Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1868-05-22


my son knowledgegethat he was a master
OF his own language, like professor. NJ.
HarbOls said; your son teaches us more
than you; he shows US no mercy; he pays
US no compliments. We must have Mr..
John. >"
After a residence of a few months at
home, John Quincy Adams again went with
his father to Europe, where he attended
schools in France and Holland, and finally
went to the University at Leyden. At the
age Of fifteen years he received the appoint
ment of Secretary of Legation to the Amer
lean Minister at ST. Petersburg, and from
that time to the end of his life he was sell
dom out of Office more than few months
at time, Returning to America, he com
pleted his education at Harvard College,
and, immediately after graduating, he began
the study of the law in the Office of a dis
tinguished practitioner. With all the advan
tages Of his father celebrity, aud his own
recognized ability, it was only after practie
ing at the bar for tour years that be earned
money enough for his maintenance.
Meanwhile, he attracted attention by his
contributions TO tho public press, in which
he defended with much vigor, the foreign
policy Of President Washington General
Washington was particularly susceptible
both to the applause and to the censure Of
2
much pleasure, that, IN the year 1894,
when Mr. Adams was but twenty seven
years of age, be appointed him Minister to
Holland. This was the beginning of a long
and successful diplomatic career. On the
accession of his father to the Presidency, he
was appointed Minister to Berlin, where he
continued to reside until the election Of Mr..
Jefferson recalled him to his country.
Some men, without being dishonest, have
a particular knack at changing their party
opinions at precisely the moment when
such a change will most promote their own
advantage. No one has ever possessed this
faculty 10 a more eminent degree than John
Quincy Adams Toward the close of Mr..
Jefferson administration, he could not but
be aware that there were only two courses
open to a federalist; namely, to get into the
republican party, or abandon all hope Of
further political employment. lie sustained
Mr.. Jefferson on the embargo question
against the majority OF the people Of New
England. Inheriting an ample share Of his
father habit Of distruSt, he went so far as
10 say President Jefferson, that, IN his
opinion, the federalists of New England
were traitors to their country, and were pre-
pared to assist Great Britain in the design
attributed to her Of recnnquering America.
To persons unacquainted with the peculiar
disposition Of this family, such conduct
could only appear in the light Of carrying
favor with power. In all probability, how
ever, Mr. Adams as firmly believed this
charge as the democrats Of later day be
lieved in the charge Of bargain and corrup-
ton against himself
Mr. Madison rewarded his services to
the republican party by nominating him as
Minister to Russia: whence he came in 1914
to assist in negotiating peace between the
United States and Great Britain. On his
return, after an absence of eight years, he
at once took possession Of the office of Sec
retary of State to which Mr. Monroe had
appointed him, and which he held during
the whole period, eight years, Of President
Monroe service 1t fell to his lot, as Sec
rectary Of State, to defend all the irregular
proceedings Of General Jackson in Florida,
which he did as foIcibly as though he really
approved them-which, / happen to know,
be did not He also negotiated the treaty
with Spain by which Florida was ceded to
the United States
In the Presidential campaign of 1924, the
leading candidates were six in number;
Crawford Of Georgia, John Quincy Adams,
Andrew jackson, John c. Calhoun, Henry
Clay, and De Witt Clinton. The people
failing to elect either Of these gentlemen
the choice devolved urou the House of Rep
resentatiyes. Through the influence Of Mr.
Clay, who had been for many years the ad-
mired and popular speaker of the House,
General Jackson, who had received by far
2 the greatest popular vote, was set aside and
Mr.. Adams was elected 1t soon appeared,
2 from the messages Of the new President,
that though he had joined the republican
: party, he was as truly federalist in 1925
as he had been in 1900, when he was in full
opposition to the republican party. have
read all the messages of all the Presidents
of the United States, and in none of them
is there such extravagant t0Tylsm as in the
messages Of John Quincy Adams. He veri.
ly seems to have thought that the govern
ment ought to do everything for the peo-
I pie, and the people everything for the gov
, ernmeHt
Swept from power in 1929, he went home
to Massachusetts, to hnd the Northern
people intensely excited by what is known
as Anti Masonry, which was caused by the
, mysterious disappearance Of young pTin
ter, who had betrayed the secrets, such as
they are, of the Free Masons. Mr.. Adams,
then sixty three years of age, threw himself
/, into this movement, and came very near
, being elected Governor of Massachusetts, by
tie Anti. Mason party The same party
elected him member of the House of
serve for the remaining seventeen years OF
his life Now it was that the heroic part of
his life began When the attempt Was
|, made to deprive the people OF the right of
, petition, and to silence members Of Con
gTess on the great topic OF the day, he led
the Opposition to these iuiqUitous measures,
and startled the country by the vigor OF
his el0quence in the midst of a storm of
oblnquy.
On the 2lst Of February, 1913, while sit
ting in his usual seat in the House of Rep
rescntatives, he was suddenly deprived Of
the power Of speech and motion by kind
! Of paralysis, Of which he had had some expe-
rieucc previously He was conveyed insensi-
ble to the Speakers room, where be linger
, ed tor nearly two days, never regaining the
possession Of his senses, though occasional
, ly uttering incomplete or ineoherent words.
The last words uttered by him, of which he
knew the meaning, were:
This Is the last of earth; | am content.
| Il was the habit of this able and eminent
man, during the whole of his long life, to
record the events of every day in a diary.
This is still preserved; and | am informed,
that the time is not very distant when the
most material and interesting parts of it
will be given to the public The only child
Of Mr. Adams who survived him, was
i Charles Francis Adams, now sixty years OF
|. age and till recently Minister of the United
: States at the British Court, an office first
filed by his grandfather just after the revo-
, lutionary war. Two members of this fami.
IL have occupied the Presidential chair, and
/ many things less unlikely have occurred
than that third of the name should fill
the office.