July 4, 1826, and the Dream of Benjamin Rush
American history is filled with stories not just of American heroes and heroines, but also is enshrined in mystery and wonder. There are, for instance, many unsolved mysteries of the American Revolution, especially concerning telling predictions which can never be explained from a human perspective. But perhaps the most captivating and most well-known of these is the fact that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the two men most responsible for the formulation and adoption of the Declaration of Independence, died almost simultaneously on the 50th anniversary of that document’s approval and adoption by Congress — on July 4, 1826.
But what is more mysterious and wonderful is little known. Doctor Benjamin Rush, a close friend of both Adams and Jefferson (himself also a signer of the Declaration of Independence) even through the years of their political rivalry, had a dream sometime before the reconciliation of the two men.
A little background: Dr. Rush was not an ardent follower of either political party; he had close friends among leaders of both parties, working in the Presidential administrations of Presidents who were leaders of different parties. And not only was Rush a warm friend of Adams and Jefferson, but of Alexander Hamilton, who, as the years progressed, was less and less friendly with both of those two men. Rush summed up his own political affiliation in the following words:
I have been alternately called a democrat and an aristocrat. I am now neither. I am a Christocrat. … He alone who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him.” (1)
Benjamin Rush, especially close to Adams and Jefferson, was deeply disturbed by their irreconcilable differences. But on October 17, 1809, Rush wrote to Adams of a dream in a letter that would change the course of the lives of those three men forever. Rush wrote as follows:
“What book is that in your hands?” said I to my son Richard a few nights ago in a dream. “It is the history of the United States,” said he. “Shall I read a page of it to you?” “No, no,” said I. “I believe in the truth of no history but in that which is contained in the Old and New Testaments.” “But, sir,” said my son, “this page relates to your friend Mr. Adams.” “Let me see it then,” said I. I read it with great pleasure and herewith send you a copy of it.
Rush then wrote down the words of the page of the “history book” he dreamed that he saw. (This book, of course, would have been written many years after Rush actually had the dream; so, to save confusion, Rush was dreaming of reading a history book written in the future.)
“1809. Among the most extraordinary events of this year was the renewal of the friendship and intercourse between Mr. John Adams and Mr. Jefferson, the two ex-Presidents of the United States. They met for the first time in the Congress of 1775. Their principles of liberty, their ardent attachment to their country . . . being exactly the same, they were strongly attracted to each other and became personal as well as political friends. . . . A difference of opinion upon the objects and issue of the French Revolution separated them during the years in which that great event interested and divided the American people. The predominance of the party which favored the French cause threw Mr. Adams out of the Chair of the United States in the year 1800 and placed Mr. Jefferson there in his stead. The former retired with resignation and dignity to his seat at Quincy, where he spent the evening of his life in literary and philosophical pursuits, surrounded by an amiable family and a few old and affectionate friends. The latter resigned the Chair of the United States in the year 1808, sick of the cares and disgusted with the intrigues of public life, and retired to his seat at Monticello, in Virginia, where he spent the remainder of his days in the cultivation of a large farm agreeably to the new system of husbandry.
“In the month of November 1809 [a month after this letter was written], Mr. Adams addressed a short letter to his friend Mr. Jefferson in which he congratulated him upon his escape to the shades of retirement and domestic happiness, and concluded it with assurances of his regard and good wishes for his welfare. This letter did great honor to Mr. Adams. It discovered a magnanimity known only to great minds. Mr. Jefferson replied to this letter and reciprocated expressions of regard and esteem. These letters were followed by a correspondence of several years in which they mutually reviewed the scenes of business in which they had been engaged, and candidly acknowledged to each other all the errors of opinion and conduct into which they had fallen during the time they filled the same station in the service of their country. Many precious aphorisms [truths], the result of observation, experience, and profound reflection, it is said, are contained in these letters. It is to be hoped the world will be favored with a sight of them. . . . These gentlemen sunk into the grave nearly at the same time, full of years and rich in the gratitude and praises of their country.” (2)
Fascinating! Every detail of this dream came to pass. Adams, in accordance with the “dream page” Rush had wrote to him, congratulated Jefferson on final retirement to public life, and this letter did indeed begin a series of letters between the two men on topics most interesting to the world, and they both “sunk into the grave at nearly the same time full of years and rich in the gratitude and praises of their country.”
Another detail of this dream is worth noticing. The son of Rush who introduced the page to his father in the dream was Richard Rush. Richard Rush grew up to serve the American public under the Presidents who succeeded Adams and Jefferson, including President James Madison (perhaps Jefferson’s best friend of his latter years) and President John Quincy Adams (son of John Adams). Amazing; the very young man in Rush’s dream concerning the reconciliation of Adams and Jefferson would serve under the son of Adams and the best friend of Jefferson.
It is impossible that the circumstances and details of this dream could have been controlled by the principle persons in it. True, John Adams may have chosen to write to Jefferson on that date because of Rush’s dream letter, but neither Adams nor Rush nor Jefferson could have controlled every aspect of the dream, including the ability of Adams to live to the incredible age of 96 and Jefferson to 86 so that they would both pass away on the 50th anniversary of American independence, and that at the same time! And what is incredible is that Rush could not have written this letter after the fact, giving himself the credit for the foretelling of these awesome events, because he never lived to see the dream fully fulfilled, passing away in the year 1813. Rush’s date of decease is too interesting; he passed away on April 19, the very day the the “shot heard round the world” was fired at Lexington and Concord, which in turn opened the way for the Declaration of Independence, 38 years before.
The accuracy of Rush’s dream, and the impossibility that man could have controlled the circumstances in order to paint this incredible picture, can point only in the direction of God whom the Founders often referred to as “Divine Providence.” This term of referring to God as Providence is, apart from the interpretation of modern historians, anything but a strictly deistic way to refer to God. The term “Providence” refers to God’s beneficent care and protection of the human race (our “Provider”), something that can hardly be in accordance with deistic principles. But I will write more on the line of deism and the Founding Fathers in another post.
For now, however, we can only acknowledge the indisputable fact that God’s hand was indeed involved in American history, as this set of events so powerfully illustrates.
NOTES:
(1) Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, by David Barton; p. 243
(2) same; pp. 198-200
4 Responses to “July 4, 1826, and the Dream of Benjamin Rush”
August 15th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
hey hurc,
you’d be happy to know that i’ll start teaching a brand new high school in the philadelphia school district called non other than…
The Arts Academy @ Benjamin Rush
August 15th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Congratulations, sir! That’s pretty awesome!
Thanks for dropping by.
September 27th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
I have been searching for the entire letter. Where may I find it?
September 28th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Hello Tony, welcome to the blog.
I have also searched for the letter, and I have not been able to find it online. According to the reference that historian David Barton gives it, it is located in a published edition of Benjamin Rush’s letters, specifically:
Benjamin Rush, Letters of Benjamin Rush, L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton: The American Philosophical Society, 1951), Vol. II, pp. 1021-1022, to John Adams on October 17, 1809.
If you are able to obtain the letters of Benjamin Rush, edited by Butterfield, volume 2, you will find the letter.
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