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Maxim with some, who are even Men of Merit, that the World esteems a Man in Proportion as he esteems himself, and are generally disposed to allow him, to be what he pretends to be. Accordingly, I am often astonished at the Boldness with which Persons make their Pretensions, a Man must be his own Trumpeter, he must write or dictate Paragraphs of Praise in the News Papers, he must dress, have a Retinue, and Equipage, he must ostentatiously publish to the World his own Writings with his Name, and must write even some Panegyrics upon them, he must get his Picture drawn, his Statue made, and must hire all the Artists in his Turn, to set about Works to spread his Name make the Mob stare and gape, and perpetuate his Fame. I would undertake, if I could bring my Feelings to bear it, to become one of the most trumpeted, admired, courted, worship'd Idols in the whole World in four or five Years. I have learned the whole Art, I am a perfect Master of it. I learnd a great deal of it from Hutchinson and the Tories, and have learned more of it since from Whigs and Tories both, in America and Europe. if you will learn the Art I will teach you.

I have not yet begun to practice this. there is one Practice more which I forget. He must get his Brothers, Cousins, Sons and other Relations into Place about him and must teach them to practice all the same Arts both for them selves and him. He must never do any Thing for any Body who is not his Friend, or in other Words his Tool.

What I am going to say, will be thought by many to be practicing upon some of the above Rules. You and I have had an ugly Modesty about Us, which has despoyld Us of almost all our Importance. We have taken even Pains to conceal our Names, We have delighted in the shade, We have made few Friends, no Tools, and what is worse when the Cause of Truth, Justice, and Liberty have demanded it We have even Sacrificed Those who called themselves our Friends and have made Enemies.

No Man ever made a great Fortune in the World, by pursuing these Maxims. We therefore do not expect it, and for my own Part I declare, that the Moment, I can get into Life perfectly private, will be the happiest of my Life.

The little Art and the less Ambition with which I see the World full disgusts and shocks me more and more. And I will abandon it to its Course, the Moment I can do it with Honour and Conscience.

Remember me, Sir, in the most respectfull Manner to your good Lady, whose Manners, Virtues, Genius, and Spirit will render her immortal, notwithstanding the general Depravity. I am, her and your Friend,

JOHN ADAMS TO JAMES WARREN

JOHN ADAMS

ADAMS MSS.

PASSY, December 5, 1778

MY DEAR SIR, - On the twenty first of May, I wrote you a very long letter upon the subject of foreign affairs in general, and particularly in this Country: on the twenty eighth of July, I wrote you another very lengthy letter, on the seventh of August I wrote you again, in answer to yours of 21 June, on the 27 of November I wrote you again. I hope some of these letters have reached you, but so many vessells have been taken that I fear some have miscarried.

I wish I could unbosom myself to you, without Reserve, concerning the state of our affairs here. But you know the Danger. The two Passions, of Ambition and Avarice, which have been the Bane of Liberty, and the great Curse of human kind in all ages and countries, are not without their Influence upon our affairs here. But I fancy the last of the two, has done the most Mischief. Where the Carcas is, there the Crows will assemble, and you and I have had too much Experience of the Greediness, with which the Continental Treasury has been aimed at by many, to expect that the Coffers of the American Banker here, would not make some Mens Mouths water. This appetite for the Bankers Treasures I take to have been the source of most of the Altercations and Dissentions that have happened here. Your old Friend1 I take to be a Man of Honour and Integrity, yet to be very frank he cannot

I Arthur Lee.

easily govern his Temper, and he has some Notions of Elegance, Rank and Dignity, that may be carried rather too far. He has been of opinion that the public Money has been too freely issued here, and has often opposed. The other 1 you knew personally, and that he loves his ease, hates to offend, and seldom gives any opinion untill obliged to do it. I know also, and it is necessary you should be informed that he is overwhelmed with a Correspondence from all quarters, most of them upon trifling subjects, and in a mere trifling style; with unmeaning visits from Multitudes of People chiefly from the vanity of having it to say they have seen him.

There is another thing which I am obliged to mention. There are so many private Families Ladies and Gentlemen that he visits so often and they are so fond of him that he cannot well avoid it and so much Intercourse with Accademicians, that all these things together keep his mind in such a constant State of Dissipation that if he is left alone here, the public Business will suffer in a degree beyond description, provided our affairs are continued upon the present footing.

If indeed you take out of his hands the public Treasury, and the Direction of the Frigates and continental Vessells that are sent here, and all Commercial affairs, and intrust them to Persons to be appointed by Congress, at Nantes and Bourdeaux, I should think it would be best to leave him here alone, with such a Secretary as you can confide in.

But if he is left here alone, even with such a secretary, and all maritime and commercial as well as political affairs, and money matters are left in his hands I am perswaded that France and America both will have Reason to repent it. He is not only so indolent, that Business will be neglected; but you know that altho' he has as determined a soul as any Man, yet it is his constant Policy never to say Yes or No decidedly but when he cannot avoid it, and it is certain in order to preserve the Friendship between the two Countries the Minister here must upon some occasions speak freely and without Reserve, preserving Decency and Politeness at the same time. Both he and his Colleague,2 who is or I Benjamin Franklin.

2 Silas Deane.

has been lately with you, were, I am sorry to say in a constant opposition to your old Friend, and this Misunderstanding was no secret, at Court, in the City, or in the seaport Towns, either to French, English or Americans, and this was carried so far, that Insinuations, I have been told have been made at Court, against your old Friend, not by either of his Colleagues, that I know of, but by somebody or other, emboldened by and taking advantage of the Misunderstanding among the three, that he was too friendly to the English, too much attached to Lord Shelborne, and even that he corresponded with his Lordship and communicated Intelligence to him.

This, whoever suggested it, was I am perfectly confident, a cruel Calumny, and could not have made an Impression if the Colleagues had contradicted it in the manner that you and I should have done. You and I had opportunity to know his invariable attachment to our Cause, long enough before Hostilities commenced, and I have not a Colour of Ground for Suspicion, that from that time to this he has deviated an Iota from the Cause of our Country in Thought, Word or Deed. When he left England or soon after, he wrote a Letter of mere Compliment to his Lordship, a mere card to bid him farewell, and received such another in return which he assures me are all the letters that ever passed between them, and I have not a doubt of the Truth of it.

The other Gentleman,1 whom you know, I need not say much of. You know his ambition, you know his Desire of making a Fortune, of promoting his Relations, you also know his Art, and his Enterprize. Such Characters are often useful, altho always to be carefully watched and controuled, especially in such a Govern

ment as ours.

There has been so much said among Americans here and in America, about his making a Fortune, by speculating in English Funds, and by private Trade, that it is saying nothing new to mention it. Our Countrymen will naturally like to know if it is true, and it will be expected of me that I should say something of it. I assure you I know nothing about it. An intimate Friend of his, who recommended the Major to you, certainly speculated

I Silas Deane.

largely in the Funds, and some Persons suspect that the other was concerned with him. But I know of no Proof that he was.

Combinations, Associations, Copartnerships in Trade, have been formed here, in which he and his Brothers are or have been supposed to be connected, but I know nothing more than you do about them.

But supposing it was proved that he speculated and traded, the Question will arise whether it was justifiable. Neither you nor I should have done it, it is true; But if he did not employ the public Money, nor so much of his own Time, as to neglect the public Business, where is the Harm? That is the Question, and it ought to be remembered that he was here a long time, not as Ambassador, Envoy, Commissioner or Minister, or in any other Trust or Character from Congress, but merely as an Agent for the Committees of Commerce and Correspondence.

Some of the Gentlemen of Character, who are now in America, from this Country, particularly the Minister and Consul, altho their Characters are very good, it is to be feared have had Prejudices insinuated into them against your old Correspondent. I am extremely sorry for this, because I think it is against a worthy Character, and because it will be likely to have unhappy Effects both with you and abroad.

The other Gentleman, whose Consolation when left out by his first Constituents was that he stood well with the Body to which he was sent, consoled himself also when recalled by that Body, with the Thought that he was esteemed by the Court where he had resided. This no doubt, will be displayed in all its variegated Colours. The Letter from the Minister, expressing high Esteem, the Present from an higher Personage, and above all, the Fleet, and the Magnificence that accompanied, will be all repeated, and rung in Changes, in order to magnify Merit. Yet I am sorry to see in your News Papers such expressions as these Mr. "who was the principal Negotiator." Such expressions if true ought not to be used, because they have only a tendency to occasion Division and Animosity, and cannot do any Good. But there is cause to doubt the Justice of them. In short I think upon an Examination of the Treaties and a Comparison of them, with the

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