TO have holden their lands, allodially, or for every man to have been the sovereign lord and proprietor of the ground he occupied, would have constituted a government, too nearly like a commonwealth. They were contented therefore to hold their lands of their King, as their sovereign Lord, and to him they were willing to render homage: but to no mesne and subordinate Lords, nor were they...
1532IV. Humphrey Ploughjogger to the Boston Gazette, 19 January 1767 (Adams Papers)
I Did flatter myself, as I had got so much Credit by my Writings upon Hemp, and Stamp-Act, &c. &c. that the learned Phylanthrop would just have taken some small Notice of me. * I have enquired about the Reason why he did not. Some tell me, the poor Man’s Council is always despised by the great and larned. Some say that it would be below the Dignity of Government, to take Notice of such a Man...
1533IV. “U” to the Boston Gazette, 18 July 1763 (Adams Papers)
Among the Votaries of Science, and the numerous Competitors for literary Fame, Choice and Judgment, about the Utility of their Studies, and the Interest of the human Race, have been remarkably neglected. Mathematicians have exerted, an obstinate Industry, and the utmost Subtilty of Wit, in demonstrating, little Niceties, among the Relations of Lines and Numbers, of Surfaces and Solids; and in...
1534Report Relative to Assuming Civil Government, 10 December 1774 (Adams Papers)
Cambridge,10 December 1774. printed : Mass. Provincial Congress, Jours. William Lincoln, ed., The Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in 1774 and 1775, and of the Committee of Safety , Boston, 1838. , p. 73–74. This, the second report on this date of the Committee on the State of the Province, was framed in the form of three resolutions: that the adjournment on 29 October had...
1535VI. “U” to the Boston Gazette, 29 August 1763 (Adams Papers)
My worthy and ingenious friend, Mr. J , having strutted and foamed his hour upon the stage and acquired as well as deserved a good reputation as a man of sense and learning, some time since made his exit, and now is heard no more. Soon after Mr. Js departure, your present correspondent made his appearance; but has not yet executed his intended plan.—Mr. J inlisted himself under the banners of...
1536X. Governor Winthrop to Governor Bradford, 9 February 1767 (Adams Papers)
You have my promise of another letter, concerning the maxims, arts, and positions of Philanthrop; whose performances of the last week I shall proceed to consider, without any formal apology for departing from the plan I proposed at first. The art employed by this writer, in the introduction to his account of the Concord anecdote, is worth observation; before we undertake an examination of the...
1537III. The Earl of Clarendon to William Pym, 27 January 1766 (Adams Papers)
You are pleased to charge the Colonists with ignorance of the British constitution—But let me tell you there is not even a Son of Liberty among them who has not manifested a deeper knowledge of it, and a warmer attachment to it, than appears in any of your late writings. They know the true constitution and all the resources of liberty in it, as well as in the law of nature which is one...
1538From John Adams to Boston Patriot, 2 September 1810 (Adams Papers)
Petition to the Burgomasters and Regents of Amsterdam . The subscribers, all merchants and manufacturers of this city, with all due respect, give to understand, that the difference arisen between the kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America, has not only given occasion for a long and violent war, but that the arms of America have covered themselves with a success so happy,...
1539From John Adams to Boston Patriot, 2 January 1812 (Adams Papers)
Mr. Hartley’s memorial—June 1, 1783. The proposition which has been made for an universal and unlimited reciprocity of intercourse and commerce between Great Britain and the American United States requires a very serious consideration on the part of Great Britain, for the reasons already stated in a memorial dated May 19, 1783, and for many other reasons, which in the future discussions of the...
1540From John Adams to Boston Patriot, 10 September 1810 (Adams Papers)
Extract from the Register of the resolution of the States General of the United provinces, Friday, the 19th of April, 1782. Deliberated by resumption, upon the address and the ulterior address, made by Mr. Adams, the 4th of May, 1781, and the 9th of January, the current year, to the President of the assembly of their high mightinesses, to present to their high mightinesses his letters of...