The Madisonian. (Richmond, Ky.) 1913-1914, 1913-07-08
(coNTINUED1
suspieIooe o View Enoianders.

OSStS'Ss0oO
There had been more than touch
OF violence. more than a little turbu-
lence. and vast deal OF radical and
revolutionary talk in all that they had
done; and the colonies were full vet
Of men who had no tolerance for any.
thing that transgressed, were It never
so little, the moderate limits Of con-
stitutional agitation.
There IL an opinion which does in
some degree obtain in the other colo
MES that the Massachusetts gentle
men. and especially of the town of
Boston. do affect to dictate and take
the lead in continental measures. that
we are apt, from an inward vanity and
selc-conceit, to assume big and
naughty. airs" said Joseph Hawiey,
who. for all he had grown old q, a
quiet Massachusetts lawyer among his
neighbors. had kept his shrewd eyes
abroad. ''It is highly probable he
told John Adams, with a wholesome
bluntness, that you will meet genrte-
men from several of the other coio-
mics fully equal to yourselves or any
OF you in their knowledge of Great
Britain, the colonies, law, history, gov.
eminent, commerce. By what va
from time to time see in the public
papers, and what our assembly and
committees have received from the
assemblies and committees of the
more southern coloniesI we must be
satisfied that they have men of as
much sense and literature as any we
can, or ever could, boast of"
Advised to Be Prudent.
It was mere counsel Of prudence
that they should play their part in the
congress with modesty and discretion.
Not Gushing and Paine. but the
Adamses, carried the strength of the
Massachusetts delegation; and it was
Samuel Adams, rather than John, who
was just now the effective master in
the great Bay Colony-"master Of
puppets" his enemies called him.
Hale, bluff, adroit, plain, man Of
the people, he had grown old in the
business Of agitation. Fifty-two years
he had lived, planning always for
others, never for himself. He had
never looked forward in his life" he
frankly said: never planned, laid a
scheme. or framed design of laying
up anything for himself or others aft
er him." had let all his private bust
ness go neglected, and lived upon the
petty salary Of small public Office.
the indulgence of fortune, and the
good offices of the friends and neigh
bors who loved him
The master Of Puppets."
He was in Philadelphia now wear
ing the plain suit and spending the
modest purse with which his friends
and partisans had fitted him out-the
very impersonation Of the revolution
men were beginning SO to fear
No man had ever daunted him;
neither could any corrupt him. He
was possessed with the instinct of agi-
tation; led the people, not the lead
ers; cared not for place, but only for
power; showed a mastery Of means,
a self-cGntainment, a capacity for
timely and telling speech, that mark
ed him a statesman, though he loved
the rough ways Of peoples govern
ment, and preferred the fierce demo
.cracy of the town meeting to the
sober dignity of senates. Like an
eagle in his high building and strength
of audacious fight, but in instinct and
habit bird Of the storm. Not over
nice what he did. not too scrupulous
hot ho hn xyof oil
ish loved the principles he had given
his life to, and spent himself without
limit to see them triumph.
Another Kind Of Adams.
John Adams, his cousin. was Of a
very different mould; a younger man
by thirteen years; no man OF the PEG
pile, but with taste rather for the eX-
elusive claims of education and breed
ing; self-regardful; thought too cal
cnlating;- too quick-witted to be pa
tient with dull men. too self-conscious
ito be at ease with great ones; and
yet public-spirited withal, and gener-
,ous in action II not in judgment; OF
great powers, if only he could manage
ito, use them without jealousy.
Samuel Adams thought only Of his
rend, not of himself; seldom spoke OF
himself, indeed; seemed a sort OF
subtle engine for the peoples bust
ness. John Adams thought of himself
always, and yet mastered himself to
play a great part with the nobility OF
a man of genius. if not with the grace
of man of modesty and self-forgerful
devotion. For the time he could ever
hold back with his willy cousin, resign
leadership in the congress to Virginia
and act in all things the wise part o.
those who follow.
A Situation Full of Peril.
1t was a circumstance full Of peri
that the delegates of the several colo
MES should at such a juncture b.
strangers to one another. and provin
Gals all. nowhere bred to continental
anatFs Only since the passage or tn
stamp act had they taken any though
TOT each other. There was no assul
anee that even the best leaders Of
colony could rise to the statesman
view and concert measures, to insur