[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
Mar 9 [1779]
Mr L will write you fully by this Oppty. I take up my pen chiefly to let you know that I am in the Land of the Living and bear you affectionately on my Mind. While I am in this World I am resolvd that no Vexation shall put me out of Temper if I can possibly command myself. Even old Age which is making Strides towards me shall not prevail to make me peevish. I find that an older Man than I am, can in the apparent Coolness of Mind, stabb a dreaded Rival to the Vitals. His Words are like Honey, but there is a large Mixture of Poison. You who are in the Midst of Life & Usefulness, do not expect to escape the envenomd Shaft, but you have always the Cure at hand, Moderation, Fortitude & Prudence. It matters little what becomes of an old worn out Servt in this World. He has his foot on the Grave & with Pleasure views it. But the virtuous Patriot, who is in the full Exercise of the Powers of Body & Mind, shall have my remaining feeble Voice in his Support agt the insidious Enemy of him & Mankind. I have said eno on this Head, & have not time to begin a new Subject. Adieu.
TO BENJAMIN AUSTIN.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
PHILADE Mar 9—79
MY DEAR SIR
Mr Hoskins who arrivd here a few days ago, was kind enough to deliver to me your favor of the 7th of Feb. It gave me a particular pleasure, because I was convincd that you had not totally forgot your old Friend. You see, I rank myself among your friends. HOW often have we chatted together by the fire side, and settled essential Points to mutual Satisfaction. Yet we have not always thought alike of Men who have conducted the noble Contest for the Rights of our Country, which we have been & are still engagd in. I congratulate my Countrymen on our having thus far got through the Conflict, but we are still engagd in it. And I repeat it, because while too many of our Countrymen are flattering themselves with the airy Prospect of Peace, Britain, if we may credit our latest & best Accounts from Europe, is preparing for a vigorous Campaign. It is prudent for us to enquire of the Watchman What of the Night? The Caution given us on another occasion may with propriety be adapted to this. Be ye ready; lest when the Time of Danger approaches, ye be found distracted with the eager Pursuit of Riches, or sleeping in the delusive Lap of pleasure & Dissipation. But this is a Digression from the intended Subject of my Letter. You ask my opinion of two Men who have lately appeard on the publick Stage; and with your usual Frankness, express your own opinion without a Doubt, that Congress will soon convince the one of his Folly & the other of his Weakness. But have you not misunderstood the Characters of these Men? Has not the first by his artful Address conceald his Weakness from the pub-lick Eye, while the other, by an improper Use of the Weapons in his hands, has given Advantage to his Adversary, and thereby discoverd his Folly. Mr Dean had in his first Publication said so much as to make it necessary that some other Person should say more. Common Sense undertook the Task and producd stubborn & undeniable facts, but not contenting himself with relating such facts only as were pertinent to his Argument he gave occasion to the Swarms of Writers against him to avail themselves, by diverting the Attention of his Readers from the proper Point. I will mention an Instance. After he had provd to the Satisfaction of every one, that the Cannon & Stores forwarded to America by Mr Deane, had been negociated by Mary Johnson & Beaumarchais before his Arrival in France, and consequently that the Merit of the Negociation did not belong to Mr Dean, what Necessity was there for Common Sense to mention them as a Present? It was nothing to his purpose; and it was too delicate a Subject for him to touch upon, or to attempt to prove if it had been true. His prudence therefore and even his Veracity was called in Question by his Adversaries, and his Authority & Influence as a Writer of facts lessend. The faithful Historian however, will hereafter unfold the secret Politicks of the present Day. The Newspaper Writings of these two Men, have drawn not only the Conduct but the Characters of others into Dispute. Had Mr Dean been only called upon explicitly to state his Charges, if he had any, against Dr Lee, I believe he would not have attempted it, and a Scrutiny of any Mans Character but his own would have been unnecessary. Although he has insinuated many things against the Doctor, & steppd aside from the Line of Propriety & Decency to bring in Invective, yet I do not recollect that he has explicitly criminated him in either, nor do I believe it is in his Power. If no one steps forward to accuse him, why should his Integrity be doubted? Why should you, my Friend, express yourself in so languid a Tone, "I cant yet but have a great opinion of Dr Lee," and "rather than the Cause of America should be betrayd I would give up the dearest Connections I have on Earth." Has Dr Lee forfeited the good opinion you "always had" of him? Do you doubt his Integrity & Attachment to the Cause of America? Has any one chargd him with Mal Conduct? Shall the mere Insinuations & angry Reflections of a disappointed Man lessen your good opinion of one whom you know to have been, early, decided, active, persevering and inflexible in the Cause of America? If this should be the prevailing Disposition, what honest Man will be safe? The consistent Patriot, after having endurd Fatigue & Danger for the Establishment of publick Liberty, would find himself still in the greatest Perils among his own Countrymen. I will say nothing decisively of Mr Dean at present; but I would assure you of one thing, that were I connected with Dr Lee as a publick Man, and conscious of my own Tardiness, I should think I had every thing to apprehend, not from a peevish, fretful Temper with which interrested Men have attempted to stigmatize him, but from his stern Virtue and Republican Jealousy. I may be partial to Dr Lee. I confess I feel the strongest Obligation to him, for the eminent Services he renderd to America when he was in England, and to the Massachusetts Bay in particular. I hope my Countrymen are not all ungrateful. Some of them, I have been taught to believe are so; otherwise the publick Character of an old Servant would not have been aspersd, nor wd it have been said, as I am informd it has, that he had been bribd to desert his Country. It is his honorable Lot to have Enemies. Honorable, because he flatters himself his Enemies are among the weak & the wicked. I leave my own Character, under God, in the Care of my virtuous fellow Citizens. I will contend for Dr Lees, because I am his Friend; and I am his friend, because I have long had abundant Reason to be convincd that he is a Friend to our Country. I have said I may be thought partial to him. Be pleasd then to take the Testimony of another, and show it to his Friends and his Enemies. "Your old friend, says one, is a Man of Honor and Integrity." "He has been of opinion that the publick Monies have been too freely issued here, & has often opposd it." Let me remark here that it is no Wonder he has exposd himself to the Resentment of a Man thro whose hands the Chief of the money passed. "Insinuations, I have been told, have been made at Court against your old friend that he was too friendly to the English, too much attachd to Ld Shelburne & even that he corresponded with his Lordship & communicated Intelligence to him. This, whoever suggested it, I am perfectly confident was a cruel Calumny. You and I have had opportunity to know his invariable Attachment to our Cause long before Hostilities commencd & I have not a Color of Ground for Suspicion that from that time to this he has deviated from the Cause of his Country in Thought Word or Deed."
You may tell the Friends of Virtue and Liberty, that the Letter from which the foregoing Extracts are taken was written to me by one in whom they have always very justly placed great Confidence. I could transcribe more Passages which mention Dr Lee as "a worthy Character," the unwarrantable Lengths to which the Animosities of interrested Men have been carried against him, & the Inveteracy of many Subaltern & collateral Characters but I think I have given enough to satisfy every reasonable Man.
Adieu.