King's Counsel / Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams exhausted every means to have the ships containing the tea sent back to London. It was only in a final act that he gave the order to have the tea destroyed. Adams blamed the customs collector and the governor of the province for their unwillingness to negotiate with the inhabitants of Boston.

King’s Counsel: Sir, you have sworn that your statement today will be the absolute truth as best as you can affirm.

Samuel Adams: I affirm that it will be the truth.

Counsel: Please state your name for the record.

Adams: My name is Samuel Adams.

Counsel: Have you ever been known by any other name?

Adams: No other name that I wish to share with the King’s Counsel.

Counsel: We insist that you do so, Sir:

Adams: My mother has called me a lazy good-for-nothing. My friends have called me a "slick" player at cards. I …

Counsel: Do your official papers refer to you by any other name?

Adams: No, Sir.

Counsel: Please state the name and occupation of your father.

Adams: With all due respect, is this necessary?

Counsel: I shall be the judge of what is necessary. It is essential that we are speaking with the proper person under royal inquiry.

Adams: Sir, I am a proper person. I think you mean to ascertain if I am the appropriate Samuel Adams. My father, Deacon Adams, was a brewer, and owned a brewery in Boston.

Counsel: Mr. Adams, how do you earn your living?

Adams: I am a graduate of Harvard College. My business is to find businesses that need my professional advice.

Counsel: In other words you are not officially employed.

Adams: I employ myself.

Counsel: We shall move on, shall we? What statement can you make before this official hearing about the willful destruction of East India Tea in the Boston Harbor?

Adams: Forgive my ignorance but I was told that the entire story of an Indian attack on ships containing tea and other merchandise was a fabrication.

Counsel: Sir, it was not a fabrication. Someone named Samuel Adams took the lead in negotiating with ship owners, and the customs officials for the port of Boston. On December 3, Adams ordered John Rowe, the owner of the Eleanor to unload his other cargo, but not the tea. On December 11, Adams and the Boston Committee of Correspondence ordered Francis Rotch, the owner of the Dartmouth and Beaver, to set sail for London with the East India Company tea on board. Rotch refused to because his ships would be broadsided by two British warships, the Somerset and Boyne that were out in the harbor. Adams told Rotch that his ship must sail back to London. Adams exclaimed to Rotch “the people of Boston and the neighboring towns absolutely require and expect it.”

Adams: I have a cousin named John Adams but he would never do such a thing as I would not think of doing it.

Counsel: Two days later, on December 16, Rotch appeared at The Old South Meeting House before thousands of angry Bostonians. Samuel Adams advised him to appeal to Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson for permission to send his ships back to London. Francis Rotch reluctantly straddled his horse, and made his way to Milton where the Royal Governor was staying at his summer estate. Rotch nervously announced that Hutchinson had refused his request that the tea had to be brought into Boston before his ships could depart. If Rotch attempted to leave, the two British warships and the canons from Castle William would blow his ships out of the water. After all of these attempts, Rotch now refused to take action. Samuel Adams rose from his pew, and announced, “This meeting can do nothing more to save the country!”

Adams: This Adams fellow seems to be a terrible trouble maker. If, on the other hand, some scoundrel used my name in order to discredit me, I am the victim and blameless.

Counsel: So you don’t know what happened to the tea?

Adams: Of course I do. I read the daily news. Indians threw all the tea from three ships into the sea. But why are you looking for Adams?

Counsel: You are playing me for a fool. The Indians had nothing to do with destroying the boxes of tea. It was the action of Samuel Adams and his band of outlaws. When I can get someone to give me a description of Samuel Adams and it conforms to your appearance, I shall have you interred aboard a ship of His Majesty’s Navy and sent off to great Britain.

Adams: Do let me know if I can be of further assistance.