The Writings of Samuel Adams - Volume 4

by Samuel Adams

TO JAMES WARREN.

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

PHILADE July — 1778

MY DEAR SIR

Capt Manley1 has obligd me with your favor of the 5th. He and McNeil are both here with different Views. The one to obtain another Ship, and the other to get the Sentence of the Court Martial by which he is censurd & broke, reversd. Perhaps both may be disappointed. I have receivd a Number of Letters by both. One from you. To this I shall pay a very particular Regard, because I am well satisfied you never suffer Prejudices to divert your Attention from the great object—the publick Good. "Manly is a blunt, honest and I believe brave officer.' I observe your Caution; and I admire it because I think it is a proof of your Integrity. Manlys Bravery is an Article of your Beliefe. His Bluntness& Honesty, of Certainty. I have not yet lookd into the Papers; but I recollect, when they were read in Congress, to have heard the Want of Experience imputed to him, and some thing that had the Appearance of blameing him for not giving out any Signals for the Direction of the Ships under his Command. This it must be ownd, strongly implys the Want if not the total Absense of Discretion. Now I would ask my Friend, whether the Character of a blunt & honest officer entitles him to the Command of one of our Capital Ships if he is "deficient in point of Experience & Discretion." The Characteristick of a Sailor is the blunt honest Tar. They carry this Character to an inimitable Height. But surely every honest blunt or even brave Tar is not fit for Command in our Navy. I some times fear there was an Error in the beginning. Thus much for Manly. "His Address (viz Mc Neils) is insinuating. His Assurance great. He may tell you fine Storys" &c. How contemptible does he appear. I should think he had taken a Lesson from Hutchinsons political Book, if I had not Reason to believe that he used to despise him most heartily. But I advert to a Letter from another of my Friends to whose upright opinions I have always given Weight; there I find "He is open & sincere'' Synonimous Terms with blunt & honest. "His Temper is naturally warm which he has sometimes indulgd in speaking his Mind freely of Persons in office"—This you know has always been deemd an unpardonable Sin, and I am affraid it always will be. To be sure it always will be so deemd by that Kind of Men in office who meet with none to hinder them from persisting in the most expensive Blunders but the open sincere and warm Friends of our Country. I am warrented in supposing this Character belongs to Capt Mc Neil, because my worthy Correspondent in whose Veracity & Judgment I have before told you I place a Confidence, has affirmd to me, that he knows his Sufferings for our glorious Cause. Has not Mc Neil struck upon this Rock? It is possible he has. Says my friendly Correspondent "We all know his Zeal & Sufferings for our glorious Cause." Such a Character commands my Friendship; but it has no Consideration in the present Appeal. Has he had a fair Trial? I pay a proper Regard to the Decisions of a Court martial, & shall not give my Vote for altering them in any Instance but when Error Fraud or partiality shall appear plainly to my own Satisfaction.

Our Navy officers must not expect to pick & chuse for themselves. They ought to be content with the Appointments given to them. It is true Appointments should be made with more Discretion than I think they can be by any Men at three or four hundred Miles Distance. For this Reason I moved that they should be made by the Navy Board, which obtaind in a certain Degree as you have seen or will see by a Letter from the Marine Committee. Had this been the Case before Olney would have remaind in the , Resistance & Bush must have waited for another. If the Queen of France is a better Vessel it will turn out not to the Disadvantage of Olney. While we have more officers in Commission than Ships, there must be Disappointments, Envy, & Suspicions (oftentimes unreasonable) of each other. This is the Make of Man, and we may as well think of stopping the Tide as altering it. The Appointment of Landais affords an ample Subject for the Observations of Speculatists and the Resentment of Navy officers. I think he is, as you observe an ingenuous & well behaved Man, and if he is an able & experiencd officer, as we are assured he is by those whose Duty it is to give us the best Intelligence, it is a pity that two very good Lieutenants shd have the Ship & the Service on that account. I hope others may be found to fill their places. "It is an opinion that I was Landais' chief Patron." On this occasion you discover your self, as you are disposd to do on every occasion, partial in my favor. If I was in any Degree instrumental in promoting Capt Landais, it was because I really thought he would be of eminent Use to our Navy. And I question whether it would not have been thought a well judgd Appointment, if there had not been a fanciful Predilection in favor of Another. Even the Name of the Ship may have given Disgust to some Men. I hope when Manly is provided with such a Ship as will please him the Difficulties or Obstructions in the Way of getting the Alliance manned will be removd. I am very sure your Exertions will not be wanting to promote the Service.

Adieu,

1 Recently of the Ship Hancock. The record of his court martial was laid before the Continental Congress on August 5, and ordered to be referred to the Marine Committee for filing among its papers.