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Subject Area: Political Theory
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

TO O. WOLCOTT, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. - John Adams, The Works of John Adams, vol. 8 (Letters and State Papers 1782-1799) [1853]

Edition used:

The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations, by his Grandson Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1856). 10 volumes. Vol. 8.

Part of: The Works of John Adams, 10 vols.

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TO O. WOLCOTT, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.

I thank you, Sir, for your favor of the 11th, which I received last night. The termination of the trial of Fries is an important, an interesting, and an affecting event. I am unable to conjecture the grounds of Mr. Lewis’s opinion, and wish I had a sketch of them. Is Fries a native or a foreigner? Is he a man of property and independent, or is he in debt? What has been his previous life? industrious or idle, sober or intemperate? It is of importance to discover, if possible, the great men alluded to by Fries, in his observation to Mr. Wood, as at the bottom of this business; and the evidence of any agitation among the insurgents ought to be collected. It is of moment, also, to ascertain whether the insurgents had any general views or extensive communication with others of similar dispositions in other counties, or correspondence with other States. We ought, also, to inquire whether Fries is the most culpable among the guilty, if that can be known. It highly concerns the people of the United States, and especially the federal government, that, in the whole progress and ultimate conclusion of this affair, neither humanity be unnecessarily afflicted, nor public justice essentially violated, nor the public safety endangered.