John Hancock had succeeded Randolph as president of the second Congress, and Virginia was inclined to be lukewarm, when John Adams in an impassioned speech nominated Colonel George Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army.  The nomination was seconded very quietly by Samuel Adams.  It was a vote, and the South was committed to the cause of backing up Washington, and, incidentally, New England.  The entire plan was probably the work of Samuel Adams, yet he gave the credit to John, while the credit of stoutly opposing it goes to John Hancock, who, being presiding officer, worked at a disadvantage.

But Adams had a way of reducing opposition to the minimum.  He kept out of sight and furthered his ends by pushing this man or that to the front at the right time to make the plea.  He was a master in that fine art of managing men and never letting them know they are managed.  By keeping behind the arras, he accomplished purposes that a leader never can who allows his personality to be in continual evidence, for personality repels as well as attracts, and the man too much before the public is sure to be undone eventually.  Adams knew that the power of Pericles lay largely in the fact that he was never seen upon but a single street of Athens, and that but once a year.

The complete writings of Adams have recently been collected and published.  One marvels that such valuable material has not before been printed and given to the public, for the literary style and perspicuity shown are most inspiring, and the value of the data can not be gainsaid.

No one ever accused Adams of being a muddy thinker; you grant his premises and you are bound to accept his conclusions.  He leaves no loopholes for escape.

The following words, used by Chatham, refer to documents in which Adams took a prominent part in preparing:  “When your Lordships look at the papers transmitted us from America, when you consider their decency, firmness and wisdom, you can not but respect their cause and wish to make it your own.  For myself, I must avow that, in all my reading—­and I have read Thucydides and have studied and admired the master statesmen of the world—­for solidity of reason, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion under a complication of difficult circumstances, no body of men can stand in preference to the general Congress of Philadelphia.  The histories of Greece and Rome give us nothing like it, and all attempts to impress servitude on such a mighty continental people must be in vain.”

In the life of Adams there was no soft sentiment nor romantic vagaries.  “He is a Puritan in all the word implies, and the unbending fanatic of independence,” wrote Gage, and the description fits.

He was twice married.  Our knowledge of his first wife is very slight, but his second wife, Elizabeth Wells, daughter of an English merchant, was a capable woman of brave good sense.  She adopted her husband’s political views and with true womanly devotion let her old kinsmen slide; and during the dark hours of the war bore deprivation without repining.