TO SAMUEL COOPER.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
PHILADE Apr 23 1781
MY DEAR SIR
I did not receive your favor of the 3d Instt till yesterday; a week later than Letters of the same Date from some others of my Boston friends were brought to me by the Post. As the Subject is delicate, I do not chuse to continue it in this Letter, which is to go thro a Channel provd from repeated Experience to be uncertain & unsafe. It was for this Reason that I committed to the Care of a private friend, my Letter to Mrs A of the 1st of Feby which she communicated to you. I am glad she did it in a Manner so acceptable. Indeed I never found Reason to doubt her Discretion. What you have written is very obliging & satisfactory to me. I hope to have the Pleasure of seeing you next Month. We will then, after our usual Manner, disclose each others Hearts.
Your Letter of the 31st Decr was not long ago deliverd to me by the
Count Chartres. He appears to me to be an amiable & fine-spirited young
Nobleman. After a short stay here, he preceded with the Marqs de la
Fayette to the Southward.
You will recollect a Design which I mentiond to you respecting our Friend Mr L, & the Omission which, we were informd the Evening before I left Boston, had happend thro Mistake. I early wrote to you & requested your Influence to have it rectified. I have heard Nothing of it since. In my Opinion the most essential Interest of the Town of Boston will be servd by it, & therefore I cannot look upon it as a Matter of Indifference. Not being acquainted with that Gentleman in the early Times of our Contest, I had by some means conceivd an Opinion of him not so favorable; but having had an Opportunity of critically observing him in the late Convention at Cambridge, I am satisfied he is a Virtuous Citizen, and possessd of the genuine Principles of New England. That Mr Rivington, if this Letter should fall into his Hands, may not pretend to be at a LOSS to know what is here meant, I will inform him that the genuine Principles of New England are Republican Principles which have been admired by some of the greatest Characters, whom (if he is an Englishman) his Country can boast of. You & I, among others, have had the Honor of being abusd by Rivingtons Press. A labord Performance has lately crept out, called the Times. I have had a cursory reading of it. It appears to me so much like the Productions of certain Geniuses who figurd in Mr Popes Time, that had the Author been cotemporary with them, a Page might have been added to the Dunciad, to immortalize his Works. I will endeavor to get some Parts of it transcribd & carry them to Boston. I am sure the reading it would serve to divert rather than to give you the least Pain. My due Regards to Friends.
Your affectionate
TO THOMAS McKEAN.1
[MS., Historical Society of Pennsylvania.]
BOSTON Augt 29th 1781
MY HONORD FRIEND
I have not yet acknowledgd your obliging Letter of the 8th of July, deliverd to me by Mr Davidson. Bodily Indisposition prevented my writing, when he returnd. I fancy he settled his Affairs here to his own Satisfaction. He is much esteemd by those who were favord with his Company, & I hope he met with Nothing disagreable to him during his short Stay among us.
Colo John Laurens with our Friend Mr Pain arrivd here a few Days ago from France. He left the Town the Day after his Arrival. His Visit to me was so short that I could not converse with him so fully as I wishd. I hope he will be able to inform you of his complete Success in his Negociation. Will you be so kind as to give me such Intelligence as you may receive from him or any other Person from Europe. I wish to know the true State of our Affairs. Are we soon to have Peace? However desireable this may be, we must not wish for it on any Terms but such as shall he honorable & safe to our Country. Let us not disgrace our selves by giving just Occasion for it to be said hereafter, that we finishd this great Contest with an inglorious Accommodation. Things are whisperd here which, if true, will cause much Discontent. The Citizens of this Part of America will say, and judge, my dear Sir, whether it would not be just, that the fishing Banks are at least as important as Tobacco yards, or Rice Swamps, or the flourishing Wheat Fields of Pennsylvania. The Name only of Independence is not worth the Blood of a single Citizen. We have not been so long contending for Trifles. A Navy must support our Independence; and Britain will tell you, that the Fishery is a grand Nursery of Seamen. —I understand that G M,2 is appointed Deputy Financier, R R L,3 Secretary of foreign Affairs, and if Gl S4 is appointed to the War Department and Gl M5 to the" Marine, there will be a compleat N Y Administration. It may be well to enquire, what Influence has brought this about, & whether so much Power vested in the Citizens of any one State will excite the reasonable Jealousy of the rest. Adieu my Friend. Find a Moments Leisure to write to me.
1 President of Congress.
2 Gouverneur Morris.
3 Robert R. Livingston.
4 Philip Schuyler.
5 Alexander McDougall.
TO THOMAS McKEAN.
[MS., Historical Society of Pennsylvania; a draft is in the Samuel
Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Sept 19 1781
MY HONORD FRIEND
The Bearer, Major Brown, is a Person who has deservd well of the United States, and has for that Reason the Esteem of Men of Distinction in this Commonwealth. He was formerly a Soldier in the British Service, and before the Commencement of Hostilities, he left that Service—Immediately after the Battle of Lexington he joynd the American Army in which his Zeal & Activity was signalizd—In July 1776 he servd as Major in the Militia of this State at Ticonderoga under Genl Gates—In 1777 he was appointed Depy Muster Master by Col Ward, and when the Convention Troops arrivd at Cambridge he was employd by Genl Heath as Town Major— He has Certificates of his Fidelity from that General as well as the Commissary of Musters Coll Ward— Your Attention to a Request he will make to Congress for Allowance for Depreciation (if you can find Leisure) will much oblige me.
Will you suffer me Sir, in great Haste, to offer a few indigested Hints for your Consideration. I take it for granted that a very great Majority of the People in Each of the United States are determind to support this righteous & necessary War, till they shall obtain their grand Object, an undisputed Sovereignty. This must hereafter be maintaind, under God, by the Wisdom and Vigour of their own Councils & their own Strength— Their Policy will lead them, if they mean to form any Connections with Europe, to make themselves respectable in the Eyes of the Nations by holding up to them the Benefits of their Trade— Trade must be so free to all as to make it the Interest of Each to protect it till they are able to protect it themselves—This, the United States must do by a Navy. Till they shall have erected a powerful Navy, they will be lyable to Insults wch may injure & depreciate their Character as a Sovereign & independent State; & while they may be incapable of resenting it themselves, no friendly power may venture or care to resent it on their Behalf. The U. S. must then build a Navy. They have or may have all the Materials in Plenty—But what will Ships of War avail them without Seamen? And Where will they find a Nursery for Seamen but in THE FISHERY? Adieu my dear Sir.
Your affectionate