history. The severe writers of Greek and Roman annals were his favorite authors; but Divinity was the profession he resolved to live and die by.

The year that Samuel Adams entered Harvard, was the same in which the Earl of Chatham entered Parliament, so that he must have seen the whole of that great statesman's splendid career. But the greatness he saw from afar and emulated, neither crippled the expansion of his own free faculties nor created fear in his breast. He was early distinguished for great assiduity in study, and promptness in the performance of collegiate duties. He was equally remarkable for the uprightness of his demeanor and the frugality of his habits. From the stipend allowed him by his father, he saved a sum sufficient to publish an original pamphlet, entitled “ Englishmen's Rights." When he took his second degree, the thesis he discussed was, "Whether it be lawful to resist the SUPREME MAGISTRATE, if the Commonwealth cannot be otherwise preserved?" This he affirmed and maintained with great force, in the presence of the king's Governor and his Council, in the reign of George the Second, while Sir Robert Walpole was Prime Minister, and these Colonies were not only at peace but exceedingly loyal to England. But in that young bosom lay the elements of glorious rebellion, and in the question he discussed in 1740, lay the whole history of the war of Independence, which dates from 1776.

Samuel Adams must be regarded as the great leader of our Revolution. As such he was regarded beyond the Atlantic, where his real character seems to have been better understood than at home. Mr. Adolphus,

in the second volume of the history of England, speaks of him thus: "Samuel Adams, a distinguished leader of the American councils, noted for subtlety, perseverance and inflexibility, boasted in all companies, that he had toiled twenty years to accomplish the measure of Independence. During that time he had carried his art and industry so far, as to search after every rising genius in the New England seminaries, employed his utmost abilities to fix in their minds the principles of American Independency, and now triumphed in his success.' A learned commentator on this authority, who thoroughly understood the character of Samuel Adams, asserted that he was "no boaster, but a polite gentleman of modest carriage."

The Rev. Dr. William Gordon, another Englishman, who resided a number of years near Boston, as a parish minister, says in his fourth Letter on the history of those times, "that Samuel Adams became a member of the legislature in September, 1765; that he was zealously attached to the rights of Massachusetts in particular, and the colonies in general, and but little to his own personal interest; that he was well qualified to second Mr. Otis, and learned in time to serve his own political views by the influence of the other; that he was soon noticed by the House, chosen and continued their clerk from year to year, by which means he had the custody of their papers; and of these he knew how to make an advantage for political purposes. He was frequently upon important committees, and acquired great ascendency by discovering a readiness to acquiesce in the proposals and amendments of others, while the end

aimed at by them did not eventually frustrate his leading designs. He showed a pliableness and complaisance in these smaller matters which enabled him, in the issue, to carry those of much greater consequence; and there were," says the historian, "many favorite points, which the sons of liberty' in Massachusetts meant to carry, even though the Stamp-Act should be repealed."

Thomas, Jefferson, in a letter to the grandson of Samuel Adams, said: "He was truly a great man, wise in council, fertile in resources, immovable in his purposes; and had, I think, a greater share than any other member of Congress, in advising and directing our measures in the northern war. As a speaker he could not be compared with his living colleague and namesake, whose deep conceptions, nervous style and undaunted firmness, made him truly our bulwark in debate. But Samuel Adams, although not of fluent elocution, was so rigorously logical, so clear in views, abundant in sense, and master always of his subject, that he commanded the most profound attention whenever he rose in an assembly, where the froth of declamation was heard with the most sovereign contempt."

Again, in a letter written by the same renowned patriot to Dr. Waterhouse, he says:

"Dear Sir-Your letter of the 15th was received on the 27th, and I am glad to find the name and character of Samuel Adams coming forward, and in so good hands as I suppose them to be. I was the youngest man but one in the old Congress, and he the oldest but one, as I believe. His only senior, I suppose, was Stephen Hop

kins, of and by whom the honorable mention made in your letter was richly merited.

Although my high reverence for Samuel Adams was returned by habitual notices from him, which highly flattered me, yet the disparity of age prevented intimate and confidential communications. I always considered him, more than any other member, the fountain of our important measures; and although he was neither an eloquent nor easy speaker, whatever he said was sound, and commanded the profound attention of the House.

In the discussions on the floor of Congress, he reposed himself on our main pillar in debate, Mr. John Adams. These two gentlemen were verily a host in our councils. Comparisons with their associates, northern or southern, would answer no profitable purpose; but they would suffer by comparison with none."

It will be unnecessary to cite further cotemporary authorities, touching the general outlines of Samuel Adams' character. The idea of the Independence of the Colonies was doubtless more or less cherished from the beginning, but he was the first man who embodied, and, with extraordinary tact and effect, diffused that doctrine from North to South, until it became in '76 the vital principle of our constitution. Many years before ordinary minds dared to hope for such a consummation, Gordon wrote in his history, that "Mr. Samuel Adams long since said, in small, confidential companies,' This country shall be independent, and we will be satisfied with nothing short of it."

In turning now to a more specific analysis of the

mental structure of this great patriot, with an effort to estimate the value of his public services, it is proposed to consider the influence of his pen, his tongue and his example..

First, let us glance at what he achieved with his pen. We have seen that he accustomed himself to political writing while at college. He was favorably known as a polemic, during the administration of Governor Shirley, whom he opposed on the ground of his exercise both of the civil and military power. When the intelligence reached Boston, in 1763, of a design to tax the Colonies, and place the revenue at the disposal of Parliament, Adams promptly opposed the measure. At that period, when the town met to choose their representatives to the General Assembly, it was the custom to instruct them respecting their legislative duties. Soon after the ominous news arrived, the people elected Mr. Adams to draw up appropriate instructions. The document is yet extant in his own hand-writing; and in that manuscript is found the first public denial of the right of the British Parliament to tax the Colonies without their consent— the first denial of parliamentary supremacy—and the first public suggestion of an union on the part of the Colonies, to protect themselves against British aggres

sion.

Samuel Adams possessed a calm, solid, and yet polished mind. There is a wonderful lucidness in his thought and phraseology; every thing about his composition is plain, forcible, and level to the simplest comprehension. Above all the men of his day, he was distinguished för sound practical judgment. All prominent