John Adams to Benjamin Rush, February 17, 1790

Richmond Hill [ 17 ] Feb. 1790 1

Dear Sir

I had heard, before I rec d your
Letter of the 12 th , of your new Engagements in the
Colledge added to your extensive Practice and other virtuous Pursuits: and therefore
was at no loss to account for your long Silence.

I have no Pretensions to the Merit of your manly and successful
opposition to the Constitution of Pensilvania: but I am very willing to be responsible
for. any Consequences of its Rejection. 2

I have never despised public opinion deliberately. if I have ever
expressed myself lightly of it, it was in haste and without caution. on the contrary
It is always to be respected and treated with decency, even when in Error: but never
to be made the Rule of Action against Conscience,—it is seldom, and only in small
Matters to be followed, implicitly. it is a Wave of the Sea in a Storm in the Gulph
Stream, except when it is the Result of methodical Councils or secret Influence. It
Should be guided and aided, as well as informed by those who are in Possession of all
the Secrets of the state. in no nation that ever yet existed, were all the Facts known
to the whole Body or even a Majority of the People, which were
essential to the formation of a right Judgment of public affairs. The History of this
Country for the last thirty Years, affords as many proofs of this Truth as that of any
other Nation. how many times, both at home and abroad have our affairs been in
situations, that none but Madmen would have thought proper to be published in detail
to the People.

You are not the only one, who has Seen and felt The Jealousy Envy
and Ingratitude of Friends.

“I love my friend as well as You

But why should he obstruct my view” 3

contains a Truth, which has laid the foundation for every Despotism
and every Absolute Monarchy on Earth. it is this Sentiment, which ruins every
Democracy and every Aristocracy, and every possible Mixture of both, and renders a
mediating Power, an invincible Equilibrium between them indispensible. never yet was a
Band of Heroes or Patriots able to bear the sight of any one of them constantly at
their head, if they saw any opening to avoid it. Emulation almost the only Principle
of Activity, (except Hunger and Lust) is the Cause of all the Wars Seditions and
Parties in the World. What is most astonishing is, that We Should be so ignorant of
it, or inattentive to it. and that We should not See, that an independent Executive
Power, able at all times to overrule these Rivalries, is absolutely necessary.

The charming Picture you give me of your Domestic Felicity,
delights my inmost soul: but revives in me a lively regret for the ten years of my
Life, that I lost:—when I left my Children to grow up without a Father.

There are two Parties my friend, who have united in some degree,
to obscure the fame of the old Whiggs. The Tories are one, and the Young Fry is the
other. By the latter I mean a sett of young Gentlemen who have come out of Colledge
Since the Revolution, and are Candidates for fame.— There is a Sett of Men in this
Country, who have hazarded too much, laboured too much, suffered too much, and
Succeeded too well, ever to be forgiven. Some of these unfortunately are not men of
large Views and comprehensive Information, and have adopted destructive systems of
Policy. Were it not for this last Consideration, you would hear their Cause pleaded in
Accents that would make Impressions on every honest human heart.

You, my dear sir, enjoy the Esteem of the honest and enlightened
and are perhaps more usefully and happily employed than others in places of more Eclat.— There is no Man however
that I should see with more Pleasure in public Life, especially in Congress.

With a Knowledge of the modern Languages it is so easy to acquire
the ancient, and the ancient are so great a step towards the Acquisition of the
Modern, that I cannot help, putting in a Word more in favour of Greek and Latin.

I am, my dear Sir your Friend

John Adams

I forbid You, on pain of what shall fall thereon from giving me a
Title in your Letters. I Scorn, disdain, despize, (take which Word You will) all
Titles.