第5章

_Philadelpha，Aug。26，1776_

DEARSIR——Your’softhe10’th。inst。cametohandaboutthreedaysago，theposthavingbroughtnomailwithhimthelastweek。

YouseemtohavemisapprehendedmypropositionforthechoiceofaSenate。Ihadtwothingsinview：togetthewisestmenchosen，&tomakethemperfectlyindependentwhenchosen。Ihaveeverobservedthatachoicebythepeoplethemselvesisnotgenerallydistinguishedforit’swisdom。Thisfirstsecretionfromthemisusuallycrude&

heterogeneous。Butgivetothosesochosenbythepeopleasecondchoicethemselves，&theygenerallywillchusewisemen。ForthisreasonitwasthatIproposedtherepresentatives(¬thepeople)

shouldchusetheSenate，&thoughtIhadnotwithstandingthatmadetheSenators(whenchosen)perfectlyindependantoftheirelectors。

HoweverIshouldhavenoobjectiontothemodeofelectionproposedintheprintedplanofyourcommittee，towit，thatthepeopleofeachcountyshouldchusetwelveelectors，whoshouldmeetthoseoftheothercountiesinthesamedistrict&chuseasenator。Ishouldpreferthistooforanotherreason，thattheupperaswellaslowerhouseshouldhaveanopportunityofsuperintending&judgingofthesituationofthewholestate&benotallofoneneighborhoodasourupperhouseusedtobe。SomuchforthewisdomoftheSenate。Tomakethemindependent，Ihadproposedthattheyshouldholdtheirplacesfornineyears，&thengoout(onethirdeverythreeyears)&

beincapableforeverofbeingre-electedtothathouse。Myideawasthatiftheymightbere-elected，theywouldbecastingtheireyeforwardtotheperiodofelection(howeverdistant)&becurryingfavorwiththeelectors，&consequentlydependantonthem。Myreasonforfixingtheminofficeforatermofyearsratherthanforlife，wasthattheymighthaveinideathattheywereatacertainperiodtoreturnintothemassofthepeople&becomethegovernedinsteadofthegovernorwhichmightstillkeepalivethatregardtothepublicgoodthatotherwisetheymightperhapsbeinducedbytheirindependancetoforget。YetIcouldsubmit，tho’notsowillinglytoanappointmentforlife，ortoanythingratherthanamerecreationby&dependanceonthepeople。Ithinkthepresentmodeofelectionobjectionablebecausethelargercountywillbeabletosend&willalwayssendaman(lessfitperhaps)oftheirowncountytotheexclusionofafitterwhomaychancetoliveinasmallercounty——

Iwishexperiencemaycontradictmyfears——ThattheSenateaswellaslower[orshallIspeaktruth&callitupper]houseshouldholdnoofficeofprofitIamclear；butnotthattheyshouldofnecessitypossessdistinguishedproperty。YouhavelivedlongerthanIhaveandperhapsmayhaveformedadifferentjudgmentonbettergrounds；butmyobservationsdonotenablemetosayIthinkintegritythecharacteristicofwealth。IngeneralIbeleivethedecisionsofthepeople，inabody，willbemorehonest&moredisinterestedthanthoseofwealthymen：&Icanneverdoubtanattachmenttohiscountryinanymanwhohashisfamily&peculiuminit：——Nowastotherepresentativehousewhichoughttobesoconstructedastoanswerthatcharactertruly。Iwasforextendingtherightofsuffrage(orinotherwordstherightsofacitizen)toallwhohadapermanentintentionoflivinginthecountry。Takewhatcircumstancesyoupleaseasevidenceofthis，eitherthehavingresidedacertaintime，orhavingafamily，orhavingproperty，anyorallofthem。Whoeverintendstoliveinacountrymustwishthatcountrywell，&hasanaturalrightofassistinginthepreservationofit。Ithinkyoucannotdistinguishbetweensuchapersonresidinginthecountry&havingnofixedproperty，&oneresidinginatownshipwhomyousayyouwouldadmittoavote——TheotherpointofequalrepresentationIthinkcapital&fundamental。Iamgladyouthinkanalterationmaybeattemptedinthatmatter——Thefantasticalideaofvirtue&thepublicgoodbeingasufficientsecuritytothestateagainstthecommissionofcrimes，whichyousayyouhaveheardinsistedonbysome，Iassureyouwasnevermine。ItisonlythesanguinaryhueofourpenallawswhichImeanttoobjectto。PunishmentsIknowarenecessary，&Iwouldprovidethem，strict&inflexible，butproportionedtothecrime。Deathmightbeinflictedformurther&perhapsfortreasonifyouwouldtakeoutofthedescriptionoftreasonallcrimeswhicharenotsuchintheirnature。Rape，buggery&c——punishbycastration。Allothercrimesbyworkingonhighroads，rivers，gallies&c。acertaintimeproportionedtotheoffence。Butasthiswouldbenopunishmentorchangeofconditiontoslaves(memiserum！)letthembesenttoothercountries。Bythesemeansweshouldbefreedfromthewickednessofthelatter，&theformerwouldbelivingmonumentsofpublicvengeance。Lawsthusproportionate&mildshouldneverbedispensedwith。Letmercybethecharacterofthelawgiver，butletthejudgebeameremachine。Themerciesofthelawwillbedispensedequally&impartiallytoeverydescriptionofmen；thoseofthejudge，oroftheexecutivepower，willbetheeccentricimpulsesofwhimsical，capriciousdesigningman——IamindebtedtoyouforatopictodenytothePensylvaniaclaimtoaline39completedegreesfromtheequator。AsanadvocateIshallcertainlyinsistonit；butIwishtheywouldcompromisebyanextensionofMason&Dixon’sline——

Theydonotagreetothetemporarylineproposedbyourassembly。

Wehaveassurance(notnewspaper，butOfficial)thattheFrenchgovernorsoftheWestIndieshavereceivedordersnotonlytofurnishuswithwhatwewantbuttoprotectourships。Theywillconvoyourvessels，theysay，thro’thelineofBritishcruisers。WhatyouwillseeinthepapersofcaptWeeksisindubitablytrue。TheinhabitantsofS’t。Pierre’swentoutinboatstoseethepromisedbattle，buttheBritishcaptainchosenottoshew——ByourlastlettersfromN。Yorktheenemyhadlanded8000menonLongisland。OnFridayasmallparty，about40，ofthemwereoutmaroding&hadgotsomecattleinabarn。Someriflemen(withwhomwasourJamieson)

attackedthem，tookawaythecattle，theyretiredasfarasthehouseofJudgeLiffordwhereweretheirofficer’squarters，theywerebeatenthencealso，&thehouseburntbytheriflemen。Itisalwaissupposedyouknowthatgoodexecutionwasdone。Oneofficerwaskilled&leftwith9guineasinhispocket，whichshewstheywereinahurry；theswords&fuseesofthreeotherofficerswerefound，theownerssupposedtobekilledorwounded&carriedaway。OnSaturdayabout2000ofthemattemptedtomarchtoBedford。ColoHans’sbattalionof300Pennsylvaniariflemenhavingpostedthemselvesinacornfeild&awoodtoadvantageattackedthem。TheenemyhadsomeoftheirJagerswiththem，whoitseemsareGermanriflemenusedtothewoods。GeneralSullivan(whocommandsduringtheillnessofGen’l。

Green)sentsomemusquetrytosupporttheriflemen。Theenemygaveway&weredrivenhalfamilebeyondtheirformerstation。Amongthedeadleftontheway，werethreeJagers。Gen’l。Washingtonhadsentover6battal’s。tojoinSullivanwhohadbeforethreethousand，somesay&rightlyIbeleive6000；&hadposted5battalionsmoreonthewatersidereadytojoinSullivaniftheenemyshouldmakethatthefieldoftrial，ortoreturntoN。Yorkifwantedthere。Ageneralembarkationwascertainlybegun。13。transportscroudedwithmenhadfallendowntothenarrows&othersloading。Sothatweexpecteveryhourtohearofthisgreataffair。Washingtonbyhislastreturnhad23，000menofwhomhowever5000weresick。Sincethis，ColoAylettjustreturnedfromthere，tellsushehasreceived16newEnglandbattalions，sothatwemaycertainlyhopehehas25，000effective，whichisaboutthestrengthoftheenemyprobably，tho’wehaveneverheardcertainlythattheirlast5000，arecome，inwhichcaseI

shouldthinktheyhavebut20，000。Washingtondiscoversaconfidence，whichheusuallydoesonlyonverygoodgrounds。Hesaishismenarehighinspirits。ThoseorderedtoLongislandwentwiththeeagernessofyoungmengoingtoadance。Afewmoreskirmisheswouldbeanexcellentpreparativeforourpeople。ProvisionsonStatenislandwerebecomesoscarcethatacowsoldfortenpounds，asheepfortendollars。Theywerebarrelingupallthehorsefleshtheycouldget——ColoLeebeingnotyetcomeIamstillhere，&

supposeIshallnotgetawaytillaboutthisdayse’nnight。IshallseeyouinWilliamsburghthemorningoftheAssembly。Adieu。

FIRSTLETTERTOADAMS

_ToJohnAdams_

_Williamsburgh，May16，1777_

DEARSIR——Mattersinourpartofthecontinentaretoomuchinquiettosendyounewsfromhence。OurbattalionsfortheContinentalserviceweresometimeagosofarfilledasrenderedtherecommendationofadraughtfromthemilitiahardlyrequisite，andthemoresoasinthiscountryiteverwasthemostunpopularandimpracticablethingthatcouldbeattempted。Ourpeopleevenunderthemonarchicalgovernmenthadlearnttoconsideritasthelastofalloppressions。IlearnfromourdelegatesthattheConfederationisagainonthecarpet。Agreatandanecessarywork，butIfearalmostdesperate。Thepointofrepresentationiswhatmostalarmsme，asIfearthegreatandsmallcoloniesarebitterlydeterminednottocede。WillyoubesogoodastorecollectthepropositionI

formerlymadeyouinprivateandtryifyoucanworkitintosomegoodtosaveourunion?ItwasthatanypropositionmightbenegativedbytherepresentativesofamajorityofthepeopleofAmerica，orofamajorityofthecoloniesofAmerica。Theformersecuresthelargerthelatterthesmallercolonies。Ihavementionedittomanyhere。ThegoodwhigsIthinkwillsofarcedetheiropinionsforthesakeoftheUnion，andotherswecarelittlefor。

ThejournalsofcongressnotbeingprintedearliergivesmoreuneasinessthanIwouldeverwishtoseeproducedbyanyactofthatbody，fromwhomaloneIknowoursalvationcanproceed。Inourassemblyeventhebestaffectedthinkitanindignitytofreementobevotedawaylifeandfortuneinthedark。OurhousehavelatelywrittenforaM。S。copyofyourjournals，notmeaningtodesireacommunicationofanythingorderedtobekeptsecret。IwishtheregulationofthepostofficeadoptedbyCongresslastSeptembercouldbeputinpractice。Itwasfortheriderstotravelnightandday，andtogotheirseveralstagesthreetimesaweek。Thespeedyandfrequentcommunicationofintelligenceisreallyofgreatconsequence。SomanyfalshoodshavebeenpropagatedthatnothingnowisbeleivedunlesscomingfromCongressorcamp。Ourpeoplemerelyforwantofintelligencewhichtheymayrelyonarebecomelethargickandinsensibleofthestatetheyarein。HadyoueveraleisuremomentIshouldaskaletterfromyousometimedirectedtothecareofMr。Dick，Fredericksburgh：buthavingnothingtogiveinreturnitwouldbeataxonyourcharityaswellasyourtime。TheesteemI

haveforyouprivately，aswellasforyourpublicimportancewillalwaysrenderassurancesofyourhealthandhappinessagreeable。I

amDearSirYourfriendandservt：”THEFAVORITEPASSIONOFMYSOUL”

_ToGiovanniFabbroni_

_WilliamsburginVirginia，June8，1778_

SIR，——YourletterofSep。15。1777fromPariscomessafetohand。WehavenothoweverhadthepleasureofseeingMr。DeCenis，thebearerofitinthiscountry，ashejoinedthearmyinPennsylvaniaassoonashearrived。Ishouldhavetakenparticularpleasureinservinghimonyourrecommendation。FromthekindanxietyexpressedinyourletteraswellasfromothersourcesofinformationwediscoverthatourenemieshavefilledEuropewithThrasonicaccountsofvictoriestheyhadneverwonandconqueststheywerefatednevertomake。WhiletheseaccountsalarmedourfriendsinEuropetheyaffordedusdiversion。Wehavelongbeenoutofallfearfortheeventofthewar。Iencloseyoualistofthekilled，wounded，andcaptivesoftheenemyfromthecommencementofhostilitiesatLexingtoninApril，1775，untilNovember，1777，sincewhichtherehasbeennoeventofanyconsequence。Thisisthebesthistoryofthewarwhichcanbebroughtwithinthecompassofaletter。Ibelievetheaccounttobenearthetruth，tho’itisdifficulttogetatthenumberslostbyanenemywithabsoluteprecision。ManyofthearticleshavebeencommunicatedtousfromEnglandastakenfromtheofficialreturnsmadebytheirGeneral。I

wishitwereinmypowertosendyouasjustanaccountofourloss。

Butthiscannotbedonewithoutanapplicationtothewarofficewhichbeinginanothercountyisatthistimeoutofmyreach。I

thinkthatuponthewholeithasbeenaboutonehalfthenumberlostbythem，insomeinstancesmore，butinothersless。Thisdifferenceisascribedtooursuperiorityintakingaimwhenwefire；everysoldierinourarmyhavingbeenintimatewithhisgunfromhisinfancy。IftherecouldhavebeenadoubtbeforeastotheeventofthewaritisnowtotallyremovedbytheinterpositionofFrance，&