TO MRS. ADAMS.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
PHILAD Oct 10 1780
MY DEAR BETSY
I had the Pleasure last Week of receiving your very affectionate Letter of the 14th of Septr by the Post. You did not expressly tell me that you was well. A material Circumstance, which you must never omit to mention. It is a great Satisfaction to me to be informd, that Mr Arthur Lee was respectfully treated by my Friends in Boston. My Friends are his, & I believe, on the same Principle. But Mr —— has not seen him. Is not Mr —— my Friend? He professes to be such; and I do verily believe he is as much so as he can be. Could I always adjust my Ideas of Politicks to his Views, I might perhaps insure the most flattering Expressions of his Friendship.
I expect soon to see it announcd in the Papers, that Mr Hancock is elected Governor of the Common Wealth of Massachusetts. I confess I did not foresee that Boston would have been so united as I find they were, when two such Competitors as he & Mr Bowdoin were set up. Their respective Characters, Abilities & Merit were well known to the Electors, who have therefore acted with their Eyes open. It is to be presumd, that they have been influencd to this Choice by the pure Motives of publick Affection. A due Attention to the Administration of Government, I fancy, will soon determine whether they have acted with Wisdom or not.
By the inclosd Paper you will observe, that the late Genl Arnold, after having committed the blackest Treason against his Country has thrown himself into the Arms of its Enemies. You know, that I have long had my Suspicions of this Traitor, & therefore you will not wonder that I am not so much astonishd as if any other officer had been detected. He has been gibbeted in the Streets by the Populace, anathematizd by the Clergy in the Pulpit, & his Name has with Indignation been struck out of the List of Officers by Order of Congress.1 Remember me to my Family & Friends.
Adieu.
1 A draft dated October 3, 1780, has at this point the words: "This City has for some time past been a complete Hospital, and many are still sick."