New-York daily tribune., 1843-08-04
THE TRIBUNE.
address to John quincy adams,
BY Gov. SEWARD,
ln h.half of AZ Citizens oil .Anbrfn-July 29t

By Gov. SEWARD,
On behalf OF the Citizens OF Aubufn-July 18th
sns: | am charged with the very honorable
and most agreeable duty of expressing to you the
reverence and afiectionate esteem OF my fellow
citizens assembled in your presence
A change has come over the spl1t OF your
;ourney. since your steps have turned towards
vonr ancestral seaside home. An excursion to
iinyigorate health impaired by labors, too arduous
for age. in the public councils, and expected to
be oniet and contemplative has become one OF
fat;aue and excitement. Rumors of your advance
escape before you, and happy and grateiui
community rise up in their clustering cities towns
and villages, impede your way with dcl'oHseia-
tons of respect and kindness, and con'ei' you'
unpretending journey into trlumPhat Puts
Such honors frequently attend Puoiic ionc'ioila
res and such an one may sonetliiies liiu ~ uni
cult to determine how much OF the hoHdge ne
receives is paid to his own worth, now Inuch pro-
ceeds from the habitUal reverence OF good RePuo-
Gcan citizens to constituted elective authority,
and how much from the spirit Of venal adulaton
You. Sir, labor under no such embarrassment
The Office you hold, though honorable, Is purely
elective and such as we can bestow by our I'M
mediate suffrage on one of ourselves. You con,
fsrred personal benefits sparingly, when you held
the patronage of the nation That patronage
YOU have relinuuished, and can never regain,
Your hands will be upllfted often, during your
remaining days, to invoke blessings on your coun-
try, but never again to distribute honors or re-
wards among your countrymen. The homage
paid you dear Sir, is sincere for it has It's source
in the lust sentiments and irrepressibe affections
of free people, their love Of truth, their adml
ration of wisdom, their reverence for virtue, and
their gratitude for confidence.
Nor need you fear that enthusiasm exagger
ates your title to public regard. our fellow
citizens, in spite of political prudence, could not
avoid honoring you on grounds altogether ire
spect;ve of personal merit. John Adams, who
has gone to receive the reward of the Just, was
one of the most efficient and llustrous founders
of this Empire, and afterwards It's 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 deemed entitled by birth
alone, to a sceptre. We not merely deny hcred-
itary claims to civil trust, but regard even he
reditary distinction with jealousy. And this cir
cumstance enhances Justly the estimate of your
worth. For when before has it happened that IN
such condition of society, the son has by mere
civic achievement, attained the eminence of such
sire, and effaced remembrance of birth by -stly
acquired renown
The hand we now so eagerly grasp was pressed
in confidence and friendship by the Father of our
country. The wreath VIC place on your honored
brow received its earliest leaves from the hand OF
Washington. We cannot expect, even with the
agency of free and universal 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 successfully welded
power in any state. They differed in policy as
they must; and yet throughout their several dy-
nasties, without any sacrifice of personal nde-
pendence, and while passing from immature youth
to rpened age, you were counselor and minister
to them all. We seem therefore in this interview
with you to come into the presence of our departed
Chief; the majestic shade of Washington, looks
down upon us we hear the bold and manly elo-
quence of the elder Adams and we listen TO the
voices of the phosophic and sagacous Jefferson,
the refined and modest Madison, and the gener-
Gus and faithful Monroe.
A life of such eminent patriotism and fidelity
found It's proper reward in your elevation TO the
eminence from which you had justly derived SO
many honors. Although your administration OF
the Governments is yet too recent for impartial
history, or unbounded eulogy, our grateful remem-
brance of it Its evinced by the congratulations
you now receive from your llow-cltlzens.
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 tranquility honors even greater than
those which belonged to that eminent station. 1t
was reserved for you to illustrate the important
truths, that offices and trusts are not the, end OF
public service, but arc merely incidents III the
life of the true American citizen; that duties re-
main when the highest trust is resigned; and
that there is scope for pure and benevolent am
biton beyond even the Presidency of the United
States Of America.
You have devoted the energies Of q mind I'm.
perverted, the learning and experience acquired
through more than sixty years, and even the III
fluence and fame derived from your high career
of public service, to the great cause of Universal
Liberty. The praises we hestow are already
echoed back to us by voices which come rich and
full across the Atlantic, hailmg you as the inde
tatigable champion of Humanity the hu-
,nanity which embraces single race or ciimc.
but that humanity which regards the whole ann
ly of Man. Such saiutaton as these cannot be
mistaken. They come not from your contempo-
raries, for they are gone. You arc not OF this
generation, but of the PAST, spared to hear the
voice of PosrERlry. The greetings you receive
come up from the dark and uncertain FuTURE.
They are the whisperings Of posthumous FAME
fame which mpatently awaits your departure.
and which spreading wider and growing more
and more distinct, will award to JonN Quincy
ADAMS, a name to live with that of WASH
1NGTON,
as&T aMORNlNG LlNE-For Albany and
Troy and intermediate landingsi From the