It is a fact worthy of remark, that many of the most eminent sages of the American revolution were devoted and consistent professors of christianity, and some of them ministers of the cross. They all seem to have been actuated by motives pure as Heaven, and influenced alone by the demands of imperious duty, based upon the inalienable rights of man. They were not prompted to action from a love of conquest or of military glory. Their pilgrim fathers fled from the clanking chains of servile oppression, and planted the standard of civilization in the new world, that they might enjoy FREEDOM in its native purity, and transmit the rich behest to their offspring. The principles of rational liberty were enforced upon the minds of each rising generation, and when tyranny reared its hydra head, they readily recognised the monster, and resolved, nobly resolved, to drive from their shores the invading foe.

Among the revolutionary sages who boldly espoused the cause of equal rights, was Samuel Adams, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 22nd of September, 1722. He was a man of middle size, well formed, with a countenance beaming with intelligence, indicating firmness of purpose and energy of action. His parents were highly respectable, and descended from ancestors who had always moved in the first rank of society, and were among the early emigrants to this western world. His father was for many years a member of the Assembly of Massachusetts, and by him, this, his eldest son, was early taught those liberal principles that he so fearlessly and triumphantly vindicated during his subsequent career.

When but a child, Samuel Adams exhibited the index of a strong and enquiring mind, and talents of a high order. Under the guidance and instruction of Mr. Lovell, an eminent teacher of that day, he was prepared to enter upon his collegiate studies. He was remarkable for his close application, and rapid progress in the exploration of the field of science. He soared above the allurements that too often lead the juvenile mind astray, and made his books his highest pleasure. His powers of intellect unfolded their variegated hues like a blooming amaranth, and shed a pleasing lustre around him, gratifying to his friends and creditable to himself.

Being of a serious turn, his father placed him in Harvard College, believing him destined for the gospel ministry. He ascended the hill of science with a steady and rapid pace, and gained the esteem and admiration of all around him. During his whole course, he subjected himself to reproof but once, and that for remaining too late in the arms of Morpheus, by reason of which he did not arrive in time to attend morning prayers. At the age of eighteen, he received the degree of bachelor of arts; and, three years after, that of master of arts, although much of his time had been devoted to the investigation of theology, which apparently had been the absorbing topic of his thoughts during the last years he was in college: the subject of his discourse, when he took his final degree, showed that other ideas had also received his attention. It was this: “Is it lawful to resist the supreme magistrate, if the commonwealth cannot otherwise be preserved.” In a masterly manner he maintained the affirmative of this proposition, and with enrapturing eloquence and unanswerable logic, unfolded the beauties of that liberty for which he subsequently pledged his life, his fortune and his sacred honour. From that time he seems to have abandoned the idea of clerical orders, and to have turned all the powers of his gigantic mind to the disenthralment of his country. From that time forward he became a bold and constant advocate of equal rights, and a valiant opposer of British wrongs. By rigid economy he had saved a sum of money from the stipend allowed him by his father when in college; this he devoted to the publication of a pamphlet from his own pen, entitled “The Englishman’s Rights.” This was one of the entering wedges of the revolution, and awakened a spirit of enquiry that eventually kindled the flame of opposition to the increasing oppressions of the crown that consumed the power of monarchy over Columbia’s soil.

Anxious that his son should embark in some permanent business, the father of Samuel Adams obtained for him a situation in the counting-house of Thomas Cushing, an eminent merchant of that period, preparatory to his engaging in commercial affairs; but for that sphere of action nature had not designed him; his mind became absorbed in the pursuit of political knowledge, international law, and the rights of man.

About the time he entered the counting-house, he formed a club of kindred spirits, for the purpose of political discussion and enquiry. Mr. Adams and some of the other members furnished political essays for a newspaper called the Independent Advertiser, which were so severe in their strictures upon the conduct of the creatures of the crown, that the association obtained the name of the “Whipping Post Club.” The hirelings of the king treated these essays with derision, and passed them by as idle wind; upon the great mass of the people they had a different influence. Stamped upon their face with plain truth, sound reasoning and uncontroverted facts, they operated upon British power like the sea-worm upon a vessel, silently and slowly, but with sure destruction. They contributed largely in perforating each plank of the proud ship of monarchy, then riding over the American colonies, until she sank to rise no more. They served as the kindling material of that blazing fire that ultimately illumined the horizon of liberty and lighted the pilgrim patriots to the goal of freedom. “Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth.”

During the administration of Shirley, Mr. Adams wrote several spirited essays against his course and policy, and portrayed, in glowing colours, the dangers of concentrating civil and military power in the same individual.

After remaining for a time with Mr. Cushing, his father furnished him with a liberal capital, and he commenced business for himself. By losses, arising from the pernicious credit system, he was soon stripped of all his stock in trade. By the death of his father he was left, at the age of twenty-five, to take charge of the paternal estate and family. In the discharge of that duty, he proved that he was competent to manage pecuniary matters, by bringing his mind to bear upon the subject. The estate was considerably involved and under an attachment when he undertook his trust, from which he entirely relieved it. This accomplished he again bestowed his attention almost entirely upon politics. He became celebrated as a keen, sarcastic, and ready writer, and laid deep the foundations of his fame as a statesman. He analyzed every point at issue between his own and the mother country, and exposed the corruptions of the British ministry to public gaze in all their pristine deformity. He soon became one of the most popular whigs in his native state, and was hailed as one of their boldest leaders. From his boyhood he had advocated their cause, and despised the chains of slavery. So strongly did the whig party become attached to him, that many of its members who were not personally acquainted with him contributed liberally to relieve him from pecuniary embarrassments, which arose from devoting his time exclusively to political matters. No man had examined more closely, or understood better, the relative situation of Great Britain and her American colonies. He measured every circumstance upon the scale of reason, and based his every action upon the sure foundation of immutable justice. He was not rash and inflammatory—always appealing to the judgment and understanding—endeavouring to allay rather than excite the passions of men. He was a friend to order, opposed to sudden bursts of popular fury, and to every thing calculated to produce riotous and tumultuous proceedings. He took a philosophic view of the chartered rights guarantied to his country, and of the infringements upon them.

Organized and systematic opposition against the unwarranted encroachments of the crown, emanating from the great majority of the sovereign people, was the plan he proposed; to be manifested first by petition and remonstrance, and, in the last resort, by an appeal to arms. Upon the expansive basis of republican principles he took his stand; calm and undismayed he maintained his position. When the offensive stamp act was promulged, he exposed its odious features; and when the climax of oppression was capped by the imposition of taxes upon various articles of daily consumption, for the support of a corrupt and corrupting foreign ministry, which denied the right of representation to the colonies, Samuel Adams proclaimed to his countrymen, that the time had arrived when forbearance was no longer a virtue, and that forcible resistance had become their imperious duty. He showed conclusively that the parliament of Great Britain had violated the constitution that should have guided their deliberations. Americans had in vain claimed protection under its banner, its sacred covering was snatched from over their heads, they were left exposed to the insults of foreign officers who were throwing the coils of tyranny around them. To be slaves or freemen was the important question. Being a member of the general assembly and clerk of the house, he was enabled to exercise a salutary and extensive influence. With great ardour and zeal, he united prudence and discretion. From the time he was elected in 1765, he remained in the assembly of his native state until he was chosen a member of the Continental Congress. He exerted the noblest powers of his mind to prepare the people for the approaching crisis, and kindled a flame of patriotic fire that increased in volume as time rolled on. He was the first man who proposed to the people of Massachusetts the non-importation act, the committees of correspondence, and the congress that assembled at Philadelphia in 1774. Nor did he confine his exertions or limit his influence to New England alone; he corresponded with the eminent patriots of the middle and southern states, and contributed largely in producing unity of sentiment and concert of action in the glorious cause of liberty throughout the colonies. Over his own constituents he held a magic influence. At the sound of his voice the fury of a Boston mob would instantly cease; he could lead the lion of faction with a single hair. The people knew well he would maintain what was clearly right, and submit to nothing, willingly, that was clearly wrong.

When the affray of the first of March, 1770, between the British soldiers and some of the citizens of Boston occurred, the influence of Mr. Adams prevented the further effusion of blood, after the populace had been roused to vengeance by the death of several of their companions. He addressed the assembled multitude, and proposed the appointment of a committee to wait upon Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson, and request the immediate removal of the soldiers, then quartered upon the town. The plan was approved, and Mr. Adams was made the chairman of the committee. His excellency at first refused the request, but found that fatal results would follow if he persisted. The chairman met all his objections fearlessly, and confuted them triumphantly, and told him plainly, that an immediate compliance with the request of the people would alone prevent the most disastrous consequences, and that the Lieutenant Governor would be held responsible for the further waste of human life. The troops were removed to the castle, and peace restored.

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.