Anxious that his son should embark in some permanent business, the father of Samuel Adams obtained for him a situation in the counting-house of Thomas Cushing, an eminent merchant of that period, preparatory to his engaging in commercial affairs; but for that sphere of action nature had not designed him; his mind became absorbed in the pursuit of political knowledge, international law, and the rights of man.
About the time he entered the counting-house, he formed a club of kindred spirits, for the purpose of political discussion and enquiry. Mr. Adams and some of the other members furnished political essays for a newspaper called the Independent Advertiser, which were so severe in their strictures upon the conduct of the creatures of the crown, that the association obtained the name of the “Whipping Post Club.” The hirelings of the king treated these essays with derision, and passed them by as idle wind; upon the great mass of the people they had a different influence. Stamped upon their face with plain truth, sound reasoning and uncontroverted facts, they operated upon British power like the sea-worm upon a vessel, silently and slowly, but with sure destruction. They contributed largely in perforating each plank of the proud ship of monarchy, then riding over the American colonies, until she sank to rise no more. They served as the kindling material of that blazing fire that ultimately illumined the horizon of liberty and lighted the pilgrim patriots to the goal of freedom. “Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth.”
During the administration of Shirley, Mr. Adams wrote several spirited essays against his course and policy, and portrayed, in glowing colours, the dangers of concentrating civil and military power in the same individual.
After remaining for a time with Mr. Cushing, his father furnished him with a liberal capital, and he commenced business for himself. By losses, arising from the pernicious credit system, he was soon stripped of all his stock in trade. By the death of his father he was left, at the age of twenty-five, to take charge of the paternal estate and family. In the discharge of that duty, he proved that he was _competent_ to manage pecuniary matters, by bringing his mind to bear upon the subject. The estate was considerably involved and under an attachment when he undertook his trust, from which he entirely relieved it. This accomplished he again bestowed his attention almost entirely upon politics. He became celebrated as a keen, sarcastic, and ready writer, and laid deep the foundations of his fame as a statesman. He analyzed every point at issue between his own and the mother country, and exposed the corruptions of the British ministry to public gaze in all their pristine deformity. He soon became one of the most popular whigs in his native state, and was hailed as one of their boldest leaders. From his boyhood he had advocated their cause, and despised the chains of slavery. So strongly did the whig party become attached to him, that many of its members who were not personally acquainted with him contributed liberally to relieve him from pecuniary embarrassments, which arose from devoting his time exclusively to political matters. No man had examined more closely, or understood better, the relative situation of Great Britain and her American colonies. He measured every circumstance upon the scale of reason, and based his every action upon the sure foundation of immutable justice. He was not rash and inflammatory—always appealing to the judgment and understanding—endeavouring to allay rather than excite the passions of men. He was a friend to order, opposed to sudden bursts of popular fury, and to every thing calculated to produce riotous and tumultuous proceedings. He took a philosophic view of the chartered rights guarantied to his country, and of the infringements upon them.