McHenry in the war department. 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 275 
 
 The first two were of sufficient ability for their 
 positions ; McHenry was of a lower grade ; but 
 it was then so rare to find men at once fit for 
 high public positions and willing to fill them, 
 and Washington had encountered so much diffi 
 culty in reconstructing his cabinet, that Adams 
 very justly conceived it imprudent to make 
 changes. Nor indeed was it through lack of 
 ability that his ministers gave him trouble, but 
 through lack of sympathy with himself and his 
 policy, and later through want of openness and 
 frankness in dealing with him. Under Wash 
 ington s administration these gentlemen had 
 felt themselves on a different plane from that 
 of the President, who stood far above any per 
 sonal competition or jealousy. Hamilton had 
 been Washington s most trusted adviser, and 
 had, properly enough under the peculiar cir 
 cumstances, constantly communicated with 
 and influenced Washington s cabinet. Thus 
 there had grown up a little oligarchy, or clique, 
 consisting of one statesman and three politi 
 cians, his subordinates, who had arranged and 
 controlled the policy of the Federal party suc 
 cessfully and agreeably enough beneath the 
 shelter of Washington s prestige, and subject 
 always in the last resort to his sound and su 
 preme judgment. Adams had never been one 
 of this clique, he had not even been regarded 
 
276 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 with any cordiality by its chief. The pleasant- 
 est phase of the relationship between Hamilton 
 and himself, up to this time, had been little 
 better than negative, when at the time of his 
 second candidacy for the vice-presidency Ham 
 ilton had accepted him as the least ineligible 
 among possibilities, and had spoken moderately 
 in his praise. But now that he was president, 
 it was a serious question whether the previous 
 comfortable arrangement could be continued. 
 Would he make one of the little governing 
 brotherhood? There was a fundamental con 
 dition precedent: he could come into it only 
 as practically subordinate to Hamilton, though 
 he might be spared the humiliation of an 
 avowal or direct recognition of this fact. An 
 instinct told all concerned that he was not the 
 man for this position. But the fatal scission 
 opened slowly. At the outset the ministers 
 were only curious and anxious, not devoid of 
 hope that a little dexterous management might 
 make all go according to their wishes, while 
 Mr. Adams had no idea, or at least no knowl 
 edge, that his relationship with them was 
 marked by any exceptional character or any se 
 cret peculiarities unknown to himself. Shortly 
 before his inauguration he had written to 
 Gerry : " Pickering and all his colleagues are 
 as much attached to me as I desire. I have no 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 277 
 
 jealousies from that quarter." It was very 
 slowly that he at last acquired a different 
 opinion. 
 
 At the time of Adams s inauguration rumors 
 had come that Pinckney had not been received. 
 The idea of a new and more impressive mission 
 at once occurred to many persons. On March 3 
 Adams himself called on Jefferson and broached 
 the topic. He would have liked to nominate 
 the vice-president ; but both had to agree that 
 it would not do for that officer to accept such 
 a post. Nor could Jefferson willingly abandon 
 the direction of his party at this juncture. 
 Then Mr. Adams asked whether Madison would 
 go in conjunction with some prominent Feder 
 alist. Jefferson thought that he would not, 
 but said that he would ask his friend. Two 
 days later Fisher Ames, a thorough-going Ham- 
 iltonian, called on the president, advised a new 
 mission, and even suggested names. Soon the 
 rumors concerning Pinckney were corroborated. 
 Thereupon Adams at once summoned an extra 
 session oi Congress for May 15. He heard from 
 Jefferson that Madison would not go to France, 
 but he did not therefore abandon his original 
 plan of a composite mission. He opened the 
 scheme to Wolcott, but got no assistance from 
 him. Wolcott, an extreme " Anglicist," only 
 fell in with the notion slowly and reluctantly, 
 
278 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 and under the influence subsequently exerted 
 by Hamilton. Perhaps it was fortunate for 
 the success of the president s plan that for once 
 he and Hamilton took the same view of the 
 necessities of the situation. 
 
 So soon as the news of the election of Adams 
 reached Paris, the directory, greatly incensed 
 that Jefferson had not been chosen, issued a de 
 cree more oppressive than any which had pre 
 ceded against the American commercial marine. 
 This was heard of in the United States before 
 Congress assembled, and aggravated the indig 
 nation of the Federalists. The speech of Mr. 
 Adams at the opening of the extra session, in 
 the composition of which he had been aided by 
 his secretaries, was admirable ; it was dignified, 
 spirited, and temperate. " The refusal on the 
 part of France to receive our minister," he said, 
 u is the denial of a right ; but their refusal to 
 receive him until we have acceded to their de 
 mands without discussion and without investi 
 gation, is to treat us neither as allies, nor as 
 friends, nor as a sovereign state." The " stu 
 dious indignity " at the leave-taking of Monroe 
 he adverted to in language of natural resent 
 ment. Yet, he said, having the sincere desire 
 to preserve peace with all nations, " and believ 
 ing that neither the honor nor the interest of 
 the United States absolutely forbids the repe- 
 
THE PRESIDENCY, 279 
 
 tition of advances for securing these desirable 
 objects with France, I shall institute a fresh 
 attempt at negotiation." Nevertheless " the 
 depredations on our commerce, the personal in 
 juries to our citizens, and the general complex 
 ion of affairs render it my indispensable duty 
 to recommend to your consideration effectual 
 measures of defense." He suggested an_ in 
 crease of the regular artillery and cavalry, 
 possibly also " arrangements for forming a pro- 
 vfsional army." Above all he dwelt with es 
 pecial emphasis upon the need of a navy suffi 
 ciently powerful to protect the coast thoroughly. 
 This was a favorite measure with him, which 
 he constantly urged. He believed that the 
 United States easily could be, and certainly 
 ought to be, a great naval power ; unquestion 
 ably he thought that they should have ample 
 means of naval defense. He had wrought ear 
 nestly in the same matter in the Revolutionary 
 war. He now reiterated this advice with all 
 the zeal and persistency in his power, and ac 
 tually did as much as his authority permitted. 
 In one of his letters to James Lloyd, in 1815, he 
 said that during the four years of his presidency 
 he " hesitated at no expense to purchase navy 
 yards, to collect timber, to build ships, and 
 spared no pains to select officers." But his 
 only reward was extreme unpopularity, even in 
 
280 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 the seaport towns of New England, with a re 
 newal of the old talk about his desire " to intro 
 duce monarchy and aristocracy. He at least 
 cannot be blamed that the American navy 
 never was developed as it should have been, and 
 was left to win its triumphs many years later 
 in spite of utter neglect and discouragement. 
 
 The new mission was determined upon, but 
 its composition was not easy to arrange. If 
 Madison would have served, Mr. Adams would 
 have nominated Hamilton as his colleague ; at 
 least he afterwards said that this was his pur 
 pose. Apparently he was desirous of clinging 
 to the policy, which Washington had tried with 
 imperfect success, of using the best men in both 
 parties. But when Madison would not go, all 
 thought of Hamilton vanished. Mr. Adams 
 then suggested General Pinckney, John Mar 
 shall, and Elbridge Gerry. Pinckney and Mar 
 shall were Federalists ; Gerry had generally 
 been allied with the opposite party ; he had op 
 posed the Federal constitution, and had ever 
 since been regarded as an anti-Federalist ; lately 
 indeed, as a presidential elector, he ty^d voted 
 for John Adams, but he had been influenced by 
 an old friendship, and had written to Jefferson 
 a letter of explanation and apology. Adams 
 had a strong personal regard for him, and doubt 
 less now sought to do him a kind turr^, though 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 281 
 
 in the end the favor proved rather to be laden 
 with misfortune. The selection now aroused 
 warm opposition on the part of secretaries 
 Pickering and Wolcott. These gentlemen, 
 equally unlike the president, whom they dis 
 liked, and Hamilton, whom they revered, were 
 not statesmen ; that is to say, they could not 
 upon occasion subordinate the wishes and prej 
 udices, the likings and dislikings, which were 
 items in the creed of their party, to a wise and 
 broad view of national policy. They could not 
 now see that the president s " piebald commis 
 sion " was a sound measure. After they had 
 yielded with reluctance to Hamilton s approval 
 of any commission at all, they fell back upon 
 the position that at least it should be composed 
 wholly of Federalists. They were submissive to 
 their private leader, but not to their president. 
 Therefore they strenuously objected to Gerry. 
 Adams deferred to them with unusual amiabil 
 ity, gave up his own choice, and named Fran 
 cis Dana, chief justice of Massachusetts. But 
 Dana declined, and then the president returned 
 decisively to Gerry. The senate confirmed the 
 nominations, and in midsummer, 1797, the two 
 envoys, Marshall and Gerry, sailed in different 
 vessels to join Mr. Pinckney. 
 
 The three met in Paris early in October of 
 the same year and notified M. Talleyrand, then 
 
282 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 foreign minister, of their readiness to deliver 
 their credentials. What ensued is notorious 
 and may be told briefly. A few days of civ 
 ility were succeeded by sudden coldness and a 
 complete check in the advancement of busi 
 ness. Then came the famous and infamous 
 proposal, that the envoys should agree to pay 
 large bribes to Talleyrand and to certain mem 
 bers of the directory. They rejected this pro 
 posal with disdain. Thereupon, in January, 
 1798, a new decree was issued against Ameri 
 can commerce. The envoys drew up a very 
 spirited remonstrance against it, which how 
 ever Gerry was not willing to sign. Finally, 
 after some delay, Marshall got his passports on 
 April 16, and Pinckney, after experiencing 
 much discourtesy, was permitted to stay for a 
 time in the south of France with his daughter, 
 who was very ill. Gerry was persuaded by 
 Talleyrand to remain. He was expected to 
 prove more compliant than the others, and 
 might yet be made use of as a conduit to intro 
 duce French schemes into American minds. 
 
 In October, 1797, Adams expressed his fear 
 that little immediate advantage could be ex 
 pected from this embassy, unless it should be 
 " quickened by an embargo." On January 24, 
 1798, he propounded sundry queries to the 
 heads of departments. He had already fore- 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 283 
 
 seen as among the possibilities precisely what 
 occurred, viz: the failure of the mission, and 
 the departure from Paris of two envoys while 
 the third remained abroad. In this case, he 
 asked, what new recommendations should be 
 made ? Should a declaration of war be advised 
 or suggested? Should an embargo be recom 
 mended? The reply of McHenry is supposed 
 by Mr. C. F. Adams, with probable correct 
 ness, to embody the views of Hamilton, Picker 
 ing, and Wolcott. It proposed that merchant; 
 vessels should be allowed to arm themselves^ ( 
 that the treaties with France should be sus 
 pended, that the navy should be increased, that^ ( 
 16,000 men should be raised for the army, with 
 a contingent increase of 20,000 more. In his 
 questions the president had asked what should 
 be done as regarded England; "will it not," 
 he said, showing by the form of his query his 
 own opinion, " be best to remain silent, to await 
 overtures from her, to avoid a connection with 
 her, which might subsequently become embar 
 rassing?" Pickering would have preferred a 
 close alliance with her, but failed in his attempt 
 to secure Hamilton s approval of the plan, and 
 therefore abandoned it. 
 
 Early in March the news came which Mr. 
 Adams had feared, and to some extent had pre 
 pared for. On March 5 the president commu- 
 
284 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 nicated to Congress a dispatch announcing the 
 failure of the mission ; and a few days later, 
 having deciphered the accompanying dis 
 patches, he sent a supplementary message, say 
 ing that all hope of accommodation was for the 
 present at an end. He therefore advised contin 
 uance in the preparations for a war which, 
 though he did not advise declaring it, must yet 
 be regarded as not unlikely to ensue. Many 
 lukewarm Democrats, disappointed and irritated 
 by the persistent insolence of the directory, 
 now abandoned their political allegiance ; but 
 the main body of the party, reposing a wise 
 and perfect trust in Jefferson, that most 
 shrewd, patient, politic, and constant of lead 
 ers, remained unshaken in their sentiments. 
 Whether the price of friendship with France 
 were greater or less, they thought that it should 
 be paid and the inestimable purchase com 
 pleted. One of their number introduced into 
 the house of representatives a resolution that 
 it was inexpedient to resort to war with France. 
 The Federalists of all shades of opinion united 
 in opposition to this. A fierce and prolonged 
 debate ensued, of which the issue was very 
 doubtful, when it was suddenly cut short by a 
 motion from the Federalist side, made, as it was 
 understood, at the instigation of Hamilton, call 
 ing on the president for full copies of all the 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 285 
 
 dispatches. This was carried, of course ; and 
 the president, well pleased with the demand, at 
 once sent in the documents, complete in every 
 respect save that he had substituted the letters 
 W. X. Y. and Z. for the names of the emissa 
 ries engaged in the attempt to arrange the 
 bribes for Talleyrand and the directory. 
 Otherwise the whole story of that infamy was 
 spread out before Congress and the country, 
 without coloring or curtailment. 
 
 Amazement and wrath burst forth on every 
 side. A great wave of indignation against the 
 venal government, which had offered itself for 
 sale like a drove of bullocks, swept over the 
 land, submerging all but the most strong-limbed 
 Democrats. These sturdy partisans, struggling 
 in the swirl, confused, enraged, cried out half in 
 anger, half in despair, for time, only a little time 
 to breathe, to rally, to reflect. If for a brief while 
 the country could be held back from actually 
 committing itself to hostilities, Jefferson fore 
 saw that the storm would subside. Then mul 
 titudes of his scared followers would drift back 
 again and would adopt his theory, condemn 
 ing Talleyrand personally but thinking no ill of 
 the great French nation. The respite, however, 
 was uncertain ; the times were critical. Every 
 where the black cockade of the anti-Federalists 
 appeared in the streets, provocative of fights, 
 
286 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 even of mobs. Crowds sang lustily the new 
 patriotic ditty of " Hail Columbia." Wherever 
 two or three persons were gathered together 
 under any name or for any purpose, from state 
 legislatures down to boys in college, they drew 
 up an address, full of patriotism and encourage 
 ment, and sent it to Mr. Adams. Never was a 
 president so deafened with declarations of loy 
 alty and support. He composed answers to 
 them all, and was doubtless glad to get them, 
 though sometimes tempted to think that the 
 pens of his well-wishers were a trifle over nu 
 merous. Fortunately, amid all the turmoil and 
 excitement he kept his power of cool reflection 
 fairly well. He recognized the facts not only 
 that war would be a national misfortune, but 
 that in the present stage of the quarrel there 
 was no sufficiently powerful war party to jus 
 tify declaring it, the body of persons who really 
 wished for a war and who could be counted 
 upon long to remain of that mind being, in 
 spite of appearances, not large. He said this 
 many years afterwards, and undoubtedly he 
 judged correctly. He made only one mistake, 
 and that ultimately embarrassed only himself. 
 In the middle of June, 1798, Marshall arrived 
 at home, bringing with him the latest news and 
 many details. The president at once recalled 
 poor Gerry, now overwhelmed with abuse and 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 287 
 
 unpopularity, and sent a message to Congress 
 communicating that fact, together with all that 
 Marshall had brought to his knowledge. He 
 concluded with the famous and unfortunate 
 sentence, " I will never send another minister 
 to France without assurances that he will be 
 received, respected, and honored, as the repre 
 sentative of a great, free, independent, and 
 powerful nation." This bit of foolish and 
 superfluous rodomontade, characteristically es 
 caping from the too ready lips of Mr. Adams, 
 aftenvard caused him some annoyance. It can 
 only be said that he was not singular in over 
 leaping the limits of strict discretion in those 
 wild days, when indeed there was no man con 
 cerned in public affairs who did not give his de 
 tractors some fair opportunity for severe criti 
 cism, if he were judged according to the cold ?^ 
 standard of perfect wisdom. 
 
 The two grand blunders of the Federal party 
 were committed in these same moments of heat 
 and blindness ; these were the famous Alien 
 and Sedition Acts. No one has ever been "able ^ 
 heartily or successfully to defend these foolish 
 outbursts of ill-considered legislation, which 
 have to be abandoned, by tacit general consent, 
 to condemnation. Every biographer has en 
 deavored to clear the fame of his own hero 
 from any complicity in the sorry business, un- 
 
288 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 til it has come to pass that, if all the evidence 
 that has been adduced can be believed, these 
 statutes were foundlings, veritable filii nullius, 
 for whom no man was responsible. But Mr. 
 Adams, it must be acknowledged, did riot stran 
 gle these children of folly ; on the contrary he 
 set his signature upon them ; a little later he 
 even expressed a " fear " that the Alien act 
 would not "upon trial be found adequate to 
 the object intended ; " and many years after 
 ward, by which time certainly he ought to have 
 been wiser, he declared, without repentance, 
 that he had believed them to be " constitutional 
 and salutary, if not necessary." 
 
 But this summer and autumn of 1798 were 
 signalized by a matter much more unfortunate 
 in its consequences for Adams personally than 
 the rash utterance of an intention which was 
 in itself perfectly proper, or than the signature 
 of some ill-advised enactments. He was obliged 
 to nominate officers for the provisional army, 
 and in doing this he unintentionally and with 
 no fault on his own part stirred up much ill 
 feeling and resentment. Washington, as lieu 
 tenant-general, was of course to be commander- 
 in-chief. Of this no one questioned the propri 
 ety ; neither could fault be found with the con 
 cessions by which his acceptance was obtained, 
 to wit : that he should not be called into active 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 289 
 
 service until the need should be imperative, and 
 that he should be permitted to select the gen 
 eral officers who were to serve in the next grade 
 below him. He promptly named Hamilton, C. 
 C. Pinckney, and Knox. Adams accepted the 
 names without demur, and nominated them to 
 the senate together, in -this order. Upon the 
 same day and in the same order the nomina 
 tions were ratified. But^&rthwith there arose 
 a perplexing question : what was the precedence i 
 between these three major - generals ? The 
 friends of Hamilton said that it was established 
 by the order of nomination and of ratification. 
 Others said that it was determined by the rela 
 tive rank of the three in their former service, 
 that is to say in the Revolutionary army. The 
 latter rule seemed to be sustained by precedent ; 
 but, if adopted, it would make the essential 
 change of putting Knox first and Hamilton 
 third. Hamilton, however, had made up his 
 mind to stand next to Washington, and his 
 powerful following were resolved upon the same 
 arrangement. There is not room to give the 
 details of a competition which evolved infinite 
 bitterness, and left behind it malignant jealous 
 ies and inextinguishable feuds. Adams was de 
 cidedly inclined against the pretensions of Ham 
 ilton ; he professed respect for the precedents ; 
 he said that he did not wish to hurt the feelings 
 
 19 
 
290 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 of Knox ; he did not say, though doubtless he 
 could have said with truth, that he did not care 
 to confer on Hamilton a marked distinction of 
 very doubtful propriety. But he soon found 
 that, whether he was willing or unwilling, he 
 must perforce do this especial favor. Washing 
 ton expressed his desire to have Hamilton 
 second to himself, and his wish was conclusive 
 in the premises. Adams finally was compelled 
 to yield, though with no good grace, to a pres 
 sure which he could not resist. He never fully 
 understood what machinery had been devised 
 to create that pressure ; but the whole story 
 has since been told. Admirers of Hamilton 
 and friends of Adams still wrangle about it. 
 The former say that Hamilton s preeminent 
 ability gave him a substantial right to the 
 place, and that Washington needed not to be 
 prompted by any one to express emphatically 
 his genuine preference. The latter say that 
 Washington was worked upon by Hamilton 
 himself, by Pickering and by Wolcott, secretly 
 and artfully, in a manner at least unbecoming 
 in the principal, and little short of dishonor- 
 able in the two office-holding assistants. As 
 usual in bitter personal quarrels the truth lies 
 between the two sides. Washington undoubt 
 edly had an independent preference for Hamil 
 ton ; he was also probably led to put it in the 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 291 
 
 shape of a positive ultimatum by representa 
 tions which ought not to have come privately 
 from the members of the president s cabinet. 
 As matters turned out the affair was unfortu 
 nate for all concerned. The rank did Hamil 
 ton no substantial good, since the army never 
 even got into camp ; but the burning dislike 
 between him and Adams was blown into a 
 fiercer flame, in which the good name of each 
 ^wajubadly singed. Neither did it bode any 
 good for the Federal party that its chief men 
 were largely concerned with quarrels among 
 themselves, while so watchful, autocratic, mas 
 terly a politician as Jefferson was disciplining 
 the united forces of the Democrats in the op 
 posite camp. 
 
 The French government, at this time per 
 fectly unprincipled, and conducting affairs with 
 reckless, hectoring insolence, would gladly have 
 cajoled or terrified the United States into an 
 alliance ; failing in this, they intended to give 
 Frenchmen chances to get as much as possible 
 in the way of pickings and stealings from 
 American merchants. But fortunately the di 
 rectory had no desire for actual war with a re 
 mote people, quite out of the line of European 
 ambition and politics. Thus Talleyrand had 
 held Gerry in Paris as a sort of door for re 
 treat when he should find that he had gone 
 
292 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 dangerously far. Matters standing thus, the 
 great French minister was astounded and not a 
 little mortified at the publication of his disgrace 
 in the X. Y. Z. dispatches. Of course he denied 
 that he had known anything about the propo 
 sals for bribery, but of course also he knew 
 that no one really believed a word of his pro 
 testations. In his irritation at his humiliating 
 position, feeling himself an object of ridicule 
 as he stood exposed in his vulgar and disap 
 pointed rascality, he berated poor Gerry in a 
 most outrageous manner. But Gerry had 
 spirit and honesty, and retorted. Talleyrand, 
 thus checked, quickly recovered his wonted 
 audacious self-possession, appreciated the exi 
 gencies of the situation, and saw the best way 
 out of it. There had been a great mistake, he 
 said, a farrago of lies, an astonishing misunder 
 standing ; the Americans ought not to be so 
 angry ; they were under a singular delusion ; 
 France felt very kindly towards the United 
 States, only wanted peace and friendship, would 
 receive ministers with pleasure, and in a word 
 was in the very most amiable of humors. He 
 wished to use Gerry as a means of conveying 
 these views to the American government ; but 
 Gerry, unpopular and suspected, was likely to 
 be altogether inadequate to this purpose. An 
 other channel, therefore, was found in Monsieur 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 293 
 
 Pichon, French minister at the Hague, who 
 was instructed to make advances to Vans Mur 
 ray, the American minister. These commu 
 nications Murray at once repeated in private 
 letters to Mr. Adams. At the beginning of 
 October, 1798, Gerry was back in Boston, and 
 told Mr. Adams, who by the way had not lost 
 confidence in him, what Talleyrand had said 
 to him. A few days later Vans Murray s first 
 letter, mentioning the approaches of Pichon, 
 came to hand. 
 
 Beneath these influences, on October 20, the 
 president wrote to Pickering concerning cer 
 tain " things which deserve to be maturely con 
 sidered before the meeting of Congress," and 
 upon which Mr. Adams wished " to obtain the 
 advice of the heads of departments." His first 
 query was : Should he recommend a declara 
 tion of war ? The next : " Whether in the 
 speech the president may not say that, in order 
 to keep open the channels of negotiation, it is 
 his intention to nominate a minister to the 
 French republic, who may be ready to embark 
 for France as soon^s he or the president shall 
 receive from the directory satisfactory assur 
 ances that he shall be received and entitled to 
 all the prerogatives and privileges of the gen 
 eral law of nations, and that a minister of equal 
 rank and powers shall be appointed and com- 
 
294 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 missioned to treat with him." Upon receipt 
 of this very unwelcome suggestion, the cabi 
 net ministers, according to Mr. C. F. Adams, 
 "called together a council of their leading 
 friends, including the military generals hap 
 pening to be assembled at Philadelphia, Wash 
 ington, 1 Hamilton, and Pinckney, where they 
 matured the language of a draft intended for 
 the use of Mr. Adams in his opening speech." 
 Upon the president s arrival at the end of No 
 vember this paper was presented to him, as 
 embodying the views of his cabinet in response 
 to his interrogatories. It pleased him so well 
 that he adopted it with the exception of a sin 
 gle clause ; but it so happened that in that 
 clause the marrow and chief importance of the 
 whole document lay. For it contained these 
 words : " But the sending another minister to 
 make a new attempt at negotiation would, in 
 my opinion, 2 be an act of humiliation to which 
 the United States ought not to submit without 
 extreme necessity. No such necessity exists. 
 ... If France shall send a minister to nego- 
 
 1 Mr. Adams says : " There is no evidence yet before the 
 world that General Washington actually took part in the 
 consultation." 
 
 2 See this quotation in C. F. Adams s Life of John Adams, 
 octavo ed. p. 536 ; Mr. C. F. Adams says that Gibbs gives 
 it wrongly, by omitting the words " in my opinion." See 
 Gibbs s Administrations of Washington and Adams, ii. 171. 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 295 
 
 tiate, he will be received with&onor and treated 
 with candor." Now it so happened that " my 
 opinion," thus offered ready-made to Mr. 
 Adams, was far from being held by him. On 
 the contrary he thought that, under certain 
 circumstances, another minister might be sent 
 without humiliation ; should those circum 
 stances come to pass he intended to send a 
 minister ; and he was not ready to say that 
 reconciliation could only be effected if France 
 would take the initiative and herself dispatch 
 the next envoy. So he struck out this passage, 
 which set forth the views of his secretaries, 
 and inserted in its place a long exposition of 
 his own very different notions. His clauses 
 are so framed as not only to express but to ex 
 plain and vindicate his policy ; and, long as 
 they are, they are so important that they must 
 be quoted in full. He said : 
 
 ** But in demonstrating by our conduct that we do 
 not fear war in the necessary protection of our rights 
 and honor, we shall give no room to infer that we 
 abandon the desire of peace. An efficient preparation 
 for war can alone insure peace. It is peace that we 
 have uniformly and persevermgly cultivated ; and luir- 
 TDOfiJ[betweeri us and France may be restored at her 
 option. But^To end another minister without more 
 determinate assurances that he would be received, 
 would be an act of humiliation to which the United 
 
296 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 States ought not to submit. It must therefore be left 
 to France, if she is indeed desirous of accommodation, 
 to take the requisite steps. 
 
 " The United States will steadily observe the max 
 ims by which they have hitherto been governed. 
 They will respect the sacred rights of embassy. And 
 with a sincere disposition on the part of France to 
 desist from hostility, to make reparation for the in 
 juries heretofore inflicted upon our commerce, and to 
 do justice in the future, there will be no obstacle to 
 the restoration of a friendly intercourse. J In making 
 to you this declaration, I give a pledge to France and 
 to the world that the executive authority of this coun 
 try still adheres to the humane and pacific policy 
 which has invariably governed its proceedings, in con 
 formity with the wishes of .the other branches of the 
 government, and of the people of the United States. 
 But considering the late manifestations of her policy 
 towards foreign nations, I deem it a duty deliberately 
 and solemnly to declare my opinion, that, whgther we 
 negotiate with her or not, vigorous preparations lor 
 war will be alike indispensable. These alone will 
 give jus an equal treaty and insure its observance." 
 
 These were the outlines of an excellent pol 
 icy. F^ojr. any one who knew the president 
 knew well that he meant all that lie said, that 
 lie would get ready for war thoroughly, and 
 tl^rtr "he would make it in earnest, when it 
 should become necessary. There was enough 
 spirit, resentment, and vigor in the message to 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 297 
 
 satisfy any man who could subordinate his tem 
 per to his good sense. There was much more 
 of real dignity in this self-control, evidently not 
 growing out of pusillanimity, than there would 
 have been in flying into a counter-rage against 
 France. In the comparison between the two 
 governments, the American certainly appeared 
 entitled to much more respect for good sense, 
 and to not less for courage. Mr. Adams showed 
 the happy mixture of moderation and resolution 
 which indicate the highest stage of civilization 
 to which mankind has yet come in international 
 relationship. But these traits did not com 
 mend themselves at the time to the Hamilto- 
 nian Federalists. They wanted what in the 
 present day is called a " strong policy," so 
 " strong " that it would almost sureTy have 
 ended in a war, in which the country would 
 have been overwhelmed with disaster, in at 
 tempting to preserve that crude kind of honor 
 cherished by knights-errant, duelists, and pu 
 gilists. Having substantially this aim in view, 
 though it must be confessed that they would 
 not have accepted precisely this formulation of 
 it, they were made very angry by Mr. Adams s 
 message, and by his rejection of the words 
 which they had so conveniently and consider 
 ately got ready for him. They even fell into 
 such a frame of mind as to fancy that he had 
 
298 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 no political right to do as he had done. They 
 conceived that in their conference they had es 
 tablished the policy of the party, and they did 
 not think that Mr. Adams, simply because he 
 was president, had a right through his own sole 
 and individual action to make a fundamental 
 change in that policy. But Mr. Adams utterly 
 ignored party discipline. His own convictions 
 were the sole and immutable law of his own 
 actions. 
 
 During the winter of 1798-99 Mr. Adams re 
 ceived more letters from Vans Murray, which, 
 with some corroborating information, strength 
 ened his faith in the willingness of France to 
 meet any advance on his part towards a re 
 newal of negotiations. At length, apparently 
 early in February, 1799, he received a letter 
 from Murray, inclosing an official dispatch from 
 Talleyrand to Pichon, in which occurred these 
 words : " D aprds ces bases, vous avez eu raison 
 d avancer que tout plenipote>itiaire que le-gouv- 
 ernement des Etats Unis enverra en France, 
 pour terminer les differends qui subsisttent entre 
 les deux pays, serait incontestablement regu 
 avec les egards dus au representant d une na 
 tion libre, independente et puissante." 
 
 This gave Mr. Adams a sufficient basis for 
 action. More than this, as Mr. C. F. Adams 
 puts the case not unfairly, it imposed upon him 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 299 
 
 a serious responsibility ; for it was a semi-offi 
 cial notification to him that France, falling at 
 last into a penitent humor, desired to be ad 
 dressed again in the way of negotiation. If he, 
 in a distant and haughty temper, should hold 
 aloof before this advance, and if then war 
 should ultimately ensue, he might well feel 
 that he had precipitated a terrible evil from no 
 better motive than an over-strained sense of 
 pride. Moreover, when the facts should become 
 known, as they inevitably must, the Democratic 
 party, even now powerful, would be greatly 
 strengthened by being able to say that French 
 overtures had been rejected. The moderate 
 men who had lately oscillated from Democracy 
 to Federalism would oscillate back again from 
 Federalism to Democracy. What chance would 
 there then be of conducting successfully a war 
 with France, when a large party would be bit 
 terly opposed to it, and another large body, the 
 two together making more than half of the na- 
 tion, would be at best lukewarm ? Mr. Adams 
 ^ felt no need of aid in order to determine upon 
 v his course. With a cool independence, unus- 
 ual then Q^gince upon the part of a president, 
 and not perfectly in accord with the sentiment 
 of the American system of government, though 
 strictly lawful under the constitution, he dis 
 pensed with the form of consulting his cabinet, 
 
300 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 whose advice he had good reason to feel assured 
 
 would not accord with his own, and therefore 
 
 would not be followed. On February 18, 1799, 
 
 he sent in to the senate the nomination of Vans 
 
 , Murray to be minister to France, premising, 
 
 0\ hpjEexar, that Murray should not present him 
 
 self in Paris until the French government 
 should give a public and official assurance that 
 they would receive the envoy in character and 
 would appoint a minister of equal rank to treat 
 with him. 
 
 The message fell like lightning from a clear 
 sky among the Federalists. Pickering hastened 
 to send the news to Hamilton. " We have all 
 been shocked and grieved at the nomination of 
 a minister to negotiate with France. ... I beg 
 you to be assured that it is wholly his [the 
 president s] own act, without any participation 
 or communication with any of us. ... The 
 foundation of this fatal nomination of Mr. Mur 
 ray was laid in the president s speech at the 
 opening of Congress. He peremptorily deter 
 mined (against our unanimous opinions) to 
 leave open the door for the degrading and mis 
 chievous measure of sending another minister 
 to France, even without waiting for direct over 
 tures from her." 
 
 " I have neither time nor inclination," Sedg- 
 wick wrote to Hamilton concerning: the mes- 
 
c 
 
 THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 sage, " to detail all the false and insidious" 
 larations it contains. . . . Had the foulest heart 
 and the ablest head in the world been permitted 
 to select the most embarrassing and ruinous 
 measure, perhaps it would have been precisely 
 the one which has been adopted. In the di 
 lemma to which we are reduced, whether we 
 approve or reject the nomination, evils only, 
 certain, great, but in extent incalculable, pre 
 sent themselves." Angry and astonished, the 
 Hamiltonian wing of the party knew not at 
 first what to do, and then in their confusion 
 did a very strange thing. The committee to 
 whom the nomination was referred, consisting 
 of five Federalists, called on the president to 
 demand reasons and insist on alterations. Sedg- 
 wick, the chairman, a thorough-going partisan 
 of Hamilton, admitted that this proceeding was 
 an " infraction of correct principles ; " Mr. 
 Adams declared that it was unconstitutional, a 
 word perhaps somewhat too powerful for the 
 occasion. It was finally agreed that the inter 
 view should be strictly unofficial, and then the 
 gentlemen talked the business over together. 
 Mr. Adams said, according to Sedgwick s state 
 ment, " that to defend the executive from oli 
 garchic influence it was indispensable that he 
 should insist on a decision on the nomination ; " 
 that he would " neither withdraw nor modify 
 
302 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 |the nomination ; " but, if it should be negatived, 
 he "would propose a commission, two of the 
 members of which should be gentlemen within 
 the United States." 
 
 The visitors retired in a bad temper. A 
 meeting of Federalist senators was held ; and 
 it was agreed that, whatever they might ulti 
 mately be compelled to do, they would at least, 
 in the first instance, enjoy the pleasure of re 
 jecting Vans Murray. Mr. C. F. Adams ac 
 knowledges that there were objections against 
 hiaa, " such as senators might legitimately enter 
 tain and as were not without intrinsic weight." 
 But the president stole a second march upon 
 the irritated enemies who were preparing ob 
 stacles for his path. At the next meeting of 
 the senate Sedgwick was asked to hold back his 
 report because the president had another mes 
 sage ready. This was at once delivered; it 
 nominated three persons : Chief Justice Oli 
 ver Ellsworth, Patrick Henry, and Vans Mur 
 ray to be joint commissioners to France. Ham 
 ilton meanwhile, in reply to the news of Vans 
 Murray s nomination, had written to Sedgwick 
 that " the measure must 1 go into effect with the 
 additional idea of a commission of three. The 
 mode must be accommodated with the presi 
 dent." Unwittingly Mr. Adams had come 
 within the advantage of Mr. Hamilton s die- 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 303 
 
 turn ; and the discontented Federalists, who 
 would readily have encountered the president, 
 yielded at once to their real chief. Sedgwick 
 replied : " This is everything which, under the 
 circumstances, could be done." The nomina 
 tions were confirmed, and oddly enough the 
 confirmation of Murray alone was by a unani 
 mous vote. Henry declined on the score of age 
 and infirmity, and Governor Davie, of North 
 Carolina, was appointed in his stead. 
 
 The sole chance now left to the "Anglicist * 
 Federalists was in the possible fruits of delay. 
 The president, feeling that reaction which fol 
 lows extreme tension, tarried in Philadelphia 
 only long enough to determine the brief and 
 simple ultimata of the instructions for the com 
 missioners. Then he went home for rest and 
 vacation at Quincy. On March 6 Pickering 
 wrote to Vans Murray, stating what had been 
 done and that Ellsworth and Davie would em 
 bark immediately upon receipt of the official 
 promise that they should be properly received 
 and admitted to negotiations. Early in May 
 Murray received the dispatch, and communi 
 cated its substance to Talleyrand. That min 
 ister at once gave the required assurance for 
 mally and officially ; but unable altogether to 
 restrain his irritation, he delivered himself also 
 of some insulting criticism to the general pur- 
 
304 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 port that the conduct of the Americans had 
 been disingenuous and captious. On July 30 
 these papers reached Pickering, and he imme 
 diately transmitted them to Mr. Adams at 
 Quincy, calling especial attention to the injuri 
 ous language. But Adams, looking to the sub 
 stance and not permitting himself to be too 
 greatly incensed by mere impertinence, directed 
 that the instructions should be got ready. Ap 
 parently it was nearly five weeks before this 
 order was fulfilled ; and when at last the draft 
 reached Mr. Adams, it came inclosed in a letter 
 from Mr. Pickering intimating that in view of 
 recent political changes in France, including 
 the resignation of Talleyrand, the cabinet sug 
 gested delay. Mr. Adams replied that he was 
 quite willing to assent to a postponement until 
 the middle or end of October. By October 10 
 he was at Trenton, the temporary seat of gov 
 ernment. 
 
 Matters there were not pleasant. He was ill 
 and in poor condition for an encounter, yet he 
 found the opponents of his policy gathered to 
 resist it. There were assembled his three sec 
 retaries, all stubbornly hostile to the mission ; 
 Hamilton soon arrived, and at their invitation 
 Ellsworth also appeared upon the scene, giving 
 his influence with much caution and reserve, 
 but, such as it was, giving it to the opposition. 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 305 
 
 There came news, too, just at this juncture, of 
 disasters to the French arms. The Hamiltoni- 
 ans triumphantly foretold that a few days would 
 bring the glad intelligence that the French 
 king was enjoying his own again in the royal 
 palaces of Paris. Mr. Adams listened in an 
 unusually silent and tranquil temper. On Oc 
 tober 15, in the evening, he summoned a cab 
 inet meeting, at which he brought up for dis 
 cussion two or three points in the instructions, 
 which were easily settled. He gave no more 
 indication that he was about to take a decisive 
 step than he had given before sending in Vans 
 Murray s nomination. Nevertheless, two of the 
 secretaries " received before breakfast " on the 
 following morning orders that the instructions 
 should be at once put in final shape, and that 
 a frigate should be got in readiness to take the 
 commissioners on board not later than Novem 
 ber 1. They actually set sail on November 5. 
 This French mission was the death-blow of 
 /the Federalist party. The political body was 
 rent in twain ; the two parts remained belted 
 together by their common name, but no longer 
 instinct with a common vitality. It had been 
 a very grand party, an organization full of 
 brains and vigor, a brotherhood embracing a 
 remarkable number of able and honest men ; it 
 
 had achieved deeds so great as to outstrip exag- 
 20 
 
306 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 geration ; it had given form and coherence to 
 the political system, strength and the power of 
 living to the infant nation. A sad spectacle was 
 indeed presented when a party so nobly distin 
 guished lapsed into disintegration and the hope 
 less ruin of intestine feuds. No wonder that 
 vindictive rage possessed those men who had 
 created it, who had lived in it and for it, who 
 had honestly and zealously served it, and wholly 
 identified themselves with it. Less than half 
 of the party in numbers, but much more than 
 half in influence, ability, and prominence, 
 pointed to Mr. Adams as the parricide who 
 had done this cruel slaying. This assertion, re 
 iterated with furious clamor at the time, has 
 since been adopted as an established fact in 
 American history ; every one thinks that he 
 knows that Mr. Adams destroyed the Federal 
 party by acting counter to its policy. But who 
 had the right to establish the policy of the 
 party? Hamilton had tacitly arrogated it to 
 himself. When in office, he had created the 
 party, established its principles, formulated its 
 measures, trained and led its forces, and made 
 its victories possible ; since retiring to private 
 life, he had counseled and controlled its leaders. 
 A large proportion of the most influential Fed 
 eralists, in and out of office, including three 
 members of the cabinet and many of the best 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 307 
 
 speakers of the party in Congress, conceived 
 that revolt against his supremacy was defection 
 from the party. Nevertheless in no caucus of 
 Federalist members of Congress could these 
 Hamiltoni ans ever muster a majority against 
 Mr. Adams. Neither does there seem any 
 doubt that upon a simple vote of all the Feder 
 alists in the country, taken at any time during 
 his administration, much more than half would 
 have sustained him. War with France never 
 had been, never could be, avowed by the Ham- 
 iltonian section as a principle of the party. On 
 the contrary, they professed to desire peace. 
 Mr. Adams secured peace by a step against 
 which they could urge no graver objection than 
 that it was not sufficiently high-spirited to com 
 port with the national dignity. Then the party 
 divided, and they said that Adams was to blame. 
 Their conclusion does not seem to be fully sup 
 ported by the facts. 
 
 But the allotment of responsibility between 
 Adams and Hamilton, and the dispute as to 
 which of them was better entitled to establish 
 the party policy, are matters of vastly less im 
 portance than the question upon which side 
 right and wisdom lay. This seems to require 
 no discussion beyond the briefest statement of 
 the great facts. War was avoided, by means 
 which no one now thinks of stigmatizing as 
 
308 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 degrading. The method was devised by Mr. 
 Adams, and the result was won by his persist 
 ent adherence to that method. One is inclined 
 to say that, if in all this he ran counter to the 
 policy of his party, it was very discreditable to 
 the party to have such a policy. In _f act pretty 
 much all writers now agree that Adams be 
 haved with courage, patriotism, and sound judg 
 ment, and that he placed the country under a 
 great debt of gratitude ; a debt which was 
 never paid in his lifetime, and only since his 
 death has been very tardily and ungraciously 
 acknowledged. 
 
 Whether or not Mr. Adams was a parricide 
 as towards his party, he was certainly a suicide 
 as towards himself. The act of Curtius in leap 
 ing into the gulf to save Rome was a more pic 
 turesque but not a more unquestionable deed of 
 patriotic self-immolation. From that fifth day 
 of November, 1799, Mr. Adams was a doomed 
 man. No effort could now restore harmony 
 among the discordant ranks of the Federalists. 
 For the future all the earnest fighting on their 
 part was done inside their own camp and 
 against each other. It is a melancholy and un 
 profitable story of personal animosities, which 
 may be briefly told. 
 
 That Mr. Adams anticipated the results 
 which followed his action is not probable. 
 
THE PRESIDENCY. 309 
 
 There is nothing to indicate that he had any 
 idea that he was disrupting and destroying the 
 Federal party. But to his credit it should also 
 be said that there is no indication that he con 
 sidered this matter at all. Every particle of 
 evidence at least all which has been published 
 goes to show that his mind was wholly occu 
 pied with the interests of the nation, to the ut 
 ter exclusion of any thought of his party or of 
 himself. After the irretrievable ruin which 
 overtook him, amid the execrations of the Fed 
 eralists, who attributed their utter destruction 
 wholly to him, he never gave a symptom of re 
 gret, never said a word except in strenuous sup 
 port of his action. Beyond question he was 
 too profoundly convinced that he was right to 
 be moved from his opinion by any consequences 
 whatsoever. His unchangeable sentiments were 
 those expressed by him in 1815, in one of his 
 letters to James Lloyd : " I wish not to fatigue 
 you with too long a letter at once, but, sir, I 
 will defend my missions to France as long as I 
 have an eye to direct my hand or a finger to 
 hold my pen. They were the most disinter 
 ested and meritorious actions of my life. I re 
 flect upon them with so much satisfaction, that 
 I desire no other inscription over my gravestone 
 than : 4 Here lies John Adams, who took upon 
 himself the responsibility of the peace with 
 
310 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 France in the year 1800. " Substantially this 
 has been also the verdict of posterity, and a 
 transaction which at the time of its occurrence 
 *w found hardly any defender, now finds hardly 
 any assailant. Modern writers of all shades of 
 opinion agree that Adams acted boldly, hon 
 estly, wisely, and for the best welfare of the 
 country, in a very critical peril. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE BREAKING UP. 
 
 Semel insanivimus omnes ! In this chapter 
 the behavior of many wise and illustrious men 
 is to bear evidence to the truth of this adage. 
 For madness certainly ruled the closing months 
 of Adams s administration. 
 
 The foregoing pages have given glimpses 
 rather than a complete picture of the unhappy 
 relationship existing between the president and 
 three of his secretaries. Nothing more unfor 
 tunate befell any one of them throughout his 
 career. In the prosecution of the quarrel each 
 appears at his worst ; Mr. Adams s foibles of 
 hot-headedness and of a vanity almost incred 
 ible in its extravagance stand out in painful re 
 lief. Pickering, Wolcott, and McHenry, honest 
 men all, do the only ignoble acts of their lives. 
 All four seem crazed by prejudice and rage. 
 They are so bereft of all fair intelligence as 
 utterly to ignore not only the character but the 
 effect of their own acts, which run counter to 
 sound judgment even more than to right feeling. 
 
B12 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 By the time to which our narrative has come 
 the secretaries absolutely hated the president ; 
 they were in such a state of mind that, without 
 appreciating it, they treated him with thor 
 oughly bad faith ; they betrayed all official dis 
 cussions to Hamilton ; they sought and fol 
 lowed Hamilton s advice. They did this for 
 the purpose of gaining Hamilton s invaluable 
 aid in their opposition to their proper chief, and 
 they deceived themselves into a belief that in 
 thus conducting themselves they were doing 
 strictly right. Their vindication was that 
 Adams s policy was destructive of their party, 
 and was intrinsically wrong ; that therefore it 
 was their duty to counteract it by all the means 
 which even their office as his confidential advis 
 ers put in their power. Their ethics were sin 
 gular and have not generally been accepted as 
 sound. According to received principles, fair 
 dealing to Mr. Adams, even justice to them 
 selves, would have led them to resign, when 
 they so utterly differed from him that their 
 sole aim was to thwart him. But however this 
 may have been, certain it is that any decent 
 Bense of propriety, nay, for the word must be 
 used, of honor, would have led them to refrain 
 from communicating cabinet secrets for use 
 against the president by his avowed enemy. 
 Mr. Adams did not know what was going on ; 
 
THE BREAKING UP, 313 
 
 he even went down to his grave ignorant of 
 much of this mechanism by which he had suf 
 fered so severely. But without fully knowing 
 the cause he could dimly perceive where it lay. 
 He wisely concluded that some changes in the 
 cabinet could be advantageously made. 
 
 Me Henry was the first to go. He had been 
 laborious and was in the main a well-meaning 
 and amiable man, but he was notoriously in 
 competent for his position. His wonderfully 
 ill-written sketch of his parting interview with 
 Mr. Adams, the only existing account of a 
 strange scene, is worth repeating in full. On 
 May 5, 1800, the president sent for him. 
 
 " The business appeared to relate to the appoint 
 ment of a purveyor. . . . This settled, he took up 
 other subjects ; became indecorous and at times out 
 rageous. General Washington had saddled him with 
 three secretaries, Wolcott, Pickering, and myself. I 
 had not appointed a gentleman in North Carolina, the 
 only elector who had given him a vote in that state, 
 a captain in the army, and afterwards had him ap 
 pointed a lieutenant, which he refused. I had biased 
 General Washington to place Hamilton in his list of 
 major generals before Knox. I had eulogized Gen 
 eral Washington in my report to Congress, and had 
 attempted in the same report to praise Hamilton. In 
 short there was no bounds to his jealousy. I had 
 done nothing right. I had advised a suspension of 
 the mission. Everybody blamed me for my official 
 conduct, and I must resign." 
 
 
314 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 Before such a storm of abuse McHenry went 
 down at once. He " resigned the next morn 
 ing." This lively picture certainly shows Mr. 
 Adams in one of his worst moods, mingled of 
 anger, egotism, and that one great foolish 
 jealousy of his life, which consumed his heart 
 whenever he heard the praises of Washington. 
 His grandson admits, with iiepotal gentleness 
 of phrase, that he was not upon this occasion 
 either considerate or dignified; but says that 
 he appeared to much more advantage soon 
 afterward in ridding himself of Pickering. So 
 he did. Pickering richly deserved unceremoni 
 ous expulsion ; but Mr. Adams courteously of 
 fered him. the opportunity to resign. It may 
 be admitted that he probably would have been 
 much less considerate had his knowledge of 
 Pickering s behavior been less imperfect. The 
 stiff -backed and opinionated old Puritan, full of 
 fight and immutable in the conviction of his 
 own righteousness, refused to appear to go vol 
 untarily, and was thereupon dismissed. On the 
 whole it was probably fortunate that Mr. 
 Adams did not know how badly these gentle 
 men had been behaving towards him, or scenes 
 of awful wrath and appalling violence would 
 have enlivened the biographic page. 
 
 The vacancies thus made were filled more 
 easily than might have been expected. Mar- 
 
THE BREAKING UP. 315 
 
 shall, having declined the position of secretary 
 of Avar, accepted that of secretary of state, and 
 Samuel Dexter took the war department. Wok 
 cott, who deserved to go quite as much as either 
 of the others, remained^ but he only remained 
 to do further injury to his own good name, and 
 to enact a very ungenerous part. He had hab 
 itually spoken the president so fair, that he was 
 regarded by Mr. Adams as a friendly adviser, 
 though very far from really being so. He now 
 continued for some months longer to combine 
 external civility and deference to the president 
 with the function of cabinet-reporter, so to 
 speak, and to avoid the word spy, for Mr. 
 Hamilton. In the following November, amid 
 all the vexations which that ill-starred season 
 brought to Mr. Adams, he sent in his resigna 
 tion to take effect at the end of the year, thus 
 leaving the president to look for an incumbent 
 who would be willing to hold the office for two 
 months with the certainty, of course, of being 
 superseded immediately upon Jefferson s acces 
 sion. Yet strange to say, Adams always felt 
 kindly towards Wolcott, and among the last 
 acts of his administration made him a judge. 
 Never to his dying day did he learn how false 
 Wolcott had played him. 
 
 The story went, at the time, that Mr. Adams 
 had turned out Pickering in order to conciliate 
 
316 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 Samuel and Robert Smith of Baltimore, and to 
 gain their votes and influence in the electoral 
 college. The malicious calumny was after 
 ward abundantly disproved. Another piece of 
 hostile electioneering gossip was called forth by 
 the pardon of Fries. This man had led the 
 riots, or as some preferred to say, the rebellion, 
 in western Pennsylvania, in 1799. Twice he 
 was convicted of treason and was sentenced to 
 death, which certainly he abundantly deserved. 
 Mr. Adams pardoned him, and was at once 
 reviled as having done so only because it was 
 "a popular act in Pennsylvania." But such 
 attacks as these were the most commonplace 
 features of this presidential campaign of 1800. 
 Never did a political party enter into such a 
 contest in so sorry a condition as that of the 
 Federalists. Harassing as Mr. Adams had 
 found the presidency, he burned with ambition 
 to obtain it again. Before his election, discuss 
 ing the comparative prospects of Jefferson, Jay, 
 and himself, he had said : " If Jefferson and 
 Jay are president and vice-president, as is not 
 improbable, the other retires without noise, or 
 cries, or tears to his farm." But circumstances 
 were different now. He had been pitted against 
 bitter opponents in a fierce controversy of great 
 moment, which had divided the country. It 
 was not unnatural that he should desire a pop- 
 
THE BREAKING UP. 317 
 
 ular ratification of his policy. The Hamilto- 
 nian section, filled with implacable rage towards 
 him, contemplated the possibility of his success 
 with utter sickness at the heart. Could noth 
 ing be done to prevent it ? Could no means be 
 devised for setting him aside ? Their first plan 
 reflected no credit upon themselves. It was to 
 induce Washington to come out from his retire 
 ment and stand as their candidate. It is im 
 probable that any force of personal influence 
 would have sufficed to give success to so un 
 worthy, so cruel a scheme for making a selfish 
 and partisan use of this noble patriot in the 
 days of his old age. If any such danger to him 
 existed, it was indeed an opportune death which 
 rescued him from it. He escaped even the in 
 jury of the proposition. After this chance was, 
 it may almost be said fortunately, eliminated, 
 Hamilton traveled through New England, to 
 feel the pulse of the party. He was compelled 
 sadly to report, that though " the leaders of the 
 first class " were all right, " the leaders of the 
 second class " were all wrong ; he saw plainly 
 that, when it came to scoring votes, Adams was 
 the only Federalist who could bring out the 
 party strength in this section of the country. 
 This fact was undeniable and conclusive; 
 Adams must be the candidate. The old scheme 
 indeed might be resorted to ; equal voting foi 
 
318 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 Adams and Pinckney might be urged upon the 
 New England electors, with the secret hope that 
 some faithless Southerner might throw out Mr. 
 Adams and make Mr. Pinckney president ; or 
 that in case of real good faith Congress might 
 accomplish the same result. But this poor and 
 exploded device had no virtue in it. Then there 
 was some talk of setting up Pinckney openly 
 to supersede Adams ; but this also was mere 
 folly and desperation. The truth had to be 
 faced. Hamilton mournfully told his friends, 
 who could not contradict him, that the fight lay 
 between Adams and Jefferson, and that in such 
 a dilemma they were bound to support Mr. 
 Adams. With wry faces they came up to swal 
 low the nauseous dose. 
 
 The Hamiltoniaii Federalists had for some 
 time past been fond of extending to Mr. Adams 
 such unkind charity as lies in the excuse of 
 madness. He must be insane, they said ; and 
 sometimes they seemed more than half in ear 
 nest in the remark. But with all his anger, 
 bitterness, and mortification, it soon appeared 
 that there were crazier men than he at work 
 in these acrimonious days. Chief among them 
 was Hamilton himself, who, however, was not 
 without assistants well worthy of the same un 
 pleasant description. Made more vindictive 
 than ever by the necessity of actually aiding 
 
THE BREAKING UP. 319 
 
 the cause of the man whom he hated, Hamil 
 ton now determined on the extraordinary step 
 of writing a public letter containing an arraign 
 ment of Mr. Adams in his administration. He 
 professed that he did not intend to do this by 
 way of opposition to Adams s reelection ; on the 
 contrary he said that he should close, and finally 
 he actually did close, this singular document 
 with the advice that this unfit man should be 
 again charged with those duties which he had 
 just been shown to be so incapable of perform 
 ing wisely, safely, or honestly. For material for 
 the criminatory portion of this startling com 
 pilation, Hamilton relied in part upon Picker 
 ing and McHenry, now out of office and most 
 willing and vengeful coadjutors ; but chiefly 
 he depended upon Wolcott, who was still sec 
 retary of the treasury and could give the latest 
 and by far the most valuable information. It 
 is painful to know that Hamilton applied to 
 him, and that he promised to give and did give 
 the disgraceful aid which was demanded. Nay, 
 he did it readily and with actual pleasure. 
 
 This project of Hamilton spread profound 
 alarm among those of his political friends who 
 had not been personally engaged in the conflict 
 with the president, and who therefore retained 
 their self-possession and coolness of judgment. 
 They remonstrated against the publication 
 
320 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 with as much earnestness as they ever dared to 
 show in differing from their autocratic com 
 mander. But they had scant influence over 
 him. The volcano was full to bursting, and 
 the pent up fury must find vent. Hamilton 
 was doubtful only on the point of form. He 
 would have liked to seem to write in self- 
 defense. In order to obtain a plausible basis, 
 he addressed a letter to Adams asking an ex 
 planation concerning charges of belonging to a 
 British faction, which charges he was pleased 
 to say that the president had preferred against 
 him. This artifice failed ; but it was mere 
 matter of detail. Hamilton was, as he ad 
 mitted, " in a very belligerent humor," and was 
 bent on writing the letter, with an excuse or 
 without it, as might be. He would only prom 
 ise his alarmed and protesting friends that it 
 should be privately and discreetly distributed, 
 in such a prudent manner that it should not 
 affect the electoral votes. His friends, uncon 
 vinced, were still laboring with him, when all 
 choice and discretion in the matter were sud 
 denly taken both from him and from them. 
 The document had already been put in print ; 
 no copies had been sent out ; but by some cov 
 ert means Aaron Burr had obtained one. By 
 this accident all possibility of secrecy came to 
 an end. The paper was spread far and wide 
 
THE BREAKING UP. 321 
 
 through the country as the best campaign doc 
 ument of the Democrats, and then at last even 
 Hamilton could no longer deny his blunder. 
 
 If before there had been any hope for a Fed 
 eralist success, this wretched transaction ut 
 terly destroyed it. The party went into the 
 elections divided, dispirited, full of internal dis 
 trust. New York had already been lost ; and 
 the causa causans of the loss, as Mr. C. F. 
 Adams explains, had been the machinations 
 of Hamilton intended to bring in Pinckney 
 in place of Adams. It required no gift of 
 prophecy now to see that defeat was inevitable. 
 It came ; but Jefferson and Burr, coming in 
 evenly with only seventy -three votes apiece, 
 against sixty-five for Adams and sixty-four for 
 Pinckney, 1 showed that a contest, which under 
 such circumstances was so close, might have 
 had an opposite conclusion had it been more 
 wisely and happily waged by the Federalists. 
 It was a fair conclusion that Mr. Adams would 
 have been reflected had it not been for the 
 hostility of Mr. Hamilton and his clique. 
 
 If Mr. Adams as president had served his 
 country better than he had served his party, at 
 least one of the latest acts of his administra 
 tion was an equal service to both. Having of- 
 
 1 An elector from Rhode Island voted for Adams and Jay, 
 instead of for Adams and Piuckney. 
 21 
 
322 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 fered the chief justiceship of the United States 
 to Jay, who declined it, he then nominated 
 JolrnJ^harshall. The Parthian shot went home. 
 Half of what the Democrats seemed to have 
 done by the election of Jefferson was undone 
 by the appointment of Marshall. JBy it the 
 Federalists got control of the national judi 
 ciary, and interpreted the constitution in the 
 courts long after they had shrunk to utter in 
 significance as a political party. 
 
 Adams sat signing appointments to office 
 and attending to business till near the close of 
 the last hour of his term. Then before the 
 people were astir on the morning which ush 
 ered in the day of Jefferson s inauguration, he 
 drove out of Washington. He would not wait 
 to see the triumph of his successor. Mr. C. F. 
 Adams seeks to throw a cloak of fine language 
 over this act of childish spite and folly, but to 
 no purpose. It was the worst possible mani 
 festation of all those petty faults which formed 
 such vexatious blemishes in Adams s singularly 
 compounded character. 
 
 But it is needlessly cruel in this hour of his bit 
 ter mortification to sneer at his silly egotism, to 
 laugh at his ungoverned rage. He was crushed 
 beneath an intense disappointment which he 
 did not deserve, he was humiliated by an un 
 popularity which he did not merit. For he had 
 
THE BREAKING UP. 323 
 
 done right in great national matters, and had 
 blundered only in little personal ones. Yet he 
 felt and declared himself a " disgraced " man. 
 The word was too strong ; yet certainly he was 
 an unfriended, hated, and reviled man. He was 
 retiring full of years but not full of honors. 
 He had been as faithful, as constant, as labori 
 ous a patriot as Washington ; and, taking his 
 whole career from the beginning, his usefulness 
 to the country had been second only to that of 
 Washington. He had lately done an immense 
 service to his country in saving it from war. 
 Had he not a right to repine and to feel bitter 
 at the reward allotted to him ? Certainly he 
 had had very hard luck ; everything might have 
 gone so differently had it not been for the an 
 tipathy of a single individual towards him. 
 Had it not been for this he might have had 
 real coadjutors in the members of his cabinet ; 
 he might have acted with coolness and dignity, 
 having his temper relieved from the multitudi 
 nous harassment! which he had felt though he 
 
 O 
 
 could not explain them. He might with a 
 clear mind have moulded and carried out a 
 strong, consistent policy, in an even-handed 
 and dignified manner, which would have made 
 it impossible for the Democrats to defeat him. 
 All this would have been probable enough, if 
 the disturbing influence of Hamilton had been 
 
324 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 withdrawn. To that one man it seemed due, 
 and perhaps it really was due, that Adams was 
 ending his public life in humiliation and unliap- 
 piness. 
 
 This volume has grown to such length that a 
 few lines only can be given to Mr. ^Adanas^re^ 
 maining years. He passed them in his pleas 
 ant homestead near the roadside in Quincy, 
 among his family and friends. They were tran 
 quil and uneventful to a degree which must 
 often have seemed tedious to one who had led 
 so stirring a life in busy capitals amid great 
 events. Yet he seems in the main to have been 
 cheerful and contented. The town was full of 
 his kindred and his friends, and he was always 
 met with gratifying kindliness and respect. 
 His wife survived until the autumn of 1818, 
 when she died of typhus fever on October 28. 
 He was then eighty-three years old. His son, 
 John Quincy Adams, could be little at home ; 
 but the cause of his absence, in his steady 
 ascent through positions of public trust and 
 honor, must have gone far to prevent regret. 
 The father had the pride and pleasure of wit 
 nessing his elevation to the presidency in 1825, 
 and fortunately did not survive to know of the 
 failure and disappointment four years later. 
 
 In the main the old gentleman seems to have 
 been cheerful and contented ; though at times 
 
THE BREAKING UP. 325 
 
 the gloominess so often accompanying old age 
 seemed to get the better of his courage. It was 
 in such a temper that he wrote to Rufus King, 
 in 1814 : " I am left alone. . . . Can there be 
 any deeper damnation in this universe than to 
 be condemned to a long life in danger, toil, 
 and anxiety ; to be rewarded only with abuse, 
 insult, and slander; and to die at seventy, leav 
 ing to an amiable wife and nine amiable chil 
 dren nothing for an inheritance but the con 
 tempt, hatred, and malice of the world ? How 
 much prettier a thing it is to be a disinterested 
 patriot like Washington and Franklin, live and 
 die among the hosannas of the multitude, and 
 leave half a million to one child or to no child ! " 
 Such moods of repining at their lots, and of 
 dissatisfaction with the rewards meted out for 
 their services, were of frequent occurrence 
 both with John Adams and with his son, John 
 Quincy Adams. The same habit is noticeable, 
 however, as prevailing, though in a less degree, 
 among many of their contemporaries ; it was 
 the fashion of the day, and may be considered 
 as the New England form of development of 
 the famous habit of grumbling and fault-find 
 ing notoriously belonging to John Bull. At 
 least Mr. Adams s high appreciation of his own 
 preeminent merits and distinguished services 
 remained with him to comfort and console him 
 
326 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 to the end. His vanity and supreme self-sat 
 isfaction passed away only with his passing 
 breath. 
 
 He read a great deal during his old age, even 
 then constantly extending his knowledge and 
 preserving his native thirst for information still 
 unquenched. His interest in affairs was as 
 great as ever, and he kept his mind in activity 
 and vigor. At times he fought the old battles 
 o er again with not less spirit than in younger 
 days. His first purpose after his retirement 
 was to write a vindicatory reply to Hamilton s 
 tirade against him ; but his zeal cooled during 
 the work so that he never finished it. Then 
 he began an autobiography, but this too he left 
 in the shape of a mere fragment. When John 
 Quincy Adams, unable to stomach the increas 
 ing British aggressions at the time of the at 
 tack by the Leopard upon the Chesapeake, sev 
 ered his connection with the feeble remnant of 
 the Federal party, John Adams was in full 
 sympathy with him. Pickering published a 
 pamphlet arraigning the administration, and 
 Adams replied to it, actually appearing as the 
 supporter of President Jefferson s policy. This 
 tergiversation, as his enemies chose to regard 
 it, greatly incensed the old Hamiltonians, who 
 now hastened to revamp the charges contained 
 in Hamilton s letter. The spirit of the old 
 
THE BREAKING UP. 327 
 
 fighter was aroused, and he recurred to his de 
 sign of an elaborate defense. He entered upon 
 it with little appreciation of the extent to which 
 his labors would extend. For after he had 
 once got fairly at the interesting work he could 
 not easily check himself, and his letters to the 
 " Boston Patriot " were continued through a 
 period of nearly three years, and a portion of 
 them, published in book form, constituted an 
 octavo volume of goodly proportions. These 
 letters are not reproduced in Mr. C. F. Adams s 
 edition of the works of John Adams ; indeed 
 the grandson appears inclined to regret that 
 they ever saw the light, at least in the manner 
 and shape in which they did, " scattered 
 through the pages of a newspaper of very lim 
 ited circulation, during three years, without 
 order in the arrangement, and with most un 
 fortunate typography." It is not surprising to 
 hear that they were marked with u too much 
 asperity towards Mr. Hamilton." 
 
 But a much more unfortunate composition 
 was the famous Cunningham correspondence, 
 which also Mr. C. F. Adams declines to repub- 
 lish, and very properly under the peculiar cir 
 cumstances, which he states. These were writ 
 ten by the ex-president to one of his relatives 
 soon after his return to Quincy. They were 
 " under the seal of the strictest confidence," and 
 
328 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 contained "the most unreserved expression of 
 his sentiments respecting the chief actors and 
 events in the later portion of his public life." 
 In other words, they were vehement, rancorous, 
 abusive, and unjust, as was perfectly natural 
 when it is remembered under what fresh provo 
 cation of real wrongs their writer was smarting 
 at the time. His vanity and his rage naturally 
 found free expression as he strove in close con 
 fidence to tell to a friend the story of the un 
 fair treatment of which he had been the vic 
 tim. Mr. C. F. Adams says that an heir of the 
 person to whom these letters were written gave 
 them to the opponents of John Quincy Adams 
 to be used against him when he was a candi 
 date in the presidential campaign ; and that 
 this ignominious transaction was rewarded with 
 a post in the Boston custom-house. It was of 
 course a great mistake upon Adams s part that 
 he wrote them, and it was a grave misfortune 
 for him that they were, even though dishonora 
 bly and many years afterwards, sent out before 
 the world. It was the last and nearly the worst 
 exhibition of that blind imprudence which at 
 one time and another in his career had cost 
 him so dear. But he could not eliminate or 
 control the trait ; in fact he never fairly appre 
 ciated its existence ; throughout his life he was 
 invariably convinced that all his own actions 
 
THE BREAKING UP. 329 
 
 were perfectly right and wise ; he was always 
 a strenuous and undoubting partisan of himself, 
 so to speak. 
 
 In his declining years he had some flattering 
 public honors done him by his fellow-citizens, of 
 a kind to bring more of pleasure than of labor. 
 He was appointed a presidential elector, and 
 cast his vote for James Monroe at the second 
 election of that gentleman to the presidency. 
 He was also, at the age of eighty-five, chosen 
 the delegate from Braintree to the constitu 
 tional convention of Massachusetts, at the time 
 when, Maine being set off, it was deemed ad 
 visable to frame a new constitution. The body 
 paid him the compliment of choosing him to 
 preside over its deliberations ; but he wisely 
 declined a labor beyond his strength. He took 
 no active part in the debates ; but it should be 
 remembered to his honor that he endeavored 
 to procure such a modification of the third ar 
 ticle of the bill of rights " as would do away 
 with the recognition of distinct modes of relig 
 ious faith by the state." It is to the discredit 
 of his fellow delegates that in this good pur 
 pose he was unsuccessful. The aged man could 
 only put himself upon record as more liberal, 
 more advanced in wisdom and in a broad hu 
 manity, than the men of the younger genera 
 tion around him. 
 
B30 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 Before he died nearly all his old animosities 
 had entirely disappeared, or had lost their vir 
 ulence. Hamilton and Pickering he could 
 never forgive ; such magnanimity, it must be 
 admitted, would have been beyond human na 
 ture. But he became very friendly with Jef 
 ferson. Some advances towards reconciliation, 
 made by his old enemy through Mrs. Adams, 
 he rejected. But later Dr. Rush was success 
 ful in bringing the two together, so that a 
 friendly correspondence was carried on between 
 them during their closing years. 
 
 His mind remained clear almost to his last 
 hours. He died at sunset on the fourth day of 
 July, 1826^ the fiftieth anniversary of Amer 
 ican independence. The familar story goes 
 that his last words were, "Thomas Jefferson 
 still survives." But Jefferson too had passed 
 away a few hours earlier on that day. 
 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ADAMS, C. F., quoted, as to appoint 
 ment of Washington, 98 ; as to 
 proposition for a navy, 110; as to 
 services of John Adams in draw 
 ing Declaration of Independence. 
 126; as to John Adams s relation 
 with Washington, 137 ; treatment 
 of French relationship with the 
 colonies, 157 ; quoted, as to John 
 Adams s correspondence with de 
 Vergennes on financial matters, 
 175 ; on same subject, 178 ; quoted, 
 as to Adams s visit to Amsterdam, 
 191 ; quoted, as to the treaty with 
 Holland, 196 ; as to mission of 
 Digges, 213; account of presenta 
 tion of John Adams to George 
 111., 233 ; says McIIenry repre 
 sents his colleagues and Hamil 
 ton as to failure of French mis 
 sion, 283 ; quoted, as to prepara 
 tion of a message by the cabinet 
 and Hamilton for Mr. Adams, 
 294 ; vindicates the final mission 
 to France, 298 ; on nomination of 
 Vans Murray, 302 ; remarks on 
 the resignation of McIIenry and 
 dismissal of Pickering, 314 ; de 
 fends John Adams s conduct at 
 the close of his presidential term, 
 322; declines to republish the 
 letters to " The Boston Patriot," 
 and the Cunningham letters, 327, 
 328. 
 
 Adams, Henry, first of the name in 
 America, 1 , his property, 2. 
 
 Adams, John, birth and parentage, 
 1 ; goes to Harvard College, 2 ; 
 social rank, 3; aristocratic ten 
 dencies, 3; begins his diary, 5; 
 character in youth, 6-10; chooses 
 a profession, eschewing the min 
 istry for the bar, 10-16 ; his stud 
 ies, relaxations, and admission to 
 
 the bar, 17; marries, 20; a typi 
 cal New Englander, 20-23 : hears 
 Otis speak concerning writs of 
 assistance. 24 ; behavior at time 
 of stamp act, 26-28 ; appointed 
 counsel for Boston, 28-32: lan 
 guage in Hancock s case, 32; po 
 sition as a patriot, 32, 34, 35, 43 ; 
 removal to Boston, 33; is offered 
 place of advocate-general in ad 
 miralty, 33; connection with the 
 Boston massacre and the trials of 
 Preston and the soldiery, 35-40; 
 elected to the General Court, 40 ; 
 dislike to public career, 40-42, 
 45, 50; bad health and removal to 
 Braintree, 42; comes back again 
 to Boston, 45 ; taunted by Otis, 
 46 ; his real position at this time, 
 47-51; project for a history, 51; 
 opinion of the prospect, 52-54 ; 
 representative to the First Con 
 gress, 53-55 ; his qualifications 
 and his own feelings, 54-62 ; let 
 ters to his wife, 62 ; journey to 
 Philadelphia, 63-6S ; opinion of 
 New York, 67; gets some good 
 advice, 65-68 ; his daily life and 
 his comrades, 69, 78-80 ; opin 
 ions on non-importation and non- 
 exportation, 70; services on com 
 mittees, 71; his behavior and 
 sentiments as to the members 
 and the doings of Congress, 73-80 ; 
 anticipations of result, 78: dele 
 gate to the provincial assembly 
 of Massachusetts, 82 ; writes let 
 ters of "Novanglus," 82; rides 
 over the field of Lexington, 83; 
 returns to Philadelphia, 83; has 
 the sympathy of his own and 
 his wife s families, 84 ; comical 
 sketch of Dickinson, 84 ; observa 
 tions concerning public opinion 
 
332 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 along the route to Philadelphia, 
 84, 85; military aspirations, 85; 
 remarks on the temper of Con 
 gress, 87; his prominence in that 
 body, 88 ; his opposition to Dick 
 inson, 88, 91 ; his own sketch of 
 his views at this time, 89-91 ; ef 
 forts to induce Congress to adopt 
 the army, 93-100; his share in 
 the appointment of Washington, 
 95-100; his intercepted letters to 
 his wife and to General Warren, 
 100-103, 105 ; spends August, 
 1775, at his home, 104 ; returns 
 to Congress in September, 104 ; 
 dissatisfied with temper of Con- 
 -* ^jress, 104-107 ; his own devotion 
 to the cause of independence, 105- 
 107, 115-119 ; daily occupations, 
 
 107 ; harsh criticisms of members, 
 
 108 ; services in establishing a 
 navy, 110 ; efforts to organize 
 foreign missions, 111 ; visit to 
 Massachusetts, 112 ; appointed 
 chief justice of the province, 113; 
 returns, bringing important in 
 structions to the Massachusetts 
 delegation, 113 ; fort-castings, 
 114 et seq. ; introduces a resolu 
 tion that the states organize in 
 dependent governments, 120-123: 
 seconds Lee s motimi for the dec 
 laration of independence, 124 ; 
 placed on committee to draw the 
 document, 124 ; his actual services 
 in that connection, 125-127; on 
 committee for foreign treaties, 
 124 ; on the board of war and ord 
 nance, 125 ; share in the debate 
 
 ; on the declaration of independ 
 ence, 127-129 ; letter to Chase 
 on probable consequences of the 
 declaration, 130 ; his real value 
 as compared with Washington, in 
 Revolution, 131 et seq. ,- letter 
 to Pickering as to jealousy to- 
 v wards Now England, 135: his dis- 
 \trustaud jealousy towards Wash 
 ington, 13(3-138; services in the 
 formation of the new state gov 
 ernments,; 138-143 ; opinion of 
 Paine s "Common Sense," 140; 
 writes the .pamphlet, " Thoughts 
 N. on Government, 140 ; letter 
 ^ to Patrick Henry on this topic, 
 
 142 ; services during the last 
 portion of his stay in Congress, 
 
 143 - 145 ; resignation, 146 ; ap 
 pointed commissioner to the 
 French court, 147 ; embarkation, 
 
 148 ; services in France and ad 
 vice to Congress, 149-152; return, 
 153; opinions as to France and 
 England, 153-155 ; member of the 
 Constitutional Convention of 
 Massachusetts, 156; again sent 
 to France to negotiate peace 
 with Great Britain, 156, 161 ; his 
 early sentiments towards France 
 and de Yergennes, 159 ; appointed 
 largely through influence of 
 Massachusetts, in order to pre 
 serve the fisheries, 163; original 
 opinions on this subject, 164 ; 
 qualifications as a diplomatist, 
 165-168 ; relations with Franklin, 
 169 ; first letter to de Vergennes, 
 169 ; indignation at dc Vergennes 
 reply, 170 ; disagrees with de 
 Vergennes, 170-172 ; procures 
 publication of the purpose of his 
 mission, 172 ; without occupation, 
 173 ; writes articles for French 
 newspapers concerning America, 
 173 ; enters on correspondence 
 with de Vergennes, 174 : irritates 
 de Vergennes by his communica 
 tions concerning proposed repu 
 diation of debts in the States, 
 175-181 ; unpleasant relations 
 with Franklin, 180-183 ; letter 
 to de Vergennes asking for more 
 sincere assistance, etc., 183; 
 second irritating letter to de 
 Vergennes, 187 ; sustained by 
 Congress, 189; visit to Amster 
 dam, 190 ; new commission as to 
 "armed neutrality," 191 ; ap 
 pointed minister plenipotentiary 
 to the United Provinces, 191 : is 
 obstructed by de Vergennes, 192, 
 193; his policy and its success, 
 192-196; recognized as minister 
 at the Hague, 1^6; effects a treaty 
 with Holland, 196 , views as to 
 behavior of the British govern 
 ment towards the close of the 
 Revolution, and as to the pros 
 pects, 198-201 ; summoned from 
 Holland to Paris, in hope of a 
 negotiation for peace, 203 ; disin 
 genuously treated by de Ver 
 gennes 204 ; but detects the 
 snare, 206 ; his recall sought by 
 de Vergennes, 207 ; has others 
 associated with him in commis 
 sion to treat for peace, 209 ; angry 
 at the instructions concerning the 
 treaty, 210; sustains Jay s ob 
 jections to proposed form of ne- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 333 
 
 gotiation, and suggests amend 
 ment, 216 ; letter to .lackson on 
 French policy, 21 .); di-oheys in 
 structions in the negotiation for 
 peace, 219 : proposal concerning 
 compensation to tories, 220 ; as to 
 the fisheries, 221 ; rebuked by Liv 
 ingston, 224 ; indignation thereat, 
 225 ; homesick, 226 ; illness, 22-; : 
 obliged to go to Amsterdam con 
 cerning loans, 230; commissioned 
 to form treaties of commerce, 
 280 ; residence at Auteuil, 231 ; 
 appointed minister to Great Brit 
 ain, 231 : presentation to the 
 king, 233 ; finds his residence in 
 England disagreeable, 234-239 ; 
 returns home, 239 ; reflections on 
 his future, 241 ; his relations to 
 the new constitution, 244 ; elec 
 tion to the vice-presidency, 245 ; 
 beginning of quarrel with Ham 
 ilton, 246 ; takes his seat as pres 
 ident of the senate, 248; influ 
 ence and casting votes, 249 ; a 
 Federalist, 250 ; democratic and 
 aristocratic tendencies in his char 
 acter, 251 ; fondness for ceremony 
 and dignity, 252-254; subjected 
 to personal attacks, 254 ; reflected 
 vice-president, 255 : sympathy 
 for U ashington, 256; Federalist 
 candidate for the presidency, 258 ; 
 story of his election, 258-261 ; 
 expresses his anger to Knox, 263 ; 
 inauguration, 266; conciliatory 
 advances of Democrats, 266-268 ; 
 hi* administration, 268-270; situ 
 ation between the English and 
 French factions, 271-273; retains 
 Washington s cabinet, 274 ; rela 
 tions with them, 274-277, 311- 
 312 ; summons extra session of 
 Congress concerning relations 
 with France, 277 ; speech, 278 ; 
 desire for a navy, 279 ; scheme 
 for a new mission to France, 277, 
 280 ; suggests an embargo, 282 ; 
 consults cabinet as to course to be 
 pursued if the French mission 
 should fail, 282 ; messages to 
 Congress communicating failure 
 of the mission, 234 ; receives pop 
 ular support, 286 ; recalls Gerry, 
 286 ; sends famous messages to 
 Congress, 287 ; signs alien and 
 sedition acts, 287 ; nomination of 
 officers for the new army and 
 consequent difficulties with Ham 
 ilton, 288-291 ; consults his cabi 
 
 net and amends the speech pre 
 pared for him to send in to Con 
 gress concerning French rela 
 tions, 293-298 : gets further news 
 through Vans Murray, 298; nom 
 inates Vans Murray minister to 
 France, 30> : visited by the com 
 mittee of the senate on nomina 
 tions, 301 ; nominates two others 
 witli Vans Murray, 3u2 ; goes 
 home to Quincy, 3( )3 : rotun - r>> 
 meet his cabinet at Trenton, v>4 ; 
 solicited to delay, 3 4, 3<io; but 
 orders the envoys to sail, 3 "> : In 
 dus acvimi divides the Federalist 
 partv, 305; relationship to that 
 party, 306-308 ; subsequently de- 
 fen. U his doings about the French 
 mission, 3 9 ; ill-served bv his 
 cabinet, 311-313; forces Mcllenry 
 to resign, 313 ; dismisses Picker 
 ing, 314 ; fills the vacancies with 
 Miirshall and Dexter, 313, 314 ; 
 relations with Wolcott, whom he 
 appoints a judge, 315 : malicious 
 reports about Pickering s dis 
 missal, 315 ; assailed for having 
 pardoned Fries, 316 : desire for 
 reelection, 316 ; hated by the 
 Ilamiltonians, 317 ; their machi 
 nations against him, 317-321 ; de 
 feated, 32t; his disappointment 
 and departure from Washington , 
 322; retirement to Quincy, 324; 
 occasional despondency, 325; oc 
 cupations, 326 ; sustains John 
 Quincy Adams in his defection 
 from the Federal party, 326 ; re 
 plies to an assault by Pickering, 
 and sustains Jefferson, 326: writes 
 a series of letters to " The Boston 
 Patriot, 327 : also the Cunning 
 ham letters, 327; as presidential 
 elector, votes for Monroe. 329 ; a 
 delegate to the Constitutional 
 Convention of Massachusetts, 
 329; reconciliation with Jeffer 
 son, 330; death, 330. 
 
 Adams, Mrs. John, joins her hus 
 band at Auteuil, 231 ; feelings 
 concerning the English mission, 
 233; remark about Hamilton s 
 Machiavellian policy, 267 ; death, 
 324. 
 
 Adams. John Quincy, describes his 
 father s social position, o: diary 
 of, 5 ; sustained by his father in 
 leaving the Federal party, 326. 
 
 Adams, Samuel, representative in 
 ; First Congress, 53, 63 ; concern- 
 
334 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ing the adoption of the army by 
 Congress, 95. 
 
 Adams, Thomas, grantee in first 
 Massachusetts charter, 1. 
 
 Ames, Fisher, advises Adams con 
 cerning French mission, 277. 
 
 "BOSTON MASSACRE," story of the, 
 35-40. 
 
 Bowdoin, James, chosen represen 
 tative to First Congress, 53 ; de 
 clines, 63, n. 
 
 Boylston, Susanna, mother of John 
 Adams, 1. 
 
 Burr, Aaron, publishes Hamilton s 
 pamphlet against Adams, 320 ; has 
 seventy-three electoral votes, 321. 
 
 CHASE, SAMUEL, letter of Adams to, 
 130. 
 
 Clinton, George, unsuccessful com 
 petitor with Adams for vice-presi 
 dency, 255. 
 
 Con way, General, moves address 
 against Lord North, 213. 
 
 Cushing, Thomas, chosen repre 
 sentative to First Congress, 53, 
 63 ; concerning the appointment 
 of Washington, 96. 
 
 DANA, FRANCIS, nominated com 
 missioner to France, and declines, 
 281. 
 
 Davie, Governor, nominated an en 
 voy to France, 302 ; departure, 
 
 Deane, Silas, as commissioner at 
 the French court, 148, 150. 
 
 Dexter, Samuel, appointed secre 
 tary at war, 315. 
 
 Dickinson, John, domestic influ 
 ences exerted upon, 84 ; opposed 
 by Adams, 88, 91 ; a " piddling 
 genius, 102 ; opposes Declara 
 tion of Independence, 127. 
 
 Digges, mission to American com 
 missioners, 213. 
 
 Dorset, Earl of, remark to Mr. Ad 
 ams on his appointment to Eng 
 lish mission, 232. 
 
 Duane, James, a moderatist, 121. 
 
 ELLSWORTH, OLIVER, nominated an 
 envoy to France. 302 ; departure, 
 305. 
 
 Fox, CHARLES J., minister of foreign 
 affairs, 213 ; quarrel with Lord 
 Shelburne, 214. 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, member of 
 
 committee to draw Declaration of 
 Independence, 124 ; as commis 
 sioner at the French court, 148, 
 150, 152, 168 ; mode of life in 
 France, 169 ; relations with Ad 
 ams, 16i), 181-183 ; indifferent to 
 Adams s interference in his de 
 partment, 174 ; but is vexed in the 
 matter of Adams s correspond 
 ence with de Vergennes about 
 proposed repudiation of indebt 
 edness by the states, 179, 180; 
 enmity towards Adams, 181-183 ; 
 writes to Congress concerning 
 Adams, 189 ; associated with 
 Adams on the peace commission, 
 209 ; feeling concerning the in 
 structions, 210 , private letter to 
 Lord Shelburne, 213 ; refuses to 
 support Jay s objections to pro 
 posed form of negotiation, 216; 
 wishes to adhere to instructions 
 in the peace negotiation, 219; 
 commissioner to form treaties of 
 commerce, 230. 
 Fries, pardon of, 316. 
 
 GENET, EDMOND, mission to United 
 States, 256. 
 
 George III., remark to Mr. Adams 
 on his presentation, 233; subse 
 quent behavior to him, 234. 
 
 Gerard, Mons. de, suggests readi 
 ness of England to negotiate, 
 160 ; efforts concerning Adams s 
 instructions, 163; report thereon 
 to de Vergennes, 171 ; insidious 
 suggestions at Philadelphia, 207. 
 
 Gerry, Elbridge, accompanies Ad 
 ams to Philadelphia, January, 
 1776, bearing instructions to Mas 
 sachusetts delegation, 113; Ad 
 ams s letter to, concerning his 
 cabinet, 276 ; nominated as com 
 missioner to France, 280, 281 ; 
 his doings abroad, 282; recalled, 
 286; relations with Talleyrand, 
 292. 
 
 Gordon s " History of Independ 
 ence," quoted. 56, n. 
 
 Gridley, Jeremiah, advice to Ad 
 ams on presenting him for ad" 
 mission to the bar, 17 ; counsel 
 for Boston at time of stamp act, 
 
 HAMILTON, ALEXANDER, behavior 
 concerning Adams s election to 
 vice-presidency, 246 ; devises Fed 
 eralist measures, 249 ; favors Ad- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 335 
 
 ama s second election, 255 ; influ 
 ence at time of Adams s election to 
 the presidency, 257-261 ; charged 
 with secret ill-faith towards Ad 
 ams, 2i>7 ; relations with cabinet 
 officers of Washington and Adams, 
 275 ; compels cabinet to assent to 
 new mission to France, 281; in 
 stigates a call for papers concern 
 ing the French mission, 284 ; 
 quarrel concerning rank in the I 
 provisional army, 289-291 ; shares 
 in a consultation with members 
 of Adams s cabinet as to policy to 
 wards France and a new mission, 
 294 ; action concerning the nom 
 ination of Vans Murray, 302 ; 
 claim of, to leadership of the 
 Federal party, 306-308; political 
 journey through New England, 
 317 ; admits that Adams must be 
 Federalist candidate for the pres 
 idency, 318 ; prepares pamphlet 
 against Adams, 319-320. 
 
 Hancock, John, sued for duties, 
 32 ; desirous to command the 
 army, 96. 
 
 Hawley, Joseph, advice to Adams, 
 65. 
 
 Henry, Patrick, in favor of foreign 
 alliances, 112 ; letter of Adams to, 
 142 ; nominated an envoy to 
 France, 302. 
 
 Hildreth, Richard, remarks on Ad 
 ams s relations to English and 
 French factions, 273. 
 
 Hutchinson, Governor, at time of \ 
 stamp act, 26, 27 ; at time of the 
 "Boston Massacre," 36. 
 
 JACKSON, JONATHAN, letters of Ad- i 
 ams to, 193, 219. 
 
 Jay, Sir James, takes care of Adams i 
 during illness in London, 229. 
 
 Jay, John, desired by New York as 
 negotiator for peace, 164 ; but goes 
 to Madrid, 164; associated with 
 Adams and others to treat for 
 peace, 209; indignant at the in 
 structions given, 211 ; objects to 
 scheme of negotiation, as con 
 cerned the states, 215; sustained 
 by Mr. Adams, 215, 218 ; rebuked 
 by Livingston, 224; reply to re 
 buke, 225; charged with secret 
 ill-faith towards Adams, 267 ; de 
 clines the chief justiceship, 322. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, on committee to 
 draw Declaration of Independ 
 ence, 124-127 ; takes 110 share in 
 
 debate, 127; gratitude to Adams, 
 128 ; placed on the peace com 
 mission, 209: commissioner to 
 form treaties of commerce, 230 ; 
 insulted by George III., 234; 
 elected vice-president, 260 ; con 
 ciliatory letter to Adams, 2>7 ; 
 remark as to Adams s impartial 
 ity between English and French 
 factious, 273 ; consulted by 
 Adams as to French mission, 
 277; gets seventy-three electoral 
 votes, 321; administration sus 
 tained by Adams, 326 ; recon 
 ciliation with Adams, 330 j death, 
 330. 
 
 Johnson, Thomas, nominates Wash 
 ington to command the army, 
 97. 
 
 KINO, RUFUS, letter to, 325. 
 Kuox, lienry, nominated as general 
 of the provisional army, 289. 
 
 LEE, ARTHUR, as commissioner at 
 the French court, 148, 150; sent 
 to Madrid, 152. 
 
 Lee, Richard Henry, moves Declara 
 tion of Independence, 124. 
 
 Livingston, R. R., member of com 
 mittee to draft Declaration of 
 Independence, 124 ; rebukes the 
 commissioners treating for peace 
 with England, 224. 
 
 Luzerne, de la, seeks to bring about 
 the recall of Mr. Adams, 208; 
 influences the instructions to the 
 peace commissioners, 210. 
 
 MADISON, JAMES, holds back Jeffer 
 son s letter to Adams, 267 : de 
 clines the French mission, 277. 
 
 Marshall, John, nominated as com 
 missioner to France, 280, 281 ; his 
 doings abroad and his return, 
 282, 286 ; made secretary of state, 
 314, 315 ; appointed chief justice, 
 322. 
 
 " Massachusettensis," letters of, 82. 
 
 McDougall, gives Adams some ad 
 vice, 66. 
 
 McHenry, James, secretary at war, 
 274 ; relations \\ith \Vashington, 
 Hamilton, and Adams, 275 ; ex 
 presses views of his colleagues 
 and of Hamilton as to course to 
 be pursued on failure of French 
 mission, 283 ; subservience to 
 Hamilton and enmity to Adams, 
 311 ; forced by Adams to resign, 
 
336 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 313 ; aids Hamilton in preparing 
 his pamphlet against Adams, 319. 
 
 Monroe, James, as minister to 
 France, 274 ; Adams s reference 
 to his leave-taking, 278 ; voted 
 for by Adams as presidential 
 elector, 329. 
 
 Morris, Gouverneur, as minister to 
 France, 273. 
 
 Murray, Vans, medium of advances 
 on part of Talleyrand to the 
 United States, 293, 298 ; nomi 
 nated as minister to France, 3. iO; 
 objections to him, 300-302 ; but, 
 joined with two others, is con 
 firmed, 303. 
 
 NORTH, LORD, resigns, 213. 
 " Novanglus," letters of, 82. 
 
 OSWALD, RICHARD, emissary of Shel- 
 burne to Paris, 213 ; receives com 
 mission to treat for peace, 214 ; 
 his part in the negotiations, 216, 
 218. 
 
 Otis, .lames, speech on writs of as 
 sistance, 24 ; counsel for Boston 
 at time of stamp act, 28 ; taunts 
 Adams with lukewarmness, 46. 
 
 PAINE, ROBERT TREAT, chosen repre 
 sentative in First Congress, 53, 63. 
 
 Paine, Thomas, publishes " Com 
 mon Sense," 140. 
 
 Pickering, Timothy, letter of Ad 
 ams to, as to jealousy towards 
 New England, 135 ; charged with 
 secret ill faith towards Adams, 
 26tf ; secretary of state, 274 ; re 
 lations with AVashington, Hamil 
 ton, and Adams, 275; opposes 
 a new mission to France after 
 Pinckney s non-reception, 281 ; 
 concern in the question as to 
 rank of generals in the provi 
 sional army, 290 ; consulted by 
 Adams as to still another French 
 mission, 293; wrath at nomina 
 tion of Vans Murray, 300 ; dis 
 patch to Vans Murray for Tal 
 leyrand, 303; letter to Adams, 
 suggesting delay, 304 ; subservi 
 ence to Hamilton and enmity to 
 Adams, 311 ; dismissed from the 
 cabinet, 314 ; aids Hamilton in 
 preparing his pamphlet against 
 Adams, 319; late in life publishes 
 a pamphlet arraigning Adams s 
 administration, 326. 
 
 Pinckney, General C. C., sent as 
 
 minister to France, 274 ; but not 
 received there, 277 ; renominated, 
 280 ; further doings abroad, 282 ; 
 nominated as general in the pro 
 visional army, 289 ; in consulta 
 tion with cabinet ministers as to 
 new mission to France, 294 ; plans 
 for putting him in over Adams, as 
 president, 318 ; gets sixty-four 
 electoral votes, 321. 
 
 Pinckney, Thomas, candidate on 
 ticket with Adams for presidency 
 and vice-presidency, 258, 261 ; Ad 
 ams s valuation of, 263. 
 
 Preston. Captain, trial of, 3 3-40 
 
 QUINCY, JOSIAH, JR., associate coun 
 sel in trials of Captain Preston 
 and the British soldiers, 37. 
 
 ROCKINGHAM, Marquis of, becomes 
 prime minister, 213 ; dies, 214. 
 
 SEDGWICK, THEODORE, letter to Ham 
 ilton on nomination of Vans Mur 
 ray, 300 : with his committee on 
 nominations, visits the president, 
 301. 
 
 SeAvall, Jonathan, offers Adams 
 post of advocate-general in 
 courts of admiralty, 33. 
 
 Shelburne, Lord, correspondence 
 with Franklin, 213 ; quarrel with 
 Fox, 214 ; subsequent conduct of 
 the negotiations for peace, 216. 
 
 Sherman, Roger, member of com 
 mittee to draft a Declaration of 
 Independence, 124. 
 
 Smith, Abigail, marries John Ad 
 ams, 20. 
 
 Strachey, Mr., aids Mr. Oswald in 
 negotiations for peace, 218 ; jour 
 ney to London as to fisheries, 
 220. 
 
 TALLEYRAND, efforts to corrupt the 
 American envoys, 282,285 ; vexa 
 tion at discovery of his duplicity, 
 and efforts to renew negotiations, 
 292, 293, 298; gives assurances 
 required by Adams concerning 
 treatment of American envoys, 
 
 VAUGUYON, Due de, interferes with 
 Adams s labors in Holland, 193; 
 gives an entertainment in Ad 
 ams s honor, 196. 
 
 Vergennes, Count de ; character, 
 167-169; his purposes and his 
 
INDEX. 
 
 337 
 
 consequent influence On Mr. Ad 
 ams s instructions, 161-163 ; reply 
 to Adams ; s first letter, 170 ; re 
 quires secrecy as to purport of 
 Adams s mission, 171; vexed by 
 Mr. Adams s communications as 
 to proposed repudiation of indebt 
 edness by the states, 175-181 ; 
 accused by Adams of unfriendly 
 conspiracy with Franklin against 
 him, 182 ; administers severe re 
 buke in reply to a letter from 
 Adams, 185 ; and a still severer 
 one to a later communication, 
 188 ; obstructs Adams s labors 
 in Holland, 192, 193; conceals 
 from Adams some points in pro 
 posed negotiation for peace, 204 ; 
 endeavors to get Adams recalled, 
 207 ; shapes the instructions to 
 the peace commissioners, 210 ; 
 refuses to support Jay s objec 
 tions to proposed form of negoti 
 ation, 216 ; aids England in the 
 peace negotiations, 217 ; assails 
 the American commissioners for 
 their conduct in the peace nego 
 tiations, 222 ; remark to Mr. Ad 
 ams on his appointment to Eng 
 lish mission, 231. 
 
 WARREN, JAMES, letters of Adams 
 
 to, 65, 60, 75 ; Adams s intercepted 
 letter to, 101, 102. 
 
 Washington, George, wears his uni 
 form in Congress, 85 ; story of his 
 appointment to command the 
 army, 95-97 ; value of, as com 
 pared with John Adams, in the 
 Revolution, 134 et seq. ; effort to 
 set up Gates as a rival of, 136 ; 
 attacks upon, 256 ; at Adams s 
 inauguration, 266 ; commander- 
 in-chief of provisional army, 288 ; 
 concern in the quarrel concern 
 ing the rank of the subordinate 
 generals, 289-291 ; possibly pres 
 ent at consultation of Adams s 
 cabinet, 294 ; plan for making 
 him a candidate for the presi 
 dency, 317. 
 
 Wolcott, Oliver, secretary of the 
 treasury, 274 ; relations with 
 Washington, Hamilton, and Ad 
 ams, 275 ; opposes a new mission 
 to France, 277, 281 ; concern in 
 the question as to rank of gen 
 erals in the provisional army, 
 290 ; subservience to Hamilton 
 and enmity to Adams, 311 ; re 
 signs from the cabinet, 315 ; ap 
 pointed a judge, 315 ; aids Ham 
 ilton in preparing his pamphlet 
 against Adams, 319. 
 

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