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tioned in history, who has expended a more ample fortune in promoting the liberties of his country.

It is said he was very passionately devoted to social amusements. His habitation was every day crowded with guests, either of citizens or strangers, who were allured by the splendour of his hospitality; whom he entertained, however, with no riotous dissipation, but with a becoming elegance and propriety; nor is he to be censured, if offering to his countrymen no example of insolence, or illiberal debauch; if using the beneficence of fortune, he sometimes relieved the austerities of occupation by the pleasures of a generous festivity. He encountered, in the promotion of honest enterprises, many labours and dangers; and has left upon the records of his country, a testimony which the malevolence of time cannot destroy, that no seductions of pleasure, that not even the decrepitude of disease withheld him from the service of the republic.

His exertions were employed, it should also be remembered, not only without intermission, but from the minutest to the most exalted duties of a statesman; from the humble debates of a town meeting, to the deliberations of a senate. And to have retained, for the most part, with a frank and generous disposition, with a familiarity of intercourse and continual exhibition, the evanescent affections of the multitude; and this, too, amidst the factious passions of a revolution, implies no ordinary dexterity and address. For what is there in moral or physical excellence that does not lose, by frequency, the admiration of mortals ?-Genius is divested of her sublimity, Wit of her ornaments, and even Virtue is disrobed of her majesty by exposure to the capricious observation of

man.

SAMUEL ADAMS.

WITH the names of Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin, stands inseparably united that of Adams; and they form together the brightest constellation which illumines the revolutionary annals of our country. It was the last, however, alone, which was borne by two individuals, each perhaps equally conspicuous and equally serviceable in the cause, though differing much in their course of life, their opinions and their dispositions.

SAMUEL ADAMS, whose name as a delegate from Massachusetts, immediately follows that of Hancock on the Declaration of Independence, was, without doubt, one of the most remarkable among those men, whose lives we are recording, and we shall scarcely find a great event in the history of the revolution with which he was not in some way connected. He was born at Quincy, near Boston, on the twenty-second of September, 1722, and was descended from a family of much respectability that had settled in New England, at a very early period. His father was for many years a representative for the town of Boston, in the colonial house of assembly, to which he was annually elected till his death. He was long a justice of the peace and a selectman of the town; possessing considerable wealth, and much respected and esteemed.

Samuel Adams acquired his preparatory knowledge at the well known Latin grammar school of Mr. Lovell, where he was remarkably attentive to his studies. His conduct was similar while at college; during the whole term he had to pay but one fine, and that for not attending morning prayers, in consequence of having overslept himself. By a close and steady application, he acquired much classical and scientific knowledge.

At an early age, he was admitted a student at Harvard University, and in 1740, and 1743, the respective degrees of bachelor and master of arts were conferred upon him. On the latter occasion, he proposed the following question for discussion, "whether it be lawful to resist the supreme magis. trate, if the commonwealth cannot be otherwise preserved?" He maintained the affirmative of the proposition, and thus evinced, at this early period of life, his attachment to the liberties of the people. While he was a student, his father allowed him a regular and fixed stipend. Of this, he saved a sufficient sum, to publish, at his own expense, a pamphlet, called "Englishmen's Rights."

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His father intended him for the bar, but this determination, at the solicitation of his mother, was altered, and he was placed as an apprentice with Thomas Cushing, an eminent merchant. For this occupation he was ill adapted, and it received but a small share of his attention. The study of politics was his chief delight, and about this time he formed a club, each member of which agreed to furnish a political essay for a newspaper called the Independent Advertiser. These essays brought the writers into notice, who were called, in derision, "the whipping post club."

His limited knowledge of commerce rendered him incompetent to support himself by that pursuit. His father, however, gave him a considerable capital, with which he com

menced business. He had not been long in trade when he lent one of his countrymen a large sum of money. This person, soon after, met with heavy calamities, which he represented to Mr. Adams, who never demanded the amount, although it was nearly half the value of his original stock. This and other losses soon consumed all he had.

At the age of twenty-five, his father died, and as he was the eldest son, the care of the family and management of the estate devolved upon him.

Notwithstanding this circumstance, however, he still was unable to resist the strong inclination for political affairs, which he had felt from his earliest youth; and instead of devoting himself to his business, occupied much of his time both in conversation and writing, on the political concerns of the day. He was strongly opposed to governor Shirley, because he thought the union of so much civil and military power in one man, dangerous to the liberties of the province, but he was the friend of his successor Pownall, who assumed the popular side.

In 1763, the Massachusetts agent in London transmitted intelligence, that it was contemplated by the ministry, to "tax the colonies for the purpose of raising a revenue, which was to be placed at the disposal of the crown." This was soon made publicly known, and produced great excitement. It was expected, that governor Bernard would immediately call the Massachusetts house of assembly together, on the reception of this interesting intelligence, and that such instructions would be sent to the agent, as might have a tendency to prevent the contemplated proceedings; but, to the surprise of the public, it was not summoned till the latter end of the year, and no particular notice was taken of the subject. It thus remained till the next election of members to the Massachusetts assembly, in May, 1764. It

sailed with great virulence and malice by antagonists who were neither impotent in genius nor inconsiderable in numbers. Obloquy is so usual an attendant on human elevation, amidst the various and conflicting passions of republican communities, that to expect exemption from it would discover indeed little depth of understanding, and a very limited experience of human nature; and to ask why Hancock sustained these frequent persecutions in return for his eminent services, would be a vain disquisition. It is to ask, why, in all ages, those who have been most entitled to the veneration of the world, have been persecuted with the most unrelenting malevolence? why Aristides languished in exile, or Miltiades perished in a dungeon?

But the repression of disorder and faction in the state, towards the conclusion of his life, and the salutary diligence of his administration, appeased almost entirely the resentments and animosities which party had excited against him.

His agency in promoting the adoption of the federal constitution is mentioned amongst the objects which most recommended him to esteem amongst his cotemporaries, and which entitle him to the regards of posterity.

An opposition to this system of government existed in many parts of the continent, and, in Massachusetts, the majority of the convention were supposed to disapprove it. Of this assembly, Hancock, who was believed to be averse to the confederation, had been elected president, but by sickness was detained from their deliberations until the last week of the session. He then appeared and voted in its favour; and to his diligence in removing, by appropriate amendments, the apprehensions and objections of many in the opposition, added to his address and authority upon this occasion, is principally ascribed the adoption of the constitution in Massachusetts; and with no greater ornament

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