JUNE 28, 1813
Adams to Jefferson
Quincy June 28, 1813
DEAR S1R
It is very true, that "the denunciations of the Priesthood are
fulminated against every Advocate for a compleat Freedom of Religion.
Comminations, I believe, would be plenteously pronounced, by even the
most liberal of them, against Atheism, Deism; against every Man who
disbelieved or doubted the Resurrection of Jesus or the Miracles of
the New Testament. Priestley himself would denounce the man who should
deny The Apocalyps, or the Prophecies of Daniel. Priestley and Lindsay
both have denounced as Idolaters and Blasphemers, all the Trinitarians
and even the Arrians. Poor weak Man, when will thy Perfection arrive?
Perfectibility, I shall not deny: for a greater Character than
Priestley or Godwin has said, "Be ye perfect" etc. For my part, I
cannot deal damnation round the land on all I judge the Foes of God or
Man. But I did not intend to say a Word on this Subject, in this
Letter. As much of it as you please hereafter: but let me now return
to Politicks.
With some difficulty I have hunted up, or down, "the Address of the
Young men of the City of Philadelphia, the District of South wark, and
the Northern Liberties:" and the Answer.
The Addressers say, "Actuated by the same principles on which our
forefathers atchieved their independence, the recent Attempts of a
foreign Power to derogate from the dignity and rights of our country,
awaken our liveliest Sensibility, and our strongest indignation."
Huzza, my brave Boys! Could Thomas Jefferson or John Adams hear these
Words, with insensibility, and without Emotions These Boys afterwards
add "We regard our Liberty and Independence, as the richest portion
given Us by our Ancestors." And, who were these Ancestors? Among them were
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. And I very cooly believe that no two
Men among those Ancestors did more towards it than those two. Could
either hear this like Statues! If, one hundred Years hence, Your
Letters and mine should see the light, I hope the Reader will hunt up
this Address and read it all: and remember that We were then engaged
or on the point of engaging in a War with France. I shall not repeat
the Answer, till We come to the paragraph upon which you cr[i]ticised
to Dr. Priestley though every Word of it is true and I now rejoice to
see it recorded; and though I had wholly forgotten it.
The Paragraph is "Science and Morals are the great Pillars on which
this Country has been raised to its present population, Oppulence and
prosperity, and these alone, can advance, support and preserve it."
"Without wishing to damp the Ardor of curiosity, or influence the
freedom of
inquiry, I will hazard a prediction, that after the most industrious
and impartial Researches, the longest liver of you all, will find no
Principles, Institutions, or Systems of Education, more fit, IN
GENERAL to be transmitted to your Posterity, than those you have
received from you[r]
Ancestors." (78)
Now, compare the paragraph in the Answer, with the paragraph in the
Address, as both are quoted above: and see if We can find the Extent
and the limits of the meaning of both.
Who composed that Army of fine young Fellows that was then before my
Eyes! There were among them, Roman Catholicks, English Episcopalians,
Scotch and American Presbyterians, Methodists, Moravians, Anababtists,
German Lutherans, German Calvinists Universalists, Arians,
Priestleyans, Socinians, Independents, Congregationalists, Horse
Protestants and House Protestants, Deists and Atheists; and
"Protestans qui ne croyent rien ["Protestants who believe nothing"]."
Very few however of several of these Species. Never the less all
Educated in the general Principles of Christianity: and the general
Principles of English and American Liberty.
Could my Answer be understood, by any candid Reader or Hearer, to
recommend, to all the others, the general Principles, Institutions or
Systems of Education of the Roman Catholicks' Or those of the Quakers!
Or those of the Presbyterians? Or those of the Menonists? Or those of
the Methodists? or those of the Moravians? Or those of the
Universalists? or those of the Philosophers? No.
The general Principles, on which the Fathers Achieved Independence,
were the only Principles in which that beautiful Assembly of young
Gentlemen could Unite, and these Principles only could be intended by
them in their Address, or by me in my Answer. And what were these
general Principles I answer, the general Principles of Christianity,
in which all those Sects were United: And the general Principles of
English and American Liberty, in which all those young Men United, and
which had United all Parties in America, in Majorities sufficient to
assert and
maintain her Independence.
Now I will avow, that I then believed, and now believe, that those
general Principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as
the Existence and Attributes of God; and that those Principles of
Liberty, are as unalterable as human Nature and our terrestrial,
mundane System. I could therefore safely say, consistently with all my
then and present Information, that I believed they would never make
Discoveries in contradiction to these general Principles. In favour of
these general Principles in Phylosophy, Religion and Government, I
could fill Sheets of quotations
from Frederick of Prussia, from Hume, Gibbon, Bolingbroke, Reausseau
and Voltaire, as well as Neuton and Locke: not to mention thousands of
Divines and Philosophers of inferiour Fame.
I might have flattered myself that my Sentiments were sufficiently
known to have protected me against Suspicions of narrow thoughts,
contrasted Sentiments, biggotted, enthusiastic or superstitious
Principles civil political philosophical, or ecclesiastical. The first
Sentence of the Preface to my Defence of the Constitutions, Vol. I,
printed in 1787, is in these
Words: "The Arts and Sciences, in general, during the three or four
last centuries, have had a regular course of progressive improvement.
The Inventions in Mechanic Arts, the discoveries in natural
Philosophy, navigation and commerce, and the Advancement of
civilization and humanity,
have occasioned Changes in the condition of the World and the human
Character, which would have astonished the most refined Nations of
Antiquitv." etc.'" I will quote no farther; but request you to read
again that whole page, and then say whether the Writer of it could be
suspected
of recommending to Youth, "to look backward, instead of forward" for
instruction and Improvement.
This Letter is already too long. In my next I shall consider "The
Terrorism of the day." Meantime, I am as ever, your Friend
JOHN ADAMS
(78). Works, IX, 188.
(79).. Ibid.. IV. 283.
(SOURCE OF INFORMATION: John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, June 28th. 1813
The Adams-Jefferson Letters. The Complete Correspondence Between
Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams, Edited by Lester J.
Cappon, University of North Carolina Press. (1987) (pp 338-40)
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
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.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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