The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-03-26

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the idea Of persona. relations between
instructor and student. His criticisms
OF Harvard. Of the elective system as 1t
has worked. and even Of President
Eliot. are fair enough II translated
into less vehement language: they are
equally applicable 10 all the colleges.
He admits that he owes a great debt
TO Harvard. but. mo instructor pro-
duccd, or endeavored to produce. the
slightest impression or me: no spark
fused into me- Fancy inspiring an
Adams! From the recitation room I
got. az nearly as I can now see. almost
nothing at ALL" Is that not the en-
perience Of all college graduates?
What part does the recitation room
form in the memories Of what they
gained from their college?
The Harvard Law School escapes by
the accident that Mr.. Adams did not
attend II. which he regrets at ON
length. though his story OF that ex-
perience In the days before LAngdel.
would have been the repetition Of his
college complaint. He read In a
private office instead, did not take TO
the law. 10 now displeased with the
p~erfunctory manner In which he WAS
admitted TO the bar. and took little in
terest in his profession after he had
opened up an office Of his own: the en-
pericnce Of many other Boston youths
Who do not need TO arr their "
living. He went into society with his
brother John Quincy and he hints that
they were not Always sober on the
pavement Of Beacon street. Writing
at a date when the dancing mania was
at its height Mr.. Adams could say
of the days before the ar:
" Boston society. as {, then was and. I
believe. stiii IL. I can say little that Is
pleasant. II was "A boy and girl institu-
zion, the outgrowth Of ten generations of
colonial and provincial life, about as sense.
less. unmeaning and frivolous as could
by any possibility lie imagined. !; was -.
s~entiaily . sammy and Billy. . sallie and
Nellie ayair. very pleasant and very jolly
for young people. but. so far as the world
and its ways were concerned. little more
than n big village development. In fact.
] may say that In the course OF my lie
I have tried Boston socially on all sides:
I have ummere IL AMI wiutered n. tried
10 drunk and tried IL sober. and. drunk ar
sober. there's nothing IN it-save Boston
Tho trouble With Boston socially IL that
" u 'h Nipss Nv ~ p'h" ~ N'' W.
world current. viii powerful formative
traditions (, has u keen sclt. app-cclstion.
For strangers. we'll introduced. ~ is u de
iigh,fu; city; for = lifelong resident " IL
| ouriousiy conventional and horne. Notably
are the social circles sharply divijcd. but
the ages do not mix.
From this somewhat t%aundiced retro-
spect of his youth and HE drifting
period Mr.. Adams In reused to relate
his experiences In the campaign which
resulted in t~.incoln's election. lie
visited Washington and paints an un-
fiutterisig picture Of the House Of
Representatives and Of individual poll
ticians. His idol at he time was
Charles Sumner. an intimate Of the
family. He notes. however. that Sum-
ner stole from him the substance Of
the speech in which he compared Cali
houn and J. Q. Adams. yuung Adams
having worked up the idea and told
what he had dunc TO Sumner. In the
company Of his father and Of W. II.
Seward. abou, whom he has much to
say and whom he clearly admired
greatly. Notwithstanding the QualihCa-
lions TO his praise. Mr.. Adams made
his firSt trip TO the West. speaking for
lslVlcoIU. ~ CIV llkIicNu WI ibAepiu
en-. red the train to see Mr.. Seward and
the latter introduced his party. The
diary OF the time says: THE only re-
mark Lincoln made to me was. A son
OF Charles Francis Adams" ! am glad
to zee you. SIR but at the same time l
saw a look Of interest. Lincoln's face
ID a good one: but ] should say that
his y never belonged to a man great
In action: 1t Is neither the. quick, sharp
eye OF a man of sudden and penetrat-
ing nature. nor the slow. Arm eye Of
one Of decided will: but, il is "A mild,
dreamy. meditative eye. which II
would scarcely expect to see in a sue
cessful Chief Magistrate in these days
! Of the republic" As II happened this
was tho only time that Mr.. Adams met
Lincoln. ON the way back Douglas
broke into the train and tried to entice
Seward to go out and address a crowd
OF his adherents: Mr.. Adams states
that he vas more than half drunk.
He was In Washington in the days
preceding the inaugural and draws a
vivid picture OF the confusion OF the
time. II was about tina; time that he
he to draw away from Char.es
Sumner: the break came from tho
elder Adams's adherence 10 Seward.
The son writes: AS I look hack ni
II. recalling those days Of doubt with
pa!n-We were all wrong: a band Of
men. anxious. excited. blind or blind
foldei-some passionate and vindictive.
ready. ripe for blood. all cropping their
way To a dreaded result: but Sumner
was the most wrong and the blNdest
Of the who.c throng: though 10y all
odds the most certain Of his own clear
ness OF vision and knowledge Of the
facts"
Mr.. Adams was present AT Lincoln's
Inauguration hut too far away to hear
his address. lie had begun to write
for the magazines and newspapers.
and sent a report OF II proceedings
to the Boston Transcript. About this
time he heard the remark OF Seward
which he WAS fond OF repeating in
later years: "The President has a Gu
rious vein Of sentiment running
through his thought, which II his most
valuable mental attribute" The AL
ans family returned to Boston after
the inauguration. There they heard
OF the elder Charles Francis Adams's
appointment as Minister to Great
Britain. which came upon them a. II
calamity. for II tore the father and
mother from the rut in which they
had lived. The departure for England