Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1859-02-19

to excessive indulgencse in animal
passions; bat he never Welded to the
temptation, and i'll his old age proudly
writes, : No virgin or matron ever had
cause 70 blush at sight of me- or 70 ra
greet our acquaintance Hsre he -.
greatly the superior of Frankl;n Taf
terson, Hamilton, nay, or Wash;no+on
himself. These are gr,a, ~;rnaS 'on
Few politicians, or other men can
count so much. va"
But he was ill-tempsred, "sud5.,
and quick il quarrel" He was No..
good judge OF character;. The often sus.
pected the uoblest men, and put Grad.
ulous faith in the mean and deceitfal
Intensely ambitious of plac. and nov.
eT as he was, he yet slvays sought to,
rule his desire by his duty. But if h..
sought only excellent things the spirit
OF search WAS not always compends-
Die, his motive selfish. his manncr.
harsh. lie was not msgnsnimous or.
noois man. He was suspicious ond
jealous Of the noblest Of men b.fnra.
him IN social rank and above him in,
power. He attributes mean motives,
70 all nen-oftsn to the noblest in the,
land. lie does this in his earliest ;e,.
tiers ana his Latest. A round -headed
man, ne was constantly fighter. This
sppe AIRED IN his diary, and in his news-
paper articles bsfore the revelation ona,
@''sf ~ even In has own autobiography,
written IN his extreme old age. he.
was violent IN wrath, which when rous-
ed, nothing tor the moment stayed-
He wss indiscriminstins as to the
Cause OF It. It might be the memhers
OF his Cabinet at the seat Of Govern
ment or his butcLvr at Quincy ,sb,
brought IN his bill.
impatient of opposition, and greedy
of results, he was most intensely des;r
ous Of honor or applause. At Paris
III 1888, he Was handsomely compli-
mented at his success in Holland and
he writes in his Journal: "a few Of
these compliments would kill Franklin
| II they came to his esrs.' [Lsuohter
Franklin would have thought Of them
as schoolnaster thinks Of a commit
ment paid to one Of his pupils. Yet.
great as his vanity Was [ think it nev-
or bent him aside from hi. duty. Low
ing the praise Of men, lie never ono.
stopped for it; never ones hesitated TO
DO even the most unpopular act, if he
waa sure he was RI CHIT; and he never
bowed that head TO escape the abuse
That came from doing the right thing.
Yet he WAS intensely arrogant
Claiming 50 much for himself, he sbus-
Ell his rivals. Of Samuel Adams and
Jsmes Hancock he writes, on one oc-
caslon: ''They will be sure of all tn,
leaves and fishes of the National and
State Governments. rs they hope" A
most atroclous calumny. He STEAKS
%neeringly Of John Hancock, as "a m.u
without head Or heart-a mere shadow
OF man; and yet, Governor of Old
Massachusetts, - He did not like to
hear the praises Of ashington. One
day he dlned with 4 company of gen
tlemen Ill town joining this. After
the dinner clergyman wished to helm
INN on with his cloak. He objected
but the clergyman said: II cannot do
too much for you, when ] think what
you and Washington did for the coun-
try" " ashington and me-" growled
out the old man, "don't let me hear
that again Washington was a dolt ~
1t was momentary spasm of wrath.
coming from "tllat rash Aulnor which
his mother gave him." or that came
from somewhere else. At other times
he did Justice to Washington, but al
ways little col,ily, for neither liked
the other much.
Mr. Adams had strong RELIGIONS emo
tlons; but must pass over what I had
written on this theme. He was not
what was called an eloquent man. He
had no rhetorical tricks; no traps for
applause; no poetic images; nothing of
what half-educated ministers, sopho-
mores and editors call sefne writing.
what school girls name 'eperfsctiv
SPLENDID I" Laughter. But he had
strong sense philosophical opinions.
consideration and readiness of thouebt.
the form is often defective, misshapen
the substance is always strong and
good. Demosthenes said ssthe first
thing, the next thing and the third
thing IN eloquence is euergy," and
John Adams had it TO the full extent
that Demosthenes wanted yet scarce
ly any of his speeches are left. Their
fame survives only IN tradition.
He was an intense patriot, and new
er hesitatsd to sacrifice his own dear
est wishes and fondest hopes for his
country's good. In his later DAYS.
some distinguished foreigners came to
visit him at Quincy. He met them
by arrangement at special hour. and
sat in great chair in front Of the
house under the shade of tree. DAT
the beginning of the fight asked one