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proof of his liberal and truly national feelings, his excellent discernment, and his unbounded influence not only with the delegates from the eastern states, but with the whole congress, in obtaining the unanimous vote, but also with the militia officers, the legislative authorities, and the people of New England, whose cheerful acquiescence immediately followed.

The expulsion of the British army from Boston by the militia force under General Washington in the ensuing autumn, spread new confidence through the land; and early in 1776, it became evident that petitions and remonstrances, however able, argumentative or eloquent, were not the best means of deterring the ministry and parliament from prosecuting their oppressive schemes. The act declaring the province of Massachusetts out of the king's protection, cut the tie which had held the colonies to the mother country; and the intelligence of treaties with German princes, for subsidiary troops to be employed in America, spoke a warning that I could not be misunderstood.

Mr. Adams had, in deference to the prudential advice that he received at the time of the first meeting of congress, restrained himself from urging measures which might seem premature in the eyes of his southern friends; but the posture of affairs had now materially changed, and he came forward in congress with a resolution that was almost equivalent to an assertion of independence. On the sixth of May, he offered in committee of the whole, a resolve that the colonies should form governments independent of the crown. The shape in which this proposition was adopted on the tenth, was a recommendation to the respective assemblies and conventions of the united colonies, where no government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs had been yet established, to adopt such government as might, in their opinion, best conduce to the safety and happiness of their constituents in particular, and America in general. On the same day the Massachusetts house of representatives voted a resolution that if the congress should think proper to declare independence, they were ready to support it to the utmost of their lives and fortunes.

How far this bold avowal of their feelings was prompted by letters from their delegates in congress, is not known, but the dates seem to correspond as if there had been a mutual understanding. Mr. Adams made his first movement in congress only a few days before this step was taken by the state, and five days subsequently to the Massachusetts declaration, he reported and advocated a pre

amble for the resolution already passed, in which it was declared that, "whereas his Britannic majesty, in conjunction with the lords and commons of Great Britain, has, by a late act of parliament, excluded the inhabitants of these united colonies from the protection of his crown; and whereas no answer whatever, to the humble petitions of the colonies, for redress of grievances and reconciliation with Great Britain, has been or is likely to be given, but the whole force of that kingdom, aided by foreign mercenaries, is to be exerted for the destruction of the good people of these colonies; and whereas it appears absolutely irreconcilable to reason and good conscience, for the people of these colonies now to take the oaths and affirmations necessary for the support of any government under the crown of Great Britain, and it is necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority under the said crown should be totally suppressed, and all the powers of government exerted under the authority of the people of the colonies, for the preservation of internal peace, virtue and good order, as well as for the defence of their lives, liberties, and properties, against the hostile invasions and cruel depredations of their enemies."

This preamble was adopted, after an animated debate, and not without vehement opposition. It was published, and served as an appeal to the people of all the colonies. North Carolina alone had yet come out with an explicit desire for independence; but soon after this preamble was promulgated, the others followed successively.

The only question that seemed now to be left open, related to the time to be chosen for issuing a declaration of independence, and thus enabling the united colonies to take their station among the powers of the earth.

The Virginia convention having directed their delegates to bring forward the proposal, Mr. Lee was chosen by the gentlemen from Virginia to be their organ in obeying the instructions from their constituents. The motion was made, as is well known, on the seventeenth of June, and debated with great warmth until the second of July.

The discussion did not consist of formal prepared orations, nor flights of rhetoric. The late governor M'Kean, who was himself an active and efficient supporter of independence, said, "I do not recollect any formal speeches, such as are made in the British parliament and our late congress, to have been made in the revolutionary congress. We had no time to hear such speeches, little for deliberation-action was the order of the day."

Of the pre-eminent importance of Mr. Adams' exertions, we have the most direct and unequivocal testimony. Mr. Jefferson uniformly and emphatically declared that he had no equal. "John Adams," said he, on one occasion, "was our Colossus on the floor; not graceful, not elegant, not always fluent in his public addresses, he yet came out with a power both of thought and of expression that moved us from our seats." At another time, speaking of the Declaration of Independence, the same great man observed, that "John Adams was the pillar of its support on the floor of congress; its ablest advocate and defender against the multifarious assaults it encountered."

What, then, was the character of the eloquence that was thus distinguished in an assembly where Jefferson and Lee, M'Kean and Wilson, Chase and Samuel Adams, and many others of extraordinary abilities, were convened? "The eloquence of Mr. Adams," says an illustrious citizen of the same state, "resembled his general character. It was bold, manly and energetic, but such as the crisis required."

While Mr. Adams was thus lending his whole soul to the advancement of the measure, he was also a member of the committee which had been appointed, in anticipation, to prepare a suitable manifesto or declaration to be issued whenever the question should be decided. The proposition having come from the Virginia delegates, in conformity with instructions from the convention of the people at Williamsburg, and thus wearing the appearance of a popular rather than a congressional movement, the policy had been carefully observed of placing a Virginia member at the head of this committee. Mr. Lee, who was at that time the most prominent delegate from that colony, had been called home by illness in his family; Mr. Jefferson, then a young member, but high in reputation as a writer and a patriot, was chosen in his stead, and Mr. Adams was named the next in order, and above the venerable Franklin, on the list.

Mr. Adams very willingly relinquished to his junior colleague of the committee the honour of composing the paper, while he gave his own undivided attention to the arguments on the floor, and the management out of doors, that he knew were requisite to secure the success of the proposition; being more anxious for the establishment of independence, than solicitous to distinguish his name by connecting it particularly with a document that he well knew would be read by remote posterity.

It was not only within the walls of the state house of Philadelphia, that his influence was felt on this momentous occasion. Pennsylvania and Maryland still withheld their assent from the proposed separation from Great Britain; and it was necessary to procure from those colonies, some expression of public will, in accord with those demonstrations which had been made in most of the others.

Among his most intimate personal friends were Dr. Rush and Mr. Samuel Chase, with both of whom he had contracted an attachment that endured throughout his life, and caused him always to speak of them in the highest terms of praise. At this juncture these friends moved in concert, though in different scenes. Mr. Chase, whose zeal was not surpassed, left his seat in congress and hastened to Maryland, where, in conjunction with Mr. Charles Carroll and other patriots, he stirred up such a number of county meetings in favour of the cause, that the convention were overpowered, and, on the twenty-eighth of June, Mr. Chase wrote to Mr. Adams from Annapolis-"Friday evening, nine o'clock. I am this moment from the house, to procure an express to follow the post, with an unanimous vote of our convention for independence. See the glorious effect of county instructions. The people have fire; it is not smothered."

In the mean time, Dr. Rush, in pursuance of the same pre-concert, moved in the Pennsylvania conference for an expression of a similar sentiment. The Pennsylvania vote in favour of independence preceded that of Maryland only four days, and the feelings of all the colonies had now been authentically expressed.

On the second day of July, Mr. Adams had the satisfaction to see the triumph of his exertions, and the fulfilment of his ardent wishes, in the vote for independence, which, on the fourth, was unanimously confirmed, in the adoption and promulgation of the immortal manifesto which announced the establishment of a new and independent republic.

The transport of his feelings, the exuberance of his joy, on this occasion, may be seen most vividly portrayed in the letter which he wrote to Mrs. Adams on the succeeding day-a letter that is memorable, and now embalmed in American history, simply because it is so true and inartificial an effusion of ardent, enlightened, and disinterested patriotism. "Yesterday," he says, "the greatest question was decided, that was ever debated in America; and greater, perhaps, never was or will be decided among men. A resolution was passed, without one dissenting colony, 'that these

United States are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.' The day is passed. The fourth of July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God. It ought to be solemnized with pomps, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward for ever. You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states; yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means; and that posterity will triumph, although you and I may rue, which I hope we shall not."

The legislature of Massachusetts elected Mr. Adams, during a visit that he made to his friends and family at home, to be a member of the Council. He took his seat and assisted in the deliberations; but declined the office of chief justice, which they pressed upon him, because such duties would interfere with his attendance in congress, and he did not choose to abandon the national government which he had so mainly contributed to establish.

A memorable instance of the great activity of Mr. Adams during the critical period which preceded the declaration of independence, is to be found in his plan of a constitution for a state or colony, drawn up by him and published early in 1776, comprising a code of republican principles full and satisfactory, and recommended by a style pleasing and familiar.

Shortly after the disastrous battle on Long Island, the British general opened a negotiation with congress. The proposition was debated for several days. Mr. Adams opposed it as not likely to produce any good result, but was overruled, and a committee was appointed, consisting of himself, Dr. Franklin, and Mr. Rutledge, to visit the British camp. Lord Howe sent as a hostage, one of his principal officers, but the three commissioners, to show their confidence in themselves and their cause, waved the security to be derived from such a pledge, and took him with them. They repaired to the British head quarters on Staten Island, opposite Amboy, and were conducted to the commander through an army of twenty thousand men, arranged on purpose to make the most imposing show, so as to impress the minds of the commissioners with

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