A Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and of Washington and Patrick Henry. L. Carroll Judson
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fire that increased in volume as time rolled on. He was the first man who proposed to the people of Massachusetts the non-importation act, the committees of correspondence, and the congress that assembled at Philadelphia in 1774. Nor did he confine his exertions or limit his influence to New England alone; he corresponded with the eminent patriots of the middle and southern states, and contributed largely in producing unity of sentiment and concert of action in the glorious cause of liberty throughout the colonies. Over his own constituents he held a magic influence. At the sound of his voice the fury of a Boston mob would instantly cease; he could lead the lion of faction with a single hair. The people knew well he would maintain what was clearly right, and submit to nothing, willingly, that was clearly wrong.
When the affray of the first of March, 1770, between the British soldiers and some of the citizens of Boston occurred, the influence of Mr. Adams prevented the further effusion of blood, after the populace had been roused to vengeance by the death of several of their companions. He addressed the assembled multitude, and proposed the appointment of a committee to wait upon Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson, and request the immediate removal of the soldiers, then quartered upon the town. The plan was approved, and Mr. Adams was made the chairman of the committee. His excellency at first refused the request, but found that fatal results would follow if he persisted. The chairman met all his objections fearlessly, and confuted them triumphantly, and told him plainly, that an immediate compliance with the request of the people would alone prevent the most disastrous consequences, and that the Lieutenant Governor would be held responsible for the further waste of human life. The troops were removed to the castle, and peace restored.
Every exertion was used by the adherents of the crown to induce Mr. Adams to relinquish his whig principles, and accept of golden honours under the King. Governor Gage sent a special messenger, Colonel Fenton, to him, to induce him to bow his knee to the throne. After finding that England was not rich enough to buy him, he threatened to have him arrested and sent beyond the seas to be tried for high treason. He listened with more apparent attention to this last suggestion, and, after a pause, asked Colonel Fenton if he would truly deliver his reply to Governor Gage. On receiving an affirmative assurance, he rose from his chair, and assuming an air of withering contempt, he said “I trust I have long since made my peace with the King of Kings. No personal consideration shall induce me to abandon the righteous cause of my country. Tell Governor Gage, it is the advice of Samuel Adams to him, no longer to exasperate the feelings of an insulted people.”
This reply roused the ire of the royal governor, and when he subsequently issued his proclamation, offering a free pardon to such of the rebels as would return to what he termed their duty, he excepted Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The two patriots received this mark of distinction as a high commission from the throne, directing their future course. They received it as a carte blanche, that left them as free as mountain air in all their actions. No bribe could seduce, or threat divert Mr. Adams from the patriotic path he had marked out. He placed his trust in the Rock of Ages, and enjoyed the rich consolations of an approving conscience, and the unlimited confidence and cheering approbation of the friends of equal rights. These were more dearly prized by him than all the royal honours within the gift of kings.
Mr. Adams was from that time forward marked out as an object of vengeance by the British authorities. He was one of the causes that hastened on the final commencement of open hostilities. The object of the king’s troops in proceeding to Lexington on the memorable 19th of April, 1775, was to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and obtain their papers. Apprised of their business, General Joseph Warren despatched an express late in the evening to the two patriots, warning them of the approaching danger. In a few moments after they received the information, the British troops entered the house in which they were, from whom they narrowly escaped. In a few short hours the dark curtain rose, and the revolutionary tragedy commenced. The last maternal cord was severed, the great seal of the original compact was dissolved in blood, and the covenants of the two parties were fully cancelled.
Mr. Adams remained in the neighbourhood; and the next morning, as the day dawned, and the sun rose without a cloud to dim its rays, he remarked to a friend, “this is a glorious day for America.” He viewed the sacrifice as an earnest of future blessings and ultimate happiness.
To rouse the people to action, now became the sole business of this devoted friend of his bleeding country. Having been a member of the Congress that met at Philadelphia the previous year, he was well convinced, from the feelings then expressed by the members from all the colonies, that the simultaneous efforts of those opposed to the usurpations of the crown, would be exerted in the common cause against the common enemy. They only waited for the grand signal to action; this had now been given; the tocsin of war had been sounded; the requium of battle had been sung; its heart piercing notes were wafted far and wide on the wings of echo, and were responded to by millions of patriotic souls, resolved on liberty or death, victory or the grave. Mr. Adams mourned deeply the death of his friends who were the martyrs of that tragical, yet glorious day; but rejoiced that their funeral knell would shake to its very centre the temple of British power in America, and that their blood would cry to Heaven for vengeance, and incite to vigorous and triumphant action, the hardy sons of the new world. The event gave to his own mind new powers of propulsion, and nerved him with fresh vigour to meet the fiery trials that were in reserve for him. As dangers increased he became more bold in his propositions to the people to maintain their rights; as the wrath of his enemies grew hotter against him, he became more highly appreciated by the populace, and was uniformly styled, Samuel Adams the Patriot. His fame and his influence expanded with each revolving day; his friends were animated by his counsels and eloquence; his foes were astounded and chagrined at the boldness of his career. In the assembly of his own state, he effected the passage of a series of resolutions deemed treasonable by the royal governor, by locking the door and keeping the key himself to prevent the proceedings of the house from being known in time for the adherents of the crown to defeat them. In the Congress of 1776, he was among the first to propose and strongly advocate the declaration of independence; and always contended it should have followed immediately after the battle of Lexington. He demonstrated all his propositions in a clear, calm, dignified and logical manner; and always planted himself upon the firm basis of reason and justice. He was extremely zealous, but not rash; he was ardent and decisive, but wise and judicious. When the Declaration of Rights was adopted by the Continental Congress, on the 4th of July, 1776, he most cheerfully affixed his name to that sacred instrument without the least hesitation. He had been an able and eloquent advocate of the measure; he had long cherished and fondly nursed the project of an unequivocal separation from the mother country, and rejoiced at the final consummation of his ardent desires.
During the darkest periods of the revolution, he was calm and cheerful, and did much to banish despair from the minds of the desponding. In 1777, when Congress was obliged to fly to Lancaster, and a dismal gloom was spread over the cause of the patriots like the mantle of night, several of the leading members were convened, in company with Mr. Adams, and were conversing upon the disasters of the American arms, and concluded the chance for ultimate success was desperate. Mr. Adams replied, “If this be our language, it is so indeed. If we wear long faces, they will become fashionable. Let us banish such feelings, and show a spirit that will keep alive the confidence of the people. Better tidings will soon arrive. Our cause is just and righteous, and we shall never be abandoned by Heaven, while we show ourselves worthy of its aid and protection.” At that time there were but twenty-eight members in Congress, and Mr. Adams remarked, “it was the smallest, but truest Congress they ever had.”
Shortly after that trying period, the rays of hope dawned upon them, the news of the surrender of Burgoyne removed the long faces, and put a new aspect upon the American cause. The friends of liberty were reanimated; their hearts were enlivened by fresh courage; the anchor of hope held them more firmly to their moorings. The arrival of Lord Howe, the Earl of Carlisle, and Mr. Eden, with what they termed the olive branch of peace from Lord North, also created a new excitement. Mr. Adams was on the committee appointed to treat with these messengers of the king. On examining the terms proposed, the committee found that the pretended olive branch had been plucked from the Bohon Upas of an overbearing and corrupt ministry, and promptly replied, through Mr. Adams, “Congress will attend to no terms of peace that are inconsistent with the honour