E 377 
 
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 Copy 1 
 
 (It^lJrcsilicnt |oi)n Qiuiitn %Vms 
 
 ADDfiESS OF WELCOME, 
 
 WILSOX MrCANDI.ESS, 
 
 MR. ADAMS' REPLY; 
 
 TllUETIIlOU WITH 
 
 A LETTER FROM MR. ADAMS RELATIVE TO JUDGE 
 BRACKENRIDGE'S "MODERN CHIVALRY." 
 
 "Nil. 
 
 ■^ 
 
 PUBI.I^^HE1) BY BEtiUliSX. 
 
 ^ 
 
 PITTSBURGH: 
 Printed by Bakewell & IMarthens, 71 Grant Strei- 
 
 1873. 
 
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t!Ei'-|prfsibciit |o|)ii (ijuincji %hmB 
 m littsburol) in itFl^ 
 
 ADDRESS OF WELCOME, 
 
 BY -- 
 
 WILSON McCANDLESS, 
 
 MR. ADAMS' REPLY; 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 A LETTER FROM MR. ADAMS RELATIVE TO JUDGE 
 BRACKEN RIDGES " MODERN CHIVALRY." 
 
 PUBLISHED BY KEqUEbT. 
 
 PITTSBURGH : 
 
 Printed by Bakewell & Maethens, 71 Gkant Street. 
 
 1873. 
 
 ■^ 
 
"S'l 
 
ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 
 
 Mr. Adams : 
 
 I have been deputed by my fellow-citi- 
 zens, of aW|>ar/ies, to bid you a hearty welcome to this 
 city. I have been directed, Sir, to tender to you the 
 hospitalities of the people, and of the corporate 
 authorities of this, and of our young, but flourishing, 
 sister of Allegheny. 
 
 We have not strewed flowers in your path, nor 
 erected triumphal arches at your approach, but greet 
 you with the homage of grateful hearts, as evinced in 
 this spontaneous outpouring of the people. Here, 
 Sir, is the token of that universal regard in which 
 you are held by the free citizens of this great country. 
 And here, Sir, you have the reward for a long life of 
 meritorious public service. 
 
 What can be more endearing to the heart of the 
 patriot, than this exhibition of public sentiment; 
 than this manifestation of love for your person, and 
 admiration for your exalted talents and virtues. Like 
 the son of Marcus Cato, you have been a foe to ty- 
 
rants, and your country's friend, and that country 
 now tenders to you the tribute of her affection and 
 gratitude. 
 
 You seem, Sir, "like the aged oak, standing alone 
 on the plain, which time has spared a little longer, 
 after all its cotemporaries have been levelled with 
 the dust," but the jjeople delight to gather round the 
 venerable trunk, an^ dwell beneath the shadow of its 
 yet green foliage. 
 
 Associated as you have been with the Father of 
 HIS Country, partaking largely of his confidence, and 
 deeply imbued with the lofty patriotism of his char- 
 acter, it must be gratifying to you, to visit this, the 
 theatre of his earliest achievements. 
 
 Here, standing on the portals of the Mississippi 
 valley, his jirophetic eye reaching far into futurity, 
 he saw the materials for that great empire, with its 
 teeming millions, that now revere and venerate his 
 name. Here it was that Providence thrice spared 
 his invaluable life. Once, on the Venango path, 
 when the rifle of the warrior flashed in the pan. 
 Again, when his frail raft gave way, and he was pre- 
 cij)itated amid ice and snow, and the raging of 
 the elements, into the rapid waters of the Alle- 
 gheny. And again, on the shores of the Monouga- 
 hela, when Braddock, and Halket, and Peyronney 
 fell, by the deadly aim of the French and Indians. 
 Two horses shot under him, his clothes perforated 
 with bullets, himself a bright and shining mark, yet 
 
the leaden messengers were turned aside by an invis- 
 ible Hand, and lie was saved to lead the armies of his 
 country to victory, and to lay deep that precious 
 corner-stone of civil polity, that has no parallel in the 
 history of the world. 
 
 Here it was that in the wigwams, and partaking of 
 the hospitality of King Shingiss and Queen Alla- 
 quippa, his heart imbibed that warm and active 
 benevolence for the sons of the forest, that was 
 so conspicuous in his subsequent administration of 
 the government. 
 
 Here it was that the influence of his great name 
 suppressed an insurrection that threatened to sap the 
 foundation of our beautiful political edifice. And 
 here, Sir, he has a monument in the affection of his 
 countrymen more durable than brass or marble, and 
 Avhich will remain steadfast, as long as the rippling 
 current of the Ohio flows on to the bosom of the 
 Father of waters. 
 
 In 1798, the first armed vessel that ever floated on 
 the western waters was constructed hei-e under the 
 direction of a Revolutionary officer. She was a row- 
 galley, mounting a solitary gun, and was intended to 
 protect our infant trade with that splendid domain 
 afterwards acquired to the Union by the wisdom 
 and foresight of your illustrious frieud and cotem- 
 porary, Mr. Jefferson. 
 
 The name of that vessel was the John Adams, 
 And, if tradition is to be credited, after performing 
 
6 
 
 tluty liero, she lioisteJ sails, entered the peaceful pur- 
 suits of commerce, crossed the Atlantic, passed the 
 straits of Gibraltar, wended her way up the Medi- 
 terranean, threaded tlie Archipelago, and penetrated 
 to the Dardanelles on the borders of Asia Minor ; 
 thus carrying on her prow into the very bosom of a 
 despotic country, the name of one of the honored 
 actors in the great struggle for Kepublican liberty. 
 
 Look at the contrast now ! Instead of the barge, 
 and the row-galley, our skilful mechanics in 1843 
 completed, on the very bastions of old Fort Duquesne, 
 an iron ship of war that is to carry on the Northern 
 Lakes the stars and stripes of our beloved country — 
 and a frigate is now in progress of construction, 
 which with her "iron sides," is destined to defend the 
 honor of the American name "in every sea under the 
 whole heavens." 
 
 When your venerated Sire, with burning zeal, pro- 
 claimed independence noiv, independence forever; 
 when, with heroic and inflexible resolution, he signed 
 his name to the great charter of our liberty, the place 
 on which you now stand was a barren and unproduc- 
 tive forest. Now, 
 
 " As the swollen column of ascending smoke," 
 
 SO swells her grandeur. From a thousand chimneys 
 are emitted the living evidences of her 2>rosperity. 
 The flaming fire, the busy hammer, the revolving 
 roller, all give daily, hourly proof of her rapid ad- 
 vancement. Here the rough misshapen elements of 
 
iintuvu are fonueu and luouldtHl to suit tlio purposes 
 of man. Here machines to mitigate the toil of the 
 laborer, and to facilitate intercourse between the 
 States, are made with a skill unsurpassed even by the 
 old world. Here the anchor is forged to give secur- 
 ity and protection to the \\e;ither-beateu mariner. 
 Here the shovel and the mattock, the ]ilough and the 
 iiarrow, go forth to ease the labors of tlii' liusband- 
 man. And here the naked are clothed and the 
 hungry fed, by the evolution of machinery "and the 
 potent agency of steam." 
 
 To what are we indebted for all these blessings? 
 Since the war of the Revolution, to that wise tariff 
 policy by which you were regulated when at the head 
 of the government, and as chairman of the Committee 
 on Manufactures in the Congress of the United 
 States. No base subserviency to Foreign Powers dic- 
 tated your course, but a manly and determined sup- 
 jiort of the true interests of the country, by the pro- 
 tection of its industry, and by a proper reciprocity 
 of countervailing restrictions. 
 
 We thank you. Sir — we thank you with the truest 
 friendship and the deepest sincerity. 
 
 We honor you for the lustre you have shed on all 
 the high places it has been your good fortune to 
 occupy — ^we praise you for that sublimest virtue which 
 shines in all your actions — we see in your brow that 
 undaunted valor which renders you inexorably firm in 
 the discliarge of all your public duties, and in your 
 
8 
 
 eye "that inextinguishable spark, that fires the souls 
 of patriots,'' 
 
 Great and good Citizen! Venerable and Venera- 
 ted Man ! Panegyric or Eulogy, now, or hereafter, 
 cannot add one cubit to your stature. Live on — live 
 on, in honor and in glory — and when "this cor- 
 ruptible does put on incorruption, and this mortal, 
 immortality," I pray God that it may be in the calm 
 serenity of that summer's evening, when bonfires and 
 illuminations light up the land, in commemoration of 
 that glorious independence, to the achievement of 
 which your illustrious father so largely, so emi- 
 nently contributed. 
 
MR. ADAMS' REPLY. 
 
 Fellow-Citizens : 
 
 Before I attempt to address you, and to 
 respond to the eloquent discourse pronounced under 
 
 circumstances so unauspicious to eloquence, I must j 
 
 apologize for my appearance before you. ( 
 
 . I had expected to have had the honor of meeting \ 
 
 you on this day and at this time ; and arrangements ) 
 
 were made to render it convenient to yourselves, but 
 it so happened that the bark on which we had taken 
 our passage, as if anxious to arrive at the end of her _ 
 voyage, and partaking of my feelings, arrived before 
 tiie time, when your preparations to receive me were 
 mot completed. My appearance was, therefore, acci- 
 dental and unexpected, and as my apology, I would 
 remind you of the saying of the great Poet of Na- 
 ture, Shakespeare, who says : 
 
 " Lovers break not hours, 
 Exccjit it be to come before their time." 
 
 If the lover is privileged to " break hours " and 
 " come before his time," I trust you will accept it as 
 
 9, 
 
10 
 
 my excuse, and impute it to the arilor of a lover 
 desiring to see the beloved of his soul. 
 
 Fellow citizens ! I had motives of the most cogent 
 nature to inspire me with that feeling, in times past 
 — I trust forever — when my position was anything 
 but what I find it now — at a time when I was in a 
 position of difficulty and danger, I had the gratifica- 
 tion to receive testimonials of regard, respect and 
 sympathy from the citizens of Pittsburgh, beyond 
 what I received from any other portion of the United 
 States, my own constituents and the city of Roches- 
 ter alone excepted. I shall always entertain a feel- 
 ing of gratitude, belonging to the nature of man, 
 towards the citizens of Pittsburgh, for their attention 
 and sympathy on that trying occasion. I had never 
 flattered myself with the expectation or hope that it 
 should be in my power to personally return them 
 those thanks which were due ; but they were indel- 
 ibly imjn-essed ujion my heart — and it is owing 
 rather to accidental circumstances that I now enjoy 
 that satisfaction. 
 
 During the last summer, I received an invitation 
 to visit a western city, to jierform an act solely con- 
 nected with the j^romotion of science, and totally 
 separated from j^olitics — I came for the jJurpose of 
 lending ray aid to an object for the advancement and 
 promotion of the happiness of man on earth — for the 
 advancement of knowledge, for which I hojie all jjar- 
 ties are equally zealous — the laying of the corner-stone * 
 
11 
 
 for au Astronomical Observatory at Cincinnati. I ac- 
 cepted it, and scarcely had it become ^niblicly known, 
 till I saw in the public papers a call from some of my 
 personal friends in this city, to visit and be received 
 by them on my way to or from the point of my desti- 
 nation. This reached my ears as coming from personal 
 friends ; by personal friends I mean those who, du- 
 ring a long life, have approved of my political course 
 and actions. Of personal friends, strictly speaking, 
 I have but few among your number — there are few 
 in your city with whom I have had the honor of a 
 personal acquaintance. For this expression of con- 
 fidence and this invitation, I felt that gratitude was 
 due from me. 
 
 But scarcely was that invitation consummated till 
 a still more comprehensive one, from the citizens of 
 all the political parties, was given to me. This was 
 an honor which has never been extended to me be- 
 fore, and I am not aware that it has been to any 
 other — it forms an epoch in our history's history, 
 and if in any thing I can foresee the voice of pos- 
 terity, it is in that ! 
 
 In compliance with these invitations, and particu- 
 larly the last, I now appear before you. I had in- 
 tended to advert to some topics of general interest, 
 and to the j^rinciples which have governed my 
 course of conduct heretofore, but leaving them to the 
 judgment of all, and avoiding any thing calculated 
 to oft'end any ; — but time will not allow, and the cir- 
 
12 
 
 cumstances are such that I cannot think of detain- 
 ing you here. I must therefore request you simply 
 to receive the effusions of gratitude from my breast, 
 applied to each and every one of you. I hope you 
 will consider those remarks which I intended to have 
 made, as indicative of the desire which I felt to re- 
 pay you in some manner for your attentions towards 
 me ; and I trust that the blessings of a bounteous 
 Providence may rest upon you individually, and that 
 the almighty Ruler of the Universe may render 
 your course, as a community, glorious and happy 
 hereafter, as it has been honorable heretofore ! 
 
\^ 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Pittsburgh, March 29, 1847. 
 
 Hon. John Quincy Adams, 
 
 Washington. Olty, D. C, 
 
 Deak Sir : A day or two after I had the honor of 
 addressing you at the instance of the citizens of 
 Pittsburgh and Allegheny, I met you at the hospi- 
 table table of Col. Robinson. To me, and to all 
 around, the conversation was most entertaining. All 
 the leading incidents connected with the history of 
 Western Pennsylvania, from the Whiskey Insurrec- 
 tion down, seemed to be as familiar to you as to any 
 native to the " manor born." I recollect well your 
 inquiries relating to the honored widow of the author 
 of " Modern Chivalry," and how animated you were 
 in speaking of Captain Farrago and Teague O'Re- 
 gan. Cervantes would have laughed and rejoiced at 
 your association of these western heroes with his 
 own, and the author felt complimented with your 
 favorable criticism of a work which he never ex- 
 pected to reach a second edition. 
 
 Perusing a reprint of the work this evening, it 
 occun-ed to me that you might be amused in reading 
 
14 
 
 it, and I havf: therefore taken the liberty of enclos- 
 ing it. 
 
 Trusting that your health is much improved and 
 that it will continue so, 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 witli the most profound regard, 
 
 your obedient servant, 
 WILSON McCANDLESS. 
 
^ 
 
 15 
 
 Washington, 1st April, 1847. 
 
 Wilson McCanpless, Esq., 
 
 Pittsb Krgh, Penn sylvania. 
 
 Dear Sir : I cannot lose a moment before ac- 
 knowledging the receij^t of your letter of the 29th 
 ult., and of the valuable present which accompanies 
 it — the two volumes of the new edition of Judge H. 
 H. Brackenridge's "Modern Chivalry, or the Ad- 
 ventures of Captain Farrago and Teague O'Regan." 
 My visit to Pittsburgh in 1843, and my intercourse 
 with yourself, with the citizens of that place and 
 Allegheny, at that time, afford me some of the most 
 pleasing recollections of my life, grateful recollec- 
 tions of my obligations to yourself and them. 
 
 I had read the first part of Modern Chivalry and 
 formed a pleasant acquaintance with Captain Far- 
 rago and his man Teague, at their first appearance 
 more than half a century since, and they had then 
 excited much of my attention as illustrations of life 
 and manners peculiar to the times and localities, not 
 entirely effaced when I became more familiarly ac- 
 quainted with them, by this visit to the latter. 
 
 Captain Farrago and Teague O'Regan are legiti- 
 mate descendants, on one side from the La Mancha 
 and his squire Sancho, on the other, from Sir Hudi- 
 bras and his man Ralph, and if not primitive con- 
 ceptions themselves, are at least as lineal in their 
 descent as the pious ^Eneas from the impetuous and 
 vindictive son of Pelias. 
 
16 
 
 The reappearance of this work, as a second edition, 
 since the anther's death, more than half a century 
 after its first ]niblication, well warrants the predic- 
 tion that it will last beyond the period fixed by the 
 ancient statutes, for the canonization of poets, a full 
 century. I shall read it over again, I have no doubt, 
 with a refreshing revival of the pleasure with which 
 I greeted it on its first appearance ; and if this ex- 
 pression of iny opinion can give any satisfaction to 
 the remaining relatives of Judge Brackenridge, or 
 to yourself, it is entirely at your disposal, being 
 with a vivid sense and grateful remembrance of your 
 kindness, and that of my fellow-citizens of Pitts- 
 burgh and Allegheny, 
 
 Your friend and obedient servant, 
 J. Q. ADAMS. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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