John

Abigail

     I never enjoyed better health in any of my journeys, but this has been the most irksome, the most gloomy and melancholy I ever made. I cannot with all my philosophy and Christian resignation keep up my spirits. The dismal prospect before me, my family, and my country, is too much for my fortitude.

         ”Bear me, some god! Oh quickly snatch me hence,
         To wholesome solitude, the nurse of sense;
         Where Contemplation prunes her ruffled wings,
         And the free soul looks down to pity kings.”*

     The day before yesterday a gentleman came and spoke to me, asked me to dine with him on Saturday; said he was very sorry I had not better lodgings in town; desired, if I came to town again, I would take a bed at his house and make his house my home; I should always be very welcome. I told him I had not the pleasure of knowing him. He said his name was Codman¹. I said I was very much obliged to him, but I was very well accommodated where I lodged. I had a clean bed and a very neat house, a chamber to myself, and everything I wanted.
     Saturday, I dined with him, in company with Brigadier Preble, Major Freeman² and his son, etc., and a very genteel dinner we had. Salt fish and all its apparatus, roast chickens, bacon, pease, as fine a salad as ever was made, and a rich meat pie. Tarts and custards, etc., good wine, and as good punch as ever you made. A large, spacious, elegant house, yard, and garden; I thought I had got into the palace of a nobleman. After dinner, when I was obliged to come away, he renewed his invitation to me to make his house my home whenever I shall come to town again.
     Friday I dined with Colonel, Sheriff, alias Bill Tyng.³ Mrs. Ross and her daughter Mrs. Tyng dined with us, and the court and clerk, and some of the bar. At table we were speaking about Captain MacCarty†, which led to the African trade. Judge Trowbridge said, “That was a very humane and Christian trade, to be sure, that of making slaves.” “Aye,” says I, “it makes no great odds; it is a trade that almost all mankind have been concerned in, all over the globe, since Adam, more or less, in one way or another.” This occasioned a laugh.
     At another time Judge Trowbridge said, “It seems, by Colonel Barré’s speeches, that Mr. Otis has acquired honor by releasing his damages to Robinson.‡” “Yes,” says I, “he has acquired honor with all generations.” Trowbridge: “He did not make much profit, I think.” Adams: “True, but the less profit, the more honor. He was a man of honor and generosity, and those who think he was mistaken will pity him.”
     Thus you see how foolish I am. I cannot avoid exposing myself before these high folks; my feelings will at times overcome my modesty and reserve, my prudence, policy, and discretion. I have a zeal at my heart for my country and her friends, which I cannot smother or conceal; it will burn out at times and in companies where it ought to be latent in my breast. This zeal will prove fatal to the fortune and felicity of my family, if it is not regulated by a cooler judgment than mine has hitherto been. Colonel Otis’s phrase* is, “The zeal-pot boils over.”
     I am to wait upon brother Bradbury to meeting to-day, and to dine with brother Wyer. When I shall get home, I know not, but if possible, it shall be before next Saturday night. I long for that time to come, when my dear wife and my charming little prattlers will embrace me.

     Your,
     John Adams
     Falmouth
     9 July 1774

Footnotes:

     * – John quotes a poem by Alexander Pope, “The Fourth Satire of Dr. John Donne Versified,” lines 184-187. Interestingly, John misremembered the first line. It should have read, “Bear me, some god! Oh quickly bear me hence,”.
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     ¹ – Richard Codman, a merchant from Falmouth.
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     ² – Brigadier Jedediah Preble, served under General James Wolfe in Canada before becoming a representative to the Massachusetts General Court. Enoch Freeman was a major in the Militia.
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     ³ – William Tyng (1737-1807), sheriff of Cumberland County, was recently commissioned as a Colonel by Governor Thomas Gage.
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     † – Captain MacCarty, unidentified, possibly a slave trader.
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     ‡ – Over the previous decade, Isaac Barré (1726-1802) had been a frequent speaker in the House of Commons, speaking up for the rights of the Americans. In a speech against the Stamp Act given in 1765, his use of the phrase “sons of liberty” to refer to the American patriots is one of the earliest known uses of that distinctive phrase.
James Otis Jr. had been assaulted on September 5, 1769, by John Robinson, a Crown Officer. John Adams represented Otis in his suit for damages. Despite winning £2,000, after receiving an apology, Otis refused to accept any damages beyond court costs, lawyer’s fees, and medical expenses.
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     * – Colonel James Otis (1702-1778) was the father of James Otis Jr., the aforementioned orator and propagandist against parliamentary rule.
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John

Abigail

     Have you seen a list of the addressers of the late Governor*? There is one abroad, with the character, profession, or occupation of each person against his name. I have never seen it, but Judge Brown says against the name of Andrew Faneuil Phillips is “Nothing.” And that Andrew, when he first heard it, said, “Better be nothing with one side than everything with the other.”
     This was witty and smart, whether Andrew said it or what is more likely, it was made for him. A notion prevails among all parties that is is politest and genteelest to be on the side of the administration; that the better sort, the wiser few, are on one side, and that the multitude, the vulgar, the herd, the rabble, the mob only, are on the other. So difficult is it for the frail, feeble mind of man to shake itself loose from all prejudice and habits. However, Andrew or his prompter is perfectly right in his judgment, and will finally be proved to be, so that the lowest on the Tory scale will make it more for his interest than the highest on the Whiggish. And as long as a man adheres immovably to his own interest and has understanding or luck enough to secure and promote it, he will have the character of a man of sense, and will be respected by a selfish world. I know of no better reason for it than this, that most men are conscious that they aim at their own interest only, and that if they fail it is owing to short sight or ill luck, and therefore they can’t blame, but secretly applaud, admire, and sometimes even envy those whose capacities have proved greater and fortunes more prosperous.
     I am engaged in a famous cause,–the cause of King, of Scarborough¹, versus a mob that broke into his house and rifled his papers and terrified him, his wife, children and servants in the night. The terror and distress, the distraction and horror of his family cannot be described by words or painted upon canvas. It is enough to move a statue, to melt a heart of stone, to read the story. A mind susceptible of the feelings of humanity, a heart which can be touched with sensibility for human misery and wretchedness, must reluct, must burn with resentment and indignation at such outrageous injuries. These private mobs I do and will detest. If popular commotions can be justified in opposition to attacks upon the Constitution, it can be only when fundamentals are invaded, nor then unless for absolute necessity, and with great caution. But these tarrings and featherings, this breaking open houses by rude and insolent rabble in resentment for private wrongs, or in pursuance of private prejudices and passions, must be discountenanced. It cannot be even excused upon any principle which can be entertained by a good citizen, a worthy member of society.
     Dined with Mr. Collector Francis Waldo, Esquire², in company with Mr. Winthrop, the two Quincys, and the two Sullivans³, all very social and cheerful–full of politics. S. Quincy’s tongue ran as fast as anybody’s. He was clear in it, that the House of Commons had no right to take money out of our pockets more than any foreign state; repeated large paragraphs from a publication of Mr. Burke’s in 1766, and large paragraphs from Junius Americanus†, etc. This is to talk and to shine before persons who have no capacity of judging, and who do not know that he is ignorant of every rope in the ship.
     I shan’t be able to get away till next week. I am concerned only in two or three cases, and none of them are come on yet. Such an Eastern circuit I never made. I shall bring home as much as I brought from home, I hope, and not much more, I fear. 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 for for my remaining days.
     For God’s sake make your children hardy, active, and industrious; for strength, activity and industry will be their only resource and dependence.

     John Adams
     Falmouth
     7 July 1774

Footnotes:

* – In the spring of 1774, General Thomas Gage removed Thomas Hutchinson as Governor. In response to this, many of Hutchinson’s friends and supporters signed a testimonial support, titled “Address from the Merchants and Traders of the Town of Boston, and others”, dated May 28, 1774. Soon enough, patriot printers quickly printed and circulated two pamphlets listing the names of each “addresser”, as they came to be known, including their occupations, addresses, as well as contemptuous descriptions of their character and aspirations. In subsequent letters, both John and Abigail adopt “addressers” as a kind of shorthand for Boston Tories in general.
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¹ – Richard King was the largest creditor in Scarborough and was the treasurer of the parish. However, he supported the Stamp Act, which needless to say produced a great deal of resentment among many of his neighbors, including those who were in his debt. Some of these individuals ransacked King’s home on March 19, 1766.
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² – Francis Waldo was the former customs collector for the port of Falmouth, and was the first to hold that post.
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³ – Even though these men have been referenced in previous letters, I thought I’d give their full names again, since it’s kinda hard to keep track of them all. They are Samuel Winthrop, Samuel Quincy, Josiah Quincy, James Sullivan, and John Sullivan. If you’d like to read more about them, check out their respective tags listed below.
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† – Here John is referring to two different works; first, Edmund Burke’s 1766 “A Short Account of a Late Short Administration”; second, Arthur Lee’s collection of pro-American propaganda pieces, “The Political Detection: or, The Treachery and Tyranny of Administration Both at Home and Abroad; Displayed in a Series of Letters, Signed Junius Americanus”, published in London in 1770. Most historians agree, that’s one heckuva long name for a book. Total TL;DR!
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