Adams Papers

27th.

27th.

Attended Mr. Hilliard, the whole day: he preach’d in the afternoon a Charity Sermon, and a contribution was made, for the benefit of the unfortunate sufferers, at the late fire in Boston. There was a scandalous stamping, by some of the students, at the time of singing. Such conduct must always bring disgrace upon the University itself.

Samuel Putnam,1 of Danvers, Essex C, was 20, the 13th. of this month. To the stature, he unites the manners and the behaviour of a boy: he is a pretty good speaker, but as a scholar he is extremely superficial: his vanity, which was puffd up in the winter, by the allotment of an english Oration at an exhibition, has of late received considerable mortification. The circumstance, at the time surprized every one in the Class himself excepted, but the late allotment to him was a subject of astonishment to no one but himself. He sometimes proposes to pursue the study of the Law, and sometimes, to turn his attention to physic: and in this indecision as in all the rest of his conduct, he exhibits the weakness and instability of his mind. Unless years bring wisdom to him, he can never make a respectable figure in life.

1Putnam eventually decided to study law, but went to Judge Theophilus Bradbury’s office in Newburyport, for Parsons’ was full. There JQA noted that “he is not exempt from that puerility which I mentioned as constituting his character,” a reference to this earlier character sketch, but was “more pleased with him than I was while we were classmates.” Putnam opened his law office in Salem, married into the Pickering family, served as state senator from Essex co., and judge of the state supreme court from 1814 to 1842 (Elizabeth Cabot Putnam and Harriet Silvester Tapley, “Hon. Samuel Putnam, LL.D, A.A.S....,” Danvers Historical Society, Historical Collections, 10 [1922]: 1–5, 13–15; entry for 5 April 1788, below).

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