Powers & renders him unfit for further Service, his Country, to
preserve its own Vigour will wisely call upon others; and if he
decently retreats to make Room for them he will show that he has not
yet totally lost his Understanding. Besides, there is a Period in Life
when a Man should covet the exalted Pleasure of Reflection in
Retirement.

I thank you, my dear Sir, for the information you gave Mrs A of Mr
Dugans coming. Pray let her know that I receivd her Letter & am well.
My Compts to the Circle about you.

Your affectionate,

1 Speaker of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts.



ARTICLE, UNSIGNED.

[Boston Gazette, April 16, 1781; a draft is in the Samuel Adams Papers,
Lenox Library.1]

Extract of a Letter from the Southward.

"BEFORE this will reach you, your Countrymen will have finished the
important business of electing their Legislators, Magistrates and
Governors for the ensuing year. I hope they have made a wise choice. At
least, from the opinion I entertain of their virtue, I am persuaded
they have acted with all that deliberation and caution which the
solemnity of the transaction required. They may then reflect, each one