YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

MR. COLMANg^ SEHMON

OPI THE DEATH OF

.fOniV ADAIHS.

SKETCH OF
THE CHARACTER OF
JOHN ADAMS.
DELIVERED IN THE CHURCH
IX BARTOX SQUARE, SALEM,
9TS JTTIi?, 1326,
THE lord's DAV,
AETER HIS INTERMENT.
WITH
^iOTICES OF THE CHARACTER OF THE LATE MRS. ADAMS.

BY HENRY COLMAN.

His saltern accnmulem donis, et fungar inaiii
Munere--  ¦ 

SALEM :
PUBLISHED BY JAMES R. BUFFUM;
Printed at tbe Gazette Officei
1826.

^"bi?. fcj

SERMON.

Psalm cxii, 6.
THE EIOaxrODS 8UALL BE IN EVEBLA6TIVG BESlEMBRANCr.
Moral virtue claims peculiar honors for itself;,
but it claims no more than that to which it is fully
entitled. For what is there in the human charac
ter, what is there in the capacities or attain
ments of man, to be compared with moral vir
tue ? Without this, other qualities excite no
friendly emotions ; the beauty of the person is re
garded with the feelings with which we contem
plate the resplendent and variegated colors of the
stagnant pool, from which we cannot separate the
disgusting idea of the corruption, which they cover ;
physical strength and skill become matter only of
alarm or terror ; and the most brilliant powers of
the intellect present themselves only as the abused
and perverted gifts of Heaven. We contemplate
them not as those fires which diffuse a genial warmth
and a cheering light around them ; but as those,
which bum only to waste and to destroy.
Where moral goodness is wanting, nothing can-
commend the character to the best affections of
other.s ; there is nothing to conciliate lovje and es--

4

teem, or to command confidence and veneration,;
With whatever adventitious circumstances of
wealth, learning, power, distinction, or celebrity
it may be invested or adorned, where moral good^
ness is wanting, we feel as though every thing ia
wanting ; we perceive a deficiency, which nothing
else can supply ; and for which nothing else af
fords a compensation. Where on the other hand
this is found, and especially where it is eminent,
there we perceive that the proper ends of our being
are answered ; its true aqd native dignity secured ;
its greatest usefulness accomplished. We see that
man is what he should be ; and the character re^
ceives a spontarieous, and universal homage. Men
regard it with complacency, esteem, confidence,
and affection ; they hail it with delight ; they cher
ish it with respect, It fixes its shrine in the up
right heart ; it achieves for itself ari immortality
on earth ; and ' the just are had in everlasting re
membrance.' Man was made for virtue. Moral
goodness constitutes the excellence, the glory, the
happiness of his being. If you could obtain the
honest and unbiassed judgment of the human heart
it would in every case be in favor of virtue. This
would be the distinction, which men would most
covet ; the legacy, which they would prefer to in
herit ; that which they would most desire to find in
others and in themselves ; that in which, in respect
to themselves, they feel most complacency ; that
fQr which, in respect to others, they have mo§t es.

teem. God has made man to love virtue ; God haa
made virtue to be loved by man.
It is therefore, as the text expresses it, that the
righteous are had in everlasting remembrance.
We are disposed to cherish their memories. We
hold the reinembrance of their virtues as a most
valued possession. We cling to it with an attach
ment which notliing can shake. It returns to the
imagination with a reireshing and elevating influ
ence ; and always with increasing gratification.
Any man may make the experiment upon himself,
and inquire, if tliere is any thing which he holds
more valuable, if there is any intellectual treasure
so sweet to him, as the memory of the virtues and
benefactions of those, who, having accomplished
their earthly course, are no longer seen among
men. We lose their personal presence ; but they are
still with us in the animating remembrance of their
purity, integrity, kindness, usefulness, and piety.
We estimate these qualities more truly than when
they lived. We overlook the imperfections, which
necessarily attach themselves to every thing hu
man. It must indeed be a malignant heart, which
can indulge an emotion of resentment towards
the dead. We are then ready to do them jus
tice ; their virtues stand out in the picture in
bold relief; we perceive their fulness and beauti
ful proportions ; and it speaks alike in favor of
virtiie and of human nature, that while tlie :r.r^:iic>

6

ry of bad men, unless where their characters have'
been disgraced by some peculiar extravagance of
wickedness, is anxiously hurried out of sight and
passes into oblivion, the memory of the just is
maintained in its vividness. We dwell upon it with
eager delight. We listen to its eulogium with pa
tience and pleasure. We love to speak of it to
our children. We transmit it as a sacred deposit,
to our posterity. A universal feeling of resent
ment is excited when it is unjustly assailed ; and
we guard the treasure with a warmth of affection,
which knows no abatement, but which length of
time seems rather to increase. Ask a good son,
what next to the consciousness of his own integi'i-
ty and the virtues of his children, what does he val
ue so highly as the knowledge that the men from
whom he descended were men of virtue and piety ?
What line of ancestry is so illustrious as a line of
good men 1 What nobility is to be named in com
parison with the nobility of virtue ? Who for ex
ample would not deem himself far more ennobled,
in that he could claim descent fi-om the conscien
tious and pious men, who settled New-England,
or the great and disinterested men, who asserted
and established our liberties, than to know that the-
bloodof all the princes and potentates of the earth,
in a mingled stream flowed in his veins ?
This universal approbation which sooner or la
ter virtue always secures to itself, is one of its re
wards. I call it a reward; for although it is post-

humous, and does not accrue until after death, yet
-a good man may enjoy it in anticipation ; and may
look forward with an elevated satisfaction to the
devotion, with which posterity shall cherish the
memory of his virtues and benefactions ; may re
joice that his usefulness will not cease with his life;
and that he shall continue to live on after his eye has
closed on every earthly scene, and his hand is with
drawn from every earthly enterprise. His coun
sels and example will diffuse a beneficent influence
through distant generations ; and he bequeaths to
his descendants a legacy for which no wealth can
be an equivalent.
Thus the memory of good men is blessed. The
virtuous heart delights to cherish it ; it is some com
pensation for the loss of their personal presence.
Thus may we make companions of the wise and
good of other countries and other times ; they go
on with us ; and their memories are hallowed in
the purest affections of their posterity.
Such will be emphatically the case with that
great and good man, whose obsequies we have so
recently attended ; an honored and privileged man ;
whose memory will be cherished as long as integ
rity, patriotism, and piety, have a name among
men; and whose spirit seems to have taken its
departure at the instant when he was invoking
blessings upon his country ; as it were, wafted to
heaven on the acclamations of millions of favored
and happy beings, upon whom, under the blessing

of God, he had been eminently instrumental iri
conferring the highest prosperity. His chardctei'
is the property of the community; It is a posses-.
sion which will endure ; which will enrich the his
tory of mankind in future ages ; and which is
as immortal as the records of the country which
gave him birth, and was the theatre of his illustrious
services. New-England, like the Roman mother,
will claim him as one of the brightest jewels in the
Wreath of her glory ; and all coming ages will ac
knowledge him as an honor to his age, to his coun
try, and to human nature.
The details of the events of his life are the pro
vince of the historian. Nor am I prepared to at
tempt a delineation of his character ; but so excel
lent and distinguished a public benefactor" and pat
riot has claims upon ouf notice, which it would be
ungrateful to neglect ; and having been honored
with his friendship for many years I could not do
justice to my own feelings if I neglected to pay this
humble tribute to a virtue so distinguished as his,
and to a public life so eminently honored and use^^
ful ; and to hold up to the emulation of the young
the beautiful and venerable traits of his moral
character. In their own times, and among their immediate
contemporaries, men seldom receive their just re
ward of honor and praise. Amidst the prejudices
and partialities, the heats and animosities, which
the excitements and conflicts of political life always

9

engender, a just estimate of character is seldohl
formed ; justice is seldom done at least to the vir
tues of men ; their motives are always criminated
by those who are opposed to them ; and actions
the most disinterested and honorable are often im
puted to an unworthy origin. It is a consolation to
a good man to know that time seldom fails to be the
impartial minister of truth. It disperses all the il
lusions of prejudice ; it allays the hostilities and re
sentments of party strife ; and a good man may
confidently look forward to a grateful posterity for
the just award of esteem and honor, which his ser
vices claim.
It is a very high honor to the character of the
late Mr. Adams, that through a long life, and
though often placed by his duties in situations of
extreme exposure, his character is without a stain ;
and the purity of his morals has never been brought
even into suspicion. Accustomed to the excel
lent morals of a New-England community, and the
security of virtue which is found in the high
standard of moral duty that has long existed among
us, and unused as we are likewise to the private
and political profligacy of old countries and espe
cially of foreign courts, we can hardly estimate
with sufficient honor that strength of moral princi
ple, and that high sentiment of moral and rehgious
obligation, which preserved him amidst the most
importunate temptations and enabled him to pass
this severe ordeal unhtirt ; and without even a sus-

10
piciOri of impropriety, where profligacy of morals
presented itself under the most seductive forms,
in many cases allowed by public opinion, and sanc
tioned by the authority of fashion. I speak not of
his private morals only, but, if the distinction may
be allowed, of his political morals also. Mr.
Adams was unassailable by the subtle arts of di
plomatic intrigue; and after a residence long
enough to test his uprightness he left one of the
most corrupt courts in Europe, with a purity of
character not only unimpeached, I repeat it, but
unsuspected. One of the most prominent traits in the charac
ter of Mr. Adams was integrity. To this inflexi
ble integrity doubtless he owed his safety. This
in him was most remarkable. It seems to have
been the governing principle of his life to do only
what he deemed right ; and, fearless of consequen
ces, to follow out what appeared to be his duty.
He possessed in a high degree that moral courage,
which can have its foundation only in a conscious
ness of integrity. He was an honest man ; inca
pable of any deception, or intrigue, or treachery,
or falsehood. There can be no doubt that he
maintained his integrity often at the severe expense
of his popularity. He often gave offence by a''
bluntness of expression, which sprung from his fix
ed and obstinate principles of virtue ; and which
never allowed him to hesitate when the path of du
ty seemed plain to him ; or, at those critical mo-

11
Tiients of trial when the virtue of so many public
men has been found vulnerable, to submit to any
kind of compromise, or discussion, or bargaining
with his conscience ; or to adopt any of those nar
row and sordid views of a limited expediency or
policy, which pass so often with undeserved honor
under the abused name of prudence ; and which
mean often little else than a careful provision for
one's own safety and private interest at the expense
of duty and the public good. That Mr. Adams
preferred always what he deemed his duty to his
popularity we need no stronger proof than was af
forded in the early part of his public life, in his vol
untary defence of the soldiers concerned in the
Boston massacre, in opposition to the exasperated
resentments of a whole community ; and in his de
termination to vindicate the innocent and to secure
the great ends of public justice at any personal ex
pense and hazard.
The second prominent trait in the character of
Mr. Adams was patriotism. Whatever opinion
may be formed of any of the measures of his pub
lic life, can any honorable mind doubt that the
country never had a truer, a more uniform, disin
terested, or constant friend? From the earliest
manhood he came forward as the fearless advocate
of his country's interests. He was among the
foremost of those great men, who asserted and
maintained her political independence. Through
all the trials of the revolution and succeeding peri-

12

ods his attachment to the cause of his country
knew neither change, nor wavering, nor abate
ment. He put every thing at hazard for her de
fence, and without a prospect of remuneration he
devoted his time and talents to her service. No
thing seemed dearer to him than her glory. Her
name was the sweetest music to his soul ; and
when the subject of her prosperity was present
ed, even under the extreme pressure of infirmi
ty and decay, I have seen him kindle into rapture,
which shook every limb, and lighted up his counte
nance with an affecting brightness ; and he spake
of it always with an enthusiasm which showed that
no earthly object was dearer to his heart. His
last aspirations were for his country. When call
ed upon on the very morning of the day of his death
for a sentiment to be communicated to his rejoic
ing townsmen at the public celebration of the natal
day of their country, he gave one that will live as
long as history ; " Independence forever."
Mr. Adams was a religious man, and a decided
christian. On the subject of religion it has been
my happiness to have communicated with him of
ten and freely ; and I can say in truth, that his re
ligious principles were of a decided character ;
and, as it has seemed to me, no mind could be
more than his under the influence of a sentiment of
religious duty and accountableness to God.
Of his particular opinions on the common and
controverted topics of religion, familiar as I feel

13
myself to have been with them, it is not necessary
to speak. The public are not wholly ignorant of
them ; but I should deem it improper any farther
to allude to them, lest it might be inferred that the
authority of an individual mind, even the most gift
ed, and none was more gifted than his own, should
be esteemed conclusive on subjects, which may and
ought to be left to the free and unbiassed judgment
of every mtelligent man ; a judgment, with the
freedom of which nothing should be allowed to in
terfere. To the honor of this great and highly il
luminated mind, it ma} be confidently asserted,
that there never was a stronger or more uniform
and inflexible advocate of the right of private judg
ment, and he was ready to support at every ex
pense and hazai'd the broadest principles of reli
gious liberty. He was perfectly catholic in his
sentiments towards men of all sects and all reli
gions. He was the open and firm enemy of every
species of rehgious intolerance and persecution.
Few men, even among those with whom it is the
great object of professional duty, ever made the
subject of theology matter of more assiduous and
intelligent study ; and no man could possess more
elevated views of God and of divine providence,
of the relations which man sustains to God, and of
the duties which he owes him, than himself; and
no man, as it has seemed to me, could entertain a
more affecting reverence for the character of Jesus,
a'more sincere confidence in his teachings ; and a

14

profounder esteem for the purity, usefulness, excel
lence, and divine origin of his religion.
He was habitually strict under all circumstances
in the observance of its outward forms and ordi
nances ; yet entirely without ostentation or parade;
and by those intimately acquainted with him, he was
known to regulate his life by the high principles of
religious duty, which he professed to venerate.
But his religious character is best tested by his life.
That he was exemplary in all the relations of pri
vate and domestic life, that his morals were un
blemished, that he was a man of the strictest truth
and integrity, and that he was eminent for his pat
riotism and philanthropy, are high evidences of
his religious character. We may find other proofs
in his beneficence. His public and private bene
factions were many and most extensive and liberal;
and while his habits of domestic life exhibited a
commendable example of moderation and frugality,
he was wholly exempt from the mean and sordid
vice of avarice.
It is to me matter of regret that I am unable to
dwell longer upon his character ; and am incom
petent to do any justice to its delineation. I am
consoled by the assurance that this duty will sooner
or later be performed by able haiids ; and this
beautiful example of human worth will be present
ed to the world in all its just and magnificent pro
portions. That Mr. Adams had defects of charac
ter it would be presumption to deny. No human

15
character is faultless ; but an intimate observation
and a candid judgment must pronounce them very
few ; and inconsiderable in comparison with his
many and great virtues. They are like those
floating spots on the sun, which produce no sensi
ble diminution of his splendor ; and which can
be discerned only by the scrutinizing power of an
optical instrument.
The character of Mr. Adams is an honor to his
country and to human nature. In the constel
lation of great minds and good men, which the
American history exhibits, he shone always with
an eminent splendor. We have glanced merely at
the elements of his character. They are the ele
ments of all true moral greatness. Integrity, pat
riotism, and piety ; these appeared in him in a
manner which has seldom been equalled ; and con
stitute the basis of such an immortality in the mem
ory of man, as is indeed worthy of the purest am
bition. An integrity unsullied and inflexible; a
patriotism devoted, enthusiastic, fearless, disinter
ested ; a piety enlightened, humble, unostentatious,
powerful, habitual. Americans, the lovers of lib
erty, the friends of mankind, will give him a lofty
place in the roll of their country's glory ; and will
cherish his memory with grateful and increasing-
veneration as long as virtue shall be honored, and
liberty shall hold her place among the nations of
the earth.
He was among those righteous men, of vv'hom it

16
is pronounced in the text, that they shall be had in
everlasting remembrance. He is one of those
bright and encouraging examples to be held forth
to the generous emulation of the young, of which
our country has fiirnished many, and of which with
her present happy institutions, she is likely, we
trust, to furnish yet many, many more, of a man's
rising by the simple force of his talents and virtues
from a humble origin to the highest political honor
and distinction, which the world has ever had it in
its power to bestow, Mr. Adams was not made
great by any of those accidental circumstances by
^^'hich, among- the wonderful caprices of fortune,
men have sometimes found themselves so strange
ly elevated ; nor by any extraordinary patron
age ; nor by popular favor, sought by intrigue
or any of those servile arts, by which so many
have obtained it ; but simply by the honorable ex
ertion of the povt^ers which God gave him ; and
the steady and inflexible practice of the duties,
which God enjoined on him. He was the son of
a respectable farmer in the small town of Q,uincy.
He paid the expenses of his education in part by
the performance of those menial services at col
lege, which were at that time permitted to poor
scholars, to enable them to enjoy the advantages
of the University ; and he obtained the means for
defraying the expenses of his professional educa
tion, by the laborious but honorable employment
of public teaching. Without any of the advanta-

17
gds of fortune, he rose to the highest honor an^
power, which an enlightened and free people could
confer. Were he now permitted to hear mcj, he would
not forgive me, if I failed to say how much he was
indebted to his most intimate connexion in life ; one
of the most fortunate, happy, and privileged con
nexions, which domestic life has ever exhibited.
He married early in life the daughter of a country
clergyman, and found in her a mind as powerful and
capacious as his own ; principles of integrity and
honor as lofty and inflexible ; a patriotism as heroic
and disinterested; and a piety as exemplary and
elevated as ever swelled the human heart. Mrs.
Adams was almost a matchless woman ; and for
the true dignity, purity, and excellence of the fe^
male character, it is not too much to sd,y, can
hardly have been surpassed.*
This great man is now gathered to his fathefs.
The grave has closed ovet" his earthly remains.
His name is immortal in the history of the country,
which he loved, and honored, and served. He has
descended to his grave full of years and full of
honors. He has been privileged to five to behold
his country, resplendent with the brightest day of
national glory and prosperity, which ever beamed
upon the world. It has been his singular fehcity
to see the just and deserved confidence of his fel
low citizens proffered to a son, whom he had
* See Appendix*.

18
trained by his own principles and example to the
service of his country and mankind. He has sur
vived the perils, vicissitudes, and revolutions of
nearly a century, and departed almost the last mes
senger, who should carry from this world to his
honored associates, the glorious assurance that
the blessings, which they lived, and toiled, and
bled, and died, to purchase for their children,
are still enjoyed and valued by those children as
they themselves could wish them to be. The last
sounds, which broke upon his closing ear, were
those, which declared his country still free, and
independent, and happy. The last rays, which
fell upon his fading vision, were those of the clear
sun, which then poured its splendor over twelve
millions of free and happy beings, upon whom
God was pleased to make him instrumental in con
ferring the richest blessings, which were ever eon-
nected with the political condition of mankind.
He might well indeed depart in peace and humble
triumph. Let the young learn from this bright example the
illustrious virtues, with which it was adorned.
Let them learn of him to live for their country and
mankind. He had achieved a glorious immortali
ty on earth ; and, we humbly trust, that he has
reached a far better immortality beyond the grave,
to which his principles directed, and for which,
we have reason to believe, his virtues and piety pre
pared him.

APPENDIX.
IVIrs. Adams died in Quincy on the 28th October, 1818, at
the age of seventy-four, beloved and venerated as her character
demanded. We anne.v two obituary notices published at the
time of her decease, the first ascribed to Josiah Quincy, Esq.
the present Mayor of Boston. To these we subjoin as cxaiM-
ples of the powers of her mind, her eloquence in writing, her
strong sense, and her lofty and ardent patriotism, extracts from
two of her letters, the former addressed to a relation then a
clergyman in England ; and the latter addressed to a son, then
in liis thirteenth year, and in Europe with his father.

OBITXTARV irOTXCES.
Died at Quincy, the 28th October, 1818, Mrs. Abigail
Adams, consort of the Hon. John Adams, late President of the
United States.
This lady was not more elevated by rank, than eminent by
her virtues. Of her sex, she was an ornament, not less pure
than it was brilliant ; at once the charm and the pride of tlie
domestic circle. Exemplary in the fulfilment of every so
cial and religious obligation ; and in the native ease and charac
teristic dignity, with which they were discharged. Presiding in
her family, as though its cares had been the single object of
her thoughts ; yet her mind, enlarged by reading and establish
ed by meditation, had the aspect of one exclusively devoted to
mental improvement and intellectual contemplation. It was
impossible to know her intimately, without admiring that rare
assemblage of qualities, which constituted her character ; in
which masculine understanding was united with a delicacy un
obtrusive and feminine ; what was true, and useful, and neces-

20

sary to be known for the right conduct of common life^ was
mingled and dignified, by being combined, in her mind and
practice, with acquirements, at once extensive, elegant, and ex
traordinary. She was endowed by nature with a countenance
singularly noble and lovely. In it dignity was blended with
sweetness, the beams of intelligence with those of kindness ;
inspiring at once respect, confidence, and affection. She illus
trated and adorned every sphere she was called to fill. Al
though polished by intercourse with the world, her mind had
lost nothing of its original purity and innate worth.
This is not the language of panegyric. If to those, who knew
her not, it shall have this aspect, those who knew her best, will
feel how short this description falls of all the refined and all
the substantial qualities which formed the stamina of her char
racter. Her father, the Rev. "VYilliam Smith, a clergyman respected
for his piety and worth, married Elizabeth, the daughter of the
Hon. John Quincy, and was settled at Weymouth in this vir
cinity. These respectable parents were blessed with three
daughters,* who were each qualified, by uncommon talents and
virtues, to fill with equal worth the different, though important
stations, to which they were afterwards called. Of these, Mrs.
Adams was the second. Under the paternal roof, with her be
loved sisters, were passed her early years, in the pursuit of
those intellectual and domestic accomplishments, on which
gentlemen of her father's profession are accustomed to found
the future hopes of their children. Religion formed the basis
of her early education. Under its sanction and by its light,
she was taught to discern the right in morals and the useful in
learning; and to take delight in the jwactice of what was pru
dent, and in the discovery of what was true ; and to seek hap
piness and honor, in filling, with propriety and exactness, all
the duties which peculiarly appertain to her sex.
* Mart, the wife of the Hon. Richard Cranch, of Quincy. Eliza
beth, the wife of the late Rev. JoHif Shaw, of Haverhill, and afterwards,
of the Rev. Stephen Peaeodv, of Atkinson,,

21

Connected in early life, by affection and intellectual sympa--
thy, with one of the most eminent men of our age and country,
and one among those, chiefly in.strumental in achieving national
Independence, she largely partook of the spirit of the times, and
¦cheerfully braved the dangers, submitted to the privations, and
co-operated in the energies demanded by the occasion. The
leading patriots of that period well knew her intellectual worth.
With many of the most distinguished, she long continued in the
habits of correspondence. Her letters yet remain, and are
monuments of refined taste and pure sentiment.
After peace and independence had been acquired by her
country, Mrs. Adams was called to adorn higher stations. The
first lady to represent and sustain, in foreign courts, the charac
ter of the American female ; the second, who was obliged by
her husband's rank, to take pre-eminence among the females
of the United States.
It was the joy and pride of her sex and country, that this lot
so early fell on one,
 " Fitted or to shine in courts
With unaffected grace, or walk the plain
With piety and meditation joined."
Possessing, at every period of life, the unlimited confidence
as well as affection of her husband, she was admitted, at all
times, to share largely of his thoughts. While, on the one hand,
the activity of her mind, and its thorough knowledge of all
branches of domestic economy, enabled her almost wholly to re
lieve him from the cares incident to the concerns of private life ;
on the other, she was a friend, whom it was his delight to con
sult in every perplexity of public affairs ; and whose councils
never failed to partake of that happy harmony, which prevailed
in her character ; in which intuitive judgment was blended with
consummate prudence ; the spirit of oonciliation, with the spi
rit of her station and the refinement of her sex. In the storm,
as well as on the smooth sea of life, her virtues were ever the
object of his trust and veneration.
Destined, however, to elevate and adorn, in a peculiar degree,
the domestic sphere, she quitted it with reluctance, and return-

22

ed to it with joy, as to the scene most congenial to her soul and
best suited to give employment to her virtues ; in comparison
with which, in her estimation, the honors of public life had lit
tle attraction, and the gaiety of courts no charm.
Above all, her habitual charity encircled, her character with
that lovely and immortal wreath which will live and flourish
.when every other honor and distinction shall have utterly per
ished. In sickness and sorrow her friends and neighbors ever
found support and consolation in her advice and sympathy ;
and the poor a never failing resource in her benevolence, which
waited not to be solicited, or sought ; but whose
" Active search
Left no cold, wintry corner unexplored ;
Like silent working Heaven, surprizing oft
The lonely heart with unexpected good."
It pleased Heaven to protract her life, in all its usefulness,
to its seventy-fourth year, and to permit her maternal cares and
experience to be extended to her descendants of the third and
fourth degree.
Clear, and shedding blessings to the last, her sun sunk below
the horizon, beaming with the same mild strength and pure ra
diance, which distinguished its meridian.
The death of such a person js a calamity to all who enjoyed
her friendship or shared the benefit of her example. To her
immediate family it is as great as it is irreparable. To herself,
honored and blessed, not above her deserts, but far above the
common lot, it is but the exchange of a temporal for an eternal
state ; and of the hopes and joys of this world for another of the
^ublimest rewards and of perfect felicity.
"Farewell ! — thy cherished image ever dear.
Shall many a heart, with pious love revere.
Long, long shall those, her honored memory bless.
Who gave the choicest blessings they possess." Q.
In the death of Mrs. Adams, her friends and society lament
)io ordinary loss. The grave has closed over the mortal re
mains of one, whose character combined as much practical wis
dom and substantial virtue as have ever been possessed by any

23
individual. Society is not adorned with a purer example ; vir
tue had not a firmer prop ; religion cannot number among its
friends a more rational, intelligent, consistent, serious advocate
and disciple.
Mrs. Adams was endowed by nature with strong intellectual
powers. These were improved by a good education, and by
the best use of the advantages afforded in the distinguished sta
tion which, in mature life, she was called to occupy, and
by an extensive intercourse with mankind to which she
was introduced, from her connexion with that great and good
man, who was destined by Providence to perform a most im
portant part in the aflfairs of human life ; and who, by a faith
ful and magnanimous discharge of the highest duties of patri
otism and philanthropy, is privileged to be enrolled among the
most distinguished benefactors of his country and of mankind.
Female education, at the period of her youth, was very diflferent
from what it now is ; but she rose above every disadvantage of
her times. She was a truly enlightened woman, and adorned
with the most valuable acconiplishments of the understand
ing and heart. Her mind was richly stored from various
reading, and her taste in polite literature highly cultivated
and refined. Her observation of mankind was exact, and
her acquaintance with men and things extensive. Her percep
tions were quick and penetrating ; her judgment sound and ma
ture ; her imagination brilliant ; and the flashes of her wit,
which continued to burst forth even amidst the snows of old age,
rendered her the delight of those who were honored with her
society. Her conversation was intelligent, frank, and independ
ent, and her manners remarkably kind and condescending,
combining the greatest simplicity with a dignity and propriety
which always commanded respect.
In her domestic character, she shone pre-eminent. Never
was there a more affectionate and faithful mother, and never
was a woman more attentive to the appropriate duties of the
head of a family. Ordinary minds, when placed in situations
such aa she occupied, dazzled by the glare of distinction, or in-

24

flated by the pride of rank and power, deem the common yei
most important duties and cares of domestic life beneath their
regard; but her strength of mind, her excellent principles, her
good sense, and a high sentiment of duty, preserved her from
even the shadow of a reproach of any neglect of this kind. On
the contrary, they led her to be most assiduous and punctual in
the performance of her family duties, and attentive to every ar
rangement of domestic economy ; and her servants and depend
ants experienced her maternal care and kindness. As a friend
and neighbor she evinced a cordial sympathy in the prosperity
and adversity of all around her ; administering to the relief of
the distressed whenever an opportunity was presented, and ex
hibiting a tender concern in sorrows which it was beyond her
power to remove or assuage. The poor of her vicinity have
lost in her a discreet and generous benefactor.
The excellences of her character were consummated by re
ligion ; this formed its basis ; this was the origin of her virtues ;
and her eminent virtues did honor to the holy source from
which they arose. She was a serious and humble Christian.
Her religious sentiments were of the most enlightened and en
larged nature, truly worthy of herself; and were of that prac
tical character which gave them an habitual influence over her
conduct ; they afforded her direction and support amidst the
various trials of a long life ; and, we humbly trust, she has de-
l>arted to enter upon the rewards of her faith and hopes.
The evening of her life was marked by a cheerful serenity ;
.and her virtues, reflecting the mellow tints and the rich lustre
of mature age, exhibiting rather the beautiful scenery of au
tumn than the desolation of winter, imparted delight and in
struction to all whose privilege it was to observe her in this in
teresting and venerable period.
Greatness and goodness, intellectual superiority and a cor
respondent eminence in virtue, are not always found united ;
in her the combination was consistent and complete ; and hu
man nature has seldom, if ever, more fully or more beautifully
displayed its noblest attributes. By those persons who knew

25
ter, her memory will ever be cherisheiii with the highest vene
ration. To the young, emulous of the best distinctions whicli
this life affords, her conduct may beheld iip as one of the pur
est models for imitation. Wisdom and virtue claim her is a fa
vorite daughter ; and those Who are capable of estirhatiiig the
highest order of moral excellence, mourn in her death the re"»
moval of one of tlie richest ornaments of her sex and species.
Tlie light of life, long quivering in its socket, has expired on
Barth, but will be enldndled anew, and burn with a pttre flame
among the inextinguishable lights of the celestial world.
This imperfect and inadequate sketch of her character is the
tribute of gratitude and respect from one, who esteems it among
the greatest blessings of his life that he w'as honored with her
friendsliip. C.

x:zTR.aLCTS.

October 30th, llli.
WTiethfer this meets with the fate of some others or not, I am
fetermined to congratulate you upon our present situation.
When you left your native land it was in a state little able to
defend itself, to all human appearance, against the force which
had invaded it, but Providence has remarkably smiled upon our
•virtuous exertions in defence of our injured and oppressed land,
and has opened resources for us beyond our most sanguine ex
pectations : so that we have been able not only to repel, but
conquer the regular troops of Britain, the mercenaries of Ger
many, the savages of the wilderness, and the still more cruel
parricides of America, with one of the most celebrated British
generals, Burgoyne, at their head.
I have the pleasure to inform you. Sir, that the British arms
have submitted to American fortitude, courage, and bravery,
.and have received terms, though humiliating to them, the most
generous ever granted to an enemy. Their deserts they never
can receive in this world, nor we inflict, but must submit thera

26
to that Being who will equally distribute both rewards and pun
ishments, and who hath assured us that he would espouse the
cause of the widow, the fatherless, and the oppressed.
Cruel have been the depredations of these foes of the rights
of human nature: our commerce has been destroyed, our cities
burnt, our houses plundered, our women sacrificed to brutal
hist, our children murdered, and even the hoary head of age has
oftentimes glutted their savage mahce. These are indisputar
ble facts, and will, I hope, be recorded by the faithful historian,
to the everlasting infamy and disgrace of Britain : and almost
tempt us to injitate the example of the parent of Hannibal, and
swear the rising generation to etornsd enmity against them.
But as Christians, though we abhor their deeds, we wish
them reformation and repentance. We most sincerely wisb
for peace upon honorable terms. Heaven is our witness that
we do not rejoice in the effusion of blood, or the carnage of the
human species ; but having forced us to draw the sword, we are
determined never to sheath it the slaves of Britons : and wheth
er it is credited or not, it is a truth for which we have great
reason to be thankful, that we are at this day in a much better
situation to continue the war for six years to come, than
^we were to contend for six months in the commencement of it.
We have defended ourselves hitherto against a force which
Vould have shaken any Kingdom in Europe, without becoming
tributary to any power whatever, and trust we shall continue so,
with the blessing of Heaven. Providence has permitted for
wise ends that every one of the United States should feel the.
cruel depredations of the enemy : that each one should be able
to sympathise with the other, and this, so far from weakening
has served to strengthen our bond of union : it is a thirteen fold
cord which all the efforts of our enemies have not been able to
break. The particulars of the capture of Gen. Burgoyne and
his whole army I leave to be transmitted to you by other hands.
I wish I may be able to congratulate you upon a similar account
from the southward : but whether I am or not, as the events of
war are uncertain, you may rely upon it that the invincibje

27
American spirit is as fur from being conquered, as it was the
day the cruel mandates were issued against her. Our cause.
Sir, IS, I trust, the cause of truth and justice, and will finally
prevail, though tlie combined force of earth and hell rise against
them. To this cause I have sacrificed much of my own personal
happiness by giving up to the councils of America one of my
nearest connexions, and living for more than three years in a
state of widowhood. I hope before long you will be able to
return to your native land with a heart truly American : as
such, no one will rejoice more to see you than your affectionate
friend and former correspondent, A. A.
— Q(®©— January 19, 1780.
 Your knowledge of the language must give you
greater advantages now than you could possibly have reaped
whilst ignorant of it ; and as you increase in years you will
find your understanding opening and daUy improving.
Some author that I have met with compares a judicious
traveller to a river that increases its stream the further it flows
from its source ; or to certain springs, which running through
rich veins of minerals improve their qualities as they pass along.
It wiU be expected of you, my son, that as you are favored
With superior advantages under the instruction and watchful
eye of a tender parent that your improvement should bear
some proportion to your advantages. Nothing is wanting with
you but diligence and application since nature has not been
deficient. These are times in which a genius would wish to live. It is
not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station,
that great characters are formed : would Cicero have shone so
distinguished an orator if he had not been roused, kindled, and
inflamed by the tyranny of Cataline, Milo, Verres, and Mark
Anthony. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contend
ing with difficulties : all history will convince you of this ;

^8

and that wisdom and penetration are the fruits of experience*
ndt'the lessons of retirement and leisure.
When a mind is raised and aiiimateA b'y scenes tbat 'engage
tlie heart, then those quiailities. Which Vould otherwise Iky doi*-
mant wake into life and form the character of the hero and
the statesman.
War, Tyranny, and Desolation are the scourges of the
Almighty, and ou^lit no doubt to be deprecated. It is your
lot, my son, to be an eye-witness of these calamities in youi"
own native land, and at the same time to ovv^ y6ur existence
among a people who have made a gtorious defence of their
invaded liberties, and who, aided by a generous and powerful
Ally, with the blessing of Heaven, will transmit this inheritance
to ages yet unborn ; nor ought it to be one of the least of your
excitements towards exerting every power and faculty of your
mind that you have a parent who has taken so large a sbafe in
this contest and discharged the trust reposed in hitn with so
much satisfaction as to be honored with the important embassy
that at present calls him abroad.
The strict and inviolable regard you haVe ever paid to truth,
gives me pleasing hopes that you will not sWerve from het
dictates ; but add justice, foi-titude, and every manly virtue
which can adorn a good citizen, do honor to your country,
and render your parents supremely happy, particularly yoiir
ever affectionate mother.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRAHY

3 9002 01529 8806