Benjamin Rush to John Adams, February 24, 1790

Philadelphia Feb: 24. 1790.

Dear sir,

Your remarks upon the Conduct of the tories, and the “young fry”
who are now crouding into the Councils of our Country, perfectly accord with my own
Observations. The present convention & assembly of Pennsylvania, and the present
Corporation of Philad a: are all filled chiefly with men who were either unknown in 1776, or known
only for timidity or disaffection. Your old friends have mingled with the continental
money of that memorable year, and are as much forgotten as if they had paid the last
debt of Nature. This part of the issue of the American Controversy has not disappointed
me—for I both expected & predicted it, from a conviction that the laws of property
were as exactly ascertained as the laws of matter, and that power & wealth could
never long be seperated. There is one thing in which the tories have the Advantage of
the Whigs. They are more Attached to each other. They have come forth in a solid column
in our state, and from the violence of many of the Whigs who have been in power during
the war, they have been joined by many of the most respectable republican whig
Characters among us.— Had the whigs of Pennsylvania united in a good Constitution, &
organised it with respectable Officers, they would have transmitted all the power of the
state to their latest posterity. But this event was prevented at first by Cannon—matlack
& D r Young, & afterwards by Reed—Bryan—and Parson
Ewing. 1 The three latter reprobated the
Constitution when it was first made,—but they soon discovered that it might be converted
to desirable private purposes. It gratified the Ambition of Reed—the idleness of
Bryan—& the Avarice and Malice of D r Ewing—for it was
this man chiefly that directed the rage of the state against the freedom of the Quakers,
by severe test laws, and against the property of the Episcopalians by robbing them of
the Charter & funds of their College. 2 The combination of this triumvirate to seize the power—& treasury of the State,
was the result of system. In the month of Octob r 1778 M r Reed waited upon me just as I had recovered from a bilious
fever, and in a long Conversation invited me to Share with them in their premiditated
Usurpation. I objected to the proposal, & told him “that he would ruin himself by
taking a part in the establishment or Support of so bad a Constitution,” The perfect
knowledge I had of those gentlemen’s characters, enabled me to detect, & expose
their Schemes in every period of their
Administration.— They knew this well, and hence my destruction was a favorite Object
with each of them. From my taking the part of the persecuted Quakers, and Episcopalians
I was represented as the enemy of the Presbyterians in our state, and so far did this
calumny succeed, that it Obliged me to retreat from their Society to the Church of my
Ancestors, and in which I was born, viz the Church of England. Such was the industry of
D r Ewing in circulating the above Calumny, that he reduced
my business by it among the presbyterians in the Course of
two years from near an 100, to only ten families. For these Sacrifices to my principles,
I did not recieve the Support I should have done, from the friends of Order, and
justice. Some of them avoided me at the time I was most persecuted, as if I had been
bitten by a mad dog. Others of them joined the hue & cry against me in order to
recommend themselves to the tyrants of the day—nor is this all— One of the republican
party who had long seen with pain the zeal & Success of my Services, I have reason
to believe employed his talents for Wit & ridicule against me in the public
papers. 3 These are valuable facts for
my Children. They will serve to teach them that it is much less dangerous to awaken the
keenest resentment of enemies, than the envy of friends. In reviewing the history of the
events which I have related, (which are now passing rapidly from the memories of most
people) I feel no difficulty in exercising the Christian Virtue of forgiveness towards
my enemies. They [were] open & sincere in their enmity against me. They moreover did
me honor by considering me as the principal in all the measures that were taken to
oppose & defeat them. But my friends were unkind—ungrateful & even treacherous,
and while most of them acted a subordinate part in Schemes planned by myself, they
considered me only as an instrument in their hands to effect the purposes of their
Ambition or revenge.— I wish I would love them as I ought.— In reviewing their conduct
and my own in the disputes in our state, I am led to conclude this narrative with the
famous Spanish prayer “God deliver me from myself, & my friends.”—

The real whigs find as little credit in our histories of the
revolution as they meet with from the “tories & young fry.” Whose heart is not
affected at seeing that venerable patriot Sam l: Adams
traduced in so many instances by D r Gordon? 4 What incense is perpetually offered to One of the military characters that acted only an executive
part in the revolution,—and that too after the foundation of it was laid in principles
& opinions disseminated by Otis—Quincy—Yourself—Sam l Adams—Dickinson—and a few Others?— Had I leisure, I would
endeavour to rescue those characters from Oblivion, and give them the first place in the
temple of liberty. What trash may we not suppose has been handed down to us from
Antiquity, when we detect such errors, and prejudices in the history of events of which
we have been eye witnesses, & in which we have been actors?— I am sometimes disposed
to question the talents of Cæsar— the Virtues of Antoninus—and the Crimes of Commodus. I
suspect the well concerted plans of battles recorded by Livy to have been picked up in
the barbers Shops of Rome, or from deserters from the Roman Armies.— Of the events
recorded by D r Gordon how few of them embrace the whole of
their connections?— How little do we learn from them of the principles of Action in man?
Of the effects of single—& compound—private & public—democratic &
monarchical passions upon the human heart?— of the Motives of Actions in our great Men?— of the difference between Abilities & Success in
enterprizes? & of the real characters of the patriots
of the different Stages of the revolution?— To prevent my Children being deceived by the
histories of the day, I have nearly filled a large Quarto volume began in 1778 with
Anecdotes & characters of the principal Agents in the revolution.— Besides this
Collection, I have filled two small pocket Octavos with facts connected with characters
& events in 1776, & 1777—during which years I was in Congress, or in the Army.—
In One of them I find the following Anecdotes. “Upon my return from the Army to
Baltimore in the winter of 1777, I sat next to Jn o: Adams in
Congress, and upon my whispering to him, and asking him if he thought we should succeed
in our Struggle with G: Britain he answered me—’yes—If we fear God, & repent of our
sins.’[”]— This Anecdote will I hope teach my boys that it is not necessary to
disbelieve Christianity, or to renounce morality in Order to arrive at the highest
political usefulness or fame.— Again—in Baltimore—I asked Jn o Adams—“if he thought we were qualified for republican forms of Government[”]—
He said “no—and never Should be ’till we were ambitious to be
poor ”

Hereafter if agreeable—I shall send you some more extracts from
these books. One of them contains your character at large—among the Gentlemen who signed
the declaration of independance. 5 my Own
is the shortest—and perfectly true. It consists of only these words “He aimed
well.”—

I thank you for your polite wishes to see me restored to public
life. There was a time when I would have accepted of an Appointment abroad. My knowledge
of several European languages, and of many eminent literary
characters, would have added frequent opportunities to my disposition to serve my
Country. I have meditated with great pleasure upon the pains I sh d: have taken in such a Situation to employ my leisure hours in collecting
discoveries in Agriculture—manufactures—and in all the useful Arts and Sciences, and in
transmitting them to my American fellow Citizens. But the time is past—for my accepting
of that or of any Other Appointment in the Government of the United states.— I already
see a system of influence bordering upon Corruption established in our Country, which
seems to proclaim to innocence & patriotism to keep their distance.— I have erected
& decorated my little bower. Its shade is already refreshing, and its odors truly
delightful.— I cannot convey to you a more lively idea of this domestic retreat than by
describing the manner in which the former part of the present evening has passed in my
family. At the same table where I now set, I have had the pleasure of seeing my dear
M rs Rush deeply engaged in reading Millot’s Account of the
manners—& laws of the ancient Egyptians—my Eldest Son—plodding over Rollin’s history
of Cyrus—and my second boy just beginning Goldsmith’s history of England.— 6 In the course of the evening, frequent
applications were made to me to explain hard words by my boys. One them who has just
finished Ovid at School, asked me—“if there was such a river as the Nile, or such a
Country as Egypt.” my Answer to this Question led me to express my hearty disapprobation
of that mode of education which makes the first knowledge of boys to consist in fables , and thereby leads them to reject truth, or to esteem
it no more than the gross errors and fictions of the Ancient poets.—

I must not forget to mention that my eldest daughter (between
11—and 12 years of age) composed a part of this family picture. She was employed in
sewing, but partook in all the Conversation of the evening.— This girl is all that the
most indulgent parents could wish an only Child to be.— A compassionate heart is the
principal feature in her Character. Her little Allowance of spending money is chiefly
given away to the , Start deletion, lazy , End, poor. To both her parents
She is dutiful and affectionate in the highest degree. In the Absence of her mama, she
makes tea for me, and soothe me with a hundred little Anecdotes picked up in her Schools
or in company.—

To this acc t: of my family, I have only
to add that my Venerable mother (now in her 75 th: year)
occupies a room in my house. She is often indisposed in body,—but all the powers of her
mind are in their full Vigor. Such is my Veneration for this excellent parent, that I never look forward to that hour, which must
perhaps soon part us, without feeling an anguish which I cannot describe.

I have now only to beg your pardon for the length of this letter,
and to request you to destroy all that part of it which relates to the private history
of my dear Sir Yours / very Affectionately

Benj n: Rush