Life and Public Services of John Quincy Adams by William H. Seward (easy books to read txt) 📕

Improved the Condition of their Times;
And brightened the Prospects of Futurity
To the Race of Man upon Earth.
- - - - - -
PILGRIM:
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. 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 elevated - 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 resided, met and duly nominated him for the proposed office. All doubts as to his acceptance of the nomination 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 representing them in the twenty-second Congress, I am not aware of any bound 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 Representative in Congress from the Plymouth district, in Massachusetts, with unswerving fidelity, and distinguished honor. There can be no doubt that many of the best friends of Mr. Adams seriously questioned the propriety of his appearing as a Representative 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 derogatory 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 national 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 intellect, eloquence and statesmanship. But these misgivings were groundless. In the House of Representatives, 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 developed - 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 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 opposers, while trembling before his sarcasm, and dreading 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 inclinations - had he consulted simply his personal ease and comfort - he would probably never have appeared again in public life. Having received the highest distinctions his country could bestow upon him, blessed with an ample fortune, and possessing all the elements 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, to 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 conscious of the possession of talents, knowledge, experience, 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 promoting 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 comply 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 anniversary in 1830, he wrote the following letter: -

"Sir: - Your letter of the 22d of March was duly received; and while regretting 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 benevolent 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 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. Whoever 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 prominent parts in proclaiming and achieving the independence 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 celebrating the day, caused the eyes of the dying Monroe to open inquiringly. When the occasion of these rejoicings 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 severance of its members, one of which resulted, after three desperate battles, in the extermination of the seceding tribe. And the victorious 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 lacking 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