Life and public services of John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States : With the eulogy delivered before the Legislature of New York

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LIFE

AND

PUBLIC SERVICES

OF

JOHN QUINCY ADAIS,

SIXTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

WITH

THE EULOGY

DELIVERED BEFORE THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW YORK.

BY WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

"THIS IS THE END OF EARTH— I AM CONTENT."

AUBURN:
DERBY, MILLER AND COMPANY.

1850.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by

DERBY, MILLER & COMPANY,

In the Clerk's Office for the Northern District of New York.

OLIPHANT, PR., AUBURN.

4TEREOTYPKD BY THOMAS B. SMITH,
216 WILLIAM STREET, N. Y.

FRIENDS OF EQUAL LIBERTY
AND HUMAN RIGHTS

THROUGHOUT THE WORLD,
i

IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The Publishers apologize for the delay in issuing
this volume, which was announced by them as in
press, more than one year since, shortly after the de-
cease of its illustrious subject. Gov. Seward, in
undertaking its preparation, was well aware of the
engrossing attention which his professional duties re-
quired, but looked constantly for relaxation from his
multiplied business engagements, in the hope that he
might be able to complete the work commenced by
him. It however became necessary for its timely
completion, to obtain the literary assistance of an able
writer, who has, under his auspices, completed the
work. The Publishers confidently believe, that it will
in all respects, be received as a faithful and impartial
history of the Life of the " Old Man Eloquent," and
worthy a place in the library of every friend of liberty
and humanity.

Auburn, April, 1849.

PREFACE,

The claims of this volume are humble. For more
than half a century John Quincy Adams had occu-
pied a prominent position before the American people,
and filled a large space in his country's history. His
career was protracted to extreme old age. He out-
lived political enmity and party rancor. His purity
of life — his elevated and patriotic principles of action
— his love of country, and devotion to its interests —
his advocacy of human freedom, and the rights of man
— brought all to honor and love him. Admiring legis-
lators hung with rapture on the lips of " the Old Man
Eloquent," and millions eagerly perused the senti-
ments he uttered, as they were scattered by the press
in every town and hamlet of the Western Continent.
At his decease, there was a general desire expressed
for a history of his life and times. A work of this de-
scription was understood to be in preparation by his
family. It was not probable, however, that this could
appear under several years, and when published,
would undoubtedly be placed, by its size and cost, be-

XU PEEFACE.

yond the reach of the great mass of readers. In
view of these circumstances, there was an evident
want of a volume of more limited compass — a book
which would come within the means of the people
generally, — and adapted not only for libraries, and the
higher classes of society, but would find its way into
the midst of those moving in the humbler walks of life.
To supply this want, the present work has been pre-
pared. The endeavor has been made to compress
within a brief compass, the principal events of the life
of Mr. Adams, and the scenes in which he participated ;
and to portray the leading traits of character which
distinguished him from his contemporaries. It has
been the aim to present such an aspect of the history
and principles of this wonderful man, as shall do jus-
tice to his memory, and afford an example which the
youth of America may profitably imitate in seeking
for a model by which to shape their course through
life. How far this end has been attained, an intelli-
gent and candid public must determine.

CONTENTS,

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

The Ancestry, Birth, and Childhood of John Quincy
Adams. ... . . . . . . 17

CHAPTER II.

John Quincy Adams studies Law — His Practice — Engages
in Public Life — Appointed Minister to the Hague. . . 45

CHAPTER III.

Mr. Adams transferred to Berlin — His Marriage — Literary
Pursuits — Travels in Silesia — Negotiates Treaties with
Sweden and Prussia — Recalled to the United States. . 63

CHAPTER IV.

Mr. Adams' Return to the United States — Elected to the
Massachusetts Senate — Appointed U. S. Senator — Supports
Mr. Jefferson — Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres —
Appointed Minister to Russia. . . . . .82

CHAPTER V.

Mr. Adams' arrival at St. Petersburg — His Letters to his
Son on the Bible — His Religious Opinions — Russia offers
Mediation between Great Britain and the United States —

XIV CONTENTS.

PAGE

Proceeds to Ghent to negotiate for Peace — Visits Paris —
Appointed Minister at St. James — Arrives in London. . 97

CHAPTER VI.

Mr. Adams appointed Secretary of State — Arrives in the
United States — Public Dinners in New York and Boston —
Takes up his Residence in Washington — Defends Gen.
Jackson in the Florida Invasion — Recognition of South
American Independence — Greek Revolution. . . .113

CHAPTER VII.

Mr. Adams' nomination to the Presidency — Spirited Presi-
dential Campaign — No choice by the People — Election goes
to the House of Representatives — Mr. Adams elected Presi-
dent— His Inauguration — Forms his Cabinet. . . .137

CHAPTER VIII.

Charges of Corruption against Mr. Clay and Mr. Adams — Mr.
Adams enters upon his duties as President — Visit of
La Fayette — Tour through the United States — Mr. Adams
delivers him a Farewell Address — Departs from the United
States. 162

CHAPTER IX.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson — Their Correspondence —
Their Death — Mr. Webster's Eulogy — John Q. Adams
visits Quincy — His Speech at the Public School Dinner in
Faneuil Hall 187

CHAPTER X.

Mr. Adams' Administration — Refuses to remove political
opposers from office — Urges the importance of Internal Im-
provements— Appoints Commissioners to the Congress of
Panama — His policy toward the Indian Tribes — His Speech
on breaking ground for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal —
Bitter opposition to his Administration — Fails of re-election
to the Presidency — Retires from office. .... 202

CONTENTS. XV

CHAPTER XI.

TAGS

Mr. Adams' multiplied attainments — Visited by Southern
Gentlemen — His Report on Weights and Measures — His
Poetry — Erects a Monument to the memory of his Parents
— Elected Member of Congress — Letter to the Bible Society
— Delivers Eulogy on Death of ex-President Monroe. . 232

CHAPTER XII.

Mr. Adams takes his seat in Congress — His Position and
Habits as a Member — His Independence of Party — His
Eulogy on the Death of ex-President James Madison — His
advocacy of the Right of Petition, and Opposition to Sla-
very— Insurrection in Texas — Mr. Adams makes known its
ulterior object. ........ 254

CHAPTER XIII.

Mr. Adams presents Petitions for the Abolishment of Slavery
— Opposition of Southern Members — Exciting Scenes in the
House of Representatives — Marks of confidence in Mr.
Adams 280

CHAPTER XIV.

Mr. Adams' firmness in discharge of duty — His exertions
in behalf of the Amistad Slaves — His connection with the
Smithsonian Bequest — Tour through Canada and New York
— His reception at Buffalo — Visits Niagara Falls — Attends
worship with the Tuscarora Indians — His reception at
Rochester — at Auburn — at Albany — at Pittsfield — Visits
Cincinnati — Assists in laying the Corner Stone of an Ob-
servatory. ..... . . . 300

CHAPTER XV.

Mr. Adams' Last Appearance in Public at Boston — His
Health — Lectures on his Journey to Washington — Remote

XVI CONTENTS.

Page
Cause of his Decease — Struck with Paralysis — Leaves
Quincy for Washington for the last time — His final Sick-
ness in the House of Representatives — His Death — The
Funeral at Washington — Removal of the Body to Quincy —
Its Interment. ........ 325

EULOGY .... 357

THE LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,

CHAPTER I.

THE ANCESTRY, BIRTH, AND CHILDHOOD, OF JOHN QUINCVT

ADAMS.

The Puritan Pilgrims of the May- Flower landed on
Plymouth Rock, and founded the Colony of Massa-
chusetts, on the 21st day of December, 1620.

Henry Adams, the founder of the Adams family in
America, fled from ecclesiastical oppression in England,
and joined the Colony at a very early period, but at
what precise time is not recorded. He erected his
humble dwelling at a place within the present town of
Quincy, then known as Mount Wollaston, and is
believed to have been an inhabitant when the first
Christian Church was gathered there in 1639. On the
organization of the town of Braintree, which com-
prised the place of his residence, he was elected Clerk
of the Town. He died on the eighth day of October,
1646. His memory is preserved by a plain granite
monument, erected in the burial-ground at Quincy,

18 LIFE OF JOHN O.UINCY ADAMS.

by John Adams, President of the United States, and
bearing this inscription : —

Jht illcmorg

HENRY ADAMS,

Who took his flight from the Dragon Persecution in Devonshire, in
England, and alighted with eight sons, near Mount Wollaston.
One of the sons returned to England, and after taking time
to explore ■ the country, four removed to Medfield and
the neighboring towns ; two to Chelmsford. One
only, Joseph, who lies here at his left hand,
remained here, who was an original pro-
prietor in the Township of Braintree,
incorporated in the year 1639.

This stone, and several others, have been placed in this yard, by a
great-great-grandson, from a veneration of the piety, humility, simpli-
city, prudence, patience, temperance, frugality, industry, and persever-
ance of his ancestors, in hopes of recommending an imitation of their
virtues to their posterity.

Joseph Adams, the son of Henry Adams mentioned
in the above inscription, died on the sixth of Decem-
ber, 1694, aged sixty-eight years. Joseph, the next in
succession, died February 12th, 1736, at the age of
eighty-four years. His son John Adams, was a Dea-
con of the Church at Quincy, and died May 25th,
1761, aged seventy years. This John Adams was the
father of him who was destined to give not only un-
dying fame to his ancient family, but anew and powerful
impulse to the cause of Human Freedom throughout
the world.

John Adams, son of John Adams and Susannah

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 19

Boylston Adams, was born at Quincy on the nine-
teenth day of October (old style), 1735. He received
the honors of Harvard University in 1755, and then,
in pursuance of a good old New England custom,
which made those who had enjoyed the benefits of a
public education, in turn impart those benefits to the
public, he was occupied for a time in teaching.

It ought to encourage all young men in straitened
circumstances, desirous of obtaining a profession and
of rising to eminence, to know that John Adams, who
became so illustrious by talents and achievement as to
lend renown to the office of President of the United
States, pursued the study of the law under the incon-
veniences resulting from his occupation as an instruc-
tor in a Grammar School.

John Adams was an eminent and successful lawyer,
but it was not the design of his existence that his tal-
ents should be wasted in the contentions of the courts.

The British Parliament, as soon as the Colonies had
attracted their notice, commenced a system of legisla-
tion known as the Colonial System, the object of
which was to secure to the mother country a monop-
oly of their trade, and to prevent their rising to a con-
dition of strength and independence. The effect of
this system was to prevent all manufactures in the Col-
onies, and all trade with foreign countries, and even
with the adjacent plantations.

The Colonies remonstrated in vain against this pol-
icy, but owing to popular dissatisfaction, the regula-

20 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,

tions were not rigidly enforced. At length an Order
in Council was passed, which directed the officers of
the customs in Massachusetts Bay, to execute the acts
of trade. A questiory^arose in the Supreme Court of
that province in 1761, upon the constitutional right of
the British Parliament to bind the Colonies. The trial
produced great excitement. The cause was argued
for the Crown by the King's Attorney-General, and
against the laws by James Otis.

It will be seen that the question thus involved was
the very one that was finally submitted to the arbi-
trament of arms in the American Revolution. The
speech of Otis on the occasion, was an effort of sur-
passing ability. John Adams was a witness, and he
recorded his opinion of it, and his opinion of the mag-
nitude of the question, thus :

" Otis was a flame of fire ! With a promptitude of
classical allusion, a depth of research, a rapid summary
of historical events and dates, a profusion of legal au-
thorities, a prophetic glance of his eyes into futurity, a
rapid torrent of impetuous eloquence, he hurried away
all before him. American Independence was then
and there born. Every man of an unusually crowded
audience, appeared to me to go away ready to take up
arms against Writs of Assistance."

Speaking on the same subject, on another occasion,
John Adams said that " James Otis then and there
breathed into this nation the breath of life."

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCV ADAMS. 21

From that day John Adams was an enthusiast for
the independence of his country.

In 1764 he married Abigail, daughter of the Rever-
end William Smith, of Weymouth. The mother of
John Quincy Adams was a woman of great beauty
and high intellectual endowments, and she combined,
with the proper accomplishments of her sex, a sweet-
ness of disposition, and a generous sympathy with the
patriotic devotion of her illustrious husband.

In 1765, the British Parliament, in contempt of the
discontent of the Colonies, presumptuously passed the
Stamp Act ; a law which directed taxed stamped pa-
per to be used in all legal instruments in the Colonies.
The validity of the law was denied ; and while Patrick
Henry was denouncing it in Virginia, James Otis and
John Adams argued against it before the Governor
and Council of Massachusetts.

The occasion called forth from John Adams a " Dis-
sertation on the Canon and Feudal Laws," — a work,
which although it was of a general character in regard
to government, yet manifested democratic sentiments
unusual in those times, and indicated that republican
institutions were the proper institutions for the Amer-
ican People.

The resistance to the stamp act throughout the Col-
onies procured its repeal in 1766. But the British
Government accompanied the repeal with an ungra-
cious declaratory act, by which they asserted "that
the Parliament had, and of right ought to have, power

22 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

to bind the Colonies, in all cases whatsoever." In the
next year a law was passed, which imposed duties in
the Colonies, on glass, paper, paints, and tea. The
spirit of insubordination manifested itself throughout
the Colonies, and, inasmuch as it radiated from Boston,
British ships of war were stationed in its harbor,
and two regiments of British troops were thrown in
the town, to compel obedience. John Adams had
now become known as the most intrepid, zealous,
and indefatigable opposer of British usurpation. The
Crown tried upon him in vain the royal arts so suc-
cessful on the other side of the Atlantic. The Gover-
nor and Council offered him the place of Advocate
General in the Court of Admiralty, an office of great
value ; he declined it, "decidedly, peremptorily, but re-
spectfully."

At this interesting crisis, John Quincy Adams was
born, at Quincy, on the 11th of July, 1767. A lesson,
full of instruction concerning the mingled influences
of piety and patriotism in New England, at that time,
is furnished to us by the education of the younger
Adams. Nor can we fail to notice that each of those
virtues retained its relative power over him, through-
out his long and eventful life. He was brought into
the church and baptized on the day after that on
which he was born.

John Quincy Adams, in one of his letters, thus men-
tions the circumstances of his baptism:

" The house at Mount Wollaston has a peculiar in-

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 23

terest to me, as the dwelling of my great-grandfather,
whose name I bear. The incident which gave rise to
this circumstance is not without its moral to my heart.
He was dying, when I was baptized ; and his daughter,
my grandmother, present at my birth, requested that I
might receive his name. The fact, recorded by my
father at the time, has connected with that portion of
my name, a charm of mingled sensibility and devotion.
It was filial tenderness that gave the name. It was
the name of one passing from earth to immortality.
These have been among the strongest links of my at-
tachment to the name of Quincy, and have been to
me, through life, a perpetual admonition to do nothing
unworthy of it."

It cannot be doubted that the character of the per-
son from whom, in such affecting circumstances, he
derived an honorable patronymic, was an object of
emulation. John Quincy was a gentleman of wealth,
education, and influence. He was for a long time
Speaker of the House of Representatives in Massachu-
setts, and during many years one of His Majesty's
Provincial Council. He was a faithful representative,
and throughout his public services, a vigorous defender
of the rights and liberties of the Colony. Exemplary
in private life, and earnest in piety, he enjoyed the
public confidence, through a civil career of forty years'
duration.

The American Revolution was rapidly hurrying on
during the infancy of John Quincy Adams. In 1769

24 LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS.

the citizens of Boston held a meeting in which they
instructed their representatives in the Provincial Leg-
islature to resist the usurpations of the British Govern-
ment. John Adams was chairman of the committee
that prepared these instructions, and his associates
were Richard Dana and Joseph Warren, the same dis-
tinguished patriot who gave up his life as one of the
earliest sacrifices to freedom, in the battle of Bunker
Hill.

Those instructions were expressed in the bold and
decided tone of John Adams, and they increased the
public excitement in the province, by the earnestness
with which they insisted on the removal of the British
troops from Boston.

The popular irritation increased, until on the 5th of
March, 1770, a collision occurred between the troops
and some of the inhabitants of Boston, in which five
citizens were killed, and many wounded. This was
called the Bloody Massacre. The exasperated inhab-
itants were with difficulty restrained from retaliating
this severity by an extermination of all the British
troops. A public meeting was held, and a committee,
of which Samuel Adams was chairman, was appointed
to address the Governor (Gage), and demand that the
troops should be withdrawn. John Adams described
the excitement, on a later occasion, in these words:

" Not only the immense assemblies of the people
from day to day, but military arrangements from night
to night, were necessary to keep the people and the

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 25

soldiers from getting together by the ears. The life of
a red-coat would not have been safe in any street or
corner of the town. Nor would the lives of the inhab-
itants have been much more secure. The whole mili-
tia of the city was in requisition, and military watches
and guards were everywhere placed. We were all
upon a level. No man was exempted : our military
officers were our only superiors. I had the honor to
be summoned in my turn, and attended at the State
House with my musket and bayonet, my broadsword
and cartridge-box, under the command of the famous
Paddock."

The Governor withdrew the troops and sent them
to the castle : the commanding officer and some of the
soldiers were arrested, and brought to trial for murder.

John Adams, the advocate and leader of the exaspe-
rated people, was solicited by the Government to act
as counsel for the accused. The people, in the heat
of passion, would naturally identify the lawyer with
his clients, and both with the odious cause in which
they served. John Adams did not hesitate. His
principle was fidelity to duty in all the relations of life.
Adams, together with Josiah Quincy, defended the ac-
cused with ability and firmness, and the result crowned
not only the advocates, but the jury and the people
of Boston with honor. Distinguishing between the
Government, upon whom the responsibility rested, and
the troops who were its agents, the jury acquitted the
accused. The people sustained the verdict ; affording

2

2G LIFE OP JOHN ttUINCY ADAMS.

to Great Britain and to the world a noble proof, that
they had been well prepared by education tor the trust
of self-government.

The controversy between the Province of Massa-
chusetts and the British Government continued, and
the exasperation of the Colonies became more intense,
until the destruction of the imported tea in the harbor,
in December, 1773, incensed the Ministry so highly,
that they procured an act closing the port of Boston.
This act was followed by the convention of the first
American Congress at Philadelphia, on the 5th of Sep-
tember, 1774. As John Adams had been the master
spirit in the agitation in Massachusetts, he was ap-
pointed one of the Delegates to the General Congress.
After his election, his friend Sewall, the King's Attor-
ney General, labored earnestly to dissuade him from
accepting the appointment.

The Attorney General told the delegate that Great
Britain was determined on her system, that her power
was irresistible, and that he, and those with him who
should persist in their designs of resistance, would be
involved in ruin.

John Adams replied, " I know Great Britain has de-
termined on her system, and that very determination
determines me on mine. You know I have been con-
stant and uniform in opposition to her measures. The
die is now cast. I have passed the Rubicon. Sink or
swim, live or die, survive or perish with my country
is my unalterable determination."

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 27

It was these energetic and resolute expressions
which Daniel Webster wrought into so magnificent an
imaginary speech, in his glowing Eulogy on John
Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

John Adams continued in Congress throughout the
sessions of 1775 and 1776, and on all occasions was
an intrepid and earnest advocate for Independence.
On his motion, George Washington was appointed
Commander in Chief of the Army.

John Adams was the mover of Independence in the
Congress. On the 6th of May, 1776, he brought the
subject before that body, by a resolution expressed as
follows : —

" Whereas it appears perfectly irreconcilable to
reason and good conscience, for the people of these
Colonies now to take the oaths and affirmations neces-
sary for the support of any government under the
crown of Great Britain, and it is necessary that the
exercise of every kind of authority under the said
crown should be totally suppressed, and all the powers
of government exerted under the authority of the
people of the Colonies for the preservation of internal
peace, virtue, and good order, as well as for the de-
fence of their lives, liberties, and properties, against
the hostile invasion, and cruel depredations of their
enemies : — Therefore, it is recommended to the Colo-
nies to adopt such a government as will, in the opinion
of the representatives of the people, best conduce to

28 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

the happiness and safety of their constituents, and of
America."

This resolution was adopted, and was followed by
the appointment of a committee, on the motion of
Richard Henry Lee, seconded by John Adams, to
prepare a Declaration. This committee consisted of
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin,
Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. Jefferson
and Adams were a sub-committee, and the former pre-
pared the Declaration, at the urgent request of the
latter.

Jefferson bore this testimony to the ability and power
of John Adams. — " The great pillar of support to the
Declaration of Independence, and its ablest advocate
and champion on the floor of the House, was John
Adams."

On the day after the Declaration of Independence
was adopted, he wrote the memorable letter in which
he said with prophetic unction, — "Yesterday the great-
est question was decided that ever was debated in
America ; and greater, perhaps, never was or will be
decided among men. A resolution was passed with-
out one dissenting Colony, 'That the United States are,
and of right ought to be, free and independent States.'
The day is passed. The fourth day of July, 1776, will
be a memorable epoch in the history of America. I am
apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding gen-
erations as a great anniversary festival. It ought to be
commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 29

acts of devotion to Almighty God. It ought to be sol-
emnized with pomps, shows, games, sports, guns, bells,
bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the conti-
nent to the other, from this time forward, forever.
You may think me transported with enthusiasm, but I
am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and
treasure, that it will cost to maintain this Declaration,
and support and defend these States : yet through all
the gloom, I can see that the end is worth all the
means ; and that posterity will triumph, although you
and I may rue, which I hope we shall not."

From this time, until November 1777, John Adams
was incessantly employed in public duties in Congress,
during the session of that body ; and during its recess,
as a member of the State Council in Massachusetts.
During this period, John Quincy was instructed at
home, by her who, in long after years, he was accus-
tomed to call his almost adored mother, who was aided
by a law-student in the office of his father. Edward
Everett, in his Eulogy upon John Quincy Adams,
made the very striking and just remark, that there
seemed to be in his life no such stage as that of boy-
hood. While yet but nine years old, he wrote to his
father the following letter :

Braintree, June, 2nd, 1777.
Dear Sir,

I love to receive letters very well ; much better than I love to
write them. I make but a poor figure at composition. My head is
much too fickle. My thoughts are running after bird's eggs, play
and trifles, till I get vexed with myself. Mamma has a troublesome

SO LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

task to keep me a studying. I own I am ashamed of myself. I'
have but just entered the third volume of Rollin's History, but de-
signed to have got half through it by this time. I am determined
this week to be more diligent. Mr. Thaxter is absent at Court. I
have set myself a stint this week, to read the third volume half out.
If I can but keep my resolution, I may again at the end of the week
give a better account of myself. I wish, sir, you would give me in
writing, some instructions with regard to the use of my time, and
advise me how to proportion my studies and play, and I will keep
them by me, and endeavor to follow them.

With the present determination of growing better, I am, dear sir,
your son, John Quincy Adams.

P. S. Sir — If you will be so good as to favor me with a blank
book, I will transcribe the most remarkable passages I meet with
in my reading, which will serve to fix them upon my mind.

After making all just allowance for precocity of
genius, we cannot but see that the early maturity of
the younger Adams proves the great advantage of pure
and intellectual associations in childhood.

The time soon arrived when John Quincy Adams
was to enjoy advantages of education such as were
never afforded to any other American youth. Among
the earliest acts of the American Congress, was the
appointment of Benjamin Franklin, Silas Dean, and
Arthur Lee, as Commissioners to France ; they were
charged to solicit aid from France, and to negotiate a
treaty, by which the Independence of the United
States should be acknowledged by Louis Sixteenth,
then at the height of his popularity. Silas Dean was
recalled in 1776, and John Adams was appointed to
fill his place. He embarked on this mission the 13th
of February, 1778, in the frigate Boston, commanded

LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS. 31

by Captain Tucker. John Adams had gone down to
Quincy, and the frigate called there to receive him on
board. On the eve of embarkation he wrote the fol-
lowing simple and touching letter to Mrs. Adams :

" Uncle Qmncy's, — half after 11 o'clock, 13 February, 1778.

" Dearest of Friends,

" I had not been twenty minutes in this house, before I had the
happiness to see Captain Tucker and a midshipman coming for me.
We will be soon on board, and may God prosper our voyage in
every stage of it as much as at the beginning, and send to you, my
dear children, and all my friends, the choicest blessings !

" So wishes and prays yours, with an ardor that neither absence,
nor any other event can abate,

" John Adams.

" P. S. Johnny sends his duty to his mamma, and his love to Ms
sisters and brothers. He behaves like a man."

" He behaves like a man !" — Words which gave
presage of the future character of John Quincy Ad-
ams. His education had now commenced : an educa-
tion in the principles of heroic action, by John Adams,
the colossus of the American Revolution. How de-
voted he was to this important charge, and with what
true philosophy he conducted it, may be seen by the
following letter written about that time by him, to
Mrs. Adams :

" Human nature, with all its infirmities and depravation, is still ca-
pable of great things. It is capable of attaining to degrees of wis-
dom and of goodness which we have reason to believe appear re-
spectable in the estimation of superior intelligences. Education
makes a greater difference between man and man, than nature has
made between man and brute. The virtues and powers to which

32 LIFE OP JOHN (iUINCY ADAMS.

men may be trained, by early education and constant disciplin..
truly sublime and astonishing.

" Newton and Locke are examples of the deep sagacity which may
be acquired by long habits of thinking and study. Nay, your com-
mon mechanics and artisans are proofs of the wonderful dexterity
acquired by use ; a watchmaker, finishing his wheels and springs,
z. \".n ~r needle-maker, &c. I think there is a particular occupation
in Europe, which is called paper staining, or linen staining. A
man who has long been habituated to it, shall sit for a whole day,
and draw upon paper various figures, to be imprinted upon the pa-
per for rooms, as fast as his eye can roll and his fingers move, and
no two of his draughts shall be alike. The Saracens, the Knights
of Malta, the army and navy in the service of the English Repub-
lic, among many others, are instances to show to what an exalted
height, valor or bravery or courage may be raised, by artificial
means.

" It should be your care therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds
of our children, and exalt their courage, to accelerate and animate
their industry and activity, to excite in them an habitual contempt
of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an am-
bition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue. If we suffer
their minds to grovel and creep in infancy, they will grovel and
creep all their lives.

" But their bodies must be hardened, as well as their souls ex-
alted. Without strength, and activity and vigor of body, the bright-
est mental excellencies will be eclipsed and obscured.

" John Adams."

No one can read this extraordinary letter, and com-
pare it with the actual character of John Quincy
Adams as ultimately developed, without regarding that
character as a fulfilment, in all respects, of the prayers
and purposes of his illustrious parent.

The voyage of the American Minister was made in
a time of great peril. The naval supremacy of Great

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 33

Britain was already established. Her armed ships
traversed the ocean in all directions. Captain Tucker
saw a large English ship showing a row of guns, and
with the consent of the Minister, engaged her. When
hailed, she answered with a broadside. John Adams
had been requested to retire to the cockpit, but when
the engagement had begun, he was found among the
marines, with a musket in his hands.

The desired treaty with France had been consum-
mated by Dr. Franklin, before the arrival of John
Adams. After that event, Congress decided to have
but one minister in that country, and Dr. Franklin
having deservedly received the appointment, John
Adams asked and obtained leave to return home, after
an absence of a year and a half. During that period
the younger Adams attended a public school in Paris,
while his leisure hours were filled with the instructions
casually derived from the conversation of John Adams,
and Dr. Franklin, and other eminent intellectual per-
sons, by whom his father was surrounded. The im-
provement of the son during his sojourn abroad is thus
mentioned by John Adams, just before his embark-
ation on his return to America.

" My son has had a great opportunity to see this
country, but this has unavoidably retarded his educa-
tion in some other things. He has enjoyed perfect
health from first to last, and is respected wherever he
goes, for his vigor and vivacity both of mind and
body ; for his constant good-humor, and for his rapid

34 LIFE OF JOHN GIUINCY ADAMS.

progress in French, as well as in general knowledge,
which, for his age, is uncommon."

John Adams now regarded his public life as closed.
He wrote to Mrs. Adams :

" The Congress, I presume, expect that I should
come home, and I shall come accordingly. As they
have no business for me in Europe, I must contrive to
get some for myself at home. Prepare yourself for
removing to Boston, into the old house, for there you
shall go, and I will draw writs and deeds, and harangue
juries, and be happy."

This calculation was signally erroneous, as all cal-
culations upon personal ease and peace by great and
good men always are. He remained at home only
three months,. and during that time he had other and
higher occupations than drawing writs and deeds.
He was elected Delegate to the Convention charged
with the responsible and novel duty of forming a writ-
ten constitution for Massachusetts. In that body he
labored with untiring assiduity, as in Congress ; the
constitution thus produced was in a great measure
prepared by himself, and it is due to his memory to
record the fact, that it was among the most demo-
cratic of all the constitutions which were adopted by
the new States. The younger Adams having returned
to America with his father, had thus the advantage of
seeing republican theories brought into successful,
practical application.

About this time Congress resolved on sending a

LIFE OF JOHN C1U1NCY ADAMS. 35

Minister Plenipotentiary to Great Britain, to negotiate,
if possible, a treaty of peace. John Adams and John
Jay received each an equal number of votes. The
result was the appointment of Mr. Jay as Minister to
Spain, and of John Adams as Minister to the Court of
St. James. He was instructed to insist on the inde-
pendence of the United States.

The younger Adams again attended the Diplomatist.
They embarked in the French frigate La Sensible, on
the 17th of November, 1779.

The frigate sprang a leak, and was obliged to put
into the port nearest at hand, which proved to be Fer-
rol in Spain. They disembarked on the 11th of De-
cember, and traversed the intervening distance to Paris
over land, a journey of a thousand miles. This jour-
ney was performed through the mountains on mules.
Spain, as well as France, was then in alliance with
America, and the Minister was everywhere received
with respect and kindness. The French officers at
Ferrol wore cockades in honor of the Triple Alliance,
combining a white ribbon for the French, a red one
for the Spanish, and a black one for the Americans.

The United Powers proposed demands which were
ominous of disappointment to the Minister. — On the
12th of December he wrote : — " It is said that England
is as reluctant to acknowledge the independence of
America, as to cede Gibraltar, the last of which is in-
sisted upon, as well as the first."

The travellers reached Paris about the middle of

3G LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

February, 1780. John Adams mentioned a singular
coincidence in his letter announcing their arrival. " I
have the honor to be lodged here with no less a per-
sonage than the Prince of Hesse-Cassel, who is here
upon a visit. We occupy different apartments in the
same house, and have no intercourse with each other,
to be sure ; but some wags are of opinion, that if I
were authorised to open a negotiation with him, I
might obtain from him as many troops to fight on our
side of the question, as he has already hired to the
English against us !"

The American Revolution has wrought wonderful
changes since that day. No German Prince could now
send a man, or a musket, to war against its principles.

John Adams soon discovered that there was no pros-
pect of success for his mission to England. He re-
mained at Paris until August, 1780, and during the in-
terval his son was kept at an academy in that city.

At the expiration of that period the Minister repaired
to Holland, and there received instructions to nego-
tiate a loan, and then a treaty of amity and commerce
with the states of that country. The younger Adams
while in Holland was placed at school, first at Amster-
dam, and afterwards in the University of Leyden.

A letter of the father, dated at Amsterdam, 18th De-
cember, 1780, gives us a glimpse of the system of in-
struction approved by him, and a pleasant view of the
principles which he deemed it important to be incul-
cated.

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 37

" I have this morning sent Mr. Thaxter with my two
sons to Leyden, there to take up their residence for
some time, and there to pursue their studies of Latin
and Greek under the excellent masters, and there to
attend lectures of the celebrated professors in that Uni-
versity. It is much cheaper there than here. The
air is infinitely purer, and the company and conversa-
tion are better. It is perhaps as learned a University
as any in Europe.

" I should not wish to have children educated in the
common schools of this country, where a littleness of
soul is notorious. The masters are mean spirited
wretches, pinching, kicking, and boxing the children
upon every turn. There is, besides, a general littleness,
arising from the incessant contemplation of stivers and
doits, which pervades the whole people.

" Frugality and industry are virtues everywhere, but
avarice and stinginess are not frugality. The Dutch
say, that without a habit of thinking of every doit be-
fore you spend it, no man can be a good merchant, or
conduct trade with success.

" This, I believe, is a just maxim in general ; but I
would never wish to see a son of mine govern himself
by it. It is the sure and certain way for an industrious
man to be rich. It is the only possible way for a mer-
chant to become the first merchant, or the richest man
in the place. But this is an object that I hope none of
my children will ever aim at. It is indeed true every-

38 LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS.

where, that those who attend to small expenses are al-
ways rich.

" I would have my children attend to doits and far-
things as devoutly as the merest Dutchman upon earth,
if such attention was necessary to support their inde-
pendence. A man who discovers a disposition and a
design to be independent, seldom succeeds. A jeal-
ousy arises against him. The tyrants are alarmed on
the one side, lest he should oppose them : the slaves
are alarmed on the other, lest he should expose their
servility. The cry from all quarters is, ' He is the
proudest man in the world : he cannot bear to be under
obligation.'

" I never in my life observed any one endeavoring
to lay me under particular obligation to him, but I sus-
pected he had a design to make me his dependent, and
to have claims upon my gratitude. This I should
have no objection to, because gratitude is always in
one's power. But the danger is, that men will expect
and require more of us than honor, and innocence,
and rectitude will permit us to perform.

" In our country, however, any man, with common
industry and prudence, may be independent."

One cannot turn over a page of the domestic history
of John Adams, without finding a precept or example,
the influence of which is manifested in the character
of his illustrious son. Thus he writes to Mrs. Adams,
touching certain calumnies which had been propagated
against him : —

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 39

" Do n't distress yourself about any malicious at-
tempts to injure me in the estimation of my country-
men. Let them take their course, and go the length
of their tether. They will never hurt your husband,
whose character is fortified with a shield of innocence
and honor, ten thousand-fold stronger than brass or
iron. The contemptible essays, made by you know
whom, will only tend to their own confusion. My let-
ters have shown them their own ignorance, a sight
they could not bear. Say as little about it as I do.
I laugh, and will laugh before all posterity, at their
impotent rage and envy."

In July, 1781, Francis Dana, who had attended John
Adams as Secretary of Legation, was appointed Min-
ister to Russia. John Quincy Adams, then fourteen
years old, was appointed Private Secretary of this
mission. He remained at that post fourteen months,
performing its duties with entire satisfaction to the
minister. The singular ripeness of the youthful secre-
tary was shown in his travelling alone, on his return
from St. Petersburg!!, by a journey leisurely made,
and filled with observations of Sweden, Denmark,
Hamburgh, and Bremen. On arriving in Holland, he
resumed his studies at the Hague.

John Adams, having completed his mission in Hol-
land, was charged, with Dr. Franklin, John Jay, and
Thomas Jefferson, with the duty of negotiating a
definitive treaty of peace with Great Britain. The
treaty was executed at Paris on the 3d of Septem-

40 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

ber, 1783, and was ratified January 14th, 1784. The
younger Adams enjoyed the satisfaction of being pres-
ent at the conclusion of the treaty ; and while it was
under process of negotiation, he was constantly fa-
vored with opportunities of listening to the instructive
conversation of Franklin and Jefferson.

The negotiation of the treaty was dilatory in the
extreme. It was embarrassed with French intrigues,
great carelessness at home, and greater reluctance on
the part of England. The wearied Minister wrote to
Mrs. Adams on the 30th of May, 1783: "Our son is
at the Hague, pursuing his studies with great ardor.
They give him a good character wherever he has
been, and I hope he will make a good man." On the
9th of June he wrote in these homely, but manly
words : " I am weary, worn, and disgusted to death.
I had rather chop wood, dig ditches, and make fence
upon my poor little farm. Alas, poor farm ! and poorer
family ! what have you lost that your country might
be free ! and that others might catch fish and hunt
deer and bears at their ease !

" There will be as few of the tears of gratitude, or the
smiles of admiration, or the sighs of pity for us, as for
the army. But all this should not hinder me from go-
ing over the same scenes again, upon the same occa-
sions— scenes which I would not encounter for all the
wealth, pomp, and power of the world. Boys ! if you
ever say one word, or utter one complaint, I will disin-
herit you. Work ! you rogues, and be free. You

LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCV ADAMS. 41

will never have so hard work to do as papa has had.
Daughter ! get you an honest man for a husband, and
keep him honest. No matter whether he is l'ich, pro-
vided he be independent. Regard the honor and the
moral character of the man, more than all circum-
stances. Think of no other greatness but that of the
soul, no other riches but those of the heart."

After concluding the treaty of peace, John Adams,
together with Franklin and Jay, was charged with the
duty of negotiating a treaty of commerce with Great
Britain, and John Adams, taking his son John Quincy
with him, proceeded to London, and took up his resi-
dence at the British Court. Mrs. Adams embarked in
June, 1784, to join her husband.

John Adams was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary
to the same Court in 1785, and thus he, who ten years
before, when a subject, in the province of Massachu-
setts, had said, " / know that Great Britain has deter-
mined upon her system, and that very determination
determines me on mine," — was the first Representative
of his independent country admitted to an audience
by the discomfited majesty of the Imperial States.
The occasion was adapted to excite profound emotions,
though of different kinds, in each party. John Adams
addressed the King thus : —

" The United States of America have appointed me
their Minister Plenipotentiary to your Majesty, and
have directed me to deliver to your Majesty this letter,
which contains the evidence of it. It is in obedience

42 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

to their express commands, that I have the honor to
assure your Majesty of their unanimous disposition
and. desire to cultivate the most liberal and friendly in-
tercourse between your Majesty's subjects and their
citizens ; and of their best wishes for your Majesty's
health and happiness, and for that of your royal family.

" The appointment of a Minister from the United.
States to your Majesty's Court, will form an epoch in
the history of England, and of America. I think my-
self more fortunate than all my fellow citizens, in hav-
ing the distinguished honor to be the first to stand in
your Majesty's royal presence, in a diplomatic charac-
ter ; and I shall esteem myself the happiest of men, if
I can be instrumental in recommending my country
more and more, to your Majesty's royal benevolence,
and. of restoring an entire esteem, confidence and af-
fection, or in better words, ' the old good nature, and.
the old good harmony,' between people, who, though
separated by an ocean, and under different govern-
ments, have the same language, a similar religion, and.
kindred, blood. I beg your Majesty's permission to
add, that although I have sometimes before been in-
trusted by my country, it was never, in my whole life,
in a manner so agreeable to myself."

George III. replied with dignity, but not without some
manifestations of excitement : —

" The circumstances of this audience are so extraor-
dinary, the language you have now held is so extremely
proper, and the feelings you have discovered so justly

LIFE OP JOHN Q.OTNCY ADAMS. 43

adapted to the occasion, that I must say that I not only
receive with pleasure the assurances of the friendly
disposition of the People of the United States, but I
am very glad the choice has fallen upon you to be theii
Minister. I wish you, sir, to believe, and that it may
be understood in America, that I have done nothing in
the late contest, but what I thought myself indispensa-
bly bound to do, by the duty which I owed my people.
I will be frank with you — I was the last to conform to
the separation, but the separation having been made,
and having become inevitable, I have always said, as I
say now, that I would be the first to meet the friend-
ship of the United States, as an independent power.

" The moment I see such sentiments and language as
yours prevail, and a disposition to give this country
the preference, that moment I shall say, let the cir-
cumstances of language, religion and blood have their
natural and full effect."

The kindly feelings expressed by the King, were,
however, comparatively, only the language of cere-
mony, for the British Ministry, and the British people,
did not regard the new republic with favor. But they
could not withhold the exhibition of reluctant respect.

It was at such a time as this, and in such circum-
stances, that John Quincy Adams surveyed, from a
new position, the colossal structure of British power,
and the workings of its combined systems of conserva-
tive aristocracy, and progressive democracy. It was
here that he imbibed new veneration for Russell, Sid-

44 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

ney, Hampden, and Milton, its republican patriots ;
for Shakspeare, Dryden, and Pope, its immortal poets ;
and for Addison and Johnson, its moralists ; here he
learned from Wilberforce the principles of political
philanthi-opy, as well as the patience and persever-
ance to defend them, and studied eloquence by the liv-
ing models of Pitt, Fox, Erskine, Burke, and Sheridan.

This, indeed, was a fitting conclusion to a precocious
education by the patriots and philosophers of his own
country, with practical observations in the courts of
Spain and the Netherlands, of the weak but amiable
Louis XVI., and the accomplished, but depraved,
Catharine II.

John Quincy Adams now became fearful that the
duties of manhood would devolve upon him without
his having completed the necessary academic studies.
He therefore obtained leave to return home in 1785,
at the age of eighteen years, and entered Cambridge
University, at an advanced standing, in 1786. He
graduated in 1788 with deserved honors.

CHAPTER II.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS STUDIES LAW HIS PRACTICE ENGAGES

IN PUBLIC LIFE APPOINTED MINISTER TO THE HAGUE.

After leaving the University, young Adams en-
tered the office of Theophilus Parsons, who was then
in the practice of law at Nevvburyport, and who after-
wards for so many years filled with dignity and ability
the office of Chief Justice of Massachusetts.

Adams completed the usual term of professional
study, and then commenced the practice of the law in
Boston. It may encourage some who are oppressed
by the difficulties attending initiation in the profession,
to know, that during the first and only four years of
John Quincy Adams' practice, he had occasion for
despondency.

" I had long and lingering anxieties, (he afterwards
said,) in looking forward, doubtful even of my pros-
pects of comfortable subsistence, but acquiring more
and more the means of it, till in the last of the four
years, the business of my profession yielded me an in-
come more than equal to my expenditures."

But the country and the age had claims on John
Quincy Adams, as well as on his father, for higher

4fi LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

duties than " making writs," and " haranguing juries,"
and " being happy."

The American Revolution, which had been brought
to a successful close, had inspired, throughout Europe,
a desire to renovate the institutions of government.
The officers and citizens of France who had mingled
in the contest, had carried home the seeds of freedom,
and had scattered them abroad upon soil quick to re-
ceive them. The flame of Liberty, kindled on the
shores of the Western Continent, was reflected back
upon the Old World. France beheld its beams, and
hailed them as a beacon-light, which should lead the
nations out from the bondage of ages. Inspirited by
the success attending the struggle in the British colo-
nies, the French people, long crushed beneath a grind-
ing despotism, resolved to burst their shackles and
strike for Freedom. It was a noble resolution, but
consummated, alas ! amid devastation and the wildest
anarchy. The French Revolution filled the world
with horror. It was the work of a blind giant, urged
to fury by the remembrance of wrongs endured for
generations. The Altar of Liberty was reared amid
seas of blood, and stained with the gore of innocent
victims.

The measurable failure of this struggle in France,
teaches the necessity of due preparation before a
people can advance to the permanent possession and
enjoyment of their rights. The American colonists
had been trained to rational conceptions of freedom, by

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 47

lessons of wisdom and sagacity read them by their
Puritan fathers, and by the experience in self-govern-
ment, afforded during a century and a half of enjoy-
ment of a large share of political privileges, granted by
the mother country. They were thus prepared to lay
deep and strong the foundations of an enlightened gov-
ernment, which, equally removed from the extremes of
despotism on the one hand, and anarchy on the other,
and granting its subjects the exercise of their right
to " life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," shall
endure through ages to come. But the people of
France, shut up in darkness during centuries of mis-
rule, passed at a step from abject servitude to unlim-
ited freedom. They were unprepared for this violent
transition. Their conceptions of liberty were of the
most extravagant description. What wonder that
they became dizzy at their sudden elevation! What
wonder that blood flowed in rivers ! — that dissension
and faction rent them asunder — that a fearful anarchy
soon reigned triumphant — or that the confused and
troubled drama closed in the iron rule of a military
conqueror — the Man of Destiny! Let not this lesson
be lost upon the world. Let a people who would
enjoy freedom, learn to merit the boon by the study of
its principles, and a preparation to exercise its privi-
leges, under those salutary restraints which man can
never throw off and be happy!

The odium excited throughout Europe by the ex-
cesses of the French Revolution, was heaped without

48 LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS.

measure upon the American people. They were
charged with the origin of the misrule which con-
vulsed France, and filled the eastern hemisphere with
alarm : and were tauntingly pointed to the crude the-
ories promulgated by French democracy, and the fail-
ure of their phrenzied efforts to establish an enlightened
and permanent Republic, as conclusive evidence that
self-government, among any people, was a mere Uto-
pian dream, which could never be realized.

The establishment of a republican government in
America, had not been relished by the monarchies of
Europe. They looked upon it with distrust, as a pre-
cedent dangerous to them in the highest degree. The
succor which Louis XVI. had rendered the revolting
colonists, was not from a love of democratic institu-
tions : it was his hope to cripple Great Britain, his
ancient enemy, and to find some opportunity, perhaps,
to win back his Canadian provinces, which had so re-
cently been rent from his possession. When the
pent-up flames of revolution burst forth at the very
doors of the governments of the old world — when
the French throne had been robbed of its king, and
that king of his life — when a Republic had been pro-
claimed in their midst, and signal-notes of freedom
were ringing in their borders — they became seriously
alarmed. The growing evil must be checked imme-
diately. Led on by England, the continental powers
combined to exterminate at a blow, if possible, every
vestige of Republicanism in France. Then commenced

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 49

the long series of bloody wars, which, with little in-
termission, convulsed Europe for nearly a quarter of a
century, and ceased only when the rock of St. Helena
received its lonely exile.

In the meantime affairs at home had attained to a
critical juncture. The Constitution had been adopted.
The new government had been set in operation under
the supervision of Washington, as the first President
of the Republic. The people, influenced by certain
" elective affinities," had become sundered into two
great political parties — Conservative and Progressive,
or Federal and Democratic. Both were distrustful of
the Constitution. The former believed it too weak to
consolidate a government capable of protecting its
subjects in the peaceful enjoyment of their rights, from
discord within, and attacks from without. The latter
apprehended that it might easily be transformed, by some
ambitious Napoleon, into an instrument of oppression
more fearful even than the limited monarchy from
which they had but recently escaped, at an expense of
so much blood and treasure. Each of these parties are
entitled to the credit of equal sincerity and honesty of
purpose.

Washington, with a loftiness of purpose truly char-
acteristic of a great and good mind, refused to identify
himself with either party. In forming his first cabinet,
moved with a desire to heal the dissensions which dis-
tracted the country, he selected its members equally
from the adverse factions. Hamilton and Knox rep-

50 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

resented the Federal party, and Jefferson and Randolph
the opposite. During his entire administration, "the
Father of his country" steadily aimed to keep himself
clear from all party entanglements. He was emphati-
cally the President of the whole people, and not of a
faction. His magnanimous spirit would not stoop to
party favoritism, nor allow him to exercise the power
entrusted him, to promote the interests of any political
clique. In all his measures his great object was to
advance the welfare of the nation, without regard to
their influence on conflicting parties. In these things
he left behind him a pure and noble example, richly
worthy the imitation of his successors in that high
station.

The Revolution in France, and the measures adopted
by the Allied Sovereigns to arrest its progress, excited
the liveliest interest among the people of the United
States. But their sympathies ran in different channels,
and very naturally took the hue of their party predi-
lections. The Democrats, believing the French Revo-
lution to be the up-springing of the same principles
winch had triumphed here — a lawful attempt of an
oppressed people to secure the exercise of inalienable
rights — although shuddering at the excesses which had
been perpetrated, still felt it to be our own cause, and
insisted that we were in honor and duty bound to
render all the assistance in our power, even to a resort
to arms, if need be. The Federalists, on the other
hand, were alarmed at the anarchical tendencies in

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 51

France. They were fearful that law, order, govern-
ment, and society itself, would be utterly and speedily
swept away, unless the revolutionary movement was
arrested. Cherishing these apprehensions, they were
disposed to favor the views of Great Britain and other
European powers, and were anxious that the govern-
ment of the United States should adopt some active
measures to assist in checking what they could not but
view as rapid strides to political and social anarchy.
However the two parties differed as to the measures
proper to be adopted in this crisis, they were united in
the conviction that our government should take some
part as a belligerant, in these European struggles ; and
exerted each its influence to bring about such an in-
terference as would be in accordance with their con-
flicting views of duty and expediency.

There was residing, at this period, in Boston, a young
and nearly briefless lawyer, whose views on these im-
portant matters differed materially from those enter-
tained by both parties. It was John Quincy Adams.
While he could not countenance the attempts of the
Allied Powers to destroy the French Republic, and re-
establish a monarchy, he was equally far from favoring
the turn which affairs were clearly taking in that un-
happy country. He evidently foresaw the French
Revolution would prove a failure ; and that it was
engendering an influence which, unchecked, would be
deeply injurious to American liberty and order. To
counteract this tendency, he published in the Boston

52 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS.

Centinel, in 1791, a series of articles, signed " Publicola,"
in which he discussed, with great ability, the wild va-
garies engendered among political writers in France,
and which had been caught up by many in our own
country. These articles attracted much attention, both
at home and abroad. They were re-published in Eng-
land, as an answer to several points in Paine's " Rights
of Man." So profound was the political sagacity they
displayed, and so great the familiarity with public
affairs, that they were, by general consent, attributed to
the elder Adams. On this subject, John Adams writes
his wife as follows, from Philadelphia, on the 5th
December, 1793 : —

" The Viscount Noailles called on me. * * * * He seemed very
critical in his inquiries concerning the letters printed as mine in
England. I told him candidly that I did not write them, and as
frankly, in confidence, who did. He says they made a great im-
pression upon the people of England ; that he heard Mr. Windham
and Mr. Fox speak of them as the best thing that had been written,
and as one of the best pieces of reasoning and style they had ever
read."

The younger Adams, in surveying the condition of the
country at this critical period, became convinced it
would be a fatal step for the new government to take
sides with either of the great parties in Europe, who
were engaged in the settlement of their difficulties by
the arbitrement of arms. However strongly our sym-
pathies were elicited in behalf of the French Re-
public— however we may have been bound in gratitude
for the assistance rendered us during our Revolution-

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 53

ary struggle, to co-operate with France in her defence
of popular institutions — still, self-preservation is the
first law of nature. Mr. Adams saw, that to throw
ourselves into the melee of European conflicts, would
prostrate the interests of the country, and peril the very
existence of the government.

These views he embodied in a series of articles,
which he published in the Boston Centinel, in 1793,
under the signature of "Marcellus." He insisted it
was alike the dictate of duty and policy, that the
United States should remain strictly neutral between
France and her enemies. These papers attracted
general attention throughout the Union, and made a
marked impression on the public mind. They were
read by Washington, with expressions of the highest
satisfaction ; and he made particular inquiries respect-
ing the author.

The position of Mr. Adams on neutrality was new,
and in opposition to the opinions of the great mass of
the country. To him, it is believed, belongs the honor
of first publicly advocating this line of policy, which
afterwards became a settled principle of the American
government. Non-interference with foreign affairs, is a
principle to which the Union has rigidly adhered to the
present hour. In these articles too, Mr. Adams devel-
oped the political creed which governed him through life
in regard to two great principles — union at home, and
independence of all foreign alliances or entanglements

54 LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

— independence not only politically, but in manufactures
and in commerce.

On the 25th of April, 1793, Washington issued a
proclamation, announcing the neutrality of the United
States between the belligerent nations of Europe.
This proclamation was not issued until after Mr.
Adams' articles urging this course had been before the
public for some time. It is an honorable testimony to
the sagacity of his views, that Washington, and the
eminent men composing his cabinet, adopted a policy
which coincided so perfectly with opinions he had
formed purely from the strength of his own convictions.
The proclamation pleased neither of the belligerent
nations in Europe. It aroused the enmity of both ;
and laid open our commerce to the depredations of all
parties, on the plea that the American government
was inimical to their interests.

While in the practice of law in Boston, Mr. Adams
was not well satisfied with his condition or prospects.
That he was laudably ambitious to arise to distinction
'•n some honorable line is quite certain. But, singular
as it may appear at this day, in view of his early life,
and his acknowledged talents, he was not looking for,
nor expecting, political preferment. These facts ap-
pear in the following passages from his diary, written
at that time ; and which, moreover, will be found to
contain certain rules of action for life, which the
young men of our country should studiously seek to
imitate.

LIFE OF JOHN QUINPY ADAMS. 55

" Wednesday, May 16th, 1792. I am not satisfied with the man-
tier in which I employ my time. It is calculated to keep me forever
fixed in that state of useless and disgraceful insignificancy, which
has heen my lot for some years past. At an age bearing close upon
twenty -five, when many of the characters who were born for the
benefit of their fellow-creatures have rendered themselves conspic-
uous among their cotemporaries, and founded a reputation upon
which their memory remains, and will continue to the latest pos-
terity— at that period, I still find myself as obscure, as unknown to
the world, as the most indolent, or the most stupid of human beings.
In the walks of active life I have done nothing. Fortune, indeed,
who claims to herself a large proportion of the merit which ex-
hibits to public view the talents of professional men, at an early
period of their lives, has not hitherto been peculiarly indulgent to
me. But if to my own mind I inquire whether I should, at this-
time, be qualified to receive and derive any benefit from an oppor
tunity which it may be in her power to procure for me, my own mine'
would shrink from the investigation. My heart is not conscious of
an unworthy ambition ; nor of a desire to establish either fame
honor, or fortune upon any other foundation than that of desert
But it is conscious, and the consideration is equally painful and hu-
miliating, it is conscious that the ambition is constant and unceasing,
while the exertions to acquire the talents which ought alone to
secure the reward of ambition, are feeble, indolent, frequently in-
terrupted, and never pursued with an ardor equivalent to its purposes.
My future fortunes in life are, therefore, the objects of my present
speculation, and it may be proper for rne to reflect further upon the
same subject, and if possible, to adopt seme resolutions which may
enable me, as uncle Toby Shandy said of his miniature sieges, to
answer the great ends of my existence.

" First, then, I begin with establishing as a fundamental principle
upon which all my subsequent pursuits and regulations are to be
established, that the acquisition, at least, of a respectable reputation
is (subject to the overruling power and wisdom of Providence.)
within my own power ; and that on my part nothing is wanting, but
a constant and persevering determination to tread in the steps which
naturally lead to honor. And, at the same time, I am equally con-
vinced, that I never shall attain that credit in the world, which my
nature directs me to wish, without such a steady, patient, and per-

56 LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS.

severing pursuit of the means adapted to the end I have in view, as
has often been the subject of my speculation, but never of my
practice.

'Labor and toil stand stern before the throne,
And guard — so Jove commands — the sacred place.'

" The mode of life adopted almost universally by my cotempo-
raries and equals is by no means calculated to secure the object of
my ambition. My emulation is seldom stimulated by observing tho
industry and application of those whom my situation in life gives
me for companions. The pernicious and childish opinion that ex-
traordinary genius cannot brook the slavery of plodding over the
rubbish of antiquity (a cant so common among the heedless votaries
of indolence), dulls the edge of all industry, and is one of the most
powerful ingredients in the Circean potion which transforms many
of the most promising young men into the beastly forms which, in
sluggish idleness, feed upon the labors of others. The degenerate
sentiment, I hope, will never obtain admission in my mind ; and, if
my mind should be loitered away in stupid laziness, it will be under
the full conviction of my conscience that I am basely bartering the
greatest benefits with which human beings can be indulged, for the
miserable gratifications which are hardly worthy of contributing to
the enjoyments of the brute creation.

" And as I have grounded myself upon the principle, that my
character is, under the smiles of heaven, to be the work of my own
hands, it becomes necessary for me to determine upon what part
of active or of speculative life I mean to rest my pretensions to
eminence. My own situation and that of my country equally pro-
hibit me from seeking to derive any present expectations from a pub-
lic career. My disposition is not military ; and, happily, the warlike
talents are not those which open the most pleasing or the most repu-
table avenue to fame. I have had some transient thoughts of un-
dertaking some useful literary performance, but the pursuit would
militate too much at present with that of the profession upon which
I am to depend, not only for my reputation, but for my subsistence.

" I have, therefore, concluded that the most proper object of my
present attention is that profession itsalf. And in acquiring the
faculty to discharge the duties of it, in a manner suitable to my own
wishes and the expectations of my friends, I find ample room for
close and attentive application ; for frequent and considerate obser-

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS. 57

vation ; and for such benefits of practical experience as occasional
opportunities may throw in the way."

The following letter from John Adams, at this time
Vice President of the United States, written to his
wife at Quincy, will be interesting, as showing, among
other things, his anxiety that his sons should make
some start in life, which would give promise of future
usefulness. He was far from believing that sons
should repose in idleness on the reputation or wealth
of parents.

" Philadelphia, 2 March, 1793.
"My Dear,

" Your letter from your sick chamber, if not from your sick bed,
has made me so uneasy, that I must get away as soon as possible.
Monday morning, at six, I am to set off in the stage ; but how
many days it will take to get home, will depend on the roads or the
winds. I don't believe Abby [his daughter,] will go with me. Her
husband [Col. William S. Smith,] is so proud of his wealth, that he
would not let her go, I suppose, without a coach-and-four ; and
such monarchical trumpery I will in future have nothing to do with.
I will never travel but by stage, nor live at the seat of government
but at lodgings, while they give me so despicable an allowance.
Shiver my jib and start my planks if I do !

" I will stay but one night in New York. Smith says that my
books are upon the table of every member of the Committee for
framing a constitution of government for France, except Tom
Paine, and he is so conceited as to disdain to have anything to do
with books. Although I abused Smith a little above, he is very
clever and agreeable ; but I have been obliged to caution him against
his disposition to boasting. Tell not of your prosperity, because it
will make two men mad to one glad ; nor of your adversity, for it
will make two men glad to one sad. He boasts too much of having
made his fortune, and placed himself at ease, above all favors of
government. This is a weakness, and betrays too little knowledge
of the world ; too little penetration ; too little discretion. I wish,

58 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

however, that my boys had a little more of his activity. I must
soon treat them as the pigeons treat their squabs — push them off
the limb, and make them put out their wings or fall. Young
pigeons will never fly till this is done. Smith has acquired the con-
fidence of the French ministry, and the better sort of the members
of the National Convention. But the Executive is too changeable
in that country to be depended on, without the utmost caution.

" Adieu, adieu, tendrement, J. A."

One of the sons of the noble patriot, soon " put out
his wings," and soared, ultimately, to a pinnacle of
honor and renown attained by few among men. In
the winter of 1793 and 1794, the public mind had be-
come highly excited from the inflammatory appeals in
behalf of France, by Citizen Genet, the French Minis-
ter to the United States. A large portion of the anti-
Federal party took sides with Mr. Genet, against the
neutral position of our Government, and seemed deter-
mined to plunge the Union into the European contest,
in aid of the French Republic. Some idea may be
obtained of the excitement which prevailed at this
time, and of the perilous condition of the country, by
an extract or two from letters of Vice-President John
Adams. In a letter dated Philadelphia, Dec. 5, 1793,
he writes as follows : —

" It will require all the address, all the temper, and all the firm-
ness of Congress and the States, to keep this people out of the war ;
or rather, to avoid a declaration of war against us, from some mis-
chievous power or other. It is but little that I can do, eiiher by the
functions which the Constitution has entrusted to me, or by my per-
sonal influence ; but that little shall be industriously employed, un-
til it is put beyond a doubt that it will be fruitless ; and then, I shall
be as ready to meet unavoidable calamities, as any other citizen."

LIFE OF JOHN aUINC¥ ADAMS. 50

Under date of Jan. 9, 1794, he says : —

" The prospects of this country are gloomy, but the situation of
all Europe is calamitous beyond all former examples. At what
time, and in what manner, and by what means, the disasters which
are come, and seem to be coming on mankind, may be averted, I
know not. Our own people have been imprudent, as I think, and
are now smarting under the effects of their indiscretion : but this,
instead of a consolation, is an aggravation of our misfortune. Mr.
Genet has been abusive on the President [Washington] and all his
ministers, beyond all measure of decency or obligations of truth,
and in other respects, not yet publicly investigated, his conduct has
been such as to make it difficult to know what to do with him.
***** The news of this evening is, that the Queen of France
is no more.* When will savages be satiated with blood ? No
prospect of peace in Europe, and therefore none of internal harmony
in America. We cannot well be in a more disagreeable situation
than we are with all Europe, with all Indians, and with all Barbary
rovers. Nearly one half of the Continent is in constant opposition
to the other, and the President's situation, which is highly respon-
sible, is very distressing."

It taxed the wisdom and skill of Mr Jefferson, then
Secretary of State, to counteract the influence of the
French Minister, and prevent citizens of the United
States from committing overt acts against the Allied
Sovereigns, and embroiling the Union in a foreign war.
In this endeavor he was greatly assisted by the pen of
Mr. J. Q. Adams. This gentleman wrote a series of
essays for the public prints, under the signature of
" Columbus," reviewing the course of Mr. Genet. In
these articles, he pointed out, with great clearness, the
principles of the law of nations applicable to the situ-

* Marie Antoinette was beheaded in Paris, on the 16th of October,
1793.

60 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

ation of the country in the neutral line of policy which
had been wisely adopted.

In reference to this topic, John Adams writes his
wife, as follows, under date of Dec. 19, 1793 : —

" The President has considered the conduct of Genet very
nearly in the same light with ' Columbus,' and has given him a bolt
of thunder. We shall see how this is supported by the two Houses.
There are who gnash their teeth with rage which they dare not
own as yet. We shall soon see whether we have any government
or not in this country."

The political writings of the younger Adams had
now brought him prominently before the public. They
attracted the especial attention of Mr. Jefferson, who
saw in them a vastness of comprehension, a maturity
of judgment and critical discrimination, which gave
large promise of future usefulness and eminence. Be-
fore his retirement from the State Department, he com-
mended the youthful statesman to the favorable regard
of President Washington, as one pre-eminently fitted
for public service.

General Washington, although a soldier by profes-
sion, was a lover of peace. His policy during his ad-
ministration of the government, was pre-eminently
pacific. Convinced that, in the infant state of the
Union, war with a foreign nation could result only in
evil and ruin, he was anxious to cultivate the most
friendly relations with foreign governments, and to
carry out, both in letter and spirit, the strict neutrality
he had proclaimed. To declare and maintain these-

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 61

principles abroad, and to form political and commer-
cial relations with European powers, Washington looked
anxiously around for one fitted for a mission so im-
portant. His 'attention soon became fixed on John
Quincy Adams. He saw in him qualities not only of
deep political sagacity, and views of policy at unity
with his own, but a familiarity with the languages and
customs of foreign courts, which marked him as one
every way calculated to represent our government with
credit in the old world. He accordingly, in May, 1794,
appointed Mr. Adams Minister of the United States at
the Hague.

That this prominent appointment was as flattering to
Mr. Adams as it was unexpected, is naturally true. It
was the more to his credit in consideration of the fact,
that in those days elevation to offices of this importance
was the award of merit and talent, and not the result
of importunity, or the payment of party services. Mr.
Adams was at this time in the twenty-seventh year of
his age — a younger man, undoubtedly, than has since
ever been selected by our Government to fulfil a trust
so important. But the ability and discretion of the
young diplomatist, and the success which attended his
negotiations in Europe, so creditable to himself and his
country, fully justified the wisdom of Washington in
selecting him for this important duty.

Although the father of Mr. Adams was then Vice
President of the United States, yet it is well known his
appointment on a foreign mission was obtained without

62 LIFE OF JOHN CUJ1NCY ADAMS.

the influence or even the request of his parent. It is
not strictly correct, however, as stated by several bi-
ographers, that he was selected for the mission to Hol-
land without any previous intimation of the President's
intentions to his father. This is made evident by the
following extract of a letter from John Adams to his
wife, dated Philadelphia, 27th May, 1794, conveying
intelligence which must have made a mother's heart
swell with honest pride and satisfaction : —

" It is proper that I should apprize you, that the President has it
in contemplation to send your son to Holland, that you may recol-
lect yourself and prepare for the event. I make this communica-
tion to you in confidence, at the desire of the President, communi-
cated to me yesterday by the Secretary of State. You must keep
it an entire secret until it shall be announced to the public in the
journal of the Senate. But our son must hold himself in readiness
to come to Philadelphia, to converse with the President, Secretary
of State, Secretary of the Treasury, &c, and receive his commis-
sions and instructions, without loss of time. He will go to Provi-
dence in the stage, and thence to New York by water, and thence
to Philadelphia in the stage. He will not set out, however, until
he is informed of his appointment."

" Your son !" is the phrase by which the father
meant to convey his own sense of how large a part the
mother had in training that son ; and to enhance the
compliment, it is communicated to her at the desire of
President Washington.

CHAPTER III.

MR. ADAMS TRANSFERRED TO BERLIN HIS MARRIAGE LITE-
RARY PURSUITS TRAVELS IN SILESIA NEGOTIATES TREA-
TIES WITH SWEDEN AND PRUSSIA RECALLED TO THE UNI-
TED STATES.

Mr. Adams presented himself at the Hague, as Min-
ister Plenipotentiary of the United States, in the sum-
mer or fall of 1794. Ten years before, he was there
with his father — a lad, attending school — at which time
the father wrote : " They give him a good character
wherever he has been, and I hope he will make a good
man." How abundantly that hope was likely to be
fulfilled, the elevated and responsible position occupied
by the son at the expiration of the first ten years after
it was expressed, gave a promising and true indication.

On his arrival in Holland, Mr. Adams found the af-
fairs of that country in great confusion, in consequence
of the French invasion. So difficult was it to prosecute
any permanent measures for the benefit of the United
States, owing to the existing wars and the unsettled
state of things in Europe, that after a few months he
thought seriously of returning home. A report of this
nature having reached President Washington, drew
from him a letter to Vice President John Adams,

G4 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

dated Aug. 20, 1795, in which the following language
occurs : —

" Your son must not think of retiring from the path he is now in.
His prospects, if he pursues it, are fair ; and I shall be much mis-
taken if, in as short a time as can well be expected, he is not found
at the head of the Diplomatic Corps, be the government adminis-
tered by whomsoever the people may choose."

This approbation of his proceedings thus far, and
encouragement as to future success, from so high a
source, undoubtedly induced the younger Adams to
forego his inclination to withdraw from the field of
diplomacy. He continued in Holland until near the
close of Washington's administration. That he was
not an inattentive observer of the momentous events
then transpiring in Europe, but was watchful and faith-
ful in all that pertained to the welfare of his country,
is abundantly proved by his official correspondence
with the government at home. His communications
were esteemed by Washington, as of the highest value,
affording him, as they did, a luminous description of the
movement of continental affairs, upon which he could
place the most implicit reliance.

The following extract of a letter from John Adams,
will show the interest he naturally took in the welfare
of his son while abroad, and also afford a brief glance
at the political movements of that day. It is dated
Philadelphia, Jan. 23, 1796 :—

" We have been very unfortunate in the delays which have at-
tended the dispatches of our ambassadors. Very lucky, Mr. John

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. G5

Quincy Adams, that you are not liable to criticism on this occasion !
This demurrage would have been charged doubly, both to your ac-
count and that of your father. It would have been a scheme, a
trick, a design, a contrivance, from hatred to France, attachment
to England, monarchical manoeuvres, and aristocratical cunning !
Oh ! how eloquent they would have been !

" The southern gentry are playing, at present, a very artful game,
which I may develope to you in confidence hereafter, under the seal
of secrecy. Both in conversation and in letters, they are repre-
senting the Vice-President [John Adams,] as a man of moderation.
Although rather inclined to limited monarchy, and somewhat at-
tached to the English, he is much less so than Jay or Hamilton.
For their part, for the sake of conciliation, they should be very
willing he should be continued as Vice-President, provided the
northern gentlemen would consent that Jefferson should be Pres-
ident. I most humbly thank you for your kind condescension,
Messieurs Transchesapeakes.

" Witness my hand,

" John Adams."

Another allusion to his son while abroad, is made by

the elder Adams, in a letter dated Philadelphia, March

25, 1796.

'; The President told me he had that day received three or four
letters from his new Minister in London, one of them as late as the
29th of December. Mr. Pickering informs me that Mr. Adams*
modestly declined a presentation at court, but it was insisted on by
Lord Grenville ; and, accordingly, he was presented to the King,
and I think the Queen, and made his harangues and received his
answers. By the papers I find that Mr. Pinckney appeared at
court on the 28 th of January, after which, I presume, Mr. Adams
had nothing to do but return to Holland."

During his residence as Minister at the Hague, Mr.
Adams had occasion to visit London, to exchange the
ratifications of the treaty recently formed with Great

* John Quincy Adams.

00 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

Britain, and to take measures for carrying its provisions
into effect. (Alluded to in the above letter from John
Adams.) It was at this time that he formed an ac-
quaintance with Miss Louisa Catharine Johnson,
daughter of Joshua Johnson, Esq., of Maryland, Con-
sular Agent of the United States at London, and niece
of Governor Johnson of Maryland, a Judge of the Su-
preme Court of the United States, and a signer of the
Declaration of Independence. The friendship they
formed for each other, soon ripened into a mutual at-
tachment and an engagement. They were married on
the 20th of July, 1797. It was a happy union. For
more than half a century they shared each other's joys
and sorrows. The venerable matron who for this long
period accompanied him in all the vicissitudes of his
eventful life, still survives, to deplore the loss of him
who had ever proved a faithful protector and the kind-
est of husbands.

In the meantime, the elder Adams had been elected
President of the United States, in 1790. The curious
reader may have a desire to know something of the
views, feelings and anticipations of those elevated to
places of the highest distinction, and of the amount of
enjoyment they reap from the honors conferred upon
them. A glance behind the scenes is furnished in the
following correspondence between John Adams and
his wife, which took place at his election to the Pres-
idency.*
* Letters of John Adams, v. ii. pp.342, 213. Mrs. Adams' Letters, p. 373.

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 67

MR. ADAMS TO HIS WIFE.

" Philadelphia, ±th of Feb., 1797.
" My Dearest Friend,

t; I hope you will not communicate to anybody the hints I give
you about our prospects ; but they appear every day worse and
worse. House rent at twenty-seven hundred dollars a year, fifteen
hundred dollars for a carriage, one thousand for one pair of horses,
all the glasses, ornaments, kitchen furniture, the best chairs, settees,
plateaus, &c, all to purchase ; all the china, delph or wedgewood,
glass and crockery of every sort to purchase, and not a farthing
probably will the House of Representatives allow, though the Senate
have voted a small addition. All the linen besides. I shall not pre-
tend to keep more than one pair of horses for a carriage, and one
for a saddle. Secretaries, servants, wood, charities, which are de-
manded as rights, and the million dittoes, present such a prospect
as is enough to disgust any one. Yet not one word must we say.
We cannot go back. We must stand our ground as long as we
can. Dispose of our places with the help of our friend Dr. Tufts,
as well as you can. We are impatient for news, but that is always
so at this season. I am tenderly your J. A."

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

"Philadelphia, 9lh Feb., 1797.
" My Dearest Friend,

" The die is cast,* and you must prepare yourself for honorable
trials. I must wait to know whether Congress will do anything or
not to furnish my house. If they do not, I will have no house be-
fore next fall, and then a very moderate one, with very moderate
furniture. The prisoners from Algiersf arrived yesterday in this
city, in good health, and looking very well. Captain Stevens is
among them. One woman rushed into the crowd and picked out
her husband, whom she had not seen for fourteen years.

" I am, and ever shall be, yours, and no other's, J. A."

* Mr. Adams had, the day previous, been announced President elect
of the United States.

•f American citizens who had long been in captivity among the Al-
gerines.

68 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

MRS. JOHN ADAMS TO HER HUSBAND.

" Quincy, 8th Feb., 1797.

" ' The sun is dressed in brightest beams,
To give thy honors to the day.'

" And may it prove an auspicious prelude to each ensuing season.
You have this day to declare yourself head of a nation. ' And
now, O Lord, my God, thou hast made thy servant ruler over the
people. Give unto him an understanding heart, that he may know
how to go out and come in before this great people ; that he may
discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge this thy
so great a people ?' were the words of a royal sovereign ; and not
less applicable to him who is invested with the Chief Magistracy of
a nation, though he wear not a crown, nor the robes of royalty.

" My thoughts and my meditations are with you, though personally
absent ; and my petitions to Heaven are, that ' the things which
make for peace may not be hidden from your eyes.' My feelings
are not those of pride or ostentation, upon the occasion. They are
solemnized by a sense of the obligations, the important trusts, and
numerous duties connected with it. That you may be enabled to
discharge them with honor to yourself, with justice and impartiality
to your country, and with satisfaction to this great people, shall be
the daily prayer of your A. A."

MR. ADAMS TO HIS WIFE.

" Philadelphia, 5th March, 1797.
"My Dearest Friend,

" Your dearest friend never had a more trying day than yester-
day.* A solemn scene it was indeed ; and it was made more affect-
ing to me by the presence of the General, [Washington,] whose
countenance was as serene and unclouded as the day. He seemed
to me to enjoy a triumph over me. Methought I heard him say
' Ay ! I am fairly out, and you fairly in ! See which of us will be
happiest.' When the ceremony was over, he came and made me
a visit, and cordially congratulated me, and wished my administra-
tion might be happy, successful, and honorable.

* The day of his inauguration as President.

LIFE OF JOHN GIUINCY ADAMS. 69

" It is now settled that I am to go into his house. It is whispered
that he intends to take French leave to-morrow. I shall write you
as fast as we proceed. My chariot is finished, and I made my first
appearance in it yesterday. It is simple, but elegant enough. My
horses are young, but clever.

" In the chamber of the House of Representatives, was a multi-
tude as great as the space could contain, and I believe scarcely a
dry eye but Washington's. The sight of the sun setting full
orbed, and another rising, though less splendid, was a novelty.
Chief Justice Ellsworth administered the oath, and with great en-
ergy. Judges Gushing, Wilson, and Iredell, were present. Many
ladies. I had not slept well the night before, and did not sleep well
the night after. I was unwell, and did not know whether I should
get through or not. I did, however. How the business was re-
ceived, I know not ; only I have been told that Mason, the treaty
publisher, said we should lose nothing by the change, for he never
heard such a speech in public in his life.

" All agree that, taken altogether, it was the sublimest thing ever
exhibited in America.

" I am, my dearest friend, most affectionately and kindly yours,

" John Adams."

On entering upon the duties of the Presidency, John
Adams was greatly embarrassed in regard to the line
he should adopt toward his son. True, the younger
Adams had been entrusted by Washington with an
important embassy abroad, and had acquitted himself
with great credit in his responsible station ; but the
father, with a delicacy highly honorable, hesitated con-
tinuing him in office, lest he might be charged with
unworthy favoritism, and a disposition to promote the
interest of his family at the expense of public good.
In this exigency, not daring to trust his own judgment,
lest its decisions might be warped by parental solici-
tude, he resorted to the wisdom and experience of

70 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS.

Washington. Writing him for advice on this subject,
he received the following reply : —

" Monday, Feb. 20, 1797.
''Dear Sir,

" I thank you for giving me a perusal of the enclosed. The sen-
timents do honor to the head and the heart of the writer ; and if my
wishes would be of any avail, they should go to you in a strong
hope, that you will not withhold merited promotion from John Q.
Adams, because he is your son. For without intending to compli-
ment the father or the mother, or to censure any others, I give it as
ny decided opinion, that Mr. Adams is the most valuable public
character we have abroad ; and that there remains no doubt in my
nind, that he will prove himself to be the ablest of all our diplo-
matic corps. If he was now to be brought into that line, or into
tny other public walk, I could not, upon the principle which has
regulated my own conduct, disapprove of the caution which is
linted at in the letter. But he is already entered ; the public, more
and more, as he is known, are appreciating his talents and worth ;
and his country would sustain a loss, if these were to be checked
by over delicacy on your part.

" With sincere esteem, and affectionate regard,
" I am ever yours,

" George Washington."

This letter is characteristic of the discernment and
nobleness of Washington. Appreciating at a glance
the perplexed position of Mr. Adams, and wisely dis-
criminating between the bringing forward of his son
for the first time into public service, and the continu-
ing him where he had already been placed by others,
and shown himself worthy of all trust and confidence,
he frankly advised him to overcome his scruples, and
permit his son to remain in a career so full of promise
to himself and his country. President Adams, in

LIFE OF JOHN ©.UINCY" ADAMS. 71

agreement with this counsel, determined to allow his
son to continue in Europe in the public capacity to
which he had been promoted by Washington.

Shortly previous to the close of Washington's ad-
ministration, he transferred the younger Adams from
the Hague, by an appointment as Minister Plenipoten-
tiary to Portugal, but before proceeding to Lisbon, his
father, in the meantime having become President,
changed his destination to Berlin. He arrived in that
city in the autumn of 1797, and immediately entered
upon the discharge of his duties as Minister of the
United States. In 1798, while retaining his office at
Berlin, he was commissioned to form a commercial
treaty with Sweden.

During his residence at Berlin, Mr. Adams, while
attending with unsleeping diligence to his public duties,
did not forego the more congenial pursuits of litera-
ture. He cultivated the acquaintance of many eminent
German scholars and poets, and manifested a friendly
sympathy in their pursuits. In a letter to the late Dr.
Follen, he writes of that day as follows : —

" At this time, Wieland was there the most popular of the Ger-
man poets. And although there was in his genius neither the
originality nor the deep pathos of Goethe, Klopstock, or Schiller,
there was something in the playfulness of his imagination, in the
tenderness of his sensibility, in the sunny cheerfulness of his
philosophy, and in the harmony of his versification, which de-
lighted me."

To perfect his knowledge of the German language,
Mr. Adams made a metrical translation of Wieland's

72 LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS.

Oberon into the English language. The publication
of this work, which at one time was designed, was su-
perseded by the appearance of a similar translation by
Sotheby.

In the summer of 1800, Mr. Adams made a tour
through Silesia. He was charmed with the inhabi-
tants of that region, their condition and habits. In
many respects he found them bearing a great similarity
to the people of his own native New England. He
communicated his impressions during this excursion, in
a series of letters to a younger brother in Philadelphia.
These letters were interesting, and were considered of
great value at that time, in consequence of many im-
portant facts they contained in regard to the manufac-
turing establishments of Silesia. They were published,
without Mr. Adams's knowledge, in the Port Folio, a
weekly paper edited by Joseph Dennie, at Philadel-
phia. The series was afterwards collected and pub-
lished in a volume, in London, and has been translated
into German and French, and extensively circulated on
the continent.

Among other labors while at Berlin, Mr. Adams suc-
ceeded in forming a treaty of amity and commerce
with the Prussian government. The protracted cor-
respondence with the Prussian commissioners, which
resulted in this treaty, involving as it did the rights of
neutral commerce, was conducted with consummate
ability on the part of Mr. Adams, and received the
fullest sanction of the government at home.

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 73

Mr. Adams' missions at the Hague and at Berlin,
constituted his first step in the intricate paths of diplo-
macy. They were accomplished amid the momentous
events which convulsed all Europe, at the close of the
eighteenth century. Republican France, exasperated
at the machinations of the Allied Sovereigns to destroy
its liberties, so recently obtained, was pushing its ar-
mies abroad, determined, in self-defence, to kindle the
flames of revolution in every kingdom on the conti-
nent. Great Britain, combined with Austria and other
European powers, was using every effort to crush the
French democracy, and remove from before the eyes
of down-trodden millions, an example so dangerous to
monarchical institutions. The star of Napoleon had
commenced its ascent, with a suddenness and bright-
ness which startled the imbecile occupants of old
thrones. His legions had rushed down from the Alps
upon the sunny plains of Italy, and with the swoop of
an eagle, had demolished towns, cities, kingdoms.

Amid this conflict of nations, the commerce and
navigation of the United States, a neutral power, were
made a common object of prey to all. Great Britain
and France especially, did not hesitate to make depre-
dations, at once the most injurious and irritating. Our
ships were captured, our rights disregarded. In the
midst of these scenes, surrounded by difficulties and
embarrassments on every hand, the youthful ambassa-
dor was compelled to come into collision with the vet-
eran and wily politicians of the old world. How well

74 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,

he maintained the dignity and honor of his govern-
ment— how sleepless the vigilance with which he
watched the movements on the vast field of political
strife — how prompt to protest against all encroach-
ments— how skilful in conducting negotiations — and
how active to promote the interests of the Union,
wherever his influence could be felt — the archives of
our country will abundantly testify. It was a fitting
and promising commencement of a long public career
which has been full of usefulness and of honor.

The administration of John Adams, as President of
the United States, was characterized by great prudence
and moderation, considering the excited state of the
times. There cannot be a doubt he was anxious to
copy the worthy example of his illustrious predecessor,
in administering the government on principles of strict
impartiality, for the good of the whole people, without
respect to conflicting parties. Immediately on his in-
auguration, he had an interview with Mr. Jefferson,
then Vice-President, and pioposed the adoption of
steps that would have a tendency to quell the spirit of
faction which pervaded the country. That Mr. Jeffer-
son, on his part, cherished a profound respect for Mr.
Adams, his old co-laborer in the cause of American
freedom, is evident from his letters and speeches of
that day. In his speech on taking the chair of the
Senate, as Vice-President, he expressed himself in the
following terms : —

LIFE OF JOHN C1U1NCY ADAMS. 75

" I might here proceed, and with the greatest truth, to declare my
zealous attachment to the Constitution of the United States ; that
I consider the union of these States as the first of blessings ; and
as the first of duties the preservation of that Constitution which
secures it ; but I suppose these declarations not pertinent to the
occasion of entering into an office, whose primary business is merely
to preside over the forms of this House ; and no one more sin-
cerely prays that no accident may call me to the higher and more
important functions, which the Constitution eventually devolves on
this office. These have been justly confided to the eminent char-
acter which has preceded me here, whose talents and integrity have
been known and revered by me, through a long course of years ;
have been the foundation of a cordial and uninterrupted friendship be-
tween us ; and I devoutly pray he may be long preserved for the gov-
ernment, the happiness and the prosperity of our common country."

The sincere attempts of President Adams to produce
harmony of political action among the American peo-
ple, were unavailing. The extraordinary events trans-
piring in Europe, exerted an influence on domestic pol-
itics, which could not be neutralized. " The enemies
of France" — " the friends of England," or vice versa,
were cries which convulsed the nation to its centre.
The entire population was sundered into contending
parties.

John Adams was a true republican. His political
opponents charged him with monarchical tendencies
and aspirations, but charged him most falsely. His
life, devoted unreservedly to the service of his country,
through all its dark and perilous journey to the achieve-
ment of its independence — his public speeches and
documents — his private letters, written to his bosom
companion, with no expectation that the eye of any

70 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

other would ever rest upon them — all testify his ardent
devotion to the principles of republicanism. At the
breaking out of the French Revolution, he yielded it
his hearty support, and did not withdraw his counte-
nance, until compelled, by the scenes of anarchy and
of carnage which soon ensued, to turn away with hor-
ror and raise his voice against proceedings of savage
ferocity. But while condemning the excesses of the
French revolutionists, he was no friend of Great Brit-
ain. This is made evident by a multitude of facts.
Read, for instance, the following extract from a letter,
not written for public effect, addressed to his wife,
dated Philadelphia, April 9, 1796 :—

" I have read ' the minister's' dispatches from London. The
King could not help discovering his old ill humor. The mad idiot
will never recover. Blunderer by nature, accidents are all against
him. Every measure of his reign has been wrong. It seems they
don't like Pinckney. They think he is no friend to that country,
and too much of a French Jacobin. They wanted to work up some
idea or other of introducing another in his place, but our young
politician* saw into them too deeply to be duped. At his last visit
to Court, the King passed him without speaking to him, which, you
know, will be remarked by courtiers of all nations. I am glad of
it ; for I would not have my son go so far as Mr. Jay, and affirm
the friendly disposition of that country to this. I know better. I
know their jealousy, envy, hatred, and revenge, covered under pre-
tended contempt."

While President Adams cherished no partialities for
Great Britain, and had no desire to promote her espe-
cial interest, he was compelled by the force of circum-

* J. Q. Adams.

LIFE OF JOHN dUINCY ADAMS. 77

stances, during his administration, to assume a hostile
attitude towards France. The French Directory, cha-
grined at the failure of all attempts to induce the gov-
ernment of the United States to abandon its neutrality
and take up arms in their behalf against the Allied
Sovereigns, and deeply incensed at the treaty recently
concluded between England and the United States, re-
sorted to retaliatory measures. They adopted com-
mercial regulations designed to cripple and destroy our
foreign trade. They passed an ordinance authorizing,
in certain cases, the seizure and confiscation of Ameri-
can vessels and cargoes. They refused to receive Mr.
Pinckney, the American minister, and ordered him
peremptorily to leave France.

Mr. Adams convened Congress, by proclamation, on
the 15th of June, 1797, and in his message laid before
that body a lucid statement of the aggressions of the
French Directory. Congress made advances, with a
view to a reconciliation with France. But failing in
this attempt, immediate and vigorous measures were
adopted to place the country in a condition for war.
A small standing army was authorized. The command
was tendered to Gen. Washington, who accepted of it
with alacrity, sanctioning as he did these defensive
measures of the government. Steps were taken for a
naval armament, and the capture of French vessels
authorized. These energetic demonstrations produced
their desired effect. The war proceeded no farther

78 LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS.

than a few collisions at sea. The French Directory
became alarmed, and made overtures of peace.

Washington did not survive to witness the restora-
tion of amicable relations with France. On the 14th
of December, 1709, after a brief illness, he departed this
life, at Mount Vernon, aged sixty-eight years. On re-
ceiving this mournful intelligence, Congress, then in
session at Philadelphia, passed the following resolu-
tion : —

" Resolved, That the Speaker's chair should be shrouded in black ;
that the members should wear black during the session, and that
a joint committee, from the Senate and the House, be appointed to
devise the most suitable manner of paying honor to the memory of
the Man, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his
countrymen."

Testimonials of sorrow were exhibited, and funeral
orations and eulogies were delivered, throughout the
United States. The Father of his Country slept in
death, and an entire people mourned his departure !

On assuming the duties of the Presidency, the elder
Adams found the finances of the country in a condi-
tion of the most deplorable prostration. To sustain
the government in this department, it was deemed in-
dispensable to establish a system of direct taxation, by
internal duties. This produced great dissatisfaction
throughout the Union. An "alien law" was passed,
which empowered the President to banish from the
United States, any foreigner whom he should consider
dangerous to the peace and safety of the country.
And a " sedition law," imposing fine and imprisonment

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS. 79

for " any false, scandalous, and malicious writing against
the government of the United States, or either house
of Congress, or the President."

These measures are not justly chargeable to John
Adams. They were not recommended nor desired by
him ; but were brought forward and urged by Gen.
Hamilton and his friends. Nevertheless upon Mr.
Adams was heaped the odium they excited. The lead-
ing measures of his administration — the demonstration
against France ; the standing army ; the direct taxa-
tion ; the alien and sedition laws — all tended to injure
his popularity with the mass of the people, and to de-
stroy his prospects of a re-election to the presidency.
The perplexities he was compelled to encounter during
his administration, may be conceived on perusal of his
language in a letter dated March 17, 1797: —

"From the situation where I now am, I see a scene of ambition
beyond all my former suspicions or imaginations ; an emulation which
will turn our government topsy-turvy. Jealousies and rivalries
have been my theme, and checks and balances as their antidotes,
till I am ashamed to repeat the words ; but they never stared me in
the face in such horrid forms as at present. I see how the thing is
going. At the next election England will set up Jay or Hamilton,
and France Jefferson, and all the corruption of Poland will be in-
troduced ; unless the American spirit should rise and say, we will
have neither John Bull nor Louis Baboon."

In 1800, the seat of government was removed to
Washington. In taking possession of the President's
house, Mr. Adams bestowed a benediction on it, which
must ever meet with a response from all American

80 LIFE OK JOHN UU1NCY ADAMS.

hearts — u Before I end my letter, I pray heaven to be-
stow the best of blessings on this house, and on all that
shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and
wise men ever rule under this roof!" A description
of the house and the city, at that time, is furnished
in a letter from Mrs. Adams to her daughter, written
in November, 1800 : —

" I arrived here on Sunday last, and without meeting any acci-
dent worth noticing, except losing ourselves when we left Baltimore,
and going eight or nine miles on the Frederick road, by which
means we were obliged to go the other eight through the woods,
where we wandered two hours without finding a guide or the path.
Fortunately, a straggling black came up with us, and we engaged
him as a guide to extricate us out of our difficulty ; but woods are
all you see, from Baltimore, until jou reach the city, which is only
so in name. Here and there is a small cot, without a glass window,
interspersed among the forests, through which you travel miles
without seeing any human being. ********* The house is
made habitable, but there is not a single apartment finished, and all
withinside, except the plastering, has been done since Briesler came.
We have not the least fence, yard, or other convenience without,
and the great unfinished audience-room I make a drying-room of,
to hang up the clothes in. The principal stairs are not up, and
will not be this winter. Six chambers are made comfortable ; two
are occupied by the President and Mr. Shaw ; two lower rooms,
one for a common parlor, and one for a levee room. Up stairs there
is the oval room, which is designed for the drawing-room, and has
the crimson furniture in it. It is a very handsome room now ; but
when completed, it will be beautiful."

The presidential contest in 1800, was urged with a
warmth and bitterness, by both parties, which has not
been equalled in any election since that period. It
was the first time two candidates ever presented them-
selves to the people as rival aspirants for the highest

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 81

honor in their gift. Both were good men and true —
both were worthy of the confidence of the country.
But Mr. Adams, weighed down by the unpopularity of
acts adopted during his administration, and suffering
under the charge of being an enemy to revolutionary
France, and a friend of monarchical England, was dis-
tanced and defeated by his competitor. Mr. Jefferson
was elected the third President of the Republic, and
was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1801. One ol
the last acts of John Adams, before retiring from the
Presidency, was to recall his son from Berlin, that
Mr. Jefferson might have no embarrassment in that
direction.

CHAPTER IV.

mr. Adams' return to the united states — elected to the
massachusetts senate appointed u. s. senator sup-
ports mr. jefferson professor of rhetoric and

belles lettres appointed minister to russia.

John Quincy Adams returned to the United States
from his first foreign embassy, in 1801. During the
stormy period of his father's administration, and the
ensuing presidential canvass, he was fortunately absent
from the country. Had he been at home, his situation
would have been one of great delicacy. It can hardly
be supposed he would have opposed his father's meas-
ures, or his reelection. Yet to have thrown his in-
fluence in their behalf, would have subjected him to
the imputation of being moved by filial attachment
rather than the convictions of duty. From this painful
dilemma, he was saved by his foreign residence. He
came home uncommitted to part}' measures, untram-
melled by party tactics or predilections ; and thus stood
before the people, as he could wish to stand, perfectly
unshackled, and ready to act as duty and conscience
should direct.

Arriving in the United States with distinguished
honors gained by successful foreign diplomacy, Mr.

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 83

Adams was not allowed to remain long in inactivity.
In 1802, he was elected to the Senate of Massachusetts,
from the Boston district. During his services in that
body, he gave an indication of that independence, as a
politician, which characterized him through life, by his
opposition to a powerful combination of banking in-
terests, which was effected among his immediate con-
stituents. Although his opposition was unavailing, yet
it clearly showed that the integrity of the man was
superior to the policy of the mere politician. But
higher honors awaited him.

In 1803, he was elected to the Senate of the United
States, by the Legislature of Massachusetts. Thus at
the early age of thirty-six years, he had attained to the
highest legislative body of the Union. Young in years,
but mature in talent and experience, he took his seat
amid the conscript fathers of the country, to act a part
which soon drew upon him the eyes of the nation, both
in admiration and in censure.

The period of Mr. Adams' service in the United
States Senate, was one in which the position and the
interests of the country were surrounded by embar-
rassments and perils of the most threatening character.
The party which had supported his father had become
divided and defeated. Mr. Jefferson, elevated to the
Presidency after a heated and angry contest, was an
object of the dislike and suspicion of the Federalists.
The conflicts of the belligerent nations in Em ope, and
the measures of foreign policy they severally adopted,

84 LIFE OF JOHN QUJNCY ADAMS.

not only affected the interests of the United States,
but were added elements to inflame the party contests
at home.

In 1804, Bonaparte stepped from the Consul cham-
ber to the throne of the French Empire. All Europe
was bending to his giant rule. Great Britain alone,
Avith characteristic and inherent stubbornness, had set
itself as a rock against his ambitious aspirations, and
prosecuted with unabated vigor its determined hostility
to all his measures of trade and of conquest. In No-
vember, 1807, the British Government issued the cele-
brated " Orders in Council," forbidding all trade with
France and her allies. This measure was met by Na-
poleon, in December, with his " Milan Decree," pro-
hibiting every description of commerce with England
or her colonies. Between these checks and counter-
checks of European nations, the commerce of the
United States was in peril of being swept entirely from
the ocean.

During most of this perplexed and trying period,
Mr. J. Q. Adams retained his seat in the United States
Senate. Although sent there by the suffrages of the
Federal party, in the Massachusetts Legislature, yet he
did not, and would not, act simply as a partisan. This
in fact was a prominent characteristic in Mr. Adams
throughout his entire life, and is the key which explains
many of his acts otherwise inexplicable. His noble
and patriotic spirit arose above the shackles of party.
Hs loved the interests of his country, the happiness of

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 85

Man, more than the success of a mere party. So far
as the party with which he acted advocated measures
which he conceived to be wise and healthful, he yielded
his hearty and vigorous co-operation. But whenever
it swerved from this line of integrity, his influence was
thrown into the opposite scale. This was the rule of
his long career. No persuasions or emoluments, no
threats, no intimidations, could turn him from it, to the
breadth of a hair. It was in consequence of this char-
acteristic, that it has so frequently been said of Mr.
Adams, that he was not a reliable party man. This
was to a degree true. He was not reliable for any
policy adopted simply to promote party interests, and
secure party ends. But in regard to all measures which
in his judgment would advance the welfare of the peo-
ple, secure the rights of man, and elevate the race, no
politician, no statesman the world has produced, could
be more perfectly relied upon.

This disposition to act right, whether with or against
his party, was developed by the first vote he ever gave
in a legislative body. While in the Massachusetts
Senate, the Federalists were the dominant party. It
was the custom in that State, to choose the whole of
the Governor's Council from the party which had the
majority in the Legislature. In May, 1802, Mr. Adams
was desirous that a rule should be adopted more re-
gardful of the rights of the minority. He accordingly
proposed that several anti-Federalists should have seats

86 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

in the Council of Gov. Strong, and gave his first vote
to that measure.

On a certain occasion, Mr. Adams was asked, " What
are the recognized principles of politics ?" He replied,
that there were no principles in politics — there were
recognized precepts, but they were bad ones. But,
continued the inquirer, is not this a good one — " To
seek the greatest good of the greatest number ?" No,
said he, that is the worst of all, for it looks specious,
while it is ruinous. What shall become of the minor-
ity, in that case ? This is the only principle to seek —
" the greatest good of all.''*

A few months after Mr. Adams' entrance into the
Senate of the United States, a law was passed by
Congress, at the suggestion of Mr. Jefferson, authoriz-
ing the purchase of Louisiana. Mr. Adams deemed
this measure an encroachment on the Constitution of
the United States, and opposed it on the ground of its
unconstitutionality. He was one of six senators who
voted against it. Yet when the measure had been
legally consummated, he yielded it his support. In
passing laws for the government of the territory thus
obtained, the right of trial by jury was granted only in
capital cases. Mr. Adams labored to have it extended
to all criminal offences. Before the territory had a
representative in Congress, the government proposed
to levy a tax on the people for purposes of revenue.
This attempt met the decided opposition of Mr. Adams.
* Massachusetts Quarterly, June, 1848.

LIFE OF JOHN Q,U1NCY ADAMS. 87

He insisted it would be an exercise of government,
without the consent of the governed, which, to all
intents, is a despotism.

In 1805, he labored to have Congress pass a law
levying a duty on the importation of slaves. This was
the first public indication of his views on the subject
of slavery. It was a premonition of the bold, unflinch-
ing, noble warfare against that institution, and of the
advocacy of human freedom and human rights in the
widest sense, which characterized the closing scenes
of his remarkable career, and which will perpetuate his
fame, when other acts of his life shall have passed from
the remembrance of men. Although at that early day
but little was said in regard to slavery, yet the young
senator saw it was fraught with danger to the Union
— conferring political power and influence on slave-
holders, on principles false and pernicious, and calcu-
lated ultimately to distract the harmony of the country,
and endanger the permanency of our free institutions.
He labored, therefore, to check the increase of slave
power, by the only means which, probably, appeared
feasible at that time.

But a crisis in his senatorial career at length ar-
rived. The commerce of the United States had suf-
fered greatly by " Orders in Council," and " Milan
Decrees." Our ships were seized, conducted into for-
eign ports and confiscated, with their cargoes. Amer-
ican seamen were impressed by British cruisers, and
compelled to serve in a foreign navy. The American

88 LIFE OF JOHN UU1NCY ADAMS.

frigate Chesapeake, while near the coast of the United
States, on refusing to give up four men claimed to be
British subjects, was fired into by the English man-of-
war Leopard, and several of her crew killed and
wounded. These events caused the greatest excite-
ment in the United States. Petitions, memorials, re-
monstrances, were poured in upon Congress from every
part of the Union. Mr. Jefferson endeavored by em-
bassies, negotiations, and the exertion of every influence
in his power, to arrest these destructive proceedings,
and obtain a redress of grievances. But all was in
vain. At length he determined on an embargo, as
the only means of securing our commerce from the
grasp of the unscrupulous mistress of the seas. An
act to that effect was passed in Dec, 1807. This ef-
fectually prostrated what little foreign commerce had
been left to the United States.

In these proceedings Mr. Jefferson was stoutly op-
posed by the Federal party. Massachusetts, then the
chief commercial State in the Union, resisted with its
utmost influence the Embargo Act, as pre-eminently
destructive to its welfare, and looked to its Senators
and Representatives in Congress to urge an opposition
to the extreme. What course should Mr. Adams
adopt ? On the one hand, personal friendship, the
party which elected him to the Senate, the immediate
interests of his constituents, called upon him to oppose
the measures of the administration. On the other hand,
more enlarged considerations presented themselves.

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAiMS. SO

The interest, the honor, the ultimate prosperity of the
whole country — its reputation and influence in the
eyes of the world — demanded that the Government
should be supported in its efforts to check the aggres-
sions of foreign nations, and establish the rights of
American citizens. In such an alternative John Quincy
Adams could not hesitate. Turning from all other
considerations but a desire to promote the dignity and
welfare of the Union, he threw himself, without reserve,
into the ranks of the administration party, and labored
zealously to second the measures of Mr. Jefferson.

This act subjected Mr. Adams to the severest cen-
sure. He was charged with basely forsaking his party
— with the most corrupt venality — with the low motive
of seeking to promote ambitious longings and selfish
ends. But those who made these charges in sincerity
labored under an entire misapprehension of his char-
acter and principles of action. At this day, aided by
the instructive history of his life, and by a perfect
knowledge of his patriotism and devotion to truth and
principle, as developed in his long and spotless career,
it is clearly seen that in the event under consideration
he but acted up to the high rule he had adopted, of
making party and sectional considerations secondary
to the honor and interest of the nation — an example
which no pure and high-minded statesman can hesitate
to follow.

The Legislature of Massachusetts disapproved the
course of Mr. Adams. By a small majority of Federal

90 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY AUAM3.

votes, it elected another person to take his place in the
Senate at the expiration of his term, and passed resolu-
tions instructing its Senators in Congress to oppose the
measures of Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Adams could not,
consistently with his views of duty, obey these instruc-
tions ; and having no disposition to represent a body
whose confidence he did not retain, he resigned his
seat in the Senate, in March, 1808.

Although Mr. Adams gave most of his days to the
service of his country, yet he was fond of literary
pursuits, and acquired, during his hours of relaxation
from sterner duties, a vast fund of classic lore and useful
learning. At an early day, he had become distin-
guished as a ripe scholar, and an impressive, dignified,
and eloquent public speaker. His reputation for lit-
erary and scholastic attainments quite equalled his
fame as a politician and statesman.

In 1804, on the death of President Willard, Mr.
Adams was urged by several influential individuals,
to be a candidate for the presidency of Cambridge
University. He declined the proffered honor. During
the following year, however, he was appointed Profes-
sor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, in that institution.
He accepted the office, on condition that he should be
allowed to discharge its duties at such times as his
services in Congress would permit. His inaugural
address, on entering the professorship, was delivered
on the 12th of June, 1806. His lectures on rhetoric
and oratory were very popular. They were attended

LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS. 91

by large crowds from Boston and the surrounding
towns, in addition to the collegiate classes — a compli-
ment which few of the professors since his day have
received.

Mr. Adams continued his connection with the Uni-
versity, delivering lectures and conducting exercises
in declamation, until July, 1809. "'It was at this time,
and as a member of one of the younger classes at
college, that I first saw Mr. Adams, and listened to
his well-remembered voice from the chair of instruc-
tion ; little anticipating, that after the lapse of forty
years, my own humble voice would be heard, in the
performance of this mournful office. Some who now
hear me will recollect the deep interest with which
these lectures were listened to, not merely by the
youthful audience for which they were prepared, but
by numerous voluntary hearers from the neighborhood.
They formed an era in the University ; and were, I
believe, the first successful attempt, in this country, at
this form of instruction in any department of litera-
ture. They were collected and published in two vol-
umes, completing the theoretical part of the subject.
I think it may be fairly said, that they will bear a
favorable comparison with any treatise on the subject,
at that time extant in our language. The standard of
excellence, in every branch of critical learning, has
greatly advanced in the last forty years, but these
lectures may still be read with pleasure and instruc-
tion. Considered as a systematic and academical

92 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

treatise upon a subject which constituted the chief
part of the intellectual education of the Greeks and
Romans, these lectures, rapidly composed as they
were delivered, and not revised by the author before
publication, are not to be regarded in the light of a
standard performance. But let any statesman or jurist,
even of the present day, in America or Europe —
whose life, like Mr. Adams's, has been actively passed
in professional and political engagements, at home and
abroad — attempt, in the leisure of two or thee sum-
mers— his mind filled with all the great political topics
of the day — to prepare a full course of lectures on any
branch of literature, to be delivered to a difficult and
scrutinizing, though in part a youthful audience, and
then trust them to the ordeal of the press, and he will
be prepared to estimate the task which was performed
by Mr. Adams."*

Mr. Adams's devotion to literary pursuits was destined
to an early termination. On the 4th of March, 1809,
Mr. Madison was inducted into the office of President
of the United States. It was at that time far from
being an enviable position. At home the country was
rent into contending factions. Our foreign affairs were
in a condition of the utmost perplexity, and evidently
approaching a dangerous crisis. The murky clouds of
war, which had for years overshadowed Europe, seemed
rolling hitherward, filling the most sanguine and hope-

* Edward Everett's Eulogy on the Life and Character of John
Q.uincy Adams.

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS. 93

ful minds with deep apprehension. Russia, under its
youthful Emperor Alexander, was rising to a promi-
nent and influential position among the nations of
Europe. Mr. Madison deemed it of great importance
that the United States should be represented at that
court by some individual eminent alike for talents, ex-
perience, and influence. John Quincy Adams was
selected for the mission. In March, 1809, he was
appointed Minister to Russia, and the summer follow-
ing, sailed for St. Petersburgh.

In the meantime, our relations with Great Britain
became every day more dubious. While striving, in
every honorable manner, to come to terms of recon-
ciliation, President Madison was making rapid prepar-
ations for war. The people of the United States, de-
prived by the non-intercourse act of the cheap pro-
ductions of England, began to turn their attention and
capital to domestic manufactures. At length the
American Government demanded peremptorily, that
the restrictions of Great Britain and France on our
commerce should be abrogated ; war being the alter-
native of a refusal. The French emperor gave satis-
factory assurances that the Berlin decree should be
withdrawn. The English government hesitated, equiv-
ocated, and showed evident disinclination to take any
decided step.

" In this doubtful state of connexion between Amer-
ica and England, an accidental collision took place
between vessels of the respective countries, tending

94 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAM3.

much to inflame and widen the existing differences. An
English sloop-of-war, the Little Belt, commanded by
Capt. Bingham, descried a ship off the American coast,
and made sail to come up with it ; but finding it a
frigate, and dubious of its nation, he retired. The
other, which proved to be American, the President,
under Capt. Rogers, pursued in turn. Both captains
hailed nearly together ; and both, instead of replying,
hailed again ; and from words, as it were, came to
blows, without explanation. Capt. Bingham lost up-
wards of thirty men, and his ship suffered severely. A
Court of Inquiry was ordered on the conduct of Capt.
Rogers, which decided that it had been satisfactorily
proved to the court, that Capt. Rogers hailed the Lit-
tle Belt first, that his hail was not satisfactorily an-
swered, that the Little Belt fired the first gun, and
that it was without previous provocation or justifiable
cause."*

Several attempts were made after this, to preserve
the peace of the two countries, but in vain. England,
it is true, withdrew her obnoxious Orders in Council.
It was, however, too late. Before intelligence of this
repeal reached the shores of the United States, war
was declared by Congress, on the 18th of June, 1812.

It was a popular war. Although strenuously op-
posed by portions of the Eastern States, as destructive
to their commerce, yet with the mass of the people
throughout the Union, it was deemed justifiable and
* Lives of the Presidents,

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCV ADAMS. 95

indispensible. A long series of insults and injuries on
the part of Great Britain — the seizure and confiscation
of our ships and cargoes ; the impressing of our sea-
men, under circumstances of the most irritating de-
scription ; and the adoption of numerous measures to
the injury of our interests — had fully prepared the pub-
lic mind in the United States, with the exception of a
small minority, to enter upon this war with zeal and
enthusiasm.

With occasional reverses, general success attended
our arms in every direction. On land and on sea,
the American eagle led to victory. The combatants
were worthy of each other. Of the same original
stock — of the same stern, unyielding material — their
contests were bloody and destructive in the extreme.
But the younger nation, inspirited by a sense of wrongs
endured, and of the justness of its cause, bore away
the palm, and plucked from the brow of its more aged
competitor many a laurel yet green from the ensan-
guined fields of Europe. In scores of hotly-contested
battles, the British lion, unused as it was to cower be-
fore a foe, was compelled to "lick the dust" in defeat.
At York, at Chippewa, at Fort Erie, at Lundy's Lare,
at New Orleans, on LakeChamplain, on Lake Erie, on
the broad ocean, Great Britain and the world were
taught lessons of American valor, skill, and energy,
which ages will not obliterate.

This war, though prosecuted at the expense of
many valuable lives, and of a vast public debt, was,

96 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

unquestionably, highly beneficial to the United States.
It convinced all doubters that our government was
abundantly able to resent aggressions, and to maintain
its rights against the assaults of any nation on earth.
This reputation has been of great service in protecting
our commerce, and commanding respect for our flag,
throughout the world. But the chief benefit of the
war was the development of our internal resources,
which, after all, form the great fountain of the wealth,
strength, and permanence of a nation. Deprived by
the embargo, the non-intercourse act, and the ensuing
hostilities, of all foreign importation of goods, the
American people were compelled to supply themselves
by their own industry and ingenuity, with those arti-
cles for which they had always before been dependent
on their transatlantic neighbors. Thus was laid the
foundation of that system of domestic manufactures
which is destined to make the United States the great-
est productive mart among men, and to bring into its
lap the wealth of the world.

CHAPTER V.

mr. Adams' arrival at st. Petersburg — his letters to his
son on the bible his religious opinions russia of-
fers mediation between great britain and the united

states proceeds to ghent to negotiate for peace

visits paris appointed minister at st. james arrives

in london.

Mr. Adams arrived at St. Petersburg, as Minister
Plenipotentiary from the United States, in the autumn
of 1809. Twenty-eight years before, while a lad of
fourteen, he was at the same place, as private secre-
tary to Mr. Dana, the American Minister. The prom-
ising boy returned to the northern capital a mature
man, ripe in experience, wisdom, patriotism, and pre-
pared to serve his country in the highest walks of
diplomacy. So truly had the far-seeing Washington
prophesied in 1795 : — " I shall be much mistaken, if,
in as short a time as can well be expected, he is not
found at the head of the diplomatic corps, be the
government administered by whomsoever the people
may choose !"

The United States, though but little known in
Russia at that period, was still looked upon with
favor, as a nation destined, in due time, to exert a

5

98 LIFE OF JOHN O.UINCY ADAMS.

great influence upon the affairs of the world. Mr.
Adams was received with marked respect at the Court
of St. Petersburg. His familiarity with the French
and German languages — the former the diplomatic
language of Europe — his literary acquirements, his
perfect knowledge of the political relations of the
civilized world, his plain appearance, and republican
simplicity of manners, in the midst of the gorgeous
embassies of other nations, enabled him to make a
striking and favorable impression on the Emperor
Alexander and his Court. The Emperor, charmed
by his varied qualities, admitted him to terms of per-
sonal intimacy seldom granted to the most favored
individuals.

During his residence in Russia, the death of Judge
Gushing caused a vacancy on the bench of the Su-
preme Court of the United States. President Madison
nominated Mr. Adams to the distinguished office.
The nomination was confirmed by the Senate, but he
declined its acceptance.

A circumstance occurred at this time, which attract-
ed the attention of Mr. Adams. The Russian Minister
of the Interior, then advanced in years, having received
many valuable presents while in office, became troubled
with scruples of conscience, in regard to the disposal
he should make of them. He at length calculated the
value of all his gifts, and paid the sum into the impe-
rial treasury. This transaction made a deep impres-
sion on Mr. Adams, and probably led him to the

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAM3. 99

resolution of never accepting gifts. In order to act
with that freedom of bias which he deemed indispen-
sable to the faithful discharge of public duty, he en-
deavored to avoid, as far as possible, laying himself
under obligations to any man. When a certain book-
seller once sent him an elegant copy of the Scriptures,
he kept the book, but returned its full equivalent in
money.

While sojourning at St. Petersburg, Mr. Adams
wrote a series of letters to a son at school in Massa-
chusetts, on the value of the Bible, and the importance
of its daily perusal. Since his decease they have been
published in a volume, entitled " Letters of John
Quincy Adams to his son, on the Bible and its teach-
ings." " Their purpose is the inculcation of a love and
reverence for the Holy Scriptures, and a delight in
their perusal and study. Throughout his long life,
Mr. Adams was himself a daily and devout reader of
the Scriptures, and delighted in comparing and con-
sidering them in the various languages with which he
was familiar, hoping thereby to acquire a nicer and
clearer appreciation of their meaning. The Bible was
emphatically his counsel and monitor through life, and
the fruits of its guidance are seen in the unsullied
character which he bore, through the turbid waters of
political contention, to his final earthly rest. Though
long and fiercely opposed and contemned in life, he
left no man behind him who would wish to fix a stain
on the name he has inscribed so high on the roll of his

100 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

country's most gifted and illustrious sons. The intrin-
sic value of these letters, their familiar and lucid style,
their profound and comprehensive views, their candid
and reverent spirit, must win for them a large measure
of the public attention and esteem. But, apart from
even this, the testimony so unconsciously borne by
their pure-minded and profoundly learned author, to
the truth and excellence of the Christian faith and
records, will not be lightly regarded. It is no slight
testimonial to the verity and worth of Christianity,
that in all ages since its promulgation, the great mass
of those who have risen to eminence by their profound
wisdom, integrity, and philanthropy, have recognized
and reverenced, in Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of the
living God. To the names of Augustine, Xavier,
Fenelon, Milton, Newton, Locke, Lavater, Howard.
Chateaubriand, and their thousands of compeers in
Christian faith, among the world's wisest and noblest, it
is not without pride that the American may add, from
among his countrymen, those of such men as Washing-
ton, Jay, Patrick Henry, and John Quincy Adams."*
Mr. Adams was a practical Christian. This is
proved by his spotless life, his strict honesty and integ-
rity, his devotion to duty, his faithful obedience to the
dictates of conscience, at whatever sacrifice, his rever-
ence of God, of Christ, his respect for religion and its
institutions, and recognition of its claims and responsi-

* Preface to " Letters of John Quincy Adams to his Son, on the
Bible and its Teachings."

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 101

bilities. Although a Unitarian* in his belief of doc-
trines, yet he was no sectarian. In religion, as in
politics, he was independent of parties. He would
become linked to no sect in such manner as to prevent
him from granting his countenance and assistance
wherever he thought proper. He was a frequent
attendant at Presbyterian and Episcopalian churches,
and was liberal in his contributions to these and other
denominations ; it being his great desire to aid in
building up Christianity, and not a sect.

The influence which Mr. Adams had obtained at
St. Petersburg, with the Emperor and his Court, was
turned to the best account. It laid the foundation of
those amicable relations which have ever character-
ized the intercourse of that government with the
United States. To this source, also, is unquestionably
to be attributed the offer, by the Emperor Alexander,
of mediation between Great Britain and the United
States. This orFer was accepted by the American
Government, and Mr. Adams, in connection with
Messrs. Gallatin and Bayard, was appointed by the
President to take charge of the negotiation. The lat-
ter gentlemen joined Mr. Adams at St. Petersburg, in
July, 1813. Conferences were held by the Commis-
sioners with Count Romanzoff, the Chancellor of the
Russian Empire, with a view to open negotiations.
The British Government, however, refused to treat

* Mr. Adams was a member of the Unitarian Church, in Quincy,
Mass., at his death.

102 LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS.

under the mediation of Russia ; but proposed at the
same time to meet American Commissioners either at
London or Gottenburg. Messrs. Gallatin and Bayard
withdrew from St. Petersburg in January, 1814, leav-
ing Mr. Adams in the discharge of his duties as resi-
dent Minister.

The proposition of the British Ministry to negotiate
for peace, at London or Gottenburg, was accepted by
the United States. Mr. Adams and Messrs. Bayard,
Clay, Russell, and Gallatin, were appointed Commission-
ers, and directed to proceed to Gottenburg for that pur-
pose. Mr. Adams received his instructions in April,
1814 ; and as soon as preparations for departure could
be made, took passage for Stockholm. After repeated
delays, on account of the difficulties of navigation at
that early season in the northern seas, he arrived at
that city on the 25th of May. Learning there that the
place for the meeting of the Commissioners had been
changed to Ghent, in Belgium, Mr. Adams proceeded
to Gottenburg. From thence he embarked on board
an American sloop-of-war, which had conveyed Messrs.
Clay and Russell from the United States, and landing
at Texel, proceeded immediately to Ghent, where he
arrived on the 24th of June.

In the ensuing negotiation, Mr. Adams was placed
at the head of the American Commissioners. They
were men of unsurpassed talents and skill, in whose
hands neither the welfare nor the honor of the United
States could suffer. In conducting this negotiation,

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 103

they exhibited an ability, a tact, an understanding of
international law, and a knowledge of the best interests
of their country, which attracted the favorable attention
both of Europe and America. Their "Notes" with
the British Commissioners, exhibited a dignified firm-
ness and manly moderation, with a power of argument,
and force of reasoning, which highly elevated their
reputation, and that of their country, in the estimation
of European statesmen. The Marquis of Wellesley
declared in the British House of Lords, that, "in his
opinion the American Commissioners had shown the
most astonishing superiority over the British, during
the whole of the correspondence." Their despatches
to the Government at home, describing and explaining
the progress of the negotiation in its several stages,
gave the highest satisfaction to the people of the United
States. It was declared in the public prints, that they
sustained the honor of the Union as ably at Ghent as
the patriotism and bravery of its defenders had been
established by its seamen on the ocean, and its troops
in their battles with " Wellington's Invincibles." A
good share of these encomiums of right belongs to Mr.
Adams, who, from his knowledge of foreign affairs,
and experience in diplomacy, as well as acknowledged
talents, took a leading part in the negotiations.

The American commissioners were treated with
marks of highest respect, by the citizens of Ghent, and
the public authorities of that town. On the anniversary
of the Academy of Sciences and Fine Aits, at Ghent,

104 LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCV ADAMS.

they were unanimously elected members of the institu-
tion, and were invited to attend and unite in the exer-
cises of the occasion. An oration on the objects of the
institution was delivered. In the evening, a sumptuous
banquet was served up to a numerous company. After
the removal of the cloth, among the toasts given, was
the following, by the Intendant of Ghent : —

" Our distinguished guests and fellow-members, the American
Ministers : May they succeed in making an honorable peace, to se-
cure the liberty and independence of their country."

This sentiment was received with immense applause.
The band struck up " Hail Columbia," and the com-
pany was filled with enthusiasm. It was some minutes
before the tumult sufficiently subsided to admit of a
response. Mr. Adams then arose, and, in behalf of the
American Legation, returned thanks for the very flat-
tering manner in which they had been treated by the
municipality of Ghent, and particularly for the unex-
pected honor conferred upon them by the Academy.
After making some pertinent remarks on the importance
and usefulness of the Fine Arts, he concluded by offer-
ing as a toast — " The Intendant of the city of Ghent."

The British Commissioners were Lord Gambier,
Henry Goulburn, and Wm. Adams. The negotiations
opened dubiously. The demands of the British Min-
isters were at first of such a character, that it was im-
possible to comply with them, with any regard to the
honor or welfare of the United States. They insisted
that the line separating the United States from the

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 105

Canadas, should run on the southern borders of all the
lakes from Ontario to Superior — that the American
Government should keep no armed force on these lakes,
nor maintain any military posts on their borders, while
the British should have the privilege of establishing
such posts wherever they thought proper, on the
southern shores of the lakes and connecting rivers, and
maintaining a navy on their waters — that a large part
of the district of Maine should be relinquished and ceded
to England, to permit a direct route of communication
between Halifax and Quebec — that the right of search
should be granted to British ships-of-war — together
with many other terms equally unacceptable.

The letters of the American Commissioners to the
Government at home, in the early stages of the pro-
ceedings, were couched in desponding tones. They
gave it as their opinion that no terms of peace could be
agreed upon. But the demands of the English Pleni-
potentiaries were met in a manner so decided, and
reasons were offered for non-compliance so cogent and
incontrovertible, that they were compelled to recede,
and come to terms of a more reasonable description.
Moreover the British nation was heartily sick of foreign
wars, which plunged the Government into debt, sacri-
ficed the lives of its subjects, crippled their manufac-
tories, and secured them, in fact, nothing ! At length,
after a protracted negotiation of six months, articles of
peace were signed by the British and American Com-
missioners, on the 24th of December, 1814.

5*

106 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

The announcement of this event, at Ghent, was in a
manner somewhat peculiar. Mr. Todd, one of the
Secretaries of the American Commissioners, and son-in-
law of President Madison, had invited several gentlemen,
Americans and others, to take refreshments with him
on the 24th of December. At noon, after having spent
some time in pleasant conversation, the refreshments
entered, and Mr. Todd said, — "It is 12 o'clock. Well,
gentlemen, I announce to you that peace has been
made and signed between America and England." In
a few moments, Messrs. Gallatin, Clay, Carroll and
Hughes entered, and confirmed the annunciation.
This intelligence was received with a burst of joy by
all present. The news soon spread through the town,
and gave general satisfaction to the citizens.

At Paris, the intelligence was hailed with acclama-
tions. In the evening the theatres resounded with cries
of " God save the Americans."

In the United States the news of peace spread with
the speed of the wind. Everywhere it excited the
most lively emotions of joy. Processions, orations,
bonfires, illuminations, attested the gratification of
the people, and showed that, notwithstanding the gen-
eral success which had attended our arms, they viewed
peace as one of the highest blessings a nation can
enjoy.

Recognizing in this important event the hand of a
wise and gracious overruling Providence, the hearts of
a great Christian nation turned in gratitude toward

LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS. 107

God. President Madison issued the following procla-
mation for a day of thanksgiving : —

" The Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States have, by a joint resolution, signified
their desire that a day may be recommended, to be ob-
served by the people of the United States with reli-
gious solemnity, as a day of thanksgiving and of de-
vout acknowledgments to Almighty God, for his great
goodness, manifested in restoring to them the blessings
of peace.

" No people ought to feel greater obligations to cele-
brate the goodness of the Great Disposer of events,
and of the destiny of nations, than the people of the
United States. His kind providence originally con-
ducted them to one of the best portions of the dwelling-
place allowed for the great family of the human race.
He protected and cherished them under all the difficul-
ties and trials to which they were exposed in their
early days. Under his fostering care, their habits,
their sentiments and their pursuits prepared them for a
transition in due time to a state of independence and
self-government. In the arduous struggle by which it
was attained, they were distinguished by multiplied
tokens of his benign interposition During the interval
which succeeded, he reared them into the strength,
and endowed them with the resources, which have en-
abled them to assert their national rights, and to en-
hance their national character, in another arduous con-
flict, which is now happily terminated by a peace and

108 LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS.

reconciliation with those who have been our enemies
And to the same Divine Author of every good and per
feet gift we are indebted for all those privileges and
advantages, religious as well as civil, which are so
richly enjoyed in this favored land.

" It is for blessings such as these, and more espe-
cially for the restoration of the blessings of peace, that
I now recommend that the second Thursday in April
next, be set apart as a day on which the people of every
religious denomination may in their solemn assemblies
unite their hearts and their voices, in a free-will offer-
.ng, to their Heavenly Benefactor, of their homage of
thanksgiving and their songs of praise."

Before leaving Ghent, the American Commissioners
gave a public dinner to the British Ambassadors, at
which the Intendant of Ghent, and numerous staff ofli-
cers of the Hanoverian service, were present. Every-
thing indicated that the most perfect reconciliation had
taken place between the two nations. Lord Gambier
had arisen to give, as the first toast, " The United
States of North America," but he was prevented by
the courtesy of Mr. Adams, who gave " His Majesty,
the King of England" — on which the music struck up
" God save the King." Lord Gambier gave as the
second toast, " The United States of North America,"
and the music played " Hail Columbia." Count H.
Von Sheinhuyer presented as a toast — " The Pacifica-
tors of the States — May their union contribute to the
nappiness of the Department which is confided to my

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 109

government ; and may their Excellencies communicate
to their Governments the lively interest which those
under me take in their reconciliation." Mr. Adams
and Lord Gambier both begged the Intendant to certify
to the city of Ghent the gratitude of the Ministers, for
the attention which the inhabitants had shown them
during their residence in their midst.

Having concluded their labors at Ghent by signing
the treaty of peace, Mr. Adams, together with Messrs.
Albert Gallatin and Henry Clay, was directed to pro-
ceed to London, for the purpose of entering into nego-
tiations for a treaty of commerce with Great Britain.
Before leaving the continent, Mr. Adams visited Paris,
where he witnessed the return of Napoleon from Elbe,
and liis meteoric career during the Hundred Days.
Here he was joined in March, 1815, by his family,
after a long and perilous journey from St. Peters-
burg.

On the 25th of May, Mr. Adams arrived in London
and joined Messrs. Gallatin and Clay, who had already
entered upon the preliminaries of the proposed com-
mercial convention with Great Britain. In the mean
time, Mr. Adams had received official notice of his ap-
pointment as Minister to the Court of St. James. On
the 3d of July, 1815, the convention for regulating the
commercial intercourse between the United States and
Great Britain was concluded, and duly signed. It was
afterwards ratified by both Governments, and has
formed the basis of commerce and trade between the

110 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

two countries, to the present time. At the conclusion
of these negotiations, Messrs. Gallatin and Clay re-
turned to the United States, and Mr. Adams remained
in London, in his capacity as resident Minister.

Thus had the prediction of Washington been ful-
filled. In " as short a time as could well be expected,"
John Quincy Adams, as the well-merited reward of
faithful services, had attained to the head of the Diplo-
matic Corps of the United States. His career had
been singularly successful ; and his elevation to the
highest foreign stations received the general approba-
tion of his countrymen. His simple habits, his plain
appearance, his untiring industry, his richly stored
mind, his unbending integrity, his general intercourse
and correspondence with foreign courts and diploma-
tists of the greatest distinction, all tended to elevate, in
a high degree, the American character, in the estima-
tion of European nations.

The impression he made in the most eminent circles
during his residence in London, as a statesman of un-
surpassed general information, and critical knowledge
of the politics of the world, was retained for years
afterwards. Mr. Rush, who was subsequently Minis-
ter to Great Britain, in an account of a dinner party
at Lord Castlereagh's, notes a corroborating incident :
" At table, I had on my left the Saxon Minister, Baron
Just. ****** He inquired of me for Mr. Adams,
whom he had known well, and of whom he spoke

LIFK OF JOHN CtUINCY ADAMS. Ill

highly. He said that he knew the politics of all Eu-
rope. *

" It was while Mr. Adams was Minister of the
United States in London, that it was my personal
good fortune to be admitted to his intimacy and friend-
ship. Being then in London on private business, and
having some previous acquaintance with Mr. Adams,
I found in his house an ever kind welcome, and in his
intercourse and conversation unfailing attraction and
improvement. Accustomed as he had been from ear-
liest youth to the society of the most eminent persons
in Europe, alike in station and in ability, Mr. Adams
never lost the entire simplicity of his own habits and
character. Under an exterior of, at times, almost
repulsive coldness, dwelt a heart as warm, sympathies
as quick, and affections as overflowing, as ever ani-
mated any bosom. His tastes, too, were all refined.
Literature and art were familiar and dear to him, and
hence it was that his society was at once so agreeable
and so improving. At his hospitable board, I have
listened to disquisitions from his lips on poetry, espe-
cially the dramas of Shakspeare, music, painting, sculp-
ture— of rare excellence, and untiring interest. The
extent of his knowledge, indeed, and its accuracy, in
all branches, were not less remarkable than the com-
plete command which he appeared to possess over all
his varied stores of learning and information. A
critical scholar, alike in the dead languages, in French,
* Rush's Residence at the Court of London.

112 LIFE OF JOHN ttUINCY ADAMS.

in German, in Italian, not less than in English — he
could draw at will from the wealth of all these tongues
to illustrate any particular topic, or to explain any
apparent difficulty. There was no literary work of
merit in any of these languages, of which he could not
render a satisfactory account ; there was no fine paint-
ing or statue, of which he did not know the details
and the history ; there was not even an opera, or a
celebrated musical composer, of which or of whom he
could not point out the distinguishing merits and the
chief compositions. Yet he was a hard-working, assid-
uous man of business, in his particular vocation, and a
more regular, punctual, comprehensive, voluminous
diplomatic correspondence than his no country can
probably boast of; and it is thought the more neces-
sary to note this fact, because sometimes an opinion
prevails that graver pursuits must necessarily exclude
attention to what used to be called the " humanities "
of education — those ornamental and graceful acquire-
ments, which, as Mr. Adams well proved, not only
are not inconsistent with, but greatly adorn, the
weightier matters of the law and of diplomacy. I
could dwell with much satisfaction upon the memory
and incidents of the days to which I am now adverting,
but am admonished, by the length to which these re-
marks have already extended, that I may not loiter."*

* Eulogy on John Q,uincy Adams, by Charles King.

CHAPTER VI.

MR. ADAMS APPOINTED SECRETARY OF STATE ARRIVES 1ST

THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC DINNERS IN NEW YORK AND

BOSTON TAKES UP HIS RESIDENCE IN "WASHINGTON DE-
PENDS GEN. JACKSON IN THE FLORIDA INVASION RECOG-
NITION OF SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE GREEK REV-
OLUTION.

James Madison, after serving his country eight
years as President, in a most perilous period of its
history, retired to private life, followed by the respect
and gratitude of the people of the United States. He
was succeeded by James Monroe, who was inaugurated
on the 4th of March, 1817.

Mr. Monroe was a politician of great moderation.
It was his desire, on entering the presidency, to heal
the unhappy dissensions which had distracted the
country from the commencement of its government,
and conciliate and unite the conflicting political parties.
In forming his cabinet, he consulted eminent individ-
uals of different parties, in various sections of the
Union, expressing these views. Among others, he ad-
dressed Gen. Jackson, who, on account of his success-
ful military career, was then rising rapidly into public
notice. In his reply the general remarked : —

114 LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS.

" Everything depends on the selection of your ministry. In every
selection, party and party feeling should be avoided. Now is the
time to exterminate that monster, called party spirit. By selecting
characters most conspicuous for their probity, virtue, capacity, and
firmness, without any regard to party, you will go far, if not en-
tirely, to eradicate those feelings, which on former occasions, threw
so many obstacles in the way of government, and, perhaps, have the
pleasure and honor of uniting a people heretofore politically divided.
The Chief Magistrate of a great and powerful nation, should never
indulge in party feelings."

Admirable advice ! Sentiments worthy an exalted
American statesman ! The President of a vast
Republic, should indeed know nothing of the interest
of party in contradistinction to the interest of the
whole people ; and should exercise his power, his
patronage, and his influence, not to strengthen fac-
tions, and promote the designs of political demagogues,
but to develop and nourish internal resources, the
only sinews of national prosperity, and diffuse abroad
sentiments of true patriotism, liberality, and philan-
thropy. No suggestions more admirable could have
been made by Gen. Jackson, and none could have
been more worthy the consideration of Mr. Monroe
and his successors in the presidential chair.

In carrying out his plans of conciliation, President
Monroe selected John Quincy Adams for the respon-
sible post of Secretary of State. Mr. Adams had
never been an active partizan. In his caieer as Sen-
ator, both in Massachusetts and in Washington, during
Mr. Jefferson's administration, he had satisfactorily
demonstrated his ability to rise above party considera-

LIFE OF JOHN dUINCY ADAMS. 115

tions, in the discharge of great and important duties.
And his long absence from the country had kept him
free from personal, party, and sectional bias, and pecu-
liarly fitted him to take the first station in the cabinet
of a President aiming to unite his countrymen in fra-
ternal bonds of political amity.

Referring to this appointment, Mr. Monroe wrote
Gen. Jackson as follows, under date of March 1,
1817: — "I shall take a person for the Department
of State from the eastward ; and Mr. Adams, by long
service in our diplomatic concerns appearing to be
entitled to the preference, supported by his ac-
knowledged abilities and integrity, his nomination will
go to the Senate." Gen. Jackson, in his reply, re-
marks : — ': I have no hesitation in saying you have
made the best selection to fill the Department of State
that could be made. Mr. Adams, in the hour of diffi-
culty, will be an able helpmate, and I am convinced
his appointment will afford general satisfaction." This
prediction was well founded. The consummate ability
exhibited by Mr. Adams in foreign negotiations had
elevated him to a high position in the estimation of his
countrymen. His selection for the State Department
was received with very general satisfaction throughout
the Union.

On receiving notice of his appointment to this
responsible office, Mr. Adams, with his family, em-
barked for the United States, on board the packet-ship

116 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

Washington, and landed in New York on the 6th of
August, 1817.

A few days after his arrival, a public dinner was
given Mr. Adams, in Tammany Hall, New York.
The room was elegantly decorated. In the centre
was a handsome circle of oak leaves, roses, and flags —
the whole representing, with much effect, our happy
Union — and from the centre of which, as from her
native woods, appeared our eagle, bearing in her beak
this impressive scroll : —

" Columbia, great. Republic, thou art blest,
While Empires droop, and Monarchs sink to rest."

Gov. De Witt Clinton, the Mayor of New York,
and about two hundred citizens of the highest respect-
ability, sat down to the table. Among other speeches
made on the occasion, was the following from an
English gentleman, a Mr. Fearon, of London : —

" As several gentlemen have volunteered songs, I
would beg leave to offer a sentiment, which I am sure
will meet the hearty concurrence of all present. But,
previous to which, I desire to express the high satisfac-
tion which this day's entertainment has afforded me.
Though a native of Great Britain, and but a few days
in the United States, I am for the first time in my life
in a free country, surrounded by free men ; and when
I look at the inscription which decorates your eagle, I
rejoice that I have been destined to see this day. A
great number of the enlightened portion of my coun-

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 117

trymen advocate your cause — admire your principles.
And though we have, unfortunately, been engaged in
a war, I trust the result has taught wisdom to both
parties. In your political institutions you have set a
noble example, which, if followed throughout the
world, will rescue mankind from the dominion of those
tyrants who jeer at the destruction which they pro-
duce—

' Like the moonbeams on the blasted heath,
Mocking its desolation.'

" Gentlemen, in conclusion, I beg to express the
delight which I feel, and propose to you as a toast —
May the United States be an example to the world ;
and may civil and religious liberty cover the earth, as
the wraters do the channels of the deep."

A public dinner was also given Mr. Adams on his
arrival in Boston. Mr. Gray presided, and Messrs.
Otis, Blake, and Mason, acted as Vice Presidents.
His father, the venerable ex-President John Adams,
was present as a guest. Among other toasts given on
the occasion, were the following : —

" The United States. — May our public officers, abroad and at home,
continue to be distinguished for integrity, talents, and patriotism."

" The Commissioners at Ghent. — The negotiations for peace
have been declared, in the British House of Lords, to wear the
stamp of American superiority."

"American Manufactures. — A sure and necessary object for the
security of American independence."

This occasion must have been one of great interest

118 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

to the patriarch John Adams, then more than four-
score years of age. Nearly forty years before, he had
said of his son : — " He behaves like a man !" That
son, in the prime of his days, had recently been called
from foreign service, where he had obtained accumu-
lated honors, to fill the highest station in the gift of the
Executive of his country. The people of two conti-
nents would now unite with the venerable sage, in re-
peating the declaration — " He behaves like a man !"
The patriarch stood upon the verge of the grave. But
as the sun of his existence was gently and calmly sink-
ing beneath the horizon, lo ! its beams were reflected
in their pristine brightness by another orb, born from
its bosom, which was steadily ascending to the zenith
of earthly fame !

John Quincy Adams took up his residence at Wash-
ington, and entered upon his duties as Secretary of
State, in September, 1817.

During the eight years of President Monroe's admin-
istration, Mr. Adams discharged the duties of the state
department, with a fidelity and success which received
not only the unqualified approbation of the President,
but of the whole country. To him that office was no
sinecure. His labors were incessant. He spared no
pains to qualify himself to discuss, with consummate
skill, whatever topics legitimately claimed his attention.
The President, the cabinet, the people, reposed im-
plicit trust in his ability to promote the interests of the
nation in all matters of diplomacy, and confided unre-

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 119

servedly in his pure American feelings and love of
country. Perfectly familiar as he was with the politi-
cal condition of the world, Mr. Monroe entrusted him,
without hesitation, with the management of the foreign
policy of the Government, during his administration.

In the autumn of 1817, the Seminole and a portion
of the Creek Indians commenced depredations on the
frontiers of Georgia and Alabama. Troops were sent
to reduce them, under Gen. Gaines. His force being
too weak to bring them to subjection, Gen. Jackson
was ordered to take the field with a more numerous
army, with which he overran the Indian country. Be-
lieving it necessary to enter Florida, then a Spanish
territory, for the more effectual subjugation of the In-
dians, he did not hesitate to pursue them thither. The
Spanish authorities protested against the invasion of
their domains, and offered some opposition. Gen. Jack-
son persisted, and in the result, took possession of St.
Marks and Pensacola, and sent the Spanish authorities
and troops to Havana.

Among the prisoners taken in this expedition, were
a Scotchman and an Englishman, named Arbuthnot
and Ambrister. They were British subjects, but were
charged with supplying the Indians with arms and
munitions of war ; stirring them up against the whites,
and acting as spies. On these charges they were tried
by a court martial, of which Gen. Gaines was Pres-
ident— found guilty — condemned to death, and executed
on the 27th of April, 1818.

120 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS.

These transactions of Gen. Jackson caused great ex-
citement throughout the United States, and subjected
him to no little blame. The subject excited much de-
bate in Congress. A resolution censuring him for his
summary proceedings was introduced, but voted down
by a large majority. In Mr. Monroe's cabinet, there
was a strong feeling against Gen. Jackson. The
President, and all the members, with a single exception,
were disposed to hold him responsible for having tran-
scended his orders. Hon. Wm. H. Crawford, who was
in Mr. Monroe's cabinet at that time, in a letter to Mr.
Forsyth, says : — " Mr. Calhoun's proposition in the
cabinet was, that Gen. Jackson should be punished in
some form, or reprimanded in some form."

Mr. Adams alone vindicated Gen. Jackson. He in-
sisted that inasmuch as the Government had ordered
him to pursue the enemy into Florida, if necessary, they
were responsible for the acts of the American general,
in the exercise of the discretionary power with which
he had been clothed. Several cabinet meetings were
held on the subject, in July, 1818, in which the whole
matter was thoroughly discussed. Mr. Adams suc-
ceeded at length in bringing the President into the
adoption of his views, which Mr. Monroe substantially
embodied in his next annual message to Congress.

The intelligence of the execution of Arbuthnot and
Ambrister, excited the highest indignation in England.
The people viewed it as a violation of the rights of
British subjects, and an insult to their nation, and were

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 121

ready to rush to war. Lord Castlereagh declared to
Mr. Rush, the American Minister, that had the English
cabinet but held up a finger, war would have been de-
clared against the United States. But so able and
convincing were the arguments which Mr. Adams
directed Mr. Rush to lay before the British Ministers,
in defence of the proceedings of Gen. Jackson, that
they became convinced there was no just cause of war
between the two countries, and exerted their influence
against any movement in that direction.

On the 22nd of February, 1819, a treaty was con
eluded at Washington, between the United States and
Spain, by which East and West Florida, with the ad-
jacent islands, were ceded to the Union. The negotia-
tions which resulted in the consummation of the treaty,
were conducted by Mr. Adams and Luis de Onis the
Spanish Ambassador. This treaty was very advanta-
geous to the United States. It brought to a close a
controversy with Spain, of many years' standing, which
had defied all the exertions of former administrations
to adjust, and placed our relations with that country
on the most amicable footing. In effecting this recon-
ciliation, Mr. Adams deserved and received a high
share of credit.

The recognition of the independence of the Spanish
South American Provinces, by the Government of the
United States, took place during Mr. Adams's admin-
istration of the State Department. The honor of
first proposing this recognition, in the Congress of the

o

122 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

United States, and of advocating it with unsurpassed
eloquence and zeal, belongs to the patriotic Henry
Clay. Mainly by his influence, the House of Repre-
sentatives, in 1820, passed the following resolutions : —

" Resolved, That the House of Representatives participate with
the people of the United States, in the deep interest which they feel
for the success of the Spanish Provinces of South America, which
are struggling to establish their liberty and independence.

" Resolved, That this House will give its constitutional support
to the President of the United States, whenever he may deem it ex-
pedient to recognize the sovereignty and independence of any of
said Provinces."

Mr. Adams at first hesitated on this subject. Not
that he was opposed to the diffusion of the blessings of
freedom to the oppressed. No man was a more ardent
lover of liberty, or was more anxious that its institu-
tions should be established throughout the earth, at the
earliest practicable moment. But he had many and se-
rious doubts whether the people of the South American
Provinces were capable of originating and maintaining
an enlightened self-government. There was a lack of
general intelligence among the people — a want of an
enlarged and enlightened understanding of the princi-
ples of rational freedom — which led him to apprehend
that their attempts at self-government would for a long
season, at least, result in the reign of faction and
anarchy, rather than true republican principles. The
subsequent history of these countries — the divisions
and contentions, the revolutions and counter-revolu-
tions, which have rent them asunder, and deluged

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 123

them in blood — clearly show that Mr. Adams but exer-
cised a far-seeing intelligence in entertaining these
doubts. Nevertheless, as they had succeeded in throw-
ing off the Spanish yoke, and had, in fact, achieved
their independence, Mr. Adams would not throw any
impediment in their way. Trusting that his fears as
to their ability for self-government might be ground-
less, he gave his influence to the recognizing of their
independence by the United States.

In 1821 the Greek revolution broke out. The peo-
ple of that classic land, after enduring ages of the most
brutal and humiliating oppression from the Turks,
nobly resolved to break the chains of the Ottoman
power, or perish in the attempt. The war was long,
and sanguinary, but finally resulted in the emancipa-
tion of Greece, and the establishment of its independ-
ence as a nation.

The inhabitants of the United States could not wit-
ness such a struggle with indifference. A spirit of
sympathy ran like electricity throughout the land.
Public meetings were held in nearly every populous
town in the Union, in which resolutions, encouraging
the Greeks in their struggle, were passed, and contri-
butions taken up to aid them. Money, clothing, pro-
visions, arms, were collected in immense quantities and
shipped to Greece. In churches, colleges, academies
and schools — at the theatres, museums, and other
places of amusement and public resort — aid was freely
and generously given in behalf of the struggling pa-

124 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

triots. Many citizens of the United States, when the
first blast of the trumpet of liberty rang along the Ionian
seas, and through the Peloponnesus, sped across the
ocean, and, throwing themselves into the midst of the
Grecian hosts, contended heroically for their emanci-
pation. Among these volunteers, was Col. J. P. Mil-
ler, of Vermont, who not only gallantly fought in the
battles of Greece, but was greatly serviceable in con-
veying supplies from the United States to that strug-
gling people.

The deep sympathy which prevailed in every section
of the Union, was soon felt in Congress. Many public
men were anxious that the Government should take
some important and decisive step, even to hostilities, in
behalf of Greece. Eloquent speeches were delivered in
the House of Representatives on the exciting topic.
Mr. Clay electrified the country with his stirring
appeals in behalf of the land in which was established the
first republic on earth. Mr. Webster submitted the fol-
lowing resolution to the House of Representatives: —

" Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law, for defray-
ing the expense incident to the appointment of an Agent, or Com-
missioner, to Greece, whenever the President shall deem it expedient
to make such appointment."

In support of this resolution, Mr. Webster made a
most eloquent speech, of which the following is the
conclusion : —

" Mr. Chairman — There are some things which, to be
well done, must be promptly done. If we even deter-

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 125

mine to do the thing that is now proposed, we may do
it too late. Sir, I am not of those who are for with-
holding aid when it is most urgently needed, and when
the stress is past, and the aid no longer necessary, over-
whelming the sufferers with caresses. I will not stand
by and see my fellow-man drowning, without stretch-
ing out a hand to help him, till he has, by his own
efforts and presence of mind, reached the shore in
safety, and then encumber him with aid. With suffer-
ing Greece, now is the crisis of her fate — her great, it
may be her last struggle. Sir, while we sit here de-
liberating, her destiny may be decided. The Greeks,
contending with ruthless oppressors, turn their eyes to
us, and invoke us, by their ancestors, by their slaugh-
tered wives and children, by their own blood poured
out like water, by the hecatombs of dead they have
heaped up, as it were, to heaven ; they invoke, they
implore from us some cheering sound, some look of
sympathy, some token of compassionate regard. They
look to us as the great Republic of the earth — and they
ask us, by our common faith, whether we can forget
that they are struggling, as we once struggled, for what
we now so happily enjoy ? I cannot say, sir, they will
succeed ; that rests with heaven. But, for myself, sir,
if I should to-morrow hear that they have failed — that
their last phalanx had sunk beneath the Turkish cime-
tar, that the flames of their last city had sunk in its
ashes, and that nought remained but the wide, melan-
choly waste where Greece once was — I should still e-

12G LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

fleet, with the most heartfelt satisfaction, that I have
asked you, in the name of seven millions of freemen,
that you would give them, at least, the cheering of one
friendly voice."

The committee having in charge the raising of a
fund for the assistance of the Greeks, in New York,
addressed a circular to the venerable ex- President John
Adams, to which they received the following reply : —

" Quincy, Dec. 29, 1823.

" Gentlemen: — I have received your circular of the 12th inst,
and I thank you for the honor you have done me in addressing it to
me. Be assured my heart beats in unison with yours, and with
those of your constituents, and I presume with all the really civil-
ized part of mankind, in sympathy with the Greeks, suffering, as they
are, in the great cause of liberty and humanity. The gentlemen
of Boston have taken measures to procure a general subscription in
their favor, through the State, and I shall contribute my mite with
great pleasure. In the meantime I wish you, and all other gentlemen
engaged in the virtuous work, all the success you or they can wish ;
for I believe no effort in favor of virtue will be ultimately lost.

" I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, your very humble Servant,

"John Adams."

The sympathies of John Qumcy Adams were ar-
dently enlisted in behalf of the Greek Revolution. But
with a prudence and wisdom which characterized all
his acts, he threw his influence against any direct in-
terference on the part of the Government of the United
States. It would have been a departure from that
neutral policy, in regard to European conflicts, on
which the country had acted from the commencement
of our national existence, alike injurious and dangerous.

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 127

He knew if we once entered into these wars, on any
pretext whatever, a door would be opened for foreign
entanglements and endless conflicts, which would re-
sult in standing armies, immense national debts, and the
long trail of evils of which they are the prolific source.
When an application was made to Mr. Adams, as
Secretary of State, through Mr. Rush, our Minister at
London, by an Agent of Greece, for aid from the
United States, he was compelled, on principles above
stated, to withhold the required assistance. The cor-
respondence which grew out of this application is suf-
ficientlv interesting to find a place in these pages : —

"Andreas Luriollis, Envoy of the Provisional Government of
Greece, to the Hon. John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State to
the United States of America.

Sir : — I feel no slight emotion, while, in behalf of Greece, my
country, struggling for independence and liberty, I address myself
to the United States of America.

" The independence for which we combat, you have achieved.
The liberty to which we look, with anxious solicitude, you have ob-
tained, and consolidated in peace and in glory.

" Yet Greece, old Greece, the seat of early civilization and free-
dom, stretches out her hands, imploringly, to a land which sprung
into being, as it were, ages after her own lustre had been extin-
guished ! and ventures to hope that the youngest and most vigorous
sons of liberty, will regard, with no common sympathy, the efforts
of the descendants of the heir and the elder born, whose precepts
and whose example have served — though insufficient, hitherto, for
our complete regeneration — to regenerate half a world.

" I know, Sir, that the sympathies of the generous people of the
United States have been extensively directed towards us; and
since I have reached this country, an interview with their Minister,
Mr. Rush, has served to convince me more slrongly, how great their

128 LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS.

claim is on our gratitude and our affection. May I hope that some
means may be found to communicate these our feelings, of which
I am so proud to be the organ ? We will still venture to rely on
their friendship. We would look to their individual, if not to their
national, co-operation. Every, the slightest, assistance under present
circumstances, will aid the progress of the great work of liberty ;
and if, standing, as we have stood, alone and unsupported, with
everything opposed to us, and nothing to encourage us but patriot-
ism, enthusiasm, and sometimes even despair : if thus we have
gone forward, liberating our provinces, one after another, and sub-
duing every force which has been directed against us, what may
we not do with the assistance for which we venture to appeal to the
generous and the free ?

" Precipitated by circumstances into that struggle for independ-
ence, which, ever since the domination of our cruel and reckless
tyrants, had never ceased to be the object of our vows and prayers,
we have, by the blessing of God, freed a considerable part of Greece
from the ruthless invaders. The Peloponnesus, Etolia, Carmania,
Attica, Phocida, Boetia, and the Islands of the Archipelago and
Candia, are nearly free. The armies and the fleets which have
been sent against us, have been subdued by the valor of our troops
and our marine. Meanwhile we have organized a government,
founded upon popular suffrages : and you will probably have seen
how closely our organic law assimilates to that constitution under
which your nation so happily and so securely lives.

" I have been sent hither by the government of Greece, to obtain
assistance in our determined enterprize, on which we, like you, have
staked our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor : and I believe
my journey has not been wholly without success. I should have
been wanting to my duty had I not addressed you, supplicating the
earliest display of your amiable purposes ; entreating that diplo-
matic relations may be established between us ; communicating the
most earnest desire of my government that we may be allowed to
call you allies as well as friends ; and stating that we shall rejoice
to enter upon discussions which may lead to immediate and advan-
tageous treaties, and to receive diplomatic agents without delay.
Both at Madrid and at Lisbon, I have been received with great kind-
ness by the American Representative, and am pleased to record the
expression of my gratitude.

LIFE OF JOHN dUINCY ADAMS. 129

" Though, fortunately, you are so far removed, and raised so much
above the narrow politics of Europe as to be little influenced by
their vicissitudes, I venture to believe that Mr. Rush will explain
to you the changes which have taken place, and are still in action
around us, in our favor. And I conclude, rejoicing in the hope
that North America and Greece maybe united in the bonds of long-
enduring, and unbroken concord : and have the honor to be, with
every sentiment of respect, your obedient humble servant.

" And. Luriottis.
' London, February 20, 1823."

MR. ADAMS TO MR. RUSH.

c " Department of Stale,

( Washington, 18ih August, 1823.

" Sir : — I have the honor of inclosing, herewith, an answer to
the letter from Mr. Luriottis, the Agent of the Greeks addressed
to me, and a copy of which was transmitted with your dispatch
No. 295.

" If, upon the receipt of this letter, Mr. Luriottis should still be
in London, it will be desirable that you should deliver it to him in
person, accompanied with such remarks and explanations as may
satisfy him, and those whom he represents, that, in declining the
proposal of giving active aid to the cause of Grecian emancipation,
the Executive Government of the United States has been governed
not by its inclinations, or a sentiment of indifference to the cause,
but by its constitutional duties, clear and unequivocal.

" The United States could give assistance to the Greeks, only by
the application of some portion of their public forces or of their
public revenue in their favor, which would constitute them in a state
of war with the Ottoman Porte, and perhaps with all the Barbary
powers. To make this disposal either of force or of treasure, you
are aware is, by our constitution, not within the competency of the
Executive. It could be determined only by an act of Congress,
which would assuredly not be adopted, should it even be recom-
mended by the Executive.

" The policy of the United States, with reference to foreign
nations, has always been founded upon the moral principle of natun.
law — Peace with all mankind. From whatever cause war between

6*

130 LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

other nations, whether foreign or domestic, has arisen, the unvary-
ing law of the United States has been peace with both belligerents.
From the first war of the French Revolution, to the recent invasion
of Spain, there has been a succession of wars, national and civil, in
almost every one of which one of the parties was contending for
liberty or independence. In the first French revolutionary war, a
strong impulse of feeling urged the people of the United States to
take side with the party which, at its commencement, was contend-
ing, apparently, at least, for both. Had the policy of the United
States not been essentially pacific, a stronger case to claim their
interference could scarcely have been presented. They neverthe-
less declared themselves neutral, and the principle, then deliberately
settled, has been invariably adhered to ever since.

" With regard to the recognition of sovereign States, and the es-
tablishment with them of a diplomatic intercourse, the experience
of the last thirty years has served also to ascertain the limits proper
for the application of principles in which every nation must exer-
cise some latitude of discretion. Precluded by their neutral posi-
tion from interfering in the question of right, the United States
have recognized the fact of foreign sovereignty only when it was
undisputed, or disputed without any rational prospect of success.
In this manner the successive changes of government in many of
the European states, and the revolutionary governments of South
America, have been acknowledged. The condition of the Greeks
is not yet such as will admit of their recognition, upon these
principles.

" Yet, as we cherish the most friendly feelings towards them, and
are sincerely disposed to render them any service winch may be
compatible with our neutrality, it will give us pleasure to learn,
from time to time, the actual state of their cause, political and
military. Should Mr. Luriottis be enabled and disposed to furnish
this information, it may always be communicated through you, and
will be received with satisfaction here. The public accounts from
that quarter have been of late very scanty, and we shall be glad to
obtain any authentic particulars, which may come to your knowl-
edge from this, or through any other channel.

" I am with great respect, Sir, your very humble and obedient
servant, John Quinct Adams."

LIFE OF JOHN CIU1NCY ADAMS. 131

MR. ADAMS TO MR. LURIOTTIS.

$ " Department of State,

\ Washington, 18th August, 1823.

'; Sir : A copy of the letter which you did me the honor of ad-
dressing to me, on the 20th of February last, has been transmitted
to me by the Minister of the United States at London, and has re-
ceived the deliberate consideration of the President of the United
States.

" The sentiments with which he has witnessed the struggles of
your countrymen for their national emancipation and independence,
had been made manifest to the world in a public message to the
Congress of the United States. They are cordially felt by the peo-
ple of this Union ; who, sympathizing with the cause of freedom
and independence wherever its standard is unfurled, behold with pe-
culiar interest the display of Grecian energy in defence of Grecian
liberties, and the association of heroic exertions, at the present time,
with the proudest glories of former ages, in the land of EpaminonJas
and Philopoemon.

" But while cheering with their best wishes the cause of the
Greeks, the United States are forbidden, by the duties of their situ-
ation, from taking part in the war, to which their relation is that
of neutrality. At peace themselves with all the world, their estab-
lished policy, and the obligations of the laws of nations, preclude
them from becoming voluntary auxiliaries to a cause which would
involve them in war.

" If in the progress of events the Greeks should be enabled to
establish and organize themselves as an independent nation, the
United States will be among the first to welcome them, in that ca-
pacity, into the general family ; to establish diplomatic and commer-
cial relations with them, suited to the mutual interests of the two
countries ; and to recognize, with special satisfaction, their consti-
tuted state in the character of a sister Republic.

" I have the honor to be, with distinguished consideration, Sir,
your very humble and obedient servant,

" John Qtiincy Adams."

The sentiments, in regard to the foreign policy o^

132 LIFE OF JOHN QU1N0Y ADAMS.

our Government, which Mr. Adams embodies in this
correspondence, he had previously expressed in an ora-
tion delivered in the city of Washington, on the 4th of
July, 1821, of which the following is an extract: —

" America, in the assembly of nations, since her ad-
mission among them, has invariably, though often fruit-
lessly, held forth to them the hand of honest friendship,
of equal freedom, of generous reciprocity ; she has
uniformly spoken among them, though often to heed-
less, and often to disdainful ears, the language of equal
liberty, of equal justice, and equal rights ; she has, in
the lapse of nearly half a century, without a single ex-
ception, respected the independence of other nations
while asserting and maintaining her own ; she has ab-
stained from interference in the concerns of others,
even when the conflict has been for principles to which
she clings as to the last vital drop that visits the heart.
She has seen that probably for centuries to come all
the contests of that Aceldama, the European world,
will be contests of inveterate power and emerging
right. Wherever the standard of freedom and inde-
pendence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her
heart, her benedictions, and her prayers be. But she
goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She
is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence
of all — she is the champion and vindicator only of her
own. She will recommend the general cause, by the
countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy
of her example : — she well knows that by once enlisting

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 133

under other banners than her own, were they even the
banners of foreign independence, she would involve
herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars
of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy
and ambition, which assume the colors, and usurp the
standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her
policy would insensibly change from liberty to force ;
the frontlet on her brow would no longer beam with
the ineffable splendor of freedom and independence ;
but in its stead would soon be substituted an imperial
diadem, flashing in false and tarnished lustre, the murky
radiance of dominion and power. She might become
the dictatress of the world : she would be no longer
the ruler of her own spirit."

During Mr. Adams's occupancy of the state depart-
ment, efforts were made by the American Government
to abolish the African slave trade, and procure its de-
nunciation as piracy, by the civilized world. On the
28th of Feb., 1823, the following resolution was
adopted by the House of Representatives, at Wash-
ington, by a vote of 131 to 9 : —

" Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested
to enter upon and to prosecute, from time to time, such negotiations
with the several maratime powers of Europe and America, as he
may deem expedient for the effectual abolition of the African slave
trade, and its ultimate denunciation as piracy, under the law of
nations, by the consent of the civilized world."

In compliance with this resolution, Mr. Adams, as
Secretary of State, issued directions to the American

134 LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS.

Ministers in Spain, Russia, the Netherlands, Colombia,
and Buenos Ayres, to enter into negotiations with the
Governments of these countries on this subject. Mr.
Adams also maintained an able correspondence with
the Hon. Stratford Canning, the British Minister at
Washington, in relation to the basis on which a treaty
should be formed with Great Britain for the suppres-
sion of the foreign slave trade.

Mr. Rush, the American Minister at the Court of
St. James, was directed to enter upon negotiations in
London, to this end. His instructions were written
by Mr. Adams, with his usual sound judgment and en-
larged views of national policy, and the claims of hu
manity. The convention was in due time completed,
and signed by the Plenipotentiaries of both nations, on
the 13th of March, 1824, and was sent by Mr. Rush to
Washington for ratification. Mr. Monroe and Mr.
Adams were ready to give it their sanction ; but the
Senate insisted on striking out a provision in the first
article. The article commenced as follows : —

" The commanders and commissioned officers of each of the two
high contracting parties, duly authorized, under the regulations and
instructions of their respective Governments, to cruise on the coasts
of Africa, of America, and of the West Indies, for the suppression
of the slave trade, shall be empowered, under the conditions, lim-
itations, and restrictions hereinafter specified," &c.

The Senate struck out the words "of America."
This amendment the British Government would not

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 135

assent to. Thus the negotiation on the slave trade, so
near a consummation, fell to the ground.

Mr. Monroe's administration closed on the 3rd of
March, 1825. It was a period of uninterrupted pros-
perity to the country. Our foreign commerce, recover-
ing from the paralysis caused by the embargo, the non-
intercourse act, and the war, spread forth its wings
and whitened every sea and ocean on the globe. The
domestic condition of the Union was thriving beyond
the precedent of many former years. Improvements
in agriculture were developed ; domestic manufac-
tures received a fair protection and encouragement ;
internal improvements, gaining more and more the at-
tention and confidence of the people, had been prose-
cuted to the evident benefit of all branches of business
and enterprize.

Another characteristic of the administration of Mr.
Monroe is worthy of note. So judiciously and pa-
triotically had he exercised the powers entrusted to
him, that he disarmed opposition. Divisions, jealousies
and contentions were destroyed, and a thorough fusion
of all political parties took place. At his re-election
for the second term of the presidency, there was no
opposing candidate. There was but one party, and
that was the great party of the American people. His
election was unanimous.

In all these measures, Mr. Adams was the coadjutor
and confidential adviser of Mr. Monroe. It is no der-
ogation from the well-merited reputation of the latter

130 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

to say, that many of the most striking and praiseworthy
features of his administration were enstamped upon
it by the labor and influence of the former. His suc-
cess in maturing and carrying into execution his most
popular measures must be attributed, in no small ex-
tent, to the ability and faithfulness of his eminent
Secretary of State. And the historian may truly re-
cord that to John Quincy Adams, in an eminent degree,
belongs a portion of the honor and credit which have
been so generally accorded to the administration of
James Monroe.

CHAPTER VII.

MR. ADAMS' NOMINATION TO THE PRESIDENCY SPIRITED

PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN NO CHOICE BY THE PEOPLE

ELECTION GOES TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MR.

ADAMS ELECTED PRESIDENT HIS INAUGURATION FORMS

HIS CABINET.

James Monroe was the last of the illustrious line of
Presidents whose claims to that eminent station dated
back to the revolution. A grateful people had con-
ferred the highest honors in their gift upon the most
conspicuous of those patriots who had faithfully served
them in that perilous struggle, and aided in construct-
ing and consolidating the union of these States. This
debt punctually and honorably discharged, they looked
to another generation, possessing claims of a different
description, for servants to elevate to the dignity of
the presidential chair.

In the midst of a large class of public men who had
in the mean time become conspicuous for talents and
services of various descriptions, it is no matter of sur-
prise that the people of the United States should
entertain a diversity of opinions in regard to the most
suitable individual to fill a station which had hitherto
been occupied by men whose virtues and whose patriot-

138 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

ism had shed the brightest lustre on the American name
and character throughout the world. Candidates for
the presidency were nominated in various sections of
the Union. The eastern States turned their eyes
instinctively towards John Quincy Adams, as one,
among all the eminent competitors, the most fitted, by
character and services, for the office of President of
the United States. The members of the Legislature
of Maine resolved —

" That the splendid talents and incorruptible integrity of John
Quincy Adams, his republican habits and principles, distinguished
public services, and extensive knowledge of, and devoted attachment
to, the vital interests of the country, justly entitle him to the first
honors in the gift of an enlightened and grateful people."

The republican members of the Massachusetts
Legislature adopted the following resolutions : —

" Resolved, That the ability, experience, integrity and patriotism
of John Quincy Adams ; his manly efforts to defend the principles
of that government under which, in God's providence, we hope to
die ; his unshaken fortitude and resolution in all political exigencies ;
his long, faithful, and valuable services, under the patronage of all
the Presidents of the United States, present him to the people of this
nation, as a man eminently qualified to subserve the best interests
of his country, and as a statesman without reproach.

" Resolved, That a man who has given such continued and indu-
bitable pledges of his patriotism and capacity, may be safely placed
at the head of this nation. Every impulse of his heart, and every
dictate of his mind, must unite promptly in the support of the inter-
ests, the honor, and the liberty of his country.

" Resolved, That John Quincy Adams is hereby recommended by
us to the people of the United States, as the most suitable candidate
for the office of President, at the approaching election."

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCE ADAMS. 139

A meeting of the citizens of Rhode Island passed
the following among other resolutions : —

" Resolved, That, although we duly acknowledge the talents and
public services of all the candidates for the presidency, we have the
fullest confidence in the acknowledged ability, integrity and experi-
ence of John Quinct Adams, the accomplished scholar, the true
republican, the enlightened statesman, and the honest man ; and we
are desirous that his merits should be rewarded with the first office
in the gift of the people of the United States — that his future ser-
vices may continue unto us those blessings which, under the presem
administration of the General Government, we have so abundantly
enjoyed."

These were high encomiums. But who among the
American people, now that the patriot has departed
from earth, can survey his life, his character, and his
services, and not acknowledge they were justly and
richly deserved ? Similar resolutions were passed in
all the eastern and many of the northern States.

The west brought forward Henry Clay, one of the
most popular orators and eminent statesman of the day.
Gen. Jackson, who had earned a splendid military rep-
utation, was nominated in the southwest, and Wm. H.
Crawford was selected as the candidate representing
the southern portion of the confederacy. These were
all men of eminence and of acknowledged talents.
They were worthy competitors for the highest honors
of the Republic.

The friends of Mr. Adams rested his claims for the
presidency on no factitious qualities. They urged
that his characteristics were such as to commend him

140 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

to the confidence of every true republican and well-
wisher of his country. While his attainments were
not of the showy and popular cast possessed by many
public men, they yet were of that solid, practical and
valuable desc Iption which must ever receive the sanc-
tion of intelligent and reflecting minds.

The qualifications on which his supporters depended,
and to which they called the attention of the American
people, as reasons for elevating him to the head of the
General Government, may be summarily enumerated
as follows : — 1. The purity of his private character —
the simplicity of his personal habits — his unbending in-
tegrity and uprightness, even beyond suspicion. 2. His
commanding talents, and his acquirements both as a
scholar and a statesman. 3. His love of country — his
truly American feelings, in all that concerned the wel-
fare and honor of the United States. 4. His long
experience in public affairs, especially his familiarity
with our foreign relations, and his perfect knowledge of
the institutions, the internal condition and policy of
European nations. 5. His advocacy of protection to
domestic manufactures, and of a judicious system of
internal improvements.

In regard to internal improvements by the General
Government, there was a difference of opinion between
Mr. Adams and President Monroe. The latter was
strongly impressed with the beneficial tendency of a
well-digested system of internal improvements; but he
believed the constitution conferred no power on Con-

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 141

gress to make appropriations for such a purpose. It
was in this view of the subject that he vetoed a bill
which assumed the right to adopt and execute such a
system, passed by Congress during the session of
1820-21. But anxious that internal improvements,
confined to great national purposes, and with proper
limitations, should be prosecuted, he suggested that an
amendment of the constitution to that effect should be
recommended to the several States.

Mr. Adams, however, had no doubts that Congress
already possessed a constitutional power to prosecute
such internal improvements as were of a national
character, and calculated to benefit the Union, and to
levy duties for the protection of domestic manufactures.
During his entire political career he had deemed these
to be two great points toward which the American
Government and people should turn their especial at-
tention ; and he ever gave them his faithful advocacy
and support. With consummate wisdom, he foresaw
that the more completely our internal resources were
developed, and the less dependent wTe were on foreign
powers, the greater would be our public and private
prosperity. He insisted that by an adequate protection
of domestic manufactures, there would be an increased
demand for our raw materials at home, and thus the
several productive and manufacturing sections of the
Republic would realize the benefits of a dependence on
each other, and the Union would be consolidated and
perpetuated for ages to come.

142 LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

While a candidate for the presidency, Mr. Adams
received a letter inquiring his views on the subject of
internal improvement. The following is an extract
from his reply : —

" On the 23rd of Feb., 1807, 1 offered, in the Senate of the United
States, of which I was then a member, the first resolution, as I
believe, that ever was presented to Congress, contemplating a gen-
eral system of internal improvement. I thought that Congress pos-
sessed the power of appropriating money to such improvement, and
of authorizing the works necessary for making it — subject always
to the territorial rights of the several States in or through which the
improvement is to be made, to be secured by the consent of their
Legislatures, and to proprietary rights of individuals, to be pur-
chased or indemnified. I still hold the same opinions ; and, although
highly respecting the purity of intention of those who object, on
constitutional grounds, to the exercise of this power, it is with
heartfelt satisfaction that I perceive those objections gradually yield-
ing to the paramount influence of the general welfare. Already
have appropriations of money to great objects of internal improve-
ment been freely made ; and I hope we shall both live to see the
day, when the only question of our statesmen and patriots, con-
cerning the authority of Congress to improve, by public works es-
sentially beneficent, and beyond the means of less than national re-
sources, the condition of our common country, will be how it ever
could have been doubted."

On another occasion, Mr. Adams expressed himself
on the subject of internal improvements in the follow-
ing manner : —

" The question of the power of Congress to authorize the making
of internal improvements, is, in other words, a question whether the
people of this Union, in forming their common social compact, as
avowedly for the purpose of promoting their general welfare, have
performed their work in a manner so ineffably stupid as to deny
themselves the means of bettering their own condition. I have too
much respect for the intellect of my country to believe it. The

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 143

first object of human association is the improvement of the condition
of the associated. Roads and canals are among the most essential
means of improving the condition of nations. And a people which
should deliberately, by the organization of its authorized power, de-
prive itself of the faculty of multiplying its own blessings, would
be as wise as a creator who should undertake to constitute a human
being without a heart."

In addition to other claims, the friends of Mr. Adams
urged his elevation to the presidency on the ground
of locality. During the thirty-six years which had
passed since the adoption of the constitution, the Gen-
eral Government had been administered but four years
by a northern President. It was insisted with much
force that the southern portion of the Republic had thus
far exerted a disproportionate influence in the execu-
tive department of the nation. While the north,
although far the most populous, and contributing much
the largest portion of the means for defraying the na-
tional expenditures, would not claim to monopolize an
undue degree of power in controlling the measures of
administration, yet it could justly insist that its demands
for an equitable share of influence should be heeded.
These suggestions unquestionably possessed a weight
in the minds of the people, favorable to the prospects
of Mr. Adams.

The Presidential campaign of 1824, was more spir-
ited and exciting than any that had taken place since
the first election of Mr. Jefferson. It was novel in
the number of candidates presented foi the suffrages of

144 LIFE OF IOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

the people, and was conducted with great zeal and
vigor by the friends of the different aspirants. Strictly
speaking, it could not be called a party contest. Mr.
Monroe's wise and prudent administration had obliter-
ated party lines, and left a very general unanimity of
sentiment on political principles and measures, through-
out the Union. The various candidates — Adams, Jack-
son, Clay, Crawford — all subscribed, substantially, to the
same political creed, and entertained similar views as
to the principles on which the General Government
should be administered. The struggle was a personal
and sectional one, more than of a party nature.

It had long been foreseen that a choice of President
would not be effected by the people. The result veri-
fied this prediction. Of two hundred and sixty-one
electoral votes, Gen. Jackson received ninety-nine,
Mr. Adams eighty-four, Mr. Crawford forty-one, and
Mr. Clay thirty-seven. Neither of the candidates hav-
ing received a majority in the electoral colleges, the
election devolved on the House of Representatives.
This took place on the 9th of Feb., 1825.

On the morning of that day, the House met at an
earlier hour than usual. The galleries, the lobbies, and
the adjacent apartments, were filled to overflowing with
spectators from every part of the Union to witness the
momentous event. It was a scene the most sublime
that could be witnessed on earth. The Representatives
of the People, in the exercise of the highest right of

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 145

freemen, were about to select a citizen to administer
the Government of a great Republic.

All the members of the House were present, with
the exception of one, who was confined by indisposi-
tion. The Speaker (Henry Clay) took his chair, and
the ordinary business of the morning was attended to
in the usual manner. At 12 o'clock, precisely, the
members of the Senate entered the hall, preceded by
their Sergeant-at-arms, and having the President of
the Senate at their head, who was invited to a seat on
the right hand of the Speaker. The Senators were
assigned seats in front of the Speaker's chair.

The President of the Senate (Mr. Gaillard) then
rose, and stated that the certificates forwarded by the
electors from each State would be delivered to the
Tellers. Mr. Tazewell of the Senate, and Messrs.
John W. Taylor and Philip P. Barbour on the part of the
House, took their places, as Tellers, at the Clerk's table.
The President of the Senate then opened two packets,
one received by messenger and the other by mail, con-
taining the certificates of the votes of the State of
New Hampshire. One of these certificates was then
read by Mr. Tazewell, while the other was compared
with it by Messrs. Taylor and Barbour. The whole
having been read, and the votes of New Hampshire
declared, they were set down by the Clerks of the Sen-
ate and of the House of Representatives, seated at
different tables. Thus the certificates from all the
States were gone through with. At the conclusion.

146 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAM3.

the Tellers left the Clerk's tables, and, presenting them-
selves in front of the Speaker, Mr. Tazewell delivered
their report of the votes given.

The President of the Senate then rose, and declared
that no person had received a majority of the votes
given for President of the United States : that Andrew
Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and William H. Craw-
ford, were the three persons who had received the
highest number of votes ; and that the remaining du-
ties in the choice of a President now devolved on the
House of Representatives. He further declared, that
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, having received
182 votes, was duly elected Vice President of the
United States, to serve four years from the 4th of
March next. The members of the Senate then re-
tired.

The Speaker directed the roll of the House to be
called by States, and the members of the respective
delegations to take their seats in the order in which the
States should be called, beginning at the right hand of
the Speaker. The delegations took their seats accord-
ingly. Ballot-boxes were distributed to each delega-
tion, by the Sergeant-at-arms, and the Speaker directed
that the balloting should proceed. The ballots having
all been deposited in the boxes, Tellers were named by
the respective delegations, being one from each State,
who took their seats at two tables.

Mr. Webster of Massachusetts was appointed by
those Tellers who sat at one table, and Mr. Randolph

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 147

of Virginia by those at the other, to announce the
result. After the ballots were counted out, Mr.
Webster rose, and said : —

" Mr. Speaker : The Tellers of the votes at this
table have proceeded to count the ballots contained
in the boxes set before them. The result they find to
be, that there are for John Quincy Adams, of Mas-
sachusetts, thirteen votes ; for Andrew Jackson, of
Tennessee, seven votes; for William H. Crawford,
of Georgia, four votes."

Mr. Randolph, from the other table, made a state-
ment corresponding with that of Mr. Webster.

The Speaker then stated this result to the House,
and announced that John Quincy Adams, having a
majority of the votes of these United States, was duly
elected President of the same, for four years, com-
mencing on the 4th day of March, 1825.

A committee was appointed to wait upon Mr.
Adams, and announce to him the result of the election,
of which Mr. Webster was chairman. On performing
this duty, they received from Mr. Adams the following
reply :—

Gentlemen : — In receiving tnis testimonial from the Representa-
tives of the People and States of this Union, I am deeply sensible
of the circumstances under which it has been given. All my pre-
decessors have been honored with majorities of the electoral voices,
in the primary colleges. It has been my fortune to be placed, by
the divisions of sentiment prevailing among our countrymen on
this occasion, in competition, friendly and honorable, with three of
my fellow-citizens, all justly enjoying, in eminent degrees, the public
favor ; and of whose wnr*h. talents and services no one entertains

148 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

a higher and more respectful sense than myself. The names of
two of them were, in the fulfilment of the provisions of the con-
stitution, presented to the selection of the House of Representatives
in concurrence with my own, — names closely associated with the
glory of the nation, and one of them farther recommended by a
larger majority of the primary electoral suffrages than mine.

In this state of things, could my refusal to accept the trust thus
delegated to me give an opportunity to the people to form, and to
express, with a nearer approach to unanimity, the object of their
preference, I should not hesitate to decline the acceptance of this
eminent charge, and to submit the decision of this momentous ques-
tion again to their determination. But the constitution itself has
not so disposed of the contingency which would arise in the event
of my refusal. I shall, therefore, repair to the post assigned me by
the call of my country, signified through her constitutional organs ;
oppressed with the magnitude of the task before me, but cheered
with the hope of that generous support from my fellow-citizens,
which, in the vicissitudes of a life devoted to their service, has
never failed to sustain me — confident in the trust, that the wisdom
of the legislative councils will guide and direct me in the path of
my official duty ; and relying, above all, upon the superintending
providence of that Being " in whose hands our breath is, and whose
are all our ways."

" Gentlemen, I pray you to make acceptable to the House, the
assurance of my profound gratitude for their confidence, and to ac-
cept yourselves my thanks for the friendly terms in which you have
communicated to me their decision."

The diffidence manifested by Mr. Adams in accept-
ing the office of President, under the peculiar circum-
stances of his election, and his wish, if it were possible,
to submit his claims again to the people, were unques-
tionably uttered with great sincerity of heart. He
was the choice of but a minority, as expressed in the
electoral vote ; and in accordance with his republican
principles and feelings, he would have preferred another

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 149

expression of public opinion. But the constitution
made no provision for such an arbitrament. He must
either serve or resign. In the latter case, the Vice
President would have discharged the duties of Presi-
dent during the term. Mr. Adams had no alternative,
therefore, but to accept the office, agreeably to the
terms of the constitution. Had either of his competi-
tors been elected by the House of Representatives, they
would have been, as he was, a minority President.
Notwithstanding Gen. Jackson received fifteen more
electoral votes than Mr. Adams, yet it is believed that
in the primary assemblies the latter obtained a greater
number of the actual votes of the people than the
former.

" Although Gen. Jackson had a plurality in the nom-
inal returns from the electoral colleges, the question is,
whether he had a plurality in the popular votes of the
States. In North Carolina, the Crawford men had a
great plurality over either of the Jackson and Adams
sections ; but the two latter joining their forces, gave
the electoral vote of the State, it being fifteen, to Gen.
Jackson. Deduct this from Gen. Jackson's plurality —
as it should be, if the principle of plurality is to gov-
ern— and it leaves him eighty -four, the same as the
vote of Mr. Adams. But Mr. Adams had a great
plurality of the popular vote of New York, and on
this principle should be credited the entire thirty-six
votes of that State, whereas, he received only twenty-
six. This adjustment would carry Mr. Adams up to

150 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

ninety-four, and leave Gen. Jackson with eighty-four.
Besides, the popular majorities for Mr. Adams in the
six New England States were greatly in excess of
the Jackson majorities in the eight States which gave
their vote for him ; which largely augments Mr.
Adams' aggregate plurality in the Union over Gen.
Jackson's. Then deduct the constitutional allowance
for the slave vote in the slave States, as given by their
masters. It will not be pretended that this is a popular
vote, though constitutional. Gen. Jackson obtained
fifty-five electoral votes, more than half his entire vote,
and Mr. Adams only six from slave States. It will
therefore be seen, that on the principle of a popular
plurality, carried out, and carried through, (it ought
not to stop for the advantage of one party,) Mr.
Adams, in the election of 1824, was far ahead of Gen.
Jackson."*

On the the 4th of March, 1825, JohnQuincy Adams
was inaugurated as President of the United States,
and took the executive chair, which had been entei'ed
twenty-eight years before by his venerated father.
The declaration of that father in reference to the son,
when a lad — " He behaves like a man !" — had gathered
strength and meaning in the lapse of years. The people
of the American republic, taught by a long series of
faithful and eminent services, in the fulfilment of the

* Colton's Life and Times of Henry Clay.

LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS. 151

prophetic words, placed him in a position the most
elevated and honorable, the most worthy the aim of a
pure and patriotic ambition, that earth can afford !

The scene at the inauguration was splendid and
imposing. At an early hour of the day the avenues
leading to the capitol presented an animated spectacle.
Crowds of citizens on foot, in carriages, and on horse-
back, were hastening to the great centre of attraction.
Strains of martial music, and the movements of the
various military corps, heightened the excitement.

At 12 o'clock, the military escort, consisting of gen-
eral and staff officers, and several volunteer companies,
received the President elect at his residence, together
with President Monroe, and several officers of govern-
ment. The procession, led by the cavalry, and accom-
panied by an immense concourse of citizens, proceeded
to the capitol, where it was received, with military
honors, by the U. S. Marine Corps under Col. Hen-
derson.

Meanwhile the hall of the House of Representatives
presented a brilliant spectacle. The galleries and the
lobbies were crowded with spectators. The sofas be-
tween the columns, the bar, the promenade in the rear
of the Speaker's chair, and the three outer rows of the
members' seats, were occupied by a splendid array of
beauty and fashion. On the left, the Diplomatic Corps,
in the costume of their respective Courts, occupied the
place assigned them, immediately before the steps
which lead to the chair. The officers of the armv and

152 LIFE OF JOHN Q.U1NCY ADAMS.

navy were scattered in groups throughout the hall. In
front of the Clerk's table chairs were placed for the
Judges of the Supreme Court.

At twenty minutes past 12 o'clock, the marshals, in
blue scarfs, made their appearance in the hall, at the
head of the august procession. First came the officers
of both Houses of Congress. Then appeared the Pres-
ident elect, followed by the venerable ex-president
Monroe, with his family. To these succeeded the
Judges of the Supreme Court, in their robes of office,
the members of the Senate, preceded by the Vice-
President, with a number of the members of the House
of Representatives.

Mr. Adams, in a plain suit of black, made entirely
of American manufactures, ascended to the Speaker's
chair, and took his seat. The Chief Justice was placed
in front of the Clerk's table, having before him another
table on the floor of the hall, on the opposite side of
which sat the remaining Judges, with their faces towards
the chair. The doors having been closed, and silence
proclaimed, Mr. Adams arose, and, in a distinct and
firm tone of voice, read his inaugural address.

At the conclusion of the address, a genera] plaudit
burst forth from the vast assemblage, which continued
some minutes. Mr. Adams then descended from the
chair, and, proceeding to the Judges' table, received
from the Chief Justice a volume of the Laws of the
United States, from which he read, with a loud voice,
the oath of office. The plaudits and cheers of the

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 153

multitude were at this juncture repeated, accompanied
by salutes of artillery from without.

The congratulations which then poured in from every
side occupied the hands, and could not but reach the
heart, of President Adams. The meeting between
him and his venerated predecessor, had in it something
peculiarly affecting. General Jackson was among the
earliest of those who took the hand of the President;
and their looks and deportment towards each other
were a rebuke to that littleness of party spirit which
can see no merit in a rival, and feel no joy in the
honor of a competitor.

Shortly ofter 1 o'clock, the procession commenced
leaving the hall. The President was escorted back as
he came. On his arrival at his residence, he received
the compliments and respects of a great number of
ladies and gentlemen, who called on him to tender
their congratulations. The proceedings of the day
were closed by an " inaugural ball " in the evening.
Among the guests present, were the President and
Vice-President, Ex-President Monroe, a number of
foreign ministers, with many civil, military, and naval
officers.*

Mr. Adams's Inaugural Address is as follows : —

" In compliance with an usage coeval with the existence of our
federal constitution, and sanctioned by the example of my prede-
cessors in the career upon which I am about to enter, I appear, my

* National Intelligencer.

154 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY/ ADAMS.

fellow-citizens, in your presence, and in that of heaven, to bind
myself, by the solemnities of a religious obligation, to the faithful
performance of the duties allotted to me, in the station to which I
have been called.

" In unfolding to my countrymen the principles by which I shall
be governed, in the fulfilment of those duties, my first resort will
be to that constitution which I shall swear, to the best of my abil-
ity, to preserve, protect, and defend. That revered instrument enu-
merates the powers and prescribes the duties of the Executive
Magistrate, and in its first words, declares the purposes to which
these, and the whole action of the Government instituted by it,
should be invariably and sacredly devoted — to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the
common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the bles-
sings of liberty to the people of this Union, in their successive
generations. Since the adoption of this social compact, one of
these generations has passed away. It is the work of our fore-
fathers. Administered by some of the most eminent men, who
contributed to its formation, through a most eventful period in the
annals of the world, and through all the vicissitudes of peace and
war, incidental to the condition of associated man, it has not disap-
pointed the hopes and aspirations of those illustrious benefactors of
their age and nation. It has promoted the lasting welfare of that
country so dear to us all ; it has, to an extent far beyond the ordi-
nary lot of humanity, secured the freedom and happiness of this
people. We now receive it as a precious inheritance from those to
whom we are indebted for its establishment, doubly bound by the
examples which they have left us, and by the blessings which we
have enjoyed, as the fruits of their labors, to transmit the same, un-
impaired, to the succeeding generation.

" In the compass of thirty-six years, since this great national
covenant was instituted, a body of laws enacted under its author-
ity, and in conformity with its provisions, has unfolded its powers,
and carried into practical operation its effective energies. Sub-
ordinate departments have distributed the executive functions in
their various relations to foreign affairs, to the revenue and ex-
penditures, and to the military force of the Union, by land and
sea. A co-ordinate department of the judiciary has expounded
the constitution and the laws ; settling, in harmonious coincidence

LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS. 155

with the legislative will, numerous weighty questions of construction,
which the imperfection of human language had rendered unavoida-
ble. The year of jubilee since the first formation of our Union, has
just elapsed ; that of the Declaration of our Independence is at
hand. The consummation of both was effected by this constitu-
tion. Since that period, a population of four millions has multiplied
to twelve. A territory bounded by the Mississippi has baen ex-
tended from sea to sea. New States have been admitted to the
Union, in numbers nearly equal to those of the first confederation.
Treaties of peace, amity, and commerce, have been concluded with
the principal dominions of the earth. The people of other nations,
inhabitants of regions acquired, not by conquests, but by compact,
have been united with us in the participation of our rights and du-
ties, of our burdens and blessings. The forest has fallen by the
axe of our woodsmen — the soil has been made to teem by the tillage
of our farmers ; our commerce has whitened every ocean. The
dominion of man over physical nature has been extended by the
invention of our artists. Liberty and law have marched hand in
hand. All the purposes of human association have been accom-
plished as effectually as under any other Government on the globe,
and at a cost little exceeding, in a whole generation, the expendi-
tures of other nations in a single year.

" Such is the unexaggerated picture of our condition under a
constitution founded upon the republican principle of equal rights.
To admit that this picture has its shades, is but to say, that it is
still the condition of men upon earth. From evil — physical, moral,
and political — it is not our claim to be exempt. We have suffered,
sometimes by the visitation of Heaven through disease, often by
the wrongs and injustice of other nations, even to the extremities
of war ; and lastly, by dissentions among ourselves — dissentions,
perhaps, inseparable from the enjoyment of freedom, but which have
more than once appeared to threaten the dissolution of the Union,
and, with it, the overthrow of all the enjoyments of our present lot,
and all our earthly hopes of the future. The causes of these dis-
sensions have been various, founded upon differences of speculation
in the theory of republican government, upon conflicting views of
policy in our relations with foreign nations ; upon jealousies of par-
tial and sectional interests, aggravated by prejudices and preposses-
sions, which strangers to each other are ever apt to entertain.

156 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

" It is a source of gratification and of encouragement to me, to
observe that the great result of this experiment upon the theory of
human rights, has, at the close of that generation by which it was
formed, been crowned with success equal to the most sanguine
expectations of its founders. Union, justice, tranquillity, the com-
mon defence, the general welfare, and the blessings of liberty —
all have been promoted by the Government under which we have
lived. Standing at this point of time, looking back to that genera-
tion which has gone by, and forward to that which is advancing,
we may at once indulge in grateful exultation and in cheering
hope. From the experience of the past, we derive instructive les-
sons for the future.

" Of the two great political parties which have divided the opinions
and feelings of our country, the candid and the just will now ad-
mit, that both have contributed splendid talents, spotless integrity,
ardent patriotism, and disinterested sacrifices, to the formation and
administration of the Government, and that both have required a
liberal indulgence for a portion of human infirmity and error. The
revolutionary wars of Europe, commencing precisely at the moment
when the Government of the United States first went into operation
under the constitution, excited collisions of sentiments and of sym-
pathies, which kindled all the passions and embittered the conflict
of parties, till the nation was involved in war, and the Union was
shaken to its centre. This time of trial embraced a period of flve-
and-tvventy years, during which the policy of the Union in its rela-
tions with Europe constituted the principal basis of our own political
divisions, and the most arduous part of the action of the Federal
Government. With the catastrophe in which the wars of the French
Revolution terminated, and our own subsequent peace with Great
Britain, this baneful weed of party strife was uprooted. From that
time no difference of principle, connected with the theory of gov-
ernment, or with our intercourse with foreign nations, has existed
or been called forth in force sufficient to sustain a continued com-
bination of parties, or given more than wholesome animation to pub-
lic sentiment or legislative debate. Our political creed, without a
dissenting voice that can be heard, is, that the will of the people is
the source, and the happiness of the people is the end, of all legit-
imate government upon earth : that the best security for the benefi-
cence, and the best guaranty against the abuse of power, consists

LIFE OF JOHN dUINCY ADAMS. 157

in the freedom, the purity, and the frequency of popular elections :
that the General Government of the Union, and the separate Gov-
ernments of the States, are all sovereignties of legitimate powers,
fellow-servants of the same masters — uncontrolled within their re-
spective spheres, uncontrollable by encroachments on each other.
If there have been those who doubted whether a confederated repre-
sentative democracy was a Government competent to the wise and
orderly management of the common concerns of a mighty nation,
those doubts have been dispelled. If there have been projects of
partial confederacies to be erected upon the ruins of the Union, they
have been scattered to the winds. If there have been dangerous
attachments to one foreign nation, and antipathies against another,
they have been extinguished. Ten years of peace at home and
abroad have assuaged the animosities of political contention, and
blended into harmony the most discordant elements of public opinion.
There still remains one effort of magnanimity, one sacrifice of
prejudice and passion, to be made by the individuals throughout the
nation who have heretofore followed the standards of political party.
It is that of discarding every remnant of rancor against each other,
of embracing, as countrymen and friends, and of yielding to talent3
and virtue alone that confidence which, in times of contention for
principle, was bestowed only upon those who bore the badge of
party communion.

" The collisions of party spirit, which originate in speculative
opinions, or in different views of administrative policy, are in their
nature transitory. Those which are founded on geographical divis-
ions, adverse interests of soil, climate, and modes of domestic life,
are more permanent, and therefore, perhaps, more dangerous. It is
this which gives inestimable value to the character of our Govern-
ment, at once federal and national. It holds out to us a perpetual
admonition to preserve, alike, and with equal anxiety, the rights of
each individual State in its own Government, and the rights of the
whole nation in that of the Union. Whatever is of domestic con-
cernment, unconnected with the other members of the Union, or
with foreign lands, belongs exclusively to the administration of
the State Governments. Whatsoever directly involves the rights and
interests of the federative fraternity, or of foreign powers, is, of
the resort of this General Government. The duties of both are ob-
vious in the general principle, though sometimes perplexed with

158 LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS.

difficulties in the detail. To respect the rights of the State Govern-
ments is the inviolable duty of that of the Union : the Government
of every State will feel its own obligation to respect and preserve
the rights of the whole. The prejudices everywhere too commonly
entertained against distant strangers are worn away, and the jeal-
ousies of jarring interests are allayed, by the composition and func-
tions of the great national councils, annually assembled, from all
quarters of the Union, at this place. Here the distinguished men
from every section of our country, while meeting to deliberate upon
the great interests of those by whom they are deputed, learn to esti-
mate the talents, and do justice to the virtues, of each other. The
harmony of the nation is promoted, and the whole Union is knit
together by the sentiments of mutual respect, the habits of social
intercourse, and the ties of personal friendship, formed between the
representatives of its several parts in the performance of their ser-
vice at this metropolis.

"Passing from this general review of the purposes and injunc-
tions of the Federal constitution and their results, as indicating
the first traces of the path of duty in the discharge of my public
trust, I turn to the administration of my immediate predecessor, as
the second. It has passed away in a period of profound peace :
how much to the satisfaction of our country, and to the honor of
our country's name, is known to you all. The great features of its
policy, in general concurrence with the will of the Legislature,
have been — To cherish peace while preparing for defensive war —
to yield exact justice to other nations, and maintain the rights of
our own — to cherish the principles of freedom and equal rights,
wherever they were proclaimed — to discharge, with all possible
promptitude, the national debt — to reduce within the narrowest lim-
its of efficiency the military force — to improve the organization
and discipline of the army — to provide and sustain a school of mili-
tary science — to extend equal protection to all the great interests of
the nation — to promote the civilization of the Indian tribes ; and —
to proceed to the great system of internal improvements, within the
limits of the constitutional power of the Union. Under the pledge
of these promises, made by that eminent citizen at the time of his
first induction to this office, in his career of eight years the internal
taxes have been repealed ; sixty millions of the public debt have
been discharged ; provision has been made for the comfort and

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS. 159

relief of the aged and indigent among the surviving warriors of
the Revolution ; the regular armed force has been reduced, and its
constitution revised and perfected ; the accountability for the expend-
itures of public monies has been more effective ; the Floridas have
been peaceably acquired, and our boundary has been extended to
the Pacific Ocean ; the independence of the southern nations of this
hemisphere has been recognized, and recommended by example and
by counsel to the potentates of Europe ; progress has been made
in the defence of the country, by fortifications and the increase of
the navy — towards the effectual suppression of the African traffic in
slaves — in alluring the aboriginal hunters of our land to the culti-
vation of the soil and of the mind — in exploring the interior regions
of the Union, and in preparing, by scientific researches and surveys,
for the further application of our national resources to the internal
improvement of our country.

" In this brief outline of the promise and performance of my im-
mediate predecessor, the line of duty, for his successor, is clearly
delineated. To pursue to their consummation those purposes of
improvement in our common condition instituted or recommended
by him, will embrace the whole sphere of my obligation. To the
topic of internal improvement, emphatically urged by him at his in-
auguration, I recur with peculiar satisfaction. It is that from
which I am convinced that the unborn millions of our posterity, who
are in future ages to people this continent, will derive their most
fervent gratitude to the founders of the Union — that in which the
beneficent action of its Government will be most deeply felt and ac-
knowledged. The magnificence and splendor of their public works
are among the imperishable glories of the ancient republics. The
roads and aqueducts of Rome have been the admiration of all after
ages, and have survived thousands of years after all her conquests
have been swallowed up in despotism, or become the spoil of bar-
barians. Some diversity of opinion has prevailed with regard to
the powers of Congress for legislation upon objects of this nature.
The most respectful deference is due to doubts, originating in pure
patriotism, and sustained by venerated authority. But nearly twenty
years have passed since the construction of the first national road
was commenced. The authority for its construction was then un-
questioned. To how many thousands of our countrymen has it
proved a benefit ? To what single individual has it ever proved an

160 LIFE OF JOHN G.UINCY ADAMS.

injury ? Repeated, liberal and candid discussions in the Legislature
have conciliated the sentiments, and approximated the opinions of
enlightened minds, upon the question of constitutional power. I
cannot but hope that, by the same process of friendly, patient, and
persevering deliberation, all constitutional objections will ultimately
be removed. The extent and limitation of the powers of the Gen-
eral Government, in relation to this transcendently important interest,
will be settled and acknowledged to the common satisfaction of all ;
and every speculative scruple will be solved by a practical public
blessing.

" Fellow-citizens, you are acquainted with the peculiar circum-
stances of the recent election, which have resulted in affording me
the opportunity of addressing you at this time. You have heard
the exposition of the principles which will direct me in the fulfil-
ment of the high and solemn trust imposed upon me in this station.
Less possessed of your confidence, in advance, than any of my pre-
decessors, I am deeply conscious of the prospect that I shall stand
more and oftener in need of your indulgence. Intentions upright
and pure, a heart devoted to the welfare of our country, and the
unceasing application of the faculties allotted to me to her service,
are all the pledges that I can give for the faithful performance of
the arduous duties I am to undertake. To the guidance of the
legislative councils ; to the assistance of the executive and subor-
dinate departments ; to the friendly co-operation of the respective
State Governments ; to the candid and liberal support of the people,
so far as it may be deserved by honest industry and zeal ; I shall
look for whatever success may attend my public service : and
knowing that ' except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh
but in vain,' with fervent supplications for His favor, to His over-
ruling providence I commit, with humble but fearless confidence,
my own fate, and the future destinies of my country."

In entering upon the discharge of his duties as Pres-
ident, Mr. Adams proceeded to form his cabinet by
nominating Henry Clay, of Kentucky, Secretary of
State ; Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of
the Treasury ; James Barbour, of Virginia, Secretary

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCV ADAMS. 1G1

of War ; Samuel L. Southard, Secretary of the Navy,
and Wm. Wirt, Attorney General. These were all
men of superior talents, of tried integrity and faithful-
ness, and well worthy the elevated positions to which
they were called.

CHAPTER VIII.

CHARGES OF CORRUPTION AGAINST MR. CLAT AND MR. ADAMS

MR. ADAMS ENTERS UPON HIS DUTIES AS PRESIDENT

VISIT OF LA FAYETTE TOUR THROUGH THE UNITED STATES

MR. ADAMS DELIVERS HIM A FAREWELL ADDRESS DE-
PARTS FROM THE UNITED STATES.

The election of Mr. Adams to the presidency, was
a severe disappointment to the friends of Gen. Jack-
son. As the latter had received a majority of fifteen
electoral votes over Mr. Adams, it was confidently an-
ticipated, nay, virtually demanded, that he should be
elected by the House of Representatives. This claim,
it was insisted, was in accordance with the will of the
people, as expressed in the electoral colleges, and to
resist it would be to violate the spirit of the constitu-
tion, and to set at nought the fundamental principles of
our republican Government. A sufficient reply to
these positions is found in the fact, that Gen. Jackson
did not receive a majority of the electoral votes, and
hence a majority of the people could not be considered
as desiring his election. The absolute truth, subse-
quently obtained on this point, was, that Mr. Adams
had received more of the primary votes of the people
than Gen. Jackson ; and thus, according to all repub-

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 163

lican principles, was entitled to be considered the first
choice of the citizens of the United States.

The position of Mr. Clay, in this contest for the
presidency, was one of great delicacy and difficulty.
He was precisely in that critical posture, that, whatever
course he might pursue, he would be subject to mis-
representation and censure, and could not but raise up
a host of enemies. Originally one of the four candidates
for the presidency, he failed, by five electoral votes, in
having a sufficient number to be one of the three can-
didates returned to the House of Representatives, of
which he was then Speaker. In this posture of affairs,
it was evident that upon the course which should be
pursued by Mr. Clay, and his friends in the House, de-
pended the question who should be elected President.
As Mr. Crawford, on account of the critical state of his
health, was considered out of the question, Mr. Clay
was left to choose between Mr. Adams and Gen.
Jackson.

In this posture of affairs, Mr. Clay saw, that however
patriotic the principles on which he acted, and however
pure the motives by which he might be governed in
making his selection, he must inevitably expose him-
self to the severest animadversions from the defeated
party. But he did not hesitate, in the discharge of what
he believed to be a solemn duty he owed his country,
to throw his influence in behalf of the man whom he
believed the best fitted to serve that country in the
responsible office of the presidency. Long before it

164 LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS.

had been foreseen such a contingency would occur, he
had expressed his want of confidence in the ability and
fitness of Gen. Jackson for the executive chair. But
in Mr. Adams he saw a man of the utmost purity and
integrity of private character — a scholar of the ripest
abilities — a statesman, a diplomatist, a patriot of un-
questioned talents and of long experience, — one who
had been entrusted with most important public interests
by Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Mon-
roe, and also had received from these illustrious men
every mark of confidence — whose familiarity with the
internal condition and foreign relations of the Union
was unequalled by any public man ! Between men so
dissimilar in their qualifications, how could Mr. Clay,
with the slightest regard to the welfare of the nation,
the claims of patriotism, or the dictates of his con-
science, hesitate to choose ? He did not hesitate.
With an intrepid determination to meet all conse-
quences, he threw his influence in behalf of Mr.
Adams, and secured his election.

This decisive step, as had been clearly foreseen, drew
upon the head of Mr. Clay the severest censures of the
supporters of Gen. Jackson. Motives of the deepest
political corruption were attributed to him. They
charged him with making a deliberate stipulation or
" bargain" with Mr. Adams, to give his influence, on
the understanding that he was to receive, in payment,
the appointment to the state department. The un-
doubted object of this charge was to ruin Mr. Clay's

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 165

future prospects, and make capital to the advantage of
Gen. Jackson in the next presidential campaign. It
implicated Mr. Adams equally with Mr. Clay. If the
latter had been so corrupt as to offer his support on the
promise of office, the former was quite as guilty in ac-
cepting of terms so venal. There never was a more
base charge against American statesmen — there never
was one more entirely destitute of foundation, or even
shadow of proof! It was at no time considered en-
titled to the slightest particle of belief by those who
were at Washington during these transactions and
had an opportunity of knowing the true state of things
at that time. But there were many, throughout the
country, too ready to receive such reports in regard to
public men. Both Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay were
greatly prejudiced by this alleged collusion — a preju-
dice which years did not efface.

This charge first appeared in a tangible form shortly
previous to the election by the House of Representa-
tives, in an anonymous letter in the "Columbian Ob-
server," at Philadelphia. It was soon ascertained to
have been written by Mr. Kremer, a member of the
House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Mr.
Clay immediately published a card in the National
Intelligencer, denying, in unequivocal terms, the alle-
gation, and pronouncing the author " an infamous
calumniator, a dastard, and a jiur !"

A few days after this, Mr. Kremer acknowledged
himself the author of the letter in the "Columbian

166 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS.

Observer," and professed himself ready to prove the
corruptions alleged : whereupon Mr. Clay demanded
that the House raise a committee to investigate the
case. The committee was appointed ; but Mr. Kle-
iner, on grounds of the most frivolous description,
refused to appear before the committee, or to furnish a
particle of proof of the truth of the grave assertions he
had uttered — thus virtually acknowledging their slan-
derous character.

Mr. Clay being in this manner denied the privilege
of vindicating his innocence, and showing the depravity
of his accusers, the matter continued in an unsettled
state until the next presidential campaign, when it
was revived in a more tangible form, and brought to
bear adversely to Mr. Adams's administration and re-
election. In 1827, Gen. Jackson, in a letter to Mr.
Carter Beverly, which soon appeared in public print,
made the following statement: —

" Early in January, 1825, a member of Congress of high respect-
ability visited me one morning, and observed that he had a com-
munication he was desirous to make to me ; that he was informed
there was a great intrigue going on, and that it was right I should
be informed of it. ******* pie said he had been informed by
the friends of Mr. Clay, that the friends of Mr. Adams had made
overtures to them, saying, if Mr. Clay and his friends would unite in
aid of Mr. Adams's election, Mr. Clay should be Secretary of State ;
that the friends of Mr. Adams were urging, as a reason to induce
the friends of Mr. Clay to accede to their proposition, that if I were
elected President, Mr. Adams would be continued Secretary of
State ; that the friends of Mr. Clay stated the West did not wish to
separate from the West, and if I would say, or permit any of my
confidential friends to sav, that in case I were elected President

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 167

Mr. Adams should not be continued Secretary of State, by a com-
plete union of Mr. Clay and his friends, they would put an end to
the presidential contest in one hour. And he was of opinion it was
right to fight such intriguers with their own weapons."

On a subsequent statement, Gen. Jackson asserted
that the gentleman who called upon him with these
propositions was James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania.

This was the Kremer charge made definite in cir-
cumstances and application ; and if well grounded,
was susceptible of plain proof. On the appearance of
this statement by Gen. Jackson, Mr. Clay came out
with a positive denial. He said : —

" I neither made, nor authorized, nor knew of any proposition
whatever, to either of the three candidates who were returned to
the House of Representatives, at the last presidential election, or to
the friends of either of them, for the purpose of influencing the re-
sult of the election, or for any other purpose. And all allegations,
intimations, and inuendoes, that my vote on that occasion was
offered to be given, or was in fact given, in consideration of any
stipulation or understanding, express or implied, direct or indirect,
written or verbal, — that I was, or that any other person was not, to
be appointed Secretary of State ; or that I was, or in any other
manner to be, personally benefitted, — are devoid of all truth, and
destitute of any foundation whatever."

Here was a direct collision between Gen. Jackson
and Mr. Clay. All now rested with Mr. Buchanan.
His testimony would either prostrate Mr. Clay, or
place him, in regard to this matter, beyond the reach
of the foulest tongue of calumny. In due time Mr.
Buchanan made his statement, in which he denied, in

168 LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS.

unequivocal language, having made any such propo-
sition to Gen. Jackson. In his explanation he says : —

" I called upon General Jackson solely as his friend, upon my in-
dividual responsibility, and not as the agent of Mr. Clay, or any other
person. I never have been the political friend of Mr. Clay, since
he became a candidate for the office of President. Until I saw
General Jackson's letter to Mr. Beverly, of the 6th ult., and at the
same time was informed, by a letter from the editor of the United
States Telegraph, that I was the person to whom he alluded, the
conception never once entered my head, that he believed me to be
the agent of Mr. Clay, or of his friends, or that I had intended to
propose to him terms of any kind from them, or that he could have
supposed me to be capable of expressing the opinion that ' it was
right to fight such intriguers with their own weapons.' Such a
supposition, had I entertained it, would have rendered me exceed-
ingly unhappy, as there is no man on earth whose good opinion I
more valued than that of General Jackson. ********* I owe
it to my character to make another observation. Had I ever known,
or even suspected, that General Jackson believed I had been sent to
him by Mr. Clay or his friends, I should immediately have corrected
his erroneous impression, and thus prevented the necessity for this
most unpleasant explanation. ******* I had no authority frcm
Mr. Clay, or his friends, to propose any terms to General Jackson in
relation to their votes, nor did I ever make any such proposition."

This statement fully and triumphantly exonerated
Mr. Clay, Mr. Adams, and their friends, from the
charge of " bargain" and " corruption," which had
been so boldly made and widely disseminated. The
only witness ever brought upon the stand to sup-
port such an allegation, asserted, in a manner the
most positive and decisive, the entire innocence of the
parties implicated.

That Mr. Clay, in throwing his influence in behalf

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 1 G9

of Mr. Adams, was but following out a resolution
formed long before he had any opportunity of commu-
nication with Mr. Adams or his friends, on the sub-
ject, is proved by the following extract of a letter from
a gentleman in Lexington, Ky., to the editors of the
National Intelligencer, dated March 21, 1825 : —

" At different times, before Mr. Clay left this place for Washing-
ton, last fall, I had conversations with him on the subject of the
choice of a President by the House of Representatives. In all of
them, he expressed himself as having long before decided in favor
of Mr. Adams, in case the contest should lie between that gentle-
man and General Jackson. My last interview with him was, I
think, the day before his departure, when he was still more explicit,
as it was then certain that the election would be transferred to that
tribunal, and highly probable that he would not be among the num-
ber returned. In the course of this conversation, I took occasion
to express my sentiments with respect to the delicate and difficult
circumstances under which he would be placed. He remarked
that I could not more fully apprehend them than he did himself ;
but that nothing should deter him from the duty of giving his vote ;
and that no state of things could arise that would justify him in
preferring General Jackson to Mr. Adams, or induce him to support
the former. So decisive, indeed, were his declarations on this sub-
ject, that had he voted otherwise than he did, I should have been
compelled to regard him as deserving that species of censure which
has been cast upon him for constantly adhering to an early and
deliberate resolution."

It was thought, by some of Mr. Clay's friends, thai
he erred in judgment in accepting the office of Secre-
tary of State, as it would tend to strengthen his ene-
mies in their efforts to fix upon him- the charge of
corruption. Among those entertaining this opinion
was Mr. Crawford, himself one of the three presiden-

S

170 LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

tial candidates returned to the House of Representa-
tives. In a letter to Mr. Clay he says : —

" I hope you know me too well to suppose that I have counte-
nanced the charge of corruption which has been reiterated against
you. The truth is, I approved of your vote when it was given, and
should have voted as you did between Jackson and Adams. But
candor compells me to say, that I disapproved of your accepting an
office under him."

In replying to this letter Mr. Clay remarked : —

" I do, my dear sir, know you too well to suppose that you ever
countenanced the charge of corruption against me. No man of
sense and candor — at least none that know me — ever could or did
countenance it. Your frank admission that you would have voted
as I did, between Mr. Adams and Gen. Jackson, accords with the
estimate I have ever made of your intelligence, your independence,
and your patriotism. Nor am I at all surprised, or dissatisfied, with
the expression of your opinion, that I erred in accepting the place
which I now hold. ******* The truth is, as I have often said,
my condition was one full of embarrassments, whatever way I
might act. My own judgment was rather opposed to my accept-
ance of the department of state. But my friends — and let me
add, two of your best friends, Mr. McLane of Delaware and Mr.
Forsyth — urged me strongly not to decline it. It was represented
by my friends, that I should get no credit for the forbearance, but
that, on the contrary, it would be said that my forbearance was evi-
dence of my having made a bargain, though unwilling to execute
it ******** These and other similar arguments were pressed
upon me ; and after a week's deliberation, I yielded to their force.
It is quite possible that I may have erred ****** I shall, at least,
have no cause of self-reproach."

In 1829, after Mr. Adams had retired from the Presi-
dential chair, in reply to a letter from a committee of
gentlemen in New Jersey, who had addressed him, he

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 171

spoke of Mr. Clay as follows : " Upon him the foulest
slanders have been showered. Long known and ap-
preciated, as successively a member of both Houses of
your national Legislature, as the unrivalled Speaker,
and at the same time most efficient leader of debates in
one of them ; as an able and successful negotiator of your
interests, in war and peace, with foreign powers, and
as a powerful candidate for the highest of your trusts,
the department of state itself was a station which by
its bestowal could confer neither profit nor honor upon
him, but upon which he has shed unfading honor, by
the manner in which he has discharged its duties.
Prejudice and passion have charged him with obtain-
ing that office by bargain and corruption. Before you,
my fellow-citizens, in the presence of our country and
heaven, I pronounce that charge totally unfounded.
This tribute of justice is due from me to him, and I
seize with pleasure the opportunity afforded me by
your letter, of discharging the obligation. As to my
motives for tendering to him the department of state
when I did, let that man who questions them come for-
ward ; let him look around among statesmen and legis-
lators, of this nation, and of that day ; let him then
select and name the man whom, by his pre-eminent
talents, by his splendid services, by his ardent patriotism,
by his all-embracing public spirit, by his fervid elo-
quence in behalf of the rights and liberties of mankind,
and by his long experience in the affairs of the Union,
foreign and domestic, a President of the United States,

172 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

intent only upon the welfare and honor of his country,
ought to have preferred to Henry Clay. Let him
name the man, and then judge you, my fellow-citizens,
of my motives."

When Mr. Adams was on a tour in the western
States, in the fall of 1843, in addressing the chairman
of the committee of his reception, at Maysville, Ken-
tucky, he said : " I thank you, sir, for the opportunity
you have given me of speaking of the great statesman
who was associated with me in the administration of
the General Government, at my earnest solicitation ;
who belongs not to Kentucky alone, but to the whole
Union; and who is not only an honor to this State, and
this nation, but to mankind. The charges to which
you refer, after my term of service had expired, and it
was proper for me to speak, I denied before the whole
country. And I here reiterate and re-affirm that de-
nial ; and as I expect shortly to appear before my God,
to answer for the conduct of my whole life, should
these charges have found their way to the throne of
eternal justice, I will in the presence of Omnipotence
pronounce them false."

Before the world Mr. Clay and Mr. Adams stand
acquitted of the calumny which their enemies en-
deavored, with an industry worthy a better cause,
to heap upon them. The history of their country will
do them ample justice. Their names shall stand upon
its pages, illuminated by a well-earned fame for pa-
triotism and faithful devotion to public interests.

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 173

when those of their accusers will be lost in a merited
oblivion.

Mr. Adams, having entered upon his duties as Presi-
dent of the United States, prosecuted them with all
that diligence and industrious application which was
one of the leading characteristics of his life. Unawed
by the opposition and the misrepresentations of his po-
litical enemies, and uncorrupted by the power and in-
fluence at his control, he pursued the even tenor of his
way, having a single object in view, the promotion of
the welfare of the people over whom he had been called
to preside.

In the meantime, the heart of the nation was being
stirred by old and valued reminiscences. La Fayette,
— a hero of the revolution — the companion of Wash-
ington— whose blood had enriched American soil in
defence of American, freedom — had expressed a wish to
re-visit once more, before departing life, the scenes of
his early struggles and well-earned glories. This inti-
mation was first given in the following letter to Col.
Willet, an old friend and fellow-soldier of La Fayette,
who was then still living in New- York.

" Paris, July 15, 1822.
" My Dear Sir : — I avail myself of a good opportunity to re-
mind you of your old friend and fellow-soldier, in whose heart no
time nor distance can abate the patriotic remembrance and personal
affections of our revolutionary times. We remain but too few sur-
vivors of that glorious epoch, in which the fate of two hemispheres

174 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

has been decided. It is an additional monitor to think more of the
ties of brotherly friendship which united us. May it be in my
power, before I join our departed companions, to visit such of them
as are still inhabitants of the United States, and to tell you person-
ally, my dear Willet, how affectionately

" I am your sincere friend, La Fayette."

Intelligence of this desire to visit America having
reached Congress, resolutions were passed placing a
Government ship at his disposal : —

" Whereas that distinguished champion of freedom, and hero of
our Revolution, the friend and associate of Washington, the Marquis
de La Fayette, a volunteer General Officer in our Revolutionary
War, has expressed an anxious desire to visit this country, the inde-
pendence of which his valor, blood, and treasure, were so instru-
mental in achieving : Therefore —

" Be it Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the
President of the United States be requested to communicate to the
Marquis de La Fayette the expression of those sentiments of pro-
found respect, gratitude, and affectionate attachment, which are
cherished towards him by the Government and people of this coun-
try, and to assure him that the execution of his wish and intention
to visit this country, will be hailed by the people and Government
with patriotic pride and joy.

" And be it further Resolved, That the President of the United
States be requested to ascertain from the Marquis de La Fayette,
the time when it will be most agreeable for him to perform his visit ;
and that he offer to the Marquis a conveyance to this country in
one of our national ships."

La Fayette modestly declined this offer of a public
ship. He sailed from Havre in the packet- ship Cad-
mus, accompanied by his son, George Washington
La Fayette, and arrived in New York on the 15th of
August, 1824.

LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAM3. 175

His reception at New York was sublime and brilliant
in the extreme. The meeting between La Fayette,
Col. Willet, Gen. Van Cortland, Gen. Clarkson, and
other revolutionaiy worthies, was highly affecting.
He knew them all. After the ceremony of embracing
and congratulations were over, La Fayette sat down
by the side of Col. Willet. " Do you remember," said
the colonel, " at the battle of Monmouth, I was a volun-
teer aid to Gen. Scott ? I saw you in the heat of bat-
tle, you were but a boy, but you were a serious and
sedate lad." " Aye, aye," returned La Fayette, " I re-
member well. And on the Mohawk I sent you fifty
Indians, and you wrote me that they set up such a yell
that they frightened the British horse, and they ran one
way, and the Indians another." Thus these veteran
soldiers " fought their battles o'er again."

From New York La Fayette proceeded on a tour
throughout the United States. Everywhere he was
received and honored, as " the nation's guest." For
more than a year, his journey was a complete ovation
— a perpetual and splendid pageant. The people ap-
peared delirious with joy and with anxiety to hail him,
grasp him by the hand, and shower attentions and
honors upon him. The gratitude and love of all per-
sons, of every age, sex, and condition, seemed hardly to
be restrained within bounds of propriety. As he passed
through the country, every city, village, and hamlet,
poured out its inhabitants en masse, to meet him.
Celebrations, processions, dinners, illuminations, bon-

176 LIFE OF JOHN dUINCY ADAMS.

fires, parties, balls, serenades, and rejoicings of every
description, attended his way, from the moment he set
foot on the American soil, until his embarkation to
return to his native France.

The hearts of the people in the most distant parts
of the Western Hemisphere were warmed and touched
with the honors paid him in the United States. A
letter written at that time from Buenos Ayres, says —
" I have just received newspapers from the United
States, informing me of the magnificent reception of
Gen. La Fayette. I have never read newspapers with
such exquisite delight as these •, and I firmly believe
there never was so interesting and glorious an event in
the civilized world, in which all classes of people parti-
cipated in the general joy, as on this occasion. There
is an association of ideas connected with this event,
that produces in my soul emotions I cannot express,
and fills my heart with such grateful recollections as I
cannot forget but with my existence. That ten mil-
lions of souls, actuated by pure sentiments of gratitude
and friendship, should with one voice pronounce this
individual the 'Guest of the Nation,' and pay him the
highest honors the citizens of a free nation can offer,
is an event which must excite the astonishment of
Europe, and show the inestimable value of liberty."

In June, 1825, La Fayette visited Boston, and on
the 17th day of that month, it being the anniversary
of the battle of Bunker Hill, he participated in the cer-
emonv of laving the corner stone of the monument in

LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS. 177

commemoration of that event, on Bunker Hill. During
his tour at the east, he visited the venerable ex- Presi-
dent John Adams, at Quincy.

But the time for his departure drew near. His jour-
ney had extended as far south as New Orleans, west
to St. Louis, north and east to Massachusetts. He
had passed through, or touched, New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia,
North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisi-
ana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illi-
nois, Indiana, Ohio, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and
Massachusetts.

A new frigate, the Brandywine, named in honor of
the gallant exploits of Gen. La Fayette at the battle of
Brandywine, was provided by Congress to convey him
to France. It was deemed appropriate that he should
take final leave of the nation at the seat of government
in Washington. President Adams invited him to
pass a few weeks in the presidential mansion. Mr.
Adams had been on intimate terms with La Fayette in
his youth, with whom, it is said, he was a marked fa-
vorite. During his sojourn at the capitol, he visited
ex-Presidents Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, at their
several places of residence.

Having paid his respects to these venerated sages,
" the Nation's Guest" prepared to take his final depart-
ure from the midst of a grateful people. The 7th of
September, 1825, was the day appointed for taking
leave. About 12 o'clock, the officers of the General

8*

178 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

Government, civil, military, and naval, together with
the authorities of Washington, Georgetown, and Alex-
andria, with multitudes of citizens and strangers,
assembled in the President's house. La Fayette en-
tered the great hall in silence, leaning on the Marshal
of the District, and one of the sons of the President.
Mr. Adams then with evident emotion, but with much
dignity and firmness, addressed him in the following
terms : —

" General La Fayette : It has been the good fortune of many
of my fellow-citizens, during the course of the year now elapsed,
upon your arrival at their respective places of abode to greet you
with the welcome of the nation. The less pleasing task now de-
volves upon me, of bidding you, in the name of the nation, Adieu !

" It were no longer seasonable, and would be superfluous, to re-
capitulate the remarkable incidents of your early life — incidents
which associated your name, fortunes, and reputation, in imperish-
able connection with the independence and history of the North
American Union.

" The part which you performed at that important juncture was
marked with characters so peculiar, that, realizing the fairest fable of
antiquity, its parallel could scarcely be found in the authentic records
of human history.

" You deliberately and perseveringly preferred toil, danger, the
endurance of every hardship, and privation of every comfort, in de-
fence of a holy cause, to inglorious ease, and the allurements of
rank, affluence, and unrestrained youth, at the most splendid and
fascinating court of Europe.

" That this choice was not less wise than magnanimous, the sanc-
tion of half a century, and the gratulations of unnumbered voices,
all unable to express the gratitude of the heart, with which your
visit to this hemisphere has been welcomed, afford ample demon-
stration.

" When the contest of freedom, to which you had repaired as a
voluntary champion, had closed, by the complete triumph of her

LIFE OP JOHN aUINCY ADAMS. 179

cause in this country of your adoption, you returned to fulfil the
duties of the philanthropist and patriot, in the land of your nativity.
There, in a consistent and undeviating career of forty years, you
have maintained, through every vicissitude of alternate success and
disappointment, the same glorious cause to which the first years of
your active life had been devoted, the improvement of the moral and
political condition of man.

" Throughout that long succession of time, the people of the
United States, for whom and with whom you have fought the bat-
tles of liberty, have been living in the full possession of its fruits ;
one of the happiest among the family of nations. Spreading in
population ; enlarging in territory ; acting and suffering according
to the condition of their nature ; and laying the foundations of the
greatest, and, we humbly hope, the most beneficient power, that ever
regulated the concerns of man upon earth.

" In that lapse of forty years, the generation of men with whom
you co-operated in the conflict of arms, has nearly passed away.
Of the general officers of the American army in that war, you alone
survive. Of the sages who guided our councils ; of the warriors
who met the foe in the field, or upon the wave, with the exception
of a few to whom unusual length of days has been alloted by Hea-
ven, all now sleep with their fathers. A succeeding, and even a
third generation, have arisen to take their places ; and their chil-
dren's children, while rising up to call them blessed, have been
taught by them, as well as admonished by their own constant enjoy-
ment of freedom, to include in every benison upon their fathers, the
name of him, who came from afar, with them and in their cause to
conquer or to fall.

" The universal prevalence of these sentiments was signally man-
ifested by a resolution of Congress, representing the whole people,
and all the States of this Union, requesting the President of the
United States to communicate to you the assurances of the grateful
and affectionate attachment of this government and people, and de-
siring that a national ship might be employed, at your convenience,
for your passage to the borders of our country.

" The invitation was transmitted to you by my venerable prede-
cessor, himself bound to you by the strongest ties of personal friend-
ship ; himself one of those whom the highest honors of his country had
rewarded for blood early shed in her cause, and for a long life of

180 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

devotion to her welfare. By him the services of a national ship
were placed at your disposal. Your delicacy preferred a more pri-
vate conveyance, and a full year has elapsed since you landed upon
our shores. It were scarcely an exaggeration to say that it has
been to the people of the Union a year of uninterrupted festivity
and enjoyment, inspired by your presence. You have traversed the
twenty-four States of this great confederacy — you have been re-
ceived with rapture by the survivors of your earliest companions in
arms — you have been hailed, as a long-absent parent, by their chil-
dren, the men and women of the present age ; and a rising genera-
tion, the hope of future time, in numbers surpassing the whole popu-
lation of that day when you fought at the head and by the side of
their forefathers, have vied with the scanty remnants of that hour
of trial, in acclamations of joy, at beholding the face of him whom
they feel to be the common benefactor of all. You have heard the
mingled voices of the past, the present, and the future age, joining
in one universal chorus of delight at your approach ; and the shouts
of unbidden thousands, which greeted your landing on the soil of
freedom, have followed every step of your way, and still resound
like the rushing of many waters, from every corner of our land.

" You are now about to return to the country of your birth — of
your ancestors — of your posterity. The executive Government of
the Union, stimulated by the same feeling which had prompted the
Congress to the designation of a national ship for your accommoda-
tion in coming hither, has destined the first service of a frigate, re-
cently launched at this metropolis, to the less welcome, but equally
distinguished trust, of conveying you home. The name of the ship
has added one more memorial to distant regions and to future ages,
of a stream already memorable at once in the story of your suffer-
ings and of our independence.

" The ship is now prepared for your reception, and equipped for
sea. From the moment of her departure, the prayers of millions
will ascend to heaven, that her passage may be prosperous, and
your return to the bosom of your family as propitious to your hap-
piness as your visit to this scene of your youthful glory has been
to that of the American people.

" Go then, our beloved friend : return to the land of brilliant ge-
nius, of generous sentiments, of heroic valor; to that beautiful
France, the nursing mother of the twelfth Louis, and the fourth

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 181

Henry ; to the native soil of Bayard and Coligne, of Turenne and
Catinat, of Fenelon and D'Aguesseau ! In that illustrious catalogue
of names, which she claims as of her children, and with honest pride
holds up to the admiration of other nations, the name of La Fayette
has already for centuries been enrolled. And it shall henceforth
burnish into brighter fame : for, if in after days, a Frenchman shall
be called to indicate the character of his nation by that of one indi-
vidual, during the age in which we live, the blood of lofty patriotism
shall mantle in his cheek, the fire of conscious virtue shall sparkle
in his eye, and he shall pronounce the name of La Fayette. Yet
we, too, and our children in life, and after death, shall claim you
for our own. You are ours, by that more than patriotic self-devo-
tion with which you flew to the aid of our fathers at the crisis of
their fate : ours by that long series of years in which you have
cherished us in your regard : ours by that unshaken sentiment of
gratitude for your services, which is a precious portion of our in-
heritance : ours by that tie of love, stronger then death, which has
linked your name, for the endless ages of time, with the name of
Washington.

"At the painful moment of parting from you, we take comfort in
the thought, that wherever you may be, to the last pulsation of your
heart, our country will ever be present to your affections ; and a
cheering consolation assures us that we are not called to sorrow,
most of all, that we shall see your face no mere. We shall in-
dulge the pleasing anticipation of beholding our friend again. In
the mean time, speaking in the name of the whole people of the
United States, and at a loss only for language to give utterance to
that feeling of attachment with which the heart of the nation
beats, as beats the heart of one man — I bid you a reluctant and
affectionate farewell ! !

At the conclusion of this address, Gen. La Fayette
replied as follows : —

" Amidst all my obligations to the General Government, and par-
ticularly to you, sir, its respected Chief Magistrate, I have most
thankfully to acknowledge the opportunity given me, at this solemn
and painful moment, to present the people of the United States
with a parting tribute of profound, inexpressible gratitude.

182 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

" To have been in the infant and critical days of these States
adopted by them as a favorite son ; to have participated in the
trials and perils of our unspotted struggle for independence, free-
dom, and equal rights, and in the foundation of the American era
of a new social order, which has already pervaded this, and must,
for the dignity and happiness of mankind, successively pervade
every part of the other hemisphere ; to have received, at every stage
of the revolution, and during forty years after that period, from the
people of the United States and their Representatives at home and
abroad, continual marks of their confidence and kindness, — has
heen the pride, the encouragement, the support of a long and event-
ful life.

" But how could I find words to acknowledge that series of wel-
comes, those unbounded and universal displays of public affection,
which have marked each step, each hour, of a twelvemonth's prog-
ress through the twenty-four States, and which, while they over-
whelm my heart with grateful delight, have most satisfactorily
evinced the concurrence of the people in the kind testimonies, in the
immense favors bestowed on me by the several branches of their
Representatives, in every part and at the central seat of the con-
federacy ?

" Yet gratifications still higher awaited me. In the wonders of
creation and improvement that have met my enchanted eye, in the
unparalleled and self-felt happiness of the people, in their rapid
prosperity and insured security, public and private, in a practice of
good order, the appendage of true freedom, and a national good
sense, the final arbiter of all difficulties, I have had proudly to recog-
nize a result of the republican principles for which we have fought,
and a glorious demonstration to the most timid and prejudiced
minds, of the superiority, over degrading aristocracy or despotism,
of popular institutions, founded on the plain rights of man, and
where the local rights of every section are preserved under a con-
stitutional bond of union. The cherishing of that union between
the States, as it has been the farewell entreaty of our great paternal
Washington, and will ever have the dying prayer of every Ameri-
can patriot, so it has become the sacred pledge of the emancipation
of the world ; an object in which I am happy to observe that the
American people, while they give the animating example of suc-
cessful free institutions, in return for an evil entailed upon them by

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 163

Europe, and of which a liberal and enlightened sense is every-
where more and more generally felt, show themselves every day
more anxiously interested.

" And now, sir, how can I do justice to my deep and lively feel-
ings for the assurances, most peculiarly valued, of your esteem
and friendship ; for your so very kind references to old times — to my
beloved associates — to the vicissitudes of my life ; for your affecting
picture of the blessings poured, by the several generations of the
American people, on the remaining days of a delighted veteran ; for
your affectionate remarks on this sad hour of separation — on the
country of my birth, full, I can say, of American sympathies — on
the hope, so necessary to me, of my seeing again the country that
has deigned, near a half a century ago, to call me hers ? I shall
content myself, refraining from superfluous repetitions, at once, be-
fore you, sir, and this respected circle, to proclaim my cordial con-
firmation of every one of the sentiments which I have had daily
opportunities publicly to utter, from the time when your venerable
predecessor, my old brother in arms and friend, transmitted to me
the honorable invitation of Congress, to this day, when you, my
dear sir, whose friendly connection with me dates from your earliest
youth, are going to consign me to the protection, across the Atlan-
tic, of the heroic national flag, on board the splendid ship, the name
of which has been not the least flattering and kind among the num-
berless favors conferred upon me.

" God bless you, sir, and all who surround us. God bless the
American people, each of their States, and the Federal Government.
Accept this patriotic farewell of an overflowing heart. Such will
be its last throb when it ceases to beat."

As the last sentence of the farewell was pronounced,
La Fayette advanced and took President Adams in his
arms, while tears poured down his venerable cheeks.
Retiring a few paces, he was overcome by his feelings,
and again returned, and falling on the neck of Mr.
Adams, exclaimed in broken accents, " God bless you !"
It was a scene at once solemn and moving, as the

184 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

sighs and tears of many who witnessed it bore testi-
mony. Having recovered his self-possession, the Gen-
eral stretched out his hands, and was in a moment
surrounded by the greetings of the whole assembly,
who pressed upon him, each eager to seize, perhaps
for the last time, that beloved hand which was opened
so freely for our aid when aid was so precious, and
which grasped with firm and undeviating hold the
steel which so bravely helped to achieve our deliver-
ance. The expression which now beamed from the
face of this exalted man was of the finest and most
touching kind. The hero was lost in the father and
the friend. Dignity melted into subdued affection,
and the friend of Washington seemed to linger with
a mournful delight among the sons of his adopted
country.

A considerable period was then occupied in con-
versing wTith various individuals, while refreshments
were presented to the company. The moment of
departure at length arrived ; and having once more
pressed the hand of Mr. Adams, he entered the ba-
rouche, accompanied by the Secretaries of State, of
the Treasury, and of the Navy, and passed from the
capital of the Union. An immense procession accom-
panied him to the banks of the Potomac, where the
steamboat Mount Vernon awaited to convey him down
the river to the frigate Brandywine. The whole scene
— the peals of artillery, the sounds of numerous military
bands, the presence of the vast concourse of people,

LIFE OF JOHN dUINCY ADAMS. 185

and the occasion that assembled them, produced emo-
tions not easily described, but which every American
heart can readily conceive. As the steamboat moved
off, the deepest silence was observed by the whole
multitude that lined the shore. The feelings that per-
vaded them was that of children bidding farewell to a
venerated parent.

When the boat came opposite the tomb of Wash-
ington, at Mount Vernon, it paused in its progress.
La Fayette arose. The wonders which he had per-
formed, for a man of his age, in successfully accomplish-
ing labors enough to have tested his meridian vigor,
whose animation rather resembled the spring than the
winter of life, now seemed unequal to the task he was
about to perform — to take a last look at " The tomb of
Washington !" He advanced to the effort. A silence
the most impressive reigned around, till the strains of
sweet and plaintive music completed the grandeur
and sacred solemnity of the scene. All hearts beat in
unison with the throbbings of the veteran's bosom, as
he looked, for the last time, on the sepulchre which
contained the ashes of the first of men ! He spoke
not, but appeared absorbed in the mighty recollections
which the place and the occasion inspired.

After this scene, the boat resumed its course, and the
next morning anchored in safety near the Brandywine.
Here La Fayette took leave of the Secretaries of State,
the Treasury, and the Navy, and the guests who had
accompanied him from Washington, together with

186 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

many military and naval officers and eminent citizens
who had assembled in various crafts near the frigate
to bid him farewell. The weather had been boisterous
and rainy, but just as the affecting scene had closed,
the sun burst forth to cheer a spectacle which will long
be remembered, and formed a magnificent arch, reach-
ing from shore to shore — the barque which was to bear
the venerable chief being immediately in the centre.
Propitious omen ! Heaven smiles on the good deeds
of men ! And if ever there was a sublime and virtuous
action to be blessed by heaven and admired by men, it
is when a free and grateful people unite to do honor to
their friend and benefactor !*

* National Intelligencer.

CHAPTER IX.

JOHN ADAMS AND THOMAS JEFFERSON THEIR CORRESPON-
DENCE THEIR DEATH MR. WEBSTER'S EULOGY JOHN Q.

ADAMS VISITS QUINCY HIS SPEECH AT THE PUBLIC SCHOOL

DINNER IN FANEUIL HALL.

The patriarchs John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
still lingered on the shores of time. The former had
attained the good old age of 90 years, and the latter
82. Mrs. Adams, the venerable companion of the
ex- President, died in Quincy, on the 28th of Oct., 1818,
aged 74 years. Although, amid the various political
strifes through which they had passed during the half
century they had taken prominent parts in the affairs
of their country, Adams and Jefferson had frequently
been arrayed in opposite parties, and cherished many
views quite dissimilar, yet their private friendship and
deep attachment had been unbroken. It continued to
be cherished with generous warmth to the end of their
days. This pleasing fact, together with the wonderful
vigor of their minds in extreme old age, is proved by
the following interesting correspondence between them,
which took place four years before their decease : —

188 LIFE OP JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

MR. JEFFERSON TO MR. ADAMS.

"Monticello, June 1, 1822.
" It is very long, my dear sir, since I have written to you. My
dislocated wrist is now become so stiff, that I write slowly, and with
pain ; and therefore write as little as I can. Yet it is due to mu-
tual friendship, to ask once in a while how we do ? The papers tell
us that General Starke is off, at the age of ninety-three. *****
still lives at about the same age, cheerful, slender as a grasshopper,
and so much without memory, that he scarcely recognizes the mem-
bers of his household. An intimate friend of his called on him,
not long since. It was difficult to make him recollect who he was,
and sitting one hour, he told him the same story four times over.
Is this life ? — with laboring step

'To tread our former footsteps? pace the round
Eternal ? — to beat and beat
The beaten track — to see what we have seen —
To taste the tasted— o'er our palates to decant
Another vintage ?'

" It is, at most, but the life of a cabbage, surely not worth a wish.
When all our faculties have left, or are leaving us, one by one,
sight, hearing, memory, every avenue of pleasing sensation is closed,
and athumy, debility, and mal-aise left in their places, when the
friends of our youth are all gone, and a generation is risen around
us whom we know not, is death an evil ?

' When one by one our ties are torn,
And friend from friend is snatch 'd forlorn ;
When man is left alone to mourn,
Oh, then, how sweet it is to die !

'When trembling limbs refuse their weight,
And films slow gathering dim the sight ;
When clouds obscure the mental light,
Tis nature's kindest boon to die !'

" I really think so. I have ever dreaded a doting old age ; and
my health has been generally so good, and is now so good, that I
dread it still. The rapid decline of my strength during the last
winter, has made me hope sometimes, that I see land. During
summer, I enjoy its temperature, but I shudder at the approach of

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 189

winter, and wish I could sleep through it, with the dormouse, and
only wake with him in spring, if ever. They say that Starke could
walk about his room. I am told you walk well and firmly. I can
only reach my garden, and that with sensible fatigue. I ride, how-
ever, daily ; but reading is my delight. I should wish never to put
pen to paper ; and the more because of the treacherous practice
some people have, of publishing one's letters without leave. Lord
Mansfield declared it a breach of trust, and punishable at law. I
think it should be a penitentiary felony ; yet you will have seen
that they have drawn me out into the arena of the newspapers.
Although I know it is too late for me to buckle on the armor of
youth, yet my indignation would not permit me passively to receive
the kick of an ass.

" To return to the news of the day, it seems that the cannibals
of Europe are going to eat one another again. A war between
Russia and Turkey is like the battle of the kite and snake ; which-
ever destroys the other, leaves a destroyer the less for the world.
This pugnacious humor of mankind seems to be the law of his
nature ; one of the obstacles to too great multiplication, provided in
the mechanism of the universe. The cocks of the hen-yard kill
one another ; bears, bulls, rams, do the same, and the horse in his
wild state kills all the young males, until, worn down with age and
war, some vigorous youth kills him. ****** I hope we shall
prove how much happier for man the Quaker policy is, and that the
life of the feeder is better than that of the fighter. And it is some
consolation that the desolation by these maniacs of one part of the
earth is the means of improving it in other parts. Let the latter
be our office ; and let us milk the cow while the Russian holds her
by the horns, and the Turk by the tail. God bless you, and give
you health, strength, good spirits, and as much of life as you think
worth having. Thomas Jefferson."

MR. ADAMS' REPLY.

" Quincy, June 11, 1822.
" Dear Sir : — Half an hour ago I received, and this moment have
heard read, for the third or fourth time, the best letter that ever was
written by an octogenarian, dated June 1st.

**********

" I have not sprained my wrist ; but both my arms and hands are

190 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

so overstrained that I cannot write a line. Poor Starke remem-
bered nothing, and could talk of nothing but the battle of Benning-
ton ! ******** is not quite so reduced. I cannot mount my
horse, but I can walk three miles over a rugged, rocky mountain,
and have done it within a month ; yet I feel, when sitting in my
chair, as if I could not rise out of it ; and when risen, as if I could
not walk across the room. My sight is very dim, hearing pretty
good, memory poor enough.

" 1 answer your question, — Is death an evil ? It is not an evil.
It is a blessing to the individual and to the world ; yet we ought not
to wish for it, till life becomes insupportable. We must wait the
pleasure and convenience of the ' Great Teacher.' Winter is as
terrible to me as to you. I am almost reduced in it to the life of a
bear or a torpid swallow. I cannot read, but my delight is to hear
others read ; and I tax all my friends most unmercifully and tyran-
nically against their consent.

" The ass has kicked in vain ; all men say the dull animal has
missed the mark.

" This globe is a theatre of war ; its inhabitants are all heroes.
The little eels in vinegar, and the animalcules in pepper-water, I
believe, are quarrelsome. The bees are as warlike as the Romans,
Russians, Britons, or Frenchmen. Ants, caterpillars, and canker-
worms are the only tribes among whom I have not seen battles ;
and Heaven itself, if we believe Hindoos, Jews, Christians, and
Mahometans, has not always been at peace. We need not trouble
ourselves about these things, nor fret ourselves because of evil
doers ; but safely trust the ' Ruler with his skies.' Nor need we dread
the approach of dotage ; let it come if it must. ******, it seems,
still delights in his four stories ; and Starke remembered to the last
his Bennington, and exulted in his glory ; the worst of the evil is,
that our friends will suffer more by our imbecility than we ourselves.

" In wishing for your health and happiness, I am very selfish ;
for I hope for more letters. This is worth more than five hundred
dollars to me ; for it has already given me, and will continue to give
me, more pleasure than a thousand. Mr. Jay, who is about your
age, I am told, experiences more decay than you do.
" I am your old friend,

"John Adams."

LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS. 191

This correspondence excited attention in Europe.
The editor of the London Morning Chronicle prefaces
it with the following remarks : —

" What a contrast the following correspondence of the two rival
Presidents of the greatest Republic of the world, reflecting an old
age dedicated to virtue, temperance, and philosophy, presents to the
heart-sickening details, occasionally disclosed to us, of the miser-
able beings who fill the thrones of the continent. There is not, per-
haps, one sovereign of the continent, who in any sense of the word
can be said to honor our nature, while many make us almost
ashamed of it. The curtain is seldom drawn aside without exhibit-
ing to us beings worn out with vicious indulgence, diseased in
mind, if not in body, the creatures of caprice and insensibility. On
the other hand, since the foundation of the American Republic, the
chair has never been filled by a man, for whose life (to say the
least,) any American need once to blush. It. must, therefore, be
some compensation to the Americans for the absence of pure mon-
archy, that when they look upwards their eyes are not always
met by vice, and meannesss, and often idiocy."

John Adams joined his fellow-citizens of Quincy,
Mass., in celebrating the 4th of July, 1823, at the age
of 88 years. Being called upon for a toast, he gave
the following : —

" The excellent President, Governor, Ambassador, and Chief Jus-
tice, John Jay, whose name, by accident, was not subscribed on the
Declaration of Independence, as it ought to have been, for he
was one of its ablest and faithfullest supporters. — A splendid star
just setting below the horizon."

It would be difficult (said the Boston Patriot,) fully
to describe the delicate manner in which this toast
was received and noticed by the company. Instead
of loud acclamations, which succeeded the other toasts,

192 LIFE OP JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

it was followed by soft and interrupted interjections
and aspirations, as if each individual was casting up an
ejaculatory prayer, that the two illustrious sages might
pass the remainder of their days in tranquillity and ease,
and finally be landed on the blissful shores of a happy
eternity.

In September, 1825, President Adams, with his fam-
ily, left Washington, on a visit to his venerable father,
at Quincy. He travelled without ostentation, and espe-
cially requested that no public display might be mani-
fested. At Philadelphia, Mrs. Adams was taken ill, and
the President was compelled to proceed without her.
This visit was of short duration. Called back to
Washington by public affairs, he left Quincy on the
14th of October. It was his last interview on earth
with his venerated parent. The aged patriarch had
lived to see his country emancipated from foreign thral-
dom, its independence acknowledged, its union con-
summated, its prosperity and perpetuity resting on an
immovable foundation, and his son elevated to the
highest office in its gift. It was enough ! His work
accomplished — the book of his eventful life written and
sealed for immortality — he was ready to depart and be
at peace.

The 4th of July, 182G, will long be memorable for
one of the most remarkable coincidences that has
ever taken place in the history of nations. It was the
fiftieth anniversary — the "jubilee" — of American inde-
pendence ! Preparations had been made throughout

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 193

the Union, to celebrate the day with unusual pomp
and display. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had
both been invited to participate in the festivities of the
occasion, at their several places of abode. But a higher
summons awaited them ! they were bidden to a
"jubilee" above, which shall have no end! On that
half-century anniversary of American Independence,
at nearly the same hour of the day, the spirits of
Adams and Jefferson took their departure from earth ! !
Amid the rejoicings of the people, the peals of artillery,
the strains of music, the exultations of a great nation
in the enjoyment of freedom, peace, and happiness, they
were released from the toils of life, and allowed to en-
ter on their rest.

The one virtually the mover, the other the framer, of
the immortal Declaration of Independence — they had
together shared the dangers and the honors of the rev-
olution— had served their country in various impor-
tant and responsible capacities — had both received the
highest honors in the gift of their fellow-citizens — had
lived to see the nation to which they assisted in giving
birth assume a proud stand among the nations of the
earth — her free institutions framed, consolidated, tried,
and matured — her commerce hovering over all seas —
respected abroad, united, prosperous, happy at home —
what more had earth in store for them ? Together
they had counselled — together they had dared the
power of a proud and powerful Government — together
they had toiled to build up a great and prosperous peo-

9

194 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

pie — together they rejoiced in the success with which
a wise and good Providence had crowned their labors
— and together, on their country's natal day, amid the
loud-swelling acclamations of the "national jubilee,"
their freed spirits soared to light and glory above !

The venerable ex-President Adams had been failing
for several days before the 4th of July. In reply to an
invitation from a committee of the citizens of Quincy,
to unite with them in celebrating the fiftieth anniver-
sary of American independence, he had written a note,
from which the following is an extract : —

" The present feeble state of my health will not permit me to in-
dulge the hope of participating with more than my best wishes, in
the joys, and festivities, and the solemn services of that day on
which will be completed the fiftieth year from its birth, of the inde-
pendence of the United States : a memorable epoch in the annals
of the human race, destined in future history to form the brightest
or the blackest page, according to the use or the abuse of those po-
litical institutions by which they shall, in time to come, be shaped
by the human mind."

Being solicited for a toast, to accompany the letter,
he gave — "Independence forever!!" He was asked
if anything should be added to it. Immediately he
replied — "Not a word /" This toast was drank at the
celebration in Quincy, about fifty minutes before the
departure of the venerated statesman from earth.

On the morning of the 4th, which was ushered in
by the ringing of bells and firing of cannon, he was
asked if he knew what day it was ? — " O yes," he re-
plied, " it is the glorious fourth of July — God bless it ! —

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, 195

God bless you all ! !" In the course of the day he
said, "It is a great and glorious day." The last words
he uttered were, " Jefferson survives !" But the spirit
of Jefferson had already left the body, and was hover-
ing over the earth, to accompany his to higher and
brighter scenes of existence ! !

Mr. Jefferson had been sensible for some days, that
his last hour was at hand. He conversed with his
family and friends, with the utmost composure, of his
departure, and gave directions concerning his coffin
and his funeral. He was desirous that the latter
should take place at Monticello, and that it should be
without any display or parade. On Monday he in-
quired the day of the month ? Being told it was the
3d of July, he expressed an earnest desire that he
might be allowed to behold the light of the next day —
the fiftieth anniversary of American independence.
His prayer was heard and answered. He beheld the
rising of that sun on the morning of the 4th, which
was to set on a nation mourning the loss of two of its
noblest benefactors, and its brightest ornaments. He
was cheerful to the last. A day or two previous, being
in great pain, he said to his physician — " Well, doctor,
a few hours more, and the struggle will be over."

On the morning of the last day, as the physician en-
tered his apartment, he said, " You see, doctor, I am
here yet." On a member of his family expressing an
opinion that he was better, he replied, with evident im-
patience— " Do not imagine for a momont that I feel

196 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

the smallest solicitude as to the result." Some individ-
ual present uttering a hope that he might recover, he
asked with a smile — " Do you think I fear to die V
Thus departed Thomas Jefferson. His last words
were — " I resign my soul to my God, and my daughter
to my country !"

President J. Q. Adams receiving intelligence at
Washington of the illness of his father, started im-
mediately for Quincy. Shortly before arriving at Bal-
timore, tidings reached him that the patriarch had gone
to his rest. Mr. Adams pursued his journey, but did
not arrive at Quincy in season to be present at the
funeral. This took place on the 7th of July. It was
attended by a large body of citizens, assembled from
the surrounding region. The funeral services took
place at the Unitarian church in Quincy, on which
occasion an impressive discourse was delivered by the
Pastor, Rev. Mr. Whitney. The pall-bearers were
Judge Davis, President Kirkland, Gov. Lincoln, Hon.
Mr. Greenleaf, Judge Story, and Lieut. Gov. Win-
throp. During the exercises and the moving of the
procession, minute guns were fired from Mount Wal-
laston, and from various eminences in the adjoining
towns, and every mark of respect was paid to the
remains of one who filled so high a place in the history
of his country and the regard of his fellow-citizens.

On the 2d of August, Mr. Webster delivered a
eulogy on the death of Adams and Jefferson, before

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 197

the city authorities of Boston, and a vast body of
people, in Faneuil Hall. President Adams was pres-
ent. It was one of Mr. Webster's most eloquent and
successful attempts. He commenced as follows : —

" This is an unaccustomed spectacle. For the first time, fellow-
citizens, badges of mourning shroud the columns and overhang the
arches of this hall. These walls, which were consecrated, so long
ago, to the cause of American liberty, which witnessed her infant
struggles and rung with the shouts of her earliest victories, proclaim
now, that distinguished friends and champions of that great cause
have fallen. It is right that it should be thus. The tears which
flow, and the honors that are paid, when the Founders of the Repub-
lic die, give hope that the Republic itself may be immortal. It is
fit, that by public assembly and solemn observance, by anthem and
by eulogy, we commemorate the services of national benefactors, ex-
tol their virtues, and render thanks to God for eminent blessings,
early given and long continued to our favored country.

" Adams and Jefferson are no more ; and we are assembled,
fellow-citizens, the aged, the middle-aged and the young, by the
spontaneous impulse of all, under the authority of the municipal
government, with the presence of the chief magistrate of the com-
monwealth, and others of its official representatives, the university,
and the learned societies, to bear our part in these manifestations of
respect and gratitude, which universally pervade the land. Adams
and Jefferson are no more. On our fiftieth anniversary, the great
national jubilee, in the very hour of public rejoicing, in the midst of
echoing and re-echoing voices of thanksgiving, while their own
names were on all tongues, they took their flight together to the
world of spirits."

The conclusion of Mr. Webster's eulogy was equally
impressive :

" Fellow-citizens : I will detain you no longer by this faint and
feeble tribute to the illustrious dead. Even in other hands, adequate
justice could not be performed, within the limits of this occasion.
Their highest, their best praise, is your deep conviction of their

198 LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS.

merits, your affectionate gratitude for their labors and services. It
is not my voice, it is this cessation of ordinary pursuits, this arrest-
ing of all attention, those solemn ceremonies, and this crowded
house, which speak their eulogy. Their fame, indeed, is safe.
That is now treasured up, beyond the reach of accident. Although
no sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone
bear record to their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting
as the land they honored. Marble columns may, indeed, moulder
into dust, time may erase all impress from the crumbling stone, but
their fame remains ; for with American liberty it rose, and with
American liberty only can it perish. It was the last swelling peal
of yonder choir — ' Their bodies are buried in peace, but
their name liveth evermore !' I catch that solemn song, I
echo that lofty strain of funeral triumph ! ' Their name liveth ever-
more.'

" It cannot be denied, but by those who would dispute against
the sun, that with America, and in America, a new era commences
in human affairs. This era is distinguished by free representative
governments, by entire religious liberty, by improved systems of na-
tional intercourse, by a newly-awakened and an unconquerable spirit
of free inquiry, and by a diffusion of knowledge through the com-
munity, such as has been before altogether unknown and unheard
of. America, America, our country, fellow-citizens, our own dear
and native land, is inseparably connected, fast bound up, in fortune
and by fate, with these great interests. If they fall, we fall with
them ; if they stand, it will be because we have upholden them.
Let us contemplate, then, this connection, which binds the prosperity
of others to our own ; and let us manfully discharge all the duties
which it imposes. If we cherish the virtues and the principles of
our fathers, heaven will assist us to carry on the work of human
liberty, and human happiness. Auspicious omens cheer us : great
examples are before us : our own firmament now shines brightly
upon our path : Washington is in the clear upper sky. These
other stars have now joined the American constellation ; they circle
around their centre, and the heavens beam with a new light. Be-
neath this illumination, let us walk the course of life, and at its
close devoutly commend our beloved country, the common parent of
us all, to the Divine Benignity,"

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 199

During this visit at the East, at this time, President
J. Q. Adams attended the annual examination of the
public schools in Boston, and was present at the public
dinner given in Faneuil Hall, to the school committee,
teachers, and most meritorious scholars. In reply to
a complimentary toast from the Mayor, Mr. Adams
responded as follows : —

" Mr. Mayor, and my Fellow-citizens of Boston : — A few days
since, we were assembled in this Hall, as the house of mourning —
in commemoration of the two last survivors of that day which had
proclaimed at once our independence and our existence as a nation.
We are now assembled within the same walls, at the house of
feasting — at the festival of fathers rejoicing in the progressive
improvement of their children.

" We have been told by the wisest man of antiquity, that it is
better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting.
How emphatically true would that sentence be, if the house of
mourning were always such as this hall but so recently exhibited !
— a mourning of gratitude — a mourning of faithful affection — a
mourning full of consolation and joy. And yet, could the wisest
of men now look down upon this happy meeting — of parents par-
taking together of the bounties of Providence, in mutual gratulation
with each other at the advances of their offspring in moral and
intellectual cultivation — would he, could he, my friends, have said
that it is better to go to the house of mourning than to such a house
of feasting ?

" For is not the spirit of that solemnity, and of this, effectively
the same ? If that was the commemoration of the good deeds of
your forefathers, may not this be called the commemoration of the
future achievements of your sons ? If that day was dedicated to
the blessed memory of the past, is not this devoted to the no less
blessed hope of the future ? It was from schools of public instruc-
tion, instituted by our forefathers, that the light burst forth. It was
in the primary schools ; it was by the midnight lamps of Harvard
hall, that were conceived and matured, as it was within these hal-

200 LIFE OF JOHN C1UINCY ADAMS.

lowed walls that were first resounded the accents of that independ-
ence which is now canonized in the memory of those by whom
it was proclaimed.

" Was it not there that were formed, to say nothing of him ' fit
for the praise of any tongue but mine,' — but was it not there that
were formed, and prepared for the conflicts of the mind, for the
intellectual warfare which distinguishes your Revolution from all
the brutal butcheries of vulgar war, your James Otis, your John
Hancock, your Samuel Adams, your Robert Treat Paine, your
Elbridge Gerry, your James and your Joseph Warren, and last,
not least, your Josiah Quincy, so worthily represented by your
Chief Magistrate here at my side ?

" Indulge me, fellow-citizens, with the remark, that I have been
called to answer to myself these questions, before I could enjoy the
happiness, at the very kind invitation of your Mayor and Aldermen,
of presenting myself among you this day.

" In conformity to my own inclinations, and to the usages of
society, I have deemed it proper, on the recent bereavement I have
sustained, to withdraw for a time from the festive intercourse of
the world, and in retirement, so far as may be consistent with the
discharge of public trusts, to prepare for and perform the additional
duties devolving upon me, as a son, and as a parent, from this
visitation of heaven. To that retirement I have hitherto been con-
fined ; and in departing from it for a single day, I have needed an
apology to myself, as I trust I shall need one to you. Seek for
it, my fellow- citizens in your own paternal hearts. I have been
unable to resist the invitation of the authorities of this my own
almost native city, to mingle with her inhabitants in the joyous
festivities of this occasion — and, after witnessing, in the visitation
of the schools, hundreds and thousands of the rising generation
training ' up in the way they should go ;' to come here and behold
the distinguished proficients of the schools sharing at the social
board the pleasures of their fathers, and to congratulate the
fathers on the growing virtues and brightening talents of their
children.

" But, fellow-citizens, I will no longer trespass upon your indul-
gence. I thank you for the sentiment with which you have
honored me. I thank you for the many affecting testimonials of
kindness and sympathy which I have so often received at your

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 201

hands ; and will give you as a token of my good wishes, not your-
selves, but objects dearer to your hearts. Mr. Mayor, I propose to
you for a toast —

" The blooming youth of Boston — May the maturity of the fruit
be equal to the promise of the blossom."

CHAPTER X.

MR. ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION REFUSES TO REMOVE POLITICAL

OPPOSERS FROM OFFICE URGES THE IMPORTANCE OF IN-
TERNAL IMPROVEMENTS APPOINTS COMMISSIONERS TO THE

CONGRESS OF PANAMA HIS POLICY TOWARD THE INDIAN

TRIBES HIS SPEECH ON BREAKING GROUND FOR THE

CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL BITTER OPPOSITION TO

HIS ADMINISTRATION FAILS OF RE-ELECTION TO THE PRES-
IDENCY RETIRES FROM OFFICE.

In administering the Government of the United
States, Mr. Adams adhered with rigid fidelity to the
principles embodied in his inaugural speech. Believ-
ing that " the will of the people is the source, and the
happiness of the people the end, of all legitimate govern-
ment on earth," it was his constant aim to act up to
this patriotic principle in the discharge of his duties
as chief magistrate. He was emphatically the Presi-
dent of the entire people, and not of a section, or a
party. His administration was truly national in its
scope, its objects, and its results. His views of the
sacred nature of the trust imposed upon him by his
fellow-citizens were too exalted to allow him to des-
ecrate the power with which it clothed him to the pro-
motion of party or personal interests. Although not
.inmindful of the party which elevated him to the

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCT ADAMS. 203

presidency, nor forgetful of the claims of those who
yielded sympathy and support to the measures of his
administration, yet in all his doings in this respect, his
primary aim was the genera] good. Simply a friend-
ship for him, or his measures, without other and requi-
site qualifications, would not ensure from Mr. Adams
an appointment to office. Neither did an opposition
to his administration alone, except there was a marked
practical unfitness for office, ever induce him to remove
an individual from a public station.

Looking back to the administration of Mr. Adams
from the present day, and comparing it with those
which have succeeded it, or even those which preceded
it, the acknowledgment must be made by all candid
minds, that it will lose nothing in purity, patriotism,
and fidelity, in the discharge of all its trusts. He was
utterly incapable of proscription for opinion's sake.
With a stern integrity worthy the highest admira-
tion, and which the people at that period were far too
slow to acknowledge and appreciate, he would not dis-
place his most active political opponents from public
stations he found them occupying, provided they were
competent to their duty and faithful in the discharge
of the same. " It was in my hearing that, to a repre-
sentation that a certain important and influential
functionary of the General Government in New York
was using the power of his office adversely to Mr.
Adams's re-election, and that he ought to desist or
be removed, Mr. Adams made this reply : — ' That

201 LIFE OF JOHN aUlNCY ADAMS.

gentleman is one of the best officers in the public
service. I have had occasion to know his diligence,
exactness, and punctuality. On public grounds, there-
fore, there is no cause of complaint against him,
and upon no other will I remove him. If I cannot
administer the Government on these principles, I am
content to go back to Quincy /'"* Being in Baltimore
on a certain occasion, among those introduced to him
was a gentleman who accosted him thus — "Mr.
President, though I differ from you in opinion, I am
glad to find you in good health." The President gave
him a hearty shake of the hand, and replied, — " Sir, in
our happy and free country, we can differ in opinion
without being enemies."

These anecdotes illustrate the character and prin-
ciples of Mr. Adams. He knew nothing of the
jealousy and bitterness which are gendered, in little
minds and hearts, by disparities of sentiment. Free-
dom of opinion he considered the birthright of every
American citizen, and he would in no instance be the
instrument of inflicting punishment upon the head of
any man on account of its exercise. High and pure
in all his aims, he sought to reach them by means of
a corresponding character. If he could not succeed
in the use of such instruments, he was content to meet
defeat. The rule by which he was governed in the
discharge of his official duties, is beautifully expressed
by the dramatic bard : —

* King's Eulogy on John Quincy Adams.

LIFE OF JOHN CtUlNCY ADAMS. 205

" Be just and fear not.
Let all the ends thou aim'st at, be thy Country's,
Thy God's, and Truth's. Then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell,
Thou fall'st a blessed martyr !"

In the truly republican position which Mr. Adams
took in regard to appointments to office, and which,
it is humiliating to believe, was one means of his
subsequent defeat, he but faithfully imitated the ex-
ample of "the Father of his country." When Gen.
Washington occupied the presidential chair, applica-
tion was made for the appointment of one of his old
and intimate friends to a lucrative office. At the same
time a petition was received asking the same station
for a most determined political opponent. The latter
received the appointment. The friend was greatly dis-
appointed and hurt in his feelings at his defeat. Let the
explanation of Washington be noted and ever remem-
bered : — " My friend," said he, " I receive with cordial
welcome. He is welcome to my house, and welcome
to my heart ; but with all his good qualities he is not a
man of business. His opponent, with all his politics
so hostile to me, is a man of business. My private
feelings have nothing to do in the case. I am not
George Washington, but President of the United
States. As George Washington, I would do this man
any kindness in my power — as President of the United
States, I can do nothing."

The period of Mr. Adams's administration, was not

206 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

one which admitted of acts calculated to rivet the
attention, or excite the admiration and applause of the
multitude. No crisis occurred in national affairs — no
imminent peril from without, or danger within, threat-
ened the well-being of the country ! Quietness reigned
throughout the world, and the nations were allowed
once more to cultivate the arts of peace, to enlarge the
operations of commerce, and to fix their attention on
domestic interests — the only true fountain of national
prosperity. But though lacking in some of the more
striking elements of popularity, the administration of
Mr. Adams was pre-eminently useful in all its measures
and influences. During no Presidential term since the
organization of the Government, has more been done
to consolidate the Union, and develop its resources,
and lay the foundations of national strength and
prosperity.

The two great interests which, perhaps, received the
largest share of attention from Mr. Adams' adminis-
tration, were internal improvements and domestic man-
ufactures. A special attention to these subjects was
recommended in his messages to Congress. And
throughout his term, he failed not to urge these vita!
matters upon the attention of the people, and their rep-
resentatives. He recommended the opening of national
roads and canals — the improvement of the navigation
of rivers, and the safety of harbors — the survey of our
coasts, the erection of light houses, piers, and break-
waters. Whatever tended to facilitate communication

.LIFE OF JOHN (iUINCY ADAMS. * 207

and transportation between extreme portions of the
Union — to bring the people of distant sections into a
more direct intercourse with each other, and bind them
. together by ties of a business, social and friendly nature
— to promote enterprize, industry, and enlarged views
of national and individual prosperity — obtained his
earnest sanction and recommendation. To encourage
home labor — to protect our infant manufactories from
a fatal competition with foreign pauper wages — to
foster and build up in the bosom of the country a
system of domestic production, which should not only
supply home consumption, and afford a home market
for raw materials and provisions, the produce of our
own soil, but enable us in due time to compete with
other nations in sending our manufactures to foreign
markets — he yielded all his influence to the levying of
protective duties on foreign articles, especially such as
could be produced in our own country. The wisdom
of this policy, its direct tendency to promote national
wealth and strength, and to render the Union truly in-
dependent of the fluctuations and vicissitudes of foreign
countries, cannot be doubted, it would seem, by those
possessing clear minds and sound judgment, of all
parties.

Under the faithful supervision of one so vigilant as
Mr. Adams, the foreign relations of the Government
could not have been neglected. The intimate knowl-
edge of the condition of foreign nations, their resources
and their wants, which was possessed by himself and

208 LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS.

by Mr. Clay, the Secretary of State, afforded facilities
in this department, from which the country reaped the
richest benefit. During the four years of his adminis-
tration, more treaties were negotiated at Washington
than during the entire thirty-six years through which
the preceding administrations had extended. New
treaties of amity, navigation and commerce, were con-
cluded with Austria, Sweden, Denmark, the Hanseatic
League, Prussia, Colombia, and Central America
Commercial difficulties and various arrangements of
a satisfactory character, were settled with the Nether-
lands, and other European Governments. The claims
of our citizens against Sweden, Denmark and Brazil,
for spoilations of commerce, were satisfactorily con-
summated.

" As time advances, the evidences are accumulating
on all sides, that the administration of John Quincy
Adams was one of the most wise, patriotic, pacific,
just, and wealth-producing, in the history of the country;
and no small part of that benefit may justly be ascribed
to the aid he received from his Secretary of State.
Mr. Adams himself was a great statesman, bred in the
school of statesmen, and all his life exercised in the
business of state, with recognized skill, and approved
fidelity. The seven years immediately preceding the
administration of Mr. Adams, was a period of great
commercial embarrassment and distress ; and the seven
years subsequent to his entrance on the duties of chief

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY AUAMS. 209

executive, was a period of great public and private
prosperity."*

While Mr. Adams was thus seeking to foster and en-
courage the industrial and monetary interests of the
country, he was not forgetful of the important claims
of literature and science. President Washington, during
his administration, had repeatedly urged on Congress
the importance of establishing a national university at
the capital ; and he had located and bequeathed a site
for that purpose. But his appeals on this subject had
been in vain. In Mr. Adams's first message, he ear-
nestly called on Congress to carry into execution this
recommendation of the Father of his Country — insist-
ing that " among the first, perhaps the very first instru-
ment for the improvement of the condition of men, is
knowledge ; and to the acquisition of much of the
knowledge adapted to the wants, the comforts, and the
enjoyments of human life, public institutions and sem-
inaries of learning are essential."

In the same message Mr. Adams recommended the
establishment of a national observatory. "Connected
with the establishment of an university," he said " or,
separate from it, might be undertaken the erection of
an astronomical observatory, with provision for the
support of an astronomer, to be in constant attendance
of observation upon the phenomena of the heavens, and
for the periodical publication of his observations. It is
with no feeling of pride, as an American, that the re-

* Cotton's Life of Clay.

210 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

mark may be made, that, on the comparatively small
territorial surface of Europe, there are existing upwards
of one hundred and thirty of these light-houses in the
skies ; while, throughout the whole American hemi-
sphere, there is not one. If we reflect a moment upon
the discoveries which, in the last four centuries, have
been made in the physical constitution of the universe,
by the means of these buildings, and of observers sta-
tioned in them, shall we doubt of their usefulness to
every nation ? And while scarcely a year passes over
our heads without bringing some new astronomical
discovery to light, which we must fain receive at second
hand from Europe, are we not cutting ourselves off from
the means of returning light for light, while we have
neither observatory nor observer upon our half of the
globe, and the earth revolves in perpetual darkness to
our unsearching eyes ?"

It is humiliating to reflect that neither of these rec-
ommendations received an encouraging response from
Congress. The latter suggestion, indeed, excited the
ridicule of many of the opposers of Mr. Adams, and
"a light-house in the skies," became a term of reproach
in their midst. In this, however, it must be confessed,
their ridicule was greatly at the expense of their intel-
ligence, their public spirit, and their devotion to the
highest intei*ests of man. There are few reflections
more mortifying to an American citizen, than that
while so large a portion of the resources of the na-
tional Government have been exhausted in prosecuting

LIFE OP JOHN aUINCY ADAMS. 211

party measures, rewarding partisan services, and pro-
moting sectional and personal schemes, little or nothing
has been devoted to the encouragement of the arts and
sciences, and the cultivation of those higher walks of
human attainment which exalt and refine a people, and
fit them for the purest and sweetest enjoyments of life.

It was during the first year of his administration, that
the attention of Mr. Adams was called to a proposed
Congress of all the Republics on the American Con-
tinent, to meet at Panama. The objects designed to be
accomplished by such a Congress have been variously
stated. It has been believed by some to have been
called for the purpose of opposing a supposed project,
entertained by the Allied Powers of Europe, of combin-
ing for the purpose of reducing the American Republics
to their former condition of European vassalage. Be
this as it may, the Panama Congress, among its objects,
aimed at the cementing of the friendly relations of all
the independent States of America, and the forming of
a kind of mutual council, to act as an umpire to settle
the differences which might arise between them.

The United States was invited to send representa-
tives to Panama. Mr. Adams, as President, in view
of the beneficial influences which in various ways
might flow from such a meeting, accepted the invita-
tion, with the understanding that the Government of
the United States would take no part that could con-
flict with its neutral position, in the wars which might

212 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

then be in existence between any of the South Ameri-
can Republics and other powers. The acceptance of
this invitation was announced by Mr. Adams in his
first message to Congress. This was immediately fol-
lowed by the nomination of Messrs. Richard C. Ander-
son and John Sargeant, as commissioners to the Con-
gress of Panama, and Wm. B. Rochester, of New
York, as secretary of the commission. These nomina-
tions were confirmed by the Senate ; and an appro-
priation was voted by the House of Representatives,
after strong opposition and much delay, to carry the
contemplated measure into effect.

But the United States Government was never repre-
sented in the Panama Congress. The proceedings in
the House of Representatives on this subject had been
so protracted, that it was found too late for Mr. Sar-
geant to reach Panama in season for the meeting of the
Congress, which took place on the 22nd of June, 182G.
Mr. Anderson, wTho was then minister at Colombia, on
receiving his instructions, commenced his journey to
Panama ; but on reaching Carthagena he was seized
with a malignant fever, which terminated his existence.

During the second session of the nineteenth Con-
gress, the subject of commercial intercourse with the
British West India Colonies was thoroughly discussed.
The British Parliament had laid restrictions so onerous
on the trade of the United States with these Colonies,
that it could be pursued to very little profit. Bills

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS. 213

were introduced into both houses of Congress, for the
protection of the interests of American merchants,
trading with the British Colonies ; but the Senate and
House failing to agree on the details of the proposed
measures, nothing was done to effect the desired ob-
ject. Congress having adjourned without passing any
law to meet the restrictive measures of Great Britain,
President Adams, on the 17th of March, 1827, agree-
ably to a law passed three years before, issued a pro-
clamation closing the ports of the United States
against vessels from the British colonies, until the
restrictive measures of the British Government should
be repealed.

The policy pursued by Mr. Adams toward the
Indian tribes within the United States, was pacific and
humane. The position they held toward the General
Government was of an unsettled and embarrassing
character. Enjoying a species of independence, and
subject to laws of their own enactment, they were,
nevertheless, dependent on the Government of the
United States for protection, and were, in fact, wholly
at its disposal. Near the close of Mr. Monroe's ad-
ministration, in a message to Congress, on the 27th of
January, 1825, he proposed a plan to remove the
tribes scattered through the several States, to a tract
of country west of the Mississippi, and to unite them
in one nation, with some plan for their government
and civilization. This proposition meeting with a
decided opposition on the part of many of the Indians,

214 LIFE OP JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS.

was modified during Mr. Adams's administration. It
finally resulted in a plan of removing west of the Mis-
sissippi such individuals among the various tribes as
would consent to go under the inducements held out ;
and allowing the remainder to continue in their old
abode, occupying each a small tract of land. This
policy has since been pursued by the General Govern-
ment, and has resulted in the removal of most of the
aborigines beyond the western shores of the Mis-
sissippi.

These removals, however, have been attended with
no little difficulty, and at times have led to collisions
Avhich have assumed a serious aspect. An instance
of this description occurred during the first year Mr.
Adams occupied the presidential chair. In 1802, a
compact was formed between the General Government
and the State of Georgia, in which it was agreed, that
in consequence of the relinquishment, on the part of
Georgia, of all her claim to the land set off in the then
new Mississippi Territory, the General Government,
at its own expense, should obtain a relinquishment,
from the Creek Indians, of all their lands within the
State of Georgia, " whenever it could be peaceably
done upon reasonable terms."

In compliance with this agreement, the United
States had extinguished the Indian title to about fifteen
millions of acres of land. At the close of Mr. Monroe's
administration, over nine millions of acres were still
retained by the Indians. The State authorities of

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 215

Georgia became very anxious to obtain possession of
this also. At the solicitation of Gov. Troup, President
Madison sent two Commissioners to make a treaty
with the Creeks, for the purchase of their lands, and the
removal of the Indians beyond the Mississippi. But
the Creeks, having begun to appreciate and enjoy the
comforts of civilization, and the advantages of the arts
and sciences, which had been introduced into their
midst, refused to treat on the subject, and passed a law
in the General Council of their nation, forbidding, on
pain of death, the sale of any of their lands. After
the close of the council, a few of the Creeks, influ-
enced by a chief named M'Intosh, met the United
States Commissioners, and formed a treaty on their
own responsibility, ceding to the General Government
all the Creek lands in Georgia and Alabama. When
intelligence of this treaty was circulated among the
Indians, they were filled with indignation. Their
General Council met — resolved not to sanction a
treaty obtained in a manner so dishonorable and
illegal — and despatched a party of Indians to the resi-
dence of M'Intosh, who immediately shot him and
another chief who had signed the treaty with him.

This surreptitious treaty was transmitted to Wash-
ington, and under a misapprehension of the manner
in which it was secured, was ratified by the Senate,
on the 3d of March, 1825, the last day of Mr.
Monroe's administration. Gov. Troup, acting under
this treaty, sent surveyors into the Creek Territory, to

210 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

lay out the land in lots, which were to be distributed
among the white inhabitants of Georgia, by lottery.
The Indians resisted this encroachment, and prepared
to defend their rights by physical force — at the same
time sending to Washington for protection from the
General Government. The authorities of Georgia
insisted upon a survey, and ordered out a body of
militia to enforce it.

On hearing of this state of affairs, President Adams
despatched a special agent to inquire into the facts
of the case. After due investigation, the agent re-
ported that the treaty had been obtained by bad faith
and corruption, and that the Creeks were almost
unanimously opposed to the cession of their lands.
On receiving this report, the President determined
to prevent the survey ordered by the Governor of
Georgia, until the matter could be submitted to Con-
gress, and ordered Gen. Gaines to proceed to the
Creek country with a body of United States troops, to
prevent collision between the Indians and the Georgia
forces.

On the 5th of February, Mr. Adams transmitted
a message to Congress, giving a statement of these
transactions, and declaring his determination to fulfil
the duty of protection the nation owed the Creeks,
.is guaranteed by treaty, by all the force at his com-
mand. " That the arm of military force," he con-
tinued, "will be resorted to only in the event of the
failure of all other expedients provided by the laws, a

LIFE OP JOHN QTjINCY ADAMS. 217

pledge has been given by the forbearance to employ-
it at this time. It is submitted to the wisdom of Con-
gress to determine whether any further acts of legis-
lation may be necessary or expedient to meet the
emergency which these transactions may produce."

The committee of the House of Representatives, to
which this message was referred, reported that it " is
expedient to procure a cession of the Indian lands in
the State of Georgia, and that until such a cession is
procured, the law of the land, as set forth in the treaty
at Washington, ought to be maintained by all neces-
sary, constitutional, and legal means." The firmness
and decision of President Adams undoubtedly pre-
vented the unhappy consequences of a collision be-
tween the people of Georgia and the Creek Indians.
A new negotiation was opened with the Indians, by
direction of the President, which resulted in declaring
the M'Intosh treaty null and void, and in obtaining, at
length, a cession of all the lands of the Creeks within
the limits of Georgia, to the General Government.

As the friend and promoter of internal improve-
ments, Mr. Adams was invited to be present at the
interesting ceremony of "breaking ground," on the
Chesapeake and Ohio canal, then about to be com-
menced, which took place on the 4th of July, 1828.
On the morning of that day, the President, the Heads
of Departments, the Foreign Ministers, the Corpora-
tions of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, the

10

218 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

President and Directors of the Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal Company, with a large concourse of citizens,
embarked on board of steamboats and ascended the
Potomac, to the place selected for the ceremony. On
reaching the ground, a procession was formed, which
moved around it so as to leave a hollow space, in the
midst of a mass of people, in the centre of which was
the spot marked out by Judge Wright, the Engineer
of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, for the
commencement of the work. A moment's pause here
occurred, while the spade, destined to commence the
work, was selected by the committee of arrangements,
and the spot for breaking ground was precisely
denoted.

At that moment the sun shone out from behind a
cloud, giving an appearance of the highest animation
to the scene. Amidst an intense silence, the Mayor
of Georgetown handed to Gen. Mercer, the President
of the Canal Company, the consecrated instrument ;
which, having received, he stepped forward from the
resting column, and addressed as follows the listening
multitude : —

N Fellow-citizens : There are moments in the progress of time
which are the counters of whole ages. There are events, the
monuments of which, surviving every other memorial of human ex-
istence, eternize the nation to whose history they belong, after all
other vestiges of its glory have disappeared from the globe. At
such a moment have we now arrived. Such a monument we are
now to found."

LIFE OP JOHN QTJINCV ADAMS. 219

Turning towards the President of the United States,
who stood near him, Mr. M. proceeded : —

" Mr. President : On a day hallowed by the fondest recollections,
beneath this cheering (may we not humbly trust auspicious) sky,
surrounded by the many thousand spectators who look on us with
joyous anticipation ; in the presence of the representatives of the
most polished nations of the old and new worlds ; on a spot where
little more than a century ago the painted savage held his nightly
orgies ; at the request of the three cities of the District of Columbia,
I present to the Chief Magistrate of the most powerful Republic on
earth, for the most noble purpose that was ever conceived by man,
this humble instrument of rural labor, a symbol of the favorite occupa-
tion of our countrymen. May the use to which it is about to be devoted
prove the precursor, to our beloved country, of improved agriculture,
of multiplied and diversified arts, of extended commerce and navi-
gation. Combining its social and moral influence with the princi-
ples of that happy constitution under which you have been called
to preside over the American people, may it become a safeguard of
their liberty and independence, and a bond of perpetual union !

" To the ardent wishes of this vast assembly I unite my fervent
prayer to that infinite and awful Being without whose favor all
human power is but vanity, that he will crown your labor with his
blessing, and our work with immortality."

As soon as he had ended, the President of the
United States, to whom Gen. Mercer had presented
the spade, stepped forward, and, with an animation of
manner and countenance which showed that his whole
heart was in the thing, thus addressed the assembly of
his fellow-citizens : —

" Friends and Fellow-citizens : It is nearly a full century since
Berkely, bishop of Cloyne, turning towards this fair land, which we
now inhabit, the eyes of a prophet, closed a few lines of poetical in-
spiration with this memorable prediction —

"Time's noblest empire is the last :" —

220 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

a prediction which, to those of us whose lot has been cast by Divine
Providence in these regions, contains not only a precious promise,
but a solemn injunction of duty, since upon our energies, and upon
those of our posterity, its fulfilment will depend. For with refer-
ence to what principle could it be that Berkely proclaimed this,
the last, to be the noblest empire of time? It was, as he himself
declares, on the transplantation of learning and the arts to America.
Of learning and the arts. The four first acts — the empires of the
old world, and of former ages — the Assyrian, the Persian, the
Grecian, the Roman empires — were empires of conquest, dominions
of man over man. The empire which his great mind, piercing into
the darkness of futurity, foretold in America, was the empire of
learning and the arts, — the dominion of man over himself, and over
physical nature — acquired by the inspirations of genius, and the
toils of industry ; not watered with the tears of the widow and the
orphan ; not cemented in the blood of human victims ; founded not
in discord, but in harmony, — of which the only spoils are the imper-
fections of nature, and the victory achieved is the improvement of
the condition of all. Well may this be termed nobler than the
empire of t nquest, in which man subdues only his fellow-man.

" To the accomplishment of this prophecy, the first necessary
step was the acquisition of the right of self-government, by the
people of the British North American Colonies, achieved by the
Declaration of Independence, and its acknowledgment by the British
nation. The second was the union of all these colonies under one
general confederated Government — a task more arduous than that
of the preceding separation, but at last effected by the present con-
stitution of the United States.

" The third step, more arduous still than either or both the others,
vas that which we, fellow-citizens, may now congratulate our-
jelves, our country, and the world of man, that it is taken. It is
Jie adaptation of the powers, physical, moral, and intellectual, of
this whole Union, to the improvement of its own condition : of its
moral and political condition, by wise and liberal institutions — by
the cultivation of the understanding and the heart — by academies,
schools, and learned institutes — by the pursuit and patronage of
learning and the arts ; of its physical condition, by associated labor
to improve the bounties, and to supply the deficiencies of nature ;
to stem the torrent in its course ; to level the mountain with the

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 221

plain ; to disarm and fetter the raging surge of the ocean. Under-
takings of which the language I now hold is no exaggerated de-
scription, have become happily familiar not only to the conceptions,
but to the enterprize of our countrymen. That for the commence-
ment of which we are here assembled is eminent among the num-
ber. The project contemplates a conquest over physical nature,
such as has never yet been achieved by man. The wonders of the
ancient world, the pyramids of Egypt, the Colossus of Rhodes, the
temple at Ephesus, the mausoleum of Artemisia, the wall of China,
sink into insignificance before it : — insignificance in the mass and
momentum of human labor required for the execution — insignifi-
cance in comparison of the purposes to be accomplished by the
work when executed. It is, therefore, a pleasing contemplation to
those sanguine and patriotic spirits who have so long looked with
hope to the completion of this undertaking, that it unites the moral
power and resources — first, of numerous individuals — secondly, of
the corporate cities of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria —
thirdly, of the great and powerful States of Pennsylvania, Virginia,
and Maryland — and lastly, by the subscription authorized at the re-
cent session of Congress, of the whole Union.

" Friends and Fellow-laborers. We are informed by the holy
oracles of truth, that, at the creation of man, male and female, the
Lord of the universe, their Maker, blessed them, and said unto
them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue
it. To subdue the earth was, therefore, one of the first duties as-
signed to man at his creation ; and now, in his fallen condition, it
remains among the most excellent of his occupations. To subdue
the earth is pre-eminently the purpose of the undertaking, to the
accomplishment of which the first stroke of the spade is now to be
struck. That it is to be struck by this hand, 1 invite you to wit-
ness.— [Here the stroke of the spade.]* And in performing this act,

* Attending this action was an incident which produced a greater
sensation than any other that occurred during the day. The spade
which the President held, struck a root, which prevented its penetrating
the earth. Not deterred by trifling obstacles from doing what he had
deliberately resolved to perform, Mr. Adams tried it again, with no bet-
ter success. Thus foiled, he threw down the spade, hastily stripped off
and laid aside his coat, and went seriously to work. The multitude
around, and on the hills and trees, who could not hear, because of their

222 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

I call upon you to join me in fervent supplication to Him from whom
that primitive injunction came, that he would follow with his bless-
ing, this joint effort of our great community, to perform his will in
the subjugation of the earth for the improvement of the condition
of man — that he would make it one of his chosen instruments for
the preservation, prosperity, and perpetuity of our Union — that he
would have in his holy keeping all the workmen by whose labors it
is to be completed — that their lives and their health may be pre-
cious in his sight ; and that they may live to see the work of their
hands contribute to the comforts and enjoyments of millions of their
countrymen.

" Friends and brethren : Permit me further to say, that I deem
the duty, now performed at the request of the President and Direct-
ors of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, and the Corpora-
tions of the District of Columbia, one of the most fortunate incidents
of my life. Though not among the functions of my official station,
I esteem it as a privilege conferred upon me by my fellow-citizens
of the District. Called, in the performance of my service, heretofore
as one of the representatives of my native commonwealth in the
Senate, and now as a member of the executive department of the
Government, my abode has been among the inhabitants of the
District longer than at any other spot upon earth. In availing
myself of this occasion to return to them my thanks for the num-
berless acts of kindness that I have experienced at their hands, may
I be allowed to assign it as a motive, operating upon the heart, and
superadded to my official obligations, for taking a deeper interest in
their welfare and prosperity. Among the prospects of futurity which
we may indulge the rational hope of seeing realized by this junction
of distant waters, that of the auspicious influence which it will exer-
cise over the fortunes of every portion of this District is one upon
which my mind dwells with unqualified pleasure. It is my earnest
prayer that they may not be disappointed.

" It was observed that the first step towards the accomplishment
of the glorious destinies of our country was the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. That the second was the union of these States under
our federative Government. The third is irrevocably fixed by the

distance from the open space, but could see and understand, observing
this action, raised a loud and unanimous cheering, which continued for
some time after Mr. Adams had mastered the difficulty.

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 223

net upon the commencement of which we are now engaged. What
time more suitable for this operation could have been selected than
the anniversary of our great national festival ? What place more
appropriate from whence to proceed, than that which bears the
name of the citizen Warrior who led our armies in that eventful
contest to the field, and who first presided as the Chief Magistrate
of our Union ? You know that of this very undertaking he was
one of the first projectors ; and if in the world of spirits the
affections of our mortal existence still retain their sway, may we not,
without presumption, imagine that he looks down with complacency
and delight upon the scene before and around us ?

" But while indulging in a sentiment of joyous exultation at the
benefits to be derived from this labor of our friends and neighbors, let
us not forget that the spirit of internal improvement is catholic and
liberal. We hope and believe that its practical advantages will
be extended to every individual in our Union. In praying for the
blessing of heaven upon our task, we ask it with equal zeal and
sincerity upon every other similiar work in this confederacy ; and
particularly upon that which, on this same day, and perhaps at this
very hour, is commencing from a neighboring city. It is one of the
happiest characteristics in the principle of internal improvement,
that the success of one great enterprise, instead of counteracting,
gives assistance to the execution of another. May they increase
and multiply, till, in the sublime language of inspiration, every valley
shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low ; the
crooked straight, the rough places plain. Thus shall the prediction
of the bishop of Cloyne be converted from prophecy into history ;
and, in the virtues and fortunes of our posterity, the last shall prove
th3 noblest empire of time."

The administration of Mr. Adams, from the first day
of its existence, met with an opposition more deter-
mined, bitter, and unscrupulous than any which has
ever assailed a President of the United States. It evi-
dently was not an opposition based on well-grounded
objections to his principles or his measures. Before an
opportunity had been given fairly and fully to develop

224 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

his policy as President, the opposition had taken its
stand, and boldly declared that his administration should
be overthrown at every hazard, whatever might be its
policy, its integrity, or its success. A favorite candi-
date, having certain elements of immense popularity
with a large class of people, and supported with enthu-
siasm by his immediate friends, had been defeated in
the previous presidential canvass, at a moment when it
was thought triumphant success had been secured.
Under the exasperation and excitement of this over-
throw, it was determined that his more fortunate rival
should be displaced at the earliest moment, at whatever
cost, though his administration should prove unrivalled
in patriotism, and the successful promotion of the gen-
eral welfare.

The opposition did not fail to seize upon certain
points, which, in the exercise of a due degree of adroit-
ness, yielded an ample material for popular declamation
and censure. The fact that Mr. Adams had a less
number of electoral votes than Gen. Jackson was
greatly dwelt upon as positive evidence that the will
of the people had been violated in the election of the
former to the presidency — although it has since been
satisfactorily ascertained that Mr. Adams had a larger
number of the primary votes of the people than his
prominent opponent.

The charge of " bargain and corruption," alleged
against Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay, was also used as
an effective weapon against the former, in the sue-

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 225

ceeding presidential canvass. Notwithstanding the
charge had been promptly and emphatically denied by
the parties implicated, and proof in its support fearlessly
challenged — notwithstanding every attempt at evidence
to fix it upon them had most signally failed, and in-
volved those engaged therein in utter confusion of face
— yet so often and so boldly was the charge repeated
by designing men, so generally and continually was it
reiterated by a venal press from one end of the Union
to the other, that a majority of the people was driven
into its belief, and the fate of Mr. Adams's administra-
tion was sealed against him. Subsequent develop-
ments have shown, that, in the annals of political war-
fare, there never was a charge uttered against eminent
public men, so thoroughly destitute of the shadow of
truth as this. But it answered the immediate ends of
its authors. Posterity will do ample justice to all the
parties in this transaction.

Another event which operated seriously to the disad-
vantage of Mr. Adams, was the amalgamation of the
strong Crawford party with the supporters of Gen.
Jackson. This combination threw obstacles in the
way of the administration which were insurmountable.
It enabled the opposition to send a majority of members
to the twentieth Congress, both in the Senate and the
House of Representatives. The test of the strength
of parties in the House took place on the election of
Speaker. Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia, was elected
on the first ballot, by a majority of ten votes over John

JO*

226 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

W. Taylor, the administration candidate. Mr. Steven-
son was a supporter of Mr. Crawford in 1824. His
election to the Speaker's chair clearly indicated the
union of the different sections of the opposition, and
foreshadowed too evidently the overthrow of the ad-
ministration of Mr. Adams.

In this state of things, with a majority of Congress
against him, the President was deprived of the oppor-
tunity of carrying into execution many important
measures which were highly calculated to promote the
permanent benefit of the country, and which could not
have failed to receive the approbation of the people. A
majority of all the committees of both Houses were
against him ; and for the first time an administration
was found without adequate strength in Congress to
support its measures. In several instances thereports
of committees partook of a strong partis"n character,
in violation of all rules of propriety and correct legis-
lation.

The first session of the twentieth Congress, which
was held immediately preceding the presidential cam-
paign of 1828, was characterized by proceedings, which,
at this day, all will unite in deciding as highly repre-
hensible. Instead of attending strictly to the legitimate
business of the session, much of the time was spent in
discussions involving the merits of the opposing candi-
dates for the presidency, and designed to have an ex-
press bearing on the election then near at hand. Of
this character was a resolution introduced into the

LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS. 227

House of Representatives, on the 8th of January, 1828,
by Mr. Hamilton, a supporter of Gen. Jackson, to in-
quire into the expediency of having a historical picture
of the battle of New Orleans painted, and placed in
the rotunda of the Capitol. This was followed by a
resolution, introduced by Mr. Sloane, an administration
member, requiring the Secretary of War to furnish the
House with a copy of the proceedings of a court-
martial ordered by Gen. Jackson, in 1814, for the
trial of certain Tennessee militiamen, who were con-
demned and shot.

At this session of Congress may be dated the intro-
duction of a practice which has become an evil of the
greatest magnitude in the present day. Reference is
had to the custom of making the halls of Congress a
mere arena, where, instead of attending to the legiti-
mate business of legislating for the benefit of the coun-
try at large, political gladiators spend much of their
time in wordy contests, designed solely for the promo
tion of personal or party purposes, to the neglect of tho
interests of their constituents. From this has grown
the habit of speech-making by the hour, on topics
trivial in their nature, in which the people have not
the slightest interest, and which, quite often, are totally
foreign to the subject ostensibly in debate. Valuable
time and immense treasures are thus squandered to no
profitable purpose. Should not this evil be abated ?

The stern integrity of Mr. Adams, and his unyield-
ing devotion to principle, were made to operate against

228 LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS.

him. Had he chosen to turn the vast influence at his
command to the promotion of personal ends — had he
unscrupulously ejected from office all political opposers,
and supplied their places with others who would have
labored, with all the means at their disposal, in his
behalf — little doubt can be entertained that he could
have secured his re-election. But he utterly refused
to resort to such measures. Believing he was pro-
moted to his high position not for his individual benefit,
but to advance the welfare of the entire country, his
view of duty was too elevated and pure to allow him
to desecrate the trust reposed in him to personal ends.
Hence the influence derived from the patronage of the
General Government was turned against the admin-
istration rather than in its behalf; and the singular
spectacle was presented of men exerting every nerve
to overthrow Mr. Adams, who were dependent upon
him for the influence they wielded against him, and
for their very means of subsistence.

A hotly contested political campaign ensued in the
fall of 1828. In view of the peculiar combination of
circumstances, and of the means resorted to by the
opposing parties to secure success, the result could be
foreseen with much certainty. Gen. Jackson was
elected President of the United States, and was inau-
gurated on the 4th of March, 1829.

Thus closed the administration of John Quincy
Adams. At the call of his country he entered upon
the highest station in its gift. With a fidelity and

IJFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 229

uprightness which have not been surpassed, he dis-
charged his important trust to the lasting benefit of all
the vital interests which tend to build up a great and
prosperous people. And at the call of his country he
relinquished the honors of office, and willingly retired
to the private walks of life.

No man can doubt that Mr. Adams could look back
upon his labors while President with the utmost satis-
faction. " During his administration new and in-
creased activity was imparted to those powers vested
in the Federal Government for the development of th&
resources of the country, and the public revenue was
liberally expended in prosecuting those liberal measures,
to which the sanction of Congress had been delib-
erately given, as the settled policy of the Government.

" More than one million of dollars had been expended
in enlarging and maintaining the light-house establish-
ment— half a million in completing the public build-
ings— two millions in erecting arsenals, barracks, and
furnishing the national armories — nearly the same
amount had been expended in permanent additions to
the naval establishment — upwards of three millions
had been devoted to fortifying the sea-coast — and
more than four millions expended in improving the
internal communications between different parts of the
country, and in procuring information, by scientific
surveys, concerning its capacity for further improve-
ment. Indeed, more had been directly effected by the
aid of Government in this respect, during Mr. Adams'

230 LIFE OF JOHN UU1NCY ADAMS.

administration, than during the administrations of all
his predecessors. Other sums, exceeding a million,
had been appropriated for objects of a lasting char-
acter, and not belonging to the annual expense of the
Government; making in the whole nearly fourteen
millions of dollars expended for the permanent benefit
of the country, during this administration.

" At the same time the interest on the public debt
was punctually paid, and the debt itself was in a con-
stant course of reduction, having been diminished
$30,373,188 during his administration, and leaving due
on the 1st of January, 1829, $58,362,136. While
these sums were devoted to increasing the resources
and improving the condition of the country, and in
discharging its pecuniary obligations, those claims
which were derived from what are termed the imper-
fect obligations of gratitude and humanity were not
forgotten.

" More than five millions of dollars were appropri-
ated to solace the declining years of the surviving
officers of the Revolution ; and a million and a half
expended in extinguishing the Indian title, and defray-
ing the expense of the removal beyond the Mississippi
of such tribes as were unqualified for a residence near
civilized communities, and in promoting the civiliza-
tion of those who, relying on the faith of the United
States, preferred to remain on the lands which were
the abodes of their fathers.

"In the condition which we have described — in

LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS. 231

peace with all the world, with an increasing revenue
and with a surplus of $5,125,638 in the public treasury,
— the administration of the Government of the United
States was surrendered by Mr. Adams on the 3d of
March, 1829."*

The " Georgia Constitutionalist" thus describes Mr.
Adams' retirement from office : — "Mr. Adams is said
to be in good health and spirits. The manner in
which this gentleman retired from office is so replete
with propriety and dignity, that we are sure history
will record it as a laudable example to those who shall
hereafter be required by the sovereign people to descend
from exalted stations. It was a great matter with the
ancients to die with decency, and there are some of
our own day whose deaths are more admirable than
their lives. Mr. Adams' deportment in the Presidency
was lofty and proud ; but the smile with which he
throws aside the trappings of power, and the graceful
propriety with which he takes leave of patronage and
place, are truly commendable."

* American Annual Register.

CHAPTER XI.

MR. ADAMS' MULTIPLIED ATTAINMENTS VISITED BY SOUTHERN

GENTLEMEN HIS REPORT ON "WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

HIS POETRY ERECTS A MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF HIS

PARENTS ELECTED MEMBER OF CONGRESS LETTER TO THE

BIBLE SOCIETY DELIVERS EULOGY ON DEATH OF EX-PRES-
IDENT MONROE.

Few public men in any country have possessed
attainments more varied than were those of Mr.
Adams. Every department of literature and science
received more or less of his attention — every path of
human improvement seems to have been explored by
him. As a statesman, he was unrivalled in the pro-
fundity of his knowledge. His state papers — given to
the world while Minister, Secretary of State, President,
and Member of Congress — his numerous addresses,
orations, and speeches, are astonishing in number, and
in the learning they display.* No man was more

* Aside from his state papers, official correspondence, and speeches,
which would make many volumes, the Literary World gives the follow-
ing list of the published writings of Mr. Adams : —

" 1. Oration at Boston, 1793 ; 2. Answer to Paine's Rights of Man,
1793 ; 3. Address to the Members of the Massachusetts Charitable Fire
Society; 4. Letters on Silesia; 5. Letters on Silesia, 1804; 6. Inau-
gural Oration at Harvard College, 180G ; 7. Letters to H. G. Otis, in
reply to Timothy Pickering, 1808 ; 8. Review of the Works of Fisher
Ames, 1809 ; 9. Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory, two volumes, 1810 ;

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 2'3'3

familiar with modern history, with diplomacy and
international law, and the politics of America and
Europe for the last two or three centuries.

In other departments he appeared equally at home.
His acquaintance was familiar with the classics, and
several modern languages. In oratory, rhetoric, and
the various departments of belles lettres, his attain-
ments were of more than an ordinary character. His
commentaries on Desdemona, and others of Shak-
speare's characters, show that he was no mean critic,
in the highest walks of literature, and in all that pertains
to human character.

The following interesting account of an interview
with ex-President Adams, by a southern gentleman, in

10. Report on Weights and Measures, 1821; 11. Oration at Washing-
ton, 1821 ; 12. Duplicate Letters ; the Fisheries and the Mississippi,
1822; 13. Oration to the citizens of Ouincy, 1831; 14. Oration on the
Death of James Monroe, 1831 ; 15. Dermot McMorrogh, or the Con-
quest of Ireland, 1832 ; 16. Letters to Edward Livingston, on Free
Masonry, 1833 ; 17. Letters to William L. Stone, on the entered appren-
tice's oath, 1833 ; 18. Oration on the Life and Character of Lafayette,
1835 ; 19. Oration on the Life and Character of James Madison, 1836 ;
20. The Characters of Shakspeare, 1837; 21. Oration delivered at
Newburyport, 1837; %'£. Letters to his Constituents of the Twelfth
Congressional District of Massachusetts, 1837 ; 23. The Jubilee of the
Constitution, 1839 ; 24. A Discourse on Education, delivered at Brain-
tree, 1840 ; 25. An Address at the Observatory, Cincinnati, 1843.

Among the unpublished works of Mr. Adams, besides his Diary, which
extends over half a century, and would probably make some two dozen
stout octavos, are Memoirs of the earlier Public and Private Life of
John Adams, second President of the United States, in three volumes ;
Reports and Speeches on Public Affairs ; Poems, including two new
cantos of Dermot McMorrogh, a Translation of Oberon, and numerous
Essays and Discourses "

234 LIFE OF JOHN. QUINCT ADAMS.

1834, affords some just conceptions of the versatility
of his genius, and the profoundness of his erudition: —

" Yesterday, accompanied by my friend T., I paid a visit to the
venerable ex-President, at his residence in Quincy. A violent rain
setting in as soon as we arrived, gave us from five to nine o'clock
to listen to the learning of this man of books. His residence is a
plain, very plain one : the room into which we were ushered, (the
drawing-room, I suppose,) was furnished in true republican style.
It is probably of ancient construction, as I perceived two beams
projecting from the low ceiling, in the manner of the beams in a
ship's cabin. Prints commemorative of political events, and the old
family portraits, hung about the room ; common straw matting
covered the floor, and two candlesticks, bearing sperm candles,
ornamented the mantle-piece. The personal appearance of the ex-
President himself corresponds with the simplicity of his furniture.
He resembles rather a substantial, well-fed farmer, than one who
has wielded the destinies of this mighty Confederation, and been
bred in the ceremony and etiquette of an European Court. In fact,
he appears to possess none of that sternness of character which
you would suppose to belong to one a large part of whose life has
been spent in political warfare, or, at any rate, amidst scenes requir-
ing a vast deal of nerve and inflexibility.

" Mrs. Adams is described in a word — a lady. She has all the
warmth of heart and ease of manner that mark the character of the
southern ladies, and from which it would be no easy matter to dis-
tinguish her.

" The ex-President was the chief talker. He spoke with infinite
ease, drawing upon his vast resources with the certainty of one
who has his lecture before him ready written. The whole of his
conversation, which steadily he maintained for nearly four hours,
was a continued stream of light. Well contented was I to be a
listener. His subjects were the architecture of the middle ages ; thp
stained glass of that period ; sculpture, embracing monuments par-
ticularly. On this subject his opinion of Mrs. Nightingale's monu-
ment in Westminster Abbey, differs from all others that I have
seen or heard. He places it above every other in the Abbey, and
observed in relation to it, that the spectator ' saw nothing else.'
Milton, Shakspeare, Shenstone, Pope, Byron, and Southey were in

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 235

turn remarked upon. He gave Pope a wonderfully high character,
and remarked that one of his chief beauties was the skill exhibited
in varying the cesural pause — quoting from various parts of his
author, to illustrate his remarks more fully. He said very little on
the politics of the country. He spoke at considerable length of
Sheridan and Burke, both o whom he had heard, and could describe
with the most graphic effect. He also spoke of Junius ; and it is
remarkable that he should place him so far above the best of his
contemporaries. He spoke of him as a bad man ; but maintained, as
a writer, that he had never been equalled.

" The conversation never flagged for a moment ; and on the
whole, I shall remember my visit to Quincy, as amongst the most
instructive and pleasant I ever passed."

As a theologian, Mr. Adams was familiar with the
tenets of the various denominations which compose the
great Christian family, and acquainted with the prin-
cipal arguments by which they support their peculiar
views. While entertaining decided opinions of his
own, which he did not hesitate to avow on all proper
occasions, he was tolerant of the sentiments of all who
differed from him. He deemed it one of the most
sacred rights of every American citizen, and of every
human being, to worship God according to the dic-
tates of his own conscience, without let or hindrance,
our laws equally tolerating, and equally protecting
every sect.

In the most abstruse sciences he was equally at
home. His report to Congress, while Secretary of
State, on Weights and Measures was very elaborate,
and evinced a deep and careful research into this im-
portant but most difficult subject. That report was

236 LIFE OF JOHN dUINCY ADAMS.

of the utmost value. Adopting the philosophical and
unchangeable basis of the modern French system of
mensuration, an arc of the meridian, it laid the founda-
tion for the accurate manipulations and scientific cal-
culations of the late Professor Hassler, which have
furnished an unerring standard of Weights and Meas-
ures to the people of this country. In a very learned
notice of " Measures, Weights, and Money," by Col.
Pasley, Royal Engineer, F. R. S., published in London,
in 1834, he pays the following well-merited compliment
to Mr. Adams : —

" I cannot pass over the labors of former writers, without ac-
knowledging in particular, the benefit which I have derived, whilst
investigating the historical part of my subject, from a book printed
at Washington, in 1821, as an official Report on Weights and
Measures, made by a distinguished American statesman, Mr. John
Quincy Adams, to the Senate of the United States, of which he was
afterwards President. This author has thrown more light into the
history of our old English weights and measures, than all former
writers on the same subject. His views of historical facts, even
where occasionally in opposition to the reports of our own Par-
liamentary Committees, appear to me to be the most correct. For
my own part, I confess that I do not think I could have seen my
way into the history of English weights and measures, in the feudal
ages, without his guidance."

To his other accomplishments Mr. Adams added
that of a poet. His pretensions in this department
were humble, yet many of his productions, thrown off
hastily, no doubt, during brief respites from severer
labors, possess no little merit. A few specimens will
not be uninteresting: to the reader.

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 237

The following stanzas are from a hymn by Mr.
Adams for the celebration of the 4th of July, 1831,
at Q,uirr.;y, Mass. : —

" Sing to the Lord a song of praise ;

Assemble, ye who love his name ;
Let congregated millions raise

Triumphant glory's loud acclaim.
From earth's remotest regions come ;

Come, greet your Maker, and your King ;
With harp, with timbrel, and with drum,

His praise let hill and valley sing.

" Go forth in arms ; Jehovah reigns ;

Their graves let foul oppressors find ;
Bind all their sceptred kings in chains ;

Their peers with iron fetters bind.
Then to the Lord shall praise ascend ;

Then all mankind, with one accord,
And freedom's voice, till time shall end,

In pealing anthems, praise the Lord."

The lines which follow were inscribed to the sun-
dial under the window of the hall of the House of
Representatives, at Washington: —

" Thou silent herald of Time's silent flight !

Say, couldst thou speak, what warning voice were thine ?

Shade, who canst only show how others shine !
Dark, sullen witness of resplendent light
In day's broad glare, and when the noontide bright

Of laughing fortune sheds the ray divine,

Thy ready favors cheer us — but decline
The clouds of morning and the gloom of night.
Yet are thy counsels faithful, just and wise ;

They bid us sieze the moments as they pass —

238 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

Snatch the retrieveless sunbeam as it flies,

Nor lose one sand of life's revolving glass —
Aspiring still, with energy sublime,
By virtuous deeds to give eternity to Time."

It is seldom that lines more pure and beautiful can
be found, than the following on the death of children : —

" Sure, to the mansions of the blest
When infant innocence ascends,
Some angel brighter than the rest
The spotless spirit's flight attends.

" On wings of ecstacy they rise,

Beyond where worlds material roll,
Till some fair sister of the skies
Receives the unpolluted soul.

" There at the Almighty Father's hand,
Nearest the throne of living light,
The choirs of infant seraphs stand,

And dazzling shine, where all are bright.

" The inextinguishable beam,
With dust united at our birth,
Sheds a more dim, discolored gleam,
The more it lingers upon earth :

" Closed is the dark abode of clay,
The stream of glory faintly burns,
Nor unobscured the lucid ray
To its own native fount returns :

" But when the Lord of mortal breath
Decrees his bounty to resume,
And points the silent shaft of death,
Which speeds an infant to the tomb,

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 239

" No passion fierce, no low desire,

Has quenched the radiance of the flame ;
Back to its God the living fire
Returns, unsullied, as it came."

The heart which could turn aside from the stern
conflicts of the political world, and utter sentiments so
chaste and tender, must have been the residence of the
sweetest and noblest emotions of man.

Having taken final leave, as he believed, of the duties
of public life, and retired to the beloved shades of
Quincy, it was the desire and intention of Mr. Adams
to devote the remainder of his days to the peaceful
pursuits of literature. It had long been his purpose,
whenever opportunity should offer, to write a history of
the life and times of his venerated father, " the elder
Adams." His heart was fixed on this design, and
some introductory labors had been commenced. But
an overruling Providence had a widely different work
in preparation for him.

If Mr. Adams had been permitted to follow the bent
of his own feelings at that time — if he had continued in
the retirement he had so anxiously sought as a rest
from the toils of half a century — the brightest page of
his wonderful history would have remained forever un-
written. He would have been remembered as a dis-
creet and trusty diplomatist, an able statesman, a suc-
cessful politician, a capable President, and an honest
and honorable man ! This would, indeed, have been

240 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

a measure of renown with which most men would have
been content, and which few of the most fortunate sons
of earth can ever attain. He was abundantly satisfied
with it. He asked for nothing more — he expected
nothing more this side the grave. But it was not
enough ! Fame was wreathing brighter garlands,
a more worthy chaplet, for his brow. A higher, nobler
task was before him, than any enterprize which had
claimed his attention. His long and distinguished ca-
reer— his varied and invaluable experience — had been
but a preparation to enable him to enter upon the real
work of life for which he was raised up.

The world did not yet know John Quincy Adams
Long as he had been before the public, the mass had
thus far failed to read him aright. Hitherto circum-
stances had placed him in collision with aspiring men.
He stood in their way to station and power. There
was a motive to conceal his virtues and magnify his
faults. He had never received from his opposers the
smallest share of credit really due to him for patriot-
ism, self-devotion, and purity of purpose. Even his
most devoted friends did not fully appreciate these
qualities in him. During his long public service, he
had ever been an object of hatred and vituperation to
a class of minds utterly incapable of estimating his
talents or comprehending his high principles of action.
In the heat of political struggles, no abuse, no defama-
tion, were too great to heap upon him. Misrepresent-
ation, duplicity, malignity, did their worst. Did he

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 241

utter a patriotic sentiment, it was charged to hypocrisy
and political cunning. Did he do a noble deed, worthy
to be recorded in letters of gold — sacrificing party
predilections and friendship to support the interest of
his country, and uphold the reputation and dignity of
its Government — it was attributed to a wretched pan-
dering for the emoluments of office. Did he endeavor
to exercise the powers entrusted to him as President
in such a manner as to preserve peace at home and
abroad, develope the internal resources of the nation,
improve facilities for transportation and travel, protect
and encourage the industry of the country, and in
ever)r department promote the permanent prosperity
and welfare of the people — it was allowed to be nothing
more than the arts of an intriguer, seeking a re-
election to the Presidency. Yea, it was declared in
advance, that, " if his administration should be as pure
as the angels in heaven," it should be overthrown.
Did he exhibit the plain simplicity of a true republican
in his dress and manners, and economy in all his
expenditures, it was attributed to parsimony and mean-
ness ! A majority of his countrymen had been de-
ceived as to his principles and character, and sacrificed
him politically on the altar of prejudice and party spirit.
Throughout his life he had ever been a lover of man
and of human freedom — the best friend of his country
— the most faithful among the defenders of its insti-
tutions— a sincere republican, and a true man. But
blinded by political prejudice, a large portion of his
11

242 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

fellow-citizens refused the boon of credit for these
qualities. It remained for another stage of his life,
another field of display, to correct them of this error,
and to vindicate his character. It was requisite that
he should step down from his high position, disrobe
himself of office, power and patronage, place himself
beyond the reach of the remotest suspicion of a desire
for political preferment and emolument, to satisfy the
world that John Quincy Adams had from the begin-
ning, been a pure-hearted patriot, and one of the
noblest sons of the American Confederacy. His new
career was to furnish a luminous commentary on his
past life, and to convince the most sceptical, of the
justice of his claim to rank among the highest and best
of American patriots. Placed beyond the reach of
any gift of office from the nation, with nothing to hope
for, and nothing to fear in this respect, he was to write
his name in imperishable characters, so high on the
tablets of his country's history and fame, as to be be-
yond the utmost reach of malignity or suspicion ! The
door which led to this closing act of his dramatic life,
was soon opened.

On returning to Quincy, one of the first things
which received the attention of Mr. Adams, was the
discharge of a filial duty towards his deceased parents,
in the erection of a monument to their memory. The
elder Adams in his will, among other liberal bequests,
had left a large legacy to aid in the erection of a new

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 243

Unitarian church in Quincy. The edifice was com-
pleted, and ex- President J. Q. Adams caused the monu-
ment to his father and mother to be erected within the
walls. It was a plain and simple design, consisting of a
tablet, having recessed pilasters at the sides, with a base
moulding and cornice ; the whole supported by trusses
at the base. The material of which it was made was
Italian marble ; and the whole was surmounted by a
fine bust of John Adams, from the chisel of Greenough,
the American artist, then at Rome. The inscription,
one of the most feeling, appropriate, and classical
specimens extant, was as follows : —

" LTBERTATEM AMICITTAM FIDEM RETINEBIS.
D. O. M.*

Beneath these Walls

Are deposited the Mortal Remains of

JOHN ADAMS,

Son of John and Susanna (Boyalston) Adams,

Second President of the United States.

Born 19-30 October, 1735.

On the fourth of July, 1776,

He pledged his Life. Fortune, and Sacred Honor

To the INDEPENDENCE OF HIS COUNTRY.

On the third of September, 1783,

He affixed his Seal to the definitive Treaty with Great Britain,

Which acknowledged that Independence,

And consummated the redemption of his pledge.

On the fourth of July, 1826,

He was summoned

To the Independence of Immortality,

And to the JUDGMENT OF HIS GOD.

This House will bear witness to his Piety :

This Town, his Birth-place, to his Munificence :

Historj' to his Patriotism :

Posterity to the Depth and Compass of his Mind.

* Deo, Optimo, Maximo — to God, the Best and Greatest.

LIFE OF JOHN aurNCY ADAMS.

At his side

Sleeps till the Trump shall sound,

ABIGAIL,

His beloved and only Wife,

Daughter of William and Elizabeth (Quincy) Smith.

In every relation of Life, a pattern

Of Filial, Conjugal, Maternal, and Social Virtue.

Born 11-22 November, 1744.

Deceased 28 October, 1818,

Ased 74.

Married 25 October, 1764.

During a union of more than half a century,

They survived, in Harmony of Sentiment, Principle and Affection,

The Tempests of Civil Commotion ;

Meeting undaunted, and surmounting

The Terrors and Trials of that Revolution

Which secured the Freedom of their Country ;

Improved the Condition of their Times ;

And brightened the Prospects of Futurity

To the Race of Man upon Earth.

From lives thus spent thy earthly Duties learn ;
From Fancy's Dreams to active Virtue turn :
Let Freedom, Friendship, Faith thy Soul engage,
And serve, like them, thy Country and thy Age."

Mr. Adams had remained in the retirement of Quincy
but little more than a single year, when the following
paragraph appeared in the public prints throughout the
country : —

" Mr. Adams, late President of the United States, is named as a
candidate for Congress, from the district of Massachusetts now
represented by Mr. Richardson, who declines a re-election."

It would be difficult to describe the surprise created
by this announcement, in every quarter of the Union.

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS. 245

Speculation was at fault. Would he accept or reject
such a nomination ? By a large class it was deemed
impossible that one who had occupied positions so ele-
vated— who had received the highest honors the nation
could bestow upon him — would consent to serve the
people of a single district, in a capacity so humble,
comparatively, as a Representative in Congress. Such
a thing was totally unheard of. The people, however,
of the Plymouth congressional district in which he re-
sided, met and duly nominated him for the proposed
office. All doubts as to his acceptance of the nomina-
tion were speedily dispelled by the appearance of a
letter from Mr. Adams, in the Columbian Sentinel,
Oct., 15, 1830, in which he says : —

" If my fellow-citizens of the district should think proper to call
for such services as it may be in my power to render them, by rep-
resenting them in the twenty-second Congress, I am not aware of
any sound principle which would justify me in withholding them.
To the manifestations of confidence on the part of those portions
of the people who, at two several meetings, have seen fit to present
my name for the suffrages of the district, I am duly and deeply
sensible."

In due time the election was held, and Mr. Adams
was returned to Congress, by a vote nearly unanimous.
From that time forward for seventeen years, and to the
hour of his death, he occupied the post of Representa-
tive in Congress from the Plymouth district, in Massa-
chusetts, with unswerving fidelity, and distinguished
honor.

There can be no doubt that many of the best friends

246 LIFE OF JOHN C1UINCY ADAMS.

of Mr. Adams seriously questioned the propriety of his
appearing as a Repi'esentative in the halls of Congress.
It was a step never before taken by an ex-President of
the United States. They apprehended it might be de-
rogatory to his dignity, and injurious to his reputation
and fame, to enter into the strifes, and take part in the
litigations and contentions which characterize the na-
tional House of Representatives. Moreover, they were
fearful that in measuring himself, as he necessarily must,
in the decline of life, with younger men in the prime
of their days, who were urged by the promptings of
ambition to tax every capacity of their nature, he might
injure his well-earned reputation for strength of intel-
lect, eloquence and statesmanship. But these mis-
givings were groundless. In the House of Repre-
sentatives, as in all places where Mr. Adams was
associated with others, he arose immediately to the
head of his compeers. So far from suffering in his
reputation, it was immeasurably advanced during his
long congressional career. New powers were devel-
oped— new traits of character were manifested — new
and repeated instances of devotion to principle and the
rights of man were made known — which added a
brighter lustre to his already widely-extended fame.
He exhibited a fund of knowledge so vast and profound
— a familiarity so perfect with nearly every topic which
claimed the attention of Congress — he could bring forth
from his well-replenished storehouse of memory so vast
an array of facts, shedding light upon subjects deeply

LIFE OF JOHN GIUINCY ADAMS. 247

obscured to others — displayed such readiness and power
in debate, pouring out streams of purest eloquence, or
launching forth the most scathing denunciations when
he deemed them called for — that his most bitter op-
posers, while trembling before his sarcasm, and dread-
ing his assaults, could not but grant him the meed of
their highest admiration. Well did he deserve the
title conferred upon him by general consent, of " the
Old Man Eloquent !"

Had Mr. Adams followed the bent of his own in-
clinations-— had he consulted simply his personal ease
and comfort — he would probably never have appeared
again in public life. Having received the highest dis
tinctions his country could bestow upon him, blessed
with an ample fortune, and possessing all the element?
of domestic comfort, he would have passed the evening
of his earthly sojourn in peaceful tranquillity, at the
mansion of his fathers in Quincy. But it was one of
the sacred rules in this distinguished statesman's life, te
yield implicit obedience to the demands of duty. His
immediate neighbors and fellow-citizens called him to
their service in the national councils. He was con-
scious of the possession of talents, knowledge, experi-
ence, and all the qualifications which would enable
him to become highly useful, not only in acting as the
representative of his direct constituents, but in pro-
moting the welfare of our common country. This
conviction once becoming fixed in his mind, decided
his course. He felt he had no choice left but to com-

248 LIFE OF JOHN GlUlNCY ADAMS.

ply unhesitatingly with the demand which had been
made upon his patriotism. In adopting this resolution
— in consenting, after having been once at the head of
the National Government, to assume again the labors
of public life in a subordinate station, wholly divested
of power and patronage, urged by no influence but the
claims of duty, governed by no motive but a simple
desire to serve his country and promote the well-being
of his fellow-man — Mr. Adams presented a spectacle of
moral sublimity unequalled in the annals of nations !

For many years Mr. Adams was a member, and
one of the Vice Presidents, of the American Bible
Society. In reply to an invitation to attend its anni-
versary in 1830, he wrote the following letter : —

" Sir : — Your letter of the 22d of March was duly received ; and
while regreting my inability to attend personally at the celebration
of the anniversary of the institution, on the 13th of next month, I
pray you, sir, to be assured of the gratification which I have
experienced in learning the success which has attended the benevo-
lent exertions of the American Bible Society.

" In the decease of Judge Washington, they have lost an able
and valuable associate, whose direct co-operation, not less than his
laborious and exemplary life, contributed to promote the cause of
the Redeemer. Yet not for him, nor for themselves by the loss of
him, are they called to sorrow as without hope ; for lives like his
shine but as purer and brighter lights in the world, after the lamp
which fed them is extinct, than before.

" The distribution of Bibles, if the simplest, is not the least
efficacious of the means of extending the blessings of the Gospel
to the remotest corners of the earth ; for the Comforter is in the
sacred volume : and among the receivers of that million of copies
distributed by the Society, who shall number the multitudes

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 249

awakened thereby, with good will to man in their hearts, and with
the song of the Lamb upon their lips ?

" The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Who-
ever believes in the divine inspiration of the holy Scriptures, must
hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth.
Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of
mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to
be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the
Bible proceed and prosper, till the Lord shall have made ' bare his
holy arm in the eyes of all the nations ; and all the ends of the
earth shall see the salvation of our God.'

" With many respects to the Board of Managers, please to accept
the good wishes of your friend and fellow-citizen,

" John Quincy Adams."

On the 4th of July, 1831, at half past three o'clock
in the afternoon, the venerable James Monroe, fifth
President of the United States, departed life, aged 73
years. He died at the residence of his son-in-law,
Samuel L. Gouverneur, Esq., in the city of New York.
His decease had been for some days expected ; but
life lingered until the anniversary of his country's
independence, when his spirit took its departure to a
better world. Throughout the United States, honors
were paid to his memory by hoisting of flags at half
mast, the tolling of bells, firing of minute guns, the
passing of resolutions, and delivery of eulogies. He
was, emphatically, a great and good man, respected and
beloved by the people of all parties, without exception.
There are few instances in the history of the world, of
more remarkable coincidences than the death of three
Presidents of the United States, who took most promi-
nent parts in proclaiming and achieving the independ-

11*

250 LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS.

ence of our country, on the anniversary of the day
when the declaration of that independence was made to
the world. The noise of the firing of cannon, in cele-
brating the day, caused the eyes of the dying Monroe to
open inquiringly. When the occasion of these rejoic-
ings was communicated to him, a look of intelligence
indicated that he understood the character of the day.
At this anniversary of our National Independence,
Mr. Adams delivered an oration before the citizens of
Quincy. It was an able and eloquent production.
The following were the concluding paragraphs. In
reference to nullification, which was threatened by
some of the Southern States, he said: —

" The event of a conflict in arms, between the Union and one of
its members, whether terminating in victory or defeat, would be but
an alternative of calamity to all. In the holy records of antiquity,
we have two examples of a confederation ruptured by the sever-
ance of its members, one of which resulted, after three desperate
battles, in the extermination of the seceding tribe. And the vic-
torious people, instead of exulting in shouts of triumph, came to the
house of God, and abode there till even, before God ; and lifted up
their voices, and wept sore, and said, — O Lord God of Israel why is
this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to-day one tribe lack-
ing in Israel? The other was a successful example of resistance
against tyrannical taxation, and severed forever the confederacy,
the fragments forming separate kingdoms ; and from that day their
history presents an unbroken series of disastrous alliances, and
exterminating wars — of assassinations, conspiracies, revolts, and
rebellions, until both parts of the confederacy sunk into tributary
servitude to the nations around them ; till the countrymen of David
and Solomon hung their harps upon the willows of Babylon, and
were totally lost amidst the multitudes of the Chaldean and Assyrian
monarchies, ' the most despised portion of their slaves.'

" In these mournful memorials of their fate, we may behold the

LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS. 251

sure, too sure prognostication of our own, from the hour when force
sha.ll be substituted for deliberation, in the settlement of our con-
stitutional questions. This is the deplorable alternative — the extir-
pation of the seceding member, or the never-ceasing struggle of
two rival confederacies, ultimately bending the neck of both under
the yoke of foreign domination, or the despotic sovereignty of a
conqueror at home. May heaven avert the omen ! The destinies,
not only of our posterity, but of the human race, are at stake.

" Let no such melancholy forebodings intrude upon the festivities
of this anniversary. Serene skies and balmy breezes are not con-
genial to the climate of freedom. Progressive improvement in the
condition of man, is apparently the purpose of a superintending
Providence. That purpose will not be disappointed. In no delu-
sion of national vanity, but with a feeling of profound gratitude to
the God of our fathers, let us indulge in the cheering hope and be-
lief, that our country and her people have been selected as instru-
ments for preparing and maturing much of the good yet in reserve
for the welfare and happiness of the human race. Much good has
already been effected by the solemn proclamation of our prin-
ciples— much more by the illustration of our example. The
tempest which threatens desolation may be destined only to purify
the atmosphere. It is not in tranquil ease and enjoyment that
the active energies of mankind are displayed. Toils and dan-
gers are trials of the soul. Doomed to the first by his sentence at
the fall, man by submission converts them into pleasures. The last
are, since the fall, the conditions of his existence. To see them in
advance, to guard against them by all the suggestions of prudence,
to meet them with the composure of unyielding resistance, and to
abide with firm resignation the final dispensation of Him who rules
the ball — these are the dictates of philosophy — these are the pre-
cepts of religion — these are the principles and consolations of pa-
triotism— these remain when all is lost — and of these is composed
the spirit of independence — the spirit embodied in that beautiful per-
sonification of the poet, which may each of you, my countrymen,
to the last hour of his life, apply to himself, — ■

'Thy spirit, Independence, let me share,
Lord of the lion heart, and eagle eye !
Thy steps I follow, with my bosom bare,
Nor heed the storm that howls aloiuj the oky.'

252 LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS.

" In the course of nature, the voice which now addresses you
must soon cease to be heard upon earth. Life and all which it in-
herits lose their value as it draws towards its close. But for most
of you, my friends and neighbors, long and many years of futurity
are yet in store. May they be years of freedom — years of pros-
perity— years of happiness, ripening for immortality ! But, were
the breath which now gives utterance to my feelings the last vital
air I should draw, my expiring words to you and your children
should be, Independence and Union forever .'"

A few weeks subsequent to the death of ex-Presi-
dent Monroe, Mr. Adams delivered an interesting and
able eulogy on his life and character, before the public
authorities of the city of Boston, in Faneuil Hall. In
drawing to a conclusion, he used the following lan-
guage : —

" Our country, by the bountiful dispensations of a gracious
Heaven, is, and for a series of years has been, blessed with pro-
found peace. Bat when the first father of our race had exhibited
before him, by the archangel sent to announce his doom, and to
console him in his fall, the fortunes and misfortunes of his descend-
ants, he saw that the deepest of their miseries would befal them
while favored with all the blessings of peace ; and in the bitterness
of his anguish he exclaimed : —

' Now 1 see
Peace to corrupt, no less than war to waste.'

" It is the very fervor of the noonday sun, in the cloudless atmos-
phere of a summer sky, which breeds

' the sweeping whirlwind's sway.
That, hushed in grim repose, expects his evening prey.'

" You have insured the gallant ship which ploughs the waves>
freighted with your lives and your children's fortunes, from the fury
of the tempest above, and from the treachery of the wave beneath.
Beware of the danger against which you can alone insure your-
selves — the latent defect of the gallant ship itself. Pass but a few

LIFE OF JOHN CIUINCY/ ADAMS. 253

short days, and forty years will have elapsed since the voice of him
who addresses you, speaking to your fathers from this hallowed
spot, gave for you, in the face of Heaven, the solemn pledge, that
if, in the course of your career on earth, emergencies should arise,
calling for the exercise of those energies and virtues which, in
times of tranquillity and peace remain by the will of Heaven dor-
mant in the human bosom, you would prove yourselves not un-
worthy the sires who had toiled, and fought, and bled, for the inde-
pendence of the country. Nor has that pledge been unredeemed.
You have maintained through times of trial and danger the inher-
itance of freedom, of union, of independence bequeathed you by
your forefathers. It remains for you only to transmit the same
peerless legacy, unimpaired, to your children of the next succeeding
age. To this end, let us join in humble supplication to the Founder
of empires and the Creator of all worlds, that he would continue to
your posterity the smiles which his favor has bestowed upon you ;
and, since ' it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,' that he
would enlighten and lead the advancing generation in the way they
should go. That in all the perils, and all the mischances which
may threaten or befall our United Republic, in after times, he would
raise up from among your sons deliverers to enlighten her councils,
to defend her freedom, and if need be, to lead her armies to victory.
And should the gloom of the year of independence ever again over-
spread the sky, or the metropolis of your empire be once more des-
tined to smart under the scourge of an invader's hand,* that there
never may be found wanting among the children of your country,
a warrior to bleed, a statesman to counsel, a chief to direct and
govern, inspired with all the virtues, and endowed with all the
faculties which have been so signally displayed in the life of James
Monroe."

* Alluding to the burning of the city of Washington, in the war of
1812.

CHAPTER XII.

MR. ADAMS TAKES HIS SEAT IN CONGRESS HIS POSITION AND

HABITS AS A MEMBER HIS INDEPENDENCE OF PARTY HIS

EULOGY ON THE DEATH OF EX-PRESIDENT JAMES MADISON
HIS ADVOCACY OF THE RIGHT OF PETITION, AND OPPO-
SITION TO SLAVERY INSURRECTION IN TEXAS MR. ADAMS

MAKES KNOWN ITS ULTERIOR OBJECT.

Mr. Adams took his seat in the House of Represent-
atives without ostentation, in December, 1831. His
appearance there produced a profound sensation. It
was the first time an ex-President had ever entered
that Hall in the capacity of a member. He was received
with the highest marks of respect. It presented a
singular spectacle to behold members of Congress
who, when Mr. Adams was President, had charged him
with every species of political corruption, and loaded
his name with the most opprobrious epithets, now
vieing with one another in bestowing upon him the
highest marks of respect and confidence. That which
they denied the President, they freely yielded to the
Man. It was the true homage which virtue and
patriotism must ever receive — more honorable, and far
more grateful to its object, than all the servility and

LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS. 255

flattery which power and patronage can so easily
purchase.

The degree of confidence reposed in Mr. Adams
was manifested by his being placed at once at the
head of the Committee on Manufactures. This is
always a responsible station ; but it was peculiarly so at
that time. The whole Union was highly agitated on the
subject of the tariff. The friends of domestic manu-
factures at the North, insisted upon high protective
duties, to sustain the mechanical and manufacturing
interests of the country against a ruinous foreign com-
petition. The Southern States resisted these measures
as destructive to their interests, and remonstrated with
the utmost vehemence against them — in which they
were joined by a large portion of the Democratic party
throughout the North. Mr. Adams, with enlarged
views of national unity and general prosperity, coun-
selled moderation to both parties. As Chairman of the
Committee on Manufactures, he strove to produce
such a compromise between the conflicting interests, as
should yield each section a fair protection, and restore
harmony and fraternity among the people.

So important were Mr. Adams' services deemed in
the Committee on Manufactures, that, on proposing to
resign his post as Chairman, to fulfil other duties which
claimed his attention, he was besought by all parties
to relinquish his purpose. Mr. Cambreleng, of N. Y.,
a political opponent of Mr. Adams, said, " It was not a
pleasant duty to oppose the request of any member of

256 LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS.

the House, particularly one of his character. He did
so with infinite regret in the present instance ; and he
certainly would not take such a course, but for the
important consequences that might result from assent-
ing to the wishes of the distinguished gentleman from
Massachusetts. He had reached the conclusion, not
without infinite pain and reluctance, that the harmony,
if not the existence of our Confederacy, depends, at this
crisis, upon the arduous, prompt, and patriotic efforts
of a few eminent men. He believed that much might
be done by the gentleman from Massachusetts."

In the same tone of high compliment, Mr. Barbour,
of Virginia, said, " that to refuse anything that could
be asked by the gentleman from Massachusetts gave
him pain, great pain. He said it was with unaffected
sincerity he declared, that the member from Massachu-
setts (with whom he was associated in the committee)
had not only fulfilled all his duties with eminent ability,
in the committee, but in a spirit and temper that com-
manded his grateful acknowledgments, and excited his
highest admiration. Were it permitted him to make a
personal appeal to the gentleman, he would have done
so in advance of this motion. He would have appealed
to him as a patriot, as a statesman, as a philanthropist,
and above all as an American, feeling the full force of
all his duties, and touched by all their incentives to
lofty action — to forbear this request."

These complimentary appeals were well deserved
by Mr. Adams, and show most emphatically the high

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS. 257

position he occupied in the esteem and confidence of
the entire House of Representatives, on becoming a
member thereof. But, with the modesty of true great-
ness, it was painful to him to hear these encomiums
uttered in his own presence. He arose, and begged
the House, in whatever further action it might take
upon the subject, to refrain from pursuing this strain.
" I have been most deeply affected," he said, " by what
has already passed. I have felt, in the strongest man-
ner, the impropriety of my being in the House while
such remarks were made ; being very conscious that
sentiments of an opposite kind might have been uttered
with far more propriety, and have probably been with-
held in consequence of my presence."

Mr. Adams carried with him into Congress all his
previous habits of industry and close application to
business. He was emphatically a hard worker. Few
men spent more hours in the twenty-four in assiduous
labor. He would take no active part in any matter —
would engage in the discussion of no topic — and would
not commit himself on any question — until he had
sounded it to its nether depths, and explored all its
ramifications, all its bearings and influences, and had
thoroughly become master of the subject. To gain
this information no toil was too great, no application
too severe. It was in this manner that he was enabled
to overwhelm with surprise his cotemporaries in Con-
gress, by the profundity of his knowledge. No subject
could be started, no question discussed, on which he

258 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

was not perfectly at home. Without hesitation or mis-
take, he could pour forth a stream of facts, dates, names,
places, accompanied with narrations, anecdotes, reflec-
tions and arguments, until the matter was thoroughly
sifted and laid bare in all its parts and properties, to the
understanding of the most casual observer. The te-
nacity and correctness of his memory was proverbial.
Alas, for the man who questioned the correctness of his
statements, his facts, or dates. Sure discomfiture await-
ed him. His mind was a perfect calendar, a store-house,
a mine of knowledge, in relation to all past events con-
nected with the history of his country and his age.

In connection with his other exemplary virtues, Mr.
Adams was prompt, faithful, unwearied, in the dis-
charge of all his public duties. The oldest member of
the House, he was at the same time the most punctual
— the first at his post ; the last to retire from the labors
of the day. His practice in these respects could well
put younger members to the blush. While many
others might be negligent in their attendance, saunter-
ing in idleness, engaged in frivolous amusements, or
even in dissipation, he was always at his post. No
call of the House was necessary — no Sergeant-at-arms
need be despatched — to bring him within the Hall of
Representatives. He was the last to move an ad-
journment, or to adopt any device to consume time or
neglect the public business for personal convenience
or gratification. In every respect he was a model
legislator. His example can be most profitably im-

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 259

itated by those who would arise to eminence in the
councils of the nation.

" My seat was, for two years, by his side, and it would have
scarcely more surprised me to miss one of the marble columns
of the Hall from its pedestal than to see his chair empty. * * *
I shall, perhaps, be pardoned for introducing here a slight personal
recollection, which serves, in some degree, to illustrate his habits.
The sessions of the last two days of (I think) the twenty-third Con-
gress, were prolonged, the one for nineteen, and the other for seven-
teen hours. At the close of the last day's session, he remained in
the hall of the House the last seated member of the body. One alter
another, the members had gone home ; many of them for hours.
The hall — brilliantly lighted up, and gaily attended, as was, and
perhaps is still, the custom at the beginning the last evening of a
session — had become cold, dark, and cheerless. Of the members
who remained, to prevent the public business from dying for want
of a quorum, most but himself were sinking from exhaustion, although
they had probably taken their meals at the usual hours, in the
course of the day. After the adjournment, I went up to Mr.
Adams' seat, to join company with him, homeward ; and as I knew
he came to the House at eight o'clock in the morning, and it was
then past midnight, I expressed a hope that he had taken some
refreshment in the course of the day. He said he had not left his
seat; but holding up a bit of hard bread in his fingers, gave me tc
understand in what way he had sustained nature."*

The following reminiscence will further illustrafe
Mr. Adams' habits of industry and endurance at a
later day, as well as show his views in regard to the
famous " Expunging Resolution."

" On a cold and dreary morning, in the month of January, 1837, 1
went to the capitol of the United States, at a very early hour, to
write out a very long speech I had reported for an honorable gentle-
man, who wished to look well in print ; and on entering tha hall

* Edward Everett.

260 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

of the House of Representatives, I found Mr. Adams, as early
as the hour was, in his seat, busily engaged in writing. He
and myself were the only persons present ; even the industrious Mr.
Follansbee, the then doorkeeper, had not made his appearance, with
his assistants and pages, to distribute copies of the journal and the
usual documents.

" As I made it a rule never to speak to Mr. Adams, unless he
spoke first, I said nothing ; but took my seat in the reporters' gallery^
and went to work. I had written about half an hour, when the
venerable statesman appeared at my desk, and was pleased to say
that I was a very industrious man. I thanked him for the compli-
ment, and, in return, remarked, that, as industrious as I might be, I
could not keep pace with him, ' for,' said I, ' I found you here,
sir, when I came in.'

" ' I believe I was a little early, sir,' he replied ; ' but, as there is
to be a closing debate to-day, in the Senate, on the expunging reso-
lution, which I feel inclined to hear, I thought I would come down
at an unusual hour, this morning, and dispatch a little writing before
the Senate was called to order.'

"'Do you think the expunging resolution will be disposed of to-
day ?' I inquired.

" ' I understand it will,' he rejoined. • I hope so, at least,' he
added, ' for I think the country has already become weary of it,
and is impatient for a decision. It has already absorbed more
time than should have been devoted to it.'

" ' It will pass, I suppose, sir ?'

"' Oh, certainly ; and by a very decided majority. The adminis-
tration is too strong for the opposition ; and the affair will call up a
strict party vote. Of course Mr. Clay's resolution will be expunged,
and the journal will not be violated.'

" I was somewhat surprised at the remark, and, in return, ob-
served that I had always understood that it was on the constitutional
ground, that the expunging process could not be effected without
destroying the journal, that the opponents of the measure had based
themselves.

" ' It is true, sir, that that has been the grave and somewhat tenable
argument in the Senate ; but it is a fallacy, after all,' he replied. ' The
constitution, sir, it is true, renders it imperative on both Houses to
keep a correct journal of its proceedings ; and all this can be done,

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCV ADAMS. 261

and any portion of it may be expunged, without violating that instru-
ment. For instance, sir, a resolution is adopted to-day, is entered
on the journal, and to-morrow is expunged — and still the journal
remains correct, and the constitution is not violated. For the act
by which the expungation is effected is recorded on the journal ; the
expunged resolution becomes a matter of record, and thus every-
thing stands fair and correct. The constitution is a sacred docu-
ment, and should not be violated ; but how often is it strictly
adhered to, to the very letter ? There are, sir, some men in the world
who make great parade about their devotion to the " dear conslilu
tion" — men, sir, who make its sacred character a hobby, and who,
nevertheless, are perfectly reckless of its violation, if the ends of
party are to be accomplished by its abjuration.'

" There was a degree of sarcasm blended with his enunciation
of the ' dear constitution,' which induced me to think it possible
that he intended some personal allusion when he repeated the words.
In this I might, and might not, have erred.

" ' In what way, Mr. Adams,' I inquired, ' is this expunging pro-
cess to be accomplished ? Is the objectionable resolution to be erased
from the journal with a pen ; or is the leaf that contains it to be
cut out ?'

" ' Neither process is to be resorted to, as I understand it,' he
replied. ' The resolution will remain in the book; black lines will
be drawn around it, and across it from right angles, and the word " ex-
punged," will be written on the face of it. It will, to all intents and
purposes, still stand on the face of the book. There are precedents
in parliamentary journalism for the guidance of the Senate, and I
suppose they will be adopted.'

" He then proceeded to give me a very graphic and interesting
description of an expunging process that took place in the British
Parliament in the reign of James the First, of England, which I
would repeat, if time and space allowed. He detained me a long
time, in narrating precedents, and commenting on them ; and then
abruptly bringing the subject to a close, left me to pursue my labors.

" Soon after the House had been called to order, immediately after
the chaplain had said his prayers — for that was a ceremonial that
Mr. Adams always observed — I saw him leave his seat, and proceed,
as I supposed, to the Senate chamber. After an hour or two had
elapsed, I went into the Senate, and there found him, standing out-

262 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

side of the bar, listening, with all imaginable attention, to Mr. Felix
Grundy, who was delivering himself of some brief remarks he had
to utter on the subject.

" At nine o'clock in the evening, as I fumbled my way through
the badly-lighted rotunda, having just escaped from a caucus that
had been holding ' a secret session,' in the room of the committee
on public lands, I descried a light issuing from the vestibule of the
Senate chamber, which apprized me that ' the most dignified body
on earth' was still in session. Impelled by a natural curiosity, I
proceeded towards the council chamber of the right reverend signors;
and, just as I reached the door, Mr. Adams stepped out. I inquired
if the resolution had been disposed of.

" ' No, sir,' he replied ; ' nor is it probable that it will be to-night !
A Senator from North Carolina is yet on the floor ; and, as it does not
appear likely that he will yield it very soon, and as I am somewhat
faint and weary, I think I shall go home.'

" The night was very stormy. Snow was falling fast ; the moon,
which had

' not yet fill'd her horns,'

had receded beneath the western horizon ; and, as the capitol was
but sadly lighted, I offered my services to the venerable sage of
Quincy, and at the same time asked leave to conduct him to his
dwelling.

" ' Sir,' said he, ' I am indebted to you for your proffered kindness ;
but I need not the service of any one. I am somewhat advanced in
life, but not yet, by the blessing of God, infirm ; or what Doctor
Johnson would call " superfluous ;" and you may recollect what
old Adam says in the play of " As you like it :"

" For in my youth I never did apply
Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood." '

" For the first time in my life, I found Mr. Adams a little inclined
to be facetious ; and I was glad of it — for it was to me a kind of
assurance that my presence was not absolutely unwelcome.

" The salutation being over, and Mr. Adams having consented
that I should see him down the steps of the capitol, I proceeded on-
ward, and soon found myself, with my revered convoy, in the
vicinity of the western gate of the capitol grounds. ' The wind

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 263

whistled a dismal tale,' as we trudged onward, looking in vain for
a cab ; and the snow and sleet, which, early in the day, had mantled
the earth, was now some twelve inches deep on Pennsylvania
avenue. I insisted on going onward ; but Mr. Adams objected, and
bidding me good night somewhat unceremoniously, told me, almost
in as many words, that my farther attendance was unwelcome.

" As I left him, he drew his ' Boston wrapper' still closer around
him, hitched up his mittens, and with elastic step breasted a wintry
storm that might have repelled even the more elastic movement
of juvenility, and wended up the avenue. Although I cannot irrev-
erently say that he

' Whistled as he went, for want of thought,'

I fancy that his mind was so deeply imbued with the contemplation
of affairs of state, and especially in contemplating the expunging
resolution, that he arrived at his home long before he was aware
that he had threaded the distance between the capitol and the
Presidential square."*

Although elected to the House of Representatives as
a Whig, and usually acting with that party, yet Mr.
Adams would never acknowledge that fealty to party
could justify a departure from the conscientious dis-
charge of duty. He went with his party as far as he
believed his party was right and its proceedings calcu-
lated to promote the welfare of the country. But no
party claims, no smiles nor frowns, could induce him
to sanction any measure which he believed prejudicial
to the interest of the people. Hence, during his con-
gressional career, the Whigs occasionally found him a
decided opposer of their policy and measures, on ques-
tions where he deemed they had mistaken the true

* Reminiscences of the late John Quincy Adams, by an Old Colony
Man. — Xcic York Atlas.

264 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

course. In this he was but true to his principles, char
acter, and whole past history. It was not that he loved
his political party or friends less, but that he loved what
he viewed as conducive to the welfare of the nation,
more.

The same principle of action governed him in refer-
ence to his political opponents. In general he threw
his influence against the administration of Gen. Jack-
son, under a sincere conviction that its policy was in-
jurious to the welfare of our common country. But to
every measure which he could sanction, he did not
hesitate to yield the support of all his energies.

An instance of this description occurred in relation
to the treaty of indemnity with France. For nearly
forty years, negotiations had been pending in vain with
the French Government, to procure an indemnity for
spoliations of American commerce, during the French
Revolution and Republic. On the 4th of July, 1831,
Mr. Rives, the American Minister to France, succeeded
in concluding a treaty with that country, securing to
American merchants an indemnity of five millions of
dollars. But although the treaty was duly ratified by
both Governments, the French Chamber of Deputies
obstinately refused, for several years, to vote an appro-
priation of money to fulfil its stipulations. In 1835,
Gen. Jackson determined on strong measures to bring
the French Government to the discharge of its obliga-
tions. He accordingly sent a message to Congress,
recommending, in the event of further delay on the

LIFE OF JOHN G.UINCY ADAMS. 2G5

part of France, that letters of marque and reprisal be
issued against the commerce of France, and at the
same time instructed Mr. Edward Livingston, our
Minister at that day at the Court of St. Cloud, to de-
mand his passports, and retire to London. In all these
steps, which resulted in bringing France to a speedy-
fulfilment of the treaty, Mr. Adams yielded his unre-
served support to the administration. He believed
Gen. Jackson, in resorting to compulsory measures,
was pursuing a course called for alike by the honor
and the interest of the country, and he did not hesitate
to give him a cordial support, notwithstanding he was
a political opponent. In a speech made by Mr. Adams
on the subject, in the House of Representatives, he
said : —

" Sir, if we do not unite with the President of the United States
in an effort to compel the French Chamber of Deputies to carry out
the provisions of this treaty, we shall become the scorn, the con-
tempt, the derision and the reproach of all mankind ! Sir, this
treaty has been ratified on both sides of the ocean ; it has received
the sign manual of the sovereign of France, through His Imperial
Majesty's principal Minister of State ; it has been ratified by the
Senate of this Republic ; it has been sanctioned by Almighty God ;
and still we are told, in a voice potential, in the other wing of this
capitol, that the arrogance of France, — nay, sir, not of France, but
of her Chamber of Deputies — the insolence of the French Cham-
bers, must be submitted to, and we must come down to the lower
degradation of re-opening negotiations to attain that which has al-
ready been acknowledged to be our due ! Sir, is this a specimen
of your boasted chivalry ? Is this an evidence of the existence of that
heroic valor which has so often led our arms on to glory and im-
mortality ? Re-open negotiation, sir, with France ? Do it, and soon
you will find your flao- insulted, dishonored, and trodden in the dust

12

266 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

by the pigmy States of Asia and Africa — by the very banditti of the
earth. Sir, the only negotiations, says the President of the United
States, that he would encounter, should be at the cannon's mouth !"

The effect produced by this speech was tremendous
on all sides ; and, for a while, the House was lost in the
excitement it afforded. The venerable orator took his
seat; and, as he sank into it, the very walls shook with
the thundering applause he had awakened.

On the 28th of June, 1836, the venerable ex- Presi-
dent James Madison, departed life at Montpelier, Va.,
in the eighty-sixth year of his age. He had filled a
prominent place in the history of our Government,
from its first organization. As a statesman, he was
unsurpassed in critical acumen, in profundity of knowl-
edge, in an understanding of constitutional Government,
and its adaptation to the rights and interests of the
people. His writings are an invaluable legacy to his
countrymen, and will be studied and quoted for ages
to come. " His public acts were a noble commentary
upon his political principles — his private life an illus-
tration of the purest virtues of the heart."

When a message from the President, announcing
the death of Mr. Madison, was received in the House
of Representatives, Mr. Adams arose and said : —

" By the general sense of the House, it is with perfect propriety
that the delegation from the commonwealth of Virginia have taken
the lead in the melancholy duty of proposing the measures suitable
to be adopted as testimonials of the vereration due, from the Legis-

LIFE OF JOHN (AUINCY ADAM3. 267

iature of the Union, to the memory of the departed patriot and sage,
the native of their soil, and the citizen of their community.

" It is not without some hesitation, and some diffidence, that I
have risen to offer in my own behalf, and in that of my colleagues
upon this floor, and of our common constituents, to join our voice,
at once of mourning and exultation, at the event announced to both
Houses of Congress, by the message from the President of the
United States — of mourning at the bereavement which has befallen
our common country, by the decease of one of her most illustrious
sons — of exultation at the spectacle afforded to the observation of
the civilized world, and for the emulation of after times, by the close
of a life of usefulness and of glory, after forty years of service in
trusts of the highest dignity and splendor that a confiding country
could bestow, succeeded by twenty years of retirement and private
life, not inferior, in the estimation of the virtuous and the wise, to
the honors of the highest station that ambition can ever attain.

" Of the public life of James Madison what could I say that is
not deeply impressed upon the memory and upon the heart of every
one within the sound of my voice 1 Of his private life, what but
must meet an echoing shout of applause from every voice within
this hall ? Is it not in a pre-eminent degree by emanation from his
mind, that we are assembled here as the representatives of the
people and the States of this Union ? Is it not transcendently by
his exertions that we all address each other here by the endearing
appellation of countrymen and fellow-citizens ? Of that band of
benefactors of the human race, the founders of the Constitution of
the United States, James Madison is the last who has gone to his
reward. Their glorious work has survived them all. They have
transmitted the precious bond of union to us, now entirely a suc-
ceeding generation to them. May it never cease to be a voice of
admonition to us, of our duty to transmit the inheritance unimpaired
to our children of the rising age.

" Of the personal relations of this great man, which gave rise to
the long career of public service in which twenty years of my own
life has been engaged, it becomes me not to speak. The fulness
of the heart must be silent, even to the suppression of the overflow-
ings of gratitude and affection."

To the year 1835, the career of Mr. Adams in

268 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

Congress had been marked by no signal display of
characteristics peculiar to himself, other than such as
the world had long been familiar with in his previous
history. He had succeeded in maintaining his reputa-
tion for patriotism, devotion to principle, political
sagacity and wisdom, and his fame as a public debater
and eloquent speaker. But no new development of
qualities unrecognized before had been made. From
that year forward, however, he placed himself in a new
attitude before the country, and entered upon a career
which eclipsed all his former services, and added a
lustre to his fame which will glow in unrivalled splen-
dor as long as human freedom is prized on earth. It
can hardly be necessary to state that allusion is here
made to his advocacy of the Right of Petition, and his
determined hostility to slavery. At an age when most
men would leave the stormy field of public life, and
retire to the quiet seclusion of domestic comfort, these
great topics inspirited Mr. Adams with a renewed
vigor. With all the ardor and zeal of youth, he placed
himself in the front rank of the battle which ensued,
plunged into the very midst of the melee, and, with a
dauntless courage, that won the plaudits of the world,
held aloft the banner of freedom in the Halls of Con-
gress, when other hearts quailed and fell back ! He
led " the forlorn hope" to the assault of the bulwarks
of slavery, when the most sanguine believed his
almost superhuman labors would be all in vain. In
these contests a spirit blazed out from his noble soul

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCV ADAMS. 269

which electrified the nation with admiration. In his
intrepid bearing amid these scenes he fully personified
the couplet quoted in one of his orations : —

" Thy spirit, Independence, let me share,

IiOrd of the lion heart and eagle eye !
Thy steps I follow, with my bosom bare,

Nor heed the storm that howls along the sky."

The first act in the career of Mr. Adams as a Mem-
ber of Congress, was in relation to slavery. On the
12th of December, 1831, it being the second week of
the first session of the twenty-second Congress, he
presented fifteen petitions, all numerously signed, from
sundry inhabitants of Pennsylvania, praying for the
abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District
of Columbia. In presenting these petitions, Mr. Adams
remarked, that although the petitioners were not of his
immediate constituents, yet he did not deem himself at
liberty to decline presenting their petitions, the trans-
mission of which to him manifested a confidence in
him for which he was bound to be grateful. From a
letter which had accompanied the petitions, he inferred
that they came from members of the Society of Friends
or Quakers ; a body of men, he declared, than whom
there was no more respectable and worthy class of citi-
zens— none who more strictly made their lives a com-
mentary on their professions ; a body of men comprising,
in his firm opinion, as much of human virtue, and as
little of human infirmity, as any other equal number of
men, of any denomination, upon the face of the globe.

270 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

The petitions for the abolition of the slave trade
in the District of Columbia, Mr. Adams considered
relating to a proper subject for the legislation of Con-
gress. But he did not give his countenance to those
which prayed for the abolition of slavery in that District.
Not that he would approbate the system of slavery ;
for he was, and in fact had been through life, its most
determined foe. But he believed the time had not
then arrived for the discussion of that subject in Con-
gress. It was his settled conviction that a premature
agitation of slavery in the national councils would
greatly retard, rather than facilitate, the abolition of
that giant evil — " as the most salutary medicines," he
declared in illustration, " unduly administered, were the
most deadly of poisons."

The position taken by Mr. Adams, in presenting
these petitions, was evidently misunderstood by many,
and especially by Abolitionists. They construed it
into a disposition on his part to sanction, or at least to
succumb unresistingly, to the inhumanity and enormity
of the slave institution. In this conclusion they sig-
nally erred. Mr. Adams, by birth, education, all the
associations of his life, and the fixed principles of his
moral and political character, was an opposer of slavery
in every form. No man felt more keenly the wretched
absurdity of professing to base our Government on the
" self-evident truth, that all men are created equal, and
endowed by their Creator with an unalienable right to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" — of pro-

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 271

claiming our Union the abode of liberty, the " home
of the free," the asylum of the oppressed — while hold-
ing in our midst millions of fellow-beings manacled in
hopeless bondage ! No man was more anxious to
correct this disgraceful misnomer, and wripe away its
dark stain from our national escutcheon at the earliest
practicable moment. But he was a statesman of pro-
found knowledge and far-reaching sagacity. He
possessed the rare quality of being able to " bide his
time" in all enterprizes. Great as he felt the enormity
of American slavery to be, he would not, in seeking to
remove it, select a time so unseasonable, and adopt
measures so unwise, as would result, Samson-like, in
removing the pillars of our great political fabric, and
crushing the glorious Union, formed by the wisdom
and cemented by the blood of our Revolutionary
Fathers, into a mass of ruins.

Believing there was a time to withhold and a time
to strike, he would patiently wait until the sentiment
of the American people became sufficiently ripened,
under the increasing light and liberality of the age, to
permit slavery to be lawfully and peaceably removed,
while the Union should remain unweakened and un
touched — the pride of our hearts, the admiration of the
world. Hence, in his early career, he saw no pro-
pitious moment for such a work. While discharging
the duties of U. S. Senator, Secretary of State, and
President, an attempt in that direction would have
resulted in an aggravation of the e^ils of slavery, and

272 LIFE OF JOHN QUINUV ADAMS.

a strengthening of the institution. Nor on first enter-
ing Congress did he conceive the time to be fully come
to engage in that agitation of the momentous subject,
which, when once commenced in earnest, would never
cease until either slavery would be abolished, as far as
Congress possessed constitutional power, or the Union
become rent in twain ! But he evidently saw that
time was at hand — even at the door — and he prepared
himself for the contest.

In 1835, the people of Texas took up arms in open
rebellion against the Government of Mexico. That
Province had been settled chiefly by emigrants from
the Southern and Southwestern States. Many of
them had taken their slaves with them. But the
Mexican Government, to their enduring honor be it
said, abolished slavery throughout that Republic. The
ostensible object of the Texian insurrection was to
resist certain schemes of usurpation alleged against
Santa Anna, at that time President of Mexico. At the
present day, however, after having witnessed the en-
tire progress and consummation of the scheme, it is
abundantly evident, that from the beginning there was
a deliberate and well-digested plan to re-establish
slavery in Texas — annex that province to the United
States — and thus immensely increase the slave terri-
tory and influence in the Union.

At the first blast of the Texian bugle, thousands of
volunteers from the slaveholding States rushed to the

LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS. 273

standard of " the lone star." Agents were sent to the
United States to create an interest in behalf of Texas
— the most inflammatory appeals were made to the peo-
ple of the Union — and armed bodies of American citi-
zens were openly formed in the South, and transported
without concealment to the seat of the insurrection.
President Jackson reminded the inhabitants of the
United States of their obligations to observe neutrality in
the contest between Mexico and its rebellious province.
At the same time, Gen. Gaines, with a body of U. S.
troops, was ordered to take up a position within the
borders of Texas. The avowed object of this move-
ment was to protect the people of the Southwestern
frontiers from the incursions of Indian tribes in the
employment of Mexico. But the presence of such a
body of troops could not but exert an influence favor-
able to the measures and objects of Texas ; and be-
sides, it afterwards appeared the Indians had no dispo-
sition to take sides with Mexico, or to make any
depredations on the territories of the United States.
A call was made on Congress for an appropriation of
a million of dollars to carry on these military opera-
tions, the entire tendency of which was to encourage
Texas in its attempt to throw off the Mexican alle-
giance and re-establish slavery.

The source from whence the authorities of Texas
were confidently looking for assistance, and the ulterior
object at which they were aiming in their insurrection
— viz. : annexation to the United States, and thus add-

12*

274 LIFE OF JOHN aUlNCY ADAMS.

ing territory and strength to the institution of slavery
— are clearly revealed in the following extracts from a
letter addressed by Gen. Houston, commander of the
Texian forces, to Gen. Dunlap, of Nashville, Tenn : —

" Near Sabine, July, 2, 1836.
" To Gen. Dunlap :

Sir: — Your favor of the 1st of June reached me last evening.
I regret so much delay will necessarily result before you can reach
us. We will need your aid, and that speedily. The enemy, in large
numbers, are reported to be in Texas. * * * * * The army with which
they first entered Texas is broken up and dispersed by desertion
and other causes. If they get another army of the extent proposed,
it must be composed of new recruits, and men pressed into service.
They will not possess the mechanical efficiency of discipline which
gives the Mexican troops the only advantage they have. They will
easily be routed by a very inferior force. For a portion of that
force, we shall be obliged to look to the United States ! It cannot
reach us too soon. There is but one feeling in Texas, in my opin-
ion, and that is, to establish the independence of Texas, and to be
attached to the United States ! ***** March as speedily as
possible, with all the aid you can bring, and I doubt not but you
will be gratified with your reception and situation."

The whole plan succeeded beyond the anticipation
of its most sanguine projectors. Aided by men and
means from the United States, Texas established its
independence — organized a government — incorporated
slavery into its constitution so thoroughly as to guard
against the remotest attempt ever to remove it — and
by a process unsurpassed in the annals of political
intrigue, in due time became annexed to the North
American Union. In this accession of a territory
from which several large States will eventually be

LIFE OF JOHN GtUINCY ADAMS. 275

carved out, the slave power of the United States ob-
tained a signal advantage, of which it will not be
backward to avail itself in the time of its need. A
faithful history of this entire movement is yet to be
written.

Mr. Adams, with his well-known and long-tried
sagacity, saw at a glance the whole design of the
originators of the Texas insurrection. While most
people were averse to the belief that a project was
seriously on foot to sever a large and free province
from the Mexican Republic and annex it to the Union
as slave territory, he read the design in legible char-
acters from the beginning. In a speech made in the
House of Representatives, in May, 1836, in reference
to the call for a million of dollars, for purposes already
stated, Mr. Adams unriddled the Texian project with
the vision of a prophet.

" Have we not seen American citizens," said Mr. Adams, " going
from all parts of the country to carry on the war of this province
against the united Government of Mexico ? Who were those who
fell at Alamo ? Who are now fighting under the command of the
hero* of Texian fame ? And have we not been called upon in this
House, to recognize Texian independence ? It seems that Gen.
Gaines considers this a war in defence of ' our Texians.' "

Mr. Cambreleng explained that the word " neigh-
bors," had been accidentally omitted in Gen. Gaines'
dispatch.

Mr. Adams continued :— " Was this an intention to conquer Texas,

* General Houston.

276 LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS.

to re-establish that slavery which had been abolished by the United
Mexican States ? If that was the case, and we were to be drawn
into an acknowledgment of their independence, and then, by that
preliminary act, by that acknowledgment, if we were upon their
application to admit Texas to become a part of the United States,
then the House ought to be informed of it. I shall be for no such
war, nor for making any such addition to our territory. ****** I
hope Congress will take care to go into no war for the re-establish-
ment of slavery where it has been abolished — that they will go into
no war in behalf of ' our Texians,' or ' our Texian neighbors' —
and that they will go into no war with a foreign power, without
other cause than the acquisition of territory."

In a speech delivered a few days subsequent to the
above, Mr. Adams used the following language : —

" It is said that one of the earliest acts of this administration was
a proposal, made at a time when there was already much ill-humor
in Mexico against the United States, that she should cede to the
United States a very large portion of her territory — large enough
to constitute nine States equal in extent to Kentucky. It must be
confessed that a device better calculated to produce jealousy, sus-
picion, ill-will and hatred, could not have been contrived. It is
further affirmed that this overture, offensive in itself, was made
precisely at the time when a swarm of colonists from these United
States, were covering the Mexican border with land-jobbing, and
with slaves, introduced in defiance of Mexican laws, by which
slavery had been abolished throughout the Republic. The war
now raging in Texas is a Mexican civil war, and a war for the re-
establishment of slavery where it was abolished. It is not a servile
war, but a war between slavery and emancipation, and every possi-
ble effort has been made to drive us into the war on the side of
slavery."

"When, in the year 1836, resolutions to recognize the independ-
ence of Texas came up in the House of Representatives, Mr.
Adams opposed them with great energy and eloquence, and pro
voked a most ardent and violent debate. Mr. Waddy Thompson,
then a Representative in Congress, and subsequently Minister to
Mexico, advocated the passage of the resolutions ; and, in doing so,

LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS. 277

said that Mr. Adams, in negotiating the Florida treaty, actually ceded
to Mexico the whole of Texas, a province that was part and parcel
of this Union.

" Mr. Adams immediately arrested the speech of Mr. Thompson,
and denied the impeachment. Mr. Thompson rejoined, and, to
strengthen his position, quoted some remarks Gen. Jackson had
made on the subject, confirmatory of the charge of having sacrificed
the national domain, in the Florida negotiation.

"Mr. Adams replied with great warmth ; and went into a minute
and interesting narrative of the whole transaction. Among other
things, he said that, before the Florida treaty was signed, he took it
to Gen. Jackson, to obtain his opinion of it ; and that it was uncon-
ditionally approved by him.

" Mr. Thompson was surprised at the announcement of this fact.
It weakened his position very materially ; and he resumed his seat a
defeated antagonist. So said the House of Representatives, with
scarcely the exception of a member.

" Mr. Adams continued his defence. ' At that time,' said he,
' General Jackson was in this city, on exciting business connected
with the Seminole war ; and, after the treaty had been concluded,
and only wanted the signatures of the contracting parties, the then
President of the United States directed me to call on General Jack-
son, in my official capacity as Secretary of State, and obtain his
opinion in reference to boundaries. I did call. General Jackson,
sir, was at that time holding his quarters in the hotel at the other
end of the avenue, now kept by Mr. Azariah Fuller, but then under
the management of Jonathan McCarty. The day was exceedingly
warm, and, on entering General Jackson's parlor, I found him much
exhausted by excitement, and the intensity of the weather. I made
known to him the object of my visit ; when he replied that I would
greatly oblige him if I would excuse him from looking into the
matter then. " Leave the papers with me, sir, till to-morrow, or
the next day, and I will examine them." I did leave them, sir ;
and the next day called for the hero's opinion and decision. Sir, I
recollect the occurrence perfectly well ; General Jackson was still
unwell ; and the papers, with an accompanying map, were spread
before him. With his cane, sir, he pointed to the boundaries, as
ihey had been agreed upon by the parties ; and, sir, with a very
emphatic expression, which I need not repeat, he affirmed them.'

278 LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS.

" This debate, whilst yet warm from the hands of the reporters,
reached General Jackson ; and was at once pressed upon his atten-
tion. Its contradiction and refutation were deemed matters of par-
amount importance. The old soldier did not hesitate long to act in
the matter, and speedily there appeared in the Globe newspaper a
letter, signed Andrew Jackson, denying, in unqualified and uncon-
ditional terms, everything that Mr. Adams had uttered. He denied
having been in Washington at the time Mr. Adams designated ;
but afterwards, being convinced that he was in error, in this fact
only he corrected himself, but denied most positively that he had
seen the Florida treaty, or Mr. Adams, at the time of its negotiation,
or that he had had the remotest agency or connection with the
transaction.

" Mr. Adams responded, and appealed to his diary, where every-
thing was set forth with the utmost precision and accuracy. The
year, day of the month, and of the week, and the very hour of the
day, all were faithfully recorded.

" The affair produced much sensation at Washington ; and even
the most determined advocates of General Jackson believed that he,
and not Mr. Adams, was in error. No one would, or could for a
moment, believe that Mr. Adams ' had made a false report.'

" Whilst this controversy was pending, I called at the Presidential
mansion, one afternoon, when General Jackson, strange to say,
happened to be alone. He said that he was very glad to see me,
because he would like to hear, from one who had an opportunity of
seeing more of the press than he saw, what was the exact state of
public opinion, in regard to the controversy.

" ' As far as I am capable of judging, Mr. President,' I replied,
' the people appear to be unanimous in the opinion that there is a
misunderstanding, a misapprehension, between you and Mr. Adams ;
for no one imagines, for a moment, that either of you would mis-
represent facts ! Mr. Adams is a man of infinite method ; he is
generally accurate, and, in this instance, it appears that he is sus-
tained by his diary.'

" ' His diary ! don't tell me anything more about his diary !
Sir, that diary comes up on all occasions — one would think that its
pages were as immutable as the laws of the Medes and Persians !
Sir, that diary will be the death of me ! I wonder if James Monroe
kept a diary '. If he did, it is to be hoped that it will be looked to,

LIFE OF JOHN Q.U1NCY ADAMS. 279

to see if it contains anything about this Adams and Don Onis treaty.
Sir, I did not see it ; I was not consulted about it.'

" The old hero was exceedingly vehement, and wa3 proceeding to
descant with especial violence, when he was interrupted by the en-
trance of Mr. Secretary Woodbury, and I never heard another
word about the matter. A question of veracity between the parties
was raised, and was never adjudicated. Both went down to the
grave before any definite light was cast on the subject ; but the
world had decided that General Jackson was in error.*

* Reminiscences of the late John Quincy Adams, by an Old Colony
Man.

CHAPTER XIII.

MR. ADAMS PRESENTS PETITIONS FOR THE ABOLISHMENT OF

SLAVERY OPPOSITION OF SOUTHERN MEMBERS EXCITING

SCENES IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARKS OF

CONFIDENCE IN MR. ADAMS.

In the meantime, during the years 1836 and 1837,
the public mind in the Northern States, became fully
aroused to the enormities of American slavery — its en-
croachments on the rights and interests of the free
States — the undue influence it was exercising in our
national councils — and the evident determination to
enlarge its borders and its evils, by the addition of new
and large territories. Petitions for the abolition of
slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia
and the Territories, began to pour into Congress, from
every section of the East and North. These were gen-
erally presented by Mr. Adams. His age and experi-
ence— his well-known influence in the House of Rep-
resentatives— his patriotism, and his intrepid advocacy
of human freedom — inspired the confidence of the
people of the free States, and led them to entrust to
him their petitions. With scrupulous fidelity he per-
formed the duty thus imposed upon him. Whoever
petitions might come from — whatever the nature of

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 281

their prayer — whether for such objects as he could
sanction or not — if they were clothed in respectful
language, Mr. Adams felt himself under an imperative
obligation to present them to Congress. For several
sessions at this period, few days passed without his pre-
senting more or less petitions having some relation to
the subject of slavery.

The southern members of Congress became alarmed
at these demonstrations, and determined to arrest them,
even at the sacrifice, if need be, of the right of petition
— the most sacred privilege of freemen. On the 8th
of Feb., 1836, a committee was raised by the House of
Representatives, to take into consideration what dis-
position should be made of petitions and memorials for
the abolition of slavery and the slave trade, in the Dis-
trict of Columbia, and report thereon. This committee
consisted of Messrs. Pinckney of South Carolina,
Hamer of Ohio, Pierce of New Hampshire, Hardin
of Kentucky, Jarvis of Maine, Owens of Georgia,
Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania, Dromgoole of Virginia,
and Turrill of New York. On the 18th of May, the
committee made a lengthy and unanimous report
through Mr. Pinckney, recommending the adoption
of the following resolutions : —

" Resolved, That Congress possesses no constitutional authority
to interfere in any way with the institution of slavery in any of the
States of this Confederacy.

" Resolved, That Congress ought not to interfere in any way
with slavery in the District of Columbia.

" And whereas, It h extremely important and desirable that the

282 LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS.

agitation of this subject should be finally arrested, for the purpose
of restoring tranquillity to the public mind, your committee respect-
fully recommend the adoption of the following additional resolu-
tion, viz. : —

" Resolved, That all petitions, memorials, resolutions, propositions
or papers, relating in any way, or to any extent whatever, to the
subject of slavery, or the abolition of slavery, shall, without being
either printed or referred, be laid upon the table, and that no further
action whatever shall be had thereon."

When the first of these resolutions was taken up,
Mr. Adams said, if the House would allow him five
minutes' time, he would prove the resolution to be
untrue. His request was denied.

On the third resolution Mr. Adams refused to vote,
and sent to the Speaker's chair the following declara-
tion, demanding that it should be placed on the journal
of the House, there to stand to the latest posterity : —

" I hold the resolution to be a direct violation of the Constitu-
tion of the United States, of the rules of this House, and of the
rights of my constituents."

Notwithstanding the rule embodied in this resolution
virtually trampled the right of petition into the dust,
•yet it was adopted by the House, by a large majority.
But Mr. Adams was not to be deterred by this arbitrary
restriction, from a faithful discharge of his duty as a
representative of the people. Petitions on the subject
of slavery continued to be transmitted to him in in-
creased numbers. With unwavering firmness — against
a bitter and unscrupulous opposition, exasperated to
the highest pitch by his pertinacity — amidst a perfect
tempest of vituperation and abuse — he persevered in

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 283

presenting these petitions, one by one, to the amount
sometimes of two hundred in a day — demanding the
action of the House on each separate petition.

His position amid these scenes was in the highest
degree illustrious and sublime. An old man, with the
weight of years upon him, forgetful of the elevated
stations he had occupied, and the distinguished honors
received for past services, turning away from the re-
pose which age so greatly needs, and laboring, amidst
scorn and derision, and threats of expulsion and assas-
sination, to maintain the sacred right of petition for the
poorest and humblest in the land — insisting that the
voice of a free people should be heard by their repre-
sentatives, when they would speak in condemnation of
human slavery and call upon them to maintain the
principles of liberty embodied in the immortal Declar-
ation of Independence — was a spectacle unwitnessed
before in the history of legislation. A few specimens
of these transactions will enable the reader to judge
of the trials Mr. Adams was compelled to endure in
the discharge of his duties, and also of his moral courage
and indomitable perseverance, amid the most appalling
circumstances.

On the 6th of Jan., 1837, Mr. Adams presented the petition ot
one hundred and fifty women, whom he stated to be the wives and
daughters of his immediate constituents, praying for the abolition
of slavery in the District of Columbia, and moved that the petition
be read.

Mr. Glascock objected to its reception.

Mr. Parks moved that the preliminary motion, on the reception of
the petition, be laid on the table, which was carried.

284 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

Mr. Adams said, that if he had understood the decision of the
Speaker in this case, it was not the petition itself which was laid
upon the table, but the motion to receive. In order to save the
time of the House, he wished to give notice that he should call up
that motion, for decision, every day, so long as he should be per-
mited to do so by the House ; because he should not consider his
duty accomplished so long as the petition was not received, and so
long as the House had not decided that it would not receive it.

Mr. Pinckney rose to a question of order, and inquired if there
was now any question pending before the House ?

The Speaker said, he had understood the gentleman from Mas-
sachusetts as merely giving notice of a motion hereafter to be
made. In doing so, it certainly was not in order to enter into
debate.

Mr. Adams said, that so long as freedom of speech was allowed
to him as a member of that House, he would call up that question
until it should be decided.

Mr. Adams was called to order.

Mr. A. said, he would then have the honor of presenting to the
House the petition of two hundred and twenty-eight women, the
wives and daughters of his immediate constituents ; and as a part
of the speech which he intended to make, he would take the liberty
of reading the petition. It was not long, and would not consume
much time.

Mr. Glascock objected to the reception of the petition.

Mr. Adams proceeded to read, that the petitioners, inhabitants of
South Weymouth, in the State of Massachusetts, " impressed with
the sinfulness of slavery, and keenly aggrieved by its existence in
a part of our country over which Congress "

Mr. Pinckney rose to a question of order. Had the gentleman
from Massachusetts a right, under the rule, to read the petition?

The Speaker said, the gentleman from Massachusetts had a
right to make a statement of the contents of the petition.

Mr. Pinckney desired the decision of the Speaker as to whether
a gentleman had a right to read a petition.

Mr. Adams said he was reading the petition as a part of his
speech, and he took this to be one of the privileges of a member of
the House. It was a privilege he would exercise till he should be
deprived of it by some positive act.

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 285

The Speaker repeated that the gentleman from Massachusetts
had a right to make a brief statement of the contents of the petition.
It was not for the Speaker to decide whether that brief statement
should be made in the gentleman's own language, or whether he
should look over the petition, and take his statement from that.

Mr. Adams. — At the time my friend from South Carolina

The Speaker said the gentleman must proceed to state the con-
tents of the petition.

Mr. Adams. — I am doing so, sir.

The Speaker. — Not in the opinion of the chair.

Mr. Adams. — I was at this point of the petition — " Keenly
aggrieved by its existence in a part of our country over which Con-
gress possesses exclusive jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever "

Loud cries of " Order." " Order !"

Mr. Adams. — " Do most earnestly petition your honorable
body "

Mr. Chambers of Kentucky rose to a point of order.

Mr. Adams. — " Immediately to abolish slavery in the District of
Columbia "

Mr. Chambers reiterated his call to order, and the Speaker
directed Mr. Adams to take his seat.

Mr. Adams proceeded with great rapidity of enunciation, and in a
very loud tone of voice — " And to declare every human being free
who sets foot upon its soil .'"

The confusion in the hall at this time was very great. The
Speaker decided that it was not in order for a member to read a
petition, whether it was long or short.

Mr. Adams appealed from any decision which went to establish
the principle that a member of the House should not have the power
to read what he chose. He had never before heard of such a thing.
If this practice was to be reversed, let the decision stand upon record,
and let it appear how entirely the freedom of speech was suppressed
in this House. If the reading of a paper was to be suppressed in
his person, so help him God, he would only consent to it as a matter
of record.

Mr. Adams finished the petition. The petitioners " respectfully
announce their intention to present the same petition yearly before
this honorable body, that it might at least be a memorial in the holy
cause of human freedom that they had done what they could."

286 LIFE OP JOHN QUINCV ADAMS.

These words were read amidst tumultuous cries for "order,"
from every part of the House. The petition was finally received,
and laid upon the table.

Other scenes of a still more exciting character soon
occurred.

On the 7th of February, 1837, after Mr. Adams had offered some
two hundred or more abolition petitions, he came to a halt ; and,
without yielding the floor, employed himself in packing up his bud-
get. He was about resuming his seat, when he took up a paper,
and hastily glancing at it, exclaimed, in a shrill tone —

" Mr. Speaker, I have in my possession a petition of a somewhat
extraordinary character ; and I wish to inquire of the chair if it be
in order to present it."

" If the gentleman from Massachusetts," said the Speaker, " will
inform the chair what the character of the petition is, it will prob-
ably be able to decide on the subject."

" Sir," ejaculated Mr. Adams, " the petition is signed by eleven
slaves of the town of Fredericksburgh, in the county of Culpepper,
in the state of Virginia. It is one of those petitions which, it has
occurred to my mind, are not what they purport to be. It is signed
partly by persons who cannot write, by making their marks, and
partly by persons whose handwriting would manifest that they have
received the education of slaves. The petition declares itself to be
from slaves, and I am requested to present it. I will send it to the
chair."

The Speaker (Mr. Polk,) who habitually extended to Mr. Adams
every courtesy and kindness imaginable, was taken by surprise, and
found himself involved in a dilemma. Giving his chair one of those
Miches which ever denoted his excitement, he said that a petition
from slaves was a novelty, and involved a question that he did not
feel called upon to decide. He would like to take time to consider
it ; and, in the meantime, would refer it to the House.

The House was very thin at the time, and little attention was paid
to what was going on, till the excitement of the Speaker attracted
the attention of Mr. Dixon H. Lewis, of Alabama, who impatiently,
and under great excitement, rose and inquired what the petition was.

Mr. Speaker afforded the required information. Mr. Lewis, for-
getting all discretion, whilst he frothed at the mouth, turned towards

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 287

Mr. Adams, and ejaculated at the top of his voice, " By G-d, sir,
this is not to be endured any longer !"

" Treason ! treason !" screamed a half dozen other members.
" Expel the old scoundrel ; put him out ; do not let him disgrace
the House any longer !"

" Get up a resolution to meet the case," exclaimed a member from
North Carolina.

Mr. George C. Dromgoole, who had acquired a very favorable
reputation as a parliamentarian, was selected as the very man who,
of all others, was most capable of drawing up a resolution that
would meet and cover the emergency. He produced a resolution
with a preamble, in which it was stated, substantially, that, whereas
the Hon. John Quincy Adams, a representative from Massachusetts,
had presented to the House of Representatives a petition signed by
negro slaves, thus " giving color to an idea" that bondmen were capa-
ble of exercising the right of petition, it was " Resolved, That he be
taken to the bar of the House, and be censured by the Speaker
thereof."

Mr. Haynes said, the true motion, in his judgment, would be to
move that the petition be rejected.

Mr. Lewis hoped that no motion of that kind would come from
any gentleman from a slaveholding section of the country.

Mr. Haynes said he would cheerfully withdraw his motion.

Mr. Lewis was glad the motion was withdrawn. He believed
that the House should punish severely such an infraction of its de-
corum and its rules ; and he called on the members from the slave-
holding States to come forward now and demand of the House the
punishment of the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Mr. Grantland, of Georgia, would second the motion, and go all
lengths in support of it.

Mr. Lewis said, that if the House would inflict no punishment
for such flagrant violations of its dignity as this, it would be better
for the Representatives from the slaveholding States to go home at
once.

Mr. Alford said, if the gentleman from Massachusetts intended
to present this petition, the moment it was presented he should
move, as an act of justice to the South, which he in part repre-
sented, and which he conceived had been treated with indignity,
that it be taken from the House and burnt ; and he hoped that every

288 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

man who was a friend to the constitution, would support him.
There must be an end to this constant attempt to raise excitement,
or the Union could not exist much longer. The moment any man
should disgrace the Government under which he lived, by present-
ing a petition from slaves, praying for emancipation, he hoped that
petition would, by order of the House, be committed to the flames.

Mr. Waddy Thompson moved the following resolution : —

" Resolved, That the Hon. John Quincy Adams, by the attempt
just made by him to introduce a petition purporting on its face to
be from slaves, has been guilty of a gross disrespect to this House,
and that he be instantly brought to the bar, to receive the severe
censure of the Speaker."

The idea of bringing the venerable ex-President to the bar, like
a culprit, to receive a reprimand from a comparatively youthful
Speaker, would be a spectacle so disgraceful, and withal so absurd,
that the proposition met with no favor. An easier way to repri-
mand was devised. Mr. Haynes introduced the following resolu-
tion : —

" Resolved, That John Quincy Adams, a Representative from the
State of Massachusetts, has rendered himself justly liable to the
severest censure of this House, and is censured accordingly, for
having attempted to present to the House the petition of slaves."

Several other resolutions and propositions, from members of
slaveholding States, were submitted to the House ; but none proved
satisfactory even to themselves. Mr. Adams, unmoved by the tem-
pest which raged around him, defended himself, and the integrity of
bis purpose, with the distinguished ability and eloquence which
characterized all his public labors.

" In regard to the resolutions now before the House," said he,
" as they all concur in naming me, and in charging me with high
crimes and misdemeanors, and in calling me to the bar of the House
to answer for my crimes, I have thought it was my duty to remain
silent, until it should be the pleasure of the House to act either on
one or the other of these resolutions. I suppose that if I shall be
brought to the bar of the House, I shall not be struck mute by the
previous question, before I have an opportunity to say a word or
two in my own defence. ******

" Now, as to the fact what the petition was for, I simply state to
the gentleman from Alabama, (Mr. D. H. Lewis,) who has sent to

1.IFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 289

the table a resolution assuming that this petition was for the aboli-
tion of slavery — I state to him that he is mistaken. He must
amend his resolution ; for if the House should choose to read this
petition, I can state to them they would find it something very much
the reverse of that which the resolution states it to be. And if the
gentleman from Alabama still chooses to bring me to the bar of
the House, he must amend his resolution in a very important par-
ticular ; for he may probably have to put into it, that my crime has
been for attempting to introduce the petition of slaves that slavery
Bhould not be abolished. * * * * * *

" Sir, it is well known, that from the time I entered this House,
down to the present day, I have felt it a sacred duty to present any
petition, couched in respectful language, from any citizen of the
United States, be its object what it may ; be the prayer of it that in
which I could concur, or that to which I was utterly opposed. It
is for the sacred right of petition that I have adopted this course.
******** Where is your law which says that the mean, and the
low, and the degraded, shall be deprived of the right of petition, if
their moral character is not good ? Where, in the Jand of freemen,
was the right of petition ever placed on the exclusive basis of
morality and virtue ? Petition is supplication — it is entreaty — it is
prayer! And where is the degree of vice or immorality which
shall deprive the citizen of the right to supplicate for a boon, or to
pray for mercy ? Where is such a law to be found ? It does not
belong to the most abject despotism ! There is no absolute monarch
on earth, who is not compelled, by the constitution of his country, to
receive the petitions of his people, whosoever they may be. The
Sultan of Constantinople cannot walk the streets and refuse to re-
ceive petitions from the meanest and vilest of the land. This is the
law even of despotism. And what does your law say ? Does it
say that, before presenting a petition, you shall look into it, and
see whether it comes from the virtuous, and the great, and the
mighty ? No sir ; it says no such thing. The right of petition be-
longs to all. And so far from refusing to present a petition because
it might come from those low in the estimation of the world, it would
be an additional incentive, if such incentive were wanting.

" But I must admit," continued Mr. Adams, sarcastically, " that
when color comes into the question, there may be other consider-
ations. It is possible that this House, which seems to consider it

13

290 LIKE GF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

so great a crime to attempt to offer a petition from slaves, may, fox
aught I know, say that freemen, if not of the carnation, shall be de-
prived of the right of petition, in the sense of the House."

When southern members saw that, in their haste, they had not
tarried to ascertain the nature of the petition, and that it prayed for
the perpetuation, instead of the abolition of slavery, their position
became so ludicrous, that their exasperation was greatly increased.
At the time the petition was announced by Mr. Adams, the House
was very thin ; but the excitement it produced soon filled it ; and,
besides, the sergeant-at-arms had been instructed to arrest and bring
in all absentees. The excitement commenced at about one o'clock,
and continued until seven o'clock in the evening, when the House
adjourned. Mr. Adams stood at his desk, resolutely refusing to be
seated till the matter was disposed of, alleging that if he were guilty,
he was not entitled to a seat among high and honorable men.
When Mr. Droomgoole's resolution was read to the House for its
consideration, Mr. Adams yielded to it one of those sarcastic sneers
which he was in the habit of giying, when provoked to satire ; and
said — " Mr. Speaker, if I understand the resolution of the honorable
gentleman from Virginia, it charges me with being guilty of ' giving
color to an idea .'' " The whole House broke forth in one common
irrepressible peal of laughter. The Droomgoole resolution was
actually laughed out of existence. The House now found that it
had got itself in a dilemma, — that Mr. Adams was too much for it ;
and, at last, adjourned, leaving the affair in the position in which
they found it.

For several days this subject continued to agitate the House.
Mr. Adams not only warded off the virulent attacks made upon him,
but carried the war so effectually into the camp of his enemies, that,
becoming heartily tired of the contest, they repeatedly endeavored
to get rid of the whole subject by laying it on the table. To this
Mr. Adams objected. He insisted that it should be thoroughly can-
vassed. Immense excitement ensued. Call after call of the House
was made. Mr. Henry A. Wise, who was, at the time, engaged
on the Reuben Whitney affair, was sent for, with an accompanying
message that the stability of the Union was in danger !

Breathless, and impatient, Mr. Wise made his appearance, and
inquired what was the matter. He was informed.

14 And is that all ?" ejaculated Mr. Wise. " The gentleman from

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 291

Massachusetts has presented a petition signed by slaves ! Well,
sir, and what of that ? Is anybody harmed by it ? Sir, in my
opinion, slaves are the very persons who should petition. Mine,
sir, pray to me, and I listen to them ; and shall not the feeble sup-
plicate ? Sir, I see no danger, — the country, I believe, is safe."

At length the exciting subject was brought to a termination, by
the passage of the following preamble and resolutions ; much
softened, it will be seen, in comparison with the measures first
proposed : —

" An inquiry having been made by an honorable gentleman from
Massachusetts, whether a paper which he held in his hand, pur-
porting to be a petition from certain slaves, and declaring themselves
to be slaves, came within the order of the House of the 18th of
January,* and the said paper not having been received by the
Speaker, he stated that in a case so extraordinary and novel, he
would take the advice and counsel of the House.

" Resolved, That this House cannot receive said petition without
disregarding its own dignity, the rights of a large class of citizens
of the South and West, and the Constitution of the United States.

" Resolved, That slaves do not possess the right of petition secured
to the citizens of the United States by the constitution."

The slave petition is believed to have been a counterfeit, manu-
factured by certain members from slaveholding States, and was sent
to Mr. Adams by the way of experiment — with the double design
of ascertaining if he could be imposed upon ; and, if the deception
succeeded, those who got it up were curious to know if the ven-
erable statesman would redeem his pledge, and present a petition,
no matter who it came from. He was too wily not to detect the
plot at the outset ; he knew that all was a hoax ; but, he resolved
to present the paper, and then turn the tables on its authors.f

On the 20th of December, 1838, Mr. Adams presented a petition
praying for the establishment of international relations with the
Republic of Hayti, and moved that it be referred to the Committee

* This order was the same as that adopted by the House on the 18th
of May, 1836. See p. 281.

f Reminiscences of the late John Quincy Adams, by an Old Colony
Man.

292 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

on Foreign Affairs, with instructions to consider and report thereon.
This motion was opposed with great warmth by members from
slaveholding States. Mr. Adams was repeatedly interrupted during
the delivery of the brief speech he made on the occasion.

Mr. Bynum insisted that the gentleman from Massachusetts
should take his seat, under the rule. If, however, he was per-
mitted to proceed, Mr. B. hoped some gentleman of the slaveholding
portion of the House would be allowed to answer him.

Mr. Adams. — Sir, I hope so. Only open our mouths, gentlemen ;
that is all we ask, and you may answer as much as you please.

Mr. Bynum. — I object to the gentleman proceeding further with
his observations, except by consent of the House. If we have
rules we had better either obey them or burn them.

The House voted, by 1 14 to 47, to allow Mr. Adams to proceed.

In continuing his speech, Mr. Adams said, that even admitting
the object of the petitioners is abolition, as has been alleged, they
had the right to petition for that too ; for every individual in the
country had a right to be an abolitionist. The great men of the
Revolution were abolitionists, and if any man denies it, I will prove it.

Mr. Wise. — I deny it.

The Speaker said this was out of order.

Mr. Adams. — I feel obliged to the gentleman from Virginia for
giving me the invitation, and I will now prove what I say.

The Speaker said this did not form any part of the question
before the House.

Mr. Adams. — George Washington, in arliculo mortis, by his last
will and testament, before God, his Creator, emancipated his slaves.

Mr. Wise. — Because he had no children.

The Speaker again interposed, and said the gentleman could not
go into that question. It was entirely out of order.

Mr. Adams. — I did but accept the invitation of the gentleman
from Virginia. I do not wish to go further. I simply take the
position that George Washington was an abolitionist in the most
extensive sense of the term ; and I defy any man in this House to
the discussion, and to prove to the contrary if he can.

The Speaker called Mr. Adams to order.

Mr. Adams. — Well, sir, I was stating the high authority which
is to be found for the principles of abolition. Does the gentleman
from Virginia deny that Thomas Jefferson was an abolitionist ?

LIFE OF JOHN dUINCY ADAMS. 293

Mr. Wise. — I do.

The Speaker again interposed.

Mr. Adams. — Well, sir, then I come back to my position, that
every man in this country has a right to be an abolitionist, and that
in being so he offends no law, but, in my opinion, obeys the most
sacred of all laws.

The motion to instruct the committee, was finally laid upon the
table.

Mr. Adams was evidently anxious to engage in a
legitimate discussion, in the House of Representatives,
of the subject of slavery in all its bearings, influences,
and results. Such a discussion, coolly and deliberately
entered upon, by men of the most distinguished abili-
ties in the nation, could not but have been pregnant
with lasting good, not only to the North, but also to
the South and the entire country. To afford oppor-
tunity for a dignified and profitable investigation of
this momentous topic, Mr. Adams, on the 25th of Feb.,
1839, proposed the following amendments to the Con-
stitution of the United States : —

" Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives in Con-
gress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring therein, That
the following amendments to the Constitution of the United States
be proposed to the several States of the Union, which, when ratified
by three-fourths of the legislatures of said States, shall become and
be a part of the Constitution of the United States : —

" 1. From and after the 4th day of July, 1842, there shall be
throughout the United States no hereditary slavery ; but on and
after that day, every child born within the United States, their terri-
tories or jurisdiction, shall be born free.

" 2. With the exception of the territory of Florida, there shall
henceforth never be admitted into this Union, any State, the con-
stitution of which shall tolerate within the same the existence of
slavery.

294 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

" 3. From and after the 4th day of July, 1845, there shall be
neither slavery nor slave trade, at the seat of Government of the
United States."

Instead of meeting and canvassing, in a manly and
honorable manner, the vitally important question in-
volved in these propositions, the slaveholding Repre-
sentatives objected to its coming before the House for
consideration, in any form whatever. In this instance,
as in most others, where the merits of slavery are in-
volved, the supporters of that institution manifested a
timidity, a want of confidence in its legitimacy, of the
most suspicious nature. If slavery is lawful and de-
fensible— if it violates no true principle among men,
no human right bestowed by the Creator — if it can be
tolerated and perpetuated in harmony with republican
institutions and our Declaration of Independence —
if its existence in the bosom of the Confederacy
involves no incongruity, and is calculated to promote
the prosperity and stability of the Union, or the wel-
fare of the slaveholding States themselves — these are
facts which can be made evident to the world, by the
unsurpassed abilities of southern statesmen. Why,
then, object to a candid and fearless investigation of
the subject ? But if slavery is the reverse of all this —
if it is a moral poison, contaminating and blighting
everything connected with it, and containing the" seeds
of its own dissolution sooner or later — why should
wise, sagacious politicians, prudent and honest men,
and conscientious Christians, shut their eyes and turn

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 295

away from a fact so appalling and so dangerous. No
man of intelligence can hope, in this age of the world,
to perpetuate that which is wrong and destructive, by
bravado and threatening — by refusing to look it in the
face, or to allow others to scrutinize it. Error must
pass away. Truth, however unpalatable, or however
it may be obscured for a season, must eventually tri-
umph. The very exertions of its supporters to perpe-
tuate wrong, will but hasten its death.

" Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again ;

Th' eternal years of God are hers :

But Error, wounded, writhes with pain,

And dies among' her worshippers."

Notwithstanding the course Mr. Adams felt himself
compelled to pursue led him frequently into collision
with a large portion of the Members of the House of
Representatives, and caused them sometimes, in the
heat of excitement, to forget the deference due his
age, his experience, and commanding abilities, yet there
was ever a deep, under-current feeling of veneration
for him, pervading all hearts. Those who were ex-
cited to the highest pitch of frenzy by his proceedings,
could not but admire the singleness of his purpose, and
his undaunted courage in discharging his duties. On
all subjects aside from slavery, his influence in the
House has never been surpassed. Whenever he arose
to speak, it was a signal for a general abandonment of
listlessness and inattention. Members dropped their

296 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

newspapers and pamphlets — knots of consulting politi-
cians in different parts of the Hall were dissolved —
Representatives came hastily in from lobbies, com-
mittee-rooms, the surrounding grounds — and all eagerly-
clustered around his chair to listen to words of wis-
dom, patriotism, and truth, as they dropped burning
from the lips of " the old man eloquent !" The con-
fidence placed in him in emergencies, was unbounded.
A case in point is afforded in the history of the diffi-
culty occasioned by the double delegation from New
Jersey.

On the opening of the 26th Congress, in December, 1839, in
consequence of a two-fold delegation from New-Jersey, the House
was unable, for some time, to complete its organization, and pre-
sented to the country and the world the perilous and discreditable
aspect of the assembled Representatives of the people, unable to form
themselves into a constitutional body. On first assembling, the
House has no officers, and the Clerk of the preceding Congress acts,
by usage, as chairman of the body, till a Speaker is chosen. On
this occasion, after reaching the State of New Jersey, the acting
Clerk declined to proceed in calling the roll, and refused to enter-
tain any of the motions which were made for the purpose of extri-
cating the House from its embarrassment. Many of the ablest and
most judicious members had addressed the House in vain, and there
was nothing but confusion and disorder in prospect.

The fourth day opened, and still confusion was triumphant.
But the hour of disenthrallment was at hand, and a scene was
presented which sent the mind back to those days when Cromwell
uttered the exclamation — " Sir Harry Vane ! wo unto yon, Sir Harry
Vane !" — and in an instant dispersed the famous Rump Parliament.

Mr. Adams, from the opening of this scene of confusion and
anarchy, had maintained a profound silence. He appeared to be
engaged most of the time in writing. To a common observer, he
seemed to be reckless of everything around him — but nothing, not
the slightest incident, escaped him. The fourth day of the struggle

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS. 297

had now commenced ; Mr. Hugh H. Garland, the Clerk, was directed
to call the roll again.

He commenced with Maine, as was usual in those days, and was
proceeding toward Massachusetts. I turned, and saw that Mr.
Adams was ready to get the floor at the earliest moment possible.
His keen eye was riveted on the Clerk ; his hands clasped the front
edge of his desk, where he always placed them to assist him in
rising. He looked, in the language of Otway, like the

fowler, eager for his prey."

" New Jersey !" ejaculated Mr. Hugh H. Garland, " and the
Clerk has to repeat that "

Mr. Adams sprang to the floor !

" I rise to interrupt the Clerk," was his first ejaculation.

" Silence, silence," resounded through the hall ; " hear him, hear
him ! Here what he has to say ; hear John Quincy Adams !" was
the unanimous ejaculation on all sides.

In an instant, the most profound silence reigned throughout the
Hall — you might have heard a leaf of paper fall in any part of it —
and every eye was riveted on the venerable Nestor of Massachusetts
— the purest of statesmen, and the noblest of men ! He paused for
a moment ; and, having given Mr. Garland a

" withering look !"

he proceeded to address the multitude :

" It was not my intention," said he, " to take any part in these
extraordinary proceedings. I had hoped that this House would suc-
ceed in organizing itself; that a Speaker and Clerk would be
elected, and that the ordinary business of legislation would be pro-
gressed in. This is not the time, or place, to discuss the merits of
the conflicting claimants for seats from New Jersey ; that subject
belongs to the House of Representatives, which, by the constitution,
is made the ultimate arbiter of the qualifications of its members.
But what a spectacle we here present ! We degrade and disgrace
ourselves ; we degrade and disgrace our constituents and the
country. We do not, and cannot organize ; and why ? Because
the Clerk of this House, the mere Clerk, whom we create, whom we
employ, and whose existence depends upon our will, usurps the
throne, and sets us, the Representatives, the vicegerents of the whole

13*

20'3 LIFE OF JOHN ttUINCY ADAMS.

American people, at defiance, and holds us in contempt ! And what
is this Clerk of yours ? Is he to control the destinies of sixteen
millions of freemen ? Is he to suspend, by his mere negative, the
functions of Government, and put an end to this Congress ? He re-
fuses to call the roll ! It is in your power to compel him to call it,
if he will not do it voluntarily. [Here he was interrupted by a
member, who said that he was authorized to say that compulsion
could not reach the Clerk, who had avowed that he would resign,
rather than call the State of New Jersey.] Well, sir, then let him
resign," continued Mr. Adams, " and we may possibly discover some
way by which we can get along, without the aid of his all-powerful
talent, learning and genius. If we cannot organize in any other
way — if this Clerk of yours will not consent to our discharging the
trusts confided to us by our constituents, then let us imitate the ex-
ample of the Virginia House of Burgesses, which, when the colonial
Governor Dinwiddie ordered it to disperse, refused to obey the im-
perious and insulting mandate, and, like men "

The multitude could not contain or repress their enthusiasm any
longer, but saluted the eloquent and indignant speaker, and intercept-
ed him with loud and deafening cheers, which seemed to shake the
capitol to its centre. The very Genii of applause and enthusiasm
seemed to float in the atmosphere of the Hall, and every heart ex-
panded with an indescribable feeling of pride and exultation. The
turmoil, the darkness, the very " chaos of anarchy," which had, for
three successive days, pervaded the American Congress, was dis-
pelled by the magic, the talismanic eloquence of a single man ; and,
once more the wheels of Government and of Legislation were put
in motion.*

Having, by this powerful appeal, brought the yet unorganized as-
sembly to a perception of its hazardous position, he submitted a mo-
tion requiring the acting Clerk to proceed in calling the roll. This
and similar motions had already been made by other members. The
difficulty was, that the acting Clerk declined to entertain them. Ac-
cordingly, Mr. Adams was immediately interrupted by a burst of
voices demanding, " How shall the question be put ?" " Who will
put the question ?" The voice of Mr. Adams was heard above the
tumult, " I intend to put the question myself !" That word brought
order out of chaos. There was the master mind.

* Reminiscences — by an Old Colony Man.

LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS. 299

As soon as the multitude had recovered itself, and the excitement
of irrepressible enthusiasm had abated, Mr. Richard Barnwell Rhett,
of South Carolina, leaped upon one of the desks, waved his hand,
and exclaimed :

" I move that the Honorable John Quincy Adams take the chair
of the Speaker of this House, and officiate as presiding officer, till
the House be organized by the election of its constitutional officers !
As many as are agreed to this will say ay ; those "

He' had not an opportunity to complete the sentence — " those who
are not agreed, will say no" — for one universal, deafening, thunder-
ing ay, responded to the nomination.

Hereupon, it was moved and ordered that Lewis Williams, of
North Carolina, and Richard Barnwell Rhett, conduct John Quincy
Adams to the chair.

Well did Mr. Wise, of Virginia, say, " Sir, I regard it as the
proudest hour of your life ; and if, when you shall be gathered to
your fathers, I were asked to select the words which, in my judg-
ment, are best calculated to give at once the character of the man,
I would inscribe upon your tomb this sentence, ' I will put the ques-
tion myself.' "*

* In a public address, Mr. Adams once quoted the well known words
of Tacitus, Annal. vi. 39 — " Par negotiis neque supra" — applying them
to a distinguished man, lately deceased. A lady wrote to inquire
whence they came. Mr. Adams informed her, and added, that they
could not be adequately translated in less than seven words in English.
The lady replied that they might be well translated in five — Equal to,
not above, duty — but better in three — John Quincy Adams. — Massa-
chusetts Quarterly Review.

CHAPTER XIV.

MR. ADAMS' FIRMNESS IN DISCHARGE OF DUTY HIS EXER-
TIONS IN BEHALF OF THE AMISTAD SLAVES HIS CONNEXION

"WITH THE SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST TOUR THROUGH CANADA

AND NEW YORK HIS RECEPTION AT BUFFALO VISITS

NIAGARA FALLS ATTENDS WORSHIP "WITH THE TUSCARORA

INDIANS HIS RECEPTION AT ROCHESTER AT AUBURN AT

ALBANY AT PITTSFIELD VISITS CINCINNATI ASSISTS IN

LAYING THE CORNER STONE OF AN OBSERVATORY.

It would be impossible, in the limit prescribed to
these pages, to detail the numerous scenes and occur-
rences of a momentous nature, in which Mr. Adams
took a prominent part during his services in the House
of Representatives. The path he marked out for him-
self at the commencement of his congressional career,
was pursued with unfaltering fidelity to the close of
life. His was the rare honor of devoting himself, un-
reservedly, to his legitimate duties as a Representative
of the people while in Congress, and to nothing else.
He believed the halls of the Capitol were no place for
political intrigue ; and that a member of Congress, in-
stead of studying to shape his course to make political
capital or to subserve party ends, should devote him-
self rigidly and solely to the interests of his constitu-

LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS. 301

ents. His practice corresponded with his theory. His
speeches, his votes, his entire labors in Congress, were
confined strictly to practical subjects, vitally connected
with the great interests of our common country, and
had no political or party bearing, other than such as
truth and public good might possess.

His hostility to slavery and the assumptions and
usurpations of slave power in the councils of the nation,
continued to the day of his death. At the commence-
ment of each session of Congress, he demanded that
the infamous " gag rule," which forbid the presentation
of petitions on the subject of slavery, should be abol-
ished. But despite its continuance, he persisted in
handing in petitions from the people of every class,
complexion and condition. He did not hesitate to la}'-
before the House of Representatives a petition from
Haverhill, Mass., for the dissolution of the Union !
Although opposed in his whole soul to the prayer of
the petitioners, yet he believed himself sacredly bound
to listen with due respect to every request of the peo-
ple, when couched in respectful terms.

In vain did the supporters of slavery endeavor to
arrest his course, and to seal his lips in silence. In
vain did they threaten assassination — expulsion from
the House — indictment before the grand jury of the
District of Columbia. In vain did they declare that he
should " be made amenable to another tribunal, [mob-
law] and as an incendiary, be brought to condign pun-
ishment." " My life on it," said a southern member.

302 LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS.

" if he presents that petition from slaves, we shall yet
see him within the walls of the penitentiary." All
these attempts at brow-beating moved him not a tittle.
Firm he stood to his duty, despite the storms of angry
passion which howled around him, and with withering
rebukes repelled the assaults of hot-blooded opponents,
as the proud old headland, jutting far into ocean's
bosom, tosses high, in worthless spray, the dark moun-
tain billows which in wrath beat upon it.

" Do the gentlemen from the South," said he, " think they can
frighten me by their threats ? If that be their object, let me tell
them, sir, they have mistaken their man. I am not to be frightened
from the discharge of a sacred duty, by their indignation, by their
violence, nor, sir, by all the grand juries in the universe. I have
done only my duty ; and I shall do it again under the same circum-
stances, even though they recur to-morrow."

" Though aged, he was so iroii of limb,
None of the youth could cope with him ;
And the foes whom he singly kept at bay,
Outnumbered his thin hairs of silver grey."

Nor was Mr. Adams without encouragement in his
trying position. His immediate constituents, at their
primary meetings, repeatedly sent up a cheering voice
in strong and earnest resolutions, approving heartily
his course, and urging him to perseverance therein.
The Legislatures of Massachusetts and Vermont,
rallied to his support. In solemn convocation they
protested against the virtual annihilation of the right
of petition — against slavery and the slave trade in the
District of Columbia — gave their entire sanction to the
principles advocated by Mr. Adams, and pledged their

LIFE OF JOHN QUINUY ADAMS. 303

countenance to all measures calculated to sustain
them.

Large bodies of people in the Eastern, Northern,
and Middle States, sympathized with him in his sup-
port of the most sacred of privileges bestowed on man
Representative after Representative were sent to Con-
gress, who gathered around him, and co-operated with
him in his holy warfare against the iron rule which
slavery had been enabled to establish in the national
Legislature. With renewed energy he resisted the
mighty current which was undermining the founda-
tions of the Republic, and bearing away upon its turbid
waters the liberties of the people. And he resisted
not in vain.

The brave old man lived to see his labors, in this
department of duty, crowned with abundant success.
One after another the cohorts of slavery gave way
before the incessant assaults, the unwearied persever-
ance, of Mr. Adams, and the faithful compeers who
were sent by the people to his support. At length, in
1845, the obnoxious "gag rule" was rescinded, and
Congress consented to receive, and treat respectfully,
all petitions on the subject of slavery. This was a
moral triumph which amply compensated Mr. Adams
for all the labors he had put forth, and for all the
trials he had endured to achieve it.

Yes ; he " lived to hear that subject which of all others had been
forbidden an entrance into the Halls of Congress, fairly broached.
He lived to listen, with a delight all his own, to a high-souled, whole-

304 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

hearted speech on the slave question, from his colleague, Mr. Pal-
frey — a speech, of which it is not too high praise to say, that it
would not have disparaged the exalted reputation of Mr. Adams,
had he made it himself. Aye, more, he lived to see the whole
House of Representatives — the members from the South, not less
than those from the North, attentive and respectful .listeners to that
speech of an hour's length, on the political as well as moral aspect
of slavery in this Republic. What a triumph ! At the close of
it, the moral conqueror exclaimed, ' God be praised ; the seals are
broken, the door is open.' "*

If anything were wanting to crown the fame of Mr.
Adams, in the last days of life, with imperishable honor,
or to add, if possible, new brilliancy to the beams of
his setting sun, it is found in his advocacy of the free-
dom of the Amistad slaves.

A ship-load of negroes had been stolen from Africa,
contrary to the law of nations, of humanity and of
God, and surreptitiously smuggled, in the night, into
the Island of Cuba. This act was piracy, according to
the law of Spain, and of all Governments in Christen-
dom, and the perpetrators thereof, had they been de-
tected, would have been punished with death. Imme-
diately after the landing of these unfortunate Africans,
about thirty-six of them were purchased of the slave-
pirates, by two Spaniards named Don Jose Ruiz and
Don Pedro Montes, who shipped them for Guanaja,
Cuba, in the schooner " Amistad." When three days
out from Havana, the Africans rose, killed the captain
and crew, and took possession of the vessel — sparing
the lives of their purchasers, Ruiz and Montes. This
* Rev. S. J. May.

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS. 305

transaction was unquestionably justifiable on the part
of the negroes. They had been stolen from their
native land — had fallen into the hands of pirates and
robbers, and reduced to abject slavery. According to
the first law of nature — the law of self-defence — im-
planted in the bosom of every human being by the
Creator, they were justified in taking any measures
necessary to restore them to the enjoyment of that
freedom which was theirs by birthright.

The negroes being unable to manage the schooner,
compelled Ruiz and Montes to navigate her, and
directed them to shape her course for Africa; for it
was their design to return to their native land. But
they were deceived by the two Spaniards, who brought
the schooner to the coast of the United States, where
she was taken possession of by Lieut. Gedney, of the
U. S. surveying brig Washington, a few miles off Mon-
tauk Point, and brought into New London, Conn. The
two Spaniards claimed the Africans as their property ;
and the Spanish Minister demanded of the President
of the United States, that they be delivered up to the
proper authorities, and taken back to Havana, to be
tried for piracy and murder. The matter was brought
before the District Court of Connecticut.

In the mean time President Van Buren ordered the
U. S. schooner Grampus, Lieut. John S. Paine, to
repair to New Haven, to be in readiness to convey
the Africans to Havana, should such be the decision
of the Court. But the Court decided that the Govern-

306 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

ment of the United States had no authority to return
them into slavery ; and directed that they be conveyed
in one of our public ships to the shores of Africa, from
whence they had but recently been torn away. From
this decision the U. S. District Attorney appealed to
the Supreme Court of the United States.

These transactions attracted the attention of the
whole people of the Union, and naturally excited the
sympathy of the masses, pro and con, as they were
favorable or unfavorable to the institution of slavery.
Who should defend, in the Supreme Court, these poor
outcasts — ignorant, degraded, wretched — who, fired
with a noble energy, had burst the shackles of slavery,
and by a wave of fortune had been thrown into the
midst of a people professing freedom, yet keeping their
feet on the necks of millions of slaves ? The eyes of
all the friends of human rights turned instinctively to
John Quincy Adams. Nor were their expectations
disappointed. Without hesitation he espoused the
cause of the Amistad negroes. At the age of seventy-
four, he appeared in the Supreme Court of the United
States to advocate their cause. He entered upon this
labor with the enthusiasm of a youthful barrister, and
displayed forensic talents, a critical knowledge of law,
and of the inalienable rights of man, which would have
added to the renown of the most eminent jurists of
the day.

" When he went to the Supreme Court, after an
absence of thirty years, and arose to defend a body of

LIFE OP JOHN OUINCY ADAMS. 307

friendless negroes, torn from their home and most un-
justly held in thrall — when he asked the Judges to
excuse him at once both for the trembling faults of age
and the inexperience of youth, having labored so long
elsewhere that he had forgotten the rules of court —
when he summed up the conclusion of the whole mat-
ter, and brought before those judicial but yet moisten-
ing eyes, the great men whom he had once met there —
Chase, Cushing, Martin, Livingston, and Marshal him-
self ; and while he remembered that they were ' gone,
gone, all gone,' remembered also the eternal Justice
that is never gone — the sight was sublime. It was
not an old patrician of Rome, who had been Consul,
Dictator, coming out of his honored retirement at the
Senate's call, to stand in the Forum to levy new
armies, marshal them to victory afresh, and gain
thereby new laurels for his brow ; but it was a plain
citizen of America, who had held an office far greater
than that of Consul, King, or Dictator, his hand red-
dened by no man's blood, expecting no honors, but
coming in the name of justice, to plead for the slave,
for the poor barbarian negro of Africa, for Cinque and
Grabbo, for their deeds comparing them to Harmodius
and Aristogeiton, whose classic memory made each
bosom thrill. That was worth all his honors — it was
worth while to live fourscore years for that."*

This effort of Mr. Adams was crowned with com-
plete success. The Supreme Court decided that the

* Theodore Parker.

308 LIFE OF JOHN O.UINCY ADAMS.

Africans were entitled to their freedom, and ordered
them to be liberated. In due time they were enabled,
by the assistance of the charitable, to sail for Africa,
and take with them many of the implements of civil-
ized life. They arrived in safety at Sierre Leone, and
were allowed once more to mingle with their friends,
and enjoy God's gift of freedom, in a Pagan land —
having fortunately escaped from a cruel and life-long
bondage, in the midst of a Christian people.

In reply to a letter requesting Mr. Adams to write
out his argument in this case, he concludes as follows :
" I shall endeavor, as you desire, to write out, in full
extent, my argument before the Court, in which all
this was noticed and commented upon. If it has no
other effect, I hope it will at least have that of admon-
ishing the free people of this Union to keep perpetually
watchful eyes upon every act of their executive ad-
ministration, having any relation to the subject of
slavery."

In availing the country of the benefit of the " Smith-
sonian Bequest," and in founding the " Smithsonian In-
stitute" at Washington, Mr. Adams took an active part.
He repeatedly called the attention of Congress to the
subject, until he succeeded in causing a bill to be
passed providing for the establishment of the Institute.
He was appointed one of the Regents of the Institute,
which office he held until his death,

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCV ADAMS. 309

In the summer of 1843, Mr. Adams visited Lebanon
Springs, N. Y., for the benefit of his health, which had
become somewhat impaired, and also the health of a
cherished member of his family. He designed to
devote only four or five days to this journey ; but he
was so highly pleased with the small portion of the
State of New York he saw at Lebanon Springs, that
he was induced to proceed further. He visited Sara-
toga, Lake George, - Lower Canada, Montreal and
Quebec. Returning, he ascended the St. Lawrence
and the Lakes as far as Niagara Falls and Buffalo,
and by the way of Rochester, Auburn, Utica and
Albany, sought his home in Quincy with health greatly
improved.

Although Mr. Adams had many bitter enemies —
made so by his fearless independence, and the stern
integrity with which he discharged the public duties
entrusted to him — yet in the hearts of the people he
ever occupied the highest position. They not only
respected and admired the politician, the statesman,
but they venerated the man ! they loved him for his
purity, his philanthropy, his disinterested patriotism,
his devotion to freedom and human rights. All this
was manifested during his tour through New York.
It was marked in its whole extent by demonstrations
of the highest attention and respect from people of
all parties. Public greetings, processions, celebrations,
met him and accompanied him at every step of his
journey. Never since the visit of La Fayette, had

310 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

such an anxious desire to honor a great and good man
been manifested by the entire mass of the people.
His progress was one continued triumphal procession.
" I may say," exclaimed Mr. Adams, near the close of
his tour, " without being charged with pride or vanity,
I have come not alone, for the whole people of the
State of New York have been my companions !"

At Buffalo he was received with every possible
demonstration of respect. The national ensign was
streaming from an hundred masts, and the wharves,
and the decks and rigging of the vessels, were crowded
by thousands anxious to catch a glimpse of the re-
nowned statesman and patriot, who was greeted by
repeated cheers. Hon. Millard Fillmore addressed
him with great eloquence. The following is the con-
clusion of his speech : —

" You see around you, sir, no political partisans seeking to pro-
mote some sinister purpose ; but you see here assembled the people
of our infant city, without distinction of party, sex, age, or con-
dition— all, all anxiously vieing with each other to show their
respect and esteem for your public services and private worth.
Here are gathered, in this vast multitude of what must appear to
you strange faces, thousands whose hearts have vibrated to the
chord of sympathy which your written speeches have touched.
Here is reflecting age, and ardent youth, and lisping childhood, to
all of whom your venerated name is as dear as household words —
all anxious to feast their eyes by a sight of that extraordinary and
venerable man, of whom they have heard, and read, and thought so
much — all anxious to hear the voice of that ' old man eloquent? on
whose lips wisdom has distilled her choicest nectar. Here, sir, you
see them all, and read in their eager and joy-gladdened countenances,
and brightly-beaming eyes, a welcome — a thrice-told, heart-felt,
soul-stirring welcome to ' the man whom they delight to honor.' "

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 311

Mr. Adams responded to this speech in a strain
of most interesting remarks. He commenced as
follows : —

" I must request your indulgence for a moment's pause to take
breath. If you inquire why I ask this indulgence, it is because
I am so overpowered by the eloquence of my friend, the chairman
of the Committee of Ways and Means, (whom I have been so long
accustomed to refer to in that capacity, that, with your permission, I
will continue so to denominate him now,) that I have no words left to
answer him. For so liberal has he been in bestowing that eloquence
upon me which he himself possesses in so eminent a degree, that
while he was ascribing to me talents so far above my own con-
sciousness in that regard, I was all the time imploring the god of
eloquence to give me, at least at this moment, a few words to justify
him before you in making that splendid panegyric which he has
been pleased to bestow upon me ; and that the flattering picture
which he has presented to you, may not immediately be defaced
before your eyes by what you should hear from me. ******

In concluding his remarks he said : — " Of your attachment to
moral principle I have this day had another and pleasing proof in
the dinner of which I have partaken in the steamer, in which, by
your kindness, I have been conveyed to this place. It was a sump-
tuous dinner, but at which temperance was the presiding power. I
congratulate you on the evidence there exhibited of your attach-
ment to moral principle, in your co-operation in that great move-
ment which is promoting the happiness and elevation of man in
every quarter of the globe.

" And here you will permit me to allude to an incident which has
occurred in my recent visit to Canada, in which I perceived the co-
operation of the people of that Province in the same great moral
reformation. While at Quebec, I visited the falls of Montmorenci,
a cataract which, but for yours, would be among the greatest won-
ders of nature. In going to it, I passed through the parish of Beau-
port, and there, by the side of the way, I saw a column with an in-
scription-upon its pedestal, which I had the curiosity to stop and
read. It was erected by the people of Beauport in gratitude to the
Virgin, for her goodness in promoting the cause of temperance in

312 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

that parish. Perhaps I do not sufficiently sympathize with the
people of Beauport in attributing to the Virgin so direct an influence
upon this moral reform ; but in the spirit with which they erected
that monument I do most cordially sympathize with them. For,
under whatever influence the cause may be promoted, the cause
itself can never fail to make its votaries wiser and better men. I
cannot make a speech. My heart is too full, and my voice too
feeble. Farewell ! And with that farewell, may the blessings of
heaven be upon you throftghout your lives !"

Mr. Adams was greatly delighted with his visit to
Niagara Falls. A letter- writer thus describes it : —

" Mr. Adams seems incapable of fatigue, either physical or mental.
After a drive in the morning to Lewiston, he stopped, on his return
to the Falls, at the whirlpool. The descent to the water's edge,
which is not often made, is, as you will remember, all but vertical,
down a steep of some three hundred and sixty feet. One of the
party was about going down, when Mr. Adams remarked that he
would accompany him. Gen. Porter and the other gentlemen
present remonstrated, and told him it was a very severe under-
taking for a young and hearty man, and that he would find it, in
such a hot day, quite impracticable. He seemed, however, to know
his capacities ; and this old man, verging on four score years, not
only made the descent, but clambered over almost impracticable
rocks along the margin of the river, to obtain the various views pre-
sented at different points. The return was not easy, but he was
quite adequate to the labor ; and after resting a few minutes at the
summit, resumed his ride, full of spirits and of animated and in-
structive conversation. After dinner, he crossed over to Goat
Island, and beheld the cataract from the various points, and con-
tinued his explorations until all was obscured by darkness. Ho
seemed greatly impressed by the wonderful contrast presented by
the scene of rage and repose — of the wild and furious dashing of
the mighty river down the rapids, with its mad plunge over the
precipice — and the sullen stillness of the abyss of waters below.
I wish I could repeat to you his striking conversation during these
rambles, replete with brilliant classical allusions, historical illustra-
tions, and the most minute, and as it seemed to me, universal infor-

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 313

mation. ****** I sincerely concur with the worthy captain of
one of our steamboats, who said to me the other day, — ' Oh, that we
could take the engine out of the old " Adams," and put it into a new
hull !'"

During his visit at the Falls, Mr. Adams, on a Sab-
bath morning, accompanied by Gen. Porter, visited the
remnant of the Tuscarora Indians, and attended di-
vine service in their midst. At the conclusion of the
sermon, Mr. Adams made a brief address to the Indians,
which is thus described by the letter-writer alluded to
above: —

" Mr. Adams alluded to his advanced age, and said this was the
first time he had ever looked upon their beautiful fields and forests
— that he was truly happy to meet them there and join with them in
the worship of our common Parent — reminded them that in years
past he had addressed them from the position which he then occu-
pied, in language, at once that of his station and his heart, as ' his
children' — and that now, as a private citizen, he hailed them in terms
of equal warmth and endearment, as his ' brethren and sisters.'
He alluded, with a simple eloquence which seemed to move the
Indians much, to the equal care and love with which God regards
all his children, whether savage or civilized, and to the common
destiny which awaits them hereafter, however various their lot here.
He touched briefly and forcibly on the topics of the sermon which
they had heard, and concluded with a beautiful and touching ben-
ediction upon them."

At Rochester immense multitudes assembled to re-
ceive Mr. Adams. He was welcomed in an eloquent
address from the Mayor of the city. The following
are a few extracts from the reply of Mr. Adams : —

" Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens : — I fear you expect from me a
speech. Tf it were in my power, oppressed as I am with mingled

14

314 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

astonishment and gratitude at what I have experienced and now see
of your kindness, to make a speech, I would gratify you with one
adorned with all the chaste yet simple eloquence which are com-
bined in the address to which you have just listened from your worthy
Mayor. But it is not in my power. You may probably think there
is some affectation on my part, in pretending inability to address
you, knowing as many of you do, that I have often addressed as-
semblies like this. But I hope for greater indulgence from you
than this. I trust you will consider that I have seen and spoken to
multitudes like that now before me, but that these multitudes had
frowning faces. Those I could meet, and to those I could speak.
But to you, whose every face is expressive of generous affection —
to you, in whose every countenance I see kindness and friendship —
I cannot speak. It is too much for me. It overcomes my powers
of speech. It is a new scene to me. ******

" Amongst the sentiments which I have expressed, and the obser-
vations which I have made during my brief tour through this portion
of your State, it was impossible for me to forego a constant com-
parison with what New York was in other days, and what it is
now. I first set my feet upon the soil of the now Empire State, in
1785. I then visited the city of New York, — at that time a town
of 13,000 inhabitants. I tarried, while in that city, at the house of
John Jay — a man whom I name, and whom all will remember, as
one of the most illustrious of the distinguished patriots who carried
our beloved country through the dark period of the Revolution. Mr.
Jay, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, under the Congress of the
Federation, was laying the foundation of a house in Broadway, but
which was separated by the distance of a quarter of a mile from any
other dwelling. At that time, being eighteen years of age, I received
an invitation to visit western New York ; and I have regretted
often, but never more than now, that I had not accepted that invita-
tion. Oh ! what would I not have given to have seen this part of
this great State then, that I might be able to contrast it with what it

now is.

* * * # *

" It has seemed to me as if in this region the God of nature in-
tended to make a more sublime display of his power, than in any
other portion of the world. He has done so in physical nature — in
the majestic cataract, whose sound you can almost hear — in forest
and in field — in the mind of man among you. In what has been

LIFE OF JOHN UUINCV ADAMS. 315

accomplished to make your city what it is, the aged have done the
most. The middle aged may say we will improve upon what has
been done ; and the young, we shall accomplish still more than
our fathers. That, fellow-citizens, was the boast in the ancient
Spartan procession — a procession which was divided into three
classes — the old, the middle-aged, and the young. They had a
saying which each class repeated in turn. The aged said —

' We have been, in days of old,
Wise and gentle, brave and bold.'

The middle-aged said —

' We, in turn, your place supply ;
Who doubts it, let them come and try.'

And the boys said —

4 Hereafter, at our country's call,
We promise to surpass you all.'

And so it will be with you — each in your order."

At Auburn every possible token of respect was paid
to the venerable statesman. A committee consisting
of ex-Gov. Seward, Judge Conklin, Judge Miller,
Luman Sherwood, P. H. Perry, S. A. Goodwin, James
C. Wood, and J. L. Doty, Esqs., proceeded to Canan-
daigua to meet Mr. Adams. At half past nine o'clock
in the evening, Mr. Adams, accompanied by the com-
mittee, arrived in Auburn. He was received by a
torch-light procession, composed of the Auburn Guards,
the Firemen, and an immense concourse of citizens,
and conducted to the mansion of Gov. Seward, where
he thus briefly addressed the people : —

" Fellow-citizens : — Notwithstanding the glow with which these
brilliant tdrch-lights illuminate my welcome among you, I can only
acknowledge your kindness, on this occasion, by assuring you that

316 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS.

to-morrow morning, by the light of the blessed sun, I hope to take
every one of you by the hand, and express feelings too strong for
immediate utterance."

On the following morning at six o'clock, Mr. Adams
visited the State Prison, and made many inquiries con-
cerning the discipline of the prison, and its success in
the prevention of crime and reformation of offenders.
At 9 o'clock he met the citizens in the First Presby-
terian church, where he was addressed by Gov.
Seward, as follows : —

" Sir : — I am charged with the very honorable and most agree-
able duty, of expressing to you the reverence and affectionate
esteem of my fellow-citizens, assembled in your presence.

" A change has come over the spirit of your journey, since your
steps have turned towards your ancestral sea-side home. An ex-
cursion to invigorate health impaired by labors, too arduous for age,
in the public councils, and expected to be quiet and contemplative,
has become one of fatigue and excitement. Rumors of your ad-
vance escape before you, and a happy and grateful community rise
up in their clustering cities, towns, and villages, impede your way
with demonstrations of respect and kindness, and convert your
unpretending journey into a triumphal progress. Such honors
frequently attend public functionaries, and such an one may some-
times find it difficult to determine how much of the homage he re-
ceives is paid to his own worth, how much proceeds from the
habitual reverence of good republican citizens to constituted elective
authority, and how much from the spirit of venal adulation.

" You, sir, labor under no such embarrassment. The office you
hold, though honorable, is purely legislative, and such as we can
bestow by our immediate suffrage on one of ourselves. You con-
ferred personal benefits sparingly when you held the patronage of
the nation. That patronage you have relinquished, and can never
regain. Your hands will be uplifted often, during your remaining
days, to invoke blessings on your country, but never again to dis-
tribute honors or reward among your countrymen. The homage

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 317

paid you, dear sir, is sincere, for it has its sources in the just senti-
ments and irrepressible affections of a free people, their love of
truth, their admiration of wisdom, their reverence for virtue, and
their gratitude for beneficence.

" Nor need you fear that enthusiasm exaggerates your title to the
public regard. Your fellow-citizens, in spite of political prudence,
could not avoid honoring you on grounds altogether irrespective of
personal merit. John Adams, who has gone to receive the reward
of the just, was one of the most efficient and illustrious founders of
this Empire, and afterwards its Chief Ruler. The son of such a
father would, in any other age, and even in this age, in any other
country than this, have been entitled, by birth alone, to a sceptre.
We not merely deny hereditary claims to civil trust, but regard
even hereditary distinction with jealousy. And this circumstance
enhances justly the estimate of your worth. For when before has
it happened that in such a condition of society the son has, by mere
civic achievement, attained the eminence of such a sire, and effaced
remembrance of birth by justly acquired renown ?

" The hand we now so eagerly grasp, was pressed in confidence
and friendship by the Father of our Country. The wreath we place
on your honored brow, received its earliest leaves from the hand of
Washington. We cannot expect, with the agency of free and uni-
versal suffrage, to be always governed by the wise and the good.
But surely your predecessors in the Chief Magistracy, were men
such as never before successively wielded power in any State.
They differed in policy as they must, and yet, throughout their sev-
eral dynasties, without any sacrifice of personal independence, and
while passing from immature youth to ripened age, you were coun-
sellor and minister to them all. We seem therefore, in this inter-
view with you, to come into the presence of our departed chiefs ;
the majestic shade of Washington looks down upon us ; we hear the
bold and manly eloquence of the elder Adams ; and we listen to the
voices of the philosophic and sagacious Jefferson, the refined and
modest Madison, and the generous and faithful Monroe.

" A life of such eminent patriotism and fidelity found its proper
reward in your elevation to the eminence from which you had justly
derived so many honors. Although your administration of the gov-
ernment is yet too recent for impartial history, or unbounded eulogy,

318 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS.

our grateful remembrance of it is evinced by the congratulations
you now receive from your fellow-citizens.

" But your claims to the veneration of your countrymen do not
end here. Your predecessors descended from the Chief Magistracy
to enjoy, in repose and tranquillity, honors even greater than those
which belonged to that eminent station. It was reserved for you
to illustrate the important truths, that offices and trusts are not the
end of public service, but are merely incidents in the life of the true
American citizen ; that duties remain when the highest trust is re-
signed ; and that there is scope for a pure and benevolent ambition
beyond even the Presidency of the United States of America.

" You have devoted the energies of a mind unperverted, the learn-
ing and experience acquired through more than sixty years, and
even the influence and fame derived from your high career of pub-
lic service, to the great cause of universal liberty. The praises we
bestow are already echoed back to us by voices which come rich
and full across the Atlantic, hailing you as the indefatigable cham-
pion of humanity — not the humanity which embraces a single race
or clime, but that humanity which regards the whole family of
Man. Such salutations as these cannot be mistaken. They come
not from your contemporaries, for they are gone — you are not of
this generation^ but of the past, spared to hear the voice of pos-
terity. The greetings you receive come up from the dark and
uncertain future. They are the whisperings of posthumous
Fame — fame which impatiently awaits your departure, and which,
spreading wider and growing more and more distinct, will award
to John Quinct Adams a name to live with that of Washing-

The audience expressed their sympathy with this
address by long and enthusiastic cheering. When
order was restored, Mr. Adams rose, evidently under
great and unaffected embarrassment.

He replied to the speech in an address of about half
an hour, during which the attention of his audience
was riveted upon the speaker, with intense interest

LIFE OF JOHN UUINCY ADAMS. 319

and affection. He declared the embarrassment he felt
in speaking. He was sensible that his fellow-citizens
had laid aside all partizan feelings in coming up to
greet him. He desired to speak what would not
wound the feelings of any one. He was grateful,
deeply grateful, to them ail. But on what subject of
public interest could a public man speak, that would
find harmony among an intelligent, thinking people ?
There were such subjects, but he could not speak of
them.

The people of Western New York had always been
eminently just and generous to him, and had recently
proved their kindness on various occasions, by inviting
him to address the State Agricultural Society on
agriculture. But his life had been spent in the closet,
in diplomacy, or in the cabinet ; and he had not learned
the practice, or even the theory of agriculture. After
what he had seen of tl>e harvests of Western New
York, bursting with food for the sustenance of man, for
him to address the people of such a district on agricul-
ture, would be as absurd as the vanity of the rhetorician
who went to Carthage to instruct Hannibal in the art of
war. He had been solicited to address the young. In
his life time he had been an instructor of youth, and,
strange as from his present display they might think it, he
had instructed them in the art of eloquence. And there
was no more honorable office on earth than instructing
the young. But the schools and seminaries had passed
him, while he was engaged in other pursuits ; and for

320 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS.

him now to attempt to instruct the young of this gen-
eration, would evince only the garrulousness of age.

He had been invited to discourse on internal im-
provement ; but that was a subject he feared to touch.
On one point, however, all men agreed. All were in
favor of internal improvement. But there was a bal-
ance between the reasonable sacrifices of this genera-
tion, and the burden it had a right to cast upon pos-
terity, and every individual might justly claim to hold
his balance for himself. One thing, however, he was
sure he might assume with safety. In looking over the
State of New York, upon its canals and railroads, which
brought the borders of the State into contiguity, and its
citizens in every part into communion with each other,
he was sure that all rejoiced, and might well glory in
what had been accomplished.

Mr. A. said he had read and endeavored to inform
himself concerning prison discipline, a subject deeply
interesting to the peace, good order, and welfare of
society ; but after his examination of the penitentiary
here, he was satisfied that he was yet a learner, instead
of being able to give instruction on that important
subject.

He had been asked to enlist in the growing army
of temperance, and discourse on that cause, so deeply
cherished by every well wisher of our country. And
he would cheerfully speak ; but other and more devoted
men had occupied the field, and what was left for him
to say on temperance ? In passing through Catholic

LIFK OF JOHN O.U1NCY ADAMS. 321

Lower Canada he saw a column erected to the Virgin
Mary, in gratitude for her promotion of the temperance
cause. If indeed the blessed Virgin did lend her aid
to that great work, it would almost win him to worship
at her shrine, although he belonged to that class of
people who rejected the invocation of saints.

He felt, therefore, that he had no subject on which
to address them, but himself and his own public life.
The experience of an old man, related by himself,
would, he feared, be more irksome than profitable.

" What, then, am I to say ? I am summoned here
to speak, and to reply to what has been said to me by
my respected friend, your late Chief Magistrate. And
what is the theme he has given me ? It is myself.
And what can I say on such a subject ? To know
that he entertains, or that you entertain for me the
sentiments he has expressed, absolutely overpowers
me. I cannot go on. The only answer I can make,
is a declaration, that during my public service, now
protracted to nearly the age of eighty, I have endea-
vored to serve my country honestly and faithfully.
How imperfectly I have done this, none seem so sen-
sible as myself. I must stop. I can only repeat
thanks, thanks, thanks to you, one and all, and implore
the blessings of God upon you and your children."

At the conclusion of this reply, Mr. Adams was
introduced to a large number of the ladies and gentle-
men assembled in the church. He then returned to
the American Hotel, where he remained an hour,

14*

322 LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS.

receiving the visits of the citizens of the adjoining
towns. At 11 o'clock the Auburn Guards escorted
Mr. Adams and the committee, followed by a large
procession, to the car-house. Accompanied by Gov.
Seward, Judge Miller, Hon. Christopher Morgan, the
committee, Auburn Guards, and a number of the citi-
zens of Auburn, he was conveyed in an extra train of
cars, in an hour and five minutes, to Syracuse.

At Syracuse, at Utica, at Albany, the same spon-
taneous outgushing manifestations of respect and affec-
tion met him that had hitherto attended his journey
in every populous place through which he passed. In
his reply to the address of Mr. Barnard, at Albany, he
concluded in the following words : —

" Lingering as I am on the stage of public life, and, as many of
you may think, lingering beyond the period when nature calls for
repose — while I remain in the station which I now occupy in the
Congress of the United States, if you, my hearers, as an assembly,
or if any one among you, as an individual, have any object or pur-
pose to promote, or any end to secure that he believes can in any
way advance his interests or increase his happiness, then, in the
name of God, I ask you to send your petitions to me ! (Tremendous
cheering.) I hope this is not trespassing too far on politics.
(Laughter, and cheers.) I unhesitatingly promise you, one and all,
that if I can in any way serve you in that station, I will do it most
cheerfully ; regarding it as the choicest blessing of God, if 1 shall
thus be enabled to make some just return for the kind attentions
winch you have this day bestowed upon me."

In his route homeward, Mr. Adams was received
and entertained in a very handsome manner by the
people of Pittsfield, Mass. He was addressed by Hon.

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCV ADAMS. 323

George N. Briggs, who alluded, in eloquent terms, to
his long and distinguished public services. Mr.
Adams, in reply, spoke of the scenes amidst which he
had passed his early youth, and of the influence which
they exerted in forming his character and shaping his
purposes. " In 1775," said he, " the minute men from
a hundred towns in the province were marching, at a
moment's warning, to the scene of opening war. Many
of them called at my father's house in Quincy, and
received the hospitality of John Adams. All were
lodged in the house which the house would contain ;
others in the barns, and wherever they could find a
place. There were then in my father's kitchen some
dozen or two of pewter spoons ; and I well recollect
going into the kitchen and seeing some of the men
engaged in running those spoons into bullets for the
use of the troops ! Do you wonder," said he, " that a
boy of seven years of age, who witnessed this scene,
should be a patriot ?"

In the fall of the same year, Mr. Adams received an
invitation from the Cincinnati Astronomical Society, to
visit that city, and assist in the ceremony of laying the
corner stone of an observatory, to be erected on an em-
inence called Mount Ida. The invitation was accepted.
On his journey to Cincinnati, the same demonstrations
of respect, the same eagerness to honor the aged patri-
arch were manifested in the various cities and towns
through which he passed, as on his summer tour.

324 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS.

The ceremony of laying the corner stone took place
on the 9th of November, 1843. Mr. Adams delivered
an address on the occasion, replete with eloquence,
wisdom, philosophy, and religion. The following
beautiful extract will afford a specimen : —

" The various difficult, and, in many respects, opposite motives
which have impelled mankind to the study of the stars, have had a
singular effect in complicating and confounding the recommendation
of the science. Religion, idolatry, superstition, curiosity, the thirst
for knowledge, the passion for penetrating the secrets of nature,
the warfare of the huntsman by night and by day against the beast
of the forest and of the field, the meditations of the shepherd in the
custody and wanderings of his flocks, the influence of the revolving
seasons of the year, and the successive garniture of the firmament
upon the labors of the husbandman, upon the seed time and the
harvest, the blooming of flowers, the ripening of the vintage, the
polar pilot of the navigator, and the mysterious magnet of the mar-
iner— all, in harmonious action, stimulate the child of earth and of
heaven to interrogate the dazzling splendors of the sky, to reveal to
him the laws of their own existence.

" He has his own comforts, his own happiness, his own existence,
identified with theirs. He sees the Creator in creation, and calls
upon creation to declare the glory of the Creator. When Pytha-
goras, the philosopher of the Grecian schools, conceived that more
than earthly idea of ' the music of the spheres' — when the great
dramatist of nature could inspire the lips of his lover on the moon-
light green with the beloved of his soul, to say to her : —

' Sit, Jessica. — Look how the floor of Heaven
Is thick inlaid with pattens of bright gold !
There's not the smallest orb which thou beholdest,
But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still choiring to the young eyed cherubim !'

" Oh, who is the one with a heart, but almost wishes to cast off
this muddy vesture of decay, to be admitted to the joy of listening to
the celestial harmony !"

CHAPTER XV.

MR. ADAMS' LAST APPEARANCE IN PUBLIC AT BOSTON HIS

HEALTH LECTURES ON HIS JOURNEY TO WASHINGTON

REMOTE CAUSE OF HIS DECEASE STRUCK WITH PARALYSIS

LEAVES QUINCY FOR WASHINGTON FOR THE LAST TIME

HIS FINAL SICKNESS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

HIS DEATH THE FUNERAL AT WASHINGTON REMOVAL OF

THE BODY TO QUINCY ITS INTERMENT.

The last time Mr. Adams appeared in public in
Boston, he presided at a meeting of the citizens of that
city, in Faneuil Hall. " A man had been kidnapped
in Boston — kidnapped at noon-day, ' on the high road
between Faneuil Hall and old Quincy,' and carried
off to be a slave ! New England hands had seized
their brother, sold him into bondage forever, and his
children after him. A meeting was called to talk the
matter over, in a plain way, and look in one another's
faces. Who was fit to preside in such a case ? That
old man sat in the chair in Faneuil Hall. Above him
was the image of his father and his own ; around him
were Hancock and the other Adams, and Washington,
greatest of all. Before him were the men and women
of Boston, met to consider the wrongs done to a miser-
able negro slave. The roof of the old Cradle of Liberty

326 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS.

spanned over them all. Forty years before, a young
man and a Senator, he had taken the chair at a meet-
ing called to consult on the wrong done to American
seamen, violently impressed by the British from an
American ship of war — the unlucky Chesapeake. Now
an old man, clothed with half a century of honors, he
sits in the same Hall, to preside over a meeting to con-
sider the outrage done to a single slave. One was the
first meeting of citizens he ever presided over; the
other was the last: both for the same object — the de-
fence of the eternal right !"*

Few men retain the health and vigor with which
Mr. Adams was blessed in extreme old age. When
most others are decrepit and helpless, he was in the
enjoyment of meridian strength and energy, both of
body and mind, and could endure labors which would
prostrate many in the prime of manhood. An instance
of his powers of endurance is furnished in his journey
to Washington, to attend the opening of Congress,
when in the 74th year of his age. On Monday morning
he left Boston, and the same evening delivered a lecture
before the Young Men's Institute, in Hartford, Conn.
The next day he proceeded to New Haven, and in the
evening lectured before a similar Institute in that city.
Wednesday he pursued his journey to New York, and
in the evening lectured before the New York Lyceum,
in the Broadway Tabernacle. Thursday evening he
* Theodore Parker.

LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 327

delivered an address before an association in Brooklyn ;
and on Friday evening delivered a second lecture be-
fore the New York Lyceum. Here were labors which
would seriously tax the constitution of vigorous youth ;
and yet Mr. Adams performed them with much com-
parative ease.

His great longevity, and his general good health,
must be attributed, in no small degree, to his abstemious
and temperate habits, early rising, and active exercise.
He took pleasure in athletic amusements, and was ex-
ceedingly fond of walking. During his summer res-
idence in Quincy, he has been known to walk to his
son's residence in Boston (seven miles,) before break-
fast. " While President of the United States, he was
probably the first man up in Washington, lighted his
own fire, and was hard at work in his library, while
sleep yet held in its obliviousness the great mass of his
fellow-citizens." He was an expert swimmer, and was
in the constant habit of bathing, whenever circum-
stances would permit. Not unfrequently the first
beams of the rising sun, as they fell upon the beautiful
Potomac, would find Mr. Adams buffeting its waves
with all the sportiveness and dexterity of boyhood,
while a single attendant watched upon the shore.
When in the Presidency, he sometimes made a journey
from Washington to Quincy on horseback, as a simple
citizen, accompanied only by a servant.

More than four score years had sprinkled their

328 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

frosts upon his brow, and still he was in the midst of
his usefulness. Promptly at his post in the Hall of
Representatives stood the veteran sentinel, watching
vigilantly over the interests of his country. With an
eye undimmed by age, a quick ear, a ready hand, an
intellect unimpaired, he guarded the citadel of liberty,
ever on the alert to detect, and mighty to repel, the
approach of the foe, however covert or however open
his attacks. Never did the Union, never did freedom,
the world, more need his services than now. A large
territory, of sufficient extent to form several States,
had been blighted by sla/ery, and annexed to the
United Sates. A sanguinary and expensive war, grow-
ing out of this strengthening of the slave power, had
just terminated, adding to the Union still larger terri-
tories— now free soil indeed, but furnishing a field for
renewed battles between slavery and liberty. New
revolutions were about to break forth in Europe, to
convulse the Eastern Hemisphere, and cause old
thrones to totter and fall !

How momentous the era ! How deeply fraught
with the prosperity of the American Republic — with
the progress of man — the freedom of nations — the
happiness of succeeding generations ! How could he,
who for years had prominently and nobly stood forth,
as the leader of the hosts contending for the rights and
the liberties of humanity, be spared from his post at such
a juncture? Who could put on his armor? — who
wield his weapons ? — who " lead a forlorn hope," or

LIFE OF JOHN QU1NCY ADAMS. 329

mount a deadly breach in battles which might yet
be waged between the sons of freedom and the propa-
gators of slavery 1 But the loss was to be experienced.
A wise and good Providence had so ordered. The
sands of his life had run out. A voice from on high
called him away from earth's stormy struggles, to
bright and peaceful scenes in the spirit land. He
could no longer tarry. Death found the faithful vet-
eran at his post, with his harness on. How applicable
the words of Scott, on the departure of Pitt : —

" Hadst thou but lived, though stripp'd of power,
A watchman on the lonely tower,
Thy thrilling trump had roused the land,
When fraud or danger were at hand ;
By thee, as by the beacon-light,
Our pilots had kept course aright ;
As some proud column, though alone,
Thy strength had propp'd the tottering throne.
Now is the stately column broke,
The beacon-light is quenched in smoke,
The trumpet's silver sound is still,
The warder silent on the hill !
O think how, to his latest day,
When death, just hovering, claimed his prey,
With Palinure's unaltered mood,
Firm at his dangerous post he stood ;
Each call for needful rest repell'd,
With dying hand the rudder held,
Till, in his fall, with fateful sway,
The steerage of the realm gave way."

It has been supposed by some that the remote cause
of Mr. Adams's death was a severe injury he received
by a fall in the House of Reoresentatives, in June,

330 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS.

1840. The accident is thus described by an e)Te

witness : —

" It had been a very warm day, and the debates had partaken of
extraordinary excitement, when, a few moments before sunset, the
House adjourned, and most of the members had sought relief from
an oppressive atmosphere, in the arbors and recesses of the adjoin-
ing- Congressional gardens.

" At that time I held a subordinate clerkship in the House, which
usually confined me, the larger portion of the day not devoted to
debate, to one of the committee rooms ; whilst the balance of the
day I occupied as a reporter.

" Mr. Adams was always the first man in the House, and the
last man out of it ; and, as I usually detained myself an hour or
more after adjournment, in writing up my notes, I often came in
contact with him. He was pleased to call at my desk very often,
before he went home, and indulge in some incidental, unimportant
conversation. On the day referred to, just as the sun was setting,
and was throwing his last rays through the murky hall, I looked
up, and saw Mr. Adams approaching. He had almost reached my
desk, and had uplifted his hand in friendly salutation, when he
pitched headlong, some six or eight feet, and struck his head against
the sharp corner of an iron rail that defended one of the entrance
aisles leading to the circle within the bar, inflicting a heavy contu-
sion on his forehead, and rendering him insensible. I instantly
leaped from my seat, took the prostrate sufferer in my arms, and
found that he was in a state of utter stupor and insensibility.
Looking around for aid, I had the good fortune to find that Col.
James Munroe, of the New York delegation, had just returned to
his desk to procure a paper he had forgotten, when, giving the
alarm, he flew to the rescue, manifesting the deepest solicitude for
the welfare of the venerable statesman. Follansbee, the door-
keeper, with two or more of his pages, came in next ; and after we
had applied a plentiful supply of cold water to the sufferer, he re-
turned to consciousness, and requested that he might be taken to
his residence. In less than five minutes, Mr. Moses H. Grinnell,
Mr. George H. Profit, Mr. Ogden Hoffman, and Col. Christopher
Williams, of Tennessee, were called in, a carriage was procured,
and Mr. Adams was being conveyed to his residence in President

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 331

Square, when, it being ascertained that his shoulder was dislocated,
the carriage was stopped at the door of the private hotel of Col.
Munroe, in Pennsylvania Avenue, between Eleventh and Twelfth
streets ; the suffering, but not complaining statesman, was taken
out, and surgical aid instantly put in requisition. Doctor Sewall
was sent for ; when it was ascertained that the left shoulder-joint
was out of the socket ; and, though Mr. Adams must have suffered
intensely, he complained not — did not utter a groan or a murmur.

" More than an hour elapsed before the dislocated limb could be
adjusted ; and to effect which, his arm endured, in a concentrated
and continued wrench or pull, many minutes at a time, the united
strength of Messrs. Grinnell, Munroe, Profit, and Hoffman. Still
Mr. Adams uttered not a murmur, though the great drops of sweat
that rolled down his furrowed cheeks, or stood upon his brow, told
but too well the physical agony he endured. As soon as his arm
was adjusted, he insisted on being carried home, and his wishes
were complied with.

" The next morning I was at the capitol at a very early hour,
attending to some writing. I thought of, and lamented the acci-
dent that had befallen Mr. Adams, and had already commenced
writing an account of it to a correspondent. At that instant I with-
drew my eyes from the paper on which I was writing, and saw Mr.
Adams standing a foot or two from me, carefully examining the
carpeting. ' Sir,' said he, ' I am looking for that place in the
matting that last night tripped me. If it be not fastened down, it
may kill some one.' And then he continued his search for the
trick-string matting."

Mr. Adams after this accident did not enjoy as
sound health as in previous years, yet was more active
and vigorous than the majority of those who attain to
his age. But on the 20th of November, 1846, he ex-
perienced the first blow of the fatal disease which
eventually terminated his existence.

On the morning of that day, while sojourning at the
residence of his son, in Boston, preparing to depart for

332 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

Washington, he was walking out with a friend to visit
a new Medical College, and was struck with paralysis
by the way. This affliction confined him several
weeks, when he obtained sufficient strength to proceed
to Washington, and enter upon his duties in the House
of Representatives. He viewed this attack as the
touch of death. An interregnum of nearly four months
occurs in his journal. The next entry is under the
head of "Posthumous Memoir." After describing his
recent sickness, he continues : — " From that hour I
date my decease, and consider myself, for every useful
purpose, to myself and fellow-creatures, dead ; and
hence I call this, and what I may hereafter write, a
posthumous memoir."

Although he was after this, regular in his attendance
at the House of Representatives, yet he did not mingle
as freely in debate as formerly. He passed the follow-
ing summer, as usual, at his seat in Quincy. In No-
vember, he left his native town for Washington, to
return no more in life !

On Sunday, the 20th of February, 1848, he appeared
in unusual health. In the forenoon he attended public
worship at the capitol, and in the afternoon at St.
John's church. At nine o'clock in the evening he
retired with his wife to his library, where she read to
him a sermon of Bishop Wilberforce, on Time — " ho-
vering, as he was, on the verge of eternity !" This
was the last night he passed beneath his own roof.

Monday, the 21st, he rose at his usual very early

LIFE OF JOHN aUINCV ADAMS. 333

hour, and engaged in his accustomed occupations with
his pen. An extraordinary alacrity pervaded his move-
ments, and the cheerful step with which he ascended
the steps of the capitol was remarked by his attendants.
He occupied a portion of the forenoon in composing a
few stanzas of poetry, at the request of a friend, and
had signed his name twice for members who desired
to obtain his autograph.

Mr. Chase had introduced a resolution of thanks to
Generals Twiggs, Worth, Quitman, Pillow, Shields,
Pearce, Cadwalader, and Smith, for their services in
the Mexican war, and awarding them gold medals. Mr.
Adams was in his seat, and voted on the two questions
preliminary to ordering its engrossment, with an uncom-
monly emphatic tone of voice. About half past one
o'clock, P. M., as the Speaker had risen to put another
question to the House, the proceedings were suddenly
interrupted by cries of " Stop ! — stop ! — Mr. Adams !"
There was a quick movement towards the chair of
Mr. Adams, by two or three members, and in a mo-
ment he was surrounded by a large number of Repre-
sentatives, eagerly inquiring — " What's the matter V —
"Has he fainted ?"—" Is he dead?" John Quincy
Adams, while faithful at his post, and apparently about
to rise to address the Speaker, had sunk into a state of
unconsciousness ! He had been struck a second time
with paralysis. The scene was one of intense excite-
ment. Pallor, anxiety, alarm, were depicted on every
countenance. " Take him out," — " Bring water," —

334 LIFE OP JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

exclaimed several voices. He had been prevented
from falling to the floor by a member from Ohio,
whose seat was near his — Mr. Fisher — who received
him in his arms. Immediately Mr. Grinnell, one of
his colleagues from Massachusetts, was by his side,
keeping off a press of anxious friends, and bathing his
face with iced water.

" He was immediately lifted into the area in front
of the Clerk's table. The Speaker instantly suggested
that some gentleman move an adjournment, which
being promptly done, the House adjourned. A sofa
was brought, and Mr. Adams, in a state of perfect
helplessness, though not of entire insensibility, was
gently laid upon it. The sofa was then taken up and
borne out of the Hall into the Rotunda, where it was
set down, and the members of both Houses, and
strangers, who were fast crowding around, were with
some difficulty repressed, and an open space cleared in
its immediate vicinity ; but a medical gentleman, a
member of the House, (who was prompt, active, and
self-possessed throughout the whole painful scene,)
advised that he be removed to the door of the Rotunda
opening on the east portico, where a fresh wind was
blowing. This was done ; but the air being chilly
and loaded with vapor, the sofa was, at the suggestion
of Mr. Winthrop, once more taken up and removed to
the Speaker's apartment, the doors of which were
forthwith closed to all but professional gentlemen and
particular friends."

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 335

The features of the dying patriarch were almost as
rigid as though in death ; but there was a serenity in
his countenance which betokened an absence of pain.
There were five physicians, members of the House,
present, viz. : — Drs. Newell, Fries, Edwards, Jones of
Georgia, and Lord. These gentlemen were unremit-
ting in their attentions. Drs. Lindsley and Thomas,
of the city, were also immediately called in. Under
the advice of the medical gentlemen present, he was
cupped, and mustard plasters were applied, which
seemed to afford some relief. Reviving a little and
recovering consciousness, Mr. Adams inquired for his
wife. She was present, but in extreme illness, and
suffering the most poignant sorrow. After a few mo-
ments' interval he relapsed again into unconsciousness.
A correspondent of the New York Express describes
as follows the progress of these melancholy events : —

" Half past one o'clock. — Mr. Benton communicated
to the Senate the notice of the sudden illness of Mr.
Adams, and moved an adjournment of that body.

" Quarter to two. — Mr. Adams has several physi-
cians with him, but exhibits no siirns of returning con-

' C3 CD

sciousness. The report is that he is sinking.

" Two o'clock. — Mr. Gid dings informs me that he
shows signs of life. He has just now attempted to
speak, but cannot articulate a word. Under medical
advice he has submitted to leeching.

" Half past two. — Mrs. Adams and his niece and
nephew are with him, and Mr. A. is no worse. The

336 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS.

reports, however, are quite contradictory, and many
despair of his recovery.

" Three o'clock. — None but the physicians and the
family are present, and the reports again become more
and more doubtful. The physicians say that Mr. Adams
may not live more than an hour, or he may live two
or three days.

"His right side is wholly paralyzed, and the left not
under control, there being continually involuntary mo-
tions of the muscles. Everything which medical aid
can do, has been done for his relief. Briefly, just now,
by close attention, he seemed anxious to 'thank the
officers of the House.' Then, again, he was heard to
say — ' This is the last of earth ! I am content !'
These were the last words which fell from the lips of
' the old man eloquent,' as his spirit plumed its pinions
to soar to other worlds."

Mr. Adams lay in the Speaker's room, in a state of
apparent unconsciousness, through the 22d and 23d,
— Congress, in the meantime, assembling in respectful
silence, and immediately adjourning from day to day.
The struggles of contending parties ceased — the strife
for interest, place, power, was hushed to repose. Si-
lence reigned through the halls of the capitol, save the
cautious tread and whispered inquiry of anxious ques-
tioners. The soul of a sage, a patriot, a Christian, is
preparing to depart from the world ! — no sound is
heard to ruffle its sweet serenity ! — a calmness and
peace, fitting the momentous occasion, prevail around !

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 337

The elements of life and death continued their un-
certain balance, until seven o'clock, on the evening
of the 23d, when the spirit of John Quincy Adams
bade adieu to earth forever, and winged its flight to God.

" Give forth thy chime, thou solemn bell,
Thou grave, unfold thy marble cell ;
O earth ! receive upon thy breast,
The weary traveller to his rest.

" O God ! extend thy arms of love,
A spirit seeketh thee above !
Ye heav'nly palaces unclose,
Receive the weary to repose."

The tidings of Mr Adams' death flew on electrical
wings to every portion of the Union. A statesman, a
philanthropist, a father of the Republic, had fallen. A
nation heard, and were dissolved in tears !

In the history of American statesmen, none lived a
life so long in the public service — none had trusts so
numerous confided to their care — none died a death
so glorious. Beneath the dome of the nation's capitol ;
in the midst of the field of his highest usefulness, where
he had won fadeless laurels of renown ; equipped with
the armor in which he had fought so many battles for
truth and freedom, he fell beneath the shaft of the king
of terrors. And how bright, how enviable the reputa-
tion he left behind ! As a man, pure, upright, benevo-
lent, religious — his hand unstained by a drop of human
blood ; uncharged, unsuspected of crime, of premedi-
tated wrong, of an immoral act, of an unchaste word

IS

338 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

— as a statesman, lofty and patriotic in all his pur-
poses ; devoted to the interests of the people ; sacredly-
exercising all power entrusted to his keeping for the
good of the public alone, unmindful of personal inter-
est and aggrandizement ; an enthusiastic lover of
liberty ; a faithful, fearless defender of the rights of
man ! The sun of his life in its lengthened course
through the political heavens, was unobscured by a
spot, undimmed by a cloud ; and when, at the close of
the long day, it sank beneath the horizon, the whole
firmament glowed with the brilliancy of its reflected
glories ! Rulers, statesmen, legislators ! study and
emulate such a life — seek after a character so beloved,
a death so honorable, a fame so immortal. Like
him —

" So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, that moves
To the pale realms of shade, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon ; but, sustained, and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."

On the day succeeding Mr. Adams' death, when
the two Houses of Congress met, the full attendance
of members, and a crowded auditory, attested the
deep desire felt by all to witness the proceedings
which would take place in relation to the death of one
who had long occupied so high a place in the councils

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 339

of the Republic. As soon as the House of Representa-
tives was called to order, the Speaker, (the Hon.
Robert C. Winthrop of Massachusetts,) rose, and in a
feeling manner addressed the House as follows : —

" Gentlemen of the House of Representatives of the United States :
It has been thought fit that the Chair should announce officially to
the House, an event already known to the members individually,
and which has filled all our hearts with sadness. A seat on this
floor has been vacated, toward which all eyes have been accustomed
to turn with no common interest. A voice has been hushed forever
in this Hall, to which all ears have been wont to listen with pro-
found reverence. A venerable form has faded from our sight,
around which we have daily clustered with an affectionate regard.
A name has been stricken from the roll of the living statesmen
of our land, which has been associated, for more than half a cen-
tury, with the highest civil service, and the loftiest civil renown.

" On Monday, the 21st instant, John Quincy Adams sunk in his
seat, in presence of us all, by a sudden illness, from which he never
recovered ; and he died, in the Speaker's room, at a quarter past
seven o'clock last evening, with the officers of the House and the
delegation of his own Massachusetts around him.

" Whatever advanced age, long experience, great ability, vast
learning, accumulated public honors, a spotless private character,
and a firm religious faith, could do, to render any one an object of
interest, respect, and admiration, they had done for this distinguished
person ; and interest, respect, and admiration, are but feeble terms
to express the feelings with which the members of this House and
the people of the country have long regarded him.

" After a life of eighty years, devoted from its earliest maturity to
the public service, he has at length gone to his rest. He has been
privileged to die at his post ; to fall while in the discharge of his
duties ; to expire beneath the roof of the capitol ; and to have his
last scene associated forever, in history, with the birthday of that
illustrious patriot, whose just discernment brought him first into the
service of his country.

" The close of such a life, under such circumstances, is not an
event for unminjjled emotions. We cannot find it in our hearts to

340 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

regret, that he has died as he has died. He himself could have de-
sired no other end. ' This is the end of earth,' were his last
words, uttered on the day on which he fell. But we might also
hear him exclaiming, as he left us — in a language hardly less
familiar to him than his native tongue — ' Hoc est, nimirum, magis
feliciter de vita migrare. quarn mori.'

" It is for others to suggest what honors shall be paid to his
memory. No acts of ours are necessary to his fame. But it may
be due to ourselves and to the country, that the national sense of
his character and services should be fitly commemorated."

Mr. Holmes of South Carolina arose and addressed
the House in most eloquent strains. The following
are extracts from his eulogy : —

" The mingled tones of sorrow, like the voice of many waters,
have come unto us from a sister State — Massachusetts weeping for
her honored son. The State I have the honor in part to represent
once endured, with yours, a common suffering, battled for a com-
mon cause, and rejoiced in a common triumph. Surely, then, it
is meet that in this, the day of your affliction, we should mingle our
griefs.

" When a great man falls, the nation mourns ; when a patriarch
is removed, the people weep. Ours, my associates, is no common
bereavement. The chain which linked our hearts with the gifted
spirits of former times, has been rudely snapped. The lips from
which flowed those living and glorious truths that our fathers
uttered, are closed in death ! Yes, my friends, Death has been
among us ! He has not entered the humble cottage of some un-
known, ignoble peasant ; he has knocked audibly at the palace
of a nation ! His footstep has been heard in the Hall of State !
He has cloven down his victim in the midst of the councils of a
people ! He has borne in triumph from among you the gravest,
wisest, most reverend head ! Ah ! he has taken him as a trophy
who was once chief over many States, adorned with virtue, and
learning, and truth ; he has borne at his chariot-wheels a renowned
one of the earth.

" There was no incident in the birth, the life, the death of Mr.
Adams, not intimately woven with the history of the land. Born in

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 341

the night of his country's tribulation, he heard the first murmurs of
discontent ; he saw the first efforts for deliverance. Whilst yet a
little child, he listened with eagerness to the whispers of freedom as
they breathed from the lips of her almost inspired apostles : he caught
the fire that was then kindled ; his eye beamed with the first ray ;
he watched the day spring from on high, and long before he departed
from earth, it was graciously vouchsafed unto him to behold the
effulgence of her noontide glory. *******

" He disrobed himself with dignity of the vestures of office, not to
retire to the shades of Quincy, but, in the maturity of his intellect,
in the vigor of his thought, to leap into this arena, and to continue,
as he had begun, a disciple, an ardent devotee at the temple of his
country's freedom. How, in this department, he ministered to his
country's wants, we all know, and have witnessed. How often we
have crowded into that aisle, and clustered around that now vacant
desk, to listen to the counsels of wisdom, as they fell from the lips
of the venerable sage, we can all remember, for it was but of yes-
terday. But what a change ! How wondrous ! how sudden !
'Tis like a vision of the night. That form which we beheld but a
few days since, is now cold in death !

"But the last Sabbath, and in this hall, he worshipped with others.
Now his spirit mingles with the noble army of martyrs, and the just
made perfect, in the eternal adoration of the living God. With him
" this is the end of earth." He sleeps the sleep that knows no
waking. He is gone — and forever ! The sun that ushers in the
morn of that next holy day, while it gilds the lofty dome of the cap-
itol, shall rest with soft and mellow light upon the consecrated spot
beneath whose turf forever lies the Patriot Father and the Pa-
triot Sage !"

The following resolutions were unanimously passed
by the House of Representatives : —

" Resolved, That this House has heard with the deepest sensibil-
ity, of the death in this capitol of John Quincy Adams, a Member
of the House from the State of Massachusetts.

" Resolved, That, as a testimony of respect for the memory of
this distinguished statesman, the officers and members of the House

342 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCV ADAMS.

will wear the usual badge of mourning, and attend the funeral hi
his hall on Saturday next, at 12 o'clock.

" Resolved, That a committee of thirty be appointed to superintend
Jie funeral solemnities.

" Resolved, That the proceedings of this House in relation to the
death of John Quincy Adams be communicated to the family of the
deceased by the Clerk.

" Resolved, That the seat in this hall just vacated by the death of
the late John Quincy Adams be unoccupied for thirty days, and
that it, together with the hall, remain clothed with the symbol of
mourning during that time.

" Resolved, That the Speaker appoint one member of this House
from each State and Territory, as a committee to escort the remains
of our venerable friend, the Honorable John Quincy Adams, to the
place designated by his friends for his interment.

" Resolved, That this House, as a further mark of respect for the
memory of the deceased, do adjourn to Saturday next, the day ap-
pointed for the funeral."

In the Senate, after a formal annunciation of the
death of Mr. Adams, in a message from the House of
Representatives, Mr. Davis, of Massachusetts, arose
and delivered a feeling address, on the life and ser-
vices of the deceased patriot. The following are
extracts :— -

" Mr. President : By the recent affliction of my colleague, (Mr.
Webster,) a painful duty devolves upon me. The message just
delivered from the House proves that the hand of God has been
again among us. A great and good man has gone from our midst.
If, in speaking of John Quincy Adams, I can give utterance to the
language of my own heart, I am confident I shall meet with a re-
sponse from the Senate.

" He was born in the then Province of Massachusetts, while she
was girding herself for the great revolutionary struggle which was
then before her. His parentage is too well known to need even an
allusion ; yet I may be pardoned if I say, that his father seemed
born to aid in the establishment of our free Government, and his

LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS. 343

mother was a suitable companion and co-laborer of such a patriot.
The cradle hymns of the child were the songs of liberty. The
power and competence of man for self-government were the topics
which he most frequently heard discussed by the wise men of the
day, and the inspiration thus caught gave form and pressure to his
after life. Thus early imbued with the love of free institutions, ed-
ucated by his father for the service of his country, and early led by
Washington to its altar, he has stood before the world as one of
its eminent statesmen. He has occupied, in turn, almost every
place of honor which the country could give him, and for more than
half a century, has been thus identified with its history. *****

" It is believed to have been the earnest wish of his heart to die,
like Chatham, in the midst of his labors. It was a sublime thought,
that where he had toiled in the house of the nation, in hours of the
day devoted to its service, the stroke of death should reach him, and
there sever the ties of love and patriotism which bound him to earth.
He fell in his seat, attacked by paralysis, of which he had before
been a subject. To describe the scene which ensued would be im-
possible. It was more than the spontaneous gush of feeling which
all such events call forth, so much to the honor of our nature. It
was the expression of reverence for his moral worth, of admiration
for his great intellectual endowments, and of veneration for his age
and public services. All gathered round the sufferer, and the strong
sympathy and deep feeling which were manifested, showed that the
business of the House (which was instantly adjourned) was for-
gotten amid the distressing anxieties of the moment. He was soon
removed to the apartment of the Speaker, where he remained sur-
rounded by afflicted friends till the weary clay resigned its immortal
spirit. ' This is the end of earth !' Brief but emphatic words
They were among the last uttered by the dying Christian."

When Mr. Davis had concluded his remarks, Mr.
Benton, of Missouri, delivered a most beautiful eulogy
on the character of Mr. Adams. He said : —

" Mr. President : The voice of his native State has been heard,
through one of the Senators of Massachusetts, announcing the death
of her aged and most distinguished son. The voice of the other

344 LIFE OF JOHN QUlNCVf ADAMS.

Senator, (Mr. Webster,) is not heard, nor is his presence seen.
A domestic calamity, known to us all, and felt by us all, confines
him to the chamber of private grief, while the Senate is occupied
with the public manifestations of a respect and sorrow which a na-
tional loss inspires. In the absence of that Senator, and as the
member of this body longest here, it is not unfitting or unbecoming
in me to second the motion which has been made for extending the
last honors of the Senate to him who, forty-five years ago, was a
member of this body, who, at the time of his death, was among the
oldest members of the House of Representatives, and who, putting
the years of his service together, was the oldest of all the members
of the American Government.

" The eulogium of Mr. Adams is made in the facts of his life,
which the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Davis) has so strik-
ingly stated, that, from early manhood to octogenarian age, he has
been constantly and most honorably employed in the public service.
For a period of more than fifty years, from the time of his first ap-
pointment as Minister abroad under Washington, to his last election
to the House of Representatives by the people of his native district,
he has been constantly retained in the public service, and that, not
by the favor of a Sovereign, or by hereditary title, but by the elec-
tions and appointments of republican Government. This fact makes
the eulogy of the illustrious deceased. For what, except a union
of all the qualities which command the esteem and confidence of
man, could have ensured a public service so long, by appointments
free and popular, and from sources so various and exalted ? Minis-
ter many times abroad ; member of this body ; member of the House
of Representatives ; cabinet Minister ; President of the United
States ; such has been the galaxy of his splendid appointments.
And what but moral excellence the most perfect — intellectual abil-
ity the most eminent — fidelity the most unwavering — service the
most useful, could have commanded such a succession of appoint-
ments so exalted, and from sources so various and so eminent ?
Nothing less could have commanded such a series of appointments ;
and accordingly we see the union of all these great qualities in him
who has received them.

"In this long career of public service Mr. Adams was distin-
guished not only by faithful attention to all the great duties of his
stations, but to all their less and minor duties. He was not the

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 345

Salaminian galley, to be launched only on extraordinary occasions,
but he was the ready vessel, always launched when the duties of
his station required it, be the occasion great or small. As Pres-
ident, as cabinet Minister, as Minister abroad, he examined all ques-
tions that came before him, and examined all in all their parts, in
all the minutiae of their detail, as well as in all the vastness of their
comprehension. As Senator, and as a member of the House of
Representatives, the obscure committee-room was as much the
witness of his laborious application to the drudgery of legislation,
as the halls of the two Houses were to the ever ready speech, re-
plete with knowledge, which instructed all hearers, enlightened all
subjects, and gave dignity and ornament to debate.

" In the observance of all the proprieties of life, Mr. Adams was
a most noble and impressive example. He cultivated the minor as
well as the greater virtues. Wherever his presence could give aid
and countenance to what was useful and honorable to man, there
he was. In the exercises of the school and of the college — in the
meritorious meetings of the agricultural, mechanical, and com-
mercial societies — in attendance upon Divine worship — he gave the
punctual attendance rarely seen but in those who are free from the
weight of public cares.

" Punctual to every duty, death found him at the post of duty ;
and where else could it have found him, at any stage of his career,
for the fifty years of his illustrious public life ? From the time of
his first appointment by Washington to his last election by the
people of his native town, where could death have found him but
at the post of duty ? At that post, in the fullness of age, in the
ripeness of renown, crowned with honors, surrounded by his family,
his friends, and admirers, and in the very presence of the national
representation, he has been gathered to his fathers, leaving behind
him the memory of public services which are the history of hia
country for half a century, and the example of a life, public and
private, which should be the study and the model of the generations
of his countrymen."

At the conclusion of Mr. Benton's address, the fol
lowing resolutions, introduced by Mr. Davis, were
passed by the Senate : —

15*

£46 LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS.

" Resolved, Tliat the Senate has received with deep sensibility
the message from the House of Representatives announcing the
death of the Hon. John Quinct Adams, a Representative from the
State of Massachusetts.

" Resolved, That, in token of respect for the memory of the de-
ceased, the Senate will attend his funeral at the hour appointed by
the House of Representatives, and will wear the usual badge of
mourning for thirty days.

" Resolved, That, as a further mark of respect for the memory
of the deceased, the Senate do now adjourn until Saturday next, the
time appointed for the funeral."

President Polk issued a Proclamation announcing
to the nation its bereavement, and directing the sus-
pension of all public business for the day. The public
offices were clothed in mourning. Orders were issued
from the War and Navy Departments, directing that
at every military and naval station, on the day after
the order should be received, the honors customary to
the illustrious dead should be paid.

At 12 o'clock on Saturday, the 26th of February,
the funeral took place in the capitol. It was a solemn,
an imposing scene. The Hall of Representatives was
hung in sable habiliments. The portraits of Washing-
ton and La Fayette, the beautiful statue of the Muse
of History in the car of Time, and the vacant chair
of the deceased, were wreathed in crape. In the
midst, and the most conspicuous of all, was the coffin
containing the remains of the illustrious dead, covered
with its velvet pall. The President of the United
States, and the Heads of Departments, the Members
of both Houses of Congress, the Judges of the Supreme

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCE ADAMS. 347

Court, the Foreign Ministers, Officers of the Army and
Navy, Members of State Legislatures, and an immense
concourse of the great, the wise, and the good, were
present, to bestow honor on all that remained of the
statesman, the philosopher, and the Christian.

A discourse was delivered on the occasion, by the
Rev. R. R. Gurley, chaplain to the House of Represent-
atives, from Job xi. 17, 18 — "And thine age shall be
clearer than the noon-day ; thou shalt shine forth, thou
shalt be as the morning : and thou shalt be secure,
because there is hope." The following are extracts
from the sermon : —

" In some circumstances, on some occasions, we most naturally
express our emotions in silence and in tears. What voice of man
can add to the impressiveness and solemnity of this scene ? The
presence and aspect of this vast assembly, the Chief Magistrate,
Counsellors, Judges, Senators, and Representatives of the nation,
distinguished officers of the army and the navy, and the honored Am-
bassadors from foreign powers, — these symbols and badges of a uni-
versal mourning, darkening this hall into sympathy with our sorrow,
leave no place for the question, ' Know ye not that a prince and a
great man is fallen in Israel ?' Near to us, indeed, has come the in-
visible hand of the Almighty — that hand in which is the soul of every
living thing, and the breath of all mankind ; in this very hall, from
yonder seat, which he so long occupied, in the midst of the repre-
sentatives of the people, has it taken one full of years and honors,
eminent, for more than half a century, in various departments of the
public service ; who adorned every station, even the highest, by his
abilities and virtues ; and whose influence, powerful in its benefi-
cence, is felt in many, if not in all the States of the civilized
world. * * * * *

" Not more certainly is the body invigorated and preserved by
suitable food, by manly exercises, by the vital air, than are the in-
tellectual and moral faculties by the investigation and reception of

348 LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

divine truths, by habits of obedience to the divine will, by cheerful
submission to the order and discipline of Divine Providence. Nor
let us ever distrust the Father of our spirits, who knows perfectly
all the wants of our nature, but rest assured that his command-
ments in the sacred Scriptures are entirely in harmony with the de-
crees of his providence ; and that as to fear Him and keep His
commandments is the whole duty (because the highest duty, and
comprehending all others), so will it prove the whole and eternal
happiness of man. If the indissoluble and harmonious connection
between the laws of nature, of Providence and the moral law, be
not always obvious, it is always certain. Over all the darkness,
disturbances, and evils of the world shines revealed, more or less
clearly, like the serene and cheerful heavens, this immutable law,
binding virtue, however obscure, persecuted, or forsaken, to re-
ward ; duty, however humble or arduous, to happiness. Hence the
declaration, that all things shall work together for good to them who
love God, and that all things are theirs — the past and future, things
temporal and spiritual, prosperity and adversity, angels, and princi-
palities, and powers, and God himself, in all the resources of his
wisdom and all the eternity of his reign.

" How shone out, clear as the noonday, yet mild and gentle as
the morning, even in age, in the life and character of that great and
venerable man, around whose precious, but, alas ! inanimate fonn
we all press in gratitude, admiration, and love, those high virtues
derived from faith in God, and nurtured by his revealed truth, this
bereaved Congress, and, I may add, this nation witnesses. ******

" Truly emblematic of his moral integrity and strength of char-
acter would be the granite column from his native hills, one and
entire, just in its proportions, towering in its height, immoveable in
its foundations, and pointing to Heaven as the temple and throne of
everlasting authority, the final refuge, the imperishable home of all
regenerated and faithful souls.

'• Independence of mere human authority in the use of his reason,
on all subjects, was united with veneration most sincere and pro-
found for the sacred Scriptures, as a supernatural revelation from
God, ' whose prerogative extends not less to the reason than the
will of man,' and from a daily perusal of the Divine Word, and a
constant and devout attendance upon the public worship of the
Sabbath, although differing on some points from common opinions,

LIFE OF JOHN ClUINCY ADAMS. 349

he cherished enlarged views "of Christian communion, and recog-
nized in most, if not all the religious denominations of this coun-
try, members of one and the same family and kingdom of Jesus
Christ ^ ^ ^ ^ % ^ %

" Alas, the sad and appalling ruins of death ! ' This is the end
of earth.' Approach ! lovers of pleasure, seekers after wisdom,
aspirants, by pre-eminence in station, and power, and influence
among men, to fame ; see the end of human distinctions and earthly
greatness ! Surely man walketh in a vain show ; surely man in
his best estate is altogether vanity. How pertinent to this scene
the words of Job : ' He leadeth princes away spoiled, and over-
throweth the mighty. He removeth away the speech of the trusty,
and taketh away the understanding of the aged. He discovereth
deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow
of death !' How, indeed, is the mighty fallen, and the head of
the wise laid low ! All flesh is grass — all the glory of man as the
flower of the field. And shall this vast congregation soon be brought
to the grave — that house appointed for all the living ? Hear, then,
the great announcement of the Son of God : ' I am the resurrec-
tion and the life, and whosoever believeth in me, though he were
dead yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me
shall never die.' Is it strange that he who communed so much
with the future as the great statesman to whose virtues and mem-
ory we now pay this sad, final, solemn tribute of honor and affec-
tion, should, in the last conversation I ever had with him, have ex-
pressed both regret and astonishment at the indifference among too
many of our public men to the truths and ordinances of our holy
religion ? Is it to affect our hearts that he has been permitted to
fall in the midst of us, to arouse us from this insensibility, and
cause us to press towards the gates of the eternal city of God ? Let
us bless God for another great example to shine upon us, that an-
other star (we humbly trust) is planted amid the heavenly constella-
tions to guide us to eternity !"

At the conclusion of the exercises in the capitol, a
vast procession, escorted by military companies, con-
veyed the remains to the Congressional burying

350 LIFE OF JOHN O.UINCY ADAMS.

ground, where they were to rest until preparations for
their removal to Quincy should be completed.

" Sad was the pomp that yesterday beheld,
As with the mourner's heart the anthem swelled ;
The rich-plumed canopy, the gorgeous pall,
The sacred march, and sable vested wall ! —
These were not rites of inexpressive show,
But hallowed as the types of real woe !
Illustrious deceased ! a nation's sighs,
A nation's heart, went with thine obsequies!"

The following letter of thanks from Mrs. Adams,
addressed to the Speaker, was laid before the House of
Representatives : —

" Washington, February 29, 1848.

" Sir : The resolutions in honor of my dear deceased husband,
passed by the illustrious assembly over which you preside, and of
which he at the moment of his death was a member, have been duly
communicated to me.

" Penetrated with grief at this distressing event of my life,
mourning the loss of one who has been at once my example and
ni}' support through the trials of half a century, permit me never-
theless to express through you my deepest gratitude for the signal
manner in which tbe public regard has been voluntarily mani-
fested by your honorable body, and the consolation derived to me
and mine from the reflection that the unwearied efforts of an old
public servant have not even in this world proved without their re-
ward in the generous appreciation of them by his country.
" With great respect, I remain, sir, your obedient servant,

"Louisa Catharine Adams."

On the following week, the Committee of one from
each State and Territory in the Union, appointed by
the House of Representatives to take charge of the

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 351

remains of the deceased ex-President, and convey
them to Quincy for final interment, commenced their
journey. It was a new, yet inexpressibly thrilling and
imposing spectacle. The dead body of "the Old Man
Eloquent," surrounded and guarded by a son of each
of the States and Territories of that Union which he
had so largely assisted in consolidating and sustaining,
leaves the capitol of the nation, where for more than
thirty years he had acted the most conspicuous part
among the fathers of the land, to rest in the tomb of
its ancestors, amid the venerable shades of Quincy.
How solemn the progress of such a procession. It
was indeed, " the Funeral March of the Dead !"
Wherever it passed, the people rose up and paid the
utmost marks of respect to the remains of one who
had occupied so large a space in the history of his
country. In towns, in villages, in cities, as the mourn-
ful cortege swept through, business was suspended,
flags were displayed at half mast, bells were tolled,
minute guns were fired, civil and military processions
received the sacred remains, and watched over them
by night and by day, and passed them on from State
to State.

" What a progress was it which the dead patriot
thus made ! From the capitol of the nation, beneath
whose dome, and while at his post of duty, he was
seized by death — within sight almost of that Mount
Vernon where repose the ashes of him, the Father of
his Country, who first distinguished, encouraged and

352 LIFE OF JOHN aUINCY ADAMS.

employed the extraordinary capacity of the youthful
Adams — through cities that in his life time have grown
up from villages — passing, at Baltimore, almost beneath
the shadow of the monument which there testifies of
the valor of those who fell for country in the war of
1812 — and in Philadelphia halting and reposing within
the hall where his great father, John Adams, had fear-
lessly stood for Independence, and where Independence
was proclaimed — the dead passed on, everywhere fol-
lowed by the reverential gaze and the mourning heart,
till, reaching the great metropolis of New York, where
the same father had been sworn in and taken his seat,
as the first Vice President of the United States, with
George Washington for President ! Thence away the
march was resumed, till it reached old Faneuil Hall —
the cradle of American liberty, the fitting final resting-
place, while yet unburied, of the body of one in whose
heart, at no moment of life, did the love of liberty, im-
bibed or strengthened in that hall, suffer the slightest
abatement."*

Faneuil Hall was clothed in the dark drapery of
mourning, fitting to receive the body of one of the
greatest of the many noble sons of the venerable Bay
State. Amid solemn dirges and appropriate cere-
monies, the chairman of the Congressional Committee
surrendered to a Committee from the Legislature of
Massachusetts, the sacred remains they had accom-
panied from the capitol of the United States. —

* King's Eulogy.

LIFE OF JOHN Q.UINCY ADAMS. 353

" Throughout the journey," said the chairman, "there
have been displayed manifestations of the highest ad-
miration and respect for the memory of your late dis-
tinguished fellow-citizen. In the large cities through
which we expected to pass, we anticipated such de-
monstrations ; but in every village and hamlet, at the
humblest cottage which we passed, and from the
laborers in the field, the same profound respect was
testified by their uncovered heads."

The Committee of the Massachusetts Legislature
having thus received the body from its Congressional
escort, in turn surrendered it to the keeping of the
municipal authorities of Boston, for burial at Quincy.
This ceremony was performed by Mr. Buckingham,
chairman of the Legislative Committee, in these im-
pressive words : —

" In the name and behalf of the Government and People of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, whose honored but humble ser-
vant I this day am, I consign to your faithful keeping, Mr. Mayor,
the remains of John Quincy Adams — all that was mortal of that
venerable man, whose age and whose virtues had rendered him an
object of intense interest and admiration to his country and to the
world. We place these sacred remains in your possession, to be
conveyed to their appointed home — to sleep in the sepulchre and
with the dust of his fathers."

Mr. Quincy, the Mayor, in accepting the guardian-
ship conferred upon him in behalf of the city of Boston,
replied in the following terms : —

" There is something sublime in the scene that surrounds us.
An honored son of Massachusetts — one who was educated by a

351 LIFE OB' JOHN QTJINCY ADAM3.

signer of the Declaration of Independence — one who heard the
thunder of the great struggle for liberty on yonder hill, has, after a
life of unparalleled usefulness and fidelity, fallen in the capitol of
the country he served. His remains were escorted here by dele-
gates from every State in the Union. They have passed over spots
ever memorable in history. They have everywhere been received
with funeral honors. They have reposed in the hall of independ-
ence. They now lie in the cradle of liberty. As a citizen of Mas-
sachusetts, I cannot but acknowledge our sense of the honor paid
to her distinguished son. Mourned by a nation at its capitol, at-
tended by the representatives of millions to the grave, he has re-
ceived a tribute to his memory unequalled among men.

" These remains now rest in the cradle of liberty. It is their
last resting-place on their journey home. As a statesman's, ' this
is to them the last of earth !' To-morrow they will be deposited in
the peaceful church-yard of the village of his birth, there to be
mourned, not as statesmen mourn for statesmen, but as friends
mourn for frionds.

" He will be ' gathered to his fathers !' And how great, in this
case, is the significance of the expression ! It is possible that other
men may be attended as he will be to the grave. But when again
shall the tomb of a President of the United States open its doors to
receive a son who has filled the same office ?"

On the following day, the body, under the charge of
the municipal officers of Boston, was conveyed to
Quincy. In the Unitarian church, in the presence of
old neighbors and friends, the last funeral exercises
were held, and the last sad burial service was per-
formed.

By the side of the graves of his fathers, over-
shadowed by aged trees, which had sheltered his head
in the days of boyhood, in a plain tomb, prepared
under his own direction, and inscribed simply with his
name, sleep the ashes of JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

LIFE OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 355

" Let no weak drops
Be shed for him. The virgin in her bloom
Cut off, the joyous youth, and darling child,
These are the tombs that claim the lender tear
And elegiac songs. But Adams calls
For other notes of gratulation high ;
That now he wanders thro' those endless worlds
lie here so well descried ; and, wondering, talks
And hymns their Author with his glad compeers.
Columbia's boast ! whether with angels thou
Sittest in dread discourse, or fellow blest
Who joy to see the honor of their kind ;
Or whether, mounted on cherubic wing,
Thy swift career is with the whirling orbs,
Comparing things with things, in rapture lost,
And grateful adoration for that light
So plenteous ray'd into thy mind below
From Light himself — oh ! look with pity down
On human kind, a frail, erroneous race !
Exalt the spirit of a downward world !
O'er thy dejected country chief preside,
And be her Genius called ! her studies raise,
Correct her manners, and inspire her youth ;
For, though deprav'd and sunk, she brought thee forth,
And glories in thy name. She points thee out
To all her sons, and bids them eye thy star —
Thy star, which, followed steadfastly, shall lead
To wisdom, virtue, glory here, and joy
Unspeakable in worlds to come."

EULOGY/

We are in the midst of extraordinary events. British-
American Civilization and Spanish-American Society-
have come into collision, each in its fullest maturity.
The armies of the North have penetrated the chappa-
rels at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma — passed the
fortresses of Monterey, and rolled back upon the heart
of Mexico the unavailing tide of strong resistance from
the mountain-side of Buena Vista. Martial colonists
are encamped on the coasts of California, while San
Juan d'Ulloa has fallen, and the invaders have swept
the gorge of Cerro Gordo — carried Perote and Puebla,
and planted the banner of burning stars and ever-
multiplying stripes on the towers of the city of the
Aztecs.

The thirtieth Congress assembles in this conjunc-
ture, and the debates are solemn, earnest, and bewil-
dering. Interest, passion, conscience, freedom, and
humanity, all have their advocates. Shall new loans
and levies be granted to prosecute still farther a war
so glorious ? or shall it be abandoned ? Shall we be

* Delivered before the Legislature of New York, by Wm. H. Seward.

358 EULOGY.

content with the humiliation of the foe ? or shall we
complete his subjugation ? Would that severity be
magnanimous, or even just ? Nay, is the war itself
just? Who provoked, and by what unpardonable
offence, this disastrous strife between two eminent
Republics, so scandalous to Democratic Institutions ?
Where shall we trace anew the ever-advancing line of
our empire ? Shall it be drawn on the shore of the
Rio Grande, or on the summit of the Sierra Madre f
or shall Mexican Independence be extinguished, and
our eagle close his adventurous pinions only when he
looks off upon the waves that separate us from the
Indies ? Does Freedom own and accept our profuse
oblations of blood, or does she reject the sacrifice ?
Will these conquests extend her domain, or will they
be usurped by ever-grasping slavery ? What effect
will this new-born ambition have upon ourselves ?
Will it leave us the virtue to continue the career of
social progress ? How shall we govern the conquered
people ? Shall we incorporate their mingled races
with ourselves, or rule them with the despotism of pro-
consular power ? Can we preserve these remote and
hostile possessions in any way, without forfeiting our
own blood-bought heritage of freedom ?

Steam and lightning, which have become docile
messengers, make the American people listeners to this
high debate, and anxiety, and interest, intense and
universal, absorb them all. Suddenly the council is
dissolved. Silence is in the capitol, and sorrow has

EULOGY.

359

thrown its pall over the land. What new event is
this ? Has some Cromwell closed the legislative cham-
bers ? or has some Caesar, returning from his distant
conquests, passed the Rubicon, seized the purple, and
fallen in the Senate beneath the swords of self-appointed
executioners of his country's vengeance ? No ! noth-
ing of all this. What means, then, this abrupt and
fearful silence ? What unlooked for calamity has
quelled the debates of the Senate and calmed the
excitement of the people ? An old man, whose tongue
once indeed was eloquent, but now through age had
well nigh lost its cunning, has fallen into the swoon of
death. He was not an actor in the drama of con-
quest— nor had his feeble voice yet mingled in the
lofty argument —

" A grey-haired sire, whose eye intent
Was on the visioned future bent."

And now he has dreamed out at last the troubled
dream of life. Sighs of unavailing grief ascend to
Heaven. Panegyric, fluent in long-stified praise, per-
forms its office. The army and the navy pay conven-
tional honors, with the pomp of national woe, and then
the hearse moves onward. It rests appropriately, on
its way, in the hall where independence was proclaimed,
and again under the dome where freedom was born
At length the tomb of John Adams opens to receive a
son, who also, born a subject of a king, had stood as a
representative of his emancipated country, before prin.

360 EULOGY.

cipalities and powers, and had won by merit, and
worn without reproach, the honors of the Republic.

From that scene, so impressive in itself, and impres-
sive because it never before happened, and can never
happen again, we have come up to this place sur-
rounded with the decent drapery of public mourning,
on a day set apart by authority, to recite the history
of the citizen, who, in the ripeness of age, and fulness
of honors, has thus descended to his rest. It is fit to
do so, because it is by such exercises that nations re-
generate their early virtues and renew their constitu-
tions. All nations must perpetually renovate their
virtues and their constitutions, or perish. Never was
there more need to renovate ours than now, when we
seem to be passing from the safe old policy of peace
and moderation into a career of conquest and martial
renown. Never was the duty of preserving our free
institutions in all their purity, more obvious than it is
now, when they have become beacons to mankind in
what seems to be a general dissolution of their ancient
social systems.

The history of John Quincy Adams is one that
opens no new truth in the philosophy of virtue ; for
there is no undiscovered truth in that philosophy. But
it is a history that sheds marvellous confirmation on
maxims which all mankind know, and yet are prone
to undervalue and forget. The exalted character
before us was formed by the combination of virtue,
courage, assiduity, and modesty, under favorable con-

EULOGY. 361

ditions, with native talent and genius, and illustrates
the truth, that in morals as in nature, simplicity is
the chief element of the sublime.

John Quincy Adams was fortunate in his lineage ;
in the period, and in the place of his nativity ; in all
the circumstances of education ; in the age and coun-
try in which he lived ; in the incidents, as well as the
occasions of his public service ; and in the period and
manner of his death. He was a descendant from one
of the Puritan planters of Massachusetts, and a son of
the most intrepid actor in the Revolution of Independ-
ence. Quincy, the place of his birth, is a plain,
bounded on the west by towering granite hills, and
swept without defence by every wind from the ocean.
Its soil in ancient times was as sterile as its climate is
always rigorous.

Born on the eleventh day of July, 1767, in the hour
of the agitation of rebellion, and reared within sight
and sound of gathering war, the earliest political ideas
he received were such as John Adams then uttered— -
"We must fight." "Sink or swim — live or die — sur-
vive or perish with my country, is my unalterable de-
termination." A mother fervently pious, and eminent
in intellectual gifts, directed with more than maternal
assiduity and solicitude the education of him who was
to render her own name immortal. Never quite di-
vorced from home, yet twice, and for long periods in
his youth, a visitor in Europe, he enjoyed always the
parental discipline of one of the founders of the Amer-

16

362 EULOGY.

ican State, and often the daily conversation of Franklin
and Jefferson ; and combined travel in France, Spain,
England, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia,
and even diplomatic experience, with the instructions
of the schools of Paris, of the University at Leyden,
and of Harvard University at Cambridge ; and all
these influences fell upon him at a period when his
country, then opening the way to human liberty
through trials of fire, fixed the attention of mankind.

The establishment of the Republic of the United
States of America, is the most important secular event
in the history of the human race. It did not disen-
tangle the confused theory of the origin of Govern-
ment, but cut through the bonds of power existing by
prescription, at a blow ; and thus directly and imme-
diately affected the opinions and the actions of men in
every part of the civilized world. It animated them
everywhere to seek freedom from despotic power and
aristocratic restraint. Whenever and wherever they
have since moved, either by peaceful agitation or by
physical force, to meliorate systems of government,
whether in France at the close of the last century, or
afterward on the second subversion of the elder branch
of the Bourbons, or in the recent overthrow of the
constitutional king, or in Ireland, or in England, or in
Italy, or in Greece, or in South America, whether they
succeeded or failed, there, in the tumult or in the strife,
was the spirit of the American Revolution. " It gave
an example of a great people, not merely emancipating

EULOGY. 363

themselves, but governing themselves, without either a
monarch to control, or an aristocracy to restrain them ;
and it demonstrated, for the first time in the history of
the world, contrary to the predictions and theories of
speculative philosophy, that a great nation, when duly
prepared, is capable of self-government by purely re-
publican institutions."

But the establishment of the American Republic was
too great an achievement to be made all at once. It
was a drama of five grand acts, each of which filled a
considerable period, and called upon the stage actors
of peculiar powers and distinguished virtues. Those
acts were, colonization, preparation, revolution, organ-
ization, consolidation.

Two of these acts were closed before John Quincy
Adams was born. The third, the revolution, the
shortest of them all, dazzles the contemplation by the
rapidity and the martial character of its incidents.
The fourth, the organization of the Government, by
the splendors of genius elicited, and the felicity of the
new form of government presented, satisfies the super-
ficial inquirer that, when the Constitution had been
adopted, nothing remained to perfect the great achieve-
ment. But other nations have had successful revolu-
tions, and have set up free constitutions, and have yet
sunk ag'ain under reinvigorated despotism. The con-
solidation of the American Republic — the crowning
act — occupied forty years, reaching from 1789 to 1829.
During that period, John Quincy Adams participated

364 EULOGY.

continually in public affairs, and ultimately became the
principal actor.

The new Government was purely an experiment. In
opposition to the fixed habits of mankind, it established
suffrage practically universal, and representation so
perfect that not one Legislative House only, but both
Houses ; not legislative officers only, but all officers,
executive, ministerial, and even judicial, were di-
rectly or indirectly elected by the people. The longest
term of the senatorial trust was but six years, and the
shortest only two, and even the tenure of the execu-
tive power was only four years. This Government,
betraying so much popular jealousy, was invested with
only special and limited sovereignty. The conduct
of merely municipal affairs was distributed within the
States, among Governments even more popular than
the federal structure, and without whose ever-renewed
support that structure must fall.

The Government thus constituted, so new, so com-
plex and artificial, was to be consolidated, in the midst
of difficulties at home, and of dangers abroad. The
constitution had been adopted only upon convictions
of absolute necessity, and with evanescent dispositions
of compromise. By nearly half of the people it was
thought too feeble to sustain itself, and secure the
rights for which governments are instituted among
men. By as many it was thought liable to be converted
into an over-shadowing despotism, more formidable
and more odious than the monarchy which had been

EULOGY. 365

subverted. These conflicting opinions revealed them-
selves in like discordance upon every important ques-
tion of administration, and were made the basis of
parties, which soon became jealous and irreconcilable,
and ultimately inveterate, and even in some degree
disloyal.

These domestic feuds were aggravated by pernicious
influences from Europe. In the progress of western
civilization, the nations of the earth had become social.
The new Republic could not, like the Celestial Empire,
or that of Japan, confine itself within its own bound-
aries, and exist without national intercourse. It had
entered the family of nations. But the position it was
to assume, and the advantages it was to be allowed to
enjoy, were yet to be ascertained and fixed. Its inde-
pendence, confessed to be only a doubtful experiment
at home, was naturally thought ephemeral in Europe.
Its example was ominous, and the European Powers
willingly believed that, if discountenanced and baffled,
America would soon relapse into colonial subjugation.
Such prejudices were founded in the fixed habits of
society. Not only the thirteen colonies, but the whole
American hemisphere, had been governed by European
States from the period of its discovery. The very
soil belonged to the trans-atlantic monarchs by dis-
covery, or by ecclesiastical gift. Dominion over it
attached by divine right to their persons, and drew
after it obligations of inalienable allegiance upon those
who became the inhabitants of the new world. The

EULOGV.

new world was indeed divided between different
powers, but the system of government was the same.
It was administered for the benefit of the parental
State alone. Each power prohibited all foreign trade
with its Colonies, and all intercourse between them and
other plantations, supplied its Colonies with what they
needed from abroad, interdicted their manufactures,
and monopolized their trade. The prevalence of this
system over the whole continent of America and the
adjacent islands prevented all enterprize in the colonies,
discouraged all improvement, and retarded their prog-
ress to independence.

The American Revolution sundered these bonds only
so far as they confined thirteen of the British Colonies,
and left the remaining British dominions, and the con-
tinent, from Georgia around Cape Horn to the Northern
Ocean, under the same thraldom as before. Even the
United States had attained only physical independence.
The moral influences of the colonial system oppressed
them still. Their trade, their laws, their science, their
literature, their social connections, their ecclesiastical
relations, their manners and their habits, were still
colonial ; and their thoughts continually clung around
the ancient and majestic States of the Eastern Con-
tinent.

The American Revolution, so happily concluded here,
broke out in France simultaneously with the beginning
of Washington's administration. The French nation
passed in fifteen years from absolute despotism under

EULOGY. 367

Louis XVI., through all the phases of democracy to a
military despotism under Napoleon Bonaparte ; and
retained, through all these changes, only two character-
istics— unceasing ferocity of faction, and increasing
violence of aggression against foreign States. The
scandal of the French Revolution fell back upon the
United States of America, who were regarded as the
first disturbers of the ancient social system. The prin-
cipal European monarchs combined, under the guidance
of England, to arrest the presumptuous career of France
and extirpate democracy by the sword. Neveitheless,
the republican cause, however odious in Europe, was
our national cause. The sympathies of a large portion
of the American people could not be withdrawn from
the French nation, which always claimed, even when
marshalled into legions under the Corsican conqueror,
to be fighting the battles of freedom ; while, on the
other side, the citizens who regarded innovation as
worse than tyranny, considered England and her allies
as engaged in sustaining the cause of order, of govern-
ment, and of society itself.

The line already drawn between the American
people in regard to their organic law, naturally became
the dividing line of the popular sympathies in the great
European conflict. Thus deeply furrowed, that line
became " a great gulf fixed." The Federal party un-
consciously became an English party, although it in-
dignantly disowned the epithet ; and the Republican
party became a French party, although with equal

308 EULOGY.

sincerity it denied the gross impeachment. Each bel-
ligerent was thus encouraged to hope for aid from
the United States, through the ever-expected triumph
of its friends ; while both conceived contemptuous
opinions of a people who, from too eager interest in a
foreign fray, suffered their own national rights to
be trampled upon with impunity by the contending
States.

Washington set the new machine of government in
motion. He formed his cabinet of recognized leaders
of the adverse parties. Hamilton and Knox of the
Federal party were balanced by Jefferson and Ran-
dolph of the adverse party. " Washington took part
with neither, but held the balance between them with
the scrupulous justice which marked his lofty nature."
On the 25th of April, 1793, he announced the neutrality
of the United States between the belligerents, and his
decision, without winning the respect of either, exas-
perated both. Each invaded our national rights more
flagrantly than before, and excused the injustice by
the plea of necessary retaliation against its adversary,
and each found willing apologists in a sympathizing
faction in our own country.

Commercial and political relations were to be estab-
lished between the United States and the European
Powers in this season of conflict. Ministers were
needed who could maintain and vindicate abroad the
same impartiality practised by Washington at home.
There was one citizen eminently qualified for such a

EULOGY. 309

trust in such a conjuncture. Need I say that citizen
was the younger Adams, and that Washington had the
sagacity to discover him ?

John Quincy Adams successively completed mis-
sions at the Hague and at Berlin, in the period inter-
vening between 1794 and 1801, with such advantage
and success, that in 1802 he was honored by his native
commonwealth writh a seat as her representative in the
Senate of the United States. The insults offered to
our country by the belligerents increased in aggrava-
tion as the contest between them became more violent
and convulsive. France, in 1804, laid aside even the
name and forms of a Republic, and the first consul,
dropping the emblems of popular power, placed the
long-coveted diadem upon his brow, where its jewels
sparkled among the laurels he had won in the conquest
of Italy. Washington's administration had passed
away, leaving the American people in sullen discon-
tent. John Adams had succeeded, and had atoned
by the loss of power for the offence he had given by
causing a just but unavailing war to be declared
against France. Jefferson was at the head of the
Government ; he thought the belligerents might be re-
duced to forbearance by depriving them of our com-
mercial contributions of supplies, and recommended,
first an embargo, and then non-intercourse. Britain
was an insular and France a continental power. The
effects of these measures would therefore be more
severe on the former than on the latter, and, unhappily,

16*

370 EULOGY.

they were more severe on our own country than on
either of the offenders.

Massachusetts was the chief commercial State in
the Union. She saw the ruin of her commerce in-
volved in the policy of Jefferson, and regarded it as
an unworthy concession to the usurper of the French
throne. In this emergency John Quincy Adams turned
his back on Massachusetts, and threw into the uprising
scale of the administration, the weight of his talents
and of his already eminent fame. Massachusetts in-
structed the recusant to recant. He refused to obey,
and resigned his place. His change of political rela-
tions astounded the country, and, with the customary
charity of partisan zeal, was attributed to venality. It
is now seen by us in the light reflected upon it by the
habitual independence, unquestioned purity, and lofty
patriotism of his whole life ; and thus seen, constitutes
only the first marked one of many instances wherein
he broke the green withes which party fastened upon
him, and maintained the cause of his country, referring
the care of his fame to God and to an impartial pos-
terity. Like Decimus Brutus, whom Julius Caesar
saluted among his executioners with the exclamation
" Et tuy Brute /" John Quincy Adams was not unfaith-
ful, but he could not be obliged where he was not left
free.

Jefferson retired in 1809, leaving to his successor,
the scholastic and peace-loving Madison, the perilous
legacy of perplexed foreign relations, and embittered

EULOGY. 371

domestic feuds. Great Britain now filled the measure
of exasperation by insolently searching our vessels on
the high seas, and impressing into her marine all whom
she chose to suspect of having been born in her alle-
giance, even though they had renounced it and had
assumed the relations of American citizens. War was
therefore imminent and inevitable. Russia was then
coming forward to a position of commanding influence
in Europe, and her youthful Emperor Alexander had
won, by his chivalrous bearing, the respect of mankind.
John Quincy Adams was wisely sent by the United
States, to establish relations of amity with the great
power of the North ; and while he was thus engaged,
the flames of European war, which had been so long
averted, involved his own country. War was declared
against Great Britain.

It was just. It was necessary. Yet it was a war
that dared Great Britain to re-assert her ancient sov-
ereignty. It was a war with a power whose wealth
and credit were practically inexhaustible, a power
whose navy rode unchecked over all the seas, and
whose impregnable garrisons encircled the globe.

Against such a power the war was waged by a
nation that had not yet accumulated wealth, nor estab-
lished credit, nor even opened avenues suitable for
transporting munitions of war through its extended
territories — that had only the germ of a navy, an in-
considerable army, and not one substantial fortress.
Yet such a war, under such circumstances, jvas de-

372 EULOGY.

nounced as unnecessary and unjust, though for no
better reason than because greater contumelies haa
been endured at the hands of France. Thus a do-
mestic feud, based on the very question of the war
itself, enervated the national strength, and encouraged
the mighty adversary.

The desperate valor displayed at Chippewa and
Lundy's Lane, at Fort Erie and Plattsburgh, and the
brilliant victories won in contests between single ships
of war on the ocean and armed fleets on the lakes,
vindicated the military prowess of the United States,
but brought us no decisive advantage. A suspension
of the conflict in Europe followed Napoleon's disas-
trous invasion of Russia, and left America alone op-
posed to her great adversary. Peace was necessary,
because the national credit was exhausted — because
the fortunes of the war were inclining against us — and
because the opposition to it was ripening into disorgan-
izing councils. Adams had prepared the way by
securing the mediation of Alexander. Then, in that
critical period, associated with Russell, Bayard, the
learned and versatile Gallatin, and the eloquent and
chivalric Clay, he negotiated with firmness, with assi-
duity, with patience, and with consummate ability, a
definitive treaty of peace — a treaty of peace which,
although it omitted the causes of the war already ob-
solete, saved and established and confirmed in its whole
integrity the independence of the Republic — a treaty

EULOGY. 373

of peace that yet endures, and, we willingly hope, may
endure forever.

After fulfilling a subsequent mission at the Court of
St. James, the pacificator entered the domestic service
of the country as Secretary of State in the administra-
tion of James Monroe ; and at the expiration of that
administration became President of the United States.
He attained the honors of the Republic at the age of
fifty-seven, in the forty-ninth year of independence.
He was sixth in the succession, and with him closed
the line of Chief Magistrates who had rendered to their
country some tribute of their talents in civil or military
service in the war of independence.

John Quincy Adams, on entering civil life, had found
the Republic unstable. He retired in 1829, leaving it
firmly established. It was thus his happy fortune to
preside at the completion of that work of consolidation
the beginning of which was the end of the labors of
Washington.

John Quincy Adams engaged in this great work
while yet in private life, in 1793. He showed to his
fellow-citizens, in a series of essays, the inability^ of the
French people to maintain free institutions at that time,
and the consequent necessity of American neutrality
in the European war. These publications aided
Washington so much the more because they antici-
pated his own decision. Adams sustained the same
great cause when he strengthened the administration
of Jefferson against the preponderating influence of

374 EULOGY.

Great Britain. His diplomatic services in Holland and
Russia secured, at a critical period, a favorable con-
sideration in the Courts of those countries, which con-
duced to the same end ; and his brilliant success in
restoring peace to the country so sorely pressed, re-
lieved her from her enemies, reassured her, and gave to
sceptical Europe conclusive proof that her republican
institutions were destined to endure.

The administration of John Quincy Adams blends
so intimately with that of Monroe, in which he was
chief Minister, that no dividing line can be drawn
between them. Adams may be said, without deroga-
tion from the fame of Monroe, to have swayed the
Government during his presidency ; and with equal
truth, Monroe may be admitted to have continued his
administration through that of his successor.

The consolidation of the Republic required that fac-
tion should be extinguished. Monroe began this diffi-
cult task cautiously, and pursued it with good effect.
John Quincy Adams completed the achievement. The
dignity and moderation which marked his acceptance
of the highest trust which a free people could confer,
beautifully foreshadowed the magnanimity with which
it was to be discharged. He confessed himself deeply
sensible of the circumstances under which it had been
conferred : —

All my predecessors (he said) have been honored with majorities
of the electoral voices, in the primary colleges. It has been my
fortune to be placed, by the divisions of sentiment prevailing among

EULOGY. 375

our countrymen, on this occasion, in competition, friendly and hon-
orable, with three of my fellow-citizens, all justly enjoying, in emi-
nent degrees, the public favor ; and of whose worth, talents and
services, no one entertains a higher and more respectful sense than
myself. The names of two of them were, in the fulfilment of the
provisions of the constitution, presented to the selection of the
House of Representatives, in concurrence with my own, names
closely associated with the glory of the nation, and one of them
farther recommended by a larger majority of the primary electoral
suffrages than mine. In this state of things, could my refusal to
accept the trust thus delegated to me give an opportunity to the
people to form and to express, with a nearer approach to unanim-
ity, the object of their preference, I should not hesitate to decline
the acceptance of this eminent charge, and to submit the decision
of this momentous question again to their determination.

It argued a noble consciousness of virtue to express,
on such an occasion, so ingenuously, the emotions of a
generous ambition.

He displayed the same great quality no less when he
called to the post of chief Minister, in spite of clamors
of corruption, Henry Clay, that one of his late rivals
who alone among his countrymen had the talents and
generosity which the responsibilities of the period
exacted.

John Quincy Adams signalized his accession to the
post of dangerous elevation by avowing the sentiments
concerning parties by which he was inflexibly governed
throughout his administration : —

Of the two great political parties [he said] which have divided
the opinions and feelings of our country, the candid and the just
will now admit, that both have contributed splendid talents, spotless
integrity, ardent patriotism, and disinterested sacrifices, to the for-
mation and administration of the Government, and that both have

376 EULOGY.

required a liberal indulgence for a portion of human infirmity and
error. The revolutionary wars of Europe, commencing precisely
at the moment when the Government of the United States first went
into operation under the constitution, excited collisions of senti-
ments, and of sympathies, which kindled all the passions and em-
bittered the conflict of parties, till the nation was involved in war,
and the Union was shaken to its centre. This time of trial em-
braced a period of five-and-twenty years, during which the policy
of the Union in its relations with Europe constituted the principal
basis of our own political divisions, and the most arduous part of
action of the Federal Government. With the catastrophe in which
the wars of the French Revolution terminated, and our own subse-
quent peace with Great Britain, this baneful weed of party strife
was uprooted. From that time no difference of principle, connected
with the theory of government, or with our intercourse with for-
eign nations, has existed or been called forth in force sufficient to
sustain a continued combination of parties, or given more than
wholesome animation to public sentiment or legislative debate.
Our political creed, without a dissenting voice that can be heard, is
that the will of the people is the source, and the happiness of the
people is the end, of all legitimate government upon earth — that the
best security for the beneficence, and the best guaranty against the
abuse of power, consists in the freedom, the purity, and the fre-
quency of popular elections. That the General Government of the
Union, and the separate Governments of the States, are all sovereign-
ties of legitimate powers ; fellow servants of the same masters,
uncontrolled within their respective spheres — uncontrollable by en-
croachments on each other. If there have been those who doubted
whether a confederated representative democracy was a government
competent to the wise and orderly management of the common
concerns of a mighty nation, those doubts have been dispelled. If
there have been projects of partial confederacies to be erected upon
the ruins of the Union, they have been scattered to the winds. If
there have been dangerous attachments to one foreign nation, and
antipathies against another, they have been extinguished. Ten
years of peace at home and abroad have assuaged the animosities
of political contention and blended into harmony the most discord-
ant elements of public opinion. There still remains one effort of
magnanimity, one sacrifice of prejudice and passion, to be made by

KULOGY. 377

the individuals throughout the nation who have heretofore followed
the standards of political party. It is that of discarding every rem-
nant of rancor against each other, of embracing, as countrymen
and friends, and of yielding to talents and virtue alone that confi-
dence which, in times of contention for principle, was bestowed
only upon those who bore the badge of party communion.

During the administration of John Quincy Adams.
he was really the Chief Magistrate. He submitted
neither his reason nor his conscience to the control of
any partisan cabal. No man was appointed to office
in obedience to political dictation, and no faithful pub-
lic servant was proscribed. The result rewarded his
magnanimity. Faction ceased to- exist. When South
Carolina, a few years afterward, assumed the very
ground that the ancient republican party had indicated
as lawful and constitutional, and claimed the right and
power to set aside, within her own limits, acts of Con-
gress which she pronounced void, because they tran-
scended the Federal authority, she called on the re-
publican party throughout the Union in vain. The
dangerous heresy had been renounced forever. Since
that time there has been no serious project of a combi-
nation to resist the laws of the Union, much less of a
conspiracy to subvert the Union itself.

What though the elements of political strife remain ?
They are necessary for the life of free States. What
though there still are parties, and the din and turmoil
of their contests are ceaselessly heard? They are
founded now on questions of mere administration, or
on the more ephemeral questions of personal merit.

378 EULOGY.

Such parties are dangerous only in the decline, not in
the vigor of Republics. Rome was no longer fit for
freedom, and needed a Dictator and a Sovereign, when
Pompey and Caesar divided the citizens. What though
the magnanimity of Adams was not appreciated, and
his contemporaries preferred his military competitor in
the subsequent election ? The sword gathers none
but ripe fruits, and the masses of any people will some-
times prefer them to the long maturing harvest, which
the statesmen of the living generations sow, to be reaped
by their successors. For all this Adams cared not.
He had extinguished the factions which for forty years
had endangered the State. He had left on the records
of history instructions and an example teaching how
faction could be overthrown, and his country might
resort to them when danger should recur. For him-
self he knew well, none knew better, that

" He who ascends to mountain-tops shall find

The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow.
He who surpasses or subdues mankind,

Must look down on the hate of those below.
Though high above the sun of glory glow,

And far beneath the earth and ocean spread,
Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow
Contending tempests on his naked head,
And thus reward the toils which to their summits led."

The federal authority had so long been factiously
opposed, that the popular respect for its laws needed
to be renewed. The State of Georgia presented the
fit occasion. She insisted on expelling, forcibly, rem-

EULOGY. 379

nants of Indian tribes, within her limits, in virtue of a
treaty which was impeached for fraud, and came for
revision before the Supreme Court and the Senate.
The President met the emergency with boldness and
decision. The demonstration thus given that good
faith should be practised, and the law have its way, no
matter how unequal the litigating parties, operated
favorably toward restoring the moral influence of the
Government. That influence, although sometimes
checked, has recently increased in strength, until the
federal authority is universally regarded as final, and
liberty again walks confidently hand in hand with law.
John Quincy Adams " loved peace and ensued it."
He loved peace as a Christian, because war was at
enmity with the spirit and precepts of a religion which
he held to be divine. As a statesman and magistrate,
he loved peace, because war was not merely injurious
to national prosperity, but because, whether successful
or adverse, it was subversive of liberty. Democracies
are prone to war, and war consumes them. He fa-
vored, therefore, all the philanthropic efforts of the age
to cultivate the spirit of peace, and looked forward
with benevolent hope to the ultimate institution of a
General Congress of nations for the adjustment of their
controversies. But he was no visionary and no enthu-
siast. He knew that as yet war was often inevitable —
that pusillanimity provoked it, and that national honor
was national property of the highest value ; because it
was the best national defence. He admitted only de

380 EULOGY.

fensive war — but he did not narrowly define it. He
held that to be a defensive war, which was waged to
sustain what could not be surrendered or relinquished
without compromising the independence, the just influ-
ence, or even the proper dignity of the State. Thus
he had supported the war with Great Britain — thus in
later years he sustained President Jackson in his bold
demonstration against France, when that power wan-
tonly refused to perform the stipulations it had made
in a treaty of indemnity ; and thus he yielded his sup-
port to what was thought a warlike measure of the
present administration in the diplomatic controversy
with Great Britain concerning the Territory of Oregon.
The living and the dead have mutual rights, and there-
fore it must be added that he considered the present
war with Mexico as unnecessary, unjust, and criminal.
His opinion on this exciting question is among those
on which he referred himself to that future age which
he so often constituted the umpire between himself and
his contemporaries.

With such principles on the subject of war, he
regarded the establishment of a system of national
defence as a necessary policy for consolidating the
Republic. He prosecuted, therefore, on a large scale,
the work of fortification, and defended against popular
opposition the institution for the cultivation of mil-
itary science, which has so recently vindicated that
early favor through the learning, valor, patriotism and
humanity exhibited by its pupils on the fields of Mexico.

EULOGY. 381

But with that jealousy of the military spirit which
never forsakes the wise republican statesman, he co-
operated in reducing the army to the lowest scale
commensurate with its necessary efficiency :

It was a vain and dangerous delusion (he said) to believe that in
the present or any piobable condition of the world, a commerce so
extensive as ours could exist without the continual support of a
military marine — the only arm by which the power of a con-
federacy could be estimated or felt by foreign nations, and the
only standing force which could never be dangerous to our own
liberties.

The enlargement of our navy, under the influence
of these opinions, is among the measures of national
consolidation we owe to him ; and the institution for
naval education we enjoy, is a recent result of his
early suggestions.

But John Quincy Adams relied for national security
and peace mainly on an enlightened and broad system
of civil policy. He looked through the future com-
binations of States, and studied the accidents to which
they were exposed, that he might seasonably remove
causes of future conflict. His genius, when exercised
in this lofty duty, played in its native element. He
had cordially approved the measures by which Wash-
ington had secured the free navigation of the Missis-
sippi. He approved the acquisition of Louisiana,
although with Jefferson he insisted on a preliminary
amendment of the constitution for that purpose. He
had no narrow bigotry, concerning the soil to which
the institutions of our fathers should be confined, and

382 EULOGY.

no local prejudice against their extension in any direc-
tion required by the public security, if the extension
should be made with justice, honor, and humanity.

The acquisition of Louisiana had only given us addi-
. tional territory, fruitful in new commerce, to be exposed
to dangers which remain to be overcome. Spain still
possessed, beside the Island of Cuba, the Peninsula of
the Florid as, and thus held the keys of the Mississippi.
The real independence, the commercial- and the moral
independence, of the United States, remained to be
effected at the close of the European wars, and of our
own war with England. Our political independence
had been confirmed, and that was all. John Quincy
Adams addressed himself, as Secretary of State, to the
subversion of what remained of the colonial system.
He commenced by an auspicious purchase of the Flor-
idas, which gave us important maritime advantages on
the Gulf of Mexico, while it continued our Atlantic
sea-board unbroken from the Bay of Fundy to the
Sabine.

The ever-advancing American Revolution was at
the same time opening the way to complete disinth rai-
ment. The Spanish-American Provinces revolted,
and seven new Republics, with constitutions not
widely differing from our own — Buenos Ay res, Guate-
mala, Colombia, Mexico, Chili, Central America, and
Peru — suddenly claimed audience and admission among
the nations of the earth. The people of those coun-
tries were but doubtfully prepared to maintain their

EULOGY. 383

contest for independence, or to support republican
institutions. But on the other side Spain was ener-
vated and declining. She applied to the Holy League
of Europe for their aid, and the new Republics ap-
plied to the United States for that recognition which
could not fail to impart strength. The question was
momentous. The ancient colonial system was at stake.
All Europe was interested in maintaining it. The
Holy League held Europe fast bound to the rock of
despotism, and were at liberty to engage the United
States in a war for the subversion of their independ-
ence, if they should dare to extend their aid or pro-
tection to the rebellious Colonies in South America.

Such a war would be a war of the two continents —
an universal war. Who could foretell its termination,
or its dread results ? But the emancipation of Spanish
America was necessary for our own larger freedom,
and our own complete security. That freedom and
that security required that the nations of Europe should
relax their grasp on the American Continent. The
question was long and anxiously debated. The Amer-
ican people hesitated to hazard, for speculative advan-
tages, the measures of independence already obtained.
Monroe and Adams waited calmly and firmly. The
impassioned voice of Henry Clay rose from the Cham-
ber of Representatives. It rang through the conti-
nent like the notes of the clarion, inspiring South
America with new resolution, and North America with
the confidence the critical occasion demanded. That

384 EULOGY.

noble appeal was answered. South America stood
firm, and North America was ready. Then it was
that John Quincy Adams, with those generous impulses
which the impatient blood of his revolutionary sire
always prompted, and with that enlightened sagacity
which never misapprehended the interests of his coun-
try, nor mistook the time nor the means to secure them,
obtained from the administration and from Congress
the acknowledgment of the independence of th&
young American nations. To give decisive effect
to this great measure, Monroe, in 1823, solemnly de-
clared to the world, that thenceforth any attempt by
any foreign power to establish the colonial system in
any part of this continent, already emancipated, would
be resisted as an aggression against the independence of
the United States. On the accession of Adams to the
administration of the Government, the vast American
continental possessions of Brazil separated themselves
from the crown of Portugal and became an indepen-
dent State. Adams improved these propitious and sub-
lime events by negotiating treaties of reciprocal trade
with the youthful nations ; and, concurring with Mon-
roe, accepted, in behalf of the United States, their
invitation to a General Congress of American States
to be held at Panama, to cement relations of amity
among themselves, and to consider, if it should become
necessary, the proper means to repel the apprehended
interference of the Holy League of Europe.

The last measure transcended the confidence of a

EULOGY. 385

large and respectable portion of the American people.
But its moral effect was needed to secure the stability
of the South American Republics. Adams persevered,
and, in defending his course, gave notice to the powers
of Europe, by this bold declaration, that the determina-
tion of the United States was inflexible : —

" If it be asked, whether this meeting, and the principles which
may be adjusted and settled by it, as rules of intercourse between
American nations, may not give umbrage to European powers, or
offence to Spain, it is deemed a sufficient answer, that our attend-
ance at Panama can give no just cause of umbrage or offence to
either, and that the United States will stipulate nothing there, which
can give such cause. Here the right of inquiry into our purposes
and measures must stop. The Holy League of Europe, itself, was
formed without inquiring of the United States, whether it would or
would not give umbrage to them. The fear of giving umbrage to
the Holy League of Europe was urged as a motive for denying to
the American nations the acknowledgment of their independence.
The Congress and the administration of that day consulted their
rights and their duties, not their fears. The United States must still,
as heretofore, take counsel from their duties, rather than their
fears."

Contrast, fellow-citizens, this declaration of John
Quincy Adams, President of the United States in
1825, with the proclamation of neutrality, between the
belligerents of Europe, made by Washington in 1793,
with the querrulous complaints of your Ministers
against the French Directory and the British Ministry
at the close of the last century, and with the acts of
embargo and non-intercourse at the beginning of the
present century, destroying our own commerce to con-
quer forbearance from the intolerant European powers.

17

386 EULOGY.

Learn from this contrast, the epoch of the consolida-
tion of the Republic. Thus instructed, do honor to
the statesman and magistrate by whom, not forgetting
the meed due to his illustrious compeers, the colonial
system was overthrown throughout Spanish America,
and the independence of the United States was com-
pletely and finally consummated.

The intrepid and unwearied statesman now directed
his attention to the remnants of the- colonial system
still preserved in the Canadas and West Indies. Great
Britain, by parliamentary measures, had undermined
our manufactures, and, receiving only our raw mate-
rials, repaid us with fabrics manufactured from them,
while she excluded us altogether from the carrying
trade with her colonial possessions. John Quincy
Adams sought to counteract this injurious legislation,
by a revenue system, which should restore the manu-
facturing industry of the country, while he offered re-
ciprocal trade as a compromise. His administration
ended during a beneficial trial of this vigorous policy.
But it taxed too severely the patriotism of some of the
States, and was relinquished by his successors.

Indolence begets degeneracy, and immobility is the
first stage of dissolution. John Quincy Adams sought
not merely to consolidate the Republic, but to perpetu-
ate it. For this purpose he bent vast efforts, with suc-
cess, to such a policy of internal improvement as would
•ncrease the facilities of communication and inter-
course between the States, and bring into being that

KULOGY. 387

great internal trade which must ever constitute the
strongest bond of federal union. Wherever a light-
house has been erected, on our sea-coast, on our lakes,
or on our rivers — wherever a mole or pier has been
constructed or begun — wherever a channel obstructed
by shoals or sawyers has been opened, or begun to be
opened — wherever a canal or railroad, adapted to
national uses, has been made or projected — there the
engineers of the United States, during the administra-
tion of John Quincy Adams, made explorations, and
opened the way for a diligent prosecution of his de-
signs by his successors. This policy, apparently so
stupendous, was connected with a system of fiscal
economy so rigorous, that the treasury augmented its
stores, while the work of improvement went on ; the
public debt, contracted in past wars, dissolved away,
and the nation flourished in unexampled prosperity.
John Quincy Adams administered the Federal Gov-
ernment, while De Witt Clinton was presiding in the
State of New York. It is refreshing to recall the
noble emulation of these illustrious benefactors — an
emulation that shows how inseparable sound philosophy
is from true patriotism.

If [said Adams, in his first annual message to the Congress of
the United States,] the powers enumerated may be effectually
brought into action by laws promoting the improvement of agri-
culture, commerce and manufactures, the cultivation and encourage-
ment of the mechanic arts, and of the elegant arts, the advance-
ment of literature, and the progress of the sciences, ornamental
and profound, to refrain from exercising them for the benefit of the

388 EULOGY.

people would be to hide in the earth the talent committed to our
charge, would be treachery to the most sacred of trusts. The spirit
of improvement is abroad upon the earth. It stimulates the hearts,
and sharpens the faculties, not of our fellow-citizens alone, but of
the nations of Europe, and of their rulers. While dwelling with
pleasing satisfaction upon the superior excellence of our political
institutions, let us not be unmindful that liberty is power, that the
nation blessed with the largest portion of liberty, must in proportion
to its numbers be the most powerful nation upon earth, and that the
tenure of power by man is, in the moral purposes of his Creator,
upon condition that it shall be exercised to ends of beneficence, to
improve the condition of himself, and his fellow men. While for-
eign nations, less blessed with that freedom which is power than
ourselves, are advancing with gigantic strides in the career of pub-
lic improvement, were we to slumber in indolence, or fold our arms
and proclaim to the world that we are palsied by the will of our
constituents, would it not be to cast away the bounties of Provi-
dence and doom ourselves to perpetual inferiority ? In the course
of the year now drawing to its close, we have beheld, under the
auspices, and at the expense of one State of this Union, a new uni-
versity unfolding its portals to the sons of science, and holding up
the torch of human improvement to eyes that seek the light.* We
have seen, under the persevering and enlightened enterprise of
another State, the waters of our Western lakes mingle with those
of the ocean. If undertakings like these have been accomplished
in the compass of a few years, by the authority of single members
of our confederacy, can we, the representative authorities of the
whole Union, fall behind our fellow servants in the exercise of
the trust committed to us for the benefit of our common sovereign,
by the accomplishment of works important to the whole and to
which neither the authority nor the resources of any one State ca n
be adequate ?

The disastrous career of many of the States, and
the absolute inaction of others, since the responsibilities
of internal improvement have been cast off by the

* The University of Virginia.

EULOGY.

federal authorities, and devolved upon the States,
without other sources of revenue than direct taxation,
and with no other motives to stimulate them than their
own local interests, are a fitting commentary on the
error of that departure from the policy of John Quincy
Adams. If other comment were necessary, it would
be found in the fact that States have revised and
amended their constitutions, so as to abridge the
power of their Legislatures to prosecute the beneficent
enterprises which the Federal Government has de-
volved upon them. The Smithsonian Institute, at the
seat of Government, founded by the liberality of a
cosmopolite, is that same university so earnestly re-
commended by Adams for the increase and diffusion
of knowledge among men. The exploration of the
globe, for purposes of geographical and political knowl-
edge, which has so recently been made under the
authority of the Union, and with such noble results,
was an enterprize conceived and suggested by the
same statesman. The National Observatory at the
capital, which is piercing the regions nearest to the
throne of the eternal Author of the universe, is an
emanation of the same comprehensive wisdom.

Such was the administration of John Quincy Adams.
Surely it exhibits enough done for duty and for fame —
if the ancient philosopher said truly, that the duty of
a statesman was to make the citizens happy, to make
them firm in power, rich in wealth, splendid in glory,

390 EULOGY.

and eminent in virtue, and that such achievements
were the greatest and best of all works among men.

But the measure of duty was not yet fulfilled. The
Republic thought it no longer had need of the services
of Adams, and he bowed to its command. Two years
elapsed, and lo ! the priest was seen again beside the
deserted altar, and a brighter, purer, and more lasting
flame arose out of the extinguished embers.

" He looked in years. But in his years were seen
A youthful vigor, an autumnal green."

The Republic had been extended and consolidated ;
but human slavery, which had been incorporated in it,
was extended and consolidated also, and was spreading,
so as to impair the strength of the great fabric on which
the hopes of the nations were suspended. Slavery
therefore must be restrained, and, without violence or
injustice, must be abolished. The difficult task of re-
moving it had been postponed by the statesmen of the
Revolution, and had been delayed and forgotten by
their successors. There were now resolute hearts and
willing hands to undertake it, but who was strong
enough, and bold enough to lead ? Who had patience
to bear with enthusiasm that overleaped its mark, and
with intolerance that defeated its own generous pur-
poses? Slaveholders had power, nay, the national
power ; and strange to say, they had it with the nation's
consent and sympathy. Who was bold enough to pro-
voke them, and bring the execration of the nation

EULOGY. 391

down upon his own head ? Who would do this, when
even abolitionists themselves, rendered implacable by
the manifestation of those sentiments of justice and
moderation, without which the most humane cause, de-
pending on a change of public opinion, cannot be con-
ducted safely to a prosperous end, were ready to betray
their own champion into the hands of the avenger ?
That leader was found in the person of John Quincy
Adams. He took his seat in the House of Represent-
atives in 1831, without assumption or ostentation.
Abolitionists placed in his hand petitions for the sup-
pression of slavery in the District of Columbia, the seat
of the federal authorities. He offered them to the
House of Representatives, and they were rejected
with contumely and scorn. Suddenly the alarm went
forth, that the aged and venerable servant was retali-
ating upon his country by instigating a servile war, that
such a war must be avoided, even at the cost of
sacrificing the freedom of petition and the freedom of
debate, and that if the free States would not consent
to make that sacrifice, then the Union should be dis-
solved. This alarm had its desired effect. The House
of Representatives, in 1837, adopted a rule of disci-
pline, equivalent to an act, ordaining that no petition
relating to slavery, nearly or remotely, should be read,
debated or considered. The Senate adopted a like
edict. The State authorities approved. Slavery was
not less strongly entrenched behind the bulwark of
precedents in the courts of law than in the fixed

392 EULOGY.

habits of thought and action among the people. The
people even in the free States denounced the discussion
of slavery, and suppressed it by unlawful force. John
Quincy Adams stood unmoved amid the storm. He
knew that the only danger incident to political reform,
was the danger of delaying it too long. The French
Revolution had made this an axiom of political science.
If, indeed, the discussion of slavery was so hazardous
as was pretended, it had been deferred too long already.
The advocates of slavery had committed a fatal error.
They had abolished freedom of speech and freedom of
petition to save an obnoxious institution. As soon as
the panic should subside, the people would demand the
restoration of those precious rights, and would scruti-
nize with fearless fidelity the cause for which they had
been suppressed. He offered petition after petition,
each bolder and more importunate than the last. He
debated questions, kindred to those which were for-
bidden, with the firmness and fervor of his noble nature.
For age

Had not quenched the open truth
And fiery vehemence of youth.

Soon he gained upon his adversaries. District after
district sent champions to his side. States reconsid-
ered, and resolved in his behalf. He saw the tide was
turning, and then struck one bold blow, not now for
freedom of petition and debate, but a stroke of bold
and retaliating warfare. He offered a resolution de-

EULOGY. 393

daring that the following amendments of the constitu-
tion of the United States be submitted to the people of
the several States for their adoption :

From and after the fourth day of July, 1842, there shall be, through-
out the United States, no hereditary slavery, but on and after
that day every child born within the United States shall be free.

With the exception of the Territory of Florida, there shall, hence-
forth, never be admitted into this Union, any State the constitu-
tion of which shall tolerate within the same the existence of

SLAVERY.

In 1845, the obnoxious rule of the House of Repre-
sentatives was rescinded. The freedom of debate and
petition was restored, and the unrestrained and irre-
pressible discussion of slavery by the press and political
parties began. For the rest, the work of emancipation
abides the action, whether it be slow or fast, of the
moral sense of the American people. It depends not
on the zeal and firmness only of the reformers, but on
their wisdom and moderation also. Stoicism, that had
no charity for error, never converted any human so-
ciety to virtue ; Christianity, that remembers the true
nature of man, has encompassed a large portion of the
globe. How long emancipation may be delayed, is
among the things concealed from our knowledge, but
not so the certain result. The perils of the enterprize
are already passed — its difficulties have already been
removed — when it shall have been accomplished it will
be justly regarded as the last noble effort which ren-
dered the Republic imperishable.

17*

394 EULOGY.

Then the merit of the great achievement will be
awarded to John Quincy Adams ; and by none more
gratefully than by the communities on whom the insti-
tution of slavery has brought the calamity of prema-
ture and consumptive decline, in the midst of free,
vigorous, and expanding States.

If this great transaction could be surpassed in dra-
matic sublimity, it was surpassed when the same im-
passioned advocate of humanity appeared, at the age
of seventy-four, with all the glorious associations that
now clustered upon him, at the bar of the Supreme
Court of the United States, and pleaded, without solici-
tation or reward, the cause of Cinque and thirty other
Africans, who had been stolen by a Spanish slaver
from their native coast, had slain the master and crew
of the pirate vessel, floated into the waters of the
United States, and there been claimed by the Presi-
dent, in behalf of the authorities of Spain. He pleaded
this great cause with such happy effect, that the cap-
tives were set at liberty. Conveyed by the charity of
the humane to their native shores, they bore the pleas-
ing intelligence to Africa, that justice was at last
claiming its way among civilized and Christian men !

The recital of heroic actions loses its chief value, if
we cannot discover the principles in which they were
born. The text of John Quincy" Adams, from which
he deduced the duties of citizens, and of the republic,
was the address of the Continental Congress to the
people of the United States, on the occasion of the

EULOGY. 395

successful close of the American Revolution. He
dwelt often and emphatically on the words :

Let it be remembered, that it has ever been the pride and the
boast of America, that the rights for which she contended were
the rights of human nature. By the blessing of the Author of
those rights, they have prevailed over all opposition, and form the
basis of thirteen independent States. No instance has heretofore
occurred, nor can any instance be expected hereafter to occur, in
which the unadulterated forms of republican government can pre-
tend to so fair an opportunity of justifying themselves by their fruits.
In this view, the citizens of the United States are responsible for
the greatest trust ever confided to a political society. If justice,
good faith, honor, gratitude, and all the other qualities which
ennoble the character of a nation and fulfil the ends of govern-
ment, be the fruits of our establishments, the cause of liberty will
acquire a dignity and lustre which it has never yet enjoyed, and an
example will be set which cannot but have the most favorable influ-
ence on mankind. If, on the other side, our Governments should
be unfortunately blotted with the reverse of these cardinal virtues,
the great cause which we have engaged to vindicate will be dis-
honored and betrayed ; the last and fairest experiment in favor of
the rights of human nature will be turned against them, and their
patrons and friends exposed to the insults, and silenced by the vota-
ries of tyranny and usurpation.

Senators and Representatives of the People of the
State of New York : I had turned my steps away from
your honored halls, long since, as I thought forever.
I come back to them by your command, to fulfil a
higher duty and more honorable service than ever
before devolved upon me. I repay your generous
confidence, by offering to you this exposition of the
duties of the magistrate and of the citizen. It is the
same which John Quincy Adams gave to the Congress

390 EULOGY.

of the United States, in his oration on the death of
James Madison. It is the key to his own exalted
character, and it enables us to measure the benefits he
conferred upon his country. If then you ask what
motive enabled him to rise above parties, sects, com-
binations, prejudices, passions, and seductions, I answer
that he served his country, not alone, or chiefly because
that country was his own, but because he knew her
duties and her destiny, and knew her cause was the
cause of human nature.

If you inquire why he was so rigorous in virtue as
to be often thought austere, I answer it was because
human nature required the exercise of justice, honor,
and gratitude, by all who were clothed with authority
to act in the name of the American people. If you
ask why he seemed, sometimes, with apparent incon-
sistency, to lend his charities to the distant and the
future rather than to his own kindred and times, I
reply, it was because he held that the tenure of human
power is on condition of its being beneficently exercised
for the common welfare of the human race. Such men
are of no country. They belong to mankind. If we
cannot rise to this height of virtue, we cannot hope to
comprehend the character of John Quincy Adams, or
understand the homage paid by the American people
to his memory.

Need it be said that John Quincy Adams studied
justice, honor and gratitude, not by the false standards
of the age, but by their own true nature ? He general-

EULOGY. 397

ized truth, and traced it always to its source, the bosom
of God. Thus in his defence of the Amistad captives
he began with defining justice in the language of Jus-
tinian, " Constans et perpetua voluntas jus suum cuique
tribuendi." He quoted on the same occasion from the
Declaration of Independence, not by way of rhetorical
embellishment, and not even as a valid human ordi-
nance, but as a truth of nature, of universal application,
the memorable words, " We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal, and that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights, and that among these rights are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness." In his vindication of the
right of debate, he declared that the principle that re-
ligious opinions were altogether beyond the sphere of
legislative control, was but one modification of a more
extensive axiom, which included the unbounded freedom
of the press, and of speech, and of the communication
of thought in all its forms. He rested the inviolability
of the right of petition, not on constitutions, or charters,
which might be glossed, abrogated or expunged, but in
the inherent right of every animate creature to pray to
its superior.

The model by which he formed his character was
Cicero. Not the living Cicero, sometimes inconsistent ;
often irresolute ; too often seeming to act a studied
part; and always covetous of applause. But Cicero,
as he aimed to be, and as he appears revealed in those
immortal emanations of his genius which have been the

398 KULour.

delight and guide of intellect and virtue in every suc-
ceeding age. Like the Roman, Adams was an orator,
but he did not fall into the error of the Roman, in prac-
tically valuing eloquence more than the beneficence to
which it should be devoted. Like him he was a states-
man and magistrate worthy to be called " The second
founder of the Republic," — like him a teacher of didac-
tic philosophy, of morals, and even of his own peculiar
art ; and like him he made all liberal learning tributary
to that noble art, while poetry was the inseparable
companion of his genius in its hours of relaxation from
the labors of the forum and of the capitol.

Like him he loved only the society of good men, and
by his generous praise of such, illustrated the Roman's
beautiful aphorism, that no one can be envious of good
deeds, who has confidence in his own virtue. Like
Cicero he kept himself unstained by social or domestic
vices ; preserved serenity and cheerfulness ; cherished
habitual reverence for the Deity, and dwelt continually,
not on the mystic "theology of the schools, but on the
hopes of a better life. He lived in what will be re-
garded as the virtuous age of his country, while Cicero
was surrounded by an overwhelming degeneracy. He
had the light of Christianity for his guide ; and its sub-
lime motives as incitements to virtue : while Cicero
had only the confused instructions of the Grecian
schools, and saw nothing certainly attainable but
present applause and future fame. In moral courage,
therefore, he excelled his model and rivaled Cato

EULOGY. 399

But Cato was a visionary, who insisted upon his right
to act always without reference to the condition of
mankind, as he should have acted in Plato's imaginary
Republic. Adams stood in this respect midway be-
tween the impracticable stoic and the too flexible
academician. He had no occasion to say, as the
Grecian orator did, that if he had sometimes acted
contrary to himself, he had never acted contrary to the
Republic ; but he might justly have said, as the noble
Roman did, " I have rendered to my country all the
great services which she was willing to receive at my
hands, and I have never harbored a thought concerning
her that was not divine."

More fortunate than Cicero, who fell a victim of civil
wars which he could not avert, Adams was permitted
to linger on the earth, until the generations of that fu-
ture age, for whom he had lived and to whom he had
appealed from the condemnation of contemporaries,
came up before the curtain which had shut out his
sight, and pronounced over him, as he was sinking into
the grave, their judgment of approval and benediction.

The distinguished characteristics of his life were be-
neficent labor and personal contentment. He nev-
er sought wealth, but devoted himself to the service of
mankind. Yet, by the practice of frugality and method,
he secured the enjoyment of dealing forth continually
no stinted charities, and died in affluence. He never
solicited place or preferment, and had no partizan com-
binations or even connections ; yet he received honors

400 EULOGY.

which eluded the covetous grasp of those who formed
parties, rewarded friends and proscribed enemies ; and
he filled a longer period of varied and distinguished
service than ever fell to the lot of any other citizen.
In every stage of this progress he was content. He
was content to be president, minister, representative,
or citizen.

Stricken in the midst of this service, in the very act
of rising to debate, he fell into the arms of conscript
fathers of the Republic. A long lethargy supervened
and oppressed his senses. Nature rallied the wasting
powers, on the verge of the grave, for a very brief
period. But it was long enough for him. The re-
kindled eye showed that the re-collected mind was
clear, calm, and vigorous. His weeping family, and his
sorrowing compeers were there. He surveyed the
scene and knew at once its fatal import. He had left
no duty unperformed; he had no wish unsatisfied ; no
ambition unattained ; no regret, no sorrow, no fear, no
remorse. He could not shake off the dews of death
that gathered on his brow. He could not pierce the
thick shades that rose up before him. But he knew
that eternity lay close by the shores of time. He knew
that his Redeemer lived. Eloquence, even in that
hour, inspired him with his ancient sublimity of utter-
ance. " This," said the dying man, " this is the
end of earth." He paused for a moment, and then
added, " I am content." Angels might well draw aside
the curtains of the skies to look down on such a

EULOGY. 401

scene — a scene that approximated even to that scene
of unapproachable sublimity, not to be recalled with-
out reverence, when, in mortal agony, One who spake
as never man spake, said, " It is finished !"

Only two years after the birth of John Quincy
Adams, there appeared on an island in the Mediter-
ranean sea, a human spirit newly born, endowed with
equal genius, without the regulating qualities of justice
and benevolence which Adams possessed in an emi-
nent degree. A like career opened to both — born like
Adams, a subject of a king — the child of more genial
skies, like him, became in early life a patriot and a citi-
zen of a new and great Republic. Like Adams he lent his
service to the State in precocious youth, and in its hour
of need, and won its confidence. But unlike Adams
he could not wait the dull delays of slow and laborious,
but sure advancement. He sought power by the hasty
road that leads through fields of carnage, and he be-
came, like Adams, a supreme magistrate, a Consul.
But there were other Consuls. He was not content.
He thrust them aside, and was Consul alone. Consular
power was too short. He fought new battles, and was
Consul for life. But power, confessedly derived from
the people, must be exercised in obedience to their
will, and must be resigned to them again, at least in
death. He was not content. He desolated Europe
afresh, subverted the Republic, imprisoned the patri-
arch who presided over Rome's comprehensive See,
and obliged him to pour on his head the sacred oil

402 EULOGV.

that made the persons of kings divine, and their right
to reign indefeasible. He was an Emperor. But he
saw around him a mother, brothers and sisters, not en-
nobled ; whose humble state reminded him, and the
world, that he was born a plebeian ; and he had no heir
to wait impatient for the imperial crown. He scourged
the earth again, and again fortune smiled on him even
in his wild extravagance. He bestowed kingdoms and
principalities upon his kindred — put away the devoted
wife of his youthful days, and another, a daughter of
Hapsburgh's imperial house, joyfully accepted his
proud alliance. Offspring gladdened his anxious sight ;
a diadem was placed on its infant brow, and it received
the homage of princes, even in its cradle. Now he
was indeed a monarch — a legitimate monarch — a mon-
arch by divine appointment — the first of an endless
succession of monarchs. But there were other mon-
archs who held sway in the earth. He was not con-
tent. He would reign with his kindred alone. He
gathered new and greater armies — from his own land
— from subjugated lands. He called forth the young
and brave — one from every household — from the Py-
renees to Zuyder Zee — from Jura to the ocean. He
marshalled them into long and majestic columns, and
went forth to seize that universal dominion, which
seemed almost within his grasp. But ambition had
tempted fortune too far. The nations of the earth re-
sisted, repelled, pursued, surrounded him. The pa-
geant was ended The crown fell from his presumpt-

EULOGY. 403

uous head. The wife who had wedded him in his
pride, forsook him when the hour of fear came upon
him. His child was ravished from his sight. His kins-
men were degraded to their first estate, and he was no
longer Emperor, nor Consul, nor General, nor even a
citizen, but an exile and a prisoner, on a lonely island,
in the midst of the wild Atlantic. Discontent attended
him there. The wayward man fretted out a few long
years of his yet unbroken manhood, looking off at the
earliest dawn and in evening's latest twilight, towards
that distant world that had only just eluded his
grasp. His heart corroded. Death came, not unlooked
for, though it came even then unwelcome. He was
stretched on his bed within the fort which constituted
his prison. A few fast and faithful friends stood
around, with the guards who rejoiced that the hour of
relief from long and wearisome watching was at hand.
As his strength wasted away, delirium stirred up the
brain from its long and inglorious inactivity. The pa-
geant of ambition returned. He was again a Lieuten-
ant, a General, a Consul, an Emperor of France. He
filled again the throne of Charlemagne. His kindred
pressed around him again, re-invested with the pompous
pageantry of royalty. The daughter of the long line
of kings again stood proudly by his side, and the sunny
face of his child shone out from beneath the diadem
that encircled its flowing locks. The marshals of the
Empire awaited his command. The legions of the old
guard were in the field, their scarred faces rejuve-

404 EULOGY.

nated, and their ranks, thinned in many battles, replen-
ished, Russia, Prussia, Austria, Denmark and England,
gathered their mighty hosts to give him battle. Once
more he mounted his impatient charger, and rushed
forth to conquest. He waved his sword aloft, and
cried " Tete d'Armee." The feverish vision broke —
the mockery was ended. The silver cord was loosed,
and the warrior fell back upon his bed a lifeless corpse.
This was the end of earth. The Corsican was not

CONTENT.

Statesmen and citizens ! the contrast suggests its
own impressive moral.

THE END.

BOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY DERBY & MILLER,

Headley's "Women of the Bible : Historical and
descriptive sketches of the Women of the Bible, as maidens,
wives, and mothers; from Eve of the Old, to the Marys of
the New Testament: by Rev. P. C. Headley, in one 12mo.
volume, illustrated — uniform with "Headley's Sacred
Mountains." $1,25.

The author of this work possesses enough traits of resemblance to the author of
the Sacred Mountains, to leave no doubt of his right to the name of Headley. There
is much of that spirited descriptive power, which has made the elder brother a
popular favorite, and gives promise of a successful career on his own account. The
sketches are brief, and embody all the historic incidents recorded of them. — New
York Evangelist.

A younger brother of J. T. Headley is the author of (his beautiful volume. It will
probably have a larger circulation than the splendid work issued last fall by the
Messrs. Appleton, being better adapted for the general reader, in form and price,
while it is ornamental enough for the centre table. It contains nineteen descriptive
biographical sketches, arranged in chronological order, including nearly all the
distinguished women of the sacred annals, and forming an outline of Scripture
history. The illustrations are from original designs, and are numerous and appro-
priate. No ordinary powers of imagination and expression are shown in the vivid
and picturesque descriptions ; and the fine portraitures of character rivet the
interest, and set forth the Scripture delineations in a stronger light. In this respect
the book has no rival, for no other is so complete, following so closely at the same
t.ime, the sacred narrative. We hope it is but an earnest of other works from the
pen of its gifted author. — Home Journal.

We were so struck with the title of this work, and the prepossessing appearance
of its typography, that we have so far departed from the usual course adopted in
like cases, as to read carefully the work in hand, before recommending it to our
readers. And wo are prepared to say, that a more attractive volume has not fallen
in our way for a long time. It is made up of brief historical and descriptive eulogies
of the most remarkable females of a most extraordinary era in the world's history.
The author has appropriated very much of the poetry and romance of the Bible, in
the sketches he hits given of nineteen women, who have come down to us through
their peculiar merits, embalmed in sacred inspiration. Whoever reads the story of
Sarah, the beautiful Hebrew maiden, ihe admiration of the Chaldean shepherds and
the pride of her kindred ; or of Rebecca, whom the " faithful steward of Abraham "
journeyed to the land of Nahor and selected as the bride of Isaac, and who, it is
said, "was very fair to look upon ;" or of Rachel, the beautiful shepherdess who
tended her father's flocks in the valley of Haran ; or of Merriam, Deborah, Jeptha's
Daughter, Delilah, Ruth, Queen of Sheba, the Shunamite, Esther, Elizabeth, Virgin
Mary, Dorcas, and others — will read a story far more interesting and attractive than
any romance or novel. Every young lady in town should read this work ; and we
will venture to say that they trill do so if they but once get hold of it, for it is a boot
that cannot be laid aside.— Oswego Times.

BOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY DERBY 4 MILLER,

The Missionary Offering, a memorial of Christ't
Messengers in Heathen Lands, dedicated to Dr. Judson
8 engravings, 12mo., muslin. $1,25.

We have seen no book of late which, upon a hasty examination, we could more
cheerfully and confidently recommend. The history of the labors of Missionarie«
in foreign lands has always been one of unsurpassed interest to a great class of every
community, by whom such enterprizes are conducted, and in no similar work have
we seen this history more ably and truthfully set forth than in the one before us. —
Buffalo Commercial Advertiser.

Here is a volume of about four hundred pages, neatly printed and illustrated,
made up of the most interesting matter, from the pens of the first writers. Such a
work cannot fail to interest. What a glorious band have cast aside the heart-cling-
ing ties of home, country, and friends, and borne the peaceful emblem of Chris-
tianity to the darkest climes. Bloody rites have ceased, the funeral Maine is
extinguished, the crushing car has ceased to roll, and mental and moral darkness
has given away before the silent labors of the missionary. The records of such t
history cannot but interest, revealing as they do, some of the sublimest features in
the character of man — sacrifices and toils and triumphs, before which the brightest
achievements of earth dwindle into folly.— Cayuga Chief.

The Missionary Offering is composed of poetical and prose writings of rar*
excellence, reminiscences and incidents connected with foreign and home missions,
&c. We consider it a valuable and interesting book, especially to the Christian and
philanthropist, and all who look upon the missionary enterprise as an institution
tinder the guidance of Providence, for the moral regeneration of the world. — Geneve
Gazette.

Hational Psychology, or the subjective idea and th«
objective law of all intelligence: by Laurens P. Hickok
D. D., Professor of Christian Theology in the Theologies
Seminary, Auburn.

The few, not the many, will find pleasure and improvement in the study of i
treatise like this, discussing with much ability and research, indicative of close an
patient thought, the abstruse science of mind, and reaching principles by a carefu
induction of well arranged and considered facts. The author has favorably intro
duced himself, in this work, to the thinking portion of the religious public, and wili
calmly await the verdict of the learned world upon this elaborate performance. It
is a handsomely printed octavo of 700 pages.— N. Y. Observer.

BOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY DERBY & MILLER.

History of the War with Mexico, from the com-
mencement of hostilities with the United States, to the
ratification of Peace; embracing detailed accounts of the
brilliant achievements of Generals Taylor, Scott, Worth,
Wool, Twiggs, Kearney, and others; by John S. Jenkins,
8vo, 20 illustrations, morocco gilt $2,50.

A History of the late war prepared for popular circulation. The writer takes a
patriotic view of his subject. His narrative of the commencement of the war would,
we presume, not displease Mr. Polk. He follows the campaign throughout with
industry and spirit, drawing from public documents, diplomatic correspondence, and
the newspaper letter writers by the way. More facts, we believe, are brought
together than in any single publication of the kind. The narratives of adventure in
California, Col. Doniphan's march, and other passages, are told with interest; the
writer evidently seeking to make a useful book. The portraits and illustrations of
scenes are numerous ; the mechanical execution of the whole work being highly
creditable to the Auburn publishers. — Literary World.

This is a volume of over 500 pages. The publishers have brought it out in excel-
lent style. The paper, type, printing and binding, are admirable. The book has
been written with due regard to accuracy, and in a popular style. It is the most
elaborate, and probably the best History of the War yet published. — Albany
Evening Journal.

We have been unable to notice, until now, this new work from the pen of the
author of " The Generals of the last War with Great Britain, etc." In this volume
we have at last a complete and interesting history of the late collision between the
two Republics of the Continent. To a minute and detailed account of the position
and policy of Mexico, the origin and causes of War, are added soul-stirring descrip-
tions of the brilliant and successful engagements of our army with the enemy. This
narrative is written after a careful examination of the diplomatic correspondence
and the various publications, of a public or private character, that have appeared
from time to time, calculated to throw light on the subject. To render the work
still more interesting and desirable, it has been illustrated with portraits of the most
distinguished officers of our own and the Mexican army, with views of the ever
memorable battle-fields of Buena Vista and Cerro Gordo. The reputation of the
author will insure for this history a very general circulation.— Albany Atlas.

BOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY DERBY <fe MILLER.

The American Fruit Culturist : By J. J. Thomas ;
containing directions for the propagation and culture of
Fruit Trees, in the Nursery, Orchard, and Garden; with
descriptions of the principal American and Foreign varieties
cultivated in the United States: with 300 accurate illustra-
tions. 1 volume, of over 400 pages, 12mo. $1,00

A cheaper, but equally valuable book with Downing's was wanted by the great
mass. Just such a work has Mr Thomas given us. We consider it an invaluable
addition to our agricultural libraries. — Wool Grower.

We predict for it a very rapid sale ; it should be in the hands of every fruit grower
and especially every nurseryman. It is a very cheap book for its price. — Ohio
Cultivator.

It is a most valuable work to all engaged in the culture of fruit trees. — Ulica
Herald.

It is a book of great value. — Genesee Farmer.

Among all the writers on fruits, we do not know of one who is Mr. Thomas'
superior, if his equal, in condensing important matter. He gets right at the pith of
the thing — he gives you that which you wish to know at once ; stripped of all use-
less talk and twattle. No man has a keener eye for the best ways of doing things.
Hence we always look into his writings with the assurance that we shall find some-
thing new, or some improvements on the old ; and we are seldom disappointed.
This book is no exception. It is full. There is no vacant space in it. It is like a
fresh egg — all good, and packed to the 6hell full. — Prairie Farmer.

In the volume before us we have the result of the author's experience and obser-
vations, continued with untiring perseverance for many years, in language at once
concise and perspicuous. — Albany Cultivator.

We can say with confidence to our readers, that if you need a book to instruct you
in the modes of growing trees, &c., from the first start, the systems of pruning, etc.,
etc., you will find the American Fruit Culturist an extremely valuable work. The
million who purchase it, will find matter adapted to their wants, superior to any
work as yet published. — Cleveland Herald.

For sale in New York by M. H. NEWMAN & CO. and C. M. SAXTON.
Boston, B. B. MUSSEY & CO. Philadelphia, THOMAS, COWPERTHVVAITE &
CO.

SKI" Copies in paper covers sent by mail, free of expense, on receipt of $1,00
post paid. Direct to DERBY & MILLER,

Auburn, N. Y.

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