Part 10

Every exertion was used by the adherents of the crown to induce Mr. Adams to relinquish his whig principles, and accept of golden honours under the King. Governor Gage sent a special messenger, Colonel Fenton, to him, to induce him to bow his knee to the throne. After finding that England was not rich enough to buy him, he threatened to have him arrested and sent beyond the seas to be tried for high treason. He listened with more apparent attention to this last suggestion, and, after a pause, asked Colonel Fenton if he would truly deliver his reply to Governor Gage. On receiving an affirmative assurance, he rose from his chair, and assuming an air of withering contempt, he said “I trust I have long since made my peace with the KING OF KINGS. No personal consideration shall induce me to abandon the righteous cause of my country. Tell Governor Gage, it is the advice of Samuel Adams to him, _no longer to exasperate the feelings of an insulted people_.”

This reply roused the ire of the royal governor, and when he subsequently issued his proclamation, offering a free pardon to such of the rebels as would return to what _he_ termed their duty, he excepted Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The two patriots received this mark of distinction as a high commission from the throne, directing their future course. They received it as a _carte blanche_, that left them as free as mountain air in all their actions. No bribe could seduce, or threat divert Mr. Adams from the patriotic path he had marked out. He placed his trust in the Rock of Ages, and enjoyed the rich consolations of an approving conscience, and the unlimited confidence and cheering approbation of the friends of equal rights. These were more dearly prized by him than all the royal honours within the gift of kings.

Mr. Adams was from that time forward marked out as an object of vengeance by the British authorities. He was one of the causes that hastened on the final commencement of open hostilities. The object of the king’s troops in proceeding to Lexington on the memorable 19th of April, 1775, was to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and obtain their papers. Apprised of their business, General Joseph Warren despatched an express late in the evening to the two patriots, warning them of the approaching danger. In a few moments after they received the information, the British troops entered the house in which they were, from whom they narrowly escaped. In a few short hours the dark curtain rose, and the revolutionary tragedy commenced. The last maternal cord was severed, the great seal of the original compact was dissolved in blood, and the covenants of the two parties were fully cancelled.

Mr. Adams remained in the neighbourhood; and the next morning, as the day dawned, and the sun rose without a cloud to dim its rays, he remarked to a friend, “this is a glorious day for America.” He viewed the sacrifice as an earnest of future blessings and ultimate happiness.

To rouse the people to action, now became the sole business of this devoted friend of his bleeding country. Having been a member of the Congress that met at Philadelphia the previous year, he was well convinced, from the feelings then expressed by the members from all the colonies, that the simultaneous efforts of those opposed to the usurpations of the crown, would be exerted in the common cause against the common enemy. They only waited for the grand signal to action; this had now been given; the tocsin of war had been sounded; the requium of battle had been sung; its heart piercing notes were wafted far and wide on the wings of echo, and were responded to by millions of patriotic souls, resolved on liberty or death, victory or the grave. Mr. Adams mourned deeply the death of his friends who were the martyrs of that tragical, yet glorious day; but rejoiced that their funeral knell would shake to its very centre the temple of British power in America, and that their blood would cry to Heaven for vengeance, and incite to vigorous and triumphant action, the hardy sons of the new world. The event gave to his own mind new powers of propulsion, and nerved him with fresh vigour to meet the fiery trials that were in reserve for him. As dangers increased he became more bold in his propositions to the people to maintain their rights; as the wrath of his enemies grew hotter against him, he became more highly appreciated by the populace, and was uniformly styled, _Samuel Adams the Patriot_. His fame and his influence expanded with each revolving day; his friends were animated by his counsels and eloquence; his foes were astounded and chagrined at the boldness of his career. In the assembly of his own state, he effected the passage of a series of resolutions deemed treasonable by the royal governor, by locking the door and keeping the key himself to prevent the proceedings of the house from being known in time for the adherents of the crown to defeat them. In the Congress of 1776, he was among the first to propose and strongly advocate the declaration of independence; and always contended it should have followed immediately after the battle of Lexington. He demonstrated all his propositions in a clear, calm, dignified and logical manner; and always planted himself upon the firm basis of reason and justice. He was extremely zealous, but not rash; he was ardent and decisive, but wise and judicious. When the Declaration of Rights was adopted by the Continental Congress, on the 4th of July, 1776, he most cheerfully affixed his name to that sacred instrument without the least hesitation. He had been an able and eloquent advocate of the measure; he had long cherished and fondly nursed the project of an unequivocal separation from the mother country, and rejoiced at the final consummation of his ardent desires.

During the darkest periods of the revolution, he was calm and cheerful, and did much to banish despair from the minds of the desponding. In 1777, when Congress was obliged to fly to Lancaster, and a dismal gloom was spread over the cause of the patriots like the mantle of night, several of the leading members were convened, in company with Mr. Adams, and were conversing upon the disasters of the American arms, and concluded the chance for ultimate success was desperate. Mr. Adams replied, “If this be _our_ language, it is so indeed. If _we_ wear long faces, they will become fashionable. Let us banish such feelings, and show a spirit that will keep alive the confidence of the people. Better tidings will soon arrive. Our cause is just and righteous, and we shall never be abandoned by Heaven, while we show ourselves worthy of its aid and protection.” At that time there were but twenty-eight members in Congress, and Mr. Adams remarked, “it was the _smallest_, but _truest_ Congress they ever had.”

Shortly after that trying period, the rays of hope dawned upon them, the news of the surrender of Burgoyne removed the long faces, and put a new aspect upon the American cause. The friends of liberty were reanimated; their hearts were enlivened by fresh courage; the anchor of hope held them more firmly to their moorings. The arrival of Lord Howe, the Earl of Carlisle, and Mr. Eden, with what _they_ termed the olive branch of peace from Lord North, also created a new excitement. Mr. Adams was on the committee appointed to treat with these messengers of the king. On examining the terms proposed, the committee found that the pretended olive branch had been plucked from the Bohon Upas of an overbearing and corrupt ministry, and promptly replied, through Mr. Adams, “Congress will attend to no terms of peace that are inconsistent with the honour of an independent nation.” This answer was as unexpected to the royal trio, as it was laconic and patriotic. The grand Rubicon had been passed, the city of chains had been abandoned, and nothing could induce the sages of ’76 to look back, or tarry on the plain of monarchy.

In 1779, Samuel Adams and John Adams were appointed by the committee of which they were members, to draft a constitution for the state of Massachusetts, under the new form of government. They ably performed the duty assigned them—the convention sanctioned the document they submitted with but few amendments, and adopted it for the future government of the state. The same gentlemen also prepared for the convention an address to the people on that occasion, which also met the approval of that body, and was responded to, with high approbation, by the hardy yeomanry of that state.

Mr. Adams was also a member of the convention of his native state, convened in 1787, to act upon the Constitution of the United States, then submitted for consideration. Some of its features appeared objectionable to him, but he cautiously avoided any opposition, lest he should endanger its final adoption, which he considered the best policy, securing for it future amendments. He was most particularly opposed to the article that rendered the states amenable to the national courts. After listening to the arguments for and against it, he submitted certain amendments, which were approved by the convention, and when it was finally sanctioned by a majority of the members, these amendments were submitted with it, and recommended for the future consideration of Congress, and some of them have since been adopted.

From 1789 to 1794 Mr. Adams was lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts, and from that time to 1797 was governor of that state. He performed the executive duties with great ability, and contributed largely in raising his native domain to a flourishing condition and dignified standing. He watched over all her interests with a parental care, and viewed her rising greatness with an honest pride. He had seen her sons writhing under the lash of oppression, and the bones of her daughters bleaching in the wind. He now beheld the people independent and happy, prosperous and virtuous. He could now depart in peace. His infirmities and age admonished him to retire from the great theatre of public action, on which he had so long been a prominent actor, and having filled the gubernatorial chair for three years, he bid a final farewell to political life, approved by his country, his conscience and his God. His health continued to decrease gradually with each returning autumn, and on the 3d of October, 1803, his immortal spirit left its tenement of clay, and soared aloft, on wings of faith, to mansions of bliss beyond the skies, where flow rivers of joy for evermore. He died, rejoicing in the merits of his glorified Redeemer, who had triumphed over death and the grave. He had fought the good fight of faith, as well as that of LIBERTY; and felt a full assurance of receiving a crown of glory at the hands of King Immanuel.

Amidst all the turmoils of political and revolutionary strife, Mr. Adams never neglected religious duties. When at home, he was faithful to the family altar, and uniformly attended public worship when practicable. He was a consistent every-day Christian, free from bigotry and fanaticism, not subject to sudden contractions and expansions of mind, rather puritanical in his views, yet charitable in his feelings, and not disposed to persecute any one for the sake of opinion. He adorned his profession of Christianity by pure moral conduct, and the most scrupulous honesty, during his whole life. As a public man and a private citizen, he was highly esteemed, and richly earned a place in the front rank of the fathers of the American revolution. He placed a low value upon riches, and died poor, but not the less esteemed because of his poverty. He placed a high value upon common school education, and a _proper_ estimate upon the higher branches of science. He was strongly in favour of teaching the great mass of the people the rudiments of an English education, even should it be at the expense of the classics. General intelligence, widely and thoroughly disseminated, he considered one of the strongest bulwarks to preserve the independence of a nation against the innovations of intriguing and designing men, who regard _self_ more than the glory of their country. He took a liberal, expansive, and philosophic view of every subject he investigated, and formed his conclusions only from a close conviction that they were based upon correct premises and sound common sense. In the cause of freedom he laboured incessantly, from his youth through a long life, and was ever ready to throw himself in every breach made by the creatures of the crown upon the rights of his country. At town meetings, in the formation of independent societies, in the columns of a newspaper, in the assembly of his own state, and in the national legislature, he always filled a broad space and moved in a large circumference. He was pure in his motives, bold in his plans, open and frank in his sentiments, firm in his purposes, energetic in his actions, and honourable in his course. He wielded an able pen, varying his style to suit every occasion. But few of his productions have been preserved. His answer to Thomas Paine’s writings against Christianity, is perhaps superior to any thing that has been written on the subject. His four letters on government, published in 1800, show a clear head, a good heart, and a gigantic mind. His political essays, penned before and during the revolution, were soul-stirring appeals, and contributed largely in rousing the people to a defence of their inalienable rights.

As an orator, he was eloquent, chaste, and logical, always rising with the magnitude of his subject. It was only on great occasions that his powers were _fully_ developed; but on _all_ occasions he was listened to with profound attention. He always spoke sensibly and to the point, addressing the understanding rather than the passions.

His manners were urbane, plain, and unaffected; his mode of living frugal and temperate; his attachments strong, sincere, and uniform; his whole life was one continued chain of usefulness, devoted to the good of his fellow men, the liberty and prosperity of his country, and the happiness of the human family. Let his example be imitated, and our Union may long be preserved from the iron grasp of ambitious partisans and the fatal snares of designing demagogues: let them be discarded, and it will prove a rope of sand, the temple of our LIBERTY will crumble and moulder with the dust of SAMUEL ADAMS.

DR. BENJAMIN RUSH.

A sacred halo surrounds this name, as imperishable as the pages of history. In the service of his country, and in the pursuit of his profession, BENJAMIN RUSH filled the measure of his glory. His revered memory is cherished by many surviving friends; his fame will be chaunted by millions yet unborn.

He was a native of Bristol, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, born on the 24th of December, 1745. His ancestors immigrated to this country under the auspices of William Penn, as early as 1683. His father was a highly respectable agriculturalist, and died when this son was but a child. At the age of nine years, Benjamin was placed under the tuition of his maternal uncle, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Finley, whose literary attainments were of a high order, and who was subsequently elected president of the college at Princeton, New Jersey. Young Rush continued under the instruction of this accomplished teacher until he was fourteen, when he entered Princeton college, then under the direction of President Davis. Like an expanding flower courting the genial warmth of spring, the talents of this young freshman rapidly unfolded their rich lustre beneath the shining rays of the sun of science. So astonishing was his proficiency, that in one year after he commenced his collegiate course, he received the degree of bachelor of arts; a high compliment to his former instructor, a merited tribute to his own industry, acquirements and genius. During his brief stay at Princeton, he gained the friendship of all around him, and was esteemed one of the most eloquent public speakers among the students. With the best wishes of the professors and his classmates, he left them the following year, and commenced the study of medicine with Dr. John Redman, then one of the most eminent practitioners in the city of Penn. The same industry that had marked his previous course, made him a favourite son of Æsculapius. The same urbanity and modesty that had made him a welcome guest in every circle in which he had previously moved, constantly gained for him new and influential friends. After pursuing his study with great assiduity for six years under the instruction of Dr. Redman, he entered the medical university of Edinburgh, in Scotland, where he reaped the full benefit of the lectures of the celebrated professors Munro, Cullen, Black and Gregory; and received the degree of doctor of medicine in 1768. Although then laden with an unusual store of knowledge in the healing art, his investigating mind led him to explore still farther the important field of science before him, and reduce to practice, under the superintendence of able practitioners, his vast stock of theory. He accordingly went to London, where he was admitted to practice in the hospitals of that city. He soon became eminent as a bold and successful operator, a skilful and judicious physician. After remaining there nearly a year, he visited Paris, and, in the spring of 1769, returned to the warm embrace of his connections and friends, and commenced his useful career in the city of Philadelphia.

His professional fame had preceded him, and his superior acquirements were immediately called into action. In addition to an extensive practice, he was elected one of the professors of the medical school that had recently been organized by Drs. Bond, Kuhn, Morgan and Shippen. This mark of distinction was conferred upon him within a few months after his return. Upon a substantial basis he continued to build an honest and enduring fame, participating in all the passing events that concerned his country’s good and his country’s glory; at the same time discharging his professional duties promptly and faithfully.

Although he had apparently been absorbed in the study of medicine, it was soon discovered that he had made himself familiar with the relative situation of the mother country and the American colonies. He had closely examined the unwarranted pretensions of the former, and the aggravated grievances of the latter. His noble soul was touched by the sufferings of oppressed humanity, and warmed by the patriotic fire of FREEDOM. He became a bold and able advocate in the cause of liberty, a firm and decided opposer of British tyranny, a strong and energetic supporter of equal rights. Mingling with all classes through the medium of his profession, his influence was as extensive and multiform, as it was useful and salutary. The independence of his country was the desire of his heart; to see her regenerated and free, was his anxious wish. So conspicuous a part did he act in the passing scenes of that eventful period, that he was chosen a member of the Congress of 1776, and sanctioned the declaration of independence, by affixing his name to that sacred instrument.

The year following, he was appointed physician-general of the military hospital for the middle department, and rendered himself extensively useful during the whole of the revolution. He was ever ready to go where duty called, and exerted his noblest powers in the glorious cause he had espoused, until he saw the star spangled banner wave in triumph over his native land, and the incense of LIBERTY ascending to Heaven, in sappharine clouds, from the altar of FREEDOM.

This great work accomplished, he desired to be occupied only by his profession. For a time, his services were diverted from this channel, by his being elected a member of the convention of Pennsylvania to take into consideration the adoption of the federal constitution. Having examined the arguments as they progressed in the national convention that formed it, he was fully prepared to enter warmly and fully into the advocacy of that instrument. When it received the sanction of a majority of the States, the measure of the political ambition of Dr. Rush was filled. He retired from that kind of public life, crowned with laurels of immortal fame, that will bloom and survive, until patriotism shall be lost in anarchy, and the last vestige of liberty is destroyed by the tornado of faction. The only station he ever consented to fill under government subsequently was that of cashier of the United States Mint.

From that period forward, he devoted his time and talents to the business of his profession, to the improvement of medical science, and the melioration of the ills that flesh is heir to.

In 1789, he was elected professor of the theory and practice of physic, as the successor of Dr. Morgan, and in 1791 he was appointed to the professorship of the institutes of medicine and clinical practice, and upon the resignation of Dr. Kuhn, in 1806, he was honoured by the united professorships of the theory and practice of physic and of clinical medicine, which stations he ably filled until death closed his useful career.

Besides those already mentioned he performed many duties in various associations formed for benevolent purposes. He was president of the American Society for the Abolition of Slavery, vice president of the Philadelphia Bible Society, president of the Philadelphia Medical Society, one of the vice presidents of the American Philosophical Society, and a member of several other philanthropic institutions both in this country and in Europe. For many years he was one of the physicians of the Pennsylvania Hospital, and took a deep interest in its prosperity and welfare. Wherever he could be useful by counsel, influence, or action, he was sure to be found. To soothe the troubled bosom heaving with anguish, to alleviate the suffering patient writhing under pain, to supply the pinching wants of the poor and needy sinking under adversity, afforded Dr. Rush more pleasure than to have been placed on the loftiest pinnacle of political fame; a richer joy than to have been the triumphant chieftain of a conquered world.

Amidst his multifarious duties he arranged his time with so much system and order as to produce a routine of harmonious action. His professional duties, his books, and his pen, were all attended to in proper time. He wrote numerous literary, moral, and philosophical essays, and several volumes on medical science, among which were his “Medical Inquiries and Observations,” and a “History of the Yellow Fever.” He spent much time in the investigation of that fatal disease, and in endeavouring to arrive at the best mode of treatment. In this, as well as in many other cases, the lancet was his anchor of hope. During the prevalence of any disease his exertions to alleviate distress and arrest its progress, were unremitting and indefatigable. He obeyed the calls of the poor and needy as promptly as those of the rich and affluent. He was particularly attentive to those who had employed him when prosperity cheered their onward course, and were subsequently prostrated by adversity. He was not a sunshine friend.

He was the man whose liberal mind Wished general good to all mankind; Who, when his friend by fortune’s wound, Fell tumbling headlong to the ground, Could meet him with a warm embrace, And wipe the tears from off his face.

A pious and exemplary Christian, he poured the balm of consolation into the wounds of the desponding heart as freely as he administered to alleviate the pains of the body. His counsels were full of wisdom and benevolence, and rescued many a frail bark from total shipwreck. His soul-cheering advice and enlivening presence drove despair from many an agonized mind, imparting fresh vigour by administering the elixir of hope and the tonic of perseverance.