king. On his return to Massachusetts, in November of the same year, he found his friend Sewall engaged in supporting the government cause, in an ably written series of essays, under the signature of Massachusettensis. To these, Mr. Adams immediately commenced a reply, in twelve able papers, under the name of Novanglus; which abundantly served to counteract whatever influence the papers of Sewall might have had upon the public mind. Mr. Adams' papers were brought, we can hardly say to a premature, but to an abrupt close, by the battle of Lexington. Both series of papers were a few years ago collected and republished in a volume.

In 1775, the province of Massachusetts bay, by advice of the continental congress, organized an independent government. In the month of July, a council was chosen, to which were entrusted the executive functions in place of the governor and council. Under the provincial charter of this council, Mr. Adams was elected a member, and acted as such during the recess of congress.

Early this year, a commander in chief was to be chosen by the continental congress, to lead the armies raised, and to be raised, by the United States. General Ward, of Massachusetts, then commanded in chief, the forces of that state; and some obvious considerations recommended him, for the place now to be filled. The New England delegations were united, in his favor. In a conference with them, Mr. Adams opposed their views, and recommended the election of colonel Washington. Unable to reconcile them to this selection, he left them, expressing a

fixed opinion in favor of Washington; whose nomination was made the next day, at Mr. Adams' instance, by governor Johnson, of Maryland. The choice was unanimous.

The following year, 1776, was signalized by one of the most important incidents in Mr. Adams' life; his prominent course, in support of the declaration of independence. Preparatory to the introduction of that important measure, a committee, at the head of which was Mr. Adams, had reported a resolution, which congress adopted on the 10th of May; recommending, in substance, to all the colonies, that had not established independent governments, to adopt such government as would, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular, and America in general.

This preliminary declaration, as it may be called, of the independence of the several states, was followed by the motion for the independence of the United States of America; which was made on the 7th of June, by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia.

Having been discussed on Saturday the 8th, and Monday the 10th of June, the resolution for independence was, on the last named day, postponed for farther consideration, on the 1st day of July. At the same time, and to prevent delay, in the event of the adoption of the resolution, a committee was chosen, by ballot, to prepare a declaration of independence. This committee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. The members

of this committee are supposed to have been arranged in the foregoing order, according to the number of votes, which each received. Mr. Jefferson had therefore received the highest number, and Mr. Adams the next highest number of votes ; and the difference between them is said to have been but a single vote.

Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams, standing thus at the head of the committee, were requested, by the other members of it, to act as a subcommittee, and to prepare the draft. A friendly altercation took place between Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams, by which of them the declaration should be drawn, each urging the honorable task on the other. Mr. Jefferson drew up the paper; which after some small alterations by Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams, was reported to congress.

On the 1st of July, the consideration of the resolutions was resumed. Instructions had now arrived, from all the colonies, which were in some instances discretionary. Many of the ablest members of congress were adverse to it. John Dickinson, the celebrated author of the Farmer's Letters, opposed it in an elaborate speech. Mr. Adams led the debate, in support of the declaration. "He was," says Mr. Jefferson, "our colossus on the floor. Not graceful, not elegant, not always fluent in his public addresses, he came out with a power both of thought and expression, which moved us from our seats." The congress sat with closed doors, and no report has come down to us of any of the speeches, which were made in this debate; but the tradition is still fresh of the overwhelming power of the speech of Mr. Adams. The vote passed on the 2d of July and a letter of Mr.

Adams to his wife, written the suc ceeding day, is too full of the spirit of prophecy and of the feelings of the revolution to be omitted in this place:

Yesterday the greatest question. was decided, that was ever decided, among men. A resolution was passed unanimously, that these United States are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.'

"The day has passed. The 2d 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 forever! You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, blood, and treasure it will cost to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states; yet, through all the gloom, I can see a ray 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."

In this letter may be seen the ardent and zealous supporter of independence, exulting in the accomplishment of his earliest wishes.

The vision of his youth was realised. The object of all his writings and labors was accomplished. ' He had lived to see his countrymen adopt as a national measure, that entire separation from the mother country, which seemed to have al

ways been the ruling passion of his heart. Mr. Adams early saw, that the principles of the British government, were incompatible with American freedom; and with the sagacity of a statesman, and the firmness of a patriot, he resolved on the independence of his country. To this object he had devoted himself; and though proscribed by Great Britain, and denounced at the beginning of the revolution by many of his own countrymen, in some of the other colonies, as a dangerous enthusiast, he now saw the continental congress adopt unanimously, what has been happily characterised as the sentiment of his life and his death, "Independence now, and INDEPENDENCE FOR

EVER.

In the course of the year 1776, Mr. Adams was elected by the council of Massachusetts, to the place of chief justice of that state. Preferring however the post of danger, he declined accepting the appointment. He continued a member of the congress, most assiduous and laborious in his attendance, until November 1777. He was on ninety committees, twice as many as any other member, with the exception of Richard Henry Lee, and Samuel Adams. Of twenty-five of these committees, he was chairman. He was also chairman of the board of war, and of the committee of appeals; two of the most important tribunals, in the then existing organization of the government.

In November 1777, Mr. Adams was appointed a commissioner to the court of Versailles, in conjunction with Franklin and Lee, and in place of Silas Deane. He proceeded, on that service, in February following, embarking on board the

Boston frigate, from the shores of his native town, at the foot of mount Wollaston. On the passage out, a large English vessel of war was descried by commodore Tucker, who commanded the Boston; and the commodore asked and received Mr. Adams' consent to engage her. On hailing the English vessel, she answered with a broad side. At this moment Mr. Adams, who had been advised by the commodore to retire below, was perceived forward among the marines, with a musket in his hand, which he had procured from their captain.

After passing about a year and a half at the court of France, he was superseded by a plenipotentiary commission to Franklin. This course was adopted by the congress, because "suspicions and animosities existed among the commissioners, highly prejudicial to the honor and interest of the country." This vote of censure was passed in April 1779. It was reported in general terms, so as to include all the commissioners. It was amended so as to designate five of them by name, and to except John Adams.

Mr. Adams, however, returned to his native country, and was sent by his fellow citizens of Braintree, to the convention for framing the constitution of Massachusetts. John Adams and Samuel Adams, as a sub-committee for that purpose, drafted the present constitution. The constitution was drawn up by John Adams; and the address to the people, which accompanied it, was prepared by Samuel Adams. This constitution of Massachusetts was one of the first of the new constitutions of state government, and served, in its leading features, as a model for many of the state constitutions subsequently formed.

ted States.

Before the constitution was completed, and within three months after his return from France, he received from congress, 4th November, 1779,two commissions; one appointing him sole minister plenipotentiary to treat for peace, the other to form a commercial treaty with Great Britain. On the 17th November he embarked on board the French frigate Sensible. After a perilous voyage, he was obliged to land at Corunna, in Spain, and proceed by land to Paris.

The French court viewed with jealousy, Mr. Adams' commission to form a treaty of commerce with England, and the count de Vergennes advised him to keep it secret, with a view, no doubt, to attempt to prevail on congress to revoke it. Mr. Adams refused to communicate to the count his instructions on that subject. An altercation took place between Mr. Adams and the count, on a claim set up by France, for a discrimination in favor of French holders of continental paper, in the liquidation of that paper at forty for one. The count de Vergennes complained to congress, and transmitted copies of Mr. Adams' letters, and instructed the French minister in the United States to demand his recall. Congress, however, on the 12th December, 1780, passed a vote, approving his conduct, and on the 9th of June, 1781, refused to join any person with him in the negotiation. This vote, however, was, after an interview with the French minister, reconsidered, and Dr. Franklin, Mr. Jay, Mr. Laurens, and Mr. Jefferson associated with him in the commission to treat for peace.

While these movements took

Amsterdam, August, 1780, and soon received a commission to negotiate a loan in that country. Notwithstanding the open violence of the British minister, Sir Joseph Yorke, and the secret intrigues of the French government, Mr. Adams succeeded in the objects of his mission in Holland. He engaged the co-operation of M. Cerisier, a historical writer of merit, and of M. Luzac, a scholar of great note, both editors of widely circulated political journals. He published himself a series of twenty-eight letters, addressed to Mr. Kalkoens, an eminent jurist at Amsterdam, which were followed up by a series of essays, by Mr. Kalkoens himself.

These writings had a great effect on the policy of Holland. The states general joined the armed neutrality 27th November, 1780. In the following month, Englanddeclared war against them.

In February, 1781, Mr. Adams received commissions to form a treaty of amity and commerce with the states general; and to accede to the armed neutrality. These he communicated, October 19th, to the states general, accompanied with a memorial dated April 19th, 1781, against the wishes of the French minister. The popular feeling in favor of America was increased by this powerful appeal. On the 9th January, 1782, he presented another address, and demanded a categorical answer. The several provinces took it into consideration, and by a resolution of 19th April, 1782, it was decided, that he should be publicly received as minister plenipotentiary. On the 8th October, 1782, he concluded a treaty of amity and commerce with the states, and, during his re

sidence in Holland, negotiated several very important loans.

Mr. Adams refused to go to Paris, to join in the negotiations for peace, till the British minister was instructed to acknowledge the independence of the United States. In the conduct of the negotiation, our ministers had to encounter the artifices of the French court, and, finally, to conclude the treaty against the letter of their own instructions, but to the infinite honor and advantage of their country. In concluding this treaty, Mr. Adams and Mr. Jay took upon themselves the responsibility of acting against their instructions, on the express ground, that our ally, France, was privately endeavoring to sacrifice the interests of the United States respecting the fisheries, and our western boundaries, in order to procure better terms for herself and Spain. By thus taking the subject into their own hands, and concluding a treaty with Great Britain, without consulting the French minister, as they were directed, they secured two important interests, and acquired the highest honor for firmness and sagacity.

On the 7th May, 1784, a commission was directed to issue to Mr. Adams, Dr. Franklin, and Mr. Jefferson, to negotiate treaties of commerce with foreign powers. The instructions for this commission were drawn up by a committee, of which Mr. Jefferson was chairman, and the treaty with Prussia was its fruit. In this treaty, an article was, for the first time, introduced, by which privateering, and the war on private property, was renounced between the two countries.

In 1785 Mr. Adams was ap

pointed minister to London, and thus had the honor of first representing the sovereignty of the United States, at the court of their late monarch. His interview with the king, at his presentation, does honor to both. Mr. Adams was understood to have felt disgust at the policy disclosed by France, during the negotiation of the treaty of peace. The king, on receiving his credentials, forgetting that he addressed the representative of a sovereign state, expressed to Mr. Adams his satisfaction at receiving a minister, who had no prejudices in favor of France, the natural enemy of his crown. Mr. Adams, with admirable presence of mind, replied, "may it please your majesty, I have no prejudices but for my own countrymen." On occasion of this interview, the observation was made by George the third, which cannot be too often repeated for his credit. He told Mr. Adams, that "he had been the last to desire the independence of America, but would be the first to respect it."

While residing at London, in the year 1787, he published his "defence of the American constitution;" a work of merit and great ability, though composed with haste, on the spur of a particular occasion, in the midst of other occupations, and under circumstances which prevented its receiving a careful revision. Its immediate object was to counteract the weight of opinions, advanced by several popular European writers, particularly Turgot, the Abbé de Mably, and Dr. Price, in favor of a single legislative assembly, and the consolidation into one tribunal of the powers of government. The distribution of powers, as provided for by the present constitution of the United