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Summary: Twenty-eight-year old Elbridge Gerry, as member of the Massachusetts General Court, writes to his mentor Samuel Adams. The province had recently learned that Britain had withdrawn the power of the Massachusetts Assembly to pay local British officials. Adams, along with Joseph Warren, was setting up a committee of correspondence to organize the localities in opposition.
Elbridge Gerry. Autograph Letter Signed, retained draft with numerous revisions, Marblehead, Mass., November 2, 1772, to Samuel Adams. 3 pp., 9 1/2 x 7 3/8 in.
Inventory# 22036 $37,500
Transcript:
Marblehead 2d Novem 1772
Dear Sir
Your agreable Favours of the 29th ult. are just come to Hand. I observe what is doing in ye City, & what You are desirous of having done in this & ye neighbouring Towns; being fully convinced, & acquiescing entirely in your Opinion that unanimity in our Measures is necessary, & (as ye Farmer says) the only Means by wch. We can save Ourselves “United We Stand, divided We fall”.
As in all or most human Affairs a successful beginning invigorates ye proceedings & generally carrys us wth. Triumph to ye End, it appears necessary that a plan should be well concerted for ye whole to act upon and so concerted that if it should prove unsuccessful, Individuals who have Vertue enough to oppose ye wicked Designs of ye great, may not fall a Sacrifice to their Rage or Redicule, but have this for their Boast, that they have struggled for, & with an honest people.
If you’ll give me leave to speak my private Sentiments upon your proceedings at ye last Meeting, both with ye Deference due to ye reputed Wisdom of that Community, & Freedom of a person in pursuit of Truth, I will observe that in a free State ye Measure of petitioning ye Governor for an assembly, would not only have been rational but would have [2] insured Success, for then ye Good of ye people ye Salus populi being ye Object at which ye supreme legislature would aim & ye existence of a Governor (in that Capacity) would depend on his having the same object in view & to approve himself in his office, he Would naturally have listened to ye first proposals, of a Metropolis, & either have removed their groundless Fears, or have convened an assembly that they might make known their Grievances. This would have been ye case in a Free State.
Glory in a great Measure we are not in that State: & therefore I fear that all applications to those who are our Oppressors will not only be fruitless but serve to hurt our Cause & discourage Us – our whole Dependance as a people seems to be on our own Wisdom & Valour & if a plan, wherein as I observ’d before all can come to act, should be devised I doubt not it will succeed. It is previously necessary as you propose to know of ye Judges whether they will accept or not, and if We have not opportunity as an assembly to have their peremptory answer to this Question it appears most proper for a Committee from Boston united with Committees from two or three other Towns to wait on them, & in Case of an equivocal Answer to look up on it they do intend accepting & to proceed accordingly. Should this step taken only by one Town be treated by our Judges with Indignity, it would prove discouraging,; when in Conjunction with several other Towns it would have the Contrary effect & serve to animate each Town [3] & the whole province.
It appears to me the ye [sic] process is plain when once this point is determined. When Mr Prat was appointed chief [sic] Judge for New York the people were disgusted, & treated him with such Indignity that (if my Memory serves) it shortned his Life. & should Boston enter into some spirited Resolves respecting the Judges on their Acceptance, treating them with Indignity & their posterity, precluding the latter & both from ev’ry Honour & Office that can be confered on them by the people, holding them up to Infamy in every Light & withholding every Connection with their Familys & their associates. should this be done & in such Resolve published in every news paper each Town in ye province was particularly desired to give their Sense of the Matter in ye same publick Way I doubt not the Judges would come to Terms & replace their Dependence on ye people but I do not so much depend on my own Opinion in these Matters & only give it to collect your Sentiments being with great Respect & Esteem Dr.
Sir your most obedt. & hum’ Servt
Elbridge Gerry
Am much obliged for your necessary Care in Concealing the Author of my last Respects
Samuel Adams Esq.
[address leaf:] To Samuel Adams Esq. in Boston
[docket:] copy of a letter to Mr. Adams Novem 1772
Provenance:
Elsie O. and Philip D. Sang Foundation (Sotheby Parke Bernet, 3 June 1980, lot 917); James S. Copley Library, Sotheby’s, April 14, 2010
References:
J.T. Austin, Life of Elbridge Gerry (1828), vol.1, pp. 12-15
Condition: formerly folded, second leaf inlaid, right edge of first leaf guarded touching one letter, smaller mends on other edges, some slight ink corrosion.
Notes:
The “Farmer” referenced in the first paragraph is the pseudonym used by John Dickinson, the “Penman of the Revolution.” His 1768 “Liberty Song,” which included the lyric “By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall,” had been widely reprinted and was a favorite at patriotic gatherings. Dickinson went on to serve as a Continental Congressman, delegate to the 1787 Federal Convention (where he signed the Constitution) and president of both Pennsylvania and Delaware. He is the namesake of Dickinson College and Dickinson School of Law.
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