 | Letters of Mrs. Adams, |  |
TO JOHN ADAMS.
Last evening General Lincoln called here, introducing
to me a gentleman, by the name of Colonel Laurens,
the son, as I suppose, of your much esteemed
friend, the late President of Congress; who informed
me, that he expected to sail for France in a few
days, and would take despatches from me. Although
I closed letters to you, by way of Holland, a few
days ago, I would not omit so good an opportunity
as the present. 'T is a long time since the date of
your last letters, the 25th of September. I wait with
much anxiety, listening to the sound of every gun,
but none announce the arrival of the Fame, from
Holland, which we greatly fear is taken or lost, or
the Mars, from France. Colonel Laurens is enabled,
I suppose, to give you every kind of intelligence
respecting the army, which you may wish to
learn.
I have the pleasure to inform you, that a repeal of
the obnoxious tender act has passed the House and
Senate. The Governor, as has been heretofore predicted,
when any thing not quite popular is in agitation,
has the gout, and is confined to his bed. A
false weight and a false balance are an abomination,
and in that light this tender act must be viewed by
every impartial person. Who, but an idiot, would
the repeal gives us reason to hope, that justice and
righteousness will again exalt our nation; that public
faith will be restored; that individuals will lend to
the public; and that the heavy taxes, which now distress
all orders, will be lessened.
A late committee, who have been sitting upon
ways and means for raising money, tell us, that a
tax for two years more, equal to what we have paid
in the last, would clear this State of debt. You may
judge of the weight of them; yet our State taxes are
but as a grain of mustard seed, when compared with
our town taxes. Clinton, I hear, has sent out a proclamation
upon Germain's plan, inviting the people to
make a separate peace, which will only be a new
proof of the ignorance and folly of our enemies,
without making a single proselyte. Even the revolted
Pennsylvania troops gave up to justice the spies,
whom Clinton sent to them, offering them clothing
and pay; letting him know, that it was justice from
their State, not favors from their enemies, which they
wanted.
It is reported, that Arnold, with a body of troops,
is gone to Virginia, where it is hoped he and his
Myrmidons will meet their fate. Had Clinton been
a generous enemy, or known human nature, he
would, like Aurelian, upon a like occasion, have
given up the traitor to the hands of justice; knowing
that it was in vain to expect fidelity in a man who
had betrayed his own country, which, from his defection,
may learn to place a higher value upon integrity
often mistaken for courage. He who, as an individual,
is cruel, unjust, and immoral, will not be likely
to possess the virtues necessary in a general or
statesman. Yet, in our infant country, infidelity and
debauchery are so fashionably prevalent, that less
attention is paid to the characters of those who fill
important offices, than a love of virtue and zeal for
public liberty can warrant; which, we are told by
wise legislators of old, are the surest preservatives
of public happiness.
You observe in a late letter, that your absence
from your native State will deprive you of an opportunity
of being a man of importance in it. I hope
you are doing your country more extensive service
abroad, than you could have done, had you been
confined to one State only; and, whilst you continue
in the same estimation among your fellow-citizens
in which you are now held, you will not fail of being
of importance to them at home or abroad.
Heaven preserve the life and health of my dear
absent friend, and, in its own time, return him to his
country and to the arms of his ever affectionate
| Letters of Mrs. Adams, | |