Title: To John Adams from Charles Francis Adams, 21 May 1826
From: Adams, Charles Francis
To: Adams, John

					My dear Grandfather.
					Washington City. May 21st. 1826.

				The summer has come upon us very rapidly without giving us any of our usual Spring weather. Some few days within the past week have been almost as warm as any during the last summer. This brings us at least peace and quiet. Almost all strangers have left the place and many members of Congress. Both houses adjourn tomorrow, having been excessively hurried in their business during the week. Indeed, they have done more during the five last days than they had for the whole of the preceding of the six months. There was an attempt made to prolong the session for two days by the Senate but the other body refused to agree to it, thinking that the whole blame of the affair with the people would rest elsewhere—It has been on the whole a most remarkable session, as much for the talent which has been displayed as for the scenes which have passed. John Randolph left town in a blase with a challenge from Mr Lloyd in full pursuit, it is said. He did not seem desirous however of risking his body in another personal combat. Indeed his manner of getting out of his difficulties is peculiar. He gives no explanations nor will he fight. And there has been nobody found to give him a personal chastisement although many have threatened it and talked loud. Be this as it will, the Senate has seen things at its meetings which never have been seen before and which it is to be wished will never be seen again. No American can think of it without feeling ashamed of his country’s most grave assembly.The House of Representatives has been on the whole the most orderly assembly of the two. And this is the body where all this sort of squabbling is most naturally to be expected. But the excitement among the heated bodies has been very much kept down there by the majority, whereas in the other body there have not been found wanting some goodnatured people to prevent and keep up the agitation. Which are the most deserving of credit, the nation will decide—The administration have succeeded in all their direct measures. The judiciary bill has been defeated by a side thrust, but they took no side in that question distinctly from the opposition. It was a question dividing the Western members completely and the loss will only fall upon them. It is somewhat unfortunate that it did not pass as there is evidently great necessity for a change of the system in that section of the Union. Although I think myself that the question expediency of so large a number of Judges is questionable. But time will would have shewn this and the experiment was at least worth trying.I am rejoiced to hear of my brother’s success. He it appears is also about to dash himself into the ocean of political life. I wish him success with all my heart, but the more experience I have of it in my observation of those floating about in it, the less am I inclined to think of it’s operation upon the heart, the morals, the interest and the happiness of life. That it has it’s attractions is not to be denied, and to those who conclude differently from the same means of observation, I can only hope success. This I do sincerely to George and much more, he knows I would do, were it in my power—As it is, I have only to address my Prayers to our common benefactor, and remain / Yr affectionate & dutiful Grandson

					Charles Francis Adams.


Title: From John Adams to Ward Nicholas Boylston, 24 May 1826
From: Adams, John
To: Boylston, Ward Nicholas

My ever dear Cousin
Quincy 24th May 1826

I rejoice that you have arrived safely at Princeton where may your health be perfectly restored—my kind regards to Mrs Boylston and to the young family—I am labouring & sorrowing according to the oracle and for nothing more than I know of than my distance from you—We go on here in a dull round—no news of any kind that is worth repeating. I am in a kind of solitary imprisonment to which I submit because I cannot help it—And why should I grieve when grieving I must bear”—Your wine and cider are too rich cordials for a Man ninety years of age. but I am not the less grateful to you for them. I hope you have got the Farm house finished and every thing else completed for your accommodation—you have the most splendid estate in North America, and may it long remain in possession of your descendants.—
I am with increased affection / your ever faithful Cousin
John Adams


Title: From John Adams to Edward Everett, 24 May 1826
From: Adams, John
To: Everett, Edward

					My dear Sir
					Washington 24th. May 1826—

				Having after much persuasion prevailed upon my Cousin to remain still longer with us, we were again nearly disappointed by discovering that the Vessel which conveys your things had sailed before her box could be recovered. Our difficulties were now renewed and we could secure an acquiescence in our wishes only by promising that we would make one more call upon your kindness, and request of you the favour of having it returned by the first vessel which may sail after its arrival at Boston. I regret exceedingly that we should have caused you so much extra trouble and inconvenience in return for favors conferred.Be pleased to present my respects to Mrs Everett and accept the thanks and good wishes of / Your obedt. humble Servt

					John Adams Junr.


Title: From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 25 May 1826
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, George Washington

					My dear Son—
					Washington 25. May 1826

				I had postponed a reply to your last two Letters under the expectation of seeing you here. With your mother I had been deeply concerned to learn that your health was suffering; and I knew that she had invited you to come and seek its restoration with us. Your Letter to her of the gave indications of recovery from another department of the Materia Madica, and followed as it was immediately afterwards by the public intelligence of your election to the Legislature I am indulging the hope that your anticipation of entire convalescence has by this time been realized—I congratulate you upon this early and honourable token of the confidence of your fellow-citizens—No event in my own political life ever gave me more pleasure than this first step of your advancement—And having said this, I add with a feeling of deeper solemnity, arm yourself with fortitude—prepare and discipline your mind for disappointment—Consider the station to which you are called as a Post of danger and of duty, and think as little as you possibly can of it as a Post of honour—I mean, with reference to yourself, or for vain glorious exaltation—Read in Plutarch the advice which Demosthenes in banishment gave to the young men who resorted to him for inseruction—and as you are about to enter upon the Service of the Public, invoke strength and wisdom from above; devote all the faculties of your Soul to the discharge of your duties, and let a full proportion of your Time be assiduously employed in the acquisition of the knowledge, of which you will very soon feel the want. The knowledge, a thorough knowledge of those things upon which you will be called to act—Take special care not to come forward prematurely upon  subjects which you do not understand—I have, heretofore, urged you to make yourself intimately acquainted with the Militia Laws of the State; and now, both as a member of the Legislature and as a military Officer, you cannot fail to be made daily sensible of the usefulness of whatever knowledge on this subject you have acquired, and will I hope be stimulated to obtain further and more perfect information concerning it—You will now find it comprizes, not only all the Laws of Congress, as well as of the State concerning the Militia; but the whole Military Establishment of the United States; the Rules and Articles of War; the system of regulations by which the Army is governed, and even the Naval Peace Establishment, and all the Laws relating to the Navy—Are you ready to commence upon this course of reading? If so, you will not for the present year fall into sickness for lack of employment—But this is only one branch of the Public Service, upon which you may bestow time and attention to good purpose—If you desire it, I can name several others to you—In attending to the discharge of your public duties, be ever mindful of those which prescribe your deportment to others—Your new situations civil and military bring you immediately into new important and greatly diversified relations with other men; some friendly, others necessarily adverse and some hostile—this is the great and most important secret of Public life; and calls for the continual exercise, not only of all the Stoic virtues—Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, Justice; but of the Christian graces, Benevolence, Charity, Humility, Courteousness, all tempered with inflexible perseverance and firmness—all these as I write them down are mere words, the worth of which you will at once acknowledge—Would I could as easily point out to you in advance the occasions upon which you will be required to exemplify one or more of them—This is impossible—Not a week will pass over your head, after receiving this Letter, before you will be required to act, with reference to some principle, and to make your option between right and wrong—There is but one strait course, and to that I fondly hope you will adhere. I would recommend it to you, at an early period of the Session, to call upon Governor Lincoln, and if you should find him so inclined, hold friendly conversation with him upon any subject of general interest, which may be for consideration before the Legislature—Without making any formal professions of deference to his views, let him perceive, that it is your intention, so far as you may have occasion to manifest it, to harmonize with them—You will easily discover whether this overture will be to him agreeable or indifferent—If it should be met on his part with candour and kindness, it may lead to an intercourse between you and him, which may be of good effect to your Service—If it should not be cordially met, it will at least have shewn good will on your part, and can do no harm.Let me hear from you as often as your time will permit, and believe me ever your affectionate father

					J. Q. Adams.


Title: From Ward Nicholas Boylston to John Quincy Adams, 29 May 1826
From: Boylston, Ward Nicholas
To: Adams, John Quincy

               My Dear Friend
               Princeton 29th May 1826

            As you are now relieved from congressional claims upon your time, & attentions, I venture to intrude on your leisure, by incloseing a Book containing some additional information respecting the first Introduction of Innoculation into North America by our ancestor Dr Zabdial Boylston, which may be usefull should you, at any future period be disposed  to give more light upon the subject, than the present age possessor—The first 4 pages, are  wanting & what I am unable to supply—under the same binding, are several other subjects, being now out of print, may furnish some facts to the future History of this state—Dr Cotton Mather seems to have been the only champion who appeard to defend Dr Boylston under the persecutions he suffer’d—I have also inclosed the Genealogy of the Boylston Family, as far back as I am able to able to obtain any information antecedent to the arrival of Dr. Thomas Boylston the first ancestor of the Amereican family—there is however some minutes which I selected from the papers of the late Mr John Boylston that were made by his Father Dr Z B when in England, where he took great pains, to assertain every thing that any way related to their Origin and spent sometime in Derbyshire for that purpose—Those minutes I deliver’d some years ago to my ever venerated and beloved Cousin your father, & suppose will be found among his Papers, tho’ he told me he could not say where now to put his hand upon them—I might have taken a copy tho’ I have not as yet been able to find them—it appeard from those minutes as far back as he was able to trace the same Family wch. was to the Reign of Edward the 3d. they originated in Derbyshire & were persons of distinguish’d moral worth, and Independant property.—And what appeard very singular that in the whole race from that time to the date of his enquiries, the male members of the Family’s were either Physicians, or Merchants, except 3—one was consul at Allepo; another Dean of Winchester, the other for many years Commanded the Government Packet between Falmouth & Lisbon.—Thos Boylston probably the Brother of our ancestor was a very opulent and distinguish’d merchant in London, and notwithstanding he suffer’d very great losses by the Conflagration of London in the year 1666—he bestowd £800 Stg a very great sum at that period, to the relief of the distress’d sufferers, & continued afterwards to keep his Coach to the end of his Life—two of his Daughters were liveing in great respectability in London who Dr B often visited from whom he recd this information—I have also examined the Records of the Clothworkers’ Company in London and found his name mentiond among the libiral benefactors to that Company—I there saw a Record of the Family, comeing out  of Derbyshire, one of whom Instituted a quarterly Lectureship for delivering Lectures on certain Theological & Moral Subjects, endowing it with £30 per annum to the Lecturer, & 30/per anum to the Sexton for ringing the Bell, the Lecture to be deliverd at the village of Boilston, (so spelt in) Derbyshire, but whether this Lectureship is now continued I am not able to say—It appears by the Genealogy of the family that the father of Dr Z Boylston came to America in the year 1635. and returnd, afterwards to England, & came back to America in 1643, as by a minute made by himself in the Heralds office in London under the same arms of the family we now use—in these words “Thomas Boylston about to return to America in 1643”—it seems uncertain whether he married before, or after his return—There seems some difficulty in my mind as the precise year, when the ancestor of our family came to this Country, without supposeing that the Thomas Boylston came out a Minor with his Parent, or Parents in 1635 & returnd to England to complete his Education & returnd 1643 to America; otherwise if he came out wh a Diploma of MD from Oxford at the age of 21—he must have been born in 1614, his first child Zabdial was born in 1680 when his father was 66 years old & likewise the Eleven children he had afterwards to have been one year in succession, he must have been 77 years of age at the Birth of his last Child, a circumstance not impossible, tho’ not very probable; if he did not marry till after 1635 it makes it less probable that it is the same person, but that Dr T B came with his father a minor—its also certain Dr. Z B studied medicine under his father at Brookline & commenced the practice of Physic with Dr Cutler in Boston then considered the ablest practitioner in his time—If my future reminiscences should produce any thing important upon this Subject, I will do myself the pleasure to send them.I am very much obliged by your kindly sending me the public Documents of the last session of Congress, they furnish important information—The extract of your Letter to Mr Henderson in 1823 is the ablest state paper I ever read, not only of Information but of Prophecy, that might be Incorporated with the Books of Isaiah & Ezikiel, in the foretold events—wh have since taken place.—You have put on the armour, My Dear Friend as observed in a former Letter with the caution reccommended by the King Israel to Benhadad—and so far you have nothing to fear the ability & moderation with which you have averted the threatend storms of the Georgeians with the admiration & applause of every Friend of the Human family except the few who were interested in the spoilations of the Indians—you have put on the whole armour of righteousness, & the great directing parent of all worlds, will conduct you thro all the perils of this—I sincerely thank you, & Mrs. Adams & yr Sons for your, & their kind attentions to my Nephew Mr Elmsly he writes me, it was impossible to be more highly sa highly distinguishd by you & them or to feel more gratefully the condescensions he was honord with—I hope I shall once more at least, enjoy the happiness of seeing you, & Mrs Adams here this season and earlier than the last where she will find the Climate more congenial to her constitution than she has heretofore—The Climate of these mountains has been tested the latter part of the last winter, & this spring, by the obituaries of the 4 bordering Towns, that is computeing from the commencement of the present year with nearly an averaged population, each viz 1400; there has been but Seven Deaths—Three of them females, one of 88 years, one of 35 of an Hereditary consumption, and one of neglected Influenza, wch. terminated in sudden inflamation of the Lungs, and four Infants—The Deaths in the adjoining Towns have averaged nearly alike Thirty one; The principal part Adults & heads of Families, at present there is not in Princeton an Individual who who requires medical attendance—I can Instance myself tho’ scarcly able to walk twice across my Room for Three months before we left Roxbury, am now so far restored as to be able to ride 10 miles without suffering much fatigue tho’ I cannot reckon much upon a perfect recovery—I may be continued an existance to the close of the year, and without I should have the happiness of seeing you & Mrs. Adams here this summer—I have little to promise myself that we shall ever meet again in this mortal state—Both to Mrs Boylston & myself, it would be painfull indeed to deny us—I hope also you will be able to see your Father—a truely affectionate letter I rec’d from him yesterday, written in his usual good spirits, induces me to hope we shall be able to meet on his next anniversary at Quincy, he says he wishes he could revisit Princeton.—was it possible for him to travel even Six miles a Day, I would send my Carriage for him & Miss Smith, & a Chaise for his particular man Servt to to afford him the same attention he has at home.I feel more & more every day, an Increaseing Interest in the preservation of his Life—protracted perhaps to a period, when he himself feels less interest in, than I do—I feel a most filial affection for him & think of every thing I can to give him pleasure, or gratify his wishesI see by the Boston papers that Mr G W A has commenced his political career, as Representative for Suffolk, & by a very large Majority—I wish him health to sustain the fatigue. Talents an Integrity he has enough to make him eminently usefull in any situation he may be placed; tho’ he has forgotten the axiom I gave him more than a year ago—as I was not favor’d but with one visit since he was here with you last Autumn. The flowers of May are certainly more gratefull to him than the Icicles of December.—I am inform’d Dr. Townsend the present of Surgeon & Physician of the Marine Hospital at Charleston lies in a hopeless state of sickness—In case of His Death, & you have not already made a previous arrangement—I would beg leave to mention Dr. William Johnson Walker resident of, & in extensive practice in Middlesex as certainly the ablist, & most                            distinguishd character in that line & co equal with Dr Warren in point of Chirurgical Science, haveing had more Hospital Practice in Europe than any other of the professors, in this Sate, haveing also spent two years as assistant in the Hotel Dieu in Paris during the late War, besides some time in the Hospitals in England—with the highest Commendations—since his Return to America he has greatly advanced his reputations in both branches of his profession,—he commenced his Medical studies under our late relative Govr Brooks & was his Physician in his last sickness—I think I could mention him as standing in the highest rank of his profession to fit him for the station he solicits—One thing more I must crave at your hands; namely? that you would be so kind as to revise the Institution for prizes in Elocution, & favor me with the improvements You was so Good as to promise me—As I have it in contemplation to Increase the Premiums wch. by some has been thought too small, which I shall not do untill I am favor’d with your valuable amendments—As the period is approaching, they ought to be known before commencemt—I must earnestly hope I am not taxing you too heavily to oblige me with them—You will think by this time I have robbed you, of more leisure than I ought in reading this Letter, but I cannot close without expressing my regrets, than my sickness has prevented my personal & constant application to Mr Stuart to finish yours & Mrs Adam’s portraits, he has nevertheless had my constant monitions; he pleads his own indisposition (Gout,) and a thousand impediments—so that the pictures & my Deposit of the amount he is to receive has lain dormant, the one in his Painting Room & the other in the Bank ever since you sat to him—I am now writing to Mr I P Davis to use his earnest Interest & my own to put a finishing hand to it immediately.Mrs Boylston desires her best respects to you, & unites in kindest regards to Mrs Adams, & due remembrances of esteem to Mr. J & Chs Adams / And With sincere & affectionate regard / I am ever / Your obliged Friend & relative

               Ward Nichs Boylston


Title: From John Quincy Adams to William Cranch, 30 May 1826
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Cranch, William

					To William Cranch, Henry Huntt and Walter Smith,Greeting:
					Washington, May 30, 1826

				Know Ye, That in pursuance of the Act of Congress passed on the twentieth day of this present Month of May, entitled “An Act to provide for erecting a Penitentiary in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes,” I the said John Quincy Adams, President of the United States of America, Do by these presents appoint you the said William Cranch, Henry Huntt and Walter Smith, to be Commissioners, “to select a proper Site in the District of Columbia on which to erect a Penitentiary for the said District,” and also to “Select a Site in the County of Alexandria for a County Jail”; and I do hereby authorize you to do and perform all other matters and things which the said Commissioners are authorized or required to do by Virtue of the Act of Congress aforesaid.(L. S.) In Testimony whereof, I have caused the Seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. Given under my hand at the City of Washington the Thirtieth day of May A.D. 1826; and of the Independence of the United States, the Fiftieth.

					John Quincy Adams,By the President,H. Clay,Secretary of State.


Title: From Thomas Boylston Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, Jr., 5 June 1826
From: Adams, Thomas Boylston
To: Adams, Thomas Boylston, Jr.

					My dear Son,
					Quincy June 5th: 1826.

				Your letter of the 26th: Ulto. in answer to mine of the 21st: came to hand on the 1st: Instant; and I have barely time to acknowledge it now. The Examination has probably begun by this, and you will have your time and attention so fully occupied that letters to answer might prove an incumbrance.We have experienced so great & sudden fluctuations in the weather within the last ten days, as to render fires necessary on Monday last, and this day—Yesterday at Ten O’Clock, when I went with your Sister to Meeting, the Thermo in the Library stood at 82 in the shade and at Twelve was at 84°—This day, at 9 O’Clock, it stood at 58.°!!!!! I cannot make marks of admiration enough for such an unprecedented change.Your Mother sends her love to you, and is quite anxious on your account; not only the state of the natural Atmosphere where you are, but the struggle with the Elements of Science, you are now encountering give her uneasy sensations, which, added to an eruption of the Scarlet-Rash, on the first of June, has made her sick for a few days; but she is now much better and we hope has seen the worst of the disorder, which has been so prevalent about us.Your Grandfather is quite feeble, and the changes in the weather produce in us continual fears for the effects to be apprehended. However, our trust is in God! “Not a sparrow falleth to the ground, without his notice.” And may that same omnipresent power, providentially, and in due time, restore, you, my dear Son to the affectionate embraces of / Your Parents & Friends. So Pray’s / Your Father.

					Thomas B Adams


Title: To John Adams from Ward Nicholas Boylston, 16 June 1826
From: Boylston, Ward Nicholas
To: Adams, John

					My ever Dear Cousin
					Princeton June 16th 1826

				I am deeply sensible of all your kind feelings towards me, as express’d in your affectionate Letter of the 24th Ultimo. my wishes are in union with yours, that we were nearer each other, than we are, the sigh, is at present vain—I often contemplate a possiblity that if I sent my carriage & Thos. Alker a faithfull & well experienced driver, & you could feel strong enough to bear a ride of 10 miles a Day, I might induce you to come to us—the change of air might give vigour to your system, as it did when you were made us, happy here—and to bring Miss Smith with you, & I could send a Horse for your the young man who attends you, & here you could be as in your own house, Encircled by all that our attention could produce to render your sojourn pleasant to you.—I draw nearer & nearer to you, as yours & my days decline; tho I dont feel so feeble as you painfully to me describe yourself—I feel the advance of years pressing me down with steady and fatal steps to the Land of Darkness—I shall bear it with resignation, but the loss of those we love, & Esteem is shortening the link of the chain that fastens me to Life, but I still devoutly hope we shall both be spared to meet again at the close of another October; if to Judge from the activity of your mind wch. still seems in perfect vigour, I recur to the sacred assurance, given us “that the Spirit of the man will support his infirmity”—this I trust will be your condition then, as it seems to be at present—We are here suffering from another cause which I fear you are not able to say you are exempt—that is the continuance of a Draught, more severe than we have felt for many years that gone by.—Vegetation seems suspended—my garden Grounds have been thrice sown since I came here, and now looks just as barren, except Asparagus & a few Red vines, all a foot  high but no other vegetable has come above ground—I began Haying last week, & am at a loss to know what I shall do to support my stock thro’ the winter the pastures are rapidly drying, & the springs failing, & the crops of Grass coming in little more than half yeild of last year.—labour scarce & high wages, & high temper’d wit , that I am obliged to submit to the powers around me.—under these ills of Life, its some comfort that I am not worse of than my neighbours, to the east of us—there the grub worm, catapillar, canker worm and rose bugs has been more injurious—and if we have not rain soon the cornfields will change their prospects of harvest—the Spring Grans on Dry soils have been injured—and what is left of last years crops is daily riseing in value—tho’ I am not in  a state of despair, but some way or another we shall not be reduced to famine,—but every article of produce will be much dearer here than last year—so far it may prove of usefull suffering, that it may bring on a necessity for a better habits of Œconomy than is now in practice—I have only to study patience & submission;—I wont tire you with reading such a Catalogue of evils—that may not ultimate turn out so great as our fears—When did you hear from Washington—is the President & Mrs. Adams to make you a Visit this Summer—I have done myself the pleasure to write him abt 10. days ago, & agreable to his request sent him the Biography of the Boylston Family, I have referr’d him to you, for some particulars wch. you possess among your papers that I gave you some years ago—but as it would now be a very laborious search to find—I endeavoured to supply the absence of it, by the best recollections I have of its contents—I find Dr. Thaxter is giveing to the Public the Lives of all the eminent Physicians of New-England, & is particularly solicituous to be furnish’d with that of our ancestor Dr. Z. Boylston. I have been urged & even hard press’d to furnish it immediately—I have commenced the Labour as far as I am able—but think he & his friends would recieve much more correct information from you than from me—perhaps you may reccolect many circumstance on the Professional & private character of that Great Man as he may be truely called,—than I shall be able to exhibit of him—Mrs: Boylston request her affectionate & Respectful regards to you, & unites with me in our best remembrances to Judge & Mrs Adams & Miss Smith & family / And With most ardent, & affectionate wishes / I am ever / your devoted Friend / And Cousin—

					Ward Nichs Boylston.

					PS—The little child that was named for you by Mr Dana of this town, is a fine hearty Boy. The mother who had an opportunity of seeing you while here—seems to have given so strong an impression to her mind as to give a likeness of you in the Child & so strong that both Mrs B & myself were particularly struck with it—The Mount Adams, Hotel, & not the Farm House I am building & when finish’d will be the Handsomest establishmt of the kind between this place & Boston its so far completed as to be coverd in, and the outsides finish’d & new painting.—I wish you could see it.


Title: From John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 24 June 1826
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, Thomas Boylston

					My dear Brother.
					Washington 24. June 1826.

				I have received your Letter of the 17th. with deep concern at the purport of its contents—I will endeavour towards the close of the next, or the beginning of then succeeding month to visit you and our ever honoured Parent—In the mean time should any thing further occur to make it necessary for me still more to anticipate the period of my journey, I rely upon your attention and affection to advise me of it—But I wish the time of my coming may be considered as altogether uncertain, to avoid the delays on the road to which I might otherwise be liable.Your daughter is well, but my wife and Mary Hellen have been both much otherwise—They are I hope recovering—Charles left us yesterday upon a visit to New–York.Your affectionate Brother

					J. Q. Adams


Title: From William Cranch to John Quincy Adams, 1 July 1826
From: Cranch, William,Huntt, Henry
To: Adams, John Quincy

					To the President of the United States.
					July 1st. 1826.

				The undersigned Commissioners, appointed “to select a proper site in the District of Columbia, on which to erect a Penitentiary for the said District; and also to select a site in the County of Alexandria, for a County Jail”, respectfully referring to their former partial report of the 8th of June 1826., have now the honor further to report—: That there is not to their knowledge in the County of Alexandria any land belonging to the United States, or to the County or town of Alexandria which they could select as a site for a public Jail, and that no gratuitous offer of land for that purpose, has been made by any person. Several lots have been offered at various prices, but the Commissioners have not deemed themselves authorised to enter into any contract on behalf of the United States—From among the lots thus offered the undersigned have selected, as the site for a County Jail for the City and County of Alexandria, such part of the square of ground in the Town of Alexandria bounded on the North by Oronoko street, on the East by Pitt street, on the south by Princess street, and on the west by St. Asaph street, as may be required for the purpose aforesaid; provided a good title to the same shall be made to the United States on or before the first day of September next—but if such title shall not be made on or before that day, the undersigned Commissioners reserve the right to make another selection—The Commissioners beg leave to refer to a letter from the Mayor of Alexandria to one of the Commissioners marked A.—and to a sketch of the square selected marked B., being the square referred to in the document A., shewing that the southern half of that square, containing one acre may be had for five hundred dollars—

					W. CranchHenry Huntt.W. Smith


Title: Poem on deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 4 July 1826
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson
To:

				The Rival chiefs—who all their lifeWere striving to be evenIn death renew their mutual strifeBy struggling to reach heaven—Two Presidents’ in one short dayBehold this People—weepTheir fun’rals—none object to payThe last Expence—comes Cheap—


Title: Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams and Thomas Baker Johnson, Poem on Deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, 4 July 1826
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson,Johnson, Thomas Baker
To:

				Lines occasioned by the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on the 4th. of July 1826.

					July 4th. 1826

				Not a smile was seen—Nor a sound heard of joyTho’ the day was to Gratitude vow’dThe brightness of pleasure that ne’er knew alloyHad been dimm’d like the Sun by a cloudThe day that a Nation first gave to the worldAnd millions of Freemen—Now blestIn its oft welcom’d Course—Saw no banner unfurl’dSave what proud exultation exprestWith hearts high in hopes & with Gratitude fill’dThe bright dawn had propitiously brokeT’was the Jubilee year—The Anthem loud peal’dAnd the Song of thanksgiving awokeIn the midst of our Pæan in liberty’s praiseAnd the Patriots who liberty wonThe Angel of death—Hov’ring near meets our GazeSent by Heaven its last work to crownAs Gratitude lifts up her voice in their HonorAnd the debt that she owes fondly paysThe martyrs with joy yield back to their DonorTheir bright lives—conse-crated to praiseT’was thus—for our glory that heav’ns last willShould her plan—Now perfected—PronounceThat those who had wrought it—should live to revealBoth its birth and duration at once—

					T. B. J.


Title: John Adams, Biographical Sketch by Joseph Hopkinson, 4 July 1826
From: Hopkinson, Joseph
To:

					post 4. July 1826

				John Adams
In the enjoyment of our free and happy institutions, and of the prosperity which pervades every portion of this immense Republick, the rich and ripe of fruits of our national independence, we can never forget those from whose toils and Sufferings and Sacrifices these inestimable blessings were derived—There is no merit in being the friend of a flourishing and powerful people; in being patriots in a country abounding with all the good a just and reasonable can desire; but it is in the dark Season of adversity; in the hour of peril and Strife; when the oppressor Stretches his Sword over the land; when to love and Serve your Country is to be guilty of treason; when to defend her rights is to forfeit your blood; it is in Such trials, that the patriot, who braves the Storm and defies its dangers, becomes a great example of virtue, and the object of everlasting gratitude & praise—Such were the founders of American liberty; and, among them, John Adams was pre eminent in  energy, constancy, wisdom and usefulness—He was with the first to take his stand against the oppression of his country; with the wisest in counselling the means of Success; with the boldest in projecting measures of resistance; with the most ardent & eloquent in maintaining the sacred principles he had adopted; and with the most steady and unchangeable, through all the vicissitudes of a long and doubtful war—His courage never faltered; his purpose never wavered; his efforts never relaxed—The Same from the beginning to the end of the Conflict; the Same in the most gloomy as in the brightest days of the revolution; he exhibited a firm example of inflexible integrity; great in extraordinary intellectual powers and resources, and dauntless devotion to his Country—John Adams was born at Quincy, a few miles distant from Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, on the 19: day of October, 1735—His ancestors were puritans, and had emigrated, at an early period, from England and Settled in Massachusetts—His educated was carefully attended to, and in 1755 he graduated at Harvard College—Three years afterwards, he was admitted to the bar, and commenced business in his native place, but soon removed to Boston, and engaged arduously in the duties of his profession—An occasion here offered to exhibit the peculiar firmness of his character in the performance of whatever he believed to be his duty, in undertaking the defence of the british officers and Soldiers engaged in the memorable transactions of the 5 of March 1770—He embarked in the cause, when his fellow Citizens were highly exasperated against the accused, and by a powerful display of learning, eloquence and forensic Skill, procured their acquittal; and procured obtained for his country a noble reputation for the impartiality and mildness with which her laws were administered in a case Calculated to excite the keenest Resentments & prejudices—A more important scene was preparing, in which he was to act a first part, and in which he would have full employment for all his talents, and a Severe exercise of all his virtues—The cares of his profession had not taken his exclusive attention—The righ invaded rights of his Country, and the growing discontents with the conduct of the british government deeply interested him—His free and ardent spirit could not be quiet while Such things were going on—In 1765, he published a bold and energetic Dissertation, an explanation and support of the claims and privileges of  the Colonies; in which he earnestly called upon the people to make themselves acquainted with their rights; he invoked all having the ability, particularly the Clergy and the Bar, “to expose the insidious designs of arbitrary Power; to resist its approaches, and be persuaded that there was a settled design on foot to enslave all America”—In 1770, Mr Adams was elected a Representative in the Assembly of Massachusetts—In 1773 and 1774 he was chosen a Counsellor by the General Court; but rejected by the Governors; who feared the influence of one who had taken a deep interest in the controversy between the Colony and Great Britain; and was devoting his time and talents to the Cause—The great cause of emancipation was spreading and strengthning through the Colonies; and the unjust and unwise arrogance and severity of the Mother Country naturally hastened the catastrophe—that this great continent could not have always hung dependant on a small island, at the distance of three thousand miles, may be presumed; but the Separation was quickened by an the overweening & contemptuous confidence of power on the one Side, and a noble and Sensitive Spirit of freedom on the other—The crisis came rapidly on—In June 1774. a general Congress of Delegates from all the Colonies Was agreed to; and Mr Adams was one of those chosen by Massachusetts—This Congress assembled at Philadelphia in Septemb. 1774—The high character of this assembly of patriots, for wisdom, Solidity, firmness and discretion, has been justly celebrated even by the greatest names of Europe; and, perhaps, was never surpassed—the eulogium of Lord Chatham upon it is well known—it is designated by the emphatic appellation of The first Congress—In Such a body, Mr Adams became at once distinguished for talents, zeal and usefulness; taking a leading part in every important measure—It was truly said of him that “in  patriotic zeal and devotion to the publick cause, he had no superior in that immortal Senate—He Sat in council with Heroes and Sages, and was himself the exciting Spirit of the Assembly”—In the days of the darkest gloom, when the hopes of freedom and humanity seemed to be Sinking into despair and death, Mr Adams stood unmoved; he would yield nothing to timidity; he made no personal calculations of caution; and he disdained any compromise with Oppression, but marched Steadily on to his purpose, altho the path was beset with danger and ruin to himself; and no Sagacity could foresee the issue—Many of our wise and honest patriots doubted on the question of Independence; and the weak Shrunk from it with instinctive terror—The courage of Mr Adams, his confidence in his Country & her cause, bore him bravely through the trial—He animated others with his ardour; he roused them by his eloquence; he assured them by his Confidence, and convinced them by his arguments—The deed was done; the solemn declaration was made which placed these United States in the rank of the independent Nations of the earth—This sublime Act, which Struck the world with admiration, gave birth to a great and prosperous empire; prepared an Asylum for the oppressed and distressed of every People; laid, deep and strong, the foundations of civil and religious liberty; and created a bright example of the improvement to which a people may rapidly advance, whose genius and industry are unfettered by unjust Restraints and ruinous exactions—In the accomplishment of these   magnificent results, no individual had a greater share than Mr Adams—As our Contest with Great Britain assumed the character of a regular and protracted War, and to lose that of a short-lived insurrection, to be immediately Strangled by force, or conciliated by compromise, it became indispensable to engage Some powerful european  ally to aid us in the strife—France was naturally looked to, not only for her ability to give us support, but from her known jealousy of England, and her readiness to cherish every effort to diminish her power—In Novemb. 1777; Mr Adams was appointed a Commissioner to the Court of France, to solicit her Patronage. This delicate and difficult office he performed to the entire satisfaction of Congress—On his return to America in 1779, he was elected a member, and, of course, an active and leading one, of the Convention which framed the Constitution of Massachusetts; a considerable part of which was drafted by him—In August of the same year, he was again Sent to Europe as a Commissioner to negotiate a general peace; and  did not return to his Country until her independence was consummated and Secured by the treaty of 1783—In the meantime he was labouring, with indefatigable zeal and fidelity amon with the powers of Europe to obtain their Co operation in the great cause of his Country; making, in 1781 a favourable treaty With the dutch provinces—In 1780, he received a vote of thanks from Congress for his Services in Europe—In the following year he was associated with Franklin, Jefferson and others, in a plenipotentiary Commission, for concluding treaties with Several  european powers—He assisted, with great distinction, and his usual energy decision and Sagacity; in making the Treaty of 1783 with Great Britain, which restored us to peace, and terminated, forever, the her claims and power over this country.—When the United States were thus liberated from foreign Shackles, and Stood among the nations on the basis of her own Strength and resources, Mr Adams was the first minister appointed to London—He was there to Stand in the presence of the monarch he had so deeply injured, and to meet the gaze of a Court which well knew how much he had contributed to dismember their empire; and pluck the fairest jewel from the crown—But he enjoyed a distinction even more remarkable than this; he was the first minister that, may we not Say, had ever appeared as the representative of a Republick, in it’s full and just Sense—We have seen, in ancient times, tumultuous assemblages of a licentious populace; we have Seen, the iron rule of a selfish aristocracy, and the factious power of  unprincipled demagogues, called Republicks; and we have seen in modern Europe, Governments of the same essences, called Republicks, but these United States have presented to the world the  first fair and genuine example of a representative Republick; where the people are acknowledged and felt as the legitimate Source of power, but are not uncontrolled in its exercise, where they govern all, but are themselves governed by fixed decrees; moving in a System formed & regulated by their own will; preserving even themselves from the dangers of Sudden impulses and unjust caprices; Where the law is given, not by the passions of the people, but by their deliberate will, and which, when given, binds is the rule of conduct for all alike, and binds the hands that made it, until annulled by the same power acting in the same course of regulated legislation—Such a republick; Such a people it was the high destiny of Mr Adams to represent for the first time after their independent Sovereignty was fully and irrevocably acknowledged and established—In the year 1787, Mr Adams, at his own request, was permitted to return home; & a vote of thanks was passed for him in Congress, of a character beyond the ordinary language of compliment—In September 1787 that which may well be styled The Grand Convention, of the United States, promulgated their scheme of Government; which, in due time, was adopted by the people, and immediately put into operation—In 1789, Mr Adams was elected the first Vice President under this Constitution; and he was re-elected to the Same office in 1793.—On the retirement of General Washington from the Presidency in 1797; Mr Adams succeeded him in that dignified station, which he filled for the term of four years; and then, in 1801, retired to his family residence  near Boston, devoting his life “to the culture of patriotism, charity and benevolence”; and declining the repeated calls of his fellow-Citizens to high official stations—In 1820, however, he consented to serve as a Member of the Convention for as revising the Constitution of Massachusetts; and was elected President thereof by nearly an unanimous vote; but he declined the chair on account of his great age—He, nevertheless, took an interesting and useful part in the deliberations and debates of that body—On the 4 of July 1826, this great man; this enlightened Sage; this true & incorruptible patriot, died at Quincy, leaving his beloved Country great, prosperous and happy, with the exalted consciousness that he had, from his youth, been a constant and efficient instrument in bringing her to this glorious & envied Condition. The american Revolution is a bright epoch in the History of the world; and, John Adams will, forever, stand a prominent figure in the foreground of this sublime scene—May his fame and the happiness of his Country, live together, as they have grown together, and be perpetual—


Title: From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 5 July 1826
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, George Washington

					N. 23.My dear Son.
					Washington 5. July 1826.

				I have received with pleasure your Letter of the 28th. ulto. and should have been glad to have found in it an acknowledgment of the receipt of mine of the 20th. which enclosed one to the Committee of the Proprietors of the Athenaeum—Your Promotion both civil and military, will necessarily abridge your leisure time, and I hope it will also accustom you to the habit of the despatching business, which is among the most useful that a man can possess—A regular distribution of your time, and a steady adherence to the business in hand will become indispensable to you—Early hours both of repose and rising will be not less so. And avoid especially a habit of procrastination—You mention in a Letter to your mother that you are a member of three Committees to sit during the recess of the Legislature, but do not say upon what subjects they are to report.—Your intention to act and vote according to your own sense of right, even at the hazard of losing popularity is right; but you must also be very careful to avoid taking the side which is both unpopular and wrong; and if the popular sentiment be strong and urgent, you should reconsider often your own impressions, whether they may not be erroneous.Charles has been absent nearly a fortnight on a visit to New York. We are here after many Months of drought literally flooded with rain. All in tolerable health excepting Mary Hellen—I have been not altogether well myself but am not confined to the house—I am expecting another Letter from you, and remain your affectionate father

					J. Q. Adams.


Title: From Levi Lincoln to Thomas Boylston Adams, 5 July 1826
From: Lincoln, Levi
To: Adams, Thomas Boylston

					Dear Sir
					Boston Wednesday July 5. 1826

				I have received, with deep sympathy of feeling, the melancholly intelligence of the decease of your venerated Father, and beg to offer my sincere condolences to the afflicted family on this mournful occasion—Full of years, rich in all the honors which virtue and patriotism can deserve, and a grateful country should bestow, Secure of a precious remembrance by Posterity, to the latest generation of a redeemed and free people, he is indeed, but removed from the burthens of exhaustid nature, and gone to the rewards of approvd fidelity. If I may be permitted, in this hour of sorrowing humanity, so to suggest, his death was at a moment the most glorious for a lasting association with the brightest act of a noble life—I feel greatly honored in being permitted to testify my respect for his character, by being a pall bearer at his interment, and will be at Quincy, at the hour proposed—Such official notice of the events as was thought Suitable has been ordered. The Executive Council have voted to attend the funeral obsequies. I have also, as Commander in Chief, directed minute Guns to be fired, at Quincy, during this Solemn Servicewith Sentiments of my respectful / consideration Your Obedient Servant

					Levi Lincoln


Title: From Josiah, III Quincy to John Quincy Adams, 5 July 1826
From: Quincy, Josiah, III
To: Adams, John Quincy

					My dear Sir.
					Boston 5th. July 1826

				You will have heard before this reaches you of the fate of your revered father. He has died full of years and of honors, at the very hour which he would have chosen, if I know anything of his heart, had the decision been left to him.On the 4th. of July 1826, at , fifty years, probably to an hour, after he had signed the decleration of his country’s freedom,—at the very moment, when the whole nation was repeating his name and celebrating his virtues, with an unanimity of feeling altogether unexampled.—He had lived long enough—for he had lived to honour—to virtue—and to the assurance of a glorious immortality.—The moment of his death has occasioned a sensation here of a very peculier and interesting character. It is unanimously agreed to be the crowning of his fame by associating, and as it were identifying his existence with the most glorious act and time of his life.  But my object in commencing this letter was different—And I hasten to that object.—my pressure of engagements being extreme.I inclose you a copy of your father’s will—I have been obliged to copy it myself—It is very rough but I hope you will be able to decypher it—except the formal part & close it is verbatim—You will perceive he has made you and I joint-Executors—when he first proposed this to me, it was with an urgency, and under circumstances I could not refuse—At that time I had comparatively few engagements. But it is now almost, if not altogether, impracticable for me to engage in anything new, particularly in a concern, which will require much attention is of some delicacy, and considerable responsibility. I am desirous to decline the office of Executor, under my present circumstances;—they being such as to render my performing it acceptably almost impracticable.However, I shall  any thing conclusive until I hear from you—But my opinion is that it is my duty to declare both on your account & my own—Your son George is now at a period of life, in which he might be associated with you, in the Executorship—or act as your agent.I hope, however, that you will be able to come forth on to Massachusetts forthwith. The taking possession of your father’s papers, the making definite arrangements, relative to his affairs, in the first instance cannot be done efficiently, without the influence of your personal presence at  a short time. There are circumstances, which render it important, that you should make this sacrifice of your public occupations to the interests of your family—I beg you to understand that I shall decline the Executor ship, absolutely, unless of views of duty occur, such as at present  do not perceive. But, in any event you may always command my best services.I wish to hear from you immediately concerning your wishes. At all events, it does seem to me, you ought personally to come to Massachusetts. I do not see, how otherwise the necessary arrangements can be made—nor can you otherwise understand the  state of things here.The motives of your father, in every part of his will were explained to me most fully—I thought them most wise and honorable both in a man & as a father. But they can only be explained to you in an interview. If the tenor does not sufficiently explain itself.Very truly and respectfully / Yr hl St

					Josiah Quincy


Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to Samuel L. Southard, 8 July 1826
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson
To: Southard, Samuel L.

					(Private)
					ante 8 July 1826

				Mrs. Adams presents her best respects to Mr Southard as Mr Adams has with the greatest Kindness and liberality allowed J J. Boyd to hope that he may obtain a new warrant—Mrs. A. solicits Mr Southard to be equally indulgent to the follies of youth and for the sake of his unhappy papers to the Youth a New Warrant requesting at the same time that he may be sent immediately on board some Vessel if at Norfolk it would be more easy to ship him off in the Steam  boat—Excuse haste / respectfully

					L C Adams


Title: Columbian Centinel, Death and Funeral of John Adams, 8 July 1826
From: Columbian Centinel
To:

					DEATH OF JOHN ADAMS.
					Boston, (Massachusetts,) Saturday Morning. July 8, 1826.

				“Lord, now let thy Servant depart in Peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.”ON the late festive day, it was mentioned by many citizens who had called in the morning to pay their respects to the venerated Sage, at his residence in Quincy, that his eventful life was rapidly ebbing, but few thought the bright day which was then passing would be his last. Intelligence of his demise was received during the night, and was announced to the citizens on Wednesday morning, by the tolling of all the bells in the city, and other tokens of respect.—He was born Oct. 19. 1735.The Executive of the Commonwealth being in session on Wednesday, His Excellency the Governor announced that he had just received the melancholy intelligence of the decease of the venerable JOHN ADAMS, former President of the United States, and one of the three last surviving signers of the Declaration of Independence, who departed this life the preceding afternoon, at five o’clock, at his residence in Quincy. Whereupon the following resolve was passed:—Resolved, That the Supreme Executive of the Commonwealth, in testimony of the deep sense entertained by them of the eminent public usefulness and private worth of the deceased, one of the most distinguished patriots of the revolution and founders of American liberty, will, in their official capacity, attend the funeral obsequies of the late Hon. JOHN ADAMS, on Friday next, at 3 o’clock, P.M.Head Quarters, Boston, July 5th, 1826.GENERAL ORDERS.—His Excellency the Commander in Chief, having been informed that JOHN ADAMS, one of the signers of the declaration of American Independence, and a former President of the United States, departed this life, yesterday afternoon, while his fellow citizens were commemorating the Jubilee of that glorious event; and deeply impressed with the obligations which the long and distinguished services of the deceased have imposed on all posterity to honor his memory, emulate his patriotism and imitate his virtues,—orders that minute guns be fired in front of the State House, in Boston, from twelve to one o’clock this day; and, at Quincy, on Friday afternoon, during the performance of the funeral obsequies.Major General Crane is charged with the execution of this orderBy His Excellency’s Command.WM. H. SUMNER, Adj. General.On the receipt of the above tidings at Salem the bells of the town were tolled; and the Essex Register of yesterday, gave the following obituary notice of the life of the deceased:—DEATH OF JOHN ADAMS.On Tuesday last closed the half century since the patriots and sages of this country proclaimed its independence, and with its parting rays the spirit of the elder ADAMS ascended to Heaven. That bold and energetic spirit which inspired the councils of America with the determination to become independent has ascended on high, and that eloquent tongue which urged its declaration on the fourth of July, 1776, on the fourth of July, 1826, was palsied in death. Thus has terminated, and gloriously terminated, the virtuous and patriotic life of JOHN ADAMS—blessed by his country, honored by the world, and immortal as history. Amidst the bosom of  revolution has closed his mortal career, viewing as the patriarch of old, before his closing eyes, the expanding glories of his country the fruits of his exertions, and the blessings purchased by him for posterity. The ideas which occupy our minds in contemplating his  character and the period allotted by heaven for gathering him to his fathers, fill our hearts with such feelings as disable us from searching in books for the record of the many memorable incidents of his life, and we can only present such facts as are present to our memory.—His virtues and services will employ the most eloquent tongues in the nation, and his history be written by its ablest historian. His life and history are the history of liberty and the rights of man, triumphing over oppression, and founding a lasting empire on the broad foundation of the people’s will, and the happiness of the governed.President Adams was educated at Cambridge and to the profession of the law. So eminent was his standing in that profession, that at an early age he was appointed Chief Justice of the State, but he declined this office. Amid the force of excitement produced by the Boston massacre, he dared to undertake the defence of the British troops. His success in this trial was complete. It evinced his talents and his strong sense of justice and official duty. A less intrepid spirit would not have dared to stem the current of popular indignation by engaging in such a cause. But it is not in his professional life, but his political, that we are to trace his glorious career. He soon sacrificed his profession and every thing to the liberties of his fellow citizens and the independence of his country. In 1770 he was elected a representative from Boston, and in 1774 a member of the Council, but was negatived by Gov. Gage, from the part he took in politics. From 1770, and previous, and until 1776, he was constantly engaged, and took a leading part in all the measures which were adopted to defend the colonies from the unjust attacks of the British Parliament. He was one of the earliest that contemplated the independence of the country, and her separation from her mother country. No man in the Congress of 1776 did so much as he did to procure the declaration of independence. It is believed that the motion was made by a member from Virginia at his suggestion, that he seconded his motion and sustained it by most powerful and resistless argument. By his influence also Mr. Jefferson was placed at the head of the Committee who framed the declaration. His reason for procuring the motion to come from Virginia, and of placing one of her delegation at the head of the Committee, was to engage the hearty cooperation of that great State in the work of independence.By the committee who were appointed on the subject of a separation from the mother country, Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams were appointed a sub–committee to frame a Declaration of Independence. The draft reported was that of Mr. Jefferson, and he has deservedly received great credit for it. But those who consider how much easier it is to draft a report than to procure its passage and adoption, and who reflect that Mr. Jefferson never spoke in public, and that John Adams was the bold and daring spirit of the Congress of 1776, and the eloquent advocate of its boldest measures cannot fail to award him the highest honor which the adoption of that declaration could confer. From the declaration of Independence until the peace Mr. Adams was employed in the same glorious cause. Whilst Washington, at the head of our armies was fighting the battles of Liberty, and defending our country from the ravages of the enemy, Adams was employed in a service less brilliant, but scarcely less important. Through the whole war he was exerting his talents at the various Courts of Europe, to obtain loans and alliances and every succor to sustain our armies and the cause of Liberty and our Independence. Nor did  his labors cease until he had accomplished every object for which he was sent abroad not until he had sealed our Independence by a Treaty of Peace, which he signed, with Great Britain.Immediately after the Treaty of Peace, he was appointed Ambassador to Great–Britain;—on the adoption of the Constitution, he was elected first Vice President of the United States. During the whole period of the Presidency of Washington, Mr. Adams was Vice President. He was as uniformly consulted by Washington as though he had been a member of his cabinet, on all important questions. On the death of Washington, Mr. Adams was elected his successor.During the administration of Mr. Adams, party spirit raged without restraint. Too independent himself to wear the trammels of either party, he was warmly supported by neither. Too open for concealment, and perfectly void of guile and intrigue, he practised no arts to secure himself in power. At the expiration of his first term, Mr. Jefferson, the candidate of the Republican party, and his successful competitor, received four votes more that Mr. Adams. Mr. Adams then retired to private life at his seat in Quincy.When the foreign aspect of our country became clouded, and difficulties over shadowed it, he came forth the warmest advocate of the rights of the country, and of those measures of the administration calculated to sustain them. His letter in defence of our seamen against foreign impressment, is one of the ablest and most irresistable arguments in the English language. So satisfied were those who had been politically opposed to him, of his merits and services, that he was selected by Republicans of Massachusetts, as their candidate for Governor, on the death of Gov. Sullivan—but he declined again entering into public life. He was one of the Electors, and President of the Electoral College, when Mr. Monroe was elected President of the U. States. Having been the principal draftsman of the Constitution of this State, when the Convention was called to amend it in 1820, he was unanimously elected their President. On his declining this honor, unanimous resolutions were passed by this great assembly of five hundred selected from all parties, expressive of their exalted sense of his merits and public services.The private character of President Adams was perfectly pure, unsullied and unstained. There was no Christian or moral duty which he did not fulfil; the kindest of husbands and the best of fathers. To the excellent precepts and education which he gave his children, the nation are undoubtedly indebted for having at this time at their head his eldest son.President Adams was serene and tranquil to the last. Conscious of having performed his duty, and of a life well spent and devoted to his country, the blasts of calumny which assailed his declining years never ruffled the serenity of his mind. He regarded them as little as the troubled elements, for he knew that like them they would soon subside, and that then, every thing would be like his own bosom, peace and sunshine. To say that he had weak points and foibles is but to say that he was a man. But his defects were those of a bold and daring spirit, an open, generous and confiding heart. He knew no guile and he feared none. Having no selfish purposes to answer, he practiced no arts to effect them. At the age of ninety, at the completion of a half century from the commencement of that revolution he had been so instrumental in effecting, he sunk by gradual decay into the arms of death. He lived to see his country’s liberties placed on a firm and immovable basis, and the light of liberty which she diffused enlightening the whole earth. On the Jubilee of Independence, his declining faculties were roused by the rejoicings in the metropolis. He inquired the cause of the salutes, and was told it was the fourth of July. He answered, “it is a great and glorious day.” He never spake more. Thus his last thoughts and his latest words were like those of his whole life, thoughts and words which evinced a soul replete with love of country and interest in her welfare.Interment of Mr. Adams.Agreeably to arrangements made the remains of the Hon. JOHN ADAMS, were entombed yesterday afternoon, at Quincy, with every token of veneration, respect, and affection.An immense body of citizens assembled from various parts of the State. Several carriages were from Salem and more remote townsA corps of artillery, stationed on Mount Wallaston, fired minute guns, during the whole time of the funeral services, and several similar tokens of respect were heard in the adjoining towns; the bells of which were tolled and the flag on various gun-houses, &c. were hoisted half–staff.The Relatives of the deceased, the Societies and others, assembled at the late President’s mansion.The citizens of Quincy met in the town–hall, organized, and moved in a body to the vicinity of the mansion–house, when, about 4 o’clock the Funeral Procession was formed, under the direction of several Marshals, composed of Gentlemen of Quincy.ORDER OF PROCESSIONMarshall.Citizens of Quincy.Undertaker.Pall Bearers,Pall Bearers,Judge DAVIS.(drawing) Hon. Mr. GREENLEAF.President KIRKLAND.Judge STORY.Governor LINCOLN.Lt. Gov. WINTHROP.Male Relatives.Members of Honorable Counc.Senators.Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives.Secretary and Treasurer.Hon. Messrs. Lloyd, Silsbee, Webster, Crowninshield, Bailey and Everett.Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of Boston.City Auditor, Clerk and Marshal.Professors and other offices of the University.Members of the Cincinnati.Clergy of a large number of towns.United States Navy and Army Officers.Militia Officers.United States Civil Officers.Strangers.Citizens of the towns in the vicinity of Quincy.Twelve mourning coaches, with female relatives closed the Procession.The procession was of great length. When the front arrived at the meeting–house, the citizens of Quincy opened ranks, while the corpse, the relatives, and others, entered the Church, the pulpit and galleries of which were dressed in mourning. The House was thronged.The services commenced and closed with anthems. The Rev. Mr. Whitney, Pastor of the Society, addressed the Throne of Grace in prayer, and delivered an impressive Sermon, in which he gave a summary of the eminent services, distinguished talents, amiable life, and Christian virtues of his venerated parishionour.The body was them borne to the burial ground, and deposited in the family tomb.For the CentinelON THE DEATH OF JOHN ADAMS.WHAT mean these bells that thus incessant toll?Why doth that cannon’s roar each moment roll?The flags at half–mast hang? But yesterdayThey crown’d each top–mast with a proud display.The echoes of the song yet fill our Halls;Ensigns of Triumph decorate their walls:Our last night’s bonfires still are burning low.What means this medley strange of joy and wo?Grief hath no limits, sorrow seems to rage.But once before such gloom has wrapp’d our age.But look above! what spirit hov’ring there,E’en now waits midway in those realms of air?His wings are upward, yet he looks below;He’s summon’d heavenward, yet seems loth to go.Angels attendant on his passage wait,And heaven unfolds to him its golden gate,And, lo, our WASHINGTON brings forth a crown,Yet still his looks on us are bended down,And ev’n while heaven receives his saluted part,His look proclaims his Country hath his heart.The silent tears of every rank and ageAnnounce the loss of QUINCY’S PATRIOT SAGE.In days of danger, peril was his pride.In hours of darkness, prudence was his guide.In times of tempest, at the helm of state,His grasp was nervous; but his look sedate;His eye was watchful; and his arm was strong;His care incessant, and his vigils long;His mind decisive; and the deed design’dBeam’d twin–born with the thought that fill’d his mind;Or else, so instantly the deed was wrought,Volition seem’d the secundine of thought;Yet no untimely birth brought plan obscure,Weak, or not vigorous, or immature.His youth’s first queries manhood’s mind engage.His youthful doubts were oft unsolv’d by age.Where e’er he question’d, doubt was sure to rise;But where he doubted, wisdom slowly replies.We saw his look the mirror of his mind,Contemplative, determin’d, well defin’d.In council ready; lucid in debate;In mind decisive; purpose, sure as fate;In action prompt; and fertile in design,With rich  still exhaustless mine;With genius bright, and yet, endowment rare,The skill of prudence, the reserve of care.His courage seconded, with dauntless hand,The boldest measures which his daring plann’d.His foresight seem’d to men prophetic gaze.Undaunted he beheld war’s lightning blaze,He mark’d its progress, told its coming path,And seiz’d the rod to shield us from its wrath:Wrapp’d in a cloud we saw him fearless rock,Unscath’d by lightning and the thunder’s shock;Fast round his form the fiery flashes fall,He eyes, sustains, averts, directs them all.He trod a pathway unexplor’d before;An unknown ocean, midst a tempest’s roar.Men’s hearts misgave them as they rode its waves;He fires their courage, every danger braves;With vigorous arm the barque of State he steers,Till Freedom’s land in view, all green, appears.Past are the dangers of that troubled deepCall’d Revolution; where whole nations sleep.Pass’d are those bars which passion’s currents raise,Ambition, envy, pride, in counter ways.The shoals and quicksands of the shore are past,Where wrecks of proud Republics have been cast.There lie the vestiges of Grecian power;Of Macedonia’s interregnum hour.There are the ruins of each later age,Since Macedonia’s storm of civil rage;When hate and envy all the East invest,While Rome’s ambitious pride convuls’d the West;When factions, urg’d o’er factions fallen, swell,From Perdiccas till old Beleucus fell:Last of that far–famed band who made their ageA bloody portraiture of civil rage.There is the wreck of Carthagenian fame;And there the remnant of the Roman name.Let France, let England’s Commonwealth’s men teachOur Sage’s prudence, forecast, mental reach.Nay, look at States and laws more near our own,The same preeminence is clearly shown.And though no Delphian oracle foretoldHis plans more perfect than all codes of old,The wisdom of our Fathers early sawThe voice Lycurgus needed for his fame,To them in wisdom’s surer accents came.Useless and vain the aid of pomp or art,To gain their voices, or secure their heart.Spartans were bold, Atheneans were refin’d,Our nation’s master–trait is strength of mind.And he whose loss his country now deplores,Might boast of wisdom’s choicest, richest stores.He scann’d the faults of every nation’s laws:He knew the every need of Freedom’s cause.He liv’d to witness what his youth had plann’dWas wisely counsel’d, and was justly scann’d.His wisdom our anelle, he was madeTo claim our trust without Egeria’s aid.And Quincy’s record, on the page of fame,Shall stand with Cyprus, and with Ardea’s name.Grave in the Senate, such his noble mienAs in that ancient Forum once was seen,When the wild Gaulish army paus’d in awe,And haughty Brennus bow’d at what he saw,When first those Senators of Rome he view’d,Sitting in silence, dauntless, unsubdued,And thought those white–robed men, so small the odds,No captive Senate, but assembled Gods.So sat that Congress which declar’d, that We,The people of these States, were thenceforth Free.And British soldiers, fir’d with noble flame,Wept that to fratricide most base they came.With sword and musket, they oppugn our laws;With heart and soul, they cry, God speed the cause.But still for King and Duty bold they fight;And yet we conquer in the name of Right.‘Twas then, so Adams, and his compeers, turn’d,The eyes of all the path of Freedom learn’d.‘Twas then, attentive to their deep debates,We learn’d the destinies of Sovereign States.‘Twas then, as mov’d by accents from the skies,While all our gathering glory he descries,Our Adams spoke: “I see through all the gloom,The rays of light and glory which illumeOur risen country; I can see the endIs more than worth the means that we expend.Posterity shall triumph in the causeOf Liberty, Religion, Equal Laws.Then solemnise this day by praise to Heaven,With pomp, shows, games, guns, bells, from morn till even,Throughout this Continent one chorus send,From this time forth, till time itself shall end.”One half a century hath roll’d away,And pomp, shows, games, guns, bells, proclaim the day.Yes, we have stood at dawn on Bunker’s height,And seen the sun roll forth his Fiftieth Light,And heard the welcomings which Freemen raiseOn this the proudest of their festal days.O ‘twas a thrilling, an ennobling hour!Nor Greek, nor Roman breast e’er felt its power.And then to pass our streets, each walk, each square,And see fair forms, gay hearts, bright faces there,Who as he saw this sight, and felt that glow,Wish’d not a pilgrimage of pride to go,To kneel beside the bed of Quincy’s sage,To hail him Father of this happy age.

					Grolio.


Title: From Josiah, III Quincy to John Quincy Adams, 8 July 1826
From: Quincy, Josiah, III
To: Adams, John Quincy

					My dear Sir
					Boston 8 July. 1826.

				As I know you will be desirous to know the circumstances of your father’s funeral and the principles which were adopted in relation to it, and the family having in a very great degree considered my opinion on the subject, I deem it my duty to make you acquainted with both.—Two modes were suggested of paying honor to his memory.  1st. A public funeral, at the expence of the State or the City, his body to be brought into the Statehouse—for that purpose—Either the State, or the City, would cheerfully have met the expence. I was decidedly of opinion against this course. It was my wish that nothing should be done, in relation to the remains of your father, which should have the appearance, in his immediate relatives, of forcing a public tribute. The idea of transferring a dead body from one town to another for the sable of honor, seemed to me, of at least a dubious character; and has to my mind something repulsive in it. Besides I thought much was due to the feelings of the inhabitants of the town of Quincy, who would have had reason to be wounded, had his remains been carried elsewhere to receive their last honors. I recommended, therefore, that your father should be buried, so far as it respected his family, as its head, and as a private gentleman;—that, according to his will, the funeral should be as little expensive as possible;—that two days should intervene between the day of his death and that of his  funeral, and that the time of his funeral should be given, to the public through the medium of the papers.My object in this was to give to his fellow citizens of the town and vicinity the opportunity of expressing according to their own state of feeling their interest and respect for his character.—This course was adopted—the public papers will, undoubtedly, give you an account of what occurred—It was impossible for anything of the kind to have been conducted in a more  solemn or affecting manners or better calculated to indicate the deep feelings of interest and respect entertained for your father’s character by his neighbors—I should suppose that four Thousand persons were present. The strictest decorum was observed, and nothing occurred, which could be otherwise than grateful to you.—As a single circumstance may be stated to you, by possibility, in a way to effect your feelings unpleasantly, I choose to relate the circumstance just as it was, to the end that your mind may have perfect ease in this respect—After the services, and while the body was yet in the church, two or three of the City Marshalls came to me with a request that the multitudes assembled about the Church might  have the gratification of taking  a last view of the  remains of your father. They stated to me that several had come from a distance of thirty miles to the funeral; and that if denied, it would occasion a great sensation—After consulting with your son, and your brother,—and also with several gentlemen in the procession, particularly with Judge Story;—who deemed it in every respect proper—the bier was detained at the tomb—the Pall bearers and the procession dismissed, and the opportunity requested given to about two Thousand people as near as I could ascertain—Your son and I—with all the Marshalls of the procession, remaining, until the multitude were satisfied, which was done, with great decency, in about half an hour, when the body was interred—I have been thus particular, lest any account should be transmitted, which might offend your feelings—Nothing did occur, unpleasant, and from the excitement and multitude, it was inevitable that they must be gratified—A refusal would have been deemed harsh, and might have been attended with unpleasant circumstances—As it was—all went away satisfied—and you have no reason but to be entirely gratified.On the next, (this) morning at 8 oClock I went to the family mansion, and requested an interview with T. ——; as I had great fear lest some of the provisions of your fathers will might occasion something  unpleasant, if communicated to him suddenly.—After preparing him for the information, by  general expressions and representations and appeals, as I thought most likely to produce a right state of feeling, I broke the subject of the tenor of the will to him, with as much soothing as possible. He received it in a manner most kind and honorable to him—declared his entire acquiescence in it,—said it was right and that he was satisfied—Taking me, by the hand, he recalled to recollection our former intimacy and college affinities, in a manner both affecting and grateful to me. The tenor of his expressions was such as more than anything which has yet occurred, has made me regret, what seems to me now impracticable, my necessity not to accede to your fathers will in relation to the Executorship—The state of his mind, in relation to us both, and to the provisions of the will was this morning all that either of us could wish.I then called all the heirs together and read the will to them, in presence of your son—They were deeply affected—But I have no doubt, they are, as they all ought to be entirely Satisfied—The course adopted relative to your fathers papers—as well with respect to his family generally, your son will write to you. My own engagements not permitting to add anything to the preceding but the assurances of respect and of the best service of your obedt. & hb St

					Josiah Quincy


Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 9 July 1826
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson

					My dearest Louisa
					Baltimore 9. July 1826. Sunday 2–O’Clock P. M.

				It was as I had apprehended—On our arrival this morning at Merrill’s, we were informed by him that my father expired at 5 in the afternoon of the 4th. instt. and on reaching this place the New–York Evening Post of Friday was put into my hands, containing the proceedings of the Governor and council of Massachusetts, and of the board of Aldermen, of Boston upon the Event—You are no doubt ere this apprized of it directly from the family—He still lives in Memory, and that Memory is blessed—I write you to say that the preparation for this issue which we had undergone from the Letters of yesterday, has enabled me to receive it with composure, and I pray that we may all lay it to heart with a deep and solemn feeling; that we also may also be ready, each and every one of us cheerfully to depart at the final summons of our Maker.Your ever affectionate husband

					John Quincy Adams.


Title: From Susanna Boylston Adams Clark Treadway to Abigail Louisa Smith Adams Johnson, 9 July 1826
From: Treadway, Susanna Boylston Adams Clark
To: Johnson, Abigail Louisa Smith Adams

Quincy July 9th 1826

I will endeavour my Dear Sister, to compose myself as far as to give you the particulars of the afflictive event, which I communicated to your husband on Tuesday last.
The Saturday previous to the death of our Dear, and venerated Grand Parent, his  dinner  to Mrs Jennings, and although fatigued with the exertion he came down to dinner, to gratify Mr Marston. on Sunday Morning, I went into his room, to ask him how he did, before I went to Church; “very feeble my dear” was the reply, on my return in the afternoon, I was much struck with the extreme paleness of his countenance, and mentioned it to Louisa, who having been with him all day, did not perceive it so much. he seemed oppressed and breathed with difficulty. Cousin was quite concerned about him, and asked me if she had not better send for the Dr in the morning I told her by all means, and accordingly he came, about nine oclock, Grand Father had been up, smoked his Cigar, and lain down again, he was very restless, and found it difficult to raise, as to Cough—the Dr felt his pulse while he lay sleeping, and immediately said “he is going very fast” “I should not be surprised, if he did not live twenty four hours’ “if the medicine which I shall give him operate favourably, he may live a week or two.” I sat down immediately (as Uncle Thomas was in Boston) and wrote to Uncle John the Dr’s opinion—after dinner, he appeared relieved, although the difficulty of breathing continued, sat up for a short time but complained of great soreness, and thirst; in the evening the medicine had a favorable effect, his breathing became easy as a Child asleep. I sat on the bed for some time, and left him at ten oclock apparently quite easy. in the morning the young man who took care of him told me he had been up with him all night, and that he was more unwell. Louisa and myself went into the room and bade him good morning. he smiled very expressively, but answered “I am full of pain” little Susan then got upon the bed, and stroking his face with her hands kissed him. ‘dear little creature, good little creature, be a good child’ he said. he several times expressed his satisfaction, that Thomas had got home, and asked for him repeatedly. he also said a few words to Isaac Hull, and Joseph (this was before breakfast) he grew very uneasy, and asked to be taken out of bed, but we were afraid to move him, untill the Dr arrived, he complained of such extreme soreness—when he came they put him upon another bed, and had his own made more comfortable, he asked to be put back, and was again removed—after he had a little recovered from the fatigue, I said to him Grand Father do you know what day it is? it is the fourth of July Sir, the fiftieth anniversary of Independence” it is a great day it is a good day, was his reply—he spoke with so much difficulty, that I was obliged to put my ear close to his mouth to catch the words, “Shall I write to your Son”? “No! it would worry him.” but after a moments pause he said “Yes, write to my son, tell him how sick I am,” and “give my love to Louisa. I hope she will do well.” I was afraid of disturbing him with questions. the family all assembled in the Chamber, and as Thomas and myself were sitting on the bed we heard him whisper “Thomas Jefferson survives.” Cousin Louisa asked him if she should send for Mr  Nohtney—No said he, “I pray for you myself, pray for you all.” “give my love to Mrs Johnson and her children.” A Messenger was despatched to Boston for George Adams—the last words he spoke were to me, upon struggling for breath, he said, “help me child, help me” I wish I could Sir was the reply. George arrived just at dinner time he was then speechless, but he gave him a most affectionate look of recognition. after this he appeared free from distress, his breathing grew shorter, and at about half past six, his spirit departed, without a struggle. at the moment, as if to render the scene more and fully impressive, a clap of thunder shook the house, and a few moments after the weary spirit was at rest, a splendid rainbow, arched immediately over the heavens  was a sublime sight, amidst the joyful exclamations of the  when the whole Country was celebrating their great-Jubilee, the spirit of the Patriot ascended to God who gave it—what a wonderful event! the hand of the Almighty was visible, in it; he was buried on Friday, an immense concourse of people followed him to the grave, the church was hung in black, and Minute Guns were fired during the performance of the funeral obsequies, you will probably see the account in the papers. No change is to take place here, untill Uncle John Adams arrives, he and Mr Quincy are Executors, and I am told the will is just, and excellent; but my Sister: I have lost my father, my protector my friend, and to Louisa and myself, everything looks dark and cheerless. I look to God for support under this heavy affliction. I will write you again next week, the
my love to our dear Mother, your husband and children— / your affectionate and afflicted Sister

Susan B Clark


Title: From Charles Francis Adams to Peter Force, 10 July 1826
From: Adams, Charles Francis
To: Force, Peter

					Dr Sir:
					Monday Morg July 10th, 1826

				In answer to your note, I herewith send you a letter from my brother, George W. Adams, containing all the information which we ourselves possess on the subject. With the request that it will not be published as a letter, as I have no authority to warrant such a step. Any information which it contains you are welcome to use. And be pleased to return it as soon as you have done with it, since my father to whom it is addressed, has not seen it—My brother has gone out of town—In his absence I sign my self / yrs &c &c

					C. F. Adams—


Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to George Washington Adams, 10 July 1826
From: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson
To: Adams, George Washington

Washington 10 July 1826

Your Letter with that of Hariet Welsh was received by me a few hours after your father and John had left the City on their way to Boston—with the vain hope as it has proved of still being in time to receive the last blessing of your truly venerated Grandfather—Heaven has ordained otherwise and we must bow submissively to its all wise but inscrutable decrees and in gratitude raise our hearts in fervent thanksgiving for having granted even in death that the memory of our revered relative should be handed down to posterity with the honours and the freedom of the Nation—The events of the 50th anniversary of our Independence are stamp’d forever by the most wonderful coincidence of the death of two Men whose fame in the annals of our Country are as unperishable as mortality can make them—The one loss this mortal state in all the pure and moral independence that virtue and patient suffering could impose supporting himself with all the dignity of calm philosophy under very limited circumstances and many many privations that affect a noble mind—but he had strength of mind sufficient to withstand the temptation of appearing in a stile beyond his means and spent—the remmints of his property in providing for his children thank God without calling for the assistance of the Nation to support them in extravagance—Oh let the waters of Lethe wash out the remembrance of the call which has been made upon the people to (in my opinion) blot the fame of the name and the Country—May his soul rest in peace and may such honours if honours they be, be buried with him and no more ring among the publick to the shame of his descendants. Were it my own use I do declare I would rather have left my Country and sought service in a foreign than thus have seen my name bandied before the publick for such a purpose—
God Bless you my Son tell your father we are anxious to hear from him and write again as soon as possible—Every respect will be shown to your Grandfathers memory here— Ever yours

L C Adams

Love to all—


Title: From François Adriaan Van der Kemp to Thomas Boylston Adams, 10 July 1826
From: Van der Kemp, François Adriaan
To: Adams, Thomas Boylston

My Dear Sir!
Oldenbarneveld 10 July 1826

This morning I did See in a N.Y. paper—the announced death of your Revered Father—my beloved and respected Frend—during more than forty years—alas! He is no more—I am nearly left alone—and fostered—in vain—the hope, that I Should See Him once more! You with your Dear Lady and family enjoy’d this happiness, and rendered Him by your unrelenting attentions—in his last moments—thankful to His God. What a blessing to have possessed—So long—Such an excellent man—as your Father and friend. The remembrance of Him cannot be obliterated—Posterity will with eagerness do Him justice—by recollecting his exalted merits, where his contemporaries had been deficient in filling up the measure.
Continue to enjoy happiness with your beloved family—renew by all its members the kind remembrance of one, once So dear to their deceased Parents—while I cordially assure you, that I all ways Shall remain their admiring Friend—I am with affectionate esteem—  / Yours &c

Fr. Adr—van der Kemp


Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 11 July 1826
From: Adams, John Quincy
To: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson

					My dearest friend,
					City–Hotel New York. 11. July 1826. Tuesday 1/2 past 1. P. M.

				We arrived safe here, about two hours since, and in two hours more expect to be on our way to Providence in the Steam Boat.Mr John Sergeant came on with us thus far, from Philadelphia—I have met every where a kind and Sympathetic feeling—Here we have seen Mr. G. Sullivan, Mr C. King and Mr Blunt—As you will remember me this day, I have determined to shew you that I need not to be reminded of you—No better day for that which is to me the prayer of every day, and of every hour—that the blessings of heaven may be showered on you and on ours / affectionately your husband

					J. Q. Adams

					Please to present this for me to Copy—Love to all—

			John—


Title: A Dirge: On the Death of Our Illustrious 2d and 3d Presidents, 11 July 1826
From: Norwich Courier
To:

Norwich, July 11, 1826.

A DIRGE: On the death of our illustrious 2d and 3d Presidents, Hastily composed on hearing that of the latter.
Weep! Columbia, Weep!—Weep! for sorrows upon sorrows, made more excessive, from breaking in upon thy most joyous hour, have come.—And, in weeping, call Oceans to thy aid to assuage this thy double sorrow—than which, none deeper could not—cannot come.
One, that to our saddened ear had brought the first tale of woe, had but a moment gone, when another, like an overwhelming flood, broke in upon the already afflicted soul.—While yet the sad tale of him who told the death of Adams, the zealous, the determined, the unyielding—who stood as the enlivener, the support of the whole in the hour of peril, was scarcely finished,—another, with tidings from the Sacred Mount, announced the demise of Jefferson the Great, the Good—whose far-stretching and comprehensive mind embraced more than any other, of that science wherein the safety and happiness of nations consist—came like a flood from the Mountain Lake, whose high swollen waters forcing their banks, in down tumbling torrents, brings desolations on the plains below.
Weep! fathers and mothers in Israel, for those that supported you in youth, through the season of trials, are not.—Weep! young men and maidens of Columbia, for they who cleared your paths of briars and thorns, and sprinkled them with roses, are not. Weep! little children, for those, whose virtues you must emulate, or your liberties will be lost, are not. Weep! Europe, Asia and Africa, for those, so distant, that labored for you with effect, are not. Weep! a World, for those, who once, on the Banks of the Delaware, with the illimitable power of Liberty in their view, sat legislating for the whole, are not. Fame, with thy crape-bearing trumpet, spread the gloomy tidings throughout the Earth; and thou Triton, in sables, o’er the sea; tell a World, that Adams, the senior in Nestorian age, with Jefferson, scarce his junior, that, in union, as brothers, once labored through perils where its hopes were at stake; after a momentary separation again were united; and on the same hour of the same day, and that the day of all others they were so desirous to see, being the fiftieth anniversary of their joint great act, and the First Grand National Jubilee, in triumph ascended, amidst the shouts and far sounding cannons of an Empire of their own creating, to seats by the side of Great Washington, that from the beginning was prepared and reserved for the most worthy.
Sink low, ye Banners! a Brilliant Constellation that has spread over every sea, and waved with benign promise in every harbor, for those who spake you into existence, are not. Groan deeply, ye Cannons! who have terribly shaken the vast world of waters, carrying destruction to the foe—for those who made you so efficient by the inspirations of Liberty, are not. Hide—thy head in clouds, O Sun! and thine behind the mountains, O Moon! and in darkness thine, thou little Stars! for the greatest of those on whom thou hast shone or twinkled, are not. Tip thy every spear and leaf, now green, with black, O Earth! for thy brightest ornaments are leaving thee apace: and thou, O Sea! turn thy snowy foam to Sable.—Open wide thy joyous Portals, O Heaven! for the gloriously ascending pair.


Title: From Stephen Peabody to John Quincy Adams, 12 July 1826
From: Peabody, Stephen
To: Adams, John Quincy

					Sir,
					Atkinson N.H. 12th July 1826

				I have no assurance that my opinions have any claims to your confidence; but I have been acquainted with the writer of the inclosed letter for thirty years past. He is about sixty five years old & has always sustained a good character. He is an inhabitant of Orland in the County of Hancock on Penobscot River in Maine. He has seen better days than the present. He was employed several years previous to the last war as master of an American Ship in the freighting business from London to different parts of Europe.He returned home, was appointed a Magistrate of the Massachusetts government, &    since of Maine.He is in my opinion intitled to full confidence as a deserving, worthy honest man, although he has niver been fortunate in the acquisition of property.His proper course, I presume would be an application to the Treasury department for the desired appointment, through the Superintendent of Light Houses for Maine.I conceive that his appointment to the humble Office of Keeper of the light house at “Moos peek head” would be perfectly satisfactory to the publick & more especially to his Sea faring bretheren.I am Sir with profound respect your / most humble servant

					Stephen Peabody


Title: From Harriet Welsh to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 13 July 1826
From: Welsh, Harriet
To: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson

					July—13th.—1826

				The President, and your son, arrived last night my dear Mrs. Adams; well, and not more fatigued than was to be expected from so hasty a journey—or than he is usually—they go to Quincy this morn’g—. It is about three weeks since I passed two or three days at Quincy and then felt a conviction that it would not be possible to preserve your Fathers life much longer—without the greatest & most minute attentions—these were administered night & day—I expressed this conviction,—“that he would not be kept in this life much beyond the 4th. July—if he was till that period—unless he should live longer in his bed—”—I did not know of the Presidents wish to come—nor did Louisa, to my knowledge.—I had a desire to write you my opinion as I tho’t. those who had long seen him could not judge so well—but the fear of interfering deterred & I confess too—a sort of feeling which seems to have pervaded all the minds about him,—that one could not think of him as a dying man—. Louisa sensible that she before had been mistaken    anxiety—persuaded herself—it might still be so—& seeing from day to day no marked change—satisfied herself with constant watchfulness—after I left him I should not have been surprised to have heard at any hour he was gone—convinced that it was incessant care which preserved his existence;—& yet let me repeat I did think it possible that care might  prolong for preserve the feeble tho’ clear light of life some time. It went out gently, or rather was transfered to another & more congenial region—to shine forever unclouded—. “What Am I living, for?”—he has frequently said to me.—my answer now, is to die ont a day which should forever bring his example in all points, & with the deepest impression before the nation, the world, & all posterity—. I cannot but consider the events of July 4th. ‘26, as specially in the hands of the Almighty—for great moral—purposes. Do not blame any person—there has been no intentional neglect—of information—I had a sort of impression that he would die at the time he did & told intimated it to your Son—but it was so fanciful that he smiled it as such—& it seem’d so to my own mind—though it was strongly connected with my knowledge of his weakness & the effect of the warm weather—. If you wish for information from me at any time you will let me know it hereafter, and it shall be given you—. I—fear any construction on your part or that of others of improper interference sensible of my own earnestness, & my own errors.—affectionately yours

					H—Welsh—

					I write in great haste—George bids me say he will write as soon—as he can.