The Adams Chronicles; #101; John Adams: Lawyer (1758-1770)

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production of the Adams Chronicles and this special presentation are made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and ARCO, Worldwide Producer of Petroleum and Petroleum Products, as a tribute to the 200th anniversary of the American Constitution, ARCO, Energy for Today and Tomorrow. For generations of one family, their lives and causes reveal 150 years of American history. In my 67th year, having been the object of much misrepresentation, for my children, I commit these memoirs to writing and to them and their

posterity. I recommend those moral sentiments and sacred thoughts which at all hazards, and by every sacrifice, I have endeavored to preserve through life. 1758 Young John Adams, born in the colony of Massachusetts, Harvard graduate, sometimes schoolmaster, would be lawyer, a faithful subject of the British crown. His soon to be sovereign, George of Hanover, Prince of Wales, heir to the throne of England, and Ernest, not too bright young man, anxious to succeed at the job he was born to, that of being a king. Sovereign and subject, separated by 3 ,000

miles of ocean, and chasms of birth, breeding, wealth, and privilege. Neither knows that they are embarking on a collision course. Mr. Gridley

will see you briefly. Mr. Adams. Mr. Gridley. On my desk. You do not know me, sir. However, you are acquainted with Mr. Putnam, with whom I've been studying law in the country. What do you want of me? Sir, I need a patron who will recommend me to the bar in Boston. I come to me. I admit I don't know you. I scarcely know Putnam. I have no lawyer friends here who can testify to my learning. They told me you would not be influenced by a man's connections but by his qualities. How long did you say you'd studied the law? I've been Mr. Putnam's clerk for three years. You read Latin? Indeed. The last Latin I read was Justinian's Institutes. Where did you find that work? I have no copy in these colonies but my own. I borrowed a copy from the Harvard College Library. I was a student there. Studying what? Theology. And why did you abandon that worthy pursuit? I had

developed certain doubts about God. Oh, sir. About my fitness for the pulpit. Then you settled on the law. No, sir. I taught school for a while. Yes. And I found I lacked the patience to instruct the young. And what makes you think you are now fit for the law? Practice law in these colonies. A man who's the auditory of a preacher, the patience of a country school master. Law here is not like law in England. Here you must be a man of all work. You must know your con law, your civil law, your admiralty law. Do the duty of solicitor, counsellor, attorney, scrivener. Here, take these. For all that, there are 300 hungry lawyers right here in Boston. Well, sir, I hope to practice law in the village where I live. Good lawyers are needed there. In Brainsbury, every spring men's passions thawed and he got after a

cold hard winter. I've seen such greed, such fanatic, such anger that only murder could come of it. Yet those untamed beasts roaring and blustering are brought under control in the courthouse by the law. You read your perfume, dov? No, I can't say. Terrible lack in you. Of course you've studied Cook's institute. Indeed, I have just finished reading an abridgment. An abridgment of Cook. You read the father of our English common law in little snippets. Well, sir, it is difficult to obtain Cook's complete works here in Massachusetts. This will be imported from London. You don't squander your resources and women and drink. Mr. Gridley, I believe I have lived a moral and temperate life. At Harvard, that citadel of riot and dissipation. Sir, I have resolved to marry without a stain upon my name or my conscience. Is that satisfied? No, sir, it does not. Not if you mean to marry at all. Living ruins a young lawyer's prospect so much as an early marriage,

distractions, children. End of study, the constant pursuit of riches. Young man should follow the law as a great end in itself, not for gain. That is impossible for the wife, unless you happen to come up with a wealthy family. No, sir, my father is a farmer. I will inherit his house and some land, but nothing more. Indeed, I know how difficult it shall be. I'm prepared to work the farm to keep myself alive, but I mean to be a lawyer. Sir, retain me far too long, Mr. Adams. You in court now. Mr. Gridley, I have written half this day to meet you, hoping that you would test my knowledge of the law and my skill at languages. Mr. Gridley! Mr. Gridley, you cannot leave without testing me. Mr. Adams, I am certain you own a few weary Latin quotations in a dog -eared Greek grammar. As for your possession of legal knowledge, I have no doubt you read too much. Too quickly, none of it.

No, sir, I cannot bring you to the bar if you are learning. A bridgeman's of cooking, indeed. However, if you appear in court early tomorrow, I will present you to be sworn at the bar. But why? I admire the way you handled my books. You held them gently with respect to you, the record of our laws. Any man can be passionate about knowledge, from the rare few can be tender towards it. Indeed, I have... I hope for you. Once you have read your profaned author. John!

Sam! I knew my friend. Sam Adams! What brings you to Brainsburg? I came as soon as I received your message in Boston. I didn't write to you. Exactly, that's the message I received. Why have I not heard from cousin John in months? Have you been ill? I never ill here in Brainsburg. And why this silence? Perhaps your fingers are too sore from your legal labours to write. What's your ass looks strong enough for a trip to Boston? Don't disembow with me, Sam. You know, very well I can never go to Boston again. You think me so brazen to parade my failures there? What failures? Surely it's all over Boston. Field versus Lambert? No. My uncle Field gave me my first case here. He brought his neighbor Lambert to law to prevent

Lambert's call from grazing on his property. I drew up a writ so hastily I failed to put in the name of the county. The case was thrown out by the court. John, one case means nothing. But it was more than one case, Sam. The very next month I defended a client accused of selling an old horse under false pretenses. I did not fully understand the case. The courtroom was a scene of absolute confusion. Both parties raging at one another. I committed oversight and omissions. As I argued before the judge, the horse died of old age. Forgive me, John. I'm sure you didn't want the case had the horse lived. Sam, I would have lost the case had the horse been a cult. Here I am, a true lawyer sworn before the bar losing cases to petty farmers. Men with no training at all. The only cases I can get here now are those which should be settled by a fist fight. I'm a failure. No, John. Nearly a lunatic. This comes from living alone too long.

Ah, I'd go mad here in six days with no one to argue politics with the poultry. The only cure for you is to leave this farm for a while. I go to Boston. What if I met Mr. Gridley and he asked me about my property? I'm not suggesting Boston. Wait with him. Your friend Dick Cranch wishes you to dine with him at the home of his fiancee. Miss Smith. I believe you know her father, Parsonsmith. All that crafty old snob I'd rather stay at home. Cranch wears his fiancee as two charming sisters. The more reason not to go. I could have put a figure among the ladies. Nonsense. It's true, Sam. I've fallen into a fearful habit whenever I meet one. I've become silent and forbidding. Or what is worse, I affect wit. Begin to shrug my shoulders and distort my face like a village fool. John, if you don't think you're good enough to dine with the Parsonsmith's daughters, I won't argue you're going. To our most gracious king,

George III. George III. Well, Mr. Cranch, what did you make of our new king's speech? I was very favorably impressed, sir. And you, sir? Mr. Adams? Well, I like the manner in which he declared himself a friend of liberty. I trust he will protect his subjects' rights. Do you truly think so, Mr. Adams? Well, I strive to speak only when I have considered what I will say, Mrs. Smith. Well, I would choose to wait before I would praise our new king. Until such time as we can speak as well of his deeds as he speaks of his intentions. Pray for giver, Mr. Adams. I fear our nabby is subject to these fits of opinion. It comes from a frail

constitution and a too indulgent father. More wine, Mr. Adams. Yep. It's evident, Mr. Adams, that these parish lands were deeded to my personage in perpetuity. Now, for the north precinct of Weymouth to press a claim to them, appears to be plain theft. I'm sure I don't know, boss. Will you, or lawyer, you must have some opinion? I would first have to read the deeds, my son. Excellent. Oh, that's them. Well, I'm no expert on property law. Oh, boss. I trust you. I trust your

father runs no risk of losing his lands, Miss Smith. Don't despair for him, Mr. Adams. This dispute over the parish lands has been going on for 50 years. We don't settle matters in haste here in Weymouth. Well, my friend Cratch and your sister would seem to be the great exception. I understand they will marry shortly. Yes, we are happy for them. He is a good man and they are in love. I am myself insensitive to such feelings. Surely you don't consider love a weakness. In a poor man, it is a folly. But Richard is not poor. I understand he owns a thriving business. I was speaking of myself. Ah, I've noticed you do that quite often. Do you think me vain, Miss Smith? According to the great poet, self -love, but serves to wake, the virtuous mind. You read, Pope? Aside from Shakespeare, there is no

poet I so admire. How extraordinary! They are my favorites as well. Pray let us end this talk of poets. Father becomes quite cross if I discuss my books with strangers. But why? Parsons' daughters supposed to quote her Bible. Anything more is ostentation. Well, you, my daughter, Miss Smith, I would take great pride in your prodigy. Mr. Adams, as you are only ten years my senior, where you, my father, you would be the prodigy. Excuse me. Mr. Adams, how have you time for your farm and the law? Well, I have none too many clients, Miss Smith. The one who interests me the most is the apprentice to a weaver. When he signed his papers, his master promised to teach him to read. Now the master is refused to honor his part of the bargain. But what need has a weaver's boy with reading? Elizabeth, how can you ask that? Can a

man live as a man in this world if he has denied his education? Indeed, Miss Smith. Our English Constitution is grounded on the right of every man to think and act for himself. How else can he judge his government if he has kept ignorant of its acts? Only by reading in his Bible and in his newspaper. Will he enlarge his range of thought? Deny him in education, and all of us will suffer. Our liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people. And they declared in favor of the apprentice in less than five minutes. Oh, I am pleased you came by to tell us this news. I was passing through way with him. I thought I would study your father's deeds while I'm here. Ah, they are inside with father. Miss Smith, the plain truth is I came today in hope of seeing you alone. I am alone.

I would be less than candid if I did not say that you've made a most favorable impression on me. Thank you. Of all the women I've met, you appear to be the most honest, the least capable of craft or guile. And I admire that. It is always easy to admire qualities and others which we possess ourselves. Oh, Miss Smith, I would not have you think me better than I am. I fear I lack that virtue of speaking plainly than I find in you. Oh, I doubt that you must hear me out. I want your friendship more than any in this world, but you must know what I am. You will remember when I last spoke with your father. Now, I told him that I hated greatest states and fame and that I was contempt with the simple things of nature. Yes. I lust after fame. I dream of making a great name in the world. Mr. Adams, you need

not tell me this. Moreover, you will recall when we spoke of the love between my friend Cratch and your sister. How I claimed to be insensible to such passions. You did sneer most marvelously. Oh, that was not my sneer. No. That was grittly sneer. Grittly sneer. A great liar I met in Boston. I studied his sneer in the hope of procuring respect. Mr. Adams, where did you study your silence? Silence. Indeed, that icy silence that often makes me tremble with the disapproval it implies. Well, that silence is my own. But the point I wish to make, Miss Smith, is that I am most susceptible to passion. Ever since I was a boy, I have struggled with my amorous disposition.

Pre -understand, I have always won that struggle. Mr. Adams, I wish to be your friend, not your confessor. You must know what I am. I have a dread of contempt. I would rather tell you my feelings than have you discovered them from others. I trust I have sufficient judgment of my own not to depend on the world's gossip for opinions. I feared perhaps you had heard things about me and your cousin Hannah. I said I do not listen to gossip. How splendid you are. Of course, if you wish to tell me about it, I can scarcely prevent you from doing so. Well, she feedled me into a courtship, I fear. And when I failed to propose, she put it about that she had guilted me. Would you rather have it said that you guilted her? Oh, no. No. I will not deny that she disturbed my sleep. But I soon discovered she did not want me as much as another suitor to add to her collection. Then it is not true that you proposed her. Indeed it is not. Though I cannot say what might have been if her cousin Esther

had not broken in on this one evening. I was saved from an early marriage, one that would have led me into obscurity. Oh, I doubt that a man of your learning would meet such a fate. My learning. Miss Smith, I have set myself up as a scholar to impress you. No doubt you think I spent all my days in study while that is hardly true. Now, yesterday I wasted an entire morning reading. I have it's art of love. And what time was not consumed that way, I squandered and dreaming, and hunting and chatting with my neighbors? Are you trying to tell me that you are human? Miss Smith, you do not know how human I am. Mary, Mr. Adams,

she made you an offer. No, but he will. Abigail, you cannot. Mother, why not? You know something that would prevent my accepting him? Indeed. You have been a frail girl all your life. You are not suited to the heart. Mr. Adams is a lawyer, mother of small distinction. Well, that will not always be the case. Naby, your grandfather was Colonel Quincy, one of the most distinguished men in Massachusetts. Your father, though, a country pass and is admired by everyone, even in Boston. And your sister's just married a man in a fair way of business. We had greater hopes for you. I have none greater than Mr. Adams. So what pretend you see in the man? Surely not his manner. Why, he is so stiff and awkward. I blush for him. His conversation lacks all the ease and politeness that marks a gentleman. And worst of all, he changes his mood more often than he changes his clothes.

Mother, he loves me. Well, so would any young man who know you. But I do not want the love of any young man. Nor would I have it if I did. Mother, look at me. I am not a beauty like Elizabeth. Nor am I potent lively as Mary is. I have some small learning of my own and no dowry. Indeed, I have all the qualities to make a spinster, save one. Mr. Adams loves me. I cannot bear the thought of you living in such poverty. Why? In summer, a fam houses straight from him. And if he does not seek a nearer, horse flies or plague in your own roles. And the winter, the call sits through the cracks and the war. Mother, that means nothing to me. Mary, do a

country liar. You'll be looked out on by every butcher's wife in bars. Mother, mother, please. I shall marry Mr. Adams if he asks me. Oh, no. Indeed, I shall marry Mr. Adams if he does not ask me. There you go. Abigail, will you say something? Why would you have me say that my company gives you pleasure? How can I take pleasure in the company of a man who arrives with such a miserable expression? Damn it, Abby. What do you expect when you command my whole attention? I ramble about my farm all day, gazing and gaping, thinking only of you. If I open a law book, my imagination carries me to this house. Even at my prayers, I think only of you. And in bed. Mr. Adams, please. He's been. My fancy book's a thousand scenes of delight. Exciting such desires I cannot gratify. This adds to my natural misery a thousandfold. For Mr. Adams. It would all be tolerable if I felt I could

honorably ask your father for your hand. Is there some impediment? Well, aside from my poverty, there's my character. You know I'm vain, fretful, jealous. Quick to anger. Mr. Adams, I will marry you, but on one condition. Yes. That you allow me to discover your faults for myself. It is not as though I would perfection. Indeed, I have faults as well. I know. What? I know that you have faults. Well, if you find some failing in me, then you must let me know, so I may study to correct it. Well, my dear, since you asked me to catalog your faults, there's the way in which you sit. Indeed. Yes, you. You hand your head like a bull rush. You do not sit erect as you are. It makes you appear far too short for a beauty. At last. Another imperfection is that of walking with the toes forward.

I believe this is commonly called parrot tone. It is the reverse of a noble air and sublime deportment. And what is worse, you obstinately persist in sitting with your legs crossed. This ruins the figure and injures the health. It springs, I fear, from too much thinking. You should endeavour to learn to sing. Your voice is as harsh as the screech of a peacock. I know all life. Thus have I given a faithful portrait of all your spots. Nearly two years have I studied for more, but they are not to be discovered. All the rest is bright and luminous. It was a splendid wedding, Mr. Adams. Indeed, Mrs. Adams.

Was it necessary for the refreshments to be served in the second best China? Mr. Adams, that had nothing to do with you. Father will conceal his wealth from the parish, so they may not be hindered for making a contribution. He did not conceal it when your sister married my friend, then the very best China was used. Moreover, at their wedding, he preached a sermon on the joys of married love. At our wedding, he spoke of the sufferings of parents. And in every way, our wedding was less than that of your sister and my friend. Mr. Adams, you are wrong. Surely you noticed my mother. Well, one could hardly overlook her for the sniveling and the storm of tears. Indeed, at our wedding, mother cried twice as much as she did when my sister married Mr. Grange. Mr.

Mr. Adams, you are wrong. Mr. Adams, you are wrong. Mr. Adams,

you are wrong. No man disputes my right to this house. It was clearly left me by my father. I'd had the floors newly painted for you. This is my office. Here. This is where I work on my law cases. I've started a small library of my own. You'll find all of Pope and most of Shakespeare. You can entertain yourself with reading while I'm away. Away? Well, Abby, I told you I must ride out after the circuit court.

How else will I get enough law cases to support us? Will that be soon? Not for weeks. Those are your pots and kettles. If you find anything lacking, you must tell me. I see nothing lacking. I had a girl come from the village today and dust the bedroom properly. Come, I'll show you. The clothes that your mother sent over have all been put away in the

chest. Oh, that stupid girl. I told her to shut the window when she left. Now she's led in all the night air. And trust that you do not sleep at the window open. It's ruinous to the health. So I understand. This is for you. Thank you. A gift from my past life. Pray, open it. My first primer. It may serve to teach you. Teach our sons one day. In Adam's fall, we sinned all. And now this will never serve to teach our sons. Why not? It served me well enough. Our sons must learn that in Adam's

never falls. He occasionally stumbles. This toy, my father gave me. Well, I treasured it. See how it still draws. The steel is powerless to resist its pull. I understood the force of a magnet the day we met. Didn't you? Indeed. But one thing I still do not know, Abby. Which of us is the steel and which the magnet? These

late acts of parliament serve to divest us of our essential rights and liberties. That if therefore be known, the British liberties are not the grants of princes and parliaments, but the original rights of all Englishmen. Rights and liberties. Liberties and rights. Native -born Americans' chief under taxes imposed by a parliament in which they have neither voice nor vote. Therefore be known, the British liberties are not the grants of princes and parliaments, but the original rights of all Englishmen. Sam, I believe I know what I wrote. So you admit having written it now. I knew what once the sentiments were yours and your friend John Hancock recognized your style. Well, I could not stand by in silence and watch parliament taxes in this manner. That taxes inconsistent with the whole spirit of our Englishmen. Is it you, Mr. Zabi, who turned this town -type fellow into a cissarole? Well, but your expected brain trees knew selectmen. You see, Sam, if you don't speak out loud and clear at the village

meetings, you're hooded down to your seat. We lack your Boston manners here in brain drift. And we lack your legal skills in Boston. John, you don't think this business is ended with this scam tax? Others will follow, with men like Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson selling us to the crown. Well, that was no reason for that Boston rabble to loot his home and destroy his property. Which only proves why you must move to Boston. John, would you leave the cause of resistance in the hands of such a rogue as myself? Sam, I'm trying to understand we are happy here. And if you're duty lies in Boston. But either Abby nor I can tolerate the noise of your Boston crowds. To say nothing of the stench of the streets, but to take my babies there would be the risks of hell. John, you would not only survive in Boston, but you would thrive there. You're only... You're only seeking pretext to keep from doing what must be done. Well, you've already admitted. I did a service with my article. Yes, unfortunately, when you did not sign

it, some people thought that Mr. Gridley wrote it. Well, then I'm honored. Mr. Gridley. Mr. Gridley is a great lawyer. You'd allow him to steal your glory? Sam, I have no glory to steal, Abby. Only some piece of mind, and I refuse to allow you to rob me. Now, to your health. A safe journey, home. Ah! I trust you saw through his wilds, my dear. That Sam is a crafty fellow. That's all no craft, and what he

said. But all that talk about Gridley having written my article in the Gazette, was an effort to play upon my vanity. How could you, John, who are the least vain of me? Abby. You think Gridley might have put it about that he wrote that article. Come on, I wouldn't care. John, perhaps we should move to Boston. Well, give up our tranquility here for the noise and quarrels of that city. I am not that tranquil here in Braintree. I thought you loved this far. I do. The tranquility work carries you as far away as Maine. You're

gone for days on end. Some nights I feel I cannot bear the loneliness. In Boston, perhaps you might find enough work to keep you at home. Yes, that's possible. Well, then you ask this for both of us. Yes. Well, I will consider what you say. I could be of service to the people there. Indeed, Boston is the center of all our struggles with the crime. It may well be my duty to move there. Okay. Abby,

I ask you, what is the true end and purpose of this move to Boston? Indeed, what is the real object of all my labors? Am I only grasping at money or scheming for power? This is Adams. Am I seeking my own prestige or the welfare of my country? Hi. Pretty madam, have you no opinion? Mr. Adams, I am not a seer. Ask me again in two years' time, and perhaps I will be better able to answer. A new dwelling, a new beginning, but old injustices remain. Kings, insulated from the theories and frustrations of subjects,

give with one hand, take with the other. King George's treasury needs gold. What better source than the American colonies? What better way than attacks? And another? And another? No, never mind. The crown claims that it seized your ship because you smuggled a cargo of wine into Boston without paying the new tax. Well, did you, Mr. Anchor? It's a wicked tax, and you know it, John. I ever want to avoid paying it. Did you smuggle the wine, John? That is not the case in question, Mr. Adams. I was neither tried nor convicted of smuggling, and yet they confiscated my ship. So I had no rights as an English subject. So you smuggled a wine? Thanks to you, Mr. Adams. Sir. Indeed, it was John Adams who taught me to steal blueberries' eggs from the nest of their jealous mothers, and we were boys in brain -tree.

Those early lessons have sharpened my skill in dealing with the crown's customs officers. Indeed, I believe I owe my entire good fortune to him. I'd understood that your good fortune came from a rich uncle who left you his great fortune. I'd be. Her cock is jesting with you. Forgive me, Mr. Hancock, I seem to lose my little humor I have as my time draws near. Well, Abigail, I know that women's conducts will plead their bellies to gain cradens in court, but I expected a better defense from you. Then I shall have to hire you as my lawyer. No, madam, I need all his services for myself. And my quarrel with the crown. Ah, you're a lucky man, John. And for you. And for me? Well, you were thousand friends in Boston for every man who would consent to know me. Yeah, but a rich man never knows of his love for himself or for his riches. Now, I confess, even at our meetings at

the Sons of Liberty, I sometimes wonder if I'm like for my politics or for my pocket. Well, that's easily solved. Give all your money away. Come, you're not serious. Neither are you. Now, let's waste no tears on the velvet woes of the rich. Oh, damn it, Mr. Hancock. I don't know why I can tend to deal with you. You know, gentility at all. No, I'm a country boy, as you are. And that's why you deal with me. Come, now, let's study this case of you. You don't strain your eyes until that folder all. Now, my defense is my right as an Englishman. I say I cannot be taxed without my consent. Ah, that's taxation without representation. The battle cry of every tight -fisted merchant who refuses to pay lawful duty to the crown. Who can seriously contend that a tax on wine or paint puts our dearest rights in jeopardy? How else is the mother country to pay our armies? Which protect our homes from the French menace? Now, most of our countrymen

are content, due to full relations to the crown. But Mr. Hancock feels that he is free to obey only those laws which do not touch his pockets. Among the hardships which attend this statute, we must never forget that it was made without our consent. My client, Mr. Hancock, never voted for it himself, nor did he vote for any man to make such a law for him. Mr. Sewell has told you that the crown may interpret the law as it sees fit. A generous parent who needs not consult with us for children. But we are not infants. We are free men. The crown would delude us with shadows instead of substances. The crown would make treason where the law has made none. The crown has never charged my client, Mr. Hancock, with any crime. Yet it has interpreted the law so that it could confiscate his property. Whenever we leave principles and

clear positive laws, and wander after such interpretations, we are soon lost in the wild regions of imagination and possibility. Where arbitrary power sits upon her brazen throne and governs with an iron scepter. It is a hardship not to be endured. The crown would. The crown would. The crown would. The crown would. The crown would. Oh, Susanne.

The doctor stopped by this morning. She said she was a very weak baby for such a cold winter. How goes Mr. Hancock's case? It goes on forever. I swear that case cannot be won or lost. I suspect the crown's attorney will drop it for lack of evidence. Only there was some end to this cold. Oh, my dear. We will look back fondly on this winter and old age. Imagine a sitting by the fire and brain tree, me reading you puffing on your pipe. I pray all we do remember of this winter is the cold. Barely, I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child,

he shall not enter therein. And he took the little children up in his arms, put his hands upon them and blessed them. There's a fine note of condolence, the cousin Samro. Did you read it? I'd be far better than you wept than to keep this silent grief. Susanne is gone, but God and his mercy has seen fit to bless us. She thinks the grief is any less because I carry another child inside.

Try to remember what your father said. She is with God. It was such a small coffin. I had never seen so small. I do believe in God. I know he is just and merciful. I do believe there is a meaning and purpose in her death. But God willing, John, I pray I never understand it. You're a fucking coward. Hey, you liar, bugger! Who are you calling us, Gugget? You bloody yanky bastard! I'm just

a sweet body. Mine isn't small, not too fresh, but if you let me have the loves to cheap, I'll cook the love for you. Go, go, go, go! The honour and dignity of a free legislature demands that the offensive guards and cannon be removed from our city. The crown must end that clamorous parade which has been daily around the courthouse since the arrival of the troops. Make it clear, we won't pay for the quartering of the troops. An inquiry must be made into the repeated offences and violences committed by the soldiers you read against them. Firemen. You must not smoke a blade.

Firemen. Firemen. What's going on? Can we stop? Those bloody soldiers open fire on a group of patriots at King Street, none of them all men in the street. I'm a free massacre. Give me one. If I can wound it, I'll try the most. Just something, please. Lager, get some more. We're going to get certain. I shall. This is the number one for the Syrian Donuts. Let me fast the atomic fire. Okay. Shall I answer? No. No, I'll go. God knows what's up for you. Yes, sir. I'd like to speak with Mr. Adams if I may. It's in the

way of business. Come in. I'm Adams. What do you want? My name is James Sparrist. I'm the customs house agents in King Street. We're the massacres of place. No massacres, sir. Honest offense. Defense when soldiers fire on unarmed citizens? Well, you hear the rest of the story, sir. Captain Presson, as a leader. Who's Presson? Commander of the troops. He never meant to fire on the mob, sir. He was provoked. If a mob came after you with stones and curses, wouldn't you try to protect yourself? Well, why do you bring me this story? You're a lawyer. One of the best. Surely there is Tory Council more sympathetic to your friend's case. They're afraid to defend him. They fear the wrath of the lobster. My God, the last thing an accused man should lack in a free country's council. As God's my judge, I believe a man innocent man. He didn't mean to fire on the mob. They left him no choice. There's a time when a man is forced to do what he

hates. I know that, sir. I will take his case. Thank you, Mr. Adams. That's all we want. No, it's not. He wants his wretched life. I will try to save it if I can't. Abigail, do I seek my own prestige or justice for those men? No matter what the motive is called, I am certain I will bring us to ruin and contempt. And why do you take this case? Why so that we may prove that law and justice are held higher than politics in Boston? So you take the case for Boston?

No. For John Adams, my unyielding vanity, Abby, it has defeated me again. Glory at all costs. If I can win this case before a Boston jury, I will marry to a marble bust in the annals of the law. How will I look crowned with laurel? I admit my nose may not be properly Roman, but the little help from Gridley's sneer. I wish that were the true reason. I've learned to live with my own vanity. What? Tonight. You saw the face of that mob in the street. A wild beast raging for violence, revenge, eager to overthrow the rule of the law to satisfy its own rage.

I hated that face. It was I feared that it would mine. I'd take this case so that I may bury that beast. I'm John Adams. I am counsel to the accused. Let it not be said George of England was a callous man, rather ill -informed, badly advised, and thus unaware that his troops had fired upon his people, or that John Adams, out of respect for the law, not the soldiers' cause, would defend them.

And ironic service to the crown, since Adams soon would become a leader of the rebellion which would cost King George, the brightest jewel of his empire. Tonight, you've seen part one of the Adams Chronicles. We invite you to join us every Sunday afternoon at 3 o 'clock for the re -broadcast of the entire series, beginning this Sunday with tonight's episode of

the Adams Chronicles. That's every Sunday afternoon at 3 o 'clock here on WETA channel 26. Stay with us now for justice, gray lord style. The original production of the Adams Chronicles

and this special presentation have been made possible by the Andrew W. Melon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Arco, worldwide producer of petroleum and petroleum products, as a tribute to the 200th anniversary of the American Constitution, Arco, Energy for Today and Tomorrow. The companion book to the series by Jack Shepherd is available in libraries and bookstores. In the cold war of the early 60s, an Englishman and a Russian play a dangerous game of espionage, but could British intelligence be trusted? A

true story, man from Moscow beginning next time on great performances. Man from Moscow begins Friday at 9 p .m. For more than seven decades of war and peace, triumph and tragedy, naval aviation has played a critical role in the history of America as a world power. Watch this fascinating 90 -minute special presentation of the history of naval aviation, wings over water. Wings over water, Saturday night at 9 o 'clock, don't miss it. You're watching WETA channel 26, serving communities throughout Maryland, Virginia and the district. WETA's Tuesday evening

operations are made possible in part by a grant from the first American family of banks, with offices throughout Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. First American bank is proud to support WETA. The Honorable Reginald Holzer, convicted of extortion, racketeering and mail fraud, sentenced to 18 years in prison. The Honorable John Murphy, convicted of extortion, racketeering and mail fraud. Now serving ten years in jail, the Honorable John Reynolds, convicted of racketeering, mail fraud and tax violations, sentenced ten years. X Honorable Judges, just three of the over 30 court personnel found guilty so far of criminal violations as a result of Operation Greylord. That's the code name given to one of the

biggest undercover operations in our country's history. For six years, the FBI has been investigating misconduct in the Cook County judicial system. It's become a wholesale scandal. As of January 1987, the number of indictments reached 55 and more are expected. The accused include judges, lawyers, bailiffs and police officers, the very people who are supposed to protect us from criminals, whose job it is to uphold justice.