draught an answer to their letter. In this, it is related, "that congress will readily attend to such terms of peace, as may consist with the honour of an independent nation."

In 1779, Samuel Adams was placed, by the state convention, on a committee, to prepare and report a form of government for Massachusetts. By this committee he and John Adams were appointed a sub-committee to furnish a draught of the constitution. The draught produced by them was reported to the convention, and, after some amendments, accepted. The address of the convention to the people was jointly written by them.

In 1787, he was chosen a member of the Massachusetts convention for the ratification of the constitution of the United States. He had some objections to it in its reported form; the principal of which was to that article which rendered the several states amenable to the courts of the nation. He thought that this would reduce them to mere corporations. There was a very powerful opposition to it, and some of its most zealous friends and supporters were fearful that it would not be accepted.

Mr. Adams had not then given his sentiments upon it in the convention, but regularly attended the debates.

Some of the leading advocates waited upon Mr. Adams to ascertain his opinions and wishes, in a private manner. Mr. Adams stated his objections, and stated that he should not give it his support, unless certain amendments were recommended to be adopted. These he enumerated. Mr. Adams prepared his amendments, which were brought before the convention, and referred to a committee, who made some inconsiderable alterations, with which the constitution was accepted. Some of these were afterwards agreed to as amendments, and form, at present, a part of that instrument.

In 1789, he was elected lieutenant governor of the state of Massachusetts, and continued to fill that office till 1794, when he was chosen governor of that state. He was annually re-elected till 1797, when, oppressed with years and bodily infirmities, he declined being again a candidate, and retired to private life.

After many years of incessant exertion, employed in

the establishment of the independence of America, he died on the 3d of October, 1803, in the 82d year of his age, in indigent circumstances.

Though poor, he possessed a lofty and incorruptible spirit, and looked with disregard upon riches, if not with contempt; while at the same time he did not attempt to disguise that reputation and popular influence were the great objects of his ambition.

His private morals were pure, his manners grave and austere, and his conversation, which generally turned on public characters and events, bold, decided, and sometimes coarse. Besides the occurrences of the passing day, he is said to have had three topics of conversation on which he delighted to expatiate, and to have always dwelt upon with great earnestness; British oppression, the manners, laws, and customs of New England, and the importance to every republican government, of public schools for the instruction of the whole population of the state.

The person of Samel Adams was of the middle size. His countenance was a true index of his mind, and possessed those lofty and elevated characteristics, which are always found to accompany true greatness.

He was a steady professor of the Christian religion, and uniformly attended public worship. His family devotions were regularly performed, and his morality was never impeached.

In his manners and deportment, he was sincere and unaffected; in conversation, pleasing and instructive; and in his friendships, steadfast and affectionate.

His revolutionary labours were not surpassed by those of any individual. From the commencement of the dispute with Great Britain, he was incessantly employed in public service; opposing at one time, the supremacy of "parliament in all cases;" taking the lead in questions of controverted policy with the royal governors; writing state papers from 1765 to 1774; in planning and organizing clubs and committees; haranguing in town meetings, or filling the columns of public prints adapted to the spirit and temper of the times. In addition to these occupations, he maintained an extensive and labo

rious correspondence with the friends of American freedom in Great Britain and in' the provinces.

His private habits, which were simple, frugal, and unostentatious, led him to despise the luxury and parade affected by the crown officers; and his detestation of royalty, and privileged classes, which no man could have felt more deeply, stimulated him to persevere in a course, which he conscientiously believed to be his duty to pursue, for the welfare of his country.

No man was more intrepid and dauntless, when encompassed by dangers, or more calm and unmoved amid public disasters and adverse fortune. His bold and daring conduct and language, subjected him to great personal hazards. Had any fatal event occurred to our country, by which she had fallen in her struggle for liberty, Samuel Adams would have been the first victim of ministerial vengeance. His blood would have been first shed as a sacrifice on the altar of, tyranny, for the noble magnanimity and independence, with which he defended the cause of freedom. But such was his firmness, that he would have met death with as much composure, as he regarded it with unconcern.

His writings were numerous, and much distinguished for their elegance and fervour; but unfortunately the greater part of them have been lost, or so distributed, as to render their collection impossible.

He was the author of a letter to the earl of Hillsborough; of many political essays directed against the administration of governor Shirley; of a letter in answer to Thomas Paine, in defence of Christianity, and of an oration published in the year 1776. Four letters of his correspondence on government, are extant, and were published in a pamphlet form in 1800.

Mr. Adams's eloquence was of a peculiar character. His language was pure, concise, and impressive. He was more logical than figurative. His arguments were addressed rather to the understanding, than to the feelings; yet he always engaged the deepest attention of his audience. On ordinary occasions, there was nothing remarkable in his speeches; but, on great questions, when his own feelings were interested, he would com.

bine every thing great in oratory. In the language of an elegant writer, the great qualities of his mind were fully displayed, in proportion as the field for their exertion was extended; and the energy of his language was not inferior to the depth of his mind. It was an eloquence admirably adapted to the age in which he flourished, and exactly calculated to attain the object of his pursuit. It may well be described in the language of the poet, "thoughts which breathe, and words which burn." An eloquence, not consisting of theatrical gesture, but of the sublime enthusiasm and ardour of patriotism; an eloquence, to which his fellow-citizens listened with applause and rapture; and little inferior to the best models of antiquity for simplicity, majesty, and persuasion.

The consideration of the character of Samuel Adams, when taken in connexion with the uncommon degree of popularity which his name had obtained in this country, may suggest an important moral lesson to those of our youth, whom a generous ambition incites to seek the temple of glory through the thorny paths of political strife. Let them compare him with men confessedly very far his superiors in every gift of intellect, of education, and of fortune: with those who have governed empires, and swayed the fate of nations; and then let them consider how poor and how limited is their fame, when placed in competition with that of this humble patriot. The memory of those men, tarnished as it is by the history of their profligacy, their corruption, and their crimes, is preserved only among the advocates and slaves of legitimacy, while the name of Samuel Adams is enrolled among the benefactors of his country, and repeated with respect and gratitude by the lowest citizens of a free state.

ADAMS, JOHN.-In the enjoyment of our free and happy institutions, and of the prosperity which pervades every portion of this immense republic, the rich and ripe

fruits of our national independence, we can never forget those from whose toils, and sufferings, and sacrifices these inestimable blessings were derived. There is no merit in being the friend of a flourishing and powerful people; in being patriots in a country abounding with all the good a just and reasonable man can desire; but it is in the dark season of adversity, in the hour of peril and strife, when the oppressor stretches his sword over the land; when to love and serve your country is to be guilty of treason; when to defend her rights is to forfeit your blood; it is in such trials, that the patriot, who braves the storm and defies its dangers, becomes a great example of virtue, and the object of everlasting gratitude and praise.

Such were the founders of American liberty; and, among them, JOHN ADAMS was pre-eminent in energy, constancy, wisdom and usefulness. He was with the first to take his stand against the oppression of his country; with the wisest in counselling the means of success; with the boldest in projecting measures of resistance; with the most ardent and eloquent in maintaining the sacred principles he had adopted; and with the most steady and unchangeable, through all the vicissitudes of a long and doubtful war. His courage never faltered; his purpose never wavered; his efforts never relaxed. The same from the beginning to the end of the conflict; the same in the most gloomy as in the brightest days of the revolution, he exhibited a firm example of inflexible integrity, extraordinary intellectual powers and resources, and dauntless devotion to his country.

John Adams was born at Quincy, a few miles distant from Boston, in the state of Massachusetts, on the 19th day of October, 1735. His ancestors were puritans, and had emigrated, at an early period, from England, and settled in Massachusetts. His education was carefully attended to, and in 1755 he graduated at Harvard college. Three years afterwards, he was admitted to the bar, and commenced business in his native place, but soon removed to Boston, and engaged arduously in the duties of his profession. An occasion here offered to exhibit the peculiar firmness of his character in the per formance of whatever he believed to be his duty, in